cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Challenges and promises of overcoming epistemological and methodological partiality: Advancing engineering education through acceptance of diverse ways of knowing

The purpose of this paper is to explore some challenges and promises when the epistemological diversity embedded in qualitative research traditions is introduced to research communities with one dominant research paradigm, such as engineering education. Literature is used from other fields and empirical data are used from engineering education, including the practices of the European Journal of Engineering Education and the Journal of Engineering Education, with the expectation that the ideas that are presented are relevant to a broad range of education disciplines. A number of challenges are identified as the epistemological diversity of qualitative research is introduced to the primarily positivist field of engineering education. Ultimately, embracing epistemological diversity holds the promise of researchers being able to ask: ‘What questions and answers become possible from these newly created positions and what can be learned from these alternative approaches?’.
Cryogenic Laser Properties of Er:YAG and Er:Sc2O3 - A Comparison

At cryogenic temperatures, Er:Sc2O3 offers spectroscopic properties that can make it a more attractive laser material than Er:YAG when a very small quantum defect is desired. We discuss these properties, and representative laser results.
Nutritional assessment and patient outcome during oncological therapy

Protein--calorie malnutrition is the single most common secondary diagnosis in patients with cancer, and is a direct consequence of the anorexia of malignancy and altered host metabolism induced by tumor. One hundred and sixty-one cancer patients were nutritionally assessed prior to receiving oncological therapy (surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation therapy). Eighty-four percent (27/32) of the patients who were initially anergic became immunocompetent with nutritional therapy and had a mortality rate of 11% as compared to 100% mortality in the 5 patients who remained anergic throughout their hospital stay. Thirty-nine percent (14/36) of the patients initially immune competent became anergic and had a concomitant mortality rate of 50% vs. a mortality rate of only 14% in the 22 patients whose immune function was preserved (p less than 0.05). Those patients who were discharged at the completion of their therapy also exhibited a higher initial serum albumin (3.5 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.1 +/- 0.1 g/dl, p less than 0.001) and serum transferrin (149 +/- 7 vs. 125 +/- 7 mg/dl, p less than 0.05). A significant increase (p less than 0.025) occurred in serum transferrin (delta 23 +/- 9 mg/dl) after 3 or more weeks of nutritional support. The detection and treatment of protein--calorie malnutrition prior to or in conjunction with oncological therapy has been associated with a decrease in mortality rate.
Arthritis in women: Social considerations in the clinical management of rheumatoid disease

This article focuses on psychosocial issues with which the majority of arthritic patients must cope. Included is a case study with an assessment, home care course and outcome, and a discussion on informal and formal support systems.
Large-scale molecular dynamics simulation of surface nanostructuring with a laser-assisted scanning tunnelling microscope

In this work, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to explore the thermal and mechanical phenomena in surface nanostructuring with a laser-assisted scanning tunnelling microscope. Employing a super parallel computer, more than 200 million atoms are modelled to provide substantial details about how the localized thermal and mechanical perturbations result in surface nanostructures. Extremely localized stress accumulation beneath the sample surface leads to an explosion of the melted/vaporized material, leaving a nanoscale hole in the sample surface. Normal and shear stress development are observed. Stress propagation in space is strongly influenced by the anisotropic nature of the crystal. The high pressure in the melted/vaporized region pushes the melt adjacent to the solid to move, thereby forming a protrusion at the edge of the hole. More importantly, visible sub-surface nanoscale structural damages are observed in a direction 45° with respect to the axial direction. Detailed study of the lattice structure reveals atomic dislocations in the damaged regions. Both temporary and permanent structural damages are observed in the material. The temporary structural damage is featured with a formation, propagation and disappearing procedure.
Low-frequency noise in gallium arsenide structures

Abstract This work reports the study of low-frequency electrical noise in Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) resistor and MESFET structures. The current and frequency dependence of the noise was found to indicate the presence of at least two physical mechanisms. The identified mechanisms are time constant related diffusion noise and trapping/detrapping by a mechanism having a distribution of time constants with a lower limit on the distribution.
The effect of methionine on the regional and intracellular disposition of [3H]-methionine sulphoximine in rat brain.

