cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Seismic performance of a FRP encased concrete bridge pylon connection

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites provide immense advantages in the development of bridge structural components. In addition to their attractiveness due to light weight and tailorable performance attributes, they also provide significant advantages for use in seismic regions. This paper describes the results of tests conducted to validate their use as pylons for cable-stayed bridges. A full-scale test of one segment of the pylon was conducted to evaluate the ductile performance of the splice connection as a potential region for inelastic action. Results indicate that all requirements for a successful proof of concept test were met. The force capacity was significantly greater than the maximum force demand for the bridge and the displacement capacity was close to six times the displacement demand under required seismic levels. Furthermore, the strain levels in the composite shell were well below the materials allowables set based on damage tolerance requirements.
Cystic Fibrosis: Characterization of the Inhibitor to Ciliary Action in Oyster Gills

The inhibitor to oyster ciliary activity was isolated from serumof cystic fibrosis patients and heterozygotes.The inhibitinig protein fraction wast a cation as judged by electrophoresis; it had a molecuer weight of 125,000 to 200,000 as judged by gel filtration; antd oil diethylaminoethyl-cellulose chromatography it eluted with the immunoglobulin G fraction. The analogous fraction in normal individuals did not inhibit oyster cillary activity.
5.7: Presentation session: Neuroscience informatics: “Pathway-assisted investigation of atypical antipsychotic drugs and serotonin receptors in schizophrenia”

Clozapine and its four related drugs (olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and ziprasidone) are the most frequently used treatments for schizophrenia in the world. The underlying mechanisms are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the features of these five drugs through their related genes at the pathway level. For each drug, we first identified the pathways that the drugs might be involved in. We found that these five drugs are all significantly involved in five pathways, i.e., G-protein coupled receptor signaling, cAMP-mediated signaling, serotonin receptor (5-HT) signaling, AMPK signaling, and cardiac hypertrophy signaling. Among these pathways, the serotonin receptor (5-HTR) pathway is an important neurotransmitter-related pathway in psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we further investigated the functional relationship between the five drugs and serotonin receptors based on the experimental data of activation, chemical-protein interaction, expression, inhabitation, and regulation of binding. We constructed a drug-5HTR network including these five drugs, serotonin receptors, and their relationships and found that clozapine has more interactors and more complicated connections with serotonin receptors than the other four drugs. Additionally, clozapine has two unique relationships with HTR2A, one of the most susceptible candidate genes for schizophrenia. These results indicated that clozapine might have a different action during the treatment process of schizophrenia from the other four drugs
Global branches of equilibrium solutions of the McKendrick equations for age-structured population growth

Abstract The existence of positive equilibrium solutions of the McKendrick equations for the dynamics of an age-structured population is studied as a bifurcation phenomenon using the inherent net reproductive rate n as a bifurcation parameter. Under only continuity assumptions on the density dependent death and tertility rates, it is shown that a global continuum of positive equilibria exists in a certain Banach space. This continuum connects from the trivial solution at n = 1 to the boundary of the domain on which the problem is posed. Results concerning the spectrum are given. In particular, some circumstances are described under which positive equilibria exist for all n values greater than the critical value n = 1.
Purification, Characterization, and Localization of Yeast Cox17p, a Mitochondrial Copper Shuttle

Abstract Cox17p was previously shown to be essential for the expression of cytochrome oxidase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the present study COX17 has been placed under the control of the GAL10 promoter in an autonomously replicating plasmid. A yeast transformant harboring the high copy construct was used to purify Cox17p to homogeneity. Purified Cox17p contains 0.2–0.3 mol of copper per mol of protein. The molar copper content is increased to 1.8 after incubation of Cox17p in the presence of a 6-fold molar excess of cuprous chloride under reduced conditions. An antibody against Cox17p was obtained by immunization of rabbits with a carboxyl-terminal peptide coupled to bovine serum albumin. The antiserum detects Cox17p in both the mitochondrial and soluble protein fractions of wild type yeast and of the transformant overexpressing Cox17p. Exposure of intact mitochondria to hypotonic conditions causes most of Cox17p to be released as a soluble protein indicating that the mitochondrial fraction of Cox17p is localized in the intermembrane space. These results are consistent with the previously proposed function of Cox17p, namely in providing cytoplasmic copper for mitochondrial utilization.
Light cone and vector meson dominance in photo-and electroproduction☆

Abstract By using the formalism of mass dispersion relations and light cone dominance for large masses, relations are derived between photoproduction and deep inelastic electroproduction. In addition large deviations from VDM are derived for ϱ o electroproduction in the deep inelastic region; these results compare quite well with recent experimental information.
Efficiently Taking Soundings in a Sea of Change: Two Histories of Public Budgeting and Finance

