cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Relativistic corrections in quarkonium

Relativistic corrections to quarkonium energy levels and electric dipole transition rates are calculated. We find a consistent description with both electric confinement and tensor quark-antiquark forces at distances beyond that at which perturbative QCD should be valid. The preliminary masses of the ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{b}$ and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{b}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ levels are described satisfactorily. The transitions ${\ensuremath{\Upsilon}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\gamma}{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{b}$, suppressed in some nonrelativistic models, are predicted to be observable here.
Plenary talk unconventional imaging for remote sensing applications

Images can be formed in many nontraditional ways. For remote sensing applications through atmospheric turbulence, we have developed both passive and active (laser) imaging approaches. (1) For astronomy or space-object imaging, phase retrieval algorithms can reconstruct a fine-resolution diffraction-limited image from a number of short-exposure blurred images. (2) For long horizontal-path imaging, for which the atmospheric blur is highly space-variant, laser illumination and digital holography allow one to sense the optical fields and reconstruct an image without any image-forming optics. Image sharpening algorithms can then estimate the turbulence functions in multiple planes and digitally correct the space-variant blur.
Tissue factor: a key molecule in hemostatic and nonhemostatic systems.

Tissue factor (also known as tissue thromboplastin or CD142) is the protein that activates the blood clotting system by binding to, and activating, the plasma serine protease, factor VIIa, following vascular injury. Because of its essential role in hemo-stasis, tissue factor plays a role in pathology associated with hemostasis, triggering the coagulation system in many thrombotic diseases and the coagulopathies associated with sepsis and other forms of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Recent research has also implicated tissue factor in a variety of nonhemostatic roles, including cell signaling, inflammation, vasculo-genesis, and tumor growth and metastasis. This review focuses on both the well-known roles of tissue factor in hernostasis and thrombosis and the newer concepts of tissue-factor biology including how it functions as a signaling receptor and the possible role of blood-borne tissue factor in thrombosis.
Satisfying threshold conditions on partial wave amplitudes

Abstract It is shown that the technique of satisfying correct threshold behavior in partial wave amplitudes by using a multiplicative phase-space factor is completely equivalent to the method of adding background forces to the left-hand cut. This correspondence allows a physical interpretation of the poles of the phase-space factor used.
Acetylator phenotype in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The acetylation rate of sulfamethazine was studied in 25 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Seventeen of 25 SLE patients, 68%, were slow acetylators compared to the reported incidence of 52% in the general population. There was no correlation between the acetylator phenotype in SLE patients and the various clinical manifestations or the activity of the disease. Lupus patients who were slow acetylators had a lower lymphocyte response to phytomitogens compared to rapid acetylators.
Discussion of The Effect of the Expected Holding Period on the Market Reaction to a Decline in the Capital Gains Tax Rate

Liang et al. (2002) (hereafter LMM) investigate cross-sectional differences in the stock market reaction to the 1997 capital gains tax rate reduction. Based on tax capitalization theory that predicts stock prices should reflect investor-level capital gains taxes, LMM hypothesize that dividend-paying stocks and stocks with a longer expected holding period have a less positive reaction to the surprise announcement of the rate reduction. LMM also hypothesize that as a stock’s expected holding period increases, the negative effect of dividend-paying status weakens, i.e., the difference in the reaction between dividend-paying and non-dividend-paying firms decreases. The holding period hypotheses are based on the argument that the longer a stock’s average expected holding period, the lesser the present value of the benefit resulting from the rate reduction. LMM present evidence consistent with these hypotheses and interpret their findings as support for tax capitalization theory. LMM’s incremental contribution is their finding that a stock’s expected holding period affects share value. LMM addresses an interesting topic using an event study methodology. This methodology, which can only be used effectively because of the surprise nature of the 1997 capital gains tax rate reduction, avoids potential problems associated with price level studies such as spurious scale effects and potential correlated omitted variables bias.
Expression of two insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins in a human endometrial cancer cell line: structural, immunological, and genetic characterization.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) bind with high affinity to specific proteins in human serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and amniotic fluid. In serum, IGFs are bound to a complex with an apparent mol wt of 150K in which an acidstable binding protein of 53K, termed BP-53, is found. In amniotic fluid, a different binding protein with an apparent mol wt of 25K, termed hBP-25, has been identified. This binding protein is secreted by endometrial cells and has been shown to block the binding of IGFs to their membrane receptors and inhibit the mitogenic action of the IGFs on human choriocarcinoma cells. It has been proposed that hBP-25 modulates the action of IGFs on endometrial tissue, especialy during pregnancy. We have identified two binding proteins produced by an endometrial adenocarcinoma, HEC 1A, neither of which is related structurally or genetically to hBP-25. One is present in two glycosylated forms with apparent mol wt of 37K and 40K, both of which are immunoprecipitated with an antiserum made to BP...
Availability, Brands, Labelling and Salmonella Contamination of Raw Pet Food in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Area

