cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
In situ Turgor Stability in Grape Mesocarp Cells and Its Relation to Cell Dimensions and Microcapillary Tip Size and Geometry

The role of three tip fabrication methods and of tip size in cell pressure probe measurements was investigated. The stability over time of turgor pressure (P) in mesocarp cells of intact grape berries was determined for microcapillary tips of contrasting sizes and methods of production (micro-beveler, micro-grinder, and breaking) at contrasting depths below the berry epidermis. SEM images showed that breaking, and in some cases micro-grinding methods produced tips with irregular, fractured surfaces, compared to relatively smooth surfaces produced with micro-beveling. Finely pointed glass microcapillaries were made with reproducibly small tip dimensions (i.d. 5 μm) and significantly more stable (−0.009 MPa/min) using small tips (i.d. 250 μm), both tip sizes gave relatively stable P values (−0.007 and −0.004 MPa/min for large and small tips, respectively). For tips of comparable size, micro-beveling gave improved P stability compared to breaking, and an improved ability to measure cells closer to the epidermis compared to micro-grinding. Literature values for acceptability of P values as stable in higher plant cells range from −0.001 to −0.05 MPa/min. These data suggest that P stability might be influenced by both tip size/shape and cell dimensions, and that improved tip fabrication techniques should improve the stability and reproducibility of P measurements, particularly for small cells.
Cluster emission amplification from nuclei at high angular momenta

Predictions for statistical decay of highly deformed nuclei using the Hauser-Feshbach formulation are presented including emission of clusters up to $^{12}\mathrm{C}$. These calculatons use the rotating liquid drop model to estimate deformation versus angular momentum. The algorithms used to compute transmission coefficients for spherical and for deformed nuclei are presented, as well as results for several sets of calculations for $A=56 \mathrm{and} 148$ compound nuclei. Several different formulations are explored for computing decay rates of deformed nuclei. Large cluster emission amplification is predicted when deformation is considered, with consequent decrease in first chance fission. Qualitative comparisons are made with some heavy ion experiments which are consistent with these predictions, and types of experiments to verify the new cluster decay amplification mechanism are suggested. It is pointed out that the phase space dependence on deformation may prove valuable in interpreting some nonequilibrium heavy ion reaction results.[NUCLEAR REACTIONS Model equilibrium decay clusters from superdeformed nuclei at high angular momenta. Discuss relevance new decay mode to incompletely equilibrated heavy ion systems. Compare predictions qualitatively with experimental results.]
Probing cortico-cortical interactions that underlie the multiple sensory, cognitive, and everyday functional deficits in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients exhibit impairments across multiple clinical, cognitive, and functional domains. A fundamental abnormality of the timing and/or efficiency of neural processes across disparate brain regions (i.e., cortico-cortical communications) may underlie many of the deficits in schizophrenia. Because gamma synchrony is temporally correlated with many cognitive processes, probing patterns of gamma activation may shed light on the functional integrity of neural circuits in schizophrenia and related disorders.
Genetic analysis of CD28 signaling.

T cell activation is central to initiating an immune response. Two signals are required: an antigen-specific signal through the T cell receptor (TCR) and an antigen-independent costimulatory signal, primarily through CD28 in naive T cells. Although many of the molecules involved in TCR signal transduction have been identified, the signaling pathways downstream of CD28 involved in costimulation are not well-defined. Through mutagenesis, we have generated a panel of Jurkat T cell lines in which CD28 costimulation fails to upregulate the RE/AP composite element of the IL-2 promoter. Biochemical analysis and genetic rescue of the defects in these cell lines will lead to a better understanding of CD28 signal transduction.
Effect of manganese and zinc on the growth of Anacystis nidulans.

Anacystis nidulans is a unicellular member of the cyanobacteria, one of the largest groups of the Kingdom Monera. It is similar to other bacteria in the structure and chemistry of the cell wall, and its cell division and genetic recombination. Photoautotrophy is the main mode of nutrition and the photosynthetic apparatus is similar to that of other cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are excellent organisms to serve as environmental pollution indicators for the investigation of a wide variety of biological problems. There have been several studies on the effects of heavy metals on A. nidulans. Some of these elements, such as manganese, are known to be essential nutrients for cyanobacteria. Others, such as cadmium, are not known to be necessary for normal growth and metabolism. Large amounts of either essential or non-essential elements can be toxic. Manganese and zinc are essential elements for all living organisms. Manganese is a cofactor for a number of different enzymatic reactions particularly those involved in phosphorylation. Iron deficiency induced by a number of metals, cobalt and manganese in particular, inhibit chlorophyll biosynthesis. Zinc deficiency affects early mitotic events and the cells are large and aberrant in appearance. Light is essential for cells to take in zinc. Asmore » an industrial contaminant, zinc has been found to block photosynthesis by causing structural damage to the photosynthetic apparatus. In the presence of various pH ranges, high zinc concentrations can be associated with low pH. It has been indicated that pH value and EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid) have an influence on the effect of some metals. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of manganese and zinc on the growth of Anacystis nidulans, with and without EDTA.« less
Glucose metabolism and colorectal carcinoma

