cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Examining Teacher Use of Praise Taught During Behavioral Consultation: Implementation and Generalization Considerations

In this study we examined the extent to which teachers implement and generalize a praise intervention learned during behavioral consultation. Four elementary teachers and 15 of their students (3–4 per teacher) participated in the study. In each classroom, 1 student was randomly assigned as the consultation target student, 1 as the generalization target student, and the remaining as nontarget students. Within a randomized multiple baseline across teacher-participants design, data measuring treatment integrity, the consultation process, teacher intervention behaviors, and student outcomes were collected across 4 conditions: baseline, intervention implementation, generalization prompt, and generalization training. Results indicated that teachers did not consistently implement or generalize the praise intervention as a result of the conditions of the consultation process. The major limitations of treatment integrity, student selection, and a possible mismatch in teachers' training/philosophy of behavior manag...
Profiles of radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction changes induced by supine bicycle exercise in normals and patients with coronary heart disease.

This paper presents the profiles of left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) during and following supine bicycle exercise in normal subjects and in patients with coronary heart disease, as well as the relationship of the described patterns to clinical parameters. Twenty normal men and 40 patients with coronary artery disease were studied using gated equilibrium radionuclide angiography (EQ-EF). In the normals, during exercise, EF increased by a mean of 25% of the resting value, with an increase of no less than 11%. The exercise-limiting symptom in patients with coronary artery disease was angina pectoris in 20 and fatigue in the other 20 patients. In the angina patients, there was a mean decrease in EF of 20%, and in the other coronary artery disease patients ejection fraction changed little. Only two patients with coronary artery disease increased ejection fraction from a normal resting value to peak exercise by more than 11%, and they had isolated right coronary lesions. An “overshoot” elevation of ejection fraction above resting levels was demonstrated following termination of exercise in most patients. The patients with a significant fall in exercise ejection fraction more frequently had abnormal exercise-induced ECG changes as well as abnormal left ventriculograms and more severe coronary artery disease at cardiac catheterization than the patients with little change in ejection fraction. We conclude that 1) normals could be separated from most patients with significant coronary artery disease in this study population; 2) ejection fraction must be measured at maximal exercise for it to have diagnostic value, since there could be a normal rise before and after peak exercise and an abnormal response missed; and 3) the ejection fraction response to exercise reflects the severity of the underlying coronary artery disease. The described patterns of exerciseinduced changes in left ventricular ejection fraction are important to consider when using this new technique to diagnose and evaluate patients with coronary artery disease.
Interference effects between flexible cylinders in waves

Abstract An approximate method is presented to estimate the hydrodynamic loading and associated structural response of each of a pair of free-standing, bottom-nounted, flexible circular cylinders subjected to a regular train of linear surface waves. The cylinders are aligned parallel to the incident wave direction and the response of each is assumed to be one-dimensional and governed by a beam equation. The solution technique for the fluid velocity potential involves replacing scattered waves by equivalent plane waves together with non-planar, first-correction terms, and can be shown to be a large-spacing approximation. Numerical results are presented which show the influence of the various wave and structural parameters on the hydrodynamic loading and dynamic response of the individual cylinders.
Occupational Skin Hazards From Ultraviolet (UV) Exposures

The various types of UV effects on the skin are classified according to the part of the spectrum and their beneficial or deleterious nature. Some hazardous ultraviolet sources used in industrial processes are described, and examples of photoallergy, phototoxicity, and photosensitization resulting from UV exposures are given. The incidence of skin cancer as a function of geographical location and exposure to sunlight is discussed in relation to natural and artificial exposures to long and short wavelength UV, especially in connection with tanning booths. The conclusion is reached that there is enough ultraviolet in a normal environment to propose a hazard, and additional ultraviolet exposure from industrial or consumer sources is not necessary, and should be eliminated wherever possible.
Picosecond Raman studies of electric-field-induced nonequilibrium carrier distributions in GaAs-based p-i-n nanostructure semiconductors

Electron transport in GaAs‐based p‐i‐n nanostructure semiconductors under the application of an electric field has been studied by transient Raman spectroscopy on a picosecond time scale and at T≂80 K. For an injected carrier density of n≂2.2×1018 cm−3 and electric field intensity E=25 kV/cm, the drift velocity of electrons as high as Vd=2.5×107 cm/s was observed. These experimental results are in good agreement with Ensemble Monte Carlo calculations.
Singular perturbation analysis of the pore creation transient.

