cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Air-bridged gate MESFET: a new structure to reduce wave propagation effects in high-frequency transistors

In conventional microwave transistors, the gain and output power are significantly reduced by gate ohmic resistance and phase cancellation. The air-bridged gate (ABG) transistors overcomes both problems by providing larger gate cross section along the propagation direction of the signal, and keeping both the input and output signals in phase along the device width. The performance of the air-bridged and conventional transistor is evaluated from both dc and radio-frequency (RF) points-of-view. A full hydrodynamic transport model, which accurately describes the electron dynamics in short channel devices, is used in the dc analysis. For RF analysis, a full-wave model, capable of capturing all important high-frequency effects, such as wave-particle interactions and traveling-wave effects, is implemented. This model is based on the coupling of the hydrodynamic transport equations with Maxwell's equations. Results related to the traveling-wave effects in conventional and ABG devices, such as phase mismatch and gain reduction at high frequencies, are illustrated, From these results, we show that the ABG metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MESFET) has superior performance at very high frequency as compared to conventional planar MESFETs.
A Nerve Model of Greatly Increased Energy-Efficiency and Encoding Flexibility over the Hodgkin-Huxley Model

Abstract A mammalian “RGC model” (retinal ganglion cells) is distinguished from the Hodgkin–Huxley model by the virtual absence of K-current during , and the virtual absence of Na-current after , the regenerative (rising) phase of the action potential. Both Na- and K-currents remain negligible throughout the interspike interval, whose control is therefore relinquished to stimulus currents. These properties yield a highly flexible and energy-efficient nerve impulse encoder. For the Hodgkin–Huxley model, in contrast, only 15% of the Na-ions enter the axon regeneratively during the action potential (squid giant axon); a wasteful 85% enter during the falling phase. Further, early activation of K-current causes the Na- and K-currents of the action potential to dominate over stimulus currents in controlling the sub-threshold membrane potential (interspike interval). This property makes the Hodgkin–Huxley model an intractable high frequency oscillator, which cannot be converted to flexible impulse encoding. The temperature difference between the squid giant axon (6.3 °C) and RGCs (37 °C) is bridged by a Q10 analysis, which suggests that an additional molecular gating mechanism of high Q10 – which is not present in the squid – is active in RGCs.
0.15- $muhboxm$ -Gate InAlAs/InGaAs/InP E-HEMTs Utilizing Ir/Ti/Pt/Au Gate Structure

High-current 0.15-mum-gate enhancement-mode high-electron mobility transistors utilizing Ir/Ti/Pt/Au gate metallization were fabricated using a new process including a high-temperature gate anneal that is required for Schottky-barrier height enhancement for the Ir-based gate contact. SiNx encapsulation was employed to prevent thermal degradation of device layer during the high-temperature gate anneal. Excellent enhancement-mode operation, with a threshold voltage of 0.1 V and IDSS of 2.1 mA/mm, was realized. Both the annealed and unannealed devices exhibited high gm,max and ID,max of 800 mS/mm and 430 mA/mm, respectively. A unity current-gain cutoff frequency fT of 151 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency fMAX of 172 GHz were achieved. From the dc and RF characteristics, it can be deduced that there was no degradation of the gate contact and the heterostructure due to gate annealing. Furthermore, it was found that the gate diffusion during gate annealing was negligible since no increase in gm,max was observed
Mode- and cell-type dependent calcium responses induced by electrical stimulus

Intracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca/sup 2+/]/sub i/) is known to affect numerous molecular signaling events. Regulation of the [Ca/sup 2+/]/sub i/ could therefore be used to control important cellular and molecular responses, including cell functionality, survival, differentiation, and proliferation. Because changes in the membrane electrical potential (MEP) activate plasma membrane Ca/sup 2+/ influx pathways and increase the [Ca/sup 2+/]/sub i/ level, electrical stimulus (ES) has been used to induce such MEP changes. It now appears that while large ES can directly activate voltage-gated Ca/sup 2+/ channels (VGCCs) by depolarizing the cell membrane, smaller and noninvasive ES could also be applied to activate the Ca/sup 2+/ entry pathways. Elucidation of the electrocoupling mechanisms that control [Ca/sup 2+/]/sub i/ increase is complicated by the observations that not only the mode (e.g., dc or oscillatory) of ES application but also the cell type (e.g., excitable or nonexcitable) regulates calcium responses. The aim of this review article is therefore to provide a comparative description for ES mode- and cell type dependent changes in [Ca/sup 2+/]/sub i/.
Epistemic conditions for iterated admissibility

