cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Neuromorphic System

The essential functions of neurons can be emulated electronically on silicon chips. We describe such a neuron analogue, or neuromorph, that is compact and low power, with sufficient flexibility that it could perform as a general-purpose unit in networks for controlling robots or for use as implantable neural prostheses. We illustrate some possible applications by a dynamical network that recognizes spatiotemporal patterns and by a network that uses a biologically inspired learning rule to develop sensory-guided behavior in a moving robot. Finally, design requirements for neuromorphic systems are discussed.
Gaseous Elemental Mercury Fluxes in New York City

As with many urban environments, a number of sources of airborne elemental mercury (Hg°) exist in New York City, yet little research has been conducted to examine the flux and sources of mercury in New York. In this study, we conducted ambient monitoring of Hg° at six locations in New York City. Airborne Hg° averaged 3.84±0.10 ng m-3 and 3.70±0.08 ng m-3 in the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn respectively, yet only 2.69±0.03 ng m-3 in a more residential neighborhood in Queens. Both precipitation and ambient temperature were significantly correlated with ambient Hg° levels in New York City, suggesting that the surface emission of mercury from urban surfaces plays a role in urban Hg° concentrations. Local sources were also seen to contribute to urban Hg° levels by leading to `spikes' of Hg° in which elevated concentrations were recorded for short periods of time.
The Emerging Structures of Socialist Constitutionalism with Chinese Characteristics: Extra Judicial Detention (Laojiao and Shuanggui) and the Chinese Constitutional Order

This paper considers the development of constitutional rule of law theory with Chinese characteristics by considering its application in two related but distinct legal contexts – laojiao (the system of administrative detentions, re-education through labor, or “劳动教养”) and shuanggui (the system of intra-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) discipline of its cadres 双规). China is developing its own distinctive path towards socialist constitutionalism and rule of law. Socialist constitutionalism with Chinese characteristics reflects China's history and its unique circumstances, but also conforms to the general principles of transnational constitutionalism. The Chinese constitutional order is grounded on a principal of separation of powers that distinguishes between an administrative power assigned to the government and a political authority assigned to the CCP. Administrative constitutional power is organized within the State Constitution; the authority of the CCPis acknowledged in the Constitution but framed by the ideological premises on which the political order is founded — under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory the important thought of 'Three Represents' and the concept of scientific development. The paper will first briefly review the emerging framework of the Chinese constitutional order, represented by the respective roles of the state apparatus and the CCP. The paper then will review the laojiao and shuanggui systems, the former applicable to all individuals and the later applicable only to CCP members. It will suggest why laojiao is constitutionally problematic but shuanggui is constitutionally sound under the current Chinese constitutional framework. Shuanggui deals with political, rather than administrative breaches that touch on the integrity of the role of the CCP as Party in Power. It is in this sense beyond the competence of the administrative authorities represented by the government apparatus and relates to the constitution of the CCP rather than the constitution of the state and its administrative authority over the people. As a consequence, the shuanggui system is not subject to the same constitutional difficulties as laojiao. The paper ends with a suggestion of the ways in which shuanggui might benefit from scientific development under China’s rule of law constitutional system in the way it is administered, that is the ways in which shuanggui might be reformed to better conform with CCP constitutional principles.A final version of this paper will be published as "The Emerging Structures of Socialist Constitutionalism With Chinese Characteristics: Extra-Judicial Detention (Laojiao and Shuanggui) and the Chinese Constitutional Order" in Vol. 23 Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal (University of Washington).
Estimation, Interpretation, and Hypothesis Testing for Nonparametric Hedonic House Price Functions

Despite well-documented shortcomings, hedonic and repeat sales estimators remain the most widely used methods for constructing quality controlled house price indexes and for assessing housing attribute capitalization into dwelling prices. Nonparametric estimators overcome many of the problems associated with these approaches by controlling for misspecified spatial effects while using highly flexible forms. Despite these advantages, nonparametric procedures are still not used extensively for data analysis due to perceived difficulties associated with estimation and hypothesis testing. We demonstrate that nonparametric estimation is both feasible for large data sets with many explanatory variables and offers significant advantages in terms of the information content of the estimates. These features are demonstrated in an application of valuing capitalization of access to a rapid transit line into surrounding dwelling prices.
Sexual Differentiation of Behavior in the Context of Developmental Psychobiology

Sexual differentiation refers to processes of biological development by which tissues and cells become committed to masculine or feminine phenotypes. Even among mammals and birds, in which chromosomes determine sex, most tissues and cells that become sexually dimorphic are sexually indifferent initially. They have the potential to produce either a male or a female version of the adult form. In most cases, the sexual phenotype that they develop depends not on their own genotype but on factors in their environment. Thus, sexual differentiation resembles, and presumably reflects, the same processes by which all specialized cells differentiate from a common precursor, the fertilized egg. Granted, some embryonic tissues can produce structures of only one sex. Yet, even in these cases, the sexual indifference of early development is apparent because tissues that can produce the structures of the other sex are present as well.
The effect of verbal appeals and incentives on depreciative behavior among youthful park visitors.

