cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Resource utilization and guild structure of small vertebrates in the Amazon forest leaf litter

Ten species of small vertebrates that occurred together in leaf litter of the Amazon tropical rainforest were studied during the dry season in Rondonia, western Brazil. This vertebrate assemblage consisted of two diurnal lizards, two diurnal frogs, one nocturnal frog, and five frog species that are active by day and night. All species feed on small invertebrates, primarily insects and arachnids. There are significant differences in prey types and sizes eaten, and overlap values among species are relatively low. Niche breadths vary from unity (extremely low) to high (> 9.0). A pseudocommunity analysis using two different algorithms indicated that structure exists in the prey resource matrix of the vertebrate assemblage. The zero structure of the community matrix contributes to the observed structure, i.e. prey items not taken by certain species are important in maintaining structure. Several well-defined feeding guilds are apparent, and the feeding guilds do not appear to follow taxonomic lines.
Nanotwinned microstructures from low stacking fault energy brass by high-rate severe plastic deformation

High-rate severe plastic deformation by machining is explored in a prototypical low stacking fault energy material, brass, as a route for generating a high density of nanometer-scale twins amidst dislocation structures. This nanotwinned system shows a greatly improved strength compared to the bulk microcrystalline state. The twin densities are found to be retained even after modest thermal agitation, which is also seen to engender a small “hardening by annealing” effect in the nanotwinned material.
Thermochemistry and bond dissociation energies of ketones.

Ketones are a major class of organic chemicals and solvents, which contribute to hydrocarbon sources in the atmosphere, and are important intermediates in the oxidation and combustion of hydrocarbons and biofuels. Their stability, thermochemical properties, and chemical kinetics are important to understanding their reaction paths and their role as intermediates in combustion processes and in atmospheric chemistry. In this study, enthalpies (ΔH°f 298), entropies (S°(T)), heat capacities (Cp°(T)), and internal rotor potentials are reported for 2-butanone, 3-pentanone, 2-pentanone, 3-methyl-2-butanone, and 2-methyl-3-pentanone, and their radicals corresponding to loss of hydrogen atoms. A detailed evaluation of the carbon–hydrogen bond dissociation energies (C–H BDEs) is also performed for the parent ketones for the first time. Standard enthalpies of formation and bond energies are calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p), B3LYP/6-311G(2d,2p), CBS-QB3, and G3MP2B3 levels of theory using isodesmic reactions to mini...
Selective exposure of human proximal tubule cells to gentamicin provides evidence for a basolateral component of toxicity

The goal of the present study was to determine if cultured human proximal tubule (HPT) cells could provide evidence for a basolateral component of gentamicin toxicity. Six isolates of HPT cells were grown on Millicell filters and exposed to gentamicin either apically, basolaterally, or both apically and basolaterally. Toxicity was determined by the release of lactate dehydrogenase into the growth media. The results clearly demonstrated that basolateral exposure and combined apical and basolateral exposure to gentamicin resulted in significant levels of cell toxicity. In contrast, apical exposure to gentamicin elicited only marginal toxicity. The transepithelial flux of gentamicin was shown to be the same in either the apical to basolateral or the basolateral to apical direction. A two-step mechanism of gentamicin toxicity is proposed in order to integrate basolateral toxicity with known features of aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity.
Rb 87 and As 75 Quadrupolar Coupling in Ferroelectric Rb H 2 P O 4 and Cs H 2 As O 4

The quadrupole-induced shifts of the ${\mathrm{Rb}}^{87}$ and ${\mathrm{As}}^{75}$ \textonehalf{} \ensuremath{\leftrightarrow} -\textonehalf{} nuclear-magnetic-resonance transitions have been used to study the temperature variation of the electric field gradients at the ionic sites on approaching the ferroelectric Curie points. The shifts can only be explained in terms of collective atomic fluctuations in the paraelectric phase. A soft-lattice-mode model does not quantitatively describe the temperature dependence of the frequency shifts. A model which explicitly takes into account the protonic disorder accounts quantitatively for the arsenic data. No quantitative treatment that is in good agreement with the rubidium data has been found.
Heading Households and Heading Businesses: Rural Kenyan Women in the Informal Sector

