cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Janus Plasmonic Silver Nanoplatelets for Interface Stabilization

The preparation of Janus plasmonic metal nanoparticles has remained challenging because of their susceptibility to chemical etching and incompatibility with high-temperature processing. Instead of the conventional methods of using Pickering emulsion and vapor deposition, herein Janus silver nanoplatelets (J-AgNPs) with two chemically distinct surfaces are fabricated via a disparate electrostatic adsorption approach. The approach avoids corrosive chemicals and elevated temperatures that degrade the AgNPs. The J-AgNPs show great potential in stabilizing emulsions and forming layered nanostructures at the interfaces. This novel method enables the design of plasmonic nanomaterials at the liquid–liquid and solid–liquid interfaces for colloidal stabilization.
An Exploratory Study of Minority Students’ Technology Usage and Perceptions of Technology: Nontraditional Adult Students in Technology-Based Environments

AbstractThe study examines nontraditional, African-American adult students’ use of technologies and their perceptions toward this in technology-based environments. Technology perceptions included c...
The RF Sampler: Chip-Scale Frequency Conversion and Filtering Enabling Affordable Element-Level Digital Beamforming

Funded under DARPA's Arrays on Commercial Timescales (ACT) program, Raytheon and Cornell have developed an RF Sampler technology that integrates highly-linear frequency conversion and filtering into a compact chipset, making it possible to fully leverage commercially-available digital components. With high performance spanning several octaves of bandwidth, the RF Sampler enables diverse yet affordable classes of multifunction digital beamforming systems.
Design and Optimization of Radiation-Hardened Isolated Converters for Jovian Environments

This paper presents the design and optimization of a class of flexible, high efficiency, multiple output capable, radiation-hardened isolated DC/DC converters for Jovian environments. The proposed converters achieve lower electromagnetic emission, better thermal management and higher efficiency. A new series of radiation-hardened isolated GaN gate driver circuit is proposed for space applications. Experimental results based on two prototype units implemented in the laboratory verify the performance of the proposed isolated converters.
My English, My Literature: Owning Our African Englishes and Literatures

Despite this era of World Englishes, the question of whose language African novelists use and, hence, whose literature they produce remains. It is not uncommon for readers of African literature to assume that what they read from Africa is a translation from African indigenous languages, but who owns the English language that African authors use in their writing? Are these authors using a borrowed language, or is the English they use their own? And whose culture is expressed in the writing? Using Margaret Ogola’s novel entitled The River and the Source within the World Englishes paradigm, this current work proposes that the English Ogola and other African authors use are entirely their own and the cultures they express fully African.
Creating annotations for web ontology language ontology generated from relational databases

Many approaches that have been proposed that allow users to create a Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontology from a relational database fail to include metadata that are inherent to the database tables. Without metadata, the resulting ontology lacks annotation properties. These properties are key when performing ontology alignment. This paper proposes a method to include relevant metadata through annotation properties to OWL ontologies, which furthers the ability to integrate and use data from multiple unique ontologies. The described method is applied to geospatial data collected from The National Map, a data source hosted by the U. S. Geological Survey. Following that method, an ontology was manually created that used the metadata from The National Map. Because a manual approach is prone to human error, an automated approach to storing and converting metadata into annotation properties is discussed.
Radiation safety and knowledge: what do we know?

Interventional pain physicians are exposed to radiation while performing different procedures. Provenzano et al [1][1] conducted a study that aimed at examining the current safety practices and knowledge among interventional pain physicians. Study findings indicated lack of both knowledge and
Aging and emotion regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: Self-reported emotional well-being tends to increase with age (Charles & Carstensen, Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 383-409, 2010), and this has remained true during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. Bruine de Bruin, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(2), e24-e29, 2021) despite older adults being disproportionately affected by the virus (CDC, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Older adults, 2020). This study aimed to investigate how younger and older adults are regulating their emotions during the current pandemic. Specifically, this study measured potential age differences in acceptance (broken down into situational and emotional acceptance), because it has been identified as a possible underlying mechanism of the relationship between aging and reduced negative affect (Shallcross et al., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(4), 734-749, 2013). Methods: Younger (N = 150) and older (N = 150) adults completed trait-level questionnaires of emotional and situational acceptance, and completed a task where they reacted to 24 negative, arousing COVID-19 news headlines, half of which were old-age focused, to capture trial-level acceptance use. Results: Older adults reported greater trait-level acceptance and used emotional acceptance more frequently than younger adults during the headlines task, especially on trials containing old-age focused headlines. Interestingly, younger adults reported reduced trial-level subjective arousal when engaging in emotional acceptance compared to active emotion regulation (suggesting beneficial affective outcomes of acceptance), while older adults reported no differences in arousal between trials when they engaged in acceptance and when they engaged in more active emotion regulation. Conclusion: We discuss potential explanations for these findings as well as present future research directions on acceptance across the lifespan.
Racial and socioeconomic disparities in urgent transcatheter mitral valve repair: A National Inpatient Sample analysis.

