cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stereotactic radiotherapy for the treatment of lymphocytic hypophysitis: Report of two cases

Lymphocytic hypophysitis is a rare inflammatory disorder of the pituitary gland. Standard therapy consists of transsphenoidal resection or oral administration of corticosteroid medications. Two patients with symptomatic lymphocytic hypophysitis, which recurred after standard therapy, were treated with low-dose stereotactic radiotherapy. On imaging studies both lesions demonstrated a response to radiation and each patient experienced relief of symptoms. There has been no adverse sequela of the radiation treatment. The authors conclude that stereotactic radiotherapy represents an effective, noninvasive treatment option for patients with lymphocytic hypophysitis, particularly if the disease is recurrent after surgery or resistant to corticosteroid medications.
The effect of a shear force on the cell shedding rate of the corneal epithelium.

Purpose: During blinking the lids apply a shear force to the corneal epithelium. The aim of this study was to determine if a shear force applied to the epithelial surface increases the rate at which cells shed. Methods: The shedding rate was studied in perfused whole rabbit eyes, and the effect of a shear force examined by exposing the corneas to a stirred solution. Control corneas were exposed to a static solution. The shedding rate and size of shed cells were measured, and the number of terminally differentiated cells on the corneal surface determined after 6 h of perfusion using ethidium bromide. Results: Compared with controls, the shear force increased the cell shedding rate from the corneal surface significantly (p<0.01, paired t-test). The increase was due to small cells with a longest dimension less than 25 μm. The number of terminally differentiated cells on the epithelial surface did not increase. Conclusion: Because of the decrease in size, and the change in appearance of shedding cells, it is proposed that the increase in cell shedding rate was due to an increase in the number of apoptotic cells, and not to an increase in terminally differentiated cells. It is suggested that in the human eye, under adverse conditions, shear forces due to blinking may play a role in creating apoptotic cells.
Infinite Component Fields as a Basis for a Finite Quantum Field Theory

Abstract A quantum field theory based on infinite-component fields is developed in which the spectrum of particles for all spins is composed of infinite sums of finite, non-unitary representations of the Lorentz group. This leads to a field theory free of causality problems. The problem of gauging away all unphysical modes in the infinite-component field theory is achieved by using infinite-parameter gauge fields which remove all unphysical modes, independently of the number of space-time dimensions. A model of an infinite-component quantum field theory is formulated, using perturbation theory, in which there are no ultraviolet divergences and the S -matrix is causal and unitary.
LONG WAVE EFFECTS ON BREAKING WAVES OVER FRINGING REEFS

Modeling of wave energy transformation and breaking on fringing reefs is inherently difficult due to their unique topography. Prior methods of determining dissipation are based on empirical data from gently sloping beaches and offer only bulk energy dissipation estimates over the entire spectrum. Methods for deducing a frequency dependent dissipation have been limited to hypothesized linkages between dissipation and wave shape in the surf, and have used bulk dissipation models as a constraint on the overall dissipation for mild sloping beaches. However, there is no clear indication that the constraint on the overall level of dissipation is suitable for the entire reef structure. Using these constraints the frequency dependent dissipation rate can be deduced from laboratory data, taken at the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, of wave transformation over reefs. The frequency dependent dissipation rate can then be integrated over the spectrum to derive an empirically-based counterpart to energy flux dissipation. Comparing the bulk energy dissipation estimates for the reef system to the frequency based method allows for the modification of wave breaking parameters in the frequency estimation, to better estimate total dissipation. Since this method is based on the Fourier transform of the time series data, it allows the dissipation to be found as a function of the frequency. This analysis shows that there is a correlation between the amount of energy in the low frequencies of the wave spectrum and certain characteristics of the frequency dependent dissipation coefficient.
Management of Partial-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears

Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears are a common finding in the military population. Given that these lesions are often present in asymptomatic populations, it is important to perform a thorough history and physical examination along with selective injections to confirm or rule out the partial-thickness tear as a source of pain or dysfunction. Once the decision has been made to operatively treat these tears, a number of options exist, including debridement, repair in situ, or completion of the tear with subsequent repair. Selection between these options is dependent on the extent of the tear, the experience of the surgeon, and the goals of the patient. This article presents a brief discussion on tear recognition, classification, and diagnostic challenges, followed by the technical details behind arthroscopic repair. With careful attention to the clinical workup, and meticulous surgical technique, these tears can be successfully treated to return active duty patients and cadets back to full military duty.
Intimate Partner Violence Among Adolescent and Young Adult Mothers

The associations between intimate partner violence (IPV) and mental health among adolescent and young adult mothers were compared. The sample was drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and participants were 672 mothers between the ages of 14 and 21. IPV was significantly positively associated with both depression and anxiety among young adult mothers. However, these associations were not found among adolescent mothers. In addition, IPV and marital status were significantly related among young adult mothers, but not adolescent mothers. Results suggest that IPV may have different consequences during different parts of the life course, or that mental health symptoms may be reported only later in life.
Use of defined homogeneous procaryotic DNA sequences to analyze genetic transformation in prokaryotic and eucaryotic cells

