cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A transaction logic for database specification

We introduce a logical formalism for the specification of the dynamic behavior of databases. The evolution of databases is characterized by both the dynamic integrity constraints which describe the properties of state transitions and the transactions whose executions lead to state transitions. Our formalism is based on a variant of first-order situational logic in which the states of computations are explicit objects. Integrity constraints and transactions are uniformly specifiable as expressions in our language. We also point out the application of the formalism to the verification and synthesis of transactions.
Neurospora nitrate reductase: the role of phosphate flavine and cytochrome c reductase.

Abstract 1. 1. Neurospora crassa nitrate reductase has been purified over 70-fold by ammonium sulfate fractionation. The properties of the purified enzyme have been studied in detail. 2. 2. Phosphate stimulates the reduction of nitrate when the highly purified nitrate reductase is used. Evidence is presented which indicates that the phosphate accelerates electron transport by combining with the molybdenum of the enzyme. 3. 3. All preparations of nitrate reductase contain an active TPNH-cytochrome c reductase. All available evidence indicates that one enzyme system is involved in nitrate and cytochrome c reduction. It is suggested that a flavine reductase is the first and rate-limiting step for both processes and that a molybdoprotein is essential for nitrate reduction using reduced FMN as the electron donor. 4. 4. When Neurospora crassa is grown on varying amounts of nitrate it was observed that both nitrate and cytochrome c reductase activities were induced in a parallel fashion. If TPNH-nitrate reductase is, indeed, two enzymes, then it must be concluded that nitrate induces the formation of both TPNH-flavine reductase and FMNH 2 -nitrate reductase activities. The resulting increase in the TPNH-flavine reductase is also reflected in a greater rate of cytochrome c reduction.
Identity Development and Intervention Studies: The Right Time for a Marriage?

A cohesive identity plays a key role in mental health and well-being. Yet, few studies involving identity have been intervention studies, and few intervention studies have included identity-related variables. In this article, we speculate about why this might be so. We argue that intervention research with young people will be more informative when variables tapping key developmental processes and outcomes such as identity cohesion, style, distress, and turning points are included. Such research can (a) promote positive identity development as an important aim, (b) illuminate processes of identity-related change, and (c) add knowledge about for whom interventions work and why they work, through identity's mediating or moderating effects. We argue that these integrative steps will make treatment and prevention interventions for young people more effective and potent.
On the azimuthal dependence of semi-inclusive, deep inelastic electroproduction cross sections

Abstract It is pointed out that according to the parton model, there should be no dependence on the azimuthal angle in the cross section for deep inelastic, semi-inclusive electroproduction with one detected hadron in the final state.
Estimating gas-in-place in aquifer-driven reservoirs

Abstract A new method of estimating original gas-in-place in aquifer-driven natural gas reservoirs has been developed. The method is based on the use of aquifer influence functions within a linear programming model. A study of 32 gas reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico has shown that the new method may be superior to conventional methods in two respects: 1. (1) estimation errors were generally lower and 2. (2) fewer assumptionsregarding geologic properties are required.
Improvement of RRAM Device Performance Through On-Chip Resistors

Research in non-volatile memories (NVM) has intensified in the past few years due to the ever increasing demand for information storage and the near ubiquity of handheld electronics. Resistive memory is a leading contender in this NVM market due to its high endurance, random accessibility, scalability and low programming voltage. The addition of an external series resistor or imposing current compliance is often used to limit the current through RRAM devices and to prevent “over-programming” and stuck-at-one (SA1) errors. Here, we demonstrate that utilizing an external series resistor is not efficient in preventing over-programming and an on-chip resistor is more desirable. Poly-silicon bottom electrode based devices (with the poly-silicon electrode acting like an on-chip resistor) and metal bottom electrode devices were fabricated and tested. The presence of the on-chip resistor is shown to enhance the endurance of the RRAM device. This technique of including an on-chip resistor prevents stored current discharge through the device as the device transitions from a high resistance to a low resistance state. A SPICE simulation is also employed to illustrate the benefit of this approach.
VIABLE CELLS ARE A REQUIREMENT FOR IN VITRO CARTILAGE CALCIFICATION

It is a common belief that chondrocyte death must precede calcification in the growth plate. To challenge this dogma, cell devitalization was induced in anin vitro model that mimicsin situ cartilage calcification. Chick limb-bud mesenchymal cells, plated in micromass culture, differentiate to form a cartilaginous matrix which mineralizes in the presence of inorganic or organic phosphate. The mineral formed resembles physiologic mineral in crystal size, composition, and distribution. Killing cells by water lysis, ethanol fixation, freeze-thawing, trypsinization, or impairing their function by oligomycin treatment prior to the time at which mineralization commenced, prevented mineral deposition. In contrast, devitalizing cells by any of these techniques after mineralization commenced resulted in dystrophic calcification (excessive, randomly distributed mineral of larger than physiologic crystal size). Based on analyses of45Ca uptake, FT-IR microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy, it is concluded that the presence of viable cells is obligatory for physiologic cartilage calcification in the differentiating chick limb-bud mesenchymal cell culture system.
Molecular evolution: Booting up life

A key question about evolution is how the first informational molecules — thought to be an early form of life — could generate efficient self-replication machinery. The problem is tackled in new computer simulations.
Interdental cleaning among persons with diabetes: relationships with individual characteristics.

