cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Emerging research in micro and nano systems: opportunities and challenges for societal impact

In just a few decades, micro and nano technologies have changed the way that we live - how we work and communicate; the food and medicine that we consume; the clothing that we use; and the entertainment that we seek. While these technologies are being actively investigated in several research communities, the potential for continued societal impact is constrained by resources available for system-level research. Given the long time-lines and levels of investment that are typically necessary to develop functional systems, strategic prioritization of research directions from the perspective of societal needs can be helpful. This paper outlines the findings of an NSF-sponsored road-mapping workshop that was held in 2009, with the intention of initiating a conversation about the opportunities and challenges for micro and nano systems. Four areas of need were discussed: environmental sensing; health care; infrastructure monitoring; and energy alternatives. Possible research trajectories were identified by envisioning technological goals for the year 2040, and linking these to horizons for 2015 and 2025. This paper also provides few examples of current research in each of the four application domains. It is noted that a systems perspective can help to keep the research focused, accelerating and amplifying the societal gain with available resources. Practical and affordable solutions at the system level will require partnerships between specialists, and also between academia and industry.
Complex government technology development programs: Meeting the policy challenges

Government technology development programs are proving difficult to deliver on time and on budget, a consequence of the complexity inherent in both the technology and the acquisition environment. This paper advocates the development of new governance and management models for such programs, as well as new thinking about how to compare these models. It also highlights the need for increased flexibility and resiliency (F&R) within organizations (both public and private) to better prepare them for governing and managing such complex programs.
Passive Alignment Method for Micro Optical Connectors Using Lithographically Defined Features

We demonstrated the feasibility of high precision alignment method using mechanically defined structures and lithographically patterned features. This method can be used for fabrication of high density optical connectors using polymer optical waveguides.
Procedural and Declarative Memory: A Developmental Study

Measures of procedural and declarative memory were administered to 88 children forming two groups, aged 8 and 12. Two measures of priming, Gollin Figures and Degraded Words, were compared to declarative measures of recall. Strong support for a developmental dissociation between priming tasks and declarative memory was found. Both age groups showed a similar amount of priming facilitation, yet a significant age effect was observed for the declarative recall tasks. Current findings demonstrate that the level of procedural memory performance stabilizes during a period of development when declarative memory continues to improve.
Mass transport and electrode accessibility through periodic self-assembled nanoporous silica thin films.

Ordered nanoporous silica films have attracted great interest for their potential use to template nanowires for photovoltaics and thermoelectrics. However, it is crucial to develop films such that an electrode under the nanoporous film is accessible to solution species via facile mass transport through well-defined pores. Here, we quantitatively measure the electrode accessibility and the effective species diffusivity for nearly all the known nanoporous silica film structures formed by evaporation-induced self-assembly upon dip-coating or spin-coating. Grazing-angle of incidence small-angle X-ray scattering was used to verify the nanoscale structure of the films and to ensure that all films were highly ordered and oriented. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was then used to assess the transport properties. A model has been developed that separates the electrode/film kinetics and the film transport properties from the film/solution interface and bulk solution effects. Accounting for this, the ac...
The Polyol Pathway

Polyhydric alcohols (polyols) are widely distributed in nature, and the enzymes of the polyol pathway (aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase) are present in many mammalian tissues. The function of this pathway remains a mystery. A primary role for the pathway in the pathogenesis of ‘sugar cataract’ was provided by a number of experimental observations and in the 1960s the ‘osmotic hypothesis’ was propounded. This hypothesis also had implications for the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. However, in the 1970s doubts were raised about the validity of the hypothesis, culminating in experiments which suggested that abnormalities in myoinositol metabolism in nerve and lens were more closely related to the glucose-induced functional changes in these tissues than was the polyol pathway. Nevertheless, increased activity of the polyol pathway must still be regarded as an instigator of the biochemical abnormalities that lead to damage of lens and nerve in diabetes mellitus.
Learning to rank using 1-norm regularization and convex hull reduction

The ranking problem appears in many areas of study such as customer rating, social science, economics, and information retrieval. Ranking can be formulated as a classification problem when pair-wise data is considered. However this approach increases the problem complexity from linear to quadratic in terms of sample size. We present in this paper a convex hull reduction method to reduce this impact. We also propose a 1-norm regularization approach to simultaneously find a linear ranking function and to perform feature subset selection. The proposed method is formulated as a linear program. We present experimental results on artificial data and two real data sets, concrete compressive strength data set and Abalone data set.
Mitochondrial targets for arrhythmia suppression: is there a role for pharmacological intervention?