Iterated admissibility (weak dominance) is a long-standing and attractive solution concept, making strong predictions in many games, e.g. the forward induction path in signalling games and the backward-induction path in perfect-information trees. Yet its logical basis has remained unclear. The difficulty appears to be this. The 'philosophy' behind iterated admissibility is that a player, Ann say, should consider everything possible; in particular, she should assign strictly positive probability to each of Bob's strategies. Now turn to Bob. If he assumes that Ann adheres to the foregoing 'philosophy,' then he should rule out the possibility that Ann will choose an inadmissible strategy, i.e., he should assign zero probability to these of Ann's strategies. But if Bob, like Ann, adheres to the everything-is-possible philosophy, he should give all of Ann's strategies positive probability. We seem to have reached some kind of contradiction.
Measurement of Resistance of a Grounding Grid Model Using Magnetic Field Sensors

Precise measurement of resistance of a grounding grid is a fundamental factor in the protection of power systems. There are number of ground wires connected to the grid. ";Fall of potential"; method used for the measurement of a grid resistance gives incorrect measurement if part of the injected current shunted by ground wires is not considered. In this paper, resistance of a model of grounding grid system was measured using a method called "Single Point System" (SPS). SPS is based on the measurement of current using magnetic field sensors. Sensors used were Giant Magnetoresistive (GMR) sensors. SPS can measure grid resistance even with ground wires connected to the grid. Results obtained for a laboratory model gave error within 5% in the measurement of grounding grid resistance.
Fast Iterative Solution Algorithms in the Frequency-Domain Layered Finite Element Method for Analyzing Integrated Circuits

Fast algorithms are developed in this work for solving the system matrix resulting from a frequency-domain layered finite element based analysis of integrated circuits. The frequency-domain layered finite element method represents a 3-D layered system by a 2-D layered system, and further by a single-layered one. The reduced system matrix is generally denser than the original sparse matrix. In this paper, we show that 1) the dense matrix-vector multiplication can be performed in linear complexity; in addition, the reduction cost can be bypassed, 2) an effective preconditioner can be developed to converge the iterative solution of the reduced system matrix in a small number of iterations, and 3) the preconditioner can be solved in linear complexity. As a result, the reduced system matrix can be solved efficiently. The algorithms are rigorous without making any approximation. They apply to any arbitrarily-shaped multilayer structure. Numerical results demonstrated the accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency of the proposed algorithms in analyzing on-chip circuits.
Bacillus subtilis Homologs of MviN (MurJ), the Putative Escherichia coli Lipid II Flippase, Are Not Essential for Growth

Although peptidoglycan synthesis is one of the best-studied metabolic pathways in bacteria, the mechanism underlying the membrane translocation of lipid II, the undecaprenyl-disaccharide pentapeptide peptidoglycan precursor, remains mysterious. Recently, it was proposed that the essential Escherichia coli mviN gene encodes the lipid II flippase. Bacillus subtilis contains four proteins that are putatively homologous to MviN, including SpoVB, previously reported to be necessary for spore cortex peptidoglycan synthesis during sporulation. MviN complemented the sporulation defect of a ΔspoVB mutation, and SpoVB and another of the B. subtilis homologs, YtgP, complemented the growth defect of an E. coli strain depleted for MviN. Thus, these B. subtilis proteins are likely to be MviN homologs. However, B. subtilis strains lacking these four proteins have no defects in growth, indicating that they likely do not serve as lipid II flippases in this organism.
A study of polymerization shrinkage kinetics using digital image correlation

Abstract Objective To investigate the polymerization shrinkage kinetics of dental resin composites by measuring in real time the full-field shrinkage strain using a novel technique based on digital image correlation (DIC). Methods Polymerization shrinkage in resin composite specimens (Filtek LS and Z100) was measured as a function of time and position. The main experimental setup included a CCD camera and an external shutter inversely synchronized to that of the camera. The specimens (2 mm × 4 mm × 5 mm) were irradiated for 40 s at 1200 mW/cm2, while alternating image acquisition and obstruction of the curing light occurred at 15 fps. The acquired images were processed using proprietary software to obtain the full-field strain maps as a function of time. Results Z100 showed a higher final shrinkage value and rate of development than LS. The final volumetric shrinkage for Z100 and LS were 1.99% and 1.19%, respectively. The shrinkage behavior followed an established shrinkage strain kinetics model. The corresponding characteristic time and reaction order exponent for LS and Z100 were calculated to be approximately 23 s and 0.84, and 14 s and 0.7, respectively, at a distance of 1.0 mm from the irradiated surface, the position where maximum shrinkage strain occurred. Thermal expansion from the exothermic reaction could have affected the accuracy of these parameters. Significance The new DIC method using an inversely synchronized shutter provided realtime, full-field results that could aid in assessing the shrinkage strain kinetics of dental resin composites as a function of specimen depth. It could also help determine the optimal curing modes for dental resin composites.
Design and optimization of low-thrust orbit transfers

NASA's space missions Dawn and JIMO will use low-thrust propulsion for multi-revolution orbit transfers around a central body. Here we address the problem of designing low-thrust orbit transfers between arbitrary orbits in an inverse-square gravity field by using evolutionary algorithms to drive parameter selection in a Lyapunov feedback control law (the Q-law). We develop an efficient and efficacious method to assess, with reasonable accuracy, the trade off between propellant mass and flight time (i.e., to find the Pareto front for these two quantities), and to provide the time history of the state variables and the thrust vector for any chosen point on the Pareto front
Breakdown effects on MOS varactors and VCOs

