cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of an experimental setup to study carbon/epoxy composite subjected to simulated lightning current

A series of artificial lightning strike tests were performed on AS4/8552 carbon/epoxy laminated composites, at various peak currents. The objective of this work is to characterize lightning induced damage to carbon/epoxy composites. There has been a rising trend in using composites in modern aircrafts because these materials introduce many advantages over conventional materials. However, composites are not excellent conductors, and relatively insulating components affect their response and make them vulnerable to lightning strikes. To experimentally simulate the lightning discharge, an impulse current generator was designed and tuned to produce the artificial lightning discharges at 50, 125, and 200 kA nominal peak currents for lightning effects testing on composite structures. The lightning-induced damages and dielectric behavior of the specimen were investigated.
US Equity Crowdfunding: A Review of Current Legislation and A Conceptual Model of the Implications for Equity Funding:

Recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines provide a regulatory framework for Title II of the Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups (JOBS) Act of 2012, that legalised interstate equity c...
Who attends recovery high schools after substance use treatment? A descriptive analysis of school aged youth.

Recovery high schools (RHSs) are an alternative high school option for adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs), designed to provide a recovery-focused learning environment. The aims of this study were to examine the characteristics of youth who choose to attend RHSs, and to compare them with local and national comparison samples of youth in recovery from SUDs who were not enrolled in RHSs. We conducted secondary analysis of existing data to compare characteristics of youth in three samples: (1) adolescents with SUDs who enrolled in RHSs in Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin after discharge from treatment (RHSs; n = 171, 51% male, 86% White, 4% African American, 5% Hispanic); (2) a contemporaneously recruited local comparison sample of students with SUDs who did not enroll in RHSs (n = 123, 60% male, 77% White, 5% African American, 12% Hispanic); and (3) a national comparison sample of U.S. adolescents receiving SUD treatment (n = 12,967, 73% male, 37% White, 15% African American, 30% Hispanic). Students enrolled in RHSs had elevated levels of risk factors for substance use and relapse relative to both the local and national comparison samples. For instance, RHS students reported higher rates of pre-treatment drug use, past mental health treatment, and higher rates of post-treatment physical health problems than adolescents in the national comparison sample. We conclude that RHSs serve a population with greater co-occurring problem severity than the typical adolescent in SUD treatment; programming offered at RHSs should attend to these complex patterns of risk factors. SUD service delivery policy should consider RHSs as an intensive recovery support model for the most high-risk students with SUDs.
Interleukin-17A Exacerbates Disease Severity in BALB/c Mice Susceptible to Lung Infection with Mycoplasma pulmonis.

ABSTRACT Mycoplasmas are atypical bacteria that disrupt the immune response to promote respiratory tract infections and secondary complications. However, not every immunologic response that protects or damages the host during mycoplasma infection is known. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is elevated in individuals infected with mycoplasmas, but how IL-17A and its cellular sources dictate disease outcome remains unclear. Here, IL-17A is hypothesized to worsen disease in individuals susceptible to mycoplasma infection. Thus, monoclonal anti-IL-17A antibodies were given to disease-susceptible BALB/c mice and disease-resistant C57BL/6 mice infected with Mycoplasma pulmonis. Neutralizing the function of IL-17A using anti-IL-17A antibodies reduced disease severity during M. pulmonis infection in BALB/c, but not C57BL/6, mice. Neutralizing IL-17A also reduced the incidence of neutrophilic lung lesions during infection in BALB/c mice. Reduced pathology occurred without impacting the bacterial burden, demonstrating that IL-17A is not required for mycoplasma clearance. The main source of IL-17A throughout infection in BALB/c mice was CD4+ T cells, and neutralizing IL-17A after infiltration of the lungs by T cells reduced disease severity, identifying the Th17 response as a herald of late mycoplasma pathology in susceptible mice. Neutralizing IL-17A did not further reduce disease during M. pulmonis infection in BALB/c mice depleted of neutrophils, suggesting that IL-17A requires the presence of pulmonary neutrophils to worsen respiratory pathology. IL-17A is a pathological element of murine respiratory mycoplasma infection. Using monoclonal antibodies to neutralize IL-17A could reduce disease severity during mycoplasma infection in humans and domesticated animals.
Lexicon acquisition: learning from corpus by capitalizing on lexical categories

Text examples must be exploited in the acquisition of lexical structures. However, neither syntactic nor semantic features are provided by the text itself, and so acquisition must be aided by additional resources. We investigate the application of an existing resource, a set of lexical categories, as a prediction method. We present an algorithm that applies (a) top-down prediction based on lexical categories; (b) bottom-up validation by scanning text examples. Finally, we discuss the issue of semantic bootstrapping and identify its theoretical and practical limitations.
The Dynamics and Competitiveness of European-Asian Trade Flows

This paper links the trade flows between Europe and Asia with the prevailing exchange rates and determines, via a simple model and without resolving the complex battery of economic models (explanations) currently available, the one- or the bi-directional relationship(s) that may exist between these two terminal variables.
The Interrelations Between Asthma, Pregnancy, and Lactation

