cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Defect detection under realistic leakage models using multiple I/sub DDQ/ measurements

I/sub DDQ/ or steady state current testing has been extensively used in the industry as a mainstream defect detection and reliability screen. The background leakage current has increased significantly with the advent of ultra deep submicron technologies. The increased background leakage makes it difficult to use single threshold I/sub DDQ/ testing to differentiate defect-free chips from those with defects that draw small amount of currents. Several techniques that improve the resolution of I/sub DDQ/ testing have been proposed to replace the single threshold detection scheme. However, even these techniques are challenged to detect defects in the presence of leakage currents in excess of a few mA. All of these techniques use a single I/sub DDQ/ measurement per circuit configuration for detection and thus the scalability of these techniques is limited. Quiescent signal analysis (QSA) is a novel I/sub DDQ/ defect detection and diagnosis technique that uses I/sub DDQ/ measurements at multiple chip supply pads. Implicit in our methodology is a leakage calibration technique that scales the total leakage current over multiple simultaneous measurements. This helps in decreasing the background leakage component in individual measurements and thus increases the resolution of this technique to subtle defects. The effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated in This work using simulation experiments on portion of a production power grid. Predicted chip size and leakage values from the International Technology Roadmap for semiconductors (ITRS) are used in these experiments. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated using three different intra-die process variation distribution models.
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) agent in hamsters. I. Acute giant cell encephalitis in newborn animals.

Abstract A viral agent, isolated from brain-derived tissue culture from a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) and adapted to hamsters was used to infect newborn hamsters. Viral replication occurred only after intracerebral inoculation. The agent produced an acute giant cell encephalitis during which virus probably spread from primary periventricular foci to cortical foci via neuronal dendrites. Except for its increased rapidity of effect, the infection was identical to that produced by neuroadapted strains of measles virus in the same host.
Recent Advances in Redshift Surveys of the Local Universe

I review progress in the past few years in studying the large-scale structure of the universe through redshift surveys of galaxies. Of the many statistical methods used to describe the galaxy distribution, I concentrate here on the power spectrum, and go into some detail about the factors which complicate (and make interesting!) its interpretation, such as redshift space distortions, non-linear effects, and the relative bias of galaxies and dark matter. I also discuss two large redshift surveys which are just starting, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and the Two Degree Field Redshift Survey, which promise to increase the number of redshifts measured of galaxies in uniform surveys by more than an order of magnitude.
Decimation and Interpolation for Conversion

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Scope of Design Trade-Offs and Alternatives Basic Principles of Sampling Rate Conversion��-��Algorithm Issues Multistage Conversion Filter Design Considerations Digital Filter Structures Hardware Implementation��-��Architectural Issues Conclusion This chapter contains sections titled: Acknowledgments References
Cobalt(III) acetate from the ozonation of cobaltous acetate

Abstract A convenient procedure for the preparation of cobaltic acetate in high yields by ozonation of cobaltous acetate in glacial acetic acid is described. Cobaltic acetate has an empirical formula Co2(OAc)4(OH)2(HOAc) and exists largely as a μ-hydroxo dimer in a glacial acetic acid. Cationic carboxylatocobalt(III) species are postulated in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid. The spectral and magnetic properties of cobaltic acetate are similar to materials previously isolated from anodic, peracetate or lead(IV) oxidation of cobaltous acetate in glacial acetic acid.
State estimation of missing data imputation

In a highly mixed-product running environment for semiconductor manufacturing, data availability is always a critical issue. With so many products being processed across groups of similar tools for the same process step, the accumulated runs of data block over time would look like that shown in Fig.1. It is very unlikely that one tool would process all the products, or one product would necessarily visit all the tools.
Numerical solutions in remote sensing.

Several aspects of the behavior of Fredholm integral equations are examined in this paper. It is shown that collocation methods are better in general than least squares methods in linear approaches. The amplification of random noise inherent to the numerical inversion of the equation puts an upper limit to the information content of an ill-conditioned system. An estimation based on the magnitude of SNR is proposed for a system that lacks statistical information to determine the information content and to reconstruct the solution profile. To reduce the numerical instability of matrix inversion, some specific kernel transformations are discussed. Illustrative examples are given and compared to results of other approaches. An alternative linear approach that orthonormalizes the kernels is also proposed. The linear approach was then employed in solving the radiative transfer equation with temperature-independent kernels. The necessary variable separation in linear inversions was examined. Iteration refinement was found necessary to accommodate the strong nonlinearity of high temperature sensing.
BOSE CONDENSATION IN A RESTRICTED GEOMETRY

A theoretical investigation is carried out of the ground state of a finite assembly of Hose hard spheres enclosed in a spherical cavity. Total and condensate radial densities are computed, and the non-uniform condensate is studied as a function of the number of particles in the cavity. Comparison with mean-field results is made. Possible experimental implications are discussed.
Species identification and colour preferences in chicks.