—The intracellular disposition of the convulsant agent, methionine sulphoximine (MSO), administered as methyl-labelled [3H]MSO, was examined in rat brain. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) and intrathecal (i.th.) routes were compared. The effect of simultaneous administration of methionine on the uptake, the regional distribution and the intracellular disposition of [3H]MSO was also assessed: (1) The peak uptake of i.p. [3H]MSO was at 2 h and amounted to about 1 per cent of the dose; the peak uptake of i.th. [3H]MSO was at 30 min post-injection and amounted to 40 per cent of the administered dose. The uptake was effectively reduced when methionine was simultaneously administered. (2) The regional distribution of [3H]MSO as a function of time after injection revealed a rather uniform penetration of the entire brain by the drug. A maximum of 43 per cent of the tissue radioactivity was found in the cerebellum 2 h after i.p. injection, while 49 per cent accumulated in the extracortical portion of the brain 3·5 h after i.th. administration. Methionine did not affect the regional distribution of [3H]MSO. (3) Differential centrifugation of samples of cortex and cerebellum revealed an association of [3H]MSO with intracellular particulate fractions. Since closely similar proportions of MSO occurred in the crude mitochondrial and the microsomal fractions, these fractions were analysed further: (a) [3H]MSO was bound to nerve endings sedimenting at the 1·0 m–1·2 m-sucrose interface; this binding was not abolished by prior increase of the endogenous cerebral methionine pool; and (b) [3H]MSO was released by subjecting the nerve endings to osmotic shock. However, the striking finding was that [3H]MSO could not be released from the nerve endings of the cerebellum from animals pre-treated with methionine. (4) An association of [3H]MSO was observed with the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum and specifically with its agranular component. (5)The results implicate the cerebellum as the primary target for MSO, in confirmation of the original observations of Lodin (1958).
The Magnitude and Proximate Cause of Ice-Sheet Growth Since 35,000 yr B.P.

The magnitude of late Wisconsinan (post-35,000 yr B.P.) ice-sheet growth in the Northern Hemisphere is not well known. Ice volume at ∼35,000 yr B.P. may have been as little as 20% or as much as 70% of the volume present at the last glacial maximum (LGM). A conservative evaluation of glacial–geologic, sea level, and benthic δ18O data indicates that ice volume at ∼35,000 yr B.P. was approximately 50% of that extant at the LGM (∼20,000 yr B.P.); that is, it doubled in about 15,000 yr. On the basis of literature for the North Atlantic and a sea-surface temperature (SST) data compilation, it appears that this rapid growth may have been forced by low-to-mid-latitude SST warming in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with attendant increased moisture transport to high latitudes. The SST ice-sheet growth notion also explains the apparent synchroneity of late Wisconsinan mountain glaciation in both hemispheres.
Heme and total iron in ready-to-eat chicken

Distribution of heme and total iron in heat-processed poultry products was investigated with light and dark chicken meat in the form of deep fried chicken breasts and legs purchased from fast food restaurants and grocery stores. Heme iron content was determined by the Hornsey method, and total iron was determined with Ferrozine on a wet-ashed digest. The heme and total iron were respectively, 1.7 ± 0.5 and 6.5 ± 2.0 μg Fe/g meat (mean ± SD) for light chicken meat and 7.6 ± 1.6 and 19.3 ± 2.2 μg/g for dark chicken meat. Heme iron values averaged 29 and 40% for light and dark chicken meat, respectively. Keywords: Iron; analysis; poultry; meat; heme
Cystic fibrosis and the relationship between mucin and chloride secretion by cultures of human airway gland mucous cells

—We investigated how cystic fibrosis (CF) alters the relationship between Cl− and mucin secretion in cultures of non-CF and CF human tracheobronchial gland mucous (HTGM and CFTGM, respectively) cel...
The interaction between zinc deficiency and copper toxicity as it affects the silicic acid uptake mechanisms in Thalassiosira pseudonana1

Zinc-deficient cultures of Thalassiosira pseudonana exhibited reduced silicic acid uptake rates. Copper toxicity decreased the silicic acid uptake rate at any zinc concentration. This resulted in the uptake rate being a function of the ratio in the medium of the cupric ion activity to the zinc activity rather than of either metal activity separately. These results are consistent with a proposed mechanism for the interaction between silicic acid and cupric ion activity involving a zinc-dependent active site. In work to be published elsewhere (Rueter and Morel in prep.) we found a competitive relationship between cupric ion activity and silicic acid concentration as they affect growth, silicic acid uptake, and copper uptake in the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (3H) (Hust.) Hasle and Heimdal. The result of this competitive interaction was that relatively high cupric ion activities resulted in higher rates of copper uptake and lower rates of silicic acid uptake. Conversely, high silicic acid concentrations could reverse the effect of copper toxicity, causing lower copper uptake rates and near maximal silicic acid uptake rates. We have considered a mechanism for this interaction in which an active site for silicic acid uptake is inhibited by the cupric ion activity and protected by high substrate (silicic acid) concentrations. This form of inhibition is similar to nonreversible competitive binding to the active site that has been studied in other enzyme systems (Zeffren and Hall 1973). We also thought that the binding of copper at this active site was one possible pathway for copper to enter the cell. In order to explain this proposed mechanism, we considered that zinc could be involved in silicic acid uptake. Zinc was
Can Stirrups Suppress Size Effect on Shear Strength of RC Beams

