cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From Fatwallet to eBay: An investigation of online deal-forums and sales promotions

Abstract Sales promotions are an important part of retail advertising strategy. Traditionally, research on sales promotions has generally assumed that the buyers are end consumers who do not engage in reselling, in large part due to high transaction costs. However, the recent Internet related technologies have dramatically lowered the cost of transferring goods between consumers, leading to relative ease of reselling activity amongst individual consumers. Little is known about the impact of this phenomenon on retailer's sales promotion strategy. In this research we investigate the reselling activity in online auctions for products that active deal seekers can obtain at deeply discounted prices from retailers. We further investigate the role of deal-forums in the resale process. Data is collected from an online deal-forum ( http://www.fatwallet.com/ ) and eBay to test various reselling-related hypotheses. The results show that there is a significant abnormal increase in the number of newly posted auctions of a product after the deal information of this product is posted on deal-forum website. We also find that there is a significant price incentive for individuals to resell. The implications for sales promotion research and practice are discussed.
Smallholder Response to Hurricane Dean: Creating New Human Ecologies through Charcoal Production

AbstractNatural hazards challenge rural communities’ livelihoods, but they may also serve as windows of opportunity for the rural poor in the form of new livelihood strategies. In 2007, Hurricane Dean devastated subsistence and commercial agriculture in the Calakmul municipality of Campeche, Mexico. Charcoal production’s importance seems to have increased as a result of Mexican forestry policy decisions related to Dean. Household interviews were carried out to determine the livelihood effects of the storm, and results indicate that while many respondents did not acknowledge the hurricane as a driver, a notable production increase was observed subsequent to the event. This research portrays a shift from hybrid swidden and intensive agriculture to that of an alternative forest strategy, situating it as an example of the adaptive capacity to natural hazards experienced by rural people in the developing world.
Predicting substrates by docking high-energy intermediates to enzyme structures.

With the emergence of sequences and even structures for proteins of unknown function, structure-based prediction of enzyme activity has become a pragmatic as well as an interesting question. Here we investigate a method to predict substrates for enzymes of known structure by docking high-energy intermediate forms of the potential substrates. A database of such high-energy transition-state analogues was created from the KEGG metabolites. To reduce the number of possible reactions to consider, we restricted ourselves to enzymes of the amidohydrolase superfamily. We docked each metabolite into seven different amidohydrolases in both the ground-state and the high-energy intermediate forms. Docking the high-energy intermediates improved the discrimination between decoys and substrates significantly over the corresponding standard ground-state database, both by enrichment of the true substrates and by geometric fidelity. To test this method prospectively, we attempted to predict the enantioselectivity of a set ...
Detection and characterization of stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen-induced cracking in carbon steel piping and vessels

Saudi Aramco has many thousands of kilometers of carbon steel cross-country pipelines, in- plant piping, and hundreds of process vessels that may experience environmental conditions favorable for the formation of several different types of cracking. Two types of cracking of particular interest to the company's engineering and production personnel are caustic stress corrosion cracking propagating from the inside to outside of process piping walls and hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) in piping and vessel walls. The occurrence of these cracks in operating piping and large vessels, when undetected, may present problems due to potential failures during operation of systems and facilities. Once the location of cracking is known, the extent and severity of the problem can usually be determined using suitable nondestructive examination (NDE) techniques. Screening methods offering accurate detection and location of cracking and capable of 100% inspection of a given piping system or vessel need to be developed. Examples of how the two types of cracking are normally located along with details of the nondestructive characterization methods used are presented.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Laboratory and echocardiography markers in sickle cell patients with leg ulcers.

In this prospective cohort of adults with SCD, we confirm that leg ulcers are still frequent and are associated with elevated TRVand markers of hemolysis. We describe a novel association of leg ulcer with hyperuricemia and oxygen desaturation and suggest potential implications for uric acid as a marker of vascular dysfunction.
Surgical management of extracranial vertebral artery occlusive vascular diseases. Part II: Surgical strategies

During the last 50 years, the surgical management of extracranial vertebral artery occlusive vascular disease has evolved greatly. A select subset of patients previously unresponsive to medical therapies are now potential candidates for open or endovascular interventions. This article reviews surgical strategies for the treatment of these complex patients.
Eliot's Cats: Serious Play behind the Playful Seriousness

Hodge treats the cats as object lessons. The Old Gumbie Cat, for example, is "damned . . . because she does not realize the depth of man's depravity." Practical Cats testifies, then, to Eliot's "conviction that catkind/mankind is prone to crudity, cruelty, and violence, and is beyond reformation"; secondarily, it is a "quest for order."31 wish to defend Practical Cats against such overseriousness, and yet suggest that it is one of Eliot's serious undertakings, a book that makes sense in terms of his career as a poet. Very few students of Prufrock and TLÂ· Waste Land would argue that those poems moralize; in any case, the charge cannot be successfully prosecuted against Practical Cats with the lines that Hodge quotes, as the subsequent lines make clear: "some are better, some are worseÂ—I But all may be described in verse" (CPP, p. 169; my italics). Old Possum here clearly disavows any intention to praise or
Isolation and characterization of a glycolipid from Treponema pallidum, Kazan 5.

