cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Derivation of a Performance Checklist for Ultrasound-Guided Arthrocentesis Using the Modified Delphi Method.

Objectives Arthrocentesis is an important skill for physicians in multiple specialties. Recent studies indicate a superior safety and performance profile for this procedure using ultrasound guidance for needle placement, and improving quality of care requires a valid measurement of competency using this modality. Methods We endeavored to create a validated tool to assess the performance of this procedure using the modified Delphi technique and experts in multiple disciplines across the United States. Results We derived a 22-item checklist designed to assess competency for the completion of ultrasound-guided arthrocentesis, which demonstrated a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89, indicating an excellent degree of internal consistency. Conclusions Although we were able to demonstrate content validity for this tool, further validity evidence should be acquired after the tool is used and studied in clinical and simulated contexts.
Fault Protection in Medium Voltage DC microgrids

We define an approach Local Information Based Fault Protection (LIFP) for robust protection against short-circuit faults that does not rely on microgrid-wide communications. Using a monopolar bus as an example, we show how each entity connected to the dc bus, including current-limiting power converters and non-load-breaking disconnect switches, can autonomously detect, identify, and appropriately react to the presence of a short-circuit arcing fault based only on its own local observations of voltage and current. The method for LIFP was previously reported for systems where the effective resistance of short-circuit faults was small compared to the resistance of the bus work or cabling [1][2]. But the effective resistance of an arc can sometimes be large compared to that of the bus cables, and the arc resistance can vary randomly in time with large bandwidth; these characteristics complicate implementation of the LIFP method. We describe the system design constraints, and then we report the effectiveness of applying the method for a reference system over a wide range of system operating conditions (e.g. system current), and fault conditions (arc location, arc length). Simulation results show that the LIFP method can successfully protect the system.
Evidence for Cognitive Science Principles that Impact Learning in Mathematics.

Abstract Numerous issues with mathematics education in the United States have led to repeated calls for instruction to align more fully with evidence-based practices. The field of cognitive science has identified and tested a number of principles for improving learning, but many of these principles have not yet been used to their fullest to improve mathematics learning in US classrooms. In this chapter, we describe eight principles that may have particular promise for mathematics education: abstract and concrete representations, analogical comparison, feedback, error reflection, scaffolding, distributed practice, interleaved practice, and worked examples. For each principle, we review laboratory and classroom evidence related to benefits for mathematics learning and identify priorities for future research.
America’s Prescient Dissenters: Senator J. William Fulbright and Dr. Andrew J. Bacevich’s Principled Dissent of US Policy in Vietnam and Iraq and their Enduring Perspectives

During the Cold War, the spread and fear of communism furnished the overarching ideological rationale for American foreign policy and for the deployment of United States military forces and resourc...
PCAD: Cloud Performance Anomaly Detection with Data Packet Counts

Cloud applications run on numerous servers and network elements. Complexity and heterogeneity of these elements make evaluation of application performance very challenging without invasive application-specific probe. We propose an anomaly detection system for Cloud application servers. Our system only collects ingress and egress data packet counts. We observe that when an application server is operating normally, the egress data packet count is highly correlated to the ingress data packet count. When the server is in an abnormal state, the correlation between ingress and egress packet counts decreases, regardless of the cause of the anomaly. This observation is the basis of our system. We validate our observation and the proposed system using heterogonous benchmarks with heavy tail service distribution and ten different anomaly types in the Cloud. We demonstrate that our system can accurately detect all injected anomalies with 1.6% false positives and 0.23% CPU overhead.
Internalizing Economic Externalities on the Macroeconomic Stage. Exploring and Expanding Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability for Globalized Solutions

The problem of finding the method and means of internalizing the costs of externalities has stumped economists since Arthur Pigou first presented this issue in 1920. Since Pigou, several mainstream economists and alternative economists have attempted to further his ideas because of the promise of curbing consumer behaviors and thereby reducing detrimental activities such as the production of greenhouse gases. The current call for a carbon tax to stem the causes of Global Climate Change is just one example of a present day method of internalizing externalities. Of all of the modern day proponents for a carbon tax and other forms of “green fees”, however, Paul Hawken is arguably the most ardent supporter, believing this to be the most effective method of stemming many of humankind’s pollution activities. His best selling book The Ecology of Commerce, A Declaration of Sustainability is examined here further, in order to explore Hawken’s arguments for these kinds of microeconomic solutions and to expand on these ideas to include macroeconomic solutions as well. As Hawken and others have noted, global climate change presents a size issue that must be countered using global forces in addition to microeconomic solutions such as with green fees. This paper explores how global problems such as global climate change can be countered with the aid of international organizations for the benefit of global citizens.
Tainted food—Do managers really go to jail?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that, in the United States, “each year 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die”. I...
Substring selection for biomedical document classification

