Reward,persuasion, and the Sokal Hoax: A study in citation identities

A citation identity is a list of an author's citees ranked by how frequently that author has cited them in publications covered by the Institute for Scientific Information. The same Dialog software that creates identities can simultaneously show the overall citation counts of citees, which indicate their reputations. Using identities for 28 authors in several disciplines of science and scholarship, I show that the reputational counts of their citees always have an approximately log-normal distribution: citations to very famous names are roughly balanced by citations to obscure ones, and most citations go to authors of middling reputation. These results undercut claims by constructivists that the main function of citation is to marshal “big-name” support for arguments at the expense of crediting lesser-known figures. The results are better explained by Robert K. Merton's norm of universalism, which holds that citers are rewarding use of relevant intellectual property, than by the constructivists' particularism, which holds that citers are trying to persuade through manipulative rhetoric. A universalistic citation pattern appears even in Alan Sokal's famous hoax article, where some of his citing was deliberately particularistic. In fact, Sokal's basic adherence to universalism probably helped his hoax succeed, which suggests the strength of the Mertonian norm. In specimen cases, the constructivists themselves are shown as conforming to it. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Amygdala Inactivation Blocks Expression of Conditioned Memory Modulation and the Promotion of Avoidance and Freezing.

Rats were exposed to shock-paired cues immediately after training on an appetitive preference task. Elevated levels of freezing in and active avoidance of the shock-paired compartment were observed, and memory for the appetitive task was improved when tested 24 hr later. Intra-amygdala muscimol injected before the posttraining exposure eliminated freezing, avoidance, and memory modulation. The blockade of both freezing and active avoidance, which involve competing behavioral tendencies, makes it unlikely that the amygdala itself generates either behavior. The elimination of conditioned memory modulation suggests that conditioned neurohormonal responses were blocked. These conditioned internal responses may comprise the intervening variable of "conditioned fear" and may promote observable behaviors, the form of which is determined by the environment in which they occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Computational Complexity of Consumer Decision Rules

A consumer entering a new bookstore can face more than 250,000alternatives. The efficiency of compensatory and noncompensatory decisionrulesfor finding a preferred item depends on the efficiency of their associatedinformation operators. At best, item-by-item information operators lead tolinear computational complexity; set information operators, on the other hand,can lead to constant complexity. We perform an experiment demonstrating thatsubjects are approximately rational in selecting between sublinear and linearrules. Many markets are organized by attributes that enable consumers toemploya set-selection-by-aspect rule using set information operations. In cyberspacedecision rules are encoded as decision aids.     

Effects of vanadium and nitrogen on recovery and recrystallization during and after hot-working some HSLA steels

The effects of vanadium/nitrogen additions on dynamic and static recovery and recrystallization have been studied in a set of aluminum-killed HSLA steels containing 0.1 pct carbon, 0.01 to 0.02 pct nitrogen, and either vanadium (0.1 or 0.2 pct), niobium (Cb) (0.03 pct), or vanadium and niobium together. Most, but not all, of the tests were carried out at 1173 K (900°C), a temperature at which precipitation of VN might be expected under some conditions. The net effect of dynamic recovery, recrystallization, and precipitation was monitored by measuring the change in compressive flow stress with strain at a constant temperature. Static changes were followed by measuring the change in compressive flow stress on isothermally holding unloaded specimens after a hot precompression. These kinetic data were supplemented by metallographic and electron-microscopic examinations of quenched specimens and of carbon extraction replicas taken from them. Evidence is presented which indicates that, at a holding temperature of 1173 K (900°C), static recrystallization occurs in vanadium steels containing 0.1 pct vanadium before any precipitation is detected. The progress of this recrystallization is arrested by the precipitation of vanadium nitride. At a higher vanadium concentration, 0.2 pct, recrystallization does not start. The effects of V/N ratio, austenitizing temperature (between 1373 K (1100°C) and 1523 K (1250°C), and isothermal holding temperature (between 1173 K (900°C) and 1273 K (1000°C)) on the kinetics of static softening and hardening are compared in some vanadium steels and plain-carbon and niobium steels of similar base-composition.     

Toxin and subunit specificity of blocking affinity of three peptide toxins for heteromultimeric, voltage-gated potassium channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes

The ability of voltage-gated potassium channel alpha-subunits to form heteromultimers has complicated efforts to use toxins to characterize potassium channels in native cells. Here I investigate the effects of subunit composition on toxin blocking affinity, using three members of the Shaker subfamily of potassium channel alpha-subunits (Kv1.1, Kv1.2 and Kv1.4), which are known to form heteromultimers in vivo, in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. These subunits were coexpressed as pairs in which one member was toxin-sensitive and the other relatively insensitive. The blocking affinity of two dendrotoxins (DTX-I and delta-DTX) and a scorpion toxin (tityustoxin-Kalpha) on the resulting mixed population of channels was measured to evaluate three models of toxin block. The single subunit model, in which a single toxin-sensitive subunit renders the channel toxin sensitive, best described all of the data for the two dendrotoxins and the block of tityustoxin-Kalpha for a mixed population of channels composed of Kv1.1 and Kv1.2 subunits. However, with tityustoxin-Kalpha, the data for a mixed population of Kv1.2 and Kv1.4 subunits was fit best by a model in which the toxin interacts with all four subunits for high-affinity block. The data suggest that subunit composition of potassium channels can have a large effect on toxin block and that different toxins yield strikingly diverse results with the same pair of subunits, even when they are nearly identical in blocking affinity for the toxin-sensitive subunit.     

