cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Determination of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine in maternal plasma, amniotic fluid, placental and fetal tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Abstract 2′,3′-Dideoxycytidine (DDC) is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor that has been shown to inhibit the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). DDC is a candidate for treatment of pregnant women to prevent prenatal transmission of HIV/AIDS to their unborn children. A quick and simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the determination of DDC concentrations in samples collected from a pregnant rat model (maternal plasma, amniotic fluid, placental and fetal tissues). Extraction of DDC and its internal standard 2′,3′-dideoxy-3′-thiacytidine (3TC) in plasma and amniotic fluid was carried out by protein precipitation. Extraction from placental and fetal homogenates was achieved by solid phase extraction using Waters Oasis HLB solid phase extraction cartridges. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters Spherisorb S3W silica column (4.6 mm × 100 mm) equipped with a Phenomenex guard column. The mobile phase used was 10% methanol in water with 22 mM formic acid. The flow rate was 0.5 ml/min, and the detection wavelength was optimized at 275 nm. Under these chromatographic conditions, DDC eluted around 12 min, and 3TC eluted around 10 min. The calibration curves for each day of validation and analysis showed good linear response through the range of 0.15–75.0 μg/ml in each of the four matrices. The relative recovery for DDC in each of the matrices ranged from 87.8% to 103.0%. Acceptable intra- and inter-day assay precision (
Perioperative monitoring in high-risk infants after stage 1 palliation of univentricular congenital heart disease

Objective Survival of high-risk patients with univentricular heart disease after Norwood palliation is reduced. We hypothesized that early goal-directed monitoring with venous oximetry and near-infrared spectroscopy would offset their increased vulnerability and improve survival. Methods A prospective database of patients undergoing stage 1 palliation was used to assess differences in outcomes across risk groups in the setting of a comprehensive, goal-directed monitoring program. High-risk criteria included gestational age 35 weeks or less, birth weight less than 2.5 kg, and additional cardiac or extracardiac anomalies. Outcomes included survival to defined end points and measures of postoperative support. Results From September 2000 to September 2008, 162 patients underwent stage 1 palliation: 28% (45/162) high-risk and 72% (117/162) standard-risk patients. Lesions other than hypoplastic left heart syndrome were more common among high-risk patients (38%, 17/45, vs 15%, 18/117, P = .003). Operative survival was not statistically different(87%, 39/45, high risk vs 95%, 111/117, standard risk, P = .1). High-risk patients were more likely to receive inpatient treatment until stage 2 palliation (24%, 11/45, vs 10%, 12/117, P = .001) and had lower 1-year survival (78% vs 93%, P = .01) and survival to date (71% vs 92%, P = .001). Conclusions Intensive monitoring partially offset biologic vulnerability of high-risk patients, helping attain comparable early outcomes. Vulnerability persisted throughout the interstage period, however, and increased mortality beyond cavopulmonary shunt was seen only among high-risk patients. Although enhanced monitoring reduced early mortality, high resource use and attrition after stage 2 palliation suggest an ongoing need to evaluate our current palliative strategy for this subset of patients.
Changes in vitamin K status of growing horses

Summary Serum samples from 15 suckling foals, 119 days of age, of Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred breeding, that were weaned at either 140 days of age (EW) or 182 days of age (LW) were used to measure changes in vitamin K status over time and to assess the effect of age at weaning on vitamin K status. Jugular venous blood samples were collected from each foal at the start of the experiment and 21-day intervals thereafter, with the exception of a one-week interval post-weaning in both groups. The study continued for 84 days post-weaning in both groups. Serum was analyzed for total osteocalcin and hydroxyapatite binding capacity of serum osteocalcin (HABOC) which was calculated as follows: HABOC = [(total serum osteocalcin — serum osteocalcin following extraction of serum with hydroxyapatite)/total serum osteocalcin]x100. Osteocalcin's capacity to bind hydroxyapatite is vitamin K-dependant and, therefore, is used as a marker of vitamin K status. Hydroxyapatite binding capacity of serum osteocalcin increased (quadratic; P
DEATH AND GOD: THE CASE OF RICHARD SWINBURNE

In The Existence of God, Richard Swinburne offers several arguments for the claim that death is not a surprising phenomenon on the assumption that God exists. I try to show that his arguments fail individually and when taken collectively. Further, I claim that the kinds of assumptions involved in his arguments can plausibly be used to argue that death would be surprising if God exists and therefore that death counts as evidence against God's existence. Finally, I argue that Swinburne's claims create problems for theists who believe in eternal life after death since his arguments seem to entail that God would have good reason for denying us eternal life beyond the grave.
On Banach lattices of operators

Let Λ1 and Λ2 be infinte-dimensional, Banach lattices such thatc o is not finitely representable in Λ2. Then the bounded linear operators from Λ1 to Λ2 form a lattice if and only if Λ1 is an abstract AL space.
Septic peripheral embolization from bacterial and fungal endocarditis

