cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Energy limits on recycling

Abstract Increasing efficiency of resource use is a major ecological-economics goal. Opportunities for large efficiency increases have been found in every area carefully investigated. What are the limits? Energy analysis offers powerful insights. Ayres has argued that, even with unlimited available energy, over time it becomes necessary to have ever-more dilute waste reservoirs. If correct, this would significantly limit the potential of a hypothetical sustainable spaceship, and of a ‘spaceship economy’. However, we know the world is self-contained and long lived, and that stable laboratory microcosms have been built. Thus, this assertion appears to violate reality. I argue that the alleged problem does not exist. Given available energy, there is no concentration limit on sustainability. My result is consistent with the work of Georgescu-Roegen and others. I estimate some numerical examples to show that present systems are extremely far from theoretical limits. For a long time to come, there will be vast opportunities to improve efficiency. The paper includes a classification schema for recycling based on chemical bonding and thermodynamic considerations.
An approach to seizure detection using an artificial neural network (ANN)

Abstract We have developed an EEG seizure detector based on an artificial neural network. The input layer of the ANN has 31 nodes quantifying the amplitude, slope, curvature, rhythmicity, and frequency components of EEG in a 2 sec epoch. The hidden layer has 30 nodes and the output layer has 8 nodes representing various patterns of EEG activity (e.g. seizure, muscle, noise, normal). The value of the output node representing seizure activity is averaged over 3 consecutive epochs and a seizure is declared when that average exceeds 0.65. Among 78 randomly selected files from 50 patients not in the original training set, the detector declared at least one seizure in 76% of 34 files containing seizures. It declared no seizures in 93% of 44 files not containing seizures. Four false detections during 4.1 h of recording yielded a false detection rate of 1.0/h. The detector can continuously process 40 channels of EEG with a 33 MHz 486 CPU. Although this method is still in its early stages of development, our results represent proof of the principle that ANN could be utilized to provide a practical approach for automatic, on-line, seizure detection.
Addition of water and ammonia to the carbon–carbon double bond of acyclic alkenes and strained bicyclic dienes; a computational study

Abstract Calculations have been carried out on the hydration and amination of alkenes to give alcohols and amines respectively. This density functional theory computational study shows both reactions to be exothermic. The enthalpies are in the −7 to −16 kcal mol−1 range for acyclic alkenes. Computationally, unsubstituted alkenes, or those substituted with electron donor groups, undergo hydration and amination reactions more readily than electron deficient alkenes. Formation of branched isomers is favored over linear ones, which correlates with the preference for Markovnikov addition. Strained bicyclic dienes show enthalpies that range between −11 and −33 kcal mol−1. The higher values for the dienes reflects the release of ring strain in the addition reaction. For norbornadiene dicarboxylic acids, addition to the unsubstituted double bond is favored. For the hydration reaction, addition to a double bond substituted with hydroxymethyl groups is favored over one substituted with carboxylic acid groups. Ruthenium(II) and palladium(0) TPPTS complexes have been used for the hydration of 1-octene to 1-octanol.
The new university

Most businesses have research, development, and marketing (RD&M) processes by which they invent and market new products and services. These processes are part of the company’s business design.
Patients were more consistent in randomized trial at prioritizing childbirth preferences using graphic-numeric than verbal formats.

Abstract Objective We developed an evidence-based decision aid to help women with a prior cesarean to prioritize their childbirth preferences related to a future birth. Because there was uncertainty about which scale format would assist the patients in being most consistent in prioritizing preferences in a multiattribute decision model, we compared a graphic-numeric scale with a text-anchored scale. Study Design and Setting Ninety-six postnatal women with a prior cesarean were randomized to use 1 of 2 preference scale formats in a computerized childbirth decision aid. We measured the level of inconsistency (intransitivity) when patients prioritized their childbirth preferences and clarity of values before and after using the decision aid. Results When the trade-offs involved risk, women were more consistent when using graphic-numeric than text-anchored formats (P = 0.015). They prioritized safety to their baby as 4 times more important than any other decision factor including safety to self. Both groups reduced unclear childbirth values over time (P Conclusion Patients were more consistent in making trade-offs involving risk using graphic-numeric formats than text-anchored formats to measure patient preferences.
Sensitivity analysis of three-dimensional steady-state and transient spray irrigation models

