cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On a parallel decimal multiplier based on hybrid 8421–5421 BCD recoding

Parallel decimal multiplications can be broadly divided into two major steps: partial product generations (PPGs) and partial product accumulations (PPAs). Although most operands in decimal multipliers are represented in popular 8421 BCD codes, alternative 4221 and 5211 BCD codes are also sometimes employed, alone or mixed with 8421 codes, to represent the partial products, with a hope that by doing so, the multipliers' area/time efficiency will be improved. However, study shows that multipliers based on unsuitable mixing of codes, like 4221-8421, can have worse area and timing performance than 8421 multipliers due to the long carry propagation delay of 4221 PPA and the extra 4221-8421 conversions as required. Consequently, in this paper, we propose an 8421-5421 BCD multiplier that is equipped with a simplified PPG based on 8421-5421 recoding and an improved 8421 carry-lookahead adder tree for PPA, and compare it against the two best known multiplier designs using 90nm TSMC technology. The synthesis results have confirmed that the proposed 8421-5421 multiplier achieves the lowest delay and is the most time-area efficient design.
Competitive and mutualistic interactions among females in a neotropical oriole

Abstract Female yellow-rumped caciques (Cacicus cela) compete for access to nest sites that are safe from predators. Weight is the major factor determining female fledging success since heavier females tend to win aggressive encounters and control the best nest sites. Long-term residents are less aggressive towards each other and nest close together in interwoven clusters from which they exclude most newcomers. Resident females achieve higher nesting success than newcomers because they can fit more nests in the safest positions within colonies. However, the advantages of increasing residence with age are offset by a loss of weight as females grow older. Hence, there is no net effect of age on nesting success. These results emphasize the importance of both competitive and mutualistic interactions in determining the distribution of individuals within and between habitats. Competitive interactions may be widespread in species with limited nesting habitat, and mutualistic interactions might be expected where there are advantages to clustering nests within the available habitat.
Quality of anticoagulation care in patients discharged from a pharmacist-managed anticoagulation clinic after stabilization of warfarin therapy.

Study Objective. To determine if transitioning patients from a pharmacist-managed anticoagulation clinic after stabilization of warfarin therapy to physician-managed care alters the quality of anticoagulation care. Design. Retrospective medical record review. Setting. Pharmacist-managed, urban academic medical center-based outpatient anticoagulation clinic. Patients. Forty patients who were stabilized on warfarin therapy. Measurements and Main Results. Quality of anticoagulation care was measured by percentage of international normalized ratios (INRs) in target range, anticoagulation-related health care visits, and responses to satisfaction surveys. A significant decrease in anticoagulation control was observed on transition to physician-managed care. Before transition, 76% of all INRs were in target range versus 48% after transition (p<0.0001, χ2 test). When performing paired analysis, a median 75% of each patient's INRs were therapeutic before transition compared with 36.5% after (p<0.0001, Wilcoxon signed rank test). Thirty-two percent of first INR values measured after transition from the clinic were in target range, and the median time to first follow-up INR was 41 days. The number of INR values above 4.5 and below 1.5 increased significantly after transition from the anticoagulation clinic (p<0.0001 and p=0.01, respectively, χ2 test). Before transition from the anticoagulation clinic, two anticoagulation-related emergency department visits were reported in one patient. After transition, 13 cases of additional medical care were reported among seven patients; seven of the 13 cases required an office visit with the physician, and six resulted in emergency room evaluation. None of these cases resulted in hospitalization. Patient satisfaction with clinical care provided by the anticoagulation clinic was significantly higher before transition. Conclusion. Transition of patients from a pharmacist-managed anticoagulation clinic back to physician-managed anticoagulation care after stabilization of warfarin therapy was associated with a significant decrease in INR control, increased medical care related to anticoagulation, and decreased patient satisfaction.
Censored quantile regression for residual lifetimes.

We propose a regression method that studies covariate effects on the conditional quantiles of residual lifetimes at a certain followup time point. This can be particularly useful in cancer studies, where more patients survive cancers initially and a patient’s residual life expectancy is used to compare the efficacy of secondary or adjuvant therapies. The new method provides a consistent estimator that often exhibits smaller standard error in real and simulated examples, compared to the existing method of Jung et al. (2009). It also provides a simple empirical likelihood inference method that does not require estimating the covariance matrix of the estimator or resampling. We apply the new method to a breast cancer study (NSABP Protocol B-04, Fisher et al. (2002)) and estimate median residual lifetimes at various followup time points, adjusting for important prognostic factors.
Events must be complete in event processing

Current event detection systems are based on event completeness, which alone is insufficient for supporting new and advanced applications. In this paper, we discuss the need for events that are not complete. We briefly discuss their modeling and specification.
Latino Public Opinion & Realigning the American Electorate