Arterial embolization is second only to cardiac failure as a potentially lethal complication of acute infectious endocarditis. Embolization may be encountered with increasing frequency due to the prolongation of life afforded by antibiotics and cardiac valve replacement surgery. While distal organs are more often affected, peripheral embolization of the lower extremities is by no means rare. Over a two-year period, we have treated six patients with acute infectious endocarditis who developed lower extremity ischemia. Four patients had Gram positive bacterial endocarditis while two immunosuppressed patients developed fungal endocarditis. Treatment of all six patients included lower extremity embolectomy or bypass grafting and long-term intravenous antimicrobial or antifungal therapy. Cardiac valve replacement was required in all six patients. All lower extremities were successfully reperfused, and no patient required amputation. Although the four patients with bacterial endocarditis survived, the two patients with fungal endocarditis eventually died. In conclusion, aggressive use of arteriography, embolectomy, antimicrobial drugs, and cardiac valve replacement appear to offer the best chance for survival and limb salvage for arterial embolism related to endocarditis.
Conversation skills training for obsessive speech using an aversive-cueing procedure

Abstract A chronic obsessive speaking style was successfully modified by using an innovative variation of conversation skills training. the social Validity of the training effect was assessed. There was continued improvement at three and six-month follow-up. The procedure is efficient and practical.
Reduction in the mechanonociceptive response by intrathecal administration of glycine and related compounds

We have previously reported that enhanced glycine release is produced by epidural spinal cord stimulation, a clinical method for treating neuropathic pain. Our current hypothesis is that glycine administered intrathecally reduces neuropathic pain as measured by the Randall-Selitto method. Neuropathic rats created by unilateral partial ligation of the sciatic nerve were treated with intrathecal infusion of glycine, strychnine, MK-801, or 5,7-DKA at 0.1 mumol, or artificial CSF for 2 hours at a rate of 10 microliters/min. Force required to produce the pain response was significantly increased after glycine administration and reduced using strychnine, a specific glycine receptor (Gly l) antagonist. Strychnine blocked the response to glycine when infused together. Administration of the non-specific NMDA receptor MK-801 antagonist and 5,7-DKA, a specific glycine-NMDA receptor (Gly 2) antagonist, however, failed to block the response to glycine. Our results provide evidence for the use of glycine and related compounds to treat neuropathic pain.
Multi-band multi-standard local oscillator generation for direct up/down conversion transceiver architectures supporting WiFi and WiMax bands in standard 45nm CMOS process

A highly linear LO generation architecture for direct up/down conversion transceiver is designed in standard 45nm 1.15V digital CMOS process. The spectral purity is better than 50dBc for WiFi and 45dBc for WiMax. The frequency plan is targeted to overcome the VCO pulling due to on-chip transmit power amplifiers. This architecture generates LO frequencies for WiFi 802.11b/g and WiMax 802.16e bands covering 2.3–2.7GHz, 3.3–3.8GHz and 4.8–5.8GHz from narrow input VCO range of 8–9.6GHz. Integrated (1k–40MHz) phase noise contribution is lower than 60dBc across all three bands.
GM crops, the environment and sustainable food production

Today, over 7.1 billion people rely on the earth’s resources for sustenance, and nearly a billion people are malnourished, their minds and bodies unable to develop properly. Globally, population is expected to rise to more than 9 billion by 2050. Given the combined pressures of human population growth, the rapidly growing desire for increased levels of consumption, and the continued use of inappropriate technologies, it is not surprising that humans are driving organisms to extinction at an unprecedented rate. Many aspects of the sustainable functioning of the natural world are breaking down in the face of human-induced pressures including our individual and collective levels of consumption and our widespread and stubborn use of destructive technologies. Clearly, agriculture must undergo a redesign and be better and more effectively managed so as to contribute as well as possible to feeding people, while at the same time we strive to lessen the tragic loss of biodiversity and damage to all of its productive systems that the world is experiencing. For GM crops to be part of the solution, biosafety assessments should not be overly politically-driven or a burdensome impedance to delivering this technology broadly. Biosafety scientists and policy makers need to recognize the undeniable truth that inappropriate actions resulting in indecision also have negative consequences. It is no longer acceptable to delay the use of any strategy that is safe and will help us achieve the ability to feed the world’s people.
An experimental performance evaluation of Touchstone Delta Concurrent File System

