cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimized copper chemical mechanical polishing with CVD Co barrier at 14nm technology node

As device dimensions shrunk to the 14 nm node and beyond, damascene Cu/low-k high aspect ratio of interconnect schemes face extreme difficulties in achieving defect-free Cu gap-fill. The CVD Co was implemented to improve Copper interconnect performance which was deposited between the PVD Ta(N) liner barrier and the Cu seed layer to improve copper to barrier adhesion and copper gap fill. Therefore, the CMP-associated issues: metal bridge resulting from worse erosion, Cu void of metal line end, via resistance reduction and micro-scratch reduction, need to be solved because of Co barrier implementation and dimension shrinkage. In this investigation, we provide solution for several major issues of CMP at 14nm node. First, the metal bridge caused by worse erosion is formed before CMP because of dimension shrinkage. The worse erosion resulted from the low-k diminution during thermal effect of previous step which was used to define dual damascene structure. It was difficult to meet resistance target and eliminate metal bridge by over polishing at the same time. Second, there were still Cu voids around the end of metal line even though Cu gap-fill was improved by utilized Co liner. Third, the contact resistance of interface between via and metal surface increased due to the corrosion at the top corner was correlated to galvanic corrosion in-between Cu and Co barrier. Last, the micro scratch became killer defect because of fewer process tolerances of scratch depth at 14nm node and beyond. In this report, we provide solutions to fix yield loss because of metal bridge at particular pattern and also describe a failure hypothesis of integrated process. The mechanism is pattern deformed easily which weak Cu gap fill was shown at line end, but optimized CMP process can diminish void significantly. The Cu roughness treatment plays a key role in interconnection between via and bottom metal. The roughness also can be reduced by implementing a novel process for 14nm node and beyond.
Machine learning for noise removal on breast ultrasound images

This study assessed the utility of machine learning for isolating noise and artifacts in breast ultrasound images. Such corrupt image regions (ROIs) can be automatically excluded when registering images acquired from different angles. Artifacts included posterior acoustic shadowing and enhancement arising from cancers and cysts respectively. Images were obtained on a breast-mimicking phantom containing multiple cysts and lesions with variable speed of sound and attenuation properties. In vivo breast images of cysts and cancers were also available. Results show that the classifiers were able to identify the regions of corrupt data accurately.
Prospective, Tissue-Specific Optimization of Ablation for Multiwavelet Reentry Predicting the Required Amount, Location, and Configuration of Lesions

Background— Treatment of multiwavelet reentry (MWR) remains difficult. We previously developed a metric, the fibrillogenicity index, to assess the propensity of homogeneous, 2-dimensional tissues to support MWR. In this study, we demonstrate a method by which fibrillogenicity index can be generalized to heterogeneous tissues and validate an algorithm for prospective, tissue-specific optimization of ablation to reduce MWR burden. Methods and Results— We used a computational model to simulate and measure the duration of MWR in tissues with heterogeneously distributed action potential durations and then assessed the relative efficacy of a variety of ablation strategies for reducing tissues’ ability to support MWR. We then derived and tested a strategy in which multiple linear lesions partially divided a fibrillogenic tissue into functionally equivalent subsections. The composite action potential duration of heterogeneous tissue was well approximated by an inverse sum of cellular action potential durations ( R 2=0.82). Linear ablation more efficiently reduced MWR duration than branching ablation patterns and optimally reduced disease burden when positioned at a tissue’s functional (rather than geometric) center. The duration of MWR after application of prospective, individually optimized ablation sets fell within 4.4% (95% confidence interval, 3–5.8) of the predicted target. Conclusions— We think that this study presents a novel approach for (1) quantifying the extent of a tissue’s electric derangement, (2) prospectively determining the amount of ablation required to minimize the burden of MWR, and (3) predicting the most efficient distribution of these ablation lesions in tissue refractory to standard ablation strategies.
Nuclear Design and Economic Comparison of a Conventional and Bullseye Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Core

Reactor system design and safety studies at Atomics International have focused on the selection of a core configuration for the Prototype Large Breeder Reactor that has inherent “nonenergetic” resp...
Adjuvant chemotherapy in lymph node positive bladder cancer

15526 Background: Lymph node-positive bladder cancer is a systemic disease in the majority of patients. Prescribing adjuvant chemotherapy shortly after surgery, when tumor burden is low seems reasonable, yet there is no proof that this treatment strategy improves survival. In this retrospective study, we compared the outcomes of patients with microscopic lymph node positive bladder cancer (pN1 or pN2) treated with radical cystectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and those who declined chemotherapy. Methods: Sixty-seven patients with lymph node positive bladder cancer (pN1 in 26 patients and pN2 in 41) who underwent radical cystectomy between April 1995 and April 2005 were reviewed. Combined adjuvant chemotherapy (gemcitabine and cisplatin in most patients) was given to 35 patients (52%), but deferred by 32 (48%). The two groups were similar in performance status, postoperative complication rate and N stage but deferring patients were on average 4 years older and had a more advanced T stage. Results: A...
The effects of physical and virtual manipulatives on students' conceptual learning about pulleys

