cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance of middle cerebral artery doppler for prediction of recurrent fetal anemia.

To assess the predictive value of middle cerebral artery Doppler peak systolic velocity (MCA-PSV) for moderate-severe fetal anemia following one intrauterine transfusion (IUT) and test the performa...
Dynamical Slowing-Down in an Ultrafast Transition

Complex systems, which consist of a large number of interacting constituents, often exhibit universal behavior near a phase transition, such as a slowdown of certain dynamical observables. This phenomenon, known as critical slowing-down, is well studied in thermodynamic phase transitions but is less understood in highly nonequilibrium settings, where the time it takes to traverse the phase boundary becomes comparable to the timescale of dynamical fluctuations. Using transient optical spectroscopy and femtosecond electron diffraction, we studied a photoinduced phase transition in a model charge density wave (CDW) compound, LaTe3. We observed that it takes the longest time to suppress the order parameter at the threshold photoexcitation density, where the CDW transiently vanishes. This finding can be captured by generalizing the time-dependent Landau theory to a system far from equilibrium. Our understanding of dynamical slowing-down may offer insights into other general principles behind nonequilibrium transitions in many-body systems.
Presenteeism and pain: psychosocial and demographic correlates of employment and disability.

Recent, national attention has focused (understandably) on such issues as opioid abuse and risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. The article in this issue by Karoly, Ruehlman, and Okun [1], however, serves as a reminder that pain-related disability is an enduring societal challenge that should demand similar levels of attention. As testimony to the enduring nature of the challenge, the Institute of Medicine has issued several reports that address the topic [2,3], with the latter report estimating the annual costs of lost productivity related to pain at approximately $300 billion. Rather than abating, these data suggest that the problem of pain-related disability represents an increasing societal challenge. The Karoly et al. article describes both demographic and psychosocial factors associated with differences in employment status (employed vs disabled) in persons with chronic pain. For the most part, the demographic characteristics that …
Interest rates and exchange rates under money supply targets: The Swiss evidence

Abstract Short-term effects of monetary policy on interest rates and exchange rates are evaluated with monthly and daily data for Switzerland from 1974 to 1991. During this period, the Swiss National Bank generally pursued a policy of targeting the money supply. Some evidence in favor of liquidity effects on interest rates is found. The influence of changes in monetary aggregates is, however, not very strong both in terms of magnitude and explanatory power, and depends on the time period investigated. Exchange rates do not react systematically to monetary policy actions.
A new method for automatic performance comparison of search engines

In this paper, we present a new method for automatically comparing the performance, such as precision, of search engines. Based on queries randomly selected from a specific domain of interest, the method uses robots to automatically query the target search engines, evaluates the relevance of the returned links to the query either automatically based on the vector space model or manually, and then applies statistic measures, including the probability of win and the Friedman statistic, to compare the performance of search engines. We show the experimental results of the new method on three search engines, AltaVista, Google, and InfoSeek. The method arrived at the same performance comparison result in applying either the automatic relevance evaluation method or the manual method. In addition, our results show that the probability of win is a better metric than the Friedman statistic in performance comparison. The advantage of the new method is that it is fast, flexible, consistent, and can adapt to the fast changing search engines.
When Does Product Information Reduce Market Competition

Consumers nowadays have access to increasingly large volume of product information. Understanding how such product information affects market competition has significant implications for firms' marketing and pricing strategies. Prior academic research, however, has proposed two conflicting but equally popular arguments in this regard. On the one hand, it is widely believed that product information increases product differentiation perceived by consumers, therefore reducing market competition. On the other hand, it is well established that uncertainty about product features can soften market competition, at least among close substitutes; product information reduces such uncertainty, therefore increasing market competition. The conflicting messages create confusions among business practitioners. This paper reconciles the two arguments using a horizontal differentiation model. We show a simple condition under which product information always reduces market competition. When the condition is violated, product information always reduces overall product differentiation perceived by consumers, which might lead to higher market competition. Besides reconciling the two conflicting arguments, this paper provides an alternative explanation on how product information reduces market competition. We show that product information can reduce market competition without increasing overall product differentiation. Instead, it reduces market competition by reducing uncertainty of product differentiation perceived by consumers. This is because market competition is disproportionally influenced by consumers who perceive competing products too close to each other. Product information simultaneously reduces the likelihoods that competing products being perceived too close to or too far away from each other, resulting in net reduced market competition.
Negotiating the Interfaith Marriage Bed