We evaluated nine patients with colorectal cancer and six control patients in a postabsorptive state in an attempt to define the effect of cancer on glucose turnover, oxidation, recycling, and resting metabolic expenditures (RME). The glucose kinetics were determined using a double-labeled [U-14C] glucose and [6-3H] glucose, and energy expenditures were measured by indirect calorimetry. In addition, we also measured the same parameters in the cancer patient group on a total parenteral nutrition (TPN)-glucose system on the fourth day before and on the fifth day after removal of tumor. In the postabsorptive state, glucose turnover and oxidation rates were similar in the cancer and control group; however, the mean glucose pool size of the cancer group was 47% larger than the control group and was statistically significant (P = .05). Glucose recycling was also two times the control group and was statistically significant (P = .05). The recycling of glucose, both preoperatively and postoperatively, continued in the face of infused glucose; however, the rate was suppressed compared with the fasting cancer group. Postabsorptive RME of the cancer group did not differ from those predicted by the Harris-Benedict equation. Following a 4-day infusion of TPN-glucose that supplied a mean of two times the patients' energy needs, the preoperative cancer group showed a mean increase in RME of 25.6% and a 31.58% increase on the fifth postoperative day of TPN-glucose, presumably due to increased lipogenesis and to a much lesser extent from the increased protein synthesis (4 g positive N balance).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The rise and quick fall of the theory of ancient economic imperialism

societies as having been imperialistic in political terms and capitalistic in economic terms, thus explaining their policy as having been guided by economic interests. Both the emergence of this theory (in the late nineteenth century) and its eventual downfall, after only a few decades, are interesting for several reasons. This article examines the theory of ancient economic imperialism from three perspec tives: as a good illustration of how modern developments, and theories, affect our vision of the past; as the theory that attempted to rationalize ancient imperialism in economic terms; and, finally, as the theoretical construction that eventually served as a springboard for many recent studies in ancient imperialism and ancient economies.
The effects of compressibility, hydrodynamic interaction and inertia on two-point, passive microrheology of viscoelastic materials

In two-point passive microrheology, a modification of the original one-point technique the cross-correlations of two micron-sized beads embedded in a viscoelastic material are used to estimate the dynamic modulus of a material. The two-point technique allows for sampling of larger length scales which means that it can be used in materials with a coarser microstructure. An optimal separation between the beads exists at which the desired length and time scales are sampled while keeping an acceptable signal-to-noise-ratio in the cross-correlations. A larger separation can reduce the effect of higher-order reflections, but will increase the effects of medium inertia and reduce the signal-to-noise-ratio. The modeling formalisms commonly used to relate two-bead cross-correlations to the dynamic modulus and the complex Poisson ratio neglect inertia effects and underestimate the effect of reflections. A simple dimensional analysis suggests that for a model viscoelastic solid there exists a very narrow window of bead separation and frequency range where these effects can be neglected. In a recent work [Phys. Fluids, 2012, 24, 073103] we proposed an analysis formalism that accounts for medium inertia and high-order hydrodynamic reflections and therefore significantly increases the versatility of the two-point microrheology technique. In this paper we extend our analysis to compressible viscoelastic solids. There has been a recent interest in using two-point microrheology to measure the complex Poisson ratio of biopolymers [Das and MacKintosh, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2010, 105, 138102] however a rigorous analysis of the sensitivity of the technique to the static and dynamic properties of the Poisson ratio is still lacking. There are two decoupled statistics that can be followed with such a technique: motion parallel and perpendicular to the line of centers of the probe beads. We show that the cross-correlation in the direction parallel to the line of centers is insensitive to compressibility, so may reliably be used to determine G* (dynamic modulus) alone. Although, the cross-correlation in the perpendicular direction may then be used to extract a constant Poisson ratio, it is relatively insensitive to its frequency dependence. We consider the example of a composite actin/microtubule network.
The human aspects of organizational change in semiconductor manufacturing

The changing environment in today's semiconductor industry is requiring manufacturers to look beyond technology and productivity improvement initiatives to remain competitive. The rapid influx of technology innovation and a worldwide capacity which is leading demand is driving manufacturers to shorter product life cycles and reduced price structures. To obtain competitive product introduction lead-times and cost structures, semiconductor manufacturers are migrating to joint ventures in "co-opetiton" (cooperative competition). These joint ventures are presenting multi-cultural issues that manufacturers must address from the human aspect to successfully implement the necessary organizational changes and effectively compete in the industry.
Opioid dosing trends and mortality in Washington State workers' compensation, 1996-2002.

