cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electrical and optical properties of Mg-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N alloys

Mg-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N epilayers (∼1μm) were grown on an AlN/sapphire template by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and the electrical and optical properties of these epilayers were studied. For optimized Mg-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N epilayers, we have obtained a resistivity around 105Ωcm at room temperature and confirmed p-type conduction at elevated temperatures(>700K) with a resistivity of about 40Ωcm at 800 K. From the temperature dependent Hall effect measurement, the activation energy of Mg acceptor is found to be around 400 meV for Al0.7Ga0.3N alloy. The optimized Mg-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N epilayers have been incorporated into the deep-ultraviolet (UV) (λ<300nm) light-emitting diode (LED) structures as an electron blocking layer. An enhancement in the performance of the UV LEDs was obtained. LEDs with peak emission wavelengths at 280 nm were fabricated with a circular geometry (300 μm disk diameter). Output power reached 0.35 mW at 20 mA and 1.1 mW at 150 mA dc current. The importance of Mg-doped Al0.7Ga0.3N...
Adaptive noncoherent integration algorithms for array detection

Adaptive noncoherent integration algorithms are of interest in array processing for a variety of reasons. These algorithms combine the operations of adaptive interference suppression and noncoherent integration and are useful especially when the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio in each coherent processing interval (CPI) is limited. The algorithms also improve the capability of detecting fluctuating targets in interference. In this paper, the adaptive matched filter (AMF) test and the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) are generalized to include both operations of interference suppression and noncoherent integration. Analytical expressions for the detection performance of these algorithms are provided.
Sanmartinoceras aff. walshense (ETHERIDGE, 1892) from the Early Cretaceous of California - the first evidence of the ammonite subfamily Aconeceratinae SPATH, 1923 in North America

Sanmartinoceras aff. walshense (ETHERIDGE, 1892), a single large representative of the Aconeceratinae SPATH, 1923 from California is believed to be a macroconch. It shows close relations to Sanmartinoceras africanum KENNEDY & KLINGER, 1979 and Sanmartinoceras walshense , however the described combination of features is unique. Until the variability of this ammonite is established we assign this specimen to Sanmartinoceras aff. walshense . It is probably Late Aptian in age and represents the first evidence of the Aconeceratinae in North Americ
A More Informative Measure of Active Fund Performance

This paper presents a new measure of active fund performance that evaluates funds in a manner which is aligned with what investors seek to optimize: utility. Unlike the information ratio, which is currently one of the most popular metrics of performance used by practitioners, my measure assumes a concave utility function and incorporates one’s aversion to risk. I convey the importance of these improvements through comparative static analysis. Finally, using a sample of mutual funds I also find that the information ratio is only weakly robust to my measure.
Basic and Clinical Aspects of Human Cytomegalovirus Infection

The 1980s brought a story in the setting of the emerging disease AIDS. Here, retinitis, gastrointestinal disease, and nervous system infection predominated. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus in the beta subgroup of the herpesvirus family. Well-documented shedding of virus in human breast milk, urine, saliva, tears, semen, and cervical secretions, some of which occurs in healthy hosts, suggests that epithelial cells may harbor latent but reactivatable virus. Autopsy studies of homosexual men with AIDS have shown that multiple strains of CMV can infect different tissues. Longitudinal serial isolates from homosexual men show that 29% have two or more strains and semen was the most common site of viral shedding (40%). The pathology of CMV radiculomyelitis usually consists of inflammation and necrosis, with typical cytomegalic inclusion cells in the lumbosacral roots. The broad spectrum of observed central nervous system (CNS) disease in AIDS is likely related to a broader range of viral load secondary to the immunodeficiency. The hematogenous-endothelial mode of entry is postulated to lead to diffuse disease. There is one report of its successful use in AIDS-associated ventriculoencephalitis with both clinical improvement and reversion of CSF to CMV negative by PCR.
Doing Business Around Transit Corridors: Survey Research on Business Perceptions of Fixed-Guideway Transit Projects

Major transit projects can have profound effects on nearby businesses. Although much research has investigated physical neighborhood changes and neighborhood demographic changes driven by transit projects, little is known about the perceived effects of transit projects in business communities. In a direct response to this knowledge gap, a random-sampled survey of 160 businesses was conducted along four existing and planned transit corridors in the Twin Cities region in Minnesota. With the survey responses, ordered logistic regression models of business perceptions of transit corridor projects were estimated. It was found that responding businesses generally expect positive effects from transit corridors in the future, but the likelihood of positive perceptions differs significantly according to business location, size, and sector, as well as employees' and customers' demographics and customers' travel behavior. These findings provide insights into the types of businesses to target for special outreach eff...
Genetic heterogeneity within electrophoretic "alleles" of xanthine dehydrogenase in Drosophila pseudoobscura.