The growth and signi! cance of the Latino electorate raises important questions about its pref- erences, identity, and impact. In this essay, I explore three facets of Latino public opinion and offer thoughts regarding their political impact. First, I demonstrate that Latino core beliefs about the role of government are progressive. Second, I explore the ways in which national origin, nativity, and genera- tional status reveal important differences in how Latinos think about and participate in politics; I caution against over-interpreting the importance of these differences. Finally, I offer evidence that Latino pan- ethnic identity is suf! ciently developed to constitute a political "group." Given that this segment in the American electorate is increasingly uni! ed and demonstrably left of center, I suggest that the growth of the Latino population and electorate could have substantial electoral and social impact.
Ecotypic differentiation in guineagrass (Panicum maximum Jacq.)

Abstract Six Brazilian populations of guineagrass ( Panicum maximum Jacq.) were studied in order to evaluate their quantitative and allozyme variation and to correlate their ecotypic differences with average monthly temperature and rainfall at the collection sites. All six populations came originally from old pastures in the northern and western regions of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Highly significant between-population differences were found for a majority of the morphological and floral characters scored in greenhouse experiments as well as for two allozyme systems (esterase and alcohol dehydrogenase). A discriminant analysis performed on the quantitative characters yielded a cluster diagram showing marked population differences. Principal component analysis, based on the mean annual and monthly temperatures and total rainfall as independent variables, indicated that temperatures in September and January accounted for almost all the observed quantitative variability. The likely occurrence of distinct guineagrass ecotypes in Brazil as well as the roles of sexuality in the evolution of interpopulation variation and in adaptation to different environmental conditions are briefly discussed.
Simulating the spatial distribution of population and emissions to 2100

Urbanization and economic development have important implications for many environmental processes including global climate change. Although there is evidence that urbanization depends endogenously on economic variables, long-term forecasts of the spatial distribution of population are often made exogenously and independent of economic conditions. It is common for research concerning long-run projections of global environmental change to use population density as the primary means to spatially distribute emissions projections. However, researchers typically utilize year 1990 cross-sectional population data to distribute their emissions projections for both the short- and long-term, without projecting any changes in population density. Thus, a beta distribution for individual countries/regions is estimated to describe the geographical distribution of population using a one-degree-by-one-degree latitude–longitude global population data set. Cross-sectional country/regional data are then used to estimate an empirical relationship between parameters of the beta distribution and macroeconomic variables as they vary among countries/regions. This conditional beta distribution allows the simulation of a changing distribution of population, including the growth of urban areas, driven by economic forecasts until the year 2100.
Calmodulin modulates protein 4.1 binding to human erythrocyte membranes

Abstract Calmodulin, an abundant protein in the red cell cytosol, exerts its effects on erythrocyte membrane properties via interactions with numerous proteins. To evaluate whether calmodulin might regulate association of protein 4.1 with one of its integral membrane protein anchors, protein 4.1 binding to inside-out erythrocyte membrane vesicles (IOVs) in the presence and absence of calmodulin and Ca2+ was examined. Ca2+ plus calmodulin was found to competitively inhibit protein 4.1 association with IOVs with a K i of 1.4 μM and a maximal inhibition of 83%. In the absence of Ca2+, calmodulin still reduced protein 4.1 binding by 43%, consistent with the known Ca2+ independent association of calmodulin with protein 4.1. Ca2+ alone had no effect on protein 4.1-membrane interactions. Digestion studies revealed that both band 3 and glycophorin sites were similarly affected by calmodulin competition, suggesting all major protein 4.1 anchors are potentially regulated. In light of other data showing regulation of the same interactions by phosphoinositides, protein kinases, and the concentration of free cytosolic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, it can be argued that association of protein 4.1 with integral protein anchors constitutes one of the more sensitively regulated interactions of the membrane.
An exact algorithm for the mean–standard deviation shortest path problem

Abstract This paper studies the reliable path problem in the form of minimizing the sum of mean and standard deviation of path travel time. For the case of independent link travel times, we show that the problem can be solved exactly by repeatedly solving a subproblem minimizing the sum of mean and variance of path travel time. The latter is an additive shortest path problem, and can be solved using a standard labeling algorithm. While these subproblems are similar in form to those obtained from Lagrangian relaxation, this formulation admits proof of finite convergence to the optimal solution. An iterative labeling algorithm is developed that solves the non-additive reliable path problem from a single origin to all destinations. Moreover, a labeling technique is employed to further reduce the computational time of the proposed algorithm by partially updating the network in each iteration. As an alternative, a bisection-type search algorithm is developed that solves the problem for the single-origin and single-destination case. Numerical tests are presented, indicating that the proposed algorithm outperform others recently proposed in the literature: unlike Lagrangian relaxation, two of the proposed algorithms find solutions exactly, and the computation time is an order of magnitude faster than outer approximation methods.
Kinetic variability and modulation of dSlo, a cloned calcium-dependent potassium channel.

