cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
System acquisition pathology: a comprehensive characterisation of system failure modes and effects

Acquisition systems are shaped by calls for reforming, improving and modification. These calls include tangible processes, tools, and methods geared towards meeting cost, schedule, and technical performance. Failure avoidance is often considered a driving factor in acquisition systems. However, there remains a lack of systems research, particularly the inclusion of systems perspectives in acquisition systems failure analysis. The aim of this research was three-fold: 1) to understand the current state of acquisition systems with an emphasis on success/failures; 2) to elevate general systems theory (GST) as a foundation for the comprehensive characterisation of system acquisition failure, and; 3) to articulate a GST-based approach for identification/assessment of failures in system acquisition. Using GST, a grounded theory method is used to develop a construct for system acquisition pathology and validated in a case application. A method for identification of system acquisition pathology is then described along with implications for system acquisition research.
A Brief Review of Monolecty in Bees and Benefits of a Broadened Definition

Monolecty in bees was defined a century ago for those species that consistently collect pollen only from the same single species of floral host. Even at the time, the term was considered “a curiosity” with little biological meaning. Here, I review its multiple problems and suggest that its utility would improve if we apply the term monolecty to those bees species that use a single genus (not species) of flowering host.
Training Undergraduate Teaching Assistants to Facilitate and Assess Process Skills in Large Enrollment Courses

Active learning environments are ideal settings to help students develop process skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving. However, implementing active learning pedagogies where students have the opportunity to develop these skills can be challenging in large enrollment courses. With the assistance of undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs), instructors can provide an active learning experience to a large team of students during a typical “lecture” period. Most undergraduate TAs have little to no experience with facilitating active learning environments, and even less with identifying and assessing process skills. Therefore, it is important to provide training for TAs to be effective facilitators in the active learning classroom and to help students develop their process skills. Using an iterative design process, several successful strategies have been developed to help prepare undergraduate TAs to identify, assess, and provide feedback on the development of process skills in active learning classrooms. TAs report that this training was instrumental in improving their communication skills and recognizing process skills.
Evidence for Early Stage Anti-Tumor Immunity Elicited by Spatially Fractionated Radiotherapy-Immunotherapy Combinations.

The combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy may generate synergistic anti-tumor host immune responses and promote abscopal effects. Spatial fractionation of a radiation dose has been found to promote unique physiological responses of tumors, which might promote synergy with immunotherapy. To determine whether spatial fractionation may augment immune activity, whole-tumor or spatial fractionation grid radiation treatment (GRID) alone or in combination with antibodies against immune checkpoints PD1 and CTLA-4 were tested in an immunocompetent mouse model using a triple negative breast tumor (4T1). Tumor growth delay, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry were used to characterize the effects of each treatment type. Whole-beam radiation with immune checkpoint inhibition significantly restrained tumor growth in the irradiated tumor, but not abscopal tumors, compared to either of these treatments alone. In mice that received spatially fractionated irradiation, evidence of abscopal immune responses were observed in contralateral tumors with markedly enhanced infiltration of both antigen-presenting cells and activated T cells, which were preceded by increased systemic IFNγ production and led to eventual tumor growth delay. These studies suggest that systemic immune activation may be triggered by employing GRID to a primary tumor lesion, promoting anti-tumor immune responses outside the treatment field. Interestingly, PD-L1 was found to be upregulated in abscopal tumors from GRID-treated mice. Combined radio-immunotherapy therapy is becoming a validated and novel approach in the treatment of cancer. With the potential increased benefit of GRID to augment both local and metastatic disease responses, further exploration of GRID treatment as a part of current standards of care is warranted.
Perfectly Confident Leadership

The leadership literature is replete with admonitions that successful leadership requires confidence. While that may be true, striving for greater confidence runs the risk of overconfidence. Overco...
High-Resolution UAV Mapping for Investigating Eelgrass Beds Along the West Coast of North America

Numerous efforts have been made to investigate widespread die-offs of eelgrass throughout the west coast of North America in the past three decades due to the negative impacts of wasting disease. However, rigorously quantifying ecosystem-level impacts of wasting disease to changes in the extent and density of eelgrass habitat has not yet been attempted across spatial scales. In this research, we utilize Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) mapping along the west coast of North America to measure eelgrass meadow extent, patchiness, and dynamics in Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska. Ground-truthing an in situ sampling within each eelgrass meadow is used to validate drone mapping imagery. Object-oriented analysis is then performed to quantitatively estimate the link between extent/density of eelgrass habitat estimated by UAV mapping across latitudes. The work shows eelgrass patch characteristics, including spectral signature, object morphology, canopy density, and texture: derived from high-resolution UAV or drone mapping. Those parameters were compared to demonstrate the spatial variation of eelgrass patches along the west coast of the US.
Alterations of Circulating Biomarkers During Late Term Pregnancy Complications in the Horse Part I: Cytokines.