An experimental plan for an exhaustive determination of genic variation at structural gene loci is presented. In the initial steps of this program, 146 isochromosomal lines from 12 geographic populations of D. pseudoobscura were examined for allelic variation of xanthine dehydrogenase by the serial use of 4 different electrophoretic conditions and a heat stability test. The 5 criteria revealed a total of 37 allelic classes out of the 146 genomes examined where only 6 had been previously revealed by the usual method of gel electrophoresis. This immense increase in genic variation also showed previously unsuspected population differences between the main part of the species distribution and the isolated population of Bogota, Colombia, in conformity with the known partial reproductive isolation of the Bogota population. The average heterozygosity at the Xdh locus is at least 72% in natural populations. This result, together with the very large number of alleles segregating and the pattern of allelic frequencies, has implications for theories of genetic polymorphism which are discussed.
CRYPTOCOCCUS NEOFORMANS SEROTYPE GROUPS ENCOUNTERED IN OKLAHOMA

Eighty clinical and 28 soil isolates of C. neoformans obtained in Oklahoma were separated into A-D and B-C serotype groups utilizing creatinine-dextrose agar with bromthymol blue. Previously, serotype B-C clinical isolates have been frequent only in patients from Southern California where as many as 50% of the isolates are of this type. In contrast, in patients from the rest of the United States the B-C frequency has been only 6%. Of the 80 C. neoformans isolates from Oklahoma patients, 12 (15%) were serotype B-C. One-half of these 12 Oklahoma patients with serotype B-C isolates had no history of any travel to California, and were long-time residents of Oklahoma. All 28 soil isolates of C. neformans from Oklahoma in this study were serotype A-D. Since serotype B-C recovery from a soil sample has never been reported, attempts are in progress to isolate serotype B-C from the environments of these patients from Oklahoma.
Design and performance of an image-rotating, nanosecond optical parametric oscillator

Our goal is an efficient, high pulse energy, nanosecond optical parametric oscillator with good beam quality. We find that including 90/spl deg/ image rotation in the cavity helps achieve this performance.
An Improved EZW Hyperspectral Image Compression

The paper describes an efficient lossy and lossless three dimensional (3D) image compression of hyperspectral images. The method adopts the 3D spatial-spectral hybrid transform and the proposed transform-based coder. The hybrid transforms are that Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT) which decorrelates spectral data of a hyperspectral image, and the integer Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) which is applied to the spatial data and produces decorrelated wavelet coefficients. Our simpler transform-based coder is inspired by Shapiro’s EZW algorithm, but encodes residual values and only implements dominant pass incorporating six symbols. The proposed method will be examined on AVIRIS images and evaluated using compression ratio for both lossless and lossy compression, and signal to noise ratio (SNR) for lossy compression. Experimental results show that the proposed image compression not only is more efficient but also has better compression ratio.
Improving min/max aggregation over spatial objects

We examine the problem of computing MIN/MAX aggregates over a collection of spatial objects. Each spatial object is associated with a weight (value), for example, the average temperature or rainfall over the area covered by the object. Given a query rectangle, the MIN/MAX problem computes the minimum/maximum weight among all objects intersecting the query rectangle. Traditionally such queries have been performed as range search queries. Assuming that the objects are indexed by a spatial access method, the MIN/MAX is computed as objects are retrieved. This requires effort proportional to the number of objects intersecting the query interval, which may be large. A better approach is to maintain aggregate information among the index nodes of the spatial access method; then various index paths can be eliminated during the range search. In this paper we propose four optimizations that further improve the performance of MIN/MAX queries. Our experiments show that the proposed optimizations offer drastic performance improvement over previous approaches. Moreover, as a by-product of this work we present an optimized version of the MSB-tree, an index that has been proposed for the MIN/MAX computation over 1-dimensional interval objects.
Current mode response of phototransistors to gamma radiation

Abstract This paper investigates the current mode response of four commercial NPN phototransistors under gamma radiation exposure from Co-60 source, with the aim to evaluate their applicability for gamma radiation dosimetry. The radiation-induced collector current was measured while the phototransistors were successively biased with 10 V and 20 V between collector and emitter. The main aspects analyzed in the experiment were the stability of the induced current, dependence of the induced current with respect to dose rate, short-term repeatability of the induced current and relation between the induced charge and the absorbed dose. The current response of all samples was stable during the 2-min irradiation sessions at the dose rates from 0.65 Gy/h to 32.1 Gy/h, with the relative uncertainty less than 5% in all cases, and the variation of the mean effective current as a function of dose rate was well fitted with the standard power relation. During the three consecutive 2-min irradiation sessions at the dose rate of 32.1 Gy/h, the repeatability of the induced charge was very good for all samples with the relative uncertainty below 3%. However, for continuous irradiation up to the absorbed dose of 20 Gy (10-min irradiation at the dose rate of 60 Gy/h), all samples exhibited significant current fall which can be attributed to the radiation-induced current gain degradation. As a result of the current degradation, the relationship between the induced charge and the absorbed dose was non-linear and it was demonstrated that the second order polynomial can be used as a calibration equation for determination of absorbed dose. The obtained results have shown that only one of the examined phototransistors may be a suitable candidate for gamma radiation dosimetry employing Co-60 source, since it has exhibited the highest current sensitivity, best linearity of the induced current with respect to dose rate and smallest dose rate dependence of the charge sensitivity.
Interaction of Finite NaCl Crystals with Infrared Radiation

