cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Crystal plasticity-based constitutive modelling of irradiated bcc structures

A constitutive crystal plasticity model is proposed and developed for the inelastic deformation of irradiated bcc ferritic/martensitic steels. Defects found in these irradiated materials are used as substructure variables in the model. Insights from lower length- and time-scale simulations are used to frame the kinematic and substructure evolution relations of the governing deformation mechanisms. Models for evolution of mobile and immobile dislocations, as well as interstitial loops (formed due to irradiation), are developed. A rate theory-based approach is used to model the evolution of point defects generated during irradiation. The model is used to simulate the quasi-static tensile and creep response of a martensitic steel over a range of loading histories.
MicroRNAs and their predicted target messenger RNAs are deregulated by exposure to a carcinogenic dose of comfrey in rat liver.

MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that function as regulators of gene expression to control cell growth and differentiation. In this study, we analyzed miRNA and mRNA expression in the livers of rats treated with a carcinogenic dose of comfrey (Symphytum officinale) for 12 weeks. Groups of six rats were fed a normal diet or a diet containing 8% comfrey root. The animals were sacrificed 1 day after the last treatment and the livers were isolated for miRNA expression analysis using LC Sciences miRNA microarrays and for mRNA expression analysis using Affymetrix rat genome microarrays. MiRNA expression levels were significantly changed by comfrey treatment. The treated samples were separated clearly from the control samples in both principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). Quantitative measurements of seven miRNAs using TaqMan real-time PCR were consistent with the microarray results in terms of fold-change and the direction of the change in expression. Forty-five miRNAs (P < 0.01) and 1,921 mRNAs (q = 0) were significantly changed by comfrey treatment. Using a target prediction algorithm, 434 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were predicted to be targeted by the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs). The DEM-targeted DEGs were more likely to be involved in carcinogenesis than the DEGs that were not targeted by the DEMs. The nontargeted DEGs were enriched in noncancer-related biological processes. Our data suggest that comfrey may exert its carcinogenic effects by disturbing miRNA expression resulting in altered mRNA levels of the DEM-targeted genes that are functionally associated with carcinogenesis. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2011. © Published 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Decisional regret in women diagnosed with cancer who undergo reproductive health counseling (RHC)

of infant crying were not significant. Women with prolonged infertility (PI) were nearly twice as likely to report having difficulty putting their children to sleep at night and displayed less confidence in childrearing. The relationship between fertility status and maternal anxiety was significant at the bivariate level, but not in regression analysis. On all significant findings, the effect sizes were very small. CONCLUSION: Women who experienced prolonged infertility did not appear to have a more difficult adjustment to early parenthood than women who conceived in less than one year or one to two years.
User intent and assessor disagreement in web search evaluation

Preference based methods for collecting relevance data for information retrieval (IR) evaluation have been shown to lead to better inter-assessor agreement than the traditional method of judging individual documents. However, little is known as to why preference judging reduces assessor disagreement and whether better agreement among assessors also means better agreement with user satisfaction, as signaled by user clicks. In this paper, we examine the relationship between assessor disagreement and various click based measures, such as click preference strength and user intent similarity, for judgments collected from editorial judges and crowd workers using single absolute, pairwise absolute and pairwise preference based judging methods. We find that trained judges are significantly more likely to agree with each other and with users than crowd workers, but inter-assessor agreement does not mean agreement with users. Switching to a pairwise judging mode improves crowdsourcing quality close to that of trained judges. We also find a relationship between intent similarity and assessor-user agreement, where the nature of the relationship changes across judging modes. Overall, our findings suggest that the awareness of different possible intents, enabled by pairwise judging, is a key reason of the improved agreement, and a crucial requirement when crowdsourcing relevance data.
Wash Day Blues: Secondhand Exposure to Agricultural Chemicals

: The issue of personal cleanliness for farm workers exposed to pesticides is a significant health problem. One area that requires more attention centers on the issues of handling and laundering of clothing suspected of being contaminated by pesticides. This exploratory research focused on the handling and laundering behaviors of California farm workers with pesticide contaminated clothing. Of particular interest was the phenomenon of “secondhand” exposure that may result from improper handling and unsafe laundering practices. Members of farm worker families (N=109) were interviewed at two California health clinics that serve a large portion of low income farm worker families. The sample was divided into three groups based on exposure to pesticides: direct exposure, indirect exposure, nonexposed. The findings revealed the least safe handling and laundering behaviors were reported by the group most at risk from first hand exposure (i.e., handlers, loaders, applicators). Also, secondhand exposure to pesticides appears to be related to storage and laundering practices reported by those who are directly or indirectly exposed to pesticides. The findings revealed the actual laundering practices of farm workers and their knowledge of what constitutes unsafe laundering behavior, including “secondhand” contamination. This information can help to identify realistic safe laundering practices for farm worker families who come in contact with pesticides in the field or at home.
A light diet for a giant appetite: An assessment of China's fluorescent lamp standard

