cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of Potential Energy Surface Properties on Unimolecular Dynamics for a Model Alkyl Radical Dissociation Reaction: H-C-C → H + C=C

At the present very little is known about the effect of various potential energy surface properties on unimoleeular reaction dynamics. This is in sharp contrast to the current state of affairs for direct triatomic A + BC → AB + C absorption reactions.1-4 Detailed microscopic dynamical information such as reactive cross sections, energy partitioning In the reaction products, and velocity and angular momenta scattering angles has been gleaned for these reactions from molecular beam, infrared chemiluminescence, and laser fluorescence experiments. This data is of sufficient detail that it is possible to use classical trajectory calculations to resolve and characterize many important potential energy surface features. Initial attempts have also been made to elucidate important potential energy surface properties for complex polyatomic bimolecular reactions.5–9
Women’s empowerment in Indian agriculture: does market orientation of farming systems matter?

This paper studies the relationship between the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and market orientation of farm production in India. This is the first time that the WEAI has been used in an Indian agricultural context and the first time that it is being associated with market orientation. We used data on 1920 adults from 960 households in the Chandrapur District of Maharashtra and classified the households into three groups—(1) landless, (2) food-cropping, and (3) cash-cropping—that reflect increasing degrees of market orientation. We foind that women are disempowered in two major domains of agriculture—resources (access and decision-making) and leadership (group membership). A multivariate regression analysis shows that empowerment levels were significantly higher for women belonging to cash-cropping households, followed by food-cropping and landless households. Other significant determinants of empowerment scores are women’s age, education level, and household-level characteristics such as ownership of livestock, irrigation, electricity, and amount of land owned. As a secondary objective of this paper, we find that women’s empowerment in agriculture was also significantly associated with their decision-making in non-agricultural domains. The strong relationship between market orientation and empowerment levels suggests that linking women to markets can be a pathway to enhancing their empowerment in agricultural domains. Ensuring their ability to make decisions related to the cultivation of crops and their participation in the sale of those crops, with associated income, can be some areas for which relevant policies can be designed, tried, and studied.
Student learning outcomes from a pilot medical innovations course with nursing, engineering, and biology undergraduate students

Preparing today’s undergraduate students from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and related health professions to solve wide-sweeping healthcare challenges is critical. Moreover, it is imperative that educators help students develop the capabilities needed to meet those challenges, including problem solving, collaboration, and an ability to work with rapidly evolving technologies. We piloted a multidisciplinary education (ME) course aimed at filling this gap, and subsequently assessed whether or not students identified achieving the course objectives. In the course, undergraduate students from engineering, pre-nursing (students not yet admitted to the nursing program), and pre-professional health (e.g., pre-med and pre-physician’s assistant) were grouped based on their diversity of background, major, and StrengthsFinder® proficiencies in a MakerSpace to create tangible solutions to health-related problems facing the community. We then used qualitative content analysis to assess the research question: what is the impact of undergraduate multidisciplinary education offered in a MakerSpace on student attitudes towards and perceptions of skills required in their own as well as others occupations? We discovered these students were able to identify and learn capabilities that will be critical in their future work. For example, students appreciated the challenging problems they encountered and the ability to meet demands using cutting-edge technologies including 3D printers. Moreover, they learned the value of working in a multidisciplinary group. We expected some of these findings, such as an increased ability to work in teams. However, some themes were unexpected, including students explicitly appreciating the method of teaching that focused on experiential student learning through faculty mentoring. These findings can be used to guide additional research. Moreover, offering a variety of these courses is a necessary step to prepare students for the current and future workforce. Finally, these classes should include a focus on intentional team creation with the goal of allowing students to solve challenging real-world problems through ethical reasoning and collaboration.
Evaluation of residential customer elasticity for incentive based demand response programs

Abstract A key component to understanding demand response programs design is elasticity, which reflects customer reaction to economic offers. In this work, customer elasticity for Incentive Based Demand Response (IBDR) programs is estimated using data from two nation wide surveys and integrated with a detailed residential load model. In addition, incentive based elasticity is calculated at the individual appliance level since this is more effective for operations than at an aggregate value for a feeder. The concept of appliance base elasticity is derived from various contributions of each appliance in the aggregate load signal and the necessity of use for the customer. Results show that the needed customer incentive for certain loads, such as, lighting and washing is less than HVAC, but since the HVAC energy share in total load is much higher generally, it has greater elasticity. Considering the important role of HVAC in the aggregate load signal, the elasticity is studied in more detail using estimates of different thermostat settings. Analysis shows that elasticity of HVAC decreases while average power increases. To disaggregate the load signal for each appliance, a constrained non-negative matrix factorization (CNMF) method is proposed. In addition, this method is used to decompose the HVAC signal to identify different thermostat settings.
Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for a Suprasellar Craniopharyngioma.

