cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extraction of copper and the co-leaching behaviour of other metals from waste printed circuit boards using alkaline glycine solutions

Abstract Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) are a complicated and valuable fraction of electric and electronic waste. The recycling of them is critical to avoid environmental pollutions and to reuse resources. In particular, the e-waste import bans have been implemented in many traditional waste-importing countries in recent years, which is making the sustainable recycling essential and crucial for the advanced economies. In this study, a sustainable approach using alkaline glycine solution for the extraction of copper (Cu) from WPCBs, and the leaching behaviour of other metals (Ni, Al, Fe, Pb, Sn, Co, Zn, Au, Ag and Pd) is presented. Various leaching parameters, including initial pH, glycine concentration, solid content, oxidant, particle size, temperature and time were investigated. A maximum Cu extraction of 96.5 % was achieved, with high co-extraction of base metals (BMs). The extraction of BMs was dependent on the pH of leaching solution, which was highly correlated with other variables. BMs extraction was largely influenced by glycine concentration and solid content, while the sensitivity to H2O2, temperature, and particle size was insignificant. SEM-EDS analysis of leaching residue indicated that the unleached Cu may be locked in inert layers, e.g. Sn/solder materials. The kinetic analysis showed that the extraction of Cu from WPCBs (100 %
Implications of Cannabis Legalization on Juvenile Justice Outcomes and Racial Disparities.

Introduction The objective of this study is to assess the changes in rates of juvenile cannabis criminal allegations and racial disparities in Oregon after legalization of cannabis (July 2015) for adults. Methods This study included all allegations for cannabis-related offenses that occurred from January 2012 to September 2018 in Oregon. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine monthly cannabis allegation rates over time, and tested differences between youth of color and white youth, adjusting for age, gender, and month the allegation occurred. Analysis was conducted in January–March 2019. Results Cannabis allegation rates increased 28% among all youth and 32% among cannabis-using youth after legalization. Rates of allegations were highest for American Indian/Alaska Native and black youth. Rates for black youth were double that of whites before legalization, and this disparity decreased after legalization. For American Indian/Alaska Native youth, rates were higher than whites before legalization, and this disparity remained unchanged. Conclusions Adult cannabis legalization in Oregon was associated with increased juvenile cannabis allegations; increases are not explained by changes in underage cannabis use. Relative disparities decreased for black youth but remained unchanged for American Indian/Alaska Native youth. Changing regulations following adult cannabis legalization could have unintended negative impacts on youth.
Depression, anxiety and stress in collegiate aviators

The purpose of this mixed-method research was to determine if students who are enrolled in a collegiate flight program exhibit significantly higher rates of depression, stress, and anxiety. This study compared collegiate flight students to non-professional flight students to determine whether collegiate flight students have higher rates of depression, anxiety or stress. In addition, this study sought to determine if there were higher depression, anxiety, and stress levels in upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) than in lowerclassmen (freshman and sophomore). These groups were compared to each other by using results from the DASS-21, a survey that measures depression, anxiety, and stress. There were no statistically significant results indicating no singular group is more or less prone to depression, anxiety, or stress.
Sparse Sensing and Optimal Precision: Robust H∞ Optimal Observer Design with Model Uncertainty

We present a framework which incorporates three aspects of the estimation problem, namely, sparse sensor configuration, optimal precision, and robustness in the presence of model uncertainty. The problem is formulated in the H ∞ optimal observer design framework. We consider two types of uncertainties in the system, i.e. structured affine and unstructured uncertainties. The objective is to design an observer with a given H ∞ performance index with minimal number of sensors and minimal precision values, while guaranteeing the performance for all admissible uncertainties. The problem is posed as a convex optimization problem subject to linear matrix inequalities. Numerical simulations demonstrate the application of the theoretical results presented in this work.
Correlation of Ictal/Interictal SPECT subtraction with MEG and EEG

2617 Objectives Neuroimaging is routinely used in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with epilepsy. In patients with refractory epilepsy neuroimaging and its data analysis play a crucial role in their clinical evaluation and surgical planning. We undertook a study to assess the correlation between SPECT, MEG, and EEG in four patients undergoing pre-surgical workup for refractory epilepsy. Methods All patients pre-surgical workup included the following exams; SPECT ictal and interictal imaging with subtraction, MEG, and EEG. Subtraction SPECT scans were graded as lateralizing to hemispheres and/or localizing to lobe at 1, 2, or 3 standard deviations (SD). MEG was graded on convincing spikes with strong correlation with EEG, or localizing with or without EEG. Correlations between modalities were then determined to be strong, moderate or weak. Results Where SPECT is positive at >2SD, there is high correlation with MEG and EEG. Where SPECT is positive a 1 SD, there is weak correlation with MEG and EEG. When SPECT is non-localizing, but appears to be hemispheric only, there is no correlation with MEG and EEG. Conclusions Combined comparison of SPECT, MEG and EEG for the evaluation of patients with refractory epilepsy as part of their surgical workup can more convincingly localize an epileptogenic focus. Determining and defining correlations between SPECT, MEG and EEG may lead to more positive patient outcomes.
Restricted function-on-function linear regression model

