cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Excess thermodynamic functions of mixtures of hexafluorobenzene + toluene

Abstract Excess volumes as a function of composition were measured at 298.15 K for binary liquid mixtures of hexafluorobenzene + toluene. The results together with literature data on excess Gibbs energies at other temperatures allowed us to show, on the basis of certain theories of mixtures, that unlike interactions are stronger than those predicted by the geometric-mean rule. With increase in temperature, the excess Gibbs energies increase (less negative) and the excess volumes decrease.
3D Ultrastructural Investigation of Entire Pancreatic Islets of Langerhans by Serial Block Face Scanning Electron Microscopy

Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) provides three-dimensional ultrastructure of biological tissues at the nanometer scale (Denk and Horstmann, 2004). Previous studies have applied this technique to visualize the architecture of pancreatic islets of Langerhans in wild-type mice. Initial results indicate that an average beta cell has almost twice the cellular volume of an average alpha cell and four times the mitochondrial volume, whereas the nuclear volumes in both cell types are approximately equal. Comparisons of insulin-secreting beta granules and glucagon-secreting alpha granules show that the beta granules have more pronounced halos and diameters twice that of the alpha granules. In addition, three-dimensional rendering of islet blood vessels reveals that all secretory cells in an islet are in contact with the pericapillary space with an average contact area of 9% +/− 5% of the plasma membrane's surface. We are currently applying SBF-SEM to determine quantitatively how islet morphology differs between genotypes in wild type, non-obese diabetic (NOD) and IA-2/IA-2 beta double-knockout mice. Such quantitative analysis of ultrastructural differences between controls and diabetes-related animal models could help further understanding of disease. The research was supported by the intramural programs of NIBIB and NIDCR.Denk, W., & Horstmann, H. (2004). Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy to reconstruct three-dimensional tissue nanostructure. PLoS biology, 2(11), e329.
Models for Which the MLE and the Conditional MLE Coincide

The MLE, CMLE and MMLE coincide in a linear regression model with fixed individual effects. In this case, there is no incidental parameters problem and the MLE is consistent. The equivalence of these estimators is important because CMLE = MLE implies both the consistency of the MLE and the efficiency of the CMLE. In general, we cannot expect to find a CMLE or MMLE, since there may be no fixed-dimension sufficient statistic for the effects, nor an appropriate transformation of the data whose distribution does not depend on the effects. However, we show that the MLE, CMLE and MMLE do coincide in systems of seemingly unrelated regressions and in systems of simultaneous equations. We establish this result for systems in which (exogenous) variables in addition to (or other than) the intercept may have coefficients which vary over individuals, provided that the set of such variables is the same in every equation.
FORMATION AND STRUCTURE OF MESOSOMES IN MYXOCOCCUS XANTHUS.

Vegetative cells of Myxococcus xanthus, strain FB, were found to contain numerous small mesosomes distributed throughout the cell. They persisted in the cell as long as the cells were maintained on casitone-agar. When these cells were transferred into casitone-broth and grown under aeration large mesosomes were newly formed at the division plane during the first and second cell division after transfer. After four to six more generations when transferred a second time into fresh casitone broth mesosomes were no longer detectable in the cells but reappeared when the cells were retransferred onto casitone-agar.
Acoustic differences between lexical and epenthetic vowels in Lebanese Arabic

Abstract Traditionally, epenthetic vowels in Lebanese Arabic are transcribed [i], and are assumed to be acoustically indistinguishable from lexical [i]. A production experiment finds variation among speakers: some do produce the vowels identically, others produce a schwa-like epenthetic vowel that is categorically distinct from lexical [i], and others produce clouds of epenthetic and lexical vowel tokens that partially overlap.
Differential changes in lipid metabolism ofmyeloid and lymphoid cell lines induced by treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)

Abstract Treatment of the myeloid cell lines, U-937 or HL-60, with 10 nM of the phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), for 24 h increased the rate of incorporation of [3H] glycerol into total chloroform extracts. A proportionally greater labeling of the non-polar lipid (NL) fraction compared to the polar, phospholipid (PL), fraction was observed. Chromatographic analysis showed a 6-fold increase in the labeling of triacylglycerols (TAG), a 2-fold increase in diacylglycerols, and no changes in monoacylglycerols. PL labeling showed a 3-fold increase in phosphatidylcholine (PC). The effect of TPA on TAG labeling was selectively observed in myeloid cell lines. No such a change was found in the lymphoid cell line, MOLT-3, which did respond to TPA with increased PC labeling. Incorporation of [3H]arachidonic acid (AA) into TAG by U-937 cells was selectively increased (2.5-fold) after treatment with TPA for 24 h. Treatment of U-937 cells with TPA in serum-free medium resulted in no increased labeling of TAG. These studies suggest that changes in TAG metabolism may be characteristic of myeloid differentiation and depend on the presence of serum factor(s).
Risk assessment in water quality management

