cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Global Restructuring of Labor Movements

The widespread view that labor movements are facing a general and terminal crisis and have become irrelevant actors in the contemporary world is based on analyses which are short-term and core-centric. From a world-systems perspective -- that is, if we lengthen the temporal and geographical boundaries of analysis -- patterns can be identified that raise doubt.., concerning the wisdom of either generalizing from the recent experience of core countries to the entire world or projecting the current crisis of labor movements in the core into the indefinite future.
The Use of Ultrasound in the Management of Thyroid Disorders

Controversies affecting ultrasound as it is used to manage thyroid disorders are unlike controversies elsewhere in medicine, where differences in opinion may exist as to the best course of therapy. Ultrasound is accepted as the key imaging technique for the thyroid gland and the evaluation of thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer, and associated cervical lymphadenopathy. The nature of controversy here relates to the challenges of standardizing best practices. Questions that arise include who should perform ultrasound and ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsy, what is appropriate training and accreditation, how are essential elements of professional guidelines being followed, and why is there significant variability in ultrasound report content and disease pattern recognition. The degree to which these topics are controversial varies across national regions, hospitals and medical institutions, and community practice settings. Effective responses to these challenges include promoting ultrasound education and communication about ultrasound findings among physicians involved with the care of patients with thyroid disease.
The “Life” of the State: Social Reproduction and Geopolitics in Turkey's Kurdish Question

At the heart of geopolitical concerns today are questions about life: the sustainability of life, the quality of life, and the biological capacity and resilience of life. Nowhere is this more demonstrable than in the contemporary partnership between security and socioeconomic development and aid. In Kurdish southeast Turkey, increased governmental investment in gendered development highlights the role of household, neighborhood, and community production and reproduction in processes of securitization and nation building. These events suggest a deeply corporeal geopolitics at play in Turkey's Kurdish question, one that rests on the intimate relationship between social reproduction and geopolitics. This article draws on interview and participatory observation data in Diyarbakir, Turkey, to explain how specific practices and ideas around motherhood, marriage, and mobility and rights in the city create and challenge ethno-national identities. In doing so, I contend that the Kurdish question—and understandings...
Some observations on data compression for digital strong-motion accelerograms

This paper presents the results of a study of data compression for digital strong-motion accelerograms. The general characteristics of a class of data compression algorithms based on time history interpolation are discussed. Six particular compression/decompression algorithms are examined in detail. In four of these algorithms only peaks are recorded with different interpolation schemes being used to recover, or decompress, the original acceleration waveform between peaks. The compression/decompression algorithms based on peaks only are observed to result in generally unacceptable errors that are nonuniform in both the time and frequency domain. The remaining two algorithms are based on selectively sampling the data with a prescribed accuracy control. This approach is termed backward successive approximation (BSA). The algorithms store only those points between peaks which are required to maintain the desired accuracy. One algorithm also incorporates a complementary differential bit reduction (DBR) scheme to further reduce the storage required. An optimum balance between accuracy and degree of compression is achieved when the BSA and DBR schemes are combined.
Safety Nets and Moral Hazard in Banking

In banking,’ safety nets’ refer to government guarantees provided to depositors and sometimes to all bank creditors. When some banks are considered to be ‘too big to fail’, and therefore are given assistance, the safety net covers all of the bank’s stakeholders, including customers, employees, and (usually to a lesser extent) stockholders. ‘Moral hazard’ refers to the adverse incentives engendered by these safety nets. Because they do not fear losing their funds, depositors and possibly other creditors do not monitor banks as carefully as otherwise. In the absence of other constraints, bank owners and managers, therefore, have incentives to take greater risks than they would have taken, without the safety net. The essential questions considered here are how costly is the problem, and what can and should be done about this situation?
A Monolithic PAL Colour T.V. Processor with Automatic C.R.T. Current Set-Up

A bipolar linear PAL colour decoder, with provision for multi-standard operation, on-screen display and an automatic C.R.T. current set-up system, is described. This device uses a 40 pin DIL plastic package.
Transition metamaterials for local-field enhancement

We achieve strong local-field enhancement within a novel inhomogeneous metamaterial whose graded refractive index is realized using Dirac-cone metamaterials. This transition metamaterial provides a powerful tool for sensing, nonlinear optics, and quantum optics.
Phosphorus binding dynamics in the aluminum floc layer of Half Moon Lake, Wisconsin

