cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transient Strain-Induced Electronic Structure Modulation in a Semiconducting Polymer Imaged by Scanning Ultrafast Electron Microscopy

Understanding the optoelectronic properties of semiconducting polymers under external strain is essential for their applications in flexible devices. Although prior studies have highlighted the impact of static and macroscopic strains, assessing the effect of a local transient deformation before structural relaxation occurs remains challenging. Here, we employ scanning ultrafast electron microscopy (SUEM) to image the dynamics of a photoinduced transient strain in the semiconducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). We observe that the photoinduced SUEM contrast, corresponding to the local change of secondary electron emission, exhibits an unusual ring-shaped profile. We attribute the observation to the electronic structure modulation of P3HT caused by a photoinduced strain field owing to its low modulus and strong electron-lattice coupling, supported by a finite-element analysis. Our work provides insights into tailoring optoelectronic properties using transient mechanical deformation in semiconducting polymers and demonstrates the versatility of SUEM to study photophysical processes in diverse materials.
Goldilocks: Consistent Crowdsourced Scalar Annotations with Relative Uncertainty

Human ratings have become a crucial resource for training and evaluating machine learning systems. However, traditional elicitation methods for absolute and comparative rating suffer from issues with consistency and often do not distinguish between uncertainty due to disagreement between annotators and ambiguity inherent to the item being rated. In this work, we present Goldilocks, a novel crowd rating elicitation technique for collecting calibrated scalar annotations that also distinguishes inherent ambiguity from inter-annotator disagreement. We introduce two main ideas: grounding absolute rating scales with examples and using a two-step bounding process to establish a range for an item's placement. We test our designs in three domains: judging toxicity of online comments, estimating satiety of food depicted in images, and estimating age based on portraits. We show that (1) Goldilocks can improve consistency in domains where interpretation of the scale is not universal, and that (2) representing items with ranges lets us simultaneously capture different sources of uncertainty leading to better estimates of pairwise relationship distributions.
Optimal fee structure of variable annuities

Abstract We study the design of fee structures of variable annuities as a stochastic control problem, in which an insurer is allowed to choose the fee structure in any form that satisfies the budget constraint, and seeks an optimal one to maximize its business objective. Under the no surrender assumption, we show that the optimal fee structure is of barrier type with a time-dependent free boundary. The insurer's optimal strategy is to charge fees if and only if the account value of variable annuities hits the free boundary from below.
Rethinking the role of human Capital in Growth Models

What role does education play in economic growth? Conventional wisdom and macroeconomic theories posit that as a nation becomes more educated, they become wealthier. The basic argument says a more educated populace is more productive (i.e. the quality of human capital increases) thereby increasing economic output. However, the majority of empirical work done on this topic has not found a strong relationship between education and economic growth. The purpose of this paper will be to identify where this body of research went wrong and offer theoretical insights ignored by this literature based in market-process theory tradition. It will draw upon an existing body of research (both empirical and theoretical) that fits within this theoretical paradigm as well as suggest a path forward for researchers in this field.
Exploiting Verified Neural Networks via Floating Point Numerical Error

Motivated by the need to reliably characterize the robustness of deep neural networks, researchers have developed verification algorithms for deep neural networks. Given a neural network, the verifiers aim to answer whether certain properties are guaranteed with respect to all inputs in a space. However, little attention has been paid to floating point numerical error in neural network verification. We exploit floating point errors in the inference and verification implementations to construct adversarial examples for neural networks that a verifier claims to be robust with respect to certain inputs. We argue that, to produce sound verification results, any verification system must accurately (or conservatively) model the effects of any float point computations in the network inference or verification system.
Enhanced topological superconductivity in spatially modulated planar Josephson junctions

We propose a semiconductor-superconductor hybrid device for realizing topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes consisting of a planar Josephson junction structure with periodically modulated junction width. By performing a numerical analysis of the effective model describing the low-energy physics of the hybrid structure, we demonstrate that the modulation of the junction width results in a substantial enhancement of the topological gap and, consequently, of the robustness of the topological superconducting phase and associated Majorana zero modes. This enhancement is due to the formation of minibands with strongly renormalized effective parameters, including stronger spin-orbit coupling, generated by the effective periodic potential induced by the modulated structure. In addition to a larger topological gap, the proposed device supports a topological superconducting phase that covers a significant fraction of the parameter space, including the low Zeeman field regime, in the absence of a superconducting phase difference across the junction. Furthermore, the optimal regime for operating the device can be conveniently accessed by tuning the potential in the junction region using, for example, a top gate.
Generalized persistence diagrams for persistence modules over posets

