cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fine structure of photoreceptors in larval trematodes. A comparative study.

The fine structure of photoreceptors is described in miracidia of Fasciola hepatica, Heronimus chelydrae, Allocreadium lobatum, and Spirorchis sp., and in a spirorchiid cercaria. All have in common eyespots consisting of pigment cells with chambers occupied by rhabdomeres consisting of retinular cell dendrites with numerous microvilli. Photoreceptors of the miracidia show a bilateral asymmetry which is most pronounced in H. chelydrae with a pair of well separated eyespots unequal in size. The smaller right one consists of a pigment cell and two rhabdomeres; the larger left eyespot has an anterior pigment cell with two rhabdomeres and a posterior cell containing one rhabdomere. Photoreceptors in the other species of miracidia also have five rhabdomeres but contain only two pigment cells which are closely apposed. Each contains a pair of lateral rhabdomeres and a fifth one occupies a posteromedian extension of the left pigment cell. In the number of rhabdomeres, their relationship to pigment cells and the resulting asymmetry, photoreceptors are more alike in the distantly related species of miracidia studied than they are in ocellate cercariae or even in the miracidium and cercaria of the same species or two closely related ones. From the asymmetry of photoreceptors in larvae of certain flatworms other than digenetic trematodes, it seems that eyespots of miracidia have retained an ancestral pattern whereas the diversity of photoreceptors in cercariae reflects the varied phototactic behavior of those larvae which complete their life cycles by all the means known for cercariae with a free-swimming period. In both miracidia and cercariae, photoreceptors show an anterior-posterior organization that would seem to be concerned with orientation of the larvae with respect to light.
Will Work for Screen Credit: Labour and the Law in Hollywood

This chapter on the law and employment practices at both the high end and the low end of the Hollywood labour market briefly describes three regimes of law – employment contracts, statutory wage and hour regulation, and collective bargaining agreements – that determine the conditions of labour in Hollywood and then offers two case studies about labour in Hollywood, one at the high end and the other at the low end of the pay and prestige scales. The first case study focuses on the origins of Writers Guild of America control over screen credits for writing and, in particular, the origins of the residuals system for credited writers in the 1940s and early 1950s. In addition to explaining the role of the WGA in developing the complex system for crediting and compensating writers, the case study considers the way in which debates over fair compensation and creative control in the classic Hollywood era echo among TV writers today. The second case study is about the use of unpaid interns on the films Black Swan (2010) and (500) Days of Summer (2009). Analysing the litigation over the use of unpaid internships in film and television production, this case study looks at the larger question about why people have been willing to work for free in order to break into the movie and television business and assesses the strength of the legal regime that attempts to distinguish when free labour is exploitative and when it is an opportunity.
Dynamical evaluation of three methods for diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value dynamically of fluorescent quantization PCR(FQ-PCR)for MP-DNA,enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)for MP-IgM antibodies,and rapid culture for MP in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.Methods The pediatric patients with confirmed MP infection by clinical and laboratory diagnosis were tested for MP-DNA,MP-IgM,and MP at admission,one month and three months after admission.Results A total of 153 MP infected pediatric patients were enrolled.At admission,the detection rate of FQ-PCR,ELISA and MP rapid culture were 96%,71% and 24% respectively.The detection rate of rapid culture method was significantly higher in ≤ 3 years old than that in 3 years old group(P 0.05).At one month,the detection rate of MP-DNA was 50%,and the detection rate of MP-IgM was still higher.Forty-four patients(29%)had cough at one month,among whom 28(64%)patients were both MP-DNA and MP-IgM positive.At 3 months,4(3%)patients had cough,among whom 2 patients were both MP-DNA and MP-IgM positive.Conclusions In three kinds of methods,FQ-PCR assay for detecting MP-DNA was the most sensitive method for diagnosing MP infection,followed by the ELISA assay for detecting MP-IgM and rapid culture for MP.The detection rate of MP-IgM remained a high level when follow-up to 3 months.
Alternative Alignment Applications for the Collider Dipole Magnet: Capability Indices

In order to ensure magnetic field quality requirements for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), highly accurate measurements will need to be performed at various points of manufacture, test and installation. This paper will compare precision optics, coordinate measurement analysis and laser tracking approaches as they apply to collider dipole magnet alignment. Following a brief discussion of the dimensional tolerance allocations for component structures, measurement system analysis will be utilized to provide a correlation matrix indicating strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches. Special consideration will be given to the issues surrounding beam tube alignment.
Quantifying the Role of Anisotropic Invasion in Human Glioblastoma

