cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Environmental Influence on Module Delamination Rate

This study begins to investigate the role of environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity, on the delamination kinetics of the ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/silicon–photovoltaic (Si–PV) cell interface. A fracture mechanics approach based on a single cantilever beam technique is employed to measure the delamination rate as a function of applied driving force. To glean insight into the mechanisms of bonding and degradation at this interface, and the effect of manufacturing variability and quality, we consider a high-quality pristine EVA and two EVAs formulated with reduced amounts of its adhesion promoter, silane. Results indicate that a bulk change in the viscoelastic properties of the EVA dominates the delamination kinetics at high driving forces and low humidity and the effect of a chemical reaction only becomes apparent at higher humidity and lower driving forces. These findings suggest that only interfacial phenomenon of susceptible, degraded material may have to be considered to adequately model PV module delamination failure.
Import Substitution: Russian Industry's Investment Preferences

Some new features have been added to Russia’s import substitution policy. Minpromtorg (Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade) in April compiled a comprehensive list of foreign-made machinery, equipment and materials which state-owned companies will not be permitted (from 1st of July) to purchase abroad without consent of the governmental import substitution commission.
Treatment of Impulse Control Disorders and Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who are treated with a dopamine agonist (DA) frequently develop impulse control disorders (ICDs) such as compulsive eating, shopping/buying, pathological gambling, or hypersexuality. The secondary consequences of ICDs can be severe, and the only known effective treatment is to taper or discontinue DA therapy. Unfortunately, about 20% of patients who attempt to taper a DA develop dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome (DAWS), with symptoms such as anxiety/panic, dysphoria, apathy, suicidality, orthostatic hypotension, diaphoresis, anorexia, nausea/vomiting, and fatigue. In some cases, DAWS may be so severe and long-lasting that affected patients are unable to taper DA therapy and experience permanent ICDs. Preventative strategies for ICDs and DAWS are therefore critical.
Reengineering Approaches for Learning Health Systems: Applications in Nursing Research to Learn from Safety Information Gaps and Workarounds to Overcome Electronic Health Record Silos

Health systems engineering is an approach to effectively implement a learning health system to drive more efficient and safer care by adapting and aligning individual structures (e.g., applications) and processes (e.g., workflows) to optimize outcomes within a “system of systems”. Nurses have been described as particularly adept at identifying and utilizing workarounds to overcome poor system design. Workflows and workarounds are not limited to directly observable patient care activities; they also occur within documentation activities and can be modeled using metadata (data about data) from clinical information systems. This chapter will outline 3 broad approaches that can be triangulated within a systems engineering framework to reengineer nursing and patient care workflows and overcome information silos by actively learning from safety information gaps and workarounds within a health system: (1) “In the lab” participatory design and usability evaluation, (2) “In the wild” observations, and (3) “In the metadata” models of health care processes. Systems engineering methods can be applied to a broad range of healthcare processes to model workflow, data and information flow to support the development, integration, and optimization of health IT applications leveraging a 5-phase approach: problem analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. In this chapter we present use cases of pragmatic applications grounded in theoretical and methodological approaches within a systems engineering framework that demonstrate the iterative nature of health IT evaluation. This chapter highlights the complexity of nursing and patient care workflows and the fact that even well-designed systems that adequately address socio-technical dimensions as part of the development process, require continued attention to workflow during and after implementation. Post-implementation attention to end-users’ concerns and feedback provides an opportunity for system optimization. Secondary analysis of EHR data after implementation can provide important clues about alignment with documentation workflows, effective information flow, and accurate data interpretation. These activities are needed to achieve a learning health care system and can be achieved if nursing domain experts work closely with data science experts throughout the system lifecycle to contextualize clinical analyses and help to successfully convert data into knowledge.
Saving for Retirement: Options for Charter and Private School Teachers

This chapter introduces a fabulous charter school math teacher facing a retirement savings problem. Donna barely has anything to show financially for her teaching work so far, even after 15 years on the job. Teachers in some charter schools and private schools and colleges may have to take more responsibility for saving for retirement, compared with their public school colleagues. Starting with Donna’s case, this chapter explains tax-advantaged savings options including 403(b) plans, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and Simplified Employee Pensions (SEPs). The discussion helps educators understand the differences between traditional and Roth IRAs so they can make better decisions. Asset allocation, the percentage of savings you decide to invest in various assets, is especially important for educators. This chapter explains why and how asset allocation needs to change over the course of your teaching career. The chapter concludes by stressing the importance of saving for retirement, even for charter school teachers who may participate in a state retirement system.
Access shrugged: The decline of the copyleft and the rise of utilitarian openness:

