cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
COVID 19 in-hospital mortality, body mass index and obesity related conditions.

Abstract Objective Obese patients with respiratory failure need more intensive care and invasive mechanical ventilation than their non-obese counterparts. We aimed to evaluate the impact of body mass index and obesity related conditions on fatal outcome during a hospitalization for COVID-19. Methods From March 1 to April 30, 2020, 425 consecutive patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were hospitalized at University Medical Center, in New Orleans. Clinical variables, comorbidities, and hospital course were extracted from electronic medical records. Special attention was given to obesity related conditions like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Severe obesity was defined as a body mass index ≥35– Results Patients were mostly African American (77.9%) and 51.0% were women. Age and Charlson comorbidity index scores averaged 60 (50–71 years) and 3.0 (1.25–5), respectively. In-hospital mortality was greater in morbidly obese than non-morbidly obese patients. Of the 64 severely obese patients, 16 had no obesity related conditions, and 48 had at least one obesity related condition: hypertension (60%), type 2 diabetes mellitus (28%), and dyslipidemia (20%). In-hospital mortality was greater in severely obese patients with than without at least one obesity related condition. Conclusion During a hospitalization for COVID-19, severely obese patients with at least one obesity related condition and morbidly obese patients have a high mortality.
QT Interval Dynamics and Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Cohort Study in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System.

Background Long QT has been associated with ventricular dysrhythmias, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and sudden cardiac death. However, no studies to date have investigated the dynamics of...
Performance of a Commonly Used Pressure Injury Risk Model under Changing Incidence

Background Hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) cause patient harm and increase health care costs. We sought to evaluate the performance of the Braden QD Scale–associated changes in HAPI incidence. Methods Using electronic health records data from a quaternary children's hospital, we evaluated the association between Braden QD scores and patient risk of HAPI. We analyzed how this relationship changed during a hospitalwide quality HAPI reduction initiative. Results Of 23,532 unique patients, 108 (0.46%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.38%–0.55%) experienced a HAPI. Every 1-point increase in the Braden QD score was associated with a 41% increase in the patient's odds of developing a HAPI (odds ratio [OR] = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.36–1.46, p Conclusion Decreases in HAPI incidence following a quality improvement initiative were associated with (1) significant deterioration in threshold-dependent performance measures such as specificity and precision and (2) significant improvements in threshold-independent performance measures such as the concordance statistic. The performance of the Braden QD Scale is more stable as a tool that continuously measures risk than as a prediction tool.
Maximal occupation by bases of π-hole bands surrounding linear molecules.

Linear molecules such as CO2 contain a positive π-hole ring that surrounds C on the molecule's equator. Quantum calculations examine the question as to how many bases can simultaneously bind to this ring. Linear molecules examined are TO2 , where T = C, Si, Ge, Sn; bases are NCH and NH3 . CO2 engages in the weakest of the tetrel bonds, and can bind up to three NCH and two NH3 . Unlike σ-hole tetrel bonds, Si forms the strongest tetrel bonds, with interaction energies as high as 43 kcal/mol with NH3 . But like GeO2 , SiO2 can sustain only two bases in its equatorial ring. The π-hole ring of SnO2 can engage in up to four tetrel bonds with either NCH or NH3 , even though these bonds are weaker than those with GeO2 or SiO2 . As all of these complexes cast TO2 in the role of multiple electron acceptor, the resulting negative cooperativity makes each successive bond weaker than its predecessor as bases are added, as well as reducing the magnitude of the central molecule's π-hole.
The most often screened criterions in questionnaire research

The paper shows results of the first phase of research for the thesis on monitored logistic criterions. The offer of criterions was satisfactory for the most of companies. On the contrary, a great deal of companies screened only part of them. Only some companies stated that they use some additional criterions, which were not included in the offer of the questionnaire. It can be a proof that there is no use of logistic criterions (especially in value criterions) in the work experience in the most of companies.
Local Planning: Experiments and Evaluation

Having described how the planner works in the previous chapter, we now examine how the planner affects problem solving. The first part of this chapter explores the activities of the planner and problem solver in a variety of experiments to better understand what the planner does. To fully understand the effects of the planner, these experiments not only examine how the planner improves control decisions, but also what the costs of those improvements are. It is important to remember that the planner’s job is to reduce the time needed to solve problems by improving control decisions, but if the planner needs a lot of time to make these decisions, then the net result may be that the time needs increase—the time saved in problem solving is used up in planning! In many of these experiments, therefore, the discussion covers not only how the planner affects local decisions but also whether the costs of planning are acceptable.
Performance and aesthetic effects of daylight

