cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SOCIAL ALTRUISM AND CRIME REVISITED: A RESEARCH NOTE ON MEASUREMENT

ABSTRACT Recent research, drawing on a variety of macro-cultural theories, has examined the influence of social altruism, approximated by United Way contributions, on crime rates. This paper extends this work by assessing the impact of an alternative indicator of altruistic values that is less likely to be confounded by social desirability effects. As expected, the results show that public radio contributions are inversely related to violent and property crime rates for a sample of U.S. states. The implications of this finding for the social altruism hypothesis are discussed.
Feminist Perspectives on Trauma

SUMMARY Feminist therapists, researchers, activists and scholars have long recognized that power differentials can have serious, sometimes fatal, consequences for women and children. Documenting the prevalence of problems such as rape, wife battering, and childhood sexual abuse, feminists began to dismantle social beliefs about gender, class and race that too often protect perpetrators of violence and blame victims for their own suffering. The authors cited (Burgess, Brownmiller, Herman, Koss, Harvey, NiCarthy, and Root) have combined scholarship with social activism to address the needs of the abused and develop social approaches to preventing violence.
Graft copolymers of polyethylene by atom transfer radical polymerization

Poly(ethylene-g-styrene) and poly(ethylene-g-methyl methacrylate) graft copolymers were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Commercially available poly(ethylene-co-glycidyl methacrylate) was converted into ATRP macroinitiators by reaction with chloroacetic acid and 2-bromoisobutyric acid, respectively, and the pendant-functionalized polyolefins were used to initiate the ATRP of styrene and methyl methacrylate. In both cases, incorporation of the vinyl monomer into the graft copolymer increased with extent of the reaction. The controlled growth of the side chains was proved in the case of poly(ethylene-g-styrene) by the linear increase of molecular weight with conversion and low polydispersity (Mw /Mn < 1.4) of the cleaved polystyrene grafts. Both macroinitiators and graft copolymers were characterized by 1H NMR and differential scanning calorimetry. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 2440–2448, 2000
Recovering from distributable thread failures in distributed real-time Java

We consider the problem of recovering from the failures of distributable threads (“threads”) in distributed real-time systems that operate under runtime uncertainties including those on thread execution times, thread arrivals, and node failure occurrences. When a thread experiences a node failure, the result is a broken thread having an orphan. Under a termination model, the orphans must be detected and aborted, and exceptions must be delivered to the farthest, contiguous surviving thread segment for resuming thread execution. Our application/scheduling model includes the proposed distributable thread programming model for the emerging Distributed Real-Time Specification for Java (DRTSJ), together with an exception-handler model. Threads are subject to time/utility function (TUF) time constraints and an utility accrual (UA) optimality criterion. A key underpinning of the TUF/UA scheduling paradigm is the notion of “best-effort” where higher importance threads are always favored over lower importance ones, irrespective of thread urgency as specified by their time constraints. We present a thread scheduling algorithm called HUA and a thread integrity protocol called TPR. We show that HUA and TPR bound the orphan cleanup and recovery time with bounded loss of the best-effort property. Our implementation experience for HUA/TPR in the Reference Implementation of the proposed programming model for the DRTSJ demonstrates the algorithm/protocol's effectiveness.
MALONIC ACID AS AN INHIBITOR OF MAIZE ROOT RESPIRATION.

Early experiments on the effects of malonate on plant respiration led to contradictory results which were largely resolved by the work of Bonner and Wildman (3), Turner and Hanly (18), and Laties (8) who showed that pH conditions affected the response to the inhibitor. It is now clear that for some plant tissues at least, under appropriate conditions of pH and malonate concentration, O2 uptake is retarded and accumulation of succinic acid occurs (2, 7). Other evidence (5) has also been obtained which supports the view that the oxidation of pyruvate in plants occurs through a cycle which can be slowed down by malonate, but there are no records of the accumulation of other compounds in the presence of the inhibitor. The present paper describes experiments in which changes in respiratory quotient (R.Q.) and the associated accumulation of some other cell components (not regarded as precursors of succinate) were followed at various malonate concentrations, as well as experiments in which the relationship between pH and the inhibitions induced by malonate was re-examined.
Online selection of diverse results

The phenomenal growth in the volume of easily accessible information via various web-based services has made it essential for service providers to provide users with personalized representative summaries of such information. Further, online commercial services including social networking and micro-blogging websites, e-commerce portals, leisure and entertainment websites, etc. recommend interesting content to users that is simultaneously diverse on many different axes such as topic, geographic specificity, etc. The key algorithmic question in all these applications is the generation of a succinct, representative, and relevant summary from a large stream of data coming from a variety of sources. In this paper, we formally model this optimization problem, identify its key structural characteristics, and use these observations to design an extremely scalable and efficient algorithm. We analyze the algorithm using theoretical techniques to show that it always produces a nearly optimal solution. In addition, we perform large-scale experiments on both real-world and synthetically generated datasets, which confirm that our algorithm performs even better than its analytical guarantees in practice, and also outperforms other candidate algorithms for the problem by a wide margin.
Structures, Energetics, and Chemical Reactions of Anions Derived from Cyclooctatetraene

