cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mask substrate requirements and development for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL)

The mask is deemed one of the areas that require significant research and development in EUVL. Silicon wafers will be used for mask substrates for an alpha-class EUVL exposure tool due to their low-defect levels and high quality surface finish. However, silicon has a large coefficient of thermal expansion that leads to unacceptable image distortion due to absorption of EUV light. A low thermal expansion glass or glass-ceramic is likely to be required in order to meet error budgets for the 70 nm node and beyond. Since EUVL masks are used in reflection, they are coated with multilayers prior to patterning. Surface imperfections, such as polishing marks, particles, scratches, or digs, are potential nucleation sites for defects in the multilayer coating, which could result in the printed defects. Therefore we are accelerating developments in the defect reduction and surface finishing of low thermal expansion mask substrates in order to understand long-term issues in controlling printable defects, and to establish the infrastructure for supplying masks. In this paper, we explain the technical requirements for EUVL mask substrates and describe our efforts in establishing a SEMI standard for EUVL masks. We will also report on the early progress of our suppliers in producing low thermal-expansion mask substrates for our development activities.
Vascular effects of demethylchlordimeform, a metabolite of chlordimeform

Abstract Demethylchlordimeform causes contractions of the rabbit central ear artery in concentrations from 10 −9 – 10 −4 M . The maximal contraction is approximately 40% of the maximal contraction to norepinephrine and is obtained with 10 −4 M . Neither 0.1 mg/ml of atropine, pyribenzamine, nor methysergide affected these contractions, but 0.001 mg/ml of phentolamine reduced, and 0.1 mg/ml of phentolamine almost abolished them. These contractions are not decreased in reserpinized rabbits. Demethylchlordimeform does not alter norepinephrine efflux in the resting state, during electrical stimulation, or during nicotine stimulation. In addition to its agonist activity it also antagonizes contractions of the vascular strip caused by two vasoactive agents. A concentration of 10 −5 M antagonizes contractions caused by norepinephrine and potassium but not by serotonin and histamine. Thus, demethylchlordimeform contracts vascular tissue as a partial agonist at α-adrenergic receptors and also antagonizes contractions induced by vasoactive agents.
Effects of lateral hypothalamic lesion with the neurotoxin hypocretin-2-saporin on sleep in Long-Evans rats.

Abstract Narcolepsy, a disabling neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, sleep fragmentation, cataplexy, sleep-onset rapid eye movement sleep periods and hypnagogic hallucinations was recently linked to a loss of neurons containing the neuropeptide hypocretin. There is considerable variability in the severity of symptoms between narcoleptic patients, which could be related to the extent of neuronal loss in the lateral hypothalamus. To investigate this possibility, we administered two concentrations (90 ng or 490 ng in a volume of 0.5 μl) of the neurotoxin hypocretin-2–saporin, unconjugated saporin or saline directly to the lateral hypothalamus and monitored sleep, the entrained and free-running rhythm of core body temperature and activity. Neurons stained for hypocretin or for the neuronal specific marker were counted in the perifornical area, dorsomedial and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. More neuronal nuclei (NeuN) cells were destroyed by the higher concentration of hypocretin-2–saporin (−55%) compared with the lower concentration (−34%) in the perifornical area, although both concentrations lesioned the hypocretin neurons almost equally well (high concentration=91%; low concentration=88%). The high concentration of hypocretin-2–saporin also lesioned neurons in the dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. Narcoleptic-like sleep behavior was produced by both concentrations of the hypocretin-2–saporin. The high concentration produced a larger increase in non-rapid eye movement sleep amounts during the normally active night cycle than low concentration. Neither concentration of hypocretin-2-saporin disrupted the phase or period of the core temperature or activity rhythms. The low concentration of unconjugated saporin did not significantly lesion hypocretin or neurons and did not alter sleep. The high concentration of unconjugated saporin produced some loss of neuronal nuclei-immunoreactive (NeuN-ir) neurons and hypocretin immunoreactive neurons, but only a transient increase in non-rapid eye movement sleep. These results led us to conclude that the extent of hypocretin neuronal loss together with an accompanying loss of cells in the lateral hypothalamus may explain the differences in severity of symptoms seen in human narcolepsy.
Hookworm Disease: Host-Pathogen Biology

