cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of aluminum infiltrated boron suboxide drag cutters and drill bits

Synthesis of boron suboxide (B6O) was made by reactive sintering of crystalline boron and zinc oxide powders at 1450 °C, in argon, for 12 h. After sintering, Vickers microhardness testing was performed on the material synthesized and an average hardness value of 34 GPa was obtained. Sintered suboxide (in crushed and ground powder form) was then analyzed through optical and scanning electron microscopies and X-ray diffraction. Following the completion of the analyses, consolidation of the powder was performed. Two different routes were carried out: (1) “explosive consolidation” which was performed in double tube (with a density value of 2.22 g/cm3) and single tube (with a density value of 2.12 g/cm3) canister design arrangements and (2) “hot pressing” which was performed in a graphite die assembly, at 1600 °C, in vacuum, for 2 and 4 h (with density values of 2.15 and 2.18 g/cm3 respectively). Consolidated samples of both routes showed different levels of mechanical attachment, agglomeration, porosity, fracture toughness and fracture strength values, whereas microhardness values and X-ray diffraction plots (as shown in Table I and Figs 6 and 8 respectively) were determined to be similar. Following characterizations, compacts of both routes were then given a high temperature sintering treatment (pressureless sintering) at 1800 °C, in vacuum, for full densification. Both in the “as consolidated” and “densification sintered” stages test results revealed the most desirable and well-established properties for the “explosively consolidated double tube design” compacts (with densification sintered density, microhardness and fracture toughness values of 2.46 g/cm3, 38 GPa and 7.05 MPa m1/2 respectively). Consolidation and desification sintering steps were then followed by a pressureless infiltration step. Aluminum was infiltrated into densification sintered “double tube design consolidated” and “4 h of pressed” samples (better-compacted and better-sintered compacts) in the temperature range 1100–1250 °C, in argon, for 10 h. During infiltrations, the optimum temperature of the infiltration process was determined to be 1200 °C. Characterization results revealed the most uniform and well established properties once more for the double tube design explosively consolidated compact (with aluminum infiltrated density, microhardness and fracture toughness values of 2.55 g/cm3, 41 GPa and 8.70 MPa m1/2 respectively).
Pharmacogenomics in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities

The burgeoning field of pharmacogenomics holds the promise to uncover genetic risk factors for both rare and common diseases, identify genetically based inter-individual responses to medicines, and enrich clinical trials with more genetically homogeneous groups, with the overarching goal to provide safer and more effective medicines to individuals and populations. With the sequencing of the human genome at the turn of the twentieth century, this last decade has seen an explosion in the development of technologies and methods to advance our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of disease and how individuals respond to medicines. In the field of Alzheimer’s disease research, pharmacogenomics has provided insight into the genetic complexity of this common disorder, confirming ApoE carrier status as a genetic determinant of risk for this disease, as well as identifying many other possible gene candidates. Recognition of global genetic diversity, however, requires that these methods be applied to different ethnic and racial groups throughout the world. Collaborations between academia, non-government organizations, and the pharmaceutical industry under the guidance and regulation of government-directed institutes and initiatives have been created in underdeveloped and developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America to identify unique genetic variation that will guide the development and use of medicines in these populations. Though each local population and government has its own set of economic, social, legal, regulatory and ethical challenges, the overarching goal in this endeavor is the translation of pharmacogenomic knowledge into the development of safer and more effective medicines for patients throughout the world.
Improved One-Shot Approach for Modeling Viscous Transonic Limit Cycle Oscillations

In this paper, the harmonic-balance-based One-shot method is presented for modeling limit cycle oscillations (LCO) of two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) pitch/plunge airfoils in viscous, transonic flow ...
New approaches for assessing squid fin motions: coupling proper orthogonal decomposition with volumetric particle tracking velocimetry

ABSTRACT Squid, which swim using a coupled fin/jet system powered by muscular hydrostats, pose unique challenges for the study of locomotion. The high flexibility of the fins and complex flow fields generated by distinct propulsion systems require innovative techniques for locomotive assessment. For this study, we used proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to decouple components of the fin motions and defocusing digital particle tracking velocimetry (DDPTV) to quantify the resultant 3D flow fields. Kinematic footage and DDPTV data were collected from brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis [3.1–6.5 cm dorsal mantle length (DML)], swimming freely in a water tunnel at speeds of 0.39–7.20 DML s −1 . Both flap and wave components were present in all fin motions, but the relative importance of the wave components was higher for arms-first swimming than for tail-first swimming and for slower versus higher speed swimming. When prominent wave components were present, more complex interconnected vortex ring wakes were observed, while fin movements dominated by flapping resulted in more spatially separated vortex ring patterns. Although the jet often produced the majority of the thrust for steady rectilinear swimming, our results demonstrated that the fins can contribute more thrust than the jet at times, consistently produce comparable levels of lift to the jet during arms-first swimming, and can boost overall propulsive efficiency. By producing significant drag signatures, the fins can also aid in stabilization and maneuvering. Clearly, fins play multiple roles in squid locomotion, and when coupled with the jet, allow squid to perform a range of swimming behaviors integral to their ecological success.
Pitfalls and Pearls for 3-Dimensional Printing of the Tricuspid Valve in the Procedural Planning of Percutaneous Transcatheter Therapies

