cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nucleation threshold stress for the dynamic fracture of a low-alloy NiCr steel

Abstract Methods of characterizing the onset of fracture with stress waves are described with emphasis on a technique that allows a determination of the crack nucleation threshold stress, σ n o , of material without plastic shock conditioning. With this approach, the tensile stresses in regions of failure were obtained with the aid of the BFRACT 2 computer subroutine based on the nucleation and growth fracture model NAG/FRAG. Computations with this subroutine automatically account for the unloading of stress as voids develop and allows one to determine approximately the tensile stress responsible for failure. Crack densities created with plate impacts were plotted vs. the corresponding computed maximum tensile stresses, and the curve was extrapolated to the no-damage condition, i.e., the stress below which no cracks should develop. This stress level was equated to the nucleation threshold stress. The threshold stress determined for the steel investigated was 1.65 GPa. This value is representative of the material without plastic shock conditioning because of the extrapolation. The nature of the cracking, the effect of shock conditioning on σ n 0 , the nucleation rate at low stress levels and the relation of the crack nucleation threshold stress to the Hugoniot elastic limit are described.
On genetics, inflammation, and abdominal aortic aneurysm: can single nucleotide polymorphisms predict the outcome?

The late Professor Russell Ross proposed the “response to injury” hypothesis for the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis ≈25 years ago.1 2 3 This shifted the paradigm from the “fibrin incrustation” and “lipid transudation” hypotheses that were formulated in the mid-19th century by von Rokitansy and Virchow, respectively. Subsequent identification of growth and mitotic factors in the vessel wall that were responsible for the proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells,1 along with the landmark discovery of endothelium as a biologically active inner layer of vessels by Furchgott and colleagues,4 established the active role of blood vessels in pathological states. The findings of macrophages in the vessel wall and increased expression of proteins involved in inflammation suggested the active role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of a variety of vascular diseases, including abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). AAA, a relatively common disease in the elderly, is a disease of the media that is characterized by degeneration of the extracellular matrix proteins. Degradation occurs as a consequence of complex interactions between genetic factors, inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs), and others. The ensuing phenotype is dissolution and fragmentation of collagen and elastin, leading to expansion of the vessel wall that can no longer withstand the repetitive expansile force of systolic contraction. Extracellular matrix proteins maintain the integrity of the vessel wall. Under normal circumstances, degradation of extracellular matrix proteins is minimal because MMPs are expressed at low levels and in inactive forms.5 The activation of MMPs requires the removal of an amino-terminal sequence by plasmin and the plasmin-generating enzymes tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator, which are minimally expressed in the normal vessel wall. In addition, activated inflammatory cells, which are the main sources of collagenolytic and elastinolytic proteinases, are also absent. Furthermore, expressed TIMPs …
Relationships among impairments in lower-extremity strength and power, functional limitations, and disability in older adults.

During the aging process, older adults may experience a loss of strength and power, which then may lead to functional limitations and disability. The purpose of this study was to examine how impairments in lower-extremity strength and power are related to functional limitations and disability in community-dwelling older adults. Subjects Thirty older adults (age [XSD], 77.37.0 years; 25 women and 5 men) with mild to moderate functional limitations participated in this study. Methods Lower-extremity strength, peak power, power at a low relative intensity, and power at a high relative intensity were measured with a pneumatic resistance leg press. Functional limitations and disability were assessed with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), the Six-Minute Walk Test (SMWT), and the Late Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI). Results All measures of strength and power were related to functional limitations. Peak power demonstrated the strongest relationships with SMWT, the SPPB gait speed subscale, and the LLFDI functional limitation component. Power at a high relative intensity demonstrated the strongest relationships to the SPPB total score and the SPPB sit-to-stand subscale score. All measures of strength and power were indirectly related to the LLFDI disability component.
Distribution of extracellular matrix proteins type I collagen, type IV collagen, fibronectin, and laminin in mouse folliculogenesis

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a prominent role in ovarian function by participating in processes such as cell migration, proliferation, growth, and development. Although some of these signaling processes have been characterized in the mouse, the relative quantity and distribution of ECM proteins within developing follicles of the ovary have not been characterized. This study uses immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR to characterize the ECM components type I collagen, type IV collagen, fibronectin, and laminin in the mouse ovary according to follicle stage and cellular compartment. Collagen I was present throughout the ovary, with higher concentrations in the ovarian surface epithelium and follicular compartments. Collagen IV was abundant in the theca cell compartment with low-level expression in the stroma and granulosa cells. The distribution of collagen was consistent throughout follicle maturation. Fibronectin staining in the stroma and theca cell compartment increased throughout follicle development, while staining in the granulosa cell compartment decreased. Heavy staining was also observed in the follicular fluid of antral follicles. Laminin was localized primarily to the theca cell compartment, with a defined ring at the exterior of the follicular granulosa cells marking the basement membrane. Low levels of laminin were also apparent in the stroma and granulosa cell compartment. Taken together, the ECM content of the mouse ovary changes during follicular development and reveals a distinct spatial and temporal pattern. This understanding of ECM composition and distribution can be used in the basic studies of ECM function during follicle development, and could aid in the development of in vitro systems for follicle growth.
Chromosomes in Lymphomas and Solid Tumors

