cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Disparities in Development

Welcome to this special issue, which is a product of the 6th Annual Sociology of Development Conference, “Disparities in Development,” hosted by the Sociology Department of Wayne State University in April 2018. This was an exceptionally engaging and productive forum, which addressed a wide range of development issues, broadened the intellectual discourse of our sub-discipline, and attracted new scholars from other disciplines as well as practitioners from outside academia. Participants from eight countries gave more than 125 presentations over the three-day event. There were six keynote talks, including an opening address by Saskia Sassen at …
Two new trypanosome species from East African cordylid lizards

Two species ofTrypanosoma are described from East African cordylid lizards.Trypanosoma zonuri n. sp. was found in a disjunct population ofCordylus cordylus on the western slope of Ngorongoro Crater in Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. It has the appearance of a delicate and fragile trypanosome, slightly over half the size of the robust, leaf-likeT. cordyli n. sp. that parasitisesCordylus t. tropidosternum in the Rondo Forest, Lindi Region, southern Tanzania. These are the first trypanosome species recorded from the saurian family Cordylidae in East Africa.
Are They Really Being Served? Assessing Effective Infrastructure Access and Quality in 15 Kenyan Cities

This paper proposes a framework that examines three levels of access to infrastructure -- nominal, effective, and quality-adjusted access. Most conventional indicators measure nominal access --whether a household has physical access to a service in or near the house. By contrast, effective access incorporates functionality and use of service, and quality-adjusted access raises the bar by incorporating quality metrics. The paper illustrates the analytical utility of this conceptual framework by deploying data from a survey of 14,200 households in 15 Kenyan cities in 2012-13. First, the analysis finds that these cities fall far short of delivering universal access to basic infrastructure. Second, for most services there a large gap -- 3 to 41 percentage points—between nominal and effective access. When the bar is raised to include quality of service, the drop-off in the proportion of those with access is even more dramatic. These findings suggest that conventional nominal measures overreport the level of service in urban communities, and that current approaches to infrastructure delivery might be enhancing availability of a service without ensuring that the service is usable -- that is, functional, reliable and affordable. Third, there is an infrastructure access gap between nonpoor and poor households, as well as formal and informal settlements. Fourth, hedonic regression analysis reveals that four services -- electricity, water, toilets, and garbage collection—are associated with higher rents. The analysis has broader implications for understanding and measuring service access. It raises important questions as global discussions turn to indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals.
A large-area Sagnac interferometer using atoms in a time-orbiting potential

We describe an implementation of a Sagnac interferometer using a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a harmonic time-orbiting potential trap. Atoms are manipulated using Bragg laser beams to produce two reciprocal interferometers, providing common-mode rejection of accelerations, trap fluctuations, and most other effects. The Sagnac rotation phase is differential. The orbit of the atoms is nearly circular, with an effective Sagnac area of about 0.5 mm2.
Performance Degradation Due to Nonlocal Heating Effects in Resistive ReRAM Memory Arrays

Frequent switching of resistive memory cell may lead to a local accumulation of Joules heat in the device. Since the ReRAM cells are arranged in crossbar arrays with the two electrodes running perpendicular to each other, the heat generated in one device spreads via common electrode metal lines to the neighboring cells causing their performance degradation. Also cells that do not share any of the two electrodes (e.g. the diagonal array cells) with the hot device may also degrade provided the intermediate cells are set to an on-state establishing thus a continuous thermal conduction path between the heated and the probed device. It is found that the heat conduction along the active Cu electrode is more pronounced than that along the inert Pt electrode. Devices with Rh inert electrode performed better than those with Pt electrode due to better heat conductivity properties of Rh vs Pt. The heat dissipation is also found worse for a heated device with narrow and thin lines causing, however less degradation of more distant neighbor cells than for wide and thick metal lines. Finally, there is a trade-off between dissipating the heat quickly form the heated device to increase its maximum switching cycles and the heat exposure of the neighboring devices.
Surface potentials of metal–gas interfaces compared with analogous electrochemical systems as probed by adsorbate vibrational frequencies

The dependence of adsorbate vibrational frequencies on the surface potential, φ (“Stark-tuning” effect), observed in electrochemical systems is exploited for the same metal surfaces in contact with ambient-pressure gases so to estimate φ values in the latter environment. Saturated CO adlayers on palladium and platinum films are examined along these lines by using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to obtain frequencies for both the C–O (νCO) and metal–carbon stretching (νM--CO) vibrations in CO-containing aqueous electrochemical and gaseous environments. The effective gas-phase surface potentials extracted by matching the vibrational frequencies with the corresponding potential-dependent electrochemical spectra are substantially (ca. 1–1.5 V) lower than the work functions for such interfaces under “clean” (ultrahigh vacuum) conditions. These disparities are ascribed to the occurrence of electrochemical-like redox half-reactions in the ambient-pressure gas-phase environment, leading to surface charging, and, hence, marked alterations in the surface potential as controlled by potential-dependent redox kinetics. The possible implications of these and related findings to ambient-pressure adsorption and catalysis are discussed.
Decision-Making in Complex Dynamical Systems of Systems With One Opposing Subsystem

