cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Age on the Epidemiology of Atrial Fibrillation Hospitalizations

Abstract Background Given that 4 million individuals in the United States have atrial fibrillation, understanding the epidemiology of this disease is crucial. We sought to identify and characterize the impact of age on national atrial fibrillation hospitalization patterns. Methods The study sample was drawn from the 2009-2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Patients hospitalized with a principal International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision discharge diagnosis of atrial fibrillation were included. Patients were categorized as "older" (≥65 years) or "younger" ( Results We identified 192,846 atrial fibrillation hospitalizations. There was significant geographic variation in hospitalizations for both younger and older age groups. States with high hospitalizations differed from those states known to have high stroke mortality. Younger patients (33% of the sample) were more likely to be obese (21% vs 8%, P P P Conclusions Younger patients account for a substantial minority of atrial fibrillation hospitalizations in contemporary practice. Younger patients are healthier, with a different distribution of risk factors, than older patients who have higher associated morbidity and mortality.
Fluctuation-dissipation theorems for systems in non-thermal equilibrium and application to laser light

Fluctuation-dissipation theorems for systems in non-thermal equilibrium are derived and are applied to the study of the laser threshold region.
Clinical evaluations of gold foils.

Go Id foil enjoyed the reputation of being dentistry’s finest restoration, but in 1955 severe pulpal injury was reported after placement of foil restorations.’ Since that report gold foil restorations have become controversial. Some dentists believe in the superiority of gold foil and think that it is not used as widely as it should be. Others believe that it has no place in dentistry and that alternative materials are available that are less expensive, more esthetic, and less traumatic to pulp tissues.2 The gold foil restoration has the potential for irreversible pulpal damage.‘-’ The clinical prevalence of actual damage has not been previously documented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effects of gold foil restorations on pulp vitality and their acceptability as permanent restorations.
AMPK-mediated autophagy is a survival mechanism in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells subjected to androgen deprivation and hypoxia

The present study was designed to investigate (i) the role of AMPK activation in inducing autophagy in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells subjected to androgen deprivation and hypoxia, and (ii) whether autophagy offers a survival advantage under these harsh conditions. Low androgen and low oxygen are two co-existing conditions frequently found in prostate cancer tissue following surgical or medical castration. In LNCaP cells, androgen deprivation and hypoxia together boosted AMPK activation to a higher level than that seen with either condition alone. The augmented AMPK response was associated with improved viability and the induction of autophagy. These observations suggest that a threshold of AMPK activity has to be attained in order to trigger autophagy, since neither androgen deprivation nor hypoxia by itself was capable of pushing AMPK activity past that threshold. Beclin-1 was identified as a potential downstream target of AMPK in turning on the autophagic cascade. If autophagy was blocked by chemical inhibition or RNA interference of key regulators, e.g., AMPK or beclin-1, more cells would die by apoptosis. The occurrence of autophagy is thus a survival mechanism for androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells to escape from an androgen-deprived and hypoxic subsistence.
A replication of the RIRD strategy to decrease vocal stereotypy in a student with autism

This study was conducted to decrease vocal stereotypy in a student with autism. Results of functional analysis indicated that vocal stereotypy was maintained by automatic reinforcement. We used the Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD; Ahearn, Clark, & McDonald, 2007) strategy to decrease the vocal behavior. An ABAB design was used. Results indicated that the RIRD intervention successfully reduced the target behavior. Results are discussed and implications for practice are provided. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ORIGIN OF ADVENTITIOUS SHOOTS REGENERATED FROM CULTURED TOBACCO LEAF TISSUE

Leafdiscs from Nicotiana tabacum L., N. glauca Grahm., and a series of interspecific periclinal chimeras were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing either 2.5 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) or 3.0 mg/l 6-furfurylaminopurine (kinetin). Most shoots regenerated from chimeral leaf discs were non-chimeral but 51 of 658 shoots were chimeral. The histogenic composition of plants regenerated from leaf discs of periclinal chimeras indicated that any cell layer in a leaf can be the ultimate source of shoots, and that shoots can be multicellular in origin. Certain periclinal arrangements were recovered more frequently and their chimeral nature was more stable during subsequent shoot growth. While N. tabacum leaf discs regenerated shoots on MS medium supplemented with either BA or with kinetin, N. glauca leaf discs did not form shoots on the medium containing kinetin. However, chimeras which possessed cells of both species arose on medium containing BA or kinetin, indicating that the morphogenetically competent (i.e., able to produce shoots in culture), N. tabacum cells either interacted with N. glauca cells leading to their competence or incorporated non-competent N. glauca cells into nascent shoot apical meristems.
Common stock returns, real activity, money, and inflation: Some international evidence

Abstract This paper tests whether the negative relationship between real stock returns and inflation in the United States is in fact proxying for a positive relationship between stock returns and real activity variables in six major industrial countries over 1966–1979. Consistent with Fama's ‘proxy-effect’ hypothesis, we document a negative relationship between inflation and real activity and a positive one between real stock returns and real activity variables. Real activity variables dominate money growth rates and expected and unexpected inflation in explaining real stock returns. A puzzling result that still remains is the positive role of money and the negative role of expected inflation in explaining these real stock returns in all major industrial countries.
Phylogenetic structure in the grass family (Poaceae): evidence from the nuclear gene phytochrome B.