When a category $${\mathscr {C}}$$ satisfies certain conditions, we define the notion of rank invariant for arbitrary poset-indexed functors $$F:{\mathbf {P}}\rightarrow {\mathscr {C}}$$ from a category theory perspective. This generalizes the standard notion of rank invariant as well as Patel’s recent extension. Specifically, the barcode of any interval decomposable persistence modules $$F:{\mathbf {P}}\rightarrow \mathbf {vec}$$ of finite dimensional vector spaces can be extracted from the rank invariant by the principle of inclusion-exclusion. Generalizing this idea allows freedom of choosing the indexing poset $${\mathbf {P}}$$ of $$F:{\mathbf {P}}\rightarrow {\mathscr {C}}$$ in defining Patel’s generalized persistence diagram of F. Of particular importance is the fact that the generalized persistence diagram of F is defined regardless of whether F is interval decomposable or not. By specializing our idea to zigzag persistence modules, we also show that the zeroth level set barcode of a Reeb graph can be obtained in a purely set-theoretic setting without passing to the category of vector spaces. This leads to a promotion of Patel’s semicontinuity theorem about type $${\mathscr {A}}$$ persistence diagram to Lipschitz continuity theorem for the category of sets.
Learning and Adaptation for Millimeter-Wave Beam Tracking and Training: a Dual Timescale Variational Framework

Millimeter-wave vehicular networks incur enormous beam-training overhead to enable narrow-beam communications. This paper proposes a learning and adaptation framework in which the dynamics of the communication beams are learned and then exploited to design adaptive beam-tracking and training with low overhead: on a long-timescale, a deep recurrent variational autoencoder (DR-VAE) uses noisy beam-training feedback to learn a probabilistic model of beam dynamics and enable predictive beam-tracking; on a short-timescale, an adaptive beam-training procedure is formulated as a partially observable (PO-) Markov decision process (MDP) and optimized via point-based value iteration (PBVI) by leveraging beam-training feedback and a probabilistic prediction of the strongest beam pair provided by the DR-VAE. In turn, beam-training feedback is used to refine the DR-VAE via stochastic gradient ascent in a continuous process of learning and adaptation. The proposed DR-VAE learning framework learns accurate beam dynamics: it reduces the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the ground truth and the learned model of beam dynamics by ~95% over the Baum-Welch algorithm and a naive learning approach that neglects feedback errors. Numerical results on a line-of-sight scenario with multipath and 3D beamforming reveal that the proposed dual timescale approach yields near-optimal spectral efficiency, and improves it by 130% over a policy that scans exhaustively over the dominant beam pairs, and by 20% over a state-of-the-art POMDP policy. Finally, a low-complexity policy is proposed by reducing the POMDP to an error-robust MDP, and is shown to perform well in regimes with infrequent feedback errors.
Nuclear Science for the Manhattan Project and Comparison to Today’s ENDF Data

Nuclear physics advances in the US and Britain, from 1939-1945, are described. The Manhattan Project's work led to an explosion in our knowledge of nuclear science. A conference in April 1943 at Los Alamos provided a simple formula used to compute critical masses, and laid out the research program needed to determine the key nuclear constants. In short order, four university accelerators were disassembled and reassembled at Los Alamos, and methods were established to make measurements on extremely small samples owing to the initial lack of availability of enriched 235 U and plutonium. I trace the program that measured fission cross sections, fission emitted neutron multiplicities and their energy spectra, and transport cross sections, comparing the measurements with our best understanding today as embodied in the Evaluated Nuclear Data File ENDF/B-VIII.0. The large nuclear data uncertainties at the beginning of the project, which often exceeded 25--50%, were reduced by 1945, often to less than 5-10%. 235 U and 239 Pu fission cross section assessments in the fast MeV range were reduced with more accurate measurements, and the neutron multiplicity increased. By a lucky coincidence of cancelling errors, the initial critical mass estimates were close to the final estimated masses. Some images from historical documents from our Los Alamos archives are shown. Many of the original measurements from these early years have not previously been widely available. Through this work, these data have now been archived in the international experimental nuclear reaction data library (EXFOR) in a collaboration with the IAEA and Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Grouping similar seismocardiographic signals using respiratory information

Seismocardiography (SCG) offers a potential noninvasive method for cardiac monitoring. Quantification of the effects of different physiological conditions on SCG can lead to enhanced understanding of SCG genesis, and may explain how some cardiac pathologies may affect SCG morphology. In this study, the effect of the respiration on the SCG signal morphology is investigated. SCG, ECG, and respiratory flow rate signals were measured simultaneously in 7 healthy subjects. Results showed that SCG events tended to have two slightly different morphologies. The respiratory flow rate and lung volume information were used to group the SCG events into inspiratory/expiratory groups or low/high lung-volume groups, respectively. Although respiratory flow information could separate similar SCG events into two different groups, the lung volume information provided better grouping of similar SCGs. This suggests that variations in SCG morphology may be due, at least in part, to changes in the intrathoracic pressure or heart location since those parameters correlates more with lung volume than respiratory flow. Categorizing SCG events into different groups containing similar events allows more accurate estimation of SCG features, and better signal characterization, and classification.
Entropic optimal transport: convergence of potentials

