cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effect of State Capacity on the Survival of New Democratic Regimes

This paper looks at the effect of state capacity on the survival of democratic regimes that have recently transitioned from authoritarian rule. State capacity is conceived in terms of both resources at the state's disposal (government spending per capita and as a percentage of GDP) and effectiveness at implementing policy (quality of legal system and bureaucratic quality). My expectation is that higher levels of state capacity will increase both the odds and length of survival of new democratic regimes. I test this hypothesis using a Cox Proportional Hazard Model looking at new democracies in the years between 1984 and 2004. This paper contributes to the existing literature that shares the same central expection by testing the hypothesized link in a new way using some new measures.
On Guard over Italy

Italy is merely a geographical expression, Prince Metternich, the Hapsrburg Foreign Minister, often declared wishfully. When the assurance of Austrian predominance in Italy became a dominating goal of his foreign policy, he labored to organize the old states so as to keep the peninsula disunited. The politics not just of the Austrian part but of the whole restless peninsula became a perturbing subject of Hapsburg “higher state police.”
Cooperative Control of Multiple Swarms of Mobile Robots with Communication Constraints

We study the effect of limited communication range and noise on the cooperative control of a group of swarms of mobile robots using the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm. The advantage of multiple swarms is the parallel search for a common goal, in addition to the implicit parallelism built in each independent swarm. We demonstrate the method on a problem where a group of swarms searches for multiple similar minima or multiple similar objects in a given domain of the plane. The algorithm is robust with respect to limited communication range for range values of more than 20% of the characteristic size of the domain. The method is applied to the problem of swarms formations, where several swarms of mobile robots are initially dispersed over a given domain in the plane. The formation of the group of swarms breaks down when the communication range is less than half the typical size of the formation.
‘A Conference That Didn’t’: African Diaspora Studies and an episode in anthropology’s identity politics of representation:

In 1968, the Social Science Research Council of the United States established the Committee on Afro-American Societies and Cultures which lasted until 1975 and which was initially chaired by the anthropologist Sidney W Mintz. In April, 1970, the committee held a conference on ‘Continuities and Discontinuities in Afro-American Societies and Culture’ at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica. The conference occurred in the context of civil rights struggles and the prominence of the Black Power movement in the United States, the near-simultaneous rise of the Black Power movement in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and elsewhere in the Caribbean, and on the heels of protests by black and African scholars and students at the African Studies Association meetings in Montreal in 1969, and similar protests at other scholarly venues. A number of prominent white Caribbeanist anthropologists and other social scientists were invited to present papers at the Social Science Research Council conference. When bla...
An integrated stratinomic model for the genesis and concentration of “small shelly fossil”-style phosphatic microsteinkerns in not-so-exceptional conditions

Abstract Carbonate fluorapatite-filled millimeter-scale microsteinkerns are a key element of the “Small Shelly Fossil” (SSF) fauna generally associated with the late Proterozoic–Cambrian. The purported disappearance of these fossils and this style of phosphatic preservation during the Cambrian Stage 2 “Botomian extinction” has been linked to changes in ocean chemistry and/or changes to the physical environment due to the evolution of metazoans, as well to the changing role of metazoans in the marine environment. Through a qualitative meta-analysis of existing literature, we document a broader temporal distribution for SSF-style preservation than previously recognized. We examine these occurrences for common patterns of depositional conditions, and we offer a conceptual model for both the origin of the phosphatic microsteinkerns and their eventual concentration in certain sediments, based on known biogeochemical diagenetic processes of authigenic calcium fluorapatite precipitation (phosphogenesis) and subsequent concentration of phosphatic sedimentary particles. This polycyclic phosphogenic condensation (PPC) model makes predictions as to how and where this form of preservation might occur in Cambrian and non-Cambrian marine strata alike.
A solvent-free mechanochemical synthesis of polyaromatic hydrocarbon derivatives

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons are central molecules in the future of nanotechnology. However, the synthesis of these molecules is limited by their lack of solubility in solvents, especially green solvents, their ease of oxidation in solution and use of harmful reagents. Solvent-free mechanochemistry has been shown to have excellent potential for these types of molecules and should provide a much more environmentally benign approach for the synthesis of this very important class of molecules. This report details the use of mechanochemistry on an iterative strategy for the synthesis of polyaromatic hydrocarbon derivatives.
Prediction of End-Of-Season Tuber Yield and Tuber Set in Potatoes Using In-Season UAV-Based Hyperspectral Imagery and Machine Learning

