cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antarctic intermediate water intrusion into South Atlantic Bight shelf waters

Abstract Surface seawater samples were collected from seven stations on the coastline bordering the South Atlantic Bight and the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight in March 1986 and analysed for radiocarbon. Depletion in radiocarbon activity was observed in shelf water along the South Carolina coast at Myrtle Beach and Isle of Palms. If Sargasso Sea surface water withΔ 14 C = 168‰ and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) withΔ 14 C = −90‰ are two end members which supply water to this coastal region, a contribution of about 20–25% AAIW is required to produce theΔ 14 C values observed.
The effectiveness of teacher education

James Boswell remembers Samuel Johnson saying that he could recite word-for-word an entire chapter of the book, The Natural History of Ireland. The chapter was entitled "Concerning Snakes." Given encouragement, Johnson recited, "There are no snakes to be found in the whole of Ireland." Until recently one could explore almost all research literature on teacher education, and like discovering snakes in Ireland, not find much. The teacher education literature has possessed an almost paradoxical quality; while extensive, it has consisted mainly of a melange of discordant bits of wisdom, maxims, and exhortations about teacher education, most of the "win one for the Gipper" variety. For example, while the number of published teacher training models in any given year has totalled somewhere between the number of declared 1976 Democratic candidates and the number of yards 0. J. Simpson gained in a typical game, most of these "bold new ventures" have been informed more from common sense and goodwill than from any systematic research base. This is unfortunate because the direction of recent research in teacher education encourages us and positive results are beginning to emerge. Although research documenting the impact of programs of teacher education is still far from definitive, recent reviews do show that the decade since 1965 has proved fruitful for the field.1 Perhaps more accurately we should
Objective estimation versus subjective perceptions of earnings patterns and post‐earnings‐announcement drift

We investigate how the market's subjective estimates of autocorrelation in quarterly earnings vary with objective time-series estimates. Our results suggest that investors increasingly underestimate the correlation as the autocorrelation level increases, and as a result, the post-earnings-announcement drift (PEAD) increases with the level of autocorrelation. We further show that the ability of autocorrelation to explain variation in the PEAD is robust to alternative explanations based on risk and institutional factors. Additional analysis indicates that the market's inefficiency in assessing the existence and magnitude of autocorrelation (and the related impact on PEAD) is inversely related to the richness of the information environment.
High- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: correlates in an older population.

Abstract A predominately upper-middle-class white population of 279 men and 345 women with an average age of 66 years was evaluated to determine correlates of high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL and LDL), since these may be the only cholesterol measurements predictive of cardiovascular disease after age 50. Associations of HDL and LDL with age, alcohol use, obesity, smoking, diet, exercise, and medication use were examined using multiple linear regression. Alcohol, average and above-average exercise, postmenopausal estrogen use (women), B vitamin intake, and corticosteroid use were all positively related to HDL levels, and obesity (men only), cigarette smoking, and thyroid hormone use were inversely related. The only statistically significant correlates of LDL were an increase with age (women only) and lower levels in women using thyroid hormone. However, the associations of several behavioral variables with LDL, although not statistically significant, were in the expected direction. These results may suggest the continuing potential for preventive intervention even in an elderly population.
Metonymy in Black and White: Shelby Steele's Revelatory Racial Tropes

ABSTRACT Inspired by Henry Louis Gates's observation that race is “the ultimate trope,” the author analyzed the metonymies used in an essay on American black–white race dynamics: Shelby Steele's “The Age of White Guilt and the Disappearance of the Black Individual.” Steele used tropes that unintentionally yet convincingly reveal a worldview at odds with his socio-political self-identification and his stated positions. While Steele's essay as a whole ostensibly calls for an end to programs treating people as masses rather than individuals, his tropes belie his overt arguments, reflecting an exceedingly binary, essentializing, and reductive vision.
Power system reliability assessment using intelligent state space pruning techniques: A comparative study

State space pruning is a methodology that has been used to improve the computational efficiency and convergence of Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) when computing the reliability indices of power systems. This methodology improves performance of MCS by pruning state spaces in such a manner that a new state space with a higher density of failure states than the original state space is created. We have previously proposed using Population-based Intelligent Search (PIS), specifically Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO), to prune the state space. This paper reexamines these techniques, suggests improvements, examines the extension of these techniques to a larger test system, and extends the method to include both Repulsive Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (RBPSO) and Binary Ant Colony Optimization (BACO). These methods are tested using the single and three area IEEE Reliability Test Systems.
Factors associated with nutritional status among young children in St. Vincent