A half-day session focusing on risk assessment in water quality management was held on the morning of December 11, 1986, in San Francisco, Calif., at the AGU Fall Meeting. The session's objective was to review advances and applications of risk assessment techniques in surface and subsurface water quality management problems. Participants included representatives from academia, private firms, and state and federal agencies.
New selective nonlinear vibrational spectroscopies

Abstract A new family of nonlinear infrared spectroscopies is described that are based on vibrational enhancements of multiresonant four-wave mixing. The methods are capable of site-selective spectroscopy and line-narrowing.
Interspecific acoustic interactions among katydids Neoconocephalus: inhibition-induced shifts in diel periodicity

Abstract Males of the katydid Neoconocephalus spiza stridulate in a loud, chirping manner, but they are inhibited from singing during the uninterrupted songs of three sympatric congeners. Playback experiments using natural and synthetic stimuli showed that inhibition can be caused by any continuous or rapidly pulsing sound presented at an intensity greater than 40 dB sound pressure level and from 8 to 16 kHz in frequency, the approximate spectral range of the N. spiza chirps and the continuous songs of the congeneric species. In specific habitats where inhibiting species are absent, N. spiza sings primarily at night, but diurnal singing prevails where the inhibitors, all nocturnal, are found. Removal of the inhibiting species in a field experiment resulted in a rapid shift of the periodicity of N. spiza signalling from diurnal to nocturnal. This is the first reported case of a reversal in diel periodicity of singing caused by signal interference. It is argued that in a noisy environment, long-term temporal adjustments may be the most effective means of avoiding the problem of acoustic interference.
Earth Observation and Signal Territories: Studying U.S. Broadcast Infrastructure through Historical Network Maps, Google Earth, and Fieldwork

This article engages with three different modes of Earth observation—historical network maps, Google Earth interfaces, and fieldwork—to develop the concept of “signal territories” and elucidate a critical approach for studying U.S. broadcast infrastructure. This approach: 1) highlights physical infrastructures—technological hardware and processes in dispersed geographic locations—as important sites for historical and critical analysis in media and communication studies; 2) explores multiple modes of infrastructure representation—ranging from cartography to phenomenology, from hand-drawn maps to digital interfaces, from circuit diagrams to site visits; and 3) foregrounds the biotechnical aspects and resource requirements of broadcast infrastructures, probing their dynamic operations and complex materialisms. Engaging with what Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller call a “materialist ecology” of media, the article explores what is at stake in understanding media infrastructures from up close and afar. Cet article examine trois manieres differentes d’observer la Terre (les cartes de reseau historiques, les interfaces Google Earth et les enquetes sur le terrain) dans le but de developper le concept de « territoires delimites par un signal » et d’elucider une approche critique pour etudier l’infrastructure de la radiodiffusion americaine. Cette approche : 1) souligne les infrastructures physiques (les materiels et processus technologiques dans des lieux geographiques disperses) comme etant des sites importants pour l’analyse historique et critique en etudes des medias et de la communication; 2) explore plusieurs sortes de representation des infrastructures—de la cartographie a la phenomenologie, des cartes geographiques dessinees a la main aux interfaces numeriques, de schemas de circuits aux visites sur place; et 3) met en avant les aspects biotechniques et les besoins en ressources des infrastructures de radiodiffusion, examinant leurs operations dynamiques et leurs materialismes complexes. Cet article a recours a ce que Richard Maxwell et Toby Miller appellent une « ecologie materialiste » des medias afin d’explorer ce qui est en jeu dans la comprehension a petite et a grande echelle des infrastructures mediatiques.
The Political Foundations of the Black–White Education Achievement Gap:

More than 50 years after Brown v. Board, African American students continue to trail their White peers on a variety of important educational indicators. In this article, we investigate the political foundations of the racial “achievement gap” in American education. Using variation in high school graduation rates across the states, we first assess whether state policymakers are attentive to the educational needs of struggling African American students. We find evidence that state policymaking attention to teacher quality—an issue education research shows is essential to improving schooling outcomes for racial minority students—is highly responsive to low graduation rates among White students, but bears no relationship to low graduation rates among African American students. We then probe a possible mechanism behind this unequal responsiveness by examining the factors that motivate White public opinion about education reform and find racial influences there as well. Taken together, we uncover evidence that ...
Criteria Against Ourselves

