cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of thimerosal on the whole yeast phase antigen of Histoplasma capsulatum

Thimerosal (merthiolate) and formalin treated whole-cell yeast phase antigens ofHistoplasma capsulatum were prepared and their reactivities with sera from cases of histoplasmosis, blastomycosis and coccidioidomycosis were compared. Thimerosal treated antigens often gave complement fixation titers with heterologous sera 2 to 8 fold lower than the titers obtained with formalin treated antigens. However, with certain anti-histoplasmosis sera, thimerosal killed antigens had less reactivity with homologous antisera also. In virtually all cases an equal or higher specificity ratio was obtained with thimerosal killed antigens. The effects of thimerosal and formalin were independent, indicating different sites of reactivity of these reagents. Uptake of thimerosal at several concentrations suggested two types of reactions with live yeast phase cells. Analyses of the cellular fractions for thimerosal showed it was present only in the soluble fractions from which it was readily removed by dialysis. Cellular fractions killed with thimerosal retained several of the same physical and antigenic characteristics of those fractions isolated from frozen and thawed cells.
Characterization of Human Proliferative T Cell Responses to Adenovirus

Although cellular immune responses are likely important for recovery from acute adenovirus infection, they have not been studied in humans. As a first step, a sensitive assay for the detection of adenovirus-specific proliferative T cell responses was developed. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 29 of 30 healthy adults exhibited specific proliferative responses to adenovirus type 2 antigen. Adenovirus-specific proliferation was found to be mediated by CD4+ T cells. Specific proliferative responses were detected to purified Ad2 virions and by Ad2-infected cell lysates, indicating that adenovirus structural proteins are important targets. In addition, specific proliferative responses to the uncommon adenovirus type 35 were found in persons without serologic evidence of prior Ad35 infection. These data suggest that adenovirus-specific CD4+ T cells recognize conserved antigens among different serotypes and that a majority of persons develop long-lived CD4+ T cell responses to adenovirus.
Catalytic Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide on Iron Oxide: Kinetics, Mechanism, and Implications

This research describes the heterogeneous catalytic reactions of H2O2 with granular size goethite (α-FeOOH) particles in aqueous solution under various experimental conditions. This is an important reaction for the environment since both H2O2 and iron oxides are common constituents of natural and atmospheric waters. Furthermore, iron oxides function as catalysts in chemical oxidation processes used for treatment of contaminated waters with H2O2. The results of this study demonstrated that the decomposition rate of H2O2 over goethite surface can be described by the second-order kinetic expression −d[H2O2]/dt = k[FeOOH][H2O2], where k = 0.031 M-1 s-1, at pH 7 in the absence of any inorganic or organic chemical species. The apparent reaction rate was dominated by the intrinsic reaction rates on the oxide surfaces rather than the mass transfer rate of H2O2 to the surface. The activation energy of the reaction of H2O2 with the iron oxide surface was determined to be 32.8 kJ/M. The reaction mechanism for the de...
Xenon Tetroxide: Mass Spectrum

The spectrum of XeO/sub 4/ is reported. The typical isotope pattern of Xe is repeated every 16 mass units up to XeO/sub 4/. The exact mass of the tetroxide was verified further by reference to the spectrum of Hg. The fragmentation pattern varied very little with the energy of the ionizing beam of electrons. The volatility of XeO/sub 4/ was demonstrated by its very rapid distillation when a liquid nitrogen bath was replaced by one of dry ice. (P.C.H.)
Nuclear translocation of heat shock-protein 72 in liver cells of halothane-exposed rats

Immunocytochemical studies have revealed that one of the major heat shock proteins, HSP72, is induced in livers of rats that have been pretreated with phenobarbital and then administered halothane in a hypoxic gas mixture of 10% oxygen. To determine the sub-cellular localization of HSP72 in the livers of these rats 24 hr after halothane administration, cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions were prepared and separated by PAGE electrophoresis. Western blotting with a mouse monoclonal anti-HSP70 IgG antibody, which recognizes both the constitutive (HSP73) and inducible (HSP72) forms, revealed that HSP72 was induced and translocated into the nucleus in only those rats exposed to halothane under hypoxia following phenobarbital pretreatment. Nuclear translocation of HSP72 under the latter conditions was confirmed by immunocytochemical staining using gold-conjugated secondary antibodies followed by digital laser microscopy with Nomarski optics. Neither phenobarbital pretreatment alone nor phenobarbital plus hypoxia treatment induced HSP72. No alteration in amount of HSP73 was observed under any of these conditions.
High plating density improves Big Blue system efficiency without loss of sensitivity.

