cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Malignancy risk in individuals with familial adenomatous polyposis receiving biologics and immunomodulators.

Clinicians may be hesitant to prescribe biologics or immunomodulators to individuals with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and comorbid inflammatory disease (CID) because of increased cancer risk. Our aim was to compare the risk of malignancy in FAP individuals with inflammatory bowel (IBD) and/or rheumatic disease that received biologics/immunomodulators to those who did not. Individuals with FAP and CID were included in the study. We compared the incidence of cancer between individuals exposed to biologics/immunomodulators compared to unexposed from the date of diagnosis of comorbid disease till last follow up or death. Hazard ratio (HR) for cancer was computed using Cox regression model and compared by exposure status to biologic/immunomodulators. 25 individuals with FAP and a comorbid inflammatory disease were identified including 9 (36%) with IBD and 16 (64%) with rheumatic disease. 14 (56%) were exposed to a biologic and or immunomodulator. Median duration of biologic/immunomodulator exposure was 48 (2–180) months. 3 (21.4%) in the exposed group compared to 1 (9.1%) in the unexposed group developed cancer with a HR for exposure of 1.92 (CI 0.2–18.5, p = 0.57). Median duration of follow up after the diagnosis of inflammatory disease was 10 (5.5–17.0) years in the exposed and 6 (3.0–15.0) years in the unexposed group. In the exposed group, 1 patient developed gastric and 2 developed colon cancer. One unexposed patient developed medullary thyroid cancer. There is a possible trend of more cancers in the group that received biologics/immunomodulators—but given the small number of patients and p-value, there may be no difference at all. This preliminary finding warrants study in a larger cohort.
Implementation of a clinic to facilitate the transition from pediatric to adult cancer survivorship care.

e13519Background: Transitions from pediatric to adult care settings are challenging for adults with a history of complex childhood illness such as cancer. We developed a new clinical model to suppo...
Public Opinion and Affordable Housing: A Review of the Literature:

Public support for planning programs and initiatives are an important component of its success but opposition can be a powerful impediment. When siting unwanted land uses such as affordable housing, neighborhood opposition can be a particularly effective barrier. Understanding the factors that influence opposition is a necessary precursor to successful planning initiatives. This review discusses how attitudes toward affordable housing are likely shaped by factors that influence other social policy attitudes— particularly ideology and stereotyping. The author concludes with recommendations and methods that planners can use to manage public opposition and influence attitudes toward affordable housing.
Food Insecurity and Consumption of Cariogenic Foods in Mothers and Their Two-Year-Old Children in Appalachia

Purpose: To describe the association between household food insecurity and intake of cariogenic foods that increase risk of dental caries. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 842 mothers in Appalachia and their children participating in the Center for Oral Health Research Cohort 2 between 2011 and 2017 when their children were ~2 years of age. Mothers completed a telephone interview regarding cariogenic food consumption and food insecurity. Associations between food insecurity and daily food intake were adjusted for education, income, state residence, and daily snacking. Results: After adjustment for household income, state residence, daily snacking, and maternal education, mothers and children from moderately/severely food insecure households were more likely to consume sugar-sweetened beverages than those from food secure households. Further, mothers and children from moderately/severely food insecure households had lower average consumption of vegetables and fruits and elevated consumption of sweets; differences based on state residence were noted. Conclusions: Food insecurity is associated with higher consumption of foods that increase risk of dental caries, but this association is modified by maternal education, income, and state residence. Food insecurity, and its socioeconomic determinants, should be considered when designing and implementing interventions to prevent dental caries.
Shadow of a Bulldozer: Rluipa and Eminent Domain after Kelo

Some religious groups have expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London. They fear that the decision allows governments to seize church land through eminent domain and transfer the land to another private owner for economic development merely because the government to increase its tax revenues. This Note asks whether that fear is valid. First, this Note determines that condemnations of church property fall under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and must satisfy its standards. Second, this Note observes that before Kelo, economic development was not a compelling governmental interest sufficient to satisfy RLUIPA. Third, this Note argues that Kelo did not change the law of eminent domain, and further only permitted economic development under the deferential Public Purpose test. Kelo never suggested that economic development was a compelling governmental interest. Therefore, this Note concludes that even after Kelo, RLUIPA still protects churches from condemnations motivated by economic development.
Nephrectomy from a Living Donor

In 2010, Ronald Herrick passed away, 56 years after becoming the first live kidney donor to facilitate a successful kidney transplant. It extended the life of his identical brother Richard by 8 years and demonstrated a proof of concept that became the basis for modern kidney transplantation. Live kidney donor (LKD) activity increased annually in the late 1990s and early 2000s owing to several factors: (1) the 1999 seminal paper by Wolfe et al., which demonstrated the life-saving role of kidney transplantation; (2) evidence of superior short-term and long-term allograft outcomes as compared with kidney transplantation with deceased donors; (3) a continuously mounting list of kidney transplant recipient candidates; and (4) the development in 1995 of a less invasive surgical technique for live donor nephrectomy (LDN). Ratner’s LDN technique mitigated some of the barriers to live donation, such as long convalescence, pain, and complications. In 2013, more than 5,700 LDNs were performed, and more than 95 % underwent nephrectomy via a laparoscopic approach.
Middle School Children's Perceptions on Welfare and Poverty: An Exploratory, Qualitative Study