Abstract 1. 1. A monoglycosyl diglyceride was isolated in pure form from Treponema pallidum, Kazan 5, by extraction with chloroform-methanol (2:1, by vol.) and purification by silicic acid column chromatography. 2. 2. Acid hydrolysis with 0.75 M HCl-methanol yielded glycerol, galactose and fatty acid in the molar ratios of 1:1:2, respectively, based on gas chromatographic analysis. 3. 3. The structural configuration was investigated with infrared spectroscopy and periodate oxidation. 4. 4. The glycolipid was concluded to be 1-(O-α- d -galactopyranosyl)-2,3-diglyceride.
In situ binding of a photo‐affinity GTP analog to synaptic membrane G‐proteins Distribution of bound GTP analog reflects the status of adenylate cyclase

Regulation of synaptic membrane adenylate cyclase is likely to involve interaction between neurotransmitter receptors, G-proteins and the adenylate cyclase catalytic unit as well as several other membrane proteins and lipids. Despite intensive study of this system, regulation of guanine nucleotide binding by the G-proteins which stimulate [Gs] or inhibit [Gi] adenylate cyclase has been examined only when those proteins have been purified and removed from the influence of the membrane environment. The hydrolysis-resistant photoaffinity GTP-analog, P3-(4-azidoanilido)-P1 5′-GTP (AAGTP) is able to bind specifically to the G-proteins in rat cerebral cortex synaptic membranes and, in this study, we have used this probe to examine the specificity and selectivity of guanine nucleotide binding to each G-protein without removing those proteins from the synaptic membrane. Marked differences were noted between guanine nucleotide binding data obtained with detergent-soluble G-proteins and data from this in situ approach. In these studies it was found that the affinity of the G-proteins binding AAGTP correlated well with the expression of adenylate cyclase activity, the affinity of both forms of Gs, increasing under conditions favoring the stimulation of that enzyme.
The effects of diphtheria toxin upon the heart

Abstract 1. 1. The hearts of seven dogs which had been given varying doses of diphtheria toxin were studied with respect to electrocardiographic behavior, glycogen distribution, and pathologic changes. 2. 2. The electrocardiographic changes noted consisted of various degrees of block and abnormalities of the T wave. 3. 3. Parenchymatous degeneration of a mild degree was invariably present. The most characteristic change was the presence of hyaline streaks scattered through the muscle fibers. 4. 4. Glycogen, taking the heart as a whole, showed a 10 per cent rise in the hearts of dogs given a slowly lethal injection of diphtheria toxin. A rise was noted in the two atria and the two ventricles, and no change in the septum. A quickly lethal dose failed to produce any effects upon cardiac glycogen. 5. 5. In view of the increases in cardiac glycogen which occur during starvation, and of the self-imposed starvation (anorexia) always present in severe diphtheritic toxemia, it is suggested that the moderate rise encountered in such cases is the result of starvation, rather than of any specific effect of the diphtheria toxin upon cardiac glycogen.
Transition layers between VO2 films and oxide substrates

Abstract Auger electron spectroscopy reveals the existence of chemical transition layers at the interface between the substrate and chemically deposited VO 2 films. Transition layers on sapphire and quartz substrates exhibited different characteristics resulting from the manner in which the dopant substrate atom was incorporated within the VO 2 thin film. The effect of this layer is to modify the apparent characteristics of the VO 2 film and even to dominate the electronic switching stability.
A sensitive immunoenzymometric assay for 2′,5′-oligoadenylate. Detection of elevated 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase in human peripheral mononuclear cells

Abstract A competition immunoenzymometric assay for 2′,5′-oligoadenylate was developed and employed to measure the interferon-inducible enzyme 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase in cell extracts. Microtiter plates coated with a novel conjugate of p5′A2′p5′A2′p5′A and N-(2-aminoethyl)-carbamylmethylated-Ficoll (AECM-Ficoll) bound rabbit polyclonal or mouse monoclonal antibody directed against 2′,5′-oligoadenylate. B Binding was inhibited by soluble 2′,5′-oligoadenylate. Estimates of 2′,5′-oligoadenylate concentrations based on inhibition of antibody binding compared favorably with those obtained using a protein synthesis inhibition assay. Low concentrations of 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthesized in vitro by extracts of human peripheral mononuclear cells were conveniently ustimated using ⩽ 106 cells. Virtually identical results were obtained when either total extract or synthetase bound to poly(I)·poly(C)-agarose was used for the in vitro incubation. When peripheral mononuclear cells were incubated in vitro with interferon, the normally low levels of 2′,5′-oligo(A) synthetase rose dramatically. The assay was employed to measure synthetase levels in peripheral mononuclear cells isolated from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Some of these patients were found to have elevated levels of 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase.
Stability of Order: An Example of Horseshoes ``Near'' a Linear Map

