cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Laser recoil response of HMX, RDS, N5, GAP/BTTN and others from 1 to 6 atmospheres

HMX and RDX pellets were pressed and tested in the laser recoil device at pressures from 1 to 6 atm. The laser flux had an average power of 31 W/cm2, with sinusoidal oscillations from 15 to 43 W/cm2. A pressure insensitive force transducer obtained from Zarko was used in these tests. The force transducer has a resonant frequency at 160 Hz, but performs well at frequencies below 100 Hz. Samples inhibited with halocarbon grease, and with glass tubing were compared. HMX showed twice the response amplitude of RDX. Both HMX and RDX have a broad flat response. In contrast with the previously measured N5 double base propellant, the recoil response of neither HMX nor RDX changed significantly with pressure up to 60 psia. Burn rate vs. laser flux was measured for HMX, RDX and N5 up to 60 W/cm2 at 13.7 and 60 psia. At one atmosphere the rate vs. flux slope of HMX and RDX is about the same, but N5 is 3 times. Other ingredients tested include GAP, GAP/BTTN, NMMO gumstocks, BAMO pellets, and IRQ minimum smoke propellant. GAP and BAMO would not burn with a stable flame, but chuffed large puffs of nitrogen. NMMO ignited readily, but did not produce force oscillations. GAP/BTTN had a very high unstable laser recoil response, even bigger than N5 double base propellant, which did not decrease significantly with pressure.
A social semiotic analysis of instructional images across academic disciplines

Framed in theories of social semiotics, this descriptive multiple case study examined the images used by six middle-school teachers during one school year as they each taught two different subject ...
Percutaneous Biliary Access: Considerations, Techniques, and Complications

Percutaneous transhepatic biliary access is a routine Interventional Radiology procedure. However, with the advent of advanced imaging and endoscopic techniques, it is less commonly performed. Herein, biliary anatomy, indications, contraindications, pre-procedural preparation, as well as technique and approaches for percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and drainage, are reviewed. Finally, results and potential complications are presented, with management strategies.
Medical Applications of Fullerenes and Metallofullerenes

Since the discovery of fullerenes and the subsequent incorporation of metal atoms within their carbon cage in 1985, intense interest has focused on these unique molecules. Research has greatly extended our knowledge of the chemical and biological properties of empty fullerenes, but comparatively little is yet known about endohedral metallofullerenes because of their low production yields (102-103 times lower than for empty fullerenes), low solution solubilities, difficult purification, and air sensitivity.
Transfer of Symbiotic and Conjugative Plasmids to and from Fast-Growing Rhizobiumjaponicum

Symbiotic and conjugative plasmids have been transferred to fast-growing strains of Rhizobium japonicum. The self-transmissible plasmid pJB5J1 (Johnston et al 1978) encoding genes for effective pea symbiosis and kanamycin resistance (Tn5) was conjugated from effective R. leguminosarum to R. japonicum PRC205 rif. Kanamycin resistant transconjugants resemble PRC 205 rif in all vegetative propertives; none induced root nodules on pea plants. Two transconjugant classes were distinguished by their symbiotic behavior on ‘Peking’ soybeans and by their plasmid profiles. Class I does not induce nodules on soybeans; electrophoretograms of lysates reveal the presence of a 134 Mdal plasmid co-migrating with pJB5J1 in addition to the resident plasmids on PRC 205 rif. Class II induces effective root nodules on ‘Peking’ soybeans and contains plasmid pAL1 (molec. wt. ca. 110 Mdal.) in addition to the resident PRC 205rif plasmids. Presumably pAL1 arose by deletion of a 20 Mdal. segment of pJB5J1 containing genes which suppress soybean nodulation in fast-growing R. japonicum. Both transconjugant classes donate knr at high frequency (ca. 10-3) to non-nodulating R. leguminosarum 60 15; class I donates a plasmid which co-migrates with pJB5J1 whereas Class II donates a pl smid which apparently co-migrates with pAL1. The resulting 6015(pJB5J1) nodulate peas whereas the resulting 6015(pAL1) do not nodulate peas; neither nodulates ‘Peking’ soybeans.
Latinos in Legislatures

Before the Voting Rights Act in 1965, few Latinos served in the U.S. Congress. Before 1912, only one Latino, California Republican Romualdo Pacheco, served in the U.S. House (Vigil 1996). With the exception of New Mexico and Louisiana, no state sent a Latino to Congress between 1912 and 1960 (Lublin 1997). The Congressional Hispanic Caucus began in 1976 through the efforts of Democratic Reps. Herman Badillo (NY), Baltasar Corrada (PR), E. Kika de la Garza (TX), Henry B. Gonzalez (TX), and Edward Roybal (CA). Compared to the Congressional Black Caucus, the Hispanic caucus is newer and smaller. In 1992 and 1994, African-American representatives numbered thirty-eight whereas Latinos numbered seventeen (Lublin 1997). In 2005, the number of Latinos serving in Congress had increased to twenty-five. More groundbreaking, however, was the election of two Latinos to the U.S. Senate in 2004. By 2008, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was elected to the U.S. Senate, giving Latinos three U.S. senators for the first time in history. Until 2004, no Latino had served in the Senate since New Mexico's Joseph Montoya, who served until 1977. As shown in Table 1.1 (both parts a and b), the number of Latinos in Congress had increased to twenty-five by 2008. As shown in Table 1.2, the growth of Latinos in Congress is partly a consequence of the national growth in the Latino population.
Who is a Bayesian

