cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hypervelocity Impacts and Exposed Lithospheric Mantle: A Way to Recognize Large Terrestrial Impact Basins?

On the Moon and Mars olivine of probable mantle origin is detected at rims of large Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) age impact basins for which excavation depth estimates exceed crustal thickness estimates. But lunar Crisium size impact basins are not recognized on Earth nor expected in the Phanerozoic from conventional interpretations of crater size frequency distributions. In this study several large circular to elliptical basin structures on Earth, for which hypothesized impact excavation depth would greatly exceed crustal thickness, are examined for the presence of exposed lithospheric mantle, expressed as ophiolite, at the rims. Three Phanerozoic impact basins, modified by plate tectonics and tentatively correlated with “ophiolite obduction” plus global extinction events, are proposed here. These tentatively suggested Phanerozoic impact basins are: (1) Yucatan Basin/Puerto Rico Trench with a Greater Antilles ophiolite rim. Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary global extinction may correlate with Maastrichtian ophiolite obduction in Southeast Cuba. (2) Loyalty Basin with a New Caledonia ophiolite plus d’Entrecasteaux Ridge rim. Late Eocene global extinction may correlate with obduction of the New Caledonia Peridotite Nappe. (3) Sulu Sea Basin with a Palawan, Sabah etc. ophiolite rim. The Middle Miocene Disruption Event may correlate with ophiolite obduction plus ophiolitic melange emplacement in Sabah and in Palawan. These originally circular to elliptical belts of exposed lithospheric mantle may serve as strain markers for relative plate motions in the vicinity of plate boundaries during post-impact geologic times. It is further speculated that plate boundaries may be initiated and/or modified by such impacts.
A New Era in Language Assessment: Data or Evidence

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the new developments in language assessment. Language training has shifted away from topological or product orientations toward more substantial issues, namely, the acquisition and use of cognitive-linguistic-communicative systems and processes or content, form, and use. Thus, speech–language pathologists are becoming true language experts in the clinical fields. This underscores the significance of clinical certification and the need for in-service training of the many clinicians in the field. The other major development is actually a product of the preceding developments. As such, it has lagged behind the first and has been somewhat informal and evident. Specifically, the second major development is a discernible movement in the maturation of speech–language pathology and audiology as a discipline similar to what occurred in the mid-1960s in psychology and in linguistics and psycholinguistics from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. It appears that the field of speech–language pathology and audiology has shown signs of becoming a more mature disciplined profession
Lightweight Machine Learning for Efficient Frequency-Offset-Aware Demodulation

Carrier frequency offset (CFO) arises from the intrinsic mismatch between the oscillators of a wireless transmitter and the corresponding receiver, as well as their relative motion (i.e., Doppler effect). Despite advances in CFO estimation and tracking techniques, estimation errors are still present. Residual CFO creates a time-varying phase error, which degrades the decoder’s performance by increasing the symbol error rate. The impact is particularly visible in dense constellation maps (e.g., high-order QAM modulation), often used in modern wireless systems such as 5G NR, 802.11ax, and mmWave, as well as in physical security techniques, such as modulation obfuscation (MO). In this paper, we first derive the probability distribution function for the residual CFO under Gaussian noise. Using this distribution, we compute the maximum-likelihood demodulation boundaries for OFDM signals in a non-closed form. For modulation schemes with unequal-amplitude reference constellation points (e.g., 16-QAM and higher, APSK, etc.), the “optimal” boundaries have irregular shapes, and more importantly, they depend on the time since the last CFO correction instance, e.g., reception of frame preamble. To approximate the optimal boundaries and provide a practical (real-time) demodulation scheme, we explore machine learning techniques, specifically, support vector machine (SVM). Our SVM approach exhibits better accuracy and lower complexity in the test phase than other state-of-the-art machine-learning approaches. As a case study, we apply our CFO-aware demodulation to enhance the performance of a MO technique. Our analytical results show a gain of up to 3dB over conventional demodulation schemes, which exceeds 3dB in complete system simulations. Finally, we implement our scheme on USRPs and experimentally corroborate our analytic and simulation-based findings.
A systematic review of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation on motor cortex areas as a migraine preventive treatment:

Background:The results of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for migraine have been inconsistent. However, high-frequency rTM...
The Pragmatics of Private Markets Investing

The author shares perspectives and lessons learned from four decades of experience in private markets investing. TOPIC:Manager selection Key Findings • Private markets investing is business investing, and you need to focus on the quality of the business approach in creating a strategic advantage in the markets served. • Private markets investing is a hiring decision, and you need to assess the quality of the organization under consideration for a strategy. Management should be expected to demonstrate an ability not just to remain healthy but to grow and improve through the tenure of your relationship with them. • Managing cost of fees is important, but not sufficient to ensure success. Alignment of interest across a range of outcomes, not just the upside, should be given paramount importance in partnership structuring.
TO BLEED OR TO CLOT: STROKE PREVENTION STRATEGIES IN PATIENTS WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION OR FLUTTER AFTER BLEEDING

