cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Judicial decisionmaking and litigation expenditure

Recent years have borne witness to a striking increase in expenditures on legal services.’ Various critics of the U.S. legal system have accordingly argued that amounts currently spent on or in anticipation of disputes are socially excessive, and several writers have attempted to address the issue through economic analysis.’ Much of the economic literature has centered on the choice between litigation and settlement, and most of the models either assume a fixed exogenous level of litigation costs or treat such costs as the reduced-form outcome of litigants’ maximization decisions.? This article abstracts from the possibility of settlement to focus on the parties’ behavior at trial. While much of the recent literature on litigation has emphasized suit and settlement, that research strategy is not the only useful one. Though most disputes do not rise to the level of a lawsuit and though the great majority of lawsuits end in settlement, decisions at earlier stages of a lawsuit depend on the parties’ estimates of the ultimate consequences of litigation. Analysis of the litigation stage is therefore logically prior to any analysis of the decision to sue or of settlement negotiation. Furthermore. the relatively small but absolutely large number of cases that go to trial consume substantial resources in doing so, and many cases that settle do so only after substantial expenditure has been incurred in preparation for trial.4 Accordingly. I developed a model of litigation expenditure based on the assumption that the parties are already engaged in a dispute. Within the model, the outcome of litigation is a probability y(X. v) that the defendant will be found liable. with the probability increasing with the plaintiff’s expenditure on legal resources and decreasing with defendant’s expenditure. More specifically, the parties expend resources on legal research to produce arguments or favorable facts to a court or other decisionmaking body such as a jury or administrative agency. The court finds for the plaintiff if and only if a certain function of the parties’ arguments, plus a random variable, exceed a liability threshold. The framework yields some interesting comparative statics predictions about the judicial process. Section II of this article outlines the basic approach to modeling the litigants’ expenditure decision and describes the model of judicial decisionmaking that is the focus of the analysis. Section III analyzes the behavior of maximizing litigants. Section IV analyzes the Nash equilibrium in expenditure and the determinants of
Work organization, employment security, and macroeconomic stability

Abstract There is substantial evidence that both training and worker participation in decision making are more effective when employers avoid layoffs. When one company's choice to avoid layoffs affects the relative costs of layoffs for other firms, there is an externality and multiple equilibria are possible. If all firms lay off workers in recessions, then recessions will be deeper. Deep recessions, in turn, raise the costs of firms that have high levels of training, participation and employment security. On the other hand, if all firms have no-layoff policies, then recessions will be shallower, lowering the costs of such policies. In three data sets, training and participation are more common in companies with high levels of job security.
A note on projection operators in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics

Abstract A new projection operator is introduced which is useful for the description of statistical mechanics of arbitrary non-equilibrium states, and exact equations of motion for macroscopic variables are derived using this projection operator.
Phylogeny of the Dactyloa Clade of Anolis Lizards: New Insights from Combining Morphological and Molecular Data

Abstract We present a phylogenetic analysis of the Dactyloa clade of Anolis lizards, based on morphological (66 characters of external morphology and osteology) and molecular (∼4,700 bases of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA) data. Our set of morphological characters includes some that exhibit continuous variation and others that exhibit polymorphism within species; we explored different coding methods for these classes of characters. We performed parsimony and Bayesian analyses on morphology-only and combined data sets. Additionally, we explicitly tested hypotheses of monophyly of: 1) Dactyloa including Phenacosaurus, 2) Dactyloa excluding Phenacosaurus (as traditionally circumscribed), 3) taxa previously ranked as series or species groups described based on morphological characters, and 4) clades inferred from molecular data. The morphological data alone did not yield Dactyloa or any of the previously recognized series described based on morphological characters; only the Phenacosaurus clade (as delimited ...
Effect of temperature on an obligately psychrophilic phage-host system of Pseudomonas putrefaciens.

Pronounced restriction of phage 27 was shown to occur above 8 C when host P19X was infected, while no such temperature restriction occurred with host P10. Results obtained from infecting host P19X at the permissive temperature of 2 C and then shifting to the restrictive temperature of 26 C indicated that the restriction occurs towards the end of the latent period.
Effect of mild, steady state exercise on total pulmonary resistance of normal subjects and those with isolated aortic valvular lesions.

Abstract There has been recent evidence to show that the pulmonary arterial pressure rises or decreases slightly as the result of mild exercise in patients with normal hearts 7,11,12 and consistently rises in those in congestive failure. 1,3,6,7,9 However, there has been much variation in the body of reported data, particularly in regard to the calculation of resistances, which imposes difficulties upon interpretation of the results. This may have been due in part to the lack of recognition of the importance of steady state for the validity of cardiac output determination by the Fick principle, 4 to the lack of clear definition and standardization of the exercise procedure and the imposed work load, and to the unitarian handling of groups of patients with solitary or combined heart lesions in various stages of compensation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mild, steady state exercise on the general and cerebral hemodynamics of normal patients and those with "pure," isolated aortic insufficiency or stenosis . The present report will deal only with those findings pertaining to general hemodynamics; the details of cerebral hemodynamics, other than for the necessary allusion to methodology, will be presented in subsequent communications. 10 An effort has been made to standardize external work for the sake of uniform comparison, while recognizing the inability to control differences in internal energy expenditure.
The clinical effectiveness of open versus closed scaling and root planing on multi-rooted teeth.

