cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Creditors and the New Corporate Governance

This paper challenges the conventional view of corporate governance that focuses exclusively on corporate law as the dominant mechanism by which investors exercise control over corporate affairs. Creditors - especially banks and other private lenders - play an enormously important role in influencing management. Only a handful of legal scholars have noted the governance role that private lenders play. Even these few scholars focus predominantly on the distress context, observing creditor influence only after a borrower firm has lapsed into financial distress. In my view, these scholars underestimate private lenders' sway over corporate managers. The distress focus casts the influence of private debt as episodic, exceptional, and dramatic. Creditor influence matters only when a firm is in peril. I argue just the opposite - that creditor influence is pervasive. I highlight the governance role of creditors, relying on empirical studies showing the effects of private debt on corporations' financing and investment decisions, operational matters, and even officer retention. I detail the institutional and contractual features of private debt that constrain managerial discretion. I also identify important theoretical and policy implications for corporate and debtor-creditor law.
Oncologic Outcomes of Robotic Left Pancreatectomy for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Single-Center Comparison to Laparoscopic Resection.

BackgroundFeasibility and safety of robotic surgery for pancreatic disease has been well demonstrated; however, there is scarce literature on long-term oncologic outcomes. We compared perioperative...
What Does Criminological Theory Suggest About Sleeping Away from Home

This chapter reviews the criminological theories that can be applied to hotel and home-sharing security, specifically, defensible space theory, rational choice theory, and routine activity theory. First, defensible space theory suggests homes can be designed to be more secure, but residents must play a role in providing security. From a position of defensible space, home sharing not only presents multiple safety and security concerns to the community but also suggests some solutions on the part of the community. Second, rational choice theory suggests hotel and home-sharing crime can be prevented by reducing opportunities for crime and increasing punishment for bad acts. Based on rational choice theory, would-be criminals can be deterred if hotels reduce opportunity for crime with the use of security measures such as surveillance cameras, security guards, and key card access to guest rooms/floors. Likewise, both home-sharing guests and hosts can “harden their targets” to reduce risk. Third, routine activity theory suggests that guests of both hotels and home shares can thwart crime by keeping motivated offenders away from targets and increasing the presence of capable guardians. Overall, these theories suggest why the home-sharing setting is more vulnerable to crime of hotels, and how steps can be taken to reduce the risk of crime occurring.
Language and compiler design for streaming applications

High-performance streaming applications are a new and distinct domain of programs that is increasingly important. The StreamIt language provides novel high-level representations to improve programmer productivity and program robustness within the streaming domain. At the same time, the StreamIt compiler aims to improve the performance of streaming applications via stream-specific analysis and optimizations. In this paper, we motivate, describes and justify the StreamIt language which include a structured model of streams, a messaging system for control, and a natural textual syntax.
Molecular Imaging of Glucose Metabolism for Intraoperative Fluorescence Guidance During Glioma Surgery.

This study evaluated the use of molecular imaging of fluorescent glucose analog 2-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino)-2-deoxyglucose (2-NBDG) as a discriminatory marker for intraoperative tumor border identification in a murine glioma model. 2-NBDG was assessed in GL261 and U251 orthotopic tumor-bearing mice. Intraoperative fluorescence of topical and intravenous 2-NBDG in normal and tumor regions was assessed with an operating microscope, handheld confocal laser scanning endomicroscope (CLE), and benchtop confocal laser scanning microscope (LSM). Additionally, 2-NBDG fluorescence in tumors was compared with 5-aminolevulinic acid–induced protoporphyrin IX fluorescence. Intravenously administered 2-NBDG was detectable in brain tumor and absent in contralateral normal brain parenchyma on wide-field operating microscope imaging. Intraoperative and benchtop CLE showed preferential 2-NBDG accumulation in the cytoplasm of glioma cells (mean [SD] tumor-to-background ratio of 2.76 [0.43]). Topically administered 2-NBDG did not create sufficient tumor-background contrast for wide-field operating microscope imaging or under benchtop LSM (mean [SD] tumor-to-background ratio 1.42 [0.72]). However, topical 2-NBDG did create sufficient contrast to evaluate cellular tissue architecture and differentiate tumor cells from normal brain parenchyma. Protoporphyrin IX imaging resulted in a more specific delineation of gross tumor margins than intravenous or topical 2-NBDG and a significantly higher tumor-to-normal-brain fluorescence intensity ratio. After intravenous administration, 2-NBDG selectively accumulated in the experimental brain tumors and provided bright contrast under wide-field fluorescence imaging with a clinical-grade operating microscope. Topical 2-NBDG was able to create a sufficient contrast to differentiate tumor from normal brain cells on the basis of visualization of cellular architecture with CLE. 5-Aminolevulinic acid demonstrated superior specificity in outlining tumor margins and significantly higher tumor background contrast. Given the nontoxicity of 2-NBDG, its use as a topical molecular marker for noninvasive in vivo intraoperative microscopy is encouraging and warrants further clinical evaluation.
Pattern Census: A Characterization of Pattern Usage in Early Programming Courses