Patients with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (AF) on anticoagulation (AC) for stroke prevention are at an increased risk of bleeding events. A common dilemma is deciding when to safely restart AC after bleeding. Studies have shown better outcomes with reinitiation of AC 7 days after
Better Is the Evolution of Good: How IVUS and OCT Have Transformed PCI

We seek to provide a focused appraisal of the most recent outcomes data for intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). There are multiple randomized control trials and meta-analyses investigating the effects of these two intravascular imaging (IVI) modalities on clinical decision-making and long-term clinical outcomes in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). While the effects of IVUS have been studied for decades, OCT is a newer form of IVI with less experience and data on its use in clinical practice. IVUS-guided PCI has beneficial effects on mortality, stent thrombosis, target lesion/target vessel revascularization, and major adverse cardiac events when compared to angiography alone. While less data exists for OCT-guided PCI, early studies suggest it is at least non-inferior to IVUS for many of the same outcomes. However, future investigations should focus on how clinical outcomes are changed by these two IVI modalities when compared head-to-head.
Civilian Hospital and Healthcare System Preparedness (Location, Preparedness, Epidemiology Review of Data)

Hospitals, emergency medical services (EMS) providers, and other organizations within the civilian healthcare system very rarely, if ever, encounter victims of blast incidents in their normal course of operations. However, when blast incidents do occur due to industrial accidents, acts of violence, or other causes, the local civilian healthcare system must be prepared to respond instantly and meet the specialized demands that are predictable with such incidents. These demands may include the need to anticipate special safety and security threats to first responders and first receivers, the need to expertly specially manage the transport and distribution of injured victims, the need to create immediate trauma and burn surge capacity among receiving hospitals, and the need to ensure that responding clinicians are adequately familiar with the unique injury patterns associated with blasts.
The Bandwagon Dynamic and the Causal Funnel: Institutional Dynamics and Nominating Politics

This chapter searches for evidence of a long-running bandwagon effect within the politics of presidential nomination, coupling this search with some strong theorizing about how such a “bandwagon” might have developed and why it rolled so consistently across time. The result is then used to gather, discipline, and reorganize established ways of thinking about presidential nominations. So the chapter needs to reach back to traditional insights on nominating politics and drive these across American political history. Having teased out a long-running dynamic common to this politics, the analysis needs to close by reversing direction and searching for any limits, institutional or temporal, on this underlying dynamic.
The modeling of degenerate neck pinch singularities in Ricci flow by Bryant solitons

In earlier work, carrying out numerical simulations of the Ricci flows of families of rotationally symmetric geometries on S3, we have found strong support for the contention that (at least in the rotationally symmetric case) the Ricci flow for a “critical” initial geometry—one which is at the transition point between initial geometries (on S3) whose volume-normalized Ricci flows develop a singular neck pinch, and other initial geometries whose volume-normalized Ricci flows converge to a round sphere—evolves into a “degenerate neck pinch.” That is, we have seen in this earlier work that the Ricci flows for the critical geometries become locally cylindrical in a neighborhood of the initial pinching and have the maximum amount of curvature at one or both of the poles. Here, we explore the behavior of these flows at the poles and find strong support for the conjecture that the Bryant steady solitons accurately model this polar flow.
Algorithmic conservation in a changing climate

Climate change and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are simultaneously reshaping environmental conservation. This article reviews the intersection of these two trends. First, we review how AI has become integrated into existing climate knowledge infrastructures and decision-making systems. Second, we review how AI is reshaping decision-making processes in the face of climate change, focusing on the governance of changing biological systems. AI is transforming data collection and classification, conservation decision-making, and rule enforcement. A crucial theme is the changing temporality of environmental governance. We emphasize automated data collection and classification, dynamic optimization and predictive enforcement. Third, we turn to emergent problems in the ethics and politics of algorithmic conservation. AI’s increasingly prevalent role in conservation has the potential to introduce ethical dilemmas, redistribute power among stakeholders, and enable the emergence of new objects of knowledge and political struggles.
Political frames of public health crises: Discussing the opioid epidemic in the US Congress

