cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the exact solution of the geometric optics approximation of the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Abstract The implicit solution of the geometric optics equations (i.e. the modulation equations arising from the WKB Ansatz) of the defocusing nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation is known to be expressible in terms of the classical hodograph transform. In this note, the solution procedure for the 2×2 system of quasilinear modulation equations is implemented, analogous to the implicit solution of the inviscid Burgers' equation, for smooth monotone initial data consistent with the modulation Ansatz. The implicit system is solved exactly using a classical method of Riemann. The relevant Riemann–Green functions can be found explicitly, hence allowing the exact location and time of shock formation to be calculated. The entire evolution of the exact solution can be observed through the shock formation.
Professional Social Network Site Participation: A Longitudinal Examination

Online professional social networks have become a noteworthy tool to help professionals create, strengthen, and maintain valuable business connections. However, the question remains as to who is actually using online professional social networks and how the diffusion of the social network has occurred. Looking at diffusion and usage through innovation diffusion theory, critical mass and a network effects lens, this paper seeks to examine the diffusion of an online professional social network LinkedIn for a specific population of university business schools. Using longitudinal analysis 2008 compared to 2011 our findings advocate network dynamics of homogeneous populations display consistent patterns of participation and non-participation. The authors' findings suggest LinkedIn diffusion is not consistent across all business schools examined. A greater critical mass and network effect appears to have been achieved across larger research universities when compared to smaller university populations. An analysis of the results and future research directions are presented.
Sex pheromone cross-attraction among four species of pine tip moths,Rhyacionia species

Field tests utilizing crude pheromone extracts fromRhyacionia frustrana, R. rigidana, R. subtropica, andR. buoliana showed thatR. subtropica andR. buoliana were mutually attractive.R. frustrana was attracted in low numbers to bothR. subtropica andR. buoliana, butR. subtropica andR. buoliana did not significantly respond toR. frustrana. R. rigidana did not respond to pheromone extracts from any otherRhyacionia spp., nor was it attractive to the others. Cross-attraction occurred among those species which were largely allopatric and shared few tree hosts.
Stereo high-voltage electron microscopy of whole cells of the human diploid line, WI-38.

The human diploid cell line, WI-38, has proven to be an especially good object for high-voltage electron microscopy using whole cells. Cells of intermediate passages were grown on plastic-coated, carbon-shadowed gold grids, fixed with glutaraldehyde, post-fixed with osmium tetroxide, stained with uranyl salts and critical-point dried. The absence of an embedding matrix produces images of increased contrast and resolution. The approach combined with stereo-microscopy has extended our knowledge of cellular ultrastructure. Stereo-images of whole cells reveal nuclei, mitochondria, microtubules, microfilaments, the endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes in their expected forms. At high magnifications a continuity of microtubules, microfilaments and membranous elements with thin (3–6 nm) strands of the ground substance has been observed. These strands form a three-dimensional lattice or mesh that pervades all parts of the cytoplasm. The entire structure is referred to as a microtrabecular lattice or mesh, the strands being the trabeculae. The inclusion of microtubules, microfilaments, ribosomes and vesicles of the endoplasmic reticulum within the material of the lattice makes them all part of a totally organized cytoplast.
Pressure compensation for high current ion implanters

Abstract A multivariable method for determining optimum pressure compensation values for high current ion implanters is presented. The sheet resistance of implanted test wafers is correlated to the time averaged total endstation and beamline pressures and two respective pressure compensation factors. Pressures were varied by bleeding argon gas into the electron shower and by gas liberated from photo resist coated wafers. The correlation is used to determine the optimum pressure compensation values to ensure that sheet resistance does not vary with pressure. The multivariable method is compared to the manufacturer's suggested method and the method of intersecting lies. The effects of gas composition are considered second order effects in this analysis and are neglected.
Age-Related Differences in Judgments of Inappropriate Behavior Are Related to Humor Style Preferences

Identifying social gaffes is important for maintaining relationships. Older adults are less able than young to discriminate between socially appropriate and inappropriate behavior in video clips. One open question is how these social appropriateness ratings relate to potential age differences in the perception of what is actually funny or not. In the present study, young, middle-aged, and older adults were equally able to discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate social behavior in a diverse set of clips relevant to both age groups. However, young and middle-aged adults rated the gaffe clips as funnier than control clips and young adults smiled more during the inappropriate clips than the control clips. Older adults did not show this pattern, suggesting that they did not find the inappropriate clips funny. Additionally, young adults endorsed a more aggressive humor style than middle-aged and older adults and aggressive humor style endorsement mediated age differences in social appropriateness ratings. Results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms such as cohort differences in humor and developmental prioritization of certain humor styles, as well as the importance of investigating age differences in both abilities and preferences.
Testing for absolute purchasing power parity

