cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The software development process at the Chandra X-ray Center

Software development for the Chandra X-ray Center Data System began in the mid 1990's, and the waterfall model of development was mandated by our documents. Although we initially tried this approach, we found that a process with elements of the spiral model worked better in our science-based environment. High-level science requirements are usually established by scientists, and provided to the software development group. We follow with review and refinement of those requirements prior to the design phase. Design reviews are conducted for substantial projects within the development team, and include scientists whenever appropriate. Development follows agreed upon schedules that include several internal releases of the task before completion. Feedback from science testing early in the process helps to identify and resolve misunderstandings present in the detailed requirements, and allows review of intangible requirements. The development process includes specific testing of requirements, developer and user documentation, and support after deployment to operations or to users. We discuss the process we follow at the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) to develop software and support operations. We review the role of the science and development staff from conception to release of software, and some lessons learned from managing CXC software development for over a decade.
Determining Reactor Flux from Xenon-136 and Cesium-135 in Spent Fuel

Abstract The ability to infer reactor flux from spent fuel or seized fissile material would enhance the tools of nuclear forensics and nuclear nonproliferation significantly. We show that reactor flux can be inferred from the ratios of xenon-136 to xenon-134 and cesium-135 to cesium-137. If the average flux of a reactor is known, the flux inferred from measurements of spent fuel could help determine whether that spent fuel was loaded as a blanket or close to the mid-plane of the reactor. The cesium ratio also provides information on reactor shutdowns during the irradiation of fuel, which could prove valuable for identifying the reactor in question through comparisons with satellite reactor heat monitoring data. We derive analytic expressions for these correlations and compare them to experimental data and to detailed reactor burn simulations. The enrichment of the original uranium fuel affects the correlations by up to 3%, but only at high flux.
Topology of polytopic membrane protein subdomains is dictated by membrane phospholipid composition.

In Escherichia coli, the major cytoplasmic domain (C6) of the polytopic membrane protein lactose permease (LacY) is exposed to the opposite side of the membrane from a neighboring periplasmic domain (P7). However, these domains are both exposed on the periplasmic side of the membrane in a mutant of E.coli lacking phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) wherein LacY only mediates facilitated transport. When purified LacY was reconstituted into liposomes lacking PE or phosphatidylcholine (PC), C6 and P7 were on the same side of the bilayer. In liposomes containing PE or PC, C6 and P7 were on opposite sides of the bilayer. Only the presence of PE in the liposomes restored active transport function of LacY as opposed to restoration of only facilitated transport function in the absence of PE. These results were the same for LacY purified from PE-containing or PE-lacking cells, and are consistent with the topology and function of LacY assembled in vivo. Therefore, irrespective of the mechanism of membrane insertion, the subdomain topological orientation and function of LacY are determined primarily by membrane phospholipid composition.
Characteristics of a Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus) Population in Pony Lake, Nebraska

ABSTRACT After whole-lake rotenone treatment, we described the population size, standing stock, age structure, and growth of grass pickerel (Esox americranus vermiculutus) in Pony Lake, Nebraska. Density and biomass were lower and growth of grass pickerel was slower than other reported populations of this species. Reduced submersed vegetation due to an abundance of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) likely resulted in poor quality habitat for grass pickerel and subsequent low population density.
Local Fe moments in α- and γ-phase Fe-rich FeNi alloys

Abstract We have used photoemission measurements of the Fe-3s core level to investigate the Fe local moments in two Fe-Ni alloys containing 70% and 72.5% Fe in both the γ- and α-phases. Previous magnetization measurements indicate that in this composition range the average total moments of alloys in the γ-phase are considerably lower than in the α-phase. However, our photoemission measurements suggest that the local moment on the Fe site is approximately the same in both phases. Furthermore, a determination of the spin-splitting suggests that at room temperature the Fe local moments in the alloys are smaller than in pure Fe.
Isolation and characterization of mouse–human microcell hybrid cell clones permissive for infectious HIV particle release

Abstract Mouse cells are non-permissive to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) in that there is a pronounced post-integration block to viral replication. We have recently demonstrated that mouse–human somatic cell hybrids that contain human chromosome 2 increase both HIV Capsid (CA) production and infectious virus release. Here we report on the isolation of three mouse–human microcell hybrids (MCHs) that behave similarly, starting from a pool of 500 MCH clones. Release of virus was specific to HIV and cell revertants that no longer contained any human chromosome fragments did not release CA or infectious virus. Two of the three cell clones were identical as judged by PCR STS content and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and contained a single 2–12 human chromosome chimera. The third cell clone only contained human chromosome 12, as determined by PCR, FISH, and microarray analyses. There were no consistent differences in Gag protein and spliced/unspliced viral RNA levels between mouse cell lines. CMV promoter-driven, codon-optimized gag-pol had no effect on infectious HIV release from these mouse cells, despite allowing Gag targeting and increasing CA production. These permissive mouse–human MCHs and their corresponding non-permissive revertants may prove useful for mechanistic studies and also for identifying the responsible gene(s) or factor(s) involved in the production of HIV.
A new correlation relating the shear strength of reconstituted soil to the proportions of clay minerals and plasticity characteristics