Structures, energetics, and reactions of anions derived from cyclooctatetraene [C8H8- (1), C8H7- (2α), and C8H6- (3)] have been studied using the selected ion flow tube (SIFT) technique and molecul...
Limited Liability Companies in Kansas

The Kansas Limited Liability Company Act (the Act) is now over three years old and has been amended twice since its original enactment in 1990. The Act authorizes creation of a relatively new form of business organization, a limited liability company (LLC), which offers the possibility of combining the limitation on individual liability normally associated with the corporate form with teh conduit tax treatment of items of income, gain, loss, deduction and credit normally associated with partnership form. The purpose of this article is to discuss generally the main provisions of the Act as they relate to the creation, operation, and dissolution of an LLC in Kansas.
New and Old in Economic Anthropology

The New Anthropology. John Clammer Research in Economic Anthropology: An Annual compilation of Research, Vol. 1. George Dalton Research in Economic Anthropology: An Annual compilation of Research, Vol. 2. George Dalton Research in Economic Anthropology: An Annual compilation of Research, Vol. 1. George Dalton
Surface Corrections for Remote Sensing Reflectance in Case 2 Waters of Lake Superior

We establish the average wavelength dependence for rough-surface reflectance Srs(λ) in Lake Superior and determine its magnitude at any individual site by extrapolating the total reflectance or raw remote sensing reflectance RrsT(λ) measured at the surface to the asymptotic limit of zero scattering where Srs(λ) ≅ RrsT(λ). The results show that Srs(λ) differs from the flat-surface Fresnel reflectance of sky radiance used in standard determination of the remote sensing reflectance Rrs(λ) attributed to the scattering of light by particles and molecules in bulk water. In waters containing colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), Rrs(λ) can be very low and radiometric measurements at ground level can often lead to negative estimates of Rrs(λ) if we assume simple mirror-like reflectance of the sky radiance as the basis for correcting radiometric data for surface reflectance. We examine the differences between Fresnel reflectance and Srs(λ) and estimate the ratio of the concentrations of CDOM versus suspended particles that could produce negative values of Rrs(λ) if assume Fresnel reflectance in calculation of Rrs(λ).
Predictive techniques for aggressive load speculation

Load latency remains a significant bottleneck in dynamically scheduled pipelined processors. Load speculation techniques have been proposed to reduce this latency. Dependence Prediction can be used to allow loads to be issued before all prior store addresses are known, and to predict exactly which store a load should wait upon. Address Prediction can be used to allow a load to bypass the calculation of its effective address and speculatively issue. Value Prediction can be used to bypass the load forward latency and avoid cache misses. Memory renaming has been proposed to communicate stored values directly to aliased loads. In this paper we examine in detail the interaction and performance tradeoffs of these four load speculation techniques in the presence of two miss-speculation recovery architectures-reexecution and squash. We examine the performance of combining these techniques to create a load speculation chooser which provides performance improvement over using any one technique in isolation. We also examine the accuracy of these load speculation techniques for predicting data cache misses.
Crystallization of UDP-N-Acetylglucosamine O-Acyltransferase From Escherichia coli

Crystals of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine O-acyltransferase (lpxA) from Escherichia coli have been obtained from solutions of sodium/potassium phosphate and dimethylsulfoxide. These crystals belong to the cubic space group P2(1)3 (a = 99.0 A), diffract X-rays to approximately 2.5 A resolution and contain one subunit of the enzyme in the asymmetric unit.
Long‐term changes of endophyte infection in tall fescue stands

Pastures of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) presumed to be free of the endophytic fungus (Acremonium coenophialum) had increasing levels of endophyte, averaging 4% per annum over periods of 9–12 years. Similarly, replicated plots sown at four levels of initial endophyte infection increased in infection over a 4-year period: for example, plots with a 27% initial level increased to 84%, and those with a level of 58% increased to 92% by the fourth year. Mowing plots to prevent seed formation did not affect the rate of change in infection percentage, except that plots with 0% initial endophyte began to show detectable levels in un-mown blocks, presumably as a result of contamination by seed from adjacent infected plots. By the fourth year of the study, fescue plant densities, measured by plant counts, as well as ground cover, were significantly higher in plots with high initial endophyte level. It is proposed that the change in infection percentage was due to enhanced survival of infected plants in mixed stands where there was intense competition for available moisture in conditions of drought.
Penicillin-binding proteins 4 and 5 of Haemophilus influenzae are involved in cell wall incorporation

Permeabilized cells of Haemophilus influenzae incorporate wall precursors into murein material in an ampicillin-sensitive reaction. In resistant transformants that contain the low antibiotic affinity penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) 4 and 5, the sensitivity of this incorporation reaction to ampicillin is proportionally lower, suggesting a catalytic role for these proteins in wall synthesis. We conclude that, analogous to the reaction in Escherichia coli, PBPs 4 and 5 of H. influenzae have transpeptidase activity.
Ozone, acidic rain and soil magnesium effects on growth and foliar pigments of Pinus taeda L.'

