cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the association between climatic factors and sheep condemnations in the United States using cluster analysis and spatio-temporal modeling.

Abstract Sheep in the United States are primarily raised and fed on pasture, making them particularly susceptible to the impacts of climatic factors. This study sought to evaluate the association between climate and whole carcass condemnations in the U.S. as a proxy to evaluate overall sheep health across the U.S. USDA FSIS inspection data was evaluated for whole carcass sheep condemnations between 2005–2016. The analysis focused on condemnations attributed to caseous lymphadenitis , the most frequent cause of sheep condemnations during this period. Data was analyzed on the climate division scale – 344 subdivisions of the contiguous United States that divide states into nearly homogenous climatic regions. Using space-time cluster analysis for high rates of condemnations, ten clusters were identified ranging across the United States. All but one of these clusters was confined to single climate division, with lengths ranging from 1 to 72 months. A zero-inflated Poisson regression found significant associations between condemnation counts and precipitation, cooling degree days (an indicator of higher temperatures), year, and division of the United States. The model had a marginal R-squared of 0.54. This study has identified high risk clusters where higher than expected condemnations are concentrated. The confirmation of an association between climatic factors and condemnation numbers suggests that management practices targeted at protecting pasture-raised small ruminants from weather extremes would improve overall animal health and welfare. Mitigation strategies should be considered as we face increasing frequency of extreme weather events and other environmental fluctuations associated with climate change.
CAn Trade Agreements Help Solve the Wicked Problem of Disinformation

Disinformation is a wicked problem. Increasingly, disinformation comes from overseas. Many nations have adopted a wide range of strategies to mitigate disinformation. This patchwork may not be effective in mitigating cross-border disinformation. Moreover, the lack of coherent approaches could also lead to trade distortions and spillover effects upon internet openness and generativity. This paper shows how policymakers might use trade agreements to govern the cross-border data flows that at times fuel disinformation.
Improved Electrical Properties of AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors by In Situ Tailoring the SiNx Passivation Layer.

In situ metal-organic chemical vapor deposition growth of SiNx passivation layers is reported on AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) without surface damage. A higher SiNx growth rate, when produced by higher SiH4 reactant gas flow, enables faster lateral coverage and coalescence of the initial SiNx islands, thereby suppressing SiH4-induced III-nitride etching. The effect of in situ SiNx passivation on the structural properties of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs has been evaluated using high-resolution X-ray diffraction. Electrical properties of the passivated HEMTs were evaluated by clover-leaf van der Pauw Hall measurements. The key findings include (a) a correlation of constituent gas chemistry with SiNx stoichiometry, (b) the degree of suppression of strain relaxation in the barrier layer that can be optimized through the SiNx stoichiometry, and (c) optimum strain relaxation by tailoring the SiNx passivation layer stoichiometry that can result in near-ideal AlGaN/AlN/GaN interfaces. The latter is expected to reduce the carrier scatterings and improve electron mobility. Under optimized conditions, low sheet resistance and high electron mobility are obtained. At 10 K, a sheet resistance of 33 Ω/sq and a mobility of 16,500 cm2/V-s are achieved. At 300 K, the sheet resistance is 336 Ω/sq and mobility is 2020 cm2/V-s with a sheet charge density of 0.78 × 1013 cm-2.
Promoting Consumer Financial Capability and Well-Being Through Education and Research

It is my pleasure to serve as the editor for Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning starting in 2014. JFCP has helped my career development greatly during my growth from a young professional to a mature one. It is time for me to help the journal to achieve more successes based on the strong foundation laid by the long term former editor, Fran Lawrence, and the founding editor, Sherman Hanna. I thank the AFCPE Executive Director, Rebecca Wiggins, and the then Board Liaison, Janet Garkey, for their encouragement and assistance in my application process. I also thank Barbara O'Neill who agreed to continue her role as the book editor for JFCP. To let AFCPE members and potential authors know me better, I would like to briefly introduce my backgrounds. As a full professor of personal finance at University of Rhode Island, I have experience in editing. I have been on editorial boards of JFCP and several other journals for many years. I served as the editor of Journal of Family and Economic Issues in 2001-11. I also edited several books including Handbook on Consumer Finance Research and Mathematics of Personal Finance and a book series entitled International Series on Consumer Science.
Laboratory Investigation of Nonlinear Sub-cyclotron Damping

