cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An excursion from enumerative goemetry to solving systems of polynomial equations with Macaulay 2

Solving a system of polynomial equations is a ubiquitous problem in the applications of mathematics. Until recently, it has been hopeless to find explicit solutions to such systems, and mathematics has instead developed deep and powerful theories about the solutions to polynomial equations. Enumerative Geometry is concerned with counting the number of solutions when the polynomials come from a geometric situation and Intersection Theory gives methods to accomplish the enumeration. We use Macaulay 2 to investigate some problems from enumerative geometry, illustrating some applications of symbolic computation to this important problem of solving systems of polynomial equations. Besides enumerating solutions to the resulting polynomial systems, which include overdetermined, deficient, and improper systems, we address the important question of real solutions to these geometric problems. The text contains evaluated Macaulay 2 code to illuminate the discussion. This is a chapter in the forthcoming book "Computations in Algebraic Geometry with Macaulay 2", edited by D. Eisenbud, D. Grayson, M. Stillman, and B. Sturmfels. While this chapter is largely expository, the results in the last section concerning lines tangent to quadrics are new.
Risk Factors Associated With Food Insecurity in the Medicare Population.

This analysis of survey data presents national estimates of food insecurity prevalence within the Medicare population.
Building Resilient and Meaningful Enterprises with the Sustainability Lens

The Sustainability Lens is a paradigm that combines indigenous knowledge, permaculture, solidarity economy and Circles of Sustainability into a four-quadrant tool that works with the Business Model Canvas to build more fun and sustainable solutions into every aspect of one’s enterprise – from start-ups to seasoned industry. It highlights the supply chain, human resource function, product development, marketing and customer relations and compliments approaches such as Lean Launchpad for innovation and Blue Ocean Canvas for value creation.
The Impact of Academic Self-Efficacy, Ethnic Identity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status on Academic Performance

Student academic success is a primary concern for schools across the nation. This correlational research study explored the relationships of variables (e.g. academic self-efficacy, ethnic identity,...
Bald eagles and the Thunderbird myth: Birds in pre-contact ceremonialism on Martha's Vineyard, USA

Abstract Ceremonialism is an integral part of human life but difficult to recover from archaeological remains. Among Native groups in Eastern North America, skins and feathers of birds were commonly used as part of ritual feast ceremonies, including those of the Thunderbird, a mythological creature associated with thunder, lightning, and the upper world. Physical evidence for the Thunderbird has been limited to ceramic, lithic, copper, and petroglyphic artifacts, but the recent discovery of a series of Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) wing bones from the Frisby Butler site may present the first faunal evidence for the myth in Native North America. Patterns of skeletal part representation within the assemblage and across the site suggest that the deposit is the remains of a ritual feast and the presence of multiple wings indicates intentional curation of eagles. If so, this is the earliest known Thunderbird association on the island of Martha's Vineyard, showing the spread of extant Algonquin cosmology to this area by at least 2,000 BP.
Sheet-rich Silk-base RRAM with Low Switching Voltages and Improved Reliabilities

Regenerated silk, a fibrous protein-based biopolymer, has attracted much research attention over the past decades due to its excellent mechanical properties and biological properties. Recently, silk fibroin has also been considered as potential candidates for resistive memories (RRAMs), especially in wearable electronics due to their biocompatibility1,2. However, in spite of promising proof-of-concept demonstration, silk-based RRAMs still suffer from high programming voltages, limited endurance, and large device variations.
Rare example of chiral and achiral polymorphs of a metal-oxide/organic hybrid compound

Abstract Hydrothermal techniques have been used to prepare two new Cu(I)/Mo(VI)-oxide hybrids that represent a rare example of crystallization of both achiral (1) and chiral (2) polymorphic structures with the composition CuMoO3(p2c) (p2c ​= ​pyrazine-2-carboxylate). Their structures were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (1 - space group: P21/c, Z ​= ​4; a ​= ​8.4965(3) A, b ​= ​12.7471(5) A, c ​= ​7.2850(3) A), β ​= ​97.147(2)o, and 2 - P32, Z ​= ​3, a ​= ​7.6789(2) A, c ​= ​10.9164(5) A) and found to consist of highly-distorted MoO5N octahedra that are vertex-bridged to form -O-Mo-O-Mo-O- chains and connected to each other via the coordinating p2c ligands and Cu(I) cations. In the achiral structure of 1, the p2c ligands and Cu(I) cations are coordinated to a single side of the extended -O-Mo-O-Mo-O- chains. In the chiral structure of 2, by contrast, these coordinate via a helical-type arrangement down the 32 screw axis with a rotation of 120° between neighboring octahedra. The chiral polymorph is favored with higher pressure and exhibits a correspondingly higher density owing to the greater packing efficiency of the helical chains, with calculated densities (g cm−3) of 2.81 and 2.95 for 1 and 2, respectively. Both are found to have nearly identical band gaps of ~1.37 ​eV, which are significantly smaller than in other related Cu/Mo oxides . Density functional theory calculations show that 1 exhibits a slightly lower energy of ~89 ​meV per formula (or ~8.6 ​kJ ​mol−1) as compared to 2 and is thus energetically favored. Given the higher calculated energy of the chiral polymorph, 2, this suggests that the application of higher pressures can provide a convenient driving force for the crystallization of higher-density, helical-chain structures that are noncentrosymmetric.
Further Characterization of Hb Bronovo [α103(G10)His→Leu; HBA2: c.311A>T] and First Report of the Homozygous State.

