cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of pH on the reactions of heme peroxidase-derived oxidants with R19S

Oxidant production by heme peroxidases (such as myeloperoxidase [MPO], lactoperoxidase, eosinophil peroxidase and peroxidasin) impacts host defense and macromolecular structure and has the potential to cause tissue damage. Marked increases in phagocyte MPO, capable of producing highly reactive hypochlorous acid (HOCl), have been noted in multiple chronic inflammatory diseases. However, measuring MPO-derived oxidants at the site of production in vivo is technically challenging. The rhodamine-based probe R19S, first described by X. Chen et al (Chem Commun 2011; 47:4373-4375), becomes fluorescent R19 after reaction with HOCl but does not react with superoxide, hydrogen peroxide or several other reactive species. Thus, R19S may be useful to study MPO activity in situ. We sought to characterize the potential responses of R19S to other heme peroxidase-derived oxidants to establish whether a fluorescent response is solely indicative of HOCl or may include others. We analyzed responses of R19S to HOCl (positive control), hydrogen peroxide (negative control), hypobromous acid (HOBr), hypothiocyanous acid (HOSCN), hypoiodous acid (HOI) and taurine chloramine (TauCl) at pH 5.5 and 7.5. A similar study was recently published by A.M. Albrett et al (J Biol Chem 2018; ahead of print). Our results show strong agreement with their study at neutral pH (with a response hierarchy of HOI > HOCl > HOBr > HOSCN), although the overall responses of HOBr and HOSCN relative to HOCl were greater. At pH 5.5, we observed an altered hierarchy, with HOBr and HOI responses diminished (mean of 14.0±0.5% and 65.1±1.0% of HOCl, respectively, vs. 83.2±2.3% and 165.8±6.4% at pH 7.5), while HOSCN response was increased (93.3±5.1% of HOCl, vs. 37.6±0.2% at pH 7.5). Although TauCl did not cause fluorescence at neutral pH, modest response was detectible at acidic pH (9.8±0.2% of HOCl). These data illustrate that the environment of R19S determines its responsiveness to peroxidase-derived oxidants and should be considered when interpreting results.
Street Egohood: An Alternative Perspective of Measuring Neighborhood and Spatial Patterns of Crime

The current study proposes an approach that accounts for the importance of streets while at the same time accounting for the overlapping spatial nature of social and physical environments captured by the egohood approach. Our approach utilizes overlapping clusters of streets based on the street network distance, which we term street egohoods. We used the street segment as a base unit and employed two strategies in clustering the street segments: (1) based on the First Order Queen Contiguity; and (2) based on the street network distance considering physical barriers. We utilized our approaches for measuring ecological factors and estimated crime rates in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. We found that whereas certain socio-demographics, land use, and business employee measures show stronger relationships with crime when measured at the smaller street based unit, a number of them actually exhibited stronger relationships when measured using our larger street egohoods. We compared the results for our three-sized street egohoods to street segments and two sizes of block egohoods proposed by Hipp and Boessen (Criminology 51(2):287–327, 2013) and found that two egohood strategies essentially are not different at the quarter mile egohood level but this similarity appears lower when looking at the half mile egohood level. Also, the street egohood models are a better fit for predicting violent and property crime compared to the block egohood models. A primary contribution of the current study is to develop and propose a new perspective of measuring neighborhood based on urban streets. We empirically demonstrated that whereas certain socio-demographic measures show the strongest relationship with crime when measured at the micro geographic unit of street segments, a number of them actually exhibited the strongest relationship when measured using our larger street egohoods. We hope future research can use egohoods to expand understanding of neighborhoods and crime.
Boundaries of Torture

In Part II we look at the boundaries of torture and the ethical issues they bring to light. In this chapter I employ Nel Noddings’ notion of the three components of evil as a framework of analysis. Each one is applied to torture, recognizing that its aspects of physical pain and mental and psychological suffering are set out by the UN Convention Against Torture in 1984. One change over the years is the increasing use of abusive practices which leave no scars or other physical evidence. Examples are sleep deprivation, isolation, threats to family members, and forced standing. For perpetrators, such tactics offer significant advantages.
Modular multi-motor exercise system for space exploration

The goal of this project is to develop new technology that will support crew health and performance during long duration space missions. While there are current methods for maintaining fitness aboard the International Space Station, the results are not ideal; muscle mass and bone density continue to degrade, and there is still room for improvement. Moreover, new exploration missions need to maximize the use of the equipment due to storage limitations. A system that can be used for multiple purposes such as for providing multiple strength training exercises, as well as, providing aerobic exercises while using the same workout space is desirable. This project aims to address these challenges by introducing a modular system that will bring versatility, scalability, and robustness, by using mountable and reconfigurable modules to maximize the number of exercises that can be performed. In this paper we present the development of a Modular Multi-Motor Exercise System concept based on Magneto-Rheological fluid-based modules.
“How Many Dead Hemophiliacs Do You Need?” And the Band Played on (1993)