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of common cardiovascular disorders, including ischemia–reperfusion injury, hypertrophy, heart failure, and diabetes mellitus. While the role of the mitochondrial network in regulating energy production and cell death pathways is well established, its active control of other critical cellular functions, including excitation–contraction coupling and excitability, is less understood. The purpose of this focused review article is to highlight the growing mechanistic link between mitochondrial dysfunction and arrhythmogenesis. The goal is not to provide a comprehensive listing of all factors by which mitochondrial bioenergetics and altered cellular redox status affect ion channel function but rather to focus on one central mechanism of arrhythmogenesis which arises from a mitochondrial origin. In doing so, we discuss the role of mitochondrial targets for suppressing arrhythmias through this mechanism.
Hydrogen-bond acidic functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with covalently-bound hexafluoroisopropanol groups

Hydrogen-bond acidic fluoroalcohol groups are directly attached to the backbone of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) via carbon–carbon bonds without the introduction of intermediate heteroatoms. Hexafluoroisopropanol functional groups are exceptionally strong hydrogen-bond acids, and are added to the nanotube surface (via the substituted benzene para position) as 2-phenyl-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (i.e., –(p-C6H4)C(CF3)2OH) using the aryl diazonium approach to create hydrogen-bond acidic carbon nanotube (CNT) surfaces. These groups can promote strong hydrogen-bonding interactions with matrix materials in composites or with molecular species to be adsorptively concentrated and sensed. In the latter case, this newly developed material could potentially find useful application in chemical sensors and in CNT-based preconcentrator devices for the detection of hydrogen-bond basic analytes such as chemical warfare agents and explosives, as has been demonstrated for fluoroalcohol-containing polymers.
Effect of quantum hopping on the Coulomb gap of localized electrons in disordered systems.

In this paper, we use the coherent potential approximation to study the role quantum hopping plays on the Coulomb gap of insulating strongly correlated d=2 and d=3 dimensional systems. We find that substantial increase in the density of states at the Coulomb gap occurs only when the ratio between the hopping integral t and the gap width B exceeds a critical value. We estimate that the hopping integral corresponding to the experimental condition n${\mathit{n}}_{\mathit{c}}$/3 satisfies t/B0.05. For such values of t/B, quantum hopping brings about little change in the single particle density of states. The classical Coulomb gap therefore remains intact in both three and two dimensional systems, in contrast to a previous claim that the gap disappears for d=2 systems. The implication of these results on experiments on doped semiconductors is discussed.
Development of ZnO films for near-IR plasmonics

Ga-doped ZnO grown at 200 °C by pulsed-laser deposition in Ar ambient and annealed face-down on Zn foil at 500 °C in forming gas can attain near-record electrical characteristics for ZnO: resistivity ρ = 1.23 × 10 -4 Ω-cm, mobility μ Hall = 34.1 cm 2 /V-s, and free-electron concentration n = 1.4 x 10 21 cm -3 , leading to a plasmonic resonance wavelength λ res = 1.05 μm. A value of λ res near 1 μm is important because metal-based plasmonics are lossy in the IR region. Longer resonant wavelengths in ZnO, e.g., the telecommunication wavelengths λ res = 1.3 and 1.55 μm, are then simply produced by furnace anneals in air. A relatively unexploited characterization tool for such materials is spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). By harnessing the full potential of SE we demonstrate full-color maps of thickness d, concentration n SE , and mobility μ SE .
Modeling of a grid-connected, multifunctional electric vehicle charging station in active filter mode with DQ theory

The paper first proves the existence of a non-linear, feedback loop due to the effect of the APF on the grid voltage for a multifunctional electric vehicle charging station. A linear, open loop model is derived based on DQ theory in discrete time domain. Based on this model, a linear, closed loop model is further developed with DQ theory in discrete time domain. Triangle hold theory instead of zero order hold theory is employed in the model for better representation. The developed linear, closed loop model is finally generalized to generalized power systems. Simulations are carried out to verify the developed models under transient conditions. The short-time (1–2 ms), transient stability of the grid is determined with the developed model. In contrast to existing stability analyses in the phasor domain, using DQ-theory can linearize the loop and simplify the loop model in discrete time domain.
KOH/bentonite catalysts for transesterification of palm oil to biodiesel.

Abstract A potential application of KOH/bentonite as a catalyst for biodiesel production was studied. A series of KOH/bentonite catalysts was prepared by impregnation of bentonite from Pacitan with potassium hydroxide. The ratios between KOH and bentonite were 1:20, 1:10, 1:5, 1:4, 1:3, and 1:2. The characterization of KOH/bentonite and natural bentonite was conducted by nitrogen adsorption and XRD analysis. The effects of various reaction variables on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. The highest yield of biodiesel over KOH/bentonite catalyst was 90.70 ± 2.47%. It was obtained at KOH/bentonite 1:4, reaction time of 3 h, 3% catalyst, methanol to oil ratio of 6, and the reaction temperature at 60 °C.
Inter-symbol-interference free and inter-carrier-interference free filter design

