cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Discovery of a Novel Inhibitory Neuron Class, the L-Stellate Cells of the Cochlear Nucleus

Abstract Auditory processing depends upon inhibitory signaling by interneurons, even at its earliest stages in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN). Remarkably, to date only a single subtype of inhibitory neuron has been documented in the VCN, a projection neuron termed the D-stellate cell. With the use of a transgenic mouse line, optical clearing and imaging techniques, combined with electrophysiological tools, we revealed a population of glycinergic cells in the VCN distinct from the D-stellate cell. These novel multipolar glycinergic cells were smaller in soma size and dendritic area, but over 10-fold more numerous than D-stellate cells. They were activated by auditory nerve fibers and T-stellate cells, and made local inhibitory synaptic contacts on principal cells of the VCN. Given their abundance, combined with their narrow dendritic fields and axonal projections, it is likely that these neurons, here termed L-stellate cells, play a significant role in frequency-specific processing of acoustic signals.
Chemical fixation of toxic metals in stainless steel pickling residue by Na2S∙xH2O, FeSO4∙6H2O and phosphoric acid for beneficial uses.

Abstract The leaching concentrations of different metals in stainless steel pickling residue (SSPR) were determined and the toxic metals were treated using Na2S∙xH2O, FeSO4∙6H2O, and phosphoric acid. A modified European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction was used to identify the speciation of the concerned metals. Results showed that SSPR contains a large amount of Ca (58.41%), Fe (29.44%), Cr (3.83%), Ni (2.94%), Mn (2.82%) and some of Al, Cu, Mg, Zn. Among them, Cr and Ni were the most toxic metals in SSPR, thus the raw SSPR falls into hazardous waste category due to the leaching amount of Cr. In addition, the leached Cr was identified as Cr6+ (MgCrO4) in the waste. BCR test revealed that risk assessment code (RAC) of Cr and Ni were 33.29% and 61.7%, indicating they posed “high” and “very high” risk to the environment, respectively. After fixing by Na2S∙xH2O and FeSO4∙6H2O, the leaching concentrations of Cr and Ni were less than 1.5 and 0.5 mg/L, respectively. After fixing by Na2S∙xH2O and FeSO4∙6H2O the treated SSPR can be safely reused as roadbed materials, concrete and cement aggregates. This study provides a useful implication in treatment and beneficial reuse of heavy metal-containing hazardous wastes.
Rumor detection in social networks via deep contextual modeling

Fake news and rumors constitute a major problem in social networks recently. Due to the fast information propagation in social networks, it is inefficient to use human labor to detect suspicious news. Automatic rumor detection is thus necessary to prevent devastating effects of rumors on the individuals and society. Previous work has shown that in addition to the content of the news/posts and their contexts (i.e., replies), the relations or connections among those components are important to boost the rumor detection performance. In order to induce such relations between posts and contexts, the prior work has mainly relied on the inherent structures of the social networks (e.g., direct replies), ignoring the potential semantic connections between those objects. In this work, we demonstrate that such semantic relations are also helpful as they can reveal the implicit structures to better capture the patterns in the contexts for rumor detection. We propose to employ the self-attention mechanism in neural text modeling to achieve the semantic structure induction for this problem. In addition, we introduce a novel method to preserve the important information of the main news/posts in the final representations of the entire threads to further improve the performance for rumor detection. Our method matches the main post representations and the thread representations by ensuring that they predict the same latent labels in a multitask learning framework. The extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model for rumor detection, yielding the state-of-the-art performance on recent datasets for this problem.
Normal regression of the internal umbilical remnant structures in Standardbred foals

BACKGROUND Diseases affecting the internal umbilical remnant are common in foals. Ultrasound is used to diagnose abnormalities of these structures, and to monitor treatment. However, little is known about the progression of normal internal umbilical remnant regression. OBJECTIVES To document normal regression of the umbilical remnant in foals over the first 6 weeks of life. STUDY DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal cohort study. METHODS Weekly ultrasound examinations were performed beginning at 1 day of age in 34 healthy Standardbred foals. The umbilical vein was measured in cross section just cranial to the external umbilicus, at the level of the liver and midway between these points. The umbilical arteries were measured in cross section just caudal to the external umbilicus, at the apex of the bladder and at the midpoint of the bladder. The urachus was imaged longitudinally as it exited the bladder. Reduction in size over time was evaluated as percentage change in diameter. RESULTS Structure diameter decreased linearly over time. The largest measurements were at 24 hours of age with a median umbilical vein diameter of 0.83 cm (IQR 0.77-1.02 cm), median umbilical artery diameter of 0.61 cm (IQR 0.56-0.70 cm) and median urachal diameter of 1.07 cm (IQR 1.02-1.14 cm). There was a significant reduction in diameter for all structures (16.0%-21.9%; corrected P < .001) within the first week of life. MAIN LIMITATIONS All foals were of a single breed, and examinations and measurements were performed by multiple individuals. CONCLUSIONS The internal umbilical remnants (umbilical vein/arteries, and urachus) rapidly regress over the first few weeks of life. The median internal umbilical remnant diameters reported here are smaller than previously reported values, emphasising the importance of accounting for age when diagnosing umbilical abnormalities. In a healthy Standardbred foal, normal structures are difficult to definitively identify via transcutaneous ultrasound by 5-6 weeks of age.
Overheating risk of a single-family detached house built at different ages under current and future climate in Canada