Many complex dynamical systems consist of a large number of interacting subsystems that operate harmoniously and make decisions that are designed for the benefit of the entire enterprise. If, in an attempt to disrupt the operation of the entire system, one subsystem gets attacked and is made to operate in a manner that is adversarial with the others, then the entire system suffers, resulting in an adversarial decision-making environment among its subsystems. Such an environment may affect not only the decision-making process of the attacked subsystem but also possibly the other remaining subsystems as well. The disruption caused by the attacked subsystem may cause the remaining subsystems to either coalesce as a unified team making team-based decisions, or disintegrate and act as independent decision-making entities. The decision-making process in these types of complex systems of systems is best analyzed within the general framework of cooperative and non-cooperative game theory. In this paper, we will develop an analysis that provides a theoretical basis for modeling the decision-making process in such complex systems. We show how cooperation among the subsystems can produce Noninferior Nash Strategies (NNS) that are fair and acceptable to all subsystems within the team while at the same time provide the subsystems in the team with the security of the Nash equilibrium against the opposing attacked subsystem. We contrast these strategies with the all Nash Strategies (NS) that would result if the operation of the entire system disintegrated and became adversarial among all subsystems as a result of the attack. An example of a system consisting of three subsystems with one opposing subsystem as a result of an attack is included to illustrate the results.
Improved Hepatitis C Cure Cascade Outcomes Among Urban Baby Boomers in the Direct-Acting Antiviral Era.

Objectives:We compared outcomes of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) cure cascade (ie, the path a patient follows from diagnosis to cure), including antiviral treatment outcomes, from 2 HCV screening pro...
Attention Neural Networks for Pan-Tilt-Zoom Control with Active Hand-Off

Communities of cooperating robots would be highly advantaged by the ability to focus the attention of better placed robots upon activities tagged as important by other robots. Neural network and deep learning methods are increasingly applied to attention based steering of cameras and other sensor arrays resident on robots. a hand-off of focus of attention requires that one robot communicate to other robots system state information. The specific state information that needs to be communicated can be difficult to determine in many empirically tuned neural deep learning systems. In this paper, we will propose a method for cleanly transferring focus of attention across physically disjoint deep network based motion trackers. The method has been constructed to have explicit and understandable hand-off capabilities to support tracking of an object of interest across an array of sensors each resident on a disjoint robot or other autonomous agent acting as a community. We will additionally provide an experimental analysis of system efficacy and a discussion of possible future work and the long-term implications of the observed results.
Information Management: The Role of Information Technology in Treaty Verification

Arms control treaties rely on extensive collection, processing and analysis of data to ascertain compliance with treaty obligations. Monitoring and evaluation relies on a broad range of technologies for sensing, communications and processing to collect, transmit and analyze the data necessary to detect non-compliance. The effectiveness of a treaty verification system depends on the ability of the information management system to collect and evaluate the information necessary to ascertain compliance with the treaty obligations. The information management systems for treaty verification have the same architecture because they are similar in concept and operation. They collect, transmit, store, process and analyze data. The effectiveness of each of these operations is a function of the capabilities of the associated technology. This chapter presents an overview of the technologies available for use in each of the elements of a treaty information management system. In sensing, these range from low frequency seismic sensors to multispectral and hyperspectral imaging. Data can be transmitted in the order of hundreds of Gigabits per second through fiber optic cables for terrestrial communications and tens of Megabits per second for satellite channels, while available technologies allow for storing petabytes of data and processing speeds of tens of Gigabytes per second. These capabilities are more than sufficient to collect the necessary data for use in sophisticated analysis algorithms for detecting treaty violations.
Matters of State: Examining the effectiveness of lane departure warnings as a function of driver distraction

Abstract Lane departure warnings (LDW) have the potential to mitigate a significant number of lane departure crashes. Such safety benefits have yet been realized, in part due to drivers deactivating LDW systems. Perceived false alarms—where drivers receive a warning but feel the warning was unnecessary or incorrect—could lead to system disuse. In part, this could be a failure of LDW systems to account for the state of the driver. The current study investigated whether LDWs were more effective for drivers when they were distracted compared to when they were undistracted, using a high-fidelity driving simulator. During distracted lane departures, drivers with LDW responded faster and had less severe lane departures than drivers without LDW. During undistracted lane departures, there was no evidence of a benefit of LDW over no warning. These results suggest that lane departure warnings are most effective when drivers are distracted. This study suggests a need for driver state monitoring systems to enable adaptive automation.
Quality assurance and harmonization for targeted biomonitoring measurements of environmental organic chemicals across the Children's Health Exposure Analysis Resource laboratory network