Abstract To increase efficiency in the Big Blue® system, the plating density was increased from 15 000 to 30 000 or 45 000 plaque forming units (pfus) per plate by increasing the density of the E. coli lawn and decreasing individual plaque size. Small plaque size ensured minimal overlap of the plaques. Liver from one 3- and one 25-month-old mouse (low and high mutation frequencies, respectively) was analyzed and neither plating density nor plaque size affected mutant/mutation frequency and pattern. The color intensity of particular mutant plaques was not affected by plaque size or plating density. Optimal sensitivity is achieved by sequencing mutants to calculate the mutation frequency from the mutant frequency and to identify altered patterns of mutation. Detailed effort and cost accounting of the Big Blue system (including mouse handling, DNA extraction, plaque screening, plaque purification, and DNA sequencing) reveals that one-quarter of the total effort is devoted to plating and screening of plates. This effort is reduced two fold with high plating density. The total cost of the Big Blue system is reduced by 17%. The total cost of the High Plating Density Big Blue system is now only 12% more costly than a selectable assay and offers an extensively validated system with a large mutation database representing a decade of effort.
Oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus and bortezomib are antagonistic against myeloma cells in vitro but have additive anti-myeloma activity in vivo

Multiple myeloma cells are highly sensitive to the oncolytic effects of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which specifically targets and kills cancer cells. Myeloma cells are also exquisitely sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of the clinically approved proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. Therefore, we sought to determine whether the combination of VSV and bortezomib would enhance tumor cell killing. However, as shown here, combining these two agents in vitro results in antagonism. We show that bortezomib inhibits VSV replication and spread. We found that bortezomib inhibits VSV-induced NF-κB activation and, using the NF-κB–specific inhibitor BMS-345541, that VSV requires NF-κB activity to spread efficiently in myeloma cells. In contrast to other cancer cell lines, viral titer is not recovered by BMS-345541 when myeloma cells are pretreated with interferon β. Thus, inhibiting NF-κB activity, either with bortezomib or BMS-345541, results in reduced VSV titers in myeloma cells in vitro. However, when VSV and bortezomib are combined in vivo in two syngeneic, immunocompetent myeloma models, the combination reduces tumor burden to a greater degree than VSV does as a single agent. Intratumoral VSV viral load is unchanged when mice are treated concomitantly with bortezomib compared to VSV treatment alone. To our knowledge, this report is the first to analyze the combination of VSV and bortezomib in vivo. Although antagonism between VSV and bortezomib is seen in vitro, analyzing these cells in the context of their host environment shows that bortezomib enhances VSV response, suggesting that this combination will also enhance response in myeloma patients.
Hydrogen-sulfur autotrophy in the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium, Pyrodictium brockii.

Abstract : This work focused on the elucidation of physiological aspects of the hyperthermophilic archaea Pyrodictium brockii and Pyrococcus furiosus. Continuous cultivation methods were developed for both organisms to facilitate metabolic studies. For P. furiosus, we demonstrated the bioenergetic importance of a novel glycolytic pathway centered around a previously reported tungsten- requiring oxido-reductase. We also showed that sulfur reduction is implicated in P. furiosus bioenergetics and examined this issue in maltose-limited cultures. Patterns of regulation were followed through the induction of several enzyme activities involved in the organism's energetics. hyperthermophiles, microbial physiology.
Variables associated with odds of finishing and finish time in a 161-km ultramarathon

We sought to determine the degree to which age, sex, calendar year, previous event experience and ambient race day temperature were associated with finishing a 100-mile (161-km) trail running race and with finish time in that race. We computed separate generalized linear mixed-effects regression models for (1) odds of finishing and (2) finish times of finishers. Every starter from 1986 to 2007 was used in computing the models for odds of finishing (8,282 starts by 3,956 individuals) and every finisher in the same period was included in the models for finish time (5,276 finishes). Factors associated with improved odds of finishing included being a first-time starter and advancing calendar year. Factors associated with reduced odds of finishing included advancing age above 38 years and warmer weather. Beyond 38 years of age, women had worse odds of finishing than men. Warmer weather had a similar effect on finish rates for men and women. Finish times were slower with advancing age, slower for women than men, and less affected by warm weather for women than for men. Calendar year was not associated with finish time after adjustment for other variables.
NMDA Receptor and Schizophrenia: A Brief History

Although glutamate was first hypothesized to be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia in the 1980s, it was the demonstration that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, the dissociative anesthetics, could replicate the full range of psychotic, negative, cognitive, and physiologic features of schizophrenia in normal subjects that placed the “NMDA receptor hypofunction hypothesis” on firm footing. Additional support came from the demonstration that a variety of agents that enhanced NMDA receptor function at the glycine modulatory site significantly reduced negative symptoms and variably improved cognition in patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotic drugs. Finally, persistent blockade of NMDA receptors recreates in experimental animals the critical pathologic features of schizophrenia including downregulation of parvalbumin-positive cortical GABAergic neurons, pyramidal neuron dendritic dysgenesis, and reduced spine density.
Statistical methods in disease risk analysis, disease testing and nutrition epidemiology