This article maps patterns of interest in key terms associated with copyright and online culture in the US context. Using exploratory factor analysis of data from Google Trends, authors examined pa...
REVEALING THE z ∼ 2.5 COSMIC WEB WITH 3D Lyα FOREST TOMOGRAPHY: A DEFORMATION TENSOR APPROACH

Author(s): Lee, KG; White, M | Abstract: Studies of cosmological objects should take into account their positions within the cosmic web of large-scale structure. Unfortunately, the cosmic web has only been extensively mapped at low redshifts (z l 1), using galaxy redshifts as tracers of the underlying density field. At z g 1, the required galaxy densities are inaccessible for the foreseeable future, but 3D reconstructions of Lya forest absorption in closely separated background QSOs and star-forming galaxies already offer a detailed window into z ∼ 2-3 large-scale structure. We quantify the utility of such maps for studying the cosmic web by using realistic z=2.5 Lya forest simulations matched to observational properties of upcoming surveys. A deformation tensor-based analysis is used to classify voids, sheets, filaments, and nodes in the flux, which are compared to those determined from the underlying dark matter (DM) field. We find an extremely good correspondence, with 70% of the volume in the flux maps correctly classified relative to the DM web, and 99% classified to within one eigenvalue. This compares favorably to the performance of galaxybased classifiers with even the highest galaxy densities from low-redshift surveys. We find that narrow survey geometries can degrade the recovery of the cosmic web unless the survey is ≳60 Mpc h-1 or ≳1 deg on the sky. We also examine halo abundances as a function of the cosmic web, and find a clear dependence as a function of flux overdensity, but little explicit dependence on the cosmic web. These methods will provide a new window on cosmological environments of galaxies at this very special time in galaxy formation, "high noon," and on overall properties of cosmological structures at this epoch.
Determining Uncertainties in Fitted Curves

This chapter discusses methods of fitting curves to measured data while accounting for uncertainty in the data. We start with equations for the best linear fit and uncertainties in the slope and intercept. A short discussion of linear fits when there is uncertainty in the x-values is presented next. Confidence and prediction bands are presented for expressing uncertainty in the fitted line and uncertainty in predictions made using the fitted line. Goodness-of-fit metrics are used to assess model adequacy. A summary of techniques for fitting nonlinear equations to data is given, including formulas for nonlinear confidence and prediction bands. In this chapter “nonlinear equation” means an equation that is nonlinear in the independent variable. Finally, a case study applying curve fitting to a calibration drift problem is provided with a short discussion of how to choose optimal calibration intervals based on predicted drift.
Formation of ammonium uranate on uranium dioxide during aging under controlled storage conditions

Abstract The analysis and characterization of uranium dioxide (UO2) under controlled storage conditions can provide insight into potential alteration products and overall stability, which has relevance for nuclear fuel cycle processes, environmental management, and the stability of used nuclear fuel in a repository. In this work, UO2 was monitored as a function of time (6–24 months) and temperature at constant relative humidity (81% RH) in the presence of ammonium sulfate. The morphology of the aged material was described using scanning electron microscopy and a previously published lexicon, while phase changes were confirmed using X-ray diffraction. Additional characterization was carried out using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to further identify aging effects. Over time, UO2 transitioned to a mixed phase assemblage. Among the alteration was ammonium uranate, a common fuel cycle compound, which was identified from its morphological and spectral characteristics. This work highlights the affinity and persistence of ammonium uranate compounds and emphasizes the need to continue investigating these alteration systems.
Automation of Data Prep, ML, and Data Science: New Cure or Snake Oil?

As machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and Data Science grow in practical importance, a large part of the ML/AI software industry claims to have built tools and platforms to automate the entire workflow of ML. That includes vexing problems of data preparation (prep), studied intensively by the database (DB) community for decades, with basically no resolution so far. Such claims by the ML/AI industry face a stunning lack of scientific scrutiny from the DB and ML research worlds, largely due to the lack of meaningful, large, and objective benchmarks. As such tools rapidly gain adoption among enterprises and other customers, this panel will debate whether the new ML/AI industry is basically selling "snake oil" to such users, how to evolve away from the status quo by instituting meaningful new benchmarks, creating new partnerships between industry and academia for this, and other pressing questions in this important arena. We aim to spur vigorous conversations that will hopefully lead to genuine new cures for an age-old affliction in Data Science.
Giant magnetoelastic effect in soft systems for bioelectronics.

