cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Allowing for sex differences increases power in a GWAS of multiplex Autism families.

Current genomewide association studies account for only a small fraction of the estimated heritabilities of genetically complex neuropsychiatric disorders, indicating they are likely to result from the small effects of numerous predisposing variants, many of which have gone undetected. The statistical power to detect associations of common variants with small effects is increased by conducting joint association tests of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), an additional risk factor (F), and their interaction. F can represent an environmental exposure, another genotype or any source of genetic heterogeneity. In case and control studies, logistic regression makes joint tests straightforward. This analytic method cannot be employed directly when SNP transmission tests are used to detect associations in parent/affected child trios and multiplex families. However, the method can be implemented using the case/pseudocontrol approach. We applied this approach to analyze data from a genomewide association study of multiplex families ascertained for Autism Spectrum Disorder, where sex was used to define the F. Joint analyses revealed two associations exceeding genomewide significance. One novel gene, Ryandine Receptor 2, implicated in calcium channel defects, was identified with a joint P-value of 3.9E−11. Calcium channel defects have been connected to Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by Timothy Syndrome, which is Mendelian, and a previous targeted sex-specific association analysis of idiopathic Autism. A second gene, uridine phosphorylase 2, with a joint P-value of 2.3E−9, has been previously linked and associated with Autism in independent samples. These findings highlight two Autism candidate genes for follow-up studies.
WHAT NEXT FOR MICROFINANCE? HOW THE BROADER FINANCIAL CONTEXT MATTERS FOR EFFECTIVE MICROFINANCE OUTREACH

This paper explores how the overall development of the financial sector and the regulatory framework impact national levels of microfinance outreach. It finds that microfinance tends to serve more clients in less developed, less competitive financial systems. However, it also finds that the microfinance sector is able to reach more clients where government policy is conducive to business development. These seemingly contradictory findings have important implications for the future of microfinance. On the one hand, the success of microfinance can be strengthened by broader business-oriented reforms. On the other hand, it may lose relevance as the formal financial sector develops and reaches more of the population.
Influence of liposomal drug entrapment on percutaneous absorption

Abstract Results of permeation experiments involving finite dose diffusion cells with hairless mouse skin as the membrane indicate that neither intact liposomes nor the phospholipid of which they are comprised diffuses across the skin. Lipophilic drugs like progesterone and hydrocortisone, which are intercalated within the bilayer structure of the phospholipid in multilamellar liposomes, seem to pass through the skin with comparable facility to free drug (comparable mass transfer coeficients). On the other hand, highly polar glucose entrapped in the aqueous compartments of the liposome is poorly available for transport. The results of in vitro release rate studies and theoretical calculations indicate that the very slight flux of liposomally incorporated glucose seen experimentally is attributable to a slow release rate of glucose out of the liposome followed by relatively rapid skin permeation of the free solute. On the other hand, for hydrophobic progesterone and hydrocortsone the experimental results and supportive theoretical analysis suggest direct transfer of drug from liposome to the skin. Considering this mechanism and owing to increased soluble payloads of lipophilic drugs through liposomal incorporation, n ore total drug may be delivered through skin via liposomes relative to simple aqueous solutions.
CCD mosaics, past, present and future : A review

We have entered an era of large CCD mosaic camera construction with many observatories developing large mosaic focal planes for wide field cameras and spectrographs. In this review, we outline the history of CCD mosaic development, describe the current state of the art while illustrating the many projects underway, and attempt to peer into the future.
Improving user interest inference from social neighbors

Prior research has provided some evidence of social correlation (i.e., "you are who you know"), which makes it possible to infer one's interests from his or her social neighbors. However, it is also shown to be challenging to consistently obtain high quality inference. This challenge can be partially attributed to the fact that people usually maintain diverse social relationships, in order to tap into diverse information and knowledge. It is unlikely that a person would possess all interests of his/her social neighbors. Instead, s/he may selectively acquire just a subset of them. This paper intends to improve inferring interests from neighbors given this observation. We conduct this study by implementing a privacy-preserving large distributed social sensor system in a large global IT company to capture the multifaceted activities (e.g., emails, instant messaging, social bookmarking, etc.) of 25K+ people. These activities occupy the majority of employees' time, and thus, provide a higher quality view of the diverse aspects of their professional interests compared to the friending activity on online social networking sites. In this paper, we propose a technique that exploits the correlation among the attributes that a person possesses to improve social-correlation-based inference quality. Our technique offers two unique contributions. First, we demonstrate that the proposed technique can significantly improve inference quality by as much as 76.1%. Second, we study the interaction between the two factors: social correlation and attribute correlation under different situations. The results can inform practical applications how the inference quality would change in various scenarios.
Interdisciplinary connections in a mobile computing and robotics course

