cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Perception of speech and non-speech sounds by listeners with real and simulated sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract The effects of sensorineural and simulated hearing loss on the perception of speech and non-speech sounds are evaluated and compared. Two simulations of hearing loss are considered: one introduces additive masking noise to elevate the detection thresholds of listeners with normal hearing, the other applies multiband dynamic expansion to attenuate sound components towards these detection thresholds. Measures of speech perception are derived from intelligibility tests for consonant-vowel syllables presented in a background of speech-spectrum noise. The perception of non-speech sounds was evaluated through measurements of the detection of tones in quiet and in the presence of broadband and narrowband masking noise, psychoacoustic tuning curves measured under forward masking conditions, and intensity discrimination for tone pulses. For mild and moderate hearing losses, both types of simulation alter the perception of speech in noise in a manner similar to sensorineural impairment. These simulations also produce effects similar to sensorineural impairment on the detection of tones in quiet and on simultaneous and forward masking. The expansion simulation tends to improve the ability to discriminate tone intensities, an effect generally not seen in listeners with sensorineural impairments.
Lattice-gas automata for modeling acoustic wave propagation in inhomogeneous media

We report recent developments in using lattice-gas automata to simulate acoustic wave propagation in inhomogeneous media, and give experimental results that include transmitted and reflected waves. Two sets of rules are adopted to govern the evolution of particles in the lattice; one applicable to lattice sites on the interface, the other to interior sites. Both sets of rules are simple and deterministic, thereby preserving the computational advantages of lattice-gas automata. Further investigation bears long-term promise of yielding a novel and efficient forward modeling tool for geologically realistic models.
Synthesis and Characterization of an Almost Linear, Quasi-Two-Coordinate, Cationic Diorganoaluminum Compound

The reaction of (2,6-Mes2C6H3)2AlH with [Ph3C]+[B(C6F5)4]- afforded the new compound [(2,6-Mes2C6H3)2Al]+[B(C6F5)4]- which contains an almost linear, quasi-two-coordinate, cationic diorganoaluminum center.
A five-year experience with the use of BiPAP in a pediatric intensive care unit population.

The authors retrospectively reviewed their experience with bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) to treat respiratory insufficiency in pediatric patients over a 5-year period. After excluding patients on chronic home BiPAP and those in whom BiPAP was used to facilitate tracheal extubation (because there were no pre-BiPAP values on which to judge its efficacy), the study cohort included 45 patients (1.5 to 22 years) in whom BiPAP was used for acute respiratory insufficiency. The primary indication for BiPAP was a primary pulmonary parenchymal process in 29 patients and postoperative atelectasis with respiratory insufficiency following cardiac or upper abdominal surgery in 16 patients. There were no differences in the pre-BiPAP values of oxygen requirement, PCO2, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate between the 2 groups. With the application of BiPAP in patients with primary pulmonary parenchymal disease, there was a decreased oxygen requirement, PCO2, and respiratory rate. No change in oxygen saturation was noted. In patients with postoperative respiratory insufficiency, there was an improvement in all 4 parameters. There was no difference in post-BiPAP values of oxygen requirement, respiratory rate, or PCO2 between the 2 groups. The post-BiPAP oxygen saturation was greater in patients with postoperative respiratory insufficiency (96% +/- 4%) than in patients with primary pulmonary parenchymal disease (92% +/- 6%, P = .02). Endotracheal intubation was required in 11 of 29 patients with primary pulmonary parenchymal pathology versus 1 of 16 patients with postoperative atelectasis and/or respiratory insufficiency (P = .03). The chances of requiring intubation were greater in patients or = 55 mmHg during the first 24 hours of BiPAP use (relative risk 9.8). No severe complications to BiPAP were noted. BiPAP safely and effectively improves the respiratory status of and might decrease the need for endotracheal intubation in pediatric patients with acute respiratory insufficiency of various etiologies.
Mechanisms of Cell Death in the Inherited Retinal Degenerations

The human retina possesses both extraordinary sensitivity and a huge adaptive range. A light flash containing only a few photons is sufficient to be consciously perceived in humans. We also can see over a range of nearly nine orders of magnitude in background illumination. The vertebrate visual system has been pushed, by evolutionary pressures, to approach its thermodynamic limitations. This exquisite tuning, however, comes at a cost. Photoreceptors are forced to carry large metabolic burdens, to renew continuously their light-sensitive outer segments and to exist under conditions of very high pO2. Modest changes in the biochemical environment or cellular structure of photoreceptors, caused by genetic lesions or environmental insults, are sufficient to induce cell death through apoptosis. For the inherited retinal degenerations, understanding the impact of each molecular defect on the biology of photoreceptors is important, in addition to studying how these effects converge upon the apoptotic pathway. Collectively, these studies should lead to the development of rational therapies that may slow or even reverse the progression of this devastating disease process.
Preparation of block copolymers by use of peroxide‐terminated prepolymer