Abstract Lighting has been one of the fastest growing electric end uses in China over the last 20 years, with an average annual growth rate of 14%. Fluorescent lighting provides a significant portion of China's lighting needs. In 1998, China produced 680 million fluorescent lamps, of which 420 million were linear fluorescent lamps of various diameters (T8–T12). There are substantial variations both in energy efficiency and lighting performance among locally produced fluorescent lamps. Such variations present a perfect opportunity for policy intervention through energy efficiency standards to promote the adoption of more efficient fluorescent lamps in China. This paper analyzes China's 2003 minimum efficiency standard for linear fluorescent lamps and presents an assessment of its likely impacts on China's lighting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
What do women's groups offer?

What are UK women's groups like? Who do they appeal to? How do they compare with each other?
Nature-Based Counseling: Integrating the Healing Benefits of Nature Into Practice

Research establishes a strong link between contact with nature and enhanced human wellness. Given the potential benefits of nature experiences on enhancing mental health, the authors advocate for a greater inclusion of nature-based approaches into professional practice. A case example and implications for practice are presented.
Effects of bee venom melittin on the order and dynamics of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles

Abstract The effects of bee venom melittin on the order and dynamics of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles at a protein-to-lipid molar ratio of 1:60 have been investigated by employing the techniques of nanosecond emission anisotropy with 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene as the fluorescent probe, enhancement by polar groups of the weakly allowed 0-0 vibronic transition in the fluorescence spectrum of pyrene, and Raman spectroscopy. The emission anisotropy results, which are found to be consistent with the wobble-in-cone model, show that the protein induces an increase in the order parameter, S, of the acyl chains of unilamellar vesicles below, at, and above their phase transition temperature, Tt, and it decreases strongly the diffusion rate, Dw, only below Tt. On the other hand, for multilamellar vesicles, the protein induces a decrease in S only at Tt and does not affect Dw. These effects are consistent with the observed changes in the degree of enhancement of the 0-0 vibronic transition of pyrene. Moreover, the protein broadens the thermal transition profile of multilamellar vesicles but sharpens dramatically that of unilamellar vesicles and fuses them without changing significantly the Tt in either case. On the other hand, the Raman data detect a decrease in the inter- and intramolecular order of the acyl chains of multilamellar vesicles below Tt and a decrease of only the former above Tt. This disparity between the Raman and the nanosecond emission anisotropy data is discussed in terms of differences in the time scales of the two techniques and in the state of aggregation of the lipid-bound melittin. The data for the enhancement of the 0-0 vibronic transition of pyrene suggest that, for a melittin-to-lipid ratio of 1:60, the size or structure of channels formed in the bilayer by melittin does not allow the penetration of a neutral molecule the size of pyrene deeply into the bilayer.
A method for the flow-microfluorometric analysis of histones.

Abstract A method is described for the flow-microfluorometric analysis of nuclear histone, based on staining with the fluorescent dye eosin Y at pH of over 10. Comparison of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells so stained, and stained for DNA, revealed similar distributions of histones and DNA amounts, indicating the presence of G 1, S and G 2 period cells and contaminating lymphocytes.
Native Mode-Based Optimizations of Remote Memory Accesses in OpenSHMEM for Intel Xeon Phi

OpenSHMEM is a PGAS library that aims to deliver high performance while retaining portability. Communication operations are a major obstacle to scalable parallel performance and are highly dependent on the target architecture. However, to date there has been no work on how to efficiently support OpenSHMEM running natively on Intel Xeon Phi, a highly-parallel, power-efficient and widely-used many-core architecture. Given the importance of communication in parallel architectures, this paper describes a novel methodology for optimizing remote-memory accesses for execution of OpenSHMEM programs on Intel Xeon Phi processors.In native mode, we can exploit the Xeon Phi shared memory and convert OpenSHMEM one-sided communication calls into local load/store statements using the shmem_ptr routine. This approach makes it possible for the compiler to perform essential optimizations for Xeon Phi such as vectorization. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the impact of shmem_ptr is analyzed thoroughly on a many-core system. We show the benefits of this approach on the PGAS-Microbenchmarks we specifically developed for this research. Our results exhibit a decrease in latency for one-sided communication operations by up to 60% and increase in bandwidth by up to 12x. Moreover, we study different reduction algorithms and exploit local load/store to optimize data transfers in these algorithms for Xeon Phi which permits improvement of up to 22% compared to MVAPICH and up to 60% compared to Intel MPI. Apart from microbenchmarks, experimental results on NAS IS and SP benchmarks show that performance gains of up to 20x are possible.
Cutting-balloon angioplasty of resistant ureteral stenosis as bridge to stent insertion

