cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preparation and characterization of polyelectrolyte copolymers containing methyl methacrylate, and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate. II. Polymers based on dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate

Co- and terpolymers containing dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were prepared by solution polymerization, and characterized by dilute solution viscometry and proton and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Polymers were prepared containing 75, 60, 40, 25, and 10 mol % DMAEMA but with differing levels of MMA and HEMA. Polymer solutions were titrated under nitrogen to obtain variations of pKb with alpha (the extent of protonation of the DMAEMA residue). From these experiments, we were able to show that, as expected, the cooperative nature of the ionization process decreased as the level of DMAEMA in the polymer was reduced from 75 mol % to 10 mol %. By comparing polymers containing similar amounts of DMAEMA monomer, we were also able to show that base strength increased with the polarity of the uncharged portion of the polymer, in other words, that polymers containing higher levels of HEMA were stronger bases than polymers containing higher levels of MMA. This effect was rationalized by assuming that higher contents of the more polar HEMA monomer facilitated the coil expansion that accompanied the process of ionization, thus increasing charge separations at corresponding values of alpha and increasing base strength.
How to perform ventricular tachycardia ablation with a percutaneous left ventricular assist device

i a w s L Introduction A majority of patients with structural heart disease and scar-related ventricular tachycardia (VT) have fast, hemodynamically unstable VT. In fact, up to one-fifth of the atients have only unstable VT, which precludes detailed ctivation and entrainment mapping. In addition, even in hose with well-tolerated VT, procedural success can be omplicated by acute heart failure as a consequence of rolonged episodes of induced VT and intravascular volume xpansion; and one consequence of this acute decompenated heart failure is a significant increase in the short-term orbidity and mortality of the procedure. In an attempt to maintain organ perfusion (hemodynamic stability) to allow detailed mapping of VT and to minimize postprocedure acute heart failure by unloading the left ventricle (LV), there has been an increased interest in using temporary mechanical cardiac support in the electrophysiology laboratory. The 3 basic percutaneous support devices reported to have been used during scar-VT ablation are (1) intra-aortic balloon pump counterpulsation, (2) left atrial-to-femoral arterial bypass (TandemHeart, CardiacAssist Inc, Pittsburgh, PA), and (3) the impeller-driven, axial flow pump—a transvalvular system that pumps blood directly from the LV into the ascending aorta (Impella 2.5, ABIOMED, Danvers, MA). The general design and comparative merits of these devices have been described in detail elsewhere. Instead, his article will focus on patient selection, implantation,
Costs and satisfaction in close relationships: The role of loss–gain framing

Two studies were conducted to clarify the pattern of mixed results found in past research regarding the association between costs and satisfaction in close relationships. Insights from Prospect Theory (D. Kahneman & A. Tversky, 1979, 2000) suggested the importance of gain–loss framing in understanding costs. When costs are attached to valued outcomes, they are perceived as gains or investments; otherwise they are perceived as losses. Appreciation by one’s partner for communal behaviors and family chores provided the basis for exploring costs as gains versus losses. We hypothesized that when costs were appreciated, the greater the costs, the greater the relationship satisfaction; whereas when they were not appreciated, the greater the costs, the lower the relationship satisfaction. Further, we expected appreciation to be associated with perceived motives for incurring the costs: positively with ‘‘want’’ perceptions and negatively with ‘‘should’’ perceptions. These hypotheses were supported in research with both dating couples and women in long-term marital or cohabiting relationships and using two types of communal behaviors: Partner Favors and more tedious Family Chores. In general, the greater the number of communal behaviors and family chores, the greater the relationship satisfaction when appreciated; the greater the number, the lower the satisfaction when relatively unappreciated.
Assigning Patents to Industries: Tests of the Yale Technology Concordance

We describe a method to predict patent counts disaggregated by industry, using available data on patenting by technology field. This method—the Yale Technology Concordance (YTC)—exploits a data set of patents that have been individually assigned by the Canadian Patent Office to both an industry and a technology field. The procedure for predicting patents by industry is developed as a statistical model so that the standard errors of the predictions can be estimated. The YTC is tested on several subsets of Canadian patents by comparing out-of-sample predictions with industry assignments made by the Canadian Patent Office. We find that the predictions of patents by industry are quite accurate for the subset of patents form US inventors. The prediction errors are much greater for the subset of patents granted or published after 1989. This suggests that the relationship between the technology fields and industries has shifted in a way that the procedure does not capture. Nonetheless, predictions from the YTC d...
Low melting point agarose as a protection layer in photolithographic patterning of aligned binary proteins