We study the potential functions that determine the optimal density for $$\varepsilon $$ -entropically regularized optimal transport, the so-called Schrodinger potentials, and their convergence to the counterparts in classical optimal transport, the Kantorovich potentials. In the limit $$\varepsilon \rightarrow 0$$ of vanishing regularization, strong compactness holds in $$L^{1}$$ and cluster points are Kantorovich potentials. In particular, the Schrodinger potentials converge in $$L^{1}$$ to the Kantorovich potentials as soon as the latter are unique. These results are proved for all continuous, integrable cost functions on Polish spaces. In the language of Schrodinger bridges, the limit corresponds to the small-noise regime.
Networking, Networking, Networking: The Role of Professional Association Memberships in Mentoring and Retention of Science Librarians

SUMMARY The authors surveyed new and veteran science and engineering librarians to determine the roles membership and participation in professional organizations play in mentoring and/or retention to the field. The authors compare activity and membership levels in several subject-oriented organizations and discuss the perceived benefits members receive from these professional activities as well as the challenges these memberships present. The networking that occurs as part of participation in subject-oriented library associations provides mentoring that may not be available to science librarians any other way.
Overview on rodent models of Alzheimer's disease.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), characteristic lesions develop in brain regions that subserve cognitive functions, ultimately leading to dementia. There are now several lesioned or transgenic small-animal models of the disease that model select aspects of cognitive deficits and/or recapitulate many, but not all, of the characteristic pathologic lesions observed in AD. This overview describes the most common approaches used to model AD in rodents, highlights their utility, and discusses some of their deficiencies. Keywords: Alzheimer; Neurodegeneration; Lesion models; Transgenic; Cholinergic; Amyloid; Tau
The Intention/Volition Debate

(1992). The Intention/Volition Debate. Canadian Journal of Philosophy: Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 323-337.
BIRD AVERSIVE PROPERTIES OF METHYL ANTHRANILATE, YUCCA, Xanthoxylum, AND THEIR MIXTURES

We tested the bird aversive properties of methyl anthranilate, yucca extracts, and Xanthoxylum spp. extracts in oneand two-bottle drinking assays that used European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). In oneand two-bottle tests, methyl anthranilate proved to be the more potent stimulus in producing an avoidance response. Starlings avoided consuming Xanthoxylum and yucca only in the two-bottle tests. Previous studies showed that yucca was a good adjuvant in stabilizing lipophilic compounds in water. Starlings did not avoid binary mixtures of methyl anthranilate and yucca differently from what would be expected if they were only responding to the solution's methyl anthranilate content. However, yucca enhanced the aversive qualities of Xanthoxylum. The ability to identify mode of action for repellency and synergistic combinations of chemicals derived from natural products for use in repellent mixtures is an important aspect of the development of cost-effective, environmentally safe repellents for use in conflict resolution between humans and wildlife.
Bacillus anthracis virulence regulator AtxA: oligomeric state, function and CO(2) -signalling.

AtxA, a unique regulatory protein of unknown molecular function, positively controls expression of the major virulence genes of Bacillus anthracis. The 475 amino acid sequence of AtxA reveals DNA binding motifs and regions similar to proteins associated with the phosphoenolpyruvate: carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS). We used strains producing native and functional epitope-tagged AtxA proteins to examine protein-protein interactions in cell lysates and in solutions of purified protein. Co-affinity purification, non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and bis(maleimido)hexane (BMH) cross-linking experiments revealed AtxA homo-multimers. Dimers were the most abundant species. BMH cross-links available cysteines within 13 A. To localize interaction sites, six AtxA mutants containing distinct Cys→Ser substitutions were tested for multimerization and cross-linking. All mutants multimerized, but one mutation, C402S, prevented cross-linking. Thus, BMH uses C402 to make the inter-molecular bond between AtxA proteins, but C402 is not required for protein-protein interaction. C402 is in a region bearing amino acid similarity to Enzyme IIB proteins of the PTS. The AtxA EIIB motif may function in protein oligomerization. Finally, cultures grown with elevated CO(2) /bicarbonate exhibited increased AtxA dimer/monomer ratios and increased AtxA activity, relative to cultures grown without added CO(2) /bicarbonate, suggesting that this host-associated signal enhances AtxA function by shifting the dimer/monomer equilibrium towards the dimeric state.
Designing Historical Social Scientific Inquiry: How Parameter Heterogeneity Can Bridge the Methodological Divide between Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches

Seeking to advance historical studies of political institutions and behavior, we argue for an expansion of the standard methodological toolkit with a set of innovative approaches that privilege parameter heterogeneity to capture nuances missed by more commonly used approaches. We address critiques by prominent historians and historically oriented political scientists who have underscored the shortcomings of mainstream quantitative approaches for studying the past. They are concerned that the statistical models ordinarily employed by political scientists are inadequate for addressing temporality, periodicity, specificity, and context—issues that are central to good historical analysis. The innovations that we advocate are particularly well suited for incorporating these issues in empirical models, which we demonstrate with replications of extant research that focuses on locating structural breaks relating to realignments and split-party Senate delegations and on the temporal evolution in congressional roll-call behavior connected to labor policy during the New Deal and Fair Deal.
Design for the environment-an enabler for total asset management

