cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Old and Young Dogs Teaching Each Other Tricks: The Importance of Developing Agency for Community Partners in Community Learning.

This article covers the importance of creating and developing agency in community partners when engaging in community-based learning. Often when faculty incorporate service- or community-based learning into their classes, we measure the “learning” part but not the “service” or “community.” Focusing more on the latter involves working “with” community partners instead of working “for” community partners, and this focus creates a more effective experience for all stakeholders involved. Achieving this goal of working “with” partners not only requires collaboration but also requires an effort to create and develop a sense of agency among the community partners. In the current teaching note, collaborative projects between undergraduate sociology classes and a local senior center are discussed. These projects show enhanced learning for the college students as well as an enhanced experience for community partners due to the emphasis on establishing and nurturing agency among community partners.
A Life Cycle Segmentation Approach to Marketing Financial Products and Services

State-of-the-art market segmentation is becoming an important strategic tool in the continuing evolution of the financial services industry. This paper, focusing on a life cycle segmentation approach, indicates that the importance attributed to financial choice criteria and financial services varies as consumers pass through an orderly progression of life cycle stages. Thus, the results suggest that marketers in the financial services industry should adopt a life-cycle marketing based system to more fully satisfy the needs/wants of their customers.
Dynamics of helicopter rotor blades

Abstract A rotating blade finite element with coupled bending, torsion and axial stretching degrees-of-freedom is developed. APL is used for symbolic manipulations required for the development of the element. The element is implemented in MSC/NASTRAN to generate the numerical results. The results are compared with the experimental and other published numerical results and are found to be accurate. There are several immediate potential applications. The implementation of the element in the existing finite element software greatly enhances their utility for helicopter applications.
Faith and Redemption in The Winter’s Tale

As parishioners transformed church teachings into everyday practice during the late Tudor period, once doctrinally clear notions of faith, forgiveness, and grace became muddied. The Winter’s Tale reflects this complication in that Shakespeare both draws on the Catholic and Protestant understanding of these concepts, and underpins the action of the play with a notion of grace as flowing from faith that is both rational and emotional, scriptural and iconographic. The play represents this multivalent understanding of faith by disrupting audience expectations of genre and gender. The pastoral is not free from courtly corruption. Paulina’s admonitions issue from the mouth of a woman. Ultimately, Hermione does not simply intercede and offer comfort; she breaks the constraints genre would place on her, and becomes the source both of forgiveness and grace. Consequently, the source of Leontes’s greatest anxiety is also the source of his redemption, and that source is wife, mother, Mary, and Christ.
Shorter response times and improved selectivity for potentiometric electrodes

Abstract The response times of potentiometric electrodes of the coated-wire variety are shortened by the addition of non-selective charge carriers to the ion-selective membrane. As a charge carrier, ferrocene was effective in decreasing the response time by a factor of 2–3, e.g. from 19 to 6 s. The optimum amount of ferrocene in the polymer film was 1.5% (w/w). As an unexpected benefit, the selectivity of the electrodes containing ferrocene improved by up to two orders of magnitude.
A Student Developed Sizing Methodology for Electric Powered Aircraft Applied to Small UAVs

A sizing methodology for electric-powered aircraft is described. Results of two student design projects which used this methodology are presented. The projects showed that the methodology is useful in obtaining aircraft of minimum size for the performance and payload required.
Regulation of onco and tumor suppressor MiRNAs by mTORC1 inhibitor PRP-1 in human chondrosarcoma

Metastatic chondrosarcoma of mesenchymal origin is the second most common bone malignancy and does not respond either to chemotherapy or radiation; therefore, the search for new therapies is relevant and urgent. This study aimed to reveal the comparative analysis of miRNAs and their targets in human JJ012 chondrosarcoma cell line between control and experimental samples, treated with mTORC1 inhibitor, cytostatic antiproliferative proline-rich polypeptide (PRP-1). Examination of tumor-specific microRNA expression profiles has revealed widespread deregulation of these molecules in diverse cancers. It was reported that microRNAs can function as novel biomarkers for disease diagnostics and therapy, as well as a novel class of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. mTORC 1 inhibitor PRP-1 caused significant upregulation of tumor suppressors, such as miR20a, miR125b, and miR192; and downregulation of onco miRNAs, miR509-3p, miR589, miR490-3p, miR 550 in human chondrosarcoma JJ012 cell line.
Synthesis and analysis of planar optical waveguides with prescribed TM modes

