cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Submodular Optimization Beyond Nonnegativity: Adaptive Seed Selection in Incentivized Social Advertising

The idea of social advertising (or social promotion) is to select a group of influential individuals (a.k.a \emph{seeds}) to help promote some products or ideas through an online social networks. There are two major players in the social advertising ecosystem: advertiser and platform. The platform sells viral engagements such as "like"s to advertisers by inserting their ads into the feed of seeds. These seeds receive monetary incentives from the platform in exchange for their participation in the social advertising campaign. Once an ad is engaged by a follower of some seed, the platform receives a fixed amount of payment, called cost per engagement, from the advertiser. The ad could potentially attract more engagements from followers' followers and trigger a viral contagion. At the beginning of a campaign, the advertiser submits a budget to the platform and this budget can be used for two purposes: recruiting seeds and paying for the viral engagements generated by the seeds. Note that the first part of payment goes to the seeds and the latter one is the actual revenue collected by the platform. In this setting, the problem for the platform is to recruit a group of seeds such that she can collect the largest possible amount of revenue subject to the budget constraint. We formulate this problem as a seed selection problem whose objective function is non-monotone and it might take on negative values, making existing results on submodular optimization and influence maximization not applicable to our setting. We study this problem under both non-adaptive and adaptive settings. Although we focus on social advertising in this paper, our results apply to any optimization problems whose objective function is the expectation of the minimum of a stochastic submodular function and a linear function.
Germany: Digital Human Rights and a History of Invasive Surveillance

Similar to the case of Sweden, Germany legislated digital human rights early in the 1970s. However, Germany’s history of invasive state surveillance shaped public preferences on personal data use and protections. Despite being challenged by a prolonged period of domestic terrorism during the 1970s and 1980s, neither government nor public will existed for allowing data utilization without significant oversight. As a result, Germany established not only data protection legislation, but also a rigorous oversight body, the Data Protection Commission. Through the leadership of legal rights experts such as Hans Peter Bull, Germany’s digital human rights model was not only successfully imbedded into German policy, but German data protection authorities served as international experts to advise other countries on digital human rights.
Effects of O2 and SO2 on the Capture Capacity of a Primary-Amine Based Polymeric CO2 Sorbent

Postcombustion CO2 capture is most commonly carried out using an amine solution that results in a high parasitic energy cost in the stripper unit due to the need to heat the water, which comprises a majority of the amine solution. It is also well-known that amine solvents suffer from stability issues due to amine leaching and poisoning by flue gas impurities. Solid sorbents provide an alternative to solvent systems that would potentially reduce the energy penalty of carbon capture. However, the cost of using a particular sorbent is greatly affected by the usable lifetime of the sorbent. This work investigated the stability of a primary amine-functionalized ion-exchange resin in the presence of O2 and SO2, both of which are constituents of flue gas that have been shown to cause degradation of various amines in solvent processes. The CO2 capture capacity was measured over multiple capture cycles under continuous exposure to two simulated flue gas streams, one containing 12 vol % CO2, 4% O2, 84% N2, and the ...
Successful treatment of canine necrolytic migratory erythema (superficial necrolytic dermatitis) due to metastatic glucagonoma with octreotide.

Necrolytic migratory erythema (NME; also known as superficial necrolytic dermatitis) is a syndrome most often associated with certain chronic liver diseases or pancreatic glucagonomas. In humans with glucaconoma-associated NME, skin lesions usually respond to octreotide, a somatostatin analogue that inhibits glucagon release. In this report an 11-year-old golden retriever dog with pancreatic glucononoma and metastasis to the regional lymph nodes, spleen and liver was diagnosed with NME. The dog exhibited erosions, ulcers and crusts on the paws, pressure points, muzzle, periocular area and prepuce. The dog was also anorexic and had difficulty walking. Because metastasis precluded surgery, treatment was initiated with subcutaneous octreotide (2 μg/kg twice daily). Skin lesions and systemic clinical signs improved markedly within 5 days. The dosage was increased to nearly 3 μg/kg twice daily and signs almost completely resolved within 10 days. Anorexia was the major adverse effect observed. During the following month, both dosage (1–3.7 μg/kg) and frequency (two to four times daily) of the octreotide injections were adjusted to permit control of clinical signs while maintaining adequate appetite. Temporary cessation of octreotide administration resulted in the rapid recurrence of skin lesions. Resuming injections led to improvement of clinical signs within 48 h. The dog was later euthanized because of progressive metastatic disease. In conclusion, subcutaneous octreotide injections were beneficial in this dog with glucagonoma-associated NME. This somatostatin analogue could be a valuable option to treat canine patients with non-resectable or relapsing pancreatic glucagonoma-associated NME.
MULTIPARAMETER CORRELATIONS BETWEEN PROPERTIES OF METAL IONS AND THEIR ACUTE TOXICITY IN MICE