With the anticipated increase in temperature and solar radiation and frequency of extreme weather conditions due to climate change, buildings typically designed/built in Canadian cold climates would experience increased risks of summer overheating. This paper focuses on how these existing buildings perform under a current extreme year and projected future climates. Results show that the thermal conditions of a single-family detached house built in 1964 and 1990 are more comfortable than the house built to meet the current National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) and high energy-efficient building (HEEB) without including natural ventilation by up to 50%. On the other hand, when natural ventilation is included, the house built to NECB and HEED are more comfortable. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate the influence of five design parameters, i.e. wall and roof insulation, airtightness, U-value and SHGC of windows. Sensitivity analysis shows that wall insulation, airtightness, and windows U-value are the three most significant parameters influencing the overheating risk without natural ventilation. With natural ventilation, the SHGC of windows is the most influencing parameter in reducing overheating risk. This paper confirms that the Canadian buildings have the overheating risk over the hot summer experienced over the past a few years and the risk will be increased in the future. Natural ventilation as a mitigation measure, which has been relied on by building designers in Canada will not be sufficient to remove excess heat or provide thermal comfort to residents. Other mitigation strategies such as shading to reduce the heat gain during the summer, are needed.
The Revolution That Wasn’t: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives

Since its conception, the internet has been heralded for its egalitarian and democratizing affordances, as well as its ability to transcend physical borders and bring people together. For years, sc...
Extracellular matrix and cyclic stretch alter fetal cardiomyocyte proliferation and maturation in a rodent model of heart hypoplasia

Abstract Birth defects, particularly those that affect development of the heart, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children. Babies born with heart hypoplasia (HH) disorders often have a poor prognosis. It remains unclear whether cardiomyocytes from hypoplastic hearts retain the potential to recover growth, although this knowledge would be beneficial for developing therapies for HH disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the proliferation and maturation potential of cardiomyocytes from hypoplastic hearts and whether these behaviors are influenced by biophysical signaling from the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cyclic mechanical stretch. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)-associated HH was induced in rat fetuses by maternal exposure to nitrofen. Hearts were isolated from embryonic day 21 nitrofen-treated fetuses positive for CDH (CDH+) and from fetuses without nitrofen administration during gestation. CDH+ hearts were smaller and had decreased myocardial proliferation, along with evidence of decreased maturity compared to healthy hearts. In culture, CDH+ cardiomyocytes remained immature and demonstrated increased proliferative capacity compared to their healthy counterparts. Culture on ECM derived from CDH+ hearts led to a significant reduction in proliferation for both CDH+ and healthy cardiomyocytes. Healthy cardiomyocytes were dosed with exogenous nitrofen to examine whether nitrofen may have an abhorrent effect on the proliferative ability of cardiomyocyte, yet no significant change in proliferation was observed. When subjected to stretch, CDH+ cardiomyocytes underwent lengthening of sarcomeres while healthy cardiomyocyte sarcomeres were unaffected. Taken together, our results suggest that alterations to environmental cues such as ECM and stretch may be important factors in the pathological progression of HH.
Sub-Terahertz Wideband Array on Low-cost Organic Substrate

Further advances in satellite communication and imaging will rely on the implementation of sub-terahertz (sub-THz) systems using flip-chip technology. Recently, low-cost organic substrates have demonstrated stable electric properties over a very large bandwidth making them suitable for sub-THz antennas. In this paper, we present the first ultra-wideband sub-THz antenna array implemented on a low-cost organic multilayer printed circuit board substrate. The array has dual-linear polarization and achieves a 3:1 contiguous impedance bandwidth at broadside with $\text{VSWR} across the entire band. Full-wave simulation of the array demonstrates >80% efficiency across the entire band.
Short Communication The effect of crude oil contaminated feed on semen characteristics of cocks