An inverse-scattering approach to designing optical waveguides with prescribed propagation characteristics of TM modes is presented. The refractive-index profile of the waveguide is formulated as a solution to a nonlinear differential equation whose forcing function is the potential obtained from the application of inverse-scattering theory. This method can reconstruct smooth refractive-index profiles for planar waveguides that support single modes or multimode. The cases of both zero and nonzero reflection coefficients characterizing the transmission properties of waveguides are discussed. A direct analysis technique based on a finite-difference scheme has been formulated to verify the results obtained by the inverse-scattering method, and the two approaches are in excellent agreement.
Influence of diabetes mellitus on early and late outcome after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Abstract Background . Diabetes mellitus is an established independent risk factor for significant morbidity and mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods . The impact of diabetes on short- and long-term follow-up after coronary artery bypass grafting was studied by comparing the outcomes between 9,920 patients without diabetes mellitus and 2,278 patients with diabetes from 1978 to 1993. Results . Compared with nondiabetic patients, the group with diabetes was older (62 ± 10 years versus 60 ± 10 years), comprised more women (31% versus 19%), had a greater incidence of hypertension (61% versus 44%) and previous myocardial infarction (51% versus 48%), had class III-IV angina more commonly (69% versus 63%), showed a higher incidence of congestive heart failure (11% versus 5%) or triple-vessel or left main disease (60% versus 50%), and had lower ejection fractions (0.54 versus 0.57) (all, p ≤ 0.05). Diabetic patients had a higher incidence of postoperative death (3.9% versus 1.6%) and stroke (2.9% versus 1.4%) (both, p ≤ 0.05), but not Q wave myocardial infarction (1.8% versus 2.9%). Diabetics had lower survival (5 years, 78% versus 88%; 10 years, 50% versus 71%; both, p ≤ 0.05) and lower freedom from percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (5 years, 95% versus 96%; 10 years, 83% versus 86%; latter, p ≤ 0.05), but diabetics did not have lower freedom from either myocardial infarction (5-years, 92% versus 92%; 10-years, 80% versus 84%) or additional coronary artery bypass grafting (5-years, 98% versus 99%; 10-years, 90% versus 91%). Multivariate correlates of long-term mortality were diabetes, older age, reduced ejection fraction, hypertension, congestive heart failure, number of vessels diseased, and urgent or emergent operation. Conclusions . Diabetics have a worse hospital and long-term outcome after coronary artery bypass grafting. The increased risk in such patients can only partially be explained by other demographic characteristics.
Chemical equilibria model of strontium-90 adsorption and transport in soil in response to dynamic alkaline conditions.

Strontium-90 is a major hazardous contaminant of radioactive wastewater and its processing sludges at many Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. In the past, such contaminated wastewater and sludge have been disposed in soil seepage pits, lagoons, or cribs often under highly perturbed alkaline conditions (pH > 12) where 90Sr solubility is low and its adsorption to surrounding soil is high. As natural weathering returns these soils to near-neutral or slightly acidic conditions, the adsorbed and precipitated calcium and magnesium phases, in which 90Sr is carried, change significantly in both nature and amounts. No comprehensive computational method has been formulated previously to quantitatively simulate the dynamics of 90Sr in the soil−groundwater environment under such dynamic and wide-ranging conditions. A computational code, the Hydrologic Utility Model for Demonstrating Integrated Nuclear Geochemical Environmental Responses (HUMDINGER), was composed to describe the changing equilibria of 90Sr in soil...
Roll Orientation Estimator for Smart Projectiles Using Thermopile Sensors

The use of inexpensive, commercially available thermopiles sensors for roll orientation estimation of spinning bodies is explored. The sensors convert observed thermal gradients into an electrical signal well suited for onboard data acquisition and real-time signal processing. An environmental model emulating sensor stimulus for a six-degree-of-freedom body is generated given standard atmospheric and typical ground conditions. When sensor characteristics are included, the fully developed model can be used to generate accurate sensor output as a function of Euler angles and altitude. Outputs from the model are then shown to compare favorably with experimental flight data, capturing the predominant and nearly sinusoidal signal variation as the projectile rolls. An extended Kalman filter algorithm is offered, which enables real-time roll angle and roll rate estimation using solely thermopiles as feedback. Example results demonstrate that the algorithm yields reasonably accurate roll information. Finally, a trade study demonstrates that roll error is further mitigated as the number of thermopile sensors is increased. This research shows that thermopiles could be useful in a diverse multisensor constellation as a convenient absolute inertial roll reference.
Effects of Fat Saturation and Source of Fiber on Site of Nutrient Digestion and Milk Production by Lactating Dairy Cows

Abstract Six primiparous cannulated cows were assigned to six treatments in a 6×6 Latin square design to evaluate the effects of degree of fat saturation and amount and source of effective fiber on site of nutrient digestion and milk production. Cows were fed for ad libitum intake a control diet with no added fat or diets with 5% added fat from saturated tallow, tallow, or animal-vegetable fat; the diets with animal-vegetable fat had 40% forage, 40% forage plus 20% soyhulls, or 60% forage. Ruminal acetate:propionate was higher when soyhulls replaced forage NDF because of the higher digestibility of soyhulls in the rumen and total tract. Ruminal digestion of NDF was decreased as unsaturation of fat increased. True and apparent efficiencies of bacterial protein synthesis were increased as fat unsaturation increased, probably because of reduced recycling of microbial N in the rumen. The digestibility of fatty acids in the small intestine was higher in cows fed no fat than in those fed fat and was reduced as fat unsaturation decreased, primarily because of the saturated tallow. Dry matter intake was decreased 14% by increased fat unsaturation. All fat supplements depressed milk protein percentage. Production of 4% FCM tended to decrease linearly as unsaturation of fat increased. In diets with 5% added fat, a degree of saturation between saturated tallow and tallow (iodine values of 18 and 62) appears to be optimum for fatty acid digestibility and DMI.
5-HT2C Receptors Localize to Dopamine and GABA Neurons in the Rat Mesoaccumbens Pathway

