cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Positive psychology and romantic scientism.

Replies to the comments of Nickerson (see record 2014-36500-010), Guastello (see record 2014-36500-011), Musau (see record 2014-36500-013), Hamalainen et al. (see record 2014-36500-014), and Lefebvre and Schwartz (see record 2014-36500-015) on the authors article (see record 2013-24609-001). Fredrickson and Losada's (2005) article was the subject of over 350 scholarly citations before our critique (Brown et al., 2013) appeared, and its principal "conclusions" have been featured in many lectures and public presentations by senior members of the positive psychology research community, although its deficiencies ought to have been visible to anyone with a modest grasp of mathematics and a little curiosity. Unfortunately- because human behavior is, after all, complex and difficult to understand-we have no way of knowing whether the fact that it took so long for these deficiencies to be recognized was due to an unwarranted degree of optimism about the reliability of the peer-review process, a reluctance to make waves in the face of powerful interests, a general lack of critical thinking within positive psychology, or some other factor. We hope that our revelation of the problems with the critical positivity ratio ultimately demonstrates the success of science as a self-correcting endeavor; however, we would have greatly preferred it if our work had not been necessary in the first place.
Abstract P881: Geospatial Analysis of Community and Patient Risk Factors for Poor Functional Outcome in Stroke

Introduction: Low neighborhood socioeconomic status has been associated with increased stroke risk, but it is not clear if this association is independent of individual socioeconomic status and cli...
Communists and Community: Activism in Detroit’s Labor Movement, 1941-1956: By Ryan Pettengill, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2020, 245 pp., US $34.95 (Paperback), ISBN 9781439919057

Few historiographical subjects have as much discourse on the shifting views and emphasis of agency in the course of just half a century than American communist history. What began as a study of a p...
Deep Learning for Ultrasound Beamforming in Flexible Array Transducer

Ultrasound imaging has been developed for image-guided radiotherapy for tumor tracking, and the flexible array transducer is a promising tool for this task. It can reduce the user dependence and anatomical changes caused by the traditional ultrasound transducer. However, due to its flexible geometry, the conventional delay-and-sum (DAS) beamformer may apply incorrect time delay to the radio-frequency (RF) data and produce B-mode images with considerable defocusing and distortion. To address this problem, we propose a novel end-to-end deep learning approach that may alternate the conventional DAS beamformer when the transducer geometry is unknown. Different deep neural networks (DNNs) were designed to learn the proper time delays for each channel, and they were expected to reconstruct the undistorted high-quality B-mode images directly from RF channel data. We compared the DNN results to the standard DAS beamformed results using simulation and flexible array transducer scan data. With the proposed DNN approach, the averaged full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) of point scatters is 1.80 mm and 1.31 mm lower in simulation and scan results, respectively; the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the anechoic cyst in simulation and phantom scan is improved by 0.79 dB and 1.69 dB, respectively; and the aspect ratios of all the cysts are closer to 1. The evaluation results show that the proposed approach can effectively reduce the distortion and improve the lateral resolution and contrast of the reconstructed B-mode images.
Reaction of human CO hemoglobin with p,p'-difluoro-m,m'-dinitrodiphenylsulfone.

Abstract The reaction of human CO hemoglobin with p,p'-difluorom,m'-dinitrodiphenylsulfone was shown to result in the formation of an intramolecular cross-link between the amino-terminal valine residues of the α chains. The cross-linked hemoglobin was isolated by gel filtration in 1 m MgCl2 and ion exchange chromatography. Oxygen dissociation studies on the purified cross-linked hemoglobin revealed that it had a high oxygen affnity (P50 = 0.82 mm) and exhibited no heme-heme interactions. Although the major reaction product was the species cross-linked between the amino-terminal residues of the α chain, it was shown that cross-links between αβ dimers were also formed at other, as yet unidentified, locations.
Enhancing server availability and security through failure-oblivious computing

We present a new technique, failure-oblivious computing, that enables servers to execute through memory errors without memory corruption. Our safe compiler for C inserts checks that dynamically detect invalid memory accesses. Instead of terminating or throwing an exception, the generated code simply discards invalid writes and manufactures values to return for invalid reads, enabling the server to continue its normal execution path. We have applied failure-oblivious computing to a set of widely-used servers from the Linux-based open-source computing environment. Our results show that our techniques 1) make these servers invulnerable to known security attacks that exploit memory errors, and 2) enable the servers to continue to operate successfully to service legitimate requests and satisfy the needs of their users even after attacks trigger their memory errors. We observed several reasons for this successful continued execution. When the memory errors occur in irrelevant computations, failure-oblivious computing enables the server to execute through the memory errors to continue on to execute the relevant computation. Even when the memory errors occur in relevant computations, failure-oblivious computing converts requests that trigger unanticipated and dangerous execution paths into anticipated invalid inputs, which the error-handling logic in the server rejects. Because servers tend to have small error propagation distances (localized errors in the computation for one request tend to have little or no effect on the computations for subsequent requests), redirecting reads that would otherwise cause addressing errors and discarding writes that would otherwise corrupt critical data structures (such as the call stack) localizes the effect of the memory errors, prevents addressing exceptions from terminating the computation, and enables the server to continue on to successfully process subsequent requests. The overall result is a substantial extension of the range of requests that the server can successfully process.
Analysis of grain boundary phase devitrification of Y2O3- and Al2O3-doped Si3N4

