cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measurement of the band offsets of SiO2 on clean n- and p-type GaN(0001)

The band alignment at the SiO2-GaN interface is important for passivation of high voltage devices and for gate insulator applications. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy have been used to observe the interface electronic states as SiO2 was deposited on clean GaN(0001) surfaces. The substrates, grown by metallorganic chemical vapor deposition, were n- (1×1017) and p-type (2×1018) GaN on 6H-SiC(0001) with an AlN(0001) buffer layer. The GaN surfaces were atomically cleaned via an 860 °C anneal in an NH3 atmosphere. For the clean surfaces, n-type GaN showed upward band bending of 0.3±0.1 eV, while p-type GaN showed downward band bending of 1.3±0.1 eV. The electron affinity for n- and p-type GaN was measured to be 2.9±0.1 and 3.2±0.1 eV, respectively. To avoid oxidizing the GaN, layers of Si were deposited on the clean GaN surface via ultrahigh vacuum e-beam deposition, and the Si was oxidized at 300 °C by a remote O2 plasma. The substrates were annealed at 650 °C for d...
Homing sweet homing: mobile introns in bacterial viruses

Several bacteriophage group I introns are self-splicing at the RNA level, while they behave as mobile genetic elements at the DNA level. Contained within the catalytic RNAs are open reading frames which encode endonucleases that initiate the intron mobility reaction. This process, called homing, is a gene conversion event whereby an intron transfers from an intron-plus allele to the cognate intron-minus allele. Such mobile introns are phylogenetically diverse, being found in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes. In this context, the accessibility of the phage systems and the unusual nature of the phage endonuclease:target site interactions make them a rewarding focus of study. We will discuss the mobility process and the hierarchy of relationships between the bacteriophage, its group I introns and the intron-encoded endonucleases.
Novel Analysis of Sleep Patterns in Rats Separates Periods of Vigilance Cycling from Long Duration Wake Events

Rats are polyphasic sleepers. However, a formal definition of when one sleep episode ends and another begins has not been put forth. In the present study we examine the distribution of wake episode durations and based on this distribution conclude there are multiple components of wake. If the wake episode exceeds 300 s the wake episode is assigned to long-duration wake (LDW), if the episode is less than 300 s it is assigned to brief wake (BW). Further support for this separation was found in close analysis of the EEG power spectrum in BW versus LDW. We then used LDW episodes to separate one sleep episode from another. We term the sleep episodes vigilance cycling (VC) because the rat is cycling between the vigilance states of BW, slow-wave sleep (SWS), and rapid-eye movement sleep (REMS). We find that the characteristics of VC are different in the light period versus the dark period. We further find that as VC episodes progress, SWS pressure lessens, but the amount of time spent in REMS increases. These findings suggest that VC episodes are regulated and meaningful to the sleep behavior of rats. The use of the concepts of LDW and VC provides additional insights into the description of sleep patterns in rats that may be important in the development of a complete description of sleep behavior in this animal.
The pathological globe: Clinical and imaging analysis

Categorizing globe lesions based on clinical presentation can suggest a short list of diagnostic possibilities. Imaging of the globe with ultrasound, CT and MRI is presented with a focus on key differential points. The radiologist can then efficiently tailor the examination in order to differentiate among the diagnostic possibilities.
A model of phytoplankton competition for limiting and nonlimiting nutrients: Implications for development of estuarine and nearshore management schemes

The global increase of noxious bloom occurrences has increased the need for phytoplankton management schemes. Such schemes require the ability to predict phytoplankton succession. Equilibrium Resource Competition theory, which is popular for predicting succession in lake systems, may not be useful in more dynamic environments, such as estuaries and coastal waters. We developed a mathematical model better suited to nonsteady state conditions. Our model incorporated luxury consumption of nonlimiting nutrients and cell starvation processes into a cell-quota-based nutrient-phytoplankton scheme. Nutrient pools described included nitrogen and phosphorus. Phytoplankton groups characterized in the model were a phosphorus-specialist, a nitrogen-specialist, and an intermediate group. We emphasized competition for nutrients under conditions of continuous and pulsing nutrient supply, as well as different nutrient loading ratios. Our results suggest that delivering nutrients in a pulsing fashion produces dramatic differences in phytoplankton community composition over a given period, that is, reduction of accumulated biomass of slower growing algae. Coastal managers may be able to inhibit initiation of slow-growing noxious blooms in estuaries and coastal waters by pulsing nutrients inputs from point sources, such as sewage treatment plants.
Desensitization of muscarinic M1 receptors of murine neuroblastoma cells (clone N1E-115) without receptor down-regulation and protein kinase C activity.

