cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surface pressure-area measurements for films of polyvinyl acetate polymers spread on water.

Abstract Except for solubility of low molecular weight fractions and anomalous spreading of the very high molecular weight fraction Gelva V 1700, the films of the polyvinyl acetate polymers studied were stable and well behaved. Extrapolation of the F × A–F plots for these films to obtain molecular weights does not appear feasible, as it would necessitate the accurate measurement of extremely small surface pressures in a region of low surface concentration, where unavoidable contamination introduces an increasing uncertainty in such measurements.
Social class and its reproduction in immigrants’ construction of self

This article explores the ways in which class position forms part of immigrants’ social imaginary and shapes important aspects of their engagement with the sociocultural landscape to which they have come. It is argued that sociocultural experience is the scaffolding for self-representation across development and thus plays a key role in our conscious and unconscious, in what we do and how we understand it. Two case examples, one of a patient who emigrated from an upper class background, the other from a patient who emigrated from a lower working-class background, are used to illustrate the ways in which class identifications influence self-representation and the experience of immigration.
Cranial base growth and morphology in second-trimester normal human fetuses and fetuses with cleft lip.

Abstract Objective: The present radiographic study describes the size and shape of the cranial base from the sagittal aspect for a sample of 77 second-trimester “normal” control fetuses (n = 61) and fetuses (n = 16) exhibiting isolated, unilateral clefts of the lip (CL), ranging in fertilization age from 10 to 22 weeks. Methods: Fetuses were placed in a cephalostat, and standardized, lateral head radiographs were taken. The radiographs were traced, and 15 cephalometric landmarks were identified and digitized for analysis. Growth curves for cranial base lengths, angles, and areas were compared between control and CL groups. Also, cranial base triangles were constructed and shape comparisons were made using tensor biometric analysis. Results: No significant differences (p > .05) in regression line slopes were noted for any comparisons between the control and CL samples. Tensor biometric analysis also revealed no significant differences in the shapes of various cranial base triangles between the control and ...
Forecasting unemployment insurance trust funds: The case of Tennessee

Abstract Many state unemployment insurance (UI) trust funds have reached levels inadequate to fund UI programs, resulting in renewed efforts to forecast UI variables. This paper describes efforts in Tennessee to formulate a UI forecasting model that overcomes the weaknesses of existing models. The intent is to help forecasters in other states cope with the problems of UI forecasting and to provide a framework to build upon. The two major goals of the model are to provide accurate forecasts and to facilitate strategic planning. Forecasting errors illuminate some important inaccuracies in the model. However, the model captures the variables most frequently subject to legislative change.
Versatile bioelectronic interfaces based on heterotrifunctional linking molecules

Bioelectronic interfaces that allow dehydrogenase enzymes to communicate with electrodes have potential applications such as biosensors and biocatalytic reactors. A major challenge in creation of such bioelectronic interfaces is to orient the enzyme, its cofactor, and an electron mediator properly with respect to the electrode in order to achieve efficient, multistep electron transfer. This paper describes a versatile, new method that uses cysteine, an inexpensive, branched amino acid having sulfhydryl, amino, and carboxyl functional groups, to achieve such orientation. This approach provides greater flexibility in assembling complex bioelectronic interfaces than previously reported approaches that bind the enzyme, cofactor, and mediator in a linear chain. Cysteine was attached to a gold electrode through the sulfhydryl groups, to the electron mediator toluidine blue O (TBO) through the carboxyl group, and to the cofactor (e.g., NAD(P)+) through the amino group. Cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy, chronoamperometry and quartz crystal microbalance gravimetry were used to demonstrate the sequential assembly steps and the electrical activity of the resulting bioelectronic interface.
Descriptive or Conceptual Models? Contributions of Economics to the Climate Policy Debate

Economists have brought two distinct modeling styles to the debate on climate policy. Some attempt to forecast the effects of policy decisions by constructing models that purport to be “descriptive” of the global economic system. The alternative approach is a “conceptual” focus on key elements of a particular economic or environmental issue. The descriptive models typically offer numerical comparisons of policy scenarios to a baseline, while the conceptual modelers often seek to provide insight into the ethical foundations or implications of different assumptions. These different modeling styles exhibit both contrasts and areas of overlap in their policy implications.
A New Approach to Calculating Fuel Temperature in TRIGA Mark I Research Reactors