This study was undertaken to determine how middle school children assess the effects of welfare reform on their daily lives. The study consisted of thirty interviews with children and their mothers recruited from a middle school in a large, metropolitan area. From the children's perspective, multiple jobs and evening/night hours interfered with the child-parent relationship. Other consequences included grades going down and not getting to school on time. All the children stated that mothers should work, but most children felt mothers should only work when their children are in school. Welfare and poverty were issues about which children were teased at school.
Elements of Liberty

Liberty analysis under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been enormously inconsistent throughout the history of constitutional jurisprudence. In construing the meaning of "liberty," the Supreme Court has utilized a variety of interpretive methods but has never settled on any one in particular. Liberty jurisprudence is thus unpredictable, because the Court chooses among its various methods on a case-by-case basis. This is not desirable, because it encourages biased and personal value-based decision-making. There is a better solution. The Court's various interpretive methods over the past century reveal certain recurring objective analytical elements, although these elements are not always used, and have never been articulated together in a unified liberty test. These elements should be synthesized into one multi-dimensional interpretive test to further neutral and enduring liberty jurisprudence.
Building Virtual Spaces

The percentage of young women choosing educational paths leading to science and technology-based employment has been dropping for several years [1, 2]. In our view, the core cause for this phenomenon is a lack of interest and social support on the part of the girls and their families and not a lack of ability. The specific aim of this paper is to evaluate the utility of building virtual environments in influencing girls’ interest in computer-related educational paths and careers. This is evaluated through an intervention, or action-research, in the form of a class named Gaming for Girls. This class was offered to middle and high school girls three times over the years 2005–2006. We assert playing and developing computer games can lead to the acquisition of tangible IT skills and a higher sense of self-efficacy in terms of computer use. In particular, we discuss intervention methods that aim at changing socialization patterns by bringing girls into an all-girl classroom, reducing game violence by altering the forms of game action, and removing potentially negative character designs by allowing girls to design characters and game interaction themselves. We assert that within the information economy, playing video games is an advantage.
Economic Incentives and Disincentives in Vocational Rehabilitation

The unintended effects of disability policies and benefits on the vocational rehabilitation and employment of people with work disabilities are explained, and recent efforts to mitigate these factors are summarized. A particular focus is devoted to participants in the Social Security disability programs. Innovative reforms are presented that propose to address issues of access, eligibility determination, timing, reimbursement and quality of healthcare, case management, vocational rehabilitation, and other tangible benefits to reduce disincentives and enhance incentives for work after disability. Recommendations are made to link the rehabilitation process more closely with employers and work environments, and to create policy incentives for the effective and timely participation of all parties in the return-to-work process. This review demonstrates the need for health and rehabilitation professionals to understand how policy-related disincentives influence the rational decision making of persons with severe disabilities, and to address economic realities in rehabilitation planning.
Impact of turbulence, land surface, and radiation parameterizations on simulated boundary layer properties in a coastal environment

[1] The impact of planetary boundary layer (PBL) turbulence, land surface, and radiation parameterizations on mesoscale simulations of boundary layer properties in a coastal environment are examined using observations from different platforms and numerical simulations using the mesoscale model MM5 during a 10-day period in July 2004. The parameterization schemes examined are the MRF and Eta PBL schemes, the simple soil model and the more sophisticated NOAH land surface model, and the Dudhia and RRTM longwave radiation parameterizations. Comparisons are made between simulated and observed near surface mean variables, radiation, turbulence fluxes, mixed layer heights and morning inversion strengths, low-level jets, and land-sea breeze circulations. The comparisons indicate that for the Gulf Coast environment and typical summertime conditions, the Eta PBL scheme clearly outperforms the MRF PBL scheme in nearly all aspects. The results reveal that the popular Dudhia radiation scheme tends to overpredict the downward longwave radiation, which consequently results in a warm bias at night and a weaker nocturnal low level jet. Although the NOAH land surface model is much more sophisticated than the simple soil model, it failed to deliver significantly improved simulations of boundary layer properties for the conditions considered in this study.
A steady-state planning model for faculty balance