When and how do politicians talk about public health crises? Using evidence from the opioid crisis in the United States, this paper assembles and analyzes novel data on Congressional statements to explore the conditions under which politicians (1) issue public statements about opioids and (2) frame the opioid crisis as a predominantly public health or law enforcement problem. We examined 3.8 million Congressional floor speeches and 111,000 public statements to identify (1) floor speeches about drug crises in the 97th to 114th Congresses (1981-2017) and (2) public statements about the opioid crisis in the 116th Congress (2019-2020). Moderate ideology, women, greater overdose deaths, and larger white populations are associated with significantly higher frequencies of opioid statements. Using a dictionary-based text analysis approach, we find that ideologically liberal and African American legislators are more likely to use public health framing, while ideologically conservative members are more likely to use law enforcement framing and refer to national borders or foreign countries in opioid statements. Democrats/liberals more often referenced medication treatment for opioids. These findings imply two broader conclusions about the nature of political discourse in public health crises. First, that political extremists are least likely to talk about opioids suggests that increasing partisan polarization may result in less discussion, emphasis, and expertise in public health issues. Second, the tenor of discourse about opioids and other public health crises is likely to change with partisan electoral waves, potentially hindering long term planning of public health capacity.
Recovered mine drainage passive treatment residuals address legacy sediment pollution: A field mesocosm study at Grand Lake o' the Cherokees, Oklahoma

Abstract Grand Lake o' the Cherokees, Oklahoma is a large multipurpose reservoir that receives both elevated metals concentrations from the upstream Tri-State Lead-Zinc Mining District (TSMD) and excess nutrients from its agricultural watershed along with significant internal phosphorus (P) legacy loads. Mine drainage residuals (MDRs), amorphous iron oxyhydroxides recovered from passive treatment systems, may serve as phosphorus sinks. To evaluate the role of MDRs on reservoir sediment dynamics, a field mesocosm study (20-L vessels) was designed with four different mine drainage residuals (MDR) treatments: sediment control (no addition), mixed (MDR mixed with sediment), layered (MDR on top of sediment, no mixing) and bagged (MDR inside a fine mesh bag on top of sediment, no mixing) with phosphorus-spiked water. Soluble reactive P (SRP) concentrations demonstrated decreasing trends and the control treatment showed greater concentrations than all MDR treatments. P adsorption capacity (PAC) was determined to be approximately 0.7 mg/g and > 30 mg/g for sediments and MDRs, respectively. At Day 135, SRP reached >99% removal for all four treatments. Aqueous lead and cadmium concentrations were below detection limits and zinc concentrations were below the National Recommended Water Quality Criteria. Sediment lead, zinc and cadmium concentrations were below the TSMD-specific sediment quality guidelines, except for final Mixed MDR treatment sediment with 16.7% of samples exceeding both Cd and Pb criteria. Results showed that MDRs removed excess P from the water column and by using the recommended bagged addition method, trace metal release to both the water column and sediment layer were minimized.
An Error Correction Approach to Memristors PUF-based Key Encapsulation

A novel Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF)-based keyless encapsulation protocol was recently proposed by our team that does not rely on cryptographic keys and directly encrypts the messages using the unique responses extracted from embedded ReRAM PUFs in the devices. Therefore, this method avoids challenges and security threats due to key storage and distribution. Since this protocol uses analog resistance values from ReRAM PUFs for message encryption, the protocol is sensitive to variations in PUF responses due to environmental conditions. Therefore, it requires schemes to minimize the impact of such variations to guarantee the integrity of the decryption of the message. In this paper, we develop protocols to utilize Error Correction Coding (ECC) mechanisms to stabilize the cipher text encrypted with this protocol. The ECC-based key encapsulation protocol was evaluated using Reed-Solomon and BCH codes. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed protocol in offering noise-free messages under common ranges of environmental variations in ReRAM PUF responses.
Adult onset Still's disease in a patient with scleroderma: case report.

BACKGROUND Scleroderma and adult onset Still's disease (AOSD) are both uncommon autoimmune disorders. These two disorders have rarely been documented to occur simultaneously. In fact, after a thorough literature review, we discovered only one prior case report in a pregnant individual. Here, we describe the first documented case of scleroderma and AOSD in a postmenopausal patient. CASE PRESENTATION The patient is a 61-year-old Caucasian female with a past medical history significant for peptic ulcer disease, mitral valve prolapse, chronic idiopathic pancreatitis, and limited cutaneous scleroderma with sclerodactyly, Raynaud's, and calcinosis. She was sent to the emergency room by her primary care physician due to one-week history of intermittent spiking fevers (Tmax 101°F), sore throat, myalgias, arthralgias, and non-pruritic bilateral lower extremity rash. Diagnostic evaluation in the hospital included complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, respiratory viral panel, antinuclear antibody panel, bone marrow biopsy, and imaging with computerized tomography. Our patient fulfilled Yamaguchi Criteria for AOSD and all other possible etiologies were ruled out. She was treated with a steroid taper and methotrexate was initiated on post-discharge day number fourteen. Clinical and biochemical resolution was obtained at three months. CONCLUSIONS In this report, we describe the first ever documented case of scleroderma and AOSD in a postmenopausal patient. The clinical presentation, diagnostic work up, and management discussed herein may serve as a framework for which rheumatologists and other physicians may draw upon in similar future encounters.
Biophysical and in silico characterization of NrtA: A protein-based host for aqueous nitrate and nitrite recognition

