cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the completeness of approximation based reasoning and planning in action theories with incomplete information

In this paper, we study the completeness of the 0-approximation for action theories with incomplete information. We propose a sufficient condition for which an action theory under the 0-approximation semantics is complete with respect to the possible world semantics. We then introduce the notion of decisive sets of fluents, based on which an action theory can be modified into another action theory such that the modified action theory under the 0-approximation is complete with respect to the original theory. We present a polynomial time algorithm for computing decisive sets for action theories and use it in the development of a sound and complete conformant planner. Finally, we compare our planner with other state-of-the-art conformant planners.
Inmate abortions: the right to government funding behind the prison gates.

An exploration of the nature of an inmates right to a state funded abortion leads to the conclusion that the Constitution mandates that prisoners be granted abortions at government expense. Although the rights of inmates to government funded abortions are often compared to those of indigent women the situations are in fact distinct in that inmates have no access to other financing or medical facilities than those provided through the correctional system. The states refusal to facilitate the inmates abortion decision is equivalent to an absolute veto which constitutes an undue burden and is unconstitutional. No penological interest of the government would be served by limiting an inmates fundamental right to an abortion. Under the 8th amendment the state is constitutionally obliged to provide all inmates with state funded medical care. It is argued that the normal stresses of pregnancy the anxiety attendant upon bearing an unwanted child eventually losing custody of it and further stresses contributed by the prison system itself including limited prenatal care high starch-low protein diet and isolation from family and other support services justify the classification of an inmates abortion as a serious medical need. No alternate treatment exists and the period of time during which treatment is possible is limited. It is further argued that the inmates fundamental right to abortion cannot be restricted by denying state funding without violating equal protection of the law.
Placing the Sun and Mainstream SiC Particles in Galactic Chemodynamic Evolution

This work continues to seek a possible paradigm for the existence of the mainstream of presolar SiC particles having 29Si/28Si and 30Si/28Si isotopic ratios larger than those found in solar material. The isotopic trend of the mainstream SiC presolar particles extracted from the meteorites and the isotopic composition of the Sun are both interpreted within a framework of Galactic evolution in which the stars diffuse substantial distances but the interstellar gas remains homogeneous at each value of Galactocentric radius. Viewed from the radial position of solar birth, which lies outside the bulk of the molecular-cloud scattering centers, the presolar cloud (having solar composition) picks up asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star dust from AGB carbon stars that were primarily more metal-rich when they were born but have overwhelmingly diffused outward to reach the solar birthplace instead of diffusing inward. This would solve the fundamental problem facing any satisfactory paradigm, namely, the metal-richness of the presolar carbon stars in the solar-birth neighborhood. Other aspects of the mainstream characteristics are also commented on in this model.
Attraction and repulsion of nucleons: Sources of stellar energy

The potential energy of a nuclide is enhanced by about 10 MeV per nucleon from the repulsion between like nucleons, and diminished by about 20 MeV per nucleon from the attraction between unlike nucleons. Nuclear stability results mostly from the interplay of these opposing forces, plus Coulomb repulsion of positive charges. Whereas fusion may be the primary mechanism by which first generation stars produce energy, repulsion between like nucleons may cause neutron emission from the collapsed core (neutron star) produced in a terminal supernova explosion and initiate luminosity in second generation stars that accrete on such objects. As noted earlier [1], the scarcity of solar neutrinos, the enrichment of light isotopes in the solar wind, and the presence of abundant short-lived nuclides and interlinked chemical and isotopic heterogeneities in the early solar system might also be explained if the Sun formed in this manner.
Comparison of the mutagenicity and mutagen specificity of ethylenimine with triethylenemelamine in the ad-3 region of heterokaryon 12 of Neurospora crassa