(1998). Chromosomes in Lymphomas and Solid Tumors. Cancer Investigation: Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 183-187.
Deformation and Fracture Processes in Calcium Fluoride Single Crystals

The plastic properties of calcium fluoride single crystals tested in compression were investigated in the temperature range 25° to 1000°C. Above 400° C., the crystals showed appreciable ductility. The critical resolved shear stress, t, decreased with absolute temperature, T, according to the equation t = t0e+K/T. The rate of work-hardening decreased rapidly as the temperature increased but retained a relatively high value even as the melting point was approached. Air-annealed crystals were harder than as-cleaved crystals. Crystals with a (111) plane normal to the applied stress hardened less rapidly than crystals with a (110) plane normal to the applied stress. The dislocation density increased linearly with strain. (100), (110), and (111) fractures were observed.
A motion and shape-based pedestrian detection algorithm

In this paper we investigate a vision-based pedestrian detection algorithm which can be used in the design of intelligent vehicle systems. The input to the algorithm is video data obtained from a camera mounted on the vehicle. In the proposed method, a wavelet transform is computed on the video frames, and multistage template matching is used to determine whether or not a pedestrian is present in the frame. Motion detection and localization is used to reduce the computational requirements. Experimental results are presented for several different video sequences. The results show that this method is able to reliably detect pedestrians in cluttered scenes.
Seniority Provisions in Collective Bargaining Agreements and the “Teacher Quality Gap”:

For at least two decades, studies have demonstrated that the least experienced and credentialed teachers are concentrated in poor, minority, and low-performing schools. Some blame provisions in col...
Segmenting crossing fiber geometries using fluid mechanics tensor distribution function tractography

We introduce a fluid mechanics based tractography method that estimates the most likely connection path between points in a tensor distribution function (TDF) dataset. We simulated the flow of an artificial fluid whose properties are related to the underlying TDF dataset. The resulting fluid velocity was used as a metric of connection strength. We validated our algorithm using a digital phantom dataset based on a pattern with two intersecting tracts. When compared to a TDF streamline method and our single tensor fluid mechanics tractography algorithm, our method was able to segment intersecting tracts at a finer spatial resolution. Our method was successfully applied to human control data to segment a major fiber pathway, the corpus callosum, even in problematic regions with crossing fiber geometries.
Achievement in Online and Campus-Based Career and Technical Education (CTE) Courses.

Community colleges are actively involved in distance-learning programs in Career and Technical Education (CTE). Over 76% of community colleges offer some form of distance learning in CTE. Over the years, only a few isolated studies have compared the effectiveness of distance CTE courses to traditional face-to-face courses. Typically, the findings of previous studies indicate no significant differences between the two methods. This study was designed to address the lack of systematic studies of this question. It also examines how student motivation and learning strategies differ for campus-based and online students. Finally, it investigates how online and campus-based courses differ in terms of course interaction, content organization, student support, and transactional distance (i.e., feelings of closeness to the instructor and the program).
The Utah House: An effective educational tool and catalyst for behavior change?

The Utah House in Kaysville, UT is a demonstration facility built and operated by Utah State University Cooperative Extension. It is designed to showcase alternative building techniques, with a focus on sustainable use of resources, energy and water conservation, healthy indoor air, and universal design. A survey was sent to visitors of the Utah House in January 2008. Questions were asked about knowledge of key topics, and engagement in selected pro-environmental behaviors, to determine if their visit to the house influenced their level of knowledge or more importantly, their behavior. Significant increases in self-reported knowledge were found for all five topic areas, indicating that the house was an effective educational tool. Differences in self-reported knowledge before the visit were found for gender and educational level, but mean ratings for all groups were essentially the same after the visit. Although many visitors had already engaged in at least one pro-environmental behavior before coming to the house (83%), a large percentage (63%) made at least one change as a result of their visit, indicating that the house was a catalyst for behavior change. Although several interesting correlations were found between knowledge, feelings and behavior, no strong predictor of behavior emerged.
Lightwear: An Exploration in Wearable Light Therapy