The dynamics of intra-household economics among sedentary farmers in rural Kenya suggest that women, whether or not they have a male household head, are responsible for providing basic resources to insure the daily survival of household members. Many rural Kenyan women operate small businesses in rural market centers in order to meet these obligations, and many of these women are also heads of their households. This paper examines women's resource bases for establishing and maintaining small-scale businesses. Compared to women who are associated with male-headed households, women who head households have fewer resources for establishing businesses which in turn generate lower earnings. At the same time, these women are almost completely dependent on their businesses for meeting the household's needs.
A novel virus of the late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, with two RNA segments and a supergroup 1 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Double-stranded RNA representing four distinct electrophoretic patterns was found in a screen of Phytophthora infestans isolates. Two dsRNAs that always appeared together were sequenced. RNA 1, which was 3160 nt plus a poly (A) tail, contained a single deduced ORF with the potential to encode a polyprotein of 977 aa with motifs characteristic of supergroup I viral RdRps. The 2776 nt, polyadenylated RNA2 contained an ORF with a potential to encode a polyprotein of 847 aa including a possible trypsin-like serine protease, and a second putative ORF of unknown function. An alternative form of RNA2, in which a 19-nt stretch was replaced by a 9-nt sequence, was detected in 4 of 17 clones sequenced. Based on genome structure and phylogenetic analysis, this virus did not fit into any known virus family and we tentatively named it Phytophthora infestans RNA virus 1 (PiRV-1).
Compartiendo Nuestras Historias: Five Testimonios of Schooling and Survival

This storytelling begins with a positioning of why and how we use testimonio as part of a larger project of social justice and transformative pedagogies. In this collective testimonio, 5 working-class Latina scholars tell the stories of their struggles to overcome the challenges of language and assimilation, of gender discrimination and racism, of the violence of patriarchy, and of the experience of being treated as an “alien” in one's own country.
Ionic polishing of optical surfaces

The controlled removal of material from the surface of insulators has been observed by using a positive ion beam. In the energy range 0.5–2.0 MeV the sputtering yield was observed to be unity. The application of this technique to the manufacture of high quality optical surfaces is discussed.
Stochastic modeling of a billiard in a gravitational field: Power law behavior of Lyapunov exponents

We consider the motion of a point particle (billiard) in a uniform gravitational field constrained to move in a symmetric wedge-shaped region. The billiard is reflected at the wedge boundary. The phase space of the system naturally divides itself into two regions in which the tangent maps are respectively parabolic and hyperbolic. It is known that the system is integrable for two values of the wedge half-angleθ1 andθ2 and chaotic forθ1<θ<θ2. We study the system at three levels of approximation: first, where the deterministic dynamics is replaced by a random evolution; second, where, in addition, the tangent map in each region is, replaced by its average; and third, where the tangent map is replaced by a single global average. We show that at all three levels the Lyapunov exponent exhibits power law behavior nearθ1 andθ2 with exponents 1/2 and 1, respectively. We indicate the origin of the exponent 1, which has not been observed in unaccelerated billiards.
The Co-Occurrence of Physical and Cyber Dating Violence and Bullying Among Teens

This study examined the overlap in teen dating violence and bullying perpetration and victimization, with regard to acts of physical violence, psychological abuse, and-for the first time ever-digitally perpetrated cyber abuse. A total of 5,647 youth (51% female, 74% White) from 10 schools participated in a cross-sectional anonymous survey. Results indicated substantial co-occurrence of all types of teen dating violence and bullying. Youth who perpetrated and/or experienced physical, psychological, and cyber bullying were likely to have also perpetrated/experienced physical and sexual dating violence, and psychological and cyber dating abuse.
Distributed development and teaching of algorithmic concepts

We describe Fuse-N, a system for distributed, Web-based teaching of algorithmic concepts through experimentation, implementation, and automated test and verification. Fuse-N is accessible to, and usable by, anyone with a Java-enabled Web browser.The system was designed to:1 Minimize the overhead required for students to engage in the essence of the learning experience.2 Allow students to experiment with, generate, and evaluate algorithms and their implementations.3 Facilitate greater, more effective interaction among students and between students and teaching staff.The system represents algorithmic concepts as dynamic "modules" in Java. Students map inputs to outputs either via system-supplied "reference" implementations; manually, with corrective feedback; or by writing one or more alternative implementations for the concept. The output of the students' implementation is programmatically and visually compared to that of the reference implementation. Modules can be interconnected in a dynamic dataflow architecture of arbitrary complexity. Teaching staff can monitor student progress online, answer questions, execute student implementations, and perform a variety of administrative tasks.A prototype system supported two modules. We have since extended Fuse-N to include a classical polygon rasterization pipeline, a module authoring "wizard," an editor, and several other components. We describe Fuse-N from student, staff, and developer perspectives. Next we describe its architecture and the technical issues inherent in its construction and extension. Finally, we report on some early experiences with the system.
Derivatives of 1-azabicyelo[4.3.1]decane

