cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A High-Rate Phototube Base

A photomultiplier tube base designed to minimize voltage changes at the phototube's dynodes under high-rate conditions is described. Over 200 of these phototube bases are presently used on lead glass and other calorimeter phototubes in high energy physics experiments. Stiff voltage sources for dynodes are provided by making use of emitter follower characteristics of high beta, high voltage, video transistors.
On the remediation of Wikipedia to the iPod

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a usability study of information search on mobile devices, seeking to understand mobile computing best practice in the design of library services.Design/methodology/approach – Three second‐year undergraduate students took part in this semester long study. They are loaned iPods with a Wikipedia copy to use as desired. Usability data are drawn from search logs recording titles of the articles searched and an internet‐based survey completed by students.Findings – Students characterize the nature of information searched for on the Wikipedia iPods as recreational. Students did not utilize the iPods for academic research. Search logs show students viewed articles primarily about objects.Research limitations/implications – The results of this paper do not show generalized principles of mobile search. More data collected from additional sets of users are needed in order to articulate principles of mobile search.Practical implications – If it is the ...
Site-directed mutagenesis of the substrate binding site of porcine fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.

Abstract Asn 212, Arg 243, Tyr 244, Tyr 264, and Lys 274, which are conserved in all known primary sequences of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, are located in the substrate binding domain on the basis of the crystal structure of the enzyme. Mutations of the five residues of porcine liver fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (Asn212Ala, Arg243Met, Tyr244Phe, Tyr264Phe, and Lys274Leu) were carried out by site-directed mutagenesis. The wild-type and mutant forms of the enzyme were purified to homogeneity and characterized by initial rate kinetics and circular dichroism spectrometry. The mutants exhibited k cat values that are similar to those of the wildtype enzyme. The K m values for fructose 1,6-bisphosphate of the mutants are 6- to 44-fold higher than that of the wild-type enzyme. The K i values for fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and AMP of the mutants increased from 56- to 1950-fold and 12- to 27-fold, respectively, relative to the wild-type enzyme. The alteration of inhibition constants for both inhibitors suggest that these five active site residues are involved in the inhibition by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and AMP. No apparent differences in secondary structure of the wild-type and mutant forms of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase were observed as measured by circular dichroism spectrometry, This report demonstrates that Asn 212, Arg 243, Tyr 244, Tyr 264, and Lys 274 not only are the sites for substrate binding, but also play an important role in the binding affinity of inhibitors fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and AMP.
An antiaromatic porphyrin complex: tetraphenylporphyrinato(silicon)(L)2 (L=THF or pyridine).

Treatment of Si(TPP)Cl2 (TPP = tetraphenylporphyrinato) with 2 equiv of Na/Hg in THF yields the reduced porphyrin complex, Si(TPP)(THF)2, in which the porphyrin ring system has an oxidation state of 4− and the complex is antiaromatic. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that Si(TPP)(THF)2 is highly ruffled and exhibits a unique C−C bond length alternation around its periphery. In addition, experimental 1H and 29Si NMR chemical shifts and NICS (nucleus-independent chemical shift) calculations on a model compound indicate a strong paratropic ring current in Si(TPP).
Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest in patients with high cognitive needs: full preservation of cognitive abilities

Background Owing to controversy regarding the efficacy and safety of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) during thoracic aortic surgery, we conducted a psychometric study in which high-cognitive patients and their informants were interviewed to determine whether DHCA had any adverse effect on their daily activities or work performance. Methods A total of 29 patients (18 males, 11 females; age, 26 to 75 years; mean 52.6 years) whose jobs require high cognitive capability and who had undergone aortic surgery using DHCA (range, 17 to 54 minutes; mean arrest time, 27.4 minutes) at Yale-New Haven Hospital were retrospectively studied. These 29 patients represented the responders among 45 such patients to whom questionnaires were mailed. A control group of 21 high-cognitive patients (20 males, 1 female; ages, 36 to 77 years; mean, 54.7 years) who underwent aortic surgery without DHCA were surveyed as well. During surgery, DHCA was used as the sole means of cerebral protection. The head was packed in ice, and carbon dioxide flooding of the field was used in all cases. The ascending aorta was resected with an open distal anastomosis and a hemiarch or total arch replacement. A 21-part questionnaire (adapted from A.F. Jorm's Short Form IQCODE and supplemented by our own questions) was distributed postoperatively to subjects and to their informants (generally a spouse). A value of 3 on the questionnaire indicated "not much change" from preoperative status (1 indicated much worse and 5 indicated much improved). Results There were no statistically significant differences in any functional outcomes by study group (by patient: DHCA 3.01, control 3.09; by informant: DHCA 3.00, control 3.03; p > 0.05). Mean values of the outcomes for study groups and control subjects were essentially identical and quite close to 3 (the value assigned to "not much change") for overall score, for occupational score, and for memory-related score. Conclusions These data indicate that high-cognitive patients experienced very little cognitive change as a result of undergoing DHCA. Our assessment strongly supports the adequacy of straight DHCA as a cerebral protectant strategy during short- to moderate-duration circulatory arrest. We found excellent preservation of functional state and no difference from patients undergoing aortic surgery without DHCA.
Acoustic and microwave signatures of breaking waves