There is a recent rise in percutaneous therapies for the tricuspid valve. Due to the innovative nature of these procedures and the complex anatomy of the tricuspid valve, procedural planning often relies on 3-dimensional (3D) printing. Whereas contrast-enhanced 4-dimensional (4D) computed tomography
On shoaling of solitary waves

One of the classic analytical predictions of shoaling-wave amplification is Green’s law – the wave amplitude grows proportional to , where is the local water depth. Green’s law is valid for linear shallow-water waves unidirectionally propagating in a gradually varying water depth. On the other hand, conservation of mechanical energy shows that the shoaling-wave amplitude of a solitary wave grows like , if the waveform maintains its solitary-wave identity. Nonetheless, some recent laboratory and field measurements indicate that growth of long waves during shoaling is slower than what is predicted by Green’s law. Obvious missing factors in Green’s law are the nonlinearity and frequency-dispersion effects as well as wave reflection from the beach, whereas the adiabatic shoaling process does not recognize the transformation of the waveform on a beach of finite slope and length. Here we first examine this problem analytically based on the variable-coefficient perturbed Korteweg–de Vries equation. Three analytical solutions for different limits are obtained: (1) Green’s law for the linear and non-dispersive limit, (2) the slower amplitude growth rate for the linear and dispersive limit, as well as (3) nonlinear and non-dispersive limit. Then, in order to characterize the shoaling behaviours for a variety of incident wave and beach conditions, we implement a fifth-order pseudo-spectral numerical model for the full water-wave Euler theory. We found that Green’s law is not the norm but is limited to small incident-wave amplitudes when the wavelength is still small in comparison to the beach length scale. In general, the wave amplification rate during shoaling does not follow a power law. When the incident wave is finite, the shoaling amplification becomes faster than that of Green’s law when the ratio of the wavelength to the beach length is small, but becomes slower when the length ratio increases. We also found that the incident wave starts to amplify prior to its crest arriving at the beach toe due to the wave reflection. Other prominent characteristics and behaviours of solitary-wave shoaling are discussed.
A retrospective review of orthopedic patients returning from Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm to an Army Medical Center.

A retrospective review of all casualties received related to Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm was conducted at Madigan Army Medical Center. Of the 180 patients determined to have returned from the Persian Gulf theater of operations, 93 (52%) had at least one orthopedic diagnosis and 84 (45%) were transported with a primary orthopedic diagnosis. The evacuation diagnosis was not substantiated by medical center evaluation in 37 (40%), and 42 (45%) were returned to duty without further treatment. Thirty-five patients (38%) were evacuated for a condition for which they had previously been profiled at least once. Peacetime duty limitations must be accurate and appropriate with respect to potential wartime demands. Language: en
Der Erste Massenauszug. Die Pfälzische Einwanderung Nach New-York

Wahrend des ganzen 17. Jahrhunderts hatte ein lebhafter Verkehr zwischen England und der Pfalz stattgefunden, der durch die Vermahlung von Elisabeth, Tochter Jakobs I., mit dein bereits unter denn Namen des Winterkonigs erwahnten Friedrich V., Kurfursten von der Pfalz, stark gefordert wurde. Dieser beiden Sohn, der kluge Karl Ludwig, Kurfurst von der Pfalz, war ein Vetter der englischen Konige Karl II. und Jakob II. Ein gemeinsames Band zwischen den beiden Landern bildete ihr protestantischer Glaube. England war wesentlich beteiligt gewesen bei deut Zustandekommen des Religionsediktes von 1705, das der reformierten Kirche Duldung in der Pfalz gewahrte. Der spanische Erbfolgekrieg im Jahre 1707 verwustete einen ‘feil der linksrheinischen Pfalz, wodurch Hunderte von Pfalzern obdachlos wurden. Unter diesen befand sich Josua von Kocherthal, der sich itni Januar 1708 mit einer englischen Agentur in Frankfurt am Main in Verbindung setzte, um Passe und Geld zur Uberfahrt nach England zu erhalten. Er erbat dieses zugleich fur mehrere andere Familien, im ganzen 61 Personen, die, als ihnen keine Hilfe zuteil wurde, ohne die Zustimmung des Kurfursten ihre Heimat verlieben und auf eigene Kosten liber Holland nach London reisten. Dort angelangt, waren sie zu arm, um ohne Unterstutzung auszukommen, weswegen die grol3nnutige Konigin Anna jedem Pfalzer einen Schilling taglich fur seinen Unterhalt gewahrte. Diese Tat der Menschenliebe wurde von einigen Londonern nachgeahmt, und als Kocherthal inn die Mittel zur Uberfahrt einkam, entschied sich die Londoner Handelskammer dahin, die Einwanderer nach der Kolonie New-York zu schicken. Dort, dachte man, konnten sie sich an der Grenze ansiedeln und gewisserntal3en als Puffer gegen die Indianer dienen oder etwa mit der Herstellung von Schiffsbauvorraten beschaftigt werden. Vor ihrer Abfahrt wurden sie zu britischen Untertanen erklart1 und dann, unter Lord Lovelace, deut neuernannten Gouverneur von New-York, auf einem koniglichen Transportschiff eingeschifft.
A transactional model of oppositional behavior: Underpinnings of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach

Abstract Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) refers to a recurrent pattern of developmentally inappropriate levels of negativistic, defiant, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward authority figures. ODD is one of the most common (and debilitating) comorbid disorders within Tourette's disorder (TD). Diverse psychosocial treatment approaches have been applied to children's ODD-related behaviors. In this paper, the authors articulate a transactional developmental conceptualization of oppositional behavior and describe a cognitive-behavioral model of intervention—called collaborative problem solving (CPS)—emanating from this conceptualization. The specific goals of the CPS approach are to help adults (1) understand the specific adult and child characteristics contributing to the development of a child's oppositional behavior; (2) become cognizant of three basic strategies for handling unmet expectations, including (a) imposition of adult will, (b) CPS, and (c) removing the expectation; (3) recognize the impact of each of these three approaches on parent–child interactions; and (4) become proficient, along with their children, at CPS as a means of resolving disagreements and defusing potentially conflictual situations so as to reduce oppositional episodes and improve parent–child compatibility. Summary data from an initial study documenting the effectiveness of the CPS approach (in comparison to the standard of care) are also presented.
Periocular Triamcinolone vs. Intravitreal Triamcinolone vs. Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant for the Treatment of Uveitic Macular Edema: The PeriOcular vs. INTravitreal corticosteroids for uveitic macular edema (POINT) Trial

Purpose To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of 3 regional corticosteroid injections for uveitic macular edema (ME): periocular triamcinolone acetonide (PTA), intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (ITA), and the intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI). Design Multicenter, randomized clinical trial. Participants Patients with uveitic ME. Methods Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive 1 of the 3 therapies. Patients with bilateral ME were assigned the same treatment for both eyes. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was the proportion of baseline (PropBL) central subfield thickness (CST) at 8 weeks (CST at 8 weeks/CST at baseline) assessed with OCT by masked readers. Secondary outcomes included ≥20% improvement and resolution of ME, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and intraocular pressure (IOP) events over 24 weeks. Results All treatment groups demonstrated improved CST during follow-up. At 8 weeks, each group had clinically meaningful reductions in CST relative to baseline (PropBL: 0.77, 0.61, and 0.54, respectively, which translates to reductions of 23%, 39%, and 46% for PTA, ITA, and IDI, respectively). Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (PropBL ITA/PropBL PTA, hazard ratio [HR], 0.79; 99.87% confidence interval [CI], 0.65–0.96) and IDI (PropBL IDI/PropBL PTA, HR, 0.69; 99.87% CI, 0.56–0.86) had larger reductions in CST than PTA (P Conclusions Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide and the IDI were superior to PTA for treating uveitic ME with modest increases in the risk of IOP elevation. This risk did not differ significantly between intravitreal treatments.
Improving in Situ Electrode Calibration with Principal Component Regression for Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry

Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry with a carbon-fiber microelectrode is an increasingly popular technique for in vivo measurements of electroactive neurotransmitters, most notably dopamine. Calibration of these electrodes is essential for many uses, but it is complicated by the many factors that affect an electrode’s sensitivity when it is implanted in neural tissue. Experienced practitioners of fast-scan cyclic voltammetry are well aware that an electrode’s sensitivity to dopamine depends on both the size and shape of the electrode’s background waveform. In vitro electrode calibration is still the standard method, although a strategy for in situ calibration based on the size of the electrode’s background waveform has previously been published. We reasoned that the accuracy and transferability of in situ calibration could be improved by using principal component regression to capture information contained in the shape of the background waveform. We use leave-one-out cross-validation to estimate the ability of ...
cPLA2α-/- sympathetic neurons exhibit increased membrane excitability and loss of N-Type Ca2+ current inhibition by M1 muscarinic receptor signaling.

