cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do Inventory Disclosures Predict Sales and Earnings

This study investigates what can be learned from inventory disclosures about future sales and earnings, that cannot be learned from current and past values of those same series. The findings indica...
The Role of the Base Stack on the AC Performance of GaN Hot Electron Transistor

In this letter, we provide guidelines for the design of the base stack of a GaN-base HET suitable for high-frequency operation, through full band cellular Monte Carlo device simulations. The experimental curves are matched by our model and the transmission coefficient through the base is confirmed to be 0.2. We found that upon moderate reduction of the base thickness and collector barrier height, the transmission coefficient reaches values well above 0.5, hence allowing current amplification. The cutoff frequency of the scaled devices is then calculated from the short circuit current gain and is found to be larger than 100 GHz. Moreover, the cutoff frequency is seen to increase roughly proportionally to the transmission coefficient. This result, and the calculation of the base capacitance, suggests that the cutoff frequency can be well described by the intrinsic delay time $C_{b}/$ gm.
Clinical and biochemical expression of a unique mucopolysaccharidosis.

A boy who presented with painful joints leading to contractures was found to have a mucopolysaccharidosis not previously described. He had severe dysostosis multiplex of the long bones but nearly normal intellectual development and no involvement of the cornea. Lysosomal storage vacuoles were noted in dermal endothelial cells; these were similar to those seen in the genetic rnucopolysaccharidoses. Mucopolysacchariduria was not excessive in amount but it was distinctly abnormal in pattern and his excretion of dermatan sulfate resembled that found in the Hunter and Hurler syndromes. The activities of the lysosomal hydrolases in cultured fibroblasts were normal or increased. The degradation of accumulated 35S-mucopolysaccharide in fibroblasts in culture was typical of a mucopolysaccharidosis. His mother accumulated 35S-mucopolysaccharides in fibroblasts, suggesting an X-linked inheritance of the disorder.
Long-term follow-up in patients with presumptive Brugada syndrome treated with implanted defibrillators.

Long-Term Follow-Up in Patients with Brugada Syndrome. Introduction: Risk stratification for patients with suspected Brugada syndrome (BS) remains difficult. Implantation of cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in high-risk patients provides continuous long-term arrhythmia protection. Methods: Data of 33 consecutive patients undergoing ICD implantation after BS evaluation between 1995 and 2008 were reviewed. Results: There were 30 (91%) men and 3 (9%) women (46.4 ± 11.7 years). Type I Brugada was noted in 18 (54.5%), type II in 12 (36.4%) patients, and ST elevation after drug challenge in 3 patients (9.1%). Three patients had prior cardiac arrest; 70% a history of syncope; and 56% ventricular arrhythmias at the electrophysiology study. During 7.9 ± 3.6 years of follow-up, 2 patients with prior arrest received appropriate ICD shocks. None of the 30 patients without prior arrest had a sustained arrhythmia detected. ICD-related adverse effects occurred in 11 (33%) patients, including inappropriate shocks in 5 (15%). Eight patients (24%) developed 11 major device-related complications including subclavian vein thrombosis (1), pericardial effusion (1), lead fracture (2), and infection (2); in 4 patients the only complication was premature battery depletion that required early ICD replacement; however, some of these complications such as lead fractures and early battery depletion may not be specific for this patient cohort and may not repeat in the future. Conclusion: Risk stratification for patients with BS for primary prevention remains challenging. The low risk of arrhythmic events that is exceeded by ICD-related adverse effects should inform discussions with patients who do not have a prior history of cardiac arrest. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 22, pp. 1115-1119, October 2011)
In vitro photodynamic properties of chalcogenopyrylium analogues of the thiopyrylium antitumor agent AA1

Several series of chalcogenopyrylium dyes were prepared with one or two 4-anilino substituents at the 2- and 6-positions and with phenyl, 4-N,N-dimethylanilino, or 4-(N-morphilino)phenyl substituents at 2- and/or 4-positions. The dye series are all related in structure to AA1, a thiopyrylium dye that targets mitochondria. The chalcogenopyrylium nuclei included sulfur, selenium, and tellurium at the 1-position. Key intermediates in the dye synthesis were the corresponding Δ-4H-chalcogenopyran-4-ones. All of the dyes of this study were evaluated for dark and phototoxicity toward Colo-26 cells in vitro. There was no correlation of dark toxicity with either the reduction potential of the chalcogenopyrylium dye or the n-octanol/water partition coefficient, log P. Several of the dyes of this study (thiopyrylium dyes 1-S and 13-S, selenopyrylium dyes 1-Se, 2-Se, 3-Se, 4-Se, 13-Se, 14-Se, and 27-Se, and telluropyrylium dye 13-Te) showed added phototoxicity upon irradiation. Dyes with the highest therapeutic ratio...
Metabolism and distribution of 2,4-dimethylphenol in rat

