cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DNA as the Twenty-First Century Fingerprint: Approval of DNA Collection upon Arrest in United States v. Mitchell

On July 25, 2011, in United States v. Mitchell, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that taking a DNA sample from a pretrial arrestee did not violate the Fourth Amendment. The court did so by holding that taking DNA profiles serves only to identify arrestees, and thus, like fingerprinting, is an acceptable “booking” practice. Unlike fingerprints, however, DNA profiles contain significant personal information beyond that necessary for mere identification. This Comment argues, therefore, that to determine the reasonableness of this intrusion onto arrestees’ expectations of privacy under the Fourth Amendment, courts must consider both the physical DNA collection and the retention of the sensitive personal information in the DNA profile.
Progress in carbon fuel cells for clean coal technology pipeline

SUMMARY As coal use for electricity production is expected to increase substantially in the next several decades, our carbon-constraint world demands sustainability, which requires urgent advances in coal power generation to achieve significantly reduced footprints on the environment, water resources, and climate change. Carbon fuel cells (CFC) that can electrochemically convert solid fuels directly into electricity hold the potential to leap-frog the technological evolution process towards achieving clean coal power generation by offering dramatically higher conversion efficiencies and proportionately lower carbon intensity, emissions, and water demand, while producing a highly concentrated CO2 flue stream that is nearly capture-ready. This article provides the prospects and overview of CFCs in the context of other advanced coal power generation technologies, and discusses both the status of research progress in this exciting and emerging technology, and also some of the challenges yet to overcome. Research up to date has demonstrated remarkable power densities up to nearly 900 mW/cm2 for pyrolyzed carbon and 450 mW/cm2 for untreated coal char. Also, conversion efficiencies around 50% were experimentally demonstrated for coal in a solid oxide-based CFC system, while calculations estimated an efficiency of 80% for converting pyrolytic carbon fuel in a molten carbonate-based CFC system. With such practically significant performance, figures coupled with potentially high conversion efficiencies and an impressive list of environmental merits, CFCs gain a rightful place in the clean coal power technology pipeline. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Towards automatic tone correction in non-native mandarin

Feedback is an important part of foreign language learning and Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL) systems. For pronunciation tutoring, one method to provide feedback is to provide examples of correct speech for the student to imitate. However, this may be frustrating if a student is unable to completely match the example speech. This research advances towards providing feedback using a student’s own voice. Using the case of an American learning Mandarin Chinese, the differences between native and non-native pronunciations of Mandarin tone are highlighted, and a method for correcting tone errors is presented, which uses pitch transformation techniques to alter student tone productions while maintaining other voice characteristics.
Eliminating Earmarks: Why the Congressional Line Item Vote Can Succeed Where the Presidential Line Item Veto Failed

Congressional earmarking is an issue of growing concern in the United States. Although, at present, it only accounts for a small percentage of federal expenditures, recent trends indicate that such pork-barrel spending will soon be a significant contributor to the national debt. The federal government must work to control this problem before it becomes unmanageable. One recent attempt to reduce the number of earmarks was the Line Item Veto Act of 1996. However, on both constitutional grounds and in practice, this measure failed. Instead of acknowledging these shortcomings and crafting innovative solutions, lawmakers have repeatedly introduced bills that would once again grant the president the line item veto power.This Article, in contrast, develops an entirely new process — the congressional line item vote. This reform forces House members to vote on individual provisions of a bill. If implemented, the congressional line item vote would decrease the deficit, eliminate earmarks, reduce log-rolling, and increase congressional accountability.
Controlling diseases and nuisances: Time-based rights and agricultural production

Abstract In controlling diseases, governments take actions that denigrate property interests. Losses by property owners under a citrus canker eradication program led to a legal challenge concerning the Florida state government's authority to destroy property without compensation. A court adopted time-based rights to determine when the state needed to pay for property destroyed. Time-based rights have also been adopted by state legislatures to limit nuisance actions against agricultural producers. This paper addresses the adoption of time-based rights to determine whether the changes from space-based to time-based rights provide a superior response for eradicating plant diseases and responding to nuisances. The changes are projected to lead to different producer responses which in turn will affect agricultural production.
Investigation of reliability issues in high power laser diode bar packages

Abstract As applications continue to demand increasingly higher optical output power and longer lifetime, thermo-mechanical stresses on dissimilar materials interfaced for packaging pose an ever-growing challenge for the realization of a durable system. Particularly important for an epitaxy-down configuration is the die-attachment interface, which is desired to be defect free and stress managed for reliable optical alignment. A knowledge of the changes in the physical defect density and magnitude of the thermo-mechanical stress present in the active region as a function of the fabrication process and aging is crucial to an understanding of the influence of the process parameters and operating conditions on device performance and reliability. In this study, we investigated high power laser diode array packages aged under various conditions. Microscopic defect analyses of the die attachment interface and device stress were carried out using primarily metallography, scanning electron microscopy, scanning acoustic microscopy, microhardness, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. It was noted that the intermetallic compounds and microscopic physical defects at the die attach interface are detrimental to transient heat transfer, and thus, overall package reliability. Using micro-Raman spectroscopy, we found that tensile stress near the bar-package interface increases with aging for the first few hundred hours and then decreases with further aging.
Radiation carrier for treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinomas

