cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-speed Intensity-Dependent Refractive Index In Semiconductor-Doped Glasses

We report experiments on the magnitude and speed of optical-field induced changes in the refractive index of semiconductor-doped color-filter glasses. A large third-order nonlinear susceptibility of 10-13 to10-14m2/W is measured with a response time of tens of picoseconds. Low-loss (planar and channel) optical waveguides have been fabricated by ion-exchange in these glasses.© (1986) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Open sesame: re-envisioning the design of a gesture-based access control system

We present results of an exploratory study employing a Wizard of Oz mockup of a new gesture-based access control system we are constructing for our lab's entryway. Among user interactions witnessed, we have identified several behaviors of interest to security researchers and HCI researchers alike. We discuss our security system design approach as an extrapolation of two identified trends, demonstrating the potential for the felt experience of pleasurable and playful systems to help solve difficult interaction problems. We also show the great value of prototyping a mockup to reveal designers' assumptions about human interactions with new technology use cases.
Accelerating geoscience and engineering system simulations on graphics hardware

Many complex natural systems studied in the geosciences are characterized by simple local-scale interactions that result in complex emergent behavior. Simulations of these systems, often implemented in parallel using standard central processing unit (CPU) clusters, may be better suited to parallel processing environments with large numbers of simple processors. Such an environment is found in graphics processing units (GPUs) on graphics cards. This paper discusses GPU implementations of three example applications from computational fluid dynamics, seismic wave propagation, and rock magnetism. These candidate applications involve important numerical modeling techniques, widely employed in physical system simulations, that are themselves examples of distinct computing classes identified as fundamental to scientific and engineering computing. The presented numerical methods (and respective computing classes they belong to) are: (1) a lattice-Boltzmann code for geofluid dynamics (structured grid class); (2) a spectral-finite-element code for seismic wave propagation simulations (sparse linear algebra class); and (3) a least-squares minimization code for interpreting magnetic force microscopy data (dense linear algebra class). Significant performance increases (between 10x and 30x in most cases) are seen in all three applications, demonstrating the power of GPU implementations for these types of simulations and, more generally, their associated computing classes.
ISOBARIC YIELDS IN THE REACTIONS OF 2.9-Bev PROTONS WITH ARSENIC-75

Cross sections for the formation of four isobars of $A=72$ from bombardment of ${\mathrm{As}}^{75}$ with 2.9-Bev protons are reported. The cross sections as a function of $Z$ fit a Gaussian curve with a peak at $Z=32.3$ and a width at half-maximum of 1.4 charge units. Cross sections for six other nuclides in the mass range $66\ensuremath{\le}A\ensuremath{\le}74$ were also measured, and their cross sections lie close to the Gaussian when plotted against $Z\ensuremath{-}{Z}_{A}$, with the exception of ${\mathrm{As}}^{74}$. An analysis of the yields of ${\mathrm{Ga}}^{72}$ and ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{72}$ indicates that most of the ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{72}$ is not formed in a ($p, 4p$) reaction but in a ($p$, $3pn{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}$) reaction, or similar process in which one or more ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}$ mesons are emitted, with a cross section of g0.018 mb.
Photoemission studies of the initial stages of oxidation of GaSb and InP

Abstract Synchrotron and HeI radiation were used to study the chemical shifts and valence band structural changes on the GaSb and InP (110) surfaces during the initial stages of oxidation. Chemical shifts indicating anion and cation oxide formation were observed for both GaSb and InP, even when unexcited oxygen was used. The valence band spectra were very sensitive to small amounts of oxygen, and it was possible to identify some oxygen-induced structures as being characteristic of anion or cation oxide. Extinction of surface excitons was also observed at low oxygen exposures.
Reagentless identification of single bacterial spores in aqueous solution by confocal laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy.

We demonstrate that optical trapping combined with confocal Raman spectroscopy using a single laser source is a powerful tool for the rapid identification of micrometer-sized particles in an aqueous environment. Optical trapping immobilizes the particle while maintaining it in the center of the laser beam path and within the laser focus, thus maximizing the collection of its Raman signals. The single particle is completely isolated from other particles and substrate surfaces, therefore eliminating any unwanted background signals and ensuring that information is collected only from the selected, individual particle. In this work, an inverted confocal Raman microscope is combined with optical trapping to probe and analyze bacterial spores in solution. Rapid, reagentless detection and identification of bacterial spores with no false positives from a complex mixed sample containing polystyrene and silica beads in aqueous suspension is demonstrated. In addition, the technique is used to analyze the relative co...
t-Statistics for Weighted Means in Credit Risk Modelling

We present a generalization of the two sample t-test for the equality of means to the case where the sample values have unequal weights. This is a natural situation in financial risk modelling where some samples are considered more reliable than others in predicting a common mean. We describe pooled and unpooled weighted t-tests, and show with an example of real credit data that using the standard unweighted t-test can lead to the wrong statistical conclusion.
An anaerobic technique for increasing bacteriophage plaque size.