The leading research universities have a very high ratio of senior faculty to junior faculty (S/J) which is close to 6 instead of a more youthful ratio of 2 or 3. A steady-state planning model is presented here that contains three parameters: R, which is the ratio of time spent by a typical person as a senior faculty to time spent as a junior faculty; p, which is the probability of a junior faculty receiving tenure; and S2/S1, which is the ratio of senior faculty hired from the outside to senior faculty promoted from inside. Transient effects have a profound impact on this ratio, but are qualitatively discussed in this model. In the short run, the only effective method to reduce S/J would be to hire only junior faculty. We need to find ways to live with a value of S/J = 6.
Self-selection and utilization efficiency of Heliothis zea larvae feeding on seeds and the walls of snap bean pods

First instar Heliothis zea larvae tended to feed on the leaves of snap beans, but later instars preferred to burrow in the pods. Fifth instars offered only leaves grew poorly because they ate them in small quantities, presumably because of deterrency. The utilization efficiency and growth of fifth instars fed pulp was slightly but significantly inferior to that of seed-fed larvae but was greatly superior to that of leaf-fed larvae. Since the dry matter content of pulp is less than one-third that of seeds, larvae allowed to eat only pulp had abnormally large fresh weight intakes and devoted about three times as much time to feeding as did seed-fed larvae. Larvae offered a mix of seeds and pulp ate both and had a total fresh weight food intake somewhat greater than that of seed-fed larvae but much less than that of pulp-fed larvae. Eating both seeds and pulp offers no obvious nutritional advantage but presumably offers a significant ecological advantage. It is argued that the number of foraging trips a larva must make to discover pods is minimized by feeding on a mix, thus reducing exposure to mortality factors such as predation.
Impacts of two conventional insecticides on different stages of Encarsia inaron Walker parasitizing the whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood under greenhouse condition

In this research, for the first time, compatibility of imidacloprid and pyriproxyfen was assayed with both pupa and adult stages of Encarsia inaron Walker parasitizing Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood. First, the insecticides were sprayed on bean plants containing the parasitoid pupae, thenceforth, survival of the adult parasitoid was evaluated 24 h post-exposure to fresh, 1-, 4-, 7-, 14-, and 21-day-old residues of them on bean leaflets in Petri dishes. Both insecticides significantly reduce E. inaron adult emergence. Mortality of the parasitoid pupa in treatment with imidacloprid (69.7%) was significantly higher than mortality with pyriproxyfen (28.6%). Pyriproxyfen was non-toxic to the adult parasitoid when residues were dried in fresh and aged through the experiment, while in the same condition, imidacloprid significantly killed the adult parasitoids up to 7 days after application. Results have been discussed on the potential compatibility of the insecticides with E. inaron in an integrated pest man...
Concurrent Quality of Service Requirements: A Comparative Analysis of Routing Path Selection Methods

Today's modern network carries a wide range of traffic types which impose unique and concurrent quality of service (QoS) requirements, expressed through performance metrics such as delay and loss, on the network. Metric values are used by routers to determine the best routing path to a destination. There can be multiple paths/routes' between a source and destination and several methods are available to pick the optimum path. In this paper, different methods of routing path selection are discussed, compared, and recommendations are offered. The five methods are as follows: the traditional method; the minimum performance method; the least cost path method; the analytical hierarchy process method and the weighted metric cost value method
Arachnoid Trabeculae and CSF Roles in Blunt Head Impacts

The blunt head impacts due to vehicular collisions, contact sports or falls cause relative motion between the brain and skull and an increase in contact and shear stresses in meningeal region. Several models have been developed to better understand brain injuries. In this study the mechanical role of the fibrous trabeculae and the Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) in Subarachnoid space (SAS) is investigated. Two-dimensional solid and fluid global models of the head and a local model of the SAS trabeculae were developed. The CSF pressure distribution and the trabeculae deformations were determined. It is concluded that the arachnoid trabeculae reduce the pressure in the CSF and both play a major role in damping the blunt head impact.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
CRYPTOSPORIDIOSIS IN CHILDREN

Of 553 stool specimens from children under 18 years of age screened by a merthiolate-iodineformalin technique at the Houston City Health Department from July to November, 1983, 5(0.9%) contained cryptosporidial oocysts, confirmed by auramine O and modified acid-fast stains. Patients ranged in age from 2 months to 2 years, and all were thought to be immunocompetent. Clinical illness consisted of watery diarrhea without blood or mucous (5 children), fever (4), vomiting (3), and abdominal pain (1), lasting from 10 days to 4 weeks. Stools were negative for other parasites and for Shigella, Salmonella, and Campylobacter organisms. None of the children had a history of animal exposure, and mode of acquisition could not be determined. Two children attended different day care centers. Cryptosporidium may be an important cause of diarrhea in normal children. Further studies are necessary to determine its exact role in diarrheal disease.
Mechanism of inhibition of renal amino acid reabsorption in rabbits by heavy metals

