cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predicting the Possible Physiological/Biological Utility of the Hydropersulfide Functional Group Based on Its Chemistry: Similarities Between Hydropersulfides and Selenols

Significance: Hydropersulfides (RSSH) and related polysulfide species (RSnR, n > 2, R = alkyl, H) are highly biologically prevalent with likely important physiological functions. Due to their preva...
A review of hybrid RANS-LES methods for turbulent flows: Concepts and applications

Abstract The hybridization of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and large eddy simulation (LES) methods is seen to be the most promising way to efficiently deal with separated turbulent flow simulations relevant to aerospace and wind energy applications. Characteristic conceptual features of popular hybrid RANS-LES and their applications to hill-type and airfoil flow including flow separation are described. Conceptual questions on existing hybrid RANS-LES are pointed out and ways to overcome these problems are presented. Further analyses show that corresponding novel hybrid RANS-LES methods generalize and improve existing methods. The discussions reveal, in particular, the great value of physical and mathematical realizability constraints for the substantial improvement of simulation methods.
Physiology and Growth of Douglas-Fir and Redwood Seedlings Planted After Partial Harvesting

Reforestation following timber harvests and natural disturbances is an essential component of sustainable forest management. As disturbances such as drought-induced mortality and wildland fires spread across many forests of the western U.S., a better understanding of the influences of stand structure on seedling physiology can foster more effective reforestation efforts. Moreover, as climate throughout the West is projected to become hotter and drier, it is important to investigate regeneration under xeric conditions, particularly for species restricted to mesic habitats. To study the influences of stand structure and climate on regeneration success, we monitored physiology (water potential [Ψ] and stomatal conductance [gs]), growth (change in basal diameter and biomass accumulation), and mortality rate of planted Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) seedlings for two growing seasons after partial harvesting in inland northern California. Compared to seedlings in the no-cut and moderate-retention treatments, seedlings in the gap (100% cut) treatment had the highest Ψ and gs, greatest growth, and lowest mortality. We also found that compared to Douglas-fir, redwood had higher Ψ and gs, greater growth, and lower mortality. Overall, our study indicates that low-retention silvicultural treatments can minimize water stress and maximize gas exchange, growth, and survival in regenerating seedlings. Our results also demonstrate that redwood, a species generally restricted to mesic coastal habitats, can successfully establish in xeric inland sites when planted after partial harvesting, even during drought conditions.
Raciolinguistics and the Education of Emergent Bilinguals Labeled as Disabled

In the primary grades, decisions regarding the language/s of instruction for emergent bilinguals labeled as disabled (EBLADs) are often made entirely by school representatives with little to no input from the child or the family. These decisions, which often result in a monolingual placement, not only impact the linguistic practices of EBLADs in school but also at home—often leading to a decline in home language use for the child. While monolingual placements for EBLADs are often the result of teachers’, administrators’ and monolingual service providers’ erroneous perceptions and misunderstandings regarding language function for students with disabilities, these decisions can also be reflective of bias grounded in the student’s racial, ethnic, linguistic and dis/abled identity. Using a raciolinguistic stance and qualitative data from an ethnographic study of Spanish-speaking Latinx mothers and their EBLAD children, this paper presents the ways in which mothers of EBLADs understand/view school-based language decisions as racially motivated as well as the ways in which those decisions impact language practices in the home. This paper will also present the understanding that EBLADs themselves have regarding the impact that their monolingual English educations have on their linguistic development and on their mother’s ability to support their academic development. Lastly, possibilities for how these understandings can be explored at the classroom and policy level, as a way to destigmatize bilingualism for students labeled as disabled as well as to empower EBLADs and their families, will be shared.
Avoiding Spurious Local Minima in Deep Quadratic Networks

Despite their practical success, a theoretical understanding of the loss landscape of neural networks has proven challenging due to the high-dimensional, non-convex, and highly nonlinear structure of such models. In this paper, we characterize the training landscape of the mean squared error loss for neural networks with quadratic activation functions. We prove existence of spurious local minima and saddle points which can be escaped easily with probability one when the number of neurons is greater than or equal to the input dimension and the norm of the training samples is used as a regressor. We prove that deep overparameterized neural networks with quadratic activations benefit from similar nice landscape properties. Our theoretical results are independent of data distribution and fill the existing gap in theory for two-layer quadratic neural networks. Finally, we empirically demonstrate convergence to a global minimum for these problems.
The Exclusionary Rule Revisited

We revisit the economic theory of exclusionary rules. First, we show that more exclusion may induce enforcers to conduct more searches, contrary to the standard notion that more exclusion leads to fewer searches. Second, we identify and investigate the complexities that arise when enforcers may harass suspects (imposing significant costs without legal proceedings) instead of conducting legal searches. If one attempts to choose the optimal exclusionary rule naively (for example, by ignoring the possibility of harassment by enforcers), the chosen rule will exclude evidence more often than is optimal. We explore social welfare considerations and discuss policy implications based on our formal results.
Does the Implementation of Reference Pricing Result in Reduced Utilization? Evidence From Inpatient and Outpatient Procedures.