We take a decision theoretic approach to predictive inference. We construct a simple dynamic setup in the presence of inherent uncertainty. At any giventime period the decision maker updates her posterior regarding the uncertainty related to the subsequent period. The posteriors reflect the decision maker's preferences, period by period. We study the evolution of the agent's posteriors and provideaxioms under which the decision maker exhibits learning in a Bayesian fashion. Weshow how behavioral implications of different Bayesian models differ from one another, and specifically from those dictated by exchangeability.
The Next “Chapter” in the ACC’s Chapter System

![Figure][1] In 1987, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) established its first U.S. state-based chapter, in my home state of Florida. Since then, state chapters have grown to represent every state in the union, as well as Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Over the last several years,
Phase IV: Late Reconstruction, Plastic Surgery for Orthopedics

In 1919, Sir Harold Gillies wrote a pioneering textbook that has proven pivotal in the modern development of plastic surgery. The preface to his text was written by Sir W. Arbuthnot Lane, an orthopedic surgeon, thus beginning the publicized modern era of “orthoplastic surgery” [27]. Orthoplastic surgery is not just a term that should be casually used anytime a plastic and orthopedic surgeon work on the same patient for it does not define the true collaboration between orthopedic and plastic surgeons who are capable of seeing that bone, muscle, tendon, and skin are best treated compositely. One team does not fix the bone and the other “cover” it. Orthoplastic surgery incorporates early involvement of both orthopedics and plastic surgery with plans developed and followed by the team for the ideal treatment of the limb. Timing of fracture fixation and soft tissue coverage are optimized for the betterment of the composite limb and not for the schedule of the individual teams. When the focus is diverted erroneously to one tissue, frequently the result can be a perfused, possibly united, and covered but poorly functioning limb. When this team functions properly, a synergistic effect occurs, and all parties, most importantly, the patient, benefit.
Environmental Modelling in the NEHAP Process

Risk assessment and priority setting in National Environmental Health Action Plans depends fundamentally on the ability to define and quantify health risks arising from exposure to environmental pollution. This, in turn, implies: a knowledge of the relationship between exposure and health outcome (a ‘dose-response’ relationship) for the environmental hazards and population of concern; measures of actual levels of exposure to the risk factors of interest, across this population.
Discriminative vs informative learning

The goal of pattern classification can be approached from two points of view: informative - where the classifier learns the class densities, or discriminative - where the focus is on learning the class boundaries without regard to the underlying class densities. We review and synthesize the tradeoffs between these two approaches for simple classifiers, and extend the results to modern techniques such as Naive Bayes and Generalized Additive Models. Data mining applications often operate in the domain of high dimensional features where the tradeoffs between informative and discriminative classifiers are especially relevant. Experimental results are provided for simulated and real data.
Risk stratification with electrocardiographic-gated dobutamine stress technetium-99m sestamibi single-photon emission tomographic imaging : Value of heart rate response and assessment of left ventricular function

Objectives The purpose of this research was to evaluate the significance of heart rate response to dobutamine and the assessment of left ventricular (LV) function during risk stratification of patients undergoing dobutamine stress myocardial perfusion imaging (DSMPI). Background Dobutamine stress myocardial perfusion imaging has been shown to effectively risk stratify highly selected patients. However, based on perfusion alone, patients with normal and abnormal tests have twice the risk as comparable patients with exercise testing. The added value of assessment of LV function and the heart rate response to dobutamine in risk stratification of these patients is unknown. Methods Follow-up information (cardiac death or non-fatal myocardial infarction) was obtained on 1,367 consecutive patients who underwent DSMPI due to inability to perform adequate exercise and contraindications to vasodilators. Perfusion images were interpreted using a 17-segment model. Abnormal perfusion and function were defined as: summed stress score ≥4 and ejection fraction Results Annualized event rates (AERs) were related to the extent/severity of perfusion defects and worsening LV function. A three-risk category model was constructed from combined assessment of perfusion and function, with AERs of 2.4% (both normal), 5.8% (discordant), and 11.3% (both abnormal); p Conclusions In highly selected patients undergoing DSMPI, assessment of perfusion and function is effective in risk stratification. The stress ECG and heart rate response to dobutamine have prognostic value and should be incorporated into image interpretation so as to maximize risk stratification.
Model Predictive Control of Polynomial Systems

