cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
P-type ZnO thin films achieved by N+ ion implantation through dynamic annealing process

ZnO thin films were grown on sapphire (0001) substrates by pulsed-laser deposition at 700 °C. 70 keV N+ ion implantation was performed under various temperatures and fluences in the range of 300−460 °C and 3.0×1014−1.2×1015 cm−2, respectively. Hall measurements indicate that the ZnO films implanted at 460 °C are p-type for all fluences used herein. Hole-carrier concentrations lie in the range of 2.4×1016−5.2×1017 cm−3, hole mobilities in the range of 0.7−3.7 cm2 V−1 s−1, and resistivities between 18−71 Ωcm. Transmission-electron microscopy reveals major microstructural differences between the n-type and p-type films. Ion implantation at elevated temperatures is shown to be an effective method to introduce increased concentrations of p-type N dopants while reducing the amount of stable post-implantation disorder.
Analytical performance evaluation for the design of flexible manufacturing systems

Flexible manufacturing systems offer the potential for achieving mass-production levels of productivity in batch-type discrete parts manufacturing. However, to achieve such success, a great many critical design decisions must be properly made. This paper describes a mathematical model which is of particular value in the determining of the consequences of design decisions in the early phases of planning a system.
MFSK using non-orthogonal tones

M-ary Frequency Shift Keying (MFSK) using one or more orthogonal tones per symbol has been in use in noncoherent systems for quite some time. We present an alternate system for non-coherent systems using non-orthogonal tones, spread non-uniformly throughout the bandwidth which outperforms the equivalent orthogonal tone system. We demonstrate that from a theoretical capacity point of view, the same bit rate could be achieved by the proposed system with as much as 2.5dB lower signal to noise ratio (SNR). We present the performance with various receiver types and also present the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimators of SNR estimation using this modulation scheme.
Short stature and growth hormone therapy: A national study of physician recommendation patterns

Objective. —To determine current expert opinion and recommendations regarding the controversial issue of the use of growth hormone (GH) to treat short children who do not have classical GH deficiency (non-GHD children). Study Design. —Analysis of a national survey mailed to 534 US physician experts on the management of short stature (pediatric endocrinologists) with a response rate of 81.3%. Main Outcome Measure. —The experts' GH treatment recommendations. Results. —The physicians reported that approximately 58% of their current patients undergoing GH therapy have classical GH deficiency, while 42% have other conditions. The proportion of physicians who recommended GH treatment of short non-GHD children ranged from 1% to 74% over all case scenarios presented. The likelihood of GH being recommended depended on the physiological growth characteristics of the child (ie, the child's height, growth rate, and predicted adult height), contingency factors (ie, strong family wishes or a reduction in GH cost), and physician beliefs (ie, the impact of short stature on well-being, the effectiveness of GH therapy). Each of these factors exerted highly significant, independent, and additive effects on decisions to recommend GH. Conclusion. —Our results indicate that many pediatric endocrinologists consider GH treatment appropriate for selected short non-GHD children, going beyond current Food and Drug Administration-approved indications for GH. Decisions to recommend GH for a non-GHD child rest on a combination of medical, social, and perceptual factors; variations in treatment patterns stem from variations in these influences. Future GH use will likely be determined not only by the results of controlled trials, but also by family preferences, producer pricing, and physician perceptions of the value of height and GH therapy.
Silicon nitride overcoats for thin film magnetic recording media

A plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process for silicon nitride films which can be used as overcoats for thin film magnetic recording disks has been developed. The most wear-resistant coatings are deposited at low concentrations of silane diluted with nitrogen, low deposition frequencies (100-400 kHz), low power densities (0.1 W/cm/sup 2/), low total pressure (30 Pa), and temperatures above 250 degrees C. Stoichiometric materials with hydrogen content down to 10 at.% are obtained. Increased deposition temperature leads to an increase in hardness and a decrease in hydrogen content in the films. The stress is compressive and increases linearly with increasing temperature. Wear rates drop by three orders of magnitude as the deposition temperature is raised from 100 to 250 degrees C. Unlubricated disks deposited above 250 degrees C exhibit low static friction without detectable wear for thousands and tens of thousands of start/stop cycles in dry and ambient environments, respectively. These disks lubricated with polyperfluoroethers have lifetimes in excess of ten thousand cycles even in dry conditions. >
Evolution of roughness on the surface of a strained elastic material due to stress-driven surface diffusion

The free energy of a stressed crystal is assumed to consist of elastic strain energy and surface energy, and the chemical potential for surface diffusion at constant temperature is obtained under this assumption. A gradient in chemical potential results in diffusive mass transport along the surface. The result is applied in considering the phenomena of instability of a flat surface in a stressed material under fluctuations in surface shape, and the transient evolution of surface roughness due to an initial perturbation in the nearly flat free surface of the material, both under plane strain conditions.
ARE LIVING CELLS INVOLVED IN THE ASCENT OF SAP