Often a forced convection heat transfer coefficient is used to calculate the peak fuel temperature for a rectangular lattice TRIGA core even though the core is cooled by natural convection. The arguments for applying a forced convection empirical relationship are examined and another relationship is suggested. The peak fuel temperature was calculated using two different correlations, Dittus-Boelter and natural convection, for pool temperatures of 30°C and 60°C. The Dittus-Boelter correlation predicted a fuel temperature rise of 1.85°C for this difference in pool temperature, contrary to the predicted rise of 25.64°C from natural convection relationships. Experimental data shows that the relationship of fuel temperature rise with increasing pool temperature is more accurately represented by the natural convection correlation than with Dittus-Boelter. Using a derived natural convection correlation, the calculated peak fuel temperatures then closely match measured data. A procedure was developed to access convective heat transfer coefficient changes in the cladding gap as a function of reactor power for the hot channel which are similar to those presented in literature.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Self-Rated Health among Foreign- and U.S.-Born Asian Americans: A Test of Comparability

Objectives:We investigated differences between foreign- and U.S.-born Asian Americans in self-rating their physical and mental health. In particular, we tested whether the foreign-born respondents underreport the extreme categories of the scale as compared with U.S.-born respondents.Methods:We analy
Design of continuous media servers in support of interactive personalized presentation

Due to increased interests in interactive personalized multimedia services, the design of continuous media (CM) severs in support of this functionality has received attention from industry and academia. These systems automatically create a sequence of CM segments optimized to the interests of each user based on their predefined preferences and impromptu queries. Applications such as distance learning, news-on-demand, interactive training, and home shopping would be significantly improved with this functionality. Two critical issues are 1) automatic creation of an optimized script for each user, and 2) data management and retrieval to maximize the performance of servers in a multi-user environment. Due to the maximized flexibility of presentation and potential conflicts among requirements from concurrent users while sharing huge amount of CM data without redundancy, the design of a CM sever that supports these applications, especially data placement and retrieval scheduling, is challenging. This paper investigates and proposes data placement and retrieval scheduling techniques on multi-disk CM servers to support such applications. These include how to share the same content among multiple users, how to compose a personalized content on demand for each user and support continuous display of the edited content without any jitters or interruptions, termed hiccups. The proposed techniques solve the problems by providing a fast retrieval of CM data using random data placement across disks with deadline-driven scheduling and prefetching them with a minimal latency to statistically guarantee a continuous display. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility of on-demand composition and continuous display of personalized content with a hiccup probability less than a millionth. They also show less than a second startup latency, which is acceptable for most interactive applications.
Controversies: Carcinoma of the oral cavity in a young woman

Although tobacco and alcohol abuse are known factors in the genesis of many head and neck cancers, none of the consultants believe that the cause and effect is established in younger patients. No one is willing to make a connection between her carcinoma and her connective tissue disease. With regard to panendoscopy, the consultants would perform a rigid bronchoscopy and an esophagoscopy (Dr. Donald), laryngoscopy and esophagoscopy (Dr. Eibling), and esophagoscopy (Dr. DeSanto). (Editor's note: Bronchoscopy and/or esophagoscopy have been considered standard in the evaluation of patients with head and neck malignancies, but the editor believes there is little or no justification for endoscopy in nonsmoking young adults.) There is consensus as to how to treat this woman. The consultants concur that excision followed by radiotherapy offers the best chance for cure. On expert (Dr. Eibling) suggests that postoperative chemotherapy should also be given. Radiotherapy or chemotherapy alone are not options that anyone believes in as curative. Cure rate estimates center around 40% to 50% five-year survival (Dr. Donald) or 30% to 50% (Dr. Eibling). One physician believes it is useless to estimate the patient's odds (Dr. DeSanto). When this patient refuses surgery and stops her radiotherapy, one expert suggests waiting until the mucositis resides and proceeding with a resection (Dr. Donald). Another encourages completing the course (Dr. Eibling) and another believes there are no guidelines in such an ad-hoc program (Dr. DeSanto).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Emeritus Colleges: Enriching Academic Communities by Extending Academic Life

The emeritus college, a recent higher education innovation, provides retired professors with a means to stay intellectually engaged and continue to contribute professionally in retirement. The emeritus college can also help institutions maintain a steady flow of professional talent by making retirement more attractive for senior academics. This article introduces the emeritus college concept; discusses its implementation at four universities; assesses its benefits for individuals, institutions, and the community; and offers guidelines for institutions wishing to implement their own emeritus college. The emeritus college can provide a bridge from an academic career to a fulfilling retirement while also helping to enrich academic communities.
Nitrate reductase activity in a submersed marine angiosperm: Controlling influences of environmental and physiological factors