1-Azabicyclo[4.3.1]decan-3-one has been synthesized via Dieckmann condensation and converted to the corresponding hydroxy and chloro derivatives.
Suffering and Protest in Rhodesian Prisons During the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle

This article is based on Zimbabwean ex-political prisoners' testimonies and writings, and argues that, although Rhodesian prisons were spaces of racialised abuse, curtailed freedoms, and heightened repression, they were also spaces of struggle, subversion and negotiation. Indeed, prisoners' testimonies and their written accounts reveal the depravity and brutality of prison life. They capture vividly some of the gruesome experiences in the state corridors of silence. Yet, as this essay demonstrates, these testimonies also disclose the ways in which prisoners were not simply victims of state-sponsored penal terror: prisoners told stories of how they struggled, coped and creatively adapted to the harsh prison regimes. I also argue that, by transforming the prison into an arena of struggle for political and social rights, African political offenders undermined the disciplinary, rehabilitative, and punitive intent of imprisonment. Political prisoners are important historical subjects in the telling of the stru...
Numerical Solution of the Downwash Associated with a Blown-Flap System

For blown-flap aircraft, large downwashes typically occur downstream of the wing due to the high downward momentum of the lifting jet. To determine the velocities induced by the wing- and jet-flap circulation, a threedimensional, nonlinear, finite-element model that can predict downwash angles at any desired location has been developed. Vortex lattices positioned on the wing, flap, and thin jet sheet provide vortex filaments and control points to satisfy kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions. To simplify the mixed-boundary value problem and to reduce computer run time, the rollup of the wake in the spanwise direction has been neglected. In addition, the spanwise distribution of circulation in the wake is assumed to be elliptic in form. A reasonably fast and stable iterative method that allowed a self-consistent wake path to be found was used. Predicted downwash and lift coefficients generally agree with experimental values for various test conditions; but further improvements, such as fuselage modeling, might enhance the accuracy of the model. Nomenclature AH = wing aspect ratio C = airfoil chord length Cy/C=flap chord ratio Cj = blowing coefficient Cr = root chord length CX = velocity induced in the x direction due to a unit vorticity Ff = turning force of jet in radial direction nij =jet mass flow rate over blown flap M = number of chord wise wing lattice divisions S = total wing area S' = equivalent blown wing area V = freestream velocity Vj - velocity of blown jet Vt = average tangential velocity surrounding the blown jet Vx = velocity in the x direction due to the wing lattice Vxw = velocity in the x direction due to the wake lattice Vz = velocity in the z direction due to the wing lattice Vzw = velocity in the z direction due to the wake lattice x = distance in the downstream direction parallel with the freestream
Looking Glass: A C++ Library for Testing Student Programs through Reflection

Looking Glass (https://github.com/sturner84/LookingGlass) is a library designed to support the testing of students' C++ code through reflection. Instructors can design tests that compile even if there are mismatches between the instructor's and student's code (like misspelled function names or parameters that do not have the expected types). Using the automatically generated metadata, instructors can search for and call functions or methods in the student code, including the main function, while providing feedback (rather than a compile error) if the required code is not found. Although not suitable for all C++ programs, Looking Glass was designed to support instructors in introductory and intermediate classes and to be transparent to the students.
Calculations of bluff-body stabilized flames using a joint probability density function model with detailed chemistry

Joint probability density function (PDF) calculations are reported of the bluff-body stabilized flames (HM1, HM2, and HM3) and the results are compared with the available experimental data. The calculations are based on the modeled transport equation for the joint PDF of velocity, turbulence frequency, and composition (species mass fractions and enthalpy) using the interaction by exchange with the mean and Euclidean minimum spanning tree mixing models. The methane chemistry is described by a 19-species augmented reduced mechanism, and is implemented using in situ adaptive tabulation. The numerical accuracy of the calculations is carefully studied, and the associated errors are quantified. For flame HM1 (which has the least local extinction), there is generally good agreement between calculations and measurements, although (for all flames) the quality of the agreement deteriorates at downstream locations. The calculations correctly show essentially inert mixing in the shear layer between the recirculation zone and the coflow in flame HM1, but not in flames HM2 and HM3. In general, the calculations of flames HM2 and HM3 are not in good agreement with the experimental data and do not exhibit the observed local extinction. This deficiency is attributed to the inaccurate calculations of the mean mixture fraction in the recirculation zone (for flames HM2 and HM3). The sensitivity of the calculation to the mixing model constant is investigated, and the mean scalar dissipation is reported.
Structural damage detection and estimation by amplitude and frequency modulation analysis