The serotonin 5-HT2C receptor (5-HT2CR) is localized to the limbic-corticostriatal circuit, which plays an integral role in mediating attention, motivation, cognition, and reward processes. The 5-HT2CR is linked to modulation of mesoaccumbens dopamine neurotransmission via an activation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). However, we recently demonstrated the expression of the 5-HT2CR within dopamine VTA neurons suggesting the possibility of a direct influence of the 5-HT2CR upon mesoaccumbens dopamine output. Here, we employed double-label fluorescence immunochemistry with the synthetic enzymes for dopamine (tyrosine hydroxylase; TH) and GABA (glutamic acid decarboxylase isoform 67; GAD-67) and retrograde tract tracing with FluoroGold (FG) to uncover whether dopamine and GABA VTA neurons that possess 5-HT2CR innervate the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The highest numbers of FG-labeled cells were detected in the middle versus rostral and caudal levels of the VTA, and included a subset of TH- and GAD-67 immunoreactive cells, of which >50% also contained 5-HT2CR immunoreactivity. Thus, we demonstrate for the first time that the 5-HT2CR colocalizes in DA and GABA VTA neurons which project to the NAc, describe in detail the distribution of NAc-projecting GABA VTA neurons, and identify the colocalization of TH and GAD-67 in the same NAc-projecting VTA neurons. These data suggest that the 5-HT2CR may exert direct influence upon both dopamine and GABA VTA output to the NAc. Further, the indication that a proportion of NAc-projecting VTA neurons synthesize and potentially release both dopamine and GABA adds intriguing complexity to the framework of the VTA and its postulated neuroanatomical roles.
Extending AMLCD technology into the Space Shuttle cockpit

A challenging and exciting program is underway to develop an active matrix liquid crystal display for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration--Rockwell Space Shuttle cockpit upgrade. The Multifunction Electronic Display Subsystem program greatly enhances operational capabilities of the Space Shuttle and improves overall system reliability, replacing multiple electromechanical and obsolete cathode ray tubes with 11 flat-panel displays.
Spatial structure of ordered electrochemical adlayers from in situ scanning tunneling microscopy and infrared spectroscopy: single-site carbon monoxide binding on iridium(111) and comparisons with related systems

Abstract The spatial structure of compressed carbon monoxide adlayers on Ir(111) electrodes in aqueous solution is discussed on the basis of in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) along with earlier infrared spectral data. Hexagonal CO adlattices are discerned from STM data with fractional coverages, ca. 0.65±0.05, consistent with electrochemical and infrared spectrophotometric measurements. In contrast to CO adlayers on Pt(111) and Rh(111) electrodes, the STM images display no uniform periodicities associated with a well-defined unit cell, although more irregular nanoscale variations in image intensity were discerned. This differing behavior is ascribed to the exclusive presence of atop and ‘near-atop’ CO coordination on Ir(111), as deduced from infrared spectra in both electrochemical and ultrahigh vacuum environments, contrasting the atop/multifold CO binding patterns on Pt(111) and Rh(111) electrodes.
Zeros of a Pair of Quadratic Forms Defined over a Finite Field

LetNbe the number of affine zeros of a pair of quadratic forms inn+1 variables defined over a finite fieldFq. We give upper and lower bounds forNand show that these bounds are optimal. One result states that ifn+1?10 and every quadratic form in the pencil has order at least three, then ?N?qn?1?
A Measurement Systems Analysis of Total Shutter Open Time (TSOT) as a Distraction Metric for Visual-Manual Tasks:

The Total Shutter Open Time (TSOT) metric was examined for estimating the visual-manual distraction potential of in-vehicle devices. A measurement systems analysis was carried out on TSOT using data on thirteen visual-manual tasks from the CAMP Driver Workload Metrics Project. TSOT showed low test-retest reliability but high repeatability when data were averaged across persons by task. TSOT predicted task completion time, lane keeping, speed variation, total glance time, and number of glances away from the road while driving. Tasks were classified into higher and lower workload categories based on literature, analytical modeling, and engineering judgment. TSOT showed a high percentage of statistically significant pairwise differences between higher vs. lower workload tasks. Different classification rules were also applied to TSOT. The best rule to classify tasks as higher or lower workload consistent with prior prediction was one in which a mean TSOT > 7.5 seconds implied the task was of higher workload. ...
Fuzzy logic based modification system for the learning rate in backpropagation