Abstract Acute desensitization of M 1 muscarinic receptor-mediated responses (cyclic GMP formation and inositol phosphate release) was studied in murine neuroblastoma cells (N1E-115 clone). After a 45-min incubation at 37° of N1E-115 cells either in monolayer or in suspension, with the muscarinic agonist carbachol (1 mM), the receptor-mediated cyclic GMP response to carbachol was nearly completely lost. This loss was associated with > 80% loss of carbachol-mediated inositol phosphate release. The protein kinase C activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) inhibited both responses with similar potencies. Carbachol or PMA reduced by 30–40% the number of muscarinic receptor sites for antagonist and agonist on intact cells (determined in binding assays using [ 3 H] N -methylscopolamine) only for cells in monolayer and not for those in suspension. PMA but not carbachol pretreatment of cells in monolayer or in suspension caused a translocation of [ 3 H]phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate binding and protein kinase C activity. In addition, desensitization to carbachol occurred in cells largely depleted of protein kinase C by chronic exposure to PMA. Thus, agonist-mediated down-regulation is not needed for muscarinic M 1 receptor desensitization, which may be a result of the activation of a receptor-activated kinase different from protein kinase C.
Paratracheal Abscess: An Unusual Complication of Transtracheal Aspiration

Two patients with paratracheal abscesses following transtracheal aspiration are described. This complication has been uncommonly reported in the literature. Catheter contamination of the puncture site with tracheobronchial flora or local de novo infection appear to be the pathogenic mechanisms.
The role of parental perspectives in the school adjustment of innercity black children

This study investigated the relative influence of parent attitudes and behaviors on the scholastic and social adjustment of 729 low-income, black sixth graders in the Longitudinal Study of Children at Risk. Data were collected from parent questionnaires on attitudes toward education, expectations for children's educational attainment, and several indicators of behaviors with or on behalf of their children. Results indicated that parents had generally positive attitudes toward their children's schooling, had high expectations for their educational attainment, and were moderately involved in their education at home and in school. Multiple regression analyses indicated that only parents' educational expectations and satisfaction with the quality of schooling were significantly associated with reading achievement, math achievement, and teacher ratings of competence and problem behaviors above and beyond family/child background factors (e.g., parent education and SES, family structure, employment status, sex). Attitudinal factors also contributed significant variance (2.4%–9.1%) to differences in cognitive and social adjustment outcomes and, to lesser degrees, changes in social adjustment from Grades 4–6 (2.2%–5.7%). Behavioral measures had negligible influences on school adjustment outcomes. Findings suggest that affective characteristics of parents deserve special attention in educational reform and intervention efforts.
“They got their program, and I got mine”: A cautionary tale concerning the ethical implications of using respondent-driven sampling to study injection drug users

Abstract Background This article examines the ethical implications of using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to conduct HIV behaviour surveillance among injection drug users (IDUs) in Chicago. Ethnographic inquiry illustrates how the design and implementation of RDS invites if not promotes manifold violations of federal guidelines governing human research subject protections. Methods Post hoc structured interviews with approximately 13% ( n =70) of the behaviour surveillance sample ( N =529) focused on how RDS's "dual incentive" structure affected participants' social, economic, and cultural milieu. Triangulated methods include interviews with owners of 20 "shooting galleries", unofficial and illegal locales where IDUs congregate and 400h of traditional ethnographic observation of individual IDUs and IDU networks. "Consensus analysis" allows identification of key cultural domains that define the RDS coupon market. Results The study reveals the power of RDS to foment a stratified market of research participation that reinforces pre-existing economic and social inequalities among IDUs. Participants co-opted RDS to develop various "underground" revenue-generating modalities that produced differential risks and benefits among participants. Deleterious outcomes include false advertising regarding the study's risks and benefits, exploitation of relative economic deprivation, generation of sero-discordant social networks, and interpersonal and organised conflict, coercion, and violence. Conclusion Although RDS may involve serious ethical violations it remains the best available means for accruing a representative sample of hidden populations. It is critical, however, to supplement RDS with research into (1) the subjects' cultural, social, economic, and political contexts, (2) the potential human subjects violations that participants experience, and (3) how these two issues might affect data integrity and interpretation.
Solving the membrane protein folding problem

One of the great challenges for molecular biologists is to learn how a protein sequence defines its three-dimensional structure. For many years, the problem was even more difficult for membrane proteins because so little was known about what they looked like. The situation has improved markedly in recent years, and we now know over 90 unique structures. Our enhanced view of the structure universe, combined with an increasingly quantitative understanding of fold determination, engenders optimism that a solution to the folding problem for membrane proteins can be achieved.
Do Hazard Mitigation and Preparedness Reduce Physical Damage to Businesses in Disasters? Critical Role of Business Disaster Planning