Presented here is an amplitude and frequency modulation method (AFMM) for extracting damage-induced nonlinear characteristics and intermittent transient responses by processing steady-state/transient responses using the empirical mode decomposition, Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT), and nonlinear dynamic characteristics derived from perturbation analysis. A sliding-window fitting (SWF) method is derived to show the physical implication of the proposed method and other methods for time-frequency signal decomposition. Similar to the short-time Fourier transform and wavelet transform the SWF uses windowed regular harmonics and function orthogonality to extract time-localized regular and/or distorted harmonics. On the other hand the HHT uses the apparent time scales revealed by the signal's local maxima and minima to sequentially sift components of different time scales, starting from high-frequency to low-frequency ones. Because HHT does not use predetermined basis functions and function orthogonality for component extraction, it provides more accurate instant amplitudes and frequencies of extracted components for accurate estimation of system characteristics and nonlinearities. Moreover, because the first component extracted from HHT contains all original discontinuities, its time-varying amplitude and frequency are excellent indicators for pinpointing times and locations of impulsive external loads and damages that cause intermittent responses. However, the discontinuity-induced Gibbs' effect makes HHT analysis inaccurate around the two data ends. On the other hand, the SWF analysis is not affected by Gibbs' effect, but it cannot extract accurate time-varying frequencies and amplitudes. Numerical results show that the proposed AFMM can provide accurate estimations of softening and hardening effects, different orders of nonlinearity, linear and nonlinear system parameters, and time instants of intermittent transient responses for damage detection and estimation.
Work in progress — Development of a design task to assess students' understanding of human-centered design

Developing a human-centered approach to design is vital to appropriately preparing graduates for the globally competitive workplace. An important facet of education is assessment. We are developing a design task to assess students' skills in doing, feelings toward, and knowledge about human-centered design. This assessment tool could be used not only by educators, but also by researchers to characterize changes in students' understanding of human-centered design. The assessment task is informed by findings from a phenomenographic study that identified and described dimensions of variation in students' understanding of human-centered design as well as a literature review and comparison of how design has been studied. A goal of this assessment tool is to make a student's understanding of human-centered design easily observable through oral communication or artifact development, and provide insights into how students value the user as an inclusive partner throughout the design process.
SOCIAL DESIRABILITY AND "ACQUIESCENCE RESPONSE SET"

This study showed that the frequently found negative correlation between social desirability (SD) and the so-called “acquiescence response set” (ARS) is not an artifact of contaminated scales as its presence in two unconcaminated instruments was demonstrated. A theoretically consistent explanation of this relationship based on a reinterpretation of the ARS variable is suggested.
PROSPECTIVE COMPARISON OF THE IMMUNOLOGICAL AND STRESS RESPONSE FOLLOWING LAPAROSCOPIC AND OPEN SURGERY FOR LOCALIZED RENAL CELL CARCINOMA

ABSTRACTPurpose: We prospectively compared the systemic immune and stress response of patients who underwent laparoscopic total nephrectomy (LRN) (14) and open nephrectomy (ON) (10) for renal cell carcinoma. The ON group comprised open radical (4), open total (2) and open partial (4) nephrectomy cases.Materials and Methods: Only patients with no history of cancer or autoimmune disease and American Society of Anesthesiologists score 2 or less who were not using immunosuppressive drugs were selected. Peripheral venous blood was collected preoperatively and intraoperatively, and 24 hours, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 3 months postoperatively. Blood was analyzed for stress markers (adrenalin, noradrenalin and cortisol), inflammatory response markers (C-reactive protein, white blood count and leukocyte count), lymphocytic response markers (CD3, CD4 and CD8), cytokines interleukin-2 and 4, interferon-α and tumor necrosis factor-α), HLA-DR expression and the proliferative response to mitogen stimulation using concanaval...
Olivine in Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001: Evidence for a high‐temperature origin and implications for signs of life

