cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ingroup, Outgroup, and Global-Human Identities of Turkish-Armenians

Abstract This study was an examination of the ingroup (Armenian), outgroup (Turkish), and global-human identities of Turkish-Armenians, a relatively inaccessible and politically sensitive minority in Turkey. Age, gender, nature and level of education, and involvement in Armenian ethnic organizations were explored as covariates of the three social identities. A convenience sample of 70 Turkish-Armenians participated in the study. A questionnaire was administered in Turkish. The results showed that men, older Armenians, and those who attended Armenian schools scored higher on ingroup (Armenian) identity than did women, younger Armenians, and those who attended Turkish schools, respectively. The younger generation and those who attended Turkish schools scored higher on outgroup (Turkish) identity, indicating possible acculturation, as well as on global-human identity, indicating a move away from parochialism. Ingroup and outgroup identities tended to be negatively related, showing some polarity. Global-human...
Identification and correction of analog-to-digital-converter nonlinearities and their implications for differential absorption lidar measurements

Differential absorption lidar (DIAL) is a powerful remote-sensing technique widely used to probe the spatial and temporal distribution of ozone and other gaseous atmospheric trace constituents. Although conceptually simple, the DIAL technique presents many challenging and often subtle technical difficulties that can limit its useful range and accuracy. One potentially serious source of error for many DIAL experiments is nonlinearity in the analog-to-digital converters used to capture lidar return signals. The impact of digitizer nonlinearity on DIAL measurements is examined, and a simple and inexpensive low-frequency dithering technique that significantly reduces the effects of ADC nonlinearity in DIAL and other applications in which the signal is repetitively averaged is described.
A Home Visit

I know that chart. It's the thick one that screams of too many years and problems at the clinic. It has numerous papers falling out because the holes are torn from use. I already know the name that...
Modeling fountain flow and filling front shape in reaction injection molding

A numerical model of the reaction injection molding process was developed to test front shape and flow approximations employed in previous models. The model was two-dimensional and simulated the flow, reaction, and heat transfer in the typically long axial dimension and the typically small thickness dimension of a mold. The filling front shape and the velocity profiles in the filling fluid were determined by numerical solution of the momentum equation with the appropriate stress boundary conditions using the method of Patankar (1980). The predicted temperature and conversion results agreed with calculations assuming that the front was flat perpendicular to the flow and that a parabolic velocity profile existed behind the fountain flow region at the front. Thus, simple assumptions about front shape and velocity in the thin dimension of a reaction injection mold can be employed without significant loss of accuracy in modeling reaction injection molding.
Problem of reptile play: Environmental enrichment and play behavior in a captive Nile soft‐shelled turtle, Trionyx triunguis

Giving captive animals the opportunity to interact with objects in a “playful” manner is often considered a method of environmental enrichment. However, the occurrence of play in nonavian reptiles is controversial and poorly documented. Similarly, the role of environmental enrichment in fostering psychological well-being in reptiles has been little studied. For several years, an adult, long-term captive, Nile soft-shelled turtle, Trionyx triunguis, at the National Zoo (Washington, D.C.), was provided objects such as balls, sticks, and hoses in an attempt to reduce self-mutilation behavior. The turtle spent considerable time with the objects, and the level of self-mutilation behavior decreased greatly over many months. Video recordings made in various contexts were analyzed in detail, and an ethogram of this turtle's behavior was developed. The turtle interacted with the objects (e.g., basketball, hose, stick) for 20.7% of the time it was observed and was active for 67.7% of the time. Both figures are unusually high for any animal, especially a turtle. The relative lack of play in ectothermic reptiles is supported by the surplus resource theory of play, which considers the joint effects of parental care, metabolism, endothermy, and arousal in providing the context in which playfulness could be manifested and promoted in vertebrate evolution. The existence of vigorous playlike behavior in a member of an ancient reptilian lineage indicates that, in the right circumstances, object play can be performed by reptiles and that having the opportunity to do so may be beneficial in captivity. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Controlling cancer pain.

More than a third of patients undergoing therapy for cancer and 60% to 90% of those with advanced malignancy report significant pain. Effective analgesic therapy is available, yet large segments of this population—in particular, elderly patients in nursing homes, minorities, and women—receive inadequate palliative therapy.
Ocular involvement in patients infected by the West Nile virus