This chapter describes the design of nonlinear model predictive control (MPC) for polynomial systems. Polynomial systems arise in many applications, including in power generation, automotives, aircraft, magnetic levitation, chemical reactors, and biological networks. Furthermore, general nonlinear dynamical systems can usually be rewritten exactly as polynomial systems or approximated as polynomial systems using Taylor series. MPC for discrete-time polynomial systems is formulated as a polynomial program. Hierarchical semidefinite programing relaxation methods are discussed for solving these polynomial programs to global optimality. Then, the methods for fast polynomial MPC are described, including convexification formulations for input-affine systems and explicit algorithms using algebraic geometry methods. Methods are then described for converting general nonlinear dynamical systems into polynomial systems using Taylor’s theorem, and an illustrative simulation example is presented for the practical implementation of Taylor’s theorem for bounding control trajectories. Finally, future directions for research are proposed, including real-time, output-feedback, and robust/stochastic polynomial MPC.
Detection of androgen receptor (AR) and AR-V7 in small cell prostate carcinoma: Diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

Abstract Objective Small cell prostate carcinoma (SCPC) is a rare and highly malignant subtype of prostate cancer. SCPC frequently lacks androgen receptor (AR) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) expression, and often responds poorly to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). AR splice variant-7 (AR-V7) is a truncated AR protein implicated in resistance to AR-targeting therapies. AR-V7 expression in castration-resistant prostate cancers has been evaluated extensively, and blood-based detection of AR-V7 has been associated with lack of response to abiraterone and enzalutamide. However, whether AR-V7 is expressed in SCPC is not known. Methods Using validated antibodies, we performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay for the full-length AR (AR-FL) and (AR-V7) on post-ADT surgical SCPC specimens. Results Seventy-five percent (9/12) of the specimens showed positive staining for the AR-FL with various intensities. Thirty-three percent (4/12) of the specimens showed positive staining for AR-V7. Among the specimens with positive AR-V7 staining, two samples displayed very weak staining, one sample showed weak-to-moderate staining, and one sample showed strong staining. All positive specimens displayed a heterogeneous pattern of AR-FL/AR-V7 staining. All specimens positive for AR-V7 were also positive for AR-FL. Conclusion The study findings support the existence of measurable AR-FL and AR-V7 proteins in SCPC specimens. The results also have implications in detection of AR-V7 in specimens obtained through systemic sampling approaches such as circulating tumor cells. A positive AR-V7 finding by blood-based tests is not impossible in patients with SCPC who often demonstrate low PSA values.
NATURAL HISTORY OF FRAILTY AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT: LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE FROM THREE POPULATION STUDIES

Physical frailty and cognitive impairment are associated and often coexist in older adults. What is unknown is: (1) whether there are sentinel patterns in the temporal development of physical frailty and cognitive impairment; (2) whether these patterns reflect different etiologies; and (3) whether health of older adults is deferentially impacted depending on their order and rate of occurrence. To begin to address these questions, the studies present longitudinal evidence from three prospective epidemiological cohorts: the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHAT; n=7,439), the Women’s Health and Aging Study II (WHAS; n=436), and the Yale Precipitating Events Project (PEP; n=754). Talk 1 discusses temporal orders in the development of frailty and cognitive impairment in the NHATS, and their relationship with multimorbidity and onset of dementia. Talk 2 uses data from WHAS to examine the role of dysregulation across multiple physiological systems involving stress response and energy metabolism in the onset of cognitive impairment and frailty. Talk 3 assesses the associations of frailty and cognitive impairment separately versus jointly with cumulative 5-year incidence of ADL disability in NHATS, while accounting for competing risk of mortality. Talk 4 analyzed patterns of joint trajectories of cognition and frailty and their associations with patient-reported health outcomes in PEP. Taken together, findings from these studies provide preliminary evidence supporting the hypothesis that cognitive impairment and physical frailty result in part from distinct physiological processes; and the varying patterns of symptom emergence may signal different etiologic pathways, which would require different interventions.
Growth Differentiation Factor 11 treatment leads to neuronal and vascular improvements in the hippocampus of aged mice

Aging is the biggest risk factor for several neurodegenerative diseases. Parabiosis experiments have established that old mouse brains are improved by exposure to young mouse blood. Previously, our lab showed that delivery of Growth Differentiation Factor 11 (GDF11) to the bloodstream increases the number of neural stem cells and positively affects vasculature in the subventricular zone of old mice. Our new study demonstrates that GDF11 enhances hippocampal neurogenesis, improves vasculature and increases markers of neuronal activity and plasticity in the hippocampus and cortex of old mice. Our experiments also demonstrate that systemically delivered GDF11, rather than crossing the blood brain barrier, exerts at least some of its effects by acting on brain endothelial cells. Thus, by targeting the cerebral vasculature, GDF11 has a very different mechanism from that of previously studied circulating factors acting to improve central nervous system (CNS) function without entering the CNS.
Development of two-dimensional micromechanical, viscoelastic, and heterogeneous-based models for the study of block cracking in asphalt pavements

