cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors affecting invertase activity in soils

The rate of reducing sugars released through invertase activity exhibited a buffer pH optimum of 5.0. Generally, the decline in invertase activity in its pH-profile near the optimal pH range was due to a reversible reaction that involved ionization or deionization of the functional groups in the active centre of the protein, but under highly acidic or alkaline conditions (pH 9) the reduced activity appears to be due to irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. The dependence of the reaction on the amount of enzyme present was linear up to 3 g of soil. By varying the substrate concentration, it was found that the reaction rate of this enzyme approached zero-order kinetics when 145mM of sucrose solution was added to soils. Application of three linear transformations of the Michaelis-Menten equation indicated that the apparent Km constants varied among the soils studied, but the results obtained by the three plots were similar. By using the Lineweaver-Burk plot, the Km values in five soils ranged from 16.3 to 42.1 (avg.=24.5) mM and Vmax values ranged from 1.98 to 7.37 mg of reducing sugars released/g of soil/24 h. The optimum temperature for invertase activity in soils was observed at 50°C and denaturation of the enzyme began at 55°C. The activation energy (Ea) and enthalpy of activation (ΔH*) values for invertase activity, expressed in kJ/mole, ranged from 6.1 to 43.1 and 3.5 to 40.5, respectively. The Q10 values for the invertase reaction in soils with a temperature range to 10 to 50°C ranged from 1.08 to 1.96. Under standerd conditions, the accumulation of reducing sugars was linear with time up to 48 h. Among the various pretreatments that affected invertase activity in soils, toluene, TCA, and PMA inhibited the enzyme by an average of 19, 54, and 11%, respectively. Steam-sterilization essentially destroyed soil invertase.
Measurement and explanation of stuttering : a retrospective appreciation of Gene Brutten's contribution

Abstract This special issue of the Journal of Fluency Disorders , a Festschrift for Gene J. Brutten, affords an opportunity to place his contribution to the study of stuttering in the context of theory and research published during the past few decades. This task is both difficult and personal. A scientist's work may be placed in different historical contexts, and each context will result in a different evaluation. This is especially true in the case of stuttering, which is characterized more by its phenotypic diversity of views and approaches than by unity of concepts or methods. Therefore, what follows is but one way of looking at Gene Brutten's contribution, with a view to appreciate his work more than evaluate it. Placing Brutten's work in the context of past and present research affords an opportunity to bring out its endurance. In a paper such as this, one could try to show the uniqueness of a scientist's contributions. To the contrary, I will try to show how Brutten's contributions can be appreciated in the context of apparently opposing views and theoretical and methodological vicissitudes.
Statistical Analysis of Power Grid Networks Considering Lognormal Leakage Current Variations with Spatial Correlation

As the technology scales into 90 nm and below, process-induced variations become more pronounced. In this paper, we propose an efficient stochastic method for analyzing the voltage drop variations of on-chip power grid networks, considering log-normal leakage current variations with spatial correlation. The new analysis is based on the Hermite polynomial chaos (PC) representation of random processes. Different from the existing Hermite PC based method for power grid analysis, which models all the random variations as Gaussian processes without considering spatial correlation. The new method focuses on the impacts of stochastic sub-threshold leakage currents, which are modeled as log-normal distribution random variables, on the power grid voltage variations. To consider the spatial correlation, we apply orthogonal decomposition to map the correlated random variables into independent variables. Our experiment results show that the new method is more accurate than the Gaussian-only Hermite PC method using the Taylor expansion method for analyzing leakage current variations, and two orders of magnitude faster than the Monte Carlo method with small variance errors. We also show that the spatial correlation may lead to large errors if not being considered in the statistical analysis.
Effect of α-tocopherol on the volatile thermal decomposition products of methyl linoleate hydroperoxides

α-Tocopherol and 1,4-cyclohexadiene were tested for their effect on the thermal decomposition of methyl linoleate hydroperoxide isomers. The volatiles generated by thermolysis in the injector port of a gas chromatograph at 180°C were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography. In the presence of either α-tocopherol or 1,4-cyclohexadiene, which are effective donors of hydrogen by radical abstraction, volatile formation decreased in all tests, and significant shifts were observed in the relative distribution of products in certain hydroperoxide samples. When an isomeric mixture of methyl linoleate hydroperoxides (cis, trans andtrans, trans 9- and 13-hydroperoxides) was decomposed by heat, the presence of α-tocopherol and 1,4-cyclohexadiene caused the relative amounts of pentane and methyl octanoate to decrease and hexanal and methyl 9-oxononanoate to increase. A similar effect of α-tocopherol was observed on the distribution of volatiles formed from a mixture of thetrans,trans 9- and 13-hydroperoxides. This effect of α-tocopherol was, however, insignificant with purecis,trans 13-hydroperoxide of methyl linoleate. The decrease in total volatiles with the hydrogen donor compounds, α-tocopherol and 1,4-cyclohexadiene, indicates a suppression of homolytic β-scission of the hydroperoxides, resulting in a change in relative distribution of volatiles. The increase in hexanal and methyl 9-oxononanoate at the expense of pentane and methyl octanoate in the presence of hydrogen donor compounds supports the presence of a heat-catalyzed heterolytic cleavage (also known as Hock cleavage), which seems to mainly affect thetrans,trans isomers of linoleate hydroperoxides.
Albedos and size distribution of meteoroids from 0.3 to 4.8 AU