Using robots and mobile devices in education can serve as a foundation for hands-on studies encompassing many different disciplines including computer and electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, and physics. Educational robots and mobile technology have been shown to be successful in promoting student interest in these and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines. This paper describes an experience of using robotics and mobile computing in an upper-level Computer Science course. Our discussion focuses on leveraging the inherent symbiosis of these two topics to explore the connections between computing and other disciplines through experiential learning.
Design Planning in End-User Web Development: Gender, Feature Exploration and Feelings of Success

We report an empirical study of nonprogrammers who built a database-centered web application using an end-user web development tool. Half of the users spent time planning their project by creating a concept map before starting the programming; across planning conditions, half of the users were males and half female. Participants who did concept mapping or who were male were more attracted to database programming; however planning did not affect feelings of success and in general females felt more successful than males. We discuss the implications of these findings for work on gender and for future EUP tools and training.
Measurement of 55Fe from nuclear fallout in marine sediments and seawater

Abstract An improved windowless gas-flow proportional X-ray detector has been used to make more sensitive and convenient measurement of nuclear fallout-derived 55 Fe in freshwater and marine sediments. The iron extracted from a sediment is radiochemically purified and a part (about 500 mg) electroplated on an area (200 cm 2 ) of the inside wall of a copper cylinder. This cylinder in turn becomes the cathode of the X-ray detector. A specially designed anti-coincidence multi-electrode gas-flow proportional detector surrounds the X-ray detector and reduces its background in the Mn X-ray region to 0.09 counts/min keV. The detection sensitivity (precision ±50%) for the measurement of 55 Fe in typical sediments is around 16 disintegrations/min kg of dry sediment.
Ab initio study of the ground and excited states of HCP and its isomer HPC

The potential energy surface of HCP converting to HPC in its ground electronic state has been investigated with ab initio methods at levels up to MP2/6-311G**//MP4/6-311G** as well as TZV + + ** CASSCF. All geometries are fully optimized and compare favorably to previous theoretical and experimental values. The HCP molecule is predicted to be 85.4 kcal/mol lower in energy than its linear isomer at the-MP2/6-31G*//MP2/6-31G* level. The energy barrier for hydrogen rearrangement is found to be merely 2.3 kcal from the HPC end. CASSCF studies were initiated to clarify the low barrier and lent support to a flat surface as HPC converts to stable, linear HCP at the TZV + + ** level. CASSCF also predicts that HPC is unstable with respect to bending. Harmonic vibrational frequencies for HCP results in 5% accuracy or better. A bent triplet is found to be the lowest excited state using the CASSCF method. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The role of economics and industrial relations in the development of the field of personnel/human resource management

This paper surveys the contribution of economics and industrial relations (E/IR) to the development of the field of personnel/human resource management (P/HRM). A brief review of existing accounts of the evolution of the field reveals that they give little mention to the role of E/IR. A re‐examination of the early years of P/HRM suggests, however, that this is a serious omission. It is demonstrated, for example, that E/IR was in fact the principal disciplinary base for research and teaching in P/HRM in US universities into the 1940s and that for the first two decades of the field’s existence the most influential and authoritative academic‐based writers came from the ranks of economists and economics‐trained IR scholars. After describing the reasons for this close relationship, The centrifugal forces that caused a gradual split between E/IR and P/HRM are described. This split had roots in the 1920s, became increasingly visible in the 1950s and beyond, and by the late 1980s had reached a point where the two subject areas had little intellectual or organizational interaction. The paper ends with a brief review of recent developments that herald a modest rapprochement between E/IR and P/HRM.
The porous medium equation with nonlinear absorption and moving boundaries

We consider a nonlinear parabolic equation containing the porous medium operator and a nonlinear absorption term, which causes the appearance of a moving boundary. Basic behavior and regularity results are obtained for the solution and the moving boundary under two different boundary conditions. Also, the behavior of the solution and the moving boundary as time goes to infinity is investigated.
Influence of coal-based thermal power plants on the spatial–temporal variability of tropospheric NO 2 column over India

The oxides of nitrogen—NO x (NO and NO2)—are an important constituent of the troposphere. The availability of relatively higher spatial (0.25° grid) and temporal (daily) resolution data from ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) onboard Aura helps us to better differentiate between the point sources such as thermal power plants from large cities and rural areas compared to previous sensors. The annual and seasonal (summer and winter) distributions shows very high mean tropospheric NO2 in specific pockets over India especially over the Indo-Gangetic plains (up to 14.2 × 1015 molecules/cm2). These pockets correspond with the known locations of major thermal power plants. The tropospheric NO2 over India show a large seasonal variability that is also observed in the ground NO2 data. The multiple regression analysis show that the influence of a unit of power plant (in gigawatts) over tropospheric NO2 (×1015 molecules/cm2) is around ten times compared to a unit of population (in millions) over India. The OMI data show that the NO2 increases by 0.794 ± 0.12 (×1015 molecules/cm2; annual) per GW compared to a previous estimate of 0.014 (×1015 molecules/cm2) over India. The increase of tropospheric NO2 per gigawatt is found to be 1.088 ± 0.18, 0.898 ± 0.14, and 0.395 ± 0.13 (×1015 molecules/cm2) during winter, summer, and monsoon seasons, respectively. The strong seasonal variation is attributed to the enhancement or suppression of NO2 due to various controlling factors which is discussed here. The recent increasing trend (2005–2007) over rural thermal power plants pockets like Agori and Korba is due to recent large capacity additions in these regions.
Resource Management and Monitoring in AgentTeamwork Grid Computing Middleware