Objectives Given the existence of many potential oral health complications for adults with diabetes (especially for those who do not practise regular oral self-care), and the specific importance of regular interdental cleaning, the research determined the proportion of U.S. adults with diabetes who practise daily interdental cleaning and their socio-demographic, economic and oral health characteristics related to this practice. Methods Analyses were conducted using data collected from 573 dentulous adults with diabetes ≥ 30 years who participated in the U.S. 2009–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination survey. Using complex sample survey software, findings were extrapolated to >15 million U.S. adults. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency of interdental cleaning, and chi-square tests were used to identify salient individual characteristics related to this practice. Results 41.2% reported that they never used any interdental device, while 24.8% indicated that they practised interdental cleaning daily. Statistically significant relationships (P < 0.05) with daily interdental cleaning included female sex, ever having had treatment for gum disease and using mouthwash daily for a dental problem. Conclusions Because so many adults with diabetes do not practise regular interdental cleaning, and in view of the important role that dental hygienists fulfil as oral healthcare educators, there is a great need for dental hygienists to teach and motivate adults with diabetes to practise regular interdental cleaning. This need is especially great for subgroups of these adults who are men, have not been treated for periodontitis and do not regularly use a mouthwash for dental problems.
Plutonium removal from nitric acid waste streams

Separations research at the Rocky Flats Plant /RFP/ has found ways to significantly improve plutonium secondary recovery from nitric acid waste streams generated by plutonium purifications operations. Capacity and break-through studies show anion exchange with Dowex 1×4 /50–100 mesh/ to be superior for secondary recovery of plutonium. Extraction chromatography with TOPO /tri-n-octylphosphine oxide/ on XAD-4 removes the final traces of plutonium, including hydrolytic polymer.
A Reconsideration of the Effects of Race in Criminal Sentencing

Despite the large quantity of research on the criminal sentencing process, there is little agreement on how the process actuall/ operates. Using the major explanatory Variables of prior research, this study adds the effects of juvenile records upon adult sentences. Using data from official Georgia prison records andjuvenile detention data, the study finds that blacks with a prior juvenile record received a much harsher punishment than whites with the same offense charge and similar background characteristics. This finding supports the conflict perspective on sentencing which suggests that extra-legalfactors have an important bearing on sentencing decisions.
The Health Education Needs of Veteran Patients

Abstract LEARNING OUTCOME: To describe the heath education needs of acute care, ambulatory care, and psychiatric patients. Patient health education facilitates behavioral change and reduces costs if it is provided in an appropriate manner. Assessing a patient's learning needs is an important part of the educational process. This study determined the learning needs of the patient population served by one of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. The Patient Learning Needs Scale (PLNS) developed by Bubela et al. was administered in an interview format to 75 psychiatric patients, 116 inpatients and 119 outpatients. The PLNS factors learning needs into the following domains: medications, activities of daily living, community follow-up, feelings related to condition, treatment and complications, enhancing quality of life, and skin care. The subjects were very interested in education and expressed a large number of learning needs. Relative ranking of the PLNS domains suggested that inpatients and outpatients had the highest learning needs in the Medication domain (i.e. why medications should be taken, reactions to drugs, etc.) and the Treatment and Complication domain (i.e. how to recognize complications, how to prevent them, etc.) For psychiatric patients, learning needs were highest in the Medications and Enhancing Quality of Life domains (i.e. managing stress, affect of illness on life, etc.). Nutritional learning needs generally were not perceived to be as important as other areas. The relatively low importance of nutrition may be attributed to the fact that many of these patients were on regular diets (62%) and did not exhibit compromised nutrition status levels (73%). In addition, nutrition may not be the "first" consideration for patients dealing with an illness. Dietitians should enhance their skills in general patient health education. In addition, they should be aware that nutrition education may not be the patient's highest learning priority and time their counseling sessions accordingly.
Progressive Failure and Ductility of FRP Composites for Construction: Review