The present study has the objective to show that a Fourier Transform IR (FTIR) spectrometer in a single-beam reflection mode can be used for direct comparison of fractured vs nonfractured Si3N4 surfaces. This can be done because the FTIR method permits a digital summation of nearly 1000 scans of the fracture surface. Commercial-grade Si3N4, Y2O3, and Al2O3 were used in the study. The samples were heat treated in a vacuum induction heating furnace at either 1000 C for 10 h or 1200 C for 10 h each. Use of Fourier transform IR reflection spectroscopic analysis and X-ray diffraction shows that 10 h at 1200 C is sufficient to devitrify the amorphous grain boundary phase of Si3N4 containing 15 percent Y2O3 + 2 percent Al2O3 densification aids.
The effect of order of testing in functional performance in persons with and without chronic back pain.

Batteries of individually standardized physical and functional tests are commonly used to assess persons with chronic back pain disability. The order of testing may affect performance on later tests. One hundred and fifty patients with>3 months of back pain disability underwent a multidisciplinary Spine Team Assessment involving Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Pain Psychology, and Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor assessments at a university spine clinic. Seventeen back healthy volunteers performed the physical component of the assessment. For the volunteers the order of testing was randomized to OT tests first or PT test first, with 0.5 h rest between the tests. For patients the order of testing was arbitrarily set by an alternating schedule, with 1 h psychological testing between the two components. For both the patients and volunteers, among the 14 test components, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in performance with order of testing. This held true for the subgroup of patients who put out good cardiac effort. Volunteers performed better than patients on all individual tests (p < 0.001). Results suggest that the order of physical testing during a Spine Team Assessment does not affect test performance either in chronic low back disabled patients or in volunteers.
Homeobox gene repertoires: implications for the evolution of diversity

Homeobox genes are key regulators of morphogenetic processes in developing organisms, and are involved in the formation and differentiation of multiple tissues and cell types. The strong conservation of homeobox gene sequences indicates that many species share a common repertoire of homeobox genes. Experimental evidence provides support for conserved as well as divergent functions, raising the question how homeobox genes evolved in distinct species and in which way they contributed to the evolution of different morphologies. This article examines the composition of homeobox gene repertoires in diverse animals at the whole-genome level, with the aim to understand the underlying mechanisms of evolution in this multigene family. Keywords: duplication; gene repertoire; phylogenetic; cladistic; clade; cluster; complexity; molecular evolution; homeobox; homeodomain; Hox; multigene family
Perceptions of Hormonal Contraceptive Safety and Side Effects Among Low-Income Latina and Non-Latina Women

Objectives: We explored perceptions of the safety and side effects of oral and injectable hormonal contraceptives among low-income women at high risk of unintended pregnancy. Methods: Overall safety perceptions, specific health concerns, and the relationship between these safety perceptions and contraceptive choices were determined by focus groups and questionnaires obtained from white non-Latina (n = 19), English-speaking (n = 21), and Spanish-speaking Latina women (n = 19). Results: Uncertainty or ambivalence about the safety of oral and injectable contraceptives was reported by 41% and 70% of respondents respectively, while 20% considered these methods to be mostly harmful. Personal experiences and stories from social networks proved to be more salient than medical opinions in shaping safety perceptions. Side effects and concerns about long-term health effects were common themes. While white non-Latina women focused predominantly on physical side effects, emotional side effects also contributed to Latinas' decisions about contraceptive switching. Spanish-speaking Latinas differed from English-speaking Latinas in other attitudinal dimensions, contraceptive use prevalence, and access to contraceptive services. Conclusion: Low-income mothers lacked confidence in method safety and had many concerns about the side effects of oral and injectable contraceptives. Because such concerns can be a barrier to contraceptive use, these perceptions need to be corrected to encourage more effective use of hormonal methods and to prevent unintended pregnancies. Culturally appropriate interventions should focus on client–provider interactions, social networks, and access to care.
A Review of “Conspirator: Lenin in Exile”

This book is a well-written description of the everyday life of V. I. Lenin during his seventeen years of exile (1900–17), during which he worked on the organization of the Russian Social-Democrati...
Measurement accuracy in assessing patient’s quality of life: to weight or not to weight domains of quality of life