In the social sciences, we usually think of criteria as culture-free standards that stand apart from human subjectivity and value. The author argues in this article, however, that conflicts over which criteria to apply usually boil down to differences in values that are contingent on human choices. The demand for criteria reflects the desire to contain freedom, limit possibilities, and resist change. Ultimately, all standards of evaluation rest on a research community’s agreement to comply with their own humanly developed conventions. The author ends by considering the personal standards that he applies to works that fall under the new rubric of poetic social science. When Laurel Richardson invited me to contribute to this conversation about judging “alternative” modes of qualitative and ethnographic inquiry, I consented reluctantly. Too often, I have seen discussions about criteria deteriorate into unproductive conflicts revolving around differences in values that cannot be resolved. The word criteria itself is a term that separates modernists from postmodernists, foundationalists from antifoundationalists, empiricists from interpretivists, and scientists from artists. It is not that one side thinks judgments have to be made and the other side does not. Both agree that inevitably they make choices about what is good, what is useful, and what is not. The difference is that one side believes that “objective” methods and procedures can be applied to determine the choices we make, whereas the other side believes these choices are ultimately and inextricably tied to our values and our subjectivities. The differences of which I speak are not unreasonable, but they are unresolvable. As Richard Rorty (1982) says, these are not issues to be settled, but differences to be lived with. Until we recognize these differences as a reflection of incommensurable ways of seeing, we cannot begin to engage in meaningful conversation with each other. Thomas Kuhn (1962) observed more than 35 years ago that there is no paradigm-free way of looking. When our ways of looking are incommensurable, we can look in the same places, at the same things, and see them differently. Given each side’s belief in its own premises—its own way of seeing—and recognizing that validity depends largely
Effects of perilymphatic perfusion with neomycin on the cochlear microphonic potential in the guinea pig.

The effects of three concentrations of neomy-cin, administered by a method of acute perilymphatic per-fusion of the guinea pig cochlea, on the cochlear micro-phonic potential (CM) at 4 kHz and 500 Hz are described. A concentration-dependent reduction in CM occurred during the 60 minute perfusion period. Neomycin at 10-4 M did not change the CM magnitude, while at 10-3 and 10-2 M it caused 4 kHz (and 500 Hz) CM reductions which began within 24 (for both frequencies) minutes and 10 (and 12) minutes of drug application respectively. CM reduction proceeded at a higher rate for greater neomycin concentration. The perfusion technique, the implication of the frequency indifference, and the potential of the perfusion technique for inner ear biochemical analysis are discussed.
Hawaiian weather scanned

Observers with NOAA and the University of Hawaii are studying the Big Island, noted for its benevolent climate, with the end of improving predictions of less pleasant weather, tornados, hail, and flash floods. Using an advanced research aircraft (a WP-3D Orion), instrumented vans operated by the University, ground stations, and balloons, they are examining clouds, air flow, precipitation, and airborne particles around the Big Island. The 2-week study began June 12. The main goal of the study, the Hawaii Mesoscale Energy and Climate (Hamec) project, is to improve understanding of local-scale weather, not only for better warnings of hazardous weather but for more efficient use of renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Researchers at the NOAA Boulder laboratory have been devising numerical models of mesoscale
Sensor fusion for swarms of small unmanned aerial vehicles

We consider the problem of automatically developing a 3-dimensional model of the environment based on multiples-dimensional images acquired from differing positions and aspect angles. The problem is complicated by the fact that the sensors are moving, we don't know their precise positions and velocities, and the image fields-of-view may overlap one another in an irregular fashion. This type of problem would be encountered, for example, when attempting to combine information from a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles to perform automatic target detection, classification, and surveillance. To solve this problem we propose a method whereby a probabilistic model of the preprocessed image data is computed, in which parameters of the model include object locations and classification feature statistics, as well as velocities and positions of the sensors. The parameters are then estimated by maximizing a log-likelihood function which quantitatively measures how well the model fits the data. The crux of the problem is data association, i.e. determining which data samples correspond to which physical objects in the environment. Our approach makes use of a convergent, iterative, system of equations in which data association is performed concurrently with parameter estimation during maximization of the log-likelihood. An advantage of our method is that the computational complexity increases only linearly with the size of the model, and thus the approach is more efficient than the standard approaches.
Catalysis of Dioxygen Reduction by Thermus thermophilus Strain HB27 Laccase on Ketjen Black Electrodes

We present electrochemical analyses of the catalysis of dioxygen reduction by Thermus thermophilus strain HB27 laccase on ketjen black substrates. Our cathodes reliably produce 0.56 mA cm–2 at 0.0 V vs Ag|AgCl reference at 30 °C in air-saturated buffer, under conditions of nonlimiting O2 flux. We report the electrochemical activity of this laccase as a function of temperature, pH, time, and the efficiency of its conversion of dioxygen to water. We have measured the surface concentration of electrochemically active species, permitting the extraction of electron transfer rates at the enzyme-electrode interface: 1 s–1 for this process at zero driving force at 30 °C and a limiting rate of 23 s–1 at 240 mV overpotential at 50 °C.
High surface area carbon nanofibers derived from electrospun PIM-1 for energy storage applications

Electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) utilize electrodes with high surface area to achieve high-energy storage capability. In this study, flexible and freestanding carbon nanofibers derived from PIM-1, a microporous polymer with high free volume, were prepared by pyrolysis of the electrospun polymer. A BET surface area of 546 m2 g−1 was obtained upon carbonization of the electrospun PIM-1 fibers. After further heat treatments such as steam-activation and annealing, the surface area increased to 1162 m2 g−1. These carbon fibers were directly used as electrodes without the use of binders in a coin cell (CR2032) configuration and were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The activated and annealed fibers gave a specific capacitance of 120 F g−1 at a scan rate of 10 mV s−1 using 1,3-ethylmethylimidizaolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide as the ionic liquid electrolyte. From the galvanostatic charge–discharge test, the supercapacitor exhibited energy and power densities of 60 W h kg−1 (active material) and 1.7 kW kg−1, respectively, at a current density of 1 A g−1. High power application of this device was demonstrated by its 77% retention of the energy density (47 W h kg−1) at a higher discharge current density of 5 A g−1.
Extreme Precipitation over the West Coast of North America: Is There a Trend?

Abstract Heavy precipitation and the resulting flooding are the most serious weather-related hazards over the west coast of North America. This paper analyzes the trends in heavy precipitation for the period 1950–2009 by examining the decadal distributions of the top 60, 40, and 20 two-day precipitation events for a collection of stations along the coastal zone of the United States and British Columbia, as well as the decadal distribution of maximum daily discharge for unregulated rivers from northern California to Washington State. During the past 60 years there has been a modest increase in heavy precipitation events over southern and central coastal California, a decline in heavy events from northern California through the central Oregon coast, a substantial increase in major events over Washington, and a modest increase over coastal British Columbia. Most of these trends are not significantly different from zero at the 95% level. The trends in maximum daily discharge of unregulated rivers are consiste...
Pseudotaxonicity in MAMBAC and MAXCOV analyses of rating-scale data: Turning continua into classes by manipulating observer's expectations

Taxometric procedures such as mean above minus below a cut and maximum covariance can determine whether a trait is distributed as a discrete latent class. These methods have been used to infer taxonic structure in several personality and psychopathology constructs, often from analyses of rating scale data. This is problematic given (a) well established biases in ratings, (b) the human tendency to think categorically, and (c) implicit typological models of personality and psychopathology among expert raters. Using an experimental method in which the cognitive sets of raters were manipulated as dimensional versus categorical, it is demonstrated that pseudotaxonicity can be created readily with rating scale measures. This suggests that researchers avoid an exclusive reliance on rating scales when conducting taxometrics investigations.
Detection of antibodies to sinus tissue in chronic bronchial asthma

Abstract A comparative study of the incidence and specificities of sinus reactive antibodies in humans is presented. The sera from twenty-four patients, most of them suffering from chronic asthma, have been studied using the antiglobulin consumption test. Sixty-two per cent of the sera showed the presence of antibodies to lung and forty-six per cent reacted to sinus tissue antigens. Adsorption studies and correlations with clinical findings are presented. Possible interpretations of these findings are discussed in relation to the etiology of intrinsic asthma.
Autologous fibrin glue: Production and clinical use

A MONG THE topical surgical adhesives and hemostatic agents in use or under development, those that are formed by in situ coagulation after the concurrent application of fibrinogen or fibrinogen-containing plasma components and thrombin are known generically as "fibrin glue" or "fibrin adhesive." These products serve to induce either local hemostasis or fibrin-mediated adhesion of tissues to each other. The preparation of different fibrin glue products, their physical properties, and their clinical applications have been extensively reviewed. TM For this reason, this article presents only a brief overview of these issues and the complications that may be associated with the use of allogeneic fibrin glue products, as background for an in-depth discussion of the methods employed for the production of autologous fibrin glue and their use in clinical practice.
OBSERVATIONS ON SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT

Academic scientists are neither environmental managers nor environmental policymakers, but they have important roles to play in both arenas. To play these roles effectively, they must participate as colleagues with managers and policymakers in the management and policy-making processes on a recurrent basis and be fully engaged at critical junctures. Since many scientists—particularly the most active researchers—neither understand nor track the management and policy- making processes, they need mechanisms to involve them efficiently and effectively. These must be institutional mechanisms. Institutional mechanisms for involvement increase effectiveness, reduce time commitments, and provide protective cover for participants. These may be important attributes, particularly for untenured professors. Institutional mechanisms also enhance the probability of involving not only our best natural scientists and engineers, but scholars from other fields, such as the social sciences, who can play equaUy important roles. Institutional mechanisms legitimize the time spent by managers and policymakers away from what may be perceived as more pressing issues. A model borrowed from psychotherapy, the holding environment, is a useful institutional model to promote adaptive work by scholars and environmental managers and policy makers. The model has been adopted by the New England Aquarium and adapted as its Aquatic Forum. It is now being refined and evaluated. Scientific consensus among experts and scenario planning are two powerful and underutilized strategies for involving scientists in environmental management and policy-making. Their application is dependent upon creating and sustaining an environment appropriate for creative exploration, discovery, and problem solving. Such environments are nurturing and low risk, and enjoy the benefits of skilled facilitators to ensure that all voices are heard, that all messages are evaluated, and that results are synthesized into forms appropriate for decision-making. The holding environment meets all of these criteria
Time redundant parity for low-cost transient error detection

