cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extensions of valuations to the completion of a local domain

Let (R, m) be a normal local domain of dimension n > 1. Suppose that R is analytically irreducible, i.e. that ii, the m-adic completion of R, is a domain. Given a valuation domain V birationally dominating R, what can be said about valuation domains W which extend V and birationally dominate Ai? In [l, Lemma 131, Abhyankar shows that V has an extension W which birationally dominates k. Here we discuss the uniqueness of such an extension. For this, we will assume, in addition, that i is normal, i.e., that R is analytically normal and that R satisfies a property, defined below, which is weaker than excellence. Matsumura’s work on dimensions of formal fibers was a motivating influence for the questions we consider on extending valuations from R to ff. In [lo], Matsumura asks if the dimension of the generic formal fiber, i.e., the fiber over 0 in the embedding R+ fi’, can be a positive integer other than 0, y1 2 or n 1. Since extensions of rank 1 valuations to i which grow in rank produce nonzero primes in the generic formal fiber, we initiated a study of these extensions hoping to shed some light on Matsumura’s question.’
Enzymatic oxidation of d- and l-α-hydroxy acids

Abstract 1. 1. The enzymatic oxidation of both optical isomers of straight-chain α-hydroxy acids from three through eight carbon atoms, α-hydroxyisovaleric, and α-hydroxyisocaproic acids, and of l -β-imidazole lactic acid has been studied. Several enzyme preparations from rat liver and kidney and from hog kidney were employed. 2. 2. The relative oxidation rates of the above compounds in the presence of a lyophilized, dialyzed hog kidney cortex supernatant preparation were determined. 3. 3. Addition of riboflavin monophosphate to a thoroughly dialyzed hog kidney cortex supernatant preparation produced an approximate doubling in the oxygen uptake. 4. 4. Experiments with washed particle and supernatant preparations from kidney and from liver suggest that there are at least two enzymes, distinct from lactic dehydrogenase and from the cyclophorase-racemase system, which catalyze the oxidation of α-hydroxy acids, one specific for the l - and the other for the d -isomer.
Effects of Diesel Exhaust Particles on the Release of Interleukin-1 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha from Rat Alveolar Macrophages

The effects of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) and their components (washed dust and methanol extracts) on the release of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-I (IL-1), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) by alveolar macrophages (AM) were investigated. Rat AM were incubated with 0, 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100 micrograms/10(6) AM/mL of DEP, methanol-washed DEP, or equivalent concentrations of DEP methanol extracts at 37 degrees C for 24 h. AM-conditioned supernatants were collected and assayed for the activities of IL-1 and TNF-alpha. At high concentrations both DEP and DEP methanol extracts were shown to increase IL-I-like activity secreted by AM, whereas methanol-washed DEP had no effect. Neither DEP, methanol-washed DEP, nor DEP methanol extracts was found to stimulate the secretion of TNF-alpha. The effects of DEP on the release of IL-I and TNF-alpha by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-primed AM were also studied. AM were preincubated with various concentrations of DEP for 2 h, then challenged with either 0.1 microgram/mL of LPS or 5 units/mL of IFN-gamma. DEP inhibited LPS-stimulated production of H-I and TNF-alpha. These inhibitory effects were attributed to the organic extracts of DEP. In contrast, stimulation of AM production of TNF-alpha by IFN-gamma was not affected by DEP exposure. In summary, evidence that DEP enhanced the production of IL-1 by AM in vitro suggests that this proinflammatory cytokine may play a role in the pulmonary response to DEP inhalation. The suppressive response of DEP-pretreated AM to LPS stimulation may be a contributing factor to the impairment of pulmonary defense system after prolonged DEP exposure.
5-Nitro-2'-deoxyuridylate: a mechanism-based inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase.

Abstract 5-Nitro-2′-deoxyuridylate is a potent reversible inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase. Once the reversible binary complex is formed, a nucleophile of the enzyme covalently binds to the 6-position of this inhibitor. The interaction does not require the cofactor of the normal enzymic reaction, and spectrophotometric properties of the complex are ideal for detailed studies of the interaction.
Response of arboreal pollen abundance to late-Holocene drought events in the Upper Midwest, USA

The impact of short-term climate anomalies and disturbances on past plant communities can be understood using high temporal or contiguous sedimentary pollen analysis. The response of pollen assembl...
Avoiding fluoroquinolone resistance. Strategies for primary care practice.