Field experiments have shown that breaking ocean waves may register as discrete events in passive acoustic and active microwave remote sensing measurements of the ocean surface. Using a laboratory model of deep-water wave breaking1,2 we show here that the noise generated by breaking and the radar cross-section of breaking waves both correlate with the dissipation of surface wave energy. Our results imply that these remote sensing techniques ultimately may be used to measure the dynamics of breaking waves, and are not restricted simply to obtaining the statistics and kinematics of breaking.
Role of NOC/oFQ in impaired opioid-induced pial artery dilation following brain injury.

Previous studies in piglets show that opioid-induced pial artery dilation was impaired following fluid percussion brain injury (FPI). This study was designed to determine the role of the newly described opioid nociceptin orphanin FQ (NOC/oFQ) in such impaired dilation to other opioids after FPI. CSF NOC/oFQ concentration was elevated from 70±6 to 444±56 pg/ml (≈10−10 M) within 1 h of FPI. Coadministration of NOC/oFQ (10−10 M) with methionine enkephalin (10−10, 10−8, 10−6 M) attenuated pial dilation induced by this opioid (7±1, 13±2, and 19±2 vs. 2±1, 6±1, and 7±2%) under non-brain injury conditions. Similar inhibition by NOC/oFQ was observed for leucine enkephalin and dynorphin. Methionine enkephalin (10−10, 10−8, 10−6 M)-induced pial artery dilation was also inhibited within 1 h of FPI, but such responses were partially restored in animals pretreated with the NOC/oFQ receptor antagonist [F/G] NOC/oFQ (1–13) NH2 (10−6 M) (8±1, 14±1, and 21±1 vs. 1±1, 3±1, and 4±1 vs. 7±1, 11±1, and 17±1% for sham control, FPI and FPI pretreated with the NOC/oFQ receptor antagonist). Leucine enkephalin and dynorphin-induced pial artery dilation were similarly altered by FPI and partially restored by [F/G] NOC/oFQ (1–13) NH2. These data indicate that the NOC/oFQ released by FPI contributes to impaired dilation to other opioids observed following this insult.
Possessing Heaven in Our Head: A Reformed Reading of Incarnational Ascent in Kathryn Tanner

As recent Reformed scholarship has turned its attention to the doctrine of creation, Kathryn Tanner can be engaged as an incisive and useful interlocutor. In her book Christ the Key , Tanner advances the notion of the double movement of divine descent and incarnate ascent, an idea which intersects with current Reformed deliberations on transcendence and the “chief end” of created humanity. Tanner’s re-articulation of the discussion of nature and grace, and divine agency within creation, offers a challenging and potentially constructive contribution to Reformed dogmatics.
Motor neuron synaptic potentials during fictive scratch reflex in turtle

1. A scratch reflex motor program, termed the ‘fictive’ scratch reflex (Stein and Grossman 1980), is displayed by an immobilized low spinal turtle in response to gentle mechanical stimulation delivered to specific regions of the shell. The fictive scratch is a cyclic program; each cycle is divisible into three phases, the A1, the A2 and the B phases (Fig. 1). Rhythmic A1 and A2 activities may be produced even when the B phase is deleted (Fig. 2). 2. Intracellular recordings from hindlimb motor neurons during the fictive scratch reveal that each motor neuron is depolarized to fire action potentials during its active period and is hyperpolarized during at least part of its quiescent period (Figs. 3–5). Moreover, the activation pattern of A1 motor neurons is the inverse of the activation pattern of B motor neurons (Figs. 3 and 5). The synaptic activation patterns of motor neurons during the A1 and A2 phases are preserved even during B phase deletions (Fig. 6). 3. A fictive flexion reflex motor program is produced in this preparation in response to gentle mechanical pressure applied to the dorsum of the foot (Figs. 7 and 8). The synergies observed in fictive flexion reflex differ from those observed during the fictive scratch reflex. 4. These data support a model for turtle of a three phase scratch generator that is asymmetrically arranged. A similar conclusion has been reached in studies of the scratch program generator in the cat (Berkinblit et al. 1978a, b). Our data also indicate that the motor neuron activation pattern of flexion reflex is different from that of scratch reflex. Therefore data obtained from turtle flexion reflex can not be utilized to construct a model of the turtle scratch generator.
Some properties of the surface magnetization of bulk magnets

Rigorous results in the statistical mechanics of the Ising model of a magnet are used to analyze recent experimental data obtained by electron-capture spectroscopy on the surface magnetization of gadolinium as well as to test recent approximate real-space renormalization-group calculations of the surface magnetization of the Ising model. The experimental data are found to be consistent with these exact results, while the approximate renormalization-group calculations are found to be inconsistent.
Regulation of rat and bovine adrenal metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by adrenocorticotropin and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.