Observational data are compared on the distribution of very small micrometeoroids (1 billionth to 1 hundred-millionth g), the scattering source function of the zodiacal light, the distribution of larger micrometeoroids (at least 1 hundred-thousandth g) as observed from Helios A and Pioneer 10, and the distribution of meteoroids from the sample seen from earth. The experiments, analyses, and simulations involved in obtaining these data are described in detail. It is shown that the various groups of data can be reconciled only by small albedos that decrease outward from 0.1 to at least about 3.3 AU for the particles which produce both the zodiacal light and the observed meteors. The results also indicate that there must be a maximum in the distribution of the larger particles somewhere between the orbits of earth and Jupiter. It is suggested that a search for fireballs in Jupiter's atmosphere by the television cameras of the MJS 77 mission should aid in locating this maximum.
An apical permeability barrier to NH3/NH4+ in isolated, perfused colonic crypts

Fermentation of nonabsorbed nutrients in the colon generates high concentrations of NH3/NH4+ in the colonic lumen. NH3 is a small, lipophilic neutral weak base that readily permeates almost all cell membranes, whereas its conjugate weak acid NH4+ generally crosses membranes much more slowly. It is not known how colonocytes maintain intracellular pH in the unusual acid-base environment of the colon, where permeant acid-base products of fermentation exist in high concentration. To address this issue, we hand dissected and perfused single, isolated crypts from rabbit proximal colon, adapting techniques from renal-tubule microperfusion. Crypt perfusion permits control of solutions at the apical (luminal) and basolateral (serosal) surfaces of crypt cells. We assessed apical- vs. basolateral-membrane transport of NH3/NH4+ by using fluorescent dyes and digital imaging to monitor intracellular pH of microvacuolated crypt cells as well as luminal pH. We found that, although the basolateral membranes have normal NH3/NH4+ permeability properties, there is no evidence for transport of either NH3 or NH4+ across the apical borders of these crypt cells. Disaggregating luminal mucus did not increase the transport of NH3/NH4+ across the apical border. We conclude that, compared to the basolateral membrane, the apical border of crypt colonocytes has a very low permeability-area product for NH3/NH4+. This barrier may represent an important adaptation for the survival of crypt cells in the environment of the colon.
Co-morbidities and survival of men with localized prostate cancer treated with surgery or radiation therapy

AbstractPurpose: We determined the impact of preexisting co-morbidities on survival of men with clinical stages T1b and T2NXM0 prostate cancer treated with surgery or radiation therapy.Materials and Methods: A weighted co-morbidity score was determined for 276 consecutive men treated with surgery (138) or radiation therapy (138) at a Veterans Affairs medical center and was correlated with actuarial freedom from death due to co-morbid disease.Results: After a median potential followup of 7.0 years 91 patients (33 percent) died of co-morbid disease and 20 (7 percent) died of cancer related causes. There were highly significant correlations between actuarial survival and weighted co-morbidity (p less than 0.000001), and the 10-years actuarial survivals in men with no or severe co-morbidities were 66 and 9 percent, respectively. Associations between patient age and co-morbidity score were highly significant (p less than 0.0001). The age adjusted risk of co-mobid death was 5.7 times greater in men with severe ...
A Simple Communication Network within a Hierarchical Control System

The beam line system at Fermilab was improved by incorporation of PDP-11 computers at the top of an existing hierarchical computer network. This paper describes the communications network between the top layer of computers in the control system.
On the validity and robustness of the scale error phenomenon in early childhood.

Abstract Scale errors is a term referring to very young children's serious efforts to perform actions on miniature replica objects that are impossible due to great differences in the size of the child's body and the size of the target objects. We report three studies providing further documentation of scale errors and investigating the validity and robustness of the phenomenon. In the first, we establish that 2-year-olds’ behavior in response to prompts to “pretend” with miniature replica objects differs dramatically from scale errors. The second and third studies address the robustness of the phenomenon and its relative imperviousness to attempts to influence the rate of scale errors.
Flow Folding in Rocks

PROF. L. U. DE SITTER1 considers that in flow folding “internal movement itself is no longer orientated but can take any direction”, and that the position of shear planes is random. He believes it developed most typically in incompetent rocks like salt, or at very high confining pressures or high temperatures. It is further maintained that this is the only true plastic deformation of rocks. These beliefs have recently been reiterated and enlarged on2.
Whole Farm Impact of Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Use on a New York Dairy Farm