Olivine from Martian meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 occurs as clusters within orthopyroxene adjacent to fractures containing disrupted carbonate globules and feldspathic shock glass. The inclusions are irregular in shape and range in size from approx. 40 microns to submicrometer. Some of the inclusions are elongate and boudinage-like. The olivine grains are in sharp contact with the enclosing orthopyroxene and often contain small inclusions of chromite The olivine exhibits a very limited range of composition from Fo(sub 65) to Fo(sub 66) (n = 25). The delta(sup 18)O values of the olivine and orthopyroxene analyzed by ion microprobe range from +4.3 to +5.3% and are indistinguishable from each other within analytical uncertainty. The mineral chemistries, O-isotopic data, and textural relationships indicate that the olivine inclusions were produced at a temperature greater than 800 C. It is unlikely that the olivines formed during the same event that gave rise to the carbonates in ALH 84001, which have more elevated and variable delta(sup 18)O values, and were probably formed from fluids that were not in isotopic equilibrium with the orthopyroxene or olivine The reactions most likely instrumental in the formation of olivine could be either the dehydration of hydrous silicates that formed during carbonate precipitation or the reduction of orthopyroxene and spinel If the olivine was formed by either reaction during a postcarbonate beating event, the implications are profound with regards to the interpretations of McKay et al. Due to the low diffusion rates in carbonates, this rapid, high-temperature event would have resulted in the preservation of the fine-scale carbonate zoning' while partially devolatilizing select carbonate compositions on a submicrometer scale. This may have resulted in the formation of the minute magnetite grains that McKay et al attributed to biogenic activity.
Corneal effects produced by IR laser radiation

Infrared radiation from a CO2 laser at a wavelength of 10.6 im is strongly absorbed by the cornea. Indeed, 99% is absorbed within the first 50 itm of tear film and epithelium. This energy is rapidly converted to heat that initially is concentrated in the volume of absorption and subsequently is conducted to deeper layers of the cornea and beyond. Consequently, various layers of the cornea can sustain thermal damage, depending on the exposure conditions. In this review we summarize very briefly our past work on: epithelial damage thresholds for single- and multiple-pulse exposures having individual pulse durations between 1 ms and 10 s12; endothelial damage thresholds and endothelial temperature histories34; and damage thresholds for stromal cells.5 For very short duration pulses that have extremely high peak irradiance, the possibility for acoustic as well as thermal damage exists. Here we give a more extensive report of new epithelial damage thresholds for single- and multiple-pulse exposures with an individual pulse duration of 80 ns. We note that material is ejected from the corneal surface at near-threshold exposures. This observation is used in conjunction with lesion histology and temperature computations to discuss possible damage mechanisms.
Rustling: Ancient History or Current Event?

Rustling. The words bring to mind images of a long gone era in the Wild West. Images of bandits running off with a herd of longhorns, with a posse in close pursuit, and of shootouts and quick hangi...
Orientation tensors in simple flows of dilute suspensions of non-Brownian rigid ellipsoids, comparison of analytical and approximate solutions

General analytical solutions are obtained for the planar orientation structure of rigid ellipsoid of revolutions subjected to an arbitrary homogeneous flow in a Newtonian fluid. Both finite and infinite aspect ratio particles are considered. The orientation structure is described in terms of two-dimensional, time-dependent tensors that are commonly employed in constitutive equations for anisotropic fluids such as fiber suspensions. The effect of particle aspect ratio on the evolution of orientation structure is studied in simple shear and planar elongational flows. With the availability of analytical solutions, accuracies of quadratic closure approximations used for nonhomogeneous flows are analyzed, avoiding numerical integration of orientation distribution function. In general, fourth-order orientation evolution equations with sixth-order quadratic closure approximations yield more accurate representations compared to the commonly used second-order evolution equations with fourth-order quadratic closure approximations. However, quadratic closure approximations of any order are found to give correct maximum orientation angle (i.e., preferred direction) results for all particle aspect ratios and flow cases.
Structure, Function, and Policy in American Cities

This paper examines four major concerns regarding functional responsibilities in Ameri can cities. They are: (1) to describe the variation in functional responsibilities (i.e., service functions) of cities; (2) to observe some of the regional, structural, and demographic correlates of the variations; (3) to assess the impact of variation in functional responsi bilities on taxing and spending levels; and (4) to sort out the effects of functional differ ences among cities on policy responsiveness from the effects of structural characteristics of municipal government. Twelve municipal functions were examined in the 243 cities. Implications of the findings suggest reducing the scope of "older, northeastern" cities and transferring functions to other levels of government.
A Customer's Requirements Analysis Approach for Kano’s Model