PREVIEWThe emergence of bacterial resistance to the fluoroquinolones is threatening the therapeutic usefulness of this relatively new class of antimicrobial agents. Of particular concern is the unexpected emergence of resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Why is this phenomenon occurring so rapidly? Can it be slowed or reversed? Dr Stratton addresses these concerns and presents strategies for prescribing these valuable drugs.
An ultra-reliability project for NASA

NASA has embarked on a new program designed to improve the reliability of NASA systems. In this context, the goal for the ultra-reliability program is to ultimately improve the systems by an order of magnitude. The approach outlined in this presentation involves five steps: 1. Divide NASA systems into seven sectors; 2, establish sector champions and representatives from each NASA center; 3. develop a challenge list for each sector using a team of NASA experts in each area with the sector champion facilitating the effort; 4. develop mitigation strategies for each of the sectors' challenge lists and rank their importance by holding a workshop with area experts from government (NASA and non-NASA), universities and industry; 5. develop a set of tasks for each sector in order of importance for improving the reliability of NASA systems. Several NASA-wide workshops have been held, identifying issues for reliability improvement and providing mitigation strategies for these issues. Results from these workshops are presented.
Hysterectomy outcomes in patients with similar indications.

Objective: To investigate the cost advantages and complication rates associated with surgical routes of uncomplicated hysterectomies in which uteri weigh less than 280 g and benign diseases are confined to the uterus. Methods: Data were collected prospectively from 1988 to 1993 from 4609 consecutive women who had hysterectomies at a single institution. Women who had abdominal hysterectomies, laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies, or vaginal hysterectomies were selected if they had benign diseases confined to the uterus (adenomyosis, leiomyomas, abnormal uterine bleeding, cervical carcinoma in situ, and prolapse) and uterine weights less than 280 g. We compared length of stay, hospital charges, and associated complications between groups. Results: A total of 1427 women met the study criteria. Length of stay was longer after abdominal hysterectomies than laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies or vaginal hysterectomies (3.99 ± 1.16 days, 2.45 ± 1.58 days, and 2.76 ± 0.94 days, respectively; P < .001). Hospital charges for vaginal hysterectomies were significantly lower than for either abdominal or laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies (P < .001). The median charge for vaginal hysterectomies was $4166; the median charges for laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies and abdominal hysterectomies were 71% and 35% higher than this, respectively. There was a higher risk of one or more complications after abdominal hysterectomies (9.3%) than after laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomies (3.6%; P < .001) or vaginal hysterectomies (5.3%; P < .001). The incidence of postoperative infection or fever was higher after abdominal than after vaginal hysterectomies (4.0% versus 0.8%; P = .029). Conclusion: This study supports the vaginal route of hysterectomy when disease is confined to the uterus and uterine weight is less than 280 g.
Energy optimal scheduling under average throughput constraint

By adapting radio setting, such as the modulation or error code, in response to changes in the wireless channel, the energy consumption of a communication system can be greatly reduced. In paper, we investigate the problem of minimizing the energy for a desired average throughput. When the option of shutting down the radio completely is also considered, deciding on the optimal setting becomes a complex scheduling problem. In this case, we have to take power of both the radio electronics and the power amplifier into account, the relative importance of which has a critical impact on the nature of the adaptation strategy, as we show in this paper. We present a new algorithm that does not require any knowledge of the channel statistics, but instead quickly learns the desired adaptation strategy. It is easy to implement, yet is optimal in terms of energy savings.
ASPECTS OF SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION SATELLITES

Abstract : Before 1980, satellites will probably be a wellestablished means for point-to-point communication on earth. A wide variety of passive and active satellite systems are being studied, and some studies are supplemented by experimental programs. The active systems seem more promising because of their larger capacity for a given weight in orbit with a given investment in ground terminals. Of the active systems, that which offers the greatest capacity is the geocentric stabilized station-keeping satellite in a synchronous equatorial orbit. This satellite is in direct line of sight of almost half of the earth's surface. The orbit is unique in that the satellite may have little motion about the line of sight; this may permit the use of large stationary ground antennas, in addition to the directive antennas on the satellite which cover the visible earth. This report concerns the satellite design and payload weight required to provide a given channel capacity. It is oriented toward commercial point-to-point communication, where costs dictate conservative techniques. (Author)
Down‐regulation of apoptosis‐related bcl‐2 but not bcl‐xL or bax proteins in multidrug‐resistant MCF‐7/Adr human breast cancer cells

