cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structural, electrical, and optical studies on rapid thermally processed ferroelectric BaTiO3 thin films prepared by metallo-organic solution deposition technique

Abstract Polycrystalline BaTiO 3 thin films having the perovskite structure were successfully produced on platinum coated silicon, bare silicon, and fused quartz substrate by the combination of the metallo-organic solution deposition technique and post-deposition rapid thermal annealing treatment. The films exhibited good structural, electrical, and optical properties. The electrical measurements were conducted on metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) and metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) capacitors. The typical measured small signal dielectric constant and dissipation factor at a frequency of 100 kHz were 255 and 0.025, respectively, and the remanent polarization and coercive field were 2.2 μC cm −2 and 25 kV cm −1 , respectively. The resistivity was found to be in the range 10 10 –10 12 Ω·cm, up to an applied electric field of 100 kV cm −1 , for films annealed in the temperature range 550–700 °C. The films deposited on bare silicon substrates exhibited good film/substrate interface characteristics. The films deposited on fused quartz were highly transparent. An optical band gap of 3.5 eV and a refractive index of 2.05 (measured at 550 nm) was obtained for polycrystalline BaTiO 3 thin film on fused quartz substrate. The optical dispersion behavior of BaTiO 3 thin films was found to fit the Sellmeir dispersion formula well.
FILTERING ENHANCED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ETMS) ALTITUDE DATA

Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) stores all the information gathered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from aircraft flying in the US airspace. The data stored from each flight includes the 4D trajectory (latitude, longitude, altitude and timestamp), radar data and flight plan information. Unfortunately, there is a data quality problem in the vertical channel and the altitude component of the trajectories contains some isolated samples in which a wrong value was stored. Overall, the data is generally accurate and it was found that only 0.3% of the altitude values were incorrect, however the impact of these erroneous data in some analyses could be important, motivating the development of a filtering procedure. The approach developed for filtering ETMS altitude data includes some specific algorithms for problems found in this particular dataset, and a novel filter to correct isolated bad samples (named Despeckle filter). As a result, all altitude errors were eliminated in 99.7% of the flights affected by noise, while preserving the original values of the samples without bad data. The algorithm presented in this paper attains better results than standard filters such as the median filter, and it could be applied to any signal affected by noise in the form of spikes.
EFFECTS OF COTYLEDONS, LEAVES AND STEM APEX ON EARLY PERIDERM DEVELOPMENT IN FRAXINUS PENNSYLVANICA SEEDLINGS

Summary Seedlings of Fraxinus pennsylvanica were grown from seed and subjected to various treatments which removed leaves, cotyledons, stem apices or buds at periods up to 35 days after cotyledon emergence. In addition, portions of the stems of several seedlings were kept in darkness during the experiments. Periderm did not form in seedlings from which all foliage was removed as it emerged. Seedlings with any foliage developed periderm, but periderm-stimulatory substances were not released from foliage until it reached a certain stage of development. Both cotyledons and leaves exported periderm-stimulatory substances, but leaves appeared to export more. Substances produced in the apical meristem or actively growing buds had no effect on phellogen formation and activity, but appeared to regulate the kind of periderm cells produced, their differentiation, and their anti-clinical divisions. The stimuli for periderm formation and subsequent development were strongly basipetal and only weakly acropetal. However, darkening the stem below the foliage appeared to moderate the polar transport of periderm-stimulatory substances. Foliar products increased wound-periderm formation and were essential for wound-stimulated formation of normal periderm.
Precision Stabilized Platforms For Shipboard Electro-Optical Systems

The introduction of passive electro-optical sensors on surface ships requires the development of a precision platform stabilization and control system which must operate in an above deck environment. This paper describes the platform control system requirements, presents performance models of the stabilization system and discusses the principal design tradeoffs. Measured performance data from a shipboard EO system is presented.
Prevalent RNA sequences of mitochondrial origin in sea urchin embryos.

Abstract A set of cDNA clones was isolated which hybridize with RNAs very prevalent in eggs and embryos of the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus . The clones fall into two classes. The A-class sequences hybridize to a series of four to seven transcripts which remain constant in prevalence in eggs and embryos. The B-class sequences hybridize almost exclusively to a single 1.5-kb transcript which increases in prevalence during embryonic development. Clones of both classes hybridize to different regions of the mitochondrial genome. The A-class sequences are very conserved in evolution, and their pattern of hybridization with restriction fragments of Xenopus mitochondrial DNA indicates that they represent mitochondrial ribosomal RNA sequences. The B-class sequences represent an unconserved mitochondrial RNA of unknown function. These RNA sequences are found in “postmitochondrial” supernatants prepared from eggs and sediment like mRNPs in sucrose gradients.
The ISDN U interface and transceiver

This paper describes the integrated services digital network (ISDN) basic rate interface (BRI) two-wire U interface and the transceiver necessary for the digital transmission of 160 kb/s of information over unshielded twisted pair transmission media. Topics discussed include the U interface structure and framing as described in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) T1.601 specification, and the VLSI implementation of the ISDN U transceiver. Pertinent transceiver design issues addressed include the type of line code used, such as 2B1Q or 4B3T, echo cancellation, near end crosstalk, equalization and sampling rates.
Catheter-induced arrhythmias.