ABSTRACTJames WF. 2017. Phosphorus binding dynamics in the aluminum floc layer of Half Moon Lake, Wisconsin. Lake Reserve Manage. 33:130–142.Half Moon Lake is a shallow oxbow located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Eutrophic to hypereutrophic conditions and cyanobacteria blooms driven primarily by sediment internal phosphorus (P) loading led to a buffered aluminum sulfate treatment in 2011. Aluminum (Al) dosage was based on the redox-sensitive P (redox-P) concentration in the upper 4 cm sediment layer. The west arm was treated with 150 g/m2 to sequester 1 to 5 mg/g redox-P while the east arm was treated with 75 g/m2 to bind an order of magnitude lower redox-P concentration (0.15 mg/g). Four years after treatment, the Al floc layer was positioned on top of the original sediment surface due to density differences between sediment and the Al floc. Rather than sinking or mixing into the sediment, P binding has occurred primarily via upward diffusive P flux into the Al floc layer. Changes in vertical P profiles over...
Nuclear Factor Kappa B

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF κ B) names a family of structurally related, evolutionarily conserved transcription factors that regulate the expression of several hundred genes involved in a variety of key cellular and organismal processes, including immunity and cell survival and proliferation. In most cells, NF κ B is inactive in the cytoplasm until an inducer initiates a signaling pathway that activates NF κ B as a nuclear, DNA-binding protein. Inappropriately elevated NF κ B activity is implicated in a number of human diseases, including several chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer, and the NF κ B pathway is used by some viruses for their replication. As such, the NF κ B pathway is being investigated as a possible target for therapeutic intervention.
Improving stochastic policy gradients in continuous control with deep reinforcement learning using the Beta distribution

Recently, reinforcement learning with deep neural networks has achieved great success in challenging continuous control problems such as 3D locomotion and robotic manipulation. However, in real-world control problems, the actions one can take are bounded by physical constraints, which introduces a bias when the standard Gaussian distribution is used as the stochastic policy. In this work, we propose to use the Beta distribution as an alternative and analyze the bias and variance of the policy gradients of both policies. We show that the Beta policy is bias-free and provides significantly faster convergence and higher scores over the Gaussian policy when both are used with trust region policy optimization (TRPO) and actor critic with experience replay (ACER), the state-of-the-art on- and off-policy stochastic methods respectively, on OpenAI Gym's and MuJoCo's continuous control environments.
Modeling the Convergence of Collaborative Systems of Systems: A Quantitative Case Study

A "system of systems" SoSs provides functionality beyond that offered by its constituent systems. The functionality emerges over time, and there is a need to predict and affect the system's convergence toward the desired functionality. The convergence of a collaborative SoS is dependent on political, economic, societal, and technological PEST factors. In this paper, the authors propose a model for predicting and analyzing the convergence of SoSs. We use the United States smart grid, a collaborative SoS, to demonstrate the power of the developed model. The United States smart grid's convergence depends on factors such as energy policies, roadmaps, grants, cost recovery, consumer support, and sufficiency of technological solutions. We constructed a dynamic Bayesian network to predict the convergence and then assess the influence of each of the PEST factors. The output of the convergence model can be used to predict and communicate technical progress to stakeholders and to analyze and optimize the investment of resources to affect the PEST factors. Understanding the convergence of SoSs is important for making sound business and technology investment decisions. This approach of predicting and analyzing convergence should be extended to other SoSs.
Job Autonomy: How Kenyan Newspeople Perceive Their Journalistic Latitudes

National in scope, this survey of Kenyan journalists conducted in 2012–2013 (n = 504) examines job autonomy in news selection decisions, media freedom and predictors of journalistic autonomy. The r...
Assessing the impact of stocking northern-origin hatchery brook trout on the genetics of wild populations in North Carolina

The release of hatchery-origin fish into streams with endemics can degrade the genetics of wild populations if interbreeding occurs. Starting in the 1800s, brook trout descendent from wild populations in the northeastern United States were stocked from hatcheries into streams across broad areas of North America to create and enhance fishery resources. Across the southeastern United States, many millions of hatchery-origin brook trout have been released into hundreds of streams, but the extent of introgression with native populations is not well resolved despite large phylogeographic distances between these groups. We used three assessment approaches based on 12 microsatellite loci to examine the extent of hatchery introgression in 406 wild brook trout populations in North Carolina. We found high levels of differentiation among most collections (mean F′ST = 0.718), and among most wild collections and hatchery strains (mean F′ST = 0.732). Our assessment of hatchery introgression was consistent across the three metrics, and indicated that most wild populations have not been strongly influenced by supplemental stocking. However, a small proportion of wild populations in North Carolina appear to have been strongly influenced by stocked conspecifics, or in some cases, may have been founded entirely by hatchery lineages. In addition, we found significant differences in the apparent extent of hatchery introgression among major watersheds, with the Savannah River being the most strongly impacted. Conversely, populations in the Pee Dee River watershed showed little to no evidence of hatchery introgression. Our study represents the first large-scale effort to quantify the extent of hatchery introgression across brook trout populations in the southern Appalachians using highly polymorphic microsatellite markers.
Strong personalities: Investigating the relationships between grip strength, self-perceived formidability, and Big Five personality traits

