cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recent Advances in Repository Seal Materials

Studies of radioactive waste repository seal materials have shown the apparent compatibility of some cementitious seal materials with the repository environments for which they were designed, both stratigraphic sequences from a bedded salt area, and plateau basalt flows. The accompanying mechanical and physical properties appear favorable. Accelerated test data on some clays and zeolitic materials have placed tentative limits on conditions for their adequate performance. Low permeability has been shown to be a key factor in assuring durability; however, chemical compatibility also is important for preventing slow changes from taking place in the seal materials, which over prolonged periods might have cumulative harmful effects on the materials’ performance. Thermodynamic data and information from old and ancient analog materials are used as supplemental evaluatory data concerning long-term durability.
Effect and finite element analysis on the method of magnetism gathering in crack MFL testing

By the finite element analysis method,this paper analyzes the effect of two different magnetism gathering structure on the density and intensity of crack MFL varying with crack depth.And their curves are given,validated by experiment.The outcome indicates that the magnetic system with magnetism gathering can build up the density and intensity of crack MFL on the measure point,and their breadth of signal can be enhanced by about 20%,which is advantageous to crack MFL testing and analysis.
Combined tricuspid and pulmonic stenosis: Clinical, echocardiographic, hemodynamic, surgical, and pathological features

A 30-year-old man with a history of a murmur since childhood had progressive ascites for 2 years. The patient was found to have severe stenoses of the pulmonic and tricuspid valves with a well-developed right ventricle. Impressive clinical improvement occurred after pulmonic valvotomy, infundibulectomy, and replacement of the stenotic tricuspid valve with a porcine xenograft. The clinical, echocardiographic, hemodynamic, surgical, and pathological features are presented.
Critical Field Studies of Reactively Sputtered and Nitrided NbN, VN and V(Mo)N Films

We have made critical field (Hc2) measurements on high TcNbN and VN films prepared either by reactive sputtering or by nitriding evaporated metal films at high temperature in an N2atmosphere. Good quality films were obtained having high Tcand Hc2by both methods. Thick sputtered NbN films (> 1000 A) showed H c2 ⊥ > H c2 ″ whereas thinner films had H c2 ⊥ H c2 ⊥ for thick as well as thin films. In the case of VN thick reactively sputtered films showed small anisotropy H c2 ⊥ ⪞; H c2 ″ , while H c2 ″ > H c2 ⊥ for thin sputtered films as well as for thick nitrided films. These observations show strong columnar growth in reactively sputtered NbN films and its absence in nitrided films. Transmission electron microscope pictures support this view. We have also made measurements on VN films with a small percentage of Mo included with the aim of increasing Hc2by spin-orbit scattering. Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg theory has been applied to the Hc2versus T data.
Maternal Weight Gain Regulates Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Male, Not Female, Neonates: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The fetus largely depends on maternal supply and placental transport for its source of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), which are essential for proper neurological and cardiovascular development. Pregnancy complications such as diabetes reduces neonatal LCPUFA supply, but little is known of how fatty acid delivery is affected by maternal body type or weight gain in uncomplicated pregnancies. In a cross-sectional study of maternal-neonatal pairs at term, we sought to determine the effect of gestational weight gain on neonatal LCPUFA supply. Forty maternal-neonatal pairs of uncomplicated (no gestational hypertension or diabetes) term pregnancies were recruited upon admission to Oregon Health & Science University Labor & Delivery for scheduled cesarean section. Maternal and umbilical cord plasma fatty acid profiles were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry. First trimester weight gain was negatively correlated with maternal n-3 LCPUFA ( r = -0.80, P = .0002), and this was not affected by fetal sex. High maternal weight gain in the first trimester was negatively associated with cord n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels ( r = -0.70, P = .03) and placental thickness ( r = -0.69, P = .03) in male, but not female, offspring. High maternal weight gain in the first trimester is associated with a thinner placenta and low levels of n-3 LCPUFA in male offspring. Further study is required to confirm that male offspring are at a higher risk of poor outcomes associated with high maternal weight gain early in pregnancy.
Dramatic robustness of a multiple delay dispersed interferometer to spectrograph errors: how mixing delays reduces or cancels wavelength drift