Abstract Studies have been performed to compare the mutagenicity and mutagenic specificity of the trifunctional alkylating agent, triethylenemelamine (TEM), and a closely related monofunctional agent, ethylenimine (EI), in the adenine-3 ( ad-3 ) region of a 2-component heterokaryon (H-12) of Neurospora crassa . The primary objective of our studies was to characterize the genetic damage produced by each agent with regard to (1) mutagenic potency, and (2) the spectrum of specific-locus mutations induced in a lower eukaryotic organism. As in higher eukaryotes, specific-locus mutations in the ad-3 region of H-12 result from gene/point mutations, multilocus deletion mutations, and multiple-locus mutations. Specific-locus mutations resulting from gene/point mutation and multilocus deletion mutation can be detected in higher eukaryotes, but multiple-locus mutations can be detected only with difficultly or not at all. Our experiments with the ad-3 forward-mutation assay have demonstrated that TEM is a strong mutagen (maximum forward-mutation frequency between 100 and 1000 ad-3 mutations per 10 6 survivors) and EI is a moderate mutagen (maximum forward-mutation frequency between 10 and 100 ad-3 mutations per 10 6 survivors) for the induction of specific-locus mutations in the ad-3 region. Classical genetic tests were used to identify the different genotypic classes and subclasses among the EI- and TEM-induced ad-3 mutations from each experiment. The overall data base demonstrates that both EI- and TEM-induced ad-3 mutations result predominantly from gene/point mutations at the ad-3A and ad-3B loci (97.3% and 95.5%, respectively), and infrequently from multilocus deletion mutations (2.7% and 4.5%, respectively). Heterokaryon tests for allelic complementation on TEM- and EI-induced ad-3B mutations, however, have revealed a difference between the percentages showing allelic complementation (63.1% and 40.9%, respectively). Based on the specific revertibility of complementing and noncomplementing ad-3B mutations induced by other agents, this difference in the percentages of ad-3B mutations showing allelic complementation results from a difference between the spectrum of genetic alterations at the molecular level. In addition, comparison of the ratio of TEM-induced ad-3A and ad-3B mutations with those induced by EI has revealed a difference between the ad-3B ad-3A ratios. Additional comparisons are made of the mutagenic effects of TEM and EI with those of other chemical mutagens and carcinogens in the ad-3 specific-locus assay in Neurospora.
Synaptic Inputs to ON Parasol Ganglion Cells in the Primate Retina

In primates, the retinal ganglion cells that project to the magnocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus have distinctive responses to light, and one of these has been identified morphologically as the parasol ganglion cell. To investigate their synaptic connections, we injected parasol cells with Neurobiotin in lightly fixed baboon retinas. The five ON-center cells we analyzed by electron microscopy received approximately 20% of their input from bipolar cells. The major synaptic input to parasol cells was from amacrine cells via conventional synapses and, in this respect, they resembled alpha ganglion cells of the cat retina. We also found the gap junctions between amacrine cells and parasol ganglion cells that had been predicted from tracer-coupling experiments. To identify the presynaptic amacrine cells, ON-center parasol cells were injected with Neurobiotin and Lucifer yellow in living macaque retinas, which were then fixed and labeled by immunofluorescence. Two kinds of amacrine cells were filled with Neurobiotin via gap junctions: a large, polyaxonal cell containing cholecystokinin and a smaller one without cholecystokinin. There were also appositions between cholecystokinin-containing amacrine cell processes and parasol cell dendrites. Cholinergic amacrine cell processes often followed parasol cell dendrites and made extensive contacts. In other mammals, the light responses of polyaxonal amacrine cells like these and cholinergic amacrine cells have been recorded, and the effects of acetylcholine and cholecystokinin on ganglion cells are known. Using this information, we developed a model of parasol cells that accounts for some properties of their light responses.
Strong Lg wave attenuation in the Northern and Eastern Tibetan Plateau measured by a two-station/two-event stacking method

[1] The regional seismic phase, Lg, which involves shear wave reverberations in the crust, is strongly attenuated along propagation paths in northern and eastern Tibet. Robust estimates of the attenuation quality factor, QLg, in these regions are obtained using a two-station, two-event stacking method for broadband, vertical component Lg data in the passband 0.2–1.0 Hz. We find average 1 Hz QLg values, Qo, of 79 ± 4 in northern central Tibet and 119 ± 17 in eastern Tibet for the 0.2–0.5 Hz passband. Localized regions of eastern Tibet have Qo estimates ranging from 66 to 121. These results confirm and augment the spatial coverage of recent estimates of low Qo values in north central and south central Tibet, and support the notion of widespread partial melting of the crust throughout the Plateau.
Chemical activation of group I and II muscle afferents has no cardiorespiratory effects

Although stimulation of group III and IV muscle afferents is known to cause reflex changes in cardiorespiratory function, it has not been resolved whether group I and II afferents contribute to thi...
Driven quantum tunneling

A contemporary review on the behavior of driven tunneling in quantum systems is presented. Diverse phenomena, such as control of tunneling, higher harmonic generation, manipulation of the population dynamics and the interplay between the driven tunneling dynamics and dissipative effects are discussed. In the presence of strong driving fields or ultrafast processes, well-established approximations such as perturbation theory or the rotating wave approximation have to be abandoned. A variety of tools suitable for tackling the quantum dynamics of explicitly time-dependent Schrodinger equations are introduced. On the other hand, a real-time path integral approach to the dynamics of a tunneling particle embedded in a thermal environment turns out to be a powerful method to treat in a rigorous and systematic way the combined effects of dissipation and driving. A selection of applications taken from the fields of chemistry and physics are discussed, that relate to the control of chemical dynamics and quantum transport processes, and which all involve driven tunneling events.
From fish to mouse: Clifford Grobstein's work at the National Cancer Institute, 1951–1957