Abstract Block cracking is a thermally-induced damage occurring in asphalt pavements. The mechanism behind the formation of this type of cracking has not been fully investigated to date. The present work focuses on developing a series of two-dimensional viscoelastic and heterogeneous micromechanical-based discrete element models to investigate the formation of block cracking in asphalt pavements subjected to thermal loads. Several different block cracking patterns are explored by varying both material properties and thermal conditions. These properties include the dimensions of pavement segments, stress relaxation capacity and aging state of the asphalt materials, spatial aging and thermal properties gradients, cooling rates and pre-existing cracks. It is observed that formation of block cracking can be separated into two steps: (1) initiation of microcracks, followed by (2) the coalescence of microcracks and channeling of macrocracks. Results showed that when microcracks propagate in a symmetric or infinitely large pavement segment, they tend to develop in arbitrary directions to form a Y-junction pattern. When growing cracks intersect, they tend to join at right angles. In general, block cracking can be categorized by its reoccurring geometrical pattern. These cracks coalesce forming rectangular and hexagonal cracks. In this study, discrete element simulation results showed that both rectangular and hexagonal shaped cracking could occur under the same assumption. It was also observed that block cracking primarily occurs in the upper one-to-two centimeters of the top material layer, which is consistent with field observations.
Socially enabled actors: the emerging authorship of fixed-term instructional faculty to enact and sustain organizational change

There have been calls for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) faculty in higher education to transition from traditional lecturing to instructional practices that are supported ...
AI and ML-Driving and Exponentiating Sustainable and Quantifiable Digital Transformation.

AI is a major transforming technology impacting every sector of life. AI is not a force to deprive humans and take over the control, rather a real enabler and lever for digital transformation. The former view aligns with Hollywood movies, and need to be undressed with the latter, which is realistic and becoming tangible over time as more organizations, and communities are leveraging AI's potential. Developing a practical understanding of AI, its capabilities, the challenges, and opportunities that it brings is fundamental to get the maximum out of its envisaged potential. The objective of this paper is to highlight how technology and industry have developed, discuss the role of AI in driving intelligent transformation concentrating on an applicable understanding of AI and related technologies. We introduce a new conceptual framework: AI's multi-dimensional role, to highlight its transformative power in multiple aspects. We also introduce an AI based Information and Model Governance Framework.
Oil Prices, Why Do Oil Prices Increase in Canadian Oil Market?

Oil means oil market which is crude oil. I argue that oil means an ingredient in the production process at the stakeholder level. The stakeholders are government corporations and deal makers that govern the price. Prices are in for the year 2021 due to the events that took place which are low demand for oil in the households due to COVID, decline in individual income, increasing unemployment and firm process during the lockdown period in COVID disease, stoppage of food products and the bolted economy in Canada with the increase of the COVID. The Oil prices are increasing due to other factors like stakeholder process. For example there should be Oil increase with the role of Government fiscal policy and spending to increase production. The question is what is the profit of firm during COVID in the production process? The oil prices must determine the demand in the oil market and goods market both domestic and international.
Quantifying leakage fields at ionic grain boundaries using off-axis electron holography

The electrical properties of interfaces in semiconductors and ionic conductors are immensely important in a wide range of applications. Electron holography is ideally suited for the direct measurement of the electrostatic potential of such interfaces. A key challenge with this approach is the contribution of the leakage field from the sample to the observed electron phase shift. This leakage field cannot be a priori independently determined and can cause an overestimation of the phase shift. In this work, we use finite element simulations to compute the three-dimensional electrostatic potential in the vicinity of an interface associated with a given interfacial charge density distribution. We then evaluate the predicted phase shift and demonstrate that the leakage field strongly affects the recovery of the projected interface potential. From the difference between the true potential and uncorrected, recovered potential, we propose a method to correct for this effect. We then demonstrate the application of this methodology to the analysis of experimental off-axis electron holography data acquired from the grain boundaries in lightly doped ceria.
Desire to Avoid Pregnancy and Contraceptive Use among Female Methadone Patients in Los Angeles

Abstract Objective Opioid use disorder (OUD) is increasing among U.S. women. Research indicates higher levels of unintended pregnancy among women with OUD as compared to the general population. Following formative in-depth research documenting the complexity of considerations around pregnancy in this population, we collected information on pregnancy preferences and contraceptive use among women attending methadone treatment. Study design We surveyed women attending methadone clinics in Los Angeles in 2018. We used the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP) Scale, a 14-item instrument (0–4; 4 = highest desire to avoid pregnancy) to capture pregnancy preferences across 3 domains: cognitive desires, affective feelings, and anticipated consequences. We conducted factor analysis, descriptive analyses, and linear and logistic regressions to assess the DAP scale and to examine relationships between pregnancy preferences, sociodemographic characteristics, and contraceptive use. Results Women (n = 46) expressed the full range of pregnancy preferences (DAP score range: 0.4–4.0; mean: 2.24, standard deviation: 1.02; Cronbach's α = 0.92). Overall, 40% used contraception at last sex. Women who reported a greater preference to avoid pregnancy were marginally more likely to use contraception at last sex as compared to women who were more open to pregnancy (odds ratio = 1.73; p = 0.09). Conclusions Similar to findings from other populations, responses to the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy scale among a sample of women with OUD revealed a broad range of pregnancy preferences. Pregnancy preferences were marginally associated with contraceptive use in this sample suggesting that the DAP may provide useful insights on pregnancy preferences that may facilitate contraceptive and preconception counseling in this population. Implications Given the complexity of considerations around pregnancy for women with opioid use disorder, the DAP scale may be a valuable tool to identify women's pregnancy and childbearing preferences and to facilitate alignment of women's sexual and reproductive health desires with appropriate services.
Teach What You Know Day: An Assignment to Bring Peer Learning into Upper Division Chemistry Courses