Abstract Equine abortions are attributed to both infectious and noninfectious causes. Clinical extrapolations are often made from the experimental model for ascending placentitis towards other causes of fetal compromise, including various markers of inflammation, including the cytokines IL-2, 5, IL-6, IL-10, IFNγ, and TNF. It is unknown if these cytokine changes are noted under field conditions, or if they increase preceding other pregnancy related complications. To assess this, Thoroughbred mares (n = 702) had weekly blood obtained beginning in December 2013 and continuing until parturition. Fetal membranes were submitted to the UKVDL for complete gross and pathologic assessment and classified as either ascending placentitis (n = 6), focal mucoid placentitis (n = 6), idiopathic abortion (n = 6) or control (n = 20). Weekly serum samples were analyzed via immunoassay for concentrations of IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IFNγ, and TNF. For both focal mucoid placentitis and ascending placentitis, an increase (P
Interactive Visualization of Hyperspectral Images Based on Neural Networks

It is challenging to interpret hyperspectral images in an intuitive and meaningful way, as they usually contain hundreds of dimensions. We develop a visualization tool for hyperspectral images based on neural networks, which allows a user to specify the regions of interest, select bands of interest, and obtain hyperspectral classification results in a scatterplot generated from hyperspectral features. A cascade neural network is trained to generate a scatterplot that matches the cluster centers labeled by the user. The inferred scatterplot not only shows the clusters of points, but also reveals relationships of substances. The trained neural network can be reused for time-varying hyperspectral data analysis without retraining. Our visualization solution can keep domain experts in the analytical loop and provide an intuitive analysis of hyperspectral images while identifying different substances, which are difficult to be realized using existing hyperspectral image analysis techniques.
Extension of the Goldstone and the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanisms to non-Hermitian theories

We discuss the extension of the Goldstone and Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanisms to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians that possess an antilinear PT symmetry. We study a model due to Alexandre, Ellis, Millington and Seynaeve and show that for the spontaneous breakdown of a continuous global symmetry we obtain a massless Goldstone boson in all three of the antilinear symmetry realizations: eigenvalues real, eigenvalues in complex conjugate pairs, and eigenvalues real but eigenvectors incomplete. In this last case we show that it is possible for the Goldstone boson mode to be a zero-norm state. For the breakdown of a continuous local symmetry the gauge boson acquires a non-zero mass by the Englert-Brout-Higgs mechanism in all realizations of the antilinear symmetry, except the one where the Goldstone boson itself has zero norm, in which case, and despite the fact that the continuous local symmetry has been spontaneously broken, the gauge boson remains massless.
Overview: Physiological Role of K+Channels in the Regulation of Vascular Tone

Calcium entry through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels plays an important role in the contractile responses of vascular smooth muscle, particularly in the resistance vasculature. Thus, agents or interventions that open or close these Ca2+ channels have significant effects on smooth muscle contractile activity. Accordingly, regulation of smooth muscle membrane potential through changes in K+ channel activity, and subsequent alterations in the activity of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, is a major mechanism of vasodilation and vasoconstriction, both in normal and in pathophysiological conditions. Activation of K+ channels will result in hyperpolarization, closure of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, and vasodilation, whereas inhibition of K+ channels will have the opposite effects. Several different types of K+ channels are present in most vascular smooth muscle cells. Membrane potential and diameter are determined, in part, by the integrated activity of these K+ channels, which are regulated by multiple dilator and constrictor signals in vascular smooth muscle. The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the evidence supporting the important functional roles of the major K+ channels found in vascular smooth muscle.
Evidence against stellar chromospheric origin of Galactic cosmic rays

