cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A pebble game for internet-based computing

Advances in technology have rendered the Internet a viable medium for employing multiple independent computers collaboratively in the solution of a single computational problem, leading to the new genre of collaborative computing that we term Internet-based computing (IC). Scheduling a computation for IC presents challenges that were not encountered with earlier modalities of collaborative computing, especially when the computation's constituent tasks have interdependencies that constrain their order of execution. This paper surveys an ongoing study of (an abstraction of) the scheduling problem for such computations for IC. The work employs a “pebble game on computation-dags,” that abstracts the process of allocating a computation's interdependent tasks to participating remote computers. The goal of a schedule, motivated by two related scheduling challenges, is to maximize the production rate of tasks that are eligible for execution. First, in many modalities of IC, remote computers become available at unpredictable times. Always having a maximal number of execution-eligible tasks enhances the utilization of available resources. Second, the fact that remote computers are often not dedicated to this IC computation, hence, may be more dilatory than anticipated, can lead to a type of “gridlock” that results when a computation stalls because (due to dependencies) all execution-eligible tasks are already allocated to remote computers. These motivating challenges raise the hope that the optimality results presented here within an abstract IC setting have the potential of improving efficiency and fault-tolerance in real IC settings.
Improvement in reliability of the token ring network by reversal of token in case of a single component failure

The inherent functional property of the unidirectional token movement in a token ring network, is modified in this paper and an algorithm is presented that enables the continuity of operation, in case of a single link component failure, thereby improving the system reliability of a basic conventional token ring network. This phase of operation is temporary until the maintenance restores the normal ring operation. Also the partition of network in case of multi-failure is proposed for single link token ring. The disadvantage of asymmetric time-wait is discussed at the end. >
(Abridged Version) Colonial Continuities: Human Rights, Terrorism, and Security Laws in India

This article is an abridged report examining India's ongoing effort to reconcile its post-independence commitment to democracy, fundamental rights, and the rule of law with the inherited institutions of colonialism, focusing on several antiterrorism laws enacted during the past twenty-five years. The article arises from a human rights project conducted by several members of the Committee on International Human Rights of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and was authored by Anil Kalhan, chair of the Association's India Project and Visiting Assistant Professor at Fordham Law School. The other project participants, who met with Indian lawyers, government officials, and others in 2004 and 2005, were Gerald P. Conroy, Deputy Commissioner in the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District, Mamta Kaushal, coordinator of the visit and then-associate in the law firm of Wachtel & Masyr, LLP, Sam Scott Miller, partner in the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Readers seeking greater detail and more complete citations should refer to the unabridged version, which is also available on SSRN. See Anil Kalhan, et al., Colonial Continuities: Human Rights, Terrorism, and Security Laws in India, 20 Colum. J. Asian L. 93 (2006), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=970503. The author of both versions is Anil Kalhan.
Operational Support of Regional Cabled Observatories The MARS Facility

Service and maintenance of a multiuser cabled ocean observatory like the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS), will require interesting new capabilities and innovative solutions. This paper will describe some of the new equipment and techniques currently being developed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The MARS facility will be supported by MBARI's Marine Operations Division and Support Engineering Group. To maximize success, not only for the science user but also for the facility itself, MBARI will make considerable resources available to the user based on the experiment being conducted and the level of support requested. Local assets include three MBARI-owned vessels, each with different capacities, two ROV systems capable of working in and around the MARS Node, laboratory facilities for testing and assembly of user packages, ten meter deep sea water test tank facilities for testing interfaces with user equipment, and access to engineering and technical resources. In addition to the MBARI assets, UNOLS vessels can be used to provide support for deployment and recovery of science equipment. MBARI has developed a number of tools and methods that work with existing assets, as well as with other public resources available to science users. Some of the initial MARS tasks required are: 1) Launch and recovery of the main electronics/electrical package for maintenance, upgrade, and repair. This is considered a heavy lift task by ROV standards. 2) Once a package is in place, test the science port(s) for conformance to contract obligations regarding power and communications. 3) Deploy and service many different types and styles of science user equipment with techniques based on size and weight of packages. 4) Interconnect science packages to the distribution node from remote locations using several cabling techniques based on power requirements and distance. As MBARI embarks on the MARS facility project, these key tasks are fundamental to establishing operational support for the project
Design of CMOS for 60GHz applications

The viability of digital CMOS as a future mm-wave technology, capable of exploiting the 60GHz band, is explored. Optimal device design and appropriate mm-wave models are presented. From modeling of transistors in 0.13/spl mu/m technology a three cascode-stage amplifier at 1.5 volts would provide 11 dB of gain at 60GHz using 54mW.
Response of Intracellular Proteolysis to Alteration of Bacterial Protein and the Implications in Metabolic Regulation

