cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting EGFR and uPAR on human rhabdomyosarcoma, osteosarcoma, and ovarian adenocarcinoma with a bispecific ligand-directed toxin.

Purpose Human sarcomas are rare and difficult to treat cancerous tumors typically arising from soft tissue or bone. Conversely, carcinomas are the most common cancer subtype in humans and the primary cause of mortality across all cancer patients. While conventional therapeutic modalities can prolong disease-free intervals and survival in some cases, treatment of refractory or recurrent solid tumors is challenging, and tumor-related mortality remains unacceptably high. The identification of overexpressed cell surface receptors on sarcoma and carcinoma cells has provided a valuable tool to develop targeted toxins as an alternative anticancer strategy. Recent investigation of recombinant protein-linked toxins that specifically target these cancer receptors has led to the development of highly specific, cytotoxic, and deimmunized drugs that can kill cancer cells. Methods This study investigated a recombinant protein called epidermal growth factor bispecific angiotoxin (eBAT), which is designed to target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on cancer cells and the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) on cancer cells and associated tumor vasculature. Both receptors are expressed by a variety of human sarcomas and carcinomas. Flow cytometry techniques were used to determine binding affinity of eBAT to cancer cells, and proliferation assays were performed to calculate tumor killing ability based on half-maximal inhibitory concentrations. Results eBAT demonstrated cytotoxicity against a variety of sarcoma and carcinoma cells that overexpress EGFR and uPAR in vitro and showed greater cell killing ability and binding affinity to cancer cells compared with its monospecific counterparts. Conclusion The results of our study are promising, and further studies will be necessary to confirm the applicability of eBAT as a supplementary therapy for a variety of sarcomas, carcinomas, and possibly other refractory malignancies that express EGFR and uPAR.
Stable and clumped isotope sclerochronologies of mussels from the Brazos River, Texas (USA): Environmental and ecologic proxy

Abstract Oxygen isotope sclerochronology with mollusk shells can provide vital environmental and ecologic information, but is complicated in regulated, subtropical rivers by irregular river water δ18O and consequently irregular shell δ18O patterns. We performed multi-proxy analyses (δ18O, δ13C, clumped isotopes) from serially-sampled freshwater mussels in two specimens each of Amblema plicata and Cyrtonaias tampicoensis from the Brazos River, Texas to age specimens and test whether they accurately record environmental conditions such as river discharge and water source. Oxygen isotopic measurements are similar to predicted aragonite δ18O values based on temperature and water δ18O, but the record is complex and irregular. To better resolve the chronologies, we performed clumped isotope analyses on select shell intervals. Clumped isotope temperatures (T(Δ47)) ranged from 19° to 36 °C. Summer T(Δ47) values were 3–5 °C higher than measured temperatures, suggesting an offset in paleothermometer calibration. Chronologies based on Δ47 and δ18O reveal specimen ages of 3–4 years and winter growth cessation (or dramatic slowing) in both C. tampicoensis and A. plicata, highlighting thermal limitations on growth and potential biases in environmental reconstructions. Compared with modern shells, historical shells collected before intensive damming showed lower δ18O values yet similar clumped temperatures, suggesting enhanced evaporation in modern river water due to impoundment and/or the 2011–12 drought. Carbon isotope trends were similar between conspecific shells, but differed between species, with substantially higher average values for A. plicata shells (−9‰) than C. tampicoensis shells (−12‰). The correlation between shell δ13C values and the release of 13C-enriched waters from upstream reservoirs demonstrates that δ13C can be used as a proxy for dam release in regulated rivers.
Variations in Parametric Sensitivity for Wind Ramp Events in the Columbia River Basin

AbstractThis work investigates the sensitivity of wind speed forecasts during wind ramp events to parameters within a numerical weather prediction model boundary layer physics scheme. In a novel wa...
Simulation-Based Analysis of Equalization Algorithms on Active Balancing Battery Topologies for Electric Vehicles

Determination of the cell electro-chemistry, topology, and application requirements are crucial to developing a battery management system for charge equalization in a series-connected stack of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells. The existing literature on topology categorization does not provide battery and battery model selection methodology for battery management system (BMS) development. To bridge this gap in the literature, this paper provides a unique simulation based analysis on the major steps required to build a BMS that include analysis of a variety of existing Lithium-ion cell electro-chemistries, equivalent models, equalization topologies and circuits. Equalization circuits and their variants are categorized based on components, topology, balancing time and configurations. Cell balancing simulations are then performed on a centralized and a distributed topology using an appropriate equivalent model identified by the analysis. In addition, the simulation also uses a unique cell equalization algorithm proposed in this paper. The results validate voltage and state of charge (SOC) equalization performance in terms of balancing time and energy efficiency. These factors play a crucial role in maintaining battery life and preventing thermal runaways in electric vehicles (EV) or energy storage systems (ESS).
Sedimentation of ballasted cells‐free EPS in meromictic Fayetteville Green Lake

