cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Etale K-theory of Azumaya algebras

This paper extends our earlier study of the algebraic K-theory of commutative rings to certain non-commutative rings. Our method is to use etale descent to represent linear automorphisms of free modules over an Azumaya algebra by group schemes over its center. This passage from the context of non-commutative rings to algebraic geometry enables us to apply our etale-theoretic methods. In particular, we obtain a natural surjective map from algebraic to etale K-theory (with coefficients) of an Azumaya algebra over a ring of S-integers in a global field, and we prove that the etale K-theory of such an Azumaya algebra is isomorphic to that of its center. In brief, the paper is organized as follows. Section 1 presents constructions of etale K-theory for Azumaya algebras which closely parallel those of [2) for commutative rings. In particular, there is an Atiyah-Hirzebruch type spectral sequence converging to the etale K-theory of an Azumaya algebra whose &-term is isomorphic to the corresponding &term of its center. In Section 2, we establish various structures on etale K-theory of Azumaya algebras module structure, transfer, secondary transfer which arise exactly as in the commutative case. We construct a homotopy theoretic analogue of the reduced norm map in Section 3, as well as prove certain surjectivity theorems relating algebraic to etale K-theory. The second author gratefully acknowledges the hospitality of the LJniversity of Paris VII and the Max Planck Institut during the developent of this paper.
S3-P9: Thermal and electrical performance of microfluidically cooled 3D ICs with non-uniform power dissipation

Compared to the backside air cooling, on-chip microfluidic cooling has shown superior thermal performance due to its reduced thermal dissipation path. The reduced temperature resulting from the on-chip microfluidic cooling can improve the electrical performance in terms of leakage power reduction due to the temperature-leakage coupling effect. In this paper, a coupled power-thermal simulator is used to study the effects of on-chip micropin fin cooling design on both the thermal and electrical performance of 3D ICs running with real application that produce non-uniform power maps. It is found that the leakage power amounts to 55.8% of the dynamic power consumption of the chip. Ambient heat transfer coefficient has very little effect on the thermal and electrical performance while the increasing ambient temperature which affects the fluid temperature strongly degrades the performance. By increasing the pumping power, the maximum temperature and leakage power is decreased. Finally, the effect of pin height, transversal spacing and longitudinal spacing are studied under certain dimension range. Increasing the pin height and transversal spacing could reduce the temperature and leakage power significantly while the effect of longitudinal spacing is not evident.
Power comparison between high-speed electrical and optical interconnects for interchip communication

An I/O bandwidth commensurate with a dramatically increasing on-chip computational capability is highly desirable. Achieving this goal using board-level copper interconnects in the future will become increasingly challenging owing to severe increase in high-frequency, skin-effect and dielectric loss, noise due to crosstalk, impedance mismatch, and package reflections. The solutions designed to overcome these deleterious effects require complex signal processing at the interconnect endpoints, which results in a larger power and area requirement. Optical interconnects offer a powerful alternative, potentially at a lower power. Prior work in comparing the two technologies has entailed overly simplified assumptions pertaining to either the optical or the electrical system. In this paper, we draw a more realistic power comparison with respect to the relevant parameters such as bandwidth, interconnect length and bit error rate (BER) by capturing the essential complexity in both types of interconnect systems. At the same time, we preserve the simplicity by using mostly analytical models, verified by SPICE simulations where possible. We also identify critical device and system parameters, which have a large effect on power dissipation in each type of interconnect, while quantifying the severity of their impact. For optical interconnect, these parameters are detector and modulator capacitance, responsivity, coupling efficiency and modulator type; whereas, in the case of electrical system, the critical parameters include receiver sensitivity/offset and impedance mismatch. Toward this end, we first present an optimization scheme to minimize optical interconnect power and quantify its performance as a function of future technology nodes. Next, on the electrical interconnect side, we examine the power dissipation of a state-of-the-art electrical interconnect, which uses simultaneous bidirectional signaling with transmitter equalization and on-chip noise cancellation. Finally, we draw extensive comparisons between optical and electrical interconnects. As an example, for bandwidth of 6 Gb/s at 100 nm technology node, lengths greater than the critical length of about 43 cm yields lower power in optical interconnects. This length becomes lower (making optics more favorable) with higher data rates and lower bit error rate requirement.
Prenatal PCB exposure and neurobehavioral development in infants and children: Can the Oswego study inform the current debate?