Scaling and root planing are the most common techniques utilized to achieve a biologically-acceptable root surface. Thorough root debridement is a demanding task, with residual deposits of plaque and calculus a not uncommon finding after instrumentation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of scaling and root planing via a closed versus an open flap approach. Sixty multi-rooted teeth were assigned to one of three groups: untreated controls, closed scaling/root planing, and open flap scaling/root planing. Following debridement, teeth were extracted, immersed in methylene blue, and examined for the percent surface area having stainable residual deposits. The mean percent stained surface area covered by residual plaque and calculus was 54.3% in the closed root planing group compared to 33.0% in the open flap root planing group. The untreated control teeth had 91.0% of the root surface covered with stainable deposits. Within-group comparisons showed no significant difference in the percent stained residual plaque and calculus in shallow areas of the pocket ( 3 mm subgingival). Examination of furcation regions demonstrated heavy residual stainable deposits for both treatment methods, with no significant differences between techniques. There was no correlation between the time spent in root debridement and the percent residual deposit area. The results demonstrate that hand instrumentation alone is inadequate for thorough debridement of furcations and suggest that new approaches are needed to provide a root surface which is compatible with formation of new periodontal attachment. High frequency ultrasonic instruments, rotary burs, and chemical agents may assist in debridement of such surfaces.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Parameter determination techniques for the Gummel-Poon CAD transistor model

This paper describes in detail all of the measurements and techniques necessary to accurately determine the parameters required for the large signal, Gummel-Poon CAD transistor model. The model is accurate for static and dynamic simulations in low and high power applications.
Compliant motion planning with geometric models

We present algebraic algorithms to generate the boundary of configuration space obstacles arising from the translatory motion of objects amongst obstacles. In particular we consider obtaining compliant motion paths where a curved convex object with fixed orientation moves in continuous contact with the boundary of curved convex obstacles in three Dimensions. Both the boundaries of the objects and obstacles are given by patches of algebraic surfaces. We also give a method to obtain approximate geodesic paths on convex C-space obstacles with algebraic boundary surfaces.
Transport-morphology relationships in segmented polybutadiene polyurethanes: 1. Experimental results

Abstract The microphase-separated morphology in a series of well characterized polybutadiene polyurethanes with hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPBD) endcapped with 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (TDI) as the soft segment (SS) phase, and the combination of 2,4-toluene diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) as the hard segment (HS) phase, has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and sorption studies using N2, O2 and CO2. This system constitutes a model segmented polyurethane copolymer composed of amorphous rubbery and glassy domains. Evidence for the presence of phase separation is inferred from the scattering and phase contrast mechanisms of imaging. However, it is not possible to assign specific domain morphologies such as spherical, lamellar or cylindrical, based solely on the results of TEM. Complementary evidence of the domain presence is provided from the transport results; in particular, phase inversion and domain connectivity. Incomplete phase separation was indicated from the combined transport-morphology results for samples with less than 33 wt % hard segment.
Preparation and magnetic properties of well-defined colloidal chromium ferrites

Abstract It is shown that chromium ferrite colloidal particles of reasonable uniformity can be obtained by coprecipitation of a mixed Fe(OH) 3 , and Cr(OH) 3 gel with subsequent crystallization at elevated temperatures in a hydrogen atmosphere. The molar ratio Cr/Fe in particles can be altered by changing the composition of the gel and by the length of aging. Magnetic properties at room temperature of so prepared ferrites depend primarily on the composition of the particles.
When Is Partial Trace Equivalence Adequate

Two processes arepartial trace equivalent iff they can perform the same sequences of actions in isolation. Partial trace equivalence is perhaps the simplest possible notion of process equivalence. In general, it is too simple: it is not usually an adequate semantics. We investigate the circumstances under which it is adequate, which are surprisingly rich. We give two substantial classes of languages for which partial traces are adequate. In one class, partial trace equivalence suffices for total correctness, and operations such as true sequencing are possible; but all processes are determinate and silent moves are not possible. The other class — which includes many standard process calculi, such as CCS and CSP — admits indeterminacy and silent moves, but partial traces only suffice for partial correctness and true sequencing is not definable.
Analytical fragility analysis of southern Illinois wall pier supported highway bridges