Abstract In plants, nitrate reductase (NR; EC 1.6.6.1) is considered to be a key enzyme in nitrate assimilation. Therefore, the activity of NR as influenced by major environmental factors may affect the survival of many aquatic nitrogen-limited plant species. In this study, the in vivo activity of NR following exposure to increased water-column nitrate was examined in a submersed marine angiosperm (eelgrass, Zostera marina L.). NR activity was primarily localized in new leaf tissue, and was related to light and/or soluble carbohydrate availability. Under extended periods of darkness (18 h), enzyme activity decreased by more than 60 %. Nevertheless, in vivo NR activity was induced during dark periods provided that water-column nitrate (≥ 8 μM NO 3 – ) was available. Enzyme activities were lower in plants that were exposed to hypoxic conditions ( 2 ·L –1 for 14 h), and/or elevated growth temperatures (3 to 4 °C above mean weekly temperatures). In contrast, exposure to the atmosphere for 90 min promoted a significant increase in in vivo NR activity. A temporal investigation (14 weeks in autumn) revealed that the intensity of in vivo NR response to water-column nitrate was directly correlated with the quantity of soluble carbohydrates within the leaf tissue. Many of the observed in vivo NR responses were likely related to carbohydrate availability. During periods where soluble carbohydrate availability was expected to be low, in vivo NR response to increased water-column nitrate was substantially compromised.
SITE‐DEPENDENT REGULATION OF POPULATION SIZE: COMMENT

Rodenhouse et al. (1997) propose a "new synthesis" for the regulation of territorial animals by a "densityfree" mechanism, which they refer to as "site-dependent regulation of population size." This idea suffers from a number of logical problems, most of which can be traced back to their definition, or confusion about the definition, of population density. For example, on page 2032 they state that "it is important to note that we define the term 'density' in this paper as the number of individuals per unit area." They cite Ricklefs (1990), Krebs (1994), and Begon et al. (1996) as authorities, and few ecologists would argue with this conventional definition. However, they later redefine density as the number of individuals "per unit of area occupied" (page 2033), and it is this latter definition on which their model and arguments appear to be based. They also define "sites" in a very restricted sense, which is "... the areas occupied exclusively by individuals or mated pairs . . " (page 2026). If one defines density by the number of individuals per occupied site, and each site must support a fixed number of individuals (say, one mated female), then density becomes a constant and independent of population size (i.e., female density is the reciprocal of site area). Under these conditions density is redundant because, being independent of population change, it is not involved in any way with the dynamics of the population. Their proposition is simply illustrated by their Fig. 1, which we reproduce. The figure shows a hypothetical environment composed of eight sites (territories) of equal size but different suitability. These sites are occupied over a 5-yr period by a variable population in such a way that the best sites are occupied first, i.e., "preemptive site occupancy." If one defines density as "numbers per unit area occupied", and as all sites are of equal size and each supports one female, then it is apparent that density remains constant while average
Gender-Neutral Automobile-Insurance Rates: Have They Made a Difference?

The authors' objective was to assess the impact of gender-neutral automobile-insurance laws in four states, and to ask whether these laws have increased prices, increased market concentration, discouraged driving, or encouraged greater risk taking? A pooled time-series analysis for 21 years in four states was used to test the relationship between adopting a gender-neutral insurance law and risk-adjusted prices, industry concentration, numbers of licensed drivers, and traffic fatalities. The authors find that gender-neutral automobile-insurance laws have no impact on the risk-adjusted price of insurance, the market share held by direct writers, the number of licensed drivers, or the rate of traffic fatalities. Gender-neutral laws were associated with a larger market share being controlled by the three largest firms. The authors conclude that because gender-neutral insurance laws have no impacts which are detrimental to consumers, they could be adopted by all states with few negative consequences.
Solvent-related conformational changes and aggregation of conjugated polymers studied by single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy

Single molecule confocal fluorescence microscopy was used to perform photoluminescence spectroscopy on single, isolated molecules of derivatives of the conjugated polymer poly (p-phenylenevinylene). We show that the fluorescence from single chains of these electroluminescent polymers depends strongly on chain conformation. Extended chains show emission from multiple segments, while tightly-folded chains emit only from few distinct sites. The tight coil in folded chains enables the polymer to funnel excitons to highly aggregated low energy regions via three-dimensional Foerster-type energy transfer, This strong intrachain coupling causes these polymers to mimic the photophysical behavior of single chromophores and leads to localized emission and fluorescence intermittency. Polymer molecules that have specifically designed steric hindrance for backbone contacts show higher resistance to solvent-induced interaction between its segments. Only the introduction of non-solvents to such systems forces the polymer to stack its backbone and form aggregates. The luminescence of these buckled polymer chains shows distinctly red-shifted emission presumably due to excimer-formation. These results have significant implications for photophysics and photochemistry of conjugated polymers and their application in thin film electronic devices. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Rheumatoid arthritis in the elderly: Is it a different disease?