Abstract The concentration of 2,4-DMP was determined for several tissues of the rat by gas chromatographic methods after 6 hr constant intravenous infusion and after intravenous bolus injection. 2,4-DMP was distributed rapidly in the brain and liver. It has higher tissue-plasma concentration ratios for the brain, liver, and fat. Accumulation of 2,4-DMP in these tissues appears to be negligible. 2,4-DMP is rapidly metabolized to its conjugates (94.3%) within 30 min; gluronide constitutes 53% and other conjugates 41%.
Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometric characterization of surface damage in chemical-mechanical polished GaAs

Abstract Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) was applied to the quantitative characterization of surface and subsurface damage in GaAs, induced by conventional chemical-mechanical (CM) polishing. We show that the optimum selection of angle of incidence (75°) and spectral range (greater than or equal to 430 nm) is of crucial importance for detecting and evaluating surface and subsurface quality. The measured VASE data from 249 to 789 nm were analyzed with several fitting models. A two-layer model, with a GaAs oxide overlayer on a subsurface layer on a GaAs substrate, was found consistently to yield the best fits, suggesting the presence of subsurface damage in CM polished GaAs. In the model calculations, each composite layer was assumed, in the Bruggeman effective medium approximation, to be a simple physical mixture of the chosen constituents. The fitting results indicated that, typically, the thickness values were 2–3 nm of oxide overlayer and 15–40 nm of subsurface damage beneath it, consisting of about 1%–2% reduction in density. Independent atomic force microscopy (for surface characterization) and X-ray diffraction (for subsurface characterization) measurements were also made, for comparison with the VASE results. Consistent agreement was found.
Effect of low density H-mode operation on edge and divertor plasma parameters

We present a study of the impact of H-mode operation at low density on divertor plasma parameters on the DIII-D tokamak. The line-average density in H-mode was scanned by variation of the particle exhaust rate, using the recently installed divertor cryo-condensation pump. The maximum decrease (50%) in line-average electron density was accompanied by a factor of 2 increase in the edge electron temperature, and 10% and 20% reductions in the measured core and divertor radiated power, respectively. The measured total power to the inboard divertor target increased by a factor of 3, with the major contribution coming from a factor of 5 increase in the peak heat flux very close to the inner strike point. The measured increase in power at the inboard divertor target was approximately equal to the measured decrease in core and divertor radiation.
Embrace•perform•model: Complexity theory, contrarian case analysis, and multiple realities ☆

Abstract This essay describes tenets of complexity theory including the precept that within the same set of data X relates to Y positively, negatively, and not at all. A consequence to this first precept is that reporting how X relates positively to Y with and without additional terms in multiple regression models ignores important information available in a data set. Performing contrarian case analysis indicates that cases having low X with high Y and high X with low Y occur even when the relationship between X and Y is positive and the effect size of the relationship is large. Findings from contrarian case analysis support the necessity of modeling multiple realities using complex antecedent configurations. Complex antecedent configurations (i.e., 2 to 7 features per recipe) can show that high X is an indicator of high Y when high X combines with certain additional antecedent conditions (e.g., high A, high B, and low C)— and low X is an indicator of high Y as well when low X combines in other recipes (e.g., high A, low R, and high S), where A, B, C, R, and S are additional antecedent conditions. Thus, modeling multiple realities—configural analysis—is necessary, to learn the configurations of multiple indicators for high Y outcomes and the negation of high Y. For a number of X antecedent conditions, a high X may be necessary for high Y to occur but high X alone is almost never sufficient for a high Y outcome.
Mode coupling and conversion in an electron beam-driven low Q gyrotron

Summary form only given, as follows. Electromagnetic fields are computed self-consistently in an electron beam driven low Q gyrotron. This work improves on earlier studies which did not use the correct of eigenmodes in the expansion of the electromagnetic fields or described the external and ohmic losses in the cavity in a phenomenological way. The oscillator equations describing the amplitude coefficients of the individual eigenmodes are solved in the steady state. The momentum equations describing the particle motion are derived. The oscillator equations and the momentum equations are solved self-consistently to completely specify the amplitudes and phases of the individual cavity eigenmodes, and motion of the particles. An optimization procedure is used to iterate over the solutions and to achieve convergence. Coupling and conversion between various eigenmodes through both the external and ohmic wall losses and the electron beam are demonstrated.
Pain Management in the Addicted Population: A Case Study Comparison of Prescriptive Practice

This research study investigated differences in prescriptive practice for pain management in case studies of addicted and nonaddicted populations. A case study was devised describing a severely bur...
What can we learn from benefit transfer errors? Evidence from 20 years of research on convergent validity ☆

We develop a nonparametric approach to meta-analysis and use it to identify modeling decisions that affect benefit transfer errors. The meta-data describe the results from 31 empirical studies testing the convergent validity of benefit transfers. They evaluated numerous methodological procedures, collectively reporting 1071 transfer errors. Our meta-regressions identify several important findings, including: (1) the median absolute error is 39%; (2) function transfers outperform value transfers; (3) transfers describing environmental quantity generate lower transfer errors than transfers describing quality changes; (4) geographic site similarity is important for value transfers; (5) contingent valuation generates lower transfer errors than other valuation methods; and (6) combining data from multiple studies tends to reduce transfer errors.
An Evaluation Of Materials And Rope Construction For Mooring Hawser Design