AbstractThis paper provides fresh evidence on the status of business disaster planning, mitigation, and preparedness, and the effectiveness of these activities on loss reduction. Data from a survey of businesses in Galveston County, Texas conducted 7 month after Hurricane Ike struck the area in September 2008 were analyzed. Different from previous studies, the study results showed that disaster planning by businesses significantly promoted the adoption and implementation of hazard mitigation and preparedness actions, and most importantly, disaster planning and the adoption of mitigation and preparedness measures significantly reduced physical damage to businesses.
Thin-film gage markers for laser-based strain measurement on mems materials

Gold lines can be deposited on metal specimens for use as reflective strain markers on microspecimens. This is a more time-consuming process than using Vickers indentations, but it removes any concern about the effect of the indentations on the specimen behavior. Indentations are not suitable for brittle materials, so the gold lines would be especially attractive for testing those materials.
The generation of sound by turbulent and separated flows

Abstract An overview is given of the mechanisms of sound generation by free field turbulence and by vorticity interacting with a body, with particular reference to flows at low Mach number. The theory is illustrated by discussions of the periodic sound produced by a cylinder in a uniform stream (AEolian tones) and of the noise generated by turbulence flowing over the trailing edge of an airfoil. In the latter case consideration is also given to the influence of surface compliance: structural modes of vibration are excited by the edge-flow; in conditions of heavy fluid loading, which typically occur in underwater applications, the energy imparted to the structure leads to the generation of substantial levels of additional sound when “surface waves” are scattered at mechanical discontinuities.
Structure of the Moon

Seismic data fron the four stations of the Apollo passive seismic network have been analyzed to obtain the velocity structure of the moon. Analysis of body wave phases from artificial impacts of known impact time and position yields a crustal section. In the Mare Cognitum region the crust is about 60 km thick and is layered. In the 20-km-thick upper layer, velocity gradients are high and microcracks may play an important role. The 40-km-thick lower layer has a nearly constant 6.8-km/sec velocity. There may be a thin high-velocity layer present beneath the crust. The determination of seismic velocities in the lunar mantle is attempted by using natural impacts and deep moonquakes. The simplest model that can be proposed for the mantle consists of a 'lithosphere' overlying an 'asthenosphere'.
General purpose simulation tool for analyzing switching systems

Modern high speed communication networks use highly parallel switching systems to achieve high throughput. Various switching systems have been proposed for this purpose. To make evaluation and design of such systems easier and to gain a better understanding the authors have designed and implemented a general purpose tool for evaluating switching systems. The goal of the design is to create an efficient tool which is general enough to allow performance evaluation of a variety of different switching architectures. The novel aspects of the tool presented include easy network construction and interaction, visualization and animation of network state and statistics, and fast simulation without compilation. >
Academic Self‐Image as a Strong Determinant of College Entrance and Adult Prospects:

The Theory of Relative Deprivation SHORTLY AFTER THE END of World War II the sociologist, Samuel A. Stouffer, and a number of his colleagues published their massive study, The American Soldier." One of the concepts developed by the authors, at the time a rather novel one, was the basis of the theory of relative deprivation. As applied to the Army the argument went somewhat as follows: Soldiers appear to measure their personal success by standards based on experience in the particular units in which they serve, rather than by standards prevailing in the armed forces in general. In units where promotion is infrequent, failure to achieve it involves little or no loss of selfesteem. Where promotion is frequent, failure to achieve it represents failure. Unfamiliarity with standards in other units is sufficiently great so as to exclude them from measures of personal progress. Various attempts have been made to apply this concept of relative deprivation to areas of life other than the military. One of the more recent is that of James Davis, who presented survey evidence that college students base their career choices more upon academic performance relative to their classmates than upon objective measures of their own knowledge and ability. Students with better grades who are attending academically unselective colleges appear more likely to formulate ambitious career plans than students with poorer grades at highly selective colleges-despite the fact that the latter students are at least as able as the former ones.2
Dose and Serum Concentration Relationships in Cimetidine-Associated Mental Confusion

A patient with severe liver disease and mildly obnormal but stable renal function was given cimetidine on two occasions for gastrointestinal hemorrhage. In each course, dosing was initiated at half the recommended dosage of 600 mg daily, and mental status deteriorated shortly after dosing began. A further dosage decrease to 300 mg daily allowed continuation of cimetidine therapy in absence of mental status alterations. In this patient, mental status changes occurred at lower serum concentrations than we have previously reported. This discrepancy was explained by analysis of cimetidine CSF concentrations, as this patient had abnormally high cimetidine blood to CSF permeability. Although the cause of increased CSF concentrations is unclear, cimetidine-associated mental confusion was dose related and completely reversible upon a decrease in dosage. Patients who develop cimetidine-associated mental status changes and who cannot have treatment stopped may be safely treated by individualizing the dosing rate.
Nanostructure and Composition of Tribo-Boundary Films Formed in Ionic Liquid Lubrication