An experimental booth was constructed wherein north daylight or cool white fluorescent from either the side or top could be provided with the artificial horizontal illuminance matched to the daylight illuminance (at 320 to 860 lx). Thirty college student subjects performed needle threading, proofreading and graphreading tasks without awareness of the type of light source. Semantic scales were also used to assess aesthetic reactions to the lighting treatments. Speed of performance was very little affected by lighting type although a few small differences favored daylighting and sidelighting. Under these experimental conditions aesthetic variations were also small. It was concluded: For common visual tasks and workplaces if extraneous effects are controlled, there seems to be little if any advantage of daylighting over artificial lighting.
Diplomatic advantages and threats in global health program selection, design, delivery and implementation: development and application of the Kevany Riposte

Global health programs, as supported by organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), stand to make significant contributions to international medical outcomes. Traditional systems of monitoring and evaluation, however, fail to capture downstream, indirect, or collateral advantages (and threats) of intervention selection, design, and implementation from broader donor perspectives, including those of the diplomatic and foreign policy communities, which these programs also generate. This paper describes the development a new metier under which assessment systems designed to consider the diplomatic value of global health initiatives are described and applied based on previously-identified “Top Ten” criteria. The “Kevany Riposte” and the “K-Score” were conceptualized based on a retrospective and collective assessment of the author’s participation in the design, implementation and delivery of a range of global health interventions related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Responses and associated scores reframe intervention worth or value in terms of global health diplomacy criteria such as “adaptability”, “interdependence”, “training,” and “neutrality”. Response options ranged from “highly advantageous” to “significant potential threat”. Global health initiatives under review were found to generate significant advantages from the diplomatic perspective. These included (1) intervention visibility and associations with donor altruism and prestige, (2) development of international non-health collaborations and partnerships, (3) adaptability and responsiveness of service delivery to local needs, and (4) advancement of broader strategic goals of the international community. Corresponding threats included (1) an absence of formal training of project staff on broader political and international relations roles and responsibilities, (2) challenges to recipient cultural and religious practices, (3) intervention-related environmental concerns, and (4) a lack of prima facie consideration of intervention diplomatic and foreign policy consequences. Global health interventions stand to generate significant diplomatic advantages for donor and recipient countries and organizations when appropriately selected, designed, targeted, and delivered. Conversely, in the absence of the application of standards such as those developed under the Kevany Riposte, threats to diplomacy and international relations may occur. With the application of related systems to other global health programmes and settings, comparative results on the relative worth of alternate approaches from the diplomatic perspective may be generated to better inform political, strategic, and global health policy and programmatic decisions.
Too Much Pay, Too Much Deference: Is CEO Overconfidence the Product of Corporate Governance?

This article focuses on potential causes of CEO overconfidence, a problem that to date has not been central to corporate governance. Instead, corporate governance has focused on solving conflicts of interest and on motivating managers to work hard; it has not emphasized the need to remedy the kind of good faith mismanagement that results when CEOs are overconfident, although well-intentioned and hard working. I theorize that CEO overconfidence is a product of corporate governance in two key ways. First, high executive compensation gives positive feedback to a CEO and signals that the chief executive is a success. Studies show that positive feedback and recent success build confidence. Indeed, the very process of winning the tournament to become the top executive probably makes a CEO more confident. Stressing the possible link between CEO pay and CEO overconfidence offers a new behavioral approach to executive compensation that emphasizes the psychological consequences of executive pay - namely, the risk of bad business decisions, particularly overinvestment, rooted in growing CEO confidence - as opposed to the incentive effects or fairness concerns associated with how and how much CEOs are paid. Second, a CEO-centric model of corporate governance is predominant in the U.S. as boards, subordinate officers, gatekeepers, judges, and shareholders largely defer to the chief executive, even in the Sarbanes-Oxley era. My theory is that CEOs become more confident as a result of the great deal of corporate control that is concentrated in their hands and the fact that their business judgment is largely deferred to, even as conflicts of interest, disloyalty, and fraud are more carefully monitored. I conclude by considering how corporate governance could incorporate techniques for managing CEO overconfidence, chief among them being efforts to ensure that the CEO and the board of directors consider the opposite (i.e., arguments against some course of action). One possibility is to appoint a chief naysayer whose job is to be a devil's advocate. This article also addresses what managerial overconfidence might mean for defensive tactics to hostile takeovers and for derivative lawsuits brought by shareholders, as well as for the law of fiduciary duty and the business judgment rule, exploring the possibility of extending the law of fiduciary duty to cover mismanagement that is rooted in managerial overconfidence. The general message of this article is that in the future, corporate governance should move beyond managerial motives to account more for human psychology and how managers actually behave and make business decisions, including when they are trying to do their best.
Extraversion and Its Positive Emotional Core

