cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surface concentration effects in the drying of solvent‐coated polymer films

The effect of changing the solvent surface concentration on the initial rate of solvent removal from solvent-coated polymer films is investigated. An analytical perturbation solution is developed for the nonlinear problem, and predictions are made for different surface concentrations and different diffusivity-concentration dependencies.
Programmable folding of fusion RNA in vivo and in vitro driven by pRNA 3WJ motif of phi29 DNA packaging motor

Misfolding and associated loss of function are common problems in constructing fusion RNA complexes due to changes in energy landscape and the nearest-neighbor principle. Here we report the incorporation and application of the pRNA-3WJ motif of the phi29 DNA packaging motor into fusion RNA with controllable and predictable folding. The motif included three discontinuous ∼18 nucleotide (nt) fragments, displayed a distinct low folding energy (Shu D et al., Nature Nanotechnology, 2011, 6:658-667), and folded spontaneously into a leading core that enabled the correct folding of other functionalities fused to the RNA complex. Three individual fragments dispersed at any location within the sequence allowed the other RNA functional modules to fold into their original structures with authentic functions, as tested by Hepatitis B virus ribozyme, siRNA, and aptamers for malachite green (MG), spinach, and streptavidin (STV). Only nine complementary nucleotides were present for any two of the three ∼18-nt fragments, but the three 9 bp branches were so powerful that they disrupted other double strands with more than 15 bp within the fusion RNA. This system enabled the production of fusion complexes harboring multiple RNA functionalities with correct folding for potential applications in biotechnology, nanomedicine and nanotechnology. We also applied this system to investigate the principles governing the folding of RNA in vivo and in vitro. Temporal production of RNA sequences during in vivo transcription caused RNA to fold into different conformations that could not be predicted with routine principles derived from in vitro studies.
Pfit is a structurally novel Crohn's disease-associated superantigen.

T cell responses to enteric bacteria are important in inflammatory bowel disease. I2, encoded by the pfiT gene of Pseudomonas fluorescens, is a T-cell superantigen associated with human Crohn's disease. Here we report the crystal structure of pfiT at 1.7A resolution and provide a functional analysis of the interaction of pfiT and its homolog, PA2885, with human class II MHC. Both pfiT and PA2885 bound to mammalian cells and stimulated the proliferation of human lymphocytes. This binding was greatly inhibited by anti-class II MHC HLA-DR antibodies, and to a lesser extent, by anti HLA-DQ and DP antibodies, indicating that the binding was class II MHC-specific. GST-pfiT efficiently precipitated both endogenous and in vitro purified recombinant HLA-DR1 molecules, indicating that pfiT directly interacted with HLA-DR1. Competition studies revealed that pfiT and the superantigen Mycoplasma arthritidis mitogen (MAM) competed for binding to HLA-DR, indicating that their binding sites overlap. Structural analyses established that pfiT belongs to the TetR-family of DNA-binding transcription regulators. The distinct structure of pfiT indicates that it represents a new family of T cell superantigens.
Rethinking fideism through the lens of Wittgenstein’s engineering outlook

Careful readers of Wittgenstein tend to overlook the significance his engineering education had for his philosophy; this despite Georg von Wright’s stern admonition that “the two most important facts to remember about Wittgenstein were, firstly, that he was Viennese, and, secondly, that he was an engineer.” Such oversight is particularly tempting for those of us who come to philosophy late, having first been schooled in math and science, because our education tricks us into thinking we understand engineering by extension. But we do not. I will illustrate this common tendency to misread Wittgenstein by examining three engineering concepts that have little significance for science but played important roles in Wittgenstein’s philosophical thinking. These are: method of projection, dynamical similarity, and satisfactoriness. The upshot of this analysis will be a strong challenge to the myth of his putative fideism because neither fideism nor its contrary simply would have occurred to Wittgensteinthe-engineer.
The Development of an Inclusive Charter Elementary School: Lessons Learned:

The purpose of this study was to examine the startup of a charter elementary school specifically designed to be fully inclusive. Twenty-one adult stakeholders, including parents, teachers, staff, a...
Sulfur dioxide adsorption on I-covered Ag(111): metastable characteristics

SO2 adsorption on iodine-covered (exceeding 1 monolayer) Ag(111) has been studied by TPD (temperature programmed desorption), isothermal desorption, TOF (time-of-flight) and AES (Auger electron spectroscopy). A metastable state (with a desorption activation energy of 18 ± 2 kJmol) co-exists with the SO2 multilayer state. Molecules in the former interact both with each other and with the substrate. The formation of the metastable state depends heavily on the coverage, temperature and condition of the surface; higher coverages (exceeding 2 monolayers), higher surface temperatures (#62; 96 K) and surface impurities and disorder diminish the metastable state concentration. Uptake experiments indicate that interactions of SO2 with I are weaker than SO2 with SO2, but that SO2-I interactions are important in the metastable state. Photodesorption and reaction experiments indicate that extensive inter-adsorbate interactions exist in both states. A wetting two-dimensional island model is used to describe the structure of metastable state.
FREEFORMING OF POLYMERS