Expert programmers rarely think at the syntactic level. Instead, they think at higher levels of abstraction, mentally "chunking" groups of syntactic elements into a single abstraction. Explicitly teaching common "chunks" in early programming courses has been proposed in the research literature using the term "pattern-oriented instruction", but this practice appears not to be emphasized, nor is there a consensus about which patterns to teach or in what order. In this paper, we explore the set of patterns that students are expected to learn, independent of whether they are taught explicitly or must learn implicitly. Specifically, we studied the instructor solutions to homework and exams from 12 introductory CS courses from nine universities, identifying the presence of 15 patterns throughout the semester. We present results about the relative frequency of the patterns and the order in which the patterns tend to be introduced.
The allotetraploidization of maize : Part 1: The physical basis - differential pairing affinity.

Allotetraploidization is the creation of artificial allotetraploids. Allotetraploidization of maize can be achieved by restructuring a maize genome so that its chromosomes will not pair with those of the normal maize genome. The restructuring can be done by concentrating induced or naturally occurring visible and cryptic chromosome aberrations and qualitatively different genetic material into a single line by a recurrent selection type of breeding program. The basis of allotetraploidization is the presence of differential pairing affinity between normal and restructured chromosomes. Experiments demonstrate that differential pairing affinity factors occur naturally in exotic races and in standard corn belt inbred lines and that they may be readily induced by X-irradiation and chemical mutagens.
Diving with Ecobutches and Ecological Feminist Futures: The Matrix of Deep Time, Keening Earth Grief, Queer Kinship and Possibility World-Weaving

“Who are ecobutches?” you might ask. Who are these ancient, maverick, contemporary boundary-crossers and Earth-carers? What are the possibilities for irrupting into multivocal or multi-presencing co-evolution and co-embodiment with/as the living Earth system(s)? How are human healers queering Earth? (Note that throughout I use a generic she/her for ecobutch, though humans and others of any or no gender may embody ecobutch-ness. This is considered a feminist practice of inversion to highlight the often unconsidered practice of bias [DeZeeuw-Spencer, 2011].) What I hope to explore in this paper are some responses to these questions. Who is an ecobutch? What are they up to? What are their constellating and animating motivations and inspirations? What is coming alive in them that might provide guidance and accountability for ecological masculinities and ecological feminisms emerging in this complex post-post-post world? What might the boundary-crossing savvy of the ecobutch offer in this matrixial time, beyond fixed identities, of reciprocity and co-poiesis, co-creating and co-becoming? What theories converge to support the work of the ecobutches? What theorising from ecofeminism and other interesting arenas might inform and affirm the work of the ecobutches, from matrixial theory, ecofeminisms and queer ecologies? And what might this offer those who are concerned about the world? To protect, to defend, to nurture, to love, to illuminate, to become, to generate, to ally, to reconnect…
Dynamic Nuclear Polarization and High‐Resolution NMR of Solids

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Theory 3 Applications of DNP NMR 4 Summary, Conclusions, and Perspectives 5 Biographical Sketch Related Articles
Amplification of optical activity by remote chiral functionality: Circular dichroism of bilirubin exo-vinyl N-acetyl-L-cysteine adducts

Abstract Optically active diastereomers prepared by Markovnikov addition of N-acetyl-L-cysteine to the exo -vinyl group of bilirubin-IXα show intense, bisignate circular dichroism spectra in dimethylsulfoxide, as predicted for folded, enantiomeric pigment conformers.
Fast pulsed heating and impact cooling of thermal microactuators

This paper reports techniques to rapidly heat and cool thermal actuators in microseconds. Rapid temperature changes can lead to high-speed motion and many-fold improvement in load power delivery compared to that achievable with conventional thermal microactuator devices. Rapid heating is achieved by capacitor discharge across the heated element. Rapid cooling is achieved by impacting thin cold plungers that remove heat from hot actuator beams by ultrafast diffusion. We have fabricated and preliminary tested polysilicon thermal actuators based on these principles.
Signal Integration in Human Visual Speed Perception

Object motion in natural scenes results in visual stimuli with a rich and broad spatiotemporal frequency spectrum. While the question of how the visual system detects and senses motion energies at different spatial and temporal frequencies has been fairly well studied, it is unclear how the visual system integrates this information to form coherent percepts of object motion. We applied a combination of tailored psychophysical experiments and predictive modeling to address this question with regard to perceived motion in a given direction (i.e., stimulus speed). We tested human subjects in a discrimination experiment using stimuli that selectively targeted four distinct spatiotemporally tuned channels with center frequencies consistent with a common speed. We first characterized subjects' responses to stimuli that targeted only individual channels. Based on these measurements, we then predicted subjects' psychometric functions for stimuli that targeted multiple channels simultaneously. Specifically, we compared predictions of three Bayesian observer models that either optimally integrated the information across all spatiotemporal channels, or only used information from the most reliable channel, or formed an average percept across channels. Only the model with optimal integration was successful in accounting for the data. Furthermore, the proposed channel model provides an intuitive explanation for the previously reported spatial frequency dependence of perceived speed of coherent object motion. Finally, our findings indicate that a prior expectation for slow speeds is added to the inference process only after the sensory information is combined and integrated.
Coarse-Graining Methodologies for Dislocation Energetics and Dynamics