Abstract It has been recommended to use “fully softened shear strength” while conducting slope stability analysis of first time slides. Studies pertaining to the influence of the mineral composition of a soil mass on the residual shear strength are available in the literature. However, very limited studies are available regarding the effect of clay mineralogy on the fully softened shear strength. This study addresses the effect of mineral composition of a soil mass on the fully softened shear strength and provides correlations between the geotechnical properties of different clay minerals and the fully softened shear strength. In order to accomplish this, thirty six samples were prepared in the laboratory from different pre-defined mixtures of montmorillonite, kaolinite and quartz. The index properties as well as the fully softened friction angles of these mixtures were measured. The fully softened friction angle was largely dependent on the dominating clay mineral and contained good correlations with the clay content, the liquid limit, and the plasticity index. The difference between the fully softened and residual shear strength was normalized, individually with: i) the fully softened friction angle, and ii) the residual friction angle. These values were then related to the corresponding liquid limits and plasticity indices. Using the mineralogical information as well as the fully softened friction angles obtained, a triangular correlation chart was developed by plotting at two sides of the triangle the proportions of montmorillonite and kaolinite, and the third side with the proportions of quartz plus other minerals. The fully softened friction angle was used to develop contours of the fully softened friction angle for various proportions of constituent minerals. These correlations were then verified with the results of the fully softened friction angles of more than eighty natural specimens demonstrating good agreement with the estimated friction angles.
Fluorescence characterization of the interaction Suwannee river fulvic acid with the herbicide dichlorprop (2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)propionic acid) in the absence and presence of aluminum or erbium.

Abstract This study uses fluorescence spectroscopy to better understand the role of environmental metal ions in the interaction of charged herbicides with biochemical degradation product Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA). The interactions between the widely-used herbicide dichlorprop (2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)propionic acid) (DCPPA) with Al3+ and the comparative metal Er3+ were probed at pH 4.0. Fluorescence experiments on binary solutions at pH 4.0 clearly indicated that Al3+ and Er3+ strongly interact with both SRFA and DCPPA alone in solution as demonstrated by fluorescence quenching with DCPPA and enhancement with SRFA by Al3+ and fluorescence quenching of both SRFA and DCPPA fluorescence by Er3+. Titrating Al3+ or Er3+ to SRFA-DCPPA quenched SRFA fluorescence as compared to the SRFA-metal ion binary complexes. Formation constants were determined using the Ryan-Weber model for the titration data. The DCPPA fluorescence results strongly support the formation of DCPPA-Al3+ and DCPPA-Er3+ complexes at pH values above the pKa (3.0) of DCPPA. Excitation and emission data obtained on ternary solutions of SRFA-Al3+-DCPPA and SRFA-Er3+-DCPPA complexes at pH 4.0 suggest that at this pH where the predominant DCPPA species is negatively-charged, Al3+ and Er3+ metal ions may function to “bridge” negatively-charged fulvic acids to negatively-charged pesticides. Fluorescence data collected on UV-irradiated ternary complexes indicate that both metals can also bridge DCPPA interactions with SRFA under those conditions. The results of our studies suggest that creation of a herbicide-free boundary corridor is recommended near mines and runoff areas with metal ions in surface waters to control possible complexation among fulvic acids, DCPPA and metal ions that maintains these molecules in a bioavailable state to plants and animals.
FAK Inhibition Decreases Hepatoblastoma Survival Both In Vitro and In Vivo

Hepatoblastoma is the most frequently diagnosed liver tumor of childhood, and children with advanced, metastatic or relapsed disease have a disease-free survival rate under 50%. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that is important in many facets of tumor development and progression. FAK has been found in other pediatric solid tumors and in adult hepatocellular carcinoma, leading us to hypothesize that FAK would be present in hepatoblastoma and would impact its cellular survival. In the current study, we showed that FAK was present and phosphorylated in human hepatoblastoma tumor specimens. We also examined the effects of FAK inhibition upon hepatoblastoma cells using a number of parallel approaches to block FAK including RNAi and small molecule FAK inhibitors. FAK inhibition resulted in decreased cellular survival, invasion, and migration and increased apoptosis. Further, small molecule inhibition of FAK led to decreased tumor growth in a nude mouse xenograft model of hepatoblastoma. The findings from this study will help to further our understanding of the regulation of hepatoblastoma tumorigenesis and may provide desperately needed novel therapeutic strategies and targets for aggressive, recurrent, or metastatic hepatoblastomas.
Stress-induced increase in extracellular dopamine in striatum: role of glutamatergic action via N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in substantia nigra.