Abstract The effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolism and steroidogenesis in primary cultures of bovine adrenal cortical (BAC) and rat adrenal cortical (RAC) cells have been examined. Remarkably TCDD is an ineffective inducer (15–50%)of PAH metabolism in confluent BAC cells and completely antagonizes a 5-fold induction by benz[a]anthracene (BA). In the same concentration range (EC50 5 × 10−11 m ) TCDD suppresses steroidogenesis through an effect on cholesterol metabolism. Adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and cAMP also suppress PAH metabolism at concentrations which stimulate steroidogenesis (10−7 m ). In RAC cells ACTH potently induces PAH metabolism (7-fold) at a comparable concentration to the stimulation of steroidogenesis. Parallel stimulation of PAH metabolism and steroidogenesis by cAMP suggest that ACTH induction of PAH metabolism is mediated by cAMP. TCDD induces PAH metabolism (2.8-fold, EC50 8 × 10−11 m ) at similar concentrations to the inhibitory effect in BAC cells and this action is additive with ACTH induction. In male rats in vivo TCDD induces adrenal microsomal PAH metabolism (72%) and is more effective in this respect than 3-methylcholanthrene (3MC). Rabbit antibodies against rat liver cytochrome P-450c (the major TCDD-inducible liver form) inhibited the TCDD-induced adrenal metabolism of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), which also exhibited regioselectivity typical of metabolism by P-450c. Constitutive adrenal microsomal metabolism, which exhibited regioselectivity of DMBA metabolism comparable to the ACTH-sensitive cellular metabolism, was not affected by anti-P-450c. It is concluded that ACTH and TCDD induce distinct forms of cytochrome P-450 in RAC cells and that the latter represents a typical Ah-receptor mediated response. The anomalous effect on PAH metabolism in BAC cells that parallels inhibition of steroidogenesis may derive from repression of a distinct adrenal form of P-450 by the TCDD-Ah-receptor complex.
Phosphoribosomes for Fingerprinting Neurons

The mammalian brain comprises a diverse variety of cell types. Fine characterization of specific subpopulations of neurons, however, has been a technical challenge. Here, Knight et al. describe an elegant technique for high throughput of molecular profiling of activated hypothalamic neurons.
Effects of Succinylation on β‐Lactoglobulin Foaming Properties

The extent of succinylation of β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg) increased logarithmically with increasing concentrations of succinic anhydride. The surface pressure of 27.5% succinylated β-Lg was higher than native (β-Lg but higher levels of succinylation (50% and 100%) reduced the surface pressure. Overrun and foam stability were reduced following succinylation. The electrostatic interaction caused by the addition of 100% succinylated β-lactoglobulin (0.5g/100 mL) to a solution (2.5%) of native β-lactoglobulin at pH 4.0 improved overrun (47%) and foam stability (61%).
“A Town Should Be Built to Make the Whole Thing Work”: Modeling Patterson, City Beautiful of California’s Central Valley

Patterson Colony, an agricultural town built out at the height of the City Beautiful era, exhibits that movement’s distinctive monumental geometries writ small, imitative of Washington, D.C., and jarringly unlike its grid-bound neighbors in California’s Central Valley. The story of Patterson’s street plan sheds light on an unfamiliar site and scale of comprehensive planning, and shows how the beautifiers’ rhetorics could be recoded and harnessed to a speculative real-estate venture. In Patterson we see these tropes—“order” in particular—taking on complex valences that are at once aesthetic and technical, revising any hard-and-fast distinction between City Beautiful and City Practical imaginaries. This history, finally, allows us to rethink how replicable urban forms travel, and to specify the meanings, uses, and predicates of self-appointed “model” towns—a designation that has been attached, sometimes incautiously, to countless episodes in the evolution of the American city and suburb.
Special Session - Stimulating Creativity and Innovation in the Classroom

Creativity and innovation in classroom settings can be enhanced or inhibited by the level of pressure we place on our students. In this exercise, participants will get a chance to experience the role different types of pressure play in stimulating or stifling innovation
The Effectiveness of Child Safety Seat Laws in the Fifty States

This study evaluates the effectiveness of state child safety seat laws in the United States. Data for all fifty states for the period 1975 to 1994 are used. Pooled time series analysis is employed to estimate a model of the rate of fatalities suffered by children ages 0–5 years as occupants in automobile crashes. The occupant fatality rate for children 6–11 years of age is used as a comparison group to control for other trends not introduced in the estimated models. The results show that child safety seat policies have significantly reduced fatality rates among children 0–5 years of age. For each additional year of age covered by a state statute, this fatality rate drops 4.8%. A similar reduction in the fatality rate of the older age cohort (6–11 years old) was not observed.
Chronic pain: An investigation of assessment instruments

