cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cu 2 ZnSn(S, Se) 4 thin-film photovoltaic devices using non-vacuum based processing

Large-scale deployment of currently favored high-efficiency, thin-film photovoltaic materials (e.g., CdTe, CIGS) may be resource-limited due to dependence upon relatively non-abundant elements (e.g., In, Ga, Te). As a result, Cu 2 ZnSn(S, Se) 4 (CZTSSe), with its reliance upon low-cost, earth-abundant elements, is attracting attention as an alternative candidate material for use in thin-film photovoltaic devices. In this paper, we will introduce our efforts to develop scalable routes to the low-cost, non-vacuum based construction of CZTSSe solar cells. While we have been pursuing a variety of types of precursors to CZTSSe, we will limit our results here to results derived from quaternary CZTS nanoparticles. We will focus on the processing of the CZTSSe thin films and in particular upon the effects of different annealing atmospheres. Structural and optical characterization of the resulting CZTSSe films, and the corresponding PV device performance will be presented.
Performance assessment software for the EO-1 Advanced Land Imager

The performance assessment of the EO-1 Advanced Land Imager (ALI) requires software for processing data collected during sensor integration and test, ground calibration, and on- orbit operations. This paper describes the software developed for performance assessment processing and analysis of data collected on the ground during ALI and ground calibration. This involves various characterizations and calibrations of the ALI, including functional test, focus, MTF, radiometric response, spectral response, functional image reconstruction, and internal calibration lamp data processing. Processing examples are given, including results. Also, each section describes the use of this software to support the analysis of data collected on-orbit during mission operations, as well as the types of data to be collected and processed. The interface between MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the EO-1 Mission Operations Center at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is also described.
Model Performance Sensitivity to Objective Function during Automated Calibrations

AbstractPrevious studies have reported limitations of the efficiency criteria commonly used in hydrology to describe goodness of model simulations. This study examined sensitivity of model performance to the objective function used during automated calibrations. Nine widely used efficiency criteria were evaluated for their effectiveness as objective function, and goodness of the model predictions were examined using 13 criteria. Two cases (Case I: Using observed streamflow data and Case II: Using simulated streamflow) were considered to accomplish objectives of the study using a widely used watershed model (SWAT) and good-quality field data from a well-monitored experimental watershed. Major findings of the study include (1) automated calibration results are sensitive to the objective function group—group that work based on minimization of the absolute deviations (Group I), group that work based on minimization of square of the residuals (Group II), and groups that use log of the observed and simulated st...
Emotion dysregulation, negative affect, and aggression: A moderated, multiple mediator analysis

Research on violence has highlighted the role of trait negative affect in reactive aggressive behavior. Emotion dysregulation is a multidimensional construct reflecting maladaptive ways in which a person experiences and responds to emotional states, and has also been empirically linked to aggression. This study sought to test the hypothesis that multiple facets of emotion dysregulation would mediate the relationship between negative affect and physical aggression in a nonclinical sample. An additional aim was to examine the moderating effect of sex in the relationship between negative affect and aggression, and whether mediators differ as a function of sex. Three-hundred and eighteen participants completed measures of physical aggression, difficulties in emotion regulation, and negative affect. Results showed that sex moderated the relationship between negative affect and physical aggression, and emotion dysregulation fully mediated the relationship between these variables in both males and females. While difficulty inhibiting impulsive behavior when distressed was a significant mediator across sexes, difficulties with emotional awareness demonstrated a mediation effect only in males. Findings provide preliminary support for the facets of emotion dysregulation that are important in understanding the negative affect – physical aggression association in males and females.
Job Search and Voluntary Turnover in a Boundaryless world: a Control Theory Perspective

We propose a cybernetic model of job search and voluntary turnover that is based on the need to remain employable in a volatile economy. The model depicts the process by which individuals engage in ongoing cycles of job search activities that can increase the likelihood of voluntary turnover, which, in turn, provides opportunities to develop additional career competencies. We then examine the implications of the model for future research on the turnover process.
Grade school children's listening and reading comprehension of complex sentences

Abstract Two experiments examined the roles of world knowledge and syntactic knowledge in grade school children's comprehension of spoken and written complex sentences. Experiment 1 tested 128 second, third, fourth, and sixth graders’ reading and listening comprehension of active and passive, cleft and pseudocleft sentences with relative clauses. Statistically significant effects were found for reading ability, sentence condition (involving mode, voice, and whether or not sentence meanings were consistent with expectation), and reading ability X sentence condition. Subjects used and trusted syntactic information mostly with spoken sentences; only above average readers were able to do so in reading tasks, and then only with active sentences. In Experiment 2, 72 second graders were given training in attending to syntactic details, training in entertaining interpretations contrary to world knowledge, or practice. Some characteristics of Experiment 1's above average readers were duplicated with all three trea...
Measurements of water vapor in the tropical lower stratosphere during the CEPEX Campaign: Results and interpretation