The thesis is composed of three separated projects: disease risk scoring systems (chapter 2), statistical tests for proportion difference in one-to-two matched binary data (chapter 3) and bivariate measurement error model for nutrition epidemiology (chapter 4). In the first project, we propose to use group lasso algorithm for logistic regression to construct a risk scoring system for predicting disease in swine. We choose the penalty parameter for the group lasso through leave-one-out cross validation and use the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve as criterion. We show our proposed scoring system is superior to existing methods. The second project was originally motivated by the pooling of diagnostic tests. We proposed exact and asymptotic tests for one-to-two matched binary data. Unlike other existing methods, our procedure doesn’t rely on a mutual independence assumption. The emphasis on dependence among observations from the same matched set is natural and appealing, as much in human health as it is in veterinary medicine. It can be applied to many kinds of diagnostic studies with a one-to-two matched data structure. Our method can also be generalized to one-to-N matched case in a straightforward manner. In the third paper we consider the problem of estimating the joint distribution of two correlated random variables where one of the variables is observed with error. DKM is first used to adjust the univariate measurement error. A Gaussian copula is then used to model the correlation structure between the two variables after error adjustment.
Scheduling prioritized services in multihop OFDMA networks

Growing popularity of high-speed wireless broad-band access for real-time applications makes it increasingly relevant to study the admission control and scheduling of flows in a service differentiated manner. Next-generation wireless broadband networks employ orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology that enables multiple users to communicate at the same time using a time-frequency grid. In this paper, we provide a mathematical model for prioritized admission control and scheduling in OFDMA-based multihop wireless networks. The problem is formulated as an integer linear program (ILP) that does joint admission control and scheduling of flows while satisfying its rate and latency requirements. We propose different heuristic algorithms for scheduling priority-based flows in centralized multihop OFDMA networks. We define the "Flow Admittance" (FA) metric and compare the different scheduling schemes based on this metric. Simulation results show that the Start from Frame Beginning (SFB) heuristic performs well in most of the scenarios. We also propose a combination approach that merges multiple heuristics. The FA values obtained from the combination approach are close to the ILP while incurring computation time orders of lower magnitude.
Job-search basics: how to convert a CV into a resume

For broad scientific careers, resumes serve as critical job-search tools. This Commentary provides a strategy for writing an effective resume for searching for a nonacademic job.
Risk Factors for Assaults on Nursing Staff: Childhood Abuse and Education Level

OBJECTIVES: This study examined risk factors for nursing staff associated with being assaulted in the workplace and described the prevalence of staff assaults on patients. BACKGROUND: Most studies examining assaults in the workplace examine patient variables. Scant empirical investigation has occurred of staff variables. METHODS: A random mailed survey measuring physical and psychological assaults, sexual assault, and trauma history was employed. Childhood abuse and education were unique predictors of physical and sexual assault by patients. The results also revealed that staff members sometimes abuse patients. IMPLICATIONS: These results can help inform the training and supervision of nursing staff. Strategies to decrease staff vulnerability of being assaulted may reduce the risk. The finding that education also may be a protective factor has important implications for trends in managed care to downsize nursing. Protecting patients and staff are important administrative priorities in the workplace. Language: en
Participation in Organizations: A Preview of the Issues and Proposed Framework for Future Analysis

This paper provides an overview of research related to participation programs in organizations. Although certain relationships, such as the participation-performance association, have been adequately addressed in the literature, other aspects of the participation process have received very limited research attention, We propose that research move away from a narrow focus on certain aspects of the participation process and move toward a more inclusive agenda. To facilitate this movement, we provide a participation framework that organizes what is and is not known about participation, develop an operational definition of participation, summarize the incentives that motivate participation, review individual and organizational contextual factors that relate to participation, describe participation-outcome relationships, and note essential measurement questions.
Role in virulence of a Brucella abortus protein exhibiting lectin-like activity.

Brucella abortus is a facultative, intracellular zoonotic pathogen which can cause undulant fever in humans and abortions in cattle. A 14-kDa protein of B. abortus was previously identified to be immunogenic in animals infected with Brucella spp. In this study, we discovered that the 14-kDa protein possessed immunoglobulin binding and hemagglutination properties that appeared to be based on the protein’s lectin-like properties. Hemagglutination inhibition experiments suggested that the 14-kDa protein has affinity towards mannose. Disruption of the gene encoding the 14-kDa protein in virulent B. abortus strain 2308 induced a rough-like phenotype with an altered smooth lipopolysaccharide (LPS) immunoblot profile and a significant reduction in the bacterium’s ability to replicate in mouse spleens. However, the mutant strain was stably maintained in mouse spleens at 2.0 to 2.6 log10 CFU/spleen from day 1 to week 6 after intraperitoneal inoculation with 4.65 log10 CFU. In contrast to the case for the smooth virulent strain 2308, in the rough attenuated strain RB51 disruption of the 14-kDa protein’s gene had no effect on the mouse clearance pattern. These findings indicate that the 14-kDa protein of B. abortus possesses lectin-like properties and is essential for the virulence of the species, probably because of its direct or indirect role in the synthesis of smooth LPS. The members of the Brucella genus are small, nonmotile, gram-negative, facultatively intracellular bacteria that can cause brucellosis in a variety of mammals. Brucellosis is a chronic zoonotic disease resulting in undulant fever in humans and abortion and/or infertility in affected animals. There are six species of Brucella that are currently recognized based on host specificity. They include Brucella abortus (cattle), B. melitensis (goats), B. suis (hogs), B. canis (dogs), B. ovis (sheep), and B. neotomae (wood rats) (7). Recently, Brucella has been isolated from a variety of marine mammals, including cetaceans (e.g., dolphins), seals, and otters (11).
Caught Up in the System How Women Who Have Been Incarcerated Negotiate Power