“Negotiating the Interfaith Marriage Bed: Religious Difference and Sexual Intimacies” explores depictions of sex lives of interfaith marriage in television, cinema, and advice manuals from the 1970s through the 1990s, as rates of Christian/Jewish marriage dramatically increased. It delineates the narratives that interfaith couples had to navigate in their sexual lives, contrasting the popular discourse that presented sex as the solution to the tensions of interfaith marriage with the challenges presented in advice manuals on interfaith marriage. In doing so, the article demonstrates the competing constructions of sexuality, as natural, religiously proscribed, and ethnically inflected, and articulates the ways in which those narratives locate conversations about heterosexual interfaith relationships and marital sexual practice firmly in the realm of the individual subject, even when accounting for more communally oriented understandings of sex.
Unified Treatment of van der Waals Forces between Two Molecules of Arbitrary Sizes and Electron Delocalizations

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a unified treatment for the interaction between two non-overlapping molecular systems of arbitrary sizes and electron delocalizations. The theory is formulated on the basis of a generalization of the reaction-field technique developed earlier and results are expressed in terms of spatially dependent susceptibilities. The present approach is an infinite-order perturbative method which, in the absence of resonance interaction, yields an expression for the interaction (free) energy in terms of the properties of the noninteracting system. A rigorous expression is derived for the second-order free energy at finite temperatures and an approximate closed-form expression is obtained for the perturbation series by invoking the decorrelation approximation which neglects correlations between virtual excitations within each molecule. Special forms are derived for the dipolar approximation and the results are found to agree with previously derived results obtained by other methods. The connection between the reaction-field approach and those formulations based on collective behavior is discussed.
Local Stable Manifold for the Bidirectional Discrete-Time Dynamics

We show the existence of a local stable manifold for a bidirectional discrete-time nondiffeomorphic nonlinear Hamiltonian dynamics. This is the case where zero is a closed loop eigenvalue and therefore the Hamiltonian matrix is not invertible. In addition, we show the eigenstructure and the symplectic properties of the mixed direction nonlinear Hamiltonian dynamics. We extend the Local Stable Manifold Theorem for the nonlinear discrete-time Hamiltonian map with a hyperbolic fixed point. As a consequence, we show the existence of a local solution to the Dynamic Programming Equations, the equations corresponding to the discrete-time optimal control problem.
INTERBAND OPTICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF Bi2CaSr2Cu2O8

The band structure and interband optical conductivity of Bi2CaSr2Cu2O8 superconductor in the body-centered tetragonal sub-unit is calculated self-consistently using orthogonalized linear combination of atomic orbitals method. The result shows Bi2CaSr2Cu2O8 has both semi-metal-like and semiconductor-like features with small band gap and band overlap. The interband optical conductivity shows strong anisotropy between the in-plane and z-direction components. A plasmon frequency at 6 eV is predicted.
Policy Implications of Excess Commuting: Examining the Impacts of Changes in US Metropolitan Spatial Structure

This article examines how changes in US metropolitan spatial structure lead to an increase in measurable excess commuting and a decrease in measurable transport—land use connections. Using Boston and Atlanta as two comparative regions, this research computes excess commuting with three-decade census data and then examines excess commuting in relation to the changes in metropolitan spatial structure. Empirical results suggest that the transport—land use connection appears weaker over the decades as the dispersion of jobs changes the dynamics of commuting and the selection of residential location follows patterns of average job location rather than that of the closest available job location. This decreasing transport—land use connection points to a spatial structure effect apart from individual preferences. It also suggests an alternative view of excess commuting for metropolitan transport policy-making.
A nursing manifesto: An emancipatory call for knowledge development, conscience, and praxis

The purpose of this paper is to present the theoretical and philosophical assumptions of the Nursing Manifesto, written by three activist scholars whose objective was to promote emancipatory nursing research, practice, and education within the dialogue and praxis of social justice. Inspired by discussions with a number of nurse philosophers at the 2008 Knowledge Conference in Boston, two of the original Manifesto authors and two colleagues discussed the need to explicate emancipatory knowing as it emerged from the Manifesto. Our analysis yielded an epistemological framework based on liberation principles to advance praxis in the discipline of nursing. This paper adds to what is already known on this topic, as there is not an explicit contribution to the literature of this specific Manifesto, its significance, and utility for the discipline. While each of us have written on emancipatory knowing and social justice in a variety of works, it is in this article that we identify, as a unit of knowledge production and as a direction towards praxis, a set of critical values that arose from the emancipatory conscience-ness and intention seen in the framework of the Nursing Manifesto.
Financial Reporting Quality and Uncertainty About Credit Risk Among the Credit Ratings Agencies

This study finds that better reporting quality is associated with less uncertainty about credit risk as captured by disagreement among the credit rating agencies. Further, reporting quality is more important in reducing uncertainty when debt market participants lack access to private information. Finally, I use the quasi-natural experiment induced by SFAS 142, which the literature indicates reduced reporting quality, to mitigate endogeneity concerns and find increased disagreement among the rating agencies after the implementation of SFAS 142 for firms with significant goodwill. I contribute to the literature on the role of reporting quality in debt markets and on debt market information intermediaries.
Monovalent ion effects on acetylcholine receptor from Torpedo californica