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the theoretical views of extraversion. Extraversion has been included as a higher-order factor in every major taxonomic scheme of personality traits that have been developed during the past 50 years. Extraversion consistently emerges as a higher-order disposition in taxonomic schemes of personality traits. Higher-order traits represent the most general level in the hierarchy of dispositions. This is the level at which personologists attempt to explain individual differences with the fewest possible and most broadly applicable dimensions. Extraversion is divided into two distinct subfactors: (1) it involves successful adaptation through satisfying interpersonal relationships, and (2) another that entails adaptation through dominance, mastery, and achievement. Theoretical conceptualizations of extraversion have gradually but, systematically evolved over the past 75 years. This evolution necessarily involves elements of both continuity and change. The continuity is largely reflected in the interpersonal components of the trait. Recent conceptualizations have also stressed the positive affective component of the trait. These models emphasize that extraverts are happy, enthusiastic, confident, active, and energetic. More fundamentally, it now appears that extraversion essentially taps individual differences in affectively rewarding performance. Compared to introverts, extraverts view themselves as more effectively and pleasurably engaged in various aspects of their lives.
Lyubeznik's Resolution and Rooted Complexes

We describe a new family of free resolutions for a monomial ideal i>I, generalizing Lyubeznik's construction. These resolutions are cellular resolutions supported on the rooted complexes of the lcm-lattice of i>I. Our resolutions are minimal for the matroid ideal of a finite projective space.
A graph-based deadlock prevention technique for FMSs Petri nets

This paper proposes a method to synthesize supervisors for a class of sequential resources allocation system for flexible manufacturing systems. The class of Petri nets, called the simple sequential processes with resources (S3PR) where deadlocks are related to empty siphons. The proposed policy first constructs a reachability tree (also called reachability graph) of the S3PR net in order to find its dead markings. Then it controls the dead markings by using a graph-based technique. Finally, the control policy adds a controlled transition to the net such that it make the control net into a live one. Based on the independent dead states, a new deadlock policy is developed by using reachability graph technique. The new control policy is to handle I/O variation to get all the independent dead states of the system nets. By way of the independent dead states, we can obtain the control transitions. Notably, this study is different from previous control policies which are adding additional control places policies. Comparison with experimental results, our new control policy will obtain the maximally permissive reachability states than the conventional place-control ones. As a result, one can infer that our control policy can be used in Petri nets deadlock systems and obtain the maximum permissive states. To our knowledge, this is the first work that employs independent dead states to obtain the deadlock policy.
Pathways of Transport in Bone

The sections in this article are: 1 Vascular Anatomy and Fluid Phase 1.1 Conduit Vessels to Bone 1.2 Capillaries of Bone 1.3 Fluid Transport 1.4 Physiological Implications 2 Bone Tissue Turnover 2.1 Bone Remodeling 2.2 Cells of Bone 2.3 Mineral Phase 2.4 Bone Repair 3 Transport of Ions and Molecules in Bone 3.1 Movement Into Bone From Bulk Extracellular Fluid (Influx) 3.2 Efflux 4 Methodology 4.1 Indicator-Dilution Methods 4.2 Steady-State Techniques (Volume of Distribution) 4.3 Blood Flow 5 Summary and Conclusions
In vivo and in vitro changes in strength of orthopedic calcium aluminates.

Calcium aluminate bars were formulated to study the effect of real and simulated biological environments on strength. Static fatigue tests revealed that the strength of these potential internal bone prostheses decreased to ca. 60% of their initial strength after less than 100 min while being held at constant stress in solution. Calcium aluminate bars aged for 12 weeks in water or Ringer solution were also found to exhibit large losses in strength, while bars implanted in vivo for the same period of time weakened somewhat less. Semi-quantitative analysis of the solutions in which the calcium aluminate bars were aged revealed that Al3+ and Ca2+ were being leached from the bars in both the saline and water baths, while the concentration of Mg2+ was decreasing in the Ringer solution. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies revealed extensive microstructural changes in specimens aged in water or saline solution for 1 and 12 weeks. Similar but far less extensive changes were seen in bars aged in vivo in rabbits for 12 weeks.
A Comparative Analysis of the Influence of Socioeconomic Variables on the Financial Performance of Smallholder Irrigation Systems in Zimbabwe