West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne RNA virus for which there is no treatment, began emerging as a threat to health in the United States in 1999. Since then, its frequency and apparent clinical severity have increased. Patients with severe disease may experience ocular complications that include pain, vitreous inflammation, nonrelapsing chorioretinitis, retinal vasculitis, chorioretinal scarring, optic neuritis, and retinal hemorrhages. Age appears to be a risk factor for the development of ocular symptoms. Most patients with ocular involvement report floaters or decreased vision. Many ocular inflammatory conditions with an associated underlying systemic cause often present with chorioretinitis. However, the characteristic distribution and linear array or scattered pattern of the chorioretinal lesions seen in WNV is distinctive. The foregoing notwithstanding, other multifocal choroidopathies must be considered including syphilis, ocular histoplasmosis, multifocal choroiditis, tuberculosis, and sarcoid. Although topical steroids were reported to resolve WNV-induced uveitis and its associated keratic precipitates, most cases resolved irrespective of treatment, and relapses were uncommon. It is important for the eye care professional to be alert to the possible presence of WNV, particularly in older patients who present with ocular symptoms during mosquito season. Thus, a thorough ocular evaluation should include a dilated fundus examination and, when indicated, fluorescein angiography should be performed in patients suspected of being infected with WNV.
The Mullins effect in equibiaxial extension and its influence on the inflation of a balloon

It is a common practice to manually stretch a toy balloon several times prior to inflation. This preconditioning reduces the pressure required to fully inflate the balloon, and thus eases the task of inflation. The reduction in pressure required to inflate the balloon is mainly a result of the Mullins effect. The Mullins effect, also known as stress softening, refers to a change in material behavior resulting from prior deformation. The results of cyclic inflation experiments performed with latex rubber balloons are presented. Some interesting aspects of the inflation behavior are noted, and the effect of preconditioning on the inflation behavior is quantified. The balloons are modeled as incompressible, spherical membranes which undergo an equibiaxial extension during inflation. This model is used to calculate the stress-strain behavior of the balloon material in an equibiaxial extension. We generalize a constitutive equation for the Mullins effect in uniaxial extension, first proposed by Johnson and Beatty [1], to an equibiaxial extensional deformation. We are able to make certain predictions about the results of our balloon inflation experiments without specification of the two functions which comprise the constitutive equation. Our method of interpretation of experimental results from the balloon inflation tests is similar to the method in [1] for the small transverse vibration of a stretched rubber cord. Finally, we demonstrate that the equibiaxial extensional deformation of an isotropic, incompressible material is kinematically equivalent to the uniaxial compression of that material. The results of our balloon inflation experiments are used to calculate the stress softening behavior of latex rubber in uniaxial compression. The calculated behavior indicates that latex rubber does indeed stress soften in uniaxial compression. This observation confirms the early experimental findings of Mullins [2], but contradicts the analytical predictions of Lee and Williams [3].
Applications of digital topology in medical three-dimensional imaging

Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) digital images of human internal structures, generated by a variety of imaging devices, are currently used routinely in day-to-day patient care. Which such images have been used mainly in a two-dimensional slice-by-slice form, the processes of 3D visualization, manipulation, and analysis based on object and boundary information derivedfrom these images are considered to improve patient care and to contribute to medical research. In this paper, we examine some of the topological issues related to these processes. We describe the approaches taken and the algorithms developed to define objects and their boundaries and point out some open areas which can benefit from contributions from topologists.
Ultrafast exciton dynamics in colloidal aluminum phosphide nanocrystals

Abstract The primary exciton dynamics of colloidal indirect bandgap AlP nanocrystals are characterized with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. A 400-nm excitation results in a high yield formation of an emissive exciton with a ∼1-ns lifetime and a 50-nm bandwidth red-shifted emission. Multi-wavelength target analysis is used to decompose the measured signals into sequential and parallel models, which interpret the measured data as an emissive exciton with a 1.2-ns decay time and a dark exciton which is attributed to surface trapping. Reconstructed nonlinear absorption spectra resolve a broad optical gain persisting for >1 ns. The 15% emission yield demonstrates that colloidal AlP nanocrystals are useful as a potential broadband, high efficiency optoelectronics material.
Criminology confronts genocide: whose side are you on?

It took criminology a long time to address some of its most important topics, for example, white-collar crime. It took criminology even longer to confront its more deadly neglected topics, namely genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Criminologists will first have to engage more fully and embrace the topic of genocide as also being among its own subject areas to develop. As criminologists venture forth into the territories of mass atrocity, they incur the inevitable scholarly risks of traveling to new intellectual locations. The significance in international criminal law of such verbalizations as evidence of genocidal intent is recognized in the Rwandan Akayesu (United Nations, 1998) and Bosnian Jelisi (United Nations, 1999) cases. Criminology should not wait to confront genocide in the full depth and breadth of all its scholarly, legal, and moral dimensions.
In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer at North Shore University Hospital: Initial experiences

No technical difficulties were encountered in visualizing follicles and obtaining aspirates at laparoscopy. At least one oocyte was aspirated in 90% of these women. While the majority of eggs inseminated subsequently cleaved (73%), no pregnancies occurred despite seemingly atraumatic embryo transfer in nearly all women. As two pronuclei were visualized in the majority of cases, one cannot invoke polyspermy as a cause of failure of subsequent embryo development; nor is it possible at this time to segregate those abnormalities in the egg, at the time of oocyte retrieval, from those encountered by normal preimplantation embryos in an abnormal uterine environment, perhaps secondary to hormonal aberrations coincident with gonadotropin stimulus.
History and Method of Charles V. Gerkin’s Pastoral Theology: Toward an Identity-Embodied and Community-Embedded Pastoral Theology, Part I. History