We present measurements of water vapor taken using a fast-response Lyman-alpha hygrometer mounted on the NASA ER-2 for the Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment (CEPEX) during March and April 1993. The flights originated from Fiji (17°S, 178°E) and covered a range of potential temperatures up to 470 K. Concurrent ozone measurements and a 1-D model are used to convert potential temperature to effective age of the air in the stratosphere. This analysis provides insight into measured water vapor profiles in the lower tropical stratosphere taken during different seasons on previous aircraft campaigns. It yields a picture of a seasonal cycle consistent with the variation of the average tropical tropopause temperature and an annually averaged mixing ratio of water in air entering the tropical stratosphere of about 4.45 ppmv.
Design of a ruthenium-cytochrome c derivative to measure electron transfer to the radical cation and oxyferryl heme in cytochrome c peroxidase.

A new ruthenium-labeled cytochrome c derivative was designed to measure the actual rate of electron transfer to the Trp-191 radical cation and the oxyferryl heme in cytochrome c peroxidase compound I {CMPI(FeIVO,R•+)}. The H39C,C102T variant of yeast iso-1-cytochrome c was labeled at the single cysteine residue with a tris(bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) reagent to form Ru-39-Cc. This derivative has the same reactivity with CMPI as native yCc measured by stopped-flow spectroscopy, indicating that the ruthenium group does not interfere with the interaction between the two proteins. Laser excitation of the 1:1 Ru-39-Cc−CMPI complex in low ionic strength buffer (2 mM phosphate, pH 7) resulted in electron transfer from RuII* to heme c FeIII with a rate constant of 5 × 105 s-1, followed by electron transfer from heme c FeII to the Trp-191 indolyl radical cation in CMPI(FeIVO,R•+) with a rate constant of keta = 2 × 106 s-1. A subsequent laser flash led to electron transfer from heme c to the oxyferryl heme in CMPII(FeI...
Interaction of Gamma Radiation and Fumigation on Confused Flour Beetles

Adult Tribolium confusum Jacquelin duVal were treated with various combinations of gamma radiation and fumigants (methyl bromide or phosphine). Very low radiation dosages (2–6 krad) usually reduced the effectiveness of methyl bromide fumigation when the radiation treatments were applied first and the fumigations were accomplished within 24 hr. Higher radiation dosages (10–50 krad) followed 7 days later by methyl bromide fumigations generally killed more insects than did either treatment applied alone. A 7-day delay between the irradiation and fumigation provided a definite increase in insect mortality, but reversing the sequence of the treatments did not. The phosphine dosage tested was too high to fully assess the interaction of the radiation-fumigation treatments. However, irradiating the insects did not alter the effectiveness of phosphine when the fumigant alone produced mortalities in excess of 90%.
A Saturation Hygrometer for the Measurement of Relative Humidity Between 95 and 105

Abstract A new saturation hygrometer capable of measuring relative humidity between 95 and 105% is described. The hygrometer uses a thermally thin mirror on which condensation is controlled by limiting the exchange of ambient water vapor to condensation sites consisting of sized submicron salt nuclei. The salt-solution droplets formed on the nuclei are prevented from exceeding a reference size by heating the mirror with infrared diodes which are part of a thermo-optical servo system. The temperature increase of the mirror is directly related to the ambient relative humidity. The performance of the hygrometer is modeled for the hypothetical case where the instrument is imbedded in an updraft which passes through the base and the lower portion of a typical continental cumulus cloud. The influences of the thermal properties of the mirror, the heat conduction to the mirror support, the radiative energy exchange between the mirror and the environment, the size of the salt nuclei on the mirror, and the interact...
Monte Carlo structure simulations for tertiary-butyl alcohol solutions in water/acetonitrile solvents

Abstract Monte Carlo simulations for N pT (isobaric-isothermal) ensembles have been performed at T = 298 K and p = 1 atm for 1 molar tertiary-BuOH solutions in pure water, water:acetonitrile mixtures of 50:50, 30:70 molar ratios, and in pure acetonitrile. The simulated solution densities were within 1–3% of our measured densities. The solvation pattern remarkably changes upon the possibility of solute association/aggregation at finite concentration as compared to previous simulations for the infinitely dilute solution of t-BuOH. An increased readiness for solute association in the 1 molar t-BuOH solutions was observed with increasing acetonitrile fraction. In mixed solvents, the fraction of the O alc –H alc ···O water solvation is larger than would proportionally follow from the solvent composition.
Possible biological roles for metastable proteins