Summary Height and diameter growth, biomass accumulation and leaf pigment concentrations were measured in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) seedlings grown in soil containing 12 or 35 kg Mg g-’ and exposed from May to October to subambient, ambient, or twice-ambient ozone (Os), and to simulated acidic rain with a pH of either 4.0 or 5.3. At the end of one growing season, height and diameter growth of seedlings exposed to twice-ambient 03 were not statistically different from those of seedlings exposed to subambient 03. Biomass of all plant parts was reduced by 7 to 16% in response to increasing 03 concentration. No statistically significant growth responses to rain chemistry or soil magnesium status were observed, and there were no statistically significant interactive treatment effects. Needle pigment concentrations were not significantly affected by ram chemistry or soil Mg status and there were no visible signs of injury to needles that could be attributed to 0s stress or Mg deficiency. Concentrations of chlorophyll a and b, and carotenes were 23, 30 and 21% higher (P I 0.05) respectively, in seedlings exposed to twice-ambient 0s than in seedlings from the other ozone treatments. There were no interactive treatment effects on needle pigment concentrations.
Aristotle's Rhetoric on Unintentionally Hitting the Principles of the Sciences

hetoric cannot be given a definition by genus and differentia, and so Aristotle must rely on the contrasts between rhetoric and its neighbors to an extent unnecessary for the definition of many of the arts and sciences. In addition to its positive definition as a faculty of finding in any case the existing means of persuasion (I.2.1355b20) he marks off its boundaries through a series of contrasts to other ways of achieving the same end—persuasion—that rely on sources of persuasion outside of discourse and hence outside the art of rhetoric' In the first chapter rhetoric is restrained by good laws that prohibit irrelevant appeals; in the last chapter of Book I Aristotle contrasts its practice with the inartificial means of persuasion, such as written records, that only have to be used; in the passages 1 want to concentrate on here, rhetoric is bounded by the sciences. We learn about this latter boundary by looking at its violations: when a speaker or thinker unconsciously and unintentionally "hits on a principle," Aristotle teUs us that he thereby moves from rhetorical to scientific argument:
The theory of ultrasonic attenuation in two-band superconductors

Abstract The ultrasonic attenuation coefficient for longitudinal waves is formulated for two-band superconductors. The resulting expression differs from that previously obtained by Fal'ko.
Modeling the IRS taxpayer information system

The Internal Revenue Service IRS toll-free, nationwide telephone system provides prompt tax-information assistance. In 1986, the IRS processed 37.8 million calls from taxpayers at 32 answering sites. This paper documents a critical review of the IRS approach to allocating its staff and equipment. We built a simulation-based model to test various allocation policies for deploying IRS resources. The simulation study included detailed sensitivity analysis on key network variables, and showed the feasibility of modeling a typical IRS location as a multiserver loss/delay queue with retrial and reneging. The second phase of this effort therefore centered around developing a prototype probabilistic model for determining the most effective way of providing service at reasonable levels and at minimum cost. The resulting model allows the IRS to determine from tables the best configuration of people and telephone lines for any expected levels of incoming traffic. In addition, we provided flow balance analyses of the underlying feedback queues that permit the IRS to separate their caller streams into fresh and repeat callers, and thus to estimate actual demand for service.
A volatile relationship: The effect of changing gasoline prices on public support for mass transit

Abstract The determinants of public opinion toward public transit is a little-researched topic, though a better understanding of what makes consumers willing to support transit may reveal which attributes of transit consumers value most. One determinant of people’s willingness to support investments in mass transit may be the price of fuel for transit’s principal competition, the private automobile. In this paper, I examine the relationship between the cost of gasoline and stated willingness to invest public money in mass transit improvements. I hypothesize that fuel price volatility—in addition to price itself—is a determinant of support for more mass transit funding, controlling for other factors. As the price of gasoline becomes more uncertain, the public should, all else equal, support investment in mass transportation, a form of transportation that may provide some measure of protection from the price of fuel. Results suggest a strong effect of price volatility on consumers’ willingness to support transit expenditures.
A Dedcutive Agrument for the Representational Theory of Thinking

Il existe un nombre abondant d'arguments pour et contre le representationnalisme. L'argument presente par l'A. en support de la theorie representative est cense elucider son evidence empirique et sa verite
Potassium Channel Mutant KCNJ5 T158A Expression in HAC-15 Cells Increases Aldosterone Synthesis