The gate oxide breakdown effects of deep sub-micron devices, which degrade the performance of MOS varactors that in turn degrade the performance of LC voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs), are presented. On wafer 0.16 /spl mu/m CMOS devices are stressed; experimental data are analyzed and used for analytical derivations and simulations to show that the breakdown has twofold effects on the performance of the VCOs. Firstly, the increased conductance of the varactor degrades its quality, which increases the phase noise of the VCOs. This also reduces the amplitude at the output of the oscillator. Secondly, the value of the capacitance of the MOS varactor reduces, which shifts the oscillation frequency of the VCOs.
Critical Events in the Ethics of U.S. Corporation History

The history of corporations in the United States (U.S.) is much older than the country, as it must be understood in the context of the history of peoples of Europe who eventually dominated the North American continent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These European settlers came, in part, to achieve economic prosperity for themselves and, in many cases, for early forerunners of the modern corporation. These business organizations had predecessors in Europe millennia earlier as ancient Romans had developed a functional and successful form of corporation for the purpose of conducting commerce in the Roman Empire. In the decades that followed the founding of the U.S. in 1776, corporations evolved from rare, small, closely controlled business organizations with a multitude of restrictions to very large, very powerful modern institutions that enjoy many of the legal rights of humans. With this evolution came ethical issues, as (1) the ethical distance was altered between corporate decision-makers and those affected by those decisions, and (2) many of the legal rights of individual humans were extended, through litigation, to corporations. This article explains the historical development of the U.S. corporation and identifies 20 Critical Events in the Ethics of Corporation History (CEECH). An understanding of these historical events may facilitate comprehension of many of the current ethical issues associated with a legal organizational form that profoundly affects business and society.
Dynamic operation and control of a multi-DG unit standalone Microgrid

Different kinds of sources with different capacities can be connected to a Microgrid. In autonomous operation when Microgrid is disconnected from the main grid, beside feeding total load and sharing power between sources, voltage and frequency requirement of the loads should be met. In this paper a droop control is applied to a standalone multi-converter based power system. Frequency and voltage are drooping against active and reactive power respectively. A PI voltage and inner current controllers are designed based on dynamic equations of the system to control load voltage and output current of the converters respectively. A three phase PLL is developed for each converter. Overall system is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink software and results verify the approach of load sharing between converters in autonomous operation of the microgrid.
A Web-based tool for distance learning of foreign languages

A Web-based distance learning tool that assists the learning of a new foreign language is presented. The tool speeds up the learning of a new language, for example, English or Spanish as a foreign language. It searches for preselected words and relationships among those words in a foreign language article of arbitrary length and displays them in a hyperlink format in a generated Web page. There are three types of potential users of this tool. The first type is an instructor of the language, who can use Web pages generated by the tool as supplemental materials for the instructions. Students can access the Web pages through Web browsers from anywhere in the world. The second type of user is a self-learner, who can pick up new words and article of interests, and find how these new words are used in the article. The third type of user is a language researcher, who can study patterns of words in articles; for example, how does a particular author habitually use certain patterns of words. This paper concentrates on users of the first two types. This software tool is applicable to Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. In this paper, we present examples in English and Spanish.
Live-cell imaging of exocyst links its spatiotemporal dynamics to various stages of vesicle fusion.

Tethers play ubiquitous roles in membrane trafficking and influence the specificity of vesicle attachment. Unlike soluble N-ethyl-maleimide–sensitive fusion attachment protein receptors (SNAREs), the spatiotemporal dynamics of tethers relative to vesicle fusion are poorly characterized. The most extensively studied tethering complex is the exocyst, which spatially targets vesicles to sites on the plasma membrane. By using a mammalian genetic replacement strategy, we were able to assemble fluorescently tagged Sec8 into the exocyst complex, which was shown to be functional by biochemical, trafficking, and morphological criteria. Ultrasensitive live-cell imaging revealed that Sec8-TagRFP moved to the cell cortex on vesicles, which preferentially originated from the endocytic recycling compartment. Surprisingly, Sec8 remained with vesicles until full dilation of the fusion pore, supporting potential coupling with SNARE fusion machinery. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis of Sec8 at cell protrusions revealed that a significant fraction was immobile. Additionally, Sec8 dynamically repositioned to the site of membrane expansion, suggesting that it may respond to local cues during early cell polarization.
Fetal Scalp Blood Sampling—Limited Role in Contemporary Obstetric Practice: Part I

pH, if available, may be used to clarify acid-base status." ACOG also suggests, however, that "this technique, while occa- sionally helpful, is used uncommonly in current obstetric practice." 1 In this 2-part review, we will focus on intrapartum evaluation of fetal well being and critically examine the useful- ness of fetal scalp sampling (FSS) in com- parison to other available methods of intrapartum fetal assessment, including fetal scalp stimulation, vibroacoustic stim- ulation, fetal pulse oximetry, and scalp blood lactate concentration. We will also define those settings in which we believe the risk and/or expense of FSS evaluation is warranted.
Nitric oxide synthase in porcine heart mitochondria: evidence for low physiological activity.