Abstract An anaerobic plating technique for bacteriophage is described. This technique results in larger plaque sizes for at least nine of the bacteriophages that grow on Salmonella and Escherichia coli . The advantage of this plating technique for the selection of nonsense mutants in certain phage strains is discussed.
A simple electrical circuit for computer-controlled operation of battery charge/discharge units

Abstract A simple circuit designed to automate the operation of a commercial battery charge/discharge unit by system-controlling software is reported. By incorporating this circuit, a unit can be computer-controlled to switch between charge and discharge. The control strategy is based on a battery charge threshold voltage, a discharge cut-off voltage, and a charge cut-off temperature.
A demonstration of two distinct geniculocortical projection patterns in albino ferrets

The geniculocortical pathways of albino ferrets have been studied by injecting lectin bound horseradish peroxidase into the visual cortex and then studying the geniculate distribution of retrogradely labelled cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. It has been shown that in ferrets, as in Siamese cats, there are two quite distinct patterns of geniculocortical projection. One of the patterns seen in ferrets is comparable to the 'Midwestern' pattern previously described in Siamese cats, while the other is comparable to the 'Boston' pattern.
DNA solitons with realistic parameter values

Self-cohering, localized excitations of a DNA polymer chain are predicted using elastic parameter values that correspond well with established data. This ``soliton'' is constructed out of hydrogen-bond-stretching optical phonons and transverse-acoustic shearing waves. Numerical integration of model equations of motion shows a clear transformation from dispersive packets at low amplitude to solitonlike states at higher amplitude. Minimum excitation energies are estimated in the range of 0.1 eV.
Effects of Reovirus Infection on the Spatial and Temporal Organization of DNA Replication in L Cells

DNA fiber autoradiography was used to analyze the spatial and temporal organization of activated initiation sites for DNA replication in mouse L929 cells infected with reovirus type 3 (Dearing strain) and in uninfected control cells. Cells were labeled for 10 min with3H-thymidine at high specific activity followed by 3 h of low specific activity labeling. Reovirus infection causes no change in the rate of replication fork progression, but increases both the mean distance between activated initiation sites by ∼ 30% and the nonrandomness in the spatial distribution of the sites along the DNA fibers. Significant synchronization of initiation in adjacent activated sites was detected on DNA fibers from uninfected cells and from reovirusinfected cells. The mean relative initiation time for pairs of initiation events which had occurred prior to high specific activity labeling did not differ significantly between the infected and uninfected cells. The data are consistent with the interpretation that reovirus infection shuts off initiation sites in a coordinated fashion, possibly by preventing activation of entire clusters of potential initiation sites.
Contextually Appropriate Measurement as the Basis for Culturally Appropriate Interventions: A Case Study in Managua, Nicaragua

Despite recent advances in U.S. health care, racial and ethnic minorities experience significantly worse health and mental health outcomes. Policy responses to this problem are based on available research, which is often premised on a misinterpretation of the cultural concepts that underlie people's health and mental health. Health researchers often rely upon measurements with questionable cultural validity. This contributes to a lack of understanding of health disparities that nondominant populations experience and creates obstacles to the development of effective policies to alleviate them. Even statistically valid or literally translated measurements often fail to account for different social and cultural contexts and/or neglect to consider vital information about the population studied or its history. This article reports on the content validity of measures used in a study that investigated predictors of mental health in Managua, Nicaragua. Results reveal a polarized response structure and lack of cultural relevance in underlying concepts measured.
Histone chaperones in nucleosome eviction and histone exchange

The recent two years have led to the realization that histone chaperones contribute to the delicate balance between nucleosome assembly and re-assembly during transcription, and may in fact be involved as much in histone eviction as they are in chromatin assembly. Recent structural studies (in particular, the structure of an Asf1-H3/H4 complex) have suggested mechanisms by which this may be accomplished. The incorporation of various histone variants into nucleosomes has diverse effects on nucleosome structure, stability, and the ability of nucleosomal arrays to condense into chromatin higher order structures. It is likely that these seemingly independent ways to modify chromatin structure are interdependent.
Inhibition of MEK pathway in vestibular schwannoma cell culture

