Showing papers by "State University of New York System published in 1993"

Value Orientations, Gender, and Environmental Concern:

Abstract: A social-psychological model is developed to examine the proposition that environmentalism represents a new way of thinking. It presumes that action in support of environmental quality may derive from any of three value orientations: egoistic, social-altruistic, or biospheric, and that gender may be implicated in the relation between these orientations and behavior. Behavioral intentions are modeled as the sum across values of the strength of a value times the strength of beliefs about the consequences of environmental conditions for valued objects. Evidence from a survey of 349 college students shows that beliefs about consequences for each type of valued object independently predict willingness to take political action, but only beliefs about consequences for self reliably predict willingness to pay through taxes. This result is consistent with other recent findings from contingent valuation surveys. Women have stronger beliefs than men about consequences for self, others, and the biosphere, but there i...

A revolution morphometrics.

Abstract: We are now in the midst of a revolution in morphometric methodology. The new approaches are more effective in capturing information about the shape of an organism and result in more powerful statistical procedures for testing for differences in s shape. They are also more effective in enabling a researcher to visualize differences in shape and in suggesting simple traditional measurements that could be used in future studies. In this review we emphasize applications to exploratory studies in taxonomy and evolution.

Quantum Inverse Scattering Method and Correlation Functions

Abstract: One-dimensional Bose-gas One-dimensional Heisenberg magnet Massive Thirring model Classical r-matrix Fundamentals of inverse scattering method Algebraic Bethe ansatz Quantum field theory integral models on a lattice Theory of scalar products Form factors Mean value of operator Q Assymptotics of correlation functions Temperature correlation functions Appendices References.

Pharmacodynamics of intravenous ciprofloxacin in seriously ill patients.

Abstract: Seventy-four acutely ill patients were treated with intravenous ciprofloxacin at dosages ranging between 200 mg every 12 h and 400 mg every 8 h. A population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic analysis relating drug exposure (and other factors) to infectious outcome was performed. Plasma samples were obtained and assayed for ciprofloxacin by high-performance liquid chromatography. Samples from patients were frequently cultured so that the day of bacterial eradication could be determined. The pharmacokinetic data were fitted by iterative two-stage analysis, assuming a linear two-compartment model. Logistic regression was used to model ciprofloxacin exposure (and other potential covariates) versus the probabilities of achieving clinical and microbiologic cures. The same variables were also modelled versus the time to bacterial eradication by proportional hazards regression. The independent variables considered were dose, site of infection, infecting organism and the MIC for it, percent time above the MIC, peak, peak/MIC ratio, trough, trough/MIC ratio, 24-h area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), AUC/MIC ratio (AUIC), presence of other active antibacterial agents, and patient characteristics. The most important predictor for all three measures of ciprofloxacin pharmacodynamics was the AUIC. A 24-h AUIC of 125 SIT-1.h (inverse serum inhibitory titer integrated over time) was found to be a significant breakpoint for probabilities of both clinical and microbiologic cures. At an AUIC below 125 (19 patients), the percent probabilities of clinical and microbiologic cures were 42 and 26%, respectively. At an AUIC above 125 (45 patients), the probabilities were 80% (P < 0.005) and 82% (P < 0.001), respectively. There were two significant breakpoints in the time-to-bacterial-eradication data. At an AUIC below 125 (21 patients), the median time to eradication exceeded 32 days; at an AUIC of 125 to 250 (15 patients), time to eradication was 6.6 days: and at AUIC above 250 (28 patients), the median time to eradication was 1.9 days (groups differed; P < 0.005). These findings, when combined with pharmacokinetic data reported in the companion article, provide the rationale and tools needed for targeting the dosage of intravenous ciprofloxacin to individual patients' pharmacokinetics and their bacterial pathogens' susceptibilities. An a priori dosing algorithm (based on MIC, patient creatine clearance and weight, and the clinician-specified AUIC target) was developed. This approach was shown, retrospectively, to be more precise than current guidelines, and it can be used to achieve more rapid bacteriologic and clinical responses to ciprofloxacin, as a consequence of targeting the AUIC.

