cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cherenkov Telescope Array Mirror Alignment Report

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a groundbased observatory for gamma rays with very high energy characteristics within the range of 10 GeV to 100 TeV. It is currently still under development. As the title of the project suggests, it takes advantage of the Cherenkov radiation that is produced by the gamma ray’s interaction with the earth’s upper atmosphere, similar to the guiding physical principles of VERITAS. The primary differences are that CTA will feature more telescopes and possess a larger energy range. Cherenkov radiation will be collected by an array of dozens of optical telescopes of various sizes. These optical telescopes will be composed of hexagonal mirrors that must be aligned relative to each other so as to represent the shape of the telescope as a whole properly. It was in this area of research that my efforts were focused. The most recent proposed system with which to align the mirrors consists primarily of a laser and a webcam. Sixty to three hundred snapshots are taken of the laser and the position of the laser’s centroid in each frame is measured and analyzed by a custom-written computer program executed via ROOT. One to ten microns was the ideal resolution that was required of the system to meet the needs of this project. Since the position of the laser’s centroid was given by pixel number, it was necessary to determine the ratio of pixels to millimeters via another ROOT program described in more detail on the following pages. It was also necessary to ensure by using an OPENCV analysis program that the pixels were not saturated. As will be shown, the consequences of saturation are bothersome edge effects that produce erroneous results.
Transfer Evaluation of Knowledge and Skill Development: A Case Study of an Instructional Systems Development Training Program

Program evaluation involves a systematic process to collect and convert data into information which is used to improve programs, measure their effects, track quality, act on results, and improve decision making. Beginning in 1992, the LG Group of Korea was involved in an instructional systems development (ISD) training program for its human resource development professionals in cooperation with Indiana University. The LG ISD training program stressed that learning instructional design theories and practices would make LG more effective in global competition. The purposes of the research reported in this article were to evaluate the effectiveness of the ISD training program in terms of transfer of training and to gain information on how to improve future training programs. The findings of the study support the goals that were established for the ISD training program. The program participants are more confident and competent in using the ISD process for analyzing needs for performance improvement and designing and developing quality training products. The article suggests ways of solving barriers to transfer training and evaluation and improving future programs.
Cerebellar CB1 receptor mediation of Δ9-THC-induced motor incoordination and its potentiation by ethanol and modulation by the cerebellar adenosinergic A1 receptor in the mouse

Abstract The effect of intracerebellar microinfusion of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ 9 -THC) and other naturally occurring cannabinoid receptor (CB 1 ) mRNA on Δ 9 -THC-induced motor impairment was investigated in mice. Δ 9 -THC (15–30 μg/μl; intracerebellar) resulted in a significant motor impairment in a dose-related manner. The intracerebellar pretreatment with antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (3.0 μg/100 nl/12 h; six administrations/mouse) virtually abolished Δ 9 -THC (15 and 25 μg/1 μl; intracerebellar)-induced motor impairment. However, intracerebellar pretreatment with the mismatched oligodeoxynucleotide in exactly the same manner as the antisense was completely ineffective in altering the Δ 9 -THC-induced motor impairment. These results strongly suggest the involvement of CB 1 receptor in the expression of Δ 9 -THC-induced motor impairment. The intracerebellar microinfusion of adenosine A 1 -selective agonist, N 6 -cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) (4 ng/100 nl) significantly enhanced Δ 9 -THC-induced motor impairment, suggesting a cerebellar A 1 adenosinergic modulation of motor impairment. A pretreatment with the antisense and the mismatched oligodeoxynucleotide also markedly attenuated and did not alter, respectively, the cerebellar A 1 adenosinergic modulation (enhancement) of Δ 9 -THC-induced motor impairment. There was no change in the normal motor coordination due to intracerebellar pretreatment with antisense and its mismatch, in the presence as well as absence of intracerebellar CHA indicating the selectivity of interactions with Δ 9 -THC. The Δ 9 -THC-induced motor incoordination was also significantly enhanced dose-dependently by systemic (i.p.) ethanol administration suggesting behavioral synergism between the two psychoactive drugs. Pretreatment (intracerebellar) with pertussis toxin (PTX) markedly attenuated Δ 9 -THC- and Δ 9 -THC+CHA-induced motor incoordination suggesting coupling of CB 1 receptor to PTX-sensitive G-protein (G i /G o ). These data suggested co-modulation by cerebellar cannabinoid and adenosine system of Δ 9 -THC-induced motor impairment. Conversely, the results in the present study also suggested co-modulation by cerebellar adenosine A 1 and CB 1 receptors of ethanol-induced motor impairment, thereby indicating a possible common signal transduction pathway in the expression of motor impairment produced by Δ 9 -THC as well as ethanol.
Cathodic stripping analysis of DNA/RNA bases in nonaqueous media

The methods for the determination of nucleic acid bases by differential pulse cathodic stripping voltammetry in dimethyl sulfoxide are proposed and developed. One method uses mercury drop or film electrodes. The required anion is produced by the deprotonation of the parent molecule by added tetrabutyl-ammonium hydroxide (TBAOH). Optimization of the method is discussed. The effects of deposition potential or time, scan rate, pulse height, TBAOH concentration, and other experimental parameters are examined. Included are the results of the determinations of thymine, uracil, cytosine, adenine, and guanine. The second method uses a mercury-film rotating ring-disk electrode. The anion, produced electrochemically at the disk held at a negative potential, is swept to the ring and deposited at a suitable, more positive potential. Detection limis for nucleic acid bases are 10−8 to 10−9 M.
Lip swelling in a teenage boy.