IN A RECENT PAPER (Peirce, 1934) I called attention to certain features of the problem of the ascent of sap through the stems of land plants, and I set forth a hypothesis of sap hydraulics which, in certain respects, differs from the currently accepted Dixon (1914) theory. As Dixon. living in the humid atmosphere of Ireland, was influenced by his environment in forming his opinions, so no doubt my ideas are among the products of many years of residence in a semi-arid climate. In my recent paper I left many questions unanswered, many statements to be confirmed or corrected. On this occasion I wish to speak of one. In 1884 the senior Godlewski definitely expressed the idea, to which all normal biologists are sympathetic, that living cells are directly concerned in lifting water, absorbed by the roots, to the leaves, where it is used or lost. In 1893 Strasburger thought he had refuted this tlheory by amputating leaves, branches, even trees, causing them to absorb water holding copper sulphate, a plant poison, in solution, and observing the ascent of the copper sulphate to the leaves. Overton (1911) believed that he had confirmed Strasburger's conclusion that living cells are not concerned, by killing the cells in a zone around and through leafy stems by means of steam. As indicated by Schwendener (1892), it does not follow from Strasburger's experiments that living cells are not concerned because, throughout his amputated portions of living plants, the cells were alive and presumably active until the poison reached them and, according to Strasburger's own statement as well as common observation, the copper sulphate solution, at first moving rapidly, passed upward more and more slowly as it neared the leaves. This would inevitably be the case if living cells are concerned, for, with the diminishing number of living cells as the poison climbed the tree, the sap stream would be lifted by fewer and fewer cells and hence would move more and more slowly. On the other hand, Overton did not find that steaming his intact Cyperus plants materially retarded the flow of sap as compared with untreated plants, and concluded therefore that living cells could not be concerned. This conclusion would be justified if water goes up a tree onlv as liquid water, either as solid cylinders as the Dixon hypothesis assumes, or as films along the walls of ducts and tracheids. On the other hand, if the water moves to any considerable extent as vapor in otherwise hollow cylinders in the ducts and tracheids, raising the temperature should accelerate the movement, whether living cells are involved or not. Conversely, lowering the temperature should retard the movement. In order to test this inference I made certain experiments out of doors, on intact and otherwise undistuirbed parts of castor bean (Ricinus communis)
Peri-operative challenges and long-term outcomes in liver transplantation for polycystic liver disease

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to determine peri‐operative mortality and long‐term outcomes in patients undergoing liver transplantation in the US using the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database. Methods This study is a retrospective review of liver transplantations (LT) recorded in the UNOS database performed between 1988 and 2010. In total, 107 411 LT were performed in the US, 357 (0.3%) were for adult polycystic liver disease (PLD). A random group of 9416 adult patients transplanted for other diagnoses was created for comparison (10% of the adult non‐PLD database). Results Two hundred and seventy‐one patients in the adult PLD group were females (75.9%), the mean age was 52.3 ± 8.2 [standard deviation (SD)] years. The median length of transplantation hospital stay was 11 days (interquartile range 8–21). Patients from the PLD group versus the comparison group (9416 patients) consisted of more females, lower Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores (17 versus 21 points), more multi‐organ transplants (41% versus 4 %), chronic renal failure (creatinine 2.7 versus 1.5) and fewer patients with chronic hepatitis C (1.4% versus 32%). Peri‐operative mortality (≤30 days) was 9% in the PLD versus 6% in the comparison group; however, at 1 year PLD survival was similar (85% versus 85%) to other diagnoses and better at 3 (81% versus 77%) and 5 years (77% versus 71%, overall Log Rank P = 0.006). A similar PLD survival advantage was observed in isolated initial transplants ( P = 0.019). Conclusion In spite of early technical challenges and mortality, transplantation should be considered an option for selected patients with PLD as excellent long‐term outcomes can be achieved.
Identification of a Mr 58 000 glycoprotein subunit of the opiate receptor

Abstract A M r 58 000 subunit of the opiate receptor has been identified using tritiated fentanyl isothiocyanate, a potent opiate alkylating reagent with specificity for the δ-opiate receptor subclass. The subunit is alkylated in the presence of dextrorphan but not levorphanol. The specifically labelled protein was retained on columns of immobilized wheat germ agglutinin and is therefore presumably a glycoprotein. Partial purification of the M r 58 000 opiate receptor subunit from neuroblastoma × glioma NG108-15 hybrid cell membranes is described.
Experimental and theoretical observations of elastic instabilities in eccentric cylinder flows : Local versus global instability

