cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biomonitoring of perfluorochemicals in plasma of New York State personnel responding to the World Trade Center disaster.

The collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11, 2001 resulted in the release of several airborne pollutants in and around the site. Perfluorochemicals including perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which are used in soil- and stain-resistant coatings on upholstery, carpets, leather, floor waxes, polishes, and in fire-fighting foams were potentially released during the collapse of the WTC. In this pilot study, we analyzed 458 plasma samples of New York State (NYS) employees and National Guard personnel assigned to work in the vicinity of the WTC between September 11 and December 23, 2001, to assess exposure to perfluorochemicals released in dust and smoke. The plasma samples collected from NYS WTC responders were grouped based on estimated levels of exposure to dust and smoke, as follows: more dust exposure (MDE), less dust exposure (LDE), more smoke exposure (MSE), and less smoke exposure (LSE). Furthermore, samples were grouped, based on self-reported symptoms ...
Therapeutic positioning, wheelchair seating, and pulmonary function of children with cerebral palsy: a research synthesis.

This review analyzed research literature concerning pulmonary function and positioning of persons with cerebral palsy (CP) who lack trunk control. The search reviewed iterature publishedl from 1966 through March 2003. Twenty-eight references located by electronic database search were analyzed using Moody's Research Analysis Tool. All reflected either a physiologic or therapy-based model involving function in activities of daily living, but no health outcomes. One reference applied a nursing model to care of developmentally disabled persons, including those with CP. Existing research gaps include the need for human subjects, larger sample sizes, measurement of influence of gravity on body position, greater precision in describing independent variables of positioning, and participation by children with disabilities. This paper proposes a conceptual model using Orem's self-care theory upon which to base nursing interventions, including therapeutic positioning of persons with CP who lack trunk control. Future nursing research should explore health outcomes of various properties of wheelchair positioning.
The Relationships of Participation in Goal-Setting and Decision-Making With Subordinate Attitudes and Perceptions

In an organization having several years' experience with an MBO system, 135 managers' attitudes and perceptions were collected via questionnaire. Job attitudes, perceptions of the superior, attitudes toward the objective system, and perceived organizational support were analyzed with respect to perceived influence in goal-setting and relationships to perceived influence in routine decision making. Different relationships were found for the different types of influence (participation). It was concluded that participation must be viewed as multifaceted.
Representations Don't Need Rules: Reply to lames Garson

Les AA. rappellent les arguments de Garson contre leur compromis connexionniste et justifient leur desir de donner une theorie des representations mentales qui refuse l'existence de regles semblables a celles d'un ordinateur pour le cerveau
The Role of Racial Identity Constancy on Children's Perceptions

Summary Cognitive developmental theory suggests that young children are egocentric and lack an objective view of reality. Thus, they typically report what they see as being real. This study examined young children's beliefs about the race of the “real” Santa Claus. Twenty-four children were questioned about his race prior to and immediately following a visit by a black Santa. Results indicated that significantly more children who prior to the visit identified the “real” Santa Claus as white said after the visit that the “real” Santa was black. The results support the view held by Piaget and others regarding the young child's unique and variable perception of reality.
Efficiently selecting spatially distributed keypoints for visual tracking

We describe an algorithm dubbed Suppression via Disk Covering (SDC) to efficiently select a set of strong, spatially distributed key-points, and we show that selecting keypoint in this way significantly improves visual tracking. We also describe two efficient implementation schemes for the popular Adaptive Non-Maximal Suppression algorithm, and show empirically that SDC is significantly faster while providing the same improvements with respect to tracking robustness. In our particular application, using SDC to filter the output of an inexpensive (but, by itself, less reliable) keypoint detector (FAST) results in higher tracking robustness at significantly lower total cost than using a computationally more expensive detector.
On a New Argument from Actualism to Serious Actualism

I shall call the claim that Actualism entails Serious Actualism the Entailment Thesis, (ET). Several philosophers have followed Alvin Plantinga in endorsing and defending (ET), while other philosophers such as Kit Fine, John Pollock, and Mark Hinchliff have proposed counterexamples to (ET).1 In a recent contribution to this debate, Michael Bergmann purports to resolve the dispute in favor of Plantinga by producing "a new argument from Actualism to Serious Actualism." 2 Bergmann sets himself two tasks in his paper: (i) to identify a principle to which every opponent of (ET) is committed, and (ii) to show that the principle in question is false. If Bergmann successfully carries out both of his tasks, of course, the debate is resolved in favor of Plantinga. In a brief (but compelling) discussion designed to carry out his first task, Bergman identifies and formulates a principle to which every opponent of (ET) is committed. He christens this principle the possibility of transworld property exemplification.
Reversible crosslinking in epoxy resins. II. New approaches