We conducted a sensitivity analysis of ground water flow on a spray irrigation site to evaluate key parameters affecting use of spray irrigation for sewage disposal. Spray irrigation is considered successful when water recharges the aquifer (low runoff) and mounding of the water table is below set limits. It can be difficult to predict success and allowable irrigation rates given uncertainty in parameters. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) code MODFLOW was used to compare two- and three-dimensional steady-state simulations, and three-dimensional transient simulations. We compared Latin hypercube sampling and systematic adjustment of parameters as methods of sensitivity analysis, transient versus steady-state sensitivity, and variations in layer configurations. These models were not calibrated because they were created during planning stages before field data became available. The Latin hypercube sampling effectively tested a large number of parameters simultaneously, and can be used as a screening tool for systematic adjustment of parameters. Transient and steady-state simulations predicted similar sensitivity to hydraulic conductivity, but steady-state modeling produced higher peak heads and discharges. Again, we recommend that the steady-state simulations could be used as a screening tool to evaluate trends. Transient modeling is likely to provide more realistic predictions of heads and discharges. When different layer configurations were compared, we found that two-dimensional modeling overpredicted mounding and drain discharge because flow in a permeable soil layer is neglected. Two-dimensional modeling would not be effective for predicting allowable irrigation rates. These results provide modelers an indication of the effects of model simplification, which can be used to plan modeling strategies.
The Invention of Convention

The traditional past of the people of South-West Bay, Malekula, featured a great deal of cultural borrowing. Like most Christians in Vanuatu, their negative attitude to a 'pagan' past has been changed into one of positive interest by the recent national emphasis on kastorn. Their older perception of kastorn as commodity - knowledge, rituals, objects, etc. to be bought, sold or exchanged at will - has been supplemented by the more wide- spread notion of kastom as a stable body of traditions, unshared as well as shared. The validatory potential of kastorn is being realized as people re-evaluate and reinvent their past, exploiting lacunae in customary knowledge by imaginative citation of the written ethnographic word. Contemporary needs are apparently more effectively satisfied by reference to fixed truths rather than to fluid and dynamic representations of culture.
ADR and the Dispossessed: Recent Books About the Deformalization Movement

Richard Delgado is Chapman Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law, University of Tulsa School of Law; Professor of Law, University of California-Davis. J.D. 1974, University of California-Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law. The author is indebted to his colleague, Mari Matsuda, for inspiration and criticism, and to Kathleen Bliss and Craig Reffner, his research asssistants. 1. E.g., Burger, Our Vicious Legal Spiral, 16 Judges J. 23 (Fall 1977); id., Isn't There a Better Way? 68 A.B.A. J. 274, 275 (1982); Sander, Varieties of Dispute Processing, 70 F.R.D. 111 (1976); Bok, Law and Its Discontents: A Critical Look at Our Legal System, Bar Leader, Mar.-Apr. 1983, at 21. Recently, a revision of a Civil Procedure casebook was promoted in the following terms: Within the past decade the winds of change in American civil procedure have been blowing with extraordinary force. The most portentous draft is the one that has alerted the country to the need for non-court alternatives to resolve legal disputes. Judges, scholars, legislators and bar leaders are searching energetically for new mechanisms. A major "alternatives" movement has developed in the law and the law schools. Courses in civil procedure already feel the effects of this movement .... Casebooks clearly must reflect this development.
Evaluation of progressive treemaps to convey tree and node properties

In this paper, we evaluate progressive treemaps (PTMs). Progressive refinement has a long tradition in image communication, but is a novel approach for information presentation. Besides technical benefits it also promises to provide advantages important for the conveyance of data properties. In this first user study in this domain, we focus on the additional value of progressive refinement for traditional treemaps to convey the topology of a given hierarchical data set and properties of its nodes. To achieve this, we compare the results gained for common squarified treemap displays with and without progression for various related tasks and set-ups. The results we obtained indicate that PTMs allow for a better conveyance of topological features and node properties in most set-ups. We also assessed the opinions of our study participants and found that PTMs also lead to a better confidence about the given answers and provide more assistance and user friendliness.
Highly reliable molecular-pore-stacking (MPS)/Cu interconnects featuring best combination of post-etching treatment and resputtering processes

Display Omitted Effects of post-etching treatment (PET) in trench patterning and resputtering in barrier metal sputtering on low-k/Cu interconnects were investigated for the low-k of molecular pore stacking (MPS). Optimized combination of PET and resputtering reduces wiring capacitance by 5% due to well controlled profile, resulted from hardening effect of the exposed MPS at the trench bottom. The developed process sequence achieves 10 times longer EM lifetime and eliminates early failure mode in the TDDB test. Thus, the novel process, featuring PET and resputtering, contributes to high reliability for 28nm node CMOS and beyond.
Debating the Events of September 11th: Discursive and Interactional Dynamics in Three Online Fora

This study examines the constituencies, patterns of interaction, and ideologies in three online fora created to discuss the events of September 11th, 2001. Drawing on comparative case studies, the research explores the frames and discursive styles used by Brazilian, French, and American participants to articulate their views about this polarizing topic. The research identifies commonalities and differences across the three cases with respect to trends in posters' participation, interaction patterns between forum participants, and the ideological content of the posts themselves. Interpretive examination of posts from the three sites elucidates linkages between modes of discourse, ideological positions, and faction membership. The article addresses the effects of these discursive proclivities by examining how participants in each forum create stable ideological divisions. It illuminates how different interactional strategies may facilitate or inhibit continued dialogue in the face of division.
Paramagnetic resonance of tetravalent neptunium-237 in single crystals of Cs 2 Zr Cl 6

