cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Asymmetric information, investment banking contracts and the certification hypothesis

Abstract This study posits a hierarchy of investment banking contracts reflecting differential levels of certification. The analysis supporting the existence of this hierarchy is based on the reputational capital paradigm. The firm commitment-negotiated arrangement is perceived to have the highest quality of certification, followed by the firm commitment-competitive, best efforts-negotiated and best efforts-competitive arrangements in that order. The existence of this hierarchy is investigated by measuring market reactions to the announcements of such issues. The empirical results reveal sharp distinctions between firm commitment and best efforts contracts. However, within firm commitment contracts, signalling between negotiated and competitive arrangements is attentuated and the distinction is weak.
Digital pixel CMOS focal plane array with on-chip multiply accumulate units for low-latency image processing

A digital pixel CMOS focal plane array has been developed to enable low latency implementations of image processing systems such as centroid trackers, Shack-Hartman wavefront sensors, and Fitts correlation trackers through the use of in-pixel digital signal processing (DSP) and generic parallel pipelined multiply accumulate (MAC) units. Light intensity digitization occurs at the pixel level, enabling in-pixel DSP and noiseless data transfer from the pixel array to the peripheral processing units. The pipelined processing of row and column image data prior to off chip readout reduces the required output bandwidth of the image sensor, thus reducing the latency of computations necessary to implement various image processing systems. Data volume reductions of over 80% lead to sub 10μs latency for completing various tracking and sensor algorithms. This paper details the architecture of the pixel-processing imager (PPI) and presents some initial results from a prototype device fabricated in a standard 65nm CMOS process hybridized to a commercial off-the-shelf short-wave infrared (SWIR) detector array.
EMG analysis of concurrent activation potentiation.

ABSTRACTPurpose:This study evaluated the effect of remote voluntary contractions (RVC) on concentric isokinetic knee extensor and flexor peak torque, rate of torque development, power, and work, the activation of the affected muscles, and gender differences therein.Methods:Eleven men and 12 women we
A method for evaluating the thermal performance of passenger seats

In this paper, an experimental method to quantify the capability of an automotive seat to move heat and moisture away from the heat and water source is presented. To test the method, a test apparatus was constructed that generates heat and water vapour. The apparatus was placed on a seat cushion for a fixed time period. At the end of the period, heat and water transported were measured. These integrated values were used to quantify the seat's capability to move heat and moisture and ultimately to compare seats. By the impulse test method, the passenger seat had an effusivity of 94.7 W s1/2/m2 K. A non-ventilated seat transferred 5 W of thermal energy and an average of 0.36 g/min of water in 1800 s. A ventilated seat transferred 13.9 W of thermal energy and 0.70 g/min of water in 1800 s. KW: Hyperthermia in automobiles Language: en
General purpose bidirectional optical backplane bus

We report for the first time a bi-directional optical backplane bus for a high performance system containing nine multi-chip module (MCM) boards. The backplane bus reported herein employs arrays of multiplexed polymer-based waveguide holograms in conjunction with a waveguiding plate within which 16 substrate guided waves for 72 (8 X 9) cascaded fanouts are generated. Data transfer of 1.2 Gbit/sec at 1.3 micrometers wavelength is demonstrated for a single bus line with 72 cascaded fanouts. Packaging-related issues such as transceiver size and misalignment are embarked upon to provide a reliable system with a wide bandwidth coverage. The backplane bus demonstrated is for general-purpose and, therefore, compatible with such IEEE standardized buses as VMEbus, Futurebus, and FASTBUS, and can function as a backplane bus in existing computing environments and significantly reduce the bottlenecks that accompany electrical interconnects.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Comparison of quantitative light microscopy techniques used in diet studies of detritus-consuming omnivores

The assumptions and performances of three light microscope techniques for measuring the amount of detritus in the diets of omnivorous fish were compared: area estimation, volume estimation with subsequent estimation of weight, and weight difference determination. Accuracy of the area method depends on the improbable assumption that the volume or weight of detritus particles in the diet is directly proportional to particle area. Accuracy of the difference determination is limited by the accumulation of measurement errors associated with each component of the calculation. Direct estimation of volume with subsequent conversion to ash free dry weight requires the fewest assumptions and offers greatest accuracy. Precision was greatest for the volume estimation technique and lowest for the difference determination. Time required per sample can be substantially reduced by using a digitizer for measurement and a microcomputer for calculations.
Lipschitz-type bounds for the map A→|A| on L(H)

It is well known that the absolute value map on the self-adjoint operators on an infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces is not Lipschitz continuous, although Lipschitz continuity holds on certain subsets of operators. In this note, we provide an elementary proof that the absolute value map is Lipschitz continuous on the set of all operators which are bounded below in norm by any fixed positive constant. Applications are indicated.
Effect of anisotropic scattering on radiative heat transfer in two-dimensional rectangular enclosures