Abstract We feel it is important to point out certain complications stemming from some assumptions contained in current thinking on the relationship of protein conformation to primary sequence. 1) It is justifiably felt that the primary sequence of a protein determines its conformation in a given environment; this has been proven in many cases (Buckley, Whitney and Tanford, 1963; Deal, Rutter, Massey and Van Holde, 1963; Epstein, Goldberger and Afinsen, 1963). 2) It has become implicit in the thinking of many biochemists that the biologically active conformation of a protein is the most stable thermodynamically. We feel that it is a priori unlikely that these two assumptions are without important exceptions and would like to suggest a mechanistic approach for the additional proposal that some, proteins exist in their active form in a thermodynamically metastable state, and that this may have important biological implications.
Rotating frame spin-lattice relaxation in the presence of an off-resonance radiofrequency field. Scalar relaxation of31P in PBr3

Abstract An NMR technique involving study of spin-lattice relaxation in the presence of an off-resonance radiofrequency field (Tiff) which can be conveniently performed on commercial Fourier transform NMR spectrometers is described. Applicability of the technique for investigation of scalar relaxation of the second kind is illustrated for 31 P in phosphorus tribromide which is relaxed via scalar coupling to the quadrupolar bromine nucleus. The normal on-resonance TI, was calculated for 31P from the Ti; results and was found to be 0.13 sec., in agreement with published values.
Modified AdCTLA-4 vector blocks alloimmune response in vitro.

Abstract Background. Gene transfer of the costimulatory blockade molecule CTLA-4Ig into cold-preserved rat liver allografts results in indefinite allograft survival. Despite local delivery, this mode of immunomodulation is associated with systemic immunosuppression. In an effort to restrict immunosuppression to the graft, we have constructed a novel adenoviral vector, AdCTLA-4ex-TAG, in which the Ig sequence of CTLA-4Ig DNA has been deleted to destabilize the gene product to promote rapid extrahepatic degradation while maintaining its immunosuppressive activity within the graft milieu. Methods. (1) Vector construction. CTLA-4 extracellular binding domain (CTLA-4ex) was prepared by PCR-based cloning methods and fused in frame to a genetic element encoding an epitope TAG allowing identification of the transgene product CTLA-4exTAG. CTLA-4exTAG was subcloned into a shuttle vector enabling isolation of AdCTLA-4exTAG. (2) In vitro transfection: AdCTLA-4exTAG was transfected into MH 1 C 1 cells and then supernatant was recovered for Western blot analysis. (3) In vitro alloimmune response was characterized by CFSE proliferation assay. (4) Extrahepatic effect of AdCTLA-4exTAG was characterized by the ability to control tumor growth after implantation of a regressive, immune sensitive cancer cell line (REGb) in the skin of BDIX rats after liver transduction with AdCTLA-4exTAG. Results. Expression and secretion of the recombinant protein were documented by Western blot after infection of the MH 1 C 1 cell line with AdCTLA-4exTAG. Addition of infected MH 1 C 1 cell supernatant resulted in abrogation of alloimmune response as shown by markedly diminished division of CD4 + T cells in a CFSE proliferation assay. Extrahepatic tumor regressed normally after liver transduction with AdCTLA-4exTAG. Conclusions. These results show efficient in vitro expression of CTLA-4exTAG after transfection with AdCTLA-4exTAG. The modified protein retains its ability to abrogate in vitro alloimmune response. Efficient control of extrahepatic tumor growth after liver-directed delivery of AdCTLA-4exTAG suggests that the immunosuppressive effect of this vector is restricted to the liver. These results set the ground for the utilization of this novel adenoviral vector in the transplant setting.
3894 Prospective study of the ability of endoscopic ultrasound to localize duodenal gastrinomas.

The role of EUS in localizing duodenal gastrinomas remains controversial because of lack of prospective assessments. To address this question we prospectively studied 40 consecutive patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) admitted to the NIH prior to surgery. All patients had conventional imaging studies (CT, MRI, ultrasound, angiography), somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS), EUS (Olympus UM 20), catheter US [UM3R] with endoscopy [side-viewing endoscope-(TJF)] (CUS.Endo), followed by a standardized laparotomy with a Kocher maneuver, intra-operative ultrasound and duodenotomy. Seven patients had MEN-1 and ZES and 33 had sporadic ZES. Prior to surgery, at least one nonEUS imaging study localized a possible duodenal gastrinoma in 19 patients (48%); conventional imaging only in 28%; SRS in 42%; EUS alone, 35%; CUS.Endo, 45%; and EUS or CUS.Endo, 52%. At exploration duodenal gastrinomas were found in 18 patients (45%). EUS, CUS.Endo, both (EUS and CUS.Endo), and any other imaging (other imaging) had sensitivities of 47%, 64%, 71% and 61% and specificities of 65%, 58%, 52% and 64%, respectively. In the 8 patients with all other imaging negative with a duodenal gastrinoma, EUS was positive in 50% (4/8), CUS.Endo in 38%, or either in 62%. In the 22 patients without a duodenal gastrinoma a false positive localization occurred with EUS in 5/22 (23%); CUS.Endo in 32%; both, 36%; and with other imaging in 36%. The sensitivity of SRS alone for localizing a duodenal tumor was 56%; SRS + EUS, 83%; SRS + CUS.Endo, 83%; and SRS + both, 88%. These results demonstrate that EUS alone will localize 47% of duodenal gastrinomas, which is slightly less than the 61% seen with a combination of other imaging studies. However, if combined with careful endoscopy using a side-viewing endoscope and catheter ultrasound, it will localize 71%. Both procedures are complementary to SRS, correctly localizing a duodenal gastrinoma in 88% of patients; however, the combination of both endoscopic procedures also increases the false positive rate and decreases the specificity.
Sex and the Spectacle of Music Videos: An Examination of the Portrayal of Race and Sexuality in Music Videos

