cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Antenna Impedance-Measuring Instrument

This paper describes an antenna impedance-measuring instrument of the indicating type, designed to have a small capacitive loading effect when connected directly to the terminals of an antenna. The model constructed operates at freqencies up to 30 mc and has a loading effect no greater than that of a conducting sphere 1.5 inches in radius. It appears feasible to extend these limits considerably merely by mechanical refinement. The smallness in effective size is obtained by isolating those conducting components of the instrument which are not part of the RF circuit and by operating the antenna under test as a receiving antenna so that the instrument does not have to contain a signal generator. No power or control wires are connected to the instrument, and it is possible for the operator to remain outside the immediate field of the antenna during the measuring process.
Explicit evaluation of Willis' bounds with ellipsoidal inclusions

Abstract The integral involved in Willis' bounds is now explicitly evaluated when the two-point correlation function assumes the ellipsoidal symmetry, and, in terms of Eshelby's S- tensor and the moduli L 0 of the comparison material, it is found to be simply given by P 0 = S 0 L 0 −1 . This simple outcome allows Willis' bounds to be calculated readily for the class of composites containing aligned ellipsoidal inclusions, and it also shows how his bounds lead to those of Hashin-Shtrikman, Hill and Hashin, and Walpole when the correlation function takes the spherical, cylindrical, and disc symmetries. The new result further helps place Mori-Tanaka's theory with aligned ellipsoidal inclusions on a firmer theoretical footing. In a multiphase composite if the matrix is the softest (or hardest) phase, the M-T moduli will coincide with Willis' lower (or upper) bounds; otherwise they will always lie inside the bounds. Numerical results for a glass/epoxy system indicate that the bounds and the corresponding moduli are indeed quite sensitive to the shape of inclusions.
Closed form models for dwell point locations for overhead bridge cranes

This research presents a methodology for determining the optimal dwell point location for an overhead bridge crane to minimise the expected response times. The problem is modelled as a planar minisum location problem with both zero dimensional (point) and two-dimensional (planar) existing demands. These demands come in three forms: from the Input/Output (I/O) location into the service area (storage move), from the service area to the I/O (retrieval move); and, across the service area (intra-service area move). The result is a non-trivial solution to where the crane should dwell when it is idle. Results of an implementation are also presented.
Toward 2W, beyond web 2.0

2W is a result of the exponentially growing Web building on itself to move from a Web of content to a Web of applications.
The space interferometer siderostats

The paper describes the Siderostats (SID) of the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) that is being developed at JPL. The description focuses on the generic design for the SIDs, having a 336 mm diameter mirror with a double corner cube at the mirror's vertex. Mirror positioning is controlled by single stage linear actuators (no fine stage). The mirror's 8° dual axis tip/tilt rotation is enabled through sets of hexfoil flexures. The entire SID configuration is described, key requirements listed, and results from preliminary analyses mentioned. Design details, positioning and sensing capabilities, as well as results from an actuator life test, are presented.
Binding energies of excitons in semiconductor quantum wells: Quantum subband interference effect.

The set of eigenequations for determining the energy levels and wave functions of Wannier excitons in a semiconductor quantum well is derived by use of Green's-function theory. These equations form a matrix labeled by the quantum-well subband index of the exciton. The coupling between excitons of different subband indices is included for the first time through the nondiagonal elements of the electron-hole Coulomb interaction. We found that this quantum interference effect represents a significant modification to calculated values of exciton binding energies.
Investigation of Moisture Dissipation in Foam-Based Warm Mix Asphalt Using Synchrotron-Based X-Ray Microtomography

Foam-based Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technologies decrease the viscosity of the asphalt so that it is workable during construction. However, after construction, viscosity increases rapidly as the foam disappears and temperature drops. During the process of dissipation of foam, depending on the environmental conditions, the moisture may not escape and may be trapped inside the mixture. This trapped moisture can cause detrimental failures by breaking the adhesive bonds between the aggregates and the asphalt binder (because of diffusion and freeze/thaw cycles). It is crucial to know how the moisture escapes from the asphalt mixture as the specimen cools down and foam disappears. In this research, dissipation of the moisture from foamed asphalt binders was directly measured and quantified by using a high-resolution synchrotron-based X-Ray Microtomography (XRM) system. Different foamed asphalt binders were instantly frozen by using liquid nitrogen at different times after the initial foaming. The 3D internal structure images of these specimens were acquired by using XRM available at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). These images were analyzed and the moisture dissipation processes in different types of asphalt binders were directly quantified. It was observed that the rate of moisture dissipation in high performance grade (PG) (stiff) binders was slower than that of low PG grade (soft) binders. It was also observed that the size distribution of moisture bubbles in the binders varied in different binders.
Immunocytochemical localization of the myelin-associated glycoprotein Fact or Artifact?