Abstract This paper evaluates the influence of socioeconomic variables on participating in marketing cooperatives on the financial performance of small holder irrigation systems in Zimbabwe: use of credit, participation in labor groups, master farmer training, literacy, keeping of farm records, participation in savings clubs, and the gender of the plot holder. Three smallholder irrigation management systems namely the government managed Agritex, the farmer managed community, and the informal bani (dambo) are compared. In the Agritex schemes, participating in labor groups is the only variable influencing financial performance. None of the variables studied are important on the community schemes, perhaps because unlike on Agritex schemes, where the government makes production decisions, community scheme farmers make their own decisions. In the bani schemes, marketing cooperatives, credit use, literacy, record keeping, and the gender of the plot holder are significant. The government should consider extendin...
Calcitonin gene-related peptide potentiates substance P-induced plasma extravasation in the rat trachea

Antidromic stimulation of vagal sensory nerves is known to produce plasma extravasation in the rat trachea. This neurogenic inflammation is thought to be mediated by substance P or other tachykinins released from sensory nerve endings. We sought to determine whether calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which is also released from sensory nerve endings, can potentiate substance P-induced plasma extravasation in the rat trachea. To accomplish this, we measured the amounts of Evans blue dye extravasated into the trachea after intravenous injections of substance P alone and combined with CGRP. We found that when substance P and CGRP were injected together, the amount of plasma extravasation produced in the trachea was substantially greater than the amount produced when substance P was injected alone. This potentiation was critically dependent on the dosage of CGRP and was not observed when relatively high dosages were used. We also found that CGRP had a potent hypotensive effect and speculate that reduced blood pressure may account for the lack of potentiation observed at the higher CGRP dosages. Based on these findings, we conclude that CGRP can potentiate substance P-induced plasma extravasation in the rat trachea and may therefore play a role in modulating neurogenic inflammation of the airways.
The suppression of cellular proliferation in SV40-transformed 3T3 cells by glucocorticoids.

Glucocorticosteroids, when added two hours after cell plating to SV40-transformed, 3T3 mouse fibroblasts in low serum (0.3%v/v), biotin-supplemented medium, suppress cellular proliferation by 24 hours. While some cell death probably occurs, the growth inhibition is not primarily due to cytotoxicity and cytolysis. This conclusion is supported by the following: (1) both dead and viable cell numbers are suppressed, (2) little cell debris is evident in the medium, and (3) very high concentrations of glucocorticoids do not cause an increase in the dead cell count. Furthermore, this growth suppression, which is specific for glucocorticoids since several non-glucocorticoid steroids have no inhibitory effect, is not permanent nor irreversible. Removal of the glucocorticoid and replacement with 10% serum restore rapid proliferation. Although higher concentrations (1% and 10%) of serum afford some protection against glucocorticoid inhibition, this protection is not simply a consequence of faster growth rates. SV3T3 cells can be grown in serum-free medium supplemented with biotin, transferrin, insulin, and epidermal growth factor (EGF). Under these conditions growth rates are comparable to high serum media, yet glucocorticoids are still powerful inhibitors. However, the omission of insulin from serum-free, glucocorticoid cultures does result in observable cell death and lysis. Flow microfluorometry and autoradiographic studies have determined that glucocorticoid-inhibited cells are partially blocked in G1. The proportions of S phase and G2 + M cells are greatly reduced with an accompanying accumulation of G1 cells. These results suggest that glucocorticoids regulate a biochemical step(s) in G1 which is critical for DNA initiation.
Polarization-dependent x-ray spectroscopy of high-Tc superconductors

For anisotropic structures such as those found for the high Tc superconductors, the utility of x-ray absorption measurements can be enhanced by taking advantage of the inherent polarization of synchrotron radiation. Polarization dependent measurements have been made on all four classes of high Tc materials (La, Y, Bi, and Tl based Cu oxides) after orienting them magnetically. All show similar polarization dependence for their near edge structure which is characteristic of planar Cu compounds. The paper concentrates on results for YBa2Cu3O7-x materials. The two types of Cu sites in this material have different polarization dependence, and measurements with the x-ray polarization parallel and perpendicular to the c-axis can be used to distinguish their contributions to the near edge structure. We can clearly resolve the 4p(pi) contributions from the two sites. The extended fine structure also shows distinct polarization dependence which allows the separation of contributions from in-plane and out-of-plane bonds. Measurements on oxygen deficient materials show contributions from Cu1+ which is determined to be on the Cu(1) (linear chain) sites from the polarization dependence, and to vary linearly with the O concentration.
Evolution, Traits, and the Stages of Human Courtship: Qualifying the Parental Investment Model