BACKGROUND Cardiac interventions performed urgently are known to be associated with poor outcomes compared with electively performed procedures. Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TMVr) has developed as a reasonable alternative to mitral valve surgery in certain patient populations. We aimed to leverage a national database to identify predictors of urgent versus elective TMVr, as well as the association between urgency and outcomes. METHODS The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) was queried to identify patients who underwent TMVr from 2016 to 2017. Hospitalizations were identified within the database as elective versus nonelective. Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed to identify patient characteristics associated with urgent procedures. In-hospital outcomes were assessed. RESULTS There were 10,195 cases of TMVr in this cohort, 24.2% of which were performed urgently. In multivariable analysis, Hispanic race, Medicaid insurance, and low income were associated with increased likelihood of urgent hospital admission and TMVr. Additionally, small hospital size and Northeast region were associated with increased likelihood of urgent admission and procedure. Urgent TMVr was associated with increased mortality (4.5% vs. 1.6%, p < .001), prolonged length of stay (6.0 vs. 2.0, p < .001), and increased cost ($71,451.90 vs. $44,981.20, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS Racial and socioeconomic disparities exist in the utilization of TMVr as an urgent versus elective procedure, suggesting differences in access to surveillance and preventive care. Urgent TMVr is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, prolonged length of stay, and increased hospital costs. Priority should be placed on mitigating such disparities to improve outcomes.
Structural defects in transition metal dichalcogenide core-shell architectures

Curvature presents a powerful approach to design atomic structure and tailor material properties in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). The emerging TMD core-shell architecture, in which a multilayer TMD shell encapsulates a curved nanoparticle core, presents the opportunity to controllably induce defects into a TMD crystal by strategically constructing the shape of the underlying core. However, harnessing this potential platform first requires robust characterization of the unique structural features present in the core-shell architecture. To this end, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning TEM (STEM) are particularly powerful tools for direct structural characterization of 2D materials with a high spatial resolution and precision. Here, we reveal and describe defects inherently present in the TMD core-shell architecture. We develop a comprehensive framework to classify the observed defects and discuss potential origins and implications of structural variations. We utilize high resolution S/TEM to reveal the relationship between defects and their associated strain fields. Furthermore, we demonstrate that TMD shells often possess a wide range of interlayer spacings with varied spatial distribution. By exploring the rich array of structural defects inherently present in the TMD core-shell architecture, we provide an important foundation to ultimately induce exotic properties in TMDs through sophisticated defect engineering.
Topics in Critical Point Theory

This book introduces the reader to powerful methods of critical point theory and details successful contemporary approaches to many problems, some of which had proved resistant to attack by older methods. Topics covered include Morse theory, critical groups, the minimax principle, various notions of linking, jumping nonlinearities and the Fucik spectrum in an abstract setting, sandwich pairs and the cohomological index. Applications to semilinear elliptic boundary value problems, p-Laplacian problems and anisotropic systems are given. Written for graduate students and research scientists, the book includes numerous examples and presents more recent developments in the subject to bring the reader up to date with the latest research.
Wrongful Life and Wrongful Birth: New Concepts for the Pediatrician

Over the past two decades, numerous suits for damages have been brought against physicians for the injury of wrongful life, or wrongful birth. Within the past 5 years, several precedents have been set that broaden the physician9s legal obligation to recognize and act upon foreseeable or potentially recurrent genetic, teratogenic, or chromosomal disorders. These precedents may be expected to affect all physicians, but particularly pediatricians, because of the increased frequency of such disorders in the pediatric population.
The mouse GABAA receptor α3 subunit gene and promoter

Abstract γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors are multisubunit ligand-gated ion channels which mediate inhibition in the brain. The GABA A receptor α3 subunit gene exhibits extensive variation in its developmental and regional expression, but the detailed mechanisms governing the expression patterns of this gene remain unknown. We have cloned and begun to characterize the murine α3 subunit gene Gabra3. All but one of the 10 exons and the intron–exon boundaries have been sequenced; the first intron is in the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR) of the α3 mRNA. Rapid amplification of the cDNA 5′-end (5′-RACE) and RNase protection indicated many transcription start sites, with the major site (=+1) corresponding to a 5′UTR of 178 bases. Most sites were in or just downstream of a region of 55 (mouse) and 25 (human) GA repeats in the proximal promoter, as revealed by genome walking of Gabra3 and the human gene GABRA3. No canonical TATA or CAAT boxes or initiator (Inr) sites were found in either promoter, but both contained conserved consensus sites for several transcription factors. Progressive deletion of the mouse promoter produced positive or negative effects on expression of reporter (luciferase) constructs, with the highest observed activity in several types of transiently transfected cells for a construct containing bases −320 to +35. The GA repeats and a much shorter nearby series of four GC repeats, the first three of which are part of a consensus E2F site, appear to contribute significantly to mouse promoter activity. Upstream GA repeats enhanced activity of the SV40 promoter, and the GA repeat sequence bound nuclear proteins from several tissues.
Hong Kong Insolvency Law Reform: Preparing for the Next Millennium