For a high-performance parallel machine to be a scalable system, it must afso have a scalable parallel 1/0 system. This paper presents an experimental evaluation of the Intel Touchstone Delta’s Concurrent File System ( CFS). The main objective of the study is to determine the maximum file read/write rates for various configurations of 1/0 and compute nodes. In addition, we study the effects of file access modes, buffer sizes and file sizes on the system performance. In most cases, the result shows that performance of CFS scales as the number of disks is increased, but the sustained performance improvements are much lower than the system’s peak capacity. If’e observe that the performance of CFS scales with the number of processors in the beginning, however, a plateu a quickly reached due to the 1/0 system bottleneck and enormous software overhead, especially that of synchronization. Finally we also show that the performance of the CFS can greatly vary for various data distributions commonly employed in scientific and engineering applications.
Hemorrhage from carcinoma of the lung

During a retrospective analysis of 877 cases of lung cancer, we explored the relationships between cell type, site, cavitation, varying degrees of hemoptysis, and radiation therapy. Massive terminal hemoptysis (29 cases) was found to be significantly associated with cavitated (P less than 0.0001 squamous cell carcinoma (P = 0.0002), ARISING IN EITHER THE RIGHT OR LEFT MAIN BRONCHI (P less than 0.0001). Lesser, nonlethal degrees of hemoptysis (140 cases) were not cell-type associated, occurring in approximately 15% of cases of all major tumor types. Radiotherapy, although employed more frequently in the massive-hemoptysis population, did not appear to be causally related to hemoptysis of any degree. An interesting case, which provoked the above study, is described: a patient with bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma and terminal hemoptysis due to a tumor fistula between the primary lesion and the left atrial chamber. The forms of cardiac involvement in lung cancer are discussed.
Myths of Ethnicity and Nation: Immigration, Work, and Identity in the Belize Banana Industry

Myths of Ethnicity and Nation: Immigration, Work, and Identity in the Belize Banana Industry. MARK MOBERG. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1997. xxxvi. 218 pp., appendix, notes, references, index.
Production Of Optical Coordinate Transform Filters By A Computer Controlled Scanning Interferometric Pattern System

Optical filters which are capable of performing discrete two-dimensional coordinate transformations for space-variant image processing are described. Several examples of space variant image processing are given, including the application of conformal mapping to a problem in potential flow theory. With simple optical arrangements, both the forward and inverse transformations can be performed with the same filter. Production of these filters by a microcomputer controlled scanning Interferometric Pattern System is detailed.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Developing utility functions for environmental decision making

The selection of a technology for the cleanup of a contaminated site is complicated by the involvement of multiple stakeholders with conflicting objectives. Multi-attribute decision analysis can be employed to assess the impact of the alternative technologies on a number of performance measures and to rank these alternatives according to the preferences of each stakeholder. In this paper, we present an approach to constructing the utility functions that decision analysis requires using stakeholder input. The proposed approach is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process and accounts for linguistic imprecision in the stakeholder assessments. The experience from a real case study is reported and discussed.
Effects of incident UV light on the surface morphology of MBE grown GaAs

Abstract Light-assisted molecular beam epitaxy is a promising technique for improving the growth of metastable semiconductor alloys traditionally grown at low temperatures. The effect of photon irradiation on adatom incorporation dynamics is studied for GaAs homoepitaxy on vicinal surfaces. Irradiation is found to increase the temperature at which the growth mode transitions from layer-by-layer island nucleation to step flow growth and to alter the surface morphology. These surprising changes are discussed in the context of modification of adatom diffusion and incorporation processes.
Downstream benthic responses to small dam removal in a coldwater stream

Increased awareness of the negative effects of dams combined with an aging dam infrastructure has led to an increase in dam removals. However, ecological responses of downstream biota to such actions are poorly understood. We examined the influence of a pair of small dam removals on downstream periphyton and macroinvertebrates in Boulder Creek, WI (USA). The dams were 180 m apart and both were removed on 9 July 2003. We monitored algae and macroinvertebrates as well as habitat characteristics for approximately 2 months before and after the removals upstream and downstream from the two dams, and continued our observations over a similar period (mid-May to mid-July) the following summer. After the removals, an initial release of sediment significantly increased the proportion of fine sediments in the downstream reach and buried benthic substrate. This burial led to a 60% reduction in chlorophyll in the downstream reach the week following removal, while concentrations increased in the upstream reference reach. Similarly, macroinvertebrate densities 2 weeks post-removal were lower relative to pre-removal densities and were associated with declines of ephemeropterans, trichopterans and dipterans. Examination of Trichoptera genera demonstrated substantial changes in this assemblage associated with diminished densities of the formerly dominant genus Brachycentrus. Algal and invertebrate populations increased in the weeks after the dam removal, but did not reach densities similar to the upstream reference reach. In the following year, both periphyton and invertebrate densities were lower in the downstream reach, suggesting a long-term effect of the removal. Thus, effects of the dam removal were alternatively positive or negative over time, and indicate that the time scale of consideration has a strong effect on the interpretation of the consequences of this management activity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The new economic policy and permanent migration in Zhejiang Province, China.