In the current paper we describe the methodology and results of the Oswego study, in light of D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow's (this issue) criticisms regarding the validity of the human health/behavioral claims in the PCB literature. The Oswego project began as a replication of the Lake Michigan Maternal Infant Cohort study. Beyond replication of the Michigan findings, the study sought to extend results and conclusions through more comprehensive behavioral assessment, and improved confounder control and analytic methodology. Results over the past 5 years have demonstrated a convincing replication of the Michigan findings. The Michigan cohort reported findings relating Great Lakes fish consumption to performance impairments on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (J. Jacobson, S. Jacobson, P. Schwartz, G. Fein, & J. Dowler, 1984). These findings were also found in the Oswego cohort (E. Lonky, J. Reihman, T. Darvill, J. Mather, & H. Daly, 1996), and the Oswego study extended the association to cord blood PCBS (P.W. Stewart, J. Reihman, E. Lonky, and T. Darvill, 2000). The Michigan cohort reported an association between prenatal PCB exposure and poorer performance on the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence (S.W. Jacobson, G.G. Fein, J.L. Jacobson, P.M. Schwartz, & J.K. Dowler, 1985). The Oswego cohort found similar results (T. Darvill, E. Lonky, J. Reihman, P. Stewart, & J. Pagano, 2000). The Michigan Cohort reported an association between prenatal PCB exposure and performance impairments on the McCarthy Scales of Children's abilities (J. Jacobson & S. Jacobson, 1997). The Oswego study also found PCB-related impairments on the McCarthy Scales (P.W. Stewart, J. Reihman, E. Lonky, T. Darvill, & J. Pagano, 2003). The Oswego results used the same exposure metric in every paper, employed conservative statistical design and analysis, and controlled for more than 40 potentially confounding variables. Moreover, while PCBs were related to all the behavioral endpoints outlined above, alternative candidates for effect, including lead, HCB, Mirex, DDE, and MeHg were not. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that prenatal PCB exposure results in statistically significant predictors of small, but measurable, deficits in cognitive development from infancy through early childhood. Cicchetti et al. argue that these results, generated by independent investigators, be dismissed because they reflect a combination of measurement error, Type I error, and residual confounding. The evidence Cicchetti et al. present in support of their position fails to explain the nearly identical pattern of associations observed in the Oswego and Michigan Cohorts. In light of this replication, the extensive assessment of potential confounders, the effective elimination of alternative contaminants, and the conservative statistical approach employed in the Oswego study, we find that Cicchetti et al.'s claims are not substantiated. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 639–653, 2004.
Anderson Localization of Phonons in Random Multilayer Thin Films

1020 Joules of energy are generated by the United States each year; 60% of this energy is lost to waste heat [1]. Thermoelectric based energy scavenging has tremendous potential for the recovery of significant quantities of this waste heat. However, utilization of thermoelectric devices is limited due to relatively low energy conversion efficiency and the utilization of relatively scarce materials. This work focuses on generating sustainable and efficient thermoelectric materials through modifications to the lattice vibrations of materials with excellent thermoelectric electronic properties (Seebeck coefficients larger than 500 μV/K). In particular, Anderson localization of phonons in random multilayer thin films has been explored as a means for reducing lattice thermal conductivity to values approaching that of aerogels (∼10 mW/m-K). Silicon has been a sample of choice due to its high crust abundance and Seebeck coefficient. Reverse non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations have been utilized to determine the thermal conductivity of structures of interest. Simulations with pure Lennard-Jones argon solids have been performed to establish a methodology and to characterize the effect of different kinds of disorder prior to the examination of silicon. The simulation results indicate that mass disorder confined to randomly selected planes to be an effective way in which to reduce lattice thermal conductivity with the lattice thermal conductivity decreasing by a factor of thirty (to 4 mW/m-K) in the argon case and a factor of over ten thousand (to 15 mW/m-K) for silicon. Based on models in which the charge carrier mean free path is limited by scattering from the planes with mass disorder, the mobility of silicon is expected to reach values of 10 cm2/V-s. At this mobility the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, (utilizing the Wiedeman-Franz law to calculate the electronic thermal conductivity) varies between 4.5 and 11 as the mass ratio of the disordered planes is varied from 4 to 10 in 20% of the lattice planes. These results indicate that the pursuit of nanostructured thermoelectric materials in the form of random multilayers may provide a path to efficient and sustainable thermoelectric materials.
Computational study of the initial stage of diborane pyrolysis.

The rate constants for the association of two boranes to form diborane are investigated using several methods. The most sophisticated method is the variable reaction coordinate-variational transition state theory (VRC-VTST) which has been developed to handle reactions with no enthalpic barriers. The calculated rate constant of 8.2 × 10–11 cm3·molecule–1·s–1 at 545 K is in good agreement with experiment. The rate constant was also computed using conventional VTST with the G4 composite method. Two variations of the multistep mechanisms for diborane pyrolysis are presented. One is initiated by the step B2H6 ⇄ 2 BH3 while the other begins with 2 B2H6 ⇄ B3H9 + BH3 as the initial elementary step. Both variations are 3/2 order in diborane and have the same activation energy (G4, 28.65 kcal/mol at 420 K). In contrast, the traditional mechanism involving a B3H9 intermediate with C3v symmetry has a higher activation energy (33.37 kcal/mol). The two variations involve a C2-symmetry penta-coordinate B3H9 structure th...
Using static analysis tools to detect and correct non-compliant cryptography