Phylogenetic analyses of partial phytochrome B (PHYB) nuclear DNA sequences provide unambiguous resolution of evolutionary relationships within Poaceae. Analysis of PHYB nucleotides from 51 taxa representing seven traditionally recognized subfamilies clearly distinguishes three early-diverging herbaceous ‘‘bambusoid’’ lineages. First and most basal are Anomochloa and Streptochaeta, second is Pharus, and third is Puelia. The remaining grasses occur in two principal, highly supported clades. The first comprises bambusoid, oryzoid, and pooid genera (the BOP clade); the second comprises panicoid, arundinoid, chloridoid, and centothecoid genera (the PACC clade). The PHYB phylogeny is the first nuclear gene tree to address comprehensively phylogenetic relationships among grasses. It corroborates several inferences made from chloroplast gene trees, including the PACC clade, and the basal position of the herbaceous bamboos Anomochloa, Streptochaeta, and Pharus. However, the clear resolution of the sister group relationship among bambusoids, oryzoids, and pooids in the PHYB tree is novel; the relationship is only weakly supported in ndhF trees and is nonexistent in rbcL and plastid restriction site trees. Nuclear PHYB data support Anomochlooideae, Pharoideae, Pooideae sensu lato, Oryzoideae, Panicoideae, and Chloridoideae, and concur in the polyphyly of both Arundinoideae and Bambusoideae.
Molecular weight and concentration of heparin in hyaluronic acid-based matrices modulates growth factor retention kinetics and stem cell fate.

Growth factors are critical for regulating and inducing various stem cell functions. To study the effects of growth factor delivery kinetics and presentation on stem cell fate, we developed a series of heparin-containing hyaluronic acid (HyA)-based hydrogels with various degrees of growth factor affinity and retention. To characterize this system, we investigated the effect of heparin molecular weight, fractionation, and relative concentration on the loading efficiency and retention kinetics of TGFβ1 as a model growth factor. At equal concentrations, high MW heparin both loaded and retained the greatest amount of TGFβ1, and had the slowest release kinetics, primarily due to the higher affinity with TGFβ1 compared to low MW or unfractionated heparin. Subsequently, we tested the effect of TGFβ1, presented from various heparin-containing matrices, to differentiate a versatile population of Sca-1+/CD45− cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) into endothelial cells and form vascular-like networks in vitro. High MW heparin HyA hydrogels stimulated more robust differentiation of CPCs into endothelial cells, which formed vascular-like networks within the hydrogel. This observation was attributed to the ability of high MW heparin HyA hydrogels to sequester endogenously synthesized angiogenic factors within the matrix. These results demonstrate the importance of molecular weight, fractionation, and concentration of heparin on presentation of heparin-binding growth factors and their effect on stem cell differentiation and lineage specification.
Ammonium glycyrrhizinate (AMGZ) effects on membrane integrity

Abstract Potential mechanisms by which ammonium glycyrrhizinate (AMGZ) modifies biomembranes and promotes transcellular permeation of low molecular weight markers were investigated. The effects of increasing AMGZ concentration, pH, and ionic strength on erythrocyte hemolysis and on the steady-state fluorescence anisotropy, r , of fluorophore-labeled tracheal and erythrocyte ghost membranes were studied. At AMGZ concentrations greater than 1%, significant hemolytic activity was observed. Hemolysis was not observed over either the pH or the ionic strength ranges produced by corresponding concentrations of AMGZ. A significant decrease in r , a measure of lipid packing order, was observed in erythrocyte ghost membranes at AMGZ concentrations greater than 0.5 and 1.0% AMGZ in both lipid-water interfaces labeled with 1-[4-(trimethylammonio)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (TMA-DPH) and core lipid domains labeled with 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH), respectively. Fluorescence lifetime studies indicated that the DPH and TMA-DPH probes were to some degree sensitive to AMGZ and suggested the possibility of some contributions of direct AMGZ: probe interaction to interpretation of the fluorescence studies. A significant decrease in lipid packing order was also observed predominantly at the lipid-water interace of apical tracheal cell membranes at AMGZ concentrations greater than 0.5%. The lipid packing order for bovine trachea apical membranes and erythrocyte ghosts was not affected by varied pH or ionic strength produced by corresponding AMGZ additions. Collectively, results suggested that direct effects of AMGZ, as opposed to accompanying pH or ionic strength changes, on primarily membrane components at the lipid-water interface may contribute to alterations in membrane permeability to low molecular weight substances.
X-ray pump optical probe cross-correlation study of GaAs

