cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Supercritical fluid extraction coupled directly with Fourier transform infrared spectrometry

The combination of sample preparation and chromatographic separation via a hyphenated technique is becoming somewhat routine. For example, numerous reports are available on supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) coupled with gas chromatography (GC) and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). The employment of SFE on line with spectrometric analysis is considerably more novel with only a couple of laboratories having reported on the technique. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry currently serves as the only notable, quantifiable example to date. This manuscript reviews the state-of-the-art concerning SFE-FT-IR and its application to primarily textile fiber finishes. The adaptability of FT-IR detection for a variety of SFE protocols (e.g. static, dynamic, static-dynamic, direct analysis, intermediate trapping) and fiber (e.g. polyurethane, polyamide, polyester) finishes is described.
‘Dirty Indians’, Radical Indígenas, and the Political Economy of Social Difference in Modern Ecuador1

Abstract This article examines alternative conceptions of social difference in Otavalo, Ecuador. On the one hand, in the northern Andes, the language of ethnicity has become a potent force, connected to an indigenous political movement and the profits of handicraft dealing. On the other, ‘race’ and an ‘hygienic racism’ preoccupied with pernicious stereotypes about ‘dirty Indians’ continue to define the social and political landscape. Contrasting these notions of social difference, I show how the indigenous movement in Ecuador receives less support from native peasants who see the world in polarised ‘racial’ terms.
Between poverty and prosperity: China’s dependent development and the ‘middle-income trap’

Despite China’s rapid economic growth in the past three decades, Chinese officials and experts are increasingly worried that the country is slowly heading towards the ‘middle-income trap’. The fear is that China might suffer the same stagnation and turbulence as Latin American economies did in the 1980s and 1990s. Will China be able to avoid this trap? Building on the insights of world-systems theory, this paper argues that China’s dependent development, although enabling it to escape the ‘poverty trap’, is likely to bog it down in the ‘middle-income trap’. China’s heavy reliance upon foreign technologies and investment has harmful effects on its economy. Dependent development not only increases China’s economic vulnerability but also truncates domestic industries. To escape the trap, the Chinese state should play a more active role in shifting its growth model away from low-end commodity manufacturing to knowledge-based, high value-added activities.
An imidazole alphastat hypothesis for vertebrate acid-base regulation: tissue carbon dioxide content and body temperature in bullfrogs.

A chemically defined model system consisting of two weak acid-conjugate base buffer pairs, one of which is carbonic acid-bicarbonate and the other the imidazole group of protein histidine residues, will quantitatively account for the change in blood pH and PCO2 temperature observed in closed in vitro blood samples at constant carbon dioxide content (Rosenthal pH-temperature curve). Application of the same equations to open systems in the steady state, poikilotherm vertebrates in vivo, will also quantitatively describe the temperature dependence of blood pH and PCO2, in frogs, toads and turtles. A necessary condition for this application, constant CO2 content of blood over wide body temperature excursions in vivo, is shown to hold for bullfrogs. The regulation of ventilation in the in vivo animal can be viewed as one in which blood PCO2, is regulated to maintain a constant fractional dissociation (alpha) of imidazole groups. Data from striated and cardiac muscle suggest that alpha imidazole values in these compartments are independent of changes in body temperature as well. It is proposed that acid-base regulation in all vertebrates is consistent with primary regulation of alpha imidazole resulting in a stable OH − /H + ratio and the observed change in blood pH with temperature, dpH/dT = −0.015 to 0.020 u/°C.
Purification and properties of retinol- and retinoic acid-binding proteins from a transplantable mouse colon tumor

Abstract Cellular retinol-binding protein and retinoic acid-binding protein, the possible mediators of the action of retinoids in epithelial differentiation and control of tumorigenesis, have been reproducibly purified from mouse colon tumor 26, and some of their properties were studied. The main steps of purification involved acid-precipitation, DEAE-Sephadex, CM-cellulose and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. About 2 mg of the binding proteins were isolated from 60 g tumor. The purified preparations showed only two protein bands on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The two binding proteins were partially resolved by sedimentation equilibrium technique; but was completely separable by preparative electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The retinol-and retinoic acid-binding proteins are presumably monomers with molecular weights of 15 500 and 14 600, respectively, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. On gel filtration however, both the binding proteins retarded to the same molecular size of 17 800. On preparative columns, both the proteins expressed the same isoelectric pH, 4.5. Both proteins of the tumor possessed functional thiol groups. The mercurial inhibition of the binding capacity of the proteins for their ligands was reversible upon treatment with thiol compounds.
Household Debt and Adult Depressive Symptoms in the United States

