cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of ethanol-induced transmitter packet release in the frog neuromuscular junction

Intervals of spontaneous miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs) are usually thought to follow random kinetics because number vs. interval size plots can fit a Poisson distribution such that the largest number of intervals are found in the smallest interval bin. Even though several studies report that MEPPs have a tendency to clump together, an alternative dynamic has not gained acceptance. We found that spontaneous MEPP interval plots with commonly used bin sizes (10 ms or larger) from muscle fibers of diameters usually studied (20 microns) also skew to the smallest interval bin. In order to study very small junctions which do not generate enough intervals for a detailed analysis of high resolving power (small bin width) at normal frequencies of 0.05 MEPPs/s we increased MEPP frequencies with ethanol to obtain large samples. Ethanol accentuated the normal clustering of MEPPs and number vs. interval plots of 0.5 ms show periodic peaks at 400 Hz. A periodogram of power vs. frequency also showed a preferred frequency of 400 Hz. The first peak indicates a refractory period and the 400 Hz oscillation demonstrates that MEPPs are not independent. A release channel with a rhythmical nature is discussed as a possible molecular process which generates clusters of MEPPs.
Variation in inpatient resource utilization and management of apparent life-threatening events.

Objective To report national variations in diagnostic approaches to apparent life-threatening events (ALTEs) and resource utilization. Study design Using the Pediatric Health Information System, we studied children who were age 3 days to 5 months at admission and were discharged with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code potentially identifiable as ALTE. Multiple analysis of variance was used to determine whether the variances in adjusted charges, length of stay (LOS), and diagnostic studies were hospital-related after controlling for other covariates. Logistic regression was used to study the association of readmission rates with discharge diagnosis and specific diagnostic studies. Results The study group comprised 12,067 patients, with a mean LOS of 4.4 days (standard deviation ± 5.6 days) and mean adjusted charges of $15,567 ($28,510) per admission. The mean in-hospital mortality rate was 0.56% (n = 68), and the rate of 30-day readmission was 2.5%. The most common discharge diagnoses were gastroesophageal reflux 36.9% (48.3%) and lower respiratory tract infection 30.8% (46.2%). Mean LOS, total adjusted charges, and use of diagnostic studies varied considerably across hospitals, and hospital-level differences were a significant contributor to the variance of these outcomes after controlling for covariates ( P Conclusions There is considerable hospital-based variation in care for patients hospitalized for conditions potentially identifiable as ALTE, particularly in the evaluation and diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux, which may contribute to adverse clinical and financial outcomes. An evidence-based national standard of care for ALTE is needed, as are multi-institutional initiatives to study different diagnostic and management strategies and their effect on patient outcomes.
Continuous-wave Doppler-free two-photon frequency-modulation spectroscopy in Rb vapor

Frequency-modulation spectroscopy was employed successfully to measure the Doppler-free absorption and dispersion signals originating from several two-photon transitions in 85Rb and 87Rb. The two-photon cross section of the hyperfine transition 5S1/2 (F = 2) → 5D5/2(F = 4) in 87Rb was determined to be σ(2) ≈ 4 × 10−20 cm4/W. The transition isotope shift (TIS) of the transition 5S1/2 → 5D5/2 between 87Rb and 85Rb was found to be ΔνTIS = +166 ± 2 MHz.
Role of early cycle ventricular extrasystoles in initiation of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation: Evaluation of the R on T phenomenon during acute ischemia in a canine model

Eighteen open chest dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium were studied to determine the role of early cycle premature ventricular beats in the initiation of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation during the initial 30 minutes of acute myocardial ischemia. The coupling interval and prematurity index (R-R'/R-R) of every premature beta after a sinus beat were determined during both the "immediate" (2 to 12 minutes) and "delayed" (13 to 30 minutes) phases of ventricular arrhythmias that follow acute coronary ligation. During the immediate phase, characterized by marked fractionation of local electrograms and delayed intramyocardial conduction, early cycle beats were infrequent (8 percent of extrasystoles) and initiated only 3 (4 percent) of 75 episodes of ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. However, during the delayed phase, characterized by less fractionation and more uniform conduction, early cycle beats were both more frequent (24 percent of extrasystoles, p less than 0.001) and more successful (20 [34 percent] of 59 episodes, p less than 0.001) in initiating ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Thus, the underlying electrophysiologic derangements appeared to be of primary importance in determining both the frequency and relative malignancy of early cycle beats during acute myocardial ischemia.
I. Some criticisms of the katzian metatheory of semantics

(1970). I. Some criticisms of the katzian metatheory of semantics. Inquiry: Vol. 13, No. 1-4, pp. 450-458.
A prospective study of differential sources of school-related social support and adolescent global life satisfaction

