cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Review: Scale and the Incas, by Andrew James Hamilton

Andrew James Hamilton Scale and the Incas Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2018, 304 pp., 105 color and 55 b/w illus. $65 (cloth), ISBN 9780691172736 Andrew James Hamilton's new book, Scale and the Incas , begins by situating scale—and assumptions concerning its interpretation—as not only inevitably relational but also socially constructed. This process is made more precarious by a move from the ancient past to the present, as in the case of the opening discussion, which ranges from the Andes to Harvard's Peabody Museum. Hamilton focuses in particular on the creation of reduced-scale objects as a persistent practice throughout the Andean world but notes that scale was not necessarily manipulated or understood in the same ways throughout that world. Scale was what he terms a “recursive mode of expression” (6), one that linked diverse objects, people, places, and practices. Hamilton opens with a detailed discussion of the challenges involved in characterizing the concept of scale among Andean cultures. For the Inca, the situation is made especially acute by the lack of any word for “scale” in the Quechua language, despite the fact that Quechua does have words for “small” and “large.” Notwithstanding these difficulties, Hamilton carefully contextualizes Inca understandings of scale on its own terms, rather than extrapolating these meanings through the legacy of European intellectual traditions. Yet he is also cognizant, in the face of a colonial past, of the dangers of scaled relationships becoming lost in translation and becoming victims of the vagaries of time and conquest. With scale, Hamilton insists, one must always understand the referent in order to determine whether an object has been reduced, enlarged, or presented at a commensurate scale. If the referent goes unrecognized, so does the message. Hamilton's goal is not to isolate “what scale symbolized” for the Incas but rather to demonstrate that scale represented, in …
Additive Manufacturing for Enhancing Thermal Dissipation in Heat Sink Implementation: A Review

Advances in manufacturing technologies and the recent explosion of materials and methods for creating additively manufactured devices has opened new avenues for novel heat sink designs that can be ...
Keep Them Apart or Join Them Together? How Identification Processes Shape Orientations to Network Brokerage:

This article investigates how the targets with which brokers identify shape the orientation with which they approach their network position. Brokers are often thought of as exhibiting a tertius gau...
Media, Protest and Resistance in Authoritarian Contexts

Information communication technologies (ICTs) facilitate transnational connection, coordination and collaboration, which are essential for new social movements. At the same time, issues of access and censorship hinder social movement use of social media for mobilization. This paper examines how internet technology is used by social movements to discuss issues of identity, dignity and justice. Through subtle everyday acts of protests, women contest state narratives by documenting their presence in both physical and virtual public spaces. Iranian women practice the art of presence, demonstrating social media activism’s ability to circumvent censorship and facilitate public discourse regarding controversial issues. This study collects and analyzes data from Twitter and other social networking platforms to investigate the evolution of digital campaigns and relates these cases to the long-standing tradition of Iranian women’s voices with a focus on the critical role of the camera and user generated content in art and daily life.
An Overview of In-memory Processing with Emerging Non-volatile Memory for Data-intensive Applications

The conventional von Neumann architecture has been revealed as a major performance and energy bottleneck for rising data-intensive applications. The decade-old idea of leveraging in-memory processing to eliminate substantial data movements has returned and led extensive research activities. The effectiveness of in-memory processing heavily relies on memory scalability, which cannot be satisfied by traditional memory technologies. Emerging non-volatile memories (eNVMs) that pose appealing qualities such as excellent scaling and low energy consumption, on the other hand, have been heavily investigated and explored for realizing in-memory processing architecture. In this paper, we summarize the recent research progress in eNVM-based in-memory processing from various aspects, including the adopted memory technologies, locations of the in-memory processing in the system, supported arithmetics, as well as applied applications.
Full dimensional Franck-Condon factors for the acetylene Ã 1Au—X̃ Σg+1 transition. I. Method for calculating polyatomic linear—bent vibrational intensity factors and evaluation of calculated intensities for the gerade vibrational modes in acetylene

Franck-Condon vibrational overlap integrals for the A Au1—X Σg+1 transition in acetylene have been calculated in full dimension in the harmonic normal mode basis. The calculation uses the method of generating functions first developed for polyatomic Franck-Condon factors by Sharp and Rosenstock [J. Chem. Phys. 41(11), 3453–3463 (1964)], and previously applied to acetylene by Watson [J. Mol. Spectrosc. 207(2), 276–284 (2001)] in a reduced-dimension calculation. Because the transition involves a large change in the equilibrium geometry of the electronic states, two different types of corrections to the coordinate transformation are considered to first order: corrections for axis-switching between the Cartesian molecular frames and corrections for the curvilinear nature of the normal modes at large amplitude. The angular factor in the wavefunction for the out-of-plane component of the trans bending mode, ν4″, is treated as a rotation, which results in an Eckart constraint on the polar coordinates of the be...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Who Respond to Treatment with Anti-tumor Necrosis Factor Agents Demonstrate Improvement in Pre-treatment Frailty.