Group IVa cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2α) mediates GPCR-stimulated arachidonic acid (AA) release from phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) located in plasma membranes. We previously found in superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons that PLA2 activity is required for voltage-independent N-type Ca2+ (N-) current inhibition by M1 muscarinic receptors (M1Rs). These findings are at odds with an alternative model, previously observed for M-current inhibition, where PIP2 dissociation from channels and subsequent metabolism by phospholipase C suffices for current inhibition. To resolve cPLA2α’s importance, we have investigated its role in mediating voltage-independent N-current inhibition (~40%) that follows application of the muscarinic agonist oxotremorine-M (Oxo-M). Preincubation with different cPLA2α antagonists or dialyzing cPLA2α antibodies into cells minimized N-current inhibition by Oxo-M, whereas antibodies to Ca2+-independent PLA2 had no effect. Taking a genetic approach, we found that SCG neurons from cPLA2α-/- mice exhibited little N-current inhibition by Oxo-M, confirming a role for cPLA2α. In contrast, cPLA2α antibodies or the absence of cPLA2α had no effect on voltage-dependent N-current inhibition by M2/M4Rs or on M-current inhibition by M1Rs. These findings document divergent M1R signaling mediating M-current and voltage-independent N-current inhibition. Moreover, these differences suggest that cPLA2α acts locally to metabolize PIP2 intimately associated with N- but not M-channels. To determine cPLA2α’s functional importance more globally, we examined action potential firing of cPLA2α+/+ and cPLA2α-/- SCG neurons, and found decreased latency to first firing and interspike interval resulting in a doubling of firing frequency in cPLA2α-/- neurons. These unanticipated findings identify cPLA2α as a tonic regulator of neuronal membrane excitability.
Analysis and Optimization of Multisection Capacitive DACs for Mixed-Signal Processing

This paper examines the concept of multisection capacitive digital-to-analog converters (MS-CDACs), which enables a wider range of CDAC section segmentation options beyond split-CDAC and C–2C methods. In order to study the proposed approach, analysis and simulations are first conducted for all possible section arrangements of a 6-bit resolution MS-CDAC with minimum-sized unit capacitors; the study shows that MS-CDAC provides various options with reduced total capacitance compared to a single-section CDAC, and allowing for the tradeoff of area, switching energy, and speed versus static linearity and kT / $C$ noise. Thus, it is possible to find a structure that minimizes total capacitance while satisfying required static linearity and noise that cannot be achieved with the existing methods. Compensation of nonlinearities due to parasitic capacitance is accomplished by sizing the bridge capacitance(s). To verify effectiveness in a more practical design scenario, this approach is applied to a 10-bit MS-CDAC design. Using metal–insulator–metal capacitors available in a standard CMOS technology, under the condition that 95% of Monte Carlo simulation results have at most 0.5 LSB of |DNL|, the selected 10-bit MS-CDAC structure reduces total capacitance and switching energy by 97% and 98%, respectively, and MSB capacitance by a factor of 26 relative to the single-section CDAC. The postlayout simulations were also conducted to validate the MS-CDAC approach, achieving $\vert \text {DNL}\vert _{\mathrm {max}}$ in the presence of additional layout parasitics.
Change and stability in public workforce development: a 10-year study of new officers in an urban police department

Workforce development is central to public management theory and practice. However, little is known about the impact that organizations have on public workforce development. This paper contributes ...
2.4.4 Metal Clusters in Zeolites

The sections in this article are Introduction Nano Clusters of Metal versus Macroscopic Metals Preparation of Mono- or Bimetal Clusters in Zeolite Cavities Ion Exchange Calcination Reduction Interaction of Metal Clusters and Zeolite Protons Bronsted Acids in Zeolites Metal Clusters as Lewis Bases Chemical Anchoring Heterogeneous Catalysis by Single Metal Atom Sites Electron Deficiency Is Bifunctionality due to “Shuttling” between Sites or to “Collapsed Sites”? Metal Oxidation by Protons, Selective “Leaching” Effects of Zeolite Geometry on Catalysis Transport and Transition State Restrictions Collimation of Molecules in Pores Types of Pore Diffusion in Zeolites; Effects on Apparent Activation Energy Beneficial Damage of Zeolite Matrix by Growing Metal Particles Conclusions Acknowledgments Keywords: metal clusters; zeolite catalysts; alumosilicates; zeolite cavities
The genetic architecture of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a complex neurodegenerative disorder for which both rare and common genetic variants contribute to disease risk, onset, and progression. Mutations in more than 20 genes have been associated with the disease, most of which are highly penetrant and often cause early onset or atypical symptoms. Although our understanding of the genetic basis of Parkinson's disease has advanced considerably, much remains to be done. Further disease-related common genetic variability remains to be identified and the work in identifying rare risk alleles has only just begun. To date, genome-wide association studies have identified 90 independent risk-associated variants. However, most of them have been identified in patients of European ancestry and we know relatively little of the genetics of Parkinson's disease in other populations. We have a limited understanding of the biological functions of the risk alleles that have been identified, although Parkinson's disease risk variants appear to be in close proximity to known Parkinson's disease genes and lysosomal-related genes. In the past decade, multiple efforts have been made to investigate the genetic architecture of Parkinson's disease, and emerging technologies, such as machine learning, single-cell RNA sequencing, and high-throughput screens, will improve our understanding of genetic risk.
Learning and Behavioral Spillovers of a Nutritional Information Campaign