A unique feature of whistler chorus wave observations is the power gap at frequencies near half the electron gyrofrequency, which is observed approximately 2/3 of the time. 1 Additionally, some of these observations have multiple power gaps, which are typically oblique chorus waves. 2 A variety of theories have been developed over the decades to explain these power gaps, including excitation by two separate electron populations, 3 damping due to nonlinear wave-particle interactions, 2 , 4 and lower band cascade generating the upper band through coupling between electrostatic and electromagnetic components of lower band waves. 5 Recently, Gao et al . 5 published a statistical survey of the whistler chorus power gap using seven years of chorus observations from THEMIS. The results of the survey are that the theories involving damping due to nonlinear wave-particle interactions are the most consistent with the observations, but that they do not each explain all the observations. This led the authors to conclude that the power gaps may be a result of a combination of mechanisms or may require new mechanisms. We are currently conducting laboratory experiments coupled with numerical simulations to test the theories most consistent with observations: nonlinear Landau damping and nonlinear sub-cyclotron damping.
The Online Disinformation Opera

This article looks at how the Internet and social media feed disinformation and fake news to nonreality-based communities.
Exploring the proper relation between physical and human geography Early work by John E. Thornes and Ron Johnston

Whether (and how) physical and human geography should be integrated is a longstanding debate in our field. I return here to two entries in this debate from the early years of Progress in Physical Geography. While John Thornes’ 1981 progress report on atmospheric science reads like an early call for critical physical geography, the focus of this special issue, Ron Johnston’s 1983 article emphatically asserts that no such synthesis is intellectually or practically necessary. I argue, however, that Johnston’s article, perhaps inadvertently, lays the groundwork for integrated research.
Prediction of urban stormwater runoff in chesapeake bay using neural networks

Runoff carries pollutants such as oil, heavy metals, bacteria, sediment, pesticides and fertilizers into streams or groundwater. The combined impacts of hydrologic changes and water pollution can be disastrous for streams and rivers in urban areas and the Chesapeake Bay. Therefore, evaluations of stormwater runoff are imperative to enhance the performance of an assessment operation and develop better water resources management and plan. In order to accomplish the goal, a recurrent neural network based predictive model trained by the Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation training algorithm is developed to forecast the runoff discharge using the gage height and the previous runoff discharge. The experimental results showed that Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation training algorithm proved to be successful in training the recurrent neural network for the stormwater runoff prediction. Based on the comparison studies about the impact of discharge and gage height on the runoff forecast accuracy, it was found that when both the previous discharge and gage height were used, the network achieved lower mean squared error, and better time series response than the case when the gage height is the only input or target.
Virtual Reality as a Treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

This article provides support for utilizing a virtual reality treatment intervention for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Initially, this investigation reviews current IBS treatments and virtual reality applications, followed by a discussion section that describes how virtual reality may have the ability to deliver a more comprehensive treatment option than current treatments alone. This is attributed to virtual reality’s potential to incorporate a diversity of treatment elements found to produce positive outcomes for IBS sufferers, in particular, the analgesic effects of virtual reality as applied to abdominal pain. Abdominal pain in IBS sufferers is given special attention in this article, both because of the virtual reality–pain connection and because it is a pervasive symptom of IBS sufferers. This article concludes that virtual reality has the ability to treat abdominal pain in IBS sufferers while remaining versatile enough to incorporate, or work in conjunction with, other established treatment options.
Uridine diphosphate glucose: alpha-1,4-glucan alpha-4-glucosyltransferase in heart. Two forms of the enzyme, interconversion reactions and properties.

Abstract In the present paper methods are described for isolating UDP-glucose-glycogen transferase in partially purified form from rat and rabbit heart. The preparation of transferase kinase from rabbit heart free of transferase is also described. Using γ-32P-labeled ATP it is shown that about 12 nmoles of 32P is incorporated per unit I from converted to D or about 1 μmole of 32P per 20 000 μg of transferase assuming a specific activity of 5 units/mg for the transferase. When 23P-labeled transferase was incubated with a crude heart extract containing phosphatase, there was a coincident loss of radioactivity from the protein together with a conversion of the enzyme from the D to I form. Partial acid hydrolysis and high-voltage paper electrophoresis of the 32P-labeled rabbit heart and muscle transferases indicated that the maps were similar but clearly distinguishable.
The Arab Spring Protests and Concurrent Disability Protests: Social Movement Spillover or Spurious Relationship?