We describe demonstrations of remarkable robustness to instrumental noises by using a multiple delay externally dispersed interferometer (EDI) on stellar observations at the Hale telescope. Previous observatory EDI demonstrations used a single delay. The EDI (also called “TEDI”) boosted the 2,700 resolution of the native TripleSpec NIR spectrograph (950-2450 nm) by as much as 10x to 27,000, using 7 overlapping delays up to 3 cm. We observed superb rejection of fixed pattern noises due to bad pixels, since the fringing signal responds only to changes in multiple exposures synchronous to the applied delay dithering. Remarkably, we observed a ~20x reduction of reaction in the output spectrum to PSF shifts of the native spectrograph along the dispersion direction, using our standard processing. This allowed high resolution observations under conditions of severe and irregular PSF drift otherwise not possible without the interferometer. Furthermore, we recently discovered an improved method of weighting and mixing data between pairs of delays that can theoretically further reduce the net reaction to PSF drift to zero. We demonstrate a 350x reduction in reaction to a native PSF shift using a simple simulation. This technique could similarly reduce radial velocity noise for future EDI’s that use two delays overlapped in delay space (or a single delay overlapping the native peak). Finally, we show an extremely high dynamic range EDI measurement of our ThAr lamp compared to a literature ThAr spectrum, observing weak features (~0.001x height of nearest strong line) that occur between the major lines. Because of individuality of each reference lamp, accurate knowledge of its spectrum between the (unfortunately) sparse major lines is important for precision radial velocimetry.
Relationship between Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Vessel Density and Severity of Visual Field Loss in Glaucoma.

Purpose To evaluate the association between vessel density measurements using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) and severity of visual field loss in primary open-angle glaucoma. Design Observational, cross-sectional study. Participants A total of 153 eyes from 31 healthy participants, 48 glaucoma suspects, and 74 glaucoma patients enrolled in the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study. Methods All eyes underwent imaging using OCT-A (Angiovue; Optovue, Fremont, CA), spectral-domain OCT (Avanti; Optovue), and standard automated perimetry (SAP). Retinal vasculature information was summarized as vessel density, the percentage of area occupied by flowing blood vessels in the selected region. Two measurements from the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) were used: circumpapillary vessel density (cpVD) (750-μm-wide elliptical annulus around the optic disc) and whole-image vessel density (wiVD) (entire 4.5×4.5-mm scan field). Main Outcome Measures Associations between the severity of visual field loss, reported as SAP mean deviation (MD), and OCT-A vessel density. Results Compared with glaucoma eyes, normal eyes demonstrated a denser microvascular network within the RNFL. Vessel density was higher in normal eyes followed by glaucoma suspects, mild glaucoma, and moderate to severe glaucoma eyes for wiVD (55.5%, 51.3%, 48.3%, and 41.7%, respectively) and for cpVD (62.8%, 61.0%, 57.5%, 49.6%, respectively) ( P R 2 = 0.54 and R 2 = 0.51, respectively) than the association between SAP MD with RNFL ( R 2 = 0.36) and rim area ( R 2 = 0.19) ( P Conclusions Decreased vessel density was significantly associated with the severity of visual field damage independent of the structural loss. Optical coherence tomography angiography is a promising technology in glaucoma management, potentially enhancing the understanding of the role of vasculature in the pathophysiology of the disease.
Translating Player Dialogue into Meaning Representations Using LSTMs

In this paper, we present a novel approach to natural language understanding that utilizes context-free grammars (CFGs) in conjunction with sequence-to-sequence (seq2seq) deep learning. Specifically, we take a CFG authored to generate dialogue for our target application, a videogame, and train a long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN) to translate the surface utterances that it produces to traces of the grammatical expansions that yielded them. Critically, we already annotated the symbols in this grammar for the semantic and pragmatic considerations that our game’s dialogue manager operates over, allowing us to use the grammatical trace associated with any surface utterance to infer such information. From preliminary offline evaluation, we show that our RNN translates utterances to grammatical traces (and thereby meaning representations) with great accuracy.
The Role of Domain-Specific Non-Cognitive Variables in Postsecondary Academic Success

The Self-Regulated Learner must possess certain non-cognitive beliefs in order to remain sufficiently motivated in the pursuit of academic success. Students who are do not possess such beliefs are more likely to struggle in academics. This problem is especially pronounced in students at public universities and community colleges. Even though these students have the appropriate background knowledge to be awarded a high school diploma, they must still acquire certain non-cognitive beliefs, in particular self-efficacy (a belief in one’s ability to succeed and master the tasks at hand within a given domain), in order to be motivated to apply the knowledge they learned in high school, regulate their study habits, and monitor their progress. This exploratory study surveyed 42 undergraduates enrolled in a psychological statistics course. A hierarchical multiple regression assessed the extent to which self-efficacy predicted final statistics exam grades, while controlling for prior GPA. This analysis showed that prior GPA explained 38.9% of the variability in final exam grades and self-efficacy accounted for another 7.3% of the variance, explaining a total of 46.2% of the variance in final exam performance. These findings indicate that non-cognitive variables play an essential role in the prediction and promotion of academic performance at the college level in public universities. Developing students’ self-efficacy beliefs in specific courses may improve students’ performance. Different methods of employing interventions to alter students’ non-cognitive beliefs are discussed, with particular focus on the use of exam wrappers to promote self-efficacy and improve course grades.
Modeling, analysis and design of an undersea storage system

