cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Unconscious Bias and Self-Critical Analysis: The Case for a Qualified Evidentiary Equal Employment Opportunity Privilege

Recent breakthroughs in social psychology have resulted in the ability to measure unconscious bias scientifically. Studies indicate that prejudiced responses are largely unconscious, the result of normal cognitive processing and stereotypical associations of which the prejudiced subject may be completely unaware. The studies also indicate that a subject's awareness of the discrepancy between her conscious, egalitarian value system and her unconscious prejudice is a critical step towards the convergence of her cognitive functioning and her egalitarian viewpoints. Antidiscrimination legislation requires a showing of intent to discriminate to obtain relief in all but a small percent of circumstances. The result is a legal framework that does not, and cannot, properly redress most instances of discrimination. While the use of unconscious-bias testing may be more effective than antidiscrimination legislation in identifying and redressing the cognitive phenomenon of discrimination, evidence law does not support its use because test results are not privileged against discovery in discrimination lawsuits. This Article argues that in light of the enormous potential social benefit of unconscious-bias testing, a qualified evidentiary privilege should be recognized to encourage its use.
IgA autoantibodies directed against self DNA are elevated in cystic fibrosis and associated with more severe lung dysfunction.

Although extracellular host DNA (ecDNA) levels in CF airways were linked to airflow obstruction and recombinant DNAse therapy is beneficial for CF patients, it remains incompletely understood wheth...
A Simplified Method for Compounding Lidocaine Topical Gel: A Demonstration of Quality Assurance to Prevent Errors in 503A Pharmacies.

Quality assurance is a key element in the process of creating safe and effective preparations. Furthermore, the implementation of quality-assurance measures allows 503A pharmacies to ensure accurate, well-made preparations to their customers. When corrective and preventive measures are not implemented, the risk of errors is increased, like subtherapeutic or supratherapeutic compounded medications. The objective of this article was to demonstrate the importance of quality assurance through the development and validation of the compounding method, preparation characterization, training, implementation of a master formulation record, compounding protocol, and verification to prevent compounding errors. Two groups, comprising of 10 students, compounded lidocaine gel following the quality-assurance guidelines in accordance with United States Pharmacopeia Chapter . Following the trial, the preparations from both groups were tested to evaluate the content of lidocaine using high-performance liquid chromatography and an ultra-viscosity detector. The study results indicated that the newly developed, validated procedure produced a stable, uniform, highly reproducible (%Assay ± SD; 101.65% ± 1.04), and elegant (clear hydro-alcoholic gel) preparation with a high yield (~98.5%). There was no significant difference observed in the %Assay results obtained from the two groups (%Assay ±SD; P1: 98.76% ±1.01, and P2: 99.02% ±1.39, %Difference: 0.3). Overall, our findings suggest that the implementation of quality assurance could significantly reduce compounding errors and improve both preparation quality and patient safety.
NUCLEAR STRUCTURE, DOUBLE BETA DECAY AND GIANT RESONANCES

I will start by talking about the nuclear shell model. To keep things interesting I will apply this to a topic of current interest— double beta decay.
Differential reward response to palatable food cues in past and current dieters: a fMRI study.

Objective Prior neuroimaging research has shown that restrained and unrestrained eaters demonstrate differential brain activation in response to food cues that parallels their food intake in lab studies. These findings were extended by comparing brain activation in response to food cues in normal weight nondieters, historical dieters, and current dieters under the conditions that mimicked past lab studies. Methods Participants (N = 30) were shown pictures of highly and moderately palatable food and neutral cues while being scanned in an fMRI BOLD paradigm following an 8-h fast and again after a liquid meal. Results In the Fed state, historical dieters showed elevated reward circuitry activation in response to highly palatable food, as compared to nondieters and current dieters. In contrast, current dieters did not show the same pattern of activation as historical dieters, despite their shared history of frequent weight-loss dieting. Conclusions The parallels between eating behavior and regional brain activation across groups suggest that (1) a neurophysiological response which could represent a vulnerability to overeat exists in some normal weight young women that may increase susceptibility to weight gain in the long term, and (2) current dieting temporarily reverses this vulnerability.
Obstetrics and Gynecology Patients: Menstrual Cycle, Pregnancy, and Postpartum-Related Psychiatric Disorders

Women have a significantly higher risk for developing mood disorders with a lifetime prevalence that is approximately twice that of men. Sex difference in the rates of depression begins to appear in adolescence. Although reasons for this gender difference are not fully understood, the changing level in reproductive hormones throughout a woman’s life may be playing a direct or indirect effect on her mood. Studies on bipolar disorder suggest that women are more likely than men to be rapid cyclers (Arnold 2003), which is attributed to the increased occurrence of hypothyroidism and menstrual cycle irregularities in women. Pregnancy and the postpartum period are considered to be vulnerable times in a woman’s life with significant increase and drop in reproductive hormones and increased risk of psychiatric symptoms. Oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, and menopause dampen the cyclicity of ovarian function and can cause mood symptoms. Reproductive hormones modulate neuroendocrine, neurotransmitter, and circadian rhythms, all of which have been implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorder. Changes or variability in reproductive hormones rather than absolute level increases the risk for symptoms in vulnerable individuals. Depression occurring in association with the reproductive cycle may sensitize a woman to future depression.
A 6 GHz-15 GHz 2 watts GaN MMIC