This paper demonstrates the size effect on the shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with stirrups and does so in two separate and independent ways: (1) by fracture mechanics, based on finite-element analysis calibrated by a large beam test; and (2) by purely statistical analysis in which a newly assembled database of 234 tests is filtered to eliminate spurious size effects caused by nonuniformity of secondary influencing parameters. Both ways show that stirrups, whether minimum or heavier, cannot suppress the size effect completely, although they can mitigate it significantly for beam depth d 1 m (39.4 in.), the size effect cannot be neglected. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000295. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Concrete; Design; Size effect; Reinforcement; Failures; Shear strength; Probability; Concrete beams. Author keywords: Concrete design; Size effect; Shear reinforcement; Failure probability; RC beams.
Growth rate dispersion by initial growth rate distributions and growth rate fluctuations

Two distinctly different mechanisms that lead to growth rate dispersion have been observed experimentally. One of the mechanisms involves an initial growth rate distribution among nuclei, while the other allows crystal growth rates to fluctuate. The model formulated in the present work includes both phenomena. Solutions to population balances in a continuous mixed-suspension, mixed-product removal continuous crystallizer and a constant-supersaturation batch crystallizer are obtained in terms of parameters characterizing the two mechanisms.
A demonstration against theistic activism

Many theists have tried to work out coherent accounts of the relationship between God and abstract objects. Some have contended that abstracta depend on God for their existence and nature. Following Christopher Menzel and Thomas Morris, I call such a position, theistic activism. In this essay, I begin by examining some motivations for holding such a position. Then, I try to make sense of how objects might depend on God. Finally, I object to theistic activism on the grounds that one who holds to it is committed to the claim that God causes himself to exist and causes himself to have such properties as omnipotence and omniscience.
Impact of high-dose corticosteroid therapy for patients with HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) syndrome.

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether corticosteroid administration to patients with antepartum HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) syndrome would alter laboratory values diagnostic for the disease. Study Design: Cases of 37 women with antepartum HELLP syndrome managed between March 1995 and July 1999 were reviewed. Patients were classified on the basis of exposure to corticosteroids and to the dose used. Group 1 did not receive corticosteroids. Group 2 received a standard corticosteroid dosage regimen for promotion of fetal lung maturation. Group 3 received a high-dose corticosteroid regimen of >24 mg/d (most frequently 10 mg dexamethasone as an intravenous bolus dose every 6 hours for 2 doses followed by 6 mg as an intravenous bolus dose every 6 hours for 2 to 4 doses). Antepartum changes in laboratory values from diagnosis to delivery were evaluated by means of the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Eleven patients did not receive corticosteroids, 15 were given a standard dose, and 11 received high-dose therapy. For each laboratory value assessed (platelet count, aspartate aminotransferase activity, and lactate dehydrogenase activity), the corticosteroid groups differed significantly from the no-treatment group (P ≤ .002 for all). A further, significantly greater improvement in platelet count was noted between the high-dose group (81%) and the standard-dose group (17%; P = .04). The interval from diagnosis to delivery was also longer for patients treated with the high-dose protocol (51 ± 25 hours) than for both those treated with a standard regimen (26 ± 20 hours) and those who received no treatment (13 ± 11 hours; P
Noninvasive Staging of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer*: A Review of the Current Evidence

specificity, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.77 to 0.86); for PET scanning: sensitivity, 0.84 (95% CI, 0.78 to 0.89); specificity, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.83 to 0.93); and for EUS: sensitivity, 0.78 (95% CI, 0.61 to 0.89); specificity, 0.71 (95% CI, 0.56 to 0.82). For the evaluation of brain metastases, the summary estimate of the negative predictive value (NPV) of the clinical neurologic evaluation was 0.94 (95% CI, 0.91 to 0.96). For detecting adrenal and/or liver metastases, the summary NPV of the clinical evaluation was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.93 to 0.96), and for detecting bone metastases, it was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.86 to 0.93). Conclusions: PET scanning is more accurate than CT scanning or EUS for detecting mediastinal metastases. The NPVs of the clinical evaluations for brain, abdominal, and bone metastases are > 90%, suggesting that routinely imaging asymptomatic lung cancer patients may not be necessary. However, more definitive prospective studies that better define the patient population and improved reference standards are necessary to more accurately assess the true NPV of the clinical evaluation. (CHEST 2003; 123:137S–146S)
A high-efficiency linear RF power amplifier with a power-tracking dynamically adaptive buck-boost supply