Books reviewed: Irene S. Rubin, Class, Tax, and Power: Municipal Budgeting in the United States. Donald R. Stabile, The Origins of American Public Finance: Debates over Money, Debt, and Taxes in the Constitutional Era, 1776–1836.
Bose‐Einstein‐Kondensate – eine neue Form von Quantenmaterie

Bose-Einstein-Kondensation in atomaren Gasen hat sich zu einem faszinierenden neuen Forschungsschwerpunkt entwickelt. Der folgende Beitrag gibt zunachst einen Uberblick uber das Phanomen und behandelt dann die Koharenz des Bose-Kondensats und das Konzept des Atomlasers.
Geochemistry of highly-undersaturated ocean island basalt suites from the South Atlantic Ocean: Fernando de Noronha and Trindade islands

The volcanic rocks of the South Atlantic Ocean islands of Fernando de Noronha and Trindade comprise a diverse magmatic series ranging from nephelinites and basanites to phonolites and, on Fernando de Noronha, trachytes. All rock types are highly silica undersaturated with the exception of Fernando de Noronha trachytes_, and have high abundances of incompatible trace elements and strongly LREE (light rare earth element)-enriched REE patterns. Crystal fractionation of parental basanitic magmas produced evolved phonolites and trachytes which display severe trace-element fractionation, even among trace elements (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf) which normally behave highly incompatibly during crystallisation of alkaline magmas. Moderately to highly evolved compositions develop strongly MREE (middle REE)-depleted REE patterns, and become increasingly depleted in elements such as Nb and, in particular, Ta. Ratios of Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf are highly fractionated in phonolites (60–65, 64–77 respectively in Fernando de Noronha phonolites) compared to ratios in basanites (14, 45 respectively). The compatibility of Nb, Ta, and the REE, and the strong fractionation of Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf ratios and the MREE, during crystallisation from basanite to phonolite are attributable to the crystallisation of small amounts (<5%) of sphene. Trace-element behaviour is relatively insensitive to the major phenocryst phases, and is controlled by minor phases in highly undersaturated alkaline suites. Incompatible trace-element ratios (e.g. La/Nb, Th/Ta) in nephelinites and basanites from Fernando de Noronha and Trindade are generally comparable with those in basaltic and hawaiitic OIB (ocean island basalt) lavas from other South Atlantic islands, but are distinct from those of Gough and Tristan da Cunha OIB. The mantle source for the highly undersaturated volcanism on Fernando de Noronha and Trindade is similar in trace-element characteristics to the “typical” OIB source which produces alkaline lavas with significant relative enrichment in Nb and Ta compared to other trace elements (as expressed by low La/Nb, Ba/Nb and Th/Ta ratios). The highly undersaturated nature of the magmas and the slight fractionation of some incompatible-element ratios (elevated Ba/Nb, Ba/Rb, Ba/Th etc.) is consistent with a smaller degree of melting of a “typical” OIB source, but with residual phlogopite in the source to account for significant K depletion and LIL-element fractionation.
Absentee landowners and conservation programs: Mind the gap

Abstract In this research report, we examine determinants of absentee landowner participation in USDA set-aside and cost share programs. Previous research on these landowners suggests they have a high interest in conservation yet minimal involvement in government conservation programs on their land (e.g. Petrzelka et al., 2009 , Roggenbuck and Kushman, 1980 ). Our aim is to better understand this gap in hopes of attracting absentee landowners as participants to USDA conservation programs.
CONFIRMATORY MODELS OF THEORIES

THEORIiS have often been construed by philosophers of science as deductive axiomatic systems at least some of whose theorems may be interpreted as expressing claims whose truth or falsity may be determined by appropriate scientific observation. At one or more steps of the derivation of such theorems, a correspondence rule may be used to derive some statement containing only observational terms from one or more statements containing at least one essential occurrence of a theoretical term. Theories of confirmation associated with construals
Imperfectly Imperial: Northern Travel Writers in the Postbellum U.S. South, 1865–1880

Abstract Travel accounts of the Reconstruction U.S. South (1865–1880) played a formative role in the process of determining where the region fit within the nation-state after the Civil War. Postbellum travel narratives by northern men and women, in particular, dealt with the South's contradictory placement as both an occupied territory of the North/nation and part of the national body itself through a discourse of imperialism that translated a North-South regional binary into a colonizer-colonized distinction and framed the South as an imperial holding of the U.S. This article uses postcolonial studies and postcolonial geographies of North America to examine three textual themes that sustained this imperial framing of the South within northern travel narratives: discourses of civilization, descriptions of nature, and discussions of whiteness. The first two themes bolstered northern travelers' positioning of the South as an imperial holding, although gender contoured how northern travelers participated in ...
The mobility of He+ ions in He