Abstract A theoretical and experimental investigation of the stability of the viscoelastic flow of a Boger fluid between eccentric cylinders is presented. In our theoretical study, a local linear stability analysis for the flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid suggests that the flow is elastically unstable for all eccentricities. A global solution to the stability problem is obtained by a perturbation eigenvalue analysis, incorporating the azimuthal variation of the base state flow at the same order as the streamwise variation of the stability function. A comparison between the local and global stability predictions is made. Flow visualization experiments with a solution of high molecular weight polyisobutylene dissolved in a viscous solvent clearly show the transition from a purely azimuthal flow to a secondary toroidal flow. Comparison of these experimental results with the local linear stability theory shows good agreement between the measured and predicted critical conditions for the onset of the non-inertial cellular instability at small δ, where δ is the eccentricity made dimensionless with the average gap thickness. At higher eccentricities, experiment and local linear stability theory cease to agree. Evidence will be given that this disagreement is due to a global affect, i.e. the convection of stress not included the local theory. Specifically, it is suggested that convection of polymeric stresses in the base flow as well as in the disturbance flow can stabilize the instabilities found in this geometry. Finally, the discovery of a new localized purely elastic instability associated with the recirculation flow in the co-rotating eccentric cylinder geometry is presented.
The Quantitative Imaging Network: NCI's Historical Perspective and Planned Goals

The purpose of this editorial is to provide a brief history of National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute (NCI) workshops as related to quantitative imaging within the oncology setting. The editorial will then focus on the recently supported NCI initiatives, including the Quantitative Imaging Network (QIN) initiative and its organizational structure, including planned research goals and deliverables. The publications in this issue of Translational Oncology come from many of the current members of this QIN research network.
Antibody response in common variable immunodeficiency.

Background Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) describes a heterogeneous group of immunologic disorders of unknown etiology. It is characterized by low levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig) and impaired antibody response. Objectives To describe antibody response and the kinetics of IgG decline in patients identified with CVID. Methods Clinical and immunologic observations of four patients identified with CVID were obtained by chart review. Results Antibody response to polysaccharide antigens in patients identified with CVID is lost earlier than the antibody response to protein antigens, which may be preserved even in the face of profound hypogammaglobulinemia. In three patients who were followed prospectively, the Ig loss was progressive. Conclusions Absence of antibody response to polysaccharide antigens may be a universal finding in patients with CVID, whereas preservation of T cell-dependent protein antibody response may be seen.
Mycophenolate mofetil, with cyclosporine and prednisone, reduces early rejection while allowing the use of less antilymphocytic agent induction and cyclosporine in renal recipients with delayed graft function

Antilymphocytic agent induction (ALAI), with antithymocyte globulin or monoclonal antibody, is generally used in renal transplantation (TX) to spare renal allografts with poor initial function from the toxic effects of cyclosporine (CsA) and/or to augment immunosuppression (IS) in the patient at a high risk for early rejection. ALAI, unfortunately, increases the cost of TX and the risk to the patient, having been associated with many adverse side effects. An IS protocol, which results in a low incidence of early rejection while using less CsA and ALAI, is a worthwhile goal. We compare our experience with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), CsA, and prednisone (MMFCP; n = 62) to our azathioprine (AZA), CsA, and prednisone (AZACP; n = 50) triple-drug IS, with and without ALAI. The patient characteristics for age, race, first TX, cadaveric donor, pediatric recipient, and dialysis in the first post-op week (DGF) were not different for the MMFCP versus AZACP groups. There were more females in the MMFCP group (51.6% versus 30.0%, p = 0.022). We report that rejection-free survival at 6 months (RF6) was better in the MMFCP versus AZACP group (83.9% versus 60.0%, p = 0.005). Less ALAI and CsA were used in the MMFCP patients. At 1 year, actuarial graft survival was 91.9% in the MMFCP group and 81.9% in the AZACP group (p = 0.116). Actuarial 1-year patient survivals were not different in the two patient groups. In the sub-population of patients with DGF, the RF6 in the MMFCP (n = 13) group was 92.3% versus 57.1% in the AZACP (n = 14) group (p = 0.041). The reduction in early rejection episodes in the patients on MMFCP with DGF was accomplished while using half as much ALAI and lower CsA doses and levels. The African-American recipient sub-population on MMFCP also demonstrated an improvement in RF6 while using less ALAI and CsA (78.6% versus 48.0%, p = 0.022). We conclude that the use of MMF-based triple-drug IS results in fewer rejection episodes while allowing for lower CsA levels and less ALAI, even in patients with delayed graft function.
Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (got) genetics in the mouse: polymorphism of got-1.

ABSTRACT We have examined a polymorphism for the soluble glutamate oxaloacetate (GOT-1) isozyme system which was found in the Asian mouse Mus castaneus . Variants of GOT-1 segregate as though they are controlled by codominant alleles for a single autosomal locus which we have designated Got-1 . No close linkage of genes for soluble and mitochondrial forms of the enzyme, GOT-1 and GOT-2 respectively, was observed. Furthermore, no close linkage of Got-1 and the loci c, Gpi-1, Mod-2, Mod-1, Ld-1, Gpd-1, Pgm-1 or Gpo-1 was observed. Our results demonstrate the utility of sampling Mus from diverse populations to extend the repertoire of polymorphic loci and the genetic linkage map.
Measuring Public Value: An Instrument and an Art Museum Case Study