Abstract There is considerable support for an influence of excitatory amino acids released from corticofugal neurons on dopaminergic activity in the basal ganglia. However, the relative importance of cortico-striatal and cortico-mesencephalic projections remains unclear, particularly with respect to the nigro-neostriatal pathway. We have therefore examined the influence of endogenous excitatory amino acids in substantia nigra on stress-induced dopaminergic activity in neostriatum. Microdialysis probes were implanted unilaterally into substantia nigra and ipsilateral neostriatum, and dopamine release in neostriatum was monitored by measuring changes in extracellular dopamine. In separate animals, neostriatal dopamine synthesis was assessed by measuring extracellular DOPA in the presence of 3-hydroxylbenzylhydrazine (NSD-1015; 100 μM), an inhibitor of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase. Thirty minutes of intermittent foot shock increased both dopamine release (+41%) and synthesis (+37%) in neostriatum. Infusion of 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV; 100 μM), an inhibitor of N-methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptors, into substantia nigra greatly attenuated the stress-induced increase in neostriatal dopamine release, while having no effect on the apparent increase in stress-induced dopamine synthesis. These data suggest that excitatory amino acids such as glutamate act on NMDA receptors in substantia nigra to increase striatal dopamine release produced by exposure to stress, but that the increase in dopamine synthesis is mediated through a separate mechanism.
Development and Evaluation of Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for Determining Silica in Respirable Dusts

Abstract In this article we follow up on our recent investigations of the use of the 1870 cm-1 band of silica in diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) for the quantification of silica in respirable dusts. The 1870 cm-1 band, though weak in Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, has sufficient sensitivity for quantitative analysis in DRS and suffers insignificant interference from the absorption bands of other minerals usually found in mine dusts. In this work we have extended these studies to silica standards deposited on VM-1 filters and mine dust samples deposited on DM-450 filters. The mass of the deposited silica on the filters varied between 35 μg to 325 μg. The intensity of the 1870 cm-1 band varied linearly with mass with the slope 0.0083 μg for the samples deposited on the VM-1 filters, satisfying the Kubelka-Munk theory for dilute samples. This linearity and sensitivity suggest the usefulness of DRS for silica quantification for dust deposited on filters without any additional sample pr...
Seasonal Variations of Oxygen-18 in Atmospheric Sulfates

Abstract Oxygen-isotope analyses were made on samples of aerosol sulfates, SO2, water vapor, precipitation water, and precipitation sulfates collected over a two-year period near Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The purpose of this isotopic study was to help to elucidate the mechanisms of sulfate formation in the atmosphere. Oxygen-18 enrichments in precipitation sulfates varied seasonally and in phase with the corresponding enrichments in precipitation water. The ratio of the amplitudes of the enrichment-vs.-time curves indicated isotopic equilibration between SO, and atmospheric water prior to oxidation. Oxygen-18 enrichments in aerosol sulfates appeared to vary randomly with season, but averaged about the same as precipitation sulfates. If aerosol sulfates and precipitation sulfates were formed by the same hydrolysis-oxidation mechanism in clouds, relatively long residence times and transport distances of sulfate aerosols may have provided sufficient mixing to obscure seasonal effects such as were observed in...
Prophylactic corticosteroids for high-risk gestation: a pound of prevention?

Abstract Objective: To compare, in twin pregnancies, a uniform policy of administering corticosteroids only for specific indications with theoretic prophylactic administration policies. Methods: We reviewed records of all twin gestations managed in our system from January 1996 to April 2000. Steroids were given from 24 to 31 weeks with ruptured membranes, and from 24 to 33 weeks with intact membranes when delivery, indicated or spontaneous, threatened. Steroids were neither given prophylactically nor repeated arbitrarily. Results: One hundred sixty-three pregnancies were assessed: 43 (26%) delivered before 34 weeks. Of these, 24 (56%) received the first steroid injection at least 48 hours before delivery, 25 (58%) at least 24 hours before, and 27 (63%) at least 12 hours before. The median number of steroid courses was 1 (range 1–2.5). Only 7 women (16%) delivered without receiving steroids. Of the 120 women (74%) delivered at or beyond ≥34 weeks, only 16 (13%) received steroids. In the entire cohort, 128 women (79%) received appropriate therapy: the 24 delivered before 34 weeks and at least 48 hours after the first steroid dose, and the 104 delivered at or beyond ≥34 weeks and not exposed to steroids. In contrast, a policy of single-course prophylactic steroid administration to ensure that all women delivering before 34 weeks did so at least 48 hours after the first steroid dose would have required treating 104 additional women to benefit—at most—19, and would have resulted in only a 26% rate of appropriate treatment. A policy of repetitive weekly courses from 24–34 weeks would have led to the administration of an excess 1,040 courses in our cohort. Conclusion: Reserving steroids for clinical indications results in a high rate of appropriate therapy and a low rate of unnecessary therapy. In light of the unproven safety and efficacy of repetitive steroids, these data support the use of steroids only for threatened spontaneous delivery or indicated preterm delivery.
Urinary and serum concentrations of seven phytoestrogens in a human reference population subset.