This paper extends our earlier study of correlations of acute metal-ion toxicity (14-day LD50) in mice and physicochemical properties of the ions. Here we put metal ions into two main groups as defined by Kaiser. Using most of the metals in the periodic system, we find the least redundant linear combinations, Wi, of the ionic radius, sum of ionization potentials, atomic weight, Williams softness parameter, and electronegativity for each of Kaiser’s two groups. Information is provided so that Wi can be evaluated for any metal from these five quantities. For the two groups of metals we then tested for multiparameter correlations between the Wi having the highest sample variance and our mouse LD50. For our LD50 involving the five metal ions in Kaiser’s group (1) the correlation is poor, whereas a good correlation is found for the 14 ions in group (2).
Changes in cell distribution during mouse secondary palate closure in vivo and in vitro: I. Epithelial cells☆

The distribution of epithelial cells around the perimeter of mouse secondary palatal shelves was observed before and after shelf reorientation in vivo and in vitro. Changes in shelf perimeter, cells per micrometer, and cell layering were measured for each of three shelf regions: anterior and posterior presumptive hard and presumptive soft palate at developmental stages which were 30, 24, and 18 hr prior to expected in vivo elevation, after in vivo elevation, and during the course of in vitro elevation. Pronounced increases in numerical cell density and cell layering accompanying shelf reorientation were noted in the superior nasal and mid-oral portions of the shelf perimeter in all three shelf regions with greatest changes noted in the posterior hard palate region. These changes were not attributable to cell division or to perimeter changes. The localized nature of the changes in cell distribution suggest that the underlying mechanisms may also be localized.
Advances in endophenotyping schizophrenia

The search for the genetic architecture of schizophrenia has employed multiple, often converging strategies. One such strategy entails the use of tracing the heritability and neurobiology of endophenotypes. Endophenotypes are quantifiable traits not visible to the eye, which are thought to reflect an intermediate place on the path from genes to disorder. Endophenotype abnormalities in domains such as neurophysiology or neurocognition occur in schizophrenia patients as well as their clinically “unaffected” relatives, and reflect polymorphisms in the DNA of schizophrenia spectrum subjects which create vulnerability to developing schizophrenia. By identifying the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with endophenotypes in schizophrenia, psychiatric neuroscientists can select new strong inference based molecular targets for the treatment of schizophrenia.
Foot-and-mouth disease virus RNA. Presence of 3'-terminal polyriboadenylic acid and absence of amino acid binding ability.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus RNA contains a segment of polyriboadenylic acid (poly(A)) that is somewhat heterogenous in nature in polyacrylamide gels containing 8 M urea; however, a prominent peak of radioactive poly(A) migrates to the position of the 4 S marker RNA. The evidence derived from a number of experiments indicates that the poly(A) segment contains 60–80 nucleotides or less and is covalently attached to the 3′-terminus of the RNA. The RNA of the virus could not be aminoacylated with valine, histidine, tyrosine, or several other amino acids.
Littoral Rights Under the Takings Doctrine: The Clash Between the Ius Naturale And Stop The Beach Renourishment

The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection bristles with conceptual difficulties and practical ambiguities that cannot be easily avoided or easily answered. The major conceptual issue in Stop the Beach Renourishment is whether the Supreme Court should recognize “judicial takings” under the Takings Clause, which reads: “[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The textual claim for recognizing judicial takings is that the Takings Clause does not differentiate between various branches of government and thus covers the actions of the judiciary as well as those of the legislative and executive branches. Opponents of this doctrine often deride it as a constitutional oxymoron. By definition, state courts cannot take the very property rights that their former decisions have established. Given that this tension exists within any unitary judicial system, the doctrine of judicial takings can, in practice, only arise in a federalist system. At
Acute Dietary Nitrate Intake Improves Muscle Contractile Function in Patients With Heart Failure A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Trial

Background—Skeletal muscle strength, velocity, and power are markedly reduced in patients with heart failure, which contributes to their impaired exercise capacity and lower quality of life. This m...
Application of an Adaptive Pole-Zero Placement Controller to Chemical Processes with Variable Dead Time

An algorithm for providing adaptive control and dead time compensation of single input-single output systems with unknown or varying dead time is presented. The algorithm is designed by pole-zero placement and is unique in that an explicit estimate of the dead time is not required, thus avoiding a difficult estimation problem. Parameter estimation for the adaptive controller/dead time compensator is performed with a recursive least squares algorithm. Simulation studies and experimental application on a heat exchange loop on a pilot scale distillation column verify the performance of the algorithm. In each example, the performance of the adaptive controller/dead time compensator is compared to that of a proportional plus integral controller, illustrating the improvement in performance obtainable with the adaptive algortihm.
Robust Estimation of Transition Matrices in High Dimensional Heavy-tailed Vector Autoregressive Processes