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of and observations on progressive failure and ductility of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites of interest to civil and infrastructure construction applications. The primary reason for this is that although FRP composites have over the last 25 years successfully penetrated niche markets in civil engineering applications, one of the most frequently heard concerns from designers is their discomfort with the ductility of these composites and the structures built or reinforced with them, and that if the market for FRP applications in construction is to be expanded, the community must address this issue in greater depth. One approach is to use systemwide, structural, progressive failure behavior of the composite material itself to dissipate internal strain energy in lieu of the elastoplastic behavior of metallic materials. Specific applications of FRP composites in construction where progressive failure mechanisms have been considered are reviewed. These include FRP profiles, FRP frame connections, FRP reinforcing bars, externally bonded FRP or mechanically fastened FRP strengthening strips, and FRP column wraps. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CC.1943-5614.0000355. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Ductility; Energy dissipation; Progressive collapse; Pultrusion; Structure reinforcement; Composite materials; Construction. Author keywords: Crashworthiness; Ductility; Energy dissipation; Progressive failure; Pultruded profiles; Rebars; Strengthening; Wrapping.
Feminism, difference(s), and rhetorical studies

(1995). Feminism, difference(s), and rhetorical studies. Communication Studies: Vol. 46, No. 1-2, pp. 106-117.
Electron self-energy, effective mass and lifetime in a layered electron gas

Abstract Many body effects in a layered electron gas are studied using the dynamical random phase approximation. The electron self-energy, effective mass and lifetime are calculated as a function of electron density and interlayer separation. The results show behavior drastically different from interacting electron gas in two and three dimensions.
Evaluation of an integrated Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining process model

Data Mining projects are implemented by following the knowledge discovery process. This process is highly complex and iterative in nature and comprises of several phases, starting off with business understanding, and followed by data understanding, data preparation, modeling, evaluation and deployment or implementation. Each phase comprises of several tasks. Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDDM) process models are meant to provide prescriptive guidance towards the execution of the end-to-end knowledge discovery process, i.e. such models prescribe how exactly each one of the tasks in a Data Mining project can be implemented. Given this role, the quality of the process model used, affects the effectiveness and efficiency with which the knowledge discovery process can be implemented and therefore the outcome of the overall Data Mining project. This paper presents the results of the rigorous evaluation of the Integrated Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (IKDDM) process model and compares it to the CRISP-DM process model. Results of statistical tests confirm that the IKDDM leads to more effective and efficient implementation of the knowledge discovery process.
Material properties and optical guiding in InGaAs-GaAs strained layer superlattices--a brief review

Due to the absence of lattice-matching requirements, strained-layer superlattices offer a large tunability in bandgap and other material properties suitable for device applications. Encouraging progress has been made in the molecular-beam epitaxial and metalorganic-vapor-phase-epitaxial growth of strained-layer superlattices and in their characterization. These have been briefly reviewed here. Since a strained-layer superlattice allows the use of InzGa,_,vAs layers with x-values up to - 1.0, a large variation of the refractive index from that in GaAs occurs due to mismatch strain and alloying. This variation in refractive index has been calculated. The increase in refractive index can be used to form optical guides in the SLS and such guides with good vertical confinement is demonstrated. Preliminary measurements of the impact-ionization parameters and deep-level traps in these materials are also reported. a/@ values close to and slightly greater than unity are measured. A single electron trap with thermal activation energy equal to 0.16 eV is identified.
Multiplexed fiber optic strain sensors for distributed sensing

This paper presents multimode fiber optic sensors suitable for large smart structures where distributed sensing needed. By many observations of speckle patterns from different multimode fibers, it seems that each speckle pattern has its own signature and uniquely defines its fiber. This prompted us to superimpose (multiplexed) the speckle patterns generated by two different fibers, and detect the resultant pattern. A two-stage feature extraction algorithm is then applied on the image, which reduces the dimension of the pattern vector. Next, a backpropagation neural network with single hidden layer is trained in mapping the feature vectors to the stress applied on each fiber. Series of experiments are conducted on two fiber sensors glued on a square shape plate under different point loads. The sensors successfully estimated that which fiber was under stress with light or heavy weight.
Uses of the computer in large school districts

