cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Policy Distortions, the Single Country General Equilibrium and the Two Country Trading Pattern

This paper evaluates the effects of policy distortions under the single country closed economy and the two country open economies. I first study the effect of policy distortions on a single country general equilibrium in which production is carried out by heterogeneous firms under different policy distortions, i.e. with zero, random, negatively and positively correlated policy distortion respectively. I find that different tax policies that distort firms’ production can lead to sizable changes in equilibrium aggregate output, price level and the economy concentration. The tax policy that is in favor of more productive firms, i.e. negatively correlated tax policy, could increase the country’s aggregate production level substantially without causing an inflation or a monopoly power. I then study the effect of policy distortions on the two country general equilibrium by considering different policy distortions in both the home and the foreign countries. My results show that trading with a country which has the negatively correlated tax policy is beneficial to both countries and hence should be encouraged. By doing the counter-factual analysis, I also find that trading with a foreign country with a lower iceberg trading cost or a higher baseline production technology can benefit the home country and shall be encouraged.
The Relationship of Anxiety and Depression to Subjective Well-Being in a Mainland Chinese Sample.

This pilot study examines anxiety, depression, and well-being in a mainland Chinese sample and discusses the implications for mental health care. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Spiritual Well-being, and the Body Mind Spirit Well-Being Inventory were administered to 60 mainland China residents. Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships among depression, anxiety, and every domain of well-being except the faith domain. Levels of depression and anxiety are inversely related to levels of well-being in a mainland Chinese sample. Chinese culture was expected to moderate this relationship; however, this was not confirmed by the results.
Encapsulation of Potassium Permanganate Oxidant in Biodegradable Polymers to Develop a Novel Form of Controlled-Release Remediation

This research seeks to develop controlled release biodegradable polymers that release chemical oxidants at controlled or sustained rates to extend the longevity of treatments for water and soil. The present work explores the ability to encapsulate chemical oxidants in biodegradable polymers for environmental remediation. Several polymer/oxidant formulations were tested by combining hydrophobic and hydrophilic polymers to create pellets with various release rates for potassium permanganate. Potassium permanganate is a crystalline chemical oxidant that is currently dissolved in water for use in drinking water treatment and in the remediation of chlorinated solvents. Prototype pellet structures ranging in 0.3–0.5 mm size were produced. The pellets were capable of slowly releasing potassium permanganate over a 44–47 day period of testing. This technology provides the potential for new methods for chemical remediation using biodegradable polymers including creation of subsurface permeable reactive barriers, wells packed with oxidation pellets, or reactors filled with pellets for pump and treat systems. This paper will summarize the development of this technology, release rate studies, and preliminary remediation studies for trichloroethylene using the controlled release prototypes.
Qualitative Representation of Change

Current geographic information systems (GISs) have been designed for querying and maintaining static databases representing static phenomena and give little support to those users who wish to represent dynamic information or incorporate temporality into their studies. In order to integrate phenomena that change over space and time in GISs, a better understanding of the underlying components of change and how people reason about change is needed. This paper focuses on a qualitative representation of change. It offers a classification of change based on object identity and the set of operations that either preserve or change identity. These operations can be applied to single or composite objects and combined to express the semantics of sequences of change. An iconic, visual language is developed to represent the various types of change and applied to examples to illustrate the application of this language. Such a formalization of the basic components of change lays the foundation for a new generation of formal models that captures the semantics of change and leads to improved interoperability between GISs and process models or simulation software.
Gross substrate defects caused by thermal gradients in high temperature furnace processes

High temperature anneals are required for densification of oxide-gap fill shallow trench isolation structures. A major concern in these processes is wafer deformation and substrate damage, which raises reliability concerns. The corresponding defects, like surface particles, seen on the wafer front-side through inline monitoring may not necessarily be indicative of substrate damage. More extensive study and partitioning are needed to characterize and recognize the defect source and mechanism. This case presented in this work is an example of the investigation and sourcing of front-side defects caused by thermal gradients between wafer back side contact points and the hot furnace environment.
Lattice study of the N − P 11 transition form factors

Experiments at Jefferson Laboratory, MIT-Bates, LEGS, Mainz, Bonn, GRAAL, and Spring-8 offer new opportunities to understand in detail how nucleon resonance ($N^*$) properties emerge from the nonperturbative aspects of QCD. Preliminary data from CLAS collaboration, which cover a large range of photon virtuality $Q^2$ show interesting behavior with respect to $Q^2$ dependence: in the region $$Q^2 \le 1.5 \mbox{ GeV}^2$$, both the transverse amplitude, $$A_{1/2}(Q^2)$$, and the longitudinal amplitude, $$S_{1/2}(Q^2)$$, decrease rapidly. In this work, we attempt to use first-principles lattice QCD (for the first time) to provide a model-independent study of the Roper-nucleon transition form factor.
The Physics of Hypofractionation and SRS/SBRT