A novel photolithography method to build aligned patterns of two different proteins is presented. Chessboard patterns of 125 µm × 125 µm squares are constructed on a silicon dioxide substrate, using standard photoresist chemistries in combination with low-temperature oxygen plasma etching. Low-melting-point agarose (LMPA) is used to protect underlying protein layers and, at the appropriate stage, the digestive enzyme GELase (EPICENTRE) is used to selectively remove the prophylactic LMPA layers. Two antibodies, mouse-IgG and human-IgG, were immobilized and patterned by this procedure. The patterned antibodies maintained the specificity of their antigen-antibody binding, as demonstrated by fluorescence microscopy. In addition, normalized fluorescence intensity profiles illustrate that the patterned proteins layers are uniform (standard deviations below 0.05). Finally, a trypsin activity test was conducted to probe the effect of the patterning protocol on immobilized enzymes; the results imply that this photolithographic process using LMPA as a protection layer preserves 70% of immobilized enzyme activity.
Pathotypic and genetic diversity in the population of Rhizoctonia solani AG1‐IA causing rice sheath blight in China

Sheath blight, caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA, is one of the most serious diseases of rice. In this study, a total of 175 isolates of R. solani AG1-IA were collected from five rice-growing regions in China. Pathogenicity tests revealed that all isolates were virulent to five cultivars with different levels of resistance at the rice seedling stage in the greenhouse. There was considerable variation in aggressiveness, and the isolates were classified into three pathotypes based on disease severity, with moderately virulent isolates prevalent in the population. Forty-three haplotypes were identified based on ITS sequencing, and 39 haplotypes were distinct among isolates. There were high levels of haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity within the populations of R. solani AG1-IA. High gene flow (Nm = 1·63–5·22) was detected, consistent with relatively low differentiation between pairs of populations. Five populations were divided into two distinct clusters by the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), and no spatial population differentiation was discernible. The majority (97·8%) of genetic diversity was distributed among isolates within populations, with only 2·2% of the genetic diversity attributed to differences among populations. The star-like shape of the haplotype network provided evidence of signatures of population expansion in recent history. No significant relationships were found between the genetic diversity and aggressiveness or geographic origin among populations of R. solani AG1-IA. These results highlight that the population characteristics of R. solani AG1-IA should be taken into account in evaluating the germplasm resistance of rice cultivars to sheath blight.
dc track edge interactions

We have developed an experimental method for investigating the interaction between two dc track edges by studying the track edge noise. We conclude that two edges do not interact when they are several micrometers apart, but the noise reduces nearly to zero when their separation is less than about half a micrometer. There is a transition region that exists between these two limits. The net track edge noise power from two dc edges is quantized, implying that in our experiment track edges interact around the complete revolution of the disk or not at all.
Monomers, chains, ladders, and two-dimensional sheets: Structural diversity in six new compounds of Zn(II) with 4,4′-bipyridine

Abstract Six new zinc(II)–4,4′-bipyridine coordination polymers with diverse structural topologies are reported. The reaction of one equivalent of zinc(II) perchlorate hexahydrate with three equivalents of 4,4′-bipyridine (bipy) under hydrothermal conditions produces a mixture of [Zn(4,4′-bipy)2(H2O)4](ClO4)2 · 2(4,4′-bipy) (1), [Zn3(4,4′-bipy)4(OAc)4](ClO4)2 · 2(H2O) (2), and [Zn3(4,4′-bipy)3(OAc)4(H2O)2](ClO4)2 · (H2O) (3) (OAc = acetate), for which single crystals can be isolated. Compound 1 contains sheet-like arrays of discrete monomers co-crystallized with uncoordinated bipy molecules to form extended triangular channels containing counterions. Compounds 2 and 3 consist of acetate-bridged zinc trimers linked by bipy to form three-leg ladders that are isolated in 3 and further linked by bipy into two-dimensional networks in 2. The reaction of one equivalent of zinc(II) perchlorate hexahydrate with 1.5 equivalents of bipy in dimethyl sulfoxide yields single crystals of [Zn(4,4′-bipy)(ClO4)(H2O)(OH)] (4) and [Zn(4,4′-bipy)(DMSO)4](ClO4)2 (5) while crystals of [Zn(4,4′-bipy)3(DMSO)2](ClO4)2] · 2(4,4′-bipy) · (H2O) (6) are obtained from DMSO with three equivalents of bipy. Compound 4 is a mutually interpenetrated network of hydrogen-bonded, one-dimensional Zn–bipy zig-zag chains and compound 5 exists as isolated, linear chains. Compound 6 also contains linear chains, linked in three-dimensions by π-stacking interactions between bipy ligands and guests.
On the escape of oxygen and hydrogen from Mars