Since the idea of using ionic liquids (ILs) as lubricants was raised in 2001, many studies have been conducted in this area and results have demonstrated superior lubricating performance for a variety of ILs. It is widely believed that a protective tribo-boundary film is formed on the contact area by tribochemical reactions between the metal surface and the IL during the wear process and, as a result, reduces friction and wear. However, the study of this critical boundary film in the literature has been limited to two-dimensional topography examination and chemical analysis from the top surface. This study demonstrates a multi-technique three-dimensional approach to characterize the boundary films on IL-lubricated metallic surfaces. The complementary characterizations at the top surface, cross-section, and different layers of the boundary film provide direct measurement of the film thickness, visualization of the nanostructure, and analysis of the composition change. The boundary films observed on different alloys are substantially distinct from both physical and chemical perspectives. The measured mean film thicknesses for cast iron, steel, and aluminum worn surfaces are 300, 60, and 200 nm, respectively. The boundary films on ferrous alloys are dominated by amorphous phase mixing with well-dispersed very fine (a few nm) nanocrystals, while the film on aluminum contains many larger size (tens of nm) metallic particles in a less organized manner.
A statistical approach for parallel optimization with application to VLSI placement

A massively parallel optimization approach based on simple neighborhood search techniques was developed and applied to the problem of VLSI cell placement. Statistical models are developed to analyze the performance of the approach in general, and to derive statistical bounds on the quality of obtainable results. The results of these analyses suggest a simple framework for approximate solution of difficult problems. The approach is inherently parallel, and it can be implemented on any type of parallel computer. It was implemented on a simulated hypercube MIMD machine using Cosmic C on a network of Sun workstations. The method is empirically verified. >
Effect of screen floors on populations of honey bees and parasitic mites (Varroa destructor)

SUMMARYThis study compared brood production, honey consumption (in winter only), population growth of honey bees (Apis mellifera), and population growth of parasitic mites (Varroa destructor) in hives with open screen or wood as floor material. Two experiments were conducted in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, one in winter (19 colonies) and one in summer (22 colonies). In both experiments, we established uniform colonies of honey bees by subdividing 30 kg of mite-infested bees. Each colony began with about 11 000 bees, no brood, and uniform populations of mites (127 and 480 mites per colony in winter and summer, respectively). The summer test included a third treatment (8 colonies) where a wooden tray (5 cm deep) closed the space beneath a screen floor. After the first 20 days of the experiments, when no adult bees or mites had yet been produced in any of the colonies, the treatments showed no differences in brood production, honey consumption, or survival of adult bees. At nine weeks, colonies with screen f...
Hazards Associated With Sitting and Carrying Devices for Children Two Years and Younger

Objective To analyze reported mechanisms of injury and characterize risk factors for infants and young children ≤2 years of age who died in sitting and carrying devices. Study design A retrospective review of deaths involving sitting and carrying devices (car seats, bouncers, swings, strollers, and slings) reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission between 2004 and 2008. Results Of the 47 deaths analyzed, 31 occurred in car seats, 5 in slings, 4 each in swings and bouncers, and 3 in strollers. The reported elapsed time between the last time a child was seen by a caregiver and found deceased varied greatly, with a mean of 26 minutes in slings; 32 minutes in strollers; 140 minutes in car seats; 150 minutes in bouncers; and 300 minutes in swings. The cause of death was asphyxiation in all cases except one. Fifty-two percent of deaths in car seats were attributed to strangulation from straps; the others were attributed to positional asphyxia. Conclusion Infants and children 2 years of age and younger should be properly restrained and not be left unsupervised in sitting and carrying devices. Car seats should not be used as sleeping areas outside of the vehicle, and children should never be in a car seat with unbuckled or partially buckled straps. Infants in slings should have their faces visible and above the edge of the sling, should not have their faces covered by fabric, and their chins should not be compressed into their chests.
TCP and UDP performance over a wireless LAN

We present a comprehensive set of measurements of a 2.4 GHz DSSS wireless LAN and analyze its behavior. We examine issues such as host and interface heterogeneity, bidirectional (TCP) traffic and error modeling, that have not been previously analyzed. We uncover multiple problems with TCP and UDP performance in this system. We investigate the causes of these problems (radio hardware, device drivers, network protocols) and discuss the effectiveness of proposed improvements.
Diffraction losses associated with tungsten lamps in in absolute radiometry.