The magnetoelastic effect—the variation of the magnetic properties of a material under mechanical stress—is usually observed in rigid alloys, whose mechanical modulus is significantly different from that of human tissues, thus limiting their use in bioelectronics applications. Here, we observed a giant magnetoelastic effect in a soft system based on micromagnets dispersed in a silicone matrix, reaching a magnetomechanical coupling factor indicating up to four times more enhancement than in rigid counterparts. The results are interpreted using a wavy chain model, showing how mechanical stress changes the micromagnets’ spacing and dipole alignment, thus altering the magnetic field generated by the composite. Combined with liquid-metal coils patterned on polydimethylsiloxane working as a magnetic induction layer, the soft magnetoelastic composite is used for stretchable and water-resistant magnetoelastic generators adhering conformably to human skin. Such devices can be used as wearable or implantable power generators and biomedical sensors, opening alternative avenues for human-body-centred applications. Micromagnets dispersed in a polymer matrix are used to realize a soft magnetoelastic generator with high magnetomechanical coupling factor, used for wearable and implantable power generation and sensing applications.
Catalytic chemical vapor deposition of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Publisher Summary Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely studied in chemistry, physics, and material science because of their unique structures and properties. The progresses of fundamental research and applications in the field are closely linked to the preparation of high-quality CNTs via controllable routes. Without the constantly improving methods of nanotube synthesis, many applications would not be possible. The aim of this chapter is to provide an introduction to the recent developments of chemical vapor depositions (CVDs) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). A variety of CVD techniques have been introduced, and related experimental issues are discussed. Additional challenges in the field of nanotube synthesis are also explained in the chapter.
Sonobuoy Measurements in Thin Layers

The application of standard sonobuoy techniques to thin subbottom layers at 3.5 kHz requires modification of the usual method of analysis. For a thin layer in deep water (thickness ratios greater than 15),velocity computed by the standard t2(x2) method is sensitive to the detailed velocity structure in the water. An alternative approach, which compares paths of the same ray parameter rather than the same shot position, gives the solution for a subbottom layer independently of the velocity structure above the layer. The method has been tested on simulated layer structures and on actual sonobuoy data. The results indicate that the technique will be useful for thickness ratios as high as 100. Systematic variations in the results from real data suggest the possibility of lateral inhomogeneities in the layer structure.
Foundations of Modern International Thought: Declarations of independence, 1776–2012

The process of extinguishing the legitimacy of empires would take more than two more centuries and was generally ‘conflictual and contingent’, though never quite complete. Our world is still marked by post-imperial legacies: for example, ‘the fiction of sovereign equivalence, and . . . the reality of inequality within and among states’. And imperial practices still remain – for example, in the treatment of indigenous peoples or in the promotion of multiculturalism – but now they are the policies of states, not the procedures of the empires they have universally replaced. The first Atlantic crisis, better known as the American Revolution, foreshadowed many of the complexities and conflicts in Iberian America and then later in the creation of a world of states that now encompasses the whole globe. Conjuring states out of colonies had been the single most radical act of the American Revolution: indeed, that process began the transformation of the Atlantic world into an arena hospitable, first, to independent states on its western shores, then to republicanism (in the sense of non-monarchical government), and finally to the creation of federal republics – the United States, Venezuela and Mexico, for instance – on a scale undreamed of by classical and early modern thinkers. It may therefore be instructive to consider the American Revolution not as an isolated process, of little relevance causally or comparatively to the revolutions in Spanish and Portuguese America, but as their precursor in the Atlantic world.
Media use among communication apprehensive education majors

Will some teachers avoid using instructional media because they fear communicating? This study compared the past and projected future use of media of beginning education majors who differed in the extent to which they expressed “communication apprehension.” Those who expressed high and moderate amounts of fear for such situations as engaging in classroom discussions with peers and initiating or responding to teacher-oriented discussions reported less past use, and projected less future use, of several types of media than did those having less fear. The media unaffected by apprehension level — overhead projections, slides, and filmstrips — appear to require less teacher responsibility for communication and interpretation. The authors suggest that communication apprehension may be decreased, thereby increasing the possibility that such teachers will use instructional media.
Oxygen-Dependent Regulation of Pulmonary Circulation