Ureteral stenting is a routine, minimally invasive procedure performed for relief of benign or malignant obstruction. In case of ureteral stenosis, to allow a correct insertion of the stent, a predilatation of the ureter stenosis with a conventional balloon catheter can be necessary. In exceptional cases, it can be difficult to advance an 7-8 Fr JJ-catheter over a tight resistant ureter stenosis following unsuccessful high-pressure balloon dilatation. In the present report, we describe two cases of resistant ureter stenosis successfully dilated by a cutting-balloon following the failure of high-pressure balloon dilatation, allowing a correct and uncomplicated antegrade stent insertion.
Chirality and conformational changes in 4-phenylphenanthrenes and 1-phenylbenzo[c]phenanthrene derivatives

Abstract NMR data of several 4-phenylphenanthrenes (15, 16) have revealed that the crowding in these compounds does not lead to chirality at temperatures as low as −90°. The easy rotation of the phenyl substituent observed by NMR implies that notwithstanding the phenanthrene moiety in average behaves as a planar part the phenyl group does not experience steric hindrance. The analysis of temperature-dependent NMR spectra of several derivatives of 1-phenylbenzo[c]phenanthrenes (17-20) indicated that in these compounds exchange processes do occur. By calculations of the free energies of activation from the NMR data two processes could be distinguished: rotation of the phenyl substituent at one side of the helical benzo[c]phenanthrene moiety, for which ΔGXXXrot , is ca. 13.0 kcal mol or slightly larger when bulky substituents are present at C2, and racemisation by a rotation of the phenyl group around the opposite end of the benzo[c]phenanthrene skeleton with simultaneous inversion of the helical conformation. For this process ΔGXXXrac is ca. 16 kcal mol . The results have been compared with comparable data of related compounds like 1.8-diphenylnaphthalene, hexahelicene, and 4-methylbenzo[c] phenanthrenes, and gave evidence for the remarkably small, space-demanding properties of the phenyl substituent in these compounds.
Spatial Variability of Grain Cadmium and Soil Characteristics in a Durum Wheat Field

The accumulation of Cd in edible crops is undesirable because of potential risks to human health. Agronomic efforts to lower Cd in foods will be more effective if we understand the extent and causes of spatial variability of Cd in crops in the field. The primary objective of this study was to characterize the spatial variability of grain Cd and eight soil characteristics in a field of durum wheat [Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn.] in northeastern North Dakota. A rectangular area of about 0.5 ha was selected to provide a range in several soil characteristics that are reported to influence Cd uptake by plants. These included chelate-extractable Cd, total soil Cd (Cd t ), pH, cation-exchange capacity (CEC), organic C (OC), and soluble Cl, S, and Na. Location data and paired samples of soil and durum grain were collected at 124 sites. Semivariograms showed that the variations of grain Cd and most soil properties were strongly spatially dependent, with range distances that varied from about 30 to 55 m. A spherical model was fitted successfully to variograms for all characteristics. Maps of grain Cd and soil characteristics were generated by interpolating among measured values by block kriging. Visual and statistical comparisons of maps showed that grain Cd was distributed similarly to measures of soil salinity, especially to the logarithm of soil Cl. Locations with somewhat poorly drained soils, which contained elevated Cl, produced grain with much higher Cd. Our results suggest that knowledge of the spatial distribution of soil characteristics, especially salinity, should be helpful in developing or applying agronomic practices to reduce Cd in durum grain.
Abstract 1457: Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) negatively regulates melanoma differentiation associated gene-9/syntenin-mediated melanoma metastasis

