cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of Extended Bias Stress on the Electrical Parameters of Mixed Oxide Thin Film Transistors

This paper investigates the variation of electrical characteristic of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) under gate bias stress. The devices are subjected to positive and negative gate bias stress for prolonged time periods. The effect of bias stress time and polarity on the transistor current equation is investigated and the underlying effects responsible for these variations are determined. Negative gate stress produces a positive shift in the threshold voltage. This can be noted as a variation from prior studies. Due to variation of power factor (n) from two, the integral method is implemented to extract threshold voltage (vt) and power factor (n). Effective, mobility (ueff), drain to source resistance (RDS) and constant k' is also extracted from the device characteristics. The unstressed value of n is deter-mined to be 2.5. The power factor increases with gate bias stress time. The distribution of states in the conduction band is revealed by the variation in power factor.
Stiffness and hysteretic energy loss of a reinforced-concrete shear wall

A static, cyclic test of one of the largest reinforced concrete shear walls to be investigated in a laboratory is reported. The test was performed to study the dynamic characteristics (stiffness and hysteretic energy loss) of the shear wall. Very sensitive displacement gages are needed to measure the small deformations. The large forces required to load the structure make the test results susceptible to deformation of the support fixture. With these concerns in mind, instrumentation and data-reduction methods were developed that could separate model deformations from displacements caused by support motion. Also, model displacements were separated into shear and bending components. Results showed that prior to cracking, overall stiffness as well as the individual components of stiffness are accurately predicted by mechanics of materials beam theory that accounts for shear deformation. Equivalent viscous damping ratios that were determined from the hysteretic energy before and after cracking were similar.
Switchable butadiene sulfone pretreatment of Miscanthus in the presence of water

Pretreatment breaks the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulosic biomass prior to enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation for the production of biofuels and chemicals. In this study, Miscanthus × giganteus, a C4 perennial grass and energy crop, was pretreated effectively with a new one-step chemical approach at 90 °C–110 °C for 6–30 h using switchable butadiene sulfone. The solvent has the ability to “switch” in equilibrium to 1,3-butadiene and sulfur dioxide, forming sulfurous acid in the presence of water. Sulfurous acid hydrolyzed xylan in Miscanthus, removing up to 91% of xylan into the liquid phase, via Bronsted acid catalysis following irreversible first-order kinetics with the activation energy determined to be 89 kJ mol−1. Butadiene sulfone was mainly responsible for the solubilization of up to 58% of lignin during or after the hydrolysis of xylan. X-ray diffractograms showed that unwanted diene polymers from solvent decomposition can be minimized in the pretreated solids below 110 °C and 18 h, conditions that also allowed for the preservation of 90–99% of glucan. It was demonstrated that all of the butadiene sulfone after pretreatment can be decomposed into 1,3-butadiene and sulfur dioxide, which enables potential solvent reformation and separation from the solubilized xylan derivatives and lignin.
An analysis of subcooled turbulent film boiling on a moving isothermal surface

Abstract When film boiling occurs on a moving superheated surface, the vapor layer which forms between the surface and liquid reduces the drag force and heat transfer. In this study, heat transfer associated with subcooled turbulent film boiling on a moving isothermal surface is investigated using both local similarity and integral methods. Using a two-phase boundary-layer model and assuming power-law profiles for the velocity and temperature distributions, integral forms of the mass, momentum and energy-conservation equations, together with compatibility conditions at the vapor-liquid interface, were solved for both the vapor and liquid layers. In order to assess the merit of this analytical procedure, a local similarity solution to the same problem was obtained using the modified Cebeci-Smith eddy-viscosity model with the Cebeci-Bradshaw algorithm for turbulent boundary-layer flow. Numerical results reveal the effects of relevant parameters such as plate velocity, the ratio of plate-to-free-stream velocity, and liquid subcooling.
Black Swans and Many Worlds: Contemporary models in music, the arts and ideas

Black Swans and Many Worlds are new models to help explain musical structures, and by extension, events in the social environment and in internal human experience. Many Worlds takes its departure point from quantum physics, and especially the work of Hugh Everett III, who used the defining point of a measurement in the sub-atomic world as initiating alternative courses of action. Everett extrapolated this idea to the macro-world: a defining point may initiate multiple outcomes, each with its own character and events, as parallel worlds. One application of this model is to consider musical works within a genre as Many Worlds. Black Swans derive from Nassim Taleb, who proposes that social, political, and in fact all aspects of today’s world are not understandable by logical processes or incremental change but are often rocked by extreme, unpredictable shocks. If Many Worlds provide new ways of thinking about potentiality, probability and innovation, Black Swans arrest us in our tracks by eruptions that threaten to derail contemporary life, and with it, music, the arts and ideas.
Sex differences in the relationship of body fat distribution with psychosocial variables.