Abstract Immune staining for the myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique in vibratome, paraffin and Epon sections of peripheral nerve resulted in a periaxonal ring of immune reaction product and an absence of staining over compact myelin. The thicknesses of the periaxonal rings of staining in Epon sections were similar when axons were surrounded by single Schwann cell processes and when they were surrounded by compact myelin sheats. Thicker rings of periaxonal staining were present when axons were surrounded by multiple layers of uncompacted Schwann cell membranes. When swelling of the Schwann cell periaxonal cytoplasm separated the periaxonal Schwann cell membrane from compact myelin by distances that could be readily resolved in the light microscope, immune staining for MAG was found over the periaxonal Schwann cell membrane but not over compact myelin. Biochemical experiments in which myelin or MAG was treated with sodium ethoxide and hydrogen peroxide, under conditions similar to those used for etching Epon sections prior to immune staining, showed that the immune reactivity of MAG was stable to these treatments. Finally, a pre-embedding technique for immune staining at the electron-microscopic level showed MAG reaction product on the cytoplasmic side of Schwann cell periaxonal membranes and the membranes of Schmidt-Lanterman incisures and paranodal loops. These results confirm and strengthen the evidence from previous reports indicating that MAG is confined to periaxonal membranes, Schmidt-Lanterman incisures, paranodal loops, and the outer mesaxon of myelinating Schwann cells and is absent from compact myelin. These results are discussed in reference to a recent report apparently showing the presence of MAG in compact CNS myelin. Based on the data presented and discussed in this paper, it is concluded that MAG is located in specific non-compact regions of central and peripheral myelin sheaths and not in compact myelin lamellae.
N-glycosylation is not essential for enzyme activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2

N-glycosylation is not essential for enzyme activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2. 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) catalyzes the oxidation of Cortisol and corticosterone to cortisone and 11-dehydrocorticosterone, respectively. NAD-dependent 11β-HSD is expressed at high levels in the distal nephron and contributes to mineralocorticoid specificity in that region. The present studies determined whether N-glycosylation is necessary for the activity of NAD-dependent 11β-HSD (11β-HSD2). First, cultured human colonic epithelial cells (T84 cells), which express native 11β-HSD2 activity, were grown in medium with and without tunicamycin, an inhibitor of N-glycosylation. Tunicamycin had no effect on the enzyme activity. Next, the only putative N-glycosylation site (Asn394-Leu395-Ser396) of the cloned human kidney enzyme was eliminated by site-directed mutagenesis. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with either the wild-type or the mutant cDNA construct showed no difference in the expressed enzyme activity, and Western blot analysis showed that the 11β-HSD2 protein was the same size in cells expressing either the wild-type or the N394D mutant. Likewise, the molecular mass of the 11β-HSD2 protein in T84 cells was not altered by treatment with peptide-N-glycosidase F or tunicamycin. We conclude that human 11β-HSD2 is not a N-glycoprotein and N-glycosylation is not essential for the expression of enzyme activity.
Forty-year evolution of engineering research: a case study of DuPont's engineering research and development

The purpose of this paper is to explore and map out the historical developments in the management of engineering research and development (ER&D) at the DuPont company since the early 1950s. A brief survey of the early efforts of organizing for R&D at DuPont and subsequent industry background are given to get a perspective on the company. The restructuring of R&D organization and the engineering R&D, in particular, are critical to understand the developments that lead to the changes in ER&D, in terms of its leadership role in the overall research functions, and its vision of the future. The data were acquired through extensive interviews with and company documents from various department managers and directors in DuPont. >
Chemistry of Silicon Nanocrystal Surfaces Exposed to Ammonia

Silicon nanocrystals (NCs) 8−10 nm in diameter are grown on SiO2 surfaces in an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber using hot wire chemical vapor deposition. These NCs are subjected to varying exposures of deuterated ammonia (ND3). The surface chemistry of Si NCs is studied using X-ray photoelectron (XP) spectroscopy and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). The dissociative adsorption of ND3 on Si NCs results in the formation of ND2 species prior to TPD, and Si3N (nitride) formation is observed after TPD. D2 desorption is observed only from the monodeuteride species at 780 K. In separate experiments, a hot tungsten filament is used to predissociate ND3 before adsorption on the NC surface. XP spectra reveal that ND2 species form initially, and as the dose is increased, ND species dominate. After TPD, a SixNy species is observed. D2 desorption is observed from the mono-, di-, and trideuteride species when ND3 is predissociated. Irrespective of the technique used for dosing ammonia, TPD spectra do not contain any N...
Multi-Dimensional Circuit and Micro-Architecture Level Optimization

This paper studies multi-dimensional optimization at both circuit and micro-architecture levels. By formulating and solving the optimization problem with conflicting design objectives and multiple tunable knobs, it is revealed that the 'sensitivity balance' strategy proposed in recent works for performance-energy optimization is a special case of a general multi-dimensional optimization framework. The results derived in this paper help the understanding of efficient trade-off among multiple design objectives with multiple knobs. The example of an industrial control logic implemented in PLA shows 22% energy saving and 70% area reduction at the expense of 4% delay increase
Extending the CMU warp machine with a boundary processor