Abstract Catheter-induced arrhythmias, which occurred several hours to several days following successful placement of temporary transvenous right ventricular electrodes or flow-directed pulmonary artery catheters were observed in six out of 106 patients. The arrhythmias took the form of ventricular bigeminy, ventricular tachycardia and, in one instance, isorhythmic dissociation. These arrhythmias were resistant to high doses of antiarrhythmic medication. The diagnosis can be suspected by noticing an excessive catheter loop or an altered catheter position in the chest x-ray or by observing faulty sensing, erratic pacing, or an increased threshold for ventricular stimulation. Corroborative evidence can be obtained from the electrocardiogram, where the catheter-induced depolarizations usually take a left bundle branch block pattern and the coupling interval of the ectopic beats may vary widely. Some pacing catheter-induced beats resemble the paced beats in configuration. In other cases, the rhythm cannot be explained by established principles. The diagnosis of catheter-induced arrhythmia is confirmed when the arrhythmia ceases following removal or repositioning of the catheter.
A synopsis of industrial engineering methods utilized in designing for the environment

Abstract Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and Designing for the Environment have become considerably important in the recent years due to the results of sustained high living standards and dynamic population growth. The scope of activity involved is immense. Physical products must not only proceed from “cradle to grave” but now must proceed “cradle to reincarnation”. Business practices must be altered and enhanced to address a multitude of items needed to produce products with less overall environmental impact. This paper presents both the physical product system and the business process system and identifies key areas where the competencies of industrial engineers can best be used.
Conserved Ser residues, the shutter region, and speciation in serpin evolution.

The suicide inhibitory mechanism of serine protease inhibitors of the serpin superfamily depends heavily on their structural flexibility, which is controlled in large part by the breach and shutter regions of the central Aβ-sheet. We examined codon usage by the highly conserved residues, Ser-53 and Ser-56, of the shutter region and found a TCN-AGY usage dichotomy for Ser-56 that remarkably is linked to the protostome-deuterostome split. Our results suggest that serpin evolution was driven by phylogenetic speciation and not pressure to fulfill new physiologic functions mitigating against coevolution with the family of serine proteases they inhibit.
A kinetic analysis of d-xylose transport in rhodotorula glutinis

The kinetics of D-xylose transport were studied in Rhodotorula glutinis. Analysis of the saturation isotherm revealed the presence of at least two carriers for d-xylose in the Rhodotorula plasma membrane. These two carriers exhibited Km values differing by more than an order of magnitude. The low Km carrier was repressed in rapidly growing cells and depressed by starvation of the cells. Several hexoses were observed to inhibit d-xylose transport. In the studies reported here, the inhibitions produced by d-galactose and 2-deoxy-d-glucose were examined in some detail in order to define the interactions of these sugars with the d-xylose carriers. 2-Deoxy-d-glucose competitively inhibited both of the d-xylose carriers. In contrast, only the low-Km carrier was competitively inhibited by d-galactose.
Bending and vibration of transversely isotropic two-layer plates

T use of composite materials in various aerospace and industrial applications has prompted a considerable amount of research on the static and dynamic response of multilayer plates. During the past decade, several authors' have formulated plate theories by a direct extension of Mindlin's theory for homogeneous plates. Sun and Whitney have shown that laminated plate theories which are based on Kirchhoff's hypothesis, or a simple extension of Mindlin's theory, yield grossly inaccurate natural-frequency predictions for twoand three-layer plates whose layers have widely differing shear rigidities. In a recent paper, the principle of virtual work was used to derive the equations of motion in an invariant form for an arbitrary three-layered plate. No restrictions were placed on the relative thicknesses, densities, elastic moduli, or symmetries of the layers. The formulation accounts for the shear deformation of each layer as well as the translational and rotational inertia of the composite. Continuity of displacements and stresses was imposed in accordance with a perfect interface bond assumption. In the current analysis, the previously derived equations will be used to analyze a transversely isotropic two-layer plate by deleting the terms associated with the third layer and neglecting the transverse contraction of the composite. The theory then becomes the two-dimensional analog of Theory II as presented by Sun and Whitney. If we assume that each layer is transversely isotropic, the equations of motion are written in vector notation and can be uncoupled to yield a sixth-order equation in the transverse displacement. By neglecting certain in-plane and rotatory inertia terms, we can obtain a somewhat simpler fourth-order equation, which is very similar to Mindlin's dynamic plate equation with modified stiffness, mass, and inertia coefficients. This equation reduces to Mindlin's formulation if either of the layers is assumed to vanish or the properties of both layers are identical. From virtual work, the natural boundary conditions
Biotransformation of tetrachloroethylene by anaerobic attached-films at low temperatures