Interstellar space is filled with a gas of relativistic ions and electrons — the Galactic cosmic rays. These energetic particles tie interstellar gas to ambient magnetic fields by ionizing the component molecules and atoms, and so play a role in stabilizing molecular clouds against collapse1 and regulating the collapse of protostellar clouds2. The observed energy spectrum of cosmic rays up to ≳1015 eV is consistent with their acceleration by supernova shock waves3, but the original source of cosmic-ray nuclei remains unclear. There has been a widely held belief that the source consists of a solar-like ionized medium4, probably the chromospheres of late-type Sun-like stars5. This model predicts an overabundance of easily ionized elements. Here we show that lead, which is easily ionized, is underabundant in the Galactic cosmic rays in contradiction with this model. Rather, our measurements are consistent with two other possible models: one in which the nuclei originate in interstellar gas, and in entire grains accelerated to about one per cent of the speed of light by supernova shock waves6,7; and another in which the cosmic rays contain an admixture of an exotic, freshly synthesized component8, probably originating in neutrino-driven winds from newly born neutron stars9.
Discriminating Hodgdon Pyrodex(®) and Triple Seven(®) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Pyrodex(®) and Triple Seven(®) are black powder substitutes that often find use as fillers in improvised explosive devices, such as pipe bombs. These propellants have essentially the same overall appearance and oxidizers, but different fuels. For example, Pyrodex(®) contains sulfur, sodium benzoate, and dicyandiamide (DCDA), whereas Triple Seven(®) lacks sulfur but also contains 3-nitrobenzoic acid. In this method, intact particles and postblast solid residues were reacted with bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide + 1% trimethylchlorosilane in acetonitrile for 30 min at 60°C. The resultant trimethylsilyl derivatives of the organic fuels were then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Each derivative was clearly resolved from other components, and high-quality mass spectra were obtained. In addition, characteristic fragments resulting from loss of a methyl radical from the molecular ion (m/z 163 for sulfur, m/z 171 for DCDA, m/z 179 for benzoic acid, and m/z 224 for nitrobenzoic acid) were able to be monitored.
Algorithms and modeling techniques for circuit simulation in computer integrated manufacturing

The authors have developed software to link a device simulator and a circuit simulator for VLSI design. This program makes possible a feedback from circuit performance to the fabrication process and closes the process-device-circuit design loop. VLSI circuit performance and reliability can then be optimized effectively in the integrated simulation environment of computer-integrated manufacturing. >
Exhaust and Evaporative Emissions from Alcohol and Ether Fuel Blends

An experimental study was conducted at the U. S. Dept. of Energy's Bartlesville (Okla.) Energy Technology Center to evaluate the effects of four potential fuel extenders (each blended with gasoline) on fuel economy, exhaust emissions, and evaporative emissions from eight 1978 automobiles (three with California emission controls and five with Federal emission control systems).
Understanding Gastrointestinal Epithelial Cell Biology: Lessons From Mice With Help From Worms and Flies

D uring the last 50 years, many individuals have contributed to our understanding of mammalian gastrointestinal epithelial cell biology. Their experiments have helped us to appreciate this wonderfully well organized and continuously renewing collection of cells. Remembering past scientific accomplishments provides a framework for understanding our current perceptions, but a comprehensive review of these achievements is beyond the scope of this essay. Rather, I have focused on several questions related to space and time in the gut epithelium that were raised in the past but remain to be fully answered in the future.
Glass and Light

Abstract The classic myth of the Chicago School's demise at the hands of the 1893 Columbian Exposition ignores the complexity and timing of the experiments in skin and structure that gave Chicago's commercial architecture its extraordinary vitality from 1871 to 1922. In particular, the role of illumination—both natural and artificial—had profound consequences for the era's dialogues between frame and cladding. New evidence links the architecture of the era with the economics of plate glass, electrical distribution, and lamp technology. It suggests that the rise and fall of the Chicago “skyscraper style” traced the balance among construction, performance, and material during a time of volatile technical developments and building economics.
Vapor detection, classification, and quantification performance using arrays of conducting polymer composite chemically sensitive resistors

Describes a method for generating a variety of chemically diverse, broadly responsive, low power vapor sensors. A key to our ability to fabricate chemically diverse sensing elements is the preparation of processable, air stable films of electrically conducting organic polymers. An array of such sensing elements produces a chemically reversible, diagnostic pattern of electrical resistance changes upon exposure to different odorants. Such conducting polymer elements are simply prepared and are readily modified chemically to respond to a broad range of analytes. In addition, these sensors yield a fairly rapid, low power, dc electrical signal in response to the vapor of interest, and their signals are readily integrated with software or hardware-based neural networks for purposes of analyte identification. Principal component analysis has demonstrated that such sensors can identify and quantify different airborne organic solvents, and can yield information on the components of gas mixtures.
Potential risks and prevention, Part 2: Drug-induced permanent disabilities

Potential risk factors for and the preventability of drug-induced permanent disabilities were studied. Case reports of adverse drug events (ADEs) published in Clin-Alert during 1978-97 were the source of information on drug-induced permanent disabilities. Patient, drug, and event variables were identified, and the causality, predictability, and preventability of each case were assessed. Data were entered into a relational database for analysis. The data indicated 227 cases of drug-induced permanent disabilities. Twenty-three percent of the cases were assessed as definite, 47% as probable, and 30% as possible. Twenty-nine percent of the patients were less than 10 years old, and 36% were considered healthy. The drug categories most commonly associated with a drug-induced permanent disability were antimicrobials, vaccines, central-nervous-system agents, and antineoplastics. About half of the patients received more than the usual dosage. The most common permanent disabilities were brain damage, blindness, tardive dyskinesia, deafness, quadriplegia, and hearing loss. Event types were distributed as medication errors (55%), adverse drug reactions (43%), and drug interactions (2%). Eighty-four percent of the drug-induced permanent disabilities were judged to have been preventable; of these, a pharmacist could have prevented 40%. Litigation was reported for 56% of the cases of drug-induced permanent disability; judgments and settlements averaged $4.3 million. A review of published case reports of ADEs for 1978-97 yielded information on possible risk factors for drug-induced permanent disabilities and on which events may have been preventable.
Effects of charge states, charge sites and side chain interactions on conformational preferences of a series of model peptide ions