With shrinking transistor sizes and supply voltages, errors in combinational logic due to radiation particle strikes are on the rise. A broad range of applications will soon require protection from this type of error, requiring an effective and inexpensive solution. Many previously proposed logic protection techniques rely on duplicate logic or latches, incurring high overheads. In this paper, we present a technique for transient error detection using parity trees for power and area efficiency. This approach is highly customizable, allowing adjustment of a number of parameters for optimal error coverage and overhead. We present simulation results comparing our scheme to latch duplication, showing on average greater than 55% savings in area and power overhead for the same error coverage. We also demonstrate adding protection to reach a target logic soft error rate, constituting at best a 59X reduction in the error rate with under 2% power and area overhead.
Executive Compensation and Human Capital Investments Through Industry Selection

We use proprietary data capturing compensation levels of executives placed by a global search firm to investigate how executives evaluate rewards and risks of human capital investment choices. Our ...
A comprehensive package for DNA sequence analysis in FORTRAN IV for the PDP-11.

Abstract A computer package written in Fortran-IV for the PDP-11 minicomputer is described. The package's novel features are: software for voice-entry of sequence data; a less memory intensive algorithm for optimal sequence alignment; and programs that fit statistical models to nucleic acid and protein sequences.
Evaluation of right ventricular global and regional function during stress echocardiography using novel velocity vector imaging

Aims This study tested the feasibility of velocity vector imaging (VVI) analysis to quantitatively assess right ventricular (RV) function during stress echocardiography (SE). Methods and results We prospectively enrolled 73 patients (treadmill 38, dobutamine 35) undergoing SE using an Acuson C512 ultrasound system. The RV ejection fraction was measured for global RV function. The radial velocity, circumferential strain, and strain rate (SR) of four segments from the mid-level RV short-axis view, and the longitudinal velocity, strain, and SR of six segments from the RV apical four-chamber view were used to evaluate regional RV function. The VVI analysis successfully in 70 of 73 cases (96%). Fifty (71%) of the 70 demonstrated a normal response to stress, showing an increased RV ejection fraction ( P < 0.001), and longitudinal velocity and SR in the basal lateral walls at peak stress (7.7 ± 2.0–10.3 ± 2.9 cm/s, −1.9 ± 0.7 to −3.2 ± 1.4/s, P < 0.001); the longitudinal displacement and strain of the same segment did not show a significant increase. Conclusion Quantitative assessment of global and regional RV function during SE was feasible using VVI analysis. Longitudinal velocity and SR of the RV basal lateral wall were significantly better than longitudinal displacement or strain for detecting RV response during SE.
Production of charge in heavy ion collisions

By analyzing preliminary experimental measurements of charge-balance functions from the STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), it is found that scenarios in which balancing charges are produced in a single surge, and therefore separated by a single length scale, are inconsistent with data. In contrast, a model that assumes two surges, one associated with the formation of a thermalized quark-gluon plasma and a second associated with hadronization, provides a far superior reproduction of the data. A statistical analysis of the model comparison finds that the two-surge model best reproduces the data if the charge production from the first surge is similar to expectations for equilibrated matter taken from lattice gauge theory. The charges created in the first surge appear to separate by approximately one unit of spatial rapidity before emission, while charges from the second wave appear to have separated by approximately a half unit or less.
Extracting Pavement Surface Distress Conditions Based on High Spatial Resolution Multispectral Digital Aerial Photography

Abstract State transportation agencies regularly collect data on pavement surface distresses. These data are used to assess overall pavement conditions and to make maintenance and repair decisions. Routinely-acquired and publically-available high spatial resolution (hsr) multispectral digital aerial photography provides a potential method for collecting distress information that can supplement or replace currently-used technologies. Principal component analysis and linear least squares regression models were used to evaluate the potential of using HSR multispectral digital aerial photographs to estimate pavement surface overall distress conditions. Various models were developed using HSR multispectral digital aerial photographs of different spatial resolution (6-inch, 12-inch, and 24-inch) and reference pavement surface distress data collected manually at multiple sample sites using standard protocols. The results show that the spectral response of HSR multispectral digital aerial photographs correlate strongly with reference distress rates at all tested spatial resolutions, but the 6-inch aerial photos exhibit the strongest correlation (R 2 > 0.95), even when using only half of the sample sites (R 2 > 0.92). These results indicate that straightforward analysis of HSR multispectral digital aerial photographs, routinely acquired by most municipalities and states, can permit assessment of pavement surface distress conditions as well as current manual evaluation protocols.
Deliberation-Derived Process (DDP) evaluation:

