cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling High Pressure Electric Discharges: Applications to Excimer Lasers

Low temperature plasmas as used in electric discharge devices are often transient and not uniform. As a result the properties of these plasmas are not in equilibrium with the local electric field. The modeling of the devices using such plasmas is therefore problemmatic. In this chapter the modeling of electric discharges will be discussed with respect to methods which may be employed to describe their nonequilibrium nature, and to address their multidimensional nature. Applications to high pressure excimer lasers are discussed.
Microstructural preservation and the effects of diagenesis on the carbon and oxygen isotope composition of Late Cretaceous aragonitic mollusks from the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Western Interior Seaway

The carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of calcium carbonate shells are widely accepted and applied proxies for tracking changes in paleoenvironmental conditions such as temperature, salinity and productivity. In order to accurately interpret isotopic measurements, diagenetic alteration must first be assessed. The occurrence of aragonitic shells is often taken as a first order sign of unaltered material because aragonite at the Earth9s surface is metastable and converts to calcite. However, even specimens that retain an aragonitic composition and are macroscopically well preserved often exhibit subtle to considerable signs of alteration when shell microstructure is examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To determine the textural and isotopic effects of progressive alteration on differing types of shell microstructure, we undertook a comparative study of aragonitic shells from two regions frequently used in paleoenvironmental reconstructions and diagenetic studies – the Upper Cretaceous of the Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) and the Western Interior Seaway (WIS). Because the GCP is within a passive margin setting and the WIS has experienced tectonic processes, we also evaluate how diagenetic history affects isotopic composition. Visually well-preserved ammonite, bivalve, and gastropod shells were collected from one locality in the GCP and examined using SEM. To evaluate microstructural preservation, we used a previously published scale based on WIS specimens for nacreous shell material and a complementary scale we developed for crossed lamellar microstructure. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of specimens across the preservational scale from both regions were analyzed. Isotopic composition does not change systematically with degrading preservation in the GCP specimens, a result that contrasts strongly with patterns in WIS specimens where isotopic composition systematically decreases with decreasing microstructural preservation. Dissimilar tectonic regimes that led to unique post-depositional conditions for each region are invoked to explain this difference. The WIS was a foreland basin subjected to significant meteoritic groundwater flow driven by active uplift, while the GCP was a passive margin that has remained close to sea level, with low hydraulic potential, since the time of deposition. Thus, during diagenesis the WIS shells were exposed to fluids that differed greatly from the seawater in which the organisms grew, whereas diagenetic fluids in GCP settings likely were similar to marine waters. As expected, shells with the best-preserved microstructure provide the most consistently reliable isotopic data for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, but our comparisons show that similar degrees of microstructural alteration can express very different diagenetic shifts in isotopic values.
Oncogenic Mutations Differentially Affect Bax Monomer, Dimer, and Oligomeric Pore Formation in the Membrane

Dysfunction of Bax, a pro-apoptotic regulator of cellular metabolism is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. We have constructed the first atomistic models of the Bax oligomeric pore consisting with experimental residue-residue distances. The models are stable, capturing well double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy measurements and provide structural details in line with the DEER data. Comparison with the latest experimental results revealed that our models agree well with both Bax and Bak pores, pointed to a converged structural arrangement for Bax and Bak pore formation. Using multi-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we probed mutational effects on Bax transformation from monomer → dimer → membrane pore formation at atomic resolution. We observe that two cancer-related mutations, G40E and S118I, allosterically destabilize the monomer and stabilize an off-pathway swapped dimer, preventing productive pore formation. This observation suggests a mechanism whereby the mutations may work mainly by over-stabilizing the monomer → dimer transformation toward an unproductive off-pathway swapped-dimer state. Our observations point to misfolded Bax states, shedding light on the molecular mechanism of Bax mutation-elicited cancer. Most importantly, the structure of the Bax pore facilitates future study of releases cytochrome C in atomic detail.
Abstract P127: Improving Door-to-Balloon Time: How an Academic Teaching Hospital System Addressed the D2B Initiative