Abstract Radiative heat transfer in two-dimensional rectangular enclosures is studied using the S - N discrete ordinates method. The medium in the enclosure is gray and absorbs, emits, and anisotropically scatters radiative energy. General Mie-anisotropic phase functions are treated by Legendre polynomial expansions. The average incident radiations and the radiative heat fluxes are presented in graphical and tabular forms. The phase function anisotropy plays a significant role in the radiation heat transfer when the boundary condition is nonsymmetric, but it is not important for symmetric environments. Side wall heat losses are significant for back scattering phase functions, moderate optical thicknesses, large scattering albedos, and small reflectivities.
Nuclear irradiation and radioisotopes in metal research

Abstract This review covers a wide range of topics in the field of metal research where nuclear irradiation and radioisotopes have been employed. Nuclear irradiation has been used both as a mean to detect minute quantities of impurities or minor constituents, and as powerful tool for carrying out studies of the structure of metals. Radioisotopes have found increasing application in almost all branches of metal research, namely, in studies of segregation, friction, vapor deposition, vapor pressure, slag metal reactions, electroyltic action on metal surfaces, and diffusion and oxidation.
WE‐B‐213CD‐02: NCRP‐168 as a Training and Operational Resource

NCRP Report 168 provides guidance on facilities as well as on patient and worker radiation safety during fluoroscopically guided interventions (FGI). Fluoroscopy is widely used in surgical settings in ways that can be comparable to its use in other FGI procedures. Surgical fluoroscopes range from simple mobile analog C‐arms, heavy mobiles with most of characteristics of a fixed system, to state of the art fixed systems. Patient and worker radiation safety concerns along with training, credentialing, and privileging of surgical staff are similar to those for all other FGI procedures. Recommendations relevant to the surgical setting will be reviewed. Two key recommendations are: An FGI procedure shall be performed or supervised only by a physician or other medical professional with fluoroscopic and clinical privileges appropriate to the specific procedure. An FGI procedure shall be performed or supervised only by a physician or other medical professional with fluoroscopic and clinical privileges appropriate to the specific procedure. Other topics such as responsibilities of all workers for their own radiation protection, those of the attending surgeon for patient dose management and follow‐up, and those of the facility for providing necessary resources will also be briefly discussed. Learning Objectives: 1. To understand the responsibilities of surgeons and others working in a FGI environment toward patient and worker radiation safety. 2. To understand radiation protection requirements and actions necessary for personal safety while radiation is in use in a surgical environment 3. To gain familiarity with the knowledge base needed to safely perform or supervise FGA procedures in the surgical environment.
Seasonal changes in beach topography and beach volume in Delaware

Abstract A beach study was conducted along a shore segment of the Delaware coast from March 1982 through to April 1983. Results indicate that beach topography and beach volume varied with changes in wave-climatic regimes; the regimes in turn were generally in phase with the winter and summer seasons. Because both the magnitude and frequency of storm waves were higher during winter than in summer, the winter beach shape was concave upward. Following the winter storms of 1981–1982, swells rebuilt the beach in two stages from March through to August 1982. In the first stage, the beach vertically accreted (aggraded) and in the second, it laterally accreted (prograded). The aggrading stage involved the welding of a swash bar to the foreshore; thereafter, swash overtopping caused deposition on and landward of the bar. In time, the swash bar attained a berm and swale topography. The prograding stage started when the swash could no longer overtop the berm crest, which confined deposition to the foreshore. This stage occurred following a minor or moderate storm event that shifted the berm crest upward and landward, or during a neap tidal stage that occurred after the construction of a spring tide berm. Between March and the end of August 1982, 60 m 3 of sediments per 1 m of beach were deposited on the shore. Of this value, 67% was attributed to aggradational processes, while the remaining 33% was attributed to progradational processes. Swells as well as storm waves caused vertical accretion; storm waves contributed 20% of the total sediment volume deposited on the beach. When the shore was at its maximum sediment volume for 1982, the beach topography was convex upward. An inverse relationship existed between the mean monthly sediment volume and the mean monthly surge variability. The surge level was used as an index of wave conditions; high surge levels were associated with large waves while low surge levels were associated with small waves. When surge variability was high during the winter, sediment volume on the beach was low, and conversely, when surge variability was low in summer, sediment volume was high. Correlation analysis showed that 80% of the variance of the mean monthly sediment volume was explained by the mean monthly surge variability.
The Wisconsin Model of Status Attainment and the Occupational Choice Process: Applying a Continuous-Choice Model to a Discrete-Choice Situation.