Block copolymers containing poly(tetramethylene oxide) and poly(methyl methacrylate) segments were prepared. A commercially available poly(tetramethylene oxide) terminated with tolylene diisocyanate was capped with tert-butyl hydroxymethyl peroxide and the resulting prepolymer peroxide was used as a free-radical initiator of vinyl polymerization. Block copolymers formed in temperature-programmed vinyl polymerizations possessed improved impact strengths over poly(methyl methacrylate) from 0.35 to 1.18 for a fixed (nonoptimized) block length of poly(tetramethylene oxide).
CVD diamond for components and emitters

An attractive feature of diamond films is their ability to be excellent dielectric (undoped, resistivity > 10 14 Ω cm to > 400°C) or interesting semiconductors/conductors (doped, resistivity ∼ < 1 to 1 K Ω cm). Even as polycrystalline/nanocrystalline films (depending on process deposition conditions), their breakdown strength (as dielectric) and power density capability (as resistors) are interestingly large numbers, particularly for the domain of high temperature, high power applications. The development of nominally conventional patterning processes to manipulate the diamond films into capacitors, resistors and emitter configurations has led to an ability to characterize diamond-based components of practical form and function. In this paper characteristics of two of these diamond microelectronic elements, diamond microresistors and diamond emitters are reported.
A Theoretical Determination of the Heats of Formation of Furan, Tetrahydrofuran, THF-2-yl, and THF-3-yl

Large basis set coupled cluster calculations, with corrections for core/valence, atomic spin−orbit, and scalar relativistic effects, have been used to determine the atomization energies of furan (1A1, C4H4O), tetrahydrofuran (1A, C4H8O), and the THF-2-yl (2A, C4H8O) and THF-3-yl (2A, C4H8O) radicals. For furan and tetrahydrofuran, where gas-phase experimental data is available, the level of agreement between experiment and theory is very good. The 0 K heats of formation (kcal/mol) for the four systems are ΔHf(furan) = −4.6 ± 0.5 (calcd) vs −5.2 ± 0.2 (exptl), ΔHf(tetrahydrofuran) = −37.6 ± 0.7 (calcd) vs −37.6 ± 0.2 (exptl), ΔHf(THF-2-yl) = 5.1 ± 1.0 (calcd), and ΔHf(THF-3-yl) = 8.9 ± 1.0 (calcd). At 298 K the comparable values are ΔHf(furan) = −7.7 ± 0.5 (calcd) vs −8.3 ± 0.2 (exptl), ΔHf(tetrahydrofuran) = −44.0 ± 0.5 (calcd) vs −44.0 ± 0.2 (exptl), ΔHf(THF-2-yl) = −0.5 ± 1.0 (calcd) and ΔHf(THF-3-yl) = 3.6 ± 1.0 (calcd). The principal limitation on the accuracy of the composite coupled cluster approach...
Gravity results in western Washington

Gravity surveys in western Washington have been conducted by this author and University of Puget Sound students since 1962, and about 5000 gravity measurements have been made. Two instruments have been used: Worden meter 358, owned by the University, and a LaCoste-Romberg G-68 loaned by the Army Map Service, which has also financed the survey during the past four years. Simple Bouguer corrections are applied to all stations; terrain corrections have been calculated for selected points and soon will be derived for all stations by a computer program written by R. Krimmel. Most stations are located where elevations have been determined by other agencies (USGS, USCGS, Corps of Engineers, railroad and power companies, highway construction crews, etc.), and some level lines have been run by our own group. In other cases, barometric elevations were used, but their reliability is poor. The survey datum is based on Woollard's [1958] network, and is tied into previous or contemporary work by Bonini (p. 531), Stuart [1961, 1965], Jones, [1952], Christensen et al. (p. 548) and Walcott [1967].
Pine needle oil causes avoidance behaviors in pocket gopherGeomys bursarius