Low-temperature measurements of the infrared absorption of small crystals of NaCl are made in the acoustical-mode frequency region. A large contribution to the absorption coefficient of small crystals is found which is not temperature-dependent and is not due to impurities. This absorption is observed to be more sensitive to the density of the powdered sample than to the crystal size. The fundamental absorption of small crystals of NaCl is also measured. The frequency of the peak absorption is seen to be insensitive to the number of crystals per unit volume. The material at the crystal interface strongly affects the shape of the transmission curve. A Green's-function calculation of the surface-induced infrared absorption is made. The surface is simulated by setting nearest-neighbor force constants between atoms in adjacent (001) planes equal to zero.
The emergence of diversity in plant communities.

Abstract The diversity of functional forms and strategies in plant communities is essential to the maintenance of the services that ecosystems provide humanity, and ultimately to the homeostasis of the biosphere. This diversity emerges from evolutionary forces operating at lower levels; these exploit the opportunities for specialization presented by exogenous and endogenous spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Two major theoretical approaches have been taken to understand how strategies arise and are maintained: optimization models, which consider the fitnesses of types in isolation, and game-theoretic methods, which take frequency dependence into account. The gametheoretic approach is more powerful, but also more challenging to apply. For some relatively simple problems in the study of biodiversity, we show how the game-theoretic formulation can be translated into an equivalent problem in optimization. More generally, however, new techniques will be needed to explore the dynamics of multiple coexisting types and strategies.
Dynamic Laser Speckle Interferometry Applied To Wave Propagation In Solids

When an optically rough surface is illuminated by a laser beam, multiple scattering results in a random inter-pattern called speckles. When these are recorded by double exposure before and after deformation of the surface, interference fringes are obtained upon optical Fourier filtering of the photographic record, and they are indicative of the speckles' spatial displacements. This pheno-menon is exploited in the paper to map stress waves in plates due to transverse and in-plane impact loading. The method of differential speckle interferometry is also introduced which is capable of mapping the particle velocity field of the plate.
Revolutions and shifting paradigms in human factors & ergonomics

The "Revolution in Information Technology" has spawned a series of transformational revolutions in the nature and practice of human factors and ergonomics (HFE). "Generation 1" HFE evolved with a focus on adapting equipment, workplace and tasks to human capabilities and limitations. Generation 2, focused on cognitive systems integration, arose in response to the need to manage automation and dynamic function allocation. Generation 3 is focused on symbiotic technologies that can amplify human physical and cognitive capabilities. Generation 4 is emergent and is focused on biological enhancement of physical or cognitive capabilities. The shift from HFE Generations 1 and 2 to Generations 3 and 4 profoundly alters accepted boundary constraints on the adaptability of humans in complex systems design. Furthermore, it has opened an ethical divide between those that see cognitive and physical enhancement as a great benefit to society and those who perceive this as tampering with the fundamentals of human nature.
Next generation modeling III - agents: a multi-paradigm simulator for simulating complex adaptive supply chain networks

This paper introduces a multi-paradigm dynamic system simulator based on discrete time and discrete event formalism for simulating a supply chain as a complex adaptive system. Little is known about why such a diversity of supply chain structures exist. Simulating dynamic supply chain networks over extended periods using the multiparadigm dynamic system simulator allows us to observe the emergence of different structures. The simulator is implemented using a software agent technology, where individual agents represent firms in a supply chain network. In this paper, we present an example scenario run on the simulator and the preliminary results that have been observed. This multi-paradigm tool provides a valuable investigation instrument for real life supply chain problems.
Chemosensory conditioning in molluscs: I. Failure of contextual conditioning inHermissenda

Aversive chemosensory conditioning altersHermissenda’s feeding behavior. But opposite behavioral changes have been reported, depending on whether discrete-trial or context-conditioning paradigms were used, raising questions about the roles of associative and nonassociative processes. We attempted to produce chemosensory contextual conditioning but failed to do so across a wide range of conditions. In Experiments 1–3, we observed large, nonspecific bite latency increases to shellfish extracts, regardless of whether they had signaled the presence or absence of shaking. In Experiment 4, we found that mere exposure to shellfish extract produced latency increases; vestibular stimulation was unnecessary. In a final experiment, using Y-maze choice tests, we failed to observe selective reductions in animals’ preference for shellfish paired with shaking. Nonassociative processes stemming from prolonged exposure to concentrated shellfish extracts appear to be major factors in our failure to demonstrate associative chemosensory contextual conditioning.
A Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Mentoring Program for College Students With ADHD