Abstract Individuals vary in physical size, strength, and overall physical formidability, and this variation has potential consequences for the relative costs and benefits of certain types of social interactions. For example, dispositional vigilance towards potential ecological or social threats may be more beneficial for less formidable (relative to more formidable) individuals. However, previous research has only begun to elucidate the relationship between formidability and broad personality traits. In the current research we explored the relationships between hand-grip strength and Big Five personality traits, and found relationships that were partly – but not entirely – consistent with previous research. Across two samples of American undergraduates (N > 500), we found negative correlations between grip strength and neuroticism in both men and women, but no correlation between grip strength and other Big Five traits. In Study 2, we also extended previous research by examining self-reported perceived formidability. Perceived formidability correlated negatively with neuroticism and positively with extraversion in both sexes. Importantly, perceived formidability also mediated the relationship between grip strength and neuroticism. Finally, exploratory analyses revealed that differences in grip strength also fully accounted for sex differences in neuroticism.
Update on the Stock and Supply of Health Services Researchers in the United States.

Objective This study examines the stock and supply including educational pipeline of health services researchers (HSRers) in the United States. Data sources National Institutes of Health Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Grants On-Line Database, Health Services Research Projects in Progress, PubMed, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, AcademyHealth membership database, and social networks. Study design Exploratory descriptive analysis of individuals involved in health services research (HSR) in the United States as of 2015/16. Principal findings The HSRer stock grew by 25 percent to 45 percent between 2007 and 2015/16, which was slower than the previous measurement period. The growth in the number of doctoral and master's degrees conferred in core HSR fields has been slowing in recent years. Minorities are underrepresented among HSRers, but this trend may improve over time given the diversity of the educational pipeline. Hispanics, however, were generally underrepresented in the educational pipeline. Conclusions The average annual growth rate of HSRers appears to be within range of national recommendations. Additional work is needed to assess whether supply of HSRers is meeting demand and to ensure a competent and diverse educational pipeline that meets the needs of an evolving health system.
Judicial Deference to Regulations In Conflict with Court Decisions and the Administrative Procedures Act Intermountain Insurance Service of Vail, LLC v. Commissioner

The Tax Court’s recent decision in Intermountain Insurance Service of Vail, LLC v. Commissioner addresses the validity of temporary regulations under I.R.C. §§6229 and 6501 extending the statute of limitations on assessment to six years when the taxpayer overstates basis resulting in an understatement of gross income by more than 25 percent. The case raises significant issues regarding whether temporary regulations can overturn long standing judicial precedent and whether such regulations meet the public notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act generally governing the promulgation of all federal agency rules. Resolution of these issues by appellate courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court, will have enormous impact on the ability of the IRS to issue timely, binding guidance to taxpayers.
Instrumental Variables: Conceptual Issues and an Application Considering High School Course Taking

Policymakers are becoming increasingly adamant that the research they use to evaluate educational interventions, practices, and programs can support statements about cause and effect. An instrumental variables (IV) estimation approach, which has historically been employed by economists, can be utilized to make causal statements regarding a predictor and an outcome when randomized trials are not feasible. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the IV approach as we explore the causal relationship between taking Algebra II in high school and degree attainment in college. We discuss concepts and terminology related to conducting experimental and quasi-experimental work, present the assumptions that should be met by an IV before a researcher can use it to make causal inferences, and demonstrate several IV estimation strategies. Additionally, we provide the reader with annotated Stata code to facilitate the application of this underutilized methodological approach in higher education research.
Thermodynamic Properties for Explosion Calculations

Publisher Summary This chapter presents thermodynamic properties for explosion calculations for major organic chemical compounds. The thermodynamic properties include enthalpy of formation, Gibbs free energy of formation, internal energy of formation and Helmholtz free energy of formation. The values for Helmholtz free energy of formation are useful in ascertaining the explosion energy of reactions. Other thermodynamic properties are also provided in the tabulation. The values for enthalpy of formation are useful in determining the heat effects of explosion reactions. Values for Gibbs free energy of formation are useful in ascertaining the thermodynamic equilibrium. The values for the internal energy of formation are useful in determining the internal energy changes for explosion reactions. The major chemicals include hydrocarbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and other compound types.
Topological Characterizations of Leader-Follower Controllability on Signed Path and Cycle Networks

Leader-follower controllability of signed multiagent networks is investigated in this paper, where the agents interact via neighbor-based Laplacian feedback and the interactions between agents admit positive and negative weights capturing cooperative and competitive interactions. To enable full control of the leader-follower signed network, graph-inspired topological characterizations of the controllability of signed networks are investigated. Specifically, sufficient conditions on the controllability of signed path and cycle networks are developed based on the investigation of the interaction between network topology and agent dynamics. Constructive examples are provided to illustrate how the developed controllability result on signed path and cycle networks can be potentially extended to general signed networks.
Visualizing DNA folding and RNA in embryos at single-cell resolution

