cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Class of dynamic hysteresis operators and young measure representations

Previous research has demonstrated that rigorous modeling and identification theory can be derived for structural dynamical models that incorporate control influence operators that are static Krasnoselskii-Pokrovskii integral hysteresis operators. Experimental evidence likewise has shown that some dynamic hysteresis models provide more accurate representations of a class of structural systems actuated by some active materials including shape memory alloys and piezoceramics. In this paper, we show that the representation of control influence operators via static hysteresis operators can be interpreted in terms of a homogeneous Young's measure. Within this framework, we subsequently derive dynamic hysteresis operators represented in terms of Young's measures that are parameterized in time. We show that the resulting integrodifferential equations are similar to the class of relaxed controls discussed by Warga10, Gamkrelidze24, and Roubicek25. The formulation presented here differs from that studied in 10, 24 and 25 in that the kernel of the hysteresis operator is a history dependent functional, as opposed to Caratheodory integral satisfying a growth condition. The theory presented provides representations of dynamic hysteresis operators that have provided good agrement with experimental behavior in some active materials. The convergence of finite dimensional approximations of the governing equations is also proven.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Environmental impacts of bioethanol using the NREL biochemical conversion route: multivariate analysis and single score results

Mandated Environmental Protection Agency biofuel qualifications focused on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fossil fuel use are limited in perspective and have the potential to encourage burden shifting. When a broader host of environmental impacts are examined, environmental trade-offs often exist when biofuels are compared to gasoline. Multivariate analysis methods examining a wide variety of weighting value systems and methodology assumptions were used to determine process design options with the lowest overall environmental impact. A multivariate environmental analysis was applied to the dilute acid pre-treatment process followed by enzymatic hydrolysis and the fermentation process for converting loblolly pine, eucalyptus, natural hardwood, switchgrass, and sweet sorghum biomass to ethanol. The influence of co-product treatment method choices, inclusion of direct land-use change, and electrical grid assumptions were examined using 16 different weighting methods to create a single score result. Biofuel system rankings based on GHG emissions following the Renewable Fuel Standards 2 (RFS2) methods were very sensitive to the co-product treatment method, inclusion of land-use change emissions, and energy grid assumptions. The multivariate analysis ranking was heavily influenced by other environmental impacts resulting from the production of process chemicals used in ethanol conversion. Weighting methods examined had no influence on the environmental preference ranking of the biofuel scenarios. Additionally, the biofuel ranking based on the RFS2 methodology was different than the ranking following the multivariate approach examining additional impacts. These findings demonstrate a robust approach to biofuel life cycle assessment (LCA) scenario analysis and suggest that the limited scope of the RFS2 environmental analysis could result in burden shifting. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Electrophysiological Correlates of Meaning

The use of context-sensitive symbols offers an appropriate methodology for investigating the representation of meaning in the brain. This approach revealed that late components of frontal, but not occipital, evoked potentials reflect the change of meaning of a symbolic stimulus when it appears in different temporal contexts.
Credibility for the 21st Century: Integrating Perspectives on Source, Message, and Media Credibility in the Contemporary Media Environment

Technological capabilities and features of the Internet and World Wide Web have prompted concerns about the verity of online information, the credibility of new media, and the new responsibilities placed on media consumers. Reflecting these concerns, scholars have shown a renewed interest in the credibility of sources, their messages, and the media that carry them. Nonetheless, researchers who are currently reengaging the issue of information credibility have yet to take full advantage of the rich heritage left by credibility research conducted over the last half century. The primary aim of this chapter is to show how past research can inform present attempts to understand credibility in the new media environment, focusing particularly on Web-based information. Toward that end, this chapter reviews, synthesizes, and integrates the substantial literature on source, message, and media credibility; addresses issues of credibility conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement; suggests strategies to ...
The Regulatory Perspective on the Role of Toxicology in Protecting the Public Health

The role of toxicology as far as regulatory agencies are concerned is to assist in determining the safety of products/substances to which humans and wildlife are exposed. This is accomplished primarily by assessing the adverse effects of these products/substances. In a number of cases, the benefits of the product/substance are balanced against the adverse effects or hazards. Often the stimulus for new guidelines, policies, and regulations is the discovery of a heretofore unknown hazard, or the presumption that a hazard exists for which current methodologies are deemed insufficient or totally lacking. An example of the latter type of stimulus are the so-called, endocrine modulators or disruptors. Research in toxicology also serves as a stimulus for new guidelines, policies and regulations, for example, dietary restriction and transgenic animal models. There is a painstaking process associated with the development of policy by regulatory agencies regardless of which stimulus operates. This process, however,...
Oral retinoid use reduces cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma risk in patients with psoriasis treated with psoralen-UVA: a nested cohort study