Abstract This study was conducted to examine the feasibility of using an anaerobic attached-film expanded-bed (AAFEB) process for the treatment of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at 15°C. A laboratory-scale continuous-flow reactor, with an expanded-bed volume of 900 ml, was operated at hydraulic retention times of 1.8-4 h and influent PCE concentrations of 8–12 mg/l. Small samples (50 ml) of attached film media were used for batch testing 3–7 mg/l of PCE in a separate 300 ml AAFEB reactor. The attached films were a mixed anaerobic consortium grown on diatomaceous earth support particles under methanogenic conditions. Sucrose was used as an external electron donor and growth substrate. Reductive dechlorination of PCE to trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE), vinyl chloride (VC) and ethylene (ETH) was observed. The conversion efficiency of PCE and TCE to lesser chlorinated compounds and ETH was above 98% during continuous-flow testing. VC accumulated as the major dechlorination product and ETH was produced at very low rates. The maximum PCE dechlorination rate, qmax, was 5.33 mg PCE/g volatile solids-day (32.1 μmol/g VS-d) and the one-half velocity coefficient, Ks, was 0.009 mg PCE/l (0.054 μM) under continuous-flow conditions. Since the AAFEB carried more than 20 g volatile solids per liter of bed, low temperature conversion rates would be expected to exceed 60 mg PCE/lbed-day. This indicates removal efficiencies greater than 99% could be obtained at hydraulic retention times of less than 1 h at ambient groundwater temperatures with this process.
Synthesis of Chromophores with Extremely High Electro-optic Activity. 1. Thiophene-Bridge-Based Chromophores

We have successfully synthesized several new substituted thiophene-based electro-optic chromophores. All of these chromophores have structures similar to FTC but they incorporated our newly designed tricyanovinyldihydrofuran acceptors. Since these acceptors possess an anisotropic structure, all of the chromophores are very soluble in a wide range of organic solvents. Thermal study of these chromophores by TGA shows all of them are very stable in air. UV spectra indicate the chromophores have a large solvatochromic effect, implying very large molecular nonlinearities.
Effects of glutathione depletion by buthionine sulfoximine on the sensitivity of EMT6/SF cells to chemotherapy agents or X radiation dennis☆

The effects of depletion of cellular glutathione (GSH) on the sensitivity of cultured EMT6/SF cells to chemotherapy agents or x rays under hypoxic and aerated conditions were investigated. Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a potent inhibitor of the enzyme gamma-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase, was used to deplete cellular GSH. Addition of BSO (50 microM) to EMT6/SF cultures depleted cellular GSH with a half-time of approximately 2 hr. Cellular GSH reached very low levels within hours of addition of BSO. After removal of BSO, cellular GSH recovered with approximately the same kinetics as was seen for depletion. Incubation of EMT6/SF cells with BSO concentrations of up to 1 mM did not reduce the viability or inhibit growth when exposure was limited to times less than 24 hr. However, for longer exposure times, toxicity and growth inhibition were demonstrated in a dose dependent fashion. EMT6/SF cells were treated with chemotherapy agents under either aerated or extremely hypoxic conditions. Cells were more sensitive to cis-dichlorodiammino Pt(II) (DDP), mitomycin C (MitC), L-phenylalanine mustard (L-PAM), and nitrogen mustard (HN2) when treatment was under hypoxic conditions. The magnitude of this sensitization under hypoxic conditions ranged from a dose modifying factor (DMF) of 1.4 (HN2) to 4.1 (MitC), measured at the 0.1 level of cell survival. Hypoxic EMT6/SF cells were more resistant to the cytotoxic effects of actinomycin D (ActD) under hypoxic conditions (DMF = 10 at SF = 0.3). When cellular GSH was depleted to less than 5% of control by treatment with 50 microM BSO for 12-14 hr, cells were sensitized to DDP, L-PAM and HN2 under both aerated and hypoxic conditions. DMF's ranged from 1.4-6.5, depending on the agent. Hypoxic cell sensitization was never significantly greater than that seen in aerated cells, as was the case for X radiation (DMF = 1.3 for hypoxic cells only). GSH depletion also sensitized to MitC, but only under aerated conditions (DMF = 2.1). Hypoxic EMT6/SF cells were not sensitized to MitC by depletion of GSH. GSH depletion afforded slight protection against ActD toxicity under both aerated and hypoxic conditions. These studies suggest that cellular GSH plays an important role in modifying cellular response to cytotoxic drugs. GSH depletion may sensitize tumor cells to some chemotherapy agents, but differential sensitization of tumors compared to normal tissues, based on hypoxic tumor cells as targets, would not be expected based on these in vitro experiments.
Writing an Effective Business Plan for Fee-Based Services

SUMMARY This paper addresses the basics of writing a business plan. Although some literature on fee-based library services and information brokering mentions business plans, most of the material on this topic can be found in the traditional business literature. Therefore, business literature will create the framework for this paper, but has been modified to better describe operations of fee-based library services when they differ from for-profit businesses.
Distal biceps tendon rupture: An in vitro study

