cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bubble dynamics in double stranded DNA: A Rouse chain based approach

Abstract We propose a model for the fluctuation dynamics of the local denaturation zones (bubbles) in double-stranded DNA. In our formulation, the DNA strand is modeled as a one dimensional Rouse chain confined at both the ends. The bubble is formed when the transverse displacement of the chain attains a critical value. This simple model effectively reproduces the autocorrelation function for the tagged base pair in the DNA strand as measured in the seminal single molecule experiment by Altan-Bonnet et al. (2003) [2] . Our model goes beyond a single reaction coordinate description by incorporating the chain dynamics through a confined Rouse chain and thus considers the collective nature of the dynamics. Our model also shows that the autocorrelation function is very sensitive to the relaxation times of the normal modes of the chain, which is obvious since the fluctuation dynamics of the bubble has the contribution from the different normal modes of the chain.
The long-term course of severe anorexia nervosa in adolescents: survival analysis of recovery, relapse, and outcome predictors over 10-15 years in a prospective study.

Objective To assess the long-term course of recovery and relapse and predictors of outcome in anorexia nervosa. Method: A naturalistic, longitudinal prospective design was used to assess recovery and relapse in patients ascertained through a university-based specialty treatment program. Patients were assessed semiannually for 5 years and annually thereafter over 10–15 years from the time of their index admission. Recovery was defined in terms of varying levels of symptom remission maintained for no fewer than 8 consecutive weeks. Results: Nearly 30% of patients had relapses following hospital discharge, prior to clinical recovery. However, most patients were weight recovered and menstruating regularly by the end of follow-up, with nearly 76% of the cohort meeting criteria for full recovery. Relapse after recovery was relatively uncommon. Of note, time to recovery was protracted, ranging from 57–79 months depending on definition of recovery. Among restrictors at intake, nearly 30% developed binge eating, occurring within 5 years of intake. A variety of predictors of chronic outcome and binge eating were identified. There were no deaths in the cohort. Conclusion: The course of anorexia nervosa is protracted. Predictors of outcome are surprisingly few, but those identified are in keeping with previous accounts. The intensive treatment received by these patients may account for the lower levels of morbidity and mortality when considered in relation to other reports in the follow-up literature. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Eat Disord 22: 339–360 1997.
Linking Documents to Encyclopedic Knowledge

Wikipedia has become one of the largest online repositories of encyclopedic knowledge. Wikipedia editions are available for more than 200 languages, with entries varying from a few pages to more than 1 million articles per language. Embedded in each Wikipedia article is an abundance of links connecting the most important words or phrases in the text to other pages, thereby letting users quickly access additional information. An automatic text-annotation system combines keyword extraction and word-sense disambiguation to identify relevant links to Wikipedia pages.
Cyclic Antidepressant Toxicity in Children and Adolescents

We retrospectively evaluated the clinical and laboratory findings of all patients admitted to our facility during a 6.5-year period with a history of cyclic antidepressant ingestion (CAD). Outcome parameters [admission CAD concentration, arterial pH, and corrected QT (QTc) and QRS intervals] used in adult populations to predict morbidity after CAD ingestion were applied to our study population. During the study period, 45 patients (mean ± SD age of 11.8 ± 5.6 years) were admitted with CAD ingestion. Conduction delays were present in 17 patients, 9 of whom had QTc intervals greater than 0.43 seconds. Seven patients had generalized seizures; 7 required mechanical ventilation; 14 had Glasgow Coma Scores of 8 or lower on presentation; and one required pharmacologic support for hypotension. In our cohort, the mean admission serum CAD concentration was 461.5 ± 477.4 ng/mL. Correlations were found between the arterial pH, the QRS interval, the QTc interval, and the admission CAD serum concentration. In an analysis of three subsets of patients (i.e., those with seizures, coma, and respiratory insufficiency), only patients who presented with seizures were found to have a significant prolongation in the QRS and QTc intervals. Pediatric patients who have ingested CADs and present with seizures would appear to be at increased risk for having conduction delays, cardiac dysrhythmias, and, presumably, attendant morbidity and mortality associated with an ingestion.
Reactions of Ar2+ ions with neutral molecules

Abstract A selected-ion drift chamber mass spectrometer was used to measure rate coefficients and product channels for the reactions of Ar 2 + with H 2 , CO, O 2 , CO 2 , N 2 O and SO 2 . In most cases, the reactions were found to proceed by charge transfer. Compared with the reactions of Ar + ions, the Ar 2 + ions react quickly with these molecules, except for H 2 . The rate coefficients for the reactions of Ar 2 + with oxygen were found to be dependent on argon pressures in the drift chamber. The rate coefficients are compared with data from other authors where possible and are discussed with respect to reaction efficiencies.
Xenon Hexafluoride: Preparation of Pure Form and Melting Point.