Hb Bronovo [α103(G10)His→Leu, HBA2: c.311A>T] is an α-globin variant that interferes with and decreases binding efficiency to α hemoglobin (Hb) stabilizing protein (AHSP), a chaperone molecule. The...
Evaluation of Limb Swelling

Limb swelling can develop suddenly or over the course of years. A correct diagnosis requires consideration of whether the swelling is acute or chronic, symmetric or asymmetric, localized or generalized, and congenital or acquired. Edema develops when the rate of capillary filtration exceeds venous and lymphatic drainage, either because of inadequate lymphatic flow or increased capillary filtration. A careful approach to diagnosis in this setting can allow recognition of diseases requiring urgent treatment as well as allowing appropriate treatment.
Does crossover treatment of control subjects invalidate results of randomized trials of patent ductus arteriosus treatment

Optimal management of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in extremely preterm infants remains controversial. There is paucity of evidence on the benefits of PDA treatment in reducing mortality and morbidities in extremely preterm infants. Failure of randomized clinical trials to demonstrate beneficial effects of PDA treatment on outcomes has often been attributed to open treatment of control subjects. This perspective examines the PDA treatment trials to date, with specific focus on rates of and ages of subjects at open rescue treatment. Although these trials demonstrate that ductal closure is significantly increased with treatment, that does not translate to a significant decrease in major morbidities or mortality in premature infants, even when trials with high rates of rescue treatment of controls are excluded. Trials in which enrollment occurred after 7 days of age include insufficient numbers of subjects to evaluate this relationship.
Motivation Versus Human Capital Investment in an Agency Problem

This paper considers a firm's optimal investment in training and motivation measures in a hidden action agency problem. We study how these measures interact with each other and the contract in order to create value for the firm. Productivity enhancing training can be firm specific or non-firm specific and firm specific motivation can enhance utility or reduce effort cost. Whether these measures are complements or independents depends on the firm specificity of human capital and whether the participation constraint is binding. We characterize how a tighter labor market affects marginal profitabilities and examine the relative benefits of motivation measures which enhance utility versus those which decrease effort cost.
Retroperitoneal Ewing sarcoma requiring nephrectomy for local control

Abstract Ewing sarcoma is a small round blue cell tumor that most commonly involves bony structures in the pediatric population. Less commonly, it presents in the soft tissues of other anatomic areas including the limbs and trunk, and rarely, the retroperitoneum. In this report, we present the case of a 15-year-old girl who presented with vague abdominal complaints and was found to have a left retroperitoneal Ewing sarcoma that was densely adherent to, but not arising from the left kidney, as well as a calcified lesion of the left adnexa. She was treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and underwent resection via a combined laparoscopic approach for the adnexal mass, and laparotomy for the retroperitoneal Ewing sarcoma, which also required left nephrectomy for adequate local control of the tumor. Given the rarity of this tumor in the retroperitoneal location, this patient's treatment course benefited from a multidisciplinary discussion and plan.
The Prevalence of Palliative Care Consultation in Deceased COVID-19 Patients and Its Association with End-of-Life Care.

Background: During the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in New York City, COVID-19 hospitalization was associated with high mortality. It is unknown how palliative care wa...
Business Simulation Games: Three Cases from Supply Chain Management, Marketing, and Business Strategy

Various business education programs use games to train students in the practices they will be expected to apply in the real world. Historically, educators employed simulation games with high fidelity to create low threat, repeatable opportunities to learn. The purpose of this chapter is to explore some of the theoretical business concepts and models underpinning the use of educational games in business disciplines and explore how those are embedded in three business simulations as illuminative practice examples. These examples can help the reader better understand how the learning affordances of simulation games are used to support educational goals using their core rule sets, conflicts, and win/loss scenarios to provide learners with performance feedback in low-threat environments.
Effects of intervalence charge transfer interaction between π-stacked mixed valent tetrathiafulvalene ligands on the electrical conductivity of 3D metal-organic frameworks.