The purpose of this article is to explore the legacy of Charles V. Gerkin’s pastoral theology and to construct a method of pastoral theology. In Part I, I will trace within a larger context of pastoral theology the history of Gerkin’s pastoral theology since his early clinical praxis. In Part II, I will explore his method of developing pastoral theology and construct a renewed critical and constructive method of pastoral theology, reflecting on the implications of exploring the history and method of his pastoral theology.
MECHANISTIC CHANGES IN THE CONVERSION OF ETHYLENE TO ETHYLIDYNE ON TRANSITION METALS INDUCED BY CHANGES IN SURFACE COVERAGES

The thermal chemistry of trideuterioethylene on Pt(111) surfaces was characterized by reflection−absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). The vibrational data indicate that thermal activation of a saturated layer of adsorbed ethylene by heating the surface to 350 K produces surface ethylidyne species with an isotopic composition of about 45% perdeuterioethylidyne and 55% dideuterioethylidyne. The hydrogen TPD data confirm that result, and also highlight the fact that the proportion of hydrogen-to-deuterium elimination from the original ethylene molecules changes with initial coverage. To explain these observations a previously proposed three-step mechanism is used where ethylene first isomerizes to ethylidene and ethylidene then either isomerizes back to ethylene or dehydrogenates to ethylidyne. The changes in hydrogen isotope removal probability with coverage are explained by changes in the relative rates between the latter two steps because of the fact that t...
Effects of Cortisol on Amino Acids in Skeletal Muscle and Plasma

Effects of cortisol administration on concentrations of free amino acids and other ninhydrin reacting substances (NRS) were determined in plasma of fasted mice and skeletal muscle of fasted and nonfasted mice by column chromatography. The following amino acids were found: alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, glutamine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. Cystine and cysteine were absent and traces of phenylalanine and tyrosine were present. Non-amino acid NRS found included carnosine, glycerophosphoethanolamine, phosphoethanolamine, phosphoserine, taurine and urea. Taurine accounted for more than half the total NRS. Administration of cortisol appeared to result in increased concentration of virtually all amino acids and urea in both fasted and nonfasted animals. In the fed group, the difference between the sums of amino acids present was significant. Cortisol injection also increased plasma amino acids but to a lesser ...
Identification and Quantitation of Bacillus globigii Using Metal Enhanced Electrochemical Detection and Capillary Biosensor

Presented herein are two detection strategies for the identification and quantification of Bacillus globigii, a spore forming nonpathogenic simulant of Bacillus anthracis. The first strategy involves a label-free, metal-enhanced electrochemical immunosensor for the quantitative detection of Bacillus globigii (atrophaeus). The immunosensor comprises of antibacillus globigii (BG) antibody self-assembled onto a gold quartz crystal electrode via cystamine bond. A solid-phase monolayer of silver underpotentially deposited onto the cystamine modified-Au-electrode surface is used as the redox probe. The monolayer was also generated by adsorbing silver nanoparticles on the gold electrode. When the antibody-modified electrode is exposed to BG spores, the antibody−antigen (Ab-Ag) complex formed insulated the electrode surface toward the silver redox probe. The variation of redox current was found to be proportional to the concentration of the BG spores between 1 × 102−3.5 × 104 spores/mL. A detection limit of 602 s...
Barrier immunity and IL-17

CD4+ TH17 cells display a featured role in barrier immunity. This effector population of T cells is important for clearance of microorganisms but can also promote autoimmunity at barrier sites. Recent work has indicated that these effector cells share a pathway with CD4+ regulatory T cells (TR cells) that also have a critical function in barrier protection and immune regulation. The development and function of TH17 cells, and their relationship with TR cells are discussed.
A Heuristic Procedure for Leasing Channels in Telecommunications Networks

Rapid advances in computing and communications technology have made distributed computing an attractive alternative for geographically dispersed organizations. A telecommunication sub-network forms the backbone of these distributed systems. In general, this paper focuses on the assignment of communication channel capacities in the presence of time variant usage patterns. Specifically, we concentrate on long-range capacity planning for organizations that construct networks by leasing communication channels from telecommunication companies. We formulate the capacity assignment problem as a 0-1 integer program that seeks to minimize total leasing cost subject to communication delay restrictions. Unlike previous models that include a single-system wide-average delay constraint, our model allows the flexibility of specifying delay restrictions by communicating node pairs. We propose an efficient heuristic, and a Lagrangian relaxation based procedure to obtain performance guarantees on the solution obtained from the heuristic.
Renal Insufficiency Associated with Gentamicin Therapy