Cloned Bacillus subtilis genes were used to transform B. subtilis auxotrophs. Intracellular forms of donor DNA were then analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Only donor double stranded molecules were found in the cells and these were sensitive to restriction endonuclease in appropriate receipient cells. The same defined DNA segments were also used to cotransform mouse cells and a sensitive assay was developed to detect donor DNA sequences. Procaryotic carrier DNA was found to inhibit mammalian cell transformation. Addition of DNA to mammalian cells during S phase increased the frequency of stable transformation. The technology described here is sensitive and simple in analyzing intermediate steps in recombination in procaryotes and eucaryotes.
Practical experience with an application extractor for Java

Java programs are routinely transmitted over low-bandwidth network connections as compressed class file archives (i.e., zip files and jar files). Since archive size is directly proportional to download time, it is desirable for applications to be as small as possible. This paper is concerned with the use of program transformations such as removal of dead methods and fields, inlining of method calls, and simplification of the class hierarchy for reducing application size. Such “extraction” techniques are generally believed to be especially useful for applications that use class libraries, since typically only a small fraction of a library's functionality is used. By “pruning away” unused library functionality, application size can be reduced dramatically. We implemented a number of application extraction techniques in Jax, an application extractor for Java, and evaluate their effectiveness on a set of realistic benchmarks ranging from 27 to 2,332 classes (with archives ranging from 56,796 to 3,810,120 bytes). We report archive size reductions ranging from 13.4% to 90.2% (48.7% on average).
Manufacturing of Braided Thermoplastic Composites with Carbon/Nylon Commingled Fibers:

Commingled fibers, a blend of reinforcement and matrix filaments within the tow, provide a good material arrangement to overcome the high viscosity at melt of thermoplastic matrices. This study first characterizes the architecture of a carbon/nylon commingled yarn by microscopy. Then, braiding technology is used to manufacture the tubes at various braiding angles. Laminates are then made by compression molding with preforms extracted from the braids. The consolidation quality is examined using the constituent content method and microscopy. Tensile and flexural properties are obtained for a wide range of angles. Fracture analysis of tensile coupons is realized. Finally, the tensile modulus is predicted using classical lamination theory.
STIR imaging of synthetic vascular graft infection

Nine patients with suspected prosthetic vascular graft infection were studied with axial spin echo (SE) and short T1 inversion recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance imaging. Images were assessed for presence and extent of abnormality. All patients had either surgical (8/9) or bacteriologic (6/9) confirmation of infection. STIR images better defined the extent of infection and had greater fat-fluid contrast than SE images in 6/9 studies. In 3 cases with peri-graft fluid alone. T2-weighted images had slightly greater contrast. STIR imaging can offer improved accuracy in evaluation of suspected prosthetic graft infection when used in conjunction with SE techniques.
On the computation of the coherent point-spread function using a low-complexity representation

Computation of the coherent point-spread function (PSF) involves evaluation of the diffraction integral, which is an integration of a highly oscillating function. This oscillation becomes severe as the value of defocus increases and thus makes PSF computation a costly task. We present a novel algorithm for computing the PSF, which works efficiently for any arbitrarily large value of defocus. It is theoretically proved that the complexity of our new algorithm does not depend on the value of defocus. We also develop an implementation scheme for the new algorithm. Using this implementation we experimentally demonstrate the low complexity of our method. We quantify the rapid convergence and numerical stability of this method over all ranges of defocus. Finally, we compare the computational cost of this method, in terms of time and memory, with other numerical methods such as direct numerical integration and the Fast Fourier Transform.
Forestry in North America

THE timber-cutters, graziers, and settlers, who are rapidly destroying the forests of North America have recently obtained a valuable ally in Major J. W. Powell, Director of the United States Geological Survey; who, in his enthusiasm for the construction of dams, appears to care little from whence his country-men are to get their future supplies of timber, whilst his proposed means for securing to them a perpetual water-supply for irrigating the farm lands below the Rocky Mountains, when confronted with the experience acquired in Europe, are likely to prove worse than useless. Most students of physical geography consider hill forests as efficient aids in storing water, but not so Major Powell; for in the April number of the Century Magazine in a paper on the “Non-irrigable Lands of the West,” and in another paper published in the August number of the North American Review, entitled “The Lesson of Conemaugh,” he advocates the denudation of the higher slopes of the Rocky Mountains, in order to allow snow-drifts to accumulate in the folds of the hills, and afford a perennial supply of water for irrigating the drier lands below the forest belt. Major Powell contends that, as long as the higher hill slopes remain forest-clad, the snow falling on them will always be uniformly distributed, and cannot be drifted together by the wind. It therefore melts away gradually, without affording a steady supply of water to the hill streams. He also asserts that in California the hill streams have increased wherever the hills have been denuded; and expresses his opinion that, although forests may be useful in districts with a heavy rainfall, as they evaporate excessive moisture rapidly from the soil, yet in drier regions this rapid evaporation is prejudicial, and therefore forests should be cleared in order to preserve the requisite amount of moisture in the soil. This appears to be a complete inversion of what actually occurs, as I hope to show further on.
First Results from the Large Probe Infrared Radiometer Experiment

