cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A homologous series of water-soluble porphyrins and metalloporphyrins: Synthesis, dimerization, protonation and self-complexation

Abstract A homologous series of water-soluble porphyrins was prepared by reacting diamines of the type H2N(CH2)nNH2n = 2, 3, 4, 6) with protoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester. There was addition of a diamine to each vinyl group and replacement of the alcohol moiety of each ester group by a diamine. The dimerization of the porphyrins in this series in aqueous solution was studied as a function of the length of the diamine chain, ionic strength, percent of added alcohol, and temperature. Values for log Kn at 23°C, determined by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, ranged from 4.8 for the porphyrin formed with n = 6 to 6.5 for the porphyrin formed with n = 2 in 0.1 M NaCl. Protonation behavior was studied; it was found that the monocation and the dication of the monomer and of the dimer have acid dissociation constants of approximately 10-3. Copper and zinc were inserted and the aggregation of these metalloporphyrins was studied. When the pH was raised above 8 for the zinc porphyrins, spectral changes occurred which indicated that the side arms of the porphyrins were self-complexing with the metal in the middle for the porphyrins formed where n = 3, 4, 6 but not for the porphyrin formed where n = 2.
Aggregation of colloidal particles with a finite interparticle attraction energy

Aggregation of colloidal particles with a finite attraction energy was investigated with computer simulations and with gold particles coated with a surfactant. Computer simulations were carried out with the Shih-Aksay-Kikuchi (SAK) model, which incorporates a finite nearest-neighbor attraction energy -E into the diffusion-limited-cluster-aggregation (DLCA) model. Both the computer simulations and the experiments showed that (i) with a finite interparticle attraction energy, aggregates can still remain fractal, and (ii) the fractal dimension remains unchanged at large interparticle attraction energies and increases when the interparticle attraction energy is smaller than 4k~ T, where Tis the tcmperalurc and k. is the B~)ltzmann constant. The agrcemcnl between the simulations and the experimental results suggests that the reversiblc aggregation process in a colloidal system can be represented by the SAK model.
The Neurobehavioral and Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Children

impressed my parents with his wisdom and his humor. To this day, my father tells the story of how Mr. M. lifted our calculus textbook over his head with both hands and proclaimed, BThis book has got to be good, look at how heavy it is![ By that reasoning, this month_s Book Forum introduces three impressive tomes. The shortest of the three tops 500 pages; the longest hits four digits. Moreover, as with my math book, their heft is overshadowed by their breadth and depth. Bill Wood reviews Tronick_s ambitious text, The Neurobehavioral and Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Children, which attempts to integrate developmental theory with data from research studies on maternalYinfant interactions. Jane Caplan evaluates Mash and Barkley_s textbook of psychometric screening tools and Jeffrey Hunt undertakes a critique of a two-volume set affectionately referred to as the BBible[ of bipolar disorder. Read on to see whether these books are worth their weight.
Migraine and muscle contraction headaches: a continuum

SYNOPSIS There is increasing evidence that migraine and muscle contraction headaches are similar; rather than being different entities, they may vary in symptom quantities instead of having qualitative differences. Analysis of elements of the headache history in 50 consecutive idiopathic headache patients failed to show evidence for distinct headache types. Quantitation of symptoms and characteristics showed a unipolar distribution; reported pain severity was directly related to the symptom quantitation score. These two statements were true for three different history scoring systems, from the simplest (quantitation of nausea, unilaterality and aura) to the most detailed (quantitation of nausea, unilaterality, aura, photophobia, throbbing pain, headache location, family history and clustering). Headache scores were lower for patients previously diagnosed as “tension” headache patients compared to those diagnosed previously as having “migraine”. Joint occurrence of the major migraine symptoms of nausea, aura and unilaterality was by chance. These data support the headache severity model described by others, and do not support the existence of separate, distinct idiopathic headache entities.
Immunologic Characterization and Quantification of Haemoglobin A1c

Sheep antiserum developed against the human glycohaemoglobin, Hb A1c, distinguishes this fraction from the major component Hb A0. Partial cross reactivity is observed with Hb A1a and Hb A1b, as well as with analogous glycohaemoglobins from mouse and dog haemolysates. The reactivity of the haemoglobins with this specific antiserum is abolished by the reduction of the keto group of the sugar ligand. The immunological specificity displayed provides the basis of a quantitative assay for Hb A1c, suitable for studies of clinical and experimental diabetes.
THE U.S. MILITARY CHAPLAINCY, THEN AND NOW

Abstract U.S. military chaplains have engaged persons of diverse faith groups in various ways throughout American history. Before the American Revolution, chaplains tried to convert Native Americans to Christianity. As the United States military became more pluralistic and more engaged in conflicts around the world, chaplains sought to win the hearts and minds of the people in the area of operations. For example, Chaplain William D. McKennon pursued peace with Filipinos during the Spanish-American War. The major influence that brought chaplains to the platform as instructors in World Religions was the involvement of the United States in Vietnam from 1962–1973.
Alterations in auditory fusion thresholds after cerebral injury in man.