Abstract The effects of the five Group I monovalent ions, Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, on [ 3 H]acetylcholine binding to Triton X-100 solubilized acetylcholine receptor from Torpedo californica electroplax were examined. Acetylcholine binding was not greatly affected by Li or Na, but was inhibited by the other ions in the order Cs > Rb > K. The inhibition by K appeared to occur by a mechanism identical to that for d -tubocurarine inhibition of acetylcholine binding.
Trophic Ecology of Five Shredders in a Rocky Mountain Stream

ABSTRACT The trophic ecology of five shredder taxa found in Mink Creek, Idaho was determined in laboratory food quality experiments to assess the obligate or facultative nature of resource utilization among lotic taxa commonly referred to as detritivores. The experiments tested resource assimilation for each taxon among three major resources available to primary consumers in streams; periphyton, fine particulate detrital material (FPM) and coarse particulate detrital material (CPM). Growth of each taxon was determined on each resource in laboratory experiments conducted at 10° C. Growth results indicate that only one of the five taxa (middle-late instar Dicosmoecus atripes) was an obligate CPM detritivore. The remaining four taxa (Amphinemura banksi, Lepidostoma sp., Podmosta delicatula, and Zapada cinctipes) were generalists capable of growth on at least two of the three resource types. All four generalists exhibited growth on periphyton and CPM resources suggesting that these taxa can utilize both autoc...
Residential capitalization rates: Explaining intermetropolitan variation, 1974–1979

Abstract Residential capitalization rates are shown to have varied substantially between metropolitan areas and to have declined over the late 1970s as asset values rose relative to market rents. These variations are generally consistent with discounted cash flow models, although market imperfections apparently prevent changes in the discounted net rental income from being fully and immediately capitalized into asset prices. There also is evidence that speculative bubbles bid housing prices above the present value of the net rental stream for some markets at the peak of the housing boom.
Analysis of exchange rate fluctuations in Estonia: test of the interest parity condition and the open economy model

This study finds that the nominal exchange rate in Estonia is positively associated with the expected exchange rate and negatively influenced by real M1, the foreign interest rate, the expected inflation rate, and the relevant price. The coefficient of the government deficit spending/GDP ratio is negative and insignificant at the 10% level. Most of the exchange rate movements can be captured by the interest parity condition and the open economy model.
Single-cell imaging detection of nanobarcoded nanoparticle biodistributions in tissues for nanomedicine

In nanomedicine, biodistribution studies are critical to evaluate the safety and efficacy of nanoparticles. Currently, extensive biodistribution studies are hampered by the limitations of bulk tissue and single-cell imaging techniques. To ameliorate these limitations, we have developed a novel method for single nanoparticle detection that incorporates a conjugated oligonucleotide as a "nanobarcode" for detection via in situ PCR. This strategy magnifies the detection signal from single nanoparticles, facilitating rapid evaluation of nanoparticle uptake by cell type over larger areas. The nanobarcoding method can enable precise analysis of nanoparticle biodistributions and expedite translation of these nanoparticles to the clinic.
Dose-dependent thermal oxidation of Ge + -implanted silicon

Abstract Thermal oxidation of Ge + -implanted silicon (1 0 0) has been investigated over a wide range of Ge-fluences and temperatures under both wet and dry oxidation conditions. Implanted samples were pre-oxidized and then etched to produce a common sample set with a thin Ge:Si layer at the surface to ensure a common sample morphology for various experimental conditions. Oxidation kinetics as a function of Ge-fluence and annealing temperature are reported and compared to results from virgin silicon (1 0 0). Random and ion-channeled Rutherford backscattering (RBS) characterization techniques, accompanied by computer simulations (SIMNRA), were used for oxide and Ge-segregated layer thickness and composition measurements. Ge-rich Ge x Si 1− x segregated layer composition are presented as a function of implantation and oxidation conditions.
Cleft lip repair: technical refinements for the wide cleft.

Clefts of the lip and palate are among the most common congenital malformations. A unilateral deformity is the most common type of cleft, but even within this subgroup there is a great deal of variety due to the accompanying severe distortion of the upper lip, cheek, nose, and maxilla. To repair such a variety of clefts with good aesthetic results, several general incisional approaches should be mastered along with a variety of subtle techniques that improve the end product. The most common repair utilized in America is the Millard rotation-advancement technique. This is partly due to the perceived superiority in results compared with other repairs and the ease with which this repair can be taught to residents. This repair places the scar along an artificial philtral column and is often quite sufficient in small clefts. Unfortunately, adoption of this “one size fits all” approach can limit the arsenal of the surgeon facing the vast array of differing cleft lip deformities. For example, the modified triangular flap, or Tennison-Randall repair, can be of value when presented with the wider unilateral cleft lip. In an effort to not only demonstrate that excellent results can be achieved when incisional patterns (Millard and Tennison) are used appropriately (small versus large clefts), we compared the results of two types of repairs, performed by a single surgeon over a period of 30 years. In addition, a variety of subtle techniques are reviewed to assist in obtaining excellent aesthetic results for any size repair.
Life History of the Plains Killifish, Fundulus kansae (Garman), in the Smoky Hill River, Kansas