Abstract Background Options for repair of distal biceps tendon ruptures are well-described. However, scant data exist in the literature regarding failure strength of the native tendon. We hypothesize that a) the distal biceps tendon failure strength is sensitive to loading angle, and b) the failure strength is greater than what has been previously reported in the literature. Methods 15 radii were potted in a simulated supine position, and the native tendon was pulled from the tuberosity at angles of 90, 60, and 30° of flexion (5 per group) relative to the long axis of the radius. The failure load and stiffness were recorded and compared. Findings The native tendon's mean failure load tended to increase as flexion angle decreased. Due to the large variability in strength, mean failure loads of the 90° (mean 358 (SE 117 N)), 60° (mean 617 (SE 141 N)), and 30° (mean 762 (SE 130 N)) groups were not statistically different from each other ( P = 0.12). The mean stiffness results for each group (mean 501 (SE 176 N/mm), mean 763 (SE 226 N/mm), and mean 756 N (SE 179 N/mm), respectively) were not significantly different from each other ( P > 0.6). Interpretation The load to failure of the distal biceps tendon may be higher than what has previously been reported, and may be dependent on the elbow flexion angle. Though this difference may be attributed to the difference in methodology it should be taken into account during consideration of repair and rehabilitation.
Creating space for interdisciplinary marine and coastal research: five dilemmas and suggested resolutions

Important changes are needed to disciplinary theories and methods to support interdisciplinary and integrated ocean and coastal management policies and implementation. This review argues that theories and methods should conform to a perspective that ocean management is a societal activity with diverse goals ideally informed by interdisciplinary information. The review focuses on the integrated coastal management (ICM) and marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) frameworks and the marine protected areas (MPA) management tool. It begins by suggesting that at present there is a notable imbalance in the degree of effort allocated to monitoring the ecological and social dimensions of ocean resource use and policy processes. Based on how Western society and an influential epistemic community construct ‘the environment’ and society's relation to the environment, natural sciences play an inordinately important role in the description of the problem and policy recommendations. The discourse advocating for a global networks of marine protected areas, without adequate consideration of society impacts and responses, represents an example of this imbalance. Rebalancing the contributions of scientific disciplines encounters various dilemmas with epistemological, methodological and sociological dimensions. The analysis concludes with suggestions for balancing ocean and coastal interdisciplinary research and reframing key issues, creating self reflexive and multidisciplinary research teams, and reworking educational programmes.
Design and analysis of a novel fiber-based PCS optical network

We propose a passive antenna remote unit (PARU) architecture which can be used in future optical fiber-based PCS networks. This system is robust, easy to maintain, and upgradeable to multi-GHz frequencies. By using externally modulated Nd:YAG lasers and coherent detection on the uplink, the system is far more efficient than for a direct detection (DD) uplink in terms of subcarrier multiplexed (SCM) voice and video channels per laser, meeting an spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) requirement of 55 dB. For voice channels, a coherent FM uplink, a coherent AM uplink, and a DD uplink support, per laser with 200 mW optical power, over 1600 channels, 352 channels, and 96 channels, respectively. For moderate quality video, a coherent FM uplink supports over 1000 channels but a coherent AM uplink and a DD uplink cannot achieve the required SFDR due to the Brillouin threshold.
Intraseasonal Variation in Water and Carbon Dioxide Flux Components in a Semiarid Riparian Woodland

We investigated how the distribution of precipitation over a growing season influences the coupling of carbon and water cycle components in a semiarid floodplain woodland dominated by the deep-rooted velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina). Gross ecosystem production (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (R eco) were frequently uncoupled because of their different sensitivities to growing season rainfall. Soon after the first monsoon rains, R eco was high and was not proportional to slight increases in GEP. During the wettest month of the growing season (July), the system experienced a net carbon loss equivalent to 46% of the carbon accumulated over the 6-month study period (114 g C m−2; May–October). It appears that a large CO2 efflux and a rapid water loss following precipitation early in the growing season and a later CO2 gain is a defining characteristic of seasonally dry ecosystems. The relative contribution of plant transpiration (T) to total evapotranspiration (ET) (T/ET) was 0.90 for the entire growing season, with T/ET reaching a value of 1 during dry conditions and dropping to as low as 0.65 when the soil surface was wet. The evaporation fraction (E) was equivalent to 31% of the precipitation received during the study period (253 mm) whereas trees and understory vegetation transpired 38 and 31%, respectively, of this water source. The water-use efficiency of the vegetation (GEP/T) was higher later in the growing season when the C4 grassy understory was fully developed. The influence of rain on net ecosystem production (NEP) can be interpreted as the proportion of precipitation that is transpired by the plant community; the water-use efficiency of the vegetation and the precipitation fraction that is lost by evaporation.
MPI Alltoall Personalized Exchange on GPGPU Clusters: Design Alternatives and Benefit