Epoxy resins of varying epoxy equivalent weight were crosslinked with 4,4*-dithiodianiline (DTDA) at a 2/1 mole ratio. Resin of equivalent weight 190 (Epon 828) was cured with DTDA at mole ratios varying from 2/1 to 1.25/1. Properties of cured resins were evaluated and their reduction was investigated. Under the conditions used, reduction to the point of complete solubilization was possible providing crosslink density did not exceed a threshold value tentatively established as Mc = 400 −; 500. Recurring of reduced resins was accomplished by oxidation and by reaction of thiol groups with polyfunctional reagents, including bismaleimides and polyepoxides.
Irregular oscillations and mathematical aesthetics

Abstract We have shown that a set of mathematically aesthetic principles can be written down and that these principles can be cast into a set of partial differential equations. The question is what sort of information is contained in these equations. Previously, we showed that for a certain choice of origin point data the equations collapse into a simple system that describes sinusoidal behavior along any integration path segment. For another set of origin point data, the equations collapse into a system that describes a sine within sine curve along any path segment. Here we show that for a more general set of origin point data the equations describe irregular oscillations along the coordinate axes for both the small picture and the big picture. From this we infer that the aesthetic field equations describe irregular oscillations along any path segment (at least close to the origin). The solution under study is a wave packet solution. The wave packet solution is characterized by regions of large magnitude immersed in a “vacuum” that appears empty but, in fact, has considerable structure. The wave packet solution is studied when an integration path is specified.
Disorders of the eye in finfish

Abstract As fish have been brought into confinement for display and culture, eye diseases have often caused difficulties, sometimes major. Types and possible etiological factors vary. All eyeball (orb) parts and attached organs and tissues (adnexa) are affected. Most common are exophthalmos (pop-eye), cataracts, keratopathy (several corneal lesions), various retinopathies, and uveitis (choroid and iris system lesions). Less frequent in cultured or feral fishes are: aphakia (no lens); choroid gland disease; cyclopia; edema of various tissues-including the lens; endophthalmos (sunken-eye); hyperemia of all parts; microphthalmos (small-eye); neoplasia of cornea, retina, and other parts; and others. These lesions may result from poor water quality, including gas imbalances (causing exophthalmos), toxicants (cataract, hyperemia, keratitis, and retinitis), low temperatures and osmotic imbalances (cataract); nutritional deficiencies (cataract, corneal, and retinal diseases); parasitemias (exophthalmos, cataract, keratitis, etc.); radiation damage (cataract, keratitis); trauma of careless handling; and injuries from unsafe culture systems. All conditions are exacerbated by stresses associated with culture, including overcrowding and aggressive behavior. Immunological deficiencies and genetic factors are also involved. In display aquaria, hatcheries, and nurseries, eye disease may not be fatal but often affects growth and is unsightly. Further, cataracts can indicate serious nutritional problems leading to other diseases. Exophthalmos, ocular hyperemia, cloudy corneas, cataracts, and granular and inflamed eye tissues may signal unfavorable water supply or parasitemia resulting from poor sanitation. Unthriftiness and deaths may result. Chances of survival or responsive behavior of released vision-impaired fish are markedly reduced and purposes of culture and release programs negated. Also, buyers, believing they reflect poor product quality, may reject animals with abnormal-appearing eyes. Whichever occurs, stock, biomass, time, and monetary losses can be significant. Eye diseases of fish, their possible causes, significance, and prevention or treatment, if any, are described and discussed.
Chronic allograft nephropathy: The major problem in long-term survival: Review of etiology and interpretation

Abstract Kidney transplantation (Tx) has evolved as the treatment of choice in patients with end-stage renal failure. Unfortunately, after Tx, there is a gradual deterioration in graft function and the patient develops chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN). This can happen as soon as 3 months or as late as many years. Therefore, CAN is the major clinical problem in renal Tx, as the pathophysiological mechanisms remain obscure. In this article, we try to review the risk factors and causes of CAN and their possible explanation. In conclusion, and as a consequence from the bibliography, we can see clearly that CAN is the result of interplay or synergistic action between alloantigen-dependent and alloantigen-independent factors, which each act with different significance at each stage in the life span of a transplant. The exactly pathogenesis of CAN is elusive but we have a common trigger (tissue injury) and common response (inflammatory response).
Attenuation of renal ischemia–reperfusion injury by postconditioning involves adenosine receptor and protein kinase C activation

