cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A New, Computationally Efficient “Blech Criterion” for Immortality in General Interconnects

Traditional methodologies for analyzing electromigration (EM) in VLSI circuits first filter immortal wires using Blech’s criterion, and then perform detailed EM analysis on the remaining wires. However, Blech’s criterion was designed for two-terminal wires and does not extend to general structures. This paper demonstrates a first-principles-based solution technique for determining the steady-state stress at all the nodes of a general interconnect structure, and develops an immortality test whose complexity is linear in the number of edges of an interconnect structure. The proposed model is applied to a variety of structures. The method is shown to match well with results from numerical solvers, to be scalable to large structures.
Medium Access using Distributed Reinforcement Learning for IoTs with Low-Complexity Wireless Transceivers

This paper proposes a distributed Reinforcement Learning (RL) based framework that can be used for synthesizing MAC layer wireless protocols in IoT networks with low-complexity wireless transceivers. The proposed framework does not rely on complex hardware capabilities such as carrier sensing and its associated algorithmic complexities that are often not supported in wireless transceivers of low-cost and low-energy IoT devices. In this framework, the access protocols are first formulated as Markov Decision Processes (MDP) and then solved using RL. A distributed and multi-Agent RL framework is used as the basis for protocol synthesis. Distributed behavior makes the nodes independently learn optimal transmission strategies without having to rely on full network level information and direct knowledge of the other nodes’ behavior. The nodes learn to minimize packet collisions such that optimal throughput can be attained and maintained for loading conditions that are higher than what the known benchmark protocols (such as ALOHA) for IoT devices without complex transceivers. In addition, the nodes are observed to be able to learn to act optimally in the presence of heterogeneous loading and network topological conditions. Finally, the proposed learning approach allows the wireless bandwidth to be fairly distributed among network nodes in a way that is not dependent on such heterogeneities. Via simulation experiments, the paper demonstrates the performance of the learning paradigm and its abilities to make nodes adapt their optimal transmission strategies on the fly in response to various network dynamics.
Improving Compositionality of Neural Networks by Decoding Representations to Inputs

In traditional software programs, we take for granted how easy it is to debug code by tracing program logic from variables back to input, apply unit tests and assertion statements to block erroneous behavior, and compose programs together. But as the programs we write grow more complex, it becomes hard to apply traditional software to applications like computer vision or natural language. Although deep learning programs have demonstrated strong performance on these applications, they sacrifice many of the functionalities of traditional software programs. In this paper, we work towards bridging the benefits of traditional and deep learning programs by jointly training a generative model to constrain neural network activations to "decode" back to inputs. Doing so enables practitioners to probe and track information encoded in activation(s), apply assertion-like constraints on what information is encoded in an activation, and compose separate neural networks together in a plug-and-play fashion. In our experiments, we demonstrate applications of decodable representations to out-of-distribution detection, adversarial examples, calibration, and fairness -- while matching standard neural networks in accuracy.
Full wave analysis of edge-guided mode microstrip isolator

This paper presents a full-wave analysis of three edge-guided mode microstrip isolator structures. Galerkin's technique in the spectral domain is used to calculate the insertion loss and the isolation of the structures. The paper presents figures of merit of different multilayer structures. A multilayer structure resulted in increased isolation and lower insertion loss.
Exact imposition of boundary conditions with distance functions in physics-informed deep neural networks