A high-performance systolic array computer called Warp has been designed by CMU and is currently under construction. The full scale machine has a systolic array of 10 or more linearly connected cells, each of which is a programmable processor capable of performing 10 million floating-point operations per second (10 MFLOPS). By the end of 1985 the first full scale machine will be operational. Low-level vision processing for robots and autonomous vehicles are among the first applications of the machine. This paper describes a new boundary processor to be attached to an end of the linear systolic array in Warp. Extending Warp with this boundary processor will substantially enhance the performance and applicability of the machine. The extended machine will be efficient for new application areas such as solution of linear systems of equations and adaptive signal processing.
Part VII: Managing Reputation: Pursuing Everyday Excellence: Corporate reputation and external affairs management

The final session examined critical issues raised in the practice of reputation management. Panelists presented research about the structure of departments devoted to external affairs, investor relations and the emerging nature of the reputation consultancy industry. Three panelists evaluated the interaction between reputation and identity, confronting a theoretical perspective with a more practical view.
Self-employment and providing child care

This paper considers self-employment and providing child care as occupational strategies that can lower the cost of child care. If the ability to care for one’s own children while engaged in market work is important to mothers with young children, we predict that women with young children will be more likely to choose to be self-employed or to be a child care provider than women without young children. The analysis provides strong support for this hypothesis, The results show that the presence of young children is an important factor in choosing self-employment and in choosing to be a child care provider. Finally, simulations are presented which show that a woman’s choice among these sectors is quite sensitive to the number and ages of her young children.
Some ideas on the rock cycle: 1788–1988

Abstract Hutton's procrastination on the subject of unconformities left his cyclic vision of geology in the shadows, while his success in demonstrating the igneous origin of granite led on to Classical Magmatism, a paradigm of secular evolution that reigned practically unchallenged for almost a century. When radiometric dating revealed the true extent of geologic time, a neo-Huttonian, cyclic view gained strength in Europe because of its ability to explain the salt content of the ocean and the sodium fixed in metamorphism of sediments to paragneiss, both of which had become embarrassing to the magmatists. Meantime, in North America, a quite independent movement was afoot to claim for sediments and cyclic processes their rightful place in geologic theory. It led to the acknowledgment that the cyclic and secular views of the Earth are complementary and not contradictory, and that geologic materials are recycled on varying time scales against a background of slow, secular evolution of the Earth.
CNS lead toxicity in rabbit offspring

An animal model for asymptomatic and overt lead toxicity is presented in which rabbit pups, 1 to 30 days of age, were fed a milk supplement containing Pb(NO3)2. Reduced body growth, increased mortality, hematologic abnormalities, kidney and liver histopathology, as well as encephalopathy, were observed in rabbits 2 to 30 days of age ingesting more than 2.8 mg of Pb/day. At the highest dose, brain lesions were widespread, involving the frontal and occipital cortex, striatum, hippocampus, and cerebellum. At moderate doses, the region most affected was the cerebellum. At the lowest dose no alteration in body, brain growth, mortality, or tissue histology was evident; however, basophilic stippling was observed. As a group, these asymptomatic rabbits generally exhibited higher activity than non-lead-fed littermates. The rabbit model presented here should provide many advantages in the study of lead toxicity on the developing nervous system, since (a) maximum brain development in the rabbit, like that in rhesus monkey and man, occurs perinatally, and (b) the effects of lead toxicity in the rabbit closely parallel those in man.
Secure key distribution by swapping quantum entanglement

We report two key distribution schemes achieved by swapping quantum entanglement. Using two Bell states, two bits of secret key can be shared between two distant parties that play symmetric and equal roles. We also address eavesdropping attacks against the schemes.
Variation of macrophage migration by a factor from regional lymph node cells of breast cancer patients.

Using a standard heterologous assay in which lymphokines alter guinea pig peritoneal macrophage migration, it was found that regional lymph node cells (RLNCs) from patients with primary breast cancer elaborate soluble factors which variably affect such migration. Variation of migration resulted when soluble factors employed were obtained from different nodes in the same patient as well as from nodes from different patients. Some nodes from a patient elaborated migration inhibition factors (MIF) and other migration enhancing factors (MEF). The findings are in keeping with others obtained by us relative to the variation in lymphocyte transformation and thymidine uptake by RLNCs and further emphasize that all RLNs in patients with breast cancer are not biologically similar. They lend support to our previous hypothesis that the reason why some RLNs contain metastases and others do not is more likely due to biological differences than because of anatomical happenstance, i.e., transport of tumor cells to some nodes and not to others.
Evidence that m-chlorophenylpiperazine-induced hyperthermia in rats is mediated by stimulation of 5-HT2C receptors

