cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance assessment of a photonic radiative cooling system for office buildings

Abstract Recent advances in materials have demonstrated the ability to maintain radiator surfaces at below-ambient temperatures in the presence of intense, direct sunlight. Daytime radiative cooling is promising for building applications. This paper estimates the energy savings from daytime radiative cooling, specifically based on photonic materials. A photonic radiative cooling system was proposed and modeled using the whole energy simulation program EnergyPlus. A typical medium-sized office building was used for the simulation analysis. Several reference systems were established to quantify the potential of energy savings from the photonic radiative cooling system. The reference systems include a variable-air-volume (VAV) system, a hydronic radiant system, and a nighttime radiative cooling system. The savings analysis was made for a number of locations with different climates. Simulation results showed that the photonic radiative cooling system saved between 45% and 68% cooling electricity relative to the VAV system and between 9% and 23% relative to the nighttime radiative cooling system featured with the best coating commercially available on market. A simple economic analysis was also made to estimate the maximum acceptable incremental cost for upgrading from nighttime cooling to photonic radiative cooling.
Abstract 16215: Statin Use in Asymptomatic Patients With Sepsis and Elevated Troponin is Associated With Lower Risk of Mortality

Background: In sepsis, patients frequently develop elevated levels of troponins. It is not clear if statin therapy in these patients improves outcomes. We examined the association of statin use at discharge with mortality in septic patients with elevated troponin. Methods: We examined 936 consecutive patients diagnosed with sepsis who had elevated troponin levels on admission. Patients with septic shock were excluded. Statin use was defined by the presence of documentation that statin prescription was provided at discharge. Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for demographics and clinical covariates examined the association of statin use with all-cause mortality. Results: Of 936 patients, there were 344 (36.8%) individuals treated with statin therapy. There were 108 (31.4%) deaths in statin users and 236 (41.0%) among non-statin users. The mean peak troponin level was 1.00 ± 0.09 ng/ml. In a Cox model adjusted for age, sex, race, peak troponin, hypertension, diabetes, known coronary artery disease, known end stage renal disease, known stroke, hyperlipidemia, use of anticoagulation during the hospitalization, use of antiplatelet during hospitalization, use of antiplatelet at discharge, use of anticoagulation at discharge, and beta blocker use at discharge, statin use was associated with lower risk of mortality (HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.35, 0.61, p 1 ng/dl (HR 0.19, 95% CI 0.08, 0.44, p = 0.0001 vs. HR 0.52; 95% CI 0.39, 0.69, p Conclusions: Among septic patients with elevated troponin, statin use was associated with lower risk of mortality. This protective association was much stronger in patients with troponin levels >1. Future research should focus on its use in septic patients in a randomized trial.
Reconfigurable metasurfaces for directional acoustic sensing

We design and acoustically simulate additively manufactured, flat acoustic membranes (also called metasurfaces) which can be reconfigured into 3-dimentional solids. Using finite element simulations, we design frequency selective acoustic ‘window’ membranes. These transmit narrow frequency bands near flexure resonances. The frequency range of coverage was chosen to be in the audible range and spans from 2,500Hz to 10,000Hz with first order resonances only. We demonstrate selective, non-overlapping acoustic transmission through each membrane window in its flat configuration, and directional selectively when the flat metasurface is folded into the truncated-octahedron with an omnidirectional microphone placed on the interior of the solid form. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research.
Evolution of an allosteric “off switch” in apoptotic caspases

Caspase-3 is well known as the "executioner" whose activation commits the cell to an apoptotic fate, but low levels of caspase-3 activity also play key roles in development. A new study explains how cells can balance these functions, using biophysical, structural, and computational approaches to demonstrate the mechanism by which phosphorylation of conserved sites on a distal surface loop reduces or abolishes catalytic activity. These results provide new insights into allosteric regulation mechanisms and offer new opportunities for development of caspase-3 modulators.
Parametric study of thermal molten salt reactor neutronics criticality behavior

Abstract The molten salt reactor (MSR) research and development has attracted more attention recently. Various concepts of MSR designs have been proposed, and related researches regarding MSR materials technologies, neutronics behavior, thermal-hydraulic behavior and the reactor safety have been reported. The MSR neutronics criticality behavior has significant effect in the MSR research aspect. It is important to conduct the comprehensive and systematic investigation of thermal MSR neutronics criticality behavior. In this work, the molten salt reactor type that molten salt dissolves the fuel materials is investigated. Therefore, the evaluations of different thermal MSR neutronics criticality behavior are conducted in this work. By far, various molten salt fuel types have been proposed by different research institutes based on different considerations. Consequently, the evaluation on neutronics characteristics of different molten salt fuel types and the parametric study of neutronics behavior are taken into account. Furthermore, some molten salt fuels contain the lithium element with the isotope Li-6, which has a large thermal neutron absorption cross section. The evaluation of different Li-6 concentration effects is also considered in this work. In addition to the fuel and moderators effect, other parameters such as the volume and geometry effects are also studied. Lastly, the operation temperature on the neutronics behavior is also investigated. The corresponding parameters such as multiplication factor, neutron spectrum, and temperature coefficient are evaluated. In this work, instead of the simulation of whole reactor core, the simulation of a thermal MSR fuel unit is conducted. This work provides a more complete and comprehensive evaluation approach for various parametric effect on MSR neutronics criticality behavior and offers reference for the MSR criticality design.
Regulation of pancreatic exocrine secretion.