Low linolenate and commercial soybean oils diminish serum HDL cholesterol in young free-living adult females

OBJECTIVE: A mutant soybean line (A16) low in linolenic acid content (2% of oil by weight) was developed to increase oil oxidative stability. It was unknown whether serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in humans would be affected should A16 soybean oil (A16 oil) replace commercial soybean oil in diets. This study was conducted to examine the hypothesis that in free-living normolipidemic women, the consumption of A16 oil at approximately 10% of energy intake (en%) would not affect serum lipids and lipoproteins differently than would the consumption of the same amount of a commercial soybean oil with 7% of linolenic acid content. DESIGN: Fifteen free-living female college students consumed the soybean oil daily with regular meals for 9 weeks in different orders, with each test oil being eaten for 3 weeks. During the study, 13 en% was provided by each test oil and a total of 35 en% was from dietary fat. Serum concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL cholesterol), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and triacylglycerides (TAG) were measured. Serum total fatty acid patterns were analyzed as well. RESULTS: Each of the three test oils decreased serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and TAG concentrations from the baseline values. The feeding of A16 and commercial soybean oils decreased serum HDL cholesterol significantly compared with coconut oil (p < 0.05). Dietary inclusion of coconut oil increased serum myristic acid significantly more than did either soybean oil (p < 0.01). Serum arachidonic acid concentrations were significantly greater with A16 consumption than with commercial soybean oil consumption (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A16 and commercial soybean oils both diminished serum HDL cholesterol. Although the fatty acid composition differed between the two soybean oils, A16 oil and commercial oil had similar effects on serum concentrations of lipoproteins and lipids. With increased oxidative stability, A16 oil is a good alternative to commercial soybean oil.     

Nanoparticle-functionalized porous polymer monolith detection elements for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

The use of porous polymer monoliths functionalized with silver nanoparticles is introduced in this work for high-sensitivity surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. Preparation of the SERS detection elements is a simple process comprising the synthesis of a discrete polymer monolith section within a silica capillary, followed by physically trapping silver nanoparticle aggregates within the monolith matrix. A SERS detection limit of 220 fmol for Rhodamine 6G is demonstrated, with excellent signal stability over a 24 h period. The capability of the SERS-active monolith for label-free detection of biomolecules was demonstrated by measurements of bradykinin and cytochrome c. The SERS-active monoliths can be readily integrated into miniaturized micrototal-analysis systems for online and label-free detection for a variety of biosensing, bioanalytical, and biomedical applications.     

Dynamic Force Measurement at the Microgram Level, with Application to Myofibrils of Striated Muscle

We describe a system for measurement of the dynamic mechanical properties of small bundles of myofibrils of muscle. Underwater fiber-optic sensing of tension via displacement of a quartz beam has been accomplished with a noise level of about 100 nanoNewtons in a bandwidth of 1 to 40 Hz.     

Immobilisation of α-Amylase on Polyaromatic and Titanium Compounds Incorporating a Magnetic Material

Three methods of preparing immobilised α-amylase on supports which incorporate magnetic properties have been developed. The use of diazotized 1,3-diaminobenzene coated on magnetic iron oxide, which was itself either uncoated or coated with hydrous titanium (IV) oxide, was found to result in higher bound activities of the immobilised enzyme. The immobilised enzyme prepared from diazotized 1,3-diaminobenzene coated magnetic iron oxide support showed excellent stability towards freeze drying. A preparation of immobilised enzyme using magnetic iron coated with hydrous titanium (IV) oxide resulted in a greater thermostability. This support can be prepared in situ, overcoming the problem of loss of activity of the freeze dried immobilised enzyme.     

Parametric geometric correction of airborne thematic mapper imagery

The geometric correction of airborne scanner imagery has conventionally been performed in a non-parametric manner using ground control. Parametric geometric correction methods are less reliant on ground control and have potential for automation.Recently the possibility of correcting parametrically airborne scanner imagery has become viable because of advances in the availability and accuracy of devices that may be used to measure the exterior orientation of an airborne platform. This paper describes a study initiated by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to develop and investigate a provisional parametric correction system. Flight trials were flown at an altitude of 1000 m and exterior orientation parameters measured by an inertial navigation system were used to produce parametrically corrected images. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of the parametric correction approach.