A survey was undertaken in 1975 in St. Vincent, West Indies, among the mothers of nearly all children from one to two years old in two towns. The mean weight for age was 85 percent of the Boston Standard and the mean weight for height was 92.5 percent of the standard. Levels of malnutrition were similar to those found in a national survey eight years earlier. Using multiple regression analysis, the variable which had by far the greatest impact on nutritional status (weight for age) was economic level of living. Next in importance came length of breastfeeding, attendance at postnatal clinics, and (with a negative association) the number of siblings. Efforts to solve the EPM problem must seek to eradicate poverty, but should not neglect the importance of breastfeeding, child spacing, and appropriate health care.
Protein Metamorphosis: The Two-State Behavior of Mad2

A given protein generally has only one native tertiary fold, which is the conformation with the lowest Gibbs free energy. Mad2, a protein involved in the spindle checkpoint, however, has two natively folded states with similar Gibbs free energies. Through binding to its target Cdc20, Mad2 inhibits the multisubunit ubiquitin ligase, the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C), and delays the onset of anaphase until all sister chromatids achieve bipolar attachment to the mitotic spindle. Without ligand binding or covalent modifications, Mad2 adopts two topologically and functionally distinct native folds in equilibrium under physiological conditions. The transition between the two Mad2 states is regulated by multiple mechanisms and is central to the activation and inactivation of the spindle checkpoint. This review summarizes recent structural and biochemical studies on the two-state behavior of Mad2 and discusses the generality and implications of structural malleability of proteins.
Subjective and objective probabilities in quantum mechanics

We discuss how the apparently objective probabilities predicted by quantum mechanics can be treated in the framework of Bayesian probability theory, in which all probabilities are subjective. Our results are in accord with earlier work by Caves, Fuchs, and Schack, but our approach and emphasis are different. We also discuss the problem of choosing a noninformative prior for a density matrix.
Moral consideration and the environment: perception, analysis, and synthesis

Inspire par Oren Lyons, l'A. tente d'elucider l'idee de consideration morale de l'environnement
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for quantification of antibodies to Streptococcus mutans surface antigens.

Abstract An ELISA was developed to quantitate the level of antibodies to various cell surface antigens of the Gram positive bacterium. Streptococcus mutans . Whole cells and purified cell wall components of S. mutans , lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from Streptococcus pyogenes , and dextran T 2000 were employed as coating antigens in this study. Cell walls of S. mutans were purified by mechanical disruption of whole cells followed by differential centrifugation and proteolytic enzyme treatment. Serotype-specific carbohydrate was purified from an autoclaved, lyophilized S. mutans whole cell preparation by column chromatography. LTA was prepared by Sepharose 4B chromatography of a phenol-water extract of S. pyogenes and used for detection of anti-polyglycerophosphate (PGP) antibodies. A rabbit antiserum to S. mutans 6715 (serotype g ), which precipitated with purified carbohydrate antigen (RR g ), gave good reactions with purified cell walls and whole cells of S. mutans 6715, less activity with RR g and low activity to LTA and dextran when tested by ELISA. Adsorption of this antiserum with whole cells of S. pyogenes resulted in antibody activity with specificity only to the serotype carbohydrate. The specificity of the antibody for homologous coating antigen was RR g > cell wall > whole cells. An antiserum to S. mutans MT573 (serotype e ) contained antibody predominantly to LTA, whereas, anti- S. mutans MT703 (serotype e ) reacted with both dextran and LTA; however, the activity to LTA was removed by prior adsorption of the antiserum with S. pyogenes cells. This treatment did not alter the antibody activity to dextran. To establish the sensitivity of ELISA, a purified IgG anti-serotype carbohydrate antibody was prepared by adsorption of anti- S, mutans 6715 antiserum with a mutant of S. mutans which lacks serotype carbohydrate followed by adsorption and elution of specific antibodies from S. mutans 6715 whole cells. The minimum level of sensitivity of ELISA was 12.5 ng of IgG anti-serotype carbohydrate.
True polar wander

Abstract A re-evaluation of the existence of true polar wander (TPW) since the Late Cretaceous and a comparison among the various approaches are made using updated paleomagnetic, hotspot and relative motion datasets. Previous attempts to determine the existence of TPW had resulted in different conclusions: comparison of hotspot locations and paleomagnetic poles required significant pole motion, although lithospheric plate displacement analysis yielded insignificant motion. However, these earlier determinations cannot be directly compared to find the reason for the discrepancies, because each used different datasets. For this study the different approaches are applied to a single updated model with three alternative relative motions of East and West Antarctica. Although the results are model-dependent, in general there was not significant motion of the pole relative to the lithosphere (1–5°) since the early Tertiary, but a large motion (10–12°) relative to the hotspot framework. It is unlikely that errors in the determinations could account for this disagreement: the A95 of the plate reconstruction is about 3°, the uncertainty in Antarctica motion is estimated to no larger than 3°, and cumulative errors in the relative plate motions may also amount to 3°. Only if all these errors are present in the maximum estimated amount, and in the same direction, could they account for the 10–12° gap between the two approaches. This conclusion of pole motion relative to the hotspots, but not the lithosphere, may indicate an independent shift of the mesosphere relative to the lithosphere (or “mantle roll” of Hargraves and Duncan).
Modelling and resonance of a flexible rod using a floating reference frame