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures typically do not incorporate patients’ preferences for domains such as physical, emotional, functional and social/family well-being, which may compromise precision. A forced-choice domain-preference measure was developed to assess the importance of HRQOL domains. About 194 cancer patients completed the domain-preference measure, along with measures of HRQOL, coping, adjustment, and life satisfaction. Patients ranked emotional well-being as most important and the loss of social-family well-being as the most difficult to do without. A weighting algorithm revealed no advantage to incorporating individuals’ domain preferences in HRQOL assessment; however, preliminary evidence suggested that HRQOL measurement may be more accurate in predicting outcomes for individuals with no distinct domain preferences than those with distinct preference profiles. This study provides preliminary evidence for the validity of current measures of HRQOL, which may inherently take into account patients’ domain preferences.
Simulation and Optimization of Pressure Swing Adsorption Systems Using Reduced-Order Modeling

Over the past three decades, pressure swing adsorption (PSA) processes have been widely used as energy-efficient gas separation techniques, especially for high purity hydrogen purification from refinery gases. Models for PSA processes are multiple instances of partial differential equations (PDEs) in time and space with periodic boundary conditions that link the processing steps together. The solution of this coupled stiff PDE system is governed by steep fronts moving with time. As a result, the optimization of such systems represents a significant computational challenge to current differential algebraic equation (DAE) optimization techniques and nonlinear programming algorithms. Model reduction is one approach to generate cost-efficient low-order models which can be used as surrogate models in the optimization problems. This study develops a reduced-order model (ROM) based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), which is a low-dimensional approximation to a dynamic PDE-based model. The proposed method...
Supervision of Peer Specialists in Community Mental Health Centers: Practices That Predict Role Clarity

The purpose of this study is the identification of supervisory practices that predict role clarity among peer specialists employed on treatment teams in community mental health centers. Role clarity has been identified as a key contributor to the successful integration of peer specialists into community mental health settings. Multiple regression analyses found that type of supervision and frequency of scheduled supervision were significantly predictive of role clarity in this study. Implications of these findings for peer specialists and agencies are discussed.
Breaking with Tradition: A Paradigm Shift in Cognitive Rehabilitation

Dr. Mark Ylvisaker was one of the most innovative and influential thinkers in the field of brain injury rehabilitation. His ideas inspired a generation of professionals to approach the rehabilitati...
Sources of variation in analgesic responses in cancer patients with chronic pain receiving morphine.

Abstract Our objective was to identify and quantify sources of variation in the relief of chronic pain with morphine. Relief scores were extracted from records obtained during controlled trials of analgesics in cancer patients with chronic pain in which intramuscular morphine was the assay standard. Relief data from 715 patients after 565 8-mg and 538 16-mg doses were segregated according to age, race, sex, pre-drug pain intensity, character and site. Middle-aged patients obtained relief after 8 mg comparable to relief obtained by younger patients after 16 mg; oldest patients obtained relief after 8 mg comparable to relief obtained by middle-aged patients after 16 mg. Blacks receiving 8 mg obtained relief comparable to whites receiving 16 mg. Sex-related differences were not significant. Patients with moderate, as compared to severe, pre-drug pain obtained significantly greater relief only after 16 mg. Patients reporting dull pain obtained relief after 8 mg comparable to relief obtained with sharp pain after 16 mg. Patients with abdominal pain obtained relief after 8 mg comparable to relief of pain in the chest or arms after 16 mg. These results provide dose-related evidence of variation in relief with morphine in chronic cancer pain and establish particular patient and pain characteristics as variables for which controls
Image capture via a wedge light-guide with no margins

We report the capture of images via a wedge light-guide without the margin for fan-in needed heretofore. While this lets one look out of a slim panel as if it were a periscope, half the power is lost and resolution is degraded by aperture diffraction. Volume gratings may resolve these drawbacks at certain wavelengths and we consider how these might be extruded.
Cluster Analysis and Chronic Pain: An Empirical Classification of Pain Subgroups in a Spinal Cord Injury Sample.

To demonstrate the presence of homogeneous spinal cord injury (SCI) pain subgroups.Prospective longitudinal design.Persons with traumatic onset SCI (n = 1,334) with self-reported pain, pain interference, and depression.Pain (Verbal Analogue Scale); Pain Interference (item from Short Form 12); Depression (Brief Patient Health Questionnaire).Multivariate clustering indicated four SCI pain subgroups: (1) Low Pain (low pain intensity, pain interference, and depression); (2) Positive Adaptation to Pain (high pain intensity, low pain interference and depression); (3) Minimal Distress (high pain intensity, high pain interference, and low depression); and (4) Chronic Pain Syndrome (high pain intensity, pain interference, and depression).Homogeneous SCI pain subgroups may be important for clinicians to consider in treatment planning and research.
Deformation of FCC nanowires by twinning and slip