Asthma can be expected in at least 7% of women of childbearing age and has been reported to complicate 1% of pregnancies (1). The last decade has heralded a series of sometimes conflicting studies that have debated the inter-relationships between asthma, pregnancy, and fetal outcome. The literature on the effect asthma has on the fetus suggests an increased risk of perinatal mortality and low-birth-weight or preterm infants. Maternal hypertension and death can also complicate the pregnancy of an asthmatic woman. The severity of the asthma itself often seems to change during pregnancy, with the bulk of the data suggesting that asthma most frequently worsens. Furthermore, subsequent pregnancies tend to mimic the previous pattern of disease. Close medical supervision accompanied by aggressive management appear to favorably affect both fetal and maternal outcome. This chapter will review the differential diagnosis and interrelationships of asthma in pregnancy.
Alteration of immune markers in the tumor microenvironment after chemoradiation for rectal cancer.

e24146Background: Immunotherapy (IO) is a new treatment option for advanced microsatellite unstable colorectal cancer. Radiotherapy is an integral part of neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced...
Using Kahoot to Inspire

Today, there is growing interest in digital game-based learning due to the increase in the variety of educational and commercial games available. The literature indicates that digital educational g...
Age-related differences in recognition in associative memory

Aging is often accompanied by associative memory changes, although their precise nature remains unclear. This study examines how recognition of item position in the context of associative memory di...
Conversion of Failed Hemiarthroplasty to Total Hip Arthroplasty Remains High Risk for Subsequent Complications.

Abstract Background Few studies have described the outcomes following conversion of failed hemiarthroplasties to total hip arthroplasty (THA) and the impact of mortality when estimating implant survivorship. The aims of this study were to evaluate the following: (1) the risks and predictors of complications, dislocations, reoperations, and revisions and (2) the extent of competing risk of death when evaluating outcomes in patients converted from hemiarthroplasty to THA. Methods The study comprised 389 patients treated with conversion THA following hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fractures between 1985 and 2014. Revision rates were calculated using both the Kaplan-Meier method and cumulative incidence accounting for death as a competing risk. Risk factors were evaluated using Cox regression models. Results During an average 9.3 years of follow-up, there were 122 complications, 34 dislocations, 69 reoperations, and 51 revisions. Conversion for periprosthetic fractures was associated with a higher risk of reoperations (hazard ratio 4.30, 95% confidence interval 1.94-9.52). Increasing age was a risk factor for reoperations (hazard ratio 1.32, 95% confidence interval 1.10-1.59). No decrease in the rate of complications, dislocations, reoperations, or revisions was observed over the entire 30 years of the study either when evaluating year of surgery as a continuous variable or when comparing specific calendar year intervals (1985-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2014) (P > .05). Compared to the cumulative incidence accounting for the competing risk of death, the Kaplan-Meier method overestimated the risk of revision by 7% at 15 years and 10% at 20 years. Conclusion Conversion from hemiarthroplasty to THA remains at high risk for subsequent complications. The cumulative incidence estimate provides a more accurate estimate of revision risk.
Multiple Invariance PM-based Blind Carrier Frequency Offset Estimation for Multiple Antennas OFDM Electrical Special Network

The electrical wireless network builds 4G TD-LTE network in 1.8GHz band. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple antennas are the key technologies. This paper considers the problem of carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation for multiple antenna OFDM system, which is the key technique in 4D TD-LTE network. In the proposed algorithm, the received signal is reconstructed so that the multi-invariance property could be exploited for CFO estimation. The proposed algorithm performs better than the propagator method (PM) and estimating signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT). Furthermore, the proposed algorithm has low complexity since it has no requirement for eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) of the cross correlation matrix nor singular value decomposition (SVD) of the received data. Simulation results illustrate effectiveness and improvement of the algorithm.
Dynamic Transmission Control of Power Converter-Based Renewable Sources and Energy Storage for Temporary Frequency Support

Growing penetration level of power converter-based renewable sources (PCBRSs), which are promising to replace rotating system inertia, will bring a gap in frequency response of a power system. The frequency response of future systems might be considerably dynamic. Thus, the variability of the power output from these technologies has expanded the need for increased power system flexibility; fortunately, PCBRSs and energy storages are capable of providing flexible ancillary services on the frequency response. This paper proposes a dynamic transmission control (DTC) of PCBRSs with energy storages for short-term frequency support. The DTC is a conceptual upper-level controller that coordinates the outputs of PCBRSs based on the system frequency and dynamic capabilities of the PCBRSs. Thus, the DTC enables a group of the PCBRSs to provide harmonious collective output as a virtual synchronous power plant, which is more flexible than the conventional power plants.
The Learning Curve in Hip Arthroscopy: Effect on Surgical Times in a Single-Surgeon Cohort.

