cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Information Technology on Motor Carrier Productivity

This study examines the relationship between motor carrier productivity, marketing strategy, and use of information technology for a sample of U.S. general freight commodity carriers. We use a unique data set containing information on firm marketing strategy and information technology use collected in a survey of Class I and II motor carrier firms (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1999). The measure of productivity used here is the non-parametric Malmquist Index as explained in Grosskopf (1993) and previously applied to general freight motor carriers by McMullen and Okuyama (2000). The Malmquist Index is decomposed into two components: economic efficiency change (EC) and technical efficiency change (TC). A tobit model regression model is used to examine the relationship between firm productivity, marketing strategy, and use of information technology. Information technologies included in the tobit analysis are electronic data interchange (EDI) and satellite communications (SATCOM). We also include firm size, use of owner-operators, and percent unionization as explanatory variables in the tobit regression. Results indicate that use of EDI has a positive and significant impact on economic efficiency (EC). Firms that try to market their product by providing service at the "lowest freight rate" are found to exhibit greater technical efficiency (TC), suggesting that productivity and cost measures that ignore marketing strategy may be biased. Finally, economic efficiency (EC) is found to be significantly greater for firms that are more heavily unionized.
Addressing children's life changes in the early childhood curriculum

Young children may experience stress from changes in their lives. These changes may be developmental, critical, or catastrophic. Early childhood educators need to establish partnerships with parents to help families cope with all three types of changes. Teachers can facilitate children's emotional expressions, build understanding through the use of dramatic play, provide a stable routine, monitor post-traumatic play, and discuss events that affect individual children, the entire class, or the community. Teachers can also serve as a resource to families by providing books for parents and children, and building a referal file of agencies and helping professionals.
Structure and dynamics of MMI linked nucleotides

Abstract Results are presented on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of (T∗T) dimers linked by a novel chemical functionality — the m ethylene m ethyl i mino (MMI) backbone designed as a neutral replacement for the negatively charged phosphodiester group in wild type nucleic acids. Simultaneous conformational transitions among the MMI backbone atoms during the course of the simulation have been observed, equivalent to inversion-rotation at the nitrogen atoms of the N-O bond. This process yields two families of low-energy conformations which maintain base stacking. The solution structure of the dimer has been studied by one and two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy, and two slowly exchanging forms are observed at low temperature. Simulated NOESY spectra generated from the MD structures match the experimental NOESY data.
Scanning tunneling microscopy study of the structure and orbital-mediated tunneling spectra of cobalt(II) phthalocyanine and cobalt(II) tetraphenylporphyrin on au(111): mixed composition films.

Binary thin films of cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (CoPc) and cobalt(II) tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP) were prepared at submonolayer coverage on Au(111)/mica substrates by vapor deposition. All sample preparation and analysis were done under an ultrahigh vacuum. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) constant-current images of CoPc/CoTPP mixtures showed two close-packed surface structures, with different compositional percentages and some disorder. CoPc was also observed exclusively in one-dimensional chains and as single, isolated molecules below 220 K. Occupied and unoccupied orbital energy levels were identified by STM and tunnel-diode-based orbital-mediated tunneling spectroscopy. Occupied energy levels were also confirmed by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The transient oxidation of the Co dz2 orbital is identified in STM dI/dV(V) curves just negative of the 0 V sample bias for both molecules. Nearly identical constant-current contours are observed over the central Co2+ ions of CoTPP and CoPc, indica...
Unreliability of platelet glucose-6-phosphatase for the diagnosis of glycogen storage disease type Ia

The diagnosis of glycogen storage disease type Ia currently uses enzyme analysis of liver tissue. This requires liver biopsy in the at-risk neonate or fetus. Conflicting reports have appeared in the literature on the use of peripheral platelet glucose-6-phosphatase activity for the diagnosis of this disorder. We have applied a sensitive radiometric assay system to the measurement of glucose-6-phosphatase activity in peripheral platelets. Two families with affected members were analysed, revealing no differences in glucose-6-phosphatase activity as compared with control values. Platelet measurement of glucose-6-phosphatase does not appear to be useful for the diagnosis of glycogen storage disease type Ia.
A continuum model for the growth of epitaxial films

Abstract The continuum equations presented here model the growth of epitaxial films in terms of a local edge density ∼ ∇ h and surface concentration (number density) of adatoms. This model is more amenable to computations than existing models that feature discrete edges and solve continuum equations on each terrace; yet it offers a more detailed picture than continuum models that treat the surface height as the only dependent variable. This latter feature is especially important if one wishes to account for several species which may react on the surface of the film or at step edges to build complicated unit cells. The model is motivated by and compared with numerical solutions of rate equations which are derived from kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations. After introducing the model in a 1+1 dimensional setting, we extend it to a 2+1 dimensional setting assuming spatial derivatives become surface gradients. We also discuss extension for the case with multiple species.
Sensorial, nutritional and microbiological quality of fresh cilantro leaves as influenced by ionizing radiation and storage