Frailty may be a risk factor for complications in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) patients. We examined the impact of treatment on IBD patients who were frail prior to treatment and identified predictors of post-treatment change in frailty. In an electronic health record-based cohort of IBD patients initiating anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α agents, we applied a validated claims-based frailty index to determine frailty in the 1 year prior to and after treatment initiation. We characterized treatment non-response using a composite outcome of IBD-related hospitalization, surgery, change in therapy, or initiation of systemic steroids. We constructed multivariable logistic regression models to identify determinants of post-treatment frailty. The 1210 patients initiating anti-TNF therapy had a median age of 30 years; 20% were ≥ 50 years. In the first year after anti-TNF initiation, 40% were non-responders. Many more treatment non-responders were frail in the year following treatment compared with treatment responders (27% vs 7%, p < 0.001). Pre-treatment frailty (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.35–3.00) and prior IBD-related hospitalization (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.15–2.30) were independently predictive of higher likelihood of post-treatment frailty. Therapy response was associated with a lower likelihood (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.16–0.34) of post-treatment frailty. Nearly 85% of patients who were frail prior to treatment demonstrated improvement in frailty following treatment Response to anti-TNF therapy is an important determinant of post-treatment frailty in patients with IBD. Our findings suggest that effectively treating inflammatory states in older patients with IBD may improve frailty.
The role of health insurance characteristics in utilization of bariatric surgery.

Background Bariatric surgery is underutilized in the United States. Objective To examine temporal changes in patient characteristics and insurer type mix among adult bariatric surgery patients in southeastern Pennsylvania and to investigate the associations between payor type, insurance plan type, cost-sharing arrangements (among traditional Medicare beneficiaries), and bariatric surgery utilization. Setting Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council's databases in southeastern Pennsylvania during 2014-2018. Methods All adult patients who underwent the most common types of bariatric surgery and a 1:1 matched sample of surgery patients and those who were eligible for surgery but did not undergo surgery were identified. Contingency tables, Pearson χ2 tests, and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results Over the 5 years, there was an increase in the proportion of Black individuals (37.1% in 2014 versus 43.0% in 2018), Hispanics (5.4% versus 8.0%), and Medicaid beneficiaries (19.2% in 2014 versus 28.5% in 2018) who underwent surgery. The odds of undergoing bariatric surgery based on payor type only between Medicare beneficiaries were statistically different (22% smaller odds) compared with privately insured individuals. There were significantly different odds of undergoing surgery based on insurance plan type within Medicare and private insurance payor categories. Individuals with traditional Medicare plans with no supplementary insurance and those with dual eligibility had smaller odds of undergoing surgery (42% and 32%, respectively) compared with those with private secondary insurance. Conclusions Insurance plan design may be as important in determining the utilization of bariatric surgery as the general payor type after controlling for confounding socio-demographic factors.
Perforated Colon Cancer Associated With Post-operative Recurrent Bowel Perforations.

Colon perforation is a major life-threatening condition associated with high morbidity and mortality, which often develops secondary to complicated diverticulitis and, less commonly, colon cancer. We describe the case of a 51-year-old female who had perforated colon cancer with concurrent diverticulosis. Based on history, physical exam, laboratory, and computed tomography (CT) findings on initial presentation, the patient was diagnosed with acute complicated diverticulitis. Despite medical treatment, the patient's condition worsened, warranting exploratory laparotomy and a left hemicolectomy with transverse end colostomy creation. Surgical pathology revealed stage IIIC colon cancer without evidence of diverticulitis. The patient underwent eight cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy with FOLFOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin). Over the next year, the patient experienced recurrent bowel perforations requiring repeated surgeries. Perforations were identified in both the small and large bowel on different occasions. Even though neither presented with a clear etiology, possible ischemic, infectious, erosive, and iatrogenic etiologies were on the differential. Our case exemplifies the mounting complications we should be wary of when performing repeated invasive abdominal operations.
Novel Mechanisms Regulating Cytokine-induced Gene Expression in Astrocytes and Glioblastoma Cells