The capacity of isolated porcine heart mitochondria to produce nitric oxide (NO) via mitochondrial NO synthase (NOS) was evaluated. The mitochondrial NOS content and activity (0.2 nmol NO · mg mito...
Data Organization and Access Methods

Over the past 15 years there has been a trend in computer applications programming from highly structured programs and loosely structured data toward loosely structured programs and highly structured data. In large measure this trend was made possible by the transition from magnetic tape as a secondary storage medium to direct access mass storage media and large-scale drums. On an early magnetic tape computer the processing of a tape file to develop a list of materials or where-used list from a parts catalog could take several hours, since a complex program running in many overlays would have to perform numerous tape passes. On a later machine with a drum or disc capable of holding the entire file this problem would take only minutes. Hardware developments have made available many possibilities for programming sophistication and programmers have always been quick to seize on them. By giving the programmer large random-access media, the memory designer has opened Pandora’s box. Programmers have developed systems employing storage hierarchies to store their data hierarchies, but in many cases their designs seem to have grown out of scale with the capability of the hardware. One can name several large-scale computer systems which theoretically can add, subtract, store, and fetch rapidly enough to complete all the processing necessary to do the job, yet these systems fail to perform adequately when put on-line.
Professional Practice and Ethical Issues Related to Physical Restraint and Seclusion in Schools

Use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures in schools continues to be controversial, and foster proposals for federal and state legislation and regulation. Despite much discussion about what policies are needed, there has been little discussion about the professional practice issues and the ethical issues related to these practices. The purpose of this report is to present six clusters of professional practice and ethical issues that have not heretofore been specifically identified. To do so, we will examine the codes of professional practice and ethics of organizations representing educators who work with students with severe behavioral challenges. To illustrate these issues, we use real-world case examples from media stories and official reports about problems resulting from restraint and seclusion. Although individuals may disagree regarding decisions about these ethical issues, these questions should be a part of any policy discussion related to professional practice regarding these issues, an...
Child Abuse and Neglect

Few social phenomena are as elusive as child abuse and neglect. From the beginning, the field has struggled to arrive at a clear operational definition of child maltreatment. Unfortunately, no satisfactory consensus has been achieved, beyond the broad view that abuse comprises the commission of acts that are or may be detrimental to the child’s health, development, or well-being, and neglect consists of the omission of care that may result in equally negative outcomes. Pinning down the specific elements of maltreatment, however, has been virtually impossible.
Serum Growth Hormone, Somatomedin and Its Carrier Protein in the Rat: Influence of Age, Sex, and Pregnancy

SummaryThe changes in body weight and serum levels of growth hormone (GH), so-matomedin insulin-like growth factor (IGF), and its carrier protein (CP) have been followed in rats from fetal to adult life. The weight gain was maximal (6.0 g/day) between Days 28 and 55 and minimal (1.4 g/day) between Days 79 and 120. Two distinct peaks of GH concentration have been found in normally growing animals. The first (mean ± SEM) was observed on the first day of life (371 ± 37 ng/ml) while the second peak (365 ± 97 ng/ml) coincided with an acceleration in growth rate beginning Day 40. An unexpectedly high fetal IGF level (812 ± 164 μU/ ml) rapidly declined to a nadir (189 ± 26 μU/ ml) at Day 21, and then rose gradually to a level of 572 ± 12 μU/ml on Day 120. The pattern of IGF CP concentration resembled that of weight gain rather than those of serum GH and IGF. The sex of animal appeared to have no influence on any component of growth-promoting system.The administration of indomethacin (10 mg/kg) to pregnant animal...
Abstract 2101:PMEPA1co-operates with the androgen responsive gene,NEDD4-1,to control the androgen receptor levels in human prostate cancer cells