ABSTRACT Using Carol Scott's (2006) discussion of museum impact as a frame, a survey instrument was created to measure the value perceived by a community toward an art museum. The survey was administered at a local community arts festival. A factor analysis revealed that 18 out of 19 items used in the survey aligned with the 3 hypothesized areas of value: individual, societal, and economic. Results of the survey suggest that both recent and recent non-visitors of the museum find similar levels of value in having the museum exist in the community. Across the board, the economic items received the lowest score. Female participants gave significantly higher scores than males. Recommendations include marketing messages that highlight the perceived values expressed in the survey, and further investigation as to how to increase the value perceived by males in the community.
A novel ultra high-speed flip-flop-based frequency divider

Frequency dividers play an important role in high speed communications systems. In particular, optical communication circuits demand frequency dividers capable of operating well above 10 GHz. This paper presents a high-speed flip-flop-based frequency divider incorporating a new high-speed latch topology, which provides satisfactory performance for frequencies up to 17 GHz. This circuit is designed and simulated in a standard 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process.
Downed Wood Microclimates and Their Potential Impact on Plethodontid Salamander Habitat in the Oregon Coast Range

Downed wood provides important faunal microhabitat in forests for numerous invertebrate taxa, small mammals and amphibians. Habitat suitability of downed wood as refugia is an increasing concern in managed Pacific Northwest forests, where overstory reduction may result in both reduced downed wood recruitment and increased temperatures within logs. We examined temperature profiles in western Oregon to assess differences in thermal regimes of logs and soil relative to summer air temperature extremes and their implications with respect to habitat suitability for plethodontid salamanders. Temperature profiles of small- (0.3-0.45 m) and large- (0.7-1.0 m) diameter logs, as well as ambient soil and air temperatures, were measured in a 60-year-old forest stand at two different positions (0-5 m and 35-40 m from stream edge) in three case studies: 1) along a headwater stream with a narrow riparian buffer (~6 m) and moderate upslope thinning; 2) along a headwater stream with a wider riparian buffer (~15 m) and moderate upslope thinning; and 3) along a headwater stream with an unthinned upslope. Streamside and upslope maximum air temperatures measured during July 2006 along all three streams were near or exceeded 30°C, the critical thermal tolerance threshold for western plethodontid salamanders. Streamside and upslope temperatures inside small logs, large logs and soils stayed below critical temperatures. Our results suggest that logs of a wide size range, as well as soils, may provide sufficient protection against thermal extremes in uncut forests and thinned stands with limited overstory.
The Order of Play: Seeing, Teaching, and Learning Meaning in Video Games

This paper explores the locally-produced meaning-making practices of video game players, taking the position that the contingent properties of situated actions play a significant role in the construction of meaning. The participants of this study are Asian adolescents from China, currently studying in New York City, who play video games after school. There are four participants in the following example: Jason, Andrew, Kevin, and Li. As Li was a novice player to the game, her participation yielded interesting insights on the underlying assumptions that both expert and novice players possessed. In particular, it reveals that the expert players had their own definition of proper play that they needed the novice to understand, and the initial failure to communicate with the novice showed that the experts’ interpretation differed from that of the novice. The study is guided by ethnomethodology, an approach that has been applied to many studies involving human-machine interactions, and has been increasingly important in helping us understand how people make sense of environments that involve different interfaces and equipment. The findings show that, even when their interpretations of the action diverge from the game designers’ intentions, these interpretations continue to make sense within the context of their interaction. The findings also highlight the importance of describing these meaning-making practices as they emerge in situated time, as they demonstrate how players are able to comprehend one another in an inherently ambiguous environment. It demonstrates how players’ actions are shaped by their social relationships and are continually refined and clarified by the ongoing deliberation with other players. These findings can help future educational researchers better understand the process of learning in virtual environments, the role of social interaction during play, and can potentially improve our approach towards designing better games for education.
Philosophy of qualitative inquiry: Hermeneutic phenomenology and communication research

HERMENEUTICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE. By Zygmunt Bauman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978; pp. 263. $16.00. HERMENEUTICS: INTERPRETATION THEORY IN SCHLEIERMACHER, DILTHEY, HEIDEGGER, AND GADAMER. By Richard E. Palmer. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern Univ. Press, 1969; pp. xvi+283. $14.95. UNDERSTANDING AND SOCIAL INQUIRY. Edited by Fred R. Dallmayr and Thomas A. McCarthy. Notre Dame, Ind.: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1977; pp. 365. $16.95. INTERPRETIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE: A READER. Edited by Paul Rabinow and William M. Sullivan. Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press, 1979; pp. 367. $22.50; paper $6.95. EXPLANATION AND UNDERSTANDING. By Georg Henrik von Wright. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ. Press, 1971; pp. xvii+230. $14.50. UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTION: ESSAYS IN THE METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL THEORIES. By Stefen Nowak. Boston: D. Reidel Publ. Co., 1976; pp. xix+482. $63.20. UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL LIFE: THE METHOD CALLED VERSTEHEN. By William Outhwaite. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1976; pp. 127. $...
Off the Court: Helping African American Athletes Address Behavioral Health Concerns While Using Motivational Interviewing