NOVEL MECHANISMS REGULATING CYTOKINE-INDUCED GENE EXPRESSION IN ASTROCYTES AND GLIOBLASTOMA CELLS By Lauren Elizabeth Bryan, Ph.D. A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009 Major Director: Tomasz Kordula, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Chronic inflammation in the brain results in the development of several CNS diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, multiple sclerosis, and tumors. IL-1, a pro-inflammatory cytokine released by activated microglia and astrocytes, instigates the expression of factors promoting the progression of these CNS disorders, including cytokines, chemokines, and components of matrix remodeling systems, such as the plasminogen activator system. IL-1 also increases the mRNA expression and activity of SphK, the enzyme that phosphorylates Sph to form S1P, a bio-active sphingolipid. This
Molecular biology of metallothionein gene expression

During the seven years since the 1st International Meeting on Metallothionein, the metallothionein (MT) genes have been isolated from a number of organisms and the molecular analysis of their expression has begun. MT genes are expressed in most tissues of most organisms studied. However, in some cells they are transcriptionally inactive, apparently as a consequence of DNA methylation. In those cells that can express MT genes, they are transcriptionally regulated by metals, glucocorticoid, and/or several polypeptide hormones. Some of the DNA sequences that allow response to these stimuli have been identified in the 5′ flanking region of the MT genes. Cells with extra copies of the MT genes can be selected by exposure to toxic concentrations of cadmium. Because the MT promoter can direct a high level of metal-inducible expression in a variety of cell types, it has been linked to many different structural genes and these fusion genes have been introduced into tissue culture cells and into the germline of animals. The analysis of MT gene regulation and its applications to genetic engineering have introduced this fascinating system to a much wider scientific community. In this review, I outline the highlights of MT gene regulation. A short minireview covering some aspects of MT gene regulation has appeared (1) and an extensive review will be available soon (2).
Using high‐dimensional propensity scores to automate confounding control in a distributed medical product safety surveillance system

Distributed medical product safety monitoring systems such as the Sentinel System, to be developed as a part of Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel Initiative, will require automation of large parts of the safety evaluation process to achieve the necessary speed and scale at reasonable cost without sacrificing validity. Although certain functions will require investigator intervention, confounding control is one area that can largely be automated. The high-dimensional propensity score (hd-PS) algorithm is one option for automated confounding control in longitudinal healthcare databases. In this article, we discuss the use of hd-PS for automating confounding control in sequential database cohort studies, as applied to safety monitoring systems. In particular, we discuss the robustness of the covariate selection process, the potential for over- or under-selection of variables including the possibilities of M-bias and Z-bias, the computation requirements, the practical considerations in a federated database network, and the cases where automated confounding adjustment may not function optimally. We also outline recent improvements to the algorithm and show how the algorithm has performed in several published studies. We conclude that despite certain limitations, hd-PS offers substantial advantages over non-automated alternatives in active product safety monitoring systems.
Estradiol‐induced Inhibition of Testosterone Production by Testicular Interstitial Cells Incubated In Vitro

Testosterone production by testicular interstitial cells incubated in vitro In the presence of 10−8 to 10−6 N 17β-estradiol (E2), 17β-estradiol-3-benzoate (E2B), or benzoic acid (B) was exmined. High concentrations of E2 (10−6 M), but not E2B or B, inhibited hCG-induced testosterone production (∼20%), but only if E2 and hCG were added at the beginning of the incubation. Preincubation (2–6 hours) of interstitial cells with 10−6 to 10−8 M E2 did not alter hCG-Induced steroidogenesis. The inhibitory action of E2 was characterized as a decrease in the testosterone production rate and a decrease in the response to a maximal dose of hCG but did not involve a shift in the hCG dose response curve. Under the conditions employed, interstitial cells did not metabolize E2. These results are consistent with the view that estrogens do not have a direct inhibitory effect on interstitial cell steroidogenesis during the first few hours after systemic injection.
THE NITROBLUE-TETRAZOLIUM TEST: Usefulness in Detecting Bacterial Infections in Uræmic and Immunosuppressed Renal Transplant Patients

Abstract The nitroblue-tetrazolium test was performed on a group of uraemic patients and a group of renal transplant patients in an attempt to assess its ability to identify bacterial infection. The data suggest that this test is useful in monitoring the infectious-disease status of uraemic patients. The test is not affected by large doses of steroids nor by transplant rejection, and is therefore useful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of infection and/or rejection in the transplant patient.
Split array and scalar data caches: a comprehensive study of data cache organization

