cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The wrongs of racist beliefs

We care not only about how people treat us, but also what they believe of us. If I believe that you’re a bad tipper given your race, I’ve wronged you. But, what if you are a bad tipper? It is commonly argued that the way racist beliefs wrong is that the racist believer either misrepresents reality, organizes facts in a misleading way that distorts the truth, or engages in fallacious reasoning. In this paper, I present a case that challenges this orthodoxy: the case of the supposedly rational racist. We live in a world that has been, and continues to be, structured by racist attitudes and institutions. As a result, the evidence might be stacked in favour of racist beliefs. But, if there are racist beliefs that reflect reality and are rationally justified, what could be wrong with them? Moreover, how do I wrong you by believing what I epistemically ought believe given the evidence? To address this challenge, we must recognize that there are not only epistemic norms governing belief, but moral ones as well. This view, however, is at odds with the assumption that moral obligation requires a kind of voluntary control that we lack with regard to our beliefs. This background assumption motivates many philosophers to try to explain away the appearance that beliefs can wrong by locating the wrong elsewhere, e.g., in an agent’s actions. Further, even accounts that accept the thesis that racist beliefs can wrong restrict the class of beliefs that wrong to beliefs that are either false or the result of hot irrationality, e.g., the racist belief is a result of ill-will. In this paper I argue that although these accounts will capture many of the wrongs associated with racist beliefs, they will be only partial explanations because they cannot explain the wrong committed by the supposedly rational racist. The challenge posed by the supposedly rational racist concerns our epistemic practices in a non-ideal world. The world is an unjust place, and there may be many morally objectionable beliefs it justifies. To address this challenge, we must seriously consider the thesis that people wrong others in virtue of what they believe about them, and not just in virtue of what they do.
The Twilight of Enhanced Scrutiny in Delaware M&A Jurisprudence

Merger and Acquisition (M&A) transactions create the potential for self-interested behavior by the boards of directors of acquired, or target, corporations because target boards may have self-interested reasons for preferring one acquirer over any other. The preferred acquirer may, for example, be more likely to retain the services of certain board members or to employ them in some other capacity after the completion of the transaction. In recognition of these potential conflicts of interest, the courts have recognized that target boards of directors may not always be incentivized to exercise their business judgment in M&A transactions in the best interests of shareholders and have therefore held them to the heightened standard of review of enhanced scrutiny. Enhanced scrutiny contemplates substantive judicial review of the reasonableness of the target board’s conduct in the sale of the company. Until recently, enhanced scrutiny review was not susceptible to being adjusted downward to business judgment-level review through procedural safeguards, such as the constitution of a special committee of the board or shareholder ratification. A special committee was not considered to be an effective means of cleansing an inherent conflict, and shareholder approval of the transaction was deemed to approve only the board’s decision to sell, as opposed to the board’s conduct of the sale process. The Delaware Supreme Court revisited the issue, holding that the shareholder ratification doctrine applies to a shareholder approval of an M&A transaction on the rationale that shareholders, particularly institutions, are at least as well-positioned as judges to evaluate the merits of a sale. As a result, approval of an M&A deal by target shareholders displaces enhanced scrutiny of the board of directors’ conduct in managing the sale in favor of the business judgment rule, effectively making the target board’s decision unreviewable. This Article argues that recent Delaware jurisprudence on shareholder ratification constitutes a fundamental shift in M&A jurisprudence, predicts that, while it will reduce deal litigation, it will have unnecessary detrimental effects on deal process, and proposes a procedural mechanism for mitigating those effects in the form of a bifurcated shareholder vote on each of the deal process and the sale transaction.
A probabilistic disease progression modeling approach and its application to integrated Huntington's disease observational data.

Objective Chronic diseases often have long durations with slow, nonlinear progression and complex, and multifaceted manifestation. Modeling the progression of chronic diseases based on observational studies is challenging. We developed a framework to address these challenges by building probabilistic disease progression models to enable better understanding of chronic diseases and provide insights that could lead to better disease management. Materials and Methods We developed a framework to build probabilistic disease progression models using observational medical data. The framework consists of two steps. The first step determines the number of disease states. The second step builds a probabilistic disease progression model with the determined number of states. The model discovers typical states along the trajectory of the target disease, learns the characteristics of these states, and transition probabilities between the states. We applied the framework to an integrated observational HD dataset curated from four recent observational HD studies. Results The resulting HD progression model identified nine disease states. Compared to state-of-art HD staging system, the model 1) covers wider range of HD progression; 2) is able to quantitatively describe complex changes around the time of clinical diagnosis; 3) discovers multiple potential HD progression pathways; and 4) reveals expected time durations of the identified states. Discussion and Conclusion The proposed framework addresses practical challenges in observational data and can help enhance the understanding of progression of chronic diseases. The framework could be applied to other chronic diseases with the help of clinical knowledge.
Warranty Length, Product Reliability, and Secondary Markets