This study examined the cross-sectional and prospective relationships between three sources of school-related social support (parent involvement, peer support for learning, and teacher-student relationships) and early adolescents' global life satisfaction. The participants were 597 middle school students from 1 large school in the southeastern United States who completed measures of school social climate and life satisfaction on 2 occasions, 5 months apart. The results revealed that school-related experiences in terms of social support for learning contributed substantial amounts of variance to individual differences in adolescents' satisfaction with their lives as a whole. Cross-sectional multiple regression analyses of the differential contributions of the sources of support demonstrated that family and peer support for learning contributed statistically significant, unique variance to global life satisfaction reports. Prospective multiple regression analyses demonstrated that only family support for learning continued to contribute statistically significant, unique variance to the global life satisfaction reports at Time 2. The results suggest that school-related experiences, especially family-school interactions, spill over into adolescents' overall evaluations of their lives at a time when direct parental involvement in schooling and adolescents' global life satisfaction are generally declining. Recommendations for future research and educational policies and practices are discussed.
Microsatellite instability and expression of hMLH1 and hMSH2 proteins in ovarian endometrioid cancer

Microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity has been implicated in ovarian carcinogenesis. The reported frequency of microsatellite instability in human ovarian cancer varies significantly owing to the use of heterogeneous tumor histotypes and various microsatellite markers in different laboratories. In this study, we determined the frequency of microsatellite instability in 74 ovarian endometrioid carcinomas using four microsatellite markers (BAT25, BAT26, D5S346, D17S250), and examined hMLH1 and hMSH2 protein expression. In all, 20% of the tumors were microsatellite instability high (two or more markers showing instability) and 12% were microsatellite instability low (one marker showed instability). Loss of hMLH1 and/or hMSH2 expression was found in nine of 15 microsatellite instability-high tumors. The microsatellite instability-high phenotype tended to occur more frequently in low-grade tumors (P=0.053), but did not correlate with clinical stage. Totally, 38% of cases also displayed loss of heterozygosity at D17S250; this loss of heterozygosity was associated with high clinical stage (P=0.097). Our results indicate that both microsatellite and loss of heterozygosity at D17S250 are involved in the development of ovarian endometrioid carcinoma.
Reduction of metal linewidths through a combination of low-temperature and ultrasonic development of poly(methylmethacrylate) using electron-beam lithography

As device sizes continue to approach nanoscale dimensions, it is essential to develop methodologies that enable more accurate and reliable fabrication of sub-10nm linewidths for devices. In this paper, we present a strategy of combining low-temperature and ultrasonic processing to produce uniform sub-10nm metal lines using electron beam lithography. Specifically, a cold development process that increases both the initial and critical electron beam doses, and thus further improves the tunability, during ultrasonic development was employed. The use of ultrasonic development in combination with cold development caused a larger decrease in the critical dose than the decrease of the initial dose, which results in a resist contrast that is higher than when ultrasonic or cold development are used alone. The increase in the contrast helps to achieve finer line patterns. Additionally, the increase of contrast and critical dosage results in higher pattern uniformity and reproducibility. Using this strategy, metal lift-off patterns with an average linewidth of less than 10nm were achieved using a conventional beam voltage of 15kV, providing narrower average linewidths than are obtained without this strategy (typically 20-30 nm). Thus, this methodology provides a way to reliably fabricate sub- 10nm uniform patterns for the development of the next generation of nanoscale electronic devices, interconnects, and, ultimately, integrated circuits.
Back reaction of evaporating black holes in the presence of inflation

The back reaction of quantum fields on evaporating black holes in the presence of inflation is estimated by computing the expectation value of the stress-energy tensor for a massless scalar field in two dimensions.
Arterial invasion predicts early mortality in stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

Abstract Background A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the association between arterial invasion and survival in patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer. Methods One hundred patients were identified who had undergone complete anatomic resection as definitive treatment for stage I non–small cell lung cancer. The tumors were reviewed for the presence or absence of arterial invasion. Five-year survival data were obtained for all patients. Results The 100 patients had an overall 5-year survival of 61%. There were 64 stage IA patients with a 62% 5-year survival and 36 stage IB patients with a 58% 5-year survival. The 39 patients identified with arterial invasion had a 38% 5-year survival compared with a 73% 5-year survival in the 61 patients without arterial invasion ( p p p p p = 0.006). Conclusions Arterial invasion is present in a substantial percentage of patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer and is adversely associated with survival.
Integrated services for families with multiple problems: Obstacles to family reunification

