cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Biaxial Load Cell Design for Simultaneous Measurement of Horizontal and Vertical Spring Forces in Sinuous Spring-Supported Seating

Sinuous springs are the most commonly used method of seat support in upholstered furniture. The dynamics of load transference by these springs to the furniture frame members has not been thoroughly studied. Rational strength design of sinuous-type upholstered furniture frames, especially their seating support systems, requires information concerning the magnitudes and directions of spring loads on spring supporting rails. These values are important for frame designers to be able to adjust member sizes and materials and select appropriate fasteners. Presently, furniture design largely depends on trial and error. A load cell was conceived, designed, and verified which can determine horizontal and vertical components of a spring load. Preliminary results showed that the average initial spring tension on each load cell, with no external loading applied to the springs, was 46 lb. (205 N) horizontal. For some situations, the horizontal load components actually decrease when a person comes to rest on the seat. Vertical and horizontal loading is greatest on the center three springs of the seat which used five, equally spaced springs in this paper.
Relationships between Biomarkers of Exposure and Neurological Effects in a Group of Workers Exposed to Acrylamide

A study was performed among 41 workers heavily exposed to a mixture of acrylamide and acrylonitrile in the city of Xinxiang, Henan province, People's Republic of China. The workers underwent a complete medical and neurological examination and provided blood and urine for the determination of several biomarkers of exposure. Among the exposed workers, signs and symptoms indicating peripheral neuropathy were found with statistically significant increased frequencies compared to a group of controls from the same city. Based on neuropathic signs and symptoms and quantifiable indicators of peripheral nervous dysfunction, such as vibration thresholds and electroneuromyography measurements, a neurotoxicity index (NIn) specific for acrylamide-induced peripheral neuropathy was designed. The NIn, which adequately predicted the clinical diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy, was significantly correlated with the levels of mercapturic acids in 24-hr urine, hemoglobin adducts of acrylamide, accumulated in vivo doses of acrylamide, employment time, and vibration sensitivity. The NIn was correlated also with hemoglobin adducts of acrylonitrile, which was explained primarily by a correlation between acrylamide and acrylonitrile exposure in this workshop. However, it was not significantly correlated with momentary measures of exposure such as concentrations of acrylamide in the air or in the plasma of exposed workers. This study is the first in which adduct monitoring has been applied to the same group of individuals in which adverse health effects have been observed. The results seem to indicate that hemoglobin adducts are useful as predictors of acrylamide-induced peripheral neuropathy and that measurements of vibration thresholds are useful for identifying early neurotoxic effects in workplaces with hazardous exposures to acrylamide.
Ureilites - A critical review

The paper discusses the current state of understanding of the petrogenesis of ureilites (which are ultramafic rocks considered to be products of a common planetary differentiation process), identifies areas in which basic knowledge is lacking, and suggests directions for future work on these rocks. The petrographic, chemical, and isotopic characteristics of ureilites are summarized, and petrogenetic implications of these characteristics are discussed. Particular attention is given to the apparent contradiction between the igneous and primitive features of ureilites. Several recently proposed models for ureilite petrogenesis are evaluated in terms of how well they satisfy these constraints and how they attempt to resolve the conflict between the igneous and primitive features. It is concluded that none of the proposed models satisfy all constraints satisfactorily.
Intermediate-Term Outcome Of Mitral Reconstruction In Cardiomyopathy

Abstract Objective: Severe mitral regurgitation is a frequent complication of end-stage cardiomyopathy that contributes to heart failure and predicts a poor survival. We studied the intermediate-term outcome of mitral reconstruction in 48 patients who had cardiomyopathy with severe mitral regurgitation and were operated on between June 1993 and June 1997. Methods: Ages ranged from 33 to 79 years (63 ± 6 years) with left ventricular ejection fractions of 8% to 25% (16% ± 3%). All patients were receiving maximal drug therapy and were in New York Heart Association class III-IV with severe, refractory 4+ mitral regurgitation. Operatively, all 48 had undersized flexible annuloplasty rings inserted, 7 had coronary bypass grafts for incidental disease, 11 had prior bypass grafts, and 11 also had tricuspid valve repair. Results: One operative death occurred as a result of right ventricular failure. Postoperative transesophageal echocardiography revealed mild mitral regurgitation in 7 patients and no mitral regurgitation in 41. There were 10 late deaths, 2 to 47 months after mitral reconstruction. The 1- and 2-year actuarial survivals have been 82% and 71%. At a mean follow-up of 22 months, the number of hospitalizations for heart failure has decreased, and 1 patient has had heart transplantation. Significantly, New York Heart Association class improved from 3.9 ± 0.3 before the operation to 2.0 ± 0.6 after the operation. Twenty-four months after the operation, left ventricular volume and sphericity have decreased, whereas ejection fraction and cardiac output have increased. Conclusion: Whether this favorable modification of left ventricular function and geometry will persist remains unknown. However, mitral repair for cardiomyopathy with mitral regurgitation allows new strategies for these patients. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1998;115:381-8)
Five-Coordinate Dihydridosilyl Platinum(IV) Complexes Supported by a Chelating Monoanionic Nitrogen-Based Ligand