Abstract Rapid prototyping and freeform fabrication methods are being increasingly used as a stage in the design cycle of polymers. They also represent new ways of processing materials and particularly provide much closer coupling between materials synthesis and materials processing. Freeforming techniques also allow new combinations of materials to be formed, such as functional gradients, oriented composites, porous structures and devices.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: USING A MULTIPLE-BASELINE, ACROSS-SUBJECTS DESIGN

Undergraduates from an upper-level psychology course were volunteer participants in the study. The 8 participants were to be prayed for in a Multiple Baseline Across Subjects research design, which included a 1-week minimum baseline period for all subjects followed by the sequential presentation of the independent variable so that every two weeks, two additional subjects were being prayed for until all but 2 participants, who maintained baseline, were exposed to being prayed for at 7 weeks. All participants were prayed for by one of the experimenters using a nondirective method of prayer where no specific requests were made. All subjects completed the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale on a daily basis for 5 weeks and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 on a weekly basis for 7 weeks. Analysis of data identified significant reductions in anxiety scores on both the tests for subjects who were prayed for but not for those who were not prayed for. Subjects' lower mean anxiety scores somewhat matched the sequential timing of being prayed for.
On Abnormal Optimal Control Problems with Mixed Equality and Inequality Constraints

Abstract In this paper an optimal control problem with mixed equality and inequality constraints is considered in the so-called abnormal case, i.e., in the case when the classical Pontryagin-type Maximum Principle has a degenerate form which does not depend on the minimized functional. Some extension of the Dubovitskii-Milyutin method to the case of nonregular operator Constraints obtained by using Avakov*s generalization of the Lusternik theorem is applied and the extension of the local Maximum Principle (LMP) for the optimal control problem with mixed equality and inequality constraints is proved. The extended version of LMP presented here has a nondegenerate form for abnormal optimal controls and reduces to the classical LMP under classical regularity conditions.
Mechanisms of heat removal during local hyperthermia.

Abstract Mechanisms of heat removal were studied in five recurrent squamous cell head or neck carcinomas, 50–150 cm 3 , heated by use of external 915 MHz microwave applicators. Thermal clearance measurements were made at a single point in each tumor. Three profiles of the tissue temperature were also measured in orthogonal directions about this point. The conduction term of the bioheat equation was evaluated from the orthogonal temperature profiles by the method of finite differences. The perfusion term of the bioheat equation was determined from the rate of temperature decay corrected for conduction. The results show that thermal conduction plays a major role in the dissipation of thermal energy during local hyperthermia. The rate of removal thermal energy by conduction ranged between 20 and 150 percent of that by perfusion. The temperature profiles show that conduction is higher than is generally expected due to heterogeneities in the blood flow which produce rapid changes in the temperature gradient. The results of this study demonstrate that the heat transport by thermal conduction in perfused tissue cannot be assumed to be small, or negligible, in comparison to that by perfusion.
hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism and G:C‐to‐T:A mutations: No evidence for a role in tobacco‐related non small cell lung cancer

Human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) plays a major role in the repair of 8-hydroxyguanine, one of the major forms of DNA damage generated by reactive oxygen species in tobacco smoke. If left unrepaired by hOGG1, 8-hydroxyguanine can produce G:C-to-T:A transversions. Recent studies have suggested that the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism is associated with both a decrease in enzyme activity and an increased risk of lung cancer. To define the interaction between tobacco carcinogens, hOGG1-mediated DNA repair and DNA damage, we examined the role of the hOGG1 Ser326Cys polymorphism in mutation of the p53 gene in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tumor and nonneoplastic DNA were collected from 141 cigarette smokers with NSCLC. p53 mutations were detected by direct dideoxy sequencing and/or the GeneChip p53 assay in 74 of the 141 (52%) tumors. hOGG1 codon 326 polymorphisms were identified by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The distribution of hOGG1 codon 326 genotypes was Ser/Ser, 90 of 141 (64%); Ser/Cys, 45 of 141 (32%); and Cys/Cys, 6 of 141 (4%). p53 mutations were significantly (p = 0.04) less common in NSCLC from patients with codon 326 Ser/Cys or Cys/Cys genotypes (21 of 51; 41%) than in NSCLC from Ser/Ser homozygotes (53 of 90; 59%). The decrease in p53 mutation frequency among carriers of the Cys allele was more evident in lung squamous cell cancer [7 of 17 (41%) for Cys/Cys and Ser/Cys vs. 27 of 38 (71%) for Ser/Ser; p = 0.04] than in nonbronchoalveolar adenocarcinoma [11 of 26 (42%) for Cys/Cys and Ser/Cys vs. 20 of 35 (57%) for Ser/Ser; p = 0.25]. The prevalence of G:C-to-T:A transversions was similar among hOGG1 codon 326 genotypes. In summary, the hOGG1 codon 326 Cys allele was associated with a decrease in p53 mutations and no effect on G:C-to-T:A transversions in NSCLC. This decrease in p53 mutations in vivo is not consistent with a decrease in the repair of 8-hydroxyguanine among carriers of the hOGG1 codon 326 Cys allele in vitro. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Prospective ultrasound evaluation of venous thrombosis in high-risk trauma patients.