A technique for intracavitary radiation therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinomas has been presented. This technique includes a direct impression technique of the nasopharynx and fabrication of a silicone carrier to house the radioactive source.
Resolution by computer simulation of contradictory experimental findings as to the effect on gluconeogenesis of oleate addition in perfused rat liver

Abstract Different workers have obtained contradictory results regarding the effect of oleate addition on the rate of gluconeogenesis in perfused rat livers. Computer simulation of these experiments indicates that the different effects observed by the research groups of Williamson and of Exton and Park can be due to a small quantitative difference in fatty acid metabolism by the different strains of rat used.
The Effect of Government Policy and Institutions on Chinese Overseas Acculturation: The Case of Malaysia

This work looks at how Malaysia's political institutions and policies have constrained Chinese acculturation with the dominant Malay population. Particular attention is paid to the nature of electoral institutions; such as the ethnic party structure, the apportionment of electoral districts, and the debate over Malaysia's education system. These political institutions, and not just the coercive apparatus of the state, coupled with the way the Constitution defines a person as 'Malay', effectively maintain a distinct boundary between who is Malay and who is Chinese or Indian. Ethnic categorization in Malaysia has, in the past, masked equally wide divisions between classes. More recent efforts at creating a 'Malaysian' national identity may clash with a political structure still largely organized by ethnicity, and may bring these other fissures to the forefront. Chinese in Malaysia have long been a dynamic economic force, and since they make up close to 30% of the population, they have long been perceived as a political threat to the indigenous Malays. The Malay peninsula has always been ethnically mixed, with indigenous and Malay inhabitants. Chinese and Indian immigrants began coming to the area in large numbers in the first quarter of the nineteenth century and after the Second World War strong identities emerged as people begin to think of themselves not just in relation to the colonial rulers but as Malay, Chinese, or Indian. Ethnic fea
The use of warmth, empathy, and genuineness in child care work

The qualities of warmth, empathy and genuineness in therapists have been found to correlate with positive outcome in treatment. Conversely, the absence of these conditions in the parent-child relationship has been suggested as a contributing factor to emotional disturbance in children. This article argues that by helping child care workers learn the use of these conditions in their everyday contact with children, we can improve the therapeutic potential of children's treatment centers.
Parameter Variation Tolerance and Error Resiliency: New Design Paradigm for the Nanoscale Era

Variations in process parameters affect the operation of integrated circuits (ICs) and pose a significant threat to the continued scaling of transistor dimensions. Such parameter variations, however, tend to affect logic and memory circuits in different ways. In logic, this fluctuation in device geometries might prevent them from meeting timing and power constraints and degrade the parametric yield. Memories, on the other hand, experience stability failures on account of such variations. Process limitations are not exhibited as physical disparities only; transistors experience temporal device degradation as well. Such issues are expected to further worsen with technology scaling. Resolving the problems of traditional Si-based technologies by employing non-Si alternatives may not present a viable solution; the non-Si miniature devices are expected to suffer the ill-effects of process/temporal variations as well. To circumvent these nonidealities, there is a need to design ICs that can adapt themselves to operate correctly under the presence of such inconsistencies. In this paper, we first provide an overview of the process variations and time-dependent degradation mechanisms. Next, we discuss the emerging paradigm of variation-tolerant adaptive design for both logic and memories. Interestingly, these resiliency techniques transcend several design abstraction levels-we present circuit and microarchitectural techniques to perform reliable computations in an unreliable environment.
A Dynamic Model of Channel Member Strategies for Marketing Expenditures

We develop a dynamic model for determining the equilibrium marketing effort levels for a manufacturer and a retailer in a two-member marketing channel. The existence of carry-over effects of marketing effort of channel members leads to an accumulation of goodwill for them over time. This necessitates modeling the relationship between the effort and channel sales in a dynamic framework as goodwill accumulation creates an incentive for channel members to invest in marketing effort in order to obtain future benefits. By explicitly recognizing that each member's decision is affected by the other's actions, we derive their equilibrium effort levels over time when they follow either a coordinated or an uncoordinated strategy and also determine the profit implications of these strategies for the channel members. We examine the effect of channel dynamics on the difference in profits resulting from following coordinated as opposed to uncoordinated strategies and identify situations in which this profit differential provides an incentive for channel members to coordinate their marketing efforts. Further, we derive empirically testable hypotheses that provide a basis for predicting when channel coordination would take place in a dynamic context.
Coherent control of metallic nanoparticles near fields: Nanopulse controllers and functional nanoamplifiers