During twelve autumn weekends in 1985, a field experiment was conducted at Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee to determine the effects of three personally-delivered messages on the amount of ...
An Information-Theoretic Framework for Fault Detection Evaluation and Design of Optimal Dimensionality Reduction Methods

Abstract Data-based fault detection is a growing area with various dimensionality reduction techniques being most commonly used in the manufacturing industries. The evaluation among these methods is generally based on false alarm rate and fault detection rate comparisons given a specific dataset. This article aims to propose a universal criterion for the evaluation of different fault detection approaches. To this end, an information-theoretic framework is presented that imbeds the fault detection problem into an information point of view. The basis for fault detection evaluation is then established in terms of the information contained in the extracted feature space. The developed theory shows that mutual information is not merely another performance index which may be useful in some problem, but rather a universal indicator about how well fault detection methods can perform – the larger the information preserved in the extracted features by a dimensionality reduction technique, the better the fault detection performance. The framework is used to derive an optimal iso-information transformation matrix for dimensionality reduction methods for fault detection, which is demonstrated in the application of principal component analysis and canonical variate analysis to an oscillatory process with random bias.
Effect of Hospitalizations on Physical Activity Patterns in Mobility-Limited Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of hospitalizations on patterns of sedentary and physical activity time in mobility‐limited older adults randomized to structured physical activity or health education. DESIGN Secondary analysis of investigator‐blinded, parallel‐group, randomized trial conducted at 8 U.S. centers between February 2010 and December 2013. PARTICIPANTS Sedentary men and women aged 70 to 89 at baseline who wore a hip‐fitted accelerometer 7 consecutive days at baseline and 6, 12, and 24 months after randomization (N=1,341). MEASUREMENTS Participants were randomized to a physical activity (PA; n = 669) intervention that included aerobic, resistance, and flexibility training or to a health education (HE; n = 672) intervention that consisted of workshops on older adult health and light upper‐extremity stretching. Accelerometer patterns were characterized as bouts of sedentary (<100 counts/min; ≥1, ≥10, ≥30, ≥60 minute lengths) and activity (≥100 counts/min; ≥1, ≥2, ≥5, ≥10 minute lengths) time. Each participant was categorized as having 0, 1 to 3, or 4 or more cumulative hospital days before each accelerometer assessment. RESULTS Hospitalization increased sedentary time similarly in both intervention groups (8 min/d for 1–3 cumulative hospital days and 16 min/d for ≥4 cumulative hospital days). Hospitalization was also associated with less physical activity time across all bouts of less than 10 minutes (≥1: −7 min/d for 1–3 cumulative hospital days, –16 min/d for ≥4 cumulative hospital days; ≥2: −5 min/d for 1–3 cumulative hospital days, −11 min/d for ≥4 cumulative hospital days; ≥5: −3 min/d for 1–3 cumulative hospital days, −4 min/d for ≥4 cumulative hospital days). There was no evidence of recovery to prehospitalization levels (time effect p >.41). PA participants had less sedentary time in bouts of less than 30 minutes than HE participants (−8 to −10 min/d) and more total activity (+3 to +6 min/d), although hospital‐related changes were similar between the intervention groups (interaction effect p >.26). CONCLUSION Participating in a PA intervention before hospitalization had expected benefits, but participants remained susceptible to hospitalization's detrimental effects on their daily activity levels. There was no evidence of better activity recovery after hospitalization. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:261–268, 2019.
Early Recognition of Critical Illness

Hospitalized pediatric oncology and hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients are a high-risk population with frequent deterioration events requiring critical care. Early identification of critical illness in these patients can improve hospital outcomes and reduce mortality. Pediatric early warning systems (PEWS) and rapid response teams (RRTs) are quality improvement measures that aid in early recognition and management of critical illness in these high-risk patients.
Abstract P371: Short-term Repeatability of the Peguero Electrocardiographic Index of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Background: Electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-LVH) represents preclinical cardiovascular disease and predicts cardiovascular disease and mortality. Current criteria include the...
A Robust Method for Induction Motor Magnetizing Curve Identification at Standstill

Modern electric drives use a self-commissioning procedure to precisely identify motor parameters for achieving high-performance control. Typically, the induction motor magnetizing curve is identified using no-load rotational test. However, some applications necessitate the electric drive to identify the magnetizing curve at standstill conditions. As one of the well-known standstill approaches, the traditional flux integration exhibits several practical problems. Any imperfection in measured current, estimated stator resistance, and dead-time compensation directly affects the accuracy of the estimated magnetizing curve because of error accumulation in open-loop integration. This paper proposes a robust yet simple solution against those practical concerns. It can identify the magnetizing curve without using any dead-time compensation and stator resistance. Only industry-standard dc-link voltage and phase current measurements are used. Its superior features are experimentally verified on a number of motors and the results are confirmed by no-load rotational test results. Its robustness against current offset and extra longer integration duration is also proved.
Targeted Imaging of Neoplasia in the Digestive Tract