This content analysis used two studies to examine sexual behaviors and sex role portrayals in music videos televised in the United States. The first study included 120 videos recorded from MTV, MTV2, VH-1, BET, and CMT and revealed African American videos were significantly more likely to portray sexual content and female characters in provocative clothing than White videos. The second study analyzed 20 videos from BET’s late-night program, Un:Cut. Results revealed Un:Cut videos depicted seven times as many sexual acts and featured significantly more discouraged sexual behaviors than videos from the five major music video channels. Findings from these studies clarify that race is an important factor when gender roles and sexual content are examined in music videos.
The development of discourse strategies in adolescent argumentation

Abstract Earlier research [Discourse Process. 23 (2/3) (2002) 135] on argumentation suggests that adults use advanced discourse strategies more consistently, more frequently, and more flexibly than do adolescents. The present study examines the development of argumentation skills during adolescence. Forty-eight seventh and eighth graders were assigned to one of two conditions. Both groups engaged in pretest and posttest measures of strategy use on two topics (capital punishment and abortion) and then engaged in five weekly dialogues on the main topic only (capital punishment). Control group participants engaged in dialogue only while experimental group participants engaged in a combination of dialogue and paired reflection on dialogues. Experimental group participants showed greater advances in argumentative discourse than control group participants. Results suggest that change in adolescents does indeed progress in the direction of adult discourse and that a combination of practice and reflection is more effective in promoting change than practice alone. The implications of these findings for a developmental model of argumentative discourse are discussed.
Silencing of the Menkes copper-transporting ATPase (Atp7a) gene increases cyclin D1 protein expression and impairs proliferation of rat intestinal epithelial (IEC-6) cells.

Abstract The Menkes copper-transporting ATPase (Atp7a) has dual roles in mammalian enterocytes: pumping copper into the trans -Golgi network (to support cuproenzyme synthesis) and across the basolateral membrane (to deliver dietary copper to the blood). Atp7a is strongly induced in the rodent duodenum during iron deprivation, suggesting that copper influences iron homeostasis. To investigate this possibility, Atp7a was silenced in rat intestinal epithelial (IEC-6) cells. Irrespective of its influence on iron homeostasis, an unexpected observation was made in the Atp7a knockdown (KD) cells: the cells grew slower (∼40% fewer cells at 96 h) and were larger than negative-control shRNA-transfected cells. Lack of Atp7a activity thus perturbed cell cycle control. To elucidate a possible molecular mechanism, expression of two important cell cycle control proteins was assessed. Cyclin D1 (CD1) protein expression increased in Atp7a KD cells whereas proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression was unaltered. Increased CD1 expression is consistent with impaired cell cycle progression. Expression of additional cell proliferation marker genes (p21 and Ki67) was also investigated; p21 expression increased, whereas Ki67 decreased, both consistent with diminished cell growth. Further experiments were designed to determine whether increased cellular copper content was the trigger for the altered growth phenotype of the Atp7a KD cells. Copper loading, however, did not influence the expression patterns of CD1, p21 or Ki67. Overall, these findings demonstrate that Atp7a is required for normal proliferation of IEC-6 cells. How Atp7a influences cell growth is unclear, but the underlying mechanism could relate to its roles in intracellular copper distribution or cuproenzyme synthesis.
Helson's Residual Factor versus Innate S-R Relations

