cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Uptake of Some Quaternary Ammonium Ions by Human Erythrocytes

In many biophysical studies on erythrocytes some quaternary ammonium ions are used as replacements for Na+ and K+ of the physiological solutions. The object of this work was to study the possible uptake of quaternary ammonium ions by erythrocytes. Uptake of C14–choline chloride and C14–tetramethylammonium chloride by human erythrocytes was proved. It was shown that the compounds were neither incorporated into phospholipids of the cell nor converted to any other metabolites. Studies of uptake as a function of time, at several external concentrations of choline and tetramethylammonium, showed that within the first 4 hours uptake was a linear function of time regardless of the external concentration of the quaternary ammonium ions. The effects of various external concentrations of choline and tetramethylammonium ions on the rate of uptake by the cells were studied. The results showed the presence of two distinct mechanisms for the uptake of choline: one, a facilitated uptake mechanism which becomes saturated at low external concentrations of the ion; the other, a simple diffusion mechanism in which the rate of uptake is proportional to concentration. For the facilitated part of the uptake the external choline concentration at which half-maximum rate was obtained was found to be 0.02 mm. Although the kinetic studies with tetramethylammonium ion were not as extensive as those with choline, they did suggest the presence of similar mechanisms for the uptake of both ions. Tetramethylammonium and tetraethylammonium ions were shown to be competitive inhibitors of the facilitated choline uptake.
Ethical complications of clinical therapeutic research on children

Abstract Usual discussion by ethics and physicians of the ethical implications of research on children with catastrophic disease, and the guidelines established by the Federal Government for this research, rest on applying general moral principles to problems. Whatever the merits of this approach for establishing policy, it does not adequately reflect the life situation of patients and the complexity of a single regimen which is simultaneously both therapeutic and research oriented. Also, the issues become more complex when there is disagreement among the parents about a course of treatment. It is our contention that such cases are properly resolved by considering the degree of paternalism to be exercised by the clinician-researcher.
Positive Reachability for Diffusion Equations

Counterexamples are constructed for some plausible conjectures. Typical of these: as the Maximum Principle ensures that positive boundary data give a positive state at time T from 0 initial data, one might (plausibly, but falsely) conjecture that all positive terminal states should be approximately reachable in this way, i.e., subject to the requirement that the boundary data stays nonnegative.
The Unpackaging of Routine in Older Women

OBJECTIVE A qualitative research design using grounded theory procedures and techniques was used to explore how routine changed in later adulthood for seven Caucasian, college-educated, middle-class women who were not employed and who were free of major functional impairments. METHOD In-depth interviews, observations, an autobiography, and researcher-generated memos provided data. Data analysis involved concept formation, concept development, and conceptual modification and integration. Data collection and analysis were concurrent, iterative, reflective, and reflexive. RESULTS Although the participants used routines to facilitate their well-being, they reported doing so to a lesser extent than when they had children living at home or when they worked. These participants unpackaged routines and molded them into increasingly flexible time-use strategies in response to age-related changes in their ecocultural niche, philosophy of life, and physical status. CONCLUSION That the participants sought less obligation and more freedom as they aged may influence the way they respond to a health care practitioner's advocating for an increase in routine. Interventions with older women must be compatible with existing routines and family themes and directly linked to well-being.
A conceptual study on reliability constrained transmission system planning including wind power

Transmission planning for electric power systems is a challenging task due to the problem complexity. When system reliability is considered, transmission planning becomes even more complicated. In the recent years, significant amounts of wind power are being integrated into the conventional power systems. Wind power is environmentally benign, but it is intermittent since its availability cannot be precisely predicted ahead of time. This power volatility inevitably adds more complexity to reliability-constrained transmission planning of power systems including both dispatchable and non-dispatchable energy sources. In this paper, we will extend a hybrid deterministic-probabilistic methodology to reliability-constrained transmission planning accounting for intermittent wind power, also several relevant issues are discussed. The paper is focused on the conceptual study of this topic.
The urban poor's economic profile of tobacco use.

Objectives: Low-income minority tobacco users are price sensitive and are more likely to quit when tobacco prices go up. No prior research documents economic characteristics of low-income tobacco users. The study investigates economic profile of tobacco use among urban low-income African Americans. Methods: In this baseline study (n = 338), tobacco users and nonusers were compared, and their economic conditions of tobacco use including (current and past) employment barriers were examined. Results: The study results demonstrate that tobacco use status appeared to be associated with employment barriers among low income populations. Controlling for other independent variables in the multivariate logistic regression model, previous criminal activity, planning to move out, and female gender were found to be linked to labor force status. Conclusions: More research efforts on how indigent tobacco-using individuals develop their employment skills and become economically independent are needed.
Two-component signaling provides the major output from the cyanobacterial circadian clock.