During the descent to the surface of Venus, the large probe infrared radiometer measured the net thermal radiative flux in several spectral bandpasses. Preliminary analysis has permitted us to estimate (i) the infrared extinction coefficient profile attributable to aerosols, with respect to their visible profile, in the upper atmosphere of Venus and (ii) the water vapor mixing ratio below the clouds. An indication of the composition of a multicomponent cloud is seen in the data from the spectral bandpass from 6 to 7 micrometers.
PKA phosphorylation of SUR2B subunit underscores vascular KATP channel activation by beta-adrenergic receptors

ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels are activated by several vasodilating hormones and neurotransmitters through the PKA pathway. Here, we show that phosphorylation at Ser1387 of the SUR2B subunit is ...
Multiple sclerosis: Five new things

Preliminary studies have suggested that a high salt diet may play a role in the development of autoimmune disease and possibly multiple sclerosis (MS). Promising clinical trial results for 2 new therapies for MS have been reported. Dimethyl fumarate, also known by its investigational name BG-12, became the third oral disease-modifying therapy for MS to be Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved in March 2013. Interestingly, dimethyl fumarate served as the active compound used for the treatment of psoriasis for decades. Alemtuzumab remains under investigation and is not currently FDA-approved for treatment of MS. Other drugs currently approved for alternative indications are being investigated for use in MS. Additionally, an investigation of alternative dosing strategies for glatiramer acetate suggests that patients may benefit from a higher dose formulation and less frequent medication administration. Advances in basic science research have identified another potential autoantigenic target in MS, KIR4.1, which may provide further insight into MS pathophysiology.
Pathological topologies and random walks on abelian groups

It is shown in this paper that a part of the structure theory of locally compact abelian groups, which does not explicitly involve compactness, still fails to apply to complete separable metric abelian groups. Specifically, Theorem 2 asserts that any countable abelian group may be discretely imbedded in a metrizable abelian group with a dense cyclic subgroup. This result is independent of the rest of the paper.
Measurement of Cs-Cs elastic scattering at T=30 μK

We have measured the elastic collision cross section for spin polarized atomic cesium. Neutral cesium atoms are optically cooled, then loaded into a dc magnetic trap. We infer the scattering rate from the rate at which anisotropies in the initial energy distribution are observed to relax. The cross section for F=3, ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{F}}$=-3 on F=3, ${\mathit{m}}_{\mathit{F}}$=-3 is 1.5(4)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}12}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, and is independent of temperature from 30 to 250 \ensuremath{\mu}K. This determination clarifies the technical requirements for attaining Bose-Einstein condensation in a magnetically trapped Cs vapor. We also study heating due to glancing collisions with 300 K background Cs atoms.
Synthesis of alkyl-ether glycerophospholipids in rat glomerular mesangial cells: evidence for alkyldihydroxyacetone phosphate synthase activity.

We studied the ability of rat glomerular mesangial cells and their microsomal fractions to incorporate 1-[ 14 C]hexadecanol to glycerophospholipids via an O-alkyl ether linkage and assessed the presence and activity of the required enzyme: alkyl-dihydroxy acetone phosphate synthase. Suspensions of cultured mesangial cells incorporated 1-[ 14 C]hexadecanol to the phosphatidyl ethanolamine and phosphatidyl choline lipid pools, via a bond resistant to acid and base hydrolysis. When cell homogenates or microsomal fractions were incubated with palmitoyl-DHAP and 1-[ 14 C]hexadecanol, alkyl-DHAP and 1-O-alkyl glycerol were formed (alkyl:hexadecyl). The activity of the enzyme responsible for the O-alkyl product formation was calculated to be 2.5 ± 0.3 and 544 ± 50 pmoles/min/mg protein for mesangial cell homogenates and mesangial cell microsomes, respectively. These observations provide evidence that mesangial cells may elaborate ether linked lipid precursors de novo for the biosynthesis of O-alkyl glycerophospholipids.
Filling and emptying of the alimentary tract of meal-fed broiler breeder hens