We have examined, using patch recording, the modulation by ATPγS of the cloned Drosophila slopoke calcium-dependent potassium channel (dSlo) expressed in Xenopus oocytes. There is a large variation in the gating kinetics, open probability, and conductance level of the channel in this expression system, which complicates the analysis of modulatory events. Addition of ATPγS to the intracellular face of the patch does not consistently alter the overall open probability of dSlo, but it does increase the frequency of appearance of an exceptionally long-lived closed state of the channel. This modulation is not blocked by an inhibitor of several serine/threonine protein kinases, nor by mutation of a serine residue that is a target for phosphorylation by protein kinase A. Thus, ATPγS may alter dSlo kinetic properties by some mechanism other than serine/threonine phosphorylation. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Stalnaker on sleeping beauty

The Sleeping Beauty puzzle provides a nice illustration of the approach to self-locating belief defended by Robert Stalnaker in Our Knowledge of the Internal World (Stalnaker, 2008), as well as a test of the utility of that method. The setup of the Sleeping Beauty puzzle is by now fairly familiar. On Sunday Sleeping Beauty is told the rules of the game, and a (known to be) fair coin is flipped. On Monday, Sleeping Beauty is woken, and then put back to sleep. If, and only if, the coin landed tails, she is woken again on Tuesday after having her memory of the Monday awakening erased.1 On Wednesday she is woken again and the game ends. There are a few questions we can ask about Beauty’s attitudes as the game progresses. We’d like to know what her credence that the coin landed heads should be
Random Mutagenesis Identifies a C-Terminal Region of YopD Important for Yersinia Type III Secretion Function

A common virulence mechanism among bacterial pathogens is the use of specialized secretion systems that deliver virulence proteins through a translocation channel inserted in the host cell membrane. During Yersinia infection, the host recognizes the type III secretion system mounting a pro-inflammatory response. However, soon after they are translocated, the effectors efficiently counteract that response. In this study we sought to identify YopD residues responsible for type III secretion system function. Through random mutagenesis, we identified eight Y. pseudotuberculosis yopD mutants with single amino acid changes affecting various type III secretion functions. Three severely defective mutants had substitutions in residues encompassing a 35 amino acid region (residues 168–203) located between the transmembrane domain and the C-terminal putative coiled-coil region of YopD. These mutations did not affect regulation of the low calcium response or YopB-YopD interaction but markedly inhibited MAPK and NFκB activation. When some of these mutations were introduced into the native yopD gene, defects in effector translocation and pore formation were also observed. We conclude that this newly identified region is important for YopD translocon function. The role of this domain in vivo remains elusive, as amino acid substitutions in that region did not significantly affect virulence of Y. pseudotuberculosis in orogastrically-infected mice.
Foreign military intervention and post-colonial state-building: An actor-centric analysis:

In an era where state borders are relatively fixed and interstate wars are uncommon, it seems wise to begin to look beyond full-scale war when examining the relationship between military force and state-building. We thus examine the impact that a low-scale form of armed force, foreign military intervention, has on state-building in post-colonial countries. Using selectorate theory within an actor-centric framework, we hypothesize that certain democratic interveners tend to have a positive impact on post-colonial state-building efforts, while non-democratic and intergovernmental organization interveners have little if any impact. We test our theory using interrupted time series methodology in panel corrected standard error estimates of 80 countries from 1972 to 2002. While our empirical results are somewhat mixed, they demonstrate that different sets of interveners do have different state-building impacts.
Morbidity and survival after 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea wafer implantation for recurrent glioblastoma: a retrospective case-matched cohort series.

OBJECTIVE To determine the risks and survival benefit associated with implantation of an absorbable, 1,3-bis(2chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea-impregnated polymer wafer, we prospectively studied patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme and compared them with a demographically matched cohort group. METHODS Over a 29-month period, 62 patients underwent operations. All had tumor growth despite standard treatment, a Karnofsky performance score of > or =70, and histopathological confirmation of glioblastoma. Seventeen patients underwent gross total resection with placement of 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea wafers (wafer group) at a median 44 weeks from diagnosis (6 women, 11 men; median age, 56 years). A cohort group of 45 patients undergoing surgery for recurrent glioblastoma during the same time period, but not receiving wafers, was identified. Surgery was performed at a median 47 weeks from diagnosis (14 women, 31 men; median age, 54 years). RESULTS Within 6 weeks of surgery, 13 complications were identified in 8 patients in the wafer group. In the cohort group, 6 patients sustained 8 complications. We were unable to identify any survival advantage using Kaplan-Meier analysis. In the wafer group, median survival was 58 weeks from diagnosis and 14 weeks from wafer implantation. In the cohort group, median survival was 97 weeks from diagnosis and 50 weeks from operation. CONCLUSION 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-Nitrosourea wafer implantation for recurrent glioblastoma was associated with a higher risk of postoperative complications, particularly those related to infection and wound healing. No clear survival benefit associated with wafer implantation was identified.
BEHAVIOR OF MOBILITY-DISABLED PEOPLE IN EARTHQUAKES: A SIMULATION EXPERIMENT