Controversy has surrounded the question of whether rheumatoid arthritis (RA) afflicting the elderly is a different disease than RA in younger patients. Resolution of this complex question requires careful consideration of the pathogenesis of the disease and its diagnosis and prognosis. Meaningful analysis of these factors optimally derives from a critical review of all relevant medical literature (i.e., an evidence-based approach); however, methodologic inconsistencies and other difficulties with the literature on this subject largely preclude definitive interpretation. This review examines the evidence concerning various aspects of RA in the elderly population.
The Eighteenth Century Pioneers in French Costume Reform

In the middle years of the eighteenth century a major shift took place in France concerning the idea of appropriate stage costume. The traditional dress of high classicism, with its helmets and high plumes for the men, large hoop skirts for the women, and elegant, symmetrical, and highly artificial dress for both began to be challenged by leading critics and artists, who sought—for greater realism, greater historical accuracy, or greater ease and beauty of movement on stage—a more relaxed and informal approach to stage dress.
Fewnomials and Intersections of Lines with Real Analytic Subgroups in Gmn

In this paper, the authors study intersections of a special class of curves with algebraic subgroups of the multiplicative group of complex dimension at least 2. They show how results of Khovanskii on fewnomials can be used to derive niteness results and bounds for the degrees of algebraic points for such intersections from more general results on intersections of curves with non-algebraic subgroups. They thereby generalise their earlier results, and recover in some cases, using dierent methods, more uniform bounds than those given in related work of Bombieri, Masser and Zannier.
Surprising Properties of Two-Level "Bandwidth Compaction" Codes

This paper investigates some of the properties of a class of two-level codes with constrained run length, whose use has been proposed for purposes of bandwidth compression. It is shown that such codes can indeed reduce the bandwidth containing a given percentage of the transmitted power. To communicate information, however, different transmitted codewords must be distinguishable at the receiver, and this requires that the channel bandwidth be sufficiently wide to allow the difference waveform to propagate. It is demonstrated that decreasing the X -percent bandwidth using these codes leads to a rapid increase in the difference waveform bandwidth, and hence in the channel bandwidth necessary to maintain error rate performance. Thus, these codes are bandwidth expansion codes in disguise. Signal-to-noise ratio and channel bandwidth requirements for these codes are discussed and compared with those of M -level codes [pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM)] for two kinds of receivers.
Hydrodynamic Study of High Speed Flow and Heat Transfer Through a Microchannel

Fluid flow and heat-transfer characteristics in microchannels are investigated using a finite element based hydrodynamic model with first-order slip/jump boundary conditions. Helium and nitrogen are utilized as working fluid, and the Knudsen-number ranges from slip to transition regime. Results for high-speed compressible gas flow fo rt wo separate cases for a microchannel with rough surface and an aspect ratio of five have been compared with published direct-simulation Monte Carlo results. Despite some noticeable differences, the hydrodynamic model compares favorably in predicting the flow structure and heat-transfer characteristics for high-speed microflows.
Multipath hybrid Ad hoc networks for avionics applications in disaster area

During natural or manmade disasters, communication infrastructures break down due to massive destruction and subsequent loss of services. Effective rescue operations require a rapidly deployable high bandwidth network to carry out necessary relief efforts involving helicopters up in the sky and first responders on the ground. However, transmitting video and running high bandwidth applications over the network consisting of RF (Radio Frequency) links is challenging. Our aim is to develop an avionics system consisting of a fast, high bandwidth, self configurable and reliable network for rapidly establishing communication among the helicopters and first responders in a disaster area. The concept of using FSO (Free Space Optics) link as the primary and RF as the backup link has been introduced in this paper. We develop an Ad Hoc routing protocol for computing multiple “FSO only” paths to ensure faster communication among the nodes, and using “hybrid paths” consisting of a mixture of FSO and RF links as a backup. Our routing protocol, referred to as Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector Hybrid (AODVH), has been compared with other Ad hoc routing protocols using ns-2 simulations. It was found that AODVH performs better than others in terms of packet loss, average delay and throughput.
Optimal damping in multilayer sandwich beams

We describe some possible models for a multilayer sandwich beam consisting of alternating stiff and compliant beam layers. The stiff layers are modeled under Euler-Bernoulli assumptions while the compliant layers essentially only carry the shear. We include viscous damping in the compliant layers and consider the optimization problem of choosing the damping parameteres for each layer so that the maximal asymptotic damping angle in the system eigenvalues is obtained. The solution is obtained analytically as a closed-form function of the various material parameters.
Aprender a conversar: ¿cómo un nativo…?

Conocer una lengua, aun en los niveles mas avanzados, no asegura una comunicacion exitosa, especialmente en la interrelacion con el hablante nativo. Esto es debido principalmente a que la adecuacion comunicativa de un enunciado no esta garantizada por su gramaticalidad.
Selection of functional 5' cis-acting elements promoting efficient sindbis virus genome replication.