Reference pricing (RP) is an insurance design that can be used to incentivize patients to use low-price settings. While RP is not intended to affect overall utilization, it could unintentionally re...
Monocyte chemoattractant protein-induced protein 1 directly degrades viral miRNAs with a specific motif and inhibits KSHV infection

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) expresses miRNAs during latency. However, regulation of viral miRNAs remains largely unknown. Our prior studies demonstrated that MCPIP1 regulates KSHV miRNA biogenesis by degrading most KSHV pre-miRNAs through its RNase activity. Some viral pre-miRNAs are partially resistant to degradation by MCPIP1. Here, we further characterized MCPIP1 substrate specificity and its antiviral potential against KSHV infection. In vitro cleavage assays and binding assays showed that MCPIP1 cleavage efficiency is related to binding affinity. Motif-based sequence analysis identified that KSHV pre-miRNAs that are well degraded by MCPIP1 have a 5-base motif (M5 base motif) within their terminal loops and this motif region consists of multiple pyrimidine-purine-pyrimidine (YRY) motifs. We further demonstrated that mutation of this M5 base motif within terminal loop of pre-miRNAs inhibited MCPIP1-mediated RNA degradation. We also revealed that MCPIP1 has an antiviral effect against KSHV infection. MCPIP1 can reduce the expression of Dicer, which in turn restricts KSHV infection. Conclusively, our findings demonstrated that MCPIP1 inhibited KSHV infection and suppressed viral miRNA biogenesis by directly degrading KSHV pre-miRNAs and altering the expression of miRNA biogenesis factors.
John Snow: Anesthesiologist, Epidemiologist, Scientist, and Hero

A 19th century physician was crucial to the establishment of 2 medical specialties-anesthesiology and public health. Everyone whose interest in public health has increased in the last year will be amazed at Dr John Snow's career in anesthesiology. Those who recognize him as the first full-time physician anesthetist will be struck by his development of medical mapping during the Cholera Pandemic of 1848, resulting in one of the fundamental techniques of epidemiology and public health that has continued through today. Snow's accomplishments in anesthesiology and epidemiology reflected a concatenation of science, focus, and creativity. His training in the early 19th century integrated science, medicine, and his keen interest in respiratory physiology. His early clinical exposure to colliery workers in Newcastle was likely influenced by the earlier development of pneumatic medicine. He was committed to the notion that chemistry, especially the use of medicinal gases, would be transformative for medicine. Thus, he was "primed" when the news of the American anodyne ether reached London in 1846. When the third cholera pandemic reached London shortly thereafter, in the fall of 1848, his academic and practical understanding of gas chemistry and pharmacology, respiratory physiology, and anesthetic agents led him to question the popularly promulgated miasma-based theories of transmission. His methodical investigations, research, and perseverance were mirrored in his scholarly work, numerous presentations, and public advocacy. He articulated many scientific principles essential to the early practice of anesthesia-anesthetic potency, quantitative dosing of anesthetic agents, engineering principles required for conserving the latent heat of vaporization, and minimizing the contribution of anesthetic equipment to airway resistance. He moved easily and methodically between these worlds of physiology, chemistry, engineering, clinical medicine, and public health. In his role as the first medical epidemiologist, Snow understood the power of medical mapping and the graphic presentation of data. He was a pioneer in 2 nascent fields of medicine that were historically and remain contemporarily connected.
Survival After Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Shocks

Abstract Background There are conflicting data on the impact of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks on subsequent mortality. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine whether the arrhythmic substrate leading to ICD therapy or the therapy itself increases mortality. Methods The study cohort included 5,516 ICD recipients who were enrolled in 5 landmark ICD trials (MADIT-II, MADIT-RISK, MADIT-CRT, MADIT-RIT, RAID). The authors evaluated the association of device therapy with subsequent mortality in 4 separate time-dependent models: model I, type of ICD therapy; model II, type of arrhythmia for which ICD therapy was delivered; model III, combined assessment of all arrhythmia and therapy types during follow-up; and model IV, incremental risk associated with repeated ICD shocks. Results When analyzed by the type of ICD therapy (model I), a first appropriate ICD shock was associated with increased risk of subsequent mortality with or without concomitant occurrence of inappropriate shock during follow-up (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.78 and 2.31; p 0.10). Combined assessment of all therapy and arrhythmia types during follow-up (model III) showed that appropriate ICD shocks for VF, shocks for fast VT (≥200 beats/min) without prior antitachycardia pacing (ATP), as well as shocks for fast VT delivered after failed ATP, were associated with the highest risk of subsequent death (HR: all >2.8; p Conclusion The combined data from 5 landmark ICD trials suggest that the underlying arrhythmic substrate rather than the ICD therapy is the more important determinant of mortality in ICD recipients.
“It Is Time for Artists to Be Heard”: Artists and Writers for Freedom, 1963–1964

