cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oxide targets for Gammasphere

Abstract We here report on recent experiments at GAMMASPHERE employing highly inverse, near-barrier reactions with silicon dioxide targets and use the Fragment Mass Analyzer (FMA) to collect the recoils. The 16O(58Ni,2n)72Kr reaction was studied with beams of 220 MeV 58Ni in excess of 15 pnA. Relatively few stable beam and target combinations are available to populate excited states in 72Kr, and the small cross sections of these reactions necessitate the use of targets that can withstand high intensity beam currents. A variety of oxygen containing targets were produced, with those made of silicon dioxide performing best. Over a period of 24 h of irradiation the oxygen content in these targets monotonically declined to about 1/3 of the original value. The silicon content did not appear to change. By inserting new sets of targets each 18-h-cycle an impressive data set was collected.
The effects of enriched CO2 atmospheres on plant-insect herbivore interactions: growth responses of larvae of the specialist butterfly, Junonia coenia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae).

Little is known about the effects of enriched CO2 environments, which are anticipated to exist in the next century, on natural plant-insect herbivore interactions. To begin to understand such effects on insect growth and survival, I reared both early and penultimate instar larvae of the buckeye, Junonia coenia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), on leaves from one of their major hostplants, plantain, Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae), grown in either ambient (350 PPM) or high (700 PPM) CO2 atmospheres. Despite consuming more foliage, early instar larvae experienced reduced growth on high CO2-grown compared to ambient CO2-grown leaves. However, survivorship of early instar larvae was unaffected by the CO2 treatment. Larval weight gain was positively correlated with the nitrogen concentration of the plant material and consumption was negatively correlated with foliar nitrogen concentration, whereas neither larval weight gain nor consumption were significantly correlated with foliar water or allelochemical concentrations. In contrast, penultimate instar larvae had similar growth rates on ambient and high CO2-grown leaves. Significantly higher consumption rates on high CO2-grown plants enabled penultimate instar larvae to obtain similar amounts of nitrogen in both treatments. These larvae grew at similar rates on foliage from the two CO2 treatments, despite a reduced efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) on the low nitrogen, high CO2-grown plants. However, nitrogen utilization efficiencies (NUE) were unaffected by CO2 treatment. Again, for late instar larvae, consumption rates were negatively correlated with foliar nitrogen concentrations, and ECI was also very highly correlated with leaf nitrogen; foliar water or allelochemical concentrations did not affect either of these parameters. Differences in growth responses of early and late instar larvae to lower nitrogen, high-CO2 grown foliage may be due to the inability of early instar larvae to efficiently process the increased flow of food through the gut caused by additional consumption of high CO2 foliage.
Biomass and nutrient distribution in eucalypt plantations growing on rehabilitated bauxite mines

The quantities of above ground biomass and nutrients accumulated by two eucalypt forests growing on rehabilitated bauxite mines in south-western Western Australia were determined. The plantation at one site was 7.5 years old and had no understorey. The plantation at the second site was 3.5 years old and had been sown with seed of leguminous understorey species, resulting in a dense understorey. Similar amounts of biomass had accumulated at the two sites. However, the second site, in which the legume understorey accounted for 67% of the total above ground biomass, had about three times as much nitrogen in its biomass as the site without an understorey. There was also more sulphur in the biomass at this site. There were similar amounts of other nutrients at both sites. The plantation with an understorey is considered more likely to develop into a forest similar to the eucalypt forest prior to mining than the plantation without an understorey.
Personal mastery predicts pain, stress, fatigue, and blood pressure in adults with rheumatoid arthritis

Among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), stress-associated disease flare can severely impact well-being. Psychological factors such as personal mastery may buffer an individual from the negative effects of those flares. We tested the hypothesis that a high sense of personal mastery would prospectively predict stress reactivity. Measures of pain,perceived stress, fatigue, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were collected before, during, and after two interpersonal stressors conducted on 73 individuals with RA. Factor analysis of the personal mastery scale yielded two independent factors: a 5-item "fatalism" component and a 2-item "control" component. Individuals with high fatalism scores reported overall greater joint pain at baseline and those scoring high on control exhibited lower MAP, and reported less stress and fatigue at baseline. After controlling for baseline differences, those high in control exhibited greater MAP increase during stress, and less drop in pain when compared to those low in control. These results suggest that individuals high in control may be more susceptible to the effects of acute stress; however, the overall beneficial aspects of high control outweigh the acute negative effects. Personal mastery may play a role in the experience of pain, stress, and fatigue for people with RA.
CFD simulation of an idealized urban environment: Thermal effects of geometrical characteristics and surface materials