Electroporation, in which electric pulses create transient pores in the cell membrane, is an important technique for drug and DNA delivery. Electroporation kinetics is mathematically described by an advection-diffusion boundary value problem. This study uses singular perturbation to derive a reduced description of the pore creation transient in the form of a single integrodifferential equation for the transmembrane voltage $V(t)$. The number of pores and the distribution of their radii are computed from $V(t)$. The analysis contains two nonstandard features: the use of the voltage deviation to peel away the strong exponential dependence of pore creation upon the transmembrane potential, and the autonomous approximation of the pore evolution. Comparing the predictions of the reduced equation with the simulations of the original problem demonstrates that this analysis allows one to predict with good accuracy the number and distribution of pores as a function of the electric pulse strength.
Reactions of ortho-hydroxydiphenylmethane as a probe of catalyst aging during lignin hydroprocessing

Abstract The aging anticipated of a typical lignin hydrotreating catalyst was probed via reactions of the model compound o-hydroxydiphenylmethane (OHD). Reactions over Co-Mo/y-AI2O3 at 250°C, 2250 PSIG, and fixed-bed space velocities of about 0.5 hr' led to toluene and phenol as major products with minor amounts of benzene and/or cyclonexane and o-cresol. Deoxygenation was not significant. The observed catalyst decay of 76% was fully recoverable upon resulfidation. Reaction at higher temperature led to some deoxygenation. Reaction over the same catalyst with feed-added methanol led to the formation of a methyl-substituted OHD (MOHD) as well as toluene, phenol, and deoxygenation products. For this case, catalyst decay was only partially recoverable upon resulfidanon. At MeOH/OHD = 7.9, only 25% of the cracking function was recoverable whereas fully 100% of the deoxygenation activity was recoverable. Finally, reaction over NiMo/y-AljOj led to toluene, phenol, and deoxygenated products. Catalyst decay was on...
First Childhood Death Experiences.

A child's first experience with death may be met with a variety of responses. The objective of this research was to determine what adults remember about these early death experiences. Students in college death-and-dying classes were asked to write an essay about their first death experience. The average age of the respondents (N = 440) was 23.79 years, and their average age at the time of their first death experience was 7.95 years. Content analysis was used to analyze the essays. Over half of all first experiences with death involved relatives, 28 percent involved a pet. Children's responses to death showed emotions similar to those expressed by adults. Over one-third mentioned that crying occurred. Details of the funeral were remembered by many respondents some sixteen years later. Adults need to be sensitive to the needs of children when a significant other or pet dies. It is clear that childhood experiences flavored with death, loss, or separation can become important influences on the way one sees li...
Popularity versus respect: school structure, peer groups and Latino academic achievement

This article begins with a discussion of recent critiques of Fordham and Ogbu’s argument on the ‘burden of acting white’. These critiques point to the stereotypical and homogeneous characterization of the black peer group by Fordham and Ogbu, as well as their inattention to the ways in which schools relegate into the lower tracks those students who behave too ethnically and who do not demonstrate proficiency with dominant cultural attributes. The second half of the article presents data showing that academic achievement is related to peer‐group membership and that schools are largely responsible for which peer group students join. Based on an ethnographic study at a predominantly Latino urban high school, I argue that Latino high achievers do not necessarily experience the ‘burden of acting white’ as Fordham and Ogbu suggest. This was due to the institutional practices at Hernandez High School, which ensured that high achievers and low achievers occupied different academic and social spaces, resulting in ...
Diel Spawning Behavior of Chum Salmon in the Columbia River

Abstract We conducted a study during 2003 in a side channel of the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam to describe the diel spawning behavior of wild chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta. We collected observational data on 14 pairs of chum salmon using a dual-frequency identification sonar. Spawners of both genders were observed chasing intruders during nighttime and daytime as nests were constructed. Regardless of diel period, females were engaged in digging to both construct nests and cover eggs, and courting males exhibited the prespawning behavior of tail-crossing. We observed a total of 13 spawning events, of which 9 occurred at night and 4 occurred during the day. Once chum salmon begin nest construction, visual cues are apparently not required for courtship, nest defense, and spawning. To enhance successful spawning, flows from Bonneville Dam during the spawning season were reduced during the day but were sometimes increased at night to pass water and meet power demand (i.e., reverse loading), the...
On the first-neighbor analysis of nucleic acid CD spectra: the definitive T matrix and considerations of various methods.

The first-neighbor approximation for the representation of double-stranded polynucleotide CD has been widely applied. Two apparently different formalisms have appeared. We discuss and compare those formalisms and show them to be identical. We present an updated optimum basis set of polydeoxynucleotide CD spectra and the resulting first-neighbor unit contribution matrix derived from these data.
Gaps between patients' reported current and preferred abilities versus clinicians' emphases during an episode of care: any agreement?