Potato is the largest non-cereal food crop in the world. Timely estimation of end-of-season tuber production using in-season information can inform sustainable agricultural management decisions that increase productivity while reducing impacts on the environment. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become increasingly popular in precision agriculture due to their flexibility in data acquisition and improved spatial and spectral resolutions. In addition, compared with natural color and multispectral imagery, hyperspectral data can provide higher spectral fidelity which is important for modelling crop traits. In this study, we conducted end-of-season potato tuber yield and tuber set predictions using in-season UAV-based hyperspectral images and machine learning. Specifically, six mainstream machine learning models, i.e., ordinary least square (OLS), ridge regression, partial least square regression (PLSR), support vector regression (SVR), random forest (RF), and adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), were developed and compared across potato research plots with different irrigation rates at the University of Wisconsin Hancock Agricultural Research Station. Our results showed that the tuber set could be better predicted than the tuber yield, and using the multi-temporal hyperspectral data improved the model performance. Ridge achieved the best performance for predicting tuber yield (R2 = 0.63) while Ridge and PLSR had similar performance for predicting tuber set (R2 = 0.69). Our study demonstrated that hyperspectral imagery and machine learning have good potential to help potato growers efficiently manage their irrigation practices.
Clinical Efficacy of Tumor Treating Fields for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma

Background/aim Whether adding tumor treating fields (TTF) to the Stupp protocol increases survival for glioblastoma (GBM) patients in routine clinical care remains unknown. Patients and methods We retrospectively identified adult patients with newly diagnosed GBM (n=104) treated with the Stupp protocol or TTF at our Institution. Results Thirty-six percent (37/104) of patients received TTF in conjunction with the Stupp protocol and these patients had increased 6-month (p=0.006) and 1-year (p=0.170), but not 2-year survival rates compared to the 67-patients who received Stupp alone. The improvement of survival rate at 6-month was further confirmed by a modified Poisson model (p=0.010). However, we did not observe any improvement in overall survival (OS) with a Cox model. Conclusion While adding TTF to the Stupp protocol appeared to benefit patients with newly diagnosed GBM, this effect was mild and may be largely due to selection bias.
Constructing multilingua franca scales: Translingual practices of Black African immigrants in Johannesburg

Using notions of scale and space, this study explores how Black African immigrants (BAIs) experience communication and negotiate, shape and reshape their social identities through language use in Johannesburg (South Africa) – a city characterised not only by complex multilingualism but also by quotidian violence. Drawing from qualitative interviews and group discussions, an analysis of BAIs’ metalinguistic discourses on their communicative practices as they move across spaces suggests that they view Johannesburg as a layered space characterised by dissimilar scales of interaction. Utilising negotiation strategies predicated on variegated scales, BAIs make space for home and host nation language varieties using forms that function as ‘multilingua francas,’ thereby resisting and unsettling the dominant local scales based on regimented ethnolinguistic boundaries.
Mixing and Matching Loop Strategies: By Value or By Index?

Increasingly, languages used in computing curricula offer abstract constructs that permit list iteration by value, in addition to the traditional access by index. Given this option, this study explores the loop constructs students choose when solving a problem. We asked students from introductory programming courses to write solutions to two tasks that require iteration through array or list objects, analyzing their responses and noting coding constructs that indicate a loop-by-value strategy or a loop-by-index strategy. Consistent with previous accounts, we find that students may employ a strategy based on their experience and the required task. However, they often implement the strategy using code elements that are inconsistent with the chosen strategy, including referencing the index when a reference to the value at the location of the index is required. Some inconsistencies, such as the use of misleading variable names, do not affect program execution but often coincide with other inconsistencies that produce incorrect code. We recommend that instructors provide explicit scaffolding for the sequential introduction of iterative constructs. We note that a discussion of when each type of loop is typically used may be insufficient and suggest reinforcing habits for maintaining and checking consistency of looping strategies.
More Than a Logo: Branding Viewpoints from City Managers Leading to Testable Propositions

In the realm of local government, private sector practices that once seemed taboo such as branding are increasingly employed within public administration. This study utilizes surveys and interviews...
Getting It Right Isn’t Enough: The Appellate Court’s Role in Procedural Justice

Extensive research has shown that adherence to procedural-justice principles leads to a greater sense of an authority’s legitimacy. In courts, adherence to procedural-justice principles leads to greater compliance with court orders, greater cooperation with courts, and higher overall approval for the court system. This Article applies the lessons of procedural justice to the appellate courts. The Article first reviews public-opinion data about the courts, finding that a generally diminished trust in institutions includes the courts. The Article then reviews the research showing that the application of procedural-justice principles leads to a greater sense of court legitimacy. From that basis, the Article recommends several steps appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, should take to improve perceptions of fairness.
Posing Creative Problems: A Study of Elementary Students’ Mathematics Understanding

Posing problems in the mathematics classroom can enhance students’ learning experiences and allow them to produce problems in a realistic context. Students do not always associate positive feelings with mathematics. Problem-posing activities can positively impact students’ mathematical understanding while allowing for freedom of expression. Conducted within a larger multi-year study (N = 35), the present study utilized a subset of data (n = 11) on elementary students. The primary focus was to understand how a problem-posing intervention can increase students’ mathematical understanding and ability to pose solvable problems. Problems posed by students were coded based on their solvability and then were further analyzed for their realism, context, and flexibility in computational terminology as well as the correct alignment of the word problem with the student’s written equation. Results suggest elementary students can create solvable word problems within a variety of different contexts.
A Discrete Formulation of Two Alternative Forced Choice Decision Dynamics Derived from a Double-Well Quantum Landscape