Ultrafast dynamics in atomic, molecular and condensed-matter systems are increasingly being studied using optical-pump, X-ray probe techniques where subpicosecond laser pulses excite the system and X-rays detect changes in absorption spectra and local atomic structure1,2,3. New opportunities are appearing as a result of improved synchrotron capabilities and the advent of X-ray free-electron lasers4,5. These source improvements also allow for the reverse measurement: X-ray pump followed by optical probe. We describe here how an X-ray pump beam transforms a thin GaAs specimen from a strong absorber into a nearly transparent window in less than 100 ps, for laser photon energies just above the bandgap. We find the opposite effect—X-ray induced optical opacity—for photon energies just below the bandgap. This raises interesting questions about the ultrafast many-body response of semiconductors to X-ray absorption, and provides a new approach for an X-ray/optical cross-correlator for synchrotron and X-ray free-electron laser applications. Researchers use an X-ray pump beam to change GaAs from absorbing to nearly transparent in less than 100 ps for laser photon energies just above the bandgap. They also demonstrate the opposite effect — X-ray-induced optical opacity — for photon energies just below the bandgap.
Decentralized Multi-Robot Teams Using Wheeled Manipulation for Object Transportation

Object transportation is an especially suitable task for cooperative mobile robots where the carrying capacity of an individual robot is naturally limited. In this work, a unique wheeled robot is presented that, when used in homogeneous teams, is able to lift and carry objects which may be significantly larger than the robot itself. A key feature of the presented robot is that it is devoid of articulated manipulation mechanisms, but instead relies on its drive wheels for object interaction. After a brief introduction to the mechanics of this mobile robot, a behavior-based lifting and carrying strategy is developed that allows the robot to cooperatively raise an object from the ground, transition into a carrying role, and then transport the object across cluttered, unstructured terrain. The strategy is inherently decentralized, allowing an arbitrary number of robots to participate in the transportation task. Dynamic simulation results are then presented, showing the effectiveness of the strategy.© 2012 ASME
A STUDY OF ADENOSINE DEAMINASES IN HUMAN SERA: 114

Two different molecular forms of adenosine deaminase have been found in human tissues: the high molecular weight enzyme and the low molecular weight enzyme, designated as the A form and the C form respectively. These two enzyme forms are present in various proportions in different tissues. In previous studies, the two enzyme forms were separated and identified by gel filtration column chromatography and spectrophotometric measurements of enzyme activity in the elution fractions. A rapid and efficient method is needed to perform routine analysis of the enzyme form distribution, especially in samples containing little enzyme activity, and to study the interrelationship of the two enzyme forms. This study shows the development of the thin-layer gel filtration technique for the separation and the identification of the two molecular forms of adenosine deaminase in human tissue extracts. Possible clinical application of this technique and the enzyme system is discussed. This work was supported by a grant from the Indiana Delaware County Cancer Society.
Delivering Oral Health Services to Children in the Past: The Rise and Fall of Children's Dental Clinics

As a contribution to the current discourse on improving the oral health of impoverished children by increasing their access to oral health services, this essay describes and examines an earlier attempt to accomplish a very similar goal: the philanthropically and publicly funded children's dental clinics that were responsible for close to half of all oral health services delivered to US children during the first half of the 20th century. As an explanation of why these clinics were established and why they proliferated, the essay argues they met 4 criteria essential to successful public health programs aimed at children: they had a clearly understood and largely accepted fiscal and social utility; they provided services that parents could easily understand as benefiting their children; they serviced a broad enough segment of the population to earn them significant social and political support; and, by meeting a variety of the professional needs of oral health care providers, they established a relationship of enlightened self interest with a group whose support or, at least, lack of opposition was crucial to their survival.
Plastic effect: Quench monitoring variation with different γ-ray sources

Abstract It is shown that the “plastic effect” of varying external standard channels ration (ESCR) is present regardless of the γ-ray source used to monitor the quench level of scintillation media.
Successful endovascular repair of an unusual right-to-left shunt presenting with cerebral ischemia

Ischemic stroke due to congenital cardiopulmonary vasculature anomalies is rare in adults. We report a 54-year-old man with a stroke due to a unique right-to-left shunt who underwent successful endovascular treatment. This patient developed acute onset of right arm weakness with facial droop and aphasia which improved after intravenous thrombolysis. An MRI showed acute cerebral ischemia in the left middle cerebral artery and left posterior cerebral artery distribution. The patient developed recurrent stroke symptoms during agitated saline injection while undergoing a transthoracic echocardiogram which showed right-to-left shunting. Chest CT scan and conventional angiography revealed near occlusion of the superior vena cava. Head and upper limb venous return drained via a large left vertical vein into an anomalous left pulmonary vein into the left atrium. He underwent endovascular surgery to relieve the superior vena cava obstruction and to occlude the source of right-to-left shunt. While rare, congenital cardiopulmonary vascular anomalies may result in ischemic stroke in adults. CT angiography may be necessary to evaluate cardiopulmonary vasculature when right-to-left shunting is discovered on echocardiography in the setting of ischemic stroke. With large right-to-left shunts, agitated saline should be avoided.
What to Teach and How to Teach It: Elementary Teachers' Views on Teaching Inquiry-Based, Interdisciplinary Science and Social Studies in Urban Settings