Abstract Recent studies have shown that high levels of the apoptosis-related proteins bcl-2 and bcl-xL increase, while over-expression of bcl-xs or bax decreases, resistance to drugs that induce apoptosis in some human cancer cells. In the present report, we investigated whether expression of these apoptosis-related proteins correlates with changes in the degree of resistance to apoptosis induced by doxorubucin, taxol, vincristine and VP-16 and contributes to the development of acquired resistance in multidrug-resistant MCF-7/Adr breast cancer cells. In this study, high levels of bcl-xL and bax proteins are detected in both MCF-7 and MCF-7/Adr cells. In contrast, bcl-2 protein is down-regulated about 10-fold in MCF-7/Adr cells compared with MCF-7 cells. RT-PCR analysis showed that MCF-7/Adr cells express approximately 2-fold less bcl-2 mRNA than MCF-7 cells. Moreover, 4-24 hr cycloheximide treatment of MCF-7 and MCF-7/Adr cells did not affect the expression of bcl-2 protein, indicating that this protein is very stable in both cell lines. Our results suggest that bcl-2 expression is modulated partly by transcriptional, but mainly by post-transcriptional, mechanisms. Despite the down-regulation of bcl-2 in MCF-7/Adr cells and equal levels of bcl-x, and bax proteins in both cell lines, cytoplasmic DNA-histone complexes induced by doxorubucin, taxol, vincristine and VP-16 indicate that MCF-7/Adr cells are highly resistant to apoptosis. Moreover, treatments of MCF-7/Adr cells with P-glycoprotein (P-gp) modulators, cyclosporin A and verapamil increased doxorubicin and vincristine-induced DNA fragmentation about 1.4- and 2.5-fold, indicating that P-gp is involved in the development of resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in this cell line.
Differential recovery of Pacific Island fish remains

The effects of differential recovery have been documented and discussed for almost a century. Screening experiments using comparative collections are one avenue for understanding recovery bias because they develop expectations about what is likely to be recovered. In this study, modern reference specimens of Pacific Island fish were screened through 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) and 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) mesh. Recovery rates are examined across taxa, body size, and element type. The experimental recovery rates are then compared to those from an archaeological fish assemblage from the Moturakau rockshelter, Aitutaki, Cook Islands, to examine how well the data derived from screening experiments are able to predict archaeological recovery patterns. The experimental data is able to accurately predict the taxa recovered in the Moturakau sample. The impact of differential recovery on a variety of interpretations utilizing archaeological fish remains is then discussed.
Reconstruction of the Failing Chips Per Wafer Distribution from Clustering Measurements

Average yield is the typical and most generally accepted metric for the semiconductor manufacturing process. Here we show that statistical analysis of the same data used to measure average yield can be used to extract additional useful information that reveals a more detailed picture of the manufacturing process. We measure the number of failing chips for each wafer in a large data set and find that there is remarkable consistency in the shape of the wafer yield histogram (or distribution) across products manufactured in different locations or with different technologies, despite sometimes significant yield variability from wafer to wafer. We further show that the clustering of failing chips on a wafer is an important determinant of the distribution shape and propose a method to reconstruct the distribution of the number of failing chips per wafer from clustering measurements. The findings here demonstrate that there is useful information in wafer yield data beyond average yield, which can for example lead to the identification of wafer outliers. Furthermore, the consistency of the distributions across products and technologies indicates the existence of common mechanisms for yield loss. Similarly, our cluster analysis method shows that the clustering of failed chips is an important characteristic of the manufacturing process, suggesting that significant yield loss may be due to macroscopic processes (and not necessarily to point defects) that extend beyond the area of a single chip.
Seismic detection of a thin laterally varying boundary layer at the base of the mantle beneath the central‐Pacific

We explore lowermost mantle structure beneath the Pacific with long‐period recordings of the seismic core phases SKS, SP_dKS, and SKKS from 25 deep earthquakes. SP_dKS and SKKS are anomalously delayed relative to SKS for lower mantle paths beneath the southwest Pacific. Late SP_dKS arrivals are explained by a laterally varying mantle‐side boundary layer at the CMB, having P‐velocity reductions of up to 10% and thickness up to 40 km. This layer is detected beneath a tomographically resolved large‐scale low velocity feature in the lower mantle beneath the central‐Pacific. SKS, SP_dKS, and SKKS data for the generally faster‐than‐average circum‐Pacific lower mantle are well‐fit by models lacking any such low‐velocity boundary layer. The slow boundary layer beneath the central Pacific may be a localized zone of partial melt, or perhaps a chemically distinct layer, with its location linked to overlying upwelling motions.
Type inference for recursive definitions

We consider type systems that combine universal types, recursive types, and object types. We study type inference in these systems under a rank restriction, following Leivant's notion of rank. To motivate our work, we present several examples showing how our systems can be used to type programs encountered in practice. We show that type inference in the rank-k system is decidable for k/spl les/2 and undecidable for k/spl ges/3. (Similar results based on different techniques are known to hold for System F, without recursive types and object types.) Our undecidability result is obtained by a reduction from a particular adaptation (which we call "regular") of the semi-unification problem and whose undecidability is, interestingly, obtained by methods totally different from those used in the case of standard (or finite) semi-unification.
Attention to Retention: Exploring and Addressing the Needs of College Students in STEM Majors