The diffraction losses associated with absolute radiometers were calculated for the case where the source is a tungsten lamp used with a long wavelength suppressing filter. The calculations were done using Blevin’s treatment, which assumes a point source and a single diffracting aperture. We have shown that this treatment is sufficiently accurate for a typical absolute radiometer configuration. The calculations were done for color temperatures in the 1600–3200 K range for three typical glass filters.
Coprime factorization approach to robust stabilization of control structures interaction evolutionary model

Stabilization in the presence of uncertainties is a fundamental requirement in the design of feedback compensators for flexible structures. The search for the largest neighborhood around a given design plant for which a single feedback controller produces closed-loop stability can be formulated as an H^ control problem. It has been shown that the use of normalized coprime factor plant descriptions, where the plant perturbations are defined as additive modifications to the coprime factors, leads to a closed-form expression for the maximal-neighborhood boundary allowing optimal and suboptimal HOC compensators to be computed directly without the usual 7iteration. This paper describes an application of normalized coprime factor stabilization theory to the computation of robustly stable compensators for the NASA Control Structures Interaction Evolutionary Model. Results indicate that the suboptimal version of the theory has the potential of providing low authority compensators that are robustly stable for significant regions of variations in design model parameters and additive unmodeled dynamics.
Bridge stresses and design in IPM machines

This document describes the stresses in the bridges of three types of interior permanent magnet (IPM) machines. These are machines which had a V magnet slot, machines which have a straight slot, in machines which have a V configuration with a center post. Formulae for calculating the bridge stresses are included for the straight and V shaped slots. The formulae are determined from a mathematical model statistically based on finite element models.
BEAT: Bio-Environmental Android Tracking

We introduce BEAT (Bio-Environmental Android Tracking), which provides methods for collecting, processing, and archiving one's daily vital and spatiotemporal statistics using off-the-shelf wireless devices and biologic and environmental sensors. BEAT can operate in a self-contained manner on a mobile device and analyze vital information in real time. It uses statistics such as heartbeat variance and range thresholds to issue alerts. Alerts are propagated in a tiered fashion, so that the end user and his/her social contacts have a chance to detect false alerts before contacting medical professionals. BEAT is built on the open Android platform to support a diverse class of mobile devices. The framework can be extended to a full-fledged personal health monitoring system by incorporating additional biosensor data such as blood pressure, glucose, and weight.
Ethnic Norms and Interethnic Violence: Accounting for Mass Participation in the Rwandan Genocide

This article specifies a simple mechanism - a behavioral norm defined in ethnic terms - to understand the dynamics of mass participation by reluctant Hutu in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The mechanism, which has not been analyzed systematically in the scholarly literature, is specified using an agent-based model of within-group interaction that captures the role of intra-Hutu coercion in precipitating genocidal violence, yet is general enough to be applied to other group conflicts and contexts. The model highlights the role of individual heterogeneity, within-group punishment, behavioral adaptation, group networks, and ethnic entrepreneurs, and generates a set of results on norm formation and change, a number of which are not intuitive. These findings suggest that (1) norms are not equally likely to form in groups with similar aggregate preference; (2) a violence-promoting norm can emerge in a group dominated by moderates, and violence is not the inevitable outcome in a group dominated by extremists; (3) strong punishments are a prerequisite for the emergence of norms that promote interethnic violence or cooperation; (4) interaction patterns matter - for example, the segregation of an ethnic group clearly inhibits norm formation; and (5) an ethnic entrepreneur can effectively amplify norm formation within a group in the absence of strong punishment.
AN ASSAY METHOD FOR HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPIN

SINCE the discovery of chorionic gonadotropic substance, a great variety of units and assay methods have been used by different workers for quantitative deter minations. The existence of so many methods is evidence in itself that none has been particularly satisfactory. The present work, previously published in abstract (I), was undertaken with the aim of devising an assay method which would have quantitative accuracy based upon objective data, and yet would eliminate the need for microscopic sections, i.e., a method which would be accurate and rapidly carried out, and simple enough to be used freely without prohibitive numbers of animals and excessive technical work. The increase in uterine size and fluid content as a secondary effect in immature rats and mice treated with gonadotropic substance has been observed by many workers (2–13). Levin and Tyndale (14), have used the uterine weight response in the immature mouse as a satisfactory assay for the gonadotropic substance from castrate urine, and Heller.
Homogeneous hybrid systems and a converse Lyapunov theorem

In this paper we introduce homogeneity for hybrid systems (using generalized dilations) and provide basic implications of this property similar to that of continuous-time and discrete-time homogeneous systems. In our main result we state that stability of a hybrid system that is robust with respect to small perturbations implies the existence of a homogeneous Lyapunov function for the system. This converse Lyapunov theorem unifies the previous results.
Identification of Functional Domains in G Protein α Chains