Abstract A procedure is described for analyzing the renal transport kinetics of amino acids without the need for prolonged equilibrating infusions, high systemic amino acid concentrations, and the consequent risk of metabolic changes of the infused compounds. Under these conditions labeled amino acids can conveniently be used as substrates, and formation of competitive inhibitors by transamination is minimized. Glutamate increased K M (affinity constant) without altering T M (maximum tubular reabosorptive capacity/ml glomerular filtrate) for aspartate reabsortion, as predicted for competitive inhibition. Uranium (0.5 mg/kg as UO 2 NO 3 10 days prior) and Hg (2 to 4 mg/kg as HgCl 2 2 days prior) depressed both T M and K M of aspartate reabsorption. Similar results were obtained with Hg and cycloleucine reabsorption. In the case of a reversible reaction in a homogeneous medium such behavior could be described as uncompetitive inhibition. The significance of this term for the present system is further considered.
Speaking fundamental frequency characteristics of stutterers and nonstutterers

Abstract This study examined certain parameters of speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) associated with stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluent production of a declarative and an interrogative utterance. Ten adult male stutterers were matched according to age and average SFF with 10 adult male nonstutterers. Analyses of the waveform data from the experimental utterances showed that the nonstutterers produced a significantly greater range of frequencies than did the stutterers across both utterances. The parameters of mean SFF, mean rate of frequency change, and mean number of frequency shifts were not significantly different between the groups. The findings of this study are in general agreement with the results of previous investigations in this area. The consistency of the findings across several studies seems to indicate that reductions in stutterers' SFF variability may be one vocal tract behavior that could serve to distinguish between stutterers' and nonstutterers' fluency.
Thermal decomposition of LixCoO2 monitored by electron energy loss spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements

Abstract While it is commonly known that layered Li x CoO 2 transforms to a mixture of stoichiometric LiCoO 2 and Co 3 O 4 at elevated temperature, little experimental detail exists on the role time and temperature play in the transformation process or on the occurrence of possible intermediate phases. In this article we follow the thermal decomposition of Li x CoO 2 by characterizing its decomposition products after short and long-term isothermal annealing at 350 °C. X-ray diffraction and transition electron microscopy observations are complemented by electron energy loss spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements thus allowing the combination of structural and electronic information. Our results indicate that the charge balance upon Li extraction from LiCoO 2 is in parts accomplished by oxidation of Co 3+ to Co 4+ . In the annealed powder we observe an intermediate Li–Co–O phase of cubic spinel structure before the end products Co 3 O 4 and CoO are formed.
Incentive compatible contractible information

The paper seeks to characterize what information is always available for contracting, independent of the form of the contract and the probabilities of different states of nature. The paper denotes such information as contractible. It is established that it is possible to speak uniquely of maximal contractible information. Several characterizations are exhibited. In particular, it is shown that if either (a) punishments are bounded everywhere, or (b) deviations from truth-telling are either always or never detected, then maximum contractible information coincides with ∧i ∨j≠i ɛj where ɛj is the information partition of agent j. An argument is given for why (b) may be expected to hold.
Chemical composition of the cell wall of Caryophanon latum.

THE “giant micro-organism” Caryophanon latum was first described by Peshkoff as the “missing link” between the blue-green algae and the bacteria. He isolated the microorganism from cow manure near Moscow, noting its unusual morphology including “its long rod forms containing a varying number of nuclei”1. Others have since isolated this organism in England and in the United States2,3. Pringsheim and Robinow have described this micro-organism. Caryophanon latum Peshkoff as “a very large Gram negative, peritrichously flagellated bacterium of unusual structural complexity”2. On the other hand, Provost and Doetsch reported the organism to be a Gram positive bacterium, susceptible to egg-white lysozyme and able to form protoplasts readily4. The work described here was designed to obtain further evidence as to the bacterial nature of the micro-organism by analysing the isolated and purified cell walls of Caryophanon latum for its constituent amino sugars, amino acids and monosaccharides.
Application of the vestibular disorders activities of daily living scale.

Objective Existing scales of functional performance are either insufficiently sensitive or omit some important daily life tasks. This paper demonstrates that a new scale of self-perceived disablement in the vestibularly impaired population—the Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Living Scale (VADL)—differentiates between disabled and healthy persons and evaluates the associations of this assessment with other measures of vestibular disorders. Study Design Prospective. Methods Subjects were 1) asymptomatic, healthy adults, 2) patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, 3) patients with chronic vestibulopathy excluding Meniere's disease, postsurgical vertigo, and postconcussion vertigo, and 4) family members. Patient were assessed on the VADL, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory, level of vertigo, and computerized dynamic posturography. Healthy subjects and family members completed the VADL. Results The VADL differentiates healthy persons from patients but does not differentiate between patient groups. Patients perceived themselves as more independent than their spouses perceived them to be. Scores are weakly correlated with vertigo frequency and posturography scores for conditions with unreliable kinesthesia and absent or unreliable vision. The VADL is more responsive to higher levels of impairment than the Dizziness Handicap Inventory. Conclusions This well-normed, self-administered scale of self-perceived disablement is useful for evaluating the functional status of patients with peripheral vestibular disorders. Perceptions of patients and significant others vary, but scores are moderately correlated with some standard measures of vestibular function. As it assesses a different domain of function than do standard diagnostic tests, the VADL will augment these tests during initial evaluation and may be useful for assessing posttreatment change.
Unified approach to agile knowledge‐based enterprise decision support