Purpose To quantify the effect of the learning curve in performing hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and labral tears on total operating room time, including times for setup, surgery, and wake up, during a single surgeon’s initial hip arthroscopy procedures. Methods A single surgeon’s case list was retrospectively reviewed to identify all primary hip arthroscopy surgeries between November 1, 2018, and February 28, 2018, for the treatment of FAI and labral tears. Surgical times were recorded, including total room time; surgical time; setup time; and wake-up time. Linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship of these times relative to case number in the series. In addition, the series was divided into 3 sequential groups to further compare these times. Results In total, 225 patients were included in the study. The mean total room time for all cases was 155.4 minutes, 95% confidence interval ([CI] 150.9-160.0); mean surgical time was 115.6 minutes (95% CI 111.5-119.8), and mean setup time was 32.6 minutes (95% CI 31.8-33.4). Decreasing surgical time was associated with advancing number in the case series (P Conclusions This study supports the existence of a substantial learning curve for hip arthroscopy in the treatment of FAI and labral tears. Our findings suggest decreasing surgical time as the surgeon advances through the learning curve, with the initial 75 procedures requiring longer time to perform than subsequent cases. Clinical Relevance Hip arthroscopy is a technically demanding procedure. Understanding the long duration of the hip arthroscopy learning curve is helpful for surgeons considering the addition of hip arthroscopy to their practice.
Novel Associations Among Trauma, Mindfulness, and Impaired Control Over Alcohol Use

Two thirds of adults experience at least one lifetime traumatic incident. Specifically, childhood traumas (physical neglect, emotional neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse) are associated with increased alcohol use. According to the self-medication hypothesis, alcohol is used to alleviate upsetting thoughts and memories. This may lead to greater impaired control over alcohol use (i.e., a breakdown of an intention to limit drinking). Utilizing mindfulness reduces maladaptive responses to trauma. Trauma and difficulties maintaining control (generally) have been examined with mindfulness as a mediator; however, control over alcohol use specifically, has not. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional, student survey (N = 847, 49% female) utilizing path modeling. We examined mindfulness and impaired control over alcohol use as potential mediators between trauma and alcohol outcomes (i.e., drinks per drinking day [DPDD] and alcohol-related problems). Emotional neglect (EN) was the strongest predictor among five facets of trauma. Higher EN related to lower mindfulness (β = − 0.22; SE = 0.05; p ≤ 0.001) and greater impaired control over alcohol (β = 0.11; SE = 0.06; p = 0.05). Finally, EN was related to higher DPDD, mediated by mindfulness and impaired control over alcohol use (standardized indirect effect = 0.006; 95% CI, 0.002, 0.012). These findings suggest potential mediating pathways from childhood trauma to alcohol-related outcomes via mindfulness and greater impaired control over alcohol use. Current research informs efforts to promote mindfulness interventions to reduce alcohol use and related problems among college students, especially those who have experienced childhood traumas and may experience elevated impaired control over alcohol use.
Type 4: Betrayal of Trust

The police are by theory in our communities to serve and protect. That is often not true if you live in America’s urban chaos cities or when the “officer friendly” you call sees you as an sex object. The police sexual aggressors discussed thus far, “hunt” or “troll” for victims’ through proactive policing strategies such as the customary “rolling and patrolling” of uniformed officers in marked law enforcement vehicles at the local, county, state, and federal level. The primary purpose is to provide a visible presence to prevent crime or other breaches of social order. Police-citizen encounters are most likely to occur during proactive stops under valid suspicious circumstances. However, proactive, aggressive police actions known as zero tolerance, stop and frisk, and quality of life policing cause the most police-community relations problems in urban minority communities, raising the specter of racial, ethnic, and status profiling.
Feasibility of the Sudden (Daf'ī) Revelation of the Entire Qur'an on Laylat al-Qadr and Determinism Doubt