An investigation has been carried out to develop basic design information for sizing hawser for SPM and related mooring applications. Extensive testing of scaled hawsers from 5 combinations of material and construction was carried out to determine initial strengths in the wetted condition, and the characteristics of degradation resulting from cyclic loading. The results indicate that for hawsers configured as grommets, the double-braid is superior to the 8-strand rope construction, and the importance of the assembly details, such as the splices and the protective arrangements at the eye, are amplified.
Using Service Blueprinting to Analyze Restaurant Service Efficiency

A time and motion study of 152 transactions at six restaurants operated by a full-service casual chain in Florida illustrates the use of service blueprinting as a method for analyzing service process efficiency. At management’s request, the researchers conducted the time and motion study to observe the extent to which individual servers followed company-mandated policies and procedures, and how well those procedures worked. Although this is a case study only and the observations cannot be generalized, the researchers noted a mixed picture with regard to policy observance and service efficiency. The restaurant chain uses a wine presentation process as a suggestive selling technique on greeting guests, but in this study the wine presentation resulted in a smaller than anticipated number of glasses sold. Moreover, unlike most suggestive selling, the wine presentation was a separate process that did not mesh with the meal order and delivery. In addition, rather than follow policy and drop checks when they che...
Biodiversity of micro-eukaryotes in Antarctic Dry Valley soils with <5% soil moisture

Soils in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica are considered to be among the world's most extreme environments. These soils are old, cold and dry with low contents of organic carbon and nitrogen. Habitats adjacent to water (lakes and ice melts) have significant biological activity as demonstrated by the presence of algal mats, lichens and small invertebrates, particularly nematodes, tardigrades and rotifers. In contrast, there are extensive areas in the Dry Valleys that are extremely dry with less than 5% moisture content. These soils are often salty and appear to be barren of life as they have a coarse texture due to their lack of plant organic material. In contrast, molecular techniques (DNA extraction from soils, cloning and rDNA sequence analysis) demonstrated the presence of a complex micro-eukaryotic food web whose structure and composition varied with moisture content and location. Micro-eukaryotic communities in soils with 0.2-1.3% moisture were represented by species of the yeast genus Trichosporon and an unidentified clade of micro-eukaryotes, whereas levels from 3.1% to 4.9% contained complex food webs including primary producers (chlorophytes and stramenopiles), symbionts (lichen associated fungi), saprophytes (fungi), predators (alveolates and cercozoans) and fungal nematode parasite/pathogens. The soils had a diversity of species (80 species from 15 sites) with a restricted number (3-21 species) at each site. The sensitive and measurable community structure of the low moisture Dry Valley soils provides an unparalleled opportunity to examine local and global environmental effects on micro-eukaryotic community dynamics with multiple trophic levels.
Methodology to Assess Building Designs for Protection against Internal Chemical and Biological Threats

Recent world events involving chemical and biological (CB) attacks within critical infrastructure have highlighted a potential threat to buildings and their occupants. As a result, protecting buildings from CB attacks has become an important design consideration. A methodology has been developed to provide decision makers with the ability to assess multiple building designs for protection against an internal CB release. This methodology includes modeling and simulation of CB contaminant dispersion, a quantitative means to calculate a building’s protection level, and a weighted sum, multiple objective optimization for design selection. This paper outlines the phases in the methodology, and focuses on the application of multizone modeling and optimization techniques to compare design alternatives. The assessment of design options for CB protection in a hospital emergency room is used as an illustrative example. Optimal design options are determined based on the weighted combination functions for the buildin...
1H NMR Spectral Simplification with Achiral and Chiral Lanthanide Shift Reagents. Lofexidine

Abstract The 1H NMR spectra of the potent anti-hypertensive drug, lofexidine, 1, have been studied in CDCl3 at 60 and 300 MHz. Both the achiral shift reagentr tris (6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-3,5-octanedionatol-europium(III), 2 and the chiral reagents1 tris[3-(heptafluoropropylhydroxymethylenel-d-camphoratoleuropium(III), 3 and tris[3-(trifluoromethylhydroxymethylenel-d-camphoratoleuropium(III), 4, were employed. Substantial lanthanide induced shifts were observed with 2, 3 or 4, with the largest shifts seen for the methine at the chiral centerr followed by the signal of the NH. Enantiomeric shift differences for the CH3 signal of 1 were seen with 3 OK 4, with 4 inducing larger values of potential analytical utility. Using a non-racemic sample of 1, the (-) enantiomer was shown to have a downfield sense of magnetic nonequivalence for the methyl resonance in the presence of added 4.
“What should make thee inaccessible to my fury?”: Gothic Self‐Possession, Revenge, and the Doctrine of Necessity in William Godwin’s Caleb Williams