A method is presented whereby discrete occupational titles can be represented along a multidimensional continuum reflecting a population's shared perceptions. The spatial locations are then used to operationalize significant others' influence and vocational preferences enabling a test of the applicability of the Wisconsin model of status attainment to the process of occupational choice. Data from a sample of high school students were used to demonstrate the procedure. This model was shown to be useful for explicating the processes by which specific occupational choices are made.
Construction of anomaly functional and current algebra

Abstract An iterative method is used to construct the anomaly functional. The functional is a non-local functional of the gauge fields only. Some consequences of the functional are studied; in particular it is shown that the anomaly functional contributes to the commutators of the charge densities. in 1 + 1 dimensions, the usual Kac-Moody extension term appears, in agreement with previous results. In 3 + 1 dimensions, in addition to the gauge field dependent term, we uncover a contribution of the functional to the triple commutator of the charge densities. An infinite-dimensional Lie algebra that incorporates this contribution is proposed.
Na REABSORPTION AND K SECRETION IN THE DISTAL TUBULE OF NEWBORN DOGS

Newborns do not excrete infused saline loads as efficiently as do adults. Proximal tubular Na reabsorption is similar in newborn and adult dogs under control and saline expansion (SE) conditions (A.J.P. 228:1403, 1975). Differences occur in more distal segments of the nephron. In order to evaluate Na reabsorption in the distal convoluted and cortical collecting tubule, Na reabsorption was measured in 26 newborn and 9 adult dogs before and during maximal inhibition with amiloride, a drug known to inhibit Na reabsorption and K secretion in these regions. Under control conditions 3.6±.3% of the filtered Na was reabsorbed in the amiloride sensitive region of the nephron (ASR) in the puppy compared to 2.3±.4% for the adult (p<.05). Without amiloride, SE increased total fractional Na excretion 8.0±2.3% in adults and 1.9±.4% in puppies. When the ASR was inhibited SE increased fractional Na excretion 7.2±1.0% in adults and 4.5±1.2% in puppies. During SE, fractional Na reabsorption in the ASR was higher (p<.05) in the puppy (5.3±.4%) than in the adult (2.8±1.2%). K secretion in the ASR was the same in the puppy (1.4±.2 meq/ml GFR) and the adult (1.4±.1) during control as well as during SE, (1.4±.2 for puppies and 1.5±.4 for adults). There was no correlation between Na re-absorbed and K secreted in the ASR for both puppies and adults during control or SE periods. These results support the conclusion that the ASR contributes to some but not all of the attenuated response of the newborn to saline expansion. In addition, Na reabsorption and K secretion in this region are dissociated.
The effect of the atmospheric environment on the premature infant

C O N S T A N T I N P . Y A G L O U was born of Greek parents in Turkey on Jan. 26, 1896. Upon graduation from Robert College in Constantinople, he came to the United States, entered Cornell University, and received a Master's degree in 1920. In 1921 he joined the staff of the Research Laboratory of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers in Pittsburgh and worked with them until 1925. Dr. Kenneth D. Blackfan of the Children's Hospital, Boston, had asked the Department of Industrial Hygiene at the Harvard School of Public Health for help in constructing and operating an air-conditioned room for premature infants. Professor Yaglou who had developed the Effective Temperature Scale while at the Research Laboratory was invited to join the staff of the School of Public Health in 1925 to take charge of this room which would stabilize the infants' body temperature.
Vibrational Dynamics in Condensed Phases and Proteins

Ultrafast processes in condensed phase are explored with transient vibrational spectroscopy. Examples include chemical reactions, protein dynamics and energy transfer.
MalGene: Automatic Extraction of Malware Analysis Evasion Signature

Automated dynamic malware analysis is a common approach for detecting malicious software. However, many malware samples identify the presence of the analysis environment and evade detection by not performing any malicious activity. Recently, an approach to the automated detection of such evasive malware was proposed. In this approach, a malware sample is analyzed in multiple analysis environments, including a bare-metal environment, and its various behaviors are compared. Malware whose behavior deviates substantially is identified as evasive malware. However, a malware analyst still needs to re-analyze the identified evasive sample to understand the technique used for evasion. Different tools are available to help malware analysts in this process. However, these tools in practice require considerable manual input along with auxiliary information. This manual process is resource-intensive and not scalable. In this paper, we present MalGene, an automated technique for extracting analysis evasion signatures. MalGene leverages algorithms borrowed from bioinformatics to automatically locate evasive behavior in system call sequences. Data flow analysis and data mining techniques are used to identify call events and data comparison events used to perform the evasion. These events are used to construct a succinct evasion signature, which can be used by an analyst to quickly understand evasions. Finally, evasive malware samples are clustered based on their underlying evasive techniques. We evaluated our techniques on 2810 evasive samples. We were able to automatically extract their analysis evasion signatures and group them into 78 similar evasion techniques.
Childhood Asthma in Low-Income Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Families in a Rural State: The Impact-on-Family Scale

We measured the impact on family functioning reported by low-income Hispanic and non-Hispanic White parents of children (N = 415, mean age 8.7 years) with asthma living in a rural state. A number of factors were associated with impact, using the Impact-on-Family Scale (Stein & Jessop, 1985). In order of importance, the factors were number of school days missed, nighttime symptoms, number of as-needed medications, and Spanish version of the tool. These factors accounted for approximately 13 % of the variance in total impact score. There were no differences in impact score between urban and rural parents or by ethnicity. The findings indicate that perceived parental impact is not strongly associated with commonly measured demographic and morbidity measures. The relation of these data to the recommendations of the National Asthma Guidelines (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 1997) is discussed.
Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation Transcriptome Alterations in Human Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Spinal Cord and Blood