In many signaling pathways, G proteins transduce extracellular signals (hormones or sensory stimuli), detected by receptors on the surface of cells, into regulation of effector proteins that control accumulation of intracellular second messengers (for recent reviews, see Stryer and Bourne, 1986; Gilman, 1987). The G proteins are a highly conserved family of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding proteins. The a subunit, the key component of the G proteins, binds and hydrolyzes guanine nucleotides and interacts with sγ subunits and specific sets of receptor and effector proteins. Signal transduction by the G proteins is driven by a cycle of GTP-dependent conformational changes in the a chain. This guanine nucleotide-dependent molecular machinery is conserved within and beyond the G protein family.
An Empirical Study of Securities Litigation after WorldCom

In this article I present the first empirical study analyzing whether and to what extent In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation impacted class action litigation brought under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, one of the securities laws' principal liability provisions. The study tests the hypothesis of an article I previously published in which I argued that WorldCom would encourage plaintiffs to increasingly utilize Section 11 as a means to obtain settlement awards in securities class action cases. WorldCom, I argued, made it virtually impossible for outside directors to successfully assert Section 11's "due diligence" defense - an affirmative defense for parties involved in securities offerings who have completed the requisite investigation of the information disseminated to investors in connection with public offerings of securities - even though historically outside directors were held to a low standard. At the same time, outside directors' liability under Rule 10b-5, the securities laws' most broadly sweeping liability provision, has historically been negligible. Therefore, I concluded that plaintiffs would likely assert more Section 11 class actions relative to Rule 10b-5 actions. I described why this result is sub-optimal and proposed an effective solution. In this article, I test that hypothesis by utilizing empirical methodology, and conclude that there has been a statistically significant rise in post-WorldCom Section 11 class action flings relative to Rule 10b-5 class action filings. This supports the conclusion that the SEC should reexamine the Section 11 standard for outside directors.
Multi-Attribute Decision Making in a Bidding Game with Imperfect Information and Uncertainty

Human preferences or attitudes towards risk should play a vital role in a decision making task with imperfect information and uncertain outcomes. We introduce a method to characterize human preferences and how they are integrated into the decision making process of a complex probability-based card bidding game. When assessing the preferences, a utility-to-preference (UP) function is devised for easier mapping between preferences and how much a player is willing to bid. Using the developed approach, we can better identify how different human preferences and their interaction affect the game outcomes. We focus on a highly addictive poker game that has become a multi-billion dollar internet business. The method was evaluated through data obtained from two decision makers (DMs) with different expertise. The integrated decision making process was designed and automated through Monte Carlo simulation. The results show that different preferences to the multi-attributes can lead to different profit outcomes. The results can further serve as a basis to identify vulnerable populations1 for the socio-technical online bidding game.
Novel intrathecal and subcutaneous catheter delivery systems in the mouse.

Background Catheter systems that permit targeted delivery of genes, molecules, ligands, and other agents represent an investigative tool critical to the development of clinically relevant animal models that facilitate the study of neurological health and disease. The development of new sustained catheter delivery systems to spinal and peripheral sites will reduce the need for repeated injections, while ensuring constant levels of drug in plasma and tissues.
Consumer Complaining Behavior: An Ethnic Triangulation Perspective

Considerable research has shown effective service failure recovery has been linked to customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth, commitment and intentions to return (Fang et al. 2012; Tax and Brown 1998). However, consumers may react differently to an unsatisfactory service experience. While some consumers engage in complaining behavior, others may simply spread negative word-of-mouth (without ever complaining to the service provider), while others may simply never return to the service provider. At the far extreme some consumers may even consider revenge. Zourrig et al. (2009), in a study of cross-cultural perspectives on consumer revenge behavior, found that differences in cultural values’ orientation influenced how harmed consumers responded to dissatisfaction. Thus, cultural factors are included in the current study as being contributing variables to the outcome of consumer dissatisfaction.
Modifying the immunogenicity of cell membrane antigens. Tumors and transplants.

The immunogenicity of an antigenic cell is a distinctly different property from its antigenic composition. Two clinical problems might well be beneficially affected by modifying the immunogenicity of cell membrane antigens: Can the immunogenicity of tumor-specific antigens on malignant cells be increased so that effective immunity to the tumor will lead to its destruction? Conversely, can the immunogenicity of histocompatibility antigens on grafted organs be minimized so that they will survive a foreign host? Evidence is accumulating to indicate that under certain conditions a tumor vaccine can be developed utilizing autochthonous tumor cells, removed from the host, chemically modified in vitro , and reinjected into the original host which will effectively augment specific immunologic defenses against residual tumor cells. Similarly, the moderately immunosuppressed host will tolerate grafts after suitable immunogenic modification in vitro . Both approaches may have ready clinical application, even before the mechanisms have been worked out.
Understanding Outcomes of Critically III Older Patients

