cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Feasibility of a Post-Auricle Wireless Power System for Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Pumps

Heart failure (HF) affects approximately 12,000–35,000 children each year in the United States. The development of blood pumps has provided circulatory support for many adults suffering with HF until they receive a heart transplant. However, while the development of blood pumps for adults has led to fullyimplantable continuous flow devices, blood pump technology for children has lagged significantly behind. One area for improving blood pump implantability in children is the use of wireless powering transfer systems (WPTS). These systems eliminate the power cord connecting the implanted blood pump to the external power supply. In adults, WPTS have decreased the number of power cord-related infections and have improved patient outcomes after pump implantation. Unfortunately, the components of these wireless systems are too large for children. In this paper we describe the preliminary work to develop a fully implantable WPTS specifically designed to power the Jarvik 2000 Child. Specifically, we design planar coils 36 um in thickness to be implanted in behind-the-ear fashion. An amplifier and rectifier circuit were also built to provide 15.7V and 0.5A of voltage and current to the pump.
CLPTM1L/CRR9 ectodomain interaction with GRP78 at the cell surface signals for survival and chemoresistance upon ER stress in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells

Altered regulation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis has been implicated in many cancers and has recently become a therapeutic and chemosensitization target of interest. We have identified Cleft Lip and Palate Transmembrane 1-Like (CLPTM1L)/Cisplatin Resistance Related Protein 9 (CRR9) as an ER stress related mediator of cytoprotection in pancreatic cancer. We recently demonstrated that CLPTM1L is highly expressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and associated with poor outcome. Furthermore, we have discovered that CLPTM1L interacts with phosphoinositol-3-kinase-alpha at the tumor cell surface and causes up-regulation of Bcl-xL and pAkt mediated survival signaling. Here, we demonstrate surface relocalization and survival signaling by CLPTM1L triggered by endoplasmic reticular (ER) stress. We demonstrate the interaction of CLPTM1L with the central ER stress survival mediator, Glucose Regulated Protein 78 (GRP78)/Binding Immunoglobulin Protein (BiP) and PI3K-alpha /p110α. This interaction and surface relocalization of CLPTM1L and GRP78 is induced by ER stress, including that caused by treatment with gemcitabine. We demonstrate that the extracellular loop of CLPTM1L is required for gemcitabine resistance and interaction with GRP78. This interaction and the chemoresistance effect conferred by this pathway is targetable with our recently developed inhibitory CLPTM1L antibodies, which may represent novel modalities of chemosensitization and treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Anchorage independent growth, GRP78-mediated chemoresistance, and Akt phosphorylation were abrogated by inhibition of CLPTM1L. These findings demonstrate a novel and potentially targetable mechanism of cytoprotection and chemoresistance in pancreatic tumors.
The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the shear deformation of Cu symmetric tilt interfaces

Abstract The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the shear deformation behavior of 10 Cu symmetric tilt interfaces has been investigated in the athermal deformation regime (10 K) using molecular dynamics simulations. Cu bicrystals were deformed under shear with a superimposed hydrostatic stress, until initial yield. For most interfaces, the shear strength increased with increasing compressive hydrostatic pressure. However, for the Σ 9 { 221 } and Σ 5 { 210 } interfaces, this trend was reversed. Neither the sign nor the magnitude of the pressure-induced elevation in shear strength was found to correlate with interface structure or particular deformation mechanism(s). The findings suggest that in general, metrics of interfacial excess volume and dilatation cannot reliably predict the pressure-sensitivity of shear strength; however, for interfaces containing the E structural unit, the annihilation of free volume appears to correlate well with the observed pressure-sensitivity.
Exact Controllability in L 2 (Ω) of the Schrödinger Equation in a Riemannian Manifold with L 2 (Σ 1 )-Neumann Boundary Control

We consider the Schrodinger equation, with H 1-level terms having variable coefficients in time and space, as defined on an open bounded connected set Ω of an n-dimensional complete Riemannian manifold. We show that it is exactly controllable on the state space L 2(Ω) on an arbitrarily small interval [0, T], by means of Neumann boundary controls in the class L 2(0, T;L 2(Г1)), where Г1 = ∂Ω SHIELA Г0, and the equation is homogeneous on Г0, either in the Dirichlet or in the Neumann B.C. Different geometric conditions apply in the two cases. This result is a vast generalization over the literature.
Molecular Weight Dependence of the Viscosity of Highly Entangled Polyisobutylene

An unsolved problem in the viscoelastic properties of entangled linear polymers is the viscosity–molecular weight relationship. Experiments indicate a power law, η0 ∝ Ma, with a = 3.5 ± 0.2, wherea...
Free heme regulates placenta growth factor through NRF2-antioxidant response signaling