Androgen receptor (AR) is a male hormone receptor and a nuclear transcriptional factor that plays central role in the differentiation and growth of the prostate gland and alterations of the AR network contribute to prostate tumorigenesis. The stability of the AR protein has been known to be regulated by the MDM2 E3 ubiquitin ligase. Recent investigations from our group suggest the role of PMEPA1-NEDD4-1 negative feedback loop in the regulation of AR protein levels in prostate cancer cells. In the PMEPA1-NEDD4-1 feedback loop, AR transcriptionally activates PMEPA1, which in turn provides a docking platform to recruit NEDD4-1 E3 ubiquitin ligase, to facilitate the proteasome dependent degradation of the AR. We hypothesize that decreased or absent PMPEA1 expression observed in more than 65% for prostate tumors may lead to the gain of AR functions which contribute to prostate tumorigenesis. Here we further investigate how PMEPA1 recruits NEDD4-1 to alter AR protein levels and AR signaling in prostate cancer cells. Androgen receptor positive prostate cancer cells lines, LNCaP and VCaP, were treated with synthetic androgen R1881 for 24 hours. The androgen receptor, PMEPA1 and NEDD4-1 were knocked down with specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules. Wild-type AR and mt AR (T877A) were ectopically expressed in LNCaP cells with adenoviral expression vectors. Protein levels of AR, PMEPA1, NEDD4-1, as well as AR responsive gene PSA were assessed by immunoblot assays. Our new observations revealed that that NEDD4-1 was androgen inducible in both LNCaP and VCaP cells. Over-expression of wild-type and mutant AR (T877A) resulted in the upregulation of NEDD4-1 in LNCaP cells. Consistent with these findings, inhibition of AR by siRNA lead to down-regulation of NEDD4-1. As expected, loss of PMEPA1 in LNCaP cells induced up-regulation of AR and NEDD4-1 in an androgen dose-dependent manner. Knockdown of NEDD4-1, rather than NEDD4-2, resulted in elevation of androgen receptor levels and decreases of PMEPA1 expression in LNCaP cells. Our data suggest that NEDD4-1 is an androgen inducible gene and a complex inter-relationship between PMEPA1, NEDD4-1 and AR. Intriguingly, the AR degradation function of NEDD4-1 depends on the availability of PMEPA1. Thus PMEPA1-NEDD4-1 co-operation is critical for the regulation of androgen receptor protein levels. In conclusion, loss of PMEPA1 in human prostate cancer may also lead to the activation of NEDD4-1 through elevated AR signaling, representing a feed-forward event in tumorigenesis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2101. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2101
Kinesthetic Sense of Insects.

In spite of the large number of valuable observations which have been published concerning the behavior of insects, it is rather striking that the kinesthetic sense remains a neglected factor. In recent years a new theory of geotropism has been developed by Crozier and his school. This theory is in sharp contrast to the now obsolete statolith hypothesis of orientation to gravity. It is now beyond question that in a large number of diverse organisms, including mammals and insects (Crozier, 1929), the direction of the organism in a gravitational field is determined by the body weight acting upon the “tension receptors” in the supporting musculature of the limbs. The writer (Barnes, 1929, 1930a) has shown that the angle described by an ant crawling upon an inclined surface is a precise function of the sine of the angle of inclination of substratum. The insect turns until the “pull” of the body weight on both sides of the supporting musculature is reduced below threshold value. The same phenomenon has been observed in Malacosoma larvae, in Tetraopes , and several other insects. Unfortunately we have no knowledge of tension receptors in insects, either from the physiological or histological point of view. In rats, however, the muscle tension theory of geotropism is supported by a great deal of valuable evidence concerning the histology of the vertebrate muscle spindle and the nervous discharges produced by these sense organs when stimulated by tension. The present investigation was undertaken with the hope of discovering muscle tension receptors in Arthropods. The writer (Barnes, 1930b) has recently published an account of the physiology of the tension receptors in Crustacea and the present note deals with afferent impulses from insect muscle.
The Paradox of Parks in Low-Income Areas: Park Use and Perceived Threats

Concerns about safety and perceived threats have been considered responsible for lower use of parks in high poverty neighborhoods. To quantify the role of perceived threats on park use we systematically observed 48 parks and surveyed park users and household residents in low-income neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles. Across all parks, the majority of both park users and local residents perceive parks as safe or very safe. We noted apparently homeless individuals during nearly half of all observations, but very few instances of fighting, intimidating groups, smoking and intoxication. The presence of homeless individuals was associated with higher numbers of park users, while the presence of intoxicated persons was associated with lower numbers. Overall the strongest predictors of increased park use were the presence of organized and supervised activities. Therefore, to increase park use, focusing resources on programming may be more fruitful than targeting perceived threats.
Research on screening rodenticide baits

Objective To provide scientific evidence for selecting rodenticide baits for sanitary clear in Three Gorges in Chongqing before and after the third phase water storage.Methods The choice feeding test was used for comparing the palatability and mortality of rodenticide,then screening the most suitable bait for sanitary clear.Results According to the evaluating standard of poison baits,the palatability of three among four rodenticides were good and feeding coefficient were individual.They were 0.29,0.78,0.82,0.62 respectively.Four kinds of poison bait all had good effect against rodents and 100% mortality,whose living periods were 5.1,4.8,4.1 and 4.6 days respectively.Conclusion The poison baits were put in order with comprehensive evaluation of palatability and effect.Bait No.3 was suggested for sanitary clear in Three Gorges in Chongqing,next were No.2 and No.4.
The fate of completed intentions