Gaussian vector autoregressive (VAR) processes have been extensively studied in the literature. However, Gaussian assumptions are stringent for heavy-tailed time series that frequently arises in finance and economics. In this paper, we develop a unified framework for modeling and estimating heavy-tailed VAR processes. In particular, we generalize the Gaussian VAR model by an elliptical VAR model that naturally accommodates heavy-tailed time series. Under this model, we develop a quantile-based robust estimator for the transition matrix of the VAR process. We show that the proposed estimator achieves parametric rates of convergence in high dimensions. This is the first work in analyzing heavy-tailed high dimensional VAR processes. As an application of the proposed framework, we investigate Granger causality in the elliptical VAR process, and show that the robust transition matrix estimator induces sign-consistent estimators of Granger causality. The empirical performance of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by both synthetic and real data. We show that the proposed estimator is robust to heavy tails, and exhibit superior performance in stock price prediction.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Carbon Nanotube-Based Oscillators

A [10, 10]/[5,5] nanotube-based oscillator is studied using molecular dynamics in this paper. The inner tube can oscillate inside the outer tube with a stable frequency of 55GHz, if this nanomechanical system is insulated. When temperature effects are considered, it is found that the nanooscillator will stop due to the temperature-related interlayer friction between the outer tube and the inner tube. A nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) is designed by coating electrodes on the top of the outer tube. The electromagnetic forces, induced by the WRITE voltage pulses that are applied on the electrodes, can overcome the interlayer friction. The frequency of the proposed NEMS oscillator depends on the frequency of the WRITE voltage pulses.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Improved Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model Parameter Values for End-Force-Loaded Compliant Beams

Pseudo-rigid-body models help expedite the compliant mechanism design process by aiding the analysis and synthesis of candidate design solutions, using loop-closure techniques for rigid-body mechanisms. Opportunities for improvement were observed in the values of pseudo-rigid-body model parameters for compliant beams with nearly axial, tensile end force loads. This paper presents improved values for the affected parameters.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Resin diterpenoids as tracers for biomass combustion aerosols

Diterpenoids present in atmospheric particles produced by slash burns were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This suite of compounds, originating in the resinous higher plants which were combusted, was comprised of reaction intermediates in the thermal transformation sequence of components such as abietic acid and dehydroabietin to retene. This sequence parallels the diagenetic alteration/decomposition processes noted in sedimentary records. Since global transport of combustion aerosols has been well documented, it is likely that the thermally-altered diterpenoids elucidated in this study can be deposited directly to sedimentary sinks.
Nonlinear dynamic systems evaluation of 'rhythmic' eye movements (Optokinetic nystagmus)

The last decade has seen a surge in the study of nonlinear dynamical behavior in physiologic systems. In this paper, some of the computational techniques most commonly used to investigate the nonlinear dynamics of these systems are described. Applications to eye movement analysis are included, including the validation of a mathematical model of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) eye movements. OKN appears to have some nonlinear and deterministic component, along with significant randomness. Fast phase starting and ending points are somewhat predictable (deterministic), while so-called 'exceptional events' analysis shows that they also have a large random component. Surrogate data methods suggest that the population of slow and fast phases in OKN is more important than any specific relationship between adjacent slow and fast phases. Analysis of a statistical model for fast phase intervals indicates that the model data are slightly more random than the actual OKN.
Catalytic activation of molecular hydrogen in alkyne hydrogenation reactions by lanthanide metal vapor reaction products

A rotary metal vapor was used in the synthesis of Lu, Er, Nd, Sm, Yb, and La alkyne, diene, and phosphine complexes. A typical catalytic hydrogenation experiment is described. The lanthanide metal vapor product is dissolved in tetrahydrofuran or toluene and placed in a pressure reaction vessel 3-hexyne (or another substrate) is added, the chamber attached to a high vacuum line, cooled to -196/sup 0/C, evacuated, warmed to ambient temperature and hydrogen is added. The solution is stirred magnetically while the pressure in monitored. The reaction products were analyzed by gas chromatography. Rates and products of various systems are listed. This preliminary survey indicates that catalytic reaction chemistry is available to these metals in a wide range of coordination environments. Attempts to characterize these compounds are hampered by their paramagnetic nature and their tendency to polymerize.
Parenteral nutrition associated with increased infection rate in children with cancer