This article describes a methodology for conducting process evaluations. The Deliberation-Derived Process (DDP) evaluation develops questions based on deliberations occurring during the planning, design and early implementation phases of a program. The steps involved in completing a DDP evaluation are described and illustrated using a few case examples. It is argued DDP evaluation is especially useful in providing targeted and timely information to assist design staff in making improvements to the quality of a program. The advantages and drawbacks of DDP evaluation are also discussed.
Quantum Sizing of Power Electronics: A Trend Towards Miniaturiation of Power Electronic Systems and Equipments

Human ability to manipulate atoms and molecules on quantum basis has generated a new dimension of physical structures for molecular scale transistors and devices. We will discuss about nanodimensional single electron transistor. This molecular device works as a switching element by controlling the electron tunneling for amplifying the current. The basic structure consists of two tunnel junctions isolated by a common insulator of nanodimensional length. One broader aspect of nano power electronics is that, it has got significant role in nanodimensional device regime as tunneling diodes. They have got inherently fast tunneling rate, which makes them highly suitable for high-speed operation. A special type of tunneling diode is an interband tunneling diode (ITD), which is actually, a p-n diode. The V-I characteristics of such diodes are dependent upon the tunneling barrier and tunneling process itself. Another special feature of these diodes is their negative-differential-resistance characteristics. This special characteristic of such diodes makes them very useful in switching digital circuits.
Abstract 110: Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Induces Phenotypic Modulation in Cerebral Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells via KLF4: Implications for Cerebral Aneurysm Pathology

Inflammation and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotypic modulation appears to be important in cerebral aneurysm formation/progression yet molecular pathological mechanisms remain unknown. We investigated a potential direct role of Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) mediated via the transcription factor, KLF4, in inducing VSMC phenotypic modulation and inflammation in vitro and in vivo, which may be critical in the pathogenesis of cerebral aneurysms. Methods: Rat cerebral VSMCs were treated with TNF-alpha (5 and 50 ng/ml) for 24 hours. The expression of KLF4, VSMCs marker genes (SM-alpha-Actin, SM-22alpha and SM-MHC), the SRF co-activator, Myocardin, and inflammatory/ matrix remodeling genes (MMP-3, VCAM-1, iNOS, and MCP-1) was measured using qPCR. Cells were transfected with siRNA against KLF4 to examine the role of KLF4 as a direct mediator of phenotypic modulation. To investigate in vivo effects, pluronic gel (40% w/v) containing TNF-alpha (30-60 ug/ml) was applied to carotid vessels in 7-week-old rats for 6 and 24 hours. Carotid vessels were harvested and qPCR performed. In another experiment, aneurysm induction surgery was performed in rats using a standard model (unilateral carotid ligation/induction of hypertension). The circle of Willis cerebral vessels were harvested and qPCR performed comparing treated and control animals. Results: TNF-alpha treatment produced a dose-dependent decrease in SMC marker gene and myocardin expression while potently inducing expression of KLF4 and the aforementioned inflammatory/matrix remodeling genes (p Conclusion: TNF-alpha appears to potently induce phenotypic modulation of cerebral VSMCs producing a pro-inflammatory phenotype with elevation of matrix remodeling genes both in vitro and in vivo. KLF4 appears to be a critical mediator of this process. As inflammation (and specifically TNF-alpha) and matrix remodeling have been implicated in the pathogenesis of human cerebral aneurysms, the molecular mechanisms outlined herein may represent a novel target for future therapy.
Surface Roughening During Titanium Silicide Formation: a Comparison Between Si(100) and Poly-Si Substrates

We demonstrate that the formation of TiSi2 for Ti films deposited on undoped Si(100) substrates leads to rougher surfaces than for Ti films deposited on undoped poly-Si substrates. The successive formations of TiSi2, C49 (high resistivity) and C54 (low resistivity) phases from titanium films deposited on either Si(100) or poly-Si substrates were monitored in situ during rapid thermal annealing using elastic light scattering, x-ray diffraction and resistance measurements. For both types of substrates, the roughening occurs only during the formation of the first TiSi2, phase (C49) by light scattered from lateral length scales of ˜0.5 μm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. quantified using Fourier filtering, are consistent with the light scattering results.
Legal Briefs: Growth Restricted Preterm Twin With Increasing Apnea