In this issue of Cancer Biomarkers, we discuss the emergence of novel molecular probes and endoscopic instruments for performing targeted imaging of neoplasia in the digestive tract. The digestive tract is an ideal place to develop these emerging methods, in particular for clinical applications because these hollow organs are easy to access with endoscopy and exogenous probes can be topically applied safely. The role of imaging is becoming ever more important as a clinical tool for assessing cancer biomarkers. Spatial information provides a powerful resource to guide tissue biopsy, stratify risk patients, monitor therapeutic response, and assess tumor recurrence. Moreover, we have recently experienced greater understanding of the sequence of genetic and molecular changes that lead to clonal selection and growth advantages for cancerous cells in the digestive tract [1–3]. This research has revealed the timing of expression of key molecular targets so that we can perform earlier detection of diagnostic cancer biomarkers with imaging methods. We are now beginning to see a convergence in our knowledge of molecular biology, development of affinity probes, and performance of imaging instruments. These factors are interdependent and must develop together as we head in the direction of personalized medicine [4]. Currently, physicians make clinical decisions to diagnose and stage cancer based primarily on structural abnormali-
Reorganizing Health Care Bankruptcy

Many health care providers are experiencing financial distress, and if the predicted wave of health care bankruptcies materializes, the entire U.S. economy could suffer. Unfortunately, health care providers are “bankruptcy misfits,” in the sense that bankruptcy does not work for them the way it works for other businesses. This is so for two primary reasons. First, the Bankruptcy Code is insufficiently specific with respect to health care debtors. Second, the Code lacks an organizing principle to allow the court to reconcile the competing players and interests in a health care bankruptcy case. Previous attempts to address these issues have not succeeded. Notably, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 scattered reforms across the Code, making bankruptcy more complicated for health care debtors. As a result, some have argued that these debtors are better off using bankruptcy alternatives such as state receiverships to address their debts. This Article asserts that despite their bankruptcy misfit status, health care providers can realize distinct benefits from bankruptcy relief. To be effective, however, this relief must respond to health care providers’ unique needs. Creating separate Bankruptcy Code subchapters for health care business bankruptcies would allow Congress to clarify many aspects of health care bankruptcy and enable the development of specific procedures and a distinct organizing principle unique to health care provider bankruptcies. Although this proposal contemplates a significant structural change to the Bankruptcy Code, the Article also explains why this change is warranted as part of the Code’s necessary evolution.
Beliefs, traits, and motivations underlying rumination

Abstract This chapter reviews several individual difference variables that may influence whether people ruminate. After describing the literature on positive and negative beliefs about rumination, I turn to theory and evidence suggesting that avoidance and suppression attempt fuel rumination. I then review associations between neuroticism and several related traits—emotional sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, perfectionism, and behavioral inhibition—and rumination. The chapter concludes with an examination of various ways that emotion regulation difficulties and motives might contribute to rumination.
Vaccination mitigates influenza-induced muscular declines in aged mice

Influenza (flu) infection increases the risk for disability, falls, and broken bones in older adults. We have employed a preclinical model to examine the impact of flu on muscle function, which has a direct impact on fall risk. In mice, flu causes mobility and strength impairments with induction of inflammatory and muscle degradation genes that are increased and prolonged with aging. To determine if vaccination could reduce flu-induced muscle decrements, mice were vaccinated with flu nucleoprotein, infected, and muscle parameters were measured. Vaccination of aged mice resulted in significant protection from functional decrements, muscle gene expressions alterations, and morphological damage. Vaccination also improved protection from lung localized and systemic inflammation in aged mice. Despite documented decreased vaccine efficacy with aging, vaccination still provided partial protection to aged mice and represents a potential strategy to prevent flu-induced disability. These findings provide translational insight on ways to reduce flu-induced disability with aging. Graphical abstract .
Temporalis Tendon Transfer/Lengthening Temporalis Myoplasty for Midfacial Static and Dynamic Reanimation After Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery.