Abstract Disabled people are considered a high risk group in earthquake emergencies. A simulation experiment was conducted to assess the behavior of disabled occupants in earthquakes. A living room was set‐up to show the after‐effects of two simulated California earthquakes (low intensity R4.0 and high intensity R6.5) to a building's contents. Seventy‐two participants were selected: 24 users of manual wheelchairs, 24 users of powered wheelchairs, and 24 able‐bodied persons as a comparison base‐line. Participants' movements were video taped and later analyzed based on a number of task performance measures. It was found that the users of manual wheelchairs performed the instructed tasks significantly faster than the users of powered wheelchairs under both low and high intensity simulations. Using a pathway analysis, the disabled groups faced a significantly greater number of obstacles and maneuvered around the objects more than the control group only in the high intensity damage scenario. The users of power...
Molecular Delivery In Vitro and In Vivo with Stress Waves: The Role of the Stress Gradient

Our research over the past several years has identified stress-wave characteristics that have significant effects on cells and tissue.
Childhood stroke frequency decreased in California during 1999 and 2000

Using a California-wide hospital discharge database, epidemiologic investigators identified that hospital admission rates for first clinical stroke in children with sickle cell disease recently declined. Widespread publicity in 1998 highlighting the beneficial results of pre-emptive transfusion in
Differential block coding of bilevel images

In this correspondence, a simple one-dimensional (1-D) differencing operation is applied to bilevel images prior to block coding to produce a sparse binary image that can be encoded efficiently using any of a number of well-known techniques. The difference image can be encoded more efficiently than the original bilevel image whenever the average run length of black pixels in the original image is greater than two. Compression is achieved because the correlation between adjacent pixels is reduced compared with the original image. The encoding/decoding operations are described and compression performance is presented for a set of standard bilevel images.
Supplementing Current Visual Highway Bridge Inspections with Gigapixel Technology

Developing an efficient bridge condition evaluation procedure is economically critical to a state highway department; however, any adopted bridge condition approach needs to be accurate. A state highway department typically conducts a bridge condition evaluation by visual inspection on a 24-month cycle. During the evaluation, a bridge inspector visually inspects bridge components to derive a bridge condition rating on a 0–9 scale; a 0 value represents failure. The intrinsic weakness in a visual inspection system is the nonuniformity in the process due to the subjective nature of the approach. This paper proposes an approach to supplement visual bridge inspections by implementing gigapixel technology to promote quality assurance and control in a state bridge management system. The discussed approach supplements the visual inspection of a bridge with panoramic images to be later reviewed by a trained group of bridge engineers. This trained group of bridge engineers is enlisted in the inspection review process to promote uniformity in the bridge rating process. Additionally, the presented approach creates a bridge panorama that can be cataloged as a permanent bridge condition record in a state DOT’s structural health monitoring system. The presented approach uses gigapixel technology to create high-resolution panoramas that can be reviewed by an engineer using Google Earth tools. The hardware needed for gigapixel technology is inexpensive, but can greatly improve conditional bridge rating consistency between bridge sites.
Male Killing Spiroplasma Preferentially Disrupts Neural Development in the Drosophila melanogaster Embryo

Male killing bacteria such as Spiroplasma are widespread pathogens of numerous arthropods including Drosophila melanogaster. These maternally transmitted bacteria can bias host sex ratios toward the female sex in order to ‘selfishly’ enhance bacterial transmission. However, little is known about the specific means by which these pathogens disrupt host development in order to kill males. Here we show that a male-killing Spiroplasma strain severely disrupts nervous tissue development in male but not female D. melanogaster embryos. The neuroblasts, or neuron progenitors, form properly and their daughter cells differentiate into neurons of the ventral nerve chord. However, the neurons fail to pack together properly and they produce highly abnormal axons. In contrast, non-neural tissue, such as mesoderm, and body segmentation appear normal during this time, although the entire male embryo becomes highly abnormal during later stages. Finally, we found that Spiroplasma is altogether absent from the neural tissue but localizes within the gut and the epithelium immediately surrounding the neural tissue, suggesting that the bacterium secretes a toxin that affects neural tissue development across tissue boundaries. Together these findings demonstrate the unique ability of this insect pathogen to preferentially affect development of a specific embryonic tissue to induce male killing.
On the 1H NMR chemical shift assignments for ampicillin