Abstract Child welfare clients with co-occurring problems are recognized as clients who have difficulty achieving positive child welfare outcomes. The current study focuses on families in the child welfare system with co-occurring problems and the impact of such problems on the likelihood of reunification. The current study contributes to the literature on service integration by examining whether it is necessary to go beyond assessment and service access to insure families make progress in each co-occurring problem area to achieve reunification. The sample is comprised of 724 substance-abusing families enrolled in the Illinois Title IV-E Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) Waiver Demonstration. Data on client progress consisted of provider ratings completed quarterly to track progress related to problems of substance abuse, domestic violence, housing and mental health. The findings indicate that progress in resolving co-occurring problem areas does increase the likelihood of achieving family reunification. Thus, the provision of the child welfare service model alone is insufficient. In order for child welfare systems to increase reunification rates, services must target the specific needs of individual families and assist them in achieving progress within co-occurring problem areas. Successful integrated service programs must identify the range of specific problems that clients are dealing with and insure that they address and resolve these problems in order to increase the likelihood of family reunification.
Crossflow microfiltration of oily water

Two α-alumina ceramic membranes (0.2 and 0.8 μm pore sizes) and a surface-modified polyacrylonitrile membrane (0.1 μm pore size) were tested with an oily water, containing various concentrations (250–1000 ppm) of heavy crude oil droplets of 1–10 μm diameter. Significant fouling and flux decline were observed. Typical final flux values (at the end of experiments with 2 h of filtration) for membranes at 250 ppm oil in the feed are ≈30–40 kg m−2 h−1. Increased oil concentrations in the feed decreased the final flux, whereas the crossflow rate, transmembrane pressure, and temperature appeared to have relatively little effect on the final flux. In all cases, the permeate was of very high quality, containing <6 ppm total hydrocarbons. The addition of suspended solids increased the final membrane flux by one order of magnitude. It is thought that the suspended solids adsorb the oil, break up the oil layer, and act as a dynamic or secondary membrane which reduces fouling of the underlying primary membrane. Resistance models were used to characterize the type of fouling that occurs. Both the 0.2 μm and the 0.8 μm ceramic membranes appeared to exhibit internal fouling followed by external fouling, whereas external fouling characterized the behavior of the 0.1 μm polymer membrane from the beginning of filtration. Examination of the external fouling layer showed a very thin hydrophobic oil layer adsorbed to the membrane surface. This oil layer made the membrane surface hydrophobic, as demonstrated by increased water-contact angles. The oil layer proved resistant to removal by hydrodynamic (shear) methods. By extracting the oil layer with tetrachloroethylene, followed by IR analysis, its average thickness at the end of a 2 h experiment under typical conditions was determined to be 60 μm for the 0.2 μm ceramic membrane and 30 μm for the 0.1 μm polymer membrane. These measured amounts of oil associated with the membrane at the end of the experiments are in good agreement with those determined from a simple mass balance, in which it is assumed that all of the oil associated with the permeate collected is retained on or in the membrane, indicating that the tangential flow did not sweep the rejected oil layer to the filter exit.
ACE: an active, client-directed method for reducing energy during web browsing

In mobile devices, the wireless network interface card (WNIC) consumes a significant portion of overall system energy. One way to reduce energy consumed by a device is to transition its WNIC to a lower-power sleep mode when data is not being received or transmitted.This paper develops ACE, an active, client-directed technique to improve energy efficiency during web browsing. ACE actively retrieves buffered packets from an access point based on predictions made through client-side connection tracking. The key novel implementation technique used in ACE is connection rescheduling, which results is a better energy/time tradeoff for interactive applications such as web browsing. We demonstrate the effectiveness of ACE through actual experiments to real Internet servers.
Multi-Objective Optimization of a Combined Power and Cooling Cycle for Low-Grade and Mid-Grade Heat Sources

Optimization of thermodynamic cycles is important for the efficient utilization of energy sources; indeed it is more crucial for the cycles utilizing low grade heat sources where the cycle efficiencies are smaller compared to high temperature power cycles. This paper presents the optimization of a combined power/cooling cycle, also known as the Goswami Cycle, which combines the Rankine and absorption refrigeration cycles. The cycle uses a special binary fluid mixture as the working fluid and produces power and refrigeration. In this regard, multi-objective genetic algorithms (GA) are used for Pareto approach optimization of the thermodynamic cycle. The optimization study includes two cases. In the first case the performance of the cycle is evaluated as it is used as a bottoming cycle, and in the second case as it is used as a top cycle utilizing solar energy or geothermal sources. The important thermodynamic objectives that have been considered in this work are, namely, work output, cooling capacity, effective first law and exergy efficiencies. Optimization is carried out by varying the selected design variables; boiler temperature and pressure, rectifier temperature, and basic solution concentration. The boiler temperature is varied between 70–150 °C and 150–250 °C for the first and the second cases, respectively.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Description of a high speed vestibular stimulator for small animals

Abstract A rotation device is described that provides linear angular acceleration for semicircular canal stimulation within a range from 170°/sec 2 to 650°/sec 2 , with a maximum error of 1.2 per cent. Equipment and animal weight on turntable must be limited to under 1000 g. A complete wiring schematic of circuitry controlling turntable performance is included. This device is valuable in studying semicircular canal function in small animals, using maximal and supramaximal stimulation.
Evidence of free radical–mediated injury (isoprostane overproduction) in scleroderma