The records of 100 consecutive patients treated with gentamicin at a university hospital were studied for evidence of nephrotoxicity due to gentamicin. Inadequate monitoring of renal function was found in 23 cases; among the remaining 71 patients who were given 77 courses of gentamicin, 32 had renal insufficiency during treatment as manifested by increases in blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine. The role of gentamicin in these instances of renal insufficiency was unclear in the majority of cases, but gentamicin was thought to be the major cause of renal failure in five cases. None of the patients died of renal failure, and in all patients the indices of renal function returned to pretreatment values after the drug was stopped. The results suggest that all patients treated with gentamicin deserve more adequate monitoring of renal function and point out the need for large scale studies to identify those patients with the greatest risk of nephrotoxicity.
Evidence for surface rupture in 1868 on the Hayward Fault in North Oakland and major rupturing in prehistoric earthquakes

WGCEP90 estimated the Hayward fault to have a high probability (0.45 in 30 yr) of producing a future M7 Bay Area earthquake. This was based on a generic recurrence time and an unverified segmentation model, because there were few direct observations for the southern fault and none for the northern Hayward fault. To better constrain recurrence and segmentation of the northern Hayward fault, we trenched in north Oakland. Unexpectedly, we observed evidence of surface rupture probably from the M7 1868 earthquake. This extends the limit of that surface rupture 13 km north of the segmentation boundary used in the WGCEP90 model and forces serious re-evaluation of the current two-segment paradigm. Although we found that major prehistoric ruptures have occurred here, we could not radiocarbon date them. However, the last major prehistoric event appears correlative with a recently recognized event 13 km to the north dated AD 1640–1776.
Late recurrence of cardiac sarcoma presenting as giant pulmonary artery aneurysm

We report the case of a 46-year-old woman who had undergone cardiac transplantation for a malignant, right ventricular sarcoma. Five years later, she experienced pulmonary hypertension and a pulmonary artery aneurysm. Medical management of the pulmonary hypertension being unsuccessful, she underwent surgical exploration of the pulmonary artery aneurysm and bilateral pulmonary endarterectomy. Intra-operative findings revealed pulmonary artery sarcoma and an unresectable pulmonary artery aneurysm.
Effects of Hydrostatic Pressure on Electron Flow in Diodes

Inclusion of the hydrostatic pressure term, with constant temperature, in the electron force equation of a diode is shown to give a way by which the effect of Boltzman's relation for a retarding field disappears as the field becomes accelerating. Thus, one equation holds from the cathode surface through the potential minimum to the anode. As a result, one may deduce the usual temperature-limited emission formula for maximum current, the space-charge-limited characteristic, and the transition region from one to the other. Some remarks on this, from the standpoint of transport theory, are included.
Graphic novels: a sure bet for your library

Purpose – Provides a comprehensive review of the significance attributed to the usefulness, practicality and appropriateness of graphic novels in the school library media center with specific implications for collection development.Design/methodology/approach – A careful review of recent literature provides the school media specialist with an overview of graphic novels including definitions, challenges, benefits, helpful resources, curricular connections and collection development issues. The sources reflect the recent trends in the increasing popularity of graphic novels and their use and benefit in school media centers.Findings – Presents information on the definitions of graphic novels and the challenges and benefits specific to the school media center. Notes that while challenges exist, the benefits of including graphic novels in the school library media center are many, including engaging reluctant readers. Offers practical information for collection development and provides useful sources that serve...
Conformational preferences of oligopeptides rich in alpha-aminoisobutyric acid. III. Design, synthesis and hydrogen bonding in 3(10)-helices.

Two sterically constrained peptides [iBoc-Aib-Aib-Aib-DkNap-Leu-Qx-Ala-Aib-Aib-Fl, (Dk4Qx6[7/9]) and iBoc-Aib-Aib-Aib-DkNap-Leu-Aib-Ala-Aib-Aib-Fl, (Dk4[7/9])] containing alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) and Aib-class amino acids in conjunction with selected mono-alpha-alkyl amino acids were synthesized by an optimized TBTU/HOBt procedure. The use of Aib-class amino acids (e.g. DkNap and Qx), defined and discussed here, gives rise to the same overwhelmingly 3(10)-helical backbone conformation as that provided by simpler Aib-rich peptides and homopeptides. The synthetic alpha,alpha-dialkylamino acids (DkNap, Qx) are aromatic homologues of the known alicyclic variants of Aib, the Ac5c and Ac6c amino acids. Two new organic solubilizing groups for peptides, iBoc and 2-methoxyethylamine, are introduced. The 1H nuclear magnetic resonance analyses of the Dk4[7/9] and Dk4Qx6[7/9] peptides demonstrate the unambiguous 3(10)-helical hydrogen bonding pattern of these peptides, confirming the design objective of these sequence patterns containing greater than 50% Aib and Aib-class composition.
Comparison of Division I and Division III intercollegiate spectators: motives and constraints