This study used data from Waves 1 (1987–1989) and 2 (1992–1994) of the National Survey of Families and Households in the United States and a series of regression models, some of which included individual-specific fixed effects, to estimate associations of particular types and levels of debt with adult depressive symptoms. Results suggest that household debt is positively associated with greater depressive symptoms. However, this association appears to be driven by short-term (unsecured) debt; we found little evidence of associations with depressive symptoms for mid- or long-term debt. The link between short-term debt and depressive symptoms persisted with alternative estimation strategies, including defining debt in absolute and relative terms. Furthermore, this association was particularly concentrated among 51–64 year-old adults, those with a high school education or less, and those who were not stably married throughout the observation period. These findings suggest that short-term debt may have an adverse influence on psychological wellbeing, particularly for those who are less educated, approaching retirement age, or unmarried.
The way early-onset chronically depressed patients are treated today makes me sad

The author has treated almost 400 chronically depressed outpatients during his career. He has also participated as a Field Trial Coordinator in the Unipolar Field Trials of DSM-IV and consulted with the DSM-V Mood Disorders Workgroup concerning his research for the new diagnostic nomenclature for the chronic depressions, Chronic Depression Disorder. In addition, he has served as Principal Investigator in several large clinical trials involving 2200 chronically depressed outpatients. The current paper is a Brief Report describing his negative reactions to the way 40 of his chronically depressed patients have been treated today by both Psychologists and Psychiatrists. All the patients are his patients and have been seen by him in psychotherapy over the past decade. Several reasons are proposed for the inadequate treatment and specific proposals are made for the improvement of treatment for the early-onset chronically depressed patient.
Uremia and insulin resistance: N-carbamoyl-asparagine decreases insulin-sensitive glucose uptake in rat adipocytes

Uremia and insulin resistance: N-carbamoyl-asparagine decreases insulin-sensitive glucose uptake in rat adipocytes. Background In uremia, urea-derived cyanate reacts with amino groups irreversibly forming carbamoyl amino acids (C-AA) and carbamoyl proteins. Carbamoylated molecules can affect binding and trafficking and alter metabolic pathways. The C-AA role in insulin-sensitive glucose transport has not been explored and may contribute to insulin resistance in uremia. Methods Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by cultured rat adipocytes was measured using both 3-minute and 3-second assays. Adipocytes were incubated for 24 hours in medium containing 0.5 μmol/mL of 15 different C-AA. 125I-insulin binding studies were done. C-asparagine in plasma from 10 uremic patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results Insulin-sensitive glucose uptake was reduced 34% by N-carbamoyl- L -asparagine, (N-C-Asn), in a dose-dependent manner with a half-maximally effective concentration of 0.15 μmol/mL. Fourteen other N-carbamoyl-amino acids as well as 0.5 μmol/mL of asparagine did not affect insulin sensitive glucose uptake. N-C-Asn, L -asparagine, and the other N-carbamoyl amino acids (0.5 μmol/mL) had no effect on basal glucose uptake. These data suggest that that N-C-Asn affects the insulin sensitive glucose transporter system. 125I-insulin binding studies demonstrated that N-C-Asn did not alter insulin binding. Glucose uptake measured using a 3-second assay showed that the glucose affinity of the transporter and glucose phosphorylation were not affected. In uremic patients managed by CAPD, the mean free N-C-Asn plasma level was 1.33 μmol/mL. Conclusion These data suggest that N-C-Asn concentration may contribute to the insulin resistance seen in uremia.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Spinal Cord and Canal Measurements in Normal Dogs

The goal of this study was to establish Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reference ranges for spinal measurements in normal dogs. Forty dogs (1–10 kg, 11–20 kg, 21–30 kg, > 30 kg; 10 dogs per category) underwent spinal MRI. Measurements were performed on sagittal T2-W images at the level of the 4th thoracic vertebra (T4), the 9th thoracic vertebra (T9) and the 3rd lumbar vertebra (L3). Spinal canal diameter (mm) ranged from 6.07 ± 0.63 (1–10 kg) to 8.27 ± 1.15 (> 30 kg) at the level of T4; 6.55 ± 0.61 (1–10 kg) to 9.04 ± 1.26 (> 30 kg) at the level of T9; and 6.80 (6.47–7.00; 1–10 kg) to 9.00 (7.90–9.73; > 30 kg) at the level of L3. There were significant differences (P 30 kg) to 4.85 ± 0.57 (1–10 kg) at the level of T9; and 4.52 ± 0.51 (> 30 kg) to 5.14 ± 0.68 (1–10 kg) at the level of L3. There were no significant differences in spinal cord diameter between groups. Spinal cord-to-spinal canal ratio varied significantly, ranging from 0.51 ± 0.08 (> 30 kg at L3) to 0.78 (0.69–0.80; 1–10 kg at T4) (P < 0.05). These findings are important when using MRI to evaluate patients with suspected diffuse spinal cord disease.
Effects of neuropharmacological agents on in vitro formation of complexes between nucleic acids and proteins

