cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Band Structure Phase Diagram Calculation of 2D BiSb Films

Ever since the birth of thermoelectrics, it has been well known that semiconductors (materials with a relative small bandgap) give the best thermoelectric performance. From quantum mechanics, it is also well known that low dimension quantum confinement leads to changes in the band alignment of a material. Thus, a semimetallic material can be made semiconducting by using low dimensionality quantum confinement effects. BiSb alloys have been of particular interest for thermoelectric application in the temperature range of 70K to 100K. In bulk form, BiSb alloys can either be semimetal or semiconductor, depending on the alloy composition. Moreover, semimetallic BiSb alloys can be made semiconducting by using the low dimensionality quantum confinement concept. With these two previous concepts in mind, it is valuable to further explore the dependence of the band alignment for different alloy concentrations and different confinement conditions for BiSb alloys. Following the study of the effect of the Sb concentration and of the wire diameter on the semimetallic or semiconducting phase of BiSb alloy nanowires, we now examine the corresponding effect of the Sb concentration and the film thickness on the properties of BiSb alloy films. A band structure phase diagram is calculated, giving the details on the dependence of the relative band edge position on the film thickness and the Sb concentration. This phase diagram gives a first hand guideline for choosing the film thickness and the Sb concentration to better improve the thermoelectric performance of BiSb alloy films.
Completely positive and Hermitian-preserving linear transformations

Abstract Characterization theorems for completely positive and hermitian-preserving linear transformations are given.
Technique for estimating uncertainties in top-of-atmosphere radiances derived by vicarious calibration

Reflectance-based vicarious calibration of satellite sensors is a method by which in-situ radiometric measurements of a surface target and the atmosphere are used to constrain a radiative transfer model for estimating a top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance. The procedure provides an at-sensor radiance, independent of the on-board calibrator, that can be used to maintain knowledge of the in-flight calibration performance of the remote sensing system. However, an estimate of the TOA radiance is incomplete unless accompanied with an uncertainty that quantifies the random and systematic errors associated with that estimate. Presented in this paper is a methodology for predicting a TOA radiance with an absolute accuracy estimate derived using an error propagation analysis based principally on validation data recorded by calibrated ground-based radiometer measurements. A vicarious calibration data collect for the airborne sensor ATLAS and the IKONOS satellite on June 30, 2000 at Brookings, South Dakota provides a test case for this technique in the solar reflective spectrum. The results show that using a natural grass covered target under moderate aerosol loading, absolute accuracies between 3% and 5% are achieved for band integrated TOA radiances between 0.4 and 1.6 microns.
Spontaneous emission of radiation from a discrete sine-Gordon kink.

We use a collective-variable approach to study the emission of phonon radiation from a discrete sine-Gordon kink. We find that a kink, trapped and oscillating in the nonlinear Peierls-Nabarro potential well not only radiates phonons smoothly but emits large and sudden bursts of phonon radiation when the frequency of oscillation reaches certain critical values. We show that the bursts occur whenever a harmonic of the kink's oscillation frequency crosses the lower phonon band edge and thus begins to resonate with phonon modes in the high-density-of-states region of the phonon spectrum. We show that the mechanism that explains the radiation bursts and kink motion in the trapped case also accounts for the behavior of a radiating untrapped kink. We introduce into a general discrete kink system the collective variable X, which is the position of the center of the kink, and we derive, using a projection-operator approach we have recently developed, the exact equations of motion, valid for any kink size, for X, and coupled field variables, which dynamically dress the kink and describe the radiation. The equations of motion are valid for any discrete nonlinear Klein-Gordon wave equation that admits a single kink solution. We apply the equations of motion to the discrete sine-Gordon system and obtain excellent agreement with simulation. We also comment on the problems of treating discreteness as a perturbation.
Christendom and Islam in the Middle Ages: New Light on "Grail Stone" and "Hidden Host"

GEOPOLITICAL reasons have caused our attention to be focussed on Turkey, Pakistan, and the Arab states. Envoys from the East teach us to understand their present condition in the light of the past; scholars meet to re-assess Near Eastern culture and society;' thinkers like Toynbee and Northrop are evaluating Islam and its possible role in world unification.2 We disclaim any such ambition: it is a wholly "disinterested" interest that makes us revert to the past and evoke the dream of a dream: the earthly paradise made of fragrance, sounds, and running waters which the Sons of the Desert created in Al-Andalus. This conjuringup of the past started some hundred years ago, with scholars like Dozy, HammerPuirgstall, and Schack exploring and interpreting Arabic history and literature, but it is still going on; new texts and new anthologies have appeared in translations. Moreover, the philological exploitation of these literary mines has yielded recently some amazing results. We now know, for instance, that the Basques attacked Charlemagne's rear guard because two Saracen brothers wanted to liberate their father, carried off as a captive to France.3 The discovery of the thirteenth-century French and Latin translations of a Castilian version of Mohammed's Ascent to Heaven (Mi 'raj),4 seems to support Asin Palacios' theory5 as to oriental sources of Dante's eschatology. True, the "Ladder" has proved philosophically and poetically disappointing;6 but we cannot discount the possibility that it acted as an incentive, making Dante oppose a Christian Other World Vision to the one presented by Islam.7 And there is the likelihood of Moslem influences in other fields of literature. Thus Courtly Love as a virtue, while incompatible with the Christian ethics of freedom,8 could be easily reconciled
Shielding of Cylindrical Tubes