Background. Recent metaanalyses of published controlled studies concluded that adult patients with cancer randomly assigned to receive parenteral nutrition had higher rates of infectious complications than control subjects. Methods. The infection risk associated with parenteral nutrition was assessed in 310 pediatric patients with cancer. These patients had central venous access devices (CVAD), Hickman/Broviac (H/B) catheters, or implantable subcutaneous ports in place for the delivery of chemotherapy and supportive care. Results. The median duration of CVAD placement was 363 days; a total of 450 patient years (i.e., the sum of the total years of catheters experienced from all patients studied) were examined. Overall, the infection rate was 0.06 infections/100 days. During the period of parenteral nutrition administration, the rate increased to 0.5 infections/100 days. Among patients who received parenteral nutrition, there were no significant differences in any clinical parameter between the patients who developed an infection and those who did not. When evaluating the entire study population, infection was more likely to occur in patients who had acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (P < 0.01) or H/B catheters (P < 0.01), or who received parenteral nutrition (P < 0.02); there was no relationship between infection and catheter duration, days hospitalized, or days neutropenic (absolute neutrophil count < 0.5 × 109/l). Only CVAD type and parenteral nutrition retained significance in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. After adjustment for diagnosis and CVAD type, the risk of infection was 2.4-fold greater in patients given parenteral nutrition (95% confidence interval 1.5 to 3.9; P < 0.001). Conclusion. These data confirm that administration of parenteral nutrition is associated with an increased risk of infection in children who have CVAD in place for cancer therapy.
Strength and modulus of a molybdenum-coated Ti-25Al-10Nb-3V-1 Mo intermetallic

The three- point bend strength, Young’s modulus, and vibrational damping of a plasma- sprayed molybdenum-coated Ti- 25Al- 10Nb- 3V- lMo intermetallic were measured. The bend strength of the intermetallic samples was significantly reduced as a result of the molybdenum coating. This decrease in the strength was attributed to cracks formed in the molybdenum coating during the plasma spraying process. Experimental measurements done using the piezoelectric ultrasonic composite technique (PUCOT) indicated that the modulus and vibrational damping of the coated samples were significantly higher than for the uncoated substrates. Thermal cycling of the molybdenum- coated intermetallic between 600 °C and room temperature revealed a saturation increase in the modulus with a corresponding decrease in the mechanical damping. This behavior was attributed to crack healing occurring in the molybdenum coating during the thermal cycling process.
Gas hydrate property measurements in porous sediments with resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

[1] Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy was used to characterize a natural geological core sample obtained from the Mallik 5L-38 gas hydrate research well at high pressure and subambient temperatures. Using deuterated methane gas to form gas hydrate in the core sample, it was discovered that resonance amplitudes are correlated with the fraction of the pore space occupied by the gas hydrate crystals. A pore water freezing model was developed that utilizes the known pore size distribution and pore water chemistry to predict gas hydrate saturation as a function of pressure and temperature. The model showed good agreement with the experimental measurements and demonstrated that pore water chemistry is the most important factor controlling equilibrium gas hydrate saturations in these sediments when gas hydrates are formed artificially in laboratory pressure vessels. With further development, the resonant ultrasound technique can provide a rapid, nondestructive, field portable means of measuring the equilibrium P-T properties and dissociation kinetics of gas hydrates in porous media, determining gas hydrate saturations, and may provide new insights into the nature of gas hydrate formation mechanisms in geologic materials.
Regulation of cholesterol and progesterone synthesis in human placental cells in culture by serum lipoproteins.

Employing dispersed human trophoblastic cells in primary culture, the role of serum lipoproteins in regulating the synthesis of cholesterol and progesterone by the human placenta was investigated. The rate of secretion of progesterone by trophoblastic cells maintained in medium containing lipoprotein- poor serum was 100—190 ng mg−1 cell protein, whereas progesterone secretion by cells maintained in medium containing low density lipoprotein (LDL) increased as a function of LDL concentration, reaching a rate of 390 ng mg−1 cell protein 24 h−1 at an LDL concentration of 420 μg protein/ml. The rate of progesterone secretion by trophoblastic cells maintained in media containing high density lipoprotein in various concentrations (0—1000 /xg protein/ml) was also investigated. At high density lipoprotein concentrations of 1000 ng/ml, the rate of progesterone secretion by the trophoblastic cells was half that attained by cells maintained in medium containing LDL. The rate of incorporation of [14C]acetate into chol...
Acute response of rat liver microsomal lipids, lipid peroxidation, and membrane anisotropy to a single oral dose of polybrominated biphenyls.

Liver microsomal lipids and lipid peroxidation activities were examined in adult male rats at intervals over a 2‐mo period after the administration of a single oral dose of 0 or 500 mg/kg of FireMaster BP‐6 in corn oil. Microsomal lipids were markedly altered in the polybrominated biphenyl‐ (PBB‐) dosed animals at the earliest time examined (1 wk), and these changes persisted throughout the remainder of the study. An early decrease in the cholesterol‐phospholipid ratio was noted, which probably contributed to the significant decrease in the steady‐state fluorescence anisotropy demonstrable in both intact microsomes and in liposomes prepared from microsomal lipid extracts. Significant concentrations of PBBs were present in dosed rat microsomes, but the changes in anisotropy appeared to result from membrane lipid alterations rather than from a direct perturbation by PBBs. Iron ascorbate‐induced peroxidation was also greatly enhanced in dosed rat microsomes, even when rats were maintained on a low‐iron (25 p...
Increasing the number of trainees in general surgery residencies: is there capacity?