Peer learning has become a central feature in many postsecondary classrooms. Many peer learning activities feature near-peer instructors who had previously completed the course and who later serve as peer leaders. There are relatively few examples of activities in which students in a course act as true peer instructors for their classmates. One such activity is described herein. This activity, “Teach What You Know Day” (TWYKD), was implemented in an advanced organic chemistry course. Students in this course had varied background preparation and previous knowledge. Students capitalized on this knowledge to present course topics to their peers. During this activity, the peer leaders gave a lecture and helped their classmates work through practice problems. Assessment of this activity was conducted via a student perception survey and by comparing exam scores on TWYKD and non-TWYKD-related questions. The survey results indicate that the students generally had a positive reaction to this assignment. The exam assessment shows that students were able to learn from their peers. This assignment provides many benefits to students enrolled in upper division chemistry courses. With some personalization of the lecture topics, TWYKD would be a valuable addition to other upper division chemistry courses.
A Voltage-Controlled Gain Cell Magnetic Memory

This letter presents a magnetic gain cell structure that consists of a new kind of voltage-controlled magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) and two transistors for a large separation in the output current for the two memory states while retaining the low power advantages of a voltage-controlled write mechanism. The voltage-controlled MTJ utilizes the interlayer exchange coupling and the resonant tunneling phenomena to enable a resonant-exchange-controlled (REC) magnetization switching, leading to a substantially low write energy and delay, in the order of 29.5 fJ/bit and 1.6 ns, respectively. Two transistors in a gain cell configuration can provide a 103 times change in the output current between the 0 and 1 states from a ~25% magnetoresistance of the REC MTJ with a high baseline resistance in the order of a few $\text{M}\Omega $ . Such a magnetic gain-cell also exhibits low read energy and delay, in the range of 7.6~39 fJ/bit and 0.6~1 ns, thus promising for low energy, fast, and high-density memory technologies.
Association of Body Mass Index (BMI) with Patterns of Fundoplication Failure: Insights Gained

Obesity has been implicated as an important risk factor for fundoplication failure. However, the mechanism of fundoplication in obese patients is not fully understood. Our objective is to evaluate the patterns of failure in relation to the body mass index (BMI) undergoing re-operative intervention after failed fundoplication. After Institutional Review Board approval, the patients who underwent re-operative intervention for failed fundoplication between November 2008 and December 2013 were identified. Patients were classified into three groups: non-obese, obese, and morbidly obese ( 35 BMI, respectively). Pre-operative assessment and operative procedure performed were compared between the groups. One hundred twenty-four patients satisfied study criteria. Non-obese patients (53.2 %) had significantly more dysphagia as an indication for re-operative procedure (obese 31.6 %, p < 0.05; morbidly 16.7 %, p < 0.05). Obese and morbidly obese patients had significantly higher incidence of recurrent hiatal hernia than non-obese patients (88.7 vs. 65.6 %, p < 0.05). Morbidly obese patients had significantly higher incidence of disrupted fundoplication than non-obese patients (41.7 vs. 19.4 %, p < 0.05). Similar anatomical failure patterns of state of fundoplication and recurrent hiatal hernia were noted between obese patients and morbidly obese patients and were distinct from non-obese patients.
When Perceiving the Supernatural Changes the Natural: Religion and Agency Detection

How does perceiving supernatural agents shape perceptions of natural agents? Despite the ongoing debate on whether supernatural attributions are functionless spillover from a hyperactive agency detector versus more evolved mechanisms that served key adaptive functions for ancestral humans, both accounts concede that one critical, defining quality of religion is that it superimposes intentional agency on natural events. Across two studies, the relationship between religious beliefs and perceptions of both agency and experience for a diverse array of agents were assessed – including ordinary individuals, supernatural beings, villains, martyrs, and celebrities. Across studies, naturalistically-occurring and experimentally-primed religious beliefs facilitated heightened perceptions of agency, but not experience, across both supernatural and natural agents. Thus, religious beliefs promote greater sensitivity to agency more generally. Implications for how this link reconciles the opposing notions of religion as an accidental by-product of agency detection vs. evolved adaptation are discussed.
Parametric stabilization of nonlinear systems with moving equilibria