Achieving a molecular-level understanding of how the structures and compositions of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) influence their charge carrier concentration and charge transport mechanism—the two key parameters of electrical conductivity—is essential for the successful development of electrically conducting MOFs, which have recently emerged as one of the most coveted functional materials due to their diverse potential applications in advanced electronics and energy technologies. Herein, we have constructed four new alkali metal (Na, K, Rb, and Cs) frameworks based on an electron-rich tetrathiafulvalene tetracarboxylate (TTFTC) ligand, which formed continuous π-stacks, albeit with different π–π-stacking and S⋯S distances (dπ–π and dS⋯S). These MOFs also contained different amounts of aerobically oxidized TTFTC˙+ radical cations that were quantified by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. Density functional theory calculations and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy demonstrated that depending on the π–π-interaction and TTFTC˙+ population, these MOFs enjoyed varying degrees of TTFTC/TTFTC˙+ intervalence charge transfer (IVCT) interactions, which commensurately affected their electronic and optical band gaps and electrical conductivity. Having the shortest dπ–π (3.39 A) and the largest initial TTFTC˙+ population (∼23%), the oxidized Na-MOF 1-ox displayed the narrowest band gap (1.33 eV) and the highest room temperature electrical conductivity (3.6 × 10−5 S cm−1), whereas owing to its longest dπ–π (3.68 A) and a negligible TTFTC˙+ population, neutral Cs-MOF 4 exhibited the widest band gap (2.15 eV) and the lowest electrical conductivity (1.8 × 10−7 S cm−1). The freshly prepared but not optimally oxidized K-MOF 2 and Rb-MOF 3 initially displayed intermediate band gaps and conductivity, however, upon prolonged aerobic oxidation, which raised the TTFTC˙+ population to saturation levels (∼25 and 10%, respectively), the resulting 2-ox and 3-ox displayed much narrower band gaps (∼1.35 eV) and higher electrical conductivity (6.6 × 10−5 and 4.7 × 10−5 S cm−1, respectively). The computational studies indicated that charge movement in these MOFs occurred predominantly through the π-stacked ligands, while the experimental results displayed the combined effects of π–π-interactions, TTFTC˙+ population, and TTFTC/TTFTC˙+ IVCT interaction on their electronic and optical properties, demonstrating that IVCT interactions between the mixed-valent ligands could be exploited as an effective design strategy to develop electrically conducting MOFs.
Open reduction and internal fixation alone versus open reduction and internal fixation plus total hip arthroplasty for displaced acetabular fractures in patients older than 60 years: A prospective clinical trial.

Abstract Introduction The optimal treatment of elderly patients with an acetabular fracture is unknown. We conducted a prospective clinical trial to compare functional outcomes and reoperation rates in patients older than 60 years with acetabular fracture treated with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) alone versus ORIF plus concomitant total hip arthroplasty (ORIF + THA). Our hypothesis was that patients who had ORIF + THA would have better patient reported outcomes and lower reoperation rates postoperatively. Methods Inclusion criteria were patients older than 60 years with acetabular fracture plus at least one of three fracture characteristics: dome impaction, femoral head fracture, or posterior wall component. Eligible patients were operative candidates based on fracture displacement, ambulatory status, and physiological appropriateness. Patients received either ORIF alone or ORIF + THA (accomplished at same surgery through same incision). Outcome measurements included Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index hip score, Short Form 36, Harris Hip Score, and Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire Short Form scores. Additionally, patients were monitored for any unplanned reoperation within 2 years. Results Forty-seven of 165 eligible patients with an average age of 70.7 years were included. The mean Harris Hip Score difference favored ORIF + THA (mean difference, 12.3, [95% confidence interval (CI), -0.3 to 24.9, p = 0.07]). No clinically important differences were detected in any other validated outcome score or patient satisfaction score 1 year after surgery. ORIF + THA decreased the absolute risk of reoperation by 28% (95% CI, 13% to 44%, p Conclusions In patients older than 60 years with an operative displaced acetabular fracture with specific fracture features (dome impaction, femoral head fracture, or posterior wall component), treatment with ORIF + THA resulted in fewer reoperations than treatment with ORIF alone. No differences in patient satisfaction and other validated outcome measures were detected.
Decadal dead wood biomass dynamics of coterminous US forests

Due to global change, temperate forests are expected to face growing threats to forest health (e.g. insects/disease) and increasing probabilities of severe disturbances (e.g. wildfires), which may result in amplified tree mortality against a backdrop of a changing climate and associated ecosystem/atmospheric feedbacks (i.e. increased rates of dead wood decay/combustion). Despite these expectations, we lack a fundamental understanding of current forest biomass trends among live and dead components across large spatial and temporal domains. The goal of this study was to examine changes in forest biomass components (downed dead wood (DDW), standing dead trees (SDs), and live trees) across coterminous US forests using a nation-wide, multi-decade (∼2006–2010 to ∼2015–2019) repeated forest inventory at the scale of regional ecosystems. It was found that the total biomass stocks of DDW, standing dead, and live trees all increased (18.3%, 14.7%, and 3.9%, respectively) with biomass accumulation in large live trees coupled with increases in the biomass of smaller sized down dead wood illustrating the influence of stand development across US forests at the scale of individual forest ecosystems (i.e. self-thinning). Coupled with this observation, tremendous positive skew of biomass change across all biomass components and size classes demonstrates the ability of severe but episodic disturbance events to produce substantial biomass inputs to SD and DDW pools with legacy effects exceeding the period of this study. Overall, against a backdrop of expected future global change and growing interest in the maintenance of the terrestrial forest carbon pool, the incorporation of dead wood-focused analytics such as decay-related functional traits, microbial/fungal community assessments, or dead/live biomass relationships into broader forest carbon/biomass monitoring efforts is essential.
Diversity and convergence within peripheral glia development