Inquiry-based and interdisciplinary teaching practices exemplify constructivist approaches to education capable of facilitating authentic student learning; however, their implementation has proven particularly challenging within certain contexts in the United States. This qualitative study considers one such context via an investigation of elementary teachers' views on teaching inquiry-based, interdisciplinary science and social studies in urban settings. Interview data from 15 teachers in three urban schools are presented. Findings describe how teachers' views compare to the respective national standards in each curricular area and detail the barriers they report to implementing such practices in their classrooms.
Elastic impedance inversion of multichannel seismic data from unconsolidated sediments containing gas hydrate and free gas

The elastic properties of hydrated sediments are not well‐known, which leads to inaccuracy in the evaluation of the amount of gas hydrate worldwide. Elastic impedance inversion is useful in estimating the elastic properties of sediments containing gas hydrate, or free gas trapped beneath the gas hydrate, from angle‐dependent P‐wave reflections.We reprocess the multichannel U.S. Geological Survey seismic line BT‐1 from the Blake Ridge off the east coast of North America to obtain migrated common‐angle aperture data sets, which are then inverted for elastic impedance. Two new algorithms to estimate P‐impedance and S‐impedance from the elastic impedance are developed and evaluated using well‐log data from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 164; these new algorithms are stable, even in the presence of modest noise in the data.The Vs/Vp ratio, Poisson's ratio, and Lame parameter terms λρ and λ/μ are estimated from the P‐impedance and S‐impedance. The hydrated sediments have high elastic impedance, high P‐impedan...
Noncorrectional probability learning and reversal by rats: Posterior decortication influence☆

Abstract Thirty normal and thirty posterior decorticate rats were tested on spatial probability learning and reversal at ratios of 60:40, 70:30 or 80:20. All testing employed discrete-trial noncorrectional procedures. In acquisition, both normal and lesioned subjects at 80:20 and 70:30 ratios came to select the more frequently reinforced alternative on nearly every trial. On the 60:40 ratio, asymptotic choice levels of all subjects remained at levels only slightly greater than chance. In reversal the 80:20 and 70:30 ratios yielded response strategies similar to those of acquisition, and no reliable effect of the lesion was observed. At the 60:40 ratio, lesioned animals seemed to show little influence of their prior training, while normal subjects exhibited a tendency to relinquish their choice of the previously more frequently reinforced alternative. However, neither normal nor lesioned rats showed asymptotic 60:40 reversal performance which was different from chance.
The Sustained Antihypertensive Effect of Chronic Cerebroventricular Infusion of Angiotensin Antagonist in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

The angiotensin antagonist [Sar1-Ile8]angiotensin II was infused into the lateral ventricles of mature spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats. Infusions were maintained at rates of 1200 ng/44:36 h for 6 days, and blood pressure was measured daily in the unanesthesized state. Blood pressure reduction occurred promptly and only in the hypertensive animals. This antihypertensive effect persisted for several days after discontinuation of the infusion. In contrast, iv infusion of the angiotensin antagonist at comparable doses failed to alter blood pressure in any significant fashion. These data suggest that the brain isorenin system participates in the maintenance of hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.
Stability and microstructure of indium tin oxynitride thin films

Indium oxide (In2O3) and indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films have been investigated for high temperature thermocouple and strain guage applications. Reactive sputtering in nitrogen-rich plasmas was used to improve the high temperature stability of indium oxide-based films in air and scanning electron microscopy was used to follow the microstructural changes in the nitrogen-processed films. When thermally cycled at temperatures above 800°C, a partially sintered microstructure comprised of nanometer-sized crystallites was revealed. A densified layer was also formed on the surface, which acted as an oxygen-diffusion barrier in the bulk film. This combined with a network of partially sintered oxynitride crystallites lead to considerable open porosity and a stabilizing effect on the ensuing electrical properties. In this article, the thermoelectric properties of nitrogen-processed films were evaluated at temperatures up to 1400°C. To study the effect of nitrogen plasma processing on the sintering kinetics and associated densification, the constrained sintering of the resulting films was followed as a function of time and temperature. Based on the measured thermoelectric properties of the nitrogen processed films, drift rates on the same order of magnitude as commercial type K wire thermocouples were realized for these all-ceramic thermocouples.
Magnetic separation of particles and cells in ferrofluid flow through a straight microchannel using two offset magnets