Protests from different social movements sometimes coincide, but does that mean that one movement is influencing the other and increasing its “action mobilization,” or are different sets of factors causing the coincident protests? This paper examines that question in reference to two sets of coincident protests: those of people with disabilities and those of the pro-Democracy protests of 2011. It shows that, although disability protests did not start at the same time as the pro-Democracy protests, a number happened during and after, and in close physical proximity to, those protests. Neither set of protests acknowledged or referred to the other. While it is likely that a new law in Egypt and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities were among the mobilizing factors for people with disabilities, it also appears that the language of “rights” began to diffuse from the pro-Democracy protests to the disability protests.
Risk assessment sampling plans for non-standard (maverick) material

Reliability evaluations are conducted to determine if non-standard material meets a company's reliability requirements and whether or not it may be sold to customers for revenue as normal material. Material is considered to be non-standard if it was misprocessed, fails to conform to specifications or any criterion deemed to critically affect the performance or reliability of the device, or demonstrates characteristics that result in a substantial concern about the reliability of the product. A methodology for establishing sampling plans for reliability experiments designed to evaluate non-standard material is discussed in this paper. Two case studies from Intel Corporation are shown.
The Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, the constitution and international law

A number of sociological and political factors prompted the adoption of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act. This article investigates the various provisions of the Act against the principles of international law and argues that many of these provisions are inconsistent with peremptory norms of international law and therefore void. The Act, to the extent that it grants amnesty to war crimes violates a cardinal rule of international humanitarian law, namely that there can be no amnesty for war crimes. Regardless of sociological and political judgments of political actors, international law imposes an obligation on states to prosecute individuals who are alleged to have committed war crimes. This obligation is a superior norm of international law which cannot be compromised to political expediency. Similarly, in suspending and cancelling any civil action that victims of war crimes may bring against alleged offenders, the Act violates a peremptory norm of international law which provides rights to individual victims of war crimes regardless of the attitude of the state.
Dynamics of Workplace Charging for Plug-in Electric Vehicles: How Much is Needed and at What Speed?

This paper presents workplace charging needs from two perspectives: the potential needs based on modelling and the needs based on survey results. These approaches both examine workplace needs from what people need to increase usage of the cars, and what workplace charging they will they actually use. The analysis reveals that for California driving patterns, chargers at the workplace can increase electric vehicle miles travelled (eVMT) by approximately 2%-10% for PHEVs and about 6%-9% for a 60-100 mile battery electric vehicle (BEV). The actual number of chargers used depends on the price charged. Both methods show that workplace charging will increase if charging is free versus a priced scenario with no extra benefit in terms of eVMT. The survey shows that 2 out of 10 vehicles will use workplace charging if it is priced between home electricity and gasoline on a cents per mile basis, while 8 out of 10 vehicles will use it if free on any given day. This corresponds to a 2-4 times increase in “needed” chargers depending on assumptions of how many cars one charger can serve per day. Also investigated was the speed of charging needed at work. Most charging of PHEVs can be accomplished with low power charging and 80% of BEV charging can be accomplished with low power. In general low power charging should comprise 80% or chargers, and charging price should be segmented by charging speed to encourage efficient use of high power chargers – reserving high power level 2 charging for those who need it such as some BEVs and utilizing low power chargers for PHEVs and low need BEVs.
Comparing rural ground and air emergency medical services: a level I trauma center's experience.

We sought to compare differences in patients transported by ground and air emergency medical services directly from the scenes of their injuries to a rural level I trauma facility. Variables examined included age, gender, vital signs, Glasgow Coma Scale score, discharge location, length of stay, and survival metrics. Student t tests and odds ratios were used for analysis. Demographics and vital signs differed between trauma patients transported by air versus those transported by ground. Generally, length of stay was longer in air-transported patients, who also had poorer survival metrics with negligible risk of death. Significant differences exist in the markers of physiology such as vital signs, expected survival, and degree of injury. Language: en
Genetic disorders and renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a heterogeneous disease with at least four distinct histologic patterns, including, clear cell, papillary, oncocytic, and chromophobic. Genetic syndromes were described that cause a predisposition to develop tumors of each of these histologic subtypes. Affected individuals have a tendency to form early onset, multi-focal, and recurrent RCC; patient management involves life-long screening and measures to minimize the frequency of invasive procedures and preserve renal parenchyma. Linkage studies of affected families led, in some cases, to the identification of genes that are responsible not only for the familial syndrome, but for the corresponding sporadic RCC, as well. Evaluation of these genetic syndromes continues to provide insight into the cellular pathways that are associated with renal cell tumorigenesis.
Convergence of a penalty-finite element approximation for an obstacle problem

This study establishes an error estimate for a penalty-finite element approximation of the variational inequality obtained by a class of obstacle problems. By special identification of the penalty term, we first show that the penalty solution converges to the solution of a mixed formulation of the variational inequality. The rate of convergence of the penalization is ? where ? is the penalty parameter. To obtain the error of finite element approximation, we apply the results obtained by Brezzi, Hager and Raviart for the mixed finite element method to the variational inequality.
Impact of pediatric trauma centers on mortality in a statewide system.