Objectives/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Ras GTPase (Ras) to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway in vestibular schwannoma (VS) cell cultures and patient excised schwannoma tumors. Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor CI-1040 (PD184352) was utilized to evaluate the effect of specific MEK inhibition on benign schwannoma cell culture proliferation and apoptosis. Study Design: Prospective evaluation of human schwannoma cell lines and tumors. Methods: Western blotting was completed with phospho-antibodies for proteins in the Ras-ERK pathway. Increasing concentrations of CI-1040 were utilized in schwannoma cell cultures to evaluate cell proliferation and apoptosis. Proliferation was measured with the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide proliferation assay, and apoptosis was monitored with flow cytometry of annexin V/propidium iodide-stained cells. Results: The most consistent Ras-ERK pathway alterations were found in phospho-MEK and ERK. Phospho-MEK was not overexpressed in the schwannoma cell lines, but six out of 10 VS showed significant increases compared to benign Schwann cell controls. Similarly, nine of 10 VS tumors showed increased phospho-ERK expression. CI-1040 showed significantly reduced schwannoma cell proliferation at the 50 and 100 μM (IC50 20 μM and 30 μM) concentrations when compared to carrier only controls in two out three schwannoma cell lines. The remaining schwannoma cell line was relatively refractory to the antiproliferative effects of CI-1040 at doses up to 100 μM (IC50 58 μM). Cumulative data of four separate schwannoma cell lines demonstrated that apoptosis was increased in treated schwannoma cells at CI-1040 concentrations of 50 and 100 μM at 72 hours. Conclusions: There is overexpression of phosphorylated (activated) proteins in the Ras-ERK pathway in schwannoma cultures and tumors as compared to benign human Schwann cell culture controls. MEK inhibitor, CI-1040, created significantly decreased schwannoma cell proliferation and increased apoptosis in cell culture. These data justify the use of MEK inhibitors in animal treatment studies of VS.
Ingroup and outgroup inferences: when ingroup bias overwhelms outcome bias

Two experiments investigated conditions under which participants drew outcome-biased inferences about ingroups and outgroups. Participants read about ingroup and outgroup targets whose success or failure was influenced by an arbitrary decision rule. In Experiment 1, ingroup and outgroup members experienced two inconsistent outcomes (first success and then failure, or vice versa) despite almost identical performances. After reading about the first performance participants made outcome-biased inferences, but when the role of the decision rule became obvious inferences became group-serving. That is, outcomes continued to influence inferences when they cast the ingroup in a positive light (as when initial failure was followed by success) but failed to affect inferences when they were detrimental to the ingroup (as when initial success was qualified by later failure). In contrast, inferences about outgroups were outcome-biased when failure followed success, but not when success followed failure. The results of Experiment 2 showed that outcome biases influenced inferences when decision rules produced outcomes that promoted the ingroup but not when they produced outcomes that hurt the ingroup. No such benefit occurred for outgroups. The results confirm the impact of motivational concerns such as ingroup bias on the occurrence of outcome biases in inferences. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychosocial correlates of child abuse potential in multiply disadvantaged adolescent mothers.

Abstract Objective: This study had two aims: First to examine psychosocial correlates of child maltreatment risk, and second to assess the validity of the CAP Inventory (Milner, 1986) with multiply disadvantaged teenage mothers. Method: Participants were 75 adolescent mothers who were wards of the Illinois child protection system. Mothers (aged 14–18) and infants participated in home-based psychosocial assessment of personal and parenting functioning. Group comparisons examined differences for mothers with elevated versus normal versus invalid CAP scores due to faking good. Results: Findings indicated that abuse risk groups differed on emotional distress, social support satisfaction, reading achievement, and years of education, but not on parenting beliefs or quality of child stimulation. Differences favored the normal over the elevated risk group in all significant comparisons, whereas mothers with elevated faking good differed from normals only in lower reading achievement. Multiple regression analysis highlighted emotional distress, support dissatisfaction, and low achievement as significant predictors of greater abuse risk. Conclusions: Despite sharing multiple disadvantages, adolescent wards are a heterogeneous group who show different levels of psychosocial functioning corresponding to levels of child maltreatment risk. The findings provide support for the concurrent validity and clinical applicability of the CAP Inventory with disadvantaged teenage mothers.
Factors Affecting Municipal Satisfaction with Health Care Plans

Rising health care costs are causing employers to search for alternatives to contain costs of health care benefits. Common alternatives to the traditional indemnity plans are health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) Conventional wisdom suggests that satisfaction with alternatives is lower than with indemnity plans. This study examines levels of satisfaction with indemnity, HMO, and PPO plans based on a national survey of personnel directors and develops a model of factors that should influence satisfaction
A multilevel dyadic study of the impact of retirement on self-rated health: does retirement predict worse health in married couples?

Objectives:This study examined the effects of retirement on self-rated health for married couples, using interdependence and social stratification theoretical frameworks.Method:Dyadic multilevel modeling of data (N = 2,213 non-Hispanic couples) from 1992 to 2010 of the Health and Retirement Survey.Results:Retirement was associated with worse self-ratings of health (SRH) short term (ST) for both husbands and wives during the first couple of years of retirement. In addition, the longer the husbands (but not wives) were retired, the worse was their SRH. Cross-spouse effects varied by gender: When wives retired, their husbands’ SRH improved ST, but when husbands retired their wives’ SRH improved long term. Spouse education moderated the relationship between years since spouse’s retirement and SRH for wives.Discussion:Practitioners can use this information to help married couples through retirement planning and transitions. Results suggest that models of retirement in couples should pay greater attention to ge...
Successful preservation of non-functioning oesophageal substitution with jejunal roux loop drainage