This study intended to examine the roles of motives and constraints in spectators' attendance in intercollegiate sports with team identification. Spectators in Division I and III were compared in their responses in dimensions of motives and constraints. Multiple analysis of variance was conducted to see the influence of motives and constraints on the number of games attended followed by hierarchical regression analysis to examine an interaction effects between motives and constraints. Results showed significant mean differences for dimensions of motives and constraints depending on divisions and the level of team identification. Fan attendance was found to be the result of negotiation between motives and constraints.
High Chrome Refractory Characterization: Part I. Impact of Melt Reduction/Oxidation on the Corrosion Mechanism

High Cr2O3 containing Monofrax™ K-3 is a robust refractory that is used in the fiberglass industry and used in radioactive waste glass melters worldwide. Monofrax™ K-3 is tolerant of transition metal oxides but contains highly reduced solid solutions of spinels, that is, (Mg,Fe2+)(Al,Cr)2O3. Conversely, many of the waste feeds being processed are highly oxidizing. The K-3 refractory corrosion was tested in sealed crucibles starting with slurried melter feed instead of prereacted glass called for by ASTM C621. Testing the refractory coupon during the feed-to-glass conversion exposes the refractory to the oxidizing and reducing species being released during vitrification, for example, NO3−, NO2−, CO2, CO, O2. Corrosion rates measured in highly oxidizing (high nitrate) feeds3 were ~1.8–2.8 times higher than those determined using prereacted glass or reduced feeds.4 Confirmatory corrosion rates were measured on Monofrax™ K-3 coupons immersed in oxidizing feed in a 1/100th-scale HLW pilot-scale melter. Corrosion is heterogeneous or incongruent as Ni and Fe in the waste glass exchange with Mg and Al in the refractory. An insoluble NiFe2O4 spinel corrosion product is formed that can build up a protective layer along the refractory walls or spall and settle to the melter floor depending on melt pool convection/agitation.
Paleodischarge of the late Pleistocene Bonneville Flood, Snake River, Idaho, computed from new evidence

The Bonneville Flood resulted from catastrophic outflow from Pleistocene Lake Bonneville about 15,000 yr ago, when the lake overtopped its rim at Red Rock Pass in southeastern Idaho and discharged a vast volume of water down the Snake River. This paper provides revised estimates of the paleodischarge, volume, and duration of the Bonneville Flood, based on new evidence of its height and on current understanding of the amount of lowering of Lake Bonneville. Evidence for the revised height of the flood is derived from the altitude of erosional features and flood deposits at the head of a constricted reach of the Snake River Canyon at the mouth of Sinker Creek and from the altitudes of flood deposits at several places about 53 km upstream. Using the step-backwater method, we estimate that peak discharge for the Bonneville Flood through the constricted reach was from 793,000 to 1,020,000 m 3 /s and most likely was 935,000 m 3 /s. This discharge is 2.2 times the discharge previously reported and is the second largest flood known to have occurred in the world. At this rate of discharge, the shear stress for the flood would have been 2,500 N/m 2 , and the unit stream power would have been 75,000 N/m/s, as compared with values of 6 to 10 N/m 2 and 12 N/m/s for recent floods on the Mississippi and the Amazon. Other recent studies of the history of Lake Bonneville show that the volume of water released was 4,700 km 3 , or about 3 times greater than the volume previously inferred. Although this volume indicates a flood duration of 8 weeks at constant peak discharge, an accurate estimate of the duration would require dam-break modeling at Red Rock Pass. From a dam-break model, flood hydrographs at Red Rock Pass and the hydraulics of the flood wave along the Snake River could be computed.
Explosion temperatures and pressures of metals and other elemental dust clouds

Abstract The Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a study of the explosibility of various metals and other elemental dusts, with a focus on the experimental explosion temperatures. The data are useful for understanding the basics of dust cloud combustion, as well as for evaluating explosion hazards in the minerals and metals processing industries. The dusts studied included boron, carbon, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, sulfur, titanium, chromium, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, niobium, molybdenum, tin, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, and lead. The dusts were chosen to cover a wide range of physical properties—from the more volatile materials such as magnesium, aluminum, sulfur, and zinc to the highly “refractory” elements such as carbon, niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten. These flammability studies were conducted in a 20-L chamber, using strong pyrotechnic ignitors. A unique multiwavelength infrared pyrometer was used to measure the temperatures. For the elemental dusts studied, all ignited and burned as air-dispersed dust clouds except for nickel, copper, molybdenum, and lead. The measured maximum explosion temperatures ranged from ∼1550 K for tin and tungsten powders to ∼2800 K for aluminum, magnesium, and titanium powders. The measured temperatures are compared to the calculated, adiabatic flame temperatures.
Transition, constitution-making and separation in Czechoslovakia