Guided by well-established theories on student retention, a survey was developed and implemented to collect data about the college experience of STEM students at a four-year research university. Analysis of the survey data confirms ten constructs that captured different aspects of students’ academic and social experiences. Among them, academic quality provided by the institution, students’ formal academic integration, and motivation for active learning are identified to be the most influential factors to their retention. Different from students in non-STEM majors, financial pressure to fund college education and accessibility to faculty members outside the classroom are not significantly associated with STEM students’ intention to depart. The findings also challenge the sociological emphasis on social engagement as the pivotal point for student retention in STEM majors. To improve student persistence in STEM majors, it is suggested the institutional administrators invest in improving faculty members’ teaching skills, reducing class sizes, and engaging students in active learning and research projects.
Women, marginality and the Zulu State : Women's institutions and power in the early nineteenth century

For a number of years the historiography of Southern Africa has been dominated by a materialist framework that has focused upon modes of production and forms of socio-political organization as the determining factors in historical change. Those historians concerned with the history of women in pre-colonial societies – even those who have privileged gender relations in their analyses – have largely been content to construct women's history by applying the insights of socio-economic and political analyses of the past to gender dynamics, and by projecting the insights of anthropological analyses of present gender relations into the past. Some of these historians have concluded that until the arrival of capitalism no substantial changes in the situations, power or status of women took place within Zulu society, even during the period of systemic transformation known as the mfecane in the early nineteenth century.More recently, Zulu gender history has become part of a larger debate connected to the changing political and academic milieu in South Africa. Representatives of a revived Africanist tradition have criticized materialist historians for writing Zulu history from an outsider's perspective and of focusing overly on conflict and power imbalances within the nineteenth-century kingdom in an effort to discredit contemporary Zulu nationalism. To counter this, historian Simon Maphalala has stressed the harmony of nineteenth-century Zulu society, the power advisors exercised in state government, and the lack of internal conflict. Maphalala also claims that women's subordinate role in society ‘did not cause any dissatisfaction among them’, and argues that ‘[women] accepted their position and were contented’. In recent constitutional debates many South African intellectuals including members of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA), invoked this ‘benign patriarchy’ model of pre-colonial gender relations to oppose the adoption of gender-equality provisions in the new constitution. As Cherryl Walker has noted, the hegemonic definition of traditional gender relations to which such figures have made rhetorical appeals often masks not only the historicity of these relations but also hides dissenting opinions (often demarcated along gender lines) as to what those relations are and have been.
Child report of treatment issue resolution: pilot of a rapid assessment instrument.

Abstract The goals of this project concerned the construction and pilot of a rapid assessment self-report measurement tool to be used with child and adolescent sexual abuse victims to ascertain the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic intervention. One hundred and three 10 to 17-year-old girls who had been the targets of intrafamilial child sexual abuse (incest) participated in the research. Child and adolescent participants completed the draft instrument, the Child Report of Treatment Issue Resolution, as well as the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children and the Children's Social Desirability Questionnaire. The research participants' caretakers completed the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and a background questionnaire. Reliability of the study instrument was found to be .94. Content validity was quantified through a process of expert ratings of individual item relevance. Criterion and construct validity are supported by a substantial correlation between the study instrument and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (−.74) and a moderate correlation between the study instrument and the Child Behavior Checklist for Children (−.40). The correlation between the study instrument and the Children's Social Desirability Questionnaire (.45) did not provide evidence of discriminate validity.
Implementing a New Doctrine for Health Facility Commissioning

The experiences of hospital facility managers and consideration of the existing doctrines for commissioning building facilities have prompted the development of a new commissioning doctrine specifically conceived for health facilities by a special committee of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering. The new Health Facility Commissioning Guidelines present a doctrine calling for various tasks in the commissioning process from planning through hand-off to the health facility’s operations and maintenance staff. Facets of this new doctrine are explained, differentiating it from existing doctrines that might otherwise be relied upon. The organizational implications of adopting this doctrine for the delivery of health facilities are intended to bring efficiency to the project delivery system and enhance the communication among different stakeholders. A project that is piloting this new commissioning doctrine is described, and lessons learned through the early stages of this project draw attention to the real challenges and practical solutions devised to address them. Student interns are being employed in the task of documenting and analyzing this pilot implementation. Their major findings illustrate the needs for future study. BACKGROUND Hospitals are mission critical facilities designed to operation on a non-stop schedule to provide care for client occupants whose physical and mental well being are compromised by the onset of various forms of illness. Therefore, healthcare providers have more strict requirements for the performance of the built environment in the function of their various unique systems, e.g. heating, air, medical gas system, tubing system, etc. Notwithstanding, higher compliance standards are implemented in healthcare facilities when it comes to fire protection and their requirements for redundancy of life-critical operating systems. Based on 2011 results of an annual survey by Health Facilities Management (HFM) and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), most of the nation’s largest healthcare facilities are under renovation (Carpenter, 2011). Infection control, vibration, noise and dust due to construction activity are considered as the major concerns for renovation projects in healthcare facilities. In an effort to optimize performance of healthcare facilities to meet future challenges, ASHE published their
Determining hydrologic factors that influence stream macroinvertebrate assemblages in the northeastern US