Differential and integrated cross sections for He+-He collisions at low energies are computed quantum mechanically and compared with observed differential cross sections and predissociation data for He2+. The mobility of He+ ions in He is calculated for temperatures of 77K and 294K. The results agree within 1.5% with the measurements of Helm. The equilibrium dissociation energy of He2+ is estimated to be 2.48 eV.
Phosphoric acid dissociation equilibria in aqueous solutions to 300°C

The dissociation equilibria of phosphoric acid were studied potentiometrically using a hydrogen-electrode concentration cell to 300°C at KCl concentrations up to 1.0m. Least-squares analysis of data atP(V) concentration of 0.008 and 0.045m indicate the absence of significant amounts of polyphosphates up to 200°C.P(V) data at concentrations less than 0.01m extending to 300°C were analyzed in terms of the species H n PO 4 (−3) . The equilibrium quotients expressed for neutralization reactions have been fitted with a nine-parameter expression for the first stepwise neutralization and 11 parameters for the second. Fewer data were obtained for the third neutralization since the HPO2− becomes a strong base above about 150°C in water. Thermodyanamic parameters have been derived for these equilibria, and comparisons have been drawn with other similar data recently reported. There is evidence from the salt effects that the extent of association of HPO4 2− or H2PO 4 − with K+ is not great in 1m KCl.
σ2R, a reciprocal-space measure of the quality of macromolecular electron-density maps

It has previously been shown that the presence of distinct regions of solvent and protein in macromolecular crystals leads to a high value of the standard deviation of local r.m.s. electron density and that this can in turn be used as a reliable measure of the quality of macromolecular electron-density maps [Terwilliger & Berendzen (1999a). Acta Cryst. D55, 501–505]. Here, it is demonstrated that a similar measure, \sigma_{R}^{2}, the variance of the local roughness of the electron density, can be calculated in reciprocal space. The formulation is suitable for rapid evaluation of macromolecular crystallographic phases, for phase improvement and for ab initio phasing procedures.
Primary Care Physician Shortages Could Be Eliminated Through Use Of Teams, Nonphysicians, And Electronic Communication

Most existing estimates of the shortage of primary care physicians are based on simple ratios, such as one physician for every 2,500 patients. These estimates do not consider the impact of such ratios on patients’ ability to get timely access to care. They also do not quantify the impact of changing patient demographics on the demand side and alternative methods of delivering care on the supply side. We used simulation methods to provide estimates of the number of primary care physicians needed, based on a comprehensive analysis considering access, demographics, and changing practice patterns. We show that the implementation of some increasingly popular operational changes in the ways clinicians deliver care—including the use of teams or “pods,” better information technology and sharing of data, and the use of nonphysicians—have the potential to offset completely the increase in demand for physician services while improving access to care, thereby averting a primary care physician shortage.
Megestrol acetate-associated adrenal insufficiency.

Abstract Background: Megestrol acetate (MA) is commonly used to promote weight gain in malnourished elderly patients. Although adrenal insufficiency has been reported as an adverse effect of MA, this association is not well recognized in clinical practice. Case summary: An 80-year-old woman with worsening dyspnea was transferred to our university-affiliated community medical center from an inpatient psychiatric facility, where she was being treated for major depressive disorder with psychotic features. She had undergone a general decline in physical function accompanied by some weight loss and anorexia consistent with failure to thrive and, 1 month earlier, had been started on MA 400 mg/d to stimulate her appetite and improve her nutrition. During hospitalization at our center, the patient's dyspnea worsened and she was transferred to the intensive care unit, where she was intubated. While in the intensive care unit, the patient developed hypotension. Infectious, cardiac, and neurologic causes of hypotension having been ruled out, a cosyntropin stimulation test was performed to rule out adrenal insufficiency. Cortisol levels before, 30 minutes after, and 60 minutes after administration of cosyntropin were 1.6, 7.1, and 9.8 μg/dL, respectively, indicating a suboptimal response. The adrenocorticotropic hormone level was 8 pg/mL (normal, 10–60 pg/mL). Based on these findings suggesting adrenal insufficiency, MA was discontinued and steroid replacement was initiated. The patient's blood pressure normalized and she improved slowly. She was weaned from the ventilator several weeks later and was discharged to a skilled nursing facility. At 2-month follow-up, the patient's strength and respiratory function were improved, and the results of a repeat cosyntropin stimulation test were normal (cortisol response before, 30 minutes after, and 60 minutes after cosyntropin administration: 15.4, 22.6, and 25.2 μg/dL, respectively). The Naranjo score for this case was 7, indicating a probable correlation between MA use and adrenal insufficiency. Conclusions: This case of adrenal insufficiency in an elderly woman was probably related to MA use. Clinicians should be alert to the possibility of this adverse effect when considering use of MA therapy.
The Interaction Effect of Attitude Base and Multiple Attacks on the Effectiveness of Inoculation