Primary aldosteronism is the most common cause of secondary hypertension, most frequently due to an aldosterone-producing adenoma or idiopathic hyperaldosteronism. Somatic mutations of the potassium channel KCNJ5 in the region of the selectivity filter have been found in a significant number of aldosterone-producing adenomas. There are also familial forms of primary aldosteronism, one of which, familial hyperaldosteronism type 3 which to date has been found in one family who presented with a severe abnormality in aldosterone and 18-oxocortisol production and hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the transitional zone of the adrenal cortex. In familial hyperaldosteronism type 3, there is a genomic mutation causing a T158A change of amino acids within the selectivity filter region of the KCNJ5 gene. We are reporting our studies demonstrating that lentiviral-mediated expression of a gene carrying the T158A mutation of the KCNJ5 in the HAC15 adrenal cortical carcinoma cell line causes a 5.3-fold increase in aldosterone secretion in unstimulated HAC15-KCNJ5 cells and that forskolin-stimulated aldosterone secretion was greater than that of angiotensin II. Expression of the mutated KCNJ5 gene decreases plasma membrane polarization, allowing sodium and calcium influx into the cells. The calcium channel antagonist nifedipine and the calmodulin inhibitor W-7 variably inhibited the effect. Overexpression of the mutated KCNJ5 channel resulted in a modest decrease in HAC15 cell proliferation. These studies demonstrate that the T158A mutation of the KCNJ5 gene produces a marked stimulation in aldosterone biosynthesis that is dependent on membrane depolarization and sodium and calcium influx into the HAC15 adrenal cortical carcinoma cells.
Solving the depth interpolation problem on a parallel architecture with a multigrid approach

The authors discuss solving the depth interpolation problem on a parallel architecture, a fine-grained SIMD (single-instruction, multiple data stream) machine with local and global communication networks. Many constraint propagation problems in early vision, including depth interpolation, can be cast as solving a large system of linear equations where the resulting matrix is symmetric and positive definite (SPD). Usually, the resulting SPD matrix is sparse. The authors show how the adaptive Chebyshev acceleration and the conjugate gradient methods accelerated further with a multigrid approach can be run on this parallel architecture for sparse SPD matrices. They give numerical results for fairly large synthetic images, and compare them with the results from the Gauss-Seidel method accelerated also with a multigrid approach. >
Development of cyclobutene- and cyclobutane-functionalized fatty acids with inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Eleven fatty acid analogues incorporating four-membered carbocycles (cyclobutenes, cyclobutanes, cyclobutanones, and cyclobutanols) were investigated for the ability to inhibit the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msm) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). A number of the analogues displayed inhibitory activity against both mycobacterial species in minimal media. Several of the molecules displayed potent levels of inhibition against Mtb, with MIC values equal to or below those observed with the anti-tuberculosis drugs D-cycloserine and isoniazid. In contrast, two of the analogues that display the greatest activity against Mtb failed to inhibit E. coli growth under either set of conditions. Thus, the active molecules identified herein may provide the basis for the development of anti-mycobacterial agents against Mtb.
Adult global DNA methylation in relation to pre-natal nutrition

Background Exposure to a pre-natal famine environment has been associated with a persistent decrease in DNA methylation of the IGF2 gene, although study findings on other loci have been highly variable. There have been no studies to date of the relation between pre-natal famine and overall global DNA methylation in adulthood. Methods Our study population includes 350 births with pre-natal exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944–45 selected from three birth clinics, 290 births from these clinics born before or after the famine as unexposed time controls and 307 same-sex siblings of either birth group as unexposed family controls. All study subjects were interviewed and underwent a medical examination at a mean age of 58 years when blood samples were also collected. As measures of genomic DNA methylation, we analysed two repetitive elements, LINE-1 (long interspersed nucleotide element 1) and Sat2 (Satellite 2 DNA sequence) by pyrosequencing and MethyLight, respectively, and overall genomic DNA methylation using the Luminometric methylation assay (LUMA). Results Mean DNA methylation by LUMA was 75.2% [standard deviation (SD) 4.7], by LINE-1 was 77.1% (SD 2.5) and by Sat2 was 122.2 (SD 56.2). Pre-natal famine exposure was associated with negligible changes in all three assays {LUMA: −0.16% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) −0.49 to 0.81], P = 0.63; LINE-1: −0.05 % (95% CI −0.33 to 0.22), P = 0.70; and Sat2: −0.51% (95% CI −7.38 to 6.36), P = 0.88} relative to unexposed controls, adjusting for age at examination and within family clustering. Conclusion Our results show no relation between overall global DNA methylation in adults and pre-natal famine exposure. Further work should focus on selected regions in the genome that may be differentially methylated in response to changes in early life exposures and predict adult health outcomes.
The duration of zidovudine benefit in persons with asymptomatic HIV infection. Prolonged evaluation of protocol 019 of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group.