A wide-band GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) has been developed for power amplifiers. Reactively matched techniques were employed for the design of our GaN MMIC. The MMIC consists of two-stage GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). The gate periphery of driver and power GaN HEMTs is determined 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm, respectively. The developed GaN MMIC provides 2 watts output power over 6 GHz to 15 GHz with small signal gain of 12 dB. The results show the developed GaN MMIC has a capability of replacing GaAs MMICs.
Superparamagnetic relaxation times for mixed anisotropy and high energy barriers with intermediate to high damping: 1. Uniaxial axis in a 〈001〉 direction

[1] The Neel-Brown theory for superparamagnetic relaxation rates is generalized to ferromagnetic particles with mixed cubic and uniaxial anisotropy. In this article the uniaxial axis is in a 〈001〉 crystallographic direction, while in part 2 it is in a 〈111〉 direction. The calculations are for high energy barriers, so transitions between states (stable equilibria) are rare. Transition rates from an energy minimum across a saddle point are determined by the height of the energy barrier and the shape of the energy surface around these two points. To account for multiple connections between minima, a master equation is solved for the probability distribution and the effect on the magnetic moment is calculated. Some relaxation modes have no effect on the moment. There are as many as five distinct relaxation rates for the probability distribution, but at most two for the moment. One rate is for the component parallel to the uniaxial axis, while the other is for the perpendicular component. These rates are functions of the cubic anisotropy parameter K′1 and the uniaxial parameter Ku. The double relaxation rate can give rise to phenomena such as partial superparamagnetism and multiple blocking temperatures.
Direct Modulation Characteristics of Composite Resonator Vertical-Cavity Lasers

We report the small-signal modulation characteristics of a monolithic dual resonator vertical cavity surface emitting laser. The modulation response is described by a system of rate equations with two independent carrier populations and a single longitudinal optical mode. The independent optical overlaps and differential gains of the two active regions can each be adjusted to maximize the output response. We show that under certain conditions, the composite resonator may achieve a higher bandwidth than a single cavity laser with the same photon density. We find the relaxation oscillation frequency to depend mainly on the total photon density and not the individual currents in the two cavities. With appropriate current injection, the composite resonator laser achieves a maximum -3-dB bandwidth of 12.5 GHz and a maximum modulation current efficiency factor of approximately 5GHz/ma1/2
A Matrix Representation of System Structure with Application to Computational Reliability Assessments

ABSTRACT In this article we present a flexible and compact matrix representation for the structure of a complex system composed of many components. This representation is particularly useful for performing computational reliability assessments because it allows the user to create general code that can be used in analyzing a variety of systems with few required modifications. The representation is flexible enough to handle systems that are fully series, fully parallel, and combinations of series and parallel nodes. After describing the representation and an algorithm for using it to automate system reliability calculations, we perform Bayesian system reliability analyses for three very different systems with no modifications to the base Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) code. The supporting R code is available in the Appendix and is also available electronically upon request.
Cell surface CD4 inhibits HIV-1 particle release by interfering with Vpu activity.

Abstract One of the hallmarks of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) infection is the rapid removal of the viral receptor CD4 from the cell surface. This remarkably efficient receptor interference requires the activity of three separate viral proteins: Env, Vpu, and Nef. We have investigated whether this unusually tight interference on cell surface CD4 expression had a more essential function during the viral life cycle than simply preventing superinfection. We now report that the removal of cell surface CD4 is required for optimal virus production by HIV-1. Indeed, maintenance of CD4 surface expression in infected cells lead to a 3–5-fold decrease in viral particle production. This effect was not due to the formation of intracellular complexes between CD4 and the gp160 viral envelope precursor but instead required the presence of CD4 at the cell surface and was specifically mediated by CD4 but not closely related plasma membrane receptors. The finding that CD4 had no significant effect on particle release by a Vpu-deficient variant indicates that CD4 acts by inhibiting the particle release-promoting activity of Vpu. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments further showed that CD4 and Vpu physically interact at the cell surface, suggesting that CD4 might inhibit Vpu activity by disrupting its oligomeric structure.
Evolution of the immune response in the central nervous system following infection with Borna disease virus