As indicated by the diversity and number of studies (see, for example, Beach & Jaynes, 1954; Bovard, 1958; King, 1958), investigators have given abundant explicit recognition to the weight of the variable of early experience. They have concluded that the organism is extremely plastic during its infancy and youth such that the increased experience effects irreversible and advantageous changes in his behavior during maturity. Some have discussed these phenomena in terms of Adaptation Level Theory, specifically Helson's residual factor, R, (e.g., Meier & Stuart, 1959), but none has devised an experience sufficiently amenable to later testing procedures that this particular theoretical formulation can have adequate evaluation (e.g., Meier & McGee, 1959). Greatly simplifying Helson's psychophysics, we made just such an attempt in this study.' Two groups of CF/1 male mice were raised from weaning (25 days) under controlled conditions of illumination. One group ( N = 8 ) was reared under conditions of flashing light (GO flashes per sec.); the other group ( N = 8) was reared under constant illumination. All animals were maintained on a 12-hr. light: 12-hr. dark cycle. The illumination fluctuated between .5 and 3.2 footcandles for the experimental group; the illumination was 3.2 footcandles for the control group. When about 90, 97, and 104 days of age, Ss were tested for preference of illumination conditions. Each S was placed, individually, in a compartment 5 in. X 7% in. X 9 in. deep, illuminated in the manner of his rearing environment. From this compartment, S could freely move to a second compartment, identical to the first save that the illumination was that of the other environmental condition. The time spent in each of the two compartments was recorded for a 60-min. interval at each of the three ages. For purposes of analysis, however, the behavior during each 30-min. period was examined. The two groups differed in the preferences only on the first half of the second test session. In all other sessions, both groups strongly preferred the constant to the flashing condition.
Quantifying tissue mechanical properties using photoplethysmography.

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical method that can be used to detect blood volume changes in the microvascular bed of tissue. The PPG signal comprises two components; a pulsatile waveform (AC) attributed to changes in the interrogated blood volume with each heartbeat, and a slowly varying baseline (DC) combining low frequency fluctuations mainly due to respiration and sympathetic nervous system activity. In this report, we investigate the AC pulsatile waveform of the PPG pulse for ultimate use in extracting information regarding the biomechanical properties of tissue and vasculature. By analyzing the rise time of the pulse in the diastole period, we show that PPG is capable of measuring changes in the Young’s Modulus of tissue mimicking phantoms with a resolution of 4 KPa in the range of 12 to 61 KPa. In addition, the shape of the pulse can potentially be used to diagnose vascular complications by differentiating upstream from downstream complications. A Windkessel model was used to model changes in the biomechanical properties of the circulation and to test the proposed concept. The modeling data confirmed the response seen in vitro and showed the same trends in the PPG rise and fall times with changes in compliance and vascular resistance.
Poster: High Quality Real-Time Image-to-Mesh Conversion for Finite Element Simulations

In this poster, we present a parallel Image-to-Mesh Conversion (I2M) algorithm with quality and fidelity guarantees achieved by dynamic point insertions and removals. Starting directly from an image, it is able to recover the surface and mesh the volume with tetrahedra of good shape. Our tightly-coupled shared-memory parallel speculative execution paradigm employs carefully designed memory and contention managers, load balancing, synchronization and optimizations schemes, while it maintains high single-threaded performance: our single-threaded performance is faster than CGAL, the state of the art sequential I2M software we are aware of. Our meshes come also with theoretical guarantees: the \ratio is less than 2 and the planar angles of the boundary triangles are more than $\degrees{30}$. The effectiveness of our method is shown on Blacklight, the large cache-coherent NUMA machine of Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. We observe a more than 74\% strong scaling efficiency for up to 128 cores and a super-linear weak scaling efficiency for up to 128 cores.
Is Doxazosin Really Beneficial in Children with Voiding Dysfunction and Significant Residuals

Abstract Purpose Alpha adrenergic blockade using medications such as doxazosin, prazosin and terazosin have been recognized to be successful in select children with voiding dysfunction and incomplete bladder emptying. We report our prospective experience of the use of doxazosin in the management of voiding dysfunction and incomplete voiding of non-neuropathic origin. Material and Methods Data on 19 children with voiding dysfunction, diurnal enuresis and significant residuals was collected prospectively and analysed. All children had a non-invasive urodynamic assessment including a detailed history, examination, frequency volume chart completion and uroflowmetry. The expected bladder capacity (EBC) was calculated using the formula (age in yrs. + 2) x 30 (ml) and a residual volume of greater than 10% was considered significant. Doxazosin was prescribed in a dose of 500micrograms – 2 g/day depending on side effects and response. The criteria of a successful outcome were complete resolution of symptoms and improved uroflow parameters where repeated. Results Of the 19 children prescribed Doxazosin 13 showed symptomatic improvement and improvement in residual volumes of which 4 were completely dry and 9 showed improvement in voiding dysfunction and incomplete voiding. One child discontinued doxazosin due to headaches. Six had no improvement in symptoms or residual volumes. Conclusions Doxazosin resulted in complete resolution of symptoms in only 4/19(20%) of children while 33% had no improvement. Parents should be informed about the realistic prognosis of this treatment option as in this study the ‘success’ rate was much lower than previously published.
Energy spectrum of anomalous positrons

