cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adaptive message logging for incremental program replay

Adaptive message logging, which traces dependences between messages and checkpoints and selectively logs messages, letting users accurately and efficiently replay specific portions of parallel programs, is presented. Traces are reduced by logging only messages that cannot be quickly recomputed during replay. By restarting the execution at the right set of checkpoints, many of the messages needed for a specific replay can be recomputed during the replay itself. >
Effect of the Nature of the Counterion on the Properties of Anionic Surfactants. 3. Self-Association Behavior of Tetrabutylammonium Dodecyl Sulfate and Tetradecyl Sulfate: Clouding and Micellar Growth

The surfactants tetrabutylammonium dodecyl sulfate (TBADS) and tetradecyl sulfate (TBATS) have been synthesized by ion-exchange, and their self-association behavior has been investigated. The solutions of these surfactants show clouding and phase separation as the temperature is increased. The clouding temperature TC of TBADS solutions has been found to be about 4−5 °C higher than for TBATS solutions in the whole range of composition up to a surfactant content of 64 wt %. The critical micellization concentration (cmc) of TBATS has been determined using the electrical conductivity method. The micelle aggregation numbers (N) have been determined using the time-resolved fluorescence quenching (TRFQ) method, with pyrene/dodecylpyridinium chloride as fluorescent probe/quencher pair. For the two surfactants, N increases with the surfactant concentration and above a threshold concentration with the temperature. This latter increase as well as the phase separation observed for TBADS and TBATS are very unusual fea...
The effects of Pilates-based exercise on dynamic balance in healthy adults

Summary Professionals in theater, athletics, and rehabilitation settings have integrated Pilates-based exercise into their practice. The Pilates method of exercise claims to have several benefits including improving posture and improving balance; however, there are few studies to support these statements. We studied the effects of Pilates-based exercise on dynamic balance in healthy adults. A certified Pilates instructor conducted all exercise sessions. After completing 10 Pilates-based exercise sessions a significant change ( P = . 01 ) in dynamic balance was found in the functional reach test (FRT) mean scores in the exercise group ( n = 17 ). The control group ( n = 17 ) demonstrated no significant change ( P = . 54 ). The results suggest that Pilates-based exercise improved dynamic balance as measured by the FRT in healthy adults.
Behaviour of portal and strut types of beam-columns

Abstract A numerical procedure combining the finite segment method with the influence coefficient method has been developed for the cyclic inelastic analysis of steel tubular beam-columns. In this paper, extensive numerical studies of the behaviour of portal and strut-types of beam-columns under monotonic and cyclic loadings are made, using the computer model developed. These studies confirmed the suitability of the numerical procedure proposed. Comparisons have also been made with the results of tests on actual members, providing the needed confirmation of the validity of the method.
Evaluation of acid-producing sulfidic materials in Virginia highway corridors

Road construction through sulfidic materials in Virginia has resulted in localized acid rock drainage (ARD) that threatens water quality, sedimentation, integrity of building materials, and vegetation management. Geologic formations associated with acid roadcuts were characterized by potential peroxide acidity (PPA), expressed as calcium carbonate equivalence (CCE), and total sulfur (total-S) in order to develop a statewide sulfide hazard rating map. The geologic formations were grouped into four categories based on potential acid-producing severity: i) Tabb formation (PPA CCE/1000 Mg; S<0.2%); ii) Ashe formation (PPA<18 Mg CCE/1000 Mg; S<2.0%); iii) Chesapeake Group, Lower Tertiary deposits, Millboro shale, Marcellus shale, and Needmore Formation (PPA<60 Mg CCE/1000 Mg; S<2.6%), and; iv) Chattanooga shale and Quantico slate (PPA<99 Mg CCE/1000 Mg; S<3.9%). Sulfide hazard analysis should be an essential step in the pre-design phase of highway construction and other earth-disturbing activities.
An Investigation of Damping Mechanisms in Translational Euler-Bernoulli Beams Using a Lyapunov-Based Stability Approach

A translational cantilevered Euler-Bernoulli beam with tip mass dynamics at its free end is used to study the effect of several damping mechanisms on the stabilization of the beam displacement. Specifically, a Lyapunov-based controller utilizing a partial differential equation model of the translational beam is developed to exponentially stabilize the beam displacement while the beam support is regulated to a desired set-point position. Depending on the composition of the tip mass dynamics assumption (i.e. body-mass, point-mass, or massless), it is shown that proper combination of different damping mechanisms (i.e., strain-rate, structural, or viscous damping) guarantees exponential stability of the beam displacement. This novel Lyapunov-based approach, which is based on the energy dissipation mechanism in the beam, brings new dimensions to the stabilization problem of translational beams with tip mass dynamics. The stability analysis utilizes relatively simple mathematical tools to illustrate the exponential and asymptotic stability results. The numerical results are presented to show the effectiveness of the controller.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
IMPORTANCE OF TYPE I AND TYPE II MECHANISMS IN THE PHOTODYNAMIC INACTIVATION OF VIRUSES IN BLOOD WITH ALUMINUM PHTHALOCYANINE DERIVATIVES