Background Regional pediatric trauma centers (PTC) were established to optimize the care of injured children. However, because of the relative shortage of PTC, many injured children continue to be treated at adult trauma centers (ATC). As a result, a growing controversy has evolved regarding the impact of PTC and ATC on outcome for injured children. Methods A retrospective analysis of 13,351 injured children entered in the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study between 1993 and 1997 was conducted. Patients were stratified according to mechanism of injury, injury severity, specific organ injury, and type of trauma center: PTC; Level I ATC (ATC I); Level II ATC (ATC II); or ATC with added qualifications to treat children (ATC AQ). Mortality was the major outcome variable measured. Results Most injured children were treated at a PTC or ATC AQ. The majority of children below 10 years of age were admitted to PTC. Patients treated at PTC and ATC had similar injury severity as determined by median Injury Severity Score, mean Revised Trauma Score, and Glasgow Coma Scale. Overall survival was significantly better at PTC and ATC AQ compared with ATC I and ATC II. Survival for head, spleen, and liver injuries was significantly better at PTC compared with ATC AQ, ATC I, or ATC II. Children who sustained moderate or severe head injuries were more likely to undergo neurosurgical intervention and have a better outcome when treated at a PTC. Despite similar mean Abbreviated Injury Scores for spleen and liver, significantly more children underwent surgical exploration (especially splenectomy) for spleen and liver injuries at ATC compared with PTC. Conclusion Children treated at PTC or ATC AQ have significantly better outcome compared with those treated at ATC. Severely injured children (Injury Severity Score > 15) with head, spleen, or liver injuries had the best overall outcome when treated at PTC. This difference in outcome may be attributable to the approach to operative and nonoperative management of head, liver, and spleen injuries at PTC.
An Assessment of Buddhist Eco-Philosophy

As a scholar I am expected to deal with my subject matter in an objective way. If this were to mean without emotional concern, and without a personal standpoint, I have to admit failure in advance…. I do not hesitate to admit that in giving this lecture my aim is to contribute … to a change of attitude and behavior towards nature.
Development and testing of the health care system distrust scale.

BACKGROUND: Distrust of the health care system may be a significant barrier to seeking medical care, adhering to preventive health care and treatment regimens, and participating in medical research.
Determination of concentrations by angular light scattering for the turbidimetric titration of polymers

Abstract Rayleigh-Gans theory is applied to light scattering by suspensions of particles precipitated from polymer solution during turbidimetric titration. When the refractive indices of the solvent and precipitant are matched, the concentration of polymer which is precipitated is related to the scattering by a simple equation. Under conditions of angle, wavelength, and particle size such that scattering is maximized, concentration is directly proportional to scattering. The equation was tested using a solution of polystyrene in methyl ethyl ketone with isopropyl alcohol as precipitant.
Timing of high‐risk vascular surgery following coronary artery bypass surgery: A 10‐year experience from an academic medical centre*

Major non-cardiac surgery within 40 days of coronary angioplasty with stenting has high cardiac complication rates. We have performed a case-control study to determine whether the risk of vascular surgery might have increased in recent survivors of coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Using our vascular database from 1990 to 1999, we matched the cases who had vascular surgery within a month of CABG with controls by pre-operative comorbidities of diabetes mellitus, history of myocardial infarction (MI), history of congestive heart failure (CHF), and chronic renal insufficiency and compared the incidence of peri-operative MI, CHF, death, and other complications. Compared to case-matched controls, patients who underwent vascular surgery within a month of CABG suffered significantly greater mortality (20.6% vs. 3.9%, p < 0.005). The incidence of non-fatal cardiac complications was not significantly different between the groups. We conclude that the risk of mortality may be significantly greater in patients undergoing major vascular surgery within a month of CABG.
The Basic HIV Disease Knowledge Questionnaire: A Rasch-Scaled Instrument to Measure Essential HIV Knowledge

The need for improvement in HIV disease-related psychometric questionnaires is noted. In response to this need a Rasch-scaled measure to ascertain basic HIV disease knowledge was developed and calibrated on 1092 subjects. Four studies conducted with the measure suggest adequate test-retest reliability. Three validity studies also conducted with this questionnaire suggest that the measure is sensitive to knowledge obtained from HIV-related training and education. Potential uses and limitations of this new questionnaire are discussed.
Recent Advances in our Understanding of Peripheral Vision and Some Implications

The characteristics of peripheral vision and its relation to object recognition and snatial orientation functions are reviewed in the light of recent developments. Implications of these findings and their relevance to some selected hunan engineering problems are discussed.
A simulation analyses of factors influencing loading practices in cellular manufacturing