This article examines the impact of economic reforms on the volume and characteristics of permanent migration in Zhejiang Province China. The data suggest that the new economic policy induced a surge in permanent migration during the post-reform years. Such positive impact of the reform on permanent migration has started to fade away in 1985 as government relaxed its control over residence. Moreover market mechanisms started playing a more important role in employment exchange and consumption. The data also suggest that the new economic policy has particularly favored the better educated and thereby increased educational differentials between permanent migrants and nonmigrants. For all other characteristics examined the results show consistently that post-reform migrants are less differentiated from nonmigrants than their pre-reform counterparts. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America. (EXCERPT)
The Role of Social Support in the Transition From Foster Care to Emerging Adulthood

Many youth leave foster care with disrupted relationships with their family and others in their social networks. Previous research has documented the severe adversity that former foster youth face in the transition to young adulthood. Perhaps some difficulties are at least partially related to a lack of social support that results from frayed relationships. This article reviews the literature on social support, particularly as it relates to foster youth, for the purpose of examining the role that formal and informal supports play in the transition to adulthood. The implications of this literature for successful transitions for former foster youth are discussed, as well as ways child welfare workers can engage youth and their families, and help them develop supportive social networks.
Contaminant transport in fractured rocks with significant matrix permeability, using natural fracture geometries

Abstract Some results from numerical models of flow and contaminant transport in fractured permeable rocks, where fractures are more conductive than rock matrix, are described. The 2D flow field in the fractured and permeable rock matrix is calculated using a finite difference, ‘conductance mesh’ method, and the contaminant transport is simulated by particle tracking methods using an advection-biased, random walk technique. The model is applied to simulated and naturally occurring fracture patterns. The simulated pattern is an en echelon array of unconnected fractures, as an example of a common, naturally occurring fracture geometry. Two natural fracture patterns are used: one of unconnected, sub-parallel fractures and one with oblique fracture sets which is well connected. Commonly occurring matrix permeability and fracture aperture values are chosen. The simulations show that the presence of fractures creates complex and heterogeneous flow fields and contaminant distribution in the permeable rock matrix. The modelling results have shown that some effects are non-intuitive and therefore difficult to foresee without the help of a model. With respect to contaminant transport rates and plume heterogeneity, it was found that fracture connectivity (crucial when the matrix is impermeable) can play a secondary role to fracture orientation and density. Connected fracture systems can produce smooth break-through curves of contaminants summed over, for example, a bore-hole length, whereas in detail the contaminant plume is spatially highly heterogeneous. Close to a constant-pressure boundary (e.g. an extraction bore-hole), flow and contaminants can be channelled by fractures. Thus observations at a bore-hole may suggest that contaminants are largely confined to the fracture system, when, in fact, significant contamination resides in the matrix.
Mechanism of boron-induced strengthening of grain boundaries in Ni3Al

Abstract Poor cohesive strength of grain boundaries in strongly ordered Ni3Al is due to porous structure of grain boundaries with crack-like microcavities which open up under small tensile stresses. Interstitial B atoms in Ni-rich Ni3Al reduce the strength of directional bonding between Ni and Al atoms in the interior of the grains. When two such grains with reduced Ni—Al bonding meet each other, the atoms near the grain boundary can relax more easily and the size of the microcavities is reduced. Furthermore, interstitial B atoms increase ductility in the interior of grains so that dislocations can be easily generated to shield the tips of cracks initiated from the cavities, providing increased resistance to intergranular fracture. Evidence for the above mechanism of B-induced strengthening of grain boundaries in Ni3Al is presented.
2011 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference Track Summaries

In a weekend of pedagogical fury, members of the Simulations and Role Play II track queried their peers to refine their ideas, presented data on the effectiveness of simulations as pedagogical tools, and shared methods of using simulations in the classroom. Paper presentations and discussions examined simulations from a variety of paradigmatic perspectives, including the use of simulations as summative assessment instruments, the role of competition in generating targeted learning outcomes, and the difficulty in balancing pedagogical objectives with design constraints.
Interpersonal influences on late adolescent girls' and boys' disordered eating.

Abstract Perceived socio-cultural pressure to be thin has an important impact on disordered eating during early and middle adolescence, but less is known about late adolescence. Most prospective studies included only girls, and less is known about the influence on boys. This study investigated interpersonal influences on changes in late adolescent boys' and girls' symptoms of disordered eating over one year. Participants were a community sample of late adolescents 16–19 years of age ( N = 199; 49.75% girls), their mothers, and friends. Structural equation modeling revealed that interpersonal pressure to be thin and criticism about appearance predicted increases in disordered eating over time. Late adolescents', mothers' and friends' reports of pressure were associated with disordered eating at Time 1 and Time 2. Further, adolescents' perceptions and friends' reports of pressure to be thin predicted changes in disordered eating over time. Findings underscore the significance of interpersonal relationships for disordered eating during late adolescence in both girls and boys.
Generation and use of mechanical step transients in dynamic measurement