ABSTRACTThe goal of this research was to determine whether and how people deactivate prospective memory (PM) intentions after they have been completed. One view proposes that PM intentions can be deactivated after completion, such that they no longer come to mind and interfere with current tasks. Another view is that now irrelevant completed PM intentions exhibit persisting activation, and continue to be retrieved. In Experiment 1, participants were given a PM intention embedded within the ongoing task during Phase 1, after which participants were told either that the PM task had been completed or suspended until later. During Phase 2, participants were instructed to perform only the ongoing task and were periodically prompted to report their thoughts. Critically, the PM targets from Phase 1 reappeared in Phase 2. All of our measures, including thoughts reported about the PM task, supported the existence of persisting activation. In Experiment 2, we varied conditions that were expected to mitigate persist...
Interdepartmental graduate studies in clinical pharmacology : a practical model

Abstract The discipline of Clinical Pharmacology serves many purposes and plays a critical role in therapeutic education, especially in a medical school. An effective program bridges the gap between basic pharmacology and clinical practice. A clinical pharmacology program must provide the student with the necessary information to employ the basic pharmacology knowledge gained in formatting a successful therapeutic plan. The program is built around the student and brings together the best to be offered in 2 or more disciplines; it requires diverse disciplines to work together in a variety of departments and centers which cut across disciplinary lines. In order to facilitate this interaction, the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Miami embarked on establishing a Ph.D. program with an emphasis on Clinical Pharmacology utilizing an already established unique program referred to as "Interdepartmental Graduate Studies". To enter the structured Ph.D. program the students must be among the fellowship awardees of the Interdepartment Graduate Studies Program, which is administered by social committees with specific roles, directions and guidelines. The students follow the general requirements of the Ph.D. degree set forth by the graduate school. Students attend formal classes tailored to their program of interest based on the committee's recommendations in the respective departments involved. The significance of this program is that it can be tailored to fit individual areas of interest leading to a well-developed researcher who is neither overspecialized nor undereducated and able to make rational decisions in an age of multiple therapies.
The Treatment of Psychogenic Impotence After Dermal Graft repair for Peyronie’s Disease

AbstractWe studied 20 men who failed to resume coitus after a dermal graft repair for Peyronie’s disease. Psychogenic causes were found in 15 men, 10 of whom were treated locally by the sex counselors who interviewed all the couples. Psychogenic dysfunction was related to waiting for healing or for a specified period, then approaching first coitus either with idealized expectations or as if it were a test. Of the 10 treated men 3 also had marital conflict and 5 others had lack of a partner or poor motivation, including 1 who also suffered some instability of erection possibly o±: structural cause. In most of the treated men relief of anxiety and conflict proved effective, and coitus was restored. We are now evaluating possible improved results in new operative candidates through preoperative and postoperative counseling, which emphasizes a less pressured approach to coitus postoperatively.
Does Sensory Function Decline Independently or Concomitantly with Age? Data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Objectives. To investigate whether sensory function declines independently or in parallel with age within a single individual. Methods. Cross-sectional analysis of Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) participants who underwent vision (visual acuity threshold), proprioception (ankle joint proprioceptive threshold), vestibular function (cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential), hearing (pure-tone average audiometric threshold), and Health ABC physical performance battery testing. Results. A total of 276 participants (mean age 70 years, range 26–93) underwent all four sensory tests. The function of all four systems declined with age. After age adjustment, there were no significant associations between sensory systems. Among 70–79-year-olds, dual or triple sensory impairment was associated with poorer physical performance. Discussion. Our findings suggest that beyond the common mechanism of aging, other distinct (nonshared) etiologic mechanisms may contribute to decline in each sensory system. Multiple sensory impairments influence physical performance among individuals in middle old-age (age 70–79).
Rate bounds for relay channels using MIMO methods

The capacity of the symbol-asynchronous single-relay channel with multipath is investigated. Due to the slow propagation speed of sound in water and surface/floor reflections, such channels are highly relevant to underwater acoustic communication systems. The symbol-asynchronous single-relay channel can be modeled as a MIMO relay channel with memory; thus MIMO capacity results can be invoked to determine rate bounds. Lower and upper bounds on the capacity are derived under the assumptions of both known and unknown time delays. Conditions for characterizing capacity (when the upper and lower bounds match) are also derived and the optimality of OFDM type of signaling can be readily inferred from the analysis. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the results.
The effects of immigration and integration on European budgetary trade-offs

ABSTRACTWhat affects government policy-making continues to be an important question for researchers interested in political competition and policy priorities. In this contribution, we bring together a theoretical framework that focuses on the influence of globalizing forces on government policy decisions with a methodological emphasis on explaining dynamic budgetary trade-offs. While comparative public policy and budgetary scholars typically have focused on entire budgets or amounts spent on specific policies, we look at the political priorities embedded in budgets by modeling the budget as a pie. Then, we theorize about how governments respond to external shocks by altering the allocations to the various policy areas. Using this approach, we find that governments of different ideological types react to external shocks by altering their different policy priorities.
Decoding the Mechanism of Intramolecular Cu-Directed Hydroxylation of sp3 C–H Bonds