Energy efficiency of RF transceivers is critical and paramount for longer battery life in portable devices, which is improved by operating the power amplifiers (PAs) with higher efficiency. In this paper, the applicability of dynamic-converter-supplied RF PAs' efficiency-enhancement schemes is compared and evaluated for code-division multiple-access (CDMA) applications. The tradeoffs involved in designing switching converters with wide bandwidth (BW) and high efficiency over Wide loading conditions are considered. Given the highly variable nature of the batteries (e.g., 2.7-4.2 V for Li ion), to operate the systems at their peak performance levels, even when the battery is close to fully discharged, and to achieve higher average efficiency, a power-trucking dynamically adaptive noninverting buck-boost converter-supplied PA topology is proposed. To demonstrate the validity of the scheme, a prototype system was designed and tested using a 915-MHz carrier frequency with a 1.25-MHz baseband BW CDMA signal. The supply voltage for the PA (operating in a class-A/class-AB configuration) is adjusted dynamically from 0.5 to 3.6 V, depending on the input RF power from a 3.0-V input supply, which can vary from 2.4 to 3.4 V. The dynamic-supply PA meets the adjacent-channel power-ratio requirements of CDMA, IS-95 specifications, and the overall error vector magnitude remains less than 6% throughout its output power range from -50 to 27 dBm. The weighted average efficiency of the dynamically adaptive system (6.78%) is 4.43 times compared to the fixed supply PA efficiency (1.53%), which translates to a 88% increase in battery life, assuming that the PA consumes 20% of the total transceiver power.
Dependence of Coronavirus RNA Replication on an NH2-terminal Partial Nonstructural Protein 1 in cis

Genomes of positive (+)-strand RNA viruses use cis-acting signals to direct both translation and replication. Here we examine two 5′-proximal cis-replication signals of different character in a defective interfering (DI) RNA of the bovine coronavirus (BCoV) that map within a 322-nucleotide (nt) sequence (136 nt from the genomic 5′ untranslated region and 186 nt from the nonstructural protein 1 [nsp1]-coding region) not found in the otherwise-identical nonreplicating subgenomic mRNA7 (sgmRNA7). The natural DI RNA is structurally a fusion of the two ends of the BCoV genome that results in a single open reading frame between a partial nsp1-coding region and the entire N gene. (i) In the first examination, mutation analyses of a recently discovered long-range RNA-RNA base-paired structure between the 5′ untranslated region and the partial nsp1-coding region showed that it, possibly in concert with adjacent stem-loops, is a cis-acting replication signal in the (+) strand. We postulate that the higher-order structure promotes (+)-strand synthesis. (ii) In the second examination, analyses of multiple frame shifts, truncations, and point mutations within the partial nsp1-coding region showed that synthesis of a PEFP core amino acid sequence within a group A lineage betacoronavirus-conserved NH2-proximal WAPEFPWM domain is required in cis for DI RNA replication. We postulate that the nascent protein, as part of an RNA-associated translating complex, acts to direct the DI RNA to a critical site, enabling RNA replication. We suggest that these results have implications for viral genome replication and explain, in part, why coronavirus sgmRNAs fail to replicate. IMPORTANCE cis-Acting RNA and protein structures that regulate (+)-strand RNA virus genome synthesis are potential sites for blocking virus replication. Here we describe two: a previously suspected 5′-proximal long-range higher-order RNA structure and a novel nascent NH2-terminal protein component of nsp1 that are common among betacoronaviruses of group A lineage.
Three theories of the race of W. E. B. Du Bois

Autobiographies do not form indisputable authorities. They are always incomplete, and often unreliable. Eager as I am to put down the truth, there are difficulties; memory fails especially in small details, so that it becomes finally but a theory of my life, with much forgotten and misconceived, with valuable testimony but often less than absolutely true, despite my intention to be fair and frank.
Markedly altered membrane transport and intracellular binding of vincristine in multidrug‐resistant Chinese hamster cells selected for resistance to vinca alkaloids

Studies of a multidrug-resistant variant (DC-3F/VCRd-5L) of Chinese hamster lung cells selected for resistance to vinca alkaloids revealed marked alterations in transport and intracellular binding of [3H]vincristine compared to parental DC-3F cells. Influx of [3H]vincristine in DC-3F cells appears to be an equilibrating, but mediated, process. Although saturation kinetics for [3H]vincristine influx were not demonstrated, an extremely high temperature-dependence (Q10 27-37 degrees C = 5-6) and trans-inhibition of influx following preloading of cells with nonradioactive vincristine argue in favor of a carrier-mediated process. Efflux of [3H]vincristine from parental cells conformed to first-order kinetics (t1/2 37 degrees = 3.6 +/- 0.4) and exhibited a lower temperature-dependence (Q10 27-37 degrees C = 3-3.5) than influx. In variant vs. parental cells, influx of [3H]vincristine was reduced 24-fold and efflux was increased two-fold, accounting for the large (approximately 48-fold) reduction in steady-state level of exchangeable drug accumulating in variant cells. Otherwise, transport of [3H]vincristine in these cells showed characteristics similar to parental DC-3F cells. Also, the rate and amount of intracellular binding of [3H]vincristine in variant cells was almost 40-fold lower than in parental cells. These alterations in influx and efflux of [3H]vincristine and its intracellular binding appear to account, at least to a major extent, for the high level of resistance (2,750-fold) of this variant to vinca alkaloids. In contrast, cross-resistance of this variant to daunomycin (178-fold) could be explained only minimally by a transport alteration. Only a two-fold increase in efflux of [3H]daunomycin was demonstrated in variant vs. parental cells along with some decrease in intracellular binding. Influx of [3H]daunomycin was unaltered. In view of these results, we conclude that these two agents most likely do not share the same route for entry in these cells but might share the same efflux route.
Clock Offset and Skew Estimation in Wireless Sensor Networks with Known Deterministic Delays and Exponential Nondeterministic Delays