In a recent study, Tasdemir-Yilmaz and colleagues used single-cell RNA sequencing to reveal how diversity among peripheral glia changes with development and also identified unifying genetic profiles that are shared between mature glia. These data highlight new tools and pathways in which to understand peripheral glial development and function.
Historical and Philosophical Antecedents

Philosophers from the time of Plato and Aristotle struggled with the nature of the mind, its relationship to the body and to objective physical reality. For Aristotle, sensations and their relationship to perception and reasoning were of central importance. Attention was not an essential aspect of Aristotle’s epistemology; sensory experience was thought to take on the form of the external world [1]. Descartes in his quest to create a philosophy of the mind observed “Regarding those matters which I think I see utterly clearly with my mind’s eye … when I turn to the things themselves which I think I perceive very clearly, I am so convinced by them that I spontaneously declare: let whoever can do so deceive me” [2]. In his writings and those of the other renaissance philosophers of his time, one sees the emergence of the role of consciousness in the process of perceiving, as in his use of the idea of “my mind’s eye.” Clearly based on introspection, Descartes made a crucial distinction between “external” sense perception and perception that was genuinely clear and distinct. For Descartes, the external senses resulted in “a spontaneous impulse to believe something,” but he did not view this type of impulse as irresistible, whereas clear and distinct perceptions that become conscious were seen as irresistible. While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to review the various philosophical perspectives on consciousness and the nature of attention, it is apparent that even though many of the renaissance philosophers did not explicitly use the term attention, they were struggling to make sense of experiential phenomena that was at in its essence attentional.
A Critical Performance of Thom Gunn's "Misanthropos"

If one attends to his own experience of reading poems rather than to that of hearing a poet read poems in a crowded hall, he will, I believe, agree that the performance to which a poem summons him is not so much a public recitation as it is a form of criticism analogous to the performing arts. If the poet is a performing self, as Richard Poirier claims, if no work of art comes alive except in the presence of an audience, as R. G. Collingwood argues, if the reader of poems must accept these claims, nonetheless he will modify them because of his recognition that the poet is always his own first audience.1 The echoing quality of all poetic language depends on the presence of this primary audience, on the felt presence of the poet as his own first listener, and this essential echo is drowned out and rendered inaudible by the assumption that the life of poetry depends on its metropolitan audiences which are reached through our great publishing firms and on those crowds who are gathered to gether by the business of organizing poetry reading circuits. Unless misled by the prospect of a cash reward, no poet would think he was reciting his poems in order that they might be heard. For he could not even compose a poem unless it were heard in the very act of composition. The experience of reading poems to oneself and especially reading them silently must reveal that the listening presence of the poet has to be attended to just as much as his speaking presence. One cannot, in fact, even hear the words of poetry unless he also attends to the echoing into silence which is, at a conceptual level, the poet's act of shaping the poem. A poet works with his words in order to articulate that innermost feeling which determines the quality of his self, his world, and his experience. His words work poetically only in so far as they are the echo of that upsurge of feeling. A reader of those words can respond to them as echoingly resonant only to the extent that he also attends to the echo of that echo, to the over arching action which is the poet's own attending to his words as echoing the deepest impulsion of his experience. Words working poetically are neither transitive nor intransitive. They do not, like words used practically or intellectually, have the reason for their being in the conventional patterns and structures and frameworks to which they refer, even though they may include such transitive references. Nor are they self-subsistent, only internally referential, elements of an autonomous artifact, a fiction, a sort of
Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis and Degradation in Escherichia coli During Inhibition of Translation

Abstract Various aspects of the coupling between the movement of ribosomes along messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNA) and the synthesis and degradation of mRNA have been investigated. Decreasing the rate of movement of ribosomes along an mRNA does not affect the rate of movement of some, and possibly most, of the RNA polymerases transcribing the gene coding for that mRNA. Inhibiting translation with antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, tetracycline, or fusidic acid protects extant mRNA from degradation, presumably by immobilizing ribosomes, whereas puromycin exposes mRNA to more rapid degradation than normal. The promoter distal (3′) portion of mRNA, synthesized after ribosomes have been immobilized by chloramphenicol on the promoter proximal (5′) portion of the mRNA, is subsequently degraded.
Microarray Analyses of Peripheral Blood Cells Identifies Unique Gene Expression Signature in Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic and erosive form of arthritis of unknown cause. We aimed to characterize the PsA phenotype using gene expression profiling and comparing it with healthy control subjects and patients rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Peripheral blood cells (PBCs) of 19 patients with active PsA and 19 age- and sex-matched control subjects were used in the analyses of PsA, with blood samples collected in PaxGene tubes. A significant alteration in the pattern of expression of 313 genes was noted in the PBCs of PsA patients on Affymetrix U133A arrays: 257 genes were expressed at reduced levels in PsA, and 56 genes were expressed at increased levels, compared with controls. Downregulated genes tended to cluster to certain chromosomal regions, including those containing the psoriasis susceptibility loci PSORS1 and PSORS2. Among the genes with the most significantly reduced expression were those involved in downregulation or suppression of innate and acquired immune responses, such as SIGIRR, STAT3, SHP1, IKBKB, IL-11RA, and TCF7, suggesting inappropriate control that favors proinflammatory responses. Several members of the MAPK signaling pathway and tumor suppressor genes showed reduced expression. Three proinflammatory genes—S100A8, S100A12, and thioredoxin—showed increased expression. Logistic regression and recursive partitioning analysis determined that one gene, nucleoporin 62 kDa, could correctly classify all controls and 94.7% of the PsA patients. Using a dataset of 48 RA samples for comparison, the combination of two genes, MAP3K3 followed by CACNA1S, was enough to correctly classify all RA and PsA patients. Thus, PBC gene expression profiling identified a gene expression signature that differentiated PsA from RA, and PsA from controls. Several novel genes were differentially expressed in PsA and may prove to be diagnostic biomarkers or serve as new targets for the development of therapies.
Sri Lanka's Sarvodaya Shramadana movement: Promoting people's participation in rural community development