An assessment has been made of the extent to which the breakdown of microbial cellular proteins is regulated by their metabolic state or function. For this purpose, a number of agents and conditions that alter the synthesis, structure, or utility of cellular protein were examined for the effect on their lability. In Escherichia coli, 5-fluorouracil, p-fluorophenylalanine, norleucine, canavanine, thienylalanine, and puromycin, which engender nonfunctional cellular protein en masse, and ultraviolet irradiation increase the breakdown rate of proteins synthesized in their presence as much as two- to threefold without altering the general capacity for proteolysis. The effects are complicated by, but experimentally distinguishable from, secondary changes in proteolysis that accompany growth inhibition. In contrast, no potentiation of proteolysis is elicited by the presence of suppressor genes, by the administration of heat, or by the biosynthetic alterations attending large changes in the conditions of cultivation or by those attending bacteriophage infection. Thus, although mass perturbations in protein conformation are catabolically distinguishable, the more individual and limited conformational modifications that might occur in disuse do not appear to be the primary determinants of the protein turnover rate. In Bacillus subtilis, turnover synthesis of protein during starvation is as susceptible to treatment with actinomycin D as that during growth. Treatment alters neither the rate of intracellular proteolysis nor the catabolic pattern of the modicum of proteins that are still synthesized. It is concluded that there is no correlation between metabolic stability of protein and the stability of its messenger ribonucleic acid.
Parallel graph-reduction with a shared memory multiprocessor system

A tightly coupled multiprocessor system where each processor has direct access to a shared memory is studied. The system used for the experiments has only eight processors, but it supports the concurrent fetch and add operation, which is used extensively in the graph-reducer. A parallel graph-reduction technique is developed for such a system, and the measurement of its performance is made via some benchmark programs. As a byproduct, a new on-the-fly garbage collector which combines two different collection techniques has been developed. A new read-only graph-traversal technique for any number of concurrent processes independently traversing a shared graph has also been developed. >
One-flux analysis of current blocking in double heterostructure bipolar transistors with composite collectors

We use the flux method of McKelvey, Longini, and Brody [Physical Review 123, 51 (1961)] to analyze current blocking in double heterostructure bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with composite collectors (CC). We include the effects of electron accumulation in the spacer layer in the collector, and show that this accumulation has severe effects at higher currents, imposing an intrinsic limit on the simplest CC design. We compare the results from the flux method with drift-diffusion simulations and measurements on InP/InGaAs/InP CC-DHBTs.
Temperature measurement at flip chip solder joint during electromigration test

Measuring the real temperature of a flip chip solder joint during an electromigration test has been a problem because of its small size and the local Joule heating due to a large applied current. A unique method that employs the electrical resistance change in the junction line between two solder joints was introduced to determine the temperature of the solder joint. The change in resistance was converted into temperature using a thermal coefficient of resistance of the junction line. The method accurately measured temperatures of the solder joint within 2 K until the solder joint resistance change ratio reached 100% due to growth of an electromigration void.
Fuzzy inference guided cellular automata urban-growth modelling using multi-temporal satellite images

This paper presents a fuzzy inference guided cellular automata approach. Semantic or linguistic knowledge on urban development is expressed as fuzzy rules, based on which fuzzy inference is applied to determine the urban development potential for each pixel. A defuzzification process converts the development potential to the required neighbourhood development level, which is taken by cellular automata as initial approximation for its transition rules. Such approximations are updated through spatial calibration over townships and temporal calibration with multi-temporal satellite images. Assessment of the modelling results is based on three evaluation measures: fitness and Type I and Type II errors. The approach is applied to model the growth of the city of Indianapolis, Indiana over a period of 30 years from 1973 to 2003. A fitness level of 100 ±20% with 30% average errors can be achieved for 80% of the townships in urban-growth prediction.
The form of the psychophysical function near threshold

Psychophysical functions typically depart from a simple power law in the vicinity of the absolute threshold. Five versions of the psychophysical power law have been proposed to describe the function near threshold. An account is given of some of the difficulties encountered in attempts to decide among the various versions by means of empirical tests.
The Impact of Demographic Variables on Professor’s Perceptions of Post-secondary Health Education Curricula

The focus of this study was to examine the differences in health educators’ attitudes regarding the effectiveness of the current health education curriculum at predominately White institutions and minority-serving institutions. More specifically, the researchers were concerned with the influence of the variables age, ethnicity, gender, years of teaching experience, and institution type on the attitudes of health educators regarding the health curriculum at colleges, universities, and junior/community colleges in the southern region of Texas. The researchers formulated and tested 11 null hypotheses in this study. Each served to determine whether there was significant statistical difference in health educators’ attitudes. Part I of the Fisher Health Education Curriculum Attitude Survey, developed by the lead researcher, represents demographic information data that were used to obtain background information about the respondents (see Appendix 1). Part II of the Fisher Health Education Survey was used to determine health educators’ attitudes regarding the health education curriculum as it relates to students’ social and emotional needs (see Appendix 2). The researchers established content validity for the instrument as well as reliability. A population sample of 214 health educators who were randomly selected from 2-year and 4-year institutions were invited to participate in the survey. A total of 168 participants returned the surveys, which yielded a completion rate of 79 %.
Theorizing the Relationship Between HIV/AIDS, Biomedicine, and Culture Using an Urban Indian Setting as a Case Study