Summary form only given. Asset recovery management has become a major strategic initiative at Xerox Corporation. The focus of the initiative is to incorporate asset management into the product delivery process (PDP) early to emphasize design for the environment during the initial phase of product development. As a result of this focus, training programs on design for the environment (or recycle) have been developed. The objective of the training program is to provide design tools to all product delivery teams and manufacturing resource teams to ensure compliance with all environmental requirements. The asset recycle training is divided into three levels. Level I is a general overview to develop a common understanding of asset recycling. Level II is designated as the process, and deals with the functions and roles of the asset recycle management team in the product delivery process, strategy documents, design requirements, and product assessment checklists. Level III is implementation. >
Dispersal and upstream migration of an amphidromous neritid snail: Implications for restoring migratory pathways in tropical streams

Summary 1. The amphidromous life cycle of several species of neritid snails, shrimp and gobies throughout the tropics includes juveniles that migrate from the ocean to breed in fresh water. In many Hawaiian streams, the decline of Neritina granosa, an endemic gastropod, has been associated with habitat degradation and water withdrawal, which are common factors affecting tropical rivers around the world. 2. We investigated the effects of water withdrawal and density on dispersal and upstream migration of N. granosa using three experimental treatments: (i) reduced flow (RF) owing to a stream diversion, (ii) natural flow (NF) and (iii) natural flow with artificially increased snail density. For each treatment, snails were differentially tagged and released in a stream without a natural, extant population of N. granosa. 3. Capture rates ranged from 17 to 65% over a 63-day period following release. Captures on 2–6 days after release measured initial dispersal and migration, whereas longer-term migration rates were calculated from snails captured 16–63 days after release. Snails under NF displayed positive rheotactic behaviour, with only 3–12% demonstrating initial downstream movement. Under RF, 22–77% of snails moved downstream or showed no bias either way. 4. Initial mean upstream migration rate (UMR) was 0.25, 0.66 and 1.16 m day−1 under RF, NF and natural flow with increased snail density, respectively. Longer-term migration rates did not differ significantly between treatments, and the overall mean was 0.62 m day−1. 5. Principal component analysis and generalised linear models were used to identify habitat characteristics important to UMR, with habitat and reach-scale hydraulics as the most important factors. The relationship between discharge and UMR suggested it would take 11–35 years for snails to migrate past the most upstream water diversion. However, rates from published studies of neritid snail species migrating en masse or in long lines under natural situations suggested that N. granosa could migrate above stream diversions within 72 days–2.5 years (when in an aggregation) and 29 days–1.1 years (when following in long lines of individuals). 6. An understanding of upstream neritid snail migration can be used for the management and conservation of this and other migratory species in tropical streams.
The Judge of the Qualifications of its Members

New York State Constitution Article III, Section 9 provides that “Each house shall... be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.” Recently, the case of Senator Hiram Monserrate has brought renewed attention to this provision. His case involved a conviction in 2009 for criminal assault. He was elected in November of 2008, and the assault occurred in December of 2008. Thus, the act took place after his election but before his term began. Nevertheless, the Senate voted to remove Monserrate from office.This article reviews the history of the Constitutional provision, review its usage in New York history, review the history of similar provisions in other states and the federal government, and try to identify some of the potential problem raised by the Monserrate case.
Teaching a Course in Computer-Assisted Statistical Analysis

Statistics is an important component of the major in psychology (Kulik, Brown, Vestewig, & Wright, 1973). I have found that students have difficulty with the transfer of skills acquired in the introductory statistics course. I designed a course around the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences to review the introductory material, to enhance the coverage, and to provide to students a skill useful in other settings. Students' comments have suggested that the course objectives are being met.
PNQ: Portable Non-player Characters with Quests

There is a growing interest in using game-like virtual environments for education. Massively multi-user online games such as World of War craft employ computer controlled non-player characters (NPCs) and quest activities in training or tutoring capacities. This approach is very effective, incorporating active learning, incremental progress, and creative repetition. This paper explores ways to utilize this model in educational virtual environments, using NPCs as anthropocentric keys to organize and deliver educational content. Our educational NPC design includes a knowledge model and a user performance model, in addition to the physical traits, behavior, and dialog model necessary to make them interesting members of the environment. Web-based educational content, exercises, and quizzes are imported into the virtual worlds, reducing the effort needed to create new NPCs with associated educational content. The NPC architecture supports multi-platform NPCs in two virtual environments, our own CVE (Collaborative Virtual Environment) and Second Life.
Christ and evolution: A drama of wisdom?1