Abstract Patients with penetrating wounds of the left cerebral hemisphere have abnormal fusion thresholds for dichotically presented clicks even if tested 20 years after the trauma. At temporal separations at which normal listeners report two clicks, these patients report hearing a single click. This diminished temporal resolving power of patients with left posterior cerebral lesions is most pronounced in those who are deemed dysphasic.
Computer simulation of an industrial parallelogram robot with mechanical compliance

A computer simulation is performed on an industrial parallelogram type six-axis robot (the GMF S215) in order to calculate deviations from a programmed vertical circle due to mechanical compliance. A compliance breakdown analysis determined that structural compliance of the robot could be represented by springs located in five different joints (four translational and one rotational). For each of these vibratory elements, Lagrange equations of motion are derived, using MACSYMA, and solved with a continuous simulation program (ACSL) for different characteristics of the programmed circle (size, tangential velocity, location in workspace). Because of the high coupling of these five second order differential equations, state equations of the first order are used; solution of the eigenvalue problem allows to analyze the natural frequencies and the stability of the system.
Mutations in the diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (DTDST) gene: correlation between sulfate transport activity and chondrodysplasia phenotype

The diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (DTDST) gene encodes a transmembrane protein that transports sulfate into chondrocytes to maintain adequate sulfation of proteoglycans. Mutations in this gene are responsible for four recessively inherited chondrodysplasias that include diastrophic dysplasia, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, atelosteogenesis type 2 and achondrogenesis 1B (ACG-1B). To determine whether the DTDST mutations found in individuals with these chondrodysplasias differ functionally from each other, we compared the sulfate transport activity of 11 reported DTDST mutations. Five mutations, G255E, Delta a1751, L483P, R178X and N425D, had minimal sulfate transport function following expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Two mutations, Delta V340 and R279W, transported sulfate at rates of 17 and 32%, respectively, of wild-type DTDST. Four mutations, A715V, C653S, Q454P and G678V, had rates of sulfate transport nearly equal to that of wild-type DTDST. Transport kinetics were not different among the four mutations with near-normal sulfate transport function and wild-type DTDST. When the sulfate transport function of the different DTDST mutations are grouped according to the general phenotypes, individuals with the most severe form, ACG-1B, tend to be homozygous for null mutations, individuals with the moderately severe atelosteogenesis type 2 have at least one allele with a loss-of-function mutation, and individuals with the mildest forms are typically homozygous for mutations with residual sulfate transport function. However, in the X.laevis oocyte expression system, the correlation between residual transport function and the severity of phenotype was not absolute, suggesting that factors in addition to the intrinsic sulfate transport properties of the DTDST protein may influence the phenotype in individuals with DTDST mutations.
The VIM theory of molecular thermodynamics: Part II: Analytic equation of state of polar fluids

Variational inequality minimization (VIM) theory of statistical mechanics is used to derive analytic equations of state for nonpolar fluids. Pair- and tripletintermolecular potential energy functions are taken into account in the formulation of this equation of state. The VIM theory has made it possible to derive rather simple expressions for the thermodynamic properties of nonpolar fluids. Predictions of the thermodynamic properties of argon and methane in the liquid phase, in the vapor phase, and in the critical region by the VIM equation of state are shown to be in excellent agreement with the experimental data.
DIAGNOSIS OF BARRETT’S ESOPHAGUS AND ESOPHAGEAL NEOPLASIA: EAST MEETS WEST

Barrett’s esophagus has traditionally been considered to be a predominantly ‘Western world’ neoplastic condition. However, over the years, Asian countries are beginning to diagnose increasing numbers of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, columnar metaplasia at the gastroesophageal junction, Barrett’s esophagus, and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Hence, the controversies regarding screening for and surveillance of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma have become more widely relevant to gastroenterologists around the world. Emerging concepts related to esophageal cancer prevention and early detection include the screening for Barrett’s esophagus using wireless videocapsule endoscopy, and chromoendoscopy, enhanced high resolution endoscopy. There is also interest in improving surveillance for esophageal neoplasia using novel imaging techniques, such as high resolution and high magnification endoscopy, narrow-band imaging, autofluorescence imaging, and endocytoscopy/endomicroscopy. The enhanced detection of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal neoplasia become even more clinically relevant because of accumulating data on the safety and effectiveness of mucosal ablative techniques (such as photodynamic therapy, argon plasma coagulation, low pressure cryotherapy) and endoscopic mucosal resection. This article summarizes the latest developments related to Barrett’s esophagus that are of interest to endoscopists from the East or West.
A Weak Law of Large Numbers for the Sample Covariance Matrix

In this article we consider the sample covariance matrix formed from a sequence of independent and identically distributed random vectors from the generalized domain of attraction of the multivariate normal law. We show that this sample covariance matrix, appropriately normalized by a nonrandom sequence of linear operators, converges in probability to the identity matrix.
Some effects of fear of failure in the academic setting.