Escape rates of oxygen atoms from dissociative recombination of O2(+) above the Martian exobase are computed in light of new information from ab initio calculations of the dissociative recombination process and our recently revised understanding of the Martian dayside ionosphere. Only about 60 percent of the dissociative recombinations occur in channels in which the O atoms are released with energies in excess of the escape velocity. Futhermore, we find that the computed escape fluxes for O depend greatly on the nature of the ion loss process that has been found necessary to reproduce the topside ion density profiles measured by Viking. If it is assumed that the ions are not lost from the gravitational field of the planet, as required by an analysis of nitrogen escape, the computed average O escape rate is 3 x 10 exp 6/sq cm/s, much less than half the H escape rates inferred from measurements of the Lyman-alpha dayglow, which are in the range (1-2) x 10 exp 8/sq cm/s. Suggestions for restoring the relative escape rates of H and O to the stoichiometric ratio of water are explored.
The archaeology of Korea

List of illustrations List of tables Preface and acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Environment 3. Forest foragers 4. Early villages 5. Megaliths, rice and bronze 2000 to 500 BC 6. Iron, trade and exploitation 400 BC to AD 300 7. Three Kingdoms AD 300-668 8. Ethnicity in retrospect Bibliography Index.
Initial Pseudomonas aeruginosa treatment failure is associated with exacerbations in cystic fibrosis.

Rationale The risk of pulmonary exacerbation following Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) acquisition in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) is unknown.
Locomotor Ability and Wariness in Yellow‐Bellied Marmots

Animals employ a variety of behaviors to reduce or manage predation risk. Often, these are studied in isolation, but selection may act on packages of behavior that are referred to as behavioral syndromes. We focused on yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) and examined three commonly studied antipredator behaviors. We fitted general linear models to explain variation in maximum running speed, time allocated to vigilance and foraging during bouts of foraging, and flight initiation distance (FID). Marmot maximum running speed was influenced by the substrate run across; marmots ran fastest across dirt or low vegetation and slowest across stones or talus. Incline and several other variables shown to affect running speed in other marmot species failed to explain significant variation in yellow-bellied marmots. From these results we expected marmots to be sensitive to substrate while foraging, but insensitive to incline. However, time allocated to foraging was affected by incline but not by substrate. In bouts of foraging observed in different habitats, and on different inclines, more time was allocated to foraging and less to vigilance on steep slopes and less on level ground. Substrate influenced FID. Marmots in tall vegetation were less tolerant of an approaching person than were those in shorter vegetation. Finally, we found significant correlations between the residuals from the maximum running speed model and the residuals from the time allocated to vigilance and foraging models. We found a tendency for marmots that ran slower than predicted to be less vigilant while foraging. We also found that relatively slow marmots engaged in more active foraging and less vigilance during foraging bouts. This finding suggests a 'locomotor ability-wariness while foraging' syndrome. It also suggests that vulnerable individuals minimize their exposure while foraging.
Age-related interference from irrelevant distracters in visual feature search among heterogeneous distracters

We evaluated age-related variations in the influence of heterogeneous distracters during feature target. Participants in three age groups—6-year-old children, 9-year-old children, and young adults—completed three conditions of search. In a singleton search condition, participants searched for a circle among squares of the same color. In two feature mode search conditions, participants searched for a gray circle or a black circle among gray and black squares. Singleton search was performed at the same level of efficiency for all age groups. In contrast, the two feature mode search conditions yielded age-related performance differences in both conditions. Younger children exhibited a steeper slope than young adults when searching for a gray or black circle. Older children exhibited a steeper slope than young adults when searching for a gray circle but not when searching for a black circle. We concluded that these differences revealed age-related improvements in the relative abilities of adults and children to execute attentional control processes during visual search. In particular, it appears that children found it more difficult to maintain the goal of searching for a circle target than adults and were distracted by the presence of the irrelevant feature dimension of color.
Function of the pericardial sacs during the molt cycle in the land crab Gecarcinus lateralis

The hypothesis that the pericardial sacs of the land crab Gecarcinus lateralis directly take up and store proecdysial water has been investigated. At all stages of the molt cycle, the convoluted surface of the pericardial sacs apposed to the carapace forms a system of channels for capillary transfer of ground water to the gills. When exposed to an osmotic gradient in vitro, isolated intact pericardial sacs from normal or dehydrated intermolt, premolt, and postmolt crabs show no hydrosmotic response. Permeability to 3H2O (THO), expressed as hourly water exchange, is low for sacs under such conditions. If the separated old cuticle has been removed from sacs of late premolt crabs, up to 40 μl of water are gained in the first 15 minutes of exposure to an osmotic gradient, and the hourly exchange rate of THO is increased 30-fold. These findings indicate that the pericardial sacs may allow osmotic entry of proecdysial water as detachment of the old cuticle takes place. From analyses of osmotic pressure, cations, and 14C-insulin space of both hemolymph and pericardial sac fluid, it appears that the pericardial sacs do not store water per se but expand to accommodate an increasing hemolymph volume as proecdysial water enters the whole animal. Although water uptake occurs over a longer period in G. lateralis, the pattern of preparation for ecdysis is similar to that of all other brachyurans.
Dissecting the N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor: required elements of the N and D1 domains.