Abstract In this paper, we introduce a new approach based on distance fields to exactly impose boundary conditions in physics-informed deep neural networks. The challenges in satisfying Dirichlet boundary conditions in meshfree and particle methods are well-known. This issue is also pertinent in the development of physics informed neural networks (PINN) for the solution of partial differential equations. We introduce geometry-aware trial functions in artificial neural networks to improve the training in deep learning for partial differential equations. To this end, we use concepts from constructive solid geometry (R-functions) and generalized barycentric coordinates (mean value potential fields) to construct ϕ ( x ) , an approximate distance function to the boundary of a domain in R d . To exactly impose homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, the trial function is taken as ϕ ( x ) multiplied by the PINN approximation, and its generalization via transfinite interpolation is used to a priori satisfy inhomogeneous Dirichlet (essential), Neumann (natural), and Robin boundary conditions on complex geometries. In doing so, we eliminate modeling error associated with the satisfaction of boundary conditions in a collocation method and ensure that kinematic admissibility is met pointwise in a Ritz method. With this new ansatz, the training for the neural network is simplified: sole contribution to the loss function is from the residual error at interior collocation points where the governing equation is required to be satisfied. Numerical solutions are computed using strong form collocation and Ritz minimization. To convey the main ideas and to assess the accuracy of the approach, we present numerical solutions for linear and nonlinear boundary-value problems over convex and nonconvex polygonal domains as well as over domains with curved boundaries. Benchmark problems in one dimension for linear elasticity, advection-diffusion, and beam bending; and in two dimensions for the steady-state heat equation, Laplace equation, biharmonic equation (Kirchhoff plate bending), and the nonlinear Eikonal equation are considered. The construction of approximate distance functions using R-functions extends to higher dimensions, and we showcase its use by solving a Poisson problem with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions over the four-dimensional hypercube. The proposed approach consistently outperforms a standard PINN-based collocation method, which underscores the importance of exactly (a priori) satisfying the boundary condition when constructing a loss function in PINN. This study provides a pathway for meshfree analysis to be conducted on the exact geometry without domain discretization.
Aberrant enteric neuromuscular system and dysbiosis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a neuromuscular disease characterized by the progressive death of motor neurons and muscle atrophy. The gastrointestinal symptoms in ALS patients were largely ignored or underestimated. The relationship between the enteric neuromuscular system and microbiome in ALS progression is unknown. We performed longitudinal studies on the enteric neuron system (ENS) and microbiome in the ALS human-SOD1G93A (Superoxide Dismutase 1) transgenic mice. We treated age-matched wild-type and ALS mice with butyrate or antibiotics to investigate the microbiome and neuromuscular functions. We examined intestinal mobility, microbiome, an ENS marker GFAP (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein), a smooth muscle marker (SMMHC, Smooth Muscle Myosin Heavy Chain), and human colonoids. The distribution of human-G93A-SOD1 protein was tested as an indicator of ALS progression. At 2-month-old before ALS onset, SOD1G93A mice had significantly lower intestinal mobility, decreased grip strength, and reduced time in the rotarod. We observed increased GFAP and decreased SMMHC expression. These changes correlated with consistent increased aggregation of mutated SOD1G93A in the colon, small intestine, and spinal cord. Butyrate or antibiotics treated SOD1G93A mice had a significantly longer latency to fall in the rotarod test, reduced SOD1G93A aggregation, and enhanced enteric neuromuscular function. Feces from 2-month-old SOD1G93A mice significantly enhanced SOD1G93A aggregation in human colonoids transfected with a SOD1G93A-GFP plasmid. Longitudinal studies of microbiome data further showed the altered bacterial community related to autoimmunity (e.g., Clostridium sp. ASF502, Lachnospiraceae bacterium A4), inflammation (e.g., Enterohabdus Muris,), and metabolism (e.g., Desulfovibrio fairfieldensis) at 1- and 2-month-old SOD1G93A mice, suggesting the early microbial contribution to the pathological changes. We have demonstrated a novel link between the microbiome, hSOD1G93A aggregation, and intestinal mobility. Dysbiosis occurred at the early stage of the ALS mice before observed mutated-SOD1 aggregation and dysfunction of ENS. Manipulating the microbiome improves the muscle performance of SOD1G93A mice. We provide insights into the fundamentals of intestinal neuromuscular function and microbiome in ALS.
Results of combined medical and surgical treatment of recto-vaginal fistula in Crohn's disease.

Aim Surgical repair of recto-vaginal fistula (RVF) in Crohn’s disease (CD) has been associated with high rates of failure. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome in patients with CD who underwent RVF surgery with or without infliximab infusion. Method A retrospective review was carried out of 51 consecutive patients with CD treated for a symptomatic RVF between March 1998 and December 2004. Results Fifty-one patients (mean age 39 years) underwent 65 procedures, including seton drainage (n = 35), advancement flap (n = 8), fibrin glue injection (n = 8), transperineal repair (n = 6), collagen plug placement (n = 4) and bulbocavernosus flap (n = 4). All patients were on medical treatment at the time of surgery and 26 patients had received preoperative infliximab treatment (minimum of three infusions, 5 mg/kg). Ten patients underwent preoperative diversion. At a mean follow up of 38.6 months, 27 fistulas (53%) had healed and 24 (47%) had recurred. Fistula healing occurred in 60% of patients treated with preoperative diversion, whereas 51% of nondiverted repairs were successful. Neither active proctitis nor infliximab therapy significantly affected fistula healing. Fourteen (27%) patients eventually required proctectomy. Conclusion RVF in CD is difficult to treat. Failure rates are significant despite repeated surgical interventions and concomitant medical treatment.
An Empirical Method for Estimating Surf Heights from Deepwater Significant Wave Heights and Peak Periods in Coastal Zones with Narrow Shelves, Steep Bottom Slopes, and High Refraction

