cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling of Highly-Nonlinear HBT Characteristics using a Distributed Thermal Subcircuit Derived from Pulsed Measurements

The nonlinear DC and RF properties of HBTs were modeled using a customized Gummel-Poon-based large signal model. The characterization and modeling techniques presented here were validated using PNP InP-based HBTs, which manifest highly nonlinear features. On-wafer pulsed DC measurements were performed on these HBTs in order to extract various second-order effects. These pulsed measurements indicated the presence of distributed thermal resistances and thermal capacitances. An analytical parameter extraction procedure was then used to extract model data from measured small-signal S-parameters and from the DC characteristics. Pulsed characteristics under different pulse widths and different substrate temperatures were employed to complete the model extraction. Good agreement was obtained between the modeled and measured DC, pulsed, small-signal, and large-signal microwave characteristics. The approach developed in this work is useful for modeling of highly nonlinear HBT characteristics, and it is directly applicable to the HBT power amplifiers often encountered in wireless communication circuits and systems.
Customer relationships and Extreme Programming

Extreme Programming (XP) brings the customer and development team together into a tight functional unit, while eliminating many of the process activities of more structured software development processes. While agile methods may yield benefits in terms of product cost and quality, there is also a risk that the very practices that make agile methods effective may weaken the customer relationship. This paper examines XP from the perspective of customer satisfaction and motivates the need for more analysis of the social, psychological, and business factors in studies of software development methods.
Reliable static electric dipole polarizabilities for heavy elements

Abstract The static electric dipole polarizabilities for Rb and Cs are obtained from finite-field SCF and CI calculations using relativistic effective potentials developed by Christiansen et al. Results agree with the experimental values or Molof et al. to within ≈ 5xxx. By contrast, calculations using Phillips-Kleinman type potentials for Cs were seriously in error
Inhalation of talc baby powder by hamsters.

Abstract Groups of 50 male and 50 female Syrian golden hamsters were exposed to talc aerosol for 3, 30 or 150min/day, 5 days/wk for 30 days, or for 30 or 150min/day either until they died naturally or for a maximum of 300 days. The mean concentration of the ‘respirable’ aerosol fraction was approximately 8 μg/litre and the mass mean aerodynamic diameter was 6 μm. Following the exposures, the animals were observed for the remainder of their lifespan. At death, lungs trachea, larynx, liver, one kidney, stomach, uterus, one ovary, or one testis, and all tissues showing gross lesions were collected for histopathological examination. Deposition of talc particles in the lungs of the exposed animals was demonstrated by X-ray fluorescence and by X-ray diffraction. The exposures to talc aerosol had no effect on body weight, survival or the type, incidence or degree of histopathological change in the exposed groups compared with sham-exposed controls.
The chemistry and biology of complement receptors.

Activation of the complement system gives rise to a number of molecular species which can interact with host-derived cells and regulate their function. This interaction is mediated through distinct cell surface complement receptors, and receptor engagement produces biologic responses which can either modulate host defense reactions or enhance inflammation. Although the first complement receptor was recognized more than 30 years ago [80], detailed biochemical information concerning the receptors has only recently become available. Currently, eight distinct complement receptors are recognized. Five receptors (CR1, CR2, CR3, C3a receptor, and C3e receptor) react with various regions on C3 while the other receptors display specificity for Clq, C5a, or Factor H. This chapter focusses on the chemistry of the various ligands and receptors and discusses the biologic activities which arise as a result of receptor-ligand interaction.
Absolute ball bearing wear measurements from SSME turbopump dynamic signals

Abstract This paper describes how absolute ball bearing wear is measured in an operating turbopump from heavily loaded ball bearing vibration signatures. This technique was developed during testing of the High Pressure Oxygen Turbopump (HPOTP) of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). A linear correlation was established between the cage frequency harmonic amplitudes on internal strain gages and the measured ball wear from pump disassembly. In a manner similar to that used by Sunnersjo [1] for lightly loaded roller bearings, the dominant cage harmonics in the vibration spectra were shown to correspond to those of a Fourier series representation of the circumferential ball diameter variation or wear pattern. Strain gages and accelerometers on the external pump casing also show similar wear symptoms. These external measurements allow convenient wear monitoring for pre-flight testing of the SSME.
Air-ground channels & models: Comprehensive review and considerations for unmanned aircraft systems