Provides a method for the parametric stabilization of nonlinear systems. Unlike traditional techniques, our approach does not assume that the equilibrium remains fixed for all parameter values. The proposed method is based on linear matrix inequalities, which are used to produce a robust control that accounts for uncertain parametric variations, and the corresponding equilibrium shifts. This strategy is successfully applied to the design of decentralized turbine/governor control in electric power systems with fluctuating load levels.
Relativism and Universalism

As the moral philosopher David Wong has noted (2006: xi): “The standard characterizations of [moral] relativism make it an easy target and seldom reveal what really motivates people who are attracted to it. Introductory textbooks in ethics frequently portray the view as an extreme variety of subjectivism (or conventionalism) in which anything goes – a person‟s (or group‟s) accepting that something is right makes it right for that person (or group).” This variety of moral relativism pictures human subjectivity in terms of human reactions of both acceptance (feelings of approbation) and rejection (feelings of opprobrium). Its central principle states that approving of some act or customary practice makes it right (good, virtuous, moral) and disapproving of the very same act or customary practice makes it wrong (bad, vicious, immoral); and this is so for any conceivable act or customary practice whether it is eating pork, terminating a pregnancy, drinking alcohol, spanking a child, banning a book, marrying a member of your own sex, marrying more than one member of the opposite sex, walking bare breasted on a public beach, covering yourself with a burqa 1 in the public square, conducting a Bris, surgically reshaping the genitals of all the children in ones family regardless of their gender, assisting someone in committing a suicide or immolating yourself on the funeral pyre of your husband. Writing more or less in this vein the anthropologist Ruth Benedict once defined morality as “a convenient term for socially approved habits” (1934).
The Quasi-Class Action Method of Managing Multidistrict Litigations: Problems and a Proposal

This article uses three recent multi-district litigations (MDLs) that produced massive settlements - Guidant ($240 million), Vioxx ($4.85 billion), and Zyprexa ($700 million) - to study the emerging quasi-class action approach to MDL management. The approach has four components: (1) judicial selection of lead attorneys; (2) judicial control of lead attorneys' compensation; (3) forced fee transfers from non-lead lawyers to cover lead attorneys' fees; and (4) judicial reduction of non-lead lawyers' fees to save claimants money. These widely used procedures have serious downsides. They make lawyers financially dependent on judges and, therefore, loyal to judges rather than clients. They compromise judges' independence by involving them heavily on the plaintiffs' side and making them responsible for plaintiffs' success. They allocate monies in ways that likely over-compensate some attorneys and under-pay others, with predictable impacts on service levels. They also lack needed grounding in substantive law because the common fund doctrine, which supports fee awards in class actions, does not apply in MDLs. Academics have not previously noted these shortcomings; this is the first scholarly assessment of the quasi-class action approach.This article also proposes an alternative method of MDL management. It recommends the creation a plaintiffs' management committee (PMC) composed of the attorney or attorney-group with the most valuable client inventory, as determined objectively by the trial judge. The PMC, which would have a large interest in the success of an MDL, would then select and retain other lawyers to perform common benefit work (CBW) for all claimants and monitor the lawyers' performance. The new approach would thus use micro-incentives to organize the production of CBW in MDLs rather than judicial control and oversight. The court would stand back from the process, exercising only a limited backup authority to prevent abuses. If enacted as a statute, the proposal would restore judges' independence, preserve lawyers' loyalties, provide the requisite legal foundation for fee awards, and encourage the fairer, more efficient, and more appropriate representation of claimants in MDLs.
Sets that force recurrence

We characterize those subsets S of the positive integers with the property that, whenever a point x in a dynamical system enters a compact set K along S, K contains a recurrent point. We do the same for uniform recurrence.
Statistical circuit modeling and optimization

This tutorial reviews statistical circuit modeling and optimization and its applications in integrated circuit design. Motivated by a discussion of the importance of statistical design techniques, it introduces the primary concepts and discusses the main techniques used for statistical modeling, analysis and optimization. It also considers some of the important open questions.
Hydrogen implantation in silicates: The role of solar wind in SiOH bond formation on the surfaces of airless bodies in space

Hydroxyl on the lunar surface revealed by remote measurements has been thought to originate from solar wind hydrogen implantation in the regolith. The hypothesis is tested here through experimental studies of the rate and mechanisms of OH bond formation due to H+ implantation of amorphous SiO2 and olivine in ultrahigh vacuum. The samples were implanted with 2–10 keV H+, in the range of solar wind energies, and the OH absorption band at ~2.8 µm measured by transmission Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. For 2 keV protons in SiO2, the OH band depth saturated at fluences F ~5 × 1016 H+/cm2 to a maximum 0.0032 absorption band depth, corresponding to a column density ηs = 1.1 × 1016 OH/cm2. The corresponding values for 5 keV protons in olivine are >2 × 1017/cm2, 0.0067, and 4.0 × 1016 OH/cm2. The initial conversion rate of implanted H+ into hydroxyl species was found to be ~90% and decreased exponentially with fluence. There was no evidence for molecular water formation due to proton irradiation. Translating the laboratory measurements in thin plate samples to the granular lunar regolith, it is estimated that the measurements can account for a maximum of 17% relative OH absorption in reflectance spectroscopy of mature soils, consistent with spacecraft observations in the infrared of the Moon.
Differences in infectivity and induction of infertility: a comparative study of Chlamydia trachomatis strains in the murine model