The exocrine pancreas secretes throughout 24 hours. In both interdigestive and postprandial states, pancreatic secretion is regulated by neural and hormonal actions, and neurohormonal interactions. At the turn of this century, the prevailing theory of Pavlov (1) that pancreatic exocrine secretion was exclusively regulated by secretory fibers in both vagi and splanchnic nerves was refuted by Bayliss and Starling in 1902, who put forward their hypothesis that pancreatic secretion was stimulated by a circulating hormone, “secretin,” which was released by hydrochloric acid from the duodenal mucosa (2). Soon, Pavlov conceded to the hypothesis of Bayliss and Starling. Pavlov adopted the theory of a dual mechanism—nervous and hormonal—of the regulation of pancreatic secretion. In recent decades, explosions of new information about old and newly discovered gut hormones or peptides and neuropeptides have resulted in a better understanding of the regulatory mechanism of the exocrine pancreas, and also opened new, exciting frontiers in the investigations of the physiology and patho-physiology of pancreatic secretion.
PSYCHOENDOCRINOLOGY: A Commentary

Volumes would be needed to review fully the broad field of psychoendocrinology. However, it may be possible in a few pages to characterize some of its salient features, which is the purpose of this article. Before the advent of psychotropic drugs, workers in the mental health field, when thinking of history, tended to classify events as having occurred pre- or post-Freud. Now that drugs are a dominant part of practice, events are regarded as having occurred predrug or postdrug. It is uncertain what might later become a historical nodal point. Perhaps it will be one of the sudden changes in the style of practice, i.e., deinstitutionalization or managed care. In any case, the prepsychotropic/postpsychotropic drug dichotomy adequately serves for the temporal organization of comments about psychoendocrinology because its history is inextricably related to the history of psychopharmacology.
Population-based mortality data suggests remediation is modestly effective in two Montana Superfund counties.

The health effects of living in proximity to Superfund sites with ongoing remediation were evaluated for residents of two contiguous Montana counties, Deer Lodge and Silver Bow. Deer Lodge and Silver Bow are home to the Anaconda Smelter and Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund sites, respectively. Established by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983, both sites have had ongoing remediation for decades. Employing county level death certificate data obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER site, sex and age-adjusted standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for composite targeted causes of death were calculated using observed versus expected mortality for both counties, and compared to the expected mortality from the remaining Montana counties. Cancers, cerebro- and cardiovascular diseases (CCVD), and organ failure were elevated for the two counties during the study period, 2000–2016, with SMRs of 1.19 (95% CI 1.10, 1.29); 1.36 (95% CI 1.29, 1.43); and 1.24 (95% CI 1.10, 1.38), respectively. Neurological conditions were not elevated for the two counties (SMR = 1.01; 95% CI 0.89, 1.14). Time trend analyses performed using Cox regression models indicate that deaths from cancers (HR = 0.97; p = 0.0004), CCVDs (HR = 0.95; p ≤ 0.0001), and neurological conditions (HR = 0.97; p = 0.01) decreased over the study period. While the ecological approach applied limits the interpretation of our results, our study suggests that while mortality is elevated, it is also decreasing over time for these two Superfund sites.
Optomechanical Actuation of Diamagnetically Levitated Pyrolytic Graphite

The magnetic susceptibility of pyrolytic graphite (PyG) is temperature dependent. Under an external magnetic field, a levitated PyG sample with a localized temperature change experiences unequal diamagnetic forces. In this paper, we present a study of the macroscale optomechanical displacement of a levitated PyG sample by using a laser source to locally increase the temperature. Dynamic finite-element method simulations show that a localized increase in the sample temperature, simulating a laser source, decreases the diamagnetic force in that local area, leading to the displacement of the PyG sample in the plane of the permanent magnet array. Experimental setups built using different laser sources and samples confirm the range of applicability of the actuation phenomenon to different conditions. An additional setup without moving parts reduced the likelihood by which airflow could have caused the displacement, as we suspect happened in the previous studies.
Cosmopolitan Immigration Attitudes in Large European Cities: Contextual or Compositional Effects?

