cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Formation of hybrid molecules from two alternating DNA copolymers.

Hybrid double helices can be formed from the alternating DNA copolymers dAT† and dA BU ¯ by slowly cooling a solution through the random coil-helix transition in high salt, where both polymers have nearly the same melting temperature. Very high concentrations are needed to form hybrids. This indicates that at low concentrations single strands fold back on themselves, by means of the alternating base sequence, instead of uniting with other strands. Formation of hybrid double helices rather than end-to-end aggregates is shown by the failure of sonic breakage to release dAT and dA BU ¯ from the hybrid and by the existence of a hybrid melting zone when the melting curve is measured in low salt, where the melting zones for dAT : dAT and dA BU ¯ : dA BU ¯ are sharp and separated by 9°C. The amount melting in the hybrid zone measures the number of hybrid base-pairs. As a test for hybrid double helices, melting curves are more reliable than density gradient analysis : it is possible to produce materials which sediment with a hybrid density but show no hybrid melting zone. Studies with hybrid molecules show that dAT and dA BU ¯ have considerable configurational mobility in the temperature zone preceding the optical density transition. Hybrid molecules also have been used to study strand disentanglement after melting. The results show that these are separate processes, melting being much more rapid, when the hybrids are melted in low salt, at relatively low temperatures.
Constants of motion in NMR spectroscopy

Abstract We present a general method for constructing a subset of the constants of motion in terms of products of spin operators. These operators are then used to give insight into the multi-spin orders comprising the quasi-equilibrium state formed under a Jeener–Broekaert sequence in small, dipolar-coupled, spin systems. We further show that constants of motion that represent single-quantum coherences are present due to the symmetry of the dipolar Hamiltonian under 180° spin rotations, and that such coherences contribute a DC component to the FID which vanishes in the absence of the flip-flop terms and is only present for spin clusters with an odd number of spins.
Rationale and design of a multi-center randomized trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment consultation for hospitalized patients in an HMO.

Objective: To describe the evaluation of an interdisciplinary comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) consultation program for targeted hospitalized patients. Design: Multi-center randomized clinical trial (RCT) at four hospitals where patients were randomly assigned to CGA consultation or usual care by the attending physician, and a non-equivalent control group (NCG) at two hospitals. Setting: Six hospitals in a multi-specialty group practice model health maintenance organization (HMO). Participants: 3593 patients age 65 years or older meeting at least one of 13 inclusionary criteria at admission. Intervention: Screening by hospital staff and standardized CGA consultation conducted by a nurse practitioner, social worker, and geriatrician at the four RCT hospitals. Main Outcome Measures: Functional and health status, mortality, rehospitalization, and cost-effectiveness of the CGA program at 1 year post-randomization; validation of targeting (inclusionary) criteria that identify subgroups of patients deriving benefit from CGA; and physician contamination (learning from CGA and changing treatment provided to control patients). Conclusions: A number of methodological issues need to be considered when conducting effectiveness trials of CGA. The concurrent design of a multi-center RCT, coupled with the NCG to determine physician contamination, is an innovative approach intended to determine more precisely the cost-effectiveness of CGA for frail hospitalized elderly persons. The large and heterogeneous patient population and the broad array of inclusionary criteria will permit the evaluation of the benefit of CGA for subgroups. All these features are intended to enhance the generalizability of study results.
The role of complement in experimental silicosis.

The role of the complement system in the pathogenesis of crystal-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis was evaluated using a mouse model of silicosis and congenitally complement-deficient mice. Mice lacking the fifth component of complement (B10.D2/o) were compared to C5-sufficient animals (B10.D2/n) for pulmonary changes following intratracheal instillation of silica crystals. Complement-deficient mice demonstrated a significant reduction compared to complement-sufficient mice in both cell number and protein content of lung lavage fluid throughout the 12 weeks following silica exposure. Lung hydroxyproline content (indicative of collagen deposition) was equivalent for both strains and significantly higher than controls at all time points following silica instillation. Moreover, studies in vitro have shown that silica crystals are capable of activating complement via the alternative pathway. These studies indicate that the complement system may be responsible for some of the pulmonary inflammation, but not fibrosis elicited by silica exposure.
Effect of pyrolysis temperature and time on catalytic performance of sewage sludge/industrial sludge-based composite adsorbents