Abstract Surf forecasts are vital for safety, property protection, and planning of coastal activities. In Hawaii, surf is frequently dangerous during the boreal fall through spring for northwest- through north-facing coastal areas, which are characterized by narrow shelves, steep bottom slopes, and zones of high refraction. Forecasts of deepwater wave characteristics have improved with the advancement of the Wave Watch III model. A waverider buoy located 5 km northwest of Waimea Bay, Oahu measures the deepwater wave field. Although the offshore wave field is well forecasted and observed, the transformation to surf heights has not been clearly defined and verified. This paper describes an empirical method for estimating breaker heights derived from a comparison of Waimea buoy measurements and north shore, Oahu daily surf observations, which nominally represent the H1/10 for the locations with the highest reported surf and have been recorded in Hawaii scale. The first task of this study is to translate the ...
Relationships Between Student Characteristics and Changes in Attitudes, Concerns, Anxieties, and Confidence About Teaching During Teacher Preparation

AbstractThis study investigated changes in students’ anxiety, attitude, concerns, and confidence about becoming a teacher during teacher training and whether these changes were related to selected student characteristics. The subjects were three groups of students (N = 581) at three stages of their teacher preparation: beginning their first required education course, just prior to student teaching, and at the end of student teaching. Significant changes in anxiety, concern, attitude, and confidence about teaching were identified. These changes, however, did not follow the consistent or desirable patterns for each measure or for all sample subgroups that developmental theorists such as Fuller suggested. Changes in anxiety and confidence about teaching moved in a consistently positive direction for the total sample but not for all subsamples, attitude toward teaching changed dramatically and inconsistently among the subsamples but showed no overall change for the total sample, and concerns about teaching te...
Trinko and Re-Grounding the Refusal to Deal Doctrine

Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP (“Trinko”), the most important Supreme Court antitrust review of the refusal to deal antitrust doctrine in twenty years, pitted a local incumbent monopolist telephone company (“ILEC”), Verizon, against a class of competitive local exchange companies (“CLECs”), the new entrants to local telephone service spawned by the 1996 Telecommunications Act (“1996 Act” or “Telecom Act”), and their customers. The Supreme Court rejected the CLECs’ claim that Verizon violated the antitrust laws by failing to provide interconnection services as the Act required. The CLECs based their claim upon two antitrust doctrines: “refusal to deal” and “essential facilities,” both of which require monopolists to provide vital vertical inputs to their downstream competitors. Here, the input was interconnection or “access” on a wholesale level to Verizon’s telephone network that its competitors needed in order to provide retail phone service. The Court ruled that if a legal mechanism exists, as with the 1996 Act, to compel access to the putative monopolist’s resource, the refusal to deal doctrine has nothing to remedy and, therefore, plaintiffs did not state an antitrust claim.
Emotion in Schizophrenia Where Feeling Meets Thinking

Our understanding of the nature of emotional difficulties in schizophrenia has been greatly enhanced by translational research over the past two decades. By incorporating methods and theories from affective science, researchers have been able to discover that people with schizophrenia exhibit very few outward displays of emotion but report experiencing strong feelings in the presence of emotionally evocative stimuli or events. Recent behavioral, psychophysiological, and brain imaging research has pointed to the importance of considering the time course of emotion in schizophrenia. This work has shown that people with schizophrenia have the ability to experience emotion in the moment; however, they appear to have difficulties when anticipating future pleasurable experiences, and this perhaps affects their motivation to have such experiences. While advancements in our understanding of emotional experience and expression in individuals with schizophrenia have been made, these developments have led to a new collection of research questions directed at understanding the time course of emotion in schizophrenia, including the role of memory and anticipation in motivated behavior, translating laboratory findings to the development of new assessment tools and new treatments targeting emotional impairments in people with this disorder.
K‐ABC and giftedness

This paper discusses the new Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children [K‐ABC] from the vantage point of gifted assessment. The test is described briefly, and the following features of the K‐ABC for gifted children are discussed: inclusion of gifted and talented children in the standardization sample, the test's basis in neuropsychological theory, inclusion of high‐level tasks and difficult items on the various subtests, special administrative features such as giving the school‐age level of the K‐ABC to extremely bright preschoolers, and the results of research on the K‐ABC with gifted children. In addition, implications for assessment of giftedness in minority children are treated, as is the special role of the K‐ABC Achievement Scale for identifying gifted children. Finally, the educational implications of the sequential‐simultaneous model underlying the K‐ABC are explored from the perspectives of the assessment of gifted children with learning problems, and the selection of enrichment activities.
Mitotic kinases: The key to duplication, segregation, and cytokinesis errors, chromosomal instability, and oncogenesis