The electron-paramagnetic-resonance spectrum of ${\mathrm{Np}}^{4+}$ in single-crystal ${\mathrm{Cs}}_{2}$Zr${\mathrm{Cl}}_{6}$ has been investigated at 1.6 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K in the 35-GHz band. Two basic Zeeman resonances (exclusive of nuclear hyperfine splitting) with anisotropy patterns characteristic of a ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{8}$ quartet were observed. The values of $g$ and $f$, the coefficients of the terms linear and cubic, respectively, in ${\stackrel{^}{S}}_{z}$ in the spin Hamiltonian are $g=0.40$ and $f=\ensuremath{-}1.7$. The value of the Lea, Leask, and Wolf parameter $\ensuremath{\chi}$ which corresponds to these values is $\ensuremath{\chi}=\ensuremath{-}0.567$, a startling result in view of the octahedral coordination of the ${\mathrm{Np}}^{4+}$ ion. The spectra also show extensive nuclear hyperfine splitting, the anisotropy pattern of which does not agree even qualitatively with that predicted for a ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{8}$ quartet. A qualitative model is suggested which may explain this discrepancy for this case and for the case of ${\mathrm{Pr}}^{2+}$ in Ca${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$ found in the literature.
Sport as Business

There is both a popular and academic literature suggesting that owners of sports teams do not profit maximize. The alternative formulation entails either win or utility maximization, usually subject to a breakeven constraint. Another line of economic analysis holds that team owners do fundamentally profit maximize or that profit maximization provides a useful benchmark against which to assess actual performance. There has been some empirical work attempting to decipher the true objective function of team owners. These results are inconclusive. Objective functions, however, remain important because they affect both owner behaviour and league performance. In practice, owners' objectives vary by team, league, and country and are strongly affected by how the team relates to an owner's other assets. The next task for modelling the behaviour and performance of sports leagues is to take fuller account of the diversity of ownership objectives within a given league. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.
SU-E-J-39: Minimizing IGRT Imaging Exposures: KV Radiograph Vs. KV-CBCT Vs. MV Portal Images.

Purpose: To compare the IGRT doses from MV, kV and CBCTimages.Methods: kV imaging systems integrated into Varian Trilogy and TrueBeam accelerators were modeled using BEAMnrc/DOSXYZnrc Monte Carlo codes and the dose to calibration phantoms for a variety of kV beams(kVp, bow‐tie filters, etc.) were calculated. The doses to the same phantoms and kV beams were then measured experimentally using calibrated ion‐chambers.The “calibrated” Monte Carlo kV beams were used to calculate dose to CTimages of patients. Organ doses were analyzed using DVHs. Results: The doses to the prostate are 0.015 and 2.2cGy using AP kV and MV images; are 0.06 and 2.3cGy using lateral kV and MV images; and, are 1.7 cGy using CBCTimages. For head and neck images, the doses to the eye are 0.08 and 0.001 cGy using AP and PA kV images; are 2.3 and 1.8cGy using AP and PA MV images; are 0.001 and 2.4cGy for lateral kV and MV images; and, are 0.2 cGy for CBCTimages. For kV radiographs,organ doses can be further reduced, by over 30%, by using bow‐tie filters. CBCT doses to the prostate are 1.6 and 0.9cGy for OBI and TrueBeam pelvis scans; a >40% dose reduction for the same image quality. For OBI CBCT head scans the doses to the eye and brain stem are 0.2 and 2.8cGy, respectively. Conclusions: Due to the low penetration of kV beams,selecting beam angles so that the sensitive organs are near the beam exit, and/or using bow‐tie filters, can substantially reduce organ doses when using kV radiographs. For daily positioning of pediatric brain patient with a set of orthogonal kV images, a CBCT scan, or a set of orthogonal MV images, the doses to the eyes are 0.1, 0.2, and 4.7 cGy, respectively.
Fatty acid oxidation disorders: maternal health and neonatal outcomes.

Summary Mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) disorders have become an important group of inherited metabolic disorders causing serious pediatric and maternal morbidity and mortality. More than 20 defects affecting β-oxidation have been discovered, characterized by distinct enzyme or transporter deficiencies. This growing number of FAO disorders covers a wide spectrum of phenotypes and are characterized by a wide array of clinical presentations. We discuss the major mitochondrial FAO disorders and the impact they have on maternal health and neonatal outcomes; diagnostic tools and the value of genetic screening are reviewed; and current therapeutic approaches and management strategies are discussed.
Oncogenes encoding protein kinases

Abstract At least half of the more than 20 known proto-oncogenes encode proteins which phosphorylate polypeptide substrates. This suggests that protein phosphorylation plays a central role inthe regulation of cellular multiplication, glucose metabolism and cell shape and that a surprisingly large number of protein kinases exert control over these processes in normal cells and can perturb them in malignant cells.
Performance Study and Instability Analysis of Steam Turbine Control Valve