Complexes of Pt(IV) containing the bidentate ligand 3,5-diphenyl-2-(2-pyridyl)pyrrolide (PyPyr) were prepared. The ethylene complex PyPyrPt(C2H4)Cl (1) was treated with HSiEt3 or HSiEtMe2 to produce the Pt(IV) silyl dihydrides PyPyrPt(H)2SiEt3 (3) and PyPyrPt(H)2SiEtMe2 (4), respectively. The solid-state structure of 3, determined by X-ray crystallography, reveals a dimeric structure that forms via π-stacking between the PyPyr ligands. Addition of Lewis bases to 3 results in either coordination to generate an octahedral Lewis base adduct (with DMAP) or silane elimination to give square-planar Pt(II) Lewis base complexes (with phosphines). Complex 3 was also found to be an active hydrosilylation catalyst for the hydrosilylation of alkynes and terminal olefins with HSiEt3.
An Interplant Test of the Efficiency Wage Hypothesis

© 1991 by the President, and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Henry's Law Constants for Pesticides Measured as a Function of Temperature and Salinity

A wetted wall column device was used to determine air−water distribution coefficients [Henry's law constants (HLCs)] for pesticides: chlorpyrifos, trifluralin, endosulfans I and II, methyl parathion, metolachlor, and 2,4-D. The measured HLCs were all significantly higher than values calculated from published vapor pressure and solubilities except those for technical endosulfan and 2,4-D. With 2,4-D, however, the HLC was higher under acidic conditions. The effects of temperature and salinity were investigated using chlorpyrifos, trifluralin, and endosulfan I. Simulated seawater increased the HLCs from 1.5 to 2.4 times, which suggests a salting out effect. Natural water HLC values that were determined on Chesapeake Bay and Bering/Chukchi Sea water samples of microlayer and subsurface water were all lower than predicted values even after correction for temperature and salinity. Therefore, some as yet undefined factors in the aqueous phase appear to be responsible for these lowered HLCs. There was generally ...
Fractal characterization of wear-erosion surfaces

Wear erosion is a complex phenomenon resulting in highly distorted and deformed surface morphologies. Most wear surface features have been described only qualitatively. In this study wear surfaces features were quantified using fractal analysis. The ability to assign numerical values to wear-erosion surfaces makes possible mathematical expressions that will enable wear mechanisms to be predicted and understood. Surface characterization came from wear-erosion experiments that included varying the erosive materials, the impact velocity, and the impact angle. Seven fractal analytical techniques were applied to micrograph images of wear-erosion surfaces. Fourier analysis was the most promising. Fractal values obtained were consistent with visual observations and provided a unique wear-erosion parameter unrelated to wear rate.
Modeling and random vibration analysis of SDOF systems with asymmetric hysteresis

This study focuses upon SDOF systems having non-linear, hysteretic stress-strain behavior which is asymmetric about the initial linear elastic relationship. Differences between tensile and compressive strength witnessed in various materials, particularly in the unique stress-strain properties of the shape-memory alloy Nitinol, motivate the need for mathematical models capable of simulating asymmetric response. Two models are presented, and the specific capabilities of each are explored. Both models follow the rate-type format of the Bouc-Wen model, and offer previously unavailable stress-strain relationships. Response statistics under Gaussian White Noise input are obtained using the method of equivalent linearization. For asymmetric systems, a need for non-zero-mean analysis is evident, even under zero-mean input.
SUCCESS, TRUTH, AND MODERNISM IN HOLOCAUST HISTORIOGRAPHY: READING SAUL FRIEDLÄNDER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF METAHISTORY

This essay provides a close reading of Saul Friedlander's exceptionally successful comprehensive history of the Holocaust from the theoretical perspective of Hayden White's philosophy of history. Friedlander's The Years of Exlerminarion has been celebrated as the first synthetic history of the "Final Solution" that acknowledges the experiences of the victims of Nazi genocide. But Friedlander has not simply added the voices of the victims to a conventional historical account of the Holocaust. Instead, by displacing linear notions of time and space and subtly deconstructing conventional concepts of causality, he has invented a new type of historical prose that performs rather than analyzes the victims' point of view. Friedlander's innovation has particularly radical consequences for the construction of historical explanations. On the one hand, Friedlander explicitly argues that anti-Semitism was the single most important cause of the Holocaust. On the other hand, his transnational, multifaceted history of the "Final Solution" provides a wealth of data that escapes the conceptual grasp of his explicit model of causation. Friedlander chooses this radically self-reflexive strategy of historical representation to impress on the reader the existential sense of disbelief with which the victims experienced Nazi persecution. To Friedlander, that sense of disbelief constitutes the most appropriate ethical response to the Holocaust. Thus the narratological analysis of The Years of Extermination reveals that the exceptional quality of the book, as well as presumably its success, is the result of an extraordinarily creative act of narrative imagination. Or, put into terms developed by White, who shares Friedlander's appreciation of modernist forms of writing, The Years of Extermination is the first modernist history of the Holocaust that captures, through literary figuration, an important and long neglected reality of the "Final Solution.".
The Multiple Meanings of Play: Exploring Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About a Central Element of Early Childhood Education