Gliomas are highly invasive primary brain tumors, notorious for their recurrence after treatment, and are considered uniformly fatal. Confounding progress is the fact that there is a diffuse extent of tumor cell invasion well beyond what is visible on routine clinical imaging such as MRI. By incorporating diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) which shows the directional orientation of fiber tracts in the brain, we compare patient-specific model simulations to observed tumor growth for two patients, visually, volumetrically and spatially to quantify the effect of anisotropic diffusion on the ability to predict the actual shape and diffuse invasion of tumor as observed on MRI. The ultimate goal is the development of the best patient-specific tool for predicting brain tumor growth and invasion in individual patients, which can aid in treatment planning.
APC and DNA Demethylation in Cell Fate Specification and Intestinal Cancer

Most cases of colon cancer are initiated by mutation or loss of the tumor suppressor gene adenomatous polyposis coli (APC). APC controls many cellular functions including intestinal cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and polarity. This chapter focuses on the role of APC in regulating a recently identified DNA demethylase system, consisting of a cytidine deaminase and a DNA glycosylase. A global decrease in DNA methylation is known to occur soon after loss of APC; however, how this occurs and its contribution to tumorigenesis has been unclear. In the absence of wild-type APC, ectopic expression of the DNA demethylase system leads to the hypomethylation of specific loci, including intestinal cell fating genes, and stabilizes intestinal cells in an undifferentiated state. Further, misregulation of this system may influence the acquisition of subsequent genetic mutations that drive tumorigenesis.
Practicing Critical Literacy in Extracurricular Settings: Discourses of Power and Teaching

The study examines the Languages Across the Curriculum (LxC) program as an illustration of critical literacy practice in an extracurricular university setting. The program employs students as language resource specialists to prepare language-based materials for use in Languages Across the Curriculum-supported courses that would not usually include such materials and to facilitate study group meetings outside the regular class sessions. Drawing on ethnographic and critical discourse analysis, I identify areas in which stakeholders’ perspectives overlap as well as competing discourses of teaching and learning circulating among the participants of the program which may potentially hinder student empowerment and “conscientization” (Freire, Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum. (Original work published 1970), 2000). Data sources include document analysis, classroom observations, and interviews with student participants and administrative staff. The findings suggest the following implications for critical literacy practice: necessity of overt discussion of power issues in education, integration of international perspectives into academic courses by drawing on international students as cultural resources, and use of peer teaching as an effective way of making students’ learning processes more active.
The Random Transport of Oil by Sea Ice

The transport of oil spilled upon the wintertime Arctic Ocean is modelled. As the motion of this oil is almost wholly due to its advection by sea ice, it is sufficient to study the motion of individual ice floes. The observational basis for our understanding of sea ice motion comes from the trajectories of such individual floes. In this study we envision an ensemble of independent trajectories emanating from a potential site of spilled oil. This ensemble is modelled by a Markov process and is formulated in terms of the observed motion. Statistics of the modelled ensemble address the probability that an oil spill will be transported to an arbitrary region, perhaps an environmentally sensitive one. Results are shown for potential spills at Prudhoe Bay and Peard Bay.
Differential Teacher Attrition: Do High-Ability Teachers Exit at Higher Rates?

Prior evidence of differential teacher attrition is conflicting. Studies that use proxies such as certification scores, SAT or ACT scores, or the selectivity of the teacher’s undergraduate institution tend to find that attrition is highest among high-ability teachers. In contrast, many studies that use value-added measures find that teachers with high value-added scores have lower attrition rates. This work presents new evidence on the nature of differential teacher attrition in Texas and attempts to reconcile these conflicting results. Using teacher certification scores as a proxy for teacher ability, this work finds that differential attrition varies with teacher experience. Among new teachers, attrition is concentrated among the least able, but after the first year, attrition rates are highest among high-ability teachers. These findings could explain why many studies that focus on early-career attrition tend to find that low-ability teachers have higher attrition rates. Other conflicting results may be explained by how studies measure teacher ability. Many value-added studies may confound teacher ability with experience, effort, and unobserved school attributes making it appear, perhaps incorrectly, as though the most able teachers have lower attrition rates. Prior studies that carefully measure teacher ability over longer career trajectories tend to corroborate the alarming conclusion that public schools are losing their most able teachers.
Abstract WP147: Advancing Rehabilitation in Ischemic Stroke Using Early Neurostimulants

Objective: To determine if the use of neurostimulant medications enables more patients with acute ischemic stroke to qualify for inpatient rehabilitation at hospital discharge. Methods: Seventy-eig...
Who Is Paying for Us Now? Effect of Insurance Coverage on the Financial Burden of Healthcare (Pre and Post Implementation of Affordable Care Act)