Melanoma differentiation associated gene-9 (mda-9/syntenin) functions as a positive regulator of melanoma progression and metastasis by physically interacting with c-Src and promoting the formation of an active FAK/c-Src signaling complex leading to NFκB and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activation. In contrast, Raf Kinase Inhibitor Protein (RKIP), an inhibitor of RAF-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEKK), is strongly downregulated in metastatic melanoma cells suggesting a possible inverse relationship between expression of mda-9/syntenin and RKIP. We have now genetically modulated expression of mda-9/syntenin and RKIP in melanocytes and melanoma cells and evaluated biological consequences using invasion, anchorage-independent growth, Western blotting, immunoprecipitation and in vivo confocal imaging assays. These studies confirm an inverse correlation between mda-9/syntenin and RKIP expression. This reciprocal relationship was also documented in vivo using a chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model, which monitors spontaneous intravasation of cells from the upper to the lower layer by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of human Alu genomic DNA. Using tissue microarrays and a series of cell lines we confirmed a higher expression of MDA-9/syntenin and absence of RKIP in both malignant melanoma tumor sections and cell lines. We also established through gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments that mda-9/syntenin transcriptionally downregulates RKIP, providing evidence for crosstalk between these two proteins. Moreover, transient overexpression of RKIP in metastatic melanoma cells overrides mda-9/syntenin-mediated signaling resulting in decreased cell invasion, anchorage-independent growth and spontaneous tumor cell dissemination in the CAM assay. RKIP through its RAF1 binding site (amino acids 77-108) physically interacts with MDA-9/syntenin and this interaction inversely correlates with downregulation of FAK and c-Src phosphorylation, crucial steps necessary for forming a stable FAK/c-Src complex and initiating a signaling cascade leading to an MDA-9/syntenin-mediated metastatic phenotype in melanoma cells. These provocative findings highlight a potential therapeutic role of RKIP in melanoma metastasis through its interaction with MDA-9/syntenin. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1457. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1457
Patient-Centered Research : Assessing Clinical Probability of Pulmonary Embolism in the Emergency Ward: A Simple Score

PURPOSE: We aimed to develop a simple standardized clinical score to stratify emergency ward patients with clinically suspected PE into groups with a high, intermediate, or low probability of PE, in order to improve and simplify the diagnostic approach. METHODS: Analysis of a database of 1090 consecutive patients admitted to the emergency ward for suspected PE, in whom diagnosis of PE was ruled in or out by a standard diagnostic algorithm. Logistic regression was used to predict clinical parameters associated with PE. RESULTS: 296 out of 1090 patients (27%) were found to have PE. The optimal estimate of clinical probability was based on eight variables: recent surgery, previous thromboembolic event, older age, hypocapnia, hypoxemia, tachycardia, band atelectasis or elevation of a hemidiaphragm on chest X-ray. A probability score was calculated by adding points assigned to these variables. A cut-off score of 4 best identified patients with low probability of PE. 486 patients (49%) had a low clinical probability of PE (score 9). CONCLUSION: This clinical score, based on easily available and objective variables, provides a standardized assessment of the clinical probability of PE. Applying this score to emergency ward patients suspected of PE could allow a more efficient diagnostic process.
Comparison of carotid endarterectomy at high- and low-volume hospitals

Abstract Background: Population-based studies have demonstrated better outcomes for carotid endarterectomies at high-volume hospitals. Methods: This is a 2-year retrospective review of carotid procedures at two low-volume hospitals (n = 156) and one high-volume hospital (n = 404) in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon. Results: There were no significant differences in 30-day mortality and stroke rates for carotid endarterectomies when comparing low- and high-volume hospitals (P = 0.59). These were comparable rates despite the fact that the low-volume hospitals had significantly older patients (P Conclusion: The regionalization of carotid endarterectomy into high-volume hospitals is not justified by the findings of this study. Carotid endarterectomy performed by well-trained, experienced surgeons in low-volume hospitals is a safe procedure.
Methane Conversion in Pulsed Corona Discharge Reactors

This work reports the effect of capacitance, cathode material, gas flow rate and specific energy input on methane conversion, energy efficiency and product selectivity in a co-axial cylinder pulsed corona discharge reactor. Ethane and acetylene appear to be formed from dimerization of CH3 radicals and CH radicals, respectively, while ethylene is formed mainly from the dehydrogenation of ethane. At a given power input, low capacitance with high pulse frequency results in higher methane conversion and energy efficiency than operation at high capacitance with low pulse frequency. Platinum coated stainless steel cathodes slightly enhance methane conversion relative to stainless steel cathodes, perhaps due to a weak catalytic effect. As specific energy input increases, energy efficiency for methane conversion goes through a minimum, while the selectivity of acetylene has a maximum value. Comparison of methane conversion for different types of plasma reactors shows that the pulsed corona discharge is a potential alternative method for low temperature methane conversion.
RIM-Binding Protein Links Synaptic Homeostasis to the Stabilization and Replenishment of High Release Probability Vesicles

Here we define activities of RIM-binding protein (RBP) that are essential for baseline neurotransmission and presynaptic homeostatic plasticity. At baseline, rbp mutants have a ∼10-fold decrease in the apparent Ca2+ sensitivity of release that we attribute to (1) impaired presynaptic Ca2+ influx, (2) looser coupling of vesicles to Ca2+ influx, and (3) limited access to the readily releasable vesicle pool (RRP). During homeostatic plasticity, RBP is necessary for the potentiation of Ca2+ influx and the expansion of the RRP. Remarkably, rbp mutants also reveal a rate-limiting stage required for the replenishment of high release probability (p) vesicles following vesicle depletion. This rate slows ∼4-fold at baseline and nearly 7-fold during homeostatic signaling in rbp. These effects are independent of altered Ca2+ influx and RRP size. We propose that RBP stabilizes synaptic efficacy and homeostatic plasticity through coordinated control of presynaptic Ca2+ influx and the dynamics of a high-p vesicle pool.
Three designs for the internal release of sealants, adhesives, and waterproofing chemicals into concrete to reduce permeability