Abstract This study compares alternative shop loading procedures for cellular and functional layouts in a variety of operating environments. Factors investigated here include: (1) the extent to which the parts in a family follow a unidirectional flow; (2) shop congestion level; (3) the magnitude of delays in moving batches between departments; and (4) whether the shop was labour constrained. Computer simulation was used to compare the combinations of shop layout and loading procedure on the basis of time in system. Important managerial implications are presented for selecting a layout and loading procedure given the operating environment.
Prediction of sexual aggression

Abstract Empirical literature on the physiological, biochemical, personality, clinical, and actuarial prediction of sexual aggression committed by adult males is reviewed. Each of these methods of prediction has limitations. Prediction of sexual aggression is generally most accurate in the presence of a history of sexual aggression. Multivariate predictive models of sexual aggression hold some promise. However, the prediction of sexual aggression is in an early stage of development and recommendations for future research are proposed.
An ab initio algorithm for low-resolution 3-D reconstructions from cryoelectron microscopy images.

A statistical method for determining low-resolution 3-D reconstructions of virus particles from cryoelectron microscope images by an ab initio algorithm is described. The method begins with a novel linear reconstruction method that generates a spherically symmetric reconstruction, which is followed by a nonlinear reconstruction method implementing an expectation-maximization procedure using the spherically symmetric reconstruction as an initial condition and resulting in a reconstruction with icosahedral symmetry. An important characteristic of the complete method is that very little need be known about the particle before the reconstruction is computed, in particular, only the type of symmetry and inner and outer radii. The method is demonstrated on synthetic cowpea mosaic virus data, and its robustness to 5% errors in the contrast transfer function, 5% errors in the location of the center of the particles in the images, and 5% distortion in the 3-D structure from which the images are derived is demonstrated numerically.
Effect of amino acid deficiency on rat liver before and after partial hepatectomy.

Conclusion1. The total weight and total solids of regenerated liver 96 hours after partial hepatectomy are unaffected by diets in which gelatin and zein are the sole sources of protein.2. On a casein diet, the regenerated liver has a higher P.N.A. content than the prehepatectomy liver. This is also true on a gelatin diet and on a purina chow diet, but not on a zein diet, indicating that the apparent stimulus to extra P.N.A. content normally induced in the regenerating liver, is inhibited by the lack of dietary lysine. There is no significant effect on the D.N.A. content either before or after hepatectomy, on any of the diets.3. On gelatin and zein diets, the tryptophane content of the pre-hepatectomy livers was only slightly less than on adequate diets; the same held true for the regenerating liver, indicating that the liver was capable of obtaining almost its normal content of needed tryptophane from other sources.4. In contrast to the constancy of the total solids, the total nitrogen of both the pre-hep...
Thermal Interface Material Technology Advancements and Challenges: An Overview

With an increase in the number of transistors (higher power), shrinking processor size (smaller die), and increasing clock speeds (higher frequency) for next generation microprocessors, heat dissipation at the silicon die level has become a critical focus area for microprocessor architecture and design. In addition, power removal at low cost continues to remain the key challenge as we develop the next generation packaging technologies. Novel Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) are required to be designed and developed to meet these new package thermal targets. This paper presents an overview of the novel TIM technologies developed at Intel including greases, phase change materials (PCM), gels, polymer solder hybrids, and solder TIM for multiple generations of desktop, server and mobile microprocessors. The advantages and limitations of these TIM technologies in the thermal management of flip chip packaging are reviewed for Intel’s microprocessors.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Comparison and accuracy of methodologies employed for analysis of hydropathy, flexibility and secondary structure of proteins.

Abstract Various methods have been developed recently for predicting antigenic determinants in a protein by analyzing its hydropathicity, flexibility or secondary structure. The predicted results by these methods were compared directly to the observed structure of the proteins to determine how accurate they were. Regression and correlation of the predicted hydropathicity versus the observed solvent accessibility and the predicted chain flexibility versus actual mobility were determined. Three separate methods of hydropathic analysis had correlation coefficients of 0.52, 0.63 and 0.57 respectively, while a published method for chain flexibility analysis had a 0.19 correlation coefficient. Similarly, agreement between the observed and the predicted secondary structures by two methods was also determined. The limitations of these techniques were clearly defined.
Occupational cancer among women: where have we been and where are we going?