The biomedical model serves as a grand narrative shaping the dominant discourse on health and illness. The goal of this study is to understand how lay people living with HIV understand meanings of health and how the biomedical narrative enters their subjective interpretations. Findings were derived from in-depth interviews with HIV+ people in India, who had access to modern medicine. While deviations from the biomedical model were found, for the most part, participants reinforced dominant understandings; they were preoccupied with controlling risk, yet struggled to make sense of contradictions between scientific fact and personal experience. The anthropological concept of the ‘‘work of culture’’ is used to understand the loss of alternative cultural frames and the implications of this loss. The past few decades have seen numerous studies examining the experiences and perceptions of people living with HIV/AIDS across different cultures—in particular, those in the non-Western world—with a view toward understanding the various ways in which people make sense of the disease. Nzioka (1996), for example, collected ethnographic data from 29 heterosexual HIV positive patients at treatment clinics in Nairobi to examine how risk is socially constructed against a backdrop of cultural beliefs and how such perceptions inform lay experiences of sex. Findings showed that participants understood HIV/AIDS as a ‘‘normal’’ illness resulting from blood mixtures, which could be cured through decontamination rituals. They also believed that the risk of HIV infection increased with the number of times one had sexual intercourse and the amount of seminal fluid exchanged and that reversing sexual positions may prevent against infection. The author concluded that while people were often misinformed about the cause of the disease, their perceptions were congruous with medical science. In another example, Shefer et al. (2002) conducted focus groups with South African communities; they found that much of the discourse centered on alternative prevention and intervention strategies for sexually transmitted infections
Studies of the thermal decomposition and catalytic properties of some platinum and palladium ammine zeolites

Abstract The stoichiometry, temperature dependence, and the effect of atmosphere for the thermal decomposition of Pt and Pd ammine complexes exchanged into zeolite Y were investigated by thermogravimetry. It was found that (a) the maximum rate of reduction of Pt and Pd ammine Y occurred at 300 and 250 °C, respectively; (b) decomposition of Pt ammine Y in air leads to formation of Pt metal—air is essentially an inert medium, although the oxidation of evolved NH 3 is catalyzed by Pt; Pd is only partially reduced to metal when Pd ammine Y is decomposed in air; (c) decomposition in H 2 effects reduction at much lower temperatures; (d) acid sites in the zeolite are always generated stoichiometrically by the decomposition of Pt and Pd ammines, whether in hydrogen, helium, or air. The maximum rate of reduction of Pt ammine Y at 300 °C correlates with reported maxima in dehydrogenation activity and Pt dispersion. In this study, the 300 °C calcined catalysts showed maximum n -hexane dehydrocyclization activity and selectivity as well as cyclohexane dehydrogenation.
Critical role for TARPs in early development despite broad functional redundancy

Transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs), including γ-2, γ-3, γ-4, and γ-8, are auxiliary subunits for AMPA receptors. Based on studies in single knockout mice, it has been suggested that nearly all native AMPA receptors are associated with TARPs. To study the interplay between TARP family members and AMPA receptors in vivo, we generated mice lacking multiple TARPs. Triple knockout mice lacking γ-3, γ-4, and γ-8 are viable and fertile, and synaptic AMPA receptor activity is reduced to a level comparable to that seen in γ-8 single knockout mice. In contrast, triple knockout mice lacking γ-2, γ-3, and either γ-4 or γ-8 cannot survive ex utero. In particular, γ-2, γ-3, γ-4 triple knockout mice are born apneic and paralyzed, despite normal AMPA receptor function in cortical and spinal neurons. We found that γ-8 is expressed at low levels in early postnatal mice and regulates AMPA receptor levels at this developmental time period. Thus, the early expression of γ-8 may be responsible for maintaining AMPA receptor functions in neonatal neurons. Together, our data indicate that TARPs, in particular γ-2, are essential for early development, and that most neurons express multiple members of this functionally redundant protein family.
Simultaneous open-path detection of atmospheric N2O and CO

A novel compact quantum cascade laser (QCL) based open-path gas sensor has been developed for simultaneous detection of atmospheric N2O and CO. The sensor achieves a sensitivity of 0.26 ppbv of N2O and 0.24 ppbv of CO with 1 Hz sample rate.
Equivalent characterizations of zeros in multivariable systems