Diets rich in naturally occurring plant estrogens (phytoestrogens) are strongly associated with a decreased risk for cancer and heart disease in humans. Phytoestrogens have estrogenic and, in some cases, antiestrogenic and antiandrogenic properties, and may contribute to the protective effect of some diets. However, little information is available about the levels of these phytoestrogens in the general US population. Therefore, levels of phytoestrogens were determined in urine (N=199) and serum (N=208) samples taken from a nonrepresentative subset of adults who participated in NHANES III, 1988–1994. The phytoestrogens quantified were the lignans (enterolactone, enterodiol, matairesinol); the isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, equol, O-desmethylangolensin); and coumestrol (urine only). Phytoestrogens with the highest mean urinary levels were enterolactone (512 ng/ml), daidzein (317 ng/ml), and genistein (129 ng/ml). In serum, the concentrations were much less and the relative order was reversed, with genistein having the highest mean level (4.7 ng/ml), followed by daidzein (3.9 ng/ml) and enterolactone (3.6 ng/ml). Highly significant correlations of phytoestrogen levels in urine and serum samples from the same persons were observed for enterolactone, enterodiol, genistein, and daidzein. Determination of phytoestrogen concentrations in large study populations will give a better insight into the actual dietary exposure to these biologically active compounds in the US population.
Transition State Analogy of Phosphonic Acid Peptide Inhibitors of Pepsin

A series of 11 phosphonate peptide analogs, RO2C-Xaa-Yaa-Phe-{PO2-−O}-Phe O-(3-(4-pyridyl)propyl ester), were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of the aspartic peptidase pepsin. For the inhibitors with Gly or Ala at the P2 position, the Ki values correlate with the Km/kcat values of the corresponding substrates, demonstrating that these analogs mimic the transition state in the way the P2−P4 residues bind. Deviations from the correlation for the other inhibitor/substrate pairs imply a different binding orientation as a result of N-substitution at P2 (Pro), contamination with the more potent diastereomer (d-Ala), or a change in rate-limiting step for turnover (Ile).
Intimacy in Young Adulthood as a Predictor of Divorce in Midlife.

Using an Eriksonian-based measure (E. H. Erikson, 1963), the Inventory of Psychosocial Development (A. Constantinople, 1969), this longitudinal U.S. study explored the extent to which an individual’s potential for intimacy in young adulthood predicted divorce by midlife. Intimacy was defined as the potential to establish close relationships involving high levels of communication, closeness, and commitment. Marital status 34 years after college graduation was obtained from 167 participants (M age = 55.1 years, 60% male, 30% divorced) originally tested in college in 1966–1968 in the United States. Hierarchical logistic regression revealed a significant Gender × Intimacy interaction in predicting marital status at midlife. Women but not men with low intimacy in college had higher risk of divorce in midlife in the sample.
Molecular pathology and pathogenesis of inclusion-body myositis

We summarize the molecular phenotype, diagnostic criteria, and the newest advances related to seeking the pathogenic mechanism(s) of sporadic inclusion-body myositis (s-IBM), a muscle disease usually of persons over age 50. On the basis of our research, several processes seem to be important in relation to the still-speculative pathogenesis: 1) increased transcription and accumulation of amyloid-beta precursor protein (AbetaPP), and accumulation of its proteolytic fragment Abeta; 2) abnormal accumulation of cholesterol, caveolin-1, and apolipoprotein E; 3) oxidative stress; 4) accumulations of intramuscle fiber multiprotein aggregates; and 5) evidence that unfolded/misfolded proteins participate in s-IBM pathogenesis. Our basic hypothesis is that overexpression of AbetaPP within the aging muscle fibers is an early upstream event causing a subsequent pathogenic cascade.
Product Evaluation Attributes and Consumer Product Trust of Branded and Generic Drugs: A Comparative Study of the United States and Kenya

A focus on understanding the attributes that impact product evaluation is important in developing effective marketing strategies of branded and generic drugs. This Quantitative cross-cultural study examines whether a relationship exists between product evaluation attributes and consumer product trust and loyalty of branded and generic drugs. This study examined the attributes of gender, country, product involvement, and consumer knowledge.A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to collect data from patients and employees from two different healthcare centers, one in Kenya and the other in central Florida. The outcome of the study indicated that there was a correlationbetween several of these attributes and consumer product trust of generic and branded drugs. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed. Despite of its limitations, the results of this study lay down a strong foundation for further research on this subject.
Bullet embolus from a pulmonary vein to the right axillary artery

A case of bullet embolus from a pulmonary vein to the right axillary artery is reported. Though bullet embolization is unusual, it should be considered in any patient who has sustained a gunshot wound and does not have an exit wound, and whose plain films demonstrate a bullet far from the suspected path of the projectile.
Near-field imaging of a saturated tabletop x-ray laser