Abstract This paper proposes a fuzzy logic modification system to the standard backpropagation algorithm, with respect to the learning rate parameter. Instead of relying on the proper choice of the fixed learning rate parameter, for which no explicit mathematical model exists, a fuzzy system controller is used to dynamically adjust the learning rate based upon a set of problem domain heuristics. The objective is to speed up training time while also providing a more stable convergence. Character recognition application is used to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed system.
Late Infections Following Splenectomy in Hodgkin's Disease

Here 145 reported post-splenectomy infections in 115 patients with Hodgkin's disease are reviewed. Such infections can occur at any age (median age 19.8 years) and the interval from splenectomy to the infection is quite variable (median 21.9 months). Most infections are present clinically as pneumonia, septicemia, meningitis, or a combination thereof, with the most common offending organism being pneumococcus. The infection can be fulminant and even fatal. It is recommended that the spleen should only be removed when essential. A staging laparotomy and splenectomy seem justifiable only in cases of Hodgkin's disease where a change of staging would lead to a change of planned therapy. Prophylactic penicillin should be administered at least for 3 years and possibly indefinitely since post-splenectomy infections can occur many years later. Pneumococcal vaccine should also be given before any chemotherapy or radiotherapy is initiated. Prompt and aggressive treatment should be given when post-splenectomy infection is diagnosed.
Zero kinetic energy electron-induced reaction of formaldehyde on Ag(111) and its significance for surface photochemistry

Abstract Zero and low kinetic energy electrons were found to induce polymerization of submonolayer formaldehyde on Ag(111). This observation supports the mechanism that formaldehyde photochemistry on the silver surface is induced by photoexcited electrons generated in the substrate. The cross-section measured for the electron-induced polymerization is nearly constant (1 ± 0.2 × 10−15 cm2) over the electron energy range 0–20 eV. From this value, the tunneling efficiency of the photoexcited subvacuum electrons in Ag to formaldehyde on the surface is estimated to be 10−3.
Comparison of Aeroelastic Excitation Mechanisms

References Wrenn, G. A., ‘‘An Indirect Method for Numerical Optimization Using the Kreisselmeier-Steinhauser Function,’’ NASA CR 4220, 1989. McCarthy, T., Chattopadhyay, A., and Zhang, S., ‘‘A Coupled Rotor/Wing Optimization Procedure of High Speed Tilt-Rotor Aircraft,’’ 51st Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Fort Worth, TX, 1995. McCarthy, T., and Chattopadhyay, A., ‘‘Multidisciplinary Optimization of Helicopter Rotor Blades Including Design Variable Sensitivity,’’ Proceedings of the AIAA/USAF/NASA/OAI 4th Symposium on Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimizations (Cleveland, OH), 1992 (AIAA Paper 92-4750). Chattopadhyay, A., Jury, R. A., and Rajadas, J. N., ‘‘An Enhanced Multiobjective Formulation Technique for Multidisciplinary Design Optimization,’’ AIAA Paper 97-0104, 1997.
Intracellular Zn2+ increases contribute to the progression of excitotoxic Ca2+ increases in apical dendrites of CA1 pyramidal neurons

Abstract Sustained intracellular Ca 2+ elevation is a well-established contributor to neuronal injury following excessive activation of N -methyl- d -aspartic acid (NMDA)–type glutamate receptors. Zn 2+ can also be involved in excitotoxic degeneration, but the relative contributions of these two cations to the initiation and progression of excitotoxic injury is not yet known. We previously concluded that extended NMDA exposure led to sustained Ca 2+ increases that originated in apical dendrites of CA1 neurons and then propagated slowly throughout neurons and caused rapid necrotic injury. However the fluorescent indicator used in those studies (Fura-6F) may also respond to Zn 2+ , and in the present work we examine possible contributions of Zn 2+ to indicator signals and to the progression of degenerative signaling along murine CA1 dendrites. Selective chelation of Zn 2+ with N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine (TPEN) significantly delayed, but did not prevent the development and progression of sustained high-level Fura-6F signals from dendrites to somata. Rapid indicator loss during the Ca 2+ overload response, which corresponds to rapid neuronal injury, was also not prevented by TPEN. The relationship between cytosolic Zn 2+ and Ca 2+ levels was assessed in single CA1 neurons co-loaded with Fura-6F and the Zn 2+ -selective indicator FluoZin-3. NMDA exposure resulted in significant initial increases in FluoZin-3 increases that were prevented by TPEN, but not by extracellular Zn 2+ chelation with Ca-EDTA. Consistent with this result, Ca-EDTA did not delay the progression of Fura-6F signals during NMDA. Removal of extracellular Ca 2+ reduced, but did not prevent FluoZin-3 increases. These results suggest that sustained Ca 2+ increases indeed underlie Fura-6F signals that slowly propagate throughout neurons, and that Ca 2+ (rather than Zn 2+ ) increases are ultimately responsible for neuronal injury during NMDA. However, mobilization of Zn 2+ from endogenous sources leads to significant neuronal Zn 2+ increases, that in turn contribute to mechanisms of initiation and progression of progressive Ca 2+ deregulation.
Measurement and modeling of radiation response of multilayer BESOI buried insulators