The early and shameful history of HIV/AIDS in the United States, and the decimation of the U.S. gay population throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, is not well known to the majority of healthcare practitioners who were licensed in the twenty-first century. But it must be, and this film is the conduit. And the Band Played On is a faithful representation of the 1987 630-page book of the same name, written by journalist Randy Shilts. As an openly gay reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, in a city that had the largest population of gay males at that time—roughly 17% of the city’s population was gay (KQED 2009), Shilts tracked the deadly pandemic from its first appearance around 1979 through the disease’s infancy and early childhood, signing off in 1987, when he completed the book. In “AIDS Years” 1987 was a timeframe that was considered a turning point in HIV/AIDS, when it finally began to be treated like a twentieth century infectious disease instead of a seventeenth century plague, and the year that azidothymidine (AZT), the first anti-retroviral medication for AIDS, was introduced. Shilts refrained from taking the HIV antibody test until he completed the book (60 min 1994); he tested positive and died of AIDS in 1994 at age 42, two years before protease inhibitors were discovered. His greatest contribution to society and medicine was writing down what occurred so that the tragic ethical violations and medical harms that characterized this time period can be taught to future generations of practitioners who now regard AIDS as casually as type 2 diabetes, and who may even see a cure for AIDS in their professional lifetime.
Conjunctival melanoma: outcomes based on tumour origin in 629 patients at a single ocular oncology centre

PURPOSE To investigate clinical features and outcomes of conjunctival melanoma classified by tumour origin. METHODS Retrospective review of conjunctival melanoma patients at a single ocular oncology centre between April 18, 1974 and September 9, 2019. Lesions were divided into three tumour origin groups (primary acquired melanosis [PAM], nevus, and de novo) and clinical features and outcomes were compared. RESULTS There were 629 patients with conjunctival melanoma that arose from PAM (n = 476, 76%), nevus (n = 59, 9%), or de novo (n = 94, 15%). A comparison (PAM vs. nevus vs. de novo) revealed patients with tumours arising from PAM presented with older mean age (62 vs. 52 vs. 55 years, p < 0.001), worse initial logMAR visual acuity (Snellen equivalent 20/30 vs. 20/25 vs. 20/25, p = 0.03), and greater clock hour involvement (4.8 vs. 4.0 vs. 3.2, p < 0.001). Tumours arising from nevus had lower frequency of fornix (31% vs. 9% vs. 24%, p = 0.02) and tarsal involvement (29% vs. 9% vs. 26%, p = 0.046) and more frequent classification as AJCC category T1 (60% vs. 89% vs. 62%, p = 0.01). After follow-up of (57.2 vs. 68.2 vs. 51.7 months, p = 0.35), tumours arising from PAM had worse mean final visual acuity (20/50 vs. 20/40 vs. 20/40, p = 0.02) and greater frequency of visual acuity loss ≥3 lines (25% vs. 15% vs. 10%, p = 0.02). Kaplan-Meier estimates for 5-year risk showed no difference by tumour origin for visual acuity loss ≥3 lines, local tumour recurrence, exenteration, metastasis, or death. CONCLUSIONS Conjunctival melanoma most often arose from PAM, and tumour origin did not affect clinical outcomes.
Stochastic Algorithms for Gene Expression Analysis

Recent advances in the measurement of gene expression have allowed large data sets to become available for different types of analyses. In these data sets, the number of variables exceeds the number of observations by at least one order of magnitude. Substantial variable reduction is usually necessary before learning algorithms can be utilized in practice. Commonly used greedy variable selection strategies preclude the discovery of potentially important variable combinations if the variables in the combination are not sufficiently informative in isolation. Given the high dimensionality, artifacts are frequent and the use of evaluation techniques to prevent model overfitting need to be employed. In this article, we describe the factors that make the analysis of high-throughput gene expression data especially challenging, and indicate why properly evaluated stochastic algorithms can play a particularly important role in this process.
Some Applications and Misapplications of Induced Polyploidy to Plant Breeding

Plant breeders are eternal optimists, always searching for and expecting significant breakthroughs in plateaus of yield, quality, or adaptation. These breakthroughs have been achieved in some crops, notably maize (Zea mays) and grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) (1); but they have been elusive in others, particularly forage crops, in which conventional breeding methods have usually produced disappointing results (2,3). With the 1937 discovery of the “colchicine technique” for inducing Polyploidy, breeders seized upon this then-unconventional technique as a means of penetrating yield barriers. Since 1937, breeders, using polyploid methods on many crops, have gone through repeated cycles of high expectations followed by low realizations. The foremost lesson to be learned from the breeders’ 40-year experience (“struggle” may be a better word) with induced Polyploidy is that it is not a panacea for plant improvement. Nevertheless, as a forage breeder-cyto-geneticist, I still look on the intelligent manipulation of Polyploidy as one of the most, if not the most, promising means of improving yields of certain crop plants, particularly the perennial forages.
Ranking Surgical Residency Programs: Reputation Survey or Outcomes Measures?