General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs) are rapidly becoming an integral part of high performance system architectures. The Tianhe-1A and Tsubame systems received significant attention for their architectures that leverage GPGPUs. Increasingly many scientific applications that were originally written for CPUs using MPI for parallelism are being ported to these hybrid CPU-GPU clusters. In the traditional sense, CPUs perform computation while the MPI library takes care of communication. When computation is performed on GPGPUs, the data has to be moved from device memory to main memory before it can be used in communication. Though GPGPUs provide huge compute potential, the data movement to and from GPGPUs is both a performance and productivity bottleneck. Recently, the MVAPICH2 MPI library has been modified to directly support point-to-point MPI communication from the GPU memory [1]. Using this support, programmers do not need to explicitly move data to main memory before using MPI. This feature also enables performance improvement due to tight integration of GPU data movement and MPI internal protocols. Typically, scientific applications spend a significant portion of their execution time in collective communication. Hence, optimizing performance of collectives has a significant impact on their performance. MPI_Alltoall is a heavily used collective that has O(N2) communication, for N processes. In this paper, we outline the major design alternatives for MPI_Alltoall collective communication operation on GPGPU clusters. We propose three design alternatives and provide a corresponding performance analysis. Using our dynamic staging techniques, the latency of MPI_Alltoall on GPU clusters can be improved by 44% over a user level implementation and 31% over a send-recv based implementation for 256 KByte messages on 8 processes.
A Novel Interference Supression Technique employing Complex Adaptive ICA for Time-Varying Channels in Diversity Wireless QAM Receivers

This paper presents a novel complex adaptive ICA algorithm with individual adaptation of parameters. The algorithm employs optimal individual convergence factors for the real and imaginary components of the weight vector. The performance of this algorithm is tested and compared with the most recent complex fast-ICA in time-varying channel conditions frequently encountered in practice. Simulation results confirm the improved performance, in terms of convergence speed and accuracy, of the proposed technique, at the expense of a modest increase in computational complexity.
Modeling pulmonary kinetics of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose during acute lung injury.

Rationale and Objectives Dynamic positron emission tomographic imaging of the radiotracer 2-deoxy-2-[ 18 F]fluoro- d -glucose ( 18 F-FDG) is increasingly used to assess metabolic activity of lung inflammatory cells. To analyze the kinetics of 18 F-FDG in brain and tumor tissues, the Sokoloff model has been typically used. In the lungs, however, a high blood-to-parenchymal volume ratio and 18 F-FDG distribution in edematous injured tissue could require a modified model to properly describe 18 F-FDG kinetics. Materials and Methods We developed and validated a new model of lung 18 F-FDG kinetics that includes an extravascular/noncellular compartment in addition to blood and 18 F-FDG precursor pools for phosphorylation. Parameters obtained from this model were compared with those obtained using the Sokoloff model. We analyzed dynamic PET data from 15 sheep with smoke or ventilator-induced lung injury. Results In the majority of injured lungs, the new model provided better fit to the data than the Sokoloff model. Rate of pulmonary 18 F-FDG net uptake and distribution volume in the precursor pool for phosphorylation correlated between the two models ( R 2 = 0.98, 0.78), but were overestimated with the Sokoloff model by 17% ( P P 18 F-FDG distribution volumes was up to 13% and 49% of lung tissue volume in smoke- and ventilator-induced lung injury, respectively. Conclusion The lung-specific model predicted 18 F-FDG kinetics during acute lung injury more accurately than the Sokoloff model and may provide new insights in the pathophysiology of lung injury.
Prove it! The Burden of Proof Game in Science vs. Pseudoscience Disputes

The concept of burden of proof is used in a wide range of discourses, from philosophy to law, science, skepticism, and even in everyday reasoning. This paper provides an analysis of the proper deployment of burden of proof, focusing in particular on skeptical discussions of pseudoscience and the paranormal, where burden of proof assignments are most poignant and relatively clear-cut. We argue that burden of proof is often misapplied or used as a mere rhetorical gambit, with little appreciation of the underlying principles. The paper elaborates on an important distinction between evidential and prudential varieties of burdens of proof, which is cashed out in terms of Bayesian probabilities and error management theory. Finally, we explore the relationship between burden of proof and several (alleged) informal logical fallacies. This allows us to get a firmer grip on the concept and its applications in different domains, and also to clear up some confusions with regard to when exactly some fallacies (ad hominem, ad ignorantiam, and petitio principii) may or may not occur.
Defining a High-Performance ICU System for the 21st Century: A Position Paper

In the fall of 1997 George D. Lundberg and John E. Wennberg wrote an editorial in JAMA calling for comprehensive quality improvement programs to become the driver of the American health care system. The suggestion came during the Second European Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care held in Paris, France, in April 1997 and was based on comments made by Donald Berwick. The concept was to focus on an organized response to problem identification and proposed solutions to improve patient care and protect the health of the public. Critical care medicine represents a large segment of health care and is undergoing dramatic changes during our managed care revolution. General ICU severity of illness models have been developed, tested, and shown to provide a useful estimate of hospital mortality for populations of critically ill patients. These systems have captured the imagination of clinical researchers and have become an integral component of a large number of publications as well as a part of many ICU dat...
Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in Alzheimer's disease. In vivo imaging with iodine 123-labeled 3-quinuclidinyl-4-iodobenzilate and emission tomography.