This essay argues that Caleb Williams (1794) continues the critique of liberalism’s insistence on individual rights and autonomous subjectivity that William Godwin launched in An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice one year earlier. Throughout the novel, various conflicts are staged around competing individuals’ claims to inalienable rights; however, Godwin shows that these competing claims reproduce the paranoid and vengeful narrative logic of the Gothic. He offers an alternative to this narrative dead end through the Doctrine of Necessity, which views human action as deriving from prior and external causes rather than as the expression of free will. This doctrine allows Godwin to imagine individuals as interdependent links in a virtually endless chain of causes and reactions. Thus, the “unsatisfactory” ending of the novel – which finds Caleb and Falkland no longer concerned with their competing individual claims to life and liberty but instead “penetrated” by remorse and concern for one another – repre...
Bandwidth scaling of a phase-modulated continuous-wave comb through four-wave mixing in a silicon nano-waveguide

We demonstrate an on-chip four-wave mixing (FWM) scheme in a silicon nanowaveguide to scale the bandwidth of a frequency comb generated by phase modulation of continuous-wave (CW) lasers. The FWM process doubles the bandwidth of the initial comb generated by the modulation of a CW laser. For example, a wavelength-tunable frequency comb with >100 comb lines spaced by 10 GHz within a bandwidth of 5 dB is generated.
Phase locking of switching-transistor converters for polyphase power supplies

SWITCHING transistors may be used in conjunction with saturable-core output transformers to convert direct-voltage inputs into alternating voltages of nearly rectangular wave form.1 The output impedance is low, the over-all conversion efficiency is high, and (even in the present state of power-transistor development) output powers of tens of watts are available. Such transistor converters are therefore being considered as supply sources for magnetic amplifiers, a-c servomotors and other components used in low power servocontrol systems. For example, in air-borne military applications, transistor power supplies may replace small rotating machine inverters, which at present produce 400-cycle-persecond supplies from the aircraft battery system, with advantages in reliability and weight.
Streptococcus pneumoniae as a genomics platform for broad-spectrum antibiotic discovery

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a useful tool for the discovery of broad-spectrum antibiotics because of its genetic malleability and importance as a pathogen. Recent publications of complete chromosomal DNA sequences for S. pneumoniae facilitate rapid and effective use of genomics-based technology to identify essential genes encoding new targets for antibacterial drugs. These methods include computational comparative genomics, gene disruption studies to determine essentiality or identify essential genes, and gene expression analysis using microarrays and gel-based proteomics. We review how genomics has transformed the use of the pneumococcus for the pursuit of new antibiotics, and made it the best species for the identification and validation of new antibiotic targets.
Cardiac channelopathies: it's in the genes.

In 1995, Mark Keating and colleagues identified two genes responsible for congenital long QT syndrome, a cause of sudden cardiac death. Perturbations in the ion channels that orchestrate the beating heart were central to the disorder. This revelation provided a molecular model for the study of ventricular arrhythmias and enabled further dissection of the genetic defects underlying subtleties in the cardiac phenotype. Soon, these discoveries will be further translated to clinical medicine, with the expected release of one of the first comprehensive clinical genetic tests in cardiology.
The birth of the african-irish diaspora: Pregnancy and post-natal experiences of African immigrant women in Ireland

This article presents findings from a study of African immigration to Ireland. Set against a background description of who these recent immigrants are and why they come, this research, based primarily in a Dublin maternity hospital, looks at the experiences of pregnant and post-partal African women to explore questions surrounding use of maternity services and their relationship to larger issues of integration into Irish society. This gendered segment of the population is of particular interest, as the phenomenon of Irish-born children to non-national parents has been a lightning rod issue in immigration debates in Ireland, leading to a June 2004 referendum limiting access to citizenship by birth in unprecedented ways. Ireland, long a country characterized by emigration, only recently transitioned to a nation of net immigration, and, as such, is grappling with the implications of its rapidly changing ethnic make-up in questions of race and racism, allocation of social welfare entitlements, and effective health and human services delivery. Through this exploration of the phenomenon of inscribing immigration debates on African women’s bodies, this article highlights racism, family reunification, the right to work, and the lengthy process of adjudicating immigration claims as significant obstacles to integration into Irish society. Through this analysis, this article also provides empirical data that feed into ongoing debates about the meaning of “African diaspora.”
Extremal limit theorems for observations separated by random power law waiting times

This paper develops extreme value theory for random observations separated by random waiting times whose exceedence probability falls off like a power law. In the case where the waiting times between observations have an infinite mean, a limit theorem is established, where the limit is comprised of an extremal process whose time index is randomized according to the non-Markovian hitting time process for a stable subordinator. The resulting limit distributions are shown to be solutions of fractional differential equations, where the order of the fractional time derivative coincides with the power law index of the waiting time. The probability that the limit process remains below a threshold is also computed. For waiting times with finite mean but infinite variance, a two-scale argument yields a fundamentally different limit process. The resulting limit is an extremal process whose time index is randomized according to the first passage time of a positively skewed stable Levy motion with positive drift. This two-scale limit provides a second-order correction to the usual limit behavior.
Identifying problems faced by spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer.