Abstract Naive chicks, whether of a yellow (Vantress) or black variety (sex-link), show no consistent tendency to approach other chicks of the same variety. When communally housed in the light with chicks of their own variety they do develop a preference for chicks of their own kind. However, when housed with chicks of the alien variety, no consistent preferences appear. Socially housed Vantress chicks do not discriminate ‘own-kind’ on the basis of colour. If housed with Vantress chicks dyed a dark blue, they then show a preference for a similarly dyed Vantress chick. This result still obtains when the test is performed with immobile and silent dummies, indicating that under these conditions, some attribute of ‘blue’ is perceived. Preferences for own-kind are immanent, but require activation by a particular experience. Programming of perceptual systems such that an experience is prerequisite to a response, but with only certain kinds of experiences or responses being possible, seems to be an important feature of organisms.
Domain analysis and reverse engineering

Current reverse engineering technology is typically based on program analysis methods such as parsing and data flow analysis. As such, it is limited in what it can accomplish. Knowledge of the application domain containing a program can help overcome this limit and aid the comprehension process. The paper discusses the relationship of application domain analysis and reverse engineering. Two case studies are presented. The first describes how domain knowledge, expressed as an object-oriented framework, can aid the reverse engineering process for a well-understood domain. The second studies how reverse engineering can be used to build a domain model. Issues raised by the confluence of domain analysis and reverse engineering are discussed, and implications on future work in the area are suggested. >
Developer Characteristics of Poly‐(Methyl Methacrylate) Electron Resist

We report on the solubility characteristics of poly‐(methyl methacrylate) electron‐resist for developer combinations of methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA). The solubility rate is determined in terms of the fragmented molecular weight which is a function of original molecular weight and the energy absorbed by the polymer in degrading to a lower molecular weight. An empirical formula for the solubility rate is , where is the fragmented molecular weight, , β, and α are constants characteristic of a given developer. The temperature dependence is characterized by an activation energy, , for a given developer. The solubility kinetics are discussed showing a rate limited process for most developer conditions. From the solubility rate and the characteristic energy absorption in the resist, the development time and contrast are defined and calculated for a variety of exposure parameters including beam energy, resist thickness, developer, developer temperature, and original molecular weight. Compared to the standard developer, 1:3 MIBK:IPA, an improved sensitivity of 10–50 times is obtained using MIBK at the expense of increased development time. For a given contrast level the development time is greatly reduced by increasing the developer temperature. A lower original molecular weight also reduces the required development time.
Supersymmetric quantum mechanics on the sphere

Abstract We present a solution method for the quantum-mechanical supersymmetric O(3) non-linear σ model, which keeps the O(3) symmetry of the problem explicit. This is obtained by representing the Hilbert-space of the model as the space of differential forms over S2. We demonstrate the method, by finding the zero-energy states of the analog O(2), 1) model. We then calculate the effect of a Wess-Zumino term in the O(3) model, on the spectrum and on the SUSY algebra.
Low-temperature magnetic studies of the expanded-metal compounds Eu(NH3)6 and Yb(NH3)6

Abstract The magnetic susceptibilities of the metallic compounds Eu(NH 3 ) 6 and Yb(NH 3 ) 6 have been measured by the Faraday method in the range 2–200 K. The susceptibility of Eu(NH 3 ) 6 obeys a near-Curie law down to 10 K, below which it flattens out. These results are attributed to Eu 2+ ions that are weakly coupled by short-range antiferromagnetic interactions. Yb(NH 3 ) 6 exhibits a near-Curie increase in susceptibility below 50 K, which is intrinsic to this compound and possibly originates from a partial localization of conduction electrons.
Dietary adaptations of Plio-Pleistocene Bovidae: implications for hominid habitat use.

Detailed reconstructions of vegetation structure are critical to understanding morphological and behavioral adaptations of Plio-Pleistocene African hominids, Savanna grassland habitats are often postulated as being influential in the evolution of many hominid adaptations (e.g., bipedality, foraging behaviors), yet the existence of this habitat type throughout the African Plio-Pleistocene has not been clearly established. Broad-scale reconstructions of hominid habitats as "savanna-mosaic" do not account for the fact that African grasslands may be classified into at least two different types: edaphic grasslands, which include seasonally flooded valley grasslands; and secondary grasslands, which include vast, relatively dry savanna grasslands. Though edaphic grasslands have existed for millions of years, it is unknown when secondary grasslands became widespread. The presence of specific microhabitats, including secondary grasslands, at a number of hominid sites was investigated in this study through reconstruction of diet and habitat preference in five extinct bovid taxa that were contemporaneous with early hominids. To reconstruct diet in extinct taxa, morphological correlates of dietary preferences were identified through a comparative study of cranial form in extant bovids. Metric data from cranial material of the five African Plio-Pleistocene bovid taxa were compared with extant bovid results, which yielded information of specific feeding behaviors of the extinct taxa. Reconstructed diets suggest that the earliest taxa to inhabit secondary grasslands in East Africa were Connochaetes gentryi and Parmularius altidens at around 2 m.y.a. It may therefore be inferred that secondary grasslands became prevalent at this time. This inference of secondary grassland development suggests that adaptations to this habitat type were not related to the origin of the Hominidae or to the evolution of bipedality in hominids. However, evidence suggests that this habitat type was influential in the evolution of Homo erectus sensu lato just after 2 m.y.a. in East Africa.
Beyond myopic inference in big data pipelines

