cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The impact of executive inside debt on sell-side financial analyst forecast characteristics

Debt-like compensation, referred to as inside debt, is prevalent in US firms and affects firm operating, investing and financial reporting activities. The amount of inside debt can be used to extract information that benefits analyst forecasting activities. This study finds that forecast accuracy increases, while forecast dispersion and revision volatility decrease with the magnitude of inside debt. Further analysis shows that inside debt is associated with increased propensity of firms to provide voluntary disclosures and the documented benefits on analyst characteristics accrue only to firms that offer close to optimal level of inside debt (Jensen and Meckling in J Financ Econ 3:305–360, 1976; Edmans and Liu in Rev Finance 15:75–102, 2011). Our research is the first to link debt-like compensation to financial analyst behavior and contributes to the understanding of the implications of inside debt to outside market participants.
Shared Leadership in Capstone Design Teams: Social Network Analysis

AbstractMultiple national-level reports encourage engineering faculty to help undergraduate engineers develop a basic level of leadership knowledge to enable leadership growth upon graduation. Rece...
Psychological well-being and restorative biological processes: HDL-C in older English adults.

Abstract Rationale Psychological well-being is associated with better cardiovascular health, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Objective This study investigates one possible mechanism by examining psychological well-being's prospective association with lipid levels, focusing on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Methods Participants were 4757 healthy men and women ages ≥50 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing with clinical data from three times, three to five years apart. Psychological well-being was assessed at baseline using the Control, Autonomy, Satisfaction, and Pleasure scale; HDL-C, triglycerides, and total cholesterol were assayed from blood samples. Descriptive statistics and linear mixed models were used to examine associations between psychological well-being and lipid levels over time; the latter controlled for confounders and health behaviours. Results In descriptive analyses, HDL-C levels were initially higher in people with greater psychological well-being. Among those who met recommended levels of HDL-C at baseline, fewer individuals with higher versus lower psychological well-being dropped below HDL-C recommendations over time. Mixed models indicated that HDL-C increased over time (β = 0.64; 95% CI = 0.58 to 0.69) and higher baseline psychological well-being was associated with higher baseline HDL-C (β = 0.51; 95% CI = 0.03 to 0.99). A significant well-being by time interaction indicated individuals with higher versus lower well-being exhibited a more rapid rate of increase in HDL-C over follow-up. Higher psychological well-being was also significantly associated with lower triglycerides, but main effects for both HDL-C and triglycerides were attenuated after accounting for health behaviours. Conclusion Higher psychological well-being is associated with healthier HDL-C levels; these effects may compound over time. This protective effect may be partly explained by health behaviours.
Evaluating Mass Transfer Coefficients for Glucose into the Rabbit Eye

One area of common interest to chemical engineering and biology is mass transfer across boundaries. The basic principles of physical chemistry are used to study the rate and equilibrium relationships in these processes. With a few simplifying assumptions, chemical engineers have for many years been able to design equipment in which matter is transferred across phase boundaries, and more recently, through membranes.
Basis for regulation of selenium supplements in animal diets.

Selenium was discovered 174 yr ago but, until 1957, was given little notice by biologists or was vilified as an agent that caused toxicity in grazing ruminants and horses in the northern Great Plains. After its status as an essential nutrient was established, Se received intense scrutiny, and hundreds of papers have been published dealing with its metabolic functions and the consequences of a Se deficiency. Because regions of Se deficiency are so extensive in the United States, great efforts have been made to gain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Se supplementation of animal diets. Initially, these efforts were thwarted by concern that Se might be carcinogenic. After this concern was resolved, researchers established supplemental Se levels that were efficacious, safe for animals, safe for humans that eat animal products, and protective of the environment. First approval of Se supplements was given in 1974 for supplementation of swine or growing chicken diets at .1 ppm. Supplements for turkey diets were approved at .2 ppm. Ultimately, in 1987, levels of supplemental Se in diets for chickens, turkeys, ducks, swine, sheep, and cattle were approved at .3 ppm. However, FDA regulations do not mention horses or zoo animals, and those who would ensure the welfare of these species by supplementing Se-deficient diets may be in violation of FDA interpretation of the law. In addition, the association of Se with death and deformities in aquatic birds at the Kesterson Reservoir in California has led to pressure on the FDA to reverse the 1987 amendments to the feed additive regulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Assessment of Changes in the Peripartum Cervix

Chapter Summary This section provides methods for studying key changes in the cervix through term and preterm birth with consideration of the unique challenges of working with a tissue that is rich in extracellular matrix. Protocols outlined in this section allow for the study of cervical extracellular matrix components that undergo dynamic changes through pregnancy and birth, such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Additionally, the application of sophisticated methodologies for assessment of immune cell population as well as standardized mouse preterm birth models have been and will continue to be valuable methodologies for continued insights into mechanisms of cervical remodeling in term and preterm birth.
Lipoxins and aspirin-triggered lipoxins in airway responses.