Abstract Background Small open studies of patients at high risk for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin suggest that oral retinoid use reduces the risk of these tumors. Among patients at lower risk, randomized trials of low doses of retinoids did not demonstrate significant chemopreventive effects. Patients with psoriasis treated with oral psoralen-UVA have a high risk of SCC development. Oral retinoids are used to treat psoriasis. We performed a nested cohort study to assess whether oral retinoids reduce skin cancer risk among patients with psoriasis exposed to psoralen-UVA. Methods From 1985 to 2000, 135 patients (11.3% of surviving patients in our cohort) used retinoids for at least 26 weeks in 1 year or more. For these 135 patients, we compared each person's SCC and basal cell carcinoma incidence during years of substantial oral retinoid use and other years. We used Poisson regression models to adjust for potential confounders. Results In a paired analysis, which compared each patient's own tumor experience while using and not using retinoids, retinoid use was associated with a 30% reduction in SCC incidence (196 SCCs/1000 and 302 SCCs/1000 years of use and no use, respectively; P = .002). After adjusting for other factors associated with SCC risk, the incidence of SCC was significantly decreased during years of substantial retinoid use (incidence rate ratio = 0.79; 95% confidence interval = 0.65, 0.95). Oral retinoid use and basal cell carcinoma incidence were not significantly associated. Conclusion In patients with psoriasis treated with psoralen-UVA, systemic retinoid use reduced SCC risk but did not significantly alter basal cell carcinoma incidence.
Suppression of malignant growth of human breast cancer cells by ectopic expression of integrin‐linked kinase

Allelic loss at the short arm of chromosome 11 is one of the most common and potent events in the progression and metastasis of breast cancer. Here, we present evidence that the Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) gene maps to the commonly deleted chromosome 11p15.5 and suppresses malignant growth of human breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. ILK is expressed in normal breast tissue but is downregulated in metastatic breast cancer cell lines and in advanced breast cancers. Transfection of wild-type ILK into the MDA-MB-435 mammary carcinoma cells potently suppressed their growth and invasiveness in vitro and reduced the cells' ability to induce tumors and metastasize in athymic nude mice. Conversely, expression of the ankyrin repeat or catalytic domain mutants of ILK failed to suppress the growth of these cells. Growth suppression by ILK is not due to apoptosis but is mediated by its ability to block cell-cycle progression in the G1 phase and by modulating the levels of integrins. These findings directly demonstrate that ILK deficiency facilitates neoplastic growth and invasion and suggest a novel role for the ILK gene in the suppression of tumor metastasis.
Beam-beam interaction in muon colliders*

Inspired by the hybrid nature of muon colliders, we investigate the classical and quantum effects induced by the μ + μ − beam-beam interaction. We show that although the tendency of emittance dilution appears to be substantial in a single pass, it nevertheless quickly saturates. We also show that, with muons, there is negligible beamstrahlung, and thus negligible pair production from them. In addition, the beamstrahlung of electrons from the nearby decay of muons does not pose a problem. For the case of coherent e + e − pair creation from muons, opposite to our earlier notion, we now recognize that this process is also largely suppressed. Finally, we suggest that the beam-beam tune-shift can be suppressed by applying a plasma at the interaction point in the muon collider.
The 12 GeV JLab Upgrade Project

The upgrade of the CEBAF Accelerator at Jefferson Lab to 12 GeV will deliver high luminosity and high quality beams, which will open unique opportunities for studies of the quark and gluon structure of hadrons in the valence region. Such physics will be made accessible by substantial additions to the experimental equipment in combination with the increased energy reach of the upgraded machine. The emphasis of the talk will be on the program in a new experimental Hall D designed to search for gluonic excitations.
Evolutionary medicine at twenty: rethinking adaptationism and disease

Two decades ago, the eminent evolutionary biologist George C. Williams and his physician coauthor, Randolph Nesse, formulated the evolutionary medicine research program. Williams and Nesse explicitly made adaptationism a core component of the new program, which has served to undermine the program ever since, distorting its practitioners’ perceptions of evidentiary burdens and in extreme cases has served to warp practitioner’s understandings of the relationship between evolutionary benefits/detriments and medical ones. I show that the Williams and Nesse program more particularly embraces the panselectionist variety of adaptationism (the empirical assumption that non-adaptive evolutionary processes are causally unimportant compared to natural selection), and argue that this has harmed the field. Panselectionism serves to conceal the enormous evidentiary hurdles that evolutionary medicine hypotheses face, making them appear stronger than they are. I use two examples of evolutionary medicine texts, on neonatal jaundice and on asthma, to show that some evolutionary medicine practitioners have allowed their fervent panselectionism to directly shape their recommendations for clinical practice. I argue that this escalation of panselectionism’s influence is inappropriate under Williams’ and Nesse original stated standards, despite being inspired by their program. I also show that the examples’ conflation of clinical and evolutionary considerations is inappropriate even under Christopher Boorse’s controversial evolution-rooted concepts of disease and health.
Discriminating tastes: self‐selection of macronutrients in two populations of grasshoppers

