cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A pH sensor based on force generated by pH-dependent polymer swelling.

We have demonstrated the feasibility of a new type of pH sensor by combining a bead of porous lightly crosslinked diethanolamine derivatized poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) with a strain gauge, i.e. a pressure sensitive resistor. The polymer bead is toughened with Kraton G1652, a styrene-ethylene,butylene-styrene triblock copolymer. The sensor is constructed so that the shrunken form of the bead is held in contact with the strain gauge with a small force. Increases in the hydrogen ion concentration protonate the diethanolamine introducing a positive charge onto the polymer backbone. This results in an electrostatic swelling force that causes the polymer to swell. This is detected as a change in strain gauge resistance that is readout via a Wheatstone bridge. When the pH of 0.10 M buffers is changed from 10 to 4, the response time is 390 s for a bead that is 0.25 mm in diameter in the shrunken state. The response varies with the square of the bead radius. The magnitude of the response is highly correlated with the penetration modulus, a measure of the extent to which the bead resists deformation when subjected to an external force. The response to pH appears to be shifted by the application of pressure in the sensor. This instrumentally simple approach to sensing has the potential to be stable and long-lived if the polymer bead can undergo a large number of swelling/shrinking cycles without changing mechanical properties.
Wigner analysis of 3D Coherence Imaging

We interpret 3-D coherence imaging with Wigner analysis. The mutual intensity and the Wigner distribution function are associated with the Fourier slice theorem, where the 3-D manifold of 4-D space is sufficient for 3-D imaging.
Reframing the Ethical Debate Regarding Incidental Findings in Genetic Research

Gliwa and Berkman (2013) argue that genetic researchers have ancillary care duties both to disclose and to hunt for incidental findings under certain conditions. Such duties have intuitive plausibi...
Thermodynamics of interacting fermions in atomic traps

We calculate the entropy in a trapped, resonantly interacting Fermi gas as a function of temperature for a wide range of magnetic fields between the BCS and Bose-Einstein condensation end points. This provides a basis for the important technique of adiabatic sweep thermometry and serves to characterize quantitatively the evolution and nature of the excitations of the gas. The results are then used to calibrate the temperature in several ground breaking experiments on $^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ and $^{40}\mathrm{K}$.
Similarity of genes argF and argI.

Two genes, at different positions on the Escherichia coli genetic map but producing two enzymes which catalyse the same reaction, have a structure so similar that their DNAs anneal with each other in a heteroduplex mapping test.
Database tomography: Origins and duplications

A new tool for addressing complex database analyses, full-text co-word analysis (database tomography), is described from both an historical and practical perspective. This article traces its origins in computational linguistics and summarizes the development of co-word analysis for research evaluation. It presents actual and potential applications of the techniques to current problems facing those involved ingathering competitive intelligence. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
"Spinach to Chocolate": Changing Awareness and Attitudes in ESL Writing Teachers

This paper uses data from student journals in a TESL writing practicum to trace the process by which practice of and reflection on specific activities change awareness of and attitudes toward writing and the teaching of writing. Students highlighted four areas as problems: dread of writing, boring or intimidating topics, insecurity about writing skills, and insecurity about teaching skills (particularly providing feedback). Students also identified five strategies on the part of the instructor as most helpful in effecting change: having students design and respond to writing tasks, requiring mandatory revision, guiding peer coaching, providing guided practice in topic development, and developing understanding of the writing process. In contrast to contemporary polarized models, the paper demonstrates the necessity of integrating training and development in teacher education.
Severe Clostridium difficile colitis

PURPOSE: Reports of fatality related to Clostridium difficile colitis and a sharp increase in prevalence of this infection prompted a study of patients who develop a more aggressive form of this disease. METHODS: Over 38 months, 710 patients at our institution developed C. difficile colitis. Twenty-one (3 percent) of these patients either required intensive care unit admission or died as a result of their infection. A retrospective, case-controlled study was undertaken to compare these patients, who were considered to have severe C. difficile colitis, with the remaining patients with milder disease. RESULTS: Factors that predisposed to the development of severe C. difficile colitis included intercurrent malignancy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunosuppressive and antiperistaltic medications, renal failure, and administration of clindamycin (P<0.05 for all). Patients with severe C. difficile colitis were more likely to have abdominal pain, tenderness and distention, peritonitis, hemoconcentration (>5 points), hypoalbuminemia ( 25,000; <1,500;P<0.05 for all). These factors were used to create a scoring system that could distinguish between patients with severe C. difficile colitis and those with mild disease. Thirteen patients in the late stages of terminal illness with metastatic malignancy or age >90 were considered poor or inappropriate surgical candidates. Only the remaining eight patients could have potentially recovered from operation with hope for long-term survival. Of these, seven were treated without colonic resection, and six of the seven survived, whereas one patient underwent colectomy and did not survive. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with severe C. difficile colitis can be readily identified. Often they have coexisting illness that precludes operation. In this series, only 1 of 21 patients with severe C. difficile might have benefited from an aggressive surgical approach.
Development and Use of Emissions Inventories for Construction Vehicles