Nitrate and nitrite are key components of the global nitrogen cycle. As such, Nature has evolved proteins as biological supramolecular hosts for the recognition, translocation, and transformation of both nitrate and nitrite. To understand the supramolecular principles that govern these anion-protein interactions, here, we employ a hybrid biophysical and in silico approach to characterize the thermodynamic properties and protein dynamics of NrtA from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 for the recognition of nitrate and nitrite.
Feedback Methods in an Interprofessional Mock Paging Program

Many medical schools offer a culminating internship readiness experience. Curricula focus on particular knowledge and skills critical to internship, such as answering urgent nursing pages. Studies have shown student performance improvement with mock paging education programs, but the role of feedback versus self-regulated practice has not been studied. The interprofessional mock paging program included 156 medical students enrolled in a 4th-year internship readiness course and 44 master’s level direct entry nursing students. Medical students were randomized to receive verbal feedback immediately after each of the three phone calls (intervention group) or delayed written feedback (control group) after the third phone call only. Specialty-specific case scenarios were developed and a single checklist for all scenarios was developed using the communication tool ISBAR. Medical students and nursing students had separate training sessions before the pages commenced. The nursing students administered the phone calls and evaluated the medical students by ISBAR checklist. An interrater reliability measure was obtained with physician observation of a selection of phone calls. After adjusting for the case effects (different case scenarios for different specialties), students showed no statistically significant differences on checklist scores for case 1 (first case, F = 1.491, df = 1, p = .224), but did show statistically significant differences on checklist scores for case 3 (final case, F = 12.238, df = 1, p = .001). Strong interrater reliability was found between the faculty physician and observed nursing students (ICC = .89). Immediate feedback significantly improves student checklist scores with a mock paging program. This finding suggests that coaching with feedback may have advantages above self-regulated learning.
Supine harvest of vascularised scapular bone grafts-Anatomical study and clinical application.

Abstract Background We report our findings from an anatomical study on harvest of a vascularized scapular bone graft from a supine position. A clinical case is presented to illustrate the operative approach. Methods Twenty cadaveric hemibody specimens were dissected in the supine position. Outcomes of interest included the characterization of anatomical variants and measurements of pedicle length. Specific measurements included distance from the origin of the subscapular artery (at the axillary artery) to the branch point of the angular artery from the thoracodorsal artery or serratus branch and the length of the angular branch proper. Results There are five reported anatomic variations regarding the origin of the angular branch of the thoracodorsal artery. In our cadaveric cohort only four known types were seen, and an entirely new variant was encountered. Six cadaveric dissections exhibited a type 3 configuration, six were type 1, four were type 2, three were type 4, and one was a previously unreported variant we termed a type 6, with multiple angular artery branches originating from the posterior branch of the thoracodorsal. The mean distance between the origin of the subscapular artery and the takeoff of the angular branch was 6.3 ± 2.0 cm. The mean length of the angular branch was 3.7 ± 1.4 cm. Conclusions Supine positioning for harvest of a vascularized bone graft obviates the need for an intraoperative position change and allows reconstruction of bone defects in the hand and upper extremity within a single surgical field.
The Damping and Wave Resistance of a Pitching and Heaving Ship

This paper considers the damping and wave resistance of a thin ship which is moving in calm water with constant velocity and oscillating in pitch and heave. The velocity potential is obtained from Green's theorem after a process of systematic linearization in terms of perturbation parameters representing the beam-length ratio and the oscillation amplitude. An asymptotic expansion of the Green's function is derived from which the energy radiation is obtained. The coefficients of damping and increased wave resistance are then found by separation of the energy components. No separation of the two cross-coupling damping coefficients is obtained, however. Calculations are presented for a polynomial hull and compared with experimental data.
Diamond Technology for High Current Density Patterned Cathodes

We consider the material quality requirements, potential performance, and fabrication processes needed to create a cold cathode from a freestanding diamond film, irradiated from the backside with an electron beam.
Protection of intracellular dopamine cytotoxicity by dopamine disposition and metabolism factors

Dopamine has been hypothesized as a contributing factor for the selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease. However, the cytotoxic mechanisms of dopamine and its metabolites remain poorly understood. Using a stable aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) expressing a fibroblast cell line, we previously demonstrated a novel, non-oxidative cytotoxicity of intracellular dopamine. In this study, we further investigate the roles of dopamine metabolism and disposition proteins against intracellular dopamine cytotoxicity by co-expressing these factors in AADC-expressing cells. Our results indicate that overexpression of the vesicular monoamine transporter and monoamine oxidase A-induced protection against intracellular dopamine toxicity, and conversely that pharmacological inhibition of these pathways potentiated L-DOPA toxicity in catecholaminergic PC12 cells. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor and glutathione S-transferase (GST), factors that have recently been shown to be involved in dopamine metabolism, also exhibited a strong protective role against intracellular dopamine cytotoxicity. Our results support a potential role for non-oxidative cytoplasmic dopamine toxicity, and imply that disruption in dopamine disposition and/or metabolism could underlie the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease.
Studies of the Solution Polymerization of Vinyl Acetate in the Aqueous Solution of Partially Acetylated Polyvinyl Alcohol. III. The Configurational Change of the Polymer