This article discusses the results of a qualitative study of nine women who had been incarcerated and how they negotiated power structures in both the prison system and the educational systems of public schools prior to incarceration and adult education classrooms both during and after incarceration. Findings focus on how the women defined the system and how they responded to the power issues inherent within the penal system, how the women brokered power in their education experiences, and how the women negotiated the resource management of powerful others.
Engineering of vault nanocapsules with enzymatic and fluorescent properties

One of the central issues facing the emerging field of nanotechnology is cellular compatibility. Nanoparticles have been proposed for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, including drug delivery, gene therapy, biological sensors, and controlled catalysis. Viruses, liposomes, peptides, and synthetic and natural polymers have been engineered for these applications, yet significant limitations continue to prevent their use. Avoidance of the body's natural immune system, lack of targeting specificity, and the inability to control packaging and release are remaining obstacles. We have explored the use of a naturally occurring cellular nanoparticle known as the vault, which is named for its morphology with multiple arches reminiscent of cathedral ceilings. Vaults are 13-MDa ribonucleoprotein particles with an internal cavity large enough to sequester hundreds of proteins. Here, we report a strategy to target and sequester biologically active materials within the vault cavity. Attachment of a vault-targeting peptide to two proteins, luciferase and a variant of GFP, resulted in their sequestration within the vault cavity. The targeted proteins confer enzymatic and fluorescent properties on the recombinant vaults, both of which can be detected by their emission of light. The modified vaults are compatible with living cells. The ability to engineer vault particles with designed properties and functionalities represents an important step toward development of a biocompatible nanocapsule.
A low storage curvilinear discontinuous Galerkin time-domain method for electromagnetics

A low storage curvilinear discontinuous Galerkin method for simulating time domain electromagnetic wave propagation is presented. The algorithm has substantially lower storage requirements than the standard discontinuous Galerkin time-domain method when applied to meshes with a large number of curvilinear elements. An analytical energy stability analysis is summarized and some experimental results show that the novel method does not strongly impact accuracy.
Japanese manufacturing techniques: Nine hidden lessons in simplicity, by Richard Schonberger, The Free Press, New York, 1982, 260 pp.

World Class Manufacturing Casebook: Implementing JIT and TQC, by Richard Schonberger, The Free Press, New York, 1987, 253 pp. The New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous Improvement, by Kiyoshi Suzaki, The Free Press, New York, 1987, 255 pp.
THE SOURCES OF ERROR IN ORGANOTHERAPY AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE PREPARATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF INSULIN

During the past two years, our knowledge of organotherapy has been greatly enriched by the discovery of the new anti-diabetic hormone, insulin, by F. G. Banting (1) and his associates of the University of Toronto. During the past fourteen months, all of our research activities have been devoted to the preparation and clinical use of this new endocrine substance. We are presenting this paper in the hope that the lessons we have learned in the preparation, the standardization and the use of this new product may point out some of the probable sources of error in this and other types of organotherapy. All will agree that: (1) an endocrine product-should contain the active principle which it is supposed to contain; (2) that methods of standardization should be devised whereby the amount of such active substance may be accurately measured; and (3) that such substances should be administered by routes which will insure
Blood-compatible materials by fluid perfusion.

The feasibility of preventing platelet adhesion to porous foreign surfaces in contact with blood by passing (perfusing) a physiologic fluid through the pores into the blood was tested. Porous-walled tubes of Teflon (Gore-tex) and aluminosilicate ceramic were perfused with lactated Ringer's solution at rates between 3.13 and 0.3 cc/min per cm2 of perfused surface and exposed to heparinized and unheparinized flowing human whole blood for periods of 3–6 min. Under these conditions, with 0.159 cm I.D. tubes and a mean blood flow rate of 8.3 cm/sec, the adhesion of all blood cells was prevented, compared with the adhesion of 1 to 8 × 106 platelets/cm2 on the nonperfused controls. The adhesion of plasma proteins was also markedly reduced as determined by bromophenol blue staining. The critical perfusion rate to prevent platelet adhesion to Gore-tex (0.5 μ pore size, 60% pore volume) was found to be between 0.04 and 0.3 cc/ (min · cm2). The boundary layer produced by a perfused segment of porous tubing prevented platelet adhesion for several centimeters downstream from the perfusing segment under experimental conditions used.
Evolutionary Policy Iteration Under a Sampling Regime for Stochastic Combinatorial Optimization