Alcohol and drug use among collegiate student athletes has been noted to be a significant issue of concern, prompting increased efforts to determine what works for addressing the specific needs of this group. A closer examination of African American collegiate athletes suggests that drug and alcohol use in this group may be a serious issue of concern, given the unique pressures faced by this group. Motivational interviewing has been reported to be an effective intervention for improving outcomes for at-risk college students. The current investigation explores the potential for using motivational interviewing as an intervention to address the specific needs of African American collegiate athletes.
Starting an Academic Career: A Survey of Junior Academic Pulmonary Physicians

Objective To learn about the status of junior faculty in the specialty of pulmonary diseases and about their attitudes concerning their future in academic medicine. Design Mailed survey. Participants A total of 209 junior pulmonary faculty were reported by the directors of the 106 US pulmonary training institutions with at least 3 fellow training positions; 157 (75 percent) responded to our questionnaire. Results Most respondents described themselves as happy and productive, and almost all planned to stay in academic medicine. However, some problems were evident that could interfere with their plans to remain: a lack of protected time for research (only 15 percent of assistant professors and instructors spent 75 percent or more of their time in research), a lack of understanding about the rules and procedures of promotion (only 31 percent said they understood), failure of communication with the Chiefs of the Division and of Medicine (less than half had had a meeting about promotion with the Chief of the Division, 16 percent with the Chairman of Medicine), and a concern about their financial security (73 percent were concerned). Although women, who represented only 13 percent of the respondents, reported similar work hours and publication rates, they were less optimistic about promotion than the men (40 percent of women considered their chance for promotion good to excellent vs 64 percent of men). The junior faculty reported that the greatest obstacles to their academic success were insufficient protected time for their research, maintaining research productivity, and inadequate and uncertain funding. Conclusions The success of junior faculty is important to the success of academic medicine. More attention should be paid to ensuring protected continuous time for research, educating about promotion, and improving funding opportunities.
Antagonistic Effects of 17β-Estradiol, Progesterone, and Testosterone on Ca2+ Entry Mechanisms of Coronary Vasoconstriction

Abstract —The clinical observation that coronary artery disease is more common in men and postmenopausal women than in premenopausal women has suggested cardioprotective effects of female sex hormones including hormone-mediated coronary vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the sex hormone-induced coronary relaxation is caused by inhibition of Ca2+ mobilization into coronary smooth muscle. The effects of 17β-estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone on vascular reactivity and 45Ca2+ influx were tested in deendothelialized coronary artery strips isolated from castrated male pigs. Prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) (10−5 mol/L) caused significant, maintained contraction of coronary artery strips. Caffeine (25 mmol/L), an activator of Ca2+ release from intracellular stores, caused transient contraction in Ca2+-free solution whereas membrane depolarization by 96 mmol/L KCl, an activator of Ca2+ entry, caused maintained contraction in the presence of external Ca2+. The 3 sex hormones caused significant and concentration-dependent relaxation of PGF2α- and 96 mmol/L KCl-induced contractions with 17β-estradiol being the most effective. The sex hormones did not significantly affect the transient caffeine contraction in Ca2+-free solution. In contrast, the sex hormones significantly inhibited the PGF2α- and KCl-induced 45Ca2+ influx. 17β-Estradiol caused similar inhibition of PGF2α- and KCl-induced contractions, suggesting inhibition of the same Ca2+ entry mechanism. However, progesterone and testosterone caused greater relaxation of PGF2α-induced contraction than of KCl-induced contraction. We conclude that in coronary arteries of castrated male pigs, sex hormones inhibit Ca2+ entry from extracellular space but not Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. 17β-Estradiol mainly inhibits Ca2+ entry, whereas progesterone and testosterone cause coronary relaxation by inhibiting other mechanisms in addition to Ca2+ entry.
Testing one hypothesis twice in observational studies

In a matched observational study of treatment effects, a sensitivity analysis asks about the magnitude of the departure from random assignment that would need to be present to alter the conclusions of an analysis that assumes that matching for measured covariates removes all bias. The reported degree of sensitivity to unmeasured biases depends on both the process that generated the data and the chosen methods of analysis, so a poor choice of method may lead to an exaggerated report of sensitivity to bias. This suggests the possibility of performing more than one analysis with a correction for multiple inference, say testing one null hypothesis using two or three different tests. In theory and in an example, it is shown that, in large samples, the gains from testing twice will often be large, because testing twice has the larger of the two design sensitivities of the component tests, and the losses due to correcting for two tests will often be small, because two tests of one hypothesis will typically be highly correlated, so a correction for multiple testing that takes this into account will be small. An illustration uses data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey concerning lead in the blood of cigarette smokers. Copyright 2012, Oxford University Press.
Software for the next-generation automobile