Abstract A consortium of laboratories established under the Children's Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) used a multifaceted quality assurance program to promote measurement harmonization for trace organics analyses of human biospecimens that included: (1) participation in external quality assurance (EQA)/proficiency testing (PT) programs; (2) analyses of a urine-based CHEAR common quality control (QC) pool with each analytical batch across all participating laboratories; (3) method validation against NIST Standard Reference Materials® (SRMs); and (4) analyses of blinded duplicates and other project-specific QC samples. The capability of five CHEAR laboratories in organic chemical analysis increased across the 4-year period, and performance in the external PT program improved over time – recent challenges reporting >90% analytes with satisfactory performance. The CHEAR QC pools were analyzed for several classes of organic chemicals including phthalate metabolites and environmental phenols by the participating laboratories with every batch of project samples, which provided a rich source of measurement data for the assessment of intra- and inter-laboratory variance. Within-laboratory and overall variabilities in measurements across laboratories were calculated for target chemicals in urine QC pools; the coefficient of variation (CV) was generally below 25% across batches, studies and laboratories and indicated acceptable analytical imprecision. The suite of organic chemicals analyzed in the CHEAR QC pool was broader than those reported for commercially available reference materials. The accuracy of each of the laboratories' methods was verified through the analysis of several NIST SRMs and was, for example, 97 ± 5.2% for environmental phenols and 95 ± 11% for phthalates. Analysis of blinded duplicate samples showed excellent agreement and reliability of measurements. The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for phthalate metabolites analyzed in various batches across three CHEAR laboratories showed excellent reliability (typically >0.90). Overall, the multifaceted quality assurance protocols followed among the CHEAR laboratories ensured reliable and reproducible data quality for several classes of organic chemicals. Increased participation in external PT programs through inclusion of additional target analytes will further enhance the confidence in data quality.
Enhancing the anticancer activity of paclitaxel through cyclin-dependent kinase inhibition

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004 5434 To develop strategies to enhance taxane-based therapies, we investigated the effects of cell cycle modulation on taxane efficacy. We and others have previously demonstrated that administration of paclitaxel followed by the cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitor flavopiridol was synergistic. In that sequence, flavopiridol treatment resulted in an attenuation of paclitaxel-induced Cyclin B levels. We therefore hypothesized that an accelerated exit from taxane-induced M-phase arrest, via inhibition of the Cyclin B-Cdk1 complex, increases the anticancer activity of taxanes. Since flavopiridol has multiple targets beyond cdk inhibition that could account for the observed synergy, the selective cdk inhibitors roscovitine (ROS) and olomoucine (OLO) were employed in combination with paclitaxel to test this hypothesis. A549 cells were treated with 10nM paclitaxel for 24h and mitotic cells were collected and plated for colony formation assays. Cells were then treated with either ROS (1uM or 10uM) or OLO (50uM or 100uM) for 24h, or left without further treatment. Treatment with either agent resulted in significantly decreased colony formation compared to paclitaxel-only controls. ROS (10uM) decreased colony formation by over 40% (p<0.01) and OLO (100uM) by over 75% (p<0.001). A second set of experiments was conducted to determine whether mitotic cells are more sensitive than non-mitotic cells to the effects of flavopiridol in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. After paclitaxel treatment, mitotic and non-mitotic cells were separated and plated at equal densities. Half of the plates were subsequently treated with flavopiridol (200nM, 24h). In contrast to expectations, the mitotic fraction of paclitaxel-treated cells was over four times more viable than the non-mitotic fraction. However, flavopiridol treatment resulted in a 40% reduction in colony formation in the mitotic fraction (p<0.01) but had no significant effect on the non-mitotic fraction. Taken together, these data are supportive of our hypothesis that accelerated exit from taxane-induced M-phase arrest increases the anticancer activity of taxanes. It remains to be demonstrated whether Cdk1 inhibition results in a premature exit from M-phase, and if this exit is causative of the increased cell death. Further work will be conducted to determine the nature of the increased cytotoxicity (ie, apoptosis versus post-replicative cell death). (Supported by: ACS IRG 95-125-04 and UCD HSRA)
Have you no shame? Infrahumanization of promiscuous sexual assault victims as moderated by dispositional and situational Just World orientation