— The relative importance of type I and type II mechanisms in the photodynamic treatment of red blood cell concentrates (RBCC) to inactivate viruses was studied using aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (AlPcS4), visible light and quenching or enhancing agents of reactive forms of oxygen. Treatment of a human RBCC with 10–13 μM AlPcS4 and 25–26 rnW/cm2 visible light resulted in the rapid and complete inactivation of added vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). The addition of mannitol, glycerol, reduced glutathione (GSH), or superoxide dismutase (SOD), known quenching agents of type I mechanisms, had little to no effect on the rate of inactivation of VSV. Significant inhibition of VSV kill was observed on addition of tryptophan or sodium aide, known quenchers of type II mechanisms. Additionally, the rate of VSV kill was enhanced in the presence of D2O. Taken together, these results indicate a predominant role of singlet oxygen in the inactivation of VSV on photodynamic treatment of RBCC. The relative importance of type I and type II mechanisms on cellular toxicity was also evaluated. Little, if any hemoglobin release was observed on treatment of human or rabbit RBCC with 10 μM AlPcS, and 44 J/cm2 of visible light in the presence or absence of the above mentioned quenchers. The effect of the addition of quenchers on the recovery and circulatory survival of treated, autologous rabbit RBCC, labeled with 51Cr, was also assessed. As compared to a circulatory half-life (T50) of 10–12 days for the untreated controls, RBCC treated with 30 min light exposure and 5 or 10 μM AlPcS, or 5 μM AlPc had T50 values of 5 days or less. The addition of 1 mM GSH, 1 mM mannitol, or 1 mM tryptophan prior to treatment with 30 min light exposure and 10 μM AlPcS, resulted in T50 values of 7.9–8.5, 6.5 and 8.5 days, respectively. A similar T50 enhancement was observed on addition of 0.5 mM tryptophan to RBCC prior to treatment with 10 μM AlPc and 30 min light. We conclude that virus kill in the RBCC operates principally through a type II mechanism, whereas both type I and type II mechanisms contribute to red cell cytotoxicity, as measured by circulatory survival in a rabbit model. Consequently, the specificity of virus kill on treatment of a RBCC by photodynamic processes can be enhanced through the addition of quenchers of type I reactions.
Scheduling multiple queries on a parallel machine

There has been a good deal of progress made recently towards the efficient parallelization of individual phases of single queries in multiprocessor database systems. In this paper we devise and evaluate a number of scheduling algorithms designed to handle multiple parallel queries. One of these algorithms emerges as a clear winner. This algorithm is hierarchical in nature: In the first phase, a good quality precedence-based schedule is created for each individual query and each possible number of processors. This component employs dynamic programming. In the second phase, the results of the first phase are used to create an overall schedule of the full set of queries. This component is based on previously published work on nonprecedence-based malleable scheduling. Even though the problem we are considering is NP-hard in the strong sense, the multiple query schedules generated by our hierarchical algorithm are seen experimentally to achieve results which are close to optimal.
Pattern and Feature Designed Growth of ZnO Nanowire Arrays for Vertical Devices

An approach is demonstrated for growing aligned ZnO nanowire/nanorod arrays following a predesigned pattern and feature with controlled site, shape, distribution, and orientation. The technique relies on an integration of atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanomachining with catalytically activated vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth. The pattern and growth locations are defined by the catalyst distribution created by AFM, and the orientation is determined by the epitaxial growth on a single-crystal substrate. The technique opens a variety of possibilities of using nanowire arrays as sensor arrays, piezoelectric antenna arrays, nanolasers, photonic band gap crystal, biosensors, and field emitters with controlled density, location, shape, and distribution according to a designed pattern and feature.
Are corticosteroid-binding globulin and sex hormone-binding globulin hormones?

Because it no longer seemed reasonable to us that the sole function of the steroid-binding proteins in plasma was to serve as a buffer reservoir for steroid hormones, we conducted experiments which sought out other possibilities. Both CBG and SHBG bind to cell membranes, and this interaction partakes of the general characteristics of peptide hormone-membrane receptor systems. Additionally, human CBG has the ability to cause an increase in the activity of membrane-bound adenylate cyclase in MCF-7 cells, and this, in turn, results in an increase in cellular cAMP content. Thus, CBG appears to be a protein hormone. As a first consideration, one might presume that because CBG's half-life is measured in days, it would be counted among the hormones which, for the most part, are tonic in their effects, e.g., thyroid hormone. However, two important considerations tend to believe this presumption: (1) CBG which is unoccupied by steroid is not hormonally active (Figure 5): (2) Depending upon the time of day, circulating CBG is approximately 0-60% occupied in normal humans. These observations result in a circumstance in which a substantial portion of circulating CBG is available for activation by bursts of cortisol secretion. It seems prudent to speculate that, because steroids are essential for CBG's activity, the hormonal role of CBG may be entwined with, or complementary to the steroids which it binds. Finally, we should comment on the impact that our model of CBG as a hormone has on the view that only unbound steroid can be hormonally active. First, it should be stated that we have not addressed this question experimentally. Although there is evidence that CBG may be required for cortisol action, we feel that an obligate role for it is not documented adequately. At this time, we believe that CBG's hormonal role is compatible with a hypothesis that encompasses the view that unbound steroid hormones can diffuse into cells in some tissues and that both free and bound steroid can enter cells in others. Obviously, the final word on these important topics, as always, awaits the proper experiments.
Environmental Scanning and Organizational Strategy