Abstract Numerical fluid flow and heat transfer simulations of a street-scale urban environment are utilized to investigate the diurnal cycle of the urban thermal environment. Unsteady simulations forced with realistic solar load and wind and temperature profiles are performed based on Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations in the finite volume solver ANSYS/FLUENT 14.5. The simulations are carried out over an idealized geometry for a clear summer day in southern California. In comparison with previous studies, our model considers dynamic coupling of heat transfer and the flow field as well as non-uniform surface heating caused by solar insolation and building shadowing. Relative importance of urban design parameters, including urban aspect ratio (height-to-width of H / W = 1/3–3/2), surface albedo (0.18–0.35), and wind direction (0°, 45° and 90°) and speed (2 and 3 m s - 1 bulk flow) are investigated. Ground surface albedo is found to have the most influence on the urban facade temperature and the energy balance. Replacing asphalt with concrete as ground material decreased ground surface temperature by up to 8 K and increased building wall temperature by 3.5 K. In agreement with surface temperature Urban Heat Islands observations, high urban built-up density, specified by larger canyon H / W , increases the peak building wall temperature during the day, while the ground surface temperature is more sensitive to aspect ratio at night. Although the higher H / W decreases the penetration of direct solar radiation, an energy balance analysis suggests the wall temperature increase to be the result of decreasing convective cooling. For compact building configuration (canyon H / W of 1), rotating the wind direction 45° away from the canyon axis and increasing average bulk velocity at the inlet did not significantly influence the wind speed inside the canyon and therefore ground temperatures, while peak roof temperature is strongly influenced. Therefore urban built-up density outweighs the effects of wind speed and direction on the ground temperature.
Origin of Nitrogen-Methane Gas and Anomalously High Fluid Pressures, Sacramento Valley, California: ABSTRACT

Nitrogen gas is commonly found in natural gas accumulations within Cretaceous and younger rocks in selected areas of the Sacramento Valley. Considerations of a variety of data and concepts suggest that the nitrogen originates independently from and earlier than the methane with which the nitrogen is now commingled and that it does not originate within the sediments in which the natural gas accumulations are found today. The proposed answer is that the Sacramento Valley nitrogen originates from low-grade metamorphism of sedimentary rocks containing organic matter. By elimination, the enigmatic Franciscan rocks of the Coast Range province appear to be the most probable source of this nitrogen. Abnormally high fluid pressures also exist within the Cretaceous sediments of the Sacramento Valley and may play a critical role in the origin of the methane within this dry-gas province. The existing fluid-potential distribution strongly suggests that the abnormally high-fluid potentials are the result of tectonic compaction--stemming from continuous uplift of the Coast Ranges at least from late Tertiary into Recent time. The general fluid-potential distribution within the Sacramento Valley is such that vertically upward flow is commonly present. Water flowing upward through shales serving as methane sources would contain in solution different quantities of methane per unit volume of water depending upon the fluid pressures. The high solubilities of simple paraffin hydrocarbons in water as opposed to those of more complicated hydrocarbons and the exponential variation of these solubilities with pressure provide a mechanism for selectively transporting in aqueous solution essentially only simple paraffins--particularly methane--from a shale source at high pressure and discharging them as free gas at lower pressures in a reservoir rock. The operation of such a mechanism would be dependent upon significan vertical fluid-potential differences and would be independent of the age and degree of compaction of the shale. The methane for the Sacramento Valley dry-gas province thus may have evolved and accumulated fairly recently--subsequent to the presumed initiation of the regional high fluid potentials in late Tertiary time. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1757------------
Reactive uptake of nitric acid onto sodium chloride aerosols across a wide range of relative humidities.

Reactive uptake coefficients for nitric acid onto size-selected (dve = 102 and 233 nm) sodium chloride aerosols are determined for relative humidities (RH) between 85% and 10%. Both pure sodium chloride and sodium chloride mixed with magnesium chloride (XMg/Na = 0.114, typical of sea salt) are studied. The aerosol is equilibrated with a carrier gas stream at the desired RH and then mixed with nitric acid vapor at a concentration of 60 ppb in a laminar flow tube reactor. At the end of the reactor, the particle composition is determined in real time with a laser ablation single particle mass spectrometer. For relative humidities above the efflorescence relative humidity (ERH), the particles exist as liquid droplets and the uptake coefficient ranges from 0.05 at 85% RH to >0.1 near the ERH. The droplet sizes, relative humidity and composition dependencies, are readily predicted by thermodynamics. For relative humidities below the ERH, the particles are nominally “solid” and uptake depends on the amount of su...
Properties of orbitally excited heavy-light (Qq) mesons

Orbitally excited heavy-light (Qq\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}) mesons are potentially important as tools for tagging the flavors and momenta of ground-state pseudoscalars detected through weak decays. We use heavy-quark symmetry supplemented by insights gleaned from potential models to estimate masses and widths of p-wave B, ${\mathit{B}}_{\mathit{s}}$, and ${\mathit{D}}_{\mathit{s}}$ mesons. We generalize these results to higher excitations.
The Trinitarian House of David: Martin Luther's Anti-Jewish Exegesis of 2 Samuel 23:1–7