Fayetteville Green Lake (FGL) is a recognized, extensively studied present-day model of the stratified Proterozoic ocean. Nonetheless, biomass sedimentation in FGL remains hard to explain: while virtually all sediment pigments belong to photosynthetic sulfur bacteria from a chemocline, the isotopic carbon signature of the bulk organic matter suggests its epilimnetic phytoplankton origin. To explain the epilimnetic origin of sedimented carbon, we studied the dominant Synechococci, isolated from FGL. Here, we present experimental evidence that FGL Synechococci produce copious extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) especially when availability of inorganic carbon (Ci ) is high relative to availability of other macronutrients, for example phosphorus. The accumulating EPS become impregnated with calcium, magnesium, and sodium cations and are released to the environment as ballasted cell coverings. Sedimentation of these cell-free EPS can constitute the bulk of pigment-free organic material in FGL sediment. Because increased availability of Ci specifically stimulates production of EPS and the accumulated EPS adsorb cations and become ballasted, we propose the universal role of cyanobacterial EPS in biomass sedimentation in the high-Ci Paleoproterozoic ocean as well as in modern aquatic systems like FGL.
Brachial Plexus Palsy Because of Pavlik Harness Use: A Case Report.

CASE A 2.5-month-old girl with bilateral hip dysplasia presented for orthopaedic evaluation and began treatment with a Pavlik harness. One month after the initiation of treatment, decreased use of the left upper extremity was noted, which was consistent with a brachial plexus palsy. The Pavlik harness was discontinued, and upper extremity function fully recovered within 8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS The Pavlik harness is an effective treatment for hip dysplasia with a low-risk profile. This case serves to remind clinicians of the risk for upper extremity traction injury when a Pavlik harness is used in patients who are large for their chronological age.
Designing the Next Generation of Aircraft with Simulation

The aerospace industry is the one who is building the most complex machines on Earth. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for example, is made of more than 2 million parts that must be designed, tested, assembled and maintained to match the very strong safety and reliability aviation standard. An engine is made of 40,000 parts that are overhauled and replaced every few thousand hours of flight. It is not a surprise that, having to deal with such a complexity, this industry was, together with the automotive one, among the first using the power of numerical simulation. This article is a summary of the opening I’ve made for the workshop “Flexible Engineering Toward Green Aircraft” (December 14, 2017—University of Rome “Tor Vergata”) and is based on the observations I’ve made on how simulation is used while playing my role of aerospace industry director for ANSYS, visiting universities, research centres and customers all over the world.
The economic consequences of durable left-populist regimes in Latin America

Abstract We study the economic effects of durable left-populist leaders in Latin America. Using synthetic control to create a credible counterfactual for four such regimes, we find that they have, on average, a negative, significant, and sizeable average effect on income. Specifically, these countries at the end of their treatment periods end up over 20% poorer on average than what the average of their synthetic counterfactuals predict. We find negative and significant single country effects on real per-capita GDP in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. Only in Ecuador does GDP keep up with its synthetic counterfactual. We investigate whether there is a trade-off, where national income was sacrificed to improve inequality or health. We find no significant average counter-veiling trade-off in decreased levels of income inequality or infant mortality relative to what the average synthetic predicts.
TwinBERT: Distilling Knowledge to Twin-Structured Compressed BERT Models for Large-Scale Retrieval

Pre-trained language models have achieved great success in a wide variety of natural language processing (NLP) tasks, while the superior performance comes with high demand in computational resources, which hinders the application in low-latency information retrieval (IR) systems. To address the problem, we present TwinBERT model, which has two improvements: 1) represent query and document separately using twin-structured encoders and 2) each encoder is a highly compressed BERT-like model with less than one third of the parameters. The former allows document embeddings to be pre-computed offline and cached in memory, which is different from BERT, where the two input sentences are concatenated and encoded together. The change saves large amount of computation time, however, it is still not sufficient for real-time retrieval considering the complexity of BERT model itself. To further reduce computational cost, a compressed multi-layer transformer encoder is proposed with special training strategies as a substitution of the original complex BERT encoder. Lastly, two versions of TwinBERT are developed to combine the query and keyword embeddings for retrieval and relevance tasks correspondingly. Both of them have met the real-time latency requirement and achieve close or on-par performance to BERT-Base model. The models were trained following the teacher-student framework and evaluated with data from one of the major search engines. Experimental results showed that the inference time was significantly reduced and was for the first time controlled within 20ms on CPUs while at the same time the performance gain from fine-tuned BERT-Base model was mostly retained. Integration of the models in production systems also demonstrated remarkable improvements on relevance metrics with negligible influence on latency. The models were released in 2019 with significant production impacts.
Development of Conceptual Model to Measure Determinants of Second-hand Luxury Shopping