Abstract Free heme activates erythroblasts to express and secrete Placenta Growth Factor (PlGF), an angiogenic peptide of the VEGF family. High circulating levels of PlGF have been associated in experimental animals and in patients with sickle cell disease with echocardiographic markers of pulmonary hypertension, a life-limiting complication associated with more intense hemolysis. We now show that the mechanism of heme regulation of PlGF requires the contribution of the key antioxidant response regulator NRF2. Mimicking the effect of heme, the NRF2 agonist sulforaphane stimulates the PlGF transcript level nearly 30-fold in cultured human erythroblastoid cells. Heme and sulforaphane also induce transcripts for NRF2 itself, its partners MAFF and MAFG, and its competitor BACH1. Furthermore, heme induction of the PlGF transcript is significantly diminished by the NRF2 inhibitor brusatol and by siRNA knockdown of the NRF2 and/or MAFG transcription factors. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments show that heme induces NRF2 to bind directly to the PlGF promoter region. In complementary in vivo experiments, mice injected with heme show a significant increase in their plasma PlGF protein as early as 3 h after treatment. Our results reveal an important mechanism of PlGF regulation, adding to the growing literature that supports the pivotal importance of the NRF2 axis in the pathobiology of sickle cell disease.
Ni-Catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling of Aliphatic Amides on the Benchtop.

Suzuki–Miyaura cross-couplings of amides offer an approach to the synthesis of ketones that avoids the use of basic or pyrophoric nucleophiles. However, these reactions require glovebox manipulations, thus limiting their practicality. We report a benchtop protocol for Suzuki–Miyaura cross-couplings of aliphatic amides that utilizes a paraffin capsule containing a Ni(0) precatalyst and NHC ligand. This methodology is broad in scope, is scalable, and provides a user-friendly approach to convert aliphatic amides to alkyl–aryl ketones.
Hierarchically Compositional Tasks and Deep Convolutional Networks

The main success stories of deep learning, starting with ImageNet, depend on deep convolutional networks, which on certain tasks perform significantly better than traditional shallow classifiers, such as support vector machines, and also better than deep fully connected networks; but what is so special about deep convolutional networks? Recent results in approximation theory proved an exponential advantage of deep convolutional networks with or without shared weights in approximating functions with hierarchical locality in their compositional structure. More recently, the hierarchical structure was proved to be hard to learn from data, suggesting that it is a powerful prior embedded in the architecture of the network. These mathematical results, however, do not say which real-life tasks correspond to input-output functions with hierarchical locality. To evaluate this, we consider a set of visual tasks where we disrupt the local organization of images via "deterministic scrambling" to later perform a visual task on these images structurally-altered in the same way for training and testing. For object recognition we find, as expected, that scrambling does not affect the performance of shallow or deep fully connected networks contrary to the out-performance of convolutional networks. Not all tasks involving images are however affected. Texture perception and global color estimation are much less sensitive to deterministic scrambling showing that the underlying functions corresponding to these tasks are not hierarchically local; and also counter-intuitively showing that these tasks are better approximated by networks that are not deep (texture) nor convolutional (color). Altogether, these results shed light into the importance of matching a network architecture with its embedded prior of the task to be learned.
Impact of antibody induction on the outcomes of new onset diabetes after kidney transplantation: a registry analysis

We conducted this observational study to examine the impact of antibody inductions administered at kidney transplant (KT) on outcomes of 5 year exposure to post-transplant diabetes (PTDM) in adult deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients (DDKTRs). We also studied the risk of PTDM associated with antibody inductions. Using 2000–2016 Organ Procurement Transplantation Network data, we employed multivariable Cox models to determine the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of death, and overall and death-censored graft loss (OAGL, DCGL; respectively) at the 5 year landmark period in antibody induction cohorts with and without PTDM at the 1 year post-transplant index time point. We used multivariable logistic regression in determining the risk factors for PTDM. All multivariable analyses were adjusted for the potential confounding effects of maintenance immunosuppression, steroid regimens, and other relevant covariates. 48,031 adult DDKTRs were classified into cohorts based on antibody induction at transplant: (anti-thymocyte globulin) ATG (n = 26, 788); (alemtuzumab) ALM (n = 5916); and interleukin-2 receptor antagonist (IL-2RA) (n = 15,327). PTDM was a risk factor for 5 year OAGL and death, not DCGL [(HR = 1.25, CI = 1.16–1.36), (HR = 1.13, CI = 1.06–1.21), and (HR = 1.05, CI = 0.96–1.16); respectively]. Induction regimens were not risk factors for 5 year outcomes in DDKTRs with and without PTDM. Risk factors for PTDM included DDKTR obesity, age > / = 50 years, acute rejection, and ATG induction, among others. In adult DDKTRs, after controlling the confounding effects of clinically relevant variables including maintenance and steroid regimens, PTDM at 1 year post-transplant is associated with death and OAGL, not DCGL in the following 5 years: induction received at KT did not modify these associations.
The Flag-Burning Controversy of 1989-1990: Congress' Valid Role in Constitutional Dialogue