The practice of SRS/SBRT and other hypofractionated radiation treatments relies on the accurate delivery of large doses in a limited number of fractions. To minimize normal tissue toxicities, radiation treatment is typically required to be highly conformal with rapid dose falloff immediately outside of the target volume. This combination of high target dose, shortened fractionation, and steep dose gradient, permits a very small tolerance for error. Therefore, establishing and following guidelines for rigorous quality assurance (QA) and quality control is extremely important. This chapter outlines the physics of hypofractionation by starting with definitions and basic premise, reviewing some currently available delivery systems, and finally discussing safety measures and important QA procedures at each step of the treatment process, from simulation to delivery.
Unlikely Documents, Unexpected Places: The Limits of Archive

My first book, Distance from the Belsen Heap: Allied Forces and the Liberation of a Nazi Concentration Camp, examines how Allied military personnel responded to the surrender and relief of the noto...
Elastomers and plastics for resisting erosion attack of abrasive/erosive slurries

Abstract Elastomers and plastics are widely used as the materials for handling abrasive/erosive slurries because of their wear resistance, toughness, corrosion resistance and light weight. In this study, slurry jet erosion, Coriolis slurry scouring erosion and large particle slurry erosion are used to characterize the erosion resistance of selected elastomers and plastics, including two natural rubbers, a neoprene rubber, a polyurethane and three types of polyethylene, at different test conditions. The wear rates and wear modes of the tested materials are presented and the relationships between the erosion resistance of these materials and their mechanical properties are discussed. Suitable applications of these materials in slurry transport are also recommended.
Quantification of the water-use reduction associated with the transition from coal to natural gas in the US electricity sector

The transition from coal to natural gas and renewables in the electricity sector and the rise of unconventional shale gas extraction are likely to affect water usage throughout the U.S. While new natural-gas power plants use less water than coal-fired power plants, shale-gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing has increased water utilization and intensity. We integrated water and energy use data to quantify the intensity of water use in the U.S. throughout the electricity's life cycle. We show that in spite of the rise of water use for hydraulic fracturing, during 2013-2016 the overall annual water withdrawal (8.74x1010 m3) and consumption (1.75x109 m3) for coal were larger than those of natural gas (4.55x1010 m3, and 1.07x109 m3, respectively). We find that during this period, for every MWh of electricity that has been generated with natural gas instead of coal, there has been a reduction of ~one m3 in water consumption and ~40 m3 in water withdrawn. Examining plant locations spatially, we find that only a small proportion of net generation takes place in water stressed areas, while a large proportion of both coal (37%) and natural gas (50%) are extracted in water stressed areas. We also show that the growing contribution of renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar will reduce water consumption at an even greater magnitude than the transition from coal to natural gas, eliminating much of water withdrawals and consumption for electricity generation in the U.S.
New CRISM Data Products for Improved Characterization and Analysis of the Mars2020 Landing Site

In this work we introduce two novel products obtained from CRISM hyperspectral data, a new generation of denoised and atmospherically-corrected cubes and refined mineral identification maps. The corrected spectral cubes exhibit more resolved subtle absorption features that are crucial for mineral identification. The improved mineral maps, produced with a technique based on generative adversarial models, was successful in more accurately characterizing the mineralogy of the Mars2020 landing site area at Jezero crater and helping address several scientific questions along a suggested traverse about the habitability of the environments on the crater floor, rim and delta.
The role of perceived discrimination in substance use trajectories in Hispanic young adults: A longitudinal cohort study from high school through emerging adulthood.

Abstract Purpose Associations between discrimination and substance use have been identified cross-sectionally in multiple populations including Hispanics. However, there is limited research exploring this phenomenon longitudinally in Hispanic youth over the transition from adolescence through emerging adulthood (EA). Methods Hispanic youth in Southern California (n = 1457) completed surveys over 11 years, from 2006 to 2017, including three high school collection waves and five EA collection waves. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to explore the associations between perceived discrimination during high school and cigarette and marijuana use in both high school and EA, controlling for gender, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and EA discrimination. Results Compared with those who never used cigarettes or marijuana in high school and EA, perceived discrimination in high school was a significant predictor of two patterns of use: high school initiators who discontinued use of smoking (RRR = 1.677, 95%CI = 1.292–2.176) and/or marijuana (RRR = 1.464, 95%CI = 1.162–1.844), and high school initiators who continued smoking (RRR = 1.492, 95%CI = 1.196–1.861) and/or marijuana use (RRR = 1.249, 95%CI = 1.052–1.482) into EA. For late initiators who did not use in high school but started in EA, perceived high school discrimination was a significant predictor for cigarette smoking (RRR = 1.193, 95%CI = 1.036–1.373) but not for marijuana use. Conclusions Perceived discrimination during adolescence is associated with substance use trajectories across both adolescence and EA. Culturally tailored prevention programs that provide training in skills to cope with psychosocial stressors could improve Hispanic adolescent health.
Warped $AdS_{2}$ and $SU(1,1|4)$ symmetry in Type IIB