Automotive electronic systems are changing rapidly, requiring connectivity of all types. Ford's prototype software framework lets manufacturers rapidly tailor features and handle diverse communication modes. Ford Research and Advanced Engineering is working on a software architecture that provides the layers of abstraction necessary to realize this goal. The system, vehicle consumer services interface (VCSI), offers the ability to flexibly personalize and upgrade systems with the level of security required for mobile services, as well as a plug-and-play approach to device connectivity. It uses XML (eXtensible Markup Language) to communicate with portable devices and off-board systems, providing Ford the freedom to offer the highest degree of branding and personalization possible. Ford's proprietary XML-based interface, VUML (vehicle user-interface mark-up language) separates the MI from the core application, which lets designers use many HMI component types - from knobs, switches, and buttons to touch screen displays and conversational voice-activation systems. Thus, manufacturers can offer various features and functions in their products by choosing the HMI type that best aligns with their brand attributes and their customers' preferences. Using various input methods, consumers can easily control a particular function from more than one location. The driver, for example, can use voice commands to set the vehicle's temperature, while the front-seat passenger might use a button or touch screen for the same function. VCSI is based on Java, so designers can use a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to abstract it from the platform and operating system (OS). We are currently using the QNX platform for embedded devices, but designers can implement VCSI on any platform that meets the specification and provides a JVM. With the CDC, foundation profile (one of the standard profiles for handheld devices that use Java) enables a VCSI-based solution to perform very well, providing all the desired functions and services. Ford has established a set of OS criteria that focuses on robustness and real-time execution specifications. One key element is that the OS must be able to start and stop device drivers and applications without having to reboot. This is especially important in a vehicle because consumers need devices and off-board connectivity at different and unpredictable times.
GNOME: NOAA's next-generation spill trajectory model

The General NOAA Oil Modeling Environment (GNOME) is a new tool developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for oil-spill response. GNOME generates spill scenarios that support the NOAA standard for trajectory output by providing both "best guess" and "minimum regret" solutions. GNOME also serves as a tool for novice users, from high school on up, to learn more about oil-spill trajectories and actually run them. The GNOME model, regional location files, documentation, and training materials are available on the Internet at http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/software/gnome/gnome.html. Training courses are also offered by NOAA HAZMAT. Research is underway on how to effectively use nowcast/forecast models as sources of ocean current fields for the trajectory model. Questions of data size, time-step interpolation, and relevant physics are being investigated to use these models as data fields in GNOME.
Throwing You Under the Bus: High Power People Knowingly Harm Others When Offered Small Incentives

The potentially exploitative effects of power and incentive were examined. In the study, 250 participants heard a confederate admit or deny a misdeed and were pressured by the experimenter to inform on the confederate, sometimes in exchange for a small reward. The majority of participants knowingly falsely informed on the confederate when put in a position of high power and offered an incentive. Participants truthfully informed on the confederate regardless of power or incentive. Results are interpreted in light of social psychological theories of social power, which suggest that harmful opportunism is a likely but not inevitable effect of empowerment.
Nutritional ergogenics in athletics

Nutritional ergogenic aids may be theorized to improve performance in athletics in a variety of ways, primarily by enhancing energy efficiency, energy control or energy production. Athletes have utilized almost every nutrient possible, ranging from amino acids to zinc, as well as numerous purported nutritional substances, such as ginseng, in attempts to enhance physical performance. This review focuses primarily on nutritional ergogenic aids thought to enhance performance by favourably affecting energy metabolism. Although most purported nutritional ergogenic aids have not been shown to enhance physical performance in well-trained, well-nourished athletes, some reliable scientific data support an ergogenic efficacy of several substances, including caffeine, creatine and sodium bicarbonate, but additional research is needed to evaluate their potential for enhancing performance in specific athletics events.
Implementation and evaluation of a swarming sensor network for intrusion detection

The 2008 paper entitled “Prototype Design and Experimental Results for an Intruder Detection Swarming Network” describes the design of an intruder detection and tracking sensor network that exhibits swarming behavior. This initial work investigated the viability of using simple tones for signaling and combining tones from multiple nodes. In this paper we present the architectural details of our implementation of the prototype using MICAz motes with acoustic sensors. We use the prototype to demonstrate the swarming behavior of a field of motes in a realistic physical environment. We explore the effect of various sensing parameters and network configurations. Our prototype validates the swarming sensor network concept applied to intrusion detection.
Metric-based shape retrieval in large databases

This paper examines the problem of database organization and retrieval based on computing metric pairwise distances. A low-dimensional Euclidean approximation of a high-dimensional metric space is not efficient, while search in a high-dimensional Euclidean space suffers from the curse of dimensionality. Thus, techniques designed for searching metric spaces must be used. We evaluate several such existing exact metric-based indexing techniques, and show that they require extensive computational effort. This motivates the development of an approximate nearest neighbor search technique where the k nearest neighbors are used to approximate the local neighborhood of a point. The resulting kNN graph is searched in a best-first fashion producing excellent indexing efficiency.
Macroscopic Recognition of Nontraumatic Osseous Pathology in the Postcranial Skeletons of Crocodilians and Lizards

