cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Variabilities in aerosolizing activities and airborne fungal concentrations in a bakery.

Concentrations of airborne culturable fungi were measured in the kitchen of a bakery in Boston, Mass., to evaluate variabilities associated with common worker activities, outdoor aerosol distributions, and season. Activities were categorized as early morning preparation, cornmeal sifting and tossing, flour dumping and mixing, sweeping, and low activity. Sets of measurements were taken over 1 day in spring and 1 day in summer. Fungal concentrations were measured using a one-stage culture plate impactor, and bulk samples were taken from suspected fungal reservoirs within the bakery and subsequently cultured. Compared with the low activity category, elevated levels of total culturable fungi were found during all other activities, with the amount of increase closely related to individual worker activity as well as outdoor concentrations and initial bakery conditions. In the spring, Penicillium was the dominant genus showing activity-related elevations in concentrations, while Cladosporium was the dominant gen...
Nominal Δ m = ± 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 Magnetic Nuclear Transition Probabilities in Ruby

The nominal $\ensuremath{\Delta}m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1,2,3,4, \mathrm{and} 5$ magnetic transition probabilities between ${\mathrm{Al}}^{27}$ nuclear energy levels in ruby are calculated, and the energy-level populations are determined with the presence of an external perturbation connecting two energy levels. A simple model where the relaxation of the ${\mathrm{Al}}^{27}$ spins is via a direct magnetic interaction with the ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ paramagnetic impurity is used to compare the calculated $\ensuremath{\Delta}m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2$ magnetic transition probability to the observed effects in a 4% ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$-doped ruby sample. The calculated magnitude and angular dependence fit the experimental data and indicate that the effect is large enough to cause leakage effects when attempting a pure quadrupole saturation experiment in ruby.
Characterization of the gut microbiota of three commercially valuable warmwater fish species

Aims Due to the strong influence of the gut microbiota on fish health, dominant bacterial species in the gut are strong candidates for probiotics. This study aimed to characterize the gut microbiota of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and bluegill Lepomis macrochirus to provide a baseline for future probiotic studies. Methods and Results The gut microbiota of five pooled individuals from each fish species was identified using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. Microbiota differed significantly between fish species in terms of bacterial species evenness. However, all gut communities analysed were dominated by the phylum Fusobacteria, specifically the species Cetobacterium somerae. Relatively high abundances of the human pathogens Plesiomonas shigelloides and Fusobacterium mortiferum, as well as members of the genus Aeromonas, suggest these species are normal inhabitants of the gut. Conclusions The overwhelming dominance of the genus Cetobacterium in all species warrants further investigation into its role in the fish gut microbiota. Significance and Impact of the Study This study provides the first characterization of the gut microbiota of three economically significant fishes and establishes a baseline for future probiotic trials.
Effects of ganglioside GM1 on the thermotropic behavior of cholera toxin B subunit.

The B, or binding, subunit of cholera enterotoxin forms a pentameric ring structure in the intact toxin, and also when the subunit is isolated from the A subunit. The thermal denaturation of the B subunit ring was examined by differential scanning calorimetry in the presence and absence of ganglioside GM1, its natural ‘receptor’. In the absence of ganglioside an irreversible endotherm was observed with maximal excess apparent heat capacity, Cmax, at 74.6° C. When the ganglioside was added in increasing amounts, multiple transitions were observed at higher temperatures, the most prominent having a Cmax at 90.8° C. At high ganglioside concentrations, the 74.6° C transition was not observed. In addition to the thermodynamic results a model is proposed for the interaction of GM1 and B subunit pentamer. This model is derived independently of the calorimetric results (but is consistent with such data) and is based upon considerations of the geometry of the GM1 micelle-B subunit pentamer.
A Wearable Inertial Sensing Technology for Clinical Assessment of Tremor

TEMPO (Technology-Enabled Medical Precision Observation) 1.0 is a novel, first-generation, wearable data collection and analysis platform for assessment of a variety of human movement disorders, including tremor. It enables quantitative, objective, and continuous measurement of movement with minimal invasiveness and inconvenience to the patient and clinician, respectively. This system meets requirements for wearability, data storage, sampling rate, number of sensors, interface methods, and form factor, which are necessary for applications on person. In addition to the design and development of a basic data acquisition device, various circuits and systems were engineered to interface wearable, triaxial MEMS inertial sensors. Furthermore, custom data analysis software that processes datasets collected from the device and sensors, was created, and has demonstrated clinical utility in the analysis of tremor. Data processing techniques include a unique filtering scheme and a novel application of cross-correlation. The analysis was conducted pre- and post-operatively, in conjunction with the University of Virginia's Department of Neurosurgery, for a study of deep brain stimulation efficacy. This paper presents the engineering of and experimental results obtained with TEMPO 1.0 technology in the clinical assessment of tremor.
Maternal age affects offspring lifespan of the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus

Summary 1Offspring from older parents often have shorter adult lifespans than offspring of younger mothers. We examine the effects of offspring genotype, maternal age and paternal age on offspring survival, development and adult lifespan in the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. 2Females took about a quarter of a day longer to develop from an egg to an adult and lived ≈7 days longer than males. Mortality patterns were best described by a logistic mortality model, and all three model parameters differed significantly between the sexes; females had a higher baseline mortality rate than males but the mortality rate increased more slowly in females than in males. Females also showed a delay, relative to males, in the age at which mortality became age-dependent. 3The proportion of eggs that hatched and larval survivorship both declined with increasing maternal age, while egg-to-adult development time increased substantially. Contrary to the pattern observed in many other organisms, offspring of older mothers lived longer than offspring of younger mothers, even after controlling for heterogeneity among families. There was no evidence that paternal age affected any offspring traits. 4The effect of maternal age on offspring lifespan was greater for male offspring than for female offspring (consistent with the general observation that the genetic and environmental factors affecting lifespan differ between the two sexes) and varied among sire families (indicating that offspring genotype mediated the non-genetic effect of maternal age on lifespan).
Do you hear where I hear?: isolating the individualized sound localization cues

It is widely acknowledged that individualized head-related transfer function (HRTF) measurements are needed to adequately capture all of the 3D spatial hearing cues. However, many perceptual studies have shown that localization accuracy in the lateral dimension is only minimally decreased by the use of non-individualized head-related transfer functions. This evidence supports the idea that the individualized components of an HRTF could be isolated from those that are more general in nature. In the present study we decomposed the HRTF at each location into average, lateral and intraconic spectral components, along with an ITD in an effort to isolate the sound localization cues that are responsible for the inter-individual differences in localization performance. HRTFs for a given listener were then reconstructed systematically with components that were both individualized and non-individualized in nature, and the effect of each modification was analyzed via a virtual localization test where brief 250-ms noise bursts were rendered with the modified HRTFs. Results indicate that the cues important for individualization of HRTFs are contained almost exclusively in the intraconic portion of the HRTF spectra and localization is only minimally affected by introducing non-individualized cues into the other HRTF components. These results provide new insights into what specific inter-individual differences in head-related acoustical features are most relevant to sound localization, and provide a framework for how future human-machine interfaces might be more effectively generalized and/or individualized.
Contradictory Information: Too Much of a Good Thing

Both I and Belnap, motivated the “Belnap-Dunn 4-valued Logic” by talk of the reasoner being simply “told true” (T), and simply “told false” (F), which leaves the options of being neither “told true” nor “told false” (N), and being both “told true” and “told false” (B). Belnap motivated these notions by consideration of unstructured databases that allow for negative information as well as positive information (even when they conflict). We now experience this on a daily basis with the Web. But the 4-valued logic is deductive in nature, and its matrix is discrete: there are just four values. In this paper I investigate embedding the 4-valued logic into a context of probability. Josang’s Subjective Logic introduced uncertainty to allow for degrees of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty. We extend this so as to allow for two kinds of uncertainty—that in which the reasoner has too little information (ignorance) and that in which the reasoner has too much information (conflicted). Josang’s “Opinion Triangle” becomes an “Opinion Tetrahedron” and the 4-values can be seen as its vertices. I make/prove various observations concerning the relation of non-classical “probability” to non-classical logic.
Chapter Three: The Emergency of Verbal Morphology

Ce travail constitue le troisieme chapitre d'un ouvrage general portant sur l'expression de la temporalite au cours de l'acquisition d'une langue seconde. Cette etude generale prend en compte toutes les possibilites mises en oeuvre par la langue pour referer au temps. Dans cet objectif de recherche, ce chapitre est consacre aux travaux qui s'appuient sur une approche orientee vers la forme (le second chapitre s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une approche orientee vers le sens). Dans ce contexte, l'A. se penche particulierement sur la troisieme etape dans l'acquisition de la temporalite : le stade morphologique (apres les stades pragmatique et lexical). Il introduit, d'une part, les differentes etudes descriptives et theoriques qui s'inscrivent dans ce cadre, puis presente, d'autre part, une etude longitudinale de l'expression temporelle du passe. Il examine ainsi l'emergence de la morphologie temporelle du passe simple, du passe progressif, du present perfect et du plus-que-parfait. Cette etude s'appuie sur le developpement du systeme linguistique de 16 apprenants a partir de productions orales et ecrites durant le stade d'emergence du systeme aspecto-temporel
Treatment of Recurrent Sinus Barotrauma in Aviators: Comparison of Functional Endoscopic and “Classic” Sinus Surgery Techniques:

Recurrent sinus barotrauma in an aviator is difficult to treat successfully. Exacerbation frequently results in marked discomfort, cycles of temporary restriction from aviation duties, or even perm...
Fractal image compression and texture analysis