Biological processes occur in a temporal context, and the coordination of these processes with one another and with the external environmental cycle is critical for organismal fitness (1). Circadian rhythms, endogenous rhythms with periods of ≈24 h, have been described in almost all organisms, from bacteria to humans. An internal biological circadian clock controls many processes, notably the temporal expression of many genes. A substantial portion of the transcriptome is clock-regulated in fungi, plants, and animals (for examples, see refs. 2–4). In the most extreme example, Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, transcription rates of the entire genome are circadian-regulated (5). How might signals from a central oscillator be transduced into circadian transcription? In this issue of PNAS, Takai et al. (6) describe a histidine kinase/response regulator two-component module that transduces a signal emanating from the circadian clock to generate genome-wide oscillations in transcription.
A Prehispanic Maya Pit Oven? Microanalysis of Fired Clay Balls from the Puuc Region, Yucatán, Mexico

This is a postprint (author's final draft) version of an article published in Journal of Archaeological Science in 2013. The final version of this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.10.014 (login may be required). The version made available in OpenBU was supplied by the author.
A parallelism-based analytic approach to performance evaluation using application programs

A brief overview of performance evaluation and benchmarking is presented. It is shown that traditional performance measurements recorded in these activities are really a direct measurement of the parallelism in software and hardware. A framework called the 'Path to Performance' that identifies the agents and activities that change the parallelism as it moves from problem to solution is developed. It is shown where the various current application benchmarks apply probes on the Path and which agents are being measured. The traditional time-based performance measurements are recast into parallelism-based performance measurements to show that understanding performance implies understanding the parallelism. A simulation tool and methodology are described for measuring and comparing the executed parallelism on a single CRAY Y-MP CPU. Application of the methodology to several of the Perfect Benchmarks suggests that the benchmarking utility of these programs on the Y-MP may be questioned because they exercise the machine in the same way. >
Proteomic Analysis of the Quorum-Sensing Regulon in Pantoea stewartii and Identification of Direct Targets of EsaR

The proteobacterium Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii causes Stewart's wilt disease in maize when it colonizes the xylem and secretes large amounts of stewartan, an exopolysaccharide. The success of disease pathogenesis lies in the timing of bacterial virulence factor expression through the different stages of infection. Regulation is achieved through a quorum-sensing (QS) system consisting of the acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) synthase, EsaI, and the transcription regulator EsaR. At low cell densities, EsaR represses transcription of itself and of rcsA, an activator of the stewartan biosynthesis operon; it also activates esaS, which encodes a small RNA (sRNA). Repression or activation ceases at high cell densities when EsaI synthesizes sufficient levels of the AHL ligand N-3-oxo-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone to bind and inactivate EsaR. This study aims to identify other genes activated or repressed by EsaR during the QS response. Proteomic analysis identified a QS regulon of more than 30 proteins. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays of promoters of genes encoding differentially expressed proteins distinguished direct targets of EsaR from indirect targets. Additional quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) and DNA footprinting analysis established that EsaR directly regulates the promoters of dkgA, glpF, and lrhA. The proteins encoded by dkgA, glpF, and lrhA are a 2,5-diketogluconate reductase, glycerol facilitator, and transcriptional regulator of chemotaxis and motility, respectively, indicating a more global QS response in P. stewartii than previously recognized.
Impact of Professional Development on Preschool Teachers’ Print References During Shared Read Alouds: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Abstract This large-scale, experimental study aimed to (a) describe the extent to which teachers of preschool children at risk for reading difficulties make references to print during whole-class, shared-book read alouds and (b) empirically test the extent to which participation in professional development influences teachers’ frequency of references to print during shared read alouds across the academic year. Eighty-five preschool teachers working in targeted-enrollment preschool programs were randomly assigned to receive professional development aimed at increasing their use of print referencing or to a comparison condition involving alternative training; all teachers implemented a shared read aloud program in their classrooms. Implementation was documented via twice-monthly videotaping of shared read aloud sessions. Videos were coded for the frequency of print references and analyzed using latent growth curves. Despite considerable variability in teachers’ use of print referencing, findings showed sust...
Identification and Characterization of Noncoding Small RNAs in Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 2 Strain D39