Shielding attenuation values at low frequencies have been computed for magnetic and nonmagnetic cylindrical tubes based on formulas developed by King.[2] The attenuation in decibels was computed on a digital computer for a range of ratios of wall thickness to depth of penetration from 0.1 to 10 as a function of a nondimensional parameter as used by Kaden.[4] Two graphs are presented that summarize the computer results.
Electrically resonant terahertz metamaterials: Theoretical and experimental investigations

We present a class of artificial materials that exhibit a tailored response to the electrical component of electromagnetic radiation. These electric metamaterials are investigated theoretically, computationally, and experimentally using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. These structures display a resonant response including regions of negative permittivity ${ϵ}_{1}(\ensuremath{\omega})l0$ ranging from $\ensuremath{\sim}500\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GHz}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{THz}$. Conventional electric media such as distributed wires are difficult to incorporate into metamaterials. In contrast, these localized structures will simplify the construction of future metamaterials, including those with negative index of refraction. As these structures generalize to three dimensions in a straightforward manner, they will significantly enhance the design and fabrication of functional terahertz devices.
Modeling semantic influence for biomedicai research topics using MeSH hierarchy

In this work, we model how biomedicai topics influence one another, given they are organized in a topic hierarchy, MeSH, in which the edges capture a parent-child/subsumption relationship among topics. This information enables studying influence of topics from a semantic perspective, which might be very important in analyzing topic evolution and is missing from the current literature. We first define a burst-based action for topics, which models upward momentum in popularity (or "elevated occurrences" of the topics), and use it to define two types of influence: accumulation influence and propagation influence. We then propose a model of influence between topics, and develop an efficient algorithm (TIPS) to identify influential topics. Experiments show that our model is successful at identifying influential topics and the algorithm is very efficient.
A Method of Decreasing Anastomotic Leaks and Delivering Cardioplegia in Aortic Root Replacement

Ascending aortic root replacement is associated with a significant incidence of bleeding from composite graft to annulus anastomosis and from coronary to composite anastomosis. We describe a technique for composite graft to annulus and coronary to composite graft anastomoses with circular Teflon donuts. We also describe a method for delivery of antegrade cardioplegia that allows assessment of anastomoses prior to weaning from bypass.
Early effect of testosterone in the incorporation of uridine into RNA of mouse kidney and seminal vesicles.

The incorporation of [5–3H]—uridine and [5–3H]—cytidine into the acid soluble fraction and RNA of the mouse kidney and seminal vesicles was not influenced by castration. The administration of testosterone, however, stimulated within 12 hr an increased incorporation of [5–3H]—uridine. The continued administration of the androgen resulted in a disappearance of this effect within 48 hr in the kidney and over a period of several days in the seminal vesicles. A high dose (5 μmoles) of the uridine elicited a greater response than a tracer dose. The effect of testosterone on uridine incorporation was opposite to that previously observed with orotic acid and indicates that testosterone stimulates the salvage pathway for RNA synthesis in the seminal vesicles and the kidneys. (Endocrinology 92: 917, 1973)
Detection of Free Radical Activity During Transient Global Ischemia and Recirculation: Effects of Intraischemic Brain Temperature Modulation

