Strategies for processing unbounded dependencies: Lexical information and verb–argument assignment.

This article describes 2 experiments about verb–argument relations in sentence processing in which there is no ambiguity involving the subcategorization of the verb but in which the role that the argument serves is initially unclear. Specifically, a self-paced reading experiment and an eye-tracking experiment investigated the way in which readers form unbounded dependencies when the verb is looking for both a direct object and a clause and when the filler either could be the direct object or could form part of the clause. The results suggested that readers treated the filler as the verb's direct object and probably also considered the clausal analysis at the same time. The results are interpreted with respect to current accounts of parsing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of a pharmacophore model for the design of EGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibitors: 4-(phenylamino)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines

In the course of the random screening of a pool of CIBA chemicals, the two pyrazolopyrimidines 1 and 2 have been identified as fairly potent inhibitors of the EGF-R tyrosine kinase. Using a pharmacophore model for ATP-competitive inhibitors interacting with the active site of the EGF-R protein tyrosine kinase (PTK), the class of the pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines was then optimized in an interactive process leading to a series of 4-(phenylamino)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]-pyrimidines as highly potent inhibitors of the EGF-R tyrosine kinase. The most potent compounds 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 22, 26, 28, and 30 of this series inhibited the EGF-R PTK with IC50 values below 10 nM. High selectivity toward a panel of nonreceptor tyrosine kinases (c-Src, v-Abl and serine/threonine kinases (PKC alpha, CDK1) was observed. In cells, EGF-stimulated cellular tyrosine phosphorylation was inhibited by compounds 13, 15, 19, 22, and 23 at IC50 values below 50 nM, whereas PDGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation was not affected by concentrations up to 10 microM, thus indicating high selectivity for the inhibition of the ligand-activated EGF-R signal transduction pathway. Compounds 15 and 19 inhibited proliferation of the EGF-dependent MK cell line with IC50 values below 0.5 microM. In addition, two compounds, 9 and 11, showing satisfactory oral bioavailability in mice after oral administration, exhibited good in vivo efficacy at doses of 12.5 and 50 mg/kg in a nude mouse tumor model using xenografts of the EGF-R overexpressing A431 cell line. From SAR studies, a binding mode for 4-(phenylamino)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines, especially for compound 15, at the ATP-binding site of the EGF-R tyrosine kinase is proposed. 4-(Phenylamino)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines represent a new class of highly potent tyrosine kinase inhibitors which preferentially inhibit the EGF-mediated signal transduction pathway and have the potential for further evaluation as anticancer agents.     

Predicting forage indigestible NDF from lignin concentration

We used chemical composition and in vitro digestibility data from temperate and tropical forages to develop relationships between indices of lignification and forage indigestible NDF. Neutral detergent fiber indigestibility increased nonlinearly as the lignin concentration of the NDF increased. Differences in estimated indigestible NDF using equations developed for a specific forage class (C3 and C4 grasses and legumes) were small and are probably not biologically significant when compared to those estimated from a common equation. Selected equations were compared with the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) for the prediction of ADG. The linear equation (2.4 times NDF lignin content) used by the CNCPS and the Beef NRC had some of the largest errors due to mean bias. A log-log model [4.37 x (lignin/NDF)(.84)] provided the best combination of low total prediction error, low mean bias, and minimal error due to regression bias when permanganate lignin was used. A similar equation based on sulfuric acid lignin [6.17 x (lignin/NDF)(.77)] also met the above criteria. These equations then were evaluated with the CNCPS model against animal growth data from diets ranging in forage quality. Regardless of the equation used for predicting unavailable fiber, the CNCPS underpredicted daily gain, with mean biases ranging from -.10 to -.22 kg/d. Regression bias ranged from .13 to .14 kg/d and the coefficients differed from unity (P = .0001). The new equations gave numerically lower energy allowable ADG by steers compared to the linear equation currently used by the CNCPS model. The estimates were lower due to a higher predicted indigestible NDF, which resulted in a lower estimated forage energy value.     

Micro-attenuated total reflection spectral imaging in archaeology: application to Maya paint and plaster wall decorations

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) attenuated total reflection (ATR) imaging has been successfully used to identify individual mineral components of ancient Maya paint. The high spatial resolution of a micro FT-IR-ATR system in combination with a focal plane array detector has allowed individual particles in the paint to be resolved and identified from their spectra. This system has been used in combination with micro-Raman spectroscopy to characterize the paint, which was found to be a mixture of hematite and silicate particles with minor amounts of calcite, carbon, and magnetite particles in a sub-micrometer hematite and calcite matrix. The underlying stucco was also investigated and found to be a combination of calcite with fine carbon particles, making a dark sub-ground for the paint.     

Performance and statistical quality assessment of CFC tile bonding on the pre-series elements of the Wendelstein 7-X divertor

Extensive high heat flux (HHF) testing of pre-series IV targets was performed to establish the industrial process for the ongoing production of the actively water-cooled target elements which will be needed for the installation of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) divertor. Finally, 890 components covered with about 18,000 CFC tiles will be installed.The examinations of the elements with 10 MW/m² cycling up to 10,000 pulses, 16 MW/m² cycling and screening tests up to 32 MW/m², confirm the robustness of the design and in particular of the applied CFC bonding technology. The results of the IR examination of the initial tests have been assessed statistically. The paper presents a detailed statistical analysis based on the Six-Sigma method of the surface temperature increase of the CFC tiles tested for 100 cycles at 10 MW/m². Assuming that the series elements will behave in a similar fashion to the pre-series elements this statistical assessment can also be performed for the series elements.     

Betriebsinformationssysteme für Energieerzeuger

The competition caused by the liberalization of the energy market forces the operators of transverse compound systems to use all technically possible and economically meaningful rationalization potentials more strongly than so far. Apart from the improvement of the technical processes in the production systems a special meaning comes to the optimal planning of the application of the power stations. Already at small power supply systems an EDP-supported editing of data and information from the enterprise process and the system inventory becomes inevitable due to the complexity and the ever growing information obligations to officials.     

Irrigation development and environmental degradation in developing countries — a dynamic model of investment decisions and policy options

In the wake of increased environmental and sustainability concerns associated with agricultural development, developing countries are faced with the dilemma of choice between the short-run technological gains and the long-run environmental conservation. A dynamic investment decision model is developed to optimize the use of scarce public investment funds in the magagement of irrigation water supply, depth to water table and soil salinity. Four major classes of investments with different impacts on the hydrological balance within the Indus basin are considered: (a) expansion of the surface irrigation network, (b) public drainage projects, (c) tax and subsidy policies designed to influence the rate of private groundwater exploitation and (d) investment in improving the efficiency of the existing canal system by reducing conveyance losses. The crop area lost due to water logging and salt accumulation is treated as a damage cost of increasing the application of surface irrigation water. The resulting optimality conditions from the model are used to assess the development and operation of public drainage projects. The model results are compared for areas underlain by fresh and saline groundwater. The model is also used to analyze recent policy debate which has focused on the use of incentives such as subsidized credit, energy subsidies, and electrical grid expansion to accomplish the transfer of tubewell operation from the public to the private sector. Optimal switching conditions for such transfers are derived. The results show that a private farmer's optimal decision will diverge more from the societal optimal decision as more externalities from surface irrigation are accounted for.