An obstacle to the analysis and synthesis of dynamically loaded structures is the difficulty of measuring the lumped mechanical circuit constants over a sufficiently wide frequency band. This article describes a technique for measuring the wide frequency band mechanical impedances of small structures utilizing a Hopkinson pressure bar. One of the difficulties in using a Hopkinson pressure bar is to obtain absolutely plane contact between the plane ends of the impacting bars. Effective means of achieving this are described.
The concentration and isotopic composition of carbon in basaltic glasses from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Pacific Ocean

The abundance and C-13/C-12 ratios of carbon were analyzed in basaltic glass from twenty locations along the Juan de Fuca Ridge using a 3-step combustion/extraction technique. Carbon released during the first two combustion steps at 400-500 C and 600-650 C is interpreted to be secondary, and only the carbon recovered during a final combustion step at about 1200 C is thought to be indigenous to the samples. For carbon released at about 1200 C, glasses analyzed as 1-2 mm chips contained 23-146 ppm C with delta C-13 values of -4.8 to -9.3 per mil, whereas samples crushed to 38-63 microns or 63-90 microns yielded 56-103 ppm C with delta C-13 values of -6.1 to -9.2 per mil. The concentrations and isotopic compositions of the primary carbon dissolved in the glasses and present in the vesicles are similar to those previously reported for other ocean-ridge basalts. The Juan de Fuca basaltic magmas were not in equilibrium with respect to carbon when they erupted and quenched on the sea floor. Evidence of disequilibrium includes (1) a large range of carbon contents among glasses collected at similar depths, (2) a highly variable calculated carbon isotopic fractionation between melt and vapor determined by comparing crushed and uncrushed splits of the same sample, and (3) a lack of correlation between vesicle abundance, carbon concentration, and depth of eruption. Variations in carbon concentration and delta C-13 ratios along the ridge do not correlate with major element chemistry. The observed relationship between carbon concentrations and delta C-13 values may be explained by late-stage, variable degrees of open-system (Rayleigh-like) degassing.
Environmental factors influencing EPR in Mn12-Ac and Fe8Br

Abstract A multi-high-frequency (40–200 GHz) resonant cavity perturbation technique yields distortion-free high-field EPR spectra for oriented single crystal samples of the uniaxial and biaxial spin S =10 single molecule magnets (SMMs) Mn 12 -Ac and Fe 8 Br. We examine quantitatively the temperature dependence of the EPR linewidths and line shifts for fixed frequency measurements with an applied magnetic field along the easy axis. Simulations of the obtained experimental data take into account various environmental couplings, including intermolecular spin–spin interactions (dipolar and exchange), as well as distributions in the zero-field crystal field parameters. The temperature dependence of the linewidths and the line shifts are mainly caused by spin–spin interactions. For Fe 8 Br and Mn 12 -Ac, the calculated line shifts and linewidths agree well with the observed experimental trends. The linewidths for Fe 8 Br reveal a stronger temperature dependence than those for Mn 12 -Ac because, for the latter, a much wider distribution in D overshadows the temperature dependence of the spin–spin interactions. For Fe 8 Br, the line-shift analysis suggests two competing interactions: a weak effective ferromagnetic exchange coupling between neighboring molecules, and a longer-range antiferromagnetic dipolar interaction. For Mn 12 -Ac, a pronounced modulation of the EPR lineshapes for transverse applied fields suggests the possibility of a solvent-disorder-induced transverse anisotropy, as has recently been proposed by other groups. These findings could have implications for the mechanism of quantum tunneling of magnetization in both of these SMMs.
Computational thinking: modeling applied to the teaching and learning of English

In this paper, we describe the first phase of a cross-disciplinary project between computing and English faculty who explored how computational thinking skills such as abstraction, modeling, and iteration can be used to support English faculty in teaching students to write well. This initial phase of collaboration focused on developing and applying a model to capture fundamental concepts for teaching composition with special emphasis on those related to clarity. We iteratively developed a complex concept map that can act as a curriculum planning and teaching tool. In the next phase of the project, we plan to adapt selected exercises from traditional writing courses to include computational approaches such as modeling, and to test which audiences benefit from these revised exercises.
Point Estimates of Ordinates of Concave Functions

Abstract A method is developed for obtaining maximum likelihood estimates of points on a surface of unspecified algebraic form when ordinates of the points are required to satisfy a set of linear inequalities. A production function with one variable input is considered in some detail. In this case the restrictions follow from the assumption of non-increasing returns. An illustrative computation is worked out using a procedure based on equivalence between the estimation problem and a certain saddle point problem. Alternative procedures for production functions with two variable inputs are sketched.
The industrial food stream and its alternatives in the United States: an introduction.