One of the important issues of the Qur’anic sciences is the quality of the Qur'an's revelation, which scholars consider to be two types including sudden and gradual. In spite of the sudden revelation of the Qur'an on the heart of the Prophet, it is suspected that all the events during the 23 years of the Prophet's lifetime have been deterministic, the events such as: emigration, wars and other matters mentioned in the narratives of the Asbab al-Nuzūl; therefore, the sudden revelation is unacceptable. So, in this descriptive-analytic study, this question has been answered and the incompatibility of the sudden revelation of the Holy Qur’an on Laylat al-Qadr was proved by the issue of human will with different arguments. Through this research, it was proved that the sudden revelation is a part of knowledge and, first, that knowledge is not the cause of occurrence until determinism is suspected. Secondly, the knowledge of God over the acts of servants is not absolute, but the knowledge of God has been belonged to the authoritative subject issued by the authoritative subject and the compulsory subject issued by the compulsory subject. Therefore, the sudden revelation of the Qur'an, which charts future events and issues, demands that the act of authoritative subject be issued by an authoritative subject and that the act of compulsory subject be issued by a compulsory subject, rather than requiring the authoritative subject be forced or a compulsory subject be authorized. In addition, determinism contradicts the spirit of the teachings of the Qur'an which imply responsibility and duty.
The impact of acute and chronic resistance exercise on muscle stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ultrasound is commonly used to measure changes in skeletal muscle morphology in response to both acute and chronic resistance exercise, but little is known on how muscle stiffness changes via ultrasound elastography, which was the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis. The online data bases of Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science were each searched up until February 2020 and the data were analyzed using a random effects model. A total of eight studies (four acute and four chronic) met the inclusion criteria for the quantitative analysis. Following a single bout of exercise, muscle stiffness was increased within the first hour [ES: 1.52 (95% CI 0.14, 2.91); p = 0.031], but was no longer elevated when measured 2 days post-exercise [ES: 0.76 (95% CI − 0.32, 1.83); p = 0.16] or ≥ 7 days post-exercise [ES: 0.20 (95% CI − 0.53, 0.94); p = 0.58]. There was no impact of long-term resistance training on changes in muscle stiffness [ES: − 0.04 (95% CI − 0.24, 0.15); p = 0.653]. The primary findings from this meta-analysis indicate that muscle stiffness increases acutely following a single bout of resistance exercise, but does not change long-term with chronic resistance training when measured via ultrasound shear elastography. Given the small number of studies included in this review, future studies may wish to examine changes in muscle stiffness in response to both acute and chronic resistance exercise.
Neoadjuvant selpercatinib for advanced medullary thyroid cancer.

BACKGROUND Targeted kinase inhibitors have been increasingly utilized in the treatment of advanced medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) over the last decade. Recently, highly potent next generation selective RET inhibitors have been clinically validated, and selpercatinib was recently Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for advanced MTC. The advent of highly selective, potent RET inhibitors is broadening the treatment options for patients with RET-mutated cancers. METHODS We report the first published case of neoadjuvant selpercatinib followed by surgery for a patient with initially unresectable, widely metastatic, RET-mutated MTC who was treated on a single patient protocol. RESULTS After greater than 50% RECIST response, the patient underwent complete surgical resection followed by selpercatinib resumption. He remains locoregionally disease-free 21 months after starting therapy with stable metastatic disease (after initial partial response); and calcitonin/CEA continue to decline. CONCLUSION This novel treatment strategy for locoregionally advanced RET-mutated MTC warrants further study in clinical trials.
Testing Legislator Responsiveness to Citizens and Firms in Single-Party Regimes: A Field Experiment in the Vietnamese National Assembly

We investigate whether communicating constituents’ preferences to legislators increases the responsiveness of delegates to the Vietnamese National Assembly (VNA). Using a randomized control trial, ...
Factors underlying asymmetric pore dynamics of disaggregase and microtubule-severing AAA+ machines.

Abstract Disaggregation and microtubule–severing nanomachines from the AAA+ (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) superfamily assemble into ring–shaped hexamers that enable protein remodeling by coupling large–scale conformational changes with application of mechanical forces within a central pore by loops protruding within the pore. We probed the asymmetric pore motions and intra–ring interactions that support them by performing extensive molecular dynamics simulations of single–ring severing proteins and the double–ring disaggregase ClpB. Simulations reveal that dynamic stability of hexameric pores of severing proteins and of the nucleotide binding domain 1 (NBD1) ring of ClpB, which belong to the same clade, involves a network of salt bridges that connect conserved motifs of central pore loops. Clustering analysis of ClpB highlights correlated motions of domains of neighboring protomers supporting strong inter–protomer collaboration. Severing proteins have weaker inter–protomer coupling and stronger intra–protomer stabilization through salt bridges involving pore loops. Distinct mechanisms are identified in the NBD2 ring of ClpB involving weaker inter–protomer coupling through salt bridges formed by non–canonical loops and stronger intra–protomer coupling. Analysis of collective motions of PL1 loops indicates that the largest amplitude motions in the spiral complex of spastin and ClpB involve axial excursions of the loops, whereas for katanin they involve opening and closing of the central pore. All three motors execute primarily axial excursions in the ring complex. These results suggest distinct substrate processing mechanisms of remodeling and translocation by ClpB and spastin, compared to katanin, thus providing dynamic support for the differential action of the two severing proteins.Relaxation dynamics of the distance between the PL1 loops and the center of mass of protomers reveals observation–time–dependent dynamics, leading to predicted relaxation times of tens to hundreds of microseconds on millisecond experimental timescales. For ClpB the predicted relaxation time is in excellent agreement with the extracted time from smFRET experiments.
Smartphone spectroscopy: three unique modalities for point-of-care testing