In this article, the author analyzes the debate surrounding Texas v. Johnson, a Supreme Court case that ruled unconstitutional a Texas flag desecration statute. In his analysis of the development of the issue, the author demonstrates how the Legislative Branch, more so than the Judicial Branch, influenced the shaping and understanding of the application of constitutional law. Through his analysis, Congress' importance in the democratic process emerges. Drawing upon his personal experiences as a member of counsel who represented Congress in the defense of the Flag Protection Act, the author examines how the congressional process serves a vehicle for public participation in important constitutional debates. Responding to criticism of the Supreme Court's Texas decision, the author argues that the Legislature, with its broad agenda-setting powers, offered the most appropriate venue for dealing with and resolving constitutional issues. Further, the author uses the flag controversy case to illustrate the superiority of Congress' agenda-setting system as compared to Supreme Court's. He argues that Congress' procedures did far more to protect the constitutional government than did those of the Court. In so doing, the legislative solution played an important role in preserving constitutionalism - one that must not be minimized in future debates.
Ozone-free nitric oxide production using an atmospheric pressure surface discharge – A way to minimize nitrogen dioxide co-production

Abstract Effects of temperature on nitric oxide (NO) production and on byproduct nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) in a non-equilibrium sliding discharge in atmospheric pressure air are described. Heating the electrodes/dielectric surfaces in contact with the discharge plasma from 20 °C to 420 °C caused an increase in energy per pulse by more than an order of magnitude. More importantly, heating to a few hundred degrees above room temperature caused the destruction of ozone (O3) and the reduction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) but promoted NO formation. At 20 °C, 400–4500 ppm O3 with an energy cost of 2–4 MJ/mol, and 12–180 ppm NO2 with an energy cost of 75–140 MJ/mol were generated from dry air flowing at 1 lpm. At 220 °C, however, NO and NO2 were produced in about equal proportion while O3 was below detection limits. The efficiency of NO generation increased with an increase of temperature. At the maximum temperature used in this study, i.e., 420 °C, 160–1040 ppm NO was produced from dry air at an energy cost of 24–67 MJ/mol, with a NO/NO2 ratio of more than 4 and free of O3.
Constellation Shaping for Bit-Interleaved LDPC Coded APSK

An energy-efficient approach is presented for shaping a bit-interleaved low-density parity-check (LDPC) coded amplitude phase-shift keying (APSK) system. A subset of the interleaved bits output by a binary LDPC encoder are passed through a nonlinear shaping encoder whose output is more likely to be a zero than a one. The "shaping" bits are used to select from among a plurality of subconstellations, while the unshaped bits are used to select the symbol within the subconstellation. Because the shaping bits are biased, symbols from lower-energy subconstellations are selected more frequently than those from higher-energy subconstellations. An iterative decoder shares information among the LDPC decoder, APSK demapper, and shaping decoder. Information rates are computed for a discrete set of APSK ring radii and shaping bit probabilities, and the optimal combination of these parameters is identified for the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. With the assistance of extrinsic-information transfer (EXIT) charts, the degree distributions of the LDPC code are optimized for use with the shaped APSK constellation. Simulation results show that the combination of shaping, degree-distribution optimization, and iterative decoding can achieve a gain in excess of 1 dB in AWGN at a rate of 3 bits/symbol compared with a system that does not use shaping, uses an unoptimized code from the DVB-S2 standard, and does not iterate between decoder and demodulator.
Mechanics of Incompressible Fluids

This chapter covers the basics on many of the fluid classifications. Some common fluid classifications are viscous or inviscid, compressible or incompressible, laminar or turbulent, Newtonian or non-Newtonian, and steady or unsteady. The chapter presents the properties of fluids generally encountered in engineering practice. Included are the commonly used properties of density, specific gravity, bulk modulus (compressibility), viscosity, surface tension, and vapor pressure. Based on the radial variation of the strength of the rotation, two major types of vortices are assumed: forced vortex and free vortex. Viscous flows are typically classified as laminar or turbulent, although in any given flow there may be regions of both laminar and turbulent flow Similitude and dimensional analysis are inextricably tied to experimental testing and the analysis of experimental data.The chapter discusses the flow about immersed objects for the case of an ideal (frictionless) fluid. Keywords: dimensional analysis; fluid classifications; fluid measurement; ideal (frictionless) fluid; incompressible fluids; viscous fluid dynamics
Facts, Law, and Policy: An Allocation-of-Powers Approach to Patent System Reform