The present study investigated professional perceptions of utility and the actual predictive validity of the MMPI and the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI) in a sample of chronic pain patients. Overall results indicated statistical preference for the MBHI on nine of the ten dimensions of clinical utility. In addition, patient prognosis was rated as more favorable based upon the MBHI report. The differences noted between raters of different professional capacities were hypothesized to reflect differences in familiarity with assessing pain patients from a psychological perspective. However, over the course of a one year follow-up, neither instrument significantly predicted such behaviors as hospital usage, medication usage or general status. Rather, the psychologists who wrote the original consultations (which were not rated for utility) were more accurate than either the MMPI or the MBHI in predicting these health related behaviors.
Principal components and multidimensional scaling of auditory and visual event-related potential topography.

Principal components analysis and metric multidimensional scaling were used to assess auditory and visual event-related potential topography in healthy late-middle-aged and elderly adults (n=20). Binaurally elicited auditory evoked potentials and full-field checkerboard pattern reversal visual event-related potentials were recorded from 28 scalp sites. The zero-lag, cross-correlations of all waveforms for 300 msec post-stimulus epochs were obtained and separate analyses of the auditory and visual data were performed. Ultimately, three of the four dimensions identified in the principal components and multidimensional scaling solutions were similar and represented electrode site differences in (1) the anterior-posterior plane; (2) laterality; and, (3) the proximal-distal relation to midline. The remaining multidimensional scaling axis appeared to reflect effects specific to the modality of stimulation. Under auditory stimulation, the temporal and central-parietal sites were distinct from other scalp regions, whereas under visual stimulation, the occipital and frontal sites were distinctive. Although the results of the principal component analyses were conceptually similar to the multidimensional scaling outcomes, there were consistent differences between them. The findings provide empirical support for the validity of these multivariate methods in topographic analysis.
Cancellation of material dispersion in harmonic diffractive lenses

A radial, modulo-m2(pi) diffractive lens and a modulo-2(pi) diffractive lens are superposed in a single integrated optical element. The resulting compound lens both introduces optical power and cancels material dispersion. The lens is a microthin, planar achromat suitable for broadband imaging applications. An f/5, 100 mm focal length lens is fabricated by precision diamond-turning. A master mold is generated from the diamond turned copper; the master is then used to form a second-generation replica in an optical quality, uv-cured photopolymer. The measured effective V-number of the replicated lens is 213. Measured narrowband (2 nm) resolution is 120 lp/mm with a contrast of 10%.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Effect of tropomyosin on the polymerization of ATP-G-actin and ADP-G-actin☆

Abstract Tropomyosin accelerates the rate of polymerization of actin. This effect is most pronounced with ADP-actin at 0 °. Various factors, including the ratio of tropomyosin to actin and the ionic milieu of this effect, have been investigated. It appears that SH group (s) in tropomyosin are involved.
Parenting children with food allergy: preliminary development of a measure assessing child-rearing behaviors in the context of pediatric food allergy

Background Food allergy affects up to 8% of children and is increasingly common. Although adult caregivers initially assume the primary role in children's daily allergy management activities, as children approach school age they assume greater responsibility for the prevention of allergic exposures. The ways that parents prepare children for this transition are likely to influence children's subsequent risk for allergic exposures, yet few studies have examined parent behaviors in the context of pediatric food allergy. Objective To develop a brief measure to evaluate specific parenting practices related to caring for a child with food allergy. Methods A total of 292 primary caregivers of food-allergic children completed an Internet-based survey that included the Parenting Children with Food Allergy (PCFA) questionnaire. Results Factor analysis of the PCFA items suggested 3 factors that accounted for 98% of the variance: autonomy support, protection/monitoring, and emergency education. Internal consistencies for the 3 scales were acceptable (α = .79, .73, and .82, respectively). Child age and medical variables (history of emergency epinephrine use, perceived severity of worst allergic reaction, and number of different food allergies) were associated with parenting practices. Conclusion Although additional psychometric data for the PCFA are needed, preliminary findings suggest that this measure may be useful in evaluating parenting within the context of pediatric food allergy.
Promoting Interest and Performance in High School Science Classes

We tested whether classroom activities that encourage students to connect course materials to their lives will increase student motivation and learning. We hypothesized that this effect will be stronger for students who have low expectations of success. In a randomized field experiment with high school students, we found that a relevance intervention, which encouraged students to make connections between their lives and what they were learning in their science courses, increased interest in science and course grades for students with low success expectations. The results have implications for the development of science curricula and theories of motivation.
Wavelet-based denoising by customized thresholding

