cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU-FF-T-90: An Improved Irradiation Setup for An Accurate Measurement of the Dose Rate Constant of Low-Energy Brachytherapy Sources Using Micro-TLD Cubes

Purpose: To develop an improved irradiation setup for the measurement of dose‐rate‐constant for interstitialbrachytherapy sources using micro‐TLD cubes by placing a TLD cube at the mid‐point of two sources of nearly equal air kerma strength separated by a distance of 2 cm in a water equivalent solid phantom. Method and Materials: The impact of geometric uncertainties associated with micro‐TLD cubes on measuring the dose‐rate‐constant of low‐energy brachytherapy sources was investigated quantitatively. Integral dose deposited to the volume occupied by a TLD cube in water was calculated by using the Berger formula for the conventional one‐source and the proposed two‐source irradiation setups. The effects of TLD size, shape‐asymmetry (due to mechanical damage and manufacturing defect), and positioning uncertainty on the dose measured by TLD was quantified by comparing the integral TLDdose to expected point‐dose at the measurement point. Results: For a perfect TLD cube centered at the reference point, the integral dose to TLD was nearly identical to the expected point‐dose, independent of TLD orientations. Displacements of TLD by 0.1 to 0.5 mm in the source‐TLD direction resulted in dose errors of 2.3 to 10% in the one‐source setup and 0.1 to 1% in the two‐source setup. The dose errors were < 1% when the displacements of < 0.5 mm was in the perpendicular direction for both setups. The shape asymmetry measured by volume deficit produced similar dose errors, from 2.5% to over 9%, in both setups for volume deficits of 3 to 10%. Conclusion: To keep geometry‐induced uncertainty in dose‐rate‐constant measurement < 2%, the TLD cube must have 1) nearly perfect symmetry with volume deficits < 2%, 2) positional uncertainty < 0.1 mm in source‐TLD direction and < 0.5 mm in perpendicular direction. The requirement for TLD positioning is greatly reduced in the proposed two‐source experimental setup.
Cell-wall differentiation during growth of electrically polarised protoplasts of Physcomitrella

Protoplasts of Physcomitrella patens have been grown in continuous electric field of 50 V cm-1, resulting in a predictable pattern of filament emergence. The events preceding the visible formation of a polar axis have been examined by electron microscopy. The first sign of polarity is the formation of a thickened inner wall layer over the potential growth site. Elongation of the filament is preceded by the appearance of a layer of heavily stained amorphous material at the external surface of the thickened wall. This material marks the region of initial extension of the filament, but it is not produced once extension has begun, and further growth of the filament results in the retention of the material as an annular ring at its base. The wall of the filament has a complex thickened structure which is a result of the osmotic conditions under which the protoplasts are grown. These results are discussed in terms of the development of the polar axis.
The social ecology of action research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a reflexive commentary on the nature and validity of actionable knowledge from the authors’ experience with action research in New Mexico and beyond.Design/methodology/approach – The authors have situated their localized experience in the history and theory of the broader field of action research by posing the question of whether the validity of action research depends more upon the observer's worldview than upon the quality of change in the lives of those involved in the intervention.Findings – Three fundamental tenets of action research are identified. A pragmatic perspective underlies the need for locality grounded criticality in reflection, instrumental participation leading to trust and genuine understanding of behavior, and a shared desire to actualize untapped human potential to solve a problem.Research limitations/implications – The paper offer's reflection on the validity of actionable knowledge from the authors’ experience, supported by a brief cas...
Topical vanadate optimizes collagen organization within granulation tissue.

Systemic ingestion of vanadate, a nonspecific inhibitor of tyrosine phosphatases, doubles wound breaking strength, enhances the packing of collagen fibers, and prevents the appearance of myofibroblasts in granulation tissue. Will the local application of vanadate mimic the systemic effects? Pairs of polyvinyl alcohol sponges, each with a central reservoir and attached injection port, were subcutaneously implanted in rats. Daily, one implant received 0.2 ml of saline and the other received 0.2 ml of 0.03 mM vanadate in saline. On day 7, harvested sponges had equivalent wet weights. The vanadate-treated sponges had fibroblasts separated by connective tissue, with a more intense birefringence of the collagen fibers. Transmission electron microscopy showed collagen more uniformly packed in the vanadate treated sponges where collagen fibers were equally spaced and had equal diameters. By immunohistology, myofibroblasts, defined by the expression of α-smooth muscle actin within stress fibers, were absent in vanadate-treated granulation tissue. The expression of α-smooth muscle actin was restricted to smooth muscle cells of blood vessels. Controls had densely packed α-smooth muscle actin staining myofibroblasts, weak birefringence, and randomly spaced collagen fibers with irregular diameters. We conclude that the local application of vanadate prevents the appearance of myofibroblasts and optimizes the organization of collagen fibers in developing granulation tissue. (WOUND REP REG 2003;11:204–212)
Comparison of nine methods to estimate ear-canal stimulus levels