Abstract Effects of neurotropic drugs on the formation of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)—insoluble complexes between proteins and nucleic acids were investigated. Several drugs interfered with this reaction, either increasing or decreasing the final yield. Certain regularities in the interference patterns were observed. The neuropharmacological agents were found to inhibit binding of DNA to methyl-esterified bovine serum albumin (MBSA) and RNA to calf thymus histone. The less toxic drugs tend to be active predominantly under conditions when the compound is pre-incubated with either the protein or the nucleic acid tested. While the relevance of the observed phenomena to the in vivo effects remains to be established, the available data suggest that this simple and reproducible technique may be utilized for drug screening.
ESR evidence for twisted structure of methyl-substituted ethylene radical cations: Trimethylethylene and propylene☆

Abstract The radical cations of (CH 3 ) 2 CCH(CH 3 ) as well as CH 3 CHCH2 exhibit a large CH proton coupling which may not be explained by the planar structure. Twisting arond the CC bond is suggested, because a hyperconjugative effect is expected to give a large β coupling for the CH proton in the twisted structure.
General Framework of Optimal Tool Trajectory Planning for Free-Form Surfaces in Surface Manufacturing

Surface manufacturing is a process of adding material to or removing material from the surfaces of a part. Spray painting, spray forming, rapid tooling, spray coating, and polishing are some of the typical applications of surface manufacturing, where industrial robots are usually used. Tool planning for industrial robots in surface manufacturing is a challenging research topic. Typical teaching methods are not affordable any more because products are subject to a shorter product life, frequent design changes, small lot sizes, and small in-process inventory restrictions. An automatic tool trajectory planning process is hence desirable for tool trajectory planning of industrial robots. Based on the computer-aided design model of a part, the tool model, task constraints, and optimization criteria, a general framework of optimal tool trajectory planning in surface manufacturing is developed. Optimal tool trajectories are generated by approximately solving a multiobjective optimization problem. To test if the generated trajectory satisfies the given constraints, a trajectory verification model is developed. Simulations are performed to determine if the given constraints are satisfied. Simulation results show that the optimal tool trajectory planning framework can be applied to generate trajectories for a variety of applications in surface manufacturing. This general framework can also be extended to other applications such as dimensional inspection and demining.
Genetic determinants of human hypertension

Abstract Hypertension is a common trait of multifactorial determination imparting an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and end-stage renal disease. The primary determinants of hypertension, as well as the factors which determine specific morbid sequelae, remain unknown in the vast majority of subjects. Knowledge that a large fraction of the interindividual variation in this trait is genetically determined motivates the application of genetic approaches to the identification of these primary determinants. Success in this effort will afford insights into pathophysiology, permit preclinical identification of subjects with specific inherited susceptibility, and provide opportunities to tailor therapy to specific underlying abnormalities. To date, mutations in three genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of human hypertension: mutations resulting in ectopic expression of aldosterone synthase enzymatic activity cause a mendelian form of hypertension known as glucocorticoid-remediable aldosteronism; mutations in the beta subunit of the amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel cause constitutive activation of this channel and the mendelian form of hypertension known as Liddle syndrome; finally, common variants at the angiotensinogen locus have been implicated in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension in Caucasian subjects, although the nature of the functional variants and their mechanism of action remain uncertain. These early findings demonstrate the feasibility and utility of the application of genetic analysis to dissection of this trait.
High peak power FA (II) color center laser for time-resolved infrared spectroscopy

Abstract A pulsed, narrow-band F A (II) color center laser is described which provides peak powers up to 20 kW with a band-width below 0.3 cm -1 in the wavelength range from 2.4 μm to 2.9 μm. A frequency-doubled Nd: YAG laser is used as a pump source. The high peak power and short pulse length makes this layer system very attractive for time-resolved infrared spectroscopy on a nonosecond timescale.
Silicon photonic modulators based on epsilon-near-zero indium tin oxide materials

We propose a compact silicon photonic modulator based on a slot waveguide with epsilon-near-zero indium tin oxide materials. The device demonstrates high extinction ratio and low insertion loss over a wide optical bandwidth.
Letter: self-monitoring of blood glucose--caution warranted.

The DiGEM trial results1—abstracted in Evidence-Based Medicine 2008; 13 :7 (Self-monitoring of blood glucose did not improve glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes not treated with insulin)—are indeed important on several levels. Yet it remains difficult to translate these findings into clinical practice. I have …
A simplified method of quantitating protein using the biuret and phenol reagents.