The impact of gamma irradiation on aroma, appearance, nutritional, textural, and microbiological quality attributes of fresh cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L.) was investigated. Irradiation at doses up to 2 kGy did not significantly influence aroma, amount of total volatile compounds, color or overall visual quality. Although firmness of cilantro was reduced by irradiation at day 0, there was no significant difference among treatments after 3, 7 and 14 days of storage at 3 °C. Irradiation did not have a consistent effect on antioxidant power or phenolic content during the 14-day storage. In contrast, vitamin C content was lower at day 14 in samples irradiated at 2 and 3 kGy. Cilantro irradiated at 3 kGy had higher decay rate and off-odor scores than other samples after 14 days of storage. The total aerobic plate count of irradiated cilantro was significantly lower than that of nonirradiated controls immediately after irradiation and during the entire storage period. Our results suggest that fresh cilantro irradiated at 2 kGy retained its sensorial quality and shelf life.
Improved high-rate space-time codes via orthogonality and set partitioning

In this paper, we propose a new technique for constructing improved high-rate space-time codes. The proposed code construction is based on a concatenation of an orthogonal spacetime block code and an outer M-TCM encoder. However, unlike the existing STB-MTCM schemes which are rate-lossy, the proposed construction yields higher-rate space-time codes by expanding the cardinality of the orthogonal space-time block code before concatenating with an outer M-TCM encoder. An advantage of the proposed construction is that the standard techniques for designing a good TCM code, such as the classic set partitioning concept, can be adopted to realize the STB-MTCM designs with large coding gains. We present several design examples of improved full-rate space-time codes for a system with 2 transmit antennas. Simulation results show that the new space-time codes considerably outperform the existing ST-TCM designs. For example, the new 4-state 2-bits/symbol QPSK space-time code performs even better than the original 32-state design, while performance of the new 32-state QPSK code is only 1.5 dB away from the outage probability limit. Moreover, decoding complexity of the proposed M-TCM construction is made reasonably low by exploiting signal orthogonality.
Analog and leaky predictive transform image coding

The design equations of minimum mean square error (MSE) predictive transform (PT) coding are augmented with a scalar leak factor to yield PT decoders that more rapidly attenuate the errors introduced by a noisy channel. In addition, the author investigates the analog compression of 3.6-MHz NTSC monochrome images in an additive and zero mean white noise channel environment. Analog compression means that only a fixed number of the most energetic elements of the unquantized coefficient error vector produced by the PT coder are transmitted. For the case of no channel noise, and transmission bandwidths of 3.6, 2.7, 1.8, and 0.9 MHz, a leaky 4*6 PT coder is found to yield an image quality and SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) close to that of an 8*8 KLT coder. For a noisy channel with an SNR of 11.64 dB and similar transmission bandwidths, it is shown that the PT coder significantly outperforms the KLT coder in both image quality and SNR. >
Selection of models for the analysis of risk-factor trees: leveraging biological knowledge to mine large sets of risk factors with application to microbiome data

Motivation: Establishment of a statistical association between microbiome features and clinical outcomes is of growing interest because of the potential for yielding insights into biological mechanisms and pathogenesis. Extracting microbiome features that are relevant for a disease is challenging and existing variable selection methods are limited due to large number of risk factor variables from microbiome sequence data and their complex biological structure. Results: We propose a tree-based scanning method, Selection of Models for the Analysis of Risk factor Trees (referred to as SMART-scan), for identifying taxonomic groups that are associated with a disease or trait. SMART-scan is a model selection technique that uses a predefined taxonomy to organize the large pool of possible predictors into optimized groups, and hierarchically searches and determines variable groups for association test. We investigate the statistical properties of SMART-scan through simulations, in comparison to a regular single-variable analysis and three commonly-used variable selection methods, stepwise regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and classification and regression tree (CART). When there are taxonomic group effects in the data, SMART-scan can significantly increase power by using bacterial taxonomic information to split large numbers of variables into groups. Through an application to microbiome data from a vervet monkey diet experiment, we demonstrate that SMART-scan can identify important phenotype-associated taxonomic features missed by single-variable analysis, stepwise regression, LASSO and CART. Availability and implementation: The SMART-scan approach is implemented in R and is available at https://dsgweb.wustl.edu/qunyuan/software/smartscan/ Contact: ude.ltsuw@nauynuq Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
When Is “Bad News” Viewed as “Good News”?