We have been motivated by a question of "anticontrol" of chaos [Schiff et al., 1994], in which recent examples [Chen & Lai, 1997] of controlling nonchaotic maps to chaos have required large perturbations. Can this be done without such brute force? In this paper, we present an example in which a family of maps, Ge, numerically displays a transverse homoclinic point, and hence a horseshoe and chaos, for a fixed value of the parameter e. We show that these maps converge pointwise to a linear map. Furthermore, a simple scaling conjugacy is shown for a family of maps which even shows geometric similarity of all relevant structures. This is in seeming contradiction to well-known structural stability results concerning horseshoes, but careful consideration reveals that these theorems require convergence in a uniform topology in function space. We show that no such convergence is possible for our family of maps, since it is impossible to find a finite radius disk which contains all of the horseshoes Λe for every e. Thus, there is no contradiction. Our example may be considered to be a new kind of bifurcation route to chaos by horseshoes, in which rather than creating/destroying a horseshoe by creating/destroying transverse homoclinic points, the horseshoe is sent/brought to/from infinity.
The potential role of proteasome inhibitors in the treatment of lung cancer.

Bortezomib (PS-341, Velcade, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA) is a novel inhibitor of the proteasome. The proteasome plays a critical role in the degradation and, therefore, regulation of many proteins involved in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis. Bortezomib inhibits the growth of lung cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo in athymic nude mouse xenografts. Bortezomib produces a G2-M arrest, increases in cyclin A and cyclin B, increases in p21, and increases apoptosis in these preclinical models. Phase I studies established that a dose of 1.4 mg/m2 given i.v. on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 of a 3-week cycle produced acceptable toxicity and serum levels that resulted in proteasome inhibition. Phase II studies showed high-response rates in refractory multiple myeloma. These response rates were sufficiently high to allow accelerated approval of bortezomib by the Food and Drug Administration for this indication. Phase II trials in both non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer are in progress. A number of Phase I combination studies are also underway. Hopefully, bortezomib will show sufficient activity in lung cancer to improve survival in this dread disease.
Robustness of some sequential procedures

The robustness of four sequential procedures was investigated against departures from normality and independent observations. These procedures include three sequential t tests: open plan, restricted plan, wedge plan, and a nonparametric signed-rank test. The sequential t tests are discovered to be quite robust against a short-tailed uniform distribution, but they become conservative when the underlying distribution is long-tailed. If the observations are serially correlated, all four tests considered here are “optimistic”.
The evolution of the atmosphere of the earth

Computer simulations of the evolution of the earth's atmospheric composition and surface temperature have been carried out. The program took into account changes in the solar luminosity, variations in the earth's albedo, the greenhouse effect, variation in the biomass, and a variety of geochemical processes. Results indicate that prior to two billion years ago the earth had a partially reduced atmosphere, which included N2, CO2, reduced carbon compounds, some NH3, but no free H2. Surface temperatures were higher than now, due to a large greenhouse effect. When free O2 appeared the temperature fell sharply. Had earth been only slightly further from the sun, runaway glaciation would have occurred at that time. Simulations also indicate that a runaway greenhouse would have occurred early in earth's history had earth been only a few percent closer to the sun. It therefore appears that, taking into account the possibilities of either runaway glaciation or a runaway greenhouse effect, the continuously habitable zone about a solar-type star is rather narrow, extending only from roughly 0.95 to 1.01 AU.
Selectivity of Mexican American Intraregional Migration in the Southwest.

A significant amount of research in the last several decades has examined the migration of different racial groups such as whites and blacks in the US. Such studies have identified important demographic and socioeconomic predictors of migration. Mexican Americans represent 1 group that has largely been neglected in this respect. This study examines the relationship among demographic and socioeconomic variables and intraregional migration among Mexican Americans in 5 southwest states. Data from a subsample of 6137 householders included in the 1980 Public Use Microdata Sample are used for this purpose. The findings demonstrate that while some of the predictor variables are significantly related to migration others are not. The results demonstrate the need for further research examining the extent to which previous findings on migration selectivity can be generalized to different racial and ethnic groups. (authors)
The Preparation, Characterization and X-ray Structural Analysis of Tetrakis[1,3-dimethyl-2(3H)-imidazoleselone]cadmium(II) Hexafluorophosphate