Purpose General surgeons have decreased as a proportion of the total U.S. surgical workforce. Given the likelihood of increasing shortages of general surgeons, the authors evaluated available expansion capacity of existing general surgery residency programs. Method In November 2009, the authors e-mailed a Web-based questionnaire to the program directors and coordinators of the 246 U.S. general surgery residency programs that were then certified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Results Of the 246 programs the authors contacted, 123 (50%) completed the survey. Community hospital programs and academic programs had similar response rates (52% and 50%, respectively). Of the 115 program directors who responded to the relevant question, 92 (80%) reported sufficient existing case volume capacity to accommodate additional surgery residents. Both community and academic program directors reported modest expansion capacity: an average of 1.7 and 2.0 additional residents per year, respectively. Across all programs, the average additional capacity reported was 1.9 additional residents per year. An expansion of this size would increase the number of general surgery residency positions from 1,137 to 1,515 annually. After accounting for subspecialization, this increase of 378 residents would result in approximately 249 additional general surgeons entering the workforce per year after five years. Conclusions Expansion capacity within existing approved general surgery residency programs is insufficient to meet the expected demand for general surgeons in the United States. Strategies to alleviate shortages include developing new training programs, cultivating new medical education funding streams, and changing the surgical training paradigm.
Who Am I Now? Using Life Span Theories in Psychotherapy in Late Adulthood

Although academic and clinical psychology do not often embrace, lifespan developmental constructs and theories can enrich the process of psychotherapy. Particularly in the last third of life, when social institutions and societal expectations provide less guidance and constraint, access to understandings about the lifespan may be especially useful. A life structure model of 20-year eras and periods of stability and evaluation/transformation can bring structure when life appears amorphous. Recognition of the ways that people of different ages experience time, and lifetime, can increase empathy and promote client's understanding of their own changes. Three dimensions of development—the ethic of care, the acquisition of integrity, and the building of an individuated and mature ego—can bring increased depth, vitality, fullness, and enjoyment to the last third of life. Therapists' ability to detect and articulate their client's developmental needs and process can enhance the work and further client's growth.
A karplus-type relationship for deuterium quadrupole coupling constants. II. Inequivalent C2H sites in substituted acetic acids

Abstract Solid-state deuterium NMR spectra have been obtained for three substituted acetic acids. Analysis of the single-quantum and double-transition zero-field deuterium spectra shows that the methylene deuterons in a molecule, even though bound to the same carbon site, can have different values for the quadrupole coupling constant. The major source of the inequivalency has been traced to the neighboring oxygen atoms of the carboxylic acid group. A useful parameter for describing the geometry of the system is the 2 HC alpha C acid HOH torsion angle. The value of the deuterium quadrupole coupling constant is correlated with the 2 HC alpha C acid HOH torsion angle and is described by a Karplus-type relationship of the form A + B cos( θ ) + C cos (2 θ ).
Anthropology and the commodity form: The Philadelphia Commercial Museum:

Anthropologists working in the political economy tradition have generated a sizeable amount of work that focuses on commodities. This article discusses approaches that focus on the form and structure of the commodity, in particular the work of Lukacs, Sohn-Rethel and Benjamin, and uses them to examine the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, an institution where encyclopedic statistics and anthropology were especially conditioned by commodity relations. These authors help the anthropology of commodities to grasp both the relation between political economy and culture, and the influence of commodity on the discipline itself.
BK virus has tropism for human salivary gland cells in vitro: implications for transmission.

Background: In this study, it was determined that BKV is shed in saliva and an in vitro model system was developed whereby BKV can productively infect both submandibular (HSG) and parotid (HSY) salivary gland cell lines. Results: BKV was detected in oral fluids using quantitative real-time PCR (QRTPCR). BKV infection was determined using quantitative RT-PCR, immunofluorescence and immunoblotting assays. The infectivity of BKV was inhibited by pre-incubation of the virus with gangliosides that saturated the major capsid protein, VP1, halting receptor mediated BKV entry into salivary gland cells. Examination of infected cultures by transmission electron microscopy revealed 45-50 nm BK virions clearly visible within the cells. Subsequent to infection, encapsidated BK virus was detected in the supernatant. Conclusion: We thus demonstrated that BKV was detected in oral fluids and that BK infection and replication occur in vitro in salivary gland cells. These data collectively suggest the potential for BKV oral route of transmission and oral pathogenesis.
Organizational excellence and leadership strategies: principles followed by top multinational executives

During the past decade, the environment for multinational corporations has been quite volatile, with numerous challenges for the firms operating in this arena. However, throughout this period there have emerged a number of executive leaders who have been recognized for their contributions to organizational excellence and leadership despite the environmental fluctuations. An analysis of the strategies followed by these executives reflects a limited number of distinct themes. The themes reflect a focus on the care of customers, product innovation, committed people and management leadership. The leadership strategies reflected by these corporate leaders focus on attention through vision, meaning through communication, trust through positioning and confidence through respect. This article focuses on the top multinational executives identified for each year during the decade of the 1990s, and the organizational excellence and leadership strategies that have been at the heart of the practices implemented and followed by these executives.
Energetics of La2-xSrxCoO4-y (0.5 < x < 1.5)