Objectives The current video presents the nuances of an endoscopic endonasal approach to a suprasellar craniopharyngioma. Design The video analyzes the presentation, preoperative workup and imaging, surgical steps and technical nuances of the surgery, the clinical outcome, and follow-up imaging. Setting The patient was treated by a skull base team consisting of a neurosurgeon and an ENT surgeon, at a teaching academic institution. Participants The case refers to a 67-year-old man who presented with vision loss and headaches, and was found to have a suprasellar mass, with imaging characteristics consistent with a craniopharyngioma. Main Outcome Measures The main outcome measures consistent of the reversal of the patient symptoms (vision loss and headaches), the recurrence-free survival based on imaging, as well as the absence of any complications. Results The patient's vision improved after the surgery; at his last follow-up there was no evidence of recurrence on imaging. Conclusions The endoscopic endonasal approach is safe and effective in treating suprasellar craniopharyngiomas. The link to the video can be found at: https://youtu.be/p1VXbwnAWCo .
CoRgI: Cognitive Reasoning Interface

Cognitive systems built with artificial intelligence resources (AI-powered systems) can be defined as software systems that learn at scale from their interaction with humans and environments. That kind of system allows people to augment their cognitive potential in order to harvest insights from huge quantities of data to understand complex situations, make accurate predictions about the future, and anticipate the unintended consequences of actions. These systems evolve naturally from such learning, rather than being explicitly programmed. In this approach, humans and computers work more interconnected to achieve unexpected insights. In order to be useful, an AI-powered system must be aware of the users’ goals, so it can help him/her by bringing contextual information from multiple sources, guiding through the series of tasks associated with the goals. The knowledge structuring is a challenge by itself and it has been the focus of knowledge engineering research. Once the knowledge is structured or organized, the challenge falls on UX researchers to investigate users and their tasks and goals with that structured knowledge. Questions like who the users are, what they want or need to do, in which preferred ways, and what are users’ goals can guide UX research on this matter. We argue that an AI-powered system could infer the user’s goals by observing his/her interactions with different systems and considering its knowledge base – about the user, the group(s) s/he is part of, the applications’ domains, the overall context, etc. Based on fieldwork executed for a project where a knowledge-intensive process is analyzed and discussed with support of an AI-Powered System, we propose the Cognitive Reasoning Interface (CoRgI) framework. This paper presents the fieldwork observation that led to the development of the framework, how we conceptualize the framework, and our initial validation of the framework.
Watersheds of Want

The hydrological cycle in Afghanistan is one of the high altitude snow and rain, commonly torrential, which produces catastrophic downstream effects such as avalanches and floods. Most of the precipitation that drives the river-flow lifeblood of the country outward from the tops of the watersheds in Afghanistan diminishes toward the borders from its highs in the northeast of the nation. The main river systems, listed in a counterclockwise direction around Afghanistan. include the Amu Darya, Hari Rud–Murgab, Helmand–Arghandab, and the Kabul, each of which is discussed in more detail herein. Lakes in Afghanistan include glacial, landslide-dammed, carbonate-precipitate types, diastrophic (tectonic and volcanic) lakes, tectonic—mixed types, and multiple deflation-basin sorts of lakes, many of which are intermittently dry. Underground water in Afghanistan occurs in aquifer basins throughout the country, with the basin beneath Kabul City undergoing severe drawdown.
Surface and Interface Magnetism of Ultra-Thin Body-Centered-Tetragonal Fe(100)(1×1)/Pd(100) Films

Spin-polarized electron emission spectroscopy (SPEES) is used to study the surface and interface magnetic structure of 1–4 monolayers of bct Fe(100)p(1×1) films epitaxially deposited on clean and flat Pd(100) substrates. By varying the probing depth of SPEES from the topmost surface layer to deeper layers, we find that the average electron spin polarization (ESP) at the topmost surface layer amounts to 37%, an enhancement of 32% as compared to the ESP of bulk layers (28%). We find that Pd(MVV) Auger electrons emitted from the Fe/Pd interface are spin polarized, and that the ESP of these electrons is oriented parallel to that of Fe(MVV) Auger electrons.
Basic Principles Underlying Radioisotopic Methods for Assay of Biochemical Processes in Vivo