Anaerobic digestion of manure for biogas production is one option for reducing the carbon footprint of milk production. This process reduces greenhouse gas emissions but increases the potential for nitrogen and phosphorus losses from the farm. A digester component was added to the Integrated Farm System Model to obtain a tool for comprehensive evaluation of the various effects of using this technology on dairy farms. A dairy farm in New York was simulated for 25 years of weather with and without the use of a digester. Farm records were used to verify simulated feed production and use, milk production, biogas production, and electric generation and use. Methane emission from the manure storage was reduced 71%, which reduced the whole-farm emission by 20%. Energy saved in water heating and purchased electricity reduced combustion and secondary carbon dioxide emissions by 9% and 11%, respectively. Over all farm sources and sinks, the digester reduced the net greenhouse gas emission and farm gate carbon footprint by 25 to 30% with a small increase in ammonia emission. Without financial assistance, there was no direct economic benefit to the producer, but benefits of reduced odor and a lower carbon footprint were obtained without much reduction in farm profit. Whole-farm simulation provides a useful tool for evaluating and comparing management options to reduce the environmental footprint of farm production systems.
Jewish Novellas in a Greek and Roman Age: Fiction and Identity

Although Jewish novellas (Esther, Daniel, Tobit, Judith, and Joseph and Aseneth ) have received more attention recently as a distinct genre within ancient Jewish literature, their relation to Greek and Roman novels is still debated. This article argues that, although some of the Jewish novellas arise earlier, they should be considered part of the same broad category of novelistic literature. The rich research on the cultural context of Greek and Roman novels applies to the Jewish as well. But a further question is also explored: if the Jewish texts were originally considered fictional, how did they come to be considered biblical and historical? Two suggestions are proposed: the protagonists of the narratives first came to be revered as heroes of the faith aside from the texts, and the rise of “biblical history” required the use of Esther and Daniel to fill in the gaps in the chronology.
Managed care and the ethics of regulation.

The dramatic appearance of managed care organizations (MCOs) on the U.S. health scene has generated tremendous anxiety among health care providers and patients. These fears are based on the belief that managed care techniques pose greater risks of under treatment than do fee-for-service modes of payment. In addition, many physicians and patients resent the limits placed on clinical autonomy by the MCO model and the stresses that it places on the traditional physician-patient relationship. These misgivings have been exacerbated by the mostly negative response to MCOs in the media and academia. Legislatures have responded to these claims and public fears with a wave of regulatory initiatives. Some of these regulations are attempts to protect patients. Others, however, are motivated primarily by antipathy toward the concept of managed care itself. This essay is an attempt to develop a social ethic of regulation and argues that the sole reason that private enterprise may be justifiably limited is when it presents a risk of harm to others or society. While some regulation and proposed regulation of MCOs meet this standard, much legislation represents an unjustified attempt to limit or handicap otherwise legal behavior merely because a segment of the population and medical profession find it aesthetically unpleasing and oppose its approach to the delivery of health services.
A statistical study of crater-associated wind streaks in the North Equatorial Zone of Mars

The physical characteristics of all crater-related streaks within the north equatorial zone of Mars (between 0 and 30 deg N) are studied. The survey includes 25% of the Martian surface area and covers the latitude band of major interest to the Viking missions. Nine characteristic parameters are measured for each of 2325 streaks, of which 82.3% are classified as light tone, 8.1% as dark tone, and 9.6% as mixed tone. The location of streaks in the investigated zone is considered together with the indicated wind regimes, and the characteristics of the streaks and of their associated craters are discussed. The results show that: (1) the streaks are not uniformly distributed throughout the north equatorial zone but are strongly concentrated in certain areas; (2) the density of streaks displays a significant latitude variation not apparently related to terrain type between 0 and 30 deg N; (3) the percentage of craters with streaks reaches a maximum between 10 and 15 deg N and falls off significantly toward both the equator and higher latitudes; and (4) the density of streaks correlates well with geological terrain type.
SU‐GG‐J‐190: Use of CBCT in SBRT Treatments, UTSW Experience