The 5′ portion of the Sindbis virus (SIN) genome RNA is multifunctional. Besides initiating translation of the nonstructural polyprotein, RNA elements in the 5′ 200 bases of the SIN genome RNA, or its complement at the 3′ end of the negative-strand intermediate, play key roles in the synthesis of both negative- and positive-strand RNAs. We used here a combination of genetic and biochemical approaches to further dissect the functions of this sequence. Replacement of the SIN 5′ end in defective-interfering (DI) and genome RNAs with sequences from a distantly related alphavirus, Semliki Forest virus (SFV), resulted in nonviable chimeras. The addition of five nucleotides from the 5′ terminus of SIN restored negative-strand RNA synthesis in DI genomes but not their replication in vivo. Pseudorevertants of various SFV-SIN chimeras were isolated, and suppressor mutations were mapped to AU-rich sequences added to the 5′ end of the original SFV 5′ sequence or its “deleted” versions. Early pseudorevertants had heterogeneous 5′ termini that were inefficient for replication relative to the parental SIN 5′ sequence. In contrast, passaging of these pseudorevertant viral populations in BHK cells under competitive conditions yielded evolved, more homogeneous 5′-terminal sequences that were highly efficient for negative-strand synthesis and replication. These 5′-terminal sequences always began with 5′-AU, followed by one or more AU repeats or short stretches of oligo(A). Further analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between the number of repeat units and replication efficiency. Interestingly, some 5′ modifications restored high-level viral replication in BHK-21 cells, but these viruses were impaired for replication in the cells of mosquito origin. These studies provide new information on sequence determinants required for SIN RNA replication and suggest new strategies for restricting cell tropism and optimizing the packaging of alphavirus vectors.
EDGIS: a dynamic GIS based on space time points

Contemporary GIS can handle static spatial data for querying and visual representation, but the temporal dimension remains a challenge. This paper addresses the need for a dynamic GIS capable of managing complex data types. The design relies on a representation of the theoretical spatiotemporal primitive known as the 'geo-atom'. This paper proposes a novel and implemented data structure called the space time point (STP) built on this theory. With the STP representation, spatiotemporal data queries can be posed to return useful results about dynamic geographic phenomena and their interaction. Two key challenges addressed in this research are (1) data structures to represent hybrid (object and field) spatiotemporal phenomena and (2) the design of a dynamic GIS interface. These challenges are addressed by the implementation of the system, referred to as 'Extended Dynamic GIS (EDGIS)', that uses the proposed STPs. The EDGIS system is described from theory to its implementation in Java™ and a series of application examples are described followed by performance metrics. The paper concludes with a discussion of areas for further research such as integration of the system with geo-sensor networks, hazards, transportation, and location-based services (LBS).
Status of the spallation neutron source superconducting RF facilities

The spallation neutron source (SNS) project was completed with only limited superconducting RF (SRF) facilities installed as part of the project. A concerted effort has been initiated to install the infrastructure and equipment necessary to maintain and repair the superconducting Linac, and to support power upgrade research and development (R&D). Installation of a Class 10/100/10,000 cleanroom and outfitting of the test cave with RF, vacuum, controls, personnel protection and cryogenics systems is underway. A horizontal cryostat, which can house a helium vessel/cavity and fundamental power coupler for full power, pulsed testing, is being procured. Equipment for cryomodule assembly and disassembly is being procured. This effort, while derived from the experience of the SRF community, will provide a unique high power test capability as well as long term maintenance capabilities. This paper presents the current status and the future plans for the SNS SRF facilities.
Remodeling of intrinsic cardiac neurons: effects of β-adrenergic receptor blockade in guinea pig models of chronic heart disease.

Chronic heart disease induces remodeling of cardiac tissue and associated neuronal components. Treatment of chronic heart disease often involves pharmacological blockade of adrenergic receptors. Th...
Body Area Networks for Ubiquitous Healthcare Applications: Opportunities and Challenges

Body Area Networks integrated into mHealth systems are becoming a mature technology with unprecedented opportunities for personalized health monitoring and management. Potential applications include early detection of abnormal conditions, supervised rehabilitation, and wellness management. Such integrated mHealth systems can provide patients with increased confidence and a better quality of life, and promote healthy behavior and health awareness. Automatic integration of collected information and user's inputs into research databases can provide medical community with opportunity to search for personalized trends and group patterns, allowing insights into disease evolution, the rehabilitation process, and the effects of drug therapy. A new generation of personalized monitoring systems will allow users to customize their systems and user interfaces and to interact with their social networks. With emergence of first commercial body area network systems, a number of system design issues are still to be resolved, such as seamless integration of information and ad-hoc interaction with ambient sensors and other networks, to enable their wider acceptance. In this paper we present state of technology, discuss promising new trends, opportunities and challenges of body area networks for ubiquitous health monitoring applications.
Observations of the effects of the beam-beam interaction on the orbits of stored beams in CESR