Abstract We present atomistic simulations of the tensile and compressive loading of single crystal face-centered cubic (FCC) nanowires with 〈 1 0 0 〉 and 〈 1 1 0 〉 orientations to study the propensity of the nanowires to deform via twinning or slip. By studying the deformation characteristics of three FCC materials with disparate stacking fault energies (gold, copper and nickel), we find that the deformation mechanisms in the nanowires are a function of the intrinsic material properties, applied stress state, axial crystallographic orientation and exposed transverse surfaces. The key finding of this work is the first order effect that side surface orientation has on the operant mode of inelastic deformation in both 〈 1 0 0 〉 and 〈 1 1 0 〉 nanowires. Comparisons to expected deformation modes, as calculated using crystallographic Schmid factors for tension and compression, are provided to illustrate how transverse surface orientations can directly alter the deformation mechanisms in materials with nanometer scale dimensions.
Much ado about something? James Bryant Conant, Harvard University, and Nazi Germany in the 1930s

This paper discusses the actions of noted Harvard University president James Bryant Conant, taken in regard to the Nazi government in Germany, from the time of Conant’s becoming president of Harvard University in 1933 to the time of the widespread pogrom in Germany of 9–10 November 1938, known as Kristallnacht. Conant’s attitudes and actions toward the Nazis have been chronicled in some depth by scholars including William M. Tuttle in a doctoral dissertation in the 1960s, and an article based on that dissertation published in 1979 and, more recently, Stephen Norwood as part of his 2009 indictment of American universities for their widespread tolerance and frequent support of Nazism. Norwood’s indictment criticised Tuttle’s work for being insufficiently critical of Conant’s dealings with Nazi Germany. This paper will evaluate both Conant’s actions and the historical interpretations of those actions by Tuttle and Norwood. It will also address the issue of Conant’s power as president of Harvard University an...
SU‐E‐T‐101: Two‐Peak Ratio Method in LiF Thermoluminescent Dosimeters to Determine the LET and the Separate Absorbed Dose Components in a Mixed Radiation Field for Applications in Radiation Therapy

Purpose: Sensitivity difference between the two main temperature peaks to LET radiations in LiF TLDs was used to extract information in mixed radiation fields on their LET and their high and low LET absorbed dose components. Method and Materials:LiF TLD 600 and 700 chips were inserted in tissue equivalent phantoms and irradiated with LET radiation from 0.2 to 66 KeV/micron. The ratio of areas under the main peaks at 210 and 280 , 0, C was used to investigate their LET dependence and determine the dose in the detectors for different types of radiation. The neutron calibration was obtained with the Am‐Be source at Argonne National Laboratory while LET dependence was determined by irradiation in photon, proton, neutron, and carbon therapy beams. By separately determining the area under the two peaks the dose delivered by the LET components in a mixed radiation field was obtained. To determine the secondary dose components for 18 MV photons, the high thermal neutron sensitivity of, 6, Li in TLD 600 provided the thermal neutrondose while TLD 700 provided the fast neutron and photondoses. Results: The two peak ratio varied from 1 to 6.5 over the range of KeV/micron, and a difference in LET was observed for one of the neutron beams. Peak analysis of the neutronirradiateddetectors showed agreement within 3 and 15% between the measured and calculated neutron and photondoses, respectively. Measurements of the secondary dose for 18 MV were 20 and 0.1 % of the photondose for fast and thermal neutron, respectively. Conclusion: Ratio of high to low temperature peak areas was determined as a function of LET for beam qualities used in radiation therapy. Two‐peak analysis provided the high and low LET doses in mixed radiation fields such as neutron therapy and secondary radiation from 18 MV photons.
Stereochemistry of the hydrogen transfer to NADP catalyzed by D-galactose dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Abstract The stereochemistry of the hydrogen transfer to NADP catalyzed by D-galactose dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.48) from P. fluorescens was investigated. The label at C-1 of D-[1-3H] galactose was enzymatically transferred to NADP and the resulting [4-3H]NADPH was isolated and its stereo-chemistry at C-4 investigated. It was found that the label was exclusively located at the 4(S) position in NADPH which calls for classification as a B-enzyme. The correlation of this finding with tentative classification rules of NAD(P)-linked dehydrogenases in regard to their stereo-chemistry of hydrogen transfer to the coenzyme is discussed.
Solubility and bioavailability of lead following oral ingestion of vitrified slagged aggregate

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the solubility of lead from various lead salts and vitrified slagged aggregate (VSA) in aqueous solutions.
Internalizing external technology: A model of governance mode choice and an empirical assessment

Factors such as the rising cost of technological development, global competition, the compression of product life cycles, and rapid technological diffusion are compelling technology-intensive firms to look beyond internal development. Organizations are creating their portfolio of technological capabilities through various external sourcing methods, including joint development, licensing, and the acquisition of other firms. This study examines a number of contingencies that may influence a firm's choice of governance mode for the procurement of external technical know-how. Although theories of inertia maintain that established norms and routines evolving from past procurement efforts will largely explain continued means of sourcing, strategic choice theories (e.g., resourcebased view, options theory) suggest that the perceived technological context (imitability, rarity, uncertainty, dynamism) will influence the risk/return dynamics of the sourcing options and determine the governance mode pursued. A stratified sample of 193 recent sourcing arrangements and survey responses from key decision makers was utilized to test the relative explanatory value of these perspectives. The results indicate that both the sourcing history of the firm and technological context significantly influence the governance mode. The perceived imitability, uncertainty, and dynamism of the technology appear to be particularly influential. Implications for theory and practice are drawn and future avenues of research are suggested.
Isomorphism and external support in conflicting institutional environments: a study of drug abuse treatment units.