The purpose of the study was to characterize the commercially available raw meat pet food diets in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area by (i) determining the number and types of available diets; (ii) assessing pet food stores and brand labels for the provision of precautionary statements regarding the risk of foodborne illness from raw meat; (ii) assessing the labels for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) required content and nutrient-related information; and (iv) culturing purchased diets for the presence of Salmonella. Sixty raw meat diets were purchased, representing 11 different brands from eight different stores. Diets were readily available in the form of raw-frozen, dehydrated or freeze-dried varieties from different protein sources, such as lamb, beef, chicken or duck. All stores promoted raw meat diets; however, none provided foodborne illness warnings. Brands varied greatly in their precautionary statements; none of the diets underwent feeding trials; and nutritional adequacy substantiation was through formulation only. The first five ingredients tended to consist of meat, organ meat (by-products), vegetables, grains and ground bones. Currently, it is required that pet foods have an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement and provide a guaranteed analysis table. Three brands did not meet these FDA requirements. Thirty-one (51.7%) of the 60 raw meat diets underwent some degree of processing including dehydration, freeze-drying or high-pressure pasteurization. Four of the 60 raw diets (7%) tested positive for Salmonella. Analysis of raw meat pet food labels indicated a lack of foodborne illness warnings. Based on these findings, we recommend that warning statements similar to those required by the United States Department of Agriculture and placed on labels of raw meat intended for human consumption be provided on the labels of raw meat pet food diets.
Space-Time Block Coded GMSK With Low-Complexity Linear Receiver

Existing space-time codes have focused on multipleantenna systems with linear modulations such as phase-shift keying or quadrature amplitude modulation. Continuous phase modulation (CPM) is an attractive scheme for digital transmission because of its constant envelope which is needed for power-efficient transmitters. Recent research has shown that space-time coded CPM can achieve transmit diversity to improve performance while maintaining the compact spectrum of CPM signals. However, these efforts mainly combine space-time trellis code (STTC) with CPM to achieve spatial diversity at the cost of a high decoding complexity. In this paper, we design space-time block codes (STBC) for Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK), a special case of CPM with modulation index ?. This scheme has a much lower decoding complexity than STTC CPM and still maintains excellent diversity performances.
Engineering and Social Justice

Abstract The profession of engineering in the United States has historically served the status quo, feeding an ever-expanding materialistic and militaristic culture, remaining relatively unresponsive to public concerns, and without significant pressure for change from within. This book calls upon engineers to cultivate a passion for social justice and peace and to develop the skill and knowledge set needed to take practical action for change within the profession. Because many engineers do not receive education and training that support the kinds of critical thinking, reflective decision-making, and effective action necessary to achieve social change, engineers concerned with social justice can feel powerless and isolated as they remain complicit. Utilizing techniques from radical pedagogies of liberation and other movements for social justice, this book presents a roadmap for engineers to become empowered and engage one another in a process of learning and action for social justice and peace.Table of con...
Indoor experiments on real-time multiuser MIMO transmission in wireless LAN systems

This paper presents indoor experimental results on an implemented real-time downlink multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (DL-MU-MIMO) transceiver for next generation wireless LAN systems. In the transceiver, channel state information (CSI) is estimated at each station (STA) and fed back to an access point (AP) on a real-time basis. At the AP, transmit beamforming weight for DL-MU-MIMO transmission is calculated by using the estimated CSI. This paper also proposes a fast computation scheme for computing transmit weight in real time. Indoor experiments with the DL-MU-MIMO transceiver demonstrate its feasibility. The experimental results clarify that DL-MU-MIMO transmission can achieve system throughput of greater than 500 Mbit/s with simple digital signal processing of single-antenna STAs in an indoor environment.
Estimation of Seismic Demands on Isolators Based on Nonlinear Analysis

A procedure based on rigorous nonlinear analysis that estimates the deformation and force of an isolator due to strong ground motion is presented. The procedure offers an alternative to the iterative equivalent-linear methods used by current U.S. building codes. The governing equation is reduced to a form such that the median normalized deformation of the system due to an ensemble of ground motions with a given corner period \IT\dd\N is found to depend on only two parameters: the natural period, defined from the postyield stiffness, and the normalized strength, or strength normalized by peak ground velocity. The dispersion of normalized deformation for an ensemble of ground motions is shown to be small, implying that the median normalized deformation is a meaningful estimate of response. The simple trends shown by the median normalized deformation led to the development of suitable design equations for isolator deformation. These design equations reflect a 13% increase when the excitation includes two lateral components of ground motion instead of just one component. For comparison, deformations estimated by the equivalent-linear method are unconservative by up to 50% compared to those found from the more accurate nonlinear spectrum, and building codes include at most a 4.4% increase for a second component.
TEAMWORK BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS TO ACHIEVE INSTITUTIONAL MISSION