Xenon hexafluoride forms an addition compound with sodium fluoride which can be used to separate it from the other xenon fluorides and oxyfluoride. The melting point of pure xenon hexafluoride prepared in this way was 47.7 ± 0.2°C.
Delivery Room Intervention: Improving the Outcome

The authors have conducted video review of neonatal resuscitations since 1999. Over this 10-year period 3 phases of our experience have been recognized. Our early reviews helped us recognize what we were doing in the delivery room, an area that had been ignored in improved intervention. It was noted that on many occasions multiple people were trying to accomplish the same task, that bag and mask ventilation was almost exclusively the purview of the respiratory therapists and was not performed well by others, and that infants with low birth weight were often hypothermic on admission. After determining what was being done and how well it was being done, we moved on to how to do it better. This period included making environmental changes by warming the room, the use of occlusive wrap, determining the effectiveness of bag and mask ventilation with colorimetric CO(2) detectors, and the introduction of crew resource management to develop consistent and effective communication. The third and current phase of our experience is to determine how these interventions affect delivery room and potentially later outcomes. Well-designed clinical trials are still needed to further establish the most optimal resuscitation interventions.
Statistical Study of Thermal Fracture of Ceramic Materials in the Water Quench Test

The Weibull statistical theory of fracture was applied to thermal shock of ceramics in the water quench test. Transient thermal stresses and probability of failure were calculated for a cylindrical specimen cooled by convection. The convective heat transfer coefficient was calibrated using the time to failure which was measured with an acoustic emission technique. Theoretical failure probability distributions as a function of time and quench temperature compare favorably with experimental results for three high-alumina ceramics and a glass.
Gray-scale data pages for digital holographic data storage.

Many of the attractive features of holographic data storage — such as high capacity, high density, and fast readout — are due to the use of large pixellated data pages, which are recorded into a photosensitive material as volume holograms [1–3]. It is often claimed that each hologram can store as many bits of digital data as there are pixels in the data page. To this end, most of the work performed in the field has used binary encoding, where pixels take one of two distinct states — ON(bright) and OFF (dark), corresponding to binary 1 and 0 — to encode one bit of information. Preceding chapters have shown that the coding introduced to maintain acceptable bit-error-rate (BER) comes with an unavoidable overhead cost, resulting in somewhat less than one bit per pixel. In this chapter, we discuss the use of gray-scale: recording and detecting more than two brightness levels per pixel, leading to more than one bit of data per pixel.
Dynamics of climatic hazards in northeast Brazil

Departure characteristics of the large-scale circulation are studied in relation to extreme drought and flood years in northeastern Brazil identified from a collective of long-term rainfall stations and series of river discharge. Ship observations during 1911–72 compiled with a one degree square resolution and extending between 30°N and 30°S from the African coast to the eastern Pacific form a major observational basis. The rainy season of northeastern Brazil is narrowly centred around March/April and is related to the southernmost seasonal migration of a lower-tropospheric confluence axis over the adjacent eastern tropical Atlantic. the ‘Sěcas’ of Ceara province are characterized by an equatorward expansion of the South Atlantic, and a poleward retraction of the North Atlantic, high - associated with a northward displacement of the enclosed near-equatorial trough of low pressure. Concurrently, the zonally oriented bands of maximum cloudiness and precipitation frequency stay farther north, the North Atlantic trades weaken, and the South Atlantic trades become stronger than in the long-term mean. the sea surface temperature pattern during a deficient rainy season in northeast Brazil is characterized by positive departures in a broad band across the North Atlantic and in the eastern Pacific, and anomalously cold waters in most of the South and equatorial Atlantic. During abundant rainy seasons in northeast Brazil, departure patterns are approximately inverse to those typical of drought years. A strong negative linkage exists between northeast Brazil rainfall and sea surface temperature along the Ecuador/Peru coast. This seems to be caused by inverse long-term pressure variations over the eastern South Pacific and South Atlantic oceans, which in turn may be part of large-scale mass adjustments of the Southern Oscillation type. Development of the equatorward expansions of the North and South Atlantic highs, pre-season precipitation in northeast Brazil and the Guayanas, and location of the cloudiness and precipitation belts over the adjacent western tropical Atlantic, are among the more promising predictors for seasonal foreshadowing of extreme rainy season behaviour in northeast Brazil.
Mappings and homological properties in the Conley index theory

The role in the Conley index of mappings between flows is considered. A class of maps is introduced which induce maps on the index level. With the addition of such maps to the theory, the homology Conley index becomes a homology theory. Using this structure, an analogue of the Lefschetz theorem is proved for the Conley index. This gives a new condition for detecting fixed points of flows, extending the classical Euler characteristic condition.
Synthesis of oxidation-resistant metal nanoparticles via atomic layer deposition