Purpose - This study is to estimate the association between health insurance coverage (public and private) and the financial burden of healthcare in the US across two time periods i.e. pre-and post enactment or implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Methods: Observational data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (nationally representative 23 household survey) for the period of 2000-2014 has been used for the longitudinal analysis. A comparison between two periods (the former period from 2000-2009 and the later period from 25 2010-2014) has been conducted using Logistic regression (including an interaction term of the period and treatment) model. The outcome variables considered for the three multiple logit analyses are the financial burden at 10%, 15% and 20%. They are defined as binary response variables with a value of one for those individuals whose ratio of out of pocket expenses to income is i) greater than or equal to 10% or ii) greater than or equal to 15% or iii) greater than or equal to 20% and 0 for others. These models evaluate the association between the type of health insurance (public and private) and financial burden of healthcare for the individuals, after controlling for socio- economic, geographic, demographic and living standard factors for the pre and post-declaration of the ACA period. Results: From the study, it can be observed that individuals with private insurance coverage have higher financial burden in comparison to individuals covered under public insurance. It is also evident that individuals with public insurance pre-ACA and private insurance both in pre-ACA and post ACA period are likely to have higher financial burden (at 10% (odd ratio=1.358, 95% C.I (1.238, 39 1.489), at 15% (odds ratio=1.353, 95% C.I (1.208, 1.514) and 20% (odds ratio=1.212, 95% C.I (1.068,1.374) when compared to public insurance users post-ACA period. Conclusion: The results suggest that with the declaration and implementation of ACA in 2010, individuals with public insurance coverage is less likely to have higher financial burden (ratio of out of pocket expenditures to income) in comparison to private insurance. Therefore, for the future period, the US government should focus on increasing access and coverage to public insurance for all individuals to control for financial burden from the grass root level and improve economic stability in US households.
The Biological Role of NADPH Oxidases in Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Mediated Pulmonary Inflammation

Abstract Oxidative stress underlies various forms of disease processes including graft-versus-host diseases and inflammation following ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. One of the major sources of free radical damage in pulmonary IR injury is the NADPH oxidase (NOX) family of proteins, which includes NOX1 to 5 and dual oxidases (DUOX1 to 2), via the generation of superoxide (O2•−) and H2O2. The catalytic and regulatory elements of the oxidative burst accompanying the NOX-dependent activation have been defined to exert a major role in lung tissue injury. Although a significant role of reactive oxygen species-generating NOXs has been characterized in lung IR injury, the precise mechanisms and cellular distribution are markedly different and still under investigation. In particular, the functions of NOX family enzymes in cellular signaling, cytokine and chemokine production, regulation of gene expression and posttranslational processing of proteins have been summarized in recent studies. This circumscribed review provides an overview of the functional role of the NOX family of proteins in mediating vascular permeability, edema and inflammation after lung IR injury.
Complement activation: an atypical presentation of an atypical syndrome

A 42-year-old Hispanic female and long-distance runner was seen for evaluation of fatigue. Her physical examination showed petechiae and ecchymoses in upper extremities, abdominal distension and bilateral ankle oedema. Laboratory workup revealed anaemia, thrombocytopenia, hypoalbuminemia and proteinuria of 1.4 g/24 hours. No schistocytes were found on peripheral blood smear. CT of her abdomen revealed diffuse small lymphadenopathy and hepatomegaly. Bone marrow biopsy demonstrated normal trilineage hematopoiesis with no hemophagocytosis. The patient was started on oral prednisone with no improvement and was subsequently admitted to the hospital for pulsed steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin and rituximab. Her proteinuria became nephrotic range, and a renal biopsy revealed features of thrombotic microangiopathy limited to the glomerular capillaries. ADAMTS13 was low which is >10% of normal, and a diagnosis of atypical haemolytic–uraemic syndrome (aHUS) was made. Eculizumab was started with prompt response. Whole exome sequencing demonstrated mutation in SPTA1, which has been associated with red blood cell membrane diseases but has not been described in patients with aHUS.
Enabling the high capacity of lithium-rich anti-fluorite lithium iron oxide by simultaneous anionic and cationic redox

Anionic redox reactions in cathodes of lithium-ion batteries are allowing opportunities to double or even triple the energy density. However, it is still challenging to develop a cathode, especially with Earth-abundant elements, that enables anionic redox activity for real-world applications, primarily due to limited strategies to intercept the oxygenates from further irreversible oxidation to O2 gas. Here we report simultaneous iron and oxygen redox activity in a Li-rich anti-fluorite Li5FeO4 electrode. During the removal of the first two Li ions, the oxidation potential of O2− is lowered to approximately 3.5 V versus Li+/Li0, at which potential the cationic oxidation occurs concurrently. These anionic and cationic redox reactions show high reversibility without any obvious O2 gas release. Moreover, this study provides an insightful guide to designing high-capacity cathodes with reversible oxygen redox activity by simply introducing oxygen ions that are exclusively coordinated by Li+. It is challenging to exploit anionic redox activity to boost performance of battery electrodes, especially for anti-fluorite structures. Here the authors report simultaneous anionic and cationic redox in Li5FeO4, which enables its high capacity and eliminates the undesired oxygen gas release.
Acute inhalation of combustion smoke triggers neuroinflammation and persistent anxiety-like behavior in the mouse