Security is an increasing concern for application developers, whether they are targeting internal customers, organizations or the general public. Particularly for the US public sector with requirements like FIPS 140, developers need to identify and remove superseded cryptography in both legacy applications and new development. This paper outlines a mechanism using static analysis tools to find outdated or improper cryptography and suggest corrections or correct code. This prevents the need for manual inspection and correction by developers familiar with cryptography and is more accurate than text searches.
Associations among Antarctic seabirds in mixed‐species feeding flocks

We studied ten mixed-species feeding flocks of seabirds and seals off South Georgia (55°S, 35°W) to assess the factors that influenced the species composition of the flocks. The ten flocks were distributed between two oceanographic regions; four flocks were observed off the northwestern end of South Georgia, and six off the island's southeastern end. The flocks differed dramatically in size and species composition. The northwestern flocks were ten to 20 times larger and contained more seals and penguins. We tested whether these differences were a consequence of location, because the two regions were populated by different assemblages of species, and determined that this was not the case. Differences in flock size and species composition reflected differences in the depth distribution of the birds' and seals' prey. The northwestern flocks were associated with deep swarms of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba with a significant quantity of krill also present at the surface. We also tested for differential flock participation by the species found in the surrounding waters and classified species by their proclivity to participate in the flocks. Our results indicate that Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris have a strong tendency to join, and diving-petrels Pelecanoides spp. to avoid, mixed-species feeding flocks. We postulate that Black-browed Albatrosses serve as visual cues to the presence of food for one another and for other species, and that diving-petrels avoid mixed-species flocks in part because of the risk of predation.
Fine-needle aspiration of the adult kidney.

BACKGROUND Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the adult kidney is an excellent diagnostic tool in the appropriate clinical setting. The indications, cytologic criteria, and therapeutic implications of renal FNA may be changing. METHODS A review of the English language literature concerning the indications, utility, and criteria for renal FNA was performed. RESULTS The indications for renal FNA are changing as radiologic imaging allows better assessment of cystic lesions and incidentally identifies an increasing percentage of renal lesions. Cytologic criteria and pitfalls for the diagnosis of a wide variety of benign and malignant lesions have been delineated and refined. The increasing use of partial rather than radical nephrectomy for some renal lesions suggests that accurate distinction between these lesions may have important therapeutic implications. CONCLUSIONS Renal FNA provides important information that can affect the management of patients with renal masses. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 1997; 81:71-88. © 1997 American Cancer Society.
ANDROGENIC REGULATION OF HYPOTHALAMIC AROMATASE ACTIVITY IN PREPUBERTAL AND POSTPUBERTAL MALE GOLDEN HAMSTERS

Doses of testosterone that fully activate male reproductive behavior in castrated adult male hamsters fail to elicit mounting and intromissions in prepubertal castrates, even when circulating levels of testosterone are equivalent in the two age groups. We hypothesize that this differential responsiveness to testosterone is mediated at least in part by the efficacy with which testosterone in the hypothalamus is aromatized to estradiol, an important hormone mediating male sexual behavior. Therefore, hypothalamic aromatase activity, as measured by the conversion of [3H]testosterone to [3H]estradiol in tissue homogenates, was assessed in four separate experiments: 1) intact prepubertal and adult male golden hamsters, 2 and 3) castrated adult or prepubertal males that received either a 0- or 2.5-mg dose of testosterone, and 4) castrated adult and prepubertal males treated with the 2.5-mg dose oftestosterone. These studies demonstrate that hypothalamic aromatase activity is significantly higher in adult males compared with prepubertal males, and that hypothalamic aromatase activity is increased by testosterone to the same extent in both the adult and prepubertal male hamster. Therefore, the failure of testosterone-treated castrated prepubertal male hamsters to engage in the full suite of male reproductive behaviors is not due to the inability of testosterone to be converted into estradiol in the hypothalamus. Differences in the ability of testosterone to increase aromatase activity in other brain regions, or differences in the action of testosterone and/or estradiol on other cellular processes must account for the inability of testosterone to facilitate male reproductive behavior in juvenile males.
Ontogeny of adrenoceptor-mediated contractile responses of Müller's smooth muscle in the spontaneously hypertensive rat: role of impulse activity.