Abstract College students with ADHD are at increased risk for a number of functional impairments, the severity of which is of sufficient clinical significance to warrant intervention (DuPaul & Weyandt, 2009). Very little treatment research of this type has been conducted to date (Green & Rabiner, 2012). The need for such research is critical, given the increasing numbers of students with ADHD attending college (Pryor, Hurtado, DeAngelo, Blake, & Tran, 2010), their increased risk for dropping out of college, and the known negative life outcomes for which they may be at increased risk later as adults (Barkley, Murphy, & Fischer, 2008). To address this situation we recently developed and began testing Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success (ACCESS). The active phase of ACCESS provides group cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), accompanied by individual mentoring. Booster group CBT and mentoring sessions are provided during a maintenance phase. Preliminary findings have revealed significant increases in ADHD knowledge, use of organizational skills, and reductions in maladaptive thinking, all of which are presumed mechanisms of clinical change. Such changes have been accompanied by reductions in ADHD symptoms, improvements in executive functioning, educational benefits, improved emotional well-being, and increased use of disability services and other campus resources. Although promising, such findings are limited by the fact that ACCESS has thus far been tested in an open clinical trial. Thus, additional research is needed to determine its efficacy and effectiveness.
Search for Ultra-High Energy Tau Neutrinos in IceCube

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the geographic South Pole was designed with the primary goal of discovering high energy neutrinos from astrophysical objects such as active galactic nuclei and gamma ray bursts. IceCube completed construction in 2010 and has been collecting data throughout the construction phase. IceCube is sensitive to all three flavors of neutrinos, each of which has a distinct topological signature within the detector. At sufficiently high energies, the tau neutrino signature is a “double bang” from the charged current interaction of the neutrino and the decay of the tau lepton. At high energies, the tau neutrino has negligible background and would be an intriguing astrophysical signature. A dedicated search for ultra-high energy tau neutrinos (340 TeV–200 PeV) was performed using data from the partial IceCube detector, yielding a 90% CL upper limit of Eν2Φ90(νx)<16.3×10−8GeVcm−2sr−1s−1 on a diffuse astrophysical flux of UHE neutrinos.
Herder's Heritage and the Boundary-Making Approach: Studying Ethnicity in Immigrant Societies*

Major paradigms in immigration research, including assimilation theory, multiculturalism, and ethnic studies, take it for granted that dividing society into ethnic groups is analytically and empirically meaningful because each of these groups is characterized by a specific culture, dense networks of solidarity, and shared identity. Three major revisions of this perspective have been proposed in the comparative ethnicity literature over the past decades, leading to a renewed concern with the emergence and transformation of ethnic boundaries. In immigration research, “assimilation” and “integration” have been reconceived as potentially reversible, power-driven processes of boundary shifting. After a synthetic summary of the major theoretical propositions of this emerging paradigm, I offer suggestions on how to bring it to fruition in future empirical research. First, major mechanisms and factors influencing the dynamics of ethnic boundary-making are specified, emphasizing the need to disentangle them from o...
Second formant transitions of selected consonant-vowel combinations in the speech of deaf and normal-hearing children.

Although it is well known that the speech produced by the deaf is generally of low intelligibility, the sources of this low speech intelligibility have generally been ascribed either to aberrant ar...
Identification of Epitopes and Affinity Purification of Thyroid Stimulating Auto-Antibodies using Synthetic Human Tsh Receptor Peptides

We prepared a series of overlapping peptides (29 in total, 20 amino acids each) containing the sequence of the entire extracellular domain of the human TSH receptor. Three peptides (181-200, 376-394, and EC3 (629-639)) bound IgG from patients with Graves' disease in an enzyme linked immunoassay. Peptide 181-200 bound IgG from 9 of 10, EC3 from 8 of 10, and 376-394 from 6 of 10 patients respectively, compared to 0 of 9 controls. We affinity purified TSHr auto-antibodies from four Graves' patients using the three above noted peptides bound to epoxy-activated sepharose. Thyroid stimulating activity was enriched in the bound fraction from at least two of the three peptide affinity columns in each of the four patients, although the pattern of affinity enrichment differed between patients. One patient was found to possess a combination of stimulatory and inhibitory TSHr antibodies and, after affinity purification, the anti-3 76-394 and anti-EC3 fractions were enriched in stimulatory activity, suggesting that th...
A schematic model for monopole and quadrupole pairing in nuclei