The use of copper in directed C–H oxidation has been relatively underexplored. In a seminal example, Schonecker showed that copper and O2 promoted the hydroxylation of steroid-containing ligands. Recently, Baran (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 13776) improved the reaction conditions to oxidize similar substrates with excellent yields. In both reports, the involvement of Cu2O2 intermediates was suggested. In this collaborative article, we studied the hydroxylation mechanism in great detail, resulting in the overhaul of the previously accepted mechanism and the development of improved reaction conditions. Extensive experimental evidence (spectroscopic characterization, kinetic analysis, intermolecular reactivity, and radical trap experiments) is provided to support each of the elementary steps proposed and the hypothesis that a key mononuclear LCuII(OOR) intermediate undergoes homolytic O–O cleavage to generate reactive RO• species, which are responsible for key C–H hydroxylation within the solvent cage. Thes...
Suchland, Jennifer. Economies of Violence: Transnational Feminism, Postsocialism, and the Politics of Sex Trafficking.

Jennifer Suchland’s Economies of Violence: Transnational Feminism, Postsocialism, and the Politics of Sex Trafficking asks readers to step outside of liberal discourses that critique sex traffickin...
Determining the optimum locations for pumping low-fluoride groundwater to distribute to communities in a fluoridic area in the Upper East Region, Ghana

Abstract Groundwater is the primary source of water in the Upper East Region of Ghana, and is generally considered a safe source of drinking water; but there are pockets where the groundwater contains high concentrations of fluoride due to the dissolution of minerals in the local granite. The goal of this study is to evaluate the hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry of an area where dental fluorosis endemic, in order to identify the optimum locations to pump and distribute low-fluoride groundwater. As expected, the data indicate that the higher elevation recharge areas with outcrops of Bongo granite have elevated concentrations of fluoride in the groundwater (up to 4.6 mg L− 1), posing the highest risk of fluorosis in the nearby communities. The lower elevation areas, which are the farthest from the Bongo granitic, have the lowest groundwater fluoride (
Mitigating the impact of selfish routing: An optimal-ratio control scheme (ORCS) inspired by autonomous driving

Abstract Fully controllable autonomous vehicles offer unprecedented opportunities to address the inefficiency associated with selfish routing, a fundamental issue in transportation network modeling. This study proposes a route control scheme that aims to strike a balance between gains in the system efficiency and the control intensity, defined as the demand flow under control for each origin-destination (OD) pair. The proposed model has a bi-level structure and is formulated as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC). A specialized algorithm based on sensitivity analysis and the alternative direction method of multiplier (ADMM) is developed to find a local optimum for the MPEC. Results of numerical experiments show that (1) in all tested cases, controlling a minority of vehicles (less than 10% in some case) could bring the system very close to the system optimum; (2) some O-D pairs enjoy a higher control priority than the others, mostly due to the underlying network topology rather than the demand magnitude; (3) the proposed algorithm is computationally efficient; (4) starting from different initial solutions, the algorithm produces very similar local optimal solutions.
Development of a Deimmunized Bispecific Immunotoxin dDT2219 against B-Cell Malignancies

Diphtheria toxin (DT) related targeted toxins are effective in cancer treatment, but efficacy diminishes in time because of their immunogenic potential and/or former vaccinations. In order to overcome this limitation for DT2219, a promising bispecific targeted toxin which targets CD19 and CD22, we deimmunized the DT moiety, and thereby developed an exciting improved drug (dDT2219) which still has the potential to sufficiently target B-cell malignancies but also limits clearance because of its reduced immunogenicity. The DT moiety was modified by inducing point mutations in prominent positions on the molecular surface. The new engineered dDT2219 was tested for activity, efficacy, and specificity using functional assays, proliferation assays, and flow cytometry. Furthermore, 12 samples of Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia (CLL) patients were used to assess binding. Immunogenicity was determined using a BALB/c mouse model. dDT2219 was efficient and specific against B-cell malignancies such as Bukitt-Lymphoma cell lines Daudi and Raji. dDT2219 showed specific binding on targets and on CLL samples. Intraperitoneal vaccination of immune competent mice showed that even after multiple administrations with increasing doses, induction of neutralizing antibodies was significantly lower in the dDT2219 treated animal group. The new dDT2219 combines potent anti-tumor cell activity with a reduced immunogenicity. With regard to the frequent development of neutralizing antibodies after multiple administrations with immunotoxins, dDT2219 shows promise to overcome this limitation and thus might maintain effectiveness even after multiple treatment cycles.
Validating dispersal distances inferred from autoregressive occupancy models with genetic parentage assignments.