The configurational change of the specially prepared graft polymer molecule occurred, when an appropriate amount of alcohol was added into the polymer solution and then evaporated it again. The graft polymer studied here was polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) branching prepared according to the procedure given in our previous papers.(1.2) The schematical explanatian of the configurational change of this graft polymer has been given. The viscosimetric measurements of the solution of the polymer of outward form have been examined and the results compared with those of the solution of the polymer of inward form. The polymer of outward form dissolved in alcohol of various strengths have their values of intrinsic viscosity the same as, but their values of Huggins' constant different from, those given by the polymer of inward form. The extent of configurational change of the polymer molecule depends on the amount of alcohol added in bringing about the change.
Moving Toward a Shrinking Cities Metric: Analyzing Land Use Changes Associated with Depopulation in Flint, Michigan

Cities around the globe have experienced depopulation or population shrinkage at an acute level in the last half century. Conventional community development and planning responses have looked to reverse the process of depopulation almost universally, with little attention paid to how neighborhoods physically change when they lose population. This article presents an approach to study the physical changes of depopulating neighborhoods in a novel way. The approach considers how population decline creates different physical impacts (more or less housing abandonment, for example) across different neighborhoods. Data presented from a detailed case study of Flint, Michigan, illustrate that population decline can be more painful in some neighborhoods than in others, suggesting that this article’s proposed approach may be useful in implementing smart decline.
IL-6 Plays a Unique Role in Initiating c-Maf Expression during Early Stage of CD4 T Cell Activation

The transcription factor c-Maf plays a critical and selective role in IL-4 gene transcription. Little is known about the mechanism that guides c-Maf regulation during early T cell activation. We report that IL-6 but not IL-4 or other cytokines, rapidly up-regulates c-Maf transcription, as early as 3 h after TCR activation in naive CD4 + T cells. c-Maf induction requires both IL-6- and TCR-initiated signals, and is independent of IL-4/Stat6 signals. Cyclosporin A and FK506, which target calcineurin and thereby inhibit TCR-mediated Ca 2+ signal pathways, block IL-6-mediated c-Maf expression. We show that Stat3 binds the c- maf promoter in CD4 T cells after IL-6 stimulation, and also transactivates the c- maf promoter in reporter gene assays. IL-6 induces similar c-Maf expression in protein kinase Cθ-deficient CD4 + T cells. Furthermore, IL-6 enhances IL-4 gene expression very early after TCR activation in both wild-type and Stat6-deficient CD4 + T cells. Our findings suggest that IL-6 plays a unique role in initiating c-Maf expression after TCR engagement, and may subsequently regulate early IL-4 production and Th2 commitment.
Structure of the L Protein of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus from Electron Cryomicroscopy.

The large (L) proteins of non-segmented, negative-strand RNA viruses, a group that includes Ebola and rabies viruses, catalyze RNA-dependent RNA polymerization with viral ribonucleoprotein as template, a non-canonical sequence of capping and methylation reactions, and polyadenylation of viral messages. We have determined by electron cryomicroscopy the structure of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) L protein. The density map, at a resolution of 3.8 A, has led to an atomic model for nearly all of the 2109-residue polypeptide chain, which comprises three enzymatic domains (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase [RdRp], polyribonucleotidyl transferase [PRNTase], and methyltransferase) and two structural domains. The RdRp resembles the corresponding enzymatic regions of dsRNA virus polymerases and influenza virus polymerase. A loop from the PRNTase (capping) domain projects into the catalytic site of the RdRp, where it appears to have the role of a priming loop and to couple product elongation to large-scale conformational changes in L.
DACNOS - Ein Betriebssystem für heterogene Netze