Industrial steam turbines represent one of the largest fractions of prime movers. Regardless of the steam-turbine application being considered, speed and/or load control will be required. Speed control is the primary control loop for all turbine applications, industrial as well as utility. The inlet of industrial steam turbine is usually controlled by a single valve, or a series of valves (multi-valve assembly) working in concert. As a turbine governing valve, the venturi valve, has been widely used in steam turbines to regulate inlet flow in the last 40 years. But as turbine output power become larger, a number of valve failure incidences started to be reported and improving the valve designs became a high priority. But despite numerous investigations to eliminate valve failure, the attempts were not fully successful due to the complicated nature of the fluid-structure interaction mechanisms, and the basic mechanism causing valve vibration and failure is still far from being fully understood. Steam control valves are required to operate under wide ranges of valve openings and pressure ratios.As a continuation of previous valve designs, a newly designed valve with two different seat configurations has been investigated experimentally and studied. This paper reports the results of one of the newly designed valves with a short seat configuration. This paper presents detailed experimental investigations to clarify the mechanisms of valve instability caused by unsteady flows around the valve. A result of the asymmetric unstable flow, noise and vibration characteristics of the valve together with an overall performance assessment of the valve is presented.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Interaction of substance P antagonists with substance P receptors on dispersed pancreatic acini.

In the present study we examined the abilities of three analogs of substance P, [D-Pro2-, D-Phe7-, D-Trp9]-substance P, [D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9]-substance P and [D-Arg1-, D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9-, Leu11 ]-substance P to alter substance P-induced changes in pancreatic acinar cell function and to occupy substance P receptors. At 30 microM, each analog of substance P lacked agonist activity and inhibited amylase secretion stimulated by substance P receptor agonists. The inhibition was reversible and specific for peptides that interact with substance P receptors (physalaemin, substance P, eledoisin, kassinin ). The analogs of substance P did not inhibit the actions of cholecystokinin, caerulein, gastrin, carbamylcholine, secretin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, PHI, ionophore A23187 or 8Br -cAMP. At high concentrations, [D-Arg1-, D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9-, Leu11 ]-substance P, but not [D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9]-substance P or [D-Pro2-, D-Phe7-, D-Trp9]-substance P, caused a small but significant inhibition of bombesin-stimulated amylase release. For each analog of substance P, the inhibition was competitive in nature in that there was a rightward shift of the dose-response curve for physalaemin-stimulated amylase secretion with no change in efficacy. From Schild plots of the ability of [D-Arg1-, D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9-, Leu11 ]-substance P to inhibit either substance p- or physalaemin-stimulated amylase release, the slopes were not different from unity. For each analog of substance P, there was a close correlation between its ability to inhibit substance P- or physalaemin-stimulated amylase release and its ability to inhibit binding of 125I-labeled substance P or 125I-labeled physalaemin. [D-Arg1-, D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9-, Leu11 ]-substance P was 2-fold more potent than [D-Pro2-, D- Trp7 ,9]-substance P which was 4-fold more potent than [D-Pro2-, D-Phe7-, D-Trp9]-substance P, (i.e., pA2 6.1, 5.9, and 5.2, respectively). For each analog, the dose-response curve for its ability to inhibit physalaemin-stimulated amylase release was superimpossible on the dose-response curve for its ability to inhibit binding of 125I-labeled physalaemin. These results indicate that each of these analogs of substance P is a specific competitive inhibitor of the action of the substance P on dispersed acini from guinea-pig pancreas, and that their abilities to inhibit substance P-induced changes in acinar cell function can be accounted for by their abilities to occupy the substance P receptor.
Reuniting Public Health and Medicine: The University of New Mexico School of Medicine Public Health Certificate

The University of New Mexico School of Medicine (UNMSOM) sought to train medical students in public health concepts, knowledge, and skills as a means of improving the health of communities statewide. Faculty members from every UNMSOM department collaborated to create and integrate a public health focus into all years of the medical school curriculum. They identified key competencies and developed new courses that would synchronize students' learning public health subjects with the mainstream medical school content. New courses include: Health Equity: Principles of Public Health; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Evidence-Based Practice; Community-Based Service Learning; and Ethics in Public Health. Students experiencing the new courses, first in pilot and then final forms, gave high quantitative ratings to all courses. Some students' qualitative comments suggest that the Public Health Certificate has had a profound transformative effect. Instituting the integrated Public Health Certificate at UNMSOM places it among the first medical schools to require all its medical students to complete medical school with public health training. The new UNMSOM Public Health Certificate courses reunite medicine and public health in a unified curriculum.
Hemodynamic comparison of differing anastomotic geometries using magnetic resonance velocimetry.