The usual function-on-function linear regression model depicts the association between functional variables in the whole rectangular region and the value of response curve at any point is influenced by the entire trajectory of the predictor curve. But in addition to this, there are cases where the value of the response curve at a point is only influenced by the value of the predictor curve in a subregion, such as the historical relationship and the short-term association. We will consider the restricted function-on-function regression model, where the value of response curve at any point is influenced by a subtrajectory of the predictor. We have two major purposes. First, we propose a novel estimation procedure that is more accurate and computational efficient for the restricted function-on-function model with a given subregion. Second, as the subregion is seldom specified in practice, we propose a subregion selection procedure that can lead to models with better interpretation and predictive performance. Algorithms are developed for both model estimation and subregion selection.
Mothering and Incarceration: A Conceptual Model Supporting Maternal Identity

Current literature expounds on community and personal factors contributing to the rapidly growing number of women involved in the criminal justice system. Contributing factors are complex and inter...
Novel features and GPU performance analysis for EM particle transport in the Celeritas code

Celeritas is a new computational transport code designed for high-performance simulation of high-energy physics detectors. This work describes some of its current capabilities and the design choices that enable the rapid development of efficient on-device physics. The abstractions that underpin the code design facilitate low-level performance tweaks that require no changes to the higher-level physics code. We evaluate a set of independent changes that together yield an almost 40% speedup over the original GPU code for a net performance increase of 220× for a single GPU over a single CPU running 8.4M tracks on a small demonstration physics app.
Diffusion of Gases into Air: A Simple Small-Scale Laboratory Activity

Thomas Graham discovered the law that bears his name while studying gas diffusion into air and other gases. He also found that the same relationship held with gas effusion, the movement of gases through a pinhole into a vacuum. Modern understanding of diffusion and effusion is based on kinetic-molecular theory, and it is generally accepted that Graham’s law as originally stated holds for effusion. Diffusion is more complicated, involving intermolecular collisions and composition gradients. This article describes a simple laboratory activity in which diffusion of gases into air though an open syringe is studied over time. The activity could be adapted and modified into an inquiry-based independent study activity or undergraduate research project.
Computer Applications in Behavioral Medicine

Conceived in the 1970s, behavioral medicine has since outgrown its original conceptual foundations of learning and conditioning; it has assimilated aspects of cognitive therapy, behavioral family therapy, and social skills training and also blended these approaches, to some extent, with pharmacotherapy It has also extended its scope from assessment and therapy to prevention and rehabilitation (Kaptein & Rooijen, 1990). Despite this increase in scope and diversity, behavioral medicine has adhered to essential principles of behavior therapy, insisting on quantitative measures of observables, emphasis on performance and action, and the priority of manifest current functioning over inferred psychological processes (Bellack & Hersen, 1990; Wixted, Bellack, & Hersen, 1990). Operational, objective, and quantitative characteristics of these principles seem to be promising candidates for computer-based procedures of one kind or another. A few innovative and forward looking clinician-investigators had already recognized this during the formative stages of behavioral medicine. Yet, despite fairly consistent reports of satisfactory results, current health-care practitioners have not applied computer-based approaches in behavioral medicine as widely as seems warranted by the apparent match between the tasks and the computer’s potential as assistive tool. Agras (1987) addressed this issue in his Presidential Address to the 20th Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy; in his discussion—“Where Do We Go from Here?”—he drew attention to the desirability of building on already existing, successful computer applications, and stressed the potential of developing promising new applications.
Sex differences in glutamate receptor gene expression in major depression and suicide

Accumulating data indicate that the glutamate system is disrupted in major depressive disorder (MDD), and recent clinical research suggests that ketamine, an antagonist of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor (GluR), has rapid antidepressant efficacy. Here we report findings from gene expression studies of a large cohort of postmortem subjects, including subjects with MDD and controls. Our data reveal higher expression levels of the majority of glutamatergic genes tested in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in MDD (F21,59=2.32, P=0.006). Posthoc data indicate that these gene expression differences occurred mostly in the female subjects. Higher expression levels of GRIN1, GRIN2A-D, GRIA2-4, GRIK1-2, GRM1, GRM4, GRM5 and GRM7 were detected in the female patients with MDD. In contrast, GRM5 expression was lower in male MDD patients relative to male controls. When MDD suicides were compared with MDD non-suicides, GRIN2B, GRIK3 and GRM2 were expressed at higher levels in the suicides. Higher expression levels were detected for several additional genes, but these were not statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons. In summary, our analyses indicate a generalized disruption of the regulation of the GluRs in the DLPFC of females with MDD, with more specific GluR alterations in the suicides and in the male groups. These data reveal further evidence that, in addition to the NMDA receptor, the AMPA, kainate and the metabotropic GluRs may be targets for the development of rapidly acting antidepressant drugs.
Chapter 1 Mathematical marketing models: Some historical perspectives and future projections