Oxidation-resistant iron nanoparticles were produced via the decomposition of iron oxalate particles followed by in situ passivation with ultrathin alumina films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Decomposition and passivation were carried out in a fluidized bed reactor at low pressure and under mechanical agitation. Films were deposited using self-limiting, sequential surface reactions of trimethylaluminium and water. Thermo-gravimetric studies determined that two different mechanisms were involved in the decomposition of iron oxalate. The iron nanoparticles were highly pure as verified by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Reduction of particle size was achieved via a cryogenic milling process and enhanced by the natural breakage of porous oxalate particles during processing. Synthesized iron particles had a primary size in the range of 50–80 nm. As demonstrated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), highly conformal alumina films were deposited on individual nanoparticles with an average growth rate of 0.16 nm/cycle. Superior oxidation resistance at 427 °C was achieved after particles were coated with an 8 nm alumina film. After the coating process, the particles were ferromagnetic.
Modeling and simulation analysis types for sustainable manufacturing

Sustainable manufacturing could be promoted by the effective use of Modeling and Simulation (M&S) applications. These applications can evaluate manufacturing operations in light of increasing legislation and awareness for environmental protection. They can help determine the operational policy and strategy, and evaluate day-to-day manufacturing decisions to comply with regulations and to improve a company's image. However, in order to accomplish these objectives, existing and future simulation applications need to be enhanced to include sustainability constructs. This paper describes a classification of M&S application areas along functionality and data requirements axes that are necessary to achieve sustainable manufacturing objectives. The classification can in turn be used to perform requirements analyses for those applications and develop data repositories necessary to build and execute the simulation models.
Electron beam halo formation in high-power periodic permanent magnet focusing klystron amplifiers

Electron beam halo formation is studied as a potential mechanism for electron beam losses in high-power periodic permanent magnet focusing klystron amplifiers. In particular, a two-dimensional (2-D) self-consistent electrostatic model is used to analyze equilibrium beam transport in a periodic magnetic focusing field in the absence of a radio frequency (RF) signal, and the behavior of a high-intensity electron beam under a current-oscillation-induced mismatch between the beam and the periodic magnetic focusing field. Detailed simulation results are presented for choices of system parameters corresponding to the 50-MW, 11.4-GHz periodic permanent magnet (PPM) focusing klystron experiment performed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). It is found from the self-consistent simulations that sizable halos appear after the beam envelope undergoes several oscillations, and that the residual magnetic field at the cathode plays an important role in delaying the halo formation process.
Organoboranes for synthesis. 13. Simple, efficient syntheses of long-chain alcohols and carboxylic acids.

Abstract General, convenient and simple syntheses of long straight chain alcohols and carboxylic acids were developed utilizing organoborane chemistry. One of the methods entails the thermal isomerization of long-chain alkyldicyclohexylboranes, followed by oxidation. An alternative procedure for the preparation of long-chain alcohols involves the KAPA isomerization of internal alkynes to the terminal derivative, followed by dihydroboration with 9-BBN and oxidation. Alternatively, the terminal alkyne can be oxidised directly to the carboxylic acid. In another strategy, the C 30 -alcohol triaxontanol was prepared by employing high pressure carbonylation of a borane intermediate.
Development of a hand-held real-time decision support aid for critical care nursing

In the current health care environment, nurse clinicians must work "faster and smarter" making complex decisions on almost a continual basis. Evidence-based knowledge and standardized guides, such as clinical algorithms, can support clinical nursing decisions, however; effective real-time access is limited. This paper outlines research addressing this problem. In this research, current clinical knowledge is delivered to the clinician via an off-the-shelf handheld computer using wireless access to a central server and data repository. Innovative minimal-set database, data mining and knowledge discovery algorithms using a combination of case based and rule based learning with added confidence measures permitting bi-directional (forward and backwards) inferencing based on individual client data are developed and presented for the hand held device. The technology provides real-time decision support for the multiple cases and sequential decisions characterizing present critical care nursing practice. Nurses will be able to consider a full range of alternative explanations, determine additional data needs, find, isolate and examine patient case outliers for additional diagnostic data or verify the appropriateness of a selected strategy. Once fully developed the system will have the capacity to maintain a history of a series of decisions and outcomes thereby over time improving the case base and rule bases used for decision support. Outcomes of the real time decision support aid include more timely health care, less biased decisions, and improved patient outcomes.
Recent changes in productivity and climate of Lake Ontario detected by isotopic analysis of sediments

Cores from Lake Ontario provide a record of lake :rcsponses to increased phosphorus loading that began after early forest clearance in the mid-1800s. We measured1XY2C ratios of organic and inorganic C (calcite) in the sediments to infer recent .trends in primary production. The 6% of organic C increased in response to historic increases in P enrichment until the mid- 1970s and then decreased in response to reduced P loading. The 6°C of calcite increased after 1940 but did not decrease in response to reduced P loading. We conclude that the results differ because 8°C of organic C is determined by primary production early in the seasonal cycle when flux of organic C to the sediments is greatest, whereas 6°C of calcite depends on the isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic C during late summer when calcite is precipitated. Calcite accumulation and its 613C ratio oscillated after 1940 with peaks estimated at 1948, 1966, 1977, and 1983. These peaks correspond to minima in ,6’*0 values, indicating calcite precipitation at higher temperature, and to years of early thermal stratification. We hypothesize that calcite accumulation and its stable isotopic ratios are controlled by interannual variability in onset of thermal stratification of the lake. Our results thus suggest a direct link from climate (i.e. thermal stratification) to interannual variation in lake productivity and to carbonate precipitation and its 6% signature.
Nitric oxide produced by cytokine-activated pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells is cytotoxic to cocultured endothelium