Abstract Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an equilibrium condition equating the nominal exchange rate between two countries with the relative price of an identical bundle of goods in each country. Previous time-series researchers use price indices to study PPP, so they test relative PPP. We use new data that measures price levels, so we test absolute PPP. Price levels provide a test of absolute PPP because, unlike price indices, price levels do not contain a base period in which the nominal exchange rate equals the price ratio by construction. We find support for absolute PPP.
SU-E-J-178: Patient-Specific Bulk Electron Density Overridden Planning for Prostate and Brain Cancer

Purpose: To evaluate the use of patient‐specific bulk electron density overridden plans for prostate and brain IMRT dose calculations. Methods: CT images and IMRT treatment plans for 10 prostate cancer patients and 10 brain cancer patients were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. For each patient, a region of interest(ROI) was selected to cover all radiation beam paths plus 1cm margins in both superior and inferior directions. Patient anatomy within the ROI was segmented into fat, non‐fat soft tissue, bone and air based on CT number ranges of [−,‐50], [−,49,200], [201,4000], [− 1200,−800], respectively. Average electron densities for each tissue type were obtained from CT values for each patient, and all plans were recalculated on patient‐specific density overridden datasets to generate patient‐specific bulk density overridden plans. These overridden plans were compared to the clinically approved CT‐based plan using dose‐volume metrics for PTV coverage and OAR sparing. Results: Dose deviations between the patient‐specific density overridden plan and the clinically approved plan were minimal. Most parameters used to describe planning target volume coverage and OAR sparing were within 0.3% of approved CT based plans and all parameters were within 1% of the approved CT based plans. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that by assigning patient‐specific bulk electron densities to different tissue types, the dosimetric error of the patient‐specific bulk density overridden plans is within 1% of the approved CT based plan. This, patient‐specific bulk density override technique may potentially be used to map the CT values from CT images to MR images.
Perceived depth in non-transitive stereo displays.

Abstract The separation between the eyes shapes the distribution of binocular disparities and gives a special role to horizontal disparities. However, for one-dimensional stimuli, disparity direction, like motion direction, is linked to stimulus orientation. This makes the perceived depth of one-dimensional stimuli orientation dependent and generally non-veridical. It also allows perceived depth to violate transitivity. Three stimuli, A, B, and C, can be arranged such that A > B (stimulus A is seen as farther than stimulus B when they are presented together) and B > C, yet A ⩽ C. This study examines how the visual system handles the depth of A, B, and C when they are presented together, forming a pairwise inconsistent stereo display. Observers’ depth judgments of displays containing a grating and two plaids resolved transitivity violations among the component stimulus pairs. However, these judgments were inconsistent with judgments of the same stimuli within depth-consistent displays containing no transitivity violations. To understand the contribution of individual disparity signals, observers were instructed in subsequent experiments to judge the depth of a subset of display stimuli. This attentional instruction was ineffective; relevant and irrelevant stimuli contributed equally to depth judgments. Thus, the perceived depth separating a pair of stimuli depended on the disparities of the other stimuli presented concurrently. This context dependence of stereo depth can be approximated by an obligatory pooling and comparison of the disparities of one- and two-dimensional stimuli along an axis defined locally by the stimuli.
Implementation and outcomes of a responsibility-based continuing professional development protocol in physical education

Research in education and physical education has emphasized the need for continuing professional development (CPD) programs that are aligned with best practices. More specifically, scholars interested in teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) have emphasized the need to examine teachers' CPD. The purpose of this study was to provide a novel responsibility-based CPD experience to three physical educators and examine its impact on a middle school physical education program in the USA. Data were collected through systematic observations, interviews, nonparticipant observations and document analysis. Findings showed that the physical educators increased their awareness of responsibility-based teaching strategies, perceived them to positively impact students and integrated the strategies into their teaching. Furthermore, descriptive statistics illustrate frequent use of the teaching strategies and confirms the reliability of the observation instrument. The findings suggest that systematic observati...
New Evidence: Data Documenting Parental Support for Earlier Sexuality Education