The hallmark of hookworm infection, a common helminthic disease, is iron deficiency anemia. The development of anemia is dependent on the intensity of infection, the species of hookworm, and the ability of the host to resist infection and to maintain adequate stores of iron. When conditions are appropriate, the incidence of anemia caused by hookworm is high and has a significant economic impact since it results in a reduction of worker productivity. Loss of blood is caused by direct ingestion of red cells and by tissue trauma produced by worm attachment and feeding. This focal trauma may involve multiple villi and is characterized by local hemorrhage, tissue cytolysis, and neutrophilic response. Although focal intestinal lesions are apparent, their significance is questionable since diffuse mucosal changes are absent in intestinal biopsies of patients with heavy hookworm infection. Short-range control measures protecting against hookworm infection have not succeeded. Development of a vaccine against hookworm infection in humans is problematic since functional protective immunity in humans has not yet been demonstrated and no suitable animal model of hookworm infection in humans is available. At present, the most effective method of intervention appears to be supplementation of food staples with iron.
Gain vs Temperature Effects in Nal(Tl) Photomultiplier Scintillation Detectors Using 10 and 14 Stage Tubes

The manner in which the gain of a radiation transducer comprised of a 2" × 2" NaI(Tl) crystal, and either a 5-inch 10-stage or 2-inch 14-stage photomultiplier tube viewing a Cs137 source, varies with ambient temperature changes over the range of 0° C to 50° C has been investigated. Gain vs temperature response curves are presented and operating temperatures which minimize gain variations are delineated. A method is given for evaluating the magnitude of gain variations encountered from the curves.
The Phony War to “Keep Them in School”

America is currently engaged in an expensive campaign to prevent students from dropping out. Superficial appeal aside, this quest is pure foolishness, ignores elementary economics and what is actually possible. The campaign will not help the students or the nation. If everyone had a high school degree employers would not take it seriously and schools would soon be exposed for just pushing ill-equipped students out the door. Proponents never examine the net benefits of this campaign and just assume that handing out diplomas in and of itself suffice independent of learning. Actually, many youngsters act rationally in jumping ship. Far superior alternatives exist to accomplishing the identical goals. Moreover, data on dropout rates are woefully incomplete and powerful incentives exist for deceit given minimal supervision and monetary incentives to make the numbers. The justifying research is also deeply flawed with one unrealistic assumption after another. This ill-advised campaign is a perfect (and artfully disguised) social welfare scheme—the billions have little value to the ostensible beneficiaries but are a windfall for those administering this crusade. Pushing academically indifferent youngsters to the degree will undermine, not improve American education.
An open trial of bupropion for the treatment of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder

Abstract Background Despite the increasing recognition of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BPD) in adults, there are no prospective trials of pharmacological agents to treat ADHD in these patients. Given the efficacy of bupropion for ADHD in adults, as well as its use in the management of bipolar depression, we studied the tolerability and efficacy of sustained-release (SR) bupropion in adults with ADHD plus BPD. Methods This was an open, prospective, 6-week trial of bupropion SR (up to 200 mg b.i.d.) in adults with DSM-IV ADHD plus historical bipolar I disorder (BPD I) (10%) or bipolar II disorder (BPD II) (90%). Adults receiving adjunct antimanic agents (mood stabilizers and antipsychotics) at baseline were included in the study. We used standardized psychiatric instruments for diagnosis and outcome. Efficacy was based primarily on the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) for ADHD and the ADHD symptom checklist. Results Of 36 patients entered (75% male, mean age 34 years), 30 patients (83%) completed the protocol. At end point (last observation carried forward [LOCF]) compared to baseline, treatment with bupropion SR resulted in significant reductions in the ADHD symptom checklist (−55%, z = 5.63, p z = 6.285, p Conclusions The results from this open study of adults with ADHD plus BPD suggest that sustained-release bupropion may be effective in treating ADHD in the context of a lifetime diagnosis of BPD, without significant activation of mania. Further controlled trials are warranted.
Non-volatile memory effect of a high-density NiSi nano-dots floating gate memory using single triangular-shaped Si nanowire channel

A back-gated nonplanar floating gate device based on buried single triangular-shaped Si nanowire channel (width ∼40 nm) and embedded high-density uniform NiSi nano-dots (∼1.5×1012 cm−2) is demonstrated. Memory properties including memory window, programming/erasing, and retention are evaluated. The transfer and transient characteristics show clear charge injection, storage and removal effects and the associated programming/erasing mechanism based on fringing electric field is studied. Robust room and high temperature retention performance is observed.
Oviposition by Screw-Worm Flies in Infested Mexican Burros

Mexican burros, Equus asinus , infested with larvae of the screw-worm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Conquered), were tested for 3 months in northern Veracruz, Mexico, as sites for oviposition by native screw-worm flies. They yielded only 1/10th as many egg masses as the sheep used as controls. The rapid proliferation of excessive granulation tissue around the infestations and the persistent hyperactivity of the burros who abraded their sites of infestation and fought off the flies prevented the collection of egg masses. The effects of excessive granulation tissue were overcome during the test, but the hyperactivity of the burros was not.
The separation of phosphocreatine from creatine, and pH determination in frog muscle by natural abundance13C-NMR