We present "Lightwear", a series of garment-based, lightweight, light-emitting wearables designed to administer light therapy for on-the-go treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Bright Light Therapy (BLT) has been used to treat SAD for more than 25 years. While light boxes continue to serve as the predominant method of treatment, it often requires a user to sit at a dedicated location for a sustained period of time (30-60 minutes), rendering therapy inconvenient and resulting in unsatisfactory compliance rates. To date, there have been few successful products developed for wearability and portability to ease the uncomfortable nature of light box treatment. However, new low-profile, light-emitting sources yield opportunities for less cumbersome textile integration and wearability. We explore the integration of light into textile substrates that focus on fashion-forward wearables which can, in turn, address BLT efficacy, usability, and convenience.
Participatory assistance: An alternative to transfer of technology for promoting change on farms

Participatory assistance (PA) is a proposed approach for promoting change that involves both the biophysical processes of farms and the management processes of farmers. It integrates external expertise, inputs, and expectations with the unique character of a particular farming system. It focuses on improving the processes of the farm and farmer rather than on the traditional interests of “outsiders” such as disciplinary researchers, industry sales people, government regulators, consumers, or environmental interest groups. As an alternative to transfer of technology, it promotes learning both by the farmer and by specialists from academia, industry, government, and the public. Participatory assistance can promote innovations in the operation of farms, in the conduct of research and education, in the development of products and services, in the formulation of policy, and in the involvement of the public in agriculture. The outcome is not assumed to be the adoption of the “best” technology, but may be found in the emerging properties that result from innovations. Assessing the improvement that follows each innovation will require clear specification of the relevant performance criteria, provision of appropriate technical support, and reinforcement by the appropriate incentives. Reconciling today's farming with water quality protection illustrates the potential of the PA approach.
Steady state chemical process simulation

In recent years process simulation by computer has become an accepted tool in the design and control of chemical processes, but there are still uncertainties and conflicting views about the real benefits relative to cost in both chemical industry and in education. This article surveys the literature of the last three years, exploring the answers to the question: How has chemical process simulation by computer fulfilled expectations in industry and education and what are the major areas of research identifiable at this time? It is concluded that process simulation remains a very dynamic field with a continuous expansion in the areas of application and in the number of users. New subjects requiring research are replacing older areas which have matured.
Assessing Ethical Organizational Culture: Refinement of a Scale

An important element in discussions of organizational ethicality is the diagnosis of organizational culture. Kaptein developed the Corporate Ethical Virtues Model Scale (CEVMS) to facilitate this task. We build on this work by developing a short form of Kaptein’s scale, the CEVMS–Short Form (CEVMS-SF). In a series of studies, using three independent samples, we (a) developed the CEVMS-SF (Study 1, n = 274), (b) tested the psychometric properties of the short form (Study 2, n = 417), and (c) found validity evidence (Study 3, n = 204) for the measure. The primary implication of this research is that the CEVMS-SF can be combined with existing scales allowing diagnosticians to conduct more comprehensive diagnoses by including ethical culture. We also explain how the CEVMS-SF is applicable in the action research process when conducting a diagnosis or evaluating change interventions during the transformation of an unethical organizational culture to an ethical one.
New method for formulation of amino acid concentrations and ratios in diets of rats.

Parameters derived from the application of the saturation kinetics model (SKM) to rat growth ex periments were used to formulate a complete dietary amino acid mix for weanling rats. Dietary ratios and concentra tions for indispensable amino acids (IAA)and arginine were calculated using the parameter K,,,.. A curve shift technique was used to determine dietary concentrations for condi tionally Indispensable amino acids (CAA) and dispensable amino acids (DAA).The model was also used to determine a dietary ratio of (IAA + Arg) (CAA + DAA). Using the dietary amino acid concentrations suggested by the model and an (IAA + Arg)/(CAA -I- DAA) ratio of 1. a growth response curve was constructed and compared to a similar curve using the amino acid mix of Rogers and Harper. The modeling approach produced a 10â€" 15% improvement in growth over the Rogers and Harper mix. The SKM is dis cussed in terms of calculating an ideal nutrient ratio and choosing a desired response level. It is demonstrated that the model can rapidly produce accurate estimates for di etary amino acid levels, while minimizing required numbers of laboratory animals. J. Nutr. 117:1936-1944. 1987.
Hybrid-dynamical modelling, characterization, and experimental verification of a free-wheeling clutch

AbstractIn this paper, two alternative modelling approaches for a one-way mechanical coupling device known as a free-wheeling clutch are considered. Unlike existing mathematical models which accoun...
HOW MISLEADING ARE INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS

Starting from the proposition that economic welfare is better measured by the capitalized value of expected future income at age 18 than by income at a point of time, the present paper explores the bias introduced in comparison of earnings and income distributions. The earning distribution chosen for study is that for males in 1959 in the United States. It is shown that earnings distributions are biased and therfore can be considered highly misleading in most comparisons unless the comparison involves two groups with identical age distributions and identical distributions of earnings over the working life of earners. Further, a most striking effect can be discerned in comparing the earnings to the present value distributions by educational level. As one moves up the educational ladder, the within-group distribution of lifetime income becomes more and more equal, in sharp contrast to the findings for the distribution of earnings at a point in time. The result are sufficiently interesting and striking to warrant further studies of distributions of present value of lifetime expected earnings (and income).
Learning Unified Famous Objects (UFO) to bootstrap information integration