Essential oils from coniferous trees contain secondary metabolites that act as feeding deterrents for a number of herbivorous mammals. We investigated effects of pine needle oil on feeding and other behaviors of herbivorous plains pocket gophers. In experiment l, pocket gophers were offered sweet potato from single feeding stations placed in home cages of individually housed animals. Stations contained either a scent dispenser with pine needle oil or mineral oil. Subjects removed significantly less food from stations scented with pine needle oil. Experiment 2 was performed to investigate neophobic responses to odors.d-Pulegone, presented under conditions identical to those used in experiment l, did not reduce food removal compared to mineral oil. In experiment 3 pocket gophers were observed in a maze consisting of a start box connected to two goal boxes by tunnels. One goal was scented with pine needle oil, the second with mineral oil. Subjects entered goals scented with pine needle oil significantly less frequently than goals scented with mineral oil and spent less time there. They performed all recorded behaviors at lower frequencies while located in pine-scented goals. In experiment 4 animals were introduced into a maze consisting of a start box from which two soil-packed tunnels could be entered. Embedded in the soil of one tunnel was a barrier of electrical cable that had been soaked in pine needle oil, the second tunnel contained a barrier of cable soaked in mineral oil. Pocket gophers gnawed significantly less insulation from cable treated with pine needle oil than from cable treated with mineral oil. Our results show that constituents in pine needle oil are aversive to plains pocket gophers. Under natural conditions they may function as feeding deterrents. Some of the compounds may be suitable repellents for control of pocket gopher damage.
Petrology of a triassic marine section, Vizcaino Peninsula, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Abstract A 2,400-m thick section of Triassic marine sedimentary rocks of the San Hipolito Formation crops out on the 20-km2 area of Punta San Hipolito. The Triassic rocks are a fault block that has been placed against the Cretaceous Valle Formation, which covers much of the Vizcaino Peninsula. The San Hipolito Formation was deposited on pillow basalts with low potassium content of oceanic origin. Some interpillow areas are filled with red, silicified, dolomitized limestone that contains the hemipelagic pelecypod Halobia of Middle to Late Triassic Age. The formation consists of chert, limestone, breccia, and sandstone members (in ascending order) that were deposited oceanward of a volcanic-island chain. The volcanic islands, and fringing carbonate sediments, were not only the source of sediment for the San Hipolito Formation, but also formed a barrier that prevented any influx of cratonic silt, sand and gravel. The basal member is 0–245 m of green, celadonitic, Halobia- and radiolarian-bearing, aphanocrystalline to very finely crystalline chert interbedded and lensed with subordinate red radiolarian chert. Above the chert is the 95–210 m thick limestone member which is comprised of very finely recrystallized limestone, sandy limestone, and plagioclase volcanic litharenite. Some limestone contains radiolaria and Halobia. Near the top of the member the hemipelagic pelecypod Monotis cf. M. subcircularis of Late Triassic (Norian) age occurs in abundance in a few thin beds. Chaotic folds and autobreccias formed by soft-sediment sliding are common and suggest that deposition occurred on a slope. A submarine erosion surface with up to 100-m relief was cut into the limestone member and filled by 0–105 m of limestone megabreccia. The breccia member is comprised of richly fossiliferous, limestone megabreccia blocks of shallow-water facies that were transported downslope in a sandy volcaniclastic sediment by debris flows. The uppermost member is 1840 m of poorly sorted, calcite-, chlorite-, and zeolite-cemented andesitic litharenite and volcanic plagioclase feldsarenite interbedded with tuff and calcitized, fossiliferous sandstone. Andesitic granule to boulder conglomerate beds increase in abundance upward through the member. The San Hipolito Formation probably accumulated in a trench external to a Middle to Late Triassic volcanic-island arc.
Population balance modeling: current status and future prospects

Population balance modeling is undergoing phenomenal growth in its applications, and this growth is accompanied by multifarious reviews. This review aims to fortify the model's fundamental base, as well as point to a variety of new applications, including modeling of crystal morphology, cell growth and differentiation, gene regulatory processes, and transfer of drug resistance. This is accomplished by presenting the many faces of population balance equations that arise in the foregoing applications.
A Critical Review of Water Transport Models in Gas Diffusion Media of PEM Fuel Cell

Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells are gaining popularity as a replacement to the internal combustion engine in automobiles. This application will deman d high levels of performance from the fuel cell making it critical that proper water management is maintained. One of the areas of interest in water management is the transport of wa ter through the Gas Diffusion Medium (GDM) on the cathode side of the cell. Research is currently being conducted to und erstand how water moves through the porous structure of the GDM. Due to the small scale of the GDM, most work done is analytical modeling. This paper will focus on reviewing curre nt models for water transport within the GDM of a PEM fuel cell to address state of the art and provide recommendation s for future work to extend current models.
Two‐mechanism model for frictional sliding of serpentinite

Room-temperature experiments on antigorite serpentinite indicate that at least two mechanisms accommodate frictional sliding of the serpentinite: a rate-weakening, history-dependent mechanism which dominates at fast slip velocities and a rate-strengthening mechanism with no apparent history dependence which dominates at slow velocities. We present a two-mechanism model that successfully describes the two types of behavior observed in the friction experimental data without changing the constitutive parameters over the range of experimental conditions. Multiple mechanisms have been identified in higher-temperature experiments by previous workers and may be required for proper representation of all rock types at low slip rates and elevated temperatures.
Responsibility for Canada's Healthcare Quality Agenda: The Home and Community Sector

In their study on the current state of the quality agenda in the Canadian healthcare system, Sullivan and colleagues interviewed healthcare leaders across Canada who predominantly represent the hospital care sector. The home and community sector is under-represented in research and discussions about quality and patient safety, despite the fact that it is the fastest-growing sector in healthcare. Patient safety research in home care has been spearheaded by VON Canada and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute since 2005. Quality and safety are not just parallel imperatives; rather, they are inextricably linked concepts that rely on each other to function effectively. Safety for clients or patients is complex when multiple organizations, regulated and unregulated paid providers and unpaid family caregivers make up the team providing care in an uncontrolled home environment. Add to this the pressure of reducing costs while increasing home care admissions, and the equation seems impossible. Client or patient participation is increasingly recognized and advocated as a main component in the redesign of healthcare processes to improve patient safety and may provide a key organizing principle for better care and outcomes.
A Large Cardiac Mass: Diagnosis of Caseous Mitral Annular Calcification and Determining Optimum Management Strategy