The effects of charge states, charge sites and side chain interactions on conformational preferences of gas-phase peptide ions are examined by ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Collision cross sections (CCS) of [M + 2H]2+ and [M + 3H]3+ ions for a series of model peptides, viz. Ac-(AAKAA)nY-NH2 (AKn, n = 3–5) and Ac-Y(AEAAKA)nF-NH2 (AEKn, n = 2–5) are measured by using IM-MS and compared with calculated CCS for candidate ions generated by MD simulations. The results show that charge states, charge sites and intramolecular charge solvation are important determinants of conformer preference for AKn and AEKn ions. For AKn ions, there is a strong preference for helical conformations near the N-terminus and charge-solvated conformations near the C-terminus. For [AEKn + 2H]2+ ions, conformer preferences appear to be driven by charge solvation, whereas [AEKn + 3H]3+ ions favor more extended coil-type conformations.
Colour constancy as counterfactual

There is nothing in this World constant but Inconstancy. [Swift 1711: 258] In this paper I argue that two standard characterizations of colour constancy are inadequate to the phenomenon. This inadequacy matters, since, I contend, philosophical appeals to colour constancy as a way of motivating illumination-independent conceptions of colour turn crucially on the shortcomings of these characterizations. After critically reviewing the standard characterizations, I provide a novel counterfactualist understanding of colour constancy, argue that it avoids difficulties of its traditional rivals, and defend it from objections. Finally, I show why, on this improved understanding, colour constancy does not have the philosophical consequences that have been claimed for it in the literature.
Interdigitated repeated sequences in bovine satellite DNA.

MOST eukayrote genomes contain some highly repeated DNA sequences. DNA hybridisation kinetic studies indicate that the smallest repeating unit of highly repetitious DNA is around 300 base pairs1 but direct sequence analysis of highly repeated DNA has demonstrated a simple basic repeating unit of 4–12 nucleotides2–5. It has been postulated that the repeated sequences have been generated by successive replications of some primary simple sequence1, 6, 7. The discrepancy between sequence data and kinetic analysis may be explained by noting that the rate of reassociation is a function of length8; this data is consistent with a model of internal heterogeneity in the repeated, simple DNA sequence units9, 10. Although the hybridisation and sequence analyses have been successful in establishing certain features of reiteirated DNA, these methods are not well suited to detect and study infrequent but regularly repeated DNA sequences interdigitated within the dominant short repeating units. The existence and nature of such interdigitated repeats are important to our understanding of the mechanism by which repeated DNA is generated. We have used site-specific endonucleases (restriction enzymes) to show that mutational events within simple sequence DNA may have been coupled with cycles of discrete replications.
Stereoselective Synthesis of P-Chiral Phosphorus Compounds from N-tert-Butoxycarbonyl Amino Acids

Reaction of the N-t-Boc amino acids alanine and valine with PhPCl2 gives the P-chiral trans-1,3,2-oxazaphospholidinones exclusively. Variable-temperature NMR and examination of the glycine derivative shows that the isomers observed are due to t-Boc rotation.
Poster: automatic parallelization of numerical python applications using the global arrays toolkit

Global Arrays is a software system from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that enables an efficient, portable, and parallel shared-memory programming interface to manipulate distributed dense arrays. The NumPy module is the de facto standard for numerical calculation in the Python programming language, a language whose use is growing rapidly in the scientific and engineering communities. NumPy provides a powerful N-dimensional array class as well as other scientific computing capabilities. However, like the majority of the core Python modules, NumPy is inherently serial. Using a combination of Global Arrays and NumPy, we have reimplemented NumPy as a distributed drop-in replacement called Global Arrays in NumPy (GAiN). Serial NumPy applications can become parallel, scalable GAiN applications with only minor source code changes. Scalability studies of several different GAiN applications will be presented showing the utility of developing serial NumPy codes which can later run on more capable clusters or supercomputers.
Pharmacological Principles of Antidepressant Efficacy