Use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for multiple applications is expected to grow dramatically in the coming decades; this fact has motivated this paper's focus on fundamental physical layer characteristics relevant to UAS communications. In the past, for aeronautical communications with high transmitted power levels, narrow signal bandwidths, elevated ground site antennas in open areas, and low duty cycle transmissions, simple models for channel attenuation sufficed. In the future, when UAS ground stations may not all be in cleared areas with elevated antennas, higher data rates (wider bandwidths) are required, and small UASs with stringent power limitations still require high reliability, more comprehensive air-ground (AG) channel characteristics will be required in order to ensure robust signal designs for high-reliability AG links. We have found that no accurate, validated wideband models exist for the AG channel, particularly not in the Land C-bands that are being proposed for UASs. Airframe shadowing models also do not yet exist. We thus provide a comprehensive review of past work on the AG channel, and follow this with a brief description of plans for an AG channel measurement and modeling campaign. Resulting AG channel models will subsequently be used in the evaluation of candidate air interfaces for UAS control and non-payload communications (CNPC). The air interface must operate in the presence of both delay and Doppler spreads, and shadowing. It should also be spectrally efficient, low-latency, and reasonably robust to interference. We discuss these AG air interface considerations, and also show some initial modeling results based on both analysis and measurements.
Self-reported health bias: The role of daily affective valence and arousal

Objective : The present study addresses gaps in the literature on affect-biased health perceptions by (a) investigating health bias while considering both valence and arousal components of affect; (b) establishing the presence of, and variability in, affective health bias at the daily level; and (c) exploring daily health bias in a non-clinical, community sample of adults. Design : Participants were 477 adults (aged 33–80 years) who reported daily health events, health satisfaction and affect for up to 56 days. Health bias was present when the effect of a given day’s health events on that day’s health satisfaction was significantly moderated by that day’s affect. Multilevel modelling was used to investigate fixed and random within-day effects. Main Outcome Measure : Daily health satisfaction. Results : Significant interaction effects indicated the presence of health bias on the daily level: positively valenced affect buffered the negative impact of health events on health satisfaction, whereas negatively ...
On the Rate Expressions for “Reversible” Gas–Solid Reactions

It is argued that the term with the negative sign in the rate expression for an equilibrium-limited gas–solid reaction can be viewed as representing a lowering of the concentration driving force for the forward reaction due to equilibrium limitation. While the gas composition favors the forward reaction, the negative term may represent the local rate of the reverse reaction. When the gas composition changes significantly to the opposite side of equilibrium, however, this term as written for the forward reaction does not represent the rate of the reverse reaction. Even the reaction order with respect to the same gaseous species may become different for the reverse reaction.
Theoretical Studies toward Quantitative Protein Circular Dichroism Calculations

Proteins have characteristic circular dichroism spectra in the far-ultraviolet, depending on their secondary structure content. Perhaps the most distinctive spectrum is that of α-helical proteins, with an intense positive band centered about 190 nm and a negative, double-peaked band with minima at 208 and 220 nm. Traditionally, calculations of such spectra from first principles have involved parametrizations of the charge distributions associated with the electronic states and transitions of the constituent chromophoric groups. The amide group is the most important of these chromophores. In this study, using solution phase ab initio parametrizations of the amide chromophore, we present first-principles calculations of protein circular dichroism. Over a set of 29 proteins, there is a significant correlation between the calculated and measured intensities at 190, 208, and 220 nm. The agreement is highest at 220 nm, with a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.90. This near-quantitative accuracy has all...
Female House Mice Develop a Unique Ovarian Lesion in Colonies That Are at Maximum Population Density

. Colonies of house mice reach maximum population density in 120–180 days, irrespective of cage size and initial number of colonizing animals. Reproduction ceases because the females become aggressive and unreceptive to mating. The aggressive behavior is correlated with elevated levels of testosterone (T) and corticosterone (B) (Chapman et al., Phys Behav 64:529–533, 1998). In two of seven strains of mice, females developed ovarian lesions. The occurrence of the lesion in one strain was correlated with the age of the animal and duration of the study. In the second strain, cage size was the determining factor. Lesioned ovaries weighed significantly more than nonlesioned ovaries. The lesion consisted of accumulations of luteal membrane and organelle fragments, and other cellular debris, suggestive of incomplete and prolonged luteolysis. Electron microscopic (EM) analyses revealed the presence of deposits of permanganate-resistant congophilic amyloid fibrils in the intima and smooth muscle cells of luteal thecal arteries. Population females had thymus glands and uteri that weighed significantly less than the same organs from females housed in the breeding colony, whereas the adrenal glands from the population females weighed significantly more. It is proposed that the female aggression is due to high levels of T. It is also proposed that the high levels of B suppress the immune cells involved in normal luteolysis and contribute to the incomplete and prolonged luteolysis.
Passive stability and control of quadrupedal bounding with a flexible torso

This paper studies the stability and control of passively generated bounding motions for a class of quadrupedal template models that incorporate compliant elements in their segmented torso and legs. First, the existence of self-stable cyclic bounding gaits in the presence of torso flexibility is examined. Based on numerical studies of the associated Poincare return map in a dimensionless context, it is deduced that self-stable bounding gaits can indeed be generated through appropriate combinations of the stiffness of the torso and the stiffness of the legs. Next, the implications of this result to control design are discussed, and a hybrid controller is proposed that enhances the stability of the passively generated bounding gaits.
Behavior of Metastable Te Donor Concentrations in Q-Switched Ruby Laser Annealed GaAs