For at least a decade, WWW, large enterprises, and desktop users suffer from an inability to efficiently access and manage their data. To help automate different aspects of this challenging problem many solutions have been proposed in both academic and industrial research. One of them - UFO Repository, introduced in [5] is currently gaining momentum by advocating an object-oriented approach to help manage information overflow. An overview and evaluation of the UFO approach was published and reviewed in [5, 1]. This paper is more focused on the algorithms for UFO creation and knowledge accumulation. We describe, evaluate these algorithms, and demonstrate that UFO learning performance is surprisingly fast and accurate across several domains even for a small amount of initial training data.
Skin Lesions Caused by Dermophthirius penneri (Monogenea: Microbothriidae) on Wild-Caught Blacktip Sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Skin lesions caused by the ectoparasite Dermophthirius penneri Benz, 1987 (Monogenea: Microbothriidae) on 2 wild-caught blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) from the northern Gulf of Mexico were studied using light and scanning electron microscopy. Grossly, lesions appeared as multifocal, well-demarcated, ovoid or irregularly shaped, light gray patches of skin. Scanning electron microscopy of lesions revealed gaps between placoid scales apparently created by detachment and loss of placoid scales, rotated and tilted placoid scales with blunt distal tips and shallow ridges, and a frayed epithelium that covered some placoid scales and filled some spaces between placoid scales. Light microscopy of lesions revealed epithelial hyperplasia accompanied by dermal infiltrates of moderate numbers of loosely arranged lymphocytes interposed between collagen bundles in the superficial layers of the stratum compactum. This report provides the first details of microbothriid skin lesions on wild sharks. Our results indicate that D. penneri caused chronic skin lesions not associated with bacterial infection or severe, debilitating, skin disease in the studied sharks.
Frugivores and fruit syndromes: differences in patterns at the genus and species level

Comparative studies have suggested that fruit traits, such as color, size, and protection, have evolved as covarying character complexes («dispersal syndromes») in response to selection by frugivorous dispersers. However, many comparative studies of disperser-specific syndromes have used species as sampling units, a method which implicitly assumes that character complexes evolve de novo in each species. This approach overestimates the number of times a character complex has evolved because covariation that results from common ancestry (plesiomorphy) is confounded with covariation across independent lineages (convergence)
How to Use Carbon Tax Revenues

How should governments use the considerable revenue carbon taxes can raise? There are many options for cutting other taxes, increasing spending, or reducing borrowing. We organize the options into four goals: offset the new burdens that a carbon tax places on consumers, producers, communities, and the broader economy; support further efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; ameliorate the harms of climate disruption; and fund unrelated public priorities. We identify important tradeoffs across the goals and make several recommendations for policy design. Revenue neutrality, for example, can assuage public concerns about expanding government, but spending may be better than tax reductions for achieving some goals. We recommend that governments use some revenue to reduce other taxes and to soften the blow to lower-income households, coal workers, and their communities, that they be cautious about using revenues to pursue emissions reductions the tax itself encourages, and that they avoid tight earmarks. Governments should also pay special attention to using revenue in ways that attract and sustain stakeholder and public support for a carbon tax.
Watching the Night: Surveillance and Cross-Sectional Montage in Nikolaus Geyrhalter's Abendland (2011)

Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s 2011 documentary Abendland is an important, if little-known, cinematic reflection on contemporary surveillance in Europe. Along with his 2005 documentary Unser taglich Brot , Geyrhalter’s films, this paper argues, revive and revise 1920s cross-sectional montage strategies in order to represent the active roles of technology in contemporary life. Through cross-sectional, formal associations, Abendland suggests a totalizing environment of night-time surveillance in the European Union and provocatively blurs normal distinctions between care and control. Geyrhalter’s deceptively simple strategies of camera positioning and editing succeed in visualizing the deeper perceptual structures and behaviours produced by surveillance and thus assert the lasting power of traditional cinematic techniques in relation to newer perceptual technologies.
Cigarette smoking worsens hypertension and kidney fibrosis in an animal model of chronic kidney disease