Publisher Summary This chapter analyzes oxygen-dependent regulation of pulmonary circulation. The central function of the lung is to oxygenate the blood. To carry out this task, an extensive capillary network branches through alveolar structures to create an alveolar surface area. The lung has to rapidly adapt its perfusion and circulation patterns to keep the proper oxygenation of the blood to an optimum level. Central to this regulation is the matching of pulmonary blood flow to areas of varying ventilation accordingly to match the local ventilation—that is, the precapillary pulmonary arteries can contract or dilate accordingly to match the local levels of alveolar oxygen. In this chapter, chronic hypoxic models are discussed along with their pathobiological significance. Oxygen regulation of pulmonary circulation in the neonate, pulmonary vascular morphology and morphometry, and chronic hypoxia models of pulmonary hypertension (PH) are described. The chapter discusses right ventricular hypertrophy, pulmonary artery hemodynamics, the gene chip array, the isolated perfused lung system, . .. the strategy for validation of array results for individual genes, and advances in expression profiling in human diseases.
DSL weaving for distributed information flow systems

Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is a promising field for reducing application complexity. However, it has proven difficult to implement weavers for general purpose languages. Nevertheless, we felt some functionality for our information flow abstraction, Infopipes, might be best captures in aspects. In this paper, we describe a weaver built for domain specific languages (DSLs) related to Infopipes around an off-the-shelf XSLT processor. Aspects are written in XSLT, XML annotations are added to existing DSL generation templates, and XML directives are added to our Infopipes specification. Finally, we successfully demonstrate a generated+woven application that adds the quality of service (QoS) dimension CPU usage awareness to an image streaming application.
Application of toxicogenomic profiling to evaluate effects of benzene and formaldehyde: from yeast to human

Genetic variation underlies a significant proportion of the individual variation in human susceptibility to toxicants. The primary current approaches to identify gene-environment (GxE) associations, genome-wide association studies and candidate gene association studies, require large exposed and control populations and an understanding of toxicity genes and pathways, respectively. This limits their application in the study of GxE associations for the leukemogens benzene and formaldehyde, whose toxicity has long been a focus of our research. As an alternative approach, our published work has applied innovative in vitro functional genomics testing systems, including unbiased functional screening assays in yeast and a near-haploid human bone marrow cell line. Through comparative genomic and computational analyses of the resulting data, human genes and pathways that may modulate susceptibility to benzene and formaldehyde were identified, and the roles of several genes in mammalian cell models were validated. In populations occupationally exposed to low levels of benzene, we applied peripheral blood mononuclear cell transcriptomics and chromosome-wide aneuploidy studies in lymphocytes. In this review, we describe our comprehensive toxicogenomic approach and the potential mechanisms of toxicity and susceptibility genes identified for benzene and formaldehyde, as well as related studies conducted by other researchers.
Bridging Education's Generation Gap.

Concern and pessimism fester as debate continues over whether quality and excellence is possible for U.S. schools under conventional public education philosophies and practices. Critics argue that goals of providing a nurturing learning environment and preparing young people for life's eventual responsibilities are largely ignored. Further along the age continuum, the median age of our nation's population continues to climb. Today, persons sixty years and older account for 13 percent of the total U.S. population, and that proportion is expected to double by the year 2025. Seniors now remain healthier longer, and productivity and community contributions continue well beyond traditional boundaries. During the 1988-89 school year, while finishing my dissertation at the state university, I came to see the important roles that older adults can play in rejuvenating public education. One of my responsibilities was to visit, observe, and evaluate the performances of student teachers in area schools. I had ample opportunity to listen to teachers and principals discuss feelings for students and the educational system. The problems most often mentioned were as follows:
Software quality and productivity analysis at Hewlett-Packard

Software quality and productivity analysis (SQPA) is a relatively new program at Hewlett-Packard which has met with overwhelming success in the past two years. Its basis is a set of standardized questions which provide an assessment of all the major factors which affect the software development environment. The history, methodology, impact, and results of using SQPA are discussed. >
Using Chemotherapeutic Drugs to Trigger Hematopoietic Stem Cell Activation and Determine Hematological Toxicity

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) replenish blood cells throughout the lifetime of an animal. Maintaining the HSC pool is of paramount importance to the survival of the organism. Thus, when treating a patient or an animal with chemotherapeutic agents, all care must be taken to ensure that the HSC pool is minimally damaged while simultaneously eradicating the target population. Discussed here is a method to assess the potency of chemotherapeutic drugs on the hematopoietic system, their ability to activate the HSC compartment, and the damage done to the HSC pool.
The cusiness of service learning