Various types of hazardous wastes need engineered barriers to prevent outflow. Concrete is a brittle and porous material, which changes dramatically over its lifetime. In order to design waste barriers using any type of concrete, the most effective intervention occurs at the time when it is needed during the life of the material and at the location undergoing distress. Internally placed encapsulators containing sealants, adhesives, and waterproofing are designed to release these chemicals where and when they are needed. Optimizing for durability requires an understanding of the timing and location of release. In all of the cases, brittle fibers containing adhesives or sealants release the chemicals where and when the matrix cracks, causing the fiber to crack and release chemicals. Research from over a decade is presented with special emphasis on permeability, cracking, and data and results from field tests.
Very high power planar power distribution for spacecraft bus control

Typical spacecraft power distribution system include some type of spacecraft power bus controller that serves as the summing point for the solar array, the battery, umbilical power and general spacecraft loads. 12A bus controller for a 3.2KW spacecraft routes currents in excess of 135A leading most manufacturers to use manual, expensive, point to point wiring to accomplish this task. By its very nature, such a connector pin and labor intensive operation has questionable reliability issues. A planar solution would be simple and ideal but is actually quite difficult since existing standards for a printed circuit board's current carrying capability stop at 35A. SwRI has invested Internal Research funds to explore the limits of heavy copper PC boards for very high current power distribution.
Galileo ultraviolet spectrometer experiment: initial venus and interplanetary cruise results.

The Galileo Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer obtained a spectrum of Venus atmospheric emissions in the 55.0- to 125.0-nm wavelength region. Emissions of helium (58.4 nm), ionized atomic oxygen (83.4 nm), and atomic hydrogen (121.6 nm), as well as a blended spectral feature of atomic hydrogen (Lyman-beta) and atomic oxygen (102.5 nm), were observed at 3.5-nm resolution. During the Galileo spacecraft cruise from Venus to earth, Lyman-alpha emission from solar system atomic hydrogen (121.6 nm) was measured. The dominant source of the Lyman-alpha emission is atomic hydrogen from the interstellar medium. A model of Galileo observations at solar maximum indicates a decrease in the solar Lyman-alpha flux near the solar poles. A strong day-to-day variation also occurs with the 27-day periodicity of the rotation of the sun.
Characterization of semiconductor materials and devices using acoustoelectric voltage measurement

During the past 20–25 years, the nondestructive surface acoustic wave(SAW)measurement technique has been developed and used to characterize the electrical properties of semiconductor materials and devices. Important semiconductor parameters such as carrier density, type and mobility, interface and fixed oxide charge densities, deep‐level cross section and activation energy, and excess carrier generation and recombination lifetimes are all determined using SAW. In the majority of these experiments, separate medium structure is used where SAW is generated at the surface of a piezoelectric substrate like LiNbO3. SAW in the piezoelectric materials is accompanied by a decaying electric field which interacts with the free carriers of a semiconductor placed nearby. The spatial resolution that is usually achieved in these measurements is on the order of the SAW wavelength or the extrinsic Debye length, whichever is shorter. Variety of semiconductors are characterized using SAW including: silicon, GaAs, Al x Ga1 − x As, InAs,GaP, Hg x Cd1 − x Te, CdTe,InP,CdS, and InAs. More recently, high T c ceramic superconductors have also been studied. The most important aspect of the SAW technique is that it is nondestructive and it has very high sensitivity in studying high resistivity materials. Here, we present a review of the SAW technique discussing its application in quantitative characterization of semiconductor materials and devices.
Focus Group Effects on Field Practicum Preferences

ABSTRACT During the coming years the need for professionals to work with the nation's elders will increase several fold. This will place a great responsibility on university educational programs to prepare enough qualified future professionals to work in the greatly expanding field of gerontology. Prior research has identified several nonacademic and academic experiences that influence a student's decision to become gerontological professionals. One area that has been omitted from this work concerns focus groups. This article reports on the impact that observing a relatively simple and inexpensive focus group of professional geriatric practitioners can have on field practicum preferences among advanced undergraduate social work students at a large Texas state university. Findings indicate that observing a focus group significantly influences students' practicum preferences for working with elders, thereby setting them on a trajectory for a career in geriatrics.
A genealogical study of boundary-spanning is design