The purpose of this study was to test empirically the relationships between the environmental scanning activities of upper-level executives and their organizations' strategies, on the premise that executives would scan to reinforce their organization's particular basis for competing. Among the three industries studied, there were differences in the strategy–scanning link. These differences may have been attributable to different dominant environmental requirements existing in each industry.
Two-dimensional airway analysis using probabilistic neural networks

ABSTRACT Although 3-D airway tree segmentation permits analysis of airway tree path s of practical lengths and facilitates visual inspection, our group developed and tested an automated computer scheme that was operated on individual 2-D CT images to detect airway sections and measure their mo rphometry and/or dimensions. The algorithm computes a set of airway features incl uding airway lumen area (A i ), airway cross-sectional area (A w ), the ratio (R a ) of A i to A w , and the airway wall thickness (T w ) for each detected airway section depicted on the CT image slice. Thus, this 2-D based algorithm does not depend on the accuracy of 3-D airway tree segmentation and do es not require that CT examination encompasses the entire lung or reconstructs contiguous images. However, one disadvantage of the 2-D image based schemes is the lack of the ability to identify the airway generation (G b ) of the detected airway section. In this study, we developed and tested a new approach that uses 2-D airway features to assign a generation number to an airway. We developed and tested two probabilistic neural networks (PNN) based on different sets of airway features computed by our 2-D based scheme. The PNNs were trained and tested on 12 lung CT examinations (8 training and 4 testing). The accuracy for the PN N that utilized A
Atomic Shielding Constants

In analogy with the method of Zener for the atoms from Li to F, simple rules are set up giving approximate analytic atomic wave functions for all the atoms, in any stage of ionization. These are applied to x-ray levels, sizes of atoms and ions, diamagnetic susceptibility, etc. In connection with ferromagnetism it is shown that if this really depends on the existence of incomplete shells within the atoms, rather far apart in the crystal, then the metals most likely to show it would be Fe, Co, Ni, and alloys of Mn and Cu (Heusler alloys).
Mode-lock frequency tunability in passive mode-locking of quantum-well lasers at millimeter-wave frequencies

The frequency detuning-linewidth characteristics of the mode-locked frequency of a monolithic, passively mode-locked laser at millimeter wave frequency have been investigated. By changing the applied biases to the gain and absorber sections, a tuning range of about 20 MHz was observed at a mode-locked frequency of 47.61 GHz, while keeping the mode-locked linewidth to below 20MHz. The gain current variation needed for this tuning range is about 20 mA, while the absorber bias voltage affects the tuning only weakly.
High order marching schemes for the wave equation in complex geometry

We present a new class of explicit marching schemes for the wave equation in complex geometry. They rely on a simple embedding of the domain in a uniform Cartesian grid, which allows for efficient and automatic implementation but creates irregular cells near the boundary. While existing explicit finite difference schemes are generally restricted in the size of the time step that can be taken by the dimensions of the smallest cell, the schemes described here are capable of taking time steps dictated by the uniform grid spacing. This should be of significant benefit in a wide variety of simulation efforts.
The role of body image in sexually avoidant behavior.

“Spectatoring” refers to a cognitive self-absorption, wherein individuals fixate on and carefully monitor personal body parts and/or the adequacy of personal sexual functioning. To examine this process within a university population, undergraduate and graduate students (108 male and 140 female) filled out questionnaires that assessed body image, sexual knowledge, global sexual attitudes (i.e., liberal—conservative), general psychological adjustment, and frequency of sexual behaviors. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine if spectatoring, operationalized by measures of body image, would significantly predict sexually avoidant behavior. Results indicated that body image scores significantly predicted frequency of sexual behaviors for both genders, while general sexual knowledge and psychological adjustment did not predict sexual behavior. Overall, sexual attitude scores were the best predictors of sexual approach/avoidance behaviors for both genders. Implications are drawn for future research using the assessment of more global sex attitudes in the study of spectatoring.
Homogeneity of Slopes Test for Multiple Regression Equations with Reference to Aptitude-Treatment Interactions