BACKGROUND Numerous studies document support for sexuality education to be taught in high school, and often, in middle school. However, little research has been conducted addressing support for sexuality education in elementary schools. METHODS As part of the state Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Survey administration, the Florida Department of Health conducted the Florida Child Health Survey (FCHS) by calling back parents who had children in their home and who agreed to participate (N = 1715). RESULTS Most parents supported the following sexuality education topics being taught specifically in elementary school: communication skills (89%), human anatomy/reproductive information (65%), abstinence (61%), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (53%), and gender/sexual orientation issues (52%). Support was even greater in middle school (62-91%) and high school (72-91%) for these topics and for birth control and condom education. Most parents supported comprehensive sexuality education (40.4%), followed by abstinence-plus (36.4%) and abstinence-only (23.2%). Chi-square results showed significant differences in the type of sexuality education supported by almost all parent demographic variables analyzed including sex, race, marital status, and education. CONCLUSIONS Results add substantial support for age-appropriate school-based sexuality education starting at the elementary school level, the new National Sexuality Education Standards, and funding to support evidence-based abstinence-plus or comprehensive sexuality education.
The scope and limits of a mechanistic view of computational explanation

An increasing number of philosophers have promoted the idea that mechanism provides a fruitful framework for thinking about the explanatory contributions of computational approaches in cognitive neuroscience. For instance, Piccinini and Bahar (Cogn Sci 37(3):453–488, 2013) have recently argued that neural computation constitutes a sui generis category of physical computation which can play a genuine explanatory role in the context of investigating neural and cognitive processes. The core of their proposal is to conceive of computational explanations in cognitive neuroscience as a subspecies of mechanistic explanations. This paper identifies several challenges facing their mechanistic account and sketches an alternative way of thinking about the epistemic roles of computational approaches used in the study of brain and cognition. Drawing on examples from both low-level and systems-level computational neuroscience, I argue that at least some computational explanations of neural and cognitive processes are partially independent from mechanistic constraints.
Bigger isn't always better: body size, developmental and parental temperature and male territorial success in Drosophila melanogaster

The effect of developmental temperature (18°C versus 25°C) on the body size and territorial success of male fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, in paired contests was examined. When tested at ambient temperatures of either 18°C or at 27°C, adult males raised at 25°C were relatively small in size but nevertheless had greater territorial success (control of a food/oviposition resource) than males raised at 18°C. This result negates a ‘size-advantage hypothesis’, which predicts that males raised at 18°C should be more successful at either contest temperature by virtue of their larger size. It also negates an ‘acclimation-advantage hypothesis’, which predicts that males raised at 18°C should be more successful than males raised at 25°C in contests at 18°C, but less successful at 27°C. The data are consistent, however, with an ‘optimal developmental temperature hypothesis’, which suggests that flies raised at 25°C, even though phenotypically small, are physiologically vigorous and will perform relatively well under diverse environmental circumstances. Thus, bigger isn't always better. In a small-scale experiment territoriality scored only at 27°C) in which all males had the same developmental temperature (25°C) males whose parents developed at 25°C were more successful than were males whose parents developed at 18°C. These experiments demonstrate that developmental temperatures, both within and between generations, influence territorial success in male flies.
Analysis of in-core dynamics in pressurized water reactors with application to parameter monitoring

The behavior of the phase relationship between neutron flux and core-exit temperature fluctuations in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is studied as a function of the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity (..cap alpha../sub c/). PWR operational data indicate that the neutron noise and core-exit temperature noise cross power spectrum phase is linear in a certain frequency range, and approaches -180 deg at low frequencies. Extensive modeling studies applied to the LOFT reactor show that this low frequency phase behavior changes when ..cap alpha../sub c/ is positive, approaching zero deg at low frequencies. The analysis further showed that in the LOFT reactor, coolant flow rate fluctuation is the primary driving source causing neutron noise and core-exit temperature fluctuations. This conclusion was also confirmed by independent studies. The neutron noise-coolant temperature phase behavior may be used as a single method of monitoring the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity during different stages of a PWR fuel cycle.
Analysis of Lead in Soils Adjacent to an Interstate Highway in Tampa, Florida

In order to assess the amount and distribution of lead pollution in soils adjacent to a major interstate highway serving the city of Tampa, Florida, a total of 224 samples were collected from 32 transects perpendicular to the roadway. The lead content was measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The highest levels of lead were found at distances of 81, 243, and 729 cm from the road. The results show that there is a weak negative correlation between soil lead and the distance from the roadside, as well as with traffic density. The weakness of the relationship is a result of confounding variables such as turbulence and other microclimatic factors, downslope movement of soils overtime, and human action such as construction and highway landscaping. Nevertheless, over one-third of the samples collected in the study area contain more than 500 μg g−1 lead, levels considered to be hazardous by the United States Centers for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Extending the universality of the Heath–Jarrow–Morton model ☆