Radioisotopes are frequently used to facilitate the assay of biochemical reactions. Usually they are used to study chemical reactions in vitro, and the procedure is to label one of the reactants and to measure the rate of accumulation of a labeled product (see General Equation in Fig.IB). From assay or knowledge of the specific activity of the reactant molecule, the rate of the overall reaction rate can be calculated from the rate of radioactive product formation. The application of this approach generally necessitates, however, specialized biochemical procedures to isolate and identify the labeled product and to limit the measurement of the radioactivity to the chemical product of the reaction.
Iterating Inverse Binary Transducers

We study iterated transductions defined by a class of inverse transducers over the binary alphabet. The transduction semigroups of these automata turn out to be free Abelian groups and the orbits of finite words can be described as affine subspaces in a suitable geometry defined by the generators of these groups. We show that iterated transductions are rational for a subclass of our automata.
Multi-Objective Design of Transportation Networks: The Case of Spatial Price Equilibrium

In this paper we consider the problem of determining the optimal design of a transportation network using a vector valued criterion function when the flow pattern is assumed to correspond to a spatial price equilibrium. Two alternative solution methods are tested for this problem. The first is based on iteration between the equilibrium model and the vector optimization model; the second employs the Hooke and Jeeves algorithm for nonlinear programming.
Taming the killer microsecond

Modern applications require access to vast datasets at low latencies. Emerging memory technologies can enable faster access to significantly larger volumes of data than what is possible today. However, these memory technologies have a significant caveat: their random access latency falls in a range that cannot be effectively hidden using current hardware and software latency-hiding techniques---namely, the microsecond range. Finding the root cause of this "Killer Microsecond" problem, is the subject of this work. Our goal is to answer the critical question of why existing hardware and software cannot hide microsecond-level latencies, and whether drastic changes to existing platforms are necessary to utilize microsecond-latency devices effectively. We use an FPGA-based microsecond-latency device emulator, a carefully-crafted microbenchmark, and three open-source data-intensive applications to show that existing systems are indeed incapable of effectively hiding such latencies. However, after uncovering the root causes of the problem, we show that simple changes to existing systems are sufficient to support microsecond-latency devices. In particular, we show that by replacing on-demand memory accesses with prefetch requests followed by fast user-mode context switches (to increase access-level parallelism) and enlarging hardware queues that track in-flight accesses (to accommodate many parallel accesses), conventional architectures can effectively hide microsecond-level latencies, and approach the performance of DRAM-based implementations of the same applications. In other words, we show that successful usage of microsecond-level devices is not predicated on drastically new hardware and software architectures.
On the Caching Policy and Cooperation Distance Design in Base Station Assisted Wireless D2D Networks

This work investigates the caching policy and cooperative distance designs for throughput and energy efficiency (EE) in base station (BS) assisted device-to-device (D2D) caching networks. To conduct the investigation in joint consideration of BS-, D2D-, and self-caching and the impact of cooperation distance, we configure a clustering network with specifically designed power control and resource reuse policies. After analyzing the throughput and EE of the network, their design problems and solving approaches are provided. By simulations, we validate our analyses and evaluate the proposed designs. Moreover, we show that the throughput and EE designs can significantly conflict with each other, and a trade-off design that provides a compromise between them is thus necessary for improving the system.
Sub-Wavelength-Pitch Silicon-Phatonic Optical Phased Array for Large Field-AF-Regard Coherent Optical Beam Steering

We designed and fabricated a 5mm-long optical phased array with $1.3\ \mu m$ waveguide pitch. Measured adjacent waveguide crosstalk is 40° lateral beam steering with no sidelobes in ±33° field-of-regard.
Let me be at my funniest: Instagram users’ motivations for using Finsta (a.k.a., fake Instagram)

Instagram users can create two types of account to manage their self-presentation strategically. On a real Instagram account (known as Rinsta), users highlight flattering aspects of self, whereas o...
Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery in the Obese and Morbidly Obese Patient: Preoperative Strategies and Surgical Techniques

Obesity is a common medical comorbidity that will be seen in every colon and rectal surgeons’ practice. Obesity presents particular challenges to the success of each laparoscopic colon and rectal surgery and can significantly impact patient outcomes. While obesity is a modifiable risk factor, many patients presenting for surgery cannot delay surgery for significant weight loss. Knowledge of how obesity will affect a surgeon’s practice and surgical approach is critical to proper patient care.
Deep donors and acceptors in β-Ga 2 O 3 crystals: Determination of the Fe 2+/3+ level by a noncontact method