Origins of onset and progression of motor neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not clearly known, but may include impairment of mitochondrial bioenergetics. We used quantitative PCR approaches to analyze the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) transcriptomes of spinal cord tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from persons with sporadic ALS compared with those without neurological disease. Expression measurements of 88 different nuclear (n) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA-encoded OXPHOS genes showed mtDNA-encoded respiratory gene expression was significantly decreased in ALS spinal cord by 78-84% (ANOVA p < 0.002). We observed the same phenomenon in freshly isolated PBMC from ALS patients (reduced 24-35%, ANOVA p < 0.001) and reproduced it in a human neural stem cell model treated with 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC) (reduced 52-78%, ANOVA p < 0.001). nDNA-encoded OXPHOS genes showed heterogeneously and mostly decreased expression in ALS spinal cord tissue. In contrast, ALS PBMC and ddC-treated stem cells showed no significant change in expression of nDNA OXPHOS genes compared with controls. Genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis (PGC-1α, TFAM, ERRα, NRF1, NRF2 and POLG) were queried with inconclusive results. Here, we demonstrate there is a systemic decrease in mtDNA gene expression in ALS central and peripheral tissues that support pursuit of bioenergetic-enhancing therapies. We also identified a combined nDNA and mtDNA gene set (n = 26), downregulated in spinal cord tissue that may be useful as a biomarker in the development of cell-based ALS models.
Secretory Vesicle Budding from the Trans-Golgi Network Is Mediated by Phosphatidic Acid Levels *

Phospholipid metabolism plays a central role in regulating vesicular traffic in the secretory pathway. In mammalian cells, activation of a Golgi-associated phospholipase D activity by ADP-ribosylation factor results in hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidic acid (PA). This reaction has been proposed to stimulate nascent secretory vesicle budding from the trans-Golgi network. It is unclear whether PA itself or diacylglycerol (DAG), a metabolite implicated in yeast secretory vesicle formation, regulates budding. To distinguish between these possibilities we have used a permeabilized cell system supplemented with phospholipid-modifying enzymes that generate either DAG or PA. The data demonstrate that in mammalian cells accumulation of PA rather than DAG is a key step in regulating budding of secretory vesicles from the trans-Golgi network.
The synthesis of dimethoxymethyl phenobarbital labeled with 14C

Dimethoxymethyl phenobarbital (DMMP), labeled with 14C on the ring and side chains was prepared for drug metabolism studies. The synthesis of DMMP-ethyl-1–14C (4a) in four steps provided a 43% yield from ethyl-1–14C iodide. The yields of DMMP-2–14C (4b) and DMMP-dimethylene-14C (4c) were 87.5% and 30% respectively.
Litter Nutrient Dynamics During Succession in Dry Tropical Forests of the Yucatan: Regional and Seasonal Effects

Land-use change in the tropics is creating secondary forest at an unprecedented rate. In the tropical Americas, mature dry tropical forest is rapidly being converted to secondary forest during the fallow period of shifting cultivation. We investigated litter phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) dynamics in forests recovering from shifting cultivation of maize (corn) in three regions of the Southern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Our goal was to understand how nutrient and water availability affect forest recovery following conversion of mature forest to agricultural land. To investigate such changes at a regional scale, newly fallen litter was collected monthly along a seasonal, a successional, and a precipitation gradient. Reflecting possible P limitation, litter P concentration declined with forest age, while litter N concentration did not differ between age classes. Average litter P concentration from the southern, wettest region was 0.87 mg/g, almost twice the litter P concentration in the drier central and northern regions (0.44 and 0.45 mg/g, respectively). Average N concentrations of litter from the three regions ranged from 1.1% to 1.2%, with no regional differences. However, minima in both P and N concentration from all regions were pronouncedly timed with peak litterfall, suggesting nutrient retranslocation during periods of water stress. Additionally, successional differences in litter P were clearest during wetter months. P nutrient-use efficiency was lowest in the southern region and highest in the central and northern study regions. N nutrient-use efficiency was up to 40 times lower than P nutrient-use efficiency and showed no regional differences. Overall, our results suggest that litter nutrient dynamics in secondary dry tropical forests of the Southern Yucatan are strongly influenced by water and nutrient availability, especially P, as well as land-use history.
Evolution of layer density and thickness during poly(ethylene oxide) adsorption onto silica

It is shown that near Brewster anglke reflectivity can provide in situ measurement of the evolving layer density during adsorption. Results confirm that as adsorption proceeds, the layer becomes less dense as loops and tails are formed. The change in layer density appears slighly sharper for higher molecular weight chains
Detection of land degradation with polarimetric SAR