The emerging global second-hand luxury market valued at 261.2 billion dollars in 2018 is driven by fashion-conscious, digital savvy consumers, and the timelessness of luxury goods. Prior studies on consumer behavior of luxury shopping have focused primarily on brand new products. Second-hand luxury consumer research intersects the characteristics of both thrift and luxury consumption and support sustainability goals. This study identifies the shopping styles and motives that impact the consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions towards second-hand luxury fashion consumption. A conceptual model that measures the impact on attitudes and intentions is proposed incorporating three shopping styles 1) Brand Consciousness 2) Fashion Consciousness 2) Recreational Shopping Consciousness and three motives 4) Sustainability 5) Economic Benefits 6) Conspicuous Consumption. The findings offer directions for future research and insights for luxury fashion businesses to develop marketing strategies and communicate sustainability initiatives.
Assessment of Pediatric Resident Knowledge and Comfort in Addressing Childhood Obesity in Clinical Practice.

Background: Recent data estimate the prevalence of pediatric obesity at 19.3%. Emphasis on primary prevention and early identification is needed to avoid development of serious medical and psychoso...
And How: Mayo v. Prometheus and the Method of Invention

The Mayo Court's novel test for patent eligibility — whether or not an invention involves “well-understood, routine, conventional activity, previously engaged in by researchers in the field” — focuses on how an invention is accomplished rather than what an invention is. That concern with the method of invention poses several normative, statutory, and administrative difficulties. Taken seriously, the “how” requirement will likely have broad effects across all levels of patent practice.
Effects of salinity on endogenous ABA, IAA, JA, AND SA in Iris hexagona

Phytohormones play critical roles in regulating plant responses to stress. We investigated the effects of salinity on abscisic acid (ABA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), salicylic acid (SA), and jasmonic acid (JA) in leaves, stalks, fruits, and seeds of Iris hexagona, a native wetland species. Using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy with selected ion monitoring, our experiments demonstrated significant and different short- and long-term changes in iris phytohormones. ABA and JA generally increased and IAA and SA declined in response to salinity. We conclude that these phytohormones may have separate and interactive effects on how plants respond and adapt to stress in natural environments.
Lessons learned in acidification research: Implications for future environmental research and assessments

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to summarize lessons that are available to be learned from the American experience in acidification research. During the years between 1975 and the early 1990s, various acidification research and policy-focused assessment programs were initiated in the United States and Canada. The objectives of these programs were to better understand the phenomenon of acid precipitation and its effects on lakes, streams, fish, crops, forests, visibility, human health, engineering materials, and cultural resources in North America. The most comprehensive of these programs were the Memorandum of Intent (MOI) Work Group Processes initiated in 1978, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) Report completed in 1984, and the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) completed in 1990. These were the first efforts by governments in Canada and the United States to develop scientific and policy-focused assessments of alternative strategies for management of environmental risks on a continental scale. As such, they provide a useful basis for evaluation of: 1) scientific learning about atmosphere/biosphere interactions, and 2) social learning about the interface between science and public policy.
ELECTROMAGNETIC REFLECTIVITY OF NONUNIFORM JET STREAMS.

Abstract : The reflection coefficient of a plane monochromatic electromagnetic wave incident on an idealized laminar plane stratified jet stream is determined. This is accomplished by applying the principle of invariant imbedding to derive a differential equation for the reflection coefficient. The differential equation which is of the Riccati type is solved approximately for the case of a jet stream with a parabolic velocity profile. (Author)
The influence of microstructure on deformation of olivine in the grain-boundary sliding regime

[1] Although microstructural evolution is critical to strain-dependent processes in Earth's mantle, flow laws for dunite have only been calibrated with low-strain experiments. Therefore, we conducted a series of high-strain torsion experiments on thin-walled cylinders of iron-rich olivine aggregates. Experiments were performed in a gas-medium apparatus at 1200°C and constant strain rate. In our experiments, each at a different strain rate, a peak stress was observed followed by significant strain weakening. We first deformed samples to high enough strain that a steady state microstructure was achieved and then conducted strain rate stepping tests to characterize the creep behavior of each sample with constant microstructure. A global fit to the data yields a stress exponent of 4.1 and a grain-size exponent of 0.73, values which agree well with those from previous small-strain experiments conducted on olivine in the dislocation-accommodated grain-boundary sliding (GBS) regime. Strong crystallographic preferred orientations provide support for GBS accommodated by movement of (010)[100] dislocations. The observed strain weakening is not entirely explained by grain-size reduction; thus, we propose that the remaining 30% reduction in stress is related to CPO development. To incorporate microstructural evolution in a constitutive description of GBS in olivine, we (1) derive a flow law for high-strain deformation with steady state microstructure, which results in an apparent stress exponent of 5.0, and (2) present a system of evolution equations that recreate the observed strain weakening. Our results corroborate flow-law parameters and microstructural observations from low-strain experiments and provide a means for incorporating strain weakening into geodynamic simulations.
The Enabling Environment for Free and Independent Media