High resolution 2D imaging experiment on the saturated 18.9 nm Ni-like soft X-ray laser is presented. The imaging experiment allows measurement of the absolute output energy and intensity of the X-ray laser, while it gives detailed information on the spatial characteristics of the X-ray laser for understanding the physics and further improving the performance of the X-ray laser.
Empirical evaluation of reliability improvement in an evolving software product line

Reliability is important to software product-line developers since many product lines require reliable operation. It is typically assumed that as a software product line matures, its reliability improves. Since post-deployment failures impact reliability, we study this claim on an open-source software product line, Eclipse. We investigate the failure trend of common components (reused across all products), highreuse variation components (reused in five or six products) and low-reuse variation components (reused in one or two products) as Eclipse evolves. We also study how much the common and variation components change over time both in terms of addition of new files and modification of existing files. Quantitative results from mining and analysis of the Eclipse bug and release repositories show that as the product line evolves, fewer serious failures occur in components implementing commonality, and that these components also exhibit less change over time. These results were roughly as expected. However, contrary to expectation, components implementing variations, even when reused in five or more products, continue to evolve fairly rapidly. Perhaps as a result, the number of severe failures in variation components shows no uniform pattern of decrease over time. The paper describes and discusses this and related results.
Lipid Oxidation in Microsomal Fraction of Squid Muscle (Loligo peali)

Frozen squid is susceptible to both lipid oxidation and yellow/brown discoloration during frozen storage. The involvement of lipid oxidation in the microsomal fraction of squid muscle on oxidative rancidity and discoloration was investigated using iron and either enzymatic or non-enzymatic redox cycling pathways. Lipid oxidation was measured by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), and color changes were measured spectrophotometrically using an integrating sphere. The lipid oxidation was not observed in the squid microsomes in the presence of Fe3+ and β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide disodium salt (NADH) or β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced (NADPH), suggesting that the enzymatic redox cycling pathway was not active. Iron-promoted TBARS formation was observed in the non-enzymatic pathway when ascorbic acid was used as a reducing compound. Non-enzymatic lipid oxidation increased with increasing temperature (4 °C to 37 °C), iron (0 to 100 μM), and ascorbic acid (0 to 200 μM) concentrations. As lipid oxidation in the microsomes or isolated microsomal lipids increased, color changes were observed as could be seen by an increase in b* values (yellowness) and a decrease in a* (redness) values. The ability of iron and ascorbate to promote both lipid oxidation and pigment formation in the microsomal fraction suggests that this pathway could be responsible for quality deterioration of squid muscle during storage.
Adaptive dialog based upon multimodal language acquisition

Communicating by voice with speech-enabled computer applications based on preprogrammed rule grammers suffers from constrained vocabulary and sentence structures. Deviations from the allowed language result in an unrecognized utterance that will not be understood and processed by the system. One way to alleviate this restriction consists in allowing the user to expand the computer's recognized and understood language by teaching the computer system new language knowledge. We present an adaptive dialog system capable of learning from users new words, phrases and sentences, and their corresponding meanings. User input incorporates multiple modalities, including speaking, typing, pointing, drawing, and image capturing. The allowed language can thus be expanded in real time by users according to their preferences. By acquiring new language knowledge the system becomes more capable in specific tasks, although its language is still constrained.
Computer-aided speckle interferometry using spectral amplitude fringes

A fully automatic speckle metrology technique is developed. Two speckle patterns of a specimen, one before and one after the specimen deformation, are captured by a video camera. An equivalent double-exposure speckle pattern is obtained by superimposing the two digital images. The superimposed speckle pattern is then segmented into a series of small subimages. For each subimage a fast-Fourier transform is applied and a computer-generated Young’s fringe pattern is obtained. The fringe pattern, which characterizes the local displacement vector, is analyzed by a second fast-Fourier transform. The local displacement vector is determined by a cardinal interpolation and a crest searching around a signal peak in the second spectral domain. An artificial rigid shift between the two images is introduced in the cases of extremely large or small displacements. From analysis of all subimage pairs of the whole superimposed speckle pattern a complete two-dimensional displacement field is deduced. Experimental results using laser as well as white-light speckle patterns are demonstrated.
Detection of an intermediary, protonated water cluster in photosynthetic oxygen evolution

In photosynthesis, photosystem II evolves oxygen from water by the accumulation of photooxidizing equivalents at the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC). The OEC is a Mn4CaO5 cluster, and its sequentially oxidized states are termed the Sn states. The dark-stable state is S1, and oxygen is released during the transition from S3 to S0. In this study, a laser flash induces the S1 to S2 transition, which corresponds to the oxidation of Mn(III) to Mn(IV). A broad infrared band, at 2,880 cm−1, is produced during this transition. Experiments using ammonia and 2H2O assign this band to a cationic cluster of internal water molecules, termed “W5+.” Observation of the W5+ band is dependent on the presence of calcium, and flash dependence is observed. These data provide evidence that manganese oxidation during the S1 to S2 transition results in a coupled proton transfer to a substrate-containing, internal water cluster in the OEC hydrogen-bonded network.
Optimal transmitter eigen-beamforming and space time block coding based on channel mean