Objective. —To determine the durability of zidovudine-induced delay in clinical progression of asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease and to assess the relationship between this effect and the entry CD4+cell count. Design and Interventions. —Extended follow-up data from subjects participating in protocol 019 of the AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome] Clinical Trials Group were examined. Subjects were offered a total daily dose of 500 mg of open-label zidovudine after the unblinding of the original randomized trial in 1989. Original treatment groups included placebo, 500 mg of zidovudine, or 1500 mg of zidovudine daily in divided doses. Three distinct analyses were conducted to assess the duration of zidovudine's effect on progression to AIDS or death: (1) analysis of all follow-up information from all subjects, (2) analysis of all subjects but with follow-up of original placebo-assigned subjects censored at the time open-label zidovudine was initiated, and (3) analysis of the effect of initiating zidovudine in subjects initially assigned to receive placebo. Setting. —University-based and university-affiliated AIDS research clinics participating in AIDS Clinical Trials Group protocol 019. Patients. —A total of 1565 asymptomatic HIV-infected subjects with entry CD4+cell counts less than 0.50×109/L (500/μL). Main Outcome Measure. —Time to progression to AIDS or death. Results. —During follow-up of up to 4.5 years (mean, 2.6 years), 232 subjects progressed to AIDS or died. In each of the three analyses described herein, zidovudine was associated with a significant (P=.008,.004,.007) decrease in the risk of such progression. However, each of these analyses also indicated a decreasing placebo:zidovudine relative risk with duration of use (P=.002,.08,.04), suggesting a nonpermanent effect. The duration of benefit appeared to be related to entry CD4+cell count, with greater benefit in those with higher counts at entry. No significant differences in survival were found between those originally randomized to zidovudine or placebo. Conclusions. —Zidovudine at 500 mg/d caused a significant delay in progression to AIDS or death, but its earlier use in asymptomatic disease was not associated with an additional prolongation of survival compared with delayed initiation. The delay in progression diminished over time especially in subjects with entry CD4+cell counts less than 0.30×109/L (300/μL). Treatment strategies that alter drug regimens before the loss of zidovudine benefit should be explored. (JAMA. 1994;272:437-442)
An Examination of Econometric Energy Modeling and Comparison with Alternative Methodologies

This paper presents a discussion and analysis of econometric modeling techniques commonly used in energy analysis. The discussion will focus on the general characteristics of econometric energy models, highlight these characteristics by contrasting them with the general characteristics of other types of energy modeling methodologies, and present two examples of econometric energy models.
Family Emotional Support and the Individuation Process Among Asian- and Latino-Heritage College-Going Emerging Adults

This study examined whether discrepancies in emerging adults' perceptions of their own and their parents' value of education were associated with their individuation from family, and whether this relationship was mediated by family emotional support. A total of 82 Asian- and Latino-heritage emerging adults completed a survey assessing their and their parents' value of education, family emotional support, and family engagement (our proxy for individuation). As predicted, larger discrepancies in the value placed on education were associated with less family engagement; this association was mediated by emerging adults' perceptions of family emotional support. These findings suggest that family emotional support may play an important role in the individuation process of Asian- and Latino-heritage college-going emerging adults.
Program differentiation

Mobile electronics are undergoing a convergence of formerly multiple dedicated-application devices into a single programmable device -- the smart phone. The programmability of these devices increases their vulnerability to malicious attack. In this paper, we propose a new malware management system that seeks to use program differentiation to reduce the propagation of malware when a software vulnerability exists. By modifying aspects of the application control flow, we allow portions of an application executable to be permuted into unique versions for each distributed instance. Differentiation is achieved using hardware and systems software modifications that are amenable to and scalable in embedded systems. Our initial areas for modification include function call/return and system call semantics, as well as a hardware-supported Instruction Register File. Differentiation of executables hinders analysis for vulnerabilities as well as prevents vulnerability exploitation in a single distributed version from propagating to other instances of that application. Computational demands on any instance of the application are minimized, while the resources required to attack multiple systems grows with the number of systems attacked. By focusing on prevention of malware propagation in addition to traditional absolute defenses, we target the economics of malware in order to make attacks prohibitively expensive and infeasible.
4C-seq revealed long-range interactions of a functional enhancer at the 8q24 prostate cancer risk locus

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >100 independent susceptibility loci for prostate cancer, including the hot spot at 8q24. However, how genetic variants at this locus confer disease risk hasn’t been fully characterized. Using circularized chromosome conformation capture (4C) coupled with next-generation sequencing and an enhancer at 8q24 as “bait”, we identified genome-wide partners interacting with this enhancer in cell lines LNCaP and C4-2B. These 4C-identified regions are distributed in open nuclear compartments, featuring active histone marks (H3K4me1, H3K4me2 and H3K27Ac). Transcription factors NKX3-1, FOXA1 and AR (androgen receptor) tend to occupy these 4C regions. We identified genes located at the interacting regions, and found them linked to positive regulation of mesenchymal cell proliferation in LNCaP and C4-2B, and several pathways (TGF beta signaling pathway in LNCaP and p53 pathway in C4-2B). Common genes (e.g. MYC and POU5F1B) were identified in both prostate cancer cell lines. However, each cell line also had exclusive genes (e.g. ELAC2 and PTEN in LNCaP and BRCA2 and ZFHX3 in C4-2B). In addition, BCL-2 identified in C4-2B might contribute to the progression of androgen-refractory prostate cancer. Overall, our work reveals key genes and pathways involved in prostate cancer onset and progression.
Turbine missiles assessment