Shaping an effective democratic society requires many steps. The formation of media law and media institutions is one of the most important. Too often, this process of building a media that advances democracy is undertaken without a sufficient understanding of the many factors involved. This analysis is designed to improve such understanding, provide guidance for those who participate in the process of constructing such a media, and indicate areas for further study. Laws are frequently looked at in isolation-as interchangeable parts that must be included to have an effective and democracy-promoting media. But it is not just the words of a law that are important. Each society has a cluster of activities, interactions of laws, laws and the setting in which they exist, that make those laws more effective or less so. Different states, at different stages of development, require different strategies for thinking about the role of media and, as a result, or its design and structure.
Reflective Observation in the Clinical Education Setting: A Way to Promote Learning

Context: Clinical experiences help athletic training students gain real-time learning experiences by engaging in patient care. Observational learning has been identified as important to athletic tr...
Dissolution and regeneration of wool via controlled disintegration and disentanglement of highly crosslinked keratin

For the first time, pure protein fibers with good mechanical properties were obtained from waste wool after effective de-crosslinking and disentanglement of the highly crosslinked keratin. Every year, more than 1.6 billion pounds of wool keratin-based materials were discarded. Effort has been devoted to convert the keratin resources into high value-added products, especially fibers. In 1940s, pure keratin fibers had been developed from feathers. However, after trying the method, we found the results were not repeatable and did not find any other successful repetition. So far, no effective dissolution and spinning methods have been developed to obtain pure keratin fibers with potential for real applications. In this research, keratin with preserved backbones after de-crosslinking was obtained. Subsequently, surfactant endowed the keratin with satisfactory stretchability for fiber spinning. Fibers of 20 μm with good tensile strength were successfully developed. The technology could be applied onto other highly crosslinked proteins, including feather keratin from poultry industry, sorghum protein and soy protein in bioenergy co-products for production of various industrial products.
Mean first-passage time in random fields.

The mean first-passage time of a particle moving in a spatially correlated, Gaussian random potential and subject to Gaussian white noise is calculated. Depending on the parameters of the problem, we find four different regimes of diffusional transport.
Allegorical Gardens in the Persian Poetic Tradition: Nezami, Rumi, Hafez

A striking feature of medieval Persian poetry is the abundance of nature imagery that permeates every poetic genre, and especially imagery relating to gardens. The royal gardens and parks evoked in the descriptive exordia of the qasīda, the luxuriant gardens of romance that provide settings for tales of love, the spiritual gardens of mystical writings, the flowery haunts of rose and nightingale in the courtly ghazal—all provide eloquent testimony to the importance of the garden in Persian culture.
VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF ROTATING MACHINERY USING THE SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION

The spectral distribution function is used to characterize the vibration signal of rotating machinery. It is shown to be a more robust indicator than conventional power spectral density estimates, but requires only slightly more computational effort. The method is demonstrated with a model of a defective bearing. The spectral distribution function is applied to practical problems involving seeded helicopter transmission faults and the vibration signal from a ground-based vacuum compressor system.
Mandatory alcohol intervention for alcohol-abusing college students: A systematic review

Most colleges and universities in the United States have programmatic responses for alcohol policy violators that commonly include some form of mandatory alcohol education or counseling. The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of intervention programs for college students who are required to attend alcohol education or counseling. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and ERIC databases were searched for reports of college-based mandatory interventions offered on American campuses. When possible, within-group and between-group effect sizes were calculated. Sixteen reports were identified, including three randomized controlled trials. Most of the reviewed studies used qualitative or quasi-experimental designs, did not include comparison or control groups, had small or selective sample sizes, lacked behavioral measures of alcohol consumption, and/or had no follow-up, low follow-up rates, or short follow-up intervals. Recommendations for future research include testing different modes and types of interventions and sanctions, evaluating long-term efficacy, and establishing cost-effectiveness.
Advances in endometriosis treatment.