Background The use of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain has increased in the United States since state laws were relaxed in the late 1990s. These policy changes occurred despite scanty scientific evidence that chronic use of opioids was safe and effective. Methods We examined opiate prescriptions and dosing patterns (from computerized databases, 1996 to 2002), and accidental poisoning deaths attributable to opioid use (from death certificates, 1995 to 2002), in the Washington State workers' compensation system. Results Opioid prescriptions increased only modestly between 1996 and 2002. However, prescriptions for the most potent opioids (Schedule II), as a percentage of all scheduled opioid prescriptions (II, III, and IV), increased from 19.3% in 1996 to 37.2% in 2002. Among long-acting opioids, the average daily morphine equivalent dose increased by 50%, to 132 mg/day. Thirty-two deaths were definitely or probably related to accidental overdose of opioids. The majority of deaths involved men (84%) and smokers (69%). Conclusions The reasons for escalating doses of the most potent opioids are unknown, but it is possible that tolerance or opioid-induced abnormal pain sensitivity may be occurring in some workers who use opioids for chronic pain. Opioid-related deaths in this population may be preventable through use of prudent guidelines regarding opioid use for chronic pain. Am. J. Ind. Med. 48:91–99, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Leisure, freedom, and liberal education

At present liberal education is generally understood and justified as the acquisition of critical thinking skills and individual autonomy. Traditionally, however, the ultimate purpose of liberal education has been leisure. Freedom, it was thought, was not simply the result of critical thinking but also required the cultivation of leisure that involved a vigilant receptivity — a stillness from the busy world of work and the restive probing of a discursive mind. In this essay, Kevin Gary argues that the cultivation of leisure has been and ought to be an essential part of what constitutes a liberal education. Focused on interior freedom, leisure offers a valuable way of learning that ushers in an authentic freedom that a critical approach to learning and liberal education does not. Accordingly, it offers a valuable defense against the hegemonic world of work that defines and appraises one’s value exclusively in terms of one’s doing.
A Theory of Categorical Terrorism

When revolutionaries or insurgents, broadly defined, indiscriminately attack civilians, they generally attack “complicitous civilians,” i.e., those categories of noncombatants which the revolutionaries see as benefiting from, supporting and/or having a substantial capacity to influence the states that the revolutionaries are attempting to displace or overthrow. Such “categorical” terrorism will be most extensive when revolutionaries view these states (or complicitous civilians themselves) as perpetrators of extensive, indiscriminate violence against the revolutionaries and their constituents. However, if significant numbers of complicitous civilians are seen by rebel groups as potential supporters (or as capable of being influenced by nonviolent appeals or protests), then they will not be indiscriminately attacked. Whether specific categories of civilians will be perceived as potential allies by revolutionaries depends mainly on the prior history of political interaction and cooperation between these civilians and the revolutionaries. Categorical terrorism is most likely where there has been little such interaction or cooperation, resulting in weak political alliances between the revolutionaries and complicitous civilians – for example, where the revolutionaries and complicitous civilians speak different languages, practice different religions, claim the same land, and/or are territorially segregated.
Telling Tales at Work: An Evolutionary Explanation.

This article explores the adaptive functions of storytelling in the workplace from an evolutionary perspective. Based on the analysis of ethnographic studies on hunter-gatherer and modern work orga...
The Different Worlds of Science Teachers and Their Students

There were five science teachers at the high school where the study was conducted. Three were in the life sciences and two in the physical sciences. For this study, I interviewed four of the teachers: two biology teachers and two physical science teachers. The fifth teacher was a teacher/researcher on the project, involved with the interpretation of data, and thus was not interviewed for the study. The teachers all had several or more of the 16 ninth graders of this study in a least one science course. All the teachers share the teaching of several sections of a ninth grader “introduction to science” course, and this is where all of the students in the study first met at least one of the four science teachers interviewed. The teachers individually sat for the same interview protocols used with the ninth graders. As with the students, the research wanted to know to what extent teachers enjoin scientific knowledge vis-a-vis other domains of knowledge in a discussion about Nature, given that science is unarguably relevant to the topic of Nature; and yet, Nature is a topic that most people do not explicitly associate with science? What are the concepts that appear to have scope and force in the thinking on this topic? And, how do teachers and students compare?
Alumina/epoxy nanocomposite matching layers for high-frequency ultrasound transducer application