Intraperitoneal administration ofm-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP) to Wistar rats produced hyperthermia with a peak effect at 30 min. Pretreatment with low doses of metergoline (5-HT1/5-HT2 antagonist), mesulergine and mianserin (5-HT2C/5-HT2A antagonists) blockedm-CPP-induced hyperthermia. Pretreatment with propranolol (β-adrenergic receptor antagonist that also has binding affinity for 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B and 5-HT2B sites), yohimbine (α2-noradrenergic antagonist that also has binding affinity for 5-HT2B sites), MDL-72222 or ondansetron (5-HT3 antagonists) did not attenuatem-CPP-induced hyperthermia. Only high doses of ketanserin, LY-53857 and ritanserin (5-HT2A/5-HT2C antagonists) as well as spiperone (5-HT1A/5-HT2A/D2 antagonist) attenuatedm-CPP-induced hyperthermia. Daily administration ofm-CPP produced complete tolerance to its hyperthermic effect by day 5. However, there was no cross-tolerance to 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI, a 5-HT2A agonist that also has high affinity for 5-HT2C receptors)-induced hyperthermia.m-CPP-induced increases in temperature were found to be significantly less in the Fawn-Hooded (FH) rat strain as compared to the Wistar rat strain; in prior studies, FH rats have been found to be subsensitive to other 5-HT2C-mediated pharmacologic responses. Altogether, these findings suggest thatm-CPP-induced hyperthermia in rats is mediated by selective stimulation of 5-HT2C receptors.
The amino acid sequence of the C- terminal cyanogen bromide peptide of human J chain

Abstract The carboxyl-terminal peptide obtained from human J chain treated with cyanogen bromide (CNBr) 1 has been isolated and the amino acid sequence determined as Val - Glx - Thr - Ala - Leu - Thr - Pro - Asx - Ala - CMCys - Tyr - Pro - Asx. Comparisons with the primary structures of human lambda, kappa, alpha, or mu chains failed to disclose analogous regions with these immunoglobulins.
Pulsatile flow of blood using a modified second-grade fluid model

We study the unsteady pulsatile flow of blood in an artery, where the effects of body acceleration are included. The blood is modeled as a modified second-grade fluid where the viscosity and the normal stress coefficients depend on the shear rate. It is assumed that the blood near the wall behaves as a Newtonian fluid, and in the core as a non-Newtonian fluid. This phenomenon is also known as the Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect. The equations are made dimensionless and solved numerically.
Living history: Clark M. Blatteis

In 2005, the American Physiological Society (APS) initiated the Living History Project to recognize senior members who have made extraordinary contributions during their career to the advancement of the discipline and profession of physiology. During 2007, the APS Section of Environmental and Exercise Physiology selected Clark M. Blatteis to be profiled in Advances in Physiology Education.
The flow into an expanding spherical vortex

A kinematic model of the flow around and into a buoyant ‘thermal’ is discussed in some detail, and compared with existing laboratory observations. The basic assumption is that the flow is instantaneously the same as it is for Hill's spherical vortex of fixed size moving through a frictionless fluid. The equations describing the motion of a particle have been modified to allow for an expansion in radius proportional to the distance travelled, and a numerical integration of these time-dependent equations has been performed in order to find particle trajectories, with respect to both the instantaneous boundary of the spherical vortex and axes at rest. It is shown that for the expanding vortex there is no quantity corresponding to the ‘drift distance’ or the total forward displacement of particles in the flow round a sphere of constant size; particles in the wake of an expanding vortex have a finite forward velocity at large times.The model gives very close agreement with the observed behaviour of particles entering a turbulent buoyant thermal, except that in the laboratory measurements the region containing the turbulent fluid resembles an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere. The thin mixing layer over the front and the addition of fluid over a broad region at the rear of a thermal, as well as the detailed particle trajectories, can all be explained as consequences of this mean velocity distribution.
Optimum Length of Single-Lane Closures in Work Zones on Rural Four-Lane Freeways

The lengths of single-lane closures in work zones on rural four-lane freeways are commonly based on the expected work rate in order to avoid moving the temporary traffic control zone more frequently than once a day and to limit the possibility of interfering with the work activity. However, the analysis presented suggests that this practice may result in single-lane closures that are (a) longer than the lengths that would minimize the sum of the additional road user and traffic control costs and (b) shorter than those that would minimize the traffic control cost. The objective of the analysis presented is to determine the optimum length of single-lane closures in long-term-stationary temporary traffic control zones on rural four-lane freeways that minimizes the sum of the additional road user and traffic control costs associated with the temporary traffic control zone. An equation for the optimum length is derived using the methods of calculus. The equation can be used to determine the most cost-effective and the most economical lengths of single-lane closures on rural four-lane freeways.
Reactive Metabolite Trapping Studies on Imidazo- and 2-Methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-based Inverse Agonists of the Ghrelin Receptor