Phosphocreatine can be separated from creatine in superfused frog muscle by natural abundance 13C-NMR, based on the difference in resonance frequency of their guanidino carbons. After taking into account the longitudinal relaxation times and nuclear Overhauser enhancement factors, the integrated peak areas of the guanidino carbons could be used for determination of the phosphocreatine-to-creatine ratio in the muscle. The pH dependence of the chemical shift of the C-2 carbon in the histidine ring of carnosine was used for estimation of the intracellular pH in the intact muscle.
Design of High-Speed Register Files Using SiGe HBT BiCMOS Technology

The time needed for processing serial code in programs has become the performance bottleneck of multicore computer systems according to Amdahl's law. A high-speed clock rate processor is essential for processing this serial code. The register file is the core component in high-performance processors due to its direct impact on the cycle per instruction of the CPU. This brief presents the design of a high-speed register file used in high-clock-rate processors that use SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor BiCMOS technology and current-mode logic-style circuits. The demonstrated register file is fabricated in IBM BiCMOS 0.13- μm technology and has a measured frequency of 18.4 GHz. The highest operational frequency has been simulated at 27 GHz using layout extracted simulation at 85 °C after adopting improved pipeline structures. Further advanced technology (8XP) can improve the speed or reduce the power consumption of this register file.
A Bounded 2D Contour Searching Algorithm for Floorplan Design with Arbitrarily Shaped Rectilinear and Soft Modules

In this paper, we present a novel floorplanning algorithm to optimize the floorplan with arbitrarily shaped rectilinear and soft blocks. The floorplan quality of this algorithm is demonstrated by randomly generated artificial examples and a real industrial example. The experimental results on the randomly generated cases demonstrate that the algorithm can find a floorplan with average area utilization 91.8% for cases ranging from 4 to 1600 blocks. The test results on industrial examples demonstrate that this algorithm can potentially be used to generate high quality floorplans for a wide range of design styles (pure custom blocks, gate array, standard cells, mixed mode cases, etc.)
CD40L Blockade Prevents Autoimmune Diabetes by Induction of Bitypic NK/DC Regulatory Cells

Systemic treatment with antibody to CD40 ligand (aCD40L) can prevent autoimmunity and transplant rejection in several animal models and is currently under evaluation in clinical trials. While it is known that aCD40L administration inhibits expansion and effector functions of aggressive T cells, it is still unclear whether additional regulatory mechanisms are operative. Here we demonstrate that a single episode of CD40L blockade during development of the autoaggressive immune response completely prevented autoimmune disease in the RIP-LCMV mouse model for virally induced type 1 diabetes. Interestingly, protection could be transferred by a highly potent, bitypic cell population sharing phenotypic and functional properties of both natural killer (NK) and dendritic cells (DC). Furthermore, protection of prediabetic recipients was autoantigen specific and did not result in generalized immunosuppression. The origin, function, and therapeutic potential of these bitypic NK/DC regulatory cells is discussed.
Effects of β-adrenergic stimulation on calcium movements in rabbit aortic smooth muscle: relationship with cyclic AMP

1. The effects of isoprenaline (10(-6) M) on relaxation, unidirectional as well as net Ca(2+) fluxes, and cyclic AMP levels were investigated in rabbit aorta under the condition of high-K(+) depolarization in the presence of phentolamine (10(-5) M).2. Isoprenaline (10(-6) M) caused significant inhibition of Ca(2+) influx stimulated by 145 mM-K(+) (0 Na(+)) solution. The time courses of Ca(2+) influx inhibition and relaxation by isoprenaline were parallel. Isoprenaline also caused a significant inhibition of high-K(+)-induced gain in net Ca(2+) content.3. Ro 20-1724 (1 mM), a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, also caused relaxation and Ca(2+) influx inhibition in high-K(+)-depolarized rabbit aorta. Pre-treatment with Ro 20-1724 potentiated isoprenaline-induced Ca(2+) influx inhibition and relaxation.4. Isoprenaline and Ro 20-1724 each alone increased cyclic AMP levels. Furthermore pre-treatment with Ro 20-1724 caused potentiation of isoprenaline-induced increases in cyclic AMP levels.5. At submaximal concentration, D600 (10(-7) M) caused partial inhibition of high-K(+)-stimulated Ca(2+) influx and produced relaxation. However, unlike Ro 20-1724, it did not potentiate isoprenaline-induced Ca(2+) influx inhibition and relaxation. D600 does not increase cyclic AMP levels in smooth muscle.6. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP (1 mM), a lipid-soluble analogue of cyclic AMP, caused relaxation and inhibited high-K(+)-stimulated Ca(2+) influx.7. Isoprenaline failed to cause stimulation of Ca(2+) efflux in high-K(+)-depolarized rabbit aorta.8. It is concluded that the inhibition of Ca(2+) influx may be one of the mechanisms by which beta-receptor stimulation can reduce intracellular free Ca(2+) to promote relaxation of smooth muscle. The data support the involvement of cyclic AMP in this action of the beta-agonist.9. Since the experiments were conducted in 145 mM-K(+) (0 Na(+)) depolarizing conditions, the role of hyperpolarization or of a Na(+)-Ca(2+) exchange mechanism in isoprenaline-induced Ca(2+) influx inhibition and/or relaxation can be excluded.
Steroid Receptors and Mammalian Penile Development: An Unexpected Role for Progesterone Receptor?