This paper argues that a genuine engagement of Christianity with evolution needs to include a discussion of Christology. Further, it develops a particular approach to Christology through a theo-dramatic account of incarnation. The somewhat static post-Chalcedon theological categories of divine and human natures are hard to square with contemporary evolutionary accounts of human origins. Once the divine Logos is portrayed in the active categories of Wisdom it becomes easier to envisage divine and creaturely wisdom coexisting in the person of Christ. I argue, in particular, that a focus on God's agency through a modified version of Hans Urs von Balthasar's account of theo-drama invites participation and affirms human agency in a way that grand narratives do not. More particularly, drawing on examples from hominid evolution, contemporary discussion of paleontology and cooperative evolutionary theories, I suggest that the most convincing accounts of evolutionary biology fit into this theo-dramatic account more readily than alternatives. As such, in the spirit of Robert Boyle, this paper deliberately blurs the categories of revealed and natural theology by arguing that we can make sense of the former through concentration on the latter.
Equilibrium folding pathways for model proteins

Protein conformations have been generated with both a Monte Carlo scheme and a simpler two-state noninteracting globule-coil model. Conformational energies are taken to consist of intraresidue and interresidue terms. Interresidue energies are taken to be proportional to the number of nativelike contacts. To describe probable folding pathways, either energy or the number of native residues are employed as simple one-dimensional folding-unfolding coordinates. By considering only conformations at each point on these coordinates, it is possible to obtain detailed conformational descriptions of relatively rare intermediates on the folding pathway. This technique of “trapping” intermediates and statistically characterizing them is useful for studying conformational transitions. Equilibrium folding-unfolding pathways have been constructed by connecting most probable conformations in order along the folding coordinate. Calculations with the noninteracting globule-coil model have been performed with details chosen to correspond to those in the Monte Carlo calculation for pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. Both pathways are similar. Theα helix appears prior to formation of the central beta sheet; beta sheet formation coincides with a large maximum in the free energy because of the attendant loss of conformational entropy. Subsequently the Monte Carlo method indicates two alternative pathways for growth toward either the amino or the carboxyl terminus, followed by completion of the native form. For the globule-coil model, the growth pattern differs somewhat, with the appearance of the single pathway for folding up to the carboxyl terminus prior to completion of folding. This difference may originate in the Monte Carlo sampling procedures or in the simplifications of the globule-coil model.
Domain growth of Dy2O3 buffer layers on SrTiO3

Dy2O3 layers have been grown on SrTiO3 by molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray and electron diffraction patterns clearly show that Dy2O3 grows epitaxially on SrTiO3 with {100} planes parallel to the substrate surface. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the Dy2O3 film breaks up into small domains (10–40 nm). This leads to the formation of terraces which limits the structural perfection of thin overgrown DyBa2Cu3O7 by introducing steps and small misorientations (within 3°). The resulting surface corrugation does not preclude the growth of epitaxial c-axis DyBa2Cu3O7 films with a Tc0 of 86 K. Crystallographic analysis and image calculations show that the domain growth of Dy2O3 is associated with the formation of 90° rotation twins.
Improved prediction model for time-dependent deformations of concrete: Part 4 - Temperature effects

This Part presents a refinement of the BP model for the effects of temperature on the basic creep and drying creep of concrete. The temperature effect on basic creep is introduced through two different activation energies, one for the effect of temperature increase on the rate of hydration, which causes a decrease of creep, and one for the effect of temperature increase on the rate of creep, which causes an increase of creep. The dichotomy of these two opposing temperature influences is an essential feature, required for good agreement with test data. The greatest error in basic creep is again caused by the prediction of the material parameters from concrete composition and strength. This error can be largely eliminated by conducting limited short-time basic creep tests at different temperatures. Comparisons with 13 different data sets from the literature show a satisfactory agreement, better than that achieved with previous models, while at the same time the scope of the present model is broader. The effect of temperature on the creep of drying specimens is rather different because heating causes a moisture loss from unsealed specimens. The paper presents prediction formulae which modify those for drying creep at room temperature on the basis of the activation energy concept and take into account the effect of heating on the moisture loss. Comparisons with the limited test data that exist show satisfactory agreement. No additional material parameters depending on concrete composition and strength are introduced for drying creep.
Differences between fearful and self-conscious shy subtypes in background and current adjustment

Abstract Based on A. Buss' (1985, in W. A. Jones, J. M. Cheek, & S. R. Briggs (Eds.), Shyness: Perspective on research and treatment (pp. 39–46). New York: Plenum) theory of shyness, participants were classifield into fearful, self-conscious, and nonshy groups forming a 3 (group) × 2 (gender) design. The study was designed to examine shyness group differences in developmental history and current competence on tasks relevant to interpersonal and school adjustment to test assumptions of Buss' model. For past history, there was a significant difference between fearful and self-conscious shys in age of onset of shyness. Previously shy subjects did not differ from fearful and self-conscious shys in feelings of acute self-consciousness in junior high school, but reported significantly less self-consciousness in college. Fearful in contrast to self-conscious shys reported a greater degree of somatic anxiety, and fearful shy men reported significantly greater behavioral inhibition than did all other groups. Results for shyness differences in competence showed that, compared to nonshys, both shy groups reported less satisfaction with their physical appearance. Fearful shys were less knowledgeable about effective social skills, and both shy groups reported less consideration and less exploration of occupations requiring interpersonal contact. The findings are discussed with respect to theoretical implications for Buss' model of shyness and for their clinical implications.
An integrated bionanosensing method for airborne toxin detection