Abstract A direct variational approach with a floating frame is presented to derive the ordinary differential equations of motion of a flexible rod, constant crank speed slider-crank mechanism. Potential energy terms contained in the derivation include beam-bending energy and energy in foreshortening of the rod tip (which were selected because of the importance of these terms in a pinned-pinned rod parametric resonance). A symbolic manipulator code is used to reduce the constrained equations of motion to unconstrained nonlinear equations. A linearized version of these equations is used to explore parametric resonance stability-instability zones by a monodromy matrix technique.
Characterization of cell lines stably transfected with rubella virus replicons.

Abstract Rubella virus (RUBV) replicons expressing a drug resistance gene and a gene of interest were used to select cell lines uniformly harboring the replicon. Replicons expressing GFP and a virus capsid protein GFP fusion (C-GFP) were compared. Vero or BHK cells transfected with either replicon survived drug selection and grew into a monolayer. However, survival was ∼9-fold greater following transfection with the C-GFP-replicon than with the GFP-expressing replicon and while the C-GFP-replicon cells grew similarly to non-transfected cells, the GFP-replicon cells grew slower. Neither was due to the ability of the CP to enhance RNA synthesis but survival during drug selection was correlated with the ability of CP to inhibit apoptosis. Additionally, C-GFP-replicon cells were not cured of the replicon in the absence of drug selection. Interferon-alpha suppressed replicon RNA and protein synthesis, but did not cure the cells, explaining in part the ability of RUBV to establish persistent infections.
A generalization of Scarf's theorem: An α-core existence theorem without transitivity or completeness

Abstract Consider an n-person non-cooperative game. A coalition is said to α-block a given social state if it has a feasible strategy with which the coalition can ensure a social state preferred by all the agents in it regardless of the strategies the other agents outside the coalition may choose. The α-core is the set of social states that cannot be α-blocked. This paper shows the non-emptiness of the α-core without the assumption of transitivity or completeness on the agents' preference relations.
A STUDY OF DIFFUSION OF ATP THROUGH GLYCEROL-TREATED MUSCLE.

Abstract One and two mM ATP will penetrate bundles of glycerol-treated muscle fibers of about 100 μ thickness. This conclusion has been reached from studies by a physical method which involves recording the tension developed during ATP-induced isometric contraction. The method cannot be used to determine the precise diffusion coefficient through rabbit psoas muscle because the fibers are not thick enough to provide sufficiently long pathways for complete absence of substrate in the central core at substrate concentrations high enough to get measurable tension. It can be used, however, to compute the diffusion coefficient of ATP through this muscular material necessary to maintain a concentration of ATP in the center of fibers equal to 1 10 that of the concentration in the bath. The value obtained, 1.4–2.0 × 10−6 sq. cm./sec., is about 100 times larger than that in the literature and one-half the free diffusion of ATP through aqueous solution. This large difference may be explained by the results of an earlier study in this laboratory of the interactions of ATP and glycerol-treated muscle which showed that the splitting of ATP by myosin was affected more by diffusion than was the change in length of bundles of muscle during isotonic ATP-induced contractions.
Looking Backward to Look Forward: TOCE in Transition

This editorial marks the end of our tenure as founding co-editors-in-chief of the ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE). We have three goals in this editorial. First, we provide a retrospective on how we positioned TOCE, both in terms of how it embodies our conception of Computing Education Research (CER) as a field, as well as the journal's role in the larger computing education community and the ACM. We focus on the process by which we determined what constitutes publishability for a manuscript submitted to TOCE, describing what is best understood as a living process negotiated among the authors, reviewers, associate editors, and editors-in-chief in interaction with manuscripts and one another. Second, having reviewed a bit of history, we look at some possible changes in TOCE's future, particularly in light of conversations that the ACM is engaged in at all levels regarding recent open publishing initiatives as well as the relationship between journal and conference publications. Finally, we thank the many people who have contributed to the success of TOCE for their significant effort in establishing TOCE as a publication venue for papers in computing education.
The ratio of triplet to singlet excited state formation from ion recombination in the radiolysis of aromatic solutes in alkane liquids

Abstract The rates of formation of solute triplet and excited singlet states as a function of time have been measured over the first 70 ns in the pulse radiolysis of isooctane, cyclohexane, and n -hexane solutions. At 0.1 M solute (naphthalene or biphenyl), the fraction of the solute excited states formed by ion-recombination that are triplet is determined to be 0.5±0.1 in the time regime 2 to 70 ns. A similar value is obtained from analysis of the time profile of the triplet state of naphthalene for concentrations from 0.001 to 0.1 M in the same solvents. The implications of these results with respect to the non-homogeneous ion recombination processes occurring are discussed. The decay rate of the solute radical anion has also been determined, and the relationship between it and the rate of solute excited state formation has been analyzed.
Foundations that support medical education and health care: their missions, accomplishments, and unique role