To determine the incidence of venous thrombosis (VT), high-risk trauma patients were evaluated prospectively biweekly with Doppler ultrasound (US). Fifty-seven patients during an 8-month period met high-risk criteria for VT including age >45 years, >2 days bed rest, previous history of thromboembolism, spine fracture, coma, spinal cord injury, pelvic fracture, lower extremity injury, or femoral vein catheter. Doppler ultrasound showed 16 VTs in 12 patients. Venous thrombosis occurred despite prophylaxis (heparin or compression devices) in 9 of 12 patients. Iliac VT was noted in four patients, two of whom had no lower extremity VT. Upper extremity VT occurred in two patients who had received central venous catheters
Synthesis and biological activity of N-terminus modified [Ile8] angiotensin II analogues

Abstract Semi-peptidic analogues of the angiotensin II (AII) antagonist [Ile8] AII have been prepared by the solid phase method and, for some steps, by synthesis in solution. In the modified analogues 4–15, the N-terminal di- or tripeptidic fragments (Asp-Arg or Asp-Arg-Val) in [Ile8]AII was replaced by non-peptidic moieties featuring amino or guanidino groups as substituent of simple alkyl spacers of various lengths. The compounds synthesized have been tested for their ability to produce an AII-like contraction and/or to inhibit AII-induced contractions in isolated rabbit aortae. All of them were found devoid of agonistic activity and most retained significant antagonistic activity in this assay. Analogue 5 antagonized AII-induced blood pressure effect in the anesthetized rat when infused at 30 μg/kg/min. The structure-activity relationships for these compounds are discussed.
Longitudinal and transverse localized vibration modes

Abstract In the presence of a finite concentration of impurities, each of which in isolation gives rise to triply degenerate localized vibration modes, a Lorentz field and macroscopic field are set up by the collective oscillations of the impurities vibrating in localized modes. These fields act back on the localized modes to shift their frequency, and to split the threefold degenerate modes into twofold degenerate transverse modes and a nondegenerate longitudinal mode. A theory of these effects is presented, and an estimate is made of the magnitude of the difference between the frequencies of the longitudinal and transverse localized modes.
Development of active structural control method for vibration and acoustic radiation reduction

Kwaku 0. Prakah-Asante1 and Kevin C. Craig2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering & MechanicsRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTroy, New York 12180ABSTRACTVibrations are detrimental to the performance and durability of flexible structural components used inengineering systems. Structural vibrations can cause pressure perturbations in air, especially when thestructural modes are well coupled with the sound field, leading to undesirable radiated noise. Methods forvibration and acoustic radiation minimization in flexible plate structures using piezoelectric materials assensors and actuators are addressed in this paper. Development of effective compensation techniques toenable the active structure to maintain its structural reliability, requires understanding the vibrational andacoustic response characteristics of the active structure. Based on such response characteristics, a DualActive Control Scheme is developed for vibration and acoustic radiation reduction. The dual scheme isbased on a modified form of the Filtered-x LMS algorithm. A Fuzzy Inference Adaptation method is usedto regulate the learning rate and control output of the LMS adaptive algorithm, depending on the levels ofvibrations or noise present. Experimental results obtained from the real-time implementation of a vibrationcontrol scheme, and the Dual Active Scheme on a typical active plate structure is presented.1. INTRODUCTION
Efficient duty cycling through prediction and sampling in wireless sensor networks

We present BoostMAC, a CSMA-based MAC layer protocol for wireless sensor networks that provides an adjustable interface to achieve ultra-low power operation. To reach low power operation, we adaptively set two radio parameters. First, BoostMAC implements a preamble sampling scheme that allows a mote to dynamically set the length of its duty cycles. Second, we apply machine learning such that a sender can predict its destination's channel polling time and set each outgoing packet's preamble length accordingly. Our two improvements require no extra communication overhead, and each mote in the network implements simple, local models. Energy conservation is one of the most fundamental problems in sensor networks, and by optimizing low-level operation at the MAC layer, sensor network applications realize an increase in overall performance. We choose habitat monitoring as a motivating sensor network application because it has unique MAC layer demands, such as fluctuating levels of network traffic. Static configuration at the MAC layer inhibits optimal energy conservation within habitat monitoring applications. We implemented BoostMAC in TinyOS simulator (TOSSIM), and we compare its performance to B-MAC, a well-known low power MAC protocol with static behavior. We found that BoostMAC saves energy relative to B-MAC in bursty networks without affecting latency. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Politics of Indian Gaming: Tribe/State Relations and American Federalism