This paper provides evidence for spillovers in learning and behavior within urban slums in Chandigarh, India. In a controlled experiment, mothers of children (aged 3-6 years) enrolled in government day-care centers were provided recipe books to lower their price per calorie. Spillovers to neighboring (untreated) mothers can be through learning or imitation. Theory suggests that this may increase or decrease their food expenditure. Results from a difference-in-differences analysis show that nutritional knowledge increases among neighboring untreated mothers relative to a control group and there is a corresponding reduction in food expenditure. Neighboring mothers exhibit learning spillovers and a reduction in expenditure regardless of their level of literacy.
Hormonal Therapy for Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

The goals of treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding are to reduce morbidity, restore and maintain normal blood volumes, prevent life-threatening hemorrhage, and improve quality of life. Hormonal therapies are safe and effective and are the mainstay of the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding in adolescent females. Typically, hormonal therapies used to treat acute heavy menstrual bleeding include intravenous conjugated equine estrogen, combined oral estrogen-progestin pills, and oral progestins. Once the acute bleeding has been controlled, multiple hormonal therapy options exist for long-term maintenance of heavy menstrual bleeding. These hormonal therapies include the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), combined hormonal options, and oral/injectable/subdermal progestins.
Differing approaches to regional climatology: Climates of the Continents by W. G. Kendrew and Climatology and the World’s Climates by G. R. Rumney:

The two major regional climatology textbooks at the dawn of the quantitative revolution took very different approaches to regionalization. Kendrew’s The Climates of the Continents follows a grand t...
The Relevance and Operations of Political Trust in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract As the United States is at historic lows of trust in government, various agencies are seeking to convince members of the public to take key protective actions and to support novel policy actions intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 This article assess the status of trust in key organizations relevant to pandemic information based on a national survey of residents of the United States First, the article illustrates the variations in trust placed in various agencies ? local to global agencies, governmental and private sector organizations Second, the analysis reveals considerable variances in trust in specific organizations based on party identification Finally, the results indicate that trust is important as it is related to the intention to adopt personal protective actions and support for key public policies This article is protected by copyright All rights reserved
Selective Electronic NO2 Sensors Using a Polydimethylsiloxane Filter on WSe2 Devices

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials are ideal gas sensing materials with ultrahigh sensitivity due to the high surface-to-volume ratio, low electronic noise, and tunable Fermi level alig...
How Do Moral Values and Crisis Response Strategies Influence Individuals’ Evaluations and Support of Sports Organizations Post-Crisis?:

This study examines how the moral values individuals possess and organizational crisis response strategies influence sports organizations. It showed that two moral foundations (fairness and purity/...
Chevron's Next Chapter: A Fig Leaf for the Nondelegation Doctrine

The Supreme Court has recently signaled its interest in developing a new nondelegation test, one that would have courts more aggressively police Congress’s delegations of power to agencies. This could represent a death knell for significant climate action. The technical and scientific complexity of climate change mean that it is a problem uniquely suited to redress by expert agencies. If Congress is not permitted to delegate authority to agencies to address climate change, then it will be difficult for meaningful action against climate change to be taken at the federal level. With this threat in mind, this Article evaluates the emerging basis for the Court’s new nondelegation test: Chevron. The Court has hinted that it will look to two rules developed under Chevron to guide its revived nondelegation doctrine: the major questions doctrine and the jurisdictional exception that Chief Justice Roberts laid out in City of Arlington. By grounding the long-extinct nondelegation doctrine in the robust body of Chevron jurisprudence, the Court could give the nondelegation doctrine a legitimacy and specificity that a freeform version would lack. This Article argues, however, that transplanting the rules of Chevron to the nondelegation context would be doctrinally and logically incoherent. The Article first explains how the Court’s Chevron jurisprudence is based on a particular legal fiction about congressional delegation of authority to agencies. The Court has used this legal fiction to derive limiting principles for the application of Chevron deference, such as the major question doctrine and the City of Arlington jurisdictional exception. Importantly, Chevron’s limiting principles and the legal fiction underlying them are based on a principle of legislative supremacy, i.e., the understanding that Congress is supreme in the realm of policymaking, and thus courts’ role in interpreting statutes is to be agents of Congress. By contrast, the nondelegation doctrine as it is envisioned by the current Court relies on a notion of judicial supremacy: It imagines that courts have the final say as to what is acceptable policymaking, regardless of Congress’s intentions. Transferring Chevron to the nondelegation context would therefore amount to a categorical error. As a result, the Article concludes that, given the incompatible institutional framework underlying Chevron’s rules, the Court must look elsewhere for inspiration and support for its new nondelegation test.
Introducing Regular Turnover Details, 1960–2015: A dataset on world leaders’ legal removal from office:

The premier data on leader survival focus on the violent, dramatic means by which leaders ‘exit’ office. This information, vital for many research questions, constitutes a valuable public good for ...
Inspections and emissions in India : puzzling survey evidence about industrial pollution