In this paper, direct optimization approaches are proposed for minimizing the inter-symbol interference (ISI) and the inter-carrier interference (ICI) caused by a truncated prototype filter. Based on the ideal ISI-free and/or ICI-free conditions in the transformed domain, one can define the ISI and/or ICI cost functions of the time-domain samples of the prototype filter. Using the variation technique, a system of nonlinear equations of the time samples of the prototype filter can be established by minimizing the cost function(s). Since the equations are highly non-linear, explicit close form solution is difficult to obtain. We therefore solve the equations using iterative procedures. Using the proposed approaches, numerical results show that the ICI and ISI can be reduced to one-tenth of the original value where the shape of the prototype filter is only slightly altered.
Quantifying local flow direction uncertainty

Absolute elevation error in digital elevation models (DEMs) can be within acceptable National Map Accuracy standards, but still have dramatic impacts on field-level estimates of surface water flow direction, particularly in level regions. We introduce and evaluate a new method for quantifying uncertainty in flow direction rasters derived from DEMs. The method utilizes flow direction values derived from finer resolution digital elevation data to estimate uncertainty, on a cell-by-cell basis, in flow directions derived from coarser digital elevation data. The result is a quantification and spatial distribution of flow direction uncertainty at both local and regional scales. We present an implementation of the method using a 10-m DEM and a reference 1-m lidar DEM. The method contributes to scientific understanding of DEM uncertainty propagation and modeling and can inform hydrological analyses in engineering, agriculture, and other disciplines that rely on simulations of surface water flow.
Letter by Lancaster et al Regarding Article, “Tissue Doppler Imaging in the Estimation of Intracardiac Filling Pressure in Decompensated Patients With Advanced Systolic Heart Failure”

To the Editor: The echo Doppler–derived ratio of early transmitral velocity to tissue Doppler mitral annular early diastolic velocity (E/Ea) has recently become an accepted noninvasive method to estimate left ventricular (LV) diastolic pressures for a variety of clinical conditions.1 However, the reliability of this measurement in patients with decompensated heart failure has been questioned in the article by Mullens et al.2 Their study compared pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) to E/Ea in consecutive patients with symptomatic heart failure in intensive care and found a poor …
Glycerol kinase deficiency with neuromuscular, skeletal, and adrenal abnormalities.

Abstract Two brothers with a recently described inborn error of metabolism characterized by glyceroluria, hyperglycerolemia, and generalized glycerol kinase deficiency had moderate psychomotor retardation, spasticity, growth failure, a nonspecific myopathy, osteoporosis, and adrenal insufficiency. Glycerol kinase activity in leukocytes and cultured fibroblasts was less than 5% of control values. Hepatic and renal tissue obtained at autopsy in one patient had similarly low enzyme activity. Thus the deficiency of glycerol kinase in these patients appears to be generalized and heritable, though the relationship of the clinical phenotype to the enzymatic defect is not yet established.
Electrolysis of copper in solid silicon

Abstract The diffusion of copper in silicon can be enhanced or retarded by application of an electric field. Transport measurements indicate that the copper diffuses with a single positive charge at temperatures around 1100°C. The amount of transport observed requires that a large fraction, possibly 50 per cent of the copper in solution, be positively charged and rapidly diffusing. On the basis of these results and the known slight electrical activity produced by copper in silicon at room temperature, we conclude that the charged, rapidly diffusing species of copper is interstitial. Similar experiments with Au and Fe in silicon show no field effect at 1100°C. It is found that copper in germanium diffuses rapidly with a positive charge at 700°C, in agreement with the results reported by F uller for higher temperatures.
Role of prostaglandins and nitric oxide in acute inflammatory reactions in guinea-pig skin.

1. Oedema formation in skin is dependent on a synergism between mediators that increase vascular permeability and mediators that enhance local blood flow. Leukocyte accumulation is also enhanced by mediators that increase local blood flow. In this study, we have investigated whether nitric oxide (NO), an important endogenous vasodilator, could modulate oedema formation and leukocyte accumulation in guinea-pig skin. 2. Local administration of the NO synthesis inhibitor, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), dose-dependently inhibited the oedema formation induced in response to intrademal injection of bradykinin or histamine. L-NAME, but not NG-nitro-D-arginine methyl ester (D-NAME); also inhibited oedema formation in response to i.d. injection of platelet-activating factor (PAF), zymosan-activated plasma (ZAP) and in a passive cutaneous anaphylactic (PCA) reaction. 3. N-iminoethyl-L-ornithine (L-NIO) was less effective and about 100 times less potent than L-NAME in inhibiting bradykinin-induced oedema formation. The cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, ibuprofen, had little effect on oedema responses induced by bradykinin, PAF and in a PCA reaction. On the other hand, histamine-induced oedema formation was significantly suppressed by ibuprofen. 4. The inhibition by L-NAME of bradykinin-induced oedema formation was reversed by co-injection of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) or prostaglandin E1 (PGE1). 5. L-NAME inhibited 111In-eosinophil and 111In-neutrophil accumulation induced by i.d. injection of ZAP. 111In-eosinophil accumulation induced by PAF and in the PCA reaction was also inhibited by L-NAME but not by D-NAME. 6. Co-injection of SNP or PGE1, reversed the inhibition by L-NAME of ZAP-induced oedema formation and 111In-neutrophil accumulation. SNP, but not PGE1, also reversed the effects of L-NAME on ZAP-induced 111In-eosinophil accumulation.7. L-NAME caused a significant decrease in basal cutaneous blood flow when injected alone or with bradykinin. Again, SNP or PGE, reversed the effects of L-NAME suggesting that the inhibitory action of L-NAME on oedema formation and cell accumulation was due to an inhibition of vasodilator tone in the microcirculation.8. Thus, it appears that in guinea-pig skin the inhibition of the production of endogenous NO inhibits both leukocyte accumulation and oedema formation induced by different mediators of inflammation.Since administration of L-NAME also causes a local decrease in basal blood flow, we suggest that this is the mechanism by which it exerts anti-inflammatory effects in this model.
The influence of ambiguities in the pion production operator on (p, π + ) cross sections