Here we demonstrate three principle modalities for a smartphone-based spectrometer: absorption, fluorescence, and photonic crystal (PC)-based label-free detection. When combined with some simple optical components, the rear-facing CMOS camera in a mobile device can provide spectrometric data that rivals that of laboratory instruments, but at a fraction of the cost. The use of a smartphone-based platform poses significant advantages based upon the rise of smartphone apps, which allow for user-interface and data-processing algorithms to be packaged and distributed within environments that are externally maintained with potential for integration with services such as cloud storage, GIS-tagging, and remote expert analysis. We demonstrate the absorption modality of our device by performing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on both a cancer biomarker and a peanut allergen, demonstrating clinically relevant limits of detection (LOD). Second, we demonstrate the success of a molecular beacon (MB)-based assay on the smartphone platform, achieving an LOD of 1.3 pM for a specific RNA sequence, less than that of a commercial benchtop instrument. Finally, we use a PC biosensor to perform label-free detection of a representative biological interaction: Protein A and human immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the nanomolar regime. Our work represents the first demonstration of smartphone-based spectroscopy for biological assays, and the first mobile-device-enabled detection instrument that serves to measure three distinct sensing modalities (label-free biosensing, absorption spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy). The smartphone platform has the potential to expand the use of spectrometric analysis to environments assay from the laboratory, which may include rural or remote locations, low-resource settings, and consumer markets.
Self-Regulation of Motivation and Action Through Goal Systems

Social cognitive theory distinguishes between two broad classes of motivation (Bandura, 1986). One class of motivators is biologically based. They include physiological conditions arising from cellular deficits and external aversive events that activate behavior through their physically painful effects. The second major source of motivators is cognitively based. In cognitively-generated motivation, people motivate themselves and guide their actions anticipatorily through the exercise of forethought. They anticipate likely outcomes of prospective actions, they set goals for themselves and plan courses of action designed to realize valued futures.
Applications of X-Ray Absorption Edge Analysis

The X-ray absorption edge technique using secondary targets as radiation sources was applied to the determination of some elements, including rhodium, uranium, yttrium, tantalum, cobalt, and cerium, that have absorption edges in the wavelength region from 0.53 to 2.2 A. Polystyrene absorption cells having path lengths between 0.12 and 3.0 cm were found to be satisfactory. For the longer wavelength radiation, the cells of shorter path length were used, and the sensitivity and precision were increased by using a low-density low-mo- lecular weight diluent such as isopropyl alcohol. At optimum concentrations, relative standard deviations in the range of 0.2 to were obtained. This secondary target technique requires only standard X-ray fluorescence equipment with simple and inexpensive modifications that can be attached or removed in a few minutes.
CSDD Features: Center-Surround Distribution Distance for Feature Extraction and Matching

We present an interest region operator and feature descriptor called Center-Surround Distribution Distance (CSDD) that is based on comparing feature distributions between a central foreground region and a surrounding ring of background pixels. In addition to finding the usual light(dark) blobs surrounded by a dark(light) background, CSDD also detects blobs with arbitrary color distribution that "stand out" perceptually because they look different from the background. A proof-of-concept implementation using an isotropic scale-space extracts feature descriptors that are invariant to image rotation and covariant with change of scale. Detection repeatability is evaluated and compared with other state-of-the-art approaches using a standard dataset, while use of CSDD features for image registration is demonstrated within a RANSAC procedure for affine image matching.
Hours of Operation and Service in Academic Libraries : Toward a National Standard

In an effort toward establishing a standard for academic library hours, this article surveys and compares hours of operation and service for ARL libraries and IPEDS survey respondents. The article ranks the ARL libraries according to hours of operation and reference hours and then briefly discusses such issues as libraries offering twenty-four hour access and factors affecting service hour decisions.
Growth Curves of Anaerobic Bacteria in Solid Media

Simple pour plate and spectrophotometric techniques for the evaluation of growth curves of several anaerobic bacteria on solid media are described. Three basic patterns of anaerobic growth were observed. The curves obtained were very reproducible when studied on separate occasions. The curves obtained by spectrophotometric measurement were comparable to those obtained by the pour plate method, especially when a large bacterial inoculum was used. Limitations in the interpretation of the results are discussed. The methods and principles reported could provide the basis for the determination of bacterial growth on solid media using other organisms and different experimental conditions.
Structural Studies on the Evolution of Texture in Heavily Wire Drawn and Subsequently Annealed Pure Al Metal

Conventional transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction techniques have been applied to study the microstructure of heavily wire-drawn and annealed samples of pure Al metal. Samples wire drawn (60% of the original value) have been found to be comprised of columnar grains with heavily distorted crystal structure and to exhibit a strong texture. Thus drawn samples after annealing appear free of columnar granular structure and show re-crystallized grains. Electron diffraction studies from thus re-crystallized grains are presented to evaluate the resulting annealing texture.
Quantum Patent Mechanics