Teamwork between the offices of business and academic affairs is essential in the pursuit of the college mission. Yet some writers have discussed the “natural tensions” between the business office, academic leaders, and the faculty. The members of the faculty of many colleges frequently express complaints about officials in business affairs. Frequently, these complaints are that business staff are too unbending and businesslike. Alternatively, some business officials complain about academic leaders and feel that they are victims of academic snobbery. If a college is to achieve its misson, teamwork between academic and business affairs is advantageous. College administrators should reduce the causes of dysfunctional conflict, initiate cooperation, and encourage wider participation of academic and business leaders in the planning process. Otherwise, the college administration runs the risk of increased bureaucratic politics and the arbitrary use of power by leaders in academic and business affairs. Such an ...
The Decision to Repurchase Debt

We compile a diverse sample of 208 debt tender offers executed by 189 firms during the period 1989 - 1996. On average, tender offers are wealth-creating events, with cumulative equity announcement returns of 1.47%. Tender offers financed with equity fail to add value, but those financed with asset sales generate mean cumulative equity announcement returns of 3.77%. Compared to a matched sample of non-tendering firms, the firms that tender debt have less cash, greater long-term debt and more assets. Prior to the tender event, debt-tendering firms have lower operating returns than their peers; they also trade at a discount. After the tender offer, assets increase, operating returns improve and the tendering firms are awarded a market premium.
Pulsed laser deposited Y-doped BaZrO3 thin films for high temperature humidity sensors

Abstract Pulsed laser deposited (PLD) Y-doped BaZrO3 thin films (BaZr1-xYxO3-y/2, x = 0.2, y > 0), were investigated as to their viability for reliable humidity microsensors with long-term stability at high operating temperatures (T > 500 °C) as required for in situ point of source emissions control as used in power plant combustion processes. Defect chemistry based models and initial experimental results in recent humidity sensor literature [1] , [2] . indicate that bulk Y-doped BaZrO3 could be suitable for use in highly selective, high temperature compatible humidity sensors. In order to accomplish faster response and leverage low cost batch microfabrication technologies we have developed thin film deposition processes, characterized layer properties, fabricated and tested high temperature humidity micro sensors using these thin films. Previously published results on sputtering Y-doped BaZrO3 thin films have confirmed the principle validity of our approach [3] . However, the difficulty in controlling the stoichiometry of the films and their electrical properties as well as mud flat cracking of the films occurring either at films thicker than 400 nm or at annealing temperature above 800 °C have rendered sputtering a difficult process for the fabrication of reproducible and reliable thin film high temperature humidity microsensors, leading to the evaluation of PLD as alternative deposition method for these films. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) data was collected from as deposited samples at the sample surface as well as after 4 min of Ar+ etching. PLD samples were close to the desired stoichiometry. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra from all as deposited BaZrO3:Y films show that the material is polycrystalline when deposited at substrate temperatures of 800 °C. AFM results revealed that PLD samples have a particle size between 32 nm and 72 nm and root mean square (RMS) roughness between 0.2 nm and 1.2 nm. The film conductivity increases as a function of temperature (from 200 °C to 650 °C) and upon exposure to a humid atmosphere, supporting our hypothesis of a proton conduction based conduction and sensing mechanism. Humidity measurements are presented for 200–500 nm thick films from 500 °C to 650 °C at vapor pressures of between 0.05 and 0.5 atm, with 0.03–2% error in repeatability and 1.2–15.7% error in hysteresis during cycling for over 2 h. Sensitivities of up to 7.5 atm−1 for 200 nm thick PLD samples at 0.058 atm partial pressure of water were measured.
Effects of beta subunit cytoplasmic domain deletions on the recruitment of the integrin alpha v beta 6 to focal contacts.

The integrin αvβ6 is expressed primarily in epithelial cells and mediates attachment to the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin. We recently observed that αvβ6 localizes to focal contacts when cells that express the receptor are plated on fibronectin. To determine which regions of the β6 cytoplasmic domain are required for recruitment to focal contacts, the wild type human β6 subunit and mutants containing selective deletions within the β6 cytoplasmic domain were stably expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. The β6 cytoplasmic domain is composed of a 41 amino acid region that is highly conserved among integrin β subunits, and a unique 11 amino acid carboxy terminal extension. The 11 amino acid extension was not required for localization to focal contacts; in fact, its removal appeared to increase receptor localization. However, removal of any of the 3 conserved regions previously identified as important for the localization of β1 integrins to focal contacts (Reszka, et al., 1992, J. Cell Biol. 117...
Postobstructive pulmonary edema after laryngospasm in the otolaryngology patient.