Publisher Summary When the term ‘marketing’ comes to mind, many people think of ‘pet rocks', cans of ‘New York City air’, and the cyclical movement of hemlines in women's fashions; the analysis of the demand for such items seems well removed from the reliance on mathematical models that characterizes much of the work in operations research and management science (OR/MS). Indeed, many company executives despair of putting marketing on a more scientific basis. Many see marketing processes as lacking the neat quantitative properties found in production and finance. In marketing, human factors play a large role, marketing expenditures affect demand and cost simultaneously and information to support truly systematic decisions is rarely available, Further, the effects of most marketing actions are typically delayed, nonlinear, stochastic, and difficult to measure.
Legal Realism, Lex Fori, and the Choice-of-Law Revolution

The choice-of-law revolution rejected the previously dominant view that a state has the sole power to determine how events occurring within its territory should be adjudicated by other states. The revolution is widely recognized to have been a product of legal realism. Nevertheless, an adequate understanding of this relationship has been hampered by a common misunderstanding. The prevailing view is that the revolutionaries' legal realism led them to accept a consequentialist' jurisprudence, in particular, a jurisprudence under which advancement of the policies of the forum state guides adjudication. Commentators then cite the revolutionaries' acceptance of this jurisprudence as the reason that the revolutionaries advocated the application of the lex fori or law of the forum (a choice-of-law principle we can call lexforism2) whenever the forum is interested in the application of its law. This account of the relationship between legal realism and the revolutionaries' lexforism is often presented by those, such as Lea Brilmayer and Perry Dane,3 who offer as an alternative certain rights-based or deontological4 theories of adjudication. Such rights-based theories of adjudication, they claim, are incompatible with the revolutionaries' lexforism. Brilmayer's and Dane's account of the revolution is logically and historically in error. It is logically in error because, far from being essentially consequentialist, legal realism is compatible with any normative theory of adjudication, including those in which the policies of the forum are subordinated to the rights of the litigants. Clarifying this logical error helps to explain an important historical error in the account: One of the foremost revolutionaries, Walter Wheeler Cook, did not accept that lexforism follows
Behavioral Family Therapy

The family has long been thought to play a critical role in the etiology and course of schizophrenia. Early formulations based on psychoanalytic theory postulated that schizophrenia emerged as a defense against hostile or rejecting parental attitudes. Sullivan (1927) was one of the first pioneers to emphasize the interpersonal nature of schizophrenia and to explore the role of the family. He attempted to treat the illness by recreating the family in an inpatient setting, in order to provide patients with emotional experiences that would presumably correct early pathological family interactions. Fromm-Reichmann (1948) conducted extensive individual treatment with schizophrenic patients, and introduced the term schizophreugenic mother to describe a pattern of overbearing, emotionally insecure behavior observed in the mothers of some patients. While many of these speculations were not supported by later research, they served to draw attention to the families of schizophrenic patients and initiated the first systematic research into family factors and schizophrenia.
Geotextile-Reinforced Unpaved Road Design

By providing reinforcement, geotextiles improve the performance of unpaved roads, and for a given traffic, the thickness of the aggregate layer can be reduced. This paper explores the mechanism of geotextile reinforcement of roadways, and a method is developed which enables the engineer to calculate the required thickness of aggregate layer and make a proper selection of the geotextile to be used. Charts are presented to assist in the design of geotextile-reinforced unpaved roads and to evaluate the reduction of aggregate thickness resulting from the use of a geotextile. Practical examples and comparisons with full scale tests are presented.
From time-symmetric microscopic dynamics to time-asymmetric macroscopic behavior: an overview

Time-asymmetric behavior as embodied in the second law of thermodynamics is observed in {\it individual macroscopic} systems. It can be understood as arising naturally from time-symmetric microscopic laws when account is taken of a) the great disparity between microscopic and macroscopic scales, b) a low entropy state of the early universe, and c) the fact that what we observe is the behavior of systems coming from such an initial state--not all possible systems. The explanation of the origin of the second law based on these ingredients goes back to Maxwell, Thomson and particularly Boltzmann. Common alternate explanations, such as those based on the ergodic or mixing properties of probability distributions (ensembles) already present for chaotic dynamical systems having only a few degrees of freedom or on the impossibility of having a truly isolated system, are either unnecessary, misguided or misleading. Specific features of macroscopic evolution, such as the diffusion equation, do however depend on the dynamical instability (deterministic chaos) of trajectories of isolated macroscopic systems. The extensions of these classical notions to the quantum world is in many ways fairly direct. It does however also bring in some new problems. These will be discussed but not resolved.
Guaranteed Optimization for Domain-Specific Programming

