cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
V-handoff: A practical energy efficient handoff for 802.11 infrastructure networks

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) are currently among the most important technologies for wireless access. Because of its higher data rate and lower monetary cost compared with cellular networks, mobile users are likely to choose WiFi when they are using mobile applications. However, keeping continuous connectivity with access points (APs) may require frequent handoffs, which may consume much energy in the handoff process. Unfortunately, most of the existing work only focused on reducing the handoff delay of IEEE 802.11-based handoffs and many handoff approaches may even increase the energy consumption of mobile nodes (MNs) in order to reduce the handoff latency. In this paper, we introduce virtual handoff (V-handoff), an energy efficiency-based handoff protocol via generating virtual access points (VAPs) in the corresponding physical access points (PAPs). The main idea of our proposed V-handoff protocol is to create an evenly spaced periodic schedule of beacon periods for all the VAPs in one virtual AP grid. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the application of the wireless virtualization technique in MN's handoff energy efficiency. Simulation results show that our proposed V-handoff protocol can significantly reduce the MN's handoff energy consumption and the average handoff delay compared with IEEE 802.11-based full scanning and selective scanning handoff protocol.
Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Severely Affected Arm-Hand Motor Function in Patients After an Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial.

ObjectiveThe aim of this article was to determine whether cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (c-tDCS) to unaffected primary motor cortex (PMC) plus conventional occupational therapy (OT) improves functional motor recovery of the affected arm hand in patients after an acute ischemic str
Enhancing citizen engagement in natural resource governance: Scope, content and input in the operation of the extractive industries transparency initiative

Abstract This opinion piece (discussion paper) examines citizen engagement in natural resource governance under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Building on earlier discussions of citizen engagement, it examines how the EITI can engender the interest and hence involvement of citizens in resource governance. While acknowledging the significance of reforms in the 2016 standard, this discussion seeks to provoke thought and discussion on the participation of citizens in the operation of the governance mechanism, with respect to the scope of EITI reporting, content of reports and input from citizens. The paper aims to point to possible areas for further research into the operation of the EITI and its significance for natural resource governance.
The robust sensitivity of boolean functions

The sensitivity conjecture is one of the central open problems in Boolean complexity. A recent work of Gopalan et al. [CCC 2016] conjectured a robust analog of the sensitivity conjecture, which relates the decay of the Fourier mass of a Boolean function to moments of its sensitivity. We prove the robust sensitivity conjecture in this work with near optimal parameters.
Interleukin-6 deletion stimulates revascularization and new bone formation following ischemic osteonecrosis in a murine model

Abstract Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (LCPD) is a childhood form of ischemic osteonecrosis of the femoral head which can produce a permanent femoral head deformity and early osteoarthritis. The femoral head deformity results from increased bone resorption and decreased bone formation during repair and remodeling of the necrotic femoral head. A recent study showed that a pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), is significantly elevated in the synovial fluid of patients with LCPD. We hypothesized that IL-6 elevation decreases bone formation during the repair process following ischemic osteonecrosis and that IL-6 depletion will increase new bone formation. To test this hypothesis, we surgically induced ischemic osteonecrosis in the wild-type (n = 29) and IL-6 knockout (KO) mice (n = 25). The animals were assessed at 48 h, 2 weeks and 4 weeks following the induction of ischemic osteonecrosis using histologic, histomorphometric and micro-CT methods. IL-6 immunohistochemistry showed high expression of IL-6 in the osteonecrotic side of the wild-type mice at 48 h and 4 weeks following ischemic osteonecrosis, but not in the IL-6 KO mice. We also confirmed an undetectable level of IL-6 expression in the primary osteoblasts of the IL-6 KO mice compared to the readily detectable level in the wild-type mice. Furthermore, we confirmed that IL-6 deletion did not affect the extent of bone necrosis in the IL-6 KO mice compared to the wild-type mice by performing histologic and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assessments at 2 weeks following the induction of ischemia. Both groups had the same extent of ischemic osteonecrosis and absence of repair at 2 weeks. At 4 weeks, the necrotic epiphyses showed a significant increase in the extent of revascularization in the IL-6 KO mice compared to the wild-type mice (p = 0.001). In addition, a significantly greater recovery of the hematopoietic bone marrow was observed in the osteonecrotic side of the IL-6 KO mice compared to the wild-type mice (p
Open‐label trial of ranolazine for the treatment of paramyotonia congenita