Context: Acute inhalation of combustion smoke triggers neurologic sequelae in survivors. Due to the challenges posed by heterogeneity of smoke exposures in humans, mechanistic links between acute s...
Brief Report: Lead Levels in Selected Electronic Cigarettes from Canada and the United States

Few published studies have investigated the presence of lead in the e-liquid of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Lead inhalation is associated with increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and other diseases. This study used a novel application of graphite furnace technology to compare the concentration of lead between e-liquids of different packaging and product designs using e-liquids that are or were commercially available in the United States and Canada. Eleven nicotine-free disposable ENDS devices and 12 bottled refill solutions that contained nicotine were purchased from retailers in Canada and the United States between 2015 and 2017. E-liquids extracted from the disposable products and individual containers were analyzed for lead content by graphite furnace using atomic absorption detection. The lead concentration of open-wick ENDS devices ranged from 25.2 ppb to 838.4 ppb, with a standard deviation of 187.4 ppb. None of the bottled e-liquids contained quantifiable levels of lead. This study found that quantifiable levels of lead are present in certain disposable e-cigarette devices, and there is evidence from this study that the design of ENDS devices may contribute to lead exposure. These findings suggest that lead testing should be incorporated into future chemical analyses of ENDS devices.
The Enemy of Teaching Evidence-Based Policy: The Powell-Bush Doctrine of Public Affairs

Public policies are increasingly debated and approached from a war perspective that is clearly at odds with the academic focus on objective, evidence-based policy in the field of public affairs edu...
Occupational Exposure and Alara

In order to maintain radiation doses to maintenance, contractor and operating personnel as low as are reasonably achievable, it is necessary to provide design features and operating procedures to reduce radiation fields around reactor coolant system components,to reduce the time needed for maintenance operations, to reduce the frequency of such operations, and to reduce the number of people involved in such operations. Plant design features intended to reduce occupational doses during plant operation also serve to lessen personnel doses during the eventual plant decommissioning. Recent recommendations by the NRC Regulatory staff,1 under consideration by the Commission, may require that industry provide additional means to reduce occupational radiation exposure. This paper outlines the regulatory considerations for further controlling doses to personnel at nuclear power plants.
The Theory of Large-Scale Ocean Circulation: Basic Physical Principles and Equations

The Large-Scale Ocean Circulation Systematic observations of the fluid properties of Earth's ocean, made primarily over the course of the last hundred years, reveal coherent features with scales comparable to those of the ocean basins themselves. These include such structures as the subtropical main thermoclines and anticyclonic gyres, which appear in all five midlatitude ocean basins, and the meridional overturning circulations that support the exchange of waters across the full meridional extent of the ocean, from the polar or subpolar latitudes of one hemisphere to the opposing high latitudes of the other. These features and motions, which prove to be connected by robust dynamical balances, constitute the large-scale circulation of the Earth's ocean. The global field of long-term mean sea-surface temperature is dominated by the meridional gradients between the warm equatorial regions and the cold poles but contains significant zonal gradients as well (Figure 1.1). The global long-term mean sea-surface salinity field has a more complex structure (Figure 1.2), with isolated maxima in the evaporative centers of the midlatitude subtropical gyres. The global sea-surface density field computed from long-term mean temperature and salinity reflects the competing influences of temperature and salinity on density (Figure 1.3). These fields are the surface expressions of complex three-dimensional interior property fields. The downward penetration of the warm equatorial temperatures is generally limited to the upper one-fifth of the water column (Figure 1.4), while salinity perturbations are less strongly confined to shallow depths (Figure 1.5).
Third party governance training and voucher school performance

In this article we seek to understand the impacts of a third party governance reform implemented by the nonprofit organization, Partners Advancing Values in Education (PAVE), on school-level perfor...
"Ag-Gag" Laws: Evolution, Resurgence, and Public Health Implications.