Context: Post-obstructive pulmonary edema (PPE) is an uncommon complication which develops immediately after the onset of acute airway obstruction such as laryngospasm or epiglottitis (type I) or after the relief of chronic upper airway obstruction such as adenotonsillar hypertrophy (type II). Objective: To describe the development of type I PPE following laryngospasm in pediatric and adult patients undergoing otolaryngologic surgical procedures other than those for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Design: Retrospective case series of 13 otolaryngology patients from 1996 to 2003. Setting: Tertiary care teaching hospital and its affiliates. Patients: 13 patients (4 children, 9 adults, 5 males, 8 females) ranging in age from 9 months to 48 years. Results: Operative procedures included adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy, removal of an esophageal foreign body, microlaryngoscopy with papilloma excision, endoscopic sinus surgery, septorhinoplasty, and thyroidectomy. Six patients required reintubation. Treatment included positive pressure ventilation, oxygen therapy, and diuretics. Seven patients were discharged within 24 hours and the others were discharged between 2 and 8 days postoperatively. There were no mortalities. Conclusion: Laryngospasm resulting in PPE may occur in both children and adults after various otolaryngologic procedures. Among the subgroup of children, our study is the first to report its occurrence in healthy children without sleep apnea undergoing elective surgery.
Because Wisdom Can't Be Told: Using Comparison of Simulated Parent-Teacher Conferences to Assess Teacher Candidates' Readiness for Family-School Partnership

This study used text-related, video-based case materials to assess teacher candidates’ readiness to communicate with families. Participants (N = 141) rated their efficacy for home–school communicat...
ON TOPOLOGY PRESERVATION IN 2-D AND 3-D THINNING

An (m, n)-simple 1 in a binary image I has the property that its deletion “preserves topology” when m-adjacency is used on the 1’s and n-adjacency on the 0’s of I. This paper presents new, easily visualized, necessary and sufficient conditions for a 1 in I to be (m, n)-simple, for (m, n)=(26, 6), (18, 6), (6, 26) or (6, 18) when I is a 3-d image and (m, n)=(8, 4) or (4, 8) when I is a 2-d image. Systematic and fairly general methods of verifying that a given parallel thinning algorithm always preserves topology are described, for the cases where 8-/26-adjacency is used on the 1’s and 4-/6-adjacency on the 0’s, or vice versa. The verification methods for 2-d algorithms are mainly due to Ronse and Hall; the methods for 3-d algorithms were found by Ma and Kong. New proofs are given of the correctness of these verification methods, using the characterizations of simple 1’s presented in this paper.
Sex and the Single Individual: Kierkegaard and Cavell on Repetition and Remarriage

AbstractThis essay explores the impact of Kierkegaard’s work on the thought of Stanley Cavell. Cavell identifies two central themes in Kierkegaard’s philosophy: first, rather than concerning itself with problems of logic or with abstract questions, philosophy is concerned with ordinary life and its lived spiritual questions; second, there are things that can only be understood by participating in them. Therefore, the task of the philosopher is not to explain or define ideas but to dramatize for the reader that the choice of one’s inward way of life is of vital importance. These two themes, along with Kierkegaard’s account of repetition, are fundamentally important in Cavell’s own work in the philosophy of film, specifically in what Cavell calls the “comedies of remarriage” and the “melodramas of the unknown woman.”
Effects of Performance and Race in Children's Division of Rewards

Two recent studies (Gray-Little & Teddlie, 197S3) produced evidence of a pervasive influence of race on children's distributive behavior and a surprising lack of any effort on rhe part of innocent beneficiaries or victims to redress an initial inequity created by the experimenter. The present study examined the effects of subject's race and performance on distributive behavior in a setting where no prior inequity existed. Thirty-two second-grade boys and girls served as subjects; half of them were black and half, white. Each child was given the task of working on a letter-symbol substitution task after being given a demonstration and practice items. The children were told that their work would be compared with that of another child of the same age and sex with whom they would divide a prize. At that point the subject was shown a picture of the other child who was said to be in an adjoining room. Each subject was then allowed to work on the task until either 5 or 15 items were completed after which they were asked to divide the prize (20 Valentine cards) berween themselves and the other child whose score was 10. They were assured that the other child would not know who divided the prizes. Subjects were next told to indicate who worked harder on the task: 1 = self, 2 = both the same, 3 = the other child. And finally, as a check on their understanding of the division they were asked to circle an a piece of paper their score, the other child's score, and the number of prizes they would keep. Three of the original 35 subjects were eliminated due to seeming confusion over the scores. Half of the subjects had been shown a picture of a child of the same race and half a picture of a different race child. As a preliminary analysis indicated no effects attributable to the other child's race, these data were grouped for a 2 X 2 multivariate analysis of variance in which the factors were the subject's score (higher or lower than the comparison child) and subject's race (black or white). The dependent variables were the number of prizes subjects took for themselves and their attributions of effort. The analysis indicated significant results for subject's score (F = 12.28, f l < .001) and marginal results for race (F = 2.95, f l < .069). Univariare Fs for subject's score showed that the number of prizes requested by the subjects was relatively independent of their performance. Both the high and low scorers requested an average of 10 Valentines; however, the children's scores did significantly affect their attributions of effort (F = 25.41, p < . 001 ) . Those subjects who received higher scores than their partners described themselves as having worked much harder ( M = 1.69, SD = .47) than those
Quantification of Topological Coupling between DNA Superhelicity and G-quadruplex Formation