Statistical procedures are presented for testing the homogeneity of regression slopes in multiple regression equations. The paper reviews the test for regression lines and provides equations for expanding this test to regression planes. Formuli are illustrated with two sets of multiple regression data, each with differing correlations between predictors. Results are discussed in terms of aptitude-treatment interactions in which there are two or more aptitudes for each treatment.
FIDO - facilitating interactions for dogs with occupations: wearable dog-activated interfaces

Working dogs have improved the lives of thousands of people. However, communication between human and canine partners is currently limited. The main goal of the FIDO project is to research fundamental aspects of wearable technologies to support communication between working dogs and their handlers. In this pilot study, the FIDO team investigated on-body interfaces for assistance dogs in the form of wearable technology integrated into assistance dog vests. We created four different sensors that dogs could activate (based on biting, tugging, and nose gestures) and tested them on-body with three assistance-trained dogs. We were able to demonstrate that it is possible to create wearable sensors that dogs can reliably activate on command.
Asymmetric focusing study from twin input power couplers using realistic rf cavity field maps

Advanced simulation codes now exist that can self-consistently solve Maxwell's equations for the combined system of an rf cavity and a beam bunch. While these simulations are important for a complete understanding of the beam dynamics in rf cavities, they require significant time and computing power. These techniques are therefore not readily included in real time simulations useful to the beam physicist during beam operations. Thus, there exists a need for a simplified algorithm which simulates realistic cavity fields significantly faster than self-consistent codes, while still incorporating enough of the necessary physics to ensure accurate beam dynamics computation. To this end, we establish a procedure for producing realistic field maps using lossless cavity eigenmode field solvers. This algorithm incorporates all relevant cavity design and operating parameters, including beam loading from a nonrelativistic beam. The algorithm is then used to investigate the asymmetric quadrupolelike focusing produced by the input couplers of the Cornell ERL injector cavity for a variety of beam and operating parameters.
Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy presenting as infantile facial diplegia and late-onset limb-girdle myopathy in members of the same family.

We report a family with markedly variable myopathic weakness due to facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). The proband developed mild late-onset proximal limb weakness. Her two daughters had severe infantile facial diplegia, initially diagnosed as Mobius syndrome, and mild childhood-onset limb weakness and scapular winging. Results of facial muscle electromyography and muscle histopathology supported a myopathic disorder. This case study further highlights the broad clinical spectrum and intrafamily variability in FSHD, and the occasional absence of a positive correlation between fragment size and disease onset. Moreover, this study underscores the importance of considering FSHD in cases of infantile facial diplegia, especially in patients not demonstrating the full clinical features of Mobius syndrome. In difficult cases, facial muscle electromyography may help to differentiate myopathic from neuropathic weakness, and help guide further diagnostic studies.
Structure of a TonEBP-DNA complex reveals DNA encircled by a transcription factor.

Tonicity-responsive enhancer binding protein (TonEBP), also known as NFAT5, is a unique member of the NFAT family of transcription factors that regulates gene expression induced by osmotic stress in mammalian cells. Unlike monomeric members of the NFAT family, TonEBP exists as a homodimer and binds asymmetric TonE DNA sites; furthermore, the affinity of TonEBP for DNA is much lower than that of other NFAT proteins. How TonEBP recognizes the TonE site and regulates the activation of hypertonicity response genes has not been clear. Here we show that TonEBP adopts a NF-κB-like structure upon binding to DNA, providing a direct structural link between the NFAT and NF-κB family of transcription factors. We also show that TonEBP completely encircles its DNA target and present biochemical evidence that the DNA encirclement may lead to increased kinetic stability of the TonEBP–DNA complex. Thus, the list of proteins that bind DNA by encirclement is now expanded to include sequence-specific transcription factors.
Bayesian Lg Attenuation Tomography Applied to Eastern Asia

Bayesian attenuation tomography (Tarantola, 1987) is being used to refine existing Lg attenuation models in eastern Asia. The advantages of a Bayesian approach to tomography are that large-scale and high-resolution tomographic models available from other well-accepted studies can be used as prior background models. The resulting refined tomographic model will blend into these prior background models. Moreover, the uncertainties are well established in a Bayesian framework. We assume a general linear Gaussian (least squares) model, where the covariance matrix is partitioned into data and prior model components. Uncertain data are naturally down weighted and model components with small errors will be subject to little change. Amplitude tomography provides only an approximation to the propagation effects a seismic wave may experience. For example, phase blockage can occur over relatively short distances in the absence of any anelastic effects. Station-centric kriged amplitude correction surfaces on top of the tomographic models may assist in identifying blocked paths. Because a signal-to-noise criterion is used to select amplitudes for the inversion, the data are left-censored and the resulting Q 0 models will be biased high. We examine the utility of a maximum-likelihood data augmentation method to the left-censored data problem (Schafer, 1997). In this case, we can only measure an upper bound to measured amplitudes on the basis of prephase noise. Data augmentation is used to impute the missing data values with their conditional expectation based on the relationship of amplitudes with other completely observed variables. We have initially chosen a bivariate Gaussian model for filling in missing amplitudes based on the relationship between amplitude and prephase noise. We apply the technique to eastern Asia for Lg signals at 1 Hz using data from 1651 earthquakes recorded at 12 stations. Tomographic patterns correlate well with those expected from geophysical considerations (e.g., high attenuation in Tibet and low attenuation up into the stable regions of Kazakhstan). Many of the large cratonic basins surrounding the Tibet Plateau (e.g., Tarim, Junggar) show reduced attenuation consistent with the hypothesis that they represent regions of stronger lithosphere. Data augmentation tends to increase attenuation in Tibet (particularly western Tibet) and the cratonic basins to the North of but not to the East of Tibet. In addition, the resulting models are much smoother than models that do not account for censoring.
“But They Just Can’t Do It”: Reconciling Teacher Expectations of Latino Students