Abstract Contractile responses of Muller's smooth muscle to α-adrenoceptor stimulation were evaluated in anesthetized Spontaneously Hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats on postnatal days 1–80. Force of contraction elicited by methoxamine, tyramine and electrical stimulation of the preganglionic nerve in SHRs was significantly less than that of WKY rats throughout development. α-Adrenoceptor sensitivity, as evaluated by methoxamine ED50, was comparable at 10 and 20 days of age, but receptor sensitivity was decreased in SHRs at 40 and 80 days. Elimination of impulse activity by decentralization of the superior cervical ganglion on postnatal day 3 resulted in a decrease in force of contraction of about 25% in both strains, and responses in SHRs remained significantly below those of WKY rats. Decentralization increased adrenoceptor sensitivity in both groups, and differences between strains were eliminated. It is concluded that the smaller adrenoceptor-mediated contractions in SHRs are an intrinsic property of the muscle while adrenoceptor subsensitivity is a consequence of elevated sympathetic nerve activity in this strain.
Personality Traits of College Leaders

AbstractUpon the basis of sociometric ratings made by 110 seniors, 22 lenders and 22 nonleaders were selected for freshmen-test-score comparison. The leaders as freshmen scored significantly higher than did the non lenders on five of the Class 1 traits of the California Psychological Inventory. Dominance and self-acceptance were significant at the .001 level, sociability at the .01 level, while capacity for status and social presence showed significance at the .05 level. Using tests of ability, It was found that the verbal score of the College Entrance Examination Board Scholastic Aptitude Test was significantly higher at the .05 level for leaders than for the nonleaders.
Sexuality of pregnant and breastfeeding women

The effect of pregnancy and lactation on the sexual behavior of women was studied, using a retrospective questionnaire answered by a nonrandom sample of 33 women. Sexual functioning was operationally defined by four categories: desire, frequency, enjoyment, and orgasm. Five time periods were studied: the three trimesters of pregnancy, the period of breastfeeding and the period after weaning. Most of the mothers reported that their sexual behavior was “about the same” during pregnancy as before except for the third trimester, where desire, frequency, and enjoyment decreased. Eighty-two percent of the mothers felt that sex relations should continue throughout all of the pregnancy. Sexual functioning during breastfeeding was reported to be “about the same” as before pregnancy by 75% of the women. Desire returned for most women by 4 weeks after childbirth, earlier than many of them felt it safe to resume sex relations. Women who had been married longer, with more children and more breastfeeding time, reported an earlier return of sexual interest and felt it safe to resume sex relations earlier. Most women reported their sexual interest after weaning was “about the same.” No one reported a decrease in sexual interest after weaning. All of the women reported breastfeeding to be enjoyable. Younger marrieds were apt to rate breastfeeding even higher than older marrieds. Also, younger marrieds felt freer about breastfeeding in public. Sexual relations continue when procreatively unfruitful and even when difficult in humans. This underscores the importance of the bonding value of sex.
A Methodology for Identifying the Drivers of Industrial Clusters: The Foundation of Regional Competitive Advantage

This article presents a theoretically based method for identifying the clusters of industries in which a region has a competitive advantage. The method combines cluster analysis with discriminant a...
Resorption of the edentulous mandible after a vestibuloplasty with skin grafting

T, Id rote ures to improve the basal seat for an inadequately supported mandibular complete denture have been attempted from the time dentists began replacing natural dentition with artificial removable prostheses. As early as 1874 Thiersch’ described a technique of using epidermal grafting. This appears to have stimulated others to expand the technique and develop the skin grafting vestibuloplasty and lowering of the floor of the mouth (VSG and LFM) procedure.2-‘4 Research indicates that the VSG and LFM procedure is an effective treatment modality for patients who complain of an ill fitting denture, poor masticatory function, and pain. l5 The purpose of the VSG and LFM is to create a larger basal area of fixed epithelium for improved stability and support of the prosthesis. The procedure is an apparent improvement over other techniques because it offers several benefits, such as: (1) fixed tissue on which the denture rests allows stability during mastication and speech; (2) lengthening of the denture flanges, which provides a broader denture base to more widely distribute occlusal forces; (3) enhancing patient comfort, as the skin is a better stress-bearing tissue than mucosa; and (4) longevity of the result. Because VSG and LFM repositions muscle attachments, the question arises as to whether the mandibular resorption following this procedure is more rapid than in the untreated mandible. Hillerup,16 in a survey of 15 patients following a vestibular sulcus extension using the technique of Edlan and Mejchar,“~“’ reported that the procedure fails to protect alveolar bone and may even provoke accelerated bone resorption. However, the procedure of Edlan and Mejchar does not incorporate the use of a skin graft in conjunc-
Processing effects on UV bleaching behavior of GeO2 glasses

ABSTRACFPhotoinduced optical phenomena in silica fibers have received attention because of the demonstration ofphotoinduced second harmonic generation and photorefractive index gratings. For Ge doped fibers the mechrni-cniresponsible for both effects has been correlated with bleaching by UV irradiation of defects associated with the Ge ion.The effects of processing on UV bleaching of defects in high purity Ge02 have been examined. Bleaching kineticstudies indicate that processing variables such as melting temperature have a strong influence upon the bleaching ofdefects in Ge02 glasses.Keywords: nonlinear optical behavior, processing, gratings, fiber optics, and intrinsic defectsINTRODUC11ONOptical absorption of glasses has been known to be modified by UV radiation since the 1824 Faraday' report.Recently photoinduced optical phenomena in silica fibers have received a great deal of attention because of thedemonstration of photoinduced second harmonic generation (SHG) and photoinduced refractive index gratings (PIR) orHill gratings.2 The microscopic or atomic origin of photoinduced second harmonic generation or refractive indexgratings is currently unknown. The mechanism for SHG and PIR has been correlated with defect centers, but the roleof defects has not been established.The mechanism of formation for Hill gratings appears to be related to defect bleaching. Bleaching of UVdefect sites is thought to cause release of charges that are subsequently trapped at other sites, possibly creating newdefect centers. This charge rearrangement results in a change in the index of refraction in the visib1e. The formationof Hill grating in Ge-doped silica fibers has been shown by several groups to be related to bleaching of the absorptioncenter at 5.06 eV (245
Violinist: Sophisticated Pu Field Monitor