Abstract Endometriosis is a common problem characterized by abdominal pain, back pain, pain with intercourse, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, and infertility. The cause of endometriosis is not well understood, but advances in treatment have been made. Primary care clinicians are uniquely situated to improve patient outcomes by making informed treatment decisions.
Fatigue of aluminum with alclad or sprayed coatings

2) Next, x can be calculated directly from Eq. (27) for stages 2 to (N 1). Then d and x2 are calculated from Eqs. (16) and (7), respectively. 3) Finally, S is obtained from Eq. (31) for the last stage (Nth stage). If x2, calculated by substituting the computed 0 into Eq. (7), is not zero, the procedure is repeated from the first step by assuming a new value for 0. 4) If the x-2 thus obtained is zero, this sequence of 6 is the optimal control actions sought. XI can be secured from Eq.(16). A similar working scheme may be followed by assuming a value of Xi instead of 0.
Aspartate release from rat hippocampal synaptosomes

Abstract Certain excitatory pathways in the rat hippocampus can release aspartate along with glutamate. This study utilized rat hippocampal synaptosomes to characterize the mechanism of aspartate release and to compare it with glutamate release. Releases of aspartate and glutamate from the same tissue samples were quantitated simultaneously. Both amino acids were released by 25 mM K+, 300 μM 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) and 0.5 and 1 μM ionomycin in a predominantly Ca2+-dependent manner. For a roughly equivalent quantity of glutamate released, aspartate release was significantly greater during exposure to elevated [K+] than to 4-AP and during exposure to 0.5 than to 1 μM ionomycin. Aspartate release was inefficiently coupled to P/Q-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and was reduced by KB-R7943, an inhibitor of reversed Na+/Ca2+ exchange. In contrast, glutamate release depended primarily on Ca2+ influx through P/Q-type channels and was not significantly affected by KB-R7943. Pretreatment of the synaptosomes with tetanus toxin and botulinum neurotoxins C and F reduced glutamate release, but not aspartate release. Aspartate release was also resistant to bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of vacuolar H+-ATPase, whereas glutamate release was markedly reduced. ±-Threo-3-methylglutamate, a non-transportable competitive inhibitor of excitatory amino acid transport, did not reduce aspartate release. Niflumic acid, a blocker of Ca2+-dependent anion channels, did not alter the release of either amino acid. Exogenous aspartate and aspartate recently synthesized from glutamate accessed the releasable pool of aspartate as readily as exogenous glutamate and glutamate recently synthesized from aspartate accessed the releasable glutamate pool. These results are compatible with release of aspartate from either a vesicular pool by a “non-classical” form of exocytosis or directly from the cytoplasm by an as-yet-undescribed Ca2+-dependent mechanism. In either case, they suggest aspartate is released mainly outside the presynaptic active zones and may therefore serve as the predominant agonist for extrasynaptic N-methyl- d -aspartate receptors.
Predicting the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy

Cardiac transplantation is a lifesaving therapy for patients with end-stage cardiovascular disease. There has been remarkable progress in controlling acute rejection, and the early survival rate after the heart transplantation has significantly improved. Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is one of the common causes of death and a major limiting factor for long-term graft survival years after heart transplantation. CAV is a progressive occlusion of arteries and veins of the transplanted heart. CAV is often clinically silent because of the denervation of the transplanted heart. CAV tends to be found at an advanced stage of disease, including myocardial infarction (MI), congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, and/or sudden cardiac death. Because of the serious sequelae of CAV, risk factors, prevention, and prediction of CAV have been investigated. Despite the effort by many researchers, the pathogenesis is not yet completely understood. There are a number of both immune and nonimmune factors in the donor and recipient that are related to the development of CAV. In addition, several biomarkers in blood and tissue are found to correlate with the presence of CAV, and that may be able to predict CAV. Here, we review the pathology, pathogenesis, risk factors, diagnosis, and the potential for prediction of CAV.
Impaired antibody response to intravenous immunization in sickle cell anemia.

Extract: The spleen is essential for the formation of antibody in response to intravenously administered particulate antigen. Therefore, this splenic function was investigated in a number of children with sickle cell anemia. Following intravenous administration of 1.0 ml sheep red cells, heterophile antibody titers were determined at Q, 7, 14, and 21 days. One normal (Hgb AA), one sickle trait (Hgb AS), and two sickle-thalassemia (Hgb SSF) children had significant rises in heterophile titers with at least a 2-fold rise in 7 days and a minimum of 4-fold rise by day 14. This is comparable to responses of normal individuals previously reported. Five Hgb SS children had minimal antibody response with none having a rise in titer at 7 days. Three of these children had palpable spleens but no splenic visualization on scans. Two children received transfusions which restored splenic uptake of radiocolloid before antigenic challenge. These children also failed to form antibody. One child with sickle cell anemia received the same dose of sheep erythrocytes intramuscularly and had a significant antibody response comparable to normals. Speculation: The defect of immunologic function in children with sickle cell anemia is similar to that described in asplenic individuals. This may be an important determinant of the increased susceptibility to infection in children with this disorder and their predisposition to overwhelming pneumococcal septicemia.
Advanced methods for optical jitter suppression using acoustic acutators