Recent research has shown that discretionary loan loss provisions are positively associated with bank stock returns and future earnings. The good news signaled by discretionary provisions is most prominent for banks with greater incentive to signal good news (e.g., low-regulatory-capital banks with potential loan default problems); for banks with greater degrees of accounting discretion over the loan loss provision (e.g., banks with portfolios with a high proportion of commercial loans); and for provisions in the fourth quarter, which is audited. Banks with low regulatory capital that record large fourth-quarter loan loss provisions adopt more-conservative future loan growth strategies and generate substantial improvement in future earnings. These results suggest that bank managers increase discretionary provisions to signal “good news” about future earnings and that increased discretionary provisions are associated with other, less observable management actions that increase the value of the bank.
Relationship between cross-cultural health attitudes and community health indicators

Improving health standards both nationally and cross-culturally is a goal for all community health nurses. Previous research has supported links between health attitudes and behavior. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between attitudes toward health and indexes of community health using a cross-cultural data set. Concepts selected from the data set were I (myself), body, sickness, disease, life, doctor, health, medicine, hospital, nurse, death, and insane. Community health indicators were male and female life expectancy, infant mortality, economic and public health expenditures, and net social progress. The original sample included 1200 high school males within each of 30 language and cultural communities. Data were derived from students' ratings of the dimensions of evaluation, potency, and activity for each concept. The results supported the association between attitudes and objective community health indicators. Unexpected negative correlations were found between attitudes toward medicine and nurse attitudes toward body and life, perhaps indicating that extended contact with health care providers may result in negative attitudes toward them. Positive relationships were found between public health expenditures and nurses, indicating that in countries with more expenditures for community and public health, attitudes toward nurses were more positive.
Low-molecular-weight thiol-dependent antioxidant and antinitrosative defences in Salmonella pathogenesis.

We found herein that the intracytoplasmic pool of the low-molecular weight (LMW) thiol glutathione (GSH) is readily oxidized in Salmonella exposed to nitric oxide (NO). The hypersusceptibility of gshA and gshB mutants lacking γ-glutamylcysteine and glutathione synthetases to NO and S-nitrosoglutathione indicates that GSH antagonizes the bacteriostatic activity of reactive nitrogen species. Metabolites of the GSH biosynthetic pathway do not affect the enzymatic activity of classical NO targets such as quinol oxidases. In contrast, LMW thiols diminish the nitrosative stress experienced by enzymes, such as glutamine oxoglutarate amidotransferase, that contain redox active cysteines. LMW thiols also preserve the transcription of Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 gene targets from the inhibitory activity of nitrogen oxides. These findings are consistent with the idea that GSH scavenges reactive nitrogen species (RNS) other than NO. Compared to the adaptive response afforded by inducible systems such as the hmp-encoded flavohemoprotein, gshA, encoding the first step of GSH biosynthesis, is constitutively expressed in Salmonella. An acute model of salmonellosis has revealed that the antioxidant and antinitrosative properties associated with the GSH biosynthetic pathway represent a first line of Salmonella resistance against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species engendered in the context of a functional NRAMP1R divalent metal transporter.
Mobile robot path tracking of aggressive maneuvers on sloped terrain

Path tracking control on non-flat terrain is an important capability of mobile robots operating in outdoor environments. A path tracking controller based on the model predictive control (MPC) framework is presented that explicitly considers terrain geometry and actuator limitations. The controller performance is studied with three vehicle dynamic models in a high-fidelity ADAMS simulation. The effect of model order on path tracking performance on flat terrain and sloped terrain is evaluated. It is shown that improved performance can be obtained by explicitly considering terrain effects.
Indications for Spinal Injections in the Chronic Pain Patient

The aim of this paper is to understand the complexity and variety of options available to the fully trained interventional pain physician in regards to spinal injection for chronic pain patients. This paper reviews and summarizes indications for some of the more common injection procedures in the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral regions. Therapeutic and diagnostic injections are discussed as well as selected interventional, nonsurgical, treatment options. Procedures and injections around and into spinal column structures are the mainstay of the medical specialty Interventional Pain Management. These precise and selective procedures require specific and intensive training over and above that afforded in the majority of the primary residencies and fellowship programs. Well-planned, physician expert instructed and proctored cadaver training along with physician review and procedure practice guidance are required for safe performance of the procedures.
Composite protocols for innovative active services

We define a modular approach for specifying and implementing network protocols. Our approach partitions protocols into single function modules called protocol components. Each protocol component is specified in terms of finite state machines, action functions, memory, memory operations, and properties. This specification is amenable to rapid definition of protocol components, rapid composition of protocol components into protocols, and automatic analysis and manipulation of complete protocols.
Distribution of impacts of natural disasters across income groups: A case study of New Orleans