Studies of occupational exposures have been a fruitful area of research for identifying carcinogens. Some of the early observations, such as increased risk of breast cancer among nuns and bone cancer among radium dial workers, were made among women. Recent research on cancer among women has shown increased risks of cancer in many industries and occupations. Estimates that 1 % of cancer among women is attributable to occupation are based on research conducted mainly in the J970s among men in developed countries. These studies do not reflect the dramatic changes in the participation of women in the workplace or the patterns of employment of women in developing countries. The proportion of women in the paid workforce, the amounts and types of unpaid labor, the distribution of women by economy sector; the scale of the workplaces, the allowable exposure levels in the workplace, and implementation of controls have changed over time and vary internationally. Occupational cancer researchers need to expand their focus on women, increase activities in developing countries, include newly created industries, use sophisticated exposure assessment methods, and, where appropriate, incorporate molecular epidemiologic techniques to discover new occupational carcinogens and to identify where better control measures are needed.
Modeling of multi-component fuel vaporization and combustion for gasoline and diesel spray

Abstract The present study applied a continuous thermodynamics approach to consider the multi-component nature of petroleum fuels during the vaporization process. A gamma distribution was used to describe the molecular weight of the fuel. The model was first used to study the vaporization of single diesel and gasoline drops. Results showed that the mean molecular weight of the fuel drop kept increasing, indicating that the lighter components vaporized earlier in the process. The present vaporization model was also integrated with an engine simulation code for diesel spray combustion study. Results of diesel spray modeling showed that heavy fuel components survived during the early vaporization process such that the drops in the outer regions of the spray were mostly composed of heavier components. In this study, detailed chemistry was used for diesel combustion modeling. Results showed that good levels of agreement between experiments and predictions were obtained in flame structures and soot distributions. Effects of ambient temperature in the sooting tendency of diesel spray were also predicted by the present model. Under the conditions studied ( ρ = 14.8 kg / m 3 ) , soot emissions were not seen for ambient temperature less than 850 K, which is consistent with the concept of low-temperature engine combustion for low emissions.
Heteroatomic deltahedral zintl ions of group 14 and their alkenylation.

Reported is the synthesis of Ge9-xSnx heteroatomic deltahedral Zintl ions and their alkenylation by reactions with alkynes. The nine-atom clusters are made either by extraction from mixed Ge/Sn pre...
A simple technique for intergranular separation of pure nickel to reveal creep damage

La methode utilise des infiltrations de soufre et d'hydrogene aux joints de grains. Les deux agents sont connus pour provoquer par diffusion la fragilisation intergranulaire. Application de cette methode a l'observation du dommage intergranulaire pour des echantillons de nickel soumis a un fluage a des temperatures superieures a 600 C
Morphological equilibration of a facetted crystal.

We study the morphological equilibration of a finite, facetted crystal by use of phenomenological equations of motion. The relevant atomistic kinetic processes (edge transfer, kink attachment and/or detachment, terrace hopping, and surface diffusion) are introduced progressively with special attention given to a proper treatment of the latter. Unlike all previous work, the role of individual step motion (including the effect of step-step interactions) is considered in detail. Approximate analytic results are obtained for two- and three-dimensional model crystals and compared to the work of others. Numerical results for the time dependence of the equilibration and the shape of the crystal during equilibration are presented for a model two-dimensional crystal in various limits of the kinetic parameters. Characteristic behavior is found when the different kinetic processes are individually rate limiting. Although each facet remains flat on macroscopic scales, multiple-step generation is found to lead to interesting microscopic step distributions and equilibration scenarios. The latter might be observable by appropriate microscopies.
Successful angioembolization of renal artery pseudoaneurysms after blunt abdominal trauma

We report a case of minimally invasive management of renal artery pseudoaneurysms after blunt abdominal trauma. A 44-year-old man developed gross hematuria after a motor vehicle collision. The initial radiographic evaluation revealed only a parenchymal laceration of the right kidney, and the patient was treated conservatively. Persistent gross hematuria necessitated repeat renal angiography that revealed numerous small pseudoaneurysms. Angioembolization was successfully performed with minimal compromise of the renal parenchyma. Transcatheter embolization is safe and effective for controlling hemorrhage from traumatic renal artery pseudoaneurysms and should be the initial treatment of choice in hemodynamically stable patients.
VISIBILITY OF NEW DASHED YELLOW AND WHITE CENTER STRIPES AS FUNCTION OF MATERIAL RETROREFLECTIVITY

Economic and environmental concerns have raised questions about the continued use of yellow center lines on two-lane highways and yellow left-edge lines on divided highways or freeway entrance and exit ramps. The use of yellow pavement markings as a warning to indicate opposing traffic appears to be a concept that is compatible with certain human factors population stereotypes and accepted industry standards (yellow for caution), but it is unclear how well the general driver population understands the message conveyed by yellow pavement markings. Another question is how the visibility of yellow center lines or left-edge lines compares with the visibility of similar white pavement markings. The effects of color (white and yellow) and material retroreflectivity (low, medium, and high) on the end detection distance of finite-length center lines at night under automobile low-beam illumination were determined. Ten subjects were used in a field experiment (rural, automobile low-beam conditions) to obtain the end detection distances of finite-length center stripes of 0.1-m width. The data show that the end detection distances of new yellow dashed center stripes and new white dashed center stripes are about the same. The average end detection distance was 30 to 35 m for the low-retroreflectivity material and about 62 m for the high-retroreflectivity material (four- to fivefold retroreflectivity increase). It is tentatively concluded that the use of white center stripes most likely will not result in a significant increase in the end detection distance when compared with the use of similar yellow center stripes. It is also tentatively concluded that an increase in the retroreflectivity of the pavement marking materials will result in a significant and desirable increase of the visibility distance, but to provide a minimum preview time of 3.6 sec (at a vehicle speed of 90 km/hr), even higher-retroreflectivity materials than the ones used in this study will be required.
Development of XUV projection lithography at 60-80 nm (Poster Paper)