Abstract A new modification of the Lowry method of quantitating protein is introduced, whereby the protein sample is mixed first with a diluted biuret reagent and later with 2 n phenol reagent (undiluted) for color development. The method is superior to the original in (i) extremely stable color development (0.3% change from 20 min to 2 hr), (ii) good reproducibility (±2% for 50–600 μg/ml of protein), (iii) elimination of the need to mix reagents for each assay, (iv) good storability (the diluted biuret reagent is storable for months), (v) simplicity (both reagents are available commercially), and (vi) the biuret method can be immediately converted to the Lowry method if the former does not yield a sufficient absorbance. It was found that the relationship between absorbance and protein concentration is expressed by a straight line with a slope of 1 in the Hill plot.
Compact wide‐aperture hyperbolic analyzers

Compact electrostatic analyzers that employ a new geometry are described. They accept collimated beams of ions through relatively wide (non-slit-like) inlet apertures and focus them at various locations, depending on the ion energy per charge, along rectangular position-sensing detectors. Each analyzer has a dynamic range of 10 or more for a fixed deflection voltage. The focal line width at a given energy is a small fraction of the inlet aperture width, and the focal lines are approximately coplanar.
Tofu Was Just a Start

The contributors explore the range of foods made from soybean and the other ways soy products enter our meals, highlighting how important these foods are and how important they may become.
Automatic Lung Segmentation of Volumetric Low-Dose CT Scans Using Graph Cuts

We propose a new technique for unsupervised segmentation of the lung region from low dose computed tomography (LDCT) images. We follow the most conventional approaches such that initial images and desired maps of regions are described by a joint Markov-Gibbs random field (MGRF) model of independent image signals and interdependent region labels. But our focus is on more accurate model identification for the MGRF model and the gray level distribution model. To better specify region borders between lung and chest, each empirical distribution of volume signals is precisely approximated by a linear combination of Gaussians (LCG) with positive and negative components. LCG models parameters are estimated by the modified EM algorithm. Initial segmentation (labeled volume) based on the LCG models is then iteratively refined by using the MGRF with analytically estimated potentials. In this framework the graph cuts is used as a global optimization algorithm to find the segmented data (labeled data) that minimize a certain energy function, which integrates the LCG model and the MGRF model. To validate the accuracy of our algorithm, a special 3D geometrical phantom motivated by statistical analysis of the LDCT data is designed. Experiments on both phantom and 3D LDCT data sets show that the proposed segmentation approach is more accurate than other known alternatives.
Measuring Bio-Oil Upgrade Intermediates and Corrosive Species with Polarity-Matched Analytical Approaches

Integrating biofuels with conventional petroleum products requires improvements in processing to increase blendability with existing fuels. This work demonstrates analysis techniques for more hydrophilic bio-oil liquids that give improved quantitative and qualitative description of the total acid content and organic acid profiles. To protect infrastructure from damage and reduce the cost associated with upgrading, accurate determination of acid content and representative chemical compound analysis are central imperatives to assessing both the corrosivity and the progress toward removing oxygen and acidity in processed biomass liquids. Established techniques form an ample basis for bio-liquids evaluation. However, early in the upgrading process, the unique physical phases and varied hydrophilicity of many pyrolysis liquids can render analytical methods originally designed for use in petroleum-derived oils inadequate. In this work, the water solubility of the organic acids present in bio-oils is exploited in a novel extraction and titration technique followed by analysis on the water-based capillary electrophoresis (CE) platform. The modification of ASTM D664, the standard for Total Acid Number (TAN), to include aqueous carrier solvents improves the utility of that approach for quantifying acid content in hydrophilic bio-oils. Termed AMTAN (modified Total Acid Number), this technique offers 1.2% relative standard deviation and dynamic range comparable to the conventional ASTM method. The results of corrosion product evaluations using several different sources of real bio-oil are discussed in the context of the unique AMTAN and CE analytical approaches developed to facilitate those measurements.
Starting Over Why Remarriages Are More Unstable

Using interview data from a national sample of married persons, the extent to which people in remarriages have attributes that adversely influence marital quality and stability is examined. Five models linking remarriage-induced attributes to an increased probability of a decline in marital quality and divorce are evaluated. Persons in remarriages are more likely to be poorly integrated with parents and in-laws, willing to leave the marriage, be poor marriage material, and to have lower socioeconomic status and age-heterogeneous marriages. All but socioeconomic status are found to explain declines in marital quality and higher levels of marital instability. Together the remaining four models explain major portions of the remarriage/marital-quality and remarriage/divorce relationships.
Quantifying the Impact of Trade on Wages: the Role of Nontraded Goods

This paper uses an applied general-equilbrium model to decompose the effects of changes in trade- and technology-related variables between 1982 and 1996 in the United States on the wages of skilled and unskilled labor. The results indicate that trade-related variables (tariff cuts, improvement in the terms of trade, and the increase in the trade deficit) had little impact on the widening wage gap. The major factor behind the rise in the skilled wage relative to the unskilled wage was differential rates of growth in skill-biased technical change across sectors. The paper also highlights the role that nontraded goods play in explaining the wage gap. Finally, the paper presents estimates of how wages would change if the economy moved to autarky. The results show that expanding trade could actually reduce wage inequality, rather than increase it.
State Schemes or Safety Nets? China's Push for Universal Coverage

