cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thresholds for Focal Ultrasonic Lesions in Rabbit Kidney, Liver, and Testicle

Thresholds are reported for production of focal ultrasonic lesions in rabbit liver, kidney, and testicle for 2 and 6 MHz, singe pulse exposures ranging in length from 1 to 60 s. Intensity-exposure time thresholds are found to be nearly independent of frequency as shown in earlier work for brain tissue. The results compare favorably with a thermal model for prediction of thresholds which considers the activation energy for thermal destruction of the tissues, their thermal diffusivity, absorption coefficients, time and intensity of exposure, and baseline temperature. All thresholds are of the same magnitude as those previously reported for brain. Those differences which are observed can be explained by the thermal model for the action of ultrasound on tissue.
Self-Crossover Based Genetic Algorithm for Performance Augmentation of the Traveling Salesman Problem

A genetic algorithm (GA) based approach to the path representation of the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) will be presented towards potential application to co-operative control of a group of UAVs. The scenario involves a random distribution of cities on a two dimensional grid or a pre-defined set of targets, and determines the optimal path solution of the TSP by means of an iterative algorithm. Similar codes based on genetic algorithms are in existence; however, a unique set of modifications are utilized in this study. Generally speaking, when applying a GA to the TSP, traditional crossover is not permitted, as a city could be visited twice using this method. To circumvent this issue and optimize algorithm efficiency, we introduce a concept referred to as SCROOGE (Self CROssover Optimal GEnetic algorithm). This algorithm will be utilizing a combination of self-crossover and mutation of the strings making up the population. Through selfcrossover, a single string is chosen for breeding, and has a chance to produce an offspring based off of its own genetic material, much as a starfish or many other animals would in nature. Additionally, SCROOGE’s parameters morph with time, becoming more focused on avoiding local minima as iterations progress.
Elucidation of physiologic lengthening of left ventricular ejection time during early upright exercise

Abstract To elucidate the relationship between heart rate (HR) and left ventricular ejection time (LVET) during early exercise, 30 patients with chest pain were studied at 1 (1′) and 4 minutes (4′). Mean results for control → 1′ exercise: HR 79 to 105 beats per minute, LVET 247 to 260 msec. Thus instead of shortening as predicted by the HR change at 1′ of exercise, LVET rose significantly ( p
Effect of Grain Size on Uranium(VI) Surface Complexation Kinetics and Adsorption Additivity

The contribution of variable grain sizes to uranium adsorption/desorption was studied using a sediment from the US DOE Hanford site. The sediment was wet sieved into four size fractions: coarse sand (1–2 mm), medium sand (0.2–1 mm), fine sand (0.053–0.2 mm), and clay/silt fraction (<0.053 mm). For each size fraction and their composite (sediment), batch and flow-cell experiments were performed to determine uranium adsorption isotherms and kinetic uranium adsorption and subsequent desorption. The results showed that uranium adsorption isotherms and adsorption/desorption kinetics were size specific, reflecting the effects of size-specific adsorption site concentration and kinetic rate constants. The larger-size fraction had a larger mass percentage in the sediment but with a smaller adsorption site concentration and generally a slower uranium adsorption/desorption rate. The same equilibrium surface complexation reaction and reaction constant could describe uranium adsorption isotherms for all size fractions...
Radiation dose reduction in computed tomography perfusion using spatial-temporal Bayesian methods

In current computed tomography (CT) examinations, the associated X-ray radiation dose is of significant concern to patients and operators, especially CT perfusion (CTP) imaging that has higher radiation dose due to its cine scanning technique. A simple and cost-effective means to perform the examinations is to lower the milliampere-seconds (mAs) parameter as low as reasonably achievable in data acquisition. However, lowering the mAs parameter will unavoidably increase data noise and degrade CT perfusion maps greatly if no adequate noise control is applied during image reconstruction. To capture the essential dynamics of CT perfusion, a simple spatial-temporal Bayesian method that uses a piecewise parametric model of the residual function is used, and then the model parameters are estimated from a Bayesian formulation of prior smoothness constraints on perfusion parameters. From the fitted residual function, reliable CTP parameter maps are obtained from low dose CT data. The merit of this scheme exists in the combination of analytical piecewise residual function with Bayesian framework using a simpler prior spatial constrain for CT perfusion application. On a dataset of 22 patients, this dynamic spatial-temporal Bayesian model yielded an increase in signal-tonoise-ratio (SNR) of 78% and a decrease in mean-square-error (MSE) of 40% at low dose radiation of 43mA.
Effective property estimates for composites containing multiple nanoheterogeneities: Part II nanofibers and voids