The objective of the research is to investigate an effective method of using servo control through the use of a fast steering mirror and/or acoustic actuators and sensors for optical jitter suppression. The experimental testbed is built in an anechoic chamber at Duke University. Two optical benches are used to isolate metrology components from vibrating optical elements. A Helium-Neon laser and a position sensor are mounted on one optical bench and a turning flat mirror and a 3-axis fast steering mirror are on the other optical bench. External acoustic disturbances from the speaker are used to generate vibration in the optical components. A speaker housed within an enclosure and a fast steering mirror are the two allowable control actuators and external microphones are used for reference measurement, microphones/accelerometers mounted on or nearby the optical elements and the optical sensor are the three allowable control sensors in the experiment. The generalized predictive controller is used to conjugate the process of the system identification algorithm and the process of the controller design, and can be updated adaptively in the changes of the operating environment. The generalized predictive controllers are designed for each actuator and each sensor: Case 1) Fast steering mirror and position detector, Case 2) Control speaker and position detector, Case 3) Fast steering mirror and external microphones. The generalized predictive controller for all control actuators and sensors is also designed.
Reflections on PATCO’s Legacy: Labor’s Strategic Challenges Persist

The 1981 PATCO strike stands out as a symbol of union decline. The penchant to stigmatize PATCO detracts from important aspects of the union’s unorthodox strategy. Preparations for 1981 negotiations were coordinated by rank-and-file activists who referred to themselves as ‘choir boys’. An extensive mobilization network cultivated by the ‘choir boys’ contributed to cohesiveness and in effect democratized PATCO. The union’s effectiveness in building internal solidarity was its most notable accomplishment. Twenty-first-century labor-movement revitalization will require not only strong, creative leadership but also rank-and-file mobilization in the mold of PATCO’s ‘choir boy’ system. It is this type of grassroots activism that has the potential to promote an internal culture of militant action which can serve as the foundation for union growth.
Research: Multifractal modeling of counting processes of long-range dependent network traffic

Source traffic streams as well as aggregated traffic flows often exhibit long-range-dependent (LRD) properties. In this paper, we study traffic streams through their counting process representation. We first study the condition for the measured LRD traffic, as described by the interarrival time and packet size sequences, to be sufficiently well approximated by a synthesized stream formed by recording the counting state of the traffic at the start of each time slot. We then demonstrate that the burstiness of the counting processes is not well characterized by the Hurst parameter. We model a counting process by constructing a multiplicative multifractal process, which contains only one or two parameters. We study the LRD property of such processes, and show that the model has well-defined burstiness descriptors, and are easy to construct. We consider a single server queueing system, which is loaded, on one hand, by the measured processes, and, on the other hand, by properly parameterized multifractal processes. In comparing the system-size tail distributions, we demonstrate our model to effectively track the behavior exhibited by the system driven by the actual traffic processes. Our study may help resolve a hot debate on the modeling of an often used trace of VBR video traffic.
Variables influencing burden in spousal and adult child primary caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease in the home setting

The purpose of this study was twofold: to compare caregiver burden perceived by spouses and adult children providing care to a family member with Alzheimer's disease in the home, and to determine if functional ability of the Alzheimer's victim affects burden experienced by the caregiver.Fifty-five primary caregivers providing care at home for a family member with Alzheimer's disease were invited to participate in this study and asked to complete the Caregiver Data Sheet, Burden Interview, Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS), and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL). Thirty caregivers (55 percent) responded.The mean burden score for all participants was 67 (SD = 15), indicative of severe burden. A t-test performed to compare burden scores of spouse and adult child caregivers showed no significant difference between the two groups (t-value = 1.93, p> .05).The mean scores for the PSMS (1.4; SD = 1.86) and IADL (1.4; SD = 1.59) indicated that the Alzheimer's victims were very dependent....
Extremes of heat conduction―Pushing the boundaries of the thermal conductivity of materials

Thermal conductivity is a familiar property of materials: silver conducts heat well, and plastic does not. In recent years, an interdisciplinary group of materials scientists, engineers, physicists, and chemists have succeeded in pushing back long-established limits in the thermal conductivity of materials. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are at the high end of the thermal conductivity spectrum due to their high sound velocities and relative lack of processes that scatter phonons. Unfortunately, the superlative thermal properties of carbon nanotubes have not found immediate application in composites or interface materials because of difficulties in making good thermal contact with the nanotubes. At the low end of the thermal conductivity spectrum, solids that combine order and disorder in the random stacking of two-dimensional crystalline sheets, so-called “disordered layered crystals,” show a thermal conductivity that is only a factor of 2 larger than air. The cause of this low thermal conductivity may be explained by the large anisotropy in elastic constants that suppresses the density of phonon modes that propagate along the soft direction. Low-dimensional quantum magnets demonstrate that electrons and phonons are not the only significant carriers of heat. Near room temperature, the spin thermal conductivity of spin-ladders is comparable to the electronic thermal conductivities of metals. Our measurements of nanoscale thermal transport properties employ a variety of ultrafast optical pump-probe metrology tools that we have developed over the past several years. We are currently working to extend these techniques to high pressures (60 GPa), high magnetic fields (5 T), and high temperatures (1000 K).
Repeatability of ice shapes in the NASA Lewis icing research tunnel