We report a search for small RNAs (sRNAs) in the low-GC, Gram-positive human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Based on bioinformatic analyses by Livny et al. (J. Livny, A. Brencic, S. Lory, and M. K. Waldor, Nucleic Acids Res. 34:3484–3493, 2006), we tested 40 candidates by Northern blotting and confirmed the expression of nine new and one previously reported (CcnA) sRNAs in strain D39. CcnA is one of five redundant sRNAs reported by Halfmann et al. (A. Halfmann, M. Kovacs, R. Hakenbeck, and R. Bruckner, Mol. Microbiol. 66:110–126, 2007) that are positively controlled by the CiaR response regulator. We characterized 3 of these 14 sRNAs: Spd-sr17 (144 nucleotides [nt]; decreased in stationary phase), Spd-sr37 (80 nt; strongly expressed in all growth phases), and CcnA (93 nt; induced by competence stimulatory peptide). Spd-sr17 and CcnA likely fold into structures containing single-stranded regions between hairpin structures, whereas Spd-sr37 forms a base-paired structure. Primer extension mapping and ectopic expression in deletion/insertion mutants confirmed the independent expression of the three sRNAs. Microarray analyses indicated that insertion/deletion mutants in spd-sr37 and ccnA exerted strong cis-acting effects on the transcription of adjacent genes, indicating that these sRNA regions are also cotranscribed in operons. Deletion or overexpression of the three sRNAs did not cause changes in growth, certain stress responses, global transcription, or virulence. Constitutive ectopic expression of CcnA reversed some phenotypes of D39 ciaR mutants, but attempts to link CcnA to -E to comC as a target were inconclusive in ciaR strains. These results show that S. pneumoniae, which lacks known RNA chaperones, expresses numerous sRNAs, but three of these sRNAs do not strongly affect common phenotypes or transcription patterns.
Parent described pain responses in nonverbal children with intellectual disability

Abstract Background Assessing pain for nonverbal children with intellectual disability is challenging. These children are at risk for pain from complex medical conditions and the interventions to treat those conditions. Pain responses are often misunderstood, given that the children are nonverbal and limited by their physical abilities. Objectives The general purpose was to examine the words that parents of children with intellectual disability use to describe their child's pain response in order to improve pain recognition and management. Specifically, the aims were to: (1) identify common pain responses as reported by parents; (2) examine relationships between type of pain response and independent variables; (3) compare pain responses to those identified in the literature. Design The study design includes: (1) a summative qualitative content analysis of the parent described pain responses; (2) quantitative analysis of the relationships between type of pain response and independent variables and; (3) a comparison of pain responses to those identified in the literature. Setting A pediatric hospital in the northeastern United States. Participants Parents of 50 nonverbal children with intellectual disabilities ages 6–18 years. Methods A non-directed summative content analysis identified patterns within 335 parent described pain responses. Chi square analysis was used to examine relationships between type of pain response and selected demographic factors. Results Seven distinct categories of pain responses were identified. The most commonly reported pain responses were within the categories of: vocalization (39.4%), social behavior (21.8%) and facial expressions (16%). Four types of pain responses: vocalization, social behavior, muscle tone and activity level included opposite responses to pain. There were significant relationships between type of pain response and (1) pain severity; (2) causes of intellectual disabilities and; (3) sex of the child. Pain responses varied with severity. Patients with seizure disorders expressed pain more vocally. Females expressed pain with more social responses and males with more vocalizations. Conclusions The results support evidence that parents can articulate their child's pain responses. The study provides evidence of: (1) extremes of pain responses and (2) a significant relationship between type of responses and severity of pain, cause of intellectual disability and sex of child.
Results readiness in social protection and labor operations : technical guidance notes for social service delivery projects

The social protection (SP) portfolio includes a number of operations that are focused on improving service delivery across a broad range of social services. These service delivery goals are typically oriented to improving access to and quality of social services, usually as part of broader government reform and decentralization strategies. There is one case of this type of a project in an emergency context, ensuring access to basic services as an important complement to a safety net strategy. There are other complementarities between safety nets and service delivery projects, for example many safety net programs like Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) rely on the basic functioning of health and education services in the vicinity of program beneficiaries. The cohort includes 12 social service delivery-oriented SP projects representing about 15 percent of the cohort with an average of 2 operations approved per year in the period FY05-09. Despite the relatively lower frequency of this type of SP operation, there was broad regional representation with 5 in AFR, 4 in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) and one each in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), South Asia Region (SAR) and Europe and Central Asia (ECA). The group is evenly divided between policy-based and investment lending, with six policy-based Development Policy Loan (DPL) and Private Sector Committee (PSC) projects, four specific investment projects, one technical assistance, and one emergency recovery project. The prominence of DPLs underscores the policy type of objectives often found in these projects. The DPLs range from PRSCs and DPLs with broader country focus, like Madagascar and Niger, to DPLs more narrowly focused on social services, as is the case of a series of DPLs in Peru. Investment lending ranges from stabilization of social services in response to crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, to longer-term institutional objectives of decentralizing social service delivery and financing in Serbia and Ethiopia. In terms of institutional objectives, these projects most typically focus on sector institutions and decentralization strategies. There is less of a focus on the community level than on sub-national government roles and responsibilities.
On the voluntary movement of compliant (inertial-viscoelastic) loads by parcellated control mechanisms