ABSTRACT Individual differences are explicitly connected to social interaction in Darwin's notion of sexual selection Traits that increase the probability of successful reproduction will tend to increase in frequency This process operates partly through differential choice, by one sex, of certain traits in the other According to the parental investment model, females frequently have more stringent criteria for the traits they will accept in a mate because they have a relatively larger investment in each offspring Because human mating arrangements often involve a substantial commitment of resources by the male, it is necessary to invoke a distinction between the selectivity involved during casual mating opportunities and the selectivity exercised when choosing a long-term partner Ninety-three undergraduate men and women rated their minimum criteria on 24 partner characteristics at four levels of commitment In line with an unqualified parental investment model, females were more selective overall, particularly on status-linked variables In line with a qualified parental investment model, males' trait preferences depended upon the anticipated investment in the relationship Males had lower requirements for a sexual partner than did females, but were nearly as selective as females when considenng requirements for a long-term partner
On Component Reliability and System Reliability for Space Missions

This paper is to address the basics, the limitations and the relationship between component reliability and system reliability through a study of flight computing architectures and related avionics components for launch vehicles for NASA future missions. Component reliability analysis and system reliability analysis need to be evaluated at the same time, and the limitations of each analysis and the relationship between the two need to be fully understood to ensure mission success.
Body-oriented coordinates applied to the finite-element method

Abstract The objective of this research is to increase the accuracy of the finite-element method using coordinates intrinsic to the shape of the body being analyzed. We refer to these coordinates as body coordinates. Existing finite elements use Cartesian coordinates and are more accurate for solving rectangular shaped problems than for solving nonrectangular-shaped problems. To check the feasibility of this research, we developed finite-element codes that used both cylindrical and Cartesian coordinates to solve problems in which the bodies were cylindrical-spaped. We obtained the most accurate solutions using the code that used cylindrical coordinates. Body coordinates become Cartesian coordinates for rectangular-spaped bodies and cylindrical coordinates for circular-shaped bodies. The body coordinate's finite-element formulation uses coordinate transformations from the body to the Cartesian coordinates. These transformations are developed using blending functions and boundary functions. Gradients of the Cartesian coordinates, with respect to body coordinates, are needed for stiffness calculations. Thus, the criterion for the blending function derivation is ‘the nearest boundaries dominate’, both for coordinate transformations and for gradient of coordinate transformations. For our studies, we developed two codes, one that uses body coordinates and one that uses Cartesian coordinates. These codes have been used to solve six example problems.
Political Leadership and Stadium Development in Chicago: Some Cautionary Notes on the Uses of Regime Analysis

Between 1988 and 1994, Chicago was the site of three major sports stadium projects — the construction of the new Comiskey Park (since renamed US Cellular Field) and the United Center, as well as the addition of stadium-lighting to the venerable Wrigley Field. This article analyzes the implementation of these projects with the aim of critiquing and reorienting contemporary regime theory. The more particular amendments to typical regime analysis focus on the ‘opportunism’ of political figures in shaping agendas and carrying through projects. The larger suggestions growing from this analysis pertain to the nature of regime theory as a mode of political analysis and, additionally, to a reconceptualization of how regime analysis can be linked to the normative assessment of urban policy.
Pictures of Ultrametric Spaces, the p-adic Numbers, and Valued Fields

(2001). Pictures of Ultrametric Spaces, the p-adic Numbers, and Valued Fields. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 108, No. 8, pp. 721-728.
Profiling and understanding student information behaviour: Methodologies and meaning

This paper draws on work conducted under the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to identify a range of issues associated with research design that can form a platform for enquiry about knowledge creation in the arena of user behaviour. The Framework has developed a multidimensional set of tools for profiling, monitoring and evaluating user behaviour. The Framework has two main approaches: one, a broad-based survey which generates both a qualitative and a quantitative profile of user behaviour, and the other a longitudinal qualitative study of user behaviour that (in addition to providing in-depth insights) is the basis for the development of the EIS (Electronic Information Services) Diagnostic Toolkit. The strengths and weaknesses of the Framework approach are evaluated. In the context of profiling user behaviour, key methodological concerns relate to: representativeness, sampling and access, the selection of appropriate measures and the interpretation of those measures. Qualitative approaches are used to generate detailed insights. These include detailed narratives, case study analysis and gap analysis. The messages from this qualitative analysis do not lend themselves to simple summarization. One approach that has been employed to capture and interpret these messages is the development of the EIS Diagnostic Toolkit. This toolkit can be used to assess and monitor an institution's progress with embedding EIS into learning processes. Finally, consideration must be given to integration of insights generated through different strands within the Framework.
The swisshouse: an inhabitable interface for connecting nations