Purpose/Objectives: To describe problems chosen as targets of problem-solving therapy by spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional. Setting: Spouses’ and partners’ homes. Sample: Spouses and partners (N = 66) aged 32–79 years ( — X = 60 years). The sample was predominantly Caucasian (82%) and African American (8%). Methods: As part of a randomized clinical trial, women received problem-solving therapy to help manage issues related to their husbands’ or partners’ prostate cancer. The issues they chose to address during therapy and the categorization of the issues fell into four groups: treatment and side-effect issues, patient issues, family issues, and spouse issues. Scores on the Social Problem-Solving Inventory–Revised, which measures everyday problem-solving skills, and the Profile of Mood States, which measures mood disturbance, were contrasted with the problems women chose to address. Main Research Variables: Problems faced by spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer. Findings: The most frequently reported categories were spouse issues (e.g., women’s emotional wellness, balancing their medical concerns with their husbands’ condition) and patient issues (e.g., men’s lack of communication, fear, or depression). Conclusions: Findings of this study alert nurses to a variety of key problem areas for spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer. Implications for Nursing: Spouses and partners play a critical role when their loved ones have cancer. Understanding the problems spouses and partners face can help nurses design optimal supportive care interventions. the disease, treatment sequelae, and emotional consequences must be managed. Therefore, attention is being focused increasingly on improving quality of life postdiagnosis.
Antitumor agents. 203. Carbazole alkaloid murrayaquinone A and related synthetic carbazolequinones as cytotoxic agents.

Murrayaquinone A (1) and murrayafoline A (3), isolated from the root bark of Murraya euchrestifolia, were identified as cytotoxic compounds. Murrayaquinone A (1) demonstrated significant cytotoxicity against SK-MEL-5 and Colo-205 cells, with ED50 values of 2.58 and 3.85 μg/mL, respectively. In contrast, murrayafoline A (3) exhibited marginal or weak cytotoxicity against SK-MEL-5, Colo-205, HCT-8, KB, and A-549 tumor cell lines, with ED50 values ranging from 5.31 to 7.52 μg/mL. In total, 20 carbazole alkaloids (1−20), isolated previously by Furukawa et al. from various plant sources were also evaluated for their cytotoxic profiles in the NCI's human disease-oriented, 60-cell line, in vitro antitumor screening protocol. Compounds 3 and 15 showed potent cell-line selective cytotoxicity against MOLT-4 cells, with log GI50 values of −8.60 and −8.49 M, respectively, while 12 demonstrated better selectivity against the colon cancer subpanel. Moreover, synthetic 2-methyl- or 3-methyl-carbazolequinone derivatives ...
NADP improves the efficiency of cholera toxin gatalyzed ADP-ribosylation in liver and heart membranes

Abstract Guanine nucleotide binding proteins (g-proteins) can be identified by their ability to be ADP-ribosylated using [32P]NAD as the substrate and bacterial toxins as catalysts. This labelling, when performed in liver and sarcolemma membrane preparations, can be complicated by competing enzymes which degrade NAD, making it unavailable to participate in the desired reaction. The addition of NADP in reaction mixtures markedly slows the degradation of NAD, but does not compete with NAD in cholera toxin labelling of stimulatory G-protein. The efficiency of cholera toxin labelling is improved to the extent that saturation curves may be constructed, allowing the quantitation of ADP-ribosylation sites in membranes.
E(6) model of light-fermion masses

We describe how a hierarchy of masses for the quarks and leptons can arise due to a grand unified gauge symmetry, in particular E(6). The particle content of the model described is relatively simple.
Efficient preconcentration and separation of actinide elements from large soil and sediment samples

Large (∼10 g) soil and sediment samples are often required for analysis of low-level man-made actinides for monitoring environmental radioactivity. However, use of large environmental samples often results in significant chemical losses during chemical separations due to matrix interferences. We present a technique based on the ion-exchange resin Diphonix which selectively collects actinides and lanthanides into a common form, which then behaves uniformly and predictably during subsequent separation schemes. Diphonix is attractive for this purpose because it has an extremely high affinity for actinides and a low affinity for most common ions and is resistant to hydrofluoric acid. After being adsorbed onto Diphonix resin in a column mode at a pH ∼1, actinides are completely eluted with 0.5 M 1-hydroxyethylidenediphosphonic acid (HEDPA). After destruction of the HEDPA by ozonation or use of Fenton's reagent, Am, Pu, U, and Th are separated from each other and the remaining matrix by use of extraction chroma...
Situating Fijian transmigrants: towards racialised transnational social spaces of the undocumented