SUMMARY Significant organ injury occurs after transplantation and reflow (i.e., reperfusion injury). Postconditioning (PoC), consisting of alternating periods of reperfusion and re-occlusion at onset of reperfusion, attenuates reperfusion injury in organs including heart and brain. We tested whether PoC attenuates renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in the kidney by activating adenosine receptors (AR) and protein kinase C (PKC). The single kidney rat I/R model was used. Groups: (1) sham: time-matched surgical protocol only. In all others, the left renal artery (RA) was occluded for 45 min and reperfused for 24 h. (2) CONTROL: I/R with no intervention at R. All antagonists were administered 5 min before reperfusion. (3) PoC: I/R + four cycles of 45 s of R and 45 s of re-occlusion before full R. (4) PoC + ARi: PoC plus the AR antagonist 8-rho-(sulfophenyl) theophylline (8-SPT). (5) PoC + PKCi: PoC plus the PKC antagonist chelerythrine (Che). In shams, plasma blood urea nitrogen (BUN mg/dl) at 24 h averaged 23.2 +/- 5.3 and creatinine (Cr mg/dl) averaged 1.28 +/- 0.2. PoC reduced BUN (87.2 +/- 10 in CONTROL vs. 38.8 +/- 9, P = 0.001) and Cr (4.2 +/- 0.6 in CONTROL vs. 1.5 +/- 0.2, P < 0.001). 8-SPT and Che reversed renal protection indices after PoC. I/R increased apoptosis, which was reduced by PoC, which was reversed by 8-SPT and Che. Postconditioning attenuates renal I/R injury by adenosine receptor activation and PKC signaling.
Spinal Interneurons Differentiate Sequentially from Those Driving the Fastest Swimming Movements in Larval Zebrafish to Those Driving the Slowest Ones

Studies of neuronal networks have revealed few general principles that link patterns of development with later functional roles. While investigating the neural control of movements, we recently discovered a topographic map in the spinal cord of larval zebrafish that relates the position of motoneurons and interneurons to their order of recruitment during swimming. Here, we show that the map reflects an orderly pattern of differentiation of neurons driving different movements. First, we use high-speed filming to show that large-amplitude swimming movements with bending along much of the body appear first, with smaller, regional swimming movements emerging later. Next, using whole-cell patch recordings, we demonstrate that the excitatory circuits that drive large-amplitude, fast swimming movements at larval stages are present and functional early on in embryos. Finally, we systematically assess the orderly emergence of spinal circuits according to swimming speed using transgenic fish expressing the photoconvertible protein Kaede to track neuronal differentiation in vivo. We conclude that a simple principle governs the development of spinal networks in which the neurons driving the fastest, most powerful swimming in larvae develop first with ones that drive increasingly weaker and slower larval movements layered on over time. Because the neurons are arranged by time of differentiation in the spinal cord, the result is a topographic map that represents the speed/strength of movements at which neurons are recruited and the temporal emergence of networks. This pattern may represent a general feature of neuronal network development throughout the brain and spinal cord.
Equivalence of the thin-grating decomposition and coupled-wave analysis of thick holographic gratings

Abstract The method of thin grating decomposition, which is derived entirely from thin-grating diffraction theory, is shown analytically to be equivalent to the coupled-wave solution of Maxwell's equations for a thick sinusoidal grating.
AID TO THE POOR IN MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES AND THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

We are sleep walking into a situation where over the next decade and a half concessional development assistance will disengage from the bulk of the world's poor. This is happening because countries that are graduating into Middle Income status still have large numbers of poor people. This new situation, where three quarters of the world's poor live in Middle Income Countries, raises fundamental questions about the salience of national level achievements in determining global responsibilities towards the poor in each nation. They also raise basic questions for the operational rules of access to concessional development assistance such as that provided by the International Development Association (IDA). This paper set out the issues, and presents a proposal for a new window of IDA which recognizes that poverty persists and development problems remain despite the welcome graduation of many countries to Middle Income status.
Analysis of the multilevel blocking approach to the fermion sign problem: Accuracy, errors, and practice

This paper provides an analysis of the recently proposed multilevel blocking (MLB) algorithm for the treatment of the fermion sign problem in path-integral Monte Carlo simulations. The basic concepts of MLB and its practical implementation, as well as its accuracy and error estimates, are discussed in detail. MLB calculations on a simple exactly solvable model are used to illustrate the accuracy of the method under different circumstances. This paper is aimed at providing practical guidelines for the proper choice of certain MLB parameters.
The Nature of the Alcohol Problem in U. S. Fatal Crashes

Alcohol is involved in more than half of all U.S. traffic fatalities. In 1987, an estimated 23,630 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes. Alcohol-related traffic fatalities continue to be the leading cause of death for young people. Alcohol is involved in almost 80% of the fatal crashes that occur between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. on any night of the week. During the 1980s, alcohol involvement in fatal crashes declined. The proportion of drivers involved in fatal crashes who were intoxicated at the time of the crash decreased 17% from 1982 to 1987. The reduction was especially significant for teenaged drivers, females, surviving drivers, teenaged pedestrians, older drivers, and drivers in daytime crashes. On the other hand, there was little or no change for drivers aged 25-34, motorcycle drivers, pedestrians aged 20 to 64, and drivers in late-night crashes. Reasons for the reduction in alcohol appear to be: (1) increased public awareness of the problem during that time period; (2) tougher laws and better enforcement of existing laws by state and local governments; (3) the raising of the drinking age to 21 in most states; (4) other public and private programs to reduce drinking and driving, and (5) socioeconomic and demographic factors.
Summation of response rates to discriminative stimuli associated with qualitatively different reinforcers.