As physicians in the 21st century, our approach to the care of intensive care unit (ICU) patients will be shaped dramatically by the most striking demographic population shift of modern time, termed the ‘geriatric demographic imperative’. Many intensivists are already familiar with the ‘graying of the ICU’, which results from the fact that adults over 85 years old are the most rapidly growing segment of our population (Fig. 1). While the ‘oldest old’ (>85 years) are currently estimated at 4 million, this number is expected to double in the U.S. by the year 2030 (accounting for more than one-fifth of the entire population) [1], and by the year 2050 there will be an estimated 15.3 miUion persons in this age group [2] More than half of all ICU days are incurred by those over 65 years old, and the number of days per year spent in the ICU (per 1000 person-years) is 7-fold higher above age 75 as compared to those less than 65 [3]. Among people older than 65, over 10% have chronic lung disease [4] and these people are at particularly high risk for experiencing serious health complications [5]. The rate of hospitalization for pneumonia in the subgroup of elderly who have chronic lung disease, for example, is 2 to 7 times higher than for their counterparts without coexistent pulmonary disease [6].
Accumulation of Inorganic Impurities on HZSM-5 Zeolites during Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis of Switchgrass

The fate of inorganic species present in switchgrass during fluidized bed catalytic pyrolysis over HZSM-5 catalysts was studied with emphasis on their accumulation on the catalyst. Five catalytic pyrolysis experiments were performed in two series, reusing the catalyst after each sample. Catalysts were regenerated from deactivation due to carbon deposits via their removal by combustion at regular intervals. The fates of seven inorganic elements were tracked: Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, and P. Potassium accumulated with the HZSM-5 catalyst the fastest while iron was the metal that accumulated most preferentially on the catalysts, with about 42% of the Fe content of the biomass remaining with the HZSM-5. The total amount of these seven elements accumulated on HZSM-5 in a linear fashion during continued use of the same catalyst sample. As the catalyst was exposed to more switchgrass and accumulated more inorganic containments, its effectiveness at deoxygenating the pyrolysis liquids decreased. Selectivity for arom...
Pulmonary infiltrates and eosinophilia revisited.

Diseases characterized by pulmonary infiltrates and peripheral eosinophilia have been grouped based on a common clinical presentation. Early classification schemes viewed these syndromes as a continuum with significant overlap between categories. Although understanding of certain of these syndromes has increased, this classification system remains a useful framework for identification and diagnosis. A t present, we cannot predict which patients with isolated lung involvement will progress to involvement of other organs. Early diagnosis and close follow-up are critical. Corticosteroids are the primary treatment in most of these diseases; cytotoxic agents also have a role. The role of the eosinophil in the disease process and the syndromes included in the differential diagnosis are reviewed. Loeffler’s syndrome, eosinophilic pneumonia, the hypereosinophilic syndrome, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, and tropical pulmonary eosinophilia are discussed in detail.
Status Quo of Human Resource in Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Objective To investigate the current situation of human resource in Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention(SCDC) and analyze the existing problems,thus to propose pertinent solutions for optimizing personnel allocation and improving management efficiency.Methods Personnel archives and relevant managerial with date up to the end of 2012 were collected and analyzed with descriptive methods.Results The total number of active staff was 686,and 533(77.70%) were professionals,among which 384 were medical professionals,accounting for 55.98%of the total staff.The compositions of the staff were as:females,370(54.94%);those aged 41-59,44.90%;those with bachelor degree,41.98%.The ratio of the job tides of senior;intermediate:primary was 3.45:2.97:3.58.National level experts and those with special government allowance was 12 person-times.Conclusion The professionals in SCDC is insufficient and characterized with lack of high level and inter-disciplinary talents,high proportion of females and aging tendency.Professionals team construction is to be further strengthened and human resource quality should be comprehen-sively elevated as well.Moreover,high level professional culturing should be enhanced and the composition of age,education degree,profession and job titles should be optimized.Finally,long term management mechanism should be established.
International food component data system.

The International Network of Food Data Systems planning conference recommends establishing nomenclature and a system of coding for use in INFOODS. The International Food Naming System would facilitate collection, tabulation, storing, and retrieval of information. The system consists of two files for each food: one describing the name in a standardized manner and another reporting chemical and biological data. The two files are linked by International Food Number (IFN). Food names consist of controlled terms called facets: origin, part, process, stage of maturity, and grade. Within each facet, such elements as genus, species, variety (scientific name) and generic name, breed or kind, and strain (English name) are defined. Elements are assigned numerical codes to facilitate sorting and storage. Carefully defined standard descriptions are used in each facet. Each descriptor is assigned an alphabetic code, an unlimited number allowing an open-ended flexible system. IFN may be incorporated into a computerized data management system and stored data searched and sorted for information retrieval on given parameters, e.g., country, state, laboratory, or kind of package. Data can be summarized to obtain averages, ranges, and standard deviations. Summarized data, linked with the International Food Names by the IFN, may be printed out in desired format.
Data compression and noise suppression of ultrasonic NDE signals using wavelets