The Effective Continuum Micromechanics Analysis Code was used to predict effective elastic moduli of vinyl ester composites containing a combination of solid/hollow carbon nanofibers with varying degrees of fiber waviness, voids, and traditional E-glass fibers. The predicted effective elastic moduli for nanofiber-reinforced composites matched well with experimental results from the literature. In addition, single- and multiple-step homogenization procedures were both used to determine effective properties for hybrid composites containing reinforcements of disparate sizes (i.e., nanofibers combined with traditional E-glass fibers). This work aims to facilitate the development of engineered multiscale materials design by providing insight into relationships between nanomaterial physical characteristics, interactions, and structure across disparate spatial scales that lead to improved macroscale performance.
Transport of Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 in Intervertebral Disc: Effect of Binding Interactions and Inhomogeneous Distribution of Binding Proteins in Annulus Fibrosus and Nucleus Pulposus

The intervertebral disc (IVD), being the largest avascular structure in human body, receives nourishment from the vascular network present near its periannular surface and at cartilage endplates (CEPs). It is believed that insufficient nutritional supply is a major cause for disc degeneration [1]. Understanding the mechanisms of solute transport in IVD is crucial for elucidating the etiology of disc degeneration, and to develop strategies for tissue repair (in vivo), and tissue engineering (in vitro). Transport in IVD is complex and involves a series of electromechanical, chemical, and biological coupled events. This study focused on the implications of solute-tissue reversible binding reactions on transport phenomena in the disc. A two dimensional (2D) finite element model was developed to predict diffusive-reactive transport in IVD. The numerical model was used to simulate transport of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in IVD, in the presence of binding interactions between IGF-1 and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP-3) located on the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the disc.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Application- and user-sensitive privacy enforcement in mobile systems

The mobile era is marked by exciting opportunities for utilization of contextual information in computing. Applications from different categories -- including commercial and enterprise email, instant messaging, social, banking, insurance and retail -- access, process and transmit over the network numerous pieces of sensitive information, such as the user's geographical location, device ID, contacts, calendar events, passwords, and health records, as well as credit-card, social-security, and bank-account numbers. Understanding and managing how an application handles private data is a significant challenge. There are not only multiple sources of such data (including primarily social accounts, user inputs and platform libraries), but also different release targets (such as advertising companies and application servers) and different forms of release (for example, passwords transmitted in the clear, hashed or encrypted). To the end users, and particularly those who are not tech savvy, it is nontrivial to manage these complexities. In response, we have designed Labyrinth, a system for privacy enforcement. The unique features of Labyrinth are (i) an intuitive visual interface for configuration of the privacy policy, which consists of enriched app screen captures annotated with privacy-related information, combined with (ii) a lightweight mechanism to detect and suppress privacy threats that is completely decoupled from the host platform. Labyrinth supports both Android and iOS. In this paper, we describe the Labyrinth architecture and illustrate its flow steps.
The Auditor's Going‐Concern Disclosure as a Self‐Fulfilling Prophecy: A Discrete‐Time Survival Analysis*

The question of how an auditor's going-concern disclosure affects a client's future operations has long troubled the auditing profession. In an attempt to provide further understanding of this issue, we introduce Discrete-Time Survival Analysis (DTSA) to examine the aftermath of 231 first-time going-concern disclosures on clients' subsequent continuance. DTSA represents a significant refinement over traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic (LOGIT) regression in that it provides not only a probability estimate, but also an estimate of the timing of the event occurrence. The addition of this extra dimension (event timing) aids decision makers by providing more complete information about event probabilities. Consistent with the “self-fulfilling prophecy effect,” the risk profiles developed from DTSA indicate that the first year subsequent to the initial going-concern disclosure was the most dangerous in terms of risk of bankruptcy. However, after the first year, the incidence of bankruptcy decreases significantly. Thus, DTSA is able to provide a richer perspective on this perplexing issue than previously considered.
Femur: MR imaging-guided radio-frequency ablation in a porcine model-feasibility study.

PURPOSE: To determine the feasibility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging–guided and –monitored radio-frequency (RF) ablation of bone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven femurs were treated in five pigs with use of a 0.2-T open MR imager. An 11-gauge bone marrow needle was percutaneously inserted into the distal femur metaphysis with MR fluoroscopy (fast imaging with steady-state precession, or FISP, sequences) to introduce an RF electrode into the bone with further image guidance. Thermal ablation was performed for 10 minutes (90°C ± 2 [mean ± SD]). MR follow-up was performed immediately after ablation and again at 7 and 14 days after the procedure (with contrast material–enhanced T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and fast short inversion time inversion-recovery, or STIR, sequences). The animals were sacrificed at day 14. The femurs were sliced, decalcified, and stained. Image analysis was performed to measure lesion diameter and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and to evaluate complications. RESULTS: Technical success wa...
Role of Mitochondrial Glutaminase in Rat Renal Glutamine Metabolism