We investigate the existence of solutions with 16 supersymmetries to Type IIB supergravity on a spacetime of the form $AdS_{2}\times S^{5}\times S^{1}$ warped over a two-dimensional Riemann surface $\Sigma$. The existence of the Lie superalgebra $SU(1,1|4) \subset PSU(2,2|4)$, whose maximal bosonic subalgebra is $SO(2,1)\oplus SO(6)\oplus SO(2)$, motivates the search for half-BPS solutions with this isometry that are asymptotic to $AdS_{5} \times S^{5}$. We reduce the BPS equations to the Ansatz for the bosonic fields and supersymmetry generators compatible with these symmetries, then show that the only non-trivial solution is the maximally supersymmetric solution $AdS_{5}\times S^{5}$. We argue that this implies that no solutions exist for fully back-reacted D7 probe or D7/D3 intersecting branes whose near-horizon limit is of the form $AdS_{2}\times S^{5}\times S^{1}\times \Sigma$.
Descemet's membrane development, structure, function and regeneration

Basement membranes are layers of extracellular matrix which anchor the epithelium or endothelium to connective tissues in most organs. Descemet's membrane- which is the basement membrane for the corneal endothelium- is a dense, thick, relatively transparent and cell-free matrix that separates the posterior corneal stroma from the underlying endothelium. It was historically named Descemet's membrane after Jean Descemet, a French physician, but it is also known as the posterior limiting elastic lamina, lamina elastica posterior, and membrane of Demours. Normal Descemet's membrane ultrastructure in humans has been shown to consist of an interfacial matrix that attaches to the overlying corneal stroma, an anterior banded layer and a posterior non-banded layer-upon which corneal endothelial cells attach. These layers have been shown to have unique composition and morphology, and to contribute to corneal homeostasis and clarity, participate in the control of corneal hydration and to modulate TGF-β-induced posterior corneal fibrosis. Pathophysiological alterations of Descemet's membrane are noted in ocular diseases such as Fuchs' dystrophy, bullous keratopathy, keratoconus, primary congenital glaucoma (Haab's striae), as well as in systemic conditions. Unrepaired extensive damage to Descemet's membrane results in severe corneal opacity and vision loss due to stromal fibrosis, which may require penetrating keratoplasty to restore corneal transparency. The purpose of this article is to highlight the current understanding of Descemet's membrane structure, function and potential for regeneration.
241 Clinical outcomes of metastatic melanoma patients with liver metastases treated with anti-PD-1 monotherapy versus combination ipilimumab/nivolumab

Background Recent studies report of liver metastases (LM) as a poor prognostic factor in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs),1 but clinical outcomes associated with different ICI regimens remains uncertain. In this study, we investigate melanoma patients with and without LM and assess differential treatment outcomes associated with anti-PD-1 monotherapy and combination ipilimumab/nivolumab (I/N). Methods We conducted a single-center, retrospective review of advanced stage melanoma patients with and without LM treated with anti-PD-1 monotherapy (nivolumab or pembrolizumab) or I/N between 2012 and 2018. Overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) were measured from the first dose of treatment to date of death and clinical or radiographic progression, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed using Cox proportional hazard (CPH) models and logistic regression models. Inverse probability of treatment weighting using propensity scores in CPH models was used to account for the following baseline covariates: age, ECOG performance status, BRAF status, pre-treatment LDH level, prior therapy status, and number and sites of metastases. Results 327 patients were identified, 87 with LM and 240 without LM. Patients with LM was associated with worse PFS [HR: 2.1, 95% CI, 1.5 – 3.1] (figure 1) and OS [HR: 3.4, 95% CI, 2.2 – 5.2] (figure 2). Respective 3-year PFS and OS estimates associated with anti-PD-1 monotherapy were 21.8% and 28.7% in patients with LM (figure 3, figure 4); and 36.5% and 57.6% without LM (figure 5, figure 6). Respective 3-year PFS and OS estimates associated with I/N were 46.7% and 56.7% in patients with LM; and 58.0% and 74.4% without LM. Conclusions In melanoma patients treated with PD-1 inhibitor-based regimens, the presence of LM leads to poorer survival outcomes. Our study suggests the poor prognosis associated with LM can be substantially mitigated by treatment with combination I/N over anti-PD-1 monotherapy. Further studies are warranted to investigate the anti-immunotherapy effect associated with LM. Ethics Approval The study was approved by the University of Michigan institutional ethical guidelines and patients‘ consents were waived following Institutional Review Board protocol review (HUM00156014). Reference Bilen MA, Shabto JM, Martini DJ, et al. Sites of metastasis and association with clinical outcome in advanced stage cancer patients treated with immunotherapy. BMC Cancer 2019; 19(1):857.
Strategies for Authentic Assessments of Mastery in CS Courses