After rapid changes in social policy and increases in social expenditures over the past five years, many of the uniformly negative assessments of China's record on health care, retirement pensions, and other forms of social security have to be reconsidered. This article examines the rapid expansion in social policy coverage and spending, and considers the possible significance of these changes for Chinese politics. The administrative and territorial categories that have defined access to social welfare provision over the history of the People's Republic of China have not yet receded, but their significance has diminished with programs that create uniform eligibility across rural and urban categories of citizenship. Large gaps in benefits remain, and are likely to generate political demands in the future as urbanization continues to erode the administrative distinctions between urban and rural.
Zebra mussels affect benthic predator foraging success and habitat choice on soft sediments

The introduction of zebra mussels (Dreissena spp.) to North America has resulted in dramatic changes to the complexity of benthic habitats. Changes in habitat complexity may have profound effects on predator-prey interactions in aquatic communities. Increased habitat complexity may affect prey and predator dynamics by reducing encounter rates and foraging success. Zebra mussels form thick contiguous colonies on both hard and soft substrates. While the colonization of substrata by zebra mussels has generally resulted in an increase in both the abundance and diversity of benthic invertebrate communities, it is not well known how these changes affect the foraging efficiencies of predators that prey on benthic invertebrates. We examined the effect of zebra mussels on the foraging success of four benthic predators with diverse prey-detection modalities that commonly forage in soft substrates: slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus), brown bullhead (Ameirus nebulosus), log perch (Percina caprodes), and crayfish (Orconectes propinquus). We conducted laboratory experiments to assess the impact of zebra mussels on the foraging success of predators using a variety of prey species. We also examined habitat use by each predator over different time periods. Zebra mussel colonization of soft sediments significantly reduced the foraging efficiencies of all predators. However, the effect was dependent upon prey type. All four predators spent more time in zebra mussel habitat than in either gravel or bare sand. The overall effect of zebra mussels on benthic-feeding fishes is likely to involve a trade-off between the advantages of increased density of some prey types balanced against the reduction in foraging success resulting from potential refugia offered in the complex habitat created by zebra mussels.
On the partition of unstable standard polytopes of polynomials

The set of all polynomials vanishing on the imaginary axis in a polytope of polynomials is determined. This constitutes a significant step towards finding the boundary of stability in a polytope. >
Role of Sialic Acid and Complex Carbohydrate Biosynthesis in Biofilm Formation by Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae in the Chinchilla Middle Ear

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is an important pathogen in respiratory tract infections, including otitis media (OM). NTHI forms biofilms in vitro as well as in the chinchilla middle ear, suggesting that biofilm formation in vivo might play an important role in the pathogenesis and chronicity of OM. We've previously shown that SiaA, SiaB, and WecA are involved in biofilm production by NTHI in vitro. To investigate whether these gene products were also involved in biofilm production in vivo, NTHI strain 2019 and five isogenic mutants with deletions in genes involved in carbohydrate biosynthesis were inoculated into the middle ears of chinchillas. The wild-type strain formed a large, well-organized, and viable biofilm; however, the wecA, lsgB, siaA, pgm, and siaB mutants were either unable to form biofilms or formed biofilms of markedly reduced mass, organization, and viability. Despite their compromised ability to form a biofilm in vivo, wecA, lsgB, and siaA mutants survived in the chinchilla, inducing culture-positive middle ear effusions, whereas pgm and siaB mutants were extremely sensitive to the bactericidal activity of chinchilla serum and thus did not survive. Lectin analysis indicated that sialic acid was an important component of the NTHI 2019 biofilm produced in vivo. Our data suggested that genes involved in carbohydrate biosynthesis and assembly play an important role in the ability of NTHI to form a biofilm in vivo. Collectively, we found that when modeled in a mammalian host, whereas biofilm formation was not essential for survivability of NTHI in vivo, lipooligosaccharide sialylation was indispensable.
The utilization of a new yellow light laser (578 nm) for the treatment of class I red telangiectasia of the lower extremities.