Abstract Borna disease virus infection of Lewis rats results in an immune-mediated disease associated with transient meningoencephalitis and persistent viral infection. In the acute phase of disease, perivascular immune cell infiltrates consisted of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, macrophages and NK cells with peak expression of mRNAs encoding the cytokines IL1 α , IL2, IL6, TNF α , and IFN γ . In the chronic phase of disease, numbers of NK cells, B cells and activated microglia increased in the brain parenchyma with peak expression of IL4 mRNA. These data were consistent with a switch from a Th1-like, cellular immune response to a Th2-like, humoral immune response.
FlexRecs: expressing and combining flexible recommendations

Recommendation systems have become very popular but most recommendation methods are `hard-wired' into the system making experimentation with and implementation of new recommendation paradigms cumbersome. In this paper, we propose FlexRecs, a framework that decouples the definition of a recommendation process from its execution and supports flexible recommendations over structured data. In FlexRecs, a recommendation approach can be defined declaratively as a high-level parameterized workflow comprising traditional relational operators and new operators that generate or combine recommendations. We describe a prototype flexible recommendation engine that realizes the proposed framework and we present example workflows and experimental results that show its potential for capturing multiple, existing or novel, recommendations easily and having a flexible recommendation system that combines extensibility with reasonable performance.
Global transcriptional analysis of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae following exposure to norepinephrine.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, a component of the porcine respiratory disease complex, colonizes the respiratory tract of swine by binding to the cilia of the bronchial epithelial cells. Mechanisms of pathogenesis are poorly understood for M. hyopneumoniae, but previous work has indicated that it responds to the environmental stressors heat shock, iron deprivation and oxidative compounds. For successful infection, M. hyopneumoniae must effectively resist host responses to the colonization of the respiratory tract. Among these are changes in hormonal levels in the mucosal secretions. Recent work in the stress responses of other bacteria has included the response to the catecholamine norepinephrine. The idea that M. hyopneumoniae can respond to a host hormone, however, is novel and has not previously been demonstrated. To test this, organisms in the early exponential phase of growth were exposed to 100 μM norepinephrine for 4 h, and RNA samples from these cultures were collected and compared to RNA samples from control cultures using two-colour PCR-based M. hyopneumoniae microarrays. The M. hyopneumoniae response included slowed growth and changes in mRNA transcript levels of 84 genes, 53 of which were upregulated in response to norepinephrine. A larger proportion of the genes upregulated than those downregulated were involved with transcription and translation. The downregulated genes were mostly involved with metabolism, which correlated with the reduction in growth of the mycoplasma. Approximately 51 % of the genes were hypothetical with no known function. Thus, in response to norepinephrine, M. hyopneumoniae appears to upregulate protein expression while downregulating general metabolism.
Echocardiographic diagnosis of pericardial effusion.

Abstract Echocardiography, because of its ability to detect intracardiac structures in a noninvasive manner, has been increasing in importance as a cardiologic diagnostic tool. The ultrasonic diagnosis of pericardial effusion has stimulated much of the interest in echocardiography in this country. With this technique pericardial fluid is recorded as a relatively echo-free space between the posterior left ventricular epicardium and the posterior pericardium. Anterior fluid is seen as a similar echo-free space between the anterior right ventricular wall and the anterior chest wall. Although the examination is fairly simple and frequently can be performed in a few minutes, the examiner must be aware of technical details, especially with respect to direction of the transducer and control settings on the echograph. In addition, it may be difficult to obtain satisfactory echocardiographic recordings in some patients, such as those with marked pulmonary emphysema. However, these few limitations are overshadowed by the many advantages of a harmless, sensitive, bedside examination for pericardial fluid. Thus, in many institutions echocardiography is becoming the examination of choice for the detection or exclusion of pericardial effusion.
Theory of the thermal expansion of Si and diamond

Phonon-dispersion curves, lattice mode Gr\"uneisen parameters, and the coefficients of thermal expansion are calculated for Si and C within a tight-binding model. The results are in good agreement with experimental data. The origin of the negative thermal expansion in Si is examined, and we find that the different thermal-expansion behaviors between Si and C can be explained by the different relative strengths of bond-bending and bond-stretching forces.
Selecting a short‐pulse laser system for photoconductive generation of high‐speed electrical pulses

The selection of a short-pulse laser is important in electrical pulse metrology applications where the electrical pulses are generated photoconductively. Not only is the duration of the generated electrical pulse important, but so is the peak amplitude of that pulse. Insufficient pulse amplitude may cause excessive uncertainty in measurement results. An approximation is presented that can provide guidelines to selecting the optimal short-pulse laser according to photoconductor, laser, and measurement system characteristics.
Photon and ion beam assisted deposition of titanium nitride