This paper describes a new method for building object models for the purpose of overlapped object recognition. The method relies on local fragments of the boundary to derive a set of autoregressive parameters that serve to detect similar boundary fragments. First a rule based algorithm which detects the occlusion of two or more objects is introduced. This algorithm makes use of aheuristic rule which take into account the number of intersection points of the boundary with a standard invariant shape and of global features (area, perimeter) to confirm the presence of occlusion. The object is then decomposed into visible parts by using first a polygonal approximation method and then the concave vertices obtained at the latter step. The decomposition algorithm prepares the input data for the description of the model and the object through the autoregressive filter method.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A hydrograph separation method based on information from rainfall and runoff records

Summary Hydrograph separation is considered as the first step to catchment-scale water balance analysis. A wide variety of hydrograph separation methods exists ranging from empirical to analytical and physical. This study discusses a physically-based approach that combines baseflow separation and event identification with minimal data requirement. The input datasets are basin-average rainfall and discharge time series. Outputs are baseflow time series, the timing of the runoff events, differentiated as single- or multi-peak, and the associated rainfall event time series. To assess the method’s feasibility, hydrograph properties are evaluated for both long-term (annual and monthly) and event-scale time series. Results show that the long-term derived baseflow indices are positive (negative) correlated with basin area (runoff coefficient). The event scale analysis shows that the timing-related parameters (i.e. durations of rainfall and flow events and time lag between rainfall to flow events) increase with basin area in terms of magnitude and variability. Similar dependence on basin scale is shown for the water balance-related parameters determined from this analysis, namely event rainfall and baseflow volumes and baseflow index. Water balance parameters are shown to be characterized with less degree of variability for single-peak events relative to multi-peak events.
EXACERBATION OF INTESTINAL AMINOACID LOSS BY HYPERTONIC SOLUTIONS DURING IN VIVO PERFUSION OF ZINC DEFICIENT RATS

Chronic diarrhea and growth retardation are common expressions of zinc deficiency. One of the reasons for the malnutrition may be increased intestinal loss of nitrogenous compounds induced by the presence of osmotically active compounds intraluminally.
Diagnosis and management of ventricular tachycardia in children

Abstract Abnormal ventricular rhythm in children can consist of premature ventricular contractions or ventricular tachycardia; these conditions are serious and require accurate diagnosis and careful evaluation to determine appropriate therapy. These children can present with structurally normal hearts, abnormal muscle conditions, myocardial inflammation or ventricular tumors. The diagnostic evaluation varies according to the presenting arrhythmia, and can include exercise stress testing, echocardiography, 24-h ambulatory monitoring, endomyocardial biopsy, and invasive electrophysiological testing. The treatment methods are dependent on the cause of the rhythm and include no treatment (in the case of benign premature ventricular contractions), antiarrhythmic drug therapy, corticosteroid drug treatment, and/or cryothermic surgical ablation.
Sucrose Polyester Content in Foods by a Calorimetric Method

Lipids were extracted from the food sample with petroleum ether and sucrose polyesters (SPE) and triglycerides in the extract were hydrolyzed with 1N methanolic KOH for 8 min. Free sucrose was extracted with water, and quantified calorimetrically using a phenol-sulfuric acid test. Results were compared to a standard curve from known quantities of hydrolyzed SPE. Standard curves were linear and reproducible through 90% SPE (r = 0.999).
UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION. Abdul Karim Bangura and Martin C. Muo . Bern: Peter Lang, 2001. Pp. 159. $24.95 paper.

The purpose of this book is to “fill a gap in the literature of the politics of bilingual education in the United States: the role of the legislature in the passage of the 1968 Bilingual Education Act and its aftermath” (p. xi). The authors use Easton's “framework for political analysis” to trace the passage of this legislation. Examined as part of the framework are the environment, inputs, legislative system, and outputs, each of which is covered in separate chapters.
On the use of strain gages in dynamic fracture mechanics

Abstract An experimental study is conducted to show the application of strain gages in studies of dynamic fracture. In particular, strain gages have been used to evaluate the dynamic stress intensity factors in different specimen geometries in a variety of materials. A direct comparison of the results obtained from strain gages is made with those obtained using dynamic photoelasticity. A detailed evaluation of the effect of the position and orientation of the strain gage on the determination of the fracture parameters is also presented.
Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Treating Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury

This article presents an overview of the clinical trials literature on complementary and alternative medicine for traumatic brain injury. In searches of PubMed and the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, trials of acupuncture, acupressure, creatine, homeopathy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, mindfulness-based practices, music therapy, neurotherapy, Tai Chi, and yoga were identified. Because of the high risk of bias in most of the studies reviewed, the evidence base is inadequate to recommend any specific complementary and alternative medicine treatments for traumatic brain injury, although promising findings were identified for a number of treatments. Safety data on many of the interventions were lacking.
Ground-Based Coherent Lidar Measurement Of Tropospheric And Stratospheric Parameters