Multispectral radar polarimeter data were collected over the Manix Basin Area of the Mojave desert using an airborne SAR. An analysis of the data reveals unusual polarization responses which are attributed to the formation of wind ripples on the surfaces of fields that have been abandoned for more than 5 years. This hypothesis has been confirmed through field observations, and a second-order perturbation model is shown to effectively model the polarization responses. The results demonstrate the usefulness of remote sensing techniques for the study of land degradation at synoptic scales.
The dynamics of the best individuals in co-evolution

There continues to be a growing interest in the use of co-evolutionary algorithms to solve difficult computational problems. However, their performance has varied widely from good to disappointing. The main reason for this is that co-evolutionary systems can display quite complex dynamics. Therefore, in order to efficiently use co-evolutionary algorithms for problem solving, one must have a good understanding of their dynamical behavior. To build such understanding, we have constructed a methodology for analyzing co-evolutionary dynamics based on trajectories of best-of-generation individuals. We applied this methodology to gain insights into how to tune certain algorithm parameters in order to improve performance.
Ranking objects based on relationships

In many document collections, documents are related to objects such as document authors, products described in the document, or persons referred to in the document. In many applications, the goal is to find these objects that best match a set of keywords. However, the keywords may not necessarily occur in the target objects; they occur only in the documents. For example, in a product review database, a user might search for names of products (say, laptops) using keywords like "lightweight" and "business use" that occur only in the reviews but not in the names of laptops. In order to answer these queries, we need to exploit relationships between documents containing the keywords and the target objects related to those documents. Current keyword query paradigms do not exploit these relationships effectively and hence are inefficient for these queries.In this paper, we consider a class of queries called the "object finder" queries. Our main intuition is to exploit the relationships between searchable documents and related objects and further "aggregate" the document scores from these relationships in order to find the best ranking target objects. Building upon existing keyword search engines such as full text search, we design efficient algorithms that exploit the requirement of only the best k target objects to terminate early. The main challenge here is to push early termination through blocking operators such as group by and aggregation. Our experiments with real datasets and workloads demonstrate the effectiveness of our techniques. Although we present our techniques in the context of keyword search, our techniques apply to other types of ranked searches (e.g., multimedia search) as well.
Limiting amino acids for growing Holstein steers limit-fed soybean hull-based diets.

Studies were conducted to determine limiting amino acids (AA) for cattle limit-fed soybean hull-based diets. Ruminally cannulated Holstein steers were maintained in metabolism crates, fed the same basal diet (73% soyhulls, 19% alfalfa, DM basis), and given the same intraruminal infusions (400 g/d acetate; to supply energy without increasing microbial protein supply). Treatments were infused abomasally. In Exp. 1, steers (200 kg) were provided 1) water, 2) 10 g/d of methionine (MET), or 3) a mixture of 10 essential AA (10AA). Nitrogen retention (13.7 g/d) was greatest (P < .05) for steers receiving 10AA. Steers receiving MET (7.9 g/d) had greater (P < .05) N retention than control steers (5.4 g/d). In Exp. 2, steers (200 kg) were provided 10AA or 10AA with L-Lys deleted from the mixture. Steers receiving 10AA tended (P < .09) to have greater N retention (19.0 g/d) than those receiving no lysine (16.3 g/d). In Exp. 3, steers (194 kg) were provided 10AA or 10AA with L-Thr deleted from the mixture. Nitrogen retention was not affected by removal of threonine. In Exp. 4, steers (152 kg) were provided 10AA or 10AA with L-His, L-Trp, L-Arg, L-Phe, or branched-chain AA (L-Leu, L-Ile, and L-Val) removed. Nitrogen retention was reduced (P < .05) by removal of either L-His or the branched-chain AA. For steers limit-fed soybean hull-based diets, methionine was first-limiting; histidine, at least one of the branched-chain AA, and possibly lysine were also limiting.
Experimental studies on the parametrization of liquid spreading and dynamic contact angles