In vivo imaging of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding function in a patient with Alzheimer's disease, using single-photon emission computed tomography and iodine 123-labeled 3-quinuclidinyl-4-iodobenzilate ( 123 I-QNB), and perfusion imaging using 123 I- N -isopropyl p -iodoamphetamine are described. A profound decrease in perfusion to the posterior temporal and parietal cortex and a more uniform uptake of 123 I-QNB throughout the cerebral cortex were observed. The 123 I-QNB activity ratio was reduced compared with that of a normal age-matched subject, suggesting a moderate impairment in muscarinic receptor binding function in Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, and more importantly, our study demonstrates that images of in vivo receptor binding can be obtained easily and nontraumatically using 123 I-QNB and single-photon emission computed tomography. ( JAMA 1985;254:3063-3066)
A Customer Needs Motivated Conceptual Design Methodology for Product Portfolios

Platform design strategy is currently a very important topic in modern product development; however, current methods do not fully address platform definition with respect to customer needs. Customer satisfaction is the key for survival and it is crucial that the customer be used to differentiate between different variants of a product, also known as a company’s product portfolio. This research explores the utility of high-level customer needs as a direct means to define the product’s base platform and differentiating modules. Our approach is to outline platform and differentiating modules during the conceptual design stage of product development and plan a product portfolio before any embodiment design occurs. Modern design tools such as the Functional Basis, functional modeling and modular heuristics are used in this approach. Based on a case study, a function based and customer need motivated design method for conceptual design of product portfolios is proposed. The developed method is validated by applying the technique to existing products and by comparing the results against known product platforms. Finally, the method is applied to a new product to generate conceptual design of product variants.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Mondrian memory protection

Mondrian memory protection (MMP) is a fine-grained protection scheme that allows multiple protection domains to flexibly share memory and export protected services. In contrast to earlier page-based systems, MMP allows arbitrary permissions control at the granularity of individual words. We use a compressed permissions table to reduce space overheads and employ two levels of permissions caching to reduce run-time overheads. The protection tables in our implementation add less than 9% overhead to the memory space used by the application. Accessing the protection tables adds than 8% additional memory references to the accesses made by the application. Although it can be layered on top of demand-paged virtual memory, MMP is also well-suited to embedded systems with a single physical address space. We extend MMP to support segment translation which allows a memory segment to appear at another location in the address space. We use this translation to implement zero-copy networking underneath the standard read system call interface, where packet payload fragments are connected together by the translation system to avoid data copying. This saves 52% of the memory references used by a traditional copying network stack.
Studies on octylphenoxy surfactants. Part 1: Effects of oxyethylene content on properties of potential relevance to foliar absorption

Selected properties of octylphenol and seven of its ethoxylated derivatives were studied as a preliminary to investigating their effects on the foliar absorption of three model compounds and the surfactants themselves. Surface tension of the surfactants (2 g litre−1 in water) increased with their hydrophile:lipophile balance (HLB) which is a function of oxyethylene (EO) content. The surface tension of the aqueous surfactants was inversely related to the cosine of their contact angle (θ) on maize leaf in the EO range 7.5–30. Cos θ was in turn related to the wetting of maize by aqueous acetone solutions of surfactants with EO >9.5. The critical surface tension required for complete wetting of the adaxial surface of maize leaf was estimated to be 29 mN m−1. Evaporation of drops of aqueous acetone solutions was biphasic, with preferential loss of acetone during the initial, more rapid phase. The rate of evaporation from the remaining, effectively aqueous systems was inversely related to the HLB of the surfactants. Phytotoxicity of the surfactants, as measured by ethylene production, increased with decreasing EO, while their hygroscopic water retention increased with both log EO and relative humidity (r.h.). Aqueous solubilities of pentacosane, DDT and atrazine were increased up to 8-fold by surfactant (20 g litre−1). Maximum solubilities were observed with surfactants having intermediate HLB values. The solubility of pentacosane (maximum 221 μg litre−1) indicated that the surfactants would probably not solubilise more than 0.1% of the epicuticular wax when applied to maize leaf. Scanning electron microscopic observation of leaf surfaces exposed to surfactants for 24 h did not reveal any visible modifications of the wax structure. Volatilisation of DDT was reduced in the presence of surfactants but that ofatrazine was increased, although in inverse proportion to its solubility in aqueous surfactant.
FAITH DEVELOPMENT AT 30: NAMING THE CHALLENGES OF FAITH IN A NEW MILLENNIUM