Both noradrenaline (NA) and serotonin (5-HT) appear to be involved in depression. Evidence suggests that dual-acting antidepressants, i.e. those that affect both monoamine systems, such as tricyclic antidepressants and the noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant mirtazapine, may have greater efficacy and a faster onset of action than drugs that act on a single monoamine system only, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Cell firing is reduced by SSRIs in the short-term, but is increased by mirtazapine, probably due to its actions on both NA (via alpha(2) antagonism) and 5-HT (via alpha(1)-stimulation by NA). This may help to explain clinical evidence suggesting that mirtazapine has a faster onset of action than the more selective antidepressants.
New technologies, new pedagogies: Finding the grail in higher education

More than 100 years ago, John Dewey, a major influence in American education, argued for the need to “stimulate the spirit of inquiry into actual fact” (Dewey, 2002, p. 118). The debate among politicians and educators about the structure, purpose, and goals of education and inquiry continues. Yet the world has changed, largely because of widely accessible and versatile technologies. We are unclear how Dewey's spirit of inquiry will grow, die, or reinvent itself through boundaryless tools of inquiry such as the Internet, but the technology is here and will not disappear while educators debate best methods. Twenty-first-century society demands new ways to learn and understand, and these new ways of learning require new ways of teaching (McPheeters, 2009/2010). For many students, especially the younger generations, technology intertwines with almost all daily activities, including social contact. Many educators lag behind the technological curve and express frustration at the challenge to shift their educational paradigms toward increasingly technological means of communication and interaction, or entertain “virtual realities” as legitimate educational forums. The purpose of this symposium is to examine the role of technology in transforming higher education. The goal is to seek best methods of using technology more effectively to educate learners for the 21st century. The shifts in society's focus and the characteristics of learners going into the future are also critical, and part of this discussion.
Endoscopic full-thickness biopsy of the gastric wall with defect closure by using an endoscopic suturing device: survival porcine study

Background The pathogenesis of several common gastric motility diseases and functional GI disorders remains essentially unexplained. Gastric wall biopsies that include the muscularis propria to evaluate the enteric nervous system, interstitial cells of Cajal, and immune cells can provide important insights for our understanding of the etiology of these disorders. Objectives To determine the technical feasibility, reproducibility, and safety of performing a full-thickness gastric biopsy (FTGB) by using a submucosal endoscopy with mucosal flap (SEMF) technique; the technical feasibility, reproducibility, and safety of tissue closure by using an endoscopic suturing device; the ability to identify myenteric ganglia in resected specimens; and the long-term safety. Design Single center, preclinical survival study. Setting Animal research laboratory, developmental endoscopy unit. Subjects Twelve domestic pigs. Interventions Animals underwent an SEMF procedure with gastric muscularis propria resection. The resultant offset mucosal entry site was closed by using an endoscopic suturing device. Animals were kept alive for 2 weeks. Main Outcome Measurements The technical feasibility, reproducibility, and safety of the procedure; the clinical course of the animals; the histological and immunochemical evaluation of the resected specimen to determine whether myenteric ganglia were present in the sample. Results FTGB was performed by using the SEMF technique in all 12 animals. The offset mucosal entry site was successfully closed by using the suturing device in all animals. The mean resected tissue specimen size was 11 mm. Mean total procedure time was 61 minutes with 2 to 4 interrupted sutures placed per animal. Histology showed muscularis propria and serosa, confirming full-thickness resections in all animals. Myenteric ganglia were visualized in 11 of 12 animals. The clinical course was uneventful. Repeat endoscopy and necropsy at 2 weeks showed absence of ulceration at both the mucosal entry sites and overlying the more distal muscularis propria resection sites. There was complete healing of the serosa in all animals with minimal single-band adhesions in 5 of 12 animals. Retained sutures were present in 10 of 12 animals. Limitations Animal experiment. Conclusions FTGB by using the SEMF technique and an endoscopic suturing device is technically feasible, reproducible, and safe. Larger tissue specimens will allow improved analysis of multiple cell types.
Does the human immunodeficiency virus tat trans-activator contain a discrete activation domain?

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) encodes a transcriptional trans-activator, termed Tat, that is absolutely required for viral replication in vitro. By analogy to other known transcription factors, it has been suggested that the HIV-1 Tat protein may contain discrete protein domains that determine sequence specificity and transcriptional activation potential. Here, we report the use of site-directed mutagenesis to examine the functional significance of two candidate activation domains within Tat. A 12 amino acid sequence adjacent to the N-terminus of the Tat protein, which includes a proposed acidic amphipathic alpha-helix activation motif, was found to contribute to, but be dispensable for, Tat function in vivo. In contrast, the integrity of a second potential Tat activation motif, centered on a lysine residue at position 41, was found to be essential for Tat function. However, Tat proteins mutated in this area displayed a fully recessive negative phenotype. Therefore, neither of these two regions of the Tat protein appear to be discrete activation domains. We conclude that previous attempts to categorize Tat as a modular transcription factor have not succeeded and suggest that the functional organization of this complex trans-activator remains to be defined.
Research activities and attitudes among ASGW members

Abstract This article describes a survey of selected ASGW members' group research activities and their attitudes regarding the significance, quality, and usefulness of published group research.
Short birth intervals and the risk of school unreadiness among a Medicaid population in South Carolina.