Determining the meaning of patent claims necessarily requires the judge to break the text of a claim into discrete elements or units of text corresponding to the elements or units that comprise the claimed invention - essentially, organizing the language of the claims into chunks or quanta of text. Define an element narrowly - limit it to a single word, say - and you will tend to narrow the resulting patent, because to prove infringement the patentee must show that each word has a corresponding structure in the accused device. By contrast, defining an element broadly tends to broaden the patent, because it permits the text to read on a greater range of accused devices.For each discrete packet identified, the courts must determine the meaning of the constituent words. They can assign those words definitions that range from narrow, specific meanings to broad, general meanings. In determining the meaning of terms within a particular element, judges practicing patent claim interpretation are engaged in an exercise that to some degree resembles the famous levels of abstraction test articulated by Judge Learned Hand for analysis of infringement under copyright law's idea/expression doctrine. There are no hard and fast standards in the law by which to make the right decision as to either the size of the textual element or the level of abstraction at which it will be evaluated. Indeed, the indeterminacy is so acute that courts generally don't acknowledge that they are even engaging in either inquiry. They define an element almost arbitrarily, and even when judges disagree as to the proper definition they can offer no principled basis for doing so. The problem may be worse than a simple failure to acknowledge subconscious decisions that affect the scope of a patent, however. This indeterminacy may well be inherent in the process of mapping words to things, as modern literary theorists suggest. While courts purport to rely on the ordinary or plain meaning of the words of a patent claim, there may simply be no such thing. If we can't define the metes and bounds of the invention in any meaningful way, we might instead start with the patentee's invention itself, construing patent claims narrowly and in light of the actual invention when the claim terms are ambiguous. Courts could then supplement this narrower claim construction with a doctrine of equivalents analysis, which would permit them to decide how broadly to apply the principle of the invention.
Tandem mirror reactors

Preliminary fusion reactor designs have been developed based on the tandem mirror confinement concept. These have included a 1000 MWe fusion power reactor and a nearer term fusion-fission hybrid reactor with reduced plasma confinement and technology requirements. Brief descriptions are given.
Evidence for familial allergy. A study of 50 children and their parents.

A study of parents of 50 allergic children has been presented. A history of personal or family allergy was elicited in 20 mothers and 23 fathers, but bilateral histories were found in only 11. Scratch tests were performed on these parents and on a group of 44 adults free of allergy. The children themselves were scratch-positive in 46 (92%) of the cases. The parents were scratch-positive in 70% (mothers) and 72% (fathers) of the cases. The presumably nonallergic comparison group of adults was positive in one (2.2%) case. Of the parents as individuals, both history and scratch test indicated allergy in 56 (56%) of the cases (36 allergic subjects were positive and 20 "nonallergic" subjects were negative). Disagreement occurred in 44 cases, of which 37 were scratch-positive although clinically "nonallergic." In the remaining seven, verification of clinical allergy was lacking. This 7% compares favorably with the 8% of children known to be allergic in whom verification by scratch test was not demonstrated. Using history and scratch tests as criteria for the presence of allergy, the results indicate that in 50 allergic children, 66% possessed evidence for familial allergy in both parents, 28% in one parent, and 6% in neither parent.
Evaluation of Data

FOUR SITUATIONS OF CONCERN IN DATA EVALUATION ARE DISCUSSED' /1/ ESTIMATING POPULATION PARAMETERS FROM SAMPLE DATA, WITH A SPECIFIED PROBABILITY OF BEING RIGHT /OR WRONG/, /2/ COMPARING MEANS OR VARIANCES OR BOTH FROM TWO OR MORE SETS OF DATA TO DETERMINE IF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE EXIST BETWEEN OR AMOUNG THE SETS, /3/ PROVIDING A BASIS FOR ACCEPTING OR REJECTING A MATERIAL, AND /4/ DEVELOPING FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AMONG TWO OR MORE VARIABLES. BASIC STATISTICAL CONCEPTS ARE INTRODUCED FOR USE IN THESE FOUR SITUATIONS. THESE STATISTICAL CONCEPTS ARE' UNIVERSE, POPULATION, SAMPLE, RANDOMNESS, NORMAL DISTRIBUTION, STATISTICAL INFERENCE AND CONTROL CHARTS. REGRESSION METHODS ARE USE TO DETERMINE THE BEST FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE VARIABLES.
Testosterone and nucleus accumbens dopamine in the male Syrian hamster

Most drugs of abuse increase dopamine (DA) in nucleus accumbens (Acb). However, the effects of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) on Acb DA have not been examined. We determined the effects of subcutaneous (sc) testosterone (T) on Acb DA in male hamsters. The effects of sc amphetamine were also examined for comparison. In addition, Acb DA was evaluated during intracerebroventricular (ICV) T infusion, designed to mimic T intake during ICV T self-administration in drug-naive and drug-preexposed animals. Acb DA was measured using in vivo microdialysis and HPLC-EC. T (7.5 or 37.5 mg/kg), amphetamine (1 or 5 mg/kg), or vehicle was injected sc and Acb DA monitored for 4h. In the ICV experiment, T (1 or 2 microg/infusion) or vehicle was infused ICV every 6 min for 4h and Acb DA monitored. ICV T preexposure was accomplished by repeating the same ICV T infusion (1 microg/infusion) daily for 14 days, and T infusion was accompanied by microdialysis on 15th day. Neither sc nor ICV T administration increased Acb DA. At high dose (2 microg/infusion), ICV T decreased Acb DA. Likewise, daily ICV infusion of T for 15 days did not alter Acb DA. In contrast, sc amphetamine significantly increased Acb DA at both doses. Therefore, unlike many drugs of abuse, AAS does not increase Acb DA levels. The reduction in DA at high T doses is likely due to autonomic depressant effects of AAS. We suggest that AAS act via mechanism distinct from those of stimulants, but may share neural substrates with other drugs of abuse.
Band-Gap Tuned Direct Absorption for a Hybrid Concentrating Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal System