In Experiment I, a four-ply multiple schedule was used to study the effects on rate of responding in rats of food, water, and food and/or water reinforcement under different deprivation conditions. Food and water were associated separately with different stimuli, the combination of which was associated with food and water together, or with food or water randomly. Rates in the presence of the combined stimuli were consistently intermediate to the rates generated by the separate stimuli, a result seemingly incompatible with a “summation” hypothesis. Experiment II was a simplified systematic replication of Experiment I, verifying the major findings.
Generating diagram editors from formal specifications

Abstract Software engineers have long given a high value to diagramming techniques that allow them to visualize different aspects of the software systems they develop. The effortless preparation and maintenance of diagrams and ensuring their integrity, however, requires automated tools that understand the syntactic and semantic properties of diagrams. Such tools allow the software engineer to concentrate on the development of an appropriate representation of the problem, or the solution to a problem, without having to be concerned with the cumbersome details of diagram drawing. Unfortunately, due to the lack of appropriate facilities for the formal specification of diagramming techniques, the construction of the required diagramming tools largely remains a manual and difficult task. The paper addresses this software engineering hurdle by describing how sophisticated tools with a working knowledge of diagramming techniques may be automatically generated from formal specifications.
The ubiquitin ligase Hyperplastic discs negatively regulates hedgehog and decapentaplegic expression by independent mechanisms.

Photoreceptor differentiation in the Drosophila eye disc progresses from posterior to anterior in a wave driven by the Hedgehog and Decapentaplegic signals. Cells mutant for the hyperplastic discs gene misexpress both of these signaling molecules in anterior regions of the disc, leading to premature photoreceptor differentiation and overgrowth of surrounding tissue. The two genes are independently regulated by hyperplastic discs; decapentaplegic can still be misexpressed in cells mutant for both hyperplastic discs and hedgehog , and a repressor form of the transcription factor Cubitus interruptus can block decapentaplegic misexpression but not hedgehog misexpression. Loss of hyperplastic discs causes the accumulation of full-length Cubitus interruptus protein, but not of Smoothened, in both the eye and wing discs. hyperplastic discs encodes a HECT domain E3 ubiquitin ligase that is likely to act by targeting Cubitus interruptus and an unknown activator of hedgehog expression for proteolysis.
Microdetermination of polystyrene in explosive mixtures by pyrolytic gas chromatography

Abstract A simple pyrolytic gas chromatographic method, capable of determining 1–40 micrograms of polystyrene in a plastic-bonded RDX explosive, is described. The polystyrene is converted to the monomer by controlled pyrolysis. The styrene monomer is determined by gas chromatography and related to polymer concentration by means of a calibration curve. Synthetic mixtures and explosive samples were successfully analyzed by the method, and the method has been applied to the study of composition variations in small PBX granules.
Postural responses to electrical stimulation of the vestibular end organs in human subjects.

A multichannel vestibular prosthesis that delivers electrical stimulation to the perilymph of individual semicircular canals is a potential new treatment modality for patients with vestibular deficiencies. Most research in this field has evaluated the efficacy of this approach by its ability to reproduce eye movements in response to head rotations. Our group has developed such a device and implanted it in four human subjects with intractable unilateral Meniere’s disease. This allows us to evaluate individual semicircular canal contribution to the control of balance and posture in human subjects. In this report, we demonstrate that electrical stimulation trains delivered to the perilymph of individual semicircular canals elicit postural responses specific to the particular canal stimulated, with some current spread to adjacent end organs. Modulation of stimulation current modulates the amplitude of the postural response. However, eye movements elicited by the same electrical stimuli were not consistent with postural responses in magnitude or direction in all subjects. Taken together, these findings support the feasibility of a vestibular prosthesis for the control of balance and illustrate new challenges for the development of this technology.
Empathy-induced altruism in a prisoner's dilemma

Can empathy-induced altruism motivate a person to cooperate in a prisoner's dilemma? To answer this question, 60 undergraduate women were placed in a one-trial prisoner's dilemma, and empathy for the other person was manipulated. Regardless of whether the dilemma was framed as a social exchange or as a business transaction, cooperation was significantly higher among those women led to feel empathy for the other than among those not led to feel empathy. Among those not led to feel empathy, the business frame reduced cooperation, lending support to the idea of an exemption on moral motivation in business transactions. Lack of a business exemption on empathy-induced altruism supported the suggestion that altruism is not simply a type of moral motivation, but is a distinct form of prosocial motivation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Three-dimensional reconstruction of the axon arbor of a CA3 pyramidal cell recorded and filled in vivo