The establishment of cell types during development requires precise interactions between genes and distal regulatory sequences. We have a limited understanding of how these interactions look in three dimensions, vary across cell types in complex tissue, and relate to transcription. Here we describe optical reconstruction of chromatin architecture (ORCA), a method that can trace the DNA path in single cells with nanoscale accuracy and genomic resolution reaching two kilobases. We used ORCA to study a Hox gene cluster in cryosectioned Drosophila embryos and labelled around 30 RNA species in parallel. We identified cell-type-specific physical borders between active and Polycomb-repressed DNA, and unexpected Polycomb-independent borders. Deletion of Polycomb-independent borders led to ectopic enhancer-promoter contacts, aberrant gene expression, and developmental defects. Together, these results illustrate an approach for high-resolution, single-cell DNA domain analysis in vivo, identify domain structures that change with cell identity, and show that border elements contribute to the formation of physical domains in Drosophila.
Training Second-Year MSW Students to Improve Cultural and Linguistic Competence:

Purpose:Cultural competency is a critical construct in social work education. This study investigated whether a grant-funded training program completed in tandem with second-year field placement an...
Non-native English-speaking teachers in Korean English classrooms: reflections through critical performative pedagogy

This study explores non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) and their critical awareness in the enacted classroom of South Korea. As a conceptual framework of this study, critical performativ...
Snakes, Active Contours, and Segmentation

The basic idea in active contour models (or snakes) is to evolve a curve, subject to constraints from a given image u 0, in order to detect objects in that image. Ideally, we begin with a curve around the object to be detected, and the curve then moves normal to itself and stops at the boundary of the object. Since its invention by Kass et al. [94] this technique has been used both often and successfully. The classical snakes model in [94] involves an edge detector, which depends on the gradient of the image u 0, to stop the evolving curve at the boundary of the object.
Risk-based Vaccines and the Need for Risk-based Subnational Vaccination Strategies for Introduction.

Background Most vaccines in the Expanded Program on Immunization are universal childhood vaccines (eg, measles and rotavirus vaccines). Other vaccines such as typhoid conjugate (TCV) and Japanese encephalitis vaccines are risk based and only used in countries where populations are at risk of these diseases. However, strategies to introduce risk-based vaccines are becoming complex due to increasing intracountry variability in disease incidence. There is a need to assess whether subnational vaccine strategies are appropriate. Criteria, challenges, and benefits Subnational strategies consider intracountry heterogeneous risk and prioritize vaccination only in those areas that are at risk; there is no intent to introduce the vaccine nationally. The following variables should be considered to determine appropriateness of subnational strategies: disease burden, outbreak potential, treatment availability and costs, cost-effectiveness, and availability of other preventive interventions. We propose criteria for each variable and use a hypothetical country considering TCV introduction to show how criteria are applied to determine if a subnational strategy is appropriate. Challenges include granularity of disease-burden data, political challenges of vaccinating only a portion of a population, and potentially higher costs of introduction. Benefits include targeted reduction of disease burden, increased equity for marginalized populations, and progress on development goals. Conclusions In the absence of perfect information at the national level, adopting a subnational vaccine strategy can provide country decision makers with an alternative to national vaccine introduction. Given the changing nature of communicable disease burden, subnational vaccination may be a tool to effectively avert mortality and morbidity while maximizing the use of available health and financial resources.
How to run a case: a guide for the resident at morning report.

Teaching rounds have been completed, essential orders and consults have been placed and your pager has been turned in at the threshold of the morning report conference room. With an hour of respite from the wards, you will take part in the time-honoured tradition of morning report. You pour yourself a cup of coffee and strategically select a seat which might prevent you from being called upon. While you enjoy the social aspect of morning report, the prospect of being asked to lead a case causes anxiety and leads to a familiar but still uncomfortable sense of imposter syndrome. As you settle in and seek to avoid eye contact with the chief resident, you sense him/her scanning the room for a willing participant. Despite your best efforts for avoidance, you hear your name called and immediately feel a pit in your stomach as you sense all the eyes in the room settle on you. The above experience is an eminently relatable one for medical trainees. While this familiar sense of anxiety partially stems from the prospect of being asked to share one’s thinking aloud among peers and superiors, it is also likely the case that the lack of a systematic, tried-and-true approach to leading such case discussions contributes significantly to this discomfort. It is curious that while much has been written on the topic of morning report—its anxiety-inducing ills as ‘morning distort’ and best practices for faculty and chief resident facilitators—none have attempted to provide a systematic approach to serving as a discussant for a case.1 2 Offering such an approach certainly would serve to help mitigate trainee anxiety at the prospect of being called upon, but more importantly might offer a framework to think systematically and comprehensively about patients one cares for in the future. To this end, …
The male body and Catholic piety in early modern Spain