Two methods often proposed for harnessing renewable energy, photovoltaics and solar thermal, both utilize the power of the sun. Each of these systems independently presets unique engineering challenges but when coupled together the challenge intensifies due to competing operating requirements. Recent research has demonstrated these hybrid systems for low-temperature applications but there exists limited studies at higher concentration ratios, and thus higher temperatures. What these studies have shown is that keeping the photovoltaic (PV) cell temperature low keeps the overall system efficiency relatively high but results in low efficiencies from the thermal system. This study presents a unique design strategy for a hybrid PV/thermal system that only has mild thermal coupling which can lead to enhanced efficiency. By creating a fluid filter that absorbs energy directly in the fluid below the band-gap and a PV cell with an active cooling strategy combined effrciencies greater than 38% can be achieved.
Rapid triacylglyceride detection and quantification in live micro-algal cultures via liquid state 1H NMR

Abstract Non-invasive methods for measuring lipid content in live microalgal cultures are critically needed for algal biofuel research and development. A non-destructive method requiring minimal sample preparation was developed utilizing liquid state ¹H NMR for quantifying triacylglycerides (TAGs) in live algae cultures. ¹H NMR and ¹H HR-MAS spectra of live algae cells show outstanding correlation with published chemical shifts for TAGs. ¹H NMR spectra of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii whole cells and isolated lipid bodies were compared with a standard oleic TAG ¹H spectrum, demonstrating that only lipid body TAGs were observed. A “model” TAG was derived, providing a proton count and molecular weight for conversion of TAG ¹H NMR integrals to volumetric TAG or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) equivalent concentrations, which were correlated to FAME concentrations by gas chromatography (FAME-GC) at several time points. A customized NMR flow cell was subsequently constructed, allowing real-time, continuous measurements of multiple cultures.
Delayed, disequilibrium degassing in rhyolite magma: Decompression experiments and implications for explosive volcanism

Recent numerical models and analog shock tube experiments show that disequilibrium degassing during magma ascent may lead to violent vesiculation very near the surface. In this study a series of decompression experiments using crystal-free, rhyolite melt were conducted to examine the development of large supersaturations due to delayed, homogenous (spontaneous) bubble nucleation. Melts were saturated at 900°C and 200 MPa with either 5.2 wt% dissolved H2O, or with 4.2 wt% H2O and 640 ppm CO2, and isothermally decompressed at linear rates of either 0.003, 0.025, or 8.5 MPa/s to final pressures between 25 and 175 MPa. Additional isobaric saturation experiments (900°C, 200–25 MPa) using pure H2O or mixed H2O–CO2 fluids establish reference equilibrium solubility curves/values. Homogenous nucleation is triggered in both H2O-only and H2O–CO2 experiments once the supersaturation pressure (ΔPss) reaches ∼120–150 MPa and the melt contains ∼two times its equilibrium water contents. Bubble number density and nucleation rate depend on the supersaturation pressure, with values on the order of 102/cm3 and <1/cm3/s for ΔPss∼120 MPa; 106/cm3 and 103–105/cm3/s for ΔPss∼130–150 MPa; and 107/cm3 and 106/cm3/s for ΔPss∼160–175 MPa. Nucleation rates are consistent with classical nucleation theory, and infer an activation energy for nucleation of 1.5×10−18 J/nucleus, a critical bubble radius of 2×10−9 m, and an effective surface tension for rhyolite at 5.2 wt% H2O and 900°C of 0.10–0.11 N/m. The long nucleation delay limits the time available for subsequent diffusion such that disequilibrium dissolved H2O and CO2 contents persist to the end of our runs. The disequilibrium degassing paths inferred from our experiments contrast markedly with the equilibrium or quasi-equilibrium paths found in other studies where bubble nucleation occurs heterogenously on crystals or other discontinuities in the melt at low ΔPss. Homogenous and heterogenous nucleation rates are comparable, however, as are bubble number densities, so that at a given decompression rate it appears that nucleation mechanism, rather than nucleation rate, determines degassing efficiency by fixing the pressure (depth) at which vesiculation commences and hence the time available for equilibration prior to eruption. Although real systems are probably never truly crystal-free, our results show that rhyolitic magmas containing up to 104 crystals/cm3, and perhaps as high as 106 crystals/cm3, are controlled by homogenous, rather than heterogenous, nucleation during ascent.
A critical histidine in the vesicular acetylcholine transporter.