In this age of accountability in education it is apparent that the most economical and efficient systems conceivable must be made available to the administrator. This fact is true at all levels of management from the classroom to the superintendent.Most large school districts could not perform all of the tasks required of them if they had to operate in a manual mode. This fact is certainly not unique to school districts but is a common problem of our dynamic society.The administrative use of the computer in most school districts came about as a result of a need for more efficient and faster methods of performing accounting functions. After their first introduction they generally just "growed" as Topsy would say. Most large school districts today will have a rather sophisticated set of hardware and software supported by a very fine staff of professionals.With the advent of tighter budget control and with most educators today clamoring for some form of "program budgeting" the computer is an even more vital ingredient that is required if we are to provide for quality education.Additionally, it is no longer sufficient to provide automation to the administrative functions in a school district. The computer is fast becoming an essential part of our instructional program. This instructional role of the computer is coming into being in the form of Computer Managed Instruction (CMI) as well as Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI).Although development of uses for the computer for instructional purposes has only been under way for a few short years, we have witnessed some very dramatic results. Most educators are in agreement as to the effectiveness of the computer for instructional purposes; the fact that it has not expanded as many had hoped and assumed is a function of finances rather than a short-coming of the implementation.Education can expect to have some very rewarding experiences in its relationship with the computer and the computer professional in the seventies. This fact will come about as a result of developments in computer technology both in hardware and in software. Also, the reduction in the cost factor should be of such magnitude that computer services will be available to more school districts and at a cost that they can afford.With proper organization and cooperation the computer can begin to realize its full potential in bringing about efficient, effective education in its many aspects.
Examining the relationship between remagnetization and orogenic fluids: central Appalachians

Abstract Preliminary work in the central Appalachians shows that the relationship between orogenic fluids and remagnetization is not as simple as many workers have assumed. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope data from veins show that the Paleozoic section in the central Appalachian Valley and Ridge province contained multiple hydrostratigraphic intervals during the Late Paleozoic Alleghanian orogeny with ‘warm’ migrating fluids restricted to the Middle to Upper Devonian interval. Paleomagnetic core samples from throughout the entire stratigraphic section give a similar syn-folding magnetization with nearly identical paleopoles. Therefore, the relatively homogeneous remagnetization of the rock section does not reflect the stratification of fluids. Consequently, the stratigraphically restricted ‘warm’ migrating fluids are apparently not directly related to the overall syn-folding remagnetization.
The Role of the Habitus in Shaping Discourses about the Digital Divide

In this ethnographic study, I examine the discourses that social agents enact as they increase their awareness of information technology (IT) and the digital divide. The social agents in this study are authorities in the municipal government and African-American adults taking part in a community technology initiative in an urban, working-class neighborhood. The findings suggest that both participants and authorities adopted a narrow perspective on IT as a production tool to support business-related skills such as word processing and spreadsheets, which were believed to broaden access to employment opportunities. Despite the rapid growth in Internet-based applications and services as a justifying discourse of the authorities who create and manage the community technology training program, computer networking was not an important part of the program curriculum. The habitus is used as a theoretical lens for explaining the prevailing perceptions of IT as a production-oriented tool, why these perceptions reflect the social milieu of urban working-class communities, and how these perceptions engender discourses that may unwittingly reinforce social inequities that structure the digital divide.
The evolution of phage lysis timing

The effect of host quantity and host quality on the evolution of phage lysis timing is analysed using marginal value theorem of optimal foraging theory. Both factors have been shown to strongly influence the latent period. A high host density selects for short latent period, which is the same result as previous investigators have found. A good host quality also promotes a short latent period. However, elasticity analysis shows that these two factors exert their influences under different sets of conditions. When host density is low, the host density is more important in determining the length of latent period, whereas when host density is high, the host quality is more important.
Economic analysis of hydrogen production through a bio-ethanol steam reforming process: Sensitivity analyses and cost estimations

Abstract In this study, the hydrogen selling price from ethanol steam reforming has been estimated for two different production scenarios in the United States, i.e. central production (150,000 kg H2/day) and distributed (forecourt) production (1500 kg H2/day), based on a process flowchart generated by Aspen Plus® including downstream purification steps and economic analysis model template published by the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) [1] . The effect of several processing parameters as well as catalyst properties on the hydrogen selling price has been evaluated. $2.69/kg is estimated as the selling price for a central production process of 150,000 kg H2/day and $4.27/kg for a distributed hydrogen production process at a scale of 1500 kg H2/day. Among the parameters investigated through sensitivity analyses, ethanol feedstock cost, catalyst cost, and catalytic performance are found to play a significant role on determining the final hydrogen selling price.
Measurement of the relative optical phase between amorphous and crystalline regions of the phase-change media of optical recording

We describe a method of measuring the relative optical phase on reflection between amorphous and crystalline regions of the phase-change media of optical data storage. With a red He-Ne laser (wavelength, 632.8 nm) the relative phases on two quadrilayer optical disk stacks were measured and found to be ~40 degrees . The results are in good agreement with the calculated values based on the known layer thicknesses and refractive indices of the stacks. For calibration purposes the height of a known step on an otherwise flat silicon substrate was measured with the same apparatus. The proposed method is fairly simple to set up, can measure both front-surface and through-substrate types of optical disk, and can be used with any laser that has long coherence length.
An empirical study of tests for uniformity in multidimensional data