In this paper we present three equivalent characterizations of what can be termed the zeros of a multivariable system. By establishing this equivalence a connection is made between several large bodies of literature on multivariable system problems. In particular, a polynomial which has arisen quite often in recent work on input isolation, decoupling, model matching, etc. is shown to be identical with a numerator polynomial of the Smith McMillan form of a system transfer function matrix. No proofs are presented here but they can be found in a more inclusive paper being submitted for publication [1].
Relationship of senescence of cerebrospinal fluid circulatory system to dementias of the aged

Summary In common with other organ systems, the cerebrospinal fluid circulatory system is subject to senescence. Cerebrospinal fluid production and turnover rates decline. The choroid plexus calcifies and its blood supply falters. Microvascular disease violates the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. The arachnoid membranes thicken. Arachnoid villi occlude and degenerate. The consequent functional losses are exacerbated by the deterioration of other interacting organ systems. Eventually, the cerebrospinal fluid circulatory system may fail, resulting in stagnation, contamination, compositional deficiencies, and impaired clearance of noxious substances. The hypothesis is that senescence of the cerebrospinal fluid circulatory system plays a part in some dementias of the aged.
Receptivity of Goertler vortices in hypersonic boundary layers

Gortler vortices appear in boundary layer flow along the concave surfaces due to the imbalance between pressure and centrifugal force. Many practical engineering designs involve concave surfaces such as engine inlet. In hypersonic boundary layers, there exist higher harmonic boundary layer modes (second, third mode etc.) as well as the first mode. If the flow is associated with the concave surfaces, Gortler mode also exists. Finding the most dominant instability mode in boundary layer flows is one of the fundamental problems in fluid mechanics. Forcing disturbances initially enter the boundary layers and generate instability waves which is called receptivity. Receptivity to free stream disturbances introduces random disturbances into the boundary layers, and the most dominant instability mode develops. It helps to find the most dangerous instability wave in boundary layers. In this paper, receptivity of Gortler and other instability waves in hypersonic boundary layers are investigated using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). Forcing disturbances are introduced into the hypersonic boundary layers by receptivity to free stream disturbances and blowing and suction. Random disturbances introduced by freestream acoustic and vorticity waves and blowing and suction develops Gortler kinds instability waves inside hypersonic boundary layers in concave region.
A multi-objective optimization tool for the selection and placement of BMPs for pesticide control

Abstract. Pesticides (particularly atrazine used in corn fields) are the foremost source of water contamination in many of the water bodies in Midwestern corn belt, exceeding the 3 ppb MCL established by the U.S. EPA for drinking water. Best management practices (BMPs), such as buffer strips and land management practices, have been proven to effectively reduce the pesticide pollution loads from agricultural areas. However, selection and placement of BMPs in watersheds to achieve an ecologically effective and economically feasible solution is a daunting task. BMP placement decisions under such complex conditions require a multi-objective optimization algorithm that would search for the best possible solution that satisfies the given watershed management objectives. Genetic algorithms (GA) have been the most popular optimization algorithms for the BMP selection and placement problem. Most optimization models also had a dynamic linkage with the water quality model, which increased the computation time considerably thus restricting them to apply models on field scale or relatively smaller (11 or 14 digit HUC) watersheds. However, most previous works have considered the two objectives individually during the optimization process by introducing a constraint on the other objective, therefore decreasing the degree of freedom to find the solution. In this study, the optimization for atrazine reduction is performed by considering the two objectives simultaneously using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). The limitation with the dynamic linkage with a distributed parameter watershed model was overcome through the utilization of a BMP tool, a database that stores the pollution reduction and cost information of different BMPs under consideration. The model was used for the selection and placement of BMPs in Wildcat Creek Watershed (located in Indiana, for atrazine reduction. The most ecologically effective solution from the model had an annual atrazine concentration reduction of 30%, from the baseline with a BMP implementation cost of $18 million. The pareto-optimal fronts generated between the two optimized objective functions can be used to achieve desired water quality goals with minimum BMP implementation cost for the watershed.
Effectiveness of a Videotaped Behavioral Intervention for Dental Anxiety: The Role of Gender and the Need for Information

Abstract The authors evaluated the effectiveness of a videotaped behavioral treatment program in reducing dental anxiety. They compared patients who witnessed the intervention videotape with patients who saw a placebo program and with a no-treatment control group. The subjects were 66 patients who visited a dentistry clinic for prophylaxis and general dental treatment. Groups were balanced for gender and level of preference for information as measured by the Krantz Health Opinion Survey—Information subscale. Self-report, physiological, and observed behavioral measures were assessed at specified times. Results demonstrated significant Group X Gender interaction effects during the different assessment periods, with men responding best to the treatment videotape, whereas women responded best to the placebo videotape. The level of information preference was found to a be a significant contributing factor at certain assessment periods. Overall, these results suggest that preparatory videotaped interventions ar...
Mechanical effects of biogenic nitrogen gas bubbles in soils