The second book of Samuel was a neglected work in the theological, exegetical, and liturgical traditions of the Western church from the Patristic era through the Protestant Reformation. The theological developments and articulations of the early church focused on the books of Genesis, John, and the great Pauline corpus;1 for example, 1 Corinthians was central to the fourth-century trinitarian debates2 and Romans to the soteriological discussions of the entire western tradition.3 Similarly, the book of Psalms had an enormous impact on the liturgical life of the church as well as its christological statements.4 One need only cast an eye back to Augustine's numerous commentaries on the book of Genesis to understand the profound depth with which certain books of the Christian Scriptures were interpreted in the early and medieval church.5
Development of a production target for FRIB: Thermo-mechanical studies

One of the challenges for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is the development of a high power target capable of rare isotope production by projectile fragmentation and in-flight separation at primary beam powers of up to 400 kW and at beam energies of 200 MeV/u for uranium. A small beam spot is required to achieve a high resolution in fragment separation which implies high power densities in the target. For FRIB a multi-slice rotating solid carbon disk was selected as the technical baseline concept. This paper presents the results from a number of critical experimental studies on the thermo-mechanical behavior of such a target. These studies were accompanied by extensive simulations in support of the development of a single-slice target. As a final step, a multi-slice 50 kW target that is a prototype for the FRIB production target was designed, built, and mechanically tested prior to beam tests to be performed.
Rotary Resonance Recoupling in Heteronuclear Spin Pair Systems

In solid state magic angle spinning experiments on a polycrystalline sample containing dilute heteronuclear spin pairs, the usual spectrum is insensitive to small heteronuclear couplings between the spins, and to the relative orientations of the various interaction tensors. Applying a radio frequency of an intensity chosen to satisfy a rotary resonance condition can restore the heteronuclear splittings in the spectrum. Theory and numerical simulations of this effect are presented. The sensitivity of the spectra to the intensity of the radio frequency field and to the relative orientations of tensors is explored. To fully explain the experimental results, it is necessary to postulate a small phase modulation induced by the motion of the sample through a radio frequency field of non-uniform direction.
Clearing the air: incorporating air quality and environmental justice into climate policy

In addition to lower carbon dioxide emissions, policies to reduce fossil fuel combustion can yield substantial air quality co-benefits via reduced emissions of co-pollutants such as particulate matter and air toxics. If co-pollutant intensity (the ratio of co-pollutant impacts to carbon dioxide emissions) varies across pollution sources, efficient policy design would seek greater emissions reductions where co-benefits are higher. The distribution of co-benefits also raises issues of environmental equity. This paper presents evidence on intersectoral, intrasectoral and spatial variations in co-pollutant intensity of industrial point sources in the United States, and discusses options for integrating co-benefits into climate policy design to advance efficiency and equity.
A view toward future fluid dynamics computing

Advances in computational fluid dynamics are paced by simulation methodology and computer resources. Examples of three-dimensional fluid dynamic simulations are presented to illustrate recent developments in equation modeling and numerical methods and to point out the need for increased computer power. Electronic technology dictates that to fill this need, computers will be based on parallel processing principles. The identification of parallelism in three dimensions is illustrated by examining an implicit, approximate-factorization approach to the Navier-Stokes equations. Finally, two computer concepts aimed at satisfying the demands of the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulations are discussed.
Single-Well Tracer Tests for Evaluating Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes

A method is presented for testing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes in a single well. The method uses a multitracer version of the single-well tracer test (SWTT) for determining residual oil saturation to measure the oil displaced by an EOR slug process. A test was conducted to demonstrate the validity of the method. This test and its results are described.
Effect of Sodium Chloride, Dulcitol and Glucose on the Growth of Proteus in Shaken and Static Broth Cultures

IT has recently been reported that Proteus is unique among Gram-negative bacteria of non-marine origin for possessing an ability to grow in the presence of high salt concentration1. Crisley2 showed that a strain of Proteus vulgaris grown in the presence of sodium chloride utilized more glucose and grew to a greater extent than when grown in the absence of sodium chloride. It has now been found that, not only does Proteus possess a high sodium chloride tolerance, but also gradually increases in growth when grown in broth cultures containing rising concentrations of this electrolyte. Furthermore, the addition of rising concentrations of either dulcitol or glucose to the broths has a similar effect on the growth of Proteus to that produced by the addition of sodium chloride, but it is of a lower order. When Proteus is grown in broths containing the same range of concentrations of sodium chloride, dulcitol and glucose, but which are agitated, an enhancement of growth occurs (compared with growth obtained in static culture), except for those cultures grown in broths containing glucose. This effect has been discovered as a result of experiments undertaken to elucidate the reasons for the formation of discrete colonies of Proteus on a solid medium consisting of the broth used above solidified with agar. Dulcitol was chosen because it is not fermented by Proteus, thus affording an ‘inert chemical’ the presence of which only exerted physical effects (Figs. 1, 2 and 3).
A deterministic interfacial cyclic oxidation spalling model