Introduction Paramyotonia congenita (PMC) is a nondystrophic myotonic disorder that is believed to be caused by a defect in Nav 1.4 sodium channel inactivation. Ranolazine, which acts by enhancing slow inactivation of sodium channels, has been proposed as a therapeutic option, but in vivo studies are lacking. Methods We conducted an open-label, single-center trial of ranolazine to evaluate efficacy and tolerability in patients with PMC. Subjective symptoms of stiffness, weakness, and pain as well as clinical and electrical myotonia were evaluated. Baseline measures were compared with those after 4 weeks of treatment with ranolazine. Results Ranolazine was tolerated well without any serious adverse events. Both subjective symptoms and clinical myotonia were significantly improved. Duration of myotonia was reduced according to electromyography, but this change was not statistically significant in all tested muscles. Discussion Our findings support the use of ranolazine as a treatment for myotonia in PMC and suggest that a randomized, placebo-controlled trial is warranted. Muscle Nerve 59:240-243, 2019.
Collection and Analysis of Multimodal Data for SUDEP Biomarker Discovery

This article discusses the acquisition and processing of multimodal physiological data from patients with epilepsy in epilepsy monitoring units for the discovery of risk factors for sudden expected death in epilepsy that can be combined through integrative analysis for biomarker discovery.
Genetic analysis of neurodegenerative diseases in a pathology cohort.

Abstract Molecular genetic research provides unprecedented opportunities to examine genotype-phenotype correlations underlying complex syndromes. To investigate pathogenic mutations and genotype-phenotype relationships in diverse neurodegenerative conditions, we performed a rare variant analysis of damaging mutations in autopsy-confirmed neurodegenerative cases from the Johns Hopkins Brain Resource Center (n = 1243 patients). We used NeuroChip genotyping and C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat analysis to rapidly screen our cohort for disease-causing mutations. In total, we identified 42 individuals who carried a pathogenic mutation in LRRK2, GBA, APP, PSEN1, MAPT, GRN, C9orf72, SETX, SPAST, or CSF1R, and we provide a comprehensive description of the diverse clinicopathological features of these well-characterized cases. Our study highlights the utility of high-throughput genetic screening arrays to establish a molecular diagnosis in individuals with complex neurodegenerative syndromes, to broaden disease phenotypes and to provide insights into unexpected disease associations.
Monuments outlive history: Confederate monuments, the legacy of slavery, and black-white inequality

ABSTRACTThe conceptual linkages among Confederate monuments, slavery, and race suggest that Confederate monuments are relevant for explaining contemporary black–white inequality, yet we have little...
Heavy ion irradiation effects on GaN/AlGaN high electron mobility transistor failure at off-state

Abstract We investigate the effects of ion irradiation on AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility electron transistors using in-situ transmission electron microscopy. The experiments are performed inside the microscope to visualize the defects, microstructure and interfaces of ion irradiated transistors during operation and failure. Experimental results indicate that heavy ions such as Au4+ can create a significant number of defects such as vacancies, interstitials and dislocations in the device layer. It is hypothesized that these defects act as charge traps in the device layer and the resulting charge accumulation lowers the breakdown voltage. Sequential energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping allows us to track individual chemical elements during the experiment, and the results suggest that the electrical degradation in the device layer may originate from oxygen and nitrogen vacancies.
A Push for Professional Development Innovators

The challenges regarding professional development (PD) for physical education teachers (PETs) have been widely documented. PD for PETs is often ineffective, disconnected from PETs interests and nee...
Climate uncertainty communication

The consequences of global warming will be dire, but the full extent of these effects on society is unknown and includes uncertainties. Research now suggests that how scientists communicate about the uncertainty over such climate change impacts can influence the public’s trust and acceptance of this information.
Deep-ultraviolet LEDs fabricated in AlInGaN using MEMOCVD

In this paper we will present our recent work aimed at developing deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes with emission from 250-280 nm. These devices were fabricated using AlGaN multiple quantum wells that were deposited on basal plane sapphire substrates using low-pressure MOCVD. Innovative MEMOCVD grown AlN buffer layers and AlN/AlGaN superalttices were also employed in the device structures to manage strain and allow the deposition of thick AlGaN layers, which was necessary to reduce the lateral spread resistance. Devices with square, multifinger and micro-LED geometries were fabricated and flip-chip mounted on AlN carriers for improved thermal management and light extraction. We have now succeeded in obtaining devices at 275 and 280 nm with cw powers in excess of 1.5 mW and pulsed powers well over 20 mW. Recently we have also succeeded in obtaining nearly milliwatt powers using an innovative micro-LED design at 250 nm. Now, for the first time, we also present dc operation of micro-pixel design deep UV LED.
GPUs Cache Performance Estimation using Reuse Distance Analysis