Nanoscale sensing arrays utilizing the unique properties of the optical protein bacteriorhodopsin and colloidal semiconductor quantum dots are being developed to detect minute concentrations of airborne toxins. This paper describes an innovative method to activate bacteriorhodopsin-based sensors with the optical output of quantum dots, producing a measurable electrical response from the protein. The ability of quantum dots to activate nanoscale regions on bacteriorhodopsin-based electrodes allows sub-micron sensing arrays to be created due to the ability to activate site-specific regions on the array. A novel method to modulate the sensor's electrical output to obtain both "on" and "off" states is also achieved utilizing the fluorescence resonance energy transfer characteristics of a bacteriorhodopsin/quantum dot system. Apart from applying this technology to toxin detection arrays, the ability to readily manipulate the protein's electrical and optical characteristics could have implications in other areas of nanobiotronics.
Waves in Inhomogeneous Magnetoplasmas

The linearized Vlasov equation for a hot inhomogeneous magnetoplasma is solved through the particle-orbit theory using the techniques of Fourier transforms. An analytical integral expression in $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{k}}$ space is obtained for the current density for waves propagating across the static magnetic field. When inverse Fourier transformed, it gives rise to a differential expression which is accurate up to order ${(\frac{{\mathcal{r}}_{c}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}})}^{2}$, ($\frac{{\mathcal{r}}_{c}^{2}}{\ensuremath{\lambda}L}$), and ${(\frac{{\mathcal{r}}_{c}}{L})}^{2}$. The integral equation is solved numerically for the problems of Buchsbaum-Hasegawa resonances and the Bernstein modes propagating in an inhomogeneous magnetoplasma.
The effects of physostigmine in phenothiazine resistant chronic schizophrenic patients: Preliminary observations

Abstract Five chronic schizophrenic patients refractory to drug treatment were given varying dose schedules of oral physostigmine in addition to their maintenance phenothiazine medications. Marked but transient clinical improvement was seen in all five patients. The time course of the latency and improvement periods seemed to be dependent upon the dose schedule of physostigmine utilized.
Early Bispectral Index and Sedation Requirements During Therapeutic Hypothermia Predict Neurologic Recovery Following Cardiac Arrest

Objectives:To test the hypothesis that low bispectral index scores and low sedative requirements during therapeutic hypothermia predict poor neurologic outcome.Design:Observational study of a prospectively collected cohort.Setting:Cardiovascular ICU.Patients:One hundred sixty consecutive cardiac arr
The Policy-Making Roles of the Yugoslav Federal Assembly: Changes, Trends and Implications

LEGISLATURES must ultimately bejudged by what they do; i.e., by their impact on the policy process. These institutions can be classified a success or failure, strong or weak, puppets or centers of power according to the depth and range of their policy involvement (Mezey 1979). For practical purposes, the comparative study of parliaments is a comparison of the policy role of separate national legislatures (Shaw 1979). This paper contributes to that understanding by describing and analyzing the shifting policy role of the Yugoslav national parliament. The legislative involvement in the public policy process is not a single, one-stage mechanism. It involves at least four major stages, each of which is crucial to the final policy output. These stages include: (1) Policy Initiation is the process by which potential policy problems become part of the national policy agenda. The government and public discover the policy problem and begin to discuss the serious nature of it and the need to solve or to remedy it (Eyestone 1978). Legislative debate, executive proposals, and question-time are three institutional mechanisms that may promote legislative involvement in the policy initiation process. (2) Policy Formulation is the second stage of the policy process. At this stage, solutions and remedies to policy problems are proposed, and movement is made toward an agreement on a common plan of action (Lindblom 1968). Policy proposals, bills, statutes, amendments, etc. are indicators of legislative involvement in the second stage of the policy process. (3) Policy Implementation is concerned with the transfer to practical reality of the policy goals and objectives formulated during the second stage. Policy implementation is generally equated with consideration of the administrative difficulties that affect most public policy problems (Williams 1982). Legislative oversight and hearings are often indicators of legislative involvement with this stage of the policy process (Mezey 1979). (4) Policy Evaluation is the final stage of the policy process. It compares reality with expected goals and objectives, and it examines the unintended consequences of a policy output (Rossi et al. 1979). Policy evaluation, in short, is the feedback loop of the policy process, and nearly all legislative activities belong to the policy evaluation process.
Physical and Chemical Changes in Fermented Peanut and Soybean Pastes Containing Kojis Prepared Using Aspergillus oryzae and Rhizopus oligosporus