To be patient-centered, assessment must extract what patients prefer to be able to do along with what they can do now so health care can specifically address the gap between current and preferred abilities. In this project, we compared patient-perceived current–preferred gaps with the assessments and interventions reported by clinicians in a rehabilitation clinic. Sixty-two patients in outpatient physical therapy completed a computer-adaptive test version of the patient-reported Movement Ability Measure (MAM-CAT) at initial visit and discharge. The MAM-CAT calculated the gaps between the movement patients perceived that they could do “Now” and what movement ability they “Would Like” to have across six dimensions of movement: flexibility, strength, accuracy, speed, adaptability, and endurance. Physical therapists’ notes regarding assessments and interventions were categorized based on these same six dimensions of movement. Frequency of agreement between the largest patient-perceived gaps and clinician-documented emphases was recorded (kappa analyses), along with MAM-CAT changes at discharge (paired t tests). Although patient progress was noted in both the MAM-CAT and the clinician notes (p < .05), comparison showed poor or slight agreement (kappa < .05) between the specific movement dimensions patients regarded as having the largest gaps and the dimensions on which clinicians focused. The MAM-CAT facilitated direct comparison of patients’ current–preferred gaps at initiation and discharge with clinicians’ emphases during episodes of care. While interventions were perceived as effective, collaboration between patients and clinicians using gap data could increase alignment between patient priorities and clinician emphases, potentially resulting in improved patient engagement and rehabilitative outcomes.
Can the recognition of living things really be selectively impaired

Abstract Brain damage sometimes impairs recognition of living things relative to nonliving things. One interpretation of this dissociation is that recognition of living things depends on specialized mechanisms not used for the recognition of nonliving things; another is that patients have damage to a general purpose system, and recognition of living things taxes this system more heavily. Farah et al., [Neuropsychologia, Vol. 29, pp. 185–193, 1991 [7] ] found that a set of general factors did not account for patients' impaired recognition of living things; thus they favored the specialized mechanisms account. The current paper builds on [7] in two ways. First, other research suggests a number of additional factors that might account for the results in [7] but were not tested there. Second, statistical methods in [7] may have implicitly favored the conclusion obtained there, so we use more conservative methods. The current work accounts for all these things, and finds that recognition of living things is still disproportionately impaired. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Some History And Technology Of Scanning Microscopy

We briefly review some of the history and technology of scanning microscopy. The common threads that connect these different scanning microscopies are higlighted. In the case of far-field scanning microscopy, the resolving power is governed by the Abbe criterion. In the case of near-field scanning microscopy, the Abbe limit can clearly be surpassed. The invention of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope has provided some of the confidence necessary to broaden and enhance the capabilities of near-field scanning microscopies. The paper concentrates on the history and technology of selected scanning near-field and far-field microscopies.
Performance quality improvement projects: suggestions for radiologists who image children.

p f w b p d t p a i i All patients deserve the highest quality radiology services, but several characteristics make the goals of quality improvement (QI) critical in pediatrics. Unique vulnerabilities of children include a heightened sensitivity to doses of radiation and medication, age-related physiology, and characteristic pathologies. Although many QI projects relevant to adult imaging can be extended to pediatric imaging, beware of a broad brush. In some cases, extrapolating even simple measures to your pediatric patients, such as documenting the glomerular filtration rates of patients receiving intravenous contrast, is different in children than in adults [1,2]. As always, QI projects should be consequential to patients, address gaps in performance, be data driven, and be evidence based [3,4]. Here, we offer a “quick-start guide” for QI projects relevant to radiology practices dealing with pediatric patients.
ANA CELIA ZENTELLA (ed.), Building on strength: Language and literacy in Latino families and communities

Ana Celia Zentella (ed.), Building on strength: Language and literacy in Latino families and communities . New York: Teachers College Press, 2005. Pp. 224. Pb $23.95. The 11 essays in Zentella's edited volume investigate language socialization practices of U.S. Latinos and together make possible a conceptualization of Latino language and literacy that resists “a view of Latino parents as monolithic and unconcerned about education” (p. 3). In her introduction, Zentella briefly traces the history of language socialization research and introduces the framework that undergirds the volume.
Hybridization between Longnose and Alligator Gars in Captivity, with Comments on Possible Gar Hybridization in Nature

Abstract Although hybridization occurs widely in fishes, it has never been recorded in gars. Here, we describe the first known hybrids of the longnose gar Lepisosteus osseus and alligator gar Atractosteus spatula from four specimens spawned in an aquarium containing multiple gar species. Genetic analyses of cytochrome b and tyrosinase sequences and a microsatellite locus indicated that the four specimens were hybrid offspring of a female longnose gar and a male alligator gar. The combination of physical appearance, meristic counts, and mensural measurement ratios further discriminated the hybrids from each parent and supported the conclusion of hybrid origin. The four hybrids had body coloration and transverse scale rows similar to those of longnose gar, a snout length and shape intermediate between those of longnose and alligator gars, and two rows of teeth on the upper jaw as are seen in alligator gar. This conclusive evidence of intergeneric hybridization in the gars may provide insights into phylogene...
Perspectives on Seminal Achievements and Challenges in the Field of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