Cet article traite des developpements politiques en Tchecoslovaquie et dans les deux etats issus de sa scission ulterieure, entre novembre 1989 et fin 1992. Trois principaux points sont examines : l'impossibilite d'aboutir a une nouvelle constitution pour la Tchecoslovaquie, la scission du pays et l'etablissement de nouvelles constitutions dans les republiques tcheque et slovaque. L'A. refute l'idee selon laquelle l'eclatement de la federation tchecoslovaque serait comparable a celui des federations yougoslave et sovietique. Il suggere, au contraire, que l'instabilite inherente a toute federation de deux membres est la cause structurelle et que les difficultes economiques n'ont ete que les declencheurs
Spin relaxation in alkali-metal 1 Σ + g dimers

We discuss the relaxation of a spin-polarized alkali-metal vapor due to the electric-quadrupole interaction in ${}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}^{+}$ dimers, and present a model that accurately describes the measured relaxation rates under a wide variety of conditions. We use the model along with experimental results to deduce the quadrupole interaction strength, atom-dimer chemical-exchange reaction rate, and the rate of reorientation of singlet dimers due to collisions with the buffer gas.
Extracellular Adenosine Triphosphate Triggers Arrhythmias and Elemental Redistribution in Electrically Stimulated Rat Cardiac Myocytes

An increase in extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is arrhythmogenic in rat cardiac myocytes and extracellular ATP levels are elevated during cardiac ischemia. To gain insight into the mechanism by which the arrhythmic contractions are generated, we investigated changes in subcellular elemental content by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) in isolated adult rat cardiac myocytes stimulated by the ATP analog, 2-methylthio-ATP (2-M-S-ATP). We also measured the effects of 2-M-S-ATP stimulation on myocyte cell shortening. In electrically stimulated myocytes, 2-M-S-ATP stimulation generated arrhythmic contractions and also increased the amplitude of cell shortening. However, only the arrhythmic contractions were reversed by 2-M-S-ATP washout. EPMA of freeze-dried cryosections of rapidly frozen 2-M-S-ATP-stimulated myocytes showed increased cytosolic Na and Cl, decreased K, but no significant change in mitochondrial Ca upon 2-M-S-ATP stimulation. The arrhythmias were abolished upon 2-M-S-ATP washout, and the observed changes in cytosolic elemental content also reversed upon agonist washout, thus suggesting that the increased Na and Cl, and decreased K, are specifically associated with the ATP-dependent spontaneous contractile activity. The observed increase in intracellular Na upon 2-M-S-ATP stimulation may explain our observation of prolonged relaxation time of 2-M-S-ATP-stimulated contractions. This may be due to inhibition of Ca(2+) efflux via the Na(+) Ca(2+) exchanger.
Fixed nuclei two-centre problem in quantum mechanics

A special non-crossing rule for the potential curves of one-electron diatomic molecules is proved and then used to correlate united atom and separated atom states. A new technique for finding the asymptotic expansion of the electronic energy W in inverse powers of the internuclear distance R is developed and the expansion of W is found through 0(1/R6), with the coefficients expressed in terms of the nuclear charges and separated atom quantum numbers. Exponentially small corrections to the asymptotic expansion are evaluated and the g-u homonuclear and quasi-crossing heteronuclear energy splittings are discussed.
Mouse HORMAD1 Is a Meiosis I Checkpoint Protein That Modulates DNA Double-Strand Break Repair During Female Meiosis

Oocytes in embryonic ovaries enter meiosis I and arrest in the diplonema stage. Perturbations in meiosis I, such as abnormal double-strand break (DSB) formation and repair, adversely affect oocyte survival. We previously discovered that HORMAD1 is a critical component of the synaptonemal complex but not essential for oocyte survival. No significant differences were observed in the number of primordial, primary, secondary, and developing follicles between wild-type and Hormad1−/− newborn, 8-day, and 80-day ovaries. Meiosis I progression in Hormad1−/− embryonic ovaries was normal through the zygotene stage and in oocytes arrested in diplonema; however, we did not visualize oocytes with completely synapsed chromosomes. We investigated effects of HORMAD1 deficiency on the kinetics of DNA DSB formation and repair in the mouse ovary. We irradiated Embryonic Day 16.5 wild-type and Hormad1−/− ovaries and monitored DSB repair using gammaH2AX, RAD51, and DMC1 immunofluorescence. Our results showed a significant drop in unrepaired DSBs in the irradiated Hormad1−/− zygotene oocytes as compared to the wild-type oocytes. Moreover, Hormad1 deficiency rescued Dmc1−/− oocytes. These results indicate that Hormad1 deficiency promotes DMC1-independent DSB repairs, which in turn helps asynaptic Hormad1−/− oocytes resist perinatal loss.
Association between decreased CXCL12 and CCL25 expression and increased apoptosis in lymphoid tissues of cynomolgus macaques during SIV infection