Abstract Age and growth, food habits, and reproduction in two populations of plains killifish were studied from November, 1966 through April, 1968 in the Smoky Hill River, Kansas. Two age classes were present, with young-of-the-year comprising a third class in summer. Foods were dipteran larvae, mayfly nymphs, and ostracods. Reproductive activity was similar to that described by others. No significant differences were found in morphology of the two populations. Presence of a “pored” lateral-line series, kyphosis, and pelvic fin reduction are discussed. Parasites were Lernaea, Neascus, Posthodiplostomum, and Ichthyophthirius.
Proton-Nucleus Total Reaction Cross Sections and Total Cross Sections Up to 1 GeV

Abstract In this paper are presented tables of all directly measured total reaction cross sections and total cross sections for protons interacting with all complex nuclei ( 2 H and heavier) for proton energies up to 1 GeV. Some semiempirical fittings to the data are also included.
Nonlinear noise suppression using a parametric class of wavelet shrinkage functions

Donoho developed nonlinear techniques known as wavelet shrinkage. They have since been successfully applied for noise suppression. This paper introduces a new parametric shrinkage technique and compares its performance to the soft threshold introduced by Donoho and the differentiable shrinkage function introduced by Zhang. Termed the polynomial hard threshold this new shrinkage technique is better able to represent polynomial behavior than the previous techniques. It is also able to represent a wider class of shrinkage functions making it ideal for use in adaptive noise suppression. This class of shrinkage functions includes both Donoho’s soft and the classical hard threshold. By using a priori knowledge to adjust its parameters this threshold can be tailored to perform well for a particular signal type.
The Logic of Misplaced Concreteness: Paiela Body Counting and the Nature of the Primitive Mind

The paper has two goals: to demonstrate ethnographically the connection between “structure” and communication, which Levi-Strauss has consistently alleged to exist, and to challenge the thesis of Hallpike's book, The Foundations of Primitive Thought, that primitive thought reflects an “incomplete,” unsophisticated logic. The paper focuses on the counting system of the Paiela, a highland Papua New Guinea group. It argues that Paiela counting behavior is best analyzed as an element in a complex communication process. The logic of Paiela counting behavior is then the logic of the encompassing process: a communicational logic founded on concepts such as information and pattern. According to some theorists, the relationship between this logic and the logic that informs Western science is metalogical and dualistic. Paiela thought is thus revealed to be based on a complete and sophisticated alternative logic, a science among sciences. [Papua New Guinea, counting behavior, communication]
Interactive effects of soil salinity, fertility, and irrigation on field corn

A line-source field experiment was conducted to study the interactive effects of four levels of soil salinity, five rates of applied nitrogen fertilizer and six levels of irrigation on the production of field corn (Zea mays L.). In general, increased levels of soil salinity and decreased irrigation reduced grain and stover (stems and other above-grand dry matter) yields. Increased quantities of irrigation, presumably through maintenance of high (less negative) total soil water potential, were effective in decreasing the effect of salinity, and as a result improved yield. The highest salinity level (9.6 mmho/cm) resulted in dry matter yield reductions of 41 and 93 percent of the maximum observed yield at the highest (479 mm) and lowest (210 mm) irrigation levels respectively, averaged over all fertility levels. Under the same conditions grain yield declined by 48 and 96 percent. Yield was not improved as a result of applying nitrogen. Main effects on yield of salinity (1% level), water (1% level) and nitrogen (5% level) were found. Interactive effects upon yield were demonstrated for salinity X nitrogen (1% level) and salinity X water (1% level) combinations. Nitrogen content of stover and grain rose with increased levels of soil salinity and nitrogen, and declined with increased irrigation. A salinity X nitrogen interaction effect was demonstrated for nitrogen content of the grain, and a salinity X water effect demonstrated for stover. Multiple regression equations for stover and grain yields as functions of salinity, fertility and irrigation were developed (R2 = 0.88 and 0.85 respectively).
Performance study of integrated coronograph-adaptive optics designs

Direct imaging of exo-planets requires that an effcient starlight suppression system and wavefront compensator work together to achieve a stable null whose contrast level is deep enough. The performances of several con- figurations for these two sub-systems have been extensively studied over the past few years, with particular attention being paid to the following four quantities and their relationship: throughput, contrast level, Inner Working Angle and bandwidth. In this paper we propose a new approach that considers starlight suppression and wavefront correction as a unique integrated component that is the association of a shaped-pupil and two sequential deformable mirrors that operate simultaneously as a short stroke pupil mapping device and a wavefront compensator. To do so we first develop a new method based on Huygens wavelets to explain the contrast limits of pupil mapping due to propagation, and study the hybrid associations of PIAA systems and shaped pupils that have been introduced in order to mitigate these effects. Then, since two cascaded deformable mirrors are also a wavelength independent amplitude actuator, we argue that they could be used in conjunction with shaped pupils to carry some of the apodisation load and thus increase the throughput of the new hybrid system.
Sum frequency generation study of the room-temperature ionic liquids/quartz interface