Importance: Facial nerve paralysis is an unfortunate, yet relatively common sequela in the treatment of head and neck cancer. Static options for reanimation of the paralyzed midface and oral commis...
An evaluation of apalutamide for the treatment of prostate cancer

Novel androgen signaling inhibitors are currently standard of care in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer. Second-generation androgen receptor antagonists have demonstrated efficacy in e...
Selective Regional Alteration of the Gut Microbiota by Diet and Antibiotics

The small intestinal microbiota has recently been implicated in contributing to metabolic disease. We previously demonstrated that diets rich in saturated milk fat have a particularly strong impact on the small bowel microbiota as opposed to more distal gastrointestinal (GI) regions. However, the impact of antibiotics and diet on the small bowel microbiota has not been clearly demonstrated. Thus, we sought to determine how diet and antibiotics interact in modulating the regional landscape of the gut microbiota. We conducted a study using male mice on a high fat (HF) or a low fat (LF) diet (n = 15/group) that received either water control (n = 5/diet), rifaximin, (non-absorbable broad-spectrum antibiotic; n = 5/diet) or an antibiotic cocktail consisting of metronidazole, cefoperazone, vancomycin, and neomycin (Abx cocktail; n = 5/diet). 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on mucosal scrapings collected from the small intestine and cecum, as well as on stool samples. Interestingly, antibiotics had a significant effect on community composition throughout the small intestine, cecum and stool, whereas diet significantly affected only the jejunum and cecum microbiota. The antibiotic cocktail, regardless of diet, was most effective in increasing cecum size, reducing body fat percentage, and plasma lipid levels. Altogether, this study reveals a selective and divergent regional alteration of the gut microbiota by diet and antibiotics.
Tips for Navigating the Academic Job Market.

There are many unwritten rules in the academy, and much of the advice that doctoral students receive about the academic job search is from their mentors. For many doctoral students, navigating the ...
Elasmobranch Community Dynamics in Florida’s Southern Indian River Lagoon

Many elasmobranch species utilize estuaries as nurseries, parturition areas, and foraging grounds. Florida’s Indian River Lagoon (IRL), an “estuary of national significance,” has experienced many anthropogenic impacts in recent decades, such as habitat degradation and declining water quality, and there is a substantial data gap surrounding the status of elasmobranchs in this system. A fishery-independent survey (longline/gillnet) was implemented to characterize the elasmobranch community and understand distribution patterns and habitat use in the IRL (Sebastian to St. Lucie Inlet). From July 2016 to June 2018, 630 individuals of 16 species were caught and tagged, including two critically endangered smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata. Bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas and Atlantic stingrays Hypanus sabinus were the two most common species collected (47% of the total catch), and size differences by region were observed. The longline catch exhibited a significant difference in species composition among regions while the gillnet catch composition significantly varied among seasons. Although dependent on survey gear type, there was evidence of combinations of abiotic parameters (e.g., depth, salinity, water clarity, distance to a freshwater source, distance to an inlet) driving elasmobranch species composition. Bull sharks and Atlantic stingrays dominated areas with frequently low salinities while more diverse assemblages of species were apparent towards inlet passes. This study provides the first in-depth analysis of the elasmobranch community in the IRL and develops capacity to understand how these species may respond to further environmental changes in this highly impacted estuary.
What’s Hegemonic about Hegemonic Masculinity? Legitimation and Beyond:

Raewyn Connell’s theoretical concept of hegemonic masculinity has been profoundly influential in feminist sociology. Despite the rich literature inspired by her theory, conceptual ambiguities have ...
Pathogenesis, Evaluation, and Management of Osteolysis Following Total Ankle Arthroplasty.

Periprosthetic osteolysis is a common occurrence after total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) and poses many challenges for the foot and ankle surgeon. Osteolysis may be asymptomatic and remain benign, or it may lead to component instability and require revision or arthrodesis. In this article, we present a current and comprehensive review of osteolysis in TAA with illustrative cases. We examine the basic science principles behind the etiology of osteolysis, discuss the workup of a patient with suspected osteolysis, and present a review of the evidence of various management strategies, including grafting of cysts, revision TAA, and arthrodesis.Level of Evidence: Level V, expert opinion.
Paradoxical hyperexcitability from NaV1.2 sodium channel loss in neocortical pyramidal cells

Loss-of-function variants in the gene SCN2A, which encodes the sodium channel NaV1.2, are strongly associated with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. An estimated 20-30% of children with these variants are co-morbid for epilepsy, with altered neuronal activity originating in neocortex, a region where NaV1.2 channels are expressed predominantly in excitatory pyramidal cells. This is paradoxical, as sodium channel loss in excitatory cells would be expected to dampen neocortical activity rather than promote seizure. Here, we examined pyramidal neurons lacking NaV1.2 channels and found that they were intrinsically hyperexcitable, firing high-frequency bursts of action potentials (APs) despite decrements in AP size and speed. Compartmental modeling and dynamic clamp recordings revealed that NaV1.2 loss prevented potassium channels from properly repolarizing neurons between APs, increasing overall excitability by allowing neurons to reach threshold for subsequent APs more rapidly. This cell-intrinsic mechanism may therefore account for why SCN2A loss-of-function can paradoxically promote seizure.
Perceived Workplace Race Discrimination and Its Correlates: A Meta-Analysis