It is suggested that nuclear reactions induced by medium mass projectiles, with A/q close to that of the primary beam, could explain the anomalous positron-electron peaks observed in sub-barrier collisions of very heavy nuclei. The reactions result in prominent γ-rays which convert to e+e− pairs in material near the target. Possible experiments to examine this hypothesis are suggested.
Exact solution for the rigid slider-crank mechanism with gas pressure

Abstract In a previous paper, it was shown that the motion of the horizontal free, rigid slider-crank could be reduced to a quadrature for the angular displacement θ of the crankshaft, and the form of the solution for θ(t) was given explicitly. In this paper, the gas pressure p in the cylinder is included, and it is shown that, for p = p(θ), the solution again reduces to quadratures, and the form of θ(t) is the same as for the unforced case. Some numerical results are given.
The dynamics of aging and mortality in the United States 1900–1988

The Strehler-Mildvan modification of the Gompertz relationship between aging and mortality provides a dynamic theoretical model for identifying and separating genetic, environmental and competitive influences upon age-related mortality. The initial method of longitudinal Gompertzian analysis, which utilized linear regression, tended to underestimate both genetic and environmental influences upon age-related mortality. A modified method of longitudinal Gompertzian analysis has been applied to mortality due to stomach cancer, cervical cancer and emphysema. This modified method of longitudinal Gompertzian analysis suggests that the genetic influence upon age-related mortality is essentially the same for both men and women. Moreover, application of this modified method suggests that environmental influences upon age-related mortality in the United States have been declining for the past 20 years for men and for the past 45 years for women.
Determination of salmon calcitonin by square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry

Abstract Salmon calcitonin (SC) was characterized voltammetrically at a mercury electrode by means of cyclic and square wave voltammetry. The voltammetric behavior of SC resembles the voltammetry of other biologically active compounds containing disulfide group(s). The existence of a well shaped peak due to reduction of adsorption SC was exploited to yield a sensitive analytical method for determination of SC concentration. Square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry allows determination of SC at nanomolar levels.
For neoclassical tragedy: Gyorgy Lukacs's drama book

Before he joined the Communist Party, the young Gyorgy Lukacs published an outstanding history of the modern drama in which he combined sociological analysis with aesthetic judgment. By doing so he called his countrymen’s attention to a new and insightful approach to the study of literature. At the same time, he made a strong case for the superiority of neoclassical tragedy—largely inspired by personal experience.
Isolation of a uranyl amide by "ate" complex formation.

The uranyl amide [{Li(DME)}2Cl][Li(DME)][UO2(NC5H10)3]2 has been synthesised and structurally characterised. Its stability is attributed to the saturation of the uranyl coordination sphere by “ate” complex formation.
Inhibition of mast cell adenosine responsiveness by chronic exposure to adenosine receptor agonists

Mast cell adenosine receptors are up-regulated functionally and numerically by chronic exposure to receptor antagonists, but their response to long-term treatment with receptor agonists has not been studied. To address this issue cultured mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells were exposed to N-ethylcarboxamide adenosine (NECA), an adenosine receptor agonist that augments stimulated mast cell mediator release. Cells grown for 3 days in 1 nM NECA responded normally to A23187 or antigen in releasing beta-hexosaminidase, but the ability of exogenous adenosine to potentiate this mediator release was attenuated markedly. This inhibition of adenosine responsiveness was partially present after 10 min of 1 microM NECA exposure and complete after 4 hr. The inhibitory effects could be reversed by washing NECA-exposed cells and returning them to culture for more than 4 hr. The adenosine present in the fetal calf serum coupled with deoxycoformycin attenuated mast cell adenosine responsiveness. The NECA-treated cells also exhibited a hyporesponsiveness to adenosine's augmentation of cell cyclic AMP content. This hyporesponsiveness was specific for adenosine receptors in that exogenous isoproterenol was able to increase cyclic AMP levels to a similar degree in both control and NECA-treated cells. Thus, chronic NECA exposure induces a homologous desensitization of mast cell adenosine receptors.
L Edge Adsorption Systematics of Some Transition-Metal (Pd, Ag), Main-Group-Metal (Sn, In) and Ionic (CsI) Systems

The title system was selected with two objectives in mind. First, it is desirable to substantiate that near edge absorption in these elements is a density of states effect with a system of which the filling of the valence d, s and p states across the periodic table is well understood. Second, the sensitivity of these L edge white lines to the presence of empty states is of great concern with the hope that this technique would be valuable in studying the behavior of these states upon compound formation and subtle changes in the bonding of metal ions and complexes upon dissolution.
Polyelectrolyte gels: Ionic partners split up.