This paper presents the design of a business-aligned information system (IS) from an actor-network perspective, viewing non-human intermediaries jointly as inscriptions and boundary objects. This field study presents a situated view of IS design over time. The design process is assessed through analyzing the intersected activities of a team of seven organizational managers who were defining changes to business processes, information technology, and organizational roles and responsibilities. This view of design presents a very different view to the rational, analytical process that is usually encountered in the IS literature. Instead of an orderly progression, we see a trajectory of design definition, as the team responds to the contingencies and instrumentalities that prevail during the course of a design inquiry. These managers enacted a new reality through their interactions with external stakeholders, senior managers, specifications, procedures, business documents, and IT systems. This study provides much needed rich insights into the complexities of systems definition and negotiation, explaining the situated rationalities underlying IS design as the co-design of business and IT systems. A fifth form of boundary object is suggested by this analysis, which is based on the need to align interests across a network of actors.
Martian Surface and Atmosphere Workshop

The NASA-sponsored Martian Surface and Atmosphere Through Time Study Project convened its first major meeting at the University of Colorado in Boulder, September 23–25, 1991. The workshop, co-sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, brought together an international group of 125 scientists to discuss a variety of issues relevant to the goals of the MSATT Program. The workshop program committee included co-convenors Robert Haberle, MSATT Steering Committee Chairman NASA Ames Research Center) and Bruce Jakosky (University of Colorado), and committee members Amos Banin (NASA Ames Research Center and Hebrew University), Benjamin Schuraytz (LPI), and Kenneth Tanaka (U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.). The purpose of the workshop was to begin exploring and defining the relationships between different aspects of Mars science—the evolution of the surface, the atmosphere, upper atmosphere, volatiles, and climate. Specific topics addressed in the 88 contributed abstracts included the current nature of the surface with respect to physical properties and photometric observations and interpretations; the history of geological processes, comprising water and ice-related geomorphology, impact cratering, and volcanism; and the geochemistry and mineralogy of the surface with emphasis on compositional and spectroscopic studies and weathering processes. Also addressed were the present atmosphere, focusing on structure and dynamics, volatile and dust distribution, and the upper atmosphere; long-term volatile evolution based on volatiles in SNC meteorites (certain meteorites thought to have come from Mars) and atmospheric evolution processes; climate history and volatile cycles in relation to early climate and the polar caps, ground ice, and regolith; and future mission concepts.
Hemodynamic effects of glucagon and intraaortic balloon counterpulsation in canine myocardial infarction.

Abstract The hemodynamic effects of glucagon (50 μg/kg) and intraaortic balloon counterpulsation were investigated in open chest anesthetized dogs after production of myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock. Glucagon produced striking increases in arterial pressure, cardiac output and maximal left ventricular dp/dt together with a reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and systemic vascular resistance. The condition of most animals was stabilized at a viable level with 1 or more doses of glucagon. The effects of counterpulsation during severe cardiogenic shock were slight, although good counterpulsation was always achieved during control studies with normal pressure. When counterpulsation was instituted in combination with glucagon therapy there was an increase in mean arterial pressure together with a reduction in maximal left ventricular dp/dt and peak systolic pressure. Thus, counterpulsation tended to reduce the increased oxygen cost of the inotropic effects of glucagon. We suggest that an appropriate combination of counterpulsation and inotropic support (as with glucagon) may be better than either method alone.
System design for the Millimeter Array

The Millimeter Array (MMA) will consist of 40 or more antennas operating as a correlator array in the frequency range 30 to 950 GHz. This paper is concerned with the transmission and processing of the signals received at the antennas from the outputs of the low-noise receiver front ends to the inputs of the correlator. It includes the IF and LO systems and the optical fiber transmission system that interconnects the antennas and the Electronics Building. There the signals are filtered for bandwidth selection, digitized, delayed as necessary to compensate for the varying path lengths to the antennas, and cross-correlated. A number of decisions must be made before detailed design can be started. These include the maximum bandwidth of the signals to be processed, the use of analog or digital transmission from the antennas, and the bandwidths required for spectral line observations. Detailed considerations include control of signal levels at certain points, implementation of a calibration scheme to provide a measure of the system gain, control of fringe frequencies, and separation of sidebands for the frequency bands using SIS- mixer input stages.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Spectrally ordered Zeeman coherences and optical pulse-shape storage

We have experimentally investigated the creation of spectrally ordered nuclear and electronic Zeeman coherences in a gas-phase sample. A Zeeman coherence is generated through the sequential excitation of two coupled optical transitions. In our experiment, one transition was excited by a data pulse and the other by a short reference pulse. Subsequent excitation of one of these transitions by a short reading pulse transforms the Zeeman coherence into an optical coherence and leads to the emission of a time-forward or time-reversed duplicate of the data pulse. Output signals up to 5% as intense as the original data pulse were observed. We present a general analysis that is applicable to both gases and solids and find that the solid-state analog of this process will exist only if the inhomogeneous broadening of the two optical transitions is highly correlated.
Biochemical warfare on the reef: the role of glutathione transferases in consumer tolerance of dietary prostaglandins.