A pediatric admitting physician contacted clinicians from the oral medicine consulting service of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia regarding evaluation of a 16-year-old boy who was admitted because of painful lower lip swelling. The patient reported a three-day history of lower lip swelling, which had become acutely painful during the previous 24 hours. His medical history was significant for asthma, chronic acne, multiple environmental and food allergies (apple, banana, carrot, pear, peach) and a penicillin allergy. He had seen his primary care physician, who prescribed methylprednisolone in a dose pack at the onset of the lip swelling for a presumed allergic reaction to isotretinoin, which he had been taking for several months before the onset of the lesion. The patient also was using a moisturizing balm for cracked lips secondary to acne treatment. Despite the patient’s stopping the isotretinoin treatment and use of the lip balm and starting methylprednisolone treatLip swelling in a teenage boy
Gene-regulatory memories: electrical-equivalent modeling, simulation and parameter identification

The development of gene-regulatory memory circuits provides key understandings of biological information storage and enables new biological applications. Computer models and simulations can provide quantitative analysis and prediction of the behaviors and functions of genetic networks, thereby providing valuable verification and design guidance. In this paper, we model the nonlinear dynamics associated with various chemical reactions in gene-regulatory memory networks using chemical reaction equations. These reaction equations are mapped into a set of electrical-equivalent models and the network is simulated by an extended SPICE-like circuit simulation environment. Furthermore, we address the practical difficulty in direct characterization of network model parameters by developing a simulation-driven Bayesian framework for parameter identification. To ensure the reliable identification of key system properties, we propose a two-step structure-preserving parameter identification approach. The first step infers bistability, the most critical characteristics of a memory device; and the second step is geared towards identifying dynamical properties of the network while maintaining the identified bistability. We demonstrate the proposed approaches through extensive simulations that well agree with established biological understandings and identified networks that recreate measured circuit responses in a statistical sense.
Stochastic soft backpressure algorithms for routing and scheduling in wireless ad-hoc networks

We develop a generalization of the backpressure (BP) algorithm to find routes and schedules in wireless ad-hoc networks. Different from BP that schedules links that maximize queue differentials, the proposed stochastic soft (SS)BP algorithm randomizes schedules across links and flows with significant queue differentials. We show that SSBP shares the fundamental property of BP, namely, that if given arrival rates can be supported by some routing-scheduling policy, they can be supported by SSBP. Simulations illustrate SSBP's improvement in delay performance.
Frequency modulation based angular rate sensor

We report, for the first time, a quasi-digital angular rate sensor based on mechanical frequency modulation (FM) of the input rotation rate. The new approach relies on tracking of the resonant frequencies of two ultra-high Q-factor mechanical modes of vibration in a MEMS vibratory gyroscope to produce a frequency based measurement of the input angular rate. Rate table characterization of the new FM angular rate sensor with quality factors of 1 million revealed a linear dynamic range of 2000 deg/s limited by the setup, with a fundamental performance limit in excess of 72,000 deg/s. Temperature characterization of the FM rate sensor exhibited less than 0.2 % variation of the angular rate response between 25 °C and 70 °C environments, enabled by the self-calibrating differential frequency detection.
Short-Channel Effect Limitations on High-Frequency Operation of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for T-Gate Devices

AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were fabricated on SiC substrates with epitaxial layers grown by multiple suppliers and methods. Devices with gate lengths varying from 0.50 to 0.09 mum were fabricated on each sample. We demonstrate the impact of varying the gate lengths and show that the unity current gain frequency response (fT) is limited by short-channel effects for all samples measured. We present an empirically based physical model that can predict the expected extrinsic fT for many combinations of gate length and commonly used barrier layer thickness (tbar) on silicon nitride passivated T-gated AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The result is that even typical high-aspect-ratio (gate length to barrier thickness) devices show device performance limitations due to short-channel effects. We present the design tradeoffs and show the parameter space required to achieve optimal frequency performance for GaN technology. These design rules differ from the traditional GaAs technology by requiring a significantly higher aspect ratio to mitigate the short-channel effects.
Radar cross section of an open‐ended circular waveguide: Calculation of second‐order diffraction terms