This article modifies the evolutionary policy selection algorithm of Chang et al., which was designed for use in infinite horizon Markov decision processes (MDPs) with a large action space to a discrete stochastic optimization problem, in an algorithm called Evolutionary Policy Iteration-Monte Carlo (EPI-MC). EPI-MC allows EPI to be used in a stochastic combinatorial optimization setting with a finite action space and a noisy cost (value) function by introducing a sampling schedule. Convergence of EPI-MC to the optimal action is proven and experimental results are given.
Adhesion and Deformation Behavior of Thin Metal Films on Polyimide

Adhesion and interfacial failure of Cr,Cu and Cu/Cr films on the PMDA-ODA polyimide substrates have been investigated using a stretch deformation technique. This method determines the adhesion energy by measuring the difference in the load vs. elongation curves between film/substrate and substrate structures. The effects due to the addition of a Cr interface layer between polyimide and Cu on the build-up of stress and the onset of failure have been investigated. This study shows that by varying the thickness of Cr interface one can alter the extent of ductile to brittle transition of the deformation behavior of the metal/polyimide layered structure.
Therapeutic targets in radiotherapy

Abstract Background: Enormous progress has been made in the past 5 years in our understanding of the gene products governing the response of mammalian cells to ionizing radiation. Many of these are potential targets for enhancing the effectiveness of radiotherapy. However, a major barrier to such efforts is the requirement for a preferential effect on tumor vs. normal cells. Such a requirement can only come about by exploiting a known difference between tumor and normal cells. Methods: This review highlights three differences between tumor and normal cells that are being exploited with fractionated radiotherapy. Results: The three strategies to enhance preferentially tumor response to radiotherapy are inhibition of ras activity using farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs), inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs), and the use of drugs that preferentially kill hypoxic cells. Each of these strategies exploits a known difference between at least some tumors and their surrounding normal tissues, and each has shown encouraging results when combined with fractionated radiation in preclinical studies. Conclusions: For each of the three strategies to enhance preferentially the sensitivity of cancers, the preclinical and early clinical data are promising for their successful application in radiotherapy.
Seeking Father Relationally Reframing a Troubled Love Story

Tension plagues the relationship between the author and his father when it comes to golf- and gay-related issues. The author is also stuck between two canonical stories, one that says he must work ...
Scanning for vulnerable devices in the Internet of Things

Many smart, resource-constrained, and seldom-updated devices in the Internet of Things present unanticipated vulnerabilities. The Internet Census 2012 scanned for such devices to construct its Carna Botnet, which then surveyed the entire IPv4 address space. This census provides an order of magnitude for the number of devices vulnerable to just one type of attack. Finally, three scans of different types demonstrate how to scan for vulnerable devices in the Internet of Things. The first uses Shodan to find vulnerable Cayman DSL routers; the second uses Masscan to find devices vulnerable to Heartbleed, and the third used Nmap and PFT to find and connect to vulnerable networked printers.
Cluster Nature of Li 7 and Be 7

Measurements of the capture $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-radiation processes, $\mathrm{mass} 3+\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{mass} 7+\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and $\mathrm{nucleon}+{\mathrm{Li}}^{6}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{mass} 7+\ensuremath{\gamma}$, give information about the cluster structure of the mirror nuclei ${\mathrm{Li}}^{7}$ and ${\mathrm{Be}}^{7}$. The cluster model predicts that the ground state and low excited states of these nuclei should have large reduced widths ${{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{3+4}}^{2}$ for the configuration $\mathrm{mass} 3+\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particle and small reduced widths ${{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{1+6}}^{2}$ for the configuration nucleon +${\mathrm{Li}}^{6}$. Scattering experiments provide accurate initial, capturing, wave functions, and an assumption of the cluster nature of the final, bound, states allows the electromagnetic capture cross sections to be calculated and compared to experiment. The reduced widths deduced show that ${{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{3+4}}^{2}$ is large, ${{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{1+6}}^{2}$ is small, and that the ground states and first excited states of ${\mathrm{Li}}^{7}$ and ${\mathrm{Be}}^{7}$ are primarily of the two-body cluster form $\mathrm{mass} 3+\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particle.
Perceptual Knowledge and the Primacy of Judgment

Rather than asking how what we are aware of in perceptual experience can give us knowledge of the independent world, this paper asks what conditions we as knowers must fulfill, what capacities we must have, and what the ‘objects of perception’ must be in the competent exercise those capacities, if we are to have any such knowledge. It is argued that we must be capable of perceiving that such-and-such is so and thereby knowing by perception alone what is so in the world as it is independently of us.
Novel Biomass Pretreatment Using Alkaline Organic Solvents: A Green Approach for Biomass Fractionation and 2,3-Butanediol Production