Laboratory of Developmental Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison,Wisconsin 53706Between the years 1951 and 1957 CliffordGrobstein (1916–1998) produced a series of in-cisive papers that contributed signiﬁcantly to ourunderstanding of the exquisite interplay of tissuesduring embryonic development.He began his work as a graduate student,studying tissue interactions in the developmentof ﬁsh ﬁns. After an interlude of military servicehe moved to the National Cancer Institute.Surrounded as he was by mouse geneticists suchas Walter Heston, tissue culture pioneers likeWilton Earle, and cancer biologists such as GlennAlgire, he rapidly converted from ﬁsh to mouseembryology.There followed a battery of seminal studies onthe intricate tissue interrelationships underlyingthe development of the early post-implantationmouse embryo, the differentiation of the subman-dibular gland, the elaboration of cartilage fromsomites surrounding the spinal cord and, espe-cially, the complex interplay characterizing thedevelopment of the mouse metanephric rudiment.The Journal of Experimental Zoology paperselected for recognition in this issue was one ofthe key publications of this productive period atthe National Cancer Institute.
D-brane gauge theory and toric singularities

We develop a general algorithm, based on the standard method of partial resolution of Abelian orbifolds, to extract a consistent set of gauge theory data for an arbitrary toric variety whose singularity a D-brane probes. The discussions are based on the work: "D-Brane Gauge Theories from Toric Singularities and Toric Duality (hep-th/0003085)" with collaborators B. Feng and A. Hanany.
Primary large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the vagina: Cytomorphology of previously unreported case

Squamous carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the vagina. Other malignancies include adenocarcinoma, melanoma, lymphoma, and very rarely, neuroendocrine carcinoma/small-cell carcinoma. Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) has not been reported in this location. In this report, we describe a case of LCNEC of the vagina, which is believed to be the first case to date in the English literature. The patient is a 53-year old gravida 3, para 2, African-American woman who had a 4 month history of severe pelvic pain and difficulty voiding and was found to have a firm plate-like mass on the anterior vaginal wall. Thin prep of vaginal swap was interpreted as atypical glandular cells; however, the biopsies showed a large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma which was confirmed by diffuse strong immunoreactivity to AE1/3, CAM5.2, CK7, and CD56 in the tumor cells. Subsequent clinical workup showed that the patient also had numerous metastatic nodules in the bilateral lungs and a vaginal-urethral fistula caused by the tumor. The patient underwent palliative radiation of pelvis for local pain control and then chemotherapy. Although the vaginal tumor increased in size even after radiation, her symptoms were under control and she was doing well for a short period of time. The patient is still alive but developed brain metastasis a year later after initial diagnosis. Despite its rarity, large cell neuroendocrine cell carcinoma should be included in the differential diagnosis when cytomorphology shows features suggestive of neuroendocrine differentiation. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2010;38:925–928. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
On the mechanisms of silicon atom abstraction reactions

Abstract A set of experiment were designed to verify that recoil 31Si atoms abstracts H and F atoms via a stepwise mechanism instead of a simulatenous mechanism to give silylenes suh as 31SiH2, 31SiHF and 31SiF2. In addition, a novel compound 1-flourosilacyclopent-3-ene, was synthesized
Radium regionalization in California

The amount of {sup 222}Rn that enters a house depends to a large extent on the concentration of radon's parent, {sup 226}Ra in the soil. With the assumption that radium is in radioactive equilibrium with its ultimate parent, {sup 238}U, the authors used the National Aerial Radiometric Reconnaissance (NARR) data and a database covering the concentration and distribution of uranium in California rocks to estimate the regional distribution of radium. A north-to-south increase in radium occurs between 42{degree} and 36{degree}N, then radium decreases southward. This pattern is explained by the distribution of rock types. The overall mean radium concentrations estimated from the aeroradiometric and lithologic data are similar, but there is a significant discrepancy between aeroradiometric and lithologic-estimated radium in central California. Ground measurements suggest that the radium values from aeroradiometric measurements that the radium values from aeroradiometric measurements there are erroneously high, pointing out the necessity of verifying aeroradiometrically-determined data before they are used to help predict radon production.
The influence of low temperatures on activities of starch degradative enzymes in a cold-requiring plant

Summary An increase in the activities of α-amylase, β-amylase and glucan phosphorylase was observed in roots of Verbascum thapsus when plants were subjected to low temperatures. Both amylases showed their greatest activities at 15°C, whereas the phosphorylase enzyme had its greatest activity at 10°C. α-Amylase and phosphorylase showed another increase in activities when plants commenced growing at higher temperatures after a long exposure to 4°C. β-Amylase in the root does not appear to be directly related to the growth of the shoot system following vernalization.
Positive parenting during childhood moderates the impact of recent negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