The term “ag-gag” refers to state laws that intentionally limit public access to information about agricultural production practices, particularly livestock production. Originally created in the 19...
“A machine masquerading as a movement”: The 2015 UK general election labour campaign investigated through assemblage and affect

Abstract This paper explores the election strategy of a local Labour Party campaign for the UK May 7 2015 General Election. Using data gathered through an ethnography, and conceptualising the party, local campaign and election through concepts of assemblage and affect (Deleuze and Guattari 2013), I look at the relationships, connections and materials (campaign literature, as well as digital tools such as Contact Creator) that constructed the local party campaign assemblage. Following assemblage theory, I examine the effects of the campaigns door-step method within the party. I argue that an election is imbued with different intensities, understandings and results that ask not only those political actors to perform the party and State in particular ways, but also the voting population to be part of that performance. As such, I show the always-changing (always becoming) relationship between ‘society’ and political parties by witnessing, participating in and questioning how lines appear between a Labour canvassing campaign assemblage and the society it is canvassing.
35Gb/s Ultralow-Voltage Three-Terminal Si-Ge Avalanche Photodiode

We demonstrate a 35Gb/s three-terminal waveguide silicon-germanium avalanche photodiode using a lateral interdigitated multiplication region. A breakdown voltage of −6V, a bandwidth of 18.9GHz, and a multiplication gain of 15 are achieved.
Linear System Theory

Linear system theory is the central part of this book. It is developed for state-space models and centered right at the intrinsic structural properties of linear systems in relation to their inputs and outputs. This chapter examines basic issues such as realization, observation, and control. It studies system structures from inputs to state vectors and from state vectors to outputs via rigorous mathematical analysis. However it is the conceptual notions of reachability, observability, stabilizability, and detectability that are at the heart of the linear system theory and are the central theme of this chapter. These fundamental concepts empower not only our insight to minimal realization, but also to optimal estimation and control to be investigated in a later chapter. Moreover Lyapunov stability, i.e., asymptotic stability and linear feedback stabilization are developed based on these concepts. Both numerical tool and illustrative examples are presented.
Selective covalent capture of a DNA sequence corresponding to a cancer-driving C>G mutation in the KRAS gene by a chemically reactive probe: optimizing a cross-linking reaction with non-canonical duplex structures

Covalent reactions are used in the detection of various biological analytes ranging from low molecular weight metabolites to protein–protein complexes. The detection of specific nucleic acid sequences is important in molecular biology and medicine but covalent approaches are less common in this field, in part, due to a deficit of simple and reliable reactions for the covalent capture of target sequences. Covalent anchoring can prevent the denaturation (melting) of probe–target complexes and causes signal degradation in typical hybridization-based assays. Here, we used chemically reactive nucleic acid probes that hybridize with, and covalently capture, a target sequence corresponding to a cancer-driving variant of the human KRAS gene. Our approach exploits a reductive amination reaction to generate a stable covalent attachment between an abasic site in the probe strand and a guanine mutation at position 35 in the KRAS gene sequence. Importantly, systematic variation of the probe sequence in a manner that formally introduces non-canonical structures such as bulges and mispairs into the probe–target duplex led to probes with dramatically improved cross-linking properties. An optimized abasic site-containing probe enabled simultaneous quantitative detection of both mutant and wild-type KRAS sequences in mixtures.
Hop-Based Sketch for Large-Scale Influence Analysis

Quantifying users’ influence in social networks is an important topic with many applications including viral marketing, political studies, and fake news propagation. For the last few years, the novel sketching technique, termed RIS, by Borgs. et al. has inspired a series of scalable approaches for influence analysis.
Blood transfusion rates and predictors following geriatric hip fracture surgery

Background:Postoperative blood product transfusions in elderly hip fracture patients cause concern for morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors and short-term s...
An adaptive controller for uncertain nonlinear systems with multiple time delays

Abstract This paper leverages the predictor-based model reference adaptive control (PMRAC) architecture to develop an adaptive compensation scheme for uncertain nonlinear systems with multiple input and state delays. The controller is composed of a state predictor, an auxiliary system, and adaptive laws. The adaptive laws are designed through a Lyapunov function in such a way that the predictor state and the auxiliary state asymptotically converge to the system state given that a stability condition holds. Satisfying this delay-dependent stability condition, formulated in the form of a linear matrix inequality (LMI), also ensures the input-to-state stability of the closed-loop control system. Numerical case studies with a standard F-16 aircraft model are discussed to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed control framework.
Advances in dynamically controlled catalytic reaction engineering

Transient reaction modulation has found its place in many branches of chemical reaction engineering over the past hundred years. Historically, catalytic reactions have been dominated by the impulse to reduce spatial and temporal perturbations in favor of steady, static systems due to their ease of operation and scalability. Transient reactor operation, however, has seen remarkable growth in the past few decades, where new operating regimes are being revealed to enhance catalytic reaction rates beyond the statically achievable limits classically described by thermodynamics and the Sabatier principle. These theoretical and experimental studies suggest that there exists a resonant frequency which coincides with its catalytic turnover that can be exploited and amplified for a given reaction to overcome classical barriers. This review discusses the evolution of thought from thermostatic (equilibrium), to thermodynamic (dynamic equilibrium), and finally dynamic (non-equilibrium) catalysis. Natural and forced dynamic oscillations are explored with periodic reactor operation of catalytic systems that modulate energetics and local concentrations through a multitude of approaches, and the challenges to unlock this new class of catalytic reaction engineering is discussed.
Distance to an Abortion Provider and Its Association with the Abortion Rate: A Multistate Longitudinal Analysis