It has been proposed that new transcription modulations can be achieved via topological coupling between duplex DNA and DNA secondary structures, such as G-quadruplexes, in gene promoters through superhelicity effects. Limited by available methodologies, however, such a coupling has not been quantified directly. In this work, using novel magneto-optical tweezers that combine the nanometer resolution of optical tweezers and the easy manipulation of magnetic tweezers, we found that the flexibility of DNA increases with positive superhelicity (σ). More interestingly, we found that the population of G-quadruplex increases linearly from 2.4% at σ = 0.1 to 12% at σ = −0.03. The population then rapidly increases to a plateau of 23% at σ < −0.05. The rapid increase coincides with the melting of double-stranded DNA, suggesting that G-quadruplex formation is correlated with DNA melting. Our results provide evidence for topology-mediated transcription modulation at the molecular level. We anticipate that these high-...
Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

The role of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and other mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is reviewed at the University of Vienna, Austria, and the University of Bonn, Germany.
Effects of Male Photoperiod on Calling, Pheromone Levels, and Oviposition of Mated Female Trichoplusia ni

The photoperiod in which males were reared clearly influenced calling behavior and oviposition, but not pheromone levels of subsequently mated females of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner). Females mated with light-dark (LD) males oviposited ca. 3.5-fold more eggs and were observed to call less than females mated with light-light (LL) males reared in continuous light. Levels of pheromone Z-7-dodecenyl acetate in glands of 5-day-old female T. ni were not significantly different from LL or LD virgin females or females mated with LL or LD males.
Sp1 and Sp3 activate p21 (WAF1/CIP1) gene transcription in the Caco-2 colon adenocarcinoma cell line.

The CDK inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1 is a negative regulator of the cell cycle, and its expression is induced during terminal differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Expression of p21 is controlled at the transcriptional level by both p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Our previous studies established that p21 is expressed in the Caco-2 adenocarcinoma cell line, and its expression is induced by a p53-independent mechanism during differentiation of these cells. Here we have found that transcription of p21 in Caco-2 cells is controlled primarily by the transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3 through two Sp1 binding sites, Sp1-1 and Sp1-2, located between −119 and −114 bp and between −109 and −104 bp of the p21 promoter, respectively. Sp1 and Sp3 binding to the p21 promoter increased during Caco-2 cell differentiation, while the absolute level of Sp1 did not change and the absolute level of Sp3 increased approximately twofold. Transfection experiments in the SL2 Drosophila cell line that lacks endogenous Sp3 activity demonstrated that Sp1 transactivates the p21 promoter primarily through the Sp1-2 site, while Sp3 acts through the Sp1-1 site. In these cells Sp3 is a stronger transactivator of the p21 promoter than Sp1. Our data suggest that induction of p21 transcription during Caco-2 differentiation is modulated by Sp1/Sp3 interactions with the p21 promoter.
Bulk heterojuction solar cells containing 6,6-dicyanofulvenes as n-type additives.

P3HT/PC61BM bulk heterojunction solar cells containing varying amounts of different 6,6-dicyanofulvenes (DCFs) were fabricated and characterized. Photovoltaic cells containing ternary mixtures of P3HT, 0.5 equiv of PC61BM, and 0.5 equiv of 1,4-dimethyl-2,3-diphenyl-DCF (by weight) displayed average power conversion efficiencies of up to 4.5% under AM 1.5 irradiation, compared to 2.9% for reference P3HT–PC61BM solar cells. It was found that 1,4-dimethyl-2,3-diphenyl-6,6-dicyanofulvene could replace up to 50 wt % of PC61BM in 1:1 P3HT–PC61BM solar cells without sacrificing device performance.
Serum Immunoglobulins in Genitourinary Malignancies