Background Chemokines likely play multiple roles in HIV-1 and SIV pathogenesis. To examine potential associations between chemokine expression levels and apoptosis of cells in lymphoid tissues during SIV infection, we measured chemokine and cytokine mRNA levels in multiple lymphoid tissues compartments from uninfected and SIV-infected cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Methods Real-time RT-PCR was used to measure host mRNA levels in macaque lymphoid tissues. Proliferating or apoptotic cells were identified in lymphoid tissues by immunohistochemistry. Results We found that CXCL12 and CCL25 mRNAs in SIV-infected lymphoid tissues were decreased and their levels were negatively correlated with the numbers of proliferating and apoptotic cells. In vitro analyses revealed that CXCL12 and CCL25 were capable of reducing apoptosis induced by SIV infection. Conclusions These findings suggest that increased apoptosis in lymphoid tissues due to reduced levels of anti-apoptotic chemokines might be a mechanism that contributes to loss of immune function following pathogenic SIV infection.
A medical domain collaborative anomaly detection framework for identifying medical identity theft

Medical identity theft is a serious problem in healthcare systems around the world, especially the US healthcare system. In addition to financial losses to the patients, healthcare providers, and insurance providers, it has devastating effects on the patients healthcare services. Current mechanisms to detect medical identity theft rely on weak detection mechanisms like human operators, network anomalies, or audit. These methods have very low success rates and only identify medical identity theft cases after the fact which does little to actually stop them. In this paper, we present a novel framework that uses sophisticated anomaly detectors using disease ontologies from the medical domain, institutional anomalies, and network anomalies to detect medical identity theft. These various detectors reside with different healthcare entities and collaborate to merge their outputs into a single inference engine to determine suspected cases of medical identity theft with high efficiency. We argue that this method is very effective and cannot be circumvented by medical identity thieves using regular means because the framework leverages inherent relationship between diseases to ensure that a new request for medical care is aligned with the patients medical history. The reasoning engine decides this based on the relationships between the diseases and reasoning whether the new request is an anomaly or not. We develop the system architecture of the framework in a cloud based setting. We implement this framework as a prototype system and evaluate it analytically based on real life use cases and experimentally using performance experiments.
Randomized Sampling for Large Data Applications of SVM

A trend in machine learning is the application of existing algorithms to ever-larger datasets. Support Vector Machines (SVM) have been shown to be very effective, but have been difficult to scale to large-data problems. Some approaches have sought to scale SVM training by approximating and parallelizing the underlying quadratic optimization problem. This paper pursues a different approach. Our algorithm, which we call Sampled SVM, uses an existing SVM training algorithm to create a new SVM training algorithm. It uses randomized data sampling to better extend SVMs to large data applications. Experiments on several datasets show that our method is faster than and comparably accurate to both the original SVM algorithm it is based on and the Cascade SVM, the leading data organization approach for SVMs in the literature. Further, we show that our approach is more amenable to parallelization than Cascade SVM.
Area Fill Generation With Inherent Data Volume Reduction

Control of variability and performance in the back end of the VLSI manufacturing line has become extremely difficult with the introduction of new materials such as copper and low-k dielectrics. Uniformity of chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) requires the insertion of area fill features into the layout, in order to smoothen the variation of feature densities across the die and thus improve manufacturability. Because the size of area fill features is very small compared with the large empty layout areas that must be filled, the filling process can increase the size of a GDSII file by an order of magnitude or more. Data compression is therefore a significant issue in successful fill synthesis. In this paper, we introduce compressed fill strategies which exploit the GDSII array reference record (AREF) construct. We apply greedy and linear programming based optimization techniques, and obtain practical compressed filling solutions.
Self and Vested Interests: Predictors of Fathers' Views of Child Care

Fathers' (N = 125) attachment to their careers, perceptions of their wives' attachment to their careers, financial need to work, and gender-role attitudes were examined as predictors of their ratings of the effects of child care on children. Results supported the hypothesized model, with fathers' financial need, self-interests, and beliefs influencing their evaluations of the costs, benefits, and effects of child care. Findings were an extension of the social psychology literature on self- and vested interests, and previous related research, which examined mothers' self-interests and beliefs and their evaluations of child care. It is suggested fathers' and mothers' self- and vested interests should be considered when evaluating the effects of child care on children.
Learning algorithms and fixed dynamics

The authors discuss the equivalence of learning algorithms and nonlinear dynamic systems whose differential equations have fixed coefficients. They show how backpropagation transforms into a fixed-weight recursive neural network suitable for VLSI or optical implementations. The transformation is quite general and implies that understanding physiological networks may require one to determine the values of fixed parameters distributed throughout a network. Equivalently, a particular synaptic weight update mechanism such as Hebbian learning could likely be used to implement many known learning algorithms. The authors use the transformation process to illustrate why a network whose only variable weights are hidden-layer thresholds is capable of universal approximation. >
Efficient pnp characteristics of pMOS transistors in sub-0.13µm ESD protection circuits