Early parental loss has been associated with neuroendocrine dysregulation in youth; however, the form of cortisol dysregulation varies widely. Identifying risk and protective factors that influence physiological regulation has important implications for understanding the development of mental health problems in parentally bereaved youth. The current study investigated the prospective effects of positive parenting on the relation between recent negative life events and cortisol activity in adolescents/young adults several years after bereavement. Positive parenting was assessed an average of 18.5 months following parental death. Six years later, adolescents/young adults (N = 55) reported on exposure to recent negative life events, and salivary cortisol was assessed before and after a conflict discussion task with their caregiver. The interaction between positive parenting and exposure to recent negative events was used to predict total cortisol output and response to the task. Multilevel modeling and the probing of the interaction effect demonstrated that total cortisol output increased with greater exposure to recent negative events among those with lower levels of past positive parenting. These relations were significant over and above current internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The current results highlight the need to consider the interactive influence of proximal and distal factors on neuroendocrine functioning for youth exposed to early parental loss.
Graft‐versus‐host disease: Possible higher risk for African American patients

BACKGROUND Race is not generally recognized as a factor in the severity or incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. The impression that African American patients had more frequent and severe GVHD prompted this retrospective survey. METHODS The records of 75 consecutive patients treated with a human leukocyte antigen-identical sibling bone marrow transplant from 1985 to 1993 were reviewed. GVHD prophylaxis uniformly employed cyclosporine and steroids. Treatment of GVHD included cyclosporine and high dose steroids in all cases. Antithymocyte globulin and other immunosuppressants were used in severe cases. RESULTS Of 75 patients, 56 (75%) were white, 11 (15%) were listed as “Hispanic”, 7 (9%) were African Americans, and 1 was of Far-Eastern origin. Four of the African American patients had chronic myelogenous leukemia and 2 had acute leukemia, whereas 21 of the other 68 patients (31%) had chronic myelogenous leukemia, 31 (46%) had acute leukemia, and the remainder (33%) had miscellaneous hematologic malignancies. Transplants from a female donor to a male recipient were performed in 2 of 7 African Americans and 19 of 68 patients (28%) of other origins. Five of the 6 evaluable African American patients (83%; 95% confidence interval, 36–100%) had Grade 4 GVHD, as opposed to 5 of 61 patients of other racial origins (8%; 95% confidence interval, 3–18%). All African American patients died within 90 days of transplant. CONCLUSIONS Patients of African American origin possibly have a greater risk of GVHD. Cancer 1996;78:1492-7.
Effect of Sample Aging on the Accuracy of the International Energy Agency's Tar Measurement Protocol

The Working Group of the Biomass Gasification Task of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy Agreement has developed a protocol for sampling and analysis of tar and particulates from biomass gasifiers, which is commonly accepted as a standard for reliable measurement of tar in producer gas. The methodology is dependent upon dissolving tar in a solvent for subsequent recovery by evaporation or distillation. This paper investigates whether storage of the tar/solvent sample prior to analysis affects the accuracy of the tar measurement. On the basis of the results of this study, we recommend that samples be analyzed within a few hours of collection and never be stored longer than 24 h.
Vascular events in viral hemorrhagic fevers: a comparative study of dengue and hantaviruses

Viral hemorrhagic diseases are a group of systemic viral infections with worldwide distribution and are significant causes of global mortality and morbidity. The hallmarks of viral hemorrhagic fevers are plasma leakage, thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy and hemorrhagic manifestations. The molecular mechanisms leading to plasma leakage in viral hemorrhagic fevers are not well understood. A common theme has emerged in which a complex interplay between pathogens, host immune response, and endothelial cells leads to the activation of endothelial cells and perturbation of barrier integrity. In this article, two clinically distinct viral hemorrhagic fevers caused by dengue viruses and hantaviruses are discussed to highlight their similarities and differences that may provide insights into the pathogenesis and therapeutic approach.
WINTER HULLESS BARLEY RESPONSE TO NITROGEN RATE AND TIMING AND FOLIAR PHOSPHORUS

Hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is higher in energy density and protein than hulled barley but management recommendations for this new crop are lacking. Intensively managed hulled barley receives two spring nitrogen (N) applications. How this will affect winter hulless barley yield and protein is unknown. ‘Doyce’ hulless barley was planted following corn (Zea mays L.) at seven site-years in the Coastal Plain of Virginia from 2005 to 2007. Spring N was applied as urea ammonium nitrate (UAN, 30% N) in an incomplete factorial of treatments at Zadoks growth stage (GS) 25 and 30 broadcast at rates of 0, 45, 67, and 89 kg N ha−1. Six kg ha−1 of phosphorus (P) was foliar applied at GS 30 to treatments receiving 45:45 (45 kg N ha−1 at GS 25 and 45 kg N ha−1 at GS 30) and 45:67 N splits. Additionally, 34 kg N ha−1 as UAN was applied at GS 45 to treatments previously receiving either 45:45 or 45:67. Grain test weight increased with increasing N rate verifying that high spring N rates can be applied without nega...
Decline of isometric force and fatigue resistance in skeletal muscles from spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Abstract Skeletal muscles from 6- to 7-month-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats showed a decrease in functional capacity compared with muscles from age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats. Predominantly slow-twitch, oxidative soleus muscles developed less force (normalized to muscle wet weight) and were less resistant to fatigue. Heterogeneous, but largely fast-twitch, oxidative-glycolytic medial gastrocnemius muscles generated less force, were smaller in size (normalized to body weight), and did not demonstrate the same degree of stimulation-associated potentiation (staircase effect) as did the medial gastrocnemius of the normotensive rats. The reduced endurance of the soleus of hypertensive rats was no associated with either fiber redifferentiation or capillary “rarification”, and the majority of the decline in force with time could not be attributed to impaired neuromuscular transmission. The decrease in muscle capacity in the spontaneously hypertensive rat, thus, appears to be the result of adaptive changes localized in the muscle cells themselves. The adaptive changes, regardless of site, have a pronounced negative effect on muscle function, and could significantly influence motor performance and antihypertensive therapy.
Acquisition of the ts phenotype by a chemically mutagenized cold-passaged human respiratory syncytial virus vaccine candidate results from the acquisition of a single mutation in the polymerase (L) gene

A cold-passaged (cp) temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant of human respiratory syncytial virus designated RSV cpts-248 was previously derived by random chemical mutagenesis of the non-ts mutant cp-RSV that possesses one or more host range mutations. We previously demonstrated in rodents and seronegative chimpanzees that the cpts-248 virus is more attenuated than cp-RSV and is more stable genetically than previously isolated RSV ts mutants. In the present study, we determined that the acquisition of the ts phenotype and the increased attenuation of the cpts-248 virus are associated with a single nucleotide substitution at nucleotide 10,989 that results in a change in the coding region (amino acid position 831) of the polymerase gene. The identification of this attenuating ts mutation is important because cpts-248 was used as the parent virus for the generation of a number of further attenuated mutants that are currently being evaluated as candidate vaccine strains in clinical trials in infants. Furthermore, technology now exists to rationally design new vaccine candidates by incorporating multiple attenuating mutations, such as the one identified here, into infectious viruses that are genetically stable and appropriately attenuated.
Persuasion Wars: Practicing social influence

This article describes a series of learning activities called “Persuasion Wars.” These in‐class exercises use an active, collaborative learning approach in which student teams fight persuasion battles, using the “weaponry” provided by the lecture and readings. Each battle is waged in a different task domain to provide practice in the wide range of situations in which students might use or encounter social influence. Student feedback via course evaluations and an Internet survey indicate that this learning tool is both enjoyable and enhances understanding of the material.
Altered serotonin physiology in human breast cancers favors paradoxical growth and cell survival

Introduction The breast microenvironment can either retard or accelerate the events associated with progression of latent cancers. However, the actions of local physiological mediators in the context of breast cancers are poorly understood. Serotonin (5-HT) is a critical local regulator of epithelial homeostasis in the breast and other organs. Herein, we report complex alterations in the intrinsic mammary gland serotonin system of human breast cancers.
Inappropriate Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Therapy

Although improvements in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy have taken place, many challenges do remain. Inappropriate delivery of therapy is a big problem that impacts the quality of life of ICD recipients. Although there is now a clear understanding that atrial arrhythmias are the main cause of inappropriate ICD therapies, physicians have not been very successful in preventing them. Additionally, although many tachycardia detection discriminators have been shown to be helpful, it is not clear that there is a particular combination that is ideal for all patients. Until such an algorithm is developed (which may not be possible), a detailed knowledge and use of all available programming options, guided by special characteristics of each unique patient, are the only foreseeable solutions. Finally, one must face the prospect that this problem cannot be vanquished, but only ameliorated.
Placenta growth factor augments endothelin-1 and endothelin-B receptor expression via hypoxia-inducible factor-1α

Pulmonary hypertension (PHT) develops in sickle cell disease (SCD) and is associated with high mortality. We previously showed that erythroid cells produce placenta growth factor (PlGF), which activates monocytes to induce proinflammatory cytochemokines, contributing to the baseline inflammation and severity in SCD. In this study, we observed that PlGF increased expression of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and endothelin-B receptor (ET-BR) from human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMVECs) and monocytes, respectively. PlGF-mediated ET-1 and ET-BR expression occurred via activation of PI-3 kinase, reactive oxygen species and hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). PlGF increased binding of HIF-1α to the ET-1 and ET-BR promoters; this effect was abrogated with mutation of hypoxia response elements in the promoter regions and HIF-1α siRNA and confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. Furthermore, PlGF-mediated ET-1 release from HPMVECs and ET-BR expression in monocytes creates a PlGF–ET-1–ET-BR loop, leading to increased expression of MCP-1 and IL-8. Our studies show that PlGF-induced expression of the potent vasoconstrictor ET-1 and its cognate ET-BR receptor occur via activation of HIF-1α, independent of hypoxia. PlGF levels are intrinsically elevated from the increased red cell turnover in SCD and in other chronic anemia (eg, thalassemia) and may contribute to inflammation and PHT seen in these diseases.
Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 encodes a second PML-modifying protein