The capacity to self-select an optimal balance of macronutrients (protein and carbohydrate) is studied in two populations of Melanoplus sanguinipes F. (Orthoptera: Acrididae). One population derives from the subarctic (interior of Alaska) and the other from the temperate zone (Idaho, U.S.A.). Over the duration of the fourth and fifth stadia, Alaskan grasshoppers consistently self-select a diet cen- tred on a 0.90 ratio of protein : carbohydrate, whereas protein and carbohydrate intake by the Idaho grasshoppers is contingent on the particular food choices pre- sented to them. When restricted to imbalanced diets, the Alaskan grasshoppers develop more rapidly than the Idaho grasshoppers, regardless of diet composition. The Idaho grasshoppers also have a greater amount of lipid than the Alaskan grass- hoppers across all diets. Performance measures (body mass, survival, developmental times) are more sensitive to dietary imbalances in the Alaskan grasshoppers than in the Idaho grasshoppers. When fed diets with low, but balanced, proportions of pro- tein and carbohydrate, grasshoppers of both populations are able to increase con- sumption to compensate for the low concentration of nutrients. The results suggest that demographic responses of insects to changes in host plant quality, such as may result from climate change, may differ among populations within a species.
Short interspersed transposable elements (SINEs) are excluded from imprinted regions in the human genome

To test whether regions undergoing genomic imprinting have unique genomic characteristics, imprinted and nonimprinted human loci were compared for nucleotide and retroelement composition. Maternally and paternally expressed subgroups of imprinted genes were found to differ in terms of guanine and cytosine, CpG, and retroelement content, indicating a segregation into distinct genomic compartments. Imprinted regions have been normally permissive to L1 long interspersed transposable element retroposition during mammalian evolution but universally and significantly lack short interspersed transposable elements (SINEs). The primate-specific Alu SINEs, as well as the more ancient mammalian-wide interspersed repeat SINEs, are found at significantly low densities in imprinted regions. The latter paleogenomic signature indicates that the sequence characteristics of currently imprinted regions existed before the mammalian radiation. Transitions from imprinted to nonimprinted genomic regions in cis are characterized by a sharp inflection in SINE content, demonstrating that this genomic characteristic can help predict the presence and extent of regions undergoing imprinting. During primate evolution, SINE accumulation in imprinted regions occurred at a decreased rate compared with control loci. The constraint on SINE accumulation in imprinted regions may be mediated by an active selection process. This selection could be because of SINEs attracting and spreading methylation, as has been found at other loci. Methylation-induced silencing could lead to deleterious consequences at imprinted loci, where inactivation of one allele is already established, and expression is often essential for embryonic growth and survival.
Review: Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents targeted to higher hemoglobin levels increase risk for adverse outcomes in CKD

Source Citation Palmer SC, Navaneethan SD, Craig JC, et al. Meta-analysis: erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in patients with chronic kidney disease. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:23-33. 20439566
Response of the mixed function oxidase system of rat hepatic microsomes to parathion and malathion and their oxygenated analogs

Abstract In vitro inhibition of ethylmorphine metabolism in rat hepatic microsomes by parathion, malathion, malaoxon and paraoxon was not well correlated with their effects on NADPH oxidation, cytochrome C reduction or the reduction of cytochrome P-450. A parallel relationship was observed between inhibition of ethylmorphine metabolism by parathion, malathion and malaoxon and the binding affinity of these agents to microsomal cytochrome P-450 obtained from rats pretreated with an anticholinesterase agent, Bis-[ϱ-nitrophenol] phosphate.
Electron acoustic waves in capacitively coupled, low-pressure rf glow discharges

Particle-in-cell Monte Carlo simulations of rf glow discharges between parallel-plate electrodes reveal the possibility of negative period-averaged power deposited into electrons in the body of the glow. A two-fluid model of fast- and slow-electron transport demonstrates that fast electrons are compressed at the plasma-sheath boundary by the expanding sheath and are rarefied at the other (collapsing) sheath, resulting in a fast-electron density gradient through the plasma. The resulting electron acoustic waves are the key to understanding electron cooling in the body of the glow.
Epidemiological Observations on bovine viral diarrhea‐mucosal disease virus‐induced congenital cerebellar hypoplasia and ocular defects in calves