Real-world data are insufficient to estimate actual emissions from construction vehicles and to develop effective decisions aimed at reducing emissions. A methodology is developed here for inventorying construction fleet emissions on the basis of representative real-world measurements of construction vehicles by means of a portable emissions measurement system (PEMS). The PEMS enables measurements of actual duty cycles and their corresponding fuel use and emissions. The methodology is demonstrated via application to a fleet of publicly owned construction vehicles used primarily for highway maintenance. Selected backhoes, front-end loaders, and motor graders, representing various model years and engine emissions standards, were measured with PEMS during use. Tests were performed for B20 biodiesel and petroleum diesel (PD) fuels. Emission factors from the PEMS data, combined with owner records of annual fuel consumption for over 1,000 vehicles, were used to estimate annual inventories of tailpipe emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. The emissions inventory was stratified by pollutant, vehicle type, fuel type, and engine tier and was used to assess fleet management strategies aimed at reducing emissions. Case study results illustrate that total fleet emissions would be reduced by 3% to 24% when B20 fuel was being used exclusively instead of PD exclusively, 11% to 50% when all Tier 0 and Tier 1 engines were replaced with Tier 2 engines, and 31% to 72% when B20 fuel was used exclusively in the highest engine tier available. Recommendations are made about development and practical applications of emissions inventories for construction fleet management.
Toward an integrated account of object and action selection: A computational analysis and empirical findings from reaching-to-grasp and tool-use

The act of reaching for and acting upon an object involves two forms of selection: selection of the object as a target, and selection of the action to be performed. While these two forms of selection are logically dissociable, and are evidently subserved by separable neural pathways, they must also be closely coordinated. We examine the nature of this coordination by developing and analyzing a computational model of object and action selection first proposed by Ward [Ward, R. (1999). Interactions between perception and action systems: a model for selective action. In G. W. Humphreys, J. Duncan, & A. Treisman (Eds.), Attention, Space and Action: Studies in Cognitive Neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press]. An interesting tenet of this account, which we explore in detail, is that the interplay between object and action selection depends critically on top-down inputs representing the current task set or plan of action. A concrete manifestation of this, established through a series of simulations, is that the impact of distractor objects on reaching times can vary depending on the nature of the current action plan. In order to test the model's predictions in this regard, we conducted two experiments, one involving direct object manipulation, the other involving tool-use. In both experiments we observed the specific interaction between task set and distractor type predicted by the model. Our findings provide support for the computational model, and more broadly for an interactive account of object and action selection.
Simulation of Ternary Mixtures of Ethylene, 1-Hexene, and Polyethylene

Solubility and diffusion of ethylene and 1-hexene mixtures in linear amorphous polyethylene (modeled as C70) are studied using a recently proposed united atom force field. It is found that the presence of 1-hexene increases the solubility of ethylene in polyethylene. These results are also compared to the solubility predictions of the SAFT equation of state. It is also observed that, in the polymer phase, both ethylene and 1-hexene molecules prefer to reside in the vicinity of the polymer chain ends. This aggregation effect may be important in determining penetrant solubilities in longer polymers and polymers with short chain branches.
Electrospray mass spectrometry: Ethylene glycol as a solvent and its effects on ion desorption†

Ethylene glycol solutions of gramicidin S, myoglobin and tetrabutylammonium bromide were analysed by means of electrospray mass spectrometry and their spectra were compared with those of aqueous solutions. The evaporation of water and ethylene glycol droplets, initially at room or elevated temperature, in air at room temperature was modelled. It was found that under conditions where a water droplet's radius would shrink by ∼30%, an ethylene glycol droplet shrinks negligibly. Further, droplets that are initially hot (such as those that are ejected from a heated electrospray needle) cool very rapidly owing to evaporation and heat loss to ambient air, and subsequently evaporate much like droplets that are initially at room temperature. For gramicidin S, the ion abundances in ethylene glycol as solvent were ∼200 times lower than those in water under room temperature operating conditions. In experiments where the spray probe was heated to ∼100°C to reduce the viscosity of ethylene glycol, the gramicidin response difference between the solvents decreased to about a factor of 40. Similar trends were observed for myoglobin and the tetrabutylammonium ion. The gramicidin abundances in ethylene glycol, relative to those in water, are orders of magnitude too large to be accounted for using the conventional solvent evaporation model. It is speculated that decreasing the viscosity increases the velocity of ions drifting in ethylene glycol towards the solution/air interface and increases the total number of analyte ions desorbed at the Taylor cone during electrospray.
Wine as a medium term investment vehicle