An analytical fragility analysis was conducted in order to characterize the seismic vulnerability of existing southern Illinois wall pier supported highway bridges to potential earthquakes. To perform this fragility analysis, a detailed inventory survey was first taken of the wall pier bridges identified in an earlier random sampling of southern Illinois priority emergency route bridges. From the survey three types of wall pier bridges were identified. Of those identified, hammerhead and regular wall pier supported bridges represented nearly 90% of the population. Incorporating structural variations determined from the random sample survey, nearly 100 three-dimensional nonlinear finite element models were constructed. Each model was subjected to a randomly assigned synthetic earthquake representative of those that could potentially occur within the region. From these analyses, a series of wall pier supported bridge fragility curves were produced. In addition, a liquefaction fragility analysis was conducted in order to characterize the seismic vulnerability of southern Illinois wall pier supported highway bridge sites to liquefaction in potential earthquakes. To perform this second fragility analysis, wall pier bridges within the southern Illinois random sample that may be susceptible to liquefaction were identified. A soil profile from each of these susceptible bridge sites was then subjected to randomly assigned bedrock motions, and an Arias intensity liquefaction analysis was carried out. From these analyses, a fragility curve for the potentially liquefiable wall pier supported bridge sites was produced. Overall results of this study indicate that southern Illinois wall pier supported bridges are moderately vulnerable to structural damage in a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 year earthquake, and in some cases they could also be highly vulnerable to on-site liquefaction events. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Singularly perturbed integral equations

We study singularly perturbed Fredholm equations of the second kind. We give sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of solutions and describe the asymptotic behavior of the solutions. We examine the relationship between the solutions of the perturbed and unperturbed equations, exhibiting the degeneration of the boundary layer to delta functions. The results are applied to several examples including the Volterra equations.
Simultaneous determination of Cr, Ga, In and V in soil and water samples by tungsten coil atomic emission spectrometry

Abstract Tungsten coil atomic emission spectrometry is employed for the simultaneous determination of Cr, Ga, In, and V. Both V and In are detected by this technique for the first time. The atomizer is a simple, inexpensive tungsten filament extracted from a mass-produced, commercially-available 150 W, 15 V microscope bulb. A 25 µl sample aliquot is placed directly on the coil and a small constant-current power source is used to carefully dry, ash and atomize the sample. Analytical signals are detected with a Czerny-Turner spectrograph and a charge coupled device detector. Multiple emission lines from all 4 elements are monitored simultaneously in a 54 nm spectral window. Concentration limits of detection are in the µg l − 1 range for all elements, and the absolute limits of detection are 0.2, 2, 0.5, and 10 ng for Cr, Ga, In, and V, respectively. Even lower values may be obtained by combining the signals for the multiple emission lines of a single element. The method precision is typically better than 5.0% relative standard deviation, and sometimes as good as 0.95% (Ga). Standard reference materials of soil and water are used to check the method accuracy. After a simple acid extraction, the values determined by the method presented no significant difference from the reported values at the 95% confidence level.
The problem of psychogenic precipitation in schizophrenia

1. The types and the subjective importance of psychogenic precipitating factors recognizable in 56 of 161 schizophrenic patients, belonging to prognostically different groups (recovered, highly-improved, deteriorated) were investigated. 2. The psychogenic factor was found to be of an objectively extraordinary nature in only three of 56 patients; all three belonged to the recovered group. 3. Precipitating factors of a chronic type were about five times as frequent in the recovered as in the deteriorated group. Acute precipitating factors prevailed in the deteriorated group, although the frequency of psychogenic precipitation in this group was relatively small. 4. The types of psychogenic factors involved showed distinct qualitative differences between the recovered and the deteriorated groups, with the highly-improved group intermediary. While overstrain and externally precipitated conflict situations predominated in the recovered group, endogenous conflicts, single events, particularly of a symbolic significance, and sudden loss of rapport were most characteristic for the deteriorated group. 5. The established differences argue for the greater significance of psychogenic precipitating factors in the recovered group, not only from the quantitative, but also from the qualitative point of view. This result is expected to complement the prognostic criteria elaborated on in previous studies.
Molded Rigid Polymer Monoliths as Separation Media for Capillary Electrochromatography. 1. Fine Control of Porous Properties and Surface Chemistry

Monolithic columns for capillary electrochromatography have been prepared within the confines of untreated fused-silica capillaries in a single step by a simple copolymerization of mixtures of butyl methacrylate, ethylene dimethacrylate, and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) in the presence of a porogenic solvent. The use of these novel macroporous monoliths eliminates the need for frits, the difficulties encountered with packed capillaries, and capillary surface functionalization. Since the porous properties of the monolithic materials can be easily tailored through changes in the composition of the ternary porogenic solvent, the effects of both pore size and the percentage of sulfonic acid monomer on the efficiency and the electroosmotic flow velocity of the capillary columns could be studied independently over a broad range. A simple increase in the content of charged functionalities within the monolith leads to an expected acceleration of the flow velocity. However, increasing the po...
The asymptotic expansion of a CR invariant and Grauert tubes