This basic qualitative study explores preservice teachers' beliefs about what constitutes play. Research for this study focused on 7 preservice teachers enrolled in an early childhood through Grade 4 practicum course at a small private university in south central Texas. The findings of this study indicate that both on an individual and group level the 7 preservice teachers seemed to believe that play had multiple meanings. Even though commonalities existed among some of the attributes used by the preservice teachers to describe play, no two preservice teachers used the same combination of attributes to define play. Instead, based on the influences that had shaped their beliefs, they strung these attributes together in unique ways. Thus, for each of the preservice teachers, play seemed to have an individualized meaning consisting of multiple parts.
Solving inverse problems by decomposition, classification and simple modeling

Inverse problems appear in many areas ranging from microwave circuits to environmental studies and to robotics, just to mention a few. In this paper we propose a new approach to solving inverse problems based on decomposition of output space into cells, with the corresponding regions in the input space. Solutions are identified using a clustering method and the relationship between data in an output cell and the corresponding input region is modeled by a simple polynomial. It is shown that the proposed method achieves very high accuracy even with relatively high number of inputs and outputs. It is also extremely fast and is suitable for real-time control, where needed. The method is applied to a highly complex inverse problem in robot kinematics and its performance is demonstrated.
Reduction of concentration polarization in pervaporation using vibrating membrane module

A vibrating membrane module currently marketed for filtration applications was evaluated for the separation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from aqueous solutions by pervaporation. Preliminary screening experiments with three VOCs, three silicone membranes, and in the presence and absence of a surfactant were performed to determine if further consideration of the vibrating module for a field demonstration project was warranted. The primary process variables studied were vibrational amplitude and liquid flow rate. The vibrations greatly reduced concentration polarization in the system as inferred from an order of magnitude increase in the overall mass transport coefficient. Mass transfer coefficients for the vibrating module compared favorably with those for traditional spiral wound modules.
Self-Assembled Simple Hexagonal AB2 Binary Nanocrystal Superlattices: SEM, GISAXS, and Defects

Binary superlattices (BSLs) of sterically stabilized, hydrophobic, large (A; 11.5 nm diameter) Fe2O3 and small (B; 6.1 nm diameter) Au nanocrystals were assembled by slow evaporation of colloidal dispersions on tilted substrates. A detailed analysis of the BSL structure was carried out using transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). The BSLs were simple hexagonal (sh) AB2 superlattices (isostructural with the compound AlB2; space group 191, P6/mmm) of large nanocrystals occupying a simple hexagonal lattice with small nanocrystals in the interstitial spaces. SEM and GISAXS confirmed long-range order of the BSLs and GISAXS revealed that the superlattice is slightly contracted (8−12%) perpendicular to the substrate as a result of solvent drying in the deposition process. When the sh-AB2 superlattice deposits on a (100) plane, this shrinkage occurs in the [210] direction and changes the lattice symmetry to centered orthorhombic. Ad...
Monogenic functions in a biharmonic algebra

We present a constructive description of monogenic functions that take values in a commutative biharmonic algebra by using analytic functions of complex variables. We establish an isomorphism between algebras of monogenic functions defined in different biharmonic planes. It is proved that every biharmonic function in a bounded simply connected domain is the first component of a certain monogenic function defined in the corresponding domain of a biharmonic plane. An associative algebra of the second rank with identity commutative over the field of complex numbers C is called biharmonic if it contains a basis ee 12 , {} that satisfies the conditions
Addressing the trust asymmetry problem in grid computing with encrypted computation

Trust asymmetry is a core, albeit rarely discussed, problem in scalable computing. Techniques for protecting a host's operating system (and other processes) from a user's process are well understood and widely deployed. However, there is currently no way to protect the user's process from the OS. Hence, while the host's owner need not trust the user at all, the user must trust the owner completely. This, we argue, leads to practical limits to scalability for computation that, because of encryption, simply do not exist for communication. We argue that it is imperative for the grid computing community to address this problem using encrypted computation techniques. We then propose a simple mechanism for encrypted computation of Boolean circuits and show how it can likely be generalized for use in an object code translator.
Subseasonal climate variability for North Carolina, United States