The radar cross section of an open-ended, semi-infinite circular waveguide is calculated by the geometrical theory of diffraction and the equivalent-current (EC) method. Both single- and double-diffraction terms are included. It is found that the double-diffraction term is stronger than the single-diffraction term for the horizontal polarization at wide-angle incidence. Its inclusion is necessary in order to check with experimental data and the asymptotic expansion of the exact Wiener-Hopf solution. The EC method is used for the single diffraction. On the other hand the double-diffraction term is obtained by using the EC method for axial incidence and geometrical theory of diffraction for wide-angle incidence. These two solutions are matched with a proper matching function. This technique is computationally more efficient than the matching technique of integration over the equivalent currents.
New ECL gate in BiFET process

An ECL gate implemented as a combination of bipolar and MOS circuits in a BiFET process is presented. The resulting ECL gate exhibits an improved speed-power product over circuits presented in the past. Owing to its reduced power consumption this gate allows a higher level of integration for ECL. The process used is standard BiCMOS.
Transformations in technical communication pedagogy: engineering, writing, and the ABET engineering criteria 2000

Recent transformations in engineering education accreditation have shifted emphasis away from simple counting of required courses to a focus on the documentation of student learning outcomes. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology's (ABET) Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC 2000) demands that engineering programs show evidence of eleven skills in their students. Only five of these skills relate to a student's technical abilities. The remaining six define what have been called "soft" skills, and it is this shift in emphasis that will have a significant impact on technical communication programs and pedagogy. In essence, EC 2000 has redefined both who is responsible for developing students' communication skills and for documenting evidence of student learning outcomes. Given the changes at the accreditation level, transformations within technical communication departments that serve engineering programs are inevitable. These changes offer problems as well as benefits for technical communication faculty.
A Discrete-Time Model for the Design of Type-II PLLs With Passive Sampled Loop Filters

Type-II charge-pump (CP) phase-locked loop (PLLs) are used extensively in electronic systems for frequency synthesis. Recently, a passive sampled loop filter (SLF) has been shown to offer major benefits over the conventional continuous-time loop filter traditionally used in such PLLs. These benefits include greatly enhanced reference spur suppression, elimination of CP pulse-position modulation nonlinearity, and, in the case of phase noise cancelling fractional-N PLLs, improved phase noise cancellation. The main disadvantage of the SLF to date has been the lack of a linear time-invariant (LTI) model with which to perform the system-level design of SLF-based PLLs. Without such a model, designers are forced to rely on trial and error iteration supported by lengthy transient simulations. This paper presents an accurate LTI model of SLF-based type-II PLLs that eliminates this disadvantage.
Relative effectiveness of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and antiarrhythmic drugs in patients with varying degrees of left ventricular dysfunction who have survived malignant ventricular arrhythmias

Abstract OBJECTIVES We sought to assess the effect of baseline ejection fraction on survival difference between patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias who were treated with an antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). BACKGROUND The Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators (AVID) study demonstrated improved survival in patients with ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤0.40 or hemodynamic compromise. METHODS Survival differences between AAD-treated and ICD-treated patients entered into the AVID study (patients presenting with sustained ventricular arrhythmia associated with an LVEF ≤0.40 or hemodynamic compromise) were compared at different levels of ejection fraction. RESULTS In patients with an LVEF ≥0.35, there was no difference in survival between AAD-treated and ICD-treated patients. A test for interaction was not significant, but had low power to detect an interaction. For patients with an LVEF 0.20 to 0.34, there was a significantly improved survival with ICD as compared with AAD therapy. In the smaller subgroup with an LVEF CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that patients with relatively well-preserved LVEF (≥0.35) may not have better survival when treated with the ICD as compared with AADs. At a lower LVEF, the ICD appears to offer improved survival as compared with AADs. Prospective studies with larger patient numbers are needed to assess the effect of relatively well-preserved ejection fraction (≥0.35) on the relative treatment effect of AADs and the ICDs.
Modeling and phantom studies of ultrasonic wall shear rate measurements using coded pulse excitation

Wall shear rate (WSR) is the derivative of blood velocity with respect to vessel radius at the endothelial cell (EC) surface. The product of WSR and blood viscosity is the wall shear stress (WSS) that has been identified as an important factor for atherosclerosis development. High echo signal-to-noise ratio (eSNR) and high spatial resolution are crucial for minimizing the errors in WSR estimates. By transmitting coded pulses with time-bandwidth product greater than one, high eSNR from weak blood scatter can be achieved without increasing instantaneous power or sacrificing spatial resolution. This paper summarizes a series of measurements in a straight tube (5-mm diameter), constant velocity flow phantom using a 10 MHz transducer (60% bandwidth, f/1.5) imaged with a 72/spl deg/ Doppler angle, 125 MHz sampling frequency and 1 kHz pulse repetition frequency. Measurements were made using a frequency-modulated (FM) code, phase-modulated (PM) codes, and uncoded broadband and narrow band pulse transmissions. Both simulation and experimental results show that coded-pulse excitation increases accuracy and precision in WSR estimation for laminar flow over a broad range of peak velocity values when compared to standard pulsing techniques in noise-limited conditions (eSNR < 30 dB). The code sequence arid its length are selected to balance range lobe suppression with eSNR and echo coherence enhancements to minimize WSR errors. In our study, the combination of an eight bit Optimal coded pulse with a Wiener compression filter yielded the highest WSR estimation performance.
A Therapeutic Monitoring Assay for N-Methylformamide in Human Serum and Urine