Abstract Adsorbents for removal of hydrogen sulfide from moist air were prepared from sewage sludge, waste oil sludge and their 50:50 mixture by pyrolysis at 650 and 950 °C for either half an hour or an hour. The resulting materials were characterized using sorption of nitrogen, thermal analysis, pH measurements and X-ray diffraction. Their catalytic performance was evaluated in hydrogen sulfide reactive adsorption via a dynamic test. The adsorbents have high capacity for hydrogen sulfide removal and high selectivity for its conversion to elemental sulfur. That sulfur is stored in the pore system, mainly mesopores. In some cases, after the oxidation, a secondary pore system is formed within the deposited sulfur. Either the capacity or selectivity depends on the pyrolysis temperature, time, and the specific chemistry of the sludge precursors. They govern the development of porosity and formation of new mineral-like catalytic components through solid-state reaction.
Analytical Study of the Instability Between Two Liquids Flowing in a Channel and Subjected to Parallel or Normal Electric Field

The electro-hydrodynamic linear stability of a flat interface between two viscous, immiscible and incompressible liquids in plane Poiseuille flow has been shown to be useful in microfluidic devices. In some applications (e.g., material deposition) stability is desired, and in others (e.g., mixing or drop formation) instability needs to be induced. Depending on the direction of the electric field, i.e., parallel or normal to the flat interface, and in the case of fast electric times, it was shown analytically and without solving the complete set of equations that the electric field can either stabilize or destabilize the interface [1]. In this paper, we fully solve the equations and determine the maximum growth rates and the critical wavenumbers in the conductivity versus permittivity ratio space.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Quantum key distribution with time coding on linearly dependent states

A quantum key distribution protocol with information coding by the time of photon arrival based on four linearly dependent single-photon states is proposed and the resistance of the protocol to a realistic intercept-resend attack is analyzed. The protocol on four linearly independent states is shown to be sensitive to an attack with unambiguous discrimination of all states when the level of losses in the quantum channel is higher than 7.2 dB.
Carbon-Oxygen Bond Cleavage by Bis(imino)pyridine Iron Compounds : Catalyst Deactivation Pathways and Observation of Acyl C-O Bond Cleavage in Esters

Investigations into the substrate scope of bis(imino)pyridine iron-catalyzed hydrogenation and [2π + 2π] diene cyclization reactions identified C−O bond cleavage as a principal deactivation pathway. Addition of diallyl or allyl ethyl ether to the bis(imino)pyridine iron dinitrogen complex, (iPrPDI)Fe(N2)2 (iPrPDI = 2,6-(2,6-iPr2-C6H3N═CMe)2C5H3N, 1-(N2)2), under a dinitrogen atmosphere resulted in facile cleavage of the C−O bond and yielded a mixture of the corresponding paramagnetic iron allyl and alkoxide complexes. For ethyl vinyl ether, clean and selective formation of the iron ethoxide was observed with concomitant loss of the vinyl fragment. In situ monitoring of the catalytic hydrogenation of trans-methyl cinnamate established ester C−O bond cleavage as a competing process. Stoichiometric reactions between 1-(N2)2 and allyl and vinyl acetate also produced facile C−O oxidative addition. For the latter, a six coordinate diamagnetic bis(imino)pyridine acetatoxy iron vinyl compound was obtained and cha...
Licensing PPARγ to Work in Macrophages

The mechanisms that direct cell-type-specific peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gene programs are poorly understood. In this issue of Immunity, Szanto et al. (2010) identify signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 as a transcriptional switch that licenses PPARγ-dependent gene expression in macrophages and dendritic cells.
Using citation analysis to develop core book collections in academic libraries

Collection development in college and university libraries most often occurs using longstanding traditional selection methods, such as favorable book reviews or local user needs. This study uses citation analysis as a tool to select books for the social science book collection in one academic library and compares the circulation of books using traditional methods to those books using citation analysis. The journal impact factor was used to determine those journals and authors cited the most in the disciplines of business, anthropology, education, political science, psychology, and sociology. If those authors published books, the books were purchased and circulation data on the books were tabulated and compared to books chosen using traditional methods. Findings indicate that books purchased using traditional methods of selection circulated more, except when individual disciplines were measured. In the areas of business, political science, and psychology, there was no significant difference in circulation statistics, and together both the traditional and citation analysis methods accounted for circulation of nearly 95% of the social science collection. Since it is based on scholarly activity, citation analysis is a collection development method that could be used in all academic libraries.
Development of the interstitial cell of Cajal: origin, Kit dependence and neuronal and nonneuronal sources of Kit ligand