Europe is geographically divided on the issue of immigration. Large cities are the home of Cosmopolitan Europe, where immigration is viewed positively. Outside the large cities—and especially in the countryside—is Nationalist Europe, where immigration is a threat. This divide is well documented and much discussed, but there has been scant research on why people in large cities are more likely to have favorable opinions about immigration. Debates about geographic differences generally highlight two explanations: contextual or compositional effects. I evaluate the two with data from the European Social Survey, the Swiss Household Panel, and the German Socio-Economic Panel. Results support compositional effects and highlight the importance of (demographic and cultural) mechanisms that sort pro-immigration people into large cities. This has several implications for our understanding of societal divisions in Europe; most notably that geographic polarization is a second-order manifestation of deeper (demographic and cultural) divides.
A Pressure-Correction Ensemble Scheme for Computing Evolutionary Boussinesq Equations

We study a pressure-correction ensemble scheme for fast calculation of thermal flow ensembles. The proposed scheme (1) decouples the Boussinesq system into two smaller subphysics problems; (2) decouples the nonlinearity from the incompressibility condition in the Navier–Stokes equations and linearizes the momentum equation so that it reduces to a system of scalar equations; (3) results in linear systems with the same coefficient matrix for all realizations. This reduces the size of linear systems to be solved at each time step and allows efficient direct/iterative linear solvers for fast computation. We prove the scheme is long time stable and first order in time convergent under a time step condition. Numerical tests are provided to confirm the theoretical results and demonstrate the efficiency of the scheme.
Fiona Ellis, God, Value, and Nature

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle claims that just about everyone agrees that the highest good is eudaimonia while disagreeing with one another about what eudaimonia is. A similar situation exists among many (not all) contemporary philosophers: they agree that naturalism is true while disagreeing with one another about what naturalism is. By their lights, the claim that a given entity exists is worth taking seriously only if the entity in question is compatible with naturalism (whatever that is); otherwise, the entity is queer or spooky and the claim that it exists should be rejected outright. In God, Value, and Nature, Fiona Ellis considers five (by my count) increasingly expansive version of naturalism, ranging from a view according to which the only entities that qualify as natural rather than spookily supernatural are those that can be studied by the hard sciences to a view about that classifies the Christian God as natural. Part of Ellis’s project is to consider the extent to which each of these versions of naturalism can adequately account for moral values. Among her central aims is establishing that there is enough to be said for the most expansive version of naturalism that it ‘‘is worthy of serious consideration’’ (p. 7). In what follows, I sketch some of the main moves in Ellis’s central line of argument and offer some critical observations. I conclude with an assessment of what I see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the book.
Energy Efficient D2D Communications Using Multiple UAV Relays

In this paper, we propose a novel optimization model for multiple Unmanned Areal Vehicles (UAVs) working as relays and helping Device-to-Device (D2D) communications at the same time. The goal of the UAVs is to operate in an energy-efficient manner while not only optimizing the available bandwidth and power allocations of the D2D links, but also act as relays when needed to maintain the communication between ground users. We formulate an optimization problem that maximizes the energy-efficient utility while respecting the resource availability including the UAVs' energy consumption, UAV-user association, and trajectory constraints. Due to the non-convexity of the problem, we propose to solve it in three steps using Taylor series approximation to optimize the power and the bandwidth, and use a heuristic algorithm for optimizing the UAVs' trajectory and UAV-user associations.
Integration of triaxial testing and pore-scale visualization of methane hydrate bearing sediments

Understanding mechanical interactions between hydrate and hosting sediments is critical for evaluating formation stability and associated environmental impacts of hydrate-bearing sediments during gas production. While core-scale studies of hydrate-bearing sediments are readily available and some explanations of observed results rely on pore-scale behavior of hydrate, actual pore-scale observations supporting the larger-scale phenomena are rarely available for hydrate-bearing sediments, especially with methane as guest molecules. The primary reasons for the scarcity include the challenge of developing tools for small-scale testing apparatus and pore-scale visualization capability. We present a testing assembly that combines pore-scale visualization and triaxial test capability of methane hydrate-bearing sediments. This testing assembly allows temperature regulation and independent control of four pressures: influent and effluent pore pressure, confining pressure, and axial pressure. Axial and lateral effective stresses can be applied independently to a 9.5 mm diameter and 19 mm long specimen while the pore pressure and temperature are controlled to maintain the stability of methane hydrate. The testing assembly also includes an X-ray transparent beryllium core holder so that 3D computed tomography scanning can be conducted during the triaxial loading. This testing assembly permits pore-scale exploration of hydrate-sediment interaction in addition to the traditional stress-strain relationship. Exemplary outcomes are presented to demonstrate applications of the testing assembly on geomechanical property estimations of methane-hydrate bearing sediments.
Symposium on Anthony Pinn’s When Colorblindness Isn’t the Answer: Humanism and the Challenge of Race

In When Colorblindness Isn’t the Answer: Humanism and the Challenge of Race, Anthony Pinn conjoins two topics that often remain separated in much contemporary theoretical discourse: race and humani...
Comparison of in-hospital outcomes of patients undergoing catheter ablation for typical versus atypical atrial flutter.