Problem definition: We study how a durable good producer's product warranty length choice depends on its product reliability, and analyze the effect of secondary markets on this choice. Academic / Practical Relevance: This analysis is inspired by particular variations in warranty length specifications in the U.S. automotive industry, and introduces a new angle – secondary market interference – as a compelling explanation for such variations observed in practice and the academic literature. Methodology: Using an analytical model of a finitely durable good producer, we first study the interaction between product reliability and the producer’s warranty length choice in the presence of secondary market interference. We then utilize a generalized least squares random effects estimation approach to empirically validate our analytical results in the context of the U.S. automotive industry. Results: A durable good producer’s warranty length offering is U-shaped in its product reliability. That is, only producers with sufficiently low or high product reliability will benefit from offering longer product warranties. Otherwise, a short warranty offering will be preferred. This result is driven by a dependency between the producer’s warranty length and secondary market interference choices. An empirical analysis based on the U.S. automotive industry also identifies a U-shaped association between warranty offerings and product reliability, and suggests producers’ secondary market interference as a mechanism behind this result. Managerial Implications: We find that producers with sufficiently high product reliability will benefit from longer warranties, as longer warranty coverage has marginal impact on their new product demand cannibalization by used products and warranty fulfillment costs. In contrast, producers with sufficiently low product reliability can leverage secondary market interference to reduce new product demand cannibalization by used products and warranty costs induced by a longer warranty offering. Producers with moderate product reliability, on the other hand, cannot leverage secondary market interference as effectively, and benefit more from shorter warranty offerings.
Diversification of light capture ability was accompanied by the evolution of phycobiliproteins in cryptophyte algae.

Evolutionary biologists have long sought to identify phenotypic traits whose evolution enhances an organism's performance in its environment. Diversification of traits related to resource acquisiti...
Correction: Loss of PGC-1α in RPE induces mesenchymal transition and promotes retinal degeneration.

Following publication, the authors realized that [Table 1][1] inadvertently missed some primer sequences and contained primer sequences for genes not tested in this study. The table has now been replaced with the correct one. The authors regret any confusion this may have caused. Both the HTML and
Play Spaces as Health Education Equipment

(1926). Play Spaces as Health Education Equipment. American Physical Education Review: Vol. 31, No. 10, pp. 1124-1129.
Reading, Writing, and Rhythm: A Whimsical, Musical Way of Thinking about Teaching Legal Method and Writing

This article is based on the author’s presentation at the opening plenary session of the 1998 Conference of the Legal Writing Institute. The author’s unique presentation utilized the teaching of a music lesson (rhythms in flamenco music) to provide insights on teaching legal method and writing. The presentation is offered here in the form of a play, rather than as a traditional scholarly article. The author demonstrates a variety of teaching techniques in the music lesson, critiques the techniques, and discusses the application of such techniques in the context of teaching law and legal method. In teaching music or legal method and analysis, the article suggests using 'existing schema as a foundation on which to build new structures' as a way to make a lesson more concrete and accessible to students.
Parallel GF(2 n ) Modular Squarers

Operations over polynomial Galois fields GF(2n) are employed in a variety of cryptographic systems, such as elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). These operations include multiplication and reduction with respect to an irreducible polynomial modulus. Fast parallel multipliers can be designed at the cost of higher die area. In addition to modular multiplication, ECC employs modular squaring. Certain properties of GF(2n) polynomials make computation of squares trivial. Modular reduction of these squares can be performed in less time and with less hardware complexity compared to the general multiplication case. In an ECC processor, a dedicated squaring unit can potentially reduce overall latency with minimal hardware cost. A fully parallel polynomial n-bit squarer is presented with O(log 2 n) latency, which uses lookup tables to store modular reduction terms. It is compared with and evaluated against a polynomial multiplier of similar design.
Predicting yield performance of parents in plant breeding: A neural collaborative filtering approach

Experimental corn hybrids are created in plant breeding programs by crossing two parents, so-called inbred and tester, together. Identification of best parent combinations for crossing is challenging since the total number of possible cross combinations of parents is large and it is impractical to test all possible cross combinations due to limited resources of time and budget. In the 2020 Syngenta Crop Challenge, Syngenta released several large datasets that recorded the historical yield performances of around 4% of total cross combinations of 593 inbreds with 496 testers which were planted in 280 locations between 2016 and 2018 and asked participants to predict the yield performance of cross combinations of inbreds and testers that have not been planted based on the historical yield data collected from crossing other inbreds and testers. In this paper, we present a collaborative filtering method which is an ensemble of matrix factorization method and a neural network to solve this problem. Our computational results suggested that the proposed model significantly outperformed other models such as deep factorization machines (DeepFM), generalized matrix factorization (GMF), LASSO, random forest (RF), and neural networks. Presented method and results were produced within the 2020 Syngenta Crop Challenge.
Pump-induced motion of an interface between competing orders