Objective. Free radical-induced oxidative stress with consequent lipid peroxidation and resultant tissue damage has been suggested as a potential mechanism of the pathogenesis of scleroderma. However, because reliable measurement of lipid peroxidation in vivo is difficult, it has not been possible to adequately examine this hypothesis. We have previously described a series of bioactive prostaglandin F 2 -like compounds, termed F 2 -isoprostanes, produced in vivo in humans by the non-cyclooxygenase, free radical-catalyzed, peroxidation of arachidonic acid and have shown them to be a reliable measure of lipid peroxidation in vivo. In the present study, we determined whether scleroderma is associated with enhanced oxidative stress. Methods. As a measure of oxidative stress, we determined urinary concentrations of a tetranordicarboxylic acid metabolite of F 2 -isoprostanes (F 2 IP-M) by mass spectrometry in 8 patients with scleroderma (representing a wide spectrum of disease, including limited disease with refractory digital ulceration or pulmonary hypertension, and diffuse disease) and in 10 healthy control subjects. Results. F 2 IP-M concentrations were significantly higher in patients with scleroderma (mean ± SEM 3.41 ± 0.64 ng/mg of creatinine) than in healthy controls (1.22 ± 0.14 ng/mg of creatinine) (P = 0.002). These elevations occurred in patients with limited disease and in those with diffuse disease. Conclusion. The increased level of urinary F 2 IP-M supports the hypothesis that free radical-induced oxidative injury occurs in scleroderma and provides a biologic marker whose relationship to disease activity and disease therapy may be important. These findings may also provide a rationale for exploring whether antioxidant therapy may influence the natural course of the disease.
Inductive fault analysis of surface-micromachined MEMS

The defects and the corresponding behavior caused by particle contaminants introduced into the fabrication of a combdrive surface-micromachined microresonator are investigated. The microresonator is chosen as a research vehicle since it possesses all the primitive elements used in many types of capacitive-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Fabrication process simulation is used to predict all the possible defective structures caused by contaminants. The resulting defects are then classified based on their geometrical properties. Mechanical and electrical simulations are also used to determine the impact of defect classes on key mechanical and electrical characteristics of the microresonator. This analysis reveals that particles can cause various mechanical defects that include anchors, broken beams, and bridged comb fingers, all of which can have a significant impact on mechanical behavior. On the other hand, there are mechanical defects (e.g., a broken comb finger) that virtually have no effect on mechanical properties but can lead to catastrophic changes in electrical capability
Mechanistic-Empirical Study of Effects of Truck Tire Pressure on Pavement: Measured Tire-Pavement Contact Stress Data

Truck tire pressure plays an important role in the tire-pavement interaction process. As a traditional approximation method in many pavement studies, tire-pavement contact stress is frequently assumed to be uniformly distributed over a circular contact area and simply equal to the tire pressure. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the tire-pavement contact stress is far from uniformly distributed. In this study, measured tire-pavement contact stress data were input to a finite element program to compute pavement immediate responses for three tire configurations: single tires, dual tires, and dual-tire tandem axles. Computed critical pavement responses were input to pavement distress transfer functions to analyze further the effects of tire inflation pressure on pavement performance. Two asphalt concrete pavement structures— a thick pavement and a thin pavement—were investigated. Pavement responses at selected locations in the pavement structures were computed by the finite element program using...
Global Movement Coalitions: The Global South and the World Trade Organization in Cancun

A group of developing countries within the World Trade Organization, called the G22, formed in 2003 to bring attention to important economic concerns of the Global South. ! is coalition building at the global level is instructive to the literature on social movement coalition building and strategies in a transnational context. ! is article examines coalition building among nation-states within the context of the WTO. Drawing upon existing trading blocs, the G22 are able to leverage attention away from the WTO consensus. ! e declining signifi cance of the global institution is a result of the breaking of this consensus.
Autoregressive and bispectral analysis techniques: EEG applications

Some basic properties of autoregressive (AR) modeling and bispectral analysis are reviewed, and examples of their application in electroencephalography (EEG) research are provided. A second-order AR model was used to score cortical EEGs in order. In tests performed on five adult rats to distinguish between different vigilance states such a quiet-waking (QW), rapid-eye-movement (REM), and slow-wave sleep (SWS), SWS activity was correctly identified over 96% of the time, and a 95% agreement rate was achieved in recognizing the REM sleep stage. In a bispectral analysis of the rat EEG, third-order cumulant (TOC) sequences of 32 epochs belonging to the same vigilance state were estimated and then averaged. Preliminary results have shown that bispectra of hippocampal EEGs during REM Sleep exhibit significant quadratic phase couplings between frequencies in the 6-8-Hz range, associated with the theta rhythm. >
Ca2+-Calmodulin–Dependent Phosphorylation of Islet Secretory Granule Proteins