Recent computational advances have permitted mesoscale simulations, wherein individual dislocations are the objects of interest, of systems containing on the order of 106 dislocation [1, 2, 3, 4]. While such simulations are beginning to to elucidate important energetic and dynamical features, it is worth noting that the large-scale deformation response in, for example, well-worked metals having dislocation densities ranging between 1010–1014/m2 can be accurately described by a relatively small number of macrovariables. This reduction in the number of degrees of freedom required to characterize plastic deformation implies that a homogenization, or coarse-graining, of variables is appropriate over some range of length and time scales. Indeed, there is experimental evidence that, at least in some cases, the mechanical response of materials depends most strongly on the macroscopic density of dislocations [5] while, in others, the gross substructural details may also be of importance.
Ultrastructural and cytochemical manifestations of protein synthesis in the peripheral sarcoplasm of denervated and newborn skeletal muscle fibres.

In muscle fibres of the rat diaphragm, there is widespread accumulation of free ribosomes and rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum in the subsarcolemmal sarcoplasm at 28 days following section of the phrenic nerve. A corresponding accumulation of basophilic material is visible at the periphery of the fibres when examined with the light microscope. Both the ribosomes and the basophilic material are removed by preliminary treatment with ribonuclease. Fibres comprising the diaphragm of the newborn rat display similar aggregations of subsarcolemmal ribosomes and peripheral basophilia. These ultrastructural and cytochemical manifestations of protein synthesis correspond closely in time to the well documented ‘supersensitivity’ to acetylcholine, which occurs along the entire length of muscle fibres in the newborn and denervated rat diaphragm. It is suggested, therefore, that this protein-synthetic machinery, which is concentrated at the cell surface, is involved in the formation of new receptors.
SARA three years later. Emergency physician's knowledge, beliefs, and actions.

Objective: Investigate Emergency Physicians' knowledge about the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) Title III legislation, passed by the United States Congress in 1986, and to determine the factors contributing to their level of preparedness in dealing with patients exposed to toxic chemicals. Methods: A 115-item questionnaire was mailed to the medical directors of all emergency departments (EDs) in the State of New York. The results of the cross-sectional survey were analyzed using standard statistical methods. Results: One hundred and eighty-seven (72%) of the directors of EDs in New York State responded to the survey. Three years after SARA was enacted, only 33% of the directors had heard about this legislation. Only 18% had been invited to attend the meetings of the Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC). Sixty percent of the directors knew whether or not the LEPC had devised plans that defined a role for their EDs in responding to environmental emergencies. This knowledge about community planning mainly had an effect on preparedness of the EDs. Preparedness also was predicted by how recently the EDs had treated patients exposed to toxic chemicals, the perception that emergency physicians had a legitimate role in planning for and responding to chemical emergencies, and how often emergency physicians had attended continuing education courses about hazardous materials. Conclusion: Despite the finding that some emergency physicians are involved in community preparations, two main problems persist in planning a medical response to environmental emergencies. First, the ED directors generally are unaware of the legislation that mandates these preparations and are not interacting with community planners. Second, there is not full involvement by the local EDs in the LEPC planning efforts. Recommendations: A procedure is needed to disseminate information about legislation which affects emergency physicians, such as SARA, and about regional planning for environmental emergencies. Dissemination should include education about the professions' role in planning for and providing care for patients exposed to toxic chemicals.
Teaching Religion in Public Schools: Review of Warren A. Nord, Does God Make A Difference?

In this review of Warren Nord's Does God Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and Universities, Walter Feinberg provides a detailed analysis of Nord's argument that the study of religion should be constitutionally mandated as a corrective to the overwhelmingly secular course of study offered in contemporary public schools and universities. Nord bases his claim on both constitutional and educational grounds. His constitutional argument is that, due to their secular bias, schools fail in their requirement to take a neutral stance toward religion; he contends that this creates a school environment hostile to religion that thus requires a legal remedy. Nord's primary educational argument is that religion courses are needed to counterbalance the secular bias dominant in public schools and universities. Feinberg delineates how Nord's constitutional argument fails and how his educational argument has serious flaws and contradictions. According to Feinberg, a stronger argument for mandating courses on religion in schools would be that because public schools exist in a religiously infused environment, it is important for students to be exposed to alternative understandings that promote reflection on and criticism of one's own beliefs, including religious beliefs. Feinberg concludes that if religion is to be taught in the public schools, it needs to be justified on civic rather than religious grounds.
Principles Of Vibration Isolation