The thermal behavior of Te implanted, laser annealed GaAs was investigated by helium backscattering spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy in order to correlate structural changes with the two stage reduction in the carrier concentration due to post laser anneal heating above 200°C. The activation energy for stage one which occurs in the range 200–400°C was determined to be approximately 1.3 eV. Post laser anneal heating at 450°C caused no observable structural changes. On the other hand, 850°C post laser anneal heating induced the formation of precipitates and dislocation loops as well as narrowing the channeling half-angle of Te by about 11%.
Remotely accessible sandboxed environment with application to a laboratory course in networking

Authentic learning in an undergraduate networking course is best achieved when students have privileged access to their workstations and the ability to set up networks of arbitrary size and complexity. With such privileges come great risks for hosting networks. While the initial response to these challenges was to digitally isolate dedicated laboratories, today virtual machines are considered the best practice in setting up such labs.The authors' NSF-sponsored project, "SOFTICE", showed almost 3 years ago that open source virtualization solutions could solve classroom management headaches provoked by early solutions and also that they provide new pedagogical opportunities. Our project illustrates the milestones that adoption of virtualization by IT educational institutions followed, going one step further to sketch out what might be just around the corner. Instead of relying on deploying virtualization suites on each workstation, letting a set of pre-defined virtual machines run constantly on assigned hardware, or managing the transfer of large virtual HD images over networks, we opted from the start for a centralized hosting of VMs on a load-balancing cluster which abstracts the hardware constraints. As enrollment grows, more nodes can be added. As usage of some nodes increase, incoming remote connections are spread on idle hardware automatically.This paper discusses the achievements of the SOFTICE project in undergraduate networking labs and compares our approach to alternative solutions which recently emerged in the CS and IT education communities. More specifically, we discuss the clustering-virtualization technologies synergy and showcase some of the pedagogical benefits by detailing existing laboratories.
The great automobile race of 1908 as a public relations phenomenon: Lessons from the past

Abstract The 1908 Great Race from New York to Paris captured the imagination of the world as intrepid competitors endured the hardships of the around the world race. The New York Times, its co-sponsor and source of the publicity, was in a unique position to practice media relations. Framing research was used to examine how the New York Times used strategic communication to build interest in the race to sell more newspapers and to allow automobile manufactures to broaden their markets. Media frames used to generate interest provide insight into strategies for influencing behavior through a controlled form of media relations.
Thermal reinforcement and thermoregulatory behaviour in the lizard Dipsosaurus dorsalis: an operant technique.

Abstract The techniques of operant conditioning were applied to the problem of determining the normal activity range of D. dorsalis . Five animals were placed in a hot environment in which they could escape from heat for as long as they pushed a disc. The temperatures at which the animals initiated and terminated responses gave a measure of the activity range which agreed with earlier methods. Operant procedures should therefore provide a valuable tool for investigating both reptilian thermoregulatory behaviour and reptilian learning.
The isothermal compressibilities of pure non-polar liquids

A simple semi-theoretical treatment shows that the relation χTγ3/2 = k between isothermal compressibility (χT) and surface tension (γ) implies that the isothermal compressibility of a non-polar liquid is determined by its structure and average intermolecular distance, and by the electron polarizability of the molecules of which the liquid is composed. The temperature-dependency of isothermal compressibility of non-polar liquids composed of quasi-spherical molecules may be attributed solely to the corresponding temperature-dependency of the average intermolecular distance in such liquids.
Detailed mass transfer distribution in a ribbed coolant passage with a 180° bend

Abstract Detailed, three-dimensional mass (heat) transfer distributions along four active walls of a square duct containing a sharp 180° bend are presented. The duct simulates two passes of an internal coolant channel in a gas turbine engine with inactive (insulated) ribs mounted on two opposite walls. Mass (heat) transfer measurements, taken using the naphthalene sublimation technique, are presented for Reynolds numbers between 5000 and 40000, for a rib-height-to-hydraulic-diameter ratio ( e / D h ) of 0.1 and rib-pitch-to-rib-height ratios ( P / e ) of 10.5 and 21. Ribbed wall measurements show periodically developed mass transfer after three hydraulic diameters from the entrance, which agrees well with previous studies. Mass transfer distribution on ribbed walls has more span-wise uniformity than the smooth side-walls that experience high mass transfer rates close to the rib ends and near the corners downstream of each rib. The effect of the bend is clearly visible in the ribbed duct following the bend. The observed local Sherwood number distributions are explained on the basis of the secondary flow developed within the bend and possible separation from the inner wall after the bend.
Optimizing Irradiation Treatment of Shell Eggs Using Simulation