Several compositions in the La{sub 2-x}Sr{sub x}CoO{sub 4-y} series were synthesized in air and in argon. The heats of formation of these compounds were calculated from the measured heats of solution using high-temperature drop solution calorimetry in lead borate solvent. The heats of formation become more exothermic with increasing strontium content, consistent with a high heat of oxidation of -400 kJ per mole of O{sub 2} determined from calorimetry of samples with the same strontium content and different oxygen nonstoichiometry. This enthalpy of oxidation is significantly more exothermic than values for the corresponding cuprates and nickelates.
A method of determining the operating characteristics of a power oscillator

Abstract The performance of vacuum tube power oscillators is determined by tests made at 60 cycles. The low-frequency potentials are applied to the plate and grid electrodes from the 60-cycle power mains through suitable transformers. Wattmeters placed in the circuits indicate the magnitudes of the plate and grid power losses. The wave forms of and the phase angle between the alternating plate and grid voltages are determined from 60-cycle measurements. Radio-frequency measurements with the same tubes show close agreement with the results of the 60-cycle tests.A new method of presenting the results is also given in which the operating characteristics of the vacuum tube are shown as contours on the e p − e g plane.
Effects of Continuous Rate Intravenous Infusion of Butorphanol on Physiologic and Outcome Variables in Horses after Celiotomy

A randomized, controlled, blinded clinical trial was performed to determine whether butorphanol administered by continuous rate infusion (CRI) for 24 hours after abdominal surgery would decrease pain and surgical stress responses and improve recovery in horses. Thirty-one horses undergoing exploratory celiotomy for abdominal pain were randomly assigned to receive butorphanol CRI (13 microg/kg/h for 24 hours after surgery; treatment) or isotonic saline (control). All horses received flunixin meglumine (1.1 mg/kg IV q12h). There were no significant differences between treatment and control horses in preoperative or operative variables. Treatment horses had significantly lower plasma cortisol concentration compared with control horses at 2, 8, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours after surgery. Mean weight loss while hospitalized was significantly less for treatment horses than control horses, whether expressed as total decrease in body weight (13.9+/-3.4 and 27.9+/-4.5 kg, respectively) or as a percentage decrease in body weight (2.6+/-0.7 and 6.3+/-1.1%, respectively). Treatment horses were significantly delayed in time to first passage of feces (median times of 15 and 4 hours, respectively). Treatment horses had significantly improved behavior scores during the first 24 hours after surgery, consistent with the conclusion that they experienced less pain during that time. Butorphanol CRI during the immediate postoperative period significantly decreased plasma cortisol concentrations and improved recovery characteristics in horses undergoing abdominal surgery.
A method for determination of carbon dioxide specific radioactivity and concentration in blood, rumen fluid, and expired air.

Abstract A method is described for determining specific radioactivity and concentration of CO 2 in blood, rumen fluid, and expired air. The CO 2 of blood and rumen fluid samples is liberated selectively by 1 m phosphate buffer (pH 5.8) containing 1 m m NaN 3 and 5 m m NaF. Liberated CO 2 is quantitatively trapped in 0.3 n Ba(OH) 2 , and amounts of CO 2 are determined by titration of residual hydroxide ion. The resulting BaCO 3 is solubilized with 10% EDTA in 1 m Tris (pH 9), and radioactivity is determined by liquid scintillation. For quantitative determination of expired CO 2 , a measured fraction of expired air is bubbled through 0.3 n Ba(OH) 2 . The amount of trapped CO 2 is determined by titrating residual hydroxide ion in an aliquot of trapping solution after BaCO 3 is precipitated by centrifugation. Radioactivity is determined by liquid scintillation spectrophotometry of ethanolamine carbamate after CO 2 is regenerated from BaCO 3 by addition of acid and quantitatively retrapped in ethanolamine.
The transmembrane inner ear (tmie) gene contributes to vestibular and lateral line development and function in the zebrafish (Danio rerio).

The inner ear is a complex organ containing sensory tissue, including hair cells, the development of which is not well understood. Our long-term goal is to discover genes critical for the correct formation and function of the inner ear and its sensory tissue. A novel gene, transmembrane inner ear (Tmie), was found to cause hearing-related disorders when defective in mice and humans. A homologous tmie gene in zebrafish was cloned and its expression characterized between 24 and 51 hours post-fertilization. Embryos injected with morpholinos (MO) directed against tmie exhibited circling swimming behavior (∼37%), phenocopying mice with Tmie mutations; semicircular canal formation was disrupted, hair cell numbers were reduced, and maturation of electrically active lateral line neuromasts was delayed. As in the mouse, tmie appears to be required for inner ear development and function in the zebrafish and for hair cell maturation in the vestibular and lateral line systems as well. Developmental Dynamics 237:941–952, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Cellular mechanisms regulating human melanogenesis