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize 30 decision support capabilities. Not limited to quantitative analysis techniques, the highest priority capabilities included explicit knowledge access and reliability, timely risk management, ability to communicate decisions and learn from their implementation.Design/methodology/approach – To meet the needs of AKEs, it is critical developers implement the right capabilities. This requires a unified approach that identifies a complementary decision support set of capabilities. Using a triangulation approach of qualitative architecting and quantitative survey processes, this study evaluates enterprise‐specific operating environment and business models. It expands the integrated informed decision cycle model to identify decision making, decision implementation, and knowledge management‐related capabilities.Findings – Agile knowledge‐based enterprises (AKEs) drive a need for a more aware, inclusive, and responsive decision support system. Gold...
Does safety science fulfill the requirements of modern technical systems

Since the idea of safety science was first conceived, technical systems have grown larger and increasingly complex, thus causing a pronounced impact on the complexity of required safety analyses and risk calculations. The author emphasizes his point of view that the physical risk definition provides the most appropriate concept for engineers when it comes to planning including risk cadastres. In order to avoid human errors, he pleads for the consideration of human factors in the early design phase and for interdisciplinary cooperation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 13: 223–230, 2003.
TURBONFS: turbo nand flash search

NAND flash memories are popular due to their density and lower cost. However, due to serial access, NAND flash memories have slow read and write speeds. As the flash sizes increase to 64GB and beyond, searches through flash memories become painfully slow. In this paper, we present a hardware design enhancement to speed-up search through flash memories. The basic idea is to generate a small signature for every memory block and store them in a signature block(s). When a search is initiated, signature block is searched which produces reference of possible blocks where data might be contained, reducing the total number of read operations. The additional hardware has no impact on read access times or sequential write times. The additional step of signature generation increases the random write times by an average of 8-9%. Simulation experiments were performed for flash memory of size up to 16Gb. Simulation results show that the performance of searches improve by 4000X by using the proposed technique. The area overhead is estimated to be 5% of the memory area. The approach is easily extendible to NOR flashes and SSDs.
The effects of ethanol on the developing cerebellum and eyeblink classical conditioning

In rats, developmental ethanol exposure has been used to model the central nervous system deficits associated with human fetal alcohol syndrome. Binge-like ethanol exposure of neonatal rats depletes cells in the cerebellum, including Purkinje cells, granule cells, and deep nuclear cells, and produces deficits in simple tests of motor coordination. However, the extent to which anatomical damage is related to behavioral deficits has been difficult to estimate. Eyeblink classical conditioning is known to engage a discrete brain stem-cerebellar circuit, making it an ideal test of cerebellar functional integrity after developmental ethanol exposure. Eyeblink conditioning is a simple form of motor learning in which a neutral stimulus (such as a tone) comes to elicit an eyeblink when repeatedly paired with a stimulus that evokes an eyeblink prior to training (such as mild periorbital stimulation). In eyeblink conditioning, one of the deep cerebellar nuclei, the interpositus nucleus, as well as specific Purkinje cell populations, are sites of convergence for tone conditioned stimulus and somatosensory unconditioned stimulus information, and, together with brain stem nuclei, provide the necessary and sufficient substrate for the learned response. A series of studies have shown that eyeblink conditioning is impaired in both weanling and adult rats given binge-like exposure to ethanol as neonates. In addition, interpositus nucleus neurons from ethanol-exposed rats showed impaired activation during eyeblink conditioning. These deficits are accompanied by a permanent reduction In the deep cerebellar nuclear cell population. Because particular cerebellar cell populations are utilized in well-defined ways during eyeblink conditioning, conclusions regarding the underlying neural substrates of behavioral change after developmental ethanol exposure are greatly strengthened.
New insights in the development of Dupuytren's contracture: a review

Recent advances in the understanding of myofibroblast histology and function, the activity of fibrogenic cytokines, the role of the extracellular matrix and of free radicals are contributing to an understanding of the aetiology of Dupuytren's disease but not yet to its treatment. Surgical excision remains the best treatment.
Symptom Severity and Utilization of Treatment Resources Among Dually Diagnosed Inpatients

Objective: The authors' goal was to determine the clinical characteristics of patients admitted to an acute voluntary psychiatric unit with a dual diagnosis treatment program. Methods: A total of 1...
Temperature and salinity history of the Precambrian ocean: implications for the course of microbial evolution