In The Black Arts Movement: Literary Nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s , James Smethurst writes: “Black arts cultural nationalism draws on a long history.” He describes the cultural nationalist stance we associate with the Black Arts Movement as involving a concept of liberation and self-determination that “entails some notion of the development or recovery of a true ‘national’ culture that is linked to an already existing folk or popular culture” and often relying on recognizable African elements. Black arts cultural nationalism expressed the linkages between Black Arts and Black Power even before they were specifically named and identified. In particular, Black arts cultural nationalism was visible in some of the ways 1940s and 1950s Black leftists engaged with commitments to Black nationhood, Black leadership, and Black liberation. Many Black leftists from the 1940s and 1950s were part of the writing and organizing that laid some of the groundwork for the movements commonly identified with Black Arts after 1965. Looking more closely at one formation of Black artists and writers from the early l960s, the Association of Artists for Freedom, illuminates one kind of precedent for the emerging Black Arts Movement.
Tailoring 3D printed graded architected polymer foams for enhanced energy absorption

Abstract Graded material design strategy has been exploited to achieve enhanced mechanical performance compared to their uniform counterpart. Using a combined numerical and experimental approach, we investigated the effects of three graded designs on the compressive mechanical performance of 3D printed architected polymer foams. The architected foam is composed of beam binders and spherical shells, which have pronounced effects on the mechanical performance under large deformations. It was found that three failure mechanisms dominate the mechanical behavior of foams for different binder sizes, including binder-failure-only, shell-failure-only, and binder-shell-failure. The investigation of shell thickness variation showed that the relation between relative stiffness and relative density is E / E s ~ ( ρ / ρ s ) 1.56 , indicating a bending-dominant deformation behavior. Guided by these findings, we studied the mechanical behavior of three types of graded designs, including graded binder, graded shell thickness, and a hybrid strategy. It was found that the specific energy absorption of hybrid foam is enhanced by 125 %, 185 %, and 34 % compared to uniform foam, graded binder foam, and graded thickness foam, respectively. Furthermore, compared with existing lattice-based and shell-based graded foams, the stiffness of hybrid graded foam increases by 346 % and 33 %, respectively; the specific energy absorption of hybrid graded foam increases by 141 % and 32 %, respectively. The findings presented open a new avenue to engineer architected materials with enhanced mechanical properties, finding applications ranging from structural components of defense systems to protection systems in vehicles.
Introduction: Beyond the Knowledge Economy

Over the last several decades, knowledge has emerged as the undisputed key to unlocking worldly potential. Clarifying why the author chooses the designator “knowledge economy,” this chapter introduces some distinct and antagonistic conceptions of the knowledge economy and the political orientations and prescriptions that precede and follow from them. It sketches the history of the knowledge economy and its internal relation to post-Fordism before providing several examples of why and how the quest for more knowledge is oppressive, linking the drive particularly with colonialism and ableism. After, it examines the alleged liberatory potential of the knowledge economy by visiting the Italian marxist tradition, the latter of which happened to emerge at the same time as the former. Finally, the introduction gives a brief gloss at the chapters to come.
Auditor experience in preliminary control risk assessments: neural network models of auditors' knowledge structures

This study examines how experience influences auditors' abilities to select and use relevant cues to make efficient, appropriate preliminary control risk assessments (CRAs). Using the preliminary CRAs of two auditor groups with differing levels of experience, this study developed two neural network models of auditors' CRA decision processes. The models provided a means of capturing and measuring auditors' selective attention, a cognitive concept describing a decision process that selects and uses cues based on cue dimensions, the different qualities or aspects of a cue perceived to provide a contrast in level of significance for making categorical decisions. The results showed that the typical experienced senior auditor exhibited a higher level of selective attention to cue dimensions. The experienced group also used fewer cues and exhibited less decision time than did the less experienced group. The results are consistent with the conclusions in the expertise literature (e.g. Anderson, 1983; Johnson, et al. 1984; Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986) that experience does lead to a more top-down approach to cue selection and a more highly developed knowledge structure that provides more information content for relating the selected cues to the resulting decision response. However, decision error in relation to the firm's CRA solution was nearly the same for both groups and suggested that both groups could improve their CRA process. In order for the inexperienced seniors to adjust their control risk assessment to match the firm's solution, they need to use the information provided by their selected cue set better. Although the experienced seniors' CRAs were more consistent with their cue sets than the inexperienced seniors' CRAs were with their chosen cue sets, in terms of increasing consensus to the firm's prescribed solution, the experienced group may need to consider planning to rely more on internal controls and less on tests of account balances for this case that exhibited a fairly strong internal control structure.
CRC Handbook of Engineering Tables

Electrical and Computer Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Materials Science Mechanical Engineering General Engineering and Mathematics Index
Prosthetic valve replacement for traumatic tricuspid insufficiency. Report of a case originally diagnosed as Ebstein's malformation.