The growing prominence of the patent system has revealed an institutional structure in need of repair. Legal scholars and commentators have identified and discussed some of the difficulties of the individual institutions within the patent system. But they have not incorporated into their analyses a recognition of all of the relevant institutions and their highly interdependent roles. Because of this interdependence, patent reform requires multi-institutional analysis. This Article argues that the ostensibly discrete problems of our patent institutions stem from an initial mistake in institutional design. This mistake was made in 1982, when Congress implemented patent reform by attempting to concentrate expertise at the appellate level. Congress focused on the appellate courts even though the patent questions that require narrowly focused expertise are largely questions of fact, not law or policy. Multi-institutional reform must therefore focus on remedying the system's substantial deficiencies in the areas of both fact-finding and policymaking. Under a traditional administrative law model, primary responsibility for questions of fact would rest with the PTO. The role of the courts - whether the trial court or the appellate court - would be secondary. With respect to fact-finding, adopting certain aspects of the traditional administrative model is clearly necessary. Thus Congress should advance the PTO beyond its nineteenth century moorings and endow the agency with the expertise and neutrality necessary for it properly to wield significant fact-finding responsibility. At the same time, however, giving plenary responsibility on factual questions to the PTO would not be cost-effective. Accordingly, the trial courts should also be endowed with fact-finding expertise. Solving the allocation puzzle for questions of policy is more challenging. Each of the available institutional options - the legislature, the PTO, and the courts - has substantial associated liabilities. From the standpoint of political economy and institutional flexibility, the most disadvantaged institutional actor is probably Congress. The institutional choice thus comes down to one between the PTO and the appellate courts. On first examination, given the Federal Circuit's apparent aversion to policy analysis, its possible tendency towards pro-patent bias, and the well-known difficulties courts face in undertaking policymaking, the PTO might appear the better option. In order for the PTO to be a reasonably good policymaker, however, Congress would have to change the PTO into an altogether different agency: merely implementing reform that improved the agency's fact-finding capabilities would not be sufficient. In contrast, the level of change required in the court system would be less substantial. What we would need is greater generalist input in the appellate process. To some extent, the Supreme Court's increased interest in reviewing patent cases has already taken us down that path.
Edge-preserving and scale-space filtering by saddle-node dynamics

Using maximum entropy principle and statistical mechanics, we derive and demonstrate the use of saddle-node dynamics for edge-preserving filtering. The nonlinear dynamics allows the clustering filter to achieve three tasks: a) removing noise; b) preserving edges and c) improved smoothing of nonimpulsive noise. For each datum in a signal, a neighborhood of weighted data is used for clustering. The cluster center becomes the filter output. This filter presents a new mechanism for preserving discontinuities differing from techniques based on local gradients and line processes. We demonstrate the filter using real images. This work provides a framework within which further image processing, image coding and computer vision problems can be investigated. >
Location and consequences of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethane uptake by Bacillus megaterium.

No detrimental effects of 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) were observed when cells of Bacillus megaterium were grown from small inocula in nutrient media containing up to 100 μg of DDT/ml. However, when the ratio of DDT to biomass of resting cells was held constant, levels of DDT as low as 1 μg/ml (0.5 μg/mg of cell dry weight) enhanced the rate of death in the population. The lethal action of DDT was both time- and dose-dependent so that higher doses required less time to effect the same killing than did lower doses. Intact cells bound a maximum of about 1.7 μg of DDT/mg of cell dry weight, of which about 75% was localized in the protoplast membrane. Much of the bound DDT was subsequently lost to the suspending medium and the aqueous stability of the returned DDT was enhanced, possibly by association with solubilized cell materials. A small quantity of bound DDT was converted to 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane, which was released from cells somewhat faster than DDT. Apparently the lethal action of DDT was related to its binding in the membrane, but respiration was not inhibited. The atypical macroscopic appearance of membranes isolated from treated cells suggested that cell death may result from altered membrane chemistry.
Linear Optimal Filters and Predictors

This chapter contains sections titled: Chapter Focus Kalman Filter Kalman-Bucy Filter Optimal Linear Predictors Correlated Noise Sources Relationships Between Kalman-Bucy and Wiener Filters Quadratic Loss Functions Matrix Riccati Differential Equation Matrix Riccati Equation In Discrete Time Model Equations for Transformed State Variables Application of Kalman Filters Summary Problems
Impaired Hematopoiesis in Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria/Aplastic Anemia Is Not Associated With a Selective Proliferative Defect in the Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Protein-Deficient Clone

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) results from somatic mutations in the PIG-A gene, leading to poor presentation of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored surface proteins. PNH frequently occurs in association with suppressed hematopoiesis, including frank aplastic anemia (AA). The relationship between GPI-anchored protein expression and bone marrow (BM) failure is unknown. To assess the hematopoietic defect in PNH, the numbers of CD34+ cells, committed progenitors (primary colony-forming cells [CFCs]), and long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-ICs; a stem cell surrogate) were measured in BM and peripheral blood (PB) of patients with PNH/AA syndrome or patients with predominantly hemolytic PNH. LTC-IC numbers were extrapolated from secondary CFC numbers after 5 weeks of culture, and clonogenicity of LTC-ICs was determined by limiting dilution assays. When compared with normal volunteers (n = 13), PNH patients (n = 14) showed a 4.7-fold decrease in CD34+ cells and an 8.2-fold decrease in CFCs. LTC-ICs in BM and in PB were decreased 7.3-fold and 50-fold, respectively. Purified CD34+ cells from PNH patients had markedly lower clonogenicity in both primary colony cultures and in the LTC-IC assays. As expected, GPI-anchored proteins were decreased on PB cells of PNH patients. On average, 23% of monocytes were deficient in CD14, and 47% of granulocytes and 58% of platelets lacked CD16 and CD55, respectively. In PNH BM, 27% of CD34+ cells showed abnormal GPI-anchored protein expression when assessed by CD59 expression. To directly measure the colony-forming ability of GPI-anchored protein-deficient CD34+ cells, we separated CD34+ cells from PNH patients for the GPI+ and GPI-phenotype; CD59 expression was chosen as a marker of the PNH phenotype based on high and homogeneous expression on fluorescent staining. CD34+ CD59+ and CD34+ CD59-cells from PNH/AA patients showed similarly impaired primary and secondary clonogeneic efficiency. The progeny derived from CD34+ CD59- cells were both CD59- and CD55-. A very small population of CD34+ CD59- cells was also detected in some normal volunteers; after sorting, these CD34+ CD59- cells formed normal numbers of colonies, but their progeny showed lower CD59 levels. Our results are consistent with the existence of PIG-A-deficient clones in some normal individuals. In PNH/AA, progenitor and stem cells are decreased in number and function, but the proliferation in vitro is affected similarly in GPI-protein-deficient clones and in phenotypically normal cells. As measured in the in vitro assays, expansion of PIG-A- clones appears not be caused by an intrinsic growth advantage of cells with the PNH phenotype.
Exploring racial variations in the spousal sex ratio of killing.