An important problem in high-dimensional data analysis is determining whether sample points are uniformly distributed (i.e., exhibit complete spatial randomness) over some compact support, or rather possess some underlying structure (e.g., clusters or other nonhomogeneities). We propose two new graph-theoretic tests of uniformity which utilize the minimum spanning tree and a snake (a short non-branching acyclic path connecting each data point). We compare the powers of statistics based on these graphs with other statistics from the literature on an array of non-uniform alternatives in a variety of supports. For data in a hypercube, we find that test statistics based on the minimum spanning tree have superior power when the data displays regularity (e.g., results from an inhibition process). For arbitrarily shaped or unknown supports, we use run length statistics of the sequence of segment lengths along the snake's path to test uniformity. The snake is particularly useful because no knowledge or estimation of the support is required to compute the test statistic, it can be computed quickly for any dimension, and it shows what kinds of non-uniformities are present. These properties make the snake unique among multivariate tests of uniformity since others only function on specific and known supports, have computational difficulties in high dimension, or have inconsistent type I error rates.
Agricultural Land: Adequacy of Acres, Concepts, and Information: Discussion

The approach taken in the National Agricultural Lands Study to the question of the adequacy of agricultural land is full of hidden agendas. Little wonder that the conduct of the study generated sharply conflicting interpretations of past trends and future prospects. Brewer and Boxley's (hereafter BB) report from the trenches of that conflict gains value from its immediacy and invites reflection upon some of the unresolved issues that haunted the study from the beginning. A primary concern emerges from the evident inadequacy of statistical data on shifts in land use. This is illustrated by continuing confusion in the interpretation of land use data when classified as "rural," "agricultural," "farmland," and "cropland." The NALS Final Report (p. 2) says "the most recent available data show that about 3 million acres of agricultural land are converted each year to urban and built-up uses--of this 3 million acres an estimated 675,000 acres is from the 413 million acres classified as existing cropland." These data for 1967-75 come from the Po-
On the conditions necessary for the continuous growth of hypophysectomized animals

Hypophysectomized animals (dogs and rats) can be stimulated to undertake and continue a growth equal to or somewhat in excess of that normal for the species. We have hitherto produced these results with the use of relatively simple aqueous alkaline extracts† of the anterior hypophysis (1). The growth provoked in hypophysectomized rats Avas reported in 1933 (2). During a period of 120 days it was continuous and was approximately a gram daily. In the case of hypophysectomized puppies the continuous injection of the same crude extracts produced dogs of somewhat greater skeletal dimensions than their litter mate controls (2). On the other hand, the protracted use of somewhat more purified growth hormone preparations from the anterior hypophysis has given results which differ in at least one important way from those just narrated. The more purified extracts, while giving an excellent initial growth response, sooner or later cease to evoke this response and, indeed, with continuous use of them, hypophysectomize...
Differential actions of angiotensin-(1-7) in the kidney

Differential actions of angiotensin-(1-7) in the kidney. Angiotensin-(1-7) is a bioactive component of the renin-angiotensin system that is endogenously formed in the circulation and various tissues by several enzymatic pathways from either angiotensin (Ang) I or Ang II. Initial studies indicated that Ang-(1-7) mimicked some of the effects of Ang II, including stimulation of release of prostanoids and vasopressin. However, Ang-(1-7) is devoid of the vasoconstrictor, central pressor, or thirst-stimulating actions associated with Ang II. In fact, new findings reveal depressor, vasodilator, and antihypertensive actions that may be more apparent in hypertensive animals or humans. Thus, increasing evidence suggests that Ang-(1-7) may oppose the actions of Ang II directly or as a result of increasing prostaglandins or nitric oxide. In this review, we examine recent studies to address whether the kidney is a target organ for antihypertensive actions of Ang-(1-7).
Radical (Co)polymerization of vinyl chloroacetate and N-vinylpyrrolidone mediated by Bis(acetylacetonate)cobalt derivatives

The effect of the electron-withdrawing groups on the ligand in a series of bis(acetylacetonate)cobalt(II) derivatives, Co(R1COCHCOR2)2 (R1 = R2 = CH3 (1), R1 = CF3, R2 = CH3 (2), R1 = R2 = CF3 (3)), was examined by conducting a controlled radical polymerization of vinyl chloroacetate (VClOAc) and N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) under the same reaction conditions. Complex 2 provided better control over the polymerization of VClOAc than complex 1, resulting in the preparation of a poly(VClOAc) with Mn closer to the theoretical Mn and lower polydispersity at the same monomer conversion. On the other hand, complex 3 was not able to control the radical polymerization of VClOAc. In the case of NVP, only complex 1 produced poly(NVP) with relatively low polydispersity (1.7−2.0). Better control over Mn and polydispersity in the polymerization of VClOAc and NVP was achieved by addition of vinyl acetate (VOAc) to the reaction. The Mn/Mn,th and polydispersity of the copolymers became lower as the initial proportion of VO...
Percutaneous Tumor Ablation with Radiofrequency