The ORF75c tegument protein of murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) promotes the degradation of the antiviral promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein. Surprisingly, MHV68 expressing a degradation-deficient ORF75c replicated in cell culture and in mice similar to the wild-type virus. However, in cells infected with this mutant virus, PML formed novel track-like structures that are induced by ORF61, the viral ribonucleotide reductase large subunit. These findings may explain why ORF75c mutant viruses unable to degrade PML had no demonstrable phenotype after infection.
Dynamics and Control of Diseases in Networks with Community Structure

The dynamics of infectious diseases spread via direct person-to-person transmission (such as influenza, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, etc.) depends on the underlying host contact network. Human contact networks exhibit strong community structure. Understanding how such community structure affects epidemics may provide insights for preventing the spread of disease between communities by changing the structure of the contact network through pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical interventions. We use empirical and simulated networks to investigate the spread of disease in networks with community structure. We find that community structure has a major impact on disease dynamics, and we show that in networks with strong community structure, immunization interventions targeted at individuals bridging communities are more effective than those simply targeting highly connected individuals. Because the structure of relevant contact networks is generally not known, and vaccine supply is often limited, there is great need for efficient vaccination algorithms that do not require full knowledge of the network. We developed an algorithm that acts only on locally available network information and is able to quickly identify targets for successful immunization intervention. The algorithm generally outperforms existing algorithms when vaccine supply is limited, particularly in networks with strong community structure. Understanding the spread of infectious diseases and designing optimal control strategies is a major goal of public health. Social networks show marked patterns of community structure, and our results, based on empirical and simulated data, demonstrate that community structure strongly affects disease dynamics. These results have implications for the design of control strategies.
Training evaluators: Unique skills and knowledge

The skills and knowledge that evaluators need include those borrowed from other disciplines as well as those unique to the field of evaluation. Inclusion of multiple perspectives in evaluator training can help to develop the field and improve the practice of evaluation.
Export flux of particulate organic carbon from the central equatorial Pacific determined using a combined drifting trap-234Th approach

The export flux of particulate organic carbon from the euphotic zone in the central equatorial Pacific was measured using an approach that utilizes 234Th and organic carbon analyses on water column and drifting sediment trap samples. This study was conducted as part of the U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (U.S. JGOFS) EqPac process study from 12°N to 12°S at 140°W. Samples were collected during the Survey I (February–March 1992) and Survey II (August–September 1992) cruises. The accuracy of drifting sediment traps was evaluated by comparing the measured flux of 234Th with the flux calculated from the deficiency of 234Th relative to 238U in the water column. Calculated 234Th fluxes were corrected for the effects of horizontal and vertical advection. The uncertainties on these 234Th fluxes averaged 39% for Survey I and 20% for Survey II. Comparison of measured and calculated 234Th fluxes revealed evidence for overtrapping, especially in the shallow traps (≤ 100 m). Measured and calculated 234Th fluxes agreed to within 50% for traps at 150–250 m. Good correlation was obtained between measured fluxes of organic carbon and 234Th except for some shallow samples high in organic carbon, suggesting that 234Th was a good tracer for organic carbon. The flux of particulate organic carbon (POC) was calculated as the product of the calculated flux of 234Th times the organic carbon/234Th ratio in trap samples. Assuming that the organic carbon/234Th ratio in trap samples was representative of sinking particles, we used an average value for the organic carbon/234Th ratio for each station. The variability in the station-averaged POC/234Th ratio ranged from 10% to 30%. The POC fluxes calculated using our combined 234Th-trap approach ranged from 1 to 6 mmol C m−2 day−1 during Survey I, and from 2 to 30 mmol C m−2 day−1 during Survey II. The average uncertainty for the POC fluxes was ±60%. Primary and new production integrated to the depth of the 0.1 % light level varied by factors of 2–3 for Survey I and Survey II, respectively. The export of particulate organic carbon from the euphotic zone also increased by a factor of 3. The corresponding e-ratios (POC export/primary production) ranged from 0.03 to 0.11 for Survey I, and 0.04 to 0.23 for Survey II. Annual average regional rates (10°N–10°S; 90°W–180°E) of new (0.47 Gt C year−1) and particulate export (0.42 Gt C year−1) production were in good agreement, suggesting that, on an annual basis, significant export of DOC need not be invoked to balance new and export production in this region.
Extracellular space in frozen and ethanol substituted central nervous tissue.