The fluid bulk stiffness of a soil is very sensitive to the presence of gas, and a small volume of bubbles can significantly affect the pore pressure response to loading, including Skempton’s B parameter, P-wave velocity, and liquefaction resistance. Biologically mediated processes can lead to the production of gases in soils; nitrogen is particularly advantageous because it is not a greenhouse gas, it is not combustible, and it has low solubility in water. Sands, silts, and clayey sands inoculated with Paracoccus denitrificans were monitored to assess the effects of nutrient availability, fines content, and pressure-diffusion on the evolution of nitrogen gas generation and bulk stiffness. Results show clear evidence of biogas bubble formation, earlier gas generation and entrapment in specimens with higher fines content, and a strong correlation between biogas volume and P-wave velocity. The volume of gas is correlated with specific surface, suggesting that biogas bubble formation develops as heterogeneou...
On the critical conditions of kink band formation in fiber composites with ductile matrix

Fiber reinforced composites are used in an increasing number of structural applications, this due to their higher strength and stiffness to weight ratios as compared to monolithic structural materials. However, whereas fiber reinforced composites have high tensile strengths along the fiber directions, only about 50--60% of their tensile strengths can be achieved under compression. It is, therefore, important to understand the failure/damage modes under compressive loading. The failure modes for unidirectional fiber composites under compressive loading display four mechanisms (Jelf and Fleck): (1) fiber buckling with elastic matrix deformation; (2) fiber crushing by yielding of the fiber or fiber splitting; (3) failure of the matrix; and (4) kink band formation. Among the four failure modes, kink band formation is believed to be the more important failure mode for modern structural composite materials, especially for those with ductile matrices.
Optical coherence tomography findings in nicotinic acid maculopathy.

Abstract Purpose To report optical coherence tomography findings in nicotinic acid maculopathy. Design Observational case report. Methods The patient was examined with ophthalmoscopy, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography. Results A 71-year-old man presented with bilateral decreased visual acuity with metamorphopsia. Optical coherence tomography demonstrated cystoid spaces in the outer plexiform layer and inner nuclear layer. Fluorescein angiography did not show leakage. Two weeks after stopping the nicotinic acid, the cystoid spaces resolved. Conclusions Niacin maculopathy causes cystoid spaces in the inner nuclear and outer plexiform layers that resolve with discontinuation of the drug.
Optimal design of regulators

Abstract In this paper we present a simplified algorithm for designing an optimal controller. Plant transfer function G p (s) is given by G p (s) = N p (s) D p (s) = ∑ i=0 m b i+1 s i S n + ∑ j=0 n−1 a j+1 s i where a j and b i are constants. Performance functional I is selected as I = 1 2 ∫ 0 ∞ ∑ i=1 n α i χ i 2 + ∑ j=1 m+1 β j μ j 2 dt where x i = d i−1 dt i−1 x , u j = d j−1 dt j−1 u, x is the controlled variable, and u is the control. Coefficients α i and β i are positive contants. The algorithm states that the closed loop characteristic equation of the system is Δ 1 ( s ) = 0, where Δ 1 (S) Δ 1 (− s ) = [ D p (s)D p (−s) ] ∑ j=1 m+1 β j (−s) j−1 (s) j−1 +[ N p (s)N p (−s) ] ∑ i=1 n α i (−s) i−1 (s) i−1 As a practical example, a three-mode controller is discussed in detail. The coefficients k 0 , k 1 and k 2 of the three-mode controller with transfer function G c (s) = k 0 s + k 1 + k 2 s are selected optimally.
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided transduodenal placement of a fully covered metal stent for palliative biliary drainage in patients with malignant biliary obstruction.

Background Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided biliary drainage (EUSBD) has been described as a viable alternative to percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) in patients in whom ERCP has been unsuccessful. The purpose of our study was to assess the utility of EUSBD using a newly released, fully covered, self-expanding, biliary metal stent (SEMS) for palliation in patients with an obstructing malignant biliary stricture.
Lake Erie Nutrient Loads, 1970–1980

The Buffalo District, Corps of Engineers’ Lake Erie Wastewater Management Study and Heidelberg College's Water Quality Laboratory supported a tributary water quality monitoring program from 1974 to 1980 of the major United States tributaries to Lake Erie. This program was designed to measure nutrient loads by monitoring concentration changes occurring in association with increased streamflow. Soluble orthophosphate loads, chloride loads, and silica loads decreased from 1970 to 1980. Nitrogen species were highly variable and increased over the period. Total phosphorus loads to Lake Erie have decreased during the period as a result of phosphorus removal at wastewater treatment plants. The effect of the phosphorus reductions can be seen in the lake concentrations and were predicted by a three-basin phosphorus budget model developed in the early 1970s. The results show that phosphorus removal programs are having the predicted effect on Lake Erie water quality.
Computed speckle decorrelation (CSD) for the study of fatigue damage