Since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, gambling on reservations has become a multibillion dollar industry. The act, however, has led to jurisdictional conflicts between tribes and states. These conflicts are redefining the position and role of Indian tribes in American federalism. As the tribes have gained autonomy, states have lostjurisdictionalpower and control. The federal government has become the arbiter in the disputes and, as such, has continued to maintain its position of supremacy and power over both tribes and states.
Use of aiding and feedback in improving visual search performance for an inspection task

The objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of providing online feedback, process, and process plus performance on visual search performance for a printed circuit board inspection task. A training aid was developed that provided process and process plus performance feedback and enabled a comparison between the two feedback strategies. Two search strategies—search by area and search by component—were adopted to complete the task, and their sensitivity to the type of feedback and search performance was evaluated. Providing process plus performance feedback helped in improving speed and accuracy, whereas area search strategy proved beneficial in improving search speed for both feedback strategies. Graphical feedback on the component location helped in locating more component defects than area defects. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 13: 115–136, 2003.
Trimethadione and human teratogenesis

A family is described in which four malformed children were born to a mother while she was taking trimethadione, an antiepileptic drug infrequently prescribed for adults. Following discontinuation of the drug, she had two normal children. This family led to a survey of all 278 epileptic women admitted to one hospital during the 23 years following the introduction of trimethadione for treatment of petit mal. Only eight women had ever taken it or its close congener paramethadione, and only three had taken it early in a pregnancy. Thus the outcomes of 14 pregnancies, during which the mothers took trimethadione or paramethadione early, have become known to the authors, those in the index family and those in three additional families ascertained through the survey. These pregnancies showed a high frequency of abnormality: eight children with developmental defects of various types, only three of whom have survived early infancy; one child with multiple hernias and juvenile, nonfamilial diabetes; and three spontaneous abortions. The survey suggests that neither epileptic women as a group nor those taking antiepileptic drugs usually prescribed for adults have an obviously increased frequency of malformed children but that epileptic women taking trimethadione or paramethadione may constitute a special subgroup whose children do have an increased frequency of birth defects. The small number of observations possible at a single institution, although suggestive, precludes a firm opinion as to the possible role as human teratogens of the oxazolidine-2,4-diones.
Role of myosin Va in purinergic vesicular neurotransmission in the gut.

We examined the hypothesis that myosin Va, by transporting purinergic vesicles to the varicosity membrane for exocytosis, plays a key role in purinergic vesicular neurotransmission. Studies were pe...
Experimental Study of Cement - Sandstone/Shale - Brine - CO 2 Interactions

Reactive-transport simulation is a tool that is being used to estimate long-term trapping of CO2, and wellbore and cap rock integrity for geologic CO2 storage. We reacted end member components of a heterolithic sandstone and shale unit that forms the upper section of the In Salah Gas Project carbon storage reservoir in Krechba, Algeria with supercritical CO2, brine, and with/without cement at reservoir conditions to develop experimentally constrained geochemical models for use in reactive transport simulations. We observe marked changes in solution composition when CO2 reacted with cement, sandstone, and shale components at reservoir conditions. The geochemical model for the reaction of sandstone and shale with CO2 and brine is a simple one in which albite, chlorite, illite and carbonate minerals partially dissolve and boehmite, smectite, and amorphous silica precipitate. The geochemical model for the wellbore environment is also fairly simple, in which alkaline cements and rock react with CO2-rich brines to form an Fe containing calcite, amorphous silica, smectite and boehmite or amorphous Al(OH)3. Our research shows that relatively simple geochemical models can describe the dominant reactions that are likely to occur when CO2 is stored in deep saline aquifers sealed with overlying shale cap rocks, as well as the dominant reactions for cement carbonation at the wellbore interface.
PhotoFall: discovering weblog stories through photographs

An effective means of retrieving relevant photographs from the web is to search for terms that would likely appear in the surrounding text in multimedia documents. In this paper, we investigate the complementary search strategy, where relevant multimedia documents are retrieved using the photographs they contain. We concentrate our efforts on the retrieval of large numbers of personal stories posted to Internet weblogs that are relevant to a particular search topic. Photographs are often included in posts of this sort, typically taken by the author during the course of the narrated events of the story. We describe a new story search tool, PhotoFall, which allows users to quickly find stories related to their topic of interest by judging the relevance of the photographs extracted from top search results. We evaluate the accuracy of relevance judgments made using this interface, and discuss the implications of the results for improving topic-based searches of multimedia content.
Children’s multiplicative transformations of discrete and continuous quantities