Purpose: We investigated the role of steroid receptors in normal and abnormal genital tubercle development in males and females. We hypothesized that progesterone receptor expression might be involved in abnormal development in both sexes.Materials and Methods: We examined the effects of medroxyprogesterone acetate on steroid receptor mRNA expression and assessed the involvement of androgen receptor in the action of medroxyprogesterone acetate on genital tubercle development using androgen receptor deficient (Tfm) mice.Results: Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and morphological results demonstrated a pattern of virilized females and feminized males in medroxyprogesterone acetate exposed embryos. Progesterone receptor was the only steroid receptor examined that did not differ between medroxyprogesterone acetate treated males and vehicle treated females. At the morphological level in utero exposure to medroxyprogesterone acetate from gestational days 12 to 17 feminized male genit...
Individual differences for sex differences in achievement attributions

Past research has found a self-defensive bias in males and a self-derogatory bias in female achievement attributions. Dispositional explanations for these differences were examined in the present study. Subjects completed measures of Need for Achievement, Self-Esteem, Fear of Success, Attitudes Toward Women, and Androgyny. They later competed in same- or mixed-sex pairs on an anagram task which was prearranged in difficulty so that one subject clearly defeated his/her partner. Consistent with past research, males were more likely to attribute their outcomes to ability, and less likely to attribute their outcomes to effort and luck, than were females. Achievement motivation was the most consistently successful predictor of these sex differences.
Generating views of the buzz: browsing popular media and authoring using mixed-initiative composition

combinFormation's mixed-initiative composition space enables system agents and humans to engage in processes of finding relevant information, and forming and authoring collections. Previously, the system was developed and utilized to support information discovery. The efficacy of the system for supporting creativity has been established in some contexts. We present combinFormation as a tool for browsing popular media and authoring personal collections. Yahoo Buzz is an popular media collection of top search queries, categorized into genres such as actors, music and sports. Existing interfaces limit the human participant to only viewing results of a single search at any given time. This paper presents a new system structure which interleaves multiple searches concurrently in a round-robin manner, enabling participants to concurrently explore and connect diverse result sets, which, in aggregate, may consist of hundreds of documents. The mixed-initiative composition space serves as a media interface for combining search results and authoring personal collections. Evaluation using the Buzz demonstrated participants ability to browse more diverse information using combinFormation than with a typical browser. They experienced browsing and authoring as easier and more entertaining. Results have implications for a broad range of use contexts in which combined views of the results of multiple searches need to be authored, including research scenarios, as well as popular media.
Feedback and Incentives on Non-Financial Value Drivers: Effects on Managerial Decision Making

This paper examines how adding leading non-financial value drivers to a lagging summary financial measure affects managerial decision making in firms where either intangible assets (intangible assets firm) or tangible assets (tangible assets firm) are more important for future financial performance. Using an experiment, I compare a control performance evaluation system (PES) with feedback and incentives on only a summary financial measure to a PES with added feedback on non-financial measures and a PES with added feedback and incentives on non-financial measures. I find that managers increase their decision quality more in the intangible assets firm than in the tangible assets firm when both feedback and incentives on non-financial measures are added, but not when only feedback on non-financial measures is added. Early in the experiment, managers of the intangible assets firm do not make better decisions with the adding of only feedback on non-financial measures, but do so with the further adding of incentives on non-financial measures. However, managers of the intangible assets firm improve their decisions over time with the adding of only feedback on non-financial measures. On the other hand, managers of the tangible assets firm do not make better decisions with the adding of only feedback on non-financial measures nor with the further adding of incentives on non-financial measures. The results suggest that the benefits of adding non-financial value drivers may vary based on a firm's dependency on tangible versus intangible assets, and on whether the non-financial value drivers are explicitly rewarded in the incentive contract.
Brief communication: ancient DNA prospects from Sri Lankan highland dry caves support an emerging global pattern.