Age, yrs. 56.7 10.4 50.0 12.1 <0.001 Male sex, n (%) 62 (29) 45 (27) 0.65 Systolic BP, mmHg 159.8 13.9 125.4 11.4 <0.001 Diastolic BP, mmHg 97.4 10.5 78.8 8.9 <0.001 Number of antihypertensive drugs 1.1 0.3 1.2 0.4 0.21 Creatinine, mg/dl 0.71 0.19 0.70 0.18 0.66 Cystatin C, mg/L 0.96 0.22 0.89 0.20 0.002 Active smoking, n (%) 58 (27) 28 (17) 0.017 Diabetes mellitus, n (%) 33 (15) 38 (22) 0.11 Abdominal obesity, n (%) 127 (59) 97 (57) 0.70 Thyroid stimulating hormone, U/ml 2.9 2.6 2.6 2.1 0.64 e78 Abstracts / Journal of the American Society of Hypertension 9(4S) (2015) e75–e83
Toward a new spacecraft optimal design lifetime? Impact of marginal cost of durability and reduced launch price

Abstract The average design lifetime of satellites continues to increase, in part due to the expectation that the satellite cost per operational day decreases monotonically with increased design lifetime. In this work, we challenge this expectation by revisiting the durability choice problem for spacecraft in the face of reduced launch price and under various cost of durability models. We first provide a brief overview of the economic thought on durability and highlight its limitations as they pertain to our problem (e.g., the assumption of zero marginal cost of durability). We then investigate the merging influence of spacecraft cost of durability and launch price, and we identify conditions that give rise cost-optimal design lifetimes that are shorter than the longest lifetime technically achievable. For example, we find that high costs of durability favor short design lifetimes, and that under these conditions the optimal choice is relatively robust to reduction in launch prices. By contrast, lower costs of durability favor longer design lifetimes, and the optimal choice is highly sensitive to reduction in launch price. In both cases, reduction in launch prices translates into reduction of the optimal design lifetime. Our results identify a number of situations for which satellite operators would be better served by spacecraft with shorter design lifetimes. Beyond cost issues and repeat purchases, other implications of long design lifetime include the increased risk of technological slowdown given the lower frequency of purchases and technology refresh, and the increased risk for satellite operators that the spacecraft will be technologically obsolete before the end of its life (with the corollary of loss of value and competitive advantage). We conclude with the recommendation that, should pressure to extend spacecraft design lifetime continue, satellite manufacturers should explore opportunities to lease their spacecraft to operators, or to take a stake in the ownership of the asset on orbit.
Flood Control and Relief Measures: An Elementary View

Now that we have developed a theory of individual investment behavior in a flood plain, we shall use it to analyze how individuals in the flood plain can be expected to respond to government policy measures. The kinds of policy that we shall consider here are physical flood protection works such as dams, levees, and the like, flood insurance, disaster relief programs, and flood plain zoning. The purpose of the analysis here is to show how the model of individual behavior developed above throws light on the policy problems faced by government. It is not intended to be a full scale analysis of any particular policy. Any practitioner should recognize the great simplification involved in our analysis, but hopefully he would find here the elements necessary for a more complete analysis of a particular policy issue.
Reconfigurable Infrared Photonics with Phase-transition Materials

We present tunable optical components for the infrared, incorporating phase transition materials that respond to temperature, current, or light into photonic structures such as interference coatings, optical metasurfaces, and thermal emitters. Article not available.
Digital Citizenship in the South Caucasus: A Comparative Analysis between Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan

The concept of digital citizenship has received little attention outside of Western countries and contexts. This exploratory study seeks to evaluate the utility of the concept of digital citizenship by comparatively examining three countries in the South Caucasus region: Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Using survey data from the Caucasus Research Resource Center, an empirical model will be evaluated and tested. In particular, this model will test empirical measures of digital citizenship on political attitudes and outcomes that coincide with the research literature. Comparisons between Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan on the effectiveness of digital citizenship will be summarized. In addition, this research will also contribute to empirically evaluating the claims of digital citizenship in a unique political and geographic area of the world.
Lower Ferritin Concentrations in Children with Sickle Cell Disease Are Associated with Decreased Hemolysis and Lower Tricuspid Regurgitant Velocity