Existing cache organization suffers from the inability to distinguish different types of localities, and non-selectively cache all data rather than making any attempt to take special advantage of the locality type. This causes unnecessary movement of data among the levels of the memory hierarchy and increases in miss ratio. In this dissertation I propose a split data cache architecture that will group memory accesses as scalar or array references according to their inherent locality and will subsequently map each group to a dedicated cache partition. In this system, because scalar and array references will no longer negatively affect each other, cache-interference is diminished, delivering better performance. Further improvement is achieved by the introduction of victim cache, prefetching, data flattening and reconfigurability to tune the array and scalar caches for specific application. The most significant contribution of my work is the introduction of novel cache architecture for embedded microprocessor platforms. My proposed cache architecture uses reconfigurability coupled with split data caches to reduce area and power consumed by cache memories while retaining performance gains. My results show excellent reductions in both memory size and memory access times, translating into reduced power consumption. Since there was a huge reduction in miss rates at L-1 caches, further power reduction is achieved by partially or completely shutting down L-2 data or L-2 instruction caches. The saving in cache sizes resulting from these designs can be used for other processor activities including instruction and data prefetching, branch-prediction buffers. The potential benefits of such techniques for embedded applications have been evaluated in my work. I also explore how my cache organization performs for non-numeric data structures. I propose a novel idea called “Data flattening” which is a profile based memory allocation technique to compress sparsely scattered pointer data into regular contiguous memory locations and explore the potentials of my proposed Spit cache organization for data treated with data flattening method.
Pilgrim's OSF DCE-based Services Architecture

Within a heterogeneous distributed computing environment, it is necessary to integrate services, such as printing and mail, that are scattered throughout the environment and which perform single logical tasks. This paper discusses a general purpose architecture which provides a framework for designing complex multi-user systems capable of interfacing with these services. The merits of this generalized approach are reflected in the following two case studies of applications being developed by the University of Massachusetts' Project Pilgrim: PIMS (Pilgrim Interface to Mail Systems) and PIPS (Pilgrim Interface to Print Systems). These designs incorporate the principles of this architecture and utilize OSF DCE.
A genome scan for loci linked to quantitative insulin traits in persons without diabetes: the Framingham Offspring Study.

Aims/hypothesis Hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance usually precede clinical hyperglycaemia and Type 2 diabetes. Thus, plasma insulin concentrations and insulin resistance are important quantitative traits associated with risk of Type 2 diabetes, and represent key measures for genetic analysis of the syndrome.
Do Scaffolding Interactions Exist in the Thai Classroom

This study reports on how five Thai teachers in a private university scaffold their students in an EFL classroom. The context of this study is teacher-fronted instruction and low proficiency students. A case study using an observation method is employed. The study reveals basic types of instructional activities: focus on form and focus on meaning. Scaffolding is explored using frameworks adopted from Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) and van Lier (1996). The findings illustrate that the verbal interaction of Thai teachers with their students reflects scaffolding features described by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) while slightly reflecting van Lier’s description. The study summarizes the features of scaffolding in the teacher-fronted instruction. This embraces all the findings in relation to form and meaning-focused activities. Scaffolding in the form-focused activities displays long sequentiality, less contingency, and less contextual support, while scaffolding in the meaning-focused activities consists of short sequentiality, more contingency, and contextual support. The study offers the EFL teachers teaching in a university level and dealing with low proficiency learners and teacher-fronted instruction an approach to teach and earn their learners’ engagement. The teachers who employ scaffolding should be aware of the usefulness of it by combining the strengths of form-focused and meaning-focused activities. Scaffolding attributes should be gradually provided in order that low proficiency students can engage in interaction with the teachers. Most importantly, the teachers who adopt scaffolding in their teaching should be aware of the concepts of both frameworks which will make scaffolding a practical and effective approach.
Computed tomographic staging of esophageal cancer and prognosis.

Abstract The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine whether computed tomography (CT)-determined staging of esophageal cancer (EC) has prognostic correlation. The results showed a strong relevance of staging of EC by CT to survival (p<0.01).
NET PRIMARY PRODUCTION, GROWTH, AND STANDING CROP OF MACROCYSTIS PYRIFERA IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Marine macroalgae are believed to be among the most productive autotrophs in the world. However, relatively little information exists about spatial and temporal variation in net primary production (NPP) by these organisms. The data presented here are being collected to investigate patterns and causes of variation in NPP by the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, which is believed to be one of the fastest growing autotrophs on earth. The standing crop and loss rates of M. pyrifera have been measured monthly in permanent plots at three sites in the Santa Barbara Channel, USA. Collection of these data began in June 2002 and is ongoing. Seasonal estimates of NPP and growth rate are made by combining the field data with a model of kelp dynamics. The purpose of this Data Paper is to make available a time series of M. pyrifera NPP, growth, and standing crop that is appropriate for examining seasonal and interannual patterns across multiple sites. Data on plant density in each plot and censuses of fronds on tagged plants at each site are also made available here. NPP, mass-specific growth rate, and standing crop are presented in four different metrics (wet mass, dry mass, carbon mass, and nitrogen mass) to facilitate comparisons with previous studies of M. pyrifera and with NPP measured in other ecosystems. Analyses of these data reveal seasonal cycles in growth and standing crop as well as substantial differences in M. pyrifera NPP among sites and years.
Effect of a founder event on variation in the genetic sex-determining system of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.