Objectives: To outline how an academic teaching hospital system addressed the ACC D2B: An Alliance for Quality (D2B Alliance) initiative and improved adherence to the < 90 minute performance measure. Methods: Data on D2B performance were gathered beginning in 2006 through 2009. In total there were 230 STEMI presentations. All times were adjudicated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services via chart review. Over the course of the study there were a total of six interventions made in an attempt to improve guideline adherence. They were, in order; (1) single-pager system, (2) addition of a third member to the cardiac cath lab (CCL) team, (3) concurrent review of all STEMI cases, (4) securing a dedicated space to do ECGs in the ED, (5) requiring an ECG for all patients presenting to the ED with “pain from waist to ear” and (6) activation of the CCL team at the time of EMS STEMI call to the ED. Data were analyzed using the univariate Cochran-Armitage trend test to establish an overall linear trend and also condensed by intervention and compared in a pair-wise fashion. Results: The < 90 minute adherence rate was 36.8% (7 of 19) at the beginning of the study and improved to 90.0% (18 of 20) by the conclusion. In overall univariate analysis, as well as when grouped by intervention, there was a significant increasing linear trend of meeting the < 90 minute goal over time (p<0.0001 and p<0.0001 respectively). Pair-wise comparisons revealed that increasing the size of the CCL team, the use of concurrent review, a dedicated room for ECGs in the ED, broad indications for ECGs and activation of the CCL team at the time of EMS call to the ED had the biggest impact on improving < 90 minute performance (Bonferonni adjusted p=0.0313, 0.0015, 0.0007 and 0.0009 respectively). Conclusions: Adherence to guidelines recommending primary angioplasty for STEMI in less than 90 minutes from patient arrival significantly improved over the course of the study. Multiple system-wide interventions were made during that time but those with the greatest impact included increasing the size of the CCL team from 2 to 3, ongoing real-time review of all STEMI cases, ensuring space for rapid performance of ECGs in the ED, broad indications for ordering ECGs in the ED and early activation of the CCL team.
Evaluation of Clinical Text Segmentation to Facilitate Cohort Retrieval

Objective: Secondary use of electronic health record (EHR) data is enabled by accurate and complete retrieval of the relevant patient cohort, which requires searching both structured and unstructured data. Clinical text poses difficulties to searching, although chart notes incorporate structure that may facilitate accurate retrieval. Methods: We developed rules identifying clinical document sections, which can be indexed in search engines that allow faceted searches, such as Lucene or Essie, an NLM search engine. We developed 22 clinical cohorts and two queries for each cohort, one utilizing section headings and the other searching the whole document. We manually evaluated a subset of retrieved documents to compare query performance. Results: Querying by section had lower recall than whole-document queries (0.83 vs 0.95), higher precision (0.73 vs 0.54), and higher F1 (0.78 vs 0.69). Conclusion: This evaluation suggests that searching specific sections may improve precision under certain conditions and often with loss of recall.
A secure environment for untrusted helper applications confining the Wily Hacker

Many popular programs, such as Netscape, use untrusted helper applications to process data from the network. Unfortunately, the unauthenticated network data they interpret could well have been created by an adversary, and the helper applications are usually too complex to be bug-free. This raises significant security concerns. Therefore, it is desirable to create a secure environment to contain untrusted helper applications. We propose to reduce the risk of a security breach by restricting the program's access to the operating system. In particular, we intercept and filter dangerous system calls via the Solaris process tracing facility. This enabled us to build a simple, clean, user-mode implementation of a secure environment for untrusted helper applications. Our implementation has negligible performance impact, and can protect pre-existing applications.
Joseph Agassi from Metaphysics to Politics

Joseph Agassi’s defense of speculation and of metaphysics is the result his overall conception of philosophy and his epistemological stance. Philosophy for Agassi is the “merciless” search for principles which invariably ends in the central tenant of critical rationalism: “we are all in error.” Critical rationalism is the relentless search for truth through the testing of ideas. Philosophy thus conceptualized can abide neither Karl Popper’s fideism nor Wittgenstein’s mysticism as both delimit rationality, resulting in a kind of pseudo-rationalism. Because rationality must be relentless, it seeks ideas from all sources and tests them, including the metaphysical.
Buried in Plain Sight: Jane Austen's Gothic Critique of Interiority in Mansfield Park and Persuasion

Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1818) famously satirizes the excesses of gothic fiction while revealing a patriarchal oppression all the more dangerous because of its subtlety. Although later novel...
David Oliver: What's wrong with acute "zero day admissions"?

Emergency admissions in England now cost around £13.7bn, around 10% of the entire NHS budget, the National Audit Office (NAO) has reported.12 In 2016-17, 5.8 million people were acutely admitted to hospital: emergency admissions have risen by around 2% a year since 2013-14 despite considerable efforts to reduce them. Some 79% of that increase was in patients who did not stay overnight, the NAO reported. These patients were admitted and discharged on the same day, without needing to be transferred to an overnight ward, and are often referred to as “zero day admissions.” They increased by 27% from 2013-14 to …
Diabetes in Special Populations