CR manifolds, the abstract models of real hypersurfaces in complex manifolds, are 2n + 1 dimensional manifolds M with a codimension one subbundle H of the tangent bundle, which carries a complex structure. The "CR" refers to Cauchy-Riemann because for M C C n+l, the subbundle H consists of induced Cauchy-Riemann operators. There is a wealth of geometry and analysis associated with these structures, especially when the CR manifolds are strictly pseudoconvex. For example, two strictly pseudoconvex domains are biholomorphically equivalent if and only if their boundaries are CR equivalent. A fundamental problem in CR geometry is to find computable invariants associated with the CR structures. The global CR invariant we will consider in this paper is the Chem-Simons type invariant/~ discovered by Bums and Epstein [B-E 1]. It is a real-valued global CR invariant of a compact 3dimensional strictly pseudo-convex CR manifold whose holomorphic tangent bundle is trivial. (Cheng and Lee independently found this invariant, and extend the definition of B-E invariant to a relative invariant on an arbitrary compact 3-dimensional CR manifold, cf. [C-L].) We will evaluate this g asymptotically on the boundary of small Grauert tubes. Before posing the question in a more precise form we will first say a few workds about Grauert tubes. Let X be a real analytic manifold. Then every coordinate patch U C R n can be thickened to obtain an open set r c C n. Since the coordinate changes of X are real analytic maps, by taking power series expansions and by shrinking C U to get convergence, they can be extended holomorphically to such enlarged domains and thus they can be used as holomorphic transition
Performance choice, executive bonuses and corporate leverage

Abstract This study examines the causal link between a firm's leverage decisions and the characteristics of its CEO bonus plans. Results from a simultaneous equations model strongly suggest that highly levered firms are less likely to use return on equity (ROE) or ROE-based accounting performance measures to determine executive bonuses. Estimates also indicate that firms with fewer debt covenants, higher interest rates on debt, and a greater proportion of executive pay in the form of stock options are less likely to adopt ROE-based measures for use in CEO bonus plans. These findings lend strong support to the efficient contracting hypothesis. The conflicting interests of corporate stakeholders, especially between stockholders and creditors, encourage firms to tie executive pay to performance metrics like return on assets (ROA) that will strike the optimal balance between the agency costs of debt and the agency costs of equity. Data availability: all data are available from public sources.
Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Methods for the Determination of Binding Constants for Dye-Protein Complexes

Basic knowledge of equilibrium conditions and the association behavior of any dynamic chemical system is important if one is to evaluate and understand that system. Binding constants for molecular associations can be determined by a variety of different approaches, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. This review examines various chromatographic and electrophoretic methods that have been developed to study dye-protein interactions. An overview of each technique is presented, along with a discussion of its strengths, weaknesses, and potential applications. Examples are provided that illustrate the use of these methods in determining the overall extent of dye-protein binding.
Subsurface Cross Sections in Carrizo Plain Segment of San Andreas Fault, California: ABSTRACT

The Carrizo Plain segment of the San Andreas fault system includes an area of about 3,000 sq mi. The segment extends a distance of about 80 mi along the San Andreas fault between Cholame Valley on the north and Cuyama Valley on the south and is about 40 mi wide (20 mi on each side of the fault). Subsurface data from about 500 exploratory wells drilled in this area have been incorporated into a set of cross sections that carry into the subsurface the stratigraphic units and structures mapped and compiled by T. W. Dibblee, Jr., at the surface. Paleontologic data and electric-log correlations have been utilized to determine facies variations in Tertiary units on both sides of the fault. Strikingly different stratigraphy within the Tertiary sequence in closely spaced wells is interpreted as resulting from the effects of (1) gross lateral facies changes in rocks of the same age, (2) moderate erosion beneath local unconformities, and (3) lateral and/or thrust faulting that has brought rocks of the same age but different geologic environment into juxtaposition. End_of_Article - Last_Page 568------------
Searching and editing MPEG-compressed video in a distributed online environment

WebClip is a compressed video searching and editing system operating over the World Wide Web. Web-Clip uses a distributed client-server model including a server engine for content analysis/editing, and clients for interactive controls of video browsing/editing. It specializes several unique features, including compressed-domain video feature extraction and manipulation, multi-resolution video access, content based video browsing/retrieval, and a distributed network architecture.
Ionothermal synthesis of homochiral framework with acetate-pillared cobalt-camphorate architecture.