Data from 32 Isa Brown (layer hype) cocks aged 10 months were used to determine the effect of crude oil contaminated feed on their semen quality. There were four treatment groups with pro replicates each. Treatment T1 which received crude oil free diet served as control. Treatments T2, T3, and T4 received crude oil contaminated feed at the rate of 1.0ml, 2.0ml and 3.0ml per kg of feed, respectively. Both feed and water were provided ad libitum. The experiment lasted for five weeks during which each cock ejaculated two times a week using the massage technique. The results indicated a highly significant (p<0.01) decrease in semen volume from treatments T1 to T4 while significant (P<0.05) decreases in sperm concentration and sperm motility were observed from treatments T1 to T4 Results also showed a significant (P<0.05) increase in percentage dead sperm and total abnormal sperm from treatments T1 to T4 The effect of weeks was significant on body weight, semen volume, sperm concentration and percentage dead sperm. Treatment by week interaction was significant (P<0.05) only on body weight. It was concluded that crude oil contaminated poultry feed had a deleterious effect on semen quality of cocks.
Algorithmic copywriting: automated generation of health-related advertisements to improve their performance

Search advertising, a popular method for online marketing, has been employed to improve health by eliciting positive behavioral change. However, writing effective advertisements requires expertise and experimentation, which may not be available to health authorities wishing to elicit such changes, especially when dealing with public health crises such as epidemic outbreaks. Here, we develop a framework, comprising two neural network models, that automatically generates ads. The framework first employs a generator model, which creates ads from web pages. These ads are then processed by a translation model, which transcribes ads to improve performance. We trained the networks using 114K health-related ads shown on Microsoft Advertising. We measure ad performance using the click-through rates (CTR). Our experiments show that the generated advertisements received approximately the same CTR as human-authored ads. The marginal contribution of the generator model was, on average, 28% lower than that of human-authored ads, while the translator model received, on average, 32% more clicks than human-authored ads. Our analysis shows that, when compared to human-authored ads, both the translator model and the combined generator + translator framework produce ads reflecting higher values of psychological attributes associated with a user action, including higher valence and arousal, and more calls to action. In contrast, levels of these attributes in ads produced by the generator model alone are similar to those of human-authored ads. Our results demonstrate the ability to automatically generate useful advertisements for the health domain. We believe that our work offers health authorities an improved ability to build effective public health advertising campaigns.
Designer membraneless organelles sequester native factors for control of cell behavior

Subcellular compartmentalization of macromolecules increases flux and prevents inhibitory interactions to control biochemical reactions. Inspired by this functionality, we sought to build designer compartments that function as hubs to regulate the flow of information through cellular control systems. We report a synthetic membraneless organelle platform to control endogenous cellular activities through sequestration and insulation of native proteins. We engineer and express a disordered protein scaffold to assemble micron-size condensates and recruit endogenous clients via genomic tagging with high-affinity dimerization motifs. By relocalizing up to 90% of targeted enzymes to synthetic condensates, we efficiently control cellular behaviors, including proliferation, division and cytoskeletal organization. Further, we demonstrate multiple strategies for controlled cargo release from condensates to switch cells between functional states. These synthetic organelles offer a powerful and generalizable approach to modularly control cell decision-making in a variety of model systems with broad applications for cellular engineering.
Structural Compression of Convolutional Neural Networks with Applications in Interpretability.

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been successful in many tasks in machine vision, however, millions of weights in the form of thousands of convolutional filters in CNNs make them difficult for human interpretation or understanding in science. In this article, we introduce a greedy structural compression scheme to obtain smaller and more interpretable CNNs, while achieving close to original accuracy. The compression is based on pruning filters with the least contribution to the classification accuracy or the lowest CAR (Classification Accuracy Reduction) importance index. We demonstrate the interpretability of CAR-compressed CNNs by showing that our algorithm prunes filters with visually redundant functionalities such as color filters. These compressed networks are easier to interpret because they retain the filter diversity of uncompressed networks with an order of magnitude fewer filters. Finally, a variant of CAR is introduced to quantify the importance of each image category to each CNN filter. Specifically, the most and the least important class labels are shown to be meaningful interpretations of each filter.
More Than Just Words: My Experience in Haiti

A Purdue student describes her view of Haitian culture and refl ects on how her perspectives changed following this experience.
Return to work following unilateral enucleation in 34 horses (2000-2008).