Purpose: To present an impact of CBCT on efficiency and accuracy of SBRT treatments in case of lung and prostate tumors.Method and Materials: Patients interfraction and intrafaction setup errors have been analyzed for prostate SBRT treatments and for lungSBRT treatments. The CBCT has been utilized for this purpose. The CBCT measurements of shifts before the end of treatment have been also collected for comparisons. Results: Average interfractional shift for SBRT prostate treatments in vertical direction was −0.51cm with average deviation from mean of 0.29cm and with maximal shift of 1.3cm, in longitudinal direction these values were respectively −.01, 0.29 and 0.6cm and in lateral direction these values were 0.05, 0.22 and 0.8cm respectively. Average intrafractional shift for SBRT prostate treatments in vertical direction was −0.05cm with average deviation from mean of 0.07cm and with maximal shift of 0.2cm, in longitudinal direction these values were respectively 0.07, 0.12 and 0.5cm and in lateral direction these values were −0.08, 0.1 and 0.2cm respectively. Average interfractional shift for SBRTLung treatments in vertical direction was −0.24cm with average deviation from mean of 0.37cm and with maximal shift of 1.1cm, in longitudinal direction these values were respectively −.06, 0.41 and 0.8cm and in lateral direction these values were −0.11, 0.34 and 0.9cm respectively. Average intrafractional shift for SBRTLung treatments in vertical direction was −0.01cm with average deviation from mean of 0.06cm and with maximal shift of 0.2cm, in longitudinal direction these values were respectively 0.01, 0.04 and 0.3cm and in lateral direction these values were 0, 0.05 and 0.3cm respectively. Conclusion. Daily use of CBCTIGRT for patient setups indicates that daily corrections of setup errors at treatment justify reduction of margins in SBRT treatments of lung and prostate.
Authorized and Rogue Device Discrimination Using Dimensionally Reduced RF-DNA Fingerprints

Unauthorized network access and spoofing attacks at wireless access points (WAPs) have been traditionally addressed using bit-centric security measures and remain a major information technology security concern. This has been recently addressed using RF fingerprinting methods within the physical layer to augment WAP security. This paper extends the RF fingerprinting knowledge base by: 1) identifying and removing less-relevant features through dimensional reduction analysis (DRA) and 2) providing a first look assessment of device identification (ID) verification that enables the detection of rogue devices attempting to gain network access by presenting false bit-level credentials of authorized devices. DRA benefits and rogue device rejection performance are demonstrated using discrete Gabor transform features extracted from experimentally collected orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based wireless fidelity (WiFi) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) signals. Relative to empirically selected full-dimensional feature sets, performance using DRA-reduced feature sets containing only 10% of the highest ranked features (90% reduction), includes: 1) maintaining desired device classification accuracy and 2) improving authorized device ID verification for both WiFi and WiMAX signals. Reliable burst-by-burst rogue device rejection of better than 93% is achieved for 72 unique spoofing attacks and improvement to 100% is demonstrated when an accurate sample of the overall device population is employed. DRA-reduced feature set efficiency is reflected in DRA models requiring only one-tenth the number of features and processing time.
Cocaine-Induced Reductions in Fetal Dopamine (DA) and Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) Are a Result of Attenuated Uterine Blood Flow

Cocaine-Induced Reductions in Fetal Dopamine (DA) and Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) Are a Result of Attenuated Uterine Blood Flow
Transcription of simian virus 40 DNA by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase: Synthesis of a DNA-RNA hybrid and discrete RNAs under restrictive transcription conditions☆

Simian virus 40 DNA I has been transcribed with Escherichia coli RNA polymerase at substrate concentrations of 5.5 to 16.5 μm. Sucrose gradient and polyacrylamide gel analysis of the products of transcription reveals the presence of a 21 S template DNA-RNA hybrid molecule and a large number of discrete RNAs of 5 to 11 S. The hybrid molecule serves as an intermediate in transcription. The discrete RNAs are transcribed from all areas of the genome, are initiated at specific DNA loci, and probably arise largely as a result of enhanced specificity of termination.
2H-1,4-benzoxazin-3(4H)-one, an intermediate in the biosynthesis of cyclic hydroxamic acids in maize

Abstract 2H-1,4-Benzoxazin-3(4H)-one has been identified as an intermediate in the biosynthesis of cyclic hydoxamic acids in maize by showing that the deuterium labelled compound is incorporated into DIMBOA with high retention of deuterium and high efficiency, by trapping radioactivity from [ 14 C] anthranilic acid in a pool of unlabelled benzoxazinone administered to maize shoots, and by showing that benzoxazinone is oxidized to DIBOA by maize microsomes in an NADPH- and oxygen-dependent reaction.
Impurity effects on lowest-energy Cooper pairing in an antiferromagnet

Abstract Isotropic scattering of electrons from nonmagnetic impurities does not suppress lowest-energy Cooper pairing in an antiferromagnet at all, and effects of non-isotropic scattering are expected to be small in magnitude. For this state, impurities substituted for magnetic ions affect the superconductivity mainly through their effects on the antiferromagnetism. Effects of nonmagnetic impurities on lowest-energy Cooper pairing in an antiferromagnet are just as though the pairing were s-wave in a nonmagnetic superconductor: in this state anisotropy of the pairing is purely a spin-density anisotropy and not a charge-density anisotropy. The Cooper pairing scheme which has lowest free energy in a perfect-crystal antiferromagnet also has lowest energy in a dirty antiferromagnet.
The adherence of Candida yeasts to human and bovine vascular endothelium and subendothelial extracellular matrix

The adherence of Candida albicans yeasts and other Candida species to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) and their respective subendothelial extracellular matrices (ECM) was studied. Yeast adherence to confluent HUVEC and BAEC appeared to occur at intercellular junctions and edges of endothelial cells in preference to the contoured surface of the endothelial cell. Both endothelial cell lines characteristically resisted yeast adherence. The resistance of endothelium to yeast adherence was especially pronounced in the presence of serum. On the other hand, there was avid yeast binding to the subendothelial ECMs, on the order of 200–500% greater than to monolayers of syngeneic endothelial cells.
Characterizing heterogeneous properties of cerebral aneurysms with unknown stress-free geometry: a precursor to in vivo identification.