This commentary for a special issue of Remedial and Special Education (RASE) on the perspectives of senior scholars (a) opens with some comments regarding the role of measures we use in behavioral science to pursue scientific truth and then (b) discusses the three most impactful developments in emotional and behavioral disorders over the past several decades, followed by commentary on three problems or issues that need addressing going forward. In the author’s view, the three most impactful developments have been the advent of school-wide positive behavior supports, the growth in approaches to conduct universal behavioral disorder screenings in schools, and the acceptance of teacher judgment in the appraisal of student behavior. Challenges going forward are the need to contextualize school interventions, solve the problem of decay of achieved intervention effects over time, and plan/manage school transitions better.
A Chemical Sensor Using Neurons and a 3-D Micro-fluidic Chip

In recent years, there has been a merger of microelectronics and biological sciences to develop integrated nano and micro-scale biosensors or biochips. The implementation of portable, rapid and economic methods for detecting different biological species on a chip will benefit from the development of electronic means for the analysis of cells. Neurons are very attractive as chemical sensors due to their sensitivity to specific toxins and their unique electrical properties. The use of closed well micro-fluidic devices for the growth of neurons has not been explored extensively. In this work, we will describe surface preparation techniques to enhance the neuronal cell viability and growth on microfabricated surfaces. We have fabricated micro-fluidic bio-chips for the trapping of neurons and to examine their growth. Neural cells are maintained in a chamber on the chip with fresh nutrient media continuously flowing through the chamber. The temporal viability of the neural cells within the chip will be reported. The long-term goals of the project include electrically measuring the viability of the cells inside the micro-fluidic chambers.
Discovering Hidden Variables in Noisy-Or Networks using Quartet Tests

We give a polynomial-time algorithm for provably learning the structure and parameters of bipartite noisy-or Bayesian networks of binary variables where the top layer is completely hidden. Unsupervised learning of these models is a form of discrete factor analysis, enabling the discovery of hidden variables and their causal relationships with observed data. We obtain an efficient learning algorithm for a family of Bayesian networks that we call quartet-learnable. For each latent variable, the existence of a singly-coupled quartet allows us to uniquely identify and learn all parameters involving that latent variable. We give a proof of the polynomial sample complexity of our learning algorithm, and experimentally compare it to variational EM.
Seismic waves in stratified anisotropic media

Summary. The response of a structure composed of anisotropic strata can be built up from the reflection and transmission properties of individual interfaces using a slightly modified version of the recursion scheme of Kennett. This scheme is conveniently described in terms of scatterer operators and scatterer products. The effects of a free surface and the introduction of a simple point source at any depth can be accommodated in a manner directly analogous to the treatment for isotropic structures. As in the isotropic case the results so obtained are stable to arbitrary wavenumbers. For isotropic media, synthetic seismograms can be constructed by computing the structure response as a function of frequency and radial wavenumber, then performing the appropriate Fourier and Hankel transforms to obtain the wavefield in time-distance space. Such a scheme is convenient for any system with cylindrical symmetry (including transverse isotropy). Azimuthally anisotropic structures, however, do not display cylindrical symmetry; for these the transverse component of the wavenumber vector will, in general, be non-zero, with the result that phase, group, and energy velocities may all diverge. The problem is then much more conveniently addressed in Cartesian coordinates, with the frequency-wavenumber to time-distance transformation accomplished by 3-D Fourier transform.
Inhibition of Aberrant Androgen Receptor Induction of Prostate Specific Antigen Gene Expression, Cell Proliferation and Tumor Growth by 17α-Estradiol in Prostate Cancer

Purpose: Androgen independent prostate cancer growth and metastasis are a major cause of prostate cancer death. Aberrant androgen receptor activation due to androgen receptor mutation is an important mechanism of androgen independence. We determined the effectiveness and mechanism of 17α-estradiol (Sigma®) in blocking aberrant androgen receptor activation due to androgen receptor mutation.Materials and Methods: We used LNCaP and MDA Pca-2b prostatic tumor cells (ATCC®) containing a mutated androgen receptor and WT estrogen receptor β to test 17α-estradiol inhibition of aberrant androgen receptor activation of prostate specific antigen gene expression and cell growth. Cotransfection analysis was used to further elucidate the mechanism of 17α-estradiol action. Xenograft animals with an LNCaP prostate tumor were prepared to study the in vivo effect of 17α-estradiol on tumor growth inhibition.Results: In LNCaP cells 17α-estradiol produced a dose dependent inhibition of cyproterone acetate (Sigma) or dihydrote...
Synchronization Issues in OFDM Systems