Kit is a marker for interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). ICCs interact with enteric neurons and are essential for gastrointestinal motility. The roles of neural crest-derived cells, neurons, Kit, and Kit ligand (KL) in ICC development were analyzed. ICC development lagged behind that of neurons and smooth muscle. Although mRNA encoding Kit and KL was detected at E11, Kit-immunoreactive ICCs did not appear until E12 in foregut and E14 in terminal hindgut. Transcripts of Kit and KL and Kit-immunoreactive cells were found in aganglionic gut from ls/ls and c-ret −/− mice. ICCs also developed in crest-free cultures of ls/ls terminal colon. ICCs appeared in cultures of noncrest- but not those of crest-derived cells isolated from the fetal bowel by immunoselection with antibodies to p75NTR. KL immunoreactivity was coincident in cells with neuronal or smooth muscle markers. The development of ICCs in cultures of mixed cells dissociated from the fetal gut was dependent on plating density. No ICCs appeared at ≤80,000 cells/ml, but many cells, including filamentous ICCs, appeared at ≥200,000 cells/ml. Exogenous KL partially substituted for a high plating density. These data support the ideas that mammalian ICCs are neither derived from the neural crest nor developmentally dependent on neurons. ICC differentiation/survival requires KL, which can be provided by neurons or cells in a smooth muscle lineage. Neurons may be needed for development of myenteric ICCs and the mature ICC network. J. Neurosci. Res. 59:384–401, 2000 © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Diffuse Scattering Intensity Distribution Associated with Static and Dynamic Atomic Position Fluctuations

Diffuse scattering is a general phenomenon associated with various nanoscale disorders omnipresent in crystalline solids. While it contains rich information on structural disorders, interpretation and analysis of diffuse scattering pose a great challenge because it usually contains contributions from multiple types of disorders and their respective contributions are difficult to separate. In order to extract useful information from diffuse scattering, concerted efforts in high-quality diffuse scattering intensity measurement, quantitative data analysis, theoretical interpretation, and computer simulations are required. In this theoretical work, the diffuse scattering intensity distribution associated with static and dynamic atomic position fluctuations is formulated to effectively combine with our concurrent experimental and computational works. In particular, the theoretical formulation is used to interpret diffuse scattering originated from phonon softening in precursor state of a shape-memory alloy, and, as examples of static atomic position fluctuations, diffuse scattering phenomena of modulated phases and nanotwin microstructures are also discussed.
Magnetic behavior of atoms in gray optical lattices

The magnetization and lifetimes of atoms in gray optical lattices exhibit modulations as functions of an applied B field that are attributed to tunneling resonances between neighboring lattice wells. Expanding on previous observations, we show how these modulations depend on well depth, and we derive spin temperatures for the system. A band-structure-based model and quantum Monte Carlo wave-function simulations are used to explain these results. We predict subrecoil structures in the velocity distributions; these structures undergo systematic variations when the applied magnetic field is varied. Dramatically different behaviors for bosonic and fermionic spin systems are found and explained.
ATP Acts as an Agonist to Promote Stimulus-Induced Secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 in Human Blood

Cultured monocytes and macrophages stimulated with LPS produce large quantities of proIL-1beta, but release little mature cytokine to the medium. The efficiency at which the procytokine is converted to its active 17-kDa species and released extracellularly is enhanced by treating cytokine-producing cells with a secretion stimulus such as ATP or nigericin. To determine whether this need for a secretion stimulus extends to blood, individual donors were bled twice daily for 4 consecutive days, and the collected blood samples were subjected to a two-step IL-1 production assay. LPS-activated blood samples generated cell-free IL-1beta, but levels of the extracellular cytokine were greatly increased by subsequent treatment with ATP or nigericin. Specificity and concentration requirements of the nucleotide triphosphate effect suggests a P2X(7) receptor involvement. Quantities of IL-1beta generated by an individual donor's blood in response to the LPS-only and LPS/ATP stimuli were relatively consistent over the 4-day period. Between donors, consistent differences in cytokine production capacity were observed. Blood samples treated with ATP also demonstrated enhanced IL-18 production, but TNF-alpha levels decreased. Among leukocytes, monocytes appeared to be the most affected cellular targets of the ATP stimulus. These studies indicate that an exogenous stimulus is required by blood for the efficient production of IL-1beta and IL-18, and suggest that circulating blood monocytes constitutively express a P2X(7)-like receptor.
BACKGROUND, NEEDS, JOB PERCEPTIONS, AND JOB SATISFACTION: A CAUSAL MODEL

Data concerning sex, social status, need strength, job perceptions and job satisfaction were collected from 411 people who were entering the work force for the first time at the time they obtained their jobs and approximately 10 months later. Using maximum likelihood path analysis, support was obtained for the following causal sequence: Background → Need Strength → Job Perception → Job Satisfaction. As in other studies, growth need strength was related to job dimensions. However, relatedness needs also appear to play a significant role in determining perceptions of jobs and job satisfaction. Sex and social status determined to some extent the subjects' initial level of need strength and indirectly their job perceptions.
Wavelength-division multiplexing of adiabatic solitons for repeaterless transmission

Error-free repeaterless transmission of two 10 Gbit/s wavelength-division multiplexed channels over 236 km using adiabatic soliton propagation has been demonstrated. The 150 GHz optical bandwidth of each channel is converted by the adiabatic evolution to 12.5 GHz, allowing dense wavelength multiplexing. Channel separations of 100 and 675 GHz are compared.
MSMExplorer: visualizing Markov state models for biomolecule folding simulations