This report describes a gas chromatographic procedure using a packed column and a flame ionization detector, which is suitable for the therapeutic monitoring of N-methylformamide (N-MF), N-MF is a polar compound that induces cancer cell maturation in vilro and exhibits antitumor activity with human tumors xenografted in nude mice. Toxciology studies with mice have shown this compound to be hepatotoxic. N-MF is currently undergoing Phase I clinical trial as an antlcancer drug at this institution. In concert with its clinical trial, a method for the analysis of N-MF in biological fluids has been developed to study its pharmacokinetics. This method involves direct injection of urine or acetone-deprotenized serum onto a Chromosorb 103 column, using N,N-diethylformamide as an internal standard.
Can virulence factors be viable antibacterial targets

There is a real crisis in healthcare with the emergence of bacterial pathogens resistant to multiple drugs. The drug discovery industry is faced with the challenge of developing new classes of antibiotics that are effective against resistant organisms. Targeting bacterial virulence is one approach that has yet to be fully exploited, and the last decade or so has seen the development of reagents, screens and approaches that could make this possible. Several processes utilized by bacteria to cause infection are employed in a wide range of pathogens and as such may make attractive targets. Inhibitors of such targets would be unlikely to affect host cells, be cross-resistant to existing therapies and induce resistance themselves.
The genetic consequences of rarity in the western prairie fringed orchid ( Platanthera praeclara )

Habitat loss is a major driver of species extinction globally. The tallgrass prairie habitat of the Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) has been almost entirely converted to cropland; greatly reducing and fragmenting P. praeclara populations. As a result P. praeclara now occurs in small populations that are often separated by tens of kilometers, that may be vulnerable to genetic isolation, loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding. To investigate the genetic diversity and genetic isolation of P. praeclara we used six microsatellite loci in eight populations located in Minnesota and North Dakota. Evidence of genetic divergence among the populations was found; the overall GST was 0.081. A Principal component analysis of six of the populations showed two centrally located populations were more divergent from each other than the other populations. Two populations located a greater distance from each other than to other populations were the most genetically similar. A structure analysis showed an optimal K of 5 populations, with the two central populations genetically distinct from each other and all other populations. Significant inbreeding was shown to occur in these populations. The average FI S value (0.230) indicated a level of inbreeding comparable with other self-compatible plants. The populations of P. praeclara are not significantly isolated but may suffer inbreeding depression as a result of small population size.
A Cadence Perspective on ICCAD

ICCAD is the premier technical conference for CAD tools for ICs, and Cadence is the largest commercial vendor of such tools. Therefore it is not surprising that the two have many connections. Research from Cadence has been presented almost every year at ICCAD, and Cadence contributes heavily to other facets of the conference such as tutorials and panels. There is by no means a uni-directional flow of information, though — considerable research first reported at ICCAD has made its way into commercial products sold by Cadence. This paper covers some of the contributions to and from Cadence in the areas of timing, circuit simulation, layout analysis, physical design, logic verification, synthesis, and place and route.
They Released Me From My Cage...But They Still Keep Me Handcuffed: A Parolee's Reaction to Samson v. California

In Samson v. California, the Supreme Court per Justice Clarence Thomas held California's suspicion-less parole-search standard reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. In arriving at that holding, Justice Thomas makes several assumptions about the nature of parole supervision. Woven through the Court's theories about parole are subtle characterizations of parolees common in American society. Many see us as broken and incorrigible. We allegedly subsist to abuse the innocents we live among because we once deviated from recognized law. In Samson, the Supreme Court used these prejudiced characterizations as fodder in an attack on the Fourth Amendment protections that parolees should enjoy. And, as an incidental but hardly irrelevant matter, the Court's overall reasoning could be extended in the future to justify suspicion-less searches in other non-parolee circumstances. This Commentary explores the rationales and characterizations at work in Samson v. California. It deals in a reality to which theory is inapplicable. Focusing not on the hypothetical, but on the concrete, this essay explains how the Court's abstractions cannot support the evisceration of a parolee's Fourth Amendment protections. I examine the five arguments set out above in light of statistical data and common occurrences in the life of a parolee in order to illustrate that the Court's holding is based on generalizations and conjecture.
The Political Bureaucracy of France Since the War