During normal acid-base balance, the kidney extracts very little of the plasma glutamine. However, during metabolic acidosis, as much as one third of the plasma glutamine is extracted and metabolized in a single pass through this organ. The substantial increase in renal utilization occurs solely within the proximal convoluted tubule and is sustained by compensating adaptations in the intraorgan metabolism of glutamine. The primary pathway for renal glutamine metabolism involves its transport into mitochondria and its deamidation and deamination by glutaminase (GA) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), respectively. The resulting ammonium ions are excreted predominantly in the urine where they function as expendable cations to facilitate the excretion of acids. The resulting alpha-ketoglutarate is further metabolized to phosphoenolpyruvate and subsequently to glucose or CO2. The intermediate steps yield two bicarbonate ions that are selectively transported into the venous blood to partially compensate the metabolic acidosis. In rat kidney, this adaptation is sustained in part by the cell-specific induction of the glutaminase that results primarily from stabilization of the GA mRNA. The 3'-nontranslated region of the GA mRNA contains a direct repeat of an 8-base AU-sequence that functions as a pH-response element. This sequence exhibits a high affinity and specificity for zeta (z)-crystallin. The same protein binds to two separate, but homologous, 8-base AU-sequences within the 3'-nontranslated region of the GDH mRNA. The apparent binding activity of z-crystallin is increased significantly during onset of metabolic acidosis. Thus, increased binding of z-crystallin may initiate the pH-responsive stabilization of the two mRNAs.
Inclusive semileptonic B and polarized Lambda b decays from QCD.

The differential decay spectrum $\frac{d\ensuremath{\Gamma}}{d{E}_{e}d{q}^{2}}$ for the semileptonic decay of an unpolarized hadron containing a $b$ quark and the decay spectrum $\frac{d\ensuremath{\Gamma}}{d{E}_{e}d{q}^{2}d cos\ensuremath{\theta}}$ for polarized ${\ensuremath{\Lambda}}_{b}$ decay are computed to second order in the $\frac{1}{{m}_{b}}$ expansion. Most of the $\frac{1}{{m}_{b}^{2}}$ corrections have a simple physical interpretation, which is discussed in detail. The implications of the results for the determination of ${V}_{\mathrm{ub}}$ are discussed. The decay spectra for the semileptonic decay of hadrons containing a $c$ quark are also given. There is a subtlety in the use of the equations of motion at order $\frac{1}{{m}_{b}^{2}}$ in the heavy quark expansion which is explained.
Optimized numerical models for semiconductor devices: Part II

This article presents some results from a study concerned with the trade-off between efficiency of numerical computation and accuracy of numerical models for semiconductor devices. The approach taken in this study was to use nonuniform grids in the finite difference equations approximating the semiconductor partial differential equations. A constrained minimization problem was formulated which analytically optimizes the numerical models. Several performance functions were found useful in optimizing the numerical models; the one presented here matches computed and "exact" terminal current responses. An example is presented to illustrate the results obtained with this performance function. The example model optimization shows that the optimized grids should have their greatest density in the space-charge region near the junction. An interesting side result is that when one performance function is optimized, apparently other desired features are optimized for numerical models for semiconductor devices. The Fletcher-Powell optimization algorithm was used with an adjoint gradient algorithm specifically developed for this study, without which the use of nonuniform grids would not have been practical.
Probability of error of some adaptive pattern-recognition machines

A simple taught pattern-recognition machine for detecting an unknown, fixed, randomly occurring pattern is derived using a Bayes' approach, and its probability of error is analyzed. It is shown that with probability one, the machine converges to the optimal detector (a matched filter) for the unknown pattern, that the asymptotic decision function statistics are Gaussian, and that for an important class of problems, the central-limit theorem can be invoked to calculate the approximate probability of error at any stage of convergence. An untaught adaptive pattern-recognition machine may be made from the taught machine by using its own output instead of a teacher, and the asymptotic probability of error of this device is derived. It is shown that it does not converge to a matched filter for the unknown pattern, but that in any practical case it performs almost as well. Finally, the results of an experimental simulation of both machines are presented as curves of the relative frequency of error vs. time, and are compared with the values calculated by theory.
Evidence for pinning of grain-boundary vortices by Abrikosov vortices in the grains of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7

Data as a function of magnetic field on two types of bicrystal grain boundaries ~GB’s ! of high-Tc superconductors show a peak in the critical current and an unusual inverse hysteresis. These results support a mechanism for an enhanced GB critical current, arising from interactions of GB vortices with pinned Abrikosov vortices in the banks of a GB, as suggested by Gurevich and Cooley. A substantial fraction of this enhancement ~of order a factor of 2 after field cooling! also occurs upon exceeding the critical current of the grains after zero field cooling. A bulk GB and an isolated GB from a coated conductor show qualitatively identical results. There is evidence that the critical current density Jc of grain boundaries ~GB’s ! in high-temperature superconductors ~HTS’s ! does not drop as quickly 1 with magnetic fieldH as might have been expected from a simple Josephson junction model, in which the envelope of the Fraunhofer pattern goes as 1/H. In very low fields, pinning of Josephson vortices by the meandering of thin-film,@001# tilt, bicrystal GB’s in YBa2Cu3O7 has been demonstrated 2 to enhance Jc . However, as the spacing between Josephson vortices decreases in higher fields, this long wavelength pinning potential due to meandering becomes less effective. Recently, Gurevich and Cooley 3 proposed a new mechanism for an enhanced GB critical current arising from pinned Abrikosov vortices in the banks of a GB which present a static, quasiperiodic pinning potential to pin GB vortices. Their calculations, that predict, 3 e.g., a peak in Jc(H), are in the low field limit, but the central concept can be extrapolated to higher fields. This pinning mechanism exhibits optimal effectiveness if the Abrikosov and Josephson vortices have the same spacing, i.e., when the magnetic flux density in the GB and the banks are equal. In that case there is one potential well for pinning per Josephson vortex. A peak in Jc(H) is not uncommon in melt-textured and single crystalline YBa2Cu3O7 which are made without intentional GB’s, but we are unaware of such direct experimental evidence in GB transport. 4
Evaluation of the contribution of LiDAR data and postclassification procedures to object-based classification accuracy