A new organically templated homochiral material (EMIm)[Co2(d-cam)2(ac)] (1; d-H2cam = d-camphoric acid; ac = acetate; EMIm = 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium) has been ionothermally synthesized, and it ...
Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (PNETs)

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are tumors that arise from hormone-secreting cells of the islets of Langerhans; however, not all tumors will be associated with a clinical syndrome of hormonal hypersecretion. Surgical intervention is guided by overarching principles of functioning/nonfunctioning tumors, extent of disease, and location of the tumor. Even in the setting of advanced disease including hepatic metastasis, surgical intervention may be appropriate and can provide durable periods of disease-free survival. In addition, recent molecular characterization of PNETs has allowed the identification of newer systemic therapies with improving efficacy.
From clusters to cluster-based economic development

Over the last decades, changes in the global economy and the emergence of Global Value Chains (GVCs) have raised the interest in understanding the specific conditions and cross-company interactions within and across locations. For companies, the need to choose the right location for specific activities moved from an operational to a strategic issue. For countries, regions and cities, competition raised the stakes of understanding how to improve productivity and attract firms in specific fields beyond providing low factor costs and subsidies. Many countries, from natural-resource-rich, to transition economies, and to developed countries have launched competitiveness policies and cluster initiatives involving various stakeholders. The paper addresses how clusters can be leveraged for economic policy and what the role of different stakeholders in this process is. This paper summarises the cluster concept, focusing on the main theoretical framework and on recent empirical findings, and discusses key pillars of a cluster-based economic policy approach. The paper concludes with an application of the concept to resource-rich, oil-dependent economies.
Enhanced release of insulin by prostaglandins in isolated pancreatic islets.

The effects of several prostaglandins on insulin release were studied during incubation of isolated pancreatic islets from the rat. The glucose-stimulated release of insulin into medium containing 300 mg. per cent glucose and 1.0 mM. theophylline was increased approximately twofold by PGE 1 , PGE 2 , and PGF 2α . The effect of PGE 1 was apparent at doses as low as 10 −8 M. and progressively increased with concentrations up to 10 −5 M. PGA 1 did not affect insulin release. Inhibition of insulin release by norepinephrine (10 −5 M.) was partially reversed by both PGE 1 and PGE 2 . None of the prostaglandins affected the small basal release of insulin into medium containing 30 mg. per cent glucose. PGE 1 (10 −5 M.) increased the accumulation of cyclic AMP formed from labeled precursor by pancreatic islets incubated in media containing 10 mM. theophylline and either 30 mg. per cent or 300 mg. per cent glucose. These results indicate that prostaglandins can enhance the release of insulin from beta cellsin response to glucose. This action is antagonistic to the inhibitory effect of norepinephrine on insulin release and may be mediated through effects on adenyl cyclase activity.
Fusion of the Escherichia coli tRNALeu1 promoter to the galK gene: Analysis of sequences necessary for growth-rate-dependent regulation

We have fused DNA fragments derived from an Escherichia coli tRNALeu1 operon to the galK gene of E. coli to identify sequences necessary for the in vivo initiation of transcription and growth-rate-dependent regulation. Promoter sequences consisting of residues from -50 to +56 or -50 to +5 with respect to the in vivo site for initiation of transcription were introduced into chimeric plasmids upstream from the galK gene. Cells bearing these chimeric plasmids exhibited much higher levels of galactokinase than did cells bearing plasmids wherein the galactose promoter was fused to galK. This indicates that the tRNALeu1 promoter is substantially more efficient than the gal promoter. The tRNALeu1 promoter-galK chimeras exhibited marked growth-dependent regulation in a manner consistent with that reported for tRNA regulation. Since tRNALeu1 DNA spanning residues -50 to +5 was sufficient to provide growth rate regulation of galK, an inverted repeat centered at position +17 is not, under the conditions we used, required for this type of regulation.
Recent developments in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) management has been imbued with new interest, in large part due to the recent success of new treatment options for advanced and metastatic disease. This has also been accompanied by less generally well known advances in the understanding of the molecular characterizations of subtypes of RCC with potential to lead to new therapeutic options. Additionally, the urologic oncology community is focusing on nephron-sparing surgical approaches with limited surgery if possible, and in conjunction with interventional radiologists, on ablative procedures for incidentally determined small renal masses. This report reviews some of the new biologic findings of adenocarcinoma of the kidney, and reviews the new therapeutics which continue to change the landscape for treatment of RCC.
Dewatering of Fine Coal Using Hyperbaric Centrifugation

Many coal preparation plants are forced to discard their fine coal because of the inability of existing technologies to reduce the moisture content of this product to an acceptable level. In an effort to overcome this problem, a new mechanical dewatering method has been developed that combines centrifugation with pressure filtration. The process, which may be referred to as hyperbaric centrifugation, is capable of producing a drier product than can be achieved using either filtration or centrifugation alone. The test data obtained from batch experiments show that the new method can reduce cake moistures to 10% or below for many fine coal product streams.
Perceptually based tone mapping for low-light conditions