This paper presents the modeling, performance analysis, and design of an undersea storage system (USS). The USS can be employed for conditioning the output power of wave energy converters (WECs) and floating wind turbines (FWTs) at sea or ocean cites. A mathematical model is developed to describe the governing equations of the USS operation. Next, based on the developed model, a storage system is designed for a 3 MW direct drive WEC. Finally, some guidelines and discussions on determining the USS energy capacity, power capacity, optimum size, and installation depth are presented.
Shape analysis of the jaws between two minnow species over ontogeny

This study compares sand shiner (Notropis stramineus) and silverjaw (Ericymba buccata) minnows, in terms of the morphological shape changes of the upper, lower, and pharyngeal jaws over ontogeny. These two species of minnows initially feed on midge larvae and undergo an ontogenic prey shift. The traditional morphometrics measured-total length, snout-to-vent length, eye diameter, premaxilla length, lower jaw length, gape-were regressed onto total length to test for allometry. Digital pictures were processed with tpsDig and further analyzed with MorphoJ utilizing a regular geometric morphometrics procedure using principle component analyses. We examined gut contents for 16 fish of each species. For the silverjaw minnows, we found all jaw variables to exhibit positive allometric growth with increasing total length, while most of the jaw variables for the sand shiner exhibited negative allometric growth with increasing total length. This correlates with an ontogenic prey shift for both species. Sand shiner minnows have been found to be more omnivorous, feeding on algae later in life, while silverjaw minnows undergo a prey shift to larger invertebrates. These species lack oral dentition causing an increased reliance on the pharyngeal apparatus. Principle component analyses revealed elongation of pharyngeal jaw elements in the silverjaw minnows and a relative shortening and bulking of pharyngeal jaws in the sand shiner minnows. The ontogenic dietary shifts observed in these two species provide possible explanation for the morphological changes over ontogeny in jaw elements, which are likely enabling these species to occupy the same habitat with little niche overlap.
Quasi Solitons: A Case Study of the Double Sine-Gordon Equations

We report here results from the numerical simulation of the scattering between a solitonantisoliton pair for the generalized double sineGordonequation.
Computer vision system for weld bead geometric analysis

Welding is an important process in several industries and it is required precision and attention during the execution. In addition it is unhealthy work for the operator who is in direct contact with sparks, smoke and electricity. Thus, it is increasingly common to use robots in this type of task, reducing human intervention in the process. This work proposes an automated system to verify discontinuities in the weld beads, which may invalidate them. Through the use of a linear welding robot and a vision system, images of the pre-welding and post-welding metal plates are captured for future comparisons and evaluation metrics applied. The proposed method uses the combination of techniques such as: PCA, Gaussian Mixture and HMM with the objective of identifying the edges of the weld beads. Then, the proposed metrics are applied in order to assist the welding inspector to identify possible discontinuities in the weld.
Computer Assisted Financial Aid Disbursement and Loan Collection.

The costs of _ attending an institution of higher learning have increased tremendously since the inception of federal financial aids programs. For example, at Washington State University the average expense for a student to attend school for one year was in 1958 approximately $963. The cost for the . same student during the 1973-74 academic year was approximately $2,875. During this same period of time; financial aid awards at WSU excluding short-term emergency loans have increased from approximately $133,940 in 1958 to $2,663,433 for the 1973-74 academic school year. In addition to this, over 2,000 students were granted short-term, emergency loans during the 197374 school year. As a result of growing enrollment, higher costs to attend college, increasing financial aid monies available, and greater demand for that money, administration of funds has become more comple:x. Not only has it become more difficult to control disbursement of funds to students, but it has also become increasingly important to have proper audits, controls, and procedur~ for collecting loans which were made to students. These audits, controls, and procedures must be, at a minimum, in accordance with governmental regu-lations. All of the many complexities mentioned above (more money, more students, additional aid programs, increasing governmental regulations and reporting requirements) have made manual financial aid operations, of any significant size, nearly impossible to manage effectively.
Spatial and Temporal Changes in Emergent Marsh and Associated Marsh Birds of the Lower Mobile-Tensaw River Delta in Alabama, USA

Sea-level rise, suppression of natural disturbances, and human development of coastal lands have influenced the capacity of tidal marshes to maintain quality habitat for wildlife, including coastal marsh birds. This study targeted the oligohaline marshes of the lower Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, Alabama, USA with the objective of assessing landcover and marsh bird distributional changes relative to two sampling periods, 2004 and 2015. We employed analysis of aerial imagery and standardized marsh bird surveys to derive information on the densities of common gallinule (Gallinula galeata), king rail (Rallus elegans), and least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) during each sampling period. A gradient of land change was apparent where the northernmost and the southeastern portions of the study area lost land from 2006 to 2013 while the extent of emergent marsh wetland increased in the south and decreased in the north. Average densities of all three birds declined between survey periods (common gallinule 15%, king rail 50%, least bittern 38%). Changes in the distributions of these marsh birds reflected change in landform and emergent marsh habitat. This study reveals that tidal wetlands and associated communities do not change through linear processes. Rather, coastal wetlands may show distinct patterns surrounding areas of accretion, and loss.
What preoperative factors predict postoperative sitting pelvic position one year following total hip arthroplasty