The successful key to resource management in grid computing would include language design for heterogeneous resource description, database design for dynamic resource repository, and tool design for scalable resource monitoring. Particularly focusing on simultaneous use of multiple clusters for grid computing, we are currently addressing these problems by implementing an XML-based resource database and resource-monitoring mobile agents in the AgenfTeamwork grid-computing middleware system. The system describes each cluster in an XML file that even groups cluster nodes based on their resource type. The database returns a collection of clusters or sub cluster groups to a job. The system also deploys a hierarchy of mobile agents to remote nodes for parallel resource monitoring. This paper presents our implementation techniques and preliminary performance of resource management and monitoring in AgentTeamwork.
Compression of cerebral vessels by intracranial hypertension II. Morphological evidence for collapse of vessels

Intracranial vessels have been examined in monkeys in which brain swelling and intracranial hypertension were produced by gradual expansion of an extradural balloon. The heads were frozen in liquid nitrogen at the time of sacrifice and subsequently sectioned in stereotaxic coronal planes. The most conspicuous vascular alterations were collapse of the sagittal sinus and severe constriction of the straight sinus in those preparations with complete cerebral decompensation. In one preparation, the pericallosal artery was collapsed, probably due to expansion of the brain and obliteration of the supracallosal cistern. The lumens of many small arteries and veins in sulci and on the cortical surface were also obliterated whereas other small vessels were unaffected. The contribution of cerebrovascular collapse to the ischemia produced by brain swelling and intracranial hypertension is discussed.
Organism-environment mutuality epistemics, and the concept of an ecological niche

The concept of an ecological niche (econiche) has been used in a variety of ways, some of which are incompatible with a relational or functional interpretation of the term. This essay seeks to standardize usage by limiting the concept to functional relations between organisms and their surroundings, and to revise the concept to include epistemic relations. For most organisms, epistemics are a vital aspect of their functional relationships to their surroundings and, hence, a major determinant of their econiche. Rejecting the traditional dualism of organism and environment, an econiche is defined as the reciprocal (dual) of a functionally specified class of organisms (FSTU). From this perspective, an econiche necessarily implies a certain type of organism, and a class of functionally similar organisms implies a special econiche. The econiche concept is also discussed in relation to other ecological terms that reflect the distributional patterns of organisms, such as “habitat’, and the concept of an “empty niche” is criticized.
Individual differences in the serial position curve of free-recall

An analysis of individual differences in the serial position curve of single trial free recall gives additional support to the idea of two retrieval processes. The hypothesis of independent storage of items is found to be tenable only for naive Ss. The buffer-time explanation of the primacy effect is questioned.
A framework to support automated classification and labeling of brain electromagnetic patterns

This paper describes a framework for automated classification and labeling of patterns in electroencephalographic (EEG) and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) data. We describe recent progress on four goals: 1) specification of rules and concepts that capture expert knowledge of event-related potentials (ERP) patterns in visual word recognition; 2) implementation of rules in an automated data processing and labeling stream; 3) data mining techniques that lead to refinement of rules; and 4) iterative steps towards system evaluation and optimization. This process combines top-down, or knowledge-driven, methods with bottom-up, or data-driven, methods. As illustrated here, these methods are complementary and can lead to development of tools for pattern classification and labeling that are robust and conceptually transparent to researchers. The present application focuses on patterns in averaged EEG (ERP) data. We also describe efforts to extend our methods to represent patterns inMEG data, as well as EM patterns in source (anatomical) space. The broader aim of this work is to design an ontology-based system to support cross-laboratory, cross-paradigm, and cross-modal integration of brain functional data. Tools developed for this project are implemented in MATLAB and are freely available on request.
Capillary column gas-liquid chromatographic resolution of oxidized cholesterol derivatives

Fused-silica capillary columns were evaluated for the resolution of oxidized cholesterol derivatives. Thermal instability of diol derivatives, epimeric 7 alpha- and 7 beta-hydroxy, 4 beta-hydroxy, and 25-hydroxycholesterol, was observed during gas chromatography. After derivatization as trimethylsilyl ethers the foregoing diols, alpha-epoxide, cholestane-triol, 7-ketocholesterol, and cholesta-3,5-dien-7-one were completely resolved on a DB-1 column. Each oxidized sterol revealed excellent response linearity as the trimethylsilylated sterol, enabling reliable quantification. The identity of each derivatized sterol was confirmed by mass spectrometry.
Natural urinary macromolecular inhibitors: Attenuation of inhibitory activity by urate salts