Basic principles of vibration isolation are presented using a simple single-degree-of-freedom-model. This model is used to explain the design of linear spring and damper isolation systems. Governing equations for air spring isolators are reviewed. The relationship between system isolation efficiency and table or platform performance is shown. Some problems with current configurations of vibration isolation systems are analyzed.
Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3 (LAG-3) Negatively Regulates Environmentally-Induced Autoimmunity

Environmental factors including drugs, mineral oils and heavy metals such as lead, gold and mercury are triggers of autoimmune diseases in animal models or even in occupationally exposed humans. After exposure to subtoxic levels of mercury (Hg), genetically susceptible strains of mice develop an autoimmune disease characterized by the production of highly specific anti-nucleolar autoantibodies, hyperglobulinemia and nephritis. However, mice can be tolerized to the disease by a single low dose administration of Hg. Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3 (LAG-3) is a CD4-related, MHC-class II binding molecule expressed on activated T cells and NK cells which maintains lymphocyte homeostatic balance via various inhibitory mechanisms. In our model, administration of anti-LAG-3 monoclonal antibody broke tolerance to Hg resulting in autoantibody production and an increase in serum IgE level. In addition, LAG-3-deficient B6.SJL mice not only had increased susceptibility to Hg-induced autoimmunity but were also unresponsive to tolerance induction. Conversely, adoptive transfer of wild-type CD4+ T cells was able to partially rescue LAG-3-deficient mice from the autoimmune disease. Further, in LAG-3-deficient mice, mercury elicited higher amounts of IL-6, IL-4 and IFN-γ, cytokines known to play a critical role in mercury-induced autoimmunity. Therefore, we conclude that LAG-3 exerts an important regulatory effect on autoimmunity elicited by a common environmental pollutant.
Optimization and validation of chiral high-performance liquid chromatographic method for analysis of a fibrinogen (gpIIb/IIIa) receptor antagonist.

Abstract A chiral HPLC separation on an α 1 -acid glycoprotein (AGP) column was developed for the separation of roxifiban, a fibrinogen receptor antagonist, from its related chiral impurities. The proposed method was optimized for mobile phase buffer concentration, organic modifier, and temperature using experimental design. The method was then validated for use in release testing of the roxifiban drug substance.
THE CONTINGENT NEGATIVE VARIATION: SOME METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN THE RECORDING OF SHIFTS IN STEADY POTENTIALS

The various methods that have been used in recording of the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) were examined with reference to developing selection criteria. Findings revealed that chopper amplifiers with condenser-coupled input circuits and DC amplifiers with zero-suppression circuits between stages showed shifts in output level which were the result of changes in resistance of the input circuit. As these artifacts were not negligible with reference to commonly-reported CNV amplitudes, it was concluded that the two methods should be avoided in recording of low-level shifts in steady potentials like the CNV.
Reconfiguring the Business School: A Normative Approach

Abstract This article discusses how business schools can be more entrepreneurial. We believe that the revised accreditation standards of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) reflect a marketplace for business school products and resources that has become much more competitive. Therefore, we argue that institutions that continually assess the value they create and develop the mechanisms and mentality to accommodate continuous change will have the best chances for long-term survival and growth. The observations and recommendations of this article are based on our own and other authors' experiences with the fundamental problems facing business schools in the process of program and curricular change.
Angiostatin and matrix metalloprotease expression following ischemic acute renal failure.

Ischemic injury to the kidney results in blood vessel loss and predisposition to chronic renal disease. Angiostatin is a proteolytic cleavage product of plasminogen that inhibits angiogenesis, prom...
Expression of maize Adh1 intron mutants in tobacco nuclei

Summary In vivo and in vitro gene transfer experiments have suggested that the elements mediating intron recognition differ in mammalian, yeast and plant nuclei. Differences in the sequence dependencies, which also exist between dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous nuclei, have prevented some monocot introns from being spliced in dicot nuclei. To locate elements which modulate efficient recognition of introns in dicot nuclei, the maize Adh1 gene has been expressed in full-length and single intron constructs in Nicotiana benthamiana nuclei using an autonomously replicating plant expression vector. Quantitative PCR-Southern analyses indicate that the inefficient splicing of the maize Adh1 intron 1 (57% AU) in these dicot nuclei can be dramatically enhanced by increasing the degree of U1 snRNA complementarity at the 5′ splice site. This indicates that the 5′ splice site plays a significant role in defining the splicing efficiency of an intron in dicot nuclei and that, most importantly, the remainder of this monocot intron contains no elements which inhibit its accurate recognition in dicot nuclei. Deletions in intron 3 (66% AU) which effectively move the 3′ boundary between AU-rich intron and GC-rich exon sequences strongly activate a cryptic upstream splice site; those which do not reposition this boundary activate a downstream cryptic splice site. This suggests that 3′ splice site selection in dicot nuclei is extremely flexible and not dependent on strict sequence requirements but rather on the transition points between introns and exons. Our results are consistent with a model in which potential splice sites are selected if they are located upstream (5′ splice site) or downstream (3′ splice site) of AU transition points and not if they are embedded within AU-rich sequences.
Positron Annihilation in Yttrium and Zirconium