Summary: Markov state models (MSMs) for the study of biomolecule folding simulations have emerged as a powerful tool for computational study of folding dynamics. MSMExplorer is a visualization application purpose-built to visualize these MSMs with an aim to increase the efficacy and reach of MSM science. Availability: MSMExplorer is available for download from https:// simtk.org/home/msmexplorer. The source code is made available under the GNU Lesser General Public License at https://github.com/ SimTk/msmexplorer.
A game-building environment for research in collaborative design

Collaborative design practices are evolving rapidly today as a result of improvements in telecommunications and human-computer interfaces. We present a suite of research tools that we have built in order to evaluate a particular methodology for design based on a theory of problem solving from the field of artificial intelligence. These tools are (a) a formal specification for a class of multimedia games, (b) a game-building tool called PRIME Designer, and (c) a game engine that brings games to life. The design of these tools addresses several issues: (1) support for a common language for the design process, deriving from state-space search, (2) visual interfaces for collaboration, (3) specifications for a class of games (called PRIME games) whose affordances represent a balance between simplicity and richness, (4) educating students to work in design teams that use advanced computational services, and (5) assessing the learning and contributions of each team member. We also report on a focus group study in which four undergraduate students used the tools. Our experience suggests that users without a computing background can learn how to employ state-space trees to organize the design process, and thereby gain facilities to coordinate their individual contributions to the design of a game.
Consultation with the specialist: testicular masses/cancer.

1. William P. Adelman, MD* 2. Alain Joffe, MD, MPH† 1. *Head, Department of Adolescent Medicine, National Naval Medical Center; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md 2. †Director, Student Health and Wellness Center, Johns Hopkins University; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the presentation, epidemiology, clinical aspects, management, and preventive measures associated with testicular tumors in adolescents. 2. Discuss the differential diagnosis of scrotal masses in the adolescent. A 19-year-old college sophomore presents to the University Health Service with a complaint of a “painful left testicle.” He noted gradually worsening testicular pain over the past 2 to 3 days. He is sexually active, with his last encounter occurring 8 weeks prior to the visit. He denies dysuria, penile discharge, back pain, flank pain, fever, chills, or sweats. He denies recent trauma or any history of testicular problems. The family and social history are noncontributory. On physical examination, he has no gynecomastia, and findings on his lung and heart examinations are normal. He is sexually mature (Sexual Maturity Rating 5) and is circumcised. He has no skin lesions or appreciable lymphadenopathy. The contents of his right scrotum are normal; his left epididymis is palpable and nontender; his left spermatic cord is without visual or palpable varicosity; and his left testicle is palpable and normal in size, lie, and shape, but is markedly tender to palpation at the inferior pole. It does not transilluminate. Pain does not decrease with elevation of the testis. Ultrasonography reveals a testicular tumor at the lower pole, with bleeding into the tumor. Following appropriate staging evaluation, he undergoes orchiectomy followed by radiation and chemotherapy and recovers fully. ### Tumor of the Testis Testicular cancer, predominantly of germ cell origin (95%), is the most common cancer of young men between 15 and 34 years of age, accounts for 3% of all cancer deaths in that age group, and may affect as many as 1 in 10,000 teens. It is projected that in 2005, 8,010 new cases of testicular cancer will be diagnosed, and 390 men will …
Reliability of Spare Part Support for a Complex System with Repair

In this paper an expression is derived for the probability that a given number of spares for each element of a complex system will be sufficient to ensure continued operation without requiring a spare for replacement of a failed part when none is available. Each part of the system being considered is subject to failure according to Poisson statistics, and may be subject to repair in some fixed time. The probability that the number of spares will be sufficient for nonreparable parts is obtained as a special case of the result for reparable parts. The probabilities are obtained for a single part by the construction of an artificial model, which differs from the case being considered, allowing the deviation to shrink to zero. Samples of the results obtained are included for several values of the various parameters. The results are generalized to include a variety of parts, both identical and different, and to include the effects of passive redundancy.
Lord Russell and the Western Counties, 1539-1555

The crown's tenuous control over remote regions of the realm created a persistent problem in sixteenth-century England. Feudal ties and social unrest presented greatest danger in the North, but the early Tudor monarchs worried about the West as well. For one thing, the western counties were especially vulnerable to possible foreign invasion. Secondly, the internal power structure in the West included a loyal but independent gentry and a commons far from passive. In such circumstances, royal control in the West might have disappeared entirely without solid aristocratic support. King Henry VIII depended upon his cousin, Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, to provide such support during the first three decades of his reign. Until Courtenay's execution for treason in 1538, his lands and offices ensured his position as the leading aristocrat, the role which John, Lord Russell assumed in 1539.
Habitat Selection as the Mechanism for Thermoregulation in a Northern Population of Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus)