A new compound, [Cd(dmise)4][PF6]2, has been synthesized and characterized via standard solid and solution state methods including single crystal X-ray crystallography (dmise = 1,3-dimethyl-2(3H)-imidazoleselone). The title compounds crystallizes in orthorhombic space group P bcn with a = 12.783(3), b = 22.206(4), c = 13.153(3) A, V = 3733.8(13) A3, Z = 4. The complex is a high melting, yellow water soluble 2:1 electrolyte solid that state has a flattened tetrahedral CdSe4 coordination geometry. To date this is the only structural study reported for a homoleptic selenourea complex of cadmium. The Preparation, characterization and X-ray structural analysis of Tetrakis[1,3-dimethyl-2(3H)-imidazoleselone]cadmium(II) hexafluorophosphate Daniel J. Williams, Bradley J. McKinney, Ben Baker, Kevin P. Gwaltney and Donald VanDerveer Tetrakis[1,3-dimethyl-2(3H)-imidazoleselone][PF6]2 is prepared in 82% yield by direct combination of cadmium acetate dihydrate, ammonium hexafluorophosphate, and the ligand in boiling acetonitrile. X-ray crystallography shows a structure with a distorted tetrahedral coordination sphere around the cadmium. This is the first report of a structural characterization of a homoleptic cadmium selenourea complex.
MO‐D‐I‐609‐01: Improved Target Localization in Low Field MR Using Local Weighted Mean(LWM) for Spatial Distortion Correction

Purpose: A methodology using local approximation method is presented for improving spatial distortion correction of Philips Panorama 0.23T MR‐Simulator. The effect on accurate MR based segmentation is evaluated. Method and Materials: Standard T2 MR data was collected using the 0.23T MR‐Simulator. For spatial distortion evaluation/ correction, a standard phantom with dimension of 14″*17″*1″ containing a grid of MR markers at 2.5cm spacing was imaged. The spatial fidelity of the MR data was compared with the physical measurements of marker position using both the vendor supplied spatial distortion correction algorithm and our LWM algorithm, which employs local polynomial fitting and marker centroids serving as control points. The markers are automatically detected using a Gaussian kernel. CT‐MR image registrations using normalized mutual information were applied to estimate the effect of spatial distortion on image registration.Results: Using LWM, the diameter of the imaging region with minimal spatial distortion (marker localization error < 1mm) increased to 300mm, in contrast to the Philips' correction method characterized by diameter=70mm. Visual inspection of clinical imaging data, including a case of craniopharyngioma, indicated such distortion is not readily discernible to the human eye. CT‐MR registration results indicated that the normalized mutual information (NMI) increased about 5% after applying LWM to the MR data compared to using the vendor supplied algorithm. Shifts of up to 3mm were observed in segmentation involving off‐axis target regions between LWM and vendor corrected MR data. Conclusion: LWM provides a significantly superior correction for spatial distortion associated with low field MR imaging compared to the vendor supplied correction. This improves target localization accuracy based on segmentation of off‐axis structures, and increases NMI value of CT‐MR registration. MR imaging with minimal spatial distortion allows the MR‐simulator to be used to monitor tumor regression during radiotherapy.
SELECTIVE EXPANSION OF T CELL RECEPTOR (Vβ) GENE FAMILIES IN SLE NEPHRITIS. • 2346

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis is characterized by marked lymphocytic infiltration within the renal interstitium. Increasing evidence supports a critical role of target autoantigens in the triggering of the autoimmune process. To test the hypothesis that SLE nephritis is initiated by the recognition of nephritogenic antigens activated by T cells utilizing distinct T cell receptor (TCR) Vβ genes, we analyzed intrarenal Vβ gene expression in renal tissue obtained from 6 pediatric patients with new onset SLE nephritis. Intrarenal TCR Vβ gene expression was determined by polymerase chain reaction employing 25 Vβ oligonucleotide 5′ primers paired with a single 3′ Cβ primer. Amplified Vβ gene products were identified by hybridization using an internal TCR Cβ probe and quantified using a phosphor-imager.
Attitudes Toward Younger and Older Adult Speakers: Effects of Varying Speech Rates

Undergraduates listened to tape recorded voices of either younger (20-22 years) or older (60-65 years) male speakers who varied in their rate of speech (slow, medium, and fast). The listeners evalu...
PISCES: Tracking Trace Chemicals in Power Plants

PISCES, Power Plant Integrated Systems: Chemical Emissions Studies, is a multimedia chemical species project on plant emissions. Products generated in the PISCES project will help utilities design and operate their plants to minimize chemical species emissions. PISCES takes a holistic approach to the control of toxics by acknowledging that a chemical removed from a gas stream will appear in a liquid or solid stream.
Generation of complex motor patterns in american grasshopper via current-controlled thoracic electrical interfacing