Abstract A newly developed ion beam assisted deposition system is introduced which includes a facility to illuminate samples by UV light during the deposition process in order to enhance motion of deposited atoms, interfacial reactions between substrate and coating as well as reactions between growing layer and environmental gas. This PHIBAD system was used to produce thin δ-TiN by deposition of titanium on Si(001) under low-energy argon ion irradiation and simultaneous illumination with UV light in a defined nitrogen environment at room temperature. The composition of the TiN films was investigated by elastic recoil detection and the structure by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The impurity content (oxygen, carbon) of TiN films formed by Ar + ion assisted deposition is significatly lower than in films produced without ion irradiation. The orientation of the TiN crystallites changes from 〈111〉 without ion irradiation to 〈001〉 under ion impingement. The uniform alignment becomes stronger with increasing ion energy. The UV-light illumination during deposition in a gas environment without ion irradiation leads to stronger (111) and with ion assisted deposition to stronger (001) oriented TiN films.
Combustion of monodisperse droplet clouds in a reactive environment

In practical spray combustion, the behavior of an individual droplet can be significantly affected by the presence of neighboring droplets and by a reactive environment within the spray. Recently, several theoretical approaches to the problem have been presented. These results suggest that droplet spacing affects the combustion rate of the spray, and in some models a dependence of droplet lifetime and mode of burning on ambient oxygen content is predicted. In the present work, the combustion of monodisperse clouds of droplets in a hot reactive environment is studied experimentally with an emphasis on examining the role of the ambient oxidizer mass fraction, Y0∞, and droplet spacing on the droplet combustion rate. The experiments are conducted in a two-phase flow facility that produces an atmospheric-pressure, laminar, one-dimensional monodisperse hydrocarbon aerosol air flame. The droplet burning rates appear to be correlated by a D2 burning law, but the observed dependence on ambient oxidizer mass fraction is not predicted by a quasi-steady isolated droplet model. In addition, a significant reduction in the burning rate is observed with decreasing droplet spacing. The experimental results suggest that for low ambient oxidizer mass fractions fuel vapor accumulation occurs within the droplet cloud.
Folic acid, a structural component of T4 bacteriophage.

Bacteriophage T4Bol has been found to contain six molecules of polyglutamyl pteridine as a structural component of its capsid. Certain properties indicate that this viral component is tightly bound to a hydrophobic region on the viral protein. From its fluorescence after oxidation, its microbiological activity with Streptococcus faecalis, and Lactobacillus casei and its ionophoretic mobility, the viral component has been identified as pteroyl pentaglutamic acid. This folic acid conjugate does not occur in appreciable quantities in the host cell. An enzyme from hog kidney which irreversibly inactivated T4 phage has been purified and identified as a folic acid conjugase. Conjugase-treated T4 cannot attach itself to host cells; this indicates that this phage component is involved in the functioning of the phage tail. T4Bol requires L -tryptophan for adsorption, and the viral folic acid appears to be the phage component which forms a molecular complex with tryptophan. Bacteriophage T4D, which does not require L-tryptophan for adsorption, also contains six molecules of a compound similar, but not identical, to folic acid. Its fluorescence after oxidation is like that of known pteridines, but the compound is not a growth factor for either test organism. Since T4D is also inactivated by hog kidney conjugase, it appears that this strain of T4 also contains a polyglutamyl pteridine as a structural component of its capsid.
Remembering Robert Goddard's vision 100 years later

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” —such are the goals of most of us.Yet a few always exist who feel called by a higher purpose. Society often owes them a great deal. Robert Hutchins Goddard, whose work made spaceflight possible, found his vision 100 years ago this October as a youth of 17. His family was staying on the farm of a relative, when he was asked to trim the branches of a cherry tree behind the barn.
Optimal Product Portfolio Formulation by Merging Predictive Data Mining With Multilevel Optimization

This paper addresses two important fundamental areas in product family formulation that have recently begun to receive great attention. First is the incorporation of market demand that we address through a data mining approach where realistic customer preference data are translated into performance design targets. Second is product architecture reconfiguration that we model as a dynamic design entity. The dynamic approach to product architecture optimization differs from conventional static approaches in that a product architecture is not fixed at the initial stage of product design, but rather evolves with fluctuations in customer performance preferences. The benefits of direct customer input in product family design will be realized through the cell phone product family example presented in this work. An optimal family of cell phones is created with modularity decisions made analytically at the engineering level that maximize company profit.
Interplanetary trajectory design for the Galileo mission

The Galileo mission has been reprogrammed to use a direct earth-Jupiter trajectory with a May 1986 launch date and with arrival at Jupiter occurring in mid-1988. Within the constraints of Shuttle/Centaur launch vehicle capability and total spacecraft mass and performance, optimal broken-plane trajectories are generated, and the region of positive propellant margin in the launch/arrival space is determined. Mission constraints are used to define a launch/arrival strategy. It is also shown that a close flyby of any one of several asteroids or a comet is possible on the interplanetary transfer with minimal impact on mission performance.
A novel algorithm for buried target detection evaluated on a collection of seismo-acoustic data