The effect of Ca 2+ and calmodulin on phosphorylation of islet secretory granule proteins was studied. Secretory granules were incubated in a phosphorylation reaction mixture containing [ 32 P]ATP and test reagents. The 32 P-labeled proteins were resolved by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the 32 P content was visualized by autoradiography, and the relative intensities of specific bands were quantitated. When the reaction mixture contained EGTA and no added Ca 2+ , 32 P was incorporated into two proteins with molecular weights of 45,000 and 13,000. When 10 −4 M Ca 2+ was added without EGTA, two additional proteins (58,000 and 48,000 M r ) were phosphorylated, and the 13,000- M r protein was absent. The addition of 2.4 μM calmodulin markedly enhanced the phosphorylation of the 58,000- and 48,000- M r proteins and resulted in the phosphorylation of a major protein whose molecular weight (64,000 M r ) is identical to that of one of the calmodulin binding proteins located on the granule surface. Calmodulin had no effect on phosphorylation in the absence of Ca 2+ but was effective in the presence of calcium between 10 nM and 50 μM. Trifluoperazine and calmidazolium, calmodulin antagonists, produced a dose-dependent inhibition of the calmodulin effect. 12- O -tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate, a phorbol ester that activates protein kinase C, produced no increase in phosphorylation, and 1-(5-isoquinoline sulfonyl)-2-methyl piperazine dihydrochloride, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, had no effect. These results indicate that Ca 2+ -calmodulin–dependent protein kinases and endogenous substrates are present in islet secretory granules.
Intraoperative radiation therapy for recurrent head-and-neck cancer: the UCSF experience.

Purpose: To review a single-institutional experience with the use of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) for recurrent head-and-neck cancer. Methods and Materials: Between 1991 and 2004, 137 patients were treated with gross total resection and IORT for recurrence or persistence of locoregional cancer of the head and neck. One hundred and thirteen patients (83%) had previously received external beam radiation as a component of definitive therapy. Ninety-four patients (69%) had squamous cell histology. Final surgical margins were microscopically positive in 56 patients (41%). IORT was delivered using either a modified linear accelerator or a mobile electron unit and was administered as a single fraction to a median dose of 15 Gy (range, 10‐18 Gy). Median follow-up among surviving patients was 41 months (range, 3‐122 months). Results: The 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year estimates of in-field control after salvage surgery and IORT were 70%, 64%, and 61%, respectively. Positive margins at the time of IORT predicted for in-field failure (p 0.001). The 3-year rates of locoregional control, distant metastasis-free survival, and overall survival were 51%, 46%, and 36%, respectively. There were no perioperative fatalities. Complications included wound infection (4 patients), orocutaneous fistula (2 patients), flap necrosis (1 patient), trismus (1 patient), and neuropathy (1 patient). Conclusions: Intraoperative RT results in effective disease control with acceptable toxicity and should be considered for selected patients with recurrent or persistent cancers of the head and neck. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. Intraoperative radiation, Head and neck, Cancer.
Spectral and stability questions concerning evolution of non-autonomous linear systems

The study of long time behaviour of quantum systems with time dependent Hamiltonians has received increasing attention. A number of numerical and theoretical studies are carried out for special systems (primarily rotors and oscillators) with time dependent external field. In this article we survey analytical results about such systems driven by stationary ergodic external fields.
Statistical properties of the DGD in a long-haul optical fiber system with temporally drifting birefringence

Due to the temporal drift of the fiber birefringence in an optical fiber transmission system, the polarization mode dispersion (PMD) effects measured in a time window can be quite different for different time windows of the same duration. Every 10 s for 10 days, the accumulated differential group delay (DGD) was repeatedly measured at 5000 km in a 107-km recirculating loop with loop-synchronous polarization scrambling. In each DGD measurement, the polarization dispersion vector of the 107-km-long fiber was also measured. To model the measured temporal variation of the DGD, two different perturbation algorithms were used to construct random walks through the configuration space of birefringent fibers, where each fiber realization is determined by the standard coarse-step method. With these simulation models, the statistical properties of the spread of the DGD samples over a finite time period were reproduced
Discovery of Notch-Sparing γ-Secretase Inhibitors