Effects of a recent founder event on genetic diversity in wild populations of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta were studied, with particular attention given to the genetic sex-determining system. Diploid males are far more common relative to haploid males in introduced populations than in native populations of fire ants, and queens that produce diploid males account for a significantly larger proportion of the mated queens in introduced than in native populations. Differences between native and introduced populations in attributes of the mating systems (i.e., queen mating frequency or level of inbreeding) can be excluded as factors contributing to these different levels of diploid male production. Thus, we conclude that diploid males have increased in frequency in introduced populations because of a loss of allelic diversity at the sex-determining locus (loci). This loss of sex alleles has generated a substantial increase in the estimated segregational genetic load associated with production of sterile diploid males in introduced populations over the load in native populations. The loss of allelic diversity in the sex-determining system in introduced S. invicta is paralleled by a loss of electrophoretically detectable rare alleles at protein-encoding loci. Such concordance between these different types of markers is predicted because each of the many sex alleles present in the native populations is expected to be rare. Estimates of expected heterozygosity (Hexp) based on 76 electrophoretic loci do not differ significantly between the native and introduced fire ant populations, illustrating the lack of sensitivity of this measure for detecting many types of bottlenecks.
The Impact of a Mandatory Immersion Curriculum in Integrative Medicine for Graduating Medical Students.

Background Although many Americans utilize complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) services and products, few medical school curricula consistently provide instruction in counseling patients on the use of CAM or strategies for identifying credible evidence on the safety and effectiveness of CAM therapies. Methods This is a mixed methods study. A sustainable, mandatory, half-day CAM immersion curriculum for graduating medical students is described. Student comfort talking with patients about CAM, their willingness to refer patients to a CAM provider, and adequacy of the CAM curriculum was assessed. Results Students who participated in this mandatory curriculum, rated the medical school curriculum in CAM as more adequate than students at other medical schools without a mandatory curriculum. Students' narrative comments indicate the curriculum impacts students knowledge about CAM, patient use of CAM, and personal practice with CAM in the future. Conclusions The timing of the CAM curriculum near to graduation, students' personal exploration of several CAM modalities through immersion, and student interaction with community CAM providers are aspects of the curriculum that make the curriculum successful and memorable.
Prosecuting Leakers the Easy Way: 18 U.S.C. § 641

18 U.S.C. § 641 prohibits the theft or misuse of federal government "things of value." The federal government has used this statute to prosecute leakers of information: The government considers disclosure to be a type of theft or conversion, and government-produced or government-held information to be government property. The circuits disagree about whether § 641 applies to information, and, if it does, what its scope is: What information constitutes a "thing of value"? The Fourth Circuit construes § 641 to include all government-produced information and some privately created information, while the Ninth Circuit holds that no information can be a "thing of value." Other circuits limit the reach of § 641 to certain types of information due to First Amendment concerns arising from the potentially broad restriction on information dissemination that comes from criminalization of disclosure. This Note identifies and analyzes these approaches, and argues that a broad reading of § 641 is problematic. It concludes that Congress should clarify § 641’s scope, and, if Congress does not act, that all courts should take First Amendment considerations into account when determining whether the government can criminalize the disclosure of information.
Orientation in a desert lizard (Uma notata): time-compensated compass movement and polarotaxis

The diurnal escape response of fringetoed lizards (Uma notata) startled by predators demonstrates clear directional orientation not likely to depend on local landmarks in the shifting sands of their desert environment. Evidence that celestial orientation is involved in this behavior has been sought in the present experiments by testing the effects of (1) phase shifting the animal's internal clock by 6 h and (2) by training the lizards to seek shelter while exposed to natural polarization patterns. In the first case, 90° shifts in escape direction were demonstrated in outdoor tests, as expected if a time-compensated sun or sky polarized light compass is involved. In the second instance, significant bimodale-vector dependent orientation was found under an overhead polarizing light filter but this was only evident when the response data were transposed to match the zenithe-vector rotation dependent on the sun's apparent movement through the sky. This extends to reptiles the capacity to utilize overheade-vector directions as a time-compensated sky compass. The sensory site of this discrimination and the relative roles of sun and sky polarization in nature remain to be discovered.
The Sounds of Silence: American Criminal Justice Policy in Election Year 2008