Major depressive disorders and depressive symptoms not only occur frequently with diabetes, but in many patients, mental health symptoms and even depression go unrecognized or incorrectly diagnosed [1]. Even among those that undergo successful treatment, close to 80% will experience relapsing symptoms within 5 years. Diabetic patients at higher risk for depression include those of female gender, poor social support system, lower education, low socioeconomic status, and unmarried status. Clinical research has revealed that having type-2 diabetes increases the risk of depression and depression is an independent risk and predictive factor for the quantity and severity of type-2 diabetes complications. Depression early in life also increases the risk for unhealthy lifestyle, obesity, sedentary existence, and addictive habits – especially smoking. In addition, patients with depression and type-2 diabetes are far more likely to be non-compliant with medications, glucose self monitoring, and therapeutic life style changes [1].
Carbonic Acid Eluent Ion Chromatography

Alkali metals, amines and alkanolamines are separated on a poly(butadiene)-maleic acid on silica stationary phase using a carbonic acid (H2CO3*) eluent with and without a mineral acid. The H2CO3* eluent is prepared in situ by high pressure permeative introduction of gaseous CO2 through thin membranes supported upon a porous steel disk. The permeation flux and thus the eluent concentration is controlled by varying the applied CO2 pressure. This novel frit-supported membrane device tolerates much higher liquid and gas pressures than Teflon AF capillaries, permitting [H2CO3*] exceeding 0.53 M and attaining a pH of 3.3. Silicone was presently preferred over Teflon AF, both as planar membranes, as mechanical properties of the latter change as large amounts of CO2 dissolve in it. After separation, the CO2 can be efficiently removed via another gas permeable membrane device permitting detection of the eluting bicarbonate salt conductometrically in a background of nearly pure water. Most analytes are more sensiti...
Assessment of mercury mobilization potential in Upper St. Lawrence River riparian wetlands under new water level regulation management

Abstract Mercury is a contaminant of concern in freshwater ecosystems. Riparian wetlands in the Upper St. Lawrence River (USLR) are dominated by monotypic (Typha spp.) marshes due to water level management since 1958. A new management plan will make water levels more closely resemble natural fluctuations and restore riparian wetland biodiversity by eroding some existing marshes. If Typha abundance is reduced there is potential for Hg, from legacy atmospheric deposition, contained in hydric soils to become mobilized into the food web. To evaluate this potential, the capacity of sixteen USLR wetlands to support Hg-methylating microbes was determined by quantifying total Hg, C, N, S, P and organic matter content in conjunction with genomic analysis in hydric soils from four riparian wetland types: barrier beaches, drowned river mouths, protected embayments, and open embayments. Drowned river mouth hydric soils contained significantly (p
Epidemiology of Critical Illness in Children

This chapter defines the scope of pediatric critical illness. To understand the impact of ethical dilemmas among our patients, it is necessary to describe the patients being affected. Death among children has changed from a common reality, to a rare event. Within the United States, the mortality rate among children fell from 100 in 1000 births in 1900, down to 5.9 deaths among 1000 births in 2015. Within the PICU setting, mortality rates average among 2–3%. However, while deaths are few, these patients frequently have chronic medical conditions which make decision-making quite complicated. Children are increasing more technology dependent. When children do die, it is frequently requiring parental decisions upon withdrawal of that technology. The ethical issues that arise from PICU settings are increasingly around the chronically ill ICU patient that has arisen from advancements in modern medicine.
Graphene and Its Derivatives as Biosensing Platform for Healthcare Applications

Abstract In recent years, graphene and its derivatives have attracted immense interest in the scientific community for exploring possible applications in biomedical, diagnosis, and prognosis of diseases. The intriguing properties of graphene such as large specific area, abundant surface functional groups for choice of immobilizing different biomolecules, high chemical stability, remarkable electronic and optical properties, high conductivity, high electron mobility, and possibility of making thin films with transparency make it a potential candidate for next-generation sensing materials. In this chapter, we present an overview of current advancements in the use of graphene-based materials as sensing platforms for detection of various biomarkers exclusively for health-care applications. Specifically, we focus on the progress of research based on usage of various types of biomarkers, that is, genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, and glycomic as receptors or ligand molecules that are considered to decorate or modify the surfaces of graphene and its derivatives. We also discuss the underlying molecular mechanisms and bioconjugation methodologies including various detection schemes for highly sensitive and selective detection of these biomarkers, along with the challenges and future perspectives in this rapidly developing field.
Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Locating Potential ET Communication Networks in Space