GPU architects have introduced on-chip memories in GPUs to provide local storage nearby processing to reduce the traffic to the device global memory. From then on-wards, modeling to predict the cache performance has been an active area of research. However, due to the complexities found in this highly parallel hardware, this has not been a straightforward task. In this paper, we propose a memory model to predict the entire cache performance (L1 & L2 caches) in GPUs. Our model is based on reuse distance. We use an analytical probabilistic measure of the reuse distance distributions from the memory traces of an application to predict the hit rates. The application’s memory trace is extracted using NVIDIA’s SASSI instrumentation tool. We use 20 different kernels from Polybench and Rodinia benchmark suites and compare our model to the real hardware. The results show that the average prediction accuracy of the model over all the kernels is 86.7% compared to the real device with higher accuracy for the L2 (95.26%) cache than the L1. Furthermore, extracting the application’s memory trace is on average 4. 9x slower compared to the kernels running without instrumentation. This overhead is much smaller than other published results. Furthermore, our model is very flexible where it takes into account the different cache parameters thus it can be used for design space exploration and sensitivity analysis.
Caste Conflicts on Campuses: Examining Diversity Research to Transform Indian Universities into Inclusive Learning Spaces:

AbstractThe presence of a significant and growing population of lower caste students on college campuses has been perceived as a challenge to the historical hegemony of higher castes. Therefore, in...
Biography of Louise Bourgeois

Originally published in French translation in 2015 as “Bourgeois, Louise”http://siefar.org/dictionnaire/fr/Louise_BourgeoisDictionnaire des Femmes de l’ancienne FranceSIEFARSociete internationale p...
The impact of the managed care backlash on health care spending

The health spending slowdown associated with the managed care revolution in the 1990s suggests that managed care may have been successful in controlling health care spending. I exploit the passage of state regulation during the “managed care backlash” as well as geographic variation in managed care intensity to measure the impact of managed care on spending. I find that restricting managed care causes a large and significant increase in hospital spending, which cannot be explained by changes in hospital market concentration, other regulatory activity, and multiple other possible explanations. I also do not find effects of the backlash on mortality.
Where Bioethics Meets Machine Ethics.

Char et al. (2020) question the extent and degree to which machine learning applications should be treated as exceptional by ethicists. It is clear that of the suite of ethical issues raised by mac...
Obstructive Sialadenitis: Stones and Stenoses

This study aimed to discuss the etiology of obstructive sialadenitis, as well as discuss common pathologies and current standards of treatment focusing on gland-preservation techniques. The advent of sialendoscopy and associated techniques has allowed for innovative surgical adaptations to allow gland-preservation for complex obstructive pathologies using transoral, endoscopic, and external combined surgical approaches. Obstructive sialadenitis can present a challenging clinical scenario for patients with significant symptoms, especially in the acute setting. The combination of medical management and thoughtful surgical intervention can result in high success rates with resolution of symptoms and reversal of obstructive pathology.
A Data Mining Approach to Identify the Stress Level Based on Different Activities of Human

Stress is one of the biggest realities in our modern lives because of the rapid variations in human lives and it induces depression. Depression is an illness characterized by anxiety and gloominess felt over a phase of time. Some signs of depression matched with other physical illnesses implying huge trouble in diagnosing it. In this analysis, we have tried to identify the reason for depression among students, based on their nature. We have collected data and generated a dataset that contains 539 instances containing 23 unique attributes individually. By using this data, we created a system that helps to identify the reason for depression. In this paper, a dataset has been analyzed to identify the rate of depression among students using Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm and Fuzzy Unordered Rule Induction Algorithm. With the assistance of 100-fold-cross validation, we measure the validity of data that is collected by us, and the performance matrix helps us to report the evaluation of data. This evaluation report has shown us the accuracy and effectiveness of constructing a model to predict the reason for depression. We have got 90.90% accuracy by using Multilayer Perceptron, 92.95% accuracy by using the Fuzzy Unordered Rule Induction Algorithm and 92.76% accuracy by using Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm. Our main goal is to identify the rate of depression among students based on human nature.
When Palestinians Became Human Shields: Counterinsurgency, Racialization, and the Great Revolt (1936–1939)

This article examines the origins of human shielding—the practice of employing hostages on the battlefield—in Arab Palestine during the Great Revolt in the 1930s. The Palestinian rebellion vexed the British for over three years, and during its second phase (1937–1939), lightly armed rebels beat back the colonial authorities from broad stretches of the country, putting continued colonial control of the territory in serious jeopardy. Britain only defeated the insurgency through a harsh repertoire of collective punishments and “dirty war” tactics. British forces used Palestinians as human shields in a systematic fashion during the revolt's second phase, attempting thereby to stave off the insurgents’ consistent and effective attacks on transportation arteries. Beyond its battlefield rationale, this article contends that human shielding was critically tied to two other dynamic processes. The military's adoption of unauthorized tactics like human shielding was part of a broader pattern of rejecting its institutional subordination to civilian authorities and of seeking direct control over the Palestine government in order to assure its unfettered command over the revolt's suppression. At the same time, the conversion of colonized bodies into literal shields bespoke a process of deepening, corporeal racialization that had profound consequences for the Palestinians, stripping them of any figment of legal rights or protections and signaling the utter disposability of Arab life.
Shaping student confidence and their perception of learning in undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry courses