: To obtain direct evidence of oxygen radical activity in the course of cerebral ischemia under different intraischemic temperatures, we used a method based on the chemical trapping of hydroxyl radical in the form of the stable adducts 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA) following salicylate administration. Wistar rats were subjected to 20 min of global forebrain ischemia by two-vessel occlusion plus systemic hypotension (50 mm Hg). Intraischemic striatal temperature was maintained as normothermic (37°C), hypothermic (30°C), or hyperthermic (39°C) but was held at 37°C before and following ischemia. Salicylate was administered either systemically (200 mg/kg, i.p.) or by continuous infusion (5 mM) through a microdialysis probe implanted in the striatum. Striatal extracellular fluid was sampled at regular intervals before, during, and after ischemia, and levels of 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA were assayed by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Following systemic administration of salicylate, stable baseline levels of 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA were observed before ischemia. During 20 min of normothermic ischemia, a 50% reduction in mean levels of both DHBAs was documented, suggesting a baseline level of hydroxyl radical that was diminished during ischemia, presumably owing to oxygen restriction to tissue at that time. During recirculation, 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA levels increased by 2.5- and 2.8-fold, respectively. Levels of 2,3-DHBA remained elevated during 1 h of reperfusion, whereas the increase in 2,5-DHBA levels persisted for 2 h. The increases in 2,3- and 2,5-DHBA levels observed following hyperthermic ischemia were significantly higher (3.8- and fivefold, respectively). In contrast, no significant changes in DHBA levels were observed following hypothermic ischemia. The postischemic changes in DHBA content observed following local administration of salicylate were comparable to the results obtained with systemic administration, thus confirming that the hydroxyl radicals arose within brain parenchyma itself. These results provide evidence that hydroxyl radical levels are increased during postischemic recirculation, and this process is modulated by intraischemic brain temperature. Hence, these data suggest a possible mechanism for the effects of temperature on ischemic outcome and support a key role for free radical-induced injury in the development of ischemic damage.
On the effects of environmental conditioning on residual stresses in composite laminates

Abstract This study presents an experimental and theoretical investigation of moisture effects in graphite/epoxy composites. The experiments involved exposure of antisymmetric, cross-ply laminates to various levels of fixed and fluctuating humidity and measurements of the resulting, time-dependent curvatures. Those data were compared with computed values based upon linear elasticity and linear, Theologically simple, viscoelasticity. Good agreement was noted between data and viscoelastic predictions during the moisture absorption stage from the initially dry condition. However, increasing disparity between theory and experiment developed during subsequent drying and humidity cycling conditions. This disparity is attributed to the growth of moisture-induced damage, indicating that drying and moisture cycling are more detrimental to the integrity of composites than moisture absorption, even though they may be associated with a smaller total moisture content.
Regulation of Protein Tyrosine Phosphorylation during Bovine Sperm Capacitation by a Cyclic Adenosine 3',5'-Monophosphate-Dependent Pathway

Mammalian sperm capacitation, defined as an obligatory maturational process leading to the development of the fertilization-competent state, results from a poorly understood series of morphological and molecular events. We report here that ejaculated bovine sperm, incubated under conditions that support capacitation in vitro, display a reproducible pattern of protein tyrosine phosphorylations that are regulated by a cAMP-dependent pathway. The appearance of these tyrosine phosphorylated proteins correlated temporally with the time course of capacitation induced by heparin, and these phosphorylations displayed a similar heparin concentration dependence. Glucose, which inhibits capacitation, inhibited these protein tyrosine phosphorylations in media containing heparin. The biologically active cAMP analogues (dibutyryl cAMP [db-cAMP], 8-bromo cAMP, sp-cAMPS) and the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) induced the same protein tyrosine phosphorylation patterns as seen with heparin. Moreover, these cAMP agonists could overcome the inhibition of the heparin-induced tyrosine phosphorylations by glucose. In contrast, Rp-adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate (Rp-cAMPS), a protein kinase A (PK-A) antagonist, blocked the capacitation-associated increases in protein tyrosine phosphorylation. This cAMP regulation of the protein tyrosine phosphorylation pattern is mediated by PK-A since N-[2-(p-bromocinnamylamino) ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide-dihydrochloride (H89), another inhibitor of PK-A, inhibited the heparin-induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation pattern in a concentration-dependent manner in either the absence or presence of db-cAMP, IBMX, and glucose. These data support a model for sperm capacitation that includes protein tyrosine phosphorylation as an important regulatory pathway, and a role for cAMP/PK-A in the regulation of this pathway leading to capacitation. These studies are the first to report a unique interrelationship between tyrosine kinase/phosphatase and cAMP signaling pathways at the level of PK-A in bovine sperm capacitation.
Local environments of three forms of Ba2YCu3O6+x

Abstract The Wigner–Seitz local atomic cell construction procedure, provides a topological means for comparing series of related structures in terms of the number and type of nearest neighbors. We used this construction to further our understanding of the chemical bonding environment (and hence, the superconducting properties) in three structurally related materials, Ba 2 YCu 3 O 6+ x , ( x =1, 1/2, and 0). These are high- T c superconductors of T c ≈92 K, 56 K, and a nonsuperconductor, respectively. The local environment around Y is found to be similar in all three compounds, and the topology around Ba is generally similar to that in the ideal perovskite. The Cu sites in the Cu–O plane in all three materials show similar anisotropic bonding behavior. Significant results are: (i) that Ba contributes to the bonding with Cu sites, and (ii) the most noticeable difference in the local environment in these compounds is around the Cu sites in the Cu–O “chains”. We propose a modified charge-transfer model, involving the Cu–O “chains”, “planes” and Ba as an electronic unit, to correlate structure with the observed superconducting properties. The bonding behavior of these oxides also appears to be different from the conventional metal alloy superconductors.
Authentic assessment of teaching in context