background. A dual-wavelength approach is necessary in order to achieve consistent results when utilizing lasers and intense pulsed light sources to treat red and blue lower extremity vessels. In this regard, short-wavelength technologies (500–800 nm) may be employed to treat red telangiectasia of less than 2 mm on the lower extremities. objective. To demonstrate a new yellow light laser utilizing a copper bromide medium and its potential efficacy in the treatment of red lower extremity telangiectasia of less than 2 mm. methods. Forty-six women (mean age 37 years) were treated in two private practice settings with a 578 nm yellow light laser with a circulating cooling window (1–4°C). Class I red telangiectases of the thighs 1.5 mm or less in diameter were considered for treatment. Patients were treated with up to three treatments at 6-week intervals on a 5 cm2 surgical area of vessels utilizing a fluence of 50–55 J/cm2. Results were analyzed by macrophotographic imaging, double-blinded observer evaluation/optical chromatography, and a patient evaluation scale. results. An average of 1.7 patient treatment sessions produced significant clearing of 75–100% in 71.8% of patients. The mean erythema index showed significant lightening (51–65a+) in the study population. Finally, 76.1% of patients reported great satisfaction with the results of their treatment session. conclusion. A new 578 nm copper bromide (CuBr) yellow light laser produces excellent results in eradicating red telangiectases of the lower extremities that are less than 2 mm in diameter.
Museum Marketing: Identification of High, Moderate, and Low Attendee Segments:

This study was undertaken to discern differences between high, moderate, and low museum attendees. One-way analysis of variance and stepwise discriminant analysis were used for market segmentation purposes to differentiate the characteristics of the three groups. The discriminant analysis yielded a model which was found to predict better and was significantly different from the proportional chance prediction, and it is thus felt that a viable method for segmenting museum-goers has resulted.
Mechanisms of genotoxin-induced transcription and hypermutation in p53

It is widely assumed that genotoxin-induced damage (e.g., G-to-T transversions) to the tumor suppressor gene, p53, is a direct cause of cancer. However, genotoxins also induce the stress response, which upregulates p53 transcription and the formation of secondary structures from ssDNA. Since unpaired bases are thermodynamically unstable and intrinsically mutable, increased transcription could be the cause of hypermutation, and thus cancer. Support for this hypothesis has been obtained by analyzing 6662 mutations in all types of cancer compared to lung and colon cancers, using the p53 mutation database. The data suggest that genotoxins have two independent effects: first, they induce p53 transcription, which increases the number of mutable bases that determine the incidence of cancer. Second, genotoxins may alter the fate, or ultimate mutation of a mutable base, for example, by causing more of the available mutable Gs to mutate to T, leaving fewer to mutate to A. Such effects on the fate of mutable bases have no impact on the incidence of cancer, as both types of mutations lead to cancer.
Poverty in Liberalism: A Comment on the Constitutional Essentials

Does a political culture’s embrace of liberal constitutionalism – or does liberal political thought more generally – come laden with a deep-seated resistance to recognition of the injustice of structural poverty within a broadly affluent society, or to getting done politically whatever is required in order to abolish that injustice? For those inclined to say so, the philosophy of John Rawls might seem to pose a testing case. In our time, Rawls’s philosophical excavations of liberalism are the ones we might well regard as the most dedicatedly antipoverty of all, and so his works would seemingly be the last place to go hunting for evidence of an ineluctable resistance in liberalism to the subjugation of poverty by political means. If we find such evidence there, where in liberalism will we not?Rawls compiles a roster of “constitutional essentials,” meaning commitments that must be observable, in practice as well as in form, in the basic laws that constitute a country’s political and legal regime, in order to render that regime legitimate in the sense it can command morally the compliance of citizen with laws and policies that issue from it, regardless of disagreements about whether those laws and policies are truly compatible with the demands of justice. Now, Rawls decidedly and deliberately excludes from the constitutional essentials a guarantee to everyone of what he calls “fair” (as distinguished from merely “formal”) equality of opportunity – even though, in Rawls’s view, a regime that fails to satisfy fair equality of opportunity may for that very reason be gravely unjust.This paper asks whether the Rawlsian exclusion of fair equality of opportunity from the constitutional essentials should be taken as a sign, even within the thought of Rawls, of the incapacity of liberal constitutionalism, with its prioritized commitment to individual rights and liberties, to grasp and respond fully to the injustice of avoidable structural poverty. The paper answers “no.” It finds that constitutionalization of fair equality of opportunity remains an open and debatable question within liberalism as conceived by Rawls, and furthermore that Rawls’s own reasons for deciding against constitutionalization contain nothing to detract from his insistence that fair equality of opportunity is a strict requirement of justice.This paper was prepared for a symposium on “Constitutionalism and the Poor,” held at Drake Law School on April 14, 2012, under the sponsorship of the Drake Constitutional Law Center.
Effect of Inspiratory Muscle Fatigue on Inspiratory Muscle Relaxation Rates in Healthy Subjects