Recovery of ancient DNA has become an increasingly important tool in elucidating the origins of past populations and their relationships. Unfortunately, many human skeletal remains do not contain original DNA amplifiable by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Amino-acid racemization has proven to be a useful predictor of ancient DNA results. We analyzed the relative levels of amino-acid preservation and racemization of human samples from two highland dry-cave sites in Sri Lanka, and found that amino-acid enantiomer ratios were inconsistent with successful authentic DNA recovery. A review of the literature reveals that these results are consistent with a global pattern of poor DNA preservation in the tropics.
Assessing sustainability indicators for tropical forests: Spatio-temporal heterogeneity, logging intensity, and dung beetle communities

Abstract Sustainable management of tropical forests has been identified as one of the main objectives for conservation of global biodiversity and management of carbon stocks. To achieve this goal, managers need tools to assess the sustainability of current management practices. Several international initiatives have undertaken the development of sets of criteria and indicators to help managers move towards sustainability. Among the indicators considered, the structure and composition of dung beetle communities have been identified as excellent indicators of ecological sustainability. However, as occurs with most indicators of the ecological sustainability of forest management, dung beetle surveys require intensive field work making their application over large areas expensive, time consuming, and logistically challenging. A need for prioritization is evident. This work presents a novel approach to the assessment of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) ecological sustainability indicator I.2.1.2: “The change in diversity of habitats as a result of human interventions is maintained within critical limits as defined by natural variation and/or regional conservation objectives”. Using variography of vegetation index data derived from remotely sensed imagery, we show (1) how the differences in forest structural heterogeneity observed between forest management units and natural areas can be used to identify priority areas for field survey of ecological sustainability indicators (hereafter “priority-for-survey”) and (2) how these priorities correspond to dung beetle community structure and composition. Links between temporal change in forest structural heterogeneity, logging intensity, and dung beetle community structure and composition were established by means of correlation analysis and matrix regression modeling. We found that areas ranked as low priority-for-survey based on image analysis showed no significant difference in dung beetle species richness or diversity from natural reference areas. Further, we found significantly higher dung beetle species richness and diversity estimates in areas ranked as moderate or moderate-low priority-for-survey over the low and reference areas. Finally, the dung beetle community composition in the high priority-for-survey category was significantly less rich and less diverse than any other category. We identified a logging intensity threshold of four trees per hectare as a transition to significant differences in forest structural heterogeneity and the richness and diversity of associated dung beetle communities.
Two-phase trace-driven simulation (TPTS): a fast multicore processor architecture simulation approach

Simulation is indispensable in computer architecture research. Researchers increasingly resort to detailed architecture simulators to identify performance bottlenecks, analyze interactions among different hardware and software components, and measure the impact of new design ideas on the system performance. However, the slow speed of conventional execution-driven architecture simulators is a serious impediment to obtaining desirable research productivity. This paper describes a novel fast multicore processor architecture simulation framework called Two-Phase Trace-driven Simulation (TPTS), which splits detailed timing simulation into a trace generation phase and a trace simulation phase. Much of the simulation overhead caused by uninteresting architectural events is only incurred once during the cycle-accurate simulation-based trace generation phase and can be omitted in the repeated trace-driven simulations. We report our experiences with tsim, an event-driven multicore processor architecture simulator that models detailed memory hierarchy, interconnect, and coherence protocol based on the TPTS framework. By applying aggressive event filtering, tsim achieves an impressive simulation speed of 146 millions of simulated instructions per second, when running 16-thread parallel applications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adults' responses to infants varying in facial expression and perceived attractiveness*

Male and female college students were shown photographs of smiling and crying infants while looking time, smiling, and heart period (HP: defined as the length of time between heart beats) were monitored. Smiling infants were looked at longer than crying infants, and infants perceived as cute were looked at longer than those perceived as less cute. Participants' smiling increased when the photographs were shown, but the amount of smiling was not related to the infants' facial expressions, or perceived attractiveness. Analyses of HP changes during the first 4 sec of photograph presentation indicated that women showed cardiac acceleration in response to both smiling and crying infants, whereas men showed cardiac acceleration in response to smiling infants, and deceleration in response to crying infants. These results are compared with those of other studies of adults' attraction to infants.
Targeted delivery of vancomycin to Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms using a fibrinogen-derived peptide†