Background Hemodynamic factors at the distal anastomosis play an important role in prosthetic graft performance. A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique was used to determine the effect of anastomotic geometry on hemodynamic flow patterns. Methods Four dimensional (4D) magnetic resonance velocimetry (4D-MRV) is a noninvasive method of analyzing pulsatile flow in three dimensions (3D). End-to-side anastomotic models were constructed by suturing 6 mm polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) grafts to silicone tubing (4 mm i.d.). The models included straight ePTFE, precuffed ePTFE, and patched ePTFE configurations in a pulsatile system, which created flow consistent with physiologic flow rates and pressures. Blood was simulated by a solution of 40% glycerol in distilled water with trace gadolinium. The different models were imaged using MRV techniques in a three-dimensional (3D) coronal slab (0.5 mm thick coronal slices, in-plane field of view (FOV) 18 cm.) The data were reconstructed, resulting in an interpolated resolution of 0.35 mm in each coronal plane. The 3D flow fields were represented as isosurfaces, visualizing the internal geometry of the models with streamlines tangent to the velocity vectors identifying the path of the fluid. Volumetric flow rates for each time phase were calculated by integrating the flow through cross sections of each anastomotic model. Analysis of the flow patterns focused on the anastomotic regions prone to the development of intimal hyperplasia and graft failure as identified in the literature; the toe, floor, heel, and hood. Results Conventional end-to-side geometry resulted in uniform flow with a low angle of impingement on the recipient vessel floor. A small vortex at the anastomotic heel created minimal recirculation. The precuffed geometry resulted in a large recirculation vortex of chaotic, low flow that increased throughout the pulsatile cycle. Regions of low flow velocity were noted in a substantial portion of the precuffed anastomotic configuration. Flow separation distal to the toe occurred in both geometries, but was more apparent in the precuffed configuration. The patch model had flow characteristics similar to the straight end-to-side geometry. Conclusion Magnetic resonance velocimetry produces 3D, time varying velocity measurements with sufficient accuracy and resolution to analyze hemodynamics in anastomotic geometries. Flow structures in different graft configurations were effectively captured with marked differences noted between standard and precuffed anastomotic geometries. The findings support a conventional end-to-side anastomosis with a low incidence angle using a straight graft as producing favorable hemodynamics as compared to a cuffed configuration. The vein patch configuration closely approximates the conventional, straight anastomotic pattern. We believe the MRV technique has been sufficiently developed to warrant additional in vitro and in vivo studies providing insight into hemodynamic implications for the development of optimal prosthetic graft performance.
Extrapersonal spatial orientation: The role of posterior parietal, anterior frontal, and inferotemporal cortex

Abstract Rhesus monkeys with ablations of posterior parietal, anterior frontal, or inferotemporal cortex, and normal controls were tested on two tasks of extrapersonal spatial orientation. Both tasks measured the monkey's ability to perceive the spatial relationship between external objects. One task involved reversal learning, maximizing perseverative interference effects (landmark discrimination reversal task); the other eliminated a spatial separation of the cue from the reward-response location, minimizing shifts in the focus of attention (patterned string problems). Monkeys with parietal lesions were significantly impaired on both extrapersonal spatial tasks, whereas those with frontal lesions were not impaired on either one. Monkeys with inferotemporal lesions demonstrated a significant and increasingly greater deficit with each successive reversal on the landmark reversal task, but no impairment on the patterned string problems. In the context of prior research, the present study indicates that the posterior parietal cortex is essentially involved in coding spatial relations between external objects, and the anterior frontal cortex mediates a function superordinate to a spatial factor. The role of the inferotemporal cortex in spatial functions depends on the extent to which visual discrimination learning is involved.
High-Throughput Screening for Small-Molecule Inhibitors of LARG-Stimulated RhoA Nucleotide Binding via a Novel Fluorescence Polarization Assay

Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) stimulate guanine nucleotide exchange and the subsequent activation of Rho-family proteins in response to extracellular stimuli acting upon cytokine, tyro...
Electrical resistance of ultra thin Ag-, Cu- and Mn-films on Ge-substrates

Abstract The resistivity ρ of very thin Ag- and Cu-films prepared in a very high vacuum on Ge-substrates could be as low as 4 μΩm for 1-nm thick films. ρ was found to be approximately proportional to t−n, with 2
Sociometric Status of Learning Disabled Children in an Integrative Program

The sociometric standing of primary-aged learning disabled students was investigated. The setting was a sparsely populated rural area where learning disabled children were mainstreamed in an elementary school in which an “open concept” delivery of services system was in operation. The “special child” stigma was therefore assumed to be significantly reduced. The data support the findings of previous studies on handicapped and normal children; i.e., significant differences were found between the learning disabled and normal control groups on both the positive and negative questions. Further analysis revealed that the learning disabled girls were less likely to be positively chosen and more likely to be rejected than the learning disabled boys. A discussion of possible reasons for such differences is included.
Determination of Acetylsalicylic Acid and Barbiturate Combinations by Differentiating Nonaqueous Titration