Summary Reasons for study: The effect of unilateral enucleation on vision and potential loss of performance in horses has received little study. Objective: To evaluate the likelihood of return to prior discipline following unilateral enucleation in horses, assessing the role of age at enucleation, equine discipline, reason for enucleation, time to vision loss and eye enucleated. Hypothesis: Unilateral enucleation has no significant effect on likelihood of return to work in horses, for both right and left eyes, across age and discipline. Method: A retrospective review of medical records identified 92 horses that underwent unilateral enucleation at the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center from April 2000–April 2008. Case variables determined from the medical record included breed and sex of horse, age at enucleation, which eye was enucleated, reason for enucleation and onset of vision loss. Pre- and post operative occupations were determined by telephone interview with the owner or trainer of each horse. Results: Based on hospital surgery logs, 92 enucleations were performed over the 8 year period and 77 records were available for review, with follow-up information available for 34 horses. Of these, 29/34 (85%) horses returned to work in pleasure or trail riding (11/13), flat racing (7/10), hunter/jumpers (4/4), dressage (3/3), group lessons (1/1), eventing (1/1), steeplechase (1/1) and as a broodmare (1/1). Four of 5 horses (4/34, or 12% sample) that did not return to work (2 pleasure and 2 racing) were retired due to anticipated or perceived decrease in performance or behaviour change following unilateral enucleation, with the remaining horse retired from racing for lameness issues unrelated to enucleation. Twenty-two of 25 horses (88%) with acute vision loss and 7/9 horses (78%) with gradual vision loss returned to their previous discipline. Conclusions: Horses are able to return to a variety of occupations after unilateral enucleation.
S band radar target detection in an extreme advection duct event

Mesoscale numerical weather prediction models coupled with modern parabolic equation radar performance models have allowed the resolution of four dimensional radar performance in challenging non homogeneous near surface refractivity fields at the time and location of the modeller's choice. Large scale offshore flow of warm and dry air over colder seas produces strong surface ducting. Large land-sea temperature differences can produce near shore sea breezes and surface based ducts. This paper describes modelled radar performance in such a complex ducting structure over the Persian Gulf during large scale northwest flow. The refractivity field was resolved by the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System and the notional radar performance was modelled by the Advanced Refractivity Effects Prediction System. The results indicate strong spatially dependent enhancements and degradations in radar performance relative to a standard atmosphere.
Is It Time for a U.S. Policy to Ban Corporal Punishment of Schoolchildren

This article examines corporal punishment in U.S. public schools, proposes a national conversation regarding its use, and advocates for a national policy to promote nonviolent discipline methods and prohibit corporal punishment of children in educational settings. The United States remains one of the few postmodern societies without a national policy, and close to a quarter of a million students are corporally punished in public schools annually. The article briefly reviews research regarding the effectiveness of corporal punishment, describes its historical roots and current use by educators, and examines corporal punishment of schoolchildren through a human rights and social justice lens. Language: en
Inservice Science Supervisors' Assessments of a Novice Science Teacher's Videotaped Lesson

(1997). Inservice Science Supervisors' Assessments of a Novice Science Teacher's Videotaped Lesson. Journal of Science Teacher Education: Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 15-28.
Spermatic Granuloma: An Often Painful Lesion

Spermatic granulomas are specialized abscesses which frequently occur at the site of vasectomy. Although some are often silent, others can be agonizingly painful. A series of 154 granulomas is presented. Of these, 83 were symptomatic and 63 required surgery for relief of pain.
Outage probability in digital cellular radio networks

The block outage probability that the voice segment is lost in digital cellular radio networks using TDMA because of a temporary fade during part of its reception is studied. The combined effects of multipath fading and shadowing of the wanted and interfering signals are considered. To this end, the model for RF outage probabilities, as appropriate for analog transmission, is extended to include the influence of the nonfade duration. The results are compared with the outage probability for blocks of zero duration, i.e., ignoring the effects of the time constants of the fading on outage probability. Results are verified by computer simulation using Ptolemy. The results suggest that previously reported outage probabilities for analog transmission are inaccurate for TDMA networks. The new model is believed relevant to the spectrum-efficient design and planning of reliable digital cellular TDMA telephone networks. >
Developmental trends in free classification: Evidence for a new conceptualization of perceptual development

Abstract Two studies are reported to explore the hypothesis that young children perceive integrally some stimuli that older children perceive separably. In both, kinder-garteners, second graders, and fifth graders (approximately 5, 8, and 11 years old) are required to classify sets of stimuli that vary in size and brightness. Triads are used in Experiment 1 and tetrads are used in Experiment 2. Also, in Experiment 2, second classifications, judgments of which classification is “best,” and verbal justifications for classifications are obtained. The general finding is that the kinder-garten data systematically implicate integrality of size and brightness while the fifth-grade data systematically implicate separability of size and brightness. The second-grade data are more ambiguous. Issues related to refining the developmental hypothesis and to extending its supportive data base are considered in a final discussion.
A Perspective for Evaluating Wikis as a Medium for Communication Within Engineering Design Teams

Wikis, freely editable collections of web pages, are showing potential for a flexible documentation and communication tool for collaborative design tasks. They also provide a medium that can be further transformed by properly understanding both the need for flexibility as well as support for design thinking early in the design process. The purpose of this work is to analyze the different dimensions of the wiki from a communication perspective as applicable to design. With a focus on communication in design, we will explore the advantages and disadvantages of using wikis in student engineering design teams. Our ultimate goal is to better support the design process while exploiting the potential for increasing the shared understanding among teams using a wiki. By introducing a wiki in a globally distributed product development course, students gain hands-on experience in using wikis as a design tool. Feedback from students will be collected through questionnaires and used to improve and transform the wiki as a support tool for communication during early design collaboration.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
A Vision for What Science Education Should Be Like for the First 25 Years of a New Millennium.