Objective This study tested the hypothesis that the relationship of psychosocial variables to body fat distribution would differ in men and women and would vary according to gender differences in natural patterns of fat distribution. Method: Body fat distribution and psychological functioning were examined in 5,930 male and 7,598 female dieters. Results: Upper body size and shape were more strongly related to psychological functioning in men and lower body size and shape were more important in women. Discussion: To better understand the association of weight with psychosocial status, patterns of body fat distribution should be considered. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 22: 139–145, 1997.
The development of the thymus bodies in necturus maculosus

The primordia of the thymus bodies in Necturus begin to form in 7-mm. embryos. These structures arise as clumps of entodermal cells on the posterior dorsal portion of the first four visceral pouches; the first or last pouch, being rudimentary, fails to form such a primordium. All except the first of these primordia lose their connection with their respective pouches in the 16-mm. stage and lie free in the surrounding connective tissue. The primordium on the first pouch begins to show degenerative changes during that stage, losing connection with its pouch in the 23-mm. stage, finally to disappear altogether in 30-mm. specimens. The three remaining bodies continue to grow, but the second and third outstrip the fourth in development and begin to form Hassall's corpuscles in 32- to 34-mm. stages. Sections of 30-mm. Necturi show a few of these corpuscles fairly well developed and containing a faintly staining secretion. The fourth body remains relatively small a long time, not showing the Hassallian cysts until the animal is 60 mm. long. By shifting of positions and increasing in size, the three bodies come to lie in proximity, one behind the other, to form the definitive thymus gland of the adult. The gland lies embedded in the heavy musculature on top of the head in front of the gills.
Impact of environmental estrogens on nucleotide excision repair gene expression in embryonic zebrafish

Estrogens and estrogen mimics are aquatic contaminants that can elicit a variety of deleterious effects in exposed fauna. One of the most potent xenoestrogens found in the aquatic environment is 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE(2)), the pharmaceutically derived semi-synthetic hormone found in oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapies. Exposure to 100 ng/L EE(2) has previously been shown to profoundly decrease functional hepatic nucleotide excision repair (NER) processes in adult zebrafish in correlation with dramatic decreases in the abundance of hepatic XPC and XPA transcripts; however, its effects on these processes in embryos are currently unknown. Because developing organisms are known to have increased sensitivities to endocrine disrupting compounds such as EE(2), the goal of this study was to examine the impacts of estrogen exposure on mRNA expression of these two key NER genes in zebrafish embryos during the first 4 days of development. Embryos were exposed from 0 h post fertilization (hpf) to waterborne EE(2), its major metabolite, estrone (E(1)), or combinations of the two compounds and sampled at 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hpf. Increased abundance of vitellogenin-1 (VTG1) mRNA, a bioindicator of estrogen exposure, was evident as early as 24 hpf in embryos that were co-exposed to EE(2) and E(1) and this effect was sustained throughout 96 hpf. Embryos exposed to EE(2) alone exhibited elevated VTG1 beginning at 72 hpf. In contrast to observations from adult zebrafish exposed to EE(2), embryos did not show any change in mRNA abundance of the excision repair gene, XPC, during the first 4 days of development. However, co-exposure to EE(2) and E(1) elicited an increase in XPA mRNA abundance at 48 and 72 hpf, which was the opposite response as that observed in exposed adults where hepatic XPA mRNA abundance decreased after EE(2) exposure. These differences between embryos and adults suggest that alteration of NER gene transcription by EE(2) is operating under different stimuli during development.
Radiology afloat: The impact of diagnostic and interventional radiology during the 2005 tsunami relief effort aboard the USNS Mercy.

AT approximately 9 a.m. local time on December 26, 2004, an earth-shattering event took place in the Indian Ocean; it was to become one of the worst natural disasters the world had seen since the eruption of Mt. Krakatoa in 1883 in Indonesia. While thousands of Acehnese families made their ritual Sunday pilgrimage to the seaside to enjoy a relaxing family outing in the setting of their region’s immense natural beauty, a massive 9.2-magnitude earthquake shook their island’s foundation, unleashing a merciless tsunami that would claim an estimated 150,000 lives from this single, humble province. Although Aceh’s capital city, Banda Aceh, was the world’s most severely affected location, the devastation was felt vastly throughout Asia and even as far away as Africa (Fig 1). Millions were affected in 14 nations and as many as 300,000 were killed (1). Inhabitants of this part of the world, known as the Ring of Fire because of
INTERFACIAL ENERGY BALANCE EQUATION FOR SURFACE-TENSION-DRIVEN BENARD CONVECTION

Existing theories for the surface-tension-driven B\'enard convection (Marangoni convection) have considered only thermocapillary effects through the shear stress balance equation at the interface via the surface-tension-gradient-induced shear stresses. Thermocapillary induced surface energy variation has been ignored altogether in these theories. A formulation taking into account this surface energy variation shows that it can have a non-negligible effect on the onset of B\'enard convection cells.
Acute nongonococcal infectious arthritis