Objective The release of general surgery residency program rankings by Doximity and U.S. News & World Report accentuates the need to define and establish measurable standards of program quality. This study evaluated the extent to which program rankings based solely on peer nominations correlated with familiar program outcomes measures. Design Publicly available data were collected for all 254 general surgery residency programs. To generate a rudimentary outcomes-based program ranking, surgery programs were rank-ordered according to an average percentile rank that was calculated using board pass rates and the prevalence of alumni publications. A Kendall τ -b rank correlation computed the linear association between program rankings based on reputation alone and those derived from outcomes measures to validate whether reputation was a reasonable surrogate for globally judging program quality. Results For the 218 programs with complete data eligible for analysis, the mean board pass rate was 72% with a standard deviation of 14%. A total of 60 programs were placed in the 75th percentile or above for the number of publications authored by program alumni. The correlational analysis reported a significant correlation of 0.428, indicating only a moderate association between programs ranked by outcomes measures and those ranked according to reputation. Seventeen programs that were ranked in the top 30 according to reputation were also ranked in the top 30 based on outcomes measures. Conclusions This study suggests that reputation alone does not fully capture a representative snapshot of a program’s quality. Rather, the use of multiple quantifiable indicators and attributes unique to programs ought to be given more consideration when assigning ranks to denote program quality. It is advised that the interpretation and subsequent use of program rankings be met with caution until further studies can rigorously demonstrate best practices for awarding program standings.
A decision analytic method for scoring performance on computer-based patient simulations.

Abstract As computer based clinical case simulations become increasingly popular for training and evaluating clinicians, approaches are needed to evaluate a trainee's or examinee's solution of the simulated cases. We developed a decision analytic approach to scoring performance on computerized patient case simulations. We developed decision models for computerized patient case simulations in four specific domains in the field of infectious disease. The decision models were represented as influence diagrams. A single decision node represents the possible diagnoses the user may make. One chance node represents a probability distribution over the set of competing diagnoses in the simulations. The value node contains the utilities associated with all possible combinations of diagnosis and disease. All relevant data that the user may request from the simulation are represented as chance nodes with arcs to or from the diagnosis node and/or each other. Probabilities in the decision model were derived from the literature, where available, or expert opinion. Utilities were assessed by standard gamble from clinical experts. The process of solving computer based patient simulations involves repeated cycles of requesting data (history, physical examination or laboratory) and receiving these data from the simulations. Each time the user requests clinical data from the simulation, the influence diagram is evaluated with and without an arc from the corresponding chance node to the decision node. The difference in expected utility between the two solutions of the influence diagram represents the expected value of information (VOI) from the requested clinical datum. The ratio of the expected VOI from the data requested and the expected value of perfect information about the diagnosis is a normative measure of the quality of each of the user's data requests. This approach provides a continuous measure of the quality of the user's data requests in a way that is sensitive to the previous data collected. The score distinguishes serious from minor misdiagnoses. And the same influence diagram can be used to evaluate performance on multiple simulations in the same clinical domain.
How will we regulate genetic enhancement

Genetic enhancement technologies present difficult and novel regulatory issues, including the problem of measuring and comparing risks and benefits and dealing with the impact of these technologies on social values. This Article describes and evaluates the potential approaches that may be taken to regulate these technologies. The author concludes that a variety of approaches will be necessary, involving self-regulation, government restrictions on access and use, licensing, and a national lottery.
Mammalian Expression and Biophysical Examination of Human Wild-Type Optineurin Protein

The optineurin gene has been linked to normal tension glaucoma and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Optineurin protein, known to interact with a number of proteins including Rab8, myosin VI, and huntingtin, plays a role in vesicle trafficking, Golgi organization, antibacterial and antiviral signaling, autophagic clearance of protein aggregates, and regulation of gene expression. Its basic biophysical properties however have never been explored. This study was aimed to obtain sufficient amounts of purified mammalian optineurin protein and to carry out biophysical characterization. Tetracycline inducible RGC-5 cell line that expresses Halo tagged human wild type optineurin was created. Tag free optineurin was purified and its purity was assessed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The secondary structure of the highly purified optineurin was examined by circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimeter. The posttranslational modification sites were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Protein-protein interaction was evaluated by bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFc) analysis. The aggregation of optineurin was studied by thioflavin T (ThT) assay. The CD spectra indicated that the tag free optineurin protein was folded, containing both α-helical and β-sheet secondary structures. One previously reported phosphorylation site serine (Ser) 177, four novel phosphorylation sites (Ser173, 174, 526 and 528), as well as one new acetylation site (Ser2) were identified. Optineurin protein was also shown to be an aggregate prone protein. It interacted with itself as detected by BiFc assay, and formed β-sheet rich structures or aggregates as evidenced by ThT assay.
Finance methodology of Free Cash Flow