Using institutional theory, we developed predictions about organizational units that moved from an environment making consistent demands to one making conflicting demands. Many community mental hea...
Recollections of Erwin Müller's laboratory: the development of FIM (1951–1956)

Abstract The invention of field ion microscopy by Erwin W. Muller, 44 years ago, was followed by a few years during which it came to fruition in his Penn State laboratory, as the first atomic resolution microscopy. Recollections of those times, the people, the events — including a new look at the crucial day — and the thinking in Muller's laboratory are presented, along with some retrospective analysis considering the roles of evolution, chance and field evaporation.
Transforming the spatial basis of agricultural census cover data

. Land cover data from the June agricultural census of England and Wales have historically been published annually at the parish level. This level of spatial resolution masks heterogeneity of land use within parishes, limiting the value of the data for detailed spatial analyses. However, variation in land characteristics across parishes can be used to model variation in land cover, thereby allowing the spatial basis of the census data to be transformed. This procedure, referred to as areal interpolation, is illustrated using two land classification systems based on soils for a study area in northern England. The results indicate that the spatially transformed data offer a better description of the distribution of land covers than that provided by the raw census data. They also demonstrate the extra value that can be obtained by combining extant data sources within a GIS framework. Potential roles for areal interpolation in environmental modelling and policy formulation are discussed briefly.
Direct language instruction and interactive language instruction with language delayed preschool children: a comparison study.

Direct language instruction and interactive language instruction are based on highly distinct theoretical positions and incorporate very different behavioral techniques. A purpose of the present st...
Potassium Lactate Effects on Low-Fat Fresh Pork Sausage Chubs During Simulated Retail Distribution

Typical pork sausage (25% fat) and low-fat (8% fat) sausage with or without 20% added water and 0.4% carrageenan were compared to identical treatments containing 3.0% potassium lactate. Microbial populations of low-fat treatments did not differ (P>0.05). However, typical sausages with lactate had lower psychrotrophic counts than typical sausage. Lactate delayed (P 0.05). Addition of water and carrageenan to commercially manufactured and distributed low-fat sausage had no deleterious effects on microbial, lipid or color stability.
Voltage gated K+ channel expression in arteries of Wistar-Kyoto and spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Background We have previously demonstrated differences in the gene expression of voltage-gated K v1.X channel alpha-subunits in arteries from Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that these differences are also present at the protein level. Methods Proteins were isolated from the aorta, mesenteric (MAs) and tail arteries (TAs) of 12- to 15-week-old male WKY and SHR, and analyzed by immunoblotting. K(v) currents were recorded from MA myocytes by patch clamp methods. Results Expression of Kv1.2, Kv1.5, and Kv2.1 was higher in MAs but was not different in aortas of SHRs as compared to WKYs. In the TA, expression of Kv1.2 and Kv1.5 was higher while that of Kv2.1 was lower in SHR compared to WKY. In the MA, the larger expression of an 80 kDa species of Kv1.2 in SHRs was associated with a lower expression of a 60 kDa species. Kv2.1 gene expression was larger in MAs from SHRs but not different in TAs. K(v) currents associated with Kv1.X and Kv2.1 channels were both larger in MA myocytes from SHRs but less than expected based upon differences in K(v) alpha-subunit protein expression. Conclusions For the MA, K(v) protein expression and current components between WKYs and SHRs were qualitatively consistent, but differences in gene and protein expression were not closely correlated. The higher expression of K(v) subunits in small mesenteric arteries (SMAs) of SHR would tend to maintain normal myogenic activity and vasoconstrictor reserve, and could be viewed as a form of homeostatic remodeling.
Prelude To ‘Americanism’: The New York Accademia and Clerical Radicalism in the Late Nineteenth Century

The Americanist crisis in the last decade of the nineteenth century climaxed the attempt of a group of liberal prelates and their associates to adapt Roman Catholicism to democratic institutions and values. Almost twenty years ago Robert Cross put this complex movement within the context of a growing American Catholic liberalism in the postbellum period. The full dimensions of that liberalism are still coming into focus as archival materials and unpublished sources become more available to the historian. The recent discovery of a remarkable association of New York priests shows another facet of the Americanist controversy that better enables us to appreciate the peculiar lines that the episcopal struggle assumed.
Perceiving Threat In the Face of Safety: Excitation and Inhibition of Conditioned Fear in Human Visual Cortex