Micro-air vehicles (MAVs) have attracted attention for their potential application to military applications, environmental sensing, and search and rescue missions. While progress is being made toward fabrication of a completely human-engineered MAV, another promising approach seeks to interface to, and take control of, an insect's nervous system. Cyborg insects take advantage of their innate exquisite loco-motor, navigation, and sensing abilities. Recently, several groups have demonstrated the feasibility of radio-controlled flight in the hawkmoth and beetle via electrical neural interfaces. Here, we report a method for eliciting the “jump” response in the American grasshopper (S. Americana). We found that stimulating the metathoracic T3 ganglion with constant-current square wave pulses with amplitude 186 ± 40 μA and frequency 190 ± 13 Hz reproducibly evoked (≥95% success rate) the desired motor activity in N=3 test subjects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an insect cyborg with a synchronous neuromuscular system.
Reduced peripheral nerve function is related to lower hip BMD and calcaneal QUS in older white and black adults: the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

Bone tissue is innervated, and peripheral nerve function may impact BMD. Older black and white men and women (N = 2200) in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study with worse sensory and motor peripheral nerve function had lower hip BMD and calcaneal BUA independent of lean mass, strength, physical ability, and diabetes. Poor peripheral nerve function may directly affect bone. Introduction: Bone tissue is innervated, yet little is known about the impact of nerve function on BMD. Poor peripheral nerve function may contribute to lower BMD and higher fracture risk, particularly in those with diabetic neuropathy. Materials and Methods: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study included annual exams in white and black men and women 70–79 years of age recruited from Pittsburgh and Memphis. Nerve function in legs/feet was assessed by 1.4- and 10-g monofilament detection, vibration threshold, and peroneal motor nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and amplitude (CMAP). Total hip BMD, heel broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and total fat and lean mass were measured 1 year later (QDR 4500A, Sahara QUS; Hologic). Results: Participants (N = 2200) were 48% men and 37% black. Poor nerve function (lower monofilament detection, higher vibration threshold, lower CMAP, lower NCV) was associated with 1.4–5.7% lower BUA and significant for all but NCV, adjusted for demographics, diabetes, body composition, and physical ability. Results were similar for adjusted hip BMD, with 1.0–2.9% lower BMD, significant for monofilament and CMAP testing. When considering the components of BMD, total hip area was 1.8–4.9% higher in those with the worst nerve function, although BMC showed little difference. Lower monofilament detection and CMAP were independently associated with lower heel BUA (p < 0.01), and monofilament detection was associated with lower hip BMD (p < 0.05) in regression additionally adjusted for lifestyle factors, bone-active medications, and diabetes-related complications. Conclusions: Poor peripheral nerve function may directly related to lower BMD, likely through an increase in bone area in older adults, independent of lean mass, strength, physical ability, and diabetes. Whether those with impaired nerve function are at higher risk for fracture independent of falls needs to be studied.
The Home Observation Assessment Method (HOAM): Real-Time Naturalistic Observation of Families in Their Homes†

The Home Observation Assessment Method (HOAM) is a new method developed to carry out objective coding of family interaction over extended time periods in a home setting. It is a computer-compatible coding system that permits on-line data reduction of interactional variables emphasizing contextual and structural dimensions of family behavior. To date, the HOAM has been applied to the study of 31 families observed for a total of over 250 sessions. Initial analysis of data from these sessions indicates that coder reliability is high and that the HOAM successfully measures dimensions of family behavior independent of architectural aspects of the home setting. Preliminary findings also indicate that although families differ dramatically along the interactional dimensions measured by the HOAM, all families studied spent remarkably little time in decision-making behavior, suggesting that behavior in the home is predominantly "maintenance-oriented."
A simple technique for correlating film and EMG in locomotion studies

Two recurring problems hampering investigations of muscular activity patterns during locomotion are electrical “noise” and movement artifact in the electromyographic (EMG) signal and proper synchronization of behavioral events to the EMG. A relatively simple technique for achieving these ends is presented. Vigorous locomotor movements of unrestrained animals are recorded on 16-mm film and synchronized with one or more EMGs from selected muscles with little electrical noise or movement artifact interference. The system employs telemetry which is compared to hardwire techniques.
Physiological Mechanisms of the Nystagmus Produced by Rotations about AN Earth-Horizontal Axis

The physiological basis of the nystagmus produced by rotation about an earth-horizontal axis is investigated with particular emphasis on the unidirectional nystagmus attributed to a bias component. Eye movement recordings were made with dc electro-oculography in alert squirrel monkeys and afferent responses were recorded from semicircular canals and otolith receptors of anesthetized animals upon rotations in the pitch and yaw planes. The eye-movement recordings show the rotation responses in the squirrel monkey to resemble those of other species, including persistent horizontal and vertical nystagmuses during yaw and pitch rotations, respectively, a unidirectional nystagmus at low rotation speeds, and postrotatory responses of relatively small amplitude and duration. The vestibular nerve recordings do not show a directionally specific dc response that can account for the bias component, but instead exhibit sinusoidal responses of peak amplitudes 0-15 and 25-75 spikes/sec for the canals and otolith, respectively. Results thus indicate that the dc signal to the oculomotor centers responsible for the nystagmus is of central origin, most likely based on some transformation of the otolith signals.
An 18-Month Study of the Effects on Hamster Lungs of Intratracheally Administered Human Neutrophil Elastase