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), infrared absorption, and thermoluminescence (TL) are used to determine the Fe2+/3+ level in Fe-doped β-Ga2O3 crystals. With these noncontact spectroscopy methods, a value of 0.84 ± 0.05 eV below the conduction band is obtained for this level. Our results clearly establish that the E2 level observed in deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) experiments is due to the thermal release of electrons from Fe2+ ions. The crystals used in this investigation were grown by the Czochralski method and contained large concentrations of Fe acceptors and Ir donors, and trace amounts of Cr donors. Exposing a crystal at room temperature to 325, 375, or 405 nm laser light converts neutral Fe3+ acceptors to their singly ionized Fe2+ charge state and, at the same time, converts a similar number of neutral Ir3+ donors to the Ir4+ charge state. The Fe3+ EPR spectrum slowly recovers after the light is removed, as electrons are thermally released from Fe2+ ions to the conduction band. Most of these released electrons recombine nonradiatively with holes at the deep Ir4+ donors. Using a general-order kinetics model, the analysis of isothermal recovery curves for the Fe3+ EPR signal taken between 296 and 310 K gives the activation energy for the decay of the photoinduced Fe2+ ions. A TL peak, with emitted light having wavelengths longer than 500 nm, occurs near 349 K when a few of the electrons released from Fe2+ ions recombine radiatively with holes at Ir4+ and Cr4+ donors. Photoluminescence and EPR verify the presence of Cr3+ ions.
Cinebot: Creation of Movies and Animated GIFs Directly from PACS-Efficiency in Presentation and Education.

The presentation of radiology exams can be enhanced through the use of dynamic images. Dynamic images differ from static images by the use of animation and are especially useful for depicting real-time activity such as the scrolling or the flow of contrast to enhance pathology. This is generally superior to a collection of static images as a representation of clinical workflow and provides a more robust appreciation of the case in question. Dynamic images can be shared electronically to facilitate teaching, case review, presentation, and sharing of interesting cases to be viewed in detail on a computer or mobile devices for education. The creation of movies or animated images from radiology data has traditionally been challenging based on technological limitations inherent in converting the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard to other formats or concerns related to the presence of protected health information (PHI). The solution presented here, named Cinebot, allows a simple “one-click” generation of anonymized dynamic movies or animated images within the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) workflow. This approach works across all imaging modalities, including stacked cross-sectional and multi-frame cine formats. Usage statistics over 2 years have shown this method to be well-received and useful throughout our enterprise.
Remaining in unhappy relationships: The roles of attachment anxiety and fear of change:

Romantic relationships are one of the most important sources of well-being. Unfortunately, many people who begin relationships with high hopes later find that they are unhappy but unwilling or unab...
Prediction of Cognitive Ability With Social Determinants in Children of Low Birth Weight.

Background Despite strong prevention efforts and advances in neonatal care in recent decades, low birth weight remains a serious public health problem in the United States, and survivors remain at increased risk for lifelong problems including cognitive deficits. Current regional and local strategies for referral often rely on variable thresholds for birth weight and gestational age that may be poor analogues to cognitive risk. Improving early referral criteria offers many benefits, including improved cognitive outcomes for children and improved cost-effectiveness and resource utilization in resource-limited communities. Objectives We hypothesized that social determinants measurable at birth or at birth hospital discharge, when combined with birth weight and gestational age, would offer an improvement over birth weight and gestational age alone in predicting cognitive test scores in school-aged children with low birth weight. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis using a birth cohort of children from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. We created a panel of maternal, familial, and community-level social determinant indicators from the data and examined associations with cognitive measures assessed at age of 9 years. Results The final social determinant model was statistically significant and explained 35% of the total variance in composite test scores. The "standard care" model (birth weight and gestational age) only explained 9% of the variance. Discussion Assessment of social determinants may offer improvement over traditional referral criteria to identify children most at risk of cognitive deficits after low birth weight.
The Digital Divide: Addressing Artificial Intelligence in Communication Education

Artificial intelligence (AI) has gained both momentum and importance within society over the past several years. This article provides an opening for further discussion to the broader social and di...
Smart City Transportation: A Multidisciplinary Literature Review

Public transportation in cities in the U.S. is experiencing a period of regrowth but may be unsustainable and blind to community needs and policies. While much of the public transportation research is focusing on subways and light rail, bus systems are often the only financially feasible transportation options for many mid-level cities. Smart city and smart transportation technologies can help to improve public bus transportation, but these technologies can also ignore the community, policy, and environmental issues. This literature review identifies applicable research in smart transportation technologies with consideration to aspects of technology, policy, community, and environment. The review finds that recognition of each aspect is not yet equally valued. Each aspect needs to be equally valued and addressed in order to create long term technology solutions that address policy, community, and environment.
Case Histories of Significant Medical Advances: Cephalosporins