The effects of changes in the landscape and alteration of natural flow process on aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages were investigated in 67 small-to-medium sized (15–526 km2) upland streams in the northeastern United States. Environmental characteristics that were found to be important in determining macroinvertebrate-assemblage composition include urbanization and concomitant changes in natural streamflow patterns. In particular, hydrologic attributes accounted for a significant proportion of the variability and were important in driving modifications to assemblage structure after natural environmental variability was extracted. For example, mean April flow accounted for the greatest amount of assemblage variability in any single multiple linear regression (MLR) model (65%) and duration of high flows accounted for a significant portion of the assemblage variability in the five, four and one-variable models (25, 26, and 23%, respectively). Seasonal predictability of low flow consistently accounted for a significant proportion of the assemblage variability in all but the two-variable (MLR) model. Significant (p < 0·05) bivariate flow–ecology response relations were established, especially for hydrologic measures that account for the frequency, duration, and magnitude of flow events, and these relations generally followed increasing or decreasing trends that would be expected given changes in stream hydrology. This study demonstrates that there are likely specific negative consequences to stream biotic integrity in northeastern streams as the result of hydrologic alteration associated with basin urbanization. Understanding the relations between hydrologic modification and aquatic assemblages will help efforts to set sustainable flow standards for protection of aquatic assemblages while providing water for human needs. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simulation results of an efficient and innovative sun engine for solar to electrical energy conversion

According to future trends of renewable energy conversion conducted by the severe reduction of irreversibilities required since the design phase, a philosophy of design is presented: efficient renewable energy conversion systems focusing the attention on frictionless and vacuum environments. Then an innovative and efficient sun engine, MAG-solar-1 system, is introduced for conversion of solar energy to the high quality electrical energy at the maximum allowed by the second law of thermodynamics. The target of the above-mentioned solar device is more efficient than photovoltaic cells from a solar array for electrical power generation, both under the same radiation intensity. The main idea of MAG-solar-1, is be capable to: absorb solar energy- with the use of an efficient solar concentrator; store that energy-in a frictionless rotor-flywheel located in a nearly vacuum environment; and deliver power generation-at high competitive levels of efficiency.
Unordered tree mining with applications to phylogeny

Frequent structure mining (FSM) aims to discover and extract patterns frequently occurring in structural data, such as trees and graphs. FSM finds many applications in bioinformatics, XML processing, Web log analysis, and so on. We present a new FSM technique for finding patterns in rooted unordered labeled trees. The patterns of interest are cousin pairs in these trees. A cousin pair is a pair of nodes sharing the same parent, the same grandparent, or the same great-grandparent, etc. Given a tree T, our algorithm finds all interesting cousin pairs of T in O(|T|/sup 2/) time where |T| is the number of nodes in T. Experimental results on synthetic data and phylogenies show the scalability and effectiveness of the proposed technique. To demonstrate the usefulness of our approach, we discuss its applications to locating co-occurring patterns in multiple evolutionary trees, evaluating the consensus of equally parsimonious trees, and finding kernel trees of groups of phylogenies. We also describe extensions of our algorithms for undirected acyclic graphs (or free trees).
Contrasting effects of associates and coordinates in children with and without language impairment: A picture-word interference study

In picture naming, semantic context words produce either facilitation or inhibition, depending on their relationship to the target-picture name. This study used the picture–word interference task to examine facilitative effects of associates (the word carrot paired with a picture of rabbit) and inhibitory effects of coordinates (mouse paired with a rabbit) in children and adults. Experiment 1 with adults (N = 44) documented robust associate and coordinate effects with either auditory or visual presentation of interfering words. Experiment 2 used auditory presentation of interfering words with children (N = 44, 6 years, 10 months to 11 years, half with typical development, half with specific language impairment). Children showed significant facilitation from associates but no reliable coordinate interference effect. The strength of the associative priming effect in children was correlated with their language abilities (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals scores). The results indicate the dominant role of association in facilitating word retrieval in speech production in children. In children with specific language impairment, lexical access gains weaker support from networks of associations in semantic memory.
Novel Tat-Encoding Bicistronic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Based Gene Transfer Vectors for High-Level Transgene Expression