A recently validated technique for buried target detection relies on applying an acoustic stimulus signal to a patch of earth and then measuring its seismic (vibrational) response using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). Target detection in this modality often relies on estimating the acoustic-to-seismic coupling ratio (A/S ratio) of the ground, which is altered by the presence of a buried target. For this study, LDV measurements were collected over patches of earth under varying environmental conditions using a known stimulus. These observations are then used to estimate the performance of several methods to discriminate between target and non-target patches. The first part of the study compares the performance of human observers against a set of established seismo-acoustic features from the literature. The simple features are based on previous studies where statistics on the Fourier transform of the acoustic-to-seismic transfer function estimate are measured. The human observers generally offered much better detection performance than any established feature. One weakness of the Fourier features is their inability to utilize local spatiotemporal target cues. To address these weaknesses, a novel automatic detection algorithm is proposed which uses a multi-scale blob detector to identify suspicious regions in time and space. These suspicious spatiotemporal locations are then clustered and assigned a decision statistic based on the confidence and number of cluster members. This method is shown to improve performance over the established Fourier statistics, resulting in performance much closer to the human observers.
Disseminated cryptococcal infection in a patient with hyperimmunoglobulinemia E syndrome.

or hypotension, and no inotropic or vasoactive medications were required. The most significant cardiovascular manifestations were a severe, reversible conduction abnormality involving predominantly the atrioventricular node and ventricular conduction system and a marked alteration in cardiac automaticity involving all subsidiary pacemaker sites below the atrioventricular node. This abnormality in automaticity is supported by the extremely long periods of cardiac inactivity during complete atrioventricular block, resulting from a lack of junctional and ventricular escape rhythms. We are not aware of any previously reported cases of TSS presenting in this manner in children or adults.
Failure Mechanics of a Composite Laminate Embedded with a Fiber Optic Sensor

A fiber optic sensor (FOS) embedded perpendicular to the reinforcing fibers causes an ‘eye’-shaped defect. The length of the eye is about 16 times the fiber optic radius (RFOS) and the height is about 2RFOS. The eye contains fiber optics in the center surrounded by an elongated resin pocket. Embedding FOS causes geometric distortion of the reinforcing fiber over a height equal to 6-8 RFOS. This defect causes severe stress concentration at the root of the resin pocket, the interface (in the composite) between the optical fiber and the composite, and at 90 to the load direction in the composite. The stress concentration is calculated by the finite element modeling of a representative micrograph. The FE results agreed reasonably with the analytical and the experimental data in the literature for a similar problem. The stress concentration in the axial direction is about 1.44 and in the transverse direction at the interface is 0.165 and at the resin pocket is 0.171. Under tensile loading, the initial failure ...
Homopolymerization of cyclic olefins by a molybdenum olefin metathesis catalyst

The cyclic olefins cyclopentene, norbornene, exo- and endodicyclopentadiene, exo, exo-norbornadiene dimer, and indene were homopolymerized by Mo (CO)5py/C2H5AlCl2/(C4H9)4NCl. In most cases, the polymers obtained were of the ring-opened type, but also showed ringretention to varying degrees, depending on the temperature of polymerization. Generally, ring-opening polymerization was favored at lower temperatures. The dicyclopentadiene monomers gave crosslinked materials, showing reaction through both double bonds.
Computerized Analysis of Mammographic Parenchymal Patterns on a Large Clinical Dataset of Full-Field Digital Mammograms: Robustness Study with Two High-Risk Datasets

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the robustness of our prior computerized texture analysis method for breast cancer risk assessment, which was developed initially on a limited dataset of screen-film mammograms. This current study investigated the robustness by (1) evaluating on a large clinical dataset, (2) using full-field digital mammograms (FFDM) as opposed to screen-film mammography, and (3) incorporating analyses over two types of high-risk patient sets, as well as patients at low risk for breast cancer. The evaluation included the analyses on the parenchymal patterns of women at high risk of developing of breast cancer, including both BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers and unilateral cancer patients, and of women at low risk of developing breast cancer. A total of 456 cases, including 53 women with BRCA1/2 gene mutations, 75 women with unilateral cancer, and 328 low-risk women, were retrospectively collected under an institutional review board approved protocol. Regions-of-interest (ROIs), were manually selected from the central breast region immediately behind the nipple. These ROIs were subsequently used in computerized feature extraction to characterize the mammographic parenchymal patterns in the images. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to assess the performance of the computerized texture features in the task of distinguishing between high-risk and low-risk subjects. In a round robin evaluation on the FFDM dataset with Bayesian artificial neural network analysis, AUC values of 0.82 (95% confidence interval [0.75, 0.88]) and 0.73 (95% confidence interval [0.67, 0.78]) were obtained between BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers and low-risk women, and between unilateral cancer and low-risk women, respectively. These results from computerized texture analysis on digital mammograms demonstrated that high-risk and low-risk women have different mammographic parenchymal patterns. On this large clinical dataset, we validated our methods for quantitative analyses of mammographic patterns on FFDM, statistically demonstrating again that women at high risk tend to have dense breasts with coarse and low-contrast texture patterns.
New Evidence on the Determinants of Bank Risk