Summary An analysis is made of the prospects of wines as an, investment. After an examination of the characteristics of fine wines and selection of a group of French wines for further consideration, wine auctions are examined with regard to their suitability. for observation of wine investment opportunities. The analysis of yields obtained from wine investment on basis of the auction prices suggests that one should buy wine for the purpose of consumption rather than for investment.
The myth of a ‘Global’ economy: Enduring national foundations and emerging regional realities

(1996). The myth of a ‘Global’ economy: Enduring national foundations and emerging regional realities. New Political Economy: Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 157-184.
Inverse regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and arginase I by the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 in CNS glia

We have previously shown that the SH2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 plays a critical role in controlling virus infection in CNS glia in vivo and in vitro. The present study addressed whether increased virus replication in SHP-1-deficient glia in vitro may be a result of altered expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS/NOS2). First, we observed a profound reduction in iNOS protein expression and production of nitric oxide (NO) in response to the viral mimic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), despite the induction of high levels of iNOS mRNA, in SHP-1-deficient motheaten mouse compared to wild type littermate mouse glia. Because both iNOS expression and NO production are suppressed by multiple pathways involving arginase I activity, it was important that we observed abnormally high constitutive expression of arginase I in cultured glia of SHP-1-deficient compared to wild type mice. Further, both constitutive and IL-4/IL-10-induced expression of arginase I correlated with elevated STAT6 nuclear binding activity, decreased NO production, and increased virus replication in motheaten compared to wild type astrocytes. These findings provide the first evidence of an inverse relationship between NO and arginase I activity regulated by SHP-1 in CNS glia that is relevant to modulation of innate anti-viral responses. Thus, we propose that SHP-1 is a critical regulator of innate immunity to virus infections in CNS cells.
AN INDEX FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF CONSUMER LOYALTY

The concept of consumer “loyalty” (i.e., preference for a particular store or brand) is intriguing to marketing scholars and practitioners. Research in this area would be enhanced by the acceptance of an operational measure of consumer loyalty. Loyalty appears to be a tri-dimensional concept; per cent of budget, allocated to the store or brand, amount of switching, and number of alternatives explored have been used to measure loyalty. Consequently, the authors propose a “loyalty index” which combines these three measures. An empirical test of the proposed index showed that the index did discriminate among degrees of consumer loyalty, and was related to consumer psychological characteristics in a manner similar to that of the generally used single measures of consumer loyalty.
A direct comparison of GFAP immunocytochemistry and GFAP concentration in various regions of ethanol-fixed rat and mouse brain

Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunostaining is the most commonly used method to examine the distribution of astrocytes and the hypertrophy of astrocytes in response to neural degeneration or injury. More recently, a variety of biochemical assays for GFAP have been developed. Both qualitative immunocytochemical evaluations of GFAP and quantitative biochemical measurements of GFAP have been used to examine the regional distribution of GFAP within the central nervous system (CNS). The former method has largely been based on aldehyde-fixed tissue, while the latter approach has been based on the use of fresh tissue extracts or homogenates. In the present study, we used ethanol as a fixative to permit both immunocytochemical and biochemical procedure to be carried out on brain tissue from a single animal. Normal adult rats and mice were perfused with a 70% ethanol/saline solution, and each brain was hemisectioned. The concentration of GFAP was measured in regions of 1 hemisection, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while the other hemisection was used for GFAP immunostaining. Regional differences occurred in the brains of both species, with the highest concentration of GFAP found in the brainstem, and the lowest concentrations found in the striatum and cortex. The specific patterns of GFAP immunoreactivity corresponded to regional concentrations in most brain area of both species. These data show that it is possible to assay GFAP concentrations in tissue prepared for immunocytochemical analysis, providing both qualitative and quantitative information from one set of tissue.
Inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol signalling as antiproliferative agents

Intracellular signalling pathways mediating the effects of oncogenes on cell growth and transformation offer novel targets for the development of anticancer drugs. With this approach it may be sufficient to target a component of the signalling pathway activated by the oncogene rather than the oncogene product itself. Phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) is a key component of two growth factor signalling pathways. It acts as a substrate for PtdIns specific phospholipase C (PtdInsPLC) and for PtdIns-3-kinase. In this review the antiproliferative properties of some inhibitors of PtdInsPLC and PtdIns-3-kinase are considered. There are some compounds already in clinical trial as anticancer drugs that may act by inhibiting PtdIns signalling, as well as several compounds in preclinical development. Some problems that may be encountered in developing this new class of anticancer drugs are discussed.
Alcohol dependence and reproductive timing in African and European ancestry women: findings in a midwestern twin cohort.