We combine the interactional model of cultural diversity (IMCD) and relative deprivation theory to examine employee outcomes of perceived workplace racial discrimination. Using 79 effect sizes from published and unpublished studies, we meta-analyze the relationships between perceived racial discrimination and several important employee outcomes that have potential implications for organizational performance. In response to calls to examine the context surrounding discrimination, we test whether the severity of these outcomes depends on changes to employment law that reflect increasing societal concern for equality and on the characteristics of those sampled. Perceived racial discrimination was negatively related to job attitudes, physical health, psychological health, organizational citizenship behavior, and perceived diversity climate and positively related to coping behavior. The effect of perceived racial discrimination on job attitudes was stronger in studies published after the Civil Rights Act of 1991 was passed than before. Results provide some evidence that effect sizes were stronger the more women and minorities were in the samples, indicating that these groups are more likely to perceive discrimination and/or respond more strongly to perceived discrimination. Our findings extend the IMCD and relative deprivation theory to consider how contextual factors including changes to employment law influence employee outcomes of perceived workplace discrimination.
Terra Incognita: Function and Evolution of the H-2 Complex

For years, the H-2 complex has been viewed as merely a source of potent antigenic stimulation leading either to secretion of humoral antibodies by plasma cells or to various forms of lymphocyte-mediated (cellular) immunity. More recently, another dimension has been added to the H-2 studies by the speculation that the H-2 complex may also code for molecules that specifically recognize antigens and serve as their receptor. According to this view, the H-2 complex has two principal functions: one is to stimulate immunity and the other is to generate immunological specificity. Of these two functions, the stimulating function is clearly established, whereas the receptor function is so far purely hypothetical.
Dynamical Systems and Control Theory

In chapters 8 and 9 the essentials of the input-output approach to control and regulation have been outlined in a large class of systems of physical and biological interest. It has already been mentioned that the mathematical tools used in developing that approach are of quite a different nature from those employed earlier; instead of variational principles and their Euler equations, the Laplace transform and linear nth order differential equations were found. If the theory had been extended further, such things as the Cauchy integral theorem, and other aspects of the theory of complex variables would have been seen.
Parallelization of Enhanced Firework Algorithm using MapReduce

Swarm intelligence algorithms are inherently parallel since different individuals in the swarm perform independent computations at different positions simultaneously. Hence, these algorithms lend themselves well to parallel implementations thereby speeding up the optimization process. FireWorks Algorithm FWA is a recently proposed swarm intelligence algorithm for optimization. This work investigates the scalability of the parallelization of the Enhanced FireWorks Algorithm EFWA, which is an improved version of FWA. The authors use the MapReduce platform for parallelizing EFWA, investigate its ability to scale, and report on the speedup obtained on different benchmark functions for increasing problem dimensions.
Effects of Ozone and Ozone-Acidic Precipitation Interaction on Forest Trees in North America

Abstract Ozone is the principal cause of declines of ponderosa and Jeffrey pine in California, P. hartwegii, P. montezumae and P. patula around Mexico City, and sensitive eastern white pines in the northeast USA and Canada. There is no evidence that ozone, or ozone-acidic precipitation interaction, is involved in sugar maple decline, red spruce decline, or radical growth reductions of yellow pines. Ozone and acidic precipitation can affect ectomycorrhizal associations in roots of tree seedlings.
Boar Acrosin II. CLASSIFICATION, INHIBITION, AND SPECIFICITY STUDIES OF A PROTEINASE FROM SPERM ACROSOMES

Abstract Acrosin, a proteolytic enzyme located in the acrosome of sperm, exhibits amidase, esterase, and proteinase activity on synthetic and natural substrates containing arginyl and lysyl residues. Highly purified acrosin preparations from boar acrosomes have endopeptidase activity cleaving only the carboxyl bonds of arginine and lysine with a strong preference for arginine bonds. The Michaelis constant for hydrolysis of benzoyl arginine ethyl ester at pH 8.0 is 5 x 10-5 m. The enzyme is inhibited by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and tosyl lysine chloromethyl ketone, indicating that serine and histidine residues may be present in the active site. Acrosin is inhibited by several natural proteinase inhibitors and appears to be unique in that its amidase and esterase activities are competitively inhibited by free arginine with an apparent Ki of 3 mm. The unusual specificity of acrosin may have implications in its biological role of sperm penetration of the zona pellucida of the ovum.
Market Timing of International Stock Markets Using the Yield Spread