This study examined factors influencing student confidence and their perception of learning in the context of undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry courses. Anonymous online surveys were used to measure the extent to which small group work influenced student confidence in solving problems compared to working individually, as well as how various course factors and the amount of effort and pleasure students experienced during their coursework influenced their perception of learning. Upon examining over 2500 student responses to more than 150 unique problems/exercises across 3 different courses, student confidence in solving problems improved to an average of approximately 8 out of 10 when they worked in small groups, compared to that of 6.5 out of 10 when working alone. Students ranked (i) opportunities to revisit assessments, (ii) the class environment, and (iii) instructor feedback as course factors that were most influential on their learning. There was little if any correlation between student effort and their perception of learning, and their perception of learning only slightly correlated with the amount of pleasure they experienced during their coursework. Taken together, these data highlight the importance of facilitating regular small group work, multistage assessments, good feedback and a pleasurable learning environment for students.
Tissue fluidity mediated by adherens junction dynamics promotes planar cell polarity-driven ommatidial rotation.

The phenomenon of tissue fluidity—cells’ ability to rearrange relative to each other in confluent tissues—has been linked to several morphogenetic processes and diseases, yet few molecular regulators of tissue fluidity are known. Ommatidial rotation (OR), directed by planar cell polarity signaling, occurs during Drosophila eye morphogenesis and shares many features with polarized cellular migration in vertebrates. We utilize in vivo live imaging analysis tools to quantify dynamic cellular morphologies during OR, revealing that OR is driven autonomously by ommatidial cell clusters rotating in successive pulses within a permissive substrate. Through analysis of a rotation-specific nemo mutant, we demonstrate that precise regulation of junctional E-cadherin levels is critical for modulating the mechanical properties of the tissue to allow rotation to progress. Our study defines Nemo as a molecular tool to induce a transition from solid-like tissues to more viscoelastic tissues broadening our molecular understanding of tissue fluidity. Ommatidial rotation in the Drosophila eye is a regulated process and a Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) cell motility model. Here, the authors show that tissue fluidity via junctional remodeling, as regulated by the PCP effector kinase Nemo, is critical for this cell motility process.
Prediction of Chaos Using Stabilization Principle

In this paper several comments concerning chaos from the viewpoint of theory of stability are made. Special attention is paid to dependence of orbital instability (leading to chaos) upon frames of reference, metrics of configuration space, and class of functions selected for mathematical models of physical phenomena. New representation of chaos is discussed. The theory is illustrated by examples.
Superman Had Nothing on Keith Aoki

In this tribute to the late Keith Aoki, Professor of Law at U.C. Davis, I point out that at the heart of much of Keith Aoki’s humanity and scholarship is a call for us to be on guard against institutional, public, and private strategies operating to disadvantage people of color and other subordinated groups. Much of his life and body of work inspires us to stand up to racism and subordination of those who are disadvantaged. In that context, I discuss recent attacks on Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities, and underscore our responsibility to speak the truth about these injustices, as Keith would have us do. In the process, I use a few cartoons as an homage to Keith, who often used his drawings to make salient points. Just as racial profiling by government action has seemingly sanctioned vigilante racism or, worse still, perpetration of hate crimes, Keith’s leadership and creative advocacy has deputized all of us to stand up to profiling, bigotry, racial hatred, and the wrong-headed souls who would challenge a broad and inclusive vision of America.
What the nose tells the brain about odors

Optical recording using calcium sensitive dyes was used to measure the input to the olfactory bulb from the nose. Because all of the receptor neurons projecting to one glomerulus in the bulb express the same receptor protein, the signal from each glomerulus represents the response properties of a single receptor protein. Individual receptors responded to a variety of odorants. In the mouse, the number of responding glomeruli increased with increasing odorant concentration. In the turtle the input maps for different odorant concentrations were similar; the signals were concentration invariant.
Comparison of AASHTO LRFD and ASD specifications for structural design of cantilever abutments and retaining walls

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specification became the mandatory design specifications for United States highway structures in October 2007. This has introduced a number of changes in mandatory engineering design and analysis procedures. The differences between the allowable stress design (ASD) standard specifications and the LRFD specification are evaluated in this paper, as well as how they apply to earth retaining structure design. The effect of the new design standards on structural proportioning and cost were examined through several design examples. The difference between the LRFD specifications and the ASD standard specifications was insignificant for cantilever abutments and retaining walls 4.6 m and taller. However, an increase in footing length of about 30% and an increase in cost of approximately 10% of the cost of the retaining structures can result from designing shorter abutments and retaining walls using the LRFD specifications. While in some designs, these cost impacts to a structure can be significant, the AASHTO LRFD specifications provides a safe and reliable design method of paramount importance to engineers and the public.
Elementary Principles of Spectral Distributions