© 2010 Whalen et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Dual power assignment optimization for k-edge connectivity in WSNs

Power consumption is one of the crucial issues in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). It therefore has been the focus of many researchers. An important problem concerning power consumption is how to minimize the number of maximum power nodes while maintaining a desired network topology. As fault tolerance is vitally important in practice, it is desirable that the constructed network topology is k-edge-connected (or k-connected). In this paper, we study the dual power assignment problem for k-edge connectivity (kEDP) in WSNs. While other studies consider only the special case k=2, our goal is to address the general problem. We prove the NP-completeness of kEDP problem in the geometric case and provide a 2-approximation algorithm using linear programming techniques. To our knowledge, this approximation ratio is currently the best one. We also introduce a heuristic whose performance is better compared with an approximation algorithm in [1].
Divided Airwaves The Electronic Media and Political Community in Postwar Berlin

The electronic media's role in divided Berlin and Germany has been at issue since 1945. Early Soviet control of the city's single radio station led American and British authorities to establish their own (RIAS and NWDR, the latter, renamed SFB, now operated by West Berlin and expanded to include television). SFB and, still more, RIAS program for West Berliners but, through a policy of free flow of information, seek to sustain a sense of identity and political community between East and West. The GDR has sought unsuccessfully to use carrots and sticks to stop what it sees as the western media's violation of its national sovereignty. Available data indicate that information flows in Berlin and Germany constitute a one-way street rather than a basis for reintegration based on mutual adjustment.
Inducible nitric oxide synthase mediates DNA double strand breaks in Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1-induced leukemia/lymphoma

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an aggressive and fatal malignancy of CD4+ T-lymphocytes infected by the Human T-Cell Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1). The molecular mechanisms of transformation in ATLL have not been fully elucidated. However, genomic instability and cumulative DNA damage during the long period of latency is believed to be essential for HTLV-1 induced leukemogenesis. In addition, constitutive activation of the NF-κB pathway was found to be a critical determinant for transformation. Whether a connection exists between NF-κB activation and accumulation of DNA damage is not clear. We recently found that the HTLV-1 viral oncoprotein, Tax, the activator of the NF-κB pathway, induces DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Here, we investigated whether any of the NF-κB target genes are critical in inducing DSBs. Of note, we found that inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) that catalyzes the production of nitric oxide (NO) in macrophages, neutrophils and T-cells is over expressed in HTLV-1 infected and Tax-expressing cells. Interestingly, we show that in HTLV-1 infected cells, iNOS expression is Tax-dependent and specifically requires the activation of the classical NF-κB and JAK/STAT pathways. A dramatic reduction of DSBs was observed when NO production was inhibited, indicating that Tax induces DSBs through the activation of NO synthesis. Determination of the impact of NO on HTLV-1-induced leukemogenesis opens a new area for treatment or prevention of ATLL and perhaps other cancers in which NO is produced.
Directions in future high end processors

Results based on a new cycle-time model are presented to demonstrate performance trends for complex bipolar ECL-CSEF and CMOS processors. It is shown that performance constraints are quite different for these two systems. For a given design the performance of a CMOS processor is tied to lithography, whereas future CSEF bipolar processors will be gated primarily by the power density capability of the package. Liquid nitrogen temperature (LN/sub 2/) CMOS is seen as having the potential to become the highest performance technology for mainframe uniprocessors. >
Trichophyton tonsurans induced recurrent onychomadesis in a very young infant.

: Onychomadesis, or nail shedding, is rarely seen in children and can be due to stress, systemic illnesses, trauma, and drug therapy or may be idiopathic. Fungal infection of the nail is only rarely reported as a cause of onychomadesis. We present here a case of Trichophyton tonsurans–induced onychomycosis and resultant onychomadesis in a 9-month-old boy with onset of lesions at 2 weeks of life.
Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing for high-speed optical transmission

Optical Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OOFDM) is shown to outperform RZ-OOK transmission in high-speed optical communications systems in terms of transmission distance and spectral efficiency. The OOFDM in combination with the subcarrier multiplexing offers a significant improvement in spectral efficiency of at least 2.9 bits/s/Hz.
Restoration for weakly blurred and strongly noisy images