The dynamics of a spreading liquid are controlled by the details of the fluid motion very near the moving contact line. Modeling this motion is not trivial. The classical hydrodynamic model has a singular stress field at the moving contact line. This singularity prevents the use of the contact angle in dynamic conditions and predicts that an infinite force would be needed to sink a solid into a fluid. A model, valid in the small capillary number (Ca) limit, describes the fluid motion and viscous interfacial deformation near the moving contact line. The model contains a single free parameter, ω o , which can be related to material parameters and must be determined experimentally. Experiments are reported that tested the range of validity of this asymptotic hydrodynamic model. The fluid-vapor interface shape and fluid velocity field produced by a glass tube entering a bath of polydimethylsiloxane at constant speed were measured near and far from the contact line. They were compared with the model using the free parameter ω o as a fitting constant. This procedure established the validity of the theory and provided a means of measuring ω o . The ranges (in capillary number and in space) of validity of the theory were established. The model fails near the contact line at Ca ≥ 0.1. This failure starts near the contact line, propagates out and increases in magnitude as Ca increases. For Ca ≤ 0.1, the model with viscous deformation fails far from the contact line but describes the interface shape within ∼400 μm from the contact line. The model begins to fail at distances where the interface shape ceases to be controlled by geometry-independent viscous forces but responds instead to a competition between viscous and gravitational forces. At even larger distances from the contact line, viscous forces become negligible and the interface looks static-like. The experiments showed that the contact angle formed by the extrapolation to the solid surface of the static-like interface far from the contact line equals ω o as predicted by the theory. Comparisons of ω o and apparent dynamic contact angles based on meniscus height measurements, θ app , are presented. Small but systematic errors were found which increase with Ca. In contrast to ω o , θ app cannot be related to material parameters and hence cannot be used to generate archival modeling information for spreading dynamics.
Ovarian cancer in the elderly: Outcomes with neoadjuvant chemotherapy or primary cytoreduction

Abstract Background Recent studies have suggested inferior outcomes for elderly women with ovarian cancer. Our goal was to evaluate neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus primary cytoreduction in elderly women. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed for women aged 65+ diagnosed with ovarian cancer at our institution between 1997 and 2007. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate complication rates. Survival was evaluated with Cox regression and the Kaplan–Meier method. Results One hundred seventy-five patients were identified, 34 (19%) of whom were aged 80+. Those aged 65–79 and those 80+ received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with equal frequency (19% vs. 21%, p =0.92). Treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with odds ratios of 0.80 (95% CI 0.37–1.75) for surgical complications and 0.79 (95% CI 0.33–1.90) for chemotherapeutic complications. In those aged 80+, the frequency of surgical complications (OR 1.01, p =0.62) and chemotherapeutic complications (OR 1.04, p =0.78) did not differ compared to younger patients. Overall survival did not differ based on initial treatment regimen, with 34months in the primary surgery group and 29months in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group ( p =0.65). The median disease specific survival for those aged 65–79 was 35months, and 24months in those aged 80+ ( p =0.15). Post-operative mortality for patients aged 80+ was zero. Conclusions In our patient population, those aged 80+ have similar surgical and chemotherapy-related complication rates and comparable survival to those aged 65–79. The choice of initial treatment modality does not appear to impact survival when the decision is made in a selective fashion.
Active Surveillance of Prostate Cancer in African American Men

Active surveillance (AS) is a treatment strategy for prostate cancer (PCa) whereby patients diagnosed with PCa undergo ongoing characterization of their disease with the intent of avoiding radical treatment. Previously, AS has been demonstrated to be a reasonable option for men with low-risk PCa, but existing cohorts largely consist of Caucasian Americans. Because African Americans have a greater incidence, more aggressive, and potentially more lethal PCa than Caucasian Americans, it is unclear if AS is appropriate for African Americans. We performed a review of the available literature on AS with a focus on African Americans.
Geographical signatures of middle Atlantic estuaries: Historical layers

Estuaries of the middle Atlantic region can be characterized and viewed broadly against the backdrop of their geomorphologic features. While geomorphology is literally at the base of every estuary, these features do not necessarily yield regional signatures. A conceptual model, with layering in time and space, is proposed as an alternative to simplistic geomorphologic characterization. Humans have altered virtually every physical, chemical, and biological feature of middle Atlantic estuaries. A basic model premise is that middle Atlantic estuaries have a base of fundamental geomorphology features. Layered, in GIS fashion, on this base are the estuaries' components: climate, nutrients, water- shed soils and vegetation, producers, and consumers. These components have been so strongly influenced by humans in time and space that the signature is anthropogenic. As a consequence, best management practices, stock assessment, and restoration have replaced concepts such as ecosystem integrity and stability. The focus of the layered model is the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and although middle Atlantic estuaries differ along climatic and latitudinal gradients, all reflect the detrimental effects of a massive human presence. The ability or inability of middle Atlantic estuaries to absorb human perturbation over the last 10,000 years gives them their signatures. From the Hudson-Raritan to the Pamlico- Albemarle estuaries, we have made some progress in curbing our impacts. Nearly everything we do affects our estuaries, and our actions are proportional to the number of humans living in the watersheds. Continued population growth on our coasts and many years of abuse may be irreversible as our estuaries lose their ability to be self-regulating, biological systems.
Movie exposure to smoking cues and adolescent smoking onset: A test for mediation through peer affiliations.