Background We recently demonstrated that rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle (RPASM) generates maximal nitric oxide (NO) when exposed to inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ. Our hypothesis is that NO produced by cytokine-stimulated RPASM has local cytotoxic effects on endothelium. Accordingly, we designed a pulmonary smooth muscle and endothelial coculture experiment in which the effects of NO on endothelium can be distinguished from the direct effects of cytokines. Methods RPASM cells were incubated with a mixture of TNF-α (500 units/ml) and IFN-γ (100 units/ml) for 24 hours. This cytokine mixture was then removed and the NO producing smooth muscle cells were incubated in a coculture transwell system with rat pulmonary artery endothelial (RPAE) cells. Subsequent NO production (as measured by nitrite concentration in cell supernatants), and the number of viable attached endothelial cells were then measured at 48 hours. Results RPASM continued to produce large amounts of NO, in the absence of further cytokine stimulation, after a 24-hour exposure to TNF-α and IFN-γ. This RPASM-generated NO decreased the number of viable attached endothelial cells after 24 hour RPASM-RPAE coculture by 57%. The competitive stereospecific inhibitor of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), N G -monomethyl- l -arginine (NMA), returned the inducible NO production to basal levels and reversed the cytotoxic effects on endothelial cells. The number of viable attached endothelial cells returned to control levels. Conclusions The NO produced by cytokine-activated RPASM has local cytotoxic effects on RPAE in coculture. Such NO produced in the vasculature may be a factor in the origin of acute lung injury under conditions of trauma and sepsis.
Pharmacology of combination chemotherapy of cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) and uracil arabinoside (ara-U) or tetrahydrouridine (THU) against murine leukemia L1210/0 in tumor-bearing mice

Deamination of cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) by cytidine deaminase (Cyt DA) is the main mode of the inactivation of this drug in vivo. Tetrahydrouridine (THU) and the deamination product, uracil arabinoside (ara-U) are potent inhibitors of Cyt DA. We investigated whether ara-U or THU pretreatments can protect ara-C from excessive deamination in tumor- (L1210) bearing mice. In order to determine this, plasma concentrations of ara-C, ara-U, and the intracellular levels of ara-CTP, the active anabolite of ara-C, were assayed. The control peak plasma levels of ara-C and ara-U were 3.3 and 0.78 mM and they were eliminated with a half life (t 1/2) of 1.26 and 1.43 hours, respectively. One hour pretreatment with a nontoxic dose of ara-U (single dose of 300 mg/kg intraperitoneally), resulted in increased ara-C levels by 5.9-fold, while ara-U increased 14.3 fold in comparison with controls. A 24-hour (every 8 hours) pretreatment with ara-U increased ara-C plasma levels by 3.0-fold and it was eliminated with a t 1/2 of 1.21 hours. One hour pretreatment with THU (single dose 25 mg/kg intraperitoneally) enhanced ara-C plasma levels by 5.3-fold. In control L1210/0 acid extracts, ara-CTP peaked at 2 hours and reached 2030 +/- 85 microM; ara-CTP was eliminated with a t 1/2 1.47 hours. The ara-CTP cellular concentrations after 1- and 24-hour pretreatments were 1875 +/- 534 and 2624 +/- 429 microM at 4 hours; the t 1/2 were 2.20 and 1.44 hours, respectively. The THU pretreatment resulted in a peak concentration of ara-CTP of 2208 +/- 366 microM at 2 hours and was eliminated with a t 1/2 of 2.54 hours. We concluded that all pretreatments increased both the peak plasma ara-C concentrations and the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC). One hour ara-U pretreatment did not enhance the peak ara-CTP cellular concentration, but did extend the t 1/2. The 24-hour ara-U and the 1-hour THU pretreatments increased, to some extent, the cellular ara-CTP concentrations, but these differences were not statistically significant. THU pretreatment increased the time the peak occurred and the t 1/2 of ara-CTP. The area under the cellular ara-CTP concentration-time curve (AUC) in L1210 cells was either the same or increased by a small amount after the pretreatments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists prevent kainate neurotoxicity in rat retinal ganglion cells in vitro.