We present the Swisshouse, a novel type of "inhabitable interface" that supports direct and indirect communication and cultural awareness of habitants in different nations. The Swisshouse allows unsophisticated users to collaborate and be aware of each other over distance. By carefully sculpting the space and choreographing interactive elements in the space, the Swisshouse allows users to instantly separate, combine, and customize environments for specific collaborative activities. By providing visual representations of remote users and places, the Swisshouse provides awareness of the culture, presence and identities of virtual participants. And by tagging physical users with RFID tags, the Swisshouse makes participants aware of the social interaction occurring in the physical space. The combination of these primitives provides a single consistent inhabitable interface that integrates architectural and user interface design thinking, hardware and software design. To illustrate the power of this convergent approach, we describe several examples of real-life applications including a remote lecture, a brainstorming session, a business meeting, and an exhibition.
Relation Between Fountain Pressure and Heat Current in Helium II

Allen and Reekie1 directed attention to the fact that the fountain-pressure difference ΔP at the ends of a narrow slit or capillary produced by a temperature difference is, in the absence of mass flow, exactly proportional to the heat current W appearing simultaneously with the fountain pressure.
Light and temperature modulated expolinear growth model for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Abstract Expolinear growth equations are robust and simple models for the early and middle stages of crop growth. Those proposed by Greenwood and by Monteith were compared for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crop biomass in well-managed fields in the Central Wisconsin Sand Plain, and the Monteith equation found preferable. A time-derivative form of the Monteith equation was coupled to daily solar radiation and air temperature. Solar radiation was linked to daily maximum absolute growth through light use efficiency, and daily maximum relative growth rate was made a function of temperature by assuming a doubling of biological processes with every 10 °C increase (Q10=2). The modified model predicted dynamic dry matter accumulation variation from year to year, and showed improved prediction of potato growth until senescence.
Utility of lipid biomarkers in support of bioremediation efforts at army sites

Abstract Lipid biomarker analysis has proven valuable in testing the hypothesis that attributes of the extant microbiota can directly reflect the occurrence of contaminant biodegradation. Two past research efforts have demonstrated this utility and are described here. A 4.5 m vertical core was obtained from a diesel fuel oil contamination plume. Core material was assayed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and bacterial membrane phospholipids (PLFA) via a single solvent extraction. Microbial viable biomass and the relative abundance of Gram-negative bacterial PLFA biomarkers were found to be significantly correlated with TPH concentration. The core TPH profile also revealed two distinct areas where the average TPH level of 3000 μg g − 1 fell to near detection limits. Both areas were characterized by a three-fold decrease in the hexadecane/pristane ratio, indicating alkane biodegradation, and a distinct PLFA profile that showed a close similarity to the uncontaminated surface soil. Low-order, incomplete detonations can deposit hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) into training range surface soils. Since surface soils are exposed to temporal and diurnal moisture cycles, we investigated the effect two very different soil moisture tensions had on the in situ microbiota and RDX biodegradation. Saturated soils were characterized by rapid RDX biodegradation, 4 day half-life, a decrease in number of species detected and increase in PLFA biomarkers for Gram-negative proteobacteria (n16:1ω7c, n18:1ω9c, and n18:1ω7c) and Gram-positive firmicutes (i15:0 and a15:0). Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) profiles of endpoint microbial communities indicated a shift from 18 to 36% firmicutes, the loss of gamma-proteobacteria and the emergence of alpha-proteobacteria. These two past research efforts demonstrated the utility of the lipid biomarker analysis in identifying microbial community characteristics that were associated with two very different soil contaminants. Lipid biomarkers defined areas of TPH biodegradation and identified community shifts as a result of soil conditions that affected explosives fate. Information like this can be used to enhance the predictive power of ecological models such as the Army Training and Testing Area Carrying Capacity for munitions model [ATTACC].
Electro-Optical Signal Processing Applications Of The GaAs CCD

The general form of a system for optical signal or data processing is described. The concept of using systolic flow of information and massive parallelism for efficient, high throughput optical computation is presented. An accompanying problem, the fact that an upper limit of the processing speed is often imposed not by the optical processing elements, but by the devices that form the interfaces between the light and electronic domain, is also discussed. GaAs CCDs are a technology that can provide a solution to these "bottleneck" problems; examples of representative applications are provided.
Surviving Parents’ Influence on Adult Children’s Depressive Symptoms Following the Death of a First Parent

Parents and children are linked across the life course, and they share common experiences. This article focuses on the bereavement experience of adult children's loss of a first parent during adulthood and examines the downward influence of emotional closeness with a surviving parent on adult children's depressive symptoms following loss. Analyses are based on adult children who experienced the death of a first parent (N = 227), drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Generations, a study of three-and four-generation families from Southern California. Multilevel lagged dependent variable models indicate that an emotionally close relationship with a surviving parent is related with fewer post-bereavement depressive symptoms when a mother survives a father, but not vice versa. This analysis extends the theory of linked lives and highlights the mutual influence parents and children exert, as well as the complex role of gender in shaping family relationships.
Calcium effect on the mycelial cell walls of Botrytis cinerea