Thirty years ago this summer Religious Education published its first article on faith development theory, entitled, “Agenda Toward a Developmental Perspective on Faith,” published in Religious Education in volume LXIX, March‐April 1974, pp. 209‐219. At the request of the editors of this journal, it is a privilege to offer an account of some of the author’s present reflections on faith development research and theory. Like many dimensions of our lives, faith seems to have a broadly recognizable pattern of development. This unfolding pattern can be characterized in terms of developing emotional, cognitive, and moral interpretations and responses. Our ways of imagining and committing in faith correlate significantly with our ways of knowing and valuing more generally. This article begins with a somewhat personal account of the origins and emergence of faith development research. It continues with reflections on some of the ways religious educators have adopted and critically reflected on faith development theory and its implications for religious nurture and growth. In a third section, I review some of the critical and constructive assessments of faith development theory by scholars in the field, through the lenses of several volumes of collected articles. A fourth theme addresses the renewal of religious education in the context of the present lively focus on the significance and power of practices in faith formation and growth. The last two sections offer some thoughts about some of the challenges to faith nurture and development stemming from what we are learning to call the conditions of postmodern life.
Probabilistic prediction of rupture length, slip and seismic ground motions for an ongoing rupture: implications for early warning for large earthquakes

Earthquake EarlyWarning (EEW) predicts future ground shaking based on presently available data. Long ruptures present the best opportunities for EEW since many heavily shaken areas are distant from the earthquake epicentre and may receive long warning times. Predicting the shaking from large earthquakes, however, requires some estimate of the likelihood of the future evolution of an ongoing rupture. An EEW system that anticipates future rupture using the present magnitude (or rupture length) together with the Gutenberg-Richter frequencysize statistics will likely never predict a large earthquake, because of the rare occurrence of ‘extreme events’. However, it seems reasonable to assume that large slip amplitudes increase the probability for evolving into a large earthquake. To investigate the relationship between the slip and the eventual size of an ongoing rupture, we simulate suites of 1-D rupture series from stochastic models of spatially heterogeneous slip. We find that while large slip amplitudes increase the probability for the continuation of a rupture and the possible evolution into a ‘Big One’, the recognition that rupture is occurring on a spatially smooth fault has an even stronger effect.We conclude that anEEWsystem for large earthquakes needs some mechanism for the rapid recognition of the causative fault (e.g., from real-time GPS measurements) and consideration of its ‘smoothness’. An EEW system for large earthquakes on smooth faults, such as the San Andreas Fault, could be implemented in two ways: the system could issue a warning, whenever slip on the fault exceeds a few metres, because the probability for a large earthquake is high and strong shaking is expected to occur in large areas around the fault. A more sophisticated EEW system could use the present slip on the fault to estimate the future slip evolution and final rupture dimensions, and (using this information) could provide probabilistic predictions of seismic ground motions along the evolving rupture. The decision on whether an EEW system should be realized in the first or in the second way (or in a combination of both) is user-specific.
The Validity of Discrepancy Criteria for Identifying Children with Developmental Language Disorders

Empirical data from two studies address the clinical validity of discrepancy criteria for identification of children with developmental language disorders (DLD). Study 1 involved 256 preschoolers clinically defined as DLD and meeting inclusionary criteria for normal hearing intellectual, neurological, and psychiatric status. Application of alternative psychometrically derived discrepancy criteria identified only 40% to 60% of the clinically defined group as language disordered. Study 2 applied nonverbal IQ-language performance discrepancy criteria to 368 eight-year-old, randomly selected control subjects, resulting in over 45% of the controls being identified as DLD. Factors contributing to underidentification in Study 1 and over-identification in Study 2 are discussed, raising questions regarding the validity of discrepancy criteria for identification of DLD children.
"The Experience of Left and Right" Meets the Physics of Left and Right

I consider an argument, due to Geoffrey Lee, that we can know a priori from the left-right asymmetrical character of experience that our brains are left-right asymmetrical. Lee's argument assumes a premise he calls relationism, which I show is well-supported by the best philosophical picture of spacetime. I explain why Lee's relationism is compatible with left-right asymmetrical laws. I then show that the conclusion of Lee's argument is not as strong or surprising as he makes it out to be.
Over 12 months, an immunisation navigator programme for urban adolescents increased immunisation rates by approximately 13% compared with control

Commentary on: PG Szilagyi, SG Humiston, S Gallivan, et al.. Effectiveness of a citywide patient immunization navigator program on improving adolescent immunizations and preventive care visit rates.Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med2011;165:547–53.
Trauma cases from Harborview Medical Center. Airway injury after acute chlorine exposure.