Abstract Heath, Jarrow, and Morton (HJM) developed an important model of the evolution of interest rates. A key assumption of the model is that interest rate changes are normally distributed in continuous time. Implementing the HJM-method of evolution of interest rates in discrete time for more complex volatility functions remains a significant challenge. In this article, we present a relatively simple and flexible method of implementation, that extends the usefulness of the HJM model. The derivation assumes that the distribution of interest rates is stable, but not necessarily identical, for each discrete time period. This allows us to identify the drift-adjustment terms necessary to build interest rate lattices and trees and Monte Carlo simulations that satisfy exactly the no-arbitrage and volatility conditions, even complex ones, of the model. The much more difficult discrete-time implementation methods suggested in the literature (Heath, Jarrow, and Morton (1991) [Heath, D., Jarrow, R. & Morton, A. (1991). Contingent claim valuation with a random evolution of interest rates. Review of Futures Markets, 54–76.] and Jarrow (1996) [Jarrow, R. (1996). Modeling fixed income securities and interest rate options. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.]) do not accomplish that. We illustrate our analytical implementation with three examples of volatility functions and demonstrate its superiority to other methods of implementation.
A high performance modulo 2 n +1 squarer design based on carbon nanotube technology

In this paper, a design of high performance modulo 2n+1 squarer is proposed. The primary improvement comes from the algorithm, circuit implementation, and implementation technology. For the algorithm, the partial product matrix reconstruction is optimized to achieve a larger range of input and fewer operation steps. The modified Wallace tree is employed to compress the partial product in each column. For circuit implementation, full adders in traditional structure are replaced by 3:2 compressors. The sparse-tree based inverted End-Carry-Around (ECA) modulo 2n adder is utilized to implement the final addition stage. The proposed design is demonstrated a much better performance in terms of delay, power, and area comparing with existing design. To assess the advantage of CNT device, the same circuit is designed using CNT technology. The proposed design shows that the critical path delay and rise time of modulo 28+1 squarer on CNT technology is 13.6 times and 9.3 times better than that of CMOS technology, respectively. The power consumption is improved about 4 times with much better tolerance against the process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variation compared with the CMOS counterpart.
Adsorptive Desulfurization with Xerogel-Derived Zinc-Based Nanocrystalline Aluminum Oxide

Adsorption of thiophene from a thiophene−pentane mixture has been investigated using zinc-based nanocrystalline aluminum oxide under ambient conditions. The adsorbents were prepared by a xerogel pr...
Conformer lifetimes of ethyl cyanoformate from exchange-averaged rotational spectra

Ethyl cyanoformate exists as a mixture of two conformers but displays three R-branch a-type band series in its rotational spectrum. Simulations with population fractions 0.37 at 210 K and 0.70 at 297 K undergoing conformer exchange with average conformer lifetimes, , shorter than approximately 40 ps at approximately 210 K and shorter than approximately 37 ps at 297 K reproduce the experimental spectra between 26.5 and 38 GHz, the exchanging species accounting for the third set of bands. The upper-limit 's are 1 order of magnitude longer than RRKM theory predictions and the population fractions are consistent with the total population with energy above 700 cm(-1), approximately twice the conformer interconversion barrier height. Model calculations indicate that extensive K-sublevel mixing in individual molecular eigenstates can produce the large population and the narrow distribution of the rotational-constant sum, B + C, consistent with the observed exchange-averaged band series.
Occasioned Semantics: A Systematic Approach to Meaning in Talk

This paper puts forward an argument for a systematic, technical approach to formulation in verbal interaction. I see this as a kind of expansion of Sacks’ membership categorization analysis, and as something that is not offered (at least not in a fully developed form) by sequential analysis, the currently dominant form of conversation analysis. In particular, I suggest a technique for the study of “occasioned semantics,” that is, the study of structures of meaningful expressions in actual occasions of conversation. I propose that meaning and rhetoric be approached through consideration of various dimensions or operations or properties, including, but not limited to, contrast and co-categorization, generalization and specification, scaling, and marking. As illustration, I consider a variety of cases, focused on generalization and specification. The paper can be seen as a return to some classical concerns with meaning, as illuminated by more recent insights into indexicality, social action, and interaction in recorded talk.
Electronic Government at the Local Level: Progress to Date and Future Issues

Much like businesses with electronic commerce, public organizations are beginning to embrace electronic government (e-government). This article defines the term e-government, discusses the literature oflocal-Ievel e-government, and documents the adoption and sophistication of e-government among U.S. local governments. It employs data from a survey conducted in 2000 to examine local adoption of e-government. E-government adoption among local governments generally tracks previously documented patterns of information technology adoption, which show a statistically significant relationship between adoption and such demographic variables as population size, form and type of government, region, and metro status. The article compares the results of that survey to a normative model of e-government maturity and finds that the emergence of e-government at the local level is still in its formative stages. The analysis also examines perceived impacts from e-govemment, sophistication of e-government offerings, barrier...
A 1.23pJ/b 2.5Gb/s monolithically integrated optical carrier-injection ring modulator and all-digital driver circuit in commercial 45nm SOI