With computers becoming more ubiquitous in our daily lives and in our classrooms, questions of how students interact and learn with physical experiments and computer simulations are central in science education. We investigated how students' ideas about pulleys were influenced by the use of physical and virtual manipulatives. We found that there were advantages for each type of manipulative, and that virtual and physical manipulatives helped students develop correct understandings of different concepts. We also found that the order the manipulatives were used affected student learning, with students who used real pulleys before the simulation achieving higher scores on questions having to do with effort force, the distance the rope is pulled, and mechanical advantage.
The Modified Gibbs-Wulff Construction and Critical Nucleus Morphology at an Interface

The conditions for the equilibrium shape of a second-phase particle nucleating either at a planar interface or at a spherically curved interface are reviewed under the assumption that the interfacial structure of the nucleation site has a torque of an appropriate strength. The results are then incorporated into the modified Gibbs-Wulff construction in order to demonstrate a graphical representation of both the equilibrium shape and the free energy barrier for heterogeneous nucleation.
Data gathering ability contributes to visual organization and probabilistic reasoning.

Abstract Individuals use data gathering methods to inform judgments and behaviors. Effective interaction with the environment depends on these having high accuracy and low noise, but when they become abnormal, aberrant thoughts and perceptions can occur. In this study, we examined if data gathering methods were consistent across tasks that relied on different cognitive abilities, specifically visual perception and probabilistic reasoning. Thirty-four non-clinical participants engaged in the Ebbinghaus Illusion and the Jumping to Conclusions tasks, while also completing questionnaires concerning aspects of delusion formation. A significant, positive correlation was observed between performance on the Ebbinghaus Illusion and the Jumping to Conclusions tasks. Both tasks were negatively correlated with the General Conspiracy Belief Scale. The results suggest an underlying mechanism for data gathering that is consistent across behavioral domains and exists on a continuum in the general population.
Multicultural Education, Peace, and Democracy: Considerations of Civic Education in Wartime

Democratic societies involved in war should focus their attention on preserving their future generations’ commitment to democracy and their ability to envision peace, which tend to erode as a result of a protracted focus on security. This is a major responsibility of the public education system, which is entrusted with the mission of creating citizens and whose foremost raison d’etre is the preservation of democracy. The aim of this essay is to identify the most productive concepts in multicultural theory related to reconciliation and to adapt them to the circumstances of a democracy at war.
Discussion of “A new inherent damping model for inelastic time‐history analyses” by Enrique Luco and Armando Lanzi

This discussion examines several aspects of the proposed elastic velocity damping formulation that pertain to the suitability of the method for use in inelastic time history analysis. These aspects include the absence of damping actions as a structure moves through a collapse mechanism, lack of physical justification, and potential computational issues.
Entropy and random feedback

Let C ∈ C m×n . The Frobenius norm of C is defined as $$ {\left\| C \right\|_F} = \sqrt {TrC{C^ * }} ,$$ where C* denotes the complex-conjugate transpose and Tr denotes trace. The spectral norm of C is defined as $$ \left\| C \right\| = \sqrt {{\lambda _{\max }}\left( {C{C^ * }} \right)} , $$ where λmax denotes the maximum eigenvalue.
Who Should I Trust (Human vs. Automation)? The Effects of Pedigree in a Dual Advisor Context

Source type bias (human vs automation) may influence the development of trust in decision aids. Situations involving two decision-aids may depend on the influence of pedigree (perceived expertise) such that decision making or reliance behavior is affected. In this task, the Convoy Leader decision-making paradigm developed by Lyons and Stokes (2012) was adapted to address advisor pedigree such that the human and automated information sources could be of high or low pedigree. Two hundred participants were asked to make eight decisions regarding the route taken by a military convoy based on intelligence (e.g., past insurgent attacks, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) detected, etc.) provided by two information sources (human and automation) of varying degrees of pedigree. In two of these eight decisions, the decision-aids provided conflicting information. Results indicated that participants were likely to demonstrate a bias such that they were more likely to trust the information coming from the human advisor regardless of pedigree. This bias towards the human was only reversed when the automated decision aid was presented as having far greater pedigree. Measures of trust attitudes were highly indicative of decision making behaviors. The findings are addressed in terms of design within a dual-advisor context where human operators may receive conflicting information from advisors of different source types.
Ulcerated Lesions of the Oral Mucosa: Clinical and Histologic Review