Abstract The demands of teaching more challenging content to more diverse learners suggest a need for teacher education that enables teachers to become more sophisticated in their understanding of the effects of context and learner variability on teaching and learning. Instead of implementing set routines, teachers need to become ever more skillful in their ability to evaluate teaching situations and develop teaching responses that can be effective under different circumstances. This article examines how a growing number of teacher education programs are using authentic assessments of teaching – cases, exhibitions, portfolios, and problem-based inquiries (or action research) – as tools to support teacher learning for these new challenges of practice. Using specific teacher education programs as examples, the article examines how and why these strategies appear to provide support for teacher learning and avenues for more valid assessment of teaching. The authors also discuss circumstances in which these strategies may be less effective and suggest features of the assessments and programmatic contexts that are associated with more and less successful use.
Trends in spending on training: An analysis of the 1982 through 2008 Training Annual Industry Reports

This article explores long-term trends in spending using data compiled from the Training magazine Annual Industry Survey from 1982 through 2008. It builds on literature that proposes spending on training is an investment that yields benefits—and that offers methods for demonstrating it. After adjusting for inflation, aggregate spending on training rose 1.5% between 1986 and 2008. Inflation-adjusted spending on training staff fell 14%, although inflation-adjusted spending on outside products and services increased 237%. Spending on training fell in all but two job categories. Findings support the belief that spending on training is falling but suggest that this is a sustained and systemic drop rather than a temporary response to an economic crisis. Also, expenditures on internal training resources have fallen, while spending on external resources has risen. A key limitation of this study is that it relies solely on data from the Training Annual Industry Survey.
A robust risk minimization based named entity recognition system

This paper describes a robust linear classification system for Named Entity Recognition. A similar system has been applied to the CoNLL text chunking shared task with state of the art performance. By using different linguistic features, we can easily adapt this system to other token-based linguistic tagging problems. The main focus of the current paper is to investigate the impact of various local linguistic features for named entity recognition on the CoNLL-2003 (Tjong Kim Sang and De Meulder, 2003) shared task data. We show that the system performance can be enhanced significantly with some relative simple token-based features that are available for many languages. Although more sophisticated linguistic features will also be helpful, they provide much less improvement than might be expected.
GOAL SETTING AND FEEDBACK AS A POSTTRAINING STRATEGY TO INCREASE THE TRANSFER OF TRAINING

12 female intercollegiate basketball players trained to shoot free-throws were matched on performance at midseason then randomly divided into two groups. The treatment group received participativel...
The Effects of Magnitude-Based Differential Reinforcement on the Skill Acquisition of Children with Autism

A common recommendation for teaching skills to children with autism is to apply differential reinforcement by reserving high-quality reinforcement for unprompted responses (Sundberg and Partington in Teaching language to children with autism or other developmental disabilities, Behavior Analysts Inc., Pleasant Hill, 1998). Earlier research focuses primarily on schedules or quality of reinforcement, rather than magnitude of reinforcement, when evaluating the use of differential reinforcement in practice. The utility of magnitude-based differential reinforcement may be dependent upon evidence that a learner responds differentially to large and small amounts of reinforcement such that he or she selects the large amount of reinforcement over the small amount of reinforcement and engages in more responses that produce the relatively larger magnitude reinforcement. Three individuals with autism participated in a treatment comparison of differential reinforcement. The manipulation of magnitude of differential reinforcement in a skill acquisition program did not have an appreciable effect on the rate of acquisition for any of the three participants.
India's experiments in mobile licensing☆

Abstract India has tried several different ways to allocate portions of the radiomagnetic spectrum as part of its licensing policies for wireless services. An auction system, in which winning bidders were required to provide fixed fee payments for use of spectrum, was introduced in the early 1990s. This was replaced in 1999, after many companies could not meet license fee payments, by a revenue sharing plan. Given India's continued telecommunications policy objective of expanding service availability to all parts of the country at affordable rates, in 2001 the decision was made to allow basic service license holders to use wireless technologies with limited mobility to complete the local loop connections to subscribers. Spectrum used to provide these services was allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, but with the condition that services be introduced simultaneously in rural, semi-urban, and urban regions. India's different licensing arrangements reflect an ongoing negotiation and shifting regulatory bargain among public and private sector providers of India's telecommunications services, the government, and the actual and potential consumers of these services.
Cognitive attributes: implications for display design in supervisory control systems