Solid tissue tumors traditionally have been treated with systemic chemotherapy, surgical resection, or local radiation therapy. Many tumors, however, remain poorly responsive to these therapeutic modalities and necessitate the use of alternative treatments. Recent technical advancements in radiofrequency thermal ablation may provide one such option for certain cancer patients. Heat has been used clinically for thousands of years dating back to ancient Hindu and Greek healers who used it for hemostasis. In fact, Hippocrates is reported as saying that “those diseases that medicine cannot cure, the knife cures; those which the knife cannot cure, fire cures.”1 More recently, heat has been utilized in the surgical setting as electrocautery to control bleeding and to cut tissue. Percutaneous thermal tissue ablation is performed with radiofrequency current by, in effect, transforming the patient into an electrical circuit with adhesive grounding pads on the thighs or back. A needle with a plastic-insulated shaft is placed into the tumor with imaging guidance, in a fashion similar to a routine percutaneous biopsy. Alternating radiofrequency current agitates ions in the tissue surrounding the needle, creating frictional heat, which denatures and destroys tissue at predictable temperatures, in a relatively predictable volume. Multiple percutaneous image-guided therapies currently are available for thermal ablation of localized solid tumors. Thermal sources for these treatment modalities include high-intensity ultrasound, laser, microwave, and radiofrequency.2,3 Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a safe, predictable, and inexpensive option and has emerged as the thermal modality that most easily can create large volumes of tissue necrosis. The predictability of RFA is adequate to limit collateral damage and complications, however, is limited by biologic and anatomic variability of tissue. RFA has been used over many years for the treatment of cardiac conduction abnormalities, trigeminal neuralgia4 and osteoid osteomas.5 In addition, RFA recently has been used in the treatment of neoplasms in the liver,6–14 kidney,15–17 adrenal,18 spleen,19 prostate,20,21 bone and soft tissue,22 lung,23 and breast.24 The ablation of metastatic pheochromocytomas has been described as well.25 However, the most promising and most common clinical application has been for liver tumors. Three RFA systems are 510-K cleared by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for soft tissue tumor ablation (Radionics Inc., Burlington, MA; RadioTherapeutics Corp., Mountain View, CA; RITA Medical Systems, Mountain View, CA). Two of these also are cleared by the FDA (510-K) for unresectable liver tumor ablation specifically. Thus, although the technique is in its infancy, it is not an experimental procedure for the liver.
What is meant by mental retardation

A historical overview of efforts to devise a satisfactory definition of mental retardation is provided. Central to these efforts has been a concern that IQ score, by itself, does not provide an adequate basis for establishing the disorder's upper boundary or for capturing its natural prototype.A definition is proposed-preferably coupled with a switch to a less pejorative term, such as 'intellectual disability' which emphasizes: (a) deficits in social, practical and academic intelligence; (b) decreased diagnostic reliance on standardized test scores and greater reliance on clinical and consensual judgment; (c) assumption of an underlying biological etiology; (d) ongoing need for supports and protections; (e) recognition that vulnerability to potential exploitation and manipulation is a universal feature of the disorder.
A Novel Method for Quantifying Value in Spaceborne Soil Moisture Retrievals

A novel methodology is introduced for quantifying the added value of remotely sensed soil moisture products for global land surface modeling applications. The approach is based on the assimilation of soil moisture retrievals into a simple surface water balance model driven by satellite-based precipitation products. Filter increments (i.e., discrete additions or subtractions of water suggested by the filter) are then compared to antecedent precipitation errors determined using higher-quality rain gauge observations. A synthetic twin experiment demonstrates that the correlation coefficient between antecedent precipitation errors and filter increments provides an effective proxy for the accuracy of the soil moisture retrievals themselves. Given the inherent difficulty of directly validating remotely sensed soil moisture products using ground-based observations, this assimilation-based proxy provides a valuable tool for efforts to improve soil moisture retrieval strategies and quantify the novel information content of remotely sensed soil moisture retrievals for land surface modeling applications. Using real spaceborne data, the approach is demonstrated for four different remotely sensed soil moisture datasets along two separate transects in the southern United States. Results suggest that the relative superiority of various retrieval strategies varies geographically.
Q-T Prolongation and ventricular arrhythmias, with and without deafness, in the same family