During 1982 we used the NOAA pulsed Doppler lidar as part of experimental programs to measure precisely lidar system performance and extend the instrument's demonstrated atmospheric monitoring capabilities. Key system characteristics such as pulse shape, chirp, alignment stability, telescope efficiency, and pulse-to-pulse variability were studied and their effect on measurement accuracy quantified. The field experiments also demonstrated the system's capabilities and limitations in monitoring winds, backscatter, turbulence, and moisture. By scanning the wind field at low scan elevation angles, we have observed such small-scale meteorological events as thunderstorm gust fronts, downbursts, and cold front passage. Scans at higher elevation angles enable us to monitor upper level winds, such as those in the vicinity of the polar-front jet. We also monitor backscatter coefficient (β) over both the short and long term. Daily observations show a noticeable decrease in tropospheric β during the winter months. The stratospheric aerosol layer resulting from the El Chichon volcano eruption was easily observed during fall 1982.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The treatment of postprandial distress following gastric resection.

Summary 1.One hundred and three gastric resection patients experiencing postprandial distress were evaluated in regard to factors responsible for their symptomatology. 2.The medical and surgical approach to the management of patients with postprandial distress symptoms was discussed. 3.Several pharmacological preparations were evaluated in the treatment of postprandial distress. Pavatrine, Trasentine, Win 1723 and Win 5786 with antispasmodic activity against barium chloride and Banthine and 267C with a similar activity against acetylcholine proved most effective. The adrenolytic agents Regitine, Priscoline, and CCK 179 were ineffective in preventing the syndrome.
Arrowsmith two-node search interface: A tutorial on finding meaningful links between two disparate sets of articles in MEDLINE

The Arrowsmith two-node search is a strategy that is designed to assist biomedical investigators in formulating and assessing scientific hypotheses. More generally, it allows users to identify biologically meaningful links between any two sets of articles A and C in PubMed, even when these share no articles or authors in common and represent disparate topics or disciplines. The key idea is to relate the two sets of articles via title words and phrases (B-terms) that they share. We have created a free, public web-based version of the two-node search tool (http://arrowsmith.psych.uic.edu), have described its development and implementation, and have presented analyses of individual two-node searches. In this paper, we provide an updated tutorial intended for end-users, that covers the use of the tool for a variety of potential scientific use case scenarios. For example, one can assess a recent experimental, clinical or epidemiologic finding that connects two disparate fields of inquiry-identifying likely mechanisms to explain the finding, and choosing promising follow-up lines of investigation. Alternatively, one can assess whether the existing scientific literature lends indirect support to a hypothesis posed by the user that has not yet been investigated. One can also employ two-node searches to search for novel hypotheses. Arrowsmith provides a service that cannot be carried out feasibly via standard PubMed searches or by other available text mining tools.
The Relative Brauer Group of a Cyclic Cover of Affine Space

Abstract We study the finite-dimensional central division algebras over the rational function field in several variables over an algebraically closed field. We describe the division algebras that are split by the cyclic covering obtained by adjoining the n th root of a polynomial. The relative Brauer group is described in terms of the Picard group of the cyclic covering and its Galois group. Many examples are given and in most cases division algebras are presented that represent generators of the relative Brauer group.
Bimanual cross-talk during reaching movements is primarily related to response selection, not the specification of motor parameters

Simultaneous reaching movements made with the two hands can show a considerable increase in reaction time (RT) when they differ in terms of direction or extent, compared to when the movements involve the same direction and extent. This cost has been attributed to cross-talk in the specification of the motor parameters for the two hands. However, a recent study [Diedrichsen, Hazeltine, Kennerley, & Ivry, (2001). Psychological Science, 12, 493-498] indicates that when reaching movements are cued by the onset of the target endpoint, no compatibility effects are observed. To determine why directly cued movements are immune from interference, we varied the stimulus onset asynchrony for the two movements and used different combinations of directly cued and symbolically cued movements. In two experiments, compatibility effects were only observed when both movements were symbolically cued. No difference was found between compatible and incompatible movements when both movements were directly cued or when one was directly cued and the other was symbolically cued. These results indicate that interference is not related to the specification of movement parameters but instead emerges from processes associated with response selection. Moreover, the data suggest that cross-talk, when present, primarily shortens the RT of the second movement on compatible trials rather than lengthening this RT on incompatible trials.
“The only one who was thought to know the pulse of the people”: Black women’s politics in the era of post-racial discourse