AbstractSerum concentrations of Immunoglobulins G, A and M (IgG, IgA and IgM) were measured by immunodiffusion In a control population of 58 patients and In 165 patients with cancer of the pros-state, bladder, kidney or testis. Tumor patients were ranked according to clinical staging. In a smaller group of patients serum levels of IgE were measured by radioimmunoassay. IgG, IgA and IgM concentrations did not correlate with staging or the presence of malignancy. However, a statistically significant correlation between increased IgE levels and advanced bladder cancer (stages D1 and D2) stimulated us to study more patients with bladder tumors. In a subsequentgroup of 22 bladder tumor patients this trend could not be reproduced. IgE levels did not correlate with a history of allergy in any of the patients tested. Concentrations of immunoglobulins G, A, M and E seem to be unchanged in genitourinary malignancies, although their functional role here has not been assessed qualitatively.
Research Shows That

In its Education Strategy 2020 (World Bank 2011), and indeed across its development activities, the World Bank insists on evidence-based policy, evidencebased decisions, evidence-based management, and evidence-based assessment. Excellent, we can all agree. Research, rather than personal, institutional, or political agendas should inform and guide decisions about what is likely the most important development activity and the most contested of public policies. Both practitioners and academics will applaud the reduced role for whim, caprice, political opportunism, and chance.
The Role of Task Uncertainty in IT Project Team Advice Networks

Advice seeking is often the most critical success factor in today's IT project teams. To understand how advice seekers are motivated, we integrate the antecedents of advice seeking—as defined by network theory (Granovetter, 1983)—into a cost/benefit model based on expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964). To contribute to the research on advice network formation, we integrate the role of task uncertainty—one of the defining characteristics of IT projects—into that research (Wallace & Keil, 2004). Based on a controlled quasi-experiment, this study demonstrates that when task uncertainty is low, individuals with attractive personalities and similar demographics will be sought out for advice more frequently, regardless of their knowledge and resources (i.e., the benefits to the advice seekers). However, when task uncertainty is high, individuals with greater knowledge and access to resources are sought out more often in an advice network. These results provide clarity to prior research that has found mixed results concerning the effectiveness of the traditional antecedents to advice seeking (e.g., knowledge, power, and transactive memory) (e.g., Xu, Kim, & Kankanhalli, 2010a). In addition, project managers may choose to alter their team structure in order to optimize the advice network based on the anticipated level of IT project risk or task uncertainty.
Behavioral Effects of 5, 7-DHT and MDMA Treatment in Rats

Beginning 2–3 weeks after treatment with different doses of 5, 7-DHT or MDMA, male Sprague-Dawley rats were examined using a series of behavioral tests, and then were sacrificed 10 weeks post-injection for biochemical analysis. Bilateral i.c.v. administration of 5, 7-DHT (0, 50, 100, and 150 ug, total dose) produced dose-dependent and selective but non-uniform reductions in regional CNS 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations. The rank order of vulnerability was: hippocampus > frontal cortex > spinal cord > caudate-putamen > hypothalamus. MDMA (0, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, s.c., b.i.d. x 4 d) also produced dose-dependent and selective reductions in regional 5-HT and 5-HIAA concentrations. In contrast to 5,7-DHT, the depleting effects of MDMA were virtually equivalent in the CNS regions assayed, and were considerably less than those of 5,7-DHT. Only the lowest dose (50 ug) of 5, 7-DHT significantly affected open field behavior. This dose of 5, 7-DHT also impaired swimming ability to the same degree as the higher doses. MDMA did not alter open field behavior or swimming ability. 5, 7-DHT and MDMA failed to affect one-way (spatial, unsignalled) and visually discriminated two-way (signalled, non-spatial) avoidance conditioning. These observations suggest that partial or non-uniform regional, as opposed to global or uniform, damage to 5-HT systems may lead to behavioral dysfunctions. The behavioral effects of 5, 7-DHT and MDMA, nevertheless, are not dramatic and are difficult to discern.
Benefits, challenges, characteristics and instructional approaches in an El Sistema inspired after-school string program developed as a university–school partnership in the United States:

The purpose of this study was to examine the benefits, challenges, program characteristics and instructional approaches of an El Sistema inspired (ESI) after-school string program developed as a un...
Colophon: A Finishing Stroke

The stationery sets, as well as the May postcards were printed at Good Friends Press in Charlotte, North Carolina on a stately Vandercook IV press. The June through April postcards were printed at Asheville Bookworks in West Asheville, North Carolina on a variety of presses, although I most loved working with a (relatively) small Challenge proof press owned by a local printmaker who makes the most gorgeous woodcuts.
Poverty and the ideological imperative: a call to unhook from deficit and grit ideology and to strive for structural ideology in teacher education