Polyelectrolyte gels are currently used as superabsorbers for polar solvents, such as water. Designing them so that the polyelectrolyte chains and their counterions don't get too close to each other makes them useful for absorbing less-polar solvents, too.
Resource Synchronization in Hierarchically Scheduled Real-Time Systems Using Preemptive Critical Sections

In this paper we outline a novel approach for accessing mutually exclusive resources in hierarchically scheduled real-time systems. Our method known as the Resource Access Control Protocol with Preemption (RACPwP) is an improved resource allocation protocol which utilizes preemptive critical sections to provide guaranteed determinism for hard real-time tasks and comparable response times for soft real-time tasks. Our experiments demonstrated that RACPwP outperforms other state-of-the-art resource access control protocols used in hierarchically scheduled systems. RACPwP was implemented as part of VxWorks and evaluated in an actual embedded application used in the aerospace industry. As a result, the response times for hard real-time tasks were improved over a traditional resource synchronization protocol.
Antibody Binding Is a Dominant Determinant of the Efficiency of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Neutralization

Primary and laboratory-adapted variants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) exhibit a wide range of sensitivities to neutralization by antibodies directed against the viral envelope glycoproteins. An antibody directed against an artificial FLAG epitope inserted into the envelope glycoproteins of three HIV-1 isolates with vastly different neutralization sensitivities inhibited all three viruses equivalently. Thus, naturally occurring HIV-1 isolates that are neutralization resistant are not necessarily more impervious to the inhibitory consequences of bound antibody. Moreover, the binding affinity of the anti-FLAG antibody correlated with neutralizing potency, underscoring the dominant impact on neutralization of antibody binding to the envelope glycoproteins.
Does Young Age Merit Increased Emergency Department Trauma Team Response

Methods: We conducted a retrospective before and after study of children <6 years sustaining blunt trauma and meeting defined prehospital criteria. We compared hospitalization rates and missed injuries (injuries identified after discharge from the emergency department/hospital) among patients with and without an upgraded trauma team response. We compared the computed tomography (CT) rate and laboratory testing rate among minimally injured patients (Injury Severity Score [ISS] 6). Results: We enrolled 352 patients with 180 (mean age 2.7 ± 1.5 years) in the upgrade cohort and 172 (mean age 2.6 ± 1.5 years) in the no-upgrade cohort. Independent predictors of hospital admission in a regression analysis included: Glasgow Coma Scale <14 (odds ratio [OR]=11.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3, 56), ISS (OR=1.55, 95% CI 1.33, 1.81), and evaluation by the upgrade trauma team (OR=5.66, 95% CI 3.14, 10.2). In the 275 patients with ISS <6, CT (relative risk=1.34, 95% CI 1.09, 1.64) and laboratory tests (relative risk=1.71, 95% CI 1.39, 2.11) were more likely to be obtained in the upgrade cohort as compared to the no-upgrade cohort. We identified no cases of a missed diagnosis. Conclusion: Increasing the trauma team response based upon young age results in increased resource use without altering the rate of missed injuries. In hospitals with emergency department physicians capable of evaluating and treating injured children, increasing ED trauma team resources solely for young age of the patient is not recommended. [West J Emerg Med. 2013;14(6):569–575.]
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF HIGH-THROUGHPUT SCREENING EXPERIMENTS ∗

Saturated row-column designs are studied to eliminate positional effects in primary highthroughput screening experiments. Compared to designs currently used in practice, all compounds in the designs considered are comparable within each microplate in spite of the existence of row and column effects. The designs considered in this paper also have the maximum number of compounds arranged in each microplate. Two statistical methods are used to choose leading compounds in the designs considered. These two methods take full advantages of effect sparsity in primary screening. Simulation studies are carried out to compare the two statistical methods with two ad hoc methods in selecting active compounds. A method that maintains balanced false positives and false negatives is recommended.
Fiscal Implications of Class Segregation Inequalities in the Distribution of Public Goods and Services in Suburban Municipalities

Patterns of residential segregation by income are examined for a sample of incorporated suburban municipalities in 31 SMSAs. Using a variety of indicators of community fiscal wealth and government service levels, the observed patterns of residential segregation are linked to patterns of fiscal inequality. Evidence is presented documenting the extent of benefits of the present system of suburban fragmentation to the small number of the very richest communities and families in suburbs. The costs of this system are seen to fall more heavily on the poor and middle-income families.
The Song of the Chingolo, Zonotrichia capensis, in Argentina: Description and Evaluation of a System of Dialects

Any intelligent statement about the role of dialects in bird song presupposes a knowledge of the functions of song. It has been suggested that song may subserve territorial advertisement, attracting unmated females and repelling other males. Less speculation has attended the possibility that song may stimulate the female to undergo hormonal changes leading towards ovulation or that it may affect other aspects of the integration of breeding behavior.
Optimal frequency domain textural edge detection filter.