The current study examined the bioactivation potential of ghrelin receptor inverse agonists, 1-(2-(2-chloro-4-(2H-1,2,3-triazol-2-yl)benzyl)-2,7-diazaspiro\[3.5]nonan-7-yl)-2-(imidazo[2,1-b]thiazol-6-yl)ethanone (1) and 1-(2-(2-chloro-4-(2H-1,2,3-triazol-2-yl)benzyl)-2,7-diazaspiro[3.5]nonan-7-yl)-2-(2-methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazol-6-yl)ethanone (2), containing a fused imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole motif in the core structure. Both compounds underwent oxidative metabolism in NADPH- and glutathione-supplemented human liver microsomes to yield glutathione conjugates, which was consistent with their bioactivation to reactive species. Mass spectral fragmentation and NMR analysis indicated that the site of attachment of the glutathionyl moiety in the thiol conjugates was on the thiazole ring within the bicycle. Two glutathione conjugates were discerned with the imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole derivative 1. One adduct was derived from the Michael addition of glutathione to a putative S-oxide metabolite of 1, whereas, the second adduct was formed via the reaction of a second glutathione molecule with the initial glutathione-S-oxide adduct. In the case of the 2-methylimidazo[2,1-b]thiazole analog 2, glutathione conjugation occurred via an oxidative desulfation mechanism, possibly involving thiazole ring epoxidation as the rate-limiting step. Additional insights into the mechanism were obtained via 18O exchange and trapping studies with potassium cyanide. The mechanistic insights into the bioactivation pathways of 1 and 2 allowed the deployment of a rational chemical intervention strategy that involved replacement of the thiazole ring with a 1,2,4-thiadiazole group to yield -(2-(2-chloro-4-(2H-1,2,3-triazol-2-yl)benzyl)-2,7-diazaspiro[3.5]nonan-7-yl)-2-(2-methylimidazo[2,1-b\]\[1,3,4\]thiadiazol-6-yl)ethanone (3). These structural changes not only abrogated the bioactivation liability but also retained the attractive pharmacological attributes of the prototype agents.
Efficient Handling of Changes in Dynamic Workflow Systems

Workflow systems have been used in collaborative environments for many years to assist individuals and organizations to organize project executions and carry out work sequences. Two conflicting goals are argued in the literature regarding workflow systems: the need to provide efficient flexibility in terms of capabilities to handle changing situations and the need for control without creating high overhead. For this reason, current research in workflow systems concentrates primarily on making the workflows flexible to changes in processes. In this paper, we present an approach to handle changes in dynamic workflow systems. First, we introduce efficient change handling algorithms that will incorporate certain modifications that must be made in the current workflow, and based on the results, a new workflow will be generated accordingly. Then we introduce a case study to validate our algorithms. Finally, we simulate and compare the proposed algorithms with existing ones to show the level of improvement that can be achieved.
Petri-net based performance-evaluation of distributed homogeneous task systems

TG (task graphs) are used to describe the execution of several tasks under some precedence constraints. Direct evaluation of TG provides an average completion time of the overall job, assuming no limits exist in the number of processing units and with no regard for allocation schemes. This paper presents a systematic approach for evaluating TG of jobs executed under predetermined allocation constraints. This extension of TG relies on GSPN (generalized stochastic Petri nets). A systematic mapping of a TG into a GSPN model is discussed. This GSPN model is extended to incorporate information about the static allocation of the set of tasks in the TG. An algorithm is implemented to evaluate static allocation schemes with or without task replication. However, for task replication, a homogeneous system is assumed because the execution time of those tasks does not change when allocated to various processing units. Also, under this assumption, task execution rates are modified by adding communication costs involved in sending data required by the next task, in turn, to execute. Thus, using a single model, TG are evaluated with constraints not only on where replicated and nonreplicated tasks are to be executed but on the number of processing units available, task allocation constraints, and the communication costs involved when they are remotely located.
Properties of meander coplanar transmission lines

Experimental results for a new type of coplanar transmission line on insulating gallium arsenide (GaAs), applicable to the miniaturization of MMICs, are presented. The center conductor of the transmission line has the form of a meander line, and results in an increased inductance per unit length of coplanar line. Low propagation velocities in the range 0.5-1*10/sup 10/ cm/s have been measured. Lines of different dimensions have been characterized by on-wafer S-parameter measurements and equivalent circuit modeling. >
Visual performance using reaction times

Visual performance has been a topic of study for many years. For a variety of reasons, it has been difficult to develop a completely satisfactory model of visual performance. Recently the connection has been made between reaction time experiments and realistic studies of visual performance. In this report an extensive set of reaction time data are presented which were collected over a large range of stimulus conditions relevant to interior and exterior lighting applications. An empirical model of visual performance was developed from these data. It forms the next logical step in the development of an application tool for lighting practitioners.
Neuropharmacology of timing and time perception.