Abstract A video-based laser speckle technique has been developed for noncontact analysis of fatigue in situ and at speeds approaching video frame rates. This technique, computed speckle decorrelation (CSD), makes use of the speckle decorrelation associated with surface deformation. It is a method of full field inspection which both locates fatigue damage sites and measures damage severity. In its current application, CSD has been used to study the fatigue deformation progression in reverse bending fatigue of a cylindrically notched aluminum specimen. However, film based studies have shown the usefulness of laser speckle decorrelation to analyze fatigue deformation of thick graphite/epoxy composite materials as well. With the development of the CSD method it will now be possible to examine in greater detail the progression of fatigue damage in these materials, allowing a much faster and more quantitative analysis than was previously available.
Intermodulation and Harmonic Distortion in Frequency Reconfigurable Slot Antenna Pairs

Due to the nonlinear nature of solid state devices, reconfigurable antennas with PIN diodes are capable of producing spurious frequency products through intermodulation and harmonic generation. These undesirable signals might act as an interference source to other electronic systems. In this paper, we investigate intermodulation and harmonic generation in frequency reconfigurable MIMO slot antennas. Our study has shown that intermodulation is more pronounced in the transmitting scenario than the receiving case. It is also found that an “off” diode needs to be appropriately reverse biased to avoid RF leakage and harmonic generation when the RF power is high. In addition, the effect of mutual coupling on intermodulation and harmonic generation has been studied experimentally. Our results show that the level of intermodulation could be lowered by reducing the mutual coupling between the antenna ports. Lastly, we demonstrate that a particular spurious frequency product may be suppressed by inserting harmonic traps at the antenna level.
Transient and frequency response of the distributed RGC network

The distributed RGC network differs from the conventional distributed RC network in that its shunt capacitance is leaky; i.e. the dielectric layer used to realise the distributed capacitance is lossy. It is shown that the transient and frequency response of the distributed RGC network are superior to those of the distributed RC network. The price to be paid for this improved response is a sacrifice in the output level; this can be compensated to some extent by tapering the network, which also results in a further improvement in the transient and frequency response.
Endometrioid-like Variant of Ovarian Yolk Sac Tumor with Foci of Carcinoid: An Ultrastructural Study

The endometrioid-like variant of ovarian yolk sac tumor is a rare neoplasm composed partially or completely of glandular tissue resembling endometrioid carcinoma, but identifiable histologically and immunohistochemically as an extraembryonic endodermally differentiated germ cell tumor. Only nine examples of this neoplasm have been published previously, and none was studied by electron microscopy. One of these rare neoplasms, the first documented to have foci of carcinoid, has recently been observed and studied ultrastructurally. Electron microscopic observations showed that the main component of the neoplasm had glandular epithelial cells with nuclear and cytoplasmic features difficult to distinguish from the cells of Mullerian endometrioid and endometrial adenocarcinoma, but a minor component of mucinous adenocarcinoma was confirmed as intestinal by the epithelial cells having characteristic microvilli with filamentous cores and rootlets. In addition, neuroendocrine cells present in the glands and in nests were readily identified ultrastructurally by their dense-core granules. Electron microscopy may be useful in supplementing light microscopic and immunohistochemical examination of this variant of yolk sac tumor.
Wave-induced dynamic response and instability of seabed around caisson breakwater

Abstract In this study, standing wave-induced dynamic response and instability of seabed around a caisson breakwater are investigated. A seabed-rubble-caisson breakwater system is modeled using finite elements. The dynamic response of the porous seabed-rubble foundation is assumed to be governed by the Biot’s equations of coupled flow and deformation. Three possible formulations (fully dynamic, partly dynamic and quasi-static) are considered with respect to the inclusion of inertial terms associated with the motion of fluid and solids. The response is presented in terms of stress and pore pressure distributions at three locations underneath the breakwater. The instability of seabed and rubble mound due to instantaneous liquefaction is also studied. The effects of seabed and wave parameters and the effect of inertial terms on the standing wave-induced dynamic response and instability of the system are investigated through a set of parametric studies. Analyses show that quasi-static and partly dynamic formulations yield similar results while the fully dynamic formulation provides different response. The results from different formulations suggest the use of all inertial terms (fully dynamic formulation), providing the most complete solution and the least conservative response.
An Evidence-based Practice for the Treatment of Lateral Medullary Syndrome

This case report describes occupational therapy interventions focussed on improving the activities of daily living performance of a 73-year-old male recovering from Wallenberg syndrome, which resulted from a lateral medullary infarction. Historically, one of the most widely used approaches to physical rehabilitation in neurological populations has been the reflex-hierarchical theories, which are not supported in the literature as being effective for improving functional performance. Therefore, a contemporary task-oriented approach was used as a theoretical base for this case report. The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework was used to structure the occupational therapy evaluation, intervention, and outcome of this case.
The rural to urban nutritional gradient: application and interpretation in a developing nation and urban situation.