Abstract A case of a patient with traumatic tricuspid insufficiency previously believed to have Ebstein's malformation with a patent foramen ovale is presented. Although the onset of symptoms rather late in life was hard to reconcile with the diagnosis of Ebstein's malformation, the symptoms themselves and the cardiac catheterization data had indicated the presence of this congenital lesion. At operation in 1954, a patent foramen ovale was closed, and the patient's symptoms decreased significantly. The tricuspid valve was not visualized or repaired at that time. In 1967 reoperation was advised because of increasing cardiac disability. Awareness of the entity of traumatic tricuspid insufficiency and improved diagnostic and operative techniques now allowed correct diagnosis and treatment. A brief resume of the entity of isolated traumatic tricuspid insufficiency is also included with this report.
Cellpath: Fusion of Cellular and Traffic Sensor Data for Route Flow Estimation via Convex Optimization

A new convex optimization framework is developed for the route flow estimation problem from the fusion of vehicle count and cellular network data. The issue of highly underdetermined link flow based methods in transportation networks is investigated, then solved using the proposed concept of cellpaths for cellular network data. With this data-driven approach, the authors proposed approach is versatile: it is compatible with other data sources, and it is model agnostic and thus compatible with user equilibrium, system- optimum, Stackelberg concepts, and other models. Using a dimensionality reduction scheme, the authors design a projected gradient algorithm suitable for the proposed route flow estimation problem. The algorithm solves a block isotonic regression problem in the projection step in linear time. The accuracy, computational efficiency, and versatility of the proposed approach are validated on the I-210 corridor near Los Angeles, where the authors achieve 90% route flow accuracy with 1033 traffic sensors and 1000 cellular towers covering a large network of highways and arterials with more than 20,000 links. In contrast to long-term land use planning applications, the authors demonstrate the first system to the authors knowledge that can produce route-level flow estimates suitable for short time horizon prediction and control applications in traffic management. The authors system is open source and available for validation and extension.
Attention and competition in figure-ground perception

What are the roles of attention and competition in determining where objects lie in the visual field, a phenomenon known as figure-ground perception? In this chapter, we review evidence that attention and other high-level factors such as familiarity affect figure-ground perception, and we discuss models that implement these effects. Next, we consider the Biased Competition Model of Attention in which attention is used to resolve the competition for neural representation between two nearby stimuli; in this model the response to the stimulus that loses the competition is suppressed. In the remainder of the chapter we discuss recent behavioral evidence that figure-ground perception entails between-object competition in which the response to the shape of the losing competitor is suppressed. We also describe two experiments testing whether more attention is drawn to resolve greater figure-ground competition, as would be expected if the Biased Competition Model of Attention extends to figure-ground perception. In these experiments we find that responses to targets on the location of a losing strong competitor are slowed, consistent with the idea that the location of the losing competitor is suppressed, but responses to targets on the winning competitor are not speeded, which is inconsistent with the hypothesis that attention is used to resolve figure-ground competition. In closing, we discuss evidence that attention can operate by suppression as well as by facilitation.
Deterministic averaging for adaptive control with time varying parameters

Averaging methods are used to study the behaviour of an adaptive controller in the presence of slowly time-varying parameters. The aim is to combine on the one hand explicit incorporation of time-varying parameters into adaptive control stability analysis and on the other averaging methods. Together, these form a powerful tool for the analysis of adaptive algorithms. >
Emergent Esophagectomy for Esophageal Perforations: A Safe Option.

Background Esophageal perforation is an injury associated with high morbidity and mortality. Initial management ranges from observation to esophagectomy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative mortality and safety of emergent esophagectomy for acute esophageal rupture when compared with elective esophagectomies. Methods We performed a retrospective review of a prospective esophagectomy database from a single institution from 1977 to 2013. Patients who were admitted for esophageal perforation and underwent esophagectomy were identified and compared with patients who underwent elective esophagectomy. Results In all, 3,015 patients received an esophagectomy in elective and emergent settings; 90 esophagectomies were for acute injuries (52 for benign and 38 for malignant causes). A longer median length of stay was associated with emergent esophagectomy compared with elective esophagectomy (13 versus 10 days, p p = 0.003). The survival rates at 30 days, 1 year, and 5 years after surgery were not significantly different between the emergent and nonemergent esophagectomy groups for patients with both benign and malignant underlying conditions. Within the emergent group, there was no difference in 30-day or 6-month survival based on benign or malignant causes, but a significant difference was seen at 1 year (85% for benign versus 65% for malignant, p = 0.025) and 5 years for survival (72% versus 21%, p Conclusions Emergent esophagectomy represents a safe option for the treatment of esophageal perforation, with mortality comparable to elective esophagectomy.
Measuring information systems effectiveness: an ongoing challenge for CIOs