Tools from quantum theory have been effectively leveraged in modeling otherwise poorly understood effects in decision-making such as apparent fallacies in probability judgments and context effects. This approach has described the dynamics of two alternative forced choice (2AFC) decisions in terms of the path of a single quantum particle evolving in a single potential well. Here, we present a variant on that approach, which we name the Multi-Particle and Multi-Well (MPMW) quantum cognitive framework, in which decisions among N alternatives are treated by the sum of positional measurements of many independent quantum particles representing stimulus information, acted on by an N-well landscape that defines the decision alternatives. In this article, we apply the MPMW model to the simplest and most common case of N-alternative decision making, 2AFC dynamics. This application calls for a multi-particle double-well implementation, which allows us to construct a simple, analytically tractable discrete drift diffusion model (DDM), in the form of a Markov chain, wherein the parameters of the attractor wells reflect bottom-up (automatic) and top-down (control-dependent) influences on the integration of external information. We first analyze this Markov chain in its simplest form, as a single integrator with a generative process arising from a static quantum landscape and fixed thresholds, and then consider the case of multi-integrator processing under the same conditions. Within this system, stochasticity arises directly from the double-well quantum attractor landscape as a function of the dimensions of its wells, rather than as an external parameter requiring independent fitting. The simplicity of the Markov chain component of this model allows for easy analytical computation of closed forms for response time distributions and response probabilities that match qualitative properties of the accuracies and reaction times of humans performing 2AFC tasks. The MPMW framework produces response time distributions following inverse gaussian curves familiar from previous DDM models and empirical data, including the common observation that mean response times are faster for incorrect than for correct responses. The work presented in this paper serves as a proof of concept, based on which the MPMW framework can be extended to address more complex decision-making processes, (e.g., N-alternative forced choice, dynamic control allocation, and nesting quantum landscapes to allow for modeling at both the task and stimulus levels of processing) that we discuss as future directions.
The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection

Introduction 1. Stubborn attachment, bodily subjection 2. Circuits and bad conscience 3. Subjection, resistance, resignification 4. 'Conscience doth make subjects of us all' 5. Melancholy gender/refused identification keeping it moving 6. Psychic inceptions Notes Index.
Target- and System-based Strategies for Drug Discovery

This chapter illustrates the different strategies for drug discovery. There is evidence to suggest that, while more drugs are being discovered, there is no commensurate increase in the number of novel treatments for disease. A major approach to discovery is target-based, whereby a single biological target is identified (and validated) as a primary cause of disease. Ligands that produce a defined action at the target are therefore expected to alleviate the disease in the therapeutic situation. Recombinant systems are the main tools of target-based approaches. Biological targets may consist of single entity proteins, complexes of receptors, or receptors plus accessory proteins. Mixtures of gene products can produce unique phenotypic biological targets. An alternative approach involves testing of new drug entities on whole cell systems and measuring effects on integrated cellular pathways. Favorable phenotypic responses are identified with this approach, which may better produce alteration of multicomponent disease processes. An added complexity, but one that may better predict therapeutic activity, is the testing of drugs in assays with different contexts. Testing in vivo can further produce therapeutic model systems. Certain multicomponent disease conditions can be adequately modeled only in vivo. The ultimate model is the human in the clinical situation. Translational medicine with noninvasive imaging techniques and biomarkers now are able to furnish valuable information that can be used in the initial discovery process to produce better-defined drugs. In addition to complex biological targets, complex chemical targets can be used to produce therapeutically useful phenotypic responses.
Improved Conflict-Clause Minimization Leads to Improved Propositional Proof Traces

Recent empirical results show that recursive, or expensive, conflict-clause minimization is quite beneficial on industrial-style propositional satisfiability problems. The details of this procedure appear to be unpublished to date, but may be found in the open-source code of MiniSat 2.0, for example. Biere reports that proof traces are made more complicated when conflict-clause minimization is used because some clauses need to be resolved upon multiple times during the minimization procedure as found in MiniSat 2.0. Biere proposes a proof-trace format in which the set of clause numbers needed for a certain derivation is given, but their order is not specified. This paper presents a new procedure for conflict-clause minimization that is slightly more efficient and, more importantly, discovers a correct order so that each clause used for the derivation is resolved upon only once. This permits the proof trace to specify the order in which to use the clauses, greatly reducing the burden on software that processes the proof trace. The method is validated on the unsatisfiable formulas used for industrial benchmarks in the verified-unsatisfiable track of the SAT 2007 competition.
Robot-Assisted Radical Nephroureterectomy