A retrospective analysis of 71 nongonococcal joint infections in 63 patients is reported. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 59% of the patients. Five patients died as a result of infections. The outcome in Gram-negative joint infections was similar to the overall outcome in the entire series of patients. All 11 joints with infected prostheses ultimately required removal of the prostheses. All patients were treated with appropriate parenteral antibiotics, and surgical intervention was used in 40 joints. Six patients underwent surgical treatment because of inability to sterilize the joint with antibiotics and because of repeated joint aspirations. The outcome with surgical intervention was good only in patients younger than 16 years of ages. Medical therapy (parenteral antibiotics and frequent joint aspirations) led to good results in 74% of the patients. Outcome of joint infection was also influenced by factors which contribute to impaired host resistance.
Multiple-scattering calculations of the uranium L 3 -edge x-ray-absorption near-edge structure

A theoretical study of the uranium ${\mathit{L}}_{3}$-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) is presented for several uranium compounds, including oxides, intermetallics, uranyl fluoride, and \ensuremath{\alpha}-uranium. Calculations were performed using feff6, an ab initio multiple-scattering (MS) code that includes the most important features of current theories. The results, which account for both the fine structure \ensuremath{\chi} and the atomiclike background ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{0}$ of the absorption coefficient \ensuremath{\mu}, are compared to new and previously measured experimental spectra, reavealing very good agreement for most systems. For several compounds, a more detailed theoretical analysis determined the influence of cluster size and scattering order upon the calculated spectra. Results indicate that MS paths and scattering paths that include rather distant atoms make significant contributions for ${\mathrm{UO}}_{2}$, whereas XANES for crystals with lower symmetry and density can be modeled using only shorter single-scattering paths. In most cases, assumption of a screened final state in the calculation gives better agreement with experiment than use of an unscreened final state. The successful modeling of spectra for a variety of different uranium compounds, with differing spectral features, indicates that the semirelativistic treatment of XANES used here is adequate even for heavy elements. The well-known resonance, observed experimentally for uranyl (${\mathrm{UO}}_{2}^{2+}$) compounds \ensuremath{\approxeq}15 eV above the white line, is successfully modeled here for the first time, using multiple-scattering paths within the O-U-O axial bonds. Overlapping muffin-tin spheres were required in the calculation, probably as a result of the short uranyl axial bonds.
Case Study for Network-Distributed Collaborative Design and Simulation: Extended Life Optimization for M1 Abrams Tank Road Arm

Abstract A framework has been developed for distributed simulation and design of complex systems, with particular application to complete vehicle systems. An object-oriented architecture has been adopted, enabling the use of distributed and heterogeneous computing resources, custom and commercial legacy software, and different models and optimization tools. The industry standard, Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), is used to provide network-distribution services. To demonstrate the capabilities of the distributed design framework, this paper presents results of a study conducted to optimize the life of an MI Abrams tank road arm. This study demonstrates the reconfigurability of the design framework, as various computing resources, simulation and analysis tools, and optimization algorithms are employed.
Government Employment and Black-White Earnings Inequality, 1980-1990

Through both its direct employment and its policies, the public sector historically has provided an important avenue for the upward mobility of blacks. However, the conservative Reagan-Bush agenda of the 1980s greatly redefined the role of government in promoting racial equality, and this paper tests to see if the advantages that blacks have obtained from government employment changed across the decade. Utilizing the 1980 and 1990 CPS microdata, I find that racial inequality increased in the federal government and that, concomitantly, the benefits for blacks working for the federal government decreased between 1980 and 1990. I conclude with the implications of these results for both research and policy.
Variational calculations of low-index crystal face-dependent surface energies and work functions of simple metals

Surface energies and work functions are calculated for the (110), (100), and (111) faces of the bcc metals Li, Ba, Na, K, Rb, and Cs and the fcc metals Al, Pb, Ca, Sr, and for the (0001) faces of the hcp metals Zn and Mg. In the Kohn-Sham energy functional employed, the crystal lattice of ions is represented by the Ashcroft pseudopotential, and nonlocal exchange-correlation energy corrections included via the wave-vector analysis method. The surface energies are determined by application of the Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle. The work functions are obtained for these energy-minimized densities by the variationally accurate, "displaced-profile change-in-self-consistent-field" (DP▵SCF) expression, which is tested for real metals here for the first time. The variational electronic densities employed are those generated by the linear-potential model, which permits the calculations to be primarily analytical. It is observed that the surface energies for each metal with the exception of Rb and Cs increase with decreasing packing density of the exposed crystal face, and that the Smoluchowski rule of decreasing work functions with decreasing packing density is obeyed by each metal except Al and Pb. An analysis of these numerical results indicates them to be superior to those of perturbation theory, and to be equivalent or generally superior to the results of other variational calculations for metals with ${r}_{s}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}3$. The Mahan-Schaich derivation for the work function of jellium metal is extended to include local ionic pseudopotentials, and the result shown to be equivalent to the DP▵SCF expression. A general expression for polycrystalline work functions is also derived, and an empirical formula given for the work function of alkali metals. It is further argued that it is meaningful, at least for the alkali metals, to compare the polycrystalline work function to the minimum work function, and this equivalence is demonstrated by comparison with experiment.
Robotic replacement of the descending thoracic aorta: an alternative to endovascular therapy?