Abstract Various aspects of the pionic stripping mechanism for (p, π + ) reactions are studied in a momentum-space DWBA framework. A Foldy-Wouthuysen nonrelativistic reduction of a pseudoscalar field theory leads to several ambiguities in the pion production operator H ′. The extent to which these ambiguities are reflected in the (p, π + ) differential cross section is studied, for the particular case of 185 MeV protons incident on 12 C. The results indicate that the O(1/ m 3 ) terms ( m is the nucleon mass) in the production operator have as important an effect on the differential cross section as the O(1/ m 2 ) nucleon recoil term. The freedom of carrying out a further unitary transformation on H ′ is found to have a substantially larger effect on the cross section than does the uncertainty associated with the relativistic transformation properties in the external nucleonnucleus potential. The size of these several effects suggests that the DWBA pionic stripping theory in its present form cannot serve as a sensitive probe of nuclear structure. Our results indicate the need for a more consistent relativistic theory of (p, π + ) reactions.
The role of VEGFR-2 expression in outcomes and survival of patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from appendiceal cancer

Abstract Background Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a prognostic factor and target treatment for metastatic colorectal and ovarian cancer. Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has improved survival on peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) from appendiceal cancer. We hypothesize that tumoral high expression of VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) is a negative prognostic factor for survival in patients with PC from appendiceal cancer. Methods A retrospective study of a prospective database revealed 89 patients with PC from appendiceal cancer who underwent 127 CRS/HIPECs. Surgical specimens from 59 patients were tested to identify high vs. low VEGFR-2 expression. Patient outcomes and survival were analyzed. Results There were 26 males and 33 females. Mean age was 51 years. Forty-seven VEGFR-2 high expressers and 15 low expressers were identified. Mean follow-up of high and low expressers was 25.1 and 26.6 months, respectively (p = 0.806). At follow-up, 33 (70%) high expressers were alive and 14 (30%) deceased, while 11 (92%) low expressers were alive and 1 (8%) deceased. Recurrence, use of bevacizumab, CC score, PCI, and LN status showed no differences between high and low expressers. OS for high expressers was 90.5%, 59.8%, and 47.1% at 1-, 3-, and 5-years, respectively, while OS for low expressers remained stable at 91.7% at 1-, 3-, and 5-years (p = 0.133). Conclusion There is a trend towards better outcomes and survival in patients with PC from appendiceal cancer who have low expression of VEGFR-2 compared to high expression. More studies are encouraged to confirm this trend.
Delivery of therapeutic agents through intracerebroventricular (ICV) and intravenous (IV) injection in mice.

Despite the protective role that blood brain barrier plays in shielding the brain, it limits the access to the central nervous system (CNS) which most often results in failure of potential therapeutics designed for neurodegenerative disorders 1,2. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), in which the lower motor neurons are affected, can benefit greatly from introducing the therapeutic agents into the CNS. The purpose of this video is to demonstrate two different injection paradigms to deliver therapeutic materials into neonatal mice soon after birth. One of these methods is injecting directly into cerebral lateral ventricles (Intracerebroventricular) which results in delivery of materials into the CNS through the cerebrospinal fluid 3,4. The second method is a temporal vein injection (intravenous) that can introduce different therapeutics into the circulatory system, leading to systemic delivery including the CNS 5. Widespread transduction of the CNS is achievable if an appropriate viral vector and viral serotype is utilized. Visualization and utilization of the temporal vein for injection is feasible up to postnatal day 6. However, if the delivered material is intended to reach the CNS, these injections should take place while the blood brain barrier is more permeable due to its immature status, preferably prior to postnatal day 2. The fully developed blood brain barrier greatly limits the effectiveness of intravenous delivery. Both delivery systems are simple and effective once the surgical aptitude is achieved. They do not require any extensive surgical devices and can be performed by a single person. However, these techniques are not without challenges. The small size of postnatal day 2 pups and the subsequent small target areas can make the injections difficult to perform and initially challenging to replicate.
Synthesis and physicochemical analysis of gelatin-based hydrogels for drug carrier matrices.