This paper uses equity returns for publicly traded US bank holding companies (BHCs) from 1997 to 2004 to identify the determinants of risk, measured by equity market volatility, and examine how they have evolved. The results indicate that balance sheet items such as commercial and industrial loans and consumer lending and income statement items such as other noninterest income drive the cross-sectional differences in BHC risk. Newly mandated regulatory data on the components of other noninterest income show that investment banking, servicing, securitization income, gains from loan sales, gains other asset sales, and other noninterest income are particularly volatile activities. This highlights the value of increased transparency as a means to improve market discipline and reduce the opacity of complex financial institutions. Finally, in the years after 2000, the locus of risk has shifted off of the balance sheet and onto the income statement as investors identify the new risks associated with evolving and expanding bank activities.
Number crunching on the ACOSS model no. 2

The spacecraft model called ACOSS Model Number II was used to develop a control system design for large space structures that has certain desirable characteristics. To achieve these characteristics the control design approach we use is based on an optimal reduced order control design technique that explicitly computes the minimum of an expected quadratic cost function using a numerical search algorithm. The algorithm, developed by Rossi [1], uses an explicit calculation of the gradient and Hessian tensors to guide a second order search. The algorithm and the "number crunching" on the ACOSS model are both described.
Materials in semiconductor processing for high speed circuits: from electrical to optical circuits

From the time in 1965 when ‘Moore's Law’ – doubling of circuit density every 18 months approximately was predicted, scaling of transistors has progressed in accordance with the law. This was primarily enabled by technological advances in manufacturing equipment that allowed the ‘printing’ and manufacturing of smaller circuits. Occasionally, in-between, a new material was introduced in the manufacture of the circuits. However, from the 180 nm technology, new materials have been needed in every generation. As the circuit features get smaller, the necessity of new materials required becomes more apparent. The importance of these materials in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices will be illustrated in this paper along with some results.
Quantitative analysis of methods for reducing physiological brain pulsations

Abstract Normal movements of the mammalian brain, caused by the arterial and venous pressure fluctuations of each cardiac and respiratory cycle, have made obtaining stable intracellular recordings from neurons difficult. This study quantitated the movements of the cats' brainstem and examined the effects of traditional neurophysiological techniques used to reduce pulsation. Two components of brain movement were recorded: (1) an arterial component—relatively low amplitude (110–266 μm) and short duration (330–400 ms) excursions corresponding to the pressure wave of each cardiac systole [A-wave]; and (2) a pulmonary component—slower (10–12/min), high amplitude plateau-like displacement (300–950 μm) lasting for a time (2.4–5.1 s) corresponding to the inspiration of each respiratory cycle [P-wave]. Pneumothoraces and mechanical ventilation combined with elevating the animal's head reduced the pulmonary component by an average of 68% and the arterial component by 40%. Cerebrospinal fluid drainage could reduce the P-wave component of movement by as much as 50%. To reduce arterial pulsations below 100 μm, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) had to be lowered to less than 40 mm Hg, which was not compatible with maintaining normal brainstem auditory evoked responses. Residual movements at MAPs greater than 50 mm Hg were still sufficient to make stable intracellular penetration of small neurons difficult. The authors suggest the solution to this problem is the development of a cardiopulmonary bypass system which generates a non-pulsatile flow of oxygenated blood, described in a companion paper.
Synthesis, Biological Activities and Conformational Studies of Somatostatin Analogs

Abstract We review our recent studies on synthesis, conformational analysis and biological activity of a series of analogs of the cyclic hexapeptide L-363,301 c-[Phe 11 -Pro 6 -Phe 7 - d -Trp 8 -Lys 9 -Thr 10 ] and of analogs of the cyclic octapeptide d -Phe 5 -c[Cys 6 -Phe 7 - d -Trp 8 -Lys 9 -Thr 10 -Cys 11 ]-Thr 12 -ol (sandostatin ® , octreotide). The proline residue in L-363,301 was substituted with N -alkylated glycine residues resulting in a series of compounds with the general structure c-[Xaa 11 -Nxbb 6 -Xcc 7 - d -Trp 8 -Lys 9 -Thr 10 ] (the numbering refers to the positions of the residues in native somatostatin) with Xaa=Phe or Nal, Xcc=Phe or Nal and Nxbb= Nphe ( N -benzylglycine), ( R )-β-MeNphe ([ N -( R )α-methylbenzyl]glycine), ( S )-β-MeNphe ([ N -( S )α-methylbenzyl]glycine), Nnal [ N -(naphthylmethyl)glycine], Nasp [ N -(2-carboxyethyl)glycine], Nlys [ N -(4-aminobutyl)glycine], Ndab [N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine]. These compounds were used to investigate the effect of different substitutions within the bridging region of L-363,301 and our studies resulted in compounds that exhibit increased selectivity toward the hsst2 receptor compared to the parent compound. The sandostatin analogs d -Phe 5 -c[Cys 6 -Phe 7 - d -Trp 8 -Lys 9 -Thr 10 -Cys 11 ]-Thr 12 -NH 2 (Xaa=allo-Thr, d -allo-Thr, d -βHyv ( d -β-hydroxyvaline), l -βHyv ( l -β-hydroxyvaline), d -Thr and Xbb=Thr or Xaa=Thr and Xbb=allo-Thr, d -allo-Thr, l -βHyv, d -Thr) contain subtle stereochemical changes in the Thr residues in positions 10 and 12. These changes enabled us to investigate the influence of the stereochemistry within these residues on conformation and binding affinity. The compounds with ( S )-configuration at the C α of residue 10 exhibit binding to the hsst receptors and adopt conformations containing a type II′ β-turn spanning residues d -Trp and Lys while those compounds with ( R )-configuration at the C α of residue 10 are inactive and adopt different backbone conformations.
The Social Structure of Tagging Internet Video on del.icio.us