A 64-year-old woman with dizziness and blurry vision underwent an evaluation for a possible stroke with a head-neck CT scan and a transthoracic echocardiogram. The head-neck CT scan was unremarkable, but the echocardiogram was notable for a cm heterogeneous echodensity attached to the mitral valve. After a transesophageal echocardiogram and chest CT scan, the mass was determined to be a caseous mitral annular calcification, CMAC. This entity is a rare variant of MAC with an estimated prevalence of 0.068%. Echocardiographic techniques can distinguish CMAC from other intracardiac masses such as tumor, cyst, or abscess. CMAC is associated with cerebrovascular accidents; however, optimal treatment is controversial given the rarity of this clinical finding. Management strategies should be tailored based on the patient’s presentation, risk factors, and overall clinical circumstances.
K-ε and Reynolds stress turbulence model comparisons for two-dimensional injection flows

Two-dimensional steady e owe elds generated by transverse injection into a supersonic e ow are numerically sim- ulated by integrating the Favre-averaged Navier -Stokes equations. Fine-scale turbulence effects are modeled with compressible K-≤ and second-order Reynolds-stress turbulence models. These numerical results are compared to numerical results of the Jones -Launder K-≤ model and experimental data. The credibility of the Reynolds-stress turbulence model relative to experimental data and other turbulence models is demonstrated by comparison of surface pressure proe les, boundary-layer separation location, jet plume height, and descriptions of recirculation zones and e ow structureupstream and downstream of the jet. Results indicate that theReynolds-stress turbulence model correctly predicts mean e ow conditions for low static pressure ratios. However, it is also observed that, as the static pressure ratio increases, the boundary-layer separation point moves farther upstream of the jet and pre- dictions become lessconsistent with experimental results. The K-≤ results are lessconsistentwith theexperimental resultsthanthoseassociatedwiththeReynolds-stressturbulencemodel.Finally,unlikethe K-≤results,nonphysical vorticity phenomena upstream of the jet plume are not observed in the Reynolds-stress turbulence model results. This phenomenon is shown to coincide with strong gradients in the wall functions used to compute πt.
Self-Reconfigurable Channel Data Buffering Scheme and Circuit Design for Adaptive Flow Control in Power-Efficient Network-on-Chips

This paper presents a self-reconfigurable channel data buffering scheme and circuit design for next-generation network-on-chips (NoCs). The design is optimized for power efficiency and data throughput, from system to circuit level. During network congestion, the buffering scheme realizes adaptive flow control by reconfiguring the channel buffers for online data storage. Once congestion is alleviated, data transmission resumes from the foremost buffer stage, thereby improving NoC throughput. It also achieves system-level power optimization through an integrated hardware-software codesign approach. Using software techniques such as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, optimal voltages and frequencies are provided to the system through a hardware-based single-inductor multiple-output dc-dc converter platform. Meanwhile, power dissipation is further minimized through switched-capacitor delay control modules. A CMOS IC prototype has been fabricated, with 16-bit data transmission capability. It demonstrates 58.9% power saving over conventional designs. To achieve the same throughput, it consumes only 45.4% power of the best prior art. The flexibility of the buffering scheme, along with the integrated power management solution, allows it to be applied to most existing commercial NoC architectures.
Gender Differences in Caregiving: Fact or Artifact?

This study applies meta-analysis techniques to the results of 14 descriptive studies of gender differences in caregiving to determine the size and significance of gender differences in caregiving stressors (level of elder impairment and level and type of task involvement) and in caregiver burden. There were essentially no significant gender differences in functional impairment of the frail care recipient, total caregiver involvement in care, or in money management tasks. Female caregivers were more likely to carry out personal care and household tasks and more likely to report greater burden. Given the relatively small size of the effects found, we conclude that future research should focus on the part that gender-role explanations play in assigning meaning to caregiving behaviors.
Picosecond response in multilayers

The reflection of picosecond pulses upon a metal-backed three-layer structure is discussed. The layered system consists of a thin dielectric layer of high dielectric constant, a thick dielectric layer with dielectric loss, and a thin magnetic layer with magnetic loss backed against the metal. The hysteretic behavior of the magnetic layer is also included in the calculations. The purpose of the calculation is to identify the number as well as the type of layers from the picosecond response. A change in the polarity of the reflected signal tail implies hysteretic behavior in magnetic materials and is subject to experimental detection. >
Loss of the Protein NUPR1 (p8) Leads to Delayed LHB Expression, Delayed Ovarian Maturation, and Testicular Development of a Sertoli-Cell-Only Syndrome-Like Phenotype in Mice