Abstract Subseasonal trends in climate variability for maximum temperature (T max ), minimum temperature (T min ) and precipitation were evaluated for 249 ground-based stations in North Carolina for 1950–2009. The magnitude and significance of the trends at all stations were determined using the non-parametric Theil–Sen Approach (TSA) and the Mann–Kendall (MK) test, respectively. The Sequential Mann–Kendall (SQMK) test was also applied to find the initiation of abrupt trend changes. The lag-1 serial correlation and double mass curve were employed to address the data independency and homogeneity. Using the MK trend test, statistically significant (confidence level ≥ 95% in two-tailed test) decreasing (increasing) trends by 44% (45%) of stations were found in May (June). In general, trends were decreased in T max and increased in T min data series in subseasonal scale. Using the TSA method, the magnitude of lowest (highest) decreasing (increasing) trend in T max is − 0.050 °C/year (+ 0.052 °C/year) in the monthly series for May (March) and for T min is − 0.055 °C/year (+ 0.075 °C/year) in February (December). For the precipitation time series using the TSA method, it was found that the highest (lowest) magnitude of 1.00 mm/year (− 1.20 mm/year) is in September (February). The overall trends in precipitation data series were not significant at the 95% confidence level except that 17% of stations were found to have significant (confidence level ≥ 95% in two-tailed test) decreasing trends in February. The statistically significant trend test results were used to develop a spatial distribution of trends: May for T max , June for T min , and February for precipitation. A correlative analysis of significant temperature and precipitation trend results was examined with respect to large scale circulation modes (North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)). A negative NAO index (positive-El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index) was found to be associated with the decreasing precipitation in February during 1960–1980 (2000–2009). The incremental trend in T min in the inter-seasonal (April–October) time scale can be associated with the positive NAO index during 1970–2000.
The wetting and spreading of nanofluids on solids: Role of the structural disjoining pressure

Abstract The wetting and spreading behavior of pure liquids over solid surfaces changes if liquids contain nanosized spherical particles or surfactant micelles, globular proteins and macromolecules. Recent studies on the spreading of nanofluids have demonstrated the inadequacy of well-known concepts of the spreading and adhesion of pure liquids on solid surfaces in understanding nanofluid spreading behavior. This paper reviews the progress made in the wetting and spreading of nanofluids over solid surfaces with an emphasis on the complex interactions between the particles in the nanofluid and with the solid substrate, as well as the spreading of thin nanofluid films containing nanoparticles on hydrophilic surfaces driven by the structural disjoining pressure gradient. The spreading droplet advances as a series of distinct nanoparticle layers.
Dynamic Docking and Electron Transfer between Zn-myoglobin and Cytochrome b5

We present a broad study of the effect of neutralizing the two negative charges of the Mb propionates on the interaction and electron transfer (ET) between horse Mb and bovine cyt b5, through use of Zn-substituted Mb (ZnMb, 1) to study the photoinitiated reaction, (3ZnP)Mb + Fe3+cyt b5 → (ZnP)+Mb + Fe2+cyt b5. The charge neutralization has been carried out both by replacing the Mb heme with zinc-deuteroporphyrin dimethylester (ZnMb(dme), 2), which replaces the charges by small neutral hydrophobic patches, and also by replacement with the newly prepared zinc-deuteroporphyrin diamide (ZnMb(diamide), 3), which converts the charged groups to neutral, hydrophilic ones. The effect of propionate neutralization on the conformation of the zinc-porphyrin in the Mb heme pocket has been studied by multinuclear NMR with an 15N labeled zinc porphyrin derivative (ZnMb(15N-diamide), 4). The rates of photoinitiated ET between the Mb's (1−3) and cyt b5 have been measured over a range of pH values and ionic strengths. Isoth...
Bioactive constituents from the marine crinoid Himerometra magnipinna.

A new tetrabromospirocyclohexadienylisoxazole, (+)-12-hydroxyhomoaerothionin (1), together with the known compounds (+)-aerothionin (2) and crinemodin-rhodoptilometrin bianthrone (3), were isolated...
Critical Concentrations and Role of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) in the Crystallization of Gold Nanorods within Hexadecyltrimethyl Ammonium Bromide (CTAB)/Tetraoctyl Ammonium Bromide (TOAB) Micelles

Growth of gold nanorods is investigated in the presence of ascorbic acid in an aqueous mixed micelle solution of hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and tetraoctyl ammonium bromide (TOAB) through photochemical reduction of HAuCl4·3H2O using 300 nm Hg lamps. The role of the ascorbic acid concentration, [H2A], in the formation of gold nanorods was studied using UV−vis absorption and transmission electron microscopy. Gold nanorods were produced only if [H2A]/[Au3+] ≥ 0.75 in the reaction cell. For 0.75 6.2, the aspect ratio decreased, and shorter nanorods formed as [H2A] increased. These results are indicative of a lower and upper limit in the concentrations of ascorbic acid and its conjugate base (ascorbate anion) for the formation of gold nanorods. The roles of ascorbic acid and ascorbate ions are discussed, and these observations support the existence of soft templates formed by CTAB/TOAB micelles wh...
Factors controlling the fluoride content of planktonic foraminifera: An evaluation of its paleoceanographic applicability