Chromosomal instability (CIN) and aneuploidy are commonly observed in the vast majority of human solid tumors and in many hematological malignancies. These features are considered defining characteristics of human breast, bladder and kidney cancers since they markedly exceed a 50% aneuploidy frequency. The detection of persistent mitotic kinase over-expression, particularly the Aurora family, and centrosome amplification in precursor/pre-malignant stages, strongly implicate these molecular changes in precipitating the aneuploidy seen in many human neoplasms. Mitotic spindle checkpoint defects may also lead to aneuploid tumors. However, the sustained over-expression and activity of various members of the mitotic kinase families, including Aurora (Aur) (A, B, C), Polo-like (Plk1-4), and Nek (NIMA1-11) in diverse human tumors strongly indicate that these entities are intimately involved in the development of errors in centrosome duplication, chromosome segregation, and cytokinesis. Mitotic kinases have also been implicated in regulating the centrosome cycle, spindle checkpoint and microtubule-kinetochore attachment, spindle assembly, and chromosome condensation. These mitotic kinases are modulated by de-novo synthesis, stability factors, phosphorylation, and ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. They, in turn, phosphorylate a myriad of centrosomal/mitotic protein substrates, and have the ability to behave as oncogenes (i.e. Aur-A, Plk-1), providing a compelling link between errors in mitosis and oncogenic processes. The recent development of selective small molecule inhibitors of Aurora kinases, in particular, will provide useful tools to ascertain more precisely their role in cancer development. Potent inhibitors of mitotic kinases, when fully developed, have the promise to be effective agents against tumor growth, and possibly, tumor prevention as well.
DIRECT PHOTODESORPTION OF ATOMIC HYDROGEN FROM SI(100) AT 157 NM : EXPERIMENT AND SIMULATION

Atomic hydrogen photodesorbs from the Si(100)−(2 × 1):H monohydride surface at 157 nm, with a cross section of ∼3 × 10-21 cm2. We determine using polarized light that the transition dipole moment f...
The technological structure and services of the IIC

This article describes the technological structure of the Integrated Information Center (IIC) and the services which it offered. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Molted-Feather Persistence and Aging in a Sub-Arctic Environment: Implications for Noninvasive Genetic Sampling

Abstract We investigated molted-feather persistence and aging in a sub-Arctic environment by placing marked feathers at historical Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) nesting areas and returning a year later to collect and inspect remaining feathers. After one year, only 14% of marked feathers remained and were collected during primary searches; small, body feathers were significantly less likely to persist than large or flight feathers. No differences in trends were detected between feathers from perch and below-nest locations. All recovered feathers displayed at least one of three signs of aging (matted and separated barbs, fungal growth, or algal growth) that reliably distinguished them from fresh feathers. We show that collection efforts should focus on small, body feathers to ensure that collected feathers are freshly molted and suggest feather persistence and aging be directly addressed in other studies using feathers for noninvasive genetic sampling. Doing so should reduce potential genotyping and data in...
Maintenance ou remplacement des équipements primaires

Les principaux materiels, dont les equipements primaires, d'une chaudiere nucleaire type PWR ont, comme toutes les constructions industrielles de l'homme, une duree de vie finie. En consequence, Framatome, concepteur de chaudieres et prestataire de services de maintenance, a developpe, en etroite collaboration avec Electricite de France, la methodologie developpee ci-apres et destinee a apporter une reponse pertinente a la question : maintenance ou remplacement des equipements primaires?
Screening of the topological charge in a correlated instanton vacuum

Screening of the topological charge due to fermion-induced interactions is an important phenomenon, closely related with the resolution of the strong {ital CP} and U(1) problems. We study the mechanism of such screening in a ``correlated instanton vacuum,`` as opposed to the ``random`` one. Both scalar and pseudoscalar gluonic correlators are analyzed by means of an observable that minimizes finite size effects. Screening of the topological charge is established. This allows us to calculate the {eta}{prime} mass without having to invert the Dirac operator. We suggest that this method might be used in lattice QCD calculations as well. Our results for the screening of the topological charge are in agreement with the chiral Ward identities, and the scalar gluonic correlator satisfies a low energy theorem first derived by Novikov {ital et} {ital al}. We also propose a modified Witten-Veneziano formula, in which the topological susceptibility is not defined for an {ital infinite} box in a world {ital without} fermions, but for a {ital small} box in the real world.
Sediment-water oxygen and nutrient exchanges along the longitudinal axis of Chesapeake Bay: Seasonal patterns, controlling factors and ecological significance