Abstract The separation of particles and cells is critical in many chemical and biological applications. This work presents a simple idea for utilizing a pair of permanent magnets to continuously separate diamagnetic particles and cells in ferrofluid flow through a straight microchannel. The first magnet is placed close to the microchannel for focusing the particle mixture to a single stream without the use of a sheath flow. The second magnet, which is offset from the first magnet and placed farther from the channel, is to displace the aligned particles to dissimilar flow paths for a continuous sorting. This idea is first demonstrated through the separation of 3 μm- and 10 μm-diameter polystyrene particles, where the effects of flow speed and magnet distance are both examined. The experimental data are found to fit well with the predictions of an analytical model. Furthermore, a continuous separation of live yeast cells from 10 μm polystyrene particles is implemented in the same device.
Computer Modeling and FEA Simulation for Composite Single Fiber Pull-Out

Using state-of-the-art computer-aided technologies, particularly CAD and integrated CAD/FEA technique to model and simulate the composite, the single-fiber pull-out problem is presented. The capability and effectiveness of using enabled CAD to generate solid modeling based composite fiber/matrix heterogeneous assembly and its application with the seamless integration of CAD/FEA to simulate fiber pull-out mechanisms and effects of material and geometric variation on stresses in fiber and matrix are demonstrated. The CAD/FEA model predictions are compared with an analytical solution. Parametric studies of fiber pull-out problems with different stiffness ratios of fiber and matrix, and with irregular fiber cross-sections, for which solutions are difficult to obtain analytically, are also presented.
The Growth Stages and Maturation of an Outsider-Within: Developing a Critical Gaze and Earning the Right to Speak

In this autoethnography, I trace the origins of my development as an “outsider-within”; thereby, creating an argument that childhood family lessons, lived experience, and responses to my presence by members of academic in-groups, all have shaped my existence and behavior as “Other” carefully positioned at the edge of the orchard oftentimes referred to as “the life of the mind.” The early stages of my growth into the role of outsider-within are shared along with three phases of maturation into a critical interpretivist researcher: trailblazing, defiance, and crisscrossing the terrain.
Development and Evaluation of an Externally Air-Cooled Low-Flow torch and the Attenuation of Space Charge and Matrix Effects in Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

An externally air-cooled low-flow torch has been constructed and successfully demonstrated for applications in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The torch is cooled by pressurized air flowing at {approximately}70 L/min through a quartz air jacket onto the exterior of the outer tube. The outer gas flow rate and operating RF forward power are reduced considerably. Although plasmas can be sustained at the operating power as low as 400 W with a 2 L/min of outer gas flow, somewhat higher power and outer gas flows are advisable. A stable and analytical useful plasma can be obtained at 850 W with an outer gas flow rate of {approximately}4 L/min. Under these conditions, the air-cooled plasma produces comparable sensitivities, doubly charged ion ratios, matrix effects and other analytical merits as those produced by a conventional torch while using significantly less argon and power requirements. Metal oxide ion ratios are slightly higher with the air-cooled plasma but can be mitigated by reducing the aerosol gas flow rate slightly with only minor sacrifice in analyte sensitivity. A methodology to alleviate the space charge and matrix effects in ICP-MS has been developed. A supplemental electron source adapted from a conventional electron impact ionizer is added to the base of the skimmer. Electrons supplied from this source downstream of the skimmer with suitable amount and energy can neutralize the positive ions in the beam extracted from the plasma and diminish the space charge repulsion between them. As a result, the overall ion transmission efficiency and consequent analyte ion sensitivities are significantly improved while other important analytical aspects, such as metal oxide ion ratio, doubly charged ion ratio and background ions remain relatively unchanged with the operation of this electron source. This technique not only improves the ion transmission efficiency but also minimizes the matrix effects drastically. The matrix-induced suppression of signal for even the most troublesome combination of light analyte and heavy matrix elements can be attenuated from 90-99% to only 2-10% for 2 mM matrix solutions with an ultrasonic nebulizer. The supplemental electron current can be adjusted to ''titrate'' out the matrix effects as desired.
Effect of exposure to ionizing radiation on creatine concentration in human and rat erythrocytes.

Results are reported for serial determinations of creatine concentration in the erythrocytes of cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, and in erythrocytes, plasma, and urine of sham-irradiated rats and in rats exposed to doses of 500, 1000, or 1500 r x radiation. The concentration of creatine in erythrocytes of the patients rose after 2 to 3 weeks of radiotherapy. The erythrocytic creatine concentrations rose only in the sham-irradiated rats and in rats exposed to 500 and 1000 r, whereas in rats exposed to 1500 r a marked fall in erythrocytic concentration of creatine occurred. The response observed in sham-irradiated tats was attributed to restraint during sham-irradiation. (C.H.)
Massive Data Discrimination via Linear Suppot Vector Machines