Attribute selection is a critical step in development of document classification systems. As a standard practice, words are stemmed and the most informative ones are used as attributes in classification. Due to high complexity of biomedical terminology, general-purpose stemming algorithms are often conservative and could also remove informative stems. This can lead to accuracy reduction, especially when the number of labeled documents is small. To address this issue, we proposed [1] an algorithm that omits stemming and, instead, uses the most discriminative substrings as attributes. The approach was tested on five annotated sets of abstracts from iProLINK that report on the experimental evidence about five types of protein post-translational modifications. The experiments showed that Naive Bayes and Support Vector Machine classifiers perform consistently better (with Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) accuracy in range 0.92-0.97) when using the proposed attribute selection than when using attributes obtained by the Porter stemmer algorithm (AUC in 0.86-0.93 range). The proposed approach is particularly useful when labeled datasets are small.
The electrical resistivity of rough thin films: A model based on electron reflection at discrete step edges

The effect of the surface roughness on the electrical resistivity of metallic thin films is described by electron reflection at discrete step edges. A Landauer formalism for incoherent scattering leads to a parameter-free expression for the resistivity contribution from surface mound-valley undulations that is additive to the resistivity associated with bulk and surface scattering. In the classical limit where the electron reflection probability matches the ratio of the step height h divided by the film thickness d, the additional resistivity Δρ = 3/2/(g0d) × ω/ξ, where g0 is the specific ballistic conductance and ω/ξ is the ratio of the root-mean-square surface roughness divided by the lateral correlation length of the surface morphology. First-principles non-equilibrium Green's function density functional theory transport simulations on 1-nm-thick Cu(001) layers validate the model, confirming that the electron reflection probability is equal to h/d and that the incoherent formalism matches the coherent...
Experimental Study of Metal Roof Decking Systems Subject to Tornado-Borne Debris Impact

AbstractWind-borne debris is a major threat to the integrity of building envelope during hurricanes, tornadoes, and other high-wind events. This paper details the process and outcomes of a series o...
Talking back: Development of the olivocochlear efferent system

Developing sensory systems must coordinate the growth of neural circuitry spanning from receptors in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to multilayered networks within the central nervous system (CNS). This breadth presents particular challenges, as nascent processes must navigate across the CNS-PNS boundary and coalesce into a tightly intermingled wiring pattern, thereby enabling reliable integration from the PNS to the CNS and back. In the auditory system, feedforward spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) from the periphery collect sound information via tonotopically organized connections in the cochlea and transmit this information to the brainstem for processing via the VIII cranial nerve. In turn, feedback olivocochlear neurons (OCNs) housed in the auditory brainstem send projections into the periphery, also through the VIII nerve. OCNs are motor neuron-like efferent cells that influence auditory processing within the cochlea and protect against noise damage in adult animals. These aligned feedforward and feedback systems develop in parallel, with SGN central axons reaching the developing auditory brainstem around the same time that the OCN axons extend out toward the developing inner ear. Recent findings have begun to unravel the genetic and molecular mechanisms that guide OCN development, from their origins in a generic pool of motor neuron precursors to their specialized roles as modulators of cochlear activity. One recurrent theme is the importance of efferent-afferent interactions, as afferent SGNs guide OCNs to their final locations within the sensory epithelium, and efferent OCNs shape the activity of the developing auditory system. This article is categorized under: Nervous System Development > Vertebrates: Regional Development.
Gerald Bard Tjoflat: A Profile

A profile of the life, career, and notable cases of 11th Circuit Court Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat.It is humbling to be asked to write a profile of Judge Tjoflat, particularly when one follows in the footsteps of Supreme Court justices in doing so. It is also difficult to capture in a few pages the essence of such a “man in full,” to borrow Tom Wolfe’s phraseology. Judge Becker faced the same challenge in writing his tribute of Judge Tjoflat: “does Roget have enough terms to describe this man? The ones that come most readily to my mind are overpowering (both intellectually and physically), brilliant, energetic, dynamic, direct, forthright, courageous, larger than life, and take charge.”
Risk vs. Restriction: The Tension between Providing a Sense of Normalcy and Keeping Foster Teens Safe Online