Aims The aims of this study were to measure sagittal standing and sitting lumbar-pelvic-femoral alignment in patients before and following total hip arthroplasty (THA), and to consider what preoper...
Effects of Ethanol Plant Proximity and Crop Prices on Land‐Use Change in the United States

Expansion of ethanol production in the United States has raised concerns regarding its land‐use change effects. However, little is known about the extent to which observed land use change in the United States can be attributed to ethanol plant proximity or is caused by changes in crop prices that may be partly induced by expansion in ethanol production. This study aims to examine the determinants of changes in corn acreage and aggregate crop acreage by simultaneously identifying the effects of establishment of ethanol plants serving as terminal markets for corn and the effects of changes in crop prices in the United States between 2003 and 2014. Our results show that corn acreage and total acreage are fairly inelastic with respect to both changes in ethanol capacity in the vicinity, as well as changes in crop prices. Our estimates of acreage elasticity with respect to corn ethanol production are smaller than those obtained by previous studies that disregard the price effect on crop acreage. We find that, ceteris paribus, the increase in ethanol capacity alone led to a modest 3% increase in corn acreage and less than a 1% increase in total crop acreage by 2012 when compared to 2008. The effect of corn price and aggregate crop price on acreage change from 2008 to 2012 was more than twice larger than that of effective ethanol production capacity over this period; but this price effect was largely reversed by the downturn in crop prices after 2012. This study shows that land‐use change is not a static phenomenon and that it is important to examine how it evolves in response to various factors that may change over time.
The economic benefits of reducing racial disparities in health: the case of Minnesota.

This paper estimates the benefits of eliminating racial disparities in mortality rates and work weeks lost due to illness. Using data from the American Community Survey (2005–2007) and Minnesota vital statistics (2011–2015), we explore economic methodologies for estimating the costs of health disparities. The data reveal large racial disparities in both mortality and labor market non-participation arising from preventable diseases and illnesses. Estimates show that if racial disparities in preventable deaths were eliminated, the annualized number of lives saved ranges from 475 to 812, which translates into $1.2 billion to $2.9 billion per year in economic savings (in 2017 medical care inflation-adjusted dollars). After eliminating the unexplained racial disparities in labor market participation, an additional 4,217 to 9185 Minnesota residents would have worked each year, which equals $247.43 million to $538.85 million in yearly net benefits to Minnesota.
Are Short Selling Restrictions Effective

Despite strong theoretical predictions based on disagreement, limited empirical evidence has linked short selling restrictions to higher prices. We test this relationship using quasi-experimental methods based on Rule 201, a threshold-based policy that restricts aggressive short selling when intraday returns cross -10%. When comparing stocks on either side of the threshold in the same hour of trading, we find that the restriction leads to 8% lower short sale volume and 35 bps higher daily returns. These price effects do not reverse and are not associated with information events, suggesting that Rule 201 restricts short selling based on transient opportunities unrelated to fundamentals. Although these persistent direct effects align with policymaker objectives, we find evidence of offsetting transient spillover effects on peer stocks consistent with cross-stock substitution by short sellers.
Content Area Literacy Strategies That Work: Do This, Not That!

Content area teachers are now being tasked with incorporating reading and writing instruction, but what works? In this essential book from Routledge and AMLE, author Lori G. Wilfong describes ten best practices for content area literacy and how to implement them in the middle-level classroom. She also points out practices that should be avoided, helping you figure out which ideas to ditch and which to embrace. Topics covered include… Building background knowledge quickly Using specific strategies to scaffold focus while reading Using small group reading strategies to bring personal response and accountability to the content Understanding items that make reading in different disciplines unique Teaching content area vocabulary in meaningful ways Making writing an authentic process through daily and weekly assignments Planning and teaching effective informational and argumentative pieces Each chapter includes Common Core connections and practical templates and tools. The templates are available as free eResources so you can easily print them for classroom use.
Interhospital Transfers for Endovascular Therapy for Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Background and Purpose— Multiple randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the superiority of endovascular therapy (ET) for large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Few centers can pr...
Epitaxial SrTi O 3 film on silicon with narrow rocking curve despite huge defect density

The structural perfection and defect microstructure of epitaxial (001) $\mathrm{SrTi}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ films grown on (001) Si was assessed by a combination of x-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Conditions were identified that yield 002 $\mathrm{SrTi}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ rocking curves with full width at half-maximum below 0.03\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} for films ranging from 2 to 300 nm thick, but this is because this particular peak is insensitive to the $\ensuremath{\sim}8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{11}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{--2}$ density of threading dislocations with pure edge character and extended defects containing dislocations and out-of-phase boundaries. Our results show that one narrow rocking curve peak is insufficient to characterize the structural perfection of epitaxial films.
Dielectric Permittivity Properties of Hydrated Polymers: Measurement and Connection to Ion Transport Properties