Recent studies have documented an evolutionarily primitive, early emerging cognitive system for the mental representation of numerical quantity (the analog magnitude system). Studies with nonhuman primates, human infants, and preschoolers have shown this system to support computations of numerical ordering, addition, and subtraction involving whole number concepts prior to arithmetic training. Here we report evidence that this system supports children’s predictions about the outcomes of halving and perhaps also doubling transformations. A total of 138 kindergartners and first graders were asked to reason about the quantity resulting from the doubling or halving of an initial numerosity (of a set of dots) or an initial length (of a bar). Controls for dot size, total dot area, and dot density ensured that children were responding to the number of dots in the arrays. Prior to formal instruction in symbolic multiplication, division, or rational number, halving (and perhaps doubling) computations appear to be deployed over discrete and possibly continuous quantities. The ability to apply simple multiplicative transformations to analog magnitude representations of quantity may form a part of the toolkit that children use to construct later concepts of rational number.
Usefulness of Omega-3 Fatty Acids and the Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease

Clinical trial evidence exists that supports a role for the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in coronary heart disease prevention. However, the results from these clinical trials have varied and were conducted in diverse population groups using several different types of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Thus, we systematically reviewed previously published reports assessing the different types of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid interventions and cardiovascular outcomes. Fourteen randomized clinical trials were included in the review. Six trials were included with fish oil, with 1 large trial (10,000 patients) dominating the analysis. In aggregate, the fish oil trials demonstrated a reduction in total mortality and sudden death without a clinically significant reduction in nonfatal myocardial infarction. The 6 trials with ALA supplements or an ALA-enriched diet were of poorer design than the fish oil trials and had limited power. Many of the trials with ALA involved other changes in dietary components. In aggregate, the ALA trials demonstrated possible benefits in reducing sudden death and nonfatal myocardial infarction, but with wider confidence intervals than in the fish oil trials. In conclusion, the evidence suggests a role for fish oil (eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid) or fish in secondary prevention because recent clinical trial data have demonstrated a significant reduction in total mortality, coronary heart disease death, and sudden death. The data on ALA have been limited by studies of smaller sample size and limited quality.
A Mentoring Program for New School Nurses

Until recent years, school nursing practice consisted mainly of screenings and first aid. However, the changing health, social, and emotional needs of children in the school setting have brought about an expansion of school nursing services. Now school nurses must not only perform routine first aid and screenings, but they must also carry out independent health assessments, monitor various medications, counsel students from troubled homes, collaborate with their educational partners, and complete numerous reports. Historically, school nurses began their careers with little specialized education or orientation. However, with the increased demands in school nursing, it is important to guide, advise, and mentor new school nurses so they can reach a level of competency and confidence more quickly. In this descriptive study, new school nurses were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with the School Nurse-Mentoring Program. The findings of this study indicate that a mentoring program for new school nurses results in increased career satisfaction, a higher level of competency, and health benefits for the students being served.
A Euclidean Algorithm for Normal Bases

Inversion in finite fields \(GF(2^k)\) is a critical operation for many applications. A well-known representation basis, i.e., normal basis, provides an efficient squaring operation realized as a simple rotation of the operand coefficients. Inversion in normal basis is computed using methods derived from Fermat’s Little theorem, e.g., the Itoh–Tsujii algorithm or with the aid of basis conversion algorithms using the Extended Euclidean algorithm. In this paper we present alternative normal basis inversion algorithm derived from the polynomial version of the extended Euclidean algorithm. The normal basis Euclidean algorithm has (roughly) the same complexity as the polynomial version of the Euclidean algorithm. The proposed algorithm requires on average a linear number of multiplications. We also present a modification to our algorithm which delays the multiplications to the very end of the computation and thereby gives opportunity for recursive computation using only a logarithmic number of multiplications.
The First Decade of Long-Lead U.S. Seasonal Forecasts

The first 10 yr (issued starting in mid-December 1994) of official, long-lead (out to 1 yr) U.S. 3-month mean temperature and precipitation forecasts are verified using a categorical skill score. Through aggregation of forecasts over overlapping 3-month target periods and/or multiple leads, we obtain informative results about skill improvements, skill variability (by lead, season, location, variable, and situation), skill sources, and potential forecast utility. The forecasts clearly represent advances over zero-lead forecasts issued prior to 1995. But our most important result is that skill hardly varies by lead time all the way out to 1 yr, except for cold-season forecasts under strong El Nino or La Nina (ENSO) conditions. The inescapable conclusion is that this lead-independent skill comes from use of long-term trends to make the forecasts and we show that these trends are almost entirely associated with climate change. However, we also argue that climate change is not yet being optimally taken into ac...
Visualization of controllable regions in real-time systems using a 3D-Julia set methodology