Theorizing black women’s high level of participation in contemporary South African protests for public water, electricity, and housing requires attention to the long history of women’s rural and urban revolts against apartheid passes and Section Ten laws, which proscribed black women’s mobility and delegitimized their access to public services. Examining the role of ibandlas (women’s assemblies/prayer unions/mothers unions) in three literary works: Lauretta Ncgobo’s And They Didn’t Die, Sindiwe Magona’s For My Children’s Children, and Njabulo Ndebele’s The Cry of Winnie Mandela, I argue that black women mobilize against enduring conditions of particular vulnerability, as post-racial discourse suppresses the social relations of blackness in the face of the “after-life of apartheid.” Indeed, post-racial discourse misreads the “pulse of the people.”
Patching Processor Design Errors with Programmable Hardware

Equipping processors with programmable hardware to patch design errors lets manufacturers release regular hardware patches, avoiding costly chip recalls and potentially speeding time to market. For each error detected, the manufacturer creates a fingerprint, which the customer uses to program the hardware. The hardware watches for error conditions; when they arise, it takes action to avoid the error. Overall, our scheme enables an exciting new environment where hardware design errors can be handled as easily as system software bugs, by applying a patch to the hardware
Effect of probiotic culture candidates on Salmonella prevalence in commercial turkey houses

to evaluate 4 treatments: P1 (1.0 " 10 8 cfu/mL), OA + P1 (1.0 " 10 8 cfu/mL), OA + P1 (1.0 " 10 6 cfu/mL), and OA + P2 (1.0 " 10 6 cfu/mL). Two weeks after treatment, reductions (P < 0.05) of Salmonella recovery (90, 100, 100, and 86%, respectively) were observed in all treatments. In the second trial, 22 Salmonella-positive houses were selected to evaluate 6 treatments: control, OA, P1, P2, OA + P1, and OA + P2. Two weeks after treatment, the recovery of Salmonella was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in houses in which P1 and P2 cultures were administered in combination with the OA product. Our results suggest that the administration of selected probiotic candidate bacteria in combination with OA may reduce environmental Salmonella in turkey houses prior to live haul, and that this practice could help to reduce the risk of Salmonella crosscontamination in the processing plant.
Epidemiologic Research on Health Disparities: Some Thoughts on History and Current Developments

In this introduction to volume 31 of Epidemiologic Reviews, the author traces the history of health disparities research in epidemiology and situates the 10 review articles comprising this edition within this history. With the aid of a conceptual model describing the key determinants of health disparities, he offers several suggestions for improving future epidemiologic research on health disparities.
Nondestructive inspection via boundary scan

The increased use of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) and surface mount devices (SMD) by the PWB industry is making the job of the manufacturing quality control inspector more difficult. The attempts by the Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) to develop a worldwide standard for a testability bus can mean a bonus for the quality-control inspector. The author discusses some of the benefits this standard holds for test through the use of boundary scan architecture. It is shown that structured design-for-testability using the proposed JTAG/P1149.1 standard has the potential for aiding the inspector in detecting manufacturing defects. By providing a reliable, low-cost method of detecting and isolating these defects, boundary scan test can be a nondestructive inspection tool. The operating principle and architecture of boundary scan are described, and an implementation example is presented. >
Long-term Pharmacotherapy of Obesity 2000: A Review of Efficacy and Safety

To clarify the efficacy of antiobesity drugs, this article reviews all long-term ($36 weeks), placebo-controlled trials of obesity pharmacotherapy published since 1960. Since fears of anorexiant-induced heart valve damage preclude many physicians and patients from even considering antiobesity drugs, this area is also reviewed in-depth. Electronic database and manual bibliography search was used to identify all relevant publications. While existing studies are too few and heterogeneous to warrant meta-analysis, their review does provide evidence highly relevant to the safety and efficacy of available anorexiants. Weight loss attributable to obesity pharmacotherapy (ie, in excess of placebo) in trials lasting 36 to 52 weeks was 8.1% or 7.9 kg for those receiving phentermine resin, 5.0 % or 4.3 kg for those receiving sibutramine hydrochloride , 3.4% or 3.4 kg for those receiving orlistat, and ˛1.5% or ˛1.5 kg for those receiving diethylpropion hydrochloride. Physiologic, pathologic, and epidemiological studies strongly support that anorexiant-induced valvulopathy is attributable to specific serotonergic properties of the fenfluramines that are not present with available weight loss drugs. Arch Intern Med. 2001;161:1814-1824
A Survey Data Response to the Teaching of Utility Curves and Risk Aversion.