Context Although one in four U.S. women has an abortion in her lifetime, barriers to abortion persist, including distance to care. This study evaluates the association between distance to care and the abortion rate, adjusting for abortion demand. Methods Two analyses were conducted using a data set linking provider locations and 2000-2014 county-level abortion data for 18 states; data sources included the Census Bureau, state vital statistics offices and the Guttmacher Institute. First, a series of linear regression models were run, with and without adjustment for demographic covariates, modeling distance as both a continuous and a categorical variable. Then, an instrumental variable analysis was conducted in which being 30 or more miles from a large college-enrolled female population younger than age 25 was used as an instrument for distance to a provider. The outcome variable for all models was abortions per 1,000 women aged 25 or older. All models were adjusted for state, year and state-year interaction fixed effects. Results Increased distance to a provider was associated with a decreased abortion rate. Each additional mile to a provider was associated with a decrease of 0.011 in the abortion rate. Compared with being within 30 miles of a provider, being between 30 and 90 miles from a provider was associated with 0.80-1.46 fewer abortions per 1,000 women. In the instrumental variable analysis, being 30 or more miles from a provider was associated with 5.26 fewer abortions per 1,000 women. Conclusions Distance to a provider may present a barrier to abortion by preventing access to care. Therefore, policies that increase travel distances have potential for harm.
Materials Studies of GHZ Split-Ring Resonator Plasma Generators

Microwave-driven microplasmas have generated interest since they offer many favorable qualities such as the ability to produce high-electron densities while causing little sputtering damage1. Such interest has led to studies of breakdown mechanisms at high-frequencies and small gap sizes2-3. Of particular interest for our work is the generation of microplasmas using microwave resonators since they allow high-electric fields with low power input. A missing aspect of the current literature is the comparative study of the influence of different materials on breakdown and resonator performance. By using different materials it may be possible, for instance, to help elucidate the importance of various breakdown mechanisms. For our materials studies we utilize screen-printed, split-ring resonators (SRRs) for the generation of plasma. The SRRs are fabricated out of both gold and silver. These materials differ in conductivity, work function, and chemical reactivity.
Overview and Methods

This brief chapter introduces Part II of our analysis. The purpose of the chapter is twofold: first, to review some of the methodological shortcomings of current research on anger and aggression; and second, to provide an overview of five studies, the results of which will be presented in subsequent chapters.
Humanlike Robots: Synthetically Mimicking Humans

Nature inspired many inventions and the field of technology that is based on the mimicking or inspiration of nature is widely known as Biomimetics and it is increasingly leading to many new capabilities. There are numerous examples of biomimetic successes including the copying of fins for swimming, and the inspiration of the insects and birds flight. More and more commercial implementations of biomimetics are appearing and behaving lifelike and applications are emerging that are important to our daily life. Making humanlike robots is the ultimate challenge to biomimetics and, for many years, it was considered science fiction, but such robots are becoming an engineering reality. Advances in producing such robot are allowing them to perform impressive functions and tasks. The development of such robots involves addressing many challenges and is raising concerns that are related to fear of their application implications and potential ethical issues. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of humanlike robots, potential applications and challenges will be reviewed.
Nonlinear optical properties of potassium titanyl phosphate thin film deposited by UV laser ablation

Summary form only given. We report the experimental measurement of the second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility of a thin KTiOPO/sub 4/ film deposited on a sapphire (100) substrate. The film was deposited on a sapphire (100) substrate by laser ablating a target made by polycrystalline KTP ceramic powder.
American Studies in Western Continental European Universities

This Festschrift is designed to honor a distinguished political scientist whose contributions have been recognized on the world scene. Professor Carl J. Friedrich’s current presidency of the International Political Science Association, following his presidency of the American Political Science Association, gives evidence of this recognition. He has made numerous scholarly contributions, which deserve special tribute, and has played many professional “roles.” One of these roles has been to serve over the years as a channel of communication between the academic communities in the universities in the United States and Western Europe, and particularly Germany. He has functioned in this capacity since his first visit to the United States as an emissary for cultural exchange in the 1920’s. Many of Professor Friedrich’s activities in later years have evidenced this dual capacity, as witness his major involvement in American Military Government as an adviser in occupied Germany to General Lucius Clay during the early post-World- War-II years,1 and his subsequent professional activity after 1956 as a joint professor at Harvard University and Heidelberg University.
Optimized Operation of Current-Fed Dual Active Bridge DC–DC Converter for PV Applications