We study the motion of an interface separating two regions with different electronic orders following a short-duration pump that drives the system out of equilibrium. Using a generalized Ginzburg-Landau approach and assuming that the main effect of the nonequilibrium drive is to transiently heat the system we address the question of the direction of interface motion---in other words, which ordered region expands and which contracts after the pump. Our analysis includes the effects of differences in free-energy landscape and in order parameter dynamics and identifies circumstances in which the drive may act to increase the volume associated with the subdominant order, for example when the subdominant order has a second-order free-energy landscape while the dominant order has a first-order one.
Erdheim–Chester disease

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare but increasingly recognized multi-system disorder. Its diagnosis and treatment require integration of clinical information, imaging studies, and pathology studies. Of note, ECD can now be defined as a clonal myeloid disorder due to mutations which activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways and where an inflammatory milieu is important in the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of the disease. Biopsy demonstrating characteristic histopathologic features in addition to clinical and radiographic features, most often sclerosing long bone involvement, is required to establish a diagnosis. Detection of somatic MAPK pathway mutations can also assist in the differential diagnosis of ECD and related histiocytic neoplasms. Also, genetic analysis establishing BRAF and RAS mutational status is critical in all ECD patients, as these features will impact therapy with MAPK inhibition. Therapy is recommended at diagnosis in all patients, except for those patients with minimally symptomatic disease. Prospective therapeutic trials are essential to furthering therapeutic progress in ECD.
Disgust and disgust-driven moral concerns predict support for restrictions on transgender bathroom access

Many U.S. states have proposed policies that restrict bathroom access to an individual's birth sex. These policies have had widespread effects on safety for transgender and gender-nonconforming people, as well as on state economies. In this registered report, we assessed the role of disgust in support for policies that restrict transgender bathroom access. We found that sensitivity to pathogen disgust was positively associated with support for bathroom restrictions; sexual and injury disgust were unrelated. We also examined the role of disgust-driven moral concerns, known as purity concerns, as well as harm-related moral concerns in support for bathroom restrictions. While concerns about harm to cisgender and transgender people predicted support for bathroom restrictions, purity was a much stronger predictor. Also, purity partially mediated the link between pathogen disgust and support for bathroom restrictions, even after accounting for harm concerns. Findings and implications are discussed.
How to Manage Difficult Situations and Decisions: Conflict Resolution

Conflict is inevitable. It is a normal part of everyday life whether at home or in the workplace. Despite the prevailing belief that all conflict is negative, not uncommonly, conflict and the work of dealing with conflict can be beneficial and lead to improvements in the work environment and can bring out the best in everyone. However, depending on how conflict is managed it can also be detrimental. Indeed, dealing with conflict may be the most important aspect of the job for anyone in a leadership position. This is especially true when dealing with disagreements that may arise in a Department of Surgery. In the most simplistic terms conflict that arises in a Department of Surgery almost always is related to the distribution of resources whether it be due to laboratory space, operating room time, resident assignments, or support for faculty recruitment. In addition, conflict related to issues of faculty compensation is common. This chapter discusses types of conflict, causes of conflict, how to manage conflict, and strategies to resolve conflict, with a particular emphasis on issues pertinent to a Department of Surgery.
Enhancing sintering resistance of atomically dispersed catalysts in reducing environments with organic monolayers

Abstract Atomically dispersed precious metal catalysts maximize atom efficiency and exhibit unique reactivity. However, they are susceptible to sintering. Catalytic reactions occurring in reducing environments tend to result in atomically dispersed metals sintering at lower temperatures than in oxidative or inert atmospheres due to the formation of mobile metal-H or metal-CO complexes. Here, we develop a new approach to mitigate sintering of oxide supported atomically dispersed metals in a reducing atmosphere using organophosphonate self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We demonstrate this for the case of atomically dispersed Rh on Al2O3 and TiO2 using a combination of CO probe molecule FTIR, temperature programmed desorption, and alkene hydrogenation rate measurements. Evidence suggests that SAM functionalization of the oxide provides physical diffusion barriers for the metal and weakens the interactions between the reducing gas and metal, thereby discouraging the adsorbate-promoted diffusion of metal atoms on oxide supports. Our results show that support functionalization by organic species can provide improved resistance to sintering of atomically dispersed metals with maintained catalytic reactivity.
Shape-Regularized Unsupervised Left Ventricular Motion Network With Segmentation Capability In 3d+ Time Echocardiography