Radical nephroureterectomy with formal bladder cuff excision was first proposed in 1933 by Kimball and Ferris (J Urol 31: 257, 1933) for the treatment of papillomatous tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter. This approach has become standard of care for upper urinary tract neoplasms as many of these tumors are characterized by multifocality, high ipsilateral recurrence rates after partial resection, and low (<5%) incidence of contralateral disease. In 1991, Clayman et al. first described a laparoscopic approach to nephroureterectomy (Clayman RV, Kavoussi LR, Figenshau RS, Chandhoke PS, Albala DM, J Laparoendosc Surg 1(6):343–349, 1991). A laparoscopic approach to upper tract neoplasm has become more prevalent with increasing evidence supporting equivalent oncologic outcomes (Bariol SV, Stewart GD, McNeill SA, Tolley DA, J Urol 172(5):1805–1808, 2004; Muntener M, Nielsen ME, Romero FR, Schaeffer EM, Allaf ME, Brito FA, Pavlovich CP, Kavoussi LR, Jarrett TW, Eur Urol 51:1639–1644, 2007; Capitanio U, Shariat SF, Isbarn H, Weizer A, Remzi M, Roscigno M, Kikuchi E, Raman JD, Bolenz C, Bensalah K, Koppie TM, Kassouf W, Fernandez MI, Strobel P, Wheat J, Zigeuner R, Langner C, Waldert M, Oya M, Guo CC, Ng C, Montorsi F, Wood CG, Margulis V, Karakieweicz PI, Eur Urol 56(1):1–9, 2009; Waldert M, Remzi M, Klinger HC, Mueller L, Marberger M, BJU Int 103(1):66–70, 2009; Berger A, Haber GP, Kamoi K, Aron M, Desai MM, Kauok JH, Gill IS, J Urol 180(3):849–854, 2008; Kawauchi A, Fujito A, Ukimura O, Yoneda K, Mizutani Y, Miki T, J Urol 169(3):890–894, 2003; Stifelman MD, Hyman MJ, Shichman S, Sosa RE, J Endourol 15(4):391–395, 2001; McNeill SA, Chrisofos M, Tolley DA, BJU Int 86(6):619–623, 2000) and a faster convalescence (Stifelman MD, Hyman MJ, Shichman S, Sosa RE, J Endourol 15(4):391–395, 2001; Gill IS, Sung GT, Hobart MG, Savage SJ, Meraney AM, Schweizer DK, Klein EA, Novick AC, J Urol 164(5):1513–1522, 2000; Shalhav AL, Dunn MD, Portis AJ, Elbahnasy AM, McDougall EM, Clayman RV, J Urol 163(4):1100–1104, 2000) as compared to open surgery. More recently, robot-assisted radical nephroureterectomy (RARNU) has been described as an alternative to laparoscopic nephroureterectomy. RARNU offers the potential advantages of improved surgeon efficiency in suturing, ergonomics, and ease of bladder reconstruction after bladder cuff excision without compromise to oncologic efficacy (Park SY, Jeong W, Ham WS, Kim WT, Tha KH, BJU Int 104:June 10(11):1718–1721, 2009; Park SY, Jeong W, Choi YD, Chung BH, Hong SJ, Rha KH, Yonsei Med J 49(6):897–900, 2008; Eun D, Bhandari A, Boris R, Rogers C, Bhandari M, Menon M, BJU Int 100(5):1121–1125, 2007). In this chapter we describe the technique of robot-assisted laparoscopic nephroureterectomy.
Hurricane Sandy warm‐core structure observed from advanced Technology Microwave Sounder

[1] The warm-core structures of Hurricane Sandy and other nine tropical cyclones (TCs) are studied using the temperatures retrieved from Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). A new algorithm is developed for the retrieval of atmospheric temperature profiles from the ATMS radiances. Since ATMS observation has a higher spatial resolution and better coverage than its predecessor, Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A, the retrieved temperature field explicitly resolves TC warm core throughout troposphere and depicts the cold temperature anomalies in the eyewall and spiral rainbands. Unlike a typical TC, the height of maximum warm core of Hurricane Sandy is very low, but the storm size is quite large. Based on the analysis of 10 TCs in 2012, close correlations are found between ATMS-derived warm core and the TC maximum sustained wind (MSW) or minimum sea level pressure (MSLP). The estimation errors of MSW and MSLP from ATMS-retrieved warm core are 13.5 mph and 13.1 hPa, respectively.
Coronal mass ejection recurrence studies indicating global activity and local suppression

The distribution of time intervals between successive coronal mass ejection events observed from the SMM and Skylab coronagraphs has been analyzed. Histograms of such recurrence times show that mass ejections tend to cluster in periods of activity. Evidence is found for simultaneous activity on a global scale. A second result is that, statistically, limb regions within + or - 59 deg position angle of a mass ejection show a marked absence of subsequent observable ejections for approximately 10 h. Flares of importance greater than or equal to 1 show no such deficit; however, large disparitons brusques tend similarly to be suppressed, for 24 h. This result, together with the closer association of mass ejection with eruptive prominences rather than with flares and the realization that eruptive prominences are rarely if ever seen without an accompanying mass ejection, obviates suggestions that magnetohydrodynamic conditions in the outflow following the earlier mass ejection hide subsequent coronal events.
Screening unlabeled DNA targets with randomly ordered fiber-optic gene arrays.