Time is a guiding force in the behavior of all organisms. For both a rat in an experimental setting (e.g. Skinner box) trying to predict when reinforcement will be delivered and a human in a restaurant waiting for his dinner to be served an accurate perception of time is an important determinant of behavior. Recent research has used a combination of pharmacological and behavioral manipulations to gain a fuller understanding of how temporal information is processed. A psychological model of duration discrimination that differentiates the speed of an internal clock used for the registration of current sensory input from the speed of the memory-storage process used for the representation of the durations of prior stimulus events has proven useful in integrating these findings. Current pharmacological research suggests that different stages of temporal processing may involve separate brain regions and be modified by different neurotransmitter systems. For example, the internal clock used to time durations in the seconds-to-minutes range appears linked to dopamine (DA) function in the basal ganglia, while temporal memory and attentional mechanisms appear linked to acetylcholine (ACh) function in the frontal cortex. These two systems are connected by frontal-striatal loops, thus allowing for the completion of the timing sequences involved in duration discrimination.
Phenotype and Function of T Cells Infiltrating Visceral Metastases from Gastrointestinal Cancers and Melanoma: Implications for Adoptive Cell Transfer Therapy

Adoptive cell transfer of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can mediate cancer regression in patients with metastatic melanoma, but whether this approach can be applied to common epithelial malignancies remains unclear. In this study, we compared the phenotype and function of TILs derived from liver and lung metastases from patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers (n = 14) or melanoma (n = 42). Fewer CD3(+) T cells were found to infiltrate GI compared with melanoma metastases, but the proportions of CD8(+) cells, T cell differentiation stage, and expression of costimulatory molecules were similar for both tumor types. Clinical-scale expansion up to ~50 × 10(9) T cells on average was obtained for all patients with GI cancer and melanoma. From GI tumors, however, TIL outgrowth in high-dose IL-2 yielded 22 ± 1.4% CD3(+)CD8(+) cells compared with 63 ± 2.4% from melanoma (p < 0.001). IFN-γ ELISA demonstrated MHC class I-mediated reactivity of TIL against autologous tumor in 5 of 7 GI cancer patients tested (9% of 188 distinct TIL cultures) and in 9 of 10 melanoma patients (43% of 246 distinct TIL cultures). In these assays, MHC class I-mediated up-regulation of CD137 (4-1BB) expression on CD8(+) cells suggested that 0-3% of TILs expanded from GI cancer metastases were tumor-reactive. This study implies that the main challenge to the development of TIL adoptive cell transfer for metastatic GI cancers may not be the in vitro expansion of bulk TILs, but the ability to select and enrich for tumor-reactive T cells.
Hemoglobin Adducts of Benzene Oxide in Neonatal and Adult Dried Blood Spots

Adducts of reactive chemicals with hemoglobin (Hb) or human serum albumin can be used as biomarkers of internal doses of carcinogens. Because dried blood spots are easier to collect and store than conventional venous blood samples, they encourage applications of biomarkers of exposure in large epidemiologic studies. In addition, neonatal dried blood spot can be used to investigate chemical exposures in utero. Here, we report a simple method to isolate Hb from dried blood spot with high recovery and purity using the addition of ethanol to aqueous dried blood spot extracts. To prove the concept that dried blood spot-derived proteins can be used to assay for adducts, we measured Hb adducts of benzene oxide, a reactive metabolite of the ubiquitous air pollutant benzene in nine neonatal and nine adult dried blood spots (from volunteer subjects), using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method that we had previously developed. For comparison, benzene oxide-Hb adducts were measured in the same nine adult subjects using Hb that had been isolated and purified using our conventional method for venous blood. The geometric mean of benzene oxide-Hb levels in all dried blood spot samples ranged from 27.7 to 33.1 pmol/g globin. Neither of the comparisons of mean (logged) benzene oxide-Hb levels between sources (adult conventional versus adult dried blood spot and adult dried blood spot versus newborn dried blood spot) showed a significant difference. Based upon the estimated variance of the benzene oxide-Hb levels, we had 80% power to detect a 1.7-fold difference in geometric mean levels of benzene oxide-Hb in our sample of nine subjects.
Rapid Repeat Pregnancy Among Unmarried, African American Adolescent Parent Couples:

This article describes rapid repeat pregnancy (RRP), getting pregnant or giving birth again within 24 months of giving birth, in a group of unmarried, low-income, African American first-time, adolescent parent couples from the perspectives of their kinship systems, that is, the adolescent parents and their parents or parental figures. RRP has been associated with prematurity, low birth weight, inadequate prenatal care, school dropout, increased potential for poverty, and prolonged welfare dependence. There were 21 RRPs among 24 kinship systems: 9 adolescent males who fathered RRPs with new partners and also reported having been denied access to their study babies; 6 adolescent mothers with new partners, who also reported intimate partner violence with the study adolescent father; and 6 study adolescent parent couples, whose paternal family reported doubts about the paternity of the study babies. Adolescent fathers should be offered the same child care and contraceptive information routinely offered to adolescent mothers.
Use of recursive wavelet transform for estimating power system frequency and phasors