Features of embodied female piety adduced from late medieval texts are now established categories of interpretation for religious experience in the early modern period. These include intense Eucharistic devotion in relationship to food culture, extreme food manipulation and exaggerated violence against the physical self. However, evidence from documents by and about early modern religious men indicates that male and female ascetic piety had more in common than not during this period. Strategies of backgrounding or masking those practices when carried out by men made them less visible in comparison to those practised by women, due to gender inflections in religious politics.
Strain Controlled Tensile Test Through High Rate Thermal Expansion

Materials can fail differently when tested under load control compared to displacement control. This is especially important for brittle materials due to their low failure strains. Unfortunately, it is difficult to load a test specimen in true displacement control because of the compliance of the entire load train in a test frame. In addition, making a load train very short and stiff to reduce compliance increases misalignment errors, which are also important for strain-sensitive materials.
The effects of low-Z shielding on uranium isotope discrimination using the time-emission profiles of long-lived delayed neutrons

Abstract Characteristic radiation signals can often be obscured or distorted by relatively small amounts of shielding, as is the case for highly-enriched uranium (HEU). Methods that can detect and identify special nuclear material (SNM) even in the presence of shielding are therefore of high value in many nuclear security and nonproliferation applications. It has been previously shown that the buildup and decay time profiles of long-lived delayed neutron emission from induced fission are unique and can be used to successfully discriminate between uranium isotopes and infer enrichment without the need for a calibration standard. Because the long-lived delayed neutron precursors exhibit decay times on the order of tens of seconds, their time profiles are not sensitive to the delays associated with scattering or diffusion in shielding materials, which occur on much shorter time scales. The use of capture-based neutron detectors can also mitigate the effects of shielding, because unlike recoil-based detectors, they do not have a low-energy detection threshold, so that neutrons that lose their energy in the shielding are still detectable. In this work, the effects of low- Z shielding on the discrimination of uranium isotopes using delayed neutron time profile measurements are investigated for the first time. The delayed neutron buildup and decay time profiles of polyethylene-shielded HEU and depleted uranium objects are measured using two different capture-gated detector designs. The recorded profiles show good agreement with the shapes predicted from six-group delayed neutron models even with the shielding in place, and the enrichment of the HEU and DU objects was estimated accurately to within 5%. While this method shows potential for discriminating and characterizing extreme cases of enrichment when a moderate amount of shielding is present, simulation results suggest that significant limitations exist for intermediate enrichment levels due to distortions to the delayed neutron time profile caused by neutron reflection in the shielding.
“Security Theater” in the Pediatric Wing: The Case for RFID Protection for Infants in Hospitals

In a typical year, five infants are abducted by strangers from hospitals. These are devastating events for the families involved and for the health care facilities’ staff and executives. This article looks at the nature of newborn and infant abductions, analyzing data on these kidnappings from the FBI and from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Then, the article examines the potential for RFID (radio frequency identification) based systems to improve security in the pediatric area of hospitals, providing an overview of the technology on the market today for infant protection. The article concludes with an analysis of the ROI (return on investment) equation for health care administrators to consider in weighing their options on how to prevent a statistically unlikely, but potentially cataclysmic occurrence, at their facility. In the end, RFID-based infant protection systems can be seen as a form of “security theater,” serving as a “palliative countermeasure” that will indeed work – both substantively and psychologically – to promote a more secure hospital environment for moms and their newborns.
K/(L + M + ...) RATIO OF THE 355-keV TRANSITION IN $sup 133$Cs.

The $\frac{K}{(L+M+\ensuremath{\cdots})}$ internal-conversion ratio for the 355-keV transition in $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}$ has been measured as 4.27\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.13. Interference of $K$-shell electrons from the 382-keV transition was eliminated by standard fast-slow coincidence techniques using pulses from a Si(Li) detector at 77\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K and NaI(Tl) scintillator. The experimental result indicates the multipolarity of the 355-keV transition to be (97.5% $E2$, 2.5% Max $M3$) when compared with existing tabulations of internal-conversion coefficients (ICC) compared with predictions made using Coulomb-screened ICC calculations, a predominantly $M3$ multipolarity is implied. In either case no $M1$ contribution is evidenced and the spin of the 436-keV level is verified as ${\mathrm{\textonehalf{}}}^{+}$, allowing this level to be interpreted in terms of the shell model, as a single-particle excitation to an ${s}_{\frac{1}{2}}$ state.
Evaluation on fiber boot of optical component by bend radius measurement in side pull test