Big Data Pipelines decompose complex analyses of large data sets into a series of simpler tasks, with independently tuned components for each task. This modular setup allows re-use of components across several different pipelines. However, the interaction of independently tuned pipeline components yields poor end-to-end performance as errors introduced by one component cascade through the whole pipeline, affecting overall accuracy. We propose a novel model for reasoning across components of Big Data Pipelines in a probabilistically well-founded manner. Our key idea is to view the interaction of components as dependencies on an underlying graphical model. Different message passing schemes on this graphical model provide various inference algorithms to trade-off end-to-end performance and computational cost. We instantiate our framework with an efficient beam search algorithm, and demonstrate its efficiency on two Big Data Pipelines: parsing and relation extraction.
Why variation reduction is not everything: a new paradigm for service operations

Highlights that one service industry in the USA ‐ health care ‐ has accepted high inherent rates of variation into its process designs. Notes that, increasingly, health care industry leaders recognize that elimination of unnecessary variation is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for producing quality professional services at reasonable costs. Using the innovation model of Boynton et al. (1993), identifies continuous improvement, rather than mass production, as the key step in the rationalization of what has been a craft industry and the ultimate objective of delivering health care in a mass customization mode. Claims, however, that it is not sufficient, because high levels of inherent variation will continue to exist and must be managed, even in the best of all possible worlds. Reviews the health care experience (in the context of that model) to suggest how service operations managers and researchers should conceptualize variation, and then discusses what that conceptualization of variation implies about how operations management should treat variation in its modelling and decision making.
Comparison of continuous sufentanil and fentanyl infusions for outpatient anaesthesia.

Fifty ASA physical status class I or II patients undergoing outpatient D&C (dilatation and curettage of the uterus) were studied. Patients were divided into two groups in a random double-blind manner and given either a fentanyl bolus 0.7 μg kg-1 followed by continuous fentanyl infusion of 0–50 μg·min-1 or sufentanil bolus 0.1 μg·kg-1 followed by continuous sufentanil infusion 0–7 μg·min-1 as an adjuvant to thiopentone, nitrous oxide:oxygen anaesthesia. Patients were followed throughout the recovery process with respect to level of consciousness, nausea, vomiting, pain, and discharge time. Groups were equal with respect to awakening and discharge time. The incidence of nausea (p < 0.05) and pain requiring analgesics (p < 0.05) were less in the sufentanil group. It is concluded that the technique of continuous sufentanil infusion was superior to fentanyl in healthy outpatients undergoing D&C.
Pre-and Post-Activity Stretching Protocols of NCAA American Football Programs: Influence of Certification and Division Affiliation

The purpose of this study was to analyze the pre- and post-activity stretching practices of NCAA Division I FBS, II, and III football programs in the United States to determine whether stretching practices are influenced by divisional status and certification. A 31-item survey instrument was developed and used to collect data from 104 coaches ranging in age from 24 to 67 years (M = 42.59, SD =9.47). The results of the Pearson's Chi Square analysis demonstrated significant differences in the answers to three questions of interest based upon the CSCS certification status of the individual. Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed the length of the pre-activity flexibility is influenced by divisional level (χ2 = 6.276, p = 0.043). The results of this study indicate that divisional status and certification may influence how well research guidelines are followed. Further research is needed to delineate how these factors affect coaching decisions.
Perceived Academic Competence and Overall Job Evaluations: Students' Evaluations of African American and European American Professors