This case begins with a contextual overview of the educational plight of Latino students in U.S. public schools. This pervasive plight has economic and social implications in the lives of these stu...
Neascus Infestation of Black-Head, Blunt-Nosed, and Other Forage Minnows

Abstract Black-head, blunt-nosed, and other minnows were found infested with encysted flatworms in ponds at Leetown, West Virginia. The mortality in a 2.2-acre pond stocked with 100,000 black-head minnows was about 250 per day during four weeks of observation. Heavy infestations caused sterility in the minnows. The cyst and parasite are described briefly and the probable life cycle given, followed by certain recommendations for the control of the infestation.
School nurses' perceived barriers to discussing weight with children and their families: a qualitative approach.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have documented the presence of specific barriers to school nurses' communications with families about weight-related health. The purpose of the present study was to contribute to the literature by further analyzing, using focus group methodology, school nurses' perceived barriers to addressing weight-related health issues with children and their families. METHODS: Twenty-two school nurses from urban and rural school districts in the Midwestern United States participated in 7 focus groups during the spring semester of 2008. Sessions were recorded and transcribed in their entirety. Study authors reviewed the focus group content and identified themes of perceived barriers. NVivo 8 was used to code and evaluate themes. RESULTS: Consistent with the extant literature, nurses identified a lack of knowledge and resources, personal weight challenges, lack of institutional support, and lack of time as barriers to weight-related communications with families. However, in addition to these previously identified barriers, nurses also identified family characteristics, child motivation, fear of reactions, and difficulty establishing relationships with children as barriers that impeded their communication with families about weight-related health. CONCLUSIONS: As expected, the use of focus group methodology yielded evidence of barriers to communication that had not been previously identified in the literature, as well as those that had been well documented. Consistent with a socioecological view of pediatric healthcare, results suggest a number of systems that could be targeted to improve nurses' weight-related communications with families.
Programming model alternatives for disconnected business applications

In connected environments, various programming models exist to facilitate the development of business applications with critical properties such as persistence, data sharing, transactions, and security. In disconnected environments, the programming models must address other issues as well, such as how to merge the work performed while disconnected from other concurrent work. Among existing programming models, a transparent model that uses a method-replay approach is particularly promising. A comparison of programming model semantics suggests that method replay is superior to other approaches. We evaluate via three criteria: conflict footprint size, client-server application divergence, and transactional semantics
On Complexity of Internal and External Equivalence Checking

We compare the complexity of "internal" and "external" equivalence checking. The former is meant for proving the correctness of a synthesis transformation by which circuit N2 is obtained from circuit N1. The latter is meant for proving that circuits N1 and N2 are functionally equivalent without making any explicit assumptions about the origin of N1 and N2. We describe logic synthesis procedures that can produce a circuit N2 whose equivalence with the original circuit N1, most likely, can not be efficiently proved by an external equivalence checker. On the other hand, there are internal equivalence checking procedures that easily prove that N1 and N2 are equivalent. We give experimental data showing that these logic synthesis procedures are not a mathematical curiosity but indeed can be used as a powerful method of logic optimization.
Applications of computer technology in tandem with the traditional classroom

Electronic teaching methods are used to stimulate the teaching and learning of basic electrical circuits at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). Television and the world wide web are combined with traditional classroom teaching to address the issues of attendance, or lack thereof, poor performance and timely assessment at a comprehensive urban university. While the circuits course is taught in the regular classroom, it is simultaneously broadcast through cable television in the larger Sacramento area. The course is also entirely available through the worldwide web including audio-video segments captured from the classroom, as well as testing/assessment modules. The significance of this experiment lies in that the instructor promotes the technology portion of the teaching as complementary to the classroom environment, not as an equivalent self-paced learning option. This paper describes the process in detail, including how web-based materials are used to assess students performance, provide dynamic feedback to the instructor and give students an opportunity for timely remedial action.
Determination of Gold in Drugs and Serum by Use of Anodic Stripping Voltammetry