Objective To determine whether the effect of movie exposure to smoking on adolescent smoking onset is mediated through increased affiliation with peers who smoke. Design A longitudinal study was conducted with a sample of 5th- 8th graders; persons who were nonsmokers at the baseline assessment (N = 2,614) were followed up 18 months later. Movie exposure to smoking cues was assessed at baseline with a rigorous coding procedure. Main outcome measure A school-based survey and follow-up telephone interview determined whether the participant smoked cigarettes. Results Longitudinal structural modeling analysis indicated movie-smoking exposure was related to smoking onset both through an indirect effect involving increased affiliation with peer smokers and through a direct effect. The analysis controlled for demographics, parenting style, rebelliousness and sensation seeking, school performance, parental smoking, and sibling smoking; several of these variables also had mediated or direct effects to smoking onset. Conclusion The effect of movie exposure on adolescent smoking onset is attributable in part to a social mechanism. Implications of media effects for prevention are discussed.
Vertical partitioning for query processing over raw data

Traditional databases are not equipped with the adequate functionality to handle the volume and variety of "Big Data". Strict schema definition and data loading are prerequisites even for the most primitive query session. Raw data processing has been proposed as a schema-on-demand alternative that provides instant access to the data. When loading is an option, it is driven exclusively by the current-running query, resulting in sub-optimal performance across a query workload. In this paper, we investigate the problem of workload-driven raw data processing with partial loading. We model loading as fully-replicated binary vertical partitioning. We provide a linear mixed integer programming optimization formulation that we prove to be NP-hard. We design a two-stage heuristic that comes within close range of the optimal solution in a fraction of the time. We extend the optimization formulation and the heuristic to pipelined raw data processing, scenario in which data access and extraction are executed concurrently. We provide three case-studies over real data formats that confirm the accuracy of the model when implemented in a state-of-the-art pipelined operator for raw data processing.
Laboratory culture and feeding of the hydromedusa Cladonema californicum Hyman (Anthomedusa: Cladonemidae)

Abstract This report describes culture, growth and feeding characteristics of the medusa stage of Cladonema californicum Hyman. Polyps were grown in the laboratory in order to collect undamaged medusae. Budding of medusae from polyps occurs predominantly during the light hours of a 12:12 light:dark cycle. Growth of medusae was most rapid when fed Artemia sp . nauplii; lower growth rates were associated with the harpacticoid copepod Tisbe sp. and the rotifer Brachionus . Ingestion rates of unstarved medusae are dependent upon bell diameter and, at all but the highest prey concentrations (300 prey/1), C. californicum medusae ingest prey at rates linearly related to prey concentration.
Stochasticity and reconnection in Hamiltonian systems

A general class of Hamiltonian systems is studied in which neighboring phase-space islands are shifted in phase. This leads to reconnection of Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser level curves and necessitates a reexamination of the island overlap criterion for the breakdown of adiabatic barriers between island chains. An analytic reconnection threshold is derived from an averaged Hamiltonian and found to agree closely with numerical surfaces of section for a model mapping. Numerous applications to physical problems are indicated.
Spectroscopy in the Second Minimum: Isotopic Limits, Lifetimes, and Magnetic Properties of Superdeformed Tl Nuclei

In-beam -ray spectroscopic studies of superdeformed bands in the mass 190 region are discussed with emphasis on recent results for Tl nuclei. Among those results, superdeformation at the edge of the region (in 189 Tl) and the first measurement of a superdeformed quadrupole moment in an odd-Z nucleus ( 191
Negative prospective memory: Remembering not to perform an action

Sometimes it is important to remember not to perform an action, such as remembering to stop taking seasonal allergy medicine when it is no longer needed. Mistakes in accomplishing this goal can involve prospective memory commission errors when individuals mistakenly perform a prospective response. In two experiments, we investigated the role of attentional resources in preventing prospective memory errors to cues that had been associated with a habitual prospective response. In Phase 1 of our experiments, participants performed a prospective memory task during which they either routinely responded to prospective memory cues or responded to these cues one time only. On a subsequent prospective memory task, the participants who had routinely responded to prospective memory cues were vulnerable to commission errors when their attentional resources were taxed. By contrast, dividing attention did not increase commission errors to cues that had not been routinely performed on an earlier task. These data indicate that attentional resources are needed to withhold making habitual prospective memory responses, and they suggest that inhibitory failures are a cause of these prospective memory errors. Finally, we suggest a broader definition of prospective memory that includes remembering to withhold performing actions.
Case Reports: Primary Penile Lymphoma Presenting as a Penile Ulcer

ABSTRACTPrimary penile lymphoma is rare. The clinical manifestations can be quite subtle, which may lead to misdiagnosis. Treatments have included radical surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. We report on an 18-year-old man with primary penile lymphoma whose lesion caused prolonged diagnostic uncertainty. He was treated with chemotherapy alone, and he has had no tumor recurrence for 27 months.
A comparison of neural network and fuzzy clustering techniques in segmenting magnetic resonance images of the brain