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a bandwidth efficient modulation technique suitable for broadband wireless communications in frequency selective fading channels, yet, its performance is sensitive to timing and carrier synchronization errors. This paper provides an overview on the causes and the effects of these synchronization errors. The authors survey various symbol timing and carrier acquisition schemes available in the literature including coarse and fine synchronization techniques, using cyclic prefix or training symbols. Blind estimators, which also do not require training symbols, are discussed as viable alternatives when data throughput is very critical
Probability density function/Monte Carlo simulation of near-wall turbulent flows

Probability density function (p.d.f.) methods are extended to include modelling of wall-bounded turbulent flows. A p.d.f. near-wall model is developed in which the generalized Langevin model is combined with a model for viscous transport. This provides exact treatment of viscous inhomogeneous effects, and enables consistent imposition of the no-slip condition in a particle framework. The method of elliptic relaxation is combined with additional boundary conditions and with the generalized Langevin model to provide an analogy for the near-wall fluctuating continuity equation. This provides adequate representation of the near-wall anisotropy of the Reynolds stresses. The model is implemented with a p.d.f./Monte Carlo simulation for the joint p.d.f. of velocity and turbulent frequency. Results are compared with DNS and experimental profiles for fully developed turbulent channel flow.
Fuzzy preprocessing of gold standards as applied to a neural network classifier of magnetic resonance spectra

Culling diagnostic information from biomedical spectra is often exasperated by an imperfect or imprecise gold standard. A fuzzy set theoretic preprocessing method is described that reduces the classification error rate by enhancing a gold standard through the incorporation of nonsubjective within-group centroid information. Magnetic resonance spectra of human brain neoplasms were used to determine the effectiveness of this strategy. A multi-layer perceptron classifier was used as the performance benchmark.
Regularities in Data from Factorial Experiments

This article documents a meta-analysis of 113 data sets from published factorial experiments. The study quantifies regularities observed among factor effects and multifactor interactions. Such regularities are known to be critical to efficient planning and analysis of experiments and to robust design of engineering systems. Three previously observed properties are analyzed: effect sparsity, hierarchy, and heredity. A new regularity is introduced and shown to be statistically significant. It is shown that a preponderance of active two-factor interaction effects are synergistic, meaning that when main effects are used to increase the system response, the interaction provides an additional increase and that when main effects are used to decrease the response, the interactions generally counteract the main effects. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 11: 32– 45, 2006
Optimal Regulation of Unknown Nonlinear Systems Based on Locally Weighted Learning

This paper considers the optimal control of unknown nonlinear systems. To deal with the uncertainties in the system, a locally weighted learning observer (LWLO) is proposed. Using the functions approximated within the LWLO, analytic optimal controllers are proposed in the sense of pointwise min-norm. To show effectiveness of the proposed controllers, numerical simulations are presented.
Corporal Punishment’s Influence on Children’s Aggressive and Delinquent Behavior:

Studies show that children subjected to corporal punishment may engage in more aggression and delinquent behaviors than those who are not. Past research, however, is limited methodologically. This is largely the result of a lack of matched corporally punished and nonpunished children. To address this limitation, a propensity score matching analysis was used to estimate the effects of corporal punishment on children's behaviors. Using data from the longitudinal study of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, findings indicate that (a) a large amount of selection bias exists, indicating that child and family characteristics of those subjected to corporal punishment are substantially different from characteristics of those not punished, and (b) when children exposed to corporal punishment (vs. those who are not) are matched on their propensities of being punished, the relationship between punishment and subsequent aggression and delinquency become statistically nonsignificant and substantively small. Findings are discussed in light of past research on corporal punishment, and limitations of the current study and ways of overcoming them in the future are discussed.
Comparison of tibial plateau angle between clinically normal Greyhounds and Labrador Retrievers with and without rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament

Objective—To compare tibial plateau angle (TPA) between Greyhounds without damage to the cranial cruciate ligaments and Labrador Retrievers with and without damage to the cranial cruciate ligaments. Design—Clinical study. Animals—87 client-owned dogs and 15 research colony Greyhounds. Procedure—Standing position, horizontal-beam radiography was performed on Greyhounds and unaffected Labrador Retrievers to determine standing TPA. Lateral radiography of the stifle joint was performed on all dogs to determine traditional TPA. Age and body weight were recorded for unaffected and affected Labrador Retrievers. Results—Greyhounds had mean standing TPA of 1.56° and mean traditional TPA of 22.50°. Unaffected Labrador Retrievers had mean standing TPA of 3.52° and traditional TPA of 27.97°. Affected Labrador Retrievers had mean traditional TPA of 25.55°. No significant difference was found in mean standing TPA between Greyhounds and unaffected Labrador Retrievers. Standing TPAs in Greyhounds and unaffected Labrador ...
Architectures and APIs: assessing requirements for delivering FPGA performance to applications