Previous findings have established that cortical sensory systems exhibit experience-dependent biases toward stimuli consistently associated with threat. It remains unclear whether safety cues also facilitate perceptual engagement or how competition between learned threat and safety cues is resolved within visual cortex. Here, we used classical discrimination conditioning with simple luminance modulated visual stimuli that predicted the presence or absence of an aversive sound to examine visuocortical competition between features signaling threat versus safety. We tracked steady-state visual evoked potentials to label distinct visual cortical responses in humans to conditioned and control stimuli. Trial-by-trial expectancy ratings collected online confirmed that participants discriminated between threat and safety cues. Conditioning was associated with heightened activation of the extended visual cortex in response to the threat, but not the safety, stimulus. Cortical facilitation for the threatening stimulus was selective and not decreased by simultaneously presenting safe and associatively novel cues. Our findings shed light on the sensory brain dynamics associated with experience-dependent acquisition of perceptual biases for danger and safety signals.
Millimeter wave synthetic thinned aperture radiometer

Imaging of temperature and humidity profiles of the atmosphere on a global scale with high temporal and spatial resolution requires a large aperture millimeter wave radiometer on geostationary orbit. We developed a prototype 50 GHz millimeter wave synthetic aperture radiometer and low noise amplifier (LNA) MMICs and receiver technology for a 180 GHz synthetic aperture system. The 50 GHz system was tested in laboratory and in field with a 4-meter target disk by refocusing the array to near-field by digital phase corrections. The 180 GHz system development included novel 180 GHz MMIC LNAs that provide more than 100 GHz of bandwidth with more than 15 dB of gain and a noise figure of 3.7 dB.
Holographic polarization sensor for magneto-optic heads

Magneto-optic data storage is an emerging read/write storage technology with many potential applications in consumer computer systems. One of the limitations to this development is the cost of the read/write head. This device must provide high optical power during the write phase, and sense a small change in the polarization of the beam reflected from an MO disk during the read operation. Typically the head consists of many individual optical components which must be aligned and accurately assembled, and contributes significantly to system cost. Two important elements in the head are a leaky beamsplitter and a polarization beamsplitter. In this presentation we discuss the design parameters and performance characteristics for these beamsplitters formed in dichromated gelatin. Experimental grating performance is also given.
Use of administrative data to identify colorectal liver metastasis.

Background The ability to identify patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) liver metastasis (LM) using administrative data is unknown. The goals of this study were to evaluate whether administrative data can accurately identify patients with CRCLM and to develop a diagnostic algorithm capable of identifying such patients. Materials and Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted to validate the diagnostic and procedural codes found in administrative databases of the Veterans Administration (VA) system. CRC patients evaluated at a major VA center were identified (1997–2008, n = 1671) and classified as having liver-specific ICD-9 and/or CPT codes. The presence of CRCLM was verified by primary chart abstraction in the study sample. Contingency tables were created and the positive predictive value (PPV) for CRCLM was calculated for each candidate administrative code. A multivariate logistic-regression model was used to identify independent predictors (codes) of CRCLM, which were used to develop a diagnostic algorithm. Validity of the algorithm was determined by discrimination (c-statistic) of the model and PPV of the algorithm. Results Multivariate logistic regression identified ICD-9 diagnosis codes 155.2 (OR 9.7 [95% CI 2.5–38.4]) and 197.7 (84.6 [52.9–135.3]), and procedure code 50.22 (5.9 [1.3–25.5]) as independent predictors of CRCLM diagnosis. The model’s discrimination was 0.89. The diagnostic algorithm, defined as the presence of any of these codes, had a PPV of 87%. Conclusions VA administrative databases reliably identify patients with CRCLM. This diagnostic algorithm is highly predictive of CRCLM diagnosis and can be used for research studies evaluating population-level features of this disease within the VA system.
Bifunctional Mechanism of Pyridine Hydrodenitrogenation

The role of Mo coordinatively unsaturated sites (CUS) and Bronsted acidic sites in the hydrodenitrogenation of pyridine was investigated in an atmospheric-pressure microreactor. The test catalysts consisted of nonsulfided Mo oxide supported on Al2O3, SiO2, and silica-aluminas, containing different concentrations of Mo CUS and Bronsted acidic sites. The kinetic study revealed that Mo loading and support composition affect the specific activity of Mo and selectivity of the catalysts. For the range of conditions used in this study (360-420°C, 1 atm H2, 0.2 mol% pyridine concentration, differential conversion), the most abundant reaction intermediate was trans-2-pentene, and the rate-limiting step was the hydrogenation of the ring. Thus, the overall activity was correlated with the concentration of Mo CUS, which are the hydrogenation sites. The yield of denitrogenated product was also correlated with concentration of CUS. The Bronsted acidic sites determined the selectivity towards the observed cracking, isomerization, and alkylation products.
Detector design using a density fit to non-Gaussian noise