Cerebellar and cerebral cortices were frozen under various conditions; within 30 seconds of circulatory arrest, after eight minutes of asphyxiation, after ten minutes of perfusion with glutaraldehyde and after perfusion with this fixative and osmium tetroxide postfixation. Ethanol was used as the solvent in freeze substitution of these tissues. The resulting EMs closely resembled those of similar material freeze substituted in acetone. There were no differences in extracellular space even though differences have been reported between the space in EMs of conventionally fixed material dehydrated with ethanol or acetone.
Misperceptions regarding influenza vaccine safety for individuals with chronic medical illness.

Abstract Background. Influenza immunization is recommended for adults ≥ 50 years, healthy children 6–59 months and individuals with a chronic medical condition. Objectives. To compare respondents' perceptions of safety of immunization for children and adults both with and without chronic medical conditions. Methods. We surveyed parents of 828 randomly selected healthy children aged 6–21 months of age from 5 pediatric practices in Denver, Colorado between August and October of 2003. Results. The survey response rate was 57% ( n = 472). Although 65% of parents thought influenza immunization was safe for healthy 1 year olds, only 40% considered it safe for 1 year olds with a chronic condition. Similarly, 86% judged it safe in healthy 70 year olds versus 50% in 70 year olds with a chronic condition. Conclusions. Educational efforts to encourage influenza immunization in individuals with chronic illnesses should highlight the message that a chronic medical condition is an indication for immunization and does not confer additional risk of complications from vaccination. Further research is needed to confirm and better understand the observed perception of vulnerability to adverse events of vaccines in those with chronic illness.
Suicide prevention center outreach: callers and noncallers compared.

Summary.-Two suicidal groups receiving mental health treatment, 46 clients who had called a suicide and crisis service and 29 clients who were not known to the service and represented a sample of the greater suicidal population-at-risk, were compared on selected demographic and clinical information located in their psychiatric folders. Three scales, the Suicide Death Prediction Scale, the Suicide Prevention Center Assessment of Suicide Potential Scale, and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, were applied retrospectively to this information. The results indicated that the two groups did not differ demographically, but callers had significantly lower scores on both the Social Readjustment Rating Scale and the Suicide Potential Scale. Also, significantly fewer callers received psychiatric hospitalization. The findings suggest that the callers represented a sample of somewhat lower suicide risk. A number of studies have compared the characteristics of the population which utilizes suicide prevention services with chose of completed suicides (e.g., Litman, 1970; Wold, 1973). One common interpretation of the findings is that these services are not for the most part in contact with the population of individuals who eventually kill themselves (Hitchcock & Wolford, 1970). However, evaluation studies concerned solely with completed suicides ignore a very large population of depressed and suicidal persons, who are part of the greater population-at-risk, that is, as Motto (1971) describes, "those persons whose emotional states approach incapacitating despair, including those who have considered or made a suicide attempt." In an inpatient sample of depressed or suicidal individuals, Motto (1971) found that 11% of the patients had utilized suicide prevention center services. The purpose of this study was to extend the focus toward the larger populaiton-at-risk and to explore the characteristics which may differentiate those individuals who utilize the suicide prevention service from those who do not. In this study, suicide prevention callers who had been treated by the county mental health system within three and one-half months of their contact were compared with a treated group of noncallers. The noncalling suicidal population was identified through their contact with another form of outreach service, the county mobile emergency services unit. Such a comparison of the suicidal users of two different types of outreach services, one targeted toward
Characteristics of rapid cycling bipolar-I patients in a bipolar speciality clinic

Abstract Objective: To investigate the characteristics of patients with rapid cycling bipolar illness. Method: The charts of bipolar patients treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital Bipolar Clinic were reviewed for age of the first affective episode, demographics and history of rapid cycling. Results: Data from 223 bipolar-I–II patients, of whom 11.7% were bipolar-II, were obtained, and only the data from 197 bipolar-I patients were analyzed. Forty-three percent of them had a positive history of rapid cycling. Rapid cycling was more common in women, with rapid cycling females having an earlier age of onset than non-rapid cycling bipolar-I females. No such association was found in bipolar-I males. In addition, with respect to current age, rapid cyclers were younger than non-rapid cyclers in bipolar-I females. No association was found for duration of illness. Conclusions: Women with bipolar-I illness have an increased probability of rapid cycling, which may still be increased in those with an early onset. Therefore, biological factors, such as sex and age onset, appear to be relevant to the physiology of rapid cycling. The retrospective design and the selected population of bipolar-I patients from an academic tertiary-referral center may limit the generalizability of our results.
Plane-wave quantization for polygonal billiards