Polymer membranes are important for a range of aqueous solution-based technologies that require controlled rates of ion transport. Advanced membranes will need to be engineered at the molecular lev...
Annulation of Hydrazones and Alkynes via Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed Dual C–H Activation: Synthesis of Pyrrolopyridazines and Azolopyridazines

Hydrazones readily synthesized from N-aminopyrroles or N-aminoazoles and aldehydes undergo Rh(III)-catalyzed dual C-H activation and coupling with aryl- and alkyl-substituted alkynes to give pyrrolopyridazines or azolopyridazines, respectively. This transformation represents a rare example of hydrazoyl C-H activation and proceeds without heteroatom functionality to direct C-H activation. Hydrazones derived from aromatic, alkenyl, and aliphatic aldehydes were effective inputs, and tethering the alkyne to the hydrazone enabled annulations to more complex, tricyclic products.
Study on the map of plasmid of Y. pestis in the R. opimus natural plague foci in Junggar Basin

Objective To investigate the type of plasmid map of Y. pestis in the R. opimas natural plague loci in Junggar Basin. Methods A total of 39 plasmid DNA of Y. pestis which were isolated from the natural plague loci of Junggar Basin, Tianshan Mountain, Kunlun Mountain, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and In-ner Mongolia were extracted by the methods of Kado and Liu. The plasmid map was analyzed by the methods of agarose gel eleetrophoretogram. Results Two types of plasmid map were found in 26 Y. pestis which were isolated from Junggar Basin. Of them 23 were 6 × 106, 45 × 106 and 65 × 106 type of plasmid map, and 3 were 6 × 106, 45 × 106 and 72 × 106 type. Conclusion There are two types of plasmid map in the R. opi-mus natural plague loci in Junggar Basin. One type, which is the dominant type in this area, is 6 × 106, 45 × 106 and 65 × 106 type. This type is also similar to the dominant plasmid map type of the nature plague loci of Tianshan Mountain, Kunlun Mountain, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Inner Mongolia. The other type is 6 × 106, 45 × 106 and 72 × 106 type, and this type is new plasmid map type of Y. pestis in our country. Key words: Yersinia pestis; Plasmid; Junggar Basin
New Evidence on Investors’ Valuation of Deferred Tax Liabilities

Although deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) represent a significant financial statement liability for most firms, research provides mixed evidence concerning investors’ valuation of these items. Using an expanded dataset of hand-collected tax footnotes, I find evidence suggesting that investors price depreciation-related DTLs as economic burdens and show that my primary findings are robust to the use of a changes-based methodology. I also examine various factors that could affect investors’ pricing of these liabilities, including DTL balance growth, expectations of future income, and discounting. As depreciation-related DTLs are, by a wide margin, the largest component of DTLs, my study provides important insights into investors’ valuation of firms’ tax planning.
Naltrexone Initiation in the Inpatient Setting for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review of Clinical Outcomes.

Abstract Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent health issue in the United States. The number of those receiving medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is limited, despite strong evidence for their effectiveness. The inpatient setting may represent an important opportunity to initiate MAT. The goal of this study was to summarize the data on naltrexone initiation in the emergency department or inpatient setting for the management of AUDs. We searched ClinicalTrials.gov , Ovid EBM Reviews, Ovid Embase, Ovid Medline, Ovid PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception through October 31, 2019. Search strategies were created using a combination of keywords ( Supplemental Appendix 1 , available online at http://www.mcpiqojournal.org ) and standardized index terms related to naltrexone therapy for medically hospitalized patients with AUD. Two uncontrolled pre-post study designs evaluated naltrexone prescription rates, 30-day readmission rates, and rehospitalization rates. Two authors independently abstracted data on study characteristics, results, and study-level risk of bias. The research team collaborated to assess the strength of evidence across studies. Two studies reported that implementing a protocol for naltrexone initiation increased MAT rates, with one study noting a substantial decrease in 30-day hospital readmissions. Overall, we found that there is a paucity of data on naltrexone initiation in the inpatient setting for AUDs. This likely reflects the nature of current clinical practice and prescriber comfortability. There is a need for further studies evaluating MAT initiation in the inpatient setting. Furthermore, efforts to increase provider knowledge of these therapeutic options are in need of further exploration.
A Computer-Aided Platform for Simultaneous Process Synthesis and Intensification

Abstract We develop SPICE (Synthesis and Process Intensification of Chemical Enterprises), which is a software tool for chemical process design and discovery. Primarily based on the building block representation of various physicochemical phenomena, SPICE offers a comprehensive set of toolkits to perform (i) benchmarking to determine the theoretical bounds on process design opportunities and maximum intensification targets, (ii) conceptual process design, (iii) process synthesis and optimization, (iv) process simulation and analysis of both intensified and non-intensified unit operations, (v) identification of intensification hotspots for existing processes and (vi) property-performance mapping towards elucidating new materials for intensification purposes. The benefits and the applicability of SPICE as a process design platform are demonstrated through multiple case studies.
Generalized Anisotropic Descriptions for the Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Crystalline Polymers