The author provides a detailed overview of the missions, accomplishments, current strategies, and unique institutional role of those U.S. private foundations that have a significant focus on health, especially those that emphasize the support of medical education. The major foundations of this kind are identified, their contributions during this century are described, and their current finding strategies and directions are listed. The author indicates the history of foundation giving during this century, discusses in detail the characteristics of five major foundations, indicates their influence in the medical education and public health arenas in the United States and around the world, and provides two tables with thumbnail sketches of 31 foundations working in these arenas. She concludes that foundations have offered and continue to offer to government, medical schools, and other health-promoting institutions an array of innovative, less traditional options and the results of pilot programs using these options. In this way, foundations provide challenges and guidance to these institutions to stretch toward better ways of fulfilling their missions. Clearly, foundations cannot fund the cost of reforming medical education and health care for the twenty-first century, but they have a crucial role in leading the way to such reform.
OUTCOMES OF BIVENTRICULAR PACING IN PATIENTS WITH TRANSPOSITION OF THE GREAT ARTERIES

As a late outcome of transposition of the great arteries (TGA), systemic right ventricular dysfunction can lead to deterioration of clinical status. Biventricular pacing (BVP) has been suggested as a treatment to reverse ventricular dysfunction in TGA patients, however there is scant data to support
Direct Analysis of Crude Plasma Samples by Turbulent Flow Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Turbulent flow chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (TFC-MS-MS) has recently emerged as a potentially fast, sensitive and specific technique for the direct analysis of pharmaceutical compounds from crude plasma. TFC-MS-MS removes the need for time-consuming sample preparation procedures such as solid-phase extraction (SPE) or liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). A relatively high flow rate combined with the use, of an HPLC column with large porous particles allows the on-line clean up and quantification of compounds in plasma samples. Until, now, the amount of plasma directly injected into TFC systems has rarely exceeded 30 μL in order to prevent rapid column degradation. Increasing the injection volume also induces high carry-over levels, particularly for drugs with basic and/or lipophilic properties. This paper describes the first genetic TFC-MS-MS method developed in a 96-well format, which allows the direct injection of 200 μL of 1∶1 diluted plasma (equivalent to 100 μL neat plasma). An average, of 390 injections was carried out with each extraction column. More than 2000 dog plasma samples were injected into the system without any sign of carryover. The method was fully validated over a 5–500 ng mL−1 range for three basic compounds: doxazosin, CP122,288 and dofetilide. The imprecision was 1.2 to 8.3% for doxazosin, 1.5 to 4% for CP122,288 and 1.6 to 9.2% for dofetilide. The inaccuracy ranged from 6% to 7.9%. This generic methodology was then used to assay two structurally unrelated development compounds, showing that the method accuracy and sensitivity were adequate for the early pharmacokinetic (PK) studies in animals.
Wavelength discrimination by the goldfish near absolute visual threshold

Abstract Goldfish were classically conditioned to discriminate between 532 nm and 636 nm lights while light adapted, and then tested for their ability to continue the discrimination as the intensities were reduced. In all tests, the two stimuli were balanced for effectiveness at absolute threshold. We find that goldfish can discriminate between these wavelengths about 1 log unit above absolute threshold. In contrast, fish who were trained to discriminate between 532 nm and 441 nm stopped discriminating 2–3 log units above absolute threshold. There are two conclusions from these results. First, some aspect of the neural signals generated by the rod and red cone mechanisms must be different, despite electrophysiological evidence that suggests they are the same. Second, the goldfish has color vision near rod threshold.
Development of an apoptosis endonuclease assay.

ABSTRACT A biochemical hallmark of cells undergoing programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is the endonucleolytic cleavage of genomic DNA at internucleosomal sites. To study further the nuclease invo...
The Effects of Computer-Based Instruction on the Transition Planning Process Knowledge of Parents of Students with Disabilities.

Enhancing parents' ability to make informed choices is important to successful transition planning for youth with disabilities. This study used a multiple probe design across content areas replicated across participants to examine the effects of a computer-based instructional program on acquisition of parents' knowledge of the transition planning process (i.e., postsecondary goals, transition services, and postsecondary transition service providers). Results suggested a functional relation between computer-based instruction and parent knowledge of postsecondary goals, transition services, and postsecondary transition service providers. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.
Characterization and functional analysis of cellular immunity in mice with biotinidase deficiency