The three-dimensional intrahippocampal distribution of axon collaterals of an in vivo filled CA3c pyramidal cell was investigated. The neuron was filled with biocytin in an anesthetized rat and the collaterals were reconstructed with the aid of a NeuroLucida program from 48 coronal sections. The total length of the axon collaterals exceeded 0.5 m, with almost 40,000 synaptic boutons. The majority of the collaterals were present in the CA1 region (70.0%), whereas 27.6% constituted CA3 recurrent collaterals with the remaining minority of axons returning to the dentate gyrus. The axon arbor covered more than two thirds of the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus, and the terminals were randomly distributed both locally and distally from the soma. We suggest that the CA3 system can be conceptualized as a single-module, in which nearby and distant targets are contacted by the same probability (similar to a mathematically defined random graph). This arrangement, in combination with the parallel input granule cells and parallel output CA1 pyramidal cells, appears ideal for segregation and integration of information and memories.
Improvements of High-Order Unstructured Grid Schemes through RBF Interpolation

An effort to improve the numerical accuracy of high-order unstructured grid schemes is presented in the present study. The basic concept is to construct a high-order polynomial approximation using both solution variables and their gradients to calculate the Riemann fluxes on the discontinuous interface. The high-order fluxes are then integrated over each control volume using the RBF interpolation concept to achieve a higher order accuracy. Two vortex-dominated viscous flows, a NACA 0015 stationary wing at a subsonic Mach number and a NACA 0012 hovering rotor at a transonic tip speed, are presented to demonstrate the efficacy and accuracy of the improved high-order method.
Designing Greenways: Sustainable Landscapes for Nature and People

This edited volume on greenway design is a modified version of the 1993 Ecology of Greenways: Design and Function of Linear Conservation Areas by the same editors. It presents the ecological functi...
A Generalization of Minimum-Shift-Keying (MSK)-Type Signaling Based Upon Input Data Symbol Pulse Shaping

In recent years, minimum-shift-keying (MSK) has gained increasing popularity as a modulation technique because of its desirable spectral properties. Quite often, the spectral concentration provided by MSK is not sufficient to meet requirements on out-of-band energy spillover. In these situations, one might apply additional input pulse shaping m such a way as to still maintain constant envelope signals. The properties of such MSK-type signals are the subject of this paper. Specific examples are included as illustrations of the theory both for the binary and M -ary cases.
Heat transfer enhancement in latent heat thermal energy storage system by using the internally finned tube

The heat transfer enhancement in the latent heat thermal energy storage system by using an internally finned tube is presented in this paper. The phase change material fills the annular shell space around the tube, while the transfer fluid flows within the internally finned tube. The melting of the phase change material is described by a temperature transforming model coupled to the heat transfer from the transfer fluid. The heat conduction in the internal fins is an unsteady two-dimensional heat conduction problem and is solved by a finite difference method. The results showed that adding internal fins is an efficient way to enhance the heat transfer in thermal energy storage systems when a fluid with a low thermal conductivity is used as the transfer fluid.
Adaptive decision fusion for unequiprobable sources

An optimal decision rule has been derived by Chair and Varshney (1986) for fusing decisions based on the Bayesian criterion. However, to implement such a rule, the miss probability PM and the probability of false alarm PF for each local detector must be known, and these are not readily available in practice. To circumvent this situation, an adaptive fusion system for equiprobable sources has been developed. The system is extended to unequiprobable sources; thus its practicality is enhanced. An adaptive fusion model using the fusion result as a supervisor to estimate the PM and PF is introduced. The fusion results are classified as ‘reliable’ and ‘unreliable’. Reliable results are used as a reference to update the weights in the fusion centre. Unreliable results are discarded. The convergence and error analysis of the system are demonstrated theoretically and by simulations. The paper concludes with simulation results that conform to the analysis.
Strangeness-changing processes and the limit on the right-handed gauge-boson mass

We study strangeness-changing processes, in particular, the ${K}_{L}\ensuremath{-}{K}_{S}$ mass difference and $K\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2\ensuremath{\pi}$ decays, in the context of left-right-symmetric gauge theories in a search for a lower bound on a scale of parity-breaking ${M}_{R}$. We find that the previously claimed limit on ${M}_{R}$ is a function of Higgs-boson masses and also the top-quark mass and its mixings to lighter quarks. For the light $t$ quark (${M}_{t}\ensuremath{\le}30$ GeV), we get ${M}_{R}g200$ GeV (for ${m}_{H}\ensuremath{\simeq}100$ GeV), and the bound goes down with the increasing $t$-quark mass. Even in the case of a very heavy neutral Higgs boson (${m}_{H}\ensuremath{\simeq}1$ TeV), the lower limit on ${M}_{R}$ is only \ensuremath{\sim}400 GeV. We argue that the best limits on ${M}_{R}$ must come from neutral-current phenomena.
Autophagy promotes synapse development in Drosophila.