There have been periodic efforts in recent decades to search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), especially by trying to find an extraterrestrial (ET) radio signal or other technosignature in space. Yet, no such technosignatures have been found. Considering the vastness of space, finding such technosignatures has been described as trying to find a needle in a cosmic haystack. To help resolve this, two hypotheses are proposed to aid SETI researchers in narrowing the search for ET technosignatures, based on a network analysis approach to locate where in space potential ET communication networks would most likely be. A potential ET communication network can use exoplanets as communication access points (e.g., placing a communication satellite into planetary orbit, or an antenna on a planetary surface). The approach uses a topology where exoplanets are represented as nodes, and the lines of average distance (generalized communication paths) between adjacent exoplanets are represented as edges; the nodes and edges form local and wide planetary networks. Using the approach and data visualization on exoplanet databases can highlight locations of potential ET communication networks in space. The first hypothesis posits that an ET technosignature would more likely appear in a potentially habitable solar system containing a high concentration of planets, wherein the planets function as communication access points to facilitate a potential ET communication network. The second hypothesis posits that an ET technosignature would more likely appear in a highly concentrated cluster of potentially habitable solar systems. Contributions to the SETI field can be increased accuracy in finding ET technosignatures, increased accuracy in reaching a Schelling point (a mutual realization of how we and an ET intelligence can find each other), and promoting interdisciplinary SETI research.
Making Future Researchers: Internship Opportunities for Physics Students

While the majority of students that pursue a physics education learn mostly in a classroom setting, hands-on experiences can take their appreciation of physics to the next level. Summer internships offer just that, hands-on learning experiences and a taste of what a career in physics is really like. Many research-oriented institutions offer summer internship experiences for students at all levels, from high school through graduate school. The experience and connections made during these summer programs can be transformative to a student’s career and science identity.
US toddler milk sales and associations with marketing practices.

Objective: Extensive marketing of ‘toddler milks’ (sugar-sweetened milk-based drinks for toddlers) promotes unsubstantiated product benefits and raises concerns about consumption by young children. The present study documents trends in US toddler milk sales and assesses relationships with brand and category marketing. Design: We report annual US toddler milk and infant formula sales and marketing from 2006 to 2015. Sales response models estimate associations between marketing (television advertising spending, product price, number of retail displays) and volume sales of toddler milks by brand and category. Setting: US Nielsen retail scanner sales and advertising spending data from 2006 to 2015. Participants: Researchers analysed all Universal Product Codes ( n 117·4 million) sold by seven infant formula and eight toddler milk brands from 2006 to 2015. Results: Advertising spending on toddler milks increased fourfold during this 10-year period and volume sales increased 2·6 times. In contrast, advertising spending and volume sales of infant formulas declined. Toddler milk volume sales were positively associated with television advertising and retail displays, and negatively associated with price, at both the brand and category levels. Conclusions: Aggressive marketing of toddler milks has likely contributed to rapid sales increases in the USA. However, these sugar-sweetened drinks are not recommended for toddler consumption. Health-care providers, professional organizations and public health campaigns should provide clear guidance and educate parents to reduce toddler milk consumption and address misperceptions about their benefits. These findings also support the need to regulate marketing of toddler milks in countries that prohibit infant formula marketing to consumers.
Risk Factors for Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury in Surgical Critical Care Patients.

BACKGROUND Hospital-acquired pressure injuries disproportionately affect critical care patients. Although risk factors such as moisture, illness severity, and inadequate perfusion have been recognized, nursing skin assessment data remain unexamined in relation to the risk for hospital-acquired pressure injuries. OBJECTIVE To identify factors associated with hospital-acquired pressure injuries among surgical critical care patients. The specific aim was to analyze data obtained from routine nursing skin assessments alongside other potential risk factors identified in the literature. METHODS This retrospective cohort study included 5101 surgical critical care patients at a level I trauma center and academic medical center. Multivariate logistic regression using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method identified important predictors with parsimonious representation. Use of specialty pressure redistribution beds was included in the model as a known predictive factor because specialty beds are a common preventive intervention. RESULTS Independent risk factors identified by logistic regression were skin irritation (rash or diffuse, nonlocalized redness) (odds ratio, 1.788; 95% CI, 1.404-2.274; P < .001), minimum Braden Scale score (odds ratio, 0.858; 95% CI, 0.818-0.899; P < .001), and duration of intensive care unit stay before the hospital-acquired pressure injury developed (odds ratio, 1.003; 95% CI, 1.003-1.004; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The strongest predictor was irritated skin, a potentially modifiable risk factor. Irritated skin should be treated and closely monitored, and the cause should be eliminated to allow the skin to heal.
Detecting Task-Dependent Functional Connectivity in Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation with Person-Specific Hemodynamic Response Functions.

Introduction: Group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME) has proven to be a reliable data-driven method to arrive at functional connectivity maps that represent associations between brain re...
A developmental framework linking neurogenesis and circuit formation in the Drosophila CNS

Abstract The mechanisms specifying neuronal diversity are well-characterized, yet it remains unclear how or if these mechanisms regulate neural circuit assembly. To address this, we mapped the developmental origin of 160 interneurons from seven bilateral neural progenitors (neuroblasts), and identify them in a synapse-scale TEM reconstruction of the Drosophila larval CNS. We find that lineages concurrently build the sensory and motor neuropils by generating sensory and motor hemilineages in a Notch-dependent manner. Neurons in a hemilineage share common synaptic targeting within the neuropil, which is further refined based on neuronal temporal identity. Connectome analysis shows that hemilineage-temporal cohorts share common connectivity. Finally, we show that proximity alone cannot explain the observed connectivity structure, suggesting hemilineage/temporal identity confers an added layer of specificity. Thus, we demonstrate that the mechanisms specifying neuronal diversity also govern circuit formation and function, and that these principles are broadly applicable throughout the nervous system.
Aberrant levels of cortical myelin distinguish individuals with depressive disorders from healthy controls.