We have developed a randomly ordered fiber-optic gene array for rapid, parallel detection of unlabeled DNA targets with surface immobilized molecular beacons (MB) that undergo a conformational change accompanied by a fluorescence change in the presence of a complementary DNA target. Microarrays are prepared by randomly distributing MB-functionalized 3-μm diameter microspheres in an array of wells etched in a 500-μm diameter optical imaging fiber. Using several MBs, each designed to recognize a different target, we demonstrate the selective detection of genomic cystic fibrosis related targets. Positional registration and fluorescence response monitoring of the microspheres was performed using an optical encoding scheme and an imaging fluorescence microscope system.
Prospects for Ukrainian ferrous metals in the post-soviet period

Two specialists on the mineral industries of the countries of the former USSR survey current problems confronting producers of ferrous metals in Ukraine and future prospects for domestic production and exports. A series of observations documenting the importance of ferrous metals production to Ukraine's economy is followed by sections describing investment plans and needs in the sector, and the role played by Ukraine within the iron and steel industry of the Soviet Union. The focus then turns to assessment of the current regional and global competitive position of Ukrainian producers for each of the major commodities of the sector–iron ore, manganese ore, ferroalloys, steel, and the products of the machine manufacturing and metal working industries. In conclusion, the paper discusses a potential regional industrial integration strategy analogous to that employed in the United States' Great Lakes/Midwest region, which possesses similar types of iron ore deposits and similar transport cost advantages and me...
Laser damage thresholds of thin film optical coatings at 248 nm

We have measured the laser-induced damage thresholds for 248 nm wavelength light of over 100 optical coatings from commercial vendors and research institutions. All samples were irradiated once per damage site with temporally multi-lobed, 20-ns pulses generated by a KrF laser. The survey included high, partial, and dichroic reflectors, anti-reflective coatings, and single layer films. The samples were supplied by ten vendors. The majority of samples tested were high reflectors and antireflective coatings. The highest damage thresholds were 8.5 to 9.4 J/cm/sup 2/, respectively. Although these represent extremes of what has been tested so far, several vendors have produced coatings of both types with thresholds which consistently exceed 6 J/cm/sup 2/. Repeated irradiations of some sites were made on a few samples. These yielded no degradation in threshold, but in fact some improvement in damage resistance. These same samples also exhibited no change in threshold after being retested seven months later.
Telecommunication and the Japanese Empire: A Preliminary Analysis of Telegraphic Traffic

Telekommunikation und das japanische Kaiserreich: Eine vorl?u fige Analyse des telegraphischen Verkehrs?. The study of information flow has been under-developed in telecommunications history in part due to the paucity of traffic data. Interestingly Imperial Japan has left a remarkably large collec tion of telecommunication traffic data, perhaps unmatched by other imperial powers. Given the enormous importance Japan placed on its telecommunica tions network at home and in East Asia, it is only appropriate to ask how it was used and what kind of information went through it. As a preliminary analysis of the traffic data in the Japanese empire over its fifty-year history, my paper examines the content, volume, and direction of information flows as well as the underlying economic, political, and technological factors. Such an analysis can
Approximate Range-Sum Queries over Data Cubes Using Cosine Transform

In this research, we propose to use the discrete cosine transform to approximate the cumulative distributions of data cube cells' values. The cosine transform is known to have a good energy compaction property and thus can approximate data distribution functions easily with small number of coefficients. The derived estimator is accurate and easy to update. We perform experiments to compare its performance with a well-known technique - the (Haar) wavelet. The experimental results show that the cosine transform performs much better than the wavelet in estimation accuracy, speed, space efficiency, and update easiness.
The influence of MoOx gap states on hole injection from aluminum doped zinc oxide with nanoscale MoOx surface layer anodes for organic light emitting diodes

The effective workfunction of Al doped ZnO films (AZO) increased from 4.1 eV to 5.55 eV after surface modification with nanoscale molybdenum sub-oxides (MoOx). Hole only devices with anodes consisting of 3 nm of MoOx on AZO exhibited a lower turn-on voltage (1.5 vs 1.8 V), and larger charge injection (190 vs 118 mA/cm2) at the reference voltage, compared to indium tin oxide (ITO). AZO devices with 10 nm of MoOx exhibited the highest workfunction but performed poorly compared to devices with 3 nm of MoOx, or standard ITO. Ultraviolet photoelectron, X-ray photoelectron, and optical spectroscopies indicate that the 3 nm MoOx films are more reduced and farther away from MoO3 stoichiometry than their 10 nm equivalents. The vacancies associated with non-stoichiometry result in donor-like gap states which we assign to partially occupied Mo 4d levels. We propose that Fowler-Nordheim tunneling from these levels is responsible for the reduction in threshold voltage measured in devices with 3 nm of MoOx. A schematic...
Evaluation of large scale building energy efficiency retrofit program in Kuwait