Autophagy, a lysosome-dependent degradation mechanism, mediates many biological processes, including cellular stress responses and neuroprotection. In this study, we demonstrate that autophagy positively regulates development of the Drosophila melanogaster larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Autophagy induces an NMJ overgrowth phenotype closely resembling that of highwire (hiw), an E3 ubiquitin ligase mutant. Moreover, like hiw, autophagy-induced NMJ overgrowth is suppressed by wallenda (wnd) and by a dominant-negative c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (bskDN). We show that autophagy promotes NMJ growth by reducing Hiw levels. Thus, autophagy and the ubiquitin–proteasome system converge in regulating synaptic development. Because autophagy is triggered in response to many environmental cues, our findings suggest that it is perfectly positioned to link environmental conditions with synaptic growth and plasticity.
Asking the Age Question: A Research Note

An experiment was designed to evaluate the accuracy of data obtained from asking age four different ways. Study participants consisted of 1,324 registered voters from a large southwestern state. Because criterion age data were available from a state agency, it was possible to compare each study participant's reported age with his or her actual age. The results indicated that all four question formats provided accurate data, but that refusal rates were different across the question formats. Robert A. Peterson is Sam Barshop Professor of Marketing Administration and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Constructive Capitalism, the University of Texas at Austin. This research was supported in part by the Institute for Constructive Capitalism, the University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute. Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 48:379-383 ? 1984 by the Trustees of Columbia University Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc. 0033-362X/84/0048-379/$2.50 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.111 on Sat, 21 May 2016 06:19:20 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 380 ROBERT A. PETERSON mats. Since validating or criterion age data were available, it was possible to compare the self-report of a study participant's age with his or her actual age, thus permitting an evaluation of the four question formats with respect to the accuracy of the respective age data obtained.
Visual field extent in children 3.5-30 months of age tested with a double-arc LED perimeter

Visual field extent along the four diagonal meridia was measured cross-sectionally in 180 normal children (infants and toddlers), and 22 adults. Infants were tested monocularly at 3.5, 7, or 9 months, and toddlers were tested binocularly at 11, 17, or 30 months. Adult control data were obtained under monocular viewing. Three testing methods were investigated: static and hybrid static-kinetic perimetry, using LED arrays under computer control, and kinetic perimetry, using white styrofoam spheres manipulated by hand. Data analysis included corrections for false positives in the method of constant stimuli and for errors of anticipation in the ascending method of limits. Across all data sets from children, kinetic perimetry yielded larger, more adult-like fields, which approached adult levels around 17 months, whereas static and hybrid static-kinetic perimetry yielded smaller visual fields, approaching adult levels only at 30 months.
Duloxetine in the treatment of major depressive disorder: an open-label study

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a chronic and highly disabling condition. Existing pharmacotherapies produce full remission in only 30% to 40% of treated patients. Antidepressants exhibiting dual reuptake inhibition of both serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) may achieve higher rates of remission compared with those acting upon a single neurotransmitter. In this study, the safety and efficacy of duloxetine, a potent dual reuptake inhibitor of 5-HT and NE, were examined. Patients (N = 533) meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD received open-label duloxetine (60 mg once a day [QD]) for 12 weeks during the initial phase of a relapse prevention trial. Patients were required to have a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD17) total score ≥18 and a Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) score ≥4 at baseline. Efficacy measures included the HAMD17 total score, HAMD17 subscales, the CGI-S, the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) scale, Visual Analog Scales (VAS) for pain, and the Symptom Questionnaire, Somatic Subscale (SQ-SS). Quality of life was assessed using the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) and the Quality of Life in Depression Scale (QLDS). Safety was evaluated by recording spontaneously-reported treatment-emergent adverse events, changes in vital signs and laboratory analytes, and the Patient Global Impression of Sexual Function (PGI-SF) scale. The rate of discontinuation due to adverse events was 11.3%. Treatment-emergent adverse events reported by ≥10% duloxetine-treated patients were nausea, headache, dry mouth, somnolence, insomnia, and dizziness. Following 12 weeks of open-label duloxetine therapy, significant improvements were observed in all assessed efficacy and quality of life measures. In assessments of depression severity (HAMD17, CGI-S) the magnitude of symptom improvement continued to increase at each study visit, while for painful physical symptoms the onset of improvement was rapid and reached a maximum after 2 to 3 weeks of treatment. In this open-label phase of a relapse prevention study, duloxetine (60 mg QD) was shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of MDD. NCT00036309.
Spatial scale and the detection of density dependence in spruce budworm outbreaks in eastern North America