The association between depressive disorders and measures reflecting myelin content is underexplored, despite growing evidence of associations with white matter tract integrity. We characterized the T1w/T2w ratio using the Glasser atlas in 39 UD and 47 HC participants (ages = 19-44, 75% female). A logistic elastic net regularized regression with nested cross-validation and a subsequent linear discriminant analysis conducted on held-out samples were used to select brain regions and classify patients vs. healthy controls (HC). True-label model performance was compared against permuted-label model performance. The T1w/T2w ratio distinguished patients from HC with 68% accuracy (p < 0.001; sensitivity = 63.8%, specificity = 71.5%). Brain regions contributing to this classification performance were located in the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, extended visual, and auditory cortices, and showed statistically significant differences in the T1w/T2w ratio for patients vs. HC. As the T1w/T2w ratio is thought to characterize cortical myelin, patterns of cortical myelin in these regions may be a biomarker distinguishing individuals with depressive disorders from HC.
Identification and Quantitation of Brominated Fire Retardants

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of water and sediment samples for semivolatile brominated fire retardants was conducted. Four brominated fire retardants were identified and quantitated. Sample analysis included solvent extraction followed by gas-liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (GLC-MS) and thin-layer chromatography/scanning spectrodensitometry (TLC-SD). The fire retardants decabromobiphenyl ether (DBBE) and tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (tris) presented special analytical problems related to their very low volatility and thermal instability, respectively. More than one analytical method was developed for some of the fire retardants under investigation. For most brominated compounds gas-liquid chromatography/electron capture detector (GLC-ECD) was the most sensitive method. Tris required a very short [0.2 cm inside diameter by 42 cm long, 2 percent OV-101 on Chromosorb W(HP)] column to avoid extensive thermal degradation, and decabromobiphenyl ether could not be readily analyzed by GLC-ECD due to the very high temperature at which it must be chromatographed and GLC-MS or TLC was used for its quantitation with GLC-MS confirmation of identity. The very low volatility of DBBE required the use of a short [0.2 cm inside diameter by 42 cm long, 2 percent OV-101 on Chromosorb W(HP)] column. The GLC-MS methods for DBBE are also applicable to 2,2-bis(dibromo-4-hydroxy-phenyl)propane (Tetrabromobisphenol A, TBBA) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE, Firemaster 680). Samples from the vicinity of manufacturing sites were examined. The analytical procedures employed and representative samples of qualitative and quantitative data from these samples will be presented.
The growth of government spending and the money supply

Purpose – Using quarterly data for a sample of 17 industrial countries, the purpose of this paper is to study asymmetry in the face of monetary shocks compared to government spending shocks.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines demand and supply channels determining the asymmetric effects of monetary and fiscal policies. The time‐series model is presented and an analysis of the difference in the asymmetric effects of monetary and fiscal shocks within countries is presented. There then follows an investigation of the relevance of demand and supply conditions to the asymmetric effects of monetary and fiscal shocks. The implications of asymmetry are contrasted across countries.Findings – Fluctuations in real output growth, price inflation, wage inflation, and real wage growth vary with respect to anticipated and unanticipated shifts to the money supply, government spending, and the energy price. The asymmetric flexibility of prices appears a major factor in differentiating the expansionary and con...
Euler solutions to nonlinear acoustics of non-lifting rotor blades

For the first time a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is used to calculate directly the high-speed impulsive (HSI) noise of a non-lifting hovering rotor blade out to a distance of over three rotor radii. In order to accurately propagate the acoustic wave in a stable and efficient manner, an implicit upwind-biased Euler method is solved on a grid with points clustered along the line of propagation. A detailed validation of the code is performed for a rectangular rotor blade at tip Mach numbers ranging from 0.88 to 0.92. The agreement with experiment is excellent at both the sonic cylinder and at 2.18 rotor radii. The agreement at 3.09 rotor radii is still very good, showing improvements over the results from the best previous method. Grid sensitivity studies indicate that with special attention to the location of the boundaries a grid with approximately 60,000 points is adequate. This results in a computational time of approximately 40 minutes on a Cray-XMP. The practicality of the method to calculate HSI noise is demonstrated by expanding the scope of the investigation to examine the rectangular blade as well as a highly swept and tapered blade over a tip Mach number range of 0.80 to 0.95. Comparisons with experimental data are excellent and the advantages of planform modifications are clearly evident. New insight is gained into the mechanisms of nonlinear propagation and the minimum distance at which a valid comparison of different rotors can be made: approximately two rotor radii from the center of rotation.
Managing fire risk onboard offshore platforms: Lessons from Piper Alpha and probabilistic assessment of risk reduction measures