Gold is determined in aqueous gold-containing drug solutions, 8 x 10-8 to 1 x 10-5 mol/liter, and in such drugs in serum, 2 x 10-6 to 1 x 10-5 mol/ liter, by electrodeposition onto a carbon paste electrode at -0.3 V vs. a saturated calomel electrode and subsequent stripping at constant current. Aqueous solutions are prepared for electrodeposition with a ceric perchlorate—hydrogen peroxide treatment. Serum samples are in addition treated with nitric and chloric acids. Variation coefficients are 16 to 2.5%, depending on concentration and deposition time.
Armor Options: A Comparison of the Dynamic Response of Materials in the Aluminum Oxide–Aluminum Nitride Family

For armor applications, ceramic materials are often useful due to their high dynamic strength. In some instances, in addition to high strength, the armor must also be transparent, which significantly limits the choices of materials. Materials in the aluminum oxide–aluminum nitride family (including Al2O3 and AlON) are both strong and transparent. Only the end compound AlN is opaque. In this paper, the dynamic response to shock loading is examined for these materials to better understand the material response. Despite the chemical similarities, significant differences exist in the shock response and will be discussed.
CAN'T BUY ME WHITENESS

A basic tenet of public health is that there is a robust relationship between socioeconomic status and health. Researchers widely accept that persons at average or median levels of socioeconomic status have better health compared to those at lower levels—with a detectable, if diminishing, gradient at even higher levels of socioeconomic status. The research on which this tenet is based, however, focuses largely on Whites, especially on White men. Yet according to the full range of extant findings, the magnitude and in some cases the direction of this relationship vary considerably for other demographic groups. I argue that the failure to clearly qualify study conclusions when they are restricted to the study of Whites impedes our understanding of the varying relationship between socioeconomic status and health for different demographic groups. Such an impediment is particularly harmful when considering health inequalities among populations defined by race and ethnicity. Frameworks and models based on traditional socioeconomic measures may mask heterogeneity, overestimate the benefits of material resources, underestimate psychosocial and physical health costs of resource acquisition for some groups, and overlook the value of alternative sociocultural orientations. These missed opportunities have grave consequences: large racial0ethnic health disparities persist while the health disadvantages of Black Americans continue to grow in key aspects. A new knowledge base is needed if racial0ethnic health disparities are to be eliminated, including new guiding theoretical frameworks, reinterpretations of existing research, and new empirical research. This article aims to initiate discussion on all three dimensions.
Spatial Measurement, Geography, and Urban Racial Inequality

Although many models of urban racial inequality make predictions about the geographic distribution of social groups and social goods, these predictions are rarely tested spatially. This is because (1) it can be extremely difficult to measure geographic distance using social science datasets and (2) when studying residential segregation, researchers generally measure the total extent of segregation in a region rather than the distribution of racial and ethnic groups within a region. This article overcomes these problems by introducing a geographic information system (GIS) variable construction technique that allows researchers to measure the distance between social groups and goods more precisely than is otherwise possible and by demonstrating the importance of using maps to examine the distribution of social groups and goods within metropolitan areas.
Prescribed Burns and Wildfires in Colorado: Impacts of Mitigation Measures on Indoor Air Particulate Matter

Wildfires and prescribed burns are receiving increasing attention as sources of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The goal of this research project was to understand the impact of mitigation strategies for residences impacted by scheduled prescribed burns and wildfires. Pairs of residences were solicited to have PM2.5 concentrations monitored inside and outside of their houses during four fires. The effect of using air cleaners on indoor PM2.5 was investigated, as well as the effect of keeping windows closed. Appropriately sized air cleaners were provided to one of each pair of residences; occupants of all of the residences were asked to keep windows shut and minimize opening of exterior doors. Additionally, residents were asked to record all of the activities that may be a source of particulate matter, such as cooking and cleaning. Measurements were made during one prescribed burn and three wildfires during the 2002 fire season. Outdoor 24-hr average PM2.5 concentrations ranging from 6 to 38 microg/m3 were measured during the fires, compared with levels of 2-5 microg/m3 during background measurements when no fires were burning. During the fires, PM2.5 was < 3 microg/m3 inside all of the houses with air cleaners installed. This corresponds with a decrease of 63-88% in homes with the air cleaners operating when compared with homes without air cleaners. In the homes without the air cleaners, measured indoor concentrations were 58-100% of the concentrations measured outdoors.
Response of respiration of soybean leaves grown at ambient and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations to day-to-day variation in light and temperature under field conditions.