Clock synchronization among the nodes of wireless sensor networks (WSN) is important for many of its applications but this task becomes quite complex due to their special characteristics. To achieve this goal of clock synchronization, there have been many protocols and algorithms presented so far all of which rely on some kind of timing message exchange among the nodes to be synchronized. In this paper, we have derived the maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) for clock offset and skew for a two-way timing message exchange mechanism where the deterministic portion of timing delays, e.g., transmission, propagation and reception times, etc., are known at the receiver or are assumed to be equal to 0. A similar methodology can be applied to derive the ML estimates for other message exchange mechanisms. An algorithm to estimate these clock parameters in this case is also presented in detail.
Reconstructive tomography and applications to ultrasonics

Computer technology has brought about a revolution in radiology. By combining the computer with X rays it is possible (in principle) to obtain tomographic images of any cross section in the human body. These techniques are now used for medical diagnosis in all the major hospitals of the world. But X rays are not the only kind of radiation for which computer-assisted tomography is feasible. Microwaves, electron beams, ultrasound, fast subatomic particles from accelerators, gamma rays from such sources as positron annihilation, and even magnetic fields can also be used. This paper is mainly concerned with ultrasound. Acoustic energy can often give a view of a cross section not available with X rays or other types of radiation. A mapping of acoustic and elastic discontinuities can be expected to give a basically different pattern than a mapping of X-ray absorption and scattering coefficients. Several methods of ultrasonic tomography are discussed including methods based on geometric optics and a Doppler-oriented approach. A major portion of the paper is concerned with introducing ways to take into account diffraction effects. Because of the wavelength differences, these effects are far more important for ultrasound than for X rays.
Language recognition using deep-structured conditional random fields

We present a novel language identification technique using our recently developed deep-structured conditional random fields (CRFs). The deep-structured CRF is a multi-layer CRF model in which each higher layer's input observation sequence consists of the lower layer's observation sequence and the resulting lower layer's frame-level marginal probabilities. In this paper we extend the original deep-structured CRF by allowing for distinct state representations at different layers and demonstrate its benefits. We propose an unsupervised algorithm to pre-train the intermediate layers by casting it as a multi-objective programming problem that is aimed at minimizing the average frame-level conditional entropy while maximizing the state occupation entropy. Empirical evaluation on a seven-language/dialect voice mail routing task showed that our approach can achieve a routing accuracy (RA) of 86.4% and average equal error rate (EER) of 6.6%. These results are significantly better than the 82.5% RA and 7.5% average EER obtained using the Gaussian mixture model trained with the maximum mutual information criterion but slightly worse than the 87.7% RA and 6.4% EER achieved using the support vector machine with model pushing on the Gaussian super vector (GSV).
Modeling and Therapeutic Strategies of Pluripotent Stem Cells for Alzheimer's Disease

Copyright: © 2013 Gu H. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, which is characterized by a progressive and age-related chronic loss of neurons in extensive brain areas, such as cerebral cortex and hippocampus, one of the most prominent being the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCN). In clinic, patients suffer from impairment of memory and cognitive function, language breakdown and eventually long-term memory loss. The burden of AD is heavy to patient’s families and the whole society. The pathological findings of AD are senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and neuronal cell death. Senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are mainly consisted of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides, which are formed by the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by βand γ-secretase. In the end, accumulation of Aβ peptides in neurons causes neuronal degeneration and cell death [1,2]. Although previous studies already showed the effects of Aβ peptides on cultured mammal neurons, how Aβ peptides affect human neurons, especially neurons from AD patients, are still not understood. On the other hand, although neurotrophic factors application, such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), have showed functional recovery in animal model of AD and several drugs for the treatment of AD has been approved by FDA and have shown the improvement of cognitive function and memory of AD patient, it is still challenge to delay and reverse the neuronal degeneration and cell death [3-5].
A New Active Noise Control Algorithm That Requires No Secondary Path Identification Based on the SPR Property