When a hybrid system consisting of a metallic nanoparticle and a semiconductor quantum dot interacts with a coherent light source (laser beam) the coherence generated in the quantum dot can significantly renormalize the plasmonic field. In this paper we study the impacts of such coherent-plasmonic processes when such a hybrid system interacts with amplitude-modulated laser fields. We demonstrate how such these processes allow the metallic nanoparticle to act as a nanoamplifier and a pulse controller for the quantum dot. We show that as a nanopulse controller the metallic nanoparticle can control the shapes of optical pulses experienced by the quantum dot, including dramatic modification of their widths. As a functional nanoamplifier the metallic nanoparticle can enhance high intensity parts of a pulse train while suppressing the parts that their intensities are less than a given value. Therefore, it not only can enhance the amplitudes of the optical pulses but also can make them return-to-zero pulses.
Successful Treatment of Disseminated Mycobacterium chelonae Infection with Linezolid

We describe a 57-year-old man with steroid-dependent myasthenia gravis and progressive ulcerating leg nodules due to clarithromycin-resistant Mycobacterium chelonae. The patient was successfully treated with linezolid.
Management of Patients with Acoustic Neuromas: A Markov Decision Analysis

Objectives/Hypothesis: The management of patients with small (<1.5 cm) acoustic neuromas is controversial. Immediate treatment via microsurgical resection or radiosurgery is often advocated. A period of observation is sometimes advised followed by microsurgery or radiosurgery for tumors that demonstrate growth during the observation period. The purpose of this study is to calculate quality-adjusted life expectancy for the most commonly applied management strategies in hypothetical cohorts of patients of various ages. Study Design: Markov decision analysis; societal perspective. Methods: Assumptions used in creating this model and event probabilities were obtained from a thorough literature review. Key parameters were identified and defined by the best available evidence. The main outcome measure is the benefit derived from each management strategy in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Sensitivity analysis was used to define benchmark performance information for these parameters. Results: The benefit of a period of observation followed by radiosurgery, if needed, for significant tumor growth is greater then all other strategies for all age groups and both sexes. When compared to observation followed by microsurgery, the additional benefit is small. QALY totals for the two immediate treatment groups were significantly lower than that for the observation groups. Conclusions: For patients of all ages, a period of observation during which tumor growth and hearing thresholds are closely monitored is the superior strategy. For tumors that grow substantially or when hearing deteriorates, definitive management via radiosurgery is recommended. Laryngoscope, 2010
Fourier transform raman spectroscopy of synthetic and biological calcium phosphates

Fourier-transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the organic and mineral components of biological and synthetic calcium phosphate minerals. Raman spectroscopy provides information on biological minerals that is complimentary to more widely used infrared methodologies as some infrared-inactive vibrational modes are Raman-active. The application of FT-Raman technology has, for the first time, enabled the problems of high sample fluorescence and low signal-to-noise that are inherent in calcified tissues to be overcome. Raman spectra of calcium phosphates are dominated by a very strong band near 960 cm−1 that arises from the symmetric stretching mode $$\left( {{\mathbf{\rlap{--} v}}_{\text{1}} } \right)$$ of the phosphate group. Other Raman-active phosphate vibrational bands are seen at approximately 1075 $$\left( {{\mathbf{\rlap{--} v}}_{\text{3}} } \right)$$ , 590 $$\left( {{\mathbf{\rlap{--} v}}_{\text{4}} } \right)$$ , and 435 cm−1 $$\left( {{\mathbf{\rlap{--} v}}_{\text{2}} } \right)$$ . Minerals containing acidic phosphate groups show additional vibrational modes. The different calcium phosphate mineral phases can be distinguished from one another by the relative positions and shapes of these bands in the Raman spectra. FT-Raman spectra of nascent, nonmineralized matrix vesicles (MV) show a distinct absence of the phosphate $${\mathbf{\rlap{--} v}}_{\text{1}}$$ band even though these structures are rich in calcium and phosphate. Similar results were seen with milk casein and synthetic Ca-phosphatidyl-serine-PO4 complexes. Hence, the phosphate and/or acidic phosphate ions in these noncrystalline biological calcium phosphates is in a molecular environment that differs from that in synthetic amorphous calcium phosphate. In MV, the first distinct mineral phase to form contained acidic phosphate bands similar to those seen in octacalcium phosphate. The mineral phase present in fully mineralized MV was much more apatitic, resembling that found in bones and teeth. These findings are consistent with formation of an OCP-like precursor during MV mineral formation that subsequently hydrolyzes to form hydroxyapatite.
Beyond Recovery: Wisconsin's Wolf Policy 1980–2008