Optimal transmitter designs obeying the water-filling principle are well-documented, and widely applied when the propagation channel is deterministically known, and regularly updated at the transmitter. Because channel state information is impossible to be known perfectly at the transmitter in practical wireless systems, we develop in this paper optimal transmitter design based on the knowledge of mean values of the underlying channels. Applied to a multiple transmit-antenna paradigm, our optimal transmitter design turns out to be an eigen-beamformer with multiple beams pointing to orthogonal directions along the eigenvectors of the channel correlation matrix conditioned on channel mean, and with proper power loading across beams. The optimality pertains to minimizing a tight bound on the symbol error rate. Coupled with orthogonal space time block codes, two-directional eigen-beamforming emerges as a more attractive choice than conventional one-directional beamforming with uniformly improved performance, without rate reduction.
Block Adaptive ICA with a Time Varying Mixing Matrix

Independent component analysis effectively resolves fixed linear combinations of independent distributions under requirements that include long block length. In environments where the rules of source combination change rapidly, adaptive or block adaptive methods must be deployed; and associated problems of convergence and permutation ambiguity solved. We propose using ICA on overlapping blocks and resolve the permutation ambiguity based on the principle of correlation continuity. We explore the effect of block length, overlap percentage and sufficiency and utility of second order statistics to maintain continuity in the resolved signals. We demonstrate results using simulated test signals and real speech recordings.
Separating the adhesive and signaling functions of the Fat and Dachsous protocadherins

The protocadherins Fat (Ft) and Dachsous (Ds) are required for several processes in the development of Drosophila, including controlling growth of imaginal discs, planar cell polarity (PCP) and the proximodistal patterning of appendages. Ft and Ds bind in a preferentially heterophilic fashion, and Ds is expressed in distinct patterns along the axes of polarity. It has thus been suggested that Ft and Ds serve not as adhesion molecules, but as receptor and ligand in a poorly understood signaling pathway. To test this hypothesis, we performed a structure-function analysis of Ft and Ds, separating their adhesive and signaling functions. We found that the extracellular domain of Ft is not required for its activity in growth, PCP and proximodistal patterning. Thus, ligand binding is not necessary for Ft activity. By contrast, the extracellular domain of Ds is necessary and sufficient to mediate its effects on PCP, consistent with the model that Ds acts as a ligand during PCP. However, we also provide evidence that Ds can regulate growth independently of Ft, and that the intracellular domain of Ds can affect proximodistal patterning, both suggestive of functions independent of binding Ft. Finally, we show that ft mutants or a dominant-negative Ft construct can affect disc growth without changes in the expression of wingless and Wingless target genes.
Understanding How Prior Knowledge Influences Memory in Older Adults.

Older adults have a harder time than younger adults remembering specific events and experiences (episodic memory), whereas the ability to use one’s general knowledge either improves or remains stable over the life span. Our focus is on the sometimes overlooked but critical possibility that this intact general knowledge can facilitate older adults’ episodic memory performance. After reviewing literature that shows how prior knowledge can support remembering in aging as well as lead it astray, we consider open questions including whether prior knowledge is used only to fill in the gaps after a memory failure and when older adults might need to be instructed to apply their prior knowledge. Overall, we situate our claims within theories of cognitive aging, arguing that prior knowledge is a key factor in understanding older adults’ memory performance, with the potential to serve as a compensatory mechanism.
Clinical significance of axial variations in female urethral pressure profiles

It has been demonstrated that when urethral pressure profiles are measured with microtip transducers on relatively stiff catheters, there is an important difference in the profile when measured with the transducers facing anteriorly and posteriorly. It has been suggested that patients with demonstrable genuine stress urinary incontinence had notably lower posteriorly derived urethral pressure profiles than anteriorly derived pressure profiles. A clinical consideration of this factor has been studied in 25 patients; 19 had accepted urodynamic evidence of genuine stress urinary incontinence and 6 did not. The use of posteriorly derived pressure profiles in comparison with anteriorly derived as a test for genuine stress urinary incontinence showed a sensitivity of 84% and specificity of only 33.3%. However, when correlated with patients showing lack of anatomic support of vaginal and paraurethral structures, the sensitivity and specificity is significant. Anatomic considerations leading to these findings are suggested.
Moralizing Doesn't Help

Verity Burgmann's condemnation of identity politics is unhelpful, because it is moralistic and ahistorical. Its assumptions take us back to a time before the civil rights, New Left, women's, and gay movements reinvented the Left so as to articulate their aspirations and grievances.
Interpretation of Waverider Performance Data Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