It is a common observation that as we add particles, one by one, to a “simple” system, things get steadily more and more complicated. For example if the system is describable in shell-model terms, i.e., with a model space in which m particles are distributed over N single-particle states, then, as long as m≪N, the dimensionality \(\left( {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} N \\ m \end{array}} \right)\) increases rapidly with particle number. On the other hand, for the usual (1+2)-body Hamiltonian, the (m≥2)-particle spectrum and wave functions are determined by operators defined in the one-particle space (for the single-particle energies) and the two-particle space (for the interactions). We may say then that the “input” information becomes more and more fragmented as the particle number increases, the fixed “amount” of information being distributed over more and more matrix elements.
Time Acceleration Methods for Advection on the Cubed Sphere

Climate simulation will not grow to the ultrascale without new algorithms to overcome the scalability barriers blocking existing implementations. Until recently, climate simulations concentrated on the question of whether the climate is changing. The emphasis is now shifting to impact assessments, mitigation and adaptation strategies, and regional details. Such studies will require significant increases in spatial resolution and model complexity while maintaining adequate throughput. The barrier to progress is the resulting decrease in time step without increasing single-thread performance. In this paper we demonstrate how to overcome this time barrier for the first standard test defined for the shallow-water equations on a sphere. This paper explains how combining a multiwavelet discontinuous Galerkin method with exact linear part time-evolution schemes can overcome the time barrier for advection equations on a sphere. The discontinuous Galerkin method is a high-order method that is conservative, flexible, and scalable. The addition of multiwavelets to discontinuous Galerkin provides a hierarchical scale structure that can be exploited to improve computational efficiency in both the spatial and temporal dimensions. Exact linear part time-evolution schemes are explicit schemes that remain stable for implicit-size time steps.
Development of Freeze-Dried Bacteriocin-Containing Preparations from Lactic Acid Bacteria to Inhibit Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus

There has been a recent movement to produce and consume “minimally processed” and more “natural” foods through the use of fewer chemical preservatives. The shift to more “natural” foods has resulted in a great interest in the use of bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria as natural biopreservatives. The objective of this comparative study was to identify bacteriocins that can be produced in low-cost or no-cost dairy-based media (DBM), concentrated using freeze-drying, and applied to Cheddar cheese samples to concurrently inhibit Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. Select bacteriocin producers were grown in DBM, their cell-free supernatants (CFS) were frozen, and the frozen CFS samples were freeze-dried to produce bacteriocin-containing powders. Cheddar cheese samples were challenged with L. monocytogenes or Staph. aureus cells. The challenged samples were exposed to buffered solutions of freeze-dried powders containing bacteriocins, incubated at 4 °C for 24–72 h, and plated onto appropriate selective media. All freeze-dried bacteriocin-containing powders tested were active against L. monocytogenes and Staph. aureus. Our research findings indicated that low-cost or no-cost DBM could successfully be used for production of bacteriocin-containing preparations. In addition, freeze-drying was determined to be a feasible approach to prepare concentrated and stable bacteriocin-containing powders for prospective food applications. The prevention of even a very small percentage of foodborne illnesses via the use of bacteriocins as natural biopreservatives would help reduce the number of foodborne illness-related hospitalizations, deaths, and financial loss due to medical expenses, lost income/productivity, cost of litigation/penalties, and loss of trade.
Depositional Dynamics of Upper Cretaceous Sandstones, Rocky Mountain Region: ABSTRACT

Throughout the Rocky Mountain region, numerous Upper Cretaceous intervals display a sequence of deposits, from the base upward, of (1) marine and/or lagoonal shale, (2) barrier-island sandstone, (3) marsh-mudflat deposits, (4) lagoonal-bay deposits, and (5) alluvial-coastal plain sediments. These sequences record seaward progradation of coastal plain, transitional, and nearshore marine deposits in response to a large sediment supply and continuous subsidence. Barrier-island sandstone units display a characteristic upward sequence of infra-surfzone, surfzone, and beach deposits which reflect depositional regressions. The vertical succession of sedimentary structures in a barrier-island sandstone records building up of the sea floor until a segment emerged and a barrier beach formed. Sand enters the sea through deltaic distributaries and tidal passes and is transported downcoast by longshore currents and littoral or beach drift to nourish and prograde barrier-island sand bodies. The geologic record is strongly biased toward preservation of case histories End_Page 537------------------------------ where large sediment supplies are recorded by seaward progradation of deltas and barrier islands. Widespread sheets of sandstone and conglomerate, like the Ericson Sandstone of the Rock Springs uplift and the Castlegate Sandstone of eastern Utah, represent braided piedmont plain deposits of sand and gravel spread beyond the bases of newly uplifted areas under conditions of humid to subhumid climates. These are commonly underlain and overlain by meander belt deposits consisting of broad silty-shale floodplain deposits and narrow channel sandstones and conglomerates. The upward sequence of braided alluvial sheets of sandstone and conglomerate and predominantly shaly meander-belt deposits records progressive headward erosion of tributaries and consequent expansion of drainage basins. End_of_Article - Last_Page 538------------
A distributed power amplifier