Foster youth are particularly vulnerable to offline risks; yet, little is known about their online risk experiences or how foster parents mediate technology use in the home. We conducted 29 interviews with foster parents of 42 teens (ages 13-17) who were part of the child welfare system. Foster parents faced significant challenges relating to technology mediation in the home. Based on parental accounts, over half of the foster teens encountered high-risk situations that involved interacting with unsafe people online, resulting in rape, sex trafficking, and/or psychological harm. Overall, foster parents were at a loss for how to balance online safety with technology access in a way that engendered positive relationships with their foster teens. Instead, parents often resorted to outright restriction. Our research highlights the importance of considering the unique needs of foster families and designing technologies to address the challenges faced by this vulnerable population of teens and parents.
Teaching computer scientists to play well with others: panel discussion

Most undergraduate computer science programs include classes that require team work. This helps our students work well with each other, but does not address the problem of working well with people from other disciplines. Computer scientists have preconceived notions of people in other professions and people in other professions have preconceived notions of computer scientists. These preconceptions can interfere with good working relationships. Computer scientists tend to work on projects of use in an application field that may be unknown to them and, thus, must work with people in that application field.
What the European and American health care systems can learn from China COVID-19 epidemic;action planning using purpose designed medical telecommunication, courier services, home-based quarantine, and COVID-19 walk-in centers

After weeks of speculation, WHO finally announced a "pandemic level" for COVID-19 distribution We agree with Watkins, that "catch and isolate" policy is of outmost importance in the current stage but suggest focusing more seriously on preparation and "plan for the worst" part of his suggestions
Launching an EdD in Community College Leadership Program with Activism in Mind

The purpose of this article is to share an example of how an activism framework was used to design and launch a new EdD in Community College Leadership. Capper, Theoharis, and Sebastian’s (2006) framework for preparing leaders for social justice along with the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate’s (CPED) guiding principles and the American Association of Community College’s ([AACC], 2018) competencies for community college leaders guided program design and implementation. Marketing and recruiting efforts aimed at identifying a talented, diverse cohort and on-boarding strategies focused on creating a safe learning environment and a sense of urgency related to social justice and equity are shared. Examples of how activism is being emphasized through coursework and plans to nurture activism through experiential learning and the dissertation are also discussed. Doctoral programs seeking to promote activism will discover an effective framework and practical examples for this work.
Single-Element Diffraction-Limited Fisheye Metalens

Wide field-of-view (FOV) optical functionality is crucial for implementation of advanced imaging and image projection devices. Conventionally, wide FOV operation is attained with complicated assembly of multiple optical elements known as "fisheye lenses". Here we present a novel metalens design capable of performing diffraction-limited focusing and imaging over an unprecedented near 180° angular FOV. The lens is monolithically integrated on a one-piece flat substrate and involves only a single layer of metasurface that corrects third-order Seidel aberrations including coma, astigmatism, and field curvature. The metalens further features a planar focal surface, which enables considerably simplified system architectures for applications in imaging and projection. We fabricated the metalens using Huygens meta-atoms operating at 5.2 μm wavelength and experimentally demonstrated aberration-free focusing and imaging over the entire FOV. The design concept is generic and can be readily adapted to different meta-atom geometries and wavelength ranges to meet diverse application demands.
Spatio-Temporal Filtering: Precise Beam Control Using Fast Beam Switching

This paper presents a spatio-temporal filtering approach for beamforming with phased arrays. The approach takes advantage of fast beam switching in modern Si-integrated phased arrays enabled by integrated digital circuits. The key technique involves fast switching among spatial beams created using the phased array. The resulting time-averaged beam represents a new spatial filter that might not have been feasible using the phase and gain control resolution available in the phased array. We present the underlying theory, and perform extensive system measurements on a software defined phased array radio based on state-of-the-art 28GHz phased array ICs. We demonstrate three use cases of spatio-temporal beam control in measurement: a) side lobe reduction, b) multi-armed beam formation and c) null pointing. We demonstrate how this approach can enable high precision beam control even in systems with limited phase shifter resolution and/or systems without any gain control per antenna element.
Food on display: design techniques of the food exhibits of the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40

This article examines how displays in the Food Zone of the New York World’s Fair (1939–40) represented the future of food production, preparation, and consumption through the spectacular frameworks...
Insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), predation on western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), on Transvaal daisy, Gerbera jamesonii, cut flowers and chrysanthemum, Tanacetum × grandiflorum, plants under laboratory and greenhouse conditions

Abstract The insidious flower bug, Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), is a generalist predator that feeds on western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), larvae and adults. Our study involved a series of experiments conducted under laboratory and greenhouse conditions from 2017 to 2020 to: 1) determine the number of insidious flower bug adults that should be released to manage western flower thrips populations below damaging levels, 2) assess if integrating the insidious flower bug with the insecticide spinosad (Conserve®) is a viable alternative plant protection strategy, and 3) determine if short ( 12 h) day lengths/photoperiods affect insidious flower bug predation on western flower thrips under greenhouse conditions. We found that releasing three or four insidious flower bug adults was most effective in managing western flower thrips populations on chrysanthemum, Tanacetum × grandiflorum, plants with the mean number of western flower thrips adults and larvae per chrysanthemum plant
Biochar alleviates metal toxicity and improves microbial community functions in a soil co-contaminated with cadmium and lead