Natural urinary macromolecular inhibitors: Attenuation of inhibitory activity by urate salts. The interaction between naturally occurring urinary macromolecular inhibitors of calcium oxalate nucleation and crystal growth and the various urate salts was explored in vitro. The fraction of macromolecules chosen for the study was the one which was previously shown to have a potent inhibitor activity against calcium oxalate nucleation and one which gave a satisfactory yield. As little as 0.025 mg/ml of this fraction (Y-b) was found to inhibit calcium oxalate nucleation by nearly 50% and crystal growth by 31%. Prior incubation of the solution containing Y-b with increasing crystal surface areas (1.1 to 26.2mm 2 /ml) of monosodium urate (NaU), monopotassium urate (KU), or uric acid (UA) attenuated the inhibitory action of the Y-b fraction for both nucleation and crystal growth of calcium oxalate. The most prominent effect was elicited by NaU at surface areas as small as 1.1mm 2 /ml. Potassium urate and UA were without significant effects until surface areas of 13.1 and 2.6mm 2 /ml, respectively, were achieved. These results support an important pathogenetic role for urates (particularly NaU) in the development of hyperuricosuric calcium urolithiasis. L'inhibiteurs des macromolecules urinaires normalement: Attenuation de la activite inhibiteur par les sels d'urate. L'interaction entre les inhibiteurs macromoleculaires normalement presents dans l'urine de la nucleation de l'oxalate de calcium et de la croissance cristalline et les divers sels d'urate a ete exploree in vitro. La fraction de macromolecules choisies pour l'etude etaient celle dont il avait ete montre auparavant qu'elle etait porteuse d'une activite inhibitrice puissante contre la nucleation d'oxalate de calcium et celle qui donnait un rendement satisfaisant. Une quantite aussi faible que 0,025 mg/ml de cette fraction (Y-b) s'est averee capable d'inhiber la nucleation d'oxalate de calcium d'environ 50% et la croissance cristalline de 31%. Une incubation prealable d'une solution contenant Y-b avec des surfaces de cristaux croissantes (1,1 a 26,2mm 2 /ml) d'urate monosodique (NaU), d'urate monopotassique (KU), ou d'acide urique (UA) a attenue l'action inhibitrice de la fraction Y-b sur la nucleation et la croissance cristalline de l'oxalate de calcium. L'effet le plus marque etait obtenu par du NaU sur des surfaces aussi faibles que 1.1mm 2 /ml. L'urate de potassium et l'UA etaient sans effet significatif jusqu'a des surfaces de 13,1 et 2,6mm 2 /ml, respectivement. Ces resultats sont en faveur d'un role physiopathologique important des urates (particulierement de NaU) dans le developpement de la lithiase urinaire calcique hyperuricosurique.
Voltage-Sensor Pharmacology in T-Type Calcium Channels

The four voltage sensors in T-type calcium channels have distinct amino acid sequences, raising fundamental questions about their relative contributions to the function and regulation of the channel. Studies of Kv channels identified a S3b-S4 helix-turn-helix motif, termed paddle motif, which moves at the protein-lipid interface to drive activation of the voltage-sensors. This motif is an important pharmacological target for amphipathic neurotoxins and it has been suggested that is conserved in other voltage-gated ion channels. Here we show that the four S3b-S4 paddle motifs within the T-type calcium channel could be transplanted into four-fold symmetric Kv channel to individually examine their contributions to the kinetics of voltage sensor activation and pharmacology.
Finite-difference solution to the Schroedinger equation for the ground state and first-excited state of helium

Abstract The Schroedinger Equation for S-type states of the helium atom, which is an elliptic partial-differential equation, is converted to a set of finite-difference equations, which are then solved by an iterative technique. The total energy of the ground state and first-excited state are calculated to be −2.90360 and −2.17414 a.u., respectively, as compared to the known accurate values of −2.90372 and −2.17522 a.u. due to Pekeris. The results for the ground state include energy expectation values, and expectation values of other terms. commonly used to test the correctness of the wavefunction. Reasonable agreement is obtained between values obtained by this work and that of Pekeris with the differences being within the known numerical error of the iterative method.
Compatibility of various avian HA subtypes with the genome of human influenza A viruses

Abstract So far, with human influenza A viruses, only hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes 1, 2, or 3 were found. For pandemic planning, the question, whether other HA subtypes are compatible to create new human pandemic strains by reassortment, arises. Therefore, we crossed an amantadine-resistant variant of the human A/Singapore/57 (Sing) strain (H2N2) with various avian strains of different HA subtypes in the presence of amantadine and of anti-H2-antibodies. With A/Duck/Ukraine/63 (H3N8) and some other avian strains isolated recently in Hong Kong, large plaque-forming reassortants with the Sing-M-gene and the avian HA could be obtained in high yields, while with A/Chicken/Germany N/49 (Virus N) (H10N7) and some other avian strains, the yields were extremely low, and the remaining plaques were very small, and partly turbid and fuzzy. These observations may indicate that certain avian HA subtypes are not compatible to replace the HA-gene of the present human influenza A viruses to create a viable pandemic strain.
Intracavity resonance hyper-Raman scattering with a synchronously pumped mode-locked dye laser