When China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong’s economy was strong, the stock and property markets were high, and the general consensus was that the economy would continue to prosper. In the second half of 1997, an economic crisis began to engulf Asia and Hong Kong and Hong Kong slid into a recession. The economic crisis led to a sharp increase in the number of insolvencies in Hong Kong. It also increased awareness of the role that insolvency law can play in facilitating economic recovery. This article discusses insolvency law reform in Hong Kong, focusing on bankruptcy law (that came into operation in 1998) and corporate rescue.
A Note on Well-Covered Graphs

Abstract It is shown that determining if a graph G is not well-covered is an NP -complete problem.
Effects of additives on the activity and selectivity of supported vanadia catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane

The activity and selectivity of alumina- and magnesia-supported vanadia for propane oxidative dehydrogenation can be enhanced by can be enhanced by interactions of vanadia with molydena for the alumina-supported catalyst and by phosphorous doping for the magnesia-supported catalyst.
Antifolate-resistant Chinese hamster cells. Molecular basis for the biochemical and structural heterogeneity among dihydrofolate reductases produced by drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cell lines.

Abstract Nucleotide sequence analysis of a cDNA clone shown to direct the synthesis in Escherichia coli of a pI 6.5 form of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) with an apparent molecular weight of 21,000 has clarified the allelic nature of the DHFR genes present in the Chinese hamster lung cell line DC-3F. By comparison with other cDNAs encoding different forms of DHFR produced by these cells or by antifolate-resistant sublines derived from them (Melera, P.W., Davide, J.P., Hession, C.A., and Scotto, K.W (1984) Mol. Cell. Biol. 4, 38-48) and with the use of transcription vectors to generate homogeneous populations of specific DHFR mRNAs for subsequent translation in vitro, we demonstrate that, with respect to the proteins they encode, these alleles differ only at amino acid position 95; a conversion of Asp----Asn at this position is solely responsible for the electrophoretic mobility and pI differences between the Mr 21,000 pI 6.5 and Mr 20,000 pI 6.7 forms of the enzyme. We also show that the conversion of Leu to Phe at position 22 of the Mr 21,000 pI 6.5 enzyme results in a mutant form whose catalytic activity is equal to or greater than normal, but whose IC50 for methotrexate is 85 microM. Additionally, the in vitro translation experiments show that the minor pI forms of DHFR known to exist in Chinese hamster lung cells are generated by a translational or post-translational modification step. Preliminary evidence suggests that this modification may result from an acetylation of the N terminus of the protein.
Towards Realistic Performance Bounds for Implicit CFD Codes

Traditionally, numerical analysts have evaluated the performance of algorithms by counting the number of floating-point operations. On the algorithmic side, tremendous strides have been made; many algorithms now require only a few floating-point operations per mesh point. However, on the hardware side, memory system performance is improving at a rate that is much slower than that of processor performance. The result is a mismatch in capabilities: algorithm design has minimized the work per data item, but hardware design depends on executing an increasing large number of operations per data item. The importance of memory bandwidth to the overall performance is suggested by the available results. These show that the STREAM results are much better indicator of performance than the peak numbers. The chapter illustrates the performance limitations caused by insufficient available memory bandwidth with a discussion of sparse matrix-vector multiply, a critical operation in many iterative methods used in implicit CFD codes. It also focuses on the per-processor performance of compute nodes used in parallel computers. Experiments have shown that PETSc-FUN3D has good scalability. In fact, since good per-processor performance reduces the fraction of time spent computing as opposed to communication, achieving the best per-processor performance is a critical prerequisite to demonstrating uninflated parallel performance.
Autoimmune Hepatitis – Approach to Diagnosis

Context Autoimmune hepatitis has diverse features that can delay its diagnosis and the institution of potentially lifesaving corticosteroid therapy. Objective Review the clinical, laboratory, and histologic features of autoimmune hepatitis and promulgate routine application of its codified diagnostic criteria. Data sources Reference lists and MEDLINE. Study selection All clinically pertinent published observations that indicate the diversity of manifestations and pitfalls in diagnosis. Data extraction Findings that had common clinical relevance and the potential to confuse the diagnosis or delay institution of therapy were selected. Data synthesis Autoimmune hepatitis can present acutely and have histologic features of centrilobular zone 3 inflammation. Many patients may be asymptomatic, but they frequently have severe or advanced disease and typically develop symptoms later. Autoantibodies are reflective of immune-mediated mechanisms, but they are not diagnostic, pathogenic, or even required for the diagnosis. Genetic factors affect susceptibility, clinical phenotype, and treatment outcome, and they may be clues to indigenous etiologic agents. Autoimmune hepatitis can recur or develop de novo after liver transplantation, and it should be considered in all transplanted patients with allograft dysfunction. Diagnostic criteria have been codified, and a scoring system quantifies the strength of the diagnosis and accommodates atypical or deficient features. Conclusion Autoimmune hepatitis is an important diagnosis to consider in all patients with chronic hepatitis of undetermined cause.
Design and implementation of an expert system for data sanity checking