Active noise control (ANC) has been widely applied in industry to reduce environmental noise and equipment vibrations. Most available control algorithms require the identification of the secondary path, which increases the control system complexity, contributes to an increased residual noise power, and can even cause the control system to fail if the identified secondary path is not sufficiently close to the actual path. In this paper, based on the geometric analysis and the strict positive real (SPR) property of the filtered-x LMS algorithm, we introduce a new ANC algorithm suitable for single-tone noises as well as some specific narrowband noises that does not require the identification of the secondary path, though its convergence can be very slow in some special cases. We are able to extend the developed ANC algorithm to the case of active control of broadband noises through our use of a subband implementation of the ANC algorithm. Compared to other available control algorithms that do not require secondary path identification, our developed method is simple to implement, yields good performance, and converges quickly. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm
The metabolism of hydrogen by extremely thermophilic, sulfur-dependent bacteria

Abstract In just the last few years, a group of bacteria have been discovered that have the remarkable property of growing near and above 100°C. These extremely thermophilic organisms, defined here as having the ability to grow at 90°C with optimum growth at 80°C and above, have been isolated mainly from sulfur-rich, marine geothermal environments, both shallow and deep sea. They comprise over a dozen different genera, and except for one novel eubacterium, all may be classified as archaebacteria. The majority of the extremely thermophilic genera metabolize elemental sulfur (S°) and a survey of the various organisms reveals that most of them also depend upon the oxidation of hydrogen gas (H 2 ) as an energy source. In addition, two extremely thermophilic genera are known that actively produce H 2 as end-products of novel fermentative metabolisms. The enzyme hydrogenase, which is responsible for catalysing H 2 activation and H 2 production, appears to play several roles in electron and energy transfer during the growth of these organisms. Hydrogenase has so far been purified from only one extremely thermophilic species, from Pyrococcus furiosus ( T opt = 100°C), and hydrogenase activity has been exmained in cell-free extracts of only a few others. However, a comparison of their properties with those of hydrogenases from mesophilic bacteria suggests that (a) the hydrogenase responsible for catalysing H 2 oxidation in extremely thermophilic organisms may be an extremely thermostable version of the mesophilic enzyme, and (b) a new type of ‘evolution’ hydrogenase, lacking the NiS or FeS catalytic sites of the mesophilic enzymes, is required for catalysing H 2 evolution at temperatures near and above 100°C.
A simple test: please draw the incision. It is not as easy as we may think.

Purpose Book knowledge and preparation is important to the education of a surgeon. The ability of a trainee to apply book knowledge to the actual performance of a procedure is perhaps underestimated by experienced surgeons, as is the role of the teacher in the translation of this information in the operating theater. The purpose of this study is to reveal some of the obstacles in surgical training and to underscore the importance of attending surgeon guidance in overcoming these hurdles. Methods Residents in an integrated plastic surgery program were instructed to prepare for their first carpal tunnel procedure with the senior author by reading standard surgical texts. At the beginning of the procedure, the resident was asked to draw the incision. A photograph to document the incision was taken for later reflection and discussion. Results The markings of 16 residents over 12 years are presented. They demonstrate a great difficulty in the initial application of book knowledge in the operating room. Conclusions Surgical education is a complex process. Whereas book knowledge is important, there is no substitute for the learning process that occurs in the operating room between teacher and trainee.
Evaluation of a matrix polynomial

A simple method is proposed to reduce the computational requirements for evaluation of matrix polynomials. An example is given indicating its use in evaluating eAarising in the solution of linear differential equations.
An infrared spectroscopy study of the phase transition in solid ammonia

The infrared spectra of solid ammonia at different phases and the existence of a metastable phase have been in controversy for the last fifty years. In order to address this problem, we studied the infrared spectra of solid ammonia in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber at distinct temperatures. Having prepared amorphous ammonia at 10 K, we observed a transition from the amorphous phase to the cubic crystalline phase at 57 K; successive re-cooling from 85 K back to 10 K confirms the presence of crystalline ammonia. No metastable phase has been detected. Published by Elsevier B.V.
The hit-and-run in fatal pedestrian accidents: victims, circumstances and drivers

Hit-and-run pedestrian fatalities are classified as to victim characteristics, accident circumstances and driver characteristics. Over 18,000 pedestrian fatalities are reported in the Fatal Accident Recording System for 1989-1991. Twenty percent of the drivers involved left the accident scene. Children and senior citizens are the least likely to be left. Drivers more commonly run in urban areas, outside the South, on weekends and at night. Comparing motorists who left the scene but were later identified with the drivers who remained, drivers aged 66 and older are half as likely as younger drivers to leave the accident scene and male drivers are 60% more likely than female drivers to run. Drivers with previous driving while intoxicated arrests are twice as likely to run as those with no such arrests. Forty-nine percent of hit-and-run motorists involved in pedestrian fatalities are ultimately identified by the police. Other factors constant, drivers are more likely to be identified if the victim was female or a child. Drivers are identified 2.5 times as often when the incident occurred in daylight. Drivers appear to run more often when they are at fault and will be severely punished (e.g. when they are intoxicated) and when it is likely that they can escape detection (e.g. at night).
Policy Parallels Applying Lessons From CSRA Chief Architect Alan K. Campbell to Contemporary Personnel Reform Efforts