Accurate dose calculation is needed to ensure proper irradiation process control to maintain the freshness of the product. Our objective was to establish the best irradiation treatment for shell eggs taking into account their different components (shell, albumen, yolk). Computer tomography (CT) data were used to generate a 3-D geometry to simulate dose distributions within 1 egg using a radiation transport code (MCNP5). Radiation energies used for simulation were 10 MeV (high-energy) and 1.35 MeV (low-energy) for electron beam, 5 MeV for X-rays, and 1.25 MeV for a gamma-rays source such as Co-60. Low-energy (surface) e-beam simulation indicated that electrons only penetrate up to the thin albumen (0.6 cm). Because of their irregular shape, shell eggs should be irradiated from the side (rather than from top or bottom) for better dose distribution. For high-energy e-beam simulation, the entire egg was irradiated and the best results were obtained when the egg was irradiated from both sides, showing a dose uniformity ratio (D(max)/D(min)) of 1.42. X- or gamma-ray source simulation from one side only, the dose uniformity ratio was 3.38 and 3.12, respectively. For surface-only irradiation, a low-energy e-beam provides a uniform dose distribution. To irradiate the entire egg, 2-sided high-energy e-beam sources are required for an efficient treatment. Unless the product rotates in front of the source, the dose uniformity ratio for X-ray or gamma ray is not adequate for shell egg treatment for pathogen decontamination purposes. Practical Application: Proper control of irradiation treatment of foods such as shell eggs is critical to ensure pathogen inactivation while maintaining product freshness. Simulation allows for accurate calculation of dose distribution within the egg to further establish the best irradiation scheme.
Personality Correlates of Subjective Well-Being

This study investigated the personality correlates of three dimensions of subjective well-being (S WB): Positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. Participants in two samples completed daily mood reports and a number of relevant personality inventories. Interpersonal competencies were found to correlate most strongly with positive affect, internal emotional states with negative affect, whereas the correlates of life satisfaction included both interpersonal competencies and internal emotional states. In general, results supported Costa and McCrae's (1980) model postulating two different sets of personality traits that influence positive and negative affect separately.
Fast nonparametric detection of regular structure using digital geometric primitives

One of the important problems related to image classification and compression is finding repeated structures in the image. This problem of finding regular structure is especially important with respect to document image analysis, where mismatches necessitate a residual map for symbolic compression. Although the focus of this paper is developing digital geometric models and methods for finding regular structure in digital document images, the applicability of the digital geometric approach is also demonstrated on images taken under affine and perspective projection. First, a fast linear-time algorithm is given to compute the static threshold that minimizes the non-well- composedness or weak connectivity of the document image. Next, a new digital similarity measure is introduced that outperforms the standard similarity measures, including the Hausdorff distance, with respect to determining if two discrete objects in the image are digitizations of the same prototype. This similarity measure is the minimum of four restricted Hausdorff distances. This measure is then used in a model-based compression algorithm. The compressed document image is not only much more compact than the original, but is also much closer to a actual monotonic digitization. Finally, we demonstrate that the same methods can be extended to finding structure in images taken under affine and perspective projection.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
En-gendering the police: Women's police stations and feminism in São Paulo

This article contributes to feminist state theory and studies of women's police stations in Latin America by examining the processes shaping the multiple and changing positions of explicit alliance, opposition, and ambiguous alliance assumed by policewomen regarding feminists since the creation of the world's first women's police station in 1985 in Sao Paulo. While studies of women's police stations tend to overlook the political conjuncture, much of the literature on the state and gender explains the relationship between the state and women's movements as a function of the political regime. I argue for a more grounded feminist state theory, taking into account interactive macro and micro, local and international forces. As this case study demonstrates, policewoman-feminist relations evolve due to interactions between the political conjuncture, the hegemonic masculinist police culture, developments in the feminist discourse on violence against women, and the impact of the contact policewomen sustain with women clients.
Sites Other Than Ventrolateral Medullary Chemoreceptive Regions Contribute to Hypercapnic Responses During Development. † 1492

During postnatal maturation, development of respiratory activity and hypercapnic responses is controlled by a network of chemosensory cells that senses changes in CO2 and H+ ion concentration. The ventrolateral medulla is considered the primary site for central chemosensitivity, however, brain stem midline neurons have also been shown to contribute to ventilatory control of upper airway and chest wall muscle activities. In this study we sought to characterize the role of specific neurons within the midline brainstem at the so-called raphe obscurus on phrenic and hypoglossal nerve responses to hypercapnia during development. Studies were performed in ten decorticate, vagotomized, paralyzed and mechanically ventilated 14 to 20 day old piglets. Blockade of raphe obscurus neuronal activity induced by microinjections of lidocaine was associated with a significant reduction of phrenic and hypoglossal nerve responses to progressive hypercapnia. At any given end-tidal CO2, peak phrenic and hypoglossal nerve activities were significantly lower following blockade than in the control period. For example, at 7.5% CO2 phrenic activity (in arbitrary units) was 33.9±1.9 vs 18.3±4.1 (p<0.005, mean ± SEM) prior to vs following lidocaine blockade respectively. Corresponding hypoglossal activity was preferentially reduced to a greater degree than phrenic activity. for example, at 7.5% CO2 hypoglossal activity was 20.8±3.6 vs 5.6±2.1 (p<0.005) prior to vs following lidocaine blockade respectively. Injection of saline (control) solution at the same site had no effect. We conclude that impaired function of raphe obscurus midline neurons reduces respiratory responses to central chemosensory stimulation. We speculate that specific neuronal sites within the midline region of the brainstem are required for full expression of ventilatory responses to hypercapnia, and raise the possibility that alteration in their function may contribute to respiratory instability during early postnatal life.
Studies on unimolecular layer of modified proteins. II. Azoproteins