BACKGROUND : Replacement of the descending thoracic aorta is traditionally performed via a left thoracotomy. Endovascular treatment of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms has recently evolved as an alternative treatment for selected patients, yet no long-term results are available. The authors replaced the descending thoracic aorta in a group of pigs with an interposition Dacron graft using a closed-chest, totally robotic technique. METHODS : Ten pigs, weighing 25 to 45 kg, underwent surgery using the DaVinci robotic surgical system. Under single-lung ventilation and CO2 insufflation, the descending thoracic aorta was completely mobilized. Proximal and distal cross-clamps were applied through separate accessory stab wounds. The mid-descending thoracic aorta was excised. An interposition Dacron graft was robotically sewn in an end-to-end fashion to the descending thoracic aorta using interrupted nitinol clips. RESULTS : All animals survived the procedure. Mean aortic clamp time was 55 ± 14 minutes. All anastomoses were completed without difficulty with a mean total anastomotic time of 42 ± 11 minutes. The anastomoses were challenged for bleeding by administrating α1-adrenergic receptor agonists to a systolic blood pressure of 200 mm Hg with no evidence of leak. DISCUSSION : Robotic replacement of the thoracic aorta is feasible and reproducible. This procedure provides the standard Dacron graft repair with its known long-term results. The added value of robotic technology to the therapeutic armamentarium in the treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms may be worth the effort required for procedural development. Furthermore, it may serve as a valid alternative to endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms.
Novel Biomarker Candidates to Predict Hepatic Fibrosis in Hepatitis C Identified by Serum Proteomics

Background Liver biopsy remains the gold standard to assess hepatic fibrosis. It is desirable to predict hepatic fibrosis without the need for invasive liver biopsy. Proteomic techniques allow unbiased assessment of proteins and might be useful to identify proteins related to hepatic fibrosis.
Pigmented nevi of the oral mucosa: A clinicopathologic study of 36 new cases and review of 155 cases from the literature: Part I: A clinicopathologic study of 36 new cases

Pigmented nevi are uncommon oral lesions. This study adds data on 36 new cases. The most common type of nevus was the intramucosal type (20 cases), followed by the common blue nevus (11 cases). Only three cases were of the compound type and only two were of the junctional type. The hard palate was the most frequent location for the blue nevus, whereas the buccal mucosa was the most frequent site for the intramucosal nevus. One nevus (intramucosal type) was located on the tongue, and to our knowledge, this is the first reported example of pigmented nevus at this site. The individual data on the 36 cases are presented and compared with a previous study on oral nevi from the University of California at San Francisco. The previously unpublished clinical details on the 32 nevi from the previous study are also presented.
593 POST-THYMIC T CELL LYMPHOMA: OCCURRENCE IN THREE SIBLINGS AND ASSOCIATION WITH GARDNER'S SYNDROME

Three siblings developed a similar type of lymphoblastic lymphoma. Like their father, they all had multiple cafe au lait spots, and one was found at autopsy to have intestinal polyps typical of Gardner's syndrome, a condition with a known dominant inheritance of malignancies. HL-A type in 2/2 affected children tested was 9, 17/W28, W5. All three children presented with cervical and/or mediastinal lymphomas and died 1-8 months after diagnosis of central nervous system metastasis. Tumor cells from 2/2 tested were T lymphoblasts. They formed rosettes with sheep erythrocytes, lacked surface Ig and reacted with heterologous anti-T but not anti-B cell serum. In the one child so tested, lymphoblasts lacked the enzyme terminal transferase indicating a lymph node rather than thymic T cell origin. Moreover, unlike children with thymic lymphoblastic lymphoma who usually progress to or have at diagnosis an associated T cell leukemia, none of these three children developed bone marrow involvement. We conclude that these children had a tumor which appears to be a post-thymic T cell lymphoma, and that a genetic predisposition for this tumor occurs in Gardner's syndrome.
RESTORATION OF WEAK PHASE-CONTRAST IMAGES RECORDED WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF DEFOCUS: THE"TWIN IMAGE" PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH CTF CORRECTION