Catheter ablation (CA) is indicated as definitive therapy for patients with either typical or atypical atrial flutter (TAFlutter and AAFlutter, respectively) which is unresponsive to medical therapy. There is a paucity of data regarding in-hospital outcomes of patients undergoing CA. Retrospective study using the NIS to identify patients ≥18 years who underwent CA between 2015 and 2017. Individuals were identified using ICD-10-CM/PCS for TAFlutter, AAFlutter, and CA. A total of 17,390 patients underwent CA for Aflutter (33% AAFlutter and 67% TAFlutter). The TAFlutter group was younger (mean 65.9 years vs. 67.2 years), with less females (30% vs. 43%, p ≤ 0.001 for both) compared to the AAFlutter group. The TAFlutter group had a higher rate of diabetes, tobacco use, obesity, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p ≤ 0.001 for all). The AAFlutter cohort had increased prior strokes and atrial fibrillation (p ≤ 0.001 for both). The mean CHA2DS2-VASc score was found to be 2.3 in AAFlutter compared to 2.1 in TAFlutter (p ≤ 0.001). There were significantly higher proportions of thromboembolic events, transfusions, and longer length of stay in the TAFlutter group (p ≤ 0.001 for all) with the AAFlutter group having significantly higher rates of cardioversion, implantation of cardiac devices, and increased hospital charges (p ≤ 0.001 for all); no significant difference was found in mortality after controlling for comorbidities. We found higher complication rates in CA for patients with TAFlutter, but no difference in in-hospital all-cause mortality. Variation in CA depending upon the mechanism of AFlutter may underlie these differences, and warrant further study.
Contextualizing Normativity: Political Discourse in Turkey

Second chapter outlines the historical as well as the sociopolitical context necessary to understand LGBTQ activism in Turkey during 2010s. This contextualization not only provides the necessary local as well as global history to make sense of 2010s Turkey, but also exemplifies and examines existing normative discourses that become the backdrop for LGBTQ activism.
Who to Test? A Retrospective Study of Lead Testing in High-Risk Children:

BackgroundNearly all pediatric patients in our setting meet high-risk criteria for lead exposure based on screening recommendations and guidelines. Implementation of screening and testing has been ...
FGFR1-TACC1 fusion associated with malignant transformation in a primary spinal cord glioma: a case report

Molecular mechanisms of malignant transformation in spinal cord gliomas are not well-understood. Our objective was to investigate genetic causes of malignant transformation in a primary spinal cord glioma. A 32-year-old female patient presented with bilateral lower extremity weakness and was diagnosed with a primary spinal cord glioma from T9 to T12, with a syrinx extending from the craniocervical junction to the conus. She underwent resection in 2006. Pathology showed an abundance of Rosenthal fibers, calcification and degenerative features consistent with a low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma. She presented in 2020 with tumor recurrence and underwent re-resection. Whole exome sequencing, DNA methylation profiling and immunohistochemistry were performed on her initial and recurrent tumor samples. Immunohistochemical profiling of her recurrent tumor showed pleomorphic cells with extensive necrosis consistent with a high-grade glioma. DNA methylation profiling showed that the initial tumor clustered with pilocytic astrocytomas, whereas the recurrent lesion clustered with anaplastic astrocytomas, confirming malignant transformation. Whole-exome sequencing showed interim acquisition of a rare fibroblast growth factor receptor-transforming acidic coiled-coil (FGFR1-TACC1) gene fusion. We report an FGFR1-TACC1 fusion associated with malignant transformation in a primary spinal cord glioma. Our study adds to growing reports of FGFR-TACC fusions, which are amenable to receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition.
Relationship of Multipole Populations to d-Orbital Occupancies of a Transition Metal Atom in a Tetragonally Distorted Octahedral Field

The eg and t2g orbitals of a transition metal atom are split by a tetragonal distortion of an octahedral field as follows:
SNOMED clinical terms: overview of the development process and project status.

Abstract Two large health care reference terminologies, SNOMED RT and Clinical Terms Version 3 , are in the process of being merged to form a comprehensive new work referred to as SNOMED Clinical Terms. The College of American Pathologists and the United Kingdom s National Health Service have entered into a collaborative agreement to develop this new work. Both organizations have extensive terminology development and maintenance experience. This paper discusses the process and status of SNOMED CT development and how the resources and expertise of both organizations are being used to develop this new terminological resource. The preliminary results of the merger process, including mapping, the merger of upper levels of each hierarchy, and attribute harmonization are also discussed.
Some Considerations on UV Optics for Synchrotron Radiation

While synchrotron radiation (SR) has a broad spectrum extending from the hard x-ray region (tens of keV) through the visible and infrared regions (a few eV) the main interest is in those wavelengths which are not readily available from other sources; that is those wavelengths shorter than say 2000A. This region poses several problems for the optical designer that do not occur in the visible region of the spectrum.
Comparison of Myoglobins from Harbor Seal, Porpoise, and Sperm Whale I. PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION

A rapid and simple procedure for the preparation of sperm whale ferrimyoglobin is described. The method involves homogenization in 70% saturated ammonium sulfate at 4° and chromatography on carboxymethyl Sephadex. The major component was judged to be homogeneous by electrophoresis at two pH values and by analytical chromatography on sulfoethyl Sephadex at a third pH value. The method has also been utilized to prepare electrophoretically pure myoglobin from harbor seal and porpoise. The amino acid composition and amino-terminal end groups of harbor seal and porpoise myoglobin have been determined, and the results compared with sperm whale myoglobin. Each protein was found to possess 153 amino acid residues with a single amino-terminal end group. Both harbor seal and porpoise myoglobins have glycine as the amino-terminal residue, in contrast to the sperm whale protein, which contains a single residue of valine. The amino acid compositions indicate a close similarity among all three myoglobins and suggest that only a limited number of amino acid substitutions in the primary structure differentiates the three proteins. The molar extinction coefficients and the reduced mean residue rotation at 233 mµ were found to be essentially identical in the three myoglobins, indicating that the three-dimensional structure in solution is probably very nearly identical for sperm whale, harbor seal, and porpoise ferrimyoglobins.
Invariant Patterns in Crystal Lattices: Implications for Protein Folding Algorithms (Extended Abstract)

Crystal lattices are infinite periodic graphs that occur naturally in a variety of geometries and which are of fundamental importance in polymer science. Discrete models of protein folding use crystal lattices to define the space of protein conformations. Because various crystal lattices provide discretizations of the same physical phenomenon, it is reasonable to expect that there will exist “invariants” across lattices that define fundamental properties of the protein folding process; an invariant defines a property that transcends particular lattice formulations. This paper identifies two classes of invariants, defined in terms of sublattices that are related to the design of algorithms for the structure prediction problem. The first class of invariants is used to define a master approximation algorithm for which provable performance guarantees exist. This algorithm can be applied to generalizations of the hydrophobic-hydrophilic model that have lattices other than the cubic lattice, including most of the crystal lattices commonly used in protein folding lattice models. The second class of invariants applies to a related lattice model. Using these invariants, we show that for this model the structure prediction problem is intractable across a variety of three-dimensional lattices. It turns out that these two classes of invariants are respectively sublattices of the two- and three-dimensional square lattice. As the square lattices are the standard lattices used in empirical protein folding studies, our results provide a rigorous confirmation of the ability of these lattices to provide insight into biological phenomenon. Our results are the first in the literature that identify algorithmic paradigms for the protein structure prediction problem that transcend particular lattice formulations.
Gas accretion in a clumpy disk with application to AGNs

We analyze the collective gravitational interaction among gas clouds in the inner regions of galactic disks and find that it leads to accretion at a rate $\sim M_{mc}\Omega (M_{mc}/M_t)^2$; where $M_{mc}$ is the molecular mass of the disk, $M_t$ is sum of the central plus any axisymmetrically distributed mass, and $\Omega$ is the mean angular speed of clumps. We discuss applications of this result to the mega-maser galaxy NGC 4258, for which we have observational evidence that the maser spots are concentrated in a thin molecular disk which is clumpy, and find the accretion rate to be about $1.5\times 10^{-3}$ solar mass per year. If the gravitational energy release of this inward falling gas were to be radiated away efficiently, then the resulting luminosity would greatly exceed the observed central luminosity of NGC 4258, indicating that most of the thermal energy of the gas is advected with the flow into the blackhole as proposed by Lasota et al. (1996). The gravitational interactions among molecular clouds lying within the inner kpc of our galaxy give an accretion rate of about $10^{-5}$ solar mass per year, which is consistent with the value obtained by Narayan et al. (1995) by fitting the spectrum of Sagitarrius A$^*$. We also discuss possible application of this work to quasar evolution.
Nonrandom chromosome abnormalities in acute leukemia and dysmyelopoietic syndromes in patients with previously treated malignant disease

Cytogenetic studies were performed on 26 patients who developed acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) or a dysmyelopoietic syndrome after treatment of a primary malignancy. Fifteen patients had radiotherapy and chemotherapy, seven had only chemotherapy, and four had only radiotherapy. The median times from diagnosis of the initial disease to the development of bone marrow dysfunction for these treatment groups were 50, 46, and 49 mo, respectively. Twenty-five patients had an abnormal karyotype in myeloid cells. Loss of part or all of no. 5 and/or no. 7 was noted in 23 of 25 patients with aneuploidy. Loss of no. 5 was noted only in patients who previously had malignant lymphoma, whereas loss of no. 7 was seen in these patients as well as in those who had other malignancies. Abnormalities of both nos. 5 and 7 occurred in 53% of the patients treated with combined therapy and in only 27% of patients treated with either modality alone. Although these changes are distinctly different from those noted in lymphomas, they are similar to those seen in 25% of aneuploid patients with ANLL de novo.
Fractional viscoelastic models: master curve construction, interconversion, and numerical approximation

We use fractional viscoelastic models that result from the application of fractional calculus to the linear viscoelastic theory to characterize thermorheologically simple linear viscoelastic materials. Model parameters are obtained through an optimization procedure that simultaneously determines the time–temperature shift factors. We present analytical interconversion based on the fractional viscoelastic model between the main viscoelastic functions (relaxation modulus, creep compliance, storage modulus, and loss modulus) and the analytical forms of the relaxation and retardation spectra. We show that the fractional viscoelastic model can be approximated by a Prony series to any desired level of accuracy. This property allows the efficient determination of the fractional viscoelastic model response to any loading history using the well-known recursive relationships of Prony series models.
A New Proof of Localization in the Anderson Tight Binding Model