The time- and temperature-dependent radiation responses of multilayer bond-and-etch buried insulators were measured with the use of a fast capacitance-voltage technique after short-pulse irradiation. The multilayer insulators were fabricated with various combinations of SiO/sub 2/, silicon nitride, nitrided SiO/sub 2/, and reoxidized nitrided SiO/sub 2/ layers. The charge response results were analyzed together with X-ray-induced photocurrent results with simple charge-buildup models to determine the charge trapping characteristics of the complex structures. To a first approximation, these responses were predictable from the known general trapping characteristics of the component layers; however, the detailed results showed substantial charge-trapping variations with processing and indicated that bonding or fabricating one insulator material on another can alter the characteristics of either. Charge trapping in the bulk and at the interfaces of the SiO/sub 2/ layers was particularly sensitive to these process variations. >
Further Studies on Environmental and Hereditary Factors Affecting Winter Pause Incidence and Duration

Abstract THIS paper includes results of a further study of possible environmental and hereditary factors on pause incidence and duration in Rhode Island Reds. The work of Lerner and Taylor (1936, 1939, 1947) with White Leghorns is almost in complete agreement with the results reported by Hays (1926, 1936) on Rhode Island Reds. The California workers conclude that winter pause is of great economic importance, that both environmental and hereditary factors are in operation, and that the pause tendency has a rather low degree of heritability. Their latest report (1947) indicates that intensity of laying and winter pause are rather intimately associated. Particular attention has been given to incidence of pause with minor attention to pause duration. As early as 1926 Hays pointed out that pause duration was affected by intensity of laying. In 1936 Hays emphasized the relation of intensity and incidence of winter pause. Low temperatures were also shown . . .
Plasticity in the developing brain: intellectual, language and academic functions in children with ischaemic perinatal stroke

The developing brain has the capacity for a great deal of plasticity. A number of investigators have demonstrated that intellectual and language skills may be in the normal range in children following unilateral perinatal stroke. Questions have been raised, however, about whether these skills can be maintained at the same level as the brain matures. This study aimed to examine the stability of intellectual, academic and language functioning during development in children with perinatal stroke, and to resolve the inconsistencies raised in previous studies. Participants were 29 pre-school to school-age children with documented unilateral ischaemic perinatal stroke and 24 controls. Longitudinal testing of intellectual and cognitive abilities was conducted at two time points. Study 1 examined IQ, academic skills and language functions using the same test version over the test^retest interval. Study 2 examined IQ over a longer test^retest interval (pre-school to school-age), and utilized different test versions. This study has resulted in important new findings. There is no evidence of decline in cognitive function over time in children with perinatal unilateral brain damage. These results indicate that there is sufficient ongoing plasticity in the developing brain following early focal damage to result in the stability of cognitive functions over time. Also, the presence of seizures limits plasticity such that there is not only significantly lower performance on intellectual and language measures in the seizure group (Study 1), but the course of cognitive development is significantly altered (as shown in Study 2). This study provides information to support the notion of functional plasticity in the developing brain; yields much-needed clarification in the literature of prognosis in children with early ischaemic perinatal stroke; provides evidence that seizures limit plasticity during development; and avoids many of the confounds in prior studies. A greater understanding of how children with ischaemic perinatal stroke fare over time is particularly important, as there has been conflicting information regarding prognosis for this population. It appears that when damage is sustained very early in brain development, cerebral functional reorganization acts to sustain a stable rate of development over time.
Third-party subscription in multiparty dialogues for agent teams

Multiparty communication and proactive communication have each been studied extensively, but separately. A combinatorial approach would be to investigate proactive communication in a multiparty setting, aiming to support effective collaboration by leveraging the benefits of both. In this paper we take a first step along this direction, providing formal definitions for multiparty proactive performatives-focusing on subscription performatives. Such performatives result in an increased awareness about teammates' mental states-which can trigger additional helpful behaviors.
Control of a wheelchair using an adaptive K-Means clustering of head poses

Operating a wheelchair is often a difficult task for individuals with severe disabilities. Also, with the progress of the condition, the use of most current robotic assistive technologies becomes less attractive or simply not applicable anymore. In this work, we developed a system that allows a user to operate a wheelchair using only their heads. Our method utilizes an Infrared (IR) depth sensor to capture the user's head pose, while it includes an adaptive component to the detection of that pose. The adaptation, based on a type of Re-enforcement K-Means clustering, can accommodate users with limited and changing head mobility - no matter how skewed the head motion may become with the progress of the condition. We tested the system using five test subjects, who simulated `normal' an `abnormal' motions of the head. The system worked well in all cases, and all test subjects found the interface quite intuitive.
Minimizing chip-level simultaneous switching noise for high-performance microprocessor design