Abstract The temperature and salinity histories of the oceans are major environmental variables relevant to the course of microbial evolution in the Precambrian, the “age of microbes”. Oxygen isotope data for early diagenetic cherts indicate surface temperatures on the order of 55–85 °C throughout the Archean, so early thermophilic microbes (as deduced from the rRNA tree) could have been global and not just huddled around hydrothermal vents as often assumed. Initial salinity of the oceans was 1.5–2× the modern value and remained high throughout the Archean in the absence of long-lived continental cratons required to sequester giant halite beds and brine derived from evaporating seawater. Marine life was limited to microbes (including cyanobacteria) that could tolerate the hot, saline early ocean. Because O2 solubility decreases strongly with increasing temperature and salinity, the Archean ocean was anoxic and dominated by anaerobic microbes even if atmospheric O2 were somehow as high as 70% of the modern level. Temperatures declined dramatically in the Paleoproterozoic as long-lived continental cratons developed. Values similar to those of the Phanerozoic were reached by 1.2 Ga. The first great lowering of oceanic salinity probably occurred in latest Precambrian when enormous amounts of salt and brine were sequestered in giant Neoproterozoic evaporite basins. The lowering of salinity at this time, together with major cooling associated with the Neoproterozoic glaciations, allowed dissolved O2 in the ocean for the first time. This terminated a vast habitat for anaerobes and produced threshold levels of O2 required for metazoan respiration. Non-marine environments could have been oxygenated earlier, so the possibility arises that metazoans developed in such environments and moved into a calcite and silica saturated sea to produce the Cambrian explosion of shelled organisms that ended exclusive microbial occupation of the ocean. Inasmuch as chlorine is a common element throughout the galaxy and follows the water during atmospheric outgassing, it is likely that early oceans on other worlds are also probably so saline that evolution beyond the microbial stage is inhibited unless long-lived continental cratons develop.
Implementation of Radiation, Ablation, and Free Energy Minimization in Hypersonic Simulations

Aj–Ej = curve fit constants for Kj T to define equilibrium relation for nonbase species j ~ ci;abl = elemental mass fraction of element i in ablation products Dj = effective diffusion coefficient for species j, LrefV1 F = transformation matrix from species continuity to elemental continuity equations Fi;j = element of F defined in Eq. (1) f = species flux vector frad = fraction of divergence of radiative flux introduced into flow solver, Eq. (19) Gj;k = coefficient of ln k in partial equilibrium relation for nonbase species j [Eq. (10)] Hn = enthalpy of species n, J=kmole Kj T = equilibrium constant for reaction j, Eq. (11) Lref = reference length used to nondimensionalize distance, m ~ Mi = molecular weight of element i, kg=kmole Mj = molecular weight of species j, kg=kmole _ m = blowing rate of ablation products per unit area, 1V1 Ne = number of elements Nexchange = frequency for updating ghost cells Nrad = frequency for updating divergence of radiative flux in interior Ns = number of species pn = partial pressure of species n, atm p = pressure, 1V 2 1 q = vector of dependent variables, species densities, 1 q = heating rate,W=m R = universal gas constant, 8314.3, J=K kmole R = modified gas constant Sn = entropy of species n, J=K kmole T = temperature, K t = time, Lref=V1 _ w = vector of chemical source terms, 1V1=Lref x, y = distance in Cartesian coordinates, Lref u, v = velocities in x and y directions, respectively, V1 ~ Vi = diffusion velocity of element i, V1 Vj = diffusion velocity of species j, V1 V1 = reference velocity in the freestream, m=s Z = 10; 000=T used in Eq. (11) i;j = number of atoms of element i in species j m;j = stoichiometric coefficient of reactant m in nonbase species relation j n;j = stoichiometric coefficient of product n in nonbase species relation j F j = change in free energy in Eqs. (7) and (8), J=kmole = surface emissivity " = damping coefficient on surface temperature updates ~ i = density of element i, 1 j = density of species j, 1 1 = reference density in the freestream, kg=m 3 = Stefan-Boltzmann constant, 5:66961 10 8 W= m K j = mole fraction of species j
Gravitation, torsion, and string theory

The low energy effective Lagrangian of string theory presents us with not only gravity, but the dilaton and the antisymmetric field as well. It is shown that a Brans-Dicke generalization of a metric theory of gravity with torsion that is derived as the exterior derivative of a potential is equivalent to the low energy string theory Lagrangian. This gives all of the fields a physical interpretation in four dimensions and provides an indication that the dilaton representssmall corrections to general relativity at large distances.
Corrections on LIFPA velocity measurements in microchannel with moderate velocity fluctuations