The purpose of this investigation is to study the ionic liquid/quartz interface with sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG). SFG spectroscopy was chosen for this study because of its unique ability to yield vibrational spectra of molecules at an interface. Different polarization combinations are used, which probe different susceptibilities, giving SFG the ability to determine molecular orientation at the interface. The ionic liquids used were 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, [BMIM][BF4], and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [BMIM][PF6]. To determine the influence of the molecular structure and charge on orientation at the interface, neutral, 1-methylimidazole, and 1-butylimidazole were also studied. Raman spectra and depolarization ratios were obtained for neat samples of 1-methylimidazole, 1-butylimidazole, and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate recorded from 2700 to 3300 cm-1. SFG spectra of the 1-methylimidazole/quartz interface showed both meth...
Multiple telangiectases of the colon in childhood.

4 cas chez des enfants de 18 mois a 5 ans 1/2. Les hemorragies coliques sont apparues avant les manifestations cutanees ou nasales sous forme d'epistaxis de l'affection
THE METABOLISM OF TISSUE CULTURES : I. PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON CHICK EMBRYO.

1. The metabolism of chick embryo tissues has been followed by analysis of the culture media after various periods of incubation in roller bottles. 2. The initial rate of glucose utilization is increased by increasing glucose in the medium from 100 to 500 mg. per cent. Total glucose used can be increased in the same way or by daily addition of small amounts. Glucose is used in greatest amount when the medium containing 100 mg. per cent is replaced daily. 3. Although glucose consumption appears necessary for survival of cultures it may be used at a rate far in excess of that required for life and maximal growth. Complete blocking of mitosis by colchicine does not alter the rate of glucose utilization. 4. Proteolytic activity of the cultures is shown by an increase in the amino nitrogen of the peptone medium after incubation with tissue. 5. Utilization of nitrogen from an amino acid medium is shown by a decrease in the amino nitrogen of this medium. Cells obtaining their nitrogen from amino acids proliferate as rapidly as those grown in a medium identical except for the substitution of peptone, but the cell type is markedly different, in that embryo muscle forms cells resembling regenerating adult muscle. 6. Lactic acid was formed in both the presence and absence of glucose. Its formation increased with increased glucose utilization. There is some evidence that lactate may be utilized, and that it favors growth in the absence of glucose. 7. Added pyruvate was rapidly metabolized by the tissues. It, too, favors growth slightly in the absence of glucose.
Distribution patterns of cannabinoid CB1 receptors in the hippocampus of APPswe/PS1ΔE9 double transgenic mice.

Abstract Cannabinoids have neuroprotective effects that are exerted primarily through cannabinoid CB1 receptors in the brain. This study characterized CB1 receptor distribution in the double transgenic (dtg) APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mouse model for Alzheimer's disease. Immunohistochemical labeling of CB1 protein in non-transgenic mice revealed that CB1 was highly expressed in the hippocampus, with the greatest density of CB1 protein observed in the combined hippocampal subregions CA2 and CA3 (CA2/3). CB1 immunoreactivity in the CA1 and CA2/3 hippocampal regions was significantly decreased in the dtg APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mice compared to non-transgenic littermates. Reduced CB1 expression in dtg APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mice was associated with astroglial proliferation and elevated expression of the cytokines inducible nitric oxide synthase and tumor necrosis factor alpha. This finding suggests an anti-inflammatory effect of cannabinoids that is mediated by CB1 receptor, particularly in the CA2/3 region of the hippocampus. Furthermore, the study suggests a decreased CB1 receptor expression may result in diminished anti-inflammatory processes, exacerbating the neuropathology associated with Alzheimer's disease.
A Review on the Use of Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy in the Bile Duct

Background. Current methods to diagnose malignant biliary strictures are of low sensitivity. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) is a new approach that can be used to evaluate in vivo histopathology of the GI tract. This paper is of studies evidencing pCLE's application in the diagnosis of indeterminate biliary strictures. Methods. This paper examined peer-reviewed studies conducted between January 2000 and November 2011. A PubMed search for relevant articles was performed using the following keywords:"pCLE", "confocal", "endomicroscopy", "probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy", "and "bile duct". Further individual review was done to assess the screened articles' relevance to the topic. Results. After individual review, 6 studies were included; with a cumulative sample size of 165, with 75 subjects identified as having a malignancy. These studies included tertiary care centers in Germany, France, and USA, including one multicenter trial. 3 studies assessed pCLE's specificity (range 67%-88%) ,sensitivity (range 83%-98), and accuracy (range 81%-86%). Conclusion. Confocal endomicroscopy is a novel and promising modality for the biliary tree. Further studies need to be conducted both to establish its usefulness for the diagnosis of indeterminate biliary strictures and to understand the histological meaning of the imaging patterns that are observed.
Enhanced Ionic Conductivity in Nanostructured, Heavily Doped Ceria Ceramics†