A linear support vector machine formulation is used to generate a fast, finitely-terminating linear-programming algorithm for discriminating between two massive sets in n-dimen-sional space, where the number of points can be orders of magnitude larger than n. The algorithm creates a succession of sufficiently small linear programs that separate chunks of the data at a time. The key idea is that a small number of support vectors, corresponding to linear programming constraints with positive dual variables, are carried over between the successive small linear programs, each of which containing a chunk of the data. We prove that this procedure is monotonic and terminates in a finite number of steps at an exact solution that leads to an optimal separating plane for the entire dataset. Numerical results on fully dense publicly available datasets, numbering 20,000 to 1 million points in 32-dimensional space, confirm the theoretical results and demonstrate the ability to handle very large problems
A microfluidic sensor based on ferromagnetic resonance induced in magnetic bead labels

Abstract This report details preliminary studies towards the development of a microfluidic sensor that exploits ferromagnetic resonance, excited in magnetic bead labels, for signal transduction. The device consists of a microwave circuit in which a slotline and a coplanar waveguide are integrated with a biochemically activated sensor area. The magnetic beads are immobilized in the sensor area by bio-specific reactions. A microwave signal applied to the slotline is coupled to the coplanar waveguide only in the presence of magnetic beads at the functionalized sensor area. Ferromagnetic resonance in the beads further enhances the coupling. This inductive detection technique lends itself to miniaturization, is inexpensive to fabricate and can be adapted for the detection of a wide range of molecules for which bio-specific ligands are available. Experimentally, the variation of the output signal as a function of the location of magnetic beads was studied for the proposed technique. Subsequently, a prototype device was constructed by biotinylation of the sensor area and integration with a microfluidic chip fabricated in polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS). Preliminary experiments were conducted on this prototype using streptavidin-functionalized magnetic beads as labels. It was shown that the magnetic beads, immobilized at the sensor area by streptavidin–biotin linkage, produced a distinct ferromagnetic resonance response easily discernable from the background signal.
Parametric excitation of circularly polarized and langmuir waves in a magnetized plasma

Abstract Threshold intensities and growth rates are calculated for the parametric decay instability in which a circularly polarized pump wave excites a low frequency electrostatic ion wave and an electromagnetic circularly polarized wave in a magnetized plasma.
Competition for Hydrogen within a Chlorinated Solvent Dehalogenating Anaerobic Mixed Culture

Use of an appropriate hydrogen level is necessary to favor dehalogenation of chlorinated solvents, such as tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE), over other hydrogen using processes. This study examined the competition between dehalogenators and other microorganisms occurring in a benzoate-acclimated dehalogenating methanogenic mixed culture. Results show that the dehalogenators competed best against methanogens and homoacetogens when the hydrogen level was maintained between 2 and 11 nM. The 2 nM hydrogen concentration represents the lower threshold value found here for cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) dehalogenation. The usefulness of this hydrogen range was further confirmed with both batch-fed and continuously-fed reactors. In batch studies, three times more ethene was produced from dehalogenation of cis-DCE using propionate than benzoate as electron donor, while benzoate produced three times more methane than propionate. A three times greater hydrogen utilization efficiency for dehalogena...
The whitehouse effect—Shortwave radiative forcing of climate by anthropogenic aerosols: an overview

Loadings of tropospheric aerosols have increased substantially over the past 150 yr as a consequence of industrial activities. These aerosols enhance reflection of solar radiation by the Earth-atmosphere system both directly, by scattering light in clear air and, indirectly, by increasing the reflectivity of clouds. The magnitude of the resultant decrease in absorption of solar radiation is estimated to be comparable on global average to the enhancement in infrared forcing at the tropopause due to increases in concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases over the same time period. Estimates of the aerosol shortwave forcing are quite uncertain, by more than a factor of two about the current best estimates. This article reviews the atmospheric chemistry and microphysical processes that govern the loading and light scattering properties of the aerosol particles responsible for the direct effect and delineates the basis for the present estimates of the magnitude and uncertainty in the resultant radiative forcing. The principal sources of uncertainty are in the loading of anthropogenic aerosols, which is highly variable spatially and temporally because of the relatively short residence time of these aerosols (ca. 1 week) and the episodic removal in precipitation, and in the dependence of light scattering on particle size, and in turn on relative humidity. Uncertainty in aerosol forcing is the greatest source of uncertainty in radiative forcing of climate over the industrial period. At the high end of the uncertainty range, the aerosol forcing is comparable to the anthropogenic greenhouse forcing, and substantially greater in industrialized regions. Even at the low end of the range, the aerosol forcing cannot be neglected in considerations of influences on climate over the industrial period. This uncertainty greatly limits the ability to draw empirical inferences of climate sensitivity to radiative forcing.
Motion estimation of partially viewed 3-D objects based on a continuous distance transform neural network

Proposes a novel continuous distance transform neural network (CDTNN) to implement a continuous parametric 3D distance transform representation, which can be efficiently used in estimating the motion of 3D objects from a single view perspective. Our proposed CDTNN motion estimation approach consists of two stages of efforts. The 3D object is first converted by a CDTNN to a continuous 3D distance transform representation, i.e. the magnitudes of the responding neural network output values are linearly proportional to the distance of the points to the nearest surface of the object. When later presented with surface points of the oriented snapshots of a moving 3D object, this parametric CDTNN representation allows easy accumulation of the orientation mismatch information. More specifically, the mismatch information can be back-propagated through the CDTNN to iteratively determine the best similarity transform (orientation) required to align the oriented object with the represented exemplar object at each time instance. This orientation provide enough information for the motion of the estimated 3D object. >
Perceptions of older, low-income women about increasing intake of fruits and vegetables.