One of the striking features of the 2008 election cycle has been the absence of crime as a national political issue. Nobody has declared metaphorical war on any type of crime, run an ad about the depredations of a parolee, or even promised 100,000 cops. It may simply be that for a country embroiled in two nonmetaphorical foreign wars and deeply nervous about the state of the economy, crime is a second-order concern. It could be that the big drop in crime of all types throughout the 1990s has made the issue seem less pressing. Whatever the explanation, things are awfully quiet out there. This Issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter was conceived as a vehicle for stirring things up a bit. We asked an array of very smart folks from widely differing political and institutional perspectives to tell us what criminal justice issues America should be thinking about and what should be done about those issues. The twenty-three responses in these pages are not only fascinating individually, but collectively they may suggest one hopeful explanation of the near invisibility of crime as a hot-button issue in this political season. Despite some very real differences of opinion, there are a substantial number of points on which our authors and other serious and informed observers of American criminal justice from across the political spectrum now concur. Electoral politics encourages the magnification of even tiny differences of opinion into titanic battles over principle if one side or the other thinks it advantageous, but political warfare may be less likely where the wise heads of both sides largely agree. In this introductory essay, I try to identify the big themes, and some general points of agreement and disagreement, so ably discussed by our contributors.
Tribological behavior of select MAX phases against Al2O3 at elevated temperatures

Abstract The layered Mn+1ACn ternary carbides – MAX phases – Ta2AlC, Ti2AlC, Cr2AlC and Ti3SiC2 were tested under dry sliding conditions against alumina at 550 °C and 3 N load (for a stress of ≈0.08 MPa) using a pin-on-disk tribometer. Ta2AlC and Ti2AlC exhibited low specific wear rates, SWRs, (≤1 × 10−6 mm3/N m), while the coefficients of friction, μ, were ∼0.9 and ∼0.6, respectively. At 0.4, μ of Ti3SiC2 was the lowest measured, but the SWR, at ≈2 × 10−4 mm3/N m, was high. With a μ of 0.44 and a SWR of 6 × 10−5 mm3/N m the Cr2AlC sample was in between. No visible wear of Al2O3 counterparts was observed in all the tribocouples. Tribofilms, which were mainly comprised of X-ray amorphous oxides of the M and A elements and, in some cases, unoxidized grains of the corresponding MAX phases, were formed on the contact surfaces. The correlations between observed tribological properties and tribofilm characteristics are discussed.
USE OF CONTRAST-ENHANCED COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY TO ASSESS ANGIOGENESIS IN DEEP DIGITAL FLEXOR TENDONOPATHY IN A HORSE

We compared contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and high field magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in a horse with deep digital flexor tendonopathy. Lesions in the distal extremity were documented grossly and histopathologically. In contrast-enhanced CT, the deep digital flexor tendon lesions were markedly contrast enhancing with evidence of angiogenesis in the core and dorsal border lesions. The lesion morphology was clearly delineated on MR imaging, but without contrast media angiogenesis cannot be identified. Gross examination, histopathologic examination, and CD31 immunohistochemistry confirmed the tendonopathy and an increased presence of small blood vessels. In this horse, deep digital flexor tendon lesions appeared similarly on contrast-enhanced CT and MR imaging. Contrast-enhanced CT may be an alternative to MR imaging for assessing tendon and ligament injury in the digit of the horse.
Libraries and Kids: Telling the Story

Wallace, ALA's own director of the Public Relations Office, cites some of the thousands of testimonials ALA has received about the fact that libraries — especially services to children and youth — change lives and often impact the nation's bottom line. Quotable celebrities, politicos, and common people add their voices to this piece on the benefits of children's library services.
Inhibiting Reliance on Biological Weaponry: The Role and Relevance of International Law

This article describes the restraints on biological weapons, as dictated in the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the Biological Weapons Convention, and the weaknesses of these instruments. Falk clearly argues for nonpossession as a requirement of international stability. He points out that their commitment to unconditional renunciation has been disregarded by the United States and the Soviet Union. The author concludes that the failure of major powers to comply with the rules they themselves set has encouraged emulation by the rest of the world. It is the duty of those with extensive knowledge of this weaponry to eliminate the pressure for its development.
On the frontline of eastern Burma's chronic conflict--listening to the voices of local health workers.