The angular dependence of the positron annihilation radiation along the [0001] direction has been studied in yttrium and zirconium by the augmented-plane-wave method. The calculation was performed using a mesh of 250 points distributed uniformly throughout the $\frac{1}{24}$ zone. A set of 32 reciprocal lattice vectors was used to determine the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Exchange was treated in the Slater's ${\ensuremath{\rho}}^{\frac{1}{3}}$ approximation. The calculated curve for yttrium shows a fairly good agreement with the experimental results of Williams and Mackintosh. The theory predicts a more pronounced hump in the curve near the zone boundary than is observed experimentally. The experimental data for zirconium are not available, but the calculation shows that the hump almost disappears as the $d$ shell starts filling in.
Accounting for migration in regional occupational employment projections

Occupational employment projections are one of the primary products produced by state labor market information agencies to assist with state and regional job training and worker assistance programs. In theory, the information from occupational employment forecasts should improve both interregional and intertemporal labor market efficiency through better matching between training efforts and job openings. Until recently, the projections methodology was predominantly a demand-requirements approach that failed to incorporate important labor supply effects and interstate/interregional dependencies. Recent research has focused on improving the labor supply specification. This paper reports on one such effort to evaluate the importance of interstate occupational migration and to develop methods to incorporate migration into the existing projections methodology. Initial results indicate that the total number of estimated job openings by occupation have to be revised significantly upwards when migration is taken into account.
Simultaneous determination of vinclozolin and detection of its degradation products in mouse plasma, serum and urine, and from rabbit bile, by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Abstract A specific high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for simultaneous detection of vinclozolin and its degradation products (M 1 , M 2 , and M 3 ). The method has been validated according to ICH guidelines and can be extended to quantitation of vinclozolin. A base-line separation of vinclozolin and its degradation products was found with symmetrical peak shapes on an XTerra™ MS C 18 column using 10 mM ammonium bicarbonate at pH 9.2 and acetonitrile as mobile phase. The retention times of vinclozolin, M 1 , M 2 , and M 3 were 12.8, 8.1, 11.6, and 11.1 min, respectively. A linear calibration curve was obtained across a range from 5 to 200 μM for vinclozolin. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations (%RSD) were
Prediction of acoustic noise in switched reluctance machines

This paper presents a fast and precise acoustic noise imaging technique for switched reluctance machines (SRM). This method is based on distribution of radial vibration in the stator frame of the SRM. Radial vibration of the stator frame, at a network of probing points, is computed using input phase current and phase voltage waveforms. Sequentially, the acceleration of the probing network will be expanded to predict full acceleration on the stator frame surface, using which acoustic noise emission caused by the stator can be calculated using Boundary Element Method (BEM).
Revisit of combined parallel-beam/cone-beam or fan-beam/cone-beam imaging

Purpose: This aim of this paper is to revisit the parallel-beam/cone-beam or fan-beam/cone-beam imaging configuration, and to investigate whether this configuration has any advantages. Methods: Twenty years ago, it was suggested to simultaneously use a parallel-beam (or a fan-beam) collimator and a cone-beam collimator to acquire single photon emission computed tomography data. The motivation was that the parallel-beam (or the fan-beam) collimator can provide sufficient sampling, while the cone-beam collimator is able to provide higher photon counts. Even with higher total counts, this hybrid system does not give significant improvement (if any) in terms of image noise and artifacts reduction. If a conventional iterative maximum-likelihood expectation-maximization algorithm is used to reconstruct the image, the resultant reconstruction may be worse than the parallel-beam-only (or fan-beam-only) system. This paper uses the singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis to explain this phenomenon. Results: The SVD results indicate that the parallel-beam-only and the fan-beam-only system outperform the combined systems. Conclusions: The optimal imaging system does not necessary to be the one that generates the projections with highest signal-to-noise ratio and best resolution.
Law enforcement attitudes toward overdose prevention and response.