The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited

Abstract: This book, authored by two leading scholars of the Supreme Court and its policy making, systematically presents and validates the use of the attitudinal model to explain and predict Supreme Court decision making. In the process, it critiques the two major alternative models of Supreme Court decision making and their major variants: the legal and rational choice. Using the US Supreme Court Data Base, the justices' private papers, and other sources of information, the book analyzes the appointment process, certiorari, the decision on the merits, opinion assignments, and the formation of opinion coalitions. The book will be the definitive presentation of the attitudinal model as well as an authoritative critique of the legal and rational choice models. The book thoroughly reflects research done since the 1993 publication of its predecessor, as well as decisions and developments in the Supreme Court, including the momentous decision of Bush v. Gore.

Superspace duality in low-energy superstrings

Abstract: We extend spacetime duality to superspace, including fermions in the low-energy limits of superstrings. The tangent space is a curved, extended superspace. The geometry is based on an enlarged coordinate space where the vanishing of the d'Alembertian is as fundamental as the vanishing of the curl of a gradient.

Infants' preference for the predominant stress patterns of English words.

Abstract: One critical aspect of language acquisition is the development of a lexicon that associates sounds and meanings; but developing a lexicon first requires that the infant segment utterances into individual words. How might the infant begin this process? The present study was designed to examine the potential role that sensitivity to predominant stress patterns of words might play in lexical development. In English, by far the majority of words have stressed (strong) initial syllables. Experiment 1 of our study demonstrated that by 9 months of age American infants listen significantly longer to words with strong/weak stress patterns than to words with weak/strong stress patterns. However, Experiment 2 showed that no significant preferences for the predominant stress pattern appear with 6-month-old infants, which suggests that the preference develops as a result of increasing familiarity with the prosodic features of the native language. In a third experiment, 9-month-olds showed a preference for strong/weak patterns even when the speech input was low-pass filtered, which suggests that their preference is specifically for the prosodic structure of the words. Together the results suggest that attention to predominant stress patterns in the native language may form an important part of the infant's process of developing a lexicon.

Two vierbein formalism for string inspired axionic gravity

Abstract: Using independent left and right vierbeins to describe a graviton plus axion as suggested by string mechanics, $\mathrm{O}(d, d)$ duality is realized linearly.

Spiral waves of excitation underlie reentrant activity in isolated cardiac muscle.

Abstract: The mechanism of reentrant ventricular tachycardia was studied in computer simulations and in thin (approximately 20 x 20 x 0.5-mm) slices of dog and sheep ventricular epicardial muscle. A two-dimensional matrix consisting of 96 x 96 electrically coupled cells modeled by the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations was used to analyze the dynamics of self-sustaining reentrant activity in the form of elliptical spiral waves induced by premature stimulation. In homogeneous anisotropic media, spirals are stationary and may last indefinitely. However, the presence of small parameter gradients may lead to drifting and eventual termination of the spiral at the boundary of the medium. On the other hand, spirals may anchor and rotate around small discontinuities within the matrix. Similar results were obtained experimentally in 10 preparations whose electrical activity was monitored by means of a potentiometric dye and high-resolution optical mapping techniques; premature stimulation triggered reproducible episodes of sustained or nonsustained reentrant tachycardia in the form of spiral waves. As a rule, the spirals were elongated, with the major hemiaxis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cells. The period of rotation (183 +/- 68 msec [mean +/- SD]) was longer than the refractory period (131 +/- 38 msec) and appeared to be determined by the size of the spiral's core, which was measured using a newly devised "frame-stack" plot. Drifting of spiral waves was also observed experimentally. Drift velocity was 9.8% of the velocity of wave propagation. In some cases, the core became stationary by anchoring to small arteries or other heterogeneities, and the spiral rotated rhythmically for prolonged periods of time. Yet, when drift occurred, spatiotemporal variations in the excitation period were manifested as a result of a Doppler effect, with the excitation period ahead of the core being 20 +/- 6% shorter than the excitation period behind the core. As a result of these coexisting frequencies, a pseudoelectrocardiogram of the activity in the presence of a drifting spiral wave exhibited "QRS complexes" with an undulating axis, which resembled those observed in patients with torsade de pointes. The overall results show that spiral wave activity is a property of cardiac muscle and suggest that such activity may be the common mechanism of a number of monomorphic and polymorphic tachycardias.

Performance profiles of the functional independence measure.