Abstract Based on a review of the literature, a cognitive model of human information processing is presented. The model synthesizes several perspectives with the intent of suggesting guidelines for human-computer interface designers of supervisory control systems. Given this model, the paper identifies 18 attributes of cognition that are particularly relevant to information display design and real-time decision-making. The discussion of each attribute of cognition has four components. First, each cognitive attribute is defined based on current interpretations in the cognitive-psychology literature. Next, given traditional design approaches, likely negative outcomes of automation as they affect the cognitive attribute are identified. Third, given the hypothesized effects, improvements in conventional design are suggested. Finally, the discussion of each cognitive attribute concludes with an example drawn from existing command and control environments. The paper is intended to provide a well-defined and coherent background for empirical research exploring alternative strategies of human-computer interface design for decision-makers in supervisory control systems.
Spectrum co-existence of IEEE 802.11b and 802.16a networks using the CSCC etiquette protocol

This paper considers the feasibility of operating both IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi) and 802.16a (Wi-Max) networks in the same shared frequency band. A specific method using the "CSCC" (common spectrum coordination channel) etiquette protocol is studied and compared with earlier results on reactive interference avoidance algorithms. The CSCC concept is outlined, and its application to this particular 802.11&16 spectrum sharing problem is described in detail. The CSCC protocol is used to exchange control information on transmitter and receiver parameters, and hence to cooperatively adapt key PHY-layer variables such as frequency or power. A NS2 simulation model is developed to evaluate performance for representative system scenarios. Both single and multiple 802.11b hotspots per 802.16a cell are considered with the degree of spatial clustering of radio nodes as a key parameter. Simulation results demonstrate that CSCC can improve 802.16a service quality at the expense of a modest decrease in 802.11b throughput in the one-hotspot hidden-receiver scenario considered. Overall system throughput can be significantly improved over reactive schemes depending on the degree of spatial clustering
Prediction of term birth weight in Hispanic women using an equation based on maternal characteristics.

Abstract Objective : To test the accuracy of a birth weight prediction equation based on maternal characteristics in Hispanic women. Study design : A previously published birth weight prediction equation based on maternal and pregnancy-specific characteristics was used to predict birth weights for 283 normal Caucasian women of Hispanic ethnicity. The accuracy of these birth weight estimates was compared to a similarly selected group of 233 non-Hispanic Caucasian gravidas who were located 2500 miles away. Results : Birth weight predictions for Hispanic women were accurate to within ±8.4% (±287 g). The percentages of birth weights predicted to within ±15 and ±10% of actual values were 84 and 68%, respectively. These results were no different than those that were obtained for non-Hispanic Caucasian gravidas. Conclusions : A previously derived birth weight prediction equation based on maternal and pregnancy-specific characteristics alone successfully predicts term birth weight in normal Hispanic gravidas to within ±8.4% (±287 g).
Effects of cardiovascular drugs on ATPase activity of P-glycoprotein in plasma membranes and in purified reconstituted form

Drug interactions with P-glycoprotein (Pgp) were quantitatively assessed using ATPase assay. Two experimental systems were used, (i) plasma membranes isolated from a multidrug-resistant cell line, which contained 30% Pgp as fraction of total membrane protein, and (ii) purified reconstituted Pgp. The cardioactive drugs verapamil, quinidine, diltiazem, nifedipine, and a series of digitalis analogs, interacted directly with Pgp as shown on ATPase in both systems. Apparent affinities of drug binding were calculated. Direct competition was shown between digitoxin and verapamil. Drug-drug interaction in vivo at the level of Pgp is expected from the results. This approach seems well-suited for empirical determination of drug interactions with Pgp, and prediction of drug-drug interactions.
Effects of root radius, stress, crack growth and rate on fracture instability

Of various criteria for fracture at the root of a notch, the energy, local stress, and displacement criteria have limited validity. More appropriate is the history of both stress and strain over a small region ahead of the crack, as required for fracture by the coalescence of holes. Expressions are given for crack initiation, growth, and subsequent instability in anti-plane strain of a non-hardening material. Instability is shown to depend primarily on those strain increments arising from crack grow that constant load rather than on those from increasing load at constant crack length. Thus final instability conditions are similar for single and double-ended cracks, round notches, and cracks cut under constant load. Round notches may give instability, restabilization, and final instability. The growth and coalescence of holes in front of a crack in a linearly viscous material is studied for both tensile and anti-plane-strain cracks. The absence of residual strain eliminates instability, but the crack continually accelerates.
Frequency-differential representation of losses to express quality factor in terms of reactance-slope parameters for three-dimensional, arbitrarily-shaped resonators