This investigation tested the interaction effects of attitude base and multiple attacks on the effectiveness of inoculation. A 4-phase experiment was conducted involving 290 participants. The results indicate that when rendered to a second attack, cognitive inoculation messages generated greater resistance to counterattitudinal attacks when presented to individuals whose attitude base was primarily cognitive, rather than affective. The reverse was also found to be true as affective inoculation messages generated greater resistance to counterattitudinal attacks when presented to individuals whose attitude base was primarily affective, rather than cognitive. Combined inoculation messages worked equally well as the attitude matching, and better than the attitude mismatching, messages.
Transient DC photocurrent investigation of charge redistribution within Re(CO)3Cl(2,2'-bipyridine): an unexpected decrease in molecular dipole moment upon emissive excited-state formation.

Transient DC photocurrent measurements were performed on Re(CO)3Cl(2,2‘-bipyridine). The observed negative signal is indicative of a decrease in the magnitude of the dipole moment upon the formation of the emissive charge-transfer excited state. ZINDO-1 calculations on the closely related complex Mn(CO)3Cl(2,2‘-bipyridine) corroborate this unexpected finding. A comparison between the transient DC photoconductivity technique and electronic Stark spectroscopy is presented.
Experiential factors in visual form perception. I. Review and formulation of problems.

(1954). Experiential Factors in Visual Form Perception: I. Review and Formulation of Problems. The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology: Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 3-25.
Multichannel texture segmentation using bamberger pyramids

a multichannel texture segmentation algorithm is presented based on the image pyramids produced with the Bamberger directional filter bank. An extensive evaluation of Bamberger pyramids and their design parameters is presented. The impact on segmentation performance of factors like the number of pyramid levels, number of directional channels, redundancy and filter specifications is considered. The proposed system is shown to provide some of the best results reported to date when compared with other multichannel representations under similar evaluation conditions. It is further shown that segmentation results using the maximally decimated directional filter bank rival those of the undecimated case. To the knowledge of the authors, such performance has not been previously observed for decompositions with decimated channels.
An Investigation Into The Effect Of Independence Of Pixel Images On Image Segmentation

This paper proposes a procedure to investigate whether the statistical independence among the pixel images of a picture affects the statistical image segmentation. The results of investi-gation shows that ignoring this independence will degrade the quality of the segmented images: the more pixels which belong to the major image regions will be misclassified into the minor image regions, an artifact of statistical image segmentation. The procedure utilized in this in-vestigation can be used as an accurate statistical image segmentation technique .
Architecture For A Color Video Frame Processor

This paper describes a proposed color video frame processor architecture. The structure of the processor allows the storage, replay, and processing of sampled composite or component NTSC or PAL television signals. A two-port memory architecture allows concurrent real-time sequential access for storage and display and random access for processing the stored image. Processing operations can be performed by both an embedded bit--slice controller and a host computer.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Narrative as self-portrait: Sociolinguistic constructions of identity

The ability of narrative to verbalize and situate experience as text (both locally and globally) provides a resource for the display of self and identity. This article focuses on two stories told by Jewish-American women about troublesome issues in their families. Analysis of the language of the stories shows how they reveal aspects of the storytellers' agentive and epistemic selves; how they construct positions in their families (pivoting between solidarity and distance, the provision of autonomy, and the exercise of power); and how they display their social identities as mothers. The view of identity offered through narrative analysis is briefly compared with other methodological and theoretical perspectives on identity. (Narrative, self, identity, gender, family, speech acts)
Letter regarding correlation of retinal sensitivity measured with fundus related microperimetry to visual acuity and retinal thickness in eyes with diabetic macular oedema

Letter regarding correlation of retinal sensitivity measured with fundus related microperimetry to visual acuity and retinal thickness in eyes with diabetic macular oedema
REDUCED LUNG FUNCTION PREDICTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN OLDER ADULTS: THE MULTI-ETHNIC STUDY OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS-LUNG STUDY

Atrial fibrillation (AF) occurs frequently in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Population studies have found inconsistent associations between lung function and AF; none have examined pulmonary emphysema which overlaps only partially with COPD in the general population. In this study we
Eye-tracking, attention and amphetamine challenge

Smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) performance has been linked to nonvoluntary attentional processes. Amphetamine is a psychotropic drug with documented effects on attentional performance. In order to evaluate the relationship between SPEM performance and amphetamine's attentional effects, SPEM performance was measured prior to and following amphetamine administration in five bipolar patients and eight obsessive-compulsive patients. In these 13 patients, amphetamine did not significantly alter the accuracy of SPEM in the two patient groups. However, significant negative correlations were observed in the obsessive-compulsive patients and in the combined patient groups between baseline SPEM impairment and changes in eye-tracking accuracy following amphetamine, i.e. individuals with poorer SPEM accuracy improved while better SPEM performers deteriorated in tracking accuracy during amphetamine treatment.
One‐dimensional steady‐state model for damage by vaporization and liquid expulsion due to laser‐material interaction

A one‐dimensional steady‐state model describing the damage caused by materials removal by vaporization and liquid expulsion due to laser‐material interaction is developed and presented. When vaporization occurs, there exists a discontinuity across the Knudsen layer of a few molecular mean free paths. This discontinuity is modeled by a Mott–Smith‐type solution. The vaporization process creates a recoil pressure that pushes the vapor away from the target and expels the liquid. The materials are, therefore, removed in both vapor and liquid phases. The materials‐removal rates are incorporated in the moving boundary immobilization transformation. The vapor phase is assumed to be optically thin so that its absorption of the high‐energy beam is negligible. Closed‐form analytical solutions are obtained and presented. The effect of heat‐source power on removal rates, vaporization rate, liquid‐expulsion rate, surface temperature, and Mach number are presented and discussed. Results are obtained for three different materials: aluminum, superalloy, and titanium.
YMF: a program for discovery of novel transcription factor binding sites by statistical overrepresentation

A fundamental challenge facing biologists is to identify DNA binding sites for unknown regulatory factors, given a collection of genes believed to be coregulated. The program YMF identifies good candidates for such binding sites by searching for statistically overrepresented motifs. More specifically, YMF enumerates all motifs in the search space and is guaranteed to produce those motifs with greatest z-scores. This note describes the YMF web software, available at http://bio.cs.washington.edu/software.html.
Failure of Therapy with Fluconazole for Candidal Endophthalmitis

The incidence of candidemia and its complications, such as endophthalmitis, has measurably increased in recent years. However, the optimal method of treatment of hematogenous candidal infection remains a controversial issue. Traditional therapy with amphotericin B is associated with well-known adverse reactions. Many clinicians therefore prefer to use fluconazole, which is administered orally and is relatively less toxic. We recently observed a patient with candidal sepsis in whom blinding endophthalmitis developed despite aggressive and lengthy therapy with fluconazole. This grave clinical outcome and the data derived from experimental models of ocular candidal infection suggest that empirical usage of fluconazole may not be warranted in cases of disseminated candidiasis potentially complicated by endophthalmitis.
Jet lag: minimizing it's effects with critically timed bright light and melatonin administration.

The symptoms of jet lag cause distress to an increasing number of travelers. Potentially they may impair sleep, mood and cognitive performance. Critically timed exposure to bright light and melatonin administration can help to reduce symptoms. Bright light is one of the most powerful synchronizers of human rhythms and melatonin serves as a ‘‘dark pulse’’ helping to induce nighttime behaviors. Thus, enhancing day and night signals to the brain, appropriate to the environmental light/dark cycle of the new time zone, can serve to reestablish adaptive timing relationships between the body’s internal biological rhythms and the external environment, and thereby reduce the symptoms of jet lag. Specific recommendations using bright light and melatonin for eastward and westward travel before and after departure are provided for time zone changes of up to 6, 7‐9 and 10 or more hours.
The information seeking and use behaviors of retired investors

This exploratory study examines the information seeking and use behaviors of a group of US retired or near-retirement investors from everyday life information seeking and serious leisure perspectives. Although primarily qualitative, it also collects and analyzes quanitative data to describe retired investors’ information preferences and use. Semi-structured interviews and journaling are used to examine the information seeking behaviors of a diverse group of investors and to assess the impact that personal characteristics, such as sex, socio-economic status, and educational attainment have on their behaviors. Findings suggest that the female investors studied were less likely to create information intensive fields and that this tendency is exacerbated by low educational attainment. Furthermore, the male investors studied were more likely to adopt Internet technology for their investing information seeking regardless of their educational attainment. Recommendations are made for improving information service...
Hospital readmissions after surgical treatment of proximal humerus fractures: is arthroplasty safer than open reduction internal fixation?

Background With technologic advances such as locked periarticular plating, hemiarthroplasty of the humeral head, and more recently reverse total shoulder replacement, surgical treatment of proximal humerus fractures has become more commonplace. However, there is insufficient information regarding patient outcomes after surgery, such as the frequency of unplanned hospital readmissions and factors contributing to readmission.
Advances in the design and synthesis of prazosin derivatives over the last ten years.