Abstract The high mobility group factor NUPR1, also known as p8 and com1, plays a role in temporal expression of the beta subunit of luteinizing hormone, LHB, during gonadotroph development. At Embryonic Day (e) 16.5, LHB is detectable in wild-type (Nupr1+/+) but not Nupr1 knockout (Nupr1–/–) mice. LHB is initiated by e17.5 in Nupr1–/– mice, and expression is fully recovered by Postnatal Day (p) 2. Factors indicative of pituitary maturation, GATA2, CGA, and TSH, are not differentially expressed in Nupr1–/– and Nupr1+/+ embryos at e17.5. Therefore, the delay in LHB expression does not appear to result from delayed pituitary development. In addition, the role of NUPR1 in gonadotropin expression appears specific for LHB, as no difference in FSHB is observed in Nupr1–/– and Nupr1+/+ embryos. The gonads are also impacted by the absence of NUPR1. Ovaries of female Nupr1–/– mice lack corpora lutea (CL) at 8 wk, an age at which CL are present in all Nupr1+/+ littermates. Sexual maturity is recovered by 11 wk in N...
Inhibition of Aminoglycoside 6′-N-Acetyltransferase Type Ib-Mediated Amikacin Resistance by Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotides

Amikacin has been very useful in the treatment of infections caused by multiresistant bacteria because it is refractory to the actions of most modifying enzymes. However, the spread of AAC(6')-I-type acetyltransferases, enzymes capable of catalyzing inactivation of amikacin, has rendered this antibiotic all but useless in some parts of the world. The aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase type Ib, which is coded for by the aac(6')-Ib gene, mediates resistance to amikacin and other aminoglycosides. RNase H mapping and computer prediction of the secondary structure led to the identification of five regions accessible for interaction with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides in the aac(6')-Ib mRNA. Oligodeoxynucleotides targeting these regions could bind to native mRNA with different efficiencies and mediated RNase H digestion. Selected oligodeoxynucleotides inhibited AAC(6')-Ib synthesis in cell-free coupled transcription-translation assays. After their introduction into an Escherichia coli strain harboring aac(6')-Ib by electroporation, some of these oligodeoxynucleotides decreased the level of resistance to amikacin. Our results indicate that use of antisense compounds could be a viable strategy to preserve the efficacies of existing antibiotics to which bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant.
Determination of the thermal diffusion coefficient for liquid ammonia using pulsed neutron techniques

Abstract Measurement of the thermal neutron diffusion coefficient, D 0 , and diffusion cooling coefficient, C , for liquid ammonia at its boiling point was made using the 1 MeV Van de Graaff at North Carolina State College. The value for D 0 , 21,763 ± 1809 cm 2 sec −1 , agrees well with the theoretical prediction of 23,095 cm 2 see −1 using a bound-atom model and with the theoretical prediction of 25,521 cm 2 sec −1 using a free-atom model. The value for C is 6791 ± 2033 cm 4 sec −1 , and for λ 0 it is 15,367 ± 297 sec −1 which is near the theoretical value of 15,207 ± 450 sec −1 .
Operators and spaces associated to matrices with grades and their decompositions

We present results on decompositions of matrices with grades, i.e. matrices I with entries from a bounded ordered set L such as the real unit interval [0,1]. We consider decompositions of an n x m matrix I into a circular and triangular product A * B of an n x k matrix A and a k x m matrix B with k as small as possible. This problem generalizes the decomposition problem of Boolean factor analysis in which a decomposition of a binary matrix is sought into two binary matrices and which is a particular case of our setting when L has just two elements, namely 0 and 1. In our previous work, we proved that formal concepts of concept lattices associated to I are optimal factors for such decompositions. In this paper, we investigate concept-forming operators and concept lattices associated to decompositions of matrices and implications of these results.
Catching Patients: Tuberculosis and Detention in the 1990s

The resurgence of tuberculosis (TB) in the early 1990s, including multidrug-resistant strains, led health officials to recommend the use of involuntary detention for persistently nonadherent patients. Using a series of recently published articles on the subject, this paper offers some opinions on how detention programs have balanced protection of the public's health with patients' civil liberties. Detained persons are more likely than other TB patients to come from socially disadvantaged groups. Health departments have generally used coercion appropriately, detaining patients as a last resort and providing them with due process. Yet health officials still retain great authority to bypass "least restrictive alternatives" in certain cases and to detain noninfectious patients for months or years. Misbehavior within institutions may inappropriately be used as a marker of future nonadherence with medications. As rates of TB and attention to the disease again decline, forcible confinement of sick patients should be reserved for those persons who truly threaten the public's health.
Creating an ethical environment for parents and health providers dealing with the treatment dilemmas of neonates at the edge of viability

Parents who deliver an infant on the edge of viability are often poorly prepared for the many ethical decisions that will confront them
Characterization of forced flame response of swirl-stabilized turbulent lean-premixed flames in a gas turbine combustor