Relatively large values of objective-lens defocus must normally be used to produce detectable levels of image contrast for unstained biological specimens, which are generally weak phase objects. As a result, a subsequent restoration operation must be used to correct for oscillations in the contrast transfer function (CTF) at higher resolution. Currently used methods of CTF correction assume the ideal case in which Friedel mates in the scattered wave have contributed pairs of Fourier components that overlap with one another in the image plane. This "ideal" situation may be only poorly satisfied, or not satisfied at all, as the particle size gets smaller, the defocus value gets larger, and the resolution gets higher. We have therefore investigated whether currently used methods of CTF correction are also effective in restoring the single-sideband image information that becomes displaced (delocalized) by half (or more) the diameter of a particle of finite size. Computer simulations are used to show that restoration either by "phase flipping" or by multiplying by the CTF recovers only about half of the delocalized information. The other half of the delocalized information goes into a doubly defocused "twin" image of the type produced during optical reconstruction of an in-line hologram. Restoration with a Wiener filter is effective in recovering the delocalized information only when the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) is orders of magnitude higher than that which exists in low-dose images of biological specimens, in which case the Wiener filter approaches division by the CTF (i.e. the formal inverse). For realistic values of the S/N, however, the "twin image" problem seen with a Wiener filter is very similar to that seen when either phase flipping or multiplying by the CTF is used for restoration. The results of these simulations suggest that CTF correction is a poor alternative to using a Zernike-type phase plate when imaging biological specimens, in which case the images can be recorded in a close-to-focus condition, and delocalization of high-resolution information is thus minimized.
Perspective: Casting light on sleep deficiency

The use of electric lights at night is disrupting the sleep of more and more people, says Charles Czeisler.
Blood pressure and total peripheral resistance in children with chronic kidney disease

We performed a study to assess cardiac output (CO) and total peripheral resistance (TPR) at rest and during peak exercise with the goal to better define the role of these parameters in the development of hypertension in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 2-4. Fifty-two pediatric patients with CKD (mean age 12.7+/-3.7 years) and 28 healthy individuals of comparable age and sex participated in the study. At rest, children with CKD had a significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) and calculated mean arterial pressure (MAP) than healthy controls. Total peripheral resistance was significantly higher in children with CKD than in controls (1627.7+/-534.6 vs 1354.6+/-338.9 dynexsxcm(-5), p =0.02). There was no significant difference in heart rate or CO between the two groups. Children taking antihypertensive medications had lower TPR than children without BP medications (1514.6+/-439.6 vs 1788.2+/-505.4 dynexsxcm(-5), respectively, p =0.06). At peak exercise, children with CKD had a significant increase in MAP, heart rate and CO and had a significant decrease in TPR (difference between rest and peak exercise: -782.4+/-375.9 dynexsxcm(-5), p <0.001). Children taking BP medications had blunted MAP and CO responses when compared to controls (Delta CO: 6.2+/-2.8 l/min vs 9.8+/-4.5 l/min, respectively, p =0.01; MAP: 13.9+/-10.2 mmHg vs 21.5+/-11.7 mmHg, respectively, p =0.01). Children without BP medications had a similar to controls response to exercise in respect to CO, MAP and TPR. We conclude that increased TPR is a major contributor to elevated blood pressure in children with CKD and suggest that BP medications decreasing vascular resistance should be used as a first line of antihypertensive therapy in these patients.
The Spectrum of the Γ-Invariant of a Bilinear Space☆

Abstract To every symmetric bilinear space (X, φ) of regular uncountable dimension κ, an invariant Γ(X, φ) ∈ P (κ)/ F (κ) (where F (κ) is the club filter) can be assigned. We prove that in dimension ℵ2the spectrum of Γ cannot be determined inZFC. For this, on the one hand we show that underCH, Γ attains the maximal (with respect to a restriction provable inZFC) spectrum; we also show thatCHis not necessary for this result. On the other hand we show that in a variation of Mitchell's model, which is obtained by collapsing a weakly compact cardinal to ω2, the spectrum of Γ in dimension ℵ2is much thinner than the maximal one.
Emergency Department Evaluation after Conducted Energy Weapon Use: Review of the Literature for the Clinician

BACKGROUND: Conductive energy weapons (CEWs) are used daily by law enforcement, and patients are often brought to an emergency department (ED) for medical clearance. STUDY OBJECTIVES: To review the medical literature on the topic of CEWs and to offer evidence-based recommendations to Emergency Physicians for evaluation and treatment of patients who have received a CEW exposure. METHODS: A MEDLINE literature search from 1988 to 2010 was performed and limited to human studies published from January 1988 to January 20, 2010 for English language articles with the following keywords: TASER, conductive energy device(s), electronic weapon(s), conductive energy weapon(s), non-lethal weapon(s), conducted energy device(s), conducted energy weapon(s), conductive electronic device(s), and electronic control device(s). Studies identified then underwent a structured review from which results could be evaluated. RESULTS: There were 140 articles on CEWs screened, and 20 appropriate articles were rigorously reviewed and recommendations given. These studies did not report any evidence of dangerous laboratory abnormalities, physiologic changes, or immediate or delayed cardiac ischemia or dysrhythmias after exposure to CEW electrical discharges of up to 15 s. CONCLUSIONS: The current medical literature does not support routine performance of laboratory studies, electrocardiograms, or prolonged ED observation or hospitalization for ongoing cardiac monitoring after CEW exposure in an otherwise asymptomatic awake and alert patient. Language: en
Low-Energy Structures of (C6H6)13 as Determined by Low-Temperature Monte Carlo Simulations Using Several Potential Energy Surfaces