Knowledge of elastic properties of cerebral aneurysms is crucial for understanding the biomechanical behavior of the lesion. However, characterizing tissue properties using in vivo motion data presents a tremendous challenge. Aside from the limitation of data accuracy, a pressing issue is that the in vivo motion does not expose the stress-free geometry. This is compounded by the nonlinearity, anisotropy, and heterogeneity of the tissue behavior. This article introduces a method for identifying the heterogeneous properties of aneurysm wall tissue under unknown stress-free configuration. In the proposed approach, an accessible configuration is taken as the reference; the unknown stress-free configuration is represented locally by a metric tensor describing the prestrain from the stress-free configuration to the reference configuration. Material parameters are identified together with the metric tensor pointwisely. The paradigm is tested numerically using a forward-inverse analysis loop. An image-derived sac is considered. The aneurysm tissue is modeled as an eight-ply laminate whose constitutive behavior is described by an anisotropic hyperelastic strain-energy function containing four material parameters. The parameters are assumed to vary continuously in two assigned patterns to represent two types of material heterogeneity. Nine configurations between the diastolic and systolic pressures are generated by forward quasi-static finite element analyses. These configurations are fed to the inverse analysis to delineate the material parameters and the metric tensor. The recovered and the assigned distributions are in good agreement. A forward verification is conducted by comparing the displacement solutions obtained from the recovered and the assigned material parameters at a different pressure. The nodal displacements are found in excellent agreement.
Fishing for SNPs: A Targeted Locus Approach for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Discovery in Rainbow Trout

Abstract The combination of whole-genome sequencing efforts and emerging high-throughput genotyping techniques has made single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) a marker of choice for molecular genetic analyses in model organisms. This class of marker holds great promise for resolving questions of phylogeny, population structure, introgression, and adaptive genetic variation. Fifty-five polymerase chain reaction primer pairs were used to target variable regions of the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss genome, 48 of which were designed from information found in publicly available DNA sequence databases. Forty of these primer pairs yielded sequenceable products. These sequences were compared across 1−10 individual fish from each of the following representative subspecies and strains: Sacramento redband trout O. mykiss stonei, California golden trout O. mykiss aguabonita, Little Kern golden trout O. mykiss whitei, coastal rainbow trout O. mykiss irideus, and the Mount Shasta hatchery strain. A total of 208 SNP...
A New Class of Equations for Rotationally Constrained Flows

The incompressible Navier–Stokes equation is considered in the limit of rapid rotation (small Ekman number). The analysis is limited to horizontal scales small enough so that both horizontal and vertical velocities are comparable, but the horizontal velocity components are still in geostrophic balance. Asymptotic analysis leads to a pair of nonlinear equations for the vertical velocity and vertical vorticity coupled by vertical stretching. Statistically stationary states are maintained against viscous dissipation by boundary forcing or energy injection at larger scales. For thermal forcing direct numerical simulation of the reduced equations reveals the presence of intense vortical structures spanning the layer depth, in excellent agreement with simulations of the Boussinesq equations for rotating convection by Julien et al. (1996).
CP violation in a model of right-handed b decays

Abstract CP violation is studied in a recently proposed SU(2) L ×SU(2) R ×U(1) model with purely right-handed b-decay couplings. A single phase in the right-handed mixing matrix leads to superweak-like predictions in K decays. We investigate in detail the predicted pattern of CP asymmetries in B decays, which distinguishes the model from both the superweak model and the standard model.
Safety of thyroidectomy in residency: a review of 186 consecutive cases.

A retrospective review was performed to assess the surgical complications of thyroidectomy performed by otolaryngology residents under close supervision by faculty. One hundred eighty-six consecutive cases of thyroidectomy performed by the residents in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Southern California were reviewed. Sixty-nine percent of thyroidectomies were performed for malignant or possible malignant diseases, and 31% were performed for benign conditions. Transient (less than 2 weeks in duration) hypocalcemia occurred in 26% of the patients ; the vast majority of cases resolved within the first week. Five percent of the patients developed persistent hypocalcemia requiring prolonged replacement therapy. The incidence of unexpected postoperative permanent vocal cord paralysis was 0.9%. These complication rates are comparable to those in previously published large series on results of thyroidectomy. Thyroidectomy performed in an otolaryngology residency training program is a safe procedure when closely supervised by experienced faculty.
Race/ethnicity and patient confidence to self-manage cardiovascular disease