Soil amendment with biochar alleviates the toxic effects of heavy metals on microbial functions in single-metal contaminated soils. Yet, it is unclear how biochar application would improve microbial activity and enzymatic activity in soils co-polluted with toxic metals. The present research aimed at determining the response of microbial and biochemical attributes to addition of sugarcane bagasse biochar (SCB) in cadmium (Cd)-lead (Pb) co-contaminated soils. SCBs (400 and 600 °C) decreased the available concentrations of Cd and Pb, increased organic carbon (OC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contents in soil. The decrease of metal availability was greater with 600 °C SCB than with 400 °C SCB, and metal immobilization was greater for Cd (16%) than for Pb (12%) in co-spiked soils amended with low-temperature SCB. Biochar application improved microbial activity and biomass, and enzymatic activity in the soils co-spiked with metals, but these positive impacts of SCB were less pronounced in the co-spiked soils than in the single-spiked soils. SCB decreased the adverse impacts of heavy metals on soil properties largely through the enhanced labile C for microbial assimilation and partly through the immobilization of metals. Redundancy analysis further confirmed that soil OC was overwhelmingly the dominant driver of changes in the properties and quality of contaminated soils amended with SCB. The promotion of soil microbial quality by the low-temperature SCB was greater than by high-temperature SCB, due to its higher labile C fraction. Our findings showed that SCB at lower temperatures could be applied to metal co-polluted soils to mitigate the combined effects of metal stresses on microbial and biochemical functions.
Unsupervised learning in images and audio to produce neural receptive fields: a primer and accessible notebook

Sensory processing relies on efficient computation driven by a combination of low-level unsupervised, statistical structural learning, and high-level task-dependent learning. In the earliest stages of sensory processing, sparse and independent coding strategies are capable of modeling neural processing using the same coding strategy with only a change in the input (e.g., grayscale images, color images, and audio). We present a consolidated review of Independent Component Analysis (ICA) as an efficient neural coding scheme with the ability to model early visual and auditory neural processing. We created a self-contained, accessible Jupyter notebook using Python to demonstrate the efficient coding principle for different modalities following a consistent five-step strategy. For each modality, derived receptive field models from natural and non-natural inputs are contrasted, demonstrating how neural codes are not produced when the inputs sufficiently deviate from those animals were evolved to process. Additionally, the demonstration shows that ICA produces more neurally-appropriate receptive field models than those based on common compression strategies, such as Principal Component Analysis. The five-step strategy not only produces neural-like models but also promotes reuse of code to emphasize the input-agnostic nature where each modality can be modeled with only a change in inputs. This notebook can be used to readily observe the links between unsupervised machine learning strategies and early sensory neuroscience, improving our understanding of flexible data-driven neural development in nature and future applications.
Lessons from the Memphis 13: What 13 First-Graders Have to Teach About Law, Life, and the Legacy of Brown

Fifty years after desegregating schools in Memphis as first graders, the pioneering students shared their stories for the first time. The resulting film, The Memphis 13 (2011), brought a largely overlooked episode in the civil rights movement into the broader movement narrative. In this essay, the film’s director – who also happens to be a law professor – combines a first-person account of the intellectual journey involved in meeting the pioneering students and their families with a scholarly analysis of the implications of the students’ stories. Specifically, the essay describes the intense isolation the students experienced both during their experience desegregating schools and in the decades that followed and questions the responsibility that lawyers and movement leaders have to foot soldiers who are participating in a social movement through no choice of their own. Looking back, the students took widely divergent lessons from their experience, demonstrating the complexity of crafting a meaningful remedy even for individuals in the post-Brown era. The essay thus utilizes these personal narratives to critique the choices made during the desegregation effort. This real world testimony provides a fresh perspective on longstanding debates that too often discount the experiences of those most directly affected.
Glucuronidation of 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine catalyzed by human liver UDP-glucuronosyltransferase. Significance of nucleoside hydrophobicity and inhibition by xenobiotics.