In this paper we present a perceptually based algorithm for modeling the color shift that occurs for human viewers in low-light scenes. Known as the Purkinje effect, this color shift occurs as the eye transitions from photopic, cone-mediated vision in well-lit scenes to scotopic, rod-mediated vision in dark scenes. At intermediate light levels vision is mesopic with both the rods and cones active. Although the rods have a spectral response distinct from the cones, they still share the same neural pathways. As light levels decrease and the rods become increasingly active they cause a perceived shift in color. We model this process so that we can compute perceived colors for mesopic and scotopic scenes from spectral image data. We also describe how the effect can be approximated from standard high dynamic range RGB images. Once we have determined rod and cone responses, we map them to RGB values that can be displayed on a standard monitor to elicit the intended color perception when viewed photopically. Our method focuses on computing the color shift associated with low-light conditions and leverages current HDR techniques to control the image's dynamic range. We include results generated from both spectral and RGB input images.
14C-trinexapac-ethyl absorption and translocation in Kentucky bluegrass

Trinexapac-ethyl [4-(cyclopropyl -α-hydroxy -methylene)-3,5-dioxocyclohexanecarboxylic acid ethyl ester] is a foliar-applied growth regulator for turfgrass that can reduce mowing frequency, clipping production, and enhance turfgrass color. 14 C-Trinexapac-ethyl was used to evaluate absorption and subsequent 14 C-trinexapac-ethyl translocation in hydroponically grown 'Blacksburg' Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). The magnitude and rate of 14 C trinexapac-ethyl absorption by various organs was as follows: plant base > leaf blade > roots. Plant base, as a morphological description and site of application, refers to the collection of leaf sheaths surrounding the compressed turfgrass stem and the crown of the plant. Over the time period of 0 to 24 h, maximum absorption by the plant base was obtained in 8 h and by the leaf blade in 24 h. Absorption by the roots was negligible. Addition of an activator organosilicone adjuvant, Sylgard 309, significantly enhanced 14 C-trinexapac-ethyl absorption by the leaf blade 1h after application but did not enhance absorption by the plant base. Of the 14 C-trinexapac-ethyl absorbed by the plant base, over 50% was translocated to the plant foliage after 24 h. Of the 14 C-trinexapac-ethyl absorbed by the leaf blade, one-third was translocated after 24 h; the direction of movement was predominantly basipetal. Less than 5% of absorbed 14 C-trinexapac-ethyl from either site was translocated to roots or to rhizomes with daughter plants, explaining the lack of inhibition of lateral turfgrass growth. Combined effects of enhanced leaf blade absorption, basipetal ranslocation from the leaf blade, and acropetal translocation from the plant base of 14 C-trinexapac-ethyl helped explain the positive impact of Sylgard 309 on efficacy and rainfastness of trinexapac-ethyl.
Direct Numerical Simulations of O/H Temporal Mixing Layers Under Supercritical Conditions

Direct numerical simulations of a supercritical oxygen/hydrogen temporal three-dimensional mixing layer are conducted to explore the features of high-pressure transitional mixing behavior. The conservation equations are formulated according to fluctuation–dissipation theory and are coupled to a modified Peng–Robinson equation of state. The boundary conditions are periodic in the streamwise and spanwise directions and of nonreflecting outflow type in the cross-stream direction. Simulations are conducted with initial Reynolds numbers of 6 x 10^2 and 7.5 x 10^2, initial pressure of 100 atm, and temperatures of 400 K in the O_2 and 600 K in the H_2 stream. Each simulation encompasses the rollup and pairing of four initial spanwise vortices into a single vortex. The layer eventually exhibits distorted regions of high density-gradient-magnitude similar to the experimentally observed wisps of fluid at the boundary of supercritical jets. Analysis of the data reveals that the higher-Reynolds-number layer reaches transition, whereas the other one does not. The transitional layer is analyzed to elucidate its characteristics.
Accessibility for Low-Income Workers in New Orleans, Louisiana, After Hurricane Katrina

Existing research has identified the transportation challenges that low-income workers face, including a spatial mismatch between suburban entry-level jobs and urban low-income earners. Because most studies rely on travel models and secondary data, such studies may not capture the experiences of low-income workers. To understand better the mobility patterns and accessibility as they are experienced, this analysis explored commute choices and accessibility from the perspectives of low-income workers. The findings were based on open-ended surveys with 50 low-income workers in New Orleans, Louisiana, and its inner suburbs. For many workers (40%), transportation problems did not limit job opportunities. African-American and centrally located respondents most commonly did not perceive transportation as a barrier to employment. Almost all respondents cited transportation problems for some locations or activities, particularly shopping. The loss of a functional automobile was a common reason to change commute mo...
The Case of the Wandering Spleen

Wandering spleen is a condition that describes the movement of the spleen to an ectopic location inside the abdomen/pelvis as a result of weakened peritoneal ligaments. Wandering spleens are rare, with a less than 0.2% incidence being reported. Diagnosing a wandering spleen can be challenging because of the wide range of findings and the oftentimes vagueness of the patient’s symptoms. The most common ectopic location of the spleen is the left mid-abdomen. The most frequent treatment for wandering spleen includes splenopexy or splenectomy, depending on the complications associated with the condition.
Evaluating Hydroperiod Response in Restored Carolina Bay Wetlands Using Soil Physicochemical Properties