Die heutige Situation an Universitaten und groseren Unternehmen ist durch ein Nebeneinander verschiedenartiger Rechensysteme gekennzeichnet. Diese Heterogenitat ist in der Regel durch die Beschaffung von Rechnern fur spezifische Zwecken, wie z.B. Prozessteuerung, Datenbanken, umfangreichen Berechnungen oder individuelle Programmierausbildung entstanden. Benutzer mussen sich mit den Gegebenheiten der jeweiligen Rechner vertraut machen, wenn sie deren Dienste nutzen wollen. Verbindungen der Rechner untereinander und Dienste wie „Remote Login“ oder Dateitransfer erleichtern den physischen Zugang bzw. den Informationsaustausch, losen aber nicht das Problem der Heterogenitat. Verschiedene Ansatze sind bekannt, um diese Situation zu verbessern. Im HECTOR-Projekt zwischen der Universitat Karlsruhe und der IBM wurde ein systematischer Ansatz entwickelt, das Nebeneinander der verschiedenen Rechner in einen „Informationsverarbeitungsverbund“ zu verwandeln, in dem die Benutzer jedes Rechners transparent Dienste der anderen Rechner benutzen konnen, ohne ihre gewohnte Umgebung zu verlassen.
Acting White Accusation

Acting white is one of the most controversial issues in African American adolescence research. A phenomenon embedded in the racial/ethnic identity literature, acting white has nothing to do with wanting to be white and everything to do with what it means to be black. The accusation of acting white arises when one adolescent's racial identity is perceived as being not “black” enough by another adolescent. Keywords: race; ethnicity; social norms
Fan-In Wafer-Level Chip-Scale Package

Fan-in wafer-level chip-scale package is the first form of WLCSP. The term “fan-in” comes from the fact that early time WLCSP was originally designed as wire bond devices with bond pads all arranged along the perimeters of semiconductor dies. When converting a perimeter bond pad design into an area array WLCSP, redistribution or “fan-in” technology had to be used.
The role of autologous natural killer cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a lethal disease of the hematopoietic stem cell. Bone marrow transplantation has highlighted the importance of allogeneic disparity in maintaining remissions in CML. However, it has been unclear whether the immune effect against CML is mediated by T cells, natural killer cells (NK) or a combination of both. We have previously demonstrated that autologous activated NK are capable of selectively lysing malignant CML progenitors while sparing benign progenitors. NK effectors may play an important role in CML since NK lytic function, clonogenic frequency and proliferative capacity decrease as CML progresses from chronic phase to advanced phase and blast crisis. Incubation of CML NK with IL-2 is capable of restoring cytolytic activity to normal levels. We hypothesize that activated NK represent a potential therapy against CML to maintain remissions in a minimal residual disease setting induced by autologous transplantation. Clinical trials are in progress to test whether I...
Duraplasty or not? An evidence-based review of the pediatric Chiari I malformation

Objectives Few studies are available that directly compare dural opening with and without additional intradural maneuvers. Therefore, the current review analyzed the available literature regarding this topic.
Surface plasmons for nanofabrication

The diffraction limit is the major stumbling block in pushing optical lithography to feature sizes smaller than ~50 nm. One approach to circumvent the diffraction limit in optical lithography has been to use optical near-field probes to perform local writing of resist layers. This approach suffers from low writing speeds due to the sequential nature of the process. We discuss two near-field optical illumination schemes that are compatible with broad-beam exposure and high throughput nanofabrication. The first approach concerns a method that can be used to print patterns with feature sizes below 50 nm using standard photoresist. The method relies on the plasmon resonance occurring in nanoscale metallic particles. Nanoparticle surface plasmons can be excited resonantly, producing a strongly enhanced dipole field around the particle. This enhanced near field can be used to locally expose a thin resist layer. Experiments and simulations show that feature sizes < 50 nm can be produced using an exposure wavelength of 400 nm. The second approach involves projecting near-field patterns using planar metal films. It has been predicted that thin metal films may be used to generate images with a spatial resolution better than the diffraction limit. We present simulations that reveal the role of surface plasmons in such near-field imaging with planar metal films.
Root Physiology of Less Fall Dormant, Winter Hardy Alfalfa Selections

The physiological mechanisms causing fall dormancy (FD)-induced differences in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) shoot growth in autumn and winter hardiness are not understood. The objective of this research was to examine root physiology of experimental germplasms selected for decreased FD that also were selected simultaneously for high winter hardiness. Dormant and semi-dormant cultivars and germplasms had high root sugar concentrations that were positively associated with winter hardiness. Root amino N and protein levels in December were greater for germplasms selected for decreased FD and increased winter hardiness than for cultivars with comparable levels of winter hardiness. Among the five most fall dormant cultivars Vernal incurred the greatest amount of winter injury and it had lower root amino-N concentrations when compared with three of the other four dormant cultivars and germplasms. Germplasm 98-132 with an intermediate FD, incurred relatively low winter injury, similar to that of fall dormant Vernal, when compared with other intermediate dormancy cultivars and germplasms. This germplasm had root sugar concentrations that were similar to plants with FD ratings of 1 to 3. Creation of even less FD germplasms that possess high winter hardiness would facilitate our understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms controlling these two very important agronomic traits of alfalfa.
The First Wafer-fused AlGaAs-GaAs-GaN Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor

We describe the use of wafer fusion to form a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT), with an AlGaAs-GaAs emitter-base fused to a GaN collector. In this way, we hope to make use of both the high breakdown voltage of the GaN and the high mobility of the technologically more mature GaAs-based materials. This paper reports the first dc device characteristics of a wafer-fused transistor, and demonstrates the potential of wafer fusion for forming electronically active, lattice-mismatched heterojunctions. Devices utilized a thick base (0.15um) and exhibited limited common-emitter current gain (0.20.5) at an output current density of ~100A/cm 2 . Devices were operated to VCE greater than 20V, with a low VCE offset (1V). Improvements in both device structure and wafer fusion conditions should provide further improvements in HBT performance. The HBT was wafer-fused at 750 o C for one hour. Current-voltage characteristics of wafer-fused pGaAs/n-GaN diodes suggest that the fusion temperature could be reduced to 500 o C. Such a reduction in process temperature should mitigate detrimental diffusion effects in future HBTs.
Clinical utility of quantitative magnetic resonance angiography in the assessment of the underlying pathophysiology in a variety of cerebrovascular disorders.

Abstract Background Quantitative MRA (qMRA) is a relatively new technique that uses traditional time-of-flight and phase-contrast MRI to visualize extracranial and intracranial vascular anatomy and measure volumetric blood flow. We aimed to assess the clinical utility of qMRA in assessing the hypothesized pathophysiology (HP) in a range of cerebrovascular diseases. Moreover, we postulated that evaluation of the arterial waveforms, can improve the evaluation of the hypothesized pathophysiology by qMRA. Methods We reviewed studies from 10 patients who underwent qMRA examinations before and after their treatments. Two reviewers assessed the anatomy, volumetric flow rates and arterial waveforms for each vessel sampled and reached a consensus as to whether the above parameters supported the clinical diagnosis/hypothesized pathophysiology and the subsequent management. Findings All 20 qMRA studies were technically adequate. qMRA supported the HP in all 10 patients as determined by abnormal volumetric flow values in the affected vessels before treatment and by the correction of these abnormal values in the patients whose treatment was successful. Each of our five patients with occlusive disease/vasoconstriction demonstrated evidence of dampening of the arterial waveforms distally to the narrowed artery (parvus–tardus phenomenon). The parvus–tardus effect disappeared after treatment. Conclusion qMRA is unique in combining time-of-flight MRA in a complementary manner with phase-contrast MRA to obtain volumetric flow values and potentially important physiologic information from arterial waveform analysis in patients with a range of cerebrovascular diseases during the course of a single MR examination.
An allometric analysis of the U.S. urban system: 1960-80.

In this paper the relationship between urban population size and land area of urbanized areas of the USA in 1960, 1970, and 1980 is analyzed by means of the allometric growth law. The US urban syst...
Local Cerebral Blood Flow during the First Hour Following Acute Ligation of Multiple Arterioles in Rat Whisker Barrel Cortex

The objectives are to measure the early time-course of the flows of blood, red cells, and plasma in brain tissue destined to infarct following arterial occlusion. The flux of fluorescent red blood cells (fRBCs) through venules and the arteriovenous transit times (AVTT) of fluorescein-labeled plasma albumin were periodically monitored in anesthetized adult Wistar rats before and up to 60 min after permanent ligations of several small branches of the middle cerebral artery. Of note, fRBC is a function of venular erythrocyte flow and volume, whereas AVTT is a function of plasma flow and volume in visible arteriole-capillary-venule units. In another group of anesthetized rats, local cerebral blood flow (ICBF) was measured 1 h after permanent arterial occlusion by [14C]iodoantipyrine (IAP) autoradiography. With this model of focal ischemia, the lesion is highly reproducible and involves part of the whisker barrel cortex. Infarction of this area was observed in 12 of 13 rats. From 10 to 60 min after arterial occlusion, AVTT was nearly four times longer in the ischemic barrel cortex than at the same site before ligations, and fRBC flux was 25%. Neither parameter changed appreciably over this time. After 60 min of ischemia, ICBF on the ipsilateral barrel cortex was 18% of that on the contralateral side and 15% of the sham control value for the same area of the barrel cortex. Since whole blood flow in the ischemic barrel cortex was < 20% of normal at 60 min and AVTT and fRBC flux were essentially constant from 10 to 60 min, the rates of plasma and red cell flows were similarly depressed during the first hour of arteriolar occlusion. In conclusion, such lowering of red cell, plasma, and blood flows produced consistent infarctions in the barrel cortex.
Performance Evaluation of SPECT Imaging System for Sediment Column Imaging