Abstract The goal of this study was to determine whether calcium ion, (one of the electrolytes released after plant cell attack), may have a direct effect on fungal growth and chemistry of the fungal cell wall. B. cinerea was grown on Richard's solution containing different amounts of CaCl 2 , and the cell walls were extracted from the mycelium after 7 days of growth. Mineral, neutral and aminosugar, protein and uronic acid contents were determined. At 1 g l −1 CaCl 2 , only the aminosugar content increased. At 2 g l −1 CaCl 2 , neutral sugar synthesis was reduced, whereas the uronic acid content increased. For higher CaCl 2 concentrations, the calcium ion content of the cell wall increased, resulting in reduced protein and neutral sugar contents. Meanwhile, the cell wall proportion of the mycelia increased on a dry weight basis due to an increase in uronic acid, Ca, P, Na and neutral sugar contents of the cell wall with increasing CaCl 2 in the media. The resulting thickening of the fungal cell wall caused by calcium ion may be an important factor in the host-pathogen relationship.
Implementing Effective Low-Cost Laboratory Experiments Into a Distance Engineering Program

This paper details the successful and inexpensive implementation of remote laboratory experiments into a control systems course using readily available hardware and software. The custom-made experiments include an inverted pendulum, a platform leveling system, a ball and beam apparatus, and an aerodynamic beach ball levitation system, each implemented in a separate course offering. With each laboratory, the control objective is to regulate a physical parameter, (pendulum angle, platform orientation, ball position, etc.) by manipulating voltage to a drive component (DC motor, linear actuator, blower, etc.). Engineering software commonly used in controls courses (MATLAB/Simulink and LabView) coupled with dedicated hardware (xPC Target and NI Compact Rio) provide the controller platforms, while Microsoft NetMeeting and standard Internet video conferencing equipment are used to interface the distance-learning students with the laboratory equipment. Both local students at North Carolina State University’s campus in Raleigh and distance students at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and Craven Community College in Havelock, NC complete the laboratory experiments. In a student survey, distance students participating in the remote labs rated the experience as favorably as local students. Course grades, including design project grades, were similar between the two groups.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Olympic voting system proposal

In an effort to address the contentious issue of judged Olympic events, the Olympic committee has proposed a pilot audience participation system to score the gymnastics and diving competitions in the upcoming 2004 Athens Summer Games. The system would allow the spectators who are physically present at the event to cast their vote in real time. The spectator vote will have no effect on an athlete's official score and will be purely for entertainment purposes. Enabling audience members to voice their opinions electronically creates an emotionally exciting new form of spectator involvement within the Olympics. Our system relies on the principle of judging the judges, allowing spectators to agree or disagree with a score given to an athlete by the Olympic panel of judges. The spectator participates in the unique experience of being able to voice their opinion on a larger scale. After the event, the spectator has a keepsake that they can treasure for years after the Athens Games.
LPS Stimulation of TNF-Receptor Deficient Macrophages: a Differential Role for TNF-α Autocrine Signaling in the Induction of Cytokine and Nitric Oxide Production

To evaluate the role of autocrine TNF-alpha signaling in macrophage activation, immortalized macrophages from normal mice (B6/J2) and from mice containing gene targeted disruptions of the type 1 and type 2 TNF-receptor genes (TRN) were stimulated under CD14-dependent or serum-free conditions. Although the B6/J2 and TRN clones mounted similar nitric oxide responses to LPS in the presence of serum, the TRN macrophages responded poorly when stimulated with LPS under serum free conditions. LPS stimulation of TRN and B6/J2 under serum-free conditions resulted in equivalent levels of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and iNOS gene expression. However, Western blot analysis revealed that iNOS protein production by TRN was 2-fold lower than that produced by B6/J2. These results indicate that autocrine TNF-alpha stimulation contributes to the signaling pathways initiated by ligation of LPS receptors in the absence of LBP and is involved in iNOS post-transcriptional regulation.
Intrathecal interferon for multiple sclerosis.