Mismatch of acoustic impedance at the interface between a piezoelectric transducer and the medium to be probed will substantially reduce the amount of ultrasound energy being transmitted into the medium. Therefore, matching layer is a critical component of an ultrasonic transducer. A spin-coating process was used to fabricate alumina/polymer nanocomposite films with alumina volume fractions ranging from 14 to 32%. The particle size of alumina is in the range of 10 to 40 nm. The thicknesses of the matching layer can be controlled by the spinning speed and the concentration of solution. Acoustic impedances of these nanocomposite matching layers are in the range of 2.8 to 5.1 MRayls with different alumina contents, which meet the matching layer requirement. The attenuation of a nanocomposite matching layer with smooth surface is about 15 dB/mm at 40 MHz. The pulse-echo spectrum and frequency spectrum of a high-frequency transducer using this nanocomposite matching layer are reported.
Identification and evaluation of the Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) for biologically inspired subsea burrowing systems.

Synopsis In this article, we identify and analyze a subsea organism to serve as a model for biologically inspired burrowing technology to be used in applications such as anchoring, installation of cables, and recovery of oil. After inspecting myriad forms of life that live on or within ocean substrates, the Atlantic razor clam, Ensis directis, stood out as an attractive basis for new burrowing technology because of its low-energy requirements associated with digging (0.21 J/cm), its speed and depth of burrrowing (� 1 cm/s and 70 cm, respectively), and its size and simplicity relative to man-made machines. As anchoring is a prime application for the technology resulting from this work, the performance of an Ensis directus–based anchoring system was compared to existing technologies. In anchoring force per embedment energy, the E. directus–based anchor beats existing technology by at least an order of magnitude. In anchoring force per weight of device, the biologically inspired system weighs less than half that of current anchors. The article concludes with a review of E. directus’s digging strategy, which involves motions of its valves to locally fluidize the substrate to reduce burrowing drag and energy, and the successful adaptation of E. directus’s burrowing mechanisms into an engineering system: the RoboClam burrowing robot, which, like the animal, uses localized fluidization to achieve digging energy that scales linearly with depth, rather than depth squared, for moving through static soil.
Recent studies on the genetic basis of ankylosing spondylitis

Recent studies published on the genetic basis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) reflect novel areas of investigation and extension of recent advances. As HLA-B27 subtypes have been extensively examined in other ethnic groups, novel insights into the relevance of HLA-B27 folding to disease susceptibility have led to questions regarding the influence of HLA-B27 on AS pathogenesis. The recent identification of IL23R, ERAP1, and interleukin-1 (IL1A) region genes in AS pathogenesis has led to a number of replication studies. Other genes with inconsistent AS associations (eg, KIR, TLR4, ANKH, and TNAP) have been further examined with inconsistent results. Potential candidate genes (TIRAP, COL1A6, and MEFV) have been examined with no associations found. Tremendous progress has been made with respect to understanding the genetic basis of AS. The identification of new genes—ARTS1, IL23R, and IL1A—substantiate that susceptibility to AS is also determined by genes outside the MHC.
Software engineering issues for ubiquitous computing

In the last decade, we have experienced the advent of the paradigm of ubiquitous computing, with the goal of making computational services so pervasive throughout an environment that they become transparent to the human user. Research in ubiquitous computing raises many challenging issues for computer science in general, but successful research in ubiquitous computing requires the deployment of applications that can survive everyday use, and this in itself presents a great software engineering challenge. In our experience, we have found three features common across many ubiquitous computing applications-transparent interfaces that provide appropriate alternatives to the desktop bound traditional graphical user interface, the ability to modify behavior of a application based on knowledge of its context of use, and the ability to capture live experiences for later recall. Building ubiquitous computing applications with these features raises software engineering problems in toolkit design, software structuring for separation of concerns and component integration. We clarify these problems and discuss our approaches towards their solution.
In utero undernutrition in rats induces increased vascular smooth muscle content in the offspring.

Objective We hypothesized that undernutrition in utero alters the structure of conduit and resistance vessels early in development. Study Design We studied a rodent model in which dams were 50% food restricted from day 10 of gestation to term. Vascular smooth muscle content and vascular caliber in the offspring were examined by quantitative histologic methods and by Western blot analysis. Results Maternal food restriction induced a significant increase in the smooth muscle content of 1-day- and 2-month-old offspring aortas and mesenteric arterioles of different luminal diameters. Histologic data were confirmed by Western blot analysis that showed greater expression of smooth muscle α-actin in 1-day-old food restriction aortas. The increase in vascular smooth muscle in the aortas was determined to be the result of cellular hypertrophy. Conclusion These results demonstrate that the vascular smooth muscle is altered in food-restriction offspring and that this may be a mechanism for the programming of offspring hypertension.
Injecting simulation and modeling upstream in the system engineering process