In earlier work, a two-phase aggregate model has been developed, which successfully described the anisotropic properties of uniaxially oriented semi-crystalline polymer films of isotactic polypropylene[1–7]. In this methodology, the polymer was considered to be composed of two phases, crystalline and non-crystalline. Each phase has orientation-independent intrinsic properties, which are simply a manifestation of anisotropic properties of structural elements that make up as an aggregate the particular phase of the polymer. The two-phase model provided fundamental relations for the anisotropic compliance properties of polymers in terms of such fundamental parameters as the unoriented phase compliance intrinsics, the orientation distribution of each of the phases, and the volume fraction crystallinity.
The Justification of Negation as Failure

Publisher Summary Prolog is a logic programming language, which is used to answer queries on the basis of information provided by the programmer. For the most part, the logic employed by Prolog is standard. But, it uses a highly unorthodox rule for establishing negative facts. This rule, the rule of negation as failure, allows denying a statement on the grounds that a certain attempt to prove it has failed. The rule is not classically valid and the question arises as to how it is to be justified. There are three different kinds of justification that have been proposed in the literature. The first is to re-interpret negation to mean something like unprovability. The second is to assume that the program is complete with respect to truths; all truths are derivable. The third is to suppose that the program is complete with respect to conditions; all sufficient conditions for the application of the predicates have been specified.
Ferric iron uptake in Erwinia chrysanthemi mediated by chrysobactin and related catechol-type compounds.

Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937 possesses a saturable, high-affinity transport system for the ferric complex of its native siderophore chrysobactin, [N-alpha-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl)-D-lysyl-L-serine]. Uptake of 55Fe-labeled chrysobactin was completely inhibited by respiratory poison or low temperature and was significantly reduced in rich medium. The kinetics of chrysobactin-mediated iron transport were determined to have apparent Km and Vmax values of about 30 nM and of 90 pmol/mg.min, respectively. Isomers of chrysobactin and analogs with progressively shorter side chains mediated ferric iron transport as efficiently as the native siderophore, which indicates that the chrysobactin receptor primarily recognizes the catechol-iron center. Free ligand in excess only moderately reduced the accumulation of 55Fe. Chrysobactin may therefore be regarded as a true siderophore for E. chrysanthemi.
Test workload measurement and reliability analysis for large commercial software systems

This paper characterizes the testing environment for large commercial software systems, matches reliability model assumptions with the application environment, examines alternative test workload measurements that capture software usage information during testing, and uses two such measurements, test runs and transactions, as our usage dependent time measurements in reliability modeling. Our previous research using test runs, execution time, and test input information for reliability analysis and improvement is extended to ensure better test workload measurements for reliability assessment and prediction. This paper also identifies conditions under which different test workload measurements are appropriate, and presents reliability modeling results using these measurements in several products developed in the IBM Software Solutions Toronto Laboratory.
A software development project: a student-written assessment system

This paper describes a web-based electronic course assessment system that was developed by computer science students in capstone courses in software development at Iona College.
Data fusion in robotics and machine intelligence

Data fusion and sensor integration - state-of-the-art 1990s, R.C. Luo and M.G. Gay multi-source spatial fusion using Bayesian reasoning, A. Elfes multi-sensor strategies using Dempster/Shafer belief accumulation, S.A. Hutchinson and A.C. Kak data fusion techniques using robust statistics, R. McKendall and M. Mintz recursive fusion operators - desirable properties and illustrations, Y. Chen and R.L. Kashyap distributed data fusion using Kalman filtering - a robotics application, C. Brown, et al kinematic and satistical models for data fusion using Kalman filtering, T.J. Broida and S.S. Blackman least-squares fusion of multi-sensory data, R.O. Eason and R.C. Gonzalez fusion of multi-dimensional data using regularization, M.A. Abidi geometric fusion - minimizing uncertainty ellipsoid volumes, Y. Nakamura combination of fuzzy information in the framework of possibility theory, D. Dubois and H. Prade data fusion - a neural networks implementation, T.L. Huntsberger.
Purification, crystallization, and preliminary x-ray diffraction studies of the flavoenzyme mercuric ion reductase from Bacillus sp. strain RC607.