As global interconnections have increased in our current era, many social scientists are placing added emphasis on immigration studies and rethinking migration processes. This paper offers a preliminary response to the call for more empirical, but theoretically grounded, work on ‘transnationalism’ and ‘transmigration’. It considers the case of indigenous Fijians, a growing but small population of largely undocumented immigrants to the United States. I situate and define Fijians as transmigrants by underscoring the important meso-level links, including migration networks and social capital, which serve to build and maintain relationships between immigrants, their fellow immigrants, and their kin left behind in Fiji. Additionally, while I contend that Fijian transmigrants are contributing to the formation of transnational bridges and constructing multiple, but connected, localities in both Fiji and the US, I argue that because immigrant Fijians have yet to form staunch social and symbolic ties within the US, they have not emerged into transnational communities. The Fijian case, along with other groups of undocumented transmigrants, also raises questions about the nature and definition of transnational social spaces, since there has been little discussion that identifies or legitimises racialised transnational social spaces specifically organised and occupied by undocumented transmigrants. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Establishment and morphologic characterization of normal human endometrium in vitro

Tissue culture offers a model system with which to study the endocrine-mediated growth, differentiation, and metabolic activities of the endometrium. We have established and continue to maintain monolayer cultures of normal human endometrial epithelial cells from each phase of the menstrual cycle. At present, eight proliferative, two secretory, and two menstrual phase cultures have been established. These have been passed at least three times. One proliferative phase culture has been growing for 18 mo, and passed 10 times. Colonies of epithelioid cells as well as single cells appear in the cultures within 2 to 8 h of initial culture and maintain this appearance throughout long-term growth. The cells are periodic acid Schiff positive for carbohydrates and positive for keratin, an immunochemical marker for epithelial tissues. Studies comparing the ultrastructure of the cultures with fresh endometrial tissue revealed morphologic features common to both, including prominent nucleoli, Golgi, mitochondria-rough endoplasmic reticulum complexes, and abundant glycogen. The cells are not tumorigenic in the nude mouse and do not form colonies on soft agarose, confirming the nonneoplastic identity of the cells.
Online Video “Friends” Social Networking: Overlapping Online Public Spheres in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

ABSTRACT This article examines the links to YouTube from the Facebook “walls” of the three major candidates in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. User-generated linkage patterns show how participants in these politically related social networking dialogs used online video to make their points. We show how different types of individuals inhabit these overlapping public spheres and how they provide structure and interpretive information for others. Civic life is becoming more sociotechnical, and will therefore involve engagements with ideas as they are constructed by others out of disparate information sources and their interlinkages.
Foreign Policy and the National Question in the Habsburg Empire: A Memorandum of Kálnoky

Although all governments in the past have been strongly influenced in the conduct of foreign policy by domestic considerations arising from the political, economic, and social compositions of their populations and the ethnic divisions within their state, in no European country has the intertwining and interaction between internal controversy and foreign diplomacy been so significant and so fateful for Europe as in the Habsburg monarchy in the last fifty years of its existence. By the close of the nineteenth century not only were the component nationalities in the process of shifting their prime loyalties from the symbol of Habsburg unity, the emperor, to their own leaders and parties, but the majority of them had been able to secure the sympathy, if not the outright assistance, of foreign governments. For instance, the Eomanians and Italians of the monarchy could look to strongly nationalistic governments in Bucharest and Rome whose irredentist propensities were scarcely concealed; the Habsburg South Slavs could hope for future encouragement from Serbia, despite the fact that under the Obrenovic dynasty the Serbian government had close ties with Vienna. Among the great powers Russia, although herself a conservative empire opposed to the breakup of the Habsburg state, nevertheless offered a great deal of attraction for some Czechs, South Slavs, and Ruthenes. Even the nationally-minded citizens of the German empire, the monarchy's closest ally, were deeply concerned about the relative position of their German brethren within Austria.
Migration of Assateague Island, Maryland, by inlet and overwash processes

The northern part of Assateague Island, Maryland, has a history of rapid shoreline erosion, with washovers much in evidence. A comparison of aerial photography shows that the greatest island widths and highest rates of landward migration are associated with inlet dynamics. The over-wash process, at maximum transport conditions in this sand-starved area, is effective only in maintaining the island as a low, narrow barrier.
Scheduling policies using marked/phantom slot algorithms

We address the problem of schedulingM customer classes in a single-server system, with customers arriving in one ofN arrival streams, as it arises in scheduling transmissions in packet radio networks. In general,N≠M and a customer from some stream may join one of several classes. We consider a slotted time model where at each scheduling epoch the server (channel) is assigned to a particular class (transmission set) and can serve multiple customers (packets) simultaneously, one from every arrival stream (network node) that can belong to this class. The assignment is based on arandom polling policy: the current time slot is allocated to theith class with probability θi. Our objective is to determine the optimal probabilities by adjusting them on line so as to optimize some overall performance measure. We present an approach based on perturbation analysis techniques, where all customer arrival processes can be arbitrary, and no information about them is required. The basis of this approach is the development of two sensitivity estimators leading to amarked slot and aphantom slot algorithm. The algorithms determine the effect of removing/ adding service slots to an existing schedule on the mean customer waiting times by directly observing the system. The optimal slot assignment probabilities are then used to design adeterministic scheduling policy based on the Golden Ratio policy. Finally, several numerical results based on a simple optimization algorithm are included.
CVD growth of SiC on sapphire substrate and graphene formation from the epitaxial SiC