The reliability of nine measures of the stimulus level in the human ear canal was compared by measuring the sensitivity of behavioral hearing thresholds to changes in the depth of insertion of an otoacoustic emission probe. Four measures were the ear-canal pressure, the eardrum pressure estimated from it and the pressure measured in an ear simulator with and without compensation for insertion depth. The remaining five quantities were derived from the ear-canal pressure and the Thevenin-equivalent source characteristics of the probe: Forward pressure, initial forward pressure, the pressure transmitted into the middle ear, eardrum sound pressure estimated by summing the magnitudes of the forward and reverse pressure (integrated pressure) and absorbed power. Two sets of behavioral thresholds were measured in 26 subjects from 0.125 to 20 kHz, with the probe inserted at relatively deep and shallow positions in the ear canal. The greatest dependence on insertion depth was for transmitted pressure and absorbed power. The measures with the least dependence on insertion depth throughout the frequency range (best performance) included the depth-compensated simulator, eardrum, forward, and integrated pressures. Among these, forward pressure is advantageous because it quantifies stimulus phase.
Concurrent Composition Using Loci

A new software framework called Loci provides an automatic system for generating the communication and synchronization required to correctly compose software modules. This results in a much cleaner software architecture and clear separation between numerical algorithms and distributed dataset management.
Serological and skin test cross-reactivity between Histoplasma capsulatum and Oidiodendron kalrai.

Guinea pigs were infected with yeast cells ofHistoplasma capsulatum andOidiodendrom kalrai. They were skin tested 6 and 12 weeks post-infection with both homologous and heterologous antigens. There was almost complete skin test cross-reactivity between histoplasmin and oidiodendrin after 12 but not after 6 weeks. There were also strong serologic cross-reactions among 6 different anti-H. capsulatum hyperimmune sera and oidiodendrin. However, cross-reactions among anti-O. kalrai sera and histoplasmin could not be demonstrated.
Efficient one-pot synthesis of fluorinated benzimidazolines, benzothiazolines, benzoxazolines, and dihydrobenzoxazinones using gallium(III) triflate as a catalyst.

One-pot synthesis of fluorinated benzimidazolines, benzothiazolines, benzoxazolines, and dihydrobenzoxazinones was easily achieved under mild conditions in high yields and purity through gallium(III) triflate mediated condensation−cyclization. Introduction of fluorine atoms favors the formation of the five-membered heterocycles over seven-membered heterocycles.
Forward velocity effects on jet noise with dominant internal noise source

Flow‐related internal noise generated by a control valve in an air jet‐noise rig or, by analogy, combustors in an engine can become the dominant noise source at low jet velocities or provide a floor for jet noise suppressors. Acoustic data, with and without forward velocity, were obtained with a convergent circular nozzle using a quiet flow system and one dominated by a low‐frequency internal noise source. Forward velocity effects were obtained by installing the test nozzle in a free jet. Farfield noise data, obtained at jet pressure ratios from 1.3 to 1.7 and forward velocities up to 260 ft/sec, are presented in terms of SPL and PWL spectra, directivity, and total power. With a quiet flow system, jet noise is reduced by forward velocity as a function of the product of the sixth power of the relative velocity and the second power of the jet velocity. However, with a dominant low‐frequency core noise source, the portion of the noise spectra dominated by this source was not appreciably affected by forward velocity. The high‐frequency spectral portion of the jet noise was reduced by forward velocity independently of the flow systems used.
Superstitious behavior in children: an experimental analysis.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews response-independent reinforcing effects and shows that reinforcement has multiple influences on the behavior of children. Some types of behavior are elicited by response-independent reinforcing stimuli; other forms of behavior are strengthened because a response-independent reinforcing stimulus follows them. It is this latter behavior that is referred to as superstition because the term “superstition” usually refers to behavior that occurs as if it influences environmental consequences but in fact does not. The emphasis on superstition, though, should not obscure the fact that reinforcement has multiple effects on behavior; it controls behavior scheduled to precede it, it controls behavior that is not scheduled but happens to precede it, it produces stimulus control over behavior both when discriminations are deliberately arranged and when they occur adventitiously, and it elicits various types of behavior. The complexity of the reinforcing event becomes even more evident when it is recognized that all of these different effects may occur simultaneously.
P-197L: Late-News Poster: Impacts of Glass Substrate and Frit Properties on Sealing for OLED Lighting

Glass frit seal with localized heating using near infrared laser can provide long-term hermeticity and good mechanical strength for OLEDs. In this report, some general characteristics of the frit sealing process are first discussed. Then the impacts offrit and glass substrate properties, such as CTE and strain points on the seal, will be presented. It is found that CTE of the frit may not match with that of glass substrates used for lighting application. The optimal CTE values of glass substrate for OLED lighting and frit are presented.
Optimization and parameter exploration using GPU based FDTD solvers