Background:Minority populations bear a disproportionate burden of chronic disease, due to higher disease prevalence and greater morbidity and mortality. Recent research has shown that several factors, including confidence to self-manage care, are associated with better health behaviors and outcomes
Exploring resident attitude along a pre-production, production, and consumption continuum

Issues regarding tourismconsumption and production are common considerations throughout the industry and across spatial boundaries. Negotiating equilibrium between the tourist-desired extractive ex...
An expert fuzzy classification system for supporting the grading of student writing samples

Abstract This article reports on the design and development of an expert fuzzy classification scoring system for grading student writing samples. The growing use of written response tests in the education sector provides fertile domain areas for the application of soft computing and expert systems technology. The main function of the expert fuzzy classification scoring system is to support teachers in the evaluation of student writing samples by providing them with a uniform framework for generating ratings based on the consistent application of scoring rubrics. The system has been tested using actual student response data. A controlled experiment demonstrated that teachers using the expert fuzzy classification scoring system can make assessments in less time and with a level of accuracy comparable to the best teacher graders. The article introduces fuzzy classification techniques as a basis for constructing rule-based scoring models that can encapsulate knowledge needed for consistent scoring results. This increased consistency in the application of the scoring rubrics allows for more valid individual and group assessment.
ERRATUM: Vertebrate-like βγ-crystallins in the ocular lenses of a copepod

We previously reported that the ocular lenses of the pontellid copepod Anomalocera ornata possess vertebrate-like β- and γ-crystallins. We cannot repeat our earlier data suggesting that the copepod lens crystallins belong to the β- and γ-crystallin family of proteins. Our new data are consistent with the copepod crystallins being novel proteins.
Cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP in germinating conidia of Neurospora crassa.

A new method for obtaining synchronous germination allowed accurate time-course studies of endogenous levels of cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate and cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-phosphate in germinating conidia of Neurospora crassa. The levels of both cyclic nucleotides remained constant throughout germination, showing that they neither signal nor respond to any of the biochemical changes which are known to occur in the germination process. Conidal germination was approximately normal in three cr-1 mutants of Neurospora which have been shown to be deficient in adenylate cyclase activity. Cyclic AMP levels in the mycelia of cr-1 mutants were low, but surprisingly, the levels in conidia were normal.
Acute Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Responses During Exoskeleton-Assisted Walking Overground Among Persons with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Background: Lower extremity robotic exoskeleton technology is being developed with the promise of affording people with spinal cord injury (SCI) the opportunity to stand and walk. The mobility benefits of exoskeleton-assisted walking can be realized immediately, however the cardiorespiratory and metabolic benefits of this technology have not been thoroughly investigated. Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the acute cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses associated with exoskeleton-assisted walking overground and to determine the degree to which these responses change at differing walking speeds. Methods: Five subjects (4 male, 1 female) with chronic SCI (AIS A) volunteered for the study. Expired gases were collected during maximal graded exercise testing and two, 6-minute bouts of exoskeleton-assisted walking overground. Outcome measures included peak oxygen consumption (V?O2peak), average oxygen consumption (V?O2avg), peak heart rate (HRpeak), walking economy, metabolic equival...
Effects Of Strains On The Polar/Non-Polar Heteroepitaxy

Recent advances made in the heteroepitaxial growth led to a great deal of activity in the growth of GaAs based high speed devices in Si substrates. This is primarily caused by the possibility of utilization of the superior electrical and optical properties of GaAs and other III-V compounds and highly developed Si technology on Si substrates. However, there are still unresolved fundamental issues related to the material properties of polar/non-polar heteroepitaxy. Such issues are the effects of substrate tilting, in-situ and ex-situ annealing on the films (e.g. 3-D and 2-D nucleation, critical film thickness, etc.). A rigorous method is used to derive the equation of state of an interface formed between two bulk phases (metal-semiconductor, semiconductor-semiconductor) at a given temperature. The method is based on calculation of the effect of stresses and strains on properties of multilayered films grown on a thiCk substrate (flat and tilted). In the calculations, the total energy is minimized that gives explicit expressions for the interface properties (e.g. radius of the 3-D islands, critical film thickness, band offsets, Schottky barriers, etc.).
Hypertonic saline reverses stiffness in a Sprague-Dawley rat model of acute intestinal edema, leading to improved intestinal function.