We describe bicistronic single-exon Tat (72-amino-acid Tat [Tat72])- and full-length Tat (Tat86)-encoding gene transfer vectors based on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We created versions of these vectors that were rendered Rev independent by using the constitutive transport element (CTE) from Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPMV). Tat72-encoding vectors performed better than Tat86-expressing vectors in gene transfer experiments. CTE-containing vectors, produced in a Rev-independent packaging system, had gene transfer efficiencies nearly equivalent to those produced using a combination RNA transport (CTE and Rev-Rev response element)-based packaging system. The Tat72-encoding vectors could be efficiently transduced into a variety of cell types, showed higher levels of transgene expression than vectors with the simian cytomegalovirus immediate-early or the simian virus 40 early promoter, and provide an alternative to HIV-1 vectors with internal promoters.
Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Other Vortices

A theoretical explanation of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) as the self-organization of vorticity in turbulence is presented. A number of properties of the GRS and other Jovian vortices that are unambiguous from the data are listed. The simplest possible model that explains these properties one at a time rather than in a difficult all-encompassing planetary global circulation model is presented. It is shown that Jovian vortices reflect the behavior of quasi-geostrophic (QG) vortices embedded in an east-west wind with bands of uniform potential vorticity. It is argued that most of the properties of the Jovian vortices can be easily explained and understood with QG theory. Many of the signatures of QG vortices are apparent on Voyager images. In numerical and laboratory experiments, QG vortices relax to approximately steady states like the Jovian vortices, rather than oscillating or rotating Kida ellipses.
Electronic transport and microstructure in MoSi 2 thin films

Molybdenum disilicide thin films having the tetragonal crystal structure were prepared by furnace reaction of ion-beam-sputtered molybdenum layers with silicon substrates. The room temperature intrinsic resistivity is ∼20 μΩ cm. The Hall effect indicates predominantly hole conduction. Geometrical magnetoresistance measurements provide a carrier mobility estimate of 90 cm 2 /V.s at room temperature. The Hall mobility is much less than this; the large difference between the two mobility values suggests multiband conduction. An isotropic, degenerate, twoband model may be fitted to the data with a comparatively low majority carrier concentration (holes) of ∼ 1.5 × 10 21 cm −3 Regarding the effects of microstructure on transport, the residual resistivity for films formed on 1-0-0 silicon wafers is much greater than for those formed on an (LPCVD) polysilicon layer: 92 vs 29 μΩ cm, respectively. A correlation with average grain size for the two sample types suggests that grain boundary scattering is the principal cause of the residual resistivity. electronic materials; electrical properties; thin film
Axial Plane Optical Microscopy

We present axial plane optical microscopy (APOM) that can, in contrast to conventional microscopy, directly image a sample's cross-section parallel to the optical axis of an objective lens without scanning. APOM combined with conventional microscopy simultaneously provides two orthogonal images of a 3D sample. More importantly, APOM uses only a single lens near the sample to achieve selective-plane illumination microscopy, as we demonstrated by three-dimensional (3D) imaging of fluorescent pollens and brain slices. This technique allows fast, high-contrast, and convenient 3D imaging of structures that are hundreds of microns beneath the surfaces of large biological tissues.
Philosophy and International Violence

The study of international politics has no established place in philosophy as an academic discipline. Professional philosophers who discuss the subject at all typically do so under the stimulus of external events, rather than as an outgrowth of other philosophical inquiry, and are likely to conceive what they have to say primarily as a contribution to public affairs. The fact that most of the attention among philosophers to international politics in recent years has been concerned with warfare, war crimes, and related themes pertaining to what might be called "international violence" bears this out. Violence is (or was) an issue of current affairs. As such, it is marginal to the more enduring concerns of philosophy, and the interest of philosophers in it is understandably a transient one. This is not to say that the scholarship produced under these conditions is without value; on the contrary, it is just because it does constitute an unusual contribution to our understanding of international politics that this work should receive wide consideration. Yet because the main stimulus underlying the recent growth of philosophical interest in the subject is one that arises outside of philosophy itself, that interest is likely to dissipate once the external forces sustaining it have diminished. It would therefore be good if the results of this interest could be assimilated and developed within the framework of continuing scholarship by those engaged in political and international studies. In order for this to happen both the nature and limitations of this latest contribution of philosophy to the study of international politics must be understood. If one of its features is a tendency to abandon the field for greener pastures, another is the thoroughness with which the grass is cropped by this particular species of ruminant. Instead of
Connecting Students to Content: Student-Generated Questions.