Abstract This paper explores elements of vulnerability to natural disasters in the context of Hurricane Katrina. We examine whether neighborhoods in New Orleans were impacted differently by Hurricane Katrina based on pre-existing social, physical and economic vulnerabilities. We evaluate the degree to which the initial impacts of Hurricane Katrina were distributed among the New Orleans' residents. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology was used to perform analyses using household income, housing values, and elevation and flood levels. Next, we investigate whether particular socio-economic groups in the city were more vulnerable during the response and recovery phases. Findings indicate that Hurricane Katrina caused severe flood damages in the majority of New Orleans neighborhoods, regardless of income, elevation and other social factors. However, findings do suggest that pre-existing socio-economic conditions play a significant role in the ability for particular economic classes to respond immediately to the disaster and to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to reduce social and economic vulnerabilities to natural disasters, as well as suggestions for future research.
Redox equilibrium between guanyl radicals and thiocyanate influences base damage yields in gamma irradiated plasmid DNA. Estimation of the reduction potential of guanyl radicals in plasmid DNA in aqueous solution at physiological ionic strength

Purpose : Gamma irradiation of an aqueous solution containing thiocyanate ions produces the strongly oxidizing intermediate (SCN) 2 £ -. Reaction of this species with plasmid DNA produces damage that is revealed as strand breaks after incubation with the Escherichia coli base excision repair endonuclease formamidopyrimidine-DNA N -glycosylase (FPG). It has been previously reported that the yield of damage is highly sensitive to the experimental conditions, leading to the suspicion that electron transfer between DNA and (SCN) 2 £ - is reversible. In principle this makes it possible to determine the oxidation potential for plasmid DNA (more formally the reduction potential of oneelectron oxidized plasmid DNA), a fundamental parameter describing the reactivity of DNA towards electron transfer reactions. Materials and methods : Aqueous solutions of plasmid DNA and thiocyanate ions were subjected to 137 Cs n -irradiation. After irradiation, the plasmid was incubated with the E. coli base excision repair endonu...
Human Capital Risk and Economic Growth

This paper develops a tractable incomplete-markets model of economic growth in which households invest in risk-free physical capital and risky human capital. The paper shows that a reduction in uninsurable idiosyncratic labor income risk decreases physical capital investment, but increases human capital investment, growth, and welfare. A quantitative analysis based on a calibrated version of the model reveals that these effects are substantial and of the same order of magnitude as the effects of distortionary income taxation. The analysis further suggests that government-sponsored severance payments to displaced workers increase growth and welfare even if these payments have to be e nanced through distortionary income taxation.
Multiscale Matrix Sampling and Sublinear-Time PageRank Computation

AbstractA fundamental problem arising in many applications in Web science and social network analysis is the problem of identifying all nodes in a network whose PageRank exceeds a given threshold Δ. In this paper, we study the probabilistic version of the problem whereby given an arbitrary approximation factor c > 1, we are asked to output a set S of nodes such that with high probability, S contains all nodes of PageRank at least Δ, and no node of PageRank smaller than Δ/c. We call this problem SignificantPageRanks.We develop a nearly optimal local algorithm for the problem with time complexity on networks with n nodes, where the tilde hides a polylogarithmic factor. We show that every algorithm for solving this problem must have running time of Ω(n/Δ), rendering our algorithm optimal up to logarithmic factors. Our algorithm has sublinear time complexity for applications including Web crawling and Web search that require efficient identification of nodes whose PageRanks are above a threshold Δ = nδ, for s...
Engineering education, design and senior projects

The role of senior year projects in engineering education is addressed. The author examines the meaning of design in relation to the senior project experience and offers the distinction between, in the author's terminology, discrete design and continuous design. The ability to do continuous design comes from a sound theoretical background, and expertise in discrete design comes more from experience. On this basis, it is argued that the education of an engineer is a partnership between university and industry, with the university providing the theory and industry giving experientially accumulated instinct. In providing in-house senior design programs, universities have imposed the fiction that they provide true industrial experience and have encroached into what industry can do better. Senior projects should, therefore, be dispensed with and universities should concentrate on teaching the theory, leaving the completion of the engineer's education to industry.
Optimization for a superscalar out-of-order machine

Compiler optimization plays a key role in unlocking the performance of the PA-8000, an innovative dynamically-scheduled machine which is the first implementation of the 64-bit PA 2.0 member of the HP PA-RISC architecture family. This wide superscalar, long out-of-order machine provides significant execution bandwidth and automatically hides latency at runtime; however, despite its ample hardware resources, many of the optimizing transformations which proved effective for the PA-8000 served to augment its ability to exploit the available bandwidth and to hide latency. Further, machine-specific factors influenced all levels of optimization to a degree without precedent in the set of previous PA-RISC processors. While legacy codes benefit from the PA-8000's sophisticated hardware, recompilation of old binaries can be vital to realizing the full potential of the PA-8000, given the impact of new compilers in achieving peak performance for this machine.
Effects of prenatal maternal ethanol on male offspring progressive-ratio performance and response to amphetamine