The following article examines differences in the social situation of intimate partners as an explanation of racial differences in the female to male ratio of spousal homicides in Canada. An analysis of homicide data from 1961 to 1983 generated by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics reveals that the ratio of women killing their husbands to men killing their wives is highest for Aboriginals and lowest for Blacks, with the ratio for Whites falling in between. The possible sources of racial differences in this ratio include the proportion of couples (a) in common-law relationships, (b) who are co-residing as opposed to being separated, and (c) for whom there is a substantial age disparity between the partners. These factors are related to the spousal sex ratio of killing more generally. An exploration of interracial homicide patterns and racial variation in jealousy-motivated homicides was also undertaken. The findings reveal that controlling for the above factors substantially reduces the importance of race in predicting the gender of the homicide victim. Language: en
Neuro-evolution using recombinational algorithms and embryogenesis for robotic control

Control tasks involving dramatic nonlinearities, such as decision making, can be challenging for classical design methods. However, autonomous, stochastic design methods such as evolutionary computation have proved effective. In particular, genetic algorithms that create designs via the application of recombinational rules are robust and highly scalable. Neuro-Evolution Using Recombinational Algorithms and Embryogenesis (NEURAE) is a genetic algorithm that creates C++ programs that in turn create neural networks which can function as logic gates. The neural networks created are scalable and robust enough to feature redundancies that allow the network to function despite internal failures. An analysis of NEURAE evinces how biologically inspired phenomena apply to simulated evolution. This allows for an optimization of NEURAE that enables it to create controllers for a simulated swarm of Khepera-inspired robots.
Bulimic symptoms in undergraduate men and women: Contributions of mindfulness and thought suppression

Experiential avoidance, the refusal to accept contact with unpleasant private experiences, is believed to play a role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. Preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions that reduce avoidance may be effective in treating disordered eating behaviors. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine whether one form of experiential avoidance (thought suppression) and the theoretically opposing construct of dispositional mindfulness are associated with bulimic symptoms. Undergraduate men (n=219) and women (n=187) completed questionnaires assessing mindful attention and awareness, chronic thought suppression, and bulimic symptoms. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that thought suppression and mindfulness accounted for unique variance in bulimic symptoms among men and women after accounting for BMI. Results are discussed in terms of the role of dispositional mindfulness and thought suppression in disordered eating.
Chemical distribution and transformations of non-symbiotically fixed 15N in three soils

Transformations of non-symbiotically fixed 15N2 were studied under laboratory conditions in two soils from Pakistan (Hafizabad silt loam, Khurrarianwala silt loam) and one from Illinois, U.S.A. (Drummer silty clay loam). Up to 50μg N was fixed g−1 soil after a 5-day exposure in an 15N2-enriched atmosphere under waterlogged conditions with glucose as the C substrate. Efficiency of N2 fixation was of the order of 11.6–12.7 mg N2 g−1 substrate C used and was greatest for the Drummer soil, which had the highest content of organic matter. Percentage recovery of organically-fixed 15N in available mineral forms (exchangeable NH4+ and NO3−) by incubation for up to 112 days following exposure to 15N2 was rather low (< 10% in the Drummer and Hafizabad soils and 28% in the Khurrarianwala soil). From 12 to 46% of the 15N was solubilized by alkaline sodium pyrophosphate, the lower value (12%) being obtained with the Drummer soil. In comparison to the native soil N, a much higher proportion of the fixed N (88–90% vs 62–78% for the native N) was released to soluble forms (i.e. amino acids, amino sugars, ammonium and hydrolyzable unknown forms) by acid hydrolysis, and a higher proportion of the hydrolyzable 15N was accounted for as amino acid-N (40–55% vs 30–40% for the soil N). Overall, the findings suggest that the newly fixed N in soil is incorporated into stable humus fractions rather rapidly and will be available to crop plants over an extended period.
Polarization relaxation in disordered ferroelectrics