Graphical processing units (GPU) has been recently documented for the implementation of the FDTD technique. The use of these specialized processors for the implementation of numerical codes has been shown to significantly speed up the execution of these codes over standard CPU based solvers. With the execution of the FDTD method being reduced to a matter of seconds, the use of these codes for optimization and parameter exploration becomes possible. This paper will detail the use of a developed GPU based FDTD solver for both optimization and through a graphical interface parameter exploration.
Efficient adaptive receivers for joint equalization and interference cancellation in multiuser space-time block-coded systems

This paper develops low-complexity adaptive receivers for space-time block-coded (STBC) transmissions over frequency-selective fading channels. The receivers are useful for equalization purposes for single user transmissions and for joint equalization and interference cancellation for multiuser transmissions. The receivers exploit the rich code structure of STBC codes in order to deliver recursive-least-squares (RLS) performance at least-mean-squares (LMS) complexity. Besides reduced complexity, the proposed adaptive receivers also lower system overhead requirements.
Ribeiroia ondatrae cercariae are consumed by aquatic invertebrate predators.

Trematodes amplify asexually in their snail intermediate hosts, resulting in the potential release of hundreds to thousands of free-living cercariae per day for the life of the snail. The high number of cercariae released into the environment undoubtedly increases the probability of transmission. Although many individual cercariae successfully infect another host in their life cycle, most fail. Factors that prevent successful transmission of cercariae are poorly understood. Microcrustaceans and fish have been observed to eat cercariae of some species, although the possibility that predation represents a significant source of mortality for cercariae has been largely unexplored. We tested the cercariophagic activity of several freshwater invertebrates on Ribeiroia ondatrae, a trematode that causes limb deformities in amphibians. Individuals of potential predators were placed into wells of multiwell plates with 10–15 cercariae, and numbers of cercariae remaining over time were recorded and compared with numb...
Citizenship Behavior and Social Exchange

This article develops and empirically examines a social exchange model of organizational citizenship behavior. An employee's trust in a supervisor is proposed to mediate the relationship between procedural fairness in the supervisor's decision making and employee citizenship. Data from 475 hospital employees and their supervisors were consistent with our model. We discuss future research directions.
Reflection and morality

Our capacity for impersonal reflection, for looking at our own perspective from without, as part of a world that exists independently of us, is our most distinctive trait as human beings. It finds its most striking expression in our moral thinking. For we are moral beings insofar as we stand back from our individual concerns and see in the good of others, in and of itself, a reason for action on our part. It is not, to be sure, in morality alone that we exercise this power of impersonal reflection. We do so too, whenever we set about weighing the evidence for some belief without regard for what we would like to be true or for what common opinion would say. Yet nowhere does this self-transcendence show forth more vividly than when we turn our attention from our own happiness to that of another, taking the same immediate interest in that person's good—just because it is his or hers—as we naturally harbor for our own. In this essay, I explore the way that the moral point of view is shaped by the nature of impersonal reflection and thus constitutes a signal expression of our humanity.
Thymic Influences on Autoimmunity in MRL‐1pr Mice

We have examined the role of the thymus in the development of autoimmunity in MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr (MRL-lpr) mice. MRL-lpr mice develop a lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by features of systemic lupus erythematosus and by massive proliferation of a subpopulation of Lyt-1+23- T cells. Using fluorescein-conjugated monoclonal antibodies and the fluorescence-activated cell sorter, we have found an abnormal pattern of differentiation within the MRL-lpr thymus characterized by a loss of Lyt-123+ thymocytes and an increased frequency of Lyt-1+23- thymocytes. Neonatal thymectomy retarded lymphoproliferation, reduced autoantibody concentrations, improved renal function, and prolonged life. Furthermore, neonatal thymectomy resulted in a relatively specific elimination of the subset of T cells involved in the lymphoproliferative process. These findings suggest that thymic maturation of T cells with alloantigenic characteristics of a helper subpopulation may contribute to the marked lymphoproliferation and severe autoimmunity of MRL-lpr mice. Neonatal thymectomy may protect against autoimmunity by preventing the maturation of this helper subpopulation.
Stress Measurements on Beak-Trimmed and Untrimmed Pullets

Stress in poultry is difficult to define and measure. There is general agreement that some modern poultry production practices may exert a certain amount of stress on birds. Three experiments were conducted to explore possible measures of stress associated with beak trimming and rearing schemes. Experiments 1 and 2 examined different degrees of beak trimming and rearing schemes of wire floor versus litter floor in pullet production. Experiment 3 examined the effect of beak trimming on feed consumption for 14 days after trimming. Adrenal glands of untrimmed birds were heavier (P less than .05) than those of trimmed birds at the end of the pullet growing period in Experiments 1 and 2, evidence that beak trimming reduced overall chronic stress levels. Hearts of untrimmed birds were heavier (P less than .05) than those of trimmed birds in Experiment 1. Hearts and spleens were not affected in Experiment 2. In comparisons of rearing schemes (litter versus wire), birds grown on litter floors had heavier adrenal glands and a greater incidence of cannibalism in the later weeks of Experiments 1 and 2. This indicated that a stressful interaction among penmates had occurred. Birds grown on litter floors consumed more feed than those grown on wire, and the untrimmed birds from both floor types consumed more total feed than trimmed birds. By the end of the growing period, body weights were not different in either study, indicating compensation for any early beak trimming stress. Beak trimming produced a decrease in feed intake in Experiment 3, consumption was reduced (P less than .05) in 5 of the first 8 days after trimming.
Successively structured CEO problems