In a sample of industrial plants in India, direct community pressure on plants does not appear to play a major role in reducing emissions. Nor do formal inspections, possibly because of the low probability of enforcement and the low penalties for noncompliance. Industrial plants face pressure to abate water pollution from many sources, national and local, through formal government regulation and through more informal pressure from consumer groups and concern for the firm's reputation. Formal regulation tends to reflect the bargaining power of local communities and is not as uniform or blind as the law would imply. Regulators are not immune to the pulls and pushes of powerful community interests. Studies of enforcement in the U.S. steel industry, for example, find that it is weaker at plants that are major employers in the local labor market. Using survey data from India, Pargal, Mani, and Huq examine whether the monitoring and enforcement efforts of provincial pollution control authorities are affected by local community characteristics (which serve as proxies for political power). They also test for evidence that informal pressure on plants results in negotiated reductions in emissions. They find that high levels of pollution in India elicit a formal regulatory response: Inspections. But inspections are ineffective in bringing about changes in behavior, probably because of bureaucratic or other problems in follow-through. Moreover, poorly paid inspectors with low morale may be susceptible to rent-seeking. They find little evidence to support the hypothesis that better-educated and higher-income communities are better able to pressure plants to reduce emissions than are poorer communities, although there are significantly more inspections in more developed districts. In India, whatever community pressure exists is probably channeled through formal regulatory mechanisms. Larger plants in India, as in the rest of the world, tend to be cleaner than smaller plants. Indian policymakers and regulators may want to explicitly recognize the tradeoff in environmental quality of the existing regulatory bias toward the small- and medium-scale sector. This paper - a product of the Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to study environmental regulation in developing countries. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project The Economics of Industrial Pollution Control in Developing Countries (RPO 680-20) and by a trust fund under the research project Social and Environmental Consequences of Growth-Oriented Policies.
A three-dimensional graph searching technique for cardiac border detection in sequential images and its application to magnetic resonance image data

Developed is a new method of automated border detection using graph searching principles. The method takes into account the added information available in temporal or spatial sequences of images that are commonly available in biomedical applications. This method is applied to detect endocardial and epicardial borders in short-axis magnetic resonance images of the heart. Preliminary results show that it may be more robust in areas of noise when compared to a method based only on data from a single image. They suggest that this method could potentially improve performance of automated edge detection methods when spatial or temporal sequences of frames are available. >
Studies on heart phosphofructokinase. Purification, crystallization, and properties of sheep heart phosphofructokinase.

Abstract Sheep heart phosphofructokinase was extracted from a sedimentable fraction of homogenates after incubation with ATP and MgSO4. The extracted enzyme was fully active and soluble. The enzyme was purified by a procedure which involved ethanol fractionation, extraction from the ethanol fraction, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, and ammonium sulfate fractionation. The final specific activity of the enzyme was 120 to 157. Enzyme recovery was about 55% of the enzyme activity in the original extract. The purified enzyme was crystallized. The crystals were hexagonal in shape and had approximately the same specific activity as the purified enzyme. Examination on starch gel electrophoresis showed that the enzyme moved as a diffuse patch with enzyme activity through the entire patch. Ultracentrifugal sedimentation analysis revealed the presence of either a schlieren pattern with a single asymmetrical peak or a pattern with a minor light peak and a major heavy peak. The value for s20,w varied from 22.5 to 50, according to the degree of poylmerization of the enzyme. The sedimentation coefficient as determined on the sucrose gradient was found to be concentration-dependent. The lowest value was s20,w 15.2. Sodium chloride (2 m) caused dissociation of the enzyme, accompanied by a decrease in its catalytic activity.
Exogenous Factors in Itch Response1

Itch is a common sensation and a component of numerous disease states. Itch can be classified according to its origin and may be modulated by both endogenous and exogenous factors. The purpose of this chapter is to classify the common causes of exogenous itch in humans. These factors were classified into mechanical, chemical, and environmental components. A better understanding of the various mechanisms of pruritus is critical to effective research into the treatment of itch.
New Instruments, New Science: Future Opportunities

The new millimeter and submillimeter wavelength telescopes will provide a detailed view of galaxy formation, the formation of stars and planetary systems, and the chemistry of the envelopes of evolved stars. The keys to the future are larger and more precise telescopes, quantum limited electronics, and superb observatory sites.
Precipitation regime classification for the Mojave Desert: Implications for fire occurrence

Abstract Long periods of drought or above-average precipitation affect Mojave Desert vegetation condition, biomass and susceptibility to fire. Changes in the seasonality of precipitation alter the likelihood of lightning, a key ignition source for fires. The objectives of this study were to characterize the relationship between recent, historic, and future precipitation patterns and fire. Classifying monthly precipitation data from 1971 to 2010 reveals four precipitation regimes: low winter/low summer, moderate winter/moderate summer, high winter/low summer and high winter/high summer. Two regimes with summer monsoonal precipitation covered only 40% of the Mojave Desert ecoregion but contain 88% of the area burned and 95% of the repeat burn area. Classifying historic precipitation for early-century (wet) and mid-century (drought) periods reveals distinct shifts in regime boundaries. Early-century results are similar to current, while the mid-century results show a sizeable reduction in area of regimes with a strong monsoonal component. Such a shift would suggest that fires during the mid-century period would be minimal and anecdotal records confirm this. Predicted precipitation patterns from downscaled global climate models indicate numerous epochs of high winter precipitation, inferring higher fire potential for many multi-decade periods during the next century.
S/SL revisited