Globally, attacks on and interferences with health workers and healthcare delivery, including targeted violence towards providers, attacks on hospitals and delays and denial of health care, represent a serious humanitarian and human rights issue. However, gaps in research about these events persist, limiting the evidence base from which to understand and address the problem. This paper focuses on experiences of local health workers in eastern Burma's chronic conflict, including their strategies for addressing security and ensuring access to vulnerable ethnic communities in the region. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in June and August 2012 with 27 health workers from three health organizations that operate throughout eastern Burma, with their operational head quarters located in Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand. Qualitative analysis found that health workers in this setting experience violent and non-violent interferences with their work, and that the Burmese government's military activities in the region have severely impacted access to care, which remains restricted. Data show that innovative security strategies have emerged, including the important role of the community in ensuring securer access to health care. This study underscores health workers' concern for improved data collection to support the rights of health workers to provide health care, and the rights of community members to receive health care in conflict-affected settings. Findings will inform the development of an incident reporting form to improve systematic data collection and documentation of attacks on health in this setting.
van der Waals forces, sum rules, and pseudostate expansions.

We reexamine the pseudostate expansion used previously to evaluate van der Waals (vdW) coefficients and finite-mass corrections. In particular, we wish to understand the very rapid convergence of the expansion, which for the case of two hydrogenic atoms requires only ten terms to achieve an accuracy of 1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}10}$. The analysis proceeds from the representation of the vdW coefficients as integrals of single-atom frequency-dependent polarizabilities. These in turn can be expanded in power series with coefficients of the form ${\mathcal{J}}_{n}$${M}^{2}$(nl)/(${E}_{\mathrm{nl}}$-${E}_{1s}$${)}^{k}$, where M(nl) is a multipole matrix element between the ground (1s) and excited (nl) states. Although defined as sums over an infinite set of hydrogenic states, the coefficients of each order k are reproduced exactly by a finite sum over suitable pseudostates. By analytic continuation, the frequency-dependent polarizabilities computed using pseudostates are expected to be very close to the exact values, and hence the rapid convergence of the vdW coefficients is understood.
Core business regulation and dual diversification patterns in the telecommunications industry

A firm is confronted with the separate decisions of product and international diversification. It is suggested that these postures are linked to external contingencies in firms who face core business regulation. A technique is developed to explain dual diversification patterns using evidence obtained from the new industry comprised of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs).
Radial motion compensation based on adaptive profile estimation

We describe three different processing approaches for stepped-frequency high-resolution radar that allow for the estimation of target motion parameters along the line of sight. Accurate knowledge of the motion parameters is necessary to generate a focused range-doppler image of the target. The approached adopted for this purpose are based upon the inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), the modified chirp z-transform, and Prony's method. Estimates produced by these approaches are compared to each other as well as to the target's actual parameters. The IDFT approach, which is the standard procedure, requires zero padding to yield accurate estimates of the actual motion parameters and tends to be computationally intensive. The modified chirp z-transform approach yields accurate estimates with high computational efficiency for a wide SNR range. Prony's method proves to be a more robust approach for higher SNR. Considering these results, an MCZT adaptive algorithm for motion compensation is formulated which guarantees a well focused image.
ROBUST ESTIMATION AND HYPOTHESIS TESTS FOR FIRST‐ORDER THRESHOLD AUTOREGRESSIVE MODELS

Summary Results of Petrucelli & Woolford (1984) for a first-order threshold autoregressive model are considered from a robust point of view. Robust estimators of the threshold parameters of the model are obtained and their asymptotic normality is proved. Testing the equality of the threshold parameters is considered using the robust analogues of Wald and score test statistics. Limiting distributions of these statistics are given under both null and alternative hypotheses.
New and improved educationalising: faster, more powerful and longer lasting

This paper is a historical and critical analysis of changes in features of educationalisation focusing on how educationalisation has been characterised over time by a peculiar interweaving of knowledge and social reform. The history of the American Social Science Association provides a backdrop; drawing on the theories of Deleuze, this paper highlights historical differences between previous and current educationalisation features in research and schooling. Building on the Deleuzian analysis, the paper then examines characteristics of Problem-based Learning, as an example of educationalisation, in so far as it casts education as an engineering task. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of norm-referenced standards in educational research and schooling, questioning the relationship between education and empowerment.
Electron Beam/Optical Hybrid Lithography For The Production Of Gallium Arsenide Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (Mimics)