Object-based image analysis (OBIA) is becoming an increasingly common method for producing land use/land cover (LULC) classifications in urban areas. In order to produce the most accurate LULC map, LiDAR data and postclassification procedures are often employed, but their relative contributions to accuracy are unclear. We examined the contribution of LiDAR data and postclassification procedures to increase classification accuracies over using imagery alone and assessed sources of error along an ecologically complex urban-to-rural gradient in Olympia, Washington. Overall classification accuracy and user's and producer's accuracies for individual classes were evaluated. The addition of LiDAR data to the OBIA classification resulted in an 8.34% increase in overall accuracy, while manual postclassification to the imagery þ LiDAR classification improved accuracy only an additional 1%. Sources of error in this classification were largely due to edge effects, from which multiple different types of errors result. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. (DOI: 10.1117/1.JRS.8.083529)
Co‐factors for smoking and evolutionary psychobiology

Smoking is becoming increasingly concentrated in people with co-factors such as depression, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, and bulimia/bingeing. These behavioral or cognitive patterns may be adaptive or neutral in the conditions under which we evolved but maladaptive in environments requiring alertness for extended periods, where a fully mobilized fight-or-flight response is inappropriate, and where food availability makes lack of an "appestat" a liability. Such conditions are amenable to management by nicotine because of its ability to produce small but reliable adjustments in relevant cognitive and behavioral functions. Moreover, symptomatology may be unmasked or exacerbated by nicotine abstinence, persisting beyond the usual time-course for nicotine withdrawal, which may explain the particular attraction of smoking and the difficulty these individuals experience in quitting without necessarily requiring that they be more nicotine-dependent. The implications are: (1) a better understanding of the evolutionary psychobiology of smoking may promote development of tailored interventions for smokers with co-factors; (2) nicotine may have therapeutic applications for non-smokers with co-factors; (3) because smoking has a fairly high heritability index, and because of evidence of assortative mating, special prevention efforts targeting children of smokers with co-factors, as well as early identification of the co-factor itself, may be needed.
Buffered clock tree for high quality IC design

In ultra-deep submicron VLSI designs, clock network layout plays an increasingly important role on determining circuit quality indicated by timing, power consumption, cost, power supply noise and tolerance to process variations. In this paper, a clock tree routing algorithm is proposed to achieve any prescribed non-zero skews which are useful in reducing clock cycle time, suppressing power supply noise and improving tolerance to process variations. The interactions among skew targets, sink location proximities and capacitive load balance are analyzed. Based on this analysis, a maximum delay-target ordering merging scheme is suggested to minimize wire and buffer area which imply cost, power consumption and vulnerability to process variations. During the clock routing, buffers are inserted simultaneously to facilitate a proper skew rate level and reduce wire snaking. The proposed algorithm is simple and fast for practical applications. Experimental results on benchmark circuits show that the proposed algorithm can reduce the total wire and buffer capacitance by 60% over an extension of existing zero skew routing method.
The automated malnutrition assessment.

Abstract Objective We propose an automated nutritional assessment algorithm that provides a method for malnutrition risk prediction with high accuracy and reliability. Methods The database used for this study was a file of 432 patients, where each patient was described by 4 laboratory parameters and 11 clinical parameters. A malnutrition risk assessment of low (1), moderate (2), or high (3) was assigned by a dietitian for each patient. An algorithm for data organization and classification using characteristic metrics for each patient was developed. For each patient, the algorithm characterized the patients' unique profile and built a characteristic metric to identify similar patients who were mapped into a classification. For each patient, the algorithm characterized the patients' classification. Results The algorithm assigned a malnutrition risk level for different training sizes that were taken from the data. Our method resulted in average errors (distance between the automated score and the real score) of 0.386, 0.3507, 0.3454, 0.34, and 0.2907 for the 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 90% training sizes, respectively. Our method outperformed the compared method even when our method used a smaller training set than the compared method. In addition, we showed that the laboratory parameters themselves were sufficient for the automated risk prediction and organized the patients into clusters that corresponded to low-, low–moderate-, moderate-, moderate–high-, and high-risk areas. The organization and visualization methods provided a tool for the exploration and navigation of the data points. Conclusion The problem of rapidly identifying risk and severity of malnutrition is crucial for minimizing medical and surgical complications. These are not easily performed or adequately expedited. We characterized for each patient a unique profile and mapped similar patients into a classification. We also found that the laboratory parameters were sufficient for the automated risk prediction.
Selenomonas sputigena Septicemia