Abstract Free Cash Flow (FCF) was adopted in the late 1980s as a financial tool to evaluate the firm and its individual projects. We question the procedure of calculating the FCF where a significant portion of Current Liabilities is offset against Current Assets, thereby creating the hybrid asset Net Working Capital (NWC). Borrowed from accounting methodology, that procedure distorts the FCF size, composition, volatility, and estimated value. Our empirical analysis shows that the nature and extent of those distortions can misinform the firm's stockholders, lenders and borrowers, and investors at large. We propose a revised FCF that would avoid those distortions.
Individual and group stability in neutral restrictions of hedonic games

Abstract We consider a class of coalition formation games called hedonic games , i.e., games in which the utility of a player is completely determined by the coalition that the player belongs to. We first define the class of subset-additive hedonic games and show that they have the same representation power as the class of hedonic games. We then define a restriction of subset-additive hedonic games that we call subset-neutral hedonic games and generalize a result by Bogomolnaia and Jackson (2002) by showing the existence of a Nash stable partition and an individually stable partition in such games. We also consider neutrally anonymous hedonic games and show that they form a subclass of the subset-additive hedonic games. Finally, we show the existence of a core stable partition that is also individually stable in neutrally anonymous hedonic games by exhibiting an algorithm to compute such a partition.
Screening Job Candidates with Social Media: A Manipulation of Disclosure Requests

In an attempt to find better employee organization fit, recruiters have turned to screening job candidates in part by reviewing their social media accounts. Job candidates may view these practices in a variety of ways, depending on the type of access requested and the individual characteristics of the job candidate. In this study, we measured changes in trust in the employer based on three increasingly intrusive disclosure requests and four individual characteristics. Findings from 162 participants suggest that a request for social media account logins reduces the trust in the employer, whereas collectivism, perceived privacy protection competence, and social media production increases trust in the employer. These findings have important implications for privacy research and for human resource screening practices.
First-order logic with dependent types

We present DFOL, an extension of classical first-order logic with dependent types, i.e., as in Martin-Lof type theory, signatures may contain type-valued function symbols. A model theory for the logic is given that stays close to the established first-order model theory. The logic is presented as an institution, and the logical framework LF is used to define signatures, terms and formulas. We show that free models over Horn theories exist, which facilitates its use as an algebraic specification language, and show that the classical first-order axiomatization is complete for DFOL, too, which implies that existing first-order theorem provers can be extended. In particular, the axiomatization can be encoded in LF.
Parents' views of adolescent health issues.

To determine how important the parents of teenagers consider adolescent health issues to be and the kind of involvement they would like from their schools and physicians, a questionnaire was sent to 1090 families with children attending two public high schools in a suburban community. The 438 parents who completed the questionnaire (40% response rate) indicated that their adolescents had a mean age of 16.2 years, 52% were male, 54% were in grades 11 and 12, and 70% received regular care from a pediatrician. Most parents considered substance use, sexuality, mental health issues, nutritional concerns, and general medical issues to be issues requiring attention nationally; many considered these issues to require attention locally; fewer considered these issues to require attention for their teenager9s friends; and only some indicated these issues require attention for their own teenagers. More than 95% of respondents said parents should discuss these topics with their teenagers, more than 80% said they themselves did, and more than 85% said they wanted these issues discussed with their adolescents in school. Approximately three quarters of parents said that they would bring their adolescent to their regular doctor for management of these issues, expected that their physician would be comfortable with such care, and wanted their doctor to discuss these issues with their teenagers. Most, however, thought that their teenagers would tell them if they needed help for these problems (including substance use and sexuality-related issues), approximately half believed it would be okay for the doctor to manage these problems confidentially, and fewer than 40% said they would be willing to pay higher fees necessary for the extra time required to manage these issues. Although some of these parents may have underestimated the health care needs of their adolescents, this study indicates that most were interested in having involvement from their physicians and schools and were generally aware of the importance of these issues.
The Digital Story: Designing Professional Development in Technology Integration for Teachers