The United States has experienced the development of two food "streams." One is based on an industrial model and is dominated by a handful of large, integrated transnational corporations. The other relies on direct marketing that links food producers with consumers. Although the latter food stream is small by the standards of industrial agribusiness, it is growing rapidly. The articles in this collection address various aspects of industrial food production and its alternatives. They provide much-needed information on how the two food streams actually work and what they mean for communities.
Course analysis: Techniques and guidelines

Abstract Course analysis techniques have been developed over the last 25 years for academic libraries. The resulting course descriptions have been used in a wide range of library assessment and decision-making projects. This article compares many of the techniques and descriptive formats available and establishes principles for choosing among them.
Bayesian look ahead one-stage sampling allocations for selection of the best population

From k independent normal populations with unknown means and a common known variance, Bayesian selection procedures are considered for finding that population which has the largest mean. Suppose that a first stage has been completed already, where k samples have been observed, which may be of different sizes. Let there be m additional observations allowed to be taken at a future second stage. The problem of interest treated here is how to allocate these m observations in an optimum way among the k populations, given all of the information, prior and first stage observations, gathered so far. This allocation problem will be formulated and discussed in a more general framework, and specific results will be presented for the normal case with independent conjugate priors under linear loss.
Effective mass of three-body complexes for finite-range potentials on a lattice.

For the bound state of three identical lattice bosons interacting via attractive potentials (with strength U, range r, and repulsive core ${U}_{0}$) we investigate how its mass depends on U for large U. We find that the mobility of this bound complex depends strongly on r and that for a nearest-neighbor interaction (r=1) it may depend strongly on ${U}_{0}$.
Role of Reduced Graphene Oxide in the Critical Components of a CdS-Sensitized TiO2-Based Photoelectrochemical Cell

Nitrogen (N)-doped reduced graphene oxide (nRGO) is systematically incorporated into a TiO(2) -CdS photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell and its role is examined in the three main components of the cell: 1) the CdS-sensitized TiO(2) photoanode, 2) the cathode, and 3) the S(2-)/S(.-) aqueous redox electrolyte. The nRGO layer is sandwiched between TiO(2) nanorods (deposited by using a solvothermal method) and CdS (deposited by using the successive ionic-layer-adsorption and -reaction method). Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS) reveals the spatial distribution of CdS and nRGO, whereas nRGO formation is evident from Mott Schottky analysis. Chronoamperometry and PEC analysis indicate that upon incorporation of nRGO, a photocurrent density that is at least 27 times higher than that of pristine TiO(2) is achieved; this increase is attributable to the ability of the nRGO to efficiently separate and transport charges. Stability analysis performed by continuous photoillumination over ∼3 h indicates a 26% and 42 % reduction in the photocurrent in the presence and absence of the nRGO respectively. Formation of SO(4)(2-) is identified as the cause for this photocurrent reduction by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is also shown that nRGO-coated glass is as effective as a Pt counter electrode in the PEC cell. Unlike the benefits offered by nRGO at the anode and cathode, introducing it in the redox electrolyte is detrimental. Systematic and complementary electrolyte and film-based studies on this aspect reveal evidence of the capacitive behavior of nRGO. Competition between the nRGO and the oxidized electrolyte is identified, based on linear-sweep voltammetry analysis, as the limiting step to efficient charge transport in the electrolyte.
Mechanism of the enzyme-catalyzed oxidation of Cypridina and firefly luciferins studied by means of 17O2 and H218O1

Mass spectral analyses of the CO2 liberated in the Cypridina luciferin-luciferase and firefly luciferin-luciferase reactions run in the presence of 17O2 and H218O show that the product is predominantly C18O16O (mass 46) and not C17O16O (mass 45). Incorporation of 18O into medium CO2 by exchange does not account for the observed results. These experiments provide evidence that the Cypridina and firefly bioluminescence reactions proceed via a linear peroxide mechanism rather than the dioxetane mechanism and suggest that a common mechanism may underly many bioluminescence reactions.
Coordinate Roles for LIM Homeobox Genes in Directing the Dorsoventral Trajectory of Motor Axons in the Vertebrate Limb

Motor neurons extend axons along specific trajectories, but the molecules that control their pathfinding remain poorly defined. We show that two LIM homeodomain transcription factors, Lim1 and Lmx1b, control the initial trajectory of motor axons in the developing mammalian limb. The expression of Lim1 by a lateral set of lateral motor column (LMC) neurons ensures that their axons select a dorsal trajectory in the limb. In a complementary manner, the expression of Lmx1b by dorsal limb mesenchymal cells controls the dorsal and ventral axonal trajectories of medial and lateral LMC neurons. In the absence of these two proteins, motor axons appear to select dorsal and ventral trajectories at random. Thus, LIM homeodomain proteins act within motor neurons and cells that guide motor axons to establish the fidelity of a binary choice in axonal trajectory.
Maximum Covariance Unfolding : Manifold Learning for Bimodal Data