The major differentiated function of melanocytes is the synthesis of melanin, a pigmented heteropolymer that is synthesized in specialized cellular organelles termed melanosomes. Mature melanosomes are transferred to neighboring keratinocytes and are arranged in a supranuclear cap, protecting the DNA against incident ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation. The synthesis and distribution of melanin in the epidermis involves several steps: transcription of melanogenic proteins, melanosome biogenesis, sorting of melanogenic proteins into the melanosomes, transport of melanosomes to the tips of melanocyte dendrites and finally transfer into keratinocytes. These events are tightly regulated by a variety of paracrine and autocrine factors in response to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, principally UV irradiation.
Studies of electron and hole velocity overshoots in a GaAs-based p-i-n semiconductor nanostructure by picosecond Raman spectroscopy

Velocity overshoot phenomenon for electrons as well as holes in a GaAs-based p-i-n nanostructure have been studied by using transient picosecond Raman spectroscopy. Under the picosecond laser excitation, we have found that the extent of velocity overshoot for electrons is comparable to holes. These experimental results have been explained in terms of various carrier scattering processes.
The Postmodern Crisis: Discourse, Parody, Memory

In writing about the baroque Trauerspiel, the mourning play, the play of melancholy, Walter Benjamin (1977:177-178) notes that the allegorical physiognomy of history conjoined with nature-"The word 'history' stands written on the countenance of nature in the characters of transience"-is present in reality in the form of the ruin. "In the ruin history has physically merged into the setting." Today, in an age that has been declared postmodern-indeed, by some, in Spain for example, as neo-Baroque-the ruin has been replaced by the quotation, the trace, really a pseudo-trace, a detritus, a re-ferent, a carrying back to/from a past, which is so completely decontextualized, so open to recontextualization, that it. the quotation, the trace, becomes at once an emblem of a past evacuated of history (history understood as a somehow meaningful account of the past) and a signal of the artifice of any such account, any history. Ironically, demonically, the denial of the possibility of a "real" mimetic account, of any master narrative, proclaimed by the relentless signals of artifice does in fact announce an overarching narrative of-a consuming obsession with-artifice. As baroque mourningconstituted on the experience of transience, death and the corpse-gives way (I need not pass, I suppose, through the defiles of neoclassicism and romanticism) to today's (ideologically bruited) jouissances, constituted on the experience of change, of difference, diffirance, of rupture, the bit, the flickering image, the digital sound, no doubt masking a postcoital emptiness, nostalgia, and the longing for repetition and reunion, so allegory, whose artifice, at least during the baroque, was mournfully relished, surrenders to artifice, whose allegorical possibility is playfully denied. There is in all play a danger that the truth alluded to (from the Latin ludere, to play) will break through and arrest the play. I will be concerned with putative discursive changes associated with postmodernism and with their relationship to memory understood as a structural precipitate of any dialogical engagement in which a change of perspective, or the illusion of a change of perspective, occurs. This "new" discourse, at least in
Community preferences and social choice

Abstract This paper gives necessary and sufficient conditions for the aggregation of preferences, extending an earlier treatment of aggregation by Stolper, Gorman, Samuelson and Chipman. Such aggregation procedures are intended to deal with the problem of aggregating demand functions in econometrics, where the aggregate is required to be independent to the income distribution. Thus, it is usually assumed in this form of aggregation that all consumers face the same prices, but that the distribution of income is unrestricted. In order to establish the characterisation result, we present a new approach to preference aggregation which involves summing certain subsets of the graphs of the preferences, viewed as subsets of a Euclidean space. This procedure has a clear geometrical interpretation, and a number of useful applications. In particular, it enables us to analyse the possibility of aggregation when prices are not constrained to be the same for all consumers, a case of possible empirical significance. We also show that the Stolper-Gorman-Samuelson-Chipman construction of community indifference curves coincides with a special case of this procedure. Finally, this approach allows us to develop the relationship between these forms of aggregation and the preference aggregation problem as it occurs in social choice theory.
Response of tree seedlings to acid precipitation— I. Effect of substrate acidity on seed germination

Abstract Response of seed germination of Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Betula lutea, Tsuga canadensis and Pinus strobus to several substrate acidity levels was measured. Germination inhibition was observed at pH 4.0 and 3.0 for A. rubrum and at pH 3.0 for B. lutea compared to controls at pH 5.6 but no inhibition of A. saccharum or T. canadensis was observed at these levels. Germination stimulation of P. strobus occurred with decreasing substrate pH; maximum germination was recorded at pH 3.0–2.4. These findings indicate that a wide range of sensitivities of seed germination to acidic substrate conditions exists among five tree species characteristic of Adirondack mixed hardwood conifer forests. Interpretation of the results in relation to natural forest conditions requires an understanding of biotic and abiotic factors which influence seed germination and seedling establishment. Germinating seeds which inhabit the forest floor stratum may be protected from sudden or severe changes in substrate pH. Studies of sensitivity of seedling development and growth are required to determine the susceptibility of tree species to possible acid precipitation influence.
Brominated hydroxyquinoline as a photolabile protecting group with sensitivity to multiphoton excitation.