A study was made of the evolution of emphysema and airway injury induced in the lungs of male golden Syrian hamsters by a single intratracheal injection of 350 fig human neutrophil elastase (HNE). Saline control and HNE-treated groups of 8 animals were studied 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months posttreatment. HNE treatment caused a significant increase in all lung volumes and a significant decrease in maximum expiratory flows at all study times. The mean linear intercept (MLI) values of the left lung were significantly increased over control values. There was no progression with time in MLI values, lung volumes, or lung compliance. Secretory-cell metaplasia was present at 1 month and persisted throughout the study. The HNE-treated lungs showed clusters of ferric iron-containing macrophages in the terminal airspaces. The amount of iron in the lungs, determined morphometrically, was greatest at 1 month, was decreased by 6 months, and then did not change further to 18 months. At 18 months the amount of iron was stil...
Lack of T-cell tolerance of noninherited maternal HLA antigens in normal humans.

Abstract Recent clinical reports of nonresponsiveness to noninherited maternal human leukocyte antigens have led to speculation that humans may acquire tolerance of noninherited maternal antigens through exposure to maternal cells neonatally or in utero. To test this hypothesis, we measured the responsiveness of normal subjects to their noninherited maternal and paternal antigens using cell-mediated lympholysis assays and mixed leukocyte reactions. All individuals exhibited cell-mediated lympholysis and mixed leukocyte reaction responses to the maternal cells that were comparable to those to the paternal cells. Limiting dilution analyses revealed significant cytotoxic T-lymphocyte precursor frequencies to both sets of parental antigens. To exlude the possibility that tolerance of individual noninherited maternal antigens was masked by the response to other antigens expressed on the same target cell, we raised cytotoxic T lymphocytes to the maternal cells and then tested for reactivity to a panel of targets that expressed single noninherited maternal HLA antigens. In all cases, each noninherited maternal antigen expressed on the maternal cells elicited a significant cell-mediated lympholysis response. An analysis of clinical data showed that pretransplant mixed lymphocyte reactions to maternal cells are not significantly lower than those to paternal cells. These data suggest that the reported B-cell tolerance of noninherited maternal antigens is not mediated by clonal deletion of T cells induced by exposure to the maternal cells neonatally or in utero.
The Tensile Behavior of Intraply Hybrid Composites I: Model and Simulation

The basic chain-of-bundles probability model is modified so that any unidirectional intraply hybrid composite consisting of two types of fibers can be modeled. The method of analysis is the Monte Carlo simulation technique which allows for many dif ferent types of hybrids to be analyzed. The effect of the volume ratio of the consti tuents and the degree of dispersion of the types of fibers is considered. The existence of the "hybrid effect" for strain is shown along with its sensitivity to volume ratio and dispersion. The Weibull distribution function is shown to be a good representation for the hybrid breaking strain.
Relative Blue-Light Extinction in Lens Nucleus Related to Age and Cataract

The extent of visual function loss from nuclear cataractous change can be estimated by observing the extinction of blue light compared to white light as a function of saggital lens depth in standard slit lamps. Apparent extinction (loss of transmissivity) of 50% or more of the depth of the lens in blue light of maximal intensity compared to white light at minimal intensity is associated with marked visual loss. However, this transmissivity ratio of 0.5 or less also applies if light intensity remains constant and the blue filter is simply moved in and out of the light beam. Therefore, if 50% or more of the lens appears dark to blue-filtered light, nuclear changes have significantly decreased effective visual acuity. Relative blue-light extinction associated with nuclear change that may be amenable to surgical correction can thus be distinguished from the extinction effect caused by age alone.
Presentation- and test-trial effects on acquisition and retention of distance and location.