This paper describes the on-chip power bus modeling and switching noise analysis for high performance circuit design, and the methodology to minimize simultaneous switching noise by optimizing the placement of on-chip decoupling capacitors. The switching noise is analyzed at both the package level and the chip level. An equivalent circuit which consists of time-varying resistors, loading capacitors, and decoupling capacitors, is used to simulate the switching activities of functional blocks. Both the resistive and inductive voltage drops on the power bus are modelled to identify the hot spots on the chip and /spl Delta/V across the chip. Based on the noise analysis results, we can determine the amount of decoupling capacitance needed to keep the power supply voltage within specification, and optimize the final size and location of on-chip decoupling capacitors.
Face-to-face and Computer-mediated Peer Review in EFL Writing

This paper examines the use of face-to-face peer review (FFPR) and computermediated peer review (CMPR) in an Asian English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) academic writing context. The participants were 33 English majors from a university of science and technology in Taiwan, a new type of school offering 2-year associate degree programs in foreign language studies. Our study contributes to the research on foreign-language-writing collaboration for Chinese learners in two important ways. First, many investigations of FFPR have looked at Chinese learners either in English as a second language (ESL) settings or at 4-year universities. Few have considered Chinese learners at 2-year colleges in EFL contexts. Second, there has been very little documentation of CMPR using annotation features in common word processing software in either ESL or EFL settings (Honeycutt, 2001). This study investigates the attitudes of 2-year college students in Taiwan toward the use of FFPR and CMPR in composition classes. Pedagogical implications are also drawn.
Why Do We Fall? Using Experiences of Failure to Design Case Libraries

Instructional designers can support ill-structured problem solving through case libraries that detail domain-specific principles. In this design project, case libraries were employed in an undergraduate sales management course to contextualize knowledge and describe the ill-structured nature of how solutions are derived to solve authentic problems. Whereas many learning environments employ examples of model behavior (Jonassen, 2011), this instructional design was innovative in that the case libraries consisted of sales management failure experiences as the means to facilitate learning. The failure cases embedded within the learning environment engendered design tensions on multiple levels throughout the instructional design. Specifically, this article discusses the issues of engaging the subject matter expert (SME) to talk about failure cases and subsequent challenges to translate the experiences into meaningful learning resources for ill-structured problem solving. Other challenges included how to strategically design the learning environment so that the case library was available at the optimal time for the learners. The design case concludes with a reflection upon the process.
Numerical solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics.

We formulate a smoothed-particle hydrodynamics numerical method, traditionally used for the Euler equations for fluid dynamics in the context of astrophysical simulations, to solve the nonlinear Schrodinger equation in the Madelung formulation. The probability density of the wave function is discretized into moving particles, whose properties are smoothed by a kernel function. The traditional fluid pressure is replaced by a quantum pressure tensor, for which a robust discretization is found. We demonstrate our numerical method on a variety of numerical test problems involving the simple harmonic oscillator, soliton-soliton collision, Bose-Einstein condensates, collapsing singularities, and dark matter halos governed by the Gross-Pitaevskii-Poisson equation. Our method is conservative, applicable to unbounded domains, and is automatically adaptive in its resolution, making it well suited to study problems with collapsing solutions.
Ricci flow and nonnegativity of sectional curvature

In this paper, we extend the general maximum principle in (NT3) to the time dependent Lichnerowicz heat equation on symmetric tensors coupled with the Ricci flow on complete Riemannian manifolds. As an application we exhibit complete Riemannian manifolds with bounded nonnegative sectional cur- vature of dimension greater than three such that the Ricci flow does not preserve the nonnegativity of the sectional curvature, even though the nonnegativity of the sectional curvature was proved to be preserved by Hamilton in dimension three. This fact is proved through a general splitting theorem on the complete family of metrics with nonnegative sectional curvature, deformed by the Ricci flow.
Biophysical Parameters During Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Scar-Mediated Ventricular Tachycardia: Epicardial and Endocardial Applications via Manual and Magnetic Navigation

Background There is a paucity of data on biophysical parameters during radiofrequency ablation of scar-mediated ventricular tachycardia (VT).
Hunting for large carnivore conservation