This paper describes the application of simulation and modeling to enhance the understanding of a communication networking solution for the Trucking Locator Control System (TLCS) case study at the Johns Hopkins University Masters Program in Technical Management. The four major steps in this process were: developing a model of the TLCS system; generating assumptions about the TLCS system; selecting a simulation tool using a trade-study; and implementing the selected simulation tool. The selected simulation package, COMNET III, was used to establish common understanding about the system under consideration, to provide insight into its performances, and to generate data for further analysis. The same process can be utilized in other System Engineering applications, not only for educational purposes, but also to provide tools for conceptual system design and to enhance the design and integration phase in the System Engineering life-cycle.
The Rome Accords of January 1935 and the Coming of the Italian-Ethiopian War

(1978). The Rome Accords of January 1935 and the Coming of the Italian‐Ethiopian War. The Historian: Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 41-58.
Bounded Influence Estimation for Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Models with Estimates of the Variances of Foreign Exchange Rates

This paper proposes a robust estimation procedure, the bounded influence estimate (BIE), that is robust against departure from the conditional normality of the autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) models to describe the behavior of exchange rates. First, the BIE identifies the additive outliers (AO, e.g., Fox 1972) caused by abnormal information arrivals which may be triggered by changes in domestic policies and international shocks. Identification of outliers allows us to analyze the major economic and political factors that contribute directly to the dramatic changes in exchange rates. Second, the performance of the BIE is compared with the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) and a semiparametric estimator (SP) of Engle and Gonzalez-Rivera (1991).
An Empirical Examination of Production Based Asset Pricing

This study tests the production based asset pricing model. The paper proceeds by first theoretically deriving an asset pricing model from a firm's production-investment decision following Cochrane (1991). To do this it is necessary to assume specific functional forms for the firm's production technology, as well as a representative consumer's utility function. Then, using aggregate data for investment expenditures and real gross domestic expenditures, I test whether this asset pricing model can price alternative sets of financial securities using Hansen's (1982) MMG. The main conclusions of this study are that the particular production technologies and asset pricing model assumed are not compatible with the data. The most interesting finding is that the problems documented for the consumption based asset pricing models also plague the production based model. This result is very important because the original expectation for the production based model was that the relationship between firms' investment expenditures and asset returns would be stronger than that observed for consumption expenditures. The findings of this study do not support this expectation. In fact, the results indicate that the production based model actually fits the data worse than the consumption based model.
Effects of biaxial stress and layer thickness on octahedral tilts in LaNiO3

Using first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory, we investigated the structural properties of superlattices of the perovskites LaNiO3 and SrTiO3. Inspection of the tilt angles of the NiO6 octahedra in the biaxially stressed LaNiO3 layers reveals the important role of octahedral connectivity at the interface. For tensile biaxial stress, we find that the LaNiO3 layers exhibit a negative Poisson's ratio, in contrast to the positive Poisson's ratio observed in bulk material. These results can be explained in terms of simple models, and are discussed in light of recent experiments.
Franklin's Scientist Enemies: Real or Imagined

The tide of my paper indicates that my subject is not "Franklin s scientific enemies," since I am not at all sure that I know what qualifications make an enemy "scientific" rather than "un-scientific" or "non-scientific." The topic of "scientist enemies," however, suggests the possibility of some kind of enmity among scientists at home and abroad. That is, there were individuals who were both scientists and enemies, even though their "science" was not in the status of "enemy" with Franklins science. As we have become aware since the publication in 1962 of Thomas S. Kuhns study, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, there are no contests between scientific theories or scientific ideas, but rather between scientists who advocate scientific theories or believe in
Robust Data Acquisition for Building Lighting Systems

In 2012, 12% of US electricity consumption was due to residential and commercial lighting. By 2030, LED lightbulbs will be more plentiful, projected to drive a 40% reduction in energy [1]. Yet today’s LED lightbulbs have bulky heat sinks that do not leverage modern thermal management techniques. Reducing the size of the heat sink offers lower cost and increased energy efficiency.To leverage modern techniques, it is valuable to understand how thermal performance degrades light quality as people utilize lights over weeks and months. However, using current data acquisition systems to obtain such massive data sets is expensive, time-consuming, and cable-ridden.We have developed a robust ground-to-cloud system to acquire temperature and luminosity data for building lighting systems. The data acquisition units are small and may be positioned in existing lighting installations. During acquisition, data is backed up automatically. Usability studies demonstrate that novice users can configure an experiment in less than four minutes.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Towards Feedback Control of High-Speed and High-Reynolds-Number Jets