The synthesis and photochemistry of a new photolabile protecting group for carboxylic acids based on 8-bromo-7-hydroxyquinoline (BHQ) is described. BHQ possesses a greater single photon quantum efficiency than 4,5-dimethoxy-4-nitrobenzyl ester (DMNB) and 6-bromo-7-hydroxycoumarin-4-ylmethyl (Bhc), and it has sufficient sensitivity to multiphoton-induced photolysis for use in vivo. Its increased solubility and low fluorescence make it quite useful as a caging group for biological messengers.
THE SPECIAL COMPOSITION QUESTION IN ACTION

Abstract: Just as we may ask whether, and under what conditions, a collection of objects composes a single object, we may ask whether, and under what conditions, a collection of actions composes a single action. In the material objects literature, this question is known as the “special composition question,” and I take it that there is a similar question to be asked of collections of actions. I will call that question the “special composition question in action,” and argue that the correct answer to this question depends on a particular kind of consequence produced by the individual constituent actions.
Long‐term evolution of transient liquid water on Mars

[1] Liquid water is not currently stable on the surface of Mars; however, transient liquid water (ice melt) may occur if the surface temperature is between the melting and boiling points. Such conditions are met on Mars with current surface pressures and obliquity due to the large diurnal range of surface temperatures. This yields the potential for transient, nonequilibrium liquid water. A general circulation model is used to undertake an initial exploration of the variation of this “transient liquid water potential” (TLWP) for different obliquities and over a range of increased pressures representing progressively earlier phases of Martian geological history. At higher obliquities and slightly higher surface pressures (<50 mbar), TLWP conditions are met over a very large fraction of the planet. As the surface pressure is increased above about 50–100 mbar, however, increased atmospheric thermal blanketing reduces the diurnal surface temperature range, essentially eliminating the possibility of even transient liquid water. At high enough pressures, the mean temperature is sufficiently elevated to allow stable liquid water. Thus the potential for liquid water on Mars has not decreased monotonically over planetary history as the atmosphere was lost. Instead, a distinct minimum in TLWP (the “dead zone”) will have occurred during the extended period for which pressures were in the middle range between about 0.1 and 1 bar. This has direct and restrictive implications for chemical weathering and life. The fundamental conclusion of this study is largely insensitive to invocation of brines and to more detailed treatment of atmospheric radiative processes.
Mental health policy in the liberal state: the example of the United States.

Abstract Mental health policy arises out of the interaction of many different variables. These include (but are not limited to) the composition of the population of persons with severe mental illnesses; the means of dealing with disease and dependency; concepts of the etiology and nature of mental disorders; the organization and ideology of psychiatry; funding mechanisms; and existing popular, political, cultural, and professional values. But an often neglected but crucial factor in shaping policy is the very structure of the American political system, which played a crucial role in shaping mental health policy. Rather than emphasizing the neo-liberal theory and its accompanying hostility toward “unsuccessful” people and disdain of welfare, this article suggests that an understanding of mental health policy in the latter half of the twentieth century is better served by an examination of what actually happened. Theory, however attractive, rarely can encompass the messy data of reality.
An X Windows tool for synthesizing face images from eigenvectors

An X Windows software tool for the construction of faces with a weighted combination of eigenvectors is described. The eigenvectors were extracted from an autoassociative matrix that comprised 100 face images. The program input consists of eigenvectors and sets of weights that describe individual faces and combines these to create face images. The tool creates a panel of buttons that permits the display of individual eigenvectors and the display of an average face as well. Facilities for on-line changes to the intensity of individual eigenvectors can be used to change the appearance of a face. Previously, O’Toole, Abdi, Deffenbacher, and Bartlett (1991) have shown that the intensity of certain individual eigenvectors contains reliable information for determining the sex and race of the face.
A mantle plume model for the equatorial highlands of Venus

The possibility that the Equatorial Highlands are the surface expressions of hot upwelling mantle plumes is considered via a series of mantle plume models developed using a cylindrical axisymmetric finite element code and depth-dependent Newtonian rheology. The results are scaled by assuming whole mantle convection and that Venus and the earth have similar mantle heat flows. The best model fits are for Beta and Atla. The common feature of the allowed viscosity models is that they lack a pronounced low-viscosity zone in the upper mantle. The shape of Venus's long-wavelength admittance spectrum and the slope of its geoid spectrum are also consistent with the lack of a low-viscosity zone. It is argued that the lack of an asthenosphere on Venus is due to the mantle of Venus being drier than the earth's mantle. Mantle plumes may also have contributed to the formation of some smaller highland swells, such as the Bell and Eistla regions and the Hathor/Innini/Ushas region.