To comment upon the far-reaching effects of modern warfare upon national life is in these days commonplace. Nevertheless, nearly ten years after Versailles, countless ramifications of the World War's long-term effects remain unexplored. Silent but profound social and political readjustments were set in motion which are only now beginning to be studied by trained observers of human institutions, while the public at large scarcely suspects what is going on. The administrative organization of France has not escaped these subtle processes. A bureaucratic inheritance surviving a half-dozen political revolutions, it has perhaps been more deeply shaken by events of the last fifteen years than in any period of similar length since the French Revolution itself. Some of these changes bid fair to modify not only the popular attitude toward the ubiquitous fonctionnaire , but the organization and spirit of the civil service as well. For a proper understanding of the causes and significance of this administrative evolution, we must revert for a moment to the scene as it appeared in 1914. Then the public service of France was a highly centralized hierarchical organization, with a democratic facade, but resting none the less upon the imperial foundations laid by Napoleon. There were as many as 900,000 persons in public employment, including the staffs of the departements and the communes. As in America to-day, the man in the street was sure this number was excessive. He remembered, doubtless, that France had done very well with 40,000 civil servants in Balzac's day, when the population of the country was only a fourth smaller than in 1914. Why, then, were twenty times as many needed in the twentieth century? As a matter of fact, the French public service made use of a staff which was, in proportion to population, no larger than the English or the American, especially if it be remembered that over 150,000 public school teachers and several thousand telegraph and telephone employees were among the 900,000 civil servants mentioned.
The Japanese Emperor

Ever since 1889, when the Emperor Meiji granted his people a constitution, Japan may be called a constitutional monarchy. But these simple words do not tell the whole story. The designation used by the Almanach de Gotha in referring to Czarist Russia—a “constitutional autocracy”—may be as appropriately applied to modern Japan. Japan has a constitution and a monarch, but in the eyes of both the people and the statesmen of the Restoration Period, the monarch comes before the constitution.
Effect of Heat Extraction from a Photovoltaic Module by Natural and Forced Air Circulation with and without Pre-Cooling of Air

Photovoltaic (PV) cells suffer significant efficiency drop as their operating temperature increases. Forced or natural air-cooling may be a viable method of PV cooling, if the heat transfer enhancement options are used effectively. Systems with heat extraction by air circulation are generally limited in thermal performance due to the low density, the small volumetric heat capacity and the small thermal conductivity of air. Innovative measures for heat transfer augmentation are necessary. This paper presents the use of forced convection, evaporative precooling of air and specially designed channels to increase the heat transfer from the back of PV modules. Laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow conditions are used to compare the effect of Reynolds number on different cooling options. The meteorological data of a typical sunny day is used for a better comparison among different cooling options. The techniques presented are anticipated to contribute towards better understanding of efficient cooling options for PV systems.
New Version of Laser Device Materials for Developing Diffraction Beam Modulators; Novel Nano-periodic Structures

Cro/CrOx-doped hybrid glasses are designed to develop novel laser device materials by inserting alkylene spacers between inorganic oxides. In TEM images, morphology of the organically modified hybrid glasses reveals highly arranged nano-periodic patterns. The nano-patterns observed from the hybrid glass based on alkylene-bridged xerogel are sustained over substantial domains and appears to arise from modified glassy lattice fringes. In electron diffraction pattern, it also shows the circled diffraction patterns arise from Cro/CrOx. In laser experiments, the hybrid glass shows a new optical property, which generates a huge acoustic wave; the diffraction efficiency (45 %) of the modified glass is higher than that of methanol (25 %); it means that the compressibility of the solid type of glass is as effective as the liquid. The hybrid glass shows a new optical property that hitherto hasn’t been found and could be useful for developing diffraction beam modulators.
Direct and Indirect Employment Under Title VII

This short essay, prepared for the New York University School of Law's 68th Annual Conference on Labor, outlines the law of direct and indirect employment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The essay then notes confusion in the case law surrounding indirect employment, where a plaintiff seeks to extend Title VII liability to an entity other than her nominal employer. Many courts appear to be importing the common law agency test from the direct employment context, where there is a dispute over whether a worker is properly an independent contractor or an employee. This mixing of separate standards effectively requires plaintiffs to prove a direct employment relationship as to all defendants, eliminating the possibility of an indirect, de facto, or joint, employment relationship. The essay ends by advocating for courts to consider the economic realities of the relationship between a worker and her putative employer(s) in assessing claims of indirect employment.
Behavior of P85 and P188 Poloxamer Molecules: Computer Simulations Using United-Atom Force-Field