Abstract Stricture, twist, reflux and dysmotility can complicate oesophageal substitutions in patients with long-gap oesophageal atresia. The use of the Roux loop drainage is described in 3 patients, preserving the oesophageal substitution by anastomosing a jejunal loop to the dependent part of the interposition.
Structural studies on Tl–Ca–Ba–Cu−0 superconducting thin films

The microstructure of mixed phase, [ital c]-axis oriented Tl--Ca--Ba--Cu--O thin films, exhibiting excellent superconducting properties, has been examined by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Although the stoichiometry of the as-deposited films corresponds to the Tl[sub 2]Ca[sub 2]Ba[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 10] phase (Tl-2223, [ital c][approx]3.6 nm), x-ray diffraction showed these films contain up to 50% of the Tl[sub 2]CaBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 2]O[sub 8] phase (Tl-2122, [ital c][approx]2.9 nm). The x-ray diffraction peaks of the 3.6 nm phase are noticeably broader than those of the 2.9 nm phase, suggesting a smaller coherent size along the [ital c]-axis for the 3.6 nm phase. Lattice-fringe images of the 2.9 nm phase typically show only an occasional or no defect layer; however, such layer defects are more abundant in the 3.6 nm phase and, though random, occur with sufficiently wide separation and regularity to be consistent with an average coherency of [similar to]40 nm. The coherent sizes along the [ital c]-axis, as determined by x-ray line profile analysis, were 140 nm and 40 nm, respectively, for the 2.9 nm and 3.6 nm phases, in good agreement with those determined by electron microscopy. The estimated width of the layer defects observed in the lattice-fringe images aremore » suggestive, for the most part, of the four-Cu-layered phases (Tl-1324 or Tl-2324) and to a lesser degree the two Cu-layered phases (Tl-1122 or Tl-2122).« less
Spatio-temporal information coupling in cooperative network navigation

The availability of reliable positional information is a key enabler for numerous emerging location-based applications. Network navigation via joint spatial and temporal cooperation can provide mobile nodes with high-accuracy and robust positional information. Meanwhile, this joint cooperation incurs intricate information acquisition due to the correlation in inferred nodes' position, referred to as information coupling. In this paper, we quantify the information coupling in four representative scenarios by Fisher information analysis. We show that the information obtained by each node is a sum of the contribution from its own spatio-temporal cooperation and information coupling due to the cooperation of its neighbors. Our results shed lights on the complex information acquisition in network navigation, and can serve as a design guideline for efficient network navigation algorithms.
Personal Teaching Efficacy: Developmental Relationships in Education

Abstract Using the Personal Teaching Efficacy Scale (Ashton, Olejnik, Crocker, & McAuliffe, 1982), the authors explored the comparative efficacy of six groups of educators with various levels of teaching experience. The efficacy scores were higher for more experienced educators in some instances, whereas in other simulated classroom situations, the preservice students scored higher. We discuss the meanings of the different patterns.
Health-related hypothesis generation using social media data

Traditional public health surveillance, also known as syndromic surveillance, is expensive and burdensome because it relies on clinical reports authored by health professionals with considerable time and effort. Due to its preventative cost, syndromic surveillance is typically only performed for high risk concerns like influenza. Therefore, a health surveillance system that works for numerous health concerns simultaneously would be of great practical use. We present a framework that processes a stream of time-stamped social media messages. The framework produces “interest curves” that permit the generation of hypotheses regarding which health-related conditions/topics may be increasing in prevalence. We do not claim to detect an actual outbreak of a health-related condition because this framework only has access to social media messages and not a harder data source like patient records. This approach differs from other prior approaches because it is not customized to detect one particular illness (e.g., influenza) as is commonly done. The inner workings of the framework can be interpreted as a transformation that converts a signal deeply embedded in the “stream of raw tweets” domain to a signal in the “health related topics” domain. This framework’s capability is demonstrated by examining multiple interest curves related to seasonal influenza and allergies.
Radiation-flux conditions in radioactive media with applications to radiation monitoring

Calculations are made for the radiation flux in a radioactive medium. The scattering effects are treated with a simplified model giving an easy survey of the total flux in media with various densities and various atomic weights. The calculations are used for comparison of the sensitivities of common detectors for radiation monitoring of air-borne and water-borne radioactivity. The results are in diagrams compared with the stipulated tolerances of radioactivity in those media for the common isotopes.
E‐profile: Scirus1: For Scientific Information Only

Purpose – To provide a summary of the main features of a science‐specific search engine.Design/methodology/approach – A brief description of the features of Scirus.Findings – Scirus is a comprehensive science‐specific search engine on the internet with more than 167 million science‐specific Web pages Scirus is a free search engine developed by Elsevier and is updated monthly. In addition to access to general and specialized full‐text journal, e‐print, report and abstract sources, Scirus also incorporates access to select company homepages, conference information, news pages, patent information, product information, scientists’ homepages, society homepages, and university web sites.Originality/value – Offers information about a new science‐specific search engine.
Modulation of Parylene-C to silicon adhesion using HMDS priming