For evaluation of the filling and emptying of the alimentary tract, broiler breeder hens were cooped and processed over a 2-d period. Hens were fed at 0600 h on d 1 and after access to feed for 0, 2, 4, and 6 h were placed into coops. Half of the hens from each pen were either immediately processed or were held in coops over-night and processed the following morning, d 2. The alimentary tract was excised from the carcass and then separated and weighed in three segments: the crop, proventriculus and gizzard, and intestines. Hens processed on d 1, after access to feed for only 2 h, had attained maximum intestine weight (176 g), but not until after access to feed for 6 h were peak crop weight (95 g) and peak weight for the proventriculus and gizzard (78 g) attained. Hens processed on d 2 did not differ in crop (12 to 14 g) or intestine (140 to 162 g) weight, but proventriculus and gizzard weights were significantly lower for hens not fed on d 1 prior to cooping (54 g) compared with hens fed on d 1 and cooped after 2, 4, or 6 h (62 to 63 g). However, hens processed on d 2 had proventriculus and gizzard weights that were the same as for those hens processed on d 1 and cooped at 0 h (63 g). Clearance of ingesta from the crop, proventriculus and gizzard, and intestines readily occurred while hens were held overnight without access to water.
Effect of Binder Type, Mastic, and Aggregate Type on the Low-Temperature Characteristics of Modified Hot Mix Asphalt

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of binder type, mastic, and aggregate type on the low-temperature cracking characteristics of asphalt mixtures. Six different performance grade (PG) binders were utilized for this study: PG64-28, PG64-28 with poly phosphoric acid, PG64-34 SBS, PG76-22 SBS, a terminal blend asphalt rubber, and PG64-28 with 2 % latex. Each binder was tested to determine its low-temperature cracking resistance using the asphalt binder cracking device (ABCD) and the Superpave tests. A Superpave 9.5 mm mixture was designed using each of the six binders for this study and two sources of aggregates (crushed stone and gravel). Each mixture was then tested for low-temperature cracking resistance using the asphalt concrete cracking device (ACCD). Mastics corresponding to each mixture were tested for low-temperature cracking resistance using the ABCD. Analysis of the results showed that the AASHTO critical cracking temperature had a strong correlation with the ABCD binder and mastics results, but did not correlate well with the mixture tests. Mastic testing generally did not correlate well with the mixture test results. ABCD and ACCD tests results indicated that they were sensitive to binder type, aging time, and aggregate types.
S-N Curves in Pressure Vessel Steels Using Theory of Critical Distances

The S-N technology used in the ASME Code and similar design criteria includes both crack initiation and crack propagation phases of fatigue failure. Some of the pressure vessel construction codes have used the simplified fatigue initiation criterion based on stresses calculated at a distance of 0.05 mm from the surface crack. In this work such techniques have been assessed for pressure vessels in light of the theory of critical distances. This method has been used to generate S-N curves for typical materials such as medium carbon steels, nickel chrome steels and stainless steels. Separate techniques have been highlighted for obtaining the number of cycles to nucleate a crack from a free surface, and also the number of cycles to drive the nucleated surface crack to propagate to a length equal to the critical distance parameter related to the process zone. The two estimates on the number of cycles when combined constitute a reasonable estimate of the number of cycles to initiate a crack and form the basis of the S-N design curves. The method requires the material property information on elastic-plastic fracture toughness and short crack propagation characteristics including crack closure effects.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Ultrahigh-speed optical coherence tomography imaging and visualization of the embryonic avian heart using a buffered Fourier Domain Mode Locked laser

The embryonic avian heart is an important model for studying cardiac developmental biology. The mechanisms that govern the development of a four-chambered heart from a peristaltic heart tube are largely unknown due in part to a lack of adequate imaging technology. Due to the small size and rapid motion of the living embryonic avian heart, an imaging system with high spatial and temporal resolution is required to study these models. Here, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system using a buffered Fourier Domain Mode Locked (FDML) laser is applied for ultrahigh-speed non-invasive imaging of embryonic quail hearts at 100,000 axial scans per second. The high scan rate enables the acquisition of high temporal resolution 2D datasets (195 frames per second or 5.12 ms between frames) and 3D datasets (10 volumes per second). Spatio-temporal details of cardiac motion not resolvable using previous OCT technology are analyzed. Visualization and measurement techniques are developed to non-invasively observe and quantify cardiac motion throughout the brief period of systole (less than 50 msec) and diastole. This marks the first time that the preseptated embryonic avian heart has been imaged in 4D without the aid of gating and the first time it has been viewed in cross section during looping with extremely high temporal resolution, enabling the observation of morphological dynamics of the beating heart during systole.
Mirror, mirror on the wall… Who's the most opportunistic and compliant of them all?

Purpose – The present research aims to revisit the relationships between buyer dependence on suppliers, relational norms between two parties in a buyer-supplier dyad, and a buyer's tendency to either engage in opportunistic behaviors or comply with a supplier's request as an exception condition. The authors adopt a supplier's perspective to examine the supplier's anticipation of the buyer's behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the original studies conducted by Joshi and Arnold, the authors extend both works using a similar methodology but with a different data sample. The previously validated buyer-supplier relationship supply disruption scenario presented in the original studies is rewritten from a supplier's perspective to examine the supplier's anticipation of the buyer's behaviors. Subjects are asked to assume the role of an account manager within the key supplier firm for an electronic equipment manufacturer and to respond to how they deal with the supplier's expectation of how the buyin...
Darwin and his finches: The evolution of a legend