The offshore oil platform Piper Alpha was destroyed in July 1988 by a catastrophic fire. The causes of the accident included a combination of technical and organizational factors. In this paper, I describe the accident, its chronology, and the dependencies involved. I then examine some of the human errors that led to the disaster and their organizational roots, such as economic pressures, the permit-to-work system, and the inadequacy of regulatory oversight in the United Kingdom at the time of the accident. Risk-reduction measures can be costly, however, and priorities must be set based on costs and benefits. To this end, I describe a probabilistic risk analysis model that can be used to assess the benefits of different fire safety measures, focusing on reinforcing the emergency water pumps.
Professional Development: What Works

This top-selling book will serve as the compass and road map to your school’s professional development journey. A comprehensive and authoritative resource you will go to again and again, this book helps guide principals, directors of professional development, school/district committees, and other leaders in creating an effective professional development program that moves ideas from knowledge to action. Topics include: Learning Communities Job-Embedded Learning Coaching Teacher Study Groups Critical Friends Lesson Study Portfolios And more! Additionally, this book features helpful case studies, useful forms and templates, sample agendas, and other invaluable resources for professional development. The second edition contains the following enhancements: Expanded coverage of job-embedded learning, which is a cost-effective way for administrators to enhance professional development with their staff More information on the theoretical grounding of professional development with applications that can be readily adapted for use in schools Updated references and figures to reflect newly published literature on the topics covered User-friendly tabs, so you can find and return to your favorite sections time after time
Selfish Operons: Horizontal Transfer May Drive the Evolution of Gene Clusters

A model is presented whereby the formation of gene clusters in bacteria is mediated by transfer of DNA within and among taxa. Bacterial operons are typically composed of genes whose products contribute to a single function. If this function is subject to weak selection or to long periods with no selection, the contributing genes may accumulate mutations and be lost by genetic drift. From a cell's perspective, once several genes are lost, the function can be restored only if all missing genes were acquired simultaneously by lateral transfer. The probability of transfer of multiple genes increases when genes are physically proximate. From a gene's perspective, horizontal transfer provides a way to escape evolutionary loss by allowing colonization of organisms lacking the encoded functions. Since organisms bearing clustered genes are more likely to act as successful donors, clustered genes would spread among bacterial genomes. The physical proximity of genes may be considered a selfish property of the operon since it affects the probability of successful horizontal transfer but may provide no physiological benefit to the host. This process predicts a mosaic structure of modern genomes in which ancestral chromosomal material is interspersed with novel, horizontally transferred operons providing peripheral metabolic functions.
Compressive Imaging via Approximate Message Passing With Image Denoising

We consider compressive imaging problems, where images are reconstructed from a reduced number of linear measurements. Our objective is to improve over existing compressive imaging algorithms in terms of both reconstruction error and runtime. To pursue our objective, we propose compressive imaging algorithms that employ the approximate message passing (AMP) framework. AMP is an iterative signal reconstruction algorithm that performs scalar denoising at each iteration; in order for AMP to reconstruct the original input signal well, a good denoiser must be used. We apply two wavelet-based image denoisers within AMP. The first denoiser is the “amplitude-scale-invariant Bayes estimator” (ABE), and the second is an adaptive Wiener filter; we call our AMP-based algorithms for compressive imaging AMP-ABE and AMP-Wiener. Numerical results show that both AMP-ABE and AMP-Wiener significantly improve over the state of the art in terms of runtime. In terms of reconstruction quality, AMP-Wiener offers lower mean-square error (MSE) than existing compressive imaging algorithms. In contrast, AMP-ABE has higher MSE, because ABE does not denoise as well as the adaptive Wiener filter.
On structural stability for semiflows

Some results on structural stability which are known to hold for flows of a compact manifold are extended to semiflows of a Banach space.
Fat taste and lipid metabolism in humans.