Abstract This study was designed to further explore the nature of our previously reported reduction in the efficacy of food reinforcers for prenatal ethanol-exposed mice. We determined the effect of prenatal ethanol exposure on responding for food delivered on a progressive-ratio (PR) reinforcement schedule, which has been shown to be sensitive to changes in motivation and/or value of reinforcers, and we assessed the effects of amphetamine on responding maintained by the PR schedule. Subjects were adult (12 months old) male offspring of C57BL/6J mice fed liquid diets containing either ethanol (25% ethanol-derived calories, N = 12) or sucrose (25% sucrose-derived calories, N = 9) during gestation days 5–17. Prenatal ethanol-exposed mice differed from controls by having lower response rates and a greater disruption of responding following amphetamine injections. The reduced responding for food reward on the PR schedule supports our previously advanced hypothesis that prenatal ethanol reduces the efficacy of food reinforcers. The enhanced effects of amphetamine found in these adult mice is in agreement with previous reports on young rats. Although either of the effects of prenatal ethanol exposure observed in the present study are suggestive of altered DA systems, current neurochemical studies on either rats or mice provide no support for the hypothesis.
FIRST COLLECTION OF OCHLEROTATUS JAPONICUS JAPONICUS IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

This is the 1st report of Ochlerotatus japonicus japonicus in the state of Tennessee, USA. Adults were collected at 5 sites in northwestern Knox County from June 9 through November 3, 2003, and from 1 site in both 2003 and 2004.
Structure–Property Relationships in Hydroxide-Exchange Membranes with Cation Strings and High Ion-Exchange Capacity

A series of poly(2,4-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) hydroxide-exchange membranes (HEMs) with cation strings containing a well-defined number of cations (CS-n) and similar, high ion-exchange capacities are synthesized to investigate the effect of cation distribution on key HEM properties. As the number of cations on each string grows, the size of the ionic clusters increases from 10 to 55 nm. Well-connected ion pathways and a hydrophobic framework are observed for n≥4. The enhanced phase segregation increases the hydroxide conductivity from CS-1 to CS-6 (30 to 65 mS cm(-1) ) and suppresses the water uptake (from 143 % to 62 %). Moreover, molar hydroxide conductivities for CS-n membranes show two distinctive stages as n increases: ∼23 S cm(2) mol(-1) for n≤3; and ∼34 cm(2) mol(-1) for n≥4.
Finite Wage Elasticity of Labor Supply to the Firm: Macroeconomic Evidence and Implications

Joan Robinson first suggested that the labor supply curve for a firm may be upward sloping with a finite wage elasticity. Recently, a rapidly growing volume of microeconomics studies have found empirical support for Robinson’s suggestion. This paper develops two macroeconomic implications. First, owners of non-labor resources receive rents above their contribution to production. Thus, estimates of non-labor productivity that utilize market returns have a bias. Second, deceased wage elasticity of labor supply for firms may amplify and/or cause recessions. Implementing policies to reverse a decreased elasticity may be an appropriate response to a recession. Empirical evidence from recessions is found to be consistent with finite pro-cyclical wage elasticity.
”Mirrorless” UV lasers in ZnO polycrystalline films and powder

We report the first observation of ultraviolet lasing in ZnO powder and ZnO polycrystalline films grown on amorphous fused silica substrates. In the absence of any fabricated mirrors, laser action occurs in the closed loops formed by multiple optical scattering of light.
Ricardo Quinones: A Review

Review article of two books by Ricardo Quinones: "Dualisms: The Agons of the Modern World" (Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 2007. 451 pp.) and "Erasmus and Voltaire: Why They Still Matter" (Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 2010. 222 pp.)
The Impact of Government Price and Income Programs on Income Distribution in Agriculture

T HE distribution of income among farmers, regions, and factors of production unquestionably has been influenced to some degree by farm-price-and-income programs, especially during the past decade; but it is obviously difficult to isolate and measure the net effects of such programs apart from market forces and technology, which also have influenced relative returns. Furthermore, as the title implies, only the effects of farm-price-income programs are to be considered. It is possible, of course, that other types of government activity, particularly those relating to agricultural research, education, credit, and general economic policies (which presumably affect the rate of economic growth and employment opportunities), have had at least as much impact on the distribution of agricultural incomes as have price programs; but, because of limitations of time as well as of data, these other programs will have to be ignored.
A Markov Analysis of Fund-Raising Alternatives:

The author explores the strategies of fund-raising for a nonprofit organization to maximize net income. The giving pattern of members is modeled as a Markov chain. The alternatives are evaluated us...
Turbulence Augmentation over a Bristled Shark Skin Model