An analysis of pMOS transistors in snapback conduction mode for a sub-0.13µm technology will be presented. The pMOS n-well confined behavior vs. nMOS will be discussed. It will be shown that n-well resistance control under ESD conditions is the key factor to maintaining a sufficient ballast resistance in fully silicided technologies. The snapback and breakdown behavior will be discussed with respect to both physical mechanisms and process features. New reliability issues arising from a highly performing pMOS pull up transistor will be described. Possible solutions at the process, device and circuit level will be presented to minimize these reliability concerns.
Seabed topographic classification and mapping

The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), in response to the Chief of Naval Operations' and Commandant of the Marine Corps' white papers entitled "...From the Sea" and "Forward...From the Sea", has focused its effort on providing the fleet with environmental data gleaned from the littoral ocean regions. These data support the needs of expeditionary forces engaged in joint operations to project power from the sea in the world's littoral areas. Special products to support fleet and amphibious forces have been developed and are being provided by NAVOCEANO. NAVOCEANO conducts multidisciplinary military oceanographic surveys. The office collects oceanographic, hydrographic, chemical, navigation, and acoustic data. Seabed topographic classification, composition, and load-bearing strength are essential to amphibious operations, mine burial/detection, special operations, etc. Until recently the mapping of littoral oceans bottom was laborious and sketchy. Bottom grabs, photography, divers' observations, or sidescan sonar imagery analysis were the sources of this information. These data-gathering approaches were either very accurate but labor intensive or low quality. Both approaches produced minimum coverage. Gathering dependable environmental data in the littoral seas is time dependent. The littoral regions are dynamically complex, ever-changing, NAVOCEANO's ability to respond to Naval Expeditionary Force operations in a timely manner requires a new approach to the science of seabed classification. NAVOCEANO is utilizing a data-collection and processing device to meet these requirements: RoxAnn/sup TM/, a hydro-acoustic system marketed from Scotland by Marine Micro Systems Ltd. This system has been operated from full-size oceanographic survey vessels and small hydrographic survey launches (HSLs). Once calibrated and ground-truthed, seabed topographic classification can be accomplished at normal survey speeds and without interfering with normal multidisciplinary environmental data-gathering operations. Seabed classification has entered a new era using digital technology that offers an opportunity for larger scale mapping and efficiency to respond to special tactical fleet operations.
Microfluidic assembly kit based on laser-cut building blocks for education and fast prototyping

Here, we present an inexpensive rapid-prototyping method that allows researchers and children to quickly assemble multi-layered microfluidic devices from easily pre-fabricated building blocks. We developed low-cost (<$2) kits based on laser-cut acrylic building block pieces and double-sided tape that allow users to generate water droplets in oil, capture living cells, and conduct basic phototaxis experiments. We developed and tested a 90-min lesson plan with children aged 12–14 yr and provide here the instructions for teachers to replicate these experiments and lessons. All parts of the kit are easy to make or order. We propose to use such easy to fabricate kits in labs with no access to current microfluidic tools as well as in classroom environments to get exposure to the powerful techniques of microfluidics.
A Conversation with Chief Judge Paul Michel

The Honorable Paul Michel currently serves as Chief Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit and, in that role, has overseen a period of enormous growth and change in the patent system. In this podcast, Chief Judge Michel joins moderator Doug Lichtman to talk patent reform, thinking not only about what has been accomplished in recent Supreme Court and Federal Circuit decisions, but also about what work is left ahead for Congress, the Supreme Court, the Patent Office, and the Federal Circuit itself. (Podcast available for free in the archives at ipcolloquium.com.)
Redefining Propulsion and Power Systems for the United States Navy’s 21st Century Destroyer: DDG 1000

For the past 40 years, the United States Navy has utilized a standardized machinery configuration on its surface combatant cruisers and destroyers. Large gas turbines (18.5 MW) directly coupled to a twin screw drive train and smaller gas turbine engines (2.5–3.0 MW) feeding a common electrical bus provided ships propulsion and power requirements. This consistent design approach afforded an opportunity for the Navy to hone its operational and maintenance strategies with a focus on enhancing reliability. DDG 1000 provides a unique machinery arrangement with which the Unites States Navy has minimal operational experience, with small and large Gas Turbine prime movers all producing power to an integrated power distribution network servicing both propulsion and ships service power requirements. This new all electric platform design produces some unique challenges for both the prime movers and electrical distribution. This paper explores gas turbine operating profile, reliability centered maintenance, transient engine response, power quality requirements and power distribution architecture as they apply to this new surface combatant. Comparisons will be drawn between the Navy’s legacy system applications with an emphasis on how the new ship design requires innovative support approaches. Additionally, contrasts are articulated between defined military specifications and testing requirements for legacy applications and the amorphous standards for dual spool applications.