Abstract A schematic Hamiltonian with a pairing interaction plus a quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between nucleons is presented. It is shown that all the states of the fermion system can be classified according to the number of nucleons u not coupled to coherent monopole or quadrupole pairs. The states with u = 0 are shown to have a one-to-one correspondence to the states of the interacting boson model. The spectra for these states are derived analytically for various limits of the pairing strength and the quadrupole strength. Analytical forms for the matrix elements of operators are derived for these limits. The operators in fermion space are mapped onto boson operators. The matrix elements of operators in the fermion space are shown to be equal to matrix elements of the boson operators multiplied by analytical Pauli factors which are state dependent. The two-nucleon transfer strength is calculated in two limits and is compared to experimental values.
Sensing and refilling calcium stores in an excitable cell

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-induced Ca2+ mobilization leads to depletion of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and an increase in Ca2+ entry. We show here for the gonadotroph, an excitable endocrine cell, that sensing of ER Ca2+ content can occur without the Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ current (Icrac), but rather through the coupling of IP3-induced Ca2+ oscillations to plasma membrane voltage spikes that gate Ca2+ entry. Thus we demonstrate that capacitative Ca2+ entry is accomplished through Ca(2+)-controlled Ca2+ entry. We develop a comprehensive model, with parameter values constrained by available experimental data, to simulate the spatiotemporal behavior of agonist-induced Ca2+ signals in both the cytosol and ER lumen of gonadotrophs. The model combines two previously developed models, one for ER-mediated Ca2+ oscillations and another for plasma membrane potential-driven Ca2+ oscillations. Simulations show agreement with existing experimental records of store content, cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), and electrical activity, and make a variety of new, experimentally testable predictions. In particular, computations with the model suggest that [Ca2+]i in the vicinity of the plasma membrane acts as a messenger for ER content via Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels and Ca2+ pumps in the plasma membrane. We conclude that, in excitable cells that do not express Icrac, [Ca2+]i profiles provide a sensitive mechanism for regulating net calcium flux through the plasma membrane during both store depletion and refilling.
Effects of Additional Materials on Preschool Children's Outdoor Play Behaviors

Abstract The existing conditions of a minimally equipped outdoor laboratory preschool environment in the northeastern United States were modified by adding housekeeping equipment, constructive equipment (blocks and trucks), or the combined housekeeping and constructive equipment under controlled conditions. The high level pretense, high level constructive, and cross-gender play behaviors of 18 children (g=7, b=11, m age=53 months) were studied through event sampling in the respective conditions. Investigators also recorded other play behaviors and interviewed children and teachers. Statistical analyses produced four significant findings: 1) boys and girls did not differ in the amount of high level pretense play events during the entire experimental period over all conditions, although they did differ in their amount of cross-gender play, with girls exhibiting more than boys; 2)boys and girls did not differ in the amount of high level pretense play or in cross-gender play within any one condition; 3) high ...
Observer effect from stateful resources in agent sensing

In many real-world applications of multi-agent systems, agent reasoning suffers from bounded rationality caused by both limited resources and limited knowledge. When agent sensing to overcome its knowledge limitations also requires resource use, the agent's knowledge refinement is affected due to its inability to always sense when and as accurately as needed, further leading to poor decision making. In this paper, we consider what happens when sensing actions require the use of stateful resources, which we define as resources whose state-dependent behavior changes over time based on usage. Current literature addressing agent sensing with limited resources primarily investigates stateless resources, such as avoiding the use of too much time or energy during sensing. However, sensing itself can change the state of a resource, and thus its behavior, which affects both the information gathered and the resulting knowledge refinement. This produces a phenomenon where the sensing action can and will distort its own outcome (and potentially future outcomes), termed the Observer Effect (OE) after the similar phenomenon in the physical sciences. Under this effect, when deliberating about when and how to perform sensing that requires use of stateful resources, an agent faces a strategic tradeoff between satisfying the need for (1) knowledge refinement to support its reasoning, and (2) avoiding knowledge corruption due to distorted sensing outcomes. To address this tradeoff, we model sensing action selection as a partially observable Markov decision process where an agent optimizes knowledge refinement while considering the (possibly hidden) state of the resources used during sensing. In this model, the agent uses reinforcement learning to learn a controller for action selection, as well as how to predict expected knowledge refinement based on resource use during sensing. Our approach is unique from other bounded rationality and sensing research as we consider how to make decisions about sensing with stateful resources that produce side effects such as the OE, as opposed to simply using stateless resources with no such side effect. We evaluate our approach in a fully and partially observable agent mining simulation. The results demonstrate that considering resource state and the OE during sensing action selection through our approach (1) yielded better knowledge refinement, (2) appropriately balanced current and future refinement to avoid knowledge corruption, and (3) exploited the relationship (i.e., high, positive correlation) between sensing and task performance to boost task performance through improved sensing. Further, our methodology also achieved good knowledge refinement even when the OE is not present, indicating that it can improve sensing performance in a wide variety of environments. Finally, our results also provide insights into the types and configurations of learning algorithms useful for learning within our methodology.
Overcoming the Separation Thesis The Needfor a Reconsideration of Business and Society Research

In his presentation at the 1993 Society of Business Ethics conference, Ed Freeman offered a provocative explanation for why the normative core of business and society (B&S) research is perceived as...
Regional cyclic GMP content in incubated tissue slices of rat brain.