Abstract In this paper, an overview of the Kuwaiti energy sector characteristics is presented to include its generating capacity as well as its end-use consumption over the last two decades. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the total and end-use energy consumption attributed to various building types is provided. The paper presents the specific regulations of the building energy conservation code of practice using its original version of 1983 and its revised version of 2010. The code enforcement mechanism is also outlined. Based on a detailed review of the reported literature, the potential energy savings opportunities and their cost-effectiveness for Kuwaiti buildings are discussed. Using a comprehensive review for reported analyses, the paper summarizes the economical and environmental benefits of improving energy efficiency for both new and retrofitted buildings in Kuwait. It is found that the 2010 revised version of the energy conservation code of practice can provide an additional 23% savings compared to the original version of the code developed and implemented in 1983. The implementation of an energy efficiency program to achieve the energy savings level set by 2010 energy conservation code of practice can achieve. It is found that without a gradual reduction of energy subsidies, the establishment of a mandatory energy efficiency retrofit program in Kuwaiti through implementation of basic energy efficiency measures and improved operating strategies for the existing building stock can provide significant economical and environmental benefits to Kuwait as well as the creation of significant job opportunities.
Sonography of Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus Associated With HCC

Portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) is a complication of liver disease, specifically hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It occurs secondary to direct invasion of tumor into the portal venous system. PVTT is associated with a poor prognosis, therefore identification and differentiation of malignant from benign thrombus is very important in the treatment of the patient. Sonography can be a useful tool in the detection of malignant thrombus.
Storage and Handling Can Alter the Mineralization Characteristics of Manure

In vitro incubations of manure-amended soil are frequently used to evaluate manure N and C availability. Manures are typically frozen, refrigerated, or dried prior to analysis. An experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of these manure storage methods on C and N mineralization characteristics. Two dairy slurries were collected and seven treatments, fresh, frozen (4 or 5 wk), refrigerated (1 d, 1 wk, 4 wk), freeze-dried or oven-dried, were compared. Rates and extents of N and C mineralization were determined by aerobic incubation of slurry-amended soil at 25°C. Slurry was added at a rate equivalent to 265 kg N ha -1 incorporated into the upper 15 cm of soil. The appearance of NH 4 + and NO 3 - and the production of CO 2 were monitored during 16 wk. Refrigeration or freezing had no effect on slurry N content; however, freeze drying and oven drying resulted in N losses of 30% or more. CO 2 -C production followed first-order kinetics during 9 wk for all treatments with approximately 18 to 26% of the slurry C mineralized. Net mineralization of organic N was minimal in all treatments and was not affected by freezing or refrigerating the slurries. With oven-dried and freeze-dried slurries, however, there was a greater immobilization of N when compared with fresh manure. Results indicate that oven drying and freeze drying are unsuitable methods of storage, but the mineralization characteristics of manure are not affected by refrigeration or freezing.
Is the American Public Ready to Embrace DNA as a Crime-Fighting Tool? A Survey Assessing Support for DNA Databases:

States began passing legislation mandating the collection of genetic material from certain convicted offenders in 1988. By 1998, all 50 states had passed laws allowing DNA databases for convicted s...
Speeding Up Video Processing for Blastocyst Microinjection

This paper describes machine vision techniques that provide fast visual feedback for an automatic blastocyst microinjection system. The goals of the vision processing were to locate and track both the blastocysts and manipulation pipettes within the images and throughout the microinjection process. This was successfully accomplished using Hough transforms and cross-correlation template matching. Emphasis here is placed on a detailed description of the techniques applied to the algorithm to speed-up the matching and to enable real-time visual feedback. These techniques allowed the algorithm to be, on average, 857 times faster than the original algorithm. This converts into a 99.88% reduction in the template matching processing time.
Online Strategizing Distributed Renewable Energy Resource Access in Islanded Microgrids

The smart grid, perceived as the next generation power grid, uses two-way flow of electricity and information to create a widely distributed automated energy delivery network. By grouping distributed renewable energy generations and loads, a microgrid, which is seen as one of the cornerstones of the future smart grids, can disconnect from the macrogrid and function autonomously. This intentional islanding of generations and loads has the potential to provide a higher local reliability than that provided by the power system as a whole. One of the fundamental issues for a user in an islanded microgrid is how to find the one among the distributed renewable energy resources (DRERs) in a microgrid, which can supply the power most efficiently, effectively and reliably, as its power supply source. This problem is difficult since the power pattern of renewable resources, such as wind and solar, is variable and generally speaking is not easy to accurately predict. In order to solve this problem, we first propose a distributed DRER discovery approach to discover all the available DRERs within a microgrid. Furthermore, based on the online machine learning theory, we propose two distributed algorithms according to the information the user can obtain, in order to compute a good DRER access strategy, with no assumption on what distribution the power patterns of the DRERs follow. We prove that when the time horizon is sufficiently large, on average the upper bound on the gap between the expected profit obtained at each time slot by using the global optimal strategy and that by using our algorithms is arbitrarily small.
Rheological study of starch and dairy ingredient-based food systems