Leukotrienes (LT) and prostaglandins (PG) have been implicated as proinflammatory mediators in asthma [1], while lipoxins (LX) are a distinct class of eicosanoids that carry unique counter-regulatory actions [2]. Analyses of the time course of appearance of eicosanoids during acute inflammation has revealed the early coordinate appearance of LT and PG with leukocyte recruitment followed by LX during resolution [3]. LX’s are generated in human tissues, including airways [4], and can interact with at least two classes of receptors, CysLT1 and LXA4 receptors (designated ALX) [5]. LX’s, aspirin-triggered 15-epimer-LX’s and stable, longer-acting analogs of these compounds can promote resolution of cytokine-driven acute inflammation [5], inhibit LTC4-stimulated airway hyper-responsiveness in human asthmatics [6] and block LTD4-initiated constriction of airway smooth muscle in vitro [7]. of note, aspirin-tolerant asthmatic individuals have a decreased biosynthetic capacity for LX’s [8]. In view of these intriguing findings, we determined the impact of LX’s in an experimental murine model of asthma [9].
Projection-based model reduction: Formulations for physics-based machine learning

Abstract This paper considers the creation of parametric surrogate models for applications in science and engineering where the goal is to predict high-dimensional output quantities of interest, such as pressure, temperature and strain fields. The proposed methodology develops a low-dimensional parametrization of these quantities of interest using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), and combines this parametrization with machine learning methods to learn the map between the input parameters and the POD expansion coefficients. The use of particular solutions in the POD expansion provides a way to embed physical constraints, such as boundary conditions and other features of the solution that must be preserved. The relative costs and effectiveness of four different machine learning techniques—neural networks, multivariate polynomial regression, k-nearest-neighbors and decision trees—are explored through two engineering examples. The first example considers prediction of the pressure field around an airfoil, while the second considers prediction of the strain field over a damaged composite panel. The case studies demonstrate the importance of embedding physical constraints within learned models, and also highlight the important point that the amount of model training data available in an engineering setting is often much less than it is in other machine learning applications, making it essential to incorporate knowledge from physical models.
“Upon You They Depend for the Light of Knowledge”: Women and Children in the Rhetoric of Mary Church Terrell

In her position as both teacher and administrator in the late nineteenth century, Mary Church Terrell navigated the racism and sexism of an increasingly bureaucratic educational landscape to emerge...
Promoting Critical Reading using Google Tools – a Community of Inquiry Approach

Creating a community of learning can enhance critical reading in a classroom environment. Task design plays a critical role in the effectiveness of this process. This paper presents a case study of a face-to-face literature course that used a host of Google tools to create such a community. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) principles of teacher presence, cognitive presence, and social presence have been applied to analyze the task design using Google tools. Data collected from coursework, surveys, and interviews provide evidence that tasks using Google tools can promote community building and critical reading.
Pulmonary hypertension in rats with human mutation of NFU1 is oxygen sensitive

Mitochondrial dysfunction is known to be directly associated with the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH). NFU1 is an important mitochondrial protein involved in [4Fe-4S] cluster biogenesis and incorporation of newly synthesized [4Fe-4S] clusters into the target proteins. Patients with autosome recessive inheritance of NFU1 mutation c.622G>T have the reduced activity of respiratory chain complex II, lipoic-acid dependent enzymes and develop pulmonary hypertension (PH) in ~ 70% of cases. In this study, we analyzed the genetic rat model that reproduces the human mutation of NFU1. The penetrance of pulmonary hypertension in homozygote NFU1G206C rats was found to be 73% in females and only 22% in males. Both genders showed a significantly reduced complex II and PHD activity. However, while in females the expression of both complex II subunits (SDHA and SDHB) was significantly impaired, males showed a decreased expression of SDHA only. The limited development of PH in males also correlated with an increased expression of another Fe-S scaffold protein, ISCU. This protection was not evident in female rats. The previous research showed a critical role of NFU1 in the protection of [4Fe-4S] clusters against oxidation. The inhibition of complex II in NFU1 knockouts occurred only in the presence of oxygen (in normoxia) but not in anoxia. We confirmed that exposure to hypoxia protected NFU1G206C rats compared to wild type. This discovery may highlight the mechanisms responsible for PH development in humans that are not exposed to hypoxic conditions. We conclude that in normoxic conditions human mutation of NFU1 reproduced in healthy rats is sufficient to induce PH and replicate the gender dimorphism seen in humans. In the presence of oxygen mitochondrial dysfunction due to NFU1 insufficiency gets synergistically potentiated by the oxidative stress.
Avoiding War with China: Two Nations, One World