Acetylsalicylic acid and barbiturate mixtures are determined by differentiating non-aqueous titration. The titration solvent is methyl isobutyl ketone, the titrant is sodium methoxide in benzene-methanol, and the electrode system consists of the glasscalomel or antimony-calomel electrode pair. Satisfactory end points were realized when the acetylsalicylic acid-to-barbiturate ratio was as high as 14 to 1. Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide proved unsuitable as a differentiating titrant. Differentiation was not possible when dimethylformamide was the titration solvent. The barbiturates studied included phenobarbital, amobarbital, barbital, allylisobutyl-barbituric acid, pentobarbital, and secobarbital.
The current status and recent advances in high-resolution imaging of spinal vascular malformations

The management of spinal vascular malformations (SVM) has improved over the last four decades with the evolution of imaging, anesthesia, microsurgery, and endovascular techniques. Commonly used high-resolution imaging techniques include CT angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, and digital subtraction angiography. We review the advances that have been made in these imaging modalities and discuss their present role for imaging SVM, with the goal of assisting neurosurgeons in making judicious use of current imaging techniques to develop the most effective management strategies for these complex lesions.
Some effects of collection equipment, glycerolation, and post-thaw re-equilibration times on the motility and survival of bovine spermatozoa

Abstract Forty ejaculates, from two Holstein bulls, were collected in one-piece combination liner-collection cones. Aliquots of spermatozoa were evaluated at each step of semen handling and processing. Similar differences in progressive motility and percent unstained cells associated with both glycerol level and equilibration time were highly significant (P In Experiment 2, post-thaw progressive motility of spermatozoa collected with polyethylene liner-collection cones was better than that of cells collected over rubber (P
Fixed-point frequency measurements of an intracavity etalon-based coupled optoelectronic oscillator

The comb dynamics of an etalon-based coupled optoelectronic oscillator are determined in terms of fixed-point frequencies. These measurements result in a stabilization scheme where changes to the optoelectronic phase and the laser cavity are decoupled.
Cover crop mulches influence biological control of the imported cabbageworm (Pieris rapae L., Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in cabbage

Increasing structural complexity within crop fields can provide a way to manipulate pest abundance and biological control in agroecosystems. Here, we examine the effect of cover crop mulches in cabbage on the structure and function of an insect food web, investigating the role of cover crop species, structure, and volatile cues on important interactions. We focused on the imported cabbageworm (Pieris rapae L., Lepidoptera: Pieridae), and three of its natural enemies, the spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris (Say), Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), the convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens (Guerin), Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and the parasitoid, Cotesia rubecula Marshall (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). We measured the abundance of these insects in a field experiment and conducted a natural enemy exclusion cage study to determine the level of biological control of the imported cabbageworm in the field. Our field experiments indicated that cover crop species, but not structure, influenced insect abundance, with significantly more imported cabbageworm and C. rubecula in rye cover crop mulch plots compared to vetch mulch or bare soil plots. In the Y-tube assays we found some evidence that the increased parasitoid abundance did not result in increased parasitism because of interference of the mulch with short-range host finding odor cues. The natural abundance of the two predators was not different among our field plots with different cover crop treatments. Mortality and parasitism of sentinel imported cabbageworm larvae was not different in field cages among the different cover crop mulch treatments, but there was a significant difference among cage types indicating that small natural enemies play an important role in the biological control of this cabbage pest.
Shared Retention: Addressing Library Space Needs While Ensuring Continued Access to Historically Significant Agricultural Collections

There is increased national interest in preserving and digitizing historical agricultural collections, as a means for balancing collection needs with the growing need for collaborative study and meeting space within an academic community. This article will discuss two consortial projects, and a nationally coordinated collection project, that address long-term preservation of agricultural collections while freeing up space for repurpose.
Quantitative mapping of zinc fluxes in the mammalian egg reveals the origin of fertilization-induced zinc sparks

Fertilization of a mammalian egg initiates a series of 'zinc sparks' that are necessary to induce the egg-to-embryo transition. Despite the importance of these zinc-efflux events little is known about their origin. To understand the molecular mechanism of the zinc spark we combined four physical approaches that resolve zinc distributions in single cells: a chemical probe for dynamic live-cell fluorescence imaging and a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence microscopy and three-dimensional elemental tomography for high-resolution elemental mapping. We show that the zinc spark arises from a system of thousands of zinc-loaded vesicles, each of which contains, on average, 10(6) zinc atoms. These vesicles undergo dynamic movement during oocyte maturation and exocytosis at the time of fertilization. The discovery of these vesicles and the demonstration that zinc sparks originate from them provides a quantitative framework for understanding how zinc fluxes regulate cellular processes.
Creative uses of the Z-plasty technique

Scar deformities of the face and neck continue to present challenges for the facial reconstructive surgeon. Classic Z-plasty techniques along with Z-plasty transposition flap variations remain extremely helpful for many scar deformities. Discussion of these techniques and case examples will be included in this review.
Interactive Visualization and Analysis of Transitional Flow