Abstract 6H-SiC epi-layer was grown on c-plane sapphire by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and epitaxial graphene was grown on the SiC film using the thermal decomposition method. A thin (∼300 nm) AlN was employed as a buffer layer since a direct growth on sapphire did not produce SiC. Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirmed the growth of high quality 6H-SiC on the AlN/sapphire at 1450 °C. The effect of AlN growth method/condition (HVPE and MBE) on the quality of final SiC film and epitaxial graphene was explored. Raman and XRD 2θ-scan did not show any significant difference between the SiC films grown on HVPE-AlN and MBE-AlN. A sharper XRD rocking curve was observed on the SiC/HVPE-AlN but a smoother SiC was grown on the MBE-AlN. Graphitization of the SiC/AlN/sapphire was done at 1300–1400 °C under Ultra High Vacuum (UHV). The SiC on MBE-AlN survived at high temperatures (up to 1400 °C) without cracking and graphene was grown on it. However, the SiC on HVPE-AlN cracked and peeled off at 1300 °C resulting in no formation of graphene. The signatures of graphene were clearly observed by Raman spectroscopy with the 2D-peak to G-peak intensity ( I 2D / I G ) of approximately 2, the D-peak to G-peak intensity ( I D / I G ) of 0.4, and the 2D-peak width of 55 cm −1 .
Pentamidine congeners. 2. 2-butene-bridged aromatic diamidines and diimidazolines as potential anti-Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia agents.

We have synthesized cis and trans geometric isomers 1-8 as semirigid congeners of pentamidine. Compounds 1-4 were more potent than pentamidine in treating Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in immunosuppressed rats. These compounds also demonstrated no clinical toxicity or histopathologic abnormalities. Introduction of methoxy substituents meta to the amidine or imidazoline groups of the phenyl rings as in compounds 5-8 generally resulted in compounds with decreased anti-P. carinii activity and increased toxicity to the host. Compounds 1-4 were evaluated as DNA binders. These compounds showed greater affinity for poly(dA).poly(dT) than for calf thymus DNA. The cis isomers, 1 and 2, demonstrated greater affinity for DNA than their trans counterparts 3 and 4. This difference in DNA binding affinity, however, did not reflect in a corresponding difference in the anti-P. carinii activity of these compounds.
Evaluation of Cylindrical Shear Joints for Composite Materials

The objective of this work was to evaluate the strength of four candidate cylindrical shear joints for composite tubes. The basic design for the joint entails an axial length of one inch with an external 15° tapered cone. The purpose of the joint is to transfer axial load from a cylinder through a steel shear attachment with a matching internal coni cal seat. The design candidates consisted of a bonded wedge cone, pinned wedge cone, and a bonded and pinned wedge cone attached to a two-inch diameter composite tube and a wedge cone integrally wound into the tube. The actual joint strengths achieved were higher than expected for some designs and were found to be dependent on the amount of hydrostatic or radial compression applied to the joint. The bonded wedge ring and the inte gral wedge ring both achieved over 96 MPa (14 ksi) of shear strength without failure. Due to the unexpectedly high shear strengths of the joints most of the failures were located in other parts of the test specimen. The bonded wedge c...
Our State’s Never Had Better Friends: Resource Allocation, Home Styles, and Dual Representation in the Senate

We demonstrate that senators use office allowances to create positive constituent service and policy expert impressions among voters, but the effects depend on the representational expectations of ...
The differential functional stability of various forms of bovine liver rhodanese.

Abstract Bovine liver rhodanese (thiosulfate: cyanide sulfurtransferase, EC 2.8.1.1) was prepared in dilute solutions and subjected to conditions that led to a time-dependent loss of enzyme activity. The rate of this activity loss was found to be dependent upon the sulfur substitution state of the enzyme, and the presence or absence of the substrates, thiosulfate and cyanide. In the absence of excess substrates, free enzyme (E), and the covalent intermediate form of the enzyme bearing a divalent sulfur atom in the active site (ES), are of approximately equal functional stability. In comparison, E, in the presence of excess cyanide, was markedly more labile, while ES, supported by 10–50 mM thiosulfate, showed no significant loss of activity under any of the conditions tested. All the enzyme solutions were shown to be losing assavable protein from solution. However, it was demonstrated that, for rhodanese in the E form, the amount of protein lost was insufficient to account for the activity lost, and a marked decline in specific activity was observed. Enzyme in the ES form, whether supported by additional thiosulfate or not, did not decline in the specific activity, though comparable protein loss did occur from these solutions. Intrinsic fluorescence measurements of rhodanese in the ES form, before and after removal of the persulfide sulfur through the addition of cyanide, indicated that loss of enzymic activity was not accompanied by loss of the bound sulfur atom. Therefore, the stabilizing effect observed with thiosulfate could not be explained simply by its ability to maintain enzyme in the sulfur-substituted state. Since the concentration of thiosulfate employed in these experiments was insufficient to maintain all the enzyme in ES · S2O3 form, thiosulfate was acting as a chemical reagent rather than a substrate in stabilizing enzyme activity.
Evaluation of acupuncture anesthesia: a psychophysical study.