Abstract The enzymatic glucuronidation of 3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine (AZT) catalyzed by human liver microsomal UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.17, UDPGT) was inhibited by a number of nucleoside analogs. The inhibitory potency of these nucleoside analogs correlated with their hydrophobicity ( r 2 = 0.90, N = 13). Since similar results were obtained with solubilized UDPGT ( r 2 = 0.87, N = 7), the affinity of the nucleosides for UDPGT was probably being assessed rather than the ability of the compounds to access the membrane-bound enzyme. Three homologous inhibitors, 3′-azido-2′,3′-dideoxyuridine (AzddU), 5-ethyl-AzddU, and 5-propyl-AzddU, were also studied as substrates of UDPGT. The substrate efficiency ( V max / K m ) of these three compounds and AZT also correlated with their hydrophobicity ( r 2 = 0.94). Sixteen drugs that are structurally unrelated to nucleosides also inhibited the glucuronidation of AZT. The mechanism of inhibition was competitive for seven compounds tested. K i , values were estimated from Dixon plots for nine other less soluble inhibitors; their mechanism of inhibition was assumed to be competitive. Since the peak physiological drug concentrations of the tested inhibitors are considerably less than their K i values, none of these compounds are expected to strongly inhibit AZT glucuronidation in humans. However, the rank order of these drugs with respect to their inhibitory potential is probenecid > chrloramphenicol > naproxen > phenylbutazone > other drugs tested.
Molecular Dynamics and Picosecond Vibrational Spectra.

The accessible time range for picosecond experimental measurements is now short enough, and that for molecular dynamics theoretical computation is now long enough, to significantly overlap. This overlap of theory and experiment can, at least in principle, be exploited to discover the trajectories of atoms during chemical processes in solution, for example rotational and vibrational relaxation [1], rotational and vibrational dephasing [2], and chemical reactions. This is significant in that our understanding of the microscopic basis of processes in liquids has fallen far behind our understanding of the gas phase. In fact, the atomic motions which form the microscopic mechanisms for solution processes are hardly understood at all, even though most processes of interest to most chemists occur in solution.
Achieving Economic Development in the Era of Globalization

1. Introduction 2. Promoting Development: What Works? 3. 'Institutions Matter': Good Governance and Economic Development 4. Agricultural Development for Inclusive Growth 5. The Doha Development Agenda: Realizing the Promise of Global Trade 6. The Truth about Foreign Aid 7. Debt Relief and Growth 8. Conclusion
Latitude, tree species diversity and the metabolic theory of ecology

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) has been known for over a century, but its origin remains poorly understood. Because both latitude and species richness are broadly related to temperature, environmental temperature has been proposed as a driver of the LDG. Recently, Wang et al. (2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 106,13388–13392) used datasets compiled from tree distributions in eastern Asia and North America to compare the species richness−temperature relationship between the two regions at several spatial scales and framed their analyses in the context of the metabolic theory of ecology. Here, we show that their datasets lack comparability between eastern Asia and North America and that some aspects of their analyses probably biased their results, casting doubt on some of their conclusions.
Neural mechanisms underlying the exploration of small city maps using magnetoencephalography

The neural mechanisms underlying spatial cognition in the context of exploring realistic city maps are unknown. We conducted a novel brain imaging study to address the question of whether and how features of special importance for map exploration are encoded in the brain to make a spatial decision. Subjects explored by eyes small city maps exemplifying five different street network types in order to locate a hypothetical City Hall, while neural activity was recorded continuously by 248 magnetoencephalography (MEG) sensors at high temporal resolution. Monitoring subjects’ eye positions, we locally characterized the maps by computing three spatial parameters of the areas that were explored. We computed the number of street intersections, the total street length, and the regularity index in the circular areas of 6 degrees of visual angle radius centered on instantaneous eye positions. We tested the hypothesis that neural activity during exploration is associated with the spatial parameters and modulated by street network type. All time series were rendered stationary and nonautocorrelated by applying an autoregressive integrated moving average model and taking the residuals. We then assessed the associations between the prewhitened time-varying MEG time series from 248 sensors and the prewhitened spatial parameters time series, for each street network type, using multiple linear regression analyses. In accord with our hypothesis, ongoing neural activity was strongly associated with the spatial parameters through localized and distributed networks, and neural processing of these parameters depended on the type of street network. Overall, processing of the spatial parameters seems to predominantly involve right frontal and prefrontal areas, but not for all street network layouts. These results are in line with findings from a series of previous studies showing that frontal and prefrontal areas are involved in the processing of spatial information and decision making. Modulation of neural processing of the spatial parameters by street network type suggests that some street network layouts may contain other types of spatial information that subjects use to explore maps and make spatial decisions.
Data-driven feedforward design for electroporation mediated gene delivery