In many finance and economics courses as well as in practice, the concept of risk aversion is reduced to the standard deviation of returns, whereby risk-averse investors prefer to minimize their portfolios’ standard deviations. In reality, the concept of risk aversion is richer and more interesting than this, and can easily be conveyed through theoretical or applied examples. The authors offer an example of a 2-asset choice problem in which risk-averse investors ought to prefer the asset with not only a higher standard deviation but also a lower expected return. A corresponding survey of 131 respondents confirmed this preference.
Lubricant bonding and orientation on carbon coated media

The bonding characteristics of perfluoropolyether lubricants with functional end groups have been studied on carbon-overcoated thin-film recording media. Two types of bond energies were measured for these lubricants, indicating that they chemically bond to carbon while physically bonding to themselves. Grazing-angle FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared) techniques were utilized to show that the orientation of the Fomblin Am2001 lubricant is consistent with a pi -bonding model between the neutral planar ring groups and the carbon overlayer. Neither the chemically nor the physically bonded lubricant layers were removed from disks lubricated with Z-DOL after spinning at 6000 r/min for three months at 60 degrees C. This indicates that lubricant spin-off itself should not be a concern for the smaller-diameter disks. Localized depletion of lubricant at the landing zone during contact-start-stop testing was found to occur with the physically bonded lubricant layers, while the chemically bonded layer remained in place. This suggests that the use of chemically bonded lubricants on carbon-coated media is important to ensure good tribological performance over the lifetime of the drive. >
Closed-loop convex analysis of performance limits for linear control systems

Closed-loop convex analysis and design, in which the linear controller design problem is reformulated as a convex optimization problem that may be more easily solved than the problems resulting from conventional formulations, are discussed. This reformulation synthesizes control laws that have high degree, but nevertheless can be implemented using digital signal processors. The solution is rarely expressed in a closed form, but nevertheless is readily computable. Some of the basic ideas of closed-loop convex analysis and design are described in general terms. >
Association between Obesity and Asthma in US Children and Adolescents

Background. To explore the association between obesity and asthma in US children and adolescents with adjustment of other structural and behavioral factors. Method. Prevalence and associated risk factors of asthma were explored in 102,273 children and adolescents in the National Survey of Children's Health (2003–2004). Subgroup analysis was performed for subjects of 0-6 year-old, 7–12 year-old, and 13–17 year-old. Crude and adjusted odds ratios for the potential risk factors were examined in univariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Results. The overall prevalence of obesity was 24.5% and that of asthma was 12.5%. The adjusted odds ratio of asthma with obesity remains significantly bigger than 1 for children in the 7–12 and the 13–17 year-old age-groups. Gender and race were significantly associated with asthma in all age groups. The two parent family structure showed significant protectiveness against asthma with children in the 0–6 year-old age group. Poverty was positively associated with asthm...
Determination of Major Lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Using Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units

Abstract—We present a novel Bayesian network (BN) to classify strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex (MTBC) into six major genetic lineages using mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRUs), a high-throughput biomarker. MTBC is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), which remains one of the leading causes of disease and morbidity world-wide. DNA fingerprinting methods such as MIRU are key components of modern TB control and tracking. The BN achieves high accuracy on four large MTBC genotype collections consisting of over 4700 distinct 12-loci MIRU genotypes. The BN captures distinct MIRU signatures associated with each lineage, explaining the excellent performance of the BN. The errors in the BN support the need for additional biomarkers such as the expanded 24-loci MIRU used in CDC genotyping labs since May 2009. The conditional independence assumption of each locus given the lineage makes the BN easily extensible to additional MIRU loci and other biomarkers.
Short-term cancer control after primary cryosurgical ablation for clinically localized prostate cancer using third-generation cryotechnology.

Objectives Percutaneous perineal cryoablation of the prostate is a promising technique in the treatment armamentarium for clinically localized prostate carcinoma. We report our initial experience using a transrectal ultrasound-guided, third-generation, argon/helium cryosurgical system. Methods From January 2002 to July 2005, 50 men underwent primary cryosurgery for clinically localized prostate carcinoma. The median patient age was 68 years (range 50 to 83), and the median follow-up period was 18 months (range 3 to 43). According to the D'Amico risk stratification system, 36 patients (72%) had low-risk, 9 (18%) had intermediate-risk, and 5 (10%) had high-risk prostate cancer. All patients underwent a dual freeze-thaw cycle using third-generation cryotechnology with ultrathin 17-gauge cryoneedles. Results The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level for all patients at the last follow-up visit was less than 0.5 ng/mL in 45 patients (90%) and 0.5 ng/mL or more in 5 (10%). Two patients had persistent prostate cancer confirmed by prostate biopsy and were treated with salvage cryotherapy or external beam radiotherapy. Three other patients had an elevated PSA level after cryotherapy despite negative posttreatment biopsies and a metastatic evaluation. Of these 3 patients, 2 had their postcryotherapy PSA level normalize, and 1 patient, with intermediate-risk disease preoperatively, had a consistent increase in PSA up to 1.2 ng/mL. The overall survival rate was 100%. Conclusions Cryoablation of the prostate is a feasible and safe treatment option in patients with organ-confined prostate cancer. Additional studies with longer follow-up are necessary to determine the sustained efficacy of this procedure.
A floristic reconnaissance of Montane environments in the Foja Mts. of Papua Province, Indonesia.