A new, smart, portable multichannel analyzer-based plutonium field monitor has been developed that will significantly improve field monitoring capability by accident response teams. Called the Violinist, the system uses the ever-popular thin NaI(Tl) detector developed1 some years ago. The electronics weigh 1.7 lb and fit inside a package 7"×5"×l-3/4" deep. The device has: 256 channel MCA; microcomputer control; 32×84 dot matrix LCD alphanumeric and spectral display; three independent cursor sets for region of interest definition; keyboard-entered constants (3); computation algorithms; and internal battery power (15 hr lifetime). The package has wide radiation monitoring applications.
Low-temperature direct bonding using pressure and temperature

We have developed a three-step process to low temperature direct bond silicon and/or SiO2 surfaces. The process activates the surface with various plasma treatments including NH3, Ar and O. These activation processes allow a very strong low temperature bond to be created. The process requires techniques distinctly different from those found in previous work for reproducible results. The plasma processes do not result in a bond that propagates as a wave resulting from a point source initiation. A substantial pressure is required to initiate the bond. We have found that the three-step process using pressure and temperature results in very strong, reproducible bonds. The basic process consists of 1) the application of pressure for a period of 10 minutes, followed by 2) pressure and low temperature for another 30 minutes at 200 degrees C and finally 3) an anneal at low temperature of 200 degrees C for 24 hours. The bonds created by this process have a strength > 1000 ergs/cm2, which compares favorably with a conventional direct bond requiring an anneal > 1000 degrees C.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Predicting user comfort level using machine learning for Smart Grid environments

Smart Grid with Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing brings new ways of cutting costs for energy consumers and conserving energy. It is done by utilities suggesting the user ways to use devices to lower their energy bills keeping in mind its own benefits in smoothening the peak demand curve. However, as suggested in previous related research, user's comfort need must be addressed in order to make the system work efficiently. In this work, we validate the hypothesis that user preferences and habits can be learned and user comfort level for new patterns of device usage can be predicted. We investigate how machine learning algorithms specifically supervised machine learning algorithms can be used to achieve this. We also compare the prediction accuracies of three commonly used supervised learning algorithms, as well as the effect that the number of training samples has on the prediction accuracy. Further more, we analyse how sensitive prediction accuracies yielded by each algorithm are to the number of training samples.
Imaging crust and upper mantle seismic structure in the southwestern United States using teleseismic receiver functions

Rio Grande RIft Seismic TRAnsect (RISTRA) is designed to image and interpret crust and mantle structures beneath the southwestern United States, including the nature of the Colorado Plateau and Rio Grande rift (Figure 1). Key questions include the nature of crustal and mantle structures and thermal conditions beneath one of the more dramatic continental rifts on earth, and clues to understanding the anomalously unextended Colorado Plateau, which is currently surrounded by the predominantly extensional deformation of the western United States. Figure 1. Regional tectonic map with RISTRA station locations. Stars indicate the 54 main transect stations. The diamond locates Global Seismic Network borehole station ANMO. Stations TX01-TX06 lie in Texas, NM07-NM44 in New Mexico, AZ45-AZ50 in Arizona, and UT51-UT54 in Utah. The data collecting stage of RISTRA provided an exceptional 18 months (1999–2001) of broadband (Streckheisen STS-2 120 s seismometers) teleseismic IRIS PASSCAL data along a 950-km great-circle transect of 54 sites with 18±3.6 km station spacing with endpoints near Lake Powell, Utah, and Pecos, Texas. The northwest-southeast trending transect was oriented parallel to the azimuth of the very active western Pacific seismogenic zones. Analysis applied to this seismic data set includes surface wave dispersion inversion for crustal and mantle structure, teleseismic body wave tomography, and teleseismic mantle anisotropy. Here we discuss the use of RISTRA data to examine lithospheric structure using P-to-S mantle and crustal forward scattering, observed in the S phases immediately following (several tens of seconds) the teleseismic P arrival (Figure 2). We migrate these signals to produce P-to-S converted mode images of the structure along the RISTRA array. Figure 2. Global distribution of the 285 earthquakes (red points) with body-wave magnitude > 5.6, recorded during the RISTRA network deployment, which have suitable offsets for calculating the 8361 receiver functions used in this study. We use teleseisms from epicentral distances of …
Health Disparities in Endocrine Disorders: Biological, Clinical, and Nonclinical Factors—An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement

Objective: The aim was to provide a scholarly review of the published literature on biological, clinical, and nonclinical contributors to race/ethnic and sex disparities in endocrine disorders and to identify current gaps in knowledge as a focus for future research needs. Participants in Development of Scientific Statement: The Endocrine Society's Scientific Statement Task Force (SSTF) selected the leader of the statement development group (S.H.G.). She selected an eight-member writing group with expertise in endocrinology and health disparities, which was approved by the Society. All discussions regarding the scientific statement content occurred via teleconference or written correspondence. No funding was provided to any expert or peer reviewer, and all participants volunteered their time to prepare this Scientific Statement. Evidence: The primary sources of data on global disease prevalence are from the World Health Organization. A comprehensive literature search of PubMed identified U.S. population-ba...
Identification of Pancreatic Polypeptide Secretagogues in Canine Duodenal Mucosa

The second phase of pancreatic polypeptide (PP) release after a meal is thought to occur via a vagalcholinergic-dependent pathway acting in concert with a putative humoral factor of gut origin. To identify this enteric factor(s), extracts of canine duodenal mucosa were evaluated for PP secretagogues using canine pseudoislets in a column-perifusion bioassay system. Two thermostable agents with PP secretagogue activity have been found. The smaller and predominant peptide had an apparent molecular weight slightly larger than insulin and migrated on Sephadex G-50 columns at a distribution coefficient of 0.47 ± 0.01. This secretagogue consistently elicited 1.3–1.5 times greater PP secretory response when compared to the larger peptide, which migrated at an average distribution coefficient of 0.29 –0.02. Chromatographically similar activities were found in extracts of duodenal venous plasma collected 2 h after a meal. These PP secretagogues are presumed to be unique to the duodenal mucosa since they were not ob...
Latino Teens Talk About Help Seeking and Help Giving in Relation to Dating Violence

The authors examine attitudes about help seeking and help giving related to dating violence among Latino ninth graders, including survey and focus group data. Latino teens are more likely to seek help for a dating violence situation from informal sources of support (e.g., friends) than from formal sources (e.g., health professionals). Students are most likely to turn to other teens for help and do not confide or trust the adults in their social network. Teens are reluctant to intervene in dating violence situations. The quality of help offered by teens related to dating violence is perceived as being limited.
Potassium Methoxide–Dimethyl Sulfoxide

(MeOK) [865-33-8] CH3KO (MW 70.14) InChI = 1S/CH3O.K/c1-2;/h1H3;/q-1;+1 InChIKey = BDAWXSQJJCIFIK-UHFFFAOYSA-N (DMSO) [67-68-5] C2H6OS (MW 78.15) InChI = 1S/C2H6OS/c1-4(2)3/h1-2H3 InChIKey = IAZDPXIOMUYVGZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N (highly basic reagent; used occasionally for deprotonation of weakly acidic carbon acids, β-elimination, and alkene isomerization reactions2) Physical Data: prepared in situ. Form Supplied in: MeOK: commercially available in 95% purity; white powder. DMSO: commercially available (see Dimethyl Sulfoxide). Preparative Method: prepared from anhydrous MeOK and anhydrous DMSO,2b in much the same manner as Potassium tert-Butoxide–Dimethyl Sulfoxide.5 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: MeOK: solid is flammable, corrosive, and hygroscopic.1 Use the same precautions as for t-BuOK/DMSO. Use in a fume hood.
P. A. Stolypin: The Search for Stability in Late Imperial Russia

This is the first comprehensive biography in any language of Russia's leading statesman in the period following the Revolution of 1905. Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 1906 to 1911 (when he was assassinated), P. A. Stolypin aroused deep passions among his contemporaries as well as subsequent historians.In the twilight of Nicholas II's reign he was virtually the only man who seemed to have a clear notion of how to reform the socioeconomic and political system of the empire. His efforts in that direction-in agriculture, local administration, religious freedom, social legislation, the legal system-were radically new departures for the Russian state. His detractors disdained him as a power-hungry, coldhearted politician who was unscrupulous in pursuing his own career and would use any means to restore the tsarist autocracy following the frightening turbulence of 1905. Stolypin's admirers, however, argued that he was a man of vision who pursued policies that would have transformed the country into a modern state with social and political institutions comparable to those of the West.Lenin's celebrated denunciation of Stolypin as "hangman-in-chief" set the tone for official Soviet work on his career. In the West, some historians and emigre writers, most notably Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, erred in the opposite direction. By contrast, this book-on the basis of extensive Russian archival documentation only recently available to historians-seeks to provide a balanced portrait of Stolypin that encompasses the complex, even divergent, impulses that motivated him.Although Stolypin did not shrink from the use of force to stamp out unrest, he lamented the shedding of blood and much preferred nonviolent means to curb the opposition. In foreign affairs, he was uncompromising in his insistence that Russia should avoid entanglements that could lead to military conflict. To be sure, he was deeply committed to monarchical rule, but he did not consider it advisable to abolish the elected legislature or to deprive it of its authority. Stolypin's program, a blend of reformism, authoritarianism, and nationalism, was more likely than any other to lead Russia toward social and political stability. But Tsar Nicholas II, his entourage, and ultra-conservatives could not bring themselves to yield a portion of their privileges and prerogatives in return for a reduced, though still significant, role in a changed Russia. They succeeded in undermining the Prime Minister's attempts at fundamental reform and thus scuttled Imperial Russia's last such attempt before its demise.
Refocusing dual-mode ultrasound arrays in the presence of strongly scattering obstacles