Mixed or disordered ferroelectrics such as K1−χLiχTaO3 are shown to display a complex relaxation behavior. Their dielectric constant exhibits a strong frequency dispersion and hysteresis loops are observed in their polarization even above the ferroelectric transition. Both manifestations are related and the complex relaxation behavior can be attributed to the presence of randomly distributed but interacting dipoles in a highly polarizable crystal.
Transferring technology PENNTAP style

PENNTAP-the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program-is a statewide scientific and technical information dissemination network. In ten years of developing and refining its technology transfer system, PENNTAP has learned that individualized information delivery is essential to successful technology transfer. PENNTAP provides this individualized service, assisting clients in interpretation and application of the information as well as delivering it to them. With the quantity of scientific and technical information doubling every eight years, it is impossible for any one person to keep up with all new information that might have application to an area of concern. PENNTAP enables organizations to obtain information that is both current and relevant to their needs by delivering existing knowledge to those who can use it for the expressed purpose of producing results.
Trans-radial embolization of epistaxis in patients with end-stage liver disease

Introduction Endovascular treatment of epistaxis in patients with bleeding disorders is challenging due to the intrinsic risk of hemorrhagic complication related to the arterial access. We describe the use of trans-radial approach for the endovascular embolization of epistaxis due to end-stage liver disease and resultant severe coagulopathy.
Solvable regime of disorder and interactions in ballistic nanostructures: Consequences for Coulomb blockade

We provide a framework for analyzing the problem of interacting electrons in a ballistic quantum dot with chaotic boundary conditions within an energy E T (the Thouless energy) of the Fermi energy. Within this window we show that the interactions can be characterized by Landau Fermi-liquid parameters. When g, the Thouless number (also the dimensionless conductance when it has strong coupling to leads) of the dot, is large, we find that the disordered interacting problem can be solved in a saddle-point approximation which becomes exact as g → ∞ (as in a large-N theory). The infinite g theory has two phases as a function of the Landau parameter u m in a channel with angular momentum m: A weak-coupling phase where constant charging and exchange interactions dominate the low-energy physics, as in previous "universal Hamiltonian" treatments, and a strong-coupling phase characterized by the same order parameter as in the Pomeranchuk transition in clean systems (a spontaneous interaction-induced Fermi-surface distortion), but smeared and pinned by disorder. Thus, both interactions and disorder are crucial to the existence of these phases. At finite g, the two phases and critical point evolve into three regimes in the u m -1/g plane-weak- and strong-coupling regimes separated by crossover lines from a quantum-critical regime controlled by the quantum-critical point. In this, the first of a two part series, we focus on the consequences of this picture for Coulomb Blockade experiments. We employ analytical and numerical methods to predict the statistics of single-particle levels, Coulomb Blockade peak spacings, conductance peak heights, and quasiparticle widths. We show that in the strong-coupling and quantum-critical regions, the quasiparticle acquires a width of the same order as the level spacing A within a few Δ's of the Fermi energy due to coupling to collective excitations. In the strong-coupling regime if m is odd, the dot will (if isolated) crossover from the orthogonal to unitary ensemble for an exponentially small external flux or will (if strongly coupled to leads) break time-reversal symmetry spontaneously. For any m, the peak-spacing distribution becomes broader than expected in previous works and even has support at negative values, which in turn is correlated with small peak heights. Ballistic/chaotic quantum dots afford us unrivalled theoretical and experimental control over the problem of simultaneous disorder and interactions due to the 1/g expansion and our ability to vary disorder and interaction much more readily than in the bulk.
Making Sense of Modernity: Changing Attitudes toward the Immigrant and the Gaucho in Turn-of-the-Century Argentina

The experience of modernity is one that cuts across national boundaries. Regardless of where it occurs, modernization—defined here as the nexus of changes that includes technological innovation, economic rationalization, demographic change, the bureaucratization of the state, and the triumph of science—has certain inevitable consequences. To live in a modern society means to live in a constantly changing world, in which the forces of modernity have dissolved old forms of community, altered traditional notions of work, undermined social hierarchies, produced new social spaces, and transformed the sights, sounds, and even smells of everyday life. Modernization also engenders its own response. Societies in the throes of rapid modernization inevitably have their critics: individuals who for a variety of reasons object to the myriad of changes that accompany this process. Recoiling from the present, these antimodernists take refuge in an often idealized past, longing for what they believe to be a simpler, purer way of life.
Competition between Transferrin and the Serum Ligands Citrate and Phosphate for the Binding of Aluminum