Communities across the United States have become more involved in enhancing school readiness. Many of the predictors of school readiness relate to conditions prior to and following the birth of the child including a childs birthweight. Shortened birth intervals are related to a variety of health and social consequences that affect child development yet no formal research has examined the association between birth intervals and school readiness. This study was a secondary data analysis of de-identified pregnancy-related vital record information matched to selected items from the Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid records on mothers and children and to the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery score in South Carolina for the year 2000 for the child of interest (N = 6915). Analysis of covariance and logistic regression were used to determine if there was a statistically significant relationship between birth interval and school readiness. Results showed that birth interval is a significant predictor of school readiness with a P-value < 0.001 even after controlling for various socio-demographic factors. Children born with inadequate birth intervals (less than 24 months) are more likely to fail the Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery compared with those with adequate birth intervals. Potential implications of this research include promoting optimal birth spacing to improve the likelihood that future first graders will come to school ready to learn. (authors)
Normalization and the detection of integrability: The generalized Van Der Waals potential

Deprit and Miller have conjectured that normalization of integrable Hamiltonians may produce normal forms exhibiting degenerate equilibria to very high order. Several examples in the class of coupled elliptic oscillators are known. In order to test the utility of normalization as a detector of integrability we normalize, to high order, a perturbed Keplerian system known to have several integrable limits; the generalized van der Waals Hamiltonian for a hydrogen atom. While the separable limits give rise to high order degeneracy we find a non-separable, integrable limit for which the normal form does not exhibit degeneracy. We conclude that normalization may, in certain cases, indicate integrability but is not guaranteed to uncover all integrable limits.
Data mining without data: a novel approach to privacy-preserving collaborative distributed data mining

With the proliferation of organizations that independently collect various types of data, with the growing awareness of corporations and public to keep their sensitive data private, and with the ever-increasing need of government and corporate policy makers to learn the behavior of their customers, there is a definite demand for data mining services even when the data owners refuse to provide their data directly. In the past, techniques such as random perturbation were used by data owners prior to sharing the data with a third-party data miner. But, as already proven, even these techniques are prone to privacy-violation.In this paper, we take a completely different approach---each data owner derives association rules locally, sanitizes them if necessary, and sends them to a third-party data miner. The data miner collects local rules from all data owners, regenerates an estimate of global data, and performs global data mining. We suggest schemes to reduce the generation of spurious rules, a possible outcome of data generation from rules. The proposed method is illustrated using an example of association rule data mining. We are currently in the process of formalizing some of the underlying techniques and to make them more efficient.
Atom interferometry using Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth and in space

The Cold Atom Laboratory is a multipurpose ultracold gas experiment currently being developed for operation on the international space station. It will have the ability to demonstrate proof-of-principle atom interferometry experiments in space. By using microgravity, atom interferometry has the potential to achieve extremely good performance in sensing and navigation applications. Terrestrial experiments can be used to explore potential challenges and prior to launch. One issue of concern is the release of cold atoms from a magnetic trap into free space. Although the atoms will not fall, they can acquire relatively large velocities due to technical limitations such as stray magnetic fields. This can limit the time available for measurements and thus the atom interferometer performance.
Commutants of ordinary differential operators

This paper is concerned with the algebraic and analytic structure of the commutant g’(L) of a regular ordinary differential operator L with Cz matrix-valued coefficients. The main algebraic result is that V(L) is a free module of rank at most EW over the polynomial ring U&L], where K is the six of the matrices in the coefficients of L and n is the order of L. This result, along with seseral related results, is first proved in a completely algebraic setting, namely for differential operators whose coefficients are matrices over a commutative differential ring in which systems of homogeneous linear differential equations have finite-dimensional solution sets. In the Cm case, the algebraic structure of V(L) is obtained from an embedding of %?(A) into the ring of ek :: nk matrices over a polynomial ring @[A], and the image of Q(L) in this matrix ring is completely determined. If %YJL) denotes the set of those operators in q(L) with rank at most nz, then it is shown that the dimension of V,,(L) is an upper semicontinuous function of L. The paper concludes by finding some first integrals for the commutation equation L T TL = 0. Our study of cornmutants of regular ordinary differential operators is predated by the work of Amitsur [l], Burchnall and Chaundy :3], and Krichever [6]. Amitsur‘s work is completely algebraic, but is restricted to the case of a derivation acting on a field of characteristic zero. Burchnall and Chaundy restrict themselves to operators with scalar-valued coefficients. Krichevcr allows matrixvalued coefficients, but restricts himself to the study of commuting pairs L and T both of whose leading coefficients must be constant nonsingular diagonal matrices. In [6], commuting pairs L and T are analyzed by letting T act on certain eigenfunctions of L. These eigenfunctions have a formal series representation, and much information is gleaned from the coefficients of the series. The action of T on eigenspaces of L is also basic to our work, but our approach is more closely related to an idea appearing in IS]. We choose a convenient basis for the eigenspaces of L and study the matrices representing T on these eigenspaces with respect to the “nice” basis. In both [3] and [6] it was noticed that if T and L commute, then there is a nonzero polynomial P(A., p) in two commuting variables such that P(L, T) = 0.
Mechanistic Study of the Influence of Micelle Solubilization and Hydrodynamic Factors on the Dissolution Rate of Solid Drugs