In a study commissioned by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Pacific Northwest Laboratory evaluated the costs and benefits of modifying regulatory requirements in the area of the turbine rotor design reviews and inspections. The basis for the analysis was presented in the Regulatory Analysis Guidelines and in the Handbook for Value-Impact Assessment. The effects of selected modifications to regulations were evaluated in terms of public risk and costs to industry and the NRC. The results indicate that substantial savings in operating costs may be realized by changing the interval of turbine rotor inspections.
Using Multivariate Analysis to Select Accommodation Boundary Manikins From a Population Database

Digital Human Models (DHMs) are a tool that can be used to aid in determining dimensions for human-centered designs. DHMs have the ability to represent the anthropometric extremes of the population and help to determine which dimensions should be used to acquire a certain level of accommodation within a population. It is not possible to use current techniques for selecting manikins that represent a population, like principal component analysis (PCA), the application of design families, or percentiles due to these methods having a lower output accommodation levels than expected. The purpose of this research is to provide a multivariate analysis based on Pareto optimization. This method determines a pool of manikins representing the total target population when comparing up to three anthropometric dimensions within a database. This pool will act as boundary manikins for a given level of accommodation.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Towards an integrated linkage map of common bean : 1. Development of genomic DNA probes and levels of restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Two genomic libraries were established to provide markers to develop an integrated map combining molecular markers and genes for qualitative and quantitative morpho-agronomic traits in common bean. Contrasting characteristics were observed for the two libraries. While 89% of the PstI clones were classified as single-copy sequences, only 21% of the EcoRIBamHI clones belonged in that category. Clones of these two libraries were hybridized against genomic DNA of nine genotypes chosen according to their divergent evolutionary origin and contrasting agronomic traits. Eight restriction enzymes were used in this study. PstI clones revealed 80–90% polymorphism between the Andean and Middle American gene pools and 50–60% polymorphism within these gene pools. However, under the same conditions only 30% of the EcoRI-BamHI clones showed polymorphism between the Middle American and Andean gene pools. Hybridization with PstI clones to EcoRI-, EcoRV-, or HindIII-digested genomic DNA resulted in a cumulative frequency of polymorphism of approximately 80%. Hybridizations to BamHI-, HaeIII-, HinfI-, PstI-, and XbaI-digested genomic DNA detected no additional polymorphisms not revealed by the former three enzymes. In the PstI library, a positive correlation was observed between the average size of hybridizing restriction fragments and the frequency of polymorphism detected by each restriction enzyme. This relationship is consistent with the higher proportion of insertion/deletion events compared with the frequency of nucleotide substitutions observed in that library.
Revising a College 101 Course for Sustained Impact: Early Outcomes

ABSTRACTIn response to strikingly low completion rates in public 2-year colleges, including for students who are well-prepared academically, most community colleges across the country offer student success courses as one approach to improving outcomes for students. Some colleges have begun to revise these courses in response to research indicating that their impact fades over time. This article examines Bronx Community College’s efforts to restructure their student success course into a First Year Seminar (FYS) that integrates college orientation activities, disciplinary content, and academic success skills. The course emphasizes student-centered pedagogies in order to encourage learning that persists beyond the semester of participation. We use mixed methods to assess the early outcomes of students in FYS courses and understand whether and why the course’s impact has the potential to be sustained. Using propensity score matching to compare 1,138 FYS participants to 1,138 similar nonparticipants, we find ...
Analysis on the impact of sexually transmitted with HIV discordant heterosexual couples management in Weishi country

Objective To analyse the prevail trend of HIV through Marital sexual transmission in my hometown,through comparing the effect of before and after the intervention to the the HIV positive unilateral spouse(the single-spouse),to perfect the intervention measures and strengthen the intervention.effectively avoid the sexual transmission between the single-spouse,and reducing the rate of marital sexual transmission.Methods through reviewing HIV network straight to the database and single-spouses database management,statistics the number of the single-spouse and marital sexual transmission.From before 2004 to 2007,analysis and comparison the difference of the rate of sexually transmitted between marital and the single-spouse before and after intervention.Results In 2004 and before 2004(before the implementation of interventions),the single-spouse sexually transmitted rate was 0.99 %,but in 2005,2006 and 2007(after the intervention of the implementation) the single-spouse sexually transmitted rates were 0.62 %,0.39 %,0.46 % separately,and marital sexual transmission rates were 5.58 %,2.45 %,1.59 %,1.31 % separately.Through statistical analysis,for the single-spouse of sexually transmission rate,significant difference was been found between before and after the intervention(χ2 = 34.60 P0.01).The rate of marital sexually transmitted also had significant difference(χ2= 54.34 P0.01).Conclusion We should continue to strengthen the management of the single-spouse and perfect the intervention measures and further improve the interventions.For the unmarried,widowed and remarried people who are HIV-positive,we should grasp their marital state,spouse information and follow-up testing them regularly to reduce the spread of marital sexual transmission effectively.
Development and application of an ultra-fast DNA extraction method of pathogenic microorganism