Wildlife protectionists, livestock producers, and black bear hunters influenced wolf policy in Wisconsin, USA, over the past 29 years. Wolf policy aligned closely with protectionist values until 2003, when litigations over lethal control and wolf reclassification created a rift. Since 2003, livestock producers and bear hunters have had more influence over wolf policy. Throughout, state managers steered steadily toward regaining management authority from the federal government and finding common ground between the wildlife values held by different stakeholders. Human dimensions research helped find this common ground and shape wolf policy, particularly when it integrated ecology, social science, and management applications. From spatial, predictive models of wolf attacks on domestic animals and attitudinal surveys on compensation and hunting, managers combined results into novel proposals to balance divergent interests. Wolf policy exemplifies the challenges facing wildlife managers as new wildlife values ...
Vasopressin via receptor-stimulated phospholipase D: Differential regulation of transphosphatidylation and phospholipid hydrolysis by protein kinase C

Phospholipase D belongs to a group of membrane associated phospholipases which have been shown to be activated by G-protein coupled neurotransmitter receptors. Phosphatidylcholine is the primary substrate for phospholipase D generating phosphatidic acid (PA) and choline. In the presence of 1% ethanol, phospholipase D catalyzes a transphosphatidylation reaction generating phosphatidylethanol (PEt) which is an indicator of phospholipase D activation. In the present study, we utilized Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably transfected with and expressing a rat V1a vasopressin receptor to study the regulation of phospholipase D by protein kinase C and calcium. Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) stimulated the release of 3H-PEt and 3H-PA in cells pre-labelled overnight with 3H-palmitic acid. The phorbol ester, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), stimulated the release of PEt and PA that was additive with AVP over 15 min. However, long-term stimulation with PMA, which desensitizes protein kinase C, decreased PEt production while simultaneously increasing PA production. Differential regulation of PEt and PA production by PMA suggests the existence of more than one phospholipase D isoenzyme. Though differentially regulated by protein kinase C, both AVP-stimulated PEt and PA production required extracellular and not intracellular calcium.
Magnetic flux in the magnetotail and polar cap during sawteeth, isolated substorms, and steady magnetospheric convection events

[1] Different magnetospheric dynamic processes, such as sawtooth events, isolated substorms, and steady magnetospheric convection (SMC), can occur, depending on the solar wind condition. The purpose of this study is to calculate the magnetic flux in the magnetotail and in the polar cap during these magnetospheric modes and to establish a quantitative relation between the magnetic flux and the solar wind parameters. We use the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration Far Ultraviolet Imager and Polar Ultraviolet Imager measurements to derive the magnetic flux in the polar cap and the Geotail measurements to derive the magnetic flux in the magnetotail. The average value of the magnetic flux at the sawtooth onset is ∼1 GWb in the polar cap and magnetotail, and the relative decrease of the magnetic flux from the maximum value at the sawtooth onset to the minimum value after the onset is 24–26.5%. The average magnetic flux in the polar cap at the onset of isolated substorms is 0.68 GWb and decreases by 26.5% after the expansion phase. The magnetic flux in the polar cap during SMC events varies between 0.3 and 0.8 GWb. The magnetic flux at the isolated substorm onset is at the upper limit of the magnetic flux of SMC events for the same merging electric field, and the magnetic flux at the sawtooth onset is always higher than that during isolated substorms and during SMC events. The magnetic flux in the magnetotail and polar cap during sawtooth events and isolated substorms increases gradually before the onset and then decreases rapidly after the onset, which is consistent with the traditional energy loading-unloading scenario. However, the maximum magnetic flux at the sawtooth or isolated substorm onset is not a constant but increases with the merging electric field and with the corrected Dst index. The results also provide reasonable explanation of the relatively constant period of sawtooth events.
How to deal with a default tsunami in the microfinance industry: Lessons from Grameen Bank

If the reorganization is done right, the institution will come out of near death and become stronger and more effective as happened in the case of Grameen Bank.
Multiple Longevity Phenotypes and the Transition from Health to Senescence

Three different longevity phenotypes exist in Drosophila and other model systems, but only two are known in humans. The "missing" phenotype is the delayed onset of senescence phenotype, which can be induced by various interventions, including pharmaceuticals. The lability of the onset of senescence indicates that the mechanisms involved are plastic and can be altered. Only interventions that involve the upregulation of stress resistance genes, probably via the JNK pathway and/or dFOXO3a transcription factor, seem capable of generating a delayed onset of senescence phenotype. The data suggest that the cellular mechanisms responsible for maintaining the cell in a healthy state are under constant attack by ROS and/or abnormal protein accumulation. A stochastic growth factor/signal transduction failure may be the proximal event responsible for the decreased efficiency of the cell's defenses, resulting in the onset of senescence, degradation of the gene interaction network, and continuing loss of function.
The relationship between enlargement of the temporal horns of the lateral ventricles and dementia in aging patients with Down syndrome.