Successive encoding strategies are developed for some prototype sensor network problems based on generalized Wyner-Ziv encoding. Their performance is analyzed for quadratic-Gaussian versions of both a new serially structured CEO problem as well as the classical CEO problem.
Bradycardia-Tachycardia Syndrome: Results In Twenty-eight Patients Treated by Combined Pharmacologic Therapy and Pacemaker Implantation

The bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome was treated with pacemaker implantation and drugs in 28 patients. All patients survived pacemaker implantation and 26 of 28 patients experienced good control of their arrhythmias. Nineteen patients survived for more than one year (group 1); nine patients survived for less than one year (group 2), including two patients whose arrhythmias were not well controlled by pacemaker plus drugs. There was no significant difference in mean age between the two groups (75 ± 5 years in group 1 and 79 ± 3 years in group 2). Gout, diabetes, hypertension, angina pectoris, and cardiomegaly were equally common in both groups. Prior to implantation, 14 of 19 patients in group 1 were in NYHA class 1–2; 8 of 9 patients in group 2 were in NYHA class 3–4. Generally, the clinical classification of cardiac status was not changed by treatment. Myocardial infarction, ventricular tachycardia, and primary renal disease were distinctly more common in group 2. Massive myocardial infarctions, both old and recent, were found at necropsy. It is concluded that: (1) permanent pacemaker implantation, when combined with drag therapy, is effective in the control of the bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome; (2) the prognosis of patients successfully treated for the bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome is dependent on the extent of the underlying cardiac and renal disease.
A Social Judgment Theory Approach to Conducting Formative Research in a Social Norms Campaign

The social norms approach predicts that campaign messages providing true normative information about widely misperceived health behaviors will reduce the gap between distorted perceptions versus actual practices and consequently reduce behaviors based on exaggerated norms. Formative evaluation of messages designed to effectively convey true norms informed by social judgment theory (SJT) should measure the boundaries of the latitudes of acceptance, noncommitment, and rejection for normative information. This study found that these latitudes were significantly different from one another in believability. SJT predicts that a campaign based on a norm falling in the latitude of noncommitment will be likely to be effective. A series of messages using the true norm, which fell within the latitude of noncommitment, were part of a campaign. The gap in perceived versus actual drinking and the difference in perceived number of drinks was reduced, while self-reports of consumption of five or fewer drinks increased significantly.
Reconfigurable RF impedance tuner for match control in broadband wireless devices

This paper presents the design of a broadband RF impedance tuner that is part of a dynamically reconfigurable automatic match control (AMC) circuit that can be used for a wide variety of wireless devices and intelligent RF front ends. The impedance tuner can be used at the input of wireless devices in order to provide a significantly broader bandwidth or to reconfigure the impedance match spectrum. The tuner uses a microstrip loaded-line circuit topology with multiple stubs that each have a varactor diode located at the end. The results show that the tuner can achieve a broadband impedance match for a wide variety of loads that are either purely resistive or that have a large reactance as well.
Efficacy of holmium laser enucleation of the prostate in patients with non-neurogenic impaired bladder contractility: results of a prospective trial.

Objective To examine the outcomes of men with detrusor underactivity or acontractility undergoing holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP). Methods A prospective case series between 2009 and 2012 was performed to examine short-term outcomes of men with urodynamic evidence of detrusor hypocontractility or acontractility because of a non-neurogenic etiology and concurrent benign prostatic obstruction (BPO), undergoing HoLEP. Results Fourteen patients with detrusor hypocontractility and 19 patients with acontractility and evidence of BPO underwent HoLEP during the study period. Median age was 71.5 and 75 years, respectively. Preoperatively, 5 (35.7%) men with hypocontractility and 19 (100%) men with acontractility had catheter-dependent urinary retention for a median of 3 and 9 months, respectively. At a median follow-up of 24.7 months, all 5 (100%) men with hypocontractility and 18 of 19 (94.7%) men with acontractility were voiding spontaneously without the need for intermittent catheterization. Individuals with hypocontratile bladders had statistically significant improvements in American Urological Association Symptom Index (21.5 vs 3; P = .014), maximum urine flow (Qmax, 10 vs 21 mL/s; P = .001), and postvoid residual (250 vs 53 mL; P = .007) from baseline to postoperative assessments. In patients with an acontractile bladder, 15 of 19 (78.9%) displayed significant return of detrusor contractility, whereas 4 of 19 (21.1%) were voiding exclusively by Valsalva effort on follow-up urodynamic study. Postoperatively, patient satisfaction, as ascertained by American Urological Association Symptom Index, was high for both groups. Conclusion Intermediate follow-up results indicate that HoLEP is a viable management option for men with BPO and detrusor hypocontractility. Furthermore, detrusor acontractility does not appear to adversely affect postoperative results, with return of spontaneous urination and demonstration of detrusor contractility allowing for efficient voiding, in over 95% of patients.
Stress-Intensity Factors for Radial Cracks in a Partially Autofrettaged Thick-Wall Cylinder