Among the many consequences stigmatized individuals face, infrahumanization (e.g., a subtle form of dehumanization) may be another novel consequence. We used experimental and quasi-experimental methods to examine whether victims of sexual assault (a stigmatized group) are infrahumanized, with the prediction that victims perceived as being sexually promiscuous will be infrahumanized more than sexually conservative ones. We predicted that, given prior work on the topic, individuals with a strong belief in a just world orientation would be most likely to show this effect. In three studies we show that promiscuous victims are infrahumanized relative to conservative victims (Study 1), this is moderated by dispositional belief in a just world orientation (Study 2), and the same effect occurs when we experimentally manipulate belief in a just world orientation (Study 3). We discuss these findings in terms of the relationship between stigma, dehumanization, and system justifying ideologies; that individuals who have a tendency to have a strong belief in a just world orientation or can be made to have such an orientation judge promiscuous victims as more to blame for their actions than is of particular importance for understanding not only the legal system but for the field of psychology more generally.
A size-sensitive discrepancy bound for set systems of bounded primal shatter dimension

Let (X, S) be a set system on an n-point set X. The discrepancy of S is defined as the minimum of the largest deviation from an even split, over all subsets of S e S and two-colorings χ on X. We consider the scenario where, for any subset X' ⊆ X of size m ≤ n and for any parameter 1 ≤ k ≤ m, the number of restrictions of the sets of S to X' of size at most k is only O(md1kd-d1), for fixed integers d > 0 and 1 ≤ d1 ≤ d (this generalizes the standard notion of bounded primal shatter dimension when d1 = d). In this case we show that there exists a coloring χ with discrepancy bound O*(|S|1/2-d1/(2d)n(d1-1)/(2d)), for each S e S, where O*(·) hides a polylogarithmic factor in n. This bound is tight up to a polylogarithmic factor [21, 23] and the corresponding coloring χ can be computed in expected polynomial time using the very recent machinery of Lovett and Meka for constructive discrepancy minimization [20]. Our bound improves and generalizes the bounds obtained from the machinery of Har-Peled and Sharir [15] (and the follow-up work in [27]) for points and halfspaces in d-space for d ≥ 3. Last but not least, we show that our bound yields improved bounds for the size of relative (e, δ)-approximations for set systems of the above kind.
Chapter 14 Motor unit number estimation: new techniques and new uses

Publisher Summary Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) is a unique clinical neurophysiologic technique that provides quantitative information on the number of motor units innervating a muscle and on the size of individual motor units. MUNE is based on determining the size of an average surface-recorded single motor unit (S-MUP) and dividing that value into the maximal compound muscle action potential. A number of different MUNE techniques have been developed, each with specific advantages. This chapter discusses the principles of MUNE, several of the established techniques, and recent modifications and how they have been used to answer clinical questions. MUNE techniques differ in how S-MUPs are obtained, and selection of a MUNE technique is influenced by equipment availability, clinical experience, and study objectives. Incremental stimulation MUNE technique is the original MUNE technique, and it is it is based on applying incremental increases in nerve stimulation intensity to generate an envelope of evoked responses. Its modification uses an automated template subtraction technique where every subtracted waveform is compared to determine if any waveform appeared more than once.
Theorizing the Crusades: Identity, Institutions, and Religious War in Medieval Latin Christendom

The “crusades”—a series of wars launched by the Latin Church between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries—pose a significant unresolved puzzle for International Relations Theory. The purpose of this article is to develop a historically sensitive yet theoretically governed account of the crusades that solves this puzzle. Empirically, the article draws heavily on a body of historiographical work that emphasizes the constitutive role of “religious” ideas and discourses in the evolution of the crusades. Theoretically, it adopts a constructivist approach, specifying the intersubjective factors that enabled the crusades to emerge as a significant instrument of papal “statecraft” and as a key element of medieval geopolitical relations. The article concludes with some reflections on the theoretical relevance of this account of the crusades for both medieval geopolitics and contemporary international relations.
Chapter 3 Oxidation of fatty acids

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the oxidation of fatty acids, the pathway of β-oxidation, , β-oxidation in mitochondria and its regulation, β-oxidation in peroxisomes, fatty acid oxidation in E.coli, and inherited diseases of fatty acid oxidation. The recognition that animal cells contain two β-oxidation systems, and the reports of new inherited disorders of fatty acid oxidation have expanded the list of unresolved problems; however, progress toward this goal requires the complete structural and functional characterization of the carnitine-dependent uptake system by which fatty acids enter liver mitochondria. Because less is known about the regulation of fatty acid oxidation in extrahepatic tissues more needs to be done. Although, the studies of inherited disorders of fatty acid oxidation have provided some important answers, they have generated even more questions, for example, questions have emerged about the number of β-oxidation enzymes that catalyze the same reaction but differ in their chain length specificities. Even today, not all steps of the lengthy pathway of β-oxidation, from a long-chain fatty acid to acetyl- coenzyme A (CoA), have been experimentally verified.
CCR2-Dependent Dendritic Cell Accumulation in the Central Nervous System during Early Effector Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Is Essential for Effector T Cell Restimulation In Situ and Disease Progression