Integrated photonic interconnect technology presents a disruptive alternative to electrical I/O for many VLSI applications. Superior bandwidth-density and energy-efficient operation can be realized through dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) and lower transmission losses. There are two main paths towards an integrated platform. Hybrid/heterogeneous designs [1-3] enable each component to be custom-tailored, but suffer from large packaging parasitics, increased manufacturing costs due to requisite process flows, and costly 3D integration or microbump packaging. Monolithic integration mitigates integration overheads, but has not penetrated deeply-scaled technologies due to necessary process customizations [4]. The first monolithic integration of photonic devices and electronic-photonic operation in sub-100 nm (45 nm SOI process with zero foundry changes) is demonstrated in [5]. This paper presents a monolithically integrated optical modulator with a new all-digital driver circuit in a commercial 45nm SOI process. The waveform-conditioning driver circuit enables the carrier-injection modulator to operate at 2.5Gb/s with an energy-cost of 1.23pJ/b, making it ~4× faster and more energy-efficient than the previous monolithically integrated driver/modulator presented in [5].
Social capital and social support on the web: the case of an internet mother site

Do virtual communities in cyberspace foster social capital and social support? Using participant observation and discourse analysis, we examine a mothering board on a parent's website and investigate whether social capital was present, and if so, how it was developed and used. We find three main types of communication emerge from our analysis: emotional support, instrumental support – both formal and informal, and community building/protection, all of which contribute to the creation and maintenance of social capital. Additionally, using sampling with replacement, we created a final data set of 180 mothers and report descriptive statistics to identify characteristics of those on the board.
Translation and Validation of the Spanish Version of the RELATE Questionnaire Using a Modified Serial Approach for Cross‐Cultural Translation

This article describes the initial translation and validation of the Spanish version of the RELATionshhip Evaluation (RELATE) questionnaire with a sample of monolingual English speakers (n = 78), a sample of monolingual Spanish speakers (n = 18), and two samples of Spanish/ English Bilinguals (n = 27 and n = 34). Cross-cultural and cross-language equivalence of the Spanish version of RELATE to the original English version were assessed using a Modified Serial Approach (MSA) for instrument translation. Face and content validity of the Spanish RELATE were established. Test-retest reliability indices obtained with the translated version among the monolingual and bilingual Spanish speaking groups were consistently equivalent to, and in some cases higher than, the baseline reliability obtained with the monolingual English speaking group. Applications of the Spanish version of RELATE and use of the MSA for researchers and practitioners are presented.
Effects of thyrotropin releasing hormone on hypothalamic thermosensitive neurons of the rat.

Abstract The actions of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) were tested on the firing rate of temperature-sensitive and temperature-insensitive neurons in the rat preoptic/anterior area of the hypothalamus (POA). Iontophoretic application of TRH resulted in inhibition of the firing rate of temperature-insensitive, warm-sensitive and cold-sensitive neurons. The inhibitory response of cold sensitive neurons to TRH was relatively mild, however, and 2 of 6 of these neurons inhibited by TRH also displayed rebound increases in discharge rate following cessation of TRH application. These results parallel the hyperthermic effects of microinjected TRH and lend further support to the hypothesis that TRH acts as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator in the POA portion of the CNS thermoregulatory network.
Microfilaments interacting with heavy meromyosin and deoxyribonuclease I in cells of the ovarian follicle of a lizard

Two types of filaments (microfilaments 4–6 nm in diameter, and intermediate filaments 7–10 nm in diameter) are common in the surface epithelial cells and theca fibroblasts of vitellogenic ovarian follicles of the lizard Anolis carolinensis. Heavy meromyosin (HMM), which forms complexes with actin filaments, interacts only with the microfilaments of theca fibroblasts. After myosin extraction of follicles no filaments disappeared, but when this treatment was followed by incubation with deoxyribonuclease I (DNA-ase I), which depolymerizes F-actin to G-actin, microfilaments disappeared from the theca fibroblasts. It is concluded that microfilaments in theca fibroblasts are actin-like and may contract to provide the mechanism of expulsion for the oocyte during ovulation. The intermediate filaments of the surface epithelial cells and theca fibroblasts may serve as a skeletal system for the large (up to 8 mm in diameter) vitellogenic follicle.
Role of fibrinogen in fibrin transport: chromatographic studies.