Service Learning is a program where students utilize skills gained in coursework to benefit members of the community. Students gain practical experience, and those being served gain valuable assistance. Service Learning programs range from volunteer hours added as a requirement to a traditional course to semester or year-long classes dedicated to Service Learning. Each model has pros and cons and the effectiveness of a particular model can vary based on the characteristics of and resources available at the individual university. This paper presents the evolving model of a year-long course dedicated to Service Learning and housed in the Mathematical, Information and Computer Sciences department of Point Loma Nazarene University. PLNU is a relatively small liberal arts university without an administrative department overseeing Service Learning. The course is one of three options for gaining practical experience. Hence, the program must be flexible enough to provide a good experience for any number of students and combination of majors, and must be self-contained. We have chosen to run our Service Learning course using a business model where student resources can be realigned as necessary to meet project needs. In addition to project assignments, students cover administrative tasks and provide training to other students.
Acute reductions in GABAA receptor binding in layer IV of adult primate somatosensory cortex after peripheral nerve injury

Abstract Following peripheral nerve transection, reorganizational plasticity has been reported to occur in two phases, one immediate and one more protracted. GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) has been implicated in the immediate ‘unmasking’ phase of reorganization. We have used quantitative autoradiography to assess potential changes in GABA A and GABA B receptor binding in primate somatosensory cortex following peripheral nerve injury. Here we report reductions in GABA A receptor binding in layer IV of primate somatosensory cortex deprived of its normal activating inputs for 2–5 h by peripheral nerve transection.
Surgical management of young arthritic knee: a review

Increased life expectancy, higher demands of activity and the aspiring need to match the lifestyles of the similar age group has made the surgical management of young arthritic knee a challenge. Surgical management is thought, after all conservative measures have been exhausted and if activities of daily living are significantly affected.
Using game development to reveal programming competency

In the summer of 2011, we revamped the curriculum for the GLITCH Game Testers research project to better serve the interests of the 15 student participants. Our new curriculum, based on Greenfoot and game development, replaced an earlier curriculum that students felt was inauthentic. Through Greenfoot, the new curriculum had the benefits of authenticity, easy access to concepts that were relevant to the students, and immediate visual feedback, and these qualities helped align students' perceptions with their actual abilities to program based on what they had learned. We analyze students' reported abilities and their demonstrated abilities and show how the two align, and we suggest long-term implications for maintaining that alignment.
Inhibition of the p50 (NFκB1) Subunit of NF-κB by Phosphorothioate-Modified Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotides Reduces NF-κB Expression and Immunoglobulin Synthesis in Murine B Cells

Abstract NF-κB is a regulatory protein of immune response genes and a candidate for targeting in immunosuppressive therapy. NF-κB proteins are formed from components of which p50 (NFκB1) is a subunit. By targeting p50 gene expression with specific antisense 3′ phosphorothioate-oligodeoxynucleotides (3′ PS-ODNs), an effect upon NF-κB regulation and immunoglobulin synthesis in murine B cells was achieved. A 49% decrease in p50 protein was induced by treatment of WEHI 231 B cells with p50 antisense 3′ PS-ODNs and not by control 3′ PS-ODNs. p50 antisense specifically reduced the expression of NF-κB by 51%, but not the transcription factor, Oct-1. In the BXSB murine model of autoimmunity, p50 antisense inhibited NF-κB expression and total IgM and IgG synthesis, but, more importantly, dsDNA antibodies were reduced 90%. These results validate the use of p50 antisense to reduce NF-κB expression and, by downregulating the immune response, has application in the treatment of autoimmune disorders.
Interrupted versus uninterrupted flow: A safety propensity index for driver behavior

The objective of this paper is to develop a quantitative safety propensity index (SPI) that captures the overall propensity of a given surrounding environment to cause unsafe driving. The study is conducted in two different flow conditions: interrupted and uninterrupted. Using structural modeling techniques, the index can be estimated from observed geometric, weather-related, vehicular, driver-related, and traffic-related characteristics. To illustrate the adopted approach, extensive effort was conducted to "sync" data from different sources including the Virginia Department of Transportation and the FARS/GES crash data libraries. The Virginia Department of Transportation provided traffic data for 10 freeway sections with interrupted flow and 9 highway sections with interrupted flow in the Northern Virginia area, USA. Two different structural equations models were found allowing insights to the safety impact of different surrounding elements/dimensions. The SPI provides (a) a basis for quantifying the effects of the aforementioned characteristics on safety, (b) a basis for comparing the differences between the factors affecting safety in different flow scenarios and (c) ranking the corresponding roadway sections/locations for improved safety performance. The framework and methodology used to develop this index have the potential to support safety policy analysis and decision making.
Crisis and acute brief therapy with adolescents