The ability to tag resources with uncontrolled metadata or "folksonomies" is often characterized as one of the central features of "Web 2.0" applications. Folksonomies are said to support emergent classification, where the semantic value of the tags and their relation to one another is worked out through a negotiated process of users applying their selected tags and seeing what others have tagged the same way. Few studies exist to show how folksonomic tagging is actually done, and to what extent users share each other's tagging patterns. In this paper, we present the results of a social network analysis of two months worth of tagging Internet video on the social bookmarking system del.icio.us. The analysis reveals that specific videos are tagged in fairly coherent ways by a relatively tight group of users. However, contrary to our expectations, there does not appear to be much re-use of tags across different content, or even very many users tagging more than a few similar items. Overwhelmingly, specific clusters of tags and users are associated with individual video links. This result suggests that tagging bookmarks is highly local, and the overall collection of tags is unlikely to result in a coherent globally navigable classification system
Steiner minimal trees, twist angles, and the protein folding problem.

The Steiner Minimal Tree (SMT) problem determines the minimal length network for connecting a given set of vertices in three- dimensional space. SMTs have been shown to be useful in the geometric modeling and characteriza- tion of proteins. Even though the SMT problem is an NP-Hard Optimization problem, one can define planes within the amino acids that have a surpris- ing regularity property for the twist angles of the planes. This angular property is quantified for all amino acids through the Steiner tree topology structure. The twist angle properties and other associated geometric properties unique for the remaining amino acids are documented in this pa- per. We also examine the relationship between the Steiner ratio q and the torsion energy in amino acids with respect to the side chain torsion angle v1. The q value is shown to be inversely propor- tional to the torsion energy. Hence, it should be a useful approximation to the potential energy func- tion. Finally, the Steiner ratio is used to evaluate folded and misfolded protein structures. We exam- ine all the native proteins and their decoys at http://dd.stanford.edu. and compare their Steiner ratio values. Because these decoy structures have been delicately misfolded, they look even more favorable than the native proteins from the poten- tial energy viewpoint. However, the q value of a decoy folded protein is shown to be much closer to the average value of an empirical Steiner ratio for each residue involved than that of the correspond- ing native one, so that we recognize the native folded structure more easily. The inverse relation- ship between the Steiner ratio and the energy level in the protein is shown to be a significant measure to distinguish native and decoy structures. These properties should be ultimately useful in the ab ini- tio protein folding prediction. Proteins 2007;66:889- 902. V C 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Does immunization of cucumber against anthracnose by Colletotrichum lagenarium affect host suitability for arthropods

Restricted infection of a lower leaf of cucumber, Cucumis sativus L., with the anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum lagenarium has been previously shown by others to induce persistent, systemic resistance to the same fungus and to at least 12 other diverse plant pathogens. The non-specificity of pathogen-induced resistance has fueled speculation that it might also affect arthropod herbivores. However, we found that immunization of cucumber with C. lagenarium had no effect on population growth of twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, reared on foliage for which induced resistance to the same pathogen was confirmed. Similarly, immunization with C. lagenarium had no systemic effect on weight gain, duration of development, or pupal weight of fall armyworms, or on progeny production by melon aphids. In reciprocal tests, previous feeding injury from spider mites or fall armyworms did not induce systemic resistance to C. lagenarium. These results indicate that, at least for cucumber, pathogen-activated induced resistance is specific to plant pathogens, suggesting separate mechanisms of induced resistance to pathogens or herbivores. Resume Est-ce que l'immunization du concombre contre l'anthracnose par Colletotrichum lagenarium affecte ses proprietes d'hote vis-a-vis des arthropodes? Dans une etude de resistance induite, l'infection basale des feuilles du concombre, Cucumis sativus L., avec Colletotrichum lagenarium, le champignon de l'anthracnose, a genere une induction systemique et persistante, non seulement au meme champignon, mais aussi et surtout a l'egard de douze autres. La nature non-specifique de cette resistance a des lors engendre une hypothese, celle de savoir si cette non-specificite pourrait s'entendre au niveau d'arthropodes phytophages. Cependant, nos travaux ont demontre que l'immunite vis-a-vis de C. lagenarium n'affecte ni la population de tetraniques, Tetranychus urticae Koch, elevee sur des feuilles resistantes de concombre; ni le gain ponderal, ni la duree de developpement, ni le poids nymphal de Spodoptera frugiperda, ou la fertilite des aphides de melon. De ces resultats, il peut-etre deduit que, au moins chez le concombre, l'induction de resistance due a C. lagenarium demeure specifique aux champignons saprophytes, c'est a dire qu'il existe des mecanismes separes pour la resistance, soit aux champignons, soit aux arthropodes phytophages.
Anesthesia in ‘stone man’: Myositis ossif icans progressiva