To study the interaction between poloxamer molecules and lipid bilayers using molecular dynamics simulation technique with the united-atom resolution, we augmented the GROMOS force-field to include poloxamers. We validated the force-field by calculating the radii of gyration of two poloxamers, P85 and P188, solvated in water and by considering the poloxamer density distributions at the air/water interface. The emphasis of our simulations was on the study of the interaction between poloxamers and lipid bilayer. At the water/lipid bilayer interface, we observed that both poloxamers studied, P85 and P188, behaved like surfactants: the hydrophilic blocks of poloxamers became adsorbed at the polar interface, while their hydrophobic block penetrated the interface into the aliphatic tail region of the lipid bilayer. We also observed that when P85 and P188 poloxamers interacted with damaged membranes that contained pores, the hydrophobic blocks of copolymers penetrated into the membrane in the vicinity of the por...
Hematogones detected by flow cytometry in a child with vitamin B12 deficiency: A case report

Abstract Vitamin B12 deficiency is a known cause of megaloblastic anemia and bone marrow failure. Bone marrow biopsies are not frequently performed as part of the diagnostic workup and can demonstrate morphologic features that overlap with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute leukemia. We describe a case of a dysplastic bone marrow with increased bone marrow hematogones detected by flow cytometry in a child with vitamin B12 deficiency. Hematogones are normal B cell precursors, and hyperplasia has been described in a variety of often reactive conditions and also disease. Hematogones are not typically seen in MDS. The presence of hematogones may help differentiate the dysplastic changes seen in vitamin B12 deficiency from MDS.
Basic Concepts of Maternal-Fetal Amniotic Fluid Exchange: Their Relevance to Fetal Therapeutics

Traditional concepts of fetal pharmacologic therapy have consisted of treating the mother in order for the fetus to derive secondary benefit. However, amniotic fluid physiology has been the focus of increasing interest recently since this fluid sac may provide more direct pharmacologic access to the fetal compartment. Fetal medication by means of amniotic fluid infusions is still in the experimental stage.
Discriminable Stimuli Produced by Marihuana Constituents

The purpose of the present chapter is to review and summarize studies on the discriminative stimulus attributes of cannabinoids. This group of drugs continues to be the focus of great social and scientific interest. The recent development of techniques for measuring discriminative stimulus attributes of drugs provides a unique criterion for evaluating drug effects in laboratory animals and may be especially valuable for assessing the complex and poorly understood effects of cannabinoids.
Global Consequences of the Bioenergy Greenhouse Gas Accounting Error

Like the global financial crisis, which resulted in part from misguided accounting of mortgages, global policies to expand transportation biofuels and bioelectricity reflect an accounting error. Although the carbon accounting in these policies assumes that plant growth offsets all carbon released by burning biofuels, only “additional” plant growth can provide an offset. Because they double count biomass and land already used by people or sequestering carbon, many policy proposals aim for bioenergy to supply 20% or more of the world’s energy by 2050. That would require almost doubling the present global harvest of plants for all uses, which would likely lead to extensive deforestation and increase greenhouse gases. Fixing the accounting would focus policies on the more limited potential for truly low carbon biofuels.
Co-Creating Process in Global Governance: The Case of the Internet Governance Forum

There is a need now to focus on co-creation and co-production processes in Internet governance related policy discussions. This paper presents a conceptual framework from research related to such processes in other domains and highlights elements requisite for understanding these processes in the complex, cross-cultural settings of networked governance. It applies this framework to the Internet Governance Forum in 2008, a networked setting including individual, organizational and interorganizational levels for analysis, dedicated to discussing Internet governance in global perspective.
Teller: still controversial

In a review of a previous, hagiographic, biography of Edward Teller, Richard Rhodes-author of the definitive book on the making of the atomic bomb – mused that someone, somewhere should one day write a critical biography of the physicist who was the most politically influential scientist of the last 100 years. BBC producer and editor Peter Goodchild has written such a book, and the results are decidedly mixed.
On the Aq (Γ) ⊂ Bq (Γ) Conjecture

Let Γ be a Fuchsian group acting on the unit disk U : |z| < 1 and let q ≥ 1; temporarily we assume q integral. The holomorphic function f defined in U is called an automorphic form of weight q (or degree -2q) if $$ f(Az)A'(z)^q = f(z),z\varepsilon U,A\varepsilon \Gamma . $$ (1) Let R be a normal polygon (fundamental region) for Γ in U, The automorphic form f is called integrable, and we write f e Aq (Γ), if $$ \parallel f\parallel _1 = \smallint _R \smallint (1 - |z|^2 )^{q - 2} |f(z)|dxdy < \infty ; $$ (2) it is called bounded, and we write f e Bq (Γ), if $$ \parallel f\parallel _\infty = \mathop {\sup }\limits_{z\varepsilon U} (1 - |z|^2 )^q |f(z)| < \infty . $$ (3) These are the well-known Bers’ spaces; see for example [1]. It has been conjectured that $$ A_q (\Gamma ) \subset B_q (\Gamma ) $$ (4) for all Fuchsian groups Γ. Though this conjecture is still unsettled, it has been verified when Γ is finitely generated. The situation when Γ is of the first kind being essentially trivial, we state the result as follows : THEOREM. If Γ is a finitely generated group of the second kind, then $$ A_q (\Gamma ) \subset B_q (\Gamma ). $$ (5)
The Thyroid Nodule: Evaluation, Risk of Malignancy, and Management