Biotinidase deficiency is an autosomal recessively inherited metabolic disorder that can be easily and effectively treated with pharmacological doses of the vitamin, biotin. Untreated children with profound biotinidase deficiency may exhibit neurological, cutaneous and cellular immunological abnormalities, specifically candida infections. To better understand the immunological dysfunction in some symptomatic individuals with biotinidase deficiency, we studied various aspects of immunological function in a genetically engineered knock-out mouse with biotinidase deficiency. The mouse has no detectable biotinidase activity and develops neurological and cutaneous symptoms similar to those seen in symptomatic children with the disorder. Mice with profound biotinidase deficiency on a biotin-restricted diet had smaller thymuses and spleens than identical mice fed a biotin-replete diet or wildtype mice on either diet; however, the organ to body weight ratios were not significantly different. Thymus histology was normal. Splenocyte subpopulation study showed a significant increase in CD4 positive cells. In addition, in vitro lymphocyte proliferation assays consistently showed diminished proliferation in response to various immunological stimuli. Not all symptomatic individuals with profound biotinidase deficiency develop immunological dysfunction; however, our results do show significant alterations in cellular immunological function that may contribute and/or provide a mechanism(s) for the cellular immunity abnormalities in individuals with biotinidase deficiency.
Space structure of confining strings.

The energy density of the chromoelectric field generated by the static qq-bar pair is computed in the SU(2) lattice gauge theory. The energy density in the central region of the Wilson loop shows significant deviations from the Coulomb behavior and approaches a constant value at R/sub q//sub q-bar/ = 0.8--1.1 fm.
High Risk Tasks for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Agricultural Field Work

Agricultural work involves heavy physical exertion and is characterized by evidence of high rates of musculoskeletal disorders. Currently ergonomics is a low priority for injury and illness prevent...
Density functional theory characterization of the structure and gas-phase, mid-infrared absorption spectrum of 2-azido-N,N-dimethylethanamine (DMAZ)

Abstract Non-local density functional theory utilizing the B3LYP exchange-correlation functionals with a 6-311++G(d,p) basis set was employed to characterize the geometric parameters and normal modes of 12 equilibrium conformations of 2-azido-N,N-dimethylethanamine. Also known as DMAZ, an experimentally acquired, mid-infrared absorption spectrum of this fuel's vapor is analyzed based on the computational results. The analysis indicates that the relative populations of DMAZ conformers in a room temperature sample do not deviate significantly from expectations based on a Boltzmann distribution calculated from their theoretically determined zero-point corrected energies. The most abundant conformer is found to have the central nitrogen atom of the azido group aligned over the amine lone pair electrons. Since this configuration is likely to inhibit proton transfer to the amine site, it may play an influential role in DMAZ's performance as a hypergol.
Understanding the strength of hot-pressed nanostructured powder compacts

Attrition-milled nanostructured powders were hot pressed, and macroscopic properties of density, hardness, grain size, and strength were measured. No correlation was found between processing conditions (temperature and time) used in this study and compact properties, nor was a correlation found between the tensile (or failure) stress and density, hardness, or grain size. Variations of compact properties of unmilled powder were similar to that of milled powders. Tensile data were not well fitted to a Gaussian distribution but were well fitted to a two-parameter Weibull distribution. Thus, although the milled powder compacts had an average tensile strength greater than the unmilled powder compacts, all sample compositions fit a distribution with zero as a possible minimal stress level. Weibull analysis suggests that the tensile and compression strength is controlled by the presence of fine cracks, which may limit future engineering applications. Efforts to eliminate these cracks during hot pressing were unsuccessful.
Evaluating keypoint methods for content-based copyright protection of digital images

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of keypoint methods for content-based protection of digital images. These methods identify a set of "distinctive" regions (termed keypoints) in an image and encode them using descriptors that are robust to expected image transformations. To determine whether particular images were derived from a protected image, the keypoints for both images are generated and their descriptors matched. We describe a comprehensive set of experiments to examine how keypoint methods cope with three real-world challenges: (1) loss of keypoints due to cropping; (2) matching failures caused by approximate nearest-neighbor indexing schemes; (3) degraded descriptors due to significant image distortions. While keypoint methods perform very well in general, this paper identifies cases where the accuracy of such methods degrades.
A Flying-Adder PLL technique enabling novel approaches for video/graphic applications

A flying-adder frequency synthesis architecture has been developed recently. It has many unique features which can not be easily achieved by conventional PLL based techniques, such as very fine frequency resolution, instantaneous response speed, precisely describable frequency transfer function, reduced analog design complexity and etc. These features are especially beneficial to video/graphic applications which often require many frequencies generated on-chip. This Flying-Adder architecture based PLL technique is an enabler which enables many novel approaches to be created for solving various problems in video/graphic environment. This paper demonstrates several such new approaches enabled by this technique.
Comparison of the effects of high levels of DTPA and EDDHA on microelement uptake in bush beans