Under defined culture conditions, exogenous glutamate (Glu), NMDA, or an endogenous Glu-related toxin is lethal to rat retinal ganglion cells; these detrimental effects are NMDA receptor mediated because specific NMDA antagonists can prevent cellular injury. In the presence of an endogenous Glu-like toxin, 125 microM kainate (KA) increases the proportion of retinal ganglion cells that die, but the toxicity (due to both KA and the endogenous toxin) is totally prevented by 2-amino-5- phosphonovalerate (APV), a specific NMDA receptor antagonist. These findings indicate that the KA-induced portion of retinal ganglion cell death also appears to be mediated via NMDA receptors. There are at least 2 possible mechanisms for this lethal effect. In addition to KA receptors, KA could directly stimulate NMDA receptors. Alternatively, KA might activate its own specific receptor, which in turn leads to a net increase in the release of an endogenous Glu-related toxin; this endogenous substance would then activate NMDA receptors. Patch-clamp electrophysiology experiments have helped to distinguish between these possibilities. Concentrations of APV that completely block the current elicited by maximal nondesensitizing doses of NMDA exert no detectable inhibition of KA-evoked currents. Hence, at the concentrations used, it appears unlikely that KA directly activates NMDA receptors in this preparation. Furthermore, the fraction of toxicity attributed to the addition of KA can be blocked by the relatively specific non-NMDA antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that KA adds an increment of toxicity in this system by directly interacting with KA receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Epigenetic Regulation: The Interface Between Prenatal and Early-Life Exposure and Asthma Susceptibility

Asthma is a complex disease with genetic and environmental influences and emerging evidence suggests that epigenetic regulation is also a major contributor. Here, we focus on the developing paradigm that epigenetic dysregulation in asthma and allergy may start as early as in utero following several environmental exposures. We summarize the pathways important to the allergic immune response that are epigenetically regulated, the key environmental exposures associated with epigenetic changes in asthma genes, and newly identified epigenetic biomarkers that have been linked to clinical asthma. We conclude with a brief discussion about the potential to apply newly developing technologies in epigenetics to the diagnosis and treatment of asthma and allergy. The inherent plasticity of epigenetic regulation following environmental exposures offers opportunities for prevention using environmental remediation, measuring novel biomarkers for early identification of those at risk, and applying advances in pharmaco-epigenetics to tailor medical therapies that maximize efficacy of treatment. 'Precision Medicine' in asthma and allergy is arriving. As the field advances this may involve an individually tailored approach to the prevention, early detection, and treatment of disease based on the knowledge of an individual's epigenetic profile.
A WD40 Domain Cyclophilin Interacts with Histone H3 and Functions in Gene Repression and Organogenesis in Arabidopsis

Chromatin-based silencing provides a crucial mechanism for the regulation of gene expression. We have identified a WD40 domain cyclophilin, CYCLOPHILIN71 (CYP71), which functions in gene repression and organogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Disruption of CYP71 resulted in ectopic activation of homeotic genes that regulate meristem development. The cyp71 mutant plants displayed dramatic defects, including reduced apical meristem activity, delayed and abnormal lateral organ formation, and arrested root growth. CYP71 was associated with the chromatin of target gene loci and physically interacted with histone H3. The cyp71 mutant showed reduced methylation of H3K27 at target loci, consistent with the derepression of these genes in the mutant. As CYP71 has close homologs in eukaryotes ranging from fission yeast to human, we propose that it serves as a highly conserved histone remodeling factor involved in chromatin-based gene silencing in eukaryotic organisms.
Do organizations that voluntarily participate in a program differ from non-participating organizations?

Abstract The goal of this study was to assess potential participation bias in a program that required voluntary participation of organizations. Evaluations of intervention studies are often limited to information provided by program participants, with little or nothing known about non-participants. Alcohol Risk Management (ARM) Express was a training program designed to encourage alcohol businesses to implement policies to prevent illegal alcohol sales. To assess whether establishment characteristics and practices predicted participation in the program, we evaluated recruitment and establishment characteristics and estimates of illegal alcohol sales rates. Type of establishment was associated with participation in the program, with gas stations, grocery and convenience stores participating more often than other businesses. Other establishment characteristics and rates of illegal alcohol sales were not associated with participation in the program, showing that high-risk alcohol establishments were just as likely as other alcohol establishments to voluntarily participate in an alcohol policy training program.
Geophysical Dielectric Constant Determination

A theoretical correlation technique, based on data derived from the geophysical experimental results available in the literature, is offered for typical earth and planetary surface-soil dielectric constants and conductivity. Then an experimental equipment design is given for use in such work. This instrumentation was built and used at the University of Houston to verify the said technique. A similar experiment has been proposed, to be performed on the lunar surface by astronauts in the Apollo program.
Directions for Future Research

Future research should examine other potentially compromising features of confidential informant (CI) management, such as using juveniles, illegal aliens, jailhouse informants, how motivation leads a CI to either turn on their handler or commit other crimes while they are working, the costs and benefits of buying information from a CI, and the relationship between wrongful convictions, personal injury or death, and policy weaknesses involving CIs. Lastly, it would be interesting to compare CIs who have and who have not been subjected to pre-deployment integrity testing to determine if there is a significant qualitative difference in the cases they represent. These areas present a research agenda for issues involving CIs that have implications for legitimacy and American jurisprudence.
Metal Silicides Formed by Direct Ion Beam Deposition