Montane communities are described from the Foja expeditionary surveys of Papua Province. The floristic summary characterizes the principal habitats at two study sites near the 1000 m contour. Typing codes from the Papua New Guinea Forest Inventory Mapping System are used as a basis for the physiognomic descriptions. Community compositions, indicator taxa, floristic records, and conservation values are briefly discussed.
Stresses in Anisotropic Thin Films Bonded to Stiff Substrates

Numerical techniques are used to calculate the stress concentrations arising near the interface of a single-crystalline film which is bonded to a stiff substrate. The film has cubic elastic symmetry, and it is characterized by the anisotropic constants A and H which show the deviation of the material frcm elastic isotropy. The normal to the film-substrate interface is taken to be along the 100, 111 or 110 directions. The inhomogeneous stresses near the free edge and the uniform stresses far from the free edge are calculated, and the effects of cubic elastic anisotropy and of film growth direction are established for material parameters typical of metallic and semiconducting films.
The future of materials undergraduate programs: Can we avoid extinction?

In materials research, the current funding focus has shifted from largely mechanical-properties based aspects of materials to their molecular-level chemical nature, such as biomaterials or nanoscale phenomenon. Along with this shift in emphasis, we have seen many undergraduate materials programs become absorbed by other programs as a concentration in other engineering majors. Many programs have absolved departments in favor of a model where faculty from a variety of departments have adjunct appointments in, say, an interdisciplinary materials science and engineering program. What exactly is the fate of undergraduate materials programs? Is it time for materials science and engineering undergraduate programs to be absorbed into the sea of interdisciplinarity? In this talk, I will present data on the landscape of trends within the undergraduate materials community against the changes in the global arena. What is our role as materials science and engineering educators in the societal state of flux that we face? What are the opportunities? In an attempt to see into the future, we will consider all these questions.
'Get Your Swabs Out of My Face!': Americans’ Optimism and Pessimism About Scientific Innovation

This paper examines when and why Americans are optimistic or pessimistic about societal uses of scientific innovation. Public opinion is not, of course, dispositive in shaping policy choices about innovations in science, but neither is it immaterial. Constituents’ views may be especially important to elected officials in the case of issues about which they have no prior record, views, or expertise; in such a case, politicians may follow the lead of their voters. Our vehicle for examining optimism about science or technology is genomics, in particular, Americans’ views of medical and forensic biobanks. The theoretical framework is the interaction between ideology and the institutionalization, or lack thereof, of the innovation. The evidence comes from a new national survey of about 4000 Americans , with parallel items on medical and forensic biobanks and almost 4000 open ended comments explaining the respondents’ stances on biobanking.We find that Americans tend toward optimism about medical biobanks, which are not institutionalized, and even greater optimism about forensic biobanks, which have much broader and deeper roots in the policy arena. Despite the fact that Americans know nothing about medical biobanks, Republicans are less enthusiastic about them than are Democrats, extreme conservatives are more pessimistic than are other conservatives, and Blacks are less enthusiastic than are Whites or Asians. Supported by insights emerging from the open-ended responses, we interpret these results as further evidence of the importance of institutionalization on attitudes -- through partisanship in the case of Republicans and Democrats, rejection of all institutions in the case of extreme conservatives, and experience-based mistrust of institutions in the case of African Americans.We conclude that comparison across of types of biobanks offers a fairly precise way to measure the impact of institutionalization on public opinion, and the relative importance of the scientific innovation itself compared with respondents’ prior histories, stereotypes, or commitments. We open the possibility of comparing views on genomics across countries as a way to further explore the interaction of ideology and institutionalization.
Visconti's Death in Venice

Writing in 1928, Thomas Mann mockingly dismissed films as too “primitive” to be art. Instead of dwelling in art's cold, intellectual realm, films “present two young people of great beauty, in a real garden with flowers stirring in the wind, who bid each other farewell ‘forever’ to a saccharine musical accompaniment.” Of course, in the silent era, some of these lovers on the silver screen had the stature of the great Lillian Gish, or Richard Barthelmess, or John Barrymore, or Charlie Chaplin, or Greta Garbo; in the early years of the “talkie,” they included the likes of Marlene Dietrich, or Gary Cooper, or Greta Garbo (again), or Katharine Hepburn, or Cary Grant, or Ingrid Bergman. And film music was not always saccharine. In any case, Mann's mocking tone strikes me as more than a little self-satisfied, or, perhaps more precisely, more than a little defensive. But there is an ambiguity in Mann's disdain for film: Is the problem the fact that movies happened to be made by and for people who must have appeared vulgar to a European of Mann's cultured sensibility, or does the problem lie in the nature of cinematic representation itself – the fact, or alleged fact, that film traffics in the realm of the concrete, the sensory, the individuated, not art's realm of ideas and ideals? I suspect that Mann would not have mocked Luchino Visconti's aspirations or achievements as an artist.
The future of religious freedom : global challenges, Allen D. Hertzke (ed.) : book review

Allen Hertzke's edited volume The Future of Religious Freedom : Global Challenges comes at a moment in time when assaults on religious liberty are sharply rising. Millions of people around the world are subjected to harassment, intimidation, or violence because of their religious beliefs, or those of their persecutors. Against this backdrop, the 15 contributors to this volume seek to address the status of religious freedom in the world today, barriers to its realization, moral and political implications of religious restrictions, and ways to create societies respectful of religious liberty.
India nuclear weapons: No first use or no full disclosure?