Abstract Bush beans (Phascolus vulgaris L. var Improved Tendergreen) were grown for 21 days in noncalcareous Yolo loam soil with 0, 500, and 1000 ppm of DTPA (diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid) and also of EDDHA (ethylenediamine di(o‐hydroxyphenylacetic acid)) applied as the Na salts. The objective was to learn more of DTPA‐increased uptake of some heavy metals. The high levels of both agents tended to depress yields and result in leaf symptoms of excesses of metals. Both agents resulted in large increases of Fe in shoots. DTPA resulted in much larger increases in Zn, Cu, Mn, Co, Ni and Pb than did EDDHA. For Cu, Co, and Ni the proportional increases with DTPA were greater than that for Fe. Aluminum was increased more by EDDHA than by DTPA while Mo was increased almost equally by the two chelating agents. Chromium was increased slightly by each agent, but V was unaffected. Leaf/stem ratios were increased by DTPA for Co and Ni and to a lesser extent for Fe and Zn indicating some transport through the pl...
Fast Electromagnetics-Based Co-Simulation of Linear Network and Nonlinear Circuits for the Analysis of High-Speed Integrated Circuits

A fast electromagnetic simulator is developed to co-simulate the linear network and nonlinear circuits in an integrated circuit system. In this simulator, the physical layout of a large-scale linear network is rigorously reduced to a single surface or a few surfaces where the nonlinear circuits are located. The reduction is done analytically, and, hence, the computational overhead is minimal. The reduced system is then split into a linear system and a nonlinear system so that both systems can be solved efficiently. The linear system of equations is solved rapidly by the time-domain layered finite-element reduction-recovery method. The nonlinear system of equations is solved by developing an efficient method. This method renders the contribution from the linear network to the nonlinear system a diagonal matrix in the Jacobian matrix, hence significantly speeding up the nonlinear solution. After the reduced system is solved, the unknowns elsewhere in the computational domain are recovered efficiently by the time-domain layered finite-element reduction-recovery method. The proposed simulator has been applied to co-simulate on-chip interconnects and CMOS transistors. Numerical results have demonstrated its accuracy and efficiency. The proposed simulator is capable of capturing the global electrical interaction between integrated circuit interconnects, package, RF/analog components, substrates, and nonlinear drivers/receivers across the full electromagnetic spectrum. In addition, it bypasses the extraction of the linear network, preserves the passivity and stability of the linear network, and captures the interaction between the linear network and nonlinear devices.
The Hughes Award: Who is they? Inquiries into how individuals construe social context

When people are asked about their career decisions, they often invoke the influence of they. They may include family or teachers, but it repeatedly includes some amorphous group of generalized others. This article describes my inquiries into the question: Who is they? Initial studies examined individuals’ perceptions of career timetables within organizations. The results suggested that individuals experience their social context as an intricate territory informed by self-perceptions, shared perceptions, and actual distributions. However, these studies assumed they equalled the employee population. Later work showed that in large organizations this assumption is unwarranted. Each individual acquires his or her own non-random version of social context: an organizational reference group. These individual-level reference groups and the neighborhoods in which they cluster are distinctive because they include distant associations defined only by awareness. Both concepts offer opportunities for exploring the soc...
Fast Failure Detection in a Process Group

Failure detectors represent a very important building block in distributed applications. The speed and the accuracy of the failure detectors is critical to the performance of the applications built on them. In a common implementation of failure detector based on heartbeats, there is a tradeoff between speed and accuracy so it is difficult to be both fast and accurate. Based on the observation that in many distributed applications, one process takes a special role as the leader, we propose a fast failure detection (FFD) algorithm that detects the failure of the leader both fast and accurately. Taking advantage of spatial multiple timeouts, FFD detects the failure of the leader within a time period of just a little more than one heartbeat interval, making it almost the fastest detection algorithm possible based on heartbeat messages. FFD could be used stand alone in a static configuration where the leader process is fixed at one site. In a dynamic setting, where the role of leader has to be assumed by another site if the current leader fails, FFD could be used in collaboration with a leader election algorithm to speed up the process of electing a new leader.
Object tracking using the Gabor wavelet transform and the golden section algorithm

The paper presents an object tracking method for object-based video processing which uses a two-dimensional (2D) Gabor wavelet transform (GWT) and a 2D golden section algorithm. An object in the current frame is modeled by local features from a number of the selected feature points, and the global placement of these feature points. The feature points are stochastically selected based on the energy of their GWT coefficients. Points with higher energy have a higher probability of being selected since they are visually more important. The amplitudes of the GWT coefficients of a feature point are then used as the local feature. The global placement of the feature points is determined by a 2D mesh whose feature is the area of the triangles formed by the feature points. In this way, a local feature is represented by a GWT coefficient amplitude vector, and a global feature is represented by a triangle area vector. One advantage of the 2D mesh is that the direction of its triangle area vector is invariant to affine transform. Consequently, the similarity between two local features or two global features can be defined as a function of the angle and the length ratio between two vectors, and the overall similarity between two objects is a weighted sum of the local and global similarities. In order to find the corresponding object in the next frame, the 2D golden section algorithm is employed. Our results show that the method is robust to object deformation and supports object tracking in noisy video sequences.
Antigen Availability Determines CD8+ T Cell-Dendritic Cell Interaction Kinetics and Memory Fate Decisions