Abstract Social movements provide a natural laboratory for the study of community development principles in operation. The Sarvodaya Movement, a vehicle for participative education and development programming among Sri Lanka's rural poor, aims to strengthen social solidarity and to maintain cultural continuity while helping the rural people to acquire knowledge and skills basic to their coping with a changing world. The history and philosophy of the Movement are discussed as well as its structural and functional components. An illustration showing the major interrelated organizational and process‐oriented features and an analytical framework is used to evaluate the operational soundness of the Movement. The fact that two‐thirds of the world's population is Asian and more than one‐half of that resides in rural villages provides an important context for this report on Sarvodaya's accomplishments in promoting mass participation in rural community development.
A Precision Measurement of the Top Quark Mass

This dissertation describes the measurement of the top quark mass using events recorded during a {approx} 230 pb{sup -1} exposure of the D0 detector to proton-anti-proton (p{bar p}) collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that the top quark will decay into a bottom quark and a W boson close to 100% of the time. The bottom quark will hadronize (bind with another quark) and produce a jet of hadronic particles. The W bosons can decay either into a charged lepton and a neutrino or a pair of quarks. this dissertation focuses on the top quark (t{bar t}) events in which one W decays hadronically and the other decays leptonically. Two methods of identifying t{bar t} events from the large number of events produced are used. The first is based on the unique topology of the final state particles of a heavy particle. By using the topological information of the event, the t{bar t} events can be efficiently extracted from the background. The second method relies on the identification of the remnants of the long lived bottom quarks that are expected to be produced in the decay of almost everymore » top quark. Because the largest background processes do not contain bottom quarks, this is an extremely efficient way to select the events retaining about 60% of the t{bar t} events and removing almost 90% of the background. A kinematic fit to the top quark mass is performed on the t{bar t} candidate events using the final state particles that are seen in the detector. A likelihood technique is then used to extract the most likely value of the top quark mass, m{sub t}, and signal fraction. The result for the topological selection is m{sub t} = 169.9 {+-} 5.8(statistical){sub -7.8}{sup +8.0}(systematic) GeV while the results on the sample selected from identification of a b quark in the event is m{sub t} = 170.6 {+-} 4.2(statistical){sub -6.8}{sup +6.3}(systematic) GeV.« less
Isolation and Characterization of Nonconverting Mutants of Bacteriophage ε34

e34 Is a converting bacteriophage which brings about a glucosylation of the O antigen in the E group salmonella, thus producing antigen 34. Uridine diphosphate glucose is the precursor of antigen 34 and a glucosyl-lipid is an essential intermediate in this process. Mutants of e34 which cannot produce antigen 34 have been isolated. Cells lysogenic for these mutants are of two types. Type 1 mutant lysogens cannot form the glucosyl-lipid intermediate; those of type 2 can form glucosyl-lipid but are unable to transfer glucose from the lipid to the O antigen.
The Vertical Visual Field and Implications for the Head-Up Display:

The present study evaluated dual-task performance as a function of the vertical separation between a tracking task and a discrete-response task, to provide data relevant to the positioning of aircr...
A memory supplier's outlook on die products

Mobile PCs and servers, wireless handsets, personal appliances and other mobile applications are driving the need for high-performance, low-cost, small form factor memory solutions. For this reason, die products as well as integrated packaging technologies are increasingly more prevalent as memory solutions designed into these applications. System designs are increasingly implementing integrated packaging strategies, such as the multichip package (MCP) or stacked package and system in package (SiP) products. The growth in die product demand is reflected in semiconductor manufacturers development of new production and test processes to enable the production of die products with a higher yield. The applications integrating die products are diverse, each one with its own form factor and device characteristic requirements. The emergence of several new packaging and die product solutions offers designers options and the ability to pick the technology that best meets their design requirements. The wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP) is an example of an emerging packaging technology. WLCSP with a redistribution layer (RDL) applied provides many advantages over the standard thin small outline package (TSOP) and ball grid array (BGA) packages including electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties.
Morphology of asset asymmetry