Abstract Incubated tissue slices from different regions of the rat brain contained cyclic guanosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cyclic GMP) in the following descending order of content: cerebellum hypothalamus striatum thalamus-midbrain brain stem hippocampus cerebral cortex. Cholinomimetic agents at 10 −5 M (carbamylcholine, pilocarpine, acetylcholine and eserine) and papaverine at 10 −4 M significantly elevated cyclic GMP accumulation in the cerebral cortex. Three min incubation with carbamylcholine (10 −5 M) did not increase cyclic nucleotide accumulation in the remaining brain regions.
Pharmacokinetics and efficacy of liposomal polymyxin B in a murine pneumonia model

Polymyxin B (PB) is increasingly used as the last treatment for multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacterial infections. In this study, serum and epithelial lining fluid (ELF) pharmacokinetics and the efficacy of a PB liposomal formulation were investigated. Two groups of 24 Swiss Webster mice were intravenously administered PB liposomes or PB aqueous solution at ca. 3 mg/kg. Serum and ELF samples were collected for up to 6 h to quantify major PB components. Three groups of neutropenic mice (n = 6/group) were infected with a clinical MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain followed by intravenous administration of PB liposomes or PB aqueous solution at 3 mg/kg every 6 h or sham (drug-free) liposomes every 6 h. Bacterial burden in animal lung tissues was quantified after 24 h of therapy and was compared using one-way ANOVA. Survival of infected animals over time (n = 10/group) was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test. In the pharmacokinetic study, the AUC ratio in ELF between liposome and aqueous solution groups ranged from 4.6 to 11.1 for various major PB components. In the efficacy study, for strain PA 9019 a significantly lower bacterial burden was seen in the liposomal group (3.8 ± 0.7 vs. 7.9 ± 0.8 log(10)CFU/g in the aqueous solution group), which subsequently prolonged survival of infected animals. In this study, treatment with a PB liposomal formulation yielded higher drug penetration into pulmonary ELF, which resulted in superior efficacy. However, further investigations on the clinical utility of the PB liposomal formulation are warranted.
The acquired preparedness risk model applied to smoking in 5th grade children

The very early onset of smoking predicts numerous health problems. The authors conducted the first test of one risk model for elementary school age smoking, known as the acquired preparedness (AP) model of risk, in a cross-sectional sample of 309 5th grade children. The model posits that (a) impulsivity-related personality traits contribute to risk for a variety of risky, maladaptive behaviors; (b) smoking expectancies confer risk only for smoking; and (c) the personality traits contribute to the formation of high risk expectancies for reinforcement from smoking, which in turn increases the likelihood of early onset smoking. The model was supported: the high-risk personality traits distinguished children engaging in any risky, maladaptive behavior from other children, and the smoking expectancies differentiated smokers from all other children. The relationship between personality tendencies to act rashly when experiencing intense positive or negative emotions and smoker status was partially mediated by expectancies for reinforcement from smoking. This model should be investigated longitudinally.
The Mosher Guilt Scale: theoretical formulation, research review and normative data.

Summary The construct of trait guilt and the research results of the Mosher Guilt Scale were reviewed. Trait guilt is a personality predisposition to guilt that inhibits violation of moral standards. Normative data (N=862) for college and inmate males on the MGS were presented, along with personality correlates. The data supported the construct of trait guilt. Both sexual guilt and hostility guilt covaried with race and type of offense. The MGS offers promise for future research in assessing potential for acting out.
Organizational research on market transition: A sociological approach

The proliferation of transition economies provides a unique opportunity to study the formation and behavior of social and economic structures, and literature exploring these issues has grown dramatically in recent years. Sociologists have made important contributions to the study of transition, particularly to theories of organizations and organizational change in China. In this article, I provide a critical assessment of the state of sociological literature on the transition process. I take stock of research that studies the emergence of new organizational forms, the growth of entrepreneurship, and the development of markets in China. I conclude with suggestions for resolving central debates and otherwise extending the literature.
Activated dynamics at a non-disordered critical point

We present a non-randomly, frustrated lattice model which exhibits activated dynamics at a critical point. The phase transition involves ordering of large-scale structures which occur naturally within the model. Through the construction of a coarse-grained master equation, we show that the time scales diverge exponentially while the static fluctuations exhibit the usual power law divergences. We discuss the relevance of this scenario in the context of the glass transition in supercooled liquids.
A morphological study of the nervous system of the praesoma of Paulisentis fractus (Acanthocephala: Neoechinorhynchidae).