Experiments were conducted to discern the turbulence augmentation achieved over a bristled shark skin model embedded inside a turbulent boundary layer. It is hypothesized that shark scales are passively bristled by the flow in regions where incipient separation is present. The formation of embedded vortices within the model leads to the presence of partial slip velocities adjacent to the main boundary layer flow which range from 5 – 30% of the freestream velocity. The turbulence levels in the boundary layer are increased as measured by the increase in Re stress levels, which also leads to the high partial slip velocities via mixing in and out of the cavities. It is hypothesized that that positive effect of an increase in momentum adjacent to the surface will prevent local flow reversal and global flow separation. Results suggest that the negative aspects of increased overall drag, as evidenced in the boundary layer profiles, would be minimized if only localized bristling were to occur thereby minimizing the surface area of the bristled microgeometry.
Nanoanalytical Characterization of Granular Ag-Fe Films with Giant Magnetoresistance

Dedicated scanning transmission electron microscopy and associated techniques were used to extract microstructural and compositional information about granular Ag-Fe magnetic films produced by sputtering. Nanometer-resolution compositional analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), showed that Ag-Fe granular films consist of two separate phases. It has been found that nanometer size Fe particles are separated by small as well as large Ag particles. Nanodiffraction patterns showed that a large proportion of small Ag particles have an icosahedral shape and that the Fe particles are highly disordered. The nanostructure of the Ag-Fe system and its relation to the giant magnetoresistance of granular films are discussed.
Investigations Into 25- and 30- $\mu \text{m}$ -Thick Glass Capacitors at 23 °C and 235 °C and Area Dependence of Dielectric Strength of Alkali-Free Schott Inc. AF 32 ECO Glass

Parallel-plate capacitors constructed with 25- and 30- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick alkali-free glass sheets are demonstrated in pulsed $RC$ discharge circuit. Capacitance values ranged from $\sim 25$ to 54 nF. Capacitors were charged and discharged with an electrically triggered switch into resistive loads and were tested at 23 °C in oil up to 3.2 kV and up to 235 °C in air with a charge voltage of 350 V. Peak currents greater than 160 A were measured for multiple capacitor charge and discharge cycles for the capacitor submerged in oil. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an ultrathin glass capacitor with multikilovolt charge voltage implement in a pulsed power electrical circuit. In addition, the dielectric strength of 25- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick alkali-free Schott Inc. AF 32 ECO glass is investigated in Shell Diala oil at room temperature as a function of electrode area spanning a factor of 600. The results show that as electrode area increases dielectric strength significantly decreases. Implications for the decrease in dielectric strength at large dielectric areas are discussed in regard to manufacturing ultrathin glass capacitors. Dielectric strengths measured for AF 32 ECO glass are in agreement with similar compositions of alkali-free glass.
cAMP stimulates the Na+-K+ pump in frog retinal pigment epithelium.

Adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) induced increases in active Na+ secretion and K+ absorption that were blocked by apical ouabain (10(-4) M), suggesting stimulation of the Na+-K+ pump. c...
Cognitive Impairment in Survivors of Adolescent and Early Young Adult Onset Non-CNS Cancers: Does Chemotherapy Play a Role?

Introduction: The development of complex cognitive functions including executive functions occurs during adolescence and early young adulthood. Survivors of cancers diagnosed during adolescence and young adulthood (AYA) may be at specific risk for chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment; however, little data are available that specifically examine long-term cognitive outcomes in the AYA-onset cancer survivor population. Methods: A literature search was conducted between January 1991 to December 2015 using a variety of search terms pertaining to the AYA-onset cancer population and cognitive outcomes. Articles that described cognitive outcomes in AYA-onset cancer survivors without primary or secondary central nervous system lesions diagnosed at ages 14–25 years old were examined and reported. Results: Three articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All three evaluated cognitive outcomes in AYA-onset cancer survivors at varying time points after receipt of systemic chemotherapy. Target groups and neuro...
The Toxicity and Efficacy of Pyridaben,Acetamiprid and their Mixtures to Bemisia Tabaci(Gennadius) Biotype B and Safety Evaluation to Tobacco

The toxicity of pyridaben,acetamiprid and their mixtures to Bemisia tabaci(Gennadius) biotype B were tested using tube residual film,the efficacy of them were measured on tobacco plants,and the safety evaluation to tobacco were also measured.The results showed that acetamiprid showed the biggest toxicity in the three neonicotinoid insecticides,LC50 was 7.1195 mg/L,the mixtures of pyridaben and acetamiprid 1:1 and 2:1 showed some antagonism,and the mixtures of pyridaben and acetamiprid 4:1 and 8:1 showed additive effect,LC50 were 1.6103 and 1.1452 mg/L;The joint toxicollogical of Acetamiprid and Chlorpyrifos at the two ratio of 1:4 and 1:8 had great synergism,with the co-toxicity coefficient were 135.68,177.16,respectively.The efficacy results were that the mixture of pyridaben and acetamiprid 8:1(1 000 dilution) had the better efficacy,the defense efficacy was 89.6%~95.8% during 3 to 10 days.The safety evaluation results showed that the mixture of pyridaben and acetamiprid 8:1 1000 dilution showed a slight phytotoxicity to some tobacco plants,but had no effect on growth and development.
Case 1: Hypotonia and Failure to Thrive in a 3-month-old Boy