AbstractIn this article I explore the educational equity implications of three popular ideological positions that drive teachers’ and teacher educators’ understandings of, and responses to, poverty and economic injustice in schools: deficit ideology, grit ideology, and structural ideology. The educator’s ideological position, I illustrate, determines their understandings of conditions such as socio-economic-based outcome disparities. Those understandings, in turn, determine the extent to which the strategies they can imagine have the potential to eliminate or mitigate those disparities. I then argue that teacher education for equity and economic justice must equip pre- and in-service educators with a structural ideology of poverty and economic injustice, based on a sophisticated understanding of relationships between structural inequalities and educational outcome disparities, rather than a deficit or grit ideology, both of which obscure structural inequalities and, as a result, render educators ill-equip...
High-school predictors of university achievement: Youths' self-reported relationships with parents, beliefs about success, and university aspirations

Associations between youths' reported relationships with their parents, beliefs about how success is attained, educational aspirations, and university completion were examined. Data come from the German Socioeconomic Panel. At age 17, youth (n = 3284) reported on their relationships with their parents, beliefs about success, and educational aspirations. University completion was assessed up to eight years later. At age 17, perceptions of parental warmth and interest in youths' academics were associated with beliefs that success is due to merit (positively) and that success is due to external factors or dominance over others (negatively). Beliefs that success is due to merit and external factors were associated with educational aspirations positively and negatively respectively. Educational aspirations positively predicted university completion up to eight years later. Relationships with parents had stronger associations with achievement when parents completed a university degree; beliefs about success had stronger associations with aspirations when parents did not.
Damage Characterization for Electronic Components Under Impact Loading

A new experimental method has been develop to characterize critical interfacial damage parameters of solder interconnects subjected to high strain-rate mechanical loading, simulating shock or impact loading. A test apparatus and a test specimen were devised to experimentally characterize such critical damage parameters, particularly interfacial shear strength and fracture toughness. The test fixture was designed to easily mount and unmount test specimens, and accommodate various sizes of electronic components and solder layer thicknesses. Test specimens were fabricated with both metallic and polymeric solder materials, and tests were conducted under various shear load rates. It was found that both strength and fracture toughness exhibit significant rate-dependency.
Materials, Sewage, and Costs

The public is moving gradually toward recognition that the world is a closed system for most resources, except energy. Suddenly, there is a new set of public responsibilities in protecting the whole, a finite earth, afflicted and collapsing around us with what appear to be infinitely expanding demands on all its resources. Unfortunately, most of the currently vigorous segment of the human population has been taught throughout its formative years that the continued expansion of every aspect of the human undertaking is not only appropriate but essential. And daily news media reinforce that perspective by assuming regular growth in the economy and reporting alarm at any weakness in growth. The corollary of such growth in all facets of human affairs, including especially the human population, is intensified competition for space in the world and resources to live by—greater competition between individuals and greater demand for all resources.
Identifying the Metabolic Differences of a Fast-Growth Phenotype in Synechococcus UTEX 2973

The photosynthetic capabilities of cyanobacteria make them interesting candidates for industrial bioproduction. One obstacle to large-scale implementation of cyanobacteria is their limited growth rates as compared to industrial mainstays. Synechococcus UTEX 2973, a strain closely related to Synechococcus PCC 7942, was recently identified as having the fastest measured growth rate among cyanobacteria. To facilitate the development of 2973 as a model organism we developed in this study the genome-scale metabolic model iSyu683. Experimental data were used to define CO2 uptake rates as well as the biomass compositions for each strain. The inclusion of constraints based on experimental measurements of CO2 uptake resulted in a ratio of the growth rates of Synechococcus 2973 to Synechococcus 7942 of 2.03, which nearly recapitulates the in vivo growth rate ratio of 2.13. This identified the difference in carbon uptake rate as the main factor contributing to the divergent growth rates. Additionally four SNPs were identified as possible contributors to modified kinetic parameters of metabolic enzymes and candidates for further study. Comparisons against more established cyanobacterial strains identified a number of differences between the strains along with a correlation between the number of cytochrome c oxidase operons and heterotrophic or diazotrophic capabilities.
Experimenting Choices of Video and Text Feedback in Authentic Foreign Language Assignments at Scale

With the development of "flipped classroom" concept and increasing usage of web-based learning platforms in foreign language teaching field, the effectiveness of online instant feedback come into researchers' focus, and whether or not teachers should provide choices of feedback medium also becomes an issue. The following study assesses the effects of feedback medium as well as the effectiveness of offering students feedback medium choices. This in-progress large-scale randomized controlled trial is conducted using ASSISTments, an adaptive online tutoring platform.
Montesquieu’s Geometer and the Tyrannical Spirits of Translation