We present a first attempt and preliminary results on the development and application of feedback control to high-speed and high Reynolds number axisymmetric jets. In particular, we demonstrate control authority on the near pressure field of a Mach 0.9 jet with a Reynolds number based on jet diameter of 7.8 × 10. Open-loop forcing experiments are presented wherein our in-house developed plasma actuators are shown to have two distinct effects on the near pressure field. At low forcing Strouhal numbers (StDF’s) near the jet column mode instability, a sharp peak in the pressure fluctuations is observed. At higher StDF’s (close to the initial-shear-layer instability) a broad minimum is observed in the nearfield pressure fluctuations, and especially in its axisymmetric mode. An online gradientbased extremum-seeking feedback control scheme is implemented; it uses the RMS of the azimuthal-mode-filtered pressure fluctuations to optimize the StDF. The actual cost function for optimization can be selected as the RMS of various individual pressure azimuthal modes, or a combination thereof. The controller can be setup to either seek a maximum or a minimum with negligible reconfiguration. Preliminary experimental results are presented to demonstrate satisfactory performance in both operating regimes. Starting from either side of the minimum or maximum, the controller is shown to drive the StDF to the respective optimum and maintain the value over time.
Reactions of Peptidoglycan-Mimetic β-Lactams with Penicillin-Binding Proteins In Vivo and in Membranes

The membrane-bound bacterial d-alanyl-d-alanine peptidases or penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) catalyze the final transpeptidation reaction of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis and are the targets of β-lactam antibiotics. Rather surprisingly, the substrate specificity of these enzymes is not well understood. In this paper, we present measurements of the reactivity of typical examples of these enzymes with peptidoglycan-mimetic β-lactams under in vivo conditions. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of β-lactams with Escherichia coli-specific side chains were determined against E. coli cells. Analogous measurements were made with Streptococcus pneumoniae R6. The reactivity of the relevant β-lactams with E. coli PBPs in membrane preparations was also determined. The results show that under none of the above protocols were β-lactams with peptidoglycan-mimetic side chains more reactive than generic analogues. This suggests that in vivo, as in vitro, these enzymes do not specifically recognize elements of pe...
Snap Judgments: How Students Search the Web for Their Rights to Photograph in Public

Citizens need civic literacy to make sense of the laws that govern them. How do citizens learn about their rights in an age of abundant online information? This study examines how a diverse group of 65 young adults—a generation of people who grew up in the digital age—use the Internet to assess their rights to public photography. The laws surrounding the right to photograph are complicated, yet these laws potentially affect many people as more and more carry devices with cameras and take pictures in public. Study results suggest that despite vast amounts of content available online, people turn to just a small number of sources, often accepting the advice without verification. A few respondents, however, recognize the potential complexity of the situation and approach the task more critically, sometimes consulting multiple sources.
Platelet Activity Ratio: A New Approach for Quantitation of Platelet Factor 3

The ratio of kaolin recalcification time in platelet-poor plasma to kaolin recalcification time in platelet-rich plasma appears to provide a more accurate estimate of platelet factor 3 activity than measurement of kaolin recalcification time in platelet-rich plasma alone. This ratio is termed the "platelet activity ratio." Over a fairly wide range the platelet activity ratio appears to follow a linear log-log relationship to platelet count (platelet counts of 12,500 to 200,000). The use of diluted platelet substitute as artificial standard greatly simplifies preparation of (1) standard curves and (2) quality control plasmas. If platelet activity ratio is expressed as a percentage of normal platelet factor 3 activity, the normal range for "total" platelet factor 3 (PF3t) is 60 to 175% and normal range for "available" platelet factor 3 (PF3a) is 14 to 47%.
Detection of glomerulonephritis in the murine kidney by optical coherence elastography

This work demonstrates the feasibility of using OCE for early detection of pathological changes in the mechanical properties of the kidney, which would complement information provided by structural images.
Status and Equity of Infrastructure for Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and Control Institutions in Sichuan System for Disease Control and Prevention

Objective To understand the status and the demographic and geographic equity of infrastructure in terms of institutional,human and financial resources for noncommunicable diseases(NCD) prevention and control in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDCs) in Sichuan province.Methods All city and county CDCs in Sichuan province were surveyed by quesetionnaires on institutional,human and financial support.The population and geography information in 2009 were collected at the same time.The equity was calculated by Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient.Results At city and county level,the proportions of CDCs that had professional institutes of NCDs were 14.29% and 1.65% respectively,and had institutes mainly responsible for NCDs prevention and control were 9.52% and 4.40% respectively.General and professional staff on NCDs prevention and control accounted for 3.88% and 1.23% of all the CDCs' personnel.There were 33.9% of the staff members had educational background of college undergraduate or higher,94.2% had medical educational background,9.7% had senior professional titles,76.1% of them worked for NCDs less than 5 years,85.8% of them worked in institutes not mainly responsible for NCDs prevention and control.Funds for NCDs prevention and control only accounted for 1.14% and 0.91% of the total funds of city and county CDCs,respectively.The demographic Gini coefficients of institute,staff,professional staff and funds on NCDs prevention and control were 0.646,0.287,0.355 and 0.421,respectively,and the geographic Gini coefficients were 0.902,0.551,0.733 and 0.761,respectively.Conclusion Professional institutes,staff members and fundings for NCDs are quite limited in Sichuan CDCs.The infrastructure allocation are partly equitable according to distribution of population,but highly inequitable according to distribution of geographic area.
A Reconfigurable Multicomputer System for Robotics Applications