The problem of estimating a signal that is corrupted by additive noise has been of interest to many researchers for practical, as well as theoretical, reasons. Many of the traditional denoising methods use linear methods such as Wiener filtering. Recently, nonlinear methods, especially those based on wavelets, have become increasingly popular, due to a number of advantages over the linear methods. It has been shown that wavelet-thresholding has near-optimal properties in the minimax sense, and guarantees a better rate of convergence, despite its simplicity. Even though much work has been done in the field of wavelet-thresholding, most of it was focused on statistical modeling of the wavelet coefficients and the optimal choice of the thresholds. We propose a custom thresholding function which can improve the denoised results significantly. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the advantage of the new thresholding function.
Intention-to-treat analyses and missing data approaches in pharmacotherapy trials for alcohol use disorders

Objectives: Intention to treat (ITT) is an analytic strategy for reducing potential bias in treatment effects arising from missing data in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Currently, no universally accepted definition of ITT exists, although many researchers consider it to require either no attrition or a strategy to handle missing data. Using the reports of a large pool of RCTs, we examined discrepancies between the types of analyses that alcohol pharmacotherapy researchers stated they used versus those they actually used. We also examined the linkage between analytic strategy (ie, ITT or not) and how missing data on outcomes were handled (if at all), and whether data analytic and missing data strategies have changed over time. Design: Descriptive statistics were generated for reported and actual data analytic strategy and for missing data strategy. In addition, generalised linear models determined changes over time in the use of ITT analyses and missing data strategies. Participants: 165 RCTs of pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorders. Results: Of the 165 studies, 74 reported using an ITT strategy. However, less than 40% of the studies actually conducted ITT according to the rigorous definition above. Whereas no change in the use of ITT analyses over time was found, censored (last follow-up completed) and imputed missing data strategies have increased over time, while analyses of data only for the sample actually followed have decreased. Conclusions: Discrepancies in reporting versus actually conducting ITT analyses were found in this body of RCTs. Lack of clarity regarding the missing data strategy used was common. Consensus on a definition of ITT is important for an adequate understanding of research findings. Clearer reporting standards for analyses and the handling of missing data in pharmacotherapy trials and other intervention studies are needed.
United States Human Rights Policy and Foreign Assistance

This study furthers the inquiry into the relationship between human rights and U.S. bilateral foreign aid. We build the most comprehensive data set to date, extending the time period (1976–1995) and enlarging the number of countries under review (140). Rhetoric aside, human rights considerations did play a role in determining whether or not a state received military aid during the Reagan and Bush administrations, but not for the Carter or Clinton administration. With the exception of the Clinton administration, human rights was a determinant factor in the decision to grant economic aid, albeit of secondary importance. To the question “Does a state's human rights record affect the amount of U.S. bilateral aid it receives?” we answer yes for economic aid, but no for military aid. Human rights considerations are neither the only nor the primary consideration in aid allocation.
Manual and automated methods for identifying potentially preventable readmissions: a comparison in a large healthcare system

Background Identification of potentially preventable readmissions is typically accomplished through manual review or automated classification. Little is known about the concordance of these methods.
Relapse Prevention Techniques in the Treatment of Childhood Anxiety Disorders: A Case Example

Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious treatment for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. CBT incorporates tech- niques such as cognitive restructuring and exposure, which foster symptom reduction. While these components promote sustained fear reduction, greater attention to relapse preven- tion (RP) may be warranted, particularly given the comor- bidity associated with anxiety disorders. A case example demonstrates a comprehensive relapse prevention (RP) com- ponent. Specifically, parental involvement was emphasized as well as the creation of a bound book that consolidated skills and provided a concrete resource for potential future anxious episodes.
Enhancing VANET Performance by Joint Adaptation of Transmission Power and Contention Window Size

In this paper, we present a new scheme for dynamic adaptation of transmission power and contention window (CW) size to enhance performance of information dissemination in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). The proposed scheme incorporates the Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) mechanism of 802.11e and uses a joint approach to adapt transmission power at the physical (PHY) layer and quality-of-service (QoS) parameters at the medium access control (MAC) layer. In our scheme, transmission power is adapted based on the estimated local vehicle density to change the transmission range dynamically, while the CW size is adapted according to the instantaneous collision rate to enable service differentiation. In the interest of promoting timely propagation of information, VANET advisories are prioritized according to their urgency and the EDCA mechanism is employed for their dissemination. The performance of the proposed joint adaptation scheme was evaluated using the ns-2 simulator with added EDCA support. Extensive simulations have demonstrated that our scheme features significantly better throughput and lower average end-to-end delay compared with a similar scheme with static parameters.
Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions at the Vapor/Water Interface Investigated by Vibrational Sum-Frequency Spectroscopy of HOD/H2O/D2O Mixtures and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) studies of a series of HOD/H2O/D2O mixtures ranging from pure D2O to pure H2O have been performed at the vapor/water interface. The various concentrations allow an iterative fitting procedure to be applied, resulting in a set of resonant peaks which consistently describe the vibrational modes of water molecules present in the interfacial region. The resonant sum-frequency response from the contributing vibrational modes allows more definitive characterization than in previous studies of the bonding interactions between surface water molecules. Comparison of the resonant spectrum of the vapor/H2O interface with the sum-frequency spectrum obtained at the CCl4/H2O interface reveals more similarity between the interfacial hydrogen-bonding environments than previously determined. Recent molecular dynamics simulations of VSF spectra of the vapor/H2O interface are in good agreement with the experimentally obtained spectra, and give insight into the molecular interact...
Multi-armed bandits with switching costs