Thin films of transition metal silicides have been produced at low temperatures on Si substrates by direct ion beam deposition (IBD) of the metal ion. Using a mass-analyzed beam of metallic ions rastered over the target at energies on the order of 100 eV and at substrate temperatures near 500°C, stoichiometric silicide films of varying thicknesses up to 300 nm have been formed on both n- and p-type Si. The advantages of this technique over other methods for silicide formation include good control of thickness by current integration, high purity due to the mass analysis, and control of incident ion energy which permits formation of the disilicide phase at low temperatures, thereby minimizing the thermal budget and the associated dopant diffusion in the underlying substrate. Films were characterized by Rutherford backscattering, transmission electron microscopy, and electrical measurements. Co, Fe, Ni, Ti, and W silicides have been formed by this direct deposition process. The effectiveness of the technique has been found to be dependent upon the diffusion characteristics of the particular metal/Si couple involved, with systems in which Si is the dominant diffuser, such as Ti/Si, giving the best results. Stoichiometric TiSi 2 films produced at 550°C by this process show low bulk-like resistivity (15 μΩ-cm) without subsequent high-temperature annealing. All of these characteristics make silicide formation by IBD attractive for integrated circuit fabrication and shallow junction technology.
Patch-Specific Foraging by the Robber Fly Megaphorus willistoni (Diptera: Asilidae)

The insect prey of the robber fly Megaphorus willistoni (Cole) were sampled in three habitat patches characterized by different plant species and assemblages of potential prey. The prey taken by M. willistoni varied with differences among sites in the relative abundance of Hymenoptera. Predator electivity was consistently positive for large bees, tiphiid wasps, and sphecid wasps and was usually negative or zero for small halictid bees and non-Hymenoptera. The relationship of the results to studies of the foraging behavior of individual robber flies is discussed
Mercury poisoning and its treatment with N-acetyl-D,L-penicillamine.

Abstract Severe chronic elemental mercury poisoning produced in a factory worker the signs usually attributed to organic mercury poisoning. Since it is known that the converse occurs, the two types...
Physiological Determinants of Lower Esophageal Sphincter Function

The factors which determine lower esophageal sphincter (LES) function in man are poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to define and compare the physiological characteristics of LES circular smooth muscle to smooth muscle from the adjacent esophagus and stomach of the opossum in vitro as a basis for understanding LES function in vivo. Length-tension curves were constructed for circular smooth muscle strips from esophagus, LES, and stomach. Length of optimal tension development (Lo) was used as a standard reference for the comparison of dose-response curves for acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and synthetic gastrin I. Lo for LES muscle occurred with less stretch than Lo for adjacent areas. At Lo, LES muscle responded at a lower threshold dose, and produced a greater peak active tension to all agonists (P 0.05). The threshold dose for gastrin I on the LES was 100-fold less that at each of the other regions (P
Robust Higher Order Statistics.

Sample estimates of moments and cumulants are known to be unstable in the presence of outliers. This problem is especially severe for higher order statistics, like kurtosis, which are used in algorithms for independent components analysis and projection pursuit. In this paper we propose robust generalizations of moments and cumulants that are more insensitive to outliers but at the same time retain many of their desirable properties. We show how they can be combined into series expansions to provide estimates of probability density functions. This in turn is directly relevant for the design of new robust algorithms for ICA. We study the improved statistical properties such as B-robustness, bias and variance while in experiments we demonstrate their improved behavior.
Promoting Stimulants to Increase Educational Equality: Some Concerns.

Ray (2016) argues that there is a moral imperative to explore the usefulness of stimulants for improving the educational opportunities of disadvantaged children. Contrary to popular beliefs that us...
Some limiting factors in meta-analysis.

In first explicating the notion of quantitative literature review for the social sciences, Glass (1976) argued that knowledge is not built from any individual study, but from the integration of findings from many studies. Individual studies do not so much yield knowledge as evidence with which knowledge can be built. Knowledge is socially constructed. To overemphasize a single study’s findings or integrate research only impressionistically leaves researchers knowing less than the evidence offers, insufficiently exploiting the wealth of data scattered in separate studies.
Evaluating Public Health Policies

The motion picture Casablanca takes place at Rick’s Cafe Americain, a chic nightclub adjacent to the airport in the Moroccan city. It is December 1941, just before full-scale warfare erupted between the Allied and Axis powers. Rick Blaine, the American owner of the cafe, gazes at the airport’s beacon light. Captain Louis Renault, a French police prefect appointed by the Vichy regime, sits at a table on the cafe terrace. He asks Rick: ‘And what in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?’ Rick replies: ‘My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.’ Because the Saharan Desert occupies the southern part of Morocco, Renault wonders: ‘Waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.’ Rick counters: ‘I was misinformed.’1
Myelin P2 Protein in Transthyretin (Ser-84) Vitreous Amyloid

In familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, transthyretin (TTR)-amyloid is deposited in peripheral nerve (PN) and frequently in ocular vitreous. We explored the possiblity that a common factor may be implicated in amyloidogenesis in these two tissues. We studied the PN myelin protein, P2, which shares conformational homology with serum retinol-binding protein (RBP), a known ligand of TTR. We performed immunoblot analysis using a polyclonal antiserum to purified bovine P2 (a gift of S.W. Brostoff) and detected an immunoreactive band co-migrating with P2 (apparent M.W. 15 kDa) in bovine vitreous. A prominent P2 band was also detected in 3 of 4 samples of vitreous amyloid fibrils from patients carrying the Serine-84 TTR mutation, but not in supernatant fractions. RBP, a component of the normal mammalian vitreous, was not present in amyloid fibril or supernatant fractions. Our findings raise the possibility that TTR-amyloidogenesis may involve a specific interaction between mutant TTR and P2 protein.
Approximation on Pseudoconvex Domains

Here we discuss some problems in approximation which are related to the problem of finding pseudoconvex neighborhoods. Since we omit various topics, we refer the reader to the articles of Birtel [4], Henkin and Chirka [16], and Wells [28].
The Diet of the Hispaniolan Snake Hypsirhynchus ferox (Colubridae)

Hypsirhynchus is a diurnal, terrestrial colubrid endemic to Hispaniola. It has a stocky, viperid-like body and head, with a relatively attenuated snout. It is strictly saurophagous, and undergoes an ontogenetic expansion in diet from small, largely scansorial iguanids (Anolis) to a large teiid (Ameiva chrysolaema). Comparisons are made with Uromacer frenatus dorsalis, an Hispaniolan tree snake that exhibits a similar dietary change.
Base-victim compression: an opportunistic cache compression architecture

The memory wall has motivated many enhancements to cache management policies aimed at reducing misses. Cache compression has been proposed to increase effective cache capacity, which potentially reduces capacity and conflict misses. However, complexity in cache compression implementations could increase cache power and access latency. On the other hand, advanced cache replacement mechanisms use heuristics to reduce misses, leading to significant performance gains. Both cache compression and replacement policies should collaborate to improve performance.In this paper, we demonstrate that cache compression and replacement policies can interact negatively. In many workloads, performance gains from replacement policies are lost due to the need to alter the replacement policy to accommodate compression. This leads to sub-optimal replacement policies that could lose performance compared to an uncompressed cache. We introduce a novel, opportunistic cache compression mechanism, Base-Victim, based on an efficient cache design. Our compression architecture improves performance on top of advanced cache replacement policies, and guarantees a hit rate at least as high as that of an uncompressed cache. For cache-sensitive applications, Base-Victim achieves an average 7.3% performance gain for single-threaded workloads, and 8.7% gain for four-thread multi-program workload mixes.
Prediction of near-term increases in suicidal ideation in recently depressed patients with bipolar II disorder using intensive longitudinal data

Background There are substantial gaps in understanding near-term precursors of suicidal ideation in bipolar II disorder. We evaluated whether repeated patient-reported mood and energy ratings predicted subsequent near-term increases in suicide ideation.
Augmented cities: revealed narratives

The human relationship with the environment, history, and culture is framed by our already embedded experiences and mental images---we see what we expect to see. In turn, cultural and technological context continuously forms new mental images. This continuous feedback loop is expressed by the punchline to Microsoft's HoloLens commercial: "when you change the way you see the world, you can change the world you see." This exact paradigm of mutually dependent perception and reality is at the core of the contemporary discourse on immersive media environments. While this is not a new phenomenon, but one which has occurred multiple times throughout history, current implementations seem to be more disruptive, transformative, and at the same time promising in the way they engage everyday lives and connect emotionally with users.
Virtual reality systems for business

Preface An Overview of Virtual Reality Systems for Business Introduction to Virtual Reality Systems for Business A Framework for Business-Oriented Virtual Reality Systems Bibliography Computer Hardware and Software in Virtual Reality Systems for Business Computer Hardware in a VR Environment Computer Software in a VR Environment Computer Databases and Data Communications in a VR Environment Bibliography Building Virtual Reality Systems for Business Development of Virtual Reality Systems for Business Bibliography Applications of Virtual Reality Systems for Business Retailing and Marketing in a Business-Oriented VR Environment Design and Manufacturing in a Business-Oriented VR Environment Accounting and Finance in a Business-Oriented VR Environment Training and Human Resources in a Business-Oriented VR Environment Bibliography Index
Product platform design to improve commonality in custom products