Our case history describes the development of three generations of cephalosporins – antibiotics that have significantly reduced hospital infections. After providing an overview of antibiotic development and its challenges we describe how: 1) Early (pre-cephalosporin) antibiotics were developed in the first half of the 20th century, 2) Drug companies developed first-generation cephalosporins in the 1960s using foundational discoveries made by researchers in Italy and the UK in the 1940s and 1950s, and 3) Continued modifications of cephalosporin molecules resulted in second and third generations of the drugs in the 1970s and 1980s.
Efficiency of ultrafast laser ablation in burst mode as a function of intra-burst repetition rate and pulse fluence

Laser ablation in burst mode enables operation close to the optimum pulse fluence of the material thus maximizing the ablation efficiency and reducing the heat affected zone. In addition, burst mode operation can enhance the ablation rate in some materials due to thermal interaction between burst pulses via the material. We have measured ablation rates for burst mode ablation on various materials (metals, semiconductors, dielectrics) as a function of pulse fluence, intra-burst repetition rate (60 MHz, 180 MHz, 360 MHz, 720 MHz, 1.44 GHz) and the number of pulses per burst (1-30), using a 40 μJ, 1035 nm Yb:Fiber MOPA with 300 fs pulse duration and repetition rates between 100 kHz and 250 kHz. The ablated geometries were rectangular cavities with side lengths of about 0.3 mm times 2 mm. The ablation efficiencies in burst mode operation are compared with the efficiencies that can be obtained with single pulse operation at high repetition rates and the same pulse fluence. Depending on material, number of pulses in the burst, intra-burst repetition rate and the ablation geometry, the ablation efficiency can be equal, lower or multiple times higher as compared to non-burst operation.
Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives on Systemic Risk and Resilience in the Time of COVID-19

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has had sweeping consequences upon global societies, public health, and economies. It stubbornly persisted and spread throughout 2020, despite a range of policy and social response strategies from frontline global public health institutions and countries alike. Consequences of such policy responses will persist for years and even decades, reshaping both government practices and social behaviors. The responses and impacts from COVID will shape and influence the global order for collective responses to everything from public health issues to climate change. However, questions abound regarding how the public and private sectors might best anticipate similarly situated systemic risks and position society to better recover from and adapt to the “new normal” associated with rapid global change.
Capitalism in Slavery, Slavery in Capitalism: Original Accumulation, Slave Rent, and the Formation of the World Market

Der Beitrag untersucht das Verhaltnis von Kapitalismus und Sklaverei, indem er die Rolle der Sklaverei bei der Entstehung der kapitalistischen Weltwirtschaft seit dem 16. Jahrhundert neu interpretiert. Durch die Unterscheidung zwischen der Marx’schen Theorie des Kapitals und der Geschichte der kapitalistischen Entwicklung wird der historische Kapitalismus als ein globales System konstruiert, das vielfaltige Formen der gesellschaftlichen Arbeit umfasst. Die atlantische Sklaverei fassen wir als eine spezifische Form der Warenproduktion auf, die von Anfang an integraler Bestandteil des historischen Kapitalismus war. Der Artikel untersucht die spezifische Rolle der atlantischen Sklaverei bei der ursprunglichen Akkumulation des Kapitals, d. h. der Entstehung des Systems. Surplusproduktion und -aneignung basierten auf der Sklavenrente, d. h. auf dem Eigentum von Sklaven, nicht auf dem Eigentum von Land. Dieses Verhaltnis schuf eine sehr mobile und dynamische Form der Arbeitsorganisation, die fur die offenen Warengrenzen des tropischen und subtropischen Atlantiks geeignet war. Die Ausbreitung der Sklavenarbeit im Sudatlantik spielte eine fundamentale Rolle bei der Schaffung der weltweiten Arbeitsteilung und des Weltmarktes des 16. Jahrhunderts.
Tragedy and Fear: Why Modern Tragic Drama Fails

This study of the relationship between the world-view in modern serious playwriting and the effectiveness of modern attempts at tragic drama is also an examination of the perennial problem of tragic spirit: is tragedy optimistic or pessimistic? This provocative and stimulating book is the first detailed analysis of whether tragedy hints at hope or acts out dread.Originally published in 1971.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
KAoS: A Policy and Domain Services Framework for Grid Computing and Semantic Web Services

In this article we introduce KAoS, a policy and domain services framework based on W3C’s OWL ontology language. KAoS was developed in response to the challenges presented by emerging semantic application requirements for infrastructure, especially in the area of security and trust management. The KAoS architecture, ontologies, policy representation, management and disclosure mechanisms are described. KAoS enables the specification and enforcement of both authorization and obligation policies. The use of ontologies as a source of policy vocabulary enables its extensibility. KAoS has been adapted for use in several applications and deployment platforms. We briefly describe its integration with the Globus Grid Computing environment.
Crisis intervention for ghetto children: contraindications and alternative considerations.