Dendritic cells (DCs)--although absent from the healthy CNS parenchyma--rapidly accumulate within brain and spinal cord tissue during neuroinflammation associated with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE; a mouse model of multiple sclerosis). Yet, although DCs have been appreciated for their role in initiating adaptive immune responses in peripheral lymphoid organ tissues, how DCs infiltrate the CNS and contribute to ongoing neuroinflammation in situ is poorly understood. In this study, we report the following: 1) CD11c(+) bone marrow-derived DCs and CNS-infiltrating DCs express chemokine receptor CCR2; 2) compared with CCR2(+/+) cells, adoptively transferred CCR2(-/-) bone marrow-derived DCs or DC precursors do not accumulate in the CNS during EAE, despite abundance in blood; 3) CCR2(-/-) DCs show less accumulation in the inflamed CNS in mixed bone marrow chimeras, when compared with CCR2(+/+) DCs; and 4) ablation of CCR2(+/+) DCs during EAE clinical onset delays progression and attenuates cytokine production by infiltrating T cells. Whereas the role of CCR2 in monocyte migration into the CNS has been implicated previously, the role of CCR2 in DC infiltration into the CNS has never been directly addressed. Our data suggest that CCR2-dependent DC recruitment to the CNS during ongoing neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in effector T cell cytokine production and disease progression, and signify that CNS-DCs and circulating DC precursors might be key therapeutic targets for suppressing ongoing neuroinflammation in CNS autoimmune diseases.
A Comprehensive Investigation of HCl ‐ and Br2 / NH 3 ( aq ) ‐ Etched p ‐ InP Interfaces

La composition chimique et physique d'une electrode de p-InP obtenue par attaque avec HCl et B(2)NH 3 (aq.) est etudiee par microscopie electronique a balayage et par spectrometrie photoelectron RX, ainsi que par la mesure de capacites electriques et de tension photoelectrique
Congruence in Native and Nonnative Conversations: Status Balance in the Academic Advising Session *

This paper examines the notion of status in institutional discourse and identifies congruence as a factor in determining the success of native speaker (NS) and nonnative speaker (NNS) interactions in that context. Thirty-two academic advising sessions between faculty advisors and both native and highly proficient nonnative graduate students were examined. Whereas both NSs and NNSs show variable success in negotiating noncongruent (status-challenging) speech acts such as suggestions, NNSs are generally less successful because of the absence of status-preserving strategies that minimize the force of noncongruent speech acts. These strategies allow students to take out-of-status turns without jeopardizing their relationship with their advisors. Because of the advanced level of the NNSs, lack of success is not attributable to lack of linguistic competence but to lack of context-specific pragmatic competence involving the use, kind, and number of status-preserving strategies as well as the content and form appropriate for noncongruent speech acts.
High speed all optical logic gates based on InAs/GaAs quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

A scheme to realize fiber-based all-optical Boolean logic functions including XOR, AND, OR and NOT based on a semiconductor optical amplifier with a closely stacked Stranski-Krastanow InAs/GaAs quantum dot layers is proposed. Rate equations is given to describe the population dynamics of the carrier in the device, as well as the nonlinear dynamics including carrier heating and spectral hole-burning. The model is used to simulated the cross gain and cross phase modulation in the device that are related to the logic processes. Results show with QD excited state serving as a carrier reservoir, this type of QD device is suitable for high speed operations with ultra fast carrier and phase relaxation. All optical logic operation can be carried out at up to 250 Gb/s.
Combination Vaccines: Choices or Chaos? A Practitioner's Perspective

Combination vaccines are necessary and important for the continuing success of our immunization program, especially when more vaccines are added to the already crowded immunization schedule. However, the multiplicity of competing vaccine products, with various overlapping antigen menu and subtle immunologic differences, may be confusing to the busy practitioner. The cost-effectiveness of the use of combination vaccines will depend on a number of factors, including fair and competitive pricing, appropriate reimbursement for vaccine administration fees, and critical economic algorithms for vaccine selection and purchase.
Carbon and nitrogen mineralization from cowpea plants part decomposing in moist and in repeatedly dried and wetted soil

from 46% of initial plant N in moist -oil to 29% in repeatedly dried and wetted soil at 68 days. Carbon and N mineralization from cowpea were linearly related after an initial phase of rapid C loss. With repeated drying and wetting, a greater amount of N remained in undecomposed plant material, that was retrieved periodically during incubation. Repeated drying and wetting of the soil appeared to increase the resistance of certain N compounds of the plant to microbial decomposition. Further, repeated drying and wetting of the soil severely inhibited growth and/or activity of nitrifiers. Periodic drying of the soil as occurs in the field will reduce N mineralization from legume green manures compared to the decomposition in continuously moist soil, but may contribute to long-term N fertility by increasing soil organic N content.
Priority issues concerning HIV infection among women.