Abstract This study examined the interrelated effect of environmental pH, gelatin backbone modification and crosslinking modality on hydrogel morphology, surface hydrophilicity, in vitro swelling/degradation kinetics, in vitro drug release kinetics and in vivo degradation, inflammatory response and drug release activity. The percent glutaraldehyde fixation had a greater impact on the morphology of the dehydrated hydrogels than gelatin modification. Any decrease in percent glutaraldehyde fixation and/or modification of gelatin with polyethylene glycol dialdehyde (PEG-dial) and/or ethylenediaminetetraacetic dianhydride (EDTAD) increased hydrogel surface hydrophilicity. Swelling/degradation studies showed that modification of gelatin with PEG-dial generally increased the time to reach the maximum swelling weight ratio ( T max ) and the time to failure by hydrolysis ( T fail ), but had little effect on the maximum swelling weight ratio ( R max ) and the weight ratio at failure ( R fail ). Modification of gelatin with EDTAD generally had no effect on T max and T fail , but increased R max and R fail . Modification of gelatin with PEG-dial and EDTAD increased R max , but had no effect on T max , R fail , or T fail . Decreasing percent glutaraldehyde fixation generally increased R max and R fail but decreased T max and T fail . Decreasing environmental pH from 7.4 to 4.5 had no effect on any swelling/degradation properties. In vitro drug release studies showed that modification of gelatin with PEG-dial and/or EDTAD generally decreased the maximum mass ratio of drug released ( D max ) and the time to reach D max ( T dmax ). Percent glutaraldehyde fixation did not significantly affect D max or T dmax (except for EDTAD-modified gelatin hydrogels). In vivo studies showed that gelatin-based hydrogels elicited comparable levels of acute and chronic inflammatory response as that of the empty cage control by 21 d.
Citizen ignorance and political activity

In his pioneering study of representative government Breton argues that individuals participate in political processes to reduce or prevent the degree of coercion imposed by suboptimal government policies; where the degree of coercion is defined as "the difference (whether positive or negative) between the amount desired of public policies (at existing tax-prices and incomes) and that provided." (Breton, p. 56) He shows, using a partial equilibrium graphical analysis (as in Figure 1), that the amount of coercion increases as the difference between the optimal provision and the actual provision of the public good increases. In Figure 1, individuals A and B have preferences for a public good, S, graphically illustrated by their technocratic demand curves DA and DB. Curve C is the marginal cost curve of the public good. At quantity S* the sum of the tax prices A and B are willing to pay for the public good is equal to the marginal cost of supplying them. Therefore, for tax prices QA and QB' S* is the optimal quantity of the public good which can be provided. The government does not know the preferences of A and B and must estimate the technocratic demand curves. Hence, the government may assess tax prices such as QAG and QBG based upon the government's estimate of A's and B's demand curves, EA and EB. At these tax prices A would be satisfied with Sa units of public good and B with Sb units. In this situation the quantity S* does not leave A and B fully satisfied with the public goods allocation level, although the sum of the tax prices still equals the marginal cost of the public good (EF = MN). The degree of lost satisfaction is denoted by the shaded areas Ca and Cb. Breton calls these areas the degree of coercion imposed on A and B when they are forced to accept
A successful challenge in a patient with vancomycin-induced linear IgA dermatosis.

Background Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD), a subepidermal, blistering skin disease, is generally believed to be idiopathic. It has been reported in association with multiple medications, including vancomycin. In each case, complete clearance of the skin lesions occurred with discontinued use of the drug. A subsequent rechallenge reproduced the eruption within hours to days. Objective To present a patient with vancomycin-associated LABD who underwent a successful challenge with the antibiotic 4 years after the initial reaction. Methods The patient developed blistering lesions over her trunk and extremities 10 days after the initiation of vancomycin for sepsis. A biopsy specimen of a skin eruption was consistent with linear IgA dermatosis. Following discontinued use of the drug, her skin lesions resolved. Four years later, she required vancomycin for osteomyelitis. Results The patient underwent a vancomycin-graded challenge of 5 doses over 5 days. On day 1, she received 10 mg, and this was increased in a semilog fashion to 1,000 mg on day 5. She had no recurrence of her skin lesions. Conclusions This is the first case, to our knowledge, to show a successful rechallenge in a patient with drug-associated LABD. Since the patient did not have a reaction to the challenge, it is possible that the IgA antibodies responsible for drug-induced LABD are only present transiently and diminish over time.
The promise and challenges of cermet fueled nuclear thermal propulsion reactors