Abstract Focus groups were conducted with 28 older, lowincome women in order to identify factors that affected their fruit and vegetable (FV beliefs about benefits of consuming FV and use of supplements as a substitution for eating F&V. A prominent subtheme concerned the conflict women felt between their desire to consume more F&V and their desire not to waste food. Focus group participants gave concrete suggestions on how to help older, low-income women increase F&V consumption, which included environmental supports.
Field-plated high gain lateral bipolar transistor in standard CMOS process for BiNMOS application

A high-gain gate-assisted lateral bipolar n-p-n transistor with current gain of over 3000 was fabricated in a compatible p-well CMOS process. The device was fabricated using the same mask sequences as that of an n-channel MOSFET with its gate connected to the p-well. With the assistance of the PISCES device simulator, total collector current was found to have two main components, the gale-assisted component and the bulk bipolar component. A circuit model with parallel MOSFET and bipolar transistors was used to verify DC measurement results. >
A new binary iterative LDPC decoding algorithm

We introduce a new binary message-passing decoding method for low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. The proposed decoding principle does not require the degree information of variable nodes and can be applied to both time invariant and time-variant decoding algorithms. We present the extrinsic error probability analysis and decoding threshold optimization for the new decoding method in both time-invariant and time-variant decoding scenarios. Both theoretical analysis and numerical results show that the proposed method provides the same performance as the existing methods for both time-invariant and time-variant decoding, while the proposed new method facilitates efficient circuit implementations of the LDPC decoder since it does not require the degree information.
Performance of Redundant Disk Array Organizations in Transaction Processing Environments

We study the performance of two redun dant disk array organizations in a transaction processing environment and compare it to that of mirrored disk organi zations and organizations using no striping and no redun dancy. Redundant disk arrays and mirrored disks are used for providing rapid recovery from mediafailures in systems requiring high availability. The disk array organizations examined are: data striping with rotated parity (RAIDS) and Parity Striping. RAIDS provides high data transfer rates by striping the data over multiple disks. It also pro vides better load balancing over the disks in the array. At the same time, data striping increases disk arm use which can lead to longer queuing delays. In transaction process ing environments, because of the nature of I/O requests, namely a large number of small size requests, disk arms are a more valuable resource than data transfer bandwidth. Hence, parity striping was proposed as an alternative to RAIDS. It provides rapid recovery from failure at the same low storage cost without interleaving the data over multiple disks. In this study, we use data from a large scale commer cial transaction processing site to evaluate and compare the performance of the above organizations. We consider both non-cached systems as well as systems using a non-volatile cache in the controller.
1789: The Threshold of the Modern Age – By David Andress

This is an interesting book in the tradition of that now often forgotten 1950s classic, The Age of the Democratic Revolution by R. R. Palmer. Essentially a constitutional history of the transatlant...
Dynamics in blends of long polymers with unentangled short chains

Scaling ideas for dynamics of polymer solutions are extended to the case of a solution of long chains (of N monomers) in unentangled short chains (of P monomers). The P chains can be sufficiently short to make the long chains partially swell (P p 2 ), hydrodynamic interactions control their terminal relaxation. When N < P 2 , excluded volume is fully screened, and the dilute long chains relax by Rouse motion (with hydrodynamic interactions fully screened). The assumptions about hydrodynamic screening in dilute solution have consequences in the semidilute regimes of unentangled and entangled behavior, where we calculate the viscosity and the tracer diffusion coefficients. We end with a discussion of assumptions about hydrodynamic screening, and experiments are suggested to test those assumptions using binary blends with one unentangled component.
Navigation Functions on Cross Product Spaces

Given two compact, connected manifolds with corners, and a navigation function (NF, a refined artificial potential function) on each manifold, this paper presents a simple composition law that yields a new NF on the cross product space. The method provides tunable ldquohooksrdquo for shaping the new potential function while still guaranteeing obstacle avoidance and essentially global convergence. The composition law is associative, and successive compositions fold into a single, computational simple expression, enabling the practical construction of NFs on the Cartesian product of several manifolds.
Systems of ordinary differential equations which generate an order preserving flow. A survey of results