For software engineering reasons, it is often best to provide domain-specific programming environments in the context of a general-purpose language. In our view general-purpose languages are not yet general-purpose enough, and progress needs to be made before we can provide domain-specific languages that are both fast and safe. We outline some goals in this regard, and describe a possible implementation technology: guaranteed optimization, a technique for building compilers that provide proven guarantees of what optimizations they perform. Such optimizers can provide capabilities similar to staged languages, and thus provide the relevant performance improvements. They can also function as decision procedures, suggesting an approach of ‘optimizers as theorem provers,’ in which optimizing compilers can be used to check domain-specific safety properties and check proofs embedded in programs.
Entrapment in the Net

Internet stings to catch child molesters raise problems for popular tests of entrapment that focus on causation, initiative, counterfactuals, and subjective predisposition. An objective test of entrapment works better in the context of the Internet. The best form of objective test is determined by consequences of drawing a line at various places. This approach allows some Internet stings but counts other stings as entrapment when they go too far.
Genetic and Phenotypic Analysis of Thirteen Essential Genes in Cytological Interval 22f1-2; 23b1-2 Reveals Novel Genes Required for Neural Development in Drosophila

In an attempt to identify mutations in the Drosophila synaptotagmin gene we have isolated many new rearrangements, point mutations and P element insertions in the 22F1-2; 23B1-2 cytological interval on chromosome arm 2L. This interval encompasses 13 cytological bands and is shown to contain 13 essential complementation groups, including decapentaplegic, synaptotagmin and Curly. Through chemical and P element mutagenesis we have isolated seven new deletions, which combined with previously isolated rearrangements, have allowed us to order most genes in the interval. A genomic walk covering approximately 100 kb within this interval spans at least five essential genes as identified by chromosomal aberrations. Preliminary phenotypic characterizations of the mutant phenotype and lethal phase is presented for many mutations. Three loci within this interval are shown to be required for proper neural development. Given that the average number of alleles per complementation group is greater than seven, it is very likely that all essential genes within this cytological interval have been identified.
The federated scheduling of systems of conditional sporadic DAG tasks

A federated approach to the multiprocessor scheduling of systems of independent recurrent tasks is considered, in which each task is either restricted to execute preemptively upon a single processor, or may execute upon multiple processors but gets exclusive access to all these processors. Efficient polynomial-time algorithms are derived here for the federated schedulability analysis and run-time scheduling of re-current task systems that are represented by the conditional sporadic DAG tasks model. The performance of these algorithms is characterized via a speedup factor metric, which quanti es the combined cost of both restricting oneself to the federated scheduling paradigm, and of requiring the scheduling algorithms to run in polynomial time.
Measurements of Lung Vascularity for Early Diagnosis of Pulmonary Edema

Cardiogenic pulmonary edema is a major cause of pulmonary edema. With methods presently available, pulmonary edema can only be detected clinically, late in its course, making prompt therapy of the developing condition virtually impossible. The detection of an early rise in pulmonary venous pressure could allow institution of therapy and possibly prevent pulmonary edema and its accompanying morbidity and mortality. It has been shown experimentally that as pulmonary venous pressures rise, there is a redistribution of blood flow in the lungs. A prototype optical-digital system for automatic processing of coal worker's pneumoconiosis chest radiographs has been developed. With the optical system it is well known that high frequency information pertains to the amount of sharpness of edge information in an image. From experience with the prototype system, it was hypothesized that lung regions with more vascularity would generate more of this high frequency than a region of lung with few vessels, and that pulmonary vascular patterns could be extracted using the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern sampling unit. To examine the effect of the number of vessels in annular ring and wedge signatures, a study was made of straight line patterns which might simulate different categories of redistribution. Different patterns were characterized by plotting the normalized energies of the annular rings and wedges. An interactive, non statistical prediction was made on a test set of line patterns with an accuracy rate of 95%. Spatial frequency signatures were recorded using radiographs, carried out by removing an upper lung and lower lung region. These regions were rotated and interchanged and these signatures were recorded. Interactive, non statistical predictions were made on a test set of these radiographic sections with an accuracy rate of 90%. Derived features from a test set of 15 normal and 24 abnormal (2+ re-distribution) radiographs were submitted to a non-interactive stepwise discriminant analysis procedure (BMDO7M) which yielded an accuracy rate of 95% using three features. These preliminary results are encouraging and suggest that automatic processing of chest radiographs might yield estimates of the pulmonary venous pressure.© (1977) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The Mackey convergence condition for spaces with webs

If each sequence converging to 0 in a locally convex space is also Mackey convergent to 0, that space is said to satisfy the Mackey convergence condition. The problem of characterizing those locally convex spaces with this property is still open. In this paper, spaces with compatible webs are used to construct both a necessary and a sufficient condition for a locally convex space to satisfy the Mackey convergence condition.
Cellular immune responses to helper-free HSV-1 amplicon particles encoding HIV-1 gp120 are enhanced by DNA priming.