Congenital cerebellar hypoplasia occurred in five calves in two New York State dairy herds in which bovine viral diarrhea-mucosal disease occurred while the dams were pregnant. Clinical and serological evidence linked the virus infection with the anomalies. The dams of the calves were estimated to have been infected between days 102 and 183 of pregnancy.
Single-Event Analysis and Hardening of Mixed-Signal Circuit Interfaces in High-Speed Communications Devices

High-speed communication systems typically employ a mix of signal types and circuit topologies in order to optimize efficient data propagation. Current-mode logic is the industry standard for high-speed CMOS circuit design due to the inherent speed of current steering. However, current-mode output voltages are not rail-to-rail and therefore require a conversion to a full-swing signal for downstream CMOS logic. This interface between current-mode and CMOS logic is found to be vulnerable to single-event effects. A radiation-hardened-by-design solution is proposed for such interfaces.
Debris-covered piedmont glaciers along the northwest flank of the Olympus Mons scarp: Evidence for low-latitude ice accumulation during the Late Amazonian of Mars

We use Viking and new MGS and Odyssey data to characterize the lobate deposits superimposed on aureole deposits along the west and northwest flanks of Olympus Mons, Mars. These features have previously been interpreted variously as landslide, pyroclastic, lava flow or glacial features on the basis of Viking images. The advent of multiple high-resolution image and topography data sets from recent spacecraft missions allow us to revisit these features and assess their origins. On the basis of these new data, we interpret these features as glacial deposits and the remnants of cold-based debris-covered glaciers that underwent multiple episodes of advance and retreat, occasionally interacting with extrusive volcanism from higher on the slopes of Olympus Mons. We subdivide the deposits into fifteen distinctive lobes. Typical lobes begin at a theater-like alcove in the escarpment at the base of Olympus Mons, interpreted to be former ice-accumulation zones, and extend outward as a tongue-shaped or fan-shaped deposit. The surface of a typical lobe contains (moving outward from the basal escarpment): a chaotic facies of disorganized hillocks, interpreted as sublimation till in the accumulation zone; arcuate-ridged facies characterized by regular, subparallel ridges and interpreted as the ridges of surface debris formed by the flow of underlying ice; and marginal ridges interpreted as local terminal moraines. Several lobes also contain a hummocky facies toward their margins that is interpreted as a distinctive type of sublimation till shaped by structural dislocations and preferential loss of ice. Blocky units are found extending from the escarpment onto several lobes; these units are interpreted as evidence of lava–ice interaction and imply that ice was present at a time of eruptive volcanic activity higher on the slopes of Olympus Mons. Other than minor channel-like features in association with lava–ice interactions, we find no evidence for the flow of liquid water in association with these lobate features that might suggest: (1) near-surface groundwater as a source for ice in the alcoves in the lobe source region at the base of the scarp, or (2) basal melting and drainage emanating from the lobes that might indicate wet-based glacial conditions. Instead, the array of features is consistent with cold-based glacial processes. The glacial interpretations outlined here are consistent with recent geological evidence for lowlatitude ice-rich features at similar positions on the Tharsis Montes as well as with orbital dynamic and climate models indicating extensive snow and ice accumulation associated with episodes of increased obliquity during the Late Amazonian period of the history of Mars.
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Stimulates Preantral Follicle Growth in the Rat Ovary

The regulation of preantral follicle growth in mammals is poorly understood. The availability of an adequate vascular supply to provide endocrine and paracrine signals may be important during the early states of follicle growth as well as the later states of follicle selection and dominance. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a role in preantral follicular development in the rat ovary. Immature (age, 21 days) Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with 500 ng of VEGF in saline or 50 microg of diethylstilbestrol (DES) in oil under the bursa of one ovary. The contralateral ovary was injected with a corresponding volume of vehicle. Rats were killed 48 h later, and the ovaries were removed and analyzed histologically. Intrabursal administration of VEGF significantly increased the number of primary and small secondary, but not of large secondary, preantral follicles in the ovary, similar to the effect of DES (P < 0.05). The VEGF stimulated preantral follicle growth in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Subcutaneous DES administration increased the number of primary and secondary follicles, and both s.c. and intrabursal estrogen administration stimulated VEGF protein expression in the rat ovary. These data indicate that VEGF stimulates preantral follicular development in the rat ovary, is regulated by estrogen, and may be one of the factors that participate in the regulation of early follicle growth in the rat.
Controlled Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation of Nanomanufacturing Processes

Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) is regarded as an efficient tool for rare event simulation and has been used to simulate bottom-up self-assembly processes of nanomanufacturing. Yet, it cannot simulate top-down processes. In this paper, a new and generalized KMC mechanism, called controlled KMC or cKMC, is proposed to simulate complete physical and chemical processes. This generalization is enabled by the introduction of controlled events. In contrast to the traditional self-assembly events in KMC, controlled events occur at certain times, locations, or directions, which allows all events to be modeled. The applications of cKMC to several top-down and bottom-up processes are demonstrated.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
The breast cancer patient with multiple sentinel nodes: when to stop?