Laser-induced fluorescence photobleaching anemometer (LIFPA) has been developed in order to measure velocity fluctuations of the unsteady micro electrokinetic turbulent flows in microfluidics. The statistical errors of LIFPA measurement, because of 3-D flows and Taylor’s hypothesis (compared with local Taylor’s hypothesis Pinton and Labbe in J Phys II 4:1461–1468, 1994), are theoretically estimated and compared to hot-wire anemometer (HWA) measurement that is used for conventional turbulence measurement. The correction factor in the direction parallel to the laser beam is estimated, and the influence of directional correction factors of LIFPA is also investigated. It is found that in our investigation, the error due to Taylor’s hypothesis is negligible. The influence of 3-D flows on the first derivative variance of velocity fluctuations in LIFPA is smaller than that in HWA measurement.
The effect of a centrally located midplane delamination on the instability of composite panels

The buckling loads of eight-ply graphite-epoxy cylindrical panels with midplane delamination were determined experimentally. The study included two different ply orientations, two different aspect ratios, two different delamination sizes, and one set of boundary conditions; clamped along the top and bottom edges and simply supported along the vertical sides. The experimental test results are compared to the linear bifurcation and nonlinear collapse loads of panels with square cutouts obtained from the STAGSC-1 finite-element computer code.
The promoter's role in ticket pricing: Implications of real options for optimal posted prices and rationing

Abstract We consider the problem of pricing event tickets for initial sale when demand is uncertain. It is a standard industry practice for a performer to contract with a promoter who underwrites the event and offers the tickets for sale at a posted price that is sticky in that it is either fixed or costly to adjust once sales begin. Promoters, therefore, bear price risk, and we show that bearing the risk associated with posting a sticky offer price amounts to writing a put option on the ticket revenue. Further, we show that optimal posted-offer prices can be expected to result in rationing (surpluses) if price uncertainty and price elasticity of demand are material (immaterial), even when the demand forecast is accurate. Our results have implications for a more general set of pricing problems in which items are offered for sale at sticky posted prices.
On the Phenomenon of Pressure Pulses Reflecting Between Blades of Adjacent Blade Rows of Turbomachines

The main emphasis of the paper is on the work done by the writer between the years 1957 and 1992 on the phenomenon of pressure waves in form of pulses which reflect from blades of adjacent blade rows of turbo-machines. The recently revived interest in “acoustic resonances”, whose details are still not well defined or understood, points to a realization that a new look at some previously unrecognized findings is needed to explain problems encountered in operation of compressors and turbines. The purpose of this paper is to call attention of the turbo-machinery community to an important physical phenomenon discovered more than forty years ago about whose existence and consequences there is little awareness today. The turbine test results which led the writer in 1957 to hypothesize the existence of the phenomenon of reflecting pressure pulses are described. Subsequently, his 1966 ASME paper is discussed. In it the writer reported on the photographed observations of pressure pulses reflecting between stationary nozzles and moving blades of a water-table turbine at Lehigh University, on the description of the various types of such waves, and on an explanation of some of the resonant blade excitation frequencies observed by NACA in a turbine of turbojet engine. This is followed by a description of his 1984 ASME paper in which more general formulae were derived for the blade excitation frequencies caused by reflections of pressure pulses between the rotor blades and both upstream and downstream stator vanes. These equations were subsequently used to explain blade excitation frequencies measured in an axial compressor stage. Finally, his 1992 AIAA paper is discussed in which additional formulae relating to the reflecting pressure pulses were derived and the process of formation of a pressure pulse explained. To put this work in perspective, the writer provided, in mostly chronological order, excerpts from reports on operational problems encountered with turbo-machines in service and brief descriptions, from selected publications, of pertinent research work.© 2009 ASME
The production of lumber using chainsaws in Guyana

SUMMARY The structure, conduct and performance, and the environmental impacts of the chainsaw lumber production sector in Guyana are investigated. Chainsaws are a highly mobile lumber technology that is used to rip or produce lumber within the forest. Chainsaw lumbering operations have become the dominant lumber producer for the domestic market. Production costs are only 53% of wholesale lumber prices. On a ms basis, chainsaw operations' net profit is 80% of the gross price paid for logs at sawmills and more than twice the profit of firms engaged in the harvesting and transportation of logs to sawmills. Sawmills recognize this cost advantage and are increasingly using chainsaws in the production of lumber. The handling and transportation of chainsawn lumber within the forest is environmentally less damaging than log production. The log recovery rate is 10–15% for chainsaw operations, as compared to the sawmill average of 40–45%. Log residue from chainsaw operations is left within the forest which promotes...
Experimental and numerical dynamic investigation of an energy efficient liquid cooled chiller-less data center test facility