Abstract : Using a finite element method and thermal simulation, stress intensity factors are determined for a uniform array of equal depth radial cracks emanating from the internal boundary of a pressurized, autofrettaged thick-wall cylinder. Computations of the stress intensity factors by methods of load relief and weight function are also examined. The combination of finite elements and weight functions is found very effective and is used in this report for multiple-radial cracks in a partially autofrettaged tube. Extensive numerical results are presented for a cylinder having an external diameter twice that of the internal diameter. It is shown that the autofrettaged tube with two diametrically opposed cracks remains, in general, the weakest configuration. For more than two cracks, the higher the number of cracks is, the smaller the stress intensity factor will be.
The new mexico state university ring‐star system: A distributed unix environment

A distributed version of the UNIX operations system is currently under development through a joint effort of New Mexico State University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A microprocessor version of the UNIX kernel has been developed which will run on any PDP-11 or LSI-11 based processing element and allows processes to run in a UNIX ‘look-alike’ environment. Each process is fully transportable among all processors in the system. Although the preliminary version of the system was built in a star configuration, the system is currently being upgraded by the addition of a communication ring with 8-bit microprocessors as ring interface units. The current paper describes the software structure, the hardware structure and the communication protocol of the system.
Dynamic Item Recommendation by Topic Modeling for Social Networks

The need to identify an approach that recommends items that match users' preferences within social networks has grown in tandem with the increasing number of items appearing within these networks. This research presents a novel technique for item recommendation within social networks that matches user and group interests over time. Users often tag items in social networks with words and phrases that reflect their preferred "vocabulary." As such, these tags provide succinct descriptions of the resource, implicitly reveal user preferences, and, as the tag vocabulary of users tends to change over time, reflect the dynamics of user preferences. Based on evaluation of user and group interests over time, we present a recommendation system employing a modified latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) model in which users and tags associated with an item are represented and clustered by topics, and the topic-based representation is combined with the item's timestamp to show time-based topic distribution. By representing users via topics, the model can cluster users to reveal the group interests. Based on this model, we developed a recommendation system that reflects user as well as group interests in a dynamic manner that accounts for time, allowing it to perform in a manner superior to that of static recommendation systems in terms of precision rate.
Multivariable model predictive control of thin film surface roughness and slope: Application to a 2D kinetic Monte-Carlo model

This work focuses on the application of a multivariable model predictive controller that regulates thin film surface roughness and mean slope to a two-dimensional kinetic Monte-Carlo thin film growth model using both substrate temperature and deposition rate as manipulated inputs. The description of the thin film growth involving both adsorption and surface migration is first given. Surface roughness and surface slope are defined as the root-mean-squares of the surface height profile and the surface slope profile, respectively. The dynamics of the evolution of the thin film surface height profile are assumed to be described by an Edwards-Wilkinson-type equation (a second-order stochastic partial differential equation) in two spatial dimensions. Analytical solutions of the expected surface roughness and surface slope are obtained on the basis of the Edwards-Wilkinson equation and are used in the controller design. The model parameters of the Edwards-Wilkinson equation depend on the substrate temperature and deposition rate. This dependence is used in the formulation of the predictive controller to predict the influence of the control action on the surface roughness and slope at the end of the growth process. The model predictive controller involves constraints on the magnitude and rate of change of the control action and optimizes a cost that involves penalty on both surface roughness and mean slope from the set-point values. The controller is applied to the two-dimensional kinetic Monte-Carlo thin film growth model and is shown to successfully regulate surface roughness and mean slope to set-point values at the end of the deposition.
Cretaceous and Cenozoic faulting in eastern North America