Assessing student mastery is an increasingly important aspect of a computer science (CS) course. Recent discussions in the SIGCSE community have questioned traditional assessment and grading practices, such as the use of high-stakes exams and standardized programming assignments. As an alternative, authentic assessments of mastery have been proposed with the goal of creating more equitable and inclusive classrooms that support a diversity in student discourses and epistemologies. This Birds-of-a-Feather session will provide a forum for conversations around assessment of student mastery. Although conversations will likely draw on experiences from teaching remote courses, the discussions can also inspire assessment ideas and methods that work for in-person instruction as well. The discussion leaders will begin by sharing their experiences using formative, low-stakes quizzes; two-stage individual and group assessments; student-generated video problem solutions; written research papers; and creative projects. For each assessment, the discussion leaders expect to address questions such as: What were the goals? What classes was it used in? How did we grade it? How does it scale? This session is a space for participants to expand our collective understanding of how authentic assessments can be used in CS courses and share ideas to inform research and practice toward grading for equity. Afterward, discussion notes will be compiled and publicly archived at https://kevinl.info/authentic-assessments
Bringing Care and Concern to Engineering Students Through STS Knowledge

Public interest technology (PIT) scholars tend to focus on educating technologists of the social implications of their work and training civic leaders to mitigate the impact of technologies through policymaking. However, PIT scholarship can be further enhanced through theoretical and pragmatic science, technology, and society (STS) knowledge. In this article, I discuss how the matters of concern and the matters of care can be utilized within engineering education to shift students’ attitudes regarding the social impact of their work. Additionally, I discuss how these theories guide my own research and work to bring visibility to the less dominant images and communities with an engineering department.
Clinical and molecular characteristics and treatment patterns of adolescent and young adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) rarely presents in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients (patients aged 15-39 years). Disease characteristics and outcomes of AYA patients with CLL are not well understood, particularly in the era of novel oral targeted therapies. We analysed outcomes of 227 AYA patients with CLL diagnosed in the last two decades and evaluated at our institution. Median time to first treatment (TTFT) was 2·2 years, and five- and 10-year overall survival (OS) were 90% and 78%, respectively. Pre-treatment elevated beta 2-microglobulin, advanced Rai stage, del(11q) or del(17p) by FISH, unmutated IGHV and CD38 positivity were associated with both shorter TTFT and OS. Within the subgroup of patients who received oral targeted therapy at any time, del(11q) or del(17p) and complex karyotype were associated with shorter OS. First-line treatment choice was significantly associated with time to second treatment (P < 0·001). Patients harbouring del(11q) or del(17p) experienced shorter time to Richter transformation and were more likely to undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplant. There was a significant association between age and both OS and time to Richter transformation. Our study is the first analysis of AYA patients with CLL with a large number of patients treated with oral targeted therapies.
School, Shocks, and Safety Nets: Can Conditional Cash Transfers Protect Human Capital Investments during Rainfall Shocks?

Short-run income shocks can negatively impact school attendance when children are pulled out in order to work, either based on the need for greater income during negative shocks or the increased op...
Linear and Probabilistic Resource Optimization and Allocation Problems

This chapter includes detailed analysis of five problems using the linear and probabilistic resource optimization and allocation methodology: linear optimization of patient service volumes for different service lines; optimal staffing for 24/7 three-shift operations; physician resident scheduling to meet Institute of Medicine (IOM) new restricted resident work hours for day and night shifts; optimized specimen mass screening testing aimed at reducing the overall number of tests per specimen; and the projection of the expected number of patients discharged from the Emergency Department given the time that a patient has already stayed in ED (the use of the concept of the conditional probability of discharge).
Current methodologies for geometric dimensioning and tolerancing

The application of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) for mechanical design has gained widespread acceptance in industry. From a component design perspective, GD&T provides the engineer with a communication tool to fully describe the functionality of the item dimensionally. Further, GD&T gives the manufacturing engineer geometric information that will affect process and fixture design. The quality engineer derives functionality information that will impact dimensional verification or inspection. Unfortunately, several organizations have attempted to implement Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing without a fundamental understanding of how the design process is impacted. Improperly applied GD&T can very quickly make a good design bad. This paper attempts to explore the current thinking on the application of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing for component design.
Electromagnetic scattering from vibrating metallic objects using time-varying generalized impedance boundary conditions

In this paper, we are interested in using impedance boundary conditions ( IBCs) to model the scattering from a vibrating object which can be considered a perturbation problem where the perturbation (and the corresponding IBC) varies with time. One of the most basic objects for which a scattering solution can be obtained is an infinite PEC cylinder. Using the exact solution for a circular cylinder, the IBCs needed to model the scattering from a perturbed PEC cylinder are derived for both the TM and TE polarizations. It is shown that the standard IBC (SIBC) is accurate to first order for the TM case, but a second generalized IBC (GIBC) is needed to provide first order accuracy for the TE case. Results from a moments method (MoM) implementation of the IBCs are presented.
Lysosomal DNaseII degrades nuclear DNA and prevents self DNA recognition