The use of cermet fuels in nuclear thermal propulsion systems was examined and the characteristics of systems using these fuel forms is discussed in terms of current mission and safety requirements. For use at high temperatures cermet fueled reactors utilize ceramic fuels with refractory metals as the matrix material. Cermet fueled reactors tend to be heavy when compared to concepts that utilize graphite as the fuel matrix because of the high density of the refractory metal matrix which makes up 20-40 percent of the total volume. On the positive side the metal matrix is strong and more resistant to loads from either the launch or flow induced vibration. The compatibility of the tungsten cermet with hydrogen is excellent and lifetimes of several hours is certainly achievable. Probably the biggest drawback to cermet nuclear thermal propulsion concepts is that the amount of actual data to support the theoretical conclusions is small. In fact there is no data under representative conditions of temperature, propellant and flux for the required fuel burnup. Although cermet systems appear to be attractive, the lack of fuel data at representative conditions does not allow reliable comparisons of cermet systems to systems where fuel data is available. 10more » refs.« less
Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) exception for cystic fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a multisystem disease caused by mutations in a single gene (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) and is the most frequent potentially fatal inherited condition in whites, occurring in 1 in 2,000 births. Progressive pulmonary disease is the major contributor to morbidity and mortality, and CF is the most common indication for lung transplantation in adolescents. Liver disease occurs in many patients with CF, but progression to cirrhosis is uncommon, occurring in 3 to 7% of all patients and 10% of patients over 16 years of age. Of these, still fewer progress to end-stage liver disease that necessitates consideration for liver transplantation (LT). In the first 32 months after the introduction of the Model for EndStage Liver Disease (MELD) and Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease models, 38 patients with the diagnosis of CF underwent LT (approximately 14 patients per year). The mean age at transplantation was 15.7 years. Of the 38 transplants, 31 were liver transplant only, 4 were liver-lung transplant, 2 were liver-pancreas transplant, and 1 was liver-kidney transplant. Outcome data from several small series in the literature suggest that the 1-year survival rate (approximately 90%) in patients with CF receiving LT alone is similar to that for other diagnoses. 1,2 Fridell and colleagues 3 achieved a 5-year survival rate of 75%. Late mortality is generally related to progression of pulmonary disease. However, most studies have demonstrated significant improvement from pretransplantation status in pulmonary function in patients undergoing LT alone. 4 CF patients with advanced liver disease and significantly compromised lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 second 40%) may be candidates for combined liver-lung transplantation. 5
Identity as an analytic lens for research in education

n today's fast changing and interconnected global world, researchers in a variety of areas have come to see identity as an important analytic tool for understanding schools and society. A focus on the contextually specific ways in which people act out and recognize identities allows a more dynamic approach than the sometimes overly general and static trio of "race, class, and gender." However, the term identity has taken on a great many different meanings in the literature. Rather than survey this large literature, I will sketch out but one approach that draws on one consistent strand of that literature. This is not to deny that other, equally useful approaches are possible, based on different selections from the literature.
Vegetation zones and EVAPORABLE WATER in tropical climates

Koppen's definition of the climates of tropical savanna and forest is validated for Amazonia. A new validation is also found for the rainfall regimes which delimit tropical-subtropical vegetation zones of rainforest, monsoon forest, savanna and desert in India, as originally conceived by Walter. The climatologic definition of Koppen is reconciled with the climatographic definition of the ecologist Walter. The ratio-nalization is based on numerical climatonomic evaluation of the minimum in the annual course of EVAPORABLE WATER within tropical-subtropical rainfall regimes.
Genetic evidence that SOST inhibits WNT signaling in the limb.

Abstract SOST is a negative regulator of bone formation, and mutations in human SOST are responsible for sclerosteosis. In addition to high bone mass, sclerosteosis patients occasionally display hand defects, suggesting that SOST may function embryonically. Here we report that overexpression of SOST leads to loss of posterior structures of the zeugopod and autopod by perturbing anterior–posterior and proximal–distal signaling centers in the developing limb. Mutant mice that overexpress SOST in combination with Grem1 and Lrp6 mutations display more severe limb defects than single mutants alone, while Sost−/− significantly rescues the Lrp6−/− skeletal phenotype, signifying that SOST gain-of-function impairs limb patterning by inhibiting the WNT signaling through LRP5/6.
Practical Implications of Modeling Commercial Vehicle Empty Trips