Diamniotic monochorionic 32-6/7-weeks'-gestation twins were born to a 32-year-old woman who was positive for Group B Streptococcus . After a course of antenatal steroids, an elective cesarean delivery was done since the systolic to diastolic ratio was increasing, the amniotic fluid was decreasing, and the fetal head had not grown for 2 weeks in the smaller twin. The twins were girls, vigorous at birth, had excellent Apgar Scores, and normal cord gases. Twin A weighed 1,646 g and B weighed 1,126 g. Twin B’s weight was <3% and her head circumference was 10%. Twin B’s umbilical cord was short and had a slightly marginal insertion. The placenta was normal. Cord gases were normal. Immediately after birth, Twin B began grunting and having retractions for which she was given nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) at 5 cm H2O. Her blood pressure was normal. A complete blood count (CBC) and a blood culture were sent. Her CBC revealed the following: white blood count (WBC) of 7.7 × 103/uL with a differential of 34% polymorphonuclear cells, 1% band, 54% lymphocytes, hematocrit (hct) of 39% (0.39), and a platelet count of 264 × 103/uL. No antibiotics were given. At 24 hours, the infant was started on trophic feeds. At that point, some apnea began, for which caffeine was administered. Because of a murmur and continued need for respiratory support, an echocardiogram was performed that revealed a patent ductus arteriosus and a bicuspid aortic valve. At 30 hours, a course of indomethacin was started. The infant was on NCPAP at 5 cm H2O at 30% fraction of inspired oxygen. A double lumen umbilical venous catheter (UVC) and an umbilical arterial catheter (UAC) were placed for nutrition, medications, and for frequent laboratory draws. Other than an occasional …
Antioxidative activity and physical property of polysaccharide from Ledum palustre L.

The polysaccharide was extracted from Ledum,and the content and characteristics of polysaccharide fromLedum were investigated by IR,UV spectra,thermal analysis(TG)and X-ray diffraction(XRD).The results from IR and UV spectra showed that the extracts containing the typical group of polysaccharide.It was noted that the content of Ledumpolysaccharide was 69.95%.In addition,the antioxidant activity containing total reductive ability,scavenging ability for DPPH radical(DPPH·),hydroxyl radical(·OH)and superoxide anion radical(· O-2)were investigated.The results showed that the EC50 for scavenging DPPH·,·O-2,·OH were0.52,1.41,1.71 mg/mL,which means that the polysaccharide fromLedumpossessed a notable antioxidant activity.Moreover,the antioxidant ability was close to BHT and increased with the growth of the content of polysaccharide.The results of thermal stability from thermal analysis(TG)showed that the chemical decomposition of polysaccharide fromLedum was occurred at 190 ℃.The crystallinity of polysaccharide from Ledum was 3.6%,the low degree of crystallinity resulted in a poor molecular rigidity.
Estrus and Fertility in Lactating Sows and Piglet Performance as Influenced by Limited Nursing

Seven trials were conducted with 126 sows and their litters to determine the influence of limited nursing (LN), starting on day 21 of lactation, on estrous activity and conception rate during lactation and on piglet performance. One-half of the sows in each of the first three trials were allowed to nurse their piglets four times daily for 30-min periods for 12 days. In the last four trials, half of the sows nursed their piglets four times daily for the first 3 days and then three times daily for 4 days (7-day limited nursing). The remaining sows in each trial were allowed to nurse their piglets in a normal manner. All piglets were weaned at the end of the LN period. Piglets were weighed at the start of the study, at weaning and at 14 days postweaning. Creep intake was measured during the LN period. In the first three trials, eight of the 26 LN sows were in estrus before weaning, whereas no control (C) sows were in estrus during lactation (P greater than .01). The average interval from weaning to breeding was 1.7 and 6.6 days for LN and C sows, respectively (P greater than .01). In the last four trials, five of 37 LN sows were in estrus before weaning, whereas no C sows were in estrus during lactation (P greater than .07). The average interval from weaning to estrus was 3.3 and 4.3 days for LN and C sows, respectively, (P greater than .05). Conception rate did not differ between trials or between treatment groups. Weight gain during the treatment period was lower and creep feed intake greater (both P greater than .01) for pigs reared by LN sows than for piglets reared by C sows. Weight gained after weaning was greater (P greater than .05) for piglets reared by LN sows than for those reared by C sows in the first three trials, but was similar for the two groups in the following four trials. Piglet death loss was similar for the two groups throughout the experiment.
Perspectives on the Use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Related Mobile Apps: Results from a Survey of Students and Professionals

Abstract Although mobile apps have proliferated as self-help or adjunctive therapy supports, scant research has explored their implementation among mental health practitioners. Little is known about uses and perceptions of mental health apps among applied practitioners, nor are agreed-upon criteria for evaluating and choosing apps available. The present survey study examined the uses and perceptions of mental health apps among 356 professionals and students familiar with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), as indicated by being a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. The survey found that practitioners are interested in using ACT-related apps, but that use of and familiarity with apps is low. As rated by participants, the most helpful app functions pertained to supporting out-of-session skills practice and the maintenance of therapy gains. The greatest barriers to app use included little guidance as to what apps to choose, app contents that are inconsistent with ACT, and ethical concerns related to app use. Suggested criteria for evaluating apps were consistent with the perceived benefits and barriers to use. Results of this study may be used to increase implementation and improve the development of mental health apps with ACT and other therapeutic communities.
A Critical Reading of the Passage of the 1990 Anti-Terrorism Act and the Filing of the Linde et al. v. Arab Bank, PLC Cases