The effect of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) on adhesion between Parylene-C (Px) and silicon is investigated through the use of peel tests and contact angle tests. These tests allow measurement of the adhesive forces and investigation of the possible mechanisms for variations in adhesion that can be exploited in processes that require devices to be peeled from their substrate to release them after they are fabricated. An analytical framework is used to quantify the upper limit of adhesion on the basis of the geometric and material properties of a device. It was found that the modulation of adhesion between Px and Si by treatment with HMDS is largely due to the increase in dispersive surface energy of treated Si over the range 5.3–18.1 mJ/m2 based on measured contact angles of 46.3°–74.9° with DI water and 36.2°–55.7° with ethylene glycol. Varying the duration of HMDS vapor prime from 0 min to 2 min modulates the average adhesion between Px and Si from 5 mN/cm to 16 mN/cm.
Glycoprotein gene truncation in avian metapneumovirus subtype C isolates from the United States

The length of the published glycoprotein (G) gene sequences of avian metapneumovirus subtype-C (aMPV-C) isolated from domestic turkeys and wild birds in the United States (1996–2003) remains controversial. To explore the G gene size variation in aMPV-C by the year of isolation and cell culture passage levels, we examined 21 turkey isolates of aMPV-C at different cell culture passages. The early domestic turkey isolates of aMPV-C (aMPV/CO/1996, aMPV/MN/1a-b, and 2a-b/97) had a G gene of 1,798 nucleotides (nt) that coded for a predicted protein of 585 amino acids (aa) and showed >97% nt similarity with that of aMPV-C isolated from Canada geese. This large G gene got truncated upon serial passages in Vero cell cultures by deletion of 1,015 nt near the end of the open reading frame. The recent domestic turkey isolates of aMPV-C lacked the large G gene but instead had a small G gene of 783 nt, irrespective of cell culture passage levels. In some cultures, both large and small genes were detected, indicating the existence of a mixed population of the virus. Apparently, serial passage of aMPV-C in cell cultures and natural passage in turkeys in the field led to truncation of the G gene, which may be a mechanism of virus evolution for survival in a new host or environment.
Mentoring and participation: An application of the Vroom-Yetton model

Participative decision making is considered an important tool to develop subordinates. To explore how managers use PDM in mentoring relationships, we modified the Vroom-Yetton (1973) scenarios to include a protege/non-protege variable. One hundred and five managers completed the survey, and 68 of these completed a follow-up questionnaire concerning their own mentoring history. Contrary to our hypotheses, managers were neither more participative nor better decision makers with protege versus non-protege scenarios. Some differences in participation with certain situational attributes were found between protege and non-protege conditions suggesting that managers use PDM in different circumstances when dealing with proteges versus non-proteges. Mentoring history interacted with the protege variable in the scenarios. Unlike managers without mentors, managers who had been mentored showed significant differences when dealing with proteges versus non-proteges: they were both better decision makers (p=.001) and more participative with proteges (p=.004) than were managers who had not had mentors. Managers with mentors were alsoless participative in non-protege conditions (p<.05). Implications for mentoring as a developmental tool are discussed.
Fidelity fluctuation in SBS phase conjugation at high input energies

The shot-to-shot phase fidelity of an SBS phase conjugator operated many times above threshold has been found to be very sensitive to the slope of the leading edge of the input pulse. For a pulse with a rising edge that is short relative to the acoustic lifetime of the SBS medium, strong random fluctuations in the fidelity of the wavefront reversal are observed. However, by tailoring the leading edge of the pulse relative to the acoustic response time of the medium, good phase reproduction can be achieved. No increase in shot-to-shot fidelity fluctuation was observed using a carbon tetrachloride SBS cell at input energies up to 100X threshold, resulting in reflectivities of 90%. Conclusions are made about the source of the observed random fluctuations which are supported both by experimental measurements and numerical modeling.
Sacred Geography, Antiquarianism and Visual Erudition: Benito Arias Montano and the Maps in the Antwerp Polyglot Bible

The final volume of the Polyglot Bible, edited by Benito Arias Montano and printed in Antwerp by Christophe Plantin, was published in 1571–1572. Forming part of the Bible's Apparatus, the volume contains a number of essays, illustrations and maps by Montano relating to questions raised by the biblical text. Montano's maps were a product of his philological training in Oriental languages and exegesis, his profound interest in antiquarianism and geography and his practice of visualizing and tabulating knowledge. He designed his maps both as study aids and as devotional‐meditative devices. Moreover, the maps reflect his wider philosophical outlook, according to which Holy Scripture contains the foundations of all natural philosophy. Montano's case encourages us to re‐examine early modern Geographia sacra in the light of the broader scholarly trends of the period.
Comparison for the Test Methods of Fatigue Life of Welded Structures

Taking the local parts of high-speed training service as the research object, the static form of the finite element model is established, and the dangerous parts of the stress distribution under different load form corresponding to loading and displacement conditions applied in experimental test is calculated. Fatigue life of the same welding parts of the different forms due to the state of the uniaxial tensile and the bending is respectively tested in the lab, the life distribution and characteristics of their statistics are obtained; Compared to the stress distribution of dangerous parts and data of the test, analysis that the similar parameters of life and failure forms can be received if it choose the reasonable load parameters in different form and loading in the test.
Mixing of excitons and continuum states in quantum wells.