The use of reactance slope parameters for the design of RF and microwave filters was drawn from lumped-element circuit representations. In recent work, a field-theoretic framework was established to represent the quality factor in terms of reactance-slope parameters for electrically-large, arbitrarily-shaped, three dimensional resonators. The work presented in this paper develops a relationship for use in the denominator of the field-theoretic representation for modal Q that involves strictly surface-based field and source quantities, even for losses distributed throughout the resonator volume. By doing so the field-theoretic representation for Q becomes a strictly surface field and source dependent representation with the attendant reduced level of dimensionality (two-dimensional instead of three-dimensional integrals) and with a potentially corresponding reduction in computational complexity. The relationships presented here are used to evaluate the effect of dielectric losses on the unloaded Q for TE/sub 101/-mode rectangular resonators comprised of silver, copper, aluminum, and brass and are used to compare unloaded Q values for air- and fused-quartz-filled resonators. Results are also presented for circular cylindrical resonators comprised of the same lossy metals and lossy dielectrics.
The Emergence of Mixing Methods in the Field of Evaluation

When and how did the contemporary practice of mixing methods in social inquiry get started? What events transpired to catalyze the explosive conceptual development and practical adoption of mixed methods social inquiry over recent decades? How has this development progressed? What “next steps” would be most constructive? These questions are engaged in this personally narrative account of the beginnings of the contemporary mixed methods phenomenon in the field of evaluation from the perspective of a methodologist who was there.
Decreased incidence of renal tumors in DMN treated Balb/C mice after orchiectomy

Dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) induced a significant incidence (45.5%) of kidney epithelial tumors in adult male Balb/C mice. The proportion of mice with renal tumors orchiectomized after DMN injection was reduced to 25.6%; whereas the proportion of tumor bearing animals at other sites, such as lung, liver, and lymphatic tissue, increased compared to intact DMN treated animals and controls. This experiment confirms other studies in rats and mice showing that androgens play a role in initiation and progression of nitrosamine induced renal cancer, paralleling the finding of increased male susceptibility in human renal cancer.
On a moving boundary problem of transitional ballistics

A hybrid algorithm for calculating the flow around a flat-nosed projectile moving through a fluid is established. At cells of fixed volume away from the projectile, Harten's total variation diminishing (TVD), second-order accurate, shock capturing scheme is utilized. Due to projectile motion, cells adjacent to the projectile can be treated as compressing or expanding in volume. For such cells, a local finite volume approach has been employed to derive a cell update algorithm. Proof of concept for the expanding cell scheme is established through calculating the one-dimensional flow behind a moving piston, whose theoretical solution is well-known. The resulting hybrid scheme is applied to the problem of blast wave simulation in axisymmetric geometries. Flow around a vertical muzzle brake is calculated for the case of an embedded moving projectile.
Modeling Repetitive Motions Using Structured Light

Obtaining models of dynamic 3D objects is an important part of content generation for computer graphics. Numerous methods have been extended from static scenarios to model dynamic scenes. If the states or poses of the dynamic object repeat often during a sequence (but not necessarily periodically), we call such a repetitive motion. There are many objects, such as toys, machines, and humans, undergoing repetitive motions. Our key observation is that when a motion-state repeats, we can sample the scene under the same motion state again but using a different set of parameters; thus, providing more information of each motion state. This enables robustly acquiring dense 3D information difficult for objects with repetitive motions using only simple hardware. After the motion sequence, we group temporally disjoint observations of the same motion state together and produce a smooth space-time reconstruction of the scene. Effectively, the dynamic scene modeling problem is converted to a series of static scene reconstructions, which are easier to tackle. The varying sampling parameters can be, for example, structured-light patterns, illumination directions, and viewpoints resulting in different modeling techniques. Based on this observation, we present an image-based motion-state framework and demonstrate our paradigm using either a synchronized or an unsynchronized structured-light acquisition method.
Subspace recursions and structure algorithms for singular systems

We define the output-nulling (ON) (A,E,B)-invariant subspaces for singular systems, showing their dynamic significance. A Generalized Lyapunov equation is introduced to compute such a subspace, the feedback required to assign it as a closed-loop invariant subspace, and also the spectrum assigned by that feedback on the subspace. A definition of teachability subspace for singular systems is given. A new singular system structure algorithm is related to the supremal ON (A,E,B)- invariant subspace.
CVA: Reducing the Risk of a Confused Vascular Analysis The Feinberg Lecture