Dispersal distances are commonly inferred from occupancy data but have rarely been validated. Estimating dispersal from occupancy data is further complicated by imperfect detection and the presence of unsurveyed patches. We compared dispersal distances inferred from seven years of occupancy data for 212 wetlands in a metapopulation of the secretive and threatened California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) to distances between parent-offspring dyads identified with 16 microsatellites. We used a novel autoregressive multi-season occupancy model that accounted for both unsurveyed patches and imperfect detection to quantify patch isolation using buffer radius (BRM) and incidence function (IFM) connectivity measures at 15 scales (1-10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 km). Connectivity measures were then fit as colonization covariates in occupancy models to estimate a model-averaged dispersal distance. As predicted, colonization was more strongly related to connectivity at small spatial scales (<10 km). AIC weights were greatest at 7 km for BRM and at 4 km for IFM. Model-averaged dispersal distances (BRM = 7.46 km; IFM = 5.48 km) showed good agreement with the mean M(±SE) dispersal distance from 23 parent-offspring dyads (5.58 ± 1.92 km), indicating reasonably accurate mean dispersal distances can be inferred from occupancy data when isolation strongly affects colonization.
Assessment of a Novel Computer Algorithm for Printing a 3-Dimensional Nasal Prosthetic

Importance The introduction and evaluation of a novel technique to create nasal prostheses with 3-dimensional (3-D) imaging software may circumvent the need for an anaplastologist. Objectives To describe a novel computer algorithm for the creation of a 3-D model of a nose and to evaluate the similarity of appearance of the nasal prosthesis with that of the individual’s nose. Design, Setting, and Participants A prospective pilot study with a cross-sectional survey was conducted from August 1 to October 31, 2016, at a tertiary care academic center. Five volunteers were used for creation of the nasal prostheses, and 36 survey respondents with a medical background were involved in evaluating the nasal prostheses. Exposures A computer algorithm using a 3-D animation software (Blender; Blender Foundation) and Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Adobe Systems) were used to create a 3-D model of a nose. Photographs of 5 volunteers were processed with the computer algorithm. The model was then printed using a desktop 3-D printer. Attending physicians, residents, and medical students completed a survey and were asked to rate the similarity between the individuals’ photographs and their 3-D printed nose on a Likert-type scale. Main Outcomes and Measures The similarity between 3-D printed nasal models and photographs of the volunteers’ noses based on survey data. Results Thirty-six survey respondents evaluated 4 views for each of the 5 modeled noses (from 4 women and 1 man; mean [SD] age, 26.6 [5.7] years). The mean (SD) score for the overall similarity between the photographs and the 3-D models was 8.42 (1.34). The mean scores for each nasal comparison ranged from 7.97 to 8.62. According to the survey, respondents were able to match the correct 3-D nose to the corresponding volunteers’ photographs in 171 of 175 photographs (97.7%). All surveyed clinicians indicated that they would consider using this tool to create a temporary prosthesis instead of referring to a prosthodontist. Conclusions and Relevance This algorithm can be used to model and print a 3-D prosthesis of a human nose. The printed models closely depicted the photographs of each volunteer’s nose and can potentially be used to create a temporary prosthesis to fill external nasal defects. The appropriate clinical application of this technique is yet to be determined.
Optimal antenna configurations for the BIMA Array

We attempt to determine optimal configurations of six antennas for the proposed Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array. The instrumental response is used as a performance measure. A two dimensional sine function is chosen as the ideal beam, supported by theoretical considerations. A mean square comparison with this ideal is used to perform optimizations for arrays of various resolutions, using the current station locations at Hat Creek. Configurations for larger fields of view are also discussed, employing two days of coverage with six antennas.
The Double-Bind Concept and Gregory Bateson

Sullivan (1944) has expressed the belief that language serves the vital function of preserving feelings of security among one’s fellow human beings. The schizophrenic’s peculiarities of language, he proposes, arise from an extreme need to feel secure. The schizophrenic does not believe that speech will help attain gratification; instead, it is used to counteract feelings of insecurity. The problem lies in recurrent severe disturbances in the schizophrenic’s relationships with people that result in a confusion of the critical faculties concerning the structure of spoken and written language.
World Suffering Expands as Gaps in Care Widen

Alternative approaches to the alleviation of suffering depend upon the type of suffering, but all types need to be addressed at both the individual and institutional levels. Adequate relief of social suffering however, depends largely on institutional solutions. The various dimensions of quality of suffering relief are listed and discussed. Data comparing inter-nations and inter-states are presented to show the misalignment between suffering and available care resources to potentially relieve those who suffer. Charts reveal that the countries high on suffering tend to be low on caring or charitable capacity, and vice versa. Suffering cannot be relieved without redistribution of care resources and without those with higher incomes contributing to charitable relief projects at least as much proportionately as those with lower incomes. Global inequality is a major cause of social suffering and widens gaps in care. Inequality in income-based residential segregation needs to be tackled as well. Despite some progress in reduction of suffering, global inequality has been growing steadily for at least two centuries. Major progress in reducing suffering depends upon making headway in turning around the recent alarming spike of global and national inequality.
Water Jet Photography - Techniques and Methods

Cameras and lighting techniques which allow photographs to be taken of such water jet flow details as surface waves, transition, and spray eruption, as well as the various jet instability mechanisms, are described. While originally developed for very specialized cameras, many of the techniques can be adapted to conventional cameras. and other areas of research.