Accurate motion estimation and segmentation of the left ventricle from medical images are important tasks for quantitative evaluation of cardiovascular health. Echocardiography offers a cost-efficient and non-invasive modality for examining the heart, but provides additional challenges for automated analyses due to the low signal-to-noise ratio inherent in ultrasound imaging. In this work, we propose a shape regularized convolutional neural network for estimating dense displacement fields between sequential 3D B-mode echocardiography images with the capability of also predicting left ventricular segmentation masks. Manually traced segmentations are used as a guide to assist in the unsupervised estimation of displacement between a source and a target image while also serving as labels to train the network to additionally predict segmentations. To enforce realistic cardiac motion patterns, a flow incompressibility term is also incorporated. Our proposed network is evaluated on an in vivo canine 3D+t B-mode echocardiographic dataset. It is shown that the shape regularizer improves the motion estimation performance of the network and our overall model performs favorably against competing methods.
Expressions of Authentic Voice: Urban High School Students’ Perceptions of Teaching as a Career Choice While Participating in a Pipeline Program for Aspiring Teachers of Color:

Students of color do not pursue teaching careers as often as their white counterparts. Project Teacher Development (PTD) is a partnership between a large urban school district and a public regional...
Raspberry Pi-Based Data Archival System for Electroencephalogram Signals From the SedLine Root Device.

BACKGROUND The retrospective analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals acquired from patients under general anesthesia is crucial in understanding the patient's unconscious brain's state. However, the creation of such database is often tedious and cumbersome and involves human labor. Hence, we developed a Raspberry Pi-based system for archiving EEG signals recorded from patients under anesthesia in operating rooms (ORs) with minimal human involvement. METHODS Using this system, we archived patient EEG signals from over 500 unique surgeries at the Emory University Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital, Atlanta, for about 18 months. For this, we developed a software package that runs on a Raspberry Pi and archives patient EEG signals from a SedLine Root EEG Monitor (Masimo) to a secure Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant cloud storage. The OR number corresponding to each surgery was archived along with the EEG signal to facilitate retrospective EEG analysis. We retrospectively processed the archived EEG signals and performed signal quality checks. We also proposed a formula to compute the proportion of true EEG signal and calculated the corresponding statistics. Further, we curated and interleaved patient medical record information with the corresponding EEG signals. RESULTS We retrospectively processed the EEG signals to demonstrate a statistically significant negative correlation between the relative alpha power (8-12 Hz) of the EEG signal captured under anesthesia and the patient's age. CONCLUSIONS Our system is a standalone EEG archiver developed using low cost and readily available hardware. We demonstrated that one could create a large-scale EEG database with minimal human involvement. Moreover, we showed that the captured EEG signal is of good quality for retrospective analysis and combined the EEG signal with the patient medical records. This project's software has been released under an open-source license to enable others to use and contribute.
EXPLOSION-BONDED METALS FOR MARINE STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS

The application of explosion-bonded aluminum-to-steel welding transition joints on marine vessels is discussed. Evaluation of this material's suitability for joining aluminum superstructures to steel decks is reviewed in detail. Galvanic corrosion is demonstrated to be negligible, thereby providing significant savings on maintenance costs when compared to mechanical connections. It is shown that mechanical properties, design adaptability, and installation costs meet marine-industry requirements.
INDIAN COUNTRY IN THE NORTHEAST

I. INTRODUCTION The Bureau of Indian Affairs publishes a map of Indian lands in the United States, and as most would expect, it shows the vast majority of Indian lands west of the Mississippi River. The Indian lands in the Northeast consist of small dots on the map, comprising no more than a dozen or so in total. The lands of the Iroquois Confederacy Six Nations in upstate New York are shown as small dots spread across the State. In New England, Indian reservations are shown as a handful of pinpoints scattered across the States of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The land base is miniscule compared to the Navajo, Crow, Fort Berthold, and Wind River Indian Reservations in the West, reservations that contain millions of acres of land. The Navajo Indian Reservation, it has been said, is larger in area than some states. Therefore, in a
Chapter 11 Handedness, Sex, and Spatial Ability

Publisher Summary The relationship between handedness and spatial ability is far more complex than it first appeared. The relationship is moderated by the type of spatial task involved, the subject's sex, and the intellectual level. This chapter focuses on manifest handedness. Most studies of the relationship between handedness and spatial ability have used handedness alone as an index of cerebral lateralization. Handedness, however, is at best only a rough index. More direct measures are needed to assess the relationship between cerebral lateralization and cognitive ability. The anterior–posterior dimension also shows variability of cognitive representation that is related to relevant subject variables. Variation in the organization of subcortical structures, may, as well, contribute to individual differences in cognitive ability, though this has not been adequately investigated yet. The possibility that there may be differences between left- and right-handers in callosal mechanisms should be considered. All of these variables will have to be incorporated into any comprehensive account of the relationship between cognitive ability and cerebral organization.
Thermal hydraulic analysis of the TPX plasma facing components