Abstract Although many financial paradigms are predicted on the assumption that security returns are symmetrically distributed, relatively little research has been conducted into the legitimacy of the presumption. This effort is intended to present the results of a thorough investigation of the subject, where two measures of skewness have been computed and compared. Roughly, the major conclusion is that regardless of how skewness is measured, securities have displayed a persistent propensity to positive asymmetry during the last three decades, although the evidence is less unambiguous when evaluated over the last 50 years.
Teratogenic effects of retinoic acid and dirmethylsulfoxide on embryonic chick wing and somite

In order to document the stage(s) at which the embryonic chick wing bud is sensitive to vitamin A teratogenesis and the kinds of defects produced by vitamin A insult to the embryonic chick wing, 1-microgram doses of retinoic acid (1 microliter RA in 90% DMSO at a concentration of 1 microgram/microliter) were locally applied to the right wing bud of chick embryos at stages 17-23 (Hamburger and Hamilton: J. Morphol., 88:49-92, '51), and the resulting limb skeleton anatomy was observed at 10 days of incubation. Local application of RA at stages 17-20 resulted in distal wing skeleton defects. There were significantly more wing skeleton defects among embryos treated at these stages with RA solution than among solvent (DMSO)-treated control embryos and than among untreated control embryos. Wings of embryos treated with RA at stages 21-23 were always normal. Scapular and vertebral defects were seen at 10 days of incubation among embryos which had been treated prior to stage 21 with both the RA solution and the solvent control. Statistical analysis and histological data suggest that scapular and vertebral defects were caused by DMSO-induced damage to somites.
Molybdenum alkylidyne complexes that contain a 3,3′-di-t-butyl-5,5′,6,6′-tetramethyl-1,1′-biphenyl-2,2′-diolate ([Biphen]2−) ligand

Abstract The reaction between K2[Biphen] ([Biphen]2−=3,3′-Di-t-butyl-5,5′,6,6′-tetramethyl-1,1′-Biphenyl-2,2′-diolate) and Mo(NArCl)(CH-t-Bu)(OTf)2(dme) (ArCl=2,6-Cl2C6H3) in the presence of ten equivalents of triethylamine gave Mo(NHArCl)(C-t-Bu)[Biphen] (4a) in 40–50% yield. Addition of K2[S-Biphen] to Mo(NArCl)(CHCMe2Ph)(OTf)2(THF) in THF led to the isolation of Mo(NHArCl)(CCMe2Ph)[S-Biphen] (4b) in ∼40% yield. An X-ray crystal study of 4b confirmed the proposed structure and also revealed that one ortho chloride approaches within 2.93 A of the metal approximately trans to the alkylidyne ligand. Addition of one equivalent of H2[Biphen] to Mo(CCH2SiMe3)[N(i-Pr)Ar″)]3 (Ar″=3,5-dimethylphenyl) produced Mo(CCH2SiMe3)[Biphen][N(i-Pr)Ar″)] in situ, which when treated with one equivalent of 1-adamantanol gave a mixture of Mo(CCH2SiMe3)[Biphen](OAd) (9) and three equivalents of HN(i-Pr)Ar″, from which 9 could be isolated as a beige powder in 46% yield. An X-ray study of 9 confirmed that it is a pseudotetrahedral species in which the MoC bond length is 1.707(15) A and the MoCC angle is 168.3(11)°. Addition of ten equivalents of 2-butyne or 3-hexyne to a pale yellow solution of 9 produced the molybdacyclobutadiene complexes Mo(C3R3)[Biphen](OAd) (R=Me or Et; 10a and 10b, respectively) in high yield. Both 10a and 10b decompose slowly in solution, even in the presence of added alkyne. An X-ray structure of the decomposition product of 10a revealed it to have the stoichiometry of 10a plus one additional equivalent of 2-butyne. The most unusual feature of the structure of this alkyne complex is a fusion of the C3Me3 portion of the metallacyclobutadiene ring to carbons in position 5 and 6 in the [Biphen]2− backbone to create a σ allyl linkage. These results suggest that Mo biphenolate alkylidyne complexes are not likely to be stable under conditions where alkynes are metathesized.
Lie algebras and suppression of decoherence in open quantum systems

Since there are many examples in which no decoherence-free subsystems exist (among them all cases where the error generators act irreducibly on the system Hilbert space), it is of interest to search for novel mechanisms which suppress decoherence in these more general cases. Drawing on recent work (quant-ph/0502153) we present three results which indicate decoherence suppression without the need for noiseless subsystems. There is a certain trade-off; our results do not necessarily apply to an arbitrary initial density matrix, or for completely generic noise parameters. On the other hand, our computational methods are novel and the result--suppression of decoherence in the error-algebra approach without noiseless subsystems--is an interesting new direction.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, OPINION CHANGE, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL.