Overwhelming evidence supports a central role for the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) in the pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease (AD), and the proteases that produce Aβ from its precursor protein APP are top targets for therapeutic intervention. Considerable effort has focused on targeting γ-secretase, which generates the C-terminus of Aβ; however, γ- secretase inhibitors cause serious toxicities due to interference with the Notch signaling pathway. We have been working toward compounds that directly alter γ-secretase activity to reduce Aβ production without affecting the proteolysis of Notch. Using purified enzyme and substrate, we have shown that γ-secretase can be selectively inhibited in this way by naphthyl-substituted γ-aminoketones and γ-aminoalcohols. These early hits, however, suffered from chemical instability and/or poor potency. Iterative design, synthesis and evaluation have led to the discovery of Notch-sparing γ-secretase inhibitors with substantially increased potencies in biochemical and cellular assays. These compounds are of low molecular weight and are under evaluation for drug-like properties. The discovery and development of these compounds will be discussed.
The Efficacy of Deliberate Practice Delivered Using Asynchronous Training Technology

Employee productivity is key to survival in business. Senior employees require access to advanced training that does not necessitate extended periods away from their work. Once performance begins to plateau, it can be difficult to reach experienced employees with cost-effective, timely, and relevant training opportunities. Organizations must find ways to enhance employee performance; however, research suggests workplace training is too expensive and is too often without lasting benefit. The purpose of this study is to further quantify deliberate practice as a potentially efficient, customizable mode of training using asynchronous e-learning. The study compared traditional seminars with online deliberate practice training. While additional research is needed in wider learning contexts and with larger sample sizes, improvements among the deliberate practice groups were significant. Using a mixed methods pretest/posttest research design, the deliberate practice training showed improved performance and increased satisfaction compared with the traditional seminar approach.
A study of providing statistical QoS in a differentiated services network

In this paper, we propose and analyze a methodology for providing statistical guarantees within the diffserv model in a network, that uses static-priority schedulers. We extend the previous work on statistical delay analysis and develop a method that can be used to derive delay bounds without specific information on flow population. With this new method, we are able to successfully employ a utilization-based admission control approach for flow admission. This approach does not require explicit delay computation at admission time and hence is scalable to large systems. We systematically analyze the performance of our approaches in terms of system utilization. As expected, our experimental data show that statistical services can achieve much higher utilization than deterministic services.
Longitudinal Instabilities in Circular Accelerator and Storage Rings

The general problem of the longitudinal stability of bunched beams is reviewed. Although there is no general solution it is possible to identify regions in the frequency-risetime space where we can obtain approximate solutions. The collective oscillation frequency is written, and expressions for the effective coupling impedance are given for the high or low frequency and slow and fast blow-up regimes.
Career Assessment of Ultraorthodox Jewish Men: Reliability, Validity, and Results of the Strong Interest Inventory.

Ultraorthodox men spend years studying religion and delay entry into the workforce until their early 30s. They then face barriers such as insufficient education and work experience, religious restr...
Antibody-secreting peripheral blood lymphocytes induced by immunization with a conjugate consisting of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 12F polysaccharide and diphtheria toxoid

Healthy adult volunteers were injected either with one of two conjugates composed of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 12F polysaccharide (Pn12F) covalently coupled to diphtheria toxoid or with Pn12F alone (as a component of Pnu-Imune, a 23-valent pneumococcus vaccine). The conjugates induced Pn12F-specific antibody-secreting cells in peripheral blood with numbers and isotype distribution similar to those induced by Pnu-Imune, with immunoglobulin A (IgA) as the predominant isotype. The conjugates also elicited high numbers of diphtheria toxoid-specific antibody-secreting cells of the IgG class. There was no distinct booster effect, since a second dose of the conjugates induced antibody-secreting cells at significantly lower numbers than after the first dose. In contrast to the cell numbers, the conjugate vaccines induced higher increases of IgA1 Pn12F antibodies in serum than did Pnu-Imune. However, neither the conjugates nor Pnu-Imune induced a secretory antibody response. Antibody levels in serum and saliva correlated poorly with the frequency of antigen-specific antibody-secreting cells. Circulating antibody-secreting cells present 7 days postimmunization were probably not responsible for the high increase of antibodies in serum but rather represented a population of in vivo-activated B cells with the ability to disseminate the humoral response from the antigen recognition site to distant locations of antibody production.
Immigrant assimilation and charitable giving

Economic research about charitable giving among immigrant populations in the United States sheds light on charitable behaviors related to, but not often included in, discussions of black philanthropy.
Automatic Loop Tiling for Direct Memory Access

In heterogeneous multi-core systems, such as the Cell BE processor, each accelerator core has its own fast local memory without hardware supported coherence and the software is responsible to dynamically transfer data between the fast local and slow global memory. The data can be transferred through either a software controlled cache or a direct buffer. The software controlled cache maintains correctness for arbitrary access patterns, but introduces the extra overhead of cache lookup. Direct buffer is efficient for regular accesses, while requiring precise analysis, detailed modeling of execution, and significant code generation. In this paper we present the design and implementation of {\em DMATiler} which combines compiler analysis and runtime management to optimize local memory performance via automatic loop tiling and buffer optimization techniques. The DMATiler chooses a data transfer friendly loop order and using a empirically validated DMA performance model, it formulates and solves a convex optimization problem to determine globally optimal tile sizes. Further, the DMATiler applies optimization techniques such compressed data transfers and DMA commands to achieve the best DMA performance for a given loop nest. We have implemented the DMATiler in the IBM XL Single Source Compiler (SSC), and have conducted experiments with a set of loop nest benchmarks. The results show that the DMATiler is much more efficient than software controlled cache (average speedup of 9.8x) and single level loop blocking (average speedup of 6.2x) on the Cell BE processor.
A Novel DDB2-ATM Feedback Loop Regulates Human Cytomegalovirus Replication