We propose maximum covariance unfolding (MCU), a manifold learning algorithm for simultaneous dimensionality reduction of data from different input modalities. Given high dimensional inputs from two different but naturally aligned sources, MCU computes a common low dimensional embedding that maximizes the cross-modal (inter-source) correlations while preserving the local (intra-source) distances. In this paper, we explore two applications of MCU. First we use MCU to analyze EEG-fMRI data, where an important goal is to visualize the fMRI voxels that are most strongly correlated with changes in EEG traces. To perform this visualization, we augment MCU with an additional step for metric learning in the high dimensional voxel space. Second, we use MCU to perform cross-modal retrieval of matched image and text samples from Wikipedia. To manage large applications of MCU, we develop a fast implementation based on ideas from spectral graph theory. These ideas transform the original problem for MCU, one of semidefinite programming, into a simpler problem in semidefinite quadratic linear programming.
Branch-and-Price Decomposition to Design a Surveillance System for Port and Waterway Security

This paper formulates an integer program to design a surveillance system for port and waterway security. The model represents relevant practical considerations and prescribes the types of sensors, the number of each type, and the location of each sensor to meet surveillance requirements while minimizing total cost. A Branch-and-Price decomposition approach is formulated to solve the problem and effective implementation techniques are identified. Data representing the Houston Ship Channel is used as a test bed to benchmark relative to a commercial solver, analyze the influence of parameters on run time, and explore the relevant sensitivity of system cost to parameters.
Hotspots Come Unstuck

Volcanic hotspots are widely believed to be caused by fixed volcanic sources deep in the mantle. In her Perspective, Stock highlights the report by Tarduno et al., whose paleomagnetic data cast doubt on the fixity of the hotspot underlying the Hawaiian-Emperor seamounts. The data suggest that not only plate motion but also mantle flow have determined the latitudes of the islands and seamounts in the chain. With current data, it is difficult to say whether the base of the hotspot has remained fixed or whether it is a third variable determining the motion of surface volcanism with time.
Towards accessible integration and deployment of formal tools and techniques

Computer science researchers in the programming languages and formal verification communities, among others, have produced a variety of automated assistance and verification tools and techniques for formal reasoning. While there have been notable successes in utilizing these tools on the development of safe and secure software and hardware, these leading-edge advances remain largely underutilized by large populations of potential users that may benefit from them. In particular, we consider researchers, instructors, students, and other end users that may benefit from instant feedback from lightweight modeling and verification capabilities when exploring system designs or formal arguments. We describe Aartifact, a supporting infrastructure that makes it possible to quickly and easily assemble interacting collections of small domain-specific languages, as well as translations between those languages and existing tools (e.g., Alloy, SPIN, Z3) and techniques (e.g., evaluation, type checking, congruence closure); the infrastructure also makes it possible to compile and deploy these translators in the form of a cloud-based web application with an interface that runs inside a standard browser. This makes more manageable the process of exposing a limited, domain-specific, and logistically accessible subset of the capabilities of existing tools and techniques to end users. This infrastructure can be viewed as a collection of modules for defining interfaces that turn third-party formal modeling and verification tools and techniques into plug-ins that can be integrated within web-based interactive formal reasoning environments.
A survey of RLCK reduction and simulation methods by fast truncated balanced realization

Model order reduction by truncated balanced realization (TBR) is better than Krylov subspace methods to achieve smaller models with global error control. TBR projects a system onto the dominant invariant subspace in terms of both controllability and observability measured by their gramians. However, to obtain two gramians, two Lyapunov equations have to be solved and its high computation costs involved limit its application to only small circuits. To mitigate this problem, several methods are proposed to obtain the approximated dominant subspace of the gramian (or gramian product). In this paper, we survey several recently proposed fast TBR methods by gramian approximation techniques for the model order reduction and simulation of RLCK circuits. We present the pros and cons of each method and compare them on some large RLCK circuits.
No Fitness Cost for Wheat's H Gene-Mediated Resistance to Hessian Fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

ABSTRACT Resistance (R) genes have a proven record for protecting plants against biotic stress. A problem is parasite adaptation via Avirulence (Avr) mutations, which allows the parasite to colonize the R gene plant. Scientists hope to make R genes more durable by stacking them in a single cultivar. However, stacking assumes that R gene-mediated resistance has no fitness cost for the plant. We tested this assumption for wheat's resistance to Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Our study included ten plant fitness measures and four wheat genotypes, one susceptible, and three expressing either the H6, H9, or H13 resistance gene. Because R gene-mediated resistance has two components, we measured two types of costs: the cost of the constitutively-expressed H gene, which functions in plant surveillance, and the cost of the downstream induced responses, which were triggered by Hessian fly larvae rather than a chemical elicitor. For the constitutively expressed H gene, some measures...
On an iterative technique for recovery of bandlimited signals