Abstract The first resonance hyper-Raman spectra of liquids are made possible using an intracavity scattering geometry in a synchronously pumped picosecond stilbene 420 dye laser. Comparisons are made with the corresponding UV resonance Raman spectra, which are generated by the second harmonic of the cavity dumped output. Information about both the vibrational and electronic states of sample molecules is obtained.
Diminished Reactivity of Ortho-Substituted Phenacyl Bromides toward Nucleophilic Displacement

A systematic increase of substitution rates by tert-butylamine on α-bromopropiophenones is observed with meta or para substituents with increasing electron-withdrawing ability (k × 103 L M-1 min-1 = 12.7 (p-CH3), 15.7 (o-F), 20.5 (H), 20.0 (p-Cl), 23.6 (m-Cl), 27.3 (p-CF3)). Within an ortho-substituted series, the reactivities decrease (k × 103 L M-1 min-1 = 7.64 (o-OCH3), 5.31 (o-CH3), 2.85 (o-Cl), 2.40 ( o-CF3)). Ortho-substitution results occur from rotational barrier effects and an Aδσ+ Bδσ+ repulsion. The major bonding contribution between reaction and α-substituent centers (A−B) is only the σ bond. When π bonding is allowed between A and B (meta/para-substitution), delocalization and stabilization of the reacting center occurs.
Understanding vaccination resistance: vaccine search term selection bias and the valence of retrieved information.

Abstract Context Dubious vaccination-related information on the Internet leads some parents to opt out of vaccinating their children. Objectives To determine if negative, neutral and positive search terms retrieve vaccination information that differs in valence and confirms searchers’ assumptions about vaccination. Methods A content analysis of first-page Google search results was conducted using three negative, three neutral, and three positive search terms for the concepts “vaccine,” “vaccination,” and “MMR”; 84 of the 90 websites retrieved met inclusion requirements. Two coders independently and reliably coded for the presence or absence of each of 15 myths about vaccination (e.g., “vaccines cause autism”), statements that countered these myths, and recommendations for or against vaccination. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Across all websites, at least one myth was perpetuated on 16.7% of websites and at least one myth was countered on 64.3% of websites. The mean number of myths perpetuated on websites retrieved with negative, neutral, and positive search terms, respectively, was 1.93, 0.53, and 0.40. The mean number of myths countered on websites retrieved with negative, neutral, and positive search terms, respectively, was 3.0, 3.27, and 2.87. Explicit recommendations regarding vaccination were offered on 22.6% of websites. A recommendation against vaccination was more often made on websites retrieved with negative search terms (37.5% of recommendations) than on websites retrieved with neutral (12.5%) or positive (0%) search terms. Conclusion The concerned parent who seeks information about the risks of childhood immunizations will find more websites that perpetuate vaccine myths and recommend against vaccination than the parent who seeks information about the benefits of vaccination. This suggests that search term valence can lead to online information that supports concerned parents’ misconceptions about vaccines.
Revision of Prodiplosis (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) with descriptions of three new species

Prodiplosis , a close relative of Contarinia in the tribe Cecidomyiini, is found in the Americas and Europe. Its species damage buds of many plants including aspen, sycamore, blueberries, melons, potatoes, and tomatoes. These gall midges do not form complex galls and have several generations per year. The genus is remarkable for the wide host range and extreme specializations of antennae and male genitalia of some species. Three new species are described: P. platani , P. longifila , and P. falcata . The remaining six American species are redescribed. Geisenheyneria is a new synonym of Prodiplosis.
The affective remixer: personalized music arranging

This paper describes a real-time music-arranging system that reacts to immediate affective cues from a listener. Data was collected on the potential of certain musical dimensions to elicit change in a listener's affective state using sound files created explicitly for the experiment through composition/production, segmentation, and re-assembly of music along these dimensions. Based on listener data, a probabilistic state transition model was developed to infer the listener's current affective state. A second model was made that would select music segments and re-arrange ('re-mix') them to induce a target affective state. We propose that this approach provides a new perspective for characterizing musical preference.
S. Ramón y Cajal, R. G. Harrison, and the Beginnings of Neuroembryology

It is rare that the birth date of a branch of science can be determined rather precisely. The beginnings of modern developmental neurobiology can be traced to the eighties of the last century and to two eminent men: the German embryologist and anatomist Wilhelm His (1831–1904) and the Spanish neurologist Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852–1934). Of course, the development of the nervous system had been studied before, but the foundations of our present view were laid by these men during the years 1886–1890.
Imidazo[2′-3′-:6,5]dipyrido[3,2-b:2′,3′-e]-1,4-diazepines: non-nucleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors with greater enzyme affinity than nevirapine

Abstract The chemistry and SAR of a new series of imidazo[2′,3′:6,5]dipyrido[3,2-b:2′,3′-e]-1,4-diazepines is described. These compounds show improved affinity for HIV-1 RTase and antiviral activity in vitro over nevirapine, which has undergone clinical trials.
Googling for Ghosts: A Meditation on Writers' Block, Mourning, and the Holocaust