Architecture of a reconfigurable cache-based multicomputer system for intelligent machines/robotics applications is discussed. To overcome the memory access latency and conflicts, extensive cacheing of instructions and data is performed in each processor node. This architecture utilizes distributed common memory, multiported RAM, and private cache storage between the local distributed common memory and the local processor. A simple interface circuit which permits multiple microprocessors to share a common memory is described. Theoretical model for task execution time, for the multiprocessor system is presented.
African Women on Festival Circuits: Recasting Labor Roles and Female Sexuality

At the 2004 Mindelact International Theatre Festival, Raiz di Polon, the most celebrated theatre-dance troupe in Cape Verde, staged Duas Sem Tres (Two without Three), a choreographic fantasia about two women who lose their virginity early. They are later abandoned by lovers and are left to the solitude of housework. This narrative could conceivably have reinforced gendered discourses of labor and emigration, specifically the well-worn notion that the movement around the globe of Cape Verdeans is a story of migrating men and women staying at home (see Marques et al. 2001). Yet a closer look at the kinesthetic vocabulary of the piece reveals that the performers offered festival audiences multiple interpretive possibilities. Many of those interpretive options significantly recast notions of labor, emigration, and sexuality in Cape Verde.
Abstract 4090: Metabolic and microenvironment changes in the mammary of calorie restricted, normal weight, and obese mice throughout the lifespan

Background: Breast tissue remodeling occurs with age and is marked by a progressive increase in stromal tissue. Advancing age is also associated with increased senescence among stromal cells that promote a protumorigenic microenvironment by adopting a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). In previous studies, calorie restriction has been effective in cancer prevention through inhibiting cellular senescence and SASP. However, obesity has shown to be cancer promoting with inconsistent findings on its role in cellular senescence. Purpose: We tested the hypothesis that calorie restriction is protective to the protumorigenic, age-related changes that occur within the mammary microenvironment while diet-induced obesity accelerates these changes. Methods: Six week old female mice were randomized to receive either a low-fat control regimen (10 kcal% fat), a 30% calorie restricted (CR) regimen relative to control, or a high-fat diet induced obesity (DIO, 60 kcal% fat) regimen, resulting in control, CR, and DIO mice respectively. A subset of mice was sacrificed at 1, 3, 5, 12 and 20 months following diet initiation with mammary fat pads (MFP) harvested and serum stored for further analysis. HE 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4090.
A Multi-objective Joint Burn-in and Imperfect Condition-based Maintenance Model for Degradation-based Heterogeneous Populations

For some engineering design and manufacturing applications, particularly for evolving and new technologies, there can exist substantial heterogeneity in populations of manufactured components. The co-existence of n subpopulations and unit-to-unit heterogeneity can be common in devices when the manufacturing process is still maturing or highly variable. In this research, we not only model the heterogeneity at the subpopulation-level but also at the unit-level. A mixture degradation framework is developed to model this multi-level heterogeneity. Based on the proposed mixture degradation model, we develop a multi-objective optimization model to jointly determine burn-in and condition-based maintenance policies for populations composed of distinct subpopulations with random effects. We allow the condition-based maintenance to be imperfect, which is more realistic. Our joint models are entirely appropriate for companies that are the providers of both products and services, and can also produce optimal collective results and decisions that can quantify potential savings or benefits through cooperative efforts between producer and user. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the proposed procedure. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An optimized power conversion system concept of the integral, inherently-safe light water reactor

Abstract The integral, inherently safe light water reactor (I 2 S-LWR) has been developed to significantly enhance passive safety capabilities while maintaining cost competitiveness relative to the current light water reactor (LWR) fleet. The compact heat exchangers of the I 2 S-LWR preclude boiling of the secondary fluid, which decreases the probability of heat exchanger failure, but this requires the addition of a flash drum, which negatively affects the overall plant thermodynamic efficiency. A state of the art Rankine cycle is proposed for the I 2 S-LWR to increase the thermodynamic efficiency by utilizing a flash drum with optimized operational parameters. In presenting this option for power conversion in the I 2 S-LWR power plant, the key metric used in rating the performance is the overall net thermodynamic efficiency of the cycle. In evaluating the flash-Rankine cycle, three basic industrial concepts are evaluated, one without an intermediate pressure turbine, one with an intermediate turbine and one reheat stream, and one with an intermediate turbine and two reheat streams. For each configuration, a single-path multi-variable optimization is undertaken to maximize the thermal efficiency. The third configuration with an intermediate turbine and 2 reheat streams is the most effective concept, with an optimized efficiency of 35.7%.
Dual-Layer Groupwise Registration for Consistent Labeling of Longitudinal Brain Images.