This study reports on the use of a fibrinogen-derived peptide for the specific targeting and delivery of vancomycin to Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms. One method by which S. epidermidis initially adheres to biomaterials uses the plasma protein fibrinogen as an intermediary, where the S. epidermidis surface protein SdrG binds to a short amino acid sequence near the amino terminus of the Bβ chain of fibrinogen. We mimicked this binding interaction and demonstrated the use of a synthetic fibrinogen-based β6-20 peptide to target and deliver vancomycin to S. epidermidis in vitro. The β6-20 peptide was synthesized and labeled with a Nanogold probe, and its targeting capabilities were examined through the use of scanning electron microscopy. The Nanogold component was then replaced by vancomycin, utilizing a flexible, variable length poly(ethylene glycol) linker between the peptide and antibiotic to create the targeted vancomycin products, β6-20-PEG(x) -VAN. Initial binding to surface adherent S. epidermidis was increased in a concentration-dependent manner relative to vancomycin for all equivalent concentrations ≥4 μg/mL, with targeted vancomycin content up to 22.9 times that of vancomycin alone. Retention of the targeted antibiotics was measured after an additional 24-h incubation period, revealing levels 1.3 times that of vancomycin. The results demonstrate the improved targeting and retention of vancomycin within a biofilm due to the incorporation of a specific targeting motif.
Experimental study of electrical properties of ZnO nanowire random networks for gas sensing and electronic devices

In this paper, we report on studying of ZnO nanowire mats as an electrical nanomaterial with particular interest in their interaction with various gas surroundings for gas sensing characteristics. The ZnO nanowires were synthesized on sapphire substrates using a horizontal tube furnace. The techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were applied to determine the as-grown ZnO nanowires’ morphological and crystal structures, chemical composition and electronic states. Four-terminal current-voltage (I–V) measurements were used to examine the electrical conductance of the ZnO nanowire mats exposed to various testing gases with reference to the vacuum condition. Gas exposure experiments were conducted in a custom-built environmental chamber, which was filled with different testing gases. We observed the current being significantly influenced with ambient CO gas. The I–V behavior of CO gas was also found to be reversible and repeatable after the chamber evacuation, which indicates that the ZnO nanowire mats can be used for gas sensing purposes. A possible interactive model of nanowires and testing gas molecules is proposed to elucidate the sensing selective and sensitive mechanism for gas sensors.
Synthesis and characterization of LIX-84 noncovalently bound silica sorbents for metal-ion recovery

Mesoporous silica particles were modified with LIX-84 (2-hydroxy-5-nonylacetophenome oxime). LIX-84 was attached to the surface of silica via noncovalent forces. The effects of silica particle size, pore size, temperature, and pH on metal-ion-exchange properties were studied to characterize metal ion adsorption properties for chelating groups noncovalently bound to the surface of silica. The adsorbent had a capacity of 0.6 mmol of Cu2+/g of adsorbent at room temperature and a capacity of 1.1 mmol of Cu2+/g of adsorbent at 60 °C. Depending on the solution pH, the adsorbent had varying capacity for Cu2+, Ni2+, and Pb2+. The adsorbent was found to have good stability and gave high metal recovery when regenerated with 2 vol % nitric acid. An increased ion-exchange rate was achieved and was attributed to the use of larger pore size silica. The silica was found to contain from 5 to 7 wt % LIX-84.
Well‐posedness of the upper convected Maxwell fluid in the limit of infinite Weissenberg number

An iteration scheme is used to show the well-posedness of the initial-boundary value problem for incompressible hypoelastic materials, which arise as a high Weissenberg number limit of viscoelastic fluids. We first assume that the stress is a rank-one matrix T=qqT, q∈ℝn, and develop energy estimates to show that the problem is locally well-posed. This problem is related to incompressible ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We show that the general case T=CCT, C∈ℝn×n can be handled by a generalization of the method we developed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Role of colloidal forces in hydrodynamic chromatography

Abstract Double-layer and van der Waals forces, acting between solute particles and the wall of a capillary in which an aqueous carrier solution undergoes Poiseuille flow, influence the radial distribution of particle centers. If the elution time is sufficient to allow the Brownian particles to sample all radial positions then the radial distribution is shown to be a Boltzmann one. Choosing the capillary radius so as to match the hydraulic radii of the packed column and capillary, predicted average particle residence times agreed reasonably well with all the experimental results obtained by Small (3). A parameter sensitivity study suggests that at low ionic strengths (∼10 −4 mole/liter) the average particle residence time is nearly independent of the chemical nature of the particle (i.e., Hamaker's constant and surface potential). However, at high ionic strengths (∼0.1 mole/liter) the particle's chemical nature is also important. Under the latter conditions, the secondary minimum in the particle—packing interaction energy profile becomes appreciably larger than the particle's thermal energy ( kT ), causing the particles to sample the slow region near the packing surface more frequently and significantly increasing the average residence time.
TESTING FOR STABILITY IN A PREDATOR–PREY SYSTEM

This report describes a test for stability in a predator–prey system. The test is based on a parametric bootstrap applied under a model in which the predator–prey dynamics are log-linear. The test is illustrated using two published data sets. Some simulation results are presented showing that the test performs reasonably well when the predator–prey dynamics are nonlinear at the logarithmic scale.
Free vibration analysis of branched blades by the integrating matrix method