We give a new proof of exponential localization in the Anderson tight binding model which uses many ideas of the Frohlich, Martinelli, Scoppola and Spencer proof, but is technically simpler-particularly the probabilistic estimates.
Adverse effect of complete thoracic evacuation during chronic pneumothorax in a dog

Abstract Objective To describe an unusual response to evacuation of a chronic pneumothorax in a dog. Case Resolution of a pneumothorax is usually associated with lung expansion and a marked improvement in pulmonary function. In the case presented here, evacuation of a chronic pneumothorax improved oxygenation, but markedly impaired ventilation. Clinical relevance This is a previously unreported complication associated with the treatment of pneumothorax in dogs. It suggests that in some cases of chronic pneumothorax, total evacuation of the pleural air pocket may improve oxygenation but ventilation deteriorates and increases PCO2, causing further complications.
The [O II] – [S II] spectra of active galactic nuclei

Etude de la formation des spectres [O II ] et [S II] des noyaux galactiques actifs. Des modeles de photoionisation detailles de la region des raies etroites sont presentes et compares aux observations. On montre que le spectre [O II]-[S II] est moins sensible au rougissement qu'aux incertitudes relatives a la composition chimique et au parametre d'ionisation du gaz. La majorite des Seyfert et des radiogalaxies ont des intensites [O II]-[S II] qui correspondent a des densites N e ≃10 5 cm −3 , mais les rapports des doublets [S II] indiquent des densites de beaucoup inferieures
Estimation of a time series model from unequally spaced data

Abstract A process generated by a stochastic differential equation driven by pure noise is sampled at irregular intervals. A model for the sampled sequence is deduced. We describe a maximum likelihood procedure for estimating the parameters and establish the strong consistency and asymptotic normality of the estimates. The use of the model in prediction is considered. Simplifications in the case of periodic sampling are explored.
A comparison of the APT and CAPM a note

Abstract The single factor version of Ross' arbitrage pricing theory and the Sharpe-Lintner-Mossin capital asset pricing model offer deceptively similar pricing relationships. This paper derives conditions for the equivalence of the two paradigms.
Effect of Mercury on the Growth of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Public awareness of environmental issues has increased in the last two decades. Heightened concern over heavy metal contamination and its effects has been an integral part of this public interest. Multicellular organisms as indicators of toxicity present problems because of their complex organ systems, the lengthy time for toxicity to render visible symptoms, and problems of bioaccumulation. Alternatively, unicellular chlorophytes are desirable indicators of contamination because they are simple and sensitive. Chlamydomonas is an excellent indicator because it is ubiquitously distributed in water bodies (Yan and Stokes 1978). Alterations in the types of species of microalgae present in water bodies occur because of the impact of toxicants on their primary food sources. This, in turn, will adversely effect zooplankton and herbivore grazing populations (Havens and Heath 1991).
Adamantylchlorocarbene: characterization and rearrangement to chlorohomoadamant-3-ene

Abstract Adamantylchlorocarbene and its ring-expanded product, chlorohomoadamant-3-ene, have been characterized by matrix isolation spectroscopy combined with DFT calculations.
Chronic Oral Toxicity of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) to Rainbow Trout

Abstract Rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) consumed diets containing 2.3 parts per trillion (10-12, pptr), 2.3 parts per billion (10-9, ppb), and 2.3 ppm TCDD 6 days each week for 105 days, resulting in an average intake of, respectively, 3.2 × 10-8, 3.6 × 10-5, or 2.1 × 10-2 μg/TCDD/g fish, freeze-dry weight per day. Consumption of food containing 2.3 pptr or 2.3 ppb TCDD caused no mortality, no reduction in food consumption or growth, and no fin erosion. Consumption of diets containing 2.3 ppm TCDD caused an average mortality of 50% and 88% in 61 and 71 days, respectively. Feeding activity and growth were also reduced, and fin erosion and liver pathology increased. These data indicate that the “no-effect” level for survival, growth, feeding activity, and fin erosion in rainbow trout receiving TCDD orally is between 2.3 ppm and 2.3 ppb.
“Cash for Clunkers”: A Historical Analysis of the U.S. Quest for Independence From Foreign Oil