There is theoretical evidence indicating that generic polygons do not admit eigenfunctions that are superpositions of plane waves. However, we find that a plane-wave quantization for a family of polygonal billiards gives results in very good agreement with theoretical predictions. Indeed the fraction of missing states decreases as the number of sides is increased. We provide a resolution of this contradiction: While theory says that no plane-wave eigenfunctions are possible for polygonal boundaries, it is not applicable to the curvilinear boundaries approximating these polygons. This is analogous to the classical mechanics of polygonal billiards, where according to continuum mathematics there is no chaos, yet discrete mathematics finds it. In the quantum treatment considered here, according to continuum mathematics there can be no plane-wave eigenfunctions, yet discrete mathematics finds them.
StratOSphere: unification of code, data, location, scope, and mobility

The StratOSphere system provides a framework for distributed objects written in Java, unifying mobile code and distributed programming systems by providing the basic entities: relocatable instances and methods, persistent repositories, and mobile execution state. Each StratOSphere host provides a repository to store object instances and methods in a persistent manner The repository is partitioned among different hosts, to distribute the storage of objects, and to provide different implementations of an object specification among particular hosts. Client applications visit relevant repositories to acquire specialized behavior from methods stored within the repository. At run-time these entities can be accessed and dispatched, providing a means of invoking an operation in a dynamic fashion, while still ensuring type safety and correctness. In addition to unifying externally-defined methods with compiled objects, and providing location transparency through mobility, StratOSphere further unifies different versions of an object, permitting successive implementations to coexist within the system. We discuss the architecture and implementation of StratOSphere, describing how the goals of unifying different aspects of distributed computing have influenced its design.
Annealed AuGe based ohmic contacts on InP with ion milling prior to metallization

Silicon oxides deposited by remote plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (Remote PECVD) can be grown under conditions which produce hydrogen-free SiO2, and under conditions which promote the incorporation of bonded-hydrogen in either SiH or SiOH groups, but generally not in both. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the deposition conditions leading to OH incorporation, and other post-deposition pathway(s) by which OH can also be incorporated. Two ways by which OH can be incorporated into the oxides are by: (i)intrinsic pathways which are associated with the heterogeneous chemical reactions responsible for film growth; and (ii)extrinsic pathways which refer to incorporation after film deposition stops. The results of our experiments to date show no evidence to support the intrinsic process; all of the infrared (ir) detectable OH is shown to derive from post-deposition or extrinsic sources. We have found two distinct post-deposition sources, one from the deposition chamber ambient during cool-down and one from atmospheric moisture. Each of these sources has a particular spectroscopic signature. We show that OH incorporated from atmospheric moisture occurs as spatially correlated near-neighbor Si-OH groups, whereas OH groups incorporated in the deposition chamber ambient are randomly distributed in the SiO2 host material.
Calcium transport and related functions in the chorioallantoic membrane of cultured shell-less chick embryos.

Abstract In order to investigate the influence of the egg shell on the process of shell calcium mobilization by the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), chick embryos were maintained in long-term cultures in vitro without the shells. The shell-less embryos were severely calcium deficient and showed signs of retarded development and anomalous skeletal calcification. Throughout development, calcium transport and calcium-binding protein (CaBP) activities were diminished in the CAM of shell-less embryos as compared to those of control embryos which developed in ovo . The levels of developmentally expressed carbonic anhydrase activity remained, however, similar. By means of a single radial immunodiffusion assay of CaBP using a specific anti-CaBP antiserum, the level of immunoreactive CaBP was found to be significantly increased in the CAM of the shell-less embryos. These studies indicate that the CAM of chick embryos cultured under shell-less conditions is defective in calcium transport, probably as a result of the expression of an inactive form of the CaBP.
Optimal Fiscal Policy in an Economy Facing Sociopolitical Instability

The paper presents a model of optimal government policy when policy choices may exacerbate sociopolitical instability (SPI). The authors show that optimal policy that takes into account SPI transforms a standard concave growth model into a model with both a poverty trap and endogenous growth. The resulting equilibrium dynamics inherit the properties of government policies and need not be monotone. Indeed, for a broad set of conditions, government policy is unable to eliminate the poverty trap; when these conditions do not hold, “most” countries eventually reach a balanced growth path. The predictions of the model are tested by developing three new measures of SPI for a panel of 58 countries. Estimating optimal policies and the growth equation derived from the model reveals strong support for the theory.
Electronic Submission of Periodic Reports

The US Food and Drug Administration has expanded its use of computers for the storage and analysis of adverse reaction reports and other postmarketing drug safety data. This article describes how the FDA uses this new technology to facilitate the entry processing and retrieval of periodic adverse drug reaction reports. The article briefly reviews some of the manufacturers' reporting requirements, describes the components of a periodic report, including the concept of electronic submission of data, and describes a PC-based FDA 1639 form data entry and retrieval system.