Summary This study investigated some of the effects of a fear of failure that is related to self-esteem. The Test Anxiety Questionnaire (TAQ) and the Self-Esteem Contingency Questionnaire (SEC) were administered to the Ss; the SEC measured the extent to which the S's self-esteem is contingent on academic achievement. The Ss were 49 American male college students, and an S was classified as having fear of failure if he scored high on both the SEC and the TAQ. It was expected that the fear of failure group would have an approachavoidance conflict about academic pursuits, and measures reflecting this conflict were administered to the Ss. The results provided partial confirmation for our expectations in that the High SEC group as compared to the Low SEC group had a higher n Ach score, was more compulsive about studying and considered academic degrees as being very important. Furthermore, the fear of failure group (High TAQHigh SEC) tended to have a lower self-esteem and a more negative attitude towards colleg...
A survey of clinicians addressing the approach to the management of severe sepsis and septic shock in the United States

Abstract Purpose Mortality in severe sepsis and septic shock (SS/SS) remains high. Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) guidelines were published in 2004 with the goal of improving outcomes in SS/SS. We tested the hypothesis that adherence to SSC guidelines and management of patients with SS/SS were influenced by physician specialty. Materials and methods A survey was mailed to 4998 randomly selected physicians, 1666 each for emergency medicine (EM), critical care medicine (CCM), and internal medicine (IM) from the American Medical Association database. Demographics, compliance with SSC guidelines, and approaches to management of patients with SS/SS were analyzed by specialty. Results Four hundred ninety-nine respondents were included for final analysis. There were no differences between 3 specialties in obtaining blood cultures and in administering intravenous fluids, pressors, and antibiotics. The CCM physicians were more likely to measure serum lactate and central venous pressure, use corticosteroids and drotrecogin α , and aim for normoglycemia and plateau pressures less than 30 cm H 2 O in mechanically ventilated patients (all P Conclusions We observe that adherence with SSC guidelines continues to be a challenge for CCM, IM, and EM physicians. Significant differences in management of SS/SS exist for the 3 specialties. Because guideline implementation impacts patient outcomes, further evaluation of these differences is warranted.
The moderating effects of equity sensitivity on the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviors

This study explores equity sensitivity as an explanation for the differences in individuals’ organizational citizenship behaviors in response to their perceptions of organizational justice. The concept of equity sensitivity recognizes three categories of individuals: benevolents, entitleds, and sensitives. As predicted, benevolents perform more OCBs than entitleds regardless of the level of perceived justice. However, sensitives did not react as hypothesized and instead reacted similarly to benevolents. Entitleds were the most sensitive to perceived justice, responding consistently with Adam’s (1963, 1965) equity theory.
Genome-Wide Transcriptional Responses of Escherichia coli K-12 to Continuous Osmotic and Heat Stresses

Osmotic stress is known to increase the thermotolerance and oxidative-stress resistance of bacteria by a mechanism that is not adequately understood. We probed the cross-regulation of continuous osmotic and heat stress responses by characterizing the effects of external osmolarity (0.3 M versus 0.0 M NaCl) and temperature (43°C versus 30°C) on the transcriptome of Escherichia coli K-12. Our most important discovery was that a number of genes in the SoxRS and OxyR oxidative-stress regulons were up-regulated by high osmolarity, high temperature, or a combination of both stresses. This result can explain the previously noted cross-protection of osmotic stress against oxidative and heat stresses. Most of the genes shown in previous studies to be induced during the early phase of adaptation to hyperosmotic shock were found to be also overexpressed under continuous osmotic stress. However, there was a poorer overlap between the heat shock genes that are induced transiently after high temperature shifts and the genes that we found to be chronically up-regulated at 43°C. Supplementation of the high-osmolarity medium with the osmoprotectant glycine betaine, which reduces the cytoplasmic K+ pool, did not lead to a universal reduction in the expression of osmotically induced genes. This finding does not support the hypothesis that K+ is the central osmoregulatory signal in Enterobacteriaceae.
Treponema pallidum Major Sheath Protein Homologue Tpr K Is a Target of Opsonic Antibody and the Protective Immune Response

We have identified a family of genes that code for targets for opsonic antibody and protective immunity in T. pallidum subspecies pallidum using two different approaches, subtraction hybridization and differential immunologic screening of a T. pallidum genomic library. Both approaches led to the identification of a polymorphic multicopy gene family with predicted amino acid homology to the major sheath protein of Treponema denticola. One of the members of this gene family, tpr K, codes for a protein that is predicted to have a cleavable signal peptide and be located in the outer membrane of the bacterium. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis of T. pallidum reveals that Tpr K is preferentially transcribed in the Nichols strain of T. pallidum. Antibodies directed to purified recombinant variable domain of Tpr K can opsonize T. pallidum, Nichols strain, for phagocytosis, supporting the hypothesis that this portion of the protein is exposed at the surface of the treponeme. Immunization of rabbits with the purified recombinant variable domain of Tpr K provides significant protection against infection with the Nichols strain of T. pallidum. This gene family is hypothesized to be central to pathogenesis and immunity during syphilis infection.
Emmert's law in the dark: active and passive proprioceptive effects on positive visual afterimages.