Frequency, amplitude and phase angle are three major parameters describing a stationary sinusoidal signal. In power system, many applications such as the state monitoring and protective relaying measure these parameters as performance indices or critical variables in the algorithm criteria respectively. This paper proposes a new method for estimating the power system frequency and phasors in real time based on a recursive wavelet transform. The frequency estimation algorithm is capable of accurately estimating the frequency within three samples of an input signal. It features fast response and achieves accurate frequency estimation over a wide range of frequency changes. For estimating phasors, the signal sampling rate and data window length can be selected to meet desirable applications requirements such as high accuracy and low computational burden. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves good performance.
Uncertainty of Social Network Members in the Case of Communication-Debilitating Illness or Injury

Uncertainty is a consequential aspect of chronic illness for patients as well as their family and friends, yet little research has focused on how non-ill individuals experience uncertainty about the condition of someone in their social network. Thirty-one individuals with loved ones who had a communication-debilitating illness or injury (CDI) participated in one-on-one interviews about their experiences. We analyzed transcripts for participants' sources of uncertainty and for ways that they managed the uncertainty. Participants' experiences with uncertainty included questions about the condition itself and involved the impaired communication resulting from the CDI. Participants described managing uncertainty through information seeking, changing the ways they communicated with the person with the CDI, and creating schemata to help reduce uncertainty. We discuss the findings in terms of predominant conceptualizations of uncertainty in illness and address the prevalence of communication as both a significan...
Nutritional Requirements of the Freshwater Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii: Comparisons with Species of Penaeid Shrimp

The nutritional requirements of the freshwater shrimp Macrobrachium rosenbergii are reviewed and compared with those reported for several species of marine shrimp genus Penaeus. Most of the information has been derived from experiments with juveniles. A comparison of essential amino acid proportions [A/E ratios] between M. rosenbergii and penaeid species suggests only minor, if any, differences in requirements of essential amino acids exist. Qualitative and quantitative fatty acid requirements of the freshwater shrimp are reflective of the lower n-3/n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) ratio found in the body tissue. In contrast to marine shrimp, both classes of n-6 and n-3 PUFAs with more than 20 carbon atoms [>20C] are equally effective in producing maximum weight gain responses. The dietary requirement for PUFAs appears to be lower than that of penaeid shrimp. Absence of dietary 18°C n-3 or n-6 PUFAs does not affect growth but is associated with a reduction in the weight of the midgut gland expressed ...
Women with Adult Congenital Heart Disease

Complex congenital heart disease (CHD) is no longer just a pediatric problem. Advancements in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and pediatric cardiology management are leading patients with complex CHD to significantly longer lives well into adulthood and often beyond an age where pediatric caregivers have been traditionally trained. In 2002, the incidence of total CHD cases was 12–14 per 1,000 live births of which 6 per 1,000 live births were severe or moderately severe forms [1]. A large percentage of children with CHD, 80–85 % up to as much as 95 % in some reports, are now reaching adulthood [2, 3] and require lifelong medical surveillance. Although prevalence of adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD) has variability in reporting, the overall prevalence has been estimated to be approximately 3,000 per million adults [4]. This is further classified by severity with 177 per million severe ACHD cases, 1,172 per million moderate, and 1,880 per million mild. The increasing prevalence of congenital heart disease in adults has led to recent establishment of specialty board certification in ACHD beginning in 2013. As seen in childhood, there remains a gender predominance within certain diagnoses in adults [3].
Ecological Studies of Spatial and Temporal Distributions of Larval Chironomidae (Diptera) with Emphasis on Glyptotendipes paripes (Diptera: Chironomidae) in Three Central Florida Lakes

Larval population distributions of Chironomidae (Diptera), Glyptotendipes paripes Edwards in particular, were examined over a 2-yr period in two central Florida lakes (Dora and Yale), and for 1 yr in Lake Wauburg in relation to selected water and sediment physicochemical properties. The nutrient status of the study lakes varied from transitional mesotrophic/eutrophic to hypereutrophic. Glyptotendipes paripes larvae were the most common in Lake Wauburg, while Cladotanytarsus spp. were numerically the most abundant in Lakes Dora and Yale. Mean density of G. paripes in Lake Dora declined sharply during the study period to very low levels and remained low through the remainder of the investigation. Glyptotendipes paripes densities in Lake Wauburg remained high during the entire study period. Populations of G. paripes in Lake Yale generally peaked during summer and fall and decreased considerably during the winter. Estimated G. paripes annual productivity ranged widely from 0.2 g/m2 (Lake Dora) to 156.9 g/m2 (Lake Wauburg). Canonical correspondence analyses indicated that the primary influences on distributions of chironomid larvae in the study lakes were water depth, dry weight of sediment, and the presence of sand, muck or vegetation. Although G. paripes larval distributions tended to be associated with shallower, sandy substrates in Lakes Dora and Wauburg, these larvae were distributed over or in the muck bottom areas of Lake Yale.
Association of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Increased Confusion or Memory Loss and Functional Limitations Among Adults in 21 States, 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Introduction Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with cognitive impairment, but consequences of this association on a person’s functional limitations are unclear. We examined the association between COPD and increased confusion and memory loss (ICML) and functional limitations among adults with COPD.
Structure of a Transient Hollow-Cone Spray