Reconfigurable computing leveraging field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) is one of many accelerator technologies that are being investigated for application to high performance computing (HPC). Like most accelerators, FPGAs are very efficient at both dense matrix multiplication and FFT computations, but two important aspects of how to deliver that performance to applications have received too little attention. First, the standard API for important compute kernels hides parallelism from the system. Second, the issue of system architecture is virtually never addressed. This paper explores both issues and their implications for applications. We find that high bandwidth, low latency connectivity can be important, but the right API can be even more important.
Problematic Ontological Underpinnings of Positive Psychology: A Strong Relational Alternative

In this article, we contend that many of the problems delineated in this special issue on positive psychology stem from an unexamined philosophical premise—its ontology. The world of `ontology' is vast and somewhat ill defined, but here we mean simply assumptions of what is ultimately real and fundamental, especially regarding the self. We first clarify and compare two major ontologies of the self, one that we argue underlies and spawns problems for positive psychology and one that we will describe as a promising alternative for the project of positive psychology. We focus on three important features of this project: (1) commitment to an ideal of the `disinterested observer'; (2) emotional satisfaction as a key conception; and (3) the tendency to view human phenomena as decontextualized from culture, history, and even physical situations. These features will display both how one set of ontological premises has underlain mainstream positive psychology and how the alternative offers a fresh perspective that...
Analysis of the effective permittivity and permeabilityof embedded lossy dielectric array

This paper explores the effective permittivity and permeability of the structure which has periodic lossy dielectric objects embedded in a matrix. The asymptotic expressions for both high conductivity and quasi-static are derived and discussed. Numerical results both from the MG formula and an integral equation approach are provided to verify all the asymptotic expressions and related conclusions.
Parallel implementation of a molecular dynamics simulation program

We have taken a NIST molecular dynamics simulation program (md3), which was configured as a single sequential process running on a CRAY C90 vector supercomputer, and parallelized it to run in a distributed memory message passing environment. Since portability was a major concern during parallelization, we used the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard. The features of MPI provide a basic set of interprocess communication primitives on many architectures. The parallel md3 program has two basic algorithms resulting in an MPMD (Multiple Program Multiple Data) structure, versus the more common SPMD (Single Program Multiple Data) structure, and has the potential to exploit heterogeneous processing. For any given number of nodes we have devised an equation to determine the initial node allocation among these multiple programs which yields near optimal load balance. We also dynamically manage the load balance between processes to correct for run time variations and to achieve better performance. We compare the performance of this MPMD parallel code run on a range of distributed memory machines (an IBM SP2, a cluster of Pentium Pros, and a cluster of SGI Indigo2s with the R10000 processor) against the original code performance on the Cray. In addition to better performance, the code on distributed memory machines offers an ability to scale the problem size based upon the combined memory size of the host systems.
Differential Age-Related Influences on Memory for Verbal-Symbolic Information and Visual-Spatial Information?

Adults from a wide range of ages were administered parallel versions of three memory tasks designed to involve verbal-symbolic information or visual-spatial information. Several analytical procedures were used to determine whether there were selective age-related effects on measures reflecting spatial information processing compared to those reflecting verbal-symbolic information processing. The results provided little support for this hypothesis and instead were consistent with the existence of a common age-related factor that contributes to the age differences in many cognitive measures.
Normal Development, Wound Healing, and Adenovirus Susceptibility in β5-Deficient Mice

Integrins have been shown to play important roles in embryonic development, wound healing, metastasis, and other biological processes. alphavbeta5 is a receptor for RGD-containing extracellular matrix proteins that has been suggested to be important in cutaneous wound healing and adenovirus infection. To examine the in vivo function of this receptor, we have generated mice lacking beta5 expression, using homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Mice homozygous for a null mutation of the beta5 subunit gene develop, grow, and reproduce normally. Keratinocytes harvested from beta5(-/-) mice demonstrate impaired migration on and adhesion to the alphavbeta5 ligand, vitronectin. However, the rate of healing of cutaneous wounds is not different in beta5(-/-) and beta5(+/+) mice. Furthermore, keratinocytes and airway epithelial cells obtained from null mice show adenovirus infection efficiency equal to that from wild-type mice. These data suggest that alphavbeta5 is not essential for normal development, reproduction, adenovirus infection, or the healing of cutaneous wounds.
Skills management heuristics.