The multi-armed bandit problem with switching cost is investigated. It is shown that along optimal policies, decisions about the processor allocation need to be made only at stopping times that achieve an appropriate index (the well known "Gittins index" or a "switching index" that is defined for switching cost). Furthermore, sufficient conditions for optimality of allocation strategies, based on limited look-ahead techniques, are established. These conditions together with the above mentioned feature of optimal scheduling strategies simplify the search for an optimal allocation policy. Nevertheless, the determination of optimal allocation policies remains a difficult and challenging task. >
The Impact of Product Name on Dieters’ and Nondieters’ Food Evaluations and Consumption

This research explores the impact of merely altering the name of a food on dieters’ and nondieters’ evaluations of the food’s healthfulness and taste, as well as consumption. Four studies demonstrate that when a food is identified by a relatively unhealthy name (e.g., pasta), dieters perceive the item to be less healthful and less tasty than do nondieters. When the identical food is assigned a relatively healthy name (e.g., salad), however, dieting tendency has no effect on product evaluations. This effect, which results in differences in actual food consumption, is explained by nondieters’ insensitivity to food cues as well as dieters’ reliance on cues indicating a lack of healthfulness and tendency to employ heuristic information processing when evaluating foods. These findings contribute to the body of literature that explores both individual and contextual factors that influence food evaluation and consumption.
Weaning of nasal CPAP in preterm infants: who, when and how? a systematic review of the literature

Background There is increased use of early nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) to manage respiratory distress in preterm infants but optimal methods and factors associated with successful wean are not well defined. A systematic review was performed to define the corrected gestational age (CGA), weight to wean NCPAP and the methods associated with successful weaning of the NCPAP among preterm infants, along with factors affecting it.
Psychopathic Traits and Their Association with Adjustment Problems in Girls

Psychopathic traits, and specifically callous-unemotional (CU) traits, are associated with a variety of adverse outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. The majority of research in this area has focused on men and boys, though there is some evidence that psychopathy is expressed differently in girls and women. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to test if the relationships of callous–unemotional (CU) traits with adjustment differed between girls and boys at risk for antisocial behavior. The sample was composed of children whose biological father had past or current alcohol or drug problems. A total of 234 children (116 boys, 118 girls; ages 10-12) were rated by their parent or guardian on CU traits and overall adjustment. Boys were generally rated higher on measures of CU traits; however, these traits were more prominently related to adjustment problems among girls. These results suggest that expression of psychopathic traits may have more negative effects on adjustment for girls than boys. One possible mechanism by which CU traits could be impacting adjustment in girls is by impairing interpersonal relationships. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reawakening the cellular death program in neoplasia through the therapeutic blockade of IAP function

Recent studies have shown that members of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) protein family are highly expressed in several classes of cancer. The primary implication of these findings is that the elevated expression of IAPs is not coincidental but actually participates in oncogenesis by helping to allow the malignant cell to avoid apoptotic cell death. This concept, together with the discovery of several IAP-regulatory proteins that use a conserved mode of action, has stimulated a major effort by many research groups to devise IAP-targeting strategies as a means of developing novel antineoplastic drugs. In this Review, we consider the evidence both for and against the IAPs being valid therapeutic targets, and we describe the types of strategies being used to neutralize their functions.
Optimal pressures and temperatures for isobaric, isothermal chemical vapor infiltration

This study addresses the possibility identifying optimal pressure and temperature pairs that can be used to give the least processing time during isobaric isothermal chemical-vapor infiltration (CVI) within a window of operating conditions. Optimal pressure—temperature pairs are determined as the solution of an optimization problem that seeks to minimize the processing time predicted by a CVI model under the constraint that the maximum density difference in the preform at the end of the densification does not exceed a preset limit. Results are presented on the dependence of the optimum processing time on the type of structure of the preform, the specifications that the final product has to conform to, and the kinetics of the chemical reaction. The results show that operation at low pressure affects adversely the processing time and that a dramatic reduction in the processing time can be achieved by operating in the vicinity of the optimal pressure.
Is lower intensity aquaculture a valuable means of producing food? An evaluation of its effects on near-shore and inland waters