A series of three professional development lessons were produced to teach high school teachers how to create their own content specific digital stories for use in their classroom instruction. A systems design method was employed to design the original lesson and also to design the final three lessons. The teachers were local high school teachers of one South Florida high school. The design approach for the lessons was grounded in activity theory. According to a description of activity theory by Jonassen, Tessmer, and Hannum (1999) the subjects use tools to transform objects in order to reach a learning outcome. School leadership and representative teachers expressed a need for technology integration in classroom instruction. Important shortcomings of the original lesson design were that adult learning theory was overlooked. Additionally, the main goal of the lesson was sacrificed to accommodate time constraints, and some of the images provided to complete the lesson contained the wrong aspect ratio. Adults require “self-direction” (Knowles, 1998), and the original lesson design afforded the participating adults little control over the construction process of their digital story. These shortcomings resulted in a need for a redesign of the lesson into three lessons. Furthermore, the final product became a series of three print-based lessons, to be distributed via compact disc to teachers for the upcoming school year.
Linking Participatory Poverty Assessments to Policy and Policymaking : Experience from Vietnam

Much of the qualitative research about poverty in Vietnam over the past 8 to 10 years was overlooked by policymakers, who tended to view it as unscientific' and lacking in credibility. So why did the four participatory poverty assessments implemented in 1999 grab their attention? The year 1999 was important for poverty-related research and policy development in Vietnam. The General Statistics Office had collected household data in the second Vietnam Living Standards Survey in 1998 and made it available for analysis in 1999. And four participatory poverty assessments (PPAs) were implemented during 1999. Turk's case study describes how government agencies, donors, and nongovernmental organizations collaborated in implementing the PPAs. The considerable amount of qualitative information about poverty produced in Vietnam over the past 8 to 10 years has rarely grabbed the attention of policymakers, who tend to view such information as unscientific and lacking in credibility. By contrast, the PPAs implemented in 1999 have been widely circulated, used, and quoted. What was different about those PPAs that led their findings to be brought into local and national policy debates, as previous findings had not been? Working partnerships among donors and nongovernmental organizations were important and helped build consensus on the research findings, but more crucial was the active engagement of government partners from the very early stages. Establishing a Poverty Working Group provided a structure for implementing the PPAs, for feeding analysis through to the poverty assessment, and for keeping government fully involved. The Poverty Working Group now supports the government in drafting its poverty reduction strategy. Strong World Bank leadership, financial support from the U.K. Department for International Development, the technical expertise and commitment of the PPA partner agencies, and the availability of recent high-quality household survey data played an important part in ensuring the PPAs' credibility. This paper - a product of the Hanoi Country Office, East Asia and Pacific Region - is part of a larger effort in the region to encourage greater participation by poor households in policymaking and programming for poverty reduction. The author may be contacted at cturk@worldbank.org.
Self-tuning UDF Cost Modeling Using the Memory-Limited Quadtree

Query optimizers in object-relational database management systems require users to provide the execution cost models of user-defined functions(UDFs). Despite this need, however, there has been little work done to provide such a model. Furthermore, none of the existing work is self-tuning and, therefore, cannot adapt to changing UDF execution patterns. This paper addresses this problem by introducing a self-tuning cost modeling approach based on the quadtree. The quadtree has the inherent desirable properties to (1) perform fast retrievals, (2) allow for fast incremental updates (without storing individual data points), and (3) store information at different resolutions. We take advantage of these properties of the quadtree and add the following in order to make the quadtree useful for UDF cost modeling: the abilities to (1) adapt to changing UDF execution patterns and (2) use limited memory. To this end, we have developed a novel technique we call the memory-limited quadtree(MLQ). In MLQ, each instance of UDF execution is mapped to a query point in a multi-dimensional space. Then, a prediction is made at the query point, and the actual value at the point is inserted as a new data point. The quadtree is then used to store summary information of the data points at different resolutions based on the distribution of the data points. This information is used to make predictions, guide the insertion of new data points, and guide the compression of the quadtree when the memory limit is reached. We have conducted extensive performance evaluations comparing MLQ with the existing (static) approach.
HAPPINESS, BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS, AND PUBLIC POLICY

The economics of "happiness" shares a feature with behavioral economics that raises questions about its usefulness in public policy analysis. What happiness economists call "habituation" refers to the fact that people's reported well-being reverts to a base level, even after major life events such as a disabling injury or winning the lottery. What behavioral economists call "projection bias" refers to the fact that people systematically mistake current circumstances for permanence, buying too much food if shopping while hungry for example. Habituation means happiness does not react to long-term changes, and projection bias means happiness over-reacts to temporary changes. I demonstrate this outcome by combining responses to happiness questions with information about air quality and weather on the day and in the place where those questions were asked. The current day's air quality affects happiness while the local annual average does not. Interpreted literally, either the value of air quality is not measurable using the happiness approach or air quality has no value. Interpreted more generously, projection bias saves happiness economics from habituation, enabling its use in public policy.
Removing bidirectionality from nondeterministic finite automata