Simple methods to diagnose inspiratory muscle fatigue in the clinical setting would be of considerable benefit. Inspiratory muscle relaxation rates are known to slow following induction of fatigue. Inspiratory muscle relaxation rates have been measured following a short sharp inspiratory effort against an occluded airway (sniff mouth ) or through the unoccluded nostrils (sniff nostrils ). Relaxation rates in the absence of fatigue are faster when sniffs are performed through the unoccluded nostrils. While both methods have been shown to be capable of detecting inspiratory muscle fatigue, there may be quantitative or qualitative differences between the two techniques in their ability to detect fatigue similar to the differences observed in the fresh state. Accordingly, we measured relaxation rates with the two sniff techniques in five healthy naive male subjects before and after induction of fatigue. Inspiratory muscle fatigue was induced by threshold loading at 80 percent of P es max until the subjects were unable to generate the target pressure. For those trials in which sniff nostrils were performed, the maximum relaxation rate from the esophageal pressure curve (MR es ) was significantly decreased following induction of fatigue in nine of ten trials, while the exponential time constant (tau es ) was significantly increased in all ten trials. In contrast, for those trials in which sniff mouth were performed, the MMR es was significantly decreased following induction of fatigue in only six of ten trials. Similarly, tau es was significantly increased following induction of fatigue in only six of ten trials. In addition, the magnitude of change in the MRR or tau following induction of fatigue was quantitatively greater with sniff nostrils compared with sniff mouth Similar findings were obtained when relaxation rates were measured from the diaphragmatic pressure tracing. In conclusion, changes in relaxation rate following induction of fatigue were quantitatively greater and more consistently observed when sniffs were performed through the unoccluded nostrils rather than against an occluded airway.
Optimization of Fabrication Process for a PDMS-SOG-Silicon Based PCR Micro Chip through System Identification Techniques

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) micro-chip with integrated thin film heaters and temperature detectors has been realized on a silicon-SOG-PDMS (polydi( methyl) siloxane) platform. Accurate temperature sensing and control is important for a PCR reaction. This precludes the placement of the temperature sensor anywhere else but within the PCR chamber which can, in certain microchip designs complicate the fabrication methodology. This paper presents the design and optimal placement of a thin film resistance based temperature detector (RTD) for sensing of temperature response on the bottom of the chip (heater side) and predicting the temperature response on the top of the chip (PCR chamber side). Thermal modeling of the system has been performed using a parametric blackbox approach based on the input-output data. From the steady state response of the system, Pseudo random binary sequences (PRBS) have been generated and used to excite it. Second and fourth order ARX (Auto regressive with exogenous inputs) models have been derived for optimal control and their performances have been compared. Reduction of fabrication complexity in regards to optimal placement of temperature sensor has been proposed.
Child Self-Regulation, Parental Secure Base Scripts, and At-Risk Kindergartners’ Academic Achievement

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: Early reading and mathematics skills predict later academic success, and child self-regulation and secure parent–child relationships are both predictors of early academic skills. Self-regulatory and family relationship factors have rarely been studied together as predictors of early academic success in populations of young children at risk for academic difficulties. This study examined child self-regulation and parents’ representations of parent–child relationships as predictors of young children’s academic achievement. Participants were 106 kindergartners attending charter schools that served impoverished neighborhoods in a large city. In a path analysis, child self-regulation and parental secure base script scores each uniquely predicted kindergartners’ academic achievement at the end of the school year when several key covariates were accounted for. Practice or Policy: Children’s self-regulation skills should be assessed at school entry to help identify the children at greate...
Putting the Moral in ‘Moral Hazard’: Agency, Human Rights, and United States Foreign Security Force Development

How did human rights become a major concern of United States efforts to train and equip foreign security forces? How has the United States responded to this concern? To address these questions, I develop a principal-agent theory that treats the U.S. as the principal and foreign security forces as the agent. This analytical move explores why delegating authority poses problems of control for the delegator. I find that, following the Vietnam War, critics of U.S. foreign policy concretized an abstract problem of controlling foreign security proxies with the particular threat of those proxies committing human rights abuses. The potential for such abuses became the salient agency problem associated with outsourcing security responsibilities to foreigners, especially those in the Global South. In response, the U.S. implemented specific “agency slack” countermeasures to correct such misbehavior. For example, the U.S. introduced human rights instruction to security assistance programs and threatened to terminate such assistance to foreign security units implicated in human rights violations. In the sections that follow, I first trace the emergence and evolution of the "human rights abuser" frame, beginning with debates over human rights provisions in the International Security and Arms Export Control Act of 1976. Next, I examine how this frame delimited U.S. military assistance to El Salvador during its civil war in the 1980s. Finally, I examine how activists in the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) reinforced and deployed this frame to protest the School of the Americas and its training of Latin American military personnel. Ultimately, my findings suggest that principal-agent theory could better account for agency if, instead of positing a divergence of preferences between principal and agent, it traced how the principal comes to recognize its agent as a particular kind of control problem.
Echolocation by the Short-Tailed Shrew Blarina brevicauda