Ulcerated lesions of the oral cavity have many underlying etiologic factors, most commonly infection, immune related, traumatic, or neoplastic. A detailed patient history is critical in assessing ulcerative oral lesions and should include a complete medical and medication history; whether an inciting or triggering trauma, condition, or medication can be identified; the length of time the lesion has been present; the frequency of episodes in recurrent cases; the presence or absence of pain; and the growth of the lesion over time. For multiple or recurrent lesions the presence or history of ulcers on the skin, genital areas, or eyes should be evaluated along with any accompanying systemic symptoms such as fever, arthritis, or other signs of underlying systemic disease. Biopsy may be indicated in many ulcerative lesions of the oral cavity although some are more suitable for clinical diagnosis. Neoplastic ulcerated lesions are notorious in the oral cavity for their ability to mimic benign ulcerative lesions, highlighting the essential nature of biopsy to establish a diagnosis in cases that are not clinically identifiable or do not respond as expected to treatment. Adjunctive tests may be required for final diagnosis of some ulcerated lesions especially autoimmune lesions. Laboratory tests or evaluation to rule out systemic disease may be also required for recurrent or severe ulcerations especially when accompanied by other symptoms. This discussion will describe the clinical and histopathologic characteristics of a variety of ulcerated lesions found in the oral cavity.
Chemiosmotic energy for primitive cellular life: Proton gradients are generated across lipid membranes by redox reactions coupled to meteoritic quinones

Transmembrane proton gradients coupled to, and maintained by, electron transport are ubiquitous sources of chemiosmotic energy in all life today, but how this system first emerged is uncertain. Here we report a model liposome system in which internal ferricyanide serves as an oxidant and external ascorbate or dithionite provide a source of electrons to electron carriers embedded in liposome membranes. Quinones linked the donor to the acceptor in a coupled redox reaction that released protons into the vesicle internal volume as electrons were transported across the membranes, thereby producing substantial pH gradients. Using this system, we found that one or more quinones in extracts from carbonaceous meteorites could serve as coupling agents and that substantial pH gradients developed in the acidic interior of liposomes. If amphiphilic compounds present on the prebiotic Earth assembled into membranous compartments that separate reduced solutes in the external medium from an encapsulated acceptor, quinones can mediate electron and proton transport across the membranes, thereby providing a source of chemiosmotic energy for primitive metabolic reactions.
Is the US the New Swing Producer? The Price Responsiveness of Tight Oil

We analyze the price responsiveness of onshore oil supply from conventional versus new unconventional “tight” formations in the United States. We separately analyze three key stages of oil production: drilling wells, completing wells, and production from completed wells. We find that the important margin is drilling investment. We estimate drilling responses of approximately 1.3 percent for tight oil and 1.1 percent for conventional oil per 1 percent change in oil prices. In addition, tight oil wells produce about 4.6 times more oil compared to conventional ones. Together, the long-run price responsiveness of supply is about 5 times larger for tight oil on a per well basis, and about 9 times larger when accounting for the rise in the number of unconventional wells drilled. Based on these estimates, simulations of the time-profile of oil production response to price changes show that the US supply response is much larger now due to the shale revolution. Nonetheless, it takes many months before a substantial portion of the full supply response is online, longer than the 30 to 90 days typically associated with the role of “swing producer” such as Saudi Arabia.
Applying Deep Convolutional Neural Network for Fast Security Assessment with N-1 Contingency

The increasing penetration of renewable energy into the power system has aggravated the uncertainties during grid operation. Hence fast security assessment method has become highly imperative for system operators. In this paper, a deep convolutional neural network (deep CNN) is developed as an efficient tool to implement fast static security assessment, which classifies system security status via data mining. The multiple convolutional layers within the deep CNN can automatically extract features from the raw data and formulate an approximated mapping between the input and the output without intensive numerical computation. Applying the proposed deep CNN on standard IEEE test cases verifies its accuracy and efficiency for system operation security classification, which indicates its considerable potential for future online application.
Nucleus translocation of tRNA synthetase mediates late integrated stress response

Abstract Various stress conditions are signaled through phosphorylation of translation initiation factor eIF2α to inhibit global translation while selectively activating transcription factor ATF4 to aid cell survival and recovery. However, this integrated stress response is acute and cannot resolve lasting stress. Here we report that TyrRS, a member of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase family capable of responding to diverse stress factors through cytosol-nucleus translocation and activating stress-response genes, also inhibits global translation, however at a later stage than eIF2α/ATF4 and mTOR responses. Excluding TyrRS from the nucleus over-activates protein synthesis and increases apoptosis in cells under prolonged oxidative stress. Nuclear TyrRS transcriptionally represses translation genes by recruiting TRIM28 and/or NuRD complex. We propose TyrRS, possibly along with other family members, can sense a variety of stress signals through intrinsic properties of this enzyme and its strategically located nuclear localization signal and integrate them by nucleus-translocation to effect protective responses against prolonged stress.
Reformulating prospect theory to become a von Neumann–Morgenstern theory

This paper reformulates Kahneman–Tversky’s (KT’s) cumulative prospect theory to become a von Neumann–Morgenstern (vNM) theory that is compatible with many existing economic, finance, psychology and decision theories. This vNM theory has the following desirable characteristics: consistently increasing utility of wealth, loss aversion, concave over favorable outcomes, convex over unfavorable outcomes, consistent preference for positively skewed outcomes and it spans the real line between $$ - \infty $$ and $$ \infty $$ . The weighted probabilities in KT’s cumulative prospect theory do not align with the vNM requirement that the probabilities sum to one; nevertheless, important advantages are gained from this vNM assumption.
The Debt Tax Shield: A Balance Sheet Approach