A series summation has been developed to model the iterative scale growth and spalling process of cyclic oxidation. Parabolic scale growth has been assumed. Interfacial spallation of a constant area fraction was stipulated to occur only at the thickest portions. Inputs are the parabolic growth rate constant, spall area fraction, oxide stoichiometry, and cycle duration. Outputs include the net weight change, amount of oxygen and metal consumed, and amount of oxide spalled. Classic weight change curves are produced with an initial maximum and final linear weight loss rate. This simplicity allowed for representation by explicit algebraic functions for all outputs and characteristic features. The maximum in weight change varies directly with the parabolic rate constant and cycle duration and inversely with the spall fraction, all to the 1/2 power. The ratio of the number of cycles to reach maximum and zero weight change is exactly 1:3, and these vary only with the inverse of the spall fraction. Many similarities to and some differences with previous cyclic models are identified.
Methods for eliminating bright point emissions from liquid crystal microdisplays

Due to limitations in manufacturing technology, current liquid crystal microdisplays cannot be manufactured without pixel defects. Among other defects, pixels can fail in their transmissive state, yielding a bright spot in the image relayed to the display wearer. Experience with military night-vision devices has shown that bright image defects can be extremely objectionable, as they can be distracting or can be incorrectly identified as objects of interest, such as targets. Image intensifier tube manufacturers eliminate bright point emissions by burning the image tube phosphor with a laser, effectively turning the bright spot into a black spot, an image defect considered far less distracting. Unfortunately, formal methods for eliminating bright point defects in liquid crystal microdisplays have not been thoroughly investigated. Methods such as severing circuitry or blasting the liquid crystal display pixel with a laser should be ineffective or even create a larger bright defect, further aggravating the problem. Numerous methods that could be applied are known to have advantages and disadvantages. This paper will examine the use of pixel blocks and fiberoptics as possible methods for eliminating or minimizing the visibility of bright point emissions and their impact on the visibility of the micro liquid crystal display.
Tailoring programs to models of program behavior

This paper considers the premise that, in addition to trying to solve the virtual-memory-system performance problem by devising a storage management strategy suitable for the broad spectrum of behavior exhibited by programs, efforts also be made to tailor the behavior of each program to the model underlying the storage management strategy under which the program will have to run. It is observed that a viable approach to program tailoring is offered by restructuring techniques. The application of dynamic off-line techniques to the tailoring problem is discussed, and an algorithm which may be used to fit program behavior to the working set model is described in detail as an example. The performance of this algorithm in dealing with two real-program traces is experimentally evaluated under a variety of conditions and found to be always satisfactory.
Dermatotoxic phenolics from glandular trichomes of Phacelia campanularia and P. pedicellata

Abstract The principal contact allergens of the glandular trichomes of Phacelia campanularia and P. pedicellata were identified, and their potential to elicit allergic contact dermatitis was tested with guinea pigs. The active compounds from P. campanularia are novel derivatives of farnesylhydroquinone. The sensitizer of P. pedicellata , also a new compound, is 2,4-dihydroxy-6-geranylphenyl acetate.
Economics of Technical Change in Wheat Production in the Indian Punjab

A quantitative assessment of the "green revolution" associated with Mexican varieties of wheat in the Indian Punjab is attempted as alternative to the usual impressionistic assessments. Results indicate that the technical change has been cost-saving and has not been strongly biased in either a labor-saving or a capital-saving direction. Wheat production experienced a favorable cost curve shift on the order of about 16 percent. Input demands per acre increased by about 25 percent. Increased capitalized land values lead to inferences about income distribution and constitute a source for reinvestments designed to maintain the momentum of the "green revolution."
Experience with cervical stenosis and temporary paralysis in athletes.

Object. Transient spinal cord injury (TSCI) in athletes presents one of the most challenging clinical scenarios. Management difficulties in and subsequent return-to-play decisions are especially important in those with cervical canal stenosis. Methods. Ten athletes (nine male and one female patients) were evaluated for TSCI. The diagnostic survey included physical and neurological examinations, plain radiographs with flexion—extension dynamic studies, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Clinical courses were followed and, in those who returned to contact sports activities, subsequent experience was noted. Symptoms consisted of paralysis, weakness, or numbness in all four extremities, their duration ranging from 15 minutes to 48 hours. Radiography revealed no evidence of fracture/dislocation or ligamentous instability. Spinal stenosis of 8 to 13 mm in length at three or more levels was evident in all cases. Four patients returned to competition without recurrent TSCI (mean follow-...
Differential Intra-abdominal Adipose Tissue Profiling in Obese, Insulin-resistant Women

Background We recently identified differences in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) from insulin-resistant (IR) as compared to obesity-matched insulin sensitive individuals, including accumulation of small adipose cells, decreased expression of cell differentiation markers, and increased inflammatory activity. This study was initiated to see if these changes in SAT of IR individuals were present in omental visceral adipose tissue (VAT); in this instance, individuals were chosen to be IR but varied in degree of adiposity. We compared cell size distribution and genetic markers in SAT and VAT of IR individuals undergoing bariatric surgery.
T-loop assembly in vitro involves binding of TRF2 near the 3' telomeric overhang.