The relationship between apparent size and apparent distance is given by Emmert's law, which states that a retinal image is proportional in size to the distance of the surface it is projected upon. This principle also applies to retinal afterimages in that they, too, will change in apparent size if distance cues suggest that the location of the object projected onto the retinal image has been altered. It has also been known for some time that non-retinal cues can produce quantitative and qualitative effects on an afterimage when it is viewed in the dark. In the present two studies, positive afterimages of an observer's hand, as well as objects held by that hand, were used as targets to investigate the effects on size-constancy scaling of moving the hand to and fro along the line of sight for different distances in the dark. Results show that, when observers focus on a held object, the changes in size predicted by Emmert's law occur in response to both active and passive proprioceptive or haptic cues. The ...
How College Students Spend Their Time Communicating.

This study sought to assess how college students spend their time communicating and what impact, if any, communications devices may be having on how that time is spent. Undergraduates (N=696) at four southeastern colleges were surveyed. Results revealed that listening comprises 55.4% of the total average communication day followed by reading (17.1%), speaking (16.1%), and writing (11.4%). Each of these communication behaviors includes some aspect of Internet use. College students spend as much time listening to media as they do engaged in interpersonal interactions. New technology is changing the way mediated communication activities are perceived. A different paradigm of expressive, receptive, and interactive communication is offered.
MAP region segmentation based on composite random field models

A composite of two random field models is used to describe the observed image: a high-level process that describes the various regions in the images is modeled by a Gibbs-Markov model, and a low-level process that describes each particular region is modeled by a simultaneous autoregressive model. Using this composition, a recursive maximum a posterior (MAP) segmentation algorithm is formulated and various issues related to parameter estimation are discussed. >
The Study of Solvothermal Synthesis of Nano-Engineered CoSb3 Skutterudite Thermoelectric Materials

Nanostructured materials have been shown to enhance phonon scattering and improve the figure of merit of thermoelectric materials. Solvothermal syntheses of nano-engineered CoSb3 skutterudite have been studied in the present work in which CoCl2 and SbCl3 were used as precursors and NaBH4 as a reductant. Elemental, structural and morphology characterization techniques including: XRD, SEM, TEM and EDAX were used to identify and characterize the products. NaBH4 was found to be a necessary factor in forming cobalt antimonide. It was detected the products’ phase transited from Sb2Co to CoSb3 in conjunction with the amount increase of NaBH4. The change of synthesis time and temperature contributed little on the products’ phases under the present experimental routes. Single-phased CoSb3 skutterudites was obtained from the solvothermal syntheses combined with an acid wash. The as-prepared CoSb3 powders consist of irregular nanoparticles with 15∼20 nm in size. A possible chemical mechanism was also discussed.
Normal histone modifications on the inactive X chromosome in ICF and Rett syndrome cells: implications for methyl-CpG binding proteins

In mammals, there is evidence suggesting that methyl-CpG binding proteins may play a significant role in histone modification through their association with modification complexes that can deacetylate and/or methylate nucleosomes in the proximity of methylated DNA. We examined this idea for the X chromosome by studying histone modifications on the X chromosome in normal cells and in cells from patients with ICF syndrome (Immune deficiency, Centromeric region instability, and Facial anomalies syndrome). In normal cells the inactive X has characteristic silencing type histone modification patterns and the CpG islands of genes subject to X inactivation are hypermethylated. In ICF cells, however, genes subject to X inactivation are hypomethylated on the inactive X due to mutations in the DNA methyltransferase (DNMT3B) genes. Therefore, if DNA methylation is upstream of histone modification, the histones on the inactive X in ICF cells should not be modified to a silent form. In addition, we determined whether a specific methyl-CpG binding protein, MeCP2, is necessary for the inactive X histone modification pattern by studying Rett syndrome cells which are deficient in MeCP2 function. We show here that the inactive X in ICF cells, which appears to be hypomethylated at all CpG islands, exhibits normal histone modification patterns. In addition, in Rett cells with no functional MeCP2 methyl-CpG binding protein, the inactive X also exhibits normal histone modification patterns. These data suggest that DNA methylation and the associated methyl-DNA binding proteins may not play a critical role in determining histone modification patterns on the mammalian inactive X chromosome at the sites analyzed.
Microtiter solid-phase radioimmunoassay for specific immunoglobulin E