Background and AimsRespiration is an important componentof plant carbon balance, but it remains uncertain how respiration will respond to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and there are few measurements of respiration for crop plants grown at elevated [CO2] under field conditions. The hypothesis that respiration of leaves of soybeans grown at elevated [CO2] is increased is tested; and the effects of photosynthesis and acclimation to temperature examined. Methods Net rates of carbon dioxide exchange were recorded every 10 min, 24 h per day for mature upper canopy leaves of soybeans grown in field plots at the current ambient [CO2] and at ambient plus 350 mmol mol 1 [CO2 ]i n open top chambers. Measurements were made on pairs of leaves from both [CO2] treatments on a total of 16 d during the middle of the growing seasons of two years. Key Results Elevated [CO2] increased daytime net carbon dioxide fixation rates per unit of leaf area by an average of 48 %, but had no effect on night-time respiration expressed per unit of area, which averaged 53 mmol m 2 d 1 (14 mmol m 2 s 1 ) for both the ambient and elevated [CO2] treatments. Leaf dry mass per unit of area was increased on average by 23 % by elevated [CO2], and respiration per unit of mass was significantly lower at elevated [CO2]. Respiration increased by a factor of 25 between 18 and 26 C average night temperature, for both [CO2] treatments. Conclusions These results do not support predictions that elevated [CO2] would increase respiration per unit of area by increasing photosynthesis or by increasing leaf mass per unit of area, nor the idea that acclimation of respiration to temperature would be rapid enough to make dark respiration insensitive to variation in temperature between nights.
Fatigue life of individual composite specimens based on intrinsic fatigue behavior

A method is presented to predict fatigue life which explicitly accounts for specimen specific damage histories and the statistical distribution of quasi-static tensile strengths. First a 'critical element' is identified as that portion of the composite which controls failure, and the stress on that element is monitored. Then a cumulative damage model based on the remaining strength of the critical element, is used to extract an 'intrinsic' S-N curve for the critical element fatigue response from the fatigue data and the stress history. Using unidirectional specimens, such an intrinsic S-N curve was derived, and subsequent fatigue predictions were vastly improved over the traditional S-N curve. Fatigue tests on (90 degrees/0 degrees)(s) crossply materials were then run and lives predicted based on the intrinsic S-N curve with no adjustable parameters. The agreement between experiment and prediction validates the method. This method may have application in real-time durability evaluation of individual composite components using real-time stiffness to continuously evaluate remaining life during service. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Quantitative trait loci modulate ventricular size in the mouse brain

Cerebral ventricular size in humans varies significantly. Abnormal enlargement of the ventricles has been associated with schizophrenia, and hydrocephalus can lead to serious cognitive and motor deficiencies in humans and animals. In this study, we mapped quantitative trait loci (QTLs) modulating cerebroventricular size in mice. We hypothesized that genes underlying hydrocephalus might also modulate normal variation in ventricular size. By using digital images of mouse brain sections and stereological techniques, we estimated the volume of the combined lateral and third ventricles, as well as the volume of the entire brain, in 228 AXB and BXA recombinant inbred mice and their parent strains (A/J and C57BL/6J). Ventricle size, expressed as percentage of brain volume, is a heritable trait (h(2) = 0.32). We detected a major QTL controlling variance in volume on chromosome (Chr) 8 near the markers D8Mit94 and D8Mit189. We also detected a strong epistatic interaction affecting ventricular volume between loci on Chr 4 (near D4Mit237 and D4Mit214) and on Chr 7 (D7Mit178 and D7Mit191). These three QTLs, labeled Vent8a, Vent4b, and Vent7c, are close to genes that have been previously implicated in hydrocephalus.
Burnt: Writing Torch Singers and Torch Singing:

This article responds to Phillip Auslander’s call for performance studies scholars to engage analyses of popular music performances, particularly those that consider the performers themselves. The author takes Auslander’s tripartite scheme for the performer—performance interaction as a starting point for looking at how torch singers and torch singing are heard, understood, fixed, loved, reviled, and dismissed. In contrast to musical performers and performances as conscious constructions of purposeful identities (separate from the musician as person), the torch singer and her performances are understood as an inevitable collapse of person, performance persona, and character. This is particularly evident in discussions of Billie Holiday’s performances of torch songs and the antilynching anthem “Strange Fruit,” as well as commentary on her love life and sexuality.
Land Use and Transit Integration and Transit Use Incentives

Planners have often looked on transportation policies as a means of controlling broad patterns of land use. It has been argued that past transportation policies have contributed to decentralization of urban activities resulting in congestion, traffic hazards, and environmental pollution. Others contend that urban land uses reflect location decisions by individual households and employers and that transportation is just one of the many factors that affect such decisions. Thus, public policies in transportation have very little opportunity to alter future land use. The exact effect of transit on the distribution of urban activities, the resulting urban structure, the level of congestion, and air quality is not fully understood. An attempt is made in this paper to document successful cases of transit and land use integration as well as the techniques used by different agencies to bring about such integration. Various studies under the Transit Cooperative Research Program on different aspects of transit and land use policies serve as the basic sources of information for this paper. Eight case studies are examined that encompass a variety of transit modes in urban North America. It is concluded that the accessibility advantages provided by transit may play a crucial role in the concentration of development and in creating economic opportunities. However, transit by itself is not sufficient to guarantee successful transit-focused development. Other major factors are supportive regional and local policies and private investment in concert with the transit program. Further, successful transit and land use integration does not necessarily imply the presence of a high-speed rail system. In a strong market, when support policies are in place, light rail and busways can also be used to channel urban growth.
Electrical and optical responsivity of thin palladium films during hydrogen exposure