The nerve pathways in the praesoma are described for a member of the class Eoacanthocephala for the first time. Eleven nerves, five paired and one single, are traced from the cerebral ganglion to their associations with the musculature of the body wall, neck sense organs, and the musculature of the proboscis wall and the invertor muscles of the proboscis. The structure and location of the stutzzelle and series of nerve endings in the hypodermis of the body wall and at the apex of the proboscis are described.
Microsatellite to study plasma bubbles in ionosphere

An experimental instrument called the Flat Plasma Spectrometer, which was launched onboard a U.S. Air Force Academy microsatellite on 8 March, will study depletions in the ionosphere known as plasma bubbles that can disrupt satellite communications. The six-month mission will demonstrate the effectiveness of the new instrument, which has been reduced to the size of a teacup. Reducing the size, weight, and power consumption of satellite instruments, such as this one, is expected to lower the cost of construction and launch and allow more of them to be flown simultaneously
Shifting economies: From craft production to flexible systems and software factories

Abstract This article discusses the evolution of production systems from craft or job shops to conventional mass production and then to flexible design and production systems. The major argument is that factory systems and technologies have been evolving in two directions: First, they have become more versatile in the variety of products they can produce, resulting from innovations in production and design technology as well as management techniques. Second, companies have extended factory-like tools and techniques backward toward design operations, gradually bringing more discipline, automation, and thus efficiency into the realm of engineering work, including the relatively new field of computer programming. The result, in both manufacturing and design, has been a shift from simple scale economies, as in conventional mass production, to scope economies - efficiencies gained in the design and production of multiple products. An examination of how flexible-factory tools and techniques have been applied in large-scale software development illustrates these trends.
Parasitic Pneumonitis and Treatment in Horses

Parasitic pneumonitis is a potential source of lung disease in the horse. The most frequent parasites to affect the lung are Dictyocaulus arnfieldi, commonly seen in mature horses, and Parascaris equorum, most commonly seen in weanlings. Horses with D. arnfieldi infection often have a history of cohabitation with the parasite’s natural host, the donkey. The life cycles of D. arnfieldi and P. equorum are direct with ingestion of infective larvae or eggs, respectively, migration and maturation in the lung (D. arnfiedi) and intestine (P. equorum), and shedding of larvae (D. arnfiedi) or eggs (P. equorum) from the intestine in patent infections. Understanding the life cycle of these two parasites is essential for interpretation of the antemortem diagnostic tests used: the McMasters flotation and the Baermann technique. The prevalence of these two parasites has decreased over the last 20 years with the use of ivermectin.
The Cost of Cyclical Mortality

Sustained growth in both incomes and life spans are the hallmarks of modern development. Fluctuations around trend in the former, or business cycles, have been a traditional focus in macroeconomics, while similar cyclical patterns in mortality are also interesting and are now increasingly studied. In this paper, I assess the welfare implications of cyclical fluctuations in mortality using a standard model of intertemporal preferences. Mirroring the classic result of Lucas (1987) regarding business cycles, my findings suggest that short-term fluctuations in mortality are not very costly. Secular improvements in life expectancy and gains against static health inequalities appear to be much more important. JEL: E32; I10; J17;
Alzheimer's Disease A Selective Bibliography of United States Government Documents

In 1906 a German doctor, Louis Alzheimer, first recognized the brain abnormalities that are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. These abnormalities include clumps of dead brain cells (plaque) and tangled nerve fibers. In subsequent years more research was done on the causes and effects of Alzheimer's. Primarily found in people over age 65, the disease creates a loss of memory to the extent that the patient cannot engage in day‐to‐day activities. Current memories are the most affected; childhood memories are often left intact.
The effect of frequency doubled double pulse Nd:YAG laser fiber proximity to the target stone on transient cavitation and acoustic emission.

Purpose: Scant information has been published describing the effect of laser fiber distance from the stone target on the mechanism of calculus fragmentation. Using high speed photography and acoustic emission measurements we characterized the impact of laser fiber proximity on stone comminution. We evaluated the effect of laser fiber distance from the stone target on resultant cavitation bubble formation and shock wave generation.Materials and Methods: Stone fragmentation was assessed using a FREDDY (frequency doubled double pulse Nd:YAG) (World of Medicine, Orlando, Florida) laser and a holmium laser. The FREDDY laser was operated using a 420 μm fiber at an output energy of 120 and 160 mJ in single and double pulse settings, and a pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz. The holmium laser was operated using a 200 μm fiber at an output energy of 1 to 3 J and a pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz. The surface of a 1 cm square BegoStone (Bego, Bremen, Germany) attached to an X-Y-Z translational stage was aligned perpendicu...
Sleep compression treatment of an insomnoid

Individuals having a small physiological need for sleep, but uninformed as to their atypical status, may inadvertently create sleep pattern anomalies. The result of such need/goal disparities is distinguished by a lack of daytime sleepiness despite nighttime sleep disturbance, and may be termed an insomnoid state. Herein we report on such a case, a 59-year-old retiree who complained of poorly managed, severe insomnia. The present treatment included unsuccessful trials of ocular relaxation and stimulus control. The third treatment—sleep compression—consisted of sleep education and gradual constriction of time in bed. Over 8 months of sleep compression, self-reported quantitative and qualitative sleep parameters evinced dramatic improvement, though the client was now sleeping merely 3 hours per night. At seven-year follow-up, gains had deteriorated somewhat, but sleep was still much improved over the early treatment level. A theory of insomnoid states is advanced, stipulating causal mechanisms, tailored interventions, and dependent measures.
On the mechanism of impaired in vitro generation of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine from thyroxine in the livers of hypothyroid rats.