This paper proposes a novel data-driven feedforward control mechanisms to regulate micro/nanoscale systems subject to insufficient measurements. The theoretical framework integrates data-driven planning and formulates a feedforward controller, which is successfully applied to an electroporation mediated gene delivery problem in gene therapy. Nonlinear dynamics modeling and analysis of the biological cell electroporation process, especially hysteresis and nonlinear jump phenomena, are discussed. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control outperforms existing methods in the open literature.
Transforming growth factor β enhances the expression of CD154 (CD40L) and production of tumor necrosis factor α by human T lymphocytes

Abstract Activation of lymphocytes in the presence of transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) can impair or enhance their functional activity. We have found that TGFβ is important in the generation of lymphocytes, which are capable of suppressing antibody production. To better understand how this cytokine affects lymphocyte activity, we looked at the expression of early activation events of T cells stimulated in the presence or absence of TGFβ. The results show that TGFβ enhances the expression of CD154 (CD40L), TNFR2 and the production of TNFα. These findings clarify the co-stimulatory effects of TGFβ that enhance T lymphocyte activation.
FATIGUE CRACK CLOSURE AND DELAY EFFECTS UNDER MODE I SPECTRUM LOADING: AN EFFICIENT ELASTIC–PLASTIC ANALYSIS PROCEDURE

Abstract Results of an elastic–plastic finite element analysis of crack closure effects under mode I Spectrum loading are presented. Various factors that cause crack growth acceleration or retardation under low-to-high, high-to-low, and single overload cyclic loadings are discussed.
Crashworthiness Performance of Mass-Efficient Extruded Structures

Theoretical, numerical and experimental studies were conducted on the axial crushing behavior of traditional single-cell and innovative four-cell extrusions. Two commercial aluminum alloys, 6061 and 6063, both with two tempers (T4 and T6), were considered in the study. Testing coupons taken from the extrusions assessed the nonlinear material properties. A theoretical solution was available for the one-cell design, and was developed for the mean crushing force of the four-cell section. Numerical simulations were carried out using the explicit finite element code LS-DYNA. The aluminum alloy 6063T4 was found to absorb less energy than 6061T4, for both the one-cell and four-cell configurations. Both 6061 and 6063 in the T6 temper were found to have significant fracture in the experimental testing. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations predicted a greater number of folds for the four-cell design, as compared to the one-cell design, and this was confirmed in the experiments. The theoretical improvement in energy absorption of 57% for the four-cell in comparison with the one-cell design was confirmed by experiment. The good agreement between the theoretical, numerical and experimental results allows confidence in the application of the theoretical and numerical tools for both single-cell and innovative four-cell extrusions. It was also demonstrated that these materials have very little dynamic strain rate effect.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Accurate diagnosis of personality disorders: Some critical factors

Issues pertaining to the accurate diagnosis of personality disorders are discussed from a scientist-practitioner perspective. An attempt is made to distinguish state (Axis I) from trait (Axis II) disorders, and personality (“normal”) from personality disorders (“abnormal”). The reliability and validity of personality disorder diagnoses are explored, and the four criteria for all personality disorder diagnoses are clarified: These criteria are: 1) presence of psychological symptomology, 2) stability over time, 3) consistency across situations, and 4) under-responsiveness to currently available treatments. Also, a distinction is made between categorical and dimensional diagnostic criteria, similar to the distinction between personality type and trait approaches. Recommendations are provided for improving the clinical and empirical work in this area, and implications for treatment are discussed.
Complexity measures for random knots

Abstract In order to model volume exclusion effects, a linear macromolecule can be modeled as a self-avoiding walk (SAW) on 3, the simple cubic lattice in 3-space. A circular macromolecule can be modeled as a closed SAW, or a self-avoiding polygon (SAP) embedded in 3. We assume that all walks are rooted (they begin at the origin), and let n denote the number of edges (steps) in the walk. Almost all long random SAPs are knotted; it is known that if P (n) denotes the probability that a SAP of length n is knotted, then P (n) approaches one exponentially rapidly as n goes to infinity. This paper will discuss the problem of determining average properties of a long randomly chosen SAP. It will be argued that most measures of knot complexity (crossing number, span of various knot polynomials, unknotting number, genus etc.) go to infinity at least linearly with the length n of the SAP. Elsewhere it is shown that these results hold in general for any nonedge-separable graph which embeds in 3.
The geography of Philippine international labour migration fields

International labour migration has increased in scale and scope during the past three decades. Concomitant, a copious body of work has examined the causes and consequences of these migratory systems. Missing, however, have been empirically-grounded studies of migration fields, linking migrant origins within a sending country with destinations. In part, this lack of detailed studies results from the paucity of geographically-sensitive data. Using special tabulations provided for the lead author, this paper is able to overcome these difficulties. Specifically, in this paper we document and empirically analyse, by sex, the spatial and occupation patterns of Philippine international labour migration. Findings suggest that female migrant workers, regardless of regional origin within the Philippines, tend to be more spatially and occupationally channellised than their male counterparts. Moreover, more peripheral locations throughout the Philippines indicate more highly channellised flows, suggesting the importance of both recruitment-related networks as well as social networks among migrants and their families.
Genomics, heart failure and sudden cardiac death