The author describes her father's experience of being a Holocaust survivor and how his unfinished mourning contributed to her struggle with muteness, her own story being dwarfed by the magnitude of her father's losses. When her non-Jewish mother is chosen to be honored by Yad Vashem, the ceremony proves unexpectedly powerful. The witnessing by community, through the Internet, helps dissolve the shame and isolation, heals some of the trauma, and promotes greater psychological freedom. In creating this paper, the author memorializes her parents and her lost relatives, and succeeds in working through much that had haunted her.
Characterization of Large Nonvolatile Polyaromatic Molecules by a Combination of In-Source Pyrolysis and Field Desorption Mass Spectrometry

Nonvolatile hydrocarbon systems, such as those formed via molecular weight growth reactions in refinery processes, normally have a low H/C atomic ratios ( 600 °C). These materials pose a great challenge to mass spectrometric analysis due to difficulties in vaporization and ionization. In this work, the combination of In-Source Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry (ISPyMS) and Field Desorption Mass Spectrometry (FDMS) were utilized to obtain compositional information for a nonvolatile organic deposit (foulant) generated by a hydrocracking process. A mixture of polystyrene standards was also analyzed for reference purposes. FDMS yields intact molecular ions for the large polyaromatic systems (∼15 aromatic rings on average). ISPyMS, on the other hand, converts the large multi-core aromatic systems into relatively small single aromatic cores that could be analyzed in detail. In this case, 28 aromatic cores containing short alkyl chains were identified by ISPyMS. Average fou...
Evanescent-wave biosensor for field serodiagnosis of tortoise mycoplasmosis.

Disease has become an increasingly important issue for wildlife management over the past two decades. Adequate surveillance is fundamental for disease prevention and control, thus there is an increasing need for diagnostic assays for wildlife management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a field-portable biosensor adapted for rapid detection of specific antibodies in tortoise plasma that reflect a history of exposure to Mycoplasma agassizii, which is an agent of tortoise upper respiratory tract disease. Banked plasma samples were tested in two blinded trials, and the parameters that define the reliability of a diagnostic test were estimated based on externally validated tortoise plasma controls. The mean sensitivity of the biosensor (ability to identify exposed tortoises in the group of all exposed individuals) was 78%; the mean specificity (unexposed individuals with negative test result, out of all unexposed individuals tested) was 73%; the mean positive predictive value (exposed individuals with positive test, out of all individuals with positive test) was 82%; the mean negative predictive value (unexposed individuals with negative test, out of all individuals with negative test) was 68%. In a 15-min field-portable format, the biosensor was able to discriminate between true seropositive (n = 34) and true seronegative (n = 23) tortoise plasma with overall accuracy of 84%. The goals established for the tortoise population can help managers decide whether potential diagnostic errors should impact management decision-making, and whether the benefits of the field-portable format of the biosensor assay outweigh any potential disadvantages.
Attitude control of stable and unstable satellites in elliptic orbits.

Time-independent feedback attitude control system for high accuracy earth pointing motion of stable and unstable satellites in elliptic orbits
Spatial patterns of pollock and zooplankton distribution in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska nursery area and their relationship to pollock recruitment

Data from six years, September 1994-1999, of bio-acoustic surveys near the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, (AK), from which age-0 walleye pollock school and zooplankton patch locations have been extracted, were analysed using image-processing methods. Multiple passes along four transects in this major pollock nursery area were examined. The data showed high year-to-year variability in overall abundance of both fish and plankton, but consistent abundance differences between the transects. Juvenile pollock abundance was generally highest in the shallow shelf region to the north of the Pribilof Islands and lowest in the mouth of the Pribilof Canyon to the south. Plankton biomass patterns tended to be the reverse. We identified fronts and regions within the transects based on changes in hydrograpy (e.g. vertical stratification) and bathymetry. Diel migration patterns of pollock and zooplankton within these regions appear to depend on the degree of stratification, the depth, the size of the pollock and the relative abundance of the pollock and zooplankton. Several hypotheses are also discussed concerning the relationship of pollock recruitment year-class strength to large year classes including differences in the environmental conditions, the pervasiveness of the pollock, the size of juvenile pollock and the density of predators.
History repeats itself—flooding in moray in August 1970

(1971). History repeats itself—flooding in moray in August 1970. Scottish Geographical Magazine: Vol. 87, No. 2, pp. 150-152.
Quasi-orthogonal space-time block coded transceiver systems over frequency selective wireless fading channels

We propose a new block time-reversal conjugate based quasi-orthogonal space-time block encoding and decoding (QO-STBC) scheme for a wireless system with four transmit antennas in frequency selective fading channels. The proposed scheme effectively combats channel dispersion and frequency selectivity due to multipath, yet still provides full diversity gain. We also propose a maximum likelihood (ML) solution, with a simple decoupled structure, to decode the block time-reversal conjugate QO-STBC symbols at low complexity for channels with short delay.
Effect of fiber volume fraction and length on the wear characteristics of glass fiber-reinforced dental composites