This article consists of a survey of results concerning the qualitative behavior of solutions of systems of ordinary differential equations which generate an order preserving flow. We restrict our consideration to partial orderings on $R^n $ induced by any one of its orthants; a flow preserves ordering if any two solutions $x(t)$ and $y(t)$ are ordered, $x(t) \leqq y(t)$, for all $t > 0$ whenever $x(0) \leqq y(0)$. Many of the important results for such systems have only recently been obtained, principally by M. W. Hirsch, who pointed out the tendency of their solutions to converge to equilibrium. Less well known are some global geometric constraints on the stable manifold of an equilibrium and the existence of heteroclinic orbits connecting ordered equilibria. A particularly striking result for this class of systems is the easily computable necessary and sufficient condition for stability of an equilibrium.One of our main goals is to show that by allowing partial orderings on $R^n $ generated by orthants...
'Domesticating' the New York Convention: the Impact of the Federal Arbitration Act

International arbitration is a world of multiple interfaces among legal orders, marked by significant tensions at specific pressure points. It is the purpose of much, if not most scholarship in international arbitration to seek to resolve such tensions. In this article the author deals with a set of pressure points that has recently been brought to the surface in a particularly comprehensive and systemic manner, in the context of the Restatement of the US Law of International Commercial Arbitration: the clash between, on the one hand, the New York Convention and thus the international model of international arbitration and, on the other hand, the basic US federal legislation on international commercial arbitration and thus the US model on international arbitration. This clash, the author shows, becomes manifest with regard to issues including: awards made in the United States but whose enforcement is nevertheless governed by the New York Convention; the preclusive effects for other courts of a court’s decision on the scope of an arbitration agreement; the common law notion of collateral estoppel (issue preclusion—preclusive effects for other courts and tribunals of factual and legal findings) as opposed to the Convention’s focus on res judicata (claim preclusion); the application of forum non conveniens in actions to enforce an award; treating interim measures as awards; and the role of state public policy as opposed to federal public policy.
Role of Transcription in Plasmid Maintenance in the hpr1Δ Mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae hyperrecombination mutation hpr1Δ results in instability of sequences between direct repeats that is dependent on transcription of the repeat. Here it is shown that the HPR1 gene also functions in plasmid stability in the presence of destabilizing transcription elongation. In the hpr1Δ mutant, plasmid instability results from unchecked transcription elongation, which can be suppressed by a strong transcription terminator. The plasmid system has been used to examine in vivo aspects of transcription in the absence of Hpr1p. Nuclear run-on studies suggest that there is an increased RNA polymerase II density in the hpr1Δ mutant strain, but this is not accompanied by an increase in accumulation of cytoplasmic mRNA. Suppression of plasmid instability in hpr1Δ can also be achieved by high-copy expression of the RNA splicing factor SUB2, which has recently been proposed to function in mRNA export, in addition to its role in pre-mRNA splicing. High-copy-number SUB2 expression is accompanied by an increase in message accumulation from the plasmid, suggesting that the mechanism of suppression by Sub2p involves the formation of mature mRNA. Models for the role of Hpr1p in mature mRNA formation and the cause of plasmid instability in the absence of the Hpr1 protein are discussed.
Finite elements for thermoelectric device analysis in ANSYS

A new set of ANSYS coupled-field elements enables users to accurately and efficiently analyze thermoelectric devices. This paper reviews the finite element formulation, which, in addition to Joule heating, includes Seebeck, Peltier, and Thomson effects. Examples of steady-state and transient simulations of a thermoelectric generator and a single-stage Peltier cooler are presented for thermoelectric analysis verification. An analysis of a multistage thermoelectric cooler is performed to demonstrate ANSYS parametric analysis capability.
A high-resolution TEM-AEM, pH titration, and modeling study of Zn2+ coprecipitation with ferrihydrite

Abstract Experiments of Zn2+ and Fe3+ coprecipitation as a function of pH were conducted in the laboratory at ambient temperature and pressure. X-ray diffraction patterns of the coprecipitates show two broad peaks at 0.149 and 0.258 nm, which is consistent with published patterns for pure 2-line ferrihydrite. Zn2+ uptake occurred at pH ≥5 while Fe3+ precipitation occurred between pH 3 and 4, although both Zn2+ and Fe3+ were present in the same solution during the entire range of pH titration. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that the coprecipitates are 2 to 6 nm sized single crystalline particles but aggregated to 50 to 400 nm sized clusters. Analytical electron microscopy indicated that the 5% atomic Zn with respect to Fe was homogeneously distributed. No segregated phases were found in the clusters or at single crystal edges, which is consistent with published extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) results at similar Zn/(Zn + Fe) ratios. Hence, occlusion and surface precipitation may be excluded as possible coprecipitation mechanisms. The bulk solution Zn2+ sorption edge was fitted to both solid solution and generalized diffuse layer surface complexation models. However, a solid solution model is inconsistent with published EXAFS results that show tetrahedral polydentate Zn2+ complexes sharing apices with Fe3+octahedra.