Abstract During the last decade, the enormous impact the global HIV epidemic was having on women’s health was fully recognized. However, this recognition has not wholly extended to the domestic setting; in much of the United States, the dominant focus remains on HIV infection among men who have sex with men. The relatively low prevalence of HIV infection among U.S. women (a huge population group) versus men who have sex with men and injection drug users (much smaller groups) contributes to the perception that HIV is not a major domestic women’s health consideration.
A comparison of three personality disorder assessment approaches

Three approaches to the assessment of DSM-III personality disorders are compared by examining the manner in which interrelationships between disorders are portrayed by the different techniques. Although a fair degree of convergence was noted among the three techniques, several differences were also observed. These comparisons, particularly the noted contrasts, have implications for future researchers using these techniques.
The Radiation of a High Energy Electron in a Constant Magnetic Field

The quantum-mechanical radiation formula for an electron in a constant magnetic field---rigorous within the approximation of the first power of the fine structure constant---is derived. With it, the quantum effects for energies ${E}_{\mathrm{Bev}}l4(\frac{{10}^{4}}{{H}_{\mathrm{gauss}}})$ are analyzed and their importance assessed. The electron and the photon severally are subject to fluctuations which produce effects that are quite significant relative to the difference between the velocity of light and that of the electron, the decisive quantity at high energies. The net result however is that they are inconsequential in the domain investigated and that in its radiative aspects the system behaves---for all practical purposes---classically.
Developmental and comparative aspects of posterior medial thalamocortical innervation of the barrel cortex in mice and rats

The thalamocortical projection to the rodent barrel cortex consists of inputs from the ventral posterior medial (VPM) and posterior medial (POm) nuclei that terminate in largely nonoverlapping territories in and outside of layer IV. This projection in both rats and mice has been used extensively to study development and plasticity of highly organized synaptic circuits. Whereas the VPM pathway has been well characterized in both rats and mice, organization of the POm pathway has only been described in rats, and no studies have focused exclusively on the development of the POm projection. Here, using transport of Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin(PHA-L) or carbocyanine dyes, we characterize the POm thalamocortical innervation of adult mouse barrel cortex and describe its early postnatal development in both mice and rats. In adult mice, POm inputs form a dense plexus in layer Va that extends uniformly underneath layer IV barrels and septa. Innervation of layer IV is very sparse; a clear septal innervation pattern is evident only at the layer IV/Va border. This pattern differs subtly from that described previously in rats. Developmentally, in both species, POm axons are present in barrel cortex at birth. In mice, they occupy layer IV as it differentiates, whereas in rats, POm axons do not enter layer IV until 1-2 days after its emergence from the cortical plate. In both species, arbors undergo progressive and directed growth. However, no layer IV septal innervation pattern emerges until several days after the cytoarchitectonic appearance of barrels and well after the emergence of whisker-related clusters of VPM thalamocortical axons. The mature pattern resolves earlier in rats than in mice. Taken together, these data reveal anatomical differences between mice and rats in the development and organization of POm inputs to barrel cortex, with implications for species differences in the nature and plasticity of lemniscal and paralemniscal information processing.
Coulomb stress interactions among M ≥ 5.9 earthquakes in the Gorda deformation zone and on the Mendocino Fault Zone, Cascadia subduction zone, and northern San Andreas Fault

[1] The Gorda deformation zone, a 50,000 km2 area of diffuse shear and rotation offshore northernmost California, has been the site of 20 M ≥ 5.9 earthquakes on four different fault orientations since 1976, including four M ≥ 7 shocks. This is the highest rate of large earthquakes in the contiguous United States. We calculate that the source faults of six recent M ≥ 5.9 earthquakes had experienced ≥0.6 bar Coulomb stress increases imparted by earthquakes that struck less than 9 months beforehand. Control tests indicate that ≥0.6 bar Coulomb stress interactions between M ≥ 5.9 earthquakes separated by <9 months are unlikely to occur by random chance, suggesting that the multiple short-term stress interactions observed among the recent Gorda zone earthquakes are not an apparent effect. In all well-constrained ≥0.2 bar Coulomb stress interactions between earthquakes that occurred within 4 years of each other, the second earthquake is promoted. On longer timescales, calculated stress changes imparted by the 1980 Mw = 7.3 Trinidad earthquake are consistent with the locations of M ≥ 5.9 earthquakes in the Gorda zone until at least 1995, as well as earthquakes on the Mendocino Fault Zone in 1994 and 2000. Coulomb stress changes imparted by the 1980 earthquake are also consistent with its distinct elbow-shaped aftershock pattern. From these observations, we derive generalized static stress interactions among right-lateral, left-lateral and thrust faults near triple junctions.
READ MY TIPS