Summary form only given. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are often in the position of justifying information systems resources especially when the business is not doing well overall. Being able to sensibly measure and communicate during difficult financial times is essential to meeting information systems goals of delivering quality products on time and maintaining employee morale. This paper introduces the systems enterprise measurement method concept using defined measures from an article titled "Mapping the dimensions of project success". Using the four dimensions in the article, a measuring program that can be useful for CIOs for presenting the business value of information system projects to other executives. This measurement program will hopefully provide the next phase of project measurement by arming CIOs with measures that provide the value of information systems to the business. The next step is to obtain actual data and determine what trends exist in information systems projects.
Page sized a-Si:H 2-dimensional array as imaging devices

We present a document imaging system using page sized amorphous silicon 2-dimensional sensor arrays. We will discuss the details of the array fabrication, drive electronics, imaging properties, and applications of such devices. Examples of scanned images, including page-sized grey scale images at 200 spot-per-inch, color images and an X-ray image, are presented.
Multiresolution elastic image registration

We have developed a multiscale algorithm for elastic (or molded) alignment of images. There is a wide array of medical applications of elastic (as opposed to strictly rigid) alignment: Subtraction of previous images from current ones to identify changes is perhaps the most obvious. We present preliminary results of this molding technique on a variety of images, and conclude with some closing remarks about this and future directions and goals of this work.
Experimental infection of white-tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus) with bovine viral diarrhea virus type-1 isolated from free-ranging white-tailed deer.

The objective of the current study was to elucidate the within-host dynamics of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) type-1 infection to better understand how this virus could be maintained in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, WTD) populations. The BVDV type-1 used in this study was originally isolated from a free-ranging WTD in Indiana. Four fawns were intranasally inoculated with 2 ml BVDV type-1 strain 544 WTD at a 106 tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50)/ml. Two fawns were inoculated with sham inoculum (negative controls). Animals were bled on days −7, 0, 1, 7, and 14 postinoculation (PID) for a complete blood count, chemistry panel, buffy coat (BC), real-time RT-PCR, and virus neutralization (VN). On days 7 and 14 PID, nasal and rectal swabs were obtained for RT-PCR and two of the virus-inoculated fawns and one of the negative controls fawns were euthanized. At necropsy, multiple samples were obtained for histopathology and in situ hybridization (ISH). Quantitative RT-PCR was performed on s...
Stress relaxation property of the cell wall and auxin-induced cell elongation

A stress-relaxation method has been developed to measure the mechanical property of the plant cell wall, as a physically defined terms. In the method, the stress relaxation property of the cell wall is simulated with a Maxwell viscoelastic model whose character is represented by four parameters; the minimum relaxation time, To, the relaxation rate, b, the maximum relaxation time, Tm and the residual stress, c. Thus, the mechanical property of the cell wall is represented by the four parameters. Physical and physiological meanings of the parameters are discussed. Auxin effects on the parameters were also studied. The cell elongation is simply thought to be extension of the cell wall under a force. The extension of the cell wall can be simulated by the mechanical property of the cell wall. However, the calculated extension was found to be incomparable to the real cell growth, indicating that there has to be other factors limiting the rate of cell growth. Major factors governing cell growth are discussed to be the cell wall mechanical property, the osmotic potential and water movement in the apoplast. A possibility to predict cell expansion with the three factors was discussed and a novel equation representing cell growth was obtained: $$1/R = 1/R_w + 1/R_p $$ whereR is the rate of cell elongation,R w is the rate of cell wall extension due to the osmotic pressure andR p is the rate of cell elongation determined by water conductivity.
Refractive indices in thick photoresist films as a function of bake conditions and film exposure

Prism coupling is applied to thick film DNQ/novolak photoresist materials in the 4.6 to 24 micrometer range. Refractive indices are obtained as a function of softbake temperature and softbake time for exposed and unexposed resists. The results for AZR P4330 RS and AZR EXP 9244 photoresists are compared at a film thickness of 4.6 micrometer. Each photoresist shows an increase in refractive index at 633 nm with softbake temperature and softbake time and a decrease in refractive index with an increase in exposure. The refractive index changes of the films are correlated to the solvent content as determined by radioactive labeling and by gas chromatography. In thicker films, solvent gradients profiles could be obtained by the application of an inverse WKB approximation to the effective indices. The lithographic performance of AZREXP 9244, a new generation thick film photoresist, is examined at various softbake temperatures and softbake times and interpreted in terms solvent content as obtained from the refractive index.
Chemical Reactions of Chlorine on a Vicinal Si(100) Surface Studied by ESDIAD