T cells are activated by antigen (Ag)-bearing dendritic cells (DCs) in lymph nodes in three phases. The duration of the initial phase of transient, serial DC-T cell interactions is inversely correlated with Ag dose. The second phase, characterized by stable DC-T cell contacts, is believed to be necessary for full-fledged T cell activation. Here we have shown that this is not the case. CD8⁺ T cells interacting with DCs presenting low-dose, short-lived Ag did not transition to phase 2, whereas higher Ag dose yielded phase 2 transition. Both antigenic constellations promoted T cell proliferation and effector differentiation but yielded different transcriptome signatures at 12 hr and 24 hr. T cells that experienced phase 2 developed long-lived memory, whereas conditions without stable contacts yielded immunological amnesia. Thus, T cells make fate decisions within hours after Ag exposure, resulting in long-term memory or abortive effector responses, correlating with T cell-DCs interaction kinetics.
Multi-Robot Negotiation: Approximating the Set of Subgame Perfect Equilibria in General-Sum Stochastic Games

In real-world planning problems, we must reason not only about our own goals, but about the goals of other agents with which we may interact. Often these agents' goals are neither completely aligned with our own nor directly opposed to them. Instead there are opportunities for cooperation: by joining forces, the agents can all achieve higher utility than they could separately. But, in order to cooperate, the agents must negotiate a mutually acceptable plan from among the many possible ones, and each agent must trust that the others will follow their parts of the deal. Research in multi-agent planning has often avoided the problem of making sure that all agents have an incentive to follow a proposed joint plan. On the other hand, while game theoretic algorithms handle incentives correctly, they often don't scale to large planning problems. In this paper we attempt to bridge the gap between these two lines of research: we present an efficient game-theoretic approximate planning algorithm, along with a negotiation protocol which encourages agents to compute and agree on joint plans that are fair and optimal in a sense defined below. We demonstrate our algorithm and protocol on two simple robotic planning problems.
Pancreatitis and alcoholism disorder the renal tubule and impair reclamation of some low molecular weight proteins.

Abstract We sought to determine whether the clinical setting in which pancreatitis occurs affects the incidence and distribution of increased values of renal clearance of amylase relative to creatinine, CAmCCr, and whether the increased values reflect a tubular disorder that impairs renal reclamation of certain low molecular weight proteins. We measured the renal clearance of three low molecular weight proteins (amylase, β 2 -microglobulin, and lysozyme) and Urinary excretion of three lysosomal enzymes that originate from the renal tubule in three groups of patients (alcoholic pancreatitis, pancreatitis without alcoholism, and alcoholism without pancreatitis). When compared to normal controls, the mean CAmCCr was significantly elevated in alcoholic pancreatitis (p β 2 -microglobulin was significantly increased in each of the three patient groups; mean clearance ratio of lysozyme was not significantly increased in any of the patient groups. Excretion of each of the three lysosomal enzymes was significantly increasd in each of the patient groups. We conclude that (a) the etiology of pancreatitis affects the distribution of values for CAmCCr, (b) impaired tubular reclamation of amylase is the mechanism of the increase in CAmCCr, amd (c) a factor or factors associated with both pancreatitis and with alcoholism per se appear to disorder the renal tubule and to impair tubular reclamation of some but not all low molecular weight proteins—a novel finding of considerable potential significance.
The operation of microwave power amplifiers fabricated from wide bandgap semiconductors

There are a variety of RF and microwave electronic devices that can be fabricated from wide bandgap semiconductors such as SiC and GaN. These semiconductors have many properties that make them near ideal for electronic devices intended for high temperature, high frequency, high power, and radiation hard applications. Prototype SiC and GaN-based electronic devices with very good DC and RF performance have been demonstrated and devices such as diodes are commercially available, while RF and high frequency transistors are rapidly approaching the commercialization stage. In this work the performance of microwave power amplifiers fabricated using SiC and GaN-based MESFET's are discussed and investigated. It is demonstrated that these amplifiers can produce RF output power on the order of 4-6 W/mm of gate periphery with near ideal power-added efficiency.
Selection in the evolution of gene duplications

Background Gene duplications have a major role in the evolution of new biological functions. Theoretical studies often assume that a duplication per se is selectively neutral and that, following a duplication, one of the gene copies is freed from purifying (stabilizing) selection, which creates the potential for evolution of a new function.
Developmental alterations in N-methyl-D-aspartate stimulated [3H]norepinephrine release in rat brain cortex and hippocampus.