Introduction: Mechanistic, translational and pharmacological studies led to the identification and discovery of the preferred localization, binding characteristics, structure and functional properties of α1-adrenoceptor (α1-AR) subtypes in the bladder neck, bladder and prostate gland. The evidence gathered on α1-ARs, provided a molecular platform for the development of subtype-selective antagonists, resulting in more effective approaches targeting those receptors for the treatment of outlet bladder obstruction and benign prostate hyperplasia. Areas covered: Advances over the last decade in the design and optimization of Prazosin, Doxazosin and Terazosin quinazoline-based derivatives as α1-AR antagonists. Evidence on the metabolic and growth interference action by these agents, in addition to their smooth-muscle-relaxing effects. The new action recognition emerges from data on the inhibitory effect of quinazoline-based antagonists on primary tumor growth and progression to metastasis. In addition to the ce...
Pixel detector readout electronics with two-level discriminator scheme

In preparation for a silicon pixel detector with more than 3000 readout channels per chip for operation at the future large hadron collider (LHC) at CERN the analog frontend of the readout electronics has been designed and measured on several test-arrays with 16 by 4 cells. They are implemented in the HP 0.81 /spl mu/m process but compatible with the design rules of the radiation hard Honeywell 0.8 /spl mu/m bulk process. Each cell contains bump bonding pad, preamplifier, discriminator and control logic for masking and testing within a layout area of only 50 /spl mu/m by 140 /spl mu/m. A new two-level discriminator scheme has been implemented to cope with the problems of time-walk and interpixel cross-coupling. The measured gain of the preamplifier is 900 mV for a minimum ionizing particle (MIP, about 24000 e/sup -/ for a 300 /spl mu/m thick Si-detector) with a return to baseline within 750 ns for a 1MIP input signal. The full readout chain (without detector) shows an equivalent noise charge of 60 e/sup $/r.m.s. The time-walk, a function of the separation between the two threshold levels, is measured to be 22 ns at a separation of 1500 e/sup -/, which is adequate for the 40 MHz beam-crossing frequency at the LHC. The interpixel cross-coupling, measured with a 40 fF coupling capacitance, is less than 3%. A single cell consumes 35 /spl mu/W at 3.5 V supply voltage.
Development of a Standard for New Passenger Car Wheel Designs

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is seeking to develop specifications to ensure that wheels used in transit and commuter applications perform safely under the service conditions to which they are exposed. To this end, a design standard has been conceived to ensure that new wheel designs proposed for such applications are not susceptible to fatigue cracking in the wheel plate and hub. Historically, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Standard S-660 has been applied in the industry for the purposes of qualifying wheel designs for use in passenger applications. The standard stipulates particular loads to apply in a simple finite element analysis of the new wheel design. The basis for approval is an empirical comparison (by an independent third party) of the results with those in a database of previous analysis results of other qualified wheels. The proposed “S-660 equivalent” design standard is envisioned to be self-qualifying, in that results of the analysis will directly determine whether the wheel design will perform safely in service; a review or approval body will not be required. The new standard is needed to overcome limitations embodied in the current wheel qualification process, namely, the assumption of purely elastic material behavior, the omission of residual stresses due to manufacturing, and the use of comparative approval criteria. The Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (UIC) introduced a wheel design requirement based on finite element analysis, the results of which are subjected to a fatigue criterion in order to achieve acceptance of the wheel design. As in the current S-660 methodology, a set of thermal and mechanical loads are prescribed. This methodology is essentially self-qualifying as the results of the analysis (obtained following a prescribed procedure) determine whether the wheel design will perform safely in service. The proposed design standard is envisioned to be a combination of the current S-660 analysis requirements and the fatigue calculation-based approach of the UIC. The task force developing the standard is still resolving the specific details of the thermal and mechanical loading requirements. This paper explores the underlying methodology behind the developing standard. A finite element calculation forms the basis of the qualification procedure. Initial (asmanufactured) residual stresses present in a new wheel are determined. Mechanical and thermal loading representative of passenger operations are applied. The analysis yields three characteristic stress distributions: as-manufactured, mechanical, and thermal. The Sines criterion, with temperature-dependent material fatigue properties obtained from testing, is applied to infer whether the candidate wheel design is fatigue-prone. Results are presented for a wheel design currently in transit/commuter service. The APTA committee is currently investigating the thermal and mechanical load levels to be prescribed in the proposed standard.
Conductance sizing balloon for measurement of peripheral artery minimal stent area