Abstract The reaction of Cl 2 on a vicinal Si(100) surface has been studied by ESDIAD. This type of surface possesses two types of sites: pairs of dangling bonds on SiSi terrace dimers, and single dangling bonds on the 2-atom layer high steps. The reactivity of these two sites is compared. For low coverages the step dangling bonds are identified as the preferred Cl bonding site after 673 K-annealing. Upon higher temperature annealing and SiCl 2 (g) desorption, the terrace-site Cl species are depleted more rapidly than the step-site Cl species. Extensive isothermal etching under a continuous Cl 2 flux at 800 K is found to produce a disordered surface structure. Heating to 1123 K causes a reordering of the surface.
Group Agency and Overdetermination

A morally objectionable outcome can be overdetermined by the actions of multiple individual agents. In such cases, the outcome is the same regardless of what any individual does or does not do. (For a clear example of such a case, imagine the execution of an innocent person by a firing squad.) We argue that, in some of these types of cases, (a) there exists a group agent, a moral agent constituted by individual agents; (b) the group agent is guilty of violating a moral obligation; however, (c) none of the individual agents violate any of their moral obligations. We explicate and defend this view, and consider its applications to problems generated by anthropogenic climate change and electoral politics.
The purpose (and perils) of government-nonprofit partnership

This study seeks to understand similarities and differences in why local governments and nonprofits choose to collaborate, particularly when those relationships are not governed by formal contracts or grants. Exchange, transaction, and resource dependence theories are used to understand the perceived advantages and disadvantages of collaboration as expressed by local government and nonprofit executives. Based on two large, comparable samples from Georgia, the analysis finds that the two sectors demonstrate a remarkable similarity in the benefits they seek from public-private partnerships, but with some key differences. The motivation to partner is driven by a desire to secure those resources most scarce for the respective sector: expertise and capacity for government, funding for nonprofits. Nonprofit executives generally exhibit a stronger undercurrent of negativity toward intersectoral partnership than do their public sector counterparts. This article discusses possible reasons for these similarities an...
IR photodetector based on an optically cooled micromirror as a light pressure sensor

We consider mid-infrared (5 - 25 μm), optically cooled detectors based on a microcantilever sensor of the radiation pressure. The significant enhancement of sensitivity is due the combination of low effective temperature (10 K), non-absorption detection and a high quality optical microcavity. Spectrometry applications are analyzed. It is shown that an optically cooled radiation pressure sensor potentially has an order of magnitude better sensitivity than the best conventional uncooled detectors.
Hydrodynamics and mass transfer on three-phase distillation trays

Several oil-water mixtures were contacted by air in a sieve tray distillation column simulator. The oil was mineral spirits with 183–206°C boiling range and 51.8° API gravity. Two sieve tray designs were used, and both hydraulic and mass transfer measurements were made, the latter utilizing acetone as the transferring solute. It was found that gas agitation caused the mixtures to behave as a homogeneous liquid that followed general correlations for pressure drop, liquid holdup, froth height, downcomer liquid level, and fractional entrainment. No unusual problems with foaming or entrainment were observed. Mass transfer efficiency was influenced by oil-water ratio, with mild minima occurring at about 50 vol % mixtures. It was concluded that, when the immiscible liquids are both present in significant proportions, designers need not avoid formation of a second liquid phase for fear of unusual hydraulic or mass transfer behavior.
Development and validation of an UPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of ethoxzolamide in blood, brain tissue, and bioequivalent buffers: applications to absorption, brain distribution, and pharmacokinetic studies.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an UPLC-MS/MS method to quantify ethoxzolamide in plasma (EZ) and apply the method to absorption, brain distribution, as well as pharmacokinetic studies. A C18 column was used with 0.1% of formic acid in acetonitrile and 0.1% of formic acid in water as the mobile phases to resolve EZ. The mass analysis was performed in a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) with positive scan mode. The results show that the linear range of EZ is 4.88–10,000.00 nM. The intra-day variance is less than 12.43% and the accuracy is between 88.88 and 108.00%. The inter-day variance is less than 12.87% and accuracy is between 89.27 and 115.89%. Protein precipitation was performed using methanol to extract EZ from plasma and brain tissues. Only 40 μL of plasma is needed for analysis due to the high sensitivity of this method, which could be completed in less than three minutes. This method was used to study the pharmacokinetics of EZ in SD rats, and the transport of EZ in Caco-2 and MDCK-MDR1 overexpressing cell culture models. Our data show that EZ is not a substrate for p-glycoprotein (P-gp) and its entry into the brain may not limited by the blood-brain barrier.
Polymer Skins With Switchable Roughness