Carolina bays are shallow depression wetlands found in the southeastern United States that have been severely altered by human activity. The need to restore these complex and diverse systems is well established, but our limited understanding of wetland hydrologic processes in these systems hinders our ability to assess the effectiveness of bay restoration efforts. Carolina bays exhibit a wide range of moisture regimes from seasonally saturated to semipermanently inundated. Differing physicochemical properties of soils within bay interiors may control bay hydrology. However, previous efforts to establish relationships between soil characteristics and bay hydrology have been inconclusive. An assessment of soil and hydroperiod was initiated in 16 bays designated to be restored and 6 bays that were not restored (reference). Soil morphology was described, and permanent monitoring wells were installed at each site. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine relationships between the soil physicochemical characteristics and the bay hydroperiod for restored and reference bays in both pre- and postrestoration periods. A significant relationship (r 2 ¼ 0.75, p ¼ 0.02) between prerestoration hydroperiod and clay content in the argillic horizon (Bt) of the reference bays was observed. This relationship was then used to evaluate hydroperiod change in the restored bays from the postrestoration period. The relationship accurately identified sites that exhibited high prerestoration hydroperiods and did not need hydrologic restoration (n ¼ 4) and effectively showed sites that exhibited substantial increases in hydroperiod due to the restoration activities (n ¼ 7).
Wage Reimbursement and Minority Voter Turnout

Objective In this article, I estimate the conditional effect of racial minorities and women on the relationship between wage reimbursement laws and voter turnout. Scholars have found evidence that voting laws affect demographic segments of the population differently. However, scholars have not considered the theoretical implications of pay incentive structures for different minority groups. Methods Using pooled cross-sectional survey data from the November Supplement Current Population Survey 1996–2012, I test whether paid time off to vote laws increase the likelihood of voting for racial and gender minorities. Results The findings indicate that women and Asian Americans are highly responsive to wage reimbursement, Hispanic Americans are relatively unresponsive, and blacks are highly unresponsive relative to whites. Conclusions Reimbursing minorities for wages lost while voting decreases the costs of voting and increases turnout for these racial and gender minority groups except for blacks. I suggest the long history of discrimination and mistreatment by economic and political institutions has led to a lower level of blacks willing to engage in wage reimbursement because of mistrust in the delivery system.
Implementing a Late Preterm Infant Protocol across a Multi-level Nursery Hospital System

Professional Issues Poster Presentation volume scenarios based on the input from the unit educators, risk management, and patient safety. The staff on the units were unaware of the upcoming drill to fully capture their knowledge, skills, and communication patterns in these high-stress scenarios. Video recording captured the scenario as it unfolded and appropriate highand low-fidelity simulators were used to mimic the most realistic scenario possible. Immediately following the scenario, the staff debriefed the video recorded event. In the facilitated debriefing, the participants were able to recognize gaps in communication, identify errors in clinical skills, acknowledge teamwork deficiencies, ascertain the need for a leader, as well as identify process issues that required immediate change. One of the common themes discussed in the debriefing was the need to implement more effective communication as well as the need to establish a common language to help bridge the gap in understanding spoken terminology to ultimately optimize patient safety.
Hardware-based precise time synchronization on Gb/s Ethernet

The accuracy and precision of time synchronization in Ethernet must be enhanced since Ethernet is becoming a critical component of telecommunication networks. This paper investigates a precise time synchronization technique that supports Gb/s Ethernet. To obtain accurate time synchronization, delay variation in message transfer and processing must be minimized. For this purpose, the paper first describes an implementation of preemptive priority queuing, which decreases the message delay variation of Ethernet. The paper then proposes a time synchronization method that is performed in the lower protocol layer and then describes its implementation on FPGA-based hardware. The proposed method achieves superior time accuracy and precision through the low message transfer/processing delay variation provided by preemptive priority, lower layer execution, and hardware implementation. The effectiveness of the method is confirmed through experiments.
Novel somatic single nucleotide variants within the RNA binding protein hnRNP A1 in multiple sclerosis patients.

Some somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) are thought to be pathogenic, leading to neurological disease. We hypothesized that heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein A1 (hnRNP A1), an autoantigen associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) would contain SNVs. MS patients develop antibodies to hnRNP A1 293-304 , an epitope within the M9 domain (AA 268-305 ) of hnRNP A1. M9 is hnRNP A1’s nucleocytoplasmic transport domain, which binds transportin-1 (TPNO-1) and allows for hnRNP A1’s transport into and out of the nucleus. Genomic DNA sequencing of M9 revealed nine novel SNVs that resulted in an amino acid substitution in MS patients that were not present in controls. SNVs occurred within the TPNO-1 binding domain (hnRNP A1 268-289 ) and the MS IgG epitope (hnRNP A1 293-304 ), within M9. In contrast to the nuclear localization of wild type (WT) hnRNP A1, mutant hnRNP A1 mis-localized to the cytoplasm, co-localized with stress granules and caused cellular apoptosis. Whilst WT hnRNP A1 bound TPNO-1, mutant hnRNP A1 showed reduced TPNO-1 binding. These data suggest SNVs in hnRNP A1 might contribute to pathogenesis of MS.
Mechanism of reaction of methylene with the carbon-hydrogen bond: Evidence for direct insertion