Flame transfer function measurements of turbulent premixed flames are made in a model lean-premixed, swirl-stabilized, gas turbine combustor. OH∗, CH∗, and CO2∗ chemiluminescence emissions are measured to determine heat release oscillation from a whole flame, and the two-microphone technique is used to measure inlet velocity fluctuation. 2D CH∗ chemiluminescence imaging is used to characterize the flame shape: the flame length (LCH∗ max) and flame angle (α). Using H2-natural gas composite fuels, XH2=0.00–0.60, a very short flame is obtained and hydrogen enrichment of natural gas is found to have a significant impact on the flame structure and flame attachment points. For a pure natural gas flame, the flames exhibit a “V” structure, whereas H2-enriched natural gas flames have an “M” structure. Results show that the gain of M flames is much smaller than that of V flames. Similar to results of analytic and experimental investigations on the flame transfer function of laminar premixed flames, it shows that the dynamics of a turbulent premixed flame is governed by three relevant parameters: the Strouhal number (St=LCH∗ max/Lconv), the flame length (LCH∗ max), and the flame angle (α). Two flames with the same flame shape exhibit very similar forced responses, regardless of their inlet flow conditions. This is significant because the forced flame response of a highly turbulent, practical gas turbine combustor can be quantitatively generalized using the nondimensional parameters, which collapse all relevant input conditions into the flame shape and the Strouhal number.
B-Raf Inhibits Programmed Cell Death Downstream of Cytochrome c Release from Mitochondria by Activating the MEK/Erk Pathway

Growth factor-dependent kinases, such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) and Raf kinases, have been implicated in the suppression of apoptosis. We have recently established Rat-1 fibroblast cell lines overexpressing B-Raf, leading to activation of the MEK/Erk mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Overexpression of B-Raf confers resistance to apoptosis induced by growth factor withdrawal or PI 3-kinase inhibition. This is accompanied by constitutive activation of Erk without effects on the PI 3-kinase/Akt pathway. The activity of MEK is essential for cell survival mediated by B-Raf overexpression, since either treatment with the specific MEK inhibitor PD98059 or expression of a dominant inhibitory MEK mutant blocks the antiapoptotic activity of B-Raf. Activation of MEK is not only necessary but also sufficient for cell survival because overexpression of constitutively activated MEK, Ras, or Raf-1, like B-Raf, prevents apoptosis after growth factor deprivation. Overexpression of B-Raf did not interfere with the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria after growth factor deprivation. However, the addition of cytochrome c to cytosols of cells overexpressing B-Raf failed to induce caspase activation. It thus appears that the B-Raf/MEK/Erk pathway confers protection against apoptosis at the level of cytosolic caspase activation, downstream of the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria.
Islam and Authoritarianism

Are predominantly Muslim societies distinctly disadvantaged in democratization? If so, why? The article presents a straightforward cross-national examination of the link between Islam and political regime. The evidence strongly suggests that Muslim countries are in fact democratic underachievers. The nature of the causal connection between Islam and political regime is investigated. Many conventional assumptions about Islam and politics do not withstand scrutiny. But one factor does help explain the dearth of democracy in the Muslim world: the treatment of women and girls. The rudiments of a provisional theory linking the treatment of females and regime type are offered and the implications of the findings for democracy, both in Muslim societies and elsewhere, are discussed.
A Hankel singular value approach for identification of low level dynamics in flexible structures

The intensity of dynamics in a flexible structure is characterized by its Hankel singular values. Low level dynamics may be caused by generic properties of a structure or by its actuator and sensor configurations. In the latter case, it is shown that the dynamics can significantly be amplified by small perturbations of actuator and/or sensor configurations. In the presented examples, the variations of sensor configuration of 0.05 or less caused an increase of Hankel singular values of order 1000. This approach is useful for model reduction and model order determination in the presence of noise. >
Somaclonal Variation in Sorghum

Sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (2n = 20), is the world’s fifth most important cereal crop. It is known under a variety of names and has been variously classified. Harlan and de Wet (1972) simply classified cultivated sorghum into five basic races (bicolor, guinea, caudatum, kafir, and durra) and ten intermediate races from combinations between the five races. Modern sorghums arose from the wild Sorghum bicolor subsp. arundinaceum in the northeast quadrant of Africa at least 5000 years ago and spread to other parts of the world (Doggett 1988). Sorghum is cultivated in temperate and tropical regions, on more than 45 million ha today, mainly in the semiarid areas of the tropics and subtropics. The production of world sorghum has steadily increased (70448 Mt in 1992) by raising the yield (kg/ha) in most countries, or by expanding areas in Africa (FAO 1992).
The Second ‘Third Man’: An interpretation

My concern in this paper is not with the formal structure of the second TMA but with the philosophical strategies behind it. I shall begin by sketching an interpretation of these, though in a fairly rough-and-ready way, so as to have some main issues of this discussion fairly clearly set before us from the start (Section I). Then, in order to define some of the finer structure of these issues, I shall draw a few distinctions between various aspects of the concepts of resemblance and of imitation, and shall illustrate these distinctions in application to a few important texts in Plato (Sections II and III). To conclude (IV), I will return to a discussion of the second TMA, spelling out what will perhaps by then be obvious enough, the way in which all these distinctions bear upon the metaphysical issues implicated in the second TMA.
Charged analogue of well behaved neutral spheres：an algorithmic approach