N-Ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF) is a homo-hexameric member of the AAA+ (ATPases associated with various cellular activities plus) family. It plays an essential role in most intracellular membrane trafficking through its binding to and disassembly of soluble NSF attachment protein (SNAP) receptor (SNARE) complexes. Each NSF protomer contains an N-terminal domain (NSF-N) and two AAA domains, a catalytic NSF-D1 and a structural NSF-D2. This study presents detailed mutagenesis analyses of NSF-N and NSF-D1, dissecting their roles in ATP hydrolysis, SNAP·SNARE binding, and complex disassembly. Our results show that a positively charged surface on NSF-N, bounded by Arg67 and Lys105, and the conserved residues in the central pore of NSF-D1 (Tyr296 and Gly298) are involved in SNAP·SNARE binding but not basal ATP hydrolysis. Mutagenesis of Sensor 1 (Thr373–Arg375), Sensor 2 (Glu440–Glu442), and Arginine Fingers (Arg385 and Arg388) in NSF-D1 shows that each region plays a discrete role. Sensor 1 is important for basal ATPase activity and nucleotide binding. Sensor 2 plays a role in ATP- and SNAP-dependent SNARE complex binding and disassembly but does so in cis and not through inter-protomer interactions. Arginine Fingers are important for SNAP·SNARE complex-stimulated ATPase activity and complex disassembly. Mutants at these residues have a dominant-negative phenotype in cells, suggesting that Arginine Fingers function in trans via inter-protomer interactions. Taken together, these data establish functional roles for many of the structural elements of the N domain and of the D1 ATP-binding site of NSF.
Help‐Seeking from Mental Health Professionals or Clergy: Perceptions of University Students

University students (N = 186) responded to 14 problem‐situations (personal/emotional problems, moral problems, social/relational problems, and religious visions/hallucinations) for which one might seek help. Options for help included: (a) a licensed mental health professional (clinical social worker, counselor, clinical psychologist, or psychiatrist), (b) a clergy person, (c) a clergy person with a graduate degree and license in a mental health discipline, or (d) no one—this situation could be handled by oneself or family. Overall, moral problems were perceived to be best handled by oneself and one's family. Social/relational and personal emotional problems were believed to be handled best by mental health professionals. Psychotic/religious problems were seen primarily as the domain of clergy and clergy with advanced training in a mental health discipline. Those who had received religious education differed from those who had not received any religious education in their perceptions about help‐seeking f...
Applied communication research: Scholarship that can make a difference

Abstract Applied research is an important form of scientific inquiry that has been widely misunderstood and unappreciated within the field of communication. This article first debunks five common misconceptions about the nature of applied communication research. Four criteria for conducting effective applied communication then are posed. The article concludes by examining three ways in which effective applied communication research promotes the disciplinary growth of communication knowledge.
Hypersphere ART and ARTMAP for unsupervised and supervised, incremental learning

A novel adaptive resonance theory (ART) neural network architecture is being proposed. The new model, called Hypersphere ART (H-ART) is based on the same principals as Fuzzy-ART and, thus, inherits most of its qualities for unsupervised learning. Among these properties is fast, stable, incremental learning on the training set and good generalization on the testing set. While H-ART is intended for clustering tasks, its extension, H-ARTMAP is playing the role of Fuzzy-ARTMAP's counterpart for the supervised learning of real-valued, multi-dimensional mappings. Also in this paper, some experimental results are presented involving the comparison of H-ARTMAP and Fuzzy-ARTMAP in simple, illustrative classification problems. The results are indicating comparable performances in error rate but also a good potential for substantial superiority of H-ARTMAP in terms of nodes (categories) utilized. The latter effect can be attributed to H-ART's more efficient internal knowledge representation.
TOMAL: a high-level programming language for microprocessor process control applications

This paper describes the multi-tasking capabilities of a new microprocessor programming language that has been designed to support process control applications. A program in TOMAL is a collection of tasks, priority ordered, and possibly having real-time response constraints and internal synchronization statements. It also supports device-independent I/O programming, by allowing the characteristics of each external device to be given in a declaration. A TOMAL source program is translated into space-optimized, absolute code for a target microprocessor. The object program runs under the control of a compact, application-tailored Task Control Monitor that is also generated by the compiler. The paper discusses design philosophy and several important requirements of an implementation to achieve multi-tasking capabilities.
DECOD: fast and accurate discriminative DNA motif finding.