Despite the fact that few people appear to endorse negative stereotypes of Blacks, such stereotypes are widely disseminated in our culture. Consequently, such stereotypes can have pervasive consequences on one’s impressions of African Americans, even by low-prejudice Whites and by Blacks themselves. Thus, we predicted that student judgments of intellectual competence would be more important when students were making global performance evaluations of Black faculty than of White faculty. Furthermore, to the extent that intellectual competence is more salient in the judgment of Black faculty, such judgments should be essentially the same among Black and White students, and for low- and high-prejudice students. For the most part, analyses of instructor evaluations at a major American university supported these expectations. African Americans in intellectual domains are regularly seen through the lens of negative stereotypes. The belief that African Americans are less intelligent than members of other ethnic groups has a long history and is widely shared. Given the pervasiveness of the low-intelligence stereotype and past research demonstrating how stereotypes bias evaluations, we hypothesize that student ratings of African American college professors will be influenced by stereotypes alleging inferior academic and intellectual ability. Since as early as ninth-century Basra (Lipset, 1977) and even in the past few years, intellectual inferiority has been part of the stereotype of people of African descent. For example, ignorant, stupid, naive, and superstitious are among the 12 out of 84 most characteristic traits associated with African Americans in Katz and Braly’s (1933) study. A recent replication by Rothbart and John (1993) showed scientific and studious to be among the least characteristic traits used to describe African Americans. Devine (1989) found both high- and low-prejudice European American subjects to endorse low intelligence and uneducated as characteristics of African Americans, while stupid was associated with African Americans in the priming study of
Evaluation of MDM2, p16, and p53 staining levels as biomarkers of biochemical recurrence following salvage radiation therapy for recurrent prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The selection of appropriate candidates for salvage radiation therapy (SRT) to address a rising PSA following radical prostatectomy remains challenging. Herein, we provide the first evaluation of the ability of staining levels of the tumor based biomarkers MDM2, p16, and p53 to aid in prediction of biochemical recurrence (BCR) among men undergoing SRT for recurrent prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS We identified 152 patients who were treated with SRT between July 1987 and July 2003. Staining levels of MDM2, p16, and p53 in primary tumor samples removed during prostatectomy were detected using monoclonal antibodies and quantified by use of a computer-assisted method. Associations of staining levels with BCR were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models; relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. RESULTS Compared to patients with low staining (≤median) as measured by percentage of cells with nuclear staining, there was no significant difference in risk of BCR for patients with high MDM2 staining (RR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.57–1.45, P = 0.67), high p16 staining (RR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.54–1.44, P = 0.62), or high p53 staining (RR: 1.33, 95% CI: 0.84–2.11, P = 0.23) in multivariable analysis. These results were consistent when considering alternate percentile cutpoints and alternate quantifications of biomarker staining. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide evidence that MDM2, p16, and p53 staining levels are not useful in the prediction of BCR after SRT. As such, these biomarkers are of little clinical use in the selection of appropriate candidates for SRT. Prostate 72:1757–1766, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Thoracoamniotic shunts for the management of fetal lung lesions and pleural effusions: a single-institution review and predictors of survival in 75 cases

Abstract Purpose Hydrops and pulmonary hypoplasia are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the setting of a congenital lung lesion or pleural effusion (PE). We reviewed our experience using in utero thoracoamniotic shunts (TA) to manage fetuses with these diagnoses. Methods A retrospective review of fetuses diagnosed with a congenital lung lesion or pleural effusion who underwent TA shunt placement from 1998–2013 was performed. Results Ninety-seven shunts were placed in 75 fetuses. Average gestational age (± SD) at shunt placement and birth was 25±3 and 34±5weeks. Shunt placement resulted in a 55±21% decrease in macrocystic lung lesion volume and complete or partial drainage of the PE in 29% and 71% of fetuses. 69% of fetuses presented with hydrops, which resolved following shunt placement in 83%. Survival was 68%, which correlated with GA at birth, % reduction in lesion size, unilateral pleural effusions, and hydrops resolution. Surviving infants had prolonged NICU courses and often required either surgical resection or tube thoracostomy in the perinatal period. Conclusion TA shunts provide a therapeutic option for select fetuses with large macrocystic lung lesions or PEs at risk for hydrops and/or pulmonary hypoplasia. Survival following shunting depends on GA at birth, reduction in mass size, and hydrops resolution.
STUDIES ON WHEAT PLANTS USING C14 COMPOUNDS: VIII. FORMATION OF AMYLOSE AND AMYLOPECTIN IN THE WHEAT KERNEL

Tracer techniques have been used to examine the pattern by which the straight-chain and branched components of wheat starch are laid down in the maturing kernel. The starches were isolated from ker...
Dissociation of internally excited UF6− ions in collision with argon atoms

Abstract Uranium hexafluoride negative ions (UF 6 − ) of controlled average internal and kinetic energy were collided with argon. A qualitative change was observed in the dependence of ionic fragmentation on internal excitation prior to collision, as the laboratory collision energy was increased above 150 eV.
Lymphoblastic lymphoma expressing natural killer cell-associated antigens: a clinicopathologic study of six cases.