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genome replication requires host DNA damage responses (DDRs) and raises the possibility that DNA repair pathways may influence viral replication. We report here that a nucleotide excision repair (NER)-associated-factor is required for efficient HCMV DNA replication. Mutations in genes encoding NER factors are associated with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). One of the XP complementation groups, XPE, involves mutation in ddb2, which encodes DNA damage binding protein 2 (DDB2). Infectious progeny virus production was reduced by >2 logs in XPE fibroblasts compared to levels in normal fibroblasts. The levels of immediate early (IE) (IE2), early (E) (pp65), and early/late (E/L) (gB55) proteins were decreased in XPE cells. These replication defects were rescued by infection with a retrovirus expressing DDB2 cDNA. Similar patterns of reduced viral gene expression and progeny virus production were also observed in normal fibroblasts that were depleted for DDB2 by RNA interference (RNAi). Mature replication compartments (RCs) were nearly absent in XPE cells, and there were 1.5- to 2.0-log reductions in viral DNA loads in infected XPE cells relative to those in normal fibroblasts. The expression of viral genes (UL122, UL44, UL54, UL55, and UL84) affected by DDB2 status was also sensitive to a viral DNA replication inhibitor, phosphonoacetic acid (PAA), suggesting that DDB2 affects gene expression upstream of or events associated with the initiation of DNA replication. Finally, a novel, infection-associated feedback loop between DDB2 and ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) was observed in infected cells. Together, these results demonstrate that DDB2 and a DDB2-ATM feedback loop influence HCMV replication.
Large Sample Behavior of the CTE and VaR Estimators under Importance Sampling

Abstract The α-level value at risk (Var) and the α-level conditional tail expectation (CTE) of a continuous random variable X are defined as its α-level quantile (denoted by qα ) and its conditional expectation given the event {X > qα }, respectively. Var is a popular risk measure in the banking sector, for both external and internal reporting purposes, while the CTE has recently become the risk measure of choice for insurance regulation in North America. Estimation of the CTE for company assets and liabilities is becoming an important actuarial exercise, and the size and complexity of these liabilities make inference procedures with good small sample performance very desirable. A common situation is one in which the CTE of the portfolio loss is estimated using simulated values, and in such situations use of variance reduction techniques such as importance sampling have proved to be fruitful. Construction of confidence intervals for the CTE relies on the availability of the asymptotic distribution of the ...
Female White-Tailed Deer Body Condition and Diet After a Large Spring Wildfire

Abstract Frequency of large rangeland wildfires may increase in the southwestern United States and northeastern Mexico as a result of exotic grass invasion and reduced emphasis on livestock production, but effects of such fires on white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) are poorly documented. A large wildfire burned s 90% of the 6 151-ha Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in southern Texas during March 2008, creating an opportunity to study short-term effects of wildfire on white-tailed deer food habits, body condition, and pregnancy. We harvested 26 female deer between 7 April and 20 June 2008 and recorded dressed body weight, body condition, number of corpora lutea, and number and size of fetuses. We used rumen contents to quantify forage classes consumed. Deer ate prickly pear ( Opuntia engelmannii ) pads and emergent grasses during April and shifted to forbs and browse as vegetation communities recovered. Deer consumed mesquite ( Prosopis glandulosa ) beans and prickly pear fruit during mid-June. Body condition measures did not vary during the collection period, suggesting deer were able to acquire sufficient nutrients to meet requirements. Fetal development rate appeared normal. Precipitation (11.4 cm) during late April and May probably allowed vegetation to recover from the wildfire. White-tailed deer are resilient opportunists and were able to maintain body condition and pregnancy after a large-scale wildfire.
The ASP EE: an active network execution environment

This paper describes the ASP Execution Environment (EE), a prototype general-purpose active network execution environment that initiates and controls the execution of Java-based active applications. Features of the ASP EE include support for persistent active applications, fine-grained network I/O control, security, resource protection and timing services.
Inequality and the life cycle