Abstract Developmental alterations in N- methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA)-stimulated [ 3 H]norepinephrine release from rat brain cortical and hippocampal slices were studied. NMDA (10–1000 μM) resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in [ 3 H]norepinephrine efflux; maximal responses (% released) in the cortex were: (1.53 ± 0.12, 3.68 ± 0.20, 2.94 ± 0.20, 4.60 ± 0.28 and 5.28 ± 0.33) and the hippocampal responses were: (1.90 ± 0.18, 3.84 ± 0.23, 3.60 ± 0.28, 5.16 ± 0.38 and 5.81 ± 0.45) at varying postnatal ages (1, 7, 14, 21 and 90 days) respectively. Cortical tissue from 7-day-old pups exhibited a transient increase in maximal efflux and a decrease in EC 50 . These results indicated that developmental alterations in the NMDA receptor appear to be translated into differences in NMDA stimulated [ 3 H]norepinephrine release.
Asymmetry and revenue in second-price auctions: a majorization approach

Bidder asymmetries are common in certain auctions where heterogeneous bidders coexist. In this paper, we employ the tool of majorization to study the effect of bidder asymmetry on revenue in second-price auctions. As a preorder on vectors of real components, the majorization is used to rank the asymmetry of bid distributions from different auctions. Our analysis indicates that bidders’ asymmetries may raise revenue under certain classes of value distributions (e.g., proportional reversed hazard rate models) and may not in others (e.g., proportional hazard rate models). These results are further validated through supportive evidence that is based on simulated three-bidder auctions. The use of majorization allows us to extend and strengthen the results obtained in the existing literature under more general conditions. This study adds to the literature a useful analytical technique for future research on asymmetric auctions.
Transformational Leadership and Whistle-Blowing Attitudes: Is This Relationship Mediated by Organizational Commitment and Public Service Motivation

Although transformational leadership and whistle-blowing have been extensively examined, only one article was found to explore the relationship between these factors. This is despite research suggesting a connection between leadership practices and whistle-blowing attitudes. This article built on and extended leadership and whistle-blowing theories by investigating the relationship between transformational leadership and whistle-blowing attitudes, as well as how this association might be mediated by public service motivation (PSM) and organizational commitment. Furthermore, the examination was conducted on local, state, and federal government employees in the United States. The findings indicated that transformational leadership had a direct, positive impact on whistle-blowing attitudes, as well as an indirect one through organizational commitment. In addition, PSM had an indirect effect on whistle-blowing attitudes through organizational commitment. On the other hand, PSM was not found to mediate the rel...
Precautionary principle and endocrine active substances

The precautionary principle has been central to many of the debates concerning the appropriate approach to the threat posed by endocrine active substances (EASs). This newly emerging principle has been applied to issues as diverse as persistent organic pollutants and the European trade barrier on beef from hormone-treated cattle.
POVERTY, RACE, AND ANTIPOVERTY POLICY BEFORE AND AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA

Although Hurricane Katrina generated a compassionate public response toward those affected, it did not lead to a serious discourse about the nature of poverty in America, nor did it lead policymakers to re-examine antipoverty policies. In this paper, we present data on long-run trends in the economic status of African Americans and Whites. We demonstrate that even though earnings are lower and poverty rates are higher for African Americans than for Whites, the economic experiences of poor Americans have been similar over the last three decades. The period since the early 1970s has been an era of slow growth in median earnings for all workers and falling real earnings for less-educated men. Although the economy has generated increasing economic hardship for less-educated workers, antipoverty policies have not taken up the slack. If the United States had in place a more comprehensive safety net, the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the poor would have been smaller than they were. We discuss a series of policies that address the broad poverty problem that persists. However, since these safety net reforms are not likely to be implemented, we also propose a “disaster-assistance safety net” that could better serve the poor in the aftermath of any future natural or other disaster.
T-cell Unresponsiveness in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients

There is evidence that immune responses to renal cell carcinoma do occur and in limited cases mediate tumor regression. This notion is supported by the infrequent though detectable occurrences of spontaneous regression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients1 and by the higher incidence of renal cell tumors in patients that are immuno-suppressed after receiving kidney allografts.2, 3, 4 There is also a significant infiltrate of T lymphocytes in many primary renal tumors,5 and in some patients tumor-specific T-cell lines and clones have been expanded from their tumors.6, 7, 8 Furthermore, clonal expansion of T-cell receptor (TCR)α/β T cells has been reported in renal cell tumors, most notably in those that are regressing.9,10 More recently, a number of tumor-associated antigens were found to be expressed on RCC; among these are antigens shared by other tumor types, such as RAGE-1, Mage-3/-6, EphA2, Muc-1, and Her-2/neu, but also several that may be unique to RCC.11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Despite the potential for an effective immune response to RCC, it is not well developed in this patient population even after implement of various forms of immunotherapy designed to stimulate tumor immunity. The presence of an ineffective immune response is likely attributable to suppression induced by the developing tumor.