We prove that every two-way nondeterministic finite automaton with n states has an equivalent one-way nondeterministic finite automaton with at most ($^{2n}_{n+1}$) states. We also show this bound is exact.
Inquirus, the NECI meta search engine

World Wide Web (WWW) search engines (e.g. AltaVista, Infoseek, HotBot, etc.) have a number of deficiencies including: periods of downtime, low coverage of the WWW, inconsistent and inefficient user interfaces, out of date databases, poor relevancy ranking and precision, and difficulties with spamming techniques. Meta search engines have been introduced which address some of these and other difficulties in searching the WWW. However, current meta search engines retain some of these difficulties and may also introduce their own problems (e.g. reduced relevance because one or more of the search engines returns results with poor relevance). We present Inquirus, the NECI meta search engine, which addresses many of the deficiencies in current techniques. Rather than working with the list of documents and summaries returned by search engines, as current meta search engines typically do, the Inquirus meta search engine works by downloading and analyzing the individual documents. The Inquirus meta search engine makes improvements over existing search engines in a number of areas, e.g.: more useful document summaries incorporating query term context, identification of both pages which no longer exist and pages which no longer contain the query terms, advanced detection of duplicate pages, improved document ranking using proximity information, dramatically improved precision for certain queries by using specific expressive forms, and quick jump links and highlighting when viewing the full documents.
Age-Strengthening of Cast Iron and Its Effects on Machinability: Review of the Literature

This presentation is a review of the research performed over several years to characterize the age-strengthening behavior of graphitic cast iron alloys (gray iron, ductile iron and CG iron.) Nitrogen in metastable solid solution in ferrite is necessary for the age strengthening to occur, similar to quench aging of steels. The activation energy for age strengthening is similar to that for diffusion of nitrogen. Age-strengthening can occur even if the ferrite is present as a phase in pearlite. However, machinability benefits only occur when there is free ferrite in the microstructure.
Survey and alignment of the MIT-Bates South Hall Ring

The South Hall Ring (SHR) is a pulse storage/stretcher ring with a circumference of 190 m. The complex contains over 200 magnetic elements, most of which must be positioned to tight tolerances to achieve efficient injection and extraction and to obtain storage times of several seconds for internal targets. In particular, the lattice quadrupoles have transverse position tolerances of /spl plusmn/100 microns magnet-to-magnet, and the circumference has a tolerance of /spl plusmn/5 mm. For the survey and alignment of the ring, we have used automated data capture, data flow and database generation. Alignment of all magnets to approximately /spl plusmn/1/4 mm has been completed. The final survey followed by a smoothing of the lattice will begin soon. The present status and issues of the survey and alignment program will be presented, along with the latest alignment aspects of the beam test results. >
Privacy injector — automated privacy enforcement through aspects

Protection of personal data is essential for customer acceptance. Even though existing privacy policies can describe how data shall be handled, privacy enforcement remains a challenge. Especially for existing applications, it is unclear how one can effectively ensure correct data handling without completely redesigning the applications. In this paper we introduce Privacy Injector, which allows us to add privacy enforcement to existing applications. Conceptually Privacy Injector consists of two complementary parts, namely, a privacy metadata tracking and a privacy policy enforcement part. We show how Privacy Injector protects the complete life cycle of personal data by providing us with a practical implementation of the “sticky policy paradigm.” Throughout the collection, transformation, disclosure and deletion of personal data, Privacy Injector will automatically assign, preserve and update privacy metadata as well as enforce the privacy policy. As our approach is policy-agnostic, we can enforce any policy language that describes which actions may be performed on which data.
Allocative inefficiencies resulting from subsidies to agricultural electricity use : an illustrative model

This paper provides an analytical discussion of several interconnected resource allocation problems from under-pricing of electricity used by farmers for groundwater extraction. In these situations, groundwater extraction is inefficiently high even without electricity under-pricing. Moreover, part of the electric power supply intended for farmers is often diverted to other unauthorized uses (notably illicit consumption). The paper demonstrates that unless non-price electricity rationing imposes severe constraints on demand, the range of resource allocation problems includes insufficient incentives to provide high-level service by the power utility, insufficient incentives for farmers to install and operate efficient equipment, and losses due to political"rent seeking"activities to influence water allocations. It also shows that diversion of electricity to illicit uses can increase overall economic efficiency when this leads to less electricity use by farmers, thus somewhat ameliorating the problem of excessive groundwater extraction as well as the inefficiencies related to under-pricing of electricity. Systemic reforms for overcoming these problems may face severe political obstacles.
Macroeconomic and policy implications of population aging in Brazil