Objective:We examined associations between reproductive onset and history of alcohol dependence (AD) in 475 African ancestry (AA) and 2,865 European or other ancestry (EA) female twins.Method:Participants were drawn from a U.S. midwestern birth cohort study of like-sex female twin pairs born between 1975 and 1985, ages 21–32 as of last completed assessment. Cox proportional hazards regression models were estimated predicting age at first childbirth from history of AD, separately by race/ethnicity, without and with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index, history of other substance involvement, psychopathology, and family and childhood risks.Results:Among EA twins, AD predicted early childbearing through age 17 and delayed childbearing from age 25 onward; in adjusted models, AD was associated with overall delayed childbearing. Among AA twins, reproductive timing and AD were not significantly related in either unadjusted or adjusted models.Conclusions:Findings for twins of European ...
Drosophila Hold'em Is Required for a Subset of Meiotic Crossovers and Interacts With the DNA Repair Endonuclease Complex Subunits MEI-9 and ERCC1

Three Drosophila proteins, ERCC1, MUS312, and MEI-9, function in a complex proposed to resolve double-Holliday-junction intermediates into crossovers during meiosis. We report here the characterization of hold'em (hdm), whose protein product belongs to a single-strand-DNA-binding superfamily of proteins. Mutations in hdm result in reduced meiotic crossover formation and sensitivity to the DNA-damaging agent methyl methanesulfonate. Furthermore, HDM physically interacts with both MEI-9 and ERCC1 in a yeast two-hybrid assay. We conclude that HDM, MEI-9, MUS312, and ERCC1 form a complex that resolves meiotic recombination intermediates into crossovers.
Role of the Oxyferrous Heme Intermediate and Distal Side Adduct Radical in the Catalase Activity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis KatG Revealed by the W107F Mutant

Catalase-peroxidase (KatG) is essential in Mycobacterium tuberculosis for oxidative stress management and activation of the antitubercular pro-drug isoniazid. The role of a unique distal side adduct found in KatG enzymes, involving linked side chains of residues Met255, Tyr229, and Trp107 (MYW), in the unusual catalase activity of KatG is addressed here and in our companion paper (Suarez, J., Ranguelova, K., Jarzecki, A. A., Manzerova, J., Krymov, V., Zhao, X., Yu, S., Metlitsky, L., Gerfen, G. J., and Magliozzo, R. S. (2009) J. Biol. Chem. 284, in press). The KatG[W107F] mutant exhibited severely reduced catalase activity yet normal peroxidase activity, and as isolated contains more abundant 6-coordinate heme in high spin and low spin forms compared with the wild-type enzyme. Most interestingly, oxyferrous heme is also found in the purified enzyme. Oxyferrous KatG[W107F] was prepared by photolysis in air of the carbonyl enzyme or was generated using hydrogen peroxide decayed with a t½ of 2 days compared with 6 min for wild-type protein. The stability of oxyenyzme was modestly enhanced in KatG[Y229F] but was not affected in KatG[M255A]. Optical stopped-flow experiments showed rapid formation of Compound I in KatG[W107F] and facile formation of oxyferrous heme in the presence of micromolar hydrogen peroxide. An analysis of the relationships between catalase activity, stability of oxyferrous enzyme, and a proposed MYW adduct radical is presented. The loss of catalase function is assigned to the loss of the MYW adduct radical and structural changes that lead to greatly enhanced stability of oxyenzyme, an intermediate of the catalase cycle of native enzyme.
Effects of an Anti-estrogen on Neural Estradiol Binding and on Behaviors in Female Rats*

Although the synthetic anti-estrogen, nafoxidine (Upjohn ll,100A), has been very useful in studies of the molecular actions of estradiol in the uterus, little is known about its effects on neural estradiol binding or on estrogen-influenced behaviors. In these studies we first determined the time course of changes in cytoplasmic estradiol-binding sites and in in vivo binding of [3H]estradiol by cell nuclei in the hypothalamus- preoptic area-septum of ovariectomized rats after a single injection of nafoxidine (4 mg ip in saline). We then compared these changes in neural estradiol binding with changes in two estradiol-influenced behavioral responses–female sexual behavior and suppression of eating and body weight. Nafoxidine reduced brain cytoplasmic estradiol binding sites by 80% within 6 h, and these levels remained unchanged for 4 days. One week after nafoxidine, cytoplasmic binding sites were 50% of controls, and recovery was complete by day 15. Inhibition of [3H]estradiol binding in brain cell nuclei pa...
The construction of mental models of information-rich web spaces: the development process and the impact of task complexity

This study investigated the dynamic process of people constructing mental models of an information-rich web space during their interactions with the system and the impact of task complexity on model construction. In the study, subjects' mental models of MedlinePlus were measured at three time points: after subjects freely explored the system for 5 minutes, after the first search session, and after the second search session. During the first search session, the 39 subjects were randomly divided into two groups; one group completed 12 simple search tasks and the other group completed 3 complex search tasks. During the second search session, all subjects completed a set of 4 simple tasks and 2 complex tasks. Measures of the subjects' mental models included a concept listing protocol, a semi-structured interview, and a drawing task.The analysis revealed that subjects' mental models were a rich representation of the cognitive and emotional processes involved in their interaction with information systems. The mental models consisted of three dimensions (structure, evaluation and emotion, and (expected) behaviors); the structure and evaluation/emotion dimensions consisted of four components each: system, content, information organization, and interface. The construction of mental models was a process coordinated by people's internal cognitive structure and the external sources (the system, system feedback, and tasks) and a process distributed through time, in the sense that earlier mental models impacted later ones. Task complexity also impacted the construction of mental models by influencing what objects in the system were perceived and represented by the user, the specificity of the representations, and the user's feelings about the objects.Based on the study results, recommendations for employing mental models as a tool to assist designers in constructing user models, eliciting user requirements, and performing usability evaluations are put forward.
Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy

This study presents a framework to include environmental externali- ties into a system of national accounts. The paper estimates the air pollution damages for each industry in the United States. An inte- grated-assessment model quantifies the marginal damages of air pol- lution emissions for the US which are multiplied times the quantity of emissions by industry to compute gross damages. Solid waste com- bustion, sewage treatment, stone quarrying, marinas, and oil and coal-fired power plants have air pollution damages larger than their value added. The largest industrial contributor to external costs is coal-fired electric generation, whose damages range from 0.8 to 5.6 times value added. (JEL E01, L94, Q53, Q56)
An integrated approach to meta-analysis in alcohol studies.

The research design and methods utilised by the Collaborative Alcohol-Related Longitudinal Project are described. The project design addresses the critical need to develop procedures to assess the replicability of research results in alcohol studies. Key features of the research plan include: re-analysis of original data from multiple longitudinal studies of drinking behavior in the general population; centralization of all data analyses, developed and implemented by an interdisciplinary core staff; development of the research plan and interpretation of results in co-operation with original investigators of studies included in the project; and use of modeling procedures from meta-analysis to quantify the relative contribution of factors influencing the distribution of effect estimates across studies, including both methodological differences and aggregate level variables. The final section describes statistical methods for meta-analysis used by the project, including procedures for the calculation and combination of estimates of effect magnitude, categorical and continuous modeling procedures for use with effect sixes, and random effects models.
Directed lysis of experimental cancer by β‐carotene in liposomes

The purpose of this study was to extend the knowledge of the antitumor activity of liposomes and to identify, for the first time, the antitumor effect of liposomes with the antioxidant beta-carotene. The administration of the carotenoid encapsulated in in liposomes has the advantages of quantitation, facilitation, and most importantly an increased therapeutic response, resulting in the accentuation of regression of carcinoma in the hamster pouch. Tumors induced after the application of the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz[alpha]anthracene (0.5%) were injected with liposomes composed of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylethanolamine in a ratio of 1:1:1 (large unilamellar vesicles). Tumor-bearing animals were divided into four groups, each containing 10 hamsters. The group treated with the liposomes of beta-carotene exhibited a significantly lower tumor burden (approx 5,000-fold difference) than the control tumor group. Electron- and light-micrographic analyses were used to substantiate the gross observations of tumor regression. It was noted that the carcinoma cells endocytozed liposomes in increased numbers compared with normal mucosa treated with liposomes. In addition, non-tumor-bearing hamsters injected with beta-carotene liposomes or liposomes alone did not exhibit any pathological change to the normal mucosa. An inflammatory infiltrate consisting of mononuclear cells, mast cells, and some polymorphonuclear leukocytes was noted, and degranulating polymorphonuclear leukocytes and mast cells and eosinophils predominated in the tumor controls (7,12-dimethylbenz[alpha]anthracene treated only). Notably, not all areas of degenerating dysplasia or early carcinoma exhibited a dense inflammatory response adjacent to the mucosa after the injection of beta-carotene liposomes. The results demonstrate a selective nontoxic therapy to regress experimental oral cancer.
Review of Terra MODIS thermal emissive band L1B radiometric performance

The MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Earth Observing System Terra satellite, launched into orbit on 18 December 1999, will have a “first light” 15th anniversary on 24 February 2015. For nearly 15 years the MODIS instrument has provided radiances in all spectral bands. Though some detectors have fallen below SNR thresholds, the vast majority of spectral bands continue to provide high quality L1B measurements for use in L2 science algorithms supporting global climate research. Radiometric accuracy of the Terra MODIS thermal emissive bands (TEBs) in the C6 L1B product has been assessed using various approaches over the nearly 15 year Terra MODIS data record, including comparisons with instruments on the ground, in aircraft under-flights, and on other satellites. All of these approaches contribute to the understanding of the Terra MODIS radiometric L1B performance. Early in the lifetime of Terra, ground-based measurements and NASA ER-2 aircraft under-flights revealed that TEBs in the infrared window (“window” bands) are well calibrated and performing within accuracy specifications. The ER-2 under-flights also suggested that many atmospheric bands may be performing outside of specification, especially LWIR CO2 sensitive bands that are subject to optical crosstalk, although analysis uncertainties are larger for atmospheric bands. Beginning in 2007, MetOp-A IASI observations were used to evaluate Terra MODIS TEB performance through Simultaneous Nadir Overpass (SNO) comparisons. These inter-satellite comparisons largely affirm the early aircraft and ground-based evaluations, showing that all Terra MODIS window bands have small biases, minimal trending, and minor detector and mirror side striping over the 2007-2013 timeframe. Most atmospheric bands are performing satisfactorily near to specification; however, biases, striping and trending are large and significantly out of specification in the water vapor sensitive band 27 and ozone sensitive band 30 while the CO2 sensitive band 36 bias significantly exceeds specification. The investigation has found that an effective spectral shift significantly reduces biases and scene temperature dependence (but not trends) in most atmospheric bands, bringing them closer to, if not within, specification.
Disturbance and Plant Succession in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the American Southwest