The 1H NMR spectrum of ampicillin in aqueous solution at pD 8 and 4 was assigned using a combination of 2D T-ROESY and 1D GOESY techniques. The Me-α and Me-β chemical shift assignments, determined at pD 8, are opposite to existing literature values obtained under similar conditions. Additionally, the methyl chemical shifts were found to be strongly pD dependent, with a chemical shift crossover occurring at lower pD. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Carnap on theoretical terms: structuralism without metaphysics

Both realists and instrumentalists have found it difficult to understand (much less accept) Carnap’s developed view on theoretical terms, which attempts to stake out a neutral position between realism and instrumentalism. I argue that Carnap’s mature conception of a scientific theory as the conjunction of its Ramsey sentence and Carnap sentence can indeed achieve this neutral position. To see this, however, we need to see why the Newman problem raised in the context of recent work on structural realism is no problem for Carnap’s conception; and we also need to locate Carnap’s work on theoretical terms within his wider program of Wissenschaftslogik or the logic of science.
Chromosome ends teach unexpected lessons on DNA damage signalling.

EMBO J 31 16, 3398–3410 (2012) The ATM/ATR-dependent checkpoint kinases restrain mitotic entry when cells accumulate unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) or when telomeres become uncapped. New work by Thanasoula et al (2012) reveals an intricate network of checkpoint interactions in the wake of telomere uncapping through removal of TRF2 or POT1, providing compelling evidence that the mechanism of G2/M checkpoint activation at chromosome end is distinct from the canonical DNA damage response to ionizing radiation (IRs).
Acoustic vector tomography and its application to magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI)

A new tomographic algorithm for reconstructing a curl-free vector field, whose divergence serves as acoustic source is proposed. It is shown that under certain conditions, the scalar acoustic measurements obtained from a surface enclosing the source area can be vectorized according to the known measurement geometry and then be used to reconstruct the vector field. The proposed method is validated by numerical experiments. This method can be easily applied to magnetoacoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI). A simulation study of applying this method to MAT-MI shows that compared to existing methods, the proposed method can give an accurate estimation of the induced current distribution and a better reconstruction of electrical conductivity within an object.
Developmental Effects of Taurine Depletion on Synaptosomal Phospholipids in the Rat

No one working with taurine doubts its biological significance. Evidence continues to accumulate as to its fundamental involvement in phenomena as diverse as calcium homeostasis, osmoregulation, and membrane stabilization. The actions of taurine on these phenomena are, perhaps, interrelated. It continues to be a puzzle, however, as to why, if taurine is important for cell function, its concentration in cognate structures varies so much from species to species, or even temporally within a given species. Taurine concentrations in the heart, for example, can vary, depending on the species, over a tenfold range (10). Synaptosomal taurine concentrations in the rat can vary sixfold, depending on the developmental stage of the brain (14,23).
Forty Years Later: Updating the Fossilization Hypothesis.

A founding concept in second language acquisition (SLA) research, fossilization has been fundamental to understanding second language (L2) development. The Fossilization Hypothesis, introduced in Selinker's seminal text (1972), has thus been one of the most influential theories, guiding a significant bulk of SLA research for four decades; 2012 marks its fortieth anniversary. This article revisits the Fossilization Hypothesis, starting with the earliest set of questions (still the most comprehensive) (Selinker & Lamendella 1978) and using them as a basis for updating the Hypothesis. The current understanding of fossilization is presented by introducing an alternative hypothesis, the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis (Han 2009) and, in the light of that alternative, reviewing a selection of fossilizable structures documented in the recent literature.
Terminal-Aware Synchronous Binarization

We present an SCFG binarization algorithm that combines the strengths of early terminal matching on the source language side and early language model integration on the target language side. We also examine how different strategies of target-side terminal attachment during binarization can significantly affect translation quality.
Hydraulic erosion of cohesive riverbanks

Abstract This study identifies and assesses the controls on hydraulic erosion of cohesive riverbanks on a 600-m reach of an urban ephemeral stream with active bank erosion. We examined hydraulic bank erosion by separating estimated bank shear stress into four properties: magnitude, duration, event peak, and variability. The values of these independent variables were used as a bank erosion context at three transects. Stepwise regression showed that the event peak (maximum peak) of excess shear stress best predicts cohesive bank erosion at the two transects with moderate critical shear stresses (1.93–4.08 N/m 2 ), while the variability (all peaks) of excess shear stress best predicts erosion at the transect with low critical shear stress (0.95 N/m 2 ). These results suggest that the amount of hydraulic erosion of cohesive riverbanks is dictated by flow peak intensities. Finally, the results of this study were combined with results from previous bank erosion studies to produce a conceptual model for estimating bank erosion rates based on their silt–clay content.
Investigation of silver binding to polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers by ESI tandem mass spectrometry.