Magnetic resonance (MR) brain section images are segmented and then synthetically colored to give visual representations of the original data with three approaches: the literal and approximate fuzzy c-means unsupervised clustering algorithms, and a supervised computational neural network. Initial clinical results are presented on normal volunteers and selected patients with brain tumors surrounded by edema. Supervised and unsupervised segmentation techniques provide broadly similar results. Unsupervised fuzzy algorithms were visually observed to show better segmentation when compared with raw image data for volunteer studies. For a more complex segmentation problem with tumor/edema or cerebrospinal fluid boundary, where the tissues have similar MR relaxation behavior, inconsistency in rating among experts was observed, with fuzz-c-means approaches being slightly preferred over feedforward cascade correlation results. Various facets of both approaches, such as supervised versus unsupervised learning, time complexity, and utility for the diagnostic process, are compared. >
Ge-Related Interfacial Defects In SiGe Alloy Structures

This paper reports etching results supporting the identification of the SG1 center as a germanium dangling bond defect at the interface between an oxide and crystalline SiGe. The presence of this defect is significant because, like an analogous center in Si-based systems, it may alter the operation of any microelectronic or micro-optical device which incorporates an interface between SiGe and an overlying oxide. The samples examined are oxygen implanted SiGe layers in which the SG1 center is believed to occur at the interface between oxide precipitates and SiGe. Because of the center’s apparent relation to the oxide precipitates distributed through layers of the sample, a depth profile assists in confirming the interfacial nature of the defect. We obtain a depth profile by comparing electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of samples etched to decreasing thickness. EPR spectra indicate that the SG1 center decreases with depth in a manner that when correlated to a cross sectional transmission electron micrograph confirms the association with SiO2 and supports its location at the SiGe/SiO2 precipitate interface.
More than meets the eye: A hybrid-locomotion robot with rotary flight and wheel modes

Mobility in small ground robots is often improved by novel mechanisms or wheel designs. This can be successful when navigating rough terrain or climbing small obstacles. However, few such robots are capable of scaling obstacles of arbitrary height or traversing all types of terrain. This paper presents a concept for a miniature robot that combines wheeled ground locomotion with rotary-wing flight capabilities, which has the potential to offer the best features of both helicopters and ground vehicles while addressing the aforementioned challenges to mobility.
The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences.

What are the positive and negative consequences of telecommuting? How do these consequences come about? When are these consequences more or less potent? The authors answer these questions through construction of a theoretical framework and meta-analysis of 46 studies in natural settings involving 12,883 employees. Telecommuting had small but mainly beneficial effects on proximal outcomes, such as perceived autonomy and (lower) work–family conflict. Importantly, telecommuting had no generally detrimental effects on the quality of workplace relationships. Telecommuting also had beneficial effects on more distal outcomes, such as job satisfaction, performance, turnover intent, and role stress. These beneficial consequences appeared to be at least partially mediated by perceived autonomy. Also, high-intensity telecommuting (more than 2.5 days a week) accentuated telecommuting’s beneficial effects on work–family conflict but harmed relationships with coworkers. Results provide building blocks for a more complete theoretical and practical treatment of telecommuting.
Absence of maternal proteins in 5–7-day blastocyst fluid indicates limited protein passage before implantation

Rabbit serum albumin (RSA) and gamma globulin (RGG) were measured in fluid collected from single 5, 5.5, 6 and 6.5-day blastocysts of New Zealand White rabbits, using a radial immunodiffusion method capable of detecting a minimum of 2–5 μg/ml in 1 μl. The samples showed little or no RSA and RGG. Three sources of contamination in fluid collection were identified. They are, blastocyst contact with aqueous solutions used to flush them out or rinse them, carrying in of surface proteins by pipette tips and withdrawal of trophoblast from lemmas. It is shown that fluid collected without precautions to avoid contamination will contain uterine fluid constituents. Bovine serum albumin (BSA), RSA and RGG pass readily into blastocyst fluid in vitro and after intrauterine injection. However, such passage is abnormal because BSA does not appear in 5–7-day blastocyst fluid after intravenous injection of the mother (Kulangara and Crutchfield, '73) and normal 5–7-day fluid shows little or no RSA and RGG. High viscosity and pH in the normal uterine lumen greatly reduce protein passage so that only traces reach trophoblast cells, which seem to digest this protein with lysosomal enzymes and/or transport it outward, thereby maintaining a virtually protein-free blastocyst fluid, prior to implantation. Restriction of protein passage appears to be essential, since normal development is interrupted by intrauterine injections.
Rapid purification of gram quantities of β-sitosterol from a commercial phytosterol mixture

β-Sitosterol, a plant sterol or phytosterol, has commercial uses in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, but is also employed frequently in biological research. Phytosterols always accumulate as mixtures, and obtaining highly pure β-sitosterol in larger quantities for biological assays has been a challenge. An improved method for the rapid purification of β-sitosterol from a commercial phytosterol extract is presented. Fractional crystallization of soybean oil yielded a soluble and an insoluble fraction. β-Sitosterol was purified by silica gel and Na-Y zeolite chromatography. The rapid and cost effective three-step purification described here afforded β-sitosterol in gram quantities with high purity (>92%) and yield (>22%).