This chapter traces the history of the dichotomy of body and spirit, one of the fundamental tropes of translation. McAlhany takes as his point of departure the encounter between an unpleasant geometer and a translator of Horace narrated in Montesquieu’s pseudotranslated Persian Letters (1721). In this interaction, the geometer uses the trope of body and spirit to deny the possibility of translation, leaving the translator speechless. This encounter leads McAlhany to examine the development of the body/spirit trope in the early accounts of the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. He contrasts Jewish and Greek resistance to translation with the tyrannical “spirit” of translation adopted from the Roman and Christian tradition, and concludes by connecting the silence of Montesquieu’s translator to Benjamin’s oblique understanding of the translator’s task.
Pharmacology of Glucocorticoids

Natural and synthetic glucocorticoids are one of the most commonly used medications as they are utilized not only as replacement therapy for patients with deficiencies but also to treat others suffering from a variety of illnesses that require immune suppression or others associated with inflammation or allergic reactions, to name a few. The doses of glucocorticoids required to treat the latter conditions are almost always supraphysiological, and therefore they are associated with side effects. Even when glucocorticoids are used as replacement therapy in patients with deficiencies, some side effects are still encountered, an indication that commonly used replacement doses are supraphysiological. In this chapter, we will review the basic structure of the primary naturally occurring glucocorticoid, namely, cortisol (also called hydrocortisone), and compare that to the commonly available synthetic compounds. The chapter will also discuss pharmacologic use of glucocorticoids factors influencing their bioavailability and metabolism, their side effects and the approach to minimizing these.
Energy Dependences of Ion-Neutral Reactions Studied in Drift Tubes

All of us are aware, particularly when we try to keep up with the literature, of the tremendous growth rate of the field of ion-neutral reactions. Eighteen years ago, Lampe, Franklin, and Field (1961) compiled the ion-neutral rate constants that were known at the time. There were a little over a hundred; now there must be thousands (e.g., see Ferguson, 1973; Sieck and Lias, 1976; Huntress, 1977; Albritton, 1978; and Sieck, 1979).
New forms of matter near absolute zero temperature

First, I want to make some remarks about my career. In 1990, I made a major change in my life. I went from my native Germany to the US. I changed my research field from hot flames to ultracold atoms. And I went from applied physics to fundamental physics. I had enjoyed applied research in Germany. In combustion diagnostics, it is easy to explain what motivates you (clean environment, efficient combustion) and you receive a lot of acknowledgement from your family and friends. However, I realized that my talents were better matched to fundamental questions, where goals are sometimes fuzzy, research is exploratory, and real applications are decades away. It is much harder for me to explain now why a little puff of gas fascinates me, a tiny amount of matter, almost nothing, suspended in a stainless steel vacuum chamber. But I know that my current work is even more relevant in the long run than what I did earlier. In the US, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I experienced an American elite university. As an assistant professor, I enjoyed the independence at an early stage of my career. In contrast to the “Juniorprofessur” in Germany, these positions are tenure track. This means that if the candidate is successful, he or she will be promoted to a permanent position at the same institution. I think it is important that young researchers know when they accept a junior position, that the number of permanent positions is matched to the
FUEL CELLS – PROTON-EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS | Life-Limiting Considerations

This article reviews the published in the literature on performance degradation of and mitigation strategies for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Durability is one of the characteristics most necessary for PEMFCs to be accepted as a viable product. In this chapter, a literature-based analysis has been carried out in an attempt to achieve a unified definition of PEMFC lifetime for cells operated under either steady-state or various accelerated conditions. Additionally, the dependence of PEMFC durability on different operating conditions is analyzed. Durability studies of the individual components of a PEMFC are introduced, and various degradation mechanisms are examined. Following this analysis, the emphasis of this review shifts to applicable strategies for alleviating the degradation rate of each component. The lifetime of a PEMFC as a function of operating conditions, component materials, and degradation mechanisms is then established. Finally, this article summarizes accelerated stress testing (AST) methods and protocols for various components, in an attempt to prevent the prolonged test periods and high costs associated with real lifetime tests. A statistical model correlating accelerated testing and real lifetime is also examined in detail in order to facilitate the establishment of AST protocols for PEMFC durability research.
Limitations of Portable Pressure Swing Adsorption Processes for Air Separation

Decreasing cycle time for a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process typically increases adsorbent utilization, often represented in industry by the bed size factor (BSF). A greater adsorbent utilization results in a lower BSF and smaller overall process size, which is highly attractive for portable PSA systems. A limit on adsorbent utilization is represented by a minimum BSF as cycle time decreases. However, experimental evidence of the existence of a minimum BSF as a function of cycle time is currently lacking in literature, especially for a multicolumn process. In this study, a two column small scale PSA process was used to measure a minimum BSF. While increasing pressure ratio caused an overall lower minimum BSF, it had little influence on the cycle time of the minimum. Other factors affecting the BSF were explored to understand what produced a minimum BSF in our system. Macropore diffusional resistance was reasoned as a possible cause of the minimum BSF in this study.