Motivation: Motif discovery is now routinely used in high-throughput studies including large-scale sequencing and proteomics. These datasets present new challenges. The first is speed. Many motif discovery methods do not scale well to large datasets. Another issue is identifying discriminative rather than generative motifs. Such discriminative motifs are important for identifying co-factors and for explaining changes in behavior between different conditions. Results: To address these issues we developed a method for DECOnvolved Discriminative motif discovery (DECOD). DECOD uses a k-mer count table and so its running time is independent of the size of the input set. By deconvolving the k-mers DECOD considers context information without using the sequences directly. DECOD outperforms previous methods both in speed and in accuracy when using simulated and real biological benchmark data. We performed new binding experiments for p53 mutants and used DECOD to identify p53 co-factors, suggesting new mechanisms for p53 activation. Availability: The source code and binaries for DECOD are available at http://www.sb.cs.cmu.edu/DECOD
Topological rigid string theory and two-dimensional QCD

Abstract We present a string theory that reproduces the large-N expansion of two-dimensional Yang-Mills gauge theory on arbitrary surfaces. First, a new class of topological sigma models is introduced, with path integrals localized to the moduli space of harmonic maps. The Lagrangian of these harmonic topological sigma models is of fourth order in worldsheet derivatives. Then we gauge worldsheet diffeomorphisms by introducing the induced worldsheet metric. This leads to a topological string theory, whose Lagrangian coincides in the bose sector with the rigid string Lagrangian discussed some time ago by Polyakov and others as a candidate for QCD string theory. The path integral of this topological rigid string theory is localized to the moduli spaces of minimal-area maps, and calculates their Euler numbers. The dependence of the large- N QCD partition functions on the target area emerges from measuring the volume of the moduli spaces, and can be reproduced by adding a Nambu-Goto term (improved by fermionic terms) to the Lagrangian of the topological rigid string.
Recent Developments in Multiparametric Prostate MR Imaging

Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) of the prostate has become a mature and accepted technology in the evaluation of the patient with suspected prostate cancer (PCa). This review focuses on key recent developments in the area of mpMRI, specifically: reporting systems used by radiologists when interpreting mpMRI, advances in technical aspects of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and innovations in MRI-ultrasound (MRI-US) fusion-guided prostate biopsies. These topics were selected given that reporting systems are critical when communicating findings on mpMRI of the prostate to referring clinicians, advanced techniques in DWI have improved the detection and characterization of PCa, and MRI-US fusion biopsies now enable more accurate targeting of suspicious lesions at biopsy, including lesions that are difficult to visualize using standard B-mode ultrasound imaging. Radiologists interpreting prostate MRI today are likely to incorporate aspects of all three of these topics into their current practice.
Proteomic analysis of Chlorella vulgaris: potential targets for enhanced lipid accumulation.

Abstract Oleaginous microalgae are capable of producing large quantities of fatty acids and triacylglycerides. As such, they are promising feedstocks for the production of biofuels and bioproducts. Genetic strain-engineering strategies offer a means to accelerate the commercialization of algal biofuels by improving the rate and total accumulation of microalgal lipids. However, the industrial potential of these organisms remains to be met, largely due to the incomplete knowledgebase surrounding the mechanisms governing the induction of algal lipid biosynthesis. Such strategies require further elucidation of genes and gene products controlling algal lipid accumulation. In this study, we have set out to examine these mechanisms and identify novel strain-engineering targets in the oleaginous microalga, Chlorella vulgaris . Comparative shotgun proteomic analyses have identified a number of novel targets, including previously unidentified transcription factors and proteins involved in cell signaling and cell cycle regulation. These results lay the foundation for strain-improvement strategies and demonstrate the power of translational proteomic analysis. Biological significance We have applied label-free, comparative shotgun proteomic analyses, via a transcriptome-to-proteome pipeline, in order to examine the nitrogen deprivation response in the oleaginous microalga, C. vulgaris . Herein, we identify potential targets for strain-engineering strategies targeting enhanced lipid accumulation for algal biofuels applications. Among the identified targets are proteins involved in transcriptional regulation, lipid biosynthesis, cell signaling and cell cycle progression. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translational Plant Proteomics.
Direct measurement of index finger mechanical impedance at low force

Non-contact, direct mechanical impedance measurements of the human index finger were performed under sinusoidal force inputs. The force amplitudes from the transducer were from 0.05 N to 0.5 N over the frequency range 50 Hz to 500 Hz, which covers the region of interest for vibrotactile feedback for handheld applications. We found that the vibrational mode of the finger was strongly frequency dependent. Our results indicate that a single degree-of-freedom of mass-damper-spring model, used previously in impedance models at high finger forces, may not be appropriate at these lower force levels.
Acceleration of a CFD code with a GPU