The authors discuss the design and implementation of an expert system developed for automated data sanity checking and archiving. Traditionally data are collected and stored after some syntax checking. Then the offline data are checked for errors and omissions to 'clean' the database. The expert system discussed has been designed to perform these functions on an online basis and store only the 'clean' data. This is achieved by continuously monitoring incoming data and making decisions as to what actions should be taken whenever abnormal data are flagged. The authors present a procedural description of the system which would allow the same process to be applied to any other kind of data. In particular, three phases of the project are described in detail. First is the design or conception phase in which the inference engine, the representation of the rules, and the handling of the data are discussed. The second phase, implementation, deals in its major part with acquiring the knowledge and expressing it in terms of system rules. In the last phase, methods for testing and evaluating the overall system are presented together with their outcomes. >
Layered perovskite PrBa0.5Sr0.5Co2O5+δ as high performance cathode for solid oxide fuel cells using oxide proton-conducting electrolyte

The layered perovskite PrBa{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}Co{sub 2}O{sub 5+{delta}} (PBSC) was investigated as a cathode material for a solid oxide fuel cell using a proton-conducting electrolyte based on BaCe{sub 0.7}Y{sub 0.2}Zr{sub 0.1}O{sub 3-{delta}} (BCYZ). The sintering conditions for the PBSC-BCYZ composite cathode were optimized resulting in the lowest area-specific resistance and apparent activation energy obtained with the cathode sintered at 1200 C for 2h. The maximum power densities of the PBSC-BCYZ/BZCY/NiO-BCYZ cell were 0.179, 0.274, 0.395, and 0.522 Wcm{sup -2} at 550, 600, 650, and 700 C, respectively with a 15{micro}m thick electrolyte. A relatively low cell interfacial polarization resistance of 0.132 {Omega}cm{sup 2} at 700 C indicated that the PBSC-BCYZ could be a good cathode candidate for intermediate temperature SOFCs with proton-conducting electrolyte.
The importance of bi-directional monitoring to cellular handoff performance

Handoff control in cellular-based personal communication systems allows a subscriber unit to travel from one cell area to another without service interruption. Previously published handoff studies involve "balanced" system scenarios and focus on only the inbound (subscriber unit to base site) or outbound (base site to subscriber unit) link. We point out the inappropriateness of the balanced system assumption for systems that employ directive antennas. We examine the impact of leaving one link uncontrolled and show that a handoff control monitoring both links adapts better to link imbalances inevitable in different regions of the system.
The Prevention Justification for Affirmative Action

An impressive body of research shows that minorities and women are less likely to succeed in workplaces where they are present in token numbers. Discrimination is more likely to hold back blacks and women in workforces with a dramatic racial or gender imbalance. Thus, an employer seeking to prevent future discrimination in the workplace might use preferences to achieve a better racial or gender balance. The Supreme Court has consistently explained that the primary purpose of Title VII is to encourage employers to prevent workplace discrimination. An affirmative action plan that used preferences to achieve a better racial or gender balance would be consistent with that purpose. More importantly, a close look at the Court's Title VII affirmative action jurisprudence reveals that this "prevention justification" is consistent with existing doctrine. The Article concludes with a detailed explanation of whether and how an affirmative action plan aimed at preventing future discrimination could satisfy existing Title VII doctrine.
Interactions of salsolinol with oxidative enzymes

Abstract Tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1)/O2, ceruloplasmin (human type X)/O2, and peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7)/H2O2 oxidized the endogenous central nervous system alkaloid salsolinol (SAL) at physiological pH. The proximate oxidation product was an electrophilic ortho-quinone (4) which at pH 7.0 rapidly tautomerized. Four major initial products were formed from 4: cis- and trans-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-methyl-4, 6,7-isoquinolinetriol (A and B, respectively), 2,3,4-trihydro-1-methyl-7-hydroxy-6-oxyisoquinoline (C), and 1-methyl-6,7-isoquinoline diol (D). Mechanisms describing the formation of these products have been presented. Ortho-quinone 4, formed in the enzyme-mediated reactions, was rapidly attacked by glutathione to yield the 5-S-, 8-S-, and 5,8-bi-S-glutathionyl conjugates of SAL. Preliminary experiments indicated that injection of A, B and C into the CNS of mice evoked profound behavioral effects. Quinone methide C was toxic. The potential role of the oxidation of salsolinol in the neurodegenerative and behavioral effects associated with chronic alcoholism is discussed.
Successful Management of Immunosuppression in a Patient With Severe Hyperammonemia After Lung Transplantation