1. Experiments were performed to characterize the trajectories, net muscle torques, and electromyogram (EMG) patterns when subjects performed voluntary elbow flexions against different compliant lo...
A First Assessment of Mitochondrial DNA Variation and Geographic Distribution of Haplotypes in Hessian fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Domain III of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene from Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), was sequenced in 21 populations from the United States, two populations from Canada, five populations from the Mediterranean basin, one population from Southwest Asia, and one population from New Zealand. From the total alignment, seven unique mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences (haplotypes) were identified. Of the seven 12S haplotypes only three (haplotypes 1, 2, and 3) occurred in populations from North America, indicating these were most likely the introduced haplotypes. Haplotypes were not restricted to any given biotype of M. destructor as defined by virulence to resistance genes in wheat. Thus, neutral markers did not show structure based on biotype. Populations of M. destructor showed a predominance of one haplotype over the others in specific geographic regions. However, Wolbachia DNA was not detected in any population, indicating that inheritance patterns of mtDNA in M. destructor were most likely due to repeated bottlenecks leading to the expansion of one lineage over another. The complete complement of 12S sequences in the M. destructor populations was subjected to a phylogenetic reconstruction by using haplotypes 1 and 3 of the gall midge Orseolia oryzae (Wood-Mason), as outgroups. Results from this initial study indicate a more robust phylogenetic reconstruction and analysis of population history will test the hypothesis of a single introduction of M. destructor into North America.
Educating engineers in the anthropocene

The existing engineering disciplinary structure, while still appropriate for many problems, is increasingly inadequate at the level of the integrated human/natural/built systems that characterize the anthropocene. Accordingly, new approaches such as earth systems engineering and management are called for. Such approaches require augmentation of existing engineering education curricula and materials.
ON THE EFFECT OF AMMONIUM AND LITHIUM IONS UPON FROG NERVE DEPRIVED OF SODIUM

An analysis has been made of the effect of ammonium and of lithium ions upon frog nerve deprived of sodium. Ammonium ions cannot substitute for sodium ions and restore the excitability of the nerve fibers; nor can they increase the L fraction of the membrane potential and the efficiency of the nerve reaction. Certain observations, however, indicate that the presence of ammonium ions outside the nerve fibers may delay the development of inexcitability in a sodium-free medium of nerve fibers restored by a moderate amount of sodium ions. Lithium ions can substitute for sodium and restore to nerve fibers of the A and C groups the ability to conduct impulses; the effect upon B fibers has not been investigated. Lithium cannot substitute for sodium in the role that sodium plays in the creation of the L fraction and in the establishment of the nerve reaction. In this respect lithium and sodium have opposite effects. This fact establishes an important difference between the two physiological responses that the nerve fibers can produce, the nerve impulse and the nerve reaction. With untreated nerve the depolarization of nerve by lithium ions at high concentrations is preceded by a phase of hyperpolarization; with nerve deprived of sodium the depolarization begins without delay.
Demonstration of a Free-Piston Rapid Compression Facility for the Study of High Temperature Combustion Phenomena

A free-piston rapid-compression facility (RCF) has been developed at the University of Michigan (UM) for use in studying high-temperature combustion phenomena, including gas-phase combustion synthesis and homogeneous-charge-compression ignition systems. The facility is designed to rapidly compress a mixture of test gases in a nearly adiabatic process. A range of compression ratios, currently 16 to 37, can be obtained. The high temperatures and pressures generated by the RCF can be maintained for in excess of 50 ms, providing an order-of-magnitude increase in observation time over what can be obtained using shock tubes. The facility is instrumented for temperature and pressure measurements as well as optical access for use with laser and other optical diagnostics. This work describes the UM-RCF and its operation, establishes obtainable pressures and temperatures (over 1900 kPa and 970 K for predominantly N2 gas mixtures and over 785 kPa and 2000 K for Ar gas mixtures), and demonstrates the repeatability of the UM-RCF experiments (<3% run-to-run variability in peak pressure) for combustion studies. The experimental results for time histories of temperature and pressure are interpreted using analytical isentropic models. Comparison between the isentropic predictions and the experimental data indicates excellent agreement and supports the conclusion that the core region of the test gases is nominally uniform and is compressed isentropically.
Nerve Growth Factor Treatment Prevents the Increase in Superoxide Produced by Epidermal Growth Factor in PC12 Cells