A common problem faced by most organizations in today's world is one of worker-task assignments. Assigning a large number of complex tasks to workers at various training levels can be a complicated process which has the potential to cost or to save a company large sums of money. The aim of this project is to develop a heuristic tool designed to match tasks to workers given the workers' skills proficiency profiles. This heuristic should also provide a training plan which will rectify current worker skills gaps while minimizing training costs. Prior research maintained a focus on utilizing mathematical models of this skills management problem. The main difficulty with these mathematical models is that they were unable to reach feasible solutions in a reasonable amount of time when the problem size became large. It is therefore wise to investigate possible heuristic solution techniques. This research will compare and contrast three specific heuristic techniques: a Greedy Assignment Algorithm, Meta-RaPS Greedy Heuristic, and Meta-RaPS Shortest Augmenting Path (SAP) Heuristic. Meta-RaPS is a meta-heuristic that is used to improve the performance of algorithms by strategically infusing randomness which allows the exploration of more of the solution space. The skills management heuristics developed in this research were tested using 47 randomly generated data sets generating results within 0.03% of optimal for the recommended Meta-RaPS SAP solution methodology.
The New Emerging Market Multinationals: Four Strategies for Disrupting Markets and Building Brands

Though rarely discussed in International Business textbooks, the age of the multinational began with the East India Companies in the early seventeenth century, dominated by the seven European corpo...
Protocol Conversion

The difficulty of interconnecting networks or network components when they obey different architectures is an important inhibitor to computer communication growth and flexibility. This paper reviews the state of the protocol conversion art from the architectural point of view. The aim is to state the problem succinctly, propose consistent definitions, review current ad hoc solutions, and speculate about more effective and general methodologies. To do this, we first analyze what happens on an access path between two end users at the discontinuity point where the path passes from a portion of the network obeying one architecture into a portion obeying another. This discontinuity can be designed to occur at a choice of nodes along the access path and at a choice of protocol layer level at each such node. The process of conversion to complete the path at one of these points can range in complexity from the trivial to the impossible. The procedure available today starts by analyzing the set of "atomic protocol functions" that support the services normally provided at the conversion point by the two architectures in terms of their interface, peer and control protocols (both transient and steady state), and then identifying a usable common subset of the two sets. Known solutions then include defining useful partial resolution of protocol mismatches, complementation of one or both protocols with missing services, and the use of Open System Interconnection as an intermediary in the conversion process.
Unsteady behavior of spiral leading-edge vortex breakdown

Unsteady characteristics of the leading-edge vortex breakdown on a 65-deg delta wing are investigated. Emphasis is placed on the longitudinal motion of the breakdown region and its spiral structure under static as well as dynamic conditions as they have an important impact on vehicle flight mechanics and may cause aeroelastic problems. The onset of the breakdown region is found to be highly unsteady, with axial fluctuations of up to 20 percent centerline chord. Under dynamic conditions important delays in the breakdown region are observed. (Author)
Circular Cylinder Wake Control using Spatially Distributed Plasma Forcing

This work investigates the use of spatially-distributed open-loop forcing for threedimensional control of vortex shedding from a circular cylinder. Force-shaped plasma actuators were used to control the flow, with the aim of reducing drag on a circular cylinder at a Reynolds number of 6500. Traditional approaches to cylinder drag reduction have typically involved two-dimensional forcing of the flow field. Spatially-distributed forcing, however, involves a spanwise modulation of the forcing on the flow. A new configuration of the dielectric-barrier discharge plasma actuator was implemented where the momentum addition could be directed either normal or tangential to the surface, as well as spatially tailored in a spanwise fashion to optimize control efficacy. The actuator configuration enables targeted manipulation of the wake-vortex structure shed from a bluff body. The goal of the flow control blowing profile is to break up the spanwise coherency in the vortex street, thereby promoting phase cancellation between spanwise portions of the wake structure. Wake profile measurements were made at several spanwise locations to evaluate the resulting drag reduction and modification of the wake.
Sea Bed Logging: Data Analysis with Constant Transmitter-Receiver Offsets

Summary The CSEM data are grouped into the data sets with constant transmitter-receiver offsets. Symmetrized data set with a constant offset may be used to identify a resistivity anomaly with the depth of investigation approximately of the transmitter-receiver offset. Symmetrized data sets from different offsets with multiple depths of investigation may help to determine the location and the resistivity of a resistivity anomaly. An anti-symmetrized data set (differential amplitude) with the constant offset may be used to easily detect the lateral boundary of the resistivity anomaly. The method is also applicable to the streamer EM data where the data are collected with constant offsets to begin with.
Effect of exogenous and endogenous nitric oxide on mitochondrial respiration of rat hepatocytes.