Introduction: Acute edema induced by resuscitation and mesenteric venous hypertension impairs intestinal transit and contractility and reduces intestinal stiffness. Pretreatment with hypertonic saline (HS) can prevent these changes. Changes in tissue stiffness have been shown to trigger signaling cascades via stress fiber formation. We proposed that acute intestinal edema leads to a decrease in intestinal transit that may be mediated by changes in stiffness, leading to stress fiber formation and decreased intestinal transit. Furthermore, HS administration will abolish these detrimental effects of edema. Results: Intestinal edema causes a significant increase in tissue water and a significant decrease in intestinal transit and stiffness compared with sham. HS reversed these changes to sham levels. In addition, tissue edema led to significant stress fiber formation and decreased numbers of focal contacts. HS preserved tissue stiffness, prevented stress fiber formation, and was associated with improved intestinal function. Conclusion: HS eliminates intestinal tissue edema formation and improves intestinal transit. In addition, the action of HS may be mediated through its preservation of tissue stiffness, which leads to prevention of signaling via stress fiber formation, leading to preserved intestinal function. Finally, intestinal edema may provide a novel physiologic model for examining stiffness and stress fiber signaling.
The Anatomy of Suicidology: A Psychological Science Perspective on the Status of Suicide Research

Suicidologists have made tremendous strides in advancing the knowledge of correlates of completed suicide and nonfatal suicidal behavior since the early 1960s. In order to move beyond the simple identification of risk factors, however, scientific suicidology needs to give greater attention to the critical role of theory in guiding inquiry and advancing the understanding of suicidal behaviors. In this article I argue the importance of theoretical grounding from the perspective of psychological science, provide examples of this perspective from my work, and discuss their implications for future research in the field.
“Bending” of steps on rapidly grown KH2PO4 crystals due to an inhomogeneous surface supersaturation field

Abstract The surfaces of large rapidly grown KH2PO4 (KDP) crystals can exhibit the formation of valleys in addition to the well-known growth hillocks and associated intervicinal boundaries between them. Understanding the mechanism of formation of these valleys is extremely important because they are observed to be precursors to the formation of solution inclusions on the crystal surface. Ex situ measurements using a precision coordinate measuring machine (CMM) have been made of the surface topography of rapidly grown KDP crystals. These measurements clearly indicate that these valleys are formed by the “bending” of macrosteps originating from a single growth hillock. Results from numerical simulations of the hydrodynamics and mass transfer for the conditions used in the rapid growth process show that the surface supersaturation field generated on these crystals is inhomogeneous due to the spatially and temporally varying boundary layer thickness on the rotating crystal surface. These numerical results are used together with a simple model for the propagation of steps in an inhomogeneous surface supersaturation field to simulate the resulting crystal surface features. The qualitative agreement between the surface measurements and the numerical simulations is shown to be quite good. The dependence of the valley formation on parameters such as crystal growth rate, rotation conditions, growth hillock location, and impurity level are studied.
Molecular evidence for five distinct MHC class II α genes in the rabbit

Human HLA class 11 gene probes were used to identify five distinct genes encoding the class 11 heavy chain (a chain) in the rabbit. The rabbit genes were defined by both mapping data and hybridization studies of genomic clones derived from the inbred B/J rabbit strain. Analysis of the clones by hybridization at graded stringencies indicated that one group of clones corresponded to HLA-DR, one group to HLA-DQ, and two groups to HLA-DP. Clones within a fifth group, designated DN, hybridized weakly to HLA-DR and may carry a fourth species of class II α genes in the rabbit. Clones within the group showing high homology to HLA-DRα were found to also contain sequences hybridizing with a probe for HLA-DRβ. No HLA-DP, -DQ, or -DRβ sequences were detected in any of the other class II α clones. Distinct banding patterns observed in Southern blot analyses using either human or rabbit class II α probes revealed restriction fragment length polymorphism for the different rabbit haplotypes studied. TheDN, DQ, andDR α genes appear to be present as single copies whereas there are two distinctDP-like genes in the rabbit.
Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of severe nonimmune hydrops in a Down syndrome fetus at 16 weeks of gestation.

We have studied a fetus with the prenatal sonographic diagnosis of severe nonimmune hydrops fetalis at 16 weeks of gestration, who was later shown by amniocentesis to have Down syndrome.
"Functional race membership" and recognition of faces.

White students enrolled in a black studies course displayed better recognition accuracy for black faces than for white faces. All other groups (white and black) displayed better accuracy for faces ...
Effect of pH on CO2-activated 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase activity from apple fruit

Abstract 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate(ACC) oxidase, which converts ACC to ethylene, requires CO 2 as an activator for its activity. Using crude extracts of apple fruit, we examined the effect of pH on CO 2 -activated ACC oxidase activity. Since gaseous CO 2 lowered pH of the assay media, the final pH of the media was either checked after the reaction, or the pH was maintained by employing CO 2 -bicarbonate buffer. At ambient CO 2 , the optimum pH was 7.4; at this pH, maximal activity was attained with 4% atmospheric CO 2 as previously reported. As the concentration of CO 2 was increased, the optimum pH gradually shifted toward acidic side. At 20% CO 2 , the optimum pH was around 6.7. Thus, the concentration of CO 2 to elicit maximal enzyme activity varied greatly with pH. Dependence of the enzyme activity on CO 2 concentration at various pHs ranging from 6.0 to 7.5 was investigated. While the affinity of the enzyme for CO 2 decreased as the pH decreased, V max increased as the pH decreased, reaching a peak activity at pH 6.7. These results indicate that CO 2 affects ACC oxidase activity not only by serving directly as an ACC oxidase activator but also by modifying the tissue pH which in turn influences the enzyme activity. Furthermore, some enzyme kinetic parameters for various substrates and CO 2 were determined.
Physical and molecular properties of re-extruded starches as affected by extruder screw configuration.