Abstract: Although temperature is recognized as an important barrier to reptile distribution, the mechanisms of this limitation are poorly understood. We investigated the association between temperature, habitat selection, and thermoregulation in a population of massasauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus) near their northern range limit, where low temperatures are likely an important constraint. Movement data indicated that the lower limit of the massasauga's performance range (i.e., ≥ 50% of optimal) was 19.9 °C. Operative environmental temperatures were almost always below the massasauga's preferred range (30.0–33.6 °C) and frequently below its performance range in spring and fall. Massasaugas differed from other northern snakes by thermoregulating primarily by microhabitat selection and not by macrohabitat selection. Massasaugas thermoregulated more effectively as their visibility increased and forest cover decreased. Gravid females increased thermoregulatory behaviour in response to low temperatures...
Analysis of MOLA data for the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites

[1] We have used Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data to demonstrate that selected landing sites meet the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) landing system topography and slope requirements at hectometer and kilometer scales. To provide a comprehensive analysis, we constrained slopes within each landing ellipse using four approaches: (1) measurements of local slopes at 1.2 km length scales using both an adirectional maximum gradient method and a higher-resolution bidirectional, along-track method, (2) predictions of 100 m slopes using self-affine statistics in conjunction with (3) calculations of both pulse width and slope corrected pulse width to constrain slopes at scales smaller than the MOLA spot size (<180 m), and (4) comparisons of simultaneously acquired MOLA data with Mars Orbiter Camera data to identify the geomorphologic features associated with variations in observed slopes, pulse width, and, for this analysis only, reflectivity. The results of the analysis indicate that the selected landing sites are consistent with the MER topography requirement of being below −1.3 km, as well as having slopes less than 5° at length scales of 100 m and <2° at length scales of 1.2 km.
Reporting and evaluating genetic association studies

Genetic association studies have become an important part of our scientific landscape. This commentary discusses some basic scientific issues which should be considered when reporting and evaluating such studies including SNP Discovery, Genotyping and Haplotype Analysis; Population Size, Matching of Cases and Controls, and Population Stratification; Phenotype Definition and Multiple Related Phenotypes; Multiple Testing; Replication; Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS); and the Role of Functional Studies. All of these elements are important in evaluating such studies and should be carefully considered when these studies are conceived and carried out.
Response to Warnings during the 3 May 1999 Oklahoma City Tornado: Reasons and Relative Injury Rates

Residents of homes that sustained F4 or F5 damage in the deadliest of the 3 May 1999 tornadoes were surveyed to determine their responses to the tornado warning, reasons for their responses, and relative injury rates. There were 190 people in 65 surveyed houses at the time that warnings were issued. Television was the most commonly cited source of the warning (89%), followed by a telephone call (37%), sirens (37%), and AM/FM radio (25%), and 55% received the warning from more than one source. Nearly one-half (47%) of the residents fled their homes before the tornado struck. Of those who fled, 65% went to a tornado shelter, of whom 70% ran to the shelter (median distance 30 m) and 30% drove to the shelter (median distance 4.8 km). About one-half (53%) of those who fled their homes left in a vehicle. None of those who fled their homes, by foot or by vehicle, were injured. Of those who stayed in the home, 39% sought shelter in a bathroom, 38% in a closet, 9% in a hallway, and 15% in other rooms. Reasons for not leaving included believing the storm would not strike their house, believing it was too late or too dangerous to leave, having no transportation available, or having no alternative shelter available. Thirty percent of those who remained in their homes were injured and 1% killed. The rate of serious injury was not significantly different for those in a closet (14%), hallway (20%), or bathroom (23%). Tornado preparedness and warning programs should recognize that long tornado warning lead times and street-level television coverage allow residents to make reasoned decisions to minimize risk and that those decisions may include driving out of the path of the tornado.
Re-Examining Linkages between Surface Transportation Infrastructure and Economic Performance: A Panel Granger Causality Test on the Northeast Corridor

This paper investigates causal linkages between surface transportation infrastructures and economic performance in the northeast corridor in the United States. To improve the validity of estimation, financial data of highways, public rail and transit are measured in real dollar values. The panel Granger causality test shows that the endogeneity between transportation input and the regional economic output does not exist with statistical significance in this analysis. Transportation infrastructures are found to “Granger cause” the change of employment and personal income per capita whereas the reversed effects are not found.
Recent and Proposed Patent System Reforms: Implications for Technology Commercialization

Recent patent-related judicial developments and legislative proposals have implications for the business of technology commercialization. This paper summarizes the most significant of these developments and proposals, and highlights their potential implications for technology commercialization enterprises.
Incremental Development of Complex Behaviors through Automatic Construction of Sensory-motor Hierarchies