Head CT studies of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show global atrophic changes. Tissue loss is especially prominent in the temporal lobes, with widening of the temporal horns of the lateral ventricles and, usually, widening of the temporal sulci. Some recent studies have found a familial form of AD to be mapped to chromosome 21. Down syndrome (DS) results from the inheritance of three chromosomes 21, and it has been shown that after the age of 35 the brains of patients with DS commonly show neuropathological changes similar to those in patients with AD. CT studies of 25 patients with DS (ages 29–64 years) were examined for tissue loss in the temporal regions, and this was compared to the findings commonly seen in patients with AD. The widths of CSF spaces varied considerably in patients with DS, but after the age of 50 most of them showed significant widening of the temporal horns. In some patients the horns were large enough to suggest obstructive hydrocephalus. Because of a new trend toward deinstitutionalization of patients with DS, radiologists will be seeing more studies on these patients and should familiarize themselves with the unique ways in which they manifest the aging process.
Physician Practice Size And Variations In Treatments And Outcomes: Evidence From Medicare Patients With AMI

Little is known about the relationships between physician practice size and patient treatments or outcomes. We examined whether the practice size of attending physicians was related to within-hospital differences in care for Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We found that patients treated by solo physicians were less likely to receive cardiac catheterization and angioplasty within a day of admission and more likely to die than other patients in the same hospital, even after a number of patient and physician characteristics were taken into account. These differences suggest that solo practitioners are less likely to follow guidelines calling for quick use of angioplasty.
Clinical benchmark for healing of chronic venous ulcers

Abstract Background: To determine the results of standardized ulcer treatment regimes and effects of the oral thromboxane A 2 antagonist Ifetroban (250 mg daily) on healing of chronic lower-extremity venous stasis ulcers. Methods: In a prospective, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study, 165 patients were randomized to Ifetroban (n = 83) versus placebo (n = 82) for a period of 12 weeks. Both groups were treated with sustained graduated compression and hydrocolloid. Ulcer size was measured weekly by tracings and computerized planimetry. A total of 150 patients completed the study. Results: Complete ulcer healing was achieved after 12 weeks in 55% of patients receiving Ifetroban and in 54% of those taking a placebo with no significant differences; 84% of ulcers in both groups achieved greater than 50% area reduction in size. Conclusions: These results are likely to be useful as a benchmark for comparison with other treatment protocols concerning the care of chronic lower-extremity stasis ulcers.
P2P Trading in Social Networks: The Value of Staying Connected

The success of future P2P applications ultimately depends on whether users will contribute their bandwidth, CPU and storage resources to a larger community. In this paper, we propose a new incentive paradigm, Networked Asynchronous Bilateral Trading (NABT), which can be applied to a broad range of P2P applications. In NABT, peers belong to an underlying social network, and each pair of friends keeps track of a credit balance between them. When user Alice provides a service (a file, storage space, computation and so on) to her friend Bob, she charges Bob credits. Thus, in NABT, there is no global currency; instead, there are only credit balances maintained between pairs of friends. NABT allows peers to supply each other asynchronously and further allows peers to trade with remote peers through intermediaries. We theoretically show that NABT is perfectly efficient with balanced demands and supports "networked tit-for-tat". The efficiency of NABT with unbalanced demands is determined by the min-cut of credit limits of the underlying social network. Using simulations driven by MySpace traces, we demonstrate that a simple two-hop NABT design can have high trading efficiency, provide service differentiation, exploit trading intermediaries, and discourage free-riders.
Scalar Politics and the Region: Strategies for Transcending Pacific Island Smallness on a Global Environmental Governance Stage:

This paper examines the process through which a region was enacted and politically mobilized at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). We draw on concepts from scalar politics and new regional geography, data collected as part of a collaborative event ethnography of CoP10, and interviews with Palauan delegates to theorize the enactment of an oceanic Pacific Region as a scalar strategy directed toward transcending the practical and imagined smallness of Pacific small island developing states (SIDS) within the CoP10 meeting context and global imaginations. We conclude that the Pacific Region construct enhances Pacific SIDS' capacity to participate in CoP10, although their collective influence remains relatively limited compared with others. Most significantly, the Pacific Region imaginary of a vast ocean space and network of people committed to the CBD and biodiversity conservation positions Pacific Islanders to play a pivotal role in cons...
Treatment of refractory supraventricular arrhythmias with induced permanent atrial fibrillation

Abstract Controlled permanent atrial fibrillation was successfully induced in 2 patients by means of paired atrial catheter pacing. The induced atrial fibrillation proved to be effective chronic therapy for both drug-refractory supraventricular bradycardia and tachycardia and eliminated the need for consideration of cardiac surgery in these patients.
Pathological pharyngo-esophageal interactions