This paper analyzes the macroeconomic implications of population aging in Brazil. Three alternative yet complementary methodologies are adopted, and depending on policy responses to the fiscal implications of aging, there are two main findings: First, saving rates could increase and not necessarily fall as a consequence of aging in Brazil -- thus contradicting conventional views. Second, lifetime wealth across generations could increase -- as capital deepening generates a second demographic dividend. Two policy responses to aging are emphasized: First, a structural policy response of linking mandatory retirement (or entitlement) ages to increasing life expectancy would boost labor supply and reduce the fiscal costs of aging. Second, in terms of preferable parametric policy responses, the second demographic dividend will be promoted to the highest extent by keeping taxes and debt unchanged while allowing public pensions to adjust downward. Such a policy response would keep pensions from further crowding out private saving -- thus balancing capital accumulation with intergenerational income distribution. In conclusion, Brazil will not necessarily experience a fall in saving and growth, but if government policies are appropriately, adequately, and timely formulated, population aging is likely to lead to substantial capital deepening and increases in lifetime income, wealth, and welfare.
The Formation and evolution of the first massive black holes

The first massive astrophysical black holes likely formed at high redshifts (z≳ 10) at the centers of low mass (~ 106 M⊙) dark matter concentrations. These black holes grow by mergers and gas accretion, evolve into the population of bright quasars observed at lower redshifts, and eventually leave the supermassive black hole remnants that are ubiquitous at the centers of galaxies in the nearby universe. The astrophysical processes responsible for the formation of the earliest seed black holes are poorly understood. The purpose of this review is threefold: (1) to describe theoretical expectations for the formation and growth of the earliest black holes within the general paradigm of hierarchical cold dark matter cosmologies, (2) to summarize several relevant recent observations that have implications for the formation of the earliest black holes, and (3) to look into the future and assess the power of forthcoming observations to probe the physics of the first active galactic nuclei.
Probing the surface electrochemical properties of bimetallic alloys by chemisorption of redox-active species: iodine at smooth AU90Pt10

Abstract The interfacial electrochemical properties of a smooth polycrystalline Au + Pt alloy consisting of 90% Au and 10% Pt (Au 90 Pt 10 ) were investigated by comparison of the redox-activated adsorption-desorption behavior of iodine at the bimetallic surface with that at pure Au and Pt. This approach is possible since the electrochemical properties of iodine absorbed on pure Au are different from those of iodine chemisorbed on pure Pt. Experimental measurements were based upon thin-layer voltammetry and coulometry. The primary findings are: (i) In terms of its influence on the electrochemical properties of chemisorbed iodine, the Au 90 Pt 10 electrode behaves virtually identically to pure Au. (ii) The hydrogen evolution reaction, which is retarded at Au, is enhanced at the bimetallic electrode whether iodine is chemisorbed or not. (iii) Oxidized Pt atoms at the alloy surface facilitate the reduction of unadsorbed IO − 3 to I 2 relative to that at Au. (iv) The surface of the Au 90 Pt 10 electrode is homogeneous; that is, domains of aggregated Pt and Au atoms do not exist.
Traffic Data Measurement and Validation

CALIFORNIA PATH PROGRAM INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Traffic Data Measurement and Validation Benjamin Coifman The Ohio State University California PATH Research Report UCB-ITS-PRR-2001-40 This work was performed as part of the California PATH Program of the University of California, in cooperation with the State of California Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, Department of Transportation; and the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the State of California. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Final Report for MOU 3000 December 2001 ISSN 1055-1425 CALIFORNIA PARTNERS FOR ADVANCED TRANSIT AND HIGHWAYS
Algorithms for drawing media

We describe algorithms for drawing media, systems of states, tokens and actions that have state transition graphs in the form of partial cubes. Our algorithms are based on two principles: embedding the state transition graph in a low-dimensional integer lattice and projecting the lattice onto the plane, or drawing the medium as a planar graph with centrally symmetric faces.
Change and Persistence in the Economic Status of Neighborhoods and Cities

This chapter reviews recent literature that considers and explains the tendency for neighborhood and city-level economic status to rise and fall. A central message is that although many locations exhibit extreme persistence in economic status, change in economic status as measured by various indicators of per capita income is common. At the neighborhood level, we begin with a set of stylized facts and then follow with discussion of static and dynamic drivers of neighborhood economic status. This is mirrored at the metropolitan level. Durable but slowly decaying housing, transportation infrastructure, and self-reinforcing spillovers all influence local income dynamics, as do enduring natural advantages, amenities, and government policy. Three recurring themes run throughout the paper: (i) Long sweeps of time are typically necessary to appreciate that change in economic status is common, (ii) history matters, and (iii) a combination of static and dynamic forces ensures that income dynamics can and do differ dramatically across locations but in ways that can be understood.
Shock initiation of pentaerythritol tetranitrate crystals: Optical absorption and emission studies