Abstract This paper addresses the issue of continual, incremental development of behaviors in reactive agents. The reactive agents are neural-network based and use reinforcement learning techniques. A continually developing system is one that is constantly capable of extending its repertoire of behaviors. An agent increases its repertoire of behaviors in order to increase its performance in and understanding of its environment. Continual development requires an unlimited growth potential; that is, it requires a system that can constantly augment current behaviors with new behaviors, perhaps using the current ones as a foundation for those that come next. It also requires a process for organizing behaviors in meaningful ways and a method for assigning credit properly to sequences of indefinitely long-lasting behaviors. The solution proposed here is hierarchical and bottom up. I introduce a new kind of neuron (termed a “bion―), whose characteristics permit it to be automatically constructed into sensory-motor hierarchies as determined by experience. The bion is being developed to resolve the problems of incremental growth, temporal history limitation, network organization, and credit assignment among component behaviors.
Futures We Want to Inhabit

To educate the next generation of students, Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society is merging curriculum with science fiction prototyping.
Dual-Pump CARS Probing of Meter-Scale Turbulent Pool Fires

Presented here are broadband, dual-pump CARS measurements which were performed in a 2-meter diameter methanol pool fire. Single-shot temperature and relative mole fractions were obtained simultaneously. The temperatures were compared to traditional thermocouple measurements in the pool fire. It was found that the CARS mean temperatures agree to within 4% of the thermocouple measurements, while the RMS temperatures were an order of magnitude less for the thermocouple. The accuracy and precision of the single-shot temperature measurements were characterized by comparison to a laboratory standard. It was determined that between 500-1400 K the CARS instrument was accurate to better than 4% and the measurements were reproducible to within 6%.
Concentration-Time Relationship for Fumigant Efficacy of Sulfuryl Fluoride Against the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus , was exposed to sulfuryl fluoride over a range of six accumulated concentrations (10-60 mg h/liter) and 12 exposure times (1-96 h), to determine the concentration-time relationship on termite mortality. Time threshold in sulfuryl fluoride fumigation was<1h. The results demonstrated that C0.93t = k was a satisfactory model to describe the response relationship in fumigant efficacy of sulfuryl fluoride against this termite. Because the toxicity index (n = 0.93) approximates to 1, the assumption that the exposure time is equally important to concentration is functionally valid.
Hemodynamic responses to vasoactive compounds in chronically alcohol treated rats.

Recent evidence suggests that substantial usage of ethanol (hereafter termed alcohol) for a long period of time is positively correlated with hypertension in animal models7 as well as in epidemiologic human investigations5,6,9,12,15,26. Although variables such as smoking, nutritional status, stress and genetic predisposition make human data difficult to interpret, the evidence for the link between substantial amount of alcohol use and high blood pressure is substantial. For example, more than 50% of the alcoholics admitted for detoxification have high blood pressure, and their elevated pressure was returned toward normal when they withdrew the alcohol consumption. However, biochemical or pharmacological mechanisms underlying the positive correlation are poorly understood.2
Investigate analyses Psychological and behavior development,family care environment in ethnic Han and Mongolian children aged 5～7 years

Objective Investigate the psychological and behavior development status and child care environment of 5～7 years old children in Ordos city, discuss the affect of child care environment on the two sides that psychological and behavior development.Methods Participants were 234 children aged 5～7 years.Parental ratings of child psychological and behavior were obtained using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire(SDQ).Results And parental ratings of family environment were obtained using the child care environment questionnaire.There were gender differences in the personal strengths(social behavior)and in the profile of child psychopathology(emotional symptoms,conduct problems,hyperactivity-inattention,and peer problems)with conduct problems being particularly evident in both boys and girls(P0.05).Different family environment impact on the psychopathology and behavior development of child being particularly evident(P0.01).Conclusion Psychological development of children's status related with gender、parental feelings、parental attitudes、marital relationships and family life,but no significant with nationality.
Philanthropy as a Cost Effective Marketing Tool

Corporate philanthropy can become a cost effective investment and a valuable marketing tool when combined with a well developed corporate giving program. This paper highlights two years of investigation of philanthropic activity and focuses on the direct, multiple and exponential benefits of corporate giving programs from a financial viewpoint.
Rational and convergent learning in stochastic games

This paper investigates the problem of policy learning in multiagent environments using the stochastic game framework, which we briefly overview. We introduce two properties as desirable for a learning agent when in the presence of other learning agents, namely rationality and convergence. We examine existing reinforcement learning algorithms according to these two properties and notice that they fail to simultaneously meet both criteria. We then contribute a new learning algorithm, WoLF policy hillclimbing, that is based on a simple principle: “learn quickly while losing, slowly while winning.” The algorithm is proven to be rational and we present empirical results for a number of stochastic games showing the algorithm converges.
Insomnia, Health-Related Quality of Life and Health Outcomes in Children: A Seven Year Longitudinal Cohort