In this paper we present an adaptive sharpening algorithm for restoration of an image which has been corrupted by mild blur, and strong noise. Most existing adaptive sharpening algorithms can not handle strong noise well due to the intrinsic contradiction between sharpening and de-noising. To solve this problem we propose an algorithm that is capable of capturing local image structure and sharpness, and adjusting sharpening accordingly so that it effectively combines denoising and sharpening together without either noise magnification or over-sharpening artifacts. It also uses structure information from the luminance channel to remove artifacts in the chrominance channels. Experiments illustrate that compared with other sharpening approaches, our method can produce state of the art results under practical imaging conditions.
Adolescent Abuse of Dextromethorphan

Dextromethorphan hydrobromide (DXM), a constituent of more than 125 patent cough/cold remedies, is the most popular antitussive medication in the United States. Cough syrups or capsules also contain additional ingredients such as acetaminophen, chlorpheniramine maleate, guaifenesin, and/or pseudoephedrine, and toxicity with overdosage is additive to that of dextromethorphan alone. An unknown number of adolescents in the United States and Europe intoxicate themselves with acute megadoses of dextromethorphan. A megadose of DXM is defined as 5 to 10 times the dose recommended for control of annoying nonproductive coughs. Although a moderate overdose of pure DXM hydrobromide is free of serious adverse effects, approximately 5% of persons of European ethnicity lack the ability to metabolize the drug normally, leading to rapid acute toxic levels. Variable quantities of pure dextromethorphan powder in multiples of 1 gram are easily available from the worldwide web, including e-Bay. Recipe-like extraction procedures are quickly available on the Internet for seemingly simple and inexpensive home manufacture of concentrated dextromethorphan powder from Coricidin HBP Cough & Cold tablets (street name triple C). Adolescents intoxicate themselves at parties and even before or after school since the drug is legal, relatively inexpensive, and easily purchased or shoplifted at drug or convenient stores. Acute megadoses of the drug have profound psychological and physiological effects similar to those of phencyclidine (PCP). Megadoses of dextromethorphan used to self-intoxicate, can produce a false-positive screening test for phencyclidine in a urine specimen.
Automated learning of playout scheduling algorithms for improving perceptual conversational quality in multi-party VoIP

In this paper, we propose four methods for equalizing the silence periods experienced by users in a multi-party VoIP conversation in order to improve their perceived conversational quality. To mitigate the unbalanced silence periods caused by delay disparities in Internet connections, the playout scheduler at the receiver of each client equalizes the silence periods experienced. Our limited subjective tests show that we can improve the perceptual quality when the network connections are lossy and have large delay disparities. Because it is impossible to conduct subjective tests under all possible conditions, we have developed a classifier that learns to select the best equalization algorithm using learning examples derived from subjective tests under limited network and conversational conditions. Our experimental results show that our classifier can consistently pick the best algorithm with the highest subjective conversational quality under unseen conditions, and that our system has better perceptual quality when compared to that of Skype (Version 3.6.0.244).
Contrast sensitivity testing: a more complete assessment of vision.

Abstract Contrast sensitivity testing is a powerful tool for determining the capability of the visual system to process spatial and temporal information about the everyday objects we see. The current gold standard in the assessment of vision, visual acuity, provides only a limited amount of information, obtained under artificial conditions. Contrast sensitivity testing measures a range of visual performance under real-life conditions. It measures the least amount of contrast needed to detect a visual stimulus and gives us a more complete quantitization of patient; visual capabilities. Many instances in which losses in contrast sensitivity were detected when visual acuity (one point on the contrast sensitivity function) was normal have been reported. These include amblyopia, neuro-ophthalmology, retina, anterior segment disease, and glaucoma. Therefore, contrast sensitivity testing enables the clinician to diagnose selective deficits in visual processing at an earlier stage than is possible with conventional testing methods.
Social Disintegration in Five Northern Canadian ommunities

Social disintegration alleged to accompany the cultural transformation of northern Canadian Eskimo and Indians has aroused concern among missionaries and church groups, social scientists, and government officials. The extent to which disorganization occurs among Arctic and sub-Arctic people, however, remains more a matter of conjecture than of demonstrated fact. In this paper no attempt is made to survey the North with that problem in mind but a basis for thinking freshly about it is provided by applying an explicit concept of social disintegration to five northern communities studied previously. These communities, all stratified in that they contain a high-ranking and generally powerful stratum of Canadians of European extraction (“Euroeanadians”) and a larger, lower-ranking stratum of indigenous people, represent the three linguistic stocks of northern inland Canada. In size they run from relatively small trading-post settlements to a large, modern, eastern Arctic town. This paper concentrates almost exclusively on disintegration manifested by the indigenous people, Indians or Eskimo, but with full awareness that disintegration affects the total community and implicates all of the larger society. That is, it is not only a local group of Indians or Eskimo which is relatively disintegrated but also the larger social system in which its deviant behaviour occurs.