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films with embedded electrically-responsive liquid crystal (LC) ellipsoids were fabricated to develop a membrane coating featuring tunable roughness. Membranes (∼30 microns thick) were placed between opposing pieces of indium-tin oxide (ITO) glass, creating electrodes for creation of a uniform electric field. Applied voltages ranged from 0V–350 V, as films were observed using an optical microscope. Thin-film interference patterns were observed in various regions of each film and were measured. Contour plots of film displacement were created and showed elevations across the observed region. The area of the first dark fringe regions, assumed to be in contact with the top glass surface, were measured as a function of applied voltage. The maximum displacement of the film was estimated to reach 1.5 microns and the area in contacted with the top glass surface increased 127% between 0–350 V. Finite element modelling results illustrate the influence of polarity on the roughness of the film surface.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Expression of the vitamin D receptor in the intestine and kidney of osteopetrotic rats

Osteopetrosis describes a heterogeneous group of metabolic bone disorders characterized by a generalized skeletal sclerosis. Because reduced bone resorption coexists with elevated plasma levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D] in several osteopetrotic animals and children, skeletal resistance to this hormone has been proposed. In some mutations, such as the osteopetrotic (op) rat, the inability of 1,25-(OH)2D to elicit a skeletal response has been demonstrated. It is not known whether this resistance is localized to the skeleton or involves all target tissues. This study examined vitamin D receptor (VDR) status in the intestine and kidney from op rats and their normal littermates from 2-8 weeks of age. Quantitation of unoccupied VDR levels by Scatchard analysis demonstrated a delayed pattern of VDR expression in the intestine of op rats compared with their normal littermates; unoccupied VDR levels were up-regulated in op mutants from 5-8 weeks. Western analysis of 6-week-old mutant and normal intestinal, chromatin-associated protein revealed that total VDR levels were consistently and significantly elevated in all of the mutants examined. In op kidney, VDR numbers did not change as a function of age and were significantly down-regulated from 2-6 weeks of age compared with age-matched normal littermates. VDR affinity was similar in age-matched mutant and normal rats in both the intestine and kidney. In summary, these data suggest that skeletal resistance to 1,25-(OH)2D in op mutants is not the result of a generalized receptor defect resulting in reduced numbers or affinity. Furthermore, the up-regulation of intestinal VDR observed in older (5- to 8-week-old) mutants may reflect a compensatory mechanism to help establish and maintain normal serum calcium and phosphorus levels.
Tomographic analysis of CO absorption in a low-pressure flame

Tomographic analysis is used to provide a correction to low-pressure stoichiometric premixed CH4/O2 flame temperatures measured with tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy employing CO two-line thermometry. It is shown that flame temperatures measured with line-of-sight-based two-line thermometry are always too low and that the correction to the observed temperature is a nonlinear function of the height above the burner surface. It is also shown that, at a given height in the flame, a constant temperature across the flame does not imply that vibrational populations are constant and that, at low pressures (<20 Torr), the flame spreads radially beyond the burner diameter and so may no longer be approximated by a one-dimensional model.
The Information Search

This paper in the form of story discusses a college student's information search process. In this story we see Kuhlthau's information search process: initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation. Katie is a student who goes in search of information for her class research paper. Katie's class readings, her interest and reflection on the topic, and the instructor's guidance really help her to focus on the topic of her research. The librarian's service is also quite helpful by providing needed and timely service. When we compare the service to Grover's model of service, we see that the problem was diagnosed by two people—the instructor and the librarian. The course instructor had already provided the student feedback about narrowing the topic and the advice to refer to primary sources as well. So it was an easy diagnosis for the librarian when the student seeks the librarian's help in finding primary sources. Here the librarian seemed very caring and helpful, which made the s...
Children's use of semantic analysis in the interpretation of missing subjects: Further evidence against the MDP

Preschool and many older children often have difficulty understanding who carries out the complement action (e.g., to go in sentences such asMary promised John to go; this is so, even though they easily understand this information in sentences such asJohn told Mary to go. C. Chomsky (1969) proposed that children's errors arise from the overgeneral application of a purely structural Minimal Distance Principle. Maratsos (1974), however, hypothesized that children err by overgeneralizing a different principle which he called the Semantic Role Principle. According to this principle, the Goal-Recipient of the spoken message, not the closest noun phrase, is understood as the person who carries out the act referred to by the infinitival complement. The two studies reported here were designed to determine which of these principles children use. Preschool children were taught to understand a specially designed novel construction. The children then acted out sentences containing related but novel uses of the construction such that they would respond differentially according to which interpretive principle they used. The results strongly favored the Semantic Role Principle, rather than the MDP described by Chomsky (1969), or a related, more complex MDP described by Rosenbaum (1967). It is further discussed how children's formulation of the Semantic Role Principle, rather than the MDP, might arise from their prior analyses of related constructions, such as the imperative construction, rather than following from an innate preference, as suggested in Maratsos (1974).
Computer techniques for the national archives