Acquisition and retention effects of presentation and test trials on movement distance (Experiment 1) and location (Experiment 2) were examined under three multitrial training methods. Three groups of 15 government employees performed three training trial cycles consisting of six trials each. Training methods emphasized either presentation-trial repetition, test-trial repetition, or presentation- and test-trial alternation within cycles. After training, both short- (3 min.) and long-term (24 hr.) retention scores were recorded. Absolute error revealed that (a) presentation-trial repetition promoted acquisition of both distance and location but resulted in extensive short- and long-term forgetting; (b) test-trial repetition produced error increases within cycles, potentiated presentation-trial effectiveness during acquisition, and enhanced long-term retention of both distance and location; (c) presentation- and test-trial alternation promoted distance and location acquisition and produced distance retention intermediate to that of the other two methods. Experiment 3 provided data to support the interpretation that test-trial retention benefits are a function of movement execution mode. Language: en
“Miliary” metastatic tumors in the brain: Case report

✓ An extremely unusual “miliary” metastatic tumor of the brain in a 69-year-old man is reported. Although there was no known primary tumor, the patient had innumerable brain lesions involving both cerebral and both cerebellar hemispheres, the basal ganglia, and the brainstem. There was no associated edema, mass effect, or brain parenchymal reaction. None of the lesions showed any calcification.
Research to strengthen the scientific basis for health risk assessment : a survey of the context and rationale for mechanistically based methods and models

Assessment of health risks is an integral part of regulatory decision-making that occurs at the interface between science (e.g. facts) and policy (e.g. values). Because existing scientific knowledge and understanding are often inadequate to answer the most critical risk-related questions, regulatory agencies have developed sets of formalized 'science policies' to extrapolate from existing data to real-life events and situations. These science policies, as, for example, the use of default assumptions or exposure scenarios, can introduce significant uncertainties into the final risk estimate. We survey the rationale for research to reduce extrapolation-related uncertainties, focusing specifically on the need to develop mechanistically based methods and models, including test methods to identify and characterize health effects, integrated human exposure models, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models and biologically based dose-response (BBDR) models.
A fluctuation–dissipation approach to dynamical friction in non-homogeneous backgrounds

A formula is derived for the dynamical friction experienced by an object which is travelling in an arbitrary mass density field, assuming that the object's mass much exceeds that of a background particle, and that the background is stationary and is described by a global Maxwellian velocity distribution. This work extends a recent study which relates dynamical friction to the interaction of the object with background fluctuations in an infinite homogeneous medium. The new approach has some limitations, but it still provides a better estimate for the friction in nonhomogeneous media than does Chandrasekhar's formula. The drag no longer depends only on local background characteristics as in the homogeneous case, but is a function of the global structure of the entire mass density field
Fast Food Consumption and Food Prices: Evidence from Panel Data on 5th and 8th Grade Children

Fast food consumption is a dietary factor associated with higher prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States. The association between food prices and consumption of fast food among 5th and 8th graders was examined using individual-level random effects models utilizing consumption data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), price data from American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association (ACCRA), and contextual outlet density data from Dun and Bradstreet (D&B). The results found that contextual factors including the price of fast food, median household income, and fast food restaurant outlet densities were significantly associated with fast food consumption patterns among this age group. Overall, a 10% increase in the price of fast food was associated with 5.7% lower frequency of weekly fast food consumption. These results suggest that public health policy pricing instruments such as taxes may be effective in reducing consumption of energy-dense foods and possibly reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children and young adolescents.
Characteristics and variability of structural networks derived from diffusion tensor imaging.

Structural brain networks were constructed based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data of 59 young healthy male adults. The networks had 68 nodes, derived from FreeSurfer parcellation of the cortical surface. By means of streamline tractography, the edge weight was defined as the number of streamlines between two nodes normalized by their mean volume. Specifically, two weighting schemes were adopted by considering various biases from fiber tracking. The weighting schemes were tested for possible bias toward the physical size of the nodes. A novel thresholding method was proposed using the variance of number of streamlines in fiber tracking. The backbone networks were extracted and various network analyses were applied to investigate the features of the binary and weighted backbone networks. For weighted networks, a high correlation was observed between nodal strength and betweenness centrality. Despite similar small-worldness features, binary networks and weighted networks are distinctive in many aspects, such as modularity and nodal betweenness centrality. Inter-subject variability was examined for the weighted networks, along with the test–retest reliability from two repeated scans on 44 of the 59 subjects. The inter-/intra-subject variability of weighted networks was discussed in three levels — edge weights, local metrics, and global metrics. The variance of edge weights can be very large. Although local metrics show less variability than the edge weights, they still have considerable amounts of variability. Weighting scheme one, which scales the number of streamlines by their lengths, demonstrates stable intra-class correlation coefficients against thresholding for global efficiency, clustering coefficient and diversity. The intra-class correlation analysis suggests the current approach of constructing weighted network has a reasonably high reproducibility for most global metrics.
Influence of kraft mill effluent on the flavor of salmon flesh

Abstract In a laboratory study measurable impairment of the flavor of cooked flesh of jack coho salmon resulted from exposure of the fish to untreated kraft pulp and paper mill effluents for 72 to 96 h at concentrations of about 1.0 to 2.0 per cent by volume and above. No flavor impairment was noted when fish were exposed to a concentration of 2.9 per cent by volume, the highest level tested, of biologically treated effluent.
Atmospheric response to Atlantic tropical instability waves in Community Atmosphere Model version 3