The flavoenzyme mercuric ion reductase from Bacillus sp. strain RC607 was purified by dye-ligand affinity chromatography. The protein was crystallized from solutions of high ionic strength, and one of the two crystal forms obtained has proven suitable for x-ray diffraction studies. Preliminary analysis showed that these crystals belong to the tetragonal space group 1422. The unit cell dimensions are a = b = 180.7 A; c = 127.9 A. The diffraction pattern extends to better than 3 A resolution. Crystal density measurements are consistent with one enzyme dimer of 2 × 69,000 Da comprising the asymmetric unit. Trypsin treatment of the native enzyme resulted in the removal of 157 amino acids at the N terminus. After purification, the remaining fragment (amino acids 158–631), which is still fully active in vitro, could be crystallized under the same conditions as native enzyme. Twinning problems, however, did not allow complete analysis of these crystals.
Deformation of amphibolites via dissolution-precipitation creep in the middle and lower crust

Continuous compositional zoning in amphibole grains in strongly deformed and lineated amphibolites from the Eastern Blue Ridge, North Carolina indicates that most of the deformation was accommodated by dissolution–precipitation creep. Amphibole in most samples shows moderate prograde and/or retrograde zoning parallel to the long-axis with compositions ranging between magnesiohornblende and tschermakite. In one sample, grains are zoned from actinolitic (Si = 7.9 p.f.u.) cores to tschermakitic (Si = 6.2 p.f.u) rims. Amphibole-plagioclase thermometry suggests prograde growth temperatures as low as 400 °C, but typically range from 650 to 730 °C and retrograde growth temperatures 700 °C because dislocation-creep would have deformed the fracture network. Thus, these amphibolites deformed by dissolution–precipitation creep that produced a strong linear fabric under upper amphibolite facies, middle-to-lower crustal conditions. The significance of this discovery is that dissolution–precipitation creep is activated at lower stresses than dislocation creep and that the strength of the lower crust, where amphibole is the dominant mineral is probably lower than that derived from experimental studies.
Características de la gramática de Pāṇini presentes en la descripción de la formación de palabras de Bloomfield

La gramatica de Panini es uno de los estudios mas importantes y trascendentales a nivel linguistico. Por esto, este texto se toma de base para demostrar que en los capitulos sobre linguistica sincronica del libro Language de Bloomfield se encuentra una influencia importante de la gramatica de Panini. De esta forma, se comparan la descripcion de la formacion de palabras de Bloomfield con ciertas caracteristicas de la gramatica de Panini. Ademas, se realiza una breve exposicion de algunas caracteristicas fundamentales de la gramatica de Panini que facilitara la comparacion de la labor sincronica de Bloomfield con esta.
A Switched Mode Envelope Tracker for Polar EDGE Transmitter

Design and implementation of an envelope tracking switched-mode power supply (SMPS) for polar EDGE transmitter is described in this paper. The objectives are to achieve high efficiency and high fidelity tracking as well as low interferences according to the EDGE spectral mask restrictions, while providing approximately constant signal propagation delay for easy compensation in the phase-modulation path. Simulation and experimental results are shown for a closed-loop PWM buck converter switching at 4.3MHz, using a compensator that results in the overall Bessel type low-pass transfer function.
World War II and the Transformation of the U.S. State: The Wartime Foundations of U.S. Hegemony

I present an analysis of the history of U.S. expansion and rise to hegemony in World War II, and argue that the concrete global perspectives and postwar ambitions of U.S. state managers were formed in the course of world war itself. They were not the result of preconceived economic or geopolitical policies or aims. I examine U.S. expansion and postwar goals in the military, economic, and political arenas, and show how social processes set in motion by world war in each of these dimensions were central in shaping the distinctive outcomes. I develop a theoretical perspective of world war as a social process, and argue that such an extraordinary period of violence, historical contingency, and state-led expansion involves potentially unique features of macrohistorical development and change.
Perception of timing is more context sensitive than sensorimotor synchronization.

In three experiments, the effects of contextual temporal variation on the perception of timing and on sensorimotor synchronization were examined. Experiment 1 showed that exposure to a variably timed auditory precursor sequence reduces the detectability of deviations from isochrony in a musical test sequence. By contrast, in Experiment 2 there was only a small and transient effect of identical precursor sequences on the variability of finger taps that were synchronized with a similar test sequence. Moreover, the precursor did not impede phase error correction following deviations from isochrony in the test sequence. Experiment 3 employed a within-subjects design that required simultaneous detection of irregularities in and synchronization with nonmusical auditory sequences. Precursor variability impaired only detection, not synchronization performance. These results suggest that perception of deviations from regularity engages context-sensitive timing processes, probably related to conscious awareness, that are not involved in sensorimotor synchronization.
Some observations on the interpretation of 40Ar/39Ar age spectra