Abstract This work is an assessment of the effects of seawater salinity and temperature on the incorporation of fluoride into calcitic shells of planktonic foraminifera and of the subsequent modification of shell chemistry by postdepositional dissolution. A strong correlation between the fluoride content of most planktonic species and their calcification depth was observed; deeper-calcifying foraminifera have lower fluoride content and heavier 18O composition, perhaps suggesting a temperature control on the partition coefficient. However, species deviations from this general trend and the absence of correlation between fluoride and sea-surface temperature within an individual species suggest that the coprecipitation of fluoride in foraminiferal calcite is more strongly controlled by biological processes rather than by simple chemical relationships. Foraminiferal fluoride shows weak or no correlation with sea-surface salinity. Core-top planktonic foraminifera from the eastern equatorial Atlantic (Sierra Leone Rise) show a substantial decrease of fluoride and, to a lesser extent, Mg content with increasing water depth (2931–5104 m). These decreasing trends with depth are attributed to selective dissolution, i.e., removal of the more dissolution-susceptible fraction with a different chemical composition than the residual, a process which previously has been suggested to account for variations in the isotopic composition of planktonic foraminifera. These findings indicate that foraminiferal fluoride cannot serve as a reliable tracer of oceanic paleo-temperature or salinity. It is possible, however, that fluoride may be useful for the study of dissolution in deep-sea sediments.
Introducing a New Paradigm for 21st-Century HRD Workforce Development and the Public Good

The ProblemWorkforce development is a pressing challenge in today’s society, yet the discipline of HRD is not contributing toward research or practice solutions. This gap is a product of current paradigm undergirding HRD—the paradigm implicitly favors nonworkforce development issues, problems, and challenges.The SolutionThe article calls for a paradigm shift in HRD to focus the work of the discipline on enhancing the public good through workforce development. The article provides an in-depth description of how paradigms can change in the social sciences, so that stakeholders (HRD researchers and practitioners) can take intentional actions to facilitate and nurture the change. Finally, the article provides specific research and practice suggestions for expanding HRD’s role in the workforce development domain.The StakeholdersHRD researchers and practitioners; employees and employers.
Comparison of 147 GeV/c π− p low transverse momentum hadron production with deep-inelastic leptoproduction

Distributions with respect toz andzR for the fastest and second fastest particles produced in both beam and target hemispheres from 147 GeV/c π− interactions are compared with each other and with the distributions for the fastest and second fastest particles from deepinelastic leptoproduction and Field-Feynman curves. The distributions and curves for the fastest particles are very similar, with the exception of the identified protons. Those for the second fastest are in agreement. Distributions with respect toz′R for the first through fourth fastest particles (excepting the protons) are all similar, suggesting that the shape of the distributions may be determined by the available longitudinal phase space.
Iodinated Glycerol and Thyroid Dysfunction: Four Cases and a Review of the Literature

Iodinated glycerol (Organidin) has recently been shown to be a useful adjunct in the symptomatic treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Over an 18-month period, we saw four patients with significant thyroid dysfunction resulting from iodinated glycerol use. All were elderly patients with COPD who had been started on standard doses of iodinated glycerol 4 to 24 months earlier. None of the patients had histories of thyroid disease. Three of the patients had symptomatic thyrotoxicosis and one had severe hypothyroidism while taking iodinated glycerol. We review the literature on the mechanisms and management of iodine-induced thyroid dysfunction and conclude the following: (1) all iodine-containing drugs may adversely affect thyroid function; (2) these compounds should be prescribed with extreme caution to any patients with underlying thyroid disease; and (3) all patients receiving iodine-containing medications should be closely monitored for evidence of thyroid dysfunction.
Sigmoid volvulus in a young patient

The case of an 18-year-old man with sigmoid volvulus and recurrent abdominal pain is presented. He was seen in the emergency department three times in a 4-month period, each time complaining of cramping left lower quadrant pain of one to two hours duration without vomiting or diarrhea. Physicial examination on each occasion revealed left lower quadrant tenderness without mass, guarding, or rebound. Radiologic evaluation on the first visit revealed sigmoid volvulus, which was reduced by barium enema. Despite identical clinical presentation on two subsequent occasions, radiologic studies showed no evidence of recurrent volvulus. During the ensuing two years, the patient has had no further symptoms.
SOME ASPECTS OF MULTICOMPONENT EXCESS FREE ENERGY MODELS WITH SUBREGULAR BINARIES

Abstract We have shown that two of the most commonly used multicomponent formulations of excess Gibbs free energy of mixing, those by Wohl (1946, 1953) and Redlich and Kister (1948), are formally equivalent if the binaries are constrained to have subregular properties, and also that other subregular multicomponent formulations developed in the mineralogical and geochemical literature are equivalent to, or higher order extensions of, these formulations. We have also presented a compact derivation of a multicomponent subregular solution leading to the same expression as derived by Helffrich and Wood (1989). It is shown that Wohl's multicomponent formulation involves combination of binary excess free energies, which are calculated at compositions obtained by normal projection of the multicomponent composition onto the bounding binary joins, and is, thus, equivalent to the formulation developed by Muggianu et al. (1975). Finally, following the lead of Hillert (1980), we have explored the limiting behavior of regular and subregular ternary solutions when a pair of components become energetically equivalent, and have, thus, derived an expression for calculating the ternary interaction parameter in a ternary solution from a knowledge of the properties of the bounding binaries, when one of these binaries is nearly ideal.
Heart failure after myocardial infarction: a review