First collected by Charles Darwin in the Galapagos Archipelago, the Geospizinae, or "Darwin's finches," have rightly been celebrated as a classic instance of the workings of evolution through natural selection. Among birds, Darwin's finches are rivaled only by the Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanididae) as a microcosmic exemplification of the principle of adaptive evolutionary radiation. Although the Drepanididae have undergone more evolution and adaptive radiation than the Geospizinae, the latter are in some ways more valuable to omithologists. "Their special interest today," writes David Lack, "is in providing the best example, in birds, of an adaptive radiation into different ecological niches that is sufficiently recent, geologically speaking, for intermediate and transitional forms to have survived" (1964:178). The Galapagos Archipelago, where Darwin spent five weeks collecting these finches during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836), comprises sixteen principal islands located on the equator some six hundred miles west of Ecuador (Fig. 1). The islands, most of which are several million years old, are wholly volcanic in origin and have never been connected to the mainland. Darwin's finches were evidently one of the earliest colonists of the Galapagos, since their degree of evolutionary complexity thirteen species distributed among four genera is unmatched by any other avian group in this archipelago. A fourteenth species, belonging to yet another genus, inhabits Cocos Island, four hundred miles to the northeast. Unlike other endemic species of Galapagos birds, the Geospizinae no longer have any close relatives on the American mainland. They are therefore classed in their own separate tribe or subfamily, which is placed with the Emberizidae.1 Being one of the earliest colonists of the Galapagos Islands, the ancestral form of Darwin's finches found an environment in which the types of niches occupied by other, diverse birds on the continent
Resonance Raman depolarization in CdSe nanocrystals

Resonance Raman intensity and depolarization of the LO mode fundamental as a function of incident photon energy provide a means of determining the symmetry of the lowest optically excited states. Preliminary results for the first three states indicate that the first and third states are nondegenerate and the second state is doubly degenerate.
Surface chemistry of N2H4 on Si(100)-2 × 1

Abstract The adsorption and thermal decomposition of N2H4 on Si(100)-2 × 1 were investigated using XPS, UPS, HREELS and LEED. Upon adsorption of 0.2 L N2H4 on the surface at 100 K, partial dissociation of the NH bonds was indicated by the appearance of the Si-H stretching mode at 255 meV in HREELS and the 399.0 eV peak in N 1s XPS, which is assigned to the N2Hx (presumably N2H3) species. At lower dosages (D
Cost Effective Developments for Fabrication of Titanium Components

The major reason that there is not more widespread use of titanium and its alloys is the high cost. In this paper, developments in one cost effective approach to fabrication of titanium components - powder metallurgy - will be discussed under various aspects of this technology. The aspects to be discussed are the blended elemental approach, pre-alloyed techniques, additive layer manufacturing, metal injection molding, spray deposition and microwave sintering. A brief review of a number of low cost powder production processes is also presented.
Relief of nonhemispheric symptoms in low flow states by anterior circulation revascularization: A physiologic approach *

Abstract Operative intervention remains controversial for patients with transient nonhemispheric symptoms with occlusive disease of both the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations. In addition to the standard evaluation of these patients, we have used stable xenonenhanced computed tomographic mapping of cerebral blood flow (Xe/CT CBF). This relatively new and potentially widely available CBF methodology, by measuring approximately 30,000 CBF values within each of three CT levels, provides a readily interpretable means of evaluating extremes of hemodynamic compromise within any or all vascular territories. In the past 30 months, Xe/CT CBF studies in 300 patients with occlusive vascular disease have identified nine patients with global low flow and nonhemispheric symptoms (vertigo, lightheadedness, and/or blurred vision). Blood pressures determined by ocular pneumoplethysmography of Gee were markedly abnormal with reduced ocular/brachial ratios. Each patient had a combination of both segmental carotid and vertebrobasilar occlusive disease. Each patient had a flow-augmenting procedure performed on the anterior circulation in an attempt to improve global flow: carotid endarterectomy (two patients), subclavian—external carotid bypass (one patient), and superficial temporal artery—middle cerebral artery bypass (six patients). In each case disabling transient symptoms were relieved. There were no operative deaths, but one stroke occurred, probably as a result of a brief period of postoperative hypotension. Postoperative Xe/CT CBF studies show a long-term improved global CBF in all patients. (J VASC SURG 1987;5:289-97.)
The concept of the reflex in the description of behavior.

Resume Un examen de l'histoire du reflexe indique que la definition historique n'a jamais ete tout a fait justifiee et qu'elle comporte des interpretations occasionnelles (decrivant le reflexe comme inconscient, involontaire, non appris et ainsi de suite) lesquelles remontent a des presuppositions non scientifiques concernant le comportement des organismes. On offre une definition alternative, basee sur les seules evidences positives fournies par les donnees, ou le reflexe est defini comme une correlation observee de deux evenements, un stimulus et une response. L'emploi phyisologique du mot et la methode physiologique sont examines et l'on trouve qu'ils ne nuisent pas a cette interpretation. Ensuite on discute certains aspects du rapport entre le reflexe et la description du comportement. On considere que l'analyse est necessaire a cette description, et on examine les methodes de l'analyse. On considere certaines questions actuelles remontant a l'emploi de l'analyse et les trouve sans signification. On d...
Vacant Properties and Violence in Neighborhoods.