A key issue regarding the speciation of Al3+ in serum is how well the ligands citric acid and phosphate can compete with the iron transport protein serum transferrin for the aluminum. Previous studies have attempted to measure binding constants for each ligand separately, but experimental problems make it very difficult to obtain stability constants with the accuracy required to make a meaningful comparison between these ligands. In this study, effective binding constants for Al−citrate and Al−phosphate at pH 7.4 have been determined using difference UV spectroscopy to monitor the direct competition between these ligands and transferrin. The analysis of this competition equilibrium also includes the binding of citrate and phosphate as anions to apotransferrin. The effective binding constants are 1011.59 for the 1:1 Al−citrate complexes and 1014.90 for the 1:2 Al−citrate complexes. The effective binding constant for the 1:2 Al−phosphate complex is 1012.02. No 1:1 Al−phosphate complex was detected. Speciati...
Proverbs and practical reasoning: A study in socio‐logic

Proverbs provide insight into the nature of socio‐logic as a body of principles to guide practical reasoning. English language proverbs reflect many of the rational principles found in argumentation textbooks, including: (1) a typology of arguments, (2) rules for correct inference, and (3) cautions about potential fallacies.
Some Latent Consequences of Bureaucratic Efficiency in Disaster Relief

An ever-expanding number of voluntary organizations have been created in recent decades to aid catastrophe victims. This proliferation of new groups, added to already existing relief organizations, has made the coordination of disaster relief increasingly difficult. Moreover, competitive spirit is fostered by the need of each to maintain a popular image of success and compassion since public reactions to their operations determine to a great extent how much financial support they can expect. But definitions of success may differ. A relief official may measure success in terms of the efficient distribution of a determined amount of food, clothing, shelter and services to those most in need. Yet material relief of this sort need not be the criterion of a successful relief operation from the victim's point of view. Most disaster studies fail to distinguish clearly between self-evaluation from within an organization and attitudes of those persons for whom the services are intended. It is my purpose here to cl...
Clinical Use of Fatty Acid Supplements in Dogs

Abstract— Fatty acids in membrane phospholipids are metabolized by cellular enzymes into a variety of eicosanoids that function in the regulation of normal physiology and serve as mediators of inflammation. Fatty acid supplements can alter the types of eicosanoids produced. Many investigations using fatty acids in the treatment of nutritional deficiencies, seborrhea, atopic dermatitis, cardiovascular, neoplastic, ocular and musculoskeletal diseases of dogs have been conducted over the past decade. Additional studies are needed to determine the optimal levels of linoleic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and/or eicosapentaneoic acid in the diets of dogs for the maintenance of normal homeostasis and for the treatment of inflammatory, degenerative and neoplastic diseases.
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND SPECTROSCOPY OF CADMIUM THIOLATE CLUSTERS

The singly excited configuration interaction (CIS) approximation and the CNDO model Hamiltonian have been employed to calculate the optical spectra of [Cd(SPh)4]2-, [Cd2(SPh)6]2-, and [Cd4(SPh)10]2- and the artificial defect models [Cd2(SPh)5]- and [Cd4(SPh)9]- (Ph = phenyl). The electronic transitions have been characterized by evaluating changes in orbital electron population between ground and excited states; this allows clear assignment of the nature of the optical transitions. The simulated spectra are able to reproduce well the main features of experimental optical transition bands. The lowest energy bands for the first three compounds are due to both intraligand and ligand-to-metal charge transfer transitions. The terminal thiolate levels lie insignificantly higher in energy than the bridging ones. Both experimental and simulated spectra show a blue shift with increasing sizes, directly opposed to simple predictions based on quantum confinement. This can be explained by the Jahn−Teller effect. Inco...
Magnetic resonance microscopy-based analyses of the neuroanatomical effects of gestational day 9 ethanol exposure in mice

Abstract Animal model-based studies have shown that ethanol exposure during early gestation induces developmental stage-specific abnormalities of the face and brain. The exposure time-dependent variability in ethanol's teratogenic outcomes is expected to contribute significantly to the wide spectrum of effects observed in humans with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The work presented here employs a mouse FASD model and magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM; high resolution magnetic resonance imaging) in studies designed to further our understanding of the developmental stage-specific defects of the brain that are induced by ethanol. At neurulation stages, i.e. at the beginning of gestational day (GD) 9 and again 4 hours later, time-mated C57Bl/6J dams were intraperitoneally administered 2.9 g/kg ethanol or vehicle. Ethanol-exposed fetuses were collected on GD 17, processed for MRM analysis, and results compared to comparably staged controls. Linear and volume measurements as well as shape changes for numerous individual brain regions were determined. GD 9 ethanol exposure resulted in significantly increased septal region width, reduction of cerebellar volume, and enlargement of all of the ventricles. Additionally, the results of shape analyses showed that many areas of the ethanol-exposed brains including the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and right striatum were significantly misshapen. These data demonstrate that ethanol can induce dysmorphology that may not be obvious based on volumetric analyses alone, highlight the asymmetric aspects of ethanol-induced defects, and add to our understanding of ethanol’s developmental stage-dependent neuroteratogenesis.
Periodic thermal stress: optimal spacing predicted by a simple set-back model of cell division synchronization.