Abstract Purpose The effects of survival after myocardial infarction on the prevalence of chronic heart failure have not been well characterized. We reviewed studies of the incidence, mortality, and predictors of heart failure after myocardial infarction, and suggest directions for further research. Methods and results We conducted a review of the literature from 1978 to 2000. Of 33 identified articles, 18 (55%) included heart failure as a primary endpoint. The mean in-hospital incidence of heart failure after myocardial infarction differed significantly by study design; it was highest in population-based studies and lowest in clinical trials (37% vs. 18%, P Conclusion The reported incidence of, and mortality from, heart failure after myocardial infarction varies by study design. Additional research on the etiology and prognosis of late heart failure after myocardial infarction is needed.
Influence of prohexadione calcium on pod yield and pod loss of peanut.

Excessive vegetative growth of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) can make digging and inverting operations less efficient. Reducing vine growth by applying a suitable plant growth regulator would be an efficient way to manage peanut vines. Pod yield, market grade factors, and gross economic value of peanut treated with prohexadione calcium (calcium salt of 3,5-dioxo-4 propionylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid) were evaluated at 19 sites in North Carolina during 1999 and 2000. Experiments were also conducted at two locations each during 1999 and 2000 to determine the effect of prohexadione Ca, digging date, and lifting (shaking peanut vines after digging to remove soil before combining) on combined yield, market grade factors, gross economic value, seed germination, and pod loss of the virginia market-type cultivar NC 12C. Prohexadione Ca at 140 g a.i. ha -1 , applied at 50% row closure and repeated 2 wk later, increased row visibility at harvest, pod yield by 310 kg ha -1 , and gross economic value of quota peanut by $223 ha -1 when pooled over 19 sites. Prohexadione Ca increased combined yield by 220 kg ha -1 and decreased percent pod loss by 4% regardless of digging date and lifting treatment compared with nontreated peanut. Prohexadione Ca did not affect maximum yield (sum of pods remaining in soil and on the soil surface and pods that were combined) or germination of peanut seed. These data suggest that increased combined yield noted following application of prohexadione Ca can be partially attributed to decreased pod loss.
Limited physical contact through a mesh barrier is sufficient for social reward-conditioned place preference in adolescent male rats

Adolescence is a period of enhanced sensitivity to social influences and vulnerability to drug abuse. Social reward in adolescent rats has been demonstrated with the conditioned place preference (CPP) model, but it is not clear whether limited contact with another rat without play is sufficient to produce reward. We investigated this issue using an apparatus containing two main compartment, each with a wire mesh barrier that allowed rats placed on either side of the barrier to have limited physical contact. Adolescent male rats were given two conditioning sessions/day for 2 or 8 days following baseline preference tests. Rats were placed into their preferred side alone for one daily 10-min session and into their initially non-preferred side (i.e., CS) for the other session during which they either had restricted or unrestricted physical access to another rat (Rat/Mesh or Rat/Phys, respectively) or to a tennis ball (Ball/Mesh or Ball/Phys, respectively) unconditioned stimulus (US). Only the Rat/Phys group exhibited CPP after 2 CS-US pairings; however, after 8 CS-US pairings, the Rat/Mesh and Ball/Phys groups also exhibited CPP. During conditioning, the rat US elicited more robust approach and contact behavior compared to the ball, regardless of physical or restricted access. The incidence of contact and/or approach increased as the number of exposures increased. The results suggest that the rank order of US reward efficacy was physical contact with a rat>limited contact with a rat>physical contact with a ball, and that rough-and-tumble play is not necessary to establish social reward-CPP. The findings have important implications for emerging drug self-administration models in which two rats self-administering drug intravenously have limited physical contact via a mesh barrier shared between their respective operant conditioning chambers.
PS2-01: A System for Computer-Assisted Rapid Case Ascertainment of Breast, Lung and Colorectal Cancers

result in recruitable subjects. The proposed presentation will describe our use of text classifiers as part of an efficient computer-assisted recruitment pipeline. Methods: We gathered corpora of pathology reports for breast, lung and colorectal tissue, each with a ‘gold standard’ assessment of whether they discussed a malignancy. We then randomly divided each into 75% training and 25% evaluation subsamples, trained the classifier on the training subsample and compared its categorizations to the gold standard in the evaluation subsample. We performed this training/evaluation cycle repeatedly, generating a distribution of predictive value statistics, thereby getting insight into the classifiers’ sensitivity to the particular random division of corpus reports. More importantly, it allowed us to experiment with tweaks to the classifiers and to the basic text processing that preceded them, and quickly evaluate whether they contributed to the predictive power of the classifier. Results: Several enhancements contributed to the accuracy of the system. In particular, taking multi-word phrases in addition to individual words as features increased the classifier’s predictive power. To our surprise, ‘stemming’ individual words (that is, reducing them to their root forms) did not have a perceptible effect. Once the classifiers were optimized, we were able to cover approximately 1600 path reports/week in approximately 30 minutes of a Research Specialist’s time. As an added benefit, when the RS found that a report was flagged in error, the classifier was trained on that report, thereby improving its future performance. Conclusions: Text classifiers are an effective tool for optimizing the use of staff time in rapidly ascertaining cancer cases for recruitment. Furthermore, because the classifiers’ training (including the corrections made during the study) is easily reduced to a file on disk, it becomes an independent asset, useful for future studies needing to do rapid ascertainment of cancer.
C4A gene deletion and HLA associations in black Americans with systemic lupus erythematosus