I structurally estimate an incomplete markets life-cycle model with endogenous labor supply using data on the joint distribution of wages, hours, and consump- tion. The model is successful at matching the evolution of both the first and sec- ond moments of the data over the life cycle. The key challenge for the model is to generate declining inequality in annual hours worked over the first half of the working life, while respecting the constraints imposed by the data on consump- tion and wages. I argue that this is a robust feature of the data on life-cycle labor supply that is strongly at odds with the intratemporal first-order condition for la- bor. Allowing for a realistic degree of involuntary unemployment, coupled with preferences that feature nonseparability in the disutility of the extensive and in- tensive margins of hours worked, allows the model to overcome this challenge. The results imply that labor market frictions are important in jointly account- ing for observed cross-sectional inequality in labor supply and consumption, and may have quantitative relevance for analyses that exploit the intratemporal first- order condition for labor. Keywords. Inequality, life cycle, hours worked, intensive and extensive labor sup- ply, structural estimation, precautionary savings. JEL classification. C13, D21, E21, E24, J22.
Low sidelobe antenna patterns with failed elements

Many radar and communication systems utilize phased antenna arrays where it is desirable to maintain low-sidelobes even when one or more individual antenna elements have failed. Traditionally, computing low-sidelobe beamforming with disabled elements requires accurate antenna element patterns. In this paper we present a new algorithm for computing low-sidelobe beamforming that only requires the original beamforming weights that produce low sidelobes when all elements are functioning normally. The algorithm is computationally inexpensive, does not require accurate knowledge of the antenna element patterns, and permits user adjustment of the trade-off between sidelobe level, taper loss, and mainbeam width. Near optimum low sidelobes are demonstrated in several examples.
Representativeness of breast cancer cases in an integrated health care delivery system

Integrated health care delivery systems, with their comprehensive and integrated electronic medical records (EMR), are well-poised to conduct research that leverages the detailed clinical data within the EMRs. However, information regarding the representativeness of these clinical populations is limited, and thus the generalizability of research findings is uncertain. Using data from the population-based California Cancer Registry, we compared age-adjusted distributions of patient and neighborhood characteristics for three groups of breast cancer patients: 1) those diagnosed within Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), 2) non-KPNC patients from NCI-designated cancer centers, and 3) those from all other hospitals. KPNC patients represented 32 % (N = 36,109); cancer center patients represented 7 % (N = 7805); and all other hospitals represented 61 % (N = 68,330) of the total breast cancer patients from this geographic area during 1996–2009. Compared with cases from all other hospitals, KPNC had slightly fewer non-Hispanic Whites (70.6 % versus 74.4 %) but more Blacks (8.1 % versus 5.0 %), slightly more patients in the 50–69 age range and fewer in the younger and older age groups, a slightly lower proportion of in situ but higher proportion of stage I disease (41.6 % versus 38.9 %), were slightly less likely to reside in the lowest (4.2 % versus 6.5 %) and highest (36.2 % versus 39.0 %) socioeconomic status neighborhoods, and more likely to live in suburban metropolitan areas and neighborhoods with more racial/ethnic minorities. Cancer center patients differed substantially from patients from KPNC and all other hospitals on all characteristics assessed. All differences were statistically significant (p < .001). Although much of clinical research discoveries are based in academic medical centers, patients from large, integrated medical centers are likely more representative of the underlying population, providing support for the generalizability of cancer research based on electronic data from these centers.
Shifting Grounds: Nationalism and the American South, 1848–1865. By Paul Quigley. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xi, 325. $34.95.)

Understanding the nature of nationalism in the American South remains critical for answering key questions in nineteenth‐century US history: Why did secession occur? What happened to Confederate na...
Wavelet Codes for Algorithm-Based Fault Tolerance Applications

Algorithm-based fault tolerance (ABFT) methods, which use real number parity values computed in two separate comparable ways to detect computer-induced errors in numerical processing operations, can employ wavelet codes for establishing the necessary redundancy. Wavelet codes, one form of real number convolutional codes, determine the required parity values in a continuous fashion and can be intertwined naturally with normal data processing. Such codes are the transform coefficients associated with an analysis uniform filter bank which employs downsampling, while parity-checking operations are performed by a syndrome synthesis filter bank that includes upsampling. The data processing operations are merged effectively with the parity generating function to provide one set of parity values. Good wavelet codes can be designed starting from standard convolutional codes over finite fields by relating the field elements with the integers in the real number space. ABFT techniques are most efficient when employing a systematic form and methods for developing systematic codes are detailed. Bounds on the ABFT overhead computations are given and ABFT protection methods for processing that contains feedback are outlined. Analyzing syndromes' variances guide the selection of thresholds for syndrome comparisons. Simulations demonstrate the detection and miss probabilities for some high-rate wavelet codes.
A. A. Berle, Jr. Student of the Corporation 1917–1932*

In the intellectual career of one precocious scholar may be traced the course of jurisprudence and philosophy that joined law with economics, dealt with the fundamental problem of democratic restraints upon corporate power, and influenced in basic ways the direction of the New Deal program.