Hyperammonemia after lung transplantation is a rare complication of unknown etiology. Its management is largely supportive and outcomes have been variable. More disconcerting is its immunosuppressive management because the precipitating factors leading to this potentially lethal entity are unknown, but are suspected to be drug-related. We describe the successful management of a lung transplant recipient with severe hyperammonemia.
Pharmacokinetics and individualized dose adjustment of intravenous busulfan in children with advanced hematologic malignancies undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Abstract We investigated the pharmacokinetics (PK) of a recently approved intravenous busulfan (IVBU) formulation as a part of the preparative regimen in 20 children with advanced hematologic malignancies undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Seventeen patients received a thiotepa, IVBU, and cyclophosphamide-based regimen, and 3 patients received an IVBU and cyclophosphamide-based regimen. All patients received IVBU 0.8 mg/kg for the first 2 doses; thereafter, the IVBU dose was modified, if required, to achieve a final area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) at steady state of 1150 μmol/L/min per dose (range, 1000–1300 μmol/L/min per dose; SD ±13%) based on the first-dose PK determination. PK studies were repeated on subsequent doses to verify the final AUC. Initial mean IVBU clearance and half-life were 3.96 mL/min/kg and 1.98 hours, respectively. Sixteen (80%) of the 20 patients received dose adjustments: 14 patients required dose escalations, and 2 required dose reductions. Overall, thirteen (72%) of 18 available sample sets at final follow-up PK analysis showed the IVBU exposure to be within the targeted range. IVBU PK was linear, and interpatient variability was much lower than that observed with oral busulfan. IVBU was well tolerated, and no case of hepatic veno-occlusive disease was encountered. Mild and transient hyperbilirubinemia was observed in 7 patients. Thirteen of the 20 patients were alive at a median follow-up of 651 days (range, 386–1555 days). We conclude that a standardized IVBU dose of 0.8 mg/kg in children does not always result in an AUC within the reference range defined in this study. Therapeutic drug monitoring with dose adjustment based on first-dose PK can optimize the systemic busulfan exposure for children undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Preoperative transesophageal echocardiography for assessment of vena caval tumor thrombi: a comparative study with venacavography and magnetic resonance imaging

Objectives Renal cell carcinoma extends into the inferior vena cava (IVC) in 4% to 10% of patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in determining the presence and level of IVC involvement in such cases.
Identification of metabolites of pentachlorobenzene and 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene in coyote feces : Development of physiological markers for wildlife damage control

Coyotes were dosed with pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) and 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene (1,2,4,5-TeCB). Residues were determined in feces and adipose tissue at intervals up to six months post-dosing. PeCB was detectable in feces for six months post-dosing. 1,2,4,5-TeCB residues were of similar persistence and magnitude to those of PeCB. PeCB was metabolized to pentachlorophenol and 2,3,4,5-tetrachlorophenol. Simultaneous oral delivery of two biomarkers decreased absorption by about 25%. These data indicate that PeCB and 1,2,4,5-TeCB have excellent applicability as long term biomarkers for wildlife study and management.
Sequential algorithms for the inspection of surface-mounted devices

This paper presents an overview of the development of vision algorithms for a flexible inspection system. This system is being designed for the inspection of surface mounted devices. The system identifies missing components and quantifies the position and rotation of the components present. Two types of approaches for the identification of missing components are presented and contrasted. The first approach involves conventional image processing techniques that are actually used in an operative prototype that is under test in an industrial environment. The second approach is a study of the use of backpropagation neural networks in as an alternative inspection method for component detection only.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Prostaglandin F in monkey uterine fluid during the menstrual cycle and following steroid treatment

Abstract Prostaglandin F levels were determined in monkey uterine fluid collected daily from a silicone tubing collection system surgically installed in adult female rhesus monkeys. Sampling was obtained from intact and ovariectomized — hormone treated monkeys. During the primate menstrual cycle, uterine fluid prostaglandin F levels showed a cyclic pattern in concentration with highest values recorded during the 18–20th day of the cycle. Estrogen treatment to the ovariectomized female elicited a striking and marked increase in uterine fluid prostaglandin F levels while progesterone treatment had little effect. These results suggest that the presence of uterine fluid prostaglandin F is estrogen dependent and may be causely related to the control of menstrual cyclicity.
Multiphysics Coupled Fluid/Thermal/Structural Simulation for Hypersonic Reentry Vehicles