The Computational Fluid Dynamics code OVERFLOW includes as one of its solver options an algorithm which is a fairly small piece of code but which accounts for a significant portion of the total computational time. This paper studies some of the issues in accelerating this piece of code by using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). The algorithm needs to be modified to be suitable for a GPU and attention needs to be given to 64-bit and 32-bit arithmetic. Interestingly, the work done for the GPU produced ideas for accelerating the CPU code and led to significant speedup on the CPU.
Global recordings of Synchroton light from 56 intense birkeland currents by mankind in antiquity

Synchrotron Light Recordings (SLR's) of the filaments in a high-current, auroral-like extraterrestrial Z-pinch were recorded on all continents during the Neolithic. Mostly carved on granite (petroglyphs), SLR's also provided the templates for megaliths, stupas and temples, large statues and circles from quarried stones weighing up to 200 tons. In this paper we report the discovery of some 5,000 surveyed sites worldwide where the common motif is that of the 56 filaments inflowing (electrons) to the Earth's southern pole. In addition to the rock art, the influence of the pattern is also reflected in sacred iconography from all cultures. From our survey of over 139 countries now including Lhailand, Cambodia, Mongolia, India, Chile, and Easter Island, we find that the artists view was ±1.5° true south, the direction of aurora synchrotron radiation seen above Antarctica.
A Comparison of VHF Wind Profiler Observations and the NCEP–NCAR Reanalysis over the Tropical Pacific

Abstract VHF wind profiler measurements of zonal and meridional winds are compared with the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis at sites in the tropical Pacific. By December 1999 the profilers at Darwin, Australia, and Biak, Indonesia, in the western Pacific; Christmas Island, Kiribati, in the central Pacific; and Piura Peru, in the eastern Pacific had collected between 8 and 13 yr of nearly continuous data. While these profilers routinely observe winds up to about 20 km, only winds at Christmas Island are assimilated into the reanalysis. The long period of profiler operation provides an opportunity to study differences between the profiler and reanalysis winds in the equatorial Pacific, a region with geographically sparse observations. Mean and seasonal mean zonal and meridional winds are used to identify differences in the profiler and reanalysis winds. Two potential causes for the discrepancy between profiler and reanalysis winds are identified. The first of these is related to different spatial and temporal characte...
AlGaAs waveguide optically controlled directional coupler latch

A novel AlGaAs optically controlled bistable vertical directional coupler was demonstrated. The optical input can be routed between two outputs by an optical pulse on the input signal or by optical set and reset pulses applied via fiber. Both modes have been experimentally demonstrated. Because of positive optical feedback, the device is bistable and will latch into the set state until assertively reset. The operation is based on electrooptic modification of the phase match between the two waveguides in the directional coupler. Since no Fabry-Perot resonances are involved, the device operates over a fairly wide wavelength (840-880 nm) and applied voltage (2-12 V) range. A switching contrast in the upper waveguide output of 14.7:1 and a throughput of 64% were observed. The critical input power to cause bistable switching is 17 mu W. The switching speed ( approximately 200 ns) is RC-limited and the set and reset energies are determined by the charging energy of the waveguide capacitance. >
Anomalous Concentrations of Seismically Triggered Rock Falls in Pacoima Canyon: Are They Caused by Highly Susceptible Slopes or Local Amplification of Seismic Shaking?

Anomalously high concentrations of rock falls were triggered in Pacoima Canyon (Los Angeles, California) during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Similar concentrations were also documented from the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Using an engineering rock-mass classification that evaluates the susceptibility of rock slopes to seismic failure based on the fracture properties of a rock mass (in terms of a numerical “ Q -value” that describes rock quality), the rock slopes in Pacoima Canyon were compared with rock slopes in surrounding areas where topography and lithology are similar, but rock-fall concentrations from the earthquakes were much lower. A statistical comparison of Q -values from five sites surrounding Pacoima Canyon indicates that seismic susceptibilities are similar to those within Pacoima Canyon; differences in the characteristics of rock slopes between these sites are not sufficient to account for the relatively high concentrations of rock falls within Pacoima Canyon as compared to low concentrations elsewhere. By eliminating susceptibility differences as a cause, the most likely explanation for the differences in rock-fall concentrations is anomalously high shaking levels in Pacoima Canyon, possibly resulting from topographic amplification within the canyon. Manuscript received 21 May 2001.
The Presidency, Congress, and Divided Government: A Postwar Assessment