Chlamydia trachomatis, although commonly asymptomatic in women, can result in chronic sequelae, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. However, a clear relationship has not been determined between specific serovars and the ability to lead to upper genital tract infection or infertility. Thus, in order to investigate differences in pathogenicity, C3H/HeN mice were infected in the ovarian bursa with the C. trachomatis strains D (UW-3/Cx), F (N.I.1), F (IC-Cal-3) and E (Bour). Differences both in the amount of vaginal shedding as well as subsequent fertility rates were observed between D (UW-3/Cx) and F (N.I.1) compared to F (IC-Cal-3) and E (Bour). Approximately 50% of the mice infected with the D (UW-3/Cx) and F (N.I.1) strains had vaginal shedding for up to 3-4 weeks after infection and fertility rates of less than 25%. Furthermore, mice inoculated with D (UW-3/Cx) and F (N.I.1) showed infertility even in the absence of medroxy progesterone acetate (MPA) treatment. In contrast, both MPA and non-MPA treated mice infected with F (IC-Cal-3) or E (Bour) did not show vaginal shedding and had fertility rates between 45 and 88%. Mutations in the CT135 open reading frame have been associated with virulence. However, no nucleotide differences were found among the four isolates for CT135. This murine model of infection with C. trachomatis may help with the understanding of disease pathology in humans and ultimately vaccine development.
Situated Knowledge and Learning in Dispersed Teams

This qualitative field study explores how geographically dispersed teams learn and accomplish challenging work by drawing on knowledge situated in the multiple physical locales they span. We propose the construct of situated knowledge as important for understanding the learning process in dispersed teams. Data collected on seven development projects, each spanning multiple sites, reveal that situated knowledge is at the same time a valuable resource and a source of communication difficulty for dispersed teams. We find that, because their members understand and participate in locale-specific practices, dispersed teams can easily access and use unique locale-specific knowledge resources to resolve problems that arise in those same locales. However, when dispersed teams need knowledge situated at a site other than where the problem occurred, they must first recognize and adjust for locale-specific practices within which that knowledge is embedded before they can use it. The paper reports on analyses of 44 learning episodes that involved identifying and engaging situated knowledge, and draws from these data to identify implications for research and practice.
WLC44-2: Performance of Dual Selection and Switch-and-Stay Combining Diversity Receivers over Weibull Fading with Co-channel Interference

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of two dual-branch diversity techniques operating over the Weibull fading channel in the presence of a dominant co-channel interferer with a minimum desired signal power constraint. These two diversity schemes are selection combining (SC) and switch-and- stay combining (SSC). We derive expressions for the outage probability in both cases, which are very simple to calculate numerically and reduce to closed-form ones in many special cases. Also, our expressions reduce to previously published well-known ones for the Rayleigh fading channel as a special case. We present a set of numerical results which show the effect of fading severity of both the desired signal and the interferer on the performance.
Effects of correlated reinforcement on response amplitude in children.

Abstract A technique was developed for the study of “correlated reinforcement” in children, and was used to test a specific prediction of Logan's “micromolar theory”. Second-grade boys turned a crank, during discrete trials, for reinforcement signaled by the onset of colored lights. The Ss were told that they would win candy if they got enough lights on. Sixteen pairs of Ss were matched to each other on the basis of turning-speed during six pre-experimental trials. Eight experimental Ss turned the crank for 60 ten-revolution trials. Their matched controls turned the crank on each trial for the same time as had their experimental mates on the corresponding trial. Another eight experimental Ss turned the crank for 60 five-second trials. Their matched controls turned the crank on each trial for the same distance as had their mates. Thus half of the Ss were in a condition (Distance) where “response-time incentive” (a variable which was presumably related to the time between the beginning of the trial and the reinforcement signal) was correlated with turning speed, and half were in a condition (Time) where there was no such correlation. An additional 32 boys from the same population were later run in a replication of the study in which the physical load on the crank was considerably lighter than it had been in the first experiment. The theoretical prediction that the turning-speeds of Time and Distance Ss would diverge over trials so that at the end of training Distance Ss would be turning the crank faster than Time Ss, was verified in both experiments.
Application of the RESP Methodology in the Parametrization of Organic Solvents

We present parametrizations for the nonaqueous solvents dimethyl sulfoxide, ethanol, CCl4, CHCl3, and CH2Cl2 that are compatible with the recent AMBER force field by Cornell et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 5179−5197). With the general procedure for generating new parameters and the RESP approach to obtain the atomic charges, we achieve flexible all-atom solvent models whose density, heat of vaporization, diffusion constant, and rotational correlation times areespecially for a generic force fieldin good agreement with available experimental data.
Structural origins of the surface depressions at alkanethiolate monolayers on Au(111). A scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopic investigation