Abstract We describe six patients with lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) whose neoplastic lymphoid cells expressed surface antigens associated with natural killer (NK) cells. The six cases were selected from a series of 38 specimens diagnosed as LBL based on morphologic criteria and further subclassified by the use of an extensive panel of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. Although the morphologic features in all six cases were similar to those previously reported for LBL, their expression of NK-associated antigens was unique. All cases were positive with anti-Leu 11b, an antibody which appears to define a specific subtype of lymphocytes considered to have NK function; and all cases expressed T11, a T-cell-restricted antigen. The most commonly encountered immunophenotype of our cases of LBL was: Leu 11b + , T11 + , Leu 7 + , TdT + , Leu 3a + , Ia + , pre-B − , and B − . As compared with more classical LBL of T-cell type, LBL of NK-cell type in our series occurred primarily in females and non-whites. Whereas treatment of classical LBL by multi-agent chemotherapy may lead to long-term survival, only two of our six patients were long-term survivors. The data derived from this study raise the possibility that LBL with the antigenic phenotype of NK cells may represent a biologic subtype of LBL.
PRAGMATISM, REALISM, AND RELIGION

Pragmatism is often thought to be incompatible with realism, the view that there are knowable mind-independent facts, objects, or properties. In this article, I show that there are, in fact, realist versions of pragmatism and argue that a realist pragmatism of the right sort can make important contributions to such fields as religious ethics and philosophy of religion. Using William James's pragmatism as my primary example, I show (1) that James defended realist and pluralist views in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion, and (2) that these views not only cohere with his pragmatism but indeed are basic to it. After arguing that James's pragmatism provides a credible and useful approach to a number of basic philosophical and religious issues, I conclude by reflecting on some ways in which we can apply and potentially improve James's views in the study of religion.
Optimal Trajectories of Curvature Constrained Motion in the Hamilton---Jacobi Formulation

We propose a PDE approach for computing time-optimal trajectories of a vehicle which travels under certain curvature constraints. We derive a class of Hamilton---Jacobi equations which models such motions; it unifies two well-known vehicular models, the Dubins' and Reeds---Shepp's cars, and gives further generalizations. Numerical methods (finite difference for the Reeds---Shepp's car and semi-Lagrangian for the Dubins' car) are investigated for two-dimensional domains and surfaces.
Identification of a Putative Binding Site for a Sea Urchin 53-kD Myosin Binding Protein

The actomyosin cytoskeleton provides the structural framework for an array of directed cellular movements such as cytokinesis and morphogenesis. Myosin is possibly the major mechanochemical transducer in such movements. The exact structural state of myosin in nonmuscle cells is unknown and may involve cycles of assembly and disassembly.’ Therefore, the regulation of myosin structure and distribution in cells may have a fundamental physiologic role. In a number of cells the redistribution of myosin has been observed to correlate with changes in cell state.’,’ Myosin’s catalytic activity resides in the head of the molecule, and phosphorylation of myosin light chains in this region mediates conformational changes necessary for the regulation of activity. The formation of bipolar filaments is a function of the rod portions of myosin heavy chain. The head-rod junction of myosin heavy chain contains the binding sites for the light chains and plays a role in conformational changes;’ This head-rod junctional region retains a large degree of flexibility. Thus, the neck region determines myosin’s shape and, consequently, filament assembly and enzymatic activity?’ We have identified a myosin-binding protein in sea urchin eggs that mediates myosin’s low ionic strength solubility. This protein has the subunit molecular weight of 53 kD and binds to myosin in a nucleotide-dependent manner. In this study the 53K binding site on myosin was examined to determine the mechanism of interaction that gives rise to a change in myosin’s properties. We used several methods to identify the 53K binding site on the myosin molecule (summarized in FIGURE 1). Myosin and 53K were isolated from soluble sea urchin extracts as described by Yabkowitz and Burgess6 Papain and chymotrypsin digests were performed on myosin and the insoluble and soluble fragments were separated according to Barylko et al.’ Papain gives rise to 165, 130, 107, 80, 62 and 24-kD fragments. The 80, 62, and 24kD fragments are head fragments as defined by actin binding and ATPase activity
The interaction of ultrasound with contacting asperities: Applications to crack closure and fatigue crack growth

The partial contact of two rough fatigue crack surfaces leads to transmission, reflection, diffraction, and mode conversion of an acoustic signal at those contacts. This paper reviews recent experimental and theoretical efforts to understand and quantify such contact on actual fatigue cracks in greater detail. It is shown that the size and density of individual contacts, or asperities, can be estimated from acoustic measurements. Furthermore, it is shown that this information is useful to provide the static stress across a partially closed crack as well as the “effective” stress intensity range which activates fatigue crack propagation.
Parenteral galactose therapy in the glucose-intolerant premature infant

Blood galactose concentrations were measured in 55 neonates consuming at least 80 ml/kg/day of lactose-containing formula. The range of galactose concentration immediately after feeding was 0.8 to 4.2 mg/dl, with a mean of 1.5±0.2 mg/dl. Galactose concentration fell rapidly after feeding, and normal values for the population fell with a half-life of 45 minutes. Considering galactose as a potential intravenous nutrient, six glucose-intolerant premature infants were given galactose-containing solutions intravenously using a double-blind randomized crossover protocol. Infants were chosen who had sustained hyperglycemia (150 mg/dl) and glucosuria (2+ Clinitest) requiring glucose infusion at a rate below 7 mg/kg/minute for more than 24 hours. Compared to the control glucose period, intravenous alimentation with a solution containing carbohydrate as 50% glucose and 50% galactose resulted in a 65% increase in total carbohydrate infusion rate, normalization of the blood glucose concentration, and decreased glucosuria. Blood galactose concentration averaged 15 mg/dl, and no clinical or biochemical evidence of galactose toxicity was noted.
Discovery of a potent and selective α3β4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist from an α-conotoxin synthetic combinatorial library.