Abstract Data centers cooling systems constitute a large portion of the total data center energy consumption, therefore, many new cooling technologies have been developed to improve the energy efficiency. A data center cooling facility proposed by IBM is constructed to reduce cooling energy use to less than 5% of the total Information Technology energy use through a combination of warm water cooling servers and liquid-side economization. In this work, several experimental tests are conducted on this cooling test facility and the results are reported and analyzed. The detailed dynamic responses of each component used in the cooling infrastructure design are investigated using the test results combined with simulation results. The experimental tests designed and the corresponding analyses present a brief understanding of the dynamic performance of this data center test facility, including both inside and outside of the computer room. A transient effectiveness method is introduced and used to analyze the heat exchangers performance. The work presented provides an analyzing method which can be used to investigate and characterize the transient performance of heat exchangers which are working in the cooling and heating systems with multiple coupled heat transfer loops, in which multiple heat exchanger units are used.
Image paradigm for semiconductor defect data reduction

Automation tools for semiconductor defect data analysis are becoming necessary as device density and wafer sizes continue to increase. These tools are needed to efficiently and robustly process the increasing amounts of data to quickly characterize manufacturing processes and accelerate yield learning. An image-based method is presented for analyzing process 'signatures' from defect data distributions. This paper describes the statistical and morphological image processing methods used to achieve an automated segmentation of signature events into high-level process-oriented categories. Applications are presented for enhanced statistical process control, automatic process characterization, and intelligent subsampling of event distributions for off-line, high-resolution defect review.
Interfacial Reactions in Model NiTi Shape Memory Alloy Fiber-Reinforced Sn Matrix “Smart” Composites

In this article, the microstructure properties of a novel Pb-free solder composite were examined. A binary nickel-titanium shape memory alloy (SMA) fiber was used to reinforce the Sn-rich matrix, to take advantage of the superelastic properties of the fiber. The objective of this study was to understand long-term, high-temperature interfacial growth in a model NiTi fiber-reinforced Sn matrix composite solder system. The microstructure was quantified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS). The mechanical properties of the interfacial zone, e.g., Young’s modulus and hardness, were characterized by nanoindentation. The evolution of the reaction products with time and the relationship between composition and local mechanical properties are discussed.
Photoelectrolysis of water using thin copper gallium diselenide electrodes

Abstract Thin CuGaSe 2 films were deposited by vacuum co-evaporation and characterized for their structure, properties and performance as hydrogen-evolving photoelectrodes. The 0.9 μm thick films were nearly stoichiometric with very slight copper deficiency and showed polycrystalline structure with grain sizes of tens of nanometers. An electrode based on such a film was demonstrated operating with outdoor 1-sun photocurrent of up to 13 mA/cm 2 . Spectral response data show significant incident-photon-to-current efficiency throughout the visible spectrum, peaking at 63% at 640 nm. Photocurrent output under simulated 1-sun Air Mass 1.5 light was stable over 4 h. Unassisted water-splitting is not possible due to high band edge positions, but operation in tandem configuration with a suitable bottom junction is feasible.
Reburying the Dead: The Effects of NAGPRA on our Relationships and Obligations to the Deceased

A theoretical analysis of our contemporary society's relationships to the dead, specifically the dead of Native Americans, as affected by the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. Until recently, our contemporary culture has often only dealt with the relationships with the dead on a subconscious and superficial level. With the advent of N AGPRA, we must now explicitly address issues regarding obligations and relations to the dead. For the first time, these issues are institutionalized by federal legislation. Although now written into law, the regulations have yet to be tested, and thus upheld, in federal court. In addition, the parameters of NAGPRA are vague. To minimize conflict we must eliminate vagaries. Clear definitions of how, why and under what circumstances we are (at least legally) obligated to the dead and what do our obligations reflect or say about the dominant culture may be thought of as defining our "death consciousness."
The Fast Hartley Transform

The Fast Hartley TransformH. S. HouElectronics and Optics Division, The Aerospace Corporation2350 E. El Segundo Blvd., El Segundo, California 90245AbstractThe Fast Hartley Transform (FHT) is similar to the Cooley -Tukey Fast Fourier Transform(FFT) but performs much faster because it requires only real arithmetic computationscompared to the complex arithmetic computations required by the FFT. Through use of theFHT, Discrete Cosine Transforms (DCT) and Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFT) can be obtained.The recursive nature of the FHT algorithm derived in this paper enables us to generate thenext higher -order FHT from two identical lower -order FHTs. In practice, this recursiverelationship offers flexibility in programming different sizes of transforms, while theorderly structure of its signal flow graphs indicates an ease of implementation in VSLI.IntroductionRecently, Bracewe111,2 introduced the Discrete Hartley Transform (DHT) as a new member ofthe transform family. The DHT uses the real variable cos(2,rkn /N) + sin(2nkn /N) as thetransform kernel, while the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) uses the complex exponential,Exp(i2n kn /N), as the transform kernel. Thus, the DHT is intuitively simpler and hence,faster than the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) since the multiplication of two complex varia-bles is equivalent to four real multiplications, and a complex addition is two ie.§.l addi-