The electrical properties of nanostructured, heavily yttria- or samaria-doped ceria ceramics are studied as a function of grain size using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). A remarkable enhancement in the total ionic conductivity of about one order of magnitude is found in nanostructured samples, compared with the intrinsic bulk conductivity of conventional microcrystalline ceramics. This effect is attributed to the predominance of grain-boundary conduction in the nanostructured materials, coupled with an increase in the grain-boundary ionic diffusivity with decreasing grain size.
Virtuous intuitions: comments on Lecture 3 of Ernest Sosa’s A Virtue Epistemology

I agree with Sosa that intuitions are best thought of as attractions to believe a certain proposition merely on the basis of understanding it. However, I don’t think it is constitutive of them that they supply strictly foundational justification for the propositions they justify, though I do believe that it is important that the intuition of a suitable subject be thought of as a prima facie justification for his intuitive judgment, independently of the reliability of his underlying capacities. I also think that we need to be able to explain how mere understanding of a proposition can confer upon us an ability to have reliable intuitions, that we cannot simply take that idea for granted. And that when try to explain that, our best avenue for doing so is to take the intuitions as constituting the understanding of which they are said to be a manifestation.
modern Buddhist murals in northern Thailand: a study of religious symbols and meaning1

We draw attention to the importance of visual symbols in the anthropological investigation of religion and cultural values and analyze a recent efflorescence in monastic mural paintings in the city of Chiengmai in northern Thailand in order to discover the iconographic code which might reveal underlying meanings and values. The popularity of certain Buddhist symbols found in the murals is established by means of a quantitative methodology. The results are analyzed in terms of traditional Buddhist explanations of the symbols and then compared with informants' accounts of why the murals were popular. The opinions of the artists and monks and laity involved are considered in reference to cultural changes in values taking place in a modernizing society. The murals are an assertion of certain core values expressed in ancient Buddhist symbols as a defense of the totality of the religious system against perceived threats from competing modern values. An unexpected result of the research was the discovery that the Thai religious symbolic system incorporates into a broad continuum a host of legends and symbols that are not just “folk” beliefs but are central to an adequate anthropological understanding of Theravada Buddhism itself.
Environmental performance of kenaf-fiber reinforced polyurethane: a life cycle assessment approach

Abstract Outstanding mechanical, thermal and environmental properties of kenaf, as well as successful applications of kenaf-based boards in structural insulated panels (SIPs), inspired the authors to investigate the incorporation of kenaf core in the polyurethane insulation core of SIPs to create environmentally friendly building material. Three composites made of rigid polyurethane (PU) reinforced with 5, 10 and 15 percent kenaf core were prepared and analyzed. The three composites and pure rigid polyurethane were then used as insulation cores of SIPs with the same kenaf-based structural boards. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to determine the environmental profiles of the four SIPs in 10 and 50° Celsius. It is shown that although kenaf has much less environmental impact than PU, increasing the amount of kenaf core in PU composites does not necessarily result in less environmental impact. In fact with the current practice of making the composites, kenaf core does not replace the PU; instead, it mostly fills the void space, which is initially filled with air and, hence, the kenaf core decreases the porosity of PU composites and increases the density without improving thermal resistance. Structural adequacy of the samples was also examined based on the ASTM C393-00 “three point flexural test”. Results show that the more the kenaf loading, the less porous the composites and hence the higher shear resistance. These findings suggest that fabrication methods are critical to maintain optimal thermal and structural characteristics of composites without scarifying their environmental performance.
The hydrothermal stability of zircon: Preliminary experimental and isotopic studies

Experimental investigations of the stability of the U-Pb isotopic system in nonmetamict zircons show that appreciable losses of Pb and U can be induced at amphibolite-grade conditions (400 C to 600 C, 4 to 6 kb) in 2 M NaCl and 2% HNO[sub 3] solutions. The severity of U loss and, to a lesser extent Pb loss, varies with solution composition: in this case the 2 M NaCl solution induced more Pb and U loss than the 2% HNO[sub 3] solution at the same P-T conditions. Scanning electron microscopy of the run products also revealed a range of corrosion-related surface features, which suggests that some of the observed trends in Pb and U loss must be attributed to zircon dissolution. Backscattered electron (BSE) imaging of the run products further suggests that partial homogenization of chemical zoning patterns occurred during the experiments. Microprobe analyses of treated and untreated grain show that both populations have a similar range of Hf contents. Thus, the apparent loss of sharp, well-defined zoning features is most likely due to small-scale 'smearing out' of formerly sharp chemical gradients and is perhaps related to the annealing of lattice defects caused by alpha-recoil damage. Thus, experimentally induced U-Pb isotopicmore » discordance in zircon is a complex function of zircon stability and annealing effects.« less
TaxaMiner: an experimentation framework for automated taxonomy bootstrapping