There has been much interest in recent years in the ex ante equity risk premium. Empirical studies indicate that it is possible for the ex ante equity risk premium to be negative and that it is related to an inverted yield curve of government bonds. This finding holds for the U.S. marketplace and for large foreign economies. Additionally, smaller countries have negative risk premiums in periods preceded by inverted U.S. yield curves. However, it remains an empirical question whether investors can form profitable trading strategies based on the relationship between the equity risk premium and the yield curve. The present study extends recent probit modeling by Estrella and Mishkin (1996, 1998) for forecasting an economic recession. Specifically, we use the yield curve spread to forecast a bear stock market (negative ex ante market risk premium) in the U.S and eight major foreign stock markets. In general, it is found that the U.S. yield spread contains more important market timing information than does the home country yield spread for profitable market timing. The findings hold from the perspective of the local currency investor and the U.S. dollar investor investing in foreign stock markets. Overall our results support the possibility of a negative ex ante risk premium.
Production of english lexical stress by inexperienced and experienced learners of english

A study was conducted to investigate the placement of stress and its phonetic cues on the American speakers and Mandarin speakers. The study also focused on how learning experience can improve English learner's ability to signal English lexical stress. The study used sixteen native Mandarin speakers from Northern China as participants and assigned them English real-work reading and English-like non real-word reading. The eight participants in the study were inexperienced learners of English and six native English speakers from the US were selected for a control group. The study used 22 real English words differing in stress pattern and 22 non real English words with N/i/N/i+obstruent syllable structure. It was observed that Mandarin speakers can easily detect the pitch difference between stressed and unstressed syllables.
The Duration of Capital Account Crises - An Empirical Analysis

This paper examines the duration of capital account crises. We develop a new index to identify both the start and the end of these crises. Applying the index to a sample of 18 crisis episodes, we derive stylized facts on crisis duration and review the economic and financial circumstances that prevailed at the dusk of crises, a relatively unexplored area. We use the econometric technique of duration analysis to gauge the relative importance of various factors affecting the probability of exiting a crisis. We find that initial and external conditions are key determinants. But fiscal and monetary policies can also help shorten crisis duration.
An Introduction to Time-Resolved Pump/Probe Spectroscopy

The construction and operating principles of a two-color pump/probe spectrometer are described. This instrument is capable of obtaining ground-state absorption spectra, both singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet excited-state absorption spectra, photoproduct spectra, and stimulated fluorescence spectra. In addition, time-dependent measurements can be made with an impulse response of 250 ps and a free temporal range of 13 ns.
Cross-reacting and species-specific determinants on a major allergen from Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D. farinae: Development of a radioimmunoassay for antigen P1 equivalent in house dust and dust mite extracts

Abstract Two species of mites of the genus Dermatophagoides are common in house dust and make a major contribution to the allergen content of house dust. As judged by skin tests and the radioallergosorbent test, these mites, D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae , demonstrate extensive cross-reactivity. When the major allergen from D. pteronyssinus , antigen P 1 was compared with the equivalent allergen from D. farinae , these two proteins were found to have both speciesspecific and common antigenic determinants. With specifically purified antibodies directed against the common determinants, we developed a radioimmunoassay for these antigen P 1 equivalent proteins in mite extracts as well as house dust extracts. The quantity of allergen in dust from 63 houses (255 samples) was measured, and values ranged from 100,000 ng/gm of fine dust. The correlation between antigen P 1 equivalent (ng/gm) and the number of mites per gram of dust (identified by microscopy) was very good (r = 0.74; p Dermatophagoides , and of these, 16.4% and 18% could be positively identified as D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus , respectively. When the assay for antigen P 1 equivalent was applied to isolated components of mite cultures of both species, significant allergen was found in the mite bodies, cuticles, and their excreta (fecal particles). For the housedust samples, 1 equivalent can provide an accurate and simple means of assessing the quantity of mite-derived allergen in dust-mite extracts, house-dust extracts, or house dust.
On the Response of a Two-Degree-of-Freedom Rigid Disk With a Moving Massive Load

An analysis of the dynamic response of an elastically supported two-degree-of-freedom rigid circular disk excited by a moving massive load is presented. The equations of motion of the system are solved by transforming a set of coupled Hill-Mathieu equations into an ordinary eigenvalue problem. Two types of system instability are observed. A stiffness instability region exists above the critical speed of the disk and a terminal instability region exists for all load speeds exceeding a certain limiting value. The introduction of viscous damping may destabilize the system.
Biochemical determinants of growth sparing during neonatal nutritional deprivation or enhancement: ornithine decarboxylase, polyamines, and macromolecules in brain regions and heart.