Abstract A microtiter solid phase-radioimmunoassay (MSPRIA) for perennial rye grass-specific IgE is described. The assay is carried out inflexible polyvinyl chloride "u" microtiter plates by sequentially incubating antigen, albumin, test sera, and finally radiolabeled antihuman IgE. Wells are cut free of the plate with a hot wire-cutting apparatus and counted individually in a gamma counter. The amount of radioactivity bound is proportional to the amount of specific IgE in the serum. The MSPRIA is shown to be antigen and antibody specific, reproducible, and easily done. Rye-specific IgE levels assayed with the MSPRIA correlated with quantitative end. point titration skin testing using perennial rye grass antigen performed on 31 volunteers with a maximum correlation coefficient of 0.92. The MSPRIA was compared with the radioallergosorbent test (RAST) method using sera from the same 31 volunteers. The rye-specific IgE levels assayed by MSPRIA correlated with those assayed by RAST with a correlation coefficient of 0.95. The MSPRIA is well suited for mass screening and represents a useful method for measuring specific IgE.
Gapped DNA and Cyclization of Short DNA Fragments

We use the cyclization of small DNA molecules, ;200 bp in length, to study conformational properties of DNA fragments with single-stranded gaps. The approach is extremely sensitive to DNA conformational properties and, being complemented by computations, allows a very accurate determination of the fragment's conformational parameters. Sequence- specific nicking endonucleases are used to create the 4-nt-long gap. We determined the bending rigidity of the single-stranded region in the gapped DNA. We found that the gap of 4 nt in length makes all torsional orientations of DNA ends equally probable. Our results also show that the gap has isotropic bending rigidity. This makes it very attractive to use gapped DNA in the cyclization experiments to determine DNA conformational properties, since the gap eliminates oscillations of the cyclization efficiency with the DNA length. As a result, the number of measurements is greatly reduced in the approach, and the analysis of the data is greatly simplified. We have verified our approach on DNA fragments containing well-characterized intrinsic bends caused by A-tracts. The obtained experimental results and theoretical analysis demonstrate that gapped-DNA cyclization is an exceedingly sensitive and accurate approach for the determination of DNA bending.
Biologically motivated shape optimization of foraging fronts

Social animals often form a predator front to charge through an aggregation of prey. It is observed that the nature of the feeding strategy dictates the geometric shape of these charging fronts. Inspired by this observation, we model foraging multi-robot fronts as a curve moving through a prey density. We optimize the shape of the curve using variational arguments and simulate the results to illustrate the operation of the proposed curve optimization algorithm.
Variability for Categorical Variables

Introductory statistics textbooks rarely discuss the concept of variability for a categorical variable and thus, in this case, do not provide a measure of variability. The impression is thus given ...
Implications of the Null Environment Hypothesis for Women's Career Development and for Counseling Psychology

It is argued that a null educational environment (Freeman, 1979) that ignores individuals is inherently discriminatory against women because external societal environments are different for men and women with respect to the amount of encouragement they receive for nontraditional career aspirations and achievements. This argument is supported by references to the literature and by describing the effects of a null environment on the career development of the author. Implications for counseling include (a) advocating a more directive approach with women to combat both a differentiating socialization history and a null environment and (b) generalizing this approach to the goal of helping all clients develop their individual potential in the face of societal pressures contrary to individual self-actualization.
Pinpointing and Exploiting Opportunities for Enhancing Data Reuse

The potential for improving the performance of data-intensive scientific programs by enhancing data reuse in cache is substantial because CPUs are significantly faster than memory. Traditional performance tools typically collect or simulate cache miss counts or rates and attribute them at the function level. While such information identifies program scopes that exhibit a large cache miss rate, it is often insufficient to diagnose the causes for poor data locality and to identify what program transformations would improve memory hierarchy utilization. This paper describes an approach that uses memory reuse distance to identify an application's most significant memory access patterns causing cache misses and provide insight into ways of improving data reuse. Unlike previous approaches, our tool combines (1) analysis and instrumentation of fully optimized binaries, (2) online analysisof reuse patterns, (3) fine-grain attribution of measurements and models to statements, loops and variables, and (4) static analysis of access patterns to quantify spatial reuse. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach for understanding reuse patterns in two scientific codes: one for simulating neutron transport and a second for simulating turbulent transport in burning plasmas. Our tools pinpointed opportunities for enhancing data reuse. Using this feedback as a guide, we transformed the codes, reducing their misses at various levels of the memory hierarchy by integer factors and reducing their execution time by as much as 60% and 33%, respectively.
Implementing and conducting on-farm weed research with the use of GPS