Robert Yager is a native Iowan who was worked at the University of Iowa since 1956. He has served as president of seven national associations, including the National Science Teachers Association, School Science and Mathematics Association, the National Association of Biology Teachers, the Association for the Education of Teachers of Science, the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Section Q of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Association of Science-Technology-Society. Yager has directed over 100 projects supported by the National Science Foundation, several research projects supported by the U.S. Department of Education, and several project evaluations. The University of Iowa has one of the largest graduate programs in the U.S., while also focusing on in-service programs for science teachers and a model preservice program (which enjoyed NSF support for a 10-year period). Yager has published over 500 books, monographs, and research reports. Currently, he is active with several research projects in Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Israel, and Estonia.
Integrated amplifier-accelerator system

A theoretical investigation of the interaction of electrons with the electromagnetic wave in a microwave amplifier indicates that about 50% of the electrons are in fact accelerated in the amplification process. We analyze a system which consists of an amplifier immediately followed by an accelerator. Although we loose part of the electromagnetic power due to the impedance mismatch, the electrons remain bunched and trapped when entering the acceleration section so that the acceleration process is reasonably efficient. The electrons which lost energy in the amplifier section, practically do not participate in the interaction process, since their velocity mismatch is too large. With 1 kA, 0.85 MV electrons and Ez equals 0.6 MV/m at the input, 40.6 cm of amplification and 43.4 cm of acceleration, calculations show that at the output 6% of the electrons have energies between 8 and 16 MV.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
In vitro and in vivo growth suppression of MCF‐7 human breast cancer by novel photoproducts and tamoxifen

Background. Preactivation is a novel photochemical method for the production of chemotherapeutic compounds that exert their biologic effects independent of light. The compounds that are produced, preactivated merocyanine 540 (pMC540) and merodantoin, are cytotoxic to cultured human breast cancer cells but are only minimally cytotoxic toward normal cells. Their effects against breast cancer have not been studied in vivo. Methods. Estrogen-stimulated human MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cells were grown as solid tumors in athymic carrier mice. Animals bearing defined sizes of subcutaneously transplanted solid breast tumors received injections of pMC540 (250 mg/kg) with or without concurrent treatment with tamoxifen. Growth inhibitory effects of merodantoin (N, N'-dibutyl-2-thio-4, 5-imidazolidion) on the breast tumor growth were determined. Results. Direct injection of established tumors with eight doses of pMC540 (250 mg/kg) administered on alternate days resulted in significant tumor regression (P = 0.002). In three of seven animals, palpable tumors could not be detected after this treatment (16 days). Treatment through intramuscular injections (20 doses) with pMC540 (250 mg/kg) also caused a significant suppression of tumor area (P = 0.004; P = 0.0882; P = 0.0903) and a marginally significant suppression of tumor weight and volume, respectively. Combined treatment with tamoxifen and pMC540 (100 mg/kg) caused a 67% suppression of breast tumor growth. Treatment with 20 doses of merodantoin (75 mg/kg) suppressed the growth of breast tumors by 98%. Conclusion. To the authors' knowledge, these results show for the first time that photochemically generated novel compounds in pMC540 alone and in combination with tamoxifen are effective in suppressing in vivo growth of xenografted human MCF-7 breast tumors.
Exercise Stress Echocardiographic Assessment of Outflow Tract and Ventricular Function in Patients With an Obstructed Right Ventricular-to-Pulmonary Artery Conduit After Repair of Conotruncal Heart Defects