The effects of aquaculture on the environment have been the subject of much examination, but most of the focus has been on shrimp and salmon. These are not the most common species grown in aquaculture, nor the most common systems used. About 60% of production today uses lower intensity culture to produce organisms in natural systems such as ponds. This paper is an overview of the positive and negative environmental impacts of lower intensity aquaculture. The ranked positive impacts of lower intensity aquaculture include: conservation aquaculture that supplements reproduction in natural populations; improving the quality of natural waters through filtering or consuming wastes by cultured organisms; reducing pressure on wild stocks by providing alternative sources in the market; and replacing damaging employment with more sustainable aquaculture jobs. Negative impacts include: escapement of alien species that become invasive; eutrophication of receiving waters from pond effluents; release of parasites and diseases into natural communities; escapement of unique genotypes resulting in genetic alteration of native stocks; land degradation due to pond construction; release of antibiotics or other drugs into receiving waters; depletion of natural resources such as water; loss of benthic biodiversity from settling of sediments; and reductions in natural populations by collection of larval or juvenile fish. Some impacts, especially the use of fishmeal and the transmission of disease, are much less common in lower intensity aquaculture systems. Aquaculture has an important role in current and future food production, and in many cases lower intensity aquaculture provides a sustainable solution to increased aquaculture production.
Accuracy of First Lactation Versus All Lactation Sire Evaluations by Best Linear Unbiased Prediction

Abstract Variances of errors of prediction for sire evaluations which included only first records and for those with records of all lactations were compared for bulls of Ayrshire, Guernsey, Jersey, and Brown Swiss breeds used by artificial insemination with daughters having Dairy Herd Improvement records processed at the New York Dairy Records Processing Laboratory. The model for best linear unbiased prediction included fixed effects of sire group and herd-year-season of freshening and random effects of sires within group, sire-by-herd interaction (to account for environmental correlation among paternal sisters), cow within sire and herd, and residual. Variances of solutions for group effects were generally small relative to variances of prediction errors for sire effects. Using all lactation records, however, reduced variances of group solutions by 7 to 14% for groups of sires used artificially and by 20 to 24% for groups used in natural service. Use of all lactation records decreased the variance of prediction error of the sire solutions so that 15 daughters per sire with all lactations gave accuracy equivalent to 25 daughters using only first records; use of all lactation records with 25 daughters gave accuracy equivalent to 40 daughters with only first records. Genetic progress per year from selection of bulls to sire daughters would be expected to be 10 to 15% greater with use of all lactation records than with use of only first lactation records. The comparable increase from selection of bulls to sire replacement bulls would be 3 to 10%. These theoretical increases must be weighed against possible biases from use of records other than first lactation.
Linear Model Reference Control for Swing-Free Transport

This correspondence considers the problem of reduced vibrational motion of a transport system that consists of a suspended object transported by an overhead crane. The transport system contains uncertain parameters. A linear control law is developed that forces the states of the transport system to follow the states of a reference model that represents the ideal response of the controlled system. Under certain assumptions, this controller guarantees that all solutions are uniformly ultimately bounded. The tracking error does not asymptotically decrease to zero; instead the error is bounded and furthermore, the error bound can be made arbitrarily small. A more general control law is proposed and computer simulation results are included to illustrate the application of theory developed in the paper to reduce vibrational motion of the transport system
Acquisition of semantic information from discourse: Effects of repeated exposures

When subjects are asked to recall the semantic content of a text, they typically produce conceptual and relational responses which do not simply reproduce text content. These responses include overgeneralized and inferred concepts and semantic relations. Two process interpretations of these responses were considered, one in which the responses reflect processes of adjustment during acquisition to conditions of information overload, and a second in which they reflect processes occurring during recall. The two alternative interpretations were found to lead to opposite predictions concerning effects of repeated exposures to a text on frequencies of these responses and on correlations of these responses with amount of information reproduced from a text. The results were entirely consistent with the predictions derived from the first interpretation.
Interleukin-10: Biomarker or pathologic cytokine in fulminant myocarditis?

“… science, I am told, may go astray: the doctors [are] not able to discriminate between the counterfeit and the real.” Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamozov , 1879 Sensitive and specific serologic markers for myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure (HF) are now being incorporated
Promoting democracy in Latin America: foreign policy change and US democracy assistance, 1975–2010

AbstractSince the Cold War the USA has articulated and implemented explicit strategies of democracy promotion. One interesting target of such efforts is Latin America, in part because of the region’s geographic proximity to the USA and of the mixed record of US support for democracy there. This paper examines the impact of the end of the Cold War and the 9/11 episode on the nature, purposes, targets and consequences of US democracy assistance to Latin America. Examining democracy aid allocations, social and political factors and other variables, it traces changes in aid strategies, purposes and recipients generated by these paradigm shifts, and assesses the impact of such assistance on the politics of the region. It concludes with implications of these findings for US democracy promotion policies.
Understanding the Degradation of Organic Coatings Using Local Electrochemical Impedance Methods I. Commonly Observed Features