Abstract Monolayers of three azoproteins, differing from each other in amount and nature of azo residues, have been studied by determining the film properties, such as limiting area, molecular weight, ease of unfolding and flexibility of the polypeptide chain, under different conditions of spreading. The attachment of -N: N-C 6 H 4 COOH groups to the aromatic residues in acetyl bovine serum albumin results in increased limiting area, increased difficulty of unfolding, and decreased flexibility. These changes are explained by the horizontal position of the coupled residues with carboxyl radicals, the latter being attracted by cationic groups on opposite parts of the chain. The intramolecular ionic linkages cause a swollen structure of the diazotized protein with low flexibility. Esterification of the carboxyl radicals accounts for a more compact structure with higher flexibility and easier uncoiling. The coupled residues in this protein assume a direction vertical to the water surface because of the increased hydrophobic character of the azo components. Incorporation of additional nonionized azo residues in this protein causes slight increase in limiting area, suggesting their oblique position. This results in increased flexibility and increased difficulty of unfolding, owing to steric hindrance rather than to electrostatic forces.
Growth responses to variations in temperature and specific conductance by Chaetoceros muelleri (Bacillariophyceae)

Chaetoceros muelleri Lemm. was isolated from lower Chevelon Creek, Arizona and cultured in a defined medium. Maximum division rates occurred at temperatures between 20 and 30°C with mean doublings per day sharply decreasing above and below this temperature range. No divisions occurred at 40°C. Chaetoceros muelleri showed maximum division rates (>1·5 divisions day-1) in solutions with specific conductance values between 3·0 and 20·0 mmhos cm-1 (2-12·5‰. salinity). Division rates decreased abruptly in media with conductance values 33·0 mmhos cm-1 ( 22‰. salinity). No significant differences in maximum division rates were measured in media dominated by Na+ and Mg++ salts, while division rates were significantly reduced in media dominated by Ca++ and especially K+ salts. Comparisons in distribution and salinity requirements are made ...
Counseling Effectiveness and Trainee Helping Qualities: Another View

This study addresses the importance of client satisfaction as an index of counseling effectiveness and also examines the relationship between trainee personality characteristics and supervisor ratings of trainee performance. Results indicated that a significant inverse relationship existed between trainee levels of self-acceptance and client's ratings of counseling satisfaction. Supervisor's ratings of the trainee's performance and progress in supervision were also inversely related to trainee levels of self-acceptance. Agreement was found between supervisor's ratings of trainee performance and client satisfaction with counseling. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of counselor training programs and future research designs.
Geodynamics Applications Of Spaceborne Laser Ranging

The Geodynamics Laser Ranging System (GLRS) is a spaceborne laser ranging instrument being developoed by NASA as a facility instrument for the Earth Observing System (EOS). GLRS is to be used to study regional and local crustal movements. It is designed to make highly precise range measurements to retroreflector targets located in geophysically interesting sites. Using a two-color ranging scheme, absolute range accuracies of several mm are expected. Simulations based on this accuracy and the EOS orbital parameters show that length of the intersite baseline between retroreflectors can be determined to several mm accuracy at distances from a few km to several hundred km with several passes of GLRS range data collected over a few-day interval. Short-arc techniques are used to minimize the effects of gravity field and other force model uncertainties. Relative heights can be determined to sub-cm accuracy over comparable distances.
Notes on translatory movement of rings of current with application to Gulf Stream eddies

Abstract Cyclonic eddies detached from the Gulf Stream are much like rings of current encircling central regions with small relative velocity. Such rings have a tendency to move through an environment at rest on account of (1) meridional variation in Coriolis parameter, (2) unevenness in width or velocity profile around the ring, and (3) slope in the bottom. First-order formulas are developed for displacement speeds and eddy shapes constant in time (circles) through elementary but not fully rigorous calculations. Baroclinicity is included in the sense that large vertical shear in the basic horizontal velocity is emphasized, but thermal-wind effects arising from the required vertical motions are ignored. Some tenuous comparisons are made with observations of the behaviour of eddies detached from the Stream.
Diurnal carbohydrate dynamics affect postharvest ethylene responsiveness in portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora ‘Yubi Deep Rose’) unrooted cuttings