Background Law enforcement is often the first to respond to medical emergencies in the community, including overdose. Due to the nature of their job, officers have also witnessed first-hand the changing demographic of drug users and devastating effects on their community associated with the epidemic of nonmedical prescription opioid use in the United States. Despite this seminal role, little data exist on law enforcement attitudes toward overdose prevention and response.
Solid‐state 13C‐NMR studies of the aging of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends

Solid state 13C-NMR was used to investigate the miscibility and subsequent separation of solution-cast blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVF2) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with aging for a range of compositions. It was found that one amorphous phase and intimate mixing of the polymer chains in this phase existed for all compositions of the blends, even after 2 months of aging at room temperature as determined by the proton spin lattice relaxation time T1ρH in the rotating frame, and the time constant TCH for transfer of magnetization. The T1ρH is sensitive to the spatial homogeneity of the blend via spin diffusion and would indicate the presence of phases or domains in the amorphous component of the blend larger than approximately 19 A. The TCH is proportional to the inverse sixth power of the interatomic distances needed for transfer of magnetization from proton to carbon and would be sensitive to a separation of polymer chains in the amorphous phase with aging on the order of 4–5 A. There was an increase of the T1ρH and TCH values with aging, indicating that a subtle separation between unlike chains in the amorphous phase was occurring although a single amorphous phase was present.
Progress toward a biomimetic leaf: 4,000 h of hydrogen production by coating‐stabilized nongrowing photosynthetic Rhodopseudomonas palustris

Intact cells are the most stable form of nature's photosynthetic machinery. Coating-immobilized microbes have the potential to revolutionize the design of photoabsorbers for conversion of sunlight into fuels. Multi-layer adhesive polymer coatings could spatially combine photoreactive bacteria and algae (complementary biological irradiance spectra) creating high surface area, thin, flexible structures optimized for light trapping, and production of hydrogen (H2) from water, lignin, pollutants, or waste organics. We report a model coating system which produced 2.08 ± 0.01 mmol H2 m−2 h−1 for 4,000 h with nongrowing Rhodopseudomonas palustris, a purple nonsulfur photosynthetic bacterium. This adhesive, flexible, nanoporous Rps. palustris latex coating produced 8.24 ± 0.03 mol H2 m−2 in an argon atmosphere when supplied with acetate and light. A simple low-pressure hydrogen production and trapping system was tested using a 100 cm2 coating. Rps. palustris CGA009 was combined in a bilayer coating with a carotenoid-less mutant of Rps. palustris (CrtI−) deficient in peripheral light harvesting (LH2) function. Cryogenic field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (cryo-FEG-SEM) and high-pressure freezing were used to visualize the microstructure of hydrated coatings. A light interaction and reactivity model was evaluated to predict optimal coating thickness for light absorption using the Kubelka-Munk theory (KMT) of reflectance and absorptance. A two-flux model predicted light saturation thickness with good agreement to observed H2 evolution rate. A combined materials and modeling approach could be used for guiding cellular engineering of light trapping and reactivity to enhance overall photosynthetic efficiency per meter square of sunlight incident on photocatalysts. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010
Detergents and water temperature as factors in methyl parathion removal from denim fabrics

Based on the results of this investigation, contaminated denim fabrics should not be laundered in 30°C (85°F) temperature; hotter temperatures are more effective. Although detergents could not be statistically separated, heavy duty liquid detergents appeared to excel in providing higher levels of pesticide removal in water temperatures of 49°C and 60°C. To determine the optimal conditions for pesticide removal by laundering, additional investigations need to be made into the relationships between detergent, pesticide formulation, water temperature, and effects of multiple washings.
Contributions of solvent–solvent hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions to the attraction between methane molecules in water

Abstract The contribution of solvent–solvent hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions to the attraction between methane molecules in water was investigated by comparing the potential of mean force (PMF) between two methane molecules in TIP4P water to those in a series of related liquids in which the solvent–solvent interactions were progressively turned off while keeping the solvent–solute interactions unchanged. The magnitude of the attraction between methanes was not significantly changed when the hydrogen bonding interaction between solvent molecules was eliminated and the solvent was maintained in the liquid state by increasing either the pressure or the magnitude of the solvent–solvent van der Waals interaction. However, when solvent–solvent excluded volume interactions were eliminated, the methane molecules interacted no more strongly than in the gas phase. The results are consistent with the idea that the primary contribution of hydrogen bonding to the hydrophobic interaction is to keep water molecules in a liquid state; at constant density, packing interactions rather than hydrogen bonding appear to be critical as suggested by scaled particle theories of solvation. The overall shape of the PMF was, however, changed in the absence of hydrogen bonding, pointing to an influence of hydrogen bonding on the detailed form of the interactions between nonpolar solutes in water. The effects of correlations between the configurations sampled during the Monte Carlo procedure used in the free energy calculations on the estimation of errors was also characterized.
A study on optical pickup actuator for small form-factor optical disc drives