Can presidents hope to be effective in policy making when Congress is ruled by the other party? Political scientist Richard S. Conley brings to this crucial discussion a fresh perspective. He argues persuasively that the conditions of "divided government" have changed in recent years, and he applies a rigorous methodology that allows the testing of a number of important assumptions about party control of the legislative process and the role of the president. Conley demonstrates that recent administrations have faced a very different playing field than those in the earlier postwar years because of such critical developments in electoral politics as decreasing presidential coattails and the lack of presidential popularity in opposition members' districts. Moreover, he identifies several changes in the institutional setting in Congress that have affected both the legislative success rates of presidents' programs and the strategies presidents pursue. These institutional factors include more assertive legislative majorities, changes in leadership structure, and increased party cohesion in voting. Conley uses both case studies and sophisticated time-series regression analyses to examine the floor success of presidential initiatives, the strategies presidents use in working with the legislature, and the use of veto power to achieve presidential aims. Scholars of the presidency and those interested in the larger American political process will find in this book both food for thought and a model of analytic sophistication.
Co-incident variations in growth rate and heartwood extractive concentration in Douglas-fir

Abstract Extractives can have a major impact on the properties of heartwood; however, our understanding of the process of heartwood formation and extractives production is limited and there are few data on how environment affects heartwood extractive content. This study assessed the relationship between growth ring width and extractive content of heartwood in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirbel] Franco) trees. The radial growth rates of the sampled trees were variable over their 53–61 years, in part, because of recent stand thinning treatment. The year that each heartwood increment was formed was estimated by assuming that the trees maintained the same number of growth rings of sapwood in the past as they had at the time of sampling. Growth ring width increased after the recent thinning and there was an associated increase in the extractive content of the heartwood estimated to have been formed at the same time. In addition, there appeared to be a rough correlation between growth ring width and extractive content in the time before the thinning. These results suggest that silvicultural treatments that affect growth rate may affect wood durability in Douglas-fir.
The Clinical Utility of a Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism Microarray in Patients With Epilepsy at a Tertiary Medical Center

Microarray testing has revolutionized clinical cytogenetics, as it provides a significantly higher resolution and greater clinical yield than karyotype analysis. This study assessed the clinical utility of single-nucleotide polymorphism microarray in patients with epilepsy. Study subjects were patients between the ages of birth to 23 years who were diagnosed with epilepsy and had a microarray performed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Statistical analysis explored the association of microarray results and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), seizure type, and structural malformations. Approximately 17.7% (26/147) of participants had an abnormal microarray as defined by laboratory guidelines. There were no differences in frequency of abnormal brain MRI or seizure type between the abnormal and normal microarray groups. There was a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal malformations (P < .0035) and cardiovascular malformations (P < .0081) in subjects with abnormal microarrays. Clinicians s...
Probability Distribution of Delays for Store-and-Forward Traffic Mixed with Direct Traffic

This paper discusses the delay probability distributions of store-and-forward (S/F) traffic sent over the same trunks as direct traffic. The operating principles for mixing are the same as described in a previous paper, i.e., the S/F traffic is held back until the trunk group is not congested with the direct traffic: a specified number of trunks are held in reserve for the possible arrivals of direct traffic. In this study, only that portion of the total S/F message delay caused by the presence of the direct traffic on the trunks is investigated. The effect that the S/F traffic has on the distribution of delays is assumed negligible. Because of this assumption, the results apply when the load of the S/F traffic is small compared to direct traffic or, when the load of S/F traffic is appreciable, the results apply to a small portion of the S/F traffic which, because it enjoys the privilege of priority, is placed at the head of the queue. A method of computation and some specific results are presented. The numerical results are for trunk groups of from 2 to 48 trunks. Exponentially distributed holding times of the direct traffic are assumed.
Effect of Shell Coating Techniques on Dynamic Response of Photoconductive Core/Shell Nanorod Arrays

Efficient carrier collection in the core/shell nanowire (nanorod) arrays requires a high quality interface between core and shell materials. A highly conformal shell layer around nanorods can lead to fast dynamic response in photoconductive devices by a radial charge flow. Therefore, choice of the deposition technique for the conformal shell layer becomes crucial. In this study, the dynamic response of indium sulfide (In2S3) nanorods/silver (Ag) core/shell devices is compared in which Ag shell layers are deposited by different physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques. In2S3 nanorods are fabricated by glancing angle deposition. The core/shell devices with Ag shell sputtered at a relatively high working gas pressure (≈3 × 10−2 mbar) produce the highest photocurrent compared to other devices in which more directional incident flux (with working gas pressure of ≈3 × 10−3 mbar) is utilized for Ag shell layer. The reduced transit times indicate a conformal shell achieved by the high pressure sputtering technique that has a wide angular distribution flux. In addition, a more directional flux yet with a small angle (≈30°) incidence with respect to the substrate surface normal also helps increase the photocurrent. Such simple and scalable PVD techniques are shown to offer alternative fabrication approaches in producing high quality core/shell nanostructures.
Maternal sounds elicit lower heart rate in preterm newborns in the first month of life