This paper presents a series of measurements documenting changes in electrical and optical properties of thin palladium films. Palladium is deposited on the glass surface through plasma-assisted physical vapor deposition. This process produces highly uniform films with a surface variation of a few nanometers. The thicknesses of studied films range from 15 to 60 nm. The films are exposed to a constant flow of 2% hydrogen and 98% nitrogen mixture. During the exposure, film resistivity and its reflection properties in visible light were monitored. It is observed that the change in the film resistance during the hydrogen exposure depends on the film thickness. In particular, thicker depositions exhibit larger relative changes of the resistance. The reflectivity of the films in the white light changes during the hydrogen exposure as well. However, the change of the film reflectivity is observed to be independent of the deposition thickness. This paper presents observed measurements, their quantitative analysis and briefly discusses the use of findings in development of low-cost, single-use commercial grade hydrogen sensors.
Resolving phylogenetic incongruence to articulate homology and phenotypic evolution: a case study from Nematoda

Modern morphology-based systematics, including questions of incongruence with molecular data, emphasizes analysis over similarity criteria to assess homology. Yet detailed examination of a few key characters, using new tools and processes such as computerized, three-dimensional ultrastructural reconstruction of cell complexes, can resolve apparent incongruence by re-examining primary homologies. In nematodes of Tylenchomorpha, a parasitic feeding phenotype is thus reconciled with immediate free-living outgroups. Closer inspection of morphology reveals phenotypes congruent with molecular-based phylogeny and points to a new locus of homology in mouthparts. In nematode models, the study of individually homologous cells reveals a conserved modality of evolution among dissimilar feeding apparati adapted to divergent lifestyles. Conservatism of cellular components, consistent with that of other body systems, allows meaningful comparative morphology in difficult groups of microscopic organisms. The advent of phylogenomics is synergistic with morphology in systematics, providing an honest test of homology in the evolution of phenotype.
Laplacian PCA and Its Applications

Dimensionality reduction plays a fundamental role in data processing, for which principal component analysis (PCA) is widely used. In this paper, we develop the Laplacian PCA (LPCA) algorithm which is the extension of PCA to a more general form by locally optimizing the weighted scatter. In addition to the simplicity of PCA, the benefits brought by LPCA are twofold: the strong robustness against noise and the weak metric-dependence on sample spaces. The LPCA algorithm is based on the global alignment of locally Gaussian or linear subspaces via an alignment technique borrowed from manifold learning. Based on the coding length of local samples, the weights can be determined to capture the local principal structure of data. We also give the exemplary application of LPCA to manifold learning. Manifold unfolding (non-linear dimensionality reduction) can be performed by the alignment of tangential maps which are linear transformations of tangent coordinates approximated by LPCA. The superiority of LPCA to PCA and kernel PCA is verified by the experiments on face recognition (FRGC version 2 face database) and manifold (Scherk surface) unfolding.
On-the-fly kernel updates for high-performance computing clusters

High-performance computing clusters running long-lived tasks currently cannot have kernel software updates applied to them without causing system downtime. These clusters miss opportunities for increased performance via specialized kernel support, cannot benefit from new kernel features, and continue to operate with kernel security holes unpatched, at least until the next scheduled maintenance date. We developed a system enabling dynamic kernel updates in parallel computing clusters to address these problems. Our system, DynAMOS, is founded on execution flow high-jacking through function cloning. It enables commodity operating systems popularly used in clusters gain adaptive and mutative capabilities. To demonstrate the efficacy of our system, we illustrate our experience in dynamically updating and extending a Linux cluster. We introduce adaptive memory paging for efficient gang-scheduling; extend the kernel's process scheduler to support unobtrusive fine-grain cycle stealing, apply public security fixes, and inject performance monitoring functionality to a selection of kernel functions. Our benchmarks show that the overhead imposed by DynAMOS is mostly in the range of 1-8% for common Linux kernel functions.
Use of dantrolene sodium in external sphincter spasm

Abstract In various neurologic and non-neurologic diseases inappropriate hypertonicity of the external sphincter during micturition may cause outlet obstruction. Heretofore therapy for these disorders has been surgical: pudenal neurectomy or external sphincterotomy. These procedures are not without complication (incontinence, impotence, hemorrhage). A medical approach to this disorder is therefore warranted. In a selected group of patients with external sphincter spasm diagnosed by concomitant sphincter electromyography, cystometrography, and voiding cystourethrography, dantrolene sodium (Dantrium) therapy was instituted. Follow-up studies have shown this drug to be effective in treating this disorder.