Abstract The adoption of precision technologies that spatially register measurements using global positioning systems (GPS) greatly facilitates conducting large-scale on-farm research by farmers. On-farm experiments that utilize producer equipment include variations in agronomic practices that occur in situations where we want to predict the effect of inputs on yield. The domain of inference for such on-farm studies therefore more closely matches that desired by researchers. To investigate the feasibility of on-farm research using GPS, a study was conducted to evaluate the potential benefit of site-specific weed management. The study utilized producer-maintained field-scale equipment on four Montana farms in dryland spring wheat production. Paired site-specific and whole-field herbicide treatment areas were established in 0.9 to 1.9-ha blocks using consultant weed maps and a geographic information system (GIS). Yield was unaffected by herbicide treatment strategy (site-specific or broadcast). Minimal dete...
Optical flow from a least-trimmed squares based adaptive approach

Optical flow estimation can be formulated as two regression stages: derivative estimation and optical flow constraints (OFC) solving. Traditional approaches use least-squares at both stages and are sensitive to assumption violations. To improve estimation accuracy, especially near motion boundaries, we use a least trimmed squares (LTS) estimator to solve the OFC, obtaining a confidence measure for each estimate; and at place with low confidence, we use another LTS estimator to make the derivative estimation robust. This adaptive two-stage robust scheme has significantly higher accuracy than non-robust algorithms and those only using robust methods at the OFC stage. Advantages are illustrated on both synthetic and real data.
Electoral Fraud, the Rise of Peron and Demise of Checks and Balances in Argentina

The future looked bright for Argentina in the early twentieth century. It had already achieved high levels of income per capita and was moving away from authoritarian government towards a more open democracy. Unfortunately, Argentina never finished the transition. The turning point occurred in the 1930s when to stay in power, the Conservatives in the Pampas resorted to electoral fraud, which neither the legislative, executive, or judicial branches checked. The decade of unchecked electoral fraud led to the support for Juan Peron and subsequently to political and economic instability.
Perceptions of the Policy-Making Environment: Cognitive Differences Among Administrators in Five Federal Agencies

The bureaucratic environment is widely recognized as an important influence on administrative behavior. Nonetheless, few studies of public agencies have attempted to measure the significance of administrators' perceptions of this environment; perception shapes the understanding and interpretation of the information that premises policy decisions. This study examines the nature of the subjective environment, based on perceptions and beliefs about the influential actors who occupy the objective one. The purpose of this work is to extend the efforts of the cognitive process theorists by developing an empirical representation of the subjective environment that accommodates individual differences, assessing its relation to other beliefs and to organization activitities, and evaluating its impact on the initiation of policy changes. Evidence supporting suspected impact calls for an extension of bureaucratic theory to account for the contribution of perceptual biases to administrative behavior.
Bipartisanship: Modeling Cross-Party Coalition Building Activity in the 99 State Legislative Chambers

While an extensive literature is devoted to the antecedents and consequences of party polarization and gridlock, almost no attention has been devoted to the individual legislator level foundations of these aggregate level phenomena. Here I examine the factors that determine the extent to which individual legislators spend time forming cross-party rather than within-party coalitions — coalition building bipartisanship. It is such individual actions shaped by institutions, elections, and citizen and elite preferences that determine collective outcomes, including party polarization and gridlock. Using a national survey of over 3000 state legislators, I find the time a legislator devotes to cross-party versus same party coalition building is determined by political context, such as divided versus unified government, and by features of institutional design, namely supermajority requirements, and leadership professionalization — the former increases bipartisanship while the latter decreases it. A legislator's behavior is also strongly influenced by ideology — moderates engage in more cross-party coalition building than more extreme members. The effect of ideology is an individual, not chamber level, effect — the magnitude of the ideological divide between the parties is relatively insignificant in determining individual behavior. Partisan political context is also a key determinant of the time a legislator devotes to cross rather than within party coalition building. Of course, members of the minority in a chamber engage in the most bipartisan activity — a member of the minority cannot succeed legislatively without being part of a bipartisan coalition. Members of the majority in a divided government state are also motivated to spend more time on bipartisan coalition building. And each responds differently to the majority party's margin of control in the chamber — increasing the majority party's margin of control decreases the bipartisanship of majority members while it increases that of minority members.
Saint Louis IX and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III

Throughout the Middle Ages the French and the Germans have vied with each other in their attempts to integrate the figure of Charlemagne into their perceptions of national identity. Both legacies envisioned Charles the Great as a prototypical Christian ruler, crusader, pilgrim, and promoter of the arts of civilization. But for the French, as exemplified by St. Louis IX (1226–70), Charlemagne remained primarily a role model for their monarchs, including the Valois, and a hero of the chansons de geste. For the Germans, as personified by the Habsburg emperor Frederick III (1440–93), Charlemagne embodied the Roman Empire and the German nation. He was a saint with historical roots going back to the Trojans. Far more than the French, the late medieval Germans emphasized the imperial traditions as they were represented in the memory of Karl der Grosse.
Total body water and blood volume in hereditary obese-hyperglycemic syndrome of mice.