In this study, I use a market value balance sheet approach to extend the static tradeoff theory of capital structure and to broaden Miller’s (1977) analysis of the gain from leverage. Using this approach, I explicitly model the option to use internal cash flow financing, and I add personal taxes on equity distributions. I apply the model to optimal financing for a new project and to recapitalizations. In doing so, I derive a unique optimal capital structure solution. This solution applies specifically to companies with sufficient internal cash flow. For these companies, the net tax benefit from debt is lower than traditionally assumed, or from a different perspective, debt imposes a greater personal tax disadvantage on investors than Miller (1977) posits.
Arbitrage in Political Prediction Markets

Online prediction markets are a powerful tool for aggregating information and show promise as predictive tools for uncertain outcomes, from sporting events to election results. However, these markets only serve as effective prediction tools so long as the market pricing remains efficient. We analyze the potential arbitrage profits derived from such mispricings in two leading American political prediction markets, PredictIt (for the 2016 and 2020 elections) and the Iowa Electronic Markets (for the 2016 election), to quantify the degree of mispricing and to show how market design can contribute to price distortion. We show that contracts hosted by PredictIt, compared to the IEM, are chronically mispriced, with large arbitrage profits in the 2016 election markets and non-negligible profits for the 2020 markets. We discuss the role of profit fees and contract limits, the primary differences between the PredictIt and IEM, in distorting pricing on PredictIt by limiting the ability of traders to capture arbitrage profits. Additionally, we examine the association between arbitrage and margin-linking, increased liquidity, and the number of unique contracts PredictIt's markets. This research provides cautionary evidence of potential inefficiencies in prediction markets with the intention of improving market implementation and enhancing market predictiveness.
Tavaana: E-Learning and the Online Civic Sphere in Post-Revolutionary Iran

This chapter examines the case of Tavaana, an online educational site that aims to provide support to Iranians for civic activism and ways to circumvent online censorship. Originally a democracy-promotion project funded by the State Department and later operated by Iranian diaspora community based in the US, Tavaana demonstrates various features of the internet-based civic education. Essential to the case of Tavaana is the strategic use of technology by Iranian diaspora to shape a publicly accessible and “open” educational platform as a critical space to promote civic participation and democratic norms in a country under the control of authoritarian rule. The e-education is discussed here in line with the politics of new technologies, which continues to play an integral role in network activism by advocacy associations for civic-minded online operation. Finally, the chapter critically engages with Tavaana as a self-enclosed site where a set of normative ideas, ethics, and values are shaped for a distinct imaginary of civil society and democratic politics, and its future implementations in Iran through the internet.
Participation Costs and the Sensitivity of Fund Flows to Past Performance

We present a simple rational model to highlight the effect of investors’ participation costs on the response of mutual fund flows to past fund performance. By incorporating participation costs into a model in which investors learn about managers’ ability from past returns, we show that mutual funds with lower participation costs have a higher flow sensitivity to medium performance and a lower flow sensitivity to high performance than their higher-cost peers. Using various fund characteristics as proxies for the reduction in participation costs, we provide empirical evidence supporting the model’s implications for the asymmetric flow-performance relationship. MANY RESEARCHERS DOCUMENT AN asymmetric relationship between mutual fund flows and past performance: Funds with superior recent performance enjoy disproportionately large new money inflows, while funds with poor performance suffer smaller outflows. 1 Moreover, fund characteristics such as age, volatility of past performance, affiliation with a large or “star”-producing fund complex, and marketing expenditures affect both the level of fund flows and the sensitivity of flows to past performance. 2 In this paper, we develop a rational model to explain simultaneously the asymmetric response of fund flows to past performance and
NASAL ASSIMILATION AND SUBSTITUTION IN STANDARD INDONESIAN: EVIDENCE FROM LOANWORDS PRODUCTION TASK

This paper investigates nasal assimilation and substitution in Standard Indonesian (SI). In SI, the verbal prefix /məN-/ alternates in its shape at the prefix-root boundary when it is combined with root-initial obstruents. This study examines loanword roots borrowed from Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Using a speech production task, this investigation finds patterns of variation which are conditioned by inter- and intra-speaker differences, and place of articulation. This study proposes to model the patterns of variation in Noisy Harmonic Grammar (NHG; Coetzee and Kawahara 2013, Coetzee and Pater 2011).
Gait as a Quantitative Translational Outcome Measure in Angelman Syndrome

Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by developmental delay, lack of speech, seizures, intellectual disability, and walking and balance disorders. Recently, motor ability became an interesting outcome measure in AS, as it is broad including ataxia, hypotonia, delayed and abnormal walking and postural movements and affects nearly every individual with AS. We predict that gait presents a strong opportunity for rigorous, reliable, and quantitative metrics with direct translation to evaluate pharmacological, dietary, and genetic therapies. Numerous motoric deficits have been identified clinically. In this study, we used an innovative, automated gait analysis as well as gold standard motor behavioral assays to further delineate components of motor, coordination, balance, and gait impairments in an AS mouse model across development. Our study demonstrated marked global motoric deficits in AS mice, corroborating many previous reports. Uniquely, this is the first report of nuanced and pertinent aberrations in quantitative spatial and temporal components of gait between AS and wildtype littermate controls, that are analogous in AS individuals. These metrics were followed longitudinally to observe the progression of maladaptive gait in AS, a clinical phenotype. This has not been reported previously and contributes a substantial novel metric for therapeutic development. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the robust translational value in the study of nuanced motor outcomes, i.e., gait, for AS, as well as similar genetic syndromes, in the endeavor of therapeutic screening.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation vs surgical aortic valve replacement in high-risk patients with aortic stenosis

Objective The aim was to demonstrate whether transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) improves mortality and morbidity compared with standard surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in high-risk patients requiring intervention for aortic valve stenosis (AS). Many patients with severe AS and coexisting morbidity are not candidates for surgical replacement of the aortic valve (AV). TAVI has been suggested as an alternative less invasive treatment for high-risk patients with AS. Patients and methods A total of 50 patients with high-risk severe AS for AV intervention were classified into: group A, the TAVI group, including 25 patients who underwent AV replacement via the transcatheter femoral approach and group B, the SAVR group, including 25 patients who underwent standard SAVR via median sternotomy. Results Intraoperatively, procedure duration was 101.8 ± 10.6 and 191.2 ± 7.5 min in group A and B, respectively (P Conclusions In high-risk patients with severe AS, transcatheter and surgical procedures for aortic-valve replacement were comparable for survival at 3 months, although there were important differences in periprocedural outcomes.
Inhibition of alpha-synuclein aggregation by AM17, a synthetic resveratrol derivative

Parkinson's disease (PD) is linked to the aberrant self-assembly of the amyloid protein, α-synuclein (αS), where αS monomers aggregate to form oligomers and fibrils. Out of the three conformers, αS oligomers are the major toxic agents in PD, while αS fibrils may work as a reservoir for toxic oligomeric conformers. Thus, compounds that inhibit aggregation of αS monomers and disaggregate αS oligomers and fibrils may serve as therapeutic agents against PD. In this regard, resveratrol and its synthetic derivatives (e.g., AM17, which contains a copper ion-selective ionophoric motif) have previously been examined for their inhibitory effects on aggregation of amyloid proteins, such as the β-amyloid peptide implicated in Alzheimer's disease. In the current study, we employed an array of experimental tools, such as Thioflavin T fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy, immuno-dot blot assays, SDS- and native-PAGE, and circular dichroism, to determine the impact of AM17 and resveratrol on αS aggregation. To the best of our knowledge, we show for the first time that AM17 not only inhibits aggregation of αS monomers but also disaggregates αS oligomers and fibrils, independent of the copper ions. Similar αS aggregation inhibitory effects were observed with resveratrol only in the presence of the copper ion. The present study supports the high promise of applicability of AM17 as an effective amyloid aggregation inhibitor for various conformers and protein sequences.
Sequential Logic: Analysis and Synthesis

REVIEW OF COMBINATIONAL LOGIC Number Systems Number Representations Boolean Algebra Minimization Techniques Logic Symbols Analysis of Combinational Logic Synthesis of Combinational Logic Multiplexers Decoders Encoders Comparators Storage Elements Programmable Logic Devices Problems ANALYSIS OF SYNCHRONOUS SEQUENTIAL MACHINES Sequential Circuits Classes of Sequential Machines Methods of Analysis Complete and Incomplete Synchronous Sequential Machines Problems SYNTHESIS OF SYNCHRONOUS SEQUENTIAL MACHINES 1 Synthesis Procedure Synchronous Registers Synchronous Counters Moore Machines Mealy Machines Moore-Mealy Equivalence Output Glitches Problems SYNTHESIS OF SYNCHRONOUS SEQUENTIAL MACHINES 2 Multiplexers for * Next-State Logic Decoders for * Output Logic Programmable Logic Devices Microprocessor-Controlled Sequential Machines Sequential Iterative Machines Error Detection in Synchronous Sequential Machines Problems ANALYSIS OF ASYNCHRONOUS SEQUENTIAL MACHINES Introduction Fundamental-Mode Model Methods of Analysis Hazards Oscillations Races Problems SYNTHESIS OF ASYNCHRONOUS SEQUENTIAL MACHINES Introduction Synthesis Procedure Synthesis Examples Problems PULSE-MODE ASYNCHRONOUS SEQUENTIAL MACHINES Analysis Procedure Synthesis Procedure Problems APPENDIX INDEX
Nonamyloid tumoral light-chain-deposition disease (aggregoma) of the paraspinal region