Digital computer simulations have been used to make quantitative predictions based on a simple set-back model of cell division synchronization. According to the model appropriate thermal stress reverses progress within a segment of the division cycle called the set-back interval. In the simulations normally distributed cell-to-cell variations in division cycling rate between periodic thermal shocks were produced with the Monte Carlo method. The simulations have shown that reasonably good synchronization with the single shock per division strategy requires a relatively long set-back interval and small cell-to-cell variations in rate of progress through the division cycle. The simulations have shown that the degree of synchrony produced by such periodic shocks is highly dependent on the time interval between shocks—with a series of as many as seven shocks inappropriately spaced producing less synchrony than a single shock! The optimal time interval between successive thermal shocks was found approximately equal to the mode division cycle time at synchrony equilibrium multiplied by 1 plus half the fraction of the division cycle occupied by the set-back interval. Position of the set-back interval within the division cycle had little effect on synchrony at the end of the final shock.
Polymer-Controlled Crystallization of Molybdenum Oxides from Peroxomolybdates: Structural Diversity and Application to Catalytic Epoxidation

The influence of polyoxyethylene-containing polymers on the crystal structure and habit of molybdenum-oxide-based products crystallized from peroxomolybdate solutions was investigated. Polyoxyethylene homopolymers of various molar masses were compared with a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether and a triblock copolymer of polyoxyethylene and polypropylene. Conventional hydrothermal synthesis at temperatures between 70 and 180 °C was compared with an ultrasonic pathway at 70 °C. The structure of the products was investigated by small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering. Different crystal phases were obtained depending on the polymer concentration and the preparation methods. At 70 °C, a compound with tentative formula MoO3−x(O2)x·nH2O (n ≈ 1), showing X-ray diffraction patterns matching those of triclinic monohydrate molybdenum trioxide, was the product found in the absence of any polymer. However, small concentrations of any polyoxyethylene-containing polymer led to a monoclinic hemihydrate phase under the same condi...
Rational and effective use of energy in Korea's industrialization

Abstract This paper reviews the rapidity and flexibility with which the Korean economy achieved three energy transitions—from wood to coal, from coal to oil, and from oil to a mix of imported fuels, accompanied by conservation measures which, between 1961 and 1979, reduced considerably the energy required for given levels of a growing and deepening industrial structure. This energy policy goal of optimal fuel mixes and energy conservation is fundamentally important for the future progress of Korean society in the 1980s. Three energy transitions and energy conservation have been effectively achieved by a set of policy packages which included pricing policies, regulations and legislation, fiscal and financial incentives, and institutional reforms.
The effect of hepatic uptake on the disappearance of warfarin from the plasma of rats: a kinetic analysis.

To quantify the effects of the liver on the dose dependence of plasma warfarin clearance, an equal number of normal and functionally hepatectomized rats received an intravenous bolus of either 0.01, 0.1, or 1.0 mg/kg body weight of radiolabelled sodium warfarin. Serial samples of plasma and bile collected from each rat during the 1 hr experiment and of hepatic tissue collected at the end of the experiment were analyzed for radioactivity. The disappearance of warfarin from the plasma of hepatectomized rats was not dose dependent and suggested that the apparent dose dependency of plasma warfarin clearance is primarily the result of warfarin's interaction with hepatic tissue. The disappearance of warfarin from the plasma of normal rats was dose dependent with higher doses being cleared less rapidly. This dose dependence, however, was not reflected in the rate of biliary excretion of warfarin's metabolites, which did not show saturation over this dosage range. These results were used to develop a multicompartmental model of warfarin's pharmacokinetics. Plasma warfarin data collected from the hepatectomized rats were used to develop the extrahepatic components of the model, which was then expanded to include hepatic tissues based on data collected from normal rats. To simultaneously fit the plasma, biliary, and hepatic data required that at least two classes of hepatic tissue exchange warfarin with plasma. One tissue exhibited Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics with Kdand maximum capacity estimated at 1.49E-3μg/ml and 2.72 μg/ml, respectively. The second class exhibited linear exchange kinetics with free plasma warfarin. Warfarin's association with the second class of hepatic tissue leads to its metabolic elimination. Consistent with our experimental findings, the rate of warfarin elimination from the plasma into the bile was linearly related to plasma warfarin concentration. Thus the single hepatic exchange nonlinearity was necessary and sufficient to account for the apparent dose dependency in plasma warfarin's pharmacokinetics. These results suggest that over the range of doses studied, the apparent dose dependent differences in the plasma warfarin concentration profile can be accounted for by saturable hepatic uptake. This mechanism, however, is not related to warfarin's metabolic enzymes, which do not show saturation in the dosage range studied.
American-Indian women and health

SUMMARY Little research has been conducted on the health status and health-related issues of urban American-Indian women, particularly those who are involved with alcohol or drugs (AOD). Given this gap in knowledge, this study assessed the health status along with health care needs and service provision of AOD-involved American-Indian women living in the southwestern United States. Results indicated high levels of AOD use; experiences of sexual misbehavior; multiple pregnancies with adverse outcomes, including stillbirth and loss of child custody; and need for additional health care services. Recommendations include enhancing the education of health care providers with regard to American-Indian women's AOD use and the need for comprehensive, culturally competent, gender-specific AOD treatment services.