Abstract A family with the cardio-auditory syndrome is presented to show for the first time that members can have a prolonged Q-T interval and syncope, both with and without mild congenital high-frequency deafness. The auditory and cardiac defects appear to be inherited separately and on the basis of an autosomal dominant mechanism in this family. In the propositus with Q-T interval prolongation and recurrent ventricular arrhythmias without deafness, intravenous administration of diphenylhydantoin shortened the Q-T interval. Intravenous administration of phenylephrine induced ventricular fibrillation. Cardiac pathologic examination in a sibling of the propositus who had syncope before a fatal automobile accident showed areas of fibrosis in the conduction system.
Reductive Theories of Modality

Logic begins but does not end with the study of truth and falsity. Within truth there are the modes of truth, ways of being true: necessary truth and contingent truth. When a proposition is true, we may ask whether it could have been false. If so, then it is contingently true. If not, then it is necessarily true; it must be true; it could not have been false. Falsity has modes as well: a false proposition that could not have been true is impossible or necessarily false; one that could have been true is merely contingently false. The proposition that some humans are over seven feet tall is contingently true; the proposition that all humans over seven feet tall are over six feet tall is necessarily true; the proposition that some humans are over seven feet tall and under six feet tall is impossible, and the proposition that some humans are over nine feet tall is contingently false. Of these four modes of truth, let us focus on necessity, plus a fth: possibility. A proposition is possible if it is or could have been true; hence propositions that are either necessarily true, contingently true, or contingently false are possible. Notions that are similar to the modes of truth in being concerned with what might have been are called modal. Dispositions are modal notions, for example the disposition of fragility. Relatedly, there are counterfactual conditionals, for example “if this glass were dropped, it would break.” And the notion of supervenience is modal.1 But let us focus here on necessity and possibility. Modal words are notoriously ambiguous (or at least context-sensitive2). I may reply to an invitation to give a talk in England by saying “I can’t come; I have to give a talk in California the day before”. This use of “can’t” is perfectly appropriate. But it would be equally appropriate for me to say that I could cancel my talk in California (although that would be rude) and give the talk in England instead. What I cannot do is give both talks. But wait: it also seems appropriate to say, in another context, that given contemporary transportation,
Modeling Economic Evaluations of Pharmaceuticals: Manipulation or Valuable Tool?

Controversy surrounds the use of models in economic evaluations of pharmaceuticals. Many believe that modeling is a way of manipulating results and is not credible, whereas others consider modeling a valuable tool in economic evaluations. The purpose of this article is to provide a historical perspective on modeling, focus on the controversy and policy implications of using models, and review the suggested framework and guidelines for modeling practices. Models can be used to extrapolate beyond intermediate end points, predict costs and consequences of alternative therapies, generalize data to other settings, pose questions instead of providing answers when no data exist, design an evaluation to reduce uncertainty, and perform direct comparisons that are not currently available. We believe that a useful model should document the detailed inner workings, assumptions, and inherent bias during production (and at publication time), so that its reviewers and users can evaluate the appropriateness of the model's outcomes. The acceptability of models in the future rests with the researchers constructing them. If constructed appropriately, modeling economic evaluations is not a manipulation but rather a valuable tool.
Mayoral Quality and Local Public Finance

In most local developing settings, the political leader and the municipal manager are embodied in the same figure, the directly elected mayor. This research explores the impact of mayoral quality on local public finances in a developing country. Mayoral quality is operationalized as educational background and job-related expertise to analyze its impact on two local financial indicators: property tax collection and social spending per capita. The mayoral quality thesis is tested across 40 Colombian municipalities over five years (2000–2004). After considering other political, economic, and external influences, the findings reveal that mayoral quality is associated with greater property tax collection and more social spending per capita. This positive influence, however, decreases under external constraints—such as presence of illegal armed groups. This study demonstrates how much influence the mayor can have when circumstances permit. The findings point to the significance of electing qualified mayors, as decentralization may not directly improve subnational finance. Instead, through decentralization, qualified mayors contribute to improved local public finance.
Jointly Optimal Sales Commissions for Nonincome Maximizing Sales Forces

In a multiproduct sales force, it has previously been shown that a commission structure based on equal fractions of each product's realized gross margin is jointly optimal if the sales force's goal is to maximize expected income and products are independent. Jointly optimal means that the sales force, which is presumed to be best able to estimate customer response to sales force activities, will simultaneously act to optimize its own objective and maximize corporate earnings. In this paper, it is shown that an equal gross margin commission system is also jointly optimal when products are interdependent and when the sales force does not have a goal of income maximization but has other objectives, such as minimizing time to reach a certain income goal or trading off time against money. Further, not all salespeople are required to have the same objective. For income maximizers an approach requiring less stringent assumptions than previously employed to show joint optimality is developed.
MACHINING CHARACTERISTICS OF DUAL-PHASE STEEL