The 1978 Civil Service Reform Act may be considered President Carter's most impressive domestic political victory. This victory can be linked to the efforts of many, but specifically to Alan K. (Sc...
Effects of variations in the mix constituents of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) on cost and performance

With the overall objective of minimizing cost, this research experimentally investigates the effects of variations in the mix constituents of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) on its short term compressive and tensile behavior. The experimental variables are four different quantities of silica fume, three different quantities of silica powder, three different cement types (White Cement Type I, Portland Type V, GGBS/Portland Type I blend) and three different fiber volume contents (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 %) of straight, smooth, high strength steel fibers. Such low fiber volume fractions have been rarely investigated in the past and are selected in this work to broaden the knowledge base and promote lower material cost. Experimental results showed minor differences in mechanical behavior due to variations in the quantity of silica fume. Silica powder changes led to little difference in material behavior, suggesting that silica powder can be removed due to its high cost. UHPCs containing White Type I cement exhibited the best performance in almost all aspects of behavior including load carrying capacity, energy absorption capacity and multiple cracking behaviors, but carried the highest cost. Specimens containing the GGBS/Portland I binder showed lower performance, but at decreased cost. UHPC specimens containing 0.5 % fibers exhibited some strain hardening behavior, which became more pronounced as the fiber volume fraction increased. The results suggest that fiber volume contents of 1.0 or 1.5 % could significantly reduce the chance for crack localization under dead load or working conditions, respectively, in structural applications.
The Effect of Intradialytic Parenteral Nutrition on Hospitalization Rate and Mortality in Malnourished Hemodialysis Patients

■ Objective: To determine if intradialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN) therapy of malnourished hemodialysis patients results in a decrease in hospitalization rate and mortality. ■ Data sources: Outpatient hemodialysis records, patient interviews, registered dietitian evaluations, and hospitalization discharge summaries. ■ Study selection: All hemodialysis patients treated with IDPN from July 1, 1989, until March 15, 1991, death, or cessation of IDPN. All patients had to meet criteria defining malnutrition and to have failed 2 weeks of intensive dietary counseling with (64%) or without (36%) dietary supplements. ■ Data extraction: Data base abstracted by two registered nurses skilled in data collection and familiar with hemodialysis. Data were collected, and patients were evaluated on a monthly basis. ■ Data synthesis: Responders (Rs) were those with a greater than 5-g/L (0.5-g/dL) increase in albumin or total protein or a greater than 10% nonfluid weight gain. Rs differed from nonresponders (NRs) in baseline values for albumin (22 ± 7 g/L [2.2 ± 0.7 g/dL]; 30 ± 9 g/L [3.0 ± 0.9 g/dL]; P ■ Conclusion: IDPN may be related to increased serum albumin and total protein concentrations in subsets of malnourished hemodialysis patients. There may also be a link between decreased hospitalizations and mortality in patients who respond to IDPN. Differences in Rs and NRs could not be found to explain these findings.
Ovarian cyst aspiration: a therapeutic approach to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome

Ultrasonographically guided transvaginal aspiration of ovarian cysts in women with severe OHSS after GIFT or IVF was safe and has resulted in immediate relief of symptoms, a shorter disease process, and outpatient treatment. The patients were allowed to go back to normal activity after the procedure. The progression of the disease was interrupted and six of seven patients carried beyond 20 weeks' gestation.
Fracture of the penis. Report of 6 cases and review of the literature

Rupture of the corpus cavernosum, commonly referred to as “fracture” of the penis, is a rare occurrence. The etiology, clinical symptoms, diagnostic and therapeutic methods in 6 cases are described and the experiences compared with those in the literature.
Structure of the clathrate/solution interface and mechanism of cross-nucleation of clathrate hydrates

Clathrate hydrates mostly occur in two cubic crystal structures, sI and sII. Cross-nucleation between these clathrate crystals has been observed in simulations and may be relevant to the transformation between clathrate polymorphs reported in experiments. Nevertheless, the mechanism by which clathrate crystals cross-nucleate and the structure of the interface between the distinct crystals have not yet been fully characterized. In this work, we use extensive molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structure of the clathrate/solution interface for sI and sII guest-free and methane-filled hydrates at different degrees of supercooling and the mechanism of cross-nucleation between clathrate polymorphs. We find that 51263 water cages, which are not native to the sI or sII crystals, occur assiduously in their interfaces with the solution and play a central role in the mechanism of cross-nucleation of clathrate hydrates: cross-nucleation between sI and sII requires the formation of an interfacial layer ...
SCEPTRE: A Pervasive, Non-Invasive, and Programmable Gesture Recognition Technology