This paper describes the thermal hydraulic analysis performed for the plasma facing components (PFC) of the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX). The plasma facing material for TPX is graphite and cooling is provided by water. The type of cooling, the mounting method (i.e., bolting or brazing) and the structural material depends on the heat flux anticipated in different areas. Since TPX is a long-pulse machine, all analysis was done for steady-state conditions. To reduce the radiation enhanced sublimation, the armor temperature has to be less than a 1000/spl deg/C toroidal average with a 1200/spl deg/C local peak. In addition, there are temperature limits on structural materials and belleville washers. In order to reduce the impurity sources to the plasma, the minimum wall temperature has to be more than 150/spl deg/C. TPX plasma facing components analyzed in this study were; inboard and outboard limiters, neutral beam armor, ripple plates and diverters. The heat flux on these components varies from 0.15 MW/m/sup 2/ for the passive plate armor to 15 MW/m/sup 2/ for the divertor tiles. From thermal hydraulic considerations, TPX plasma facing components can be divided into five types: (1) graphite armor bolted to water-cooled, corrugated titanium structured (for heat flux less than 1.0 MW/m/sup 2/), (2) graphite armor bolted to water-cooled copper plates, (3) graphite armor brazed to water-cooled copper plates, (4) graphite monoblocks with DS-copper tubes, and (5) graphite Monoblocks with DS-copper tubes with swirl tube inserts (for heat flux >5 MW/m/sup 2/).
Alkaline pH decreases expression of the accessory gene regulator (agr) in Staphylococcus aureus.

Abstract The effect of alkaline pH on expression of the accessory gene regulator (agr) in Staphylococcus aureus was examined. agr, a global regulator, affects the expression of numerous exoproteins, including alpha-hemolysin, toxic shock syndrome toxin 1, protein A, and staphylococcal enterotoxins types B, C, and D. agr contains two major, divergent transcripts, designated RNAII and RNAIII. In this study, the level of RNAIII was used to monitor agr expression because this transcript and/or its protein product(s) appears to be responsible for altering target gene expression. S. aureus FRI1230 and its Agr- derivative were examined in a fermentor system which allowed batch cultures to be maintained at a constant pH. FRI1230 cultures were grown at pH 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, and 8.0. Northern (RNA blot) analysis of samples revealed that maximal agr expression occurred at pH 7.0, with virtually no RNAIII observed at pH 8.0. The effect of alkaline pH on an agr target gene, sec, was also evaluated. sec expression was reduced at alkaline pH in strain FRI1230 (Agr+) but not in its Agr- derivative, indicating that an intact agr allele is required for the pH effect on sec. Examination of batch cultures under conditions of nonmaintained pH gave results that were also consistent with a role for alkaline pH in repressing agr expression.
Experimental analysis of the creeper condition in chickens. Effect of embryo extract on elongation, protein content, and incorporation of amino acids by cartilaginous tibiotarsi.

Abstract Tibiotarsi from 6 1 2 - day White Leghorn embryos increase in length by 62% and in total protein by 100% on 9-day White Leghorn embryo extract over a 3-day culture period. Test tibiotarsi ( 6 1 2 - day White Leghorn) increase in length by 50% and in total protein by 66% on 9-day Creeper embryo extract during the same culture period. Thus, the rate of elongation and increase in total protein of White Leghorn tibiotarsi grown on Creeper embryo extract are reduced by 12 and 34%, respectively. Test tibiotarsi cultured on normal (+/+) embryo extract are reduced in length by 12% over a 3-day culture period. These observations indicate that the background genotype in the Creeper stock influences the growth of White Leghorn tibiotarsi in culture. Tibiotarsi from 6 1 2 - day Creeper embryos increase in length by 58% and protein content by 55% on 9-day Leghorn embryo extract over a 3-day culture period. Creeper tibiotarsi of the same age increase in length by 54% and in protein content by 44% on 9-day Creeper embryo extract over a 3-day culture period. The increase in total protein occurs within the first 24 hours of culture. The differences encountered are not statistically significant. Cartilaginous rudiments from 6 1 2 - day normal (+/+) embryos obtained from Creeper matings increase in length by 55% and in protein content by 63% on 9-day Leghorn embryo extract over a 3-day culture period. Comparable tibiotarsi cultured on Creeper embryo extract increase in length by 49% and in protein content by 52%. Statistical significance could not be demonstrated with the apparent differences. Test tibiotarsi incorporate leucine highest on Creeper embryo extract followed by normal (+/+) and Leghorn embryo extract. Rudiments removed from 6 1 2 - day normal (+/+) embryos incorporate leucine greater on Creeper extract and similarly on their own type and Leghorn embryo extract. Creeper tibiotarsi removed from 6 1 2 - day embryos incorporate leucine higher on Creeper extract than on Leghorn embryo extract. White Leghorn and Creeper tibiotarsi removed from 6 1 2 - day embryos show no effect of the source of embryo extract upon the incorporation rates of valine and proline. The action of the Creeper genotype upon protein metabolism in cartilaginous tibiotarsi has been discussed.
Reduction of conservatism in mixed H/sub 2//H/sub infinity / control design