John Mullins has long been associated with the world of entrepreneurship. What are his favourite books on the subject? Here are 10 that he selected if you'd like a start-up plan for upgrading your entrepreneurial library.
A review of aquatic weed biology and management research conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service

Ever-increasing demand for water to irrigate crops, support aquaculture, provide domestic water needs and to protect natural aquatic and riparian habitats has necessitated research to reduce impacts from a parallel increase in invasive aquatic weeds. This paper reviews the past 4-5 years of research by USDA-ARS covering such areas as weed biology, ecology, physiology and management strategies, including herbicides, biological control and potential for use of natural products. Research approaches range from field-level studies to highly specific molecular and biochemical work, spanning several disciplines and encompassing the most problematic weeds in these systems. This research has led to new insights into plant competition, host-specificity, and the fate of aquatic herbicides, their modes of action and effects on the environment. Another hallmark of USDA-ARS research has been its many collaborations with other federal, state action and regulatory agencies and private industry to develop new solutions to aquatic weed problems that affect our public natural resources and commercial enterprises.
ACE inhibition is effective and renoprotective in hypertensive nephrosclerosis: The African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) trial

ACE inhibition is effective and renoprotective in hypertensive nephrosclerosis: The African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) trial. An interim analysis of the AASK trial at three years demonstrates a renoprotective effect [slower decline in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), delayed onset of significant decrease in GFR, end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or death, and a decrease in urinary protein excretion] of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, ramipril, as compared to the dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (DHP-CCB), amlodipine, in patients with mild-to-moderate renal insufficiency. The beneficial effect occurred in the presence of similar levels of blood pressure control and was apparent in patients with proteinuric (beyond the threshold of "dipstick positive" proteinuria, 300 mg/day) and non-proteinuric hypertensive nephrosclerosis. At the time of the interim analysis, the effectiveness of the beta-blocker metoprolol was not significantly different from that of the ACE inhibitor. The data suggest that DHP-CCBs should be used with caution in the presence of mild-to-moderate renal insufficiency.
Denial and the Discrepancy between Heart Rate and Reported Negative Affect: A Study of Convergent and Discriminant Validity

This study examined the convergent and divergent validity of heart-rate (HR)-based response discrepancy scores as measures of denial. After standardizing measures of stressor-related anxiety, hostility, and HR, response discrepancy scores were calculated by subtracting each measure of negative affect from the HR value. Analyses revealed the response discrepancy scores to correlate positively with measures of denial, negatively with a measure of trait anger, and to not correlate with measures of the nondefensive need for approval and the positive trait of curiosity. These findings support the construct validity of response discrepancy scores as markers of denial.
Operating system issues for petascale systems

Petascale supercomputers will be available by 2008. The largest machine of these complex leadership-class machines will probably have nearly 250K CPUs. These massively parallel systems have a number of challenging operating system issues. In this paper, we focus on the issues most important for the system that will first breach the petaflop barrier: synchronization and collective operations, parallel I/O, and fault tolerance.
Experimental implementation of the modified independent modal space control method

An experimental realization of a modified independent modal space control (MIMSC) method to control the vibration of a flexible cantilevered beam is presented. In its operation the method relies on the use of one piezoelectric actuator to control several vibration modes through a time-sharing strategy. The effectiveness of the MIMSC method in damping out the beam vibration is demonstrated by comparing the results with those obtained by other modal control methods. Two methods are considered, the independent modal space control method and the pseudo-inverse method. The feasibility of the MIMSC method as a viable alternative for controlling large flexible structures with a very small number of actuators is emphasized.
A monoclonal antibody‐based immunoassay for the detection of ceftiofur in milk

Ceftiofur is a potent antibiotic used in veterinary medicine. Recently, we developed a sensitive, monoclonal antibody‐based competition ELISA for detecting ceftiofur. In lactating dairy cattle, ceftiofur is used for the treatment of pneumonia. We report here the application of our previously developed ELISA to the analysis of ceftiofur and its metabolites in milk. In this ELISA, raw milk is simply diluted and added directly into the ELISA. Using ceftiofur standards, the immunoassay has a lower limit of detection near 1 ppb. Matrix effects in milk, however, require that samples be diluted and thus ceftiofur levels below 1 ppm were not measured. At fortification levels between 25 and 2 ppm, an average recovery of 99.8 ±18 was observed. Analysis of incurred residues in animals injected daily with therapeutic doses of drug for 5 consecutive days correlated well with studies by others measuring total l4C‐Ceftiofur residues in animals given the same dose and regime. High‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)...
Corporate Governance: Some Theory and Implications