Abstract The integrating matrix method is applied to determine the free vibration characteristics of bearingless rotor blades containing multiple branches at the root. It is necessary to include the axial degree-of-freedom in this analysis to account for the differential axial displacements in the branches. The inclusion of the axial degree-of-freedom leads to a nonlinear problem to determine the tension coefficients in the branches. The integrating matrix method is again applied to solve this nonlinear problem. The eigenvalue problem corresponding to branched bearingless blades forms a propert Sturm-Liouville problem and the associated orthogonality condition between the eigenfunctions is identified. The method is validated through comparisons with existing methods.
Comparative analysis of the global transcriptional profile of human skin-homing memory T lymphocytes vs. non-skin homing memory and naive T lymphocytes

T lymphocytes play a central role in the pathogenesis of a number of inflammatory, autoimmune and neoplastic skin diseases. Transcriptional profiling can provide substantial insights into the mechanisms regulating the development and function of the T cell populations involved in these disorders. We have applied oligonucleotide microarray technology (GeneChip Probe Array System, Affymetrix) to perform the first global comparison of gene expression between skin-related and non-skin related T cell populations. We report a comparative simultaneous analysis of 7100 human gene expression products between resting naive (CD45RA+), skin-homing memory (cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA)+, CD45RO+) and non-skin homing memory (CLA-, CD45RO+) T cells. Overall, we identified 21 genes with statistically significant expression level differences (? 2-fold) in memory T cells compared with naive cells and 11 genes with differential expression in skin-homing (CLA+) vs. non-skin homing (CLA-) memory T cells. 1,076 genes displayed identical levels of expression (p < 0.001) across all three T lymphocyte populations including several genes that have not previously been reported in the context of T lymphocyte function and a sizable number that have not yet been functionally characterized. To test the utility of this technique in the analysis of cutaneous disease, the gene expression profile of T cells obtained from a patient with leukemic cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) (CD4+, CD45RO+, CD7-, CD25+, CLA+) was compared with that of normal non-transformed CLA+ memory T cells. 290 genes with statistically significant increased expression in CTCL cells were identified. Using a novel integrated information management system (linked to GeneBank, Locus Link, SWISS-PROT, OMIM, TIGR, Medline, etc) developed in collaboration with a team of software engineers we have annotated and functionally clustered this set of over-expressed genes. Our analysis indicates that several of these genes may play a pathogenic role in CTCL. Genome-wide parallel analysis of the expression patterns of T cell populations involved in skin diseases has the potential to provide unique insights into the multiple gene-gene interactions underlying the complex nature of these disorders.
Characterisation of organic acids trapped in coals

THE characterisation of trapped organic compounds which occur in geological materials such as coal and oil shale can provide an insight into both the origin of the organic matter and its subsequent modification through chemical reactions. Much work has been done on the isolation and identification of polar and nonpolar compounds in carbonaceous materials1–7; however, aromatic acids in coals have received very little attention. Here we detail the characterisation and distribution of aromatic acids extracted from lignite and bituminous coals.
The Ongoing Contestation over Nationhood

THE NATION IS NEVER A FIXED SUBJECT, but always in flux and a major focus of contestation. Elements of the state and factions of civil society project and dispute varying images of who is to be included as a member of the polity, so specifying obligations, allocation of benefits, and rights. The result at any one time is a set of images of solidarity and rules of citizenship that remains fluid. Precisely because this process is central to the defining, demarcating, and implementing of the community and social identities, it remains a primary subject of politics.1
Causatives and Transitivity in L2 English

This study investigates whether Spanish- and Turkish-speaking learners of English discover the semantic and syntactic constraints on the causative/inchoative alternation in the absence of overt morphological clues. Results of a Picture Judgment Task show that L2 learners do discover these properties, and that overall verbs appear to cluster in classes in their interlanguage grammars. However, the Turkish group, at a lower proficiency level than the Spanish one, accepted transitivity errors with unaccusative, unergative and non-alternating transitive verbs. Although some of the developmental trends observed could be attributed to L1 influence, lower-proficiency learners may start with a wider grammar, and therefore not differentiate lexico-syntactically among different verb classes. With higher proficiency, L2 learners eventually recover from overgeneralizations.
Role of pectinate muscle bundles in the generation and maintenance of intra-atrial reentry: Potential implications for the mechanism of conversion between atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter

Abstract—To determine the role of pectinate muscle (PM) bundles in the formation of intra-atrial reentry, 10 isolated canine right atrial tissues were perfused with Tyrode’s solution containing 1 to 2.5 μmol/L acetylcholine (ACh). The endocardium was mapped using 477 bipolar electrodes with 1.6-mm resolution. Reentry was induced by a premature stimulus (S2). Computer simulation studies were used to investigate the importance of regional myocardial thickness in reentry formation. A total of 40 episodes of reentry were induced; 28 episodes were stationary, and the remaining 12 were nonstationary. The stationary reentry was induced either immediately after the S2 stimuli (n=9) or after an initial period of irregular activations that lasted 1460±1077 ms (n=19). Of 28 episodes, 20 were initiated by conduction block along large PM ridges, leading to wave break and the initiation of reentry. The reentrant wave fronts remained stationary and rotated around these ridges as anchoring sites. During the transition fr...
Special considerations for 3DIC circuit design and modeling

In this paper, the new elements in 3DIC are examined for enabling optimal 3D products: including 3D interconnect which maybe the limiting factor to achievable speed; 3D chip design strategy (partition and implementation) to achive optimal performance; wireless testing to address the challenges in testing a partial system / chip before stacking and with limited observation points after stacking.
A deformable model for human organ extraction

We present a modification of the well-known snakes algorithm for extracting contours in noisy images. Our modification addresses the issues of selection of the control points on an estimate of the contour and the determination of the weighting coefficients. The weighting coefficients are determined dynamically on the basis of the distance between the control points and the local curvature of the contour. We show results obtained in extracting the liver from cross-sectional images of the abdomen.
PepCyber:P∼PEP: a database of human protein–protein interactions mediated by phosphoprotein-binding domains

Phosphoprotein-binding domains (PPBDs) mediate many important cellular and molecular processes. Ten PPBDs have been known to exist in the human proteome, namely, 14-3-3, BRCT, C2, FHA, MH2, PBD, PTB, SH2, WD-40 and WW. PepCyber:P»PEP is a newly constructed database specialized in documenting human PPBD-containing proteins and PPBD-mediated interactions. Our motivation is to provide the research community with a rich information source emphasizing the reported, experimentally validated data for specific PPBD– PPEP interactions. This information is not only useful for designing, comparing and validating the relevant experiments, but it also serves as a knowledge-base for computationally constructing systems signaling pathways and networks. PepCyber:P»PEP is accessible through the URL, http://www.pepcyber.org/PPEP/. The current release of the database contains 7044 PPBDmediated interactions involving 337 PPBD-containing proteins and 1123 substrate proteins.
Guaranteed smooth switch scheduling with low complexity

A smooth scheduling with guaranteed rate service and bounded packet delay is a desired objective of any switch scheduling algorithm. We present a scheme that generates low jitter schedules with low computational complexity. The scheduler uses an integer decomposition of the rate-matrix, similar to the Birkhoff-von Neumann decomposition. It improves the delay and jitter performance of the smooth scheduler as described in Keslassy et al. with an increase in the number of permutation matrices that the switch fabric has to cycle through. This increase is shown to be a constant for all practical purposes. Two algorithms are presented that have time complexity O(n/sup 2/ + log n) and space complexity O(n/sup 2/) and O(n) respectively. An existing scheduling algorithm for single links, smoothed round robin, is employed for scheduling the permutation matrices. This algorithm has a computational complexity overhead of O(1) and ensures smooth scheduling.
Predictors and moderators of outcomes of HIV/STD sex risk reduction interventions in substance abuse treatment programs: a pooled analysis of two randomized controlled trials

Background The objective of the current study was to examine predictors and moderators of response to two HIV sexual risk interventions of different content and duration for individuals in substance abuse treatment programs.
Perfect Latin Squares And Parallel Array Access

A new nonlinear skewing scheme is proposed for parallel array access. We introduce a new Latin square(perfect Latin square) which has several properties useful for parallel array access. A sufficient condition for the existence of perfect Latin squares and a simple construction method for perfect Latin squares are presented. The resulting skewing scheme provides conflict free access to various subsets of an N x N array using N memory modules. When the number of memory modules is an even power of two, address generation is performed in constant time using a simple circuit. This scheme is the first memory scheme that achieves constant time access to rows, columns, diagonals, and N1/2 x N1/2 subarrays of an N x N array using the minimum number of memory modules.
Current advances in research and clinical applications of PLGA-based nanotechnology

Co-polymer poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanotechnology has been developed for many years and has been approved by the US FDA for the use of drug delivery, diagnostics and other applications of clinical and basic science research, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, vaccine and tissue engineering. This article presents the more recent successes of applying PLGA-based nanotechnologies and tools in these medicine-related applications. It focuses on the possible mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment effects of PLGA preparations and devices. This updated information will benefit to both new and established research scientists and clinical physicians who are interested in the development and application of PLGA nanotechnology as new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for many diseases.