Are the United States and China drifting toward war? Amitai Etzioni believes they are and presents proposals for avoiding war. His motivation is personal and stems from his serving in the Special F...
A Role of Mononuclear Phagocytes in Immunologically Induced Glomerulonephritis

This chapter summarizes a study on a model of immunological renal injury in which a prominent mononuclear cell component infiltrating the glomerulus has been identified (Schreiner et al., 1978). The evidence indicates that the mononuclear cell component contributes to the glomerular injury. The experimental model is an accelerated form of nephrotoxic serum nephritis (NTN).
US prisms and prejudice through mediating the Middle East

Mediating the Middle East engages social and political constructions that articulate sentiment within the United States, with consequences not only to foreign policies and relationships, but also t...
Missed Opportunities for HPV Vaccination Among Vaccine-Eligible Women with High Grade Cervical Lesions.

Abstract Background Incidence of high-grade cervical lesions (HGCL) has declined in the U.S following the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in 2006. However, many women continue to be diagnosed with HGCLs, including those eligible to receive the vaccine but did not. We determined self-reported barriers to and correlates of HPV vaccination in vaccine-eligible women diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2, 2/3, 3 and adenocarcinoma in situ (CIN2+). Methods Data from a statewide surveillance system in Connecticut for CIN 2+ during 2008–2015 were used for this analysis. Enhanced surveillance data were collected for women residing in New Haven County, including HPV vaccine history and demographic factors, through chart review and patient interviews. Women who reported being unvaccinated were asked why they did not receive the vaccine. We evaluated trends in reasons for not receiving the vaccine using a two-sided Cochran Armitage trend test. Log-binomial analysis was used to assess associations between sociodemographic characteristics and vaccination status. Results Between 2008 and 2015, 1625 vaccine-eligible women were diagnosed with CIN2+, with 882 of these women reporting never receiving the HPV vaccine. The proportion of unvaccinated vaccine-eligible women did not significantly change from 2008 to 2015 (p = 0.18, range 49.1% to 60.0%). The most commonly reported reason for being unvaccinated was age/too old, followed by previous HPV diagnosis and no provider recommendation. Women who had public or no insurance were significantly more likely than privately insured women to report being unvaccinated (p = Conclusions Commonly cited barriers to vaccination, such as age/too old and previous HPV diagnosis, are not contraindications for vaccination. Furthermore, frequent reporting of no provider recommendation underscores the important role providers play in the immunization of their patients. These results indicate the need for greater efforts by providers to dispel myths about HPV vaccine eligibility and to promote vaccination for all of their eligible patients.
The Nineteenth Amendment and the Democratization of the Family

This Essay recovers debates over the family connecting the Reconstruction Amendments and the Nineteenth Amendment, and considers how this lost history can guide the Constitution’s interpretation, in courts and in politics. A woman’s claim to vote contested a man’s prerogative to represent his wife and daughters, and so was a claim for democratization of the family. Suffragists argued that women needed the vote to change the ways that law structuring the family governed their lives. They argued that law should recognize women’s right to voluntary motherhood and to be remunerated equally with men for work performed inside and outside the household. Suffragists sought to create a world in which adult members of the household could be recognized and participate in democratic life as equals. And they debated how to realize these goals when women faced different and intersectional forms of discrimination. Claims for democratic reconstruction of the family that began in the quest for the vote continued in the immediate aftermath of the Nineteenth Amendment’s ratification and in 1970 during its half-century anniversary, and continue today in the era of its centennial. Courts can draw on this history and interpret the Amendments synthetically. For example, judges can integrate the history of suffrage struggle into the equal-protection framework of United States v. Virginia. The Essay shows how an historical and intersectional understanding of suffrage struggle could change the way courts approach cases concerning the regulation of pregnancy, contraception, sexual violence, and federalism. The Essay closes by looking beyond the courts to continuing claims for the democratization the family in politics, which it connects to suffrage struggle. How would we understand these claims if we recognized that liberty and equality claims about the family began in the decades before the Civil War, and if we recognized the disenfranchised Americans who voiced them among our Constitution’s esteemed Framers?
Druggable targets, clinical trial design and proposed pharmacological management in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva

Introduction: Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is an ultra-rare genetic disorder characterized by heterotopic ossification, congenital skeletal abnormalities especially of the great toes...
Hodgkin Disease Associated With T-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is more likely to develop in patients with Hodgkin disease (HD) than in the general population. Although reports of synchronous or metachronous HD and NHL are not uncommon in the literature, the biologic relationship of these 2 malignant neoplasms often is unclear. A larger-than-expected fraction of NHLs occurring in patients with HD are of the T-cell phenotype. We report 1 synchronous and 3 metachronous cases of HD and T-cell NHL. In 2 cases, the 2 tumors are unlikely to be related clonally. In the other 2 cases, however, T-cell receptor rearrangement studies demonstrated the presence of the same rearranged clone in both tumor specimens, suggesting that they share a common precursor or that one arose by transformation of the other. These observations imply that, similar to the observations in B-cell NHLs occurring with HD, a subset of synchronous and metachronous T-cell NHLs and HD may be related clonally.
On the Integration of Multiple Modeling Methodologies into a Single User Interface

The development, analysis, and refinement of modern Embedded Systems (ES) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications require the use of complex models. These, in turn, require a variety of modeling techniques that can be used for different aspects of a given ES or IoT project. ES and IoT projects nowadays are well beyond pencil-and-paper development and analysis, so sophisticated tools with well-designed human-computer interfaces are required. Such tools do exist for various modeling techniques individually – for example, tools for Petri Net modeling, tools for UML modeling, etc. Some tools are able to translate a model in one methodology to a second model or to a programming language. However, no tool exists that integrates the major modeling methods used in ES and IoT into a single package that allows designers and engineers to explore through a single interface all the aspects of the project. This makes it difficult for the designers and engineers to see how operations, or even changes, modeled in one methodology impact models in the other methodologies. Designers and engineers can’t see the whole picture within a single tool. We argue that such a tool is needed for ES and IoT and propose a set of requirements that such an integrated tool must satisfy in order to be truly useful in the design and analysis of ES and IoT projects.
Acquisition, Representation and Usage of Conceptual Hierarchies

Through subsumption and instantiation, individual instances (“artificial intelligence”, “the spotted pig”) otherwise spanning a wide range of domains can be brought together and organized under conceptual hierarchies. The hierarchies connect more specific concepts (“computer science subfields”, “gastropubs”) to more general concepts (“academic disciplines”, “restaurants”) through IsA relations. Explicit or implicit properties applicable to, and defining, more general concepts are inherited by their more specific concepts, down to the instances connected to the lower parts of the hierarchies. Subsumption represents a crisp, universally-applicable principle towards consistently representing IsA relations in any knowledge resource. Yet knowledge resources often exhibit significant differences in their scope, representation choices and intended usage, to cause significant differences in their expected usage and impact on various tasks. This tutorial examines the theoretical foundations of subsumption, and its practical embodiment through IsA relations compiled manually or extracted automatically. It addresses IsA relations from their formal definition; through practical choices made in their representation within the larger and more widely-used of the available knowledge resources; to their automatic acquisition from document repositories, as opposed to their manual compilation by human contributors; to their impact in text analysis and information retrieval. As search engines move away from returning a set of links and closer to returning results that more directly answer queries, IsA relations play an increasingly important role towards a better understanding of documents and queries. The tutorial teaches the audience about definitions, assumptions and practical choices related to modeling and representing IsA relations in existing, human-compiled resources of instances, concepts and resulting conceptual hierarchies; methods for automatically extracting sets of instances within unlabeled or labeled concepts, where the concepts may be considered as a flat set or organized hierarchically; and applications of IsA relations in information retrieval.
Probabilistic uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of a vibratory-based actuation mechanism for a bio-inspired flapping-wing system

This work is focused on understanding the impact of uncertainties on various input parameters on the lift production for a flapping-wing drone equipped with a vibratory-based actuation mechanism. Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis techniques are used to investigate output trends under various input distribution types and ranges to determine the critical parameters that should be considered during the design phase. Two cases are investigated in this work: The first considers a purely linear actuation mechanism, and the second includes a cubic nonlinear spring. Input parameters under consideration are prescribed with varying levels of uncertainties and distributions. Results show that as input uncertainty increases, the range of outputs quickly increases and that there is a high chance of optimal performance failure from the drone. In addition, it is shown that input forcing and excitation frequency are the most influential parameters when operating at resonance and that the excitation frequency alone is the dominant parameter in the off-resonance regime. Lastly, uncertainty in the nonlinear stiffness results in the possibility of the drone producing low lift. These results can be used by researchers and designers to properly design vibratory-based actuation mechanisms for flapping-wing drones by considering the more influential parameters and ensuring they are designed with optimal performance.
Multi-omics investigation of Clostridioides difficile-colonized patients reveals protective commensal carbohydrate metabolism