It is shown that Papoulis' iteration for extrapolation of bandlimited signals belongs to a general class based on contraction mapping, with the iteration constant taken as one. This value may also be used when applying the iteration to FM demodulation or reconstruction of a signal from unequally spaced samples.
IBM OS/VS1: an evolutionary growth system

A brief study of IBM OS/VS1 (Operating System/Virtual Storage 1) will reveal a system providing many faceted growth capabilities at all levels of user-system interaction. Additional meaningful function is provided on a stabilized base to assure this growth capability. It can be further seen that installation growth is achieved through new application work and not by a continual rework of existing programs. To assure the users ability to move to new work almost immediately, OS/VS1 is built on an IBM OS/MFT (Operating System/Multiprogramming with a Fixed Number of Tasks) base. Compatibility is defined to extend to most object programs, source programs, data and libraries from OS/MFT to OS/VS1, thus assuring a normal movement of existing programs to the virtual environment. Figure 1 graphically represents the areas of change between MFT and VS1.
Does it look beautiful?: communicating aesthetic information about artwork to the visually impaired

"A picture says a thousand words" is a fitting phrase to express the difficulty in communicating visual information to a sighted individual. But what happens when the person the art work is being described to doesn't have any vision? What features of the artwork enhance their comprehension of the aesthetics, and what details are excluded from the description? This paper will explore the ways in which artwork is described to visually impaired individuals, and the details the visually impaired express interest in knowing about the artwork. Specifically, we focus on the value of drawing from shared experiences and prompts. These findings are based on observational data that was gathered from a study involving a visually impaired participant and a sighted companion exploring a gallery of artwork together and conversing about the artwork.
Pre-Employment Testing Prediction Of Employee Success And Legal Issues: A Revisitation Of Griggs V. Duke Power

Pre-employment testing has become one of the fastest-growing tools used to select successful employees within organizations. A variety of testing tools are at the disposal of Human Resource managers and hiring managers. Testing of employees has developed since the time of Sigmund Freud, and testing entered the legal arena with the seminal case of Griggs v. Duke Power. Ever since the Griggs case, “tests” need to be “relevant” and “valid” when given in the employment context, and left the burden of proof on the employer to demonstrate that its employment practices were not discriminatory, and that any disparate effects were clearly justified by the business. Since the Griggs case, employers have developed tests that legally comply with the letter of the law, but may violate the spirit of the law by still permitting illegal discrimination. This paper looks at recent case law and draws a conclusion.
The relationship between IT spending and corporate revenue

The large and continually increasing capital expenditures that firms continue to make in computers and communication systems, coupled with the growing dependence that corporations across virtually all industries have on their IT investment, suggests that executives know what returns they are getting from their spending. In reality, they do not. Moreover, there is a visible controversy in the field which suggests that the return on information technology spending may not be favorable. To gain greater insight into this issue, an analysis was performed to examine the three-year IT spending of a sample of Fortune 500/Service 500 firms. The results of the study show that there is a highly significant positive relation between IT spending and corporate revenue. These findings raise a series of questions meriting additional research. >
How can Duplication of Names of Major Structural Features be Avoided?: DISCUSSION

Examples of duplication of names for major structural features are quite common in the literature. In addition to reviewing previous literature, all authors publishing a map or article in which a structural feature is named for the first time should consult the revised tectonic map of the United States.
Nuclease Activity of Legionella pneumophila Cas2 Promotes Intracellular Infection of Amoebal Host Cells

Legionella pneumophila, the primary agent of Legionnaires' disease, flourishes in both natural and man-made environments by growing in a wide variety of aquatic amoebae. Recently, we determined that the Cas2 protein of L. pneumophila promotes intracellular infection of Acanthamoeba castellanii and Hartmannella vermiformis, the two amoebae most commonly linked to cases of disease. The Cas2 family of proteins is best known for its role in the bacterial and archeal clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) system that constitutes a form of adaptive immunity against phage and plasmid. However, the infection event mediated by L. pneumophila Cas2 appeared to be distinct from this function, because cas2 mutants exhibited infectivity defects in the absence of added phage or plasmid and since mutants lacking the CRISPR array or any one of the other cas genes were not impaired in infection ability. We now report that the Cas2 protein of L. pneumophila has both RNase and DNase activities, with the RNase activity being more pronounced. By characterizing a catalytically deficient version of Cas2, we determined that nuclease activity is critical for promoting infection of amoebae. Also, introduction of Cas2, but not its catalytic mutant form, into a strain of L. pneumophila that naturally lacks a CRISPR-Cas locus caused that strain to be 40- to 80-fold more infective for amoebae, unequivocally demonstrating that Cas2 facilitates the infection process independently of any other component encoded within the CRISPR-Cas locus. Finally, a cas2 mutant was impaired for infection of Willaertia magna but not Naegleria lovaniensis, suggesting that Cas2 promotes infection of most but not all amoebal hosts.