Valorization of each component of lignocellulosic biomass is critical for sustainability of biorefinery industries. Current biorefineries are confined to ethanol-centric processes and focus only on the carbohydrate-derived sugar using energy-intensive pretreatment methods, leading to deteriorated lignin quality for high-value applications. Organosolv fractionation is an effective method to improve hydrolysis efficiency of cellulose and extract a good quality lignin stream; however, hemicelluloses recovery is challenging if an acid catalyst is used. An alkali catalyst in the organosolv process, therefore, could be a promising alternative approach. We evaluated various organic solvents (glycerol, 2,3-butanediol, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethanol, butanol, isopropanol, acetonitrile, and water) for pretreatment of different biomass feedstocks, including corn stover (grass), poplar (hardwood), and Douglas fir (softwood) using sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. Results showed that an ethanol and isopropanol mixture led to 18 % more sugar released per gram of biomass than the control (conventional aqueous alkali pretreatment) for corn stover; a mixture of ethanol, butanol, and water was the next most effective solvent. For pretreatment of poplar biomass, glycerol and 2,3-butanediol were the most efficient solvents; glycerol pretreatment offers further process improvement opportunities. The organic solvents used in this experiment were not effective for Douglas fir. The quality of released sugars was statistically equal to that of synthetic sugars for 2,3-butanediol fermentation using Klebsiella oxytoca. This study opened up a promising route for high value application for all biomass components. Further research is needed to characterize the extracted lignin for quality evaluation.
Dgm-fd: a finite difference scheme based on the discontinuous galerkin method

Accurate and efficient numerical wave propagation is important in many areas of study such as computational aero-acoustics (CAA). While dissipation and dispersion errors influence the accuracy of a method, efficiency can be assessed by convergence rates and effective adaptability to different mesh structures. Finite difference and finite element methods are commonly used numerical schemes in CAA. Finite difference methods have the advantages of ease of use as well as high order convergence, but often require a uniform grid, and stable boundary closure can be non-trivial. Finite element methods adapt well to different mesh structures but can become difficult to implement as the order of approximation increases. In this research we formulate a numerical method that has high-order convergence, with strong accuracy for numerical wave numbers, and is adaptive to non-uniform grids. Such a method is developed based on the Discontinuous Galerkin Method (DGM) applied to the hyperbolic equation. Finite difference type schemes applicable to non-uniform grids are proposed. The schemes will be referred to as DGM-FD schemes. These schemes inherit, naturally, some features of the DGM, such as high-order approximations, applicability to non-uniform grids and super-accuracy for wave propagations. Two grid structures are studied. In the first structure, a regular, but non-uniform, finite difference type grid is assumed. In the second structure, some grid points are double-valued and the derivative scheme has a shortened stencil. Fourth-order upwind and third order central schemes are presented as examples of the first grid structure. Fifth-order upwind schemes are derived for the second structure. For non-linear equations, flux finite difference formula are given where no explicit upwind and downwind split of the flux is needed. This is in contrast to existing upwind finite difference schemes in the literature. Stability of the schemes with boundary closures and the super-accuracy for wave propagation problems are investigated and validated. The new schemes are demonstrated by numerical examples including the linearized acoustic waves, the solution of non-linear Burger's equation and the flat-plate boundary layer problem.
Robust Route to Unimolecular Core–Shell and Hollow Polymer Nanoparticles

Unimolecular core–shell and hollow polymer nanoparticles with well-defined dimensions were crafted using spherical core–shell star-like diblock copolymers as templates. Monodisperse and structurally stable star-like diblock copolymers composed of inner degradable core blocks and outer photo-cross-linkable shell blocks were synthesized via a combination of two living polymerization techniques, namely, coordination–insertion ring opening polymerization (ROP) followed by reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization (RAFT). Subsequently, uniform unimolecular core–shell nanoparticles were successfully produced by photo-cross-linking the shell blocks of star-like diblock copolymers. The core diameter and shell thickness of nanoparticles are determined by molecular weights of inner core block and outer shell block, respectively, thereby rendering nanoparticles with tunable structural characteristics. The cross-linking density of nanoparticles can be readily controlled by varying the exposure t...
Mineralogy and its contribution to anisotropy and kerogen stiffness variations with maturity in the Bakken Shales

Summary Mineralogy of eleven Bakken shale samples with varying thermal maturities were studied as a function of their contribution to anisotropy and kerogen stiffness variations between the shales. It was found that anisotropy increased with increasing clay content and that kerogen stiffness increased with maturity. The understanding of the controls on anisotropy and stiffness of the soft components (kerogens and clays) of organic-rich shales is important in developing methods for indirect and in-situ detection of
Substitutional or Interstitial Site-Selective Nitrogen Doping in TiO2 Nanostructures