Because of their normally coordinated function and physical contiguity, the pharynx and esophagus are subject to pathologic interactions in various disease or iatrogenic states. A useful conceptualization of these pathologic interactions is that of abnormal bolus transport. Specific clinical examples are given in which abnormal pharyngo-esophageal interactions appear to result in abnormal bolus transport, with its attendant consequences.
Current concepts about inhibition of platelet aggregation

One hundred twenty-seven years after Professor Giulio Bizzozero described the blood particle that has come to be known as the platelet, antiplatelet therapy has revolutionized the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Platelet function testing, introduced in 1962 with the advent of Born's aggregometer, heralded a renaissance in platelet research and provided a platelet function test to study platelet reactivity in vitro to help the diagnosis of bleeding disorders. More devices to test platelet function have emerged since, and these are now being applied mainly to assess antiplatelet drug efficacy in thrombotic disorders. Although this may be a logical use for platelet function tests, the data are replete with contradictions, and there is a lack of both consensus and standardization of the methodology. As a result, the clinical validity of platelet function results to monitor response to antiplatelet drugs has yet to be established.
Characterization of random glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene for processing

DSC thermal analysis and multi-channel recording have been used to investigate the processing conditions for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. The process combined the film stacking and intermingled fiber techniques using needle-punching to improve the fiber-matrix distribution. The preheating temperature and mold temperature for fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites were in the ranges of 180 ≈ 200 °C and 60 ≈ 100 °C, respectively. DSC analysis and X-ray methods showed the presence of an a crystalline form for PP and PP/GF with the cooling rate at 10 °C/min. Increasing the cooling rate to 20 °C/min, they revealed the presence of a mixture of the monoclinic a crystalline form and the hexagonal β crystalline form. A multi channel recorder was used to determine the completion of impregnation on multi-layer glass fiber reinforced polypropylene, which could significantly reduce the manufacturing cycle time. The main steps in the processing cycle on the surface of composite or inside the composite were determined. The concept of a processing window with respect to solidification rate and molding pressure is introduced and briefly discussed. The mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced polypropylene composite inside the processing window were better than those outside the processing window and were comparable to GE AZDEL®.
The electronic structure and conformation of dimethylaminobenzonitrile

Ab initio molecular orbital (MO) computations on the closed shell singlet ground state ofN, N-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (DMABN) are reported. Fully optimized structures of several conformers of DMABN were calculated at the HF/6-31G level of theory. Our results indicate that for each of these conformations the minimum energy structure has a trigonal (sp2 hybridized] amino nitrogen. The most stable DMABN conformer was found to be planar with its methyl groups eclipsed. The Koopmans ionization potentials and dipole moments of the various ground state conformers are compared. The implications for dynamical models of twisted-intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) are discussed. Moreover, the use of qualitative MO theory arguments provides an interpretation of the computational results in a simple orbital interaction framework.
Thrust Measurements of a Radio Frequency Plasma Source

There is interest in the use of a helicon plasma source in propulsive applications as both an ion source and a thruster. Development of a helicon thruster requires a performance baseline as a basis for future optimization and modification. For the first time, the thrust of a helicon plasma source is measured using a null-type inverted pendulum thrust stand at an operating pressure of 2×10−5 torr through the operating range of 215–840 W RF power, 11.9 and 13.56 MHz RF frequency, 150–450 G magnetic field strength, and 1.5–4.5 mg/s propellant flow rate for argon. Maximum thrust is found to be 6.3 mN at a specific impulse of 140 s and a maximum specific impulse of 380 s at 5.6 mN. Thrust efficiency is less than 1.4% and demonstrates very-low-power coupling to ion acceleration.
I-SI : Scalable Architecture for Analyzing Latent Topical-Level Information From Social Media Data

We present a general visual analytics architecture that is designed and implemented to effectively analyze unstructured social media data on a large scale. Pipelined on a high-performance cluster configuration, MPI processing, and interactive visual analytics interfaces, our architecture, I-SI, closely integrates data-driven analytical methods and user-centered visual analytics. It creates a coherent analysis environment for identifying event structures, geographical distributions, and key indicators of emerging events. This environment supports monitoring, analyzing, and responding to latent information extracted from social media. We have applied the I-SI architecture to collect social media data, analyze the data on a large scale and uncover the latent social phenomena. To demonstrate the efficacy and applicability of I-SI, we describe several social media use cases in multiple domains that were evaluated by experts. The use cases demonstrate that I-SI can benefit a range of users by constructing meaningful event structures and identifying precursors to critical events within a rich, evolving set of topics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
State, oil, and Accumulation; from Boom to Crisis