Abstract: The functional independence measure (FIM) is used to determine the degree of disability that patients experience and the progress that they make through programs of medical rehabilitation. Rasch analysis is a statistical technique for constructing interval measures from ordinal data that was

Reliability of DSM-III-R Anxiety Disorder Categories: Using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule—Revised (ADIS-R)

Abstract: • A large reliability study ofDSM-III-Ranxiety disorders is reported in which outpatients (n=267) received two independent structured interviews (Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule—Revised). It is the only reliability study to date in which the finalDSM-III-Rcriteria are used throughout the study. Reliability was assessed for each diagnosis when it was assigned as a principal diagnosis and when it was assigned as either a principal or an additional diagnosis. Excellent reliability was obtained for current principal diagnoses of simple phobia, social phobia, and obsessivecompulsive disorder. Agreement was good for panic disorder when all severity levels of agoraphobic avoidance were combined. Reliability was fair for generalized anxiety disorder. Remaining diagnostic difficulties, particularly in identifying levels of agoraphobic avoidance and in reliably diagnosing generalized anxiety disorder, are discussed in the context of changes in diagnostic criteria that are under consideration forDSM-IV.

Volume graphics

Abstract: Volume graphics, which employs a volume buffer of voxels for 3D scene representation, is discussed. Volume graphics offers advantages over surface graphics: it is viewpoint independent, insensitive to scene and object complexity, and suitable for the representation of sampled and simulated data sets. Moreover, geometric objects can be mixed with these data sets. Volume graphics supports the visualization of internal structures and lends itself to the realization of block operations, constructive solid geometry modeling, irregular voxel sizes, and hierarchical representation. The problems associated with the volume buffer representation (such as discreteness, memory size, processing time, and loss of geometric representation) are discussed. >

Elimination of false positives that arise in using the two-hybrid system.

Abstract: The two-hybrid system is a genetic method to identify proteins that interact with a specific target protein, which is expressed in yeast as a hybrid with a DNA-binding domain Use of this method entails transforming yeast, both with this DNA-binding domain hybrid and with a library of activation domain hybrids, followed by screening for transcriptional activation of a reporter gene In addition to proteins that interact with the target protein, a number of false positives are identified We provide possible explanations for these false positives along with rapid assays to eliminate them

Rapid amplification of complementary DNA ends for generation of full-length complementary DNAs: thermal RACE.

Abstract: Publisher Summary The generation of a full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) can represent the most challenging part of a cloning project, particularly with respect to obtaining the 5' end of the cDNA. The initial step––reverse transcription of messenger RNA (mRNA)—is also the most critical one, and many variations on it is described to maximize the likelihood of obtaining fully extended cDNA. Thermal rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique through which previously unobtained 3' and 5' ends of a cDNA can be amplified starting with the knowledge of a small stretch of sequence from within an internal region of the cDNA. This technique provides an alternative to constructing and screening conventional libraries to obtain the remainder of the sequence for a partially cloned cDNA. Partial cDNAs are generated using PCR to amplify the copies of the region between a single point in a mRNA transcript and its 3' or 5' end. To use the RACE protocol, a short, internal stretch of sequence must already be known from the mRNA of interest.

Binding of acylated peptides and fatty acids to phospholipid vesicles : pertinence to myristoylated proteins

Abstract: We studied the binding of fatty acids and acylated peptides to phospholipid vesicles by making electrophoretic mobility and equilibrium dialysis measurements. The binding energies of the anionic form of the fatty acids and the corresponding acylated glycines were identical; the energies increased by 0.8 kcal/mol per number of carbons in the acyl chain (Ncarbon = 10, 12, 14, 16), a value identical to that for the classical entropy-driven hydrophobic effect discussed by Tanford [The Hydrophobic Effect (1980) Wiley, New York]. The unitary Gibbs free binding energy, delta Gou, of myristoylated glycine, 8 kcal/mol, is independent of the nature of the electrically neutral lipids used to form the vesicles. Similar binding energies were obtained with other myristoylated peptides (e.g., Gly-Ala, Gly-Ala-Ala). The 8 kcal/mol, which corresponds to an effective dissociation constant of 10(-4) M for myristoylated peptides with lipids, provides barely enough energy to attach a myristoylated protein in the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane. Thus, other factors that reduce (e.g., hydrophobic interaction of myristate with the covalently attached protein) or enhance (e.g., electrostatic interactions of basic residues with acidic lipids; protein-protein interactions with intrinsic receptor proteins) the interaction of myristoylated proteins with membranes are likely to be important and may cause reversible translocation of these proteins to the membrane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Surpassing the information theoretic bound with fusion trees

Abstract: This paper introduces a new sublogarithmic data structure for searching, the fusion tree. These trees lead to improved worst-case algorithms for sorting and searching, surpassing the limitations of the information theoretic lower bound.