In the last two decades there have developed a variety of brief therapy approaches typically aimed at serving adults with neurotic or characterological problems in outpatient settings. The present paper describes ways in which some of these techniques have been adapted for use with more disturbed adolescents in emergency room-crisis work and acute inpatient hospital settings.
Strength development at incompatible semicrystalline polymer interfaces

The structure of an interface that develops from laminating polypropylene/polyethylene (PP/PE) by hot compression-molding was analyzed by optical and electron microscopy. The interface strength was measured by means of a butt-joint specimen. For the laminate formed by isothermal crystallization above the PE melting temperature, it was found that the interface strength increased with time due to the formation of PE influxes between the PP spherulites. The inter-spherulitic influxes broke up the sharp PP/PE interface plane and provided considerable strength by mechanical interlocking. Intra-spherulitic entanglements were also noted for PP spherulites nucleated near the interface. Fast crystallization prevents the formal/on of influxes and results in a weak interface. For the hon-iscthennal crystallization case during cooling at 10°C/min, the interface morphology of PP/HDPE was found to be different from that of PP/LLDPE. The difference in crystallization temperatures and growth rates between PP and HDPE during rapid cooling permitted the HDPE to crystallize first which prevented the formation of influxes. With PP/LLDPE, the PP crystallized first allowing some influxes to develop. Normally the interface between PE and PP is very weak. However, to obtain good mechanical properties for a given PP/PE couple, one can control the processing thermal history to optimize the development of influxes and mechanical strength at the interface.
The Sixth Zone: The African Diaspora and the African Union’s Global Era Pan Africanism

What lies behind the sustained idea of “Pan African Unity”, beginning with the early 1900s Diaspora Pan African congresses, through its emergence as state-centric Pan Africanism in an age of independence, and to its current dispensation as the “third stage” Pan Africanism manifest by Africa’s African Union (Murithi)? The article examines the manner that the African Union is socioculturally sculpting and re-inventing the universality of the African identity and Pan African Nation. In it, we demonstrate how the African Union (AU) is re-appropriating the idea of Pan Africanism among African and African descendent peoples around the world, and using it creatively to mobilize a reconstruction of a global “African World View”. This, perspective represents the more nuanced, subtle, invisible—though ideational—bases through which the AU exerts its political power and will to reverse its marginalized circumstance and engage geopolitically in a self-determined posture. Here, we see the role that culture plays in the AU’s global governance objectives. We argue that AU cultural globalization rather than “essentialist”, “purist”, or “racialist” (Gilroy 1993, Appiah 1992) is in effect pluralist, hybrid, transformationalist, and premised on the sustained memory of a global, trans-generational shared set of experiences that have been drawn from as well as reformulated around the idea of Pan Africanism; but that its prospects for fostering political union and assigning citizenship rights to African and African descendent peoples is still an illusion.
Pattern and duration of the inhibitory effect of alcohol administered acutely on suckling-induced prolactin in lactating rats.

We have characterized the pattern and duration of the inhibitory effect of acute alcohol administration on suckling-induced prolactin (PRL) release in the lactating rat. On day 2 of lactation, litters were adjusted to eight pups. On day 6, dams were implanted with an atrial catheter and experiments were conducted on day 10 of lactation. Pups were removed from the dams at 0800 hr. An extension tube filled with heparinized saline was attached to the catheter at 1300 hr. At 1400 hr, a preinfusion (PRE 0) blood sample was removed and was followed by infusion of saline (control) or alcohol in saline (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 2.5 g/kg body weight doses) solutions. Following the removal of a postinfusion (POST 0) blood sample, pups were returned to the mother. Subsequent blood samples were obtained 10, 30, 60, 120, and 180 min after initiation of suckling. In separate groups, the effects of alcohol on basal PRL were studied by collecting blood samples PRE 0, POST 0 and 20,40,60,80,100, and 120 min following infusion of saline or alcohol in saline to lactating rats also separated from their pups for 6 hr. Alcohol infusion did not after basal PRL. However, suckling-induced PRL was inhibited at 10, 30, 60, and 120 min of suckling by alcohol administered at doses > 1.0 g/kg body weight. After 180 min of suckling, plasma PRL levels were comparable among groups. The suckling latency for the 2.5 g/kg body weight alcohol group was greater than for other groups, but the quantities of milk consumed during the 3-hr suckling period were comparable. The blood alcohol clearance rates expressed as mg/kg/hr were 220 ± 16, 342 ± 18, and 385 ± 24 for 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 g/kg/body weight doses, respectively. The growth rate of the pups are judged by the litter weight on days 2, 7, 14, and 21 of lactation, did not differ. The data indicate that alcohol (administered acutely) does not affect the basal plasma PRL in lactating rats. In contrast, suckling-induced PRL release is inhibited, and this inhibitory effect lasts approximately for 2 hr for the highest alcohol dose (2.5 g/kg body weight) employed. Further, it was also observed that a blood alcohol concentration of 65 mg/dl or greater is necessary to exert the inhibitory effect on suckling-induced PRL release.
Model for the onset of fibrillation following coronary artery occlusion.