A time-domain solution to the problem of computing optimal values of a real block-diagonal scaling matrix in order to reduce conservatism in H/sub 2//H/sub infinity / dynamic compensator designs is presented. The optimal real block-diagonal scaling matrix is computed as a function of solutions to a Riccati and a Lyapunov equation associated with the closed-loop system. These results represent an approach to a subproblem of mu -synthesis. >
Visualizing Bacterial Gene Regulation with an Interactive Computer Program: The Trp Operon

The paper describes an interactive computer program for visualizing bacterial gene regulation: the trp operon. The computer program was implemented based on our recently developed Gene Act framework. The advantages of this computer framework are 1) accelerating the development process and 2) simplifying the program development for researchers who wish to pack and distribute their work with interactive programs. The Gene Act frame work has been successfully used as a tutorial tool for learning the lac operon, the classical example of gene regulation in bacteria. The trp operon described here is as second example for such an application. Unlike the lac operon, which controls the breakdown of the sugar lactose, the trp operon is responsible for the synthesis of the amino acid tryptophan. As it is often challenging for beginners to understand the control mechanisms of the trp operon, especially the attenuation system, we hope that this interactive computer program may facilitate and improve learning by illustrating the process with rich text, images, animations, and interactive steps.
Rapid and specific identification of Yersinia pestis by using a nested polymerase chain reaction procedure.

We developed a 4-h nested polymerase chain reaction assay that detected a region of the plasminogen activator gene of Yersinia pestis in 100% of 43 Y. pestis strains isolated from humans, rats, and fleas yet was unreactive with the closely related species Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Images
Epidemiology and Health Care Costs for Diabetic Foot Problems

The frequency of nontraumatic lower limb amputations in persons with diabetes has increased in the United States over the last decade. Currently two-thirds of all lower limb amputations occur in individuals with diagnosed diabetes. High geographic variation in age, sex, and race-adjusted amputation rates across U.S. populations suggest that important differences in practice patterns exist and that some patients may be receiving suboptimal care. Amputations reduce patient function and quality of life and place a heavy burden on individuals, families, and health care systems. In this chapter the epidemiology and risk factors for two major diabetic foot problems, ulcers and lower limb amputations, are described. Foot ulcer and amputation hospital discharge data are presented from two major U.S. surveys, the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a database that also includes utilization and charge information, and the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) (1,2). Comparisons between persons with and without diabetes are clearly specified. Findings from analytic and experimental studies that used multivariable modeling techniques to determine risk factors are presented. The chapter concludes with information on the economic impact of diabetic foot problems.
On reduction of optical losses in semiconductors

The method of dramatic reduction of optical losses in nonohmic conductors, being based on the concepts of nonlinear optics, is proposed. The mechanism responsible for the underlying effect is a result of the two-wave parametric mixing in a conductive medium. Under certain conditions, the optical-loss suppression follows from the solution of nonlinear Boltzmann equation combined with Maxwell equations. The phase-matching conditions for the parametric coupling are formulated and the correlation of these requirements with the optical properties of semiconductors is examined. A specific case that demonstrates that this effect can be realized experimentally in bulk semiconductors, e.g., zinc telluride (ZnTe), within the mid-IR frequency range, is provided.
Electron conducting buffer layers in organic photovoltaics

It is common to incorporate a cathode-side buffer layer in organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) to mitigate damage from the evaporation of metal onto the underlying acceptor layer (e.g. C 60 ), which can lead to exciton quenching and/or a barrier to charge extraction. Additionally, these materials can act as both an optical spacer and an exciton blocking layer. One class of buffer layers consists of a wide bandgap material (e.g. bathocuproine), that transports carriers via damage-induced midgap states. A second class of buffers consists of a material such as tris(acetylacetonato) ruthenium(III) (Ru(acac) 3 ), which has a small highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy. In that case, electrons from the C 60 and holes from the cathode recombine at the C 60 /Ru(acac) 3 interface. In this work, we introduce a third class of buffer that, due to alignment of its lowest unoccupied molecular orbital with that of the acceptor, allows for low resistance transport of electrons between the acceptor and cathode. By utilizing 3,4,9,10 perylenetetracarboxylic bisbenzimidazole (PTCBI) as a buffer layer, we show improved fill factor in squaraine/C 60 -based devices without a loss in open-circuit voltage or photocurrent, leading to a >20% increase in power conversion efficiency. Although limited exciton transfer occurs from C 60 to PTCBI, the short exciton diffusion length of PTCBI, coupled with the lack of loss at the C 60 /PTCBI interface, suggests that PTCBI also blocks excitons from quenching at metal-induced defects that are present in the absence of a buffer layer.
Quantitative aspects of blood coagulation in the generalized Shwartzman reaction. II. Effect of cortisone

Extract: In the previous paper quantitative changes in the coagulation mechanism accompanying each of the two injections of endotoxin required for the production of the generalized Shwartzman reaction (GSR) were described. It was demonstrated that the development of cortical necrosis of the kidneys was dependent both on the induction of intravascular clotting and on the state of preparation of the rabbits in response to the first dose of endotoxin. Conversely, the adequacy of preparation could be assessed by the response to a standard dose of endotoxin measured by the degree of intravascular clotting induced and the incidence of cortical necrosis of the kidneys.
Association Between Angina Pectoris and Ischemic Indexes During Exercise Testing and Ambulatory Monitoring