It has been demonstrated previously that in rat liver, the generation of T3 from T4 (T3) neogenesis) is mediated by an enzyme present in the crude microsomal fraction and that the activity of the enzyme is enhanced by cofactors present in the cytosol. The present studies were undertaken to evaluate the respective roles of microsomal and cytosolic factors in producing the impaired hepatic T3 neogenesis previously shown to occur in hypothyroid rats. To this end, T3 neogenesis was assessed in mixtures of microsomes and buffer or microsomes and cytosols from intact and thyroidectomized rats in the presence and absence of added cofactors. Regardless of whether studies were conducted with buffer, normal cytosol, or cytosol from hypothyroid animals, microsomes from normal animals consistently generated more T3 from T3 than did microsomes from hypothyroid animals. Moreover, although glutathione (GSH) in buffer greatly stimulated T.i neogenesis in control microsomes, it had little such effect in microsomes from hy...
Religious School Differences in School Climate and Academic Mission: A Descriptive Overview of School Organization and Student Outcomes

School sector differences have been the subject of much debate in the literature, but there is limited data that allows careful consideration of differences within the religious school sector. The extensive Catholic school effects literature focuses on issues of school climate, especially an emphasis on persons-in-community, or communal organization (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993). But less is known about sector differences in school climate across evangelical Protestant, Catholic, and nonreligious private schools, particularly as these differences vary between the United States and Canada. This study uses descriptive analysis of national-level survey data from the Cardus Education Study to show average differences across detailed school sectors on several measures of school climate and mission. It finds a strong focus on relational goals in evangelical Protestant schools and an emphasis on academic outcomes in Catholic schools. The findings also point to nearly uniformly positive evaluations from private sc...
Developmental pattern of maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure in infants during crying.

Summary: Diaphragm strength was measured as maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) during airway occlusion in 38 infants aged 11.6 ± 0.5 (S.E.) months postconception (mpc), range 8–21 mpc. All infants were asymptomatic at the time of study and required no mechanical ventilatory assistance. Ten infants had previous surgical correction of abdominal wall defects (gastroschisis/omphalocele); 10 infants had previous surgical correction of congenital diaphragmatic hernia; and 18 infants had no thoracic or abdominal surgery. The mean maximal Pdi for all infants was 72 ± 3 cmH2O. There were no significant differences between the three groups. All infants with a maximal Pdi of less than 60 cmH2O were aged less than 10 mpc. After 13 mpc there was no significant increase in maximal Pdi. Between the ages 8–13 mpc there was a significant positive correlation between maximal Pdi and age postconception (r = 0.87, P < 0.0005), reflecting a developmental pattern of increasing maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure in infants during crying.
Normally-off GaN-on-Si multi-chip module boost converter with 96% efficiency and low gate and drain overshoot

A high efficiency synchronous GaN half-bridge boost converter with fast switching and low overshoot is achieved by minimizing parasitic inductance and critical damping the gate drive. A normally-off GaN-on-Si 2.4kW synchronous halfbridge Multi-Chip Module (MCM) is designed with a power-loop inductance of ~4nH using transmission-line techniques to minimize inductance. The gate circuit inductance is reduced to 1nH using bare MOSFET die for driving the GaN gates and a 0.5mil flexible substrate gate transmission-line. Configured as a boost converter with no added gate resistance, the synchronous half-bridge switches 400V in only 1.3ns. The high voltage slew rates of 325V/ns results in overshoot of 200V on the drain and 4V overshoot on the gate, both of which may damage the GaN switches. Critically damping the gate turn-on reduces overshoot to safe levels of 1V gate overshoot and ~20V drain overshoot. The gate damping increases drain fall time to 3ns, which only decreases efficiency by 0.2% at 1MHz. The resulting synchronous boost converter has an efficiency of 96%, switching 300V at 1MHz with 50% duty cycle and an output power of 2.4kW. The high efficiency of GaN switches and the 0.6C/W thermal resistance of the MCM enable a maximum junction temperature of 65°C.
Identification of stochastic finite-state systems

A mathematical formulation of the identification problem of stochastic finite-state systems is introduced which includes the diagnosing, homing and machine identification problems as special cases. Algorithms for solving the last three problems are presented. Stability of the solution of the identification problems is also discussed.