Selenomonas sputigena is a curved motile anaerobic gram-negative rod that is a part of the normal upper respiratory tract of man. We present a case of speticemia associated with this organism and believe it to be the first such report describing systemic disease.
Ferroelectric ceramics of 2(Pb,Sr)Nb2O6: (K,Na)NbO3 tungsten bronze morphotropic phase boundary system

Abstract Systematic study of the chemistry-structure-property relation in α(Pb1-xSrx)Nb2O6:β(K1-yNayNbO3 oxide system has been carried out for α:β = 2:l and x = y. The experimental work is focused around compositions near the potential morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) that separates the ferroelectric orthorhombic (m2m) and ferroelectric pseudo-tetragonal phase (mm2). Ceramics of various compositions are prepared by solid state route and characterized for crystallographic phases and phase transitions using X-ray diffraction and thermal expansion measurements. Dielectric properties of these compositions as a function of temperature and frequency are studied. XRD analysis indicates the coexistence of pseudo-tetragonal and orthorhombic phases near x = 0.295. The dielectric permittivity reaches a maximum and phase transition temperature reaches a minimum near this composition.
SECONDARY TRAUMATIZATION IN PEDIATRIC HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS: COMPASSION FATIGUE, BURNOUT, AND SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS

The primary aim for this research was to explore the overlap and differences between the concepts related to secondary traumatization: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), secondary traumatic stress (STS), compassion fatigue (CF), and burnout (BRN). A secondary aim for this research was to examine the impact of secondary traumatization and some of the personal and professional elements that affect how pediatric healthcare providers experience PTSD, STS, CF, and BRN. An online survey was sent via e-mail to numerous list serves for healthcare providers who had worked on PICU, NICU, or PEDS units within the last year. The analyses revealed that a significant overlap existed between the terms of STS, PTSD, BRN, CS, and CF for PICU, NICU, and PEDS providers. However, a hierarchical linear regression revealed a significant amount of unique contributions to the variance in CF based on each of the measured concepts. Despite previous literature that indicates that the terms STS and CF can be used interchangeably,...
Strength of High Performance Glass Reinforcement Fiber

The practical strength of glass is highly dependent on the amount and type of damage that a glass article has experienced in its lifetime and can be 50% less than its theoretical strength. Glass reinforcement fibers in the pristine state exhibit some of the highest failure strengths of any glass form. Strength degradation is a sequential process the further from the point of formation a glass travels. Individual filament strength is important in the manufacturing process as the fiber interacts with water, HVAC, sizing applicators, contact shoes, and guide eyes and ultimately this combination impacts productivity. A discussion of glass fiber strength — pristine versus usable, and the effects of temperature, humidity, and composition on glass strength follows in this manuscript. New data collected in Owens Corning's Glass Properties Laboratory on the effect of temperature and relative humidity on strength and modulus for Advantex® glass, Owens Corning's S-glass (XStrand®S, FliteStrand®S, and ShieldStrand®S) and H-glass (WindStrand®H) are presented. Owens Corning's understanding of the effect of composition on strength and modulus, and particularly how individual oxides contribute to these properties are shared.
Open-ended song learning in a hummingbird

Vocal learning in birds is typically restricted to a sensitive period early in life, with the few exceptions reported in songbirds and parrots. Here, we present evidence of open-ended vocal learning in a hummingbird, the third avian group with vocal learning. We studied vocalizations at four leks of the long-billed hermit Phaethornis longirostris during a four-year period. Individuals produce a single song repertoire, although several song-types can coexist at a single lek. We found that nine of 49 birds recorded on multiple days (18%) changed their song-type between consecutive recordings. Three of these birds replaced song-types twice. Moreover, the earliest estimated age when song replacement occurred ranged from 186 to 547 days (mean = 307 days) and all nine birds who replaced song-types produced a crystallized song before replacement. The findings indicate that song-type replacement is distinct from an initial early learning sensitive period. As half of lekking males do not survive past the first year of life in this species, song learning may well extend throughout the lifespan. This behaviour would be convergent to vocal learning programmes found in parrots and songbirds.
Optical transmission enhacement through chemically tuned two-dimensional bismuth chalcogenide nanoplates