Disturbances such as fire, land clearing, and road building remove vegetation and can have major influences on public health through effects on air quality, aesthetics, recreational opportunities, natural resource availability, and economics. Plant recovery and succession following disturbance are poorly understood in arid lands relative to more temperate regions. This study quantitatively reviewed vegetation reestablishment following a variety of disturbances in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southwestern North America. A total of 47 studies met inclusion criteria for the review. The time estimated by 29 individual studies for full reestablishment of total perennial plant cover was 76 years. Although long, this time was shorter than an estimated 215 years (among 31 individual studies) required for the recovery of species composition typical of undisturbed areas, assuming that recovery remains linear following the longest time since disturbance measurement made by the studies.
Double reverse intestinal malrotation: a novel rotational anomaly and its surgical correction

Reverse intestinal rotation is the rarest developmental anomaly of intestinal rotation and fixation. We present a case of an adolescent girl with chronic intermittent abdominal pain who was found to have a novel rotational abnormality that we have termed "double reverse intestinal malrotation." The imaging studies, operative findings, and the surgical correction are presented.
An Efficient Approach to Sample On-Chip Power Supplies

In recent years, post-silicon debugging has become a significantly difficult exercise due to the increase in the size of the electrical state of the IC being debugged, coupled with the limited fraction of this state that is visible to the debug engineer. As the number of transistors increases, the number of possible electrical states increases exponentially, while the amount of information that can be accessed grows at a much slower rate. This difficulty is compounded by the outsourcing of IP blocks, which creates more black boxes that the debug engineer must work around. As a result, when an IC fails tracking down the cause of the failure becomes a monumental task, and debugging becomes more art than science. One source of errors in a test circuit is the fluctuation of the power supplies during a single clock cycle. These supply variations can increase or decrease the speed of a circuit and lead to errors such as hold time violations and setup time violations. This paper presents a circuit that samples precisely the power supply multiple times in a clock cycle, allowing the debug engineer to quantify the variations in the supply over a clock cycle. With this information, a better understanding of the electrical state of the test chip is made possible. The circuit presented in this paper can sample the supply voltage with a quantization of 0.291mV, and the output is linear with an R2 value of 0.9987.
Is the political realm more encompassing than the economic realm

The political realm is more encompassing than the economic because actions that are political necessarily involve claims on others. At the same time they are more fragile as those claims are always subject to refusal.
Content and Delivery: A Comparison and Contrast of Electronic and Traditional MBA Marketing Planning Courses:

The electronic or Internet-based MBA program is a growing phenomenon, primarily because of students’ needs for flexibility and because of continuously improving technology for delivery of courses. Online MBA programs occur in a number of different formats ranging widely in tuition rates, timing, and delivery. Course content also necessarily differs from traditional classrooms. To illustrate the differences and similarities between electronic and traditional classrooms, two versions of a marketing planning course are contrasted based on requirements such as exams, teamwork, discussions, and research techniques.
Increased cable ampacity using multiple coaxial conductors and inductive compensation

Temperature buildup due to resistive losses in the conductor may limit the current capacity (ampacity) of a cable. One method for increasing cable capacity is to reduce joulean heating by using two or more coaxial conductors in a single cable to carry the desired current. To distribute the current among several concentric layers, inductive compensation in the form of internal transpositions or series connected reactors is required. Due to the geometrical arrangement of the conductors, additional eddy losses are induced by an alternating magnetic field acting on the outer layers of the conductor. A general result is obtained for the ac resistance of a multiple conductor cable, incorporating the proximity effect of the adjacent conductors. It is shown that resistive losses in the cable can be minimized by correctly choosing the thickness (radial build) of each layer. To illustrate the mathematical results, a simple example comprising two coaxial layers of conductor is presented. The example shows that lower losses (in comparison with a single layer cable of the same radius) can be obtained by using two coaxial layers in conjunction with inductive compensation. The results of this analysis should be applicable to gas-insulated (SF 6 ) conductors which must carry large continuous currents.
Long-run planning for undergraduate-higher education capacity needs: Basing enrollment projections on partial-college-potential vs. full-college-potent