Summary Objective The main objective of this study was to evaluate the wear characteristics of fiber-reinforced dental composites. Variables under investigation include the fiber weight percent added to the matrix as well as fiber length. Methods Dental specimens with glass fiber content of 2, 5.1, 5.7, and 7.6 wt% with fiber length of either 1.5 or 3 mm, were prepared by mixing an activated dental resin with commercial glass fibers. The specimens were then tested on a pin on disc setup, where the antagonist disc was manufactured of a similar fiber-reinforced composite with 5.1 wt% fiber and fiber length of 3 mm. The volume loss and coefficient of friction of the specimens was monitored periodically throughout testing. In addition, the wear surfaces of all specimens were evaluated using a scanning electron microscope. Results The specimens with 5.7 wt% fibers and fiber length of 3 mm performed better in this study compared to all other fiber-reinforced specimens under all load conditions. In fact, this specimen had a comparable wear rate to a particle-filled dental composite. For the fiber lengths considered, increasing the length of the fibers increased the wear resistance of the specimen. The coefficient of friction showed a good correlation with the wear resistance of specimens. Significance Fiber-reinforced composites demonstrated a high resistance to wear and may therefore be advantageous for dental applications, where high wear resistance is essential to functionality.
Aging and Dying in Place: A Personal Journey

A phenomenological case study of a 93-year-old woman is a discussion of her transitions during a short two and a half week period of morbidity from living independently, to hospital, to nursing home, to grave. Her daughter, an environmental gerontologist, provides intimate conversations and reflections chronicled as she keeps vigil by her side 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The phenomenological approach captures the emotional dying process and amplifies major issues of aging and dying in place for future study.
Numerical Simulation of Particle Transport and Deposition in the Pulmonary Vasculature

To quantify the transport and adhesion of drug particles in a complex vascular environment, computational fluid particle dynamics (CFPD) simulations of blood flow and drug particulate were conducted in three different geometries representing the human lung vasculature for steady and pulsatile flow conditions. A fully developed flow profile was assumed as the inlet velocity, and a lumped mathematical model was used for the calculation of the outlet pressure boundary condition. A receptor-ligand model was used to simulate the particle binding probability. The results indicate that bigger particles have lower deposition fraction due to less chance of successful binding. Realistic unsteady flow significantly accelerates the binding activity over a wide range of particle sizes and also improves the particle deposition fraction in bifurcation regions when comparing with steady flow condition. Furthermore, surface imperfections and geometrical complexity coupled with the pulsatility effect can enhance fluid mixing and accordingly particle binding efficiency. The particle binding density at bifurcation regions increases with generation order and drug carriers are washed away faster in steady flow. Thus, when studying drug delivery mechanism in vitro and in vivo, it is important to take into account blood flow pulsatility in realistic geometry. Moreover, tissues close to bifurcations are more susceptible to deterioration due to higher uptake.
Brief paper: Diagonal stability of a class of cyclic systems and its connection with the secant criterion

We consider a class of systems with a cyclic interconnection structure that arises, among other examples, in dynamic models for certain biochemical reactions. We first show that a ''secant'' criterion for local stability, derived earlier in the literature, is in fact a necessary and sufficient condition for diagonal stability of the corresponding class of matrices. We then revisit a recent generalization of this criterion to output strictly passive systems, and recover the same stability condition using our diagonal stability result as a tool for constructing a Lyapunov function. Using this procedure for Lyapunov construction we exhibit classes of cyclic systems with sector nonlinearities and characterize their global stability properties.
Simulations of L-Band Backscattering from a Quasi- Periodic Corn Canopy

Retrieval of soil moisture under corn canopies has been investigated by many researchers and is still a problem that is not fully assessed. Corn is an organized canopy. This feature produces effects not observed from natural canopies. One such effect is the dependence of sensor response on the azimuthal direction. The aim of this study is to explore these distinguishing effects by Monte-Carlo simulations.
Use of Lepirudin in Patients with Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia and Renal Failure Requiring Hemodialysis

OBJECTIVE:To report two cases of successful lepirudin use in two patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and renal failure.CASE SUMMARY:Two patients with renal failure requiring hemodialysis developed HIT syndrome during intravenous heparin therapy. Anticoagulation was necessary to prevent recurrent, acute venous thrombosis in one patient and to prevent arterial thrombosis associated with the use of an intraaortic balloon pump in the second. Intravenous lepirudin was initiated at doses of 0.01 mg/kg/h and 0.005 mg/kg/h, respectively, and titrated based on the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Steady-state doses were 0.015 mg/kg/h to maintain aPTT values of approximately 60 seconds in one patient, and 0.005–0.008 mg/kg/h to achieve an aPTT of approximately 45 seconds in the other patient.DISCUSSION:Lepirudin is one of few anticoagulants that can be safely used in patients with HIT. Because it is eliminated through the kidneys, great care must be taken when administering lepirudin t...
ASCOM Controls Farnesoid X Receptor Transactivation through Its Associated Histone H3 Lysine 4 Methyltransferase Activity