Introduction: It is the hypothesis of this article that the onset of fibrillation following a coronary artery occlusion is a direct consequence of the spatial inhomogeneity of chemical processes that occur following the occlusion. In particular, the localized increase of extracellular potassium and decrease of ATP availability lead to an increase of resting potential in the affected cells. This difference in potential between affected cells and normal cells drives a current, the “current of injury,” which may drive oscillations in the border zone, a “border zone arrhythmia.” The border zone arrhythmia may drive a “breakup instability” (related to the action potential duration restitution instability) in the surrounding tissue, leading to self-sustained fibrillation. Methods and Results: In this article, we present a mathematical model demonstrating this transition from normal to fibrillatory dynamics, describing the general conditions under which this transition occurs and showing in a simple ionic model the way in which spatial inhomogeneity alone can initiate self-sustained reentrant activity. Conclusion: Using general arguments and numerical simulations with generic models of excitable media, we have demonstrated that a spatial region with an elevated resting potential surrounded by a spatial region wherein action potentials are foreshortened can drive a breakup instability, leading to the rapid initiation of a fibrillatory state. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 14, pp. 1225-1232, November 2003)
Evaluating Biosurveillance System Components using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) provides a methodology to approach the problem of biosurveillance system component evaluation. Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a robust evaluation framework in which we use MCDA to assist in the evaluation of data streams for use in an integrated global biosurveillance system. We identified several potentially useful data streams through this technique and propose that MCDA may be a valuable tool, provided a robust evaluation framework is available.
Hierarchical group key management for wireless mesh networks using multivariate symmetric polynomials

Group communication oriented applications such as multimedia streaming, distant learning, networked gaming, distributed information storage and file sharing can benefit from the community oriented nature of Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs). However, providing secure group communication services on a WMN platform can be challenging because of the inherent vulnerabilities in wireless broadcasting, distributed network architecture, multi-hop communication and the mobility of mesh clients. Direct implementation of group key management (GKM) schemes developed for wired or other wireless platforms is difficult, if not impossible. Despite these challenges, this paper proposes a symmetric multivariable polynomial based hierarchical GKM with efficient re-keying capabilities. Efficiency in re-keying is achieved by allowing members of the secure communication group to renew the shared traffic encryption key individually and independently upon membership changes. Using the information delivered to the group members during the initial key distribution phase, this renewal process can continue during a group communication session as long as the total number of membership does not reach beyond or fall below a configurable threshold.
Massively parallel linear-scaling algorithm in an ab initio local-orbital total-energy method

Similar to the manner of S. Itoh et al. [Comp. Phys. Commun. 88 (1995) 173], we report implementation of a massively parallel linear-scaling algorithm into an ab initio tight-binding method called FIREBALL [Phys. Rev. B (2001)]. The use of local-orbitals yields a very sparse Hamiltonian matrix which facilitates using a linear-scaling algorithm to obtain the electronic band-structure energy. The general functional form of Kim et al. [Phys. Rev. B 52 (1995) 1640], which minimizes a functional to obtain the electronic band-structure energy, has been parallelized utilizing the conjugate gradient method. The results of this approach are reported here. In addition, the use of "fireball" wavefunctions, where the wavefunctions are explicitly zero beyond some cutoff, allows for pre-generating all integrals describing two-and three-center interactions The computation of these integrals is then an easily parallelizable problem for which the results are reported. Both integral generation and the linear-scaling optimization procedures are paralleized using the standard MPI message passing interface mixed with an OpenMP strategy.
Thermal comfort, indoor air quality and acoustics: a conceptual framework for predicting occupant satisfaction in sustainable office buildings

The authors propose and test a conceptual framework that delineates occupants’ satisfaction with thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and acoustics conditions via post-occupancy evaluation (POE). A self-administered, internet-based, POE questionnaire was administered in two office buildings that were designed and operated as county service centres in a Midwestern state. A series of multiple regressions was used to analyse the data. Results suggest that: Implications for sustainable design practices are provided.
Defect generation in dry-develop lithography: assessment through electrical characterization