Absorption and emission spectra of initiating crystals are obtained at two times during initiation, and a time-resolved record of integrated light is obtained during plane-wave shock initiation of single crystals of PETN at 4 GPa. Time-resolved photodiode records clearly show an induction time during which the crystal becomes absorbing, a region of increasing emission with increasing shock travel time, and termination of emission by the returning rarefaction. Evidence exists for emergence of a superdetonation wave at least 1.5-mm behind the shock front. Resolved spectroscopic records identify the absorbing region as shocked PETN, and suggest evolution of NO{sub 2} and NO as part of the early chemistry in the initation. 9 refs., 3 figs.
Tunisia's insurance sector

The main economic functions of the insurance sector are to cover financial risk and to mobilize long-term savings. The sector can also play an important role in developing the private sector and modernizing the securities market. But to play its economic and financial roles, the insurance sector must operate within a framework of stable, liberal regulation that provides incentives for efficiency, allows companies to innovate, and creates a contestable market with relatively free entry and exit. In most developing countries, regulation has deviated greatly from this ideal. Often dominated by state-owned companies, the insurance industry in many developing countries features: (a) strict controls on new entry; (b) prohibitions against majority ownership by foreign companies; (c) fixed premiums (especially for compulsory lines); (d) prior approval of tariff changes and new products; (e) high local retention ratios (which discourage reinsurance from overseas companies); (f) insurance reserves used as a captive source of funding for public deficits; and (g) weak prudential controls and inadequate monitoring of solvency. In recent years there has been a growing trend away from direct controls on premiums, products, and investments, and toward more monitoring of the solvency of companies, through more effective supervision and clear prudential controls. The author argues that Tunisia's insurance sector has been hampered by restrictive regulations, by the country's low incomes (which limit long-term savings capabilities), and by it pay-as-you-go social pension system. Tunisia's life insurance is seriously underdeveloped. The insurance is seriously underdeveloped. The insurance industry also suffers from structural problems. Worst of all, prudential regulations and standards are unequally applied, and some companies are still operating with insufficient capital (in a few cases, with greatly negative equity). What is needed? Capital-deficient companies need to be restructured and recapitalized, state-owned companies need to be privatized, and the market needs to be opened up to majority foreign-owned firms. Supervision must be strengthened and corrective measures applied more equitably and forcefully. The social pension system must be radically reformed, to include one fully funded pillar that will generate long-term savings and transform the prospects for life insurance business.
Chemical processes in the shocked interstellar gas

Shock waves occur in compressible media when the pressure gradients are large enough to generate supersonic motion. Because the shock propagates faster than the velocity of sound, the medium ahead of the shock cannot respond dynamically to the shock until it arrives. The shock then compresses, heats and accelerates the medium. A fast shock will excite, dissociate and ionize the gas. The subsequent recombination and emission produces X-ray and ultraviolet photons, which ionize and dissociate the gas ahead and behind the shock. This precursor radiation modifies substantially the thermal and dynamical evolution of the shocked material. The presence of a magnetic field can change the nature of a shock. Indeed, if the fractional ionization is low, a shock may be preceded by a magnetic precursor, which heats and compresses the material ahead of the shock front (Draine I980). Shocks are a ubiquitous phenomenon in interstellar space, occurring during the birth and the death of stars. Ultraviolet photonis emitted by a star ionize the gas around it, raise the pressure and drive a shock into the medium. Stronger shocks are produced by stellar winds from early type stars, by collisions of interstellar clouds and by supernova explosions. On a larger scale, shock waves initiate bursts of star formation as the increase in pressure triggers the gravitational collapse and fragmentation of dense clouds.
Estimated parameters as independent variables : with an application to the costs of electric generating units

Abstract The cost of an electric generating unit or other piece of capital equipment should depend on several unit-specific attribtes. Some of these attributes (such as capacity) can be observed without error, but others (such as reliability or efficiency) cannot be. This study is concerned with situations in which estimates of key unobservable quality attributes can be obtained from time series data on actual performance. Adopting a measurement error perspective, a consistent (adjusted least-squares) technique for using such estimates as independent variables in cross-section regression analysis is derived. Our technique is applied to the estimation of a construction cost function for coal-fired electric generating units.
The cost of capital, the desired capital stock, and a variable investment tax credit as a stabilization tool

This study considers the potential of a variable investment tax credit to relieve the pressure of a contracyclical monetary policy on the housing and State and local government sectors.