Amylomaize V, amylomaize VII, wheat and rice starches were extrusion cooked in a single-screw extruder at 140°C barrel temperature and 140 rpm screw speed. Extrudates were ground and re-extruded through a 3 mm cylindrical die nozzle using screws with no mixing (NM), 1 mixing (1M) or two mixing (2M) elements. Overall expansions were the highest and bulk densities were lowest with 1M. Radial expansions for amylomaize V, amylomaize VII, and wheat starches were the highest with 1M and lowest with 2M. Amylopectin contents of starches decreased with corresponding increases of gel permeation chromatograph peak II fractions when number of mixing elements was increased. λmax values of peak I and peak II decreased upon re-extrusion of starches with increasing number of mixing elements.
A rational consideration of space charge

Space charge formation and its increase with field under DC conditions is not a mystical phenomenon. The increase in space charge with applied field is an obvious and inevitable result of the interaction of field-dependent current density with spatially inhomogeneous resistivity. For common polymeric dielectrics, the current density makes a transition from a linear function of field to an exponential function of field at around 10 kV/mm. This causes a similar transition in the sample space charge in the same field region. However, this transition has no obvious connection with aging, and if it does prove to have a connection, the driving force is the rapidly increasing current density and not the space charge, which is a result thereof. As to the issue of the accuracy of space charge measurements, it may be more important to focus on providing a physical mechanism for 1-eV deep traps at an average separation of 3 nm within a polymeric dielectric. This would bring about the ability to engineer important dielectric properties as well as improved understanding of the physical basis of aging and other important phenomena in dielectrics.
The effectiveness of the professional portfolio in the hiring process of the associate degree nurse

The National League of Nursing began requiring schools of nursing to implement professional portfolios in an effort to integrate theory, to demonstrate the mastery of curriculum and skills, and to enhance the assessment process. The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of professional portfolios in the hiring process of associate degree nurses. Survey questionnaires were used and analyzed using Statistical Program for the Social Sciences.
Analytical Solution to the Riemann Problem of Three-Phase Flow in Porous Media

In this paper we study one-dimensional three-phase flow through porous media of immiscible, incompressible fluids. The model uses the common multiphase flow extension of Darcy's equation, and does not include gravity and capillarity effects. Under these conditions, the mathematical problem reduces to a 2 x 2 system of conservation laws whose essential features are: (1) the system is strictly hyperbolic; (2) both characteristic fields are nongenuinely nonlinear, with single, connected inflection loci. These properties, which are natural extensions of the two-phase flow model, ensure that the solution is physically sensible. We present the complete analytical solution to the Riemann problem (constant initial and injected states) in detail, and describe the characteristic waves that may arise, concluding that only nine combinations of rarefactions, shocks and rarefaction-shocks are possible. We demonstrate that assuming the saturation paths of the solution are straightlines may result in inaccurate predictions for some realistic systems. Efficient algorithms for computing the exact solution are also given, making the analytical developments presented here readily applicable to interpretation of lab displacement experiments, and implementation of streamline simulators.
Developmental changes in rat liver alcohol dehydrogenase.

Abstract Hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity and mass content change coordinately during development in male rats. Enzyme activity and mass content increase continuously after birth to 100 and 80% of maximal values within 6 weeks (2.6 ± 0.4 μmole/min/g liver and 92 ± 20 μg/g liver), respectively. When expressed per milligram of soluble proteins, both parameters peak at 3 weeks (0.052 ± 0.002 μmole/min/mg protein and 2.0 ± 0.4 μg/mg protein) and then decrease gradually to plateau levels. These decreases probably arise from a “surge” in soluble liver protein levels that occurs after weaning. Similar developmental patterns also occur in female rats. These findings are the first quantitative measurements of this enzyme in developing animals.
Zero bias features in self-assembling tunnel junctions

Abstract A marked suppression of the conductance near zero bias voltage is a feature common to many electron tunneling systems and has been attributed to several different mechanisms including Coulomb blockade and non-equilibrium tunneling. We observe zero bias features (ZBFs) in self-assembling tunnel junctions in which the oxide layer of a traditional metal–insulator–metal junction is replaced by an atomically-thin gas film. We also find small conductance steps superimposed on the otherwise smoothly varying ZBF. Examination of the derivative of the junction conductance in this region reveals peaks, similar to those observed in point contact spectroscopy, that appear to be correlated with the phonon density of states in the metal electrodes.
Extended scaling relations for the magnetic critical exponents of the Potts model

The extended scaling relations for the leading and next-to-leading magnetic critical exponents of the two-dimensional Potts model are derived from the spin-spin correlation function in the Coulomb-gas representation.