The sharp increase in crude petroleum prices during the 1970s had a startling impact on state, economy, and society among oil producers. The meteoric growth of oil rents not only enlarged and centralized the state itself but simultaneously internationalized and domesticated the public sector. Fiscal rather than market mechanisms played a significant role in all oil-producing states, especially in so-called high absorbers. Adopting Nigeria as an example of oil-based accumulation, I examine (a) the general impact of oil rents on preexisting economic, political, and social relations; (b) the specific relations between oil-based public investment and capitalist development, using the case of the agrarian sector, and (c) the effects of the downturn in oil demand and prices upon Nigerian political economy.
Cadmium Distribution in Field-Grown Fruit Trees

The effect of soil applied Cd on Cd distribution in and growth of five species of fruit trees was investigated. Cadmium was applied at three rates (0, 5, and 10 mg kg⁻¹ soil) as CdSO₄ to orchard plots established at two pH levels, low (5.5) and high (6.5). Five fruit tree types were planted: ‘Gala’ apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) budded on M.26 (dwarfing) or MM.111 (semistandard) rootstocks, ‘Redskin’ peach (Prunus persica L.) on Lovell rootstock, ‘Stanley’ plum (Prunus domestica L.) on Myrobalon rootstock, and ‘Seckel’ pear (Pyrus communis L.) on seedling rootstock. The trees were grown for 6 yr, 7 yr in the case of pear, and leaf, bark, wood, fruit, and root Cd concentrations were monitored. Gala apple on both rootstocks accumulated very small concentrations of Cd, usually 0.1 mg kg⁻¹ dry wt. in all tissues tested. Peach and plum were intermediate in Cd accumulation, but both still relatively low. Seckel pear had high Cd concentrations in all tissues including fruit flesh and peel. Pear leaf Cd concentrations were 2.0 mg kg⁻¹ from the 10 mg kg⁻¹ soil Cd application after 5 yr. Pear fruit peel and flesh showed elevated, although nonsignificant, Cd concentrations with increased Cd applied. There was little difference between bark and wood tissue Cd concentrations independent of tree type. Root Cd concentrations were highest for pear followed by peach and plum, and lowest in apple. Contribution from the Fruit Lab., Beltsville Agric. Res. Ctr., USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CDD: a Conserved Domain Database for the functional annotation of proteins

NCBI's Conserved Domain Database (CDD) is a resource for the annotation of protein sequences with the location of conserved domain footprints, and functional sites inferred from these footprints. CDD includes manually curated domain models that make use of protein 3D structure to refine domain models and provide insights into sequence/structure/function relationships. Manually curated models are organized hierarchically if they describe domain families that are clearly related by common descent. As CDD also imports domain family models from a variety of external sources, it is a partially redundant collection. To simplify protein annotation, redundant models and models describing homologous families are clustered into superfamilies. By default, domain footprints are annotated with the corresponding superfamily designation, on top of which specific annotation may indicate high-confidence assignment of family membership. Pre-computed domain annotation is available for proteins in the Entrez/Protein dataset, and a novel interface, Batch CD-Search, allows the computation and download of annotation for large sets of protein queries. CDD can be accessed via http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/cdd.shtml.
Apparent reversal of physical aging by electron beam irradiation — further investigations

Abstract An investigation into the irradiation of physically aged glassy polymers has lead to further refinements of a previous study. Polymers used in this investigation were: polycarbonate, polystyrene, and poly(ethylene terephthalate). In this work we have followed up an earlier study in which it was observed that the characteristic DSC enthalpy relaxation peak associated with physical aging was reduced when the sample was irradiated with an electron beam accelerator below T g . This reduction was proportional to the dose the sample received. In this work we have investigated the volumetric changes that occur in these samples as well as further enthalpic relaxation studies. It was found through the use of the classical Charlesby-Pinner analysis that there exists a strong correlation between the scission G value, G (s), and little if any for the cross-linking G value, G (x) with the enthalpic relaxation behavior. This leads us to modify our earlier hypothesis and conclude that the phenomenon is primarily caused by internal energy changes manifested in endgroup creation through main chain scission during irradiation and not accompanied by the typical density changes associated with physical aging.
Dose-Escalating Study of Capecitabine Plus Gemcitabine Combination Therapy in Patients With Advanced Cancer

PURPOSE: The goals of this phase I study were to determine the maximum-tolerated doses of capecitabine and gemcitabine in patients with advanced cancer and to describe the dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) and safety profile of this combination. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eligible patients had advanced solid tumors that had failed to respond to standard therapy or for which no standard therapy was available, measurable or assessable disease, Karnofsky performance status ≥ 70%, and acceptable organ function. Capecitabine was administered twice daily by mouth each day for 21 consecutive days followed by a 1-week break. Gemcitabine was administered as a 30-minute intravenous infusion weekly for 3 weeks followed by a 1-week break. RESULTS: Forty patients were enrolled onto the study, and 33 are fully assessable for toxicity. The most common toxicities during the first cycle of chemotherapy were neutropenia and mucositis. Only one patient treated at gemcitabine and capecitabine doses of 800 and 2000 mg/m2, respectivel...
The delicate task of linking industrial R&D to national competitiveness