The influence of micelle-drug solubilization on the dissolution rate has been investigated. The dissolution rates predicted by the diffusion layer model, the Danckwerts theory, and by the rotating disk theory were calculated and compared with experimental data obtained for the benzocaine-polysorbate 80 system. All the parameters involved were independently determined. The different conditions under which each of these theories is applicable have been discussed. Different kinds of dissolution experiments were designed to produce the conditions under which each theory would apply. The theoretical and experimental procedures involved in these studies provide a unique method for distinguishing mechanisms and should be useful in future studies, e.g. , in studies of the effects of agitation on mechanisms of interphase transport.
Solvent-free and atom efficient conversion of aldehydes into nitriles

Abstract Nitriles are readily prepared from aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes upon heating with hydroxylamine hydrochloride at 100°C in a solvent-free, one-pot process.
Regulatory properties of succinate dehydrogenase: Activation by succinyl CoA, pH, and anions

Summary Previous studies established that succinate dehydrogenase (SD) is reversibly activated by three types of compounds: substrates, reduced CoQ10, and ATP. Each of these mechanisms have been shown to operate in intact mitochondria in regulation of SD activity. The present study demonstrates activation of the enzyme by succinyl CoA, which occurs at about the rate and to the extent observed with the same concentration of succinate and represents an example of feed-forward regulation. Further, in membranal and purified, soluble preparations lowering the pH in the range of 7.5 to 5.5 results in “spontaneous” activation: the lower the pH, the more extensive activation is observed. On raising the pH of SD thus activated, deactivation occurs to the level characteristic of the new pH. A number of anions (Cl−, Br−, SO=4, formate, CIO4 increase the extent of activation observed on lowering the pH and appear to act by stabilizing the active conformation of SD.
Black carbon from ships: a review of the effects of ship speed, fuel quality and exhaust gas scrubbing

Abstract. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has moved to address the health and climate impact of the emissions from the combustion of low-quality residual fuels within the commercial shipping industry. Fuel sulfur content (FS) limits and an efficiency design index for future ships are examples of such IMO actions. The impacts of black carbon (BC) emissions from shipping are now under review by the IMO, with a particular focus on the potential impacts of future Arctic shipping. Recognizing that associating impacts with BC emissions requires both ambient and onboard observations, we provide recommendations for the measurement of BC. We also evaluate current insights regarding the effect of ship speed (engine load), fuel quality and exhaust gas scrubbing on BC emissions from ships. Observations demonstrate that BC emission factors (EFBC) increases 3 to 6 times at very low engine loads ( Ships operating in the Arctic are likely running at highly variable engine loads (25–100%) depending on ice conditions and ice breaking requirements. The ships operating at low load may be emitting up to 50% more BC than they would at their rated load. Such variable load conditions make it difficult to assess the likely emissions rate of BC. Current fuel sulfur regulations have the effect of reducing EFBC by an average of 30% and potentially up to 80% regardless of engine load; a removal rate similar to that of scrubbers. Uncertainties among current observations demonstrate there is a need for more information on a) the impact of fuel quality on EFBC using robust measurement methods and b) the efficacy of scrubbers for the removal of particulate matter by size and composition.
The choir invisible: Reflections on the living and the dead

Abstract This article is a comparative study of the ways in which, at different times and in different places, the material remains of dead human beings, be they bones or mummies, have been transformed by the living into relics. As such, these relics then were used to create cohesion, legitimacy, and identity for the living. Conversely, these very relics also may be destroyed or humiliated to shatter the very legitimacy they once created. Further, I argue that it is more likely that dead human bodies will be chosen to represent living bodies politic in times of political instability. Examples have been taken from the medieval and early Renaissance royal families of Europe, revolutionary governments of the 19th and 20th centuries, and from the archaic states of Egypt and the Andes. The dead are men who have ceased to function. They no longer produce or consume
The geology of the Caribbean crust, I: Beata Ridge☆