Abstract BACKGROUND: During sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for breast cancer, most authors report identifying a mean of 1 to 3 SLNs, but a range of 1 to 8 (or more) SLNs per patient. A significant minority of patients have 4 or more SLNs. Here we seek to determine the significance for the breast cancer patient of finding multiple SLNs, and whether there is an optimal threshold number of SLNs that should be removed. STUDY DESIGN: 1,561 patients who underwent successful SLN biopsy using blue dye and radioisotope in combination. Each SLN site was categorized prospectively by the operating surgeon as a dye success, an isotope success, or both. All SLNs containing counts at least four times greater than the postexcision axillary background were considered to be isotope successes. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of patients (241) had multiple (> 3) SLNs. Ninety-eight percent of node-positive patients (440 of 449) were identified within the first three SLN sites examined. In 2% of all SLN positive patients (9 of 449) or 4% of patients with multiple SLN (9 of 241), a positive SLN was detected at site four or more. In eight patients the first positive SLN was found at sites four or more. Blue dye and isotope were equally effective in identifying metastases in patients with multiple SLNs. CONCLUSIONS: Fifteen percent of patients having SLN biopsy for breast cancer have multiple SLNs. Although 98% of positive SLNs were identified within the first three sites sampled, a small number of patients had their first positive SLN at sites 4 to 8. These data suggest that there is no absolute upper threshold for the number of SLNs that should be removed. Sampling a few additional SLNs probably adds little morbidity to the procedure, yet may significantly alter the treatment of some individuals. SLN biopsy should be continued until all blue and hot nodes are removed.
The use of artificial neural networks for optimal message routing

The authors investigate the possibility of using an artificial neural network as an adaptive message router to provide optimal or near-optimal routing paths. Two different neural network architectures are implemented and tested against a network simulator to ascertain if their performance is adequate to allow them to be used as routing controllers in a network. A network simulator was written to investigate the performance of the JEB net of Jensen, Eshera, and Barash (1990) and the Hopfield net in routing messages. The results obtained using the enhanced JEB network show that the problem of optimal message routing can successfully by solved through the application of neural networks. >
Detection of Avian Polyomavirus Infection by Polymerase Chain Reaction Using Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded Tissues

Avian polyomavirus infection in psittacines was diagnosed in tissues by the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The tissues used in the procedure were either formalin-fixed tissues embedded in paraffin blocks or fresh tissues (heart, liver, and spleen) collected from the psittacines during necropsy. DNA was extracted from these tissues and was tested with the published primers for avian polyomavirus VP1 gene in the PCR that yielded an amplicon of 550 base pair size, which was then visualized by electrophoresis. The amplicon size was consistent with avian polyomavirus. The PCR test was found to be an effective method for identifying avian polyomavirus infection in both formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded and fresh tissues from psittacine birds of different age groups.
Giving Up the Keys: How Driving Cessation Affects Engagement in Later Life

PURPOSE: Many older adults consider driving vital to maintaining their preferred lifestyle and engagement with society, yet it is normative for individuals to eventually stop driving. This study examined the impact of driving cessation on older adults' productive and social engagement and whether their mental and physical health mediated this relationship. DESIGN AND METHODS: Multilevel modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data (N = 4,788 adults age 65 and over) from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2010). RESULTS: Productive engagement (paid work, formal volunteering, and informal volunteering) was negatively affected when older adults stopped driving, but social engagement was not immediately compromised by their transition to nondriver status. The role of physical health and mental health as mediators in explaining this relationship was negligible. IMPLICATIONS: The results suggest that interventions aimed at maintaining nondrivers' participation in productive roles should focus on factors other than enhancement of health and well-being to spur greater engagement (e.g., availability of and barriers to use of public transportation). Also important in the intervention process is planning for mobility transitions. Future research should test for geographic (e.g., urban vs. rural) differences in the impact of driving cessation on productive and social engagement. Language: en
Descartes on the immutability of the divine will

Descartes holds that God's will is immutable. It cannot be changed by God and, because He is supremely independent, it cannot be changed by anything else. Descartes' God acts by a single immutable will for all eternity, and there is no sense in which it is possible for Him to will or to have willed anything other than what He in fact wills. Passages in which Descartes might appear to be suggesting a different view are simply manifestations of his analytic method.
Phase resolved PEA technique to measure space charge distribution in polymeric insulation

Pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) technique has been extensively used to resolve space charge distribution in dielectrics subjected to high DC electric fields. However, the amount of space charge which accumulates in an insulation subjected to an AC electric field is significantly smaller than under DC field. Also, the AC field gives rise to a capacitive charge component and this makes it more difficult to measure the actual space charge accumulation in insulation subjected to AC voltage. A modified PEA method was used to study space charge evolution at various phase angles of the AC voltage. It is shown that charge injection from the electrode into the insulation usually initiates at the electric field value at which the peak of the PEA profile at the electrodes reverses polarity.
A Grid Framework for Visualization Services in the Earth Sciences

Scientific visualization is an ingredient essential to understanding the large amounts of data generated from large-scale numerical simulations, laboratory experiments and geological surveys. Visualization forms an integral component of any complete framework, together with services to handle mathematical and statistical analysis, storage, feature extraction, and other functions. To support rapid and seamless collaborations and communication between researchers across geographically disparate regions necessitates a distributed infrastructure that supports redundancy, fault tolerance, and most importantly, ease of use. We describe herein an architecture based on Naradabrokering, a publish/subscribe framework that supports the above requirements. We have implemented an initial version of this architecture and describe some initial experiments.
Craze initiation and growth in high‐impact polystyrene

Quantitative transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy is used to study craze initiation and growth in thin films of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS). Dilution of the HIPS with unmodified polystyrene reduces the craze–craze interactions, permitting equilibrium growth and craze micromechanics to be studied. It is found that the equilibrium craze length depends on the size of the nucleating rubber particle, but not the internal structure; no short crazes less than a particle diameter are observed. The long crazes can be adequately modelled by the Dugdale model for crazes grown from crack tips. The effects of particle size and particle internal occlusion structure on craze nucleation have been separated. Craze nucleation is only slightly enhanced at highly occluded particles relative to craze nucleation at solid rubber particles of the same size. There is a strong size effect, however, which is independent of particle internal structure. Crazes are rarely nucleated from particles smaller than ∼1 μm in diameter, even though these make up about half the total number. These craze nucleation and growth effects may be understood in terms of two hypotheses for craze nucleation: (1) the initial elastic stress enhancement at the rubber particle must exceed the stress concentration at a static craze tip and (2) the region of this enhanced stress must extend at least three fibril spacings from the particle into the glassy matrix. Since the spatial extent of the stress enhancement scales with the particle diameter, the second hypothesis accounts in a natural way for the inability of small rubber particles to nucleate crazes.
High-Status but Low-Performing: Effects of Group Status on Information Exchange and Group Outcome

Although a significant amount of research exists on how the status of groups affects intergroup behavior, and how the status of individuals influences their behavior toward other individuals, little is known about how intergroup status might affect intragroup processes. In this paper, we explore how and why group status influences group process and outcomes, focusing on information exchange among its members. In a laboratory study of 55 three-person groups engaged in a group negotiation task, we found that members of high-status groups exchanged information less, thereby reaching less desirable outcomes relative to low-status groups. We also found that the effect was moderated by whether the group had cooperative or competitive incentive systems; when groups had a cooperative incentive system, high-status groups exchanged as much information and had as high performance as low status groups. These findings suggest that the decrease in information exchange and group performance among high- status groups is ...
Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy measurements of the elastic constants of human dentin

The technique of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) was used to measure the second-order elastic constants of hydrated human dentin. Specimens were placed between two transducers, and the resonant frequencies of vibration were measured between 0.5 and 1.4 MHz. The elastic constants determined from the measured resonant frequencies in hydrated dentin exhibited slight hexagonal anisotropy, with the stiffest direction being perpendicular to the axis of the tubules (E11 = 25.1GPA) This hexagonal anisotropy was small (E33/E11 = 0.92), and almost disappeared when the specimens were dried. In addition, there was a pronounced anisotropy in the Poisson's ratio of wet dentin: v21 = 0.45; v31 = 0.29. With drying in air, this anisotropy vanished: v21 = v31 = 0.29. The isotropic Young's modulus of dried dentin was 28.1 GPa. RUS shows promise for determining the elastic constants in mineralized tissues.
Cross-national “laws” and differences in market response

International differences in general, and cultural differences in particular, exert profound influence on what people buy. In modeling market response, highly visible international differences in purchase behavior seem to lead to an assumption by management scientists that there are large parallel international differences in market response to such things as price and advertising. In an interpretive review of market response models, we do find international differences in response parameters, but we also find that parameter differences due to cross-national factors tend to be smaller than differences related to technical characteristics of the model or to product/market specifics. We suggest two new intermediate categories of generalizability between the extremes of "everything is the same" and "everything is different." We also argue that one promising approach to international generalization is through appropriate statistical adjustment of parameters from existing models.
An M-PSK modulator for quasi-optical wireless array applications