SummaryTotal body water and blood volume were determined in mice with the hereditary obese hyperglycemic syndrome and in littermate controls. Only 12% of the excess weight of obese animals was found to be represented by water. Blood volume was not increased in obese animals. The total body water and percentage of weight represented by water in young obese animals was similar to those in non-obese animals of the same weight.
Nucleate Boiling of Dielectric Liquids on Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Surfaces

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of hydrophobic, hydrophilic and mixed hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfaces in nucleate boiling heat transfer. A dielectric liquid, HFE-7100, was used as the working fluid in the saturated boiling tests. A total of 12 test samples were used in this study, featuring four types of boiling surfaces with a common copper substrate; (1) plain, smooth copper surface (as reference), (2) hydrophobic patterned or fully-covered surface, (3) hydrophilic patterned or fully-covered surface, and (4) mixed hydrophobic/ hydrophilic patterned surface. All test samples were prepared on 10 mm × 10 mm × 2 mm copper substrates with matching size thick film resistors attached onto the opposite side, to generate heat and simulate high heat flux electronic devices. The fabrication of hydrophobic surfaces involved common photolithography techniques to apply 100 μm thick Teflon layer. Hydrophilic surfaces were prepared by depositing a TiO2 layer through a two-step process involving layer by layer self-assembly (L-B-L) and liquid phase deposition (L-P-D) techniques. Test samples with the mixed hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfaces were obtained by first applying Teflon hydrophobic patterns, and then by covering the remaining substrate area with hydrophilic coating. The effect of pattern and pitch size was investigated by varying the circular pattern dimensions between 40, 100 and 250 μm and corresponding pitch dimensions between 80, 200 and 500 μm. The results indicated that hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces have distinct benefits, and mixed hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfaces offer an optimum performance enhancement, providing: (a) early transition to boiling regime with no temperature overshoot at boiling incipience, (b) up to 10.6 kW/m2°C HTC (representing 82% increase), and (c) up to 28 W/cm2 CHF level (representing 47% increase). The studied enhanced surfaces therefore demonstrated a practical surface modification method for heat transfer enhancement in immersion cooling applications.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Life in the lab

In her new book, Lab Girl, Hope Jahren transforms the sedentary, slow-growing lives of plants into a vibrant series of stories that are interwoven with tales of her own research career. "In the end, I am not sure which is more extraordinary, the plants or the woman who studies them," writes reviewer Meg Lowman.
Water Effects on Postcombustion CO2 Capture in Mg-MOF-74

Mg-MOF-74, one of the best metal–organic framework (MOF) materials for CO2 adsorption and separation, has been widely explored in CO2 capture. In this work, water effects on postcombustion CO2 capture in Mg-MOF-74 are evaluated by using a combination of Grand Canonical Monte Carlo and density functional theory (DFT) simulations. Our results show that in this MOF the CO2 adsorption capacity is decreased by the presence of water molecules linked to coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUMs). This effect is a consequence of the reduction of binding energy between CO2 and the water-coordinated Mg-MOF-74 framework. DFT calculations indicate that such binding energy is much lower than that without coordinated water. More importantly, we find that the difference of the binding energy between CO2 and CUM in a MOF and that between CO2 and CUM-coordinated water are good descriptors to evaluate water effects on CO2 capture in MOFs with CUMs. At the same time, these investigations further demonstrate that the CUMs...
Light-Harvesting Properties and Morphology of Porphyrin Nanostructures Depend on Ionic Species Inducing Aggregation

Self-assembled, excitonically coupled aggregates of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TSPP) in aqueous solutions of HCl and of the alkali chloride salts LiCl, NaCl, KCl, and CsCl were studied by absorption and resonance light scattering (RLS) spectroscopy. Aggregates deposited from these solutions were imaged by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. In NaCl and KCl, the J band in the absorption spectrum was broadened, while in CsCl it was narrowed, as compared to aggregates in HCl. In LiCl and NaCl, the relative excitonic coherence as determined from RLS was increased as compared to aggregates in HCl, while in KCl and CsCl it was reduced. The discrepancy between measures of coherence based on exchange narrowing in the absorption spectrum and those on RLS intensity points to morphology-dependent composite J band structures. Delocalization of excitons between nanotubular subunits of bundled aggregates appears to increase excitonic coherence. Loosening of intermonomer f...
Hydrodynamic behavior of a POD propeller in a ship's wake

The paper mainly deals with the influence of a ship's hull on its POD propeller.The hydrodynamic behavior of POD in a wake was investigated.The wake velocity distribution was calculated with computational fluid dynamics method, the hydrodynamic behavior of the POD propeller was evaluated using the surface panel method.The interaction between the POD and the propeller was determined by iterative calculations.The induced velocity between the POD and the propeller was calculated by the Morino formula.Using the calculated results for the ship's wake,the hydrodynamic performance of the POD propeller was then analyzed.The research showed that a ship's wake can significantly reduce the efficiency of a POD propeller.The greater the distance between a POD propeller and the ship's hull,the higher the efficiency of a POD propeller.
A Multi-process Based Frequency Domain Eigenvalue Parallel Search Algorithm for Power System Small Signal Stability Assessment