Abstract Dietary and body fat are essential for life. Fatty acids modulate fat detection, ingestion, digestion, absorption and elimination. Though direct effects occur throughout the body, much of this regulation stems from signals originating in the oral cavity. The predominant orosensory cue for dietary fat is textural, but accumulating electrophysiological, behavioral and clinical evidence supports olfactory and gustatory components. Orosensory stimulation with long-chain unsaturated, but possibly also saturated, fatty acids elicits an array of cephalic phase responses including release of gastric lipase, secretion of pancreatic digestive enzymes, mobilization of lipid stored in the intestine from the prior meal, pancreatic endocrine secretion and, probably indirectly, altered lipoprotein lipase activity. Combined, these processes influence postprandial lipemia. There is preliminary evidence of marked individual variability in fat “taste” with uncertain health implications. The possibility that fat taste sensitivity reflects systemic reactivity to fat warrants further evaluation.
Interstellar extinction by small-coated or uncoated graphite grains

Calculations have been made on the theoretical extinction of spherical graphite particles from 130 to 3500 nm. It is found that graphite particles of radius near 20 nm can have small (0.5 nm) coatings and still be responsible for the 220 nm peak in the interstellar extinction curve. New calculations also show that the effect of finite particle size is relatively unimportant in determining the extinction of graphite spheres at 220 nm.
Mechanical properties of undoped GaAs. II: The brittle-to-ductile transition temperature

Abstract In this second part of a series of papers on the mechanical properties of GaAs, direct determination of the brittle-to-ductile transition temperature T BDT of the same crystal as that used for compression experiments (see part I) is reported. The experimental technique employed for this purpose is four-point bend testing of pre-cracked samples at different temperatures and strain rates. It is found that, as in other semiconductors, T BDT of GaAs is sharp, and is very sensitive to and increases with the strain rate from 300 to 380 °C for the strain rate ranging from e ˙ = 1 × 10 - 6 s - 1 to e ˙ = 5 × 10 - 5 s - 1 . From the variations of T BDT with the strain rate e ˙ , the activation enthalpy Δ H d for dislocation glide in undoped GaAs was determined to be 1.36 ± 0.02 eV, a value very close to that reported for the slow β dislocations in such a crystal.
The measurement and encouragement of telephone service quality

Abstract Telephone service quality is an important but understudied aspect of industry performance in response to industry performance in response to new technological opportunities and a new regulatory environment, we must be able to measure quality over time (and across firms), evaluate the many dimensions of service quality in terms of some objective function, and develop incentive mechanisms for encouraging appropriate levels (and mixes) of service quality. Plain old telephone service is far more complicated than typical studies suggest, requiring researchers to rigorously analyse the costs and valuations of alternative quality improvements.
In Vitro Comparison of Rosamicin and Erythromycin Against Urinary Tract Pathogens

The in vitro activity of rosamicin and erythromycin was compared at various pH values against 311 strains of bacteria representing common urinary tract pathogens. Alkalinization of the media consistently and significantly increased the antibacterial activity of rosamicin against all of the organisms tested. This was also true for erythromycin except when tested against strains of Proteus . At pH 8, rosamicin was two- to sixfold more active than erythromycin against Enterobacteriaceae . The activity of both antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was very similar when tested at pH 8. Erythromycin was twice as active as rosamicin at pH 8 against group D streptococci. The activity of both antibiotics was bacteriostatic and inoculum size dependent, regardless of the organism tested or the pH of the test media. The greater activity of rosamicin against Enterobacteriaceae warrants clinical investigation.
Comparative effects of sodium dodecyl sulfate and sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin as pseudostationary phases in the electrokinetic chromatographic separation of hydrophobic compounds

Abstract An alternative approach to the separation of hydrophobic compounds by electrokinetic chromatography using a negatively charged cyclodextrin, sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD), as a pseudostationary phase is described. While the separation power of SBE-β-CD is comparable with sodium dodecyl sulfate for compounds with relatively low retention factors, a considerable improvement in resolution and small differences in selectivity were observed with this pseudostationary phase for highly hydrophobic compounds exemplified by C 5 –C 11 phenones. Moreover this approach allows electrokinetic chromatography to be performed in reversed flow mode where the pseudostationary phase elutes in the opposite direction to the electroosmotic flow, even at neutral pH and without the need for treated capillaries or addition of organic modifiers, thereby expanding the elution range.
External Influences on Hurricane Intensity. Part III: Potential Vorticity Structure

Abstract The interaction of Hurricane Elena (1985) with a baroclinic wave was reexamined using both potential vorticity (PV) and a formulation for Eliassen-Palm fluxes in cylindrical coordinates. The hurricane began to deepen rapidly as a narrow upper-level positive PV anomaly became nearly superposed over the low-level center. The intensification appeared to represent an evaporation-wind feedback activated by constructive interference of the PV anomalies. Enhanced convection associated with this process eroded the upper PV anomaly and prevented it from crossing the hurricane and reversing the intensification. The Eliassen–Palm flux divergence showed that maximum eddy activity remained in the upper troposphere prior to the reintensification. This activity was produced in part because the action of the outflow anticyclone of the hurricane contributed to synoptic-scale wave breaking. The upper-level PV anomaly that approached the center was much narrower in extent than the original synoptic-scale trough. Th...
On the decentralized control of interconnected dynamical systems