An optimal frequency domain textural edge detection filter is developed and its performance evaluated. For the given model and filter bandwidth, the filter maximizes the amount of output image energy placed within a specified resolution interval centered on the textural edge. Filter derivation is based on relating textural edge detection to tonal edge detection via the complex low-pass equivalent representation of narrowband bandpass signals and systems. The filter is specified in terms of the prolate spheroidal wave functions translated in frequency. Performance is evaluated using the asymptotic approximation version of the filter. This evaluation demonstrates satisfactory filter performance for ideal and nonideal textures. In addition, the filter can be adjusted to detect textural edges in noisy images at the expense of edge resolution.
Recursive time-synchronization in sensor networks

Clock synchronization is a critical challenge in wireless sensor networks. Noisy measurements of relative offset and skew between pairs of nodes can be obtained by an exchange of time-stamped packets. The problem then can be cast as a linear estimation problem, and many distributed algorithms have been proposed recently. These algorithms are iterative, involving exchange of estimates with 1-hop neighbors. These message exchanges could be time-stamped to yield additional measurements of clock offsets and skews. We propose a distributed algorithm to fuse the new measurements with the current estimates. We show that the estimates produced by the proposed protocol converge in mean square to the true parameter values. More importantly, the error variance of the estimates even after a small number of iterations are far lower than what the earlier protocols achieved upon convergence. Simulations also indicate that the algorithm is robust to intermittent link and node failures.
3.7. Radiation dosimetry comparison between ante-mortem and post-mortem animal tissue: Is post- mortem radiation dosimetry an adequate proxy for measurements in the living?

Objectives Radiation dose from diagnostic imaging procedures is a growing public health concern. Implanting dosimeters is a more accurate way to assess organ dose, relative to commonly used mathematical estimations. However, there are problems with performing accurate dosimetry using live subjects, including patient motion and patient safety considerations, which limit the radiation dose and placement of implanted dosimeters. Therefore, our objective is to assess whether radiation doses measured in post-mortem (PM) subjects are equivalent to doses measured in live subjects. Material and methods 4 MOSFET radiation dosimeters were placed enterically in each subject (2 sedated Rhesus Macaques) to measure the radiation dose at 4 levels (carina, lung, heart, and liver) during CT scanning. The CT scanning protocol was repeated three times for each condition, ante- mortem (AM) and 2 h after euthanasia, to obtain the average AM and PM dose to each organ. Results A two sample z -test was performed to evaluate the observed AM/PM differences. No significant difference was observed in 8/9 measurements between the AM and PM radiation doses. Only one individual measurement (liver of the first subject) showed a significant difference (7% lower on PM measurement), possibly attributable to repositioning of dosimeters. Conclusions We conclude that realistic radiation dosimetry can be performed PM as a valid alternative to dosimetry of live patients, which poses several problems. This study is an example of translational forensic research, with the potential for immediate and direct benefits to clinical medicine.
Percutaneous Absorption of Topical N , N -Diethyl- m -Toluamide (Deet): Effects of Exposure Variables and Coadministered Toxicants

Exposure to N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) commonly occurs in the general population and has been implicated as a contributory factor to the Gulf War Illness. The focus of the present studies was to determine the effect of coexposure factors, potentially encountered in a military environment, that could modulate transdermal flux of topically applied DEET. Factors investigated were vehicle, dose, coexposure to permethrin, low-level sulfur mustard, occlusion, and simultaneous systemic exposure to pyridostigmine bromide and the nerve agent simulant diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP). Studies were conducted using the isolated perfused porcine skin flap (IPPSF), with a few mechanistically oriented studies conducted using in vitro porcine skin and silastic membrane diffusion cells. DEET was quantitated using high-performance liquid chromatography. The vehicle-control transdermal DEET flux in the IPPSF was approximately 2 w g/cm 2 /h for both 7.5 and 75% DEET concentrations, a value similar to that reported in hum...
Surfactant protein B: unambiguously necessary for adult pulmonary function

in the report from melton et al., one of the current articles in focus (Ref. [21][1], see [p. L543][2] in this issue), they use genetically engineered mice to demonstrate that at least 25% of normal surfactant protein B production is required for adult pulmonary function. With the use of doxycycline
Three Eras of Survey Research

Although survey research is a young field relative to many scientific domains, it has already experienced three distinct stages of de- velopment. In the first era (1930-1960), the founders of the field invented the basic components of the design of data collection and the tools to produce the statistical information from surveys. As they were inventing the method, they were also building the institutions that conduct surveys in the private, academic, and government sectors. The second era (1960-1990) witnessed a vast growth in the use of the survey method. This growth was aided by the needs of the U.S. federal government to monitor the effects of investments in human and physical infrastructure, the growth of the quantitative social sciences, and the use of quantitative information to study consumer behaviors. The third era (1990 and forward) witnessed the declines in survey participation rates, the growth of alternative modes of data collection, the weakening of sampling frames, and the growth of continuously produced process data from digital systems in all sectors, but especially those emanating from the Internet. Throughout each era, survey research methods adapted to changes in society and exploited new technologies when they proved valuable to the field.