Abstract Stimulation of pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells with the mitogen epidermal growth factor (EGF) produced a rapid and robust accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), an accumulation which, in other systems, has been shown to be essential for mitogenesis. Brief pretreatment of the cells with nerve growth factor (NGF) suppressed the EGF-mediated ROS increase. EGF failed to produce elevations in ROS in a PC12 variant stably expressing a dominant-negative p21ras construct (PC12-N17) or in cells pretreated with the MEK inhibitor PD098059. NGF failed to suppress the increase in ROS in the PC12 variant nnr5, which lacks p140trkreceptors. The suppression of the increase in ROS by NGF was restored in nnr5 cells stably expressing p140trk (nnr5-trk), but NGF failed to prevent the increase in ROS in nnr cells expressing mutant p140trk receptors that lack binding sites for Shc and phospholipase Cγ. Among several inhibitors of superoxide-generating enzymes, only the lipoxygenase inhibitor, nordihydroguaiaretic acid reduced EGF-mediated ROS accumulation. The inhibitory action of NGF on ROS production was mimicked by the nitric oxide donor, sodium nitroprusside, and was blocked by an inhibitor of nitric-oxide synthetase, l-nitroarginine methyl ester. These results suggest a novel mechanism for the rapid interruption of mitogenic signaling by the neurotrophin NGF.
A Case for Using Real Options Pricing Analysis to Evaluate Information Technology Project Investment

The application of fundamental option pricing models (OPMs), such as the binomial and the Black-Scholes models, to problems in information technology (IT) investment decision making have been the subject of some debate in the last few years. Prior research, for example, has made the case that pricing "real options" in real world operational and strategic settings offers the potential for useful insights in the evaluation of irreversible investments under uncertainty. However, most authors in the IS literature have made their cases using illustrative, rather than actual real world examples, and have always concluded with caveats and questions for future research about the applicability of such methods in practice. This paper makes three important contributions in this context: (1) it provides a formal theoretical grounding for the validity of the Black-Scholes option pricing model in the context of the spectrum of capital budgeting methods that might be employed to assess IT investments; (2) it shows why the assumptions of both the Black-Scholes and the binomial option pricing models place constraints on the range of IT investment situations that one can evaluate that are similar to those implied by traditional capital budgeting methods such as discounted cash flow analysis; and (3) it presents the first application of the Black-Scholes model that uses a real world business situation involving IT as its test bed. Our application focuses on an analysis of the timing of the deployment of point-of-sale (POS) debit services by the Yankee 24 shared electronic banking network of New England. This application enables us to make the case for the generalizability of the approach we discuss to four IT investment settings.
A critical role of protein kinase C delta activation loop phosphorylation in formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine-induced phosphorylation of p47(phox) and rapid activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase

Generation of superoxide by professional phagocytes is an important mechanism of host defense against bacterial infection. Several protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms have been found to phosphorylate p47(phox), resulting in its membrane translocation and activation of the NADPH oxidase. However, the mechanism by which specific PKC isoforms regulate NADPH oxidase activation remains to be elucidated. In this study, we report that PKCdelta phosphorylation in its activation loop is rapidly induced by fMLF and is essential for its ability to catalyze p47(phox) phosphorylation. Using transfected COS-7 cells expressing gp91(phox), p22(phox), p67(phox), and p47(phox) (COS-phox cells), we found that a functionally active PKCdelta is required for p47(phox) phosphorylation and reconstitution of NADPH oxidase. PKCbetaII cannot replace PKCdelta for this function. Characterization of PKCdelta/PKCbetaII chimeras has led to the identification of the catalytic domain of PKCdelta as a target of regulation by fMLF, which induces a biphasic (30 and 180 s) phosphorylation of Thr(505) in the activation loop of mouse PKCdelta. Mutation of Thr(505) to alanine abolishes the ability of PKCdelta to catalyze p47(phox) phosphorylation in vitro and to reconstitute NADPH oxidase in the transfected COS-phox cells. A correlation between fMLF-induced activation loop phosphorylation and superoxide production is also established in the differentiated PLB-985 human myelomonoblastic cells. We conclude that agonist-induced PKCdelta phosphorylation is a novel mechanism for NADPH oxidase activation. The ability to induce PKCdelta phosphorylation may distinguish a full agonist from a partial agonist for superoxide production.
Tax Administration Costs in Transition Economies and the OECD: A Comparative Study

Paying taxes is a cost of doing business. The looters (or public servants, depending on your perspective) must be paid and tax proceeds must be distributed to various groups and individuals, both worthy and unworthy. But tax expense includes more than just the amount of taxes that must be paid. Before taxes can be paid, a determination must be made as to how much is owed. That involves paying the salaries of accountants, bookkeepers and clerks and perhaps an occasional law firm. This study examines the level of tax administration burden, not from a monetary perspective but rather from the perspective of annual hours required to comply with the tax laws. Comparisons are made of the tax administration burden of 29 transition economies. A comparison is then made of the tax administration burden in transition economies and OECD countries.Multinational companies look at a number of factors when trying to determine where to invest and establish new locations. Some of the most important factors include business climate, trade policy, fiscal policy, freedom from government, monetary policy, investment restrictions, financial freedom, property rights, corruption and labor restrictions. The
Interface Control of Polymer Based Light Emitting Devices.