ABSTRACT A dual-phase steel was produced from a hot-rolled HSLA steel ASTM-A58S by quenching from an intercritical temperature which produced a structure consisting of 80 vol.% martensite plus 20vol.%ferrite. The as-received hot-rolled structure consisted primarily of 60 vol.% ferrite plus 40 vol.% pearlite. The machinability experiments involved the determination of tool wear, cutting forces, surface finish and chip disposability. Face milling operations were used together with high speed steel tools. The two materials showed large variation in surface finish. The dual-phase steel exhibited the best surface finish over the whole feed range investigated. In terms of cutting resistance, slightly higher forces were shown by the dual-phase steel. The hot-rolled steel exhibited smaller tool wear under all conditions. The results illustrated the superiority of dual-phase steel in terms of disposability of chips. The high machinability of dual-phase steel is the direct result of the presence of hard martensite ...
Subject relatives by children with and without SLI across different dialects of English.

This study examined whether children’s use of subject relative clauses differs as a function of their English dialect (African American English, AAE vs. Southern White English, SWE vs. Mainstream American English, MAE) and clinical diagnosis (specific language impairment, SLI vs. typically developing, TD). The data were spontaneous language samples from 87 AAE- and 53 SWE-speaking children, aged 3 to 6 years. Data on MAE came from previously published studies. Results were that the TD child speakers of AAE and SWE presented similar rates and types of subject relative clauses within their samples, but the rates at which they supplied the relative marker within these clauses varied from those that have been reported for TD child speakers of MAE. Nevertheless, across both AAE and SWE, the rates at which the children with SLI produced relative markers within clauses were lower than the rates of their TD peers, and these findings could not be explained by differences in the children’s overall rates of non-mainstream English pattern use. These findings are consistent with studies of MAE-speaking children, and they also show across-dialect similarities in the grammatical deficits of children with SLI.
Comparing multilateral and bilateral exchange models for content distribution

Users of peer-to-peer systems are often incentivized to contribute their upload capacity in a bilateral manner: downloading is possible in return for uploading to the same peer (e.g., BitTorrent). An alternative is to use multilateral exchange to match user demand for content to available supply at other peers in the system. Multilateral exchange can be enabled through prices and a virtual currency. Monetary incentives have been previously proposed to incentivize uploading in P2P systems [1], [2], [3], [4]. We provide a formal comparison of P2P system designs based on bilateral exchange with those that enable multilateral exchange via a price-based market mechanism to match supply and demand. This work surveys and generalizes [5] and [6].
Interactions of 3He particles with B, N, Na and Be

Abstract Thick-target yields for reactions of 3 He particles with B, N, Be and Na were determined by irradiating boron, beryllium nitride and sodium iodide with 3 He ions of energies from 6 to 18 MeV. Excitation functions for the reactions 11 B( 3 He, n) 13 N, 10 B( 3 He, d) 11 C, 14 N( 3 He, α) 13 N, 14 N( 3 He, d) 15 O, 9 Be( 3 He, n) 11 C and 23 Na( 3 He, 2p) 24 Na were obtained by numerical differentiation of the smoothed yield versus energy curves. The distorted-wave theory of nuclear reactions was used to compute excitation functions for comparison with the data for the 14 N( 3 He, α) 13 N reaction and for the ( 3 He, d) reactions on 14 N and 10 B. Optical-model potentials, not for the particular nucleides observed, but determined for neighbouring light nuclei, were used in the calculations. The results of this comparison of theory with experiment indicate that the 14 N( 3 He, α) and 10 B( 3 He, d) reactions appear to proceed mainly by direct pick-up and stripping processes, respectively. For the 14 N( 3 He, d) reaction, a stripping calculation that considered only those 15 O states with known spins and parities yielded a lower limit of ≈30% of the observed excitation function.
The Effect of Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus on the Anticryptococcal Activity of Lymphocytes and Monocytes

The effect of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on the capacity of human lymphocytes and monocytes to inhibit and kill Cryptococcus neoformans in an 18-h assay was examined. In vitro infection of the Jurkat human T cell line with each of 3 HIV strains caused significant loss of anticryptococcal activity, which peaked 3-4 weeks after HIV infection. Lymphocytes from HIV-seropositive and -seronegative persons had similar activity, even if highly enriched for CD4 cells. The activity of lymphocytes from both seropositive and seronegative donors was increased by culture with interleukin-2 and phytohemagglutinin, but only activated lymphocytes from seronegative donors caused a reduction in C. neoformans colony-forming units. Both peripheral blood mononuclear cells and monocytes from HIV-positive persons had significantly reduced antifungal activity compared with cells from seronegative donors. Thus, under defined conditions, infection with HIV can impair the anticryptococcal activity of both lymphocytes and monocytes. Such qualitative defects may contribute, together with CD4 lymphocytopenia, to the particular susceptibility of HIV patients to cryptococcosis.