In North America and European Caucasoids with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) there is an increased frequency of a C4A, CYP21A gene deletion, largely associated with the HLA-B8,DR3,C4A*QO extended haplotype. There have been no consistent HLA associations reported for SLE in blacks, although an increased frequency of serologically determined C4A null alleles has been reported in two studies. We studied 79 black American SLE patients and 68 black controls by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis to determine if a C4A gene deletion was a genetic risk factor for SLE. Moreover, the nature of the deletion and any HLA phenotypic associations were sought. Nineteen of 79 (24%) patients compared to 5 of 68 (7.4%) controls had a phenotypic C4A,CYP21A gene deletion (P = .005; RR = 4). A homozygous deletion in four patients gave a genotypic frequency of 23/158 (14.5%) SLE patients vs 5/136 (3.7%) controls (P = .001; RR = 4.5). The deletion was associated with HLA-DR2 (P = .03) and HLA-DR3 (P = .03). Moreover, all subjects with the deletion had HLA-DR2 or DR3 (P = 7.7 x 10(-6). HLA-B44 was also associated with the deletion (P = .02), and eight of the nine HLA-B44 positives also carried HLA-DR2. HLA-B8 approached significance (P = .08) and was always accompanied by HLA-DR3. Finally, this black population demonstrated a unique C4B gene size polymorphism with 80% C4B "short" as compared to the 40% C4B "short" frequency reported in whites. We conclude that a large C4A,CYP21A gene deletion, particularly associated with the HLA-B44, -DR2, and -DR3 alleles, is the strongest genetic risk factor thus far identified for SLE susceptibility in black Americans. Furthermore, the unique preponderance of the C4B "short" gene form may be a factor in the actual formation of the deletion.
Portfolios in Teacher Education

Les AA. proposent une analyse des portefeuilles dans le cadre de la formation des enseignants. Ils expliquent comment les portefeuilles peuvent servir a l'evaluation des programmes de formation, ils decrivent les characteristiques d'un portefeuille educatif et presentent la maniere dont un portefeuille se definit et se developpe
The Basel 2 Approach to Bank Operational Risk: Regulation on the Wrong Track

The banking industry has adopted an approach to managing financial risk based on economic capital, the amount of capital necessary to achieve a specified level of protection against financial ruin. In the New Basel Capital Accord, regulators have recently proposed capital regulation to reduce operational risk. In this article, the author challenges the rationale for employing a capital charge to mitigate operational risk.
Inelastic interactions of 11.4 GeV/c π--mesons in hydrogen

Production cross-sections and angular distributions of Λ and K° particles produced by 11.4GeV/c π-mesons in hydrogen have been measured. A systematic investigation was made of all two-body decays of unstable neutral particles. No events inconsistent with γ, Λ, or K° were found. Production cross-sections, angular distributions and effective mass distributions of π-mesons produced in 4-prong events were also measured. No evidence for dominance of any high-mass multi-pion resonance was found. Both the pion production and strange-particle production reactions demonstrated peripheral characteristics in that the baryon was strongly peaked backward in the center of mass. The average transverse momentum was observed to be a monotically increasing function of mass. The experimental total interaction cross-section was (25.3±1.5) mb. The effect of the pion-nucleon T=3/2 isobar was clearly observed.
Exaggerated peripheral responses to catecholamines contributes to stress-induced hyperglycemia in the ob/ob mouse

The present study investigated the contribution of altered sympathetic reactivity to the stress-induced hyperglycemia observed in the c57BL/6J (ob/ob) mouse, an animal model of type II diabetes. Blood glucose and insulin responses to sympathetic agonist and antagonist administration were evaluated in ob/ob mice and their nondiabetic, lean (ob/?) littermates. In addition, the ability of nutritional status to modify these responses was determined. These studies demonstrated that epinephrine administration to ob/ob mice caused an exaggerated increase in blood glucose and decrease in plasma insulin in ob/ob mice relative to lean littermates. The dose response curve for epinephrine-induced increases in blood glucose were shifted to the left, and the duration of the blood glucose and plasma insulin responses was longer. Differences between ob/ob mice and their nondiabetic littermates were greater when animals were tested in the fasted state. In addition, administration of the alpha adrenergic antagonist phentolamine caused a larger increase in plasma insulin in ob/ob mice than was observed in lean littermates. These results suggest that altered peripheral responses to sympathetic stimuli contribute to stress-induced hyperglycemia in ob/ob mice, and raise the possibility that altered sympathetic function is an etiologic factor in development of diabetes in these animals.
Non-Stationary Ordering Policies for Multi-Item Inventory Systems Subject to a Single Resource Constraint