Local electrochemical impedance mapping (LEIM) was used to investigate local underfilin corrosion occurring on organic-coated AA2024-T3 exposed to chloride solution. Films (5-20 μm thick) of neat epoxy, polyurethane. and vinyl resins were studied. Frequently observed features in the LEI maps included: (i) an unexpected decrease in admittance in early stages of development, (ii) trenching at the periphery of admittance peaks, (iii) both increases and decreases in peak height over time, (iv) changes in peak width over time, (u) different amplitudes in admittance over different regions of multilobed blisters, and (vi) different admittance magnitudes for different types of defect. These LEIM features could provide significant insight into and documentation of the local breakdown processes of coated metals, if they truly represent electrochemical phenomena associated with changes at the interface. These features were observed on each of the coating chemistries studied. Proposed origins and supportive evidence of these LEIM features is presented.
The Peripheralization of Rural America: A Case Study of Latino Migrants in America's Heartland

Archival and ethnographic data are used to examine the recent influx of Mexican and Chicano laborers to a rural community in southern Iowa. The author argues that the changing role and presence of Latino labor in the Midwest is an effect of global economic restructuring, which has consequences at the local level, manifested in part by contested ideas of community and citizenship. It is contended that the state plays an integral role in the world system by fostering the reproduction and maintenance of “core-periphery” distinctions as marginalized social relations.
Mixing in colliding, ultrasonically levitated drops.

Lab-in-a-drop, using ultrasonic levitation, has been actively investigated for the last two decades. Benefits include lack of contact between solutions and an apparatus and a lack of sample cross-contamination. Understanding and controlling mixing in the levitated drop is necessary for using an acoustically levitated drop as a microreactor, particularly for studying kinetics. A pulsed electrostatic delivery system enables addition and mixing of a desired-volume droplet with the levitated drop. Measurement of mixing kinetics is obtained by high-speed video monitoring of a titration reaction. Drop heterogeneity is visualized as 370 nl of 0.25 M KOH (pH: 13.4) was added to 3.7 μL of 0.058 M HCl (pH: 1.24). Spontaneous mixing time is about 2 s. Following droplet impact, the mixed drop orbits the levitator axis at about 5 Hz during homogenization. The video’s green channel (maximum response near 540 nm) shows the color change due to phenolphthalein absorption. While mixing is at least an order of magnitude fas...
The Role of Citizen Participation and the Use of Social Media Platforms in the Participatory Budgeting Process

ABSTRACTIn the United States participatory budgeting (PB) is a relatively new and innovative approach to municipal budgeting that has implications for improving the role of citizen participation in the budgetary process. The research is based on personal interviews with local community leaders involved in the PB process in the 49th Ward of Chicago, Illinois; the 6th Ward of St. Louis, Missouri; and the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Highlights are provided of the specific experiences and perceptions of these community leaders with a particular emphasis on the use of social media platforms in engaging citizens in the PB process. This article concludes with recommendations for creating a PB infrastructure, for increasing citizen participation in the PB process, and for assessing and increasing the impact of PB in cities within the United States.
Chemical Effects of substrate Temperature and Feed Gas Composition on Ion Beam Deposited AlN and AlN:H

Tin doped indium oxide (ITO) films were deposited on glass substrates by rf reactive magnetron sputtering using a metallic alloy target (In-Sn, 90-10). the post-deposition annealing has been done for ITO films in air and the effect of annealing temperature on the electrical, optical and structural properties of ITO films was studied. It has been found that the increase of the annealing temperature will improve the film electrical properties. the resistivity of as-deposited film is about 1.3 х 10-1 Ω*cm and decreases down to 6.9 х 10-3Ω*cm as the annealing temperature is increased up to 500 °C. IN addition, the annealing will also increase the film surface roughness which can improve the efficiency of amorphous silicon solar cells by increasing the amount of light trapping.
Conformational and Dynamic Properties of Poly(ethylene oxide) in an Ionic Liquid: Development and Implementation of a First-Principles Force Field

The conformational properties of polymers in ionic liquids are of fundamental interest but not well understood. Atomistic and coarse-grained molecular models predict qualitatively different results for the scaling of chain size with molecular weight, and experiments on dilute solutions are not available. In this work, we develop a first-principles force field for poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in the ionic liquid 1-butyl 3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM][BF4]) using symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT). At temperatures above 400 K, simulations employing both the SAPT and OPLS-AA force fields predict that PEO displays ideal chain behavior, in contrast to previous simulations at lower temperature. We therefore argue that the system shows a transition from extended to more compact configurations as the temperature is increased from room temperature to the experimental lower critical solution temperature. Although polarization is shown to be important, its implicit inclusion in the OPLS-AA forc...