A computational study was conducted to better understand experimental results obtained from wind tunnel tests of a Mach 4 waverider model and a comparative reference configuration. The experimental results showed that the performance of the reference configuration was slightly better than that of the waverider model. These results con- tradict waverider design theory, which suggests that a waverider optimized for maximum lift-to-drag should provide better performance than any other non-waverider configuration at a given design point, especially at hypersonic speeds. The computational results showed that the predicted surface pressure values and the integrated lift and drag coefficients from the pressure distributions were much lower for the reference model than for the flat-top model, due to the reference model bottom surface having a slight expansion. The lift-to-drag ratios for the flat-top model were higher due to a relatively low drag for the same amount of lift. These results indicate that the performance advantage of the reference model was due to the shape of the bottom surface and not due to the flat top surface. The results also showed that the reference model exhibited the same shock attachment characteristics as the waverider because the planform shapes were identical. CFD predictions show that the planform shape gives the waverider an advantage in performance over conventional hypersonic vehicles and that altering the bottom surface of a waverider does not cause significant performance degradation.
Modified MAXIMIN adaptive array algorithm for frequency-hopping system

The MAXIMIN algorithm (Torrieri (1999)) is a blind adaptive-array algorithm that provides simultaneous interference suppression and beamforming in a frequency-hopping communication system. This algorithm is so named because one set of correlators serves to maximize the desired signal while the other serves to minimize the interference plus noise. Though the MAXIMIN algorithm is robust and provides improvement in signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), the convergence is reached only after a considerable time. In this paper we propose a modification to the MAXIMIN algorithm, which can provide improvements in the rate of convergence. Computer simulation results under various combinations of arrival of interferences reveal the robustness of the proposed modification.
Electrooptic coefficient variation in proton exchanged and annealed lithium niobate samples

A new technique to measure relative changes in the electrooptic (EO) coefficient of a material is presented. It is used to measure the spatial variation of the EO coefficient in x-cut lithium niobate caused by the annealed proton exchange technique. The lithium niobate samples are proton exchanged at different temperatures for varying times. The measurements presented indicate significant degradation of the EO coefficient immediately after the proton exchange process. The samples are annealed at 375/spl deg/C to enable recovery of the EO coefficient. Samples processed in benzoic acid for 30 min at a temperature of 240/spl deg/C show immediate recovery of the EO coefficient upon thermal annealing. Samples processed in benzoic acid for 5 h at a temperature of 180/spl deg/C show a slower recovery of the EO coefficients requiring longer periods of thermal annealing even though the diffusion depth is the same as in the previous case. Samples processed in benzoic acid for 5 h at a temperature of 240/spl deg/C exhibit significant cracking which worsens progressively upon thermal annealing. The EO coefficient cannot be restored in all areas even after a long 8-h anneal step.
Upstream migration of two pre-spawning shortnose sturgeon passed upstream of Pinopolis Dam, Cooper River, South Carolina

Abstract Two shortnose sturgeon were artificially passed above the Pinopolis Lock and Dam into the Santee-Cooper Lakes in order to simulate the use of a fish-passage mechanism. Movement patterns and spawning behavior were studied to determine the potential success of future shortnose sturgeon migrations if and when a fish-migration bypass structure is installed. In addition to movement patterns, water temperature was monitored in areas that shortnose sturgeons utilized. Shortnose sturgeon migrated through a large static system to a known shortnose sturgeon spawning area more than 160 km upstream where water temperatures were consistent with known shortnose sturgeon spawning temperatures. No specific movement patterns in the reservoir system were recorded during downstream migrations.
Violence across borders: Familism, hegemonic masculinity, and self-sacrificing femininity in the lives of Mexican and Peruvian migrants

This article focuses on the experiences of intimate partner violence of intranational migrants in Lima, Peru and international undocumented Mexican immigrants in Austin, Texas. Employing a feminist and ecological approach, I explore both ways in which the experiences of women in each setting differ as well as commonalities in cultural beliefs in women's lives across borders. I suggest that an analysis of the role of familism, hegemonic masculinity, and self-sacrificing femininity as hegemonic and transnational values that inform Mexican and Peruvian women's lives contributes to a richer understanding of domestic violence among Latin American women.
The Relationship Between Attitude Toward Reading and Reading Success

For a sample of 149 third, fourth, and fifth grade pupils, scores from a reading attitude inventory correlated .17 (p < .05) with combined scores on the subtests of Reading in the Metropolitan Achi...
Over 30% transparency large area inverted organic solar array by spray

We report the fabrication and characterization of large scale inverted organic solar array fabricated by all-spray process. The inverted polymer solar cell geometry consists of four layers, in the order of ITO–Cs2CO3–(P3HT:PCBM)–modified PEDPT:PSS, on a glass substrate. With semitransparent PEDPT:PSS as anode, the encapsulated solar array shows more than 30% transmission in the visible–near IR range. Optimization of device is done by thermal annealing, and the optimal annealing conditions are shown to be different in single-cell test device and the multiple-cell array. Solar illumination has been demonstrated to improve solar array efficiency up to 250%. Device efficiency of 1.80% was observed with the array under AM1.5 irradiance. Our preliminary data have shown that the performance enhancement under illumination only happens with sprayed devices, not devices made by spin coating. This means that solar cells made with our spray-on technique performs better under sunlight, which is beneficial for solar energy application. Published by Elsevier B.V.
The effects of non-constant epilayer doping profiles on charge injection in acoustic charge transport devices