We establish a systematic algorithmic approach that generates new classes of solutions to the EinsteinMaxwell system in static spherically symmetric spacetime from well known uncharged solutions. A particular case is shown to satisfy all major physical features of a realistic charged star including the standard point-wise energy conditions of normal matter. The solution matches smoothly with the exterior Reissner-Nordstr¨om metric at the pressure free interface. The study, which is reported for a particular choice of gravitational potential, encourages similar approaches to study electrification of well known physically realistic uncharged models.
Atypical Face Shape and Genomic Variants in Epilepsy

Researchers at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London; Children’s Hospital, Florence, Italy; and other centers in the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands studied face shape abnormalities in 118 children and adults attending three European epilepsy clinics, using an objective measure called Face Shape Difference to show that those with pathogenic structural variants have a significantly atypical face shape.
Declarative mocking

Test-driven methodologies encourage testing early and often. "Mock objects" support this approach by allowing a component to be tested before all depended-upon components are available. Today mock objects typically reflect little to none of an object's intended functionality, which makes it difficult and error-prone for developers to test rich properties of their code. This paper presents "declarative mocking", which enables the creation of expressive and reliable mock objects with relatively little effort. In our approach, developers write method specifications in a high-level logical language for the API being mocked, and a constraint solver dynamically executes these specifications when the methods are invoked. In addition to mocking functionality, this approach seamlessly allows data and other aspects of the environment to be easily mocked. We have implemented the approach as an extension to an existing tool for executable specifications in Java called PBnJ. We have performed an exploratory study of declarative mocking on several existing Java applications, in order to understand the power of the approach and to categorize its potential benefits and limitations. We also performed an experiment to port the unit tests of several open-source applications from a widely used mocking library to PBnJ. We found that more than half of these unit tests can be enhanced, in terms of the strength of properties and coverage, by exploiting executable specifications, with relatively little additional developer effort.
Measurement of Residual Stress-Induced Bending Moment of P+ Silicon Films

This paper presents results from measurements of residual stress-induced bending moment of heavily-boron-doped (p+) silicon films. Microfabricated free-standing cantilever beams of p+ silicon were fabricated by using anisotropie etching of (100) silicon wafers in ethylene-diamine and pyrocatechol. The p+ etch stops forming the cantilevers were created by diffusion from a solid source at 1125°C for one and two hour time durations. The nonuniform residual stress distribution through the thickness of the p+ silicon cantilevers resulted in a deflection of the beams. The as-diffused p+ silicon films had a residual stress distribution through the film thickness which resulted in negative bending moments. Thermal oxidation subsequent to the diffusion step modified the residual stresses near the top surface or, perhaps, plastically deformed the near surface region of the p+ thin film. As a result, thermally oxidized p+ silicon films exhibited a positive bending moment. Measurements of the deflection curves of the beams in conjunction with beam theory were used to calculate the residual stress-induced bending moments.
Are Rapid and Sensitive Microbiological Procedures Necessary for Monitoring the Environment

In today’s society confusion reigns over the application, utilization, and interpretation of rapid methodologies. We have become accustomed to rapid travel by jets flying at speeds greater than the speed of sound or by manned space ships circumnavigating the globe in a little more than an hour. On the ground, we move from one place to another by rapid public transit or by automobile on restricted access highways or autobahns. In our homes, we have become particularly used to rapid methods in the kitchen, where convection or microwave ovens cook food in a fraction of the time utilized by conventional methods
Being Protestant Christians in Southeast Asian Worlds

The five cases of Protestant Christian practice in Indonesia and Thailand presented in this symposium are used to develop a sociology of Protestantism in Southeast Asia. A review is first undertaken of the history of Protestant missionary activity in Southeast Asia. Protestantism, it is observed, insists on the ultimate authority of the Bible. This authority has not been accepted by Southeast Asians until they have access to the Christian message in their own languages and they are motivated to adopt Christian practices as a means to confront deep crises in their lives. The establishment of Protestant Christianity has entailed the interpreting of the Christian message with reference to the non-Christian contexts in which Protestants in Southeast Asia live.
The New Federalism Versus The Emerging New Structuralism

Just as President Nixon's New Federalism was beginning to take hold, a new theory of domestic affairs emerged on the scene, referred to in this paper as the "New Structuralism." It calls for action by the federal government to "reform" the structure of state and local governments in order to "improve" their capacity, presumably to take advantage of revenue sharing funds and other similarly broadened federal grants-in-aid. This new theory of domestic affairs is beginning to pick up themes and theorists on a basis which suggests that major issues of the future will be cast in terms of the New Federalism versus the New Structuralism. What do these two theories involve?
Data tiering in heterogeneous memory systems