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) imposes a substantial burden on the health care system in the United States. Understanding the biological basis for the spectrum of C. difficile-related disease manifestations is imperative to improving treatment and prevention of CDI. Here, we investigate the correlates of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization using a multi-omics approach, comparing the fecal microbiome and metabolome profiles of patients with CDI versus asymptomatically-colonized patients. We find that microbiomes of asymptomatic patients are significantly enriched for species in the class Clostridia relative to those of symptomatic patients. Asymptomatic patient microbiomes were enriched with fucose, rhamnose, and sucrose degradation pathways relative to CDI patient microbiomes. Fecal metabolomics corroborates this result: we identify carbohydrate compounds enriched in asymptomatic patients relative to CDI patients, and correlated with a number of commensal Clostridia. Further, we reveal that across C. difficile isolates, the carbohydrates rhamnose and lactulose do not serve as robust growth substrates in vitro, corroborating their enriched detection in our metagenomic and metabolite profiling of asymptomatic individuals. We conclude that in asymptomatically-colonized individuals, carbohydrate metabolism by other commensal Clostridia may prevent CDI by inhibiting C. difficile proliferation. These insights into C. difficile colonization and putative commensal competition suggest novel avenues to develop probiotic or prebiotic therapeutics against CDI.
Culling Dairy Cows

Culling decisions present a serious challenge, both for the dairyman and for the veterinarian who provides service to the farm. Culled cows represent a substantial expense to the producer. The cost of rearing youngstock averages approximately 20 percent of the overall operating expenses of a dairy. Rearing excess heifers to replace cows unavoidably lost from production addes a significant burden to the financial load borne by the dairyman.
Mental and physical health consequences of police brutality toward Black community members in the United States

Abstract Objectives The current study was the first preliminary examination of physical and mental health outcomes for late adolescents impacted by police killing members of the Black community. Study design Cross-sectional online survey research. Methods 429 college students completed surveys in September 2020. Physical and mental health specific to police killing members of the Black community and general physical and mental health were measured. Black Lives Matter activism, safety concerns due to police brutality, negative police experiences, and anti-racist behavior were also quantified. Results More variance was explained by Black Lives Matter activism factors for models examining physical and mental health specific to the recent killings of Black citizens by police compared with models examining general physical and mental health. Conclusions Prevention efforts in healthcare and educational contexts should include screenings and education for those involved in Black Lives Matter activism or who have negative experiences (or worries about such experiences) with police.
Pyruvate-Enhanced Cardiocerebral Resuscitation Via Nrf2/ARE Pathway

Background: Cardiac arrest-cardiocerebral resuscitation (CA-CCR) inflicts ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) brain injury and glutamate excitotoxicity-related cognitive deficits. Plasma pyruvate lowers blo...
Focus on . . . Employee Benefit Reform Proposals

Employers provide numerous different benefits to their employees, the most important of which are retirement plans and health benefits. American employers (public and private) spent $628.4 billion on retirement benefits and $596.5 billion on health benefits in 2005. [Employee Benefit Research Institute, Dec. 2006.] Despite this enormous expenditure, there is increasing concern about the deficiencies of the current system, including the disappearance of defined benefit plans in the private sector; the inadequate retirement benefits that will be received by many (if not most) employees from defined contribution plans; and gaps in retirement and health plan coverage, particularly among low-income and part-time workers. This article discusses some of the many recent reform proposals, and focuses on a comprehensive proposal published by the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC).
Efficiently implementing LL/SC objects shared by an unknown number of processes

Over the past decade, a pair of instructions called load-linked (LL) and store-conditional (SC) have emerged as the most suitable synchronization instructions for the design of lock-free algorithms. However, current architectures do not support these instructions; instead, they support either CAS (e.g., UltraSPARC, Itanium) or restricted versions of LL/SC (e.g., POWER4, MIPS, Alpha). To bridge this gap, a flurry of algorithms that implement LL/SC from CAS have appeared in the literature. Some of these algorithms assume that N, the maximum number of participating processes, is fixed and known in advance. Others make no such assumption, but are either non-blocking (not wait-free), implement small LL/SC objects, or require that a process performs O(N) work to join the algorithm. Specifically, no constant-time, word-sized, wait-free LL/SC algorithm that does not require the knowledge of N exists. In this paper, we present such an algorithm.
A study of internal friction in copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene

The temperature variation of the internal friction of tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluore propylene (TFE-HFP) copolymers was studied using a torsion pendulum at frequencies ca. 1 cps. The compositions varied from 0 to 14 mole% HFP. Increasing HFP content was found to, 1 depress the temperature of the crystal disordering transition. 2 increase the size and depress the temperature of the glass I peak 400° to 348°K. 3 decrease the size of the glass II peak. The temperature remined constant at 177°K. The glass I and II peaks were assigned to relaxation mechanisms involving long side branched and linear segments of the molecule and short linear segments, respectively. The depression of the crystal disordering transition was attributed to a decrease in the crystal lite size with increasing HFP content. An analogous glass I peak was observed in high density polyethylene at 333°K. in addition to the previously reported glass II peak at 156°K. Polypropylene exhibits glass I and II Peaks at 273° and 170°K. and two smaller peaks at 53° and 32°K due to hindered rotation of the methyl groups. Further work is required to elucidate the nature of the motions of the molecular backbone responsible for the glass I and II and crystal disordering peaks in the above Polymers. Die Temperaturabhangigkeit der inneren Reibung von Tetrafluorathylen-Hexafluor propylen-Copolymeren (TFE-HFP) wurde mittels eines Torsionspendels bei Frequenzen von ca. 1 Hz untersucht. Ihre Zusammensetzung wurde von 0 bis 14 Mol-% HFP variiert. Es wurde gefunden, das mit zunehmendem Anteil von HFP 1 die Temperature der Unordnungs-Umwandlung im Kristall herabgesetzt wird, 2 die Hohe des I. amorphen Maximum zunimmt und die zugehorige Temperature von 400° auf 348°K abnimmt, 3 die Hohe des II. amorphen Maximum abnimmt, wahrend die zugehorige Temperature bei 177°K konstant bleibt. Als Ursache des I. und II. amorphen Maximum wurden Relaxationsmechanismen angenommen, die den langen Seitenketten und linearen Molekulsegmenten bzw. den kurzen linearen Segmenten zuzuordnen sind. Die Erniedrigung der Temperatur, bei der die Unordnungs-Umwandlung im Kristall stattfindet, wurde als eine Folge der mit zunehmendem Gehalt an HFP abnehmenden Kristallitgrose angenommen. Bei Niederdruck-Polyathylen wurde ein analoges I. amorphes Maximum bei 333°K gefunden, zusatzlich zu einem 11. amorphen Maximum bei 156°K, uber das fruher schon berichtet wurde. Polypropylen zeigt ein I. und 11. amorphes Maximum bei 273° und 170°K sowie zwei kleinere Maxima bei 53° und 32°K, die durch die gehemmte Rotation der Methylgruppen verursacht werden. Weitere Arbeiten sind erforderlich, um die Art der Bewegung des Molekulskeletts aufzuklaren, die fur den I. und II. Glaspunkt und fur die Unordnungs-umwandlung in den betrachteten Polymeren verantwortlich ist.
Agrarian Studies: Synthetic Work at the Cutting Edge.

Agrarian Studies: Synthetic Work at the Cutting Edge. James C. Scott and Nina Bhatt. eds. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001. 320 pp.
Bayesian nonparametric estimation of pair correlation function for inhomogeneous spatial point processes

The pair correlation function (PCF) is a useful tool for studying spatial point patterns. It is often estimated by some nonparametric approach such as kernel smoothing. However, the statistical properties of the kernel estimator are highly dependent on the choice of bandwidth. An inappropriate value of the bandwidth may lead to an estimator with a large bias or variance or both. In this work, we present an alternative PCF estimator based on Bayesian nonparametric regression. The method provides data-driven smoothing and intuitive uncertainty measures, together with efficient computation. The merits of our method are demonstrated via a simulation study and a couple of applications involving astronomy data and data on restaurant locations.
The total creep of viscoelastic composites under hydrostatic or antiplane loading

The problem of bounding the total creep (or total stress relaxation) of a composite made of two linear viscoelastic materials and subjected to a constant hydrostatic or antiplane loading is considered. It is done by coupling the immediate and the relaxed responses of the composite, which are pure elastic. The coupled bounds provide the possible range of the total deformation at infinite time as a function of the initial deformation of the composite. For antiplane shear existing bounds for coupled two-dimensional conductivity yield the required coupled bounds, and these are attained by doubly coated cylinder assemblages. The translation method is used to couple the effective bulk moduli of a viscoelastic composite at zero and infinite time. A number of microgeometries are found to attain the bulk modulus bounds. It is shown that the Hashin's composite sphere assemblage does not necessarily correspond to the maximum or minimum overall creep, although it necessarily attains the bounds for effective bulk moduli. For instance, there are cases when the doubly coated sphere microstructure or some special polycrystal arrangements attain the bounds on the total creep.
EAM study of surface self-diffusion of single adatoms of fcc metals Ni, Cu, Al, Ag, Au, Pd, and Pt

Abstract Self-diffusion of single adatoms on the (100), (110), (111), (311), and (331) surfaces of fcc metals is investigated with the embedded atom method (EAM). The general trend of activation energies for these surfaces is consistent with experimental observations. The calculated activation energies for Ni are in excellent agreement with experimental data, but those for Al and Pt differ from experimental values by up to a factor of 3. The estimated pre-exponential factors are in the range of 10 −4 −10 −2 cm 2 s , in good agreement with experiment.
A Layered Finite Element Method for High-Frequency Modeling of Large-Scale Three-Dimensional On-Chip Interconnect Structures