Objectives. Violence remains a significant public health issue in the United States. To determine if urban vacant properties were associated with an increased risk of assaultive violence and if this association was modified by important neighborhood institutions (e.g., schools, parks/playgrounds, police stations, and alcohol outlets). Methods. Longitudinal ecologic study of all 1816 block groups in Philadelphia. Aggravated assault and vacant property data were compiled yearly from 2002 to 2006 and linked to block groups. A mixed effects negative binomial regression model examined the association of vacant properties and assaults between and within block groups. Results. Among all block groups, 84% experienced at least one vacant property, 89% at least one aggravated assault, and 64% at least one gun assault. Between block groups, the risk of aggravated assault increased 18% for every category shift of vacant properties (IRR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.25, ). Parks/playgrounds and alcohol outlets potentially modified the association between vacant properties and aggravated assaults but only at low levels of vacancy. Conclusions. Increasing levels of vacancy were associated with increased risk of assaultive violence in urban block groups.
Maintaining coherent oscillations in a solid-state qubit via continuous quantum feedback control

We discuss the operation of the one-qubit quantum feedback loop, which may be used for initialization of a qubit in a solid-state quantum computer. The continuous monitoring of a quantum state, which makes the feedback possible, is done by means of a weak continuous measurement and processing of the obtained information via quantum Bayesian equations. The properly designed quantum feedback loop can keep the desired phase of a single-qubit quantum coherent oscillations for infinitely long time, even in presence of a dephasing environment. Various nonidealities reduce the fidelity of the feedback synchronization. We report our study of the effects of finite available bandwidth and time delay on the one-qubit quantum feedback performance, and also discuss the effect of environment-induced dephasing.
Analyzing correlated binary data using SAS

Abstract We discuss methods for analyzing repeated binary measurements on the same individual. In spite of the fact that the repeated measurements on the same individual are correlated the ordinary logistic regression maximum likelihood estimates (which assume that the repeated measures are independent) are consistent and asymptotically normal (K. Y. Liang and S. L. Zeger, Biometrika 73 , 13 (1986)). However, the inverse of the estimated information matrix (assuming independence) can give inconsistent estimates of the asymptotic variance of estimated parameters. We describe how to obtain the logistic regression estimates, as well as a consistent estimate of their covariance matrix, in SAS, with minimal matrix manipulations.
From the Center: The Spiral Group 1963–1966

Spiral, founded in 1963 by Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, and Charles Alston, was a group of black American artists in New York. This group has been credited with fostering Bearden’s entry into collage, launching a debate around the political function of abstraction and figuration, and incubating the early careers of Emma Amos and others. This essay looks at how Spiral’s trip to the March on Washington and its only exhibition demonstrate a lack of aesthetic and social cohesion in the group’s main collective activities, making it a typical example of post-1945 art collectives.
Christ and Caesar: Spengler and the Ethical Dilemma of Statecraft

The author investigates Status's provocative ideas on the ethical dilemma in statecraft, and then compares and contrasts his position with that of three of the most important contributors to the German tradition of Realpolitik; Frederick the Great, Hegel, and Ranke. He also discusses Status's complex relationship to Social Darwinism and the relationship of his ideas on statecraft to those of one of his most influential critics, Friedrich Meinecke. He argues that the superficial mood of Western triumphalism, precipitated by the crisis of Communism, is symptomatic of the recurrent failure in the United States to soberly reflect upon the prospects for significantly ameliorating the oft-times tragic nature of international political developments in the twentieth century. He claims that conversation with Status, the seminal historical pessimist of the twentieth century, helps to provide an imperfect but useful corrective to this optimistic perspective.
Preparation of hollow spherical articles

Abstract A novel method for making hollow articles in spherical and other shapes is outlined. These spheres are prepared by dissolving a film-forming polymer in a sublimable core solvent, shaping the blend while molten, cooling to solidify, and subsequently removing the solid core material as a vapour. The film-forming solid migrates to form a shell having the original core shape and a honeycomb-like porous wall. Inorganic hollow objects can also be made by introducing sinterable solids to the hot solution, subsequently heating to remove the organic portion and further heating to effect sintering. Size, strength, wall thickness, bulk density and surface characteristics can be controlled to suit the end use.
A numerical study of mixing enhancement in a supersonic combustor

This investigation describes an application of the Langley Research Center (LaRC) SPARK family of computer codes to swept and unswept ramp fuel injectors in a reacting highly vortical flow. Both mixing and reacting studies are performed. They show substantially higher mixing as well as flow losses for the swept ramp case. Computational results are compared both qualitatively and quantitatively with experimental results.
Mechanical Fragility of Human Neutrophilic Erythrophagocytes