Abstract A single inoculation of herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) amplicon vectors encoding human immunodeficiency virus type-1 gp120 (HSV:gp120) results in robust, specific immune responses to gp120. To explore further the utility of this novel vaccine delivery system, we examined the kinetics of the cellular immune response by tetramer staining, following a single intramuscular administration of HSV:gp120 particles, and found that it peaks at 9–28 days post-immunization, before declining to a stable memory response. We also examined the utility of prime-boost regimens using packaged amplicon particles and naked amplicon plasmid DNA (DNA:gp120). These experiments showed that two sequential immunizations with HSV:gp120 resulted in a 5–10-fold increase in gp120-specific cellular immune responses and that plasmid DNA priming, followed by amplicon particle boosting, imparted the strongest acute and memory T cell responses, as determined by tetramer analysis. Collectively, these results demonstrate the utility of HSV amplicon vectors in prime-boost regimens for HIV vaccine development.
Hybrid Three-Dimensional (3-D) Woven Thick Composite Architectures in Bending

In this study, three 3-dimensional (3-D) woven composite materials were examined to determine how yarn tow configurations affect the flexural response of the structure. Woven fabric preforms were manufactured with a Z-fiber architecture in 2–3 in. thicknesses. These preforms contained S-2 Glass (AGY, Aiken, SC, USA), carbon, and Twaron (Teijin Aramid, Arnhem, The Netherlands) yarns in different architectures creating a hybrid material system. Due to the thickness of the material, these samples required a significant span length (30 in.). The results showed a change in the strength and degradation after failure with the addition of carbon layers in tension.
Correlates of photoreceptor rescue by transplantation of human fetal RPE in the RCS rat

This study uses a water maze paradigm as a tool to assess posttransplantation changes in behavior associated with a visual stimulus. A set of dystrophic RCS rats received bilateral injections of freshly isolated human fetal RPE cells into the subretinal space of the superior equatorial hemisphere. Five age-matched control dystrophic RCS rats received subretinal injections of vehicle. All animals were immunosuppressed. At 2 months posttransplantation, each rat was tested in the water escape apparatus. The rat used a single light source, randomly located on the edge of the tank, to locate a submerged platform, placed directly in front of the light. Each rat was timed and videotaped during 10 consecutive trials. The swimming paths and times for all rats were recorded and statistically analyzed. Subsequent to the water escape trials, the eyes were embedded for histologic analysis which included quantitative assessment of photoreceptor cells in predefined retinal regions. The water escape data indicated the differences between the sham and experimental groups changed significantly over time (P = 0.0017). Over time, the transplanted animals learned to use light as a clue (P < 0.0001), whereas the sham animals did not (P = 0.73). Transplanted eyes had a significantly greater mean number of photoreceptors in the superior, grafted region than seen in the inferior region of the same eyes and compared with either region of sham-injected eyes (P = 0.0023). Statistical analyses demonstrated a functional advantage for visually guided behavior in RCS rats transplanted with human fetal RPE cells and a statistically significant PRC rescue effect at 2 months after transplantation.
More than words: Patients’ views on apology and disclosure when things go wrong in cancer care ☆

Abstract Objective Guidelines on apology and disclosure after adverse events and errors have been in place for over 5 years. This study examines whether patients consider recommended responses to be appropriate and desirable, and whether clinicians’ actions after adverse events are consistent with recommendations. Methods Patients who believed that something had gone wrong during their cancer care were identified. During in-depth interviews, patients described the event, clinicians’ responses, and their reactions. Results 78 patients were interviewed. Patients’ valued apology and expressions of remorse, empathy and caring, explanation, acknowledgement of responsibility, and efforts to prevent recurrences, but these key elements were often missing. For many patients, actions and evidence of clinician learning were most important. Conclusion Patients’ reports of apology and disclosure when they believe something has gone wrong in their care suggest that clinicians’ responses continue to fall short of expectations. Practice implications Clinicians preparing to talk with patients after an adverse event or medical error should be aware that patients expect their actions to be congruent with their words of apology and caring. Healthcare systems need to support clinicians throughout the disclosure process, and facilitate both system and individual learning to prevent recurrences.
Nanofluidic Devices for Sensing and Flow Control