Studies were made to determine and compare physical and chemical changes occurring during 90 days of fermentation of miso-like products containing peanuts and soybeans as well as a combination of these oilseeds. Two koji molds (Aspergillus oryzae and Rhizopus oligosporus) and two levels of NaCl (6 and 12%) were evaluated. The L color values decreased more rapidly in misos containing A. oryzae koji compared to misos containing R. oligosporus koji and changes occurred earlier in low-salt formulae than in high-salt formulae. The type of mold koji had no apparent effect on changes in viscosity. The free fatty acid content of misos increased dramatically during the first 4 days of fermentation. Misos containing A. oryzae koji had higher soluble nitrogen and free amino acid content in the final product than did those containing R. oligosporus kojis. Peanut miso products had higher soluble nitrogen contents than did respective soybean products; however, the type of oilseed had little effect on accumulation of free amino acids.
Dissipated thermal energy and damage evolution of Glass/Epoxy using infrared thermography and acoustic emission

In this paper, we present an experimental approach for characterizing energy dissipation and degradation evolution in a woven Glass/Epoxy (G10/FR4) laminate subjected to fully reversed bending fatigue test. During cyclic loading, a fraction of the input mechanical energy is converted to thermal energy, which results in an increase in the temperature of the specimen. By analyzing the surface temperature and its drop rate after halting the cyclic operation, the dissipated thermal energy (DTE) is estimated. Infrared thermography is used to assess the temperature evolution and to various damage states. Acoustic emission is also utilized to corroborate the thermography results in characterizing the degradation progression. The results of these two non-intrusive techniques show similar evolutionary response revealing the existence of degradation stages. Using calculated DTE, a damage growth model is developed that appropriately characterizes the three damage phases during fatigue process of Glass/Epoxy.
Delayed Traumatic Intracerebral Hematomas after Surgical Decompression

Delayed traumatic intracerebral hematomas found after an initially unrevealing computerized tomographic scan have been reported occasionally. Such hemorrhage may occur in an area of brain contusion with cerebral vessel injury. Four cases of intracerebral hematoma appearing after evacuation of a different traumatic intracranial mass lesion are reported. This suggests that an intracranial mass lesion may tamponade cerebral venous oozing in an area of brain contusion and delay the accumulation of intracerebral blood, accounting for the late discovery of a parenchymal hematoma. (Neurosurgery, 5: 653--655, 1979).
Sodium hydroxide pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of coastal Bermuda grass.

Coastal Bermuda grass was pretreated with NaOH at concentrations from 0.5% to 3% (w/v) for a residence time from 15 to 90 min at 121 °C. The pretreatments were evaluated based on total lignin removal and production of total reducing sugars, glucose and xylose from enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated biomass. Up to 86% lignin removal was observed. The optimal NaOH pretreatment conditions at 121 °C for total reducing sugars production as well as glucose and xylose yields are 15 min and 0.75% NaOH. Under these optimal pretreatment conditions, total reducing sugars yield was about 71% of the theoretical maximum, and the overall conversion efficiencies for glucan and xylan were 90.43% and 65.11%, respectively.
Loss of caveolin-1 from bronchial epithelial cells and monocytes in human subjects with asthma

Background Caveolin-1 has emerged as a critical regulator of signaling pathways involved in lung fibrosis and inflammation. Methods Therefore, we investigated whether caveolin-1 is deficient in asthmatic patients and in a murine model of asthma. Results Immunohistochemical analyses of endobronchial biopsies showed a remarkable loss of caveolin-1 in the lungs of asthmatic patients compared with controls. This loss was most evident in bronchial epithelial cells and associated with an increase in the expression of extracellular matrix proteins: collagen I, tenascin, and periostin. Cultured primary bronchial epithelial cells of asthmatics had lower caveolin-1 expression compared with control cells. In addition, caveolin-1 expression was significantly decreased in peripheral blood monocytes from asthma patients. The loss of caveolin-1 was also observed in a mouse model for asthma (mice sensitized and challenged with aspergillus fumigatus). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that the regulatory protein caveolin-1 is reduced in patients with asthma.
Metallocene polymerization catalyst ion-pair aggregation by cryoscopy and pulsed field gradient spin-echo NMR diffusion measurements.