Several recent applications of the 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum technique have utilized the ability of this technique to resolve the internal Ar isotope distribution in crystals for the purpose of placing constraints on the timing of thermal events. Additionally, a few of these studies have attempted to use certain properties of the age spectrum to estimate the temperature and duration of heating experienced by the sample during the disturbance. Although these successful applications are encouraging, the interpretation of age spectra of disturbed samples is in many ways still an art form with the beholder apparently relatively free of constraints that might limit an assessment. In fact, there are a number of restrictions on interpretation imposed by: (1) multiple episodic loss; (2) slow cooling; (3) mixed phases; (4) resolution of the age spectrum; (5) excess 40Ar; (6) recoil artifacts; (7) grain distribution and size; and (8) phase changes while in the vacuum extraction system. These effects are discussed with a view to understanding possible ambiguities in Ar release patterns. In most cases, only with independent geochronological knowledge, an understanding of the release systematics, and complete sample characterization, can these constraints be successfully dealt with in a quantitative framework.
Validation of the indoor environmental quality conceptual model

The Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) conceptual model is validated with an independent consultant generated database that was not used for its formulation. The model uses the Indoor Environmental Index (IEI) to assess the IEQ and select among three management options. IEI values are either calculated using measured environmental variables or predicted by a simple linear regression model with the Percent of Occupants with Two or More Persistent Symptoms (POPS2) index as the independent variable. Responses to a questionnaire determine POPS2 values. The paper investigates if the predicted IEI values lead to the same IEQ management decisions as the expensive calculated IEI values. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between predicted and calculated IEI values. The second objective examines the consultant effect on environmental stressor and IEI measurements by testing the null hypothesis of no difference among consultants. The difference between the calculated and predicted IEI values is not ...
Synthesis and anticonvulsant activities of alpha-acetamido-N-benzylacetamide derivatives containing an electron-deficient alpha-heteroaromatic substituent.

Recent studies have demonstrated that C(alpha)-substituted alpha-acetamido-N-benzylacetamides displayed excellent anticonvulsant activities in mice. Analysis of the structure-activity relationship for this series of compounds has shown that placement of small, electron-rich aromatic and heteroaromatic groups at the C(alpha) site led to pronounced protection against MES-induced seizures. In this note, synthetic protocols are reported for the preparation of three novel nonnaturally occurring electron-deficient C(alpha)-aza aromatic alpha-acetamido-N-benzylacetamides (i.e., pyrid-2-yl (11), pyrazin-2-yl (12), pyrimid-2-yl (13)). Expedient syntheses for 12 and 13 were developed using a phase-transfer, nucleophilic aromatic substitution process. All three adducts exhibited potencies comparable to or greater than phenytoin in the MES test (mice, ip). These findings required us to modify in part the previously proposed structure-activity relationship for this class of anticonvulsants.
Shock-capturing parabolized Navier-Stokes model /SCIPVIS/ for the analysis of turbulent underexpanded jets

A new computational model, SCIPVIS, has been developed to predict the multiple-cell wave/shock structure in under or over-expanded turbulent jets. SCIPVIS solves the parabolized Navier-Stokes jet mixing equations utilizing a shock-capturing approach in supersonic regions of the jet and a pressure-split approach in subsonic regions. Turbulence processes are represented by the solution of compressibility corrected two-equation turbulence models. The formation of Mach discs in the jet and the interactive turbulent mixing process occurring behind the disc are handled in a detailed fashion. SCIPVIS presently analyzes jets exhausting into a quiescent or supersonic external stream for which a single-pass spatial marching solution can be obtained. The iterative coupling of SCIPVIS with a potential flow solver for the analysis of subsonic/transonic external streams is under development.
Multi-heterodyne characterization of multi-gigahertz spaced optical frequency comb sources

Mixing products between frequency combs with detuned repetition rates are used to characterize multi-gigahertz spaced optical frequency combs generated from mode-locked semiconductor lasers. Time domain RF waveform measurements show effective sampling of the optical waveform.
Shyness trajectories in slow-to-warm-up infants: Relations with child sex and maternal parenting

Abstract Little is known about slow-to-warm-up temperament in infancy. This study examined the trajectory of shyness in children who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy in comparison to children with other temperament profiles in infancy. Participants were 996 mothers and children in the NICHD SECC studied from 6 months to first grade. Latent growth curve modeling showed that children who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy tended to be shy in early childhood, but with increasing age these children became indistinguishable from children who were easy or intermediate. In comparison, children who were difficult in infancy remained more shy than children with other temperament profiles. Maternal sensitive and stimulating/supportive parenting was associated with less shyness in early childhood for boys who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy. Findings support the distinctiveness of the slow-to-warm-up temperament in comparison to other temperament profiles as well as its potential usefulness for predicting later child outcomes.
Bis(5-carbomethoxy-1,3-phenylene)-30-crown-4: a macrocyclic monomer of predominantly hydrocarbon character

Abstract A general route to 5,5′-difunctionalized bis( m -phenylene) macrocycles ( 1 ) is reported. Bis(5-carbomethoxy1,3-phenylene)-30-crown-4 ( 1e ) has been synthesized in one step from methyl 3,5-dihydroxybenzoate and 1,10-dibromodecane in the presence of sodium hydride in dimethylformamide. This monomer is suitable for synthesis of backbone polymacrocycles of predominantly hydrocarbon character.