Abstract Identification of postcranial reptile pathology unrelated to trauma on the basis of macroscopic (visual) examination is feasible and effective, as previously documented in mammals, birds, and dinosaurs. Such bone disease is rare in most wild-caught lizards, with the exception of Varanids, and is also more common in crocodilians. This provides a basis for evaluation of the fossil record, suggesting that the most productive epidemiologic analyses would be concentrated in the families, Crocodylidae and Varanidae. A specific form of inflammatory arthritis and vertebral pathology, spondyloarthropathy, is clearly established as the major non-traumatic osseous pathology in lizards (although quite rare in all but varanids) and crocodilians. Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease seems to represent a secondary phenomenon, apparently limited in distribution to individuals with spondyloarthropathy. Only 9% of individual reptiles with osseous pathology examined lacked a clear diagnosis substantiated by val...
Rates of Convergence for Levy's Modulus of Continuity and Hinchin's Law of the Iterated Logarithm

For a standard Wiener process \(\{ {{W}_{t}}:t\varepsilon [0,1]\}\), denoting \(X(\rho ) = {{\sup }_{{|s - t| \leqslant \rho }}}|{{W}_{s}} - {{W}_{t}}|, g(x) = \sqrt {{2x\ln (\tfrac{1}{x})}}\) and \(h(x) = \sqrt {{2x\ln \ln \tfrac{1}{x}}}\) , we have proved the following two results: \(E {{\sup }_{{\rho \leqslant \delta }}}\tfrac{{X(\rho )}}{{g(\rho )}}\) converges down to 1 at least as fast as \(3.27/\sqrt {{\ln \tfrac{1}{\delta }}}\) and \({{\sup }_{{t \leqslant \delta }}}\tfrac{{{{W}_{t}}}}{{h(t)}}\) converges down to 1 at least as fast as \(3\ln \ln \ln \tfrac{1}{\delta }/\ln \ln \tfrac{1}{\delta }\)
Formation of Hexacoordinate Mn(III) in Bacillus subtilis Oxalate Decarboxylase Requires Catalytic Turnover.

Oxalate decarboxylase (OxDC) catalyzes the disproportionation of oxalic acid monoanion into CO2 and formate. The enzyme has long been hypothesized to utilize dioxygen to form mononuclear Mn(III) or Mn(IV) in the catalytic site during turnover. Recombinant OxDC, however, contains only tightly bound Mn(II), and direct spectroscopic detection of the metal in higher oxidation states under optimal catalytic conditions (pH 4.2) has not yet been reported. Using parallel mode electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, we now show that substantial amounts of Mn(III) are indeed formed in OxDC, but only in the presence of oxalate and dioxygen under acidic conditions. These observations provide the first direct support for proposals in which Mn(III) removes an electron from the substrate to yield a radical intermediate in which the barrier to C–C bond cleavage is significantly decreased. Thus, OxDC joins a small list of enzymes capable of stabilizing and controlling the reactivity of the powerful oxidizing species...
Isometric force and maximal shortening velocity of single muscle fibers from elite master runners

Single chemically permeabilized gastrocnemius fibers from six elite endurance-trained master runners (RUN group) and five age-matched sedentary controls (SED group) were mounted between a force transducer and a position motor, studied under conditions of maximal and submaximal Ca2+ activation, and subsequently electrophoresed on 5% polyacrylamide gels to determine myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition. For the SED group, peak isometric tension (Pzero) averaged 143 +/- 3, 156 +/- 4, and 170 +/- 4 kN/m2 and maximal shortening velocity (Vzero) averaged 0.43 +/- 0.01, 1.90 +/- 0.08, and 5.59 +/- 0.40 fiber lengths/s for fibers expressing type I, IIa, and IIx MHC, respectively (all comparisons, P < 0.05). Hill plot analysis of relative forces during submaximal Ca2+ activation indicated no SED vs. RUN differences in Ca2+ sensitivity or in the cooperativity of Ca2+ activation. However, at maximal Ca2+ activation, RUN type I and IIa fibers produced 15% less peak absolute force than SED fibers (P < 0.05). This reduction in fiber force was a direct result of the smaller diameter of the RUN fibers (P < 0.05), because Pzero, peak elastic modulus (Ezero), and Pzero/Ezero were not different between SED and RUN groups. RUN type I fibers also displayed a mean Vzero that was 19% higher than the average Vzero of the SED type I fibers (P < 0.05). In separate experiments, quantification of relative myosin light chain (MLC) isoform content revealed a 28% greater ratio of MLC3 to MLC2 in single type I fibers from the RUN group (P < 0.05), suggesting that the elevated Vzero of the RUN type I fibers was related to a greater expression of MLC3. In conclusion, the single fibers from the elite master runners displayed specific morphological and contractile properties that may enhance the performance of these athletes during prolonged muscular activity.
Figures of Evil in the Business World