This paper provides a first experimental verification of the use of image-based feedback for refocusing the therapeutic beam in the presence of strongly scattering objects. This capability may be critical in the use of dual mode ultrasound array (DMUA) systems for noninvasive targeting of liver tumors and noninvasive cardiac ablation. In both cases, the target is partially obstructed by the rib cage, which limits the access and distorts the geometrically-focused high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapeutic beam. The optimization procedure is based on the use of single-transmit focus (STF) imaging, in which a single transmit imaging beam employing delays derived from phasing for the therapeutic beam is used. We present experimental results of a DMUA refocusing algorithm that selects the control points from the target(s) and the ribs visible in the STF image. In addition, STF images before and after refocusing provide similar feedback by consistently showing increased echogenicity of the target region while the echogenicity of the ribs is not increased (often reduced).
Trends in hypercholesterolemia, treatment and control among United States adults

Abstract Background Control of hypercholesterolemia is an important clinical and public health objective, yet it is generally poor. The objective of this study was to examine trends in the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, having a cholesterol check, awareness, treatment, and control among United States adults. Methods We examined data for 18053 participants aged ≥20 years of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1999 to 2006. Results The unadjusted prevalence of hypercholesterolemia ranged from 53.2% to 56.1% and changed little over the study period. Significant increases were evident in the percentage of United States adults who had their concentration of cholesterol checked (from 68.6% to 74.8%), who reported being told that they had high hypercholesterolemia (from 42.0% to 50.4%), who reported using cholesterol-lowering medications (from 39.1% to 54.4%), and who had their hypercholesterolemia controlled (from 47.0 to 64.3%). Among all participants with hypercholesterolemia control of hypercholesterolemia increased from 7.2% to 17.1%. Disparities related to gender and race or ethnicity existed, notably a lower rate of control among women than men and lower rates of having a cholesterol check and reporting being told about hypercholesterolemia among African Americans and Mexican Americans than whites. Conclusions Encouraging increases in awareness, treatment, and control of hypercholesterolemia occurred from 1999 through 2006. Nevertheless, control of hypercholesterolemia remains poor.
Major League Baseball’s First Year Player Draft A Natural Laboratory for the Study of Bargaining

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Draft is a natural laboratory for the study of bargaining: There are no bonus restrictions, draft picks cannot be traded, and there are no commitment issues (i.e., pla...
Design of a telerobotic controller with joint torque sensors

The authors show how to design a joint controller for a telerobotic system when joint torque sensors are available. Other sensors, such as actuator position, actuator velocity, joint position, and joint velocity, are assumed to be accessible; however, the results will also be useful when only partial measurements are available. The controller presented can be applied to either mode of operation of a manipulator (i.e. teleoperation or robotic). Mechanical manipulators with high levels of friction are assumed. The results are applied to a telerobotic system built for NASA. Very high levels of friction have been reduced using high-gain feedback while avoiding limit cycles. >
Villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the cervix : Cytologic presentation

Villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix is a recently described neoplasm which occurs primarily in young women and has an excellent prognosis. In many instances, these lesions may be treated conservatively with cervical conization rather than hysterectomy, a therapeutic option of particular importance for young women who wish to preserve reproductive capability. This paper describes the cytologic findings on cervical smears from three women with villoglandular adenocarcinoma, two treated conservatively with cervical conization and one managed with hysterectomy. Characteristic cytologic features in these cases included the presence of long villous fronds and papillae lined by columnar cells with intact cytoplasmic borders and minimal to moderate cytologic atypia. Also noted were strips and three-dimensional ball-like clusters of cells with smooth, intact communal cytoplasmic rims. Apoptotic bodies and scattered mitoses were observed. Recognition of the above features warrants inclusion of this entity in the cytologic differential diagnosis, with conservative histologic follow-up prior to more radical therapeutic measures.
Hydraulic Head Applications of Flow Logs in the Study of Heterogeneous Aquifers