The main goal of the work described in this paper was to set up a procedure for modeling a thermal protection system for a hypersonic reentry vehicle by extending earlier work done by the authors. A multiphysics framework has been setup for the simulation of hypersonic reentry vehicles using commercial codes FLUENT and LS-DYNA with user-defined programming. The computational fluid dynamics code (FLUENT) and the material thermal and structural response code (LS-DYNA) are loosely coupled to achieve the solution. The surface recession resulting from ablation in the reentry vehicle is simulated by implementing a mesh movement algorithm in LS-DYNA. The vehicle considered in the calculation is an axisymmetric vehicle flying at zero degree angle of attack. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943- 5525.0000113. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Simulation; Fluid-structure interactions; Vehicles; Thermal factors. Author keywords: Reentry simulation; Multiphysics simulation; Fluid/structure/thermal interaction of reentry vehicle.
i860 microprocessor internal architecture

Abstract How many different types of commercial jet aircraft have been built since 1950? In fact, there have been only a handful of commercial jets, although there have been many variants. The same is true of microprocessors. There have been many variations on relatively few themes. Recent developments in semiconductor technology, the influence of RISC architectures, and the migration of mainframe characteristics to silicon have led to the appearance of some radically new designs. The Intel i860 is one such processor. This article describes the important features of the 64-bit i860: its pipelined organization, floating-point unit, its inherent parallelism, memory management unit, on-chip cache and graphics unit. These features, together with its 80 MFLOPS peak single-precision performance, make the i860 a formidable new computing engine.
Observations on plasma secretion levels by radioimmunoassay in response to duodenal acidification and to a meat meal in humans

The endogenous release of secretin in healthy human subjects was studied by measuring plasma secretin levels by radioimmunoassay (RIA) before, during, and following duodenal acidification and eating a meal. The sensitivity of our RIA was assessed by measuring plasma secretin levels during constant intravenous infusions of 4 graded doses of secretin. Our RIA detected significant increases (P<0.001) in plasma secretin with each dose, including a low dose of 0.125 U (41.3 ng)/kg hr. Intraduodenal infusion of 0.1N HCl resulted in marked increases (P<0.001) in plasma secretin levels whenever pH in the second portion of the duodenum was reduced to less than 3.5. In contrast, following a meal, pH in the second portion of the duodenum remained consistently greater than 4.5 and plasma secretin levels showed no changes from basal levels. These studies confirm that endogenous release of secretin depends on an acidic pH of the duodenum, and insignificant changes in the plasma secretin level following ingestion of a meal suggest that endogenous release of secretin in the postprandial period is probably too small in quantity to be detected by the present radioimmunoassay method.
Diffusion and the vapor transport of solids

Abstract It is shown that the general flux equations for multicomponent gas mixtures, which include the effects of “streaming” or viscous flow of the gas as a whole, reduce to the form of the simple Fick's law diffusion equation upon application of the steady state vapor transport conditions applicable to the vapor transport of solids. This justifies the use of Fick's law in theoretical treatments of the vapor transport of solids. The diffusion coefficients to be used in the Fick's law expression are shown to be simply related to the binary diffusion coefficients appropriate to binary gas mixtures.
Reduction of l-methionine selenoxide to seleno-l-methionine by endogenous thiols, ascorbic acid, or methimazole

Abstract Seleno- l -methionine (SeMet) can be oxidized to l -methionine selenoxide (MetSeO) by flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3) and rat liver microsomes in the presence of NADPH. MetSeO can be reduced by GSH to yield SeMet and GSSG. In the present study, the potential reduction of MetSeO to SeMet by other cellular components and antioxidants was investigated. Besides GSH, other thiols ( l -cysteine, or N -acetyl- l -cysteine) and antioxidants (ascorbic acid and methimazole) also reduced MetSeO to SeMet. This reduction is unique to MetSeO since methionine sulfoxide was not reduced to methionine under similar conditions. The MetSeO reduction by thiols was instaneous and much faster than the reduction by ascorbic acid or methimazole. However, only one molar equivalent of ascorbic acid or methimazole was needed to complete the reduction, as opposed to two molar equivalents of thiols. Whereas the disulfides produced by the reactions of MetSeO with thiols are chemically stable, methimazole disulfide readily decomposed at pH 7.4, 37 °C to yield methimazole, methimazole-sulfenic acid, methimazole sulfinic acid, methimazole S-sulfonate, 1-methylimidazole (MI) and sulfite anion. Collectively, the results demonstrate reduction of MetSeO to SeMet by multiple endogenous thiols, ascorbic acid, and methimazole. Thus, oxidation of SeMet to MetSeO may result in depletion of endogenous thiols and antioxidant molecules. Furthermore, the novel reduction of MetSeO by methimazole provides clear evidence that methimazole should not be used as an alternative FMO substrate when studying FMO-mediated oxidation of SeMet.
Detection of Solder Bump Defects in Electronic Packages Using Local Temporal Coherence Analysis of Laser Ultrasonic Signals