When you ask people "What is evil?", their responses are striking in several respects. They tend to name individuals, singling out certain people as evil?e.g., Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or Joseph Stalin. They typically view evil as inhering in people or in quasi-personal agents (e.g., devils or vampires), not in animals or natural forces. Respondents never describe themselves as evil or as in any way complicitous in evil deeds. A recent poll of Americans who regularly attend church estimated that only three percent believe that they are the ones who might go to hell.1 And they perceive evil as an active, creative, and even autonomous force at work in the world. This last response suggests that perhaps the popular imagination knows something that ethical theorists do not. Ethicists who study busi nesses and organizations typically attribute malevolence and cruelty on the part of businesspeople to either a failure of moral reasoning or to a complete lack of empathie imagination. Some ethical lapses do appear to be the result of individuals' failure to think; they operate on a kind of moral autopilot, following a script they have never thought to question. The pilots who, during the 1950s, routinely dumped fuel into the ocean prior to landing did not set out to harm the environment. They were simply following the landing procedures they had been taught by those pilots who were their teachers. If evil is identical with mindlessness, then the best way to combat it is to instill habits of mindfulness. Those of us who teach ethics try to do so by asking our students to consider cases with a view to determining where and why people went wrong. We look for revealing patterns and causes. We
Estimation and Inference Are Missing Data Problems: Unifying Social Science Statistics via Bayesian Simulation

Bayesian simulation is increasingly exploited in the social sciences for estimation and inference of model parameters. But an especially useful (if often overlooked) feature of Bayesian simulation is that it can be used to estimate any function of model parameters, including “auxiliary” quantities such as goodness-of-fit statistics, predicted values, and residuals. Bayesian simulation treats these quantities as if they were missing data, sampling from their implied posterior densities. Exploiting this principle also lets researchers estimate models via Bayesian simulation where maximum-likelihood estimation would be intractable. Bayesian simulation thus provides a unified solution for quantitative social science. I elaborate these ideas in a variety of contexts: these include generalized linear models for binary responses using data on bill cosponsorship recently reanalyzed in Political Analysis, item—response models for the measurement of respondent's levels of political information in public opinion surveys, the estimation and analysis of legislators' ideal points from roll-call data, and outlier-resistant regression estimates of incumbency advantage in U.S. Congressional elections
THE METHODOLOGY OF FUNCTIONALISM

One is an attempt to assess the part played by an observed pattern of behavior in the maintenance of some larger system in which it is included. Thus, the general form of a functional proposition, that "The function of x for y is t," is translatable into the statement: The specific contribution which x makes to the persistence of y is t. Functional statements of the above kind may also be understood as statements about the causes of the unit subserved, y, not as statements about the causes of the unit x, the functions of which are being analyzed. For example, the statement that "x is functional for y in manner t" is equivalent to the
THE CHALLENGE OF HYBRIDITY: LINGUISTIC DISCIPLINES IN UNIVERSITY MODERN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENTS

(2003). THE CHALLENGE OF HYBRIDITY: LINGUISTIC DISCIPLINES IN UNIVERSITY MODERN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENTS. Journal of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association: Vol. 100, No. 1, pp. 163-175.
Conjugation of β-sheet peptides to modify the rheological properties of hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring polysaccharide that is commonly used in cosmetic, wound healing, and tissue regeneration applications because of its biocompatibility and intrinsic bio...
Two-dimensional directed assembly of dicolloids.

The assembly of ordered dicolloid monolayers is directed by an electric field. The dicolloid particles are polystyrene latex with a maximum equatorial diameter 3.45 μm and length 4.63 μm. The monolayer structure is characterized using small-angle light scattering and bright-field microscopy. With increasing field strength from 26.7 to 200 VRMS/cm, a transition from a disordered monolayer, to first orientationally ordered, and then translationally ordered two-dimensional (2D) arrays occurs. A c2mm plane group symmetry dominates the ordered structure but is present alongside structures with p2 symmetry, leading to a spread in the angular distribution of the light scattering peaks. The order–disorder transition dependence on field strength and frequency is similar to that observed for colloidal spheres; at higher frequencies, stronger fields are required to assemble particles. Optimal ordered structures reflect a balance between inducing sufficiently strong interparticle interactions while limiting the rate ...
Fast depth estimation using spatio-temporal prediction for stereo-based pedestrian detection

Generating a high-quality disparity map is a fundamental step in many applications such as stereo vision-based pedestrian detection for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). One of the major challenges in generating accurate depth maps is the huge computational complexity in stereo matching. In this paper, we propose a fast depth estimation technique for real-time applications. The proposed architecture employs spatial and temporal disparity prediction modules in order to decrease spatio-temporal redundancy. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed method systematically, we apply the generated depth maps to a stereo-based pedestrian detection system. Simulation results show that the proposed method reduces the computational complexity by 68%–83% while maintaining comparable detection performance with the full-search block matching algorithm used as a reference.