A new phase shift keying modulator particularly suited for quasi-optical oscillator-array applications is described. Experimental results for a 28 GHz BPSK version of the general M-PSK modulator are presented.
Saddle Crystal Dolomites as Fractured Reservoir Indicators, Mississippian Biohermal Facies, Hardeman County, Texas: ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Dolomitized Mississippian biohermal facies in the Hardeman basin of Texas produce mainly from fractures. During Osagean time crinoid-bryozoan mud mounds were common in the shallow basin, and in several fields early dolomitization, leaching, solution brecciation, and silicification occurred episodically during the development of the muddy, biohermal core sequences. Subsequent burial diagenesis involved calcite cementation, pressure-solution, several stages of fracturing, and a late stage of dolomitization. The late dolomite consists of saddle crystals that have lined early vugs and fractures and replaced skeletal grains. The dolomite has O18 values of -10 to -12 (PDB) and is post-fracturing and subsurface in origin. It is readily distinguished in cuttings making it a fracture-vug indicator that is identifiable at the well site. Since the Quanah Field reservoir and many others in the area owe their permeability mainly to fractures, the saddle crystal dolomites identify the primary productive zones and may enable the mapping of permeability trends.
FLIGHT ACTIVITY AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF PHYTOPHAGOUS SCARABS (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEOIDEA) FROM TWO LOCATIONS IN FLORIDA

Abstract The seasonal abundance of phytophagous scarabs in Gainesville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was documented with ultraviolet blacklight traps operated from April 2002 to November 2004. Over 44,000 adult scarabs were trapped and identified, including 30 species from 14 genera. Hybosorus illigeri Reiche was the most abundant species trapped (n = 12,306 or 27.9% of total trap catches). Phyllophaga was the most diverse genus with ten species collected. Tomarus cuniculus (F.) and Dyscinetus morator (F.) adults were trapped every month of the year. Anomala innuba (F.), Cyclocephala lurida (Bland), C. parallela Casey, H. illigeri, and Phyllophaga bruneri Chapin exhibited bimodal flight patterns. Adults of these five species combined represented 49.1, 56.5, and 64.6% of the collections in 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively. Species that occurred in both locations tended to be active earlier in Fort Lauderdale than in Gainesville. The flight activity and species composition of potential scarab pests in Flo...
Numerical Simulation of Three-Dimensional Unsteady Flow past Ice Crystals

The unsteady flow fields around falling columnar ice crystals, hexagonal ice plates, and broad-branch crystals are simulated by numerically solving the time-dependent Navier‐Stokes equations appropriate for these geometries in the primitive equation form. A predictor‐corrector method and a quadratic interpolation for convective kinematics (QUICK) scheme are applied on nonuniform grids to determine the velocity fields. The ice crystals are held in fixed orientation but time-dependent behaviors such as eddy shedding are allowed to occur by imposing an initial perturbation with a magnitude 30% of the free-stream velocity. The computed flow fields cover a Reynolds number range from 0.1 to about 200, being slightly different for different crystal habits. Examples of velocity fields are illustrated. The computed drag coefficients for cylinders agree with experimental values to within a few percent, while those for hexagonal plates agree with experimental values and previous calculations by Pitter et al. to less than 15% even though the aspect ratios are different. The drag coefficients for broad-branch crystals are higher than those for hexagonal plates at the same Reynolds numbers. Special features of flow passing through the branch gaps of broad-branch crystals suggest that it may be possible to use a creeping flow assumption to treat flow passing through spaces in complicated dendritic crystals.
Giant migrating contractions during defecation in the dog colon.

The colonic motor correlates of defecation were studied in 5 conscious dogs: A set of six strain-gauge transducers were implanted on the colon of each dog. An implanted cannula gave access to the terminal ileum. During a total control recording period of 230 h we observed 12 large-amplitude contractions that occurred spontaneously in the proximal colon and migrated caudal. We called them giant migrating contractions. The mean amplitude of these contractions was 2.8 times larger than the mean peak amplitude of phasic contractions during colonic motor complexes. The following stimuli were applied to induce defecation: 2 mglkg guanethidine (i.v.), 30 μg/kg neostigmine (i,v.), 1–4 mglkg castor oil (p.o.), 200 ml of 25% glucose (into ileum), and rectal distention by a balloon (120 ml). In 85% of experiments with guanethidine, neostigmine, glucose, and castor oil, giant migrating contractions occurred before defecation. The giant migrating contractions migrated over the entire colon or a part of its length. The migration velocity varied from 0.2 to 3.2 cm/s (mean ± SE, 0.82 ± 0.1 cmls). In 11% of the experiments, giant contractions occurred almost simultaneously at different recording sites at the time of defecation. In 4% of the experiments giant contractions occurred only at a single site. Balloon expulsion was only rarely accompanied by giant contractions in the colon, and then occurred only at a distal site and did not migrate. We conclude that the colon has spontaneous but infrequent largeamplitude caudal-migrating contractions. These contractions may be the motor equivalent of mass movements. Defecation is usually preceded by colonic giant migrating contractions. The giant migrating contractions may provide a major force for defecation and be partially responsible for the evacuation of the colon during defecation. However, evacuation of contents such as a balloon seems to be possible without giant migrating contractions.
Greening the Tube: Paddling Toward Comprehensive Surf Break Protection