National Institutes of Health [HL062373, HL095748, HL095799]; PCORI [IHS-1306-2505, 3394]; Arizona Respiratory Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Flow Cytometric Analysis of Leishmania Surface Membrane Antigen Expression

The advent of cell fusion technology for the construction of hybridomas synthesizing monoclonal antibodies (Kohler and Milstein, 1975) has provided the immunoparasitologist with the means to detect subtle antigenic differences on the surface membrane of the leishmania parasites which cause human disease. Use of these antibodies in radioimmune binding assays (McMahon-Pratt and David, 1981; Jaffe and McMahon-Pratt 1983; Jaffe et al., 1984; Pan et al., 1984; McMahon-Pratt et al., 1985; Grimaldi et al., 1987), immunofluorescent antibody assays (Handman and Hocking, 1982; de Ibarra et al., 1982; Lemesre et al., 1985) and enzyme linked immunosorbant assays (Fong and Chang, 1982; Anthony et al., 1985) has now culminated in the identification of a sizeable composite of species-specific, subspecies-specific and stage-specific epitopes. Most importantly, the ability to demonstrate such epitopes on parasites taken directly from the patient1s lesion (Lynch et al., 1986; Anthony et al., 1987) permits a prompt diagnosis of the infection. Such diagnoses are critical when attempting to decide regimens of treatment, management of the patient and prognosis.
Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Pregnancy and Childhood

Both pregnancy and childhood uniquely affect the natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Chronically infected women frequently experience a rise in plasma viral levels and decline in hepatic transaminases in the latter half of pregnancy, likely due in part to suppression of HCV-specific cellular immunity by maternofetal tolerance mechanisms. These changes reverse following delivery, with viremia sometimes declining sharply due to an apparent postpartum resurgence of HCV-specific immunity. While pregnancy influences the natural history of HCV, recent studies suggest that HCV infection may also affect pregnancy, predisposing to premature delivery and other adverse outcomes. About 4–6 % of pregnancies to viremic mothers result in utero or peripartum vertical transmission, which is now the primary route of childhood HCV infection. Currently no antiviral therapies or prophylactic interventions are available to prevent the vertical transmission of HCV. Hepatitis C acquired in childhood appears to follow a distinct course from infection acquired in adulthood. In the acute phase of infection, hepatic transaminases usually rise less dramatically in young children than in adults. Children may spontaneously resolve infection at least as often as adults, and some studies suggest they retain capacity to resolve infection over a more prolonged period of time. Persistently infected children demonstrate a slower progression of liver fibrosis than adults, though more studies are needed to understand the long-term outcome of pediatric HCV infection. Immunological mechanisms governing vertical transmission and the natural history of HCV in children remain poorly understood. Standard therapy for children remains interferon and ribavirin while clinical trials are underway to test direct acting antiviral regimens in this population.
Miniaturized devices for point of care molecular detection of HIV

The HIV pandemic affects 36.7 million people worldwide, predominantly in resource-poor settings. Nucleic acid-based molecular detection of HIV plays a significant role in antiretroviral treatment monitoring for HIV patients, as well as diagnosis of HIV infection in infants. Currently available molecular diagnostic methods are complex, time-consuming and relatively expensive, thus limiting their use in resource-poor settings. Recent advances in microfluidics technology have made possible low-cost integrated miniaturized devices for molecular detection and quantification of HIV at the point of care. We review recent technical advances in molecular testing of HIV using microfluidic technology, with a focus on assays based on isothermal nucleic acid amplification. Microfluidic components for sample preparation, isothermal amplification and result detection are discussed and compared. We also discuss the challenges and future directions for developing an integrated “sample-to-result” microfluidic platform for HIV molecular detection.
Synthesis and evaluation of two NIR fluorescent cyclic RGD penta-peptides for targeting integrins

Interest in novel RGD peptides has been increasingly growing as the interactions between RGD peptides and integrins are the basis for a variety of cellular functions and medical applications such as modulation of cell adhesion, invasion, tumor angiogenesis, and metastasis. In particular, we have been interested in novel NIR fluorescent RGD peptides as potential optical contrast agents for in vivo tumor optical imaging. Therefore, two cyclic RGD penta-peptides conjugated with a NIR fluorescent carbocyanine (Cypate), i.e. lactam-based cyclo[RGDfK(Cypate)] (1) and disulfide-containing Cypate-cyclo(CRGDC)-NH 2 (2), were designed and synthesized. The competitive binding assay between the purified α v β 3 integrin and the peptide ligands using 125 I-echistatin as a tracer showed that 1 had a higher receptor binding affinity (IC 50 ~10 -7 M) than 2 (IC 50 ~10 -6 M). Furthermore, the internalization of 1 in A549 cells in vitro was less than 2, as revealed by fluorescence microscopy. These results suggest that both the lactam- and disulfide-based cyclic RGD penta-peptides should be further studied structurally and functionally to elucidate the advantages of each class of compounds.
Cell Cycle Proteins as Promising Targets in Cancer Therapy