Bilayer and multilayer polymer structures provide opportunities for new photophysics and new types of light emitting devices. Photoluminescent and electroluminescent studies of bilayer heterojunctions formed from a poly(pyridyl vinylene phenylene vinylene) (PPyVPV) derivative and poly(vinyl carbazole) (PVK) show an emission peak which cannot be ascribed to either the PPyVPV derivative or PVK layer. Through studies of absorption and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra we demonstrated that the additional feature results from an exciplex at the bilayer interface. The photoluminescence efficiency of the exciplex is greater than 20%. We also discuss here the fabrication of color variable bipolar/ac light-emitting devices based on conjugated polymers. The devices consist of blends of pyridine-phenylene and thiophene-phenylene based copolymers sandwiched between the emeraldine base form and the sulfonated form of polyaniline. ITO and Al are used as electrodes. The devices operate under either polarity of driving voltage with different colors of light being emitted, red under forward bias, and green under reverse bias.
Two Legislative Proposals: Give the Tax Court Case Transfer Power and Plenary Civil Tax Jurisdiction

A recent decision again raises questions about the powers that the Tax Court does and should possess. In Mobley v. Commissioner, No. 07-2019 (6th Cir. July 8, 2008), Doc 2008-14970, 2008 TNT 132-13, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a procedural decision of the Tax Court. The Tax Court dismissed a petition because it lacked jurisdiction, and it rejected the taxpayers' request to transfer the case to a district court. The Tax Court concluded, and the Sixth Circuit agreed, that the Tax Court lacks transfer power. Under 28 U.S.C. sections 1631 and 610, the power to transfer cases is conferred only upon "courts" as that term is defined in those sections. The Tax Court and the Sixth Circuit concluded that the Tax Court is not a ''court" as so defined.
Howard Andrew Knox: Pioneer of Intelligence Testing at Ellis Island., John T. E. Richardson

John Richardson's book on Howard Andrew Knox fills a gap in the history of intelligence testing and introduces the reader to one of the forgotten pioneers in this field. Knox spent five years at El...
Influence of Potential Habitat Cues on Duration of the Megalopal Stage of the Fiddler Crab Uca Pugnax

Larvae of many benthic invertebrates respond to particular habitat cues during settlement and metamorphosis. We used laboratory-reared larvae of the salt-marsh fiddler crab Uca pugnax to test whether various cues influenced the duration of the megalopal (presettlement) stage. Filtered natural sea water conditioned by an adult crab for 24 h significantly (P = 0.0001) shortened the megalopal stage by 1-2 days compared to control filtered sea water, but adult-conditioned silt-sized glass beads had no effect on megalopal duration (P = 0.303). The megalopal stage was significantly (P = 0.04) shortened for megalopae that were not exposed to adult-conditioned sea water until 6 days after molting to megalopa, but not for megalopae that were 8 or 10 days postmolt when first exposed to the adult-conditioned sea water. Uca minax-conditioned sea water and Spartina alterniflora-conditioned sea water did not affect the duration of the megalopal stage of U. pugnax. It appears that megalopae of U. pugnax respond physiologically (by molting) to sea water containing substances released by adult conspecifics.
Finding France on Film: Chocolat, Amélie and Le Divorce

Three contemporary films, Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat (2000), Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain (2001), and James Ivory's Le Divorce (2003), provide an especially promising context in which to explore the complex nature of cultural representation and reception at a time of renewed conflict and misunderstanding between France and the United States. All three films raise important questions related to national identity and to audience response. All three also confirm that the romantic comedy set in a picturesque Paris or a quaint rural village is one place where we can still expect to find France on film, whether the film is made in the United States or in France.
The Development of an Automated Program for the Optimal Design of Bulk Cushioning Systems