Luminosity in the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) depends critically on the degree of overlap of the counter-rotating beams at the interaction point (IP). However, due to the pretzel, this overlap is sensitive to changes in quadrupole and sextupole strengths. The beam-beam interaction (BBI) perturbs the closed orbits and depends on the transverse distance between the opposing beams as they pass each other. If a real time measurement of this small orbit change were possible, then this effect could be used to determine whether the bunches remain in collision while tuning CESR for high luminosity. Our purpose was to determine whether this would be possible with the present beam position detector system.
Microbial Colonization of the Hands of Residents

To determine whether carriage of resistant Gram-positive organisms by residents increases over time, the dominant hand of pediatric residents was cultured. Among first-year residents, 53 Gram-positive organisms were isolated; 12 were resistant to oxacillin, 13 to clindamycin. Six residents had organisms resistant to both; 14 carried at least one resistant to either. Among third-year residents, 46 Gram-positive organisms were cultured; 9 were resistant to oxacillin, 6 to clindamycin. Three residents carried organisms resistant to both; 10 carried at least one resistant to either. Colonization with resistant Gram-positive organisms did not increase with length of training.
Characterization of Biochars Using Advanced Solid-State 13 C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

In this chapter, we first briefly reviewed the knowledge of biochar chemical structures based on solid-state NMR. Then, the reason why the widely applied 13C cross polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) technique is inappropriate for biochar characterization was explained. Afterwards, advanced solid-state NMR techniques for the characterization of biochars were introduced. 13C direct polarization/magic angle spinning (DP/MAS) and DP/MAS with recoupled dipolar dephasing to quantify biochars are used to obtain quantitative aromaticity and nonprotonated aromatic fraction. The recoupled 1H13C dipolar dephasing technique is applied to distinguish different aromatic carbons in biochars. Combined with the data from 1H 13C recoupled long-range dipolar dephasing, the information on the fraction of aromatic edge carbons can be used to obtain the structural models of aromatic cluster sizes. Finally, a case study on a slow-pyrolysis biochar produced from switchgrass was demonstrated.
U.S. conflict-of-laws doctrine and forum shopping, domestic and international (revisited)

This article discusses Professor Friedrich Juenger’s contributions to the subject of conflict of laws and international forum shopping. The article describes Professor Juenger’s assessment of the effect of conflict-of-laws doctrine on domestic and international forum shopping and explains how his views are still true today. The article addresses how an adoption of a lex fori approach would affect forum-shopping incentives and whether national legislation would represent a solution to forum shopping and other problems
Long range and low powered RFID tags with tunnel diode

In this paper, we present a 5.8 GHz RFID tag equipped with a high gain, low power reflection amplifier based on a tunnel diode. Experimental results show that the realized prototype achieves gains above 40 dB and requires only 29 μW of biasing power. The tag detects very low RF signals (< −90 dBm) and provides read ranges up to 2 km. Long communication ranges and Manchester encoding are achieved by biasing on and off the tunnel diode.
Vision-Based Turning Movement Monitoring:Count, Speed & Waiting Time Estimation

Abstract-This work presents a vision-based vehicle tracking system designed for improved intersection behavior analysis. Motion-based tracking is paired with trajectory analysis methods for accurate turning movement counts of all legs of an intersection using a single camera. Additional behavior analysis methods are implemented to estimate both speed and waiting time at intersections. Improved count accuracy is obtained through cooperation between complementary counting modules and a path reconstruction module is integrated to reconnect broken tracks of the same stationary vehicles at intersections. Experimental results show around 15% improvement in counting accuracy and different behavior of right turns were observed by speed profile and waiting time estimation. Right turns are taken more slowly than other turns and vehicle waiting times are shorter at signalized intersections since they do not always need permission from the signal. We finally show that the waiting time of right turns are directly affected by opposing flows regardless of signal phase.
A low-cost water-treatment system for potable water supplies in developing countries and after a natural disaster: ability to remove total coliforms and E. coli