Abstract The question posed in this research is whether US RD (2) RD and (3) US and Japanese relative R&D efforts and competitive performance. Although R&D was found to have a direct association with comparative advantage, it was not a systematic predictor of US industrial competitiveness. Relative to Japan, R&D was found to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for competitive ability. Critical additional determinants are total factor productivity and levels of industrial basic research spending. The findings suggest that US R&D policies may enhance US technological innovation, but not necessarily the transformation of that skill into competitive strength.
Skepticism about Character Traits

The first part of this article discusses recent skepticism about character traits. The second describes various forms of virtue ethics as reactions to such skepticism. The philosopher J.-P. Sartre argued in the 1940s that character traits are pretenses, a view that the sociologist E. Goffman elaborated in the 1950s. Since then social psychologists have shown that attributions of character traits tend to be inaccurate through the ignoring of situational factors. (Personality psychology has tended to concentrate on people’s conceptions of personality and character rather than on the accuracy of these conceptions). Similarly, the political theorist R. Hardin has argued for situational explanations of bloody social disputes in the former Yugoslavia and in Africa, rather than explanations in terms of ethnic hatred for example. A version of virtue ethics might identify virtues as characteristics of acts rather than character traits, as traits consisting in actual regularities in behavior, or as robust dispositions that would manifest themselves also in counterfactual situations.
Examination of AVPR1a as an autism susceptibility gene

Impaired reciprocal social interaction is one of the core features of autism. While its determinants are complex, one biomolecular pathway that clearly influences social behavior is the arginine–vasopressin (AVP) system. The behavioral effects of AVP are mediated through the AVP receptor 1a (AVPR1a), making the AVPR1a gene a reasonable candidate for autism susceptibility. We tested the gene's contribution to autism by screening its exons in 125 independent autistic probands and genotyping two promoter polymorphisms in 65 autism affected sibling pair (ASP) families. While we found no nonconservative coding sequence changes, we did identify evidence of linkage and of linkage disequilibrium. These results were most pronounced in a subset of the ASP families with relatively less severe impairment of language. Thus, though we did not demonstrate a disease-causing variant in the coding sequence, numerous nontraditional disease-causing genetic abnormalities are known to exist that would escape detection by traditional gene screening methods. Given the emerging biological, animal model, and now genetic data, AVPR1a and genes in the AVP system remain strong candidates for involvement in autism susceptibility and deserve continued scrutiny.
Inhibition of the c-fms proto-oncogene autocrine loop and tumor phenotype in glucocorticoid stimulated human breast carcinoma cells.

The c-fms proto-oncogene encoded CSF-1 receptor and its ligand represent a feedback loop, which in a paracrine manner, is well known to promote spread of breast cancers. The role of the autocrine feedback loop in promotion of breast tumor behavior, in particular in vitro, is less well understood. The physiologic stimulation of c-fms expression by glucocorticoids (GCs) in vitro and in vivo magnifies the tumor promoting effect seen in these cells from activated c-fms signaling by CSF-1. Targeted molecular therapy against c-fms could therefore abrogate both complementary feedback loops. Using breast cancer cells endogenously co-expressing receptor and ligand, we used complementary approaches to inhibit c-fms expression and function within this autocrine pathway in the context of GC stimulation. Silencing RNA (shRNA), antisense oligonucleotide therapy (AON), and inhibition of c-fms signaling, were all used to quantitate inhibition of GC-stimulated adhesion, motility, and invasion of human breast cancer cells in vitro. shRNA to c-fms downregulated GC-stimulated c-fms mRNA by fourfold over controls, correlating with over twofold reduction in cellular invasiveness. AON therapy was also able to inhibit GC stimulation of c-fms mRNA, and resulted in threefold less invasiveness and 1.5 to 2-fold reductions in adhesion and motility. Finally, the small-molecule c-fms inhibitor Ki20227 was able to decrease in a dose–response manner, breast cancer cell invasion by up to fourfold. Inhibition of this receptor/ligand pair may have clinical utility in inhibition of the autocrine as well as the known paracrine interactions in breast cancer, thus further supporting use of targeted therapies in this disease.
Optimum preparation and elemental addition for Tl-based 2223 phase Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10−δ

Abstract TlBaCaCuO samples with 95%-pure 2223 phase Tl 2 Ba 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O 10−gd and 120 K T c can be prepared in a non-closed system from component oxides with a starting composition of 2223 by heating at 895°C for about 48 h in flowing oxygen. With this procedure, elemental addition at 0.2 molar level maintains 2223 phase purity of 75–95% and a T c of 112–120 K for most of the investigated elements (Na, K, Rb, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Zn, Cd, Hg, Se, and Te).