This study assessed right ventricular (RV) and RV outflow tract (RVOT) function and pressure in response to exercise in patients with an obstructed RV‐pulmonary artery (PA) conduit using exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) to evaluate these parameters. RV-PA conduits inevitably develop stenosis and/or regurgitation over time. Assessment of conduit obstruction only at rest may not reveal the extent of physiologic perturbation related to RV pressure loading. Patients with a stenotic RV-PA conduit who were being considered for transcatheter pulmonary valve placement were approached prospectively. ESE was performed and ventricular images were obtained at rest and at peak exercise. Forty patients (median age 17 years) were enrolled. Most patients had tetralogy of Fallot (63%) and were in New York Heart Association class II (59%). Exercise stress echocardiographic images were adequate in 38 patients (95%). With exercise there was a significant increase in maximum instantaneous RVOT gradient from rest (59 vs 96 mm Hg, p <0.001); exerciseinduced change in RVOT gradient correlated with global RV strain at rest (r 0.3, p 0.05). Compared to measurements at rest there were significant increases in median peak longitudinal strain of the left ventricular free wall, interventricular septum, and global left ventricular strain at peak exercise. There were no significant changes in median RV strain at peak exercise (RV free wall 14.3 [26, 8] at rest vs 15.2 [27, 3] at peak exercise, p 0.87; global RV strain 13.9 [32, 9] vs 15.1 [23, 6], p 0.11). In conclusion, using ESE it was possible to evaluate abnormal ventricular function and conduit dysfunction at peak exercise in patients with an obstructed RV-PA conduit. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Am J Cardiol 2012;110:1527‐1533) Most studies of patients with right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) dysfunction have focused on anatomic and physiologic cardiac parameters at rest. However, it is with exercise that most patients manifest symptoms. Response of the right ventricle to increased demands of exercise in the setting of RVOT obstruction has not been characterized, and potential clinical implications of how the right ventricle (RV) responds to increased work have not been well understood. The aims of this study were to gauge the feasibility of using exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) to assess RVOT pressure gradients and biventricular function in patients with congenital heart disease and an obstructed RV– pulmonary artery (PA) conduit and to assess relations between at-rest and peak exercise right heart hemodynamics and function. The ultimate goal of this line of investigation is to determine whether cardiac functional abnormalities elicited by exercise can help refine our understanding of when to intervene for RVOT conduit dysfunction. Methods
Growth of Micro Bubbles on Micro-Configured Metal-Graphite Composite Surfaces and Boiling Enhancement

A series of studies in nucleate boiling phenomena on metal-graphite composite surfaces has been investigated by Prof. Wen-Jei Yang and their associates. It has been discovered that the unique micro-configured construction of the composite surfaces plays a crucial role in the enhancement of boiling heat transfer. The present paper focuses on the formation and growth processes of micro bubbles and the micro/nano scale boiling behavior to reveal the mechanism of boiling heat transfer enhancement on the unique surfaces. The growth processes of the micro and macro bubbles are analyzed and formulated followed by an analysis of bubble departure. Based on these analyses, the enhancement mechanism of the pool boiling heat transfer on the composite surfaces is clearly revealed. The micro-configured composite surfaces provide more even distribution of a great number of stable boiling active sites through the graphite fibers. Consequently, the heat conduction through the layers is increased, which provides the power of phase change at the interfaces on bubble bottoms. Experimental results convincingly demonstrate the enhancement effects of the unique structure of metal-graphite composite surfaces on boiling heat transfer.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
New method for generating linear transfer matrices through combined rf and solenoid fields

We present a new method for computing the transverse transfer matrix for superimposed axisymmetric rf and solenoid field maps. The algorithm constructs the transfer matrix directly from one-dimensional rf and solenoid field maps without computing numerical derivatives or eigenfunction expansions of the field map data. In addition, this method accurately describes the dynamics of low energy particles starting from a solenoid-immersed cathode, allowing the method to simulate transport through both rf and electrostatic guns. Comparison of particle tracking with the transfer matrix, and direct integration of the equations of motion through several field setups, shows excellent agreement between the two methods.
Algorithm for screening PMU data for power system events

Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS) are a Smart Grid technology which can enhance real-time situational awareness for power sytem operators. WAMS are created from a network of synchronized measurement devices taking voltage and current measurements from the power system. This network is also known as a synchrophasor network. A synchrophasor network was created at the University of Texas at Austin to obtain real power system measurements for power system analysis. The network is continuously operating and recording voltage phasor data (voltage magnitude, angle, and frequency) at a rate of 30 data points per second. Because of the high volume of PMU data generated it is difficult to detect and analyze power system events of interest. To help power system operators more easily monitor the power system and easily detect events in PMU data, two different types of methods were created to automatically screen the data for events. The first method screens a small window of PMU voltage data and detects events based on a variety of techniques. The second method is an off-line method that detects events based on the magnitude of low frequency oscillations in PMU voltage data.
Psychophysiological reactivity in cardiac transplant recipients.

To assess the contribution of the heart's autonomic innervation to reactivity to psychological stressors, hemodynamic responsiveness of the denervated human heart was examined in two studies. In Study 1, cardiac output measured by thermodilution. heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses to a 4-min mental arithmetic task were studied in 7 cardiac transplant patients during routine post-transplant cardiac catheterization. In Study II, 6 cardiac transplant patients, 5 normal controls, and 5 renal transplant patients participated in a 78-min psychophysiological stress protocol during which heart rate, systolic and diastolic pressure, and cardiac output (measured noninvasively by impedance cardiography) as well as serum epinephrine and norepinephrine were measured at baseline and while subjects performed mental arithmetic and reaction time tasks. In Study I, transplant patients showed significant increases, relative to baseline, in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and cardiac output in response to mental arithmetic. The diastolic blood pressure response was marginally significant. In Study II, mental arithmetic produced significant reactivity in systolic blood pressure and marginally significant increases in heart rate and diastolic blood pressure in cardiac transplant patients. Reaction time produced only marginally significant diastolic blood pressure reactivity. Hemodynamic reactivity of the cardiac transplant group generally was lower than that of the two innervated groups, which generally were similar to each other. Although the small number of subjects makes conclusions tentative, these data suggest that: 1) Cardiac transplant patients are capable of significant reactivity to psychological stressors despite the absence of innervation of the heart, and 2) reactivity to these stressors is diminished relative to innervated control subjects. In the absence of cardiac innervation, reactivity is due to the vascular system and cardiac effects mediated by humoral factors.
Mean-field molecular dynamics with surface hopping: Application to the aqueous solvated electron