Implications of modeling commercial vehicle empty trips are discussed, a theoretical derivation for parameter estimation is provided, and insight is given into the order of magnitude of estimation errors because of the improper modeling of commercial vehicle empty trips. A set of relatively simple cases was designed to illustrate the most important implications. Also addressed are estimation errors from using naive approaches to compensate for the lack of explicit modeling of empty trips and the errors associated with more advanced empty trip models. In the simplest simulation, directional errors for a basic complementary model were from three to six times fewer than those for the naive models. In the more complex case, a more sophisticated complementary model performed slightly better than the basic model and both complementary models were considerably better than the naive approaches. The directional errors for the naive models were four to seven times greater than those for the complementary models. Moreover, an analysis of the statistical distributions of the errors indicated that the complementary models had higher probabilities of producing accurate results, whereas the naive approaches had higher probabilities of producing very large errors. These analyses indicate that the naive approaches translate into significant errors in directional-traffic estimates. For that reason, their use should be discontinued in favor of the more advanced models presented.
Transcatheter Embolization for Control of Bleeding Following Pleurectomy

Abstract Persistent postoperative hemorrhage following pleurectomy and decortication was stopped by selective embolization of the bleeding intercostal artery. The technique and usefulness of this procedure are discussed.
Kinetics of G-Quartet-Mediated Tetramer Formation

The phosphorothioate and phosphodiester oligodeoxynucleotides d(TTGGGGTT) form parallel-stranded tetramer structures stabilized by guanosine quartets. The phosphorothioate tetramer has been shown to inhibit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro. The kinetics of association and dissociation of both tetramers have been determined as a function of temperature using size exclusion chromatography to measure the ratio of single strand to tetramer. In phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.2) at 37 degrees C, the fourth-order association rate of the phosphorothioate tetramer was 6.1 (+/- 0.5) x 10(4) M-3 s-1; the dissociation rate was 8.2 (+/- 0.2) x 10(-6) min-1, resulting in a t(1/2) of about 60 days. The association rate of the phosphodiester was about one order of magnitude faster and the dissociation rate about one order of magnitude slower than that of the phosphorothioate tetramer. The association reaction had a negative energy of activation for both compounds. Despite thermodynamic instability of the tetramer at low concentrations, the extremely slow dissociation rate may allow use of the phosphorothioate tetramer for AIDS chemotherapy.
Pricing and revenue sharing mechanism for secondary redistribution of data service for mobile devices

Cellular Network Providers (CNP) provide users with wireless data access to meet the growing ubiquitous demand for the Internet. As users subscribe to a fixed data plan for a monthly flat fee, some users may exhaust their data allowance before the end of the billing cycle, while others underutilize their monthly quota. To take advantage of such underutilization, Khausik et. al. propose a mechanism for ad hoc bandwidth redistribution that allows subscribers to sell their unused bandwidth to users needing Internet access in exchange for some financial compensation as and when opportunities arise. There exists a popular belief that allowing such on-demand ad hoc service is not beneficial to CNP. This paper seeks to address and counter this opinion by proposing a pricing scheme and a revenue sharing mechanism that makes the provision of ad hoc connection advantageous to CNP. Our revenue sharing mechanism provides economic incentives to CNP. The simulation results show that our revenue sharing model ensures that CNP receives the majority portion of the revenue gained, regardless of the amount. Secondly, our pricing model ensures traffic from ad hoc users has minimal impact on the connection quality of current subscribers. In this model, we use Shapley value as the basis for deriving the revenue sharing.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION IN MEN TREATED FOR PROSTATE CANCER

Purpose: Erectile dysfunction is a common side effect in men treated for prostate cancer. Previously published studies document the incidence of erectile dysfunction in men treated for prostate cancer to be between 20% and 88%. To our knowledge a prospective evaluation focused on the development of erectile dysfunction in men treated for prostate cancer has not elucidated components of its chronology or risk factors.Materials and Methods: A centralized prospective database of 2,956 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer at a single institution was studied in regard to pretreatment and posttreatment erectile dysfunction. Of these 2,956 patients 802 had sufficient information regarding erectile function and comprise our study population. Factors analyzed in regard to treatment and erectile dysfunction include treatment modality, that is radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation therapy and watchful waiting, and ethnicity, patient age, clinical stage and tumor histological grade.Results: No significant...
Comparative birefringence of cornea.

Abstract 1. 1. Maps of birefringence isochores in the cornea of a number of species were compared. 2. 2. In all species the lowest birefringent areas were at the center or slightly off center and the birefringence increases as one moves toward the periphery. 3. 3. Human ( Homo sapiens ) cornea showed the smallest birefringence among the species investigated. 4. 4. It is proposed that the distribution of the low birefringent areas in the cornea of the different species has a definite relationship to the optimal field of vision needed.
Cell retention and incidence of carcinoma in several portions of the gastrointestinal tract.