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is among the most common causes of death in developed countries throughout the world. Despite decreased overall cardiac mortality, SCD rates appear to be increasing in concert with escalating global prevalence of coronary disease and heart failure, the two major conditions predisposing to SCD. This unfavorable trend is a consequence of our inability to identify those who will die suddenly from lethal ventricular arrhythmias and to develop effective therapies for all populations at risk. The known risk factors for SCD lack the predictive power needed to generate preventive strategies for the large number of fatal arrhythmic events that occur among lower-risk subsets of the population. Even among recognized high-risk subsets, prediction of SCD remains challenging. With the exception of the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) there are few effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of SCD. This article discusses the prospect of genomic science as an approach to the identification of patients at high-risk for SCD. While the final common pathway for SCD is malignant ventricular arrhythmias, there are many potential contributors, pathways, and mechanisms by which common genetic variants (polymorphisms) could affect initiation and propagation of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. Recent advances in genomic medicine now provide us with novel approaches to both identify candidate genes/pathways and relatively common polymorphisms which may predispose patients to increased risk for SCD. Improved understanding of the relationship between common polymorphisms and SCD will not only improve risk stratification such that ICDs can be targeted to those patients most likely to benefit from them but also provide new insight into the pathophysiology of SCD.
Opportunities as attributions: Categorizing strategic issues from an attributional perspective

This study explores the label ‘opportunity’ in the strategic issue literature as a point of departure for offering an attributional framework for categorizing opportunities entrepreneurs offer as they undertake efforts to start businesses. The strategic issue literature broadly labels opportunities as being positive and controllable and involving potential gain. We demonstrate that this is similar to an attribution theory approach. In preparing this article, the authors analyzed open-ended questions from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED). Entrepreneurs were more likely to offer attributions about their opportunities that can be categorized as dependent on their abilities (internal and stable attributions) and efforts (internal and variable attributions). Copyright © 2009 Strategic Management Society.
Isolation of UV-resistant revertants from a xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A cell line

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is an autosomal recessive disease. Cells cultured from XP patients are hypersensitive to the lethal effects of UV light1–6. Most XP cells are defective in an early stage in DNA repair of UV light-induced damage. The nature of the genetic defect of the XP syndrome has not been defined. To address this problem, we attempted to isolate UV-resistant cells from a cell line derived from an XP complementation group A (XPA) patient. By using a selection scheme capable of detecting one UV-resistant cell in a population of 108 cells, several UV-resistant clones were isolated at frequencies between 1 × 10−7 and 2 × 10−8. Here we describe the isolation and initial characterization of these phenotypic revertants.
Effects of posttreatment on single-strand breaks in DNA of Haemophilus influenzae exposed to nitrosoguanidine and methyl methanesulfonate

Abstract The effects of posttreatment incubation on single-strand breaks in the DNA of Haemophilus influenzae treated in vivo with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and N -methyl- N ′-nitro- N -nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) were studied. Immediately after treatment of the cells with MNNG, single-strand breaks could be detected by lysis of the bacteria followed by alkaline sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Incubation at 37° caused a breakdown of a considerable part of the DNA to acid-soluble material. However, a small fraction of the DNA increased its molecular weight by repair of breaks. Neither breakdown nor repair occurred at o°. Strain DB117, which is sensitive to killing by these alkylating agents as well as by UV and X-rays and is defective in recombination and in the ability to repair X-ray-induced single-strand breaks, is not detectably different from wild type either in its ability to repair the breaks produced by alkylating agents or in the breakdown of DNA to acid-soluble material.
The Capital Budget: History and Future Directions

While there is a substantial body of literature concerning capital programming and budgeting in the private sector, there is only a modest literature on this subject in the public sector. Government researchers and public administration scholars have, for about seventy-five years, recognized the value of budgeting for operating expenses and have tried to develop theoretical frameworks for the public budgeting process. However, very little of this attention has been devoted to capital budgeting. As Alan Steiss has stated,“ The theory of capital budgeting has not been set forth; rather the emphasis... has been on devising and improving the techniques of capital budgeting.” Michael White has called capital budgeting an “elusive subject” that “lacks clear definitions, organized traditions of inquiry, conceptual boundaries, standard questions, and reliable data sets.”
Root longevity and phenology differences between two co- occurring savanna bunchgrasses with different leaf habits