It is shown that rise fixed modes of an interconnected dynamical system under decentralized control are precisely the uncontrollable and unobservable states of the individual system components. As such, the system can be stabilized by decentralized controllers if and only if its individual system components can be stabilized. Moreover, these conditions are shown to be equivalent to the conditions for stabilizing the system using a global controller.
Group Stereotypes and Political Evaluation

Nontraditional candidates for elective office—including non-Whites, women, and homosexuals—have been rare in American politics, with the exception of a virtual explosion of nontraditional candidates in recent years. In reflection of these trends, research on political evaluation concerning nontraditional candidates has blossomed. Although significant advances have been made in our understanding of the role that gender and race play in political evaluation, we know much less about how members of other political minority groups, particularly gays and lesbians, are evaluated in electoral politics. Drawing on two experimental investigations, using highly realistic audio-visual vignettes of ostensible candidates for office, I explore how voters' responses to politically identical gay and lesbian candidates differ depending on whether their attributes are consistent or inconsistent with their respective group's stereotypes. I also investigate differences in political responses to gay and lesbian candidates as a...
On the viscosity of chain polymers

Abstract Simple considerations of the molecular-weight dependences of the intrinsic viscosity and melt viscosity of chain polymers are given.
The influence of environment, as represented by diet and air pollution, upon incidence and prevalence of wheezing illnesses in young children.

Purpose of reviewThe purpose of this review is to consider the collective influence of factors affecting recurrent wheezing in young children.Recent findingsSpecific allergen sensitization, upper respiratory infections, genetic polymorphisms and environmental factors have collectively been reported
Surface Fire Intensity Influences Simulated Crown Fire Behavior in Lodgepole Pine Forests with Recent Mountain Pine Beetle-Caused Tree Mortality

Recent bark beetle outbreaks have had a significant impact on forests throughout western North America and have generated concerns about interactions and feedbacks between beetle attacks and fire. However, research has been hindered by a lack of experimental studies and the use of fire behavior models incapable of accounting for the heterogeneous fuel complexes. We populated the Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator with data from 11 field sites to investigate the effect of mountain pine beetle (MPB)-caused tree mortality on simulated crown fire behavior across a range of surface fire intensities. Simulations addressed fire behavior during a 1- to 2-year period after the initiation of the outbreak in which some proportion of the trees have been killed but no foliage has yet fallen. The effect of MPB-caused tree mortality on simulated crown fire behavior significantly changed as a function of surface fire intensity. The largest effects of mortality on crown fire behavior occurred at moderate levels of surface fire intensity, whereas diminished effects occurred at low and high levels of surface fire intensities. Our results suggest that increased crown fire potential immediately after bark beetle infestations is dependent on the fire intensity generated by the preoutbreak surface fuels complex. FOR .S CI. 59(4):390 -399.
Deflection of atoms by a resonant standing electromagnetic wave

Deflection of an atom due to momentum transfer from a strong resonant standing electromagnetic wave is investigated theoretically in the limit of short atom-field interaction time. The translational and internal motions of the atom are treated quantum mechanically, while the field is treated classically. It is shown that momentum transfer from a standing wave to an atom proceeds at the induced or Rabi rate, rather than the spontaneous rate characteristic of radiation pressure. In a typical case, atomic deflections of order 1\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} are achieved with ${10}^{6}$ W/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ field intensity in a time less than the natural lifetime of the excited atom.
Reverse-flow zone electrophoresis. A method for determining the thyroxine-binding capacity of serum protein

Abstract A modified technique for zone electrophoresis in filter paper has been described, permitting the separation of a mixture in such a manner that the component with the slower electrophoretic mobility need not migrate in the path of the faster. Application of this reverse-flow technique to the study of thyroxine-binding by human serum proteins has overcome the artifacts due to adsorption of albumin-bound thyroxine in the globulin areas in conventional zone electrophoresis. An apparently reliable measurement of the thyroxine-binding capacity of the binding sites for thyroxine in the α-globulin has thus been obtained. In seven normal sera, this value ranged from 0.16 to 0.25 μg. thyroxine/ml. serum, with a mean of 0.19.
Fiber optic cable infrastructure and dispersion compensation for storage area networks

The fiber optic cable infrastructure currently used by many large data centers is over 10 years old, and may soon require upgrading in order to support higher-data-rate services. Legacy multimode optical fiber is typically low bandwidth, and will only support limited distances at data rates exceeding 1 Gb/s. In this article we investigate various methods for extending the distance of multimode fiber at higher data rates. This includes the tactical use of enhanced bandwidth multimode fiber, electronic dispersion compensation, and wavelength tuning control loops.