To evaluate the suitability of the combined mean-field/surface hopping (MF/SH) algorithm (Prezhdo, O. V.; Rossky, P. J. J. Chem. Phys. 1997, 107, 825) for the simulation of realistic chemical envir...
Observation of nonuniform energy band shifts for Ge on GaAs(110)

Fractional monolayer studies of Ge on GaAs(110) were performed with angle-resolved photoemission at the Wisconsin Synchrotron Radiation Center. Normal emission data for 14 < hν <27 eV were analyzed. The most significant effects of the Ge adatoms are shifts in photoemission peaks known to be due to GaAs interband transitions. The shifts, which are nonuniform, are due to specific nonuniform shifts in interband transitions. Valence band (VB) shifts relative to the VB maximum can be determined from some of the transitions. The top VB shifts downward and the next deeper VB shifts upward in the neighborhood of one-third the distance from Γ to X on the Σ line (0.57 A−1). We suggest the shifts are the result of chemisorption-induced charge transfers whose resonance-like states decay over several atomic layers below the surface.
Emotional social support and job burnout among high-school teachers: is it all due to dispositional affectivity?

The authors investigated whether the relationship between the contents of emotional social support and job burnout among high-school teachers is spurious because of the role of dispositional positive and negative affectivity. A national sample of 339 teachers was surveyed via a web-based procedure. Hierarchical regression analyses did not support spuriousness; emotional social support was uniquely predictive of three dimensions of burnout controlling for affectivity. As positive emotional social support increased, emotional exhaustion and cynicism decreased, and professional efficacy increased. As negative emotional social support increased, emotional exhaustion and cynicism also increased. Commonality analyses based on the present data and data reported by K. L. Zellars and P. L. Perrewe (2001; Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 459–467) provided additional support for the unique role of emotional social support on burnout, but these analyses suggest a greater role of affectivity than emotional social support. These findings have implications for research on burnout as well as the prevention of burnout among teachers. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of Blood Viscosity on Oxygen Transport in Residual Stenosed Artery Following Angioplasty

The effect of blood viscosity on oxygen transport in a stenosed coronary artery during the postangioplasty scenario is studied. In addition to incorporating varying blood viscosity using different hematocrit (Hct) concentrations, oxygen consumption by the avascular wall and its supply from vasa vasorum, nonlinear oxygen binding capacity of the hemoglobin, and basal to hyperemic flow rate changes are included in the calculation of oxygen transport in both the lumen and the avascular wall. The results of this study show that oxygen transport in the postangioplasty residual stenosed artery is affected by non-Newtonian shear-thinning property of the blood viscosity having variable Hct concentration. As Hct increases from 25% to 65%, the diminished recirculation zone for the increased Hct causes the commencement of pO 2 decrease to shift radially outward by ∼20% from the center of the artery for the basal flow, but by ∼ 10% for the hyperemic flow at the end of the diverging section. Oxygen concentration increases from a minimum value at the core of the recirculation zone to over 90 mm Hg before the lumen-wall interface at the diverging section for the hyperemic flow, which is attributed to increased shear rate and thinner lumen boundary layer for the hyperemic flow, and below 90 mm Hg for the basal flow. As Hct increases from 25% to 65%, the average of pO 2,min beyond the diverging section drops by ∼25% for the basal flow, whereas it increases by ∼15% for the hyperemic flow. Thus, current results with the moderate stenosed artery indicate that reducing Hct might be favorable in terms of increasing O 2 flux and pO 2,min , in the medial region of the wall for the basal flow, while higher Hct is advantageous for the hyperemic flow beyond the diverging section. The results of this study not only provide significant details of oxygen transport under varying pathophysiologic blood conditions such as unusually high blood viscosity and flow rate, but might also be extended to offer implications for drug therapy related to blood-thinning medication and for blood transfusion and hemorrhage.
Synthesis and Second-Harmonic Generation Studies of Noncentrosymmetric Gold Nanostructures