FOR YEARS, a goal of the designer has been to increase the frequency response of vacuum-tube amplifiers. Considerable success has been achieved, with the design of the video amplifiers, in obtaining a frequency response from 30 or 40 cycles up to 4 or 5 megacycles. This is adequate for present-day television video requirements, but amplifiers with greater bandwidth are needed for many applications, such as video amplifiers for improved television, wide-band telephone repeaters, and oscilloscope amplifiers.
Parent Newsletters to Strengthen a School-based Community Nutrition Education Program in the Rural Arkansas Delta

Adults who provide food and influence food choices of children (directly and indirectly) strongly impact the attitudes and behaviors of those children.' Adults can enhance the impact of nutrition education for children by reinforcing information given to children and providing opportunities to apply knowledge and skills.Targeting nutrition education to parents of school children has been shown to enhance the effects of classroom nutrition education in some Most studies reported in the literature have not focused on methods to reach parents in rural, low-income, low-literacy populations. SNAP (School Nutrition Action Partners) Lake Village parent newsletters were developed to be sent to parents of school children participating in a school-based nutrition education project. The purpose of the overall study was to provide nutrition education to elementary school children in a low-income rural community and to provide complementary, reinforcing nutrition messages to their parents via the school and through the WIC (Supplemental Nutri t ion Program for Women, Infants, and Children), Food Stamp program, and EFNEP (Ex~ a n d e d Food and Nutrition Education Program). A school in a nearby community with similar demographic characteristics served as the control school. The project is described in greater detail in companion articles by Dollahite et and Hosig et al.' The newsletter format was chosen because parents indicated during the
Available sulphydryl groups of mammalian ribosomes in different functional states.

Abstract The numbers of sulphydryl groups on NH4Cl-washed rat liver polyribosomes in different functional states were measured under carefully standardized conditions with 14C-labelled N-ethylmaleimide and 35S-labelled 5,5-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). Ribosomes denatured with urea had 120 titratable sulphydryl groups, 60 on each subunit, whereas native ribosomes invariably showed fewer available sulphydryl groups. Ribosomes stripped of transfer RNA (S-type ribosomes) had 55 available sulphydryl groups. Ribosomes bearing the growing peptidyl-tRNA at the acceptor site had 41 sulphydryl groups available. If these A-type ribosomes were labelled with 14C-labelled N-ethylmaleimide and dissociated into subunits, 23 of the labelled sulphydryl groups were found on the 60 S subunit and 19 on the 40 S subunit. After translocation of the peptidyl-tRNA to the donor position on ribosomes (D ribosomes), the number of available sulphydryl groups increased to 72, of which 43 were on the 60 S subunit and 29 on the 40 S subunit. This demonstrates that both subunits participate in the change of peptidyl-tRNA from the A to D positions. When the D ribosomes were reacted with EF2 (elongation factor) and GTP, the available sulphydryl groups increased to 82; addition of EF2 alone or with GDP, GDPCP or ATP failed to cause this increase, which has accordingly been attributed to an energy-dependent conformational change in the ribosome. Ribosomes were reconstructed from subunits with poly(U) and Phe-tRNA. In the presence of poly(U) only, a ribosome with 55 available SH groups was formed, thus corresponding to the stripped ribosomes. When both poly(U) and Phe-tRNA were present, a ribosome was formed with 44 available sulphydryl groups, corresponding approximately to an A-type ribosome. Since no EF1 or GTP was used in reconstructing this ribosome, these data indicate that the conformation of A-type ribosomes is not dependent on EF1 or GTP, but is due to the presence of tRNA at the acceptor site. We therefore incline to the view that the observed changes in available SH groups reflect conformational changes, with an opening up of ribosome structure as it progresses from having the peptidyl-tRNA at the A position to the D position and then binds EF2 and GTP, followed by a restoration of the more compact from when the incoming aminoacyl-tRNA is then bound.
A controller enabling precise positioning and sway reduction in bridge and gantry cranes