Background Because stent underdeployment occurs frequently, accurate minimal stent area (MSA) measurement during postdilatation is necessary. This study investigated the accuracy and repeatability for MSA determination using a novel conductance balloon (CB) catheter for peripheral vessels. Methods The CB catheter is a standard balloon catheter that measures electrical conductance (ratio of current/voltage drop) in real-time during inflation, which directly relates to the balloon cross-sectional area through Ohm's law. CB measurements were made in 4- to 10-mm phantoms on the bench, ex vivo in stents fully deployed in diseased human peripheral arteries, and in vivo in stents fully deployed in peripheral vessels in six swine. CB measurement accuracy and repeatability were calculated and compared with the known dimension (bench phantoms) or with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) measurement after stent deployment (ex vivo and in vivo). Results CB measurements were highly accurate (error: 1.8% bench, 5% ex vivo, and 5% in vivo) and repeatable (error: 0.9% bench, 1.8% ex vivo, and 1.3% in vivo), with virtually no bias (average difference in measurements: −0.05 mm bench CB vs known phantom diameters, −0.06 mm ex vivo CB vs IVUS, and −0.11 mm in vivo CB vs IVUS). Conclusions The CB sizing capability can be integrated within a standard balloon catheter (two-in-one function) to provide accurate, real-time assessment of MSA to ensure full stent apposition rather than the use of pressure as a surrogate for size.
Centralized buffer router: A low latency, low power router for high radix NOCs

While router buffers have been used as performance multipliers, they are also major consumers of area and power in on-chip networks. In this paper, we propose centralized elastic bubble router - a router micro-architecture based on the use of centralized buffers (CB) with elastic buffered (EB) links. At low loads, the CB is power gated, bypassed, and optimized to produce single cycle operation. A novel extension to bubble flow control enables routing deadlock and message dependent deadlock to be avoided with the same mechanism having constant buffer size per router independent of the number of message types. This solution enables end-to-end latency reduction via high radix switches with low overall buffer requirements. Comparisons made with other low latency routers across different topologies show consistent performance improvement, for example 26% improvement in no load latency of a 2D Mesh and 4X improvement in saturation throughput in a 2D-Generalized Hypercube.
Elements of Reason: Backstage Cognition in Reason and Choice

Reason and choice depend upon backstage cognition - mental operations that typically operate below the horizon of observation, too intricately for consciousness to monitor or manage, interactively with each other, in the moment, very quickly, and with powers of access and recognition not otherwise available. Such mental operations include focal point reasoning, categorization, framing, grammar, prototyping, memory, mental space assembly and connection, narrative, and conceptual integration. This paper focuses on the role of conceptual integration - also known as "blending" - in counterfactual reasoning, choice, decision, and judgment.
A New Activity of Doublecortin in Recognition of the Phospho-FIGQY Tyrosine in the Cytoplasmic Domain of Neurofascin

Doublecortin is a cytoplasmic protein mutated in the neuronal migration disorder X-linked lissencephaly. This study describes a novel activity of doublecortin in recognition of the FIGQY-phosphotyrosine motif present in the cytoplasmic domain of the L1 cell adhesion molecule neurofascin. Phospho-FIGQY-neurofascin (186 kDa) coimmunoprecipitated with doublecortin from detergent extracts of embryonic brain membranes, and this doublecortin-phospho-FIGQY neurofascin complex was disassociated by a synthetic phospho-FIGQY neurofascin peptide but not by a dephospho-FIGQY peptide. Doublecortin specifically recognized the phospho-FIGQY tyrosine in the context of a synthetic phospho-FIGQY neurofascin peptide and in phospho-FIGQY neurofascin isolated from cells treated with pervanadate. Mutations of doublecortin causing lissencephaly (R59H, D62N, and G253D) abolished binding to the phospho-FIGQY peptide and to phospho-FIGQY neurofascin. Finally, phospho-FIGQY neurofascin and doublecortin colocalize in developing axon tracts and in zones enriched in migrating neurons in the embryonic cerebral cortex. In the adult rostral migratory stream, doublecortin colocalizes in migrating neurons with a phospho-FIGQY bearing L1 CAM different from neurofascin. The finding that doublecortin associates with FIGQY-phosphorylated neurofascin provides the first connection of doublecortin with the plasma membrane and could be important for a function of doublecortin in directing neuronal migration.
Comparison of phenology trends by land cover class: a case study in the Great Basin, USA