Although nitric oxide (.N = O) biosynthesis is inducible in rat hepatocytes (HC), the physiological significance of .N = O production by these cells is unknown. Short exposure of HC to authentic .N = O led to a concentration-dependent inhibition of mitochondrial aconitase, NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, and succinate-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complexes I and II of the mitochondrial electron transport chain). Most susceptible to .N = O inhibition was mitochondrial aconitase, in which a reduction in enzyme activity to 20.2 +/- 1.6% of control was observed. In contrast to mitochondrial aconitase, cytosolic aconitase activity was not inhibited by .N = O. After exposure to a maximal inhibitory concentration of .N = O, mitochondrial aconitase activity recovered completely within 6 h. Complex I did not fully recover within this incubation period. Endogenous .N = O biosynthesis was induced in HC by a specific combination of cytokines and lipopolysaccharide. After 18 h of incubation with these stimuli, a significant inhibition of mitochondrial aconitase activity to 70.8 +/- 2.4% of controls was detected. However, this was due only in part to the action of .N = O. A non- .N = O-dependent inhibition of mitochondrial function appeared to be mediated by tumor necrosis factor.
Developmental Biases on Morphological Evolvability

How does variation in biological form arise? Why are some lineages more diverse than others? Since the time of Darwin, these questions have motivated biologists/naturalists. While work in the twentieth century focused on how genetic/allelic variation translates to phenotypic diversity, it has become clear in recent years that genes do not tell the entire story. Specifically, it is increasingly appreciated that developmental systems play important roles in filtering genetic variation and biasing the patterns and levels of phenotypic variation that are exposed to natural selection. Here, we review progress made in understanding the roles for development in determining evolutionary potential.
Sonographic fetal growth standards. Are current data applicable to a racially mixed population

Currently available sonographic growth standards for fetal head size, abdominal size, and limb length are based primarily on studies from white populations. To determine whether these published standards are appropriate for a racially mixed, indigent population, we compared our published data from a middle-class white population with data generated from a black/Hispanic population seen at a county hospital in Houston, Texas. No statistically significant differences were found for any of the following fetal sonographic parameters (20 to 41 weeks): biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, femur length.
Issues in Computational Data Analysis

Computers have been widely used to analyze data since the 1950’s. Around 1970 a few experimental installations reached a high enough performance to permit exploratory, interactive analysis of non-trivial data sets. We are now reaching another plateau, where the scatterplot performance of inexpensive high-end PC’s approaches the limits of the human perceptual system. Our discussion concentrates on general computing aspects rather than on specific algorithms. With a view towards the more distant future, we should also begin to think about exploratory data analysis strategies, tools and techniques that go beyond those in present use and that extend to larger data sets.
Uncertain musings about the state of the world and religion’s contribution

I distinguish between religions of divinity and civilizational religions within the diversity of what I call ‘mythic discourse’ and explain the difference between agentive and enabling norms applied to the life of persons treated along broadly Darwinian lines as artifactual transforms of the human primate. I consider how to view ‘truth’ in naturalistic and religious contexts relative to the distinctions mentioned.
Low-cost tissue simulating phantoms with adjustable wavelength-dependent scattering properties in the visible and infrared ranges

We present a method for low-cost fabrication of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) tissue simulating phantoms with tunable scattering spectra, spanning visible, and near-infrared regimes. These phantoms use optical polishing agents (aluminum oxide powders) at various grit sizes to approximate in vivo tissue scattering particles across multiple size distributions (range: 17 to 3 μm). This class of tunable scattering phantoms is used to mimic distinct changes in wavelength-dependent scattering properties observed in tissue pathologies such as partial thickness burns. Described by a power-law dependence on wavelength, the scattering magnitude of these phantoms scale linearly with particle concentration over a physiologic range [μs′=(0.5 to 2.0 mm−1)] whereas the scattering spectra, specific to each particle size distribution, correlate to distinct exponential coefficients (range: 0.007 to 0.32). Aluminum oxide powders used in this investigation did not detectably contribute to the absorption properties of these phantoms. The optical properties of these phantoms are verified through inverse adding-doubling methods and the tolerances of this fabrication method are discussed.
First record of Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis, in the northern Gulf of Mexico

The Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis, is a Southern Hemisphere species of balaenopterid whale generally found south of 60°S in austral summer. In the Atlantic Ocean, they migrate north during austral winter as far as approximately 7°S. On 05 February, 2013, a 7.7 m baleen whale was observed floating dead off of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, USA in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Genetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences obtained from this animal determined that it was an Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis. This is the first record of an Antarctic minke whale in the Gulf of Mexico.