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) was used to probe the binding of silver ions and reduced silver species with polyamidoamine generation 1 amine-terminated (PAMAMG1NH2) and generation 2 hydroxyl-terminated (PAMAMG2OH) dendrimers. At Ag+/PAMAMG2OH molar ratios of ≤1, 1:1 complexes are observed, while at ratios >1, 2:1 and low abundance 3:1 complexes emerge. Similar results were observed for PAMAMG1NH2. The collisional activated dissociation (CAD) patterns of the dendrimer ions are characterized by losses of amidoamine branches resulting largely from hydrogen migration and cleavage reactions. Ag+/dendrimer complexes are characterized by the loss of a dendrimer branch from the complex, with the silver ion remaining bound to a dendrimer fragment. When the Ag+-bound dendrimer complexes are reduced by hydrazine, low abundance complexes, whose m/z values are consistent with ones containing zerovalent silver species, are observed in the mass spectra. Complexes with three silver atoms are observed in the spectrum containing PAMAMG1NH2, and complexes with four and five silver atoms are observed with PAMAMG2OH. The CAD fragmentation patterns of the complexes formed after the silver reduction are different than those observed for complexes containing one silver ion and are characterized by the ejection of all silver species, possibly as a cluster, leaving the intact dendrimer ion. Experiments with Cu+, Cu2+, and Pt2+ binding to PAMAMG2OH were also done, but reduced metal clusters were not observed in the mass spectra after the addition of hydrazine.
A Three-Dimensional Computer Model of Four Hypothetical Mechanisms Protecting Biofilms from Antimicrobials

Four hypothetical mechanisms for protection of biofilms against antimicrobials were incorporated into a three-dimensional model of biofilm growth and development. The model integrated processes of substrate utilization, diffusion, growth, cell migration, death, and detachment in a cellular automaton framework. Compared to simulations of unprotected biofilms, each of the protective mechanisms provided some tolerance to antimicrobial action. When the mechanisms were compared to each other, the behaviors of the four protective mechanisms produced distinct shapes of killing curves, nonuniform spatial patterns of survival and cell type distribution, and anticipated susceptibility patterns for dispersed biofilm cells. The differences between the protective mechanisms predicted in these simulations could guide the design of experiments to discriminate antimicrobial tolerance mechanisms in biofilms. Each of the mechanisms could be a plausible avenue of biofilm protection.
Adult Attachment Dimensions and College Student Distress The Mediating Role of Hope

The present investigation examined dispositional hope as a psychological strength that mediates the associations between adult attachment dimensions and seven commonly assessed college student psychological symptoms, as measured by the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms–62 (CCAPS-62): depression, eating concerns, substance use, generalized anxiety, hostility, social anxiety, and academic distress. Structural equation modeling of data obtained from students at a large Midwestern university (N = 2,644) revealed that (a) adult attachment dimensions were positively associated with CCAPS-62 domains and negatively associated with hope, (b) hope was negatively associated with all seven CCAPS-62 domains with the exception of substance use, and (c) hope mediated the associations between attachment dimensions and all seven CCAPS-62 psychological symptoms, with the exception of substance use. Findings suggest that addressing adult attachment-driven automatic views of self and others may have impo...
Volta as volmeter

Alessandro Volta was the first to close the circuit deliberately and thus make an electric current flow continuously. The discovery was seminal: it lies at the root of the science of electricity, revolutionizing all other branches of science and technology. In a letter dated March 20, 1800, the eminent Italian physicist described two variations of what came to be known as the voltaic cell, and dealt with much else besides. The landmark paper is reexamined with a view to reassessing Volta's development of the voltaic cell and elucidating his unique methods of measuring what he thought of as electric fluid (current) and cell strengths (potentials). The two types of cells used by Volta are described and the results and methodology outlined. Insight into Volta's methodology and techniques is discussed in modern terminology.
Automatic 3D Thermal Zones Creation for Building Energy Simulation of Existing Residential Buildings