α-Conotoxins are disulfide-rich peptide neurotoxins that selectively inhibit neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The α3β4 nAChR subtype has been identified as a novel target for managing nicotine addiction. Using a mixture-based positional-scanning synthetic combinatorial library (PS-SCL) with the α4/4-conotoxin BuIA framework, we discovered a highly potent and selective α3β4 nAChR antagonist. The initial PS-SCL consisted of a total of 113 379 904 sequences that were screened for α3β4 nAChR inhibition, which facilitated the design and synthesis of a second generation library of 64 individual α-conotoxin derivatives. Eleven analogues were identified as α3β4 nAChR antagonists, with TP-2212-59 exhibiting the most potent antagonistic activity and selectivity over the α3β2 and α4β2 nAChR subtypes. Final electrophysiological characterization demonstrated that TP-2212-59 inhibited acetylcholine evoked currents in α3β4 nAChRs heterogeneously expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes with a calculated I...
Some indecomposable modules and their vertices

Abstract We study the behaviour of vertices of indecomposable modules with respect to some natural constructions.
Censorship and the Double Portrait of Disorder in Lemercier's La Démence de Charles VI

This study uses recently discovered and previously unpublished censors' reports in an attempt to determine why Lemercier's tragedy, scheduled to premiere at the Theâtre de l'Odeon on 25 September 1820, was never allowed to be staged. An examination of the reports, of the text of La Demence de Charles VI, and of the fate of a contemporary piece on the same subject leads to a clearer understanding of the role of politics in the production and criticism of drama in France in the 1820s.
Fluorescence associated with the type 3 copper center of laccase

Laccases isolated from the lacquer tree Rhus vernicifera and the fungus Polyporus versicolor show fluorescence emission near 420 nm and phosphorescence emission in the 440–465 nm region. The fluorescence and phosphorescence excitation spectra for both laccases show maxima in the 315–330 nm range, a spectral region corresponding to the absorbance maxima for the type 3 binuclear Cu centers of the two enzymes. Additional evidence is presented for the association of the newly discovered emissions with the type 3 Cu centers of the two laccases.
Emails from Official Sources Can Increase Turnout

Previous research by Nickerson (2007a) testing 13 email get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns concludes that email from third parties is not an effective method of increasing voter turnout. We conducted three rounds of email GOTV experiments in San Mateo County, California, in cooperation with the local registrar, the elected official responsible for administering elections. Unsolicited emails sent from the registrar consistently increased turnout among registered voters. The treatment effects are small, but statistically significant. In contrast, identical messages sent from a fictional voter mobilization organization had no measurable effect, consistent with Nickerson's results. We conclude that email sent from an official source can in fact be a cost-effective method of increasing turnout.
The effects of early trauma on autobiographical memory and schematic self-representation

This study investigated empirically clinical assumptions regarding deficits in autobiographical memory and schematic self-representation associated with early interpersonal trauma. A sample of 110 undergraduates completed a protocol involving interviews and questionnaires related to trauma history, early autobiographical memory, and other clinical factors not used in the immediate study. An adult autobiographical memory coding scheme was developed to determine degree of elaboration of memories. It was hypothesized that in a group positive for trauma history as compared with non-trauma controls, deficits in the elaboration of autobiographical memory would be found and that such deficits would be a basis for impairments in schematic self-representation. No differences were found between trauma and no-trauma groups on most major variables. One of three dimensions of self-representation, a factor named identity integration, was significantly related to trauma severity, suggesting that greater severity is related to less integration of identity. Otherwise, the hypotheses were not supported. In an exploratory analysis of the memory narratives, there was one additional significant finding suggesting that memories that participants self-labeled as traumatic were more elaborated than all other memories. The autobiographical memory coding scheme was found to be a reliable measure of elaboration. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of oxygen vacancy diffusion in a solid electrolyte: Computing the electrical impedance using the fluctuation–dissipation theorem

Abstract We present a new method for computing the electrical impedance of solid oxide electrolyte from kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of oxygen vacancy diffusion. The impedance values at all frequencies are obtained from a single equilibrium simulation based on the fluctuation–dissipation theorem, leading to a significant gain of efficiency over existing methods.This allows us to systematically examine the effect of dopant concentration. Increasing dopant concentration is found to decrease the infinite-frequency impedance, which is attributed to the increasing density of oxygen vacancies. The difference between the impedance values at zero- and infinite-frequency, on the other hand, shows the opposite trend, and is linked to dopant–vacancy interactions. Hence the two competing mechanisms, previously proposed to explain the existence of an optimal doping concentration, are separately quantified.Our model also predicts a significant effect of the arrangement of dopant cations on the electrolyte conductivity.
Measuring the impact of part-time workers in service organizations