The paper introduces the possibility of the occurrence of chaos in any iterative system, and then explains how the familiar Julia set visualization can be programmed into a graphical tool. Stability on real-time systems occurs in regions of operation and is dependent on the simultaneous values of several parametric values. Because of this, it is very difficult to explore regions of instability in real, non-trivial systems. A variation of the Julia set methodology is presented, based on the corollary between the iterated fate of a function and the final value of a dynamic system. The resultant software is demonstrated on a model of a nonlinear control system, that has been reported to exhibit chaos in its feedback components-but still maintaining primary control. The paper concludes with a statement of how the visualization tool may be applied almost any (mathematically modeled) system in order to demonstrate how its dynamics can be investigated without the need for any other control analysis methods.
An Operational Semantics including \Volatile" for Safe Concurrency

elds. We prove that programs that never suer write-key errors are exactly those that are \data race free" and also those that are \correctly synchronized" in the Java memory model. This 3-way equivalence is proved using Twelf.
Two Genes with Similarity to Bacterial Response Regulators Are Rapidly and Specifically Induced by Cytokinin in Arabidopsis

Cytokinins are central regulators of plant growth and development, but little is known about their mode of action. By using differential display, we identified a gene, IBC6 (for induced by cytokinin), from etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings, that is induced rapidly by cytokinin. The steady state level of IBC6 mRNA was elevated within 10 min by the exogenous application of cytokinin, and this induction did not require de novo protein synthesis. IBC6 was not induced by other plant hormones or by light. A second Arabidopsis gene with a sequence highly similar to IBC6 was identified. This IBC7 gene also was induced by cytokinin, although with somewhat slower kinetics and to a lesser extent. The pattern of expression of the two genes was similar, with higher expression in leaves, rachises, and flowers and lower transcript levels in roots and siliques. Sequence analysis revealed that IBC6 and IBC7 are similar to the receiver domain of bacterial two-component response regulators. This homology, coupled with previously published work on the CKI1 histidine kinase homolog, suggests that these proteins may play a role in early cytokinin signaling.
Regulation FD in the Age of Facebook and Twitter: Should the SEC Sue Netflix?

The Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced its intention to recommend to the Commission that enforcement proceedings alleging a violation of Regulation FD be instituted against Netflix, Inc. and its CEO, Reed Hastings, because of a posting on Mr. Hastings’ personal Facebook page. Mr. Hastings’ webpage had more than 200,00 followers, including reporters who covered the posting in the traditional press. The posting was also the subject of a tweet by TechCrunch, which has approximately 2.5 million followers on Twitter. This article is in the form of an amicus Wells Submission suggesting that the Commission would, for nine distinct reasons, be prudent not to initiate an action on the facts of the Netflix posting. In particular, the public record suggests that the posting did not contain material information, was not a selective disclosure, and because of its spread through social media constituted a “broad non-exclusionary distribution” that did not violate Regulation FD. A prosecution would also diverge dramatically from all prior Regulation FD enforcement proceedings, and would violate the Commission’s prior representations not to “second guess” good faith efforts to comply with Regulation FD. In addition, the posting is not inconsistent with the Commission’s 2008 Guidance on the Use of Company Webpages -- guidance that is seriously outdated because of the emergence of social media. The enforcement action on the facts of the Netflix posting would, moreover, raise serious constitutional questions. Regulation FD is a restraint on truthful speech and, as applied on the facts of a Netflix prosecution, would involve discrimination against social media and in favor of more traditional media channels. There is also doubt that Regulation FD would pass muster as a restraint on commercial speech, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sorrell and the Second Circuit’s decision in Caronia. A loss on constitutional grounds would also call into question a large panoply of Commission regulations that act as restraints on truthful speech, including, without limitation, quiet period restrictions and restriction on communications with analysts. Further, the issuance of the Wells Notice has already chilled the use of social media as a form of corporate communication absent the filing of a Form 8-K with the Commission. It also constitutes a questionable allocation of scarce Commission resources and raises questions that should be addressed through rulemaking and not through prosecution. The submission closes with suggestion for a reformulated Regulation FD that should be better able to pass constitutional muster and that would embrace social media technology rather than confront it.
Biphasic Capnogram in a Single-Lung Transplant Recipient: A Case Report

Capnography is a graphic representation of the carbon dioxide concentration in the airways plotted against time. We report an unusual biphasic-shaped capnogram in a single-lung transplant recipient. In keeping with the only 2 prior reports of which we are aware, we ascribe the unusual biphasic pattern to differential emptying of the native and transplanted lungs. This experience reminds respiratory clinicians of the value of capnometry as a monitoring tool and hopefully will heighten awareness regarding the diagnostic value of usual and unusual capnographic patterns.
History-adjusted Marginal Structural Models for Estimating Time-varying Effect Modification