Sediment-water oxygen and nutrient (NH4 +, NO3 −+NO2 −, DON, PO4 3−, and DSi) fluxes were measured in three distinct regions of Chesapeake Bay at monthly intervals during 1 yr and for portions of several additional years. Examination of these data revealed strong spatial and temporal patterns. Most fluxes were greatest in the central bay (station MB), moderate in the high salinity lower bay (station SB) and reduced in the oligohaline upper bay (station NB). Sediment oxygen consumption (SOC) rates generally increased with increasing temperature until bottom water concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) fell below 2.5 mg l−1, apparently limiting SOC rates. Fluxes of NH4 + were elevated at temperatures >15°C and, when coupled with low bottom water DO concentrations ( 500 μmol N m−2 h−1) were observed. Nitrate + nitrite (NO3 −+NO2 −) exchanges were directed into sediments in areas where bottom water NO3 −+NO2 − concentrations were high (>18 μM N); sediment efflux of NO3 −+NO2 − occurred only in areas where bottom water NO3 −+NO2 − concentrations were relatively low (<11 μM N) and bottom waters well oxygenated. Phosphate fluxes were small except in areas of hypoxic and anoxic bottom waters; in those cases releases were high (50–150 μmol P m−2 h−1) but of short duration (2 mo). Dissolved silicate (DSi) fluxes were directed out of the sediments at all stations and appeared to be proportional to primary production in overlying waters. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was released from the sediments at stations NB and SB and taken up by the sediments at station MB in summer months; DON fluxes were either small or noninterpretable during cooler months of the year. It appears that the amount and quality of organic matter reaching the sediments is of primary importance in determining the spatial variability and interannual differences in sediment nutrient fluxes along the axis of the bay. Surficial sediment chlorophyll-a, used as an indicator of labile sediment organic matter, was highly correlated with NH4 −, PO4 3−, and DSi fluxes but only after a temporal lag of about 1 mo was added between deposition events and sediment nutrient releases. Sediment O:N flux ratios indicated that substantial sediment nitrification-denitrification probably occurred at all sites during winter-spring but not summer-fall; N:P flux ratios were high in spring but much less than expected during summer, particularly at hypoxic and anoxic sites. Finally, a comparison of seasonal N and P demand by phytoplankton with sediment nutrient releases indicated that the sediments provide a substantial fraction of nutrients required by phytoplankton in summer, but not winter, especially in the mid bay region.
Telephone & email interviews: using the respondents' context to determine the best interview mode

This poster explains reasons for choosing different interview modes. Although many people assume that face-to-face contact is the best, perhaps only, mode for effective interviewing, a substantial body of research suggests otherwise. In particular, components of the respondents' context-geographical disbursement, privacy, empowerment needs, scheduling, anonymity, fluency, stigmatization, and cultural background-affect which interview modes are more effective. This poster introduces the concept of respondent context, and demonstrates the best uses for different interview modes.
Noise Suppression and Pulse Generation in a Microrna Feed-Forward Loop

MicroRNA have long been known to aid in providing tissue identity or in canalizing development, roles that require the long-term stable maintenance of regulatory states. In particular, it has been suggested that a key role of microRNA is to help reduce noise in the expression of their target genes. However, so far, there has been relatively limited quantitative experimental support for this hypothesis. using synthetic regulatory networks stably integrated in a mammalian cell line, we recently showed that microRNA can indeed dramatically reduce noise due to variation in an upstream regulator but that this effect is highly dependent on the regulatory context; noise suppression was most effective if the miRNA was co-regulated with its target in an incoherent feed-forward loop (IFFL). In an IFFL an upstream transcription factor activates the expression of a downstream target gene while also, counter-intuitively, activating a negative regulator --- in this case a miRNA --- that represses that same target gene.Increasingly, mammalian miRNA are also being implicated in stress response signaling and other pathways that dynamically respond to time-varying inputs. We experimentally demonstrated temporal pulse generation in a synthetic microRNA-based IFFL and thus showed that the same miRNA can participate both in the generation of transient gene expression pulses in response to a change in an upstream regulator and in buffering steady state expression levels against such changes. We further showed that it is possible to modulate pulse shape and fine-tune steady state levels by independently controlling the relative expression levels of the miRNA, its upstream regulator, its downstream target, and the interactions between them.
THE INTELLECTUAL PERSUASION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: A CONVERSATION WITH PETER K. BOL

AbstractInterviewer’s Note: Peter K. Bol is the Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. A leading scholar in the field of Chinese intellectual history, the much-published Professor Bol has long been an active figure in academic conferences and research collaborations. Professor Bol’s influential works on Neo-Confucianism, especially the monograph, “This Culture of Ours”: Intellectual Transitions in T’ang and Sung China and his recent book, Neo-Confucianism in History, present a compelling delineation of the transformation and magnification of intellectuals’ roles from the seventh century to the seventeenth century. Professor Bol is also a distinguished Harvard faculty member, being its first director of the Center for Geographic Analysis, first director of the China Biographical Database project, and department chair from 1997 to 2002. He won the prestigious honor of College Professor in recognition of his dedication to teaching.I first met Professor ...
Incidence and characteristics of venous thromboembolic disease during pregnancy and the postnatal period: a contemporary series.