Scanning tunneling (STM) and atomic force (AFM) microscopies have been used to examine structural features of monolayers formed from the spontaneous adsorption of alkanethiols at Au(111) surfaces. In addition to the atomic scale spacings of the adlayer, the depressional features found in both large (50-250 nm) and atomic scale images have been characterized for monolayers formed from several alkyl chain lengths. These depressions, which are more predominant at monolayers from long chain alkanethiols, appear as 2-4 nm diameter, 0.24 nm deep depressions in STM images and as 2-5 nm diameter, low frictional features in lateral force images. The lateral force images of these depressions, along with an explanation of the imaging mechanism, are presented for the first time. Atomic scale STM images reveal the presence of the adlayer lattice within the depressions. In addition, atomic scale images show that these depressions occur along visible domain boundaries. Together, our results indicate that these depressions originate in the topmost layer of the Au(111) surface and are not a consequence of structural inhomogeneities in the monolayer or of imaging artifacts. Based on these findings, a mechanism for the origin of the depressions is proposed. 37 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.
Interferon Alpha-2b and Ribavirin for Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C and Normal ALT

TO THE EDITOR: Jacobson and colleagues state there is little correlation between ALT level and degree of fibrosis but despite this statement, only one patient from their study had cirrhosis (1). It appears this point was underemphasized. As the natural history of chronic hepatitis C appears to be quite well-established with only 20% of patients developing cirrhosis over a 20-yr period, it remains unclear whether treating this group of HCV patients is cost-effective (2,3).
Evidence for the phantom state in photoinduced cis–trans isomerization of stilbene

Abstract Transient absorption spectra of cis-stilbene in solution, recorded in the range 275–690 nm with 80 fs instrument response, reveal two successive evolving bands. One at 630 nm decays on a subpicosecond scale; it corresponds to vertically-excited nearly planar S1 state. The other, growing and decaying band at 340 nm, is shown to be consistent with theoretically predicted phantom state p∗ of perpendicular molecular geometry. The lifetime of p∗ is determined to be τ p ∗ = 0.4 ps in acetonitrile and 0.3 ps in hexane.
Comparison of codes of conduct for multinational corporations

Abstract The conflict between increasing technical and economic integration and a resistance to political integration has led to tension between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and nation states. One result has been a growth in pressures to regulate MNEs, often through codes of conduct. This article compares five codes of conduct prepared by groups ranging from the OECD to the non-aligned countries. While substantial areas of agreement are found, important disagreements over the objectives and provisions of a code of conduct do emerge on a North-South or rich-poor axis. The most important disagreements involve resolution of investor-host government disutes and questions of national treatment of investors. Although the major disagreements between rich and poor countries will be difficult to resolve, the article posits that the process of code development per se is valuable as a means of facilitating the transmutation of symbolic into concrete differences. The development of a reasonably explicit code for regulation of MNEs requires that the parties concentrate on relatively narrow issues areas and permissible behavior rather than symbolism and ideology. While important, and perhaps even interactable problems remain, it is suggested that the process of code development is important, as the relatively concrete differences that result are at least potentially subject to resolution through rational negotiation. Symbolic differences obviously are not. The article also suggests a minimal scope of issue areas to be covered if a code is to be an effective instrument.
Embodying psychosocial health inequalities: Bringing back materiality and bioagency

In recent decades, psychosocial explanations of relationships between health and social economic inequalities have emerged. These approaches, it has been noted, de-emphasize the importance of material pathways. This article develops this critique by arguing for the relevance of sociomaterial spatiality and the materiality of social interaction. Psychosocial explanations see neurohormonal pathways as connecting the psychosocial and biological. This neurohormonal connection is developed here to include muscular, postural and other dimensions. Such approaches, furthermore, need to more adequately explicate the role and nature of agency. The notion of bioagency and its relationship to structure is used to address this issue. The conclusion briefly discusses the relevance of bioagency and materiality to psychosocial theorizing about health and social inequalities.
New Developments in the Pharmacotherapy of Alcohol Dependence

Neuroscientific underpinnings and pharmacotherapeutic treatments of substance use disorders are rapidly developing areas of study. In particular, there have been exciting new developments in our understanding of the involvement of excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter systems and the opiate and serotonin systems in the pathophysiology of alcohol withdrawal, alcohol dependence, and in subtypes of individuals with alcoholism. In this article, new developments in the pharmacotherapy of alcohol dependence will be reviewed. In particular, the use of anticonvulsants in alcohol withdrawal and protracted abstinence syndromes will be discussed. New data on opiate antagonists and acamprosate, an agent that exerts actions through excitatory amino acid systems in relapse prevention, will be reviewed. Finally, there will be a review of new data concerning the use of serotonin reuptake inhibitors in subtypes of alcoholism and the use of combination pharmacotherapy.