Several physical criteria indicate that the soluble complexes formed by molecular fibrin in fibrinogen solution consist of large aggregates, but gel-filtration chromatography frequently portrays them as having permeation characteristics equivalent to fibrinogen itself. An equilibrium exists between dissociation and formation of the complexes within both the gel and transporting medium, so that equilibration of fibrin across the gel should proceed in parallel with fibrinogen under conditions favorable to rapid attainment of equilibrium. This concept is illustrated by the following phenomena: 1) In absence of fibrinogen, fibrin monomers aggregated into immobile strands. 2) In dilute fibrinogen at 37°C, soluble complexes were formed and traversed the column at rate commensurate with fibrinogen as though fully dissociable into monomers. 3) Physiologic concentrations of fibrinogen at 37°C accelerated elution of the complexes to a degree indicative of substantially suppressed dissociability into species smaller than dimers in the more concentrated fibrinogen. 4) On lowering temperature to 25°C, elution advanced to rates approaching the maximum for poorly permeating complexes. 5) The poor permeation at 25°C was attributable to reduced rates of dissociation of the complexes rather than a change in their size, because permeation became fully equivalent to fibrinogen when adequate time on the order of six hours was allowed for equilibration. It is proposed that analogous transport through dissociation and reassembly of the complexes across permeability barriers occurs in vivo, and may function in transendothelial deposition and clearance of fibrin.
Spatial scale shifts in amblyopia.

We used a masking paradigm to uncover the properties of the mechanisms engaged by the amblyopic visual system for vernier acuity and b'ne detection. Line vernier and line detection thresholds were measured in the presence of one-dimensional noise masks varying in orientation, spatial frequency content or contrast. Our results reveal that in both normal and amblyopic eyes, there is a bimodal orientation tuning function for vernier acuity i.e. vernier acuity is most strongly masked by mask orientations approx. ± 10 deg on either side of the target lines. In contrast, in both normal and amblyopic eyes, line detection is most strongly masked when the mask and b'ne target have the same orientation. In the normal fovea, the spatial frequency tuning is bandpass, with a peak spatial frequency of about 10 c/deg. In the amblyopic eyes, the spatial tuning is similar in specificity; however the peak is shifted to lower spatial frequencies, suggesting a shift in the scale of spatial processing of line stimuli. For all of the amblyopic eyes, the increased line detection thresholds are approximately proportional to the shift in spatial scale. In anisometropic amblyopes, the (unmasked) vernier threshold is elevated in proportion to the shift in spatial scale; however in some amblyopes with constant strabismus the shift in spatial scale is not sufficient to account for the degraded vernier acuity. The “extra” increase in vernier thresholds associated with strabismus may be a consequence of a high degree of positional uncertainty which adds noise at a stage following the combination of filter responses.
Toward the analysis of electrochemically modified self-assembled monolayers. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of organothiolates

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS) is investigated as a possible technique for the analysis of a variety of thiolates. Our future work will deal with thiolates, particularly polymeric ones, obtained from the electrochemical reductive desorption of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on metal surfaces. Such electrochemical methods of removing SAMs require high concentrations (10-2 M) of electrolytes like sodium methoxide. Thus, initial studies of model thiolates in the presence of electrolyte salts are reported here. Reproducible ESI spectra of thiolates can be obtained with thiolate concentrations in the 10-5−10-6 M range in the presence of 10-3−10-2 M sodium methoxide. Air oxidation of thiolate solutions occurs rapidly, as noted by the observation of RSO2- and RSO3- ions within minutes of thiolate solution preparation. Dithiols are investigated as possible models of polymeric thiols. Questions regarding intramolecular disulfide formation and charge state are addressed. ESI spectra...
A Study of the CsI-TMAE photocathode

Abstract The quantum efficiency of a CsI-TMAE photocathode has been found to increase by over a factor of 2 under bombardment of positive ions from the avalanche process. A quantum efficiency of about 40% has been achieved for wavelengths ≤ 190 nm. This “enhancement” can be removed by an electrical discharge or by a brief exposure to a vacuum. Results on photocathode ageing are also presented.
The dawn at my back

Interactive multimedia narrative in CD/DVD-ROMs and game design offers choice and non-linearity as communication signifiers. The viewer chooses where to go in an interactive design, viewing content in a non-traditional, non-linear fashion. However the content is totally controlled by the author, not the reader. The content is pre-determined while the viewer controls the viewing path in real time.The Dawn At My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing outlines three parallel stories of a mother, a daughter, and a society by detailing racism's impact on each element. The concept is to design a combination Book/DVD-ROM/Website that allows the reader direct interaction with the narrative. This project expands on the idea that interactivity is a dialogue between viewer and story by encouraging the book's reader to become a DVD-ROM user and website co-author.
The effects of sex and machiavellianism on self-disclosure patterns