Background To evaluate the incidence and characteristics of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) associated with pregnancy in a contemporary patient series. Methods We performed a retrospective review of 33,311 deliveries between June 2003 and June 2008. Patients with objective documentation of a VTE during pregnancy or the 3-month postnatal period were identified from hospital discharge International Classification of Disease Codes edition 9 codes. Diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was largely made by a Duplex ultrasound, whereas pulmonary embolism (PE) was diagnosed by a computerized tomographic angiography (CTA). Results Of 33,311 deliveries during the study period, 74 patients (0.22%) had a VTE. There were 40 incidents of DVT (0.12%) and 37 of PE (0.11%). DVT involved the iliac veins (6), the femoral or popliteal veins (16), the infrapopliteal veins (17), and the axillary vein (1). Most (57.5%) of the DVTs involved the left lower extremity. Thirty-eight (51.6%) of the VTEs occurred in the postnatal period, and of those 33 (87%) occurred within 1 week of delivery. Most of the postnatal VTEs (68%) were seen in patients who underwent a cesarean section. Among patients with VTE during pregnancy, there were 28% in the first trimester, 25% in the second, and 47% in the third. Events were distributed among maternal age groups as follows: 26% aged 13-24, 50% aged 25-34, and 24% aged 35-54. Of the 35 patients tested for a hypercoagulable disorder, 12 were found to have a positive test result. Five (6.8%) of these 74 patients had a prior history of VTE, with two having a hypercoagulable disorder. In addition, 45 of the 74 patients were on oral contraceptive therapy or received hormonal stimulation therapy before pregnancy. Patients with a VTE during pregnancy were treated with low molecular weight or unfractionated heparin. Most postnatal patients were treated with subcutaneous low molecular weight heparin and coumadin. Six inferior vena cava filters were placed in patients with bleeding complications as a result of anticoagulation. There were no deaths during the study period. Conclusions Comparing our results with historic controls (DVT: 0.04-0.14% and PE: 0.003-0.04%), the incidence of DVT in pregnancy has not changed significantly. We note, however, that the incidence of pulmonary embolus in our series is higher than previously reported. CTA has been used for the diagnosis of PE since the past decade. The increase in the rate of PE in the current series may be because of the higher sensitivity of CTA when compared with previous diagnostic modalities.
Reply to Comment on Existence of Wannier-Stark localization' ''

The argument of Emin and Hart is not that the staircase potential does not couple Bloch states of different energy bands; it does. Rather, the net effect of such interband terms on Wannier-Stark localization is argued to vanish. A new proof of a relationship disputed by Page and Brown is presented. The contradiction that Page and Brown claim results from this relationship is shown to be an artifact of their use of an incomplete set of basis states.
On the number of complete intersection Calabi-Yau manifolds

The intersection numbers and the action of the Pontryagin class on the integral cohomology are used to distinguish between the many CICY manifolds that have the same Hodge numbers. It is shown by examining manifolds embedded in fewer than six projective spaces that at least 2590 of the manifolds are distinct.
Rare-earth fluorescence in novel oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics

Transparent oxyfluoride glass-ceramics can provide a low- phonon energy fluoride environment for active rare earth ions while maintaining the durability, formability, and mechanical strength of an oxide glass. Fluorescence from RE doped samples indicate substantial partitioning into the fluoride crystals. Eu3+ doped glasses emit only red luminescence from the 5D0, but after treatment emit blue, green, and red luminescence, indicative of a low phonon energy rare earth environment. Er3+ doped samples show broadening and flattening of the 1530 emission band upon heat treatment, making them attractive for broad band amplifiers. Cerammed Pr3+ doped samples exhibit 240 microsecond(s) 1G4 fluorescent lifetimes, which indicates a 1310 nm quantum efficiency of 8%. It was determined that active rare earth partitioning into the LaF3 nanocrystallites that form upon heat treatment are responsible for the novel optical properties of these hybrid materials.
How Beginning Writers Articulate and Demonstrate Their Understanding of the Act of Writing.

Abstract This descriptive case study conducted in three first‐grade classrooms in one school, explores the understandings, performances and perceptions young writers have about writing. Specifically, the research focuses on 4 aspects of writing: 1) first‐grade students’ beliefs about quality writing; 2) first‐grade students’ capabilities in evaluating a piece of writing written by a peer; 3) if what first‐graders say about quality writing is evidenced in their own performances as writers; and 4) if what first‐grade students say and do in their writing is influenced by what their teachers say about classroom writing instruction. The results of this study suggest that most of what students articulate about writing revolves around these aspects: writing process (e.g., topic selection, traits of writing, revision), conventions for writing (e.g., spacing between words, punctuation), and appearance and spelling (e.g., letter formation, and words spelled correctly). A high number (or 97%) of students demonstrate...
The Case for Oral Evidence in Composition Historiography

The almost exclusive reliance on evidence developed from documentary analyses, specifically analyses of textbooks, in composition historiography has resulted in an agonistic, heroes-and-villains im...
Cognitive, emotional and psychosocial factors in fragrance experience