1. Matthew J. Weeks, DO* 2. Karen Vogt, MD* 3. Catherine Kimball-Eayrs, MD* 1. *Department of Pediatrics, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda MD. A 3½-month-old boy is seen in the general pediatric clinic for a weight check. He was delivered following induction at 36 weeks’ gestation due to nonreassuring fetal heart tones. His birthweight was 2,300 g (3rd percentile) and he has been followed closely since birth for persistent feeding difficulty and poor weight gain. He has never successfully latched at the breast and has required syringe feedings of expressed breast milk (EBM) at home. Because of continued poor weight gain at 2 months of age, the EBM was fortified to 22 kcal/oz. With fortification, he is consuming approximately 140 kcal/kg per day, but his weight remains below the 3rd percentile for age. His length was at 40th percentile at birth but is now at the 1st percentile for age when plotted on the World Health Organization growth curves. His past medical history is otherwise unremarkable and without illness or hospitalizations. His mother has no history of medication use, substance abuse, or infections during pregnancy. The family history is noncontributory. The boy’s overall appearance is well, with normal vital signs. He has global hypotonia with poor suck reflex. He is unable to lift his head when prone and eliciting a Moro reflex is difficult. His grasp and plantar reflexes appear intact. He does not have any dysmorphic features. His heart has a regular rate …
The power of ultrasound: treating secondary MR with sound waves.

Innovations in physics and its applications often enable medical advances. Collaboration between physicists who developed a high-frame-rate ultrasound system and cardiovascular investigators has allowed non-invasive measurement of vascular and myocardial stiffness.1,2 In this current issue of the European Heart Journal—Cardiovascular Imaging , members of these groups, using a related technology, have employed ultrasound to treat as well as to image the heart3 in mitral regurgitation (MR) secondary to myocardial infarction (MI) that causes mitral valve (MV) leaflet tethering mediated by chordae to the displaced papillary muscles (PMs).4 This is a condition for which a strong need is perceived for improved approaches.5 Although there is evidence for adaptive MV growth in secondary MR,6,7 this extra leaflet tissue is often insufficient to compensate adequately for mitral annular (MA) enlargement and chordal tethering.8 The MV leaflets thus become increasingly taut, being pulled by the annulus towards the base, and by chordae towards the left ventricular (LV) apex. The normally convex MV closing configuration towards left atrium becomes concave, and the anterior MV leaflet appears like a ‘hockey stick’ on Echo.9 Once the necessary leaflet tissue redundancy for MV coaptation is …
Lubricated Pipelining: Linear Stability Analysis

This section is based on the paper by Preziosi, Chen and Joseph [1989] (PCJ) and incorporates some results from Joseph, Renardy and Renardy [1983, 1984] (JRR). We present the linear stability of core-annular flow (CAF) with emphasis on the case of viscous fluid in the core. The effects of surface tension and density difference, neglecting gravity, are considered. As in the case of other layered shearing flows, surface tension plays an important role (cf. section IV.5) in the stability theory.
Polymeric Microelectromechanical Millimeter Wave Systems

Polymeric millimeter-wave components and systems based on micro molding technologies have been demonstrated, including waveguides, iris filters, tunable filters, phase shifters, waveguide-fed horn antennas and waveguide-based feeding networks. Fundamental issues in polymer metallization process such as conformal and uniform deposition as well as mass transfer and current density effects on the novel in-channel electroplating encapsulation, surface morphology and roughness on mm-wave attenuation will be discussed in detail. We believe this new class of polymeric millimeter-wave systems has potential applications in replacing the expensive metallic counterparts (a few thousand dollars for each waveguide) in current millimeter-wave systems.
Biomimicry: Using Nature's Models as Sustainability Design Inspiration for Company Strategy and Products

This brief background note provides an explanation and examples of biomimicry as an approach that provides insights into the innovative design of products and corporate strategy framing. Biomimicry uses nature's laws and successful strategies to inform commercial innovation. Excerpt UVA-ENT-0154 Rev. Aug. 18, 2010 Biomimicry: Using Nature's Models as Sustainability Design Inspiration for company strategy and products What better models could there be?…This time, we come not to learn about nature so that we might circumvent or control her, but to learn from nature, so that we might fit in, at last and for good, on the Earth from which we sprang. —Janine Benyus . . .
Abstract 957: Use of angiotensin system inhibitors is associated with longer overall survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients who underwent pancreatectomy