The aberrant activation of innate immune sensors by self nucleic acids can foster the development of autoimmunity. For example, the absence of nucleases that degrade self nucleic acids leads to autoimmune diseases in mice and humans. DNaseII is the major lysosomal DNA-degrading nuclease. Its deletion in mice results in the accumulation of self DNA, induction of inflammatory cytokines, and development of chronic polyarthritis that resembles human rheumatoid arthritis. DNaseII is known to degrade extracellular DNA in phagocytes. However, given its ubiquitous expression across cell types, we hypothesized that the nuclease plays a broader role in the clearance of DNA. Supporting this notion, DNA accumulated in both phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells from DNaseII-deficient mice, and could be further elevated by treatment with DNA-damaging agents. Concomitantly, cytokines and other immune genes were upregulated through a Sting-mediated cytosolic nucleic acid sensing pathway. Surprisingly, DNA accumulated within nuclear buds and extranuclear aggregates that often co-localized with autophagic and lysosomal markers. A deficiency in autophagy displayed higher levels of extranuclear DNA and enhanced Sting-dependent innate immune response. The observed nuclear to lysosomal DNA clearance process appears to eliminate discarded nuclear DNA in the steady state and in response to DNA damage, and protect cells and organisms from developing pathological immunity to self DNA.
Gene expression analysis of spontaneously hypertensive rat cerebral cortex following transient focal cerebral ischemia.

Identification of novel modulators of ischemic neuronal death helps in developing new strategies to prevent the stroke-induced neurological dysfunction. Hence, the present study evaluated the gene expression changes in rat cerebral cortex at 6 and 24 h of reperfusion following transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) by GeneChip® analysis. Transient MCAO resulted in selective increased mRNA levels of genes involved in stress, inflammation, transcription and plasticity, and decreased mRNA levels of genes which control neurotransmitter function and ionic balance. In addition to a number of established ischemia-related genes, many genes not previously implicated in transient focal ischemia-induced brain damage [suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3, cAMP responsive element modulator (CREM), cytosolic retinol binding protein (CRBP), silencer factor-B, survival motor neuron (SMN), interferon-γ regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1), galanin, neurotrimin, proteasome subunit RC8, synaptosomal-associated protein (SNAP)-25 A and B, synapsin 1a, neurexin 1-β, ras-related rab3, vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT), digoxin carrier protein, neuronal calcium sensor-1 and neurodap] were observed to be altered in the ischemic cortex. Real-time PCR confirmed the GeneChip® results for several of these transcripts. SOCS-3 is a gene up-regulated after ischemia which modulates inflammation by controlling cytokine levels. Antisense knockdown of ischemia-induced SOCS-3 protein expression exacerbated transient MCAO-induced infarct volume assigning a neuroprotective role to SOCS-3, a gene not heretofore implicated in ischemic neuronal damage.
Have Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Quality of Health Care Relationships Changed for Children With Developmental Disabilities and ASD

The aim of this study was to determine if racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of provider interaction have changed between 2006 and 2010 for children with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Data from the 2005/2006 and 2009/2010 National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs were analyzed. Results show that racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of provider interactions were substantial in both 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. Black and Latino parents were significantly less likely than White parents to report that their provider spent enough time with their child and was sensitive to the family's values. Racial and ethnic disparities in health care quality were found to be unchanged over time. Research and policy implications are discussed.
A comparison of time-lapse cinemicrography and flow cytometry for the study of accelerated cell-cycle transit

. Two methods for the study of cell-cycle progression, time-lapse cinemicrography (TLCM) and flow cytometry (FCM), were compared for their ability to measure the shortening of cell-cycle transit time induced by temporary inhibition of DNA synthesis. DNA synthesis was reversibly inhibited by aphidicolin (APH) in synchronized HeLa cells obtained by mitotic collection. TLCM directly measured intermitotic time intervals and thereby directly obtained the cell-cycle transit time distribution. In contrast, FCM measured time dependent changes in the fractions of cells in the cell-cycle phases from which the distribution of cells traversing a cell-cycle boundary, such as that between G1 and S phase, was determined. Nevertheless, both methods provided equivalent measures of the cell-cycle transit time and its dispersion. However, TLCM apeared to provide a better measure of skewness of the transit time distribution than did FCM. Further, both methods were able to detect changes in the cell cycle transit on the order of 1 h or less. The TLCM data showed a greater precision (due to a larger number of data points) than that from FCM. However, FCM was able to directly measure changes in the transit of G1 phase whereas TLCM would require two different experiments to make a similar determination. The results obtained in this study show that FCM can replace TLCM to study most aspects of cell-cycle progression.
Studies of the kinetic, spectral and chemical properties of Fe(IV) pyrophosphate by pulse radiolysis