Four volunteers judged eight levels of thermal stimuli induced by a Hardy dolorimeter, varying in intensity from extremely painful to a low level seldom even perceived. Half of the 406 stimuli were applied during acupuncture and half either before insertion or after removal of the needles. The experimental design minimized or eliminated factors other than the needles themselves, i.e., no medication was given, the subjects were scientists accustomed to objectivity and, on a preceding day or days, all had become experienced in assigning numbers (individually chosen) to the sensations produced by the different stimuli. Galvanic skin resistance was also tested. The results did not show any influence of acupuncture on perception of pain or on galvanic skin resistance.
Determining optimal cytotoxic activity of human Her2neu specific CD8 T cells by comparing the Cr51 release assay to the xCELLigence system.

Cytotoxic CD8 T cells constitute a subgroup of T cells that are capable of inducing the death of infected or malignant host cells1. These cells express a specialized receptor, called the T cell receptor (TCR), which can recognize a specific antigenic peptide bound to HLA class I molecules2. Engagement of infected cells or tumor cells through their HLA class I molecule results in production of lytic molecules such as granzymes and perforin resulting in target cell death. While it is useful to determine frequencies of antigen-specific CD8 T cells using assays such as the ELIspot or flow cytometry, it is also helpful to ascertain the strength of CD8 T cell responses using cytotoxicity assays3. The most recognizable assay for assessing cytotoxic function is the Chromium Release Assay (CRA), which is considered a standard assay 4. The CRA has several limitations, including exposure of cells to gamma radiation, lack of reproducibility, and a requirement for large numbers of cells. Over the past decade, there has been interest in adopting new strategies to overcome these limitations. Newer approaches include those that measure caspase release 4, BLT esterase activity 5 and surface expression of CD107 6. The impedance-based assay, using the Roche xCelligence system, was examined in the present paper for its potential as an alternative to the CRA. Impedance or opposition to an electric current occurs when adherent tumor cells bind to electrode plates. Tumor cells detach following killing and electrical impedance is reduced which can be measured by the xCelligence system. The ability to adapt the impedance-based approach to assess cell-mediated killing rests on the observation that T cells do not adhere tightly to most surfaces and do not appear to have much impact on impedance thus diminishing any concern of direct interference of the T cells with the measurement. Results show that the impedance-based assay can detect changes in the levels of antigen-specific cytotoxic CD8 T cells with increased sensitivity relative to the standard CRA. Based on these results, impedance-based approaches may be good alternatives to CRAs or other approaches that aim to measure cytotoxic CD8 T cell functionality.
The temperature dependence of the elastic constants of gold-cadmium alloys

Abstract The temperature dependence of the dynamic elastic constants (Moduli of Compliance, S11, S12 and S44) of body-centered cubic Au-Cd alloys that undergo diffusionless phase change, has been determined as a function of composition variation within the beta phase and heat treatment prior to measurement. The results are consistent by comparison with compressibility calculations and data available for an isomorphous material, beta brass. Derived quantities are similarly comparable. The abnormally high elastic shear anisotropy, 2 (S 11 –S 12 ) S 44 , increasing with decreasing temperature, leads to the consideration of an elastic shear anisotropy criterion for diffusionless transformation of body-centered cubic beta-phase alloys. 47.5 at. per cent Cd alloys water-quenched from 500°C and 550°C yield elastic constant data and a diffusionless transformation temperature consistent with that for a 50 at. per cent Cd alloy. An interpretation of the latter phenomena is offered, based upon the elastic interaction of quenched-in vacancies with neighboring metal ions.
South seas cruise: a case study of a short-lived society.

Abstract In spite of its importance to the tourism industry, vacation cruising has been little researched. This paper describes an atypical cruise on a small ship in the South Pacific. It advances the concepts of “short-lived societies,” “cruise culture,” and the ship as “environment” to explain the behavior of passengers, and the ways in which they relate to each other. Passengers are described as an aging, upper middle class group, still physically active, flexible in relating to members of their class, yet cautious in developing social intimacies. Self-improvement is seen to be the moral rationale of many passengers in justifying a relatively expensive trip. Passenger expectations and behavior on small cruise ships, it is suggested, are quite distinct from what is found on large ships.