Using two tests for direct density dependence and standard techniques of time series analysis, we identified density dependence in defoliation time series of the spruce budworm across its outbreak range in eastern North America over the years 1945-1988. We carried out analyses for the entire region and for grid cells of defoliation maps at five spatial scales created by aggregating the smallest grid cells. The rate of detection of direct density dependence, as assessed by two previously published methods, decreased with increasing spatial scale. Using both methods, density dependence was detected more frequently at the periphery of the outbreak range, where defoliation rate was lower. This result suggested that density-dependent regulation may be stronger in those areas. The first order autoregressive process was the basic model for defoliation dynamics overall and the most common model across spatial scales. Second-order processes were encountered much less frequently, and those commonly identified as resulting from delayed density dependence generally occurred across spatial scales at a rate expected by chance alone. Our results were similar to those of other published studies, which have found the detection of density dependence to decrease at larger spatial scales. The results also reinforced the importance of considering spatial scale when diagnosing population processes using time series of abundance for single species.
Neurocognitive Outcomes Decades After Treatment for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Report From the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study

Purpose To determine rates, patterns, and predictors of neurocognitive impairment in adults decades after treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Patients and Methods Survivors of childhood ALL treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital who were still alive at 10 or more years after diagnosis and were age ≥ 18 years were recruited for neurocognitive testing. In all, 1,014 survivors were eligible, 738 (72.8%) agreed to participate, and 567 (76.8%) of these were evaluated. Mean age was 33 years; mean time since diagnosis was 26 years. Medical record abstraction was performed for data on doses of cranial radiation therapy (CRT) and cumulative chemotherapy. Multivariable modeling was conducted and glmulti package was used to select the best model with minimum Akaike information criterion. Results Impairment rates across neurocognitive domains ranged from 28.6% to 58.9%, and those treated with chemotherapy only demonstrated increased impairment in all domains (all P values < .006). In ...
Surface faulting along the Superstition Hills fault zone and nearby faults associated with the earthquakes of 24 November 1987

The M 6.2 Elmore Desert Ranch earthquake of 24 November 1987 was associated spatially and probably temporally with left-lateral surface rupture on many northeast-trending faults in and near the Superstition Hills in western Imperial Valley. Three curving discontinuous principal zones of rupture among these breaks extended northeastward from near the Superstition Hills fault zone as far as 9 km; the maximum observed surface slip, 12.5 cm, was on the northern of the three, the Elmore Ranch fault, at a point near the epicenter. Twelve hours after the Elmore Ranch earthquake, the M 6.6 Superstition Hills earthquake occurred near the northwest end of the right-lateral Superstition Hills fault zone. Surface rupture associated with the second event occurred along three strands of the zone, here named North and South strands of the Superstition Hills fault and the Wienert fault, for 27 km southeastward from the epicenter. In contrast to the left-lateral faulting, which remained unchanged throughout the period of investigation, the right-lateral movement on the Superstition hills fault zone continued to increase with time, a behavior that was similar to other recent historical surface ruptures on northwest-trending faults in the Imperial Valley region. We measured displacements over 339 days at as many as 296 sites along the Superstition Hills fault zone, and repeated measurements at 49 sites provided sufficient data to fit with a simple power law. Data for each of the 49 sites were used to compute longitudinal displacement profiles for 1 day and to estimate the final displacement that measured slips will approach asymptotically several years after the earthquakes. The maximum right-lateral slip at 1 day was about 50 cm near the south-central part of the North strand of Superstition Hills fault, and the predicted maximum final displacement is probably about 112 cm at Imler Road near the center of the South strand of the Superstition Hills fault. The overall distributions of right-lateral displacement at 1 day and the estimated final slip are nearly symmetrical about the midpoint of the surface rupture. The average estimated final right-lateral slip for the Superstition Hills fault zone is about 54 cm. The average left-lateral slip for the conjugate faults trending northeastward is about 23 cm. The southernmost ruptured member of the Superstition Hills fault zone, newly named the Wienert fault, extends the known length of the zone by about 4 km. The southern half of this fault, south of New River, expressed only vertical displacement on a sinuous trace. The maximum vertical slip by the end of the observation period there was about 25 cm, but its growth had not ceased. Photolineaments southeast of the end of new surface rupture suggest continuation of the Superstition Hills fault zone in farmland toward Mexico.
Rapid optimization of enzyme mixtures for deconstruction of diverse pretreatment/biomass feedstock combinations

Background Enzymes for plant cell wall deconstruction are a major cost in the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. The goal of this research was to develop optimized synthetic mixtures of enzymes for multiple pretreatment/substrate combinations using our high-throughput biomass digestion platform, GENPLAT, which combines robotic liquid handling, statistical experimental design and automated Glc and Xyl assays. Proportions of six core fungal enzymes (CBH1, CBH2, EG1, β-glucosidase, a GH10 endo-β1,4-xylanase, and β-xylosidase) were optimized at a fixed enzyme loading of 15 mg/g glucan for release of Glc and Xyl from all combinations of five biomass feedstocks (corn stover, switchgrass, Miscanthus, dried distillers' grains plus solubles [DDGS] and poplar) subjected to three alkaline pretreatments (AFEX, dilute base [0.25% NaOH] and alkaline peroxide [AP]). A 16-component mixture comprising the core set plus 10 accessory enzymes was optimized for three pretreatment/substrate combinations. Results were compared to the performance of two commercial enzymes (Accellerase 1000 and Spezyme CP) at the same protein loadings.
A Modular Acoustic Measurement Electronics Systems