Abstract An oscillatory probe rheometer was used to measure the basic rheological properties of food model systems consisting of starch–water, starch–protein, starch–sugar, and starch–sugar–protein mixtures. The mixtures were heated to 85 °C, and the rheological properties of the mixtures were measured during the cooling phase. The independence of complex modulus ( G * ) on frequency of oscillation indicated that the starch and water system produced stronger gels than systems containing WPI due to its inactive filler. During the cooling, G ′ of starch–WPI (1:0.3) gels decreased but started to increase at warm temperature due to the effect of hydrophobic bonds. The addition of sucrose to the starch system lowered G ′ at 85 °C. During the cooling, G ′ of starch–sucrose gels increased, due to the effect of hydrogen bonds. Replacement of 50% sucrose with lactose caused different cooling processes due to the different sugar. Addition of WPI to the starch and sucrose system decreased G ′ at 85 °C. During the cooling, G ′ increased due to the effects of hydrophobic and hydrogen bonds. Substitution of 50% WPI with egg white protein did not change this, which might be beneficial in increasing elastic modulus and the rigid structure of bakery products during the later stage of baking and during cooling. In a pancake, addition of whey protein concentrate decreased the G ′ , probably due to the limit of available water for gelatinization of starch and gelation of proteins.
Technically Speaking: On Equipping and Evaluating “Unnatural” Language Learners

ABSTRACT This article compares different communicative trials for apes in captivity and children with autism in order to investigate how ideological assumptions about linguistic agency and impairment are constructed and challenged in practice. To the extent that Euro-American techniques of “unnatural” language instruction developed during the Cold War era have been successful, it is because communicative interactions are broken down into basic components, and would-be language learners are equipped with materials, devices, and habits that make up for their distinct bio/social deficits. Such linguistic equipment can present a challenge to the ideological presumption of a subject inherently gifted with the rudiments of talk, that is, the human as naturally speaking. However, this ideology can reassert itself if the active contribution of unnatural language learners to their technoscientific trials is downplayed. In order to counter this tendency, I propose that speech acts be reimagined as part of a more encompassing semiotic ensemble. [language development, semiotics, materiality, posthumanism, linguistic ideology]
Rapid occurrence of nodular cutaneous T-lymphocyte infiltrates with cyclosporine therapy.

• Cyclosporine, a potent immunosuppressive agent, has been successfully used in the treatment of several dermatologic conditions including psoriasis. However, the drug does have an array of toxic side effects that need to be carefully considered when determining the risk-benefit ratio for the treatment of skin disease. We present another potential adverse effect of cyclosporine, namely, a benign lymphocytic infiltrate. This eruption developed in a patient with psoriasis after only ten days of cyclosporine therapy. The exact mechanism by which cyclosporine induced the lymphocytic infiltrate is unknown, but it is postulated that cyclosporine caused an imbalance of T-cell regulatory systems, thus resulting in an expanded T-cell subpopulation and the clinical manifestation of erythematous papules and nodules. (Arch Dermatol1988;124:1097-1100)
Preliminary report on corneal incisions created by a hydrogen fluoride laser.

We created corneal incisions in eye bank eyes with a pulsed hydrogen fluoride infrared laser. This laser was selected because its emission spectrum (2.7 to 3.0 μm) closely corresponds to the absorption peak of water in the infrared region. Short pulses (200 nsec) of hydrogen fluoride laser light focused with a cylindrical lens resulting in radiant exposures of 1.3 J/cm 2 at the corneal surface created linear cuts in the cornea with minimal thermal damage adjacent to the incision, suggesting that the pulsed hydrogen fluoride laser may be useful for corneal surgery.
If quanta had logic

Hilary Putnam' has recently proposed that a reconception of the logic embodied in quantum theory permits a consistent, realistic interpretation of the quantum formalism. Putnam also argues that the adoption of a quantum logic eliminates the paradoxes of measurement in quantum theory. If he is correct, then a great deal of what has been written about the interpretation of quantum mechanics and the epistemology of logic is wrong. Our aims are to provide a formal semantic framework for Putnam's proposals, to investigate alternative ways of realizing his program, and to come to some tentative conclusions concerning the promise and significance of the enterprise.
Differentiability of the minimal average action as a function of the rotation number

Let\(\bar f\) be a finite composition of exact twist diffeomorphisms. For any real number ω, letA(ω) denote the minimal average action of\(\bar f\)-invariant measures with angular rotation number ω. We prove thatA(ω) is differentiable at every irrational number ω and that for generic\(\bar f\) it is not differentiable at rational ω, thus verifying conjectures of S. Aubry. Moreover, we show that these results are valid for a variational principleh which satisfies the condition which we have called elsewhere (H). As a consequence, we generalize a result due to Bangert concerning geodesics on a two dimensional torus with an arbitrary, but sufficiently smooth metric.
Biological imaging with 4D ultrafast electron microscopy