Palpable nodules of the thyroid are frequently encountered in clinical practice, and their evaluation requires the physician to be familiar with a growing number of diagnostic tools that can be employed to identify those nodules that may represent cancer and require surgical intervention. Until recently, what constituted optimal clinical management of a thyroid nodule varied from center to center and even between physicians at a given center. The routine management of thyroid nodules today is less controversial as our major professional organizations have published consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules (Gharib and Papini, Endocrinol Metab Clin N Am 36:707–35, 2007; Iyer and Shaha, Clin Oncol 22:405–12, 2010; Miller, Med Clin N Am 94:1003–15, 2010; Haugen et al., Thyroid 25: doi:10.1089/thy.2015.0020; print version in Thyroid 26:2016; Cooper et al., Thyroid 19:1167–214, 2009; National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) J Natl Comprehensive Cancer Netw. 2011; Version 3.2011; Wartofsky, Thyroid 19:1139–43, 2009) that have been widely accepted.
Temperature in the Southern Hemisphere

The characteristics of the temperature which are needed to describe the mean state of the atmosphere in space and time are stressed in this chapter. The parts on changes in time are restricted to the annual march of the mean temperature as expressed by its first two harmonic components, and other changes have been omitted regardless of their amplitude and scale. Even such large-scale variations as those within the Southern Oscillation have been left out since they are associated with irregular time variations in the ocean and atmosphere.
Visions of Good Governance: Through Artists’ Eyes

This article is designed for teaching about the importance of culture for transmitting ethical norms and beliefs. The focus is on the link between ethical behavior and political power and the allegorical representation in popular culture of ethics as a battle between good and evil. Public art most often supports the ruling regime and is intended to underwrite the rulers’ ideology and legitimacy. Three sets of murals spanning six centuries illustrate how public art communicates the epoch’s authoritative view of the ethical foundations of good governance and, conversely, the immoral basis and undesirable consequences of bad governance.
A Mathematical Foundation for System Synthesis

Many systems engineering methodologies have been developed in the past twenty years in order to attack societal problems. Such methodologies generally include the following phases in a system design project: 1) definition of the problem; 2) synthesis of candidate solutions, if any; 3) comparison of alternative solutions; selection of “best” alternative; 4) implementation of solution; etc.
Academic Difficulties in Children with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Presence, Profile, and Neural Correlates.

Background Academic achievement was evaluated in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure to determine potential strengths and weaknesses, evaluate the utility of different definitions for identifying low academic performance, and explore the neural correlates that may underlie academic performance. Methods Children (8 to 16 years) were assessed using the WIAT-II. Patterns of performance were examined in 2 subject groups: children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (n = 67) and controls (n = 61). A repeated-measures MANCOVA examining group differences on academic domain (reading, spelling, math) scores was conducted. Post hoc comparisons examined within-group profiles. Numbers and percentage of children with low achievement were calculated using several criteria. In a subsample (n = 42), neural correlates were analyzed using FreeSurfer v5.3 to examine relations between cortical structure (thickness and surface area) and performance. Results The alcohol-exposed group performed worse than controls on all domains and had a unique academic profile, supported by a significant group × academic domain interaction (p < 0.001). For the alcohol-exposed group, math reasoning was significantly lower than numerical operations, which was significantly lower than spelling and word reading. Over half of the alcohol-exposed group (58.2%) demonstrated low achievement on 1 or more academic domains. The number and percentage of children meeting criteria for low achievement varied based on the domain and definition used. The imaging analysis identified several surface area clusters that were differentially related to math (L superior parietal and R lateral/middle occipital) and spelling (bilateral inferior and medial temporal) performance by group, with no relations for the other academic domains. Generally, scores improved as surface area decreased in controls, whereas no relation or a positive relation was observed in the alcohol-exposed group. Conclusions Alcohol-exposed children demonstrated deficits in academic performance across domains and definitions, with a relative weakness in math functioning. Atypical brain development may contribute to these impairments in academic achievement. Understanding academic difficulties can assist in advocating effectively for alcohol-exposed children.
Postoperative Opioid Prescribing and the Pain Scores on Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey

In 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) to capture key elements of patient satisfaction, including pain management. HCAHPS surveys are administered to patients 48 hours to 6 weeks after discharge, and scores are used to determine hospital payments.1 However, patients complete surveys during a time when many are filling postdischarge opioid prescriptions. This timing has raised concerns that HCAHPS measures could inadvertently incentivize clinicians to overprescribe opioids after discharge to ensure satisfactory ratings and reimbursement.2,3 Citing these concerns, CMS announced it will remove pain management from its determination of hospital payments beginning in 2018, even though little is known regarding the potential correlation between HCAHPS scores and postdischarge opioid prescribing.3 We sought to evaluate the association between HCAHPS pain measures and postoperative opioid prescribing in surgical patients, which accounts for nearly 40% of surgical prescriptions.
Behavior Analysis in Sport and Exercise Psychology