Providing potable water in developing countries and following a natural disaster is a challenge. Among the different low-cost water treatments, slow sand filtration (SSF) has been widely used; however, it is not clear whether SSF can also be used with an influent water having high bacterial loads (>105 MPN/100 mL). These high levels of bacteria in the feed water can be naturally present in developing countries or can occur as a result of sewage spills or after a natural disaster. Two SSF units and a point of use device, an in-line UV unit, were tested using feed water with high bacterial loads. The study confirmed that SSF can be effectively used to treat feed water with high bacterial loads. Approximately 60 % of the bacterial removal occurred in the top 5 cm of the SSF unit where a biolayer is found. Bacterial removal efficiency was related not only to the quality of the biolayer (i.e., whether it was completely or partially developed) but also to the SSF unit itself (i.e., age of unit). The ability of the biolayer to remove bacteria appears to be marginally impacted by the water used to develop the biolayer. During the restoration period that followed the addition of 20 % primary effluent to the feed water, higher bacterial removal occurred in the biolayer developed with stream water and 1 % primary effluent than in the biolayer developed with stream water alone. An in-line UV unit consistently removed total coliforms and Escherichia coli up to 105 MPN/100 mL from the effluent of a SSF unit.
The Limits of Inclusion: Queer Theology and its Others

In this article, I describe three problems found in some inclusive queer Christian theologies: a strong contrast between Christian queer inclusiveness and the exclusive other — a contrast that sometimes takes anti-Semitic form; ignoring what I term the affective life of binaries — the way symbol systems depend on associative relationships between multiple binaries, so that rendering one binary relationship fluid fails to destabilize the symbol system itself; and a presentist approach to origins that seeks legitimation for contemporary queer assumptions or for queer theology as such. I argue that the presence of any of these elements renders queer theology un-queer. By connecting inclusive queer theologies to debates over inclusion, livability and humanity in queer theory (particularly between Judith Butler and Lee Edelman), I conclude that the rhetorical posture of radical inclusion may have limited value for queer theology and suggest an alternative starting point grounded in a dictum from Marcella Altha...
A Hybrid Data Center Architecture for Big Data

In the past few years, Big Data analytics have changed the way computing services and resources are being used. New users are getting into the cloud services provided by data centers on a daily basis, and the number of applications hosted on the clouds is rapidly increasing. However, existing data center architectures cannot cope with the black-box nature of the cloud nor with Big Data analytics. Current data center networks using electrical packet switches have many disadvantages. Electrical links consume too much power to handle the increased bandwidth demanded by emerging applications. They are often not suitable for providing high bandwidth at low latency and have bottleneck issues. A promising solution involves adding optical interconnections to the infrastructure in data centers offering high throughput, low latency, and incredibly low energy consumption compared to the current data center networks based on commodity switches. In this work, we propose a hybrid electrical and optical networking architecture for data centers hosting Cloud Computing and Big Data applications. Furthermore, we analyze and compare application behaviors with current and proposed hybrid architectures. The results show that hybrid architecture provides a viable solution to data center issues and easily outperforms existing data center architectures. The results reflect that hybrid architecture reduces the delay by nearly 39% and decreases the cost of cooling systems from 49.57% to 27% of the total costs, while reducing the overall long-term costs of data centers.
Using ANOVA/random-effects variance estimates to compute a two-sample U-statistic of order (1,1) estimate of variance

ABSTRACTThe classical empirical, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) is a two-sample U-statistic of order (1,1). Its variance can be written out as a sum of three tractable covariances. It is then possible to consider each of these covariances as U-statistics themselves and follow the U-statistics formalism to derive their unbiased estimates. Over the years, alternative methods have been proposed to estimate the variance of AUC. For example, Delong et al. have proposed a straightforward estimate that has attractive asymptotic properties. At small sample sizes, however, the DeLong method will be biased. In the early stage of investigation, researchers don’t always have enough data; therefore, those asymptotic variance estimates such as DeLong’s can be unreliable. In this article we propose a two-way random effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) method to compute an unbiased variance estimate of a two-sample U-statistic of order (1,1) in general, and of the AUC in particular. We...
FIRST-IN-HUMAN SINGLE-ASCENDING-DOSE STUDY OF IW-1973, A NEW SOLUBLE GUANYLATE CYCLASE STIMULATOR

IW-1973 is an orally active soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator that reduces blood pressure (BP) and exhibits anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory and organ-protective effects in animal models of systemic hypertension, pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. A Phase 1a first-in-human clinical
Self-Reaction and Hydrothermolysis of Cyanamide (NH2CN) in H2O at High Pressure and Temperature

The kinetics and pathway of hydrothermolysis of cyanamide and dicyandiamide in fluid H2O at 175-300°C under 275 atm pressure are described by three experimental methods: blind batch reaction; Raman spectroscopy-observed batch reaction, and IR spectroscopy-observed flow reaction. The results illustrate not only merits of different techniques but the complexity of a seemingly simple reaction.
Abstract 264: ENC1, a BTB/Kelch protein, links DNA-damage signals to apoptosis by ubiquitination of retinoblastoma protein