Layer-structured two-dimensional nanomaterials are a family of materials with strong covalent bonding within layers and weak van der Waals interaction between layers, whose vertical thickness can be thinned down to few nanometer and even single atomic layer. Bismuth chalcogenides are examples of such two-dimensional materials. Here, we present our discovery of significant enhancement of light transmission through thin nanoplates of layered bismuth chalcogenides by intercalation of copper atoms, which is on the contrary to most bulk materials in which doping reduces the light transmission. This surprising behaviour results from two mechanisms: chemical tuning effect of substantial reduction of material absorption after intercalation and nanophotonic effect of zero-wave anti-reflection unique to ultra-small thickness of nanoplates. We demonstrate that the synergy of these two effects in two-dimensional nanostructures can be exploited for various optoelectronic applications including transparent electrode. The intercalation mechanism allows potential dynamic tuning capability.
Design, fabrication, and reliability testing of embedded optical interconnects on package

Optical interconnections offer a potential solution to some of the bottlenecks that electrical interconnection systems face. Some of the challenges with optical interconnect design and development are the introduction of new optoelectronic materials and processes, the increasing bandwidth and decreasing loss requirements, and the need for reducing cost without compromising reliability. The goal of this paper is to report our ongoing work on optical interconnects and interfaces for very short-haul backplane, and board/package-level chip-to-chip interconnections. This research fits in with our future proposed integration technology of embedded optoelectronic active devices such as detector arrays, optical amplifiers and laser arrays coupled to the waveguide by alignment tolerant beam turning passive elements. Through testbed design, fabrication, and reliability testing, the waveguide polymer materials and integration process is evaluated, based on a number of factors which include: optical loss, roughness, optical aging, spectral absorption, refractive index and thermal stability.
A comparison of distributed groupware implementation environments

This paper compares popular client and server architectures used for groupware. It presents a client framework and evaluates native, installed clients, Java-based applications, and Web-based architectures. It also presents a server framework and evaluates databases, thin servers, application servers, and a custom collaborative server. Lessons learned are provided for each architecture. Native and Java-based clients provide highly-interactive, rich interfaces for groupware. Web-based client applications are simpler and seem the best solution if significant interactivity is not required. Databases and application servers enjoy robust and efficient data storage but do not provide groupware features such as messaging and push updates. Thin servers add these collaborative services but are not full solutions. A custom, collaborative server is presented that provides a truly collaborative platform for application development.
The need for a science of engineering informatics

Why has integration and interoperability of design and manufacturing knowledge proven so difficult? There is a common puzzle that appears in your Sunday newspaper or The New Yorker magazine.
Effect of Crystallinity on Strength and Fracture Toughness of Li2O‐Al2O3‐CaO‐SiO2 Glass‐Ceramics

The influence of crystal volume fraction on fracture toughness (K IC ) and indentation strength was analyzed for Li 2 O-Al 2 O 3 -CaO-SiO 2 (LACS) and LACS glass-ceramics containing 0.58 mmol% AgNO 3 (LACS-0.58Ag) or 0.78 mmol% AgNO 3 , (LACS-0.78Ag). The mean flexure strength, indentation strength, and K IC values of the LACS-0.78Ag groups increased with volume fraction of crystallinity. To achieve the greatest strength and K IC in LACS-Ag specimens, a high volume fraction of crystallinity (95%) had to be produced. However, the relationship between volume fraction of crystal phase and translucency had to be analyzed to determine the influence of crystallization on the potential esthetic results that are essential for dental applications. Addition of AgNO, to LACS glass produced a change from surface crystallization to bulk crystallization.
Differential susceptibility of human pleural and peritoneal mesothelial cells to asbestos exposure

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an aggressive cancer of mesothelial cells of pleural and peritoneal cavities. In 85% of cases both pleural and peritoneal MM is caused by asbestos exposure. Although both are asbestos-induced cancers, the incidence of pleural MM is significantly higher (85%) than peritoneal MM (15%). It has been proposed that carcinogenesis is a result of asbestos-induced inflammation but it is not clear what contributes to the differences observed between incidences of these two cancers. We hypothesize that the observed differences in incidences of pleural and peritoneal MM are the result of differences in the direct response of these cell types to asbestos rather than to differences mediated by the in vivo microenvironment. To test this hypothesis we characterized cellular responses to asbestos in a controlled environment. We found significantly greater changes in genome-wide expression in response to asbestos exposure in pleural mesothelial cells as compared to peritoneal mesothelial cells. In particular, a greater response in many common genes (IL-8, ATF3, CXCL2, CXCL3, IL-6, GOS2) was seen in pleural mesothelial cells as compared to peritoneal mesothelial cells. Unique genes expressed in pleural mesothelial cells were mainly pro-inflammatory (G-CSF, IL-1β, IL-1α, GREM1) and have previously been shown to be involved in development of MM. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that differences in incidences of pleural and peritoneal MM upon exposure to asbestos are the result of differences in mesothelial cell physiology that lead to differences in the inflammatory response, which leads to cancer.
Amphetamine improves cognitive function in medicated individuals with schizophrenia and in healthy volunteers