Existing buildings now represent the greatest opportunity to improve building energy performance. Building energy simulation is becoming increasingly important because the simulation results can assist the decision makers to quickly make the solution for improving building energy efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. However, most of the time there is no available as-is 3D building models for the existing buildings to conduct energy simulation. Nowadays, it is a common practice to obtain point clouds of existing buildings through using 3D laser scanning technologies for as-is building modeling. Current methods using point clouds need manual processes to prepare thermal zones based on point clouds data which is very time consuming and labor intensive. This paper introduces an automated thermal zone creation method to create both a building zone and room zones. A building thermal envelope was extracted from 3D point clouds. Then, 2D building floor plans were used as references to accurately determine the location and size of each thermal zone. A preliminary experiment has been conducted on a residential house to validate the proposed method, and the created building components and thermal zones were successfully imported into a building energy simulation program and ready for various energy analyses.
Distributed algorithms for maximum throughput in wireless networks

The optimal control of multi-hop wireless networks is a major research and design challenge due, in part, to the interference between nodes, the time-varying nature of the communication channels, the energy limitation of mobile nodes, and the lack of centralized coordination. This problem is further complicated by the randomness of data traffic arrivals. Although a complete solution to the problem is still elusive, a major advance is made in the seminal work of [1], which obtains a throughput optimal routing and link activation policy without a priori knowledge of arrival statistics. The policy operates on the Maximum Differential Backlog (MDB) principle, which essentially seeks to achieve load-balancing in the network. The MDB policy has been extended to multi-hop networks with general capacity constraints in [2].
Transmission Error Avoidance for IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensors on Rotating Structures

Wireless sensors are increasingly adopted in manufacturing and vehicular systems for monitoring critical components under continuous operation. Many such components move rapidly and frequently in metallic containments with challenging radio propagation characteristics. For wireless sensors mounted on rotating structures, previous studies identified an eminent increase in packet transmission errors at higher rotation speeds. Such errors were found to occur at specific locations around the rotating spindle's periphery and such locations depended sensitively on sensor location and surrounding geometry. This paper studies a transmission error avoidance approach based on on-line error pattern inference and packet transmission time control for IEEE 802.15.4 compatible sensor radios to enhance the achievable data throughput. The method does not rely on sensor positioning support; instead, it infers the temporal error distribution using its local clock and avoids transmission in identified "error regions". Simulation studies showed a 50% reduction of errors and throughput increase up to 75%. Evaluated with different packet sizes and error distributions, the throughput gain was found to be most significant for higher rate and larger size transmissions.
Development of Snowflake Texture in a Welded Tuff, Davis Mountains, Texas

Snowflake texture consists of more or less randomly oriented laths of alkali feldspar poikilitically enclosed by small patches of optically continuous silica, commonly alpha-quartz. The texture results from devitrification of glassy, densely welded tuff but not, apparently, from devitrification of glassy lava-flow rocks. During devitrification, alkali feldspar crystallizes first, followed by silica; iron oxide minerals become concentrated around the peripheries of devitrified regions.
Disseminated strongyloidiasis presenting as purpura.

We report a patient with disseminated strongyloidiasis who was being treated with steroids for cerebral edema caused by brain metastases from urinary bladder carcinoma. He had extensive purpura involving the abdomen, arms, and thighs. A skin biopsy specimen showed numerous larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis . Subsequently, rhabdoid larvae of S. stercoralis were isolated in the stool and the sputum. The patient died 2 days later despite thiabendazole therapy.
How Large Is the Agricultural Swaps Market

This study is the first detailed examination of trading activity in the agricultural swaps market, covering 22 major agricultural commodities during the first 13 months of reporting under the Dodd-Frank Act. It is also the first to quantify the size of the agricultural swaps market using actual transaction data and three different metrics. The notional value of U.S. agricultural swaps traded during this period was $51 billion, or approximately 22% of the gross market value for “other commodities” reported by the Bank for International Settlements. However, the volume of agricultural swaps trading is equivalent to a small fraction of the volume for exchange-traded futures and options on the same commodities.
AS CONTRADIÇÕES ENTRE A REALIDADE SOCIOECONÔMICA DA COMUNIDADE QUILOMBOLA MIMOSO DO KALUNGA E A GARANTIA DOS DIREITOS LEGAIS DE EDUCAÇÃO E TERRITÓRIO.

The present study deals with some questions which points to the quilombola thematics from a brief definition of the term, realities and acquired rights, enfasizing the contradiction among the law and its effective appliance, mainly refering to the territorial rights and educational ones. This work was focused on the Mimoso do Kalunga traditional community, located at Arraias city, state of Tocantins, showing a deeply lack of its constitutional rights concerning to the human beings, also presents a precarious educational process, ignoring the values and culture itself.
Why do we need more data on MR volumetric measurements of the fetal lung