A hybrid lithography technique is described in which selected levels are fabricated by high resolution direct write electron beam lithography and all other levels are fabricated optically. This technique permits subhalf micron geometries and the site-by-site alignment for each field written by electron beam lithography while still maintaining the high throughput possible with optical lithography. The goal is to improve throughput and reduce overall cost of fabricating MIMIC GaAS chips without compromising device performance. The lithography equipment used for these experiments is the Cambridge Electron beam vector scan system EBMF 6.4 capable of achieving ultra high current densities with a beam of circular cross section and a gaussian intensity profile operated at 20 kev. The optical aligner is a Karl Suss Contact aligner. The flexibility of the Cambridge electron beam system is matched to the less flexible Karl Suss contact aligner. The lithography related factors, such as image placement, exposure and process related analyses, which influence overlay, pattern quality and performance, are discussed. A process chip containing 3.2768mm fields in an eleven by eleven array was used for alignment evaluation on a 3" semi-insulating GaAS wafer. Each test chip contained five optical verniers and four Prometrix registration marks per field along with metal bumps for alignment marks. The process parameters for these chips are identical to those of HEMT/epi-MESFET ohmic contact and gate layer processes. These layers were used to evaluate the overlay accuracy because of their critical alignment and dimensional control requirements. Two cases were examined: (1) Electron beam written gate layers aligned to optically imaged ohmic contact layers and (2) Electron beam written gate layers aligned to electron beam written ohmic contact layers. The effect of substrate charging by the electron beam is also investigated. The resulting peak overlay error accuracies are: (1) Electron beam to optical with t 0.2μm (2 sigma) and (2) Electron beam to electron beam with f 0.lμm (2 sigma). These results suggest that the electron beam/optical hybrid lithography techniques could be used for MIMIC volume production as alignment tolerances required by GaAS chips are met in both cases. These results are discussed in detail.
Current status of antiangiogenic therapies for glioblastomas

Introduction: Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, lacks effective long-term treatment. The tumor is dependent on neovascularization for survival, making angiogenesis an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. The exact mechanism underlying the effects of antiangiogenic agents on GBM remains debatable, although it likely involves vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and other proangiogenic growth factors. Early studies in the recurrent GBM setting were promising and prompted two multinational randomized phase three trials (AVAglio and RTOG 0825) investigating the effect of bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, in newly diagnosed GBM. Areas covered: In this article, the authors discuss the basic mechanisms of angiogenesis and antiangiogenic resistance. The authors additionally summarize the current state of clinical research and how it will impact both future research and the development antiangiogenic therapies. Expert opinion: The ultimate ut...
Initial Examination of a New Questionnaire Assessing Perceived Social Support in Summer Camp and Home Environments for Children With Cancer and Their Siblings

Although perceived social support is associated with positive outcomes and chronic illness, summer camps strive to provide social support to children and families, no measures of perceived support across settings and about illness-specific issues exist. The current study provides an initial validation of a new measure for children with cancer and their siblings, the Children's Assessment of Perceived Social Support, which assesses perceived support from individuals in the home and summer camp settings and about cancer and non–cancer-related issues. The results indicate the measure has adequate validity and reliability and that perceived support across settings and individuals may differ.
Exploring Co-presence for Next Generation Technical Support

In many technical support systems, live support agents help end-users resolve issues with computer software/hardware and appliances/gadgets in the real world. The dominant mode of communication in such systems is still the telephone, while instant messaging, video communication, and remote take-over have emerged as additional modalities in recent years. In contrast to these, 3D avatar based visual co-presence offers a unique combination of gestural interaction, shared reality, agent multitasking, and anonymity. Our paper argues that such 3D co-presence is viable in computer chat/remote help sessions, as well as real world support over camera equipped devices, offering an attractive alternative and enhancement to today's support modalities.
Immobilization of phenol in cement-based solidified/stabilized hazardous wastes using regenerated activated carbon: leaching studies.

Abstract In this research, we investigated the use of an inexpensive thermally regenerated activated carbon as a pre-adsorbent in the solidification/stabilization of phenol-contaminated sand. Our results show that even the addition of very low amounts of regenerated activated carbon (1%–2% w/w sand) resulted in the rapid adsorption of phenol in the Chemical solidification/stabilization (S/S) matrix, with phenol leaching reduced by as much as 600%. Adsorption studies indicated that the adsorption of phenol on the reactivated carbon was found to be partially irreversible over time in the S/S waste form, indicating possible chemical adsorption. Pore-fluid analyses of the cement paste containing phenol suggested the formation of a calcium–phenol complex, which further reduced the amount of free phenol present in the pores. Studies using several micro-structural techniques, including field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, indicated significant morphological changes in the cement matrix upon the addition of phenol and reactivated carbon. The hydration of cement in the presence of phenol was retarded concomitant with formation of amorphous portlandite.