One of the most ambitious efforts to improve the efficiency of the American ground transportation system was the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act of 2009, commonly referred to as the “Cash for Clunkers” program. This Act directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program from which owners of vehicles could receive credit for trading in their vehicles and purchasing a more fuel efficient vehicle. The credit amount was either $3,500 or $4,500, depending on the amount of improved fuel efficiency. The Act initially appropriated $1 billion for the program, but because of the enormous public response, Congress appropriated an additional $2 billion to extend the program, tripling the potential number of transactions originally expected. This article summarizes previous efforts to reduce the U.S. dependence on foreign oil import. It then analyzes the effect of the CARS Act on the improvement in vehicle efficiency, the reduction in national gasoline consumption, the economic benefits and/or losses to the consumer, the energy return on energy investment (EROI) for the vehicles purchased under this Act, and environmental benefits. It also compares the CARS Act with previous initiatives to improve the CAFE standard. Finally, recommendations are made for improving the mileage of the American automobile fleet and reducing the amount and cost of imported oil.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Quenching of Pyrene Fluorescence in Premiceljar Solutions

Abstract The quenching of the fluorescence intensity of pyrene by KBr has been measured in premicellar solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and polyoxyethylene 23-lauryl ether (Brij 35). The association of pyrene with premicellar aggregates is thought to bring the bromide ion closer to the fluorophore and hence results in a greater quenching effect. In 1.0 × 10−4 M CTAB solutions there is the beginning of “protective” premicellar aggregation. At this stage, 13 times more bromide ion is needed to effect the same degree of quenching as in pure water.
Evolution of Innovations Across Web 2.0 Service Platforms through Mutation, Natural Selection and Reuse

This paper examines the question of how innovations are generated in and diffuse across web 2.0 service platforms and effect change at the industry level. We apply evolutionary economics and evolutionary organizational theory as a theoretical lens and conceptualize the adoption and diffusion of innovations as a dynamic process where innovations propagate vertically within firms via successive product releases (or generations) as well as horizontally across firms via imitation and replication. We develop a formal stochastic process model that allows us to design a multi-level study that examines how innovations arise, which innovations survive in the market and which do not, and if and under what conditions industry standardization is achieved.
Microstructure of polycrystalline SiC containing excess Si after neutron and ion irradiation

Abstract The microstructure of commercially available reaction bonded polycrystalline SiC containing 8–10 wt% excess silicon was studied utilizing transmission electron microscopy after irradiation by reactor neutrons, dual ion beams (silicon and alpha particles) and single ion beams (argon). For reactor irradiations performed with the sample temperature kept
Evaluatin of the higashitani and pritchard analysis of the hole pressure using flow birefingence

Abstract Higashitani and Pritchard (H-P) carried out an analysis of the hole pressure (PH) for viscoelastic fluids which leads to expressions relating PH to the shear stress (σ), the wall shear stress (σw), and the normal stress differneces (N1 and N2). Although very good agreement their theory and experimental results has been obtained for several polymer solutions and three polymer melts, it is known that at least two of the key assumptions in the theory are violated. In this study flow birefingence has been used to determine the stress field (i.e. σ and the normal stress difference, σ11 — σ22) in the region of a slot placed perpendicular to the flow direction for a polystyrene melt. Values of σ and σ11 — σ22 were then used to evaluate the integrand in the expression relating Pe1 where Pe1 is the hole pressure measured at the base of the rectangular slot, σ and N1. Values of Pe1 evaluated using flow birefringence data agreed well with those obtained using the same integral expression and cone-and-plate values of N1 and σ, and with directly measured values of Pe1. This agreement occurred even though the stress field was found to be asymmetric around the centerline of the slot and with secondary flow in the slot. A detailed evaluation of the values of N1/2σ, which constitute the integral in the H-P theory, along the centerline of the slot revealed most of the contributions to the integral canceled in integrating from the base of the slot where σ is zero at the centerline of the slit-die. The main contributions to the integral occurred from the integration taken from the centerline of the slit-die to the upperdie
DETERMINATION OF ESTROGENS IN STORED URINES OF PREGNANCY

THE results reported in this communication were obtained in the course of a study requiring the determination of estrogens and pregnanediol in a large number of urine samples which had been stored for a long period of time. The determination of estrogens in human pregnancy urine has to to be preceded by the complete cleavage of all estrogen conjugates in such urines, and this should be accomplished without any destruction of the liberated estrogenic steroids if these determinations are to be truly quantitative. A method satisfying these requirements has not been described as yet (1). Therefore an attempt has been made to ascertain the conditions for optimal recovery of estrogens from their conjugates; and the subsequent extraction and concentration procedure has been simplified to the greatest extent consistent with a quantitative recovery of the deconjugated estrogens. The estrogens were determined by a modification of the Kober test (2) described by Allen (3), and the and the conditions for maximal effi...
Cost and workforce implications of subjecting all physicians to aviation industry work hour restrictions: A response

Abstract In recent years, the surgical profession has attempted to incorporate into clinical practice certain techniques that the airline industry has used to improve safety. These mechanisms have proven to be valuable components of our efforts to ensure that surgical patients receive safe, high-quality care. However, as the authors of “Cost and workforce implications of subjecting all physicians to aviation industry work hour restrictions” note, it would be a mistake to extend aviation's work-hour restrictions to medicine, particularly to resident training programs.
Decreases in soil moisture and organic matter quality suppress microbial decomposition following a boreal forest fire