Abstract Portulaca ( Portulaca grandiflora ) is an herbaceous ornamental annual plant that is commonly propagated by shoot-tip cuttings and shipped long distances before they are rooted in greenhouses. During transit and rooting, a significant number of leaves usually abscise, which delays or prevents subsequent rooting. We investigated the effect of preharvest diurnal carbohydrate dynamics on postharvest performance of unrooted shoot-tip cuttings of portulaca ‘Yubi Deep Rose’. The production of ethylene was quantified, as well as the efficacy of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) to improve the postharvest performance. The initial carbohydrate concentrations in cuttings increased with later harvest during the day (8 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 p.m.). When cuttings were placed into a dark postharvest environment at 20 ± 1 °C for 48 h, cuttings harvested at 8 a.m. had complete leaf abscission, whereas only partial leaf abscission was observed in cuttings harvested at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. Leaf abscission was negatively correlated with preharvest leaf carbohydrate and stem starch concentrations, but not significantly correlated with postharvest ethylene production during storage. Application of 1-MCP improved the storage quality of cuttings, irrespective of the time of cutting harvest, and did not inhibit the rooting response during subsequent propagation. Collectively, these results indicate that with the increase in preharvest endogenous carbohydrate levels of portulaca cuttings, as the photoperiod progresses, subsequent postharvest ethylene responsiveness decreases, but there is no effect on ethylene synthesis.
Interparticle interference effects in diffusion-controlled growth

Abstract This work consists of two parts. In the first part, the question of whether two particles growing under diffusion controlled conditions will fuse together in a finite time is considered. The approximation of steady state diffusion (Laplace's equation) is made, and both surface tension and particle distortion are neglected. It is found that the diffusive flux to the points of closest approach drops off so drastically as the distance of separation decreases that the particles will never meet. The physical reality is conjectured to be that the neglected effect of surface tension will eventually induce coalescence, but only in the later states of precipitation. In the second part, the question of the influence of interparticle interference effects on morphological stability is examined from two points of view. In the first, the influence of other particles only in producing depletion of the mean solvent concentration is examined, and a criterion is derived for the mean number density of precipitating particles sufficient to ensure that morphological instability with respect to a harmonic of degree l or higher will never be attained in the course of a precipitation process. From the second point of view, the relative importance of random fluctuations arising under unstable conditions is compared with deviations from spherical shape arising from the influence of neighbors. The criterion of stability, when expressed in number density of particles, is about the same as by the first criterion. The number found for reasonable values of the parameters is not unduly large for typical liquid-liquid phase separation processes in glassy systems, suggesting that instability is not of significance for them.
Constellation of HCN Channels and cAMP Regulating Proteins in Dendritic Spines of the Primate Prefrontal Cortex: Potential Substrate for Working Memory Deficits in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia associates with impaired prefrontal cortical (PFC) function and alterations in cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling pathways. These include genetic insults to disrupted-in-schizophrenia (DISC1) and phosphodiesterases (PDE4s) regulating cAMP hydrolysis, and increased dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) expression that elevates cAMP. We used immunoelectron microscopy to localize DISC1, PDE4A, PDE4B, and D1R in monkey PFC and to view spatial interactions with hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels that gate network inputs when opened by cAMP. Physiological interactions between PDE4s and HCN channels were tested in recordings of PFC neurons in monkeys performing a spatial working memory task. The study reveals a constellation of cAMP-related proteins (DISC1, PDE4A, and D1R) and HCN channels next to excitatory synapses and the spine neck in thin spines of superficial PFC, where working memory microcircuits interconnect and spine loss is most evident in schizophrenia. In contrast, channels in dendrites were distant from synapses and cAMP-related proteins, and were associated with endosomal trafficking. The data suggest that a cAMP signalplex is selectively positioned in the spines to gate PFC pyramidal cell microcircuits. Single-unit recordings confirmed physiological interactions between cAMP and HCN channels, consistent with gating actions. These data may explain why PFC networks are especially vulnerable to genetic insults that dysregulate cAMP signaling.
Insurance Coverage, Medical Care Use, and Short-term Health Changes Following an Unintentional Injury or the Onset of a Chronic Condition