This paper proposes a high-capacity electromagnetic solution, layered finite element method, for high-frequency modeling of large-scale 3D on-chip interconnect structures. In this method, first, the matrix system of the original 3D problem is reduced to that of 2D layers. Second, the matrix system of 2D layers is further reduced to that of a single layer. Third, an algorithm of logarithmic complexity is proposed to further speed up the analysis for periodic interconnect structures. The entire procedure is numerically rigorous without making any theoretical approximation. The computational complexity only involves solving a single layer irrespective of the original problem size. Hence, the proposed method is equipped with a high capacity to solve large-scale IC problems. The proposed method was used to simulate a set of large-scale interconnect structures that were fabricated on a test chip using conventional Si processing techniques. Excellent agreement with the measured data has been observed from DC to 50GHz.
World Earthquake Fatalities from the Past: Implications for the Present and Future

A method to estimate the likely fatalities in earthquakes in the twenty-first century is a statistical analysis of the data for fatalities in earthquakes from the last two millennia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collects and collates earthquake fatality data for the world. The NOAA database has records dating to 186 Before Common Era. The fatality information is incomplete, like all such historically collected data sets. A standard statistical analysis of the known fatality data provides earthquake fatality models for the twentieth century and the last two millennia. The analysis uses a generalized Poissonian distribution to provide a mathematical mapping for each fatality data set. The generalized Poissonian distribution provides a method that can allow for over- and underdispersion of the data not accommodated by a standard Poissonian model. The results show a higher mean for the two millennia data set, which is expected due to the undercounting of the smaller fatal events prior to the twentieth century, so, for example, someone dying in an earthquake in Papua, New Guinea, in the twelfth century will not be in the NOAA database. The generalized Poissonian model is consistent for the two millennia and the 20th century. The generalized Poissonian model for the twentieth century appears to represent an acceptable statistical method to estimate deaths in the current century. This analysis of fatality distributions in earthquakes points to a likely peak death toll for this century in the range of 600,000 to one million people in a single urban center, with this event most likely occurring in an intraplate region rather than an interplate region of the world.
Implications of monomer and initiator structure on the dissociative electron-transfer step of SET-LRP

The heterolytic dissociation process associated with the activation of Single Electron-Transfer Living Radical Polymerization is examined through the use of energy profile modeling. Monomer and initiator structure is correlated with the approximate activation barriers, energies of electrostatic ion-radical pair formation, and stability of ion-radical pair generated from the counteranion halide leaving group and the radical atom with partial positive charge density induced by its electron-withdrawing substituent. Energy profiles permit access not just to one, but to all local minima, in the dissociation pathway and the identification of a global minimum. The location and energy of this global minimum allows for the placement of various initiators and dormant propagating macroradicals on the spectrum between stepwise and concerted dissociative electron-transfer. The barrier for the activation step for alkyl-halides derived from acrylates, vinyl halides, and styrenes, as well as from initiators bearing electron-withdrawing groups is decreased in comparison to relatively more electron-rich alkyl halides. This rate enhancement is explained through the sticky dissociative model wherein electron-transfer is accelerated by the formation of strong ion-radical pairs between radicals with partial positive charge density and their counteranion leaving group. Greater electron-withdrawing capacity of the alkyl halide substituent increases the stability of the ion-radical pair, reduces its equilibrium bond length, and accelerates electron-transfer. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5663–5697, 2008
Three book collectors of imperial Spain

SUMMARY During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Spain's Empire flourished. This article discusses leading Spanish bibliophiles of its golden age with detailed attention on the private libraries of Don Fernando Colon; Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, Count of Gondomar; and Gaspar de Guzman, Count-Duke of Olivares. Their libraries are known today through extant portions of collections and/or catalogs describing each item. Colon, whose collections approached 30,000 items, established detailed procedures for catalog entries by author, title, and subject and placed an emphasis on facilitating use of his collection.
Electrochemical Oxidation of Glucose on Single Crystal and Polycrystalline Gold Surfaces in Phosphate Buffer

The electrochemical oxidation of glucose has been studied in phosphate buffer (pH = 7.4) on single crystal and polycrystalline gold electrodes using electrochemical techniques, ex situ NMR, in situ FTIR spectroscopy, and isotope labeling. Under these conditions, the results indicate that the rate determining step for the electro-oxidation of glucose is bond breaking between the hydrogen atom and the C 1 carbon atom. Gluconolactone appears to be an intermediate and sodium gluconate is the reaction product. First order kinetics with respect to glucose were also found. Gold would be a useful electrode for sensor applications, if the inhibition of the glucose oxidation by the adsorption of Cl - could be avoided
Treatment of coexistent psoriasis and lupus erythematosus