ENC1 (ectodermal neuronal cortex 1) is a BTB/Kelch domain-containing protein, whose gene was originally identified in a p53-overexpressing cell line, and was later found to show abnormal expression in various tumor tissues. Here, we report that ENC1 is a new regulator that links DNA-damage signals to apoptosis. ENC1 is induced in different cancer cells by DNA-damage signals. The induced ENC1 protein then interacted with cullin-3 and retinoblastoma protein (Rb), forming an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex and ubiquitinating Rb protein. Upon ubiquitination, Rb protein failed to interact with E2F, allowing for transcriptional activation of E2F-dependent genes. Inhibition of ENC1 by RNA interference or by a dominant-negative mutant attenuated Rb ubiquitination, E2F-depedent gene activation, as well as apoptosis induced by DNA-damage signals. However, epitopic overexpression of ENC1 gene activated E2F-dependent genes, but failed to trigger apoptosis. Deletion and mutation analysis shows that a conserved motif located within Kelch domain at the C-terminus is essential for regulation of Rb function and apoptosis in response to DNA-damage signals. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 264. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-264
Stable Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphases for Lithium Batteries

A rechargeable lithium metal battery (LMB), which uses metallic lithium as the anode, is among the most promising technologies for next generation electrochemical energy storage devices due to its high energy density, particularly when Li is paired with energetic conversion cathodes such as sulfur, oxygen/air, and oxygen–carbon dioxide mixtures. Practical LMBs in any of these designs remain elusive due to multiple problems, including parasitic reactions of Li metal with liquid electrolytes, unstable/dendritic electrodeposition at the anode during cell recharge, and chemical reaction of dissolved cathode conversion products with the Li anode. The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed between lithium metal and liquid electrolytes plays a critical role in all of these processes. We report on the chemistry and interfacial properties of artificial SEI films created by in situ reaction of a strong Lewis acid AlI3, Li metal, and aprotic liquid electrolytes. The study takes advantage of the strong surface aff...
Designing an Ageless Social Community: Adapting a New Urbanist Social Core to Suit Baby Boomers in Later Life

ABSTRACTSince 90% of older adults prefer aging in place (Wang, Shepley, & Rodiek, 2012), it is important that neighborhood design supports successful aging. Beyond basic needs, research indicates quality interaction is associated with positive health and well-being benefits, particularly for older adults. In this, design supporting social relationships plays an essential role. This study's purpose was to identify New Urbanist neighborhood and social space design attributes supporting older residents' physiological and social needs. This case study used keyword-in-context analysis with focus group interview data to identify domains supporting social interaction for residents aging in place including: location factors, social factors, design factors, and programmatic factors.
Variational Data Assimilation Based on Derivative-Free Optimization

This study develops a hybrid ensemble-variational approach for solving data assimilation problems. The method, called TR-4D-EnKF, is based on a trust region framework and consists of three computational steps. First an ensemble of model runs is propagated forward in time and snapshots of the state are stored. Next, a sequence of basis vectors is built and a low-dimensional representation of the data assimilation system is obtained by projecting the model state onto the space spanned by the ensemble deviations from the mean. Finally, the low-dimensional optimization problem is solved in the reduced-space using a trust region approach; the size of the trust region is updated according to the relative decrease of the reduced order surrogate cost function. The analysis state is projected back onto the full space, and the process is repeated with the current analysis serving as a new background. A heuristic approach based on the trust region size is proposed in order to adjust the background error statistics from one iteration to the next. Experimental simulations are carried out using the Lorenz 96 model. The results show that TR-4D-EnKF is an efficient computational approach, and is more accurate than the current state of the art 4D-EnKF implementations such as the POD-4D-EnKF and the Iterative Subspace Minimization methods.
The Traumatic Coma Data Bank: Monitoring of ICP

Aggressive treatment of raised ICP following traumatic injury is considered essential for reduction of mortality and improvement of neurological outcome. Strong evidence in support of this concept has been provided by several investigators (Narayan et al. 1981, Miller et al. 1977, Saul and Ducker 1982). However, the complex and mutually interactive processes triggered by mechanical brain injury precludes a more exact determination of the direct influence of raised ICP upon outcome. The problem is further confounded by the lack of a defined set of ICP descriptors and a well defined treatment threshold which is universally acceptable. Moreover, age and injury severity (GCS), have been shown to be strong predictors of outcome (Choi et al. 1988) and the influence of these parameters places further demand on the numbers of patients required to clearly delineate the relationship of a single factor, such as ICP, upon outcome from severe head injury. As a result of the multifactorial nature of the problem, it is understandable that with limited study populations, some investigators show a close relationship of raised ICP to outcome while others question the emphasis placed on treatment of raised intracranial pressure (Smith et al. 1986, Stuart et al. 1983).The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of ICP to outcome (GOS) utilizing the Traumatic Coma Data Bank (TCDB) where ICP data from relatively large numbers of patients were considered adequate to address this important issue.