Small signal stability analysis of a large-scale power grid(in particular on-line dynamic security early warning system) involves high rank differential-algebra equations (DAEs)in system modeling.In such circumstances,serial eigenvalue computation algorithm is computationally expensive and may not meet the requirements of computation speed.In recent years, the development of multi-core CPU technology is very rapid.Effective utilization of the hardware resources of multi-core CPU computers provides an effective way to speed up eigenvalue computation for small signal stability analysis using parallel computing technology.This paper proposes the frequency domain eigenvalue parallel search algorithm of power system small signal stability assessment.This algorithm is based on multi-process which has been realized in the PSD-SSAP widely used in China.The calculation is accurate,the realization of the algorithm is simple,and the parallel computation efficiency is very high.Numerical simulation results of an actual large-scale power systems small signal analysis show that the proposed algorithm is correct and efficient.
Interference with Fluorescence and Absorbance

Assays, both high-throughput and lower throughput, are an integral part of the drug discovery process and are used for identifying and validating potential drug candidates. Many biochemical and cell-based assays utilize fluorescence and to a lesser extent absorbance readouts so it is important to consider the impact on the assay quality of a given detection method. There are many fluorophores available that span a wide energy spectrum, and it is important to select the appropriate fluorophore and assay conditions for a given assay to minimize assay interference. Additionally, many of the small molecules found in libraries used for screening are themselves fluorescent, leading to potential false positives through interference. Similarly, for absorbance assays, colored compounds can interfere with the detection method depending on the concentration and extinction coefficient. Assays can be designed to minimize the interference from the library itself, and counterassays can be utilized to identify potential compounds that interfere with the detection method. Orthogonal assays using a different detection method can also be employed to further validate HTS hits. It is important to weed out assay artifacts as early as possible in the drug discovery process to avoid spending time and resources pursuing compounds that are not actually impacting the desired biology but rather are false positives.
System design and development of a lower-cost animal PET-CT (MuPET) with large axial solid PET ring of 1.25-mm LYSO detectors

This paper presents the system design and engineering of a lower-cost, large axial field-of-view micro PET-CT (MuPET) for small animal imaging. The system has been constructed and being tested. 30,420 LYSO detectors (1.25 transaxial × 1.4 axial × 10 mm3) form a 16.5-cm detector solid ring and a large 11.6-cm axial field for high detection sensitivity. The 30240 crystals are configured into 180 pentagon-shaped position-sensitive blocks and are precisely glued together into a solid crystal ring consisting 78 detector rings and 390 detectors per ring. Each block decodes 13 × 13 crystals using our PMT-Quadrant-Sharing (PQS) scheme and the entire solid detector ring with 30,420 crystals are decoded by only 210 round PMT (19-mm), with an average decoding ratio of 145 detectors/PMT. The 180 PQS detector blocks were produced by an efficient slab-sandwich-slice method with a 94% volumetric packing fraction and internal mirror film decoding light-guides for high light-yield. The high-resolution PQS block has an average energy-resolution of 14.1% ranged from 12.9% to 15.8%. The front-end FPGA based digital HYPER (High-Yield-Pileup-Event-Recovery) detector-decoding electronics can process 25 million random "singles"/sec with a 10% loss. The coincidence system has a capability of online programming of both prompt and delayed-coincidence windows between 0 to 16-ns with 95-ps resolution. The system coincidence-timing window is 1.9-ns. The preliminary timing resolution is 650-ps, despite using non-time-of-flight PMT and very narrow crystals. The electronics has an online baseline-correction and automatic PMT-gain control using LED for stabilizing detector-decoding and a PID detector temperature controller using peltier cooler for minimizing the effect of room temperature variation. The CT section is a cone-beam CT using a flat panel detector with 43-micron pitch and 80KVp (0.5 mA) x-ray generator. The reconstructed Na-22 point source image resolution using 2-D filtered back-projection is 1.35 mm and 1.9 mm at the center and 4.0 cm off center, respectively. With resolution-recovery reconstruction, resolution less than 1.2 mm can be achieved at the center and 1.35 mm at 4.0 cm off center. The preliminary result of absolute sensitivity was 5.0% for a point source at the center of the PET with a 300–750 keV window.
Govern Police by Law (Yifa Zhijing) in China

This article is a first attempt to investigate into and report on the People's Republic of China police law reform effort — objectives, process and result — since 1978. In so doing, the article catalogues the past, describes the present, and speculates on the future. It argues that police law reform in China is a reaction to a growing police legitimacy crisis attenuating the relationship between police and the public.