Fetal lung hypoplasia is associated with a series of congenital anomalies, particularly the congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Evaluation of the severity of the lung hypoplasia is important for parental counseling, assessment of prognosis and planning of postnatal management. Although a large number of studies have been performed to measure fetal lung volumes in order to predict outcome, there are little data on fetuses younger than 24 weeks of gestation, the age when parental counseling is crucial if termination is considered. Few studies have evaluated prognosis of lung hypoplasia in fetuses with congenital chest anomalies other than congenital diaphragmatic hernia. We review the studies on measurements of the fetal lung volumes by MRI.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell: The Impact of Real Estate Agents on House Prices Near Environmental Disamenities

The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of real estate agents on the price of houses that are located close to an environmental disamenity using Rosen's (1974) hedonic price model. Our main hypothesis is that real estate agents obtain higher prices than those theoretically expected when the houses are located closer to an environmental disamenity. We attribute this result to differences in information about the presence of the environmental disamenity between buyers, sellers, and their real estate agent, that ultimately have an impact on their bargaining position. Our analysis is based on 2,967 transactions involving houses located close to four landfills in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1990. Using an estimated hedonic price model, we predict house values for transactions made with and without a real estate agent, and calculate their percentage differences at various distance intervals from the landfills. On average, results suggest that at distances less than 1 mile away from the landfills, the percentage increase in the house price obtained by a real estate agent is greater than the commission rate. For example, the weighted predicted rent for transactions made through a real estate agent at an interval distance of 0.75 miles away from the landfills is $7,680.37, while the predicted rent for transactions made without an agent is $6,780.71. The difference between these two predicted house values is 13.27 percent. For an average real estate commission rate of 7 percent, real estate brokered sales results in surplus for houses closer to landfills. This effect erodes as distance away from the landfill is increased. These findings are consistent with theoretical expectations about differences between prices obtained by real estate agents and prices obtain by individual house sellers. In addition to the effects that real estate agents may have on house prices, results of this paper may be of interest to individuals using multiple listing service (MLS) data alone for hedonic studies. That is, our paper provides evidence that estimating hedonic price models with MLS data can downwardly bias estimated impacts of an environmental disamenity.
Bringing the Revolution to Medical Schools: Social Service and a Rural Health Emphasis in 1930s Mexico

This article explores the establishment of the 1936 Social Service requirement for medical students and the creation of a major in Rural Health at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City to explain how health and physicians became an extension of the aims of the Mexican Revolution. The author argues that the 1930s attempt to bring doctors to rural areas had a two-fold intent that went beyond health and a geographic distribution of doctors: first, socialize mainly urban doctors to care for the rural poor and, second, create agents of the state in difficult to access marginal areas. Este articulo analiza el establecimiento del requisito de Servicio Social para los estudiantes de medicina en 1936 y la creacion de una Licenciatura en Salud Rural en el Instituto Politecnico Nacional de la ciudad de Mexico para explicar de que manera la salud y los medicos se convirtieron en una extension de los objetivos de la Revolucion mexicana. El autor sostiene que el intento de llevar medicos a las zonas rurales durante la decada de los treinta tenia una doble intencion mas alla de la salud y la distribucion geografica de los galenos: en primer lugar, socializar a los doctores, mayoritariamente urbanos, para atender a los enfermos rurales y, en segundo lugar, crear agentes del estado en zonas marginales de dificil acceso.
An unusual cause of altered mental status: the importance of monitoring a patient's blood pressure.

A 73-year-old man presented to the emergency room for acute onset altered mental status. The initial work-up yielded no definitive cause. An MRI demonstrated lesions in the bilateral posterior occipital lobes (not noted on an earlier MRI obtained from an outside institution) that were suggestive of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). He had a history of Parkinson9s disease complicated by autonomic instability (wide blood pressure fluctuations) that was medically controlled in the outpatient setting. During the early course of his hospitalisation, he again displayed wide blood pressure fluctuations. After his blood pressure stabilised, his mental status eventually improved to baseline. A repeat MRI obtained demonstrated near-complete resolution of the previously noted lesions and confirmed the diagnosis of PRES.
Microscale Thermoplastic Forming of Bulk Metallic Glasses: Numerical Simulation and Experiments

An extremely promising microscale processing method for bulk metallic glasses called thermoplastic forming has emerged in recent years. However, most of the recent experimental thermoplastic forming studies have been conducted by trial-and-error. In this paper, we use the large-deformation constitutive theory of Henann and Anand [1] as a numerical simulation tool for the design of a micro-hot-embossing process. This numerical simulation capability is used to determine appropriate processing parameters in order to carry out a successful micron-scale hot-embossing operation on the metallic glass Zr 41.2 Ti 13.8 Cu 12.5 Ni 10 Be 22.5 (Vitreloy-1). By carrying out a corresponding physical experiment, we demonstrate that micron-scale features in Vitreloy-1 may be accurately replicated under the processing conditions determined by use of the numerical simulation capability.