Both sport and exercise psychology research often have an overt behavioral element to them fulfilling one of the criteria of behavioral sport psychology. However, many researchers incorporate measures of cognition and affect reflecting various social-cognitive theories. Most researchers in sport and
Assembly Intermediates and “Inorganic Mutants” of the Photosystem II Oxygen Evolving Complex

Numerous works have been devoted to the elucidation of the mechanism of photoactivation (PhA) by studying the time-course of the recovery of O2 evolution (see [1,2]). On the basis of such studies, Cheniae’s group found evidence for a two quantum process for PhA, where 2 Mn2+ ions bind to the apo-WOC complex and are photooxidized to Mn3+ [3]. Equilibrium binding studies have shown that apo-WOC binds 1 Mn2+ at a high affinity site [4] and that this Mn2+ can be photooxidized by the P680 via Y Z + [5,6]. Binding of the second Mn2+ ion was proposed to be the overall rate-determining step of PhA. Completion of PhA requires binding of 2 additional Mn2+ ions, producing a Mn4OXCa1ClY cluster [2].
Immigration, Belonging, and the Tension Between Center and Margin in Psychoanalysis

Immigration is in the unconscious of the unconscious of psychoanalysis. Immigration as a dramatic instance of the always precarious social and political registers of human living. Immigration as the movement of people from one place to another, across regions and national borders and oceans, by choice or necessity. Immigration as movement across other types of social boundaries, always defining an outside and a way into a desired inside. Immigration as an inverted reflection of our deep need to belong. This paper reflects on immigration as a clinical reality and as a clinical metaphor. It uses the notion of immigration to question the perceived, often if not always illusory settledness of the analytic practice, and its tendency to privilege a sense of well-inhabited center vis-a-vis the margins we all travel through and persist in. My aim is to join Veronica Csillag in deliberating a more uncertain and daring potential for our theory making and practice.
International Perspectives on Designing Professional Practice Doctorates Book Review

This review demonstrates how Dr. Valerie Storey and her colleagues have helped to enlighten the activities of CPED member institutions by providing a global perspective on the EdD. Discussion links the various facets of the book to historical, structural, operational, and evaluative aspects of our future design work. Takeaways from the review are provided for those of us who are leading the reclamation and transformation of the education doctorate.
The synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of indole congeners of the calcium entry blocker verapamil

Abstract Based on the notion of a bioisosteric relationship between catechol-(phenol-) and indole-amines, indole congeners of the calcium entry blocker verapamil were synthesized and examined as calcium entry blockers and as alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonists in isolated tissue preparations and as antihypertensive agents in the spontaneously hypertensive rat. Indole 27 exhibited potent calcium entry blockade in vitro and displayed antihypertensive activity, albeit slightly less than verapamil. Indole 23 possessed both calcium entry blockade and potent alpha1-adrenoceptor activity in vitro but in vivo was less active than verapamil as an antihypertensive agent.
Generalized method of moments approach to hyperparameter estimation for Gaussian Markov random fields

When a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) is used as a metamodel of an unknown response surface for a discrete optimization via simulation (DOvS) problem, the hyperparameters of the GMRF are estimated based on a few initial design points in a large feasible solution space. Although the maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) are most commonly adopted to estimate these hyperparameters, its computation time increases polynomially in the size of the feasible solution space. We introduce new generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators of the hyperparameters of GMRFs and their initial sampling schemes, and show they are consistent under some conditions. Unlike MLEs, the computation time for these GMM estimators does not depend on the size of the feasible solution space. We show empirically that the GMM estimators have smaller biases and standard errors than MLE for a wide range of initial simulation budget while requiring orders of magnitude smaller computation time.
Juvenile murine models of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes develop neuropathy

ABSTRACT Peripheral neuropathy (neuropathy) is a common complication of obesity and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. To model this complication in mice, 5-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet to induce diet-induced obesity (DIO), a model of prediabetes, and a cohort of these animals was injected with low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) at 12 weeks of age to induce hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes. Neuropathy assessments at 16, 24 and 36 weeks demonstrated that DIO and DIO-STZ mice displayed decreased motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities as early as 16 weeks, hypoalgesia by 24 weeks and cutaneous nerve fiber loss by 36 weeks, relative to control mice fed a standard diet. Interestingly, neuropathy severity was similar in DIO and DIO-STZ mice at all time points despite significantly higher fasting glucose levels in the DIO-STZ mice. These mouse models provide critical tools to better understand the underlying pathogenesis of prediabetic and diabetic neuropathy from youth to adulthood, and support the idea that hyperglycemia alone does not drive early neuropathy. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.