Introduction: Angiotensin system inhibitors (ASI) are widely used to manage hypertension. Laboratory and retrospective clinical data suggests that ASIs can improve cancer prognosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ASIs on overall survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of the clinicopathologic records of patients with PDAC seen at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) between 1/2006 - 12/2010. Patients on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) were included as ASI users. We performed RNAseq and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of primary tumor samples from patients with or without chronic ASI use. We also identified a surrogate signature of differentially expressed genes and we measured the extent of angiotensin inhibition in GEO and TCGA datasets. The extent of inhibition was used to correlate with survival. Statistical analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox proportional hazards ratio model. Results: A total of 794 consecutive PDAC patients were included, of whom 297 (37.4%) were on ASIs and 183 (23.0%) were on non-ASI antihypertensive drug therapy. In resected patients, ASI users had a significantly longer overall survival on univariate (median OS: 36.3 vs. 19.3 months, p=0.011) and multivariate analysis (HR, 0.49; 95%CI, 0.333-0.734; p Conclusion: In patients with PDAC, ASI use is associated with longer overall survival in resected patients and may benefit patients with locally advanced disease. These findings suggest the need for a prospective study to determine the efficacy of ASI in PDAC patients. Citation Format: Hao Liu, Matthias Pinter, Joao Incio, Hang Lee, William Ho, Jonathan Crain, Kamila Naxerova, Mengyang Di, Alex Jacobson, Daniella Dias Santos, Andrea Zanconato, Vikram Deshpande, Keith Lillemoe, Carlos Fernandez del Castillos, Michael Downes, Ronald Evans, James Michaelson, Cristina Ferrone, Yves Boucher, Jain K. Rakesh. Use of angiotensin system inhibitors is associated with longer overall survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients who underwent pancreatectomy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 957. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-957
The Sexual Life of the Savage in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

This chapter argues that the fraught erotic attraction between John the Savage and Lenina Crowne forms the moral core of Brave New World. Although circumstance precludes the realization of a monogamous relationship between these characters, Huxley—anticipating the theories of Herbert Marcuse—suggests that the deferral of sexual gratification can be an aspirational and ultimately enlightening force.
Outcomes of shoulder arthroplasty in diabetic patients as assessed by peri-operative A1C.

Although diabetes mellitus (DM) has an adverse effect on complication rates in orthopaedic surgery, neither the effect of DM nor the association between haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty (SA) has been studied. A retrospective review of 406 SAs (70 HAs, 188 total shoulder arthroplasties [TSAs], 148 reverse total shoulder arthroplasties [RSAs]) with HbA1Cs within 90 days of surgery was conducted. The average age was 70 years (range 27–97) and 55% were female. The average peri-operative HbA1C was 6.4% (range 4.7–9.8%), with 104 (26%) having a HbA1C of 7.0% or greater. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed to determine complication, re-operation, and revision rates at two, five and ten years post-operatively. At mean follow-up of four years, 58 (16.5%) SAs were associated with post-operative complications including six (1.5%) infections. Kaplan-Meier two and five year survivorship free of any complication was 87.3 and 82.6% and of infection was 95.8 and 90.9%, respectively. Thirty-two (7.9%) SAs required reoperation with 26 (6.4%) of these being revisions. Survivorship at two and five years post-operatively was 97.1 and 92.7% for re-operation and 98.6 and 98.2% for revision, respectively. No increased risk of complications, re-operation, revision, or infection was seen with increased HbA1C analyzed as a continuous variable (hazard ratio = 0.97–1.11, 95% CI = 0.28–3.94, p = 0.5882–0.9445) or as a dichotomous variable with a cutoff of 7.0% (hazard ratio = 1.02–1.47, 95% CI = 0.20–7.48, p = 0.3253–0.9544). A collaborative and comprehensive approach to the pre-operative medical evaluation of patients with DM is critical, as is future investigation into alternative methods associated with outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty in patients with DM. Level IV
The Genetic Architecture of Longevity

Longevity is a more complex process than is often thought. The adult life span can be naturally partitioned into two phases: the health span and the senescence span. The transition between them is characterized by the downward inflection of the survival curve. The evidence shows that there are three ways to increase longevity, only one of which involves an increase in the values of both mean and maximum life spans. In that case, the extra longevity is expressed as an extension of the health span, whereas the senescent span is little affected if at all. The delayed onset of senescence phenotype is the most desirable way of extending the life span. This multiphasic view of the life span is supported by a variety of literature data and springs from an evolutionary view of the aging process. Gene activity during the life span can best be viewed in terms of gene networks, their progressive increase in fidelity during development, their maintenance during much of the health span, their progressive loss of stringent feedback control as the force of natural selection wanes, and the stochastic destabilization of key cellular functions during the senescent phase. This systems biology overview should be of conceptual value in understanding the biology of specific long-lived mutants and selected strains.