Suboptimal nonlinear detectors for known small signals in non-Gaussian noise are investigated. It is assumed that either the locally optimal nonlinearity is too complex to use or that the noise density is not known precisely. A memoryless suboptimal nonlinearity (ZNL) can be chosen, and the family of densities for which it is optimal is found. A member of this family is then fitted to the observed noise, and the corresponding detector is used. When a rational function is chosen for the nonlinearity, the Pearson family is the set of solution densities. This is not only a general family which contains many common univariate densities, but for nearly Gaussian noise the method of moments can be used efficiently to fit a member density to the noise. The coefficients of a ZNL are estimated for several (non-Pearson) densities using the first four noise moments. >
Photoelectric emission from the valence band of cesium iodide

Abstract Photoelectric emission has been obtained both from evaporated films and from single crystals of CsI. For h ν h ν > 6 eV, the yield rises abruptly to much higher values in a reproducible way for all samples. This effect is attributed to emission from the upper edge of the valence band lying about 6 eV below the vacuum level. Energy distributions of the photoelectrons are consistent with these views. Concurrent optical absorption measurements show detail consistent with band-to-band transitions if the electron affinity of CsI is judged to be less than 0.3 eV.
Echocardiographic diagnosis alone for the complete repair of major congenital heart defects

Abstract Objectives. The study was done to determine the diagnostic accuracy of echocardiography alone in the preoperative diagnosis of children with major congenital heart defects undergoing primary complete repair. Background. Although echocardiography is well established as the first-line imaging technique for the diagnosis of all forms of congenital heart disease, most institutions continue to perform cardiac catheterization prior to complete repair of more complex defects. Methods. To determine the diagnostic accuracy of echocardiography alone and echocardiography plus catheterization, we reviewed the records of 503 children with major congenital heart defects who underwent primary complete repair at our institution between July 1992 and June 1997. We included children with transposition of the great arteries, tetralogy of Fallot, double-chamber right ventricle, interrupted aortic arch, aortic coarctation, atrioventricular septal defect, truncus arteriosus, aortopulmonary septal defect, and totally anomalous pulmonary venous return. We excluded children with less complex defects such as isolated shunt lesions, as well as those with the most complex defects that would require surgical palliation (e.g., functional univentricular heart). We defined major errors as those that increased the surgical risk and minor errors as those that did not. Errors in diagnosis were determined at surgery. Results. Eighty-two percent of children (412 of 503) underwent surgery after preoperative diagnosis by echocardiography alone. There were 9 major (2%) and 10 minor errors in the echocardiography alone group and 7 major and 5 minor errors in the echocardiography plus catheterization group. The most common type of error was misidentification of coronary artery anatomy in patients with transposition of the great arteries. No error in either group resulted in surgical morbidity or mortality. Conclusions. This study suggests that echocardiography alone is an accurate tool for the preoperative diagnosis of major congenital heart defects in most children undergoing primary complete repair, and may obviate the need for routine diagnostic catheterization.
Tailoring interfacial shear strength of SiC fiber-reinforced brittle matrix composites

In Nicalon SiC fiber-reinforced glass or glass-ceramic matrix composites, a weak interfacial bonding is achieved via the presence of a carbon-rich interfacial layer which shields bonding between the fiber and the matrix. This layer forms by the fiber/matrix interaction during matrix densification by hot pressing at high temperature. The interfacial formation has been shown to be governed by processing parameters, such as hot pressing conditions (time and temperature) and matrix composition. The fiber/matrix debonding has been assumed to take place within and through the carbon-rich interfacial layer with the frictional resistance value of graphite. The addition of a nucleating dopant such as Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} or Nb{sub 2}O{sub 5} to a glass or glass-ceramic matrix has been reported to form a secondary interfacial layer, TaC or NbC, respectively. The characteristic interfacial phenomenology has been: matrix/carbide/carbon/fiber. The issue is that it would be possible to tailor the interfacial shear strength using the interfacial phenomena characterized by processing variables. In the present work, controlling the interfacial shear strength of Nicalon SiC fiber-reinforced lithium aluminosilicate (LAS) glass-ceramic composite has been aimed at using two methods: by varying the carbon-rich layer thickness and the amount of the TaC carbide layer at the carbon/matrix boundary.more » The carbon-rich layer thickness was varied by controlling the soaking period during hot pressing, while the quantity of TaC phase in the matrix was engineered by varying the amount of the Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} matrix addition to the LAS composition.« less
A neutron based vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detection system