This paper preseni3 an experimental evaluation of defect generation and device damage in dry develop lithography a compared to 3tandard -wet develop- lithography. A 3tandard g-line process and the DESIRE® process were compared. Defect generation wa evaluated by u3ing electrical te3t structure3 to measure open and 3hort defects on aluminum and polysilicon. The short defect densitie3 were very aimilar for both lithographie, while the open den3ities were larger for dry developed wafers. Thi3 i. attributed to the ue of a negative tone resist. Device damage wa aJ3e33ed by processing and characterizing capacitors and active devices. No device damage inherent to the use of plasmas for lithography was identified.
The NSN link as electron accepting moiety for stable, solution‐processable conjugated oligomers

New conjugated oligomers, oligo(9,9-didodecylfluorene-bis-sulphurdiimide), consisting of 9,9-didodecylfluorene separated by -N=S=N- moieties, are reported. These oligomers are stable purple solids under ambient conditions with absorption covering a broad spectral window in the UV-vis range and a main broad peak centered at 555 nm with onset extending to 700 nm. These oligomers show an obviously longer conjugation length than its dimeric analogue, bis-9,9-didodecyl-fluorene-2-sulfurdiimide that shows a band-edge absorption centered at 484 nm with onset at 590 nm. The dimer and oligomers are soluble in a variety of organic solvents. Moreover, we found that the oligomer with an average repeating-unit number of six could significantly quench the photoluminescence (PL) of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) or poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) in the solid state. More importantly, the composites of this oligomer with P3HT showed a nearly 10-fold enhancement of the photocurrent, compared with that of P3HT itself. In addition, the PL of this oligomer could be quenched by the presence of phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) in toluene. These results suggest the presence of photoinduced charge transfer in composites of these oligomers blended with an electronic partner that either donates or accepts electrons.
Memory complaint in a community sample aged 70 and older

OBJECTIVES: The ability of older people to estimate their own memory, often referred to as “metamemory,” has been evaluated in previous studies with conflicting reports regarding accuracy. Some studies have suggested that an older person's metamemory is mostly accurate, whereas others have demonstrated little relationship between memory complaint and actual impairment. This study examines memory complaint in a large national sample of older people aged ≥70. DESIGN: A longitudinal cohort study with two waves of data collection spaced 2 years apart. SETTING: A nationwide random sample of community-dwelling older persons. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 5444 community-dwelling persons aged ≥70 and their spouses. MEASUREMENTS: Participants were asked if they believed their memory was excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. They were then administered a cognitive assessment derived from the Mini-Mental Status Exam. RESULTS: In general, people's assessment of their memory corresponded with their actual performance on cognitive measures. However, large portions of the sample inaccurately assessed their memory skills. People who reported depressive symptoms and had impairment in activities of daily living were more likely to state that their memory was impaired, although they performed very well on cognitive measures. CONCLUSIONS: The conditions that skew people's self-assessment are the ones most likely to bring them into contact with healthcare professionals. This may give clinicians the general impression that older people cannot assess their own cognitive skills. However, poor metamemory appears to be a characteristic of a specific subgroup of older persons, not necessarily characteristic of the general population.
A constitutive law for continuous fiber reinforced brittle matrix composites with fiber fragmentation and stress recovery

Abstract The Tensile Behavior of a brittle matrix composite is studied for post matrix crack saturation conditions. Scatter of fiber strength following the Weibull distribution as well as the influence of the major microstructural variables is considered. The stress in a fiber is assumed to recover linearly around a failure due to a fiber-matrix interface behavior mainly ruled by friction. The constitutive behavior for such a composite is analysed. Results are given for a simplified and a refined approximate description and compared with an analysis resulting from the exact analytical theory of fiber fragmentation. It is shown that the stress-strain relation for the refined model excellently follows the exact solution and gives the location of the maximum to within 1% in both stress and strain; for most materials the agreement is even better. Also it is shown that all relations can be normalized to depend on only two variables; a stress reference and the Weibull exponent. For systems with low scatter in fiber strength the simplified model is sufficient to determine the stress maximum but not the postcritical behavior. In addition, the simplified model gives explicit analytical expressions for the maximum stress and corresponding strain. None of the models contain any volume dependence or statistical scatter, but the maximum stress given by the stress-strain relation constitutes an upper bound for the ultimate tensile strength of the composite.