Precise manipulation of payloads is difficult with cranes. Oscillation can be induced into the lightly damped system by motion of the bridge or trolley, or from environmental disturbances. To address both sources of oscillation, a combined feedback and input shaping controller is developed. The controller is comprised of three distinct modules. A feedback module detects and compensates for positioning error; a second feedback module detects and rejects disturbances; input shaping is used in a third module to mitigate motion-induced oscillation. An accurate model of vector drive and AC induction motors, typical to large cranes, was used jointly with a deconvolution analysis technique to incorporate the nonlinear dynamics of crane actuators into the control design. The controller is implemented on a 10-ton bridge crane at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The controller achieves good positioning accuracy and significant sway reduction.
Desirable properties of wood for sustainable development in the twenty-first century

We previously identified desirable properties for wood based on current market-based trends for commercial uses (Wegner et al. 2010). World business models increasingly incorporate the concept of social responsibility and the tenets of sustainable development. Sustainable development is needed to support an estimated 9 billion people by 2050 within the carrying capacities of the Earth. The supply of raw materials for the array of products we know today will be insufficient, and we will need to sustainably use forest-based resources as major sources of materials. For example, increasing demand for higher quality food will require enhanced packaging performance to minimize loss in shipping.
Use of the normal distribution in the study of simple stepwise equilibria

Abstract The normal distribution is used to estimate the pH range for the existence of metal ion concentrations in hydrolysis reactions. The standard deviation of the metal ion concentration is expressed as a function of the formation constant for the reaction. An example is presented using data for the equilibrium reaction Hg +2 + OH -1 ⇌ Hg(OH) +1
Coherent excitation of fast hydrogenic ions by a crystal surface

Coherent excitation of fast hydrogenic ions with velocity near 10 9 cm/s by a periodic crystal surface is investigated. Electronic transitions of the ion induced by the crystal potential are calculated for both the cases that nucleus of the ion travels above and below the surface. It is found that the transition matrix elements between the hydrogenic (1, 0, 0) and (3, l, m ) states depend strongly on whether the nucleus of the ion is above or below the surface and on the value of l and m . It is estimated that the Rabi distance for complete excitation of the Be 3+ ion lies between 1 and 300 A and the fractional energy loss ΔE loss / E ion is of the order of 10 −6 to 10 −4 . From estimating the collision time between ions, the excitation time of ionic electrons, the spontaneous and the stimulated lifetimes, we calculate the upper and lower limits of the incident ion current density for which stimulated emission of soft X-ray occurs. The distance beyond which the surface effect becomes insignificant and the confinement of ions over the crystal are discussed.
Who killed Pokrovskii? (the second time): The prelude to the denunciation of the father of Soviet Marxist historiography, January 1936

The public denunciation of M.N. Pokrovskii on 27 January 1936, epitomised a major Soviet ideological shift under way from the 1920s’ focus on materialist internationalism to the late 1930s’ tendency toward russocentric statism. Many scholars — most notably M.V. Nechkina ‐ have argued that this campaign was orchestrated by I.V. Stalin. Archival materials, however, reveal that the start of the anti‐Pokrovskii campaign was considerably more complicated than previously assumed. Intriguingly, these documents indicate the complicity of a whole cast of characters in addition to Stalin, from A. A. Zhdanov to N.I. Bukharin. Like other studies nuancing Stalin‐centred models of Soviet decision‐making during the 1930s, this article argues that lobbying precipitated the anti‐Pokrovskii campaign rather than articulate premeditation on the part of Stalin.
The short neuropeptide F-like receptor from the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

In invertebrates, neuropeptide F (NPF) peptides share structural similarity with vertebrate neuropeptide Y, which regulates food consumption, circadian rhythms, anxiety, and other physiological processes. The insect neuropeptide F receptors belong to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) rhodopsin family. We have cloned the fire ant putative short NPF receptor using PCR and RACE methods. The complete 2,185-bp cDNA encodes a 387-residue protein with a predicted GPCR seven transmembrane region structure. We propose that the sequence of the honey bee short NPF receptor, which has not yet been annotated, encodes a protein of 393 residues. In fire ant mated queens, receptor transcripts were detected in the brain, midgut, hindgut, Malpighian tubules, fat body, and ovaries. The highest transcriptional expression was found in the brain. The downregulation of the fire ant short NPF receptor transcriptional expression in the brain with starvation suggests that the short NPF signal transduction cascade may play a role in feeding regulation in fire ant mated queens. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 61:195–208, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Content Analysis of Privacy Policies for Health Social Networks

The Web is an important resource for health information. Pew's Internet and American Life Project found 62% of adult Web users looking for health-related information on health social networks. However, the National Survey on Identity and Privacy in Social Media by The Ponemon Institute reported that about 56% of adult users were anxious about the privacy of their personal information on social networks. This paper examines the privacy policies of 35 online health social networks selected based on the U.S. users' traffic. The objectives of this research are to determine the extent to which privacy policies of online health social networks comply with the principles of Fair Information Practice (FIP) and to evaluate the readability and accessibility of policies. To measure the readability of the policy statements, the Flesch Reading Ease Score and Flesch Kincaid Grade Level score metrics are used. The findings indicate that 9% of the websites in the sample had no privacy policy posted, and only about 26% of the websites in the sample fully complied with the FIP. Our findings show that compliance with the FIP principles is poor, and confirm that most policies require a reading skill higher than the Internet population's average literacy level.
Compression Permeability of Al2O3 Cakes Formed by Pressure Slip Casting