ContextGiven the large and increasing number of uninsured US individuals, identifying the health consequences of being uninsured has assumed increased importance.ObjectiveTo compare medical care use and short-term health changes among US uninsured individuals and insured nonelderly individuals following a health shock caused by either an unintentional injury or the onset of a chronic condition.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsMultivariate logistic regression analysis of longitudinal data from Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys (1997-2004) limited to nonelderly individuals whose insurance status was established for 2 months prior to 1 or more unintentional injuries (20 783 cases among 15 866 individuals) and onset of 1 or more chronic conditions (10 485 cases among 7954 individuals).Main Outcome MeasuresSelf-reported medical care use and change in short-term general health status following the health shock.ResultsAfter experiencing a health shock, uninsured individuals were less likely to obtain any medical care (unintentional injury [UI] group: 78.8% uninsured vs 88.7% insured [adjusted odds ratio {AOR}, 0.47; 95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.43-0.51]; new chronic condition [NCC] group: 81.7% uninsured vs 91.5% insured [AOR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.40-0.50]) and more likely not to have received any recommended follow-up care (UI group: 19.3% uninsured vs 9.2% insured [AOR, 2.59; 95% CI, 2.15-3.11]; NCC group: 9.4% uninsured vs 4.4% insured [AOR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.32-2.06]). Based on the AORs, uninsured individuals with UIs had fewer outpatient visits (6.1% uninsured vs 9.0% insured; AOR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.63-0.80]), office-based visits (41.8% uninsured vs 57.3% insured; AOR, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.56-0.62]), and prescription medicines (35.5% uninsured vs 35.6% insured; AOR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.67-0.75]). Uninsured individuals with an NCC had fewer office-based visits (58.9% uninsured vs 68.3% insured; AOR, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.72-0.82]) and prescription medicines (52.7% uninsured vs 61.7% insured; AOR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.57-0.76]). Higher proportions of uninsured individuals reported a decrease in health status (classified as much worse) approximately 3.5 months after the health shock (UI group: 9.8% uninsured vs 6.7% insured; AOR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.75-0.98]; NCC group: 12.3% uninsured vs 10.1% insured; AOR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.68-0.80]). Uninsured individuals with UIs were more likely to report not being fully recovered and no longer receiving treatment. At approximately 7 months after the health shock, uninsured individuals with NCCs still reported worse health status.ConclusionsAmong individuals who experienced a health shock caused by an unintentional injury or a new chronic condition, uninsured individuals reported receiving less medical care and poorer short-term changes in health than those with insurance.
A treecode algorithm for simulating electron dynamics in a Penning–Malmberg trap

A treecode algorithm is presented for computing the electrostatic potential and electric field in a system of charged particles. The algorithm is grid-free and with N particles it reduces the operation count to O(N logN), as opposed to O(N 2 ) which is required for direct summation of pairwise interactions. The key idea is to replace the particle‐particle interactions by particle‐ cluster interactions which are evaluated using a Taylor approximation in Cartesian coordinates. The treecode is combined here with a boundary integral method to simulate electron dynamics in a Penning‐Malmberg trap.
Recovery from Anaesthesia in Ponies: A Comparative Study of the effects of Isoflurane, Enflurane, Methoxyflurane and Halothane

The duration and quality of recovery after separate 2 hour anaesthetic periods with equipotent alveolar concentrations of isoflurane, enflurane, halothane and methoxyflurane were evaluated in experimental ponies. Recovery was shortest after isoflurane anaesthesia, followed by enflurane, halothane and finally methoxyflurane, although standing was achieved more rapidly after enflurane than after isoflurane. This sequence of recovery times was compatible with the respective solubilities of the 4 agents. The smoothest recovery was obtained after isoflurane anaesthesia, followed by methoxyflurane, halothane and then enflurane. The isoflurane recovery was characterized by very quiet and prolonged sternal recumbency with excellent coordination upon standing. The chief difficulties with halothane recovery were shivering and delayed coordination upon standing. Enflurane anaesthesia was followed by a very brief period of sternal recumbency but there was considerable shivering and incoordination upon standing. This may have been due to central nervous stimulation during anaesthesia producing a residual excitatory effect. On the basis of this investigation, isoflurane was considered to be the most satisfactory volatile anaesthetic for the horse.
Artificial neural nets for K-complex detection

An explorative study was initiated to determine whether artificial neural nets (ANNs) can be used to detect K-complexes in EEGs (electroencephalograms). K-complexes are relatively large waves with a duration of between 500 and 1500 ms often seen during sleep stage 2. Sleep spindles (bursts of rhythmic activity with a frequency of 12 to 16 Hz) are almost always observed in the neighborhood of K-complexes. The data and methods used to analyze K-complex are described. In all cases, a multilayer backpropagation ANN was used. The number of input nodes and hidden layers varied. Two different strategies were used to prepare the input to the ANN, and results for both are presented. The results indicate that the neural net approaches used are not adequate for the detection of K-complexes. >
Three‐dimensional velocity structure of the Kilauea Caldera, Hawaii