This paper studies the multi-item inventory problem with a single constraint. Two well-known approaches to this problem are the Lagrangian method and the fixed-cycle approach. Both of these methods generate stationary ordering policies. A competing approach is presented here that generates non-stationary ordering policies, with order quantities that vary over time. These non-stationary policies are, in all cases, preferred to those generated by the Lagrangian approach, and in some cases preferred to those generated by the fixed-cycle approach. Computational results comparing the three methods are also given.
Delta-sigma modulator based mixed-signal BIST architecture for SoC

This paper proposes a mixed-signal Built-In Self-Test (BIST) architecture based on a second-order delta-sigma modulator. This modulator, which incorporates a design-for-testability (DfT) circuitry, is capable of testing/characterizing itself using digital stimulus. This characteristic is attractive for implementing the modulator as an on-chip analog signal analyzer. When applied for mixed-signal BIST, the modulator-based analog signal analyzer is first characterized using digital stimulus. Then the analyzer is utilized to characterize the stimulus generator in the BIST application. Some critical implementation issues of the BIST architecture are also discussed.
Insulin Receptor Substrate-2 Mediated Insulin-like Growth Factor-I Receptor Overexpression in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma through Protein Kinase Cδ

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PCA) is an almost invariably fatal disease. Recently, it has been shown by several groups as well as ours that insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-IR) overexpression is related to higher proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, and highly invasive pancreatic tumors. Several studies have been carried out to understand the pathways that lead to growth factor-mediated signaling, but the molecular mechanism of receptor overexpression remains mostly unknown. Treatment with neutralizing antibodies or a specific kinase inhibitor against IGF-IR could block the receptor expression in PCA cells. Furthermore, we also showed that insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-2, but not IRS-1, is involved in regulation of IGF-IR expression, which is most likely not transcriptional control. By blocking mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway with rapamycin as well as other biochemical analysis, we defined a unique regulation of IGF-IR expression mediated by protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) and mTOR pathway. Moreover, we showed that the down-regulation of IGF-IR expression due to IRS-2 small interfering RNA can be compensated by overexpression of dominant-active mutant of PKCdelta, suggesting that PKCdelta is downstream of IGF-IR/IRS-2 axis. Overall, these findings suggest a novel regulatory role of IRS-2 on the expression of IGF-IR through PKCdelta and mTOR in pancreatic cancer cells.
Food reinforcement, energy intake, and macronutrient choice

Background: Food is a powerful reinforcer that motivates people to eat. The relative reinforcing value of food (RRVfood) is associated with obesity and energy intake and interacts with impulsivity to predict energy intake. Objective: How RRVfood is related to macronutrient choice in ad libitum eating tasks in humans has not been studied; however, animal research suggests that sugar or simple carbohydrates may be a determinant of reward value in food. This study assessed which macronutrients are associated with food reinforcement. Design: Two hundred seventy-three adults with various body mass indexes were assessed for RRVfood, the relative reinforcing value of reading, food hedonics, energy intake in an ad libitum taste test, and usual energy intake derived from repeated 24-h dietary recalls. Multiple regression was used to assess the relation between predictors of total energy and energy associated with macronutrient intake after control for age, sex, income, education, minority status, and other macronutrient intakes. Results: The results showed that the relative proportion of responding for food compared with reading (RRVprop) was positively related to body mass index, laboratory-measured energy intake, and usual energy intake. In addition, RRVprop was a predictor of sugar intake but not of total carbohydrate, fat, or protein intake. Conclusion: These results are consistent with basic animal research showing that sugar is related to food reward and with the hypothesis that food reward processes are more strongly related to eating than are food hedonics. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00962117. Am J Clin Nutr 2011;94:12–8.
Increased Prevalence of Smaller and Denser LDL Particles in Asian Indians

Abstract —There is increasing evidence to believe that Asian Indians are at an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), which cannot be attributed to the common risk factors. Individuals with small, dense LDL phenotype are also known to be at increased risk of CHD. Our objective was to examine whether the prevalence of smaller and denser LDL particles is increased in Asian Indians. Thirty-nine Asian Indians (22 men and 17 women), aged 25 to 45 years, were matched with 39 whites for age and gender. Cholesterol profiles of lipoprotein classes and LDL subclasses were measured using the Vertical Auto Profile–II (VAP-II) and LDL-VAP-II methods, respectively. Six LDL subclasses (LDL1 to LDL6) have been identified using the LDL-VAP-II, with LDL1 and LDL6, respectively, being the most and least buoyant subclasses. The prevalence of small, dense LDL type (subjects with major LDL subclass 5 or 6) was significantly higher in Asian Indians compared with white subjects (44% versus 21%; P P P P