Myositis ossificans progressiva is a rare disease leading to complete ossification of the muscular system. Very little information about this rare disease and its anesthetic implications has appeared in anesthetic literature. This disease is felt to have an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance and is usually associated with anomalies of the hands and feet. Afflicted patients are frequently misdiagnosed in childhood as having a rheumatologic disorder. Later in life (as true bone is formed in striated muscle, ligaments, and fascia), the correct diagnosis becomes obvious. Although muscles of the heart, diaphragm, larynx, and sphincters are spared, those of the chest wall are not, and pulmonary function progressively deteriorates. Death frequently occurs as a result of a pulmonary infection. Specific anesthetic considerations include positioning to avoid injury, potential need for fiberoptic intubation or tracheostomy, decreased thoracic compliance with the need for increased ventilating pressures, and the ultimate in disuse atrophy contraindicating the use of succinylcholine. Myositis ossificans progressiva can present the anesthesiologist with interesting challenges. Anesthetic management will need to be individualized according to the severity of the disease.
Highly stereoselective and iterative synthesis of alpha-(1-->4)-linked polysaccharides composed of 3-O-methyl-D-mannose.

A second-generation synthesis of synthetic 3-O-methyl-d-mannose-containing polysaccharides (sMMPs) is reported. The glycosidation of donor B and acceptor C, prepared from a common precursor A in two and one steps, respectively, is effected by t-butyldimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate to furnish only the desired α-anomer D in high yields. Unlike the first-generation synthesis, this synthesis gives the desired product free from contamination of scrambling products. A three-step protocol is used to deprotect D to furnish sMMPs.
Early Voting and Turnout

Early or convenience voting—understood in this context to be relaxed administrative rules and procedures by which citizens can cast a ballot at a time and place other than the precinct on Election Day—is a popular candidate for election reformers. Typically, reformers argue that maximization of turnout is a primary goal, and reducing barriers between voters and the polls is an important method for achieving higher turnout. Arguments in favor of voting by mail, early in-person voting, and relaxed absentee requirements share this characteristic. While there are good theoretical reasons, drawn primarily from the rational choice tradition, to believe that early voting reforms should increase turnout, the empirical literature has found decidedly mixed results. While one prominent study suggests that voting by mail is associated with a 10% increase in turnout, other studies find smaller—but still statistically significant—increases in turnout associated with other convenience voting methods.This work is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the AEI/Brookings Election Reform Project, and the Charles McKinley Fund of Reed College. Thanks to Caroline Tolbert and Daniel Smith for sharing data with us, and to David Magleby for comments on an earlier version of this paper. All responsibility for interpretations lay with the authors.
Soil amino acid composition across a boreal forest successional sequence

Soil amino acids are important sources of organic nitrogen for plant nutrition, yet few studies have examined which amino acids are most prevalent in the soil. In this study, we examined the composition, concentration, and seasonal patterns of soil amino acids across a primary successional sequence encompassing a natural gradient of plant productivity and soil physicochemical characteristics. Soil was collected from five stages (willow, alder, balsam poplar, white spruce, and black spruce) of the floodplain successional sequence on the Tanana River in interior Alaska. Water-extractable amino acid composition and concentration were determined by HPLC. Irrespective of successional stage, the amino acid pool was dominated by glutamic acid, glutamine, aspartic acid, asparagine, alanine, and histidine. These six amino acids accounted for approximately 80% of the total amino acid pool. Amino acid concentrations were an order of magnitude higher in coniferous-dominated late successional stages than in early deciduous-dominated stages. The composition and concentration of amino acids were generally constant throughout the growing season. The similar amino acid composition across the successional sequence suggests that amino acids originate from a common source or through similar biochemical processes. These results demonstrate that amino acids are important components of the biogeochemical diversity of nitrogen forms in boreal forests.