Nanofluidics is concerned with fluidic channels that are typically 1–100 nm in size. We have fabricated nanofluidic devices using both 1-D silica nanotubes and 2-D nanochannels to explore transport phenomena at the nanoscale. Here we review our work on 2-D nanochannels that provide confinement in one dimension. Our work mainly deals with two aspects of nanofluidics (a) effects related to electrostatic interactions and (b) effects related to biomolecule size. Surface charge plays an important role in nanofluidic channels, when the channel size is comparable to the Debye length. Using both electrical conductance measurements and fluorescence imaging, we studied the effects of surface charge in our nanofluidic devices, and demonstrated that the environment in nanochannels is governed by surface charge. We modified the nanochannel surface and showed that these modifications can be sensed by measuring ionic conductance of the nanochannels. Further, binding reactions involving biomolecules can be sensed at both low and high ionic concentrations. Our results showed that at low concentrations, conductance is governed by biomolecule charge, while at high concentrations it is governed by biomolecule size. Based on electrostatic effects in nanochannels, we also developed a nanofluidic transistor for flow control. This metal-oxide-solution field effect transistor was fabricated by patterning a metal gate electrode over nanochannels, similar to a MOSFET. Just as the gate voltage of a MOSFET controls carrier concentration in the semiconductor, we demonstrated that the gate voltage in a nanofluidic transistor controls the concentration of ions and biomolecules in the nanochannel, and hence controls their transport. Our fabrication process uses standard lithography, and is amenable to making networks of nanochannels. It suggests that rationally designed nanofluidic networks could be developed using this process for applications in sample preparation, sensing and switching. We are currently studying flow control and switching using field-effect, as well as ionic transport using patterned surface charge in nanofluidic devices.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Individual differences in grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus ): effects of training

Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) have been shown to exhibit many complex cognitive and communicative abilities in a laboratory setting. The parrots’ successes likely rely on two factors: An underlying neurological architecture that supports complex information processing, and training that enables them to express their capacities in ways measurable by human researchers. Individual differences likely can affect both factors, in terms of biology for the former and in response to the quality of the latter, but the quality of the latter can be experimentally controlled. Although training my parrots to communicate in English speech generally enables me to demonstrate their advanced cognitive capacities, occasionally such training has interfered with success on tasks requiring a specific type of complex information processing. For two cohorts of parrots, one with and one without extensive communicative training, I describe here the results for two different tasks. In one task—the ability to segment English speech sounds and demonstrate phonological awareness—communication training, as expected, enhanced success [IM Pepperberg (2007) Lang Sci 29:1–13]. In the other task—retrieval of an item suspended from a long string to demonstrate means–ends understanding—communication training unexpectedly inhibited success [IM Pepperberg (2004) Anim Cogn 7:263–266]. Individual differences can therefore be expressed in ways that are not necessarily predictable and that encourage further experimentation.
Model for the temperature dependence of photoluminescence in a -Si:H and related materials

We develop a model which interprets the temperature dependence of the intensity of the photoluminescence peak near 1.4 eV observed in $a$-Si:H and related materials in terms of a distribution of activation energies for nonradiative recombination. We find that the width and energy position of the maximum of the distribution correlates well with the spectral width of the luminescence and the activation energy for the drift mobility of photoproduced carriers. This correlation holds for sputtered and glow discharge $a$-Si:H, and $a$-Si:O, $a$-Si:H:O, $a$-Si:H:F, and $a\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{Si}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{x}$:H. Consistent differences between the distributions for sputtered and glow discharge $a$-Si:H, and between $a$-Si:H and $a$-Si:H:O are obtained. We conclude that changes in the luminescence spectral width and temperature-quenching behavior among these materials reflect changes in the distribution of localized states below the conduction-band edge.
Morphotectonic analysis of the Hazara arc region of the Himalayas, north Pakistan and northwest India

Abstract In the Hazara arc region of northern Pakistan, some of the active basements structures buried below a thick, detached sedimentary layer are inferred from the distribution of lineaments and the drainage patterns, as viewed in Landsat satellite imagery and from river profiles. A prominent set of NW-trending lineaments seen on satellite imagery, coincides approximately with the southwest or updip side of the Indus—Kohistan seismic zone (IKSZ) —the most active basement structure of the region, even though this structure is buried beneath and decoupled from a 12 km thick sedimentary layer. The IKSZ has been interpreted as an extension of the Himalayan Basement Thrust, and is also associated with a prominent topographic “step”. Knickpoints on major rivers in the region lie on or north of the IKSZ. All Indus River tributaries, examined north of the IKSZ, show prominent knickpoints, while two tributaries draining south of the IKSZ have no knickpoints. These results suggest ongoing uplift above and north of the IKSZ, and are consistent with the tectonic model obtained from the seismic data. Another prominent lineament set is detected along the north—south section of the Indus River. This set is probably related to the Indus River horst—anticline and associated reentrant. One of the two highest lineament concentrations occurs at the intersection between the NW-trending IKSZ lineament and the N-trending Indus River lineament. The other is along the west bank of the Indus Valley, 25 km north of Tarbela Dam. A topographic ridge (Swabi—Nowshera ridge) appears to be forming along the west side of the Indus River, in the Peshawar Basin. The rising ridge is ponding the Kabul River upstream of Nowshera, where the drainage is braided.
Relative Effect of HDL-C and Triglycerides on the Risk of Microvascular Complications Following Type II Diabetes