Many companies find it difficult to maintain commonality and economies of scale in products with strict customer design requirements that may vary greatly from contract-to-contract or piece-to-piece. These strict and varied requirements typically result in highly customized products that are costly to manufacture, involve small production runs, and require long delivery times. In this paper, we discuss how the strategic incorporation of product platforms into the design process can leverage the design effort of individually customized products. The example involves the design of cross-sections for yokes used to mount valve actuators in the nuclear power industry. Through this example we demonstrate the process of creating a market segmentation grid, choosing a targeted segment, creating a product platform for the yoke cross-section, and subsequently defining the yoke product family using the product platform concept exploration method. The end result is a platform-based product family that will improve response to customer requests, reduce design and manufacturing costs, and improve time to market for companies that make small production runs of highly customized products.
Synthesis of As-Cast Ti-Al-V Alloy from Titanium-Rich Material by Thermite Reduction

We present a novel methodology for preparing as-cast Ti-Al-V alloy directly from titanium-rich material through a thermite reduction. The new method is shown to be feasible through a thermodynamics and dynamics analysis. The as-cast Ti-Al-V alloys synthesized from titanium dioxide, rutile, and high-titanium slag were analyzed by an x-ray diffractometer, a scanning electron microscope, an inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer, and an oxygen/nitrogen/hydrogen analyzer. The results indicate that the alloy is composed of a Ti-Al-V matrix and Al2O3 inclusions. The Al and V contents in the matrix are close to the mass ratio of Ti-6Al-4V (Al: 5.5–6.8 wt.%, V: 3.5–4.5 wt.%). The Si and Fe in the alloys synthesized from rutile and high-titanium slag can be used as alloying elements in low-cost titanium alloys. The present method is expected to be useful for preparing Ti-Al-V alloys at a low production cost.
Preregistered Replication of “Affective Flexibility: Evaluative Processing Goals Shape Amygdala Activity”:

The human amygdala is sensitive to stimulus characteristics, and growing evidence suggests that it is also responsive to cognitive framing in the form of evaluative goals. To examine whether different evaluations of stimulus characteristics shape amygdala activation, we conducted a preregistered replication of Cunningham, Van Bavel, and Johnsen's (2008) study demonstrating flexible mapping of amygdala activation to stimulus characteristics, depending on evaluative goals. Participants underwent functional MRI scanning while viewing famous names under three conditions: They were asked to report their overall attitude toward each name, their positive associations only, or their negative associations only. We observed an interaction between condition and rating type, identified as the effect of interest in Cunningham et al. (2008). Specifically, postscan positivity, but not negativity, ratings predicted left amygdala activation when participants were asked to evaluate positive, but not negative, associations with the names. These results provide convergent evidence that cognitive framing, in the form of evaluative goals, can significantly alter whether amygdala activation indexes positivity or negativity.
Pragmatic effects of polarity items revealing focal prominence in Mandarin word order

This paper investigates the information structure of Mandarin Chinese word order through studying the distribution of minimizers, a distinct class of negative polarity items. The emphatic nature of minimizers is an effective indicator for distinguishing the strength of focal prominence in different syntactic construals. The corpus analysis compares the frequency of minimizers in different word order patterns, in different strategies of modification, and in different forms. The results show that their distribution is associated with how arguments are profiled in the information structure since minimizers tend to occur in the positions where their pragmatic inferences are maximally induced. The distribution of minimizers is the result of weighing syntactic constraints and pragmatic effects. The study contributes to characterizing the fine differences of the word order patterns in terms of focal saliency.
Pervasive Retail Strategy Using a Low-Cost Free Gaze Estimation System

This paper proposes a pervasive retail architecture based on a free human gaze estimation system. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the possibility to automatically understand the behavior of the persons looking at a shop window: this is done by a gaze estimation technique that uses a RGB-D device in order to extract head pose information from which a fast geometric technique then evaluates the focus of attention of the persons in the scene (even more persons at the same time). The main contribution concerns with the application into this challenging research field of a gaze estimation working without any initial calibration and, in spite of this, able to properly deal with completely unaware persons moving in unconstrained environments. Preliminary experiments were conducted in our lab in order to quantitative validate the accuracy of the gaze estimation on different benchmarks of persons. Then the qualitative evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed architecture was conducted in a real shop window demonstrating the ability to deal with real challenging environmental conditions.
An analysis of shoulder outcomes scores in 275 consecutive patients: disease-specific correlation across multiple shoulder conditions.

ABSTRACTObjectives: To determine the outcomes scores of military patients who initially present with a variety of shoulder conditions, identify which scores demonstrate the highest correlation per diagnosis, and determine if a difference exists for patients who went onto surgery. Methods: Two-hundred and seventy five consecutive patients with mean age of 36.5 ± 12.9 at presentation completed baseline outcomes assessments that included Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Score, Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI), Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC), the Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Index (DASH). The patients were grouped by clinical, radiographic, and surgical findings into 10 diagnostic categories. Outcomes: The initial mean outcomes scores were SANE 48.8, ASES 50.1, WOSI 1279 (40% normal), WORC 1122.4 (47% normal), SST 6.7, and DASH 33.1. Patients with superior labrum anterior–post...