Much of epidemiology and clinical medicine is focused on estimating the effects of treatments or interventions administered over time. In such settings of longitudinal treatment, time-dependent confounding is often an important source of bias. Marginal structural models (MSMs) are a powerful tool for estimating the causal effect of a treatment using observational data, particularly when time-dependent confounding is present. In recent statistical work, van der Laan et al. presented a generalized form of MSMs called “history-adjusted” MSMs (Int J Biostat 2005;1:article 4). Unlike standard MSMs, history-adjusted MSMs can be used to estimate modification of treatment effects by time-varying covariates. Estimation of time-dependent causal effect modification is frequently of great practical relevance. For example, clinical researchers are often interested in how the prognostic significance of a biomarker for treatment response can change over time. This article provides a practical introduction to the implementation and interpretation of history-adjusted MSMs. The method is illustrated using a clinical question drawn from the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Observational cohort data from San Francisco, California, collected between 2000 and 2004, are used to estimate the effect of time until switching antiretroviral therapy regimens among patients receiving a nonsuppressive regimen and how this effect differs depending on CD4-positive T-lymphocyte count.
An investigation of thermal enhancement on flip chip plastic BGA packages using CFD tool

This paper demonstrates the advantage of applying Predictive Engineering in the thermal assessment of a 279 inputs/outputs (I/Os), six-layer, depopulated array flip chip PBGA package. Thermal simulation was conducted using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool to analyze the heat transfer and fluid flow in a free convection environment. This study first describes the modeling techniques on a multilayer substrate, thermal vias, solder bumps, and printed circuit board (PCB). For a flip chip package without any thermal enhancement, more than 90% of the total power was conducted from the front surface of the die through the solder ball interconnects to the substrate, then to the board. To enhance the thermal performance of the package, the heat transfer area from the backside of the die needs to increase dramatically. Several thermal enhancing techniques were examined. These methods included a copper heat spreader with various thicknesses and with thermal pads, metallic lid, overmolded with and without a heat spreader, and with heat sink. An aluminum lid and a heat sink gave the best improvement; followed by a heat spreader with thermal pads. Both methods reduced thermal resistance by an average of 50%. Detailed analyses on heat flow projections are discussed.
Image based animation from learned visual-motor models

Motions of articulated animated agents are most easily described in the agents' motor (e.g. joint) space. Most recent techniques require explicit kinematic modeling to transform between image (animation) space and motor space. We present a method where the visual-motor calibration is estimated on-line from observing the actions of a real physical agent. We show how to use the estimated models to drive animation of both (affine) geometric structure, and subspace based image intensity corrections. The estimation and animation methods are applicable where the synthesized animation is a relatively small modification of motions in the training set. To illustrate the methods a simple example on-line animation editing system has been implemented. Experiments animating both human and robot arms and hands are shown.
Lessons from the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA): The Intersection of Collective Action & Public Policy.

Over the past decade, the federal investment in higher education has grown, the public demand for a postsecondary degree has risen, and skepticism about the value and meaning of the degree has incr...
Design of Hybrid Precast Concrete Walls for Seismic Regions

This paper presents an ongoing research project on the behavior and design of “hybrid” precast concrete wall structures for use in seismic regions . Hybrid precast walls utilize a combination of mild (e.g., Grade 60) steel and high-strength unbon ded post-tensioning (PT) steel for flexural resistance across horizontal joints. The mild steel reinforcement is designed to yield in tension and compression, providing energy dissipation. The unbonded PT steel provides self-centering capability, reducing the residual (i.e., permanent) lateral displacements of the wall from a large earthquake. Both the PT steel and the mild steel co ntribute to the wall lateral strength, resulting in an efficient structure. The paper introduces a s eismic design approach that conforms to ACI 318 (2008) and ACI ITG-5.2 (2008) for the validatio n of hybrid walls as special reinforced concrete shear walls based on ACI ITG-5.1 (2008). This design approach is used to design a series of test specimens investigating the followin g parameters: (1) relative amounts of mild steel and PT steel; (2) wall height-to-length aspect rati o; (3) concrete confinement details; and (4) presence of openings within the wall panels. A pre- test study is conducted to evaluate the design of the test specimens based on nonlinear reversed-c yclic lateral load analyses. It is shown that the specimens satisfy all of the validation and design prerequisites set forth in ACI ITG-5.1 and ACI ITG-5.2. The subsequent testing of these specimens is expected to ultimately support the code approval of the hybrid wall system for moderate and high seismic regions.
Tidally dominated sediment dispersal offshore of a small mountainous river: Elwha River, Washington State

Abstract Sediment supplied by small mountainous rivers (SMRs) represents a major fraction of the global ocean sediment budget. Studies from the past two decades have shown that much of this sediment is dispersed by episodic wind and wave energy along storm-dominated coasts. In tidally dominated environments, however, different transport styles and deposits may result from persistent tidal dispersal. This study investigates episodic sediment releases generated by dam removal from a SMR in Washington State, in order to evaluate the mechanics of tidally dominated sediment dispersal in an energetic marine environment. The results indicate that asymmetric tidal currents with peak magnitudes of ∼50 to >80 cm/s produce daily sediment export in the direction of the dominant tidal phase (i.e., the semi-diurnal phase with faster currents and longer duration), resulting in dispersal of fluvially derived fine sediment to distal sinks. These effects are observed throughout all seasons in the presence or absence of wave events. During the first two years of dam removal, more than 8 million tonnes of sediment were discharged to the coast. The net result was little to no change in grain size at 10–60 m water depth across >70% of the seabed offshore of the river mouth. Over the remaining ∼2 to 3 km2 of the subaqueous delta, several cm of mud and sand accumulated in a sheltered coastal embayment adjacent to the river mouth. These results demonstrate that SMR discharge events may form patchy, isolated deposits—or even no deposits—along coastlines with strong tidal currents, in contrast to the mid-shelf mud belts formed on storm-dominated shelves. Over longer timescales, knowledge of the erosional capacity of local and regional tidal currents may be key to interpreting the terrestrial event record preserved in (or possibly excluded from) marine SMR deposits.
Permian palsa mires as paleoenvironmental proxies