Permeability profiles derived from high-resolution flow logs in heterogeneous aquifers provide a limited sample of the most permeable beds or fractures determining the hydraulic properties of those aquifers. This paper demonstrates that flow logs can also be used to infer the large-scale properties of aquifers surrounding boreholes. The analysis is based on the interpretation of the hydraulic head values estimated from the flow log analysis. Pairs of quasi-steady flow profiles obtained under ambient conditions and while either pumping or injecting are used to estimate the hydraulic head in each water-producing zone. Although the analysis yields localized estimates of transmissivity for a few water-producing zones, the hydraulic head estimates apply to the far-field aquifers to which these zones are connected. The hydraulic head data are combined with information from other sources to identify the large-scale structure of heterogeneous aquifers. More complicated cross-borehole flow experiments are used to characterize the pattern of connection between large-scale aquifer units inferred from the hydraulic head estimates. The interpretation of hydraulic heads in situ under steady and transient conditions is illustrated by several case studies, including an example with heterogeneous permeable beds in an unconsolidated aquifer, and four examples with heterogeneous distributions of bedding planes and/or fractures in bedrock aquifers.
Investing In Accounting: A Call For Professional Involvement In Higher Education

The current financial crisis has created serious repercussions for accounting education. Public universities have lost funding and initiated huge budget cuts. These drastic cutbacks have resulted in the losses of courses, enrollment, and faculty. These losses will translate into inaccessibility of education will reduce the future accounting work force. To recover from the recession, well trained accountants are critical to provide the financial fundamentals for businesses. While most of us understand that an investment in accounting education is an investment in successful business, effective practices for recruitment are needed in a time of scarce resources. In this paper, we would like to focus on the difficulties occurring in accounting education, which will negatively affect business. Furthermore, we would strongly encourage companies to continuously reach out to potential employees and support accounting education. Some suggestions are provided for cost saving avenues to reduce recruiting costs and develop high quality accounting professionals.
Apocalyptic and Rabbinic Responses to the Destruction of 70

Until Titus's destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the national and religious life of Palestinian Jewry was organized around the cultic system of the Temple. Despite many changes in the political status of the nation and of Jerusalem itself, the Temple continued to serve as the seat of the priesthood, the destination of sacred pilgrimage, and the instrument of cultic expiation. Other places and forms of worship are attested during the second commonwealth, and by the advent of the common era groups such as the Qumran community had turned away from Jerusalem altogether. Yet there can be little doubt that the Temple was perceived as the preeminent symbol of Israel's God. Excavations of first-century Palestinian synagogues have revealed a basic architectural design of orientation toward the sanctuary. Although geographically and religiously remote from the Temple, the Jews of the diaspora continued, writes Philo of Alexandria (ca. 20 BCE–50 CE), to “hold the Holy City where stands the sacred Temple of the most high God to be their mother city.”
A discussion on simulations' visualization usage

The usage of a simulation's visualization varies enormously within our community: for some, it is the simulation; for others, it is a development annoyance used for a screen-shot in presentations before the "proper" statistical results can be shown. Real-world systems are, for the most of us, explored visually so a simulation's visualization allows us to reconnect the simulation to its underlying system through the same media we experience it. However, simulation models are not perfect representations of reality and some of these imperfections maybe left out of the simulation's visualization. At best, this might be due to parsimony concerns by the developer (e.g. the color of a simulated entities shirt usually does not matter); at worst, charlatanism to sell the simulation package. In this paper, a detailed discussion is given on the use (and potential misuse) of simulation visualization and possible solutions.
Mimicry, Persuasion, or Learning? The Case of Two Transparency and Anti‐Corruption Policies in Romania

Summary Public sector reforms in developing countries based on global “best practices” have come under increasing criticism in the development community. The charge is that in trying to increase international legitimacy, governments copy institutional forms that are not suited to the local context. Yet, such mimicry is not the only driver of international policy diffusion. Domestic policy entrepreneurs learn from experiences of other countries and invoke global norms and values in advancing their preferred policy options. Pressures for mimicry can help such policy entrepreneurs counter resistance from domestic elites, especially in the case of value-based policies, such as transparency and anti-corruption policies. The cases of the Freedom of Information Act and the Asset Disclosure Laws in Romania are used to illustrate how external pressure for legitimacy can empower domestic policy entrepreneurs and facilitate a process akin to “problem-driven iterative adaptation” advocated by critics of isomorphic mimicry in public sector reform. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Noisy Impact Oscillators

The purpose of this work is to develop an averaging approach to study the dynamics of a vibro-impact system excited by random perturbations. As a prototype, we consider a noisy single-degree-of-freedom equation with both positive and negative stiffness and achieve a model reduction; i.e., the development of rigorous methods to replace in some asymptotic regime, a complicated system by a simpler one. To this end, we study the equations as a random perturbation of a two-dimensional weakly dissipative Hamiltonian system with either center type or saddle type fixed points. We achieve the model-reduction through stochastic averaging. Examination of the reduced Markov process on a graph yields mean exit times, probability density functions, and stochastic bifurcations.Copyright © 2004 by ASME