Persistent activation of the zeta isoform of protein kinase C in the maintenance of long-term potentiation

Abstract: Long-term potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, a model for memory formation in the brain, is divided into two phases. A transient process (induction) is initiated, which then generates a persistent mechanism (maintenance) for enhancing synaptic strength. Protein kinase C (PKC), a gene family of multiple isozymes, may play a role in both induction and maintenance. In region CA1 from rat hippocampal slices, most of the isozymes of PKC translocated to the particulate fraction 15 sec after a tetanus. The increase of PKC in the particulate fraction did not persist into the maintenance phase of long-term potentiation. In contrast, a constitutively active kinase, PKM, a form specific to a single isozyme (zeta), increased in the cytosol during the maintenance phase. The transition from translocation of PKC to formation of PKM may help to explain the molecular mechanisms of induction and maintenance of long-term potentiation.

Molecular Mechanisms of Pollen Tube Growth and Differentiation.

Abstract: ' The extremely reduced, three-celled, haploid male plant (male gametophyte) of flowering plants has a number of specialized functions to perform. The primary functions are the production of two sperm cells and their transport within the pollen tube through the tissues of the style and ovary into the embryo sac in the ovule, where they participate in double fertilization. The early part of the life of the male gametophyte, following meiosis, occurs within the sporophytic tissues of the anther. During this period, a number of critical developmental events occur that are preceded or accompanied by the induction of activity of a large number of genes (for reviews, see Mascarenhas, 1990,1992; McCormick, 1991; Scott et al., 1991; Bedinger, 1992). The molecular events that take place during

Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary processes in East African cichlid fishes

Abstract: Since their discovery almost one hundred years ago, the adaptive radiations of cichlid fishes in the largest East African lakes have fascinated biologists. They are a prime example of explosive speciation. Among vertebrates, these species assemblages are the most species rich and the most diverse, morphologically, ecologically and behaviorally. Recent phylogenetic analyses of molecular data and refined knowledge about the geological history of the East African lakes are throwing new light on the evolutionary history of these extraordinary fish faunas.

Single-stranded shuttle phagemid for mutagenesis studies in mammalian cells: 8-oxoguanine in DNA induces targeted G.C-->T.A transversions in simian kidney cells.

Abstract: A single-stranded shuttle vector has been developed for the purpose of investigating translesional events in mammalian cells. The vector is designed to permit site-specific introduction of defined DNA lesions between a gene for neomycin resistance and its promoter. Efficiencies of translesional synthesis in simian kidney cells (COS) and Escherichia coli are established by determining the number of neomycin- and ampicillin-resistant colonies recovered, respectively, after introduction of a modified vector. Fidelity of translesional synthesis is evaluated by analyzing the nucleotide sequence of progeny phagemid DNA in the region corresponding to the lesion site. This experimental system, capable of detecting mutagenic and nonmutagenic events at and adjacent to the lesion site, was used to establish the mutagenic potential of a single 8-oxoguanine residue in DNA. This modified base, produced by attack of reactive oxygen species on cellular DNA, did not cause a decrease in the number of transformants when single-stranded DNA containing the lesion replicated in COS cells or E. coli. The predominant mutations observed (> 78%) were G-->T transversions targeted to the site of the lesion. The mutation frequencies for this event were 2.5-4.8% in COS cells and 1.8% in E. coli. It is concluded that a single-stranded shuttle vector, utilized in conjunction with a site-specific approach, can be used to investigate translesional events in mammalian cells and in bacteria.

The stigma of overweight: affective consequences of attributional ambiguity.

Abstract: Attributing negative outcomes to prejudice and discrimination may protect the mood and self-esteem of some stigmatized groups. Thus, the overweight may be low in self-esteem because they blame their weight, but not the attitudes of others, for negative outcomes based on their weight. In an experiment, 27 overweight and 31 normal weight college women received either positive or negative social feedback from a male evaluator. Relative to other groups, overweight women who received negative feedback attributed the feedback to their weight but did not blame the evaluator for his reaction. This attributional pattern resulted in more negative mood for these overweight women in comparison with other groups. Dimensions of stigma that may account for differences in the tendency to attribute negative outcomes to prejudice, and implications of these findings for weight loss programs and psychotherapy for the overweight, are discussed.