Herein, we report a colloidal wet-chemical approach enabling control on dopant concentration and location in a nanocrystal host lattice. Growth-doping and nucleation-doping, driven by primary and tertiary amines, respectively, were identified as predominant doping mechanisms responsible for the introduction of nitrogen impurities in interstitial and substitutional sites in highly branched rutile TiO2 nanostructures. High-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to distinguish the two nitrogen occupational lattice sites and, in combination with UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, to investigate the impact of the nitrogen impurities on the optoelectronic properties. The implementation of the nitrogen-doped titania nanostructures in photoelectrodes for water oxidation suggests that these atomically defined building blocks can function as a platform to investigate the impact of the nitrogen occupational sites on the photocatalytic properties. By deliberately choosing precursors and reaction conditions...
Workplace Safety Interventions for Commercial Fishermen of the Gulf

Commercial fishing continues to have one of the highest rates of occupational fatalities compared with other work sectors in the United States. Attitudes/beliefs among Vietnamese shrimp fishermen of the Gulf of Mexico may influence behaviors that are risk factors for fatal and nonfatal injuries. The study employs a community trial with quasi-experimental pretest/posttest intervention design. An advisory group made up of key stakeholders including representatives from the US Coast Guard was assembled. A survey was designed using the Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical framework. Three community groups at port sites along the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coasts were identified. Focus groups were convened at each site to select priority areas for risk intervention using training and awareness measures. Initial and follow-up surveys were administered pre-/post-interventions for each of the three community groups (2008, n = 217 completed surveys; 2012, n = 206 completed surveys). The follow-up survey was condensed and "intent to act" questions were added for the priority concerns identified (noise-induced hearing loss, machinery/winches, and fatigue). Statistically significant changes (P ranging from .000 to .042) were observed in selective attitude/belief responses for hearing/noise and fatigue. Intent to action or to adopt the intervention was high among all three groups of shrimp fishermen (hearing conservation, 82.4%; machinery/winch safety, 94.6%; fatigue awareness, 95.3%). Simple, yet culturally appropriate training and awareness measures in the form of visual and written safety messages favorably influence attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intent related to priority risk factors identified by Vietnamese commercial shrimp fishermen along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coasts.
Gatifloxacin-Associated Hypoglycemia

Objective: To report a case of prolonged hypoglycemia associated with glyburide and gatifloxacin use. Case Summary: An 82-year-old white woman with diabetes mellitus type 2 and chronic renal insufficiency developed postoperative pneumonia. She had previously been on long-term glyburide therapy. Protracted hypoglycemia after institution of gatifloxacin developed despite discontinuation of oral hypoglycemic therapy. After 2 days of intravenous dextrose, sustained normoglycemia was achieved. Discussion: Hypoglycemic reactions with glyburide and fluoroquinolone antibiotics have been reported, but not with gatifloxacin. Although drug administration error cannot be excluded, no documentation exists to support this. The onset of hypoglycemia soon after administration of gatifloxacin and reports of similar interactions favor the hypothesis that hypoglycemia was induced by a gatifloxacin-glyburide interaction. Conclusions: Fluoroquinolone-associated hypoglycemia has been documented, and an interaction of gatifloxacin and glyburide appears probable. Patients with diabetes should be monitored for the development of resistant hypoglycemia, especially if they are on concomitant oral hypoglycemic medications.
Modification and Characterization of Coal Series Montmorillonite Clay

Coal series montmorillonite clay of Xuancheng in Anhui province was carried : purification,Na-modification and organic re-modification by the alkyl quaternary ammonium salt.The ion exchange capacity,crystal layer change,adsorbability and expansibility of coal series montmorillonite clay were analyzed by XRD,TEM method before and after modification.And the structure of coal series montmorillonite clay was characterized.
Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses—and Misuses—of History

Economic analysis of the world crisis of the 1930s, known as the Great Depression in the United States, continues to expand more than 80 years after its onset. Similarly, the Great Recession (2007-2009 in the United States) shows every sign of joining it as a major focus of economic historians. Barry Eichengreen’s book, Hall of Mirrors, sets a new standard by combining the two into a set of chronological parallel histories focused on policies and policy makers and the ways they used and misused history. He explores the lead ups to the two crises, the passage of regulations and the omission of regulations that enabled the crises, and most centrally, the reasons why policy makers in 2008 were able to avoid another Great Depression but still allowed a deeper and longer recession than necessary. The histories are told with attention to the details of economic analysis and the contexts of domestic and world politics. Eichengreen’s work is qualitative but informed by quantitative analysis and his own extensive research on the Great Depression and financial crises of the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Integrative Inferences on Pattern Geometries of Grapes Grown under Water Stress and Their Resulting Wines