Abstract When one suggests today that our institutions of higher education should be accessible to all persons who, according to some criterion (usually vaguely conceived) are appropriately qualified, or accessible to all who might potentially benefit, the controversial admissions door to a Pandora's box is opened. Some listeners conjure up visions of universal higher education that they would like to see realized. At the other extreme (and there are intermediate positions) the vision is of colleges and universities as the restricted domain for the intellectual elite, perhaps admitting only some 10–15 per cent of all high school graduates. Yet higher education planners cannot anticipate the student-capacity needed in the future without some guidelines, however crude, as to how many new high school graduates should be accommodated in each of the coming years. To mold the ensuing discussion of the quantitative magnitude of expected future undergraduate enrollments, some of the arguments for universal higher education are reviewed in Section 1. After considering the potential contribution of institutions of higher education to “improve the quality of life”, it is argued that a major higher education objective is to promote greater social mobility. The student-capacity issue is initially faced in Section 2: what has happened in the past is summarized and analyzed, along with higher education planners' extrapolations of past enrollment trends as one gateway to the determination of probable future needs. The concept of enrollment based on “full-college-potential” is introduced in Section 3. The existing higher education “system” will be referred to as the “partial-college-potential” system—for reasons that will become apparent [1]. Estimates of past and future enrollments based on the objective of fully realizing all college potential are then set forth in Section 4. Comparison of the two alternative higher education systems, assuming each to be well-established and substituted for the other, reveals that the full-college-potential system would annually serve about 1 million students more than would be accommodated by the partial-college-potential system. Finally, the capital amd operating costs for the alternative higher education systems are developed and compared in Section 5 for several years into the future, as well as the institutional costs of transition from the partial-college-potential system to the full-college-potential system.
Impact of friction, flow rate and loading density on automated soft-shell crawfish separation

Abstract The separation of soft-shell crawfish from the hard-shell (or intermolt) population is the key step within soft-shell crawfish culture. Automated soft-shell crawfish separation in a culture tray is accomplished by utilizing hydraulic force and electrical inhibition gates. The impacts of water flow rate, surface roughness of the raceway tray, and crawfish loading density upon the operation of the automatic soft-shell crawfish separation process were evaluated. The flow rate which resulted in the desired hydraulic force for optimal performance ranged from 0·75 to 0·90 liter/s. The magnitude of the frictional and drag forces acting on a crawfish were identified to be of the order of 0·001-0·01 N. The hard-shell crawfish escape rate from the separation unit can be approximated as a first-order process with respect to the loading density.
The specific heat capacity of biotite

Abstract The specitic heat capacity of biotite of approximate formula: K 1.65 Na 0.17 Li 0.12 Mg 3.41 Fe(III) 0.41 Ti 0.29 Mn 0.03 Zn 0.02 Si 5.66 Al 2.29 (OH) 2.55 O 21.45 was determined by adiabatic calorimetry over the temperature range 300 to 600 K. The following equation expresses the results: c p (J·g −1 ·K −1 ) = 1.035−2.064×10 4( T K ) −2 −3.41×10 −4 ( T K )+7.26×10 −7 ( T K )2 .
Feasibility of latissimus and teres major transfer to reconstruct irreparable subscapularis tendon tear: an anatomic study.

Background Several tendon transfers have been described to reconstruct irreparable subscapularis (SS) tears, but their outcomes are variable and unsatisfactory in the presence of anterior glenohumeral subluxation. We evaluated the anatomic feasibility of the latissimus dorsi (LD) or teres major (TM) muscle tendon transfer to reconstruct an irreparable SS tendon tear. Materials and methods The dimensions of the LD and TM tendons and the distance between their insertion and the SS tendon insertion were determined In 20 cadaveric shoulders. Feasibility of the isolated LD and TM tendon transfer to 3 locations on the SS tendon insertion, transfer of the LD to the proximal half, TM to the lower half of the SS tendon, and combined transfer of the LD/TM tendon to the central aspect of the SS tendon was assessed. Results The LD and TM were an average length of 5.9 cm and 2.3 cm and an average width of 2.2 cm and 2.4 cm, respectively. The mean distances from the center of the LD and TM tendons insertion to the central aspect of the SS tendon insertion was 4.0 cm and 4.7 cm, respectively. All of the tendon transfers were feasible, and the risk of nerve compression was low, except for the combined tendon LD/TM transfer to the proximal third of the SS tendon. Conclusions This study shows that transfer of the LD/TM to the lesser tuberosity to reconstruct an irreparable SS tear is feasible, with a low risk of nerve compression, with the exception of the combined LD/TM and more proximal TM tendon transfers.
The Perplexing Role of Learner Control in E-Learning: Will Learning and Transfer Benefit or Suffer?