H istorians are, by definition, interdisciplinary-they study events not only from diplomatic and military records, but also from social, economic, and intellectual or literary evidence. A researcher who restricts himself to a single source is ahistorical in today's context. The modern researcher is faced not only with the problem of mastering sources in a multiplicity of fields, but also with mastering the structure of the records in which the documentary evidence is imbedded. For true historical perspective on any modern issue, all of the interlocking agency relationships of a vast and paternalistic government must be understood and probed. There is not a subject relating to American national development that can be studied and understood from only one source-from one man's private papers, from one series of newspapers, or from one agency's records. It is fair to ask how today's young historians master these sources in their approach to universal history. Evidence is that they do not. The young scholar avoids general history and takes the route of monographic literature to fleeting fame and fortune. He writes an incident in a single man's career from one collection of personal papers supported by peripheral secondary works. He retreats to an antithetical and intricate analysis of a minute subject, such as the voting record in Chicago's 5th Ward in the 1928 election. The modern, young historian has assumed the position of bricklayer instead of architect of history-he is losing the ability to design new, graceful, lofty arches which bridge the spaces of time. His excuses for this approach are contradictory-on the one hand, the paperwork explosion has made great study and analysis of events impossible or, on the other hand, the advent of the telephone and rapid transportation which can bring people into direct contact has resulted in a lack of documentation of the genesis of historical events. One is confirmed in the view of the young historian as a limited researcher by daily scanning of the registrations at a great repository of documents, such as the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress or the search room of the National Archives: "Southern Reporting of the Civil War," "The Freedman's Bureau in Maryland," "Roosevelt and the Trusts," "The Republican Opposition to Article Ten," "Allied Intervention in Russia, 1918-1919," and onward from peak to peak of American political life. The titles, with minor variations, appear and reappear, and the papers of Thomas Jefferson, Elbridge Gerry, the American Colonization Society, Thomas Ewing, and occasionally Gifford Pinchot are removed from the shelves, poured over, noted, and returned. Their use,
It's All of the Above: Benefits of Working for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury.

Background: The majority of research on employment among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) focuses on the employment rate at a given point in time to the exclusion of quality employment outcomes. Objective: To identify the employment outcomes of greatest importance as defined by those with SCI who have worked since injury. Methods: A qualitative approach was used with 6 focus groups at 2 sites (Minnesota and Georgia). Participants (N = 44) were a minimum of 10 years after injury and had been employed at some point after SCI. We identified participants through a 40-year longitudinal study of SCI and a community resource. A combination of homogeneous (race/ethnic minority group, female group) and heterogeneous groups were convened. A semi-structured interview format queried participants about personal, environmental, and policy-related factors that impacted obtaining, maintaining, and advancing in employment. Results: Seven overlapping themes were identified under the 2 broad categories of compensation ...
A parameterized overspeeding method for the rapid attainment of low-speed sedimentation equilibrium

The approach of a solution of dilute, monodisperse, globular macromolecules to low-speed sedimentation equilibrium in an ultracentrifuge is simulated by numerical integration of the Lamm equation. Various combinations of overspeed time and angular velocity are used to assess the conditions needed to minimize the time it takes the solution to attain sedimentation equilibrium. The optimal overspeeding time and angular velocity are determined over a wide range of values of the molecular weight (relative molar mass) of the solute and the radial distance between the meniscus and base of the solution. The results may be expressed as simple functions which allow facile calculation of (a) the optimal overspeeding time and velocity, and (b) the time required to reach sedimentation equilibrium. The results are in reasonable agreement with previous analytical solutions which were based on several simplifying assumptions. The parameterized overspeeding procedure is shown to be robust over a wide range of conditions, and typically leads to a greater than 5-fold reduction in centrifugation time.
Risky business-- financial viability of systems vendors

Companies that supply libraries with automation technology are part of the computer‐industry marketplace. However, vendors that serve the library component of this marketplace face problems not typical of the industry as a whole. Significant and unique problems include the protracted selection processes employed by libraries, the very slow and drawn‐out payment cycles, the dependence of the libraries on vendors, and the adversarial relationships that frequently exist between the libraries and vendors. These, and related issues, are discussed by representatives of eight prominent automation firms: Joseph R. Matthews (INLEX), James J. Michael (Data Research Associates), Harry Porteous (Geac), Gene Robinson (CLSI), Stephen R. Salmon (Carlyle), Stephen Silberstein (Innovative Interfaces), Phyllis Bova Spies (OCLC Local Systems), and Harriet Valazques (Utlas).