2Department of Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98104-2499. 23-year-old man presented with hypoxia, progressive dyspnea, and cough after exposure to chlorine gas at an indoor pool after a leak from the maintenance room. An initial chest radiograph was normal. Thirty-six hours after exposure, his chest radiograph and thin-section CT showed diffuse nodular opacities consistent with acute small airways injury (Fig. 1). The patient was discharged home on corticosteroids and an albuterol inhaler.
Separation of upslope flow over a uniform slope

Motivated by the importance of understanding mountain weather during periods of thermal convection, a laboratory study was conducted to investigate the separation of an upslope (anabatic) flow on a two-dimensional heated mountainous slope in the absence of a background mean flow. Three flow regimes were identified. In the first, at slope angles larger than a critical value , the separated flow generated a rising plume completely fed by the anterior upslope flow. For this case, a simple model based on a balance between the opposing vorticities of baroclinicity and shear was proposed to predict the location of the separation point relative to the mountain base. The model also predicts the velocity and length scales at separation as well as those of the rising plume after separation. In the second regime, , the volume flow of the separated plume was not fully supplied by the upslope flow, requiring entrainment of additional ambient fluid at the base of the plume source. The third regime occurred when , wherein the plume almost completely engulfed the slope, similar to a buoyant plume emanating from a source of finite dimensions, thus overshadowing the upslope flow. Measurements of the separation point conducted during the MATERHORN field research program were consistent with the results of the laboratory experiments and modelling.
Stability evaluation and correction of a pulsed neutron generator prompt gamma activation analysis system

Source output stability is important for accurate measurement in prompt gamma neutron activation. This is especially true when measuring low-concentration elements such as in vivo nitrogen (~2.5 % of body weight). We evaluated the stability of the compact DT neutron generator within an in vivo nitrogen measurement system. Review of gamma event/time patterns and data from an auxiliary detector showed significant variations among repeated phantom runs. Neutron generator instability had a significant effect on measurement precision. The neutron generator used in our system must be monitored for output consistency. Adjustments must be made to measurement results to correct for generator instability.
Analysis of Orthopedic Resident Ability to Apply Levels of Evidence Criteria to Scientific Articles.

Objective In the era of evidence-based medicine, understanding study design and levels of evidence (LoE) criteria is an important component of resident education and aids practicing surgeons in making informed clinical decisions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the ability of orthopedic residents to accurately determine LoE criteria for published articles compared with medical students. Design Basic science article. Setting Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, PA), tertiary referral center. Participants Overall, 25 U.S. orthopedic residents and 15 4th year medical students interviewing for a residency position in orthopedic surgery voluntarily participated and provided baseline demographic information. A total of 15 articles from the American Volume of Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery were identified. Study participants were provided with the article title, the abstract, and the complete methods section. The assigned LoE designation was withheld and access to the LoE criteria used by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery was provided. Each participant was assigned a study type and LoE designation for each article. Results There were more correct responses regarding the article type (67%) than for LoE designation (39%). For LoE, the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.30. The percentage of correct responses for article type and LoE increased with more years of training (p = 0.005 and p=0.002). Although residents had a higher proportion of correct LoE responses overall than medical students, this difference did not reach statistical significance (42% vs. 35%, p=0.07). Conclusions Although improvements in accurately determining both article type and LoE were seen among residents with increasing years of training, residents were unable to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement for determining LoE or article type when compared with medical students. Strategies to improve resident understanding of LoE guidelines need to be incorporated into orthopedic residencies, especially when considering the increased emphasis on evidence-based medicine.
Microstructural development of Mo(ss) + T2 two-phase alloys

The microstructure evolution involving Mo-B-Si as-solidified alloys with compositions in the Mo solid-solution(ss) + T2 two-phase field has been examined following arc-melting and rapid solidification processing (RSP). Several solidification pathways in the arc-melted alloys have been identified. Compositional segregation during conventional solidification results in the formation of additional phases such as borides in the arc-melted alloys which require a prolonged solid-state annealing to obtain equilibrated two-phase microstructures. The RSP methods employed, splat-quenching (SQ) and powder drop tube processing (DTP), allow for significant microstructural modifications that facilitate the attainment of uniform dispersions of Mo(ss) phase in a T2 phase matrix.
Mechanistic Elucidation of the Stepwise Formation of a Tetranuclear Manganese Pinned Butterfly Cluster via N–N Bond Cleavage, Hydrogen Atom Transfer, and Cluster Rearrangement

A mechanistic pathway for the formation of the structurally characterized manganese-amide-hydrazide pinned butterfly complex, Mn4(μ3-PhN-NPh-κ3N,N′)2(μ-PhN-NPh-κ2-N,N′)(μ-NHPh)2L4 (L = THF, py), is proposed and supported by the use of labeling studies, kinetic measurements, kinetic competition experiments, kinetic isotope effects, and hydrogen atom transfer reagent substitution, and via the isolation and characterization of intermediates using X-ray diffraction and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The data support a formation mechanism whereby bis[bis(trimethylsilyl)amido]manganese(II) (Mn(NR2)2, where R = SiMe3) reacts with N,N′-diphenylhydrazine (PhNHNHPh) via initial proton transfer, followed by reductive N–N bond cleavage to form a long-lived MnIV imido multinuclear complex. Coordinating solvents activate this cluster for abstraction of hydrogen atoms from an additional equivalent of PhNHNHPh resulting in a Mn(II)phenylamido dimer, Mn2(μ-NHPh)2(NR2)2L2. This dimeric complex further assemb...