The growing collection of longitudinal images for brain disease diagnosis necessitates the development of advanced longitudinal registration and anatomical labeling methods that can respect temporal consistency between images. However, the characteristics of such longitudinal images and how they lodge into the image manifold are often neglected in existing labeling methods. Indeed, most of them independently align atlases to each target time-point image for propagating the pre-defined atlas labels to the subject domain. In this paper, we present a dual-layer groupwise registration method to consistently label anatomical regions of interest in brain images across different time-points using a multi-atlases-based labeling framework. Our framework can best enhance the labeling of longitudinal images through: (1) using the group mean of the longitudinal images of each subject (i.e., subject-mean) as a bridge between atlases and the longitudinal subject scans to align atlases to all time-point images jointly; and (2) using inter-atlas relationship in their nesting manifold to better register each atlas image to the subject-mean. These steps yield to a more consistent (from the joint alignment of atlases with all time-point images) and more accurate (from the manifold-guided registration between each atlases and the subject-mean image) registration, thereby eventually improving the consistency and accuracy for the subsequent labeling step. We have tested our dual-layer groupwise registration method to label two challenging longitudinal brain datasets (i.e., healthy infants and Alzheimer’s disease subjects). Our experimental results have showed that our method achieves higher labeling accuracy while keeping the labeling consistency over time, when compared to the traditional registration scheme (without our proposed contributions). Moreover, the proposed framework can flexibly integrate with the existing label fusion methods, such as sparse-patch based methods, to improve the labeling accuracy of longitudinal datasets.
Black–White Disparities in Adult Mortality: Implications of Differential Record Linkage for Understanding the Mortality Crossover

Mortality rates among black individuals exceed those of white individuals throughout much of the life course. The black-white disparity in mortality rates is widest in young adulthood, and then rates converge with increasing age until a crossover occurs at about age 85 years, after which black older adults exhibit a lower mortality rate relative to white older adults. Data quality issues in survey-linked mortality studies may hinder accurate estimation of this disparity and may even be responsible for the observed black-white mortality crossover, especially if the linkage of surveys to death records during mortality follow-up is less accurate for black older adults. This study assesses black-white differences in the linkage of the 1986-2009 National Health Interview Survey to the National Death Index through 2011 and the implications of racial/ethnic differences in record linkage for mortality disparity estimates. Match class and match score (i.e., indicators of linkage quality) differ by race/ethnicity, with black adults exhibiting less certain matches than white adults in all age groups. The magnitude of the black-white mortality disparity varies with alternative linkage scenarios, but convergence and crossover continue to be observed in each case. Beyond black-white differences in linkage quality, this study also identifies declines over time in linkage quality and even eligibility for linkage among all adults. Although linkage quality is lower among black adults than white adults, differential record linkage does not account for the black-white mortality crossover.
Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions in Actomyosin Cortices

Biological functions rely on ordered structures and intricately controlled collective dynamics. Such order in living systems is typically established and sustained by continuous dissipation of energy. The emergence of ordered patterns of motion is unique to non-equilibrium systems and is a manifestation of dynamic steady states. Many cellular processes require transitions between different steady states. Can general principles of statistical physics guide our understanding of such cellular self-organization? I will show that model actomyosin cortices, in the presence of rapid turnover, self-organize into three non-equilibrium steady states as a function of network connectivity. The different states arise from a subtle interaction between mechanical percolation of the actin network and myosin-generated stresses. All states show distinct dynamic order. Only the highest connectivity causes structural phase separation. We discover that the dominant mechanism defining the symmetries of the dynamic steady states is the emergence of ordered stress patterns. The marginally percolated state displays strong strain fluctuations, indicative of enhanced susceptibility. The striking dynamics in this model actomyosin cortex were revealed using fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotubes as novel probes. We propose self-organization of stress patterns as a new paradigm of biological function.
Becoming Orgasmic. By Julia R. Heiman and Joseph LoPiccolo. (1993). [Videotape]. (Available from the Sinclair Institute, P.O. Box 8865, Chapel Hill, NC, 800/955-0898.) 83 min. $29.95.

(1997). Becoming Orgasmic. By Julia R. Heiman and Joseph LoPiccolo. (1993). [Videotape]. (Available from the Sinclair Institute, P.O. Box 8865, Chapel Hill, NC, 800/955-0898.) 83 min. $29.95. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy: Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 52-53.