The effects of spatial variations in the epilayer doping density on charge injection in ACT (acoustic charge transport) devices are investigated. The model used to perform the charge injection simulations is based on a simplification of the model proposed by E. G. Bogus (1987). Spatial variations in the epilayer doping density offer a method of increasing injected charge packet compression. Such charge packet compression is thought to increase charge transfer efficiency. Charge injection simulations are performed for the cases of linear- and Gaussian-shaped doping profiles, and the results are compared to the case of constant epilayer doping. The Gaussian profile was superior to the constant and linear profiles in terms of linearity of the channel-current-input-voltage relationship and exhibited a somewhat higher input transconductance. In terms of sampling time variations, however, the constant doping profile remained better than any of the spatial variations examined. >
CHEMICAL REACTION DYNAMICS BEYOND THE BORN-OPPENHEIMER APPROXIMATION

▪ Abstract To predict the branching between energetically allowed product channels, chemists often rely on statistical transition state theories or exact quantum scattering calculations on a single adiabatic potential energy surface. The potential energy surface gives the energetic barriers to each chemical reaction and allows prediction of the reaction rates. Yet, chemical reactions evolve on a single potential energy surface only if, in simple terms, the electronic wavefunction can evolve from the reactant electronic configuration to the product electronic configuration on a time scale that is fast compared to the nuclear dynamics through the transition state. The experiments reviewed here investigate how the breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation at a barrier along an adiabatic reaction coordinate can alter the dynamics of and the expected branching between molecular dissociation pathways. The work reviewed focuses on three questions that have come to the forefront with recent theory and exper...
Studies on Hydroid Differentiation, II. Colony Growth and the Initiation of Sexuality

The colonial hydroid, Podocoryne carnea , is admirably suited to the study of differentiation (Braverman, 1962 a ). A colony growing on the shell of the marine snail Nassa consists of nutritive and generative zooids rising from a highly ramified and anastomosing stolon. If, instead of a snail, the shell is occupied by a hermit crab, a third type of person, the spiralzooid, is found on the dorsal lip of the shell (Cazaux, 1958; Braverman, 1960). Good descriptions of the animal appear in Allman (1871) and Berrill (1953). A single nutritive zooid removed from a colony and placed on a microscope slide in standing sea water attaches to the slide and gives rise to a colony. Colony growth consists of the formation of stolons attached to the substrate and of the appearance of zooids—first nutritive, then generative—on the stolons.
Sustainable Trade in the Ixil Triangle, Guatemalan Highlands

Guatemala has among the largest numbers of indigenous people living within its borders in Central America. With wealth coming from tourism and exports concentrated mainly around Guatemala City, descendants of the ancient Maya live in small, ethnically distinct villages where locals struggle to preserve their heritage. Isolated in the valleys between the Cuchumatanes Mountains, the Ixil Triangle is home to a unique community of Ixil people who have retained their ancient way of life. Men tend to be farmers, women weave using technologies passed down from generation to generation, and few have a strong grasp of Spanish as a second language. Yet despite the isolation, tensions and instability in modern-day Guatemala have struck this community hard. A startling number of the indigenous citizens of Guatemala, who make up 40% of the population, have no access to education, and many have no voice in the political process, as they lack the financial means to pay to become registered citizens. The Ixil also face economic pressures, as well as the repercussions of a bloody civil war that ended in 1996, taking an entire generation of men as casualties. Faced with the prospect of their disappearing culture, a small group of widows in the village of San Juan Cotzal have welcomed the help of European volunteers, and formed a weaving co-op. They take orders from distributors in more established tourist stops like Guatemala City and Antigua, utilizing age-old technologies to make carpets, bags, shawls, and other products that volunteers then deliver to stores around the country. Building upon the business skills they gain by maintaining the co-op, the widows are both politically and economically active, taking initiative on behalf of their community. Future projects include organizing fundraisers to equip each widow’s home with proper stoves and developing an improved outreach strategy to goods distributors in the larger cities. Defying heavy odds, the empowered women of Ixil are finding local ways to integrate their heritage into the global landscape.
Lexicon Stratification for Translating Out-of-Vocabulary Words

A language lexicon can be divided into four main strata, depending on origin of words: core vocabulary words, fullyand partiallyassimilated foreign words, and unassimilated foreign words (or transliterations). This paper focuses on translation of fullyand partially-assimilated foreign words, called “borrowed words”. Borrowed words (or loanwords) are content words found in nearly all languages, occupying up to 70% of the vocabulary. We use models of lexical borrowing in machine translation as a pivoting mechanism to obtain translations of out-of-vocabulary loanwords in a lowresource language. Our framework obtains substantial improvements (up to 1.6 BLEU) over standard baselines.