The pressure gradient naturally effected across the cake on pressure casting can lead to pore-character gradients and dimensional distortion if the cake is significantly compressible. The compressibilities of cakes formed on pressure slip casting of aqueous Al2O3 slips defiocculated with an organic polyelectrolyte were determined for applied pressures ≤500 psi. In general the compressibility decreased with increasing pressure. Improved deflocculation of slips from which cakes were formed drastically reduced the level and pressure dependence of compressibility; cakes cast from well-deflocculated slips were insignificantly compressible. Specific resistances determined concurrently agreed well with results obtained previously in kinetic studies. Compression-permeability behavior can serve as a quality control test for the slip casting of technical ceramics.
Analysis of a Local-Area Bus System with Controlled Access

The performance analysis of a local-area bus access scheme is presented, which is characterized by an alternating sequence of scheduling and data-transmission intervals. For different scheduling disciplines, viz., fixed and variable priorities, and "shortest-packet-first," we derive explicit results for the mean packet-transfer delay. Our results give insight into the question of fairness among the stations, and the potential for performance improvement by sophisticated scheduling.
Plasma-polymerized films as moisture barriers for alkali halide optics

Abstract The nature of the alkali halide surface is of paramount importance in enabling plasma-polymerized films to act as moisture barriers and protective coatings. We developed an effective in situ surface passivation method that uses the active species formed in a plasma derived from Freon gases to remove surface hydroxide groups with chlorine or fluorine atoms. A plasma-polymerized ethane protective coating deposited onto a passivated NaCl window provided protection from damage by water vapor at 98% relative humidity (RH) for at least 100 h. Furthermore, thin films of a variety of surfactants derived from fatty acids on NaCl and KBr were also useful passivating agents. Lifetimes of up to 10 days were obtained on NaCl at 88% RH. Plasma-polymerized films contained long-lived trapped free radicals which reacted with oxygen when the film was exposed to air. This generated oxygen functionality in the polymer which decreased the hydrophobicity and increased the IR absorption. Methods to eliminate these radicals are discussed.
A Note on the Influence of Cohesive Stress-Separation Laws on Elastic Stress Singularities in Antiplane Shear

Elastic stress singularities occur at the vertices of reentrant corners with traditional, stress-free, boundary conditions. By recognizing cohesive stress action at sharp corners, and also introducing consistent cohesive laws ahead of corners, these singular stresses can be removed. This was earlier shown asymptotically for plane strain states: Here it is shown asymptotically for antiplane shear states.
Intratumoral delivery of encapsulated IL-12, IL-18 and TNF-α in a model of metastatic breast cancer

Intratumoral (i.t.) cytokine release through the use of poly-lactic acid microspheres (PLAM) holds tremendous potential for the immunotherapy of breast cancer as it harnesses the immunologic potential of autologous tumor in a clinically feasible and minimally toxic manner. We examined the potential of combinations of i.t. IL-12, IL-18 and TNF-α PLAM to generate a tumor-specific immune response and improve outcome in a model of metastatic breast cancer. Balb/c mice with established 4T1 mammary carcinomas were treated with a single injection of BSA, IL-12, IL-18 or TNF-α-loaded PLAM alone or in combination after spontaneous metastases occurred. Combined treatment with IL-12 and TNF-α PLAM was superior to all other treatments, including the triple combination of IL-12, IL-18 and TNF-α in ablation of the primary tumor, eradicating distant disease and enhancing survival. Simultaneous delivery of IL-12 and TNF-α was superior to sequential delivery of IL-12 followed by TNF-α, but not TNF-α followed by IL-12. In vivo lymphocyte depletion studies established that the effects of IL-12 alone are mediated primarily by NK cells, while the combination of IL-12 and TNF-α is dependent upon CD8+ T-cells. Only the combination of IL-12 and TNF-α results in an increase in both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells and a reduction in CD4+CD25+ cells. While there was no change in the dendritic cell population, IL-12 and TNF-α resulted in a dramatic increase in DC maturation and antigen presentation. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with simultaneous intratumoral delivery of IL-12 and TNF-α PLAM augments DC antigen presentation and increases cytotoxic T-cells without increasing regulatory T-cells, resulting in a T-cell based anti-tumor immune response capable of eradicating disseminated disease. The addition of IL-18 did not improve the efficacy.