Abstract In the last twenty years we have seen a significant increase in interest by practicing managers and academic researchers in the labor/staff scheduling decision. In particular, service firm managers have focused their attention on improving the productivity of their labor intensive operations by an increased use of part-time personnel. These actions have been motivated by the presence of significant variations in hourly and daily work loads faced by these firms and the desire to provide flexibility to adequately match staff capacity with customer demand. The past employment practice of using full-time staff causes significant idle capacity to exist in many firms, reducing productivity. The significant increased use of part-time staff has allowed today's managers to correct this situation by reducing the amount of idle labor capacity, thus reducing operating cost. Academic researchers have also investigated the labor scheduling problem during the past two decades. They have analyzed and evaluated mathematical algorithms, optimal and heuristic, to efficiently solve the staff tour scheduling problem. Some of this work has eventually found applicability in a number of service firms. However, most of these studies have focused on the scheduling of full-time staff to meet varying daily and hourly work load shifts and little insight has been attained in understanding a number of trade-off issues in this area. In this paper we investigate the complex issue of the trade-off between full-time and part-time staff and develop a relative “measure of flexibility” for using part-time individuals. First, we demonstrate, as might be expected, how greater flexibility reduces idle labor capacity. Second, we define and test what is “scheduling flexibility,” as measured by work-hours-per-day and work-days-per-week. Third, we document the marginal reduction in labor hours scheduled attainable with increased flexibility, using actual operating data from a lockbox department in a large Chicago commercial bank. And fourth, we demonstrate the cost implications of using part-time staff by employing operating data from the wire transfer department of a New York commercial bank, where we examine the problem using cost data as a basis for comparing the relative impact of various labor scheduling decisions and flexibility. We illustrate the common trade-offs that must be evaluated due to various labor costs, turnover rates, full and part-time personnel hours and differing productivity rates among various categories of personnel. Our approach illustrates the type of analysis that should be conducted by practicing managers to adequately evaluate the trade-offs for the staffing decision when using both full and part-time personnel.
Kinetic model for solid‐state degradation of gabapentin

Gabapentin degrades directly to gabapentin-lactam (gaba-L) in the solid state. The objective of this study was to formulate a drug degradation model that accounted for the environmental storage conditions and mechanical stress (prior to storage) on lactamization kinetics. The effects of mechanical stress on drug degradation kinetics were determined by milling gabapentin in a FRITSCH Planetary Micro Mill for 0 and 60 min. The resultant gabapentin powder was stored at 40 °C-60 °C and 5%-30% relative humidity. The rate of gaba-L formation was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. An irreversible two-step autocatalytic reaction scheme was fit using nonlinear regression methods. The resultant kinetic model was used to predict the time-dependent concentration of degradant of gabapentin tablets prepared under various exemplary manufacturing conditions, thereby demonstrating the ability of the model to link manufacturing variation and chemical stability in solid-state gabapentin formulations.
Broadening the Heterologous Cross-Neutralizing Antibody Inducing Ability of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus by Breeding the GP4 or M genes

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most economically important swine pathogens, which causes reproductive failure in sows and respiratory disease in piglets. A major hurdle to control PRRSV is the ineffectiveness of the current vaccines to confer protection against heterologous strains. Since both GP4 and M genes of PRRSV induce neutralizing antibodies, in this study we molecularly bred PRRSV through DNA shuffling of the GP4 and M genes, separately, from six genetically different strains of PRRSV in an attempt to identify chimeras with improved heterologous cross-neutralizing capability. The shuffled GP4 and M genes libraries were each cloned into the backbone of PRRSV strain VR2385 infectious clone pIR-VR2385-CA. Three GP4-shuffled chimeras and five M-shuffled chimeras, each representing sequences from all six parental strains, were selected and further characterized in vitro and in pigs. These eight chimeric viruses showed similar levels of replication with their backbone strain VR2385 both in vitro and in vivo, indicating that the DNA shuffling of GP4 and M genes did not significantly impair the replication ability of these chimeras. Cross-neutralization test revealed that the GP4-shuffled chimera GP4TS14 induced significantly higher cross-neutralizing antibodies against heterologous strains FL-12 and NADC20, and similarly that the M-shuffled chimera MTS57 also induced significantly higher levels of cross-neutralizing antibodies against heterologous strains MN184B and NADC20, when compared with their backbone parental strain VR2385 in infected pigs. The results suggest that DNA shuffling of the GP4 or M genes from different parental viruses can broaden the cross-neutralizing antibody-inducing ability of the chimeric viruses against heterologous PRRSV strains. The study has important implications for future development of a broadly protective vaccine against PRRSV.
The trypanocidal activity of various aromatic bisguanylhydrazones in vivo