Objective:Drastically speed up the Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR based pathogenic microorganism detection,and applied to early diagnosis of infectious disease in public health emergency.Methods:The method was developed based on the boiling-lysis process,with improvement and optimization on extraction reagents and time.Timing and extraction efficiency of our ultra-fast method were compared with column nuclear extraction kit and traditional boiling-lysis method.Results:DNA extraction from pathogenic microbes could be done within five minutes using ultra-fast extraction method,while the column nuclear extraction kit and traditional boiling-lysis method need 30 to 50 minutes for the whole process.We applied these 3 different extraction methods for extracting DNA from various pathogenic microorganisms,then use the DNA as the templates for Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,the amplification curve,sensitivity,repeatability and CV are highly consistent: CT error±1.5S,all the cv value 3.9%,and shown no statistical significance according F and t test.Conclusion:Using the Ultra-fast DNA extraction method for pathogenic microorganism detection Our method needs much less time for DNA extraction comparing with column nuclear extraction kit and traditional boiling-lysis method,Combined with Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,it drastically cut the time required for the whole detection process.This method has been applied many times is the public health emergencies and returned good effects.
How to produce innovations

Making innovations happen is surprisingly easy, satisfying, and rewarding if you start small and build up.
The History of Dermatologic Cryosurgery

The therapeutic use of “extreme” cold dates from the mid nineteen century. For over a hundred years cryosurgery has been used to treat skin cancer; also skin infections, benign tumors, and a myriad of other conditions. Understanding of the mechanism by which cold affects the skin and other organs has led to the development of progressively better delivery systems, cryogens and monitorization equipment; all this thanks to the contributions of many bright medical and other scientific minds which we attempted to recognize in this chapter.
Keynesian Policy, Monetary Policy, and the Weakening of Competition

In this chapter, we will look in more detail at John Maynard Keynes’s doctrines, which form the theoretical base for the Economic Management School. We shall see that, while Keynesian policies can stimulate the economy relatively quickly, in the long run they can cause serious damage.
Fracture modes in the Silurian Qusaiba Shale Play, Northern Saudi Arabia and their geomechanical implications

Abstract Fracture and in-situ stress studies were conducted for unconventional prospect evaluation in the Silurian Qusaiba Shale, northern Saudi Arabia. Borehole image logs, oriented cores, seismic, and drilling observations were used in the studies. The fractures include natural fractures and induced fractures. The induced fractures were studied to assess the stress regime in terms of directions and magnitudes. The present day maximum horizontal in-situ stress trend varies from NNW-SSE to NNE-SSW, and shows a regional pattern dominated by Arabian plate tectonics. The relative magnitudes of the current day stresses are characteristic of an extensional to strike-slip regime. Natural fractures of microscopic (microfractures) to macroscopic (macrofractures) scales include extension fractures (joints/veins), and faults manifested as shear and hybrid (extensional-shear and compressional-shear) fractures. Joints clustering into zones are rare, unless when associated with fault zones. Over half of the faults (56%) show clustering into fault zones with their widths (thickness) varying by up to 5 orders of magnitude, and lengths and displacements varying by up to 4 orders of magnitudes respectively. The study identified five distinctive, regional, fracture sets: one gently dipping (bedding-parallel or at low angle to bedding) and up to four moderately to steeply dipping fracture sets: an easterly striking set is the oldest, followed by three younger major sets striking NNW-SSE, N-S, and NNE-SSW. The younger fractures are nearly parallel to the present day maximum horizontal in-situ stress. Crack-seal mechanism (natural hydrofracturing) dominates initial fracture growth, some with several phases of partial to complete mineralization or coating, dominated by calcite, quartz, and dolomite. Aqueous and hydrocarbon gaseous and fluid inclusions are common in the fractures' mineral filling. The regional nature of in-situ stresses and natural fractures means their occurrence, orientation, relative dominance, and relative age and relative apertures are easier to predict and manipulate for well planning and completion, including hydrofracturing. Forward modeling shows that natural fracture network are not critically stressed under reservoir conditions but when subjected to massive hydrofracture stimulation they and the bedding discontinuities form the seeds for the growth of a complex hydrofracture network that potentially grows out of presumed stress-barriers. Lack of stress rotation around faults in wells supports the modeling results. Microseismic monitoring gives time-lapse (incremental) microseismic events of two types; random and linear patterns parallel to maximum horizontal in-situ stress and the predominant natural fracture trend. Bulk microseismic cloud has no unique link to fault trends mapped from high resolution borehole images. This finding challenges the usability of uncalibrated microseimic monitoring of massive hydrofracturing to map faults.
THz pulse detection by photoconductive plasmonic high electron mobility transistor with enhanced sensitivity

We report on the THz pulse detection by a photoconductive InGaAs High Electron Mobility Transistor with enhanced sensitivity due to induced nonlinearities mixing the rectified optical pulse with the THz pulse. The experimental setup (see Figure 1) is similar to that used in the THz Time Domain Spectroscopy (TDS) but instead of a photoconductive antenna typically fabricated on low temperature grown (LT) GaAs, we use a submicron HEMT (with a 130 nm gate) connected to a 50 GHz transmission line (see Figure 2) to improve the bandwidth.
Embedded Acoustic Black Holes for semi-passive broadband vibration attenuation in thin-walled structures