Presentation d'un modele pour le spectre d'absorption excitonique qui inclut la diffusion inter-sous-bande et l'interaction des etats excitoniques lies et de continuum. Ce modele est applique au cas d'un puits quantique soumis a une contrainte uniaxiale
Immunization Practices Among Rural and Urban Clinicians 625

Background: Effective interventions to increase immunization coverage should address deficiencies in immunization delivery practices.
CMS conditions data access using FroNTier

The CMS experiment at the LHC has established an infrastructure using the FroNTier framework to deliver conditions (i.e. calibration, alignment, etc.) data to processing clients worldwide. FroNTier is a simple web service approach providing client HTTP access to a central database service. The system for CMS has been developed to work with POOL which provides object relational mapping between the C++ clients and various database technologies. Because of the read only nature of the data, Squid proxy caching servers are maintained near clients and these caches provide high performance data access. Several features have been developed to make the system meet the needs of CMS including careful attention to cache coherency with the central database, and low latency loading required for the operation of the online High Level Trigger. The ease of deployment, stability of operation, and high performance make the FroNTier approach well suited to the GRID environment being used for CMS offline, as well as for the online environment used by the CMS High Level Trigger. The use of standard software, such as Squid and various monitoring tools, makes the system reliable, highly configurable and easily maintained. We describe the architecture, software, deployment, performance, monitoring and overall operational experience for the system.
The power of explanations in mitigating the ill‐effects of service failures

Purpose – To examine the role of explanations in influencing customer perceptions of service failures, this study investigated the impact of two types of explanations: retrospective excuses and anticipatory excuses on customers' fairness perceptions and their tipping behaviors.Design/methodology/approach – A 3 (explanation: absent, anticipatory, retrospective) × 2 (service recovery effort: no tangible compensation or 20 percent off the total bill) between‐participant design was used to test the hypotheses. Simulated dining experiences were enacted and videotaped to represent the six conditions.Findings – The findings of this study imply that customer‐contact employees might be able to influence customer impressions by offering a causal explanation for a service failure.Research limitations/implications – Owing to the restaurant‐oriented focus of this study, these results may not be generalizable to other service industries. Second, our stimuli involved service encounters that were clearly inadequate in te...
Self-Reported Alcohol, Drug, and Eating-Disorder Problems among Male and Female Collegiate Children of Alcoholics

Abstract This study determined the proportion of entering freshmen who were children of an alcoholic parent (COAs) by using a self-report survey. The relationship between freshmen COAs' own propensity for substance abuse was also investigated. Finally, the validity of two self-report methods of measuring the dependent variable of parental alcoholism was examined. The hypothesis that parental alcoholism increases the likelihood of substance abuse—alcohol, drug, or food—in offspring was supported by the findings. This appears to hold true for both male and female COAs, who reported substantially greater levels of each problem than freshmen without parental alcoholism. Overall, males reported higher levels of alcohol and other drug problems, and females reported higher levels of eating disorders. However, among COAs, proportionately more males than females reported an eating disorder; proportionately more females than males reported an alcohol or other drug problem. Parental alcoholism was also strongly asso...
936 PROCOAGULANT (PC) AND PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR (PA) FUNCTION OF CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIC BLASTS

The incidence and etiology of coagulopathy in childhood acute leukemia (AL) have not been well characterized. We have studied 11 children with AL prospectively at the time of diagnosis or relapse. A DIC screen, fibrinopeptide A (FPA) assay and assays of blast cell procoagulant (PC) and plasminogen activator (PA) were performed. Patients were evaluated for clinical prognostic features, blast cell morphology and surface markers. Blast cells were separated on Ficoll-Hypaque and then used as a source of procoagulant material in normal plasma and factor VIII, X and VII deficient plasma. Fibrinolytic activity was measured using the substrate S-2251 with des-fibrin I. We found: Overt laboratory evidence of DIC was present at diagnosis and worsened after therapy in one patient with ALL. This patient's blasts produced the highest level of procoagulant material. From these preliminary data, we conclude: 1. Coagulation abnormalities are common in childhood AL. 2. FPA levels are frequently increased in childhood AL. 3. Some leukemic cells produce potent procoagulant activity which may be associated with overt DIC. 4. ALL cells also frequently produce a plasminogen activator. 5. Production of PC and/or PA by blast cells was not clearly related to morphologic or immunologic characteristics.
Use of Collateral Text in Understanding Photos In Documents