The appeal of e-learning is not surprising given its many proposed advantages (e.g. flexibility, responsiveness to trainees' individual needs, potential cost-effectiveness). However, as pointed out by Ruel et al., academic research in support of the proposed advantages of electronic human resource management systems is scarce. Although this is generally the case for technologically mediated training, the extant research on e-learning actually questions many of its proposed advantages. In this conceptual piece we (1) establish the link between e-learning and learner control, (2) summarize the advantages and disadvantages of learner-controlled e-learning, (3) briefly present the results of a recent study conducted in our research lab that addresses the disadvantages of learner-controlled e-learning for the training of complex material, and (4) discuss research-based recommendations for the application of learner-controlled e-learning in organizational settings.
Competitiveness in State Supreme Court Elections, 1946–2009

There has been much debate over changes in state supreme court elections. However, most of the research that debate refers to considers a relatively short timespan. This article reports an analysis of contestation and competitiveness in state supreme court elections for the entire post World War II period. The article considers both primary and general elections (other than retention elections). The central finding of the article is that outside the South there has been surprisingly little change, either in whether incumbents are challenged for reelection or in the competitiveness of the elections that are contested (looking separately at open-seat elections and elections involving incumbents). The analysis suggests that the apparent increase in competitiveness (taken to include the question of whether an incumbent is challenged), at least through 2009, reflects factors other than changes in the nature of campaigns and expenditures on state supreme court elections; specifically, those changes largely result from the end of the one-party South.
How Slu7 and Prp18 cooperate in the second step of yeast pre-mRNA splicing.

Slu7 and Prp18 act in concert during the second step of yeast pre-mRNA splicing. Here we show that the 382-amino-acid Slu7 protein contains two functionally important domains: a zinc knuckle (122CRNCGEAGHKEKDC135) and a Prp18-interaction domain (215EIELMKLELY224). Alanine cluster mutations of 215EIE217 and 221LELY224 abrogated Slu7 binding to Prp18 in a two-hybrid assay and in vitro, and elicited temperature-sensitive growth phenotypes in vivo. Yet, the mutations had no impact on Slu7 function in pre-mRNA splicing in vitro. Single alanine mutations of zinc knuckle residues Cys122, His130, and Cys135 had no effect on cell growth, but caused Slu7 function during pre-mRNA splicing in vitro to become dependent on Prp18. Specifically, zinc knuckle mutants required Prp18 in order to bind to the spliceosome. Compound mutations in both Slu7 domains (e.g., C122A-EIE, H130A-EIE, and C135A-EIE) were lethal in vivo and abolished splicing in vitro, suggesting that the physical interaction between Slu7 and Prp18 is important for cooperation in splicing. Depletion/reconstitution studies coupled with immunoprecipitations suggest that second step factors are recruited to the spliceosome in the following order: Slu7 --> Prp18 --> Prp22. All three proteins are released from the spliceosome after step 2 concomitant with release of mature mRNA.
The Lymantria dispar Nucleopolyhedrovirus Enhancins Are Components of Occlusion-Derived Virus

Enhancins are metalloproteinases, first identified in granuloviruses, that can enhance nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) potency. We had previously identified two enhancin genes (E1 and E2) in the Lymantria dispar multinucleocapsid NPV (LdMNPV) and showed that both were functional. For this study, we have extended our analysis of LdMNPV enhancin genes through an immunocytochemical analysis of E1 and E2 expression and localization. E1 and E2 peptide antibodies recognized proteins of 84 kDa and 90 kDa, respectively, on Western blots of extracts from L. dispar 652Y cells infected with wild-type virus. The 84- and 90-kDa proteins were first detected at 48 h postinfection (p.i.) and were present through 96 h p.i. E1 and E2 peptide antibodies detected E1 and E2 in polyhedron extracts, and the antibodies were shown to be specific for E1 and E2, respectively, through the use of recombinant virus strains lacking the enhancin genes. E1 and E2 were further localized to occlusion-derived virus (ODV). The enhancins were not found in budded virus. Immunoelectron microscopy indicated that E1 and E2 were present in ODV envelopes and possibly in nucleocapsids. Fractionation studies with several detergents suggested that the enhancins were present in ODV envelopes in association with nucleocapsids. In contrast, enhancins in granuloviruses are located within the granulin matrix. The presence of LdMNPV enhancins within ODV provides a position for the proteins to interact directly on the peritrophic membrane as ODV traverses this host defense barrier.
Evolution of a Culture of Assessment: Developing a Mixed-Methods Approach for Evaluating Library Instruction

Assessment has become more of a priority for libraries across the country in the last decade. Using the instruction program as a case study, the authors detail the history of assessment development during the past ten years at Mercer University. Along with the university's culture of assessment, institutional-, library-, and program-level assessment are discussed, including how information is communicated across these levels. The authors also share an evolving multifaceted assessment plan for a traditional library instruction program, including methods such as attitude surveys, peer observation, and authentic assessment. In addition to past assessment, future directions are considered.