Abstract The photolysis of diazomethane in 2-methylpropene-1- 14 C leads predominantly to 2-methylbut-1-ene-1- 14 C whether the reaction be run in the liquid or gas-phase. This result is the first unequivocal evidence in support of mechanisms involving direct insertion of methylene into the carbon-hydrogen bond. In the gas-phase, recovered 2-methylpropene shows a small amount of mixing of radioactivity while the 2-methylbutene-1 shows as much as 8 per cent. The intervention of free radicals as a side-reaction is indicated.
Feature Matching Performance of Compact Descriptors for Visual Search

MPEG is currently developing a standard titled Compact Descriptors for Visual Search (CDVS) for descriptor extraction and compression. In this work, we report comprehensive patch-level experiments for a direct comparison of low bitrate descriptors for visual search. For evaluating different compression schemes, we propose a dataset of matching pairs of image patches from the MPEG-CDVS image-level data sets. We propose a greedy rate allocation scheme for distributing bits across different spatialbins of the SIFT descriptor. We study a scheme based on Entropy Constrained Vector Quantization and greedy rate allocation, which performs close to the performancebound for any compression scheme. Finally, we present extensive feature-level Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) comparisons for different compression schemes (VectorQuantization, Transform Coding, Lattice Coding) proposed during the MPEG-CDVS standardization process.
Cold-rolling of polymer: 4. Toughness enhancement in amorphous polymers

Several types of amorphous polymers have been cold-rolled to various thickness reductions and the notched Izod impact behavior has then been studied. It has been determined that whereas some polymers exhibit large increases in impact strength with modest reductions in thickness other polymers only exhibit small increases in impact strength. For example, PVC, ABS, poly (phenylene oxide), and polysulfones show large increases in impact strength whereas rubber-toughened acrylics show only a small increase in impact strength.
Heart failure: A PKGarious balancing act

The pathologically hypertrophied and failing heart is a battlefield in a war that would make even George Lucas proud. On the one side, you have hemodynamic, neurohormonal, morphologic, and cellular/molecular dark forces urging the ventricle towards decompensation and ultimate demise. On the other, Jedi signaling cascades valiantly try to stave off the impending disaster. Alas, unlike the movies, the dark side often wins, and we need better-equipped counter forces to change this. Current heart failure therapies are fairly defensive; blocking neuro-humoral stimuli and hemodynamic overload. However, adaptive/offensive strategies are advancing, including those aimed at enhancing metabolism, vascular supply, and cell regeneration, and those activating molecular signaling to counter maladaptation. (SELECT FULL TEXT TO CONTINUE)
Nanoimprint Lithography for Hybrid Plastic Electronics

The merger of nanoscale devices with flexible, low cost plastics could enable a broad spectrum of electronic and photonic applications, although difficulties in processing plastics at the nanoscale have limited exploration of this potential. Here we describe the use of room temperature nanoimprint lithography for the general fabrication of nanometer- through millimeter-scale patterns on polymer substrates. Specifically, we demonstrate the patterning of arrays of nanoscale source-drain electrode pairs with continuous interconnects to the millimeter length scale, and the fabrication of hundred-nanometer gate features hierarchically patterned over large areas. These patterned plastic substrates have also been used in conjunction with semiconductor nanowires to assemble field-effect transistors.
Analysis of Indicator Media: Samples/Protocols

Geochemical analysis of sample types evaluated in environmental research (Table 6–1) should give accurate and precise results at concentrations close to detection limits as well as at high concentrations. Analytical techniques are chosen to obtain optimal results. This improves the basis for assessment and scientific interpretation of geochemical data. Nonetheless, more complete resolutions to environmental geochemistry problems require other data and considerations. A focussed research program starts with sample selection (Chapter 6) and a thorough description of measured and observed physical-chemical-biological parameters at sampling locations. This is followed by care in sampling, proper sample treatment and preservation in the field, and correct sample handling during transport to the laboratory and storage there. Next there must be care in preparing a representative sample for analysis in the laboratory, preparing replicates to monitor precision, and selecting standards matched to sample matrix type(s) and projected concentration ranges of target elements or compounds to monitor accuracy. The July 1994 (Vol. 18) Special Number of the Geostandards Newsletter lists producers of about 400 geochemical reference materials available to the analytical community. It describes the standards and provides data such as “best values” for the concentrations of about 60 chemical elements and also considers problems that might be associated with use of specific standards.