This research explores the interaction of textural and photographic information in document understanding. Specifically, it presents a computational model whereby textural captions are used as collateral information in the interpretation of the corresponding photographs. The final understanding of the picture and caption reflects a consolidation of the information obtained from each of the two sources and can thus be used in intelligent information retrieval tasks. The problem of performing general-purpose vision without a-priori knowledge is very difficult at best. The concept of using collateral information in scene understanding has been explored in systems that use general scene context in the task of object identification. The work described here extends this notion by incorporating picture specific information. A multistage system PICTION, which uses captions to identify humans in an accompanying photograph, is described. This provides a computationally less expensive alternative to traditional methods of face recognition. It does not require a prestored database of face models for all people to be identified. A key component of the system is the utilization of spatial and characteristic constraints (derived from the caption) in labeling face candidates (generated by a face locator).© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Evaluation of a halfway house for women

Abstract A halfway house for female offenders in Long Beach, California was evaluated by comparing the number and severity of offenses of graduates of the house to those of a matched group of women released in the same area and period. The groups had comparable criminal histories. A U.S. Bureau of Prisons index was used to classify the severity of offenses. Results indicated that the halfway house reduced both the number and severity of offenses. This conclusion withstood a review of the threats to validity. The policy implications of the finding are discussed.
Morphology of gamma‐irradiated, low‐density, bulk polyethylene

Low-density bulk polyethylene was subjected to gamma radiation doses between 0.1 and 100 megarads. Surfaces produced by fracture at liquid nitrogen temperatures were studied using scanning electron microscopy. The unirradiated polyethylene and polymer irradiated to 0.1 megarad had spherical units with a diameter of about 0.15 micron lying on the fracture surface. The units lay along the edges of the lamellae and were formed by the fracture that was, therefore, not entirely brittle. Polyethylene irradiated between 1 megarad and 100 megarads exhibited spherical voids, with a diameter of about 0.1 micron in the fracture surface. The voids have been produced either by the evolution of gas in the polymer during irradiation, the most likely mechanism, or as a function of the fracture mechanism only. (auth)
Intergroup bias in group judgment processes: The role of behavioral memories

Two experiments examined the role of memory for behavioral episodes in judgments about in-groups and out-groups. Using a minimal group paradigm, participants read either positive or negative trait-relevant behaviors performed by group members. They then were asked to make judgments about the group's trait characteristics. Results demonstrated that, for groups described positively, judgments about the out-group but not the in-group were accomplished by retrieving from memory specific behaviors performed by group members. In contrast, for groups described negatively, judgments about the in-group but not the out-group were accomplished by retrieving specific behaviors performed by group members. These results suggest that basic differences in the way judgments about in-groups and out-groups are made contribute to the establishment and perpetuation of intergroup bias by decreasing the stability of negative in-group and positive out-group impressions and increasing the stability of positive in-group and negative out-group impressions.
Immune modulation by IL-10 gene transfer via viral vector and plasmid DNA: implication for gene therapy.

In the present report, we have evaluated and compared the modulatory effect of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 expressed via viral vector or plasmid DNA on viral antigen-induced cutaneous inflammatory lesions. Our data demonstrate the superior potency of both recombinant vaccinia virus and herpes simplex virus IL-10 expression vectors after single intramuscular administration, but the effects were only short term and only functioned in animals lacking immunity to the viral vectors used for modulation. In contrast, modulatory effects achieved by plasmid DNA expressing IL-10 were delayed in onset and milder in effect but were far more persistent than those achieved by viral vectors. Moreover, plasmid DNA expressing IL-10 provided effective modulation when given repeatedly to animals. Our data also showed that IL-10 gene delivery resulted in a systemic and durable modulatory effect while the effect caused by a single IL-10 protein treatment was transient and confined to the injected site. Our results imply that the viral vector system is superior for obtaining short-term effects, whereas the plasmid DNA approach represents a better strategy to achieve gene therapy to modulate chronic inflammatory lesions.
An instrumental neutron activation analysis of 18th century lead-glazed earthenwares from four Spanish missions in Texas

Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) was used to determine relative manufacturing locales of lead-glazed earthenwares recovered from four Spanish missions in Texas. Two principal clays were distinguished, one containing volcanic ash and one sand. The ceramics characterized by the volcanic ash were believed to have been manufactured in Mexico, while those containing sand were made in Texas. This distinctionis important because it suggests that the Indians at the Texas missions were manufacturing ceramics using Spanish technology such as lead-glazing.
The wind-driven circulation in the Weddell-Enderby Basin☆