Abstract This paper presents an automated approach to the design of bulk cushioning systems. The developed code can be utilized in package and shipping container design, and other impact absorption applications. A model of impact response is developed and its validity demonstrated through statistical testing. The model is then used as the objective program for a sequential search procedure that searches out the best cushion design.
45 Long-Term Mortality After Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery results in significant weight loss and improvement in obesity-related comorbidities. These benefits ultimately lead to improved health and increased survival. The current data show that the long-term mortality after adjustable gastric banding (AGB) decreased from a range of 2.5–10.6 % in nonsurgical controls to a range of 0–3.7 % in surgical patients. Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) also demonstrated low long-term mortality, although at relatively shorter term. Biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) has a reported a mortality of 0.2–8 % at mean follow-up of 2–12 years. Long-term mortality following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYBG) ranged from 1.8 to 9 % and represented a significant reduction compared to mortality in obese individuals who did not undergo surgery (4.1 to 28 %). In studies which included multiple operations, the overall long-term mortality rate for bariatric surgery ranged from 0.68 to 5 % and was significantly lower than control mortality of 6.17–6.3 % at 5–11 years after surgery. Current data seem to clearly support that bariatric surgery significantly reduces obesity-related mortality.
The Ingredient Design and Aging Performance Evaluation for Silicone Rubber of Composite Insulator

In order to carry out performance testing and evaluation of the silicone rubber material,and take effective approach to discern the various material properties of composite insulators provided by manufacturing companies,the current technology awareness and development are given in this paper according to the design,manufacture,and operation of composite insulators.It is suggested that in order to ensure normal service life of composite insulators and avoid composite insulators non-normal aging,it is necessary to control insulators quality by means of various inspection testing such as the ingredient selecting at the design stage,and type test and sample test at the manufacturing stage,and sampling test at the operational stage,and the microscopic detection analytical techniques.So we can ensure using composite insulators with rational design and acceptable quality.It is also proposed that the aging parameters of silicone rubber material and aging classification methods are given to guide operation and maintenance so as to assess the operating performance of the silicone rubber material on-site.
A Model of Group Therapist Development

ABSTRACTA model of the development of group therapists is presented. It is proposed that student group therapists proceed through a sequence of stages, each of which is marked by characteristic therapist behavior. During the initial Group shock phase, the student reacts to the novelty of group therapy stimuli with individual therapy or content-oriented approaches. Reappraisal is a period of some therapist inhibition, frustration, or self-doubt. One step behind is a phase characterized by a gradual recognition of the process level of analysis, despite difficulty supplying the interventions autonomously. Using the here-and-now is a period of active intervention about interpersonal phenomena among group members. The techniques for highlighting this material are refined in the Polishing skills phase. The usefulness of models in training is discussed.
The Sombrero distributed single address space operating system project

The Sombrero operating system project is an experiment to investigate the potential of a distributed large Single Address Space Operating System (SASOS) as a computing environment. We are currently prototyping Sombrero on Alpha 21164 based NT systems. The prototype gives NT the ability to manage 8-terabyte data sets across a network in a single distributed address space. This distributed address space supports a mechanism that allows multiple network users to have access to and a consistent view of the same addresses while at the same time being protected from one another's activities. We also propose changes to current stock processor architecture to facilitate the single large distributed address space design.
Review: The addition of infliximab and etanercept to methotrexate was effective in the long term for rheumatoid arthritis

Source Citation Suarez-Almazor ME, Ortiz Z, Lopez-Olivo M, et al. Long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of infliximab and etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis. Technology Overview no 29. Ottawa:...
Titrimetric Determination of Calcium in Mechanically Separated Poultry and Beef: Collaborative Study

A collaborative study was conducted on a titrimetric EDTA method for the determination of calcium in mechanically separated poultry and beef tissue. Six laboratories analyzed, as blind duplicates, 5 poultry samples and 5 beef samples. Calcium concentrations covered the levels from 0.04 to 0.82%. Pooled standard deviations were 0.0165 for repeatability, 0.0072 for bias, and 0.0225 for reproducibility. The method has been adopted official first action.
Improved filter-weight algorithm for utilization-aware resource scheduling in OpenStack

OpenStack is a cloud computing platform. OpenStack provides an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). OpenStack constitutes resources such as compute, storage and network resources. Resource allocation in cloud environment deals with assigning available resources in cost effective manner. Compute resources are allocated in the form of virtual machines (aka instances). Storage resources are allocated in the form of virtual disks (aka volumes). Network resources are allocated in the form of virtual switches, routers and subnets for instance. Resource allocation in OpenStack is carried out by nova-scheduler. However, it is unable to support providers objectives such as allocation of resources based on user privileges, preference to underlying physical infrastructure, actual resource utilizations for example, CPU, memory, storage, network bandwidth etc. An improved nova-scheduler algorithm considers not only RAM, CPU but also vCPU utilization and network bandwidth. Improved nova-scheduler is referred as metrics-weight scheduler in this paper. This paper gives performance evaluation and analysis of Filter-scheduler and Metrics-weight scheduler.
Psychologic implications of the nutritional needs of the elderly.