Cretaceous and Cenozoic faults in eastern North America provide evidence of modest intraplate tectonic activity in this region. Thrust and gravity faults are found; strike-slip movement is not demonstrable but could have occurred in some cases. Fault movements are dated by offset Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary sediments, Cretaceous kimberlite, and Pleistocene glacial stria. Cretaceous and Cenozoic displacements range from about 1 mm to several tens of metres. The faults are found in the central Mississippi River valley, the southeastern and northeastern United States, and eastern Canada. Correlations among historic seismicity, fault plane solutions, and the Cretaceous and Cenozoic faulting in the central Mississippi River valley and the southeastern United States suggest a close causal relationship. The quality of the correlation between historic seismicity and Cretaceous and Cenozoic faulting in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada varies considerably from area to area; hence the relation there between Cretaceous and Cenozoic faulting and contemporary seismotectonics is uncertain. Sharp offsets in loosely consolidated sediments, the presence of slickensides and fault gouge, and the involvement of Precambrian or Paleozoic bed rock provide the best evidence that faulting was associated with tectonic earthquakes. The displacement of near-surface deposits implies that surface faulting has occurred, although it has not been documented for modern earthquakes in eastern North America. At least some of the displacements occurred along pre-existing faults. The number and amounts of Cretaceous and Cenozoic movements on each fault have not been determined, but on one fault a displacement of 0.6 m during a short time span suggests that an earthquake of about magnitude 6 was associated with the displacement. The largest Cretaceous and Cenozoic displacements must represent more than one movement. The presence of thrust and gravity faults and the inconsistent trends of the faults imply that stresses that vary spatially and (or) temporally, rather than a single stress field acting steadily throughout the entire North American plate, are responsible for causing this intraplate tectonic activity.
Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change: Global and Regional Perspectives

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) warm the surface and the atmosphere with significant implications for rainfall, retreat of glaciers and sea ice, sea level, among other factors. About 30 years ago, it was recognized that the increase in tropospheric ozone from air pollution (NOx, CO and others) is an important greenhouse forcing term. In addition, the recognition of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on stratospheric ozone and its climate effects linked chemistry and climate strongly. What is less recognized, however, is a comparably major global problem dealing with air pollution. Until about ten years ago, air pollution was thought to be just an urban or a local problem. But new data have revealed that air pollution is transported across continents and ocean basins due to fast long-range transport, resulting in trans-oceanic and trans-continental plumes of atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs) containing sub micron size particles, i.e., aerosols. ABCs intercept sunlight by absorbing as well as reflecting it, both of which lead to a large surface dimming. The dimming effect is enhanced further because aerosols may nucleate more cloud droplets, which makes the clouds reflect more solar radiation. The dimming has a surface cooling effect and decreases evaporation of moisture from the surface, thus slows down the hydrological cycle. On the other hand, absorption of solar radiation by black carbon and some organics increase atmospheric heating and tend to amplify greenhouse warming of the atmosphere. ABCs are concentrated in regional and mega-city hot spots. Long-range transport from these hot spots causes widespread plumes over the adjacent oceans. Such a pattern of regionally concentrated surface dimming and atmospheric solar heating, accompanied by widespread dimming over the oceans, gives rise to large regional effects. Only during the last decade, we have begun to comprehend the surprisingly large regional impacts. In S. Asia and N. Africa, the large north-south gradient in the ABC dimming has altered both the north-south gradients in sea surface temperatures and land-ocean contrast in surface temperatures, which in turn slow down the monsoon circulation and decrease rainfall over the conti- nents. On the other hand, heating by black carbon warms the atmosphere at elevated levels from 2 to 6 km, where most tropical glaciers are located, thus strengthening the effect of GHGs on retreat of snow packs and glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan glaciers. Globally, the surface cooling effect of ABCs may have masked as much 47% of the global warming by greenhouse gases, with an uncertainty range of 20-80%. This presents a dilemma since efforts to curb air pollution may unmask the ABC cooling effect and enhance the surface warming. Thus efforts to reduce GHGs and air pollution should be done under one common framework. The uncertainties in our understanding of the ABC effects are large, but we are discovering new ways in which human activities are changing the climate and the environment.
Measurement of serum IgG in foals by radial immunodiffusion and automated turbidimetric immunoassay.

Hypogammaglobulinemia as a result of failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) is an important risk factor for infectious disease in neonatal foals. The current gold standard for determining serum immunoglobulin concentrations is radial immunodiffusion (RID). The purpose of this study was to compare immunoglobulin concentrations measured by RID with those determined by an automated turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA), which has a much shorter turnaround time. Immunoglobulin concentrations were measured by both RID and TIA in serum collected from 84 neonatal foals. Sixty-seven foals had results within the linear range for both assays. Sensitivity and specificity of TIA for diagnosis of FTPI with IgG ≤ 800 mg/dL were 0.81 (95% CI 0.70-0.88) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.76-0.93) and with IgG ≤ 400 mg/dL were 0.63 (95% CI 0.35-0.86) and 0.92 (95% CI 0.87-0.95), respectively. A significant linear relationship was found between IgG concentrations determined by TIA and RID (TIA = 0.9511RID + 8.4354; R2= .59, P < .0001). The coefficients of variation for between-run and within-run precision for the TIA were 2.5 and 3%, respectively. Storage of samples from 10 foals at -20°C for 10–12 months resulted in a reduction in TIA-measured serum IgG concentration of -17.6% (SD = 3.7%), indicating that long-term storage of samples at -20°C should be avoided. The results of this study indicate that measurement of serum IgG by TIA can be used to evaluate foals for FTPI.
DNA-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes

We present here the use of amino-terminated DNA strands in functionalizing the open ends and defect sites of oxidatively prepared single-walled carbon nanotubes, an important first step in realizing a DNA-guided self-assembly process for carbon nanotubes.
Concurrent error diagnosis in mesh array architectures based on overlapping H-processes

Unlike other methods for concurrent error detection and location (CED), the one proposed is not application specific and does not require fault free comparators and custom VLSI design for the processing cells. It is suitable for any algorithm that can be decomposed in block operations of the format ((a op/sup 1/ b) op/sup 2/ (c op/sup 3/ d)), where a, b, c, d are arbitrary operands and op/sup 1/, op/sup 2/, op/sup 3/ dyadic operators. The process of computing such an operation in a distributed and redundant way on an H-tree shaped sub-array is called an H-process. Many H-processes can overlap providing a general purpose mechanism for run-time fault tolerance in data driven mesh array architectures. Errors can be detected during normal operation. Suspected erroneous results can be masked while location is attempted. There is no need for retries. Diagnosis is achieved 'on the fly' without graceful degradation, upon detection. >
Noise robust speaker identification using Bhattacharyya distance in adapted Gaussian models space

This is a study on the issue of noise robustness of text independent Speaker Identification (SID). Over the past years, SID technology has emerged as extremely important tool with applications in security and authentication. The current technology works well in presence of matched acoustic conditions for training and testing but the performance shows immediate loss in mismatched conditions. Our broad approach in this work is to map features to models and then do classification in the space of models. In particular, our algorithm is works in the space of adapted Gaussian Mixture Models, where we use Bhattacharyya Shape to measure closeness of models. We show our approach to be robust to noise in SID evaluations. We tested our approach on speech corrupted by white and music noise and found it to be very advantageous in low SNR conditions.
ISOLATION OF Leptospira pomona FROM A NATURALLY INFECTED CALIFORNIA SEA LION, SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Leptospira pomona was isolated from the urine and renal tissue of a subadult male California sea lion (Zalophus californianus californianus). Serum from the sea lion agglutinated L. pomona to a titer of 1:10,000. There was marked interstitial nephritis with lymphocytic and plasmacytic infiltration. Widespread degenerative changes occurred in the tubular epithelium of the kidney, but the glomeruli appeared to be spared. Erosions and hemorrhages were present in the buccal and gastric mucosa. Hematologic abnormalities were poikilocytosis, numerous normoblasts, and leukopenia with a shift to the left. It is believed that this isolation of a leptospire is the first described from a marine mammal.
Results of a Community Randomized Study of a Faith-Based Education Program to Improve Clinical Trial Participation among African Americans

This is a report of a cluster randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of a church-based educational intervention aimed at improving African Americans’ (AA) participation in clinical trials. Two hundred and twenty-one AA subjects ages ≥50 years from six predominantly AA churches were randomized to intervention or control condition. The intervention included three educational sessions about clinical trials and health disparities; control participants completed questionnaires. Primary endpoints of the study were differences in individual subjects' intentions to obtain clinical trial information and intention to join a clinical trial, as determined by 10 point scale items at baseline, three and six months. A statistically significant increase in the intention to obtain clinical trial information at the three and six month time points was observed in the intervention group, but not the control group. Older participants (65–95 years) were less likely than younger participants (50–64 years) to increase their motivation to seek clinical trial information by the three and six month time points. No significant increases were observed in intention to join clinical trials. This randomized trial shows that AA church-based educational interventions are likely to increase the motivation of AA subjects to obtain clinical trial information and are therefore potentially effective at ameliorating the underrepresentation of AA subjects in clinical trials.
Rust to Green: Praxis as University-Community Placemaking

Rust to Green (R2G) is a civic engagement project with the transformative agenda of catalyzing community-driven placemaking in Upstate New York cities endeavoring to transition from post-industrial “rust” to “green” resiliency. At its core, R2G engages university and community partners in co-producing actionable projects that contribute to increasing the quality and health of places and the people who engage with and inhabit them. Guided by the theories and practices of placemaking and democratic civic engagement, R2G is first and foremost rooted in place and for the past five years that place has been the city of Utica, NY. This paper frames R2G’s praxis as being grounded in placemaking, and through examples of R2G in action, illustrates how it is aspiring to achieve the hallmarks of democratic civic engagement (Saltmarsh, Hartley, Clayton, 2009). It situates R2G as part of a movement toward democratic civic engagement in landscape architecture and planning and elaborates on R2G’s praxis by sharing stories and experiences of R2G’s praxis in action.
Clinical outcomes of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to restore cough