The current-fed dual active bridge (CF-DAB) dc–dc converter gains growing applications in photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems due to its advantages, e.g., a wide input voltage range, a high step-up ratio, a low input current ripple, and a multiport interface capability. In addition, the direct input current controllability and extra control freedom of the CF-DAB converter make it possible to buffer the double-line-frequency energy in grid-interactive PV systems without using electrolytic capacitors in the dc link. Therefore, a PV system achieves high reliability and highly efficient maximum power point tracking. This paper studies the optimized operation of a CF-DAB converter for a PV application in order to improve the system efficiency. The operating principle and soft-switching conditions over the wide operating range are thoroughly analyzed with phase-shift control and duty-cycle control, and an optimized operating mode is proposed to achieve the minimum root-mean-square transformer current. The proposed operating mode can extend the soft-switching region and reduce the power loss, particularly under a heavy load and a high input voltage. Moreover, the efficiency can be further improved with a higher dc-link voltage. A 5-kW hardware prototype was built in the laboratory, and experimental results are provided for verification. This paper provides a design guideline for the CF-DAB converter applied to PV systems, as well as other applications with a wide input voltage variation.
Requirements of Salmonella typhimurium for Recovery from Thermal Injury

The heating of Salmonella typhimurium 7136 at 48 C for 30 min produces a population of cells that are incompetent at division on Levine Eosin Methylene Blue Agar containing 2.0% NaCl (EMB-NaCl). When these injured cells were placed in fresh citrate salts medium they recovered, and regained their tolerance to the EMB-NaCl medium and grew out. The addition of the selective inhibitors rifamycin, 5-fluorouracil, 2,4-dinitrophenol, chlorotetracycline, chloramphenicol, and 5-methyl-tryptophan to the recovery medium showed that the recovery process was dependent on ribosomal ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis, adenosine triphosphate synthesis, and the synthesis of new protein. These results were substantiated by incorporation experiments, which demonstrated that during recovery no deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, and hence no cell division, occurred. Ribosomal RNA was synthesized during recovery, but its synthesis was not the rate-limiting step. A small but significant amount of protein was also formed during the latter part of the recovery period.
An effective hybrid thresholding technique for degraded documents images binarization

In this paper, we proposed an effective document image binarization technique to work with various kind of document degradation such as, bleed-through, aging and bad illumination conditions. The proposed method was compared to various global and local methods. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach versus local and global approaches.
A way forward: enabling operating system innovation in the cloud

Cloud computing has not resulted in a fundamental change to the underlying operating systems. Rather, distributed applications are built over middleware that provides high-level abstractions to exploit the cloud’s scale and elasticity. This middleware conjoins many general purpose OS instances. Others have demonstrated that a new operating system built specifically for the cloud can achieve increased efficiency, scale and functionality [11, 14]. However, this work does not take into account the way applications are being deployed in cloud environments. In particular, entire physical or virtual machines are being dedicated to run a single application, rather than concurrently supporting many users and multiple applications. In this paper we introduce a new model for distributed applications that embraces a reduced role of the OS in the cloud. It allows for the construction of application-driven compositions of OS functionality wherein each application can employ its own customized operating system.
Development of a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for assessment of human exposure to bisphenol A

A previously developed physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for bisphenol A (BPA) in adult rhesus monkeys was modified to characterize the pharmacokinetics of BPA and its phase II conjugates in adult humans following oral ingestion. Coupled with in vitro studies on BPA metabolism in the liver and the small intestine, the PBPK model was parameterized using oral pharmacokinetic data with deuterated-BPA (d6-BPA) delivered in cookies to adult humans after overnight fasting. The availability of the serum concentration time course of unconjugated d6-BPA offered direct empirical evidence for the calibration of BPA model parameters. The recalibrated PBPK adult human model for BPA was then evaluated against published human pharmacokinetic studies with BPA. A hypothesis of decreased oral uptake was needed to account for the reduced peak levels observed in adult humans, where d6-BPA was delivered in soup and food was provided prior to BPA ingestion, suggesting the potential impact of dosing vehicles and/or fasting on BPA disposition. With the incorporation of Monte Carlo analysis, the recalibrated adult human model was used to address the inter-individual variability in the internal dose metrics of BPA for the U.S. general population. Model-predicted peak BPA serum levels were in the range of pM, with 95% of human variability falling within an order of magnitude. This recalibrated PBPK model for BPA in adult humans provides a scientific basis for assessing human exposure to BPA that can serve to minimize uncertainties incurred during extrapolations across doses and species.
Aluminum grain interaction with metal etch induced by TiN film thickness