Summary 1. Carnivores are difficult to conserve because of direct and indirect competition with people. Public hunts are increasingly proposed to support carnivore conservation. This article reviews scientific evidence for the effectiveness of public hunts of large carnivores in attaining three common policy goals: stable carnivore populations, preventing conflict with carnivores (property damage and competition over game) and building public support for carnivore conservation. 2. Sustainable exploitation of stable wildlife populations has a solid, scientific foundation but the theory and its predictions must be adapted to complex patterns of carnivore behavioural ecology and population dynamics that demand years of landscape-level monitoring to understand fully. 3. A review of the evidence that hunting prevents property damage or reduces competition for game reveals large gaps in our understanding. Reducing the number of large carnivores to protect hunters’ quarry species seems straightforward but we still know little about behavioural and ecological responses of the contested prey and sympatric meso-predators. For reducing property damage, the direct effect – numerical reduction in problematic individual carnivores – presents numerous obstacles, whereas the indirect effect – behavioural avoidance of humans by hunted carnivores – holds more promise. 4. Scientific measures of public support for carnivore-hunting policies are almost completely lacking, particularly measures of attitudes among hunters before and after controversial wildlife is designated as legal game species. Moreover, illegal killing of carnivores does not appear to diminish if they are designated as game. 5. Synthesis and applications. Sustainable hunting to maintain stable populations is well understood in theory but complex life histories of carnivores, and behavioural changes of hunters and the carnivores they stalk may result in unsustainable mortality for carnivores. The direct impact of hunting on carnivore damage to property is unclear and even doubtful given the inability or unwillingness of hunters to remove specific individuals selectively. However, hunters may indirectly deter carnivores from people and their property. The assumption that hunters will steward carnivores simply because they have in the past helped conserve other game species requires more study as preliminary results suggest it is incorrect. Policy-makers may achieve support for policy if they mesh utilitarian and preservationist values held by the general public. A number of opposed hypotheses should be disentangled before researchers confidently inform policy on sustainable hunting to prevent conflicts and build public support for carnivore conservation.
The pulsed laser and gated detection in Raman spectroscopy – a survey of the spectra of common substances including studies of adsorbed benzene

A pulsed-laser Raman spectroscopy system using a doubled Nd: YAG laser is described. Comparisons between spectra recorded using the repetitive mode (low peak power and high duty cycle) with those recorded using the burst mode (high peak power and low duty cycle) are presented showing the degree of discrimination against fluorescence and stray ambient light obtained with a gated detection system. Spectra of nylon, acrylic, benzene with acridine orange, doped SrF2 crystal, and various forms of aluminum oxide and hydroxide are presented. The spectra suggest that the burst mode consistently gives, in all cases, at least a slightly improved Raman-signal-to-noise ratio with some cases showing specular improvement. The results of a preliminary analysis of the Raman spectra of benzene liquid and vapor adsorbed on aluminum oxide/hydroxide powder using the gated burst mode are also presented. Although these spectra were found to differ from that of the liquid, some tentative line identities are offered.
Vitamin D and Hypertension: Current Evidence and Future Directions

The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency, defined by a 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) level <30 ng/mL, in the United States was 77% in 2004.1 Although the use of vitamin D supplementation may be increasing since 2004, it is likely that the majority of US citizens continue to have inadequate vitamin D status.2 Observational studies suggest that low 25(OH)D levels are associated with a higher risk of hypertension. However, findings from randomized trials of vitamin D supplementation to lower blood pressure are inconsistent, possibly stemming from variability in study population, sample size, vitamin D dose, and duration. If vitamin D supplementation lowers blood pressure, its widespread use could have major public health benefits. In this review, we summarize the existing literature dealing with the vitamin D-hypertension link, including mechanistic studies, observational data, and clinical trials; we place special emphasis on recent findings. Biological mechanisms relating vitamin D with hypertension have been proposed for >25 years. Vitamin D has been implicated in the proximal regulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and in interacting with the RAS to determine the intracellular calcium milieu in vascular smooth muscle. ### Vitamin D and the RAS Dietary sodium and increased activity of the RAS are known to contribute to hypertension; salt restriction and inhibition of RAS activity reduce blood pressure.3–5 Li et al6 provided convincing support for vitamin D as a proximal inhibitor of the RAS when they described a phenotype of excess plasma renin activity and hypertension in mice lacking the vitamin D receptor, which normalized after treatment with RAS antagonists. These vitamin D receptor–null mice also displayed an increased susceptibility to obstructive renal injury that could be prevented with RAS antagonism.7 Mice with deficient 1α-hydroxylase activity were also found to have increased plasma renin activity and hypertension, and this unfavorable phenotype could be reversed with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin …
Integrated Block Sharing: A Win--Win Strategy for Hospitals and Surgeons

We consider the problem of balancing two competing objectives in the pursuit of efficient management of operating rooms in a hospital: providing surgeons with predictable, reliable access to the operating room and maintaining high utilization of capacity. The common solution to the first problem (in practice) is to grant exclusive “block time,” in which a portion of the week in an operating room is designated to a particular surgeon, barring other surgeons from using this room/time. As a major improvement over this existing approach, we model the possibility of “shared” block time, which need only satisfy capacity constraints in expectation. We reduce the computational difficulty of the resulting NP-hard block-scheduling problem by implementing a column-generation approach and demonstrate the efficacy of this technique using simulation, calibrated to a real hospital's historical data and objectives.Our simulations illustrate substantial benefits to hospitals under a variety of circumstances and demonstrate the advantages of our new approach relative to a benchmark method taken from the recent literature.
In the eye of the beholder: Individual differences in perceived social isolation predict regional brain activation to social stimuli