Communication and collaboration between deaf people and hearing people is hindered by lack of a common language. Although there has been a lot of research in this domain, there is room for work towards a system that is ubiquitous, non-invasive, works in real-time and can be trained interactively by the user. Such a system will be powerful enough to translate gestures performed in real-time, while also being flexible enough to be fully personalized to be used as a platform for gesture based HCI. We propose SCEPTRE which utilizes two non-invasive wrist-worn devices to decipher gesture-based communication. The system uses a multi-tiered template based comparison system for classification on input data from accelerometer, gyroscope and electromyography (EMG) sensors. This work demonstrates that the system is very easily trained using just one to three training instances each for twenty randomly chosen signs from the American Sign Language(ASL) dictionary and also for user-generated custom gestures. The system is able to achieve an accuracy of 97.72% for ASL gestures.
InP Based Very-Low Voltage Electro-optic Intensity Modulators in Conventional Waveguides

Very-low drive voltage intensity modulators were fabricated in InP epitaxial layers containing MQW cores using conventional waveguides and processing. 1 cm long electrode devices have one arm driven of 1.6 V at 1550 nm.
An Effective Web Presence for Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities.

ABSTRACTBackground: Website development for health care has only been prevalent in the last two and a half decades. The first websites were electronic versions of brochures providing hardly any interaction with the consumer or potential consumer. The percentage of consumers that use the internet during the decision-making process for health care providers continues to rise. As a result, the websites of health care providers are becoming more of a representation of the facility and creating an organizational image rather than a brochure-like informational page. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze substance abuse treatment center's websites in the State of California with the goal of informing the management of substance abuse centers regarding an effective and inexpensive means to closing the marketing gaps in the industry. Methods: This brief research report presents the results of employing an automated web-crawler to assess website quality along five dimensions: accessibility, content, ...
Target mass effects in parton quasi-distributions

We study the impact of non-zero (and apparently large) value of the nucleon mass M on the shape of parton quasi-distributions Q(y,p3), in particular on its change with the change of the nucleon momentum p3. We observe that the usual target-mass corrections induced by the M-dependence of the twist-2 operators are rather small. Moreover, we show that within the framework based on parametrizations by transverse momentum dependent distribution functions (TMDs) these corrections are canceled by higher-twist contributions. We identify a novel source of kinematic target-mass dependence of TMDs and build models corrected for such dependence. We find that resulting changes may be safely neglected for p3≳2M.
Key questions in the development and use of survey-based journal rankings

Abstract This paper presents five key questions that should be considered by researchers and librarians who develop or use survey-based (stated preference) journal rankings. Many of the distinctions among the various rankings—their attributes, strengths, and weaknesses—are captured in the responses to these five questions: What construct is being measured? How are differences in the construct expressed and recorded? Who are the respondents? Which journals are included in the rankings? How is respondents' familiarity with the journals taken into account? The paper also summarizes the problems that may require attention when survey-based rankings are used.
The cost of switching between taxonomic and thematic semantics

Current models and theories of semantic knowledge primarily capture taxonomic relationships (DOG and WOLF) and largely do not address the role of thematic relationships in semantic knowledge (DOG and LEASH). Recent evidence suggests that processing or representation of thematic relationships may be distinct from taxonomic relationships. If taxonomic and thematic relations are distinct, then there should be a cost associated with switching between them even when the task remains constant. This hypothesis was tested using two different semantic-relatedness judgment tasks: Experiment 1 used a triads task and Experiment 2 used an oddball task. In both experiments, participants were faster to respond when the same relationship appeared on consecutive trials than when the relationship types were different, even though the task remained the same and the specific relations were different on each trial. These results are consistent with the theory that taxonomic and thematic relations rely on distinct processes or representations.
Prediction of a low-temperature N2 dissociation catalyst exploiting near-IR–to–visible light nanoplasmonics

Despite more than a century of advances in catalyst and production plant design, the Haber-Bosch process for industrial ammonia (NH3) synthesis still requires energy-intensive high temperatures and pressures. We propose taking advantage of sunlight conversion into surface plasmon resonances in Au nanoparticles to enhance the rate of the N2 dissociation reaction, which is the bottleneck in NH3 production. We predict that this can be achieved through Mo doping of the Au surface based on embedded multireference correlated wave function calculations. The Au component serves as a light-harvesting antenna funneling energy onto the Mo active site, whereby excited-state channels (requiring 1.4 to 1.45 eV, near-infrared-to-visible plasmon resonances) may be accessed. This effectively lowers the energy barriers to 0.44 to 0.77 eV/N2 (43 to 74 kJ/mol N2) from 3.5 eV/N2 (335 kJ/mol N2) in the ground state. The overall process requires three successive surface excitation events, which could be facilitated by amplified resonance energy transfer due to plasmon local field enhancement.