Abstract Igneous and sedimentary rocks recently dredged and cored from the steep western slope of the Beata Ridge provide important data on the composition, age and details of crustal evolution of the rock-types responsible for recorded compressional wave velocities. The sedimentary rock samples also provide new data concerning the age and depositional environment of overlying sedimentary reflectors. The deepest (4,100 m) dredge haul contains deeply weathered coarsegrained igneous rocks. Nine other hauls, distributed between 4,000–2,300 m, contain holocrystalline basalts and diabases. The compressional wave velocity of air-dried samples of two holocrystalline basalts and a diabase at atmospheric pressure ranges from 5.0–5.6 km/sec. Sampling in depths less than 2,300 m shows that the crest of the Beata Ridge is capped by Quaternary deposits underlain by consolidated carbonate sediment of at least Middle Eocene age. The faunal assemblages of the Mid-Eocene samples are the product of normal accumulation in a shallow shelf environment. The dredging results coupled with previously published seismic reflection and refraction data, suggest that the 5.4–5.7 km/sec crust is composed of a layer of basalt and diabase which outcrops below 2,300 m, on a fault-generated escarpment that was produced in the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary. The shallow shelf samples of Eocene age indicate that the Beata Ridge was higher in the Early Tertiary and has subsided subsequently to its present depth.
Turbulent Flow in a Microchannel With Surface Patterned Microribs Oriented Parallel to the Flow Direction

Due to the increase of application in a number of emerging technologies, a growing amount of research has focused on the reduction of drag in microfluidic transport. A novel approach reported in the recent literature is to fabricate micro-ribs and cavities in the channel wall that are then treated with a hydrophobic coating. Such surfaces have been termed super- or ultrahydrophobic and the contact area between the flowing liquid and the solid wall is greatly reduced. Previous numerical studies have focused primarily on the laminar flow through such channels with reductions in the flow resistance as large as 87% being predicted and observed. There has been little work however, that has explored the physics and the potential drag reduction associated with turbulent flow through microchannels with ultrahydrophobic walls. This paper reports the results of a numerical investigation of the turbulent flow in a parallel plate microchannel with ultrahydrophobic walls. In this study microribs and cavities are oriented parallel to the flow direction. The channel walls are modeled in an idealized fashion, with the shape of the liquid-vapor meniscus approximated as flat. A k-ω turbulence modeling scheme is implemented for closure to the turbulent RANS equations. Results are presented for the friction factor Reynolds number product as a function of relevant governing dimensionless parameters. The Reynolds number was varied from 2,000 to 10,000. Results show, as with the laminar flow case, that as the shear-free region increases the friction factor-Reynolds number product decreases. The observed reduction, however, was found to be significantly greater under turbulent flow conditions than for the laminar flow scenarios.© 2007 ASME
Malinowski's influence on Wittgenstein on the matter ofuse in language

Language use in social contexts plays a central role in the thinking of philosophers and social scientists. Evidence is presented that suggests that the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski influenced Ludwig Wittgenstein on the contexted use of language. It is also proposed that non-Western peoples have been a heuristic for Western thinkers on epistemological matters.
Image-guided interactive volume visualization for confocal microscopy data exploration

Three dimensional microscopy visualization has the potential of playing a significant role in the study of 3D cellular structures in biomedical research. Such potential, however, has not been fully realized due to the difficulties of current visualization methods in coping with the unique nature of microscopy image volumes, such as low image contrast, noise and unknown transfer functions. In this paper, we present a new 3D microscopy imaging approach that integrates volume visualization and 3D image processing techniques for interactive 3D data exploration and analysis. By embedding 3D image enhancement procedures into the volume visualization pipeline, we are able to automatically generate image- dependent transfer functions to reveal subtle features that are otherwise difficult to visualize. It allows the users to interactively manipulate a small number of parameters to achieve desired visualization effects. Other 3D image processing techniques, such as quantification and segmentation, may also be integrated within the data exploration process for interactive image analysis.
Rotational coherence spectroscopy of 9,9′-bifluorenyl: assignment of exciton components

Abstract Polarized time-resolved fluorescence measurements on the two 0 0 0 components of the exciton doublet of 9,9′-bifluorenyl yielded distinct sets of rotational coherence transients. These measurements allowed assignment of the transition moment vector for the lower-energy exciton component to ‘A’ symmetry within the point group C 2 . Hybrid transients observed for the other component confirmed ‘B’ symmetry. Also, we find the interannular twist angle between the two fluorene units to be 62±5°. Parallel behavior of the 1:1 complex of bifluorenyl with water suggests that the water molecule hydrogen-bonds symmetrically to both aromatic components.