Tests were conducted in the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at the NASA Lewis Research Center to document the current capability of the IRT, focused mainly on the repeatability of the ice shape over a range of icing conditions. Measurements of drag increase due to the ice accretion were also made to document the repeatability of drag. The repeatability of the ice shape was very good at low temperatures, but only fair at near freezing temperatures. In general, drag data shows good repeatability.
M-matrix characterization II: General M-matrices

The main purpose of this paper is to provide some new characterizations of nonsingular and of singular M;-matrices. The new characterizations given here mainly relate to spectral properties and to stability. Special attention is given to a particular class of singular M-matrices which arise in many practical situations. In addition, a list of important open questions concerning the theory and applications of M-matrices is provided along with a list of references to the literature where other characterization of M-matrices can be found.
From Poorhouses to Homelessness: Policy Analysis and Mental Health Care

Rochefort provides a comprehensive review of mental health policy issues in American society, beginning with early practices that predate the formal mental health system and ending with the current national health care debate. At the same time, he provides a perspective on mental health policy anaylsis that draws on diverse work in the policy sciences, looks to both applied and theoretical concerns, and gives full recognition to the distinctive nature of mental health care problems. This volume will be of considerable use to policy makers in the mental health field as well as students of American public policy and public administration in general. Rochefort provides a comprehensive review of mental health policy issues in American society, beginning with early practices that predate the formal mental health system and ending with the current national health care debate. At the same time he provides a perspective on mental health policy anaylsis that draws on diverse work in the policy sciences, looks to both applied and theoretical concerns, and gives full recognition to the distinctive nature of mental health care problems. This volume will be of considerable use to policy makers in the mental health field as well as students of American public policy and public administration in general.
Amino Acid Sequence Determination of Protein Biomarkers of Campylobacter upsaliensis and C. helveticus by “Composite” Sequence Proteomic Analysis

We have identified the protein biomarkers observed in the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectra (MALDI-TOF-MS) of cell lysates of five strains of Campylobacter upsaliensis and one strain of C. helveticus by "bottom-up" proteomic techniques. Only one C. upsaliensis strain had previously been genomically sequenced. The significant findings are as follows: (1) The protein biomarkers identified were: 10 kD chaperonin, protein of unknown function (DUF465), phnA protein, probable periplasmic protein, D-methionine-binding lipoprotein MetQ, cytochrome c family protein, DNA-binding protein HU, thioredoxin, asparigenase family protein, helix-turn-helix domain protein, as well as several ribosomal and conserved hypothetical proteins. (2) Amino acid substitutions in protein biomarkers across species and strains account for variations in biomarker ion mass-to-charge (m/z). (3) The most common post-translational modifications (PTMs) identified were cleavage of N-terminal methionine and N-terminal signal peptides. The rule that predicts N-terminal methionine cleavage, based on the penultimate residue, does not appear to apply to C. upsaliensis proteins when the penultimate residue is threonine. (4) It was discovered that some protein biomarker genes of the genomically sequenced C. upsaliensis strain were found to have nucleotide sequences with GTG or TTG "start" codons that were not the actual start codon (ATG) of the protein based on proteomic analysis. (5) Proteomic identification of the protein biomarkers of the non-genomically sequenced C. upsaliensis and C. helveticus strains involved identification of homologous protein amino acid sequences to that of the sequenced strain. Interestingly, some protein sequence regions that were not completely homologous to the sequenced strain, due to amino acid substitutions, were found to have homologous sequence regions from more phyogenetically distant species/strains, e.g., C. jejuni. Exploiting this partial homology of more distant species/strains, it was possible to construct a "composite" amino acid sequence using multiple non-overlapping sequence regions from both phylogenetically proximate and distant strains. The new composite sequence was confirmed by both MS and MS/MS data. Thus, it was possible in some cases to determine the amino acid sequence of an unknown protein biomarker from a genomically non-sequenced bacterial strain without the necessity of either genetically sequencing the biomarker gene or resorting to de novo MS/MS analysis of the full protein sequence.
Thick filaments in unstretched mammalian smooth muscle.