Background The coexistence of psoriasis and lupus erythematosus (LE) is rare. Anecdotal evidence suggests that anti–tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNF-α) agents may be efficacious in LE, although their use is commonly avoided in this disease because of concern for lupus flare. Objective We sought to describe the epidemiology, serologic findings, and therapeutic choices in patients with coexistent psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis and LE and to determine the risk of lupus flares with TNF-α inhibitors. Methods We performed a retrospective multicenter study of patients given the diagnoses of psoriasis (or psoriatic arthritis) and lupus erythematosus (systemic LE or cutaneous LE, including either subacute cutaneous LE or discoid LE) at 2 academic tertiary-care centers. Results A total of 96 patients with a mean age of 56 years was included. We report higher-than-expected rates of white race and psoriatic arthritis. One clinical lupus flare was observed in a patient receiving a TNF-α inhibitor, resulting in an incidence of 0.92% lupus flares per patient-year of TNF-α inhibitor use. Limitations Retrospective chart review, small sample size, and limited documentation. Conclusion Anti–TNF-α agents, ustekinumab, and abatacept may be valid treatment options for patients with concomitant LE and psoriasis. Clinical lupus flares in LE patients treated with TNF-α inhibitors were infrequent.
Does Pectoral Spine Extraction Cause Mortality to Channel Catfish

Abstract Pectoral spines have been commonly used to age channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Recently, use of otoliths has increased because they may provide more accurate and precise estimates of age. A presumed advantage of using pectoral spines instead of otoliths is that fish can be released alive and experience little mortality. However, little information is available to test this presumption. I used mark and recapture of channel catfish in two impoundments to assess whether recapture rates differed between fish that had their left pectoral spine removed and those that did not. Channel catfish were marked in June and recaptured in October. There was no difference in the proportion of channel catfish recaptured that had their spine removed versus those that did not in either impoundment. My findings suggest that pectoral spine extraction causes little if any mortality to channel catfish.
The Employment of Central City Male Youth: Nonlinear Effects of Racial Composition

We test for linear and nonlinear effects of the racial composition of a youth's city on his probability of employment. The sample, extracted from 1980 Public Use Census data, consists of black and white male youths, aged 17-20, residing in central cities. Controlling for a number of individual and city characteristics, we find that the absolute and relative probabilities of employment for young black men are hurt by being in a city with a higher proportion of blacks, up to a tipping point of about 50 percent black. Thereafter, blacks' absolute and relative employment odds are positively associated with the proportion black. This is consistent with the nonlinear version of the competition thesis proposed by Blalock (1957) and Lieberson (1980), and with economists' notion of employment discrimination based on the tastes of customers and coworkers. Empirical study of the effect of the relative size of the black population upon socioeconomic outcomes for blacks and whites goes back at least thirty years (Blalock, 1956, 1957). A number of studies have found that the status of blacks is lower in areas with a higher percentage of blacks. One occasional theme throughout this literature has been the possible nonlinearity of the effect of the proportion of the population that is black (Blalock 1956, 1957, 1967; Galle, Fossett & Burr 1985; Offner and Saks 1971). The nonlinear hypothesis asserts that as the black proportion in an area increases, the absolute or relative status of blacks declines; but it does so at an ever decreasing rate. Some versions of the thesis posit that when the proportion of blacks passes some level, the effect reverses and blacks' *Revision of a paper presented at the 1986 annual meetings of the American Sociological Association. We thank Mark Fossett for comments on an earlier draft. Direct correspondence to the authors, School of Social Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75083-
A Review of “The Monarchy and the British Nation, 1780 to the Present”

In his famous work published in 1867, The English Constitution, Walter Bagehot explained how monarchy remained politically relevant in spite of the emergence of popular politics during the course o...
Aerosol Uptake Described by Numerical Solution of the Diffusion-Reaction Equations in the Particle

The reactive uptake of gases by a particle is explored by numerically solving the associated partial differential equations. These equations explicitly couple the diffusion and reaction of multiple species in the particle. This approach makes it possible to calculate the concentration of each reactant within the particle as a function of both time and position and to examine the impact of concentration gradients on the rate of uptake. The effect of liquid diffusion on the rate of uptake is explored for a reference reaction (O3 + oleic acid particles) as a function of the particle size and the liquid-state concentration of the species taken up from the gas phase. Diffusion within the particle is found to significantly limit uptake for large particles and the large gas-phase concentrations often used in laboratory experiments, although it is typically less important under atmospheric conditions. This numerical approach to solving the diffusion−reaction equations is also used to modify the common electric ci...