In Texas Instruments' DMOS5 wafer fabrication, yield loss occurred in a consistent spatial signature on 0.35 /spl mu/m product wafers. The defect was termed the "Beard" due to its crescent shape on the wafers. It was found that the Beard could be reduced, but not eliminated, by an increase in metal overetch. The metal stack consisted of a sandwich of a top TiN anti-reflective coating, an aluminum/0.5% copper interconnect, a bottom TiN layer and a Ti sticking layer.. Ultimately, an interaction was found between the thickness of the bottom TiN layer with the Beard. Specifically, a thinner TiN film had more fails. Texture analysis shows that the aluminum film decreases in [111] texture with a thinner underlying TiN film. This change in aluminum grain texture is the likely cause of the observed localized regions of unetched aluminum and TiN. By thickening the TiN by 1.5X and thereby achieving a greater percentage of columnar [111] grains, residual TiN shorts do not occur as confirmed by electrical test of the product wafers.
Operational experience with the CDF run 2 silicon tracker

Abstract The Run 2 CDF silicon detector plays an important role in heavy flavor tagging and enables a significant increase in acceptance. I will describe our experience operating the detector during Run 2. I will cover several failure modes which have emerged and discuss the performance improvements from a novel layer mounted on the beampipe. Since the beginning of Run 2, the Tevatron at Fermilab has delivered almost 0.5 fb - 1 integrated luminosity to CDF. The CDF silicon has now been exposed to enough radiation that aging can be measured. I will present studies of charge collection and noise versus applied bias voltage at several different integrated luminosities.
Development of a Flared Energy-Absorbing Terminal for W-Beam Guardrails

A new flared W-beam guardrail terminal that incorporates energy-absorbing technology has been developed and successfully crash tested to meet the criteria presented in NCHRP Report 350. The terminal, designated FLEAT-350, incorporates an impact head designed to dissipate impact energy by producing a series of plastic hinges in the W-beam as the impact head is pushed down the guardrail. The energy-absorption mechanism allows the flared terminal to absorb large amounts of kinetic energy before the vehicle is allowed to gate through the system. Most components of the new terminal are similar to those incorporated in the SKT-350 terminal. The terminal system is 11.4 m (37.5 ft) long and incorporates a straight flare with a final end offset of between 0.76 m (2.5 ft) and 1.2 m (4 ft). The terminal uses two breakaway posts in foundation tubes and five rough-cut controlled-release terminal posts of 150 by 200 mm (6 by 8 in.). The energy-absorbing design minimizes problems associated with vehicles that penetrate ...
Retrospective bias in test performance: Providing easy items at the beginning of a test makes students believe they did better on it.

We examined the effect of three variables (test list structure, report option, and framing) on retrospective bias in global evaluations of test performance (postdictions). Participants answered general knowledge questions and estimated correctness of their performance after each block. The ordering of the questions within a block affected bias: Participants believed they had answered more questions correctly when questions were sorted from the easiest to the hardest than when the same questions were randomized or sorted from the hardest to the easiest. This bias was obtained on global postdictions but was not apparent on item-by-item ratings, pointing to a memory-based phenomenon. In addition, forcing participants to produce a response to every question increased performance without affecting evaluations. Finally, framing the evaluation question in terms of the number of questions answered incorrectly (rather than the number correctly answered) did not affect how positively participants evaluated their performance, but did render postdictions less accurate. Our results provide evidence that students’ evaluations of performance after a test are prone to retrospective memory biases.
Energy transfer dynamics in metal-organic frameworks

Isomorphous metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) based on {M[4,4′-(HO2C)2-bpy]2bpy}2+ building blocks (where M = Ru or Os) were designed and synthesized to study the classic Ru to Os energy transfer process that has potential applications in light-harvesting with supramolecular assemblies. The crystalline nature of the MOFs allows precise determination of the distances between metal centers by X-ray diffraction, thereby facilitating the study of the Ru→Os energy transfer process. The mixed-metal MOFs with 0.3, 0.6, 1.4, and 2.6 mol % Os doping were also synthesized in order to study the energy transfer dynamics with a two-photon excitation at 850 nm. The Ru lifetime at 620 nm decreases from 171 ns in the pure Ru MOF to 29 ns in the sample with 2.6 mol % Os doping. In the mixed-metal samples, energy transfer was observed with an initial growth in Os emission corresponding with the rate of decay of the Ru excited state. These results demonstrate rapid, efficient energy migration and long distance transfer in iso...
Rapid Scan Infrared Spectrograph with Linear Wavelength Presentation

A spectrometer has been developed which scans the infrared spectrum from 1 μ to 5.5 μ in 15 msec, 20 times/ sec. The spectra are recorded on 35 mm film with a linear wavelength presentation. The instrument was developed from the modification of a Perkin-Elmer model 99 monochromator. Principal emphasis is given to the development of a linear wavelength presentation with a method indicated for correcting the amplitude of the recorded spectra for all nonlinearities.