S/SL is a compiler-writing tool that was designed in the late 70's at the University of Toronto. For a time, it was actively developed and enhanced within the IBM Toronto Lab. Widespread interest in the tool within IBM disappeared in the late 80's, and other tools became more prevalent.In 1991, when we began a new COBOL compiler, ILE COBOL/400 [1], we chose to resurrect the S/SL technology, and have used S/SL as the parsing engine for our new compiler.In this paper, we discuss our experience with this technology and why we chose S/SL over other available tools. We present our high-level compiler architecture which, while traditional, is not traditional for S/SL. We gather together a collection of ideas and practices for the use of S/SL, and draw conclusions about the overall quality of this tool.
A carbon isotope record of CO2 levels during the late Quaternary

ANALYSES of gases trapped in continental ice sheets have shown that the concentration of CO2 in the Earth's early atmosphere increased from 180 to 280 p.p.m. during the most recent glacial-interglacial transition1. This change must have been driven by an increase in the concentration of CO2 dissolved in the mixed layer of the ocean2. Biochemical and physiological factors associated with photosynthetic carbon fixation in this layer should lead to a relationship between concentrations of dissolved CO2 and the carbon isotopic composition of phytoplanktonic organic material3, such that increased atmospheric CO2 should enhance the difference in 13C content between dissolved inorganic carbon and organic products of photosynthesis. Here we show that a signal related to atmospheric CO2 levels can be seen in the isotope record of a hemipelagic sediment core, which we can correlate with the CO2 record of the Vostok ice core. Calibration of the relationship between isotope fractionation and CO2 levels should permit the extrapolation of CO2 records to times earlier than those for which ice-core records are available.
Polyvalent Saccharide-Functionalized Generation 3 Poly (amidoamine) Dendrimer-Methotrexate Conjugate as a Potential Anticancer Agent

A saccharide-terminated generation 3 (G3) polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer was synthesized as a drug carrier. Utilizing this dendritic platform, we have successfully synthesized polyvalent conjugates (G3-MTX) containing the drug methotrexate (MTX). Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) results showed that G3-MTX presented three orders of magnitude enhancement in binding avidity to folate-binding protein (FBP) as compared to the free folic acid (FA). Flow cytometric and confocal microscopic analysis showed that conjugate (G3-MTX-FI) containing imaging agent fluorescein-5(6)-carboxamidohexanoic acid (FI) was internalized into folate receptor (FR)-expressing KB cells in dose-dependent and receptor-mediated fashion. The G3-MTX induced a dose-dependent cytotoxicity in the KB cells. Therefore, the polyvalent G3-MTX may have potential as an anticancer nanodevice for the specific targeting and killing of FR-expressing tumor cells.
Dynamics of skin blood flow in human sepsis.

The study was undertaken to determine if sepsis alters the pattern of vasomotion and reactive hyperaemia in the skin. This was a prospective, observational study.Setting: The study was performed in the medical and surgical intensive care units of a tertiary referral hospital. 11 patients with sepsis (using Bone's criteria [1]), were compared with 19 patients recovering from coronary artery bypass grafting who were used as non-septic controls. Nineteen normal volunteers were also studied. Skin blood flow was measured on the forearm using laser Doppler flowmetry at rest and after 2 min arterial occlusion with a tourniquet. The resting blood signal was analyzed by calculating the mean skin blood flow, the power of the skin blood flow signal (variance) and the power spectrum. The rate of recovery after arterial occlusion was determined by calculating the peak increase in skin blood flow and the time constant of the decay of skin hyperaemia back to baseline flow. Patients with sepsis had a mean skin blood flow of 6.24 (3.48) ml min−1 per 100 g tissue compared with 4.35 (1.41) ml min−1 per 100 g tissue for the patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (p<0.05). The septic patients also showed a marked increase in the fraction of total power in the 0.1–0.15 Hz frequency band (0.19 (0.17) versus 0.068 (0.033),p<0.05), a decreased peak hyperaemic response (40 (23)% increase in flow above baseline after cuff release versus 147 (19)% and a prolonged time constant for recovery from hyperaemia (22.8 (12.7) versus 11.7 (8.5) seconds,p<0.05). These results imply an increased local rather than central control of skin blood flow. The laser Doppler flowmeter allows local rather than global haemodynamics to be studied. Abnormalities of skin blood flow control are found in sepsis, and this technique may prove useful to monitor the effects of treatment, especially if the use of laser Doppler flowmetry can be extended to other organs at risk of damage during sepsis such as gastro-intestinal mucosa.
Culture, Ethnicity, and Caregiver Stress Among Puerto Ricans

This study explored the stress process in a sample of Puerto Ricans (N = 68) caring for older relatives and examined the caregiver role in light of ethnocultural variables. Focus groups were conduc...
Design of optimal systolic algorithms for the transitive closure problem

New optimal systolic algorithms for the transitive closure problem on ring and linear arrays of processors is presented. The data dependency of the Warshal-Floyd algorithm is exploited to obtain highly pipelined parallel algorithms. One of the algorithms is asymptotically seven times more cost-effective than previous algorithms for computing transitive closure problems. The authors introduce a new expository device, called the RCT diagram, that depicts simultaneously the flow of data and computation of parallel algorithms. >
CHEMISTRY OF SPORE WALL DIFFERENTIATION IN MUCOR ROUXII.