The echolocating ability of short-tailed shrews was investigated by training them to select an open tube over a closed tube through which to run. With the elimination of other sensory possibilities, and by recording the ultrasonic “clicks” emitted by the shrews, it was verified that this discrimination was made via echolocation. The shrews could distinguish between open and closed tubes up to 61 cm in length. At 30.5 cm this distinction was possible for openings as small as 0.63 cm in diameter, and around corners up to 90°. The shrews could also make some distinctions between different materials.
Neurologic approach to specific language disability

I shall discuss here the neurophysiologic basis of language disability, making use of information borrowed from classic neurologic sciences. Observations made in the past 100 years and experiments carried out in the past 40 or 50 years have not only failed to answer all of our initial questions on language disability but have brought forward many new ones. Psychologic experiments also have contributed partial solutions and at the same time have widened the research on disorders of language function. That language is a function of the living brain is a well-established fact. It is also well known that the two cerebral hemispheres need an adequate supply of oxygenated blood and that in certain circumstances, when such a supply is impaired, the individual may lose his ability to speak, to understand spoken words, or to read or write, as well as to move parts of his body, to appreciate the position of his limbs in space, to recognize objects placed in one hand, to see on the right or left field of vision, etc. The pathologic examination of the brains of persons who had lost language function has taught us that the center for decoding spoken lan guage is in the posterior part of the left cerebral hemisphere. During early life, this area of the cerebrum is programmed for the function of decoding auditory messages in the form of spoken words. More posteriorly located in the left cerebral hemisphere, there is an area of cerebral cortex that has a very significant function in decoding written messages. In school, be tween the fifth and 10th years of life, this area of the cerebral cortex is programmed for decoding those written symbols called letters which, properly arranged, form words. This discussion of the neurologic aspects of specific language dis abilities will consist of the fellowing parts: (1) spoken language (verbal decoding and encoding)—acquisition, dissolution, and developmental failure; (2) written language (script decoding and encoding)—acquisi tion, alexia, and dyslexia; and (3) cerebral dominance in relation to language disability.
Religion and mental health among blacks.

The positive role of religion in the mental health of black Americans is a much neglected theme in the literature. This paper considers “religion” as one of the important retained black cultural traits, which continues to play a vital role in the mental health and survival strategies of black Americans. The paper examines Grier and Cobbs's appraisal of the religion-mental health connection in black communities and identifies different ways for mental health practitioners to think about religious phenomena and the primal partnership between religion and mental health. The paper concludes with a challenge to keep awareness of the religion-mental health partnership together in the treatment of black Americans.
A Game-Theoretic Analysis for Customers' Load Shifting in Energy Internet

As an important feature of demand-side management(DSM),load shifting is undergoing changes due to customer participation in open energyinternet. However, most existing DSM studies using game theory focus on absolute participating/non-participating strategy. In contrast, this paper takes participation frequency into account so as to explain possibility of load shifting in practice. In particular, a non-cooperative game is formulated between customers, where each customer can decide whether to participate in DSM and will minimize expected utility(cost function) reflecting their daily electricity consumption. Then, a novel algorithm based on fictitious game is proposed to obtain mixed Nash equilibrium and participation frequency. Simulation results assess participation probability of practical customers and verify convergence of the proposed algorithm.
Innovation Driven:A New Stage of Marxist Motive Force for Social Development

The essence of development is the birth of new things and the death of old ones,and the evolution of something from a lower stage to a higher stage.Hence,innovation is an essential motive force for social development by such practice forms as technological innovation,system innovation and knowledge innovation.For the sake of innovation-driven social development,we should further emancipate the mind,and actively cultivate the atmosphere conducive to innovative culture;vigorously reinforce independent innovation,and make enterprises the main body of innovation;play the government's role in regulation and guidance,and strengthen the construction of collaborative innovation mechanism for industry,university and research;increase the investment in education,make greater efforts in reform,improve the level of national education,and provide security for innovative personnel.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON CONVERSION RATE OF FUEL-NITROGEN TO NOx FOR SWIRL-OPPOSED FIRING BOILER

To stuy the source of NOx discharged by coal fired power plant,an experimental study on a 300 MW subcritical swirl-opposed firing boiler was carried out.NOx emission at outlet of the air preheater,flue gas components and exhaust gas temperature were measured under different unit loads.Conversion rate of fuel-nitrogen to fuel-NOx was calculated based on the fuel-NOx formation mechanism,furthermore,its relationship with indexes such as oxygen concentration,boiler load and efficiency was analyzed.Results show that,the conversion rate of fuel-nitrogen to NOx of the swirl-opposed boiler is between 20% and 30%.Compared to the oxygen concentration,furnace temperature has stronger influence on the fuel-nitrogen transformation.