Background: Recent research on schizophrenia indicates that cognitive deficits in this illness are important predictors of functional outcome, highlighting the need for treatments that have a positive impact on cognitive function. Here we explore the hypothesis that acute administration of d-amphetamine can improve cognitive function in individuals with schizophrenia who are well-treated with typical antipsychotics, as well as in healthy controls performing under dual task conditions designed to elicit performance deficits analogous to those found in schizophrenia. Methods: Ten individuals with schizophrenia taking haldol or prolixin and 22 healthy controls performed spatial working memory, language production, and Stroop tasks under both placebo and 0.25 mg/kg of d-amphetamine. Results: d-Amphetamine improved reactions times on the spatial working memory and Stroop tasks for both individuals with schizophrenia and controls, and improved working memory accuracy in schizophrenia. In addition, d-amphetamine improved language production for both individuals with schizophrenia and controls. Conclusions: These results provide support for the hypothesis that the adjunctive administration of dopamine agonist can improve cognitive in individuals with schizophrenia taking typical antipsychotics. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the nature of working memory deficits in schizophrenia, and potential future avenues for cognitive enhancement in this illness. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Comparison of Blood Flow and Patency in Arterial and Vein Grafts to Basilar Artery

Cerebral revascularization procedures have been limited largely to the carotid circulation in man, although revascularization of the vertebrobasilar system has been done in animals (3,4) and more recently in man.(l) Previous studies of anastomotic grafts to the basilar system in animals have demonstrated that they may remain patent for a year or longer, (3,4) but few studies have been done to evaluate the physiologic results of these surgical approaches. The following reports quantitative measurements of blood flow in a basal state and the effects of physiologic variables on flow, and compares flow and patency rates obtained by two experimental methods aimed at reestablishing flow in the canine basilar artery.
Screening for Interference in Immunoassays

Background: The presence of interfering substances in patient samples submitted for immunoassay cannot be reliably anticipated. We therefore evaluated three interference screening techniques and estimated the prevalence of interfering substances as defined by positive outcomes with these protocols. Methods: We evaluated 160 samples for the presence of substances that may interfere with four immunoassays (40 samples for each): thyroid-stimulating hormone, prostate-specific antigen, β-human chorionic gonadotropin, and cortisol. Interference was defined by nonlinear responses with serial dilution, discrepant results after pretreatment with heterophile blocking reagent (HBR), and positive reactions on a mouse-antibody-negative control reaction (Tandem ICON® ImmunoConcentration HCG). Criteria for declaring significant discrepant results were based on a Z -score computed using the assay CV. The McNemar test was used to compare the prevalence of discrepancies across the three screening techniques. The association between type of immunoassay and prevalence of discrepant results was determined by a modified Pearson χ2 statistic. Results: Five of the 160 samples [3.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0–7.1%] screened positive with the ICON. Seventy-two of the 148 samples with informative serial dilutions (48.6%; 95% CI, 40.4–57.0%) had at least one discrepant result at higher dilutions. After pretreatment with HBR, 53 of the 140 samples (38%; 95% CI, 29.8–46%) were discrepant. Only 48 of the 140 samples with informative measurements for all three screening techniques (34%; 95% CI, 26–43%) were negative by all three. The prevalence of positive screens varied significantly by type of immunoassay ( P <0.0001) for both HBR and serial dilution. Only 3% (0.8–7%) of the samples tested with HBR showed a change from normal to abnormal or the reverse after treatment. Conclusions: Introducing a protocol based on any of these three techniques into the immunochemistry laboratory to prescreen for interfering substances is not warranted. The evaluation of specimens for the presence of interfering anti-animal antibodies should be reserved for cases in which clinical history or suspicious results indicate the need.
Phylogenetic Analysis of the Horned Lizards (Phrynosomatidae: Phrynosoma): Evidence from Mitochondrial DNA and Morphology

Abstract The phylogenetic relationships among all but one horned lizard species were inferred from mitochondrial ribosomal rRNA gene sequences (251 bp of 12S and 457 bp of 16S) and morphology (32 informative characters). Phylogenies were reconstructed based on separate and combined analyses using parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods. The separate mtDNA and morphological hypotheses were largely incongruent. Bootstrap analyses suggested that most of the incongruence was the result of weak support (bootstraps <70%) for alternative relationships (e.g., placement of Phrynosoma asio). However, there were strongly supported alternative placements of Phrynosoma ditmarsi. Mitochondrial DNA strongly placed P. ditmarsi with the short-horned lizards (i.e., Phrynosoma orbiculare and Phrynosoma douglasi sensu lato), whereas morphology strongly supported its exclusion from the large clade containing the short-horned lizards and placed P. ditmarsi with the southern Phrynosoma braconnieri + Phrynosoma taurus. Various ...
Effective Stratification for Pseudoadiabatic Ascent

Effective stratification can be interpreted as the resistance to upward motion of saturated air parcels experiencing condensation. Previously published expressions for effective stratification conflict with each other, and the most widely distributed expression contains an O(1) error. A derivation of effective stratification is presented that exposes its physical interpretation and that reveals the origin of the flaw in the incorrect derivation.
Investigation of the preparation methodologies of Pd-Cu single atom alloy catalysts for selective hydrogenation of acetylene