Multiple datasets of two consecutive vintages of replicated grape and wines from six different deficit irrigation regimes are characterized and compared. The process consists of four temporal-ordered signature phases: harvest field data, juice composition, wine composition before bottling and bottled wine. A new computing paradigm and an integrative inferential platform are developed for discovering phase-to-phase pattern geometries for such characterization and comparison purposes. Each phase is manifested by a distinct set of features, which are measurable upon phase-specific entities subject to the common set of irrigation regimes. Throughout the four phases, this compilation of data from irrigation regimes with subsamples is termed a space of media-nodes, on which measurements of phase-specific features were recoded. All of these collectively constitute a bipartite network of data, which is then normalized and binary coded. For these serial bipartite networks, we first quantify patterns that characterize individual phases by means of a new computing paradigm called “Data Mechanics”. This computational technique extracts a coupling geometry which captures and reveals interacting dependence among and between media-nodes and feature-nodes in forms of hierarchical block sub-matrices. As one of the principal discoveries, the holistic year-factor persistently surfaces as the most inferential factor in classifying all media-nodes throughout all phases. This could be deemed either surprising in its over-arching dominance or obvious based on popular belief. We formulate and test pattern-based hypotheses that confirm such fundamental patterns. We also attempt to elucidate the driving force underlying the phase-evolution in winemaking via a newly developed partial coupling geometry, which is designed to integrate two coupling geometries. Such partial coupling geometries are confirmed to bear causal and predictive implications. All pattern inferences are performed with respect to a profile of energy distributions sampled from network bootstrapping ensembles conforming to block-structures specified by corresponding hypotheses.
Liberating Chiral Lipid Mediators, Inflammatory Enzymes, and LIPID MAPS from Biological Grease

In 1970, it was well accepted that the central role of lipids was in energy storage and metabolism, and it was assumed that amphipathic lipids simply served a passive structural role as the backbone of biological membranes. As a result, the scientific community was focused on nucleic acids, proteins, and carbohydrates as information-containing molecules. It took considerable effort until scientists accepted that lipids also "encode" specific and unique biological information and play a central role in cell signaling. Along with this realization came the recognition that the enzymes that act on lipid substrates residing in or on membranes and micelles must also have important signaling roles, spurring curiosity into their potentially unique modes of action differing from those acting on water-soluble substrates. This led to the creation of the concept of "surface dilution kinetics" for describing the mechanism of enzymes acting on lipid substrates, as well as the demonstration that lipid enzymes such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2) contain allosteric activator sites for specific phospholipids as well as for membranes. As our understanding of phospholipases advanced, so did the understanding that many of the lipids released by these enzymes are chiral information-containing signaling molecules; for example, PLA2 regulates the generation of precursors for the biosynthesis of eicosanoids and other bioactive lipid mediators of inflammation and resolution underlying disease progression. The creation of the LIPID MAPS initiative in 2003 and the ensuing development of the lipidomics field have revealed that lipid metabolites are central to human metabolism. Today lipids are recognized as key mediators of health and disease as we enter a new era of biomarkers and personalized medicine. This article is my personal "reflection" on these scientific advances.
Wilayat Tripolitanien – der Vorläufer von Libyen

Obwohl schon Herodot, der Vater der Geographie, die Mitte der nordafrikanischen Kuste und deren Hinterland Libyen nannte, ist das heutige Staatsgebilde gleichen Namens doch ein noch junges Konstrukt der italienischen Kolonialausbreitung seit 1911. Noch deutlicher als im Sudan ist der aktuelle Staatszerfall in Libyen wesentlich in den osmanischen Strukturen angelegt. Beim Eintritt in das 19. Jahrhundert zeigt sich dieser Reichsteil als ein verfestigter Dualismus zweier Kustenlandschaften, Tripolitanien im Westen und Cyrenaica im Osten der Grosen Syrte, mit einem von den Osmanen bis zum Endes des Jahrhunderts nie wirklich beherrschten riesigen wustenhaften Hinterland mit souveranen Nomadenstammen. Die Wirtschaftgrundlage dieser Provinz war nicht die vernachlassigte Landwirtschaft in den wenigen Gunstraumen sondern der transaharische Karawanenhandel. Vom Niedergang des Osmanischen Reichs suchte Italien 1911 durch die uberfallartige Annexion der Landschaften an der Grosen Syrte zu profitieren, handelte sich damit aber einen jahrzehntelangen Guerillakrieg mit dem radikal-islamischen Senussi-Orden. Die Widerstandler sorgten auch dafur, dass noch bei Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs das von der Cyrenaica, dem Tibesti-Gebirge, dem Darfur und den agyptischen Wustenoasen gebildete Viereck der groste von Europaern nicht erforschte weise Fleck in Afrika geblieben war.
International Collaboration Experience (ICE): Using Multi-Country Student Collaboration Projects to Enhance Learning and Faculty Research

In this chapter, we discuss our experiences with the X-Culture project. X-Culture is a large-scale international student collaboration project designed to enhance learning in international business (IB) and related courses through participative learning and first-hand cross-cultural interaction and collaboration. Our experience suggests there are numerous positive outcomes associated with international collaboration experience (ICE) projects, and they extend far beyond merely learning to use online communication tools. Furthermore, our data show many benefits for the students and professors from participating in the X-Culture project. The project has proven to be an excellent research platform on team dynamics and cross-cultural interactions. In addition, we will discuss the challenges of and recommend best practices for using ICEs.