Palsas are peat mounds with permafrost cores that occur in regions of discontinuous permafrost. The distribution and stratigraphic context of clastic dikes in a mid-Permian coal seam in Antarctica, together with geochemical, paleobotanical, and carbon isotopic data, are interpreted as indicators of ancient palsas of a cool-temperate paleo-climate. Clusters of clastic dikes in a coal seam from the mid-Permian Weller Coal Measures are characterized by massive fill from overlying sandstones and irregular spacing. These features are unlike the laminated fill and regular spacing associated with ice or soil wedges of polygonal patterned ground. Above the clastic dike-bearing coal, lenses of lacustrine shales in sandstones conform directly to the extent of clastic dikes. Geochemically, the clastic dike-bearing coal seam has a significantly lower ash content than stratigraphically adjacent coals that lack dikes. The clustered assemblage of clastic dikes is analogous to the distribution of cracks observed in modern palsas. A low ash content is characteristic of (but not restricted to) raised peat structures, such as palsas. The overlying lacustrine shale lenses may represent depressions that formed after melting of the permafrost core and collapse of the palsa mound. A paleo-palsa interpretation, when added to data from coal stratigraphy, paleobotany, and isotope geochemistry, may indicate a change from frigid, glacial conditions in the Early Permian to cold temperate conditions in the mid-Permian. The basal part of the Weller Coal Measures section lacks coals and contains alluvial siltstones with striated pebbles and definite dropstones, suggestive of a glacially influenced paleoclimate. Thin, Early Permian coals occur stratigraphically higher and contain leaves of the species Gangamopteris, interpreted as a taiga-like plant. The clastic dike-bearing coal seam occurs in mid-Permian strata that contain thicker and laterally more continuous coals than found in Early Permian sequences. The mid-Permian coals are associated with abundant Vertebraria roots and Glossopteris leaves, thought to represent deciduous forests of cold-temperate conditions. Stable carbon isotopes from underclays show a trend from highly fluctuating values in the Early Permian to homogeneous values in the mid-Permian. Highly variable delta 13 C values could have been produced by frequent freeze-thaw episodes, whereas the uniform delta 13 C values are thought to indicate less frigid soil temperatures. Thus, delta 13 C chemostratigraphy supports the interpretation of paleoclimatic change from frigid to permafrost-free conditions, indicated by coal stratigraphy and paleobotany.
Improving the diagnostic yield of single-operator cholangioscopy-guided biopsy of indeterminate biliary strictures: ROSE to the rescue? (with video).

Background and Aims Tissue diagnosis, regardless of technique or endoscope used, can be challenging in patients with indeterminate biliary strictures (IDBSs). This exploratory study evaluated the utility and role of rapid onsite evaluation of touch imprint cytology (ROSE-TIC) when single-operator cholangioscopy (SOC)-guided biopsies of IDBSs are performed. Methods Patients with IDBSs were evaluated by intraprocedural ROSE-TIC during SOC-guided biopsy procedures. Final diagnosis was established by long-term patient follow-up in conjunction with off-site findings or surgical histology. The main outcome measure was to evaluate the utility of ROSE-TIC by determination of its operating characteristics and comparison with off-site histologic assessment. Results Of 31 patients with IDBSs, tissue diagnosis was indeterminate at prior ERCP-guided brush and/or biopsy in 14, prior EUS-guided FNA (EUS-FNA) in 6, and a mass could not be identified at EUS in 11. The mean number of biopsies performed was 3.3 (range 1-8), and diagnostic interpretation by ROSE-TIC was diagnostic and/or suspicious for carcinoma in 15, benign in 13, atypical-reactive in 2, and bile duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm in 1. Final diagnosis by surgical histology (n = 4), death by disease (n = 10), and patient follow-up (n = 17) showed that the overall sensitivity of ROSE-TIC for diagnosing malignancy was 100%, specificity 88.9%, positive predictive value 86.7%, negative predictive value 100%, and diagnostic accuracy 93.5%. Conclusions Preliminary data suggest that the diagnostic outcomes of SOC-guided biopsies in IDBSs can be significantly improved by using ROSE-TIC. This technique also may benefit centers that rely mainly on fluoroscopy-guided intraductal biopsies.