Although the intensity and quality of fragrance perception is elicited by the physical mixture of volatile chemicals available to stimulate the olfactory system, the subjective experience and response an individual exhibits is often the product of those sensory or physiological signals and higher level psychological processes involved in perception, memory and judgment. For example, the frequency and duration of exposure to a fragrance can determine whether the subsequent perception is diminished (adaptation) or enhanced (sensitization), but an individual's memories of prior associations, the situational context or expectations, and their current emotional state are potent modifiers of the intensity and quality of the final chemosensory experience. Similarly, the context in which an irritant sensation is experienced (e.g., the product or situation) may determine whether it is perceived as an adverse or pleasurable sensation. Results from numerous laboratory studies have shown that these factors play a key role in the evaluation of odor and irritant sensations arising from the perception of fragrances. Importantly, cognitive and psychosocial factors appear to have significance for understanding reactions to fragrances in a variety of use situations, from consumer products to indoor environments.
Epistatic selection opposed by immigration in multiple locus genetic systems

A model of “complete” epistatis is considered in which all “plus” alleles must be present in an individual before the adaptive phenotype is expressed. The conditions under which the plus alleles and hence the adaptive phenotype can increase and reach a stable equilibrium in the presence of immigration of gametes carrying minus alleles are found. In haploids and diploids in which the plus alleles are recessive, frequencies of the plus alleles are the same at all loci, regardless of the linkage relationships. Tight linkage favors the existence of a locally stable polymorphic equilibrium, but the equilibrium with only minus alleles is locally stable unless there is very tight linkage or very strong selection. Thus, this kind of epistasis, which provides a simple model for a character that requires several components to be present at the same time, is very sensitive to even a small amount of immigration. Hence, the evolution of such characters is likely only in completely rather than partially isolated populations.
Tax and Spending Effects of Municipal Enterprises: The Case of Florida Electric Utilities

This study tests the appropriateness of two competing hypotheses drawn from the public finance literature about the impact of municipal utility profits on local tax and spending patterns. By comparing data from cities that own their electric utilities to nonelectric cities, this research finds that neither city expenditures nor property tax rates are signifIcantly affected by the transfer of profits. The evidence suggests that the profits are used by cities with relatively weak tax bases to obtain revenues from tax-exempt institutions, homeowners, and nonresidents.
The production of crude oil and natural gas

Abstract This paper is directed at examining the impact of changing prices on the level of production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States. By using a cross-correlation test for unidirectional causality it is clearly demonstrated that, for both crude oil and natural gas, domestic production is affected by changing prices. The implications are clear. The decontrol of the price of crude oil and the deregulation of natural gas prices will lead to additional production in the near term.
Nambu-Goto String Theory on a Space-Time Lattice — Plaquette Random Surfaces Revisited

Two lattice approximations to the Nambu–Goto string using random surfaces constructed from lattice plaquettes are described. The first is well known, and was shown by Eguchi and Kawai to have a sum over histories which is divergent for all values of the bare (i.e. unrenormalized) string tension.1 This result is confirmed, but it is shown that this is not true of the second lattice approximation. Its sum over histories is convergent for all values of the bare string tension above a certain limit, and is proved to be divergent for all values below this limit. If this limit could be shown to give a satisfactory continuum limit, and the model could be proven to be free of anomalies in the critical dimension, it would give us a finite-dimensional local second-quantized path-integral definition of Nambu–Goto string theory.
Martensite Strain Memory in the Shape Memory Alloy Nickel-Titanium Under Mechanical Cycling

This paper describes an experimental study of stress-induced martensitic phase transformation in the SMA Nickel-Titanium. The rich local thermo-mechanical interactions that underlie transformation are examined using three-dimensional Digital Image Correlation (strain fields) and infrared imaging (thermal fields). We quantify the complex local interactions between released/absorbed latent heat and the extent of transformation, and explore the characteristics of the phase fronts and the evolution of martensitic volume fraction. We also quantify a strong strain memory in the martensite that forms in the wake of the phase transformation front. The accommodated strain in the martensite will remain constant during loading, even as the existing phase front propagates. There also exists a remarkable strain memory in the martensite that persists from cycle to cycle, indicating that the local elastic stress fields in the martensite are driven by a dislocation structure and martensitic nuclei that largely stabilize during the first loading cycle.
Survival in posttraumatic hypotension