A Modular Acoustic Measurement Electronics (MAME) system was developed for use in underwater acoustics. Although the system is configured as an active sonar, its modular nature allows utilization in a wide variety of underwater acoustic measurements. As an active sonar, the general features include the following: system control by an HP85 computer connected through an IEEE 488 bus, generation of transmission pulses of arbitrary shape via a programmable pulse generator, four channel reception, programmable time varying gain in steps, and use of a programmable dual-conversion mixer/ filter to allow recording at a lower frequeny. The modules of the MAME system conform to two standards-- the computer automated measurement and control (CAMAC) standard, IEEE 583, and the nuclear instruments modules (NIM) standard set by the AEC NIM Committee. Many of the parts and modules are available commercially. Major portions of the system, however, were designed and produced in-house using commercially available housings that conform to these standards. The modular approach allows great flexibility in the design of underwater acoustic measurement instrumentation with minimal cost for new equipment.
Application of Active-Aeroelastic-Wing Technology to a Joined-Wing Sensorcraft

A study was conducted to investigate the applicability of active-aeroelastic-wing technology to a joined-wing sensorcraft configuration for the purpose of minimization of embedded antenna deformations. The study was performed using a half-span aeroelastic model of a joined-wing sensorcraft design with six control surfaces. These control surfaces were used concurrently to minimize the elastic deformations at structural nodes corresponding to the antenna tip, while trimming the aircraft to a required 1-g level flight, simultaneously satisfying constraints on the allowable hinge moments and maximum control surface deflections. Comparison of antenna displacements for the optimized and baseline cases (using one control surface at a time) demonstrates that the active-aeroelastic-wing concept can be used to significantly reduce the antenna displacements, potentially improving the performance of the embedded antenna system. Aeroelastic displacements from the trim-optimized system are an order-of-magnitude smaller than those of the baseline. These results demonstrate the feasibility of active-aeroelastic-wing technology for the improvement of embedded antenna performance caused by structural deformations.
A search for doxycycline-dependent mutations that increase Drosophila melanogaster life span identifies the VhaSFD, Sugar baby, filamin, fwd and Cctl genes

Background: A P-type transposable element called PdL has been engineered with a doxycyclineinducible promoter directed out through the 3 end of the element. Insertion of PdL near the 5 end of a gene often yields doxycycline-dependent overexpression of that gene and a mutant phenotype. This functional genomics strategy allows for efficient screening of large numbers of genes for overexpression phenotypes. Results: PdL was mobilized to around 10,000 new locations in the Drosophila melanogaster genome and used to search for genes that would extend life span when overexpressed. Six lines were identified in which there was a 5-17% increase in life span in the presence of doxyxcycline. The mutations were molecularly characterized and in each case a gene was found to be overexpressed using northern blots. Two genes did not have previously known phenotypes and are implicated in membrane transport: VhaSFD encodes a regulatory subunit of the vacuolar ATPase proton pump (H + -ATPase), whereas Sugar baby (Sug) is related to a maltose permease from Bacillus. Three PdL mutations identified previously characterized genes: filamin encodes the homolog of an actin-polymerizing protein that interacts with presenilins. four wheel drive (fwd) encodes a phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase (PI 4-kinase) and CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase-1 (Cct1) encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in phosphatidylcholine synthesis. Finally, an apparently novel gene (Red herring, Rdh) was found in the first intron of the encore gene. Conclusions: Screening for conditional mutations that increase Drosophila life span has identified genes implicated in membrane transport, phospholipid metabolism and signaling, and actin cytoskeleton organization.
When Does Consultation Lead to Intervention Implementation? Critical Issues for Research and Practice

For consultation to result in the delivery of services to students, it must lead to implementation of an intervention. For this reason, intervention implementation is the crucial challenge for the practice of consultation and, as a result, is the critical research need. The argument is advanced that too little is known about the extent to which teachers actually implement interventions following consultation, as opposed to what they say about implementation, because implementation has infrequently been directly measured. The consultation database also provides few analyses of the conditions under which consultees do and do not implement interventions. This article considers fundamental issues of definition, measurement, and design as they relate to the study of the relationship between consultation and intervention implementation.
Maximizing Treatment Adherence: Physician–Patient Partnerships vs Procedures

In the August issue of Hypertension , Burnier et al1 open their review article with an encouragingly clear patient focus. They explicitly state effective hypertension management requires 2 types of patient behavior change: lifestyle modification and lifelong adherence to pharmacotherapy. The latter can work, they emphasize, “only if the patient is motivated to take the prescribed medication.” Yet, they fail to address further the critical role the physician should and must play …