SummaryNeutrophilic erythrophagocytes were produced in high percentages by sensitizing type A human red cells with anti-A isoagglutin in the presence of viable leucocytes. These erythrophagocytes were subject to mechanical trauma and found appreciably more fragile than neutrophiles which had not ingested red cells but which were treated in an identical manner. The possible significance of this decreased survival time is briefly discussed.
Authentication and Authorization Considerations for a Multi-tenant Service

Distributed cyberinfrastructure requires users (and machines) to perform some sort of authentication and authorization (together simply known as \emph{auth}). In the early days of computing, authentication was performed with just a username and password combination, and this is still prevalent today. But during the past several years, we have seen an evolution of approaches and protocols for auth: Kerberos, SSH keys, X.509, OpenID, API keys, OAuth, and more. Not surprisingly, there are trade-offs, both technical and social, for each approach.The NSF Science Gateway communities have had to deal with a variety of auth issues. However, most of the early gateways were rather restrictive in their model of access and development. The practice of using community credentials (certificates), a well-intentioned idea to alleviate restrictive access, still posed a barrier to researchers and challenges for security and auditing. And while the web portal-based gateway clients offered users easy access from a browser, both the interface and the back-end functionality were constrained in the flexibility and extensibility they could provide. Designing a well-defined application programming interface (API) to fine-grained, generic gateway services (on secure, hosted cyberinfrastructure), together with an auth approach that has a lower barrier to entry, will hopefully present a more welcoming environment for both users and developers.This paper provides a review and some thoughts on these topics, with a focus on the role of auth between a Science Gateway and a service provider.
Clinical patterns in asthma based on proximal and distal airway nitric oxide categories

The exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) signal is a marker of inflammation, and can be partitioned into proximal [J'awNO (nl/s), maximum airway flux] and distal contributions [CANO (ppb), distal airway/alveolar NO concentration]. We hypothesized that J'awNO and CANO are selectively elevated in asthmatics, permitting identification of four inflammatory categories with distinct clinical features. In 200 consecutive children with asthma, and 21 non-asthmatic, non-atopic controls, we measured baseline spirometry, bronchodilator response, asthma control and morbidity, atopic status, use of inhaled corticosteroids, and eNO at multiple flows (50, 100, and 200 ml/s) in a cross-sectional study design. A trumpet-shaped axial diffusion model of NO exchange was used to characterize J'awNO and CANO. J'awNO was not correlated with CANO, and thus asthmatic subjects were grouped into four eNO categories based on upper limit thresholds of non-asthmatics for J'awNO (≥ 1.5 nl/s) and CANO (≥ 2.3 ppb): Type I (normal J'awNO and CANO), Type II (elevated J'awNO and normal CANO), Type III (elevated J'awNO and CANO) and Type IV (normal J'awNO and elevated CANO). The rate of inhaled corticosteroid use (lowest in Type III) and atopy (highest in Type II) varied significantly amongst the categories influencing J'awNO, but was not related to CANO, asthma control or morbidity. All categories demonstrated normal to near-normal baseline spirometry; however, only eNO categories with increased CANO (III and IV) had significantly worse asthma control and morbidity when compared to categories I and II. J'awNO and CANO reveal inflammatory categories in children with asthma that have distinct clinical features including sensitivity to inhaled corticosteroids and atopy. Only categories with increase CANO were related to poor asthma control and morbidity independent of baseline spirometry, bronchodilator response, atopic status, or use of inhaled corticosteroids.
Firing properties and dendrotoxin-sensitive sustained potassium current in vestibular nuclei neurons of the hatchling chick

To understand the emergence of excitability in vestibular nuclei neurons, we performed patch-clamp recordings on brain slices to characterize the firing pattern on depolarization and the underlying currents in principal cells of the chick tangential nucleus. This study, on 0- to 3-day-old hatchlings, distinguishes electrophysiologically one main group of principal cells based on their response to depolarizing current pulses (300-400 ms) in current-clamp recordings. This group (90%; n=29) displayed nonaccommodating, repetitive firing on depolarization. The remaining cells fired one action potential at the beginning of the current pulse and then accommodated. In voltage-clamp recordings, a low-threshold, sustained, dendrotoxin-sensitive (DTX; 200 nM) potassium current, I(DS), was identified in both cell groups. In the repetitively firing principal cells, the mean proportion of the DTX-sensitive sustained current contributing to the total outward current was less than 20%. This percentage is significantly less than that reported (45%) in a previous study performed in late chick embryos (E16), in which most of the cells (83%; n=89) were accommodating neurons. Tonic firing is an important electrophysiological feature characterizing most mature, second-order vestibular neurons, since it allows the neurons to process signals from behaviorally relevant inputs. Accordingly, this study contributes toward defining the emergence of the mature pattern of neuronal excitability and the ionic currents involved.
Deaggregation in Oil-in-Water Emulsions I: Influence of Electrolytes