Optical disc drives (ODDs) such as CD, DVD and HD-DVD are cheaper and more distributable than solid-state memories and hard disc drives (HDDs). In the era of mobile environment, ultra-slim ODDs have been studied and developed to show the feasibility of mobile application. This paper is a study on miniaturization of an optical pickup actuator, one of key components for ultra-slim ODDs. A newly configured actuator which is targeted to be installed in 5 mm height ODDs is presented in this work. In order to reduce the height of the optical pickup actuator, a novel structure of suspension is developed by arranging Ω-shaped plate-suspension at both sides of a moving part in same plane. Also, the reduction of unwanted resonance peak, which is one of main issues in optical pickup actuators, is attempted. The presented structure of suspension is optimized by finite element analysis in terms of linearity and damping characteristic that reduces the unwanted resonance such as the rolling, pitching modes. The electromagnetic circuits, which generate driving forces, are arranged for high sensitivity and the reduction of the unwanted resonances. Developed actuator is tested to confirm stable frequency response characteristics in focusing and tracking directions as well as low tilt characteristics. In addition, the actuator is mounted on a DVD pickup system and optical signal from this optical pickup is detected. This reveals the feasibility as an information storage for mobile devices.
Effect of des arginine9-bradykinin and other bradykinin fragments on the synthesis of prostacyclin and the binding of bradykinin by vascular cells in culture

Bradykinin (BK) fragments, des arg1-BK, des arg1,pro2-BK, des phe8,arg9-BK and des pro7,phe8,arg9-BK were synthesized and along with des arginine9-BK (daBK), tested for their ability to induce prostacyclin synthesis in homogeneous cultures of cells from the calf pulmonary artery. Of the fragments daBK was the only peptide, in addition to bradykinin (BK), to activate the synthesis of prostacyclin (PGI2) and platelet activating factor (PAF) in endothelial cells and PGI2 in fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells. Half-maximal activation of PGI2 synthesis differed with the cell type. The other fragments tested did not directly affect PGI2 synthesis. These fragments also did not inhibit daBK or BK activation of PG synthesis. BK bound to endothelial cells with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 2.1 nM and a Bmax of 47.9 fmoles/10(6) cells. The Kd for the binding of BK to smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts was somewhat higher, 4.9 nM and 7.9 nM, respectively. None of the fragments tested, including daBK, altered the binding of BK. Des arg9[leu8]-BK, reported to be a competitive antagonist of the bradykinin B1 receptor, inhibited daBK induced PG of PAF synthesis in endothelial cells but had little effect of BK binding or BK induced PG synthesis. Finally, the BK antagonist [thi5,8, d-phe7]-BK blocked both BK binding and the ability of either BK or daBK to induce PG synthesis, thus substantiating that the binding of these kinins is a step in the activation of PG synthesis.
Glenoid suture anchor fixation strength: effect of insertion angle

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of varying insertion angles on the fixation strength of screw-in devices placed in the glenoid rim. Type of study Cadaveric biomechanical analysis. Methods Eighteen cadaveric glenoids had 3.0-mm cannulated screws inserted for a depth of 10 mm in all 4 quadrants: anterior superior (AS), anterior inferior (AI), posterior superior (PS), posterior inferior (PI). Screws were inserted along the orthogonal to the glenoid rim at the point of insertion or at angles that deviated from this vector by 20° and 40°. Load to failure was performed at 10 mm/s along the orthogonal to the point of insertion. Results For screws inserted orthogonal to the glenoid rim, the average load to failure was highest for the PS quadrant (733 ± 369 N) and lowest for the AI quadrant (272 ± 69 N). The AS and PI quadrants showed intermediate values (549 ± 334 N and 484 ± 141 N, respectively). Deviation from orthogonal correlated with decreased fixation strength. This decrease was statistically significant in the AS and PI quadrants, with deviation of 40°, and in the AI quadrant, with deviation of 20°, as well as 40°. Conclusions Insertion angles for screw-in fixation devices should be orthogonal to the glenoid rim at the point of insertion to maximize strength. Deviation of 40° from orthogonal compromises fixation in most quadrants and deviation as little as 20° can compromise fixation in the AI quadrant. Clinical relevance To maximize strength of labral reattachment to the bony glenoid, screw-in type fixation devices should be inserted as orthogonal to the glenoid rim as possible. This is especially true for Bankart repairs, because device pullout occurs at significantly lower loads in the anteroinferior quadrant compared with the other 3 quadrants. Deviating as little as 20° further decreases fixation strength significantly.
On the reconstruction of s-channel helicity amplitudes from a complete set of measurements

Abstract The problem of reconstruction of the pp elastic scattering amplitudes from a complete set of measurements has been studied, taking into account the new experiments, which have become feasible with the advent of a high energy polarized beam at Argonne National Laboratory. Several experiments have been performed or proposed and we show analytically, that by performing two additional experiments ( R and A type measurements), one can obtain all the amplitudes without ambiguities. The uncertainties in the amplitudes, introduced by experimental errors, are also calculated.
The Electronics Revolution: From E-Wonderland to E-Wasteland