Abstract The composition of isolated, chemically intact spore (sporangiospore) walls of Mucor rouxii was determined and found markedly distinct from vegetative cell walls previously studied. As qualitative differences, spore walls contain glucan (their major component) and melanin, but lack fucose and galactose. Spore wall melanin was isolated as a triple complex of melanin-glucosamine-protein. Quantitatively, spore walls differ appreciably from vegetative cell walls in glucosamine, phosphate, mannan, protein, and lipid content. It was concluded that spore differentiation (sporogenesis and spore germination) entails an extensive chemical differentiation of the cell wall presumably underlined by profound changes in cell wall metabolism.
A generalized histogram

The construction of a generalized histogram displaying the distribution of a sample of n fuzzy numbers into k fuzzy intervals is suggested. It is shown that the classical histogram representing a partition of a sample of crisp numbers into crisp intervals is a special case of the generalized histogram.
Heparin inhibits the formation of endoperoxide metabolites in rat platelets: aspirin-like activity

Amounts of thromboxane A2 (TXA2) synthesized during the collagen-induced aggregation was much higher in citrated PRP than in heaprinized PRP implying that heparin might inhibit the synthesis of endoperoxide metabolites besides its anticoagulant action. Preincubation of citrated PRP with heparin resulted in dose dependent inhibition of the formation of TXA2 and PGE2. At the high concentration, heparin also inhibited the aggregation of citrated platelets induced by collagen indicating that heparin possesses aspirin-like activity. The significance of this finding is that the antithrombotic effect of heparin is probably due to not only its anticoagulant effect but also inhibition of the formation of arachidonic acid metabolites by platelets.
Navigating Community Institutions: Black Transgender Women’s Experiences in Schools, the Criminal Justice System, and Churches

Young transgender women, especially those of color, are negatively impacted by suicidality, HIV, residential instability, survival sex work, and other challenges. This study used an oral narrative approach to collect life histories of 10 young black transwomen between 18 and 24 years of age residing in Detroit, Michigan. This study used grounded theory analysis to explore institutional violence, discrimination, and harassment (VDH). Participants described their experiences navigating three community institutions (schools, the criminal justice system, and churches) and broader society. Results highlight VDH through gender policing at school, sexual victimization in the criminal justice system, and negative judgment of gender variation in faith-based institutions. Participants reference the essential role of support systems, including other transgender individuals, in both their gender identity development and the navigation of institutions. Significant policy intervention is needed to protect and support transwomen, and prevent VDH perpetuated against them. Across all institutions, policy and practice interventions can focus on use of transgender appropriate and sensitive language, prevention of physical and sexual assaults, and anti-discrimination measures. Specific policy recommendations and future research directions are outlined.
Inverse Kinematics Analysis of 5-DOF Robot Manipulators Based on Virtual Joint Method

To solve the inverse kinematics problem of a robot manipulator without closed form solutions, one-dimensional iterative method is very useful. However, for a 5-DOF robot manipulator, because of the uncontrolable and uncertain orientation vectors, it's difficult to analytically express all joint variables by one of them, therefore one-dimensional iterative method can not be directedly used. By adding an appropriate virtual joint to it, a 5-DOF manipulator can be changed into a 6-DOF one so that the uncertain orientation vectors can be pre-given, and the difficulty is solved. To illustrate this virtual joint method a 5-DOF serial robot manipulator with prismatic arm joint and offset wrist is discussed in this paper as an example.
Mass Rearing the Apple Maggot

A simple system for continuous mass rearing of Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) was developed by using all sizes of ‘Golden Delicious’ apples as the larval rearing medium. From 25,000 to 50,000 pupae per week can be produced with about 20 hours of labor. A 10-fold net increase per generation was achieved easily. About 9 generations were completed in 1½ years.
Mesh Interface Resolution and Ghost Exchange in a Parallel Mesh Representation

Algorithms are described for the resolution of shared vertices and higher-dimensional interfaces on domain-decomposed parallel mesh, and for ghost exchange between neighboring processors. Performance data is given for large (up to 64M tet and 32M hex element) meshes on up to 16k processors. Shared interface resolution for structured mesh is also described. Small modifications are required to enable the algorithm to match vertices based on geometric location, useful for joining multi-piece meshes, this capability is also demonstrated.