Advances in the imaging of biological structures with transmission electron microscopy continue to reveal information at the nanometer length scale and below. The images obtained are static, i.e., time-averaged over seconds, and the weak contrast is usually enhanced through sophisticated specimen preparation techniques and/or improvements in electron optics and methodologies. Here we report the application of the technique of photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM) to imaging of biological specimens with femtosecond (fs) temporal resolution. In PINEM, the biological structure is exposed to single-electron packets and simultaneously irradiated with fs laser pulses that are coincident with the electron pulses in space and time. By electron energy-filtering those electrons that gained photon energies, the contrast is enhanced only at the surface of the structures involved. This method is demonstrated here in imaging of protein vesicles and whole cells of Escherichia coli, both are not absorbing the photon energy, and both are of low-Z contrast. It is also shown that the spatial location of contrast enhancement can be controlled via laser polarization, time resolution, and tomographic tilting. The high-magnification PINEM imaging provides the nanometer scale and the fs temporal resolution. The potential of applications is discussed and includes the study of antibodies and immunolabeling within the cell.
Religious Preference and Practice: Reevaluating Their Impact on Political Tolerance

ALTHOUGH surveys conducted in the 1960s and 70s have produced evidence of the public's increasing political tolerance, some scholars have questioned those findings and the methods that produced them. At the same time, visible political action by religious groups and their leaders has created renewed interest in the connections between religious beliefs and practice on the one hand and political beliefs and actions on the other. These two areas of study-political tolerance and religion-are not unrelated. Political tolerance has long been linked to religion, but that linkage has been defined only vaguely. We explore the relationship, examining both religious denomination and church attendance as correlates of political tolerance. This investigation differs from prior studies in looking at political tolerance within rather precise denominational groups and by evaluating the effects of church attendance within denominations. Our findings shed light on the nature and sources of political tolerance, while also suggesting
Evaluation of HVAC system operational strategies for commercial buildings

The inherent limitation in the performance of building envelope components and heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment necessitates examination of operational strategies for improvements in the energy-efficient operation of buildings. Because of the ease of installation and increasing capabilities of electronic controllers, operational strategies that could be programmed with these controllers are of particular interest. The objectives are concerned with the examination of various operational strategies applied to older- and newer-type commercial office buildings utilizing constant-air-volume-reheat and variable-air-volume-reheat HVAC systems, respectively. The operational strategies are night purge (NP), fan optimum start and stop (OSS), condenser water reset (CWR) and chilled water reset (CHWR). The indoor air quality requirements are met and the latest applicable energy rates from local utility companies are used for Des Moines, Iowa. The results show that, in general, NP is not an effective strategy in buildings with low thermal mass storage, OSS reduces fan energy, and CWR and CHWR could be effective for chillers with multi-stage unloading characteristics. The most energy-efficient operational strategies are the combination of OSS, CWR, and CHWR for the older-type building, and OSS for the newer-type building. Economically, the most effective is the OSS strategy for the older-type building and the CHWR strategy for the newer-type building.
Characterization of a thick CoCr perpendicular medium for a merged MR head

Abstract We have been studying a single-layer CoCr perpendicular medium with a thickness of 100–700 nm, using a merged MR head designed for longitudinal recording. The Co 78 Cr 22 medium shows good linearity in its output dependence on the MR bias current. The output is 50% larger than that for a longitudinal medium. A maximum D 50 value of 100 kFCI was obtained for a medium with an optimum thickness of 300 nm. The medium noise increases with the medium thickness, whereas the output saturates at 300 nm. The thick medium has two demerits: large write demagnetization and a high level of medium noise. Increasing the Cr content of the CoCr medium from 22 to 28 at% significantly reduces these two problems. Cr-rich perpendicular media with thicknesses of over 100 nm are expected to replace longitudinal media in hard disk drives in the near future.
Oxygen desaturation in term infants in car safety seats.

The need for a period of observation of infants born prematurely to monitor for oxygen desaturation, apnea, or bradycardia when positioned semireclined in car safety seats has been well established.1–3 Whether otherwise healthy term infants are at risk for similar episodes while positioned in car safety seats, however, has not been fully determined and warrants additional investigation. A recent study, published in this journal in which 50 term infants were monitored documented that when properly positioned semireclined in rear-facing car safety seats, the mean oxygen saturation levels declined significantly from 97% to 94% after 60 minutes.4 Also, 8% of these term infants had oxygen saturation values of <90% for longer than 20 minutes. A previous report of a series of selected term infants with preexisting health conditions believed to place them at risk for potential oxygen desaturation documented that 28.6% of those infants demonstrated oxygen saturations <90% when tested in their car safety seat for … Address correspondence to Joel L. Bass, MD, Newton Wellesley Hospital, 2014 Washington St (Six North), Newton, MA 02462. E-mail: jbass{at}partners.org