Monte Carlo computations have been carried out using six different potential energy parameter sets in order to investigate the low-energy structure(s) of (benzene) 1 3 . Improved energies were identified for three previously published structures, and their resulting symmetries were identified. Each of the computed structures at 0.01 K is unique; however, each possesses at least one symmetry element: a C 3 rotational axis, a center of inversion, or both (i.e., an S 6 axis). From simulations at 1 K, it is hypothesized that there are two competing structures, separated by ∼0.2 kJ/mol. Composite coordinates are derived for both structures with 95% confidence limits. These results can be used in conjunction with experimental data to identify the precise low-energy structure(s) of (benzene) 1 3 .
Tolerance analysis of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE): a statistical approach

We present a new statistical technique for evaluating the error budget of an optical system. Each parameter evaluated in the error budget is assigned a standard deviation. Randomly generated, Gaussian distributed offsets are then generated for each parameter. The optical system is raytraced a large number of times using the offsets to simulate alignment errors. In this way it is straightforward to simultaneously evaluate the degradation in the optical performance introduced by random misalignments and fabrication errors. The error budget for a system is then defined in terms of the standard deviations assigned to each parameter under consideration.
Decorous Spectacle: Mirrors, Manners, and Ars Dictaminis in Late Medieval Civic Engagement

Focusing on the confluence of mirrors, manners, and ars dictaminis in the late Middle Ages, I argue that thirteenth-century civic engagement organized itself as a decorous spectacle: a well-mannered, highly codified visual performance that reflected and reinforced the structure of medieval Europe's stratified society. Marked by display, courtesy, and participation, decorous spectacle evolved from a groundswell of cultural factors including the emergence of mirror-making technologies, politesse, and, especially, ars dictaminis. Exploring this groundswell provides a way to understand the evolution of late Medieval decorous spectacle and a template for understanding the nature of civic engagement in any era.
Simultaneous evaluation of composite biodeterioration and changes in the physicochemical and biological water characteristics

Abstract Biological factors in aquatic environments may accelerate the deterioration of composite material, while the leached material can adversely impact the surrounding ecosystem. The main objective of this study was to examine the interaction between physicochemical and biological characteristics of water and polymer composites, using four water-composite systems (distilled water with composite, river water, river water and composite, and river water plus composite and biocide). In distilled water, leaching of the composite coupon produced an increase in pH (11%); conductivity (30 ppm ) ; and total organic carbon (TOC) (31 mg / l ) . Conversely, the presence of bacteria buffered river water pH. Bacteria in non-sterile reactors degraded the TOC leached from the composite, preventing its accumulation. However, this led to higher oxygen demands which were also indicated by increasing bacterial numbers in the three non-sterile water systems. Exposure to river water over 12 months produced an 11% reduction in the tensile modulus of composites; almost twice that for the distilled water and the system containing biocide. Biocide did prevent the tensile modulus reduction, but led to 28 mg / l TOC accumulation. Visual observations corroborated the observed differences. Craters and precipitates, exposed fibres, and material debonding were observed on the coupon surface. For the river water system, biofilm growth was also observed. The presented study provides a useful and preliminary database for physicochemical and biological characterization of water interacting with deteriorating polymer composites.
Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Salmonella Typhimurium on Eggshells by Using Wireless Biosensors

This article presents rapid, sensitive, direct detection of Salmonella Typhimurium on eggshells by using wireless magnetoelastic (ME) biosensors. The biosensor consists of a freestanding, strip-shaped ME resonator as the signal transducer and the E2 phage as the biomolecular recognition element that selectively binds with Salmonella Typhimurium. This ME biosensor is a type of mass-sensitive biosensor that can be wirelessly actuated into mechanical resonance by an externally applied timevarying magnetic field. When the biosensor binds with Salmonella Typhimurium, the mass of the sensor increases, resulting in a decrease in the sensor's resonant frequency. Multiple E2 phage-coated biosensors (measurement sensors) were placed on eggshells spiked with Salmonella Typhimurium of various concentrations (1.6 to 1.6 × 10(7) CFU/cm(2)). Control sensors without phage were also used to compensate for environmental effects and nonspecific binding. After 20 min in a humidity-controlled chamber (95%) to allow binding of the bacteria to the sensors to occur, the resonant frequency of the sensors was wirelessly measured and compared with their initial resonant frequency. The resonant frequency change of the measurement sensors was found to be statistically different from that of the control sensors down to 1.6 × 10(2) CFU/cm(2), the detection limit for this work. In addition, scanning electron microscopy imaging verified that the measured resonant frequency changes were directly related to the number of bound cells on the sensor surface. The total assay time of the presented methodology was approximately 30 min, facilitating rapid detection of Salmonella Typhimurium without any preceding sampling procedures.
Measures of handedness as indicators of language lateralization