THE epithelial cells of the stomach, small intestine and colon are subject to rapid renewal1. In the mucosa of these organs, cells are produced in proliferative zones which are rather sharply defined. Maturing cells and fully mature cells move in coherent sheets towards the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract or, in one area of the stomach, into the depth of the glands. Generation times of the epithelial cells vary from about ½ day to a few days.
Should the ‘Dynamic Autonomy’ of Ideas Matter to Sociologists?: Max Weber on the Origin of Other-Worldly Salvation Religions and the Constitution of Groups in American Society Today

Dominant schools of sociological theory today tend to downplay, or even omit entirely, a consideration of ‘dynamically autonomous’ ideas. This investigation reconstructs a case study - Max Weber’s analysis of the rise of otherworldly salvation religions - in which just these ideas are discovered as capable of placing thrusts into motion toward the constitution of groups and social change. Does Weber’s argument regarding the causal impetus of ideas remain plausible in secularized societies? Tensions in the American world-view, it is argued, give birth to dynamically autonomous ideas that, in an analogous manner, call forth new groupings. Analyses of social change in American society that refer alone to political and economic interests, social networks, rational choices, power, interaction, resource mobilization, state authority and structural differentiation are seen to omit an important, if often amorphous, background causal force.
Vertical cross-sectional imaging of colonic dysplasia in vivo with multi-spectral dual axes confocal endomicroscopy.

Pathologists evaluate histology sectioned perpendicular to the tissue surface, or vertical cross-section. This orientation (XZ-plane) enables evaluation of mucosal differentiation in the basilar-to-luminal direction. Current endomicroscopes use a conventional (single axis) optical design.1 Imaging is limited to horizontal cross-sections (XY-plane) where the micro-anatomy is frequently similar across the field-of-view (FOV). In the dual axes configuration, light is delivered and collected off-axis, and images can be detected over a much larger range of intensities.2 Molecular images collected using fluorescence can improve specificity for disease detection and reveal functional properties about tissue.3 Proper interpretation of these images requires correlation with the micro-anatomy. We aim to demonstrate the simultaneous collection of two fluorescence images in vivo in vertical cross-sections using a dual axes confocal endomicroscope. An overlay of molecular and anatomical images from normal and dysplastic mouse colonic mucosa will be displayed in real time.
Evaluating adolescents in juvenile detention facilities for urogenital chlamydial infection: costs and effectiveness of alternative interventions.

Context Adolescents in juvenile detention facilities present a unique opportunity to diagnose and treat sexually transmitted diseases. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and costs of different strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of chlamydial infection in adolescents in juvenile detention. Design, Setting, and Subjects For a cohort of adolescents in a juvenile detention facility, sex-specific decision models were developed comparing strategies for diagnosing and treating chlamydial infection. These strategies included not screening, treating everyone, and testing (with leukocyte esterase [LE], ligase chain reaction [LCR], or history and symptoms) followed by treatment for those with positive test results. Two different time horizons were considered: immediate and extended. In the immediate time horizon, we performed a cost-effectiveness analysis looking only at the outcomes associated with treating current infections; in the extended time horizon, we performed a cost-minimization analysis comparing the estimated total costs of diagnosing and treating Chlamydia as well as those associated with complications occurring up to 20 years in the future. Results In males, the immediate-time-horizon evaluation revealed that treating on the basis of urine LE results produced the lowest incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ($80 per infection treated). In the extended-time-horizon cost-minimization analysis, treating males on the basis of urine LE results was again found to be the least expensive strategy ($10.11 per person). Two other strategies, confirming urine LE results with LCR ($10.96 per person) and screening with urine LCR ($14.04 per person), were found to be less expensive than not screening ($16.66 per person). In females, the immediate-time-horizon evaluation found that treating on the basis of symptoms and history resulted in treating about half the cases of chlamydial infection and produced the lowest incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ($74 per infection treated). More infections were treated when treatment was based on urine LCR results with only a small increase in the incremental cost per case treated ($95 per infection treated). In the extended-time-horizon cost-minimization analysis, treating all females empirically and treating based on results of urine LCR testing were the least expensive strategies ($18.81 and $18.98 per person, respectively). The results were sensitive to several variables, including prevalence of chlamydial infection, in both males and females. Conclusions For adolescent males in juvenile detention facilities, screening with urine LE minimizes the costs associated with diagnosis, treatment, and sequelae of urogenital chlamydial infection. For adolescent females in juvenile detention, empiric treatment and that based on urine LCR test results are the optimal strategies for managing urogenital chlamydial infection.
Single parent widows: stressors, appraisal, coping, resources, grieving responses and health

This paper examines the stressors, appraisal of be- reavement, coping, resources, grieving responses and health of four types of single widow parents: widows raising dependent children; widows raising a handicapped child; independent older widows with children; and dependent, ill, older widows with a child. A review of literature on single parent widow families and data from the authors research on single parent widows served as a basis for this paper. Major gaps in knowledge include: limited research on single parent widow families including longitudinal and theory-based research; findings which are based on small samples of single parent widows who are often mixed with other single parent types; little research on single parent widows from Black, Hispanic and other ethnic groups; and few studies on resources used by widows. A secondary analysis of data from the authors research indicated characteristics of high- risk, vulnerable, and healthy single parent widow families. High-risk single parent widow ...