Clinicians and administrators have emphasized crisis intervention as a means of extending services and reducing costs. This paper asserts that ghetto children, because of their multiple deprivations, complex problems, and family structures, are particularly unsuitable for short-term contacts. Modalities other than crisis intervention are indicated as alternatives to long-term child treatment.
Anatomical observations of the caudal vestibulo-sympathetic pathway

The vestibular system senses the movement and position of the head in space and uses this information to stabilize vision, control posture, perceive head orientation and self-motion in three-dimensional space, and modulate autonomic and limbic activity in response to locomotion and changes in posture. Most vestibular signals are not consciously perceived and are usually appreciated through effector pathways classically described as the vestibulo-ocular, vestibulo-spinal, vestibulo-collic and vestibulo-autonomic reflexes. The present study reviews some of the recent data concerning the connectivity and chemical anatomy of vestibular projections to autonomic sites that are important in the sympathetic control of blood pressure.
Density perturbations in a flat universe

A well-known solution, for a flat model in general relativity obeying the Robertson-Walker metric, a perfect fluid energy-tensor and a perfect gas law of state, with constant deceleration parameter, is now shown to yield growing scalar density perturbations, provided thatq > 0. This study generalizes Weinberg's results for the radiation phase, and shows that any realistic model of this kind contains gravitational instabilities
Effects of Contaminant Concentration, Aging, and Soil Properties on the Bioaccessibility of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in Soil*

Contaminated soils at numerous U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and other industrial facilities often contain huge inventories of toxic metals such as chromium. Ingestion of soil by children is often the primary risk factor that drives the need for remediation. Site assessments are typically based solely on total soil-metal concentrations and do not consider the potential for decreased bioaccessibility due to metal sequestration by soil. The objectives of this research are to investigate the effect of soil properties on the bioaccessibility of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) as a function of contaminant concentration and aging. The A and upper B horizons of two well-characterized soils, representative of Cr-contaminated soils in the southeastern United States, were treated with varying concentration of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) and allowed to age. The bioaccessibility of the contaminated soils was measured over a 200-d time period using a physiologically based extraction test (PBET) that was designed to simu...
A tapped stub-based compact balun

A generalized balun structure with a single stub is presented in this paper. The balun is designed based on a four-port device with one port set to be open-circuited. Even-odd mode method is applied to analyze its performance. The derived design equations show that multiple sets of solutions are available for the proposed balun. Therefore, it is highly flexible for practical implementations. To validate the design theory, a prototype balun working at 2.4 GHz has been designed, fabricated and measured. Good agreement between the simulation and measurement has been achieved.
Plasticity of DNA methylation in a nerve injury model of pain

The response of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to injury may go together with alterations in epigenetics, a conjecture that has not been subjected to a comprehensive, genome-wide test. Using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing, we report widespread remodeling of DNA methylation in the rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) occurring within 24 h of peripheral nerve ligation, a neuropathy model of allodynia. Significant (P < 10−4) cytosine hyper- and hypo-methylation was found at thousands of CpG sites. Remodeling occurred outside of CpG islands. Changes affected genes with known roles in the PNS, yet methylome remodeling also involved genes that were not linked to neuroplasticity by prior evidence. Consistent with emerging models relying on genome-wide methylation and RNA-seq analysis of promoter regions and gene bodies, variation of methylation was not tightly linked with variation of gene expression. Furthermore, approximately 44% of the dynamically changed CpGs were located outside of genes. We compared their positions with the intergenic, tissue-specific differentially methylated CpGs (tDMCs) of an independent experimental set consisting of liver, spleen, L4 control DRG, and muscle. Dynamic changes affected those intergenic CpGs that were different between tissues (P < 10−15) and almost never the invariant portion of the methylome (those CpGs that were identical across all tissues). Our findings—obtained in mixed tissue—show that peripheral nerve injury leads to methylome remodeling in the DRG. Future studies may address which of the cell types found in the DRG, such as specific groups of neurons or non-neuronal cells are affected by which aspect of the observed methylome remodeling.
A component integration meta-framework using smart adapters