Abstract The rate of oxidation of [(P2O7)2FeIIIOH]6- to [(P2O7)2FeIVO]6- by the OH radical has been determined in 0.1 M pyrophosphate at pH 10 by the pulse radiolysis technique; k11 = (7.8±0.4) × 107 mol-1 dm3s-1. The ferryl pyrophosphate complex disappears by a second-order process yielding back the Fe(III) pyrophosphate complex and molecular oxygen. The ferryl pyrophosphate complex has an absorption maximum at 420 nm with a molar absorptivity of ϵ = (1200 ± 150) mol-1 dm3 cm-1. Rate constants for the reactions of the ferryl pyrophosphate complex with some divalent pyrophosphate metal complexes were determined at pH 10: k(FeIV + MnII) = 1.2 × 106, k(FeIV + FeII) = 1.6 × 106, k(FeIV + CoII) = 5.5 × 105, k(FeIV + NiII)
An Effective Color Addition to Feature Detection and Description for Book Spine Image Matching

The important task of library book inventory, or shelf-reading, requires humans to remove each book from a library shelf, open the front cover, scan a barcode, and reshelve the book. It is a labor-intensive and often error-prone process. Technologies such as 2D barcode scanning or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have recently been proposed to improve this process. They both incur significant upfront costs and require a large investment of time to fit books with special tags before the system can be productive. A vision-based automation system is proposed to improve this process without those prohibitively high upfront costs. This low-cost shelf-reading system uses a hand-held imaging device such as a smartphone to capture book spine images and a server that processes feature descriptors in these images for book identification. Existing color feature descriptors for feature matching typically use grayscale feature detectors, which omit important color edges. Also, photometric-invariant color feature descriptors require unnecessary computations to provide color descriptor information. This paper presents the development of a simple color enhancement feature descriptor called Color Difference-of-Gaussians SIFT (CDSIFT). CDSIFT is well suited for library inventory process automation, and this paper introduces such a system for this unique application.
A Novel Design of a Low Temperature Preamplifier for Pulsed NMR Experiments of Dilute 3He in Solid 4He

Recent experimental studies of solid 4He indicate a strong correlation between the crystal defects and the onset of a possible supersolid state. We use pulsed NMR techniques to explore the quantum dynamics of the 3He impurities in the solid 4He in order to examine certain theoretical models that describe how the disordered states are related to supersolidity. Because of the very small signal-to-noise ratio at low 3He concentration and the long spin-lattice relaxation time (T 1), it is essential to significantly enhance the NMR sensitivity to be able to carry out the experiments. Here we present the design of a novel low temperature preamplifier which is built with a low noise pseudomorphic HEMT transistor that is embedded into a cross-coil NMR probe. With a low power dissipation of about 0.7 mW, the preamplifier is capable of providing a power gain of 30 dB. By deploying the preamplifier near the NMR coil below 4 K, the noise temperature of the receiver is reduced to approximately 1 K. This preamplifier design also has the potential to be adapted into a low temperature amplifier with both input and output impedance at 50 Ω or a low temperature oscillator.
Sigmund Freud: Conflict and Culture

Sigmund Freud: Conflict and Culture. The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., October 15, 1998-January 16, 1999; The Jewish Museum, New York, New York, April 18-September 9. 1999, review venue; Freud Museum, Vienna, Austria. October 21, 1999-February 6. 2000; Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles. California. April 4-July 25, 2000. Freud: Conflict and Culture. Essays on His Life, Work and Legacy. Michael S. Roth. ed. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1998. 273 pp.
An analysis of certain effects of bilateral temporal lobectomy in the rhesus monkey, with special reference to "psychic blindness."

(1938). An Analysis of Certain Effects of Bilateral Temporal Lobectomy in the Rhesus Monkey, with Special Reference to “Psychic Blindness”. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 33-54.
Serum Inhibits P. aeruginosa Biofilm Formation on Plastic Surfaces and Intravenous Catheters

Introduction Biofilm formation on medical devices such as intravenous catheters is a serious manifestation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Serum has bactericidal activity, a function of multiple serum components. In this study, we determined the effect of serum and serum components on the formation of P. aeruginosa biofilm. Materials and methods We examined the effect of adult bovine serum (ABS) or bovine serum albumin (BSA) on biofilm development on plastic coverslips. This was done using both static and continuous flow-through culture systems and P. aeruginosa strain PAO1. Biofilms were quantified using crystal violet assays and visualized using confocal scanning laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. We examined the effect of ABS on PAO1 swimming and twitching motilities (both contribute to P. aeruginosa biofilm development). We also analyzed the inhibitory effect of adult human serum (AHS) and plasma (AHP) on PAO1 biofilm development on plastic coverslips and intravenous catheters. Results Compared with M9 minimal medium (M9), 10% ABS-supplemented medium (M9/ABS-10) caused a significant decrease in biofilm development. Coverslips precoated with M9/ABS-10 failed to develop biofilm when placed in M9. In addition to reduced biofilm formation, adding ABS to M9 reduced an already-developed PAO1 biofilm. Compared with M9, M9/ABS-10 enhanced PAO1 twitching motility considerably, but did not affect swimming motility. Similar to ABS, BSA blocked biofilm formation but did not affect PAO1 twitching motility. Both AHS and AHP blocked PAO1 biofilm formation on plastic coverslips and intravenous catheters. Conclusions These results suggest that as part of the host innate resistance, serum inhibits P. aeruginosa biofilm formation on plastic surfaces, including intravenous catheters. Two possible scenarios for this inhibition include blocking the direct interaction between P. aeruginosa and the substrates, and the enhancing P. aeruginosa twitching motility.
Integration of chemosensory and hormonal cues is essential for sexual behaviour in the male Syrian hamster: role of the medial amygdaloid nucleus.