Background: In spinal cord injury (SCI), paralysis of the expiratory muscles often results in an ineffective cough and consequent inability to effectively clear airway secretions. SCS is an effective method of expiratory muscle activation. Design: Clinical trial assessing the clinical outcomes and side effects of SCS to restore an effective cough in 12 SCI subjects. Main outcome measure(s): Ease in raising secretions, requirement for trained caregiver support for secretion management and incidence of acute respiratory tract infections. Results: Based upon questionnaire responses, the degree of difficulty in raising secretions improved markedly, and the need for alternative methods of secretion removal was virtually eliminated in each subject. Requirement of trained caregiver support over a 2 week period decreased from 18.0±6.8 (baseline) to 3.4±2.0 and 2.6±2.3 and 2.8±2.5 times/week (p Conclusion(s): Restoration of cough via SCS significantly reduces the difficulty in raising secretions, need for caregiver support and incidence of respiratory tract infection. Moreover, this method improves life quality and has the potential to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with respiratory tract infections in SCI. Support: NIH: R01NS049516, RC1NS068576, M01RR0080 & UL1RR024989. Disclosure: Dr. DiMarco is a Founder of and has a significant financial interest in Synapse BioMedical, Inc, a manufacturer of diaphragm pacing systems.
Composition, Fe3+/∑Fe, and crystal structure of non-asbestiform and asbestiform amphiboles from Libby, Montana, U.S.A.

Compositional data and Fe 3 + /ZFe ratios obtained by electron microprobe and Mossbauer analyses are given for a suite of three amphibole and amphibole-asbestos samples collected from the former vermiculite mine near Libby, Montana. A crystal structure analysis, compositional data, and Fe 3 + /ZFe values for two samples from a previous study are also reported. The results confirm the conclusion drawn in the previous study that these amphiboles are dominantly compositions ranging from winchite to richterite. Mossbauer spectroscopy yielded Fe 3 + /ZFe ratios from 58% to 72% for the five samples. The crystal structure was determined for a single crystal selected from a bulk sample. Its formula (as determined by electron microprobe analysis and Mossbauer spectroscopy) is (K 0 . 1 9 Na 0 . 3 2 ) A (Na 0 . 8 5 Ca 1 . 1 2 Mn 0 . 0 3 )B(Mn 0 . 0 1 Mg 4 . 4 3 Fe 3 + 0.34Fe 2 + 0.19Ti 0 . 0 1 Al 0 . 0 2 )(Al 0 . 0 3 Si 7 . 9 7 O 2 2 )(OH 1 . 6 3 F 0 . 3 7 ). The refinement was carried out based on space group C2/m, with a = 9.879(2), b = 18.024(3), c = 5.288(1) A, β = 104.377(3)° and using data collected at room temperature. Mg is partitioned among the Ml, M2, and M3 sites. All of the Fe 3 + occupies M2, while Fe 2 + is split between M2 and M3; Ca and Na fill the M4 site, while Na and K occupy the partially filled A site. The A-site occupancy is calculated as 0.51 based on chemical data, but only 0.48 based on X-ray diffraction results. Minerals with the former values would be classified as richterite and those with the latter as winchite.
Ion dynamics in porous carbon electrodes in supercapacitors using in situ infrared spectroelectrochemistry.

Electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs), or supercapacitors, rely on electrosorption of ions by porous carbon electrodes and offer a higher power and a longer cyclic lifetime compared to batteries. Ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes can broaden the operating voltage window and increase the energy density of EDLCs. Herein, we present direct measurements of the ion dynamics of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis((trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl)imide in an operating EDLC with electrodes composed of porous nanosized carbide-derived carbons (CDCs) and nonporous onion-like carbons (OLCs) with the use of in situ infrared spectroelectrochemistry. For CDC electrodes, IL ions (both cations and anions) were directly observed entering and exiting CDC nanopores during charging and discharging of the EDLC. Conversely, for OLC electrodes, IL ions were observed in close proximity to the OLC surface without any change in the bulk electrolyte concentration during charging and discharging of the EDLC. This provides experimental e...
Isolation and degradation properties of heavy oil-degrading strain Bacillus flexus DL1-G

A bacterial strain DL1-G able to effectively degrade heavy oil was isolated from heavy oil-contaminated soil in the Dalian Bonded Area.The strain was identified to Bacillus flexus through morphological observation,physiological characteristics,16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic tree analysis.The results showed that the degradation rate of 1g/L heavy oil was 39.89%,the total absolute contents of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons was decreased by 68.30%.The saturated hydrocarbon nC11～nC38,nC6～nC30-alkyl cyclohexanes,pristine,phytane were undetected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) after biotreatment,more than 99% C14～C16-bicyclic sesquiterpanes,8α(H),8β(H)-Drimane degraded,13β(H),14α(H)-C19～C29-tricyclic terpanes and 11 kinds of steroidal compounds degraded by 36.32% and 12.04%,respectively.Among the aromatic hydrocarobons,more than 90% naphthalene series,fluorene series,dibenzothiophene series were degraded,anthracene,phenanthrene,fluorine,pyrene and naphthalene were degraded by 98.55%、97.16%、82.98 %、64.85%、63.61%,respectively,indicating strain DL1-G might play a significant role in biotreatment of heavy oil pollution.