This article is based on a paper presented at the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Orton Society, Boston, Massachusetts, 1971. The research reported here was supported in part by a grant from the Research Foundation, University of Connecticut. The author wishes to thank Dr. Isabelle Liberman and Dr. Donald Shankweiler of the University of Connecticut, and the Haskins Laboratories, for their assistance in the development of this study and in the preparation of the manuscript.
Hospice and Palliative Medicine: New Subspecialty, New Opportunities

Palliative care is the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care provided to patients from diagnosis to death or resolution of a life-threatening illness. Hospice care is a comprehensive program of care that is appropriate when patients with chronic, progressive, and eventually fatal illness are determined to have a prognosis of 6 months or fewer. Hospice and palliative medicine has now been recognized by the American Board of Medical Subspecialties as a field with a unique body of knowledge and practice. With 9 other specialty boards, the American Board of Emergency Medicine has cosponsored hospice and palliative medicine as an official subspecialty. As a result, board-certified emergency physicians may now pursue certification in hospice and palliative medicine through either fellowship training or, for a limited time, completing practice track requirements, followed by a written examination in the subspecialty. As the practice of palliative medicine grows in hospitals, emergency physicians can develop a core of generalist palliative medicine skills for use with adults and children. These would include assessing and communicating prognoses, managing the relief of pain and other distressing symptoms, helping articulate goals of patient care, understanding ethical and legal requirements; and ensuring the provision of culturally appropriate spiritual care in the last hours of living. Front-line emergency physicians possessing these basic palliative medicine skills will be able to work collaboratively with subspecialty physicians who are dually certified in emergency medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. Together, generalist and specialist emergency physicians can advance research, education, and policy in this new field to reach the common goals of high-quality, efficient, evidence-based palliative care in the emergency department.
Using the Engagement Skills Trainer to Predict Rifle Marksmanship Performance

To assess the relation between device-based and live-fire M16A2 rifle marksmanship performance, 2 groups of 51 U.S. Army National Guard soldiers were tested on the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) a...
Impact of prenatal screening on the birth status of fetuses with Down syndrome at an urban hospital, 1972-1994.

Purpose: This hospital-based study has determined the change over time (1972–1974 and 1979–1994) in the methods of prenatal detection of fetuses with Down syndrome and the impact of elective termination on the portion that were liveborn. Methods: Using a malformations surveillance program, all 265 affected fetuses and infants were identified among 161,560 births and elective terminations during the aforementioned period at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. Results: From 1972 to 1974, Down syndrome was not diagnosed in any affected infants prenatally. In the early 1980s, amniocentesis was the primary method of diagnosis; later, maternal serum screening and ultrasonography were as likely to be the first method of detection. Most couples (86%) elected to terminate pregnancies with affected fetuses. Conclusions: The effect of prenatal detection and the choice of elective termination produced a significant decrease, between 1972 and 1994, in the portion of fetuses with Down syndrome who were liveborn
PEM fuel cells operated at 0% relative humidity in the temperature range of 23–120 °C

Abstract Operation of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell without external humidification (or 0% relative humidity, abbreviated as 0% RH) of the reactant gases is highly desirable, because it can eliminate the gas humidification system and thus decrease the complexity of the PEM fuel cell system and increase the system volume power density (W/l) and weight power density (W/kg). In this investigation, a PEM fuel cell was operated in the temperature range of 23–120 °C, in particular in a high temperature PEM fuel cell operation range of 80–120 °C, with dry reactant gases, and the cell performance was examined according to varying operation parameters. An ac impedance method was used to compare the performance at 0% RH with that at 100% RH; the results suggested that the limited proton transfer process to the Pt catalysts, mainly in the inonomer within the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) could be responsible for the performance drop. It was demonstrated that operating a fuel cell using a commercially available membrane (Nafion ® 112) is feasible under certain conditions without external humidification. However, the cell performance at 0% RH decreased with increasing operation temperature and reactant gas flow rate and decreasing operation pressure.
Globalism and Regionalism: U.S. Arms Transfers to Sudan