Abstract The cyclonic wind pattern over the Weddell-Enderby Basin induces a southerly Sverdrup transport. With the Kerguelen Plateau as an eastern boundary at 70°E, the streamlines of Sverdrup transport are constructed from monthly averaged wind data on a 5° grid. The resulting cyclonic circulation can be categorized as a subpolar gyre, similar to the circulation pattern of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. The maximum transport in the western boundary current over the continental slope east of the Antartic Peninsula is 76 x 10 6 m 3 s −1 . Ship and iceberg drift, geostrophic transport calculation, and both direct and indirect near-bottom current information are supportive of a relatively strong current in the western margin of the basin. Comparison of the wind-driven Sverdrup transport to the 0/500-db baroclinic pattern is good west of 30°E though further to the east the comparison is poor. This may result from an imperfect eastern boundary or perhaps the 0/500-db baroclinic field provides an incomplete picture of the full wind-driven component, which is expected to be largely barotropic within the nearly homogeneous Weddell-Enderby water column.
High transverse momentum Ξ baryon correlations in p+p collisions at √s=200 GeV

Angular correlations between produced high-p TΞ− baryons and unidentified charged and neutral particles are observed in high-tower triggered (on a large electromagnetic energy deposit) √s=200 GeV p+p collisions. This trigger favors events with higher average multiplicity than those in minimum bias. These events are likely to contain jets. The average multiplicity of a high-tower triggered event is similar to that of a minimum bias event containing a Ξ baryon, which implies that Ξ baryons are likely to be produced in jets. Ξ− <p T> is higher in the triggered data then in the minimum bias sample.
An Interesting Aphid of The Pecan

An aphid, Myzocallis fumipennellus F., injures pecan foliage in several sections of the pecan belt, including southern Georgia. The species is marked by its dark color, prominent tubercles and the effect of its feeding on the leaves. Around the puncture of a nymph appears a yellow spot which turns brown. Spots are identified by a rectangular effect and a dark margin. Heavy infestation may cause defoliation.
Recent advances in aromaticity and antiaromaticity in transition-metal systems

The concept of aromaticity/antiaromaticity was recently extended to polynuclear transition metal compounds. In the current report we review recent advances made in the field of aromaticity and antiaromaticity in bare transition-metal clusters, clusters of transition metal suboxides and transition-metal clusters embedded in metalloorganic and inorganic compounds. We analyzed aromaticity in reported aromatic/antiaromatic species through the recently developed Adaptive Natural Density Partitioning method. We confirmed aromaticity in most cases though there are a few cases where no aromaticity or a different type of aromaticty was revealed by the AdNDP method. The peculiarity of aromaticity in polynuclear transition metal compounds is frequently its multifold (σ-, π-, and δ-) nature. Moreover, the presence of simultaneous multifold aromaticity/antiaromaticity leads to conflicting aromaticity which complicates assignment of aromaticity/antiaromaticity in such compounds.
Systematic Review: Pharmacological Treatment of Tic Disorders – Efficacy of Antipsychotic and Alpha-2 Adrenergic Agonist Agents

We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials to determine the efficacy of antipsychotic and alpha-2 agonists in the treatment of chronic tic disorders and examine moderators of treatment effect. Meta-analysis demonstrated a significant benefit of antipsychotics compared to placebo (standardized mean difference (SMD)=0.58 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.36-0.80). Stratified subgroup analysis found no significant difference in the efficacy of the 4 antipsychotic agents tested (risperidone, pimozide, haloperidol and ziprasidone). Meta-analysis also demonstrated a benefit of alpha-2 agonists compared to placebo (SMD=0.31 (95% confidence interval CI: 0.15-0.48). Stratified subgroup analysis and meta-regression demonstrated a significant moderating effect of co-occurring ADHD. Trials which enrolled subjects with tics and ADHD demonstrated a medium-to-large effect (SMD=0.68 (95%CI: 0.36-1.01) whereas trials that excluded subjects with ADHD demonstrated a small, non-significant benefit (SMD=0.15 (95%CI: -0.06 to 0.36). Our findings demonstrated significant benefit of both antipsychotics and alpha-2 agonists in treating tics but suggest alpha-2 agonists may have minimal benefit in tic patients without ADHD.
Effects of Gas switching sequences on GaAs/GaAs1−ySby superlattices

The interfacial structure of GaAs/GaAs 1-y Sb y superlattices (SL) was modified through changes in the interlayer gas switching sequence. Trimethyl gallium, trimethyl antimony, and arsine were used as the precursors in the growth of thin-layer SL structures. Sufficient antimony introduction during the growth pause prior to GaAs 1-y Sb y growth was required for obtaining abrupt interfaces with a minimal amount of compositional grading as determined by X-ray diffraction, as was the arsine introduction after alloy layer growth. In both cases, the specific amount of Sb or As deposition was found to produce an optimal structure with minimal interfacial grading. The antimony composition of the pseudomorphic alloy layers appear to be constrained by thermodynamic and kinetic limitations.
Pyrolysis of Broiler Manure: Char and Product Gas Characterization

Value-added materials produced from broiler manure can be a renewable alternative to its problematic disposal. Pyrolysis of broiler manure (litter and cake) produces char, bio-oil, and biogas. In t...