The rationale, design, component properties, and potential capabilities of extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) projection lithography systems using 60 - 80 nm illumination and single-surface reflectors are described. These systems are evaluated for potential application to high-volume production of future generations of gigabit chips.
Issues and strategies for the physical design of system-on-a-chip ASICs

The density and performance of advanced silicon technologies have made system-on-a-chip ASICs possible. SoCs bring together a diverse set of functions and technology features on a single die of enormous complexity. The physical design of these complex ASICs requires a rich set of functional elements that integrate efficiently with a set of design flows and tools productive enough to meet product requirements successfully, without consuming more time or design resources than a simpler design. The architecture described, including functional libraries and physical design conventions, enables the creation of multiple SoC ASIC designs from a common infrastructure that addresses silicon integration, electrical robustness, and packaging challenges. An implementation strategy follows from this design infrastructure that includes hierarchical design concepts, placement, routing, and verification processes.
A paper chromatographic procedure for separating 1-mono-, 1, 3-di-, and triglycerides, cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters.

A reproducible paper chromatographic procedure has been developed for resolving a mixture consisting of 1-mono-, 1,3-di-, and triglycerides, cholesterol, and cholesteryl esters. The separation is accomplished, using silicic acid impregnated glass fiber filter paper as the chromatographic medium and various ethyl ether-isooctane mixtures as the solvent systems. A reagent consisting of 1:1 concentrated sulfuric acid: water has been introduced for visualizing the lipides on the chromatogram and for distinguishing between glycerides and cholesterol-containing lipides. Unsaturation in the fatty acid moiety of the mono-, di-, and triglycerides had no detectable effect on the Rf values of these substances. Fatty acid chain length did not affect the Rf of the cholesteryl esters with the solvent systems studied. Increasing the percentage ethyl ether in the solvent system caused an increase in the Rf values of each lipide not moving at the solvent front.
Weighing the Evidence: Empirical Assessment and Ethical Implications of Conversion Therapy

The American Psychological Association's (APA's) as well as other professional organizations' (e.g., American Psychiatric Association) removal of homosexuality as a mental disorder represented a paradigmatic shift in thinking about exual orientation. Since then, APA (2000) disseminated guidelines for working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients, and a variety of scholars and researchers alike have advocated affirmative therapeutic interventions with LGB individuals. Despite these efforts, the controversy over treating individuals with LGB orientations using nonaffirmative techniques continues. In this discussion, the limited evidence regarding the efficacy and effects of conversion therapy is surveyed, particularly in the context of empirically supported treatment criteria summarized by Division 12 (clinical psychology) of the APA. Authors then consider the resulting ethical considerations in performing conversion therapy and propose alternative uses of affirmative therapy on the basis of ethical...
Hydrogen Bonding of β-Turn Structure Is Stabilized in D2O

The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) was investigated as a function of ELP chain length and guest residue chemistry. These measurements were made in both D2O and H2O. Differences in the LCST values with heavy and light water were correlated with secondary structure formation of the polypeptide chains. Such structural information was obtained by circular dichroism and infrared measurements. Additional thermodynamic data were obtained by differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that there is a greater change in the LCST value between H2O and D2O for those polypeptides which form the greatest amount of β-turn/β-aggregate structure. Moreover, these same molecules were the least hydrophobic ELPs. Therefore, hydrogen bonding rather than hydrophobicity was the key factor in the stabilization of the collapsed state of ELPs in D2O compared with H2O.
Influence of mitoxantrone on nucleic acid synthesis on the T-47D breast tumor cell line