Mammalian telomeres contain a duplex TTAGGG-repeat tract terminating in a 3′ single-stranded overhang. TRF2 protein has been implicated in remodeling telomeres into duplex lariats, termed t-loops, in vitro and t-loops have been isolated from cells in vivo. To examine the features of the telomeric DNA essential for TRF2-promoted looping, model templates containing a 500 bp double-stranded TTAGGG tract and ending in different single-stranded overhangs were constructed. As assayed by electron microscopy, looped molecules containing most of the telomeric tract are observed with TRF2 at the loop junction. A TTAGGG-3′ overhang of at least six nucleotides is required for loop formation. Termini with 5′ overhangs, blunt ends or 3′ termini with non-telomeric sequences at the junction are deficient in loop formation. Addition of non-telomeric sequences to the distal portion of a 3′ overhang beginning with TTAGGG repeats only modestly diminishes looping. TRF2 preferentially localizes to the junction between the duplex repeats and the single-stranded overhang. Based on these findings we suggest a model for the mechanism by which TRF2 remodels telomeres into t-loops.
Multifractal Power Law Distributions: Negative and Critical Dimensions and Other ''Anomalies,'' Explained by a Simple Example

“Divergence of high moments and dimension of the carrier” is the subtitle of Mandelbrot's 1974 seed paper on random multifractals. The key words “divergence” and “dimension” met very different fates. “Dimension” expanded into a multifractal formalism based on an exponent α and a function f(α). An excellent exposition in Halsey et al. 1986 helped this formalism flourish. But it does not allow divergent high moments and the related inequalities f(α)<0 and α<0. As a result, those possibilities did not flourish. Now their time has come for diverse reasons. The broad 1974 definitions of α and f allow α<0 and f(α)<0, but the original presentation demanded to be both developed and simplified. This paper shows that both multifractal anomalies occur in a very simple example, which has been crafted for this purpose. This example predicts the power law distribution. It generalizes α and f(α) beyond their usual roles of being a Holder exponent and a Hausdorff dimension. The effect is to allow either f or both f and α to be negative, and the apparent anomalies are made into sources of new important information. In addition, this paper substantially clarifies the subtle way in which randomness manifests itself in multifractals.
A journey of a thousand miles

Increased efforts are needed to create better and more welcoming environments for international scholars within academe.
“I Know This Isn't PC, But …”: Religious Exclusivism among U.S. Adolescents

Despite the growing pluralism of American society, the proportion of Americans who maintain exclusivist religious beliefs is sizable. This study focuses on adolescence—a period when independent rel...
Remote detection of Raman scattering by use of a holographic optical element as a dispersive telescope.

We describe the retrieval of nighttime lidar profiles by use of a large holographic optical element to simultaneously collect and spectrally disperse Raman-shifted return signals. Results obtained with a 20-Hz, 6-mJ/pulse , frequency-tripled Nd:YAG source demonstrate profiles for atmospheric nitrogen with a range greater than 1 km for a time average of 26 s.
Mechanical properties of layered poly(ethylene glycol) gels

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels have become a popular material for biomedical applications because of their versatility in use and design. As these gels are readily crosslinked under UV, microfabrication techniques have been investigated to manufacture complex three dimensional structures to better mimic the in vivo environment. This work investigated whether a layering technique to fabricate gels offered sufficient strength between the layers to perform similarly in mechanical testing to unlayered gels. Two mechanical tests were performed: tensile tests and peel tests. The tensile tests, which examined sample gels whose test sections were crosslinked for different durations, demonstrated no statistical differences in elastic modulus between sample and control gels. As expected, a statistical increase in the elastic modulus was found with increased PEG concentration. Comparison of the yield stress between samples and controls illustrated differences with total crosslinking duration, which may be due to the decreased molecular weight of the chains with decreased crosslinking time. In peel tests, no statistical differences of maximum peel force were found between samples and controls. However, an increase in the maximum peel force was found with increasing concentration of PEG. Overall, this study demonstrates that the layering process described for the PEG gels has minimal impact on the tested mechanical properties of the system. As mechanical properties are critical to the design of tissue engineered devices, these results demonstrate that this fabrication method may be appropriate for further study as a scaffold for complex cellular systems.
SOLARE: Self-Organizing Latency-Aware Resource Ensemble