Since the mid-1990s, electronic waste (e-waste) has been recognized as the fastest-growing component of the solid-waste stream, as small consumer electronic products, such as cellular phones, have become ubiquitous in developed and developing countries ( 1 ). In the absence of adequate recycling policies, the small size, short useful life-span, and high costs of recycling these products mean they are routinely discarded without much concern for their adverse impacts on the environment and public health. These impacts occur throughout the product life cycle, from acquisition of raw materials ( 2 ) to manufacturing to disposal at the end of products' useful life.
Sol−Gel Assembly of CdSe Nanoparticles to Form Porous Aerogel Networks

A detailed study of CdSe aerogels prepared by oxidative aggregation of primary nanoparticles (prepared at room temperature and high temperature conditions, >250 °C), followed by CO2 supercritical drying, is described. The resultant materials are mesoporous, with an interconnected network of colloidal nanoparticles, and exhibit BET surface areas up to 224 m2/g and BJH average pore diameters in the range of 16−32 nm. Powder X-ray diffraction studies indicate that these materials retain the crystal structure of the primary nanoparticles, with a slight increase in primary particle size upon gelation and aerogel formation. Optical band gap measurements and photoluminescence studies show that the as-prepared aerogels retain the quantum-confined optical properties of the nanoparticle building blocks despite being connected into a 3-D network. The specific optical characteristics of the aerogel can be further modified by surface ligand exchange at the wet-gel stage, without destroying the gel network.
Electrostatic chucking and EUVL mask flatness analysis

Successful implementation of Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) depends on advancements in many areas, including the quality of the mask and chuck system to control image placement (IP) errors. One source of IP error is the height variations of the patterned mask surface (i.e., its nonflatness). The SEMI EUVL mask and chucking standards (SEMI P37 and SEMI P40) describe stringent requirements for the nonflatness of the mask frontside and backside, and the chucking surfaces. Understanding and characterizing the clamping ability of the electrostatic chuck and the effect on the mask flatness is therefore critical in order to meet these requirements. Legendre polynomials have been identified as an effective and efficient means of representing EUVL mask surface shapes. Finite element (FE) models have been developed to utilize the Legendre coefficients (obtained from measured mask and chuck data) as input data to define the surfaces of the mask and the chuck. The FE models are then used to determine the clamping response of the mask and the resulting flatness of the pattern surface. The sum of the mask thickness nonuniformity and the chuck surface shape has a dominant effect on the flatness of the patterned surface after chucking. The focus of the present research is a comprehensive analysis of the flatness and interaction between the nonflat chuck and the mask. Experiments will be conducted using several sample masks chucked by a slab type electrostatic chuck. Results from the study will support and facilitate the timely development of EUVL mask/chuck systems which meet required specifications.
Robust Treecode Approximation for Kernel Machines

Since exact evaluation of a kernel matrix requires O(N2) work, scalable learning algorithms using kernels must approximate the kernel matrix. This approximation must be robust to the kernel parameters, for example the bandwidth for the Gaussian kernel. We consider two approximation methods: Nystrom and an algebraic treecode developed in our group. Nystrom methods construct a global low-rank approximation of the kernel matrix. Treecodes approximate just the off-diagonal blocks, typically using a hierarchical decomposition.We present a theoretical error analysis of our treecode and relate it to the error of Nystrom methods. Our analysis reveals how the block-rank structure of the kernel matrix controls the performance of the treecode. We evaluate our treecode by comparing it to the classical Nystrom method and a state-of-the-art fast approximate Nystrom method. We test the kernel matrix approximation accuracy for several different bandwidths and datasets. On the MNIST2M dataset (2M points in 784 dimensions) for a Gaussian kernel with bandwidth h=1, the Nystrom methods' error is over 90% whereas our treecode delivers error less than 1%.We also test the performance of the three methods on binary classification using two models: a Bayes classifier and kernel ridge regression. Our evaluation reveals the existence of bandwidth values that should be examined in cross-validation but whose corresponding kernel matrices cannot be approximated well by Nystrom methods. In contrast, the treecode scheme performs much better for these values.
FlySensing: A case for crowdsensing in the air

The volume of commercial flights and the number of passengers carrying one or more digital devices aboard presents an opportunity for innovative research for the application of crowdsensing in the air. This paper explores opportunities to leverage crowdsensing in the context of the commercial airline industry. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, we present a diverse collection of use cases that span a variety of application domains, including health monitoring, safety and surveillance, scientific discovery, and business analytics.
Expression and Potential Function of Rho Family Small G Proteins in Cells of the Mammalian Seminiferous Epithelium

Dynamic cellular rearrangements involving the actin cytoskeleton are required of both Sertoli and germ cells during spermatogenesis. Rho family small G proteins have been implicated in the control of the actin cytoskeleton in numerous cell types. Therefore, RhoA and Rac1 were investigated in Sertoli and germ cells. RhoA and Rac1 have been detected at both the mRNA and protein levels in these cells. In addition, Sertoli cell L-selectin is shown to interact with actin binding proteins, potentially providing a link between L-selectin and Rac1 signaling. Finally, inactivation of Sertoli cell Rho family proteins yields disruption of the actin cytoskeleton.