Abstract Mating behaviour in the male hamster requires chemosensory and hormonal cues, and copulation is abolished if either signal is interrupted. In addition, the integration of chemosensory stimuli with steroid signals is essential for mating. In castrated male hamsters, implantation of a testosterone-filled cannula in the preoptic area stimulates mating behaviour. However, removal of the ipsilateral olfactory bulb prevents steroid facilitation of sexual activity. The present studies determined if the integration of chemosensory and hormonal cues necessary for mating behaviour is distributed within steroid-sensitive nuclei in the brain, or is restricted to the preoptic area. Specifically, the hypothesis was tested that the medial amygdala is capable of odour and hormone integration. Castrated male hamsters received an intracerebral implant of testosterone in the medial amygdala combined with removal of a single olfactory bulb, ipsilateral or contralateral to the implant. Mating behaviour did not increase after implant surgery and bulbectomy in either ipsilateral or contralateral bulbectomized males. In a second study, males were bulbectomized three weeks after implant surgery, to demonstrate the ability of testosterone in the medial amygdala to stimulate male sexual behaviour, and the loss of behaviour following bulbectomy. The results confirm that integration of odour and steroid cues is essential for mating in the male hamster. Moreover, the medial amygdaloid nucleus contributes to chemosensory and hormonal integration. However, compared with steroid stimulation in the preoptic area, the behavioural effects of testosterone in the medial amygdaloid nucleus are more sensitive to manipulations of the olfactory system, suggesting that the amygdala requires bilateral chemosensory input.
Hydrolysis of succinylcholine chloride in pH range 3.0 to 4.5

Etude des effets de la temperature, du pH, du tampon, de la force ionique et de la concentration initiale en suxamethonium sur la stabilite de ce dernier compose en solution aqueuse
Mass Media Campaign Impacts Influenza Vaccine Obtainment of University Students

Abstract Objective: To describe the effectiveness of a mass media campaign in increasing the rate of college student influenza vaccine obtainment. Participants/Methods: Students (N = 721) at a large southern university completed a survey between September 2011 and January 2012 assessing what flu clinic media sources were visualized and if they encouraged them to obtain vaccination. Results: Nearly a 30% increase was seen in flu vaccination rates in Fall 2011 over Fall 2010. The main campus Web site portal was the most visualized media source among students. The majority of responses indicated that the source of information visualized had a moderate to strong influence over their decision to get vaccinated. Conclusions: Various communication channels should be utilized to increase influenza vaccination rate on a university campus. Use of mass media to influence college students to perceive, retain, and act on the message of obtaining the influenza vaccine did produce a noteworthy outcome.
Carcinoma of the floor of the mouth: A 20-year experience

From 1955 to 1975, 116 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the floor of the mouth were primarily treated by irradiation in the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland at Baltimore. Of these, 93 evaluable patients yielded loco-regional control rates of 83, 85, 42 and 21% for Stages I-IV, respectively. A palisading technique of radium needle implants was used, either alone or combined with external beam therapy, for early tumors (Stages I-II). Similar control rates were achieved by these two techniques: 13/14 for interstitial irradiation alone and 16/24 for combined interstitial and external irradiation. In selected early cases (Stages I-II), errors in staging were minimized by the systematic use of a needle biopsy of the submaxillary triangle for suspicious submaxillary swellings. Patients with early lesions and truly negative nodes (N0) only received irradiation to the primary tumor bed. No subsequent nodal neck failures have occurred in 13 of such patients. The overall complication rate for the entire series was 17% with only 8 patients requiring surgery. No differences in complication rates were found among the treatment modalities employed. The distribution of lymph nodal involvement by anatomical level, correlation of histological differentiation or tumor aggressiveness at presentation, the dosimetric analysis of the palisading interstitial technique, the spread and failure patterns and other observations are discussed.
Comment on the Chou-Yang model for elastic scattering