Galvanic replacement, co-impregnation and sequential impregnation have been employed to prepare Pd-Cu bimetallic catalysts with less than 1 wt-% Cu and ca. 0.03 wt-% Pd for selective hydrogenation of acetylene in excess ethylene. High angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and H2 chemisorption results confirmed that Pd-Cu singleatom alloy structures were constructed in all three bimetallic catalysts. Catalytic tests indicated that when the conversion of acetylene was above 99%, the selectivity of ethylene of these three single atom alloy catalysts was still more than 73%. Furthermore, the single atom alloy catalyst prepared by sequential incipient wetness impregnation was found to have the best stability among the three procedures used. Open image in new window
Modeling GATAD1 -Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Adult Zebrafish.

Animal models have played a critical role in validating human dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) genes, particularly those that implicate novel mechanisms for heart failure. However, the disease phenotype may be delayed due to age-dependent penetrance. For this reason, we generated an adult zebrafish model, which is a simpler vertebrate model with higher throughput than rodents. Specifically, we studied the zebrafish homologue of GATAD1, a recently identified gene for adult-onset autosomal recessive DCM. We showed cardiac expression of gatad1 transcripts, by whole mount in situ hybridization in zebrafish embryos, and demonstrated nuclear and sarcomeric I-band subcellular localization of Gatad1 protein in cardiomyocytes, by injecting a Tol2 plasmid encoding fluorescently-tagged Gatad1. We next generated gatad1 knock-out fish lines by TALEN technology and a transgenic fish line that expresses the human DCM GATAD1-S102P mutation in cardiomyocytes. Under stress conditions, longitudinal studies uncovered heart failure (HF)-like phenotypes in stable KO mutants and a tendency toward HF phenotypes in transgenic lines. Based on these efforts of studying a gene-based inherited cardiomyopathy model, we discuss the strengths and bottlenecks of adult zebrafish as a new vertebrate model for assessing candidate cardiomyopathy genes.
Pesticide-Induced Differences in Relative Abundance of Mites on Pecans13

High populations of the pecan leaf scorch mite (PLSM), Eotetranychus hicoriae (McGregor), developed on pecan trees sprayed with phosmet but not on trees sprayed with dialifor or a combination spray of phosmet plus carbophenothion. Comparison of trees with a history of yearly pesticide sprays with trees not sprayed for a number of years revealed major differences in relative abundance of PLSM and mites of the families Eriophyidae, Tydeidae, and Phytoseiidae.
Pesticide Usage Patterns and Associated Pest Damage in Commercial Apple Orchards of Pennsylvania

Pesticide usage patterns were examined in 20 and 16 commercial apple orchards in Pennsylvania during 1978 and 1979, respectively. The alternate-row middle system of spraying was the predominant method of application being used in 95% of the sprays during the 2-year period. Azinphosmethyl and methomyl were the most frequently used insecticides, whereas benomyl and captan were the most frequently used fungicides. Cyhexatin was the predominantly used acaricide. The most prevalent injuries to the fruit were caused by the leafroller, Platynota idaeusalis (Walker), and the sooty blotch fungus, Gloeodes pomigena (Schw.) Colby. Estimated savings in pesticide costs from all Pennsylvania orchards using integrated pest management tactics were $1.9 and $2.2 million annually for 1978 and 1979, respectively.
Improving Ecological Inference by Predicting Individual Ethnicity from Voter Registration Records

In both political behavior research and voting rights litigation, turnout and vote choice for different racial groups are often inferred using aggregate election results and racial composition. Over the past several decades, many statistical methods have been proposed to address this ecological inference problem. We propose an alternative method to reduce aggregation bias by predicting individual-level ethnicity from voter registration records. Building on the existing methodological literature, we use Bayes's rule to combine the Census Bureau's Surname List with various information from geocoded voter registration records. We evaluate the performance of the proposed methodology using approximately nine million voter registration records from Florida, where self-reported ethnicity is available. We find that it is possible to reduce the false positive rate among Black and Latino voters to 6% and 3%, respectively, while maintaining the true positive rate above 80%. Moreover, we use our predictions to estimate turnout by race and find that our estimates yields substantially less amounts of bias and root mean squared error than standard ecological inference estimates. We provide open-source software to implement the proposed methodology.
Research of some Physiological Characteristics Under the System of Rice Intensification

Under the system of rice intensification,the root activity,N content of plant in all growing stage,the filling rate and the chlorophyll content in ripening stage were studied by using the conventional rice variety "Yuexinzhan" and hybrid rice combination "Tianyou372".The result showed that the root activity in all growing stage,the N content and filling rate in late growing stage,chlorophyll content in ripening stage were increased,and the leaf senescence was delayed,therefore,the grain setting rate and grain yield were increased under the system of rice intensification.