High-resolution velocity models (0.5 km resolution) of the Kilauea caldera region are obtained by the tomographic inversion of both P- and S-wave arrival times. Data are from the permanent Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) seismic network, a broadband seismic network, and a temporary array of stations centered on the southern boundary of the caldera. A low-velocity P-wave anomaly is imaged centered on the southeastern edge of the caldera, with a velocity contrast of about 10% and a volume of 27 km³. The VP/VS model mimics the spatial extent of the P-wave anomaly, but is partitioned into two discrete anomalous volumes centered on the southern boundary of the caldera and on the upper east rift of the volcano. The corresponding Poisson's ratio in these zones is high (ν=0.25–0.32) which is consistent with a densely-cracked, hot volume which may contain partial melt. The large-scale features of the models are consistent with results obtained from an earlier, larger-scale (2 km resolution) tomographic image of Kilauea Volcano based on HVO network data.
Inhibition of HIV-1 Integration in Ex Vivo-Infected CD4 T Cells from Elite Controllers

Elite controllers spontaneously maintain undetectable levels of HIV-1 replication for reasons that remain unclear. Here, we show that in elite controllers, direct ex vivo infection of purified CD4 T cells without prior in vitro activation results in disproportionately low levels of integrated HIV-1 DNA relative to the quantity of reverse transcripts, while the levels of two-long terminal repeat (2-LTR) circles were excessively elevated relative to those of integrated HIV-1 DNA. This indicates that chromosomal HIV-1 integration is inhibited in ex vivo-infected CD4 T cells from elite controllers. This defect in HIV-1 integration was unrelated to p21, a host protein that can restrict early HIV-1 replication steps, and was not visible following infection of in vitro-activated CD4 T cells from elite controllers. These data contribute to increasing evidence that intrinsic inhibition of specific HIV-1 replication steps plays an important role in the ability of elite controllers to maintain undetectable viral loads.
Next-generation E-health communication infrastructure using converged super-broadband optical and wireless access system

Delivering affordable high-quality E-health care services requires effective telecommunication and multimedia technologies in conjunction with medical expertise. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a telecommunication and networking architecture for implementing next generation Telemedicine and Telehealth systems. Our integrated optical-wireless based network provides super broadband, ultra low-latency connectivity for voice, video, image and data across various telemedicine modalities to facilitate real-time and near real-time communication of remote health care information.
Overlapped Alamouti Codes

In most of the existing space-time code designs, achieving full diversity is based on maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding at the receiver that is usually computationally expensive and may not have soft outputs. In this paper, we propose a novel family of space-time block codes (STBC) that achieves full diversity with a linear receiver, specifically, zero-forcing (ZF) or minimum mean square error (MMSE) receiver. Our newly proposed STBC are constructed by overlapping the 2times2 Alamouti code and hence named overlapped Alamouti codes. The new codes are close to orthogonal while their symbol rates can approach 1 for any number of transmit antennas. Simulation results show that overlapped Alamouti codes outperform orthogonal STBC (OSTBC) when the number of transmit antennas is above 4.
Bounded geometries, fractals, and low-distortion embeddings

The doubling constant of a metric space (X, d) is the smallest value /spl lambda/ such that every ball in X can be covered by /spl lambda/ balls of half the radius. The doubling dimension of X is then defined as dim (X) = log/sub 2//spl lambda/. A metric (or sequence of metrics) is called doubling precisely when its doubling dimension is bounded. This is a robust class of metric spaces which contains many families of metrics that occur in applied settings. We give tight bounds for embedding doubling metrics into (low-dimensional) normed spaces. We consider both general doubling metrics, as well as more restricted families such as those arising from trees, from graphs excluding a fixed minor, and from snowflaked metrics. Our techniques include decomposition theorems for doubling metrics, and an analysis of a fractal in the plane according to T. J. Laakso (2002). Finally, we discuss some applications and point out a central open question regarding dimensionality reduction in L/sub 2/.
Computation of pressures on Texas tech building

Abstract Computer programs have been developed to compute three-dimensional turbulent flow over the Texas Tech Building on staggered and nonstaggered rectangular grid system. The programs solves the steady-state Reynolds equation using the k-ϵ model of turbulence. The computed mean pressures are in good agreement with field and wind tunnel measurements. The effect of different roughness length of the building is also reported. An equation has been introduced to calculate the rms of pressure and the computed rms pressure coefficients are compared with field results.
The Marketing Of Body Image: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Gender Effects In The U.S. And China

Recently, there has been increasing controversy about the use of extremely thin female models and extremely muscular male models in advertising and fashion campaigns. While this practice has been studied extensively over time, it is again in the forefront as models with low body mass indexes are being kept off runways around the world. While most consumers understand that these images are nearly unattainable, they do tend to compare themselves with these idealized images resulting in lower satisfaction with their own bodies and lower self-esteem. While past research most often examines these feelings with respect to women, there is little research on the effect on men and their self-image. Also, while this has primarily been a “western” problem, it is becoming a problem in “eastern” cultures as western images and advertising campaigns proliferate. This study examines both U.S. and Chinese men and women’s perceptions of body image. The findings show cultural differences between the U.S. and Chinese males and females. The U.S. women were the most affected, while there was no difference by gender between the Chinese men and women. However, as the Chinese culture becomes more influenced by western ideals, this trend in body image dissatisfaction should increase.