Students learn best by being actively engaged in the learning process. This essay describes a teaching technique where students generate their own questions about a course topic. This occurs at the beginning of each new section of a course. The instructor works with the class to answer the students' own questions throughout that section of the course and, via discussion and research, students become better connected and more motivated to learn the content as the course continues. This technique has been used successfully in several different biology courses including anatomy, physiology, environmental biology and introductory biology. Try it. You might like it!
Additives with dual function: Acrylate ester copolymers as modifiers for engineering polymers and as carrier resin for masterbatches

Additives are generally perceived to improve product properties. Depending on the end use this polymeric additives can be used as impact modifiers, coupling agents or compatibilisers. In this paper a family of ethylene copolymers is described which are characterised through a very heterogeneous molecular architecture and thus an enhanced compatibility with other polymers and fillers. This allows them to fulfil two functions: they can be used as compatibiliser or impact modifier, but due to their high filler acceptance they are also useful as a carrier resin for masterbatches.
Association Between Indoor Tanning and Melanoma in Younger Men and Women

Importance In the United States and Minnesota, melanoma incidence is rising more steeply among women than men younger than 50 years. To our knowledge, no study has examined age- and sex-specific associations between indoor tanning and melanoma to determine if these trends could be due to greater indoor tanning use among younger women. Objective To examine associations between indoor tanning and melanoma among men and women younger than 50 years. Design, Setting, and Participants Population-based case-control study conducted in Minnesota of 681 patients (465 [68.3%] women) diagnosed as having melanoma between 2004 and 2007, and 654 controls (446 [68.2%] women), ages 25 to 49 years. Exposure Indoor tanning, defined as any use, first age of use, and total sessions. Main Outcomes and Measures Crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were calculated for melanoma in relation to indoor tanning exposure for men and women by diagnosis or reference age ( Results Compared with women aged 40 to 49 years, women younger than 40 years initiated indoor tanning at a younger age (16 vs 25 years,P Conclusions and Relevance Indoor tanning is a likely factor for the steeper increase in melanoma rates in the United States among younger women compared with men, given the timing of when women initiated indoor tanning relative to diagnosis. The melanoma epidemic can be expected to continue unless indoor tanning is restricted and reduced.
Nuclear Levels of 101 Ru Populated in the Decay of 101 Rh Isomers

The decay properties of 4.3-day $^{101}\mathrm{Rh}^{m}$ and 3.0-yr $^{101}\mathrm{Rh}^{g}$ have been investigated with the aid of a $p\ensuremath{-}i\ensuremath{-}n$, lithium-drifted germanium gamma-ray detector and with a NaI (Tl) gamma-gamma coincidence spectrometer. Energies (and transition intensities) of the gamma rays from the decay of $^{101}\mathrm{Rh}^{m}$ are 127.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 (1.2), 180.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 (0.9), 184.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5 (0.3), 233.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5 (0.4), 238.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 (0.5), 306.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 (100), 311\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1 (0.1), 331.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 (0.06), 418\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1 (0.01), and 545.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5 (5.6) keV, and coincidence data require these transitions to be fitted into a level scheme in $^{101}\mathrm{Ru}$ with energies at 127.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3, 306.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3, 311.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5, 545.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5, and 639\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1 keV. Gamma-ray energies (and transition intensities) observed in the decay of $^{101}\mathrm{Rh}^{g}$ are 127.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 (105), 198.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 (100), 295.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4 (0.9), 325.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 (21), and 422.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.6 (0.6) keV, which are consistent with excited states of $^{101}\mathrm{Ru}$ at 127.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3, 325.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3, and 422.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.6 keV. Possible spin assignments for the excited levels in $^{101}\mathrm{Ru}$ are discussed. The half-life of $^{101}\mathrm{Rh}^{m}$ was remeasured as 4.34\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01 days.
A CubeSat Mission and Configuration Analysis for Locating and Mapping Spot Beams of Geostationary Comm-Satellites