Mitoxantrone exerts growth inhibitory effects, suppresses (3H)-thymidine as well as (3H)-uridine incorporation, and induces ultrastructural alterations in T-47D human breast tumor cells. At low concentration (10(-9)M) the drug induced little effect on cell proliferation; cell growth kinetics were inhibited at a concentration of 10(-5)M. (3H)-thymidine and (3H)-uridine incorporation declined rapidly at the concentrations tested (10(-9), 10(-7), and 10(-5) M), revealing a potent effect on metabolic activity of the cultured cells. The sharpest decline in DNA and RNA synthesis occurred within the first 2 hr of drug treatment. Serial ultrastructural examinations indicated definitive alterations in chromatin structure, disintegration of nucleolar components as early as 2 hr after drug treatment, and complete segregation of nucleolar components following 8-hr exposure to concentrations of the drug between 10(-5) and 10(-7) M. A distinct increase in the density of mitochrondrial matrix was evident. The in vitro data presented in this report demonstrate the growth inhibitory and antimetabolic effects of mitoxantrone on human breast tumor cells and suggest that the drug may be a promising antitumor agent.
Diffusion tensor imaging and decision making in cocaine dependence.

BACKGROUND Chronic stimulant abuse is associated with both impairment in decision making and structural abnormalities in brain gray and white matter. Recent data suggest these structural abnormalities may be related to functional impairment in important behavioral processes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In 15 cocaine-dependent and 18 control subjects, we examined relationships between decision-making performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and white matter integrity as measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Whole brain voxelwise analyses showed that, relative to controls, the cocaine group had lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher mean of the second and third eigenvalues (lambda perpendicular) in frontal and parietal white matter regions and the corpus callosum. Cocaine subjects showed worse performance on the IGT, notably over the last 40 trials. Importantly, FA and lambda perpendicular values in these regions showed a significant relationship with IGT performance on the last 40 trials. CONCLUSIONS Compromised white matter integrity in cocaine dependence may be related to functional impairments in decision making.
Less Interpretation and More Decoherence in Quantum Gravity and Inflationary Cosmology

I argue that quantum decoherence—understood as a dynamical process entailed by the standard formalism alone—carries us beyond conceptual aspects of non-relativistic quantum mechanics deemed insurmountable by many contributors to the recent quantum gravity and cosmology literature. These aspects include various incarnations of the measurement problem and of the quantum-to-classical puzzle. Not only can such problems be largely bypassed or dissolved without default to a particular interpretation, but theoretical work in relativistic arenas stands to gain substantial physical and philosophical insight by incorporating decoherence phenomena.
Secondary structure extensions in Pyrococcus furiosus ferredoxin destabilize the disulfide bond relative to that in other hyperthermostable ferredoxins. Global consequences for the disulfide orientational heterogeneity.

The single cubane cluster ferredoxin (Fd) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus (Pf) possesses several unique properties when compared even to Fds from other hyperthermophilic archaea or bacteria. These include an equilibrium molecular heterogeneity, a six- to seven-residue increase in size, an Asp rather than the Cys as one cluster ligand, and a readily reducible disulfide bond. NMR assignments and determination of both secondary structure and tertiary contacts remote from the paramagnetic oxidized cluster of Pf 3Fe Fd with an intact disulfide bond reported previously (Teng Q., Zhou, Z. H., Smith, E. T., Busse, S. C., Howard, J. B. Adams, M. W. W., and La Mar, G. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 6316−6328) are extended here to the 4Fe oxidized cluster WT (1H and 15N) and D14C (1H only) Fds with an intact disulfide bond and to the 4Fe oxidized WT Fd (1H and 15N) with a cleaved disulfide bond. All forms are shown to possess a long (13-member) α-helix, two β-sheets (one double-, one triple-stranded...
Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of a cDNA coding for the oleoyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterase from coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.).

Abstract A cDNA for the oleoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (E.C. 3.1.2.14) from coriander seed endosperm ( Coriandrum sativum ) was isolated using a safflower oleoyl-ACP thioesterase cDNA probe. The coriander cDNA coded for a 42.3 kDa protein including a putative 40 amino acid plastid targeting transit peptide. The gene was expressed in Escheriehia coli and the recombinant protein was isolated to homogeneity by alkyl-ACP affinity and anion-exchange chromatography. The pure protein showed a high thioesterase activity for oleoyl-ACP vs. other acyl-ACPs and therefore was identified as the coriander oleoyl-ACP thioesterase. Antibodies were raised against the recombinant protein and used to detect the coriander thioesterase in enriched endosperm fractions.
Media consumption and population characteristics of political opinion leaders

The information sources from which opinion leaders and nonleaders hear about political candidates in a race for the United States Senate were examined in this study. The age and sex of political opinion leaders were examined, and data were gathered to determine if political opinion leaders are more likely to develop candidate preferences than nonleaders. Results demonstrated that opinion leaders hear about candidates from all media as well as interpersonal communication. No significant age differences were found between leaders and nonleaders. Males, however, were significantly more likely to be political opinion leaders than females. The incidence of political opinion leadership was also found to be higher among registered voters who state their preference for a political candidate.