Pulsed field gradient spin−echo (PGSE) NMR and cryoscopic measurements have been performed on a series of homogeneous metallocene polymerization catalyst ion-pairs to determine if aggregation is a significant phenomenon under typical polymerization conditions. Cryoscopic measurements on [(Me5Cp)2ZrMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (1), [rac-Et(Indenyl)2ZrMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (2), [(1,2-Me2Cp)2ZrCHTMS2]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (3), [Me2Si(Me4Cp)(t-BuN)TiMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (4), [Me2Si(Me4Cp)(t-BuN)ZrMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (5), and [Me2C(Fluorenyl)(Cp)ZrMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (6) were carried out in benzene in the 10−18 millimolal concentration range. PGSE measurements, using (p-tolyl)4Si as an internal standard, were also performed on catalyst ion-pairs 1, 4, 6, [(Me5Cp)2ThMe]+[B(C6F5)4]- (7), [(Me2SiCp2)ZrMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (8), and [Cp2ZrMe]+[MeB(C6F5)3]- (9) in the 0.8−10.0 millimolar range. All results are consistent with a 1:1 ion-pair structural model and show little evidence for ion-quadruples or higher-order aggregates.
The Production, Purification, and Bioactivity of Recombinant Bovine Trophoblast Protein-1 (Bovine Trophoblast Interferon)

Bovine trophoblast protein-1 (bTP-1) is a 172-amino acid interferon-α that has a role in maternal recognition of pregnancy in cattle. Here we describe production of bTP-1 by recombinant procedures in Escherichia coli. A bTP-1 gene was constructed which lacked the codons representing the signal sequence and provided a Met initiation codon ahead of the TGT codon encoding Cys1 of the mature protein. This construct was placed under the control of the Trp promoter within the expression vector pTrp2. Expression occurred optimally in E. coli D112 in the absence of tryptophan and in the presence of 0.5% acid-hydrolyzed casein (casamino acids) when 0.5 mm indole acetic acid was included in the medium. The bTP-1 was deposited in inclusion bodies and accounted for as much as 27% of the total cellular protein. The inclusion bodies were isolated by differential centrifugation and washed. The bTP-1 was solubilized by use of guanidinium-HCI and 2-mercaptoethanol and allowed to renature in air. Final purification was ach...
Bichromophoric dyes for wavelength shifting of dye-protein fluoromodules

Dye-protein fluoromodules consist of fluorogenic dyes and single chain antibody fragments that form brightly fluorescent noncovalent complexes. This report describes two new bichromophoric dyes that extend the range of wavelengths of excitation or emission of existing fluoromodules. In one case, a fluorogenic thiazole orange (TO) was attached to an energy acceptor dye, Cy5. Upon binding to a protein that recognizes TO, red emission due to efficient energy transfer from TO to Cy5 replaces the green emission observed for monochromophoric TO bound to the same protein. Separately, TO was attached to a coumarin that serves as an energy donor. The same green emission is observed for coumarin-TO and TO bound to a protein, but efficient energy transfer allows violet excitation of coumarin-TO, versus longer wavelength, blue excitation of monochromophoric TO. Both bichromophores exhibit low nanomolar KD values for their respective proteins, >95% energy transfer efficiency and high fluorescence quantum yields.
The public electronic library: web-based subject guides

Considers the way electronic information can be accessed by the adaptation and use of guides. Highlights the current interest in creating and implementing such a value‐added support when technical accessibility via the web is common. Outlines the creation of a web based subject guide at the University of Wisconsin. Profiles the structure of this and looks at the benefits and drawbacks of the system from the views of the students and the faculties.
CRIP Homologues Maintain Apical Cytoskeleton to Regulate Tubule Size in C. elegans

Abstract Maintenance of the shape and diameter of biological tubules is a critical task in the development and physiology of all metazoan organisms. We have cloned the exc-9 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans, which regulates the diameter of the single-cell excretory canal tubules. exc-9 encodes a homologue of the highly expressed mammalian intestinal LIM-domain protein CRIP, whose function has not previously been determined. A second well-conserved CRIP homologue functions in multiple valves of C. elegans. EXC-9 shows genetic interactions with other EXC proteins, including the EXC-5 guanine exchange factor that regulates CDC-42 activity. EXC-9 and its nematode homologue act in polarized epithelial cells that must maintain great flexibility at their apical surface; our results suggest that CRIPs function to maintain cytoskeletal flexibility at the apical surface.
Constraining Elementary Teachers' Work:Dilemmas and Paradoxes Created by State Mandated Testing

There are frequent reports of the challenges to teacher professionalism associated with high stakes and mandated testing (McNeil, 2000). So, we were not surprised in this year-long study of two elementary schools in upstate New York to hear teachers talk about the many ways the 4th grade tests in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science undermine their ability to do their jobs with integrity. We came to understand in more nuanced ways the ongoing tension created by teachers' desires to be professionals, to act with integrity, and at the same time to give every child a chance to succeed. What we found in these schools is that the high stakes tests continually forced teachers to act in ways they did not think were professional and often resulted in creating instructional environments that teachers did not think were conducive to student success. The teachers at these elementary schools are not radicals. They do not seek complete autonomy, they do not eschew the need for accountability (even bureaucratic accountability), they find some virtue in state mandated tests, they are content within centralized systems that proscribe some aspects of their work. But, they also perceive themselves as professionals with both the responsibility and capability of doing their jobs well and in the best interests of their students. New York State's outcomes based bureaucratic accountability system tests their resolve, makes them angry or frustrated, and requires unnecessary compromises in their work.