Climate warming is projected to increase the frequency and severity of wildfires in boreal forests, and increased wildfire activity may alter the large soil carbon (C) stocks in boreal forests. Changes in boreal soil C stocks that result from increased wildfire activity will be regulated in part by the response of microbial decomposition to fire, but post-fire changes in microbial decomposition are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the response of microbial decomposition to a boreal forest fire in interior Alaska and test the mechanisms that control post-fire changes in microbial decomposition. We used a reciprocal transplant between a recently burned boreal forest stand and a late successional boreal forest stand to test how post-fire changes in abiotic conditions, soil organic matter (SOM) composition, and soil microbial communities influence microbial decomposition. We found that SOM decomposing at the burned site lost 30.9% less mass over two years than SOM decomposing at the unburned site, indicating that post-fire changes in abiotic conditions suppress microbial decomposition. Our results suggest that moisture availability is one abiotic factor that constrains microbial decomposition in recently burned forests. In addition, we observed that burned SOM decomposed more slowly than unburned SOM, but the exact nature of SOM changes in the recently burned stand are unclear. Finally, we found no evidence that post-fire changes in soil microbial community composition significantly affect decomposition. Taken together, our study has demonstrated that boreal forest fires can suppress microbial decomposition due to post-fire changes in abiotic factors and the composition of SOM. Models that predict the consequences of increased wildfires for C storage in boreal forests may increase their predictive power by incorporating the observed negative response of microbial decomposition to boreal wildfires.
Variable pressure and temperature 1H NMR studies on exchange mechanisms in π-allylpalladium(II) complexes

Abstract High pressure 1H NMR spectroscopy on a mixture of [Pd(2-methallyl)Cl]2 (dimer) and Pd(2-methallyl)Cl(PPh3) (monomer) in CDCl3 at 22°C gives ΔV‡ = 0 ± 2 cm3/mol. At this temperature syn-anti exchange of the allyl hydrogens in Pd(2-methallyl)Cl(PPh3) occurs, catalyzed by the complex [Pd(2-methallyl)Cl]2. To explain this ΔV‡ value we propose an overall cancelling of opposite volume contributions from the initial partial bridge cleavage of dimer and its subsequent association with monomer. At 56° C ΔV‡ is 11 ± 2 cm3/mol. At this temperature, 2-methallyl exchange between Pd(2-methallyl)Cl(PPh3) and [Pd(2-methallyl)Cl]2 occurs by a process involving dimer cleavage followed by PPh3 transfer. We propose the bridge cleavage of dimer to Pd(2-methallyl)Cl is the dominant step causing the overall positive ΔV‡ change.
Production of tortilla chips from Sorghum and maize

White maize ( Zea mays L.), a tan plant color white sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor Moench) and various blends of these were processed into tortilla chips in a pilot plant. The optimum conditions for production of maize and sorghum tortilla chips were: (1) lime-cooking at boiling temperature for 60 and 20 min with 1 and 0·5 % lime, respectively;, (2) quenching to drop the temperature of the cooking liquor to 68 °C; (3) steeping the grains for 8–12 h and 4–6 h, respectively. The resulting nixtamals (lime-cooked and steeped grains) were stone-ground into a coarse dough (masa). The masa was sheeted, cut into triangles and baked for 39 sec at 280 °C into tortilla pieces, which were fried for 1 min at 190 °C to produce tortilla chips. Under these conditions, maize nixtamal had more dry matter losses than sorghum nixtamal. Both grain masas had similar machinability and contained comparable amounts of moisture. The amount of insoluble dietary fiber increased with increasing sorghum levels. All chips had similar oil uptake during frying. Panelists found that sorghum chips had a bland taste which was significantly different from the characteristic taste of lime-cooked maize. Tortilla chips containing 50 % maize had a slightly lower ( P
Dexmedetomidine to Treat Lisdexamfetamine Overdose and Serotonin Toxidrome in a 6-Year-Old Girl

A 6-year-old girl displayed symptoms of serotonin syndrome after accidental ingestion of Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate). Dexmedetomidine was administered because of persistent neuromuscular hyperactivity and severe agitation despite initial therapy with benzodiazepines. Some children show a paradoxical reaction to benzodiazepines, and dexmedetomidine has a possible role in the treatment of serotonin syndrome.
Impact of Recommender System on Competition Between Personalizing and Non-Personalizing Firms

AbstractHow do recommender systems affect prices and profits of firms under competition? To explore this question, we model the strategic behavior of customers who make repeated purchases at two competing firms: one that provides personalized recommendations and another that does not. When a customer intends to purchase a product, she obtains recommendations from the personalizing firm and uses this recommendation to eventually purchase from one of the firms. The personalizing firm profiles the customer (based on past purchases) to recommend products. Hence, if a customer purchases less frequently from the personalizing firm, the recommendations made to her become less relevant. While considering the impact on the quality of recommendations received, a customer must balance two opposing forces: (1) the lower price charged by the non-personalizing firm, and (2) an additional fit cost incurred when purchasing from the non-personalizing firm and the increased cost due to recommendations of reduced quality in...