(1964). Cognitive Dissonance, Opinion Change, and Physiological Arousal. The Journal of General Psychology: Vol. 71, No. 1, pp. 115-124.
Surface Reaction Mechanisms during Plasma-Assisted Atomic Layer Deposition of Titanium Dioxide

We have investigated the surface reaction mechanisms during the O2-plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) of TiO2 from titanium tetraisopropoxide using in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. We show that the reaction mechanism involves a combination of O3- and H2O-based ALD chemistries, where both metal carbonates and surface hydroxyl groups are the reactive site for chemisorption of the metal precursor. The TiO2 films have anatase crystal structure at 150 °C with a growth per cycle of ∼0.83 A, which is much higher than that for amorphous films.
The Carboxy-Terminal Domain Is Essential for Stability and Not for Virion Incorporation of HIV-1 Vpr into Virus Particles

Abstract Vpr is one of the auxiliary gene products encoded by HIV-1 genome. Vpr is a 14-kDa protein and exhibits several interesting characteristics including incorporation into virus particles, oligomerization, localization in the nucleus, and positive regulation of virus replication in primary cells. In an effort to define the structure–function relationship of Vpr, the role of the C-terminus of Vpr was investigated. Site-specific mutagenesis involving deletion, insertion, and substitution of residues at the C-terminus was utilized to generate variants of Vpr. Mutations introduced at the C-terminus affected properties of Vpr in different ways: (i) Vpr containing amino acids 1–72 showed the virion incorporation phenotype, indicating that the C-terminus is not essential for this function, (ii) the C-terminus contributes to the stability of Vpr, and (iii) substitution mutagenesis involving the basic residues showed stability similar to that of wild type, indicating the lack of involvement of these residues in this biochemical property of Vpr. The data generated in this study and our early mutagenic analyses on Vpr suggest that domains noncontiguous in primary sequence contribute to the stability of Vpr through overall conformation of the protein.
On the presence of subarachnoid fluid in the mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus

Abstract 1. 1. Experiments examine the relationship between ventricular cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and extrabrain fluid in lower vertebrates, with emphasis on the amphibian Necturus maculosus. 2. 2. Analyses of Necturus extrabrain fluid identify this fluid as CSF, while experiments with methylene blue demonstrate communication between this fluid and ventricular CSF. 3. 3. Extrabrain fluid or tissue collected from Myxine glutinosa, Raja erinacea, Hemitripterus americanus and Ginglymostoma cirratum is not CSF.
Analytical and comparative analysis of lossy ultraspectral image compression

AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) images are a type of ultraspectral data cubes that are good candidates for compression as they include several thousand bands that account for well over 40MB of information per image. In this paper we describe and mathematically model an improved architecture to accomplish lossy compression of AIRS images by presenting a sequence of techniques executed under the context of preprocessing and compression stages. Specifically we describe both a preprocessing reversible stage that rearranges the AIRS data cube and a linear prediction based compression stage that improves the compression rate when compared to other state of the art ultraspectral data compression techniques. After defining a distortion measure as well as its effect on real applications (i.e. AIRS Level 2 products) we present a mathematical model to approximate the rate-distortion of the architecture and compare it against the experimental performance of the algorithm. The analysis relies on the vector quantization of the prediction error and assumes that the individual samples follow a Laplacian distribution that is the only source of distortion. In general under an open-loop encoding scheme, the distortion caused by the quantization of linear-prediction coefficients is masked by the distortion introduced by the prediction error itself. The effect of the preprocessing stage on the analytical model is accounted by different values of the Laplacian distribution such that the curve obtained by parametrically plotting rate against distortion is a close approximation of the experimental one.
Potassium disposition and neuroendocrine effects of propranolol, methyldopa and clonidine during dynamic exercise.

In order to determine the changes in potassium disposition with antirenin, antihypertensives during dynamic physical activity, a double-blind placebo controlled study was undertaken using normal volunteers receiving placebo or single and multiple dose clonidine, methyldopa and propranolol 0.2 mg. followed by 0.1 mg. bid x 7 days, 500 mg. followed by 250 mg. bid x 7 days or 80 mg. followed by 40 mg. bid x 7 days, respectively. Prior to study, 2 hours post dosing and coincident with immediate pre-exercise on treadmill, at graded increases of exercise and 2 hours post exercise (approximately 4 hours post dosing), blood was sampled for potassium, renin concentration, aldosterone and catecholamines. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured. The results demonstrate no greater increase in potassium over placebo with single or multiple dose clonidine or methyldopa. Following the initial dose of propranolol, 80 mg., there was a statistically greater rise in potassium over that seen with placebo but no...
Liquid Metal Flow Measurements using an Ultrasonic Doppler Velocimeter

A RECENT development for fluid flow measurement is the ultrasonic Doppler velocimeter (UDV)1–3. Clearly such a non-intrusive technique would have considerable advantages for magnetohydrodynamic flow measurement.
Three-dimensional optical measurements of porous foams