Abstract It has been hypothesized that rural malnutrition forces migration to cities within the developing world. This suggests that nutritional standards among rural populations, in such situations, must be lower than those in urban areas. In order to test this supposition, a random sample of 265 preschool children was drawn from rural and urban population segments in the Kingdom of Tonga, identified through economic criteria as a developing nation. Comparisons of physical growth and development between rural and urban children based upon anthropometric measurements (i.e. height, weight, arm skinfold and circumference) and hair root examinations conclusively showed rural children to be superior in their physical state. In light of this evidence the validity of the above hypothesis was not proven in the specific case of the Kingdom of Tonga, though the country was preceived as a developing nation and one in which urbanization is progressing rapidly. Additional certrifugal and centripetal factors of the rural to urban migration pattern which supersede any considerations of food availability or quality, were noted through home and village surveys. These were: 1. 1. Increasing purchasing power among the rural population. 2. 2. Increasing population pressure in rural areas. 3. 3. Increased social status gained in urban living. Therefore, the Tongan case study concluded nutritional considerations are not instrumental in increased urbanization in all developing national situations. Nutritional and medical social scientists must continue to seek alternate explanations while remaining conscious of the entire spectre of human and environmental possibilities.
A Classification System to Evaluate Weight Maintainers, Gainers, and Losers

Abstract Objectives To study natural weight changes and to develop a weight classification system that can identify weight maintainers, gainers, and losers. Design/outcome A prospective, observational study in which weight changes over five annual measurements were evaluated. In the weight classification system used, changes greater than 5lb defined weight maintenance, gain, or loss. Subjects/settings Subjects were healthy, normal-weight and overweight, men and women (mean age=44.1+14.1 years) in the Relationships of Energy, Nutrition, and Obesity to Cardiovascular Disease Risk Study. Prospective data for 385 of the original 508 subjects for whom actual weights were available for each of the 5 years (1985 to 1990) were used to classify and characterize subjects by weight-change categories. Statistical analyses Cross-tabulations (with χ 2 tests) and hierarchical log-linear analyses (with partial χ 2 tests) to examine the relationships of categorical variables; analyses of variance (with F tests) for continuous measures. Results Over the 4-year interval, 46% of subjects were classified as maintainers, 34% as gainers, and 20% as losers. Over shorter 1-year epochs, more subjects were maintainers (62%) and fewer subjects were gainers (22%) or losers (16%). Maintainers had fewer and smaller magnitudes of weight fluctuations and showed fewer deleterious changes in health risk factors than gainers. Applications Weight changes of greater than ±5lb can classify a person as a weight maintainer, gainer, or loser. Although annual weight changes were used in this study, a weight change of more than 5lb between any two points in time may suggest nonmaintenance of weight or weight instability that needs further evaluation.
Storm time production of ring current ions: Variations in particle energization and injection with ionospheric source region

[1] Using single-particle tracking with time-dependent global magnetic and electric fields from multifluid simulations, we model the 10 March 1998 storm and investigate storm time acceleration, injection, and trapping mechanisms associated with the formation of the ring current. We examine the contribution from various ionospheric source regions to the storm time ring current and the effect interplanetary magnetic field Bz has on producing an asymmetric and symmetric ring current; we provide the first maps for the relative importance of ionospheric outflow (H+ and O+) regions as a function of all magnetic local times (MLTs) and latitudes between 60° and 80°. During the early part of the storm, high-latitude outflow regions between 00 and 06 MLT are the most efficient sectors at contributing particle density to the ring current, whereas during the main phase of the storm, there is more even contribution from all MLTs. The sectors that contribute the majority of the energy are consistently the high-latitude regions between 03 and 09 MLT. An increase in the contribution of O+ to the current density is observed from the predawn high-latitude region during each of two decreases in Dst examined for the 10 March 1998 storm, supporting the central role oxygen plays in storm development. Asymmetries are observed between H+ and O+ contributions. The dominant ionospheric species contributing to the ring current energy density is shown to vary during the course of the storm with a significant increase in ionospheric O+ contribution to the ring current associated with large decreases in Dst.
PBPK modeling advances understanding of D4 pharmacokinetics.