Over the past four decades U.S. arms transfers to Sudan have been premised on a mix of globalist and regionalist rationales. American policymakers have attempted to find a balance between containment of Soviet influence and radical regional forces in northeast Africa with a desire not to unnecessarily antagonize Egypt, the most influential Arab state which has a vital stake in Sudan. Since the mid-1970s these two objectives have been largely congruent. U.S. support for Sudan has been seen as a means to enhance the security of Egypt and, thereby, maintain the pro-U.S. policy of Cairo. Except for a brief time in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Washington hoped to replace its lost position of influence in the Horn of Africa via the development of a close political-military relationship with the government of Jaafar Nimieri, Sudan, in and of itself, has been of little direct consequence to the United States, simply a potential domino. As a result the "local" situation in Sudan has been susceptible to dist...
To be or not to be: assisted suicide revisited.

Publicity accorded American physician-pathologist Jack Kevorkian and “physician-assisted suicide” bring a new, technological, twist to euthanasia. How and when we die and its meaning and how we liv...
Influence of malnutrition on developing rat peripheral nerves.

Abstract Animals with experimentally induced neuropathies frequently fail to gain weight normally and appear poorly nourished. To determine whether or not malnutrition alone contributes to peripheral nerve dysfunction in these disorders, we subjected healthy 40-day-old rats to three grades of food restriction. After 4 weeks, food-restricted rats weighed 203 ± 5 (mean ± SE), 152 ± 12, and 97 ± 5 g, respectively, whereas control rats having free access to food weighed 379 ± 22 g. Posterior tibial nerves of food-deprived rats had smaller endoneurial areas, fewer large-diameter fibers, and shorter internodes than did the nerves of control animals. However, the number of fibers was similar to controls, and there was no evidence of active degeneration or demyelination. Motor and mixed nerve conduction velocities along the same nerves increased with age and did not differ among control and malnourished groups. In growing rats, food deprivation sufficient to impair somatic growth interferes with the maturation of large-caliber myelinated fibers, but does not effect standard electrophysiologic measurements of nerve function.
Electronic commerce personnel in the age of clicks and mortar: toward a framework of individual and project level skills

With the explosive growth of Internet, the need for individuals to build and maintain electronic commerce programs has emerged. E-commerce sites have the dual challenges of appealing enough to users to purchasing online as well as running flawlessly to support secure transactions. Thus, e-commerce personnel need to integrate the creativity of delighting users with reliable technology. This paper examines the staffing of e-commerce teams and particularly focuses on skills needed and how they should be arranged. This paper details how e-commerce staffing should include IT professionals, web publication specialists, and hybrid professionals with skill profiles combining IT and publication abilities. This paper also presents a model of the particular skill set needed for staffing an e-commerce team. Finally, the paper discusses e-commerce positions in light of likely trends in employment and technology.
Quantifying features in the dynamic spectra of radio pulsars: localization of fringe features using wavelet transforms

Wavelet analysis offers a technique for signal detection particularly suited for non-stationary signals. Other methods of signal analysis, namely Fourier techniques, make explicit assumptions about the signals to be analyzed. If these assumptions hold, then the results can be striking. Conversely, if the signal does not ideally match the properties assumed by the analysis function then the results can be indecisive or ambiguous. The standard Fourier transform assumes a basis function of sines and cosines underlies all signals and analyzes the fluctuation frequency of the signal function in equal bandwidth units. Wavelet theory offers a more general technique for solving a wide variety of signal processing problems using an octave bandwidth approach. The Wavelet transform offers an alternative method for analyzing functions that have variable periodicity over the duration of a data set, either through localization or a change in the oscillation period. The Wavelet transform is shown to be a tool for the analysis of general signals. Astrophysical data sets often provide interesting applications of signal processing techniques. In this paper the Morlet Wavelet transform is applied to the preliminary analysis of radio pulsar dynamic spectra.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Beautiful Transfer of Information

Synapses . W. Maxwell Cowan, Thomas C. Sudhof, and Charles F. Stevens, Eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2000. 783 pp. $69.95, £48. ISBN 0-8018-6498-4. This comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge of the organization and function of synapses will interest both seasoned neurobiologists and newcomers to the field.
Sedimentary facies on the rises and slopes of passive continental margins

Joides drilling results provide new evidence concerning facies patterns on evolving passive margins that strengthens and extends hypotheses constructed from studies of morphology, seismic reflexion data and shallow samples on modern margins, and from field geologic studies of uplifted ancient margins. On the slopes and rise, gravitycontrolled mechanisms -- turbidity currents, debris flows, slides and the like -- play the dominant role in sediment transport over the long term, but when clastic supplies are reduced, as for example during rapid transgressions, then oceanic sedimentation and the effects of thermohaline circulation become important. Sedimentary facies models used as the basis of unravelling tectonic complexities of some deformed margins, for example in the Mesozoic Tethys, may be too simplistic in the light of available data from modern continental margins.