We examined the relation between anginal symptoms and ischemic indexes during ischemia on exercise testing and daily activities in 76 patients (59 men and 17 women, mean age 61.5 years) with documented coronary artery disease and exercise-induced ischemia. All patients underwent upright bicycle exercise testing and 48-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring (AECG). Angina was reported in 28 patients (37%) during exercise-induced ischemia. A total of 287 ischemic episodes were detected from 44 patients (58%) during AECG. There was a mean number of 7.4 episodes and a mean total duration of 75 min/48 hours. There were no differences in the prevalence and the magnitude of ambulatory ischemia between patients with and without angina during exercise testing. Among the 44 patients who had ischemia during both tests, 50% of patients with angina during exercise testing had symptomatic ischemia during AECG compared to 14% in patients with silent ischemia during exercise testing (p = 0.01). Ninety-two percent of ischemic episodes were preceded by an increase in heart rate (HR) of > 10 beats/min. There was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.70, p < 0.01) between HR at onset of 1 mm ST depression (ischemic threshold) during exercise testing and during AECG. We conclude that (1) patients with exercise-induced angina have significantly more symptoms during ambulatory ischemia, (2) ischemic threshold during exercise testing and daily life are positively correlated, and (3) our findings emphasize the role of increased myocardial oxygen demand in the development of ambulatory ischemia.
The Physics and Chemistry of Small Translucent Molecular Clouds. XI. Methanol

We have made a survey of CH3OH in 27 of our standard sample of 11 cirrus cores and 27 Clemens-Barvainis translucent cores whose structures and chemistry have been studied earlier in this series. CH3OH is detected in 17 objects, favoring those with larger extinctions. The mean fractional abundance is 1(-8), but if the four highest abundance objects are omitted, the mean abundance is 3(-9), the same as in two cold dark clouds. Collision rates remain poorly known for CH3OH, but uncertainties in propensity rules are shown not to affect abundances more than 10%. The geometric component of the rates is uncertain by a factor of 2; hence, also, the abundances. The gas-phase chemistry is particularly simple, formation occurring only via the radiative association reaction CH -->+3+H -->2O?CH -->3OH -->+2+h? followed by electron recombination. We have verified the predictions of this simple model by using the full Standard Model of over 3000 reactions, with conditions suitable for translucent clouds. These gas-phase models predict abundances 4 orders of magnitude less than the observed abundances. We have examined grain surface chemistry in which accreted CO hydrogenates to CH3OH on the surface under the action of UV or cosmic rays and then desorbs in various ways, photodesorption dominating. Despite the uncertainties of the grain processes, they can easily explain the observed abundances and in fact imply much lower desorption efficiencies than are usually adopted. Methanol is of intermediate complexity, as are several other species we will study in the next papers, with the goal of testing the boundary between gas-phase and grain chemistry, the latter believed to be important for the most complex species.
Application of the Alice flying spot digitizing system to oscilloscope and spark chamber data

Abstract The ALICE flying spot digitizing system has been used successfully to process oscilloscope data from an experiment on the beta decay of the Λ hyperon and optical spark chamber data from a measurement of the cross-section for the reaction π − p→ Λ K. Several problems encountered in these applications are discussed along with the procedures developed for dealing with them.
The role of strategic planning in small business

Abstract One of the important reasons for the tremendous interest in corporate strategy and strategic planning is that managers realize that a good strategy greatly increases the likelihood of a firm's success. Strategic planning is not the only reason for success, but there have been several studies which show that firms that plan their strategies are more effective. Taking the relationship of strategy and success as given, this paper considers the need to develop strategic planning for small businesses, and summarizes the findings of a recent survey on strategy of small businesses. Sixty-two minority and 58 non-minority small businesses were studied in this survey. A Likert-type questionnaire was used for the study. The survey indicates that the small businessmen fail, cope, and learn in the struggle for survival. Judgment, experience and intuition seem to play a more important role than any well structured technique of strategic planning. The businessmen were found to be ‘growth maniacs’, since growth may be the most tangible manifestation of achievement. The study leads to the conclusion that efforts should be made to improve the planning knowledge of this vital sector of economy.
Variable thrust/specific-impulse of multiplexed electrospray microthrusters