The elderly person’s search is for a nourishment which often transcends the nutritional vectors. All of us involved in the care of the aged must have an understanding of the latent content of their communication if we are to be of help.
Numerical simulations to assess the tracer dilution method for measurement of landfill methane emissions

Landfills are a significant contributor to anthropogenic methane emissions, but measuring these emissions can be challenging. This work uses numerical simulations to assess the accuracy of the tracer dilution method, which is used to estimate landfill emissions. Atmospheric dispersion simulations with the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) are run over Sandtown Landfill in Delaware, USA, using observation data to validate the meteorological model output. A steady landfill methane emissions rate is used in the model, and methane and tracer gas concentrations are collected along various transects downwind from the landfill for use in the tracer dilution method. The calculated methane emissions are compared to the methane emissions rate used in the model to find the percent error of the tracer dilution method for each simulation. The roles of different factors are examined: measurement distance from the landfill, transect angle relative to the wind direction, speed of the transect vehicle, tracer placement relative to the hot spot of methane emissions, complexity of topography, and wind direction. Results show that percent error generally decreases with distance from the landfill, where the tracer and methane plumes become well mixed. Tracer placement has the largest effect on percent error, and topography and wind direction both have significant effects, with measurement errors ranging from -12% to 42% over all simulations. Transect angle and transect speed have small to negligible effects on the accuracy of the tracer dilution method. These tracer dilution method simulations provide insight into measurement errors that might occur in the field, enhance understanding of the method's limitations, and aid interpretation of field data.
The NIC Challenge in Advanced Electronics

We concluded in the previous chapter that garments and textiles are showing signs of “de-maturing” with the advent of microelectronics-based production, data-processing, and communications systems. It seems likely that the higher wage NIC producers will experience a squeeze as competition increasingly centers on the race between cheap robots in the West and low-wage workers in poorer nations. The more successful producers may, of course, respond by following the OECD firms into more capital- and knowledge-intensive production. Given the relative scarcity of these factors in the NICs, however, the question of appropriate focus remains open.
Thermal activation mechanisms and Labusch-type strengthening analysis for a family of high-entropy and equiatomic solid-solution alloys

To understand the underlying strengthening mechanisms, thermal activation processes are investigated from stress-strain measurements with varying temperatures and strain rates for a family of equiatomic quinary, quaternary, ternary, and binary, face-center-cubic-structured, single phase solid-solution alloys, which are all subsystems of the FeNiCoCrMn high-entropy alloy. Our analysis suggests that the Labusch-type solution strengthening mechanism, rather than the lattice friction (or lattice resistance), governs the deformation behavior in equiatomic alloys. First, upon excluding the Hall-Petch effects, the activation volumes for these alloys are found to range from 10 to 1000 times the cubic power of Burgers vector, which are much larger than that required for kink pairs (i.e., the thermal activation process for the lattice resistance mechanism in body-center-cubic-structured metals). Second, the Labusch-type analysis for an N-element alloy is conducted by treating M-elements (M < N) as an effective medium and summing the strengthening contributions from the rest of N-M elements as individual solute species. For all equiatomic alloys investigated, a qualitative agreement exists between the measured strengthening effect and the Labusch strengthening factor from arbitrary M to N elements based on the lattice and modulus mismatches. Consequently, the Labusch strengthening factor provides a practical critique to understand and design such compositionally complex but structurally simple alloys.
Implementation and first results of the fully suspended cone beam CT and SPECT system for dedicated breast imaging

Stand-alone cone beam CT and SPECT systems capable of complex sinusoidal acquisition trajectories have previously been developed for dedicated breast imaging and used in early clinical studies. The fully-3D motions of the SPECT system can view into the chest wall and throughout the breast volume. The polar tilting capability of the CT system has shown a marked improvement in sampling into the chest wall, with comparable <6 mGy total dose delivered to the volume as with a circular orbit, while eliminating cone beam artifacts because of the fully-3D acquisitions. A hybrid SPECT-CT system, with each individual modality capable of independently traversing complex trajectories around a pendant breast, was recently designed and the practical implementation of this design is presented here. The CT system consists of a 40×30 cm2 CsI(Tl) flat panel imager and an x-ray tube with a 16° W-anode angle, placed on opposing ends of the completely suspended gantry. A linear stage mechanism utilizing a pulley and cabling was implemented to tilt the suspended gantry within 0.02° positioning error about the 3D center of rotation; the fully-3D SPECT system with 16×20 cm2 CZT detector is nested inside the suspended CT gantry, oriented perpendicular to the CT source-detector pair. Both sub-systems are positioned on an azimuthal rotation stage enabling spherical trajectories. Initial imaging results demonstrate that additional off-axis projection views of various phantoms, allowed by the ±15° polar tilting of the CT system, facilitate more complete sampling and markedly improved reconstructions. To date, this is the first implementation of a fully-3D positioning hybrid SPECT-CT system that we are aware of, and could have various applications in diagnostic or therapeutic breast imaging.