Prior research has shown that perceived social isolation (loneliness) motivates people to attend to and connect with others but to do so in a self-protective and paradoxically self-defeating fashion. Although recent research has shed light on the neural correlates of social perception, cooperation, empathy, rejection, and love, little is known about how individual differences in loneliness relate to neural responses to social and emotional stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that there are at least two neural mechanisms differentiating social perception in lonely and nonlonely young adults. For pleasant depictions, lonely individuals appear to be less rewarded by social stimuli, as evidenced by weaker activation of the ventral striatum to pictures of people than of objects, whereas nonlonely individuals showed stronger activation of the ventral striatum to pictures of people than of objects. For unpleasant depictions, lonely individuals were characterized by greater activation of the visual cortex to pictures of people than of objects, suggesting that their attention is drawn more to the distress of others, whereas nonlonely individuals showed greater activation of the right and left temporo-parietal junction to pictures of people than of objects, consistent with the notion that they are more likely to reflect spontaneously on the perspective of distressed others.
AraCyc: a biochemical pathway database for Arabidopsis.

AraCyc is a database containing biochemical pathways of Arabidopsis, developed at The Arabidopsis Information Resource (http://www.arabidopsis.org). The aim of AraCyc is to represent Arabidopsis metabolism as completely as possible with a user-friendly Web-based interface. It presently features more than 170 pathways that include information on compounds, intermediates, cofactors, reactions, genes, proteins, and protein subcellular locations. The database uses Pathway Tools software, which allows the users to visualize a bird9s eye view of all pathways in the database down to the individual chemical structures of the compounds. The database was built using Pathway Tools9 Pathologic module with MetaCyc, a collection of pathways from more than 150 species, as a reference database. This initial build was manually refined and annotated. More than 20 plant-specific pathways, including carotenoid, brassinosteroid, and gibberellin biosyntheses have been added from the literature. A list of more than 40 plant pathways will be added in the coming months. The quality of the initial, automatic build of the database was compared with the manually improved version, and with EcoCyc, an Escherichia coli database using the same software system that has been manually annotated for many years. In addition, a Perl interface, PerlCyc, was developed that allows programmers to access Pathway Tools databases from the popular Perl language. AraCyc is available at the tools section of The Arabidopsis Information Resource Web site (http://www.arabidopsis.org/tools/aracyc).
Differential expression of MUC genes in endometrial and cervical tissues and tumors

Mucin glycoprotein's are major components of mucus and are considered an important class of tumor associated antigens. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of human MUC genes (MUC1, MUC2, MUC5B, MUC5AC and MUC8) in human endometrium and cervix, and to compare and quantitate the expression of MUC genes in normal and cancerous tissues. Slot blot techniques were used to study the MUC gene expression and quantitation. Of the five-mucin genes studied, MUC1, MUC5B and MUC8 showed high expression levels in the normal and cancerous endometrial and cervical tissues, MUC2 and MUC5AC showed considerably lower expression. Statistically, higher levels of MUC1, MUC5B and MUC8 were observed in endometrial adenocarcinomas compared to normal tissues. In contrast, only MUC1 levels increased with no significant changes in expression of MUC5B and MUC8 in cervical tumors over normal cervical tissues. Endometrial tumors showed increased expression of MUC1, MUC5B and MUC8 over normal tissues. Only MUC1 appears to be increase, in cervical tumors. All the studied tissues showed high and consistent expression of MUC8 mRNA. Low to neglible levels of MUC2 and MUC5AC were observed in all studied endometrial and cervical tissues.
Effects of Cactoblastis cactorum on the survival and growth of North American Opuntia

Cactoblastis cactorum is known for being both a biological control agent and an invasive pest of opuntioid cacti. The spread of C. cactorum in the southeastern United States may threaten the biological and physical integrity of desert, scrub, and coastal habitats. However, the effects of invasive species are known to vary spatially and temporally, and C. cactorum’s efficacy as a biological control agent varies considerably from region to region. Therefore, the long term effects of C. cactorum within its U.S. range are still uncertain. Marked Opuntia stricta (n = 253) and O. humifusa (n = 327) plants along the west coast of Florida were censused for 6 years to determine the effects of C. cactorum attack on survival and growth rate of plants, and to examine host species differences and the effects of plant size. 78.1 % of the Opuntia plants were attacked by C. cactorum during the 6 year study and the overall survival rate was 75.8 %. Plants attacked by C. cactorum were more likely to die than unattacked plants and a plant’s odds of surviving the 6 year period decreased as C. cactorum attack frequency increased. However, plants that survived the 6 year period showed, on average, positive growth and there was no significant difference in growth rates between surviving attacked and unattacked plants. O. stricta plants were more likely to be attacked at least once, were attacked more frequently, and were more likely to die after being attacked than were O. humifusa plants. Plant size did not predict plant survival, but larger surviving plants lost proportionally more pads over the 6 years than smaller surviving plants. Although C. cactorum should still be considered a threat, particularly for rare opuntioids, overall survival along the west central Florida coast is currently high and plants that are able to survive C. cactorum attack are not being reduced in size, possibly because they possess traits that render them more tolerant of C. cactorum damage. Our findings suggest that an assumption of severe negative effects of an invasive species, based on its effects in other regions or over short periods of time, may not always be justified.