An emulsion system of 2 per cent hexadecane in water stabilized by 0.09 per cent dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate was prepared in an initially highly aggregated state. The rate of deaggregation of this system was found to be constant for approximately 20 days and influenced by electrolytes and temperature. In the presence of various sodium salts, deaggregation rate was reduced. The degree of reduction was found to be dependent upon the sodium ion concentration, an indication that the counter ion effect reduced the particle charge, resulting in a reduction of repulsive forces between particles. Rate of deaggregation increased as the temperature was increased, and the relative increase in rate of deaggregation was found to be greater in those systems containing higher electrolyte concentrations.
Phase transformation in FeSi2 nanowires

Abstract We report the formation of β-FeSi2 nanowires (NWs) on Si(1 1 0), produced by annealing s-FeSi2 NWs at 800 °C. These two phases of iron silicide are semiconducting and metallic, respectively, in thin film form. The s-phase NWs are formed by reactive deposition at 700 °C and have average dimensions of 5 nm thick×8 nm wide×3 μm long. Both are endotaxial, meaning they grow into the substrate along inclined Si{1 1 1} planes. The transformation temperature is higher than observed in thin films, due to the small thickness and large interface area of the NWs, which stabilize the s-phase.
The relationship between hardness and yield stress in irradiated austenitic and ferritic steels

Microhardness testing is an efficient means of assessing the mechanical properties of many materials, and is especially convenient for irradiated samples because of the small sampling volume requirement. This paper provides correlations between hardness and yield stress for both irradiated austenitic and ferritic steels by combining existing data in the open literature. For austenitic stainless steels, seven data sets were assembled and the change in yield stress was determined to simply be the change in hardness times a factor of 3.03. For the pressure vessels steels, five studies containing both hardness and yield stress data were combined. In ferritic steels, the correlation factor between change in yield stress and change in hardness was found to be 3.06. The similarity in correlation factors for austenitic and ferritic steels is consistent with previous theoretical and experimental results.
A sigma-delta ADC with decimation and gain control function for a Bluetooth receiver in 130 nm digital CMOS

We present a discrete-time second-order multibit sigma-delta ADC that filters and decimates by two the input data samples. At the same time it provides gain control function in its input sampling stage. A 4-tap FIR switched capacitor (SC) architecture was chosen for antialiasing filtering. The decimation-by-two function is realized using divided-by-two clock signals in the antialiasing filter. Antialiasing, gain control, and sampling functions are merged in the sampling network using SC techniques. This compact architecture allows operating the preceding blocks at twice the ADC's clock frequency, thus improving the noise performance of the wireless receiver channel and relaxing settling requirements of the analog building blocks. The presented approach has been validated and incorporated in a commercial single-chip Bluetooth radio realized in a 1.5 V 130 nm digital CMOS process. The measured antialiasing filtering shows better than 75 dB suppression at the folding frequency band edge. A 67 dB dynamic range was measured with a sampling frequency of 37.5 MHz.
Foliar nutrient and tree growth response of mixed-conifer stands to three fertilization treatments in northeast Oregon and north central Washington

Abstract The results of two studies evaluating nutrient uptake in mixed-conifer stands following fertilization are reported. The four species examined were Douglas-fir, grand fir, lodgepole pine and ponderosa pine. The fertilization treatments were 224 kg ha−1 nitrogen, 224 kg ha−1 nitrogen plus 112 kg ha−1 sulfur, and 224 kg ha−1 nitrogen plus 190.4 kg ha−1 potassium. Foliar nutrient concentrations, contents and ratios were analyzed, as well as four-year volume response. Douglas-fir showed both N and S deficiencies in control foliage samples, and produced significant growth response to the N + S treatment, but not to the N-alone treatment. Grand fir also showed foliar N and S deficiencies, but produced significant growth response to both N and N + S fertilization. This suggests that grand fir was better able to utilize N than Douglas-fir even under S-limiting conditions. Lodgepole pine showed deficient foliar N and S concentrations, and produced significant volume responses to N and N + K fertilization. Lodgepole volume response to N + S fertilization was highly variable, and appeared to be site-specific. Ponderosa pine did not show nutrient deficiencies for N or K, and did not respond significantly in either foliar K or S levels or in growth to N, N + K or N + S fertilization. This suggests that nutrient deficiency may not have been a factor limiting foliar nutrient response and growth for ponderosa pine.
New Theory of Coercive Force of Ferromagnetic Materials

We have enlarged the theory of the coercive force to include the wave nature of the ferromagnetic domain walls. Specifically, we obtain an explicit equation for the magnetic field required to move a 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} ferromagnetic domain wall across a planar defect such as a grain boundary. Using this expression, we have been able to classify successfully both low- and high-coercive-force materials.
Metals as synergistic fire retardants in polyethylene–silicone blends

The role of lead compounds in blends of polyethylene and silicone has been studied as a flame retardant. It has been established that these compounds work in the solid phase and that a gas-forming reaction is important to produce a foamed char which retards further combustion.