Synopsis: Clinical evidence implicates dyslipidemia in the pathogenesis of microvascular complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy). However, no previous study has evaluated the relative magnitude of association between the lipid sub-fractions and microvascular disease. Purpose: Toevaluate the relativemagnitudeof association between target lipid sub-fractions (high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C] and triglycerides [TG]) and microvascular complications following type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods:An observational cohort study was conducted with the use of integrated administrative claims and laboratory result data within the HealthCore Integrated Research Database. Patients ages 18-64 years newly diagnosed with T2DM (IndexDate) between 01/01/2005 and 06/30/2010were identified. Patients were required to have $12 months of preindex health plan eligibility during which at least one full lipid laboratory result was observed. Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome and previous microvascular complications were excluded. Incident microvascular complications were defined as the earliest occurrence of retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy following the Index Date. The association between microvascular risk and HDL-C and TG values was determined by the use of multivariate Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for: demographics, comorbidities, and post-index adherence to antihypertensive and lipid-altering medications. Results:A total of 79,692 incident T2DMpatientswere identified with 50% attaining HDL-C goal (mean6 SD: 47.346 14.01) and 59.62% attaining TG goal (mean6 SD: 186.576 177.17) at the baseline. During the mean follow-up of 21.48 months, the incidence rate for any microvascular event was 3.89 events per 1,000 patient-months. A unit increase in HDL-C was associated with 1% decrease (RR 0.99; 95% CI 0.99–0.994; P, .0001) in risk of any microvascular complication, and a unit increase in TG resulted in 0.1% increase in risk (RR 1.001; 95% CI 1.001–1.001; P, .0001). Patients achieving HDL-C goal had an estimated 15.8% lower risk of microvascular complications (RR 0.842; 95% CI 0.797– 0.888; P , .0001) versus those not achieving HDL-C goal. A similar positive association was also evident between TG goal attainment and the incidence of anymicrovascular complications (RR 0.859, 95% CI 0.814–0.906; P , .0001). Conclusions: Improving HDL-C and TG levels and attainment of corresponding goals were independently associated with a reduced risk of microvascular complications following diagnosis of T2DM. The results indicate further potential benefits among medications that target the improvement of these lipid subfractions beyond reductions in macrovascular event risk.
Cigarette smoking in hypertensive patients. Blood pressure and endocrine responses.

Abstract The blood pressure and endocrine responses to cigarette smoking were studied in 19 hypertensive patients to determine whether smoking activates the renin-aldosterone axis. Blood pressure rose from 140 ± 7/99 ± 3 (mean ± SEM) to 151 ± 5/108 ± 2 mm Hg (p
Comprehensive bedside point of care testing in critical ED patients: a before and after study.

Abstract Objective We determined the effects of comprehensive point-of-care testing (POCT) on process of care in critically ill emergency department (ED) patients. We hypothesized that POCT would shorten ED length of stay (LOS), reduce time to test results, and reduce time to completion of intravenous (IV) contrast computed tomography (CT) imaging compared with central lab testing. Methods A before and after study was performed in ED patients triaged to the critical care area. During the before period, traditional lab testing was performed, whereas in the after period, bedside POCT devices were introduced in all 15 critical care beds with 5 testing cartridges (chemistry with hemoglobin and hematocrit, troponin I, brain natriuretic peptide, lactate, and international normalized ratio [INR]). Clinical protocols indicated when POCT should be used. Results The numbers of critical ED patients before and after introducing POCT were 1405 and 981 respectively. Test turnaround (minutes) was significantly reduced with bedside POCT for all five tests. Use of POCT reduced the median [interquartile range] time to completion of IV contrast CT by 81 minutes (96 [55-214] vs 177 [78-300]; P = .004). Point-of-care testing significantly reduced median ED LOS in patients who received an IV contrast CT (260 [180-410] vs 347 [347 (202-523]; P = .03). Conclusions Introduction of comprehensive bedside POCT in critical ED patients is associated with significant reductions in test turnaround, and time to completion of CT scanning when IV contrast is required. ED LOS was also reduced in the latter population.
Transonic wall interference effects on bodies of revolution.

Efforts to develop a near sonic transport have placed renewed emphasis on obtaining accurate aerodynamic force and pressure data in the near sonic speed range. Comparison of wind-tunnel and flight data obtained for a blunt-nose body of revolution showed significant discrepancies in drag levels near Mach 1 - apparently due to wind-tunnel wall interference. Subsequent tests of geometrically similar bodies of revolution showed that increasing the model-to-test-section blockage ratio from 0.00017 to 0.0043 resulted in altered drag curve shapes, delayed drag divergence, and 'transonic creep' from subsonic drag levels due to increased wall interference.
Gabbro and pyroxenite from a deep-sea core in the Indian Ocean