This paper proposes and evaluates Self-Organizing Latency-Aware Resource Ensemble (SOLARE), a peer-to-peer self-organizing and self-managing cluster system based upon network coordinates and utility functions. In contrast to previous works, SOLARE is a fully decentralized clustering algorithm without any central units such as servers, super peers, cluster heads or landmarks. Furthermore, SOLARE allows for adaptability to dynamic network changes by monitoring the utility of a cluster and migrating nodes to other higher-utility clusters when the utility of an existing cluster is low. Quantitative, simulation-driven evaluations show that SOLARE is able to satisfy user demands expressed by utility functions that integrate system parameters in terms of intra cluster latencies and the number of cluster members. Also, we verify the ability of SOLARE to adapt to dynamic network changes through simulation based experiments that consider the number of nodes which migrate into another cluster and average utility value as nodes join SOLARE.
Scribe characterization vehicle test chip for ultra fast product wafer yield monitoring

Sub 100nm technology nodes face more wafer to wafer and lot to lot variability. 300mm wafer manufacturing also faces larger within wafer spatial trends. Monitoring those issues on a per layer basis as well as correlating them to the product yield is key for significant yield improvements. A novel characterization vehicle/spl reg/ (CV/spl reg/) has been developed, which is being used in the scribe line of product wafers. The scribe CV test chip achieves an extremely efficient placement of defect sensitive test structures by arranging those in all layers underneath probing pads that are implemented in the top metal layer only. Placed next to product chips all scribe CV test chips on a wafer can be tested in less than 10 minutes per 300mm wafer. Data analysis unveils layer specific defect densities and fail rates, spatial wafer trends, excursion wafers, and more.
Algorithm 921: alphaCertified: Certifying Solutions to Polynomial Systems

Smale’s α-theory uses estimates related to the convergence of Newton’s method to certify that Newton iterations will converge quadratically to solutions to a square polynomial system. The program alphaCertified implements algorithms based on α-theory to certify solutions of polynomial systems using both exact rational arithmetic and arbitrary precision floating point arithmetic. It also implements algorithms that certify whether a given point corresponds to a real solution, and algorithms to heuristically validate solutions to overdetermined systems. Examples are presented to demonstrate the algorithms.
The spliceosome as ribozyme hypothesis takes a second step

The spliceosome is a massive assembly of 5 RNAs and many proteins that, together, catalyze precursor-mRNA (pre-mRNA) splicing. The splicing mechanism involves 2 steps: (i) cleavage of the 5′ exon–intron phosphodiester bond and formation of a new 2′–5′ bond resulting in an intron “lariat,” and (ii) exon ligation (Fig. 1A). This 2-step phosphoryl transfer mechanism is suspiciously identical to the reaction catalyzed by the group II self-splicing introns, which are ribozymes. The precedent for a ribozyme-catalyzed splicing mechanism, combined with the fact that the spliceosome has an RNA core that has been highly conserved for >1 billion years, led researchers to hypothesize that the spliceosome may use an RNA-based catalytic mechanism (1). However, the spliceosome as ribozyme hypothesis has been exceedingly difficult to prove, for 2 major reasons. First, the spliceosome contains many proteins that are essential for splicing (2). Second, the uncatalyzed rate of RNA ligation in vitro is significant when measured over many hours (3). This latter point makes it difficult to establish whether an inefficient reaction is actually caused by a catalytic rate enhancement or occurs spontaneously because of template-driven proximity. This is a particular concern for 1-step phosphoryl transfer reactions. Furthermore, it is possible to serendipitously obtain unrelated activities from RNAs, perhaps because a significant region of RNA conformational space retains some degree of catalytic activity (4). Therefore, it is important to be very cautious when interpreting an inefficient RNA-based reaction. The relevance of using engineered, protein-free RNA systems to study splicing has been recently argued (5, 6). In a recent issue of PNAS, Valadkhan et al. (7) demonstrated that an RNA complex derived from the spliceosome can perform a reaction that resembles splicing (Fig. 1B). This finding is significant because the reaction appears to be identical to the second step of splicing and is ≈10-fold more efficient than previous studies that used similar RNAs (8–10).
Attention bias and anxiety in young children exposed to family violence

BACKGROUND: Attention bias toward threat is associated with anxiety in older youth and adults and has been linked with violence exposure. Attention bias may moderate the relationship between violence exposure and anxiety in young children. Capitalizing on measurement advances, this study examines these relationships at a younger age than previously possible. METHODS: Young children (mean age 4.7, ±0.8) from a cross-sectional sample oversampled for violence exposure (N = 218) completed the dot-probe task to assess their attention biases. Observed fear/anxiety was characterized with a novel observational paradigm, the Anxiety Dimensional Observation Scale. Mother-reported symptoms were assessed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children. Violence exposure was characterized with dimensional scores reflecting probability of membership in two classes derived via latent class analysis from the Conflict Tactics Scales: Abuse and Harsh Parenting. RESULTS: Family violence predicted greater child anxiety and trauma symptoms. Attention bias moderated the relationship between violence and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Attention bias toward threat may strengthen the effects of family violence on the development of anxiety, with potentially cascading effects across childhood. Such associations maybe most readily detected when using observational measures of childhood anxiety. Language: en
Effects of prenatal stress on pregnancy and human development: mechanisms and pathways