The article highlighted in this issue is Physiological Modeling of Inhalation Kinetics of Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane in Humans during Rest and Exercise, by Micaela B. Reddy, Melvin E. Andersen, Paul E. Morrow, Ivan D. Dobrev, Sudarsanan Varaprath, Kathleen P. Plotzke, and Mark J. Utell (pp. 43-56).
UAV following of ground vehicles for airport security

Presents a collection of slides covering the following topics: ground vehicles UAV following; airport security; cloud computing; ground mobile robots UAV tracking; airborne surveillance.
A general design algorithm for low optical loss adiabatic connections in waveguides

Single-mode waveguide designs frequently support higher order transverse modes, usually as a consequence of process limitations such as lithography. In these systems, it is important to minimize coupling to higher-order modes so that the system nonetheless behaves single mode. We propose a variational approach to design adiabatic waveguide connections with minimal intermodal coupling. An application of this algorithm in designing the “S-bend” of a whispering-gallery spiral waveguide is demonstrated with approximately 0.05dB insertion loss. Compared to other approaches, our algorithm requires less fabrication resolution and is able to minimize the transition loss over a broadband spectrum. The method can be applied to a wide range of turns and connections and has the advantage of handling connections with arbitrary boundary conditions.
PNEUMATOLOGICAL RELATIONS AND CHRISTIAN DISUNITY IN THEOLOGY‐SCIENCE DIALOGUE

. Ecclesial divisions shape and distort the developing interdisciplinary dialogue between Christian theology and the natural and social sciences in ways that can be better understood by focusing on pneumatology, specifically on the variety of ways in which by grace we relate to the Holy Spirit—as giver of life, as Lord, as powerful anointing, as God's gift of wisdom, and as wellspring from Jesus Christ. Each denominational camp of Christians has centered its appreciation of the Holy Spirit on one of these relationships, sometimes to the neglect or marginalization of others. This appreciation drives the favoring of some scientific disciplines and suspicion of others. For instance, Pentecostals and charismatics emphasize the Spirit upon us, speaking through the prophets. This tends to privilege personal narrative and testimony. The closest cognate science is cultural anthropology. Issues of social construction of reality, cultural imperialism and relativism, and narrative history dominate consideration of science's theological possibilities and pitfalls in ways distinctive to that pneumatological camp. Engagement and disengagement with other disciplines of learning are driven in part by our theological loyalties and antipathies to unreconciled bodies. Hence a fuller engagement with the sciences becomes an ecumenical task, not just a generically Christian or specifically Pentecostal or Wesleyan one.
Thermoelectric size effect in noble metals

The difference between the thermoelectric power of thin foils ranging in size from 2.54\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ to 1.52\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ mm and a 0.254-mm wire of gold, copper, and silver was measured as a function of temperature from 4.2 to 333\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The electrical resistance of the wire and the foils was measured at 4.2, 77.3, and 296\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. From the high-temperature results values were obtained for ${[\frac{\ensuremath{\partial}\mathrm{ln}l(\ensuremath{\epsilon})}{\ensuremath{\partial}\mathrm{ln}\ensuremath{\epsilon}}]}_{{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{F}}$ and ${[\frac{\ensuremath{\partial}\mathrm{ln}A(\ensuremath{\epsilon})}{\mathrm{ln}\ensuremath{\epsilon}}]}_{{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{F}}$ of - 0.58 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 0.08 and - 1.00\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08 for gold, -0.34\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.11 and -1.20\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.11 for copper, and +0.86\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.09 and -1.91\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.09 for silver, respectively. Analysis of the low-temperature results suggest that the thermoelectric size effect can be used to determine subparts per million concentrations of magnetic impurities in the noble metals.
Sampling Distributions of Segregation Indexes

This article examines the sampling distributions of popular indexes of segregation: the dissimilarity index and the Gini index. Although applications of segregation indexes are common in the social sciences, researchers have usually failed to recognize their stochastic nature. This study addresses that failure by deriving the exact sampling distribution of two popular indexes of segregation and developing a convenient asymptotic test for hypotheses about changes in segregation. Monte Carlo simulations show that the proposed test has appropriate significance levels. An example applies the methods developed in this article to test whether segregation of men and women across college majors decreased during the 1980s. The analysis finds that gender segregation has decreased, and that the decrease is statistically significant.
Mechanisms of Radiation Toxicity in Transformed and Non-Transformed Cells

Radiation damage to biological systems is determined by the type of radiation, the total dosage of exposure, the dose rate, and the region of the body exposed. Three modes of cell death—necrosis, apoptosis, and autophagy—as well as accelerated senescence have been demonstrated to occur in vitro and in vivo in response to radiation in cancer cells as well as in normal cells. The basis for cellular selection for each mode depends on various factors including the specific cell type involved, the dose of radiation absorbed by the cell, and whether it is proliferating and/or transformed. Here we review the signaling mechanisms activated by radiation for the induction of toxicity in transformed and normal cells. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of radiation toxicity is critical for the development of radiation countermeasures as well as for the improvement of clinical radiation in cancer treatment.