Aggregomas are rare localized masses of monoclonal nonamyloid immunoglobulin light-chain deposits. To date, there have been only a few reports of isolated aggregomas, with the majority detailing renal, lymph node and brain deposition. We present a rare case of paraspinal aggregoma in a 67-year-old female who presented with a complaint of cough and chest pain. Imaging demonstrated a left-sided paravertebral mass extending from T7-T10. Pathological analysis showed lamellar deposition of extracellular eosinophilic material with an associated lymphoplasmacytic nonamyloid infiltrate. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a paraspinal aggregoma. While exceedingly rare, this tumor can be included in the radiologic differential diagnosis of paravertebral soft tissue tumors in adults. The observation of our case adds to the limited understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis, natural history, and treatment of nonamyloid light-chain depositions.
Model Reference Adaptive Control - A Perspective

Three adaptive control structures are discussed and compared. Similarities between all three methods are shown. First, the plant control law is the product of an adaptable gain matrix and a vector of observations. Second, the time rate of change of the gain matrix is equal to a product of a constant gain matrix, the error vector, and the transpose of the observation vector. All these methods are based on the minimization of a quadratic error function, similar to Widrow algorithm used in adaptieve filtering. The robust application of adaptive control is also discussed.
Altering the motivational function of nicotine through conditioning processes.

The collection of chapters in this 55th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation Volume clearly highlights that effective strategies for reducing compulsive tobacco use will require a multi-faceted approach in which genetic, neurobiological, individual, and cultural factors are considered. It is difficult, if not impossible, to predict where the next important breakthrough will come from (Bevins & Bardo, 2004; Dethier, 1966; Laidler, 1998). Accordingly, further research that extends and challenges current theory and practice at each of these levels of analysis is needed. The continuing focus of our research program, and the topic of the present chapter, is on the role of Pavlovian conditioning processes involving nicotine. Theoretical and empirical approaches to nicotine dependence that include Pavlovian conditioning processes have lead to important advances in our understanding and treatment of chronic tobacco use (e.g., see Rose, Chapter 8 and Tiffany, Warthen, & Goedecker, Chapter 10 in current Volume). These approaches conceptualize the drug as an unconditioned stimulus (US) or reinforcer. That is, the pharmacological effects of the drug (e.g., reward, analgesia, psychomotor stimulation) enter into an association with stimuli that reliably co-occur with these effects (e.g., paraphernalia, situational cues). Later exposure to these conditioned stimuli (CSs) can evoke conditioned responses (CRs) that increase the chances an individual will seek drug. More recently, we have suggested that the interoceptive stimulus effects of nicotine might also serve as a CS for other appetitive non-drug outcomes (i.e., USs) and/or a stimulus that occasions whether other CS-US associations will or will not occur (i.e., an occasion setter or facilitator; see Bevins & Palmatier, 2004). We have further suggested that such an associative learning history could impact the tenacity of nicotine addiction—e.g., shorten the time between experimentation and dependence, increase the difficulty of quitting, make sustaining abstinence more difficult, etc. At the current time these suggestions are speculative. With this in mind, the present chapter will review the research in this area, as well as highlight some of its historical precursors and suggest some possible future directions for research. In doing so, hopefully the reader will gain an appreciation for how this approach might lead to further insight into how Pavlovian conditioning processes can alter the motivational function of nicotine in a manner that contributes to chronic tobacco use.
Is Anybody Listening? The Impact of Issue Appeals in Presidential Campaigns

More than half a century after The People's Choice inaugurated the modern study of voter behavior, scholars remain puzzled by the paradox of campaigns. Though billions of dollars are spent on campaigns in every election cycle, evidence that these efforts have any substantial effect on voters' choices remains hard to find, and the mechanisms by which these effects occur are an even greater mystery. This paper aims to clarify our understanding of campaign effects by looking at the role of issue advertising in the 2004 US presidential election. It tests whether campaign messages increase voters' knowledge of the candidates' positions, influence voters' policy preferences, or alter the salience of issues, and whether such effects have any meaninful impact upon the voters' candidate preferences. These analyses offer greater insight than previous studies by taking advantage of the more abundant and precise data on both voters and campaigns which has only recently become available, allowing for much finer-grained analyses than was possible in previous studies. The results show clear evidence that voters learn from and change their positions in response to campaign messages, but no evidence that the salience of issues is significantly affected. In translating these effects to vote choice, however, learning and opinion change are shown primarily to reinforce existing candidate preferences, while changes in issue salience (if and when they occur) show the greatest potential to sway votes. These findings serve to both demonstrate the significance of campaign effects and also help explain why they have historically been such a challenge to find.
A phoA structural gene mutation that conditionally affects formation of the enzyme bacterial alkaline phosphatase.