Past attempts to protect surf breaks have failed for various reasons. Without better surf break protections, more surf breaks will be lost. Addressing this issue requires redefining the term “surf break” to include its three components — the submerged lands under the wave zone, a wave corridor which allows an unimpeded right of way for swells to reach the wave zone, and beach access. Sufficient surf break protection requires that policymakers employ a strategy which accounts for all of these components.Commentators have recommended using the designation of “surf reserves” to protect surf breaks. But these reserves would not protect all three components of the surf break. Additionally, surf reserves do not provide any legal protections for surf breaks by themselves. Others have recommended using existing legal frameworks to protect surf breaks. But these strategies do not adequately protect surf breaks because again they fail to account for all of the components of a surf break.Instead, I recommend using the more expansive definition of a surf break as a guide to develop adequate protections. Policymakers could enact new legislation which protects all three components of a surf break or expand existing protections to extend to all three. Alternatively, they could cobble together protections for one or more of the components that can sufficiently account for all three of them. This paper challenges alternative surf break protection schemes by arguing that they have historically defined surf breaks too narrowly to protect them. By using my proposed holistic definition to better understand what protecting surf breaks requires, policymakers can devise more effective surf break protection strategies.
Oncotrophoblast Gene Expression: Placental Alkaline Phosphatase

Publisher Summary Oncotrophoblast gene expression is reviewed within the context of the interrelationship of neoplasia with developmental biology. This chapter discusses the gene cloning and sequencing era of placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) and its related proteins. In particular, the discussion is focused on the oncotrophoblast gene expression in oncodevelopmental biology. It also discusses the significance of PLAP like enzyme in testis, seminoma, and other tumors and the inferences that may be drawn from the PLAP-type enzymes regarding gene structure and regulation. Depending on the cell line and the inducer chosen, the expression of the individual AP genes can be manipulated at will. This expression takes place with transcription of the gene, correlates with chromatin condensation, and is a function of the cell cycle at G 1 . The gene product has been identified in testis, ovary, and thymus, and in the majority of cancer patients harboring seminoma or ovarian carcinoma. The progenitor cells in these situations are the germ cells. This fact has stimulated a discussion of neoplasms originating from the descendants of specialized migratory embryonic cells resident in the adult. Thus, attention has been focused on these latest reflections of the interrelationship of cancer and developmental biology in the chapter.
Observations on the Life History of Trichodes Ornatus (Coleoptera, Cleridae), a Larval Predator in the Nests of Bees and Wasps

Trichodes ornatus Say is the commonest and most widely distributed representative of its genus in Western North America. It occurs in nearly every state west of the Rocky Mountains, as well as in British Columbia and Alberta, and ranges from sea level up to ten thousand feet elevation. However, in spite of these facts, little has been recorded of the biology of this (or any other) North American species except that the adults are pollen feeders and have been reared from the cells of bees and wasps. As yet, the present authors are not able to provide the complete biology of T. ornatus , but it is believed that at least a general outline of the life cycle has been obtained and a number of significant facts determined which had not been previously recorded for the genus.
Improved Acetylcholinesterase Reactivation with Bis-Oximes Modeled on Crystal Structure

Using the 3-dimensional crystal structure of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and a sophisticated docking program (1), we designed bis-oximes predicted to have optimal characteristics for reactivating AChE. Each compound contained two pyridine-aldoxime moieties linked by a methylene chain. The best orientation for the oxime substituent proved to be ortho to the ring nitrogen. When tested in vitro with human AChE irreversibly inhibited by the organophosphate drug, echothiophate, efficacy of reactivation depended on linker chain length in the bis-oxime. The length dependency was exactly as predicted if one oxime group interacted with the active site serine while the second interacted with AChE’s peripheral site. The most potent compound (7-methylene residues) caused nearly 100% reactivation at 10−6 M in 1 hr at 37°C. Full dose response curves showed that this compound was 100-fold more potent than the “standard” oxime (2-pralidoxime) in reactivating AChE exposed to either echothiophate or di-isopropylflurophosphate. A 100-fold enhancement in potency was also observed in vivo, when the compound was tested for ability to promote survival of rats challenged with echothiophate in doses up to 10-LD50. These results show that, as with AChE inhibitors, oximes gain affinity and efficacy from dual site interactions, which can be predicted by computational chemistry.