Construction of domain ontologies on the semantic web is a human and resource intensive process, efforts to reduce which are crucial for the Semantic Web to scale. We present a framework for automated taxonomy construction, that involves: (a) generation of a cluster hierarchy from a document corpus using statistical clustering and NLP techniques; (b) extraction of a topic hierarchy from this cluster hierarchy; and (c) assignment of labels to nodes in the topic hierarchy. Metrics for estimating topic hierarchy quality and parameters of an experimentation framework are identified. MEDLINE was the document corpus and MeSH thesaurus was the gold standard.
Effect of surface metrology on the wettability of SiO2 nanoparticle coating

Abstract In this work, we fabricated an array of model hydrophobic surfaces with controlled roughness to establish a correlation between surface structure and observed hydrophobicity. SiO 2 nanoparticles of different sizes (7, 12, 14 and 40 nm) were layer-by-layer spin-coated on glass supports to study the effect of surface roughness on wettability evaluated by water contact angles. The hydrophobicity of one-layer structured surfaces improved with an increase in particle size. Deposition of bigger nanoparticles on top of smaller ones, generating double-layer structures, resulted in rougher surfaces with higher hydrophobicity. A strong correlation between the size ratio of deposited nanoparticle combinations and roughness was observed. Based on these correlations, it is now possible to tune surface roughness and subsequent wettability by controlling the sizes of the nanoparticle layers.
Older listeners' ability to comprehend speaker-generated rate alteration of passages.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of speaker-generated (natural) rate alteration on passage comprehension performance by healthy older listeners. Fourteen men and 14 wom...
A Redescription of Eldenosteus arizonensis (Placodermi: Arthrodira) from the Upper Devonian Martin Formation of Northern Arizona

ABSTRACT New material of Eldenosteus arizonensis from the Upper Devonian Martin Formation of Mt. Elden, northern Arizona allows a more complete description of the body armor and the hitherto unknown skull. The new reconstruction verifies the position of Eldenosteus as a coccosteomorph arthrodire, and shows its affinity with the Torosteidae (=Plourdosteidae).
Toward a received history of the Holocaust

In this article, I examine both the problem of so-called postmodern history as it relates to the Holocaust and suggest the ways that Saul Friedlander's recent work successfully mediates between the somewhat overly polemicized positions of “relativist” and “positivist” history. In this context, I find that in his search for an adequately self-reflexive historical narrative for the Holocaust, Hayden White's proposed notion of “middle-voicedness” may recommend itself more as a process for eyewitness writers than as a style for historians after the fact. From here, I look at the ways Saul Friedlander's reflections on the historian's voice not only mediate between White's notions of the ironic mode and middle-voicedness, but also suggest the basis for an uncanny history in its own right: an anti-redemptory narrative that works through, yet never actually bridges, the gap between a survivor's “deep memory” and historical narrative. For finally, it may be the very idea of “deep memory” and its incompatibility to narrative that constitutes one of the central challenges to Holocaust historiography. What can be done with what Friedlander has termed “deep memory” of the survivor, that which remains essentially unrepresentable? Is it possible to write a history that includes some oblique reference to such deep memory, but which leaves it essentially intact, untouched and thereby deep? In this section, I suggest, after Patrick Hutton, that “What is at issue here is not how history can recover memory, but, rather, what memory will bequeath to history.” That is, what shall we do with the living memory of survivors? How will it enter (or not enter) the historical record? Or to paraphrase Hutton again, “How will the past be remembered as it passes from living memory to history?” Will it always be regarded as so overly laden with pathos as to make it unreliable as documentary evidence? Or is there a place for the understanding of the witness, as subjective and skewed as it may be, for our larger historical understanding of events? In partial answer to these questions, I attempt to extend Friedlander's insights toward a narrow kind of history-telling I call “received history”—a double-stranded narrative that tells a survivor-historian's story and my own relationship to it. Such a narrative would chart not just the life of the survivor-historian itself but also the measurable effect of the tellings—both his telling and mine—on my own life's story. Together, they would compose a received history of the Holocaust and its afterlife in the author's mind—my “vicarious past.”
Specialized Disposal Sites for Different Reprocessing Plant Wastes

Once-through fuel cycles directly dispose of one primary waste form: spent nuclear fuel (SNF). In contrast, the reprocessed SNF yields multiple waste streams with different chemical, physical, and radionuclide characteristics. These different characteristics of each waste stream imply that there are potential cost and performance benefits to developing different disposal sites that best match the disposal requirements of each waste stream. Disposal sites as defined herein may be located in different geologies or in a single repository containing multiple sections, each with different design characteristics. The paper describes the results of a series of studies on disposal options for specific wastes and the potential for a waste management system that better couples various reprocessing plant wastes with disposal facilities.
Review article:The Transformation of a Language Community