Activating signal cointegrator-2 (ASC-2), a coactivator of multiple nuclear receptors and transcription factors, belongs to a steady-state complex named ASCOM (for ASC-2 complex), which contains histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferase MLL3 or its paralog MLL4. ASC-2 binds to many nuclear receptors in a ligand-dependent manner through its two LxxLL motifs. Here we show that the first LxxLL motif of ASC-2 shows relatively weak but specific interaction with the nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and that ASCOM plays crucial roles in FXR transactivation. Our results reveal that ASC-2, MLL3, and MLL4 are recruited to FXR target genes in a ligand-dependent manner. We further show that the recruitment of MLL3 requires ASC-2 and that FXR ligand induces not only expression of FXR-target genes but also their H3K4 trimethylation in a manner dependent on the presence of ASC-2, MLL3, and MLL4. In addition, MLL3 and MLL4 function redundantly with FXR transactivation. Correspondingly, expression of FXR target genes is partially impaired in mice expressing an enzymatically inactivated mutant form of MLL3, and these mice show disrupted bile acid homeostasis. Overall, these results suggest that ASCOM-MLL3 and ASCOM-MLL4 play redundant but essential roles in FXR transactivation via their H3K4 trimethylation activity.
Core Concepts of Marketing

This text introduces students to the marketing strategies and tools that practitioners use to market their products. The book begins with a discussion of the marketing planning process, continues with a discussion of the preliminary tasks of developing the plan, and concludes with the tactics available to the marketing planner.
David Lewis’s Counterfactual Arrow of Time

David Lewis (1979) has argued that according to his possible worlds analysis of counterfactuals, "backtracking" counterfactuals of the form "If event A were to happen at tA, then event B would happen at tB" where tB precedes tA, are usually false if B does not actually happen at tB. On the other hand, there are plenty of such counterfactuals true with tA preceding tB; for instance it is true that were I to drop the glass now, it would hit the ground at some point in the future, even if in fact it does not do so. Assuming some contingent facts about the arrangement and laws of our universe, this time-reversal asymmetry, Lewis claims, follows from a possible worlds analysis of counterfactuals despite the fact that this analysis of counterfactuals is entirely time symmetric. Lewis argues, further, that this asymmetry gives meaning to the common notion of the future as "open" and the past as "closed", even if determinism both of the future by the past and of the past by the future is true, which for the purposes of the analysis he assumes it to be and in which assumption I will follow him in this paper. With Lewis, and also contrary to my own views, I will assume physicalism. Much of the argument of Lewis's (1979) paper is a reply to an objection that had been raised by Fine and others against his analysis of counterfactuals. I shall argue that Lewis's reply succeeds in some interesting special cases but fails in others to demonstrate the asymmetry he seeks. But even more seriously, I shall show that the asymmetry Lewis finds, if there actually is one to be found there, is grounded in the fact that there is a time-reversal asymmetric preselection in the kinds of events that figure as antecedents of ordinary language counterfactuals. We do not in practice ask: "What would happen if p held?" for every proposition p, but only for some. I argue that this preselection of some antecedents of counterfactuals but not others in everyday counterfactuals is based in part on the commonsensical notion that generally it is past events that are the causes of future
Compositionally graded metals: A new frontier of additive manufacturing

The current work provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in polymer and metal additive manufacturing and provides a progress report on the science and technology behind gradient metal alloys produced through laser deposition. The research discusses a road map for creating gradient metals using additive manufacturing, demonstrates basic science results obtainable through the methodology, shows examples of prototype gradient hardware, and suggests that Compositionally Graded Metals is an emerging field of metallurgy research.
Contribution of proton linkage to the thermodynamic stability of the major cold‐shock protein of Escherichia coli CspA

The stability of protein is defined not only by the hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic effect, van der Waals interactions, and salt bridges. Additional, much more subtle contributions to protein stability can arise from surface residues that change their properties upon unfolding. The recombinant major cold shock protein of Escherichia coli CspA an all-beta protein unfolds reversible in a two-state manner, and behaves in all other respects as typical globular protein. However, the enthalpy of CspA unfolding strongly depends on the pH and buffer composition. Detailed analysis of the unfolding enthalpies as a function of pH and buffers with different heats of ionization shows that CspA unfolding in the pH range 5.5-9.0 is linked to protonation of an amino group. This amino group appears to be the N-terminal alpha-amino group of the CspA molecule. It undergoes a 1.6 U shift in pKa values between native and unfolded states. Although this shift in pKa is expected to contribute approximately 5 kJ/mol to CspA stabilization energy the experimentally observed stabilization is only approximately 1 kJ/mol. This discrepancy is related to a strong enthalpy-entropy compensation due, most likely, to the differences in hydration of the protonated and deprotonated forms of the alpha-amino group.