Abstract We explore the use of structure-embedded Acoustic Black Holes (ABH) to design thin-walled structural components exhibiting broadband vibration attenuation characteristics. The ABH is a geometric taper with a power-law profile fully integrated into the structural component and able to induce a smooth and progressive decrease of both the velocity and the wavelength of flexural waves. Previous studies have shown these characteristics to be critical to enable highly efficient vibration attenuation systems. The performance of ABH thin-walled structures is numerically and experimentally evaluated under both transient and steady state excitation conditions. Both numerical and experimental results suggest that the proposed approach enables highly efficient and broadband vibration attenuation performance.
Induction of tumor regression by intratumoral STING agonists combined with anti–programmed death-L1 blocking antibody in a preclinical squamous cell carcinoma model

Background Cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) are bacterial intracellular messengers that have demonstrated antitumor activity in melanoma and breast tumors, although their role in immunotherapy of head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCCs) has not been well investigated. Methods We measured primary tumor growth rates, mechanism of antitumor activity, and efficacy of programmed death-L1 blockade combinatorial therapy in SCCFVII tumor-bearing C3H/HeOUJ mice undergoing intratumoral injections with RR-cyclic-di-guanine (synthetic CDG), CDG (natural cyclic-di-guanine), R848 (TLR 7/8 agonist), or phosphate buffered saline (PBS, control). Results Intratumoral CDN treatment groups showed decreased tumor size and enhanced splenocyte Th1 response when compared to the PBS treatment control group (p < .05). The RR-CDG tumor microenvironment showed upregulated interferon (IFN)-γ+CD8+ and programmed death-L1. Combining programmed death-L1 blocking antibody with RR-CDG induced regression of established tumors. Conclusion This study demonstrates the antitumor effects of CDNs in a HNSCC cell line. These preclinical data strongly support the future clinical development of intratumoral CDN in patients with HNSCC. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 1086–1094, 2017
Repair of Cleft Sternum

Complete and partial cleft sternum requires either primary repair, or repair by bridging the gap using native musculoskeletal tissue or synthetic material. When performed early in the first few months of life primary closure is usually achievable. Late reconstruction, when the chest wall is less compliant, requires additional manoeuvres in order to accommodate and protect the vital organs within the thoracic cavity.
Transfer of the Human Heme Oxygenase-1 Gene Decreases Blood Pressure and Promotes Growth in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

P203 Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the conversion of heme to biliverdin, free iron and carbon monoxide (CO). Both heme and CO have been implicated in the regulation of vascular tone. We report the successful cloning of the human HO-1 cDNA (HHO-1) into a LXSN retroviral vector (LSN-HHO-1). A single intra-left ventricular delivery of 1×10 10 pfu/ml of LSN-HHO-1 to 5-day-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR; n = 32) resulted in extended expression of the human HO-1 (mRNA and protein) in several tissues, including the kidney, liver, spleen, lung, heart, brain and aorta. The expression of HHO-1 was associated with a 2-3 fold increase in HO activity in these tissues. Mean blood pressure (MBP) of SHR injected with LSN-HHO-1 was significantly lower than that of SHR injected with the control empty vector LXSN, by 4 weeks of age (144±4.6 mmHg vs 164.8±6.5 mmHg, n=32, * p the HO inhibitor, stannic mesoporphyrin (Sn MP), to LSN-HHO-1-treated SHR resulted in a 15 to 18 mmHg rise of MBP, further suggesting that increased HO expression underlie, at least in part, the blood pressure lowering effect of LSN-HHO-1. Rats expressing HHO-1 showed significant reduction in the urinary excretion of the vasoconstrictor cytochrome P-450 arachidonate metabolite, 20-HETE. Moreover, gracilis muscle arterioles (≈ 55μm in diameter) isolated from HHO-1 transgenic SHR showed less contractile responses to increased intraluminal pressure than vessels isolated from LXSN-treated SHR; this effect was reversed by the addition of SnMP. Interestingly, HHO-1 transgenic rats showed significant proportionate increase in somatic growth, i.e., nose to tail length, fibula length and body weight gain. These studies demonstrate that delivery of the human HO-1 gene by a retroviral vector results in permanent expression of HHO-1, long-term reduction in blood pressure together with growth promoting activity in the SHR.
Response to “Comments on ‘An Assessment of Steam-Explosion-Induced Containment Failure. Parts I–IV’”

(1989). Response to “Comments on ‘An Assessment of Steam-Explosion-Induced Containment Failure. Parts I–IV’”. Nuclear Science and Engineering: Vol. 103, No. 1, pp. 100-101.
A Spatial Study of the Location of Superfund Sites and Associated Cancer Risk

Superfund sites are geographic locations selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as having extreme toxic chemical spills. In this article, we address three main research questions: (1)...