Seven aromatic bisguanylhydrazones and two related compounds were screened against Trypanosoma brucei (EATRO 110M) in mice. The four most active were then screened against T. congolense (TREU 1183) in mice and rats. Eradication of parasitemia through 28 (T. brucei) or 42 days (T. congolense) resulting from a single dose of drug administered IP either 4 or 24 hours (respectively) after infection was used as the criterion of activity. 1,3-Diacetylbenzene bisguanylhydrazone dihydrochloride cleared T. congolense from 50% of the animals (ED50) at a dose of approximately 10 mg/kg and from mice infected with T. brucei at approximately 15 mg/kg. This drug was also active when given 5 days after infection with T. congolense (ED50 ≅ 15 mg/kg). The isomorphous pyridine derivative, 2,6-diacetylpyridine bisguanylhydrazone dihydrochloride, was active against T. brucei in mice (ED50 ≅ 8 mg/kg), but noncurative against T. congolense. At therapeutic doses of these two compounds, reversal and clearance of parasitemia was often not observed for 2–4 days, suggesting a delayed mode of action. Moreover, 1–2 days after drug treatment, the infectivity of parasites obtained from treated animals was significantly reduced, if not abolished. These findings indicate that more intensive screening of aromatic bisguanylhydrazones against various species of trypanosomes is warranted.
Protective and chemoresuscitative study of ultraviolet-exposed Tetrahymena pyriformis, strain WH

Abstract 1. 1. The ability of colchicine, ATP, DPN, and TPN to protect and resuscitate ultraviolet irradiated cultures of Tetrahymena pyriformis WH-6 was investigated. 2. 2. All chemicals afforded some protection by delaying the onset of clumping and loss of motility. Only DPN- and colchicine-treated organisms were able to divide after receiving an irradiation dose lethal to control cultures. However, DPN could not protect old cultures. 3. 3. The evidence shows that UV-radiation death involves inhibition of DPN metabolism as well as DNA synthesis-related phenomena. 4. 4. Chemoresuscitation of irradiated cultures was not obtained.
General Problem-Solving Skills: Relations between Metacognition and Strategic Processing:

This paper presents a metacognition model that has relevance for understanding general problem-solving deficits in LD students. Two components of metacognition are highlighted - executive processes...
Distributed gate ESD network architecture for inter-power domain signals

This paper examines the issue of transmitting signals between circuits of different power domains within an IC and the ESD sensitivity of the receiving logic's oxide in advanced processes. It is also shown that the ESD stress voltage appearing across a receiving gate's oxide can be distributed among several inverters. Also, design of interface attenuation networks that allow large voltage drops between domains for both CDM and HBM tests will be examined.
A Universal Biological Interval Timer

A circuit for the measurement of biological time intervals from 0.1 ms to 10 s is described. This device accepts biopotentials, stimuli, or transducer signals to produce an instantaneous dc voltage readout proportional to the time between two successive input signals. Digital preconditioning and analog integration are used to simplify the design.
Comparison of Brain Glucose Metabolism and Monoamine Oxidase B (MAO B) in Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract Objective: Positron emission tomography (PET) studies in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have reported that hypometabolism in temporal regions is associated with elevated monoamine oxidase B (MAO B) probably reflecting gliosis. The purpose of this study was to examine a group of head trauma patients suffering from seizures and memory loss to determine whether hypometabolic regions show correspondingly elevated MAO B. Methods: Seven patients with traumatic brain injury received PET scans with 18FDG and [11C] l -deprenyl-D2 to measure regional glucose metabolism (LCMRglu) and MAO B respectively. Results were compared to a group of nine age-matched healthy controls. Hypometabolic regions were identified and MAO B values corresponding to these brain regions were determined. Averaged brain images for temporal regions for LCMRglu and MAO were also compared. Results: LCMRglu values for temporal regions were reduced in patients relative to normal subjects. Of the 13 hypometabolic brain regions, 6 (46%) showed a corresponding elevation in MAO B. There was a trend for a significant inverse relationship between normalized LCMRglu and normalized MAO B values for medial temporal cortex. Glucose metabolism was significantly higher in lateral than medial temporal regions whereas the pattern was reversed for MAO B. Conclusion: MAO B images provide a markedly better delineation of the medial temporal regions than LCMRglu. There was not a consistent inverse relationship between metabolism and MAO B as had been reported in PET studies of epileptogenic temporal lobes with [11C] l -deprenyl-D2 and 18FDG indicating that prospective studies are needed to determine the pathophysiology of hypometabolic lesions in head trauma.
Radio Observations of OH in the Interstellar Medium

Existence of oh in interstellar medium, detected in radio absorption spectrum of cassiopeia-a