A growing body of research shows that prenatal stress can have significant effects on pregnancy, maternal health and human development across the lifespan. These effects may occur directly through the influence of prenatal stress-related physiological changes on the developing fetus, or indirectly through the effects of prenatal stress on maternal health and pregnancy outcome which, in turn, affect infant health and development. Animal and human studies suggest that activation of the maternal stress response and resulting changes in endocrine and inflammatory activity play a role in the aetiology of these effects. Ongoing research is focusing on clarifying these mechanisms, understanding the role of racial and cultural factors in these effects, and examining the epigenetic and transgenerational influences of prenatal stress.
The Dog Narratives: Benefits of the Human–Animal Bond for Women With HIV

Companion animals play important roles in the lives of people managing the many symptoms associated with a chronic illness such as HIV. The authors explored meaningful examples of pets, particularly dogs, and their place in support networks among women living with AIDS/HIV. Data were collected via focus group, as part of a larger Photovoice project. Qualitative analysis discovered three key related themes. Emerging themes included pet as spiritual custodian, pet as unconditional source of support, and pet providing a sense of purpose. The comments these participants made about their dogs allowed us to explore culturally embedded notions about animal companionship; the ability to know when one is sick, frightened, emotionally upset, or facing a spiritual crisis. The women also shared the importance of nonjudgmental support in the wake of a stigmatized diagnosis, and the ways pets provided a sense of purpose.
Exposing the Contents of the Brown Bag – The FCPA's Arms Length Reach

Globalization leads to cross-border business transactions between societies with very different norms and regulations regarding bribery. Bribery in international business transactions can be seen as a function of not only the demand for such bribes in different countries, but the supply, or willingness to provide bribes by multinational firms and their representatives. This paper discusses the impact of transnational bribery – in particular the degree to which it delays and distorts political and economic development. It highlights the scope of the FCPA, constitutional implications, and recent impact on international business transactions. This paper discusses how illicit payments constitute a heavy “tax” on foreign direct investment, thus damaging investment in countries where corruption is high, and the predictability of rewards is low, and makes suggestions for policy reform.
Evaluation of the standardization needs of microgrids technology

Microgrid has played a crucial role in solving problems caused by integration of distributed generation and therefore be comes an effective and efficient means for promoting renewable energy utilization and improving power supply reliability. This paper summarizes the key technologies and standardization needs for microgrid development and applications, based on the market needs and industry status. Some key features of a microgrid that distinguish it from traditional power grid and smart grid are de scribed. After review of the relevant activities currently under going in IEEE and IEC, recommendations for microgrid standardization based on the existing work are proposed.
Adhesion Analysis for MEMS Based on Electrical Contact Resistance Measurements

Because adhesion forces are especially important at the submicron scale, they play a dominant role in several fields of nanotechnology, such as biology, atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging, magnetic disk drives, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The profound importance of adhesion forces in MEMS has been the principal theme of several studies. A common approach for measuring the surface energy is based on balancing the elastic energy stored in microcantilever beams partially adhered to substrates with the work of adhesion, assumed equal to the surface energy multiplied by the apparent area of the attached beam length. However, because the apparent contact area is significantly larger than the real contact area and the elastic energy stored in the deformed asperity microcontacts is neglected, this traditional method may greatly underestimate the interfacial adhesion energy. Consequently, the objective of this study was to develop a method for determining indirectly adhesion forces and adhesion energies form relatively simple in situ electrical contact resistance (ECR) measurements. The method presented herein is based on a theoretical treatment of the ECR encountered during contact of isotropic, conductive, rough surfaces, using multi-scale fractal description of the equivalent surface topography, constitutive contact relations for elastic-perfectly plastic asperity microcontacts, and size-dependent constriction resistance of microcontacts. Results are presented for the adhesion force and adhesion energy in terms of ECR for different surface topographies.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Interior-point algorithms for global optimization

We describe recent developments in interior-point algorithms for global optimization. We will focus on the algorithmic research for nonconvex quadratic programming, linear complementarity problem, and integer programming. We also outline directions in which future progress might be made.
Glucose Metabolism in Lung Slices of Late Fetal, Newborn, and Adult Rats