Iwant to thank the Stroke Council, my friends, and colleagues for giving me the privilege of delivering the 2000 William Feinberg lecture. I am particularly honored to follow Lou Caplan. Lou is near the top of the list of individuals who have had the most influence on my career. The subtitle of his classic paper, “What is Wrong with Mr. Jones,”1 has become the mantra for those of us who believe it is essential to know what we are treating before we know how to treat it; otherwise we run the risk of a “confused vascular analysis.” I therefore honor Lou by declaring this the millennium of the stroke splitters; I confidently predict that the stroke lumpers will finally be vanquished sometime in the next 1000 years! The first time I specifically recall being told I was professionally confused was in 1976. I was finishing the third year of my neurology residency at the Cleveland Clinic. My chairman, Jack Conomy, called me into his office to tell me I was confused. He said I really did not want to take an EMG fellowship and that I should go into something “more challenging,” like stroke. I always took Jack’s advice, and to this day I cannot interpret an EMG. Shortly after starting my stroke fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in 1977, I noticed that many patients in Rochester, Minnesota, seemed to be on coumadin. I therefore asked Burt Sandok what the rationale was for using coumadin to prevent CVAs. Burt said, “You know, Tony, CVA stands for a ‘confused vascular analysis.’ Why don’t you review the literature and get back to me?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but this seemingly humorous anecdote would serve as the basis for my entire career. That literature review revealed many papers and …
Retrieved Vertical Profiles of Latent Heat Release Using TRMM Rainfall Products for February 1998

Abstract This paper represents the first attempt to use Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall information to estimate the four-dimensional latent heating structure over the global Tropics for one month (February 1998). The mean latent heating profiles over six oceanic regions [Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) Intensive Flux Array (IFA), central Pacific, South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), east Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean] and three continental regions (South America, central Africa, and Australia) are estimated and studied. The heating profiles obtained from the results of diagnostic budget studies over a broad range of geographic locations are used to provide comparisons and indirect validation for the heating algorithm–estimated heating profiles. Three different latent heating algorithms, the Goddard Space Flight Center convective–stratiform heating (CSH), the Goddard profiling (GPROF) heating, and the hydrome...
Influenza Hemagglutination-Inhibition Antibody Titer as a Correlate of Vaccine-Induced Protection

Background. Antibody to influenza virus hemagglutinin has been traditionally associated with protection. Questions have been raised about its use as a surrogate for vaccine efficacy, particularly with regard to an absolute titer indicating seroprotection. Methods. We examined hemagglutination-inhibition (HAI) antibody titers in subjects from a placebocontrolled trial of inactivated and live attenuated vaccines and compared titers in subjects with symptomatic influenza (cases) to those without influenza infection (noncases). Results. Prevaccination and postvaccination geometric mean titers were both significantly lower for cases compared with noncases in all intervention groups. Frequency of postvaccination seroconversion did not significantly differ for cases and noncases in either vaccine group. Among live attenuated vaccine and placebo recipients, cases were less likely than noncases to have postvaccination HAI titers $32 or 64. Nearly all recipients of inactivated vaccine had postvaccination titers of at least 64, and the small number of vaccine failures were scattered across titers ranging from 64 to 2048. Conclusions. While HAI antibody is the major correlate of protection, postvaccination titers alone should not be used as a surrogate for vaccine efficacy. Vaccine failures from clinical trials need to be examined to determine why seemingly protective HAI titers may not protect. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT00538512.
A Java execution simulator

This paper describes JES, a Java Execution Simulator that allows users to explore how a Java program executes. This interactive simulator displays a representation of a Java program and animates the running of the program. Instructors can use JES to demonstrate how data is moved when variables are assigned, when parameters are passed, and when values are returned by a method. JES is useful for comparing how primitive and object values are manipulated. The simulator also demonstrates scope rules, object creation, inheritance and polymorphism. While the simulator only supports variables of type double and object and does not support conditionals or looping, it allows users to write general Java programs that might be used as examples in the first weeks of a CS 1 course. JES also has support for arrays of doubles and objects. The simulator is written in Java and can be run as an application or an applet. Support for the simulator includes a simple mechanism for quickly running the simulator on a program developed with a standard Java development system.
Settlement models in archaeology

Abstract Theory, taken phenomenologically, relates to what it is about not as an equation or a rendering, but as a logos which lets something be seen which is then seen on its own .
Risk assessment of the diabetic foot and wound

Diabetic foot ulcers are among the most common severe complications of diabetes, affecting up to 68 per 1,000 persons with diabetes per year in the United States. Over half of these patients develop an infection and 20% require some form of amputation during the course of their malady. The key risk factors of diabetic foot ulceration include neuropathy, deformity and repetitive stress (trauma). The key factors associated with non healing of diabetic foot wounds (and therefore amputation) include wound depth, presence of infection and presence of ischaemia. This manuscript will discuss these key risk factors and briefly outline steps for simple, evidence-based assessment of risk in this population.
Scorpion fluorescence and reaction to light