Ultrasonic imaging of materials often requires a large amount of data collection. Therefore, it is desirable to use data compression techniques to facilitate the analysis and remote access of ultrasonic information. The correct data representation is paramount to the accurate analysis of the geometric shape, size, and orientation of the ultrasonic reflector, as well as to the determination of the properties of the propagation path. In this study, we analyze a successive parameter estimation technique (based on the continuous wavelet transform) to deal with the compression and denoising of ultrasonic signals. The algorithm is applied to both simulated and experimental ultrasonic signals for data compression and material characterization. This technique achieves data compression ratios of up to 95% and signal-to-noise ratios improvement beyond 30 dB.
Guess-Averse Loss Functions For Cost-Sensitive Multiclass Boosting

Cost-sensitive multiclass classification has recently acquired significance in several applications, through the introduction of multi-class datasets with well-defined misclassification costs. The design of classification algorithms for this setting is considered. It is argued that the unreliable performance of current algorithms is due to the inability of the underlying loss functions to enforce a certain fundamental underlying property. This property, denoted guess-aversion, is that the loss should encourage correct classifications over the arbitrary guessing that ensues when all classes are equally scored by the classifier. While guess-aversion holds trivially for binary classification, this is not true in the multiclass setting. A new family of cost-sensitive guess-averse loss functions is derived, and used to design new cost-sensitive multiclass boosting algorithms, denoted GEL- and GLL-MCBoost. Extensive experiments demonstrate (1) the importance of guess-aversion and (2) that the GLL loss function outperforms other loss functions for multiclass boosting.
Acyclicity of fuzzy preferences

In traditional choice theory, acyclicity of preference is both necessary and sufficient for existence of maximal sets defined over finite sets and, if preferences are smooth, over compact (possibly infinite) sets. This paper, using the intuition suggested by traditional choice theory, provides a counterpart of the acyclicity condition when preferences are fuzzy. We show that just as in the case of precise (nonfuzzy) preferences, the proposed condition is necessary and sufficient for the existence of maximal sets defined over finite sets and, with smooth preferences, over all compact (possibly infinite) sets.
Endogenous budget constraints

Abstract This paper considers a model in which a single buyer seeks to buy a continuum of objects from a continuum of sellers. The sellers specify prices at which they are willing to sell their objects to the buyer, and the buyer then decides which objects to purchase. I illustrate that the buyer has an incentive to commit to a binding budget constraint before seeking offers from the sellers.
Improving the Accessibility of Mobile OCR Apps Via Interactive Modalities

We describe two experiments with a system designed to facilitate the use of mobile optical character recognition (OCR) by blind people. This system, implemented as an iOS app, enables two interaction modalities (autoshot and guidance). In the first study, augmented reality fiducials were used to track a smartphone’s camera, whereas in the second study, the text area extent was detected using a dedicated text spotting and text line detection algorithm. Although the guidance modality was expected to be superior in terms of faster text access, this was shown to be true only when some conditions (involving the user interface and text detection modules) are met. Both studies also showed that our participants, after experimenting with the autoshot or guidance modality, appeared to have improved their skill at taking OCR-readable pictures even without use of such interaction modalities.
A longitudinal study of the reciprocal relationship between ever smoking and urgency in early adolescence.

Abstract Background Among early adolescents in the United States (U.S.), the prevalence of cigarette smoking is at its lowest level in recent decades. Nonetheless, given the risks of smoking in early development, it remains critically important to study both risk factors for smoking and risks from smoking. This longitudinal study with U.S. early adolescents examines smoking initiation and tests a model of reciprocal prediction between ever smoking and the personality trait of urgency (i.e., mood-based impulsivity), a trait that increases risk for multiple forms of dysfunction. Methods Participants ( n = 1906; 90% 10–11 years old, 50% female, 39% racial minorities at baseline) completed questionnaires 1–2 times per year starting in 5th grade and ending in 9th grade. Structural equation modeling allowed tests of bidirectional relationships between ever smoking and urgency controlling for pubertal status and negative affect at each wave. Results Incidence of ever smoking increased from 5% to 27% over time, with current smoking around 5% at the last wave. Urgency at each wave predicted ever smoking at the next wave above and beyond covariates and prior smoking (all p p Conclusion Results show that risk for smoking increases with higher levels of urgency and urgency increases secondary to engagement in smoking. Future work should therefore explore urgency as a point of prevention for smoking and smoking cessation as a means to mitigate mood-based impulsivity.