AbstractThis article argues India is laying the foundation to move away from “no-first-use” (NFU) as its nuclear weapons employment policy. Since the inception of its nuclear weapons program, India has claimed NFU as the centerpiece of its nuclear strategy. But India has a history of developing foundational changes to its nuclear weapons program before such changes actually occur. For example, the infrastructure of India’s nuclear weapons program was already being created in the 1950s under the guise of civilian nuclear power. Similarly, the weaponization of India’s program, which did not officially occur until after the 1998 tests, had its genesis in far earlier decisions. A close examination of trends in India’s nuclear weapons production complex, its delivery systems, and its command and control complex all lead to the conclusion that India is laying the groundwork for more flexible employment options, up to and including first use. This article does not argue such a decision has been taken. Rather, it...
Molecular Dynamics Simulation Workflow for Nucleosome Studies

Nucleosomes are the building blocks of eukaryote genomes. Given that a nucleosome contains 147 base pairs of DNA, the DNA sequence complexity is ∼ 4147. With the advent of genome wide association studies attention can be focused on one nucleosome. Today's supercomputers and simulation tools are sufficiently powerful to conduct comparative studies of ensembles representing 10's to 100's of mononucleosomes in a few days. Here we demonstrate a workflow that characterizes 21 different positions of 601: 10 upstream, 10 downstream and the ideal position in atomic detail. Atomic models were constructed by automatically docking the 601-177 fragment to the histone core of 1KX5. In all 21 simulations, the superhelix geometry evolves in less than 100 ns to a conformation that is significantly different from the original 1KX5 geometry. We previously demonstrated that all x-ray structures of the nucleosome exhibit a specific distribution of Roll, Slide, and Twist. Twelve Fourier components are necessary and sufficient to describe the DNA base pair step parameters required to recreate a nucleosome superhelix in atomic resolution. Here we employ our Fourier filtering technique to show that 100 ns is sufficient to observe global conformational changes associated with positioning and mispositioning the 601-177 fragment. Specifically, ideal positioning yields a DNA superhelix conformation with a significantly different distribution of Slide than mispositioned nucleosomes. The phase and amplitude of Slide associated with wave number 14, approximately the DNA helix repeat 146bp/14, is strongly influenced by nucleosome mispositioning. Thus we have validated a workflow that allows us to efficiently simulate and analyze nucleosomes and demonstrated that simulations as short as 100 ns are sufficient to investigate sequence specific properties of the nucleosome. All simulation and analysis data is published via our iBIOMES server at http://www.latech.edu/∼bishop.
Archival movements: South Africa’s Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action

This article explores the outreach and everyday practice of the Johannesburg LGBTI archive Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA), in a context where the archive – as both theoretical concept and ...
Quantifying the Electrostatics of Polycation–Lipid Bilayer Interactions

Mechanistic insight into how polycations disrupt and cross cell membranes is needed for understanding and controlling polycation–membrane interactions, yet such information is surprisingly difficult to obtain at the molecular level. We use second harmonic and vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopies along with quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and computer simulations to quantify the interaction of poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAH) and its monomeric precursor allylamine hydrochloride (AH) with lipid bilayers. We find PAH adsorption to be reversible and nondisruptive to the bilayer under the conditions of our experiments. With an observed free adsorption energy of −52.7 ± 0.6 kJ/mol, PAH adsorption was found to be surprisingly less favorable relative to AH (−14.6 ± 0.4 kJ/mol) when considering a simple additive model. By experimentally quantifying the number of adsorbates and the average amount of charge carried by each adsorbate, we find that the PAH is associated with ...
Diagnostic Evaluation of Pulmonary Abnormalities in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Pulmonary complications (PC) of hematologic malignancies and their treatments are common causes of morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis is challenging due to host risk factors, clinical instability, and provider preference. Delayed diagnosis impairs targeted treatment and may contribute to poor outcomes. An integrated understanding of clinical risk and radiographic patterns informs a timely approach to diagnosis and treatment. There is little prospective evidence guiding optimal modality and timing of minimally invasive lung sampling; however, a low threshold for diagnostic bronchoscopy during the first 24 to 72 hours after presentation should be a guiding principle in high-risk patients.