Abstract The phoA503 mutant was identified as a mutant that shows a novel phoA regulatory phenotype. The phoA503 allele dramatically reduces the synthesis of bacterial alkaline phosphatase activity during Pi starvation in an otherwise wild-type host and during the logarithmic growth phase in a phoR or phoU background. Near-normal amounts of enzyme activity are found in phoR phoA503 or phoU phoA503 mutants when starved for carbon, nitrogen, or sulfur or during the stationary phase, however. Marker rescue and DNA sequence analysis located the phoA503 mutation to the phoA coding region. It is a C-to-T transition that would cause a substitution of Val for Ala-22 in the mature protein. Transcriptional and translational lacZ fusions to both wild-type and mutant alleles demonstrated that phoA gene expression is unaltered. Also, the mutant protein was secreted and processed as efficiently as the wild type. Furthermore, the subunits appeared to dimerize and to be stable in the periplasm. But, greater than 98% of the dimers were inactive and found exclusively as isozyme 1. An activation of preformed phoA503 dimers occurred during the stationary phase with the concomitant conversion into isozymes 2 and 3. We propose that the phoA503 mutation affects a late stage in the formation of active enzyme. An unknown change when Pi is present during stationary-phase growth leads to formation of active dimers, which is responsible for this new conditional phenotype.
Triangles and Computers

Chapter 6 took up the subject of computer-aided discoveries in geometry and, in particular, some work of Clark Kimberling on “centers” of triangles, points like the centroid, circumcenter, orthocenter, and so on. Kimberling defined 91 such points and found by numerical explorations that there were (or I should say, appeared to be) an enormous number of collinearities among these points. These empirical results could then be proved, again using computers, but this time using symbolic rather than numerical computation: By expressing the given centers by “trilinear coordinates” as functions of the side lengths, a, b, and c, it became a matter of showing that the appropriate determinant in these symbols vanishes, a task ideally suited to programs like Mathematica or Maple.
Palladium-catalyzed Br/D exchange of arenes: selective deuterium incorporation with versatile functional group tolerance and high efficiency

A facile method for introducing one or more deuterium atoms onto an aromatic nucleus via Br/D exchange with high functional group tolerance and high incorporation efficiency is disclosed. Deuterium-labeled aryl chlorides and aryl borates which could be used as substrates in cross-coupling reactions to construct more complicated deuterium-labeled compounds can also be synthesized by this method.
Extension of the normal theory to spherical families

This paper extends the normal theory results for multivariate linear model to spherical families. The class ofp-dimensional spherical distributions contains the class of allp-dimensional normal distributions. In particular it is shown that the test statistic has a “Wishart-type” distribution for this larger class of spherical distributions.
Laminar heat transfer and skin friction on a porous plate in unsteady motion

Abstract The compressible laminar boundary-layer flow over a semi-infinite isothermal flat plate in nearly quasi-steady motion with a special form of surface mass flux, ρw ν w ρ∞ U(t) = α Re 1 2 , has been studied, and results of skin friction and heat transfer have been reported and discussed here with particular emphasis on effects of plate accelerations. The results reveal that acceleration increases skin friction for both the case of suction and the case of blowing. For heat transfer, it is found that for a cold plate at high Mach numbers, acceleration produces a cooling effect on a suction plate and a'heating effect on a blowing plate. On the contrary, for a hot plate at low Mach numbers, acceleration heats a suction plate and cools a blowing plate. For both skin friction and heat transfer the effect of flow unsteadiness is much stronger for flow with blowing than with suction.
Sand-dispersal patterns in an active-margin estuary of the northwestern United States as indicated by sand composition, texture and bedforms

Abstract Sediments found in Alsea Bay, Oregon, an active-margin estuary which experiences seasonally high fluvial discharge, are generally a mixture of river sands from the high-gradient Alsea River and beach sands carried into the bay by tidal currents. However, sands from these two sources are very distinctive, differing in both their heavy-mineral assemblages and in the degree of heavy-mineral grain rounding. Both a measure of the mean grain roundness and factor analysis of the heavy-mineral assemblages provides a direct indication of the relative proportions of beach and river sands in estuarine deposits. This accurate determination of sources together with a study of bedform asymmetry and migration and sediment grain-size distributions permits a detailed analysis of the patterns of sediment movement and deposition in Alsea Bay. Contours of sample composition indicate that the predominant routes of beach-sand intrusion occur along the south side of the east—west trending estuary, penetrating 1–2 km from the mouth, and along the north side of the estuary, reaching 2–4 km from the mouth. Asymmetrical, tidal-current transport is also indicated by megaripple orientations and is the predominant mechanism by which beach sand is transported up the estuary. In addition, the alignment and compression of composition contours along prominent tidal channels imply that: (1) channels serve as the major conduits of sand transport; and (2) channel margins are the predominant sites of recent sand deposition. In contrast to estuarine margins, the central channels of the bay are dominated by the seaward movement of river sand, silt and clay with silt and clay passing entirely through the estuary. Repeated sampling revealed that down-channel transport of river sands occurs during winter periods of high fluvial discharge while beach-sand intrusion occurs during periods of low fluvial discharge in summer months.
The dissociation of hydrogen sulfide in seawater1

The pK1* for the dissociation of H2S has been measured in artificial seawater as a function of salinity (S = 5–40) and temperature (5°– 25°C). Results have been fitted to an equation of the form where pK1 is the value at infinite dilution given by (σ = 0.033 in pK*, mol kg−1 seawater). The results at S = 35 show a 0.08 shift in pK* from the results in the literature, as was also found in 0.7 m NaCl solutions. The results are in good agreement with the apparent pK1′ results when adjusted to the same pH scale. Using values for the apparent activity coefficient of the proton, we combined our results with those results to derive the consensus values of
The policy intellectual