Abstract A sediment core was taken from a depth of 5,982 m in the Ob Trench bordering the Broken Ridge in the southeastern Indian Ocean. The core contained fragments of gabbros and pyroxenites embedded in “red clay”. It is concluded that partial melting and differentiation by crystal settling of mafic rocks gave rise to the sequence of interlayered gabbro and pyroxenite exposed on the southern flank of the Broken Ridge. After emplacement, these rocks suffered the effect of dynamic metamorphism as a result of a general faulting of the area.
EFFECTS OF LEARNING ABOUT GENDER DISCRIMINATION ON ADOLESCENT GIRLS' ATTITUDES TOWARD AND INTEREST IN SCIENCE

Gender discrimination has contributed to the gender imbalance in scientific fields. However, research on the effects of informing adolescent girls about gender discrimination in these fields is rar...
Inhibition of methionine uptake by methotrexate in mouse leukemia L1210 cells.

Methionine-auxotrophic L1210 cells were used to study the effect of methotrexate (MTX) on methionine utake and metabolism. MTX was shown to inhibit amino acid transport systems and cause a decrease of methionine uptake into L1210 cells. Conversely, a nonmetabolizable amino acid analogue reduced MTX uptake into L1210 cells. MTX also blocked the transfer of the beta carbon from serine into methionine. Therefore, methionine deprivation may be an additional mechanism of action for MTX in methionine-auxotrophic tumor cells.
Regulatory importance of pesticide degradation products from an environmental fate perspective.

AbstractData defining the fate of a pesticide in the environment is required by the Environmental Protection Agency before registration allowing use of the pesticide in the United States can be approved. Levels of analysis and application rates required in conducting the studies and the relationship between lab and field studies in the regulatory process are discussed with regard to environmental fate studies.
Context-Dependent Learning Interferes with Visuomotor Transformations for Manipulation Planning

How the CNS transforms visual information of object properties into motor commands for manipulation is not well understood. We designed novel apparatus and protocols in which human subjects had to learn manipulations in two different contexts. The first task involved manipulating a U-shaped object that can afford two actions by grasping different parts of the same object. The second task involved manipulating two L-shaped objects that were posed at different orientations. In both experiments, subjects learned the manipulation over consecutive trials in one context before switching to a different context. For both objects and tasks, the visual geometric cues were effective in eliciting anticipatory control with little error at the beginning of learning of the first context. However, subjects failed to use the visual information to the same extent when switching to the second context as sensorimotor memory built through eight consecutive repetitions in the first context exerted a strong interference on subjects' ability to use visual cues again when the context changed. A follow-up experiment where subjects were exposed to a pseudorandom sequence of context switches with the U-shaped object revealed that the interference caused by the preceding context persisted even when subjects switched context after only one trial. Our results suggest that learning generalization of dexterous manipulation is fundamentally limited by context-specific learning of motor actions and competition between vision-based motor planning and sensorimotor memory.
Fibrator properties of manifolds

Abstract Approximate fibrations form a useful class of maps, in part, because they provide computable relationships involving the domain, image and homotopy fiber. Fibrator properties, which pertain to and depend upon the homotopy fiber, allow instant recognition of approximate fibrations. This is a survey of results about those fibrator properties.
Stratification of nutrients in soil for different tillage regimes and cotton rotations

Abstract Crop management practices, especially tillage and rotation, can impact soil nutrient stratification, crop growth, and yield. The objectives of this study were to determine the soil-profile distribution of plant-available nutrients in four depth intervals from 0 to 90 cm for different cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cropping systems, tillage regimes, and N fertilization rates in a south-central Texas silty clay loam soil after 5 years of treatment imposition. Distribution of nutrients in the soil profile varied between cropping systems (continuous cotton monoculture and cotton–corn (Zea mays L.) rotation), conventional (CT) and reduced tillage (RT), and N fertilization rates (0, 80, and 160 kg N ha−1). Plant-available P showed the greatest stratification and was 426% higher at 0–15 cm than at 60–90 cm, while SO4 had the greatest increase (42%) with depth. The percentage decrease from 0–15 to 60–90 cm was 47% and 147% for NO3 and K, and 76%, 12%, 43%, and 232% for Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn, respectively. In contrast, Ca and Mg concentrations increased 22% and 15%, respectively, from 0–15 to 60–90 cm. Increasing the N fertilization rate increased plant-available NO3 and SO4 but decreased K, Fe, Cu, and Zn concentrations. Inclusion of corn in rotation with cotton decreased plant-available Mn, Fe, and Cu from 15 to 90 cm relative to continuous cotton at 160 kg N ha−1. For unfertilized soil, rotation increased micronutrient concentrations at 15–60 cm compared to continuous cotton. On average, CT cotton–corn had significantly lower K, Ca, Mg, Na, and SO4 concentrations than CT continuous cotton. Reduced tillage and diversified cropping systems altered the distribution of plant-available nutrients in soil relative to CT and continuous cotton. In fact, RT increased plant-available P and NO3 in surface soil, which may have contributed to higher lint yields than CT continuous cotton.