Microelectronics packaging technology has evolved from through-hole and bulk configurations to surface-mount and small-profile configurations. Surface mount devices, such as flip chip packages, chip scale packages, and ball grid arrays, use solder bump interconnections between them and substrates/printed wiring boards. Solder bumps, which are hidden between the device and the substrate/board, are difficult to inspect. A solder bump inspection system was developed using laser ultrasound and interferometric techniques. This system has been successfully applied to detect solder joint/bump defects, including missing, misaligned, open, and cracked solder joints/bumps in flip chips, chip scale packages, and multilayer ceramic capacitors. This system uses a pulsed Nd:YAG laser to induce ultrasound in the electronic packages in the thermoelastic regime; it then measures the transient out-of-plane displacement response on the package surface using the interferometric technique. This paper presents a local temporal coherence (LTC) analysis of laser ultrasound signals and compares it to previous signal-processing methods, including error ratio and correlation coefficient methods. The results showed that LTC analysis increased measurement accuracy and sensitivity for inspecting solder bump defects in electronic packages. Laser ultrasound inspection results are also compared with X-ray and C-mode scanning acoustic microscopy results. In particular, this paper discusses defect detection for 6.35 × 6.35 × 0.6 mm 3 flip chips and flip chips ("SiMAF;" Siemens AG) with lead-free solder bumps.
Weak convergence of stochastic processes indexed by smooth functions

Abstract We give some easy methods to check sufficient conditions for the weak convergence of stochastic processes indexed by smooth functions. The main condition is a moment condition on the increments of the process. We apply this to empirical processes and U-processes in the independent identically distributed case. We also consider empirical processes under different types of dependence conditions.
Breaking the isolation of small group communication studies

In recent years there has been concern that the field of small group communication research is too small to support a vital research community. This essay argues that researchers in the area have been too pessimistic overall. It is suggested that, at present, the field is vital but dispersed. Small group research can be revitalized by forming cross‐disciplinary linkages to counteract the diaspora of group researchers across a wide range of disciplines.
Models of Photoregulation

Physiological processes that are influenced by light abound in nature. Organisms as complex as the human being and as “simple” as bacteria show evidence of having developed photoresponsive systems. Examples are the phototactic behavior of bacteria, plants and animal cells, diurnal variations in social and sexual behavior of animals (including man), and season-related migration patterns in birds. The process of vision is a highly sophisticated photoresponsive process as are the processes in plants that are controlled by the phytochrome systems. (Two reviews that can prove useful are Er langer, 1976 and Briggs and Rice, 1972).
Alternate Immersion Testing of Coated Sheet Steel

Abstract Alternate immersion cyclic exposure of prime coated and scribed steel sheet resulted in a lifting of the coating at the edges of the scribe. A thick oxide corrosion product film grew in the scribe and under the adjacent coating. Continuous immersion did not produce thick oxide films or a lifting of the coating. A zinc phosphate pretreatment limited the growth of the oxide to an area within the scribe and prevented attack at the coating/metal interface during cyclic exposures. Polarization resistance, which was measured during the immersion segment of the cycle, was greater for phosphated specimens, reflecting the lesser extent of corrosion at the scribe edges. However, sensitivity was not high enough to produce any advantage over simple visual examination and measurement. In the presence of thick oxide films in the scribe, potential changes were very slow, and a modified procedure was necessary for measuring polarization resistance. Galvanized and Zincrometal treated specimens were resistant to t...
The effect of thickness and pressure on the curing of PMMA bone cement for the total hip joint replacement

Abstract Thermal tissue damage has a strong time-temperature dependence (Lundskog, 1972). This could be a contributing factor to the loosening and/or failure of the bone-cement interface of the total hip prosthesis. An in vitro apparatus is described which simulates conditions in the acetabulum during the Charnley-Muller type low friction arthroplasty procedure, providing a direct measurement of the temperature history of the surface where the bone would be in contact. Low density polyethylene, with a thermal diffusivity of 1.58 × 10 −3 cm 2 /s was used to model the cancellous bone of the hip. The viscosity of the Surgical Simplex P bone cement, as measured by the time required for a fixed amount of penetration into the cement mass by a needle under constant load, was kept constant throughout the experimental runs. The optimal viscosity for flow of bone cement into small holes in the acetabular shell was investigated. Flow into holes the size of cancellous interstices was enhanced only when the cement was very non-viscous (at the point at which it could first be gathered up). Data from these experiments indicate that the temperature at the bone-cement interface is linearly dependent on local cement thickness and that variables such as viscosity, pressure and load, age of cement and geometry, are accounted for through their effect on the local cement thickness. The possibility of thermal necrosis resulting from the temperature-time history at the cement-bone interface was investigated. A cumulative damage effect was based on the phenomenological time-temperature plot of Henriques and Moritz. It was shown that 46% of the experimental runs exhibited a necrotic time-temperature behavior, and that this usually occurred when the local cement thickness was in excess of 5 mm.
Resolution of Converted Waves In Attenuating Media