David E. Lilienthal: The Journey of an American Liberal by Steven M. Neuse University of Tennessee Press: 1996. Pp. 406. $40
Carbachol-induced bladder mast cell activation: augmentation by estradiol and implications for interstitial cystitis

Abstract Objectives Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a painful, sterile bladder disorder that occurs primarily in women, many of whom also experience allergies with symptoms that worsen perimenstrually. Increased numbers of activated bladder mast cells have recently been implicated in the pathophysiology of IC. These mast cells express high-affinity estrogen receptors and are located close to increased bladder nerves, many of which contain the neuropeptide substance P (SP). We therefore investigated whether the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) and SP could activate bladder mast cells and whether estradiol could influence this effect. Methods Bladder pieces from male Sprague-Dawley rats were perfused with carbachol (the stable analogue of ACh), SP, or the mast cell secretagogue compound 48/80 (C48/80) with or without preincubation with beta-estradiol. The effect of carbachol was also investigated after pretreatment with the muscarinic antagonist atropine. Mast cell activation was assessed by release of 3 H-serotonin and morphologic evidence of secretion by light and electron microscopy. Results Carbachol triggered rat bladder mast cell serotonin release in a dose-dependent manner, an effect increased by tissue pretreatment with estradiol and blocked by atropine. The effect of carbachol was accompanied by ultrastructural evidence of mast cell activation and was stronger than that obtained by either C48/ 80 or SP. Conclusions Bladder mast cell activation is neurogenically mediated and augmented by estradiol, findings that could possibly explain the painful symptoms of IC and its prevalence in women, as well as the worsening of symptoms perimenstrually.
cDNA cloning, sequencing, and differential expression of a heart-type fatty acid-binding protein in the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)

A heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) cDNA was isolated from the liver of the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) and the complete cDNA sequence and predicted amino acid sequence was determined. This cDNA binds to a mRNA product of 0.95 kb with the highest level of RNA expression in the male liver, gills, and gonads. Exposure of mummichogs to the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pyrene significantly down-regulated H-FABP expression at the highest concentration. This study provides evidence that environmentally relevant toxicants can modulate H-FABP expression.
Kinetic study of the pre-steady state formation and the decay of the heavy meromyosin-adenosine triphosphate complex

Abstract In the presence of Mg2+ heavy meromyosin reacts with radioactive ATP to form a complex that can be prepared by precipitation with (NH4)2SO4. This complex appears to be heavy meromyosin·ADP·Pi. The pre-steady state formation of this complex is a second order reaction with an average rate constant of 3.1·106 M−1·s−1 in 0.02 M Tris-HCl buffer and 0.10 M NaCl at pH 7.4 and room temperature. Analysis of the data suggests 1 complex site per molecule of heavy meromyosin, although this protein has 2 ATP binding sites per molecule (Schliselfeld, L. H. and Barany, M. (1968), Biochemistry 7, 3206–3213). The decay of this complex is a first order reaction. The rate constant for maximum velocity of ATP hydrolysis is greater than the complex decay rate constant. Therefore both ATP binding sites must catalyze the hydrolysis of ATP. In 0.02 M Tris-HCl buffer and 0.01 M NaCl at pH 7.4 and 25 °C the rate constants are 0.047 s−1 for the complex site and 0.049 s−1 for the second ATP binding site. Increasing the NaCl concentration to 1.50 M decreases both constants but to different extents, 0.0054 s−1 for the complex site and 0.017 s−1 for the second ATP binding site.
Gemini multiobject spectrograph optomechanical design

ABSTRACT The Gemini 8 - meter telescopes under construction on Mauna Kea, Hawaii and Cerro Pachon, Chile will each be equippedwith a high performance multi object spectrograph. Design and construction of the Gemini Multi Object Spectrograph(GMOS) is carried out by a team of scientists and engineers from both Canada and UK and involves the mounting of somerelatively large optical elements. The elements range in size from I 36mm to 300mm in diameter and are fabricated from avariety of glasses with quite different thermal and mechanical properties. Each GMOS unit will contain 10 different lensgroups with each group varying in complexity from 1 to 4 elements.A novel mounting scheme was devised for each group utilizing elastomers, subcells with matching coefficients of thermalexpansion (CTh), and optical couplants. The resulting groups achieve both radial and axial athermalization, in a relativelysimple mechanical configuration. The groups are also easily disassembled and reassembled (e.g. for coating the outersurfaces) without requiring realignment.The initial assembly actually corrects for any discrepancies between the optical axis and the mechanical axis of the lenses, andresults in a lens group with common optical axis. The group is contained in an outer aluminum structure that can easily bemounted I
Sharp slender cones in near-free-molecule hypersonic flow

Shock tunnel drag measurements on sharp slender cones in near free molecule hypersonic flow in air and He