Abstract Considerable evidence suggests that hemolysis may be a cause of vasculopathy in sickle cell disease (SCD) and be associated with pulmonary hypertension risk in both adult and pediatric SCD patients. We recently treated an SCD adult for iron deficiency. Reticulocytes, LDH, and AST were normal or near normal before iron treatment but increased markedly with iron supplementation without a commensurate increase in the hemoglobin concentration. This and similar cases in the literature suggest that iron deficiency decreases hemolysis in SCD. To test this hypothesis we examined the association of serum ferritin concentration with hemolytic parameters and tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (TRV) in 234 SCD children enrolled in a prospective multi-center study of the prevalence and significance of pulmonary hypertension. All studies were done in children who were outpatients and in the steady state of their disease. There were 32 children with ferritin concentrations Comparison of children with SCD at steady state according to serum ferritin concentration. Results in mean or geometric mean and 95% confidence interval unless otherwise stated. Ferritin Ferritin 50 + N=202 P value P value (Adjusted for # transfusions) Age, y 13.6 (12.3–14.9) 11.7 (11.0–12.4) 0.039 0.002 Female, N (%) 14 (44) 96 (48) 0.69 0.59 SC and Sb+-Thal, N (%) 12 (37) 45 (23) 0.08 0.26 > 4 blood Tx, N (%) 3 (10) 67 (34) 0.011 - Interleukin-6 ng/ml 0.5 (0.3–1.2) 0.6 (0.5–0.8) 0.6 0.6 TRV, m/sec 2.17 (2.05–2.29) 2.28 (2.24–2.32) 0.033 0.020 Hemoglobin, g/dl 9.7 (9.0–10.5) 9.3 (9.0–9.5) 0.20 0.16 MCV, fl 77.4 (73.0–81.8) 85.9 (84.4–87.5) 0.0001 0.0008 Reticulocytes (×103/mm3) 166 (137–202) 208 (188–229) 0.022 0.06 Tot. Bilirubin (mg/dl) 1.7 (1.3–2.2) 2.3 (2.1–2.5) 0.029 0.051 LDH (mU/ml) 342 (284–411) 386 (364–410) 0.14 0.11 AST (mU/ml) 35 (29–42) 40 (38–42) 0.09 0.046 Hemolytic index −0.6 (−1.2–0.1) 0.1 (−0.1–0.4) 0.018 0.023 Plasma interleukin-6 concentrations were not different between the two groups suggesting that the differences in TRV and hemolyis were not due to increased inflammation in the high ferritin group. To further account for the effect of multiple transfusions on ferritin level we also analyzed patients who had fewer than 5 blood transfusions in their lifetime. Twenty-six patients with
Ultrasound surface wave elastography of the living human eye

The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate a noninvasive technique to measure elastic properties of human eyes using ultrasound surface wave elastography (USWE) technique. Twenty eyes of 10 healthy subjects (age 44–63; mean 51 years) were studied. A localized harmonic vibration for 0.1 second at 100 Hz was generated by using a spherically-tipped vibrator (3 mm diameter) placed on the closed eyelid. The subjects only felt a gentle vibration on their eyes. The wave propagation in the eye was measured by using a linear array ultrasound transducer. The wave speed was determined from the change in phase with distance. Mean wave speed in the cornea was 1.82 ± 0.10 m/s (± SD) at 100 Hz. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured by using Goldmann applanation tonometry. Mean IOP was 12.8 ± 2.7 mmHg (± SD). The wave speed correlated well with IOP (r=0.74; p<0.001). USWE is a safe and noninvasive technique for generating and measuring wave propagation in the eye. Further improvement and validation of USWE in the eye experiments is needed.
Approaching Democracy Through Transparency: A Comparative Law Study on Chinese Open Government Information

I. OPEN GOVERNMENT INFORMATION IN CHINA (SINCE 1985) 984 A. TRANSPARENCY IN VILLAGES AND ENTERPRISES 984 B. LOCAL EXPERIMENTS 987 C. INFLUENCES FROM INTERNATIONAL LAW 989 1. WTO Regulations 989 2. Experiences of Other Countries 991 II. THE STATE COUNCIL’S OGI REGULATIONS 992 A. ACHIEVEMENTS 993 1. Special Office for OGI Works 993 2. Scope of Disclosure 993 3. Methods and Procedures for Disclosure 994 4. Supervision and Safeguards 995 B. DEFICIENCIES 996 1. Limited Scope of Disclosure 996 2. Unclear Resolution of Conflicts of Interest 996 III. GOVERNMENT POWER VERSUS PRIVATE PARTY FREEDOM—A COMPARISON WITH U.S. FREEDOM
Rural electrification and expansion planning of off-grid microgrids

Abstract This paper presents the past and current practices for rural electrification and the current trend in using off-grid microgrids to provide energy to the customers with no access to the central electricity network. The challenges correspond to the capacity expansion of off-grid microgrids including the financial and business models for establishing these technologies, the economic and reliability considerations, the environmental issues, the expansion and feasibility studies, and the uncertainties in the operation horizon were presented.
In Search of the City

In this chapter, a theoretical argument is set forth in which the essential elements of the urbanization process are identified. Two main phases of urban development are stressed, namely, the tendency for many different kinds of human activity to gather together in functional complexes on the landscape and the intricate space-sorting crosscurrents set in motion by this primary urge. From these basic points of departure, the city in all its fullness emerges as a reflexive moment in social and economic development generally.
Introduction to the Special Issue on the Dynamics of Consumer Preferences

We compiled this special issue of Marketing Letters on “The Dynamics of Consumer Preferences” from contributions to this Forum and some related work. The articles in this special issue of Marketing Letters discuss a variety of behavioral regularities relating time and preference, including how consumers form and change preferences over time and how they schedule sequences of choices and outcomes as well as how they evaluate and allocate utility (cost and benefit) streams over time. Below is a brief overview of the individual papers.
OLED light extraction with corrugated substrate and hemispherical lens (Conference Presentation)