Abstract Vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices pose significant risk to government facilities, economic centers and the general public. The detonation of large-scale explosive devices is a worldwide phenomenon. Checkpoint operations currently call for a manual search of vehicles, putting personnel at high risk. We have built a prototype, remotely controlled system to non-intrusively and non-destructively detect explosives with a vehicle inspection time of between 2 and 5 min. The system utilizes a neutron generator and high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors housed in moving components that scan the entire vehicle and allow for a single location rescan. The neutron generator operates at ∼108 neutrons per second resulting in extremely small induced radiation levels and low exposure to possible stowaways. A control software operator interface is fully automated for remote operation of the hardware components and execution of the data analysis and threat algorithm with no operator intervention. Studies have been completed to characterize the performance of the system as a function of the weight of explosive within a complete set of vehicles. The underlying physical concepts of the system development are presented.
Maintenance of NF-κB Activation in T-Lymphocytes and a Naive T-Cell Population in Autoimmune-Prone (NZB/NZW)F1 Mice by Feeding a Food-Restricted Diet Enriched with n-3 Fatty Acids

We have previously shown that feeding a fish oil (FO) supplemented diet in combination with 40% food restriction (FO/FR) has a greater impact on extending life span in lupus-prone (NZB x NZW)F1 mice than either FO ad libitum (FO/AL) or corn oil food restricted (CO/FR) alone. Lupus disease is associated with increased Th-2 (i.e., IL-6 and IL-10) cytokine production and reduced IL-2 production and NF-kappaB activation. We hypothesized that the mechanism of action by which FO/FR increases life span may involve alterations in T-lymphocyte signaling and subsequent cytokine production. To test this hypothesis, we isolated and then stimulated splenic T-lymphocytes ex vivo with anti-CD3 and -CD28 monoclonal antibodies. We report here that CO/FR and FO/FR and to a lesser extent FO/AL offset disease-associated losses in Th-1 cytokine production, CD69 expression, and NF-kappaB activation in splenic T-lymphocytes activated ex vivo. Similarly, CO/FR and FO/FR prevented the disease-dependent rise in Th-2 cytokine production ex vivo and CD69 expression in vivo. In essence, the T-lymphocyte phenotype in the old CO/FR and FO/FR groups was identical to that in the young disease-free mice. Taken together, the data suggest that both CO/FR and FO/FR increase life span, in part, by maintaining a youthful immune phenotype in autoimmune-prone mice. However, FO/FR appears to represent a more potent dietary strategy in delaying disease-associated immune dysregulation than CO/FR.
Being active and impulsive: the role of goals for action and inaction in self-control

Although self-control often requires behavioral inaction (i.e., not eating a piece of cake), the process of inhibiting impulsive behavior is commonly characterized as cognitively active (i.e., actively exerting self-control). Two experiments examined whether motivation for action or inaction facilitates self-control behavior in the presence of tempting stimuli. Experiment 1 used a delay discounting task to assess the ability to delay gratification with respect to money. Experiment 2 used a Go/No-Go task to assess the ability to inhibit a dominant but incorrect motor response to the words “condom” and “sex”. The results demonstrate that goals for inaction promote self-control, whereas goals for action promote impulsive behavior. These findings are discussed in light of recent evidence suggesting that goals for action and inaction modulate physiological resources that promote behavioral execution.
Methods Of Sensitometry For Low Energy Radiography

Inverse-square sensitometry for low kVp techniques is limited by air attenuation and beam hardening. It is thus difficult to obtain accurate H and D curves for mammographic screen-film combinations at technique factors used clinically. Methods are described for the determination of characteristic curves at low x-ray energies which provide composite intensity-scale curves using small changes in source-to-receptor distance and concomitant changes in either exposure time, beam attenuation, or kVp. H and D curves obtained at low kVp's using the various sensitometric approaches are compared with those obtained using inverse-square sensitometry; the relative merits of the different methods are discussed.
Interactive GPU volume raycasting in a clustered graphics environment

This research focuses on performing interactive, real-time volume raycasting in a large clustered graphics environment using custom GPU shaders for composite volume raycasting with trilinear interpolation. Working in this type of environment presents unique challenges due to the distributed nature, and inherently required synchronization of data and operations across the cluster. Invoking custom vertex and fragment shaders in a non-thread-safe manner becomes increasingly complex in a large clustered graphics environment. Through use of an abstraction layer, all rendering contexts are split-up with no changes to the volume raycasting core. Therefore, the volume raycasting core is completely transparent from the computing platform. The application was tested on a 6-wall immersive VR system with 96 graphics contexts coming from 48 cluster nodes. Interactive framerates of 60 frames per second were produced on 512x512x100 volumes, and an average of 30 frames per second for a 512x512x1000 volume. The use of custom configuration files allows the same code to be highly scalable from a single screen VR system to a fully immersive 6-sided wall VR system. Through the code abstraction, the same volume raycasting core can be implemented on any type of computing platform including desktop and mobile.
The subunit structure of human placental 17β-estradiol dehydrogenase☆☆☆

Abstract Human placental 17β-estradiol dehydrogenase gave a single band by sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, corresponding to a molecular weight of approximately 33,500 daltons. Alanine was the only amino acid detected by N-terminal analysis. Ultracentrifugation gave a molecular weight of 67,700 daltons which suggests that in solution the enzyme exists as a dimer.