We report on the development of a single-propellant ElectroSpray (ES) microthruster able to: (a) cover a wide range of specific impulse (I sp ) and thrust at high propulsion efficiency, and (b) provide macroscopic thrust via micro-fabricated emitter arrays. The electrospray is a mature technology for the emission of fast nanodroplets at a propulsive efficiency larger than 50% over the full I sp range. The size of the droplets depends on the propellant flow rate and the physical properties of the electrolyte, especially the electric conductivity. To achieve a useful thrust one needs to multiplex the ES by operating many in parallel, which we achieve via silicon microfabrication of arrays of multiple and identical nozzles. The Multiplexed Electrospray (MES) micro-thruster is composed mainly of two electrodes: a nozzle-array and an extractor electrode, between which the electric field needed to form the ES is established. We tested nozzle arrays with up to 37 capillaries, that are spaced 1mm apart, with ID/OD = 10/30µm. The capillaries are filled with 2.01µm silicon dioxide beads to increase the hydraulic impedance and ensure uniform flow rate through the different emitters. A third electrode (accelerator) is mounted downstream the extractor to accelerate the droplets, thereby increasing the microthruster performance. The system is packaged in an alumina casing for electrical insulation and propellant feed. Tests run in a vacuum chamber at a pressure ≤10−5 mbar demonstrated reliable operation for several hours with a relatively high beam energy of 7.56kV. The 37-nozzle MES device was tested with the ionic liquid ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), at estimated total flow rates between 1.2 and 14 µL/h, emitted currents between 14.2 and 23.0 µA, specific impulse ranging between 710 and 1930s, and thrust ranging between 7.5 and 33 µN. EAN is well suited to cover a relatively broad range of charge/mass at an average propulsion efficiency of 66%. With further scale-up to a 600-MES system, the device would be suitable for micro-satellites missions such as attitude control and station keeping.
Applications and Implementation A SIMULATION STUDY OF THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF ALTERNATIVE ANALYTICAL REVIEW PROCEDURES

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of various analytical review (AR) procedures in detecting material errors in account balances. The study tested nine nonstatistical AR procedures based on common heuristic and ratio analyses and four AR procedures based on regression analysis. Simulated account balances were seeded with various magnitudes of errors and each AR procedure was used to detect the errors. It was found that the regression approaches tended to have fewer Type I and Type II errors than other AR procedures.
Detection of inorganic ions from water by electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometry.

Abstract The results from this study illustrate the first time electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometry (ESI-IMS) has been used to separate inorganic cations in aqueous solutions. Using ESI-IMS nine inorganic cation solutions were analyzed. Counter ions affected both the sensitivity and the identity of the response ions. Aluminum sulfate, lanthanum chloride, strontium chloride, uranyl acetate, uranyl nitrate, and zinc sulfate produced spectra containing a single response ion. Aluminum nitrate and zinc acetate solutions produced multiple ion peaks, which increased the detection limits and the difficulty of identification. Cation detection limits ranged from 0.16 to 13 ng μl −1 depending on the solution studied. The identities of the ion species detected were unconfirmed, but mass spectrometry literature suggested the detection of positively charged cation-solvent or cation-solvent-anion complexes. Finally, cations from strontium and lanthanum chloride solutions were separated with a resolution of 2.2. The results from this study suggest that ESI-IMS has potential as a field technique for the detection of metal cations and their complexes in the environment.
"Crack" cocaine-induced syndrome mimicking sarcoidosis.

A 39-year-old man with a history of frequent "crack" cocaine use of several years' duration presented with progressive dyspnea. Evaluation revealed bilateral interstitial pulmonary infiltrates and hilar adenopathy, diffuse pulmonary uptake of gallium, and markedly elevated serum angiotensin-converting enzyme activity. Open lung biopsy revealed interstitial and perivascular collections of histiocytes containing refractile, polarizable material, presumably inhaled along with the cocaine. Paratracheal lymph nodes were enlarged, reactive, and contained similar polarizable material. The well-formed, non-necrotizing granulomata characteristic of sarcoidosis were not present in either tissue specimen. To our knowledge, the association of chronic crack cocaine inhalation with this constellation of clinical findings, typically seen in sarcoidosis, has not previously been described.
Dopant states in a -Si: H. II. Effects of H and F

The electronic structures of a variety of Si-H, Si-F, dopant-H, and dopant-F configurations have been calculated with the use of the tight-binding method. Monohydrogenated dopant sites are found to give levels no deeper than their parent sites with four Si neighbors, in general, while fluorinated donor levels are slightly deeper. We suggest that the size of an observed field-induced doping effect cannot be explained by changes in dopant levels with hydrogen attachment, and prefer an explanation based on Fermi-level---dependent dopant coordinations. New tight-binding parameters are presented for the Si---H bond using only first-neighbor interactions but including the H $2p$ state. This gives more easily transferable parameters for the amorphous states, which also represent the polarized H-charge distribution in the Si---H bond. With these parameters we find that monohydride units, including the idealized hydrogenated vacancy, do not give gap states but that the conduction bond of polysilane ${(\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{H}}_{2})}_{n}$ extends down to 0.3 eV. We show that the valence band of $a$-Si:H retreats by a maximum of $V(pp\ensuremath{\pi})$ if only monohydride units are present.