PS waves offer better resolution than PP waves at shallow targets before attenuation becomes significant, but when QP > QS , there is a “resolution crossover depth,” i.e., a depth below which PP waves offer better resolution than PS waves. An equation is given for calculating this crossover depth at near offsets, where the crossover depth is the same for both horizontal and vertical resolution. Seismic data from two 2D OBS lines supports the predicted resolution behavior. The scaled-to-depth PS images show better resolution than the PP images in the shallow section, and the resolution crossover depth can be determined.
Mitigation of catastrophic forgetting in recurrent neural networks using a Fixed Expansion Layer

Catastrophic forgetting (or catastrophic interference) in supervised learning systems is the drastic loss of previously stored information caused by the learning of new information. While substantial work has been published on addressing catastrophic forgetting in memoryless supervised learning systems (e.g. feedforward neural networks), the problem has received limited attention in the context of dynamic systems, particularly recurrent neural networks. In this paper, we introduce a solution for mitigating catastrophic forgetting in RNNs based on enhancing the Fixed Expansion Layer (FEL) neural network which exploits sparse coding of hidden neuron activations. Simulation results on several non-stationary data sets clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed architecture.
CROSS-SCALE INTERACTIONS IN BIOMOLECULAR INFORMATION PROCESSING

Multiple modes of processing, drawing on interactions at multiple physical scales, contribute to the information processing power of biological systems. Conformational processing is central, since it affords a close coupling of nuclear and electronic coordinates, and hence a closely interleaved classical-nonclassical interface that allows biological systems to draw on the superpositional parallelism of the quantum mechanical wave function. Cells and organisms are pictured as percolation networks that mediate highly selective transductions of information between microscopic and macroscopic forms.
Multi-unit auctions with complementarities: Issues of efficiency in electricity auctions

In this paper, we analyze the ability of different auction structures to induce the efficient dispatch in a one-shot framework where generators know their own and competitors' costs with certainty. In particular, we are interested in identifying which, if any, rules in an auction structure yield only the efficient dispatch in equilibrium. We find that a critical component to a successful auction design is the way in which demand is bundled and hence the way bids are defined. While an auction mechanism which allows for more than one winner in an auction may support inefficient dispatches in equilibrium, we find that an auction where there is exactly one winner per lot, where the lots are formed to capture the cost structure of generation plants, and all lots are auctioned simultaneously, supports only efficient dispatches in equilibrium.
Building on Our Teaching Assets: The Unique Pedagogical Contributions of Bilingual Educators

This article examines the unique contributions that bilingual and bilingually credentialed teachers make to the instruction of emergent bilinguals in the United States. This mixed methodological study involved 474 teachers in Arizona, California, and Texas, which represent distinct language policy contexts. Results revealed that, irrespective of context, teachers' bilingualism and bilingual certification significantly predicted their reported use of practices that build on students' primary language as well as their prior knowledge and experiences. Given declining numbers of teachers completing bilingual credentials in English-only states, findings suggest that English-only policies are diminishing the supply of teachers with the potential to improve emergent bilinguals' classroom experiences.
Cranial Neural Crest Cells Synthesize and Secrete a Latent Form of Transforming Growth Factor β That Can Be Activated by Neural Crest Cell Proteolysis

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is an important regulator of cell growth and differentiation. TGF-beta is usually secreted in a latent form (i.e., not biologically active) that can be activated by limited exposure to low pH or specific proteolytic cleavage. In this study, we (1) assayed cranial neural crest (NC) cell-conditioned medium for the presence of active and latent TGF-beta, (2) determined whether TGF-beta was activated by NC-generated plasmin, and (3) examined whether active TGF-beta 1 regulates NC cell plasminogen activator activity. Results show that under serum-free conditions, essentially all of the TGF-beta secreted by NC cells is in a latent form. However, 24 hr after adding plasminogen to the cultures, active TGF-beta was detectable. Treatment of NC cells with active TGF-beta 1 significantly decreased NC cell plasminogen activator activity. These data suggest that NC cells secrete a latent form of TGF-beta that can be activated under conditions favoring the generation of local proteolytic activity and that levels of plasminogen activator activity may be autoregulated via an autocrine effect of this growth factor.
Post-exposure prophylaxis use and recurrent exposure to HIV among men who have sex with men who use crystal methamphetamine.

Background Men who have sex with men (MSM) who use crystal methamphetamine (CM) are at increased risk for HIV infection. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a useful HIV prevention strategy if individuals are able to identify high-risk exposures and seek timely care, however to date there has been limited data on the use of PEP by CM users.