Cancer is characterized by uncontrolled tumour cell proliferation resulting from aberrant activity of various cell cycle proteins. Therefore, cell cycle regulators are considered attractive targets in cancer therapy. Intriguingly, animal models demonstrate that some of these proteins are not essential for proliferation of non-transformed cells and development of most tissues. By contrast, many cancers are uniquely dependent on these proteins and hence are selectively sensitive to their inhibition. After decades of research on the physiological functions of cell cycle proteins and their relevance for cancer, this knowledge recently translated into the first approved cancer therapeutic targeting of a direct regulator of the cell cycle. In this Review, we focus on proteins that directly regulate cell cycle progression (such as cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs)), as well as checkpoint kinases, Aurora kinases and Polo-like kinases (PLKs). We discuss the role of cell cycle proteins in cancer, the rationale for targeting them in cancer treatment and results of clinical trials, as well as the future therapeutic potential of various cell cycle inhibitors.
Quantifying time-of-flight-resolved optical field dynamics in turbid media with interferometric near-infrared spectroscopy (iNIRS) (Conference Presentation)

Sensing and imaging methods based on the dynamic scattering of coherent light, including laser speckle, laser Doppler, and diffuse correlation spectroscopy quantify scatterer motion using light intensity (speckle) fluctuations. The underlying optical field autocorrelation (OFA), rather than being measured directly, is typically inferred from the intensity autocorrelation (IA) through the Siegert relationship, by assuming that the scattered field obeys Gaussian statistics. In this work, we demonstrate interferometric near-infrared spectroscopy (iNIRS) for measurement of time-of-flight (TOF) resolved field and intensity autocorrelations in fluid tissue phantoms and in vivo. In phantoms, we find a breakdown of the Siegert relationship for short times-of-flight due to a contribution from static paths whose optical field does not decorrelate over experimental time scales, and demonstrate that eliminating such paths by polarization gating restores the validity of the Siegert relationship. Inspired by these results, we developed a method, called correlation gating, for separating the OFA into static and dynamic components. Correlation gating enables more precise quantification of tissue dynamics. To prove this, we show that iNIRS and correlation gating can be applied to measure cerebral hemodynamics of the nude mouse in vivo using dynamically scattered (ergodic) paths and not static (non-ergodic) paths, which may not be impacted by blood. More generally, correlation gating, in conjunction with TOF resolution, enables more precise separation of diffuse and non-diffusive contributions to OFA than is possible with TOF resolution alone. Finally, we show that direct measurements of OFA are statistically more efficient than indirect measurements based on IA.
An Agent-Based Framework for Control of Reactor Networks with Autocatalytic Replicators

Abstract Several recent studies on autocatalytic reactions in single and coupled continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) networks have demonstrated a rich spectrum of complex behavior. From a control systems perspective, the operating regime of a CSTR network can be manipulated by changing the flow rates between the reactors. Systems of more than one CSTR require multiple controllers and may need transients through several operating regimes to achieve the desired operation. This may require a hierarchical control structure whereby local control objectives can change dynamically in order to achieve the global control objective of the system. An agent-based control system is used to observe and control various aspects of a CSTR network. The primary focus of analyzing complex emergent behavior is demonstrating methods or combinations of methods that influence the behavior and capabilities of the agent-based control system. Simulation studies illustrate scenarios of interest, especially conditions that lead to emergent behavior.
The 2015 Federal Budget’s Medical Marijuana Provision: An “End to the Federal Ban on Marijuana” or Something Less Than That?

In 2014, Congress began to face the nearly 20-year conflict between state medical marijuana laws and federal prohibition. It did so in a some- what curious way, however -- tacking on an rider to the 2015 federal budget to block the Department of Justice from spending money to “prevent” medical marijuana States from “implementing” their laws. Some news reports trumpeted the development as an “end” to the federal ban on marijuana. But the handful of court decisions to consider the 2015 budget provision so far suggest it might not have much effect at all on federal marijuana enforcement. This essay, written for the Northing Illinois University Law Review’s symposium on medical marijuana laws, examines the 2015 federal budget’s medical marijuana provision and offers an argument in favor of interpreting it broadly.
Catalytic valorization of glycerol for producing biodiesel-compatible biofuel blends

Crude glycerol from biodiesel production is not of high quality due to catalyst and alcohol contamination. A product that could utilize glycerol, excess alcohol and catalysts could enhance the valu...