This chapter covers the period of time between 1990 and 2004, that takes the readers on a journey that begins with the passage of the 1990 Anti-Terrorism Act and ends with the initial filings of the lawsuits that were collectively called the Linde et al. v. Arab Bank, PLC cases. It illustrates how over the years many plaintiffs who have filed terrorist financing cases in U.S. federal district courts have had little trouble going after Palestinian “non-state” terrorist actors, including alleged members or supporters of Hamas, Hezbollah, or the PLO.
Bladder Cancer Segmentation in CT for Treatment Response Assessment: Application of Deep-Learning Convolution Neural Network—A Pilot Study

Assessing the response of bladder cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is crucial for reducing morbidity and increasing quality of life of patients. Changes in tumor volume during treatment is generally used to predict treatment outcome. We are developing a method for bladder cancer segmentation in CT using a pilot data set of 62 cases. 65 000 regions of interests were extracted from pre-treatment CT images to train a deep-learning convolution neural network (DL-CNN) for tumor boundary detection using leave-one-case-out cross-validation. The results were compared to our previous AI-CALS method. For all lesions in the data set, the longest diameter and its perpendicular were measured by two radiologists, and 3D manual segmentation was obtained from one radiologist. The World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) were calculated, and the prediction accuracy of complete response to chemotherapy was estimated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The AUCs were 0.73 ± 0.06, 0.70 ± 0.07, and 0.70 ± 0.06, respectively, for the volume change calculated using DL-CNN segmentation, the AI-CALS and the manual contours. The differences did not achieve statistical significance. The AUCs using the WHO criteria were 0.63 ± 0.07 and 0.61 ± 0.06, while the AUCs using RECIST were 0.65 ± 007 and 0.63 ± 0.06 for the two radiologists, respectively. Our results indicate that DL-CNN can produce accurate bladder cancer segmentation for calculation of tumor size change in response to treatment. The volume change performed better than the estimations from the WHO criteria and RECIST for the prediction of complete response.
EA2S2: An Efficient Application-Aware Storage System for Big Data Processing in Heterogeneous Clusters

Big data processing frameworks such as Hadoop have been widely adopted to process a large volume of data. A lot of prior work has focused on the allocation of resources and the execution order of jobs/tasks to improve the performance in a homogeneous cluster. In this paper, we investigate storage layer design in a heterogeneous system considering a new type of bundled jobs where the input data and associated application jobs are submitted in a bundle. Our goal is to break the barrier between resource management and the underlying storage layer, and improve data locality, an important performance factor for resource management, from the aspect of storage system. We develop a sampling-based randomized algorithm for the network file system to determine the placement of input data blocks. The main idea is to query a selected set of candidate nodes, and estimate their workload at run time combining centralized and per-node information. The node with the smallest workload is selected to host the data block. Our evaluation is based with system implementation and comprehensive experiments on NSF CloudLab platforms. We have also conducted simulation for large-scale clusters. The results show significant performance improvements in terms of execution time and data locality.
The Goldwater Rule: Perspectives From, and Implications for, Psychological Science:

When, if ever, should psychological scientists be permitted to offer professional opinions concerning the mental health of public figures they have never directly examined? This contentious question, which attracted widespread public attention during the 1964 U.S. presidential election involving Barry Goldwater, received renewed scrutiny during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, when many mental health professionals raised pointed questions concerning the psychiatric status of Donald Trump. Although the Goldwater Rule prohibits psychiatrists from offering diagnostic opinions on individuals they have never examined, no comparable rule exists for psychologists. We contend that, owing largely to the Goldwater Rule's origins in psychiatry, a substantial body of psychological research on assessment and clinical judgment, including work on the questionable validity of unstructured interviews, the psychology of cognitive biases, and the validity of informant reports and of L (lifetime) data, has been overlooked in discussions of its merits. We conclude that although the Goldwater Rule may have been defensible several decades ago, it is outdated and premised on dubious scientific assumptions. We further contend that there are select cases in which psychological scientists with suitable expertise may harbor a "duty to inform," allowing them to offer informed opinions concerning public figures' mental health with appropriate caveats.
Biochemical characteristics of insect microsomes. N- and O-demethylation.

The N-demethylation of N,N-dimethyl-p-nitrophenol carbamate and the O-demethylation of p-nitroanisole by the microsomes from housefly abdomens were studied. Demethylation activity of male flies rises to a maximum at 4 days after emergence, while the maximum activity of females is not realized until 7–9 days after emergence. Homogenization with a teflon pestle is more effective than a blender, and 0.20 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.8) was found to be superior to all other media tested for the preparation of the microsomes. It was apparent that the ionic strength of the preparative medium is more important than either molarity or pH for obtaining microsomes of maximum N- and O-demethylating activity. During the subsequent incubation, 0.5 to 1.0% bovine serum albumin is required for maximum activity. The pH optimum for both O- and N-demethylation is between 7.7 and 8.1 with added NADPH or with the generating system, and both reactions show the greatest activity at 30–33°. The apparent Km for pNA is 9.0 ± 0.4 × 10−5 M and that for DpNC is 4.0 ± 1.6 × 10−4 M.