[1] Tropical instability waves (TIWs) are 20- to 40-day waves that appear along the sea surface temperature (SST) front of the equatorial cold tongues. In this study, we investigate the atmospheric planetary boundary layer response to TIW-induced SST variations in the tropical Atlantic Ocean using Community Atmosphere Model version 3 (CAM3) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and compare the model simulation with available satellite measurements. CAM3 is used to simulate the response to Atlantic TIWs with T85 and T42 horizontal resolutions forced with daily Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission microwave imager (TMI) SSTs and T85 horizontal resolution forced with weekly TMI and Reynolds SSTs. All four runs exhibit an atmospheric response to the SST anomalies, but the amplitude of the response is different in each case. The model simulates winds, convergence, column-integrated water vapor, and precipitation perturbations associated with TIWs that are similar in many respects to the satellite observations. However, the wind convergence and divergence anomalies in the satellite observations are located west of the SST anomalies. In the CAM3 simulations the wind convergence is more in phase with SST anomalies. Differences between the observations and the model simulations appear to be due to both differences in the boundary layer response and differences in the horizontal advection process.
Genetics of Childhood-onset Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a heritable disorder. The genetic architecture of schizophrenia is complex and heterogeneous. This article discusses genetic studies of childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) and compares findings in familial aggregation, common allele, and rare allele studies of COS with those for adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS). COS seems to be a rare variant of AOS with greater familial aggregation of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and higher occurrence of rare allelic variants. The usefulness of genetic screening for diagnosis and individualized treatment is limited; however, identifying common pathways through which multiple genes adversely affect neural systems offers great promise toward developing novel pharmacologic interventions.
Rover navigation using stereo ego-motion

Abstract Robust navigation for mobile robots over long distances requires an accurate method for tracking the robot position in the environment. Promising techniques for position estimation by determining the camera ego-motion from monocular or stereo sequences have been previously described. However, long-distance navigation requires both a high level of robustness and a low rate of error growth. In this paper, we describe a methodology for long-distance rover navigation that meets these goals using robust estimation of ego-motion. The basic method is a maximum-likelihood ego-motion algorithm that models the error in stereo matching as a normal distribution elongated along the (parallel) camera viewing axes. Several mechanisms are described for improving navigation robustness in the context of this methodology. In addition, we show that a system based on only camera ego-motion estimates will accumulate errors with super-linear growth in the distance traveled, owing to increasing orientation errors. When an absolute orientation sensor is incorporated, the error growth can be reduced to a linear function of the distance traveled. We have tested these techniques using both extensive simulation and hundreds of real rover images and have achieved a low, linear rate of error growth. This method has been implemented to run on-board a prototype Mars rover.
The effect of preload on the pull-off force in indentation tests of microfibre arrays

We determined how preload and work of adhesion control the force required to pull a circular cylindrical indenter off a microfibre array. Five regimes, with different contact behaviours, are identified for the unloading phase of indentation. These regimes are governed by two dimensionless parameters. Above a critical preload, the pull-off force and the pull-off stress reach a plateau value. The critical preload, as well as the plateau pull-off force (stress), is found to depend on a single dimensionless parameter q , which can be interpreted as a normalized work of adhesion.
An isolation technology for joined tungsten MEMS

An isolation technology utilizing a selective chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of tungsten to fabricate released, joined and isolated microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) is presented. The isolation scheme features released tungsten structures that are both mechanically joined and electrically isolated by silicon nitride and offers extra design freedom for micromachining. The technology is used to fabricate an isolated-tungsten, serial-parallel (SP), linear electrostatic, capacitive actuator. The actuator is composed of a series of released silicon nitride hinges. Experiments demonstrate that a controlled large lateral displacement range (e.g., greater than 10 mu m) is achieved at modest voltages. Stable stepping motion is a major characteristic of the SP actuator. The fabrication and the operation of this linear actuator are reported. >
Nonlinear principal component analysis using autoassociative neural networks

Nonlinear principal component analysis is a novel technique for multivariate data analysis, similar to the well-known method of principal component analysis. NLPCA, like PCA, is used to identify and remove correlations among problem variables as an aid to dimensionality reduction, visualization, and exploratory data analysis. While PCA identifies only linear correlations between variables, NLPCA uncovers both linear and nonlinear correlations, without restriction on the character of the nonlinearities present in the data. NLPCA operates by training a feedforward neural network to perform the identity mapping, where the network inputs are reproduced at the output layer. The network contains an internal “bottleneck” layer (containing fewer nodes than input or output layers), which forces the network to develop a compact representation of the input data, and two additional hidden layers. The NLPCA method is demonstrated using time-dependent, simulated batch reaction data. Results show that NLPCA successfully reduces dimensionality and produces a feature space map resembling the actual distribution of the underlying system parameters.