SummaryWe have studied several aspects of glucose metabolism in lung slices of late fetal, neonatal, and adult rats. There was no significant difference in glucose uptake or in CO2 production among the three groups. Lactic acid production was 10.9 ± 2.2, 8.5 ± 1.5, and 7.1 ± 0.5 μmoles/100 mg dry wt/hr; 15.3 ± 3.7% of glucose was metabolized via the hexosemonophosphate pathway in lungs of late fetal animals and 6.2 ± 2.5% in those of adults.
Meniscus-Shear Particle Detachment in Foam-Based Cleaning of Silicon Wafers with an Immersion/Withdrawal Cell

New experimental data collected at Lam Research Corporation and theoretical analyses are presented for aqueous-foam cleaning of silicon wafers contaminated with strongly adhered 90 nm Si 3 N 4 particles (Freer et al. 2010). We analyze the distribution of contaminant removal along the wafer surface and the influence of foam quality in a vertical rectangular slot upon wafer immersion/withdrawal. At zero foam quality, particle removal along the wafer surface is uniform. Increased foam quality leads to improved overall removal. Removal, however, is no longer uniform with larger detachment rates toward the bottom of the wafer. To explain the observed nonuniform particle removal, we adopt a binary-collision model that demands a linear dependence of removal rate on the surface shear rate. Perturbation analysis provides the distribution of the wall shear rate along the wafer surface in an unfoamed solution. Calculations show that the wall shear rate on the wafer surface is strongly peaked in the meniscus just above the liquid-filled slot. Thus, with no foam present, removal in the meniscus zone dominates the overall removal process. Because the time of exposure to this high shear is the same for all parts of the surface, we obtain uniform cleaning. With foam bubbles present, the wall shear rate in the slot is enhanced, leading to significant removal in the bulk of the slot. Because the residence time of a wafer in the bulk cleaning solution varies for different parts of the wafer, contaminant removal in the bulk of the slot depends on the vertical position. Combined particle removal in the meniscus zone and in the slot leads to the observed nonuniform distribution of contaminant particles remaining on the wafer surface. Increasing foam quality increases the slot wall shear rate and, hence, the removal rate inside the immersion/ withdrawal cell.
Records in Writing the Book"The Development History of Chinese Contemporary Literature"

The author in the paper reviews the events when he wrote the hook"The Development History of Chinese Contemporary Literature",aiming to record the whole research process in which his research thinking and ideology were revealed.
A Response Threshold Sigmoid Function Model for Swarm Robot Collaboration

We present a multi agent collaboration algorithm to recruit an approximate number of individually simple robots with controllable variance. We propose a sigmoid response threshold function motivated by task allocation in social insects, and describe macro-level models backed by micro-level simulations to predict the resulting team sizes and their variance. These results are further validated through physical experiments using the “Droplet” swarm robotics platform. We show that the slope of the response threshold function can be used to control the variance of group size, allowing agents to trade off deterministic team size with coordination speed, and making the proposed mechanism applicable to a variety of applications.
Dacron patch enlargement of anterior wall of left ventricle after aneurysmectomy with concomitant infarctectomy

The basis for left ventricular aneurysmectomy with cardiopulmonary bypass was established 20 years ago. There is a higher risk in patients who undergo operation within 2 months of myocardial infarction. In these patients there may be no clear demarcation between devitalized tissue and residual healthy myocardium. A case is reported in which anterolateral aneurysmectomy with concomitant infarctectomy so compromised left ventricular size that the anterolateral wall of the left ventricle had to be reconstructed with a Dacron patch graft.
Examining Liquid Hydrogen Wettability Using Neutron Imaging

The control of propellant boil-off is essential in long-term space missions. However, a clear understanding of propellant cryogenic condensation/evaporation in microgravity is lacking. One of the key factors in designing such systems is the location of liquid surfaces and the relation to wettability. The BT-2 Neutron Imaging Facility located at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, is used to image evaporation and condensation of hydrogenated propellants inside of an aluminum 6061 container. Liquid hydrogen has larger neutron cross-section area than the aluminum, allowing the visualization of the liquid-vapor interface. The test cell has a conical section that enables determination of a contact angle with enhanced accuracy. If the contact angle is equal to the angle of the cone, a flat liquid-vapor interface is expected. The test cell has the cone angle of 10o and a flat interface was not observed. Using the Laplace-Young equation to fit the interface, the contact angle for hydrogen and aluminum was between 0° and 4°. The theoretical Laplace curves with contact angles of 2o and 10o are plotted on the liquid-vapor interface. The of 2o curve is a closer fit as compared to the 10o curve. The uncertainty arises from resolution limits of the neutron imaging setup and edge detection. More details on the neutron imaging mechanism and relevant physics can be found from the authors' other publication of Cryogenics, 74, pp131-137, 2016: doi:10.1016/j.cryogenics.2015.10.016.
Review of recent development: Exponential smoothing - I

Some new insights and results for exponential smoothing with application to forecasting and parameter estimation. Multidimensional exponential smoothing is described by a Kalman filter model with a limiting stationary gain matrix.