While the internal quantum efficiency of an OLED can reach 100%, its external quantum efficiency (EQE) is limited to 30% because of light trapped in waveguided mode, SPP mode and substrate mode. In this study, we achieve more than 2X enhancement in EQE by using a corrugated substrate and a hemispherical lens. Polarized angle-resolved electroluminescence spectroscopy is used to analyzed the EL data, and the results are compared with optical simulation. We find the efficiency enhancement mainly comes from the diffraction of the SPP mode towards air mode due to the corrugated substrate, and the hemispherical lens assists the light extraction by extending the air cone into the substrate mode.
Managers at Work: Developing Novel Catalysts with Six Sigma

(2004). Managers at Work: Developing Novel Catalysts with Six Sigma. Research-Technology Management: Vol. 47, No. 1, pp. 13-16.
Levels of Music Played by Caucasian and Filipino Musicians with and without Conventional and Musicians' Earplugs.

Background Some musicians may play the music louder while using earplugs thus reducing the effectiveness of the hearing protection offered by earplugs. In addition, the dynamic range (DR) of the music may be altered because of the use of earplugs with negative impact on perceived quality of music. There are some cultural differences in attitudes toward loudness, which may lead to differences in the loudness of music played by musicians from different cultures. Purpose To investigate the effect of the use of two different types of earplugs on the loudness and DR of music played by musicians of Caucasian and Filipino origins. Research design Quasi-experimental repeated measures design. Study sample Thirty six musicians with normal hearing within the age range of 18-49 yr. Fifteen were of Caucasian (eight men and 7 women) origin and 21 were of the Filipino (nine men and 12 women) origin. Intervention All participants received a brief educational session, which included information on music-induced hearing loss, the benefit of using earplugs, and the correct procedures for inserting and removing earplugs. They played music in five different conditions (three min each): Trial 1 of conventional and musicians' earplugs in random order, no earplug, and trial 2 of conventional and musicians' earplugs in random order. Data collection and analysis Maximum, minimum, average (average sound level measured over the measurement period; LAVG), and peak levels were recorded using a dosimeter while playing music in each of the five conditions. The DR was derived by subtracting the minimum values from the maximum values. A different measure of the dynamic range 2 (DR2) was derived by subtracting the LAVG value from the peak value. Mixed analyses of variance (ANOVA) (Cultural origin and Gender as nonrepeated variables) was performed on LAVG, DR, and DR2. Results Based on the LAVG levels yielded by them, 42-61% of the musicians may be at risk for hearing loss. The mixed ANOVA revealed some main effects of culture and some significant interactions involving cultural origin, the plug conditions, type of earplugs, and trial number. Conclusions Use of earplugs may vary the overall loudness of music, the DR, or the DR2 in some musicians depending on the type of earplugs and cultural origin, and the effect may change with practice.
Nonspecific inhibition of erythropoiesis by short hairpin RNAs.

TO THE EDITOR: RNA interference, including ectopic expression of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs), provides a powerful approach to studying developmental pathways and genes of interest. We used this method to study Trim58, an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is highly expressed in late-stage erythroid
JAK2 and JMJD1C activate NFE2 in MPNs.

Overexpression of nuclear factor erythroid 2 (NFE2) is commonly observed in the myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), especially polycythemia vera (PV) and primary myelofibrosis, 1,2 but the mechanism that drives this feature has been unclear. In this issue of Blood , Peeken et al reveal a 2-pronged epigenetic pathway that promotes NFE2 overexpression and disease. 3
Recent Developments in Medical Ethics in the Methodist Tradition

The spiritual and ecclesiastical descendants of John Wesley have a significant history of concern for individual and social well-being and justice, including health and health care. The Oxford-based group organized by John and Charles Wesley were somewhat derisively dubbed “Methodist” for their methodical approaches to devotional piety, personal morality, and what would now be considered matters of social justice. These “fathers of Methodism…ministered to the physical, intellectual and social needs of the people to whom they preached the gospel of personal redemption” ([4], p. 3). Sometimes taking “forthright positions on controversial issues involving Christian principles”, “early Methodists expressed their opposition to the slave trade, to smuggling, and to the cruel treatment of prisoners” ([27], p. 15). Even though the Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in the United States by the followers of Wesley, was to produce a number of divisions over racial, doctrinal, and ecclesial issues, the general tradition of “Methodism” remains one characterized by a combination of concerns for personal “holiness” or spiritual growth, and personal and societal welfare.
What Is Structure Theory

The oniontological topography developed in the last chapter specifies a communication from the poietic to the neutral position, yielding the performed music as a sounding expression. The delicate point is the technical way of connecting the score information and the surrounding CSI to the sounding output. The solution we have chosen is historically justified in that the score has evolved from the neumatic notation, meaning that the score is a “dance floor of gestures” and therefore relates to real physical events in an abstracted way. This implies that the score coordinates of onset and pitch are an abstraction from real physical coordinates.
Hierarchical clustering of mixture tying using a partially observable Markov decision process.