Study objectives: We examine survival rates in posttraumatic patients with either out-of-hospital or emergency department (ED) hypotension. Methods: Using the trauma registry for a Level I trauma center, we retrospectively compared all trauma patients from January 1994 to December 2003 with systolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or less either out-of-hospital or in the ED. Patients were sorted according to penetrating or blunt injury. Results: One thousand seven hundred forty-one patients presented with hypotension either out-of-hospital or in the ED. Of these, 667 patients were victims of blunt trauma, and 990 sustained penetrating injuries. Of the blunt trauma patients, 313 were normotensive (systolic blood pressure >90 mm Hg) in the ED after out-of-hospital hypotension, with 93.3% survival, whereas 279 blunt trauma patients remained hypotensive from out-of-hospital to the ED, with 21.9% survival ( P P For penetrating trauma patients, 284 were normotensive in the ED after out-of-hospital hypotension, with a survival of 89.4%. In comparison, 650 patients remained hypotensive in the ED after out-of-hospital hypotension, with 19.7% survival ( P P Conclusion: As expected, patients with persistent hypotension after trauma have a higher mortality than patients who have isolated out-of-hospital hypotension. Patients who develop ED hypotension after out-of-hospital normotension have a significantly higher mortality than patients with isolated out-of-hospital hypotension.
Design of short-channel ion-implanted mosfets with relatively deep junctions

This paper discusses design considerations for short-channel ion-implanted MOSFET devices with relatively deep junctions. Four device parameters are considered: threshold and transconductance reduction, sub-threshold turn-on, and punch-through. Channel-length variations affect power and performance tolerances of enhancement/ depletion logic NOR gates in two ways: first, down-level current is inversely proportional to channel length; second, short-channel physical effects cause variations in transconductance and threshold voltage. It will be demonstrated that threshold and transconductance variations in short-channel devices tend to offset one another so their net contributions to tolerances on such circuit parameters as switching speed, down-level power and down-level voltage are negligible. Dual-energy ion implantation is used in the channel regions — a shallow implant to control threshold voltage, and a deep implant to control punch-through voltage. Hence high-resistivity (15 ohm-cm) substrates can be used to reduce junction capacitance. These implants are shown to have little effect on short-channel properties other than punch-through because the doses are low. Low channel doping and the relatively deep junctions contribute to a desirable, steep device turn-on characteristic. We concluded that short-channel effects do not have to be avoided in the design of small MOSFET devices. Using ion implantation and careful design, circuit tolerances can be maintained allowing parameters such as junction depth to be optimized for other criteria such as metallurgy compatibility.
Xenon adsorption in NaA zeolite cavities

Adsorption of xenon atoms in the α-cages of NaA zeolite has been studied using 129Xe NMR spectroscopy to probe directly the distribution and configuration of molecules in confined, microporous environments. The 129Xe NMR spectrum is sensitive to subtle changes in xenon environment, so relative populations of α-cages containing different numbers of xenon guests can be determined and the effects of other co-adsorbed species monitored. On the basis of 129Xe NMR spectra, the distribution of xenon atoms among NaA α-cages is shown to exhibit a marked dependence on the pressure at which the xenon guests are introduced. 129Xe NMR spectra recorded at 200 K reveal that xenon atoms in the NaA α-cages experience diminished mobility (resembling condensation phenomena) at higher temperatures than in the bulk gas of equivalent density. Thus, the chemical potential of adsorbed xenon can be investigated experimentally as a function of both temperature and guest density. The density dependence of the 129Xe chemical shift i...
Glutamine synthetase gene of Bacillus subtilis.

Abstract The glutamine synthetase gene ( glnA ) of Bacillus subtilis was purified from a library of B. subtillis DNA cloned in phage λ. By mapping the locations of previously identified mutations in the glnA locus it was possible to correlate the genetic and physical maps. Mutations known to affect expression of the glnA gene and other genes were mapped within the coding region for glutamine synthetase, as determined by measuring the sizes of truncated, immunologically cross-reacting polypeptides coded for by various sub-cloned regions of the glnA gene. When the entire B. subtilis glnA gene was present on a plasmid it was capable of directing synthesis in Escherichia coli of B. subtilis glutamine synthetase as judged by enzymatic activity, antigenicity, and ability to allow growth of a glutamine auxotroph. By use of the cloned B. subtilis glnA gene as a hybridization probe, it was shown that the known variability of glutamine synthetase specific activity during growth in various nitrogen sources is fully accounted for by changes in glnA mRNA levels.
Analytical relativistic ideal hydrodynamical solutions in (1+3)D with longitudinal and transverse flows

A new method for solving relativistic ideal hydrodynamics in (1+3)D is developed. Longitudinal and transverse radial flows are explicitly embedded into the ansatz for velocity field and the hydrodynamic equations are reduced to a single equation for the transverse velocity field only, which is analytically more tractable as compared with the full hydrodynamic equations. As an application we use the method to find analytically all possible solutions whose transverse velocity fields have power dependence on proper time and transverse radius. Possible application to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions and possible generalizations of the method are discussed.
Effect of light on motility, life-span, and respiration of bovine spermatozoa

Exposure to light of bovine spermatozoa suspended in various media results in a progressive decline in metabolic activity followed by the premature death of the cells. The inhibitory and spermicidal effects of visible light resemble a photodynamic action; the photosensitizer is an intrinsic component of the cell.