As space-rated technologies become more compact, more available, and less expensive over time, the concept of accomplishing traditionally large and expensive spacecraft missions using smaller nanosatellite-class spacecraft becomes increasingly feasible. This research focuses specifically on a CubeSat mission to assist with radio frequency (RF) domain verification; that of characterizing and mapping spot beams from communications satellites in geostationary orbit. By flying a CubeSat (or a constellation of CubeSats) through the edges of spot beams originating from geostationary communication satellites, the spot beam’s coverage area will be characterized. This research conducts a mission feasibility assessment, identifies the mission requirements to complete a spot beam mapping CubeSat mission, and examines various constellation configurations that could complete the spot beam mapping mission effectively. It was found that certain CubeSat constellations performed better than others, specifically regarding mapping time, responsiveness to changing conditions, spot beam detection capability, and overall mapping resolution. Constellations with CubeSat formations that utilized a specific spacing angle between themselves in an orbital plane could be tailored to produce spot beam maps with the best resolution; however constellations with a single plane of evenly-spaced CubeSats tended to produce better results over shorter durations. Separating CubeSats into separate planes tended to increase responsiveness and overall map resolution, but doing so required more time to form a comparable solution.
Nocturnal orientation in the black carpenter ant Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The black carpenter antCamponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer), a predominantly nocturnal Formicine ant, responds to a hierarchy of visual and tactile cues when orienting along odor trails at night. Under illumination from moonlight or artificial light, workers rely upon these beacons to mediate phototactic orientation. In the absence of moonlight or artificial lights, ants were able to orient visually to terrestrial landmarks. In the absence of all landmarks, save for overhanging tree branches, ants could negotiate shortcuts or make directional changes in response to visual landmarks presented within the tree canopy on a moonless night. When experimental manipulations placed the ants in total darkness, they could no longer negotiate shortcuts and would resort to thigmotactic orientation along structural guidelines to reach a food source. The hierachical organization of these diverse cues in a foraging strategy is discussed, as well as their adaptive significance toC. pennsyhanicus.
Studying the Bodega in Hispanic Barrios: Research Realities from a Field Study

The corner grocery store, or "bodega," is the focus of shopping activity within Hispanic neighborhoods. However, few formal studies have investigated this institution, possibly due to the complexities and difficulties encountered in research design and data collection. Using actual field experience from the Philadelphia barrio, the present paper offers insight into the bodega itself, discusses the environmental differences which are likely to affect research, and suggests practical recommendations for future study.
NBR1-dependent selective autophagy is required for efficient cell-matrix adhesion site disassembly

Macroautophagy/autophagy has classically been recognized for its vital role in supporting cellular survival during various stresses. However, emerging work has demonstrated that selective autophagy has an impact on diverse cell biological processes by mediating the degradation of various cellular contents during normal cellular homeostasis. We recently established that selective autophagy supports cell migration by promoting the turnover of integrin-based cell-matrix adhesion sites, or focal adhesions (FAs). The autophagy cargo receptor NBR1 acts as a critical mediator of this pathway by promoting targeting of autophagosomes to FAs, leading to their disassembly via the sequestration of FA proteins. Our results demonstrate FAs as a new cellular target for selective autophagy.
Outpatient Visits, Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits Among Patients with Sickle Cell Disease On Medicaid: Trends in 14 USA States, 2006–2007.

Abstract 3181 Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited hematological disorder affecting 90,000–100,000 Americans. Public insurance accounts for the major method of reimbursement for medical care utilization in this population. Few published population-based studies describe outpatient visits, hospitalizations and emergency department visits together. This study examined rates of hospitalizations, outpatient visits (OPV) and emergency department visits (EDV) among children and adults with SCD across fourteen states of the United States, using a relational claims database, to determine any differences across age groups, genders and states (Medicaid Analytic eXtract [MAX] files, of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services). Visits information was extracted using ICD-9-CM codes for SCD, as well as procedure codes (cpt) to determine OPV and EDV. All SCD cases with 24 months continuous Medicaid eligibility for the period under study (2006 to 2007) were identified, and the pattern of medical care utilization was examined. A total of 19,168 pediatric and adult SCD patients were identified to have enrolled in Medicaid with eligibility for the years 2006 and 2007. The mean age was 22.06 years; range: *MAX: Medicaid Analytic eXtract files 2006–2007 Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Statistical Methods in Metabolomics

Metabolomics is the relatively new field in bioinformatics that uses measurements on metabolite abundance as a tool for disease diagnosis and other medical purposes. Although closely related to proteomics, the statistical analysis is potentially simpler since biochemists have significantly more domain knowledge about metabolites. This chapter reviews the challenges that metabolomics poses in the areas of quality control, statistical metrology, and data mining.
Model-based decoding of reaching movements for prosthetic systems

Model-based decoding of neural activity for neuroprosthetic systems has been shown, in simulation, to provide significant gain over traditional linear filter approaches. We tested the model-based decoding approach with real neural and behavioral data and found a 18% reduction in trajectory reconstruction error compared with a linear filter. This corresponds to a 40% reduction in the number of neurons required for equivalent performance. The model-based approach further permits the combination of target-tuned plan activity with movement activity. The addition of plan activity reduced reconstruction error by 23% relative to the linear filter, corresponding to 55% reduction in the number of neurons required. Taken together, these results indicate that a decoding algorithm employing a prior model of reaching kinematics can substantially improve trajectory estimates, thereby improving prosthetic system performance.