This study was aimed at replicating the findings of an earlier study examining the effects of sex and machiavellianism on self-disclosure patterns. Of particular interest was the question of whether or not a significant sex-machiavellian interaction would reoccur. A sample of 166 males and females recruited from the introductory course in sociology were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing several dimensions of friendship relations. Measures of self-disclosure and machiavellianism were included in the questionnaire. As hypothesised, a significant sex-machiavellian interaction was observed. The significant interaction was interpreted to suggest that self-disclosure may be a manipulation strategy for females. If this is the case, current measures of machiavellianism are intensitive to the range of manipulative techniques used by females.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual victimization in the military: An unintended consequence of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”?

The integration of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals into the U.S. military is a long-standing and politically and socially divisive issue. Exclusionary and pseudo-inclusionary policies that restrict openly LGB individuals from military service are also of long duration. Yet LGB servicemembers have continued to serve covertly in the military for many decades. Moreover, political issues and social conventions associated with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) have diverted focus from imperative research issues, such as LGB servicemembers and incidents of victimization in the military. Research is reviewed to evaluate such victimization, which is conceptualized as resulting from a convergence of sexual stigma, conservative gender role beliefs, and sexual prejudice. DADT, in combination with overarching difficulties intrinsic to sexual orientation research, serves to augment LGB victimization and reduce victim reports and help seeking. Consequently, there is a deficient evidence base for assisting LGB servicemembers and for advancing research, prevention efforts, and policy changes. Implications of repealing DADT are discussed, as are future directions for LGB military research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Histogenesis of the cochlear nucleus of the mouse.

In Nissl-stained preparations of the cochlear nucleus there are nine recognizable cell types. These cells are born during three periods of histogenesis prenatally. On gestation days 10.0, 10.5, and 11.0 the pyramidal, giant, and dark-staining cells are born. The spherical, globular, multipolar, and horizontal cells are formed on gestation days 12.0, 12.5, and 13.0 and small cells follow on gestation day 14.5. The onset of granule cell formation is gestation day 14.5 and continues to birth on gestation day 19. At birth, and for at least the first 2 postnatal weeks, glial cells are born. There are no regional gradients in cell birth dates, cells from all birth dates being intermixed. Cell birth proceeds in an orderly sequence that is related only to cell size. Although there were no apparent spatiotemporal patterns, some clustering of labeled cells was evident. These observations do not support the hypothesis that Golgi Type I cells precede Golgi Type II cells in their order of birth since both large and small neurons project beyond the nucleus. There is, nonetheless, a sequential pattern in the onset of cell birth for the auditory system, with cochlear nucleus neurons preceding cochlear neurons.
Sharp Feature in the Pseudogap of Quasicrystals Detected by NMR

The {sup 27}Al and {sup 63}Cu spin-lattice relaxation rates were found to contain a large T{sup 2} term over a wide temperature range below 400K in several thermodynamically stable quasicrystalline alloys, including i -AlCuRu, i -AlPdRe, i -AlCuFe, and the crystalline approximant phase {alpha}-AlMnSi. The relaxation mechanism is proven to be electronic in origin. Such nonlinear temperature dependence is shown to be a clear signature of sharp features in the density of states at the Fermi level. The estimated width of this sharp feature is on the order of 20meV. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
Contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasound for diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy--a visual aid or a distraction?

Contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasound for diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy—a visual aid or a distraction?
Reciprocal T-B determinant spreading develops spontaneously in murine lupus: implications for pathogenesis.

Summary: Recent work from several laboratories has shown that, in contrast to the widely held notion that one autoimmune disease is caused by one or a few related autoantigenic determinants, autoimmunity is fundamentally a continuously evolving process. The autoimmune responses shift, drift and diversify with time not only to other determinants in the original antigen but also to other antigens. We have described a form of determinant spreading - reciprocal T-B determinant spreading–where the induction of first T cells by peptides from an autoantibody molecule could lead to help provided to a variety of B cells displaying a cross-reactive version of the original determinant. The response spreads in this way by reciprocal T-B stimulation until large cohorts of T and B cells have expanded. Such spontaneous expansion must be important in clinical disease, since tolerance induction to a limited set of T-cell determinant peptides derived from an anti-DNA antibody VH region delayed the appearance of IgG anti-dsDNA antibodies and onset of lupus nephritis in the NZB/NZW Fl mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus. Understanding the diversification patterns in autoimmune responses has enormous implications in developing peptide-targeted therapies.
Generation next: recruiting minority students to librarianship