A stand-alone visualization application has been developed by a multi-disciplinary, collaborative team with the sole purpose of creating an interactive exploration environment allowing turbulent flow researchers to experiment and validate hypotheses using visualization. This system has specific optimizations made in data management, caching computations, and visualization allowing for the interactive exploration of datasets on the order of 1TB in size. Using this application, the user (co-author Calo) is able to interactively visualize and analyze all regions of a transitional flow volume, including the laminar, transitional and fully turbulent regions. The underlying goal of the visualizations produced from these transitional flow simulations is to localize turbulent spots in the laminar region of the boundary layer, determine under which conditions they form, and follow their evolution. The initiation of turbulent spots, which ultimately lead to full turbulence, was located via a proposed feature detection condition and verified by experimental results. The conditions under which these turbulent spots form and coalesce are validated and presented.
Bioinformatics multivariate analysis determined a set of phase-specific biomarker candidates in a novel mouse model for viral myocarditis

Background—Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the cardiac muscle and is mainly caused by viral infections. Viral myocarditis has been proposed to be divided into 3 phases: the acute viral ph...
From Bush Pump to Blackboard: the fluid workings of a virtual environment

Impact is possibly the most frequently evaluated construct associated with any kind of technological diffusion or adoption within educational settings. Seemingly endless research projects are funded to measure it and to validate the educational value we have become adept at inscribing into practically all novel technologies brought to our attention through official documents or government initiatives. This article revisits the virtual learning environment known as Blackboard. It addresses the notion of impact surrounding the e-learning initiative in the UK context, with particular reference to the case of one university. It seeks to move towards a ‘softer’ conceptualisation of how we may study the workings of a virtual environment. To this end it draws on the work of de Laet and Mol concerning the mechanics of the bush pump to argue that there is no Blackboard (or other technology) in itself that is completely finished in its design or make-up. How a given technology works is not just a matter of concern ...
Q-switched 2-micron lasers by use of a Cr2+:ZnSe saturable absorber.

Flash-lamp-pumped Ho:YAG (2090-nm) and Tm:YAG (2017-nm) lasers were, for the first time to our knowledge, passively Q switched by use of a Cr2+:ZnSe saturable absorber. A Q-switched Ho laser with 1.3-mJ pulse energy and ∼90-ns pulse duration and a Q-switched Tm laser with ∼3.2-mJ pulse energy and 90-ns pulse duration were demonstrated. Compared with the free-running output energies at the Q-switching threshold pump levels, the Q-switching efficiencies were approximately 5% for the Ho:YAG laser and 16% for the Tm:YAG laser.
Synaptically activated Ca2+ waves and NMDA spikes locally suppress voltage-dependent Ca2+ signalling in rat pyramidal cell dendrites.

Non-technical summary Synaptically activated changes in dendritic [Ca2+]i affect many important physiological processes including synaptic plasticity and gene expression. The location, magnitude and time course of these changes can determine which mechanisms are affected. Therefore, it is important to understand the processes that control and modulate these changes. One important source is Ca2+ entering through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels opened by action potentials backpropagating over the dendrites (bAPs). Here we examine how [Ca2+]i changes, caused by regenerative Ca2+ release from internal stores (Ca2+ waves) or by regenerative Ca2+ entry through NMDA receptors (NMDA spikes), affect subsequent bAP-evoked [Ca2+]i changes. These large [Ca2+]i increases suppressed the bAP signals in the regions where the preceding [Ca2+]i increases were largest. The suppression was proportional to the magnitude of the large [Ca2+]i change and was insensitive to kinase and phosphatase inhibitors, consistent with suppression due to Ca2+-dependent inhibition of Ca2+ channels.
Increasing state market share through a regional positioning.

State tourism o$cials need to know more about the nature of in-state and out-of-state visitor characteristics and how actual and potential visitors perceive local destinations. The main objective of this study was to understand Virginia’s image as a travel destination versus competitive states in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA. The regional competitiveness of Virginia as a tourism destination was evaluated by creating a ‘perceptual mapa which reveals the similarities and di!erences in how 10 states were rated on the 48 destination attributes included in the survey. Results showed that Virginia stands out in the quality of its natural and historical landscape; features shared by many of the surrounding competitive states. Virginia competes with Pennsylvania, North Carolina, West Virginia on natural features and competes with Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia on historic and cultural heritage. Virginia’s amenities are well known, but lack emotional impact. Possible marketing strategies would be to give Virginia a stronger emotional image, while building on its strong reputation for quality natural and cultural attractions. It is also important that destination promotional activities focus on di!erentiating features of places in a regional context so that complementary tourism products within the region can also be developed. ( 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Why Fiduciary Law Is Equitable