was administered by serial lumbar puncture to ten patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Their clinical courses were compared with those of ten MS control patients who did not receive IFN-\g=b\.As of this writing, the recipients have been followed up for 1.8 to 2.0 years (mean, 1.9 years), and the controls for 1.5 to 1.7 years (mean, 1.6 years). During the study, two recipients suffered four exacerbations, and six controls suffered 11 exacerbations. The recipients' rates of exacerbation during the study were significantly less than their rates both for the entire prestudy duration of the disease and for the 1.8 to 2.0 years immediately preceding entry into the study. The controls' rates of exacerbation before the study and during the study period did not differ significantly. Clinically, the conditions of five recipients and two controls improved, those of three recipients and four controls were unchanged, and those of two recipients and four controls worsened. Headaches, sometimes accompanied by fever and rarely by nausea and vomiting, occurred after injections of IFN\x=req-\ \g=b\.Toxic symptoms usually disappeared within 24 hours; rarely, they persisted for seven to ten days. Each recipient had transient CSF pleocytosis and elevated levels of total protein (the latter remaining elevated in seven). These findings show that intrathecal administration of IFN-\g=b\is feasible in patients with MS, warrant cautious optimism that intrathecal IFN-\g=b\may be effective in altering the course of the disease, and support concepts of a viral or dysimmune cause of MS. (Arch Neurol 1982;39:609-615) large body of evidence suggests that multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused (at least in part) by viral infec¬ tion.12 Interferon has been shown to have potent effects against a variety of viruses that infect animals and humans.317 Only minute amounts of interferon cross the blood-brain bar¬ rier when it is administered systemically, but it can be safely adminis¬ tered intrathecally.6·12·1823 For these reasons, we assessed the effect of intrathecal administration of human fibroblast interferon (IFN-/3) in patients with MS, using a randomized, controlled study. Preliminary results of this study were reported ear¬ lier.24'26
Drought in the Upper Midwest, 1931–1969

Abstract Monthly Palmer Drought Index values for the periods 1931–40, 1941–50, 1951–60 and 1961–69 were subjected to eigenvector analysis. Patterns and periods of variable moisture conditions resulted which fit well the patterns found in drought studies of areas east and west of the upper Midwest. The 1930's and 1950's included years of severe drought but the patterns of drought were not identical. The 1930's drought spread from the west; the 1950's drought spread from the south and southwest. The 1940's and 1960's were wetter than normal in the upper Midwest.
Toward predictable, efficient, system-level tolerance of transient faults

As embedded and real-time systems increase in complexity, and as chip process technologies continually decrease feature size, transient faults increasingly threaten system failure. This paper introduces C3, an system to tolerate system-level faults (e.g. in the scheduler). When considering predictable recovery of system-level components, we introduce recovery interference, a side-effect of system-level recovery that causes possibly unbounded priority inversion. We discuss an interface-driven recovery technique that is effective, efficient, and uses on-demand recovery to avoid recovery interference.
Measurements of wind velocities in a street canyon

Abstract Measurements of wind velocities in an urban street canyon with a height-to-width ratio of about 1.4 were made when ambient winds aloft were approximately perpendicular to the street. The mean wind velocities were determined by analysis of trajectories of tracer balloons that were released in the canyon and photographed in rapid sequence. The trajectories indicate the presence of a primary vortex cell within the canyon, provided the ambient wind velocity exceeds 1.5–2.0 m s−1. Measurements with hot-wire anemometers suggest that vehicular traffic at the street level is significant in increasing turbulence up to heights of approximately 7 m.
RNA polymerase interaction at the promoter-operator region of the tryptophan operon of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium

Restriction fragments from the promoter-operator region of the tryptophan operon of Escherichia coli were isolated and the location of the DNA regions which interact with RNA polymerase bound at the trp promoter was examined. RNA polymerase protects from deoxyribonuclease I digestion a region of approximately 37 base-pairs centred on the transcription initiation site. RNA polymerase also protects HincII and AluI restriction endonuclease recognition sequences located 32 to 37 and 38 to 41 base-pairs, respectively, before the transcription start-site. Although RNA polymerase in the initiation complex protects approximately the first 20 base-pairs of the transcribed portion of the operon, other studies have shown that replacement of the nucleotide sequence beyond position + 1 by a foreign sequence does not significantly affect promoter function in vivo (Bennett & Yanofsky, 1978) . Promoter function of isolated restriction fragments was evaluated by: (1) the ability to act as a template for trp messenger RNA transcription in vitro and (2) the ability of RNA polymerase to specifically protect an HpaI restriction endonuclease cleavage site present in the trp promoter-operator region and contained in each of the fragments. Fragments with termini 78 base-pairs or more before the transcription initiation site have both promoter functions. A fragment which terminates 39 base-pairs before the transcription initiation site is not efficient in either function. This places the boundary of the sequence required for trp promoter function in vitro between 39 and 78 base-pairs preceding the transcription initiation site. Findings from functional analyses with fragments from the conserved Salmonella typhimurium trp promoter-operator region (Bennett et al., 1978b) suggest that the sequences required for trp promoter function in vitro are contained within the DNA segment extending 59 basepairs before the messenger RNA start-site.