Memory-based data center applications require increasingly large memory capacities, but face the challenges posed by the inherent difficulties in scaling DRAM and also the cost of DRAM. Future systems are attempting to address these demands with heterogeneous memory architectures coupling DRAM with high capacity, low cost, but also lower performance, non-volatile memories (NVM) such as PCM and RRAM. A key usage model intended for NVM is as cheaper high capacity volatile memory. Data center operators are bound to ask whether this model for the usage of NVM to replace the majority of DRAM memory leads to a large slowdown in their applications? It is crucial to answer this question because a large performance impact will be an impediment to the adoption of such systems. This paper presents a thorough study of representative applications -- including a key-value store (MemC3), an in-memory database (VoltDB), and a graph analytics framework (GraphMat) -- on a platform that is capable of emulating a mix of memory technologies. Our conclusions are that it is indeed possible to use a mix of a small amount of fast DRAM and large amounts of slower NVM without a proportional impact to an application's performance. The caveat is that this result can only be achieved through careful placement of data structures. The contribution of this paper is the design and implementation of a set of libraries and automatic tools that enables programmers to achieve optimal data placement with minimal effort on their part. With such guided placement and with DRAM constituting only 6% of the total memory footprint for GraphMat and 25% for VoltDB and MemC3 (remaining memory is NVM with 4x higher latency and 8x lower bandwidth than DRAM), we show that our target applications demonstrate only a 13% to 40% slowdown. Without guided placement, these applications see, in the worst case, 1.5x to 5.9x slowdown on the same configuration. Based on a realistic assumption that NVM will be 5x cheaper (per bit) than DRAM, this hybrid solution also results in 2x to 2.8x better performance/$ than a DRAM-only system.
A Model for the VRPTW with Re-used Vehicles and Improved Ant Colony Optimization

A multiple objective integer programming model with minimizing of the number of vehicles and minimizing of the total time of all vehicles for the vehicle routing problems with time windows and re-used vehicles(VRPTWRV)is presented.Then an Ant Colony Optimization based approach to solve this problem is designed.The heuristic function and probabilistic formula are constructed according to the rules to give customs with earlier service beginning time,shorter service time and earlier closed time of time window priority on the basis of Ant Colony System.Pheromone trail updating strategy is designed based on the combination of the advantages of MAX-MIN Ant System and Rank-based Ant System,making better use of the best solution of every iteration as well as avoiding stopping in local optimization.A good initial solution is produced in term of serving customs with earlier service closed time firstly.Experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm is capable of generating good solutions to VRPTWRV quickly,decreasing the number of vehicles and total time of all vehicles considerably.So,the model and algorithm is valid.
Familial nonmultiple endocrine neoplasia medullary thyroid carcinoma: an evolving clinical entity.

BACKGROUND: A rare kindred of familial nonmultiple endocrine neoplasia medullary thyroid carcinoma arising from a 73-year-old proband case is reported to further define this distinct entity. METHODS: Twenty-four family members across four generations, four with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and two with C-cell hyperplasia (CCH), were studied. RESULTS: Basal calcitonin levels were elevated in three patients with MTC and were normal in one patient with microscopic MTC and two patients with CCH who had persistent subtle elevation in calcium and/or pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin levels. One patient had unilateral MTC without CCH. Associated abnormalities included papillary carcinoma (2), thyroiditis (4), adenoma (2), and colloid nodule (1). Minimum treatment was total thyroidectomy. Two patients with MTC and marked hypercalcitonemia have recurrent disease at 2.5-year and 11-year follow-up. Two patients with MTC and normal or minor elevations in basal calcitonin and two with CCH had normal provocative calcitonin testing at 6 to 18 months follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Unilateral MTC without CCH and MTC in the elderly do not preclude a familial cause. Microscopic MTC or CCH may be seen with subtle elevations in stimulated calcitonin levels, and recognition allows for curative thyroidectomy. Other apparent dominant thyroid pathologic conditions may occur concomitantly with familial medullary thyroid carcinoma and thus routine calcitonin, and immunohistochemical testing should be performed in patients with an appropriate family history.
Major mineral elements in dairy products.

In this report, the authors offer reliable compositional data—useful and needed by all dietitians involved in calculating nutritive content of diets—on five minerals and protein in different forms of milk and milk products.
Spectral considerations for modeling yield of canola

Prominent yellow flowers that are present in a Brassica oilseed crop such as canola require careful consideration when selecting a spectral index for yield estimation. This study evaluated spectral indices for multispectral sensors that correlate with the seed yield of Brassica oilseed crops. A small-plot experiment was conducted near Adams, Oregon in which spring canola was grown under varying water regimes and nitrogen treatments to create a wide range in oilseed yield. Plot measurements consisted of canopy reflectance at flowering using a hand-held spectroradiometer and seed yield at physiological maturity. Spectroradiometric measurements were converted to MODIS band equivalent reflectance. Selected indices were computed from spectra obtained with the radiometer and correlated with seed yield. A normalized difference yellowness index (NDYI), computed from the green and blue wavebands, overcame limitations of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during flowering and best modeled variability in relative yield potential. NDYI was more linear and correlated with county-wide oilseed yield data and MODIS satellite data from North Dakota (r2≤0.72) than NDVI (r2≤0.66). NDYI only requires wavebands in the visible region of the spectrum and can be applied to any satellite or aerial sensor that has blue and green channels. These findings highlight the benefit of using a spectral index that is sensitive to reproductive growth of vegetation instead of vegetative growth for crops with spectrally prominent reproductive canopy elements. Our results indicate that NDYI is a better indicator of yield potential than NDVI during mid-season development stages, especially peak flowering.