Scorpions are largely solitary, nocturnal arachnids that glow a bright cyan-green under UV light. The function of this fluorescence is a mystery. Previous studies of four species from three families have shown that scorpion lateral and medial eyes are maximally sensitive to green light (around 500 nm) and secondarily to UV (350–400 nm). Scorpions are negatively phototactic, and we used this behaviour to assay the responses of desert grassland scorpions, Paruroctonus utahensis, to 395 nm UV light, 505 nm cyan-green light, 565 nm green light and no light within small, circular arenas. Based on the eye sensitivity data, we predicted maximal response to 505 nm, followed by lower responses to 395 and 565 nm. In our experiments, however, scorpions responded most intensely (abrupt bouts of locomotory activity) to 395 nm and 505 nm. Next, we ran trials under 395 and 505 nm on scorpions with their eyes blocked. Scorpions with blocked eyes were much less likely to move under 505 nm than under 395 nm and were much less likely to move under 505 nm than were control animals (those without their eyes blocked). These results suggest an active role for fluorescence in scorpion light detection. Other studies indicate that photosensitive elements in scorpion tails are sensitive to green light. We therefore propose that the cuticle may function as a whole-body photon collector, transducing UV light to cyan-green before relaying this information to the central nervous system. Scorpions may use this information to detect shelter, as blocking any part of the cuticle could diminish the signal.
Motion video annotation and analysis: an overview

Digital storage of images and videos requires staggering amounts of storage. A mere hour long digitized video can occupy a staggering 30GB of storage. With the increasing dependence of a variety of applications on digital storage, the need for automatic and semiautomatic annotation and analysis tools for intelligent video data indexing and manipulation will be strongly felt. Manual annotation of this data will be practically infeasible and insipid. The paper presents highlights of some of the important problems to be solved for automating the process. Computer vision techniques with a human-in-the-loop approach can provide a powerful workbench of algorithms and techniques for the task. >
Debating US Contemporary Feminism

The US women's movement has challenged societal norms, policies, laws, and culture since its inception. However, at the same time, it has inspired debates about its goals, ideology, tactics, and outcomes. These debates emerge from two main sources: the mainstream media as it reflects dominant culture and among feminist activists and/or scholars. I elaborate on three of the most contentious aspects of contemporary feminism through a series of questions: Is the movement still in existence? What is the relationship between generations of feminists? And finally, how have feminists addressed diversity, privilege, and inclusion in the movement, particularly around issues of race-ethnicity? I conclude that while the movement still exists, feminists continue to struggle with generational relations, and contemporary activists have not created an inclusive and diverse movement. However, I argue that these debates and struggles are evidence of a vibrant movement that continues into the 21st century.
Skeptical Effectiveness: A Reply to Buford and Brueckner

In an earlier paper, I presented a novel objection to closure-based skeptical arguments. There I argued that the best account of what makes skeptical scenarios effective cripples the closure-based skeptical arguments that use those scenarios. On behalf of the skeptic, Christopher Buford and Anthony Brueckner have replied to my objection. Here I review my original argument, criticize their replies, and highlight two important issues for further investigation.
Small-conductance Ca2+-dependent K+ channels activated by ATP in murine colonic smooth muscle

The patch-clamp technique was used to determine the ionic conductances activated by ATP in murine colonic smooth muscle cells. Extracellular ATP, UTP, and 2-methylthioadenosine 5′-triphosphate (2-M...
Modeling the Role of Bulk and Surface Characteristics of Carbon Fiber on Thermal Conductance across the Carbon-Fiber/Matrix Interface.

The rapid heating of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites leads to complex thermophysical interactions which not only are dependent on the thermal properties of the constituents and microstructure but are also dependent on the thermal transport between the fiber and resin interfaces. Using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, the thermal conductance across the interface between a carbon-fiber near-surface region and bismaleimide monomer matrix is calculated as a function of the interface and bulk features of the carbon fiber. The surface of the carbon fiber is modeled as sheets of graphitic carbon with (a) varying degrees of surface functionality, (b) varying defect concentrations in the surface-carbon model (pure graphitic vs partially graphitic), (c) varying orientation of graphitic carbon at the interface, (d) varying interface saturation (dangling vs saturated bonds), (e) varying degrees of surface roughness, and (f) incorporating high conductive fillers (carbon nanotubes) at the int...
Nonlinear diffusions and hyperbolic smoothing for edge enhancement

We give a mathematical foundation for the interpretation of numerical results for the Perona-Malik equation and introduce a reversible smoothing procedure, based on a second-order hyperbolic equation. These results are briefly compared with other edge-detection techniques, including mean curvature flow.