Fiduciary law is both celebrated as unbound by rules and deplored as unprincipled. Moralists see in fiduciary law a fixed and mandatory system, even as legal economists and contractarians have cast fiduciary law as the ultimate set of defaults to fill in incomplete contracts. Like general equity, out of which it grew, modern fiduciary law suffers from the hard times the theory of equity has fallen into, and for the same reasons. This chapter argues that a functional theory of equity – of equity as a safety valve aimed at countering opportunism – captures the character of fiduciary law. Fiduciary relationships, in which someone undertakes to act on another’s behalf by using discretion, carry more than the usual potential for opportunism. In the equitable solutions to opportunism based on proxies and presumptions, fiduciary law gets its main features. Like equity but in a more sweeping and often more categorical way, fiduciary law sets the presumption against the fiduciary when certain proxies are triggered. Thus, in situations of undisclosed conflict of interest the presumption of opportunism arises even without regard to the substance of the deal. For self-dealing likewise the presumption arises in an almost indefeasible way. Like equity generally, fiduciary law features a constrained residuum of open-endedness to deal with new and creative ways of being opportunistic. The theory of equity as targeting potential opportunism unifies the best aspects of traditional and modern theories of fiduciary law, and helps explain why fiduciary law has become so disparate and contested after the fusion of law and equity. Cut off from the special rationales of equity, fiduciary law itself threatens to become too expansive or too narrow and hidebound – like equity generally. Finally, the functional theory of equity as anti-opportunism helps explain the similarity of fiduciary law to another much misunderstood area of private law – unjust enrichment – and the relation between the two. The chapter concludes with some remarks about fiduciary law within the overall architecture of private law.
Initial implementation of California's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act: Findings from focus groups in ten counties

Abstract California's voter-initiated Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA) mandated a large-scale criminal justice policy shift, offering community-based, court-monitored treatment for non-violent drug-involved adult offenders in lieu of incarceration. In this article, we analyze implementation issues that arose during SACPA's first year. Issues were identified in focus groups conducted with stakeholders in 10 counties. For the analysis we adapted Winter's [Winter, S. (1990). Integrating implementation research. In D. J. Palumbo & D. J. Calista (Eds.), Implementation and the policy process: Opening up the black box (pp. 19–38). New York: Greenwood Press] framework for studying policy implementation to focus on policy interpretation, target group behavior, agency and interagency implementation practices, and ‘street-level bureaucrats.’ Among the issues examined are: local control; drug court influences; high need clients; interagency communication and cooperation; filing and prosecution of cases; infusion of the therapeutic ethos; interagency assessment teams; monitoring and reporting; service delivery problems and solutions; insufficient resources; and staff workload and burnout.
What Happens When Wal‐Mart Comes to Town: An Empirical Analysis of the Discount Retailing Industry

In the past few decades multi-store retailers, especially those with a hundred or more stores, have experienced substantial growth. At the same time, there is widely reported public outcry over the impact of these chain stores on small retailers and local communities. This paper develops an empirical model to assess the impact of chain stores on the profitability and entry/exit decisions of small discount retailers and to quantify the size of the scale economies within a chain. The model has two key features. First, it allows for flexible competition patterns among all players. Second, for chains, it incorporates the scale economies that arise from operating multiple stores in nearby regions. In doing so, the model relaxes the commonly used assumption that entry in different markets is independent. The estimation exploits a unique data set that covers the discount retail industry from 1988 to 1997 and yields interesting results. First, Wal-Mart’s expansion from the late 1980s to the late 1990s explains about fifty to seventy percent of the net change in the number of small discount retailers. Failure to address the endogeneity of the firms’ entry decisions would result in underestimating this impact by fifty to sixty percent. Second, scale economies were important for both Kmart and Wal-Mart, but the magnitude did not grow proportionately with the chains’ sizes. Finally, direct government subsidies to either chains or small retailers are unlikely to be effective in increasing the number of firms or the level of employment.
Copper excess, zinc deficiency, and cognition loss in Alzheimer's disease

In this special issue about biofactors causing cognitive impairment, we present evidence for and discuss two such biofactors. One is excess copper, causing neuronal toxicity. The other is zinc deficiency, causing neuronal damage. We present evidence that Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become an epidemic in developed, but not undeveloped, countries and that the epidemic is a new disease phenomenon, beginning in the early 1900s and exploding in the last 50 years. This leads to the conclusion that something in the developed environment is a major risk factor for AD. We hypothesize that the factor is inorganic copper, leached from the copper plumbing, the use of which coincides with the AD epidemic. We present a web of evidence supporting this hypothesis. Regarding zinc, we have shown that patients with AD are zinc deficient when compared with age-matched controls. Zinc has critical functions in the brain, and lack of zinc can cause neuronal death. A nonblinded study about 20 years ago showed considerable improvement in AD with zinc therapy, and a mouse AD model study also showed significant cognitive benefit from zinc supplementation. In a small blinded study we carried out, post hoc analysis revealed that 6 months of zinc therapy resulted in significant benefit relative to placebo controls in two cognitive measuring systems. These two factors may be linked in that zinc therapy significantly reduced free copper levels. Thus, zinc may act by lowering copper toxicity or by direct benefit on neuronal health, or both.