Summary 1. Aristida stricta and Schizachyrium scoparium are C 4 perennial bunchgrass species native to Pinus palustris savannas in the south-eastern USA. Species differences in growth rate, tissue nutrient content and distribution suggest that A. stricta is more stress-tolerant ( sensu Grime) than S. scoparium . In addition, A. stricta retains leaves all year, whereas S. scoparium is winter deciduous. Based on these observations, we wanted to determine (1) whether root longevity was higher for A. stricta as compared to S. scoparium ; and (2) whether the leaf habits of these species had consequences for seasonal patterns of root production and death. 2. Using in situ rhizotrons, we recorded root number and length of these species over the course of 2·5 years on flat, transparent 50 〈 50 cm windows. Kaplan‐Meier (productlimit) analysis was used to produce survival functions and to estimate median lifespans for the right-censored root longevity data. These survival functions were compared using log-rank χ 2 statistics, and a proportional hazards model was used to examine the effects of season and species on the survival of each cohort. Final demographic variables were analysed using anova . 3. The median lifespan of A. stricta was 777 days whereas that of S. scoparium was 374 days. This significant difference in median lifespan was consistent between species for all cohorts in both years. Also, coincident with winter leaf senescence, root production nearly stopped for S. scoparium whereas A. stricta produced roots all year. This is probably due to the winter photosynthetic capacity of A. stricta . Root death did not exhibit any seasonal pattern in either species. A pulse of roots produced in apparent response to the 2000 drought was evident for S. scoparium but not for A. stricta . This cohort, however, rapidly died during the dormant season, probably due to the lack of winter photosynthesis in that species. 4. Aristida stricta and S. scoparium exhibited root production, death and longevity patterns that were predicted on the basis of ecological and leaf habit differences between them. These findings suggest species-specific differences in performance and element cycling in these nutrient-poor soils.
Adenovirus E1A gene autorepression: revertants of an E1A promoter mutation encode altered E1A proteins.

Abstract Revertants have been isolated from Ad3hr15, a mutant of human adenovirus type 3 that carries a defective E1A promoter. Transcription of these revertant E1A genes is restored--from nil for Ad3hr15 mutant to levels exceeding that of the wild-type virus. The mutant Ad3hr15 virus and the revertants all have an aberrant E1A promoter that contains two short tandem duplications of viral DNA sequence. The E1A gene-coding region of the mutant is the same as that for wild-type adenovirus type 3, whereas the revertants are characterized by short in-frame deletions within the 5' exon region of their E1A genes. Location of these reverting, second-site deletions is discussed in relation to E1A gene autoregulation and the evolved diversity of E1A-related oncogenic potential among different human adenoviruses.
Epitaxial growth of KNbO3 and Fe-doped KNbO3 films via sol-gel processing

Transparent and uniform thin films of crystalline KNbO3 were synthesized on different substrates such as SrTiO3, ZrO2, MgO and Pt by the dip-coating method using a double alkoxides solution. Both KNbO3 and Fe-doped KNbO3 films were epitaxially crystallized at 750 degree(s)C for 3 hours in air on SrTiO3 single crystal substrates. Excess potassium in the sol-gel solution (K/Nb equals 1.1) was important to obtain single phase films. The structure of the films has been studied with x-ray and electron diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Different molar ratios of 2-ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA) to alkoxides were applied to control the hydrolysis rate of the sol-gel solution. Dense films were produced after using the modified alkoxides solution as stock solution.
Computerized Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Detector

The purpose of the experiment is to measure the oxygen and carbon dioxide content of the earth's atmosphere to determine if there is a decrease or increase with the passing of time (years). This newly developed data acquisition and manipulation system operates as follows: Measurement is accomplished by placing two samples of air in the path of an argon laser. The light particles emitted from the samples are transmitted to two photomultiplier tubes (PMTs A and B) through a set of mirrors and a focusing arrangement. There is a mechanical shutter-wheel placed in front of the PMTs to alternate the unknown and standard light particles proceeding to the PMTs. The outputs of the PMTs are shaped to a fast NIM standard signal and applied to a CAMAC 12 channel, 100 MHz scaler (A to channel 0, B to channel 1). An eight millisecond gate is used to enable the A and B detectors. The position of the shutter-wheel is determined by synrhronization pulses scribed on the wheel. The "1" sync pulse represents the unknown data while the "2" sync pulse is the standard data. The two Sync pulses are applied to a Quad Counting Register (channel 0). A Gate pulse is applied to channel 1 of the Quad Register to represent the number of actual A and B (unknown/standard) pairs of data presented to the Data Acquisition System. An Inhibit signal is used to sync the LSI-11/2 computer to obtain the Sync, A and B Data, and Gate signals.