Sprays from an injector with a conical oscillating poppet, as used in some direct-injection stratified-charge engines, have been characterized, Instantaneous injection pressure, poppet lift and the axial component of the drop velocity were measured, and backlit photographs were taken. Hexane and nitrogen were used. Pump speed, amount of injected fuel, gas pressure, and gas temeprature were varied
Neural Gaussian conditional random fields

We propose a Conditional Random Field (CRF) model for structured regression. By constraining the feature functions as quadratic functions of outputs, the model can be conveniently represented in a Gaussian canonical form. We improved the representational power of the resulting Gaussian CRF (GCRF) model by (1) introducing an adaptive feature function that can learn nonlinear relationships between inputs and outputs and (2) allowing the weights of feature functions to be dependent on inputs. Since both the adaptive feature functions and weights can be constructed using feedforward neural networks, we call the resulting model Neural GCRF. The appeal of Neural GCRF is in conceptual simplicity and computational efficiency of learning and inference through use of sparse matrix computations. Experimental evaluation on the remote sensing problem of aerosol estimation from satellite measurements and on the problem of document retrieval showed that Neural GCRF is more accurate than the benchmark predictors.
Busulfan-Induced Chronic Bone Marrow Failure: Changes in Cortical Bone, Marrow Stromal Cells, and Adherent Cell Colonies

This study represented an effort to determine if there were quantitative or morphological changes in marrow stromal cells in busulfan-induced marrow failure and to relate these changes to other disturbances in blood and bone marrow. Mice received four busulfan (BU) injections at two-week intervals and were killed at various time points up to 40 weeks after the first injection. Evaluation techniques included complete blood counts, in vitro assay of short-term adherent cell colonies per femur (STACC per femur) and colony-forming unit-culture (CFU-C) per femur, light microscopy of sternebral marrow and spleen, and electron microscopy (EM) of sternebral marrow taken at 40 weeks. STACC per femur were acutely reduced to 25% of control, but recovered to 76% by 40 weeks. CFU-C per femur dropped to below 10% of control and never recovered. Histologically, we found that hypoplasia of acutely affected marrow was associated with heightened endosteum and cortical bone thickening. In the chronic phase of BU injury, bones became osteoporotic, and the frequency of adipocytes and mast cells rose. BU-affected spleens generally had enhanced erythropoiesis. No stromal cell changes in 40-week marrow were discernible by EM. We concluded that there were morphological changes in BU marrow stroma specifically involving endosteum, bone, adipocytes, and mast cells. Also, there was quantitative depression in stromal cells measured by the STACC assay, but this improved substantially with time, unlike damage to hematopoietic stem cells measured by the CFU-C.
Histochemical demonstration of adenosine deaminase in the human neuraxis. Preliminary observations.

Because of the importance of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in brain function, a histochemical method for visualizing the enzyme in various areas of the human neuraxis was devised, using an MTT [3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] method and glutaraldehyde fixation. Controls consisted of preincubation without the substrate, incubation with omission successively of the substrate, MTT tetrazolium, purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), xanthine oxidase (XO), NaCl, boiling for 20 min prior to fixation and incubation, and of incubation of sections with two powerful inhibitors of the enzyme, i.e., 2'-deoxycoformycin and EHNA [erythro-9-(2-hydroxy-3-nonyl)adenine.HCl]. The positive reaction consisted of the deposition of brownish-purple granules, as well as a diffuse nongranular reaction in the cytoplasm of neurons and glial cells, and in the interstitial spaces. Sections from 15 different areas in four brains were examined by this method. This is the first time that adenosine deaminase has been demonstrated histochemically in the nervous system of humans or of any other species.
Nighttime heart rate predicts response to depression treatment in patients with coronary heart disease.

Abstract Background Previous studies suggest that patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) who do not respond to treatment for depression are at higher risk of mortality than are treatment responders. The purpose of this study was to determine whether elevated nighttime heart rate (HR) and low heart rate variability (HRV), both of which have been associated with depression and with cardiac events in patients with CHD, predict poor response to depression treatment in patients with CHD. Methods Patients with stable CHD and a current major depressive episode completed 24 h ambulatory ECG monitoring and were then treated for up to 16 weeks with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), either alone or in combination with an antidepressant. Pre-treatment HR and HRV were calculated for 124 patients who had continuous ECG from early evening to mid-morning. Results Following treatment, 64 of the 124 patients (52%) met study criteria for remission (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score≤7). Prior to treatment, non-remitters had higher nighttime HR (p=0.03) and lower nighttime HRV (p=0.01) than did the remitters, even after adjusting for potential confounds. Limitations Polysomnography would have provided information about objective sleep characteristics and sleep disorders. More CBT sessions and higher doses of antidepressants may have resulted in more participants in remission. Conclusions High nighttime HR and low nighttime HRV predict a poor response to treatment of major depression in patients with stable CHD. These findings may help explain why patients with CHD who do not respond to treatment are at higher risk for mortality.