Abstract Background The preferential response to mother's voice in the fetus and term newborn is well documented. However, the response of preterm neonates is not well understood and more difficult to interpret due to the intensive clinical care and range of medical complications. Aim This study examined the physiological response to maternal sounds and its sustainability in the first month of life in infants born very pretermaturely. Methods Heart rate changes were monitored in 20 hospitalized preterm infants born between 25 and 32weeks of gestation during 30-minute exposure vs. non-exposure periods of recorded maternal sounds played inside the incubator. A total of 13,680min of HR data was sampled throughout the first month of life during gavage feeds with and without exposure to maternal sounds. Results During exposure periods, infants had significantly lower heart rate compared to matched periods of care without exposure on the same day ( p Conclusion Preterm newborns responded to maternal sounds with decreased heart rate throughout the first month of life. It is possible that maternal sounds improve autonomic stability and provide a more relaxing environment for this population of newborns. Further studies are needed to determine the therapeutic implications of maternal sound exposure for optimizing care practices and developmental outcomes.
Grit for engineering students

Studies suggest that students' attitudes toward engineering courses may determine whether they persist in engineering, rather than academic performance alone. We take a mixed-methods approach to explore gritty attitudes and to confirm whether previous research on grit can be applied to undergraduate engineering students. We address two main research questions: (1) Does the grit scale predict retention among first-year undergraduate engineering students? (2) What does grit specifically look like for engineering students? To answer the first question, we invited all first-year engineering students at one university to complete the grit scale during Fall 2014. We will check whether the scores on the grit scale correlate positively with retention in engineering. To answer the second question, we invited all students who were persisting in engineering after having earned a D or an F grade in a required technical course to participate in a semi-structured interview. We hope to capture how these engineering students respond to academic setbacks and what they believe about effort, perseverance, and academic success.
Nitric oxide and cGMP protein kinase activity in aged ventricular myocytes

We tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide-induced negative functional effects through cGMP would be reduced in aged cardiac myocytes. Maximum rate of shortening (R max) and percent shortening of v...
Growth and yield of corn grown on two alluvial soils of Louisiana applied with different phosphorus rates

ABSTRACTThe influence of soil properties on phosphorus (P) availability of Louisiana alluvial soils is not fully understood. A pot experiment was conducted in 2011 to evaluate the effect of different P fertilizer rate (0, 34, 67, 101 and 134 kg P2O5 ha−1) on corn growth and development on Perry clay and Commerce silt loam (sil) soils and relate Mehlich-3 and Bray-2 soil test P values with yield, total biomass, and P uptake of corn. The Bray-2 P values were six times higher than Mehlich-3 P values for Commerce sil while they were similar for Perry clay. Bray-2 and Mehlich-3 extractable-P of both soils increased with increasing P rate but only corn grown on Perry clay responded to P rate (P < 0.05). Implementation of appropriate testing procedure for estimating plant-available P in soil is an important component of effective P fertilization guidelines for corn.
Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Pd–PdO Phase Transitions: Effects of Pd Cluster Size and Kinetic Implications for Catalytic Methane Combustion

Methane oxidation rates uncorrupted by nonchemical effects of transport, taken together with stoichiometric oxygen uptake (oxidation cycle) and evolution (decomposition cycle) data, are used to establish for the first time a set of conditions required for true thermodynamic equilibrium during metal-to-oxide interconversions in small Pd clusters (1.8–8.8 nm). These conditions allow us to assess the intrinsic thermodynamics of small Pd clusters and their catalytic effects in CH4 oxidation. PdO decomposition in the absence of CH4 deviates from equilibrium, as this step is limited by the nucleation of an oxygen vacancy ensemble on oxide domains. The nucleation bottleneck is removed by CH4 during its catalytic sojourns, when CH4 pressure and the related rates exceed a critical value, because CH4 effectively removes the oxygen adatoms near an oxygen vacancy site via C–H bond activation on an oxygen–oxygen vacancy site pair that converts the O* adatom to a hydroxyl intermediate, which desorbs as H2O in sequentia...
Dempster–Shafer models for object recognition and classification: Research Articles

We consider situations in which each individual member of a defined object set is characterized uniquely by a set of variables, and we propose models and associated methods that recognize or classify a newly observed individual. Inputs consist of uncertain observations on the new individual and on a memory bank of previously identified individuals. Outputs consist of uncertain inferences concerning degrees of agreement between the new object and previously identified objects or object classes, with inferences represented by Dempster–Shafer belief functions. We illustrate the approach using models constructed from independent simple support belief functions defined on binary variables. In the case of object recognition, our models lead to marginal belief functions concerning how well the new object matches objects in memory. In the classification model, we compute beliefs and plausibilities that the new object lies in defined subsets of an object set. When regarded as similarity measures, our belief and plausibility functions can be interpreted as candidate membership functions in the terminology of fuzzy logic. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 283–297, 2006.