Efforts to integrate independently developed software components, to a large extent, have not been successful. Effective integration requires that component models agree on at least two different levels: "wiring"-level connectivity and semantic-level compatibility. While the use of adapters has been successful in dealing with the wiring-level, no viable approach exists for the semantic level. This is partly due to the availability of standards for components at the wire-level and the absence of similar standards at the semantic-level. In this paper we describe a framework for developing standards that deals with the semantic-level characteristic of components. Mismatches between components can then be eliminated systematically. Our approach is based on modeling a component with a set of three primary elements consisting of data, function, and control. An integration framework using this model automates the generation of mediating adapters. The framework provides developers with an abstract language, for specifying the required component interaction.
Influence of Hot Bands on Vibrational Spectra of Shock Compressed Materials

For polyatomic molecules, extracting vibrational frequency shifts from spectra recorded under shock loading conditions is complicated by anharmonic coupling of modes and thermal population of low lying vibrational levels, which produce hot bands in the vibrational spectra. Most vibrational frequency shifts with shock pressure reported in the literature have been extracted from inadequately resolved spectral bands fitted with single Gaussians. This paper shows that, in general, for polyatomic molecules, the effect of the hot bands is to push the centroid of the fitted Gaussian away from the frequency of the vibrational fundamental. The direction and magnitude of this effect requires knowledge of the anharmonic coupling coefficients (which are in all likelihood also pressure dependent). To completely characterize the intra- and intermolecular potentials, it is therefore necessary to use the highest spectral resolution possible, and to independently measure or calculate the pressure and temperature dependenc...
Detection of a New Microwave Spectral Line

AFTER the radioastronomical detection1 of helium in 1966 a programme to study the 109α transition of neutral helium was begun at the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and helium has now been detected in five sources (as will be described elsewhere). During the course of this work, however, unidentified microwave spectral emission has also been detected in the sources NGC 2024 and IC 1795. This communication describes the observed physical characteristics of this emission, considers its possible origins and suggests further observations to identify it. In the succeeding communication, Goldberg and Dupree argue that the new line is a recombination line of carbon I.
Stumbling Forward: The Organizational Challenges of Building and Sustaining Collaborative Watershed Management

This article examines the challenges of collaborative approaches to ecosystem management associated with the formation and maintenance of new institutions. Individuals who lead collaborative watershed partnerships must grapple not only with complex environmental issues, but also the more mundane—but no less critical—challenges associated with building and sustaining a new organization. The authors focus on the nexus of organizational development and ecosystem (i.e., watershed) management by examining in depth how one group, the Little Miami River Partnership (LMRP), experienced and responded to the challenges of creating a collaborative organization. Results shed light on the disproportionate role that organizational development, as compared to watershed planning, efforts can play in the day-to-day operations of a watershed group. By linking the results to prior research studies, the authors draw conclusions about when and why this disproportionate emphasis on organizational development occurs and implica...
Effect of glass fiber surface chemistry on the mechanical properties of glass fiber reinforced, rubber-toughened nylon 6

Abstract The mechanical properties of nylon 6 and its blends with maleated ethylene–propylene rubber (EPR-g-MA) plus glass fibers were examined as a function of the chemical functionality of the silane surface treatment applied to the glass fibers. Three reactive silane coupling agents, with anhydride, epoxy, or amine functionality, were used and found to have little effect on the mechanical properties when no EPR-g-MA is present. When 20 wt% EPR-g-MA is used as a rubber toughener, however, the yield strength and Izod impact strength were lowest for the amine functional silane and highest for the anhydride silane, while the epoxy silane fell in-between. These results were attributed to the differences in reactivity of the three reactive silanes. An unreactive silane (octyl groups) was used as a release agent on the glass fibers and compared with the anhydride functional silane. The octyl silane did not improve the ductility of the composite, as may have been speculated, and had poor yield strength and impact resistance when compared to the anhydride silane. Both octyl and anhydride treated glass fibers improve the heat distortion temperature such that most of the high temperature stiffness that is lost on addition of EPR-g-MA is regained by adding glass fibers.
Implicit and Explicit Use of the Strengths Perspective in Social Work Education

Most of the literature on the strengths perspective has addressed issues of practice; far less has been written about the role of the strengths perspective in social work education. Empirical studies have tended to focus on content analysis of texts and syllabi rather than data obtained directly from social work faculty. To address this gap, the author conducted a study of faculty teaching Master of Social Work foundation courses. Findings indicate that instructors vary in how implicitly or explicitly they use the strengths perspective, using a range of concepts to capture the notion of strengths. They consider the strengths perspective most useful as a mediator between theory and topic, serving a different function in different courses.
Effects of Enzyme Choice and Fractionation of Commercial Enzyme Preparations on Protein Recovery in Curd