The optical, noncontact stereovision system and data analysis procedure are developed for the measurement of porous foams. The stereovision measurement system has demonstrated the capability to capture both the micro-scale features and the macro-scale shape of both the open-cell and closed-cell porous foams. A computational procedure, denoted as the grid method, is developed to identify representative planes on the porous foam surface using the stereovision measured data points. The relative positions between planes can be used to calculate the angles and distances between porous foam surfaces. A SiC open-cell and an aluminum closed-cell foams are used as examples to validate the grid method and demonstrate its computational efficiency. This research enables the form measurements and geometrical dimensioning and tolerancing of porous foams for quality control and assembly and contact analysis.
A Reduced-Gravity, Primitive Equation, Isopycnal Ocean GCM: Formulation and Simulations

Abstract A reduced gravity, primitive equation, ocean GCM with an isopycnal vertical coordinate is developed. A “buffer” layer is introduced to allow the mixed layer to detrain mass at arbitrary densities without the coordinate drift or the heat loss suffered by other isopycnal models. The diapycnal velocity is derived from the thermodynamic equation. Negative layers are removed by a heat- and mass-conserving convective adjustment scheme. The model formulation on a β plane employs an A grid and allows irregular coastlines and local grid stretching. Simulations with climatological winds and surface heat fluxes based on observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are presented for the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans. The surface mixed layer is modeled as a constant depth layer, and salinity effects are neglected in this version. The surface heat flux parameterization used here leads to errors in model SSTs, which are reasonable in the Tropics but are higher in the western boundary current regions....
Rapid solid phase extraction of dissolved organic matter

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a complex mixture of molecules found ubiquitously in freshwater and saltwater environments. Its structures contain valuable information content on the sources of molecules as well as the mechanisms at work within an aquatic ecosystem. Recent advancements in high resolution mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography have made inroads into determinations of the molecular structures within DOM. Such analyses, however, generally require a prior step to concentrate/isolate DOM, and this step often limits the number of samples that can be analyzed. This study has developed a fast method to concentrate DOM on commercially available online solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges, which can be directly eluted onto an HPLC-MS system. This rapid solid phase extraction (RSPE) method requires less sample (10-100 mL) than previous SPE methods for DOM isolation. Additionally, this study tested a suite of SPE phases to find a combination that improves DOM recovery as compared with commonly used approaches. When a polystyrene divinylbenzene phase (RP-1) was coupled with an activated carbon (CAR) phase, recoveries were found to be significantly higher than in previous SPE studies relying upon single phases. RSPE was tested for a diverse set of salty and freshwater samples with recoveries ranging from 46% to 78% of the total DOC. It was also tested on a suite of model compounds (including caffeine) and should be applicable to anthropogenic compounds in aquatic environments, although, in such cases, optimization may be needed to minimize the natural organic matter signal that was maximized in this study.
Oxidative energy deficiency. II. Human achondroplasia

Abstract Defective oxidative energy formation (with decreased phosphorylation possibly occurring at Site I of phosphorylation, the NADH dehydrogenase region of the terminal respiratory system) has been demonstrated in mitochondrial preparations isolated from muscle biopsy specimens from human subjects with classical achondroplasia.
Oviposition stimulants for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly,Battus philenor (Papilionidae), from anAristolochia host plant: Synergism between inositols, aristolochic acids and a monogalactosyl diglyceride

Aristolochia macrophylla (Lam.) is a major host of the pipevine swallowtail butterfly,Battus philenor (L.), in the eastern United States. The female butterflies use a synergistic mixture of inositols, acids and a lipid as oviposition cues in recognizing this plant on contact. The acids and lipid, all isolated from the Et2O-CHCl3 fraction of an alcoholic extract of fresh foliage, were identified as aristolochic acid I (1), aristolochic acid II (2) and 1,2-[di(9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadeca-9, 12, 15-trienoyl]-3-galactosyl-sn-glycerol (3). Identifications were facilitated by UV, MS (EI and FAB) and NMR (1D and 2D) spectral techniques and by analysis of the hydrolysis products of 3. The active inositols were identified as D-(+)-pinitol, reported previously, and sequoyitol. Though this is apparently the first report of oviposition responses to a diacyl glycerol glycoside by a phytophagous insect, responses to aristolochic acids and sequoyitol have been reported previously for anAristolochia-feeding swallowtail of a different genus in Japan. This indicates substantial evolutionary conservatism in chemical oviposition cues within the tribe Troidini.
White light Bessel-like beams generated by miniature all-fiber device

Micron-sized white light propagation invariant beams generated by a simple and compact fiber device are presented. The all-fiber device is fabricated by splicing a short piece of large-core multimode fiber onto a small-core single mode white light delivery fiber. Because this fiber device offers an inherent spatial coherence, nondiffracting white light beams can be created with a temporally incoherent broadband light source (a halogen bulb) and, most importantly, the surrounding fringes don’t fade as the bandwidth of the light source increases because the underlying physics of this fiber device is different from that of the axicon. White light Bessel-like beams have been generated from multimode fibers with core diameters of 50 μm, 105 μm, and 200 μm. The distance of nondiffracting propagation of the white light Bessel beam increases with increasing core size of the multimode fiber. Propagation characteristics of red, green, and blue individual beams are also presented.