The Chou-Yang model forpp elastic scattering, modified to include the effect of coupled inelastic channels, is used to fit recent data in the region of the dip, i.e., 1.0≦|t|≦2.0 (GeV/c)2 for incident momenta ranging from 35 to 250 GeV/c. Good quantitative agreement is found for an inelastic coupling which is predominantly real, as compared to the mostly imaginary elastic coupling. Implications for dips at highert, which are predicted by the model but as yet not observed experimentally, are discussed.
Stereoselective Formation of Glycosyl Sulfoxides and Their Subsequent Equilibration: Ring Inversion of an α-Xylopyranosyl Sulfoxide Dependent on the Configuration at Sulfur

A series of four S-allyl d-thiopyranosides, α- and β-manno and xylo, were oxidized with MCPBA at low temperature to give seven of the eight possible sulfoxides, whose configuration at sulfur was determined either directly by X-ray crystallography or by correlation with closely related structures. For the axial thioglycosides oxidation leads very predominantly to the (R)S-diastereomer in the xylo series and exclusively so in the manno series; the configuration at C2 is of little importance in determining the stereoselectivity of oxidation of axial thioglycopyranosides. In the equatorial series the configuration at C2 has a significant effect on the outcome of the reaction as, although both series favored the (S)S-sulfoxide, selectivity was significantly higher in the case of the β-mannoside than of the β-xyloside. The two α-xylo sulfoxides have different conformations of the pyranoside ring with the (R)S-isomer adopting the 1C4 chair and the (S)S-diastereomer the 4C1. Each pair of diastereomeric sulfoxides...
Candy is Dandy and also Quicker: A Further Nonverbal Study of Conservation of Number

Summary One hundred twenty kindergarten and first-grade boys and girls received six trials on which they judged the relative number of candies in two rows. Three experimental conditions were compared: Nonverbal, in which Ss expressed their judgment by selecting one of the two rows to take home and eat; Standard, in which Ss answered the “same vs. more” question which is typical in conservation studies; and Control, in which Ss selected one of the two rows of candies to keep, but without the pre transformation information on which a conservation judgment could be based. Correct answers were significantly more frequent in the Nonverbal condition than in either the Standard or the Control condition. Ss were more likely to be consistently correct on the Nonverbal trials than on the Control trials; they were less likely to be consistently wrong on the Nonverbal trials than on the Standard trials. These results suggest that the usual verbal methods of assessment may underestimate the young child's knowledge of ...
Malpractice risks for urologists

Abstract Objectives. To obtain data regarding the frequency of malpractice suits against urologists. Methods. Those urologists listed in the Best Doctors in America were sent an anonymous survey that requested their personal malpractice history (group A). Additionally, the professional responsibility history of the candidates for recertification by the American Board of Urology in 1996 (group B) was reviewed. Results. One hundred ten urologists in the United States in group A were surveyed. Ninety-one (83%) responded. Seventy (77%) had been sued (average 2.36 claims per physician who had been sued). Forty-four percent of the claims resulted in payment to the plaintiff. Claims frequency of group A was 0.09 claims per physician per year. Urologists in the Northeast, North Central, and Mid-Atlantic Sections of the American Urological Association were less likely to be sued than urologists in the other five sections. There were 246 urologists in group B. One hundred twenty-two (49%) reported a claim against them (average 1.9 claims per physician who had been sued). Twenty-nine percent of the closed claims resulted in payment to the plaintiff. Claims frequency of group B was 0.09 claims per physician per year. Conclusions. Most urologists can expect to be sued at least twice in their professional careers. The longer one is in practice, the greater the chance of a suit being filed. Where one practices may be a factor in the likelihood of being sued. There does not seem to be a direct or inverse correlation between professional reputation and the incidence of being sued.
The scope of teleological thinking in preschool children.

These studies explore the scope of young children's teleological tendency to view entities as `designed for purposes'. One view (`Selective Teleology') argues that teleology is an innate, basic mode of thinking that, throughout development, is selectively applied by children and adults to artifacts and biological properties. An alternative proposal (`Promiscuous Teleology') argues that teleological reasoning derives from children's knowledge of intentionality and is not restricted to any particular category of phenomena until later in development. Two studies explored the predictions of these two hypotheses regarding the scope of children's functional intuitions. Using different methods, both studies found that, unlike adults, preschoolers tend to attribute functions to all kinds of objects – clocks, tigers, clouds and their parts. A third study then explored this finding further by examining whether the developmental effect was due to differences in children's and adults' concept of function. It found that both children and adults predominantly view an object's function as the activity it was designed to perform. Possible explanations for the developmental differences found in the first two studies, and implications for notions of a teleological stance are discussed.
Spin-coated zinc oxide transparent transistors

A ZnO transparent thin-film transistor (TTFT) with a channel layer formed via spin-coating deposition is demonstrated. The TTFT is highly transparent and exhibits n-channel, enhancement-mode behaviour with a channel mobility as large as 0.20 cm2 V−1 s−1 and a drain current on-to-off ratio of nearly 107.