A novel approach is proposed to evaluate the strain relief boot on optical fiber components by measuring the fiber bend radius in side pull test. The criterion and process are provided.
Application of Good's buffers to pH imaging using hyperpolarized 13C MRI

N-(2-Acetamido)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (ACES), one of Good's buffers, was applied to pH imaging using hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Rapid NMR- and MRI-based pH measurements were obtained by exploiting the sensitive pH-dependence of its 13C chemical shift within the physiologic range.
Biomarkers for Sepsis: A Review with Special Attention to India

Sepsis is a serious infection and still a common cause of morbidity and mortality in resource-limited settings such as India. Even when microbiologic diagnostics are available, bacteremia is only identified in a proportion of patients who present with sepsis and bloodstream infections. Biomarkers have been used in a variety of disease processes and can help aid in diagnosing bacterial infections. There have been numerous biomarkers investigated to aid with diagnosis and prognostication in sepsis with the majority suffering from lack of sensitivity or specificity. Procalcitonin has been heralded as the biomarker that holds the most promise for bloodstream infections. Data are emerging in India, and in this review, we focus on the current data of biomarkers in sepsis with particular attention to how biomarkers could be used to augment diagnosis and treatment in India.
Improvement of Ultrathin Oxides by Post-Oxidation Annealing

The low temperature oxidation is effective for the atomically-controlled gate oxide growth. We focused the effects of post-oxidation annealing (POA) and attempted to improve the properties of the low-temperature-grown ultrathin oxides with a thickness of 3nm by POA. POA abruptly reduced the leakage current at a low gate voltage below 1.5V and the interface trap density. The correlation between the interface trap and the leakage current at a low applied voltage region were confirmed. We found that the stressing immunity of the ultrathin oxides grown at a low temperature, 650°C, is drastically improved by POA at 850°C.
Cytoskeletal elements regulate the distribution of nerve growth factor receptors in PC12 cells

Nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR)-like immunoreactivity (IR) was studied in PC12 cells treated for 96 hr with NGF (40 ng/ml), using immunogold labeling and electron microscopic morphometric analysis. The cells were exposed to the anti-NGFR antibody 192-IgG, followed by immunoglobulin (IgG) conjugated with colloidal gold. PC12 cells exhibited occasional gold label (positive NGFR-IR) on all surfaces. Cells treated with colcemid (0.05 micrograms/ml) or cytochalasin D (2 micrograms/ml), which limit microtubule (MT) and microfilament (MF) formation, respectively, displayed an increased NGFR-IR in terms of gold labeling. NGFR-IR was also seen on taxol (0.85 micrograms/ml)-exposed cells, an agent that promotes MT assembly. Cells treated simultaneously with cytochalasin D and taxol had a dramatically augmented NGFR-IR on their surfaces, which exceeded levels obtained with either agent alone. Prominent NGFR-IR was localized frequently in coated endocytotic vesicles, in smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and in secondary multivesicular lysosomes, in both treated and untreated cells. The results suggest that a large number of NGFRs (positive NGFR-IR) in PC12 cells are cryptic and not available for ligand binding. Changes in cytoskeletal organization that may affect mobility of integral membrane proteins can modulate the distribution of NGFR-IR on neuronal surfaces.
Follow the yellow-orange rabbit: a CCD optimized for wavefront sensing a pulsed sodium laser guide star

Most large telescopes are now implementing sodium laser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics (AO) systems. Most of these systems plan to use the Shack-Hartmann approach for wavefront sensing. In these systems, the laser spots that are imaged in the Shack-Hartmann subapertures suffer spot elongation due to the 10 km extent of the sodium layer. The spot elongation extends radially from the projection point, and increases linearly with the distance the subaperture is separated from the laser. For 8-meter class telescopes with laser projection behind the secondary mirror, the spot elongation is ~1 arc sec at the edge of the pupil, and does not significantly affect the performance of the AO system. However, for the coming generation of extremely large telescopes, sodium LGS spot elongation will significantly degrade the quality of wavefront measurement. Attention should now be given to the development of technologies that can reduce or eliminate the spot elongation problem. The laser spot elongation can be greatly reduced by projecting the sodium laser in a series of short (1-3 μsec) pulses. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been funded to develop a pulsed fiber laser. In parallel, a new kind of wavefront sensor detector must be developed to properly sense the pulsed laser return. In this paper, we present our project that will develop a novel CCD which is optimized for sensing the return from a pulsed sodium LGS. Our CCD design uses custom pixel morphology that aligns the pixels of each subaperture with the radial extension of the LGS spot. This pixel geometry will allow each subaperture to follow the yellow-orange rabbit (i.e. the 589 nm laser pulse) as it traverses the sodium layer, providing optimal sampling of a limited number of detected photons. This CCD will attain photon-noise limited performance at high frame rates, using MOSFET amplifiers that exist today (2-3 electrons noise). However, we seek even lower noise amplifiers, and as part of our project, we are testing a new generation of JFET amplifiers that may attain sub-electron noise performance. The test CCD will be a standard geometry, 160x160 pixel image area with split frame transfer and a total of 20 readout ports. This test CCD will easily surpass the performance of the CCDs presently in use in astronomical AO systems, and should provide a significant performance improvement in the AO systems of the 8-10 meter telescopes. This project is a collaboration between the Keck Observatory, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, SciMeasure Analytical Systems, Gemini Observatory, Lick Observatory, the University of California, and the Rockwell Scientific Company. Our efforts are being coordinated with the developments at LLNL so that the pulsed laser and novel geometry CCD can be mated together in 3 years when both are fully developed.
Surface oxidation state of combustion-synthesized γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles determined by electron energy loss spectroscopy in the transmission electron microscope