Purpose – Considering the shortage of minority representation in the library profession, this paper aims to examine minority students' awareness of librarianship and investigates the impact of marketing academic librarianship to students at the campus' cultural centers as a recruitment method.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses previous studies and provides results from a survey distributed to minority students at two of the cultural centers and at the Summer Research Opportunities Program, a program that prepares minority students for graduate studies.Findings – Results indicate a connection between presentations to students about academic librarianship and their interest in pursuing the profession. Findings highlight students' lack of awareness of librarian job responsibilities and the findings also highlight students' preferred methods for continued mentorship and support.Research limitations/implications – More qualitative research would prove valuable to gain in‐depth feedback from stude...
The influence of sample biases on estimations of marine microbial diversity

Background The Roseobacter clade is a widespread, metabolically versatile, and easily cultured lineage of marine microbes. Furthermore, cultured isolates are generally considered to be representative of the naturally occurring diversity in the environment. Roseobacter is thus considered an ideal clade for exploring and understanding microbial function in a representative model system. Nevertheless, recent studies question whether cultured strains are truly representative of natural populations. Support for one of these studies was based on the potentially biased samples of a Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) expedition [1]. The marine metagenomic studies of the GOS expeditions initially focused on microbes collected from a single filter range (0.1um – 0.8um) and it has been previously suggested that this excludes many Roseobacters, thus biasing the dataset towards smaller cells.
Incorporating user input in template-based segmentation

We present a simple and elegant method to incorporate user input in a template-based segmentation method for diseased organs. The user provides a partial segmentation of the organ of interest, which is used to guide the template towards its target. The user also highlights some elements of the background that should be excluded from the final segmentation. We derive by likelihood maximization a registration algorithm from a simple statistical image model in which the user labels are modeled as Bernoulli random variables. The resulting registration algorithm minimizes the sum of square differences between the binary template and the user labels, while preventing the template from shrinking, and penalizing for the inclusion of background elements into the final segmentation. We assess the performance of the proposed algorithm on synthetic images in which the amount of user annotation is controlled. We demonstrate our algorithm on the segmentation of the lungs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected mice from μCT images.
Analysis of Defect Tolerance in Molecular Crossbar Electronics

Molecular electronics such as silicon nanowires (NW) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) demonstrate great potential for continuing the technology advances toward future nano-computing paradigm. However, excessive defects from bottom-up stochastic assembly have emerged as a fundamental obstacle for achieving reliable computation using molecular electronics. In this paper, we present an information-theoretic approach to investigate the intrinsic relationship between defect tolerance and inherence redundancy in molecular crossbar systems. By modeling defect-prone molecular crossbars as a non-ideal information processing medium, we determine the information transfer capacity, which can be interpreted as the bound on reliability that a molecular crossbar system can achieve. The proposed method allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of redundancy-based defect tolerance in a quantitative manner. Employing this method, we derive the gap of reliability between redundancy-based defect tolerance and ideal defect-free molecular systems. We also show the implications to the related design optimization problem.
Eldercare as “Woman's Work” in Poor Countries

This article explores gender and eldercare by examining four issues concerning the activities of women giving and receiving eldercare: (a) the need for an ethnographic and comparative focus; (b) some important differences between poor and rich countries in the structure of eldercare and in eldercare roles for women; (c) continuity and change in the role of women as caregivers and care receivers, women empowered and women in need; and (d) family structures for eldercare focusing on the tensions surrounding cultural principles and circumstances governing caregiver selection. The discussion calls for more research concerning the actual and potential roles of both women and men in eldercare. Women who provide eldercare in most poor countries would benefit from extrafamilial health care, services, and material resources that alleviate poverty as well as from improved education, whereas men in most countries will continue to avoid eldercare as long as it is regarded as “woman's work.”
Smart hydrogels as functional biomimetic systems

Stimuli-responsive (smart) hydrogels have attracted widespread attention as biomimetic systems due to their ability to respond to subtle changes in external and internal stimuli ranging from physical triggers such as temperature and electric field to chemical triggers like glucose and pH. Besides their intriguing behavior, the main interest in such smart hydrogels lies in their potential industrial and biomedical applications. Some of these applications include injectable biomaterials, tunable surfaces for cell sheet engineering, sensors, and actuators. In this review, we discuss the fundamental principles underlying the stimuli-responsive behavior of hydrogels and how these properties have led to major technological innovations. We also review recent advancements in the field of hydrogels, including self-healing and stimuli-responsive degradation in hydrogels. We conclude by providing a perspective on the potential use of smart hydrogels as multifunctional, bioactuating systems for cell and tissue engineering.