Direct impacts of human land use and indirect impacts of anthropogenic climate change may alter land cover and associated ecosystem function, affecting ecological goods and services. Considerable work has been done to identify long-term global trends in vegetation greenness, which is associated with primary productivity, using remote sensing. Trend analysis of satellite observations is subject to error, and ecosystem change can be confused with interannual variability. However, the relative trends of land cover classes may hold clues about differential ecosystem response to environmental forcing. Our aim was to identify phenological variability and 10-year trends for the major land cover classes in the Great Basin. This case study involved two steps: a regional, phenology-based land cover classification and an identification of phenological variability and 10-year trends stratified by land cover class. The analysis used a 10-year time series of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite data to assess regional scale land cover variability and identify change. The phenology-based regional classification was more detailed and accurate than national or global products. Phenological variability over the 10-year period was high, with substantial shifts in timing of start of season of up to 9 weeks. The mean long-term trends of montane land cover classes were significantly different from valley land cover classes due to a poor response of montane shrubland and pinyon-juniper woodland to the early 1990s drought. The differential response during the 1990s suggests that valley ecosystems may be more resilient and montane ecosystems more susceptible to prolonged drought. This type of regional-scale land cover analysis is necessary to characterize current patterns of land cover phenology, distinguish between anthropogenically driven land cover change and interannual variability, and identify ecosystems potentially susceptible to regional and global change.
Mid-Mesozoic closure of Permo–Triassic Tethys and its implications

Data from the northern Tethyan domain indicate that Permo–Triassic Palaeo-Tethys closed between the late Triassic and the mid-Jurassic. This closure was caused by the collision with Laurasia of a Cimmerian continent rifted away from northern Gondwanaland during the Triassic. The Neo-Tethys may have opened partly as a back-arc basin over the Palaeo-Tethyan subduction zone and rotation of the Cimmerian continent may have been partially responsible for mid-Mesozoic block-faulting in extra-Alpine central Europe.
Screw-based motion planning for bevel-tip flexible needles in 3D environments with obstacles

Bevel-tip flexible needles have greater mobility than straight rigid needles, and can be used to reach targets behind sensitive or impenetrable areas. Accurately planning and executing the optimal motions for such steerable needles is difficult, however, and requires solving inverse kinematics for a nonholonomic system. This paper presents an approach to 3D motion planning for bevel-tip needles in an environment with obstacles. Instead of discretizing the configuration space as in earlier work, we discretize the control space, such that the trajectory of the needle can be expressed analytically without the need for approximate numerical simulation. This results in a fast optimization routine that finds a locally optimal path in a 3D environment with obstacles, requiring just a few seconds of computation time on a standard PC. We introduce two different discretization strategies that lead to differently structured paths and show that both produce valid trajectories from start to goal. To our knowledge, the presented method is the first to address motion planning for bevel-tip needles in a 3D environment with obstacles.
Venturing with Chinese (PRC) firms: technology transfer negotiation

The exchange of information between a technology supplier and a technology user in different countries is examined from the perspective of social exchange in which social and cultural rather than economic factors exert an influence on the eventual outcome. Field data derived from three studies of international technology transfer (ITT) between US and Chinese firms are considered. The ITT exchanges are analyzed in terms of six elements-rewards in relation to costs (reckoned in terms of strategic or tactical advantage or disadvantage), possession of power to make things happen, expectations vs. consequences, and conflict. It is concluded that the social exchange approach should enable participants in an ITT to get a better understanding of what is happening and why. The authors list useful leverage points which a technology supplier firm can use to increase its benefits from an ITT. >
Non-histone chromosomal proteins in mouse brain at different stages of development and in a transplantable mouse teratoma.

— Non-histone chromosomal proteins (NHCP) from mouse brain at different stages of development and from adult liver and kidney of strain related mice were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and were compared with the mouse teratoma, OTT-6050. The fetal, neonatal and adult brains were qualitatively similar in their NHCP profiles but had quantitative differences. The NHCP composition of the adult brain was clearly distinct from that of the liver and kidney and was dissimilar from that of the teratoma.
Blood groups of Cakchiquel Indians from Sumpango, Guatemala.

ABO, MN, Rh, P, Lutheran, Kell, Duffy and Kidd blood group systems were studied in a sample of 135 Cakchiquel-speaking Indians from Sumpango, Dpto. Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Sumpango represents an almost exclusively endogamous isolate in the western highlands some 42 km outside of Guatemala City. The bloods were collected by families, and tests on them are much more revealing than on unrelated individuals because the genotypes are so often evident, and genes that could not have been otherwise detected are revealed. What is lost in numbers of unrelated people is probably more than compensated for by the precision of gene identification. Some evidence of foreign genes in this Indian sample is afforded by gene B in a mother and three of her children, in a small frequency (0.01) of R−2,−3 (cde or cDe), and perhaps in gene MU or Mu in a mother and son. Gene frequencies for the Sumpango sample are very similar to those of Matson and Swanson's ('63) Cakchiquel from nearby Chimaltenango and Patzicia. The Sumpango sample shows lower P and Jka and higher R2,−3 (CDe), and of these the low P and high R2,−3 stand outside of the known Maya range.