Abstract Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) was used to compare the iron oxidation state at the surface and interior of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles produced by the combustion process under fuel conditions leading to low and high soot concentrations. These experiments were performed in the nanoprobe mode, which allowed for very high spatial resolution (the probe size was 1.4 nm). Here, low soot concentrations were obtained in a laminar ethylene–air diffusion flame seeded with iron pentacarbonyl, while high soot concentrations were achieved with the addition of acetylene to this fuel mixture. The studies showed that the surface oxidation state of iron was lowered with the addition of acetylene, although the core composition remained the same. This was indicated by changes in both the iron L23- and the oxygen K-edges at the surface of the particles. These highly spatially-resolved measurements showed a chemical shift of both the L3 and L2 iron lines, accompanied by significant reduction of the L3:L2-intensity ratio, indicating Fe2+ at the particle surface. Reduction in the pre-edge peak of the oxygen K-edge at the particle surface also indicated iron reduction at the surface. These results suggest that the surface oxidation state, and therefore gas-sensing properties, of combustion-synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles is highly dependent on flame conditions. Furthermore, this study shows that EELS is an important research tool for the investigation of nanoscale gas-sensors, allowing differentiation of composition and oxidation state at the interior and surface of individual nanostructures in these materials.
Putting Tuberculosis (TB) To Rest: Transformation of the Sleep Aid, Ambien, and “Anagrams” Generated Potent Antituberculosis Agents

Zolpidem (Ambien, 1) is an imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-acetamide and an approved drug for the treatment of insomnia. As medicinal chemists enamored by how structure imparts biological function, we found it to have strikingly similar structure to the antitubercular imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-carboxyamides. Zolpidem was found to have antituberculosis activity (MIC of 10–50 μM) when screened against replicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) H37Rv. Manipulation of the Zolpidem structure, notably, to structural isomers (“anagrams”), attains remarkably improved potency (5, MIC of 0.004 μM) and impressive potency against clinically relevant drug-sensitive, multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mtb strains (MIC < 0.03 μM). Zolpidem anagrams and analogues were synthesized and evaluated for their antitubercular potency, toxicity, and spectrum of activity against nontubercular mycobacteria and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. These efforts toward the rational design of isomeric anagrams of a well-known sleep ...
Determination of chemical shifts of core electron binding energies for some zinc compounds and the applicability of electron spectroscopy to environmental samples

Abstract Core electron binding energies were determined for zinc borate, zinc carbonate, zinc chloride, zinc fluoride, zinc iodide, zinc phosphate, zinc sulfate and zinc titanate. These binding energies were measured relative to that of the C 1s line (284.3 eV) and the Au 4f 7/2 line (83.9 eV). Also the shifts in electron energy were determined by measuring the electron spectra when two of the above compounds were mixed together. The former method was found to be unsatisfactory for environmental samples while the method of mixture was found to be satisfactory. The chemical shifts were compared to the electronegativities involved showing a linear relationship. The electronegativity of titanate was determined to be 2.7 ± 0.1.
Cardiovascular predictors of in-patient mortality after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Whether cardiac dysfunction contributes to morbidity and mortality after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) remains controversial. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that cardiovascular abnormalities are independently related to in-patient mortality after SAH. This was a prospective cohort study of patients with aneurysmal SAH. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured, a blood sample was obtained, and echocardiography was performed on three study days, starting as soon after admission as possible. The cardiovascular predictor variables were heart rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), cardiac troponin I (cTi) level, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level, and left ventricular ejection fraction. The primary outcome measure was in-patient mortality. The association between each predictor variable and mortality was quantified by multivariate logistic regression, including relevant covariates and reporting odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The study included 300 patients. An initial BNP level greater than 600 pg/mL was markedly associated with death (OR 37.7, p<0.001). On the third study day (9.1±4.1 days after SAH symptom onset), a cTi level greater than 0.3 mg/L (OR 7.6, p=0.002), a heart rate of 100 bpm or greater (OR 4.9, p=0.009), and a SBP less than 130 mmHg (OR 6.7, p=0.007) were significantly associated with death. Cardiovascular abnormalities are independent predictors of in-patient mortality after SAH. Though these effects may be explained by a reduction in cerebral perfusion pressure or other mechanisms, further research is required to determine whether or not they are causal in nature.
Fractional end-tidal CO2 as an index of the effects of stress on math performance and verbal memory of test-anxious adolescents