Abstract Five different commercial milk clotting preparations (bovine rennet, calf rennet, calf rennet-porcine pepsin mixture, Mucor miebei protease, and modified Mucor miehei protease) were adjusted to equivalent milk clotting activities and then used to clot milk. Percentages of protein in the resulting wheys were compared. Calf rennet, bovine rennet, or modified Mucor miehei protease caused less loss of protein to the whey than Mucor miehei protease or calf rennet-porcine pepsin mixture. The five enzyme preparations were then fractionated by gel filtration. Fractions with milk clotting activity were pooled. Original enzyme preparations and the pooled fractions made from them were standardized to the same clotting activity, then used to coagulated milk to compare their effect on protein loss to the whey. Fractionation significantly improved protein recovery when bovine rennet and calf rennet-porcine pepsin mixture were used as coagulants but not when calf rennet, Mucor miehei protease, or modified Mucor miehei protease were used.
Calculation factors and reference values for quantitative lipoprotein electrophoresis in childhood.

Abstract Agarose gel electrophoresis of lipoproteins combined with quantitative densitometry (Lipidophor ®) and total cholesterol determination enables the calculation of α-, pre-β- and β-cholesterol. This method is quick, precise and requires less than 100 μl serum. The calculation factors originally derived from adults were re-evaluated and corrected for children. This was achieved by iterative calculation of the results obtained by quantitative densitometry and by enzymatic determination of the cholesterol contents in electrophoretically separated lipoprotein bands. Thus, calculation factors for children were obtained, which were used for the evaluation of reference values for α-, pre-β- and β-cholesterol and for the β/α-lipoprotein ratio based on a reference group of 575 healthy children of 5–18 years of age.
Seven Types of Distortion: A Taxonomy of Manipulative Techniques used in Charts and Graphs

Recent advances in graphing software and output devices have given new tools to graphic artists and have enabled writers and technicians to compose graphs that rival those of professional artists. The products of both professionals and novices suggest, however, that the users of such software either intend to distort data and manipulate their readers or that they do so out of ignorance. This article describes and illustrates seven types of distortion in graphs, explains the mechanisms of distortion, and recommends methods for the avoidance of distortion. The seven types include manipulations of scale ratios, of the second dimension, of the third dimension, of color, of composition, of symbolism, and of affect.
PS1-09: Public Opinion of Family History and Genetic Testing for Common Diseases: Results from Focus Groups with Kaiser Permanente Colorado Members

Background and Aims: With the advent of personalized medicine, consumers are routinely exposed to information about new gene discoveries, family history, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of genetic tests. Since 2008, the BRACAnalsysis® test for breast cancer risk has been steadily advertised directly to consumers in different markets across the US, and at least 3 companies now offer DTC genetic screening for $300 – $1000, with more companies entering this burgeoning market. The specific aims of this project are to: determine how individuals understand the issue of family history and DTC genetic tests, and to determine how individual perspectives about issue salience and issue frames differ by population group. Methods: As part of a CRN pilot project, focus groups were conducted with Kaiser Permanente Colorado members in 2009 to determine individual perspectives and public opinion about the importance and value of family history, DTC genetic testing, and DTC advertising and other media representations of DTC genetic tests. Focus groups were conducted by concordant population groups: General population KPCO members, members who self-identify as African American, members who self-identify as Hispanic/Latino, women with a recent referral for BRCA1/2 testing, KPCO primary care providers, and KPCO specialty care providers. Results: Results on focus group demographics, media use, trust in information, and most trusted information sources are presented. Additional results include coding focus group transcripts for value and polarity (positive/negative) of opinion on family history and genetic testing. Additional coding for how different population groups frame opinion on the issue (progressive, deterministic, caution) include results on whether frames are similar or different across population groups. Finally, information on the impact of media presentations on member opinion and decision-making were assessed. Conclusions: Individual opinions about the value of family history and genetic testing for disease risk vary greatly. Salience of themes related to genetic testing and DTC genetic tests specifically may vary across concordant population groups.
Toward a Progressive Macroeconomic Explanation of the Recession

How can progressive economics explain a business cycle? It is time to resurrect better ways to think about business cycles and therefore the policies that can mitigate them. In this piece, the eminent economist Howard Sherman basically provides a course in how to think about the business cycle, in particular this one.
Assessing Students' Accounting Knowledge: A Structural Approach.

Abstract This study explored a structural approach to assessing students' accounting knowledge. An “expertise” knowledge structure of basic financial accounting concepts was constructed, and students' knowledge structures of the same concepts were then compared with the “expertise” knowledge structure. Data were collected from respondents at a large public university to demonstrate the procedure and method of analysis. The procedure has the potential for providing accounting programs with valuable information regarding their students' knowledge after completing a course or program of study.