Abstract The role of proton binding sites in the vesicular acetylcholine transporter was investigated by characterization of the pH dependence for the binding of [ 3 H]vesamicol [(−)- trans -2-(4-phenylpiperidino)cyclohexanol] to Torpedo synaptic vesicles. A single proton binds to a site with p K a 7.1±0.1, which is characteristic of histidine, to competitively inhibit vesamicol binding. The histidine-selective reagent diethylpyrocarbonate causes time-dependent inhibition of [ 3 H]vesamicol binding with a rate constant only about 20-fold lower than for reaction with free histidine. Because its pH titration has a simple, ideal shape, this residue probably controls all pH effects in the transporter between pH 6–8. Inhibition of [ 3 H]vesamicol binding by diethylpyrocarbonate was slowed by vesamicol but not acetylcholine, which binds to a separate site. The data suggest that a critical histidine with a p K a of 7.1 is unhindered when reacting with diethylpyrocarbonate. A conformational model for the histidine is proposed to explain why acetylcholine competes with protons but not with diethylpyrocarbonate. A conserved histidine in transmembrane helix VIII possibly is the histidine detected here.
Effect of Sustaining Lifestyle Modifications (Nonsmoking, Weight Reduction, Physical Activity, and Mediterranean Diet) After Healing of Myocardial Infarction, Percutaneous Intervention, or Coronary Bypass (from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study)

Guidelines recommend lifestyle modification for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Few data demonstrate which lifestyle modifications, if sustained, reduce recurrent CHD and mortality risk in cardiac patients after the postacute rehabilitation phase. We determined the association between ideal lifestyle factors and recurrent CHD and all-cause mortality in REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study participants with CHD (n = 4,174). Ideal lifestyle factors (physical activity ≥4 times/week, nonsmoking, highest quartile of Mediterranean diet score, and waist circumference
Otto Lilienthal: "The Greatest of the Precursors"

This brief treatment of Otto Lilienthal's overall aeronautical contribution details his aerodynamic research, the data as well as his data-gathering technique. Lilienthal's subsequent glider experiments also are covered from the perspective of both their technical and inspirational contributions. The heart of the paper is a discussion of the place of Lilienthal's aerodynamics in the work of others, primarily the Wright brothers. Included is a reassessment of the accuracy of Lilienthal's famous table of lift coefficients and the assumptions that the Wrights made in using Lilienthal's data. Historically, Lilienthal's data and their use by the Wrights has been one of the more complex and debated aspects of the Wright story. The article presents a brief review of how Lilienthal's contrihution has been characterized and revised over time, with a discussion of the current thinking regarding the famous Lilienthal table of lift coefficients.
Dependence of ATR system performance on size of training sets

Automatic target recognition systems often have parameters that are estimated using training data. These parameters are then used in an implementation of the system as if they are the true parameters. The training sets consist of independent and identically distributed copies of the data given the target type. In an ideal case, we analyze the degradation in performance of such systems as a function of the size of the training sets. The training sets consist of independent and identically distributed copies of the data given the target type. The ideal performance is determined by the true parameters and is characterized in terms of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) for a two-target problem. For a finite-sized training set the ROC curves fall below the ideal and converge to the ideal as the size of the training sets grows. Since in practical systems we have only a very limited amount of training data, it is desirable to quantify the degradation based on the size of the training sets. This will allow a prediction of the difference between performance obtained empirically and the optimal performance. Laplace approximations for the performance are explored. We study a Gaussian model in detail.
Effects of ocular transverse chromatic aberration on peripheral word identification.

Abstract Transverse chromatic aberration (TCA) smears the retinal image of peripheral stimuli. We previously found that TCA significantly reduces the ability to recognize letters presented in the near fovea by degrading image quality and exacerbating crowding effect from adjacent letters. The present study examined whether TCA has a significant effect on near foveal and peripheral word identification, and whether within-word orthographic facilitation interacts with TCA effect to affect word identification. Subjects were briefly presented a 6- to 7-letter word of high or low frequency in each trial. Target words were generated with weak or strong horizontal color fringe to attenuate the TCA in the right periphery and exacerbate it in the left. The center of the target word was 1°, 2°, 4°, and 6° to the left or right of a fixation point. Subject’s eye position was monitored with an eye-tracker to ensure proper fixation before target presentation. They were required to report the identity of the target word as soon and accurately as possible. Results show significant effect of color fringe on the latency and accuracy of word recognition, indicating existing TCA effect. Observed TCA effect was more salient in the right periphery, and was affected by word frequency more there. Individuals’ subjective preference of color-fringed text was correlated to the TCA effect in the near periphery. Our results suggest that TCA significantly affects peripheral word identification, especially when it is located in the right periphery. Contextual facilitation such as word frequency interacts with TCA to influence the accuracy and latency of word recognition.