Abstract The research reported here was derived from the hypothesis that hyperventilation contributes to the decrement in performance observed in test-anxious students. From this point of view, students identified as test-anxious would be expected to hyperventilate to a greater extent than non-test-anxious students when confronted with the stress of testing. The experiment reported here tested this hypothesis by continuous capnographic monitoring of end-tidal CO2 and respiration frequency of 16 high- and 16 low-test-anxious boys and girls (ages 12–14 years) before and during tests of math and word-recall memory under conditions of high- and low-stress (i.e. `strong' motivational instruction versus `weak' motivational instructions). Consistent with predictions, high test-anxious students displayed lower levels of end-tidal CO2 (under the high-stress condition) and faster respiration frequencies than low test-anxious students. Both high- and low-test-anxious students scored higher on the math test under high-stress conditions, but differences between recall scores were not significant. Collateral data revealed a positive relationship between scores on the Nijmegen Hyperventilation Questionnaire and the Revised Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale, and a negative relationship between the questionnaire scores (self reports of frequency of symptoms of hypocapnia) and drop in level of end-tidal CO2 during testing, i.e. high-test-anxiety group reported a greater frequency of symptoms of hyperventilation and a larger drop in level of end-tidal CO2 during testing than low-test-anxiety group.
Overshooting Agricultural Commodity Markets and Public Policy: Discussion

In their ambitious empirical paper, Rausser, Chalfant, Love, and Stamoulis (RCLS) estimate and simulate a large-scale model of interactions between the U.S. agricultural sector and the international macroeconomy. The authors' results suggest key channels through which recent shifts in U.S. macroeconomic
A QUALITATIVE METHOD TO ESTIMATE HSI DISPLAY COMPLEXITY

There is mounting evidence that complex computer system displays in control rooms contribute to cognitive complexity and, thus, to the probability of human error. Research shows that reaction time increases and response accuracy decreases as the number of elements in the display screen increase. However, in terms of supporting the control room operator, approaches focusing on addressing display complexity solely in terms of information density and its location and patterning, will fall short of delivering a properly designed interface. This paper argues that information complexity and semantic complexity are mandatory components when considering display complexity and that the addition of these concepts assists in understanding and resolving differences between designers and the preferences and performance of operators. This paper concludes that a number of simplified methods, when combined, can be used to estimate the impact that a particular display may have on the operator's ability to perform a function accurately and effectively. We present a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach and a method for complexity estimation.
Meta-analysis of the effect of excluding early deaths on the estimated relationship between body mass index and mortality.

ALLISON, DAVID B., MYLES S. FAITH, MOONSEONG HEO, DIANA TOWNSEND-BUTTERWORTH, AND DAVID F. WILLIAMSON. Meta-analysis of the effect of excluding early deaths on the estimated relationship between body mass index and mortality. Obes Res. Objectives: Prospective cohort studies typically observe U-or J-shaped relationships between body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) and mortality. However, some studies suggest that the elevated mortality at lower BMIs is due to confounding by pre-existing occult disease and recommend eliminating subjects who die during the first several (k) years of follow-up. This meta-analysis tests the effects of such early death exclusion on the BMI-mortality association. Research Methods and Procedures: Studies identified from MEDLINE, review articles, ancestry analyses, and the “invisible college.” Included studies: 1) measured relative body weight at baseline; 2) inchded at least 1000 subjects; 3) reported results with and without early-death exclusion, or relevant data; and 4) did not study exclusively diseased populations. Blank tables were mailed to 131 investigators covering 59 databases. Completed tables (n = 16 databases), electronic raw data (n = 7 databases), and original articles (n = 6 databases) provided final data. Meta-analytic regressions compared the BMI-mortality association with and without early death exclusion. The sample included 29 studies and 1,954,345 subjects. Results: The effect of eliminating early deaths was statistically significant but minuscule in magnitude. Implementation of early death exclusion was estimated to shift the BMI associated with minimum mortality only 0. 4 units for men and 0. 6 units for women at age 50. Even at a BMI 16, the estimated relative risk (compared to BMI 25) decreased only 0. 008 units for men and 0. 076 units for women at age 50. Discussion: Results indicate that either pre-existing disease does not confound the BMI—mortality association or eliminating early deaths is inefficient for reducing that confounding.