The performance of a SPECT imaging system for imaging vertically oriented glass columns (10 cm diameter x 30 cm long) has been evaluated in terms of spatial resolution, image uniformity, and linearity. This imaging system was developed to support research in environmental geosciences by determining flow patterns in heterogeneous porous media (e.g., sediment) through simultaneous monitoring of sediment chemistry and flow parameters. Using a Derenzo-like hot-rod phantom, rods down to 7.9 mm diameter were resolved. Flood images had an integral uniformity of 8.5% and differential uniformity of 6.2% in the center of the field of view. The ratio of total detected counts to the mean image reconstructed value was within 2% of linear over a range of greater than two orders of magnitude of counts.
Effects of roads on survival of San Clemente Island foxes

Roads generate a variety of influences on wildlife populations; however, little is known about the effects of roads on endemic wildlife on islands. Specifically, road-kills of island foxes ( Urocyon littoralis) on San Clemente Island (SCI), Channel Islands, California, USA are a concern for resource managers. To determine the effects of roads on island foxes, we radiocollared foxes using a 3 -tiered sampling design to represent the entire population in the study area, a sub-population near roads, and a sub-population away from roads on SCI. We examined annual survival rates using nest-survival models, causes of mortalities, and movements for each sample. We found the population had high annual survival (0.90), although survival declined with use of road habitat, particularly for intermediate- aged foxes. Foxes living near roads suffered lower annual survival (0.76), resulting from high frequencies of road-kills (7 of 11 mortalities). Foxes living away from roads had the highest annual survival (0.97). Road-kill was the most prominent cause of mortality detected on SCI, which we estimated as killing 3-8% of the population in the study area annually. Based on movements, we were unable to detect any responses by foxes that minimized their risks from roads. The probabilities of road-kills increased with use of the road habitat, volume of traffic, and decreasing road sinuosity. We recommend that managers should attempt to reduce road-kills by deterring or excluding foxes from entering roads, and attempting to modify behaviors of motorists to be vigilant for foxes. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.
Photocapacitance and hole drift mobility measurements in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)

We present measurements of the photocapacitance in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) Schottky barrier diodes under reverse bias. A calculation relating photocapacitance to hole drift mobility measurements is also presented; the calculation incorporates the prominent dispersion effect for holes in a-Si:H usually attributed to valence bandtail trapping. The calculation accounts quantitatively for the magnitude and voltage-dependence of the photocapacitance.
THE DYNAMICS OF PARTY VOTING IN CONGRESS, 1955-78: A Cohort Model

This paper discusses the individual dynamics of Congressional party voting in terms of a cohort model. Like previous studies, which have used a different terminology (Asher and Weisberg, 1978), stability and replacement are major factors. Smaller, yet significant conversions were also found in regard to the impact of the seniority system and the committee system in allowing independence from the parties. Lastly, major period effects were also revealed. While period effects are more a chance occurrence than conversion associated with accumulating seniority, they may prove significant in understanding the dynamics of congressional voting as stability processes pick up and structure the period effects. In other words, the effects of period disturbances may persist long after the period has ended, as stabilizing processes capture the period changes and make these period changes a part of the congress's future.
Idea Generation and Exploration: Benefits and Limitations of the Policy Delphi Research Method

Researchers use the policy Delphi method to explore a complex topic with little historical context that requires expert opinion to fully understand underlying issues. The benefit of this research technique is the use of experts who have more timely information than can be gleamed from extant literature. Additionally, those experts place researchers in a specific moment, thus increasing the possibility of capturing change over time. One limitation of the policy Delphi is the difficulty in developing an accurate initial questionnaire to start the process. The purpose of this article is to identify benefits and limitations of this research method.
Combined effects of DHEA and fadrozole on aggression and neural VIP immunoreactivity in the non-breeding male song sparrow

The male Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia morphna, shows high levels of aggression in its non-breeding season, concomitant with basal levels of circulating testosterone (T) and estradiol (E(2)). However, administration of fadrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, decreases non-breeding aggression in the field. Circulating levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an androgen/estrogen precursor, correspond to the seasonal expression of aggression in this species, with high levels in the breeding and non-breeding seasons when aggression is also high, and lower levels during the molt when aggression is low. We test the hypothesis that circulating DHEA up-regulates non-breeding aggression via an aromatase-mediated mechanism. We also hypothesize that this up-regulation of aggression is partially mediated by changes in vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) in the lateral extent of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTl) and lateral septum (LS). Birds were administered either DHEA, fadrozole, or both for 2 weeks and tested for aggression in a lab-based paradigm. As predicted, birds given DHEA were significantly more aggressive. However, fadrozole did not block this effect, and, when administered without DHEA, also led to increased aggression over controls. These results may be explained by the fact that the behaviors measured in field tests, which include more direct attack behaviors, may be under different hormonal regulation than the behaviors measured in the lab paradigm, which represent warning, or threat, behaviors. VIP immunoreactivity (VIP-ir) changed across multiple brain regions with this treatment regimen, most notably in the LSO/VFI subdivision of the lateral septum.