Le developpement considerable de la langue anglaise dans le monde au cours des dernieres annees semble avoir mis en peril l'avenir de l'esperanto. Celui-ci fut cree pour apporter une solution non partisane a la competition des langues, aux difficultes des echanges diplomatiques et aux problemes linguistiques de la cooperation scientifique. Aujourd'hui, la mondialisation place l'anglais en haut de la hierarchie des langues, menacant d'extinction les langues minoritaires
Assessment of ethanol's hedonic effects in mice selectively bred for sensitivity to ethanol-induced hypothermia

Mice selectively bred for sensitivity (COLD) or insensitivity (HOT) to the hypothermic effect of ethanol were tested in three tasks purported to assess ethanol's hedonic properties: place conditioning, taste conditioning, and ethanol drinking. In the place conditioning task, distinctive tactile (floor) stimuli were differentially paired with injection of ethanol (2.25 g/kg) or saline, and preference for the tactile stimuli was assessed during a choice test without ethanol. In the taste conditioning task, fluid-deprived mice were given repeated access to saccharin followed by injection of ethanol (2.25 g/kg). In the drinking task, mice were given access on alternate days to a single drinking tube containing water or ethanol in a concentration that gradually increased from 1 to 12% (v/v) over days. HOT mice showed greater conditioned preference for ethanol-paired flavor cues, and greater aversion for ethanol-paired flavor cues, and drank less ethanol at concentrations above 5% than COLD mice. HOT mice also showed higher levels of ethanol-stimulated activity than COLD mice. Control experiments indicated that the lines did not differ in initial preference for the tactile and flavor stimuli used in the conditioning tasks. Because the same line differences were seen in mice selected from two genetically independent populations, these studies offer strong evidence of genetic correlations between ethanol's thermal effect and its effect on activity, place conditioning and taste conditioning. Evidence of a genetic correlation between ethanol's thermal effect and ethanol drinking, however, is weaker since it is based on a line difference observed in only one of the genetic replicates. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Role of Chemical Peeling in the Treatment of Photodamaged Skin

Management of the aging face involves evaluation of the degree of solar elastosis, rhytidosis, and the structural changes associated with senescent skin. Chemical facial exfoliation is divided into deep, medium, and superficial based upon depth of penetration of the caustic agent used. Knowledge of the appropriate indications and technique are essential in obtaining optimal clinical results.
Porewater chemistry of natural and created marsh soils

Abstract Chemistry of porewaters and soils were compared in a low organic matter (1%) created marsh established on an upland site in 1983 and a high organic matter (≈50%) natural marsh nearby to characterize the role of created wetlands in estuarine nutrient cycles. Porewater physico-chemical properties (water level, temperature, salinity, dissolved O 2 , pH, redox potential ( Eh ), Fe, Mn) and nutrient (organic C, N, P, NH 4 , NO 3 , PO 4 ) concentrations were monitored monthly for 1 yr in the two marshes. Soil nutrients (organic C, N, P), physical properties (bulk density, texture, porosity, hydraulic conductivity) and chemical characteristics ( Eh pH, Fe, Mn, Al) also were measured at the end of the study. 5 yr after emergent vegetation was established, the conversion from upland porewater and soil properties to typical wetland characteristics was incomplete. Dissolved O 2 , Eh , Fe, Mn and NO 3 -N were significantly higher in created marsh porewaters as compared to porewaters collected from the natural marsh. The created marsh also contained lower porewater dissolved organic C and N, NH 4 -N and PO 4 -P and had lower pH. Soil bulk density and extractable Fe were significantly higher, and porosity, hydraulic conductivity, pH, total organic C and N, and exchangeable NH 4 -N and NO 3 -N were lower in the created marsh than in the natural marsh soil. These results imply that mitigation of wetland disturbance by creating wetlands on graded upland sites, initially, may not duplicate the hydrologic and nutrient cycling functions associated with natural wetlands that have developed over many years.
ON THE TEXT OF SOME DISPUTED PASSAGES IN ARISTOTLE'S ETHICA EUDEMIA

PETER L.P. SIMPSON The Classical Quarterly / Volume 62 / Issue 02 / December 2012, pp 541 ­ 552 DOI: 10.1017/S0009838812000158, Published online: 20 November 2012 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0009838812000158 How to cite this article: PETER L.P. SIMPSON (2012). ON THE TEXT OF SOME DISPUTED PASSAGES IN ARISTOTLE'S ETHICA EUDEMIA. The Classical Quarterly, 62, pp 541­552 doi:10.1017/S0009838812000158 Request Permissions : Click here