For over a decade, the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) has been the primary tool used for acoustic modeling in the field of speech recognition. In this paper we examine a more general approach using a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) to mo del the base phonetic unit. We introduce the concept of multiple phonetic context classes, one for each of the infinite possible contexts a phoneme can be in, and show how a POMDP can be used to represent such a model. Much the same way that tying mixtures at the state level across phonemes sharing linguistic properties is used to fill in gaps in the model space due to lack of data, the POMDP model can fill in additional gaps, in effect adding a second level of clustering driven by the data itself.
The Political Implications of Metropolitan Growth

The rapid growth of the metropolitan populations will not necessarily have much political effect. To be sure, many new facilities, especially schools, highways, and water supply and sewage disposal systems, will have to be built and much private activity will have to be regulated. But such things do not necessarily have anything to do with politics: the laying of a sewer pipe by a “public” body may involve the same kinds of behavior as the manufacture of the pipe by a “private” one. Difficulties that are “political” arise (and they may arise in “private” as well as in “public” undertakings) only insofar as there is conflict—conflict over what the common good requires or between what it requires and what private interests want. The general political situation is affected, therefore, not by changes in population density or in the number and complexity of the needs that government serves (“persons,” the human organisms whose noses are counted by census-takers, are not necessarily “political actors”) but rather by actions which increase conflict in matters of public importance or make the management of it more difficult. In what follows, such actions will be called “burdens” upon the political system.
Fuzzy set theory, fuzzy logic, and fuzzy systems

“The notion of a fuzzy set provides a convenient point of departure for the construction of a conceptual framework which parallels in many respects the framework used in the case of ordinary sets, but is more general than the latter and, potentially, may prove to have a much wider scope of applicability, particularly in the fields of pattern classification and information processing. Essentially, such a framework provides a natural way of dealing with problems in which the source of imprecision is the absence of sharply defined criteria of class membership rather than the presence of random variables.’’
Platelets contain proteins immunologically related to red cell spectrin and protein 4.1.

Human platelets were tested for the presence of proteins immunologically cross-reactive with red cell spectrin and protein 4.1. As assessed by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, platelets were specifically reactive with affinity-purified rabbit antisera against red cell spectrin and protein 4.1. The immunoreactive platelet constituents were further analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, followed by electrophoretic transfer to nitrocellulose paper and immunoperoxidase staining. We found that whole platelets, membranes, and cytoskeletal preparations isolated by Triton X-100 extraction contain small amounts of proteins reacting with anti-spectrin or anti-protein 4.1 antiserum. The immunoreactive spectrin-like platelet protein has an apparent molecular weight of 240,000 and comigrates with the alpha-subunit of red cell spectrin. The major immunoreactive protein 4.1-like constituent has an apparent molecular weight of 78,000, which is slightly less than that of red cell protein 4.1. We conclude that platelets contain a spectrin- like protein which, by analogy with red cell spectrin, may have a role in membrane-cytoskeletal attachment. The properties and function of the platelet protein 4.1-like constituent are not yet known.
Suture dehiscence and collagen content in the human mitral and tricuspid annuli.

Postoperative suture dehiscence is an important mode of short-term mitral and tricuspid valve (MV, TV) repair failure. We sought to evaluate suture pullout forces and collagen density in human atrioventricular valves for a better understanding of the comparative physiology between the valves and the underlying mechanobiological basis for suture retention. Mitral and tricuspid annuli were each excised from hearts from human donors age 60–79 with no history of heart disease (n = 6). Anchor sutures were vertically pulled until tearing through the tissue. Suture pullout force (FP) was measured as the maximum force at dehiscence. Subsequently, tissue samples from each tested suture position were evaluated for collagen content using a standard hydroxyproline assay. Among all mitral positions, no significant differences were detected among positions or regions with mean FP values falling between 6.9 ± 2.6 N (posterior region) and 10.3 ± 4.7 N (anterior region). Among all tricuspid positions, the maximum FP and minimum FP were 24.0 ± 9.2 N (trigonal region) and 4.5 ± 2.6 N (anterior region). Although for the MV, a given sample’s collagen content had no correlation to its corresponding FP, the same relationship was significant for the TV. Further, the TV exhibited comparable FP to the MV overall, despite a nearly 40% reduction in collagen content. These findings suggest that sutures placed in the trigonal region of the TV have higher pullout force than those placed along other segments of the annuli. Furthermore, there are likely differences in collagen orientation between the mitral and tricuspid annuli, such that collagen content strongly impacts FP in one, but not the other.