ABSTRACT. In order to elucidate the biochemical mechanisms operating to protect the brain from growth retardation in response to nutritional deprivation, comparisons were made of markers of cellular development in brain regions (cerebellum, cerebral cortex, midbrain + brainstem) and in a tissue which is not spared (heart). Nutritional status of neonatal rats was manipulated by increasing or decreasing the litter size beginning at birth, and development of DNA, RNA, and proteins followed throughout the neonatal period. In addition, we assessed the activity and levels of ornithine decarboxylase and its metabolic products, the polyamines, which are known to coordinate macromolecule synthesis in immature tissue and to provide an early index of perturbed development. Cardiac ornithine decarboxylase and polyamines were altered within 48 h of initiating the changes in litter size, and the direction and magnitude of these biochemical effects were predictive of subsequent impairment or enhancement of organ growth and of cellular development. All three brain regions were buffered from growth alterations relative to the heart, but the cerebellum, which undergoes major phases of cell replication later than the other two regions, was somewhat less protected. The spared brain regions also showed evidence of compensatory hypertrophy in nutritional deprivation (increased protein/DNA ratio) which accounts for maintenance of growth in the presence of reduced cell numbers. Thus, brain growth sparing involves specific cellular responses which are dependent on the maturational profile of each brain region.
The dissociation of NZP (Ca0.5Sr0.5Zr4P6O24) during plasma spraying

Sodium zirconium phosphate (NaZr{sub 2}P{sub 3}O{sub 12} or NZP) was first systematically evaluated in the early 1980s by Roy and co-workers, who demonstrated its extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). It was later shown that other group IA and IIA atoms can be ionically substituted into the NZP crystal structure to adjust the CTE. As a result of their low and tailorable CTEs, NZP's have potential use as a protective coating for silicon-based ceramics and carbon-carbon composites. One technique for the application of ceramic coatings employs plasma-spraying. In this process, powders are injected into a plasma flame, melted, and propelled onto a substrate. The resulting coating microstructure is typically composed of thin lamellae (from each melted particle) stacked on top of one another during each pass of the torch. In the current research, NZP has been plasma-sprayed using the recently patented small particle plasma-spray process. The microstructure was then analyzed using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction to identify the phases in the complex coating that resulted.
Xenon/CT quantitative local cerebral blood flow.

X enon-enhanced computed tomography (Xe/ CT) cerebral blood flow (CBF) is a method initially developed in the late 1970s which is based on the properties of xenon gas as a contrast agent and on the principle that the rate of uptake and clearance of xenon is proportional to blood flow in brain tissue [ I]. The idea behind the Xc/CT method is rather simple: take several CT scan images of the brain at the same level to assess the build-up of xenon while the patient is breathing it, and translate this into CBF. Unfortunately, the clinical utility of this method was limited by the slowness of CT scan devices, lack of powerful computers, and the need for user-friendly software. All this made the incorporation of Xc/CT in clinical practice quite slow. Nowadays, however, improvements in CT and computer technology have provided the appropriate technical support to perform Xc/CT studies rapidly and easily in day-to-day clinical practice.
Counting ions around DNA with anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering.

The majority of charge-compensating ions around nucleic acids form a diffuse counterion “cloud” that is not amenable to investigation by traditional methods that rely on rigid structural interactions. Although various techniques have been employed to characterize the ion atmosphere around nucleic acids, only anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS) provides information about the spatial distribution of ions. Here we present an experimentally straightforward extension of ASAXS that can be used to count the number of ions around nucleic acids.
Effect of cell exposure to top or bottom phase prior to cell partitioning in dextran-poly(ethylene glycol) aqueous phase systems: erythrocytes as a model.

Cells exposed to dextran (Dx)-rich bottom phase prior to cell partitioning in Dx-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) aqueous two-phase systems have lower partition ratios than cells exposed to PEG-rich top phase. Aspects of this previously observed phenomenon were explored. In the present work charge-sensitive phases made with Dx T500 and PEG 8000 were used exclusively. It was found that: (1) even on countercurrent distribution (CCD) red cells (RBC) loaded in bottom phase have a lower apparent partition ratio, G, than the same cells loaded in top phase; (2) when part of the same cell population is loaded into top phase and part into bottom phase of the same load cavities for CCD, with the cells loaded into top or bottom bearing an isotopic tracer (51Cr), the cells loaded into top phase have a higher G value than the cells loaded into bottom phase; (3) the shift in the CCD curves of human or of rat RBC between cells loaded in top or bottom phase using systems having the same polymer concentration (though different salt compositions) shows no striking difference and is, for the number of experiments run, not statistically significant; (4) when the quantity of cells loaded for CCD is reduced from 10(9) to 10(8), the G value of cells loaded in top phase is reduced slightly while that of cells loaded in bottom phase is diminished more appreciably; (5) increasing polymer concentrations yield larger differences in G values between (rat) RBC loaded in top or bottom phase; (6) when cells exposed to top or bottom phase, respectively, are centrifuged and suspended in bottom or top phase, respectively, their CCD patterns are qualitatively similar to cells exposed to these latter respective phases initially; (7) rat RBC populations containing 59Fe-labeled cells of different but distinct age are fractionated on CCD irrespective of whether loaded in top or bottom phase. An exception are populations containing very young mature labeled cells (e.g., 4-d old) which are resolved when loaded in top phase but not in bottom phase. Thus cell populations exist which can be resolved by CCD when loaded in one of the phases but not when loaded in the other. Glutaraldehyde-fixed rat RBC containing 4-d old labeled cells are fractionated by CCD irrespective of whether loaded in top or bottom phase.
Calculation of Static Third-Order Polarizabilities of Large Organic Molecules