THE controversy concerning the organization of myosin in mammalian smooth muscle was reviewed (Nature New Biology, 231, 225; 1971) at a time when the studies of Rice's laboratory and our own demonstrated a regular, quasi-rectangular array of thick filaments in guinea-pig taenia coli (TC) and rabbit portal-anterior mesenteric vein (MV), and, further, that, by excessive stretch and by the use of hypertonic incubation solutions, the thick filaments in this lattice could be aggregated into ribbon-like structures1,2. These observations were made on muscles stretched to approximately 1.5 times their excised length. Both the TC3 and the rabbit MV2,4 are spontaneously active smooth muscles, which shorten to less than their in vivo length when excised from the body: stretching by approximately 1.5 times brings these muscles close to their in vivo length. Nevertheless, recent reports5,6, indicating that thick filaments were more readily visualized (but see Figs. 2 and 3 in ref. 5) in stretched smooth muscles, prompted the editorial writer of Nature (231, 423; 1971) to consider it a debatable question whether thick filaments are present in unstretched muscle. Thick filaments have been observed in relaxed muscles1,5,6 and we now show that an array of thick filaments can also be observed in completely unstretched guinea-pig and rabbit MV smooth muscle (excised and dropped into the fixative) and that such arrays are present after two different modes of fixation.
Increasing inorganic nanoparticle impregnation efficiency by external pressure for natural fibers

Abstract The effect of external pressure during the inorganic nanoparticle impregnation (INI) process on the content of impregnated calcium carbonate nanoparticles in kenaf fibers was investigated. The in situ INI process was used to introduce the calcium carbonate nanoparticles into the fibers. The retted kenaf fibers were immersed into calcium chloride solution with various pressures and then treated by sodium carbonate solution to produce calcium carbonate nanoparticles impregnated kenaf fibers. It was found that the calcium carbonate content increased by 76.7% when a 13.8 MPa external pressure was applied during the calcium chloride immersing process. The impregnation efficiency for reducing the fiber porosity was increased by 70.1%. The mechanical properties, including modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture and tensile strength of the INI-treated fiber/polyester composites were enhanced by 43%, 79% and 86% compared with the un-treated fiber/polyester composites.
Influencing creativity in newsrooms: Work space matters to newspaper & web designers

This research examines the influences on the creativity of news designers. Results show that one of the most important predictors of high creativity levels was the type of office designers had. An ...
A Comparative Study of the Impact of Malnutrition on Length of Hospital Stay and Mean Daily Charge

Abstract Malnutrition has been shown to impede healing and recovery, thereby contributing to increased lengths of stay (LOS), and escalating hospitalization costs. To quantify the dollar effect of poor nutrition, nutritional status upon admission of 123 patients in a 475-bed acute-care Houston hospital was compared with LOS and mean daily charges (MDC) A nutritional risk score (NRS) was determined, based on albumin, total lymphocyte count, and percent of ideal body weight. Seventy-seven subjects (62.6%) were assessed as "well-nourished" (WN) having a NRS of 0, while forty-six subjects (37.4%) were termed "at risk" (AR) with NRSs ranging from 1–4. Significant correlations were found between degree of nutritional risk and both LOS (r = 0.1551, p
A Catalytic Triad Is Responsible for Acid−Base Chemistry in the Ascaris suum NAD−Malic Enzyme†

The pH dependence of kinetic parameters of several active site mutants of the Ascaris suum NAD−malic enzyme was investigated to determine the role of amino acid residues likely involved in catalysi...
The Fontaine-Mazur conjecture for {GL}_2

Introduction 641 1. Breuil-Mezard conjecture and the p-adic local Langlands 644 (1.1) The Breuil-Mezard conjecture 644 (1.2) Review of Colmez’s functor 647 (1.3) Hilbert-Samuel multiplicities 650 (1.4) Representations and pseudo-representations 653 (1.5) GL2(Qp)-representations mod p. 657 (1.6) Local patching and multiplicities 661 (1.7) From pseudo-representations to representations 669 2. Modularity via the Breuil-Mezard conjecture 675 (2.1) Quaternionic forms 675 (2.2) Global patching and multiplicities 677 (2.3) The Breuil-Mezard conjecture 686 Addendum to [Ki 1] 687 References 689
Interaction of Ochratoxin A with Human Serum Albumin. Preferential Binding of the Dianion and pH Effects

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a fungal metabolite produced by several strains of Aspergillus and Penicillium, binds to serum albumin with high affinity only in the completely deprotonated form (dianion). The pKa of the phenolic group of OTA decreased by more than three units when it was bound to human serum albumin (HSA). Optical spectroscopy provided evidence that HSA has at least two binding sites for OTA, each being able to accommodate one dianion. These two sites were characterized by the binding constants of 5.2 × 106 and 1.0 × 105 M-1. The binding constant for the monoanion of OTA was estimated to be ∼103 M-1. Fluorescence polarization spectroscopy confirmed weak interaction of the monoanion with the protein in the F and E forms (pH 8) compared to the N form (pH ∼ 7). Fluorescence anisotropy decay of the dianion of OTA bound to HSA (36.6 ns) was much longer than its emission lifetime (5.2 ns) and was close to reported values for the rota...