A. Why Corporate Governance Does not Matter in the Absence of Agency Problems In the absence of agency problems, all individuals associated with an organisation can be instructed to maximise profit or net market value or to minimise costs. Individuals will be prepared to carry out their instructions since they do not care per se about the outcome of the organisation's activities. Effort and other types of costs can be reimbursed directly and so incentives are not required to motivate people. Also no governance structure is required to resolve disagreements, since there are none. The above describes the situation assumed to hold in the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. It is no surprise then that it is often said that this theory treats the firm as a ' black box' — that is, the theory predicts how the firm's production plan varies with input and output prices, but says nothing about how this production plan comes about.
Identifying factors influencing flood mitigation at the local level in Texas and Florida: the role of organizational capacity

In the United States, mitigating the adverse impacts of flooding has increasingly become the responsibility of local decision makers. Despite the importance of understanding why flood mitigation techniques are implemented at the local level, few empirical studies have been conducted over the last decade. Our study addresses this lack of research by examining the factors influencing local communities to adopt both structural and non-structural flood mitigation strategies. We use statistical models to predict multiple flood mitigation techniques implemented by cities and counties based on a survey of floodplain administrators and planning officials across Texas and Florida. Particular attention is paid to the role of organizational capacity to address floods in addition to various local geophysical and socioeconomic characteristics. Results indicate that organizational capacity is a significant factor contributing to the implementation of both structural and non-structural flood mitigation techniques, even when controlling for contextual characteristics.
Spiral swimming of an artificial micro-swimmer

A device constructed from a filament of paramagnetic beads connected to a human red blood cell will swim when subject to an oscillating magnetic field. Bending waves propagate from the tip of the tail toward the red blood cell in a fashion analogous to flagellum beating, making the artificial swimmer a candidate for studying what has been referred to as ‘flexible oar’ micro-swimming. In this study, we demonstrate that under the influence of a rotating field the artificial swimmer will perform ‘corkscrew’-type swimming. We conduct numerical simulations of the swimmer where the paramagnetic tail is represented as a series of rigid spheres connected by flexible but inextensible links. An optimal range of parameters governing the relative strength of viscous, elastic and magnetic forces is identified for swimming speed. A parameterization of the motion is extracted and examined as a function of the driving frequency. With a continuous elastica/resistive force model, we obtain an expression for the swimming speed in the low-frequency limit. Using this expression we explore further the effects of the applied field, the ratio of the transverse field to the constant field, and the ratio of the radius of the sphere to the length of the filament tail on the resulting dynamics.
Some recent developments in the homogeneous catalyzed hydrogenation of olefins

It has been found that the amount of double bond isomerization accompanying homogeneous olefin hydrogenations over tris (triphenylphosphinechlororhodium is markedly influenced both by the duration of hydrogen presaturation of the catalyst and the presence of oxygen in the reaction mixture. These results are compared to those obtained over a heterogeneous catalyst, 5% rhodium on chareoal.
Effect of growth hormone on urinary 17-ketosteroids in childhood.

Abstract Studies of the urinary 17-ketosteroids of eight growth hormone-deficient prepubertal children disclosed levels much lower than those of normal subjects of similar age. After 2 yr of growth hormone administration, both C 19 O 2 and C 19 O 3 androgen metabolites increased substantially in all subjects, but urinary corticoid levels had not increased proportionately. Androsterone levels demonstrated the most significant increase. 17-KS excretion in response to ACTH was increased after growth hormone therapy, although the corticoid response was not proportionately augmented. Growth hormone is proposed as one factor responsible for the increasing androgen secretion that characterizes the maturing childhood adrenal.
Effects of cardiac administration of bradykinin on thoracic spinal neurons in the cat

Abstract Extracellular action potentials were recorded from single cells located in gray matter of the T2 to T4 spinal segments in chloralose-anesthetized cats. Bradykinin either was injected indirectly into the coronary circulation and the heart via a cannula placed in the left atrium or was applied directly to the epicardium. Bradykinin excited 26 of 56 cells after a latency of 11 ± 1 s and inhibited two cells. Ten of eighteen cells demonstrated tachyphylaxis to repeated injections of bradykinin; the other eight cells were excited similarly to successive injections. All cells in this study received visceral and somatic inputs and were found in laminae I through VIII with a majority located in laminae V and VII. A noxious pinch applied to the somatic receptive fields was required to excite 94% of the cells (high-threshold cells), and hair movement and touch as well as pinch excited the other 6% of the cells (wide dynamic range cells). The results demonstrated that bradykinin excited cardiac receptors whose afferent fibers influenced the activity of spinal neurons. Because convergence of visceral and somatic inputs onto the same neurons provides a basis for referred pain and bradykinin is an algesic substance, these cells could potentially be involved in pain sensation and cardiovascular adjustments associated with angina pectoris.