Noncentrosymmetric gold nanoparticle structures were prepared in porous anodic aluminum oxide films via a modified template synthesis procedure. The noncentrosymmetric structures are defined by two...
Fermion masses in E8 × E′8 superstring theories

Abstract We consider string theories with gauge group E 8 × E′ 8 compactified on Calabi-Yau manifolds so that the unified gauge group is E 6 × E′ 8 . If the fermion content is Ninf · 27 + δ (27 + 27 ), where δ = 1 or 2, and the E 6 is broken by Wilson loops to a gauge group Σ (which contains SU(3) c × SU(2) L × U(1) y ), then Σ is specified almost uniquely if we require that neither the up nor the down quark mass matrices are identically zero at tree level and that the Higgs doublets arise via the incomplete multiplet mechanism. In particular, Σ must be rank 6. However, if we wish for the neutral mass matrix to be acceptable, we must have the electron mass matrix identically zero at tree level. We comment on a way to possibly have small (but non-zero) neutrino masses in superstring models.
Localization of a r-protein gene within the chloroplast DNA replication origin of Chlamydomonas.

In our previous study of chloroplast (Cp) DNA replication in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, one D-loop site with its flanking regions was cloned and sequenced. The D-loop site mapped by electron mircroscopy (EM) overlaps with an open reading frame (ORF) potentially coding for a polypeptide of 136 amino acids. In this report, the corresponding D-loop isolated from another species of Chlamydomonas was sequenced. An ORF was also detected. Sequence comparison indicated that most conserved sequences between these two cloned origins are located within the ORE Amino acid sequences of these two ORFs are highly conserved. The corresponding sequence for this ORF in the tobacco Cp genome was located by a Southern blotting analysis. Since the complete sequence data of Cp DNAs from a liverwort and from tobacco have been determined in 2 Japanese laboratories recently, it has been possible for us to show that this ORF encodes a protein homologous to the Cp ribosomal protein (r-protein) L16, by sequence comparison.
Modeling of Hybrid Shape Memory Alloy Composites Incorporating MAX Phase Ceramics

A new hybrid shape memory alloy (SMA)-ceramic composite is being developed for use in extreme environments. The proposed composition is intended to address past issues with brittle failure in the ceramic phase by generating a compressive residual stress state in that phase. This biasing load takes advantage of the superior mechanical properties of ceramics when loaded in compression. Past investigations of SMA composites with an elasto-plastic second phase have shown that such a residual stress state may be developed in the second phase through the generation of irrecoverable, plastic strains. To take advantage of this characteristic, a class of ceramics known as the MAX phases are being used. These ceramics have a unique response characterized by the formation of kink bands which can allow for both recoverable and irrecoverable inelastic strains. A model of the hybrid composite incorporating this response and the effects of the microstructure is developed to explore the ability of this material system to generate such stress states. To this end, an approximation of the MAX phase response is introduced to describe the irrecoverable kink band formation. The effects of the microstructure are accounted for through the generation of a finite element mesh from microtomography results of the considered composite. Finite element simulations of the hybrid composite are performed using the assumed MAX phase response and a recent 3D phenomenological SMA constitutive model. The effective stress-temperature response of the composite is determined and the interaction of the different phases is discussed. Specifically, it is shown that composite still exhibits a hysteretic response although with a decreased hysteresis height and shifted transformation temperatures. The effect of the microstructure on the composite response is discussed. Finally, it is shown that through an actuation loading path a compressive residual stress state is developed in the ceramic phase.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Orthogonally Positioned Diamino Pyrrole- and Imidazole-Containing Polyamides: Synthesis of 1-(3-Substituted-propyl)-4-nitropyrrole-2-carboxylic Acid and 1-(3-Chloropropyl)-4-nitroimidazole-2-carboxylic Acid

Abstract Pyrrole- and imidazole-containing polyamides can be tailored to recognize the DNA 6–8 base pair sequence. We found that adding a second amino group via the N1-position of pyrrole or imidazole in polyamides could enhance their DNA binding affinity and water solubility while retaining sequence specificity. Synthesis of the key 1-substituted-4-nitropyrrole (and imidazole)-2-carboxylic acid building blocks are described. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® for the following free supplemental resource(s): Full experimental and spectral details.]
Discordant phenotype in monozygotic twins with Fryns syndrome.

We report on a pair of monozygotic twins with Fryns syndrome discordant for severity of diaphragmatic defect. Both twins had macrocephaly, "coarse" facial appearance, hypoplasia of distal phalanges, and an extra pair of ribs. Twin A lacked an apparent diaphragmatic defect, and at 1 year of age had mild developmental delay. Twin B had a left congenital diaphragmatic hernia and died neonatally. Absence of diaphragmatic defect in Fryns syndrome may represent a subpopulation of more mildly affected patients whose developmental outcome is currently undetermined.