We have implemented a procedure to calculate static electronic molecular third-order polarizabilities for large molecules. The property is obtained semiempirically, using the finite-field formalism and either external or implicit fields, based on structures optimized by semiempirical, ab intio, or molecular mechanics methods. The numerical instability in the property is estimated, and various parameters can be modified to improve the uncertainty. The procedure involves first the calculation of the valence electron contribution to the property and then includes an estimate of the contribution from the electron cores.
Interrogation of structures using system augmentation and nonlinear feedback auxiliary signals

Recently, system augmentation has been combined with nonlinear feedback auxiliary signals to provide sensitivity enhancement in both linear and nonlinear systems. Augmented systems are higher dimensional linear systems that follow trajectories of a nonlinear system one at a time. These augmented systems are subject to a specialized augmented forcing which enforces the augmented system will exactly reproduce the trajectory of the nonlinear system when projected onto the lower dimensional (physical) system. Augmented systems have additional benefits outside of handling nonlinear systems, which makes them more desirable than regular linear systems for sensitivity enhancing control. One of the key advantages of augmented systems is the complete control over the augmented degrees of freedom, and the additional sensor knowledge from the augmented variables. These sensing and actuation features are very useful when only few physical actuators and sensors can be placed. Such restrictions severely limit the usefulness of traditional linear sensitivity enhancing feedback approaches. Another benefit of the augmentation is that the control exerted on the augmented degrees of freedom does not require any physical energy, rather it is just signal processing. In this work, the benefits of system augmentation are explored by using few actuators and sensors. In addition to increased sensitivity for both global and local parameter changes, a study of increasing the sensitivity of local changes, while decreasing the sensitivity of global changes is conducted. Numerical simulations for a linear cantilevered beam with a single piezo-actuator and two sensors are used to validate the approach and discuss the effects of noise.
Graft selection/fixation in revision anterior cruciate ligament surgery

Abstract Revision of failed anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions will become more and more prevalent as the number ofprimary reconstructions continues to grow and the patient population demands a stable knee for desired activities. Preoperative planning is essential to obtaining a successful outcome, and graft selection and fixation are two critical elements that must be considered prior to undertaking a revision procedure. Therefore, familiarity with various alternative graft and fixation choices and their respective advantages and disadvantages is imperative for orthopedic surgeons who wish to perform anterior cruciate ligament revision surgery. The following is an overview of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the graft and fixation choices available for this procedure.
Cystic dysplasia of the testis associated with multicystic dysplastic kidney

Cystic dysplasia of the testis (CDT) is a rare congenital defect characterized by the formation of multiple irregular cystic spaces in the mediastinum testis. Co-existent genitourinary lesions have commonly been associated with this lesion and have included absence of the ipsilateral kidney, duplication anomalies, and cryptorchidism. We describe the first case in which multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) is associated with CDT.
Development of an animal model to investigate optimal laparoscopic trocar site fascial closure

Abstract Background The rate of hernia formation after closure of 10–12 mm laparoscopic trocar sites is grossly under-reported. Using an animal model, we have developed a method to assess trocar site fascial dehiscence and the strength of different methods of fascial closure. Materials and methods Pigs ( n = 9; 17 ± 2.5 lbs) underwent placement of 12 mm Hasson trocars with pneumoperitoneum maintained for 1 h. Three closure techniques (Figure-of-eight; simple interrupted; pulley) were compared with no fascial closure and to native fascia at five randomly allocated abdominal wall midline locations. Necropsy was performed on the fourth postoperative d. Statistical comparisons of tensile strength and breaking strength based on closure type and trocar location were made using ANOVA with Tukey’s tests. Results The mean (SD) force (Newtons) required for fascial disruption varied significantly with closure type [Native Fascia 170 (39), Figure-of-eight 169 (31), Pulley 167 (59), Simple Interrupted 151 (27), No Closure 108 (28)]; P = 0.007. The mean force required for fascial disruption was significantly increased for Native Fascia, Figure-of-eight, and Pulley relative to No Closure ( P = 0.013, P = 0.015, P = 0.023, respectively). The mean (SD) force (in Newtons) required for fascial disruption also varied significantly with location of trocar [subxiphoid 181 (43), supraumbilical 151 (23), Umbilical 146 (23), infraumbilical 168 (62), suprapubic 120 (38)]; P = 0.03. The mean force for subxiphoid location was significantly increased relative to the suprapubic location ( P = 0.021). Conclusions We have developed a novel assessment model that reliably detects differences in fascial integrity after laparoscopic trocar placement and closure. This model will allow for further testing of various trocars and closure techniques, and facilitate hernia prevention strategies.