Modularity has been recognized as a vital factor to implement mass customization. To obtain the optimization project of modular design, customer's requirements must be gained firstly. There has different level for each customer's requirement. So, the classification technology of customer's requirements, which using KANO model investigate questionnaire, is expatiated in this paper. Then, the attribute class of customer's requirements can be gained. A questionnaire, which using the household hanging air-conditioning system as an example, is proposed in this paper. The result, which using KANO theory to analyze, demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approaches.
Scene Graph and Frame Update Algorithms for Smooth and Scalable 3D Visualization of Simulated Construction Operations

One of the prime reasons inhibiting the widespread use of discrete-event simulation in construction planning is the absence of appropriate visual communication tools. Visualizing modeled operations in 3D is arguably the best form of communicating the logic and the inner working of simulation models and can be of immense help in establishing the credibility of analyses. New software development technologies emerge at incredible rates that allow engineers and scientists to create novel, domain-specific applications. The authors capitalized on a computer graphics technology based on the concept of the scene graph to design and implement a general-purpose 3D visualization system that is simulation and CAD-software independent. This system, the Dynamic Construction Visualizer, enables realistic visualization of modeled construction operations and the resulting products and can be used in conjunction with a wide variety of simulation tools. This paper describes the scene graph architecture and the frame updating algorithms used in designing the Dynamic Construction Visualizer.
Design and Development of Advanced Cavity-Based Dual-Mode Filters Using Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic Technology for $V$ -Band Gigabit Wireless Systems

In this paper, a novel concept of 3-D integrated -band dual-mode cavity filters, which permit the realization of a variety of quasi-elliptic responses by creating transmission zeros, has been demonstrated using multilayer low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. A single-cavity resonator is designed to generate a degenerate resonance of two orthogonal modes ( and ), enabling dual-mode operation. The appearance and elimination of transmission zeros have been analyzed through the multipath coupling diagrams and lumped-element models. The quasi-elliptic dual-mode filters with the appropriate locations of the transmission zeros are then developed for receiver and transmitter channels of a -band transceiver module. Two pre-synthesized, dual-mode cavity filters are vertically stacked with two types of inter-coupling slots (1: rectangular, 2: cross) to realize the multipole filters for 60-GHz wireless local area network narrowband applications. These proposed filters are the first to be reported and have great potential to be integrated into miniaturized -band LTCC transceiver modules.
Secreted production of assembled Norovirus virus-like particles from Pichia pastoris

Norovirus virus-like particles (NoV VLPs) have recently been explored as potential vaccine platforms due to their ability to produce an effective immune response. Expression of the main structural protein, VP1, leads to formation of self-assembled particles with similar characteristics to the original virus. These NoV VLPs have been expressed in Escherichia coli, yeast and insect cells. Expression in E. coli and insect cells share downstream processing issues due to the presence of inclusion bodies or the need for numerous purification steps. NoV VLPs have also been produced in the yeast P. pastoris; however the protein was only expressed intracellularly. We have successfully expressed and secreted the VP1 protein in the novel P. pastoris strain, Bg11, using the methanol inducible pJ912 expression vector, containing the cDNA of NoV VP1. Expression of the VP1 protein in Bg11 was carried out in a 1.5 L bioreactor resulting in a total yield of NoV VLPs greater than 0.6 g/L. NoV VLPs obtained from the culture supernatant were purified via ion-exchange chromatography, resulting in particles with a purity over 90%. The average size of the particles after purification was 40 nm. Transmission electron microscopy was used to visualize the morphology of the particles and saliva-binding assay confirmed that the NoV VLPs bind to Histo-Blood Group Antigens (HBGA). In this study we describe the expression and characterization of fully assembled Norovirus virus-like particles obtained from P. pastoris. The particles are similar in size, morphology and binding capacity, as previously described, for the original NoV. Our results detail the successful expression and secretion of VLPs in P. pastoris, improving their candidacy as a vaccine platform.
A Piezo-Sensor-Based “Smart Tire” System for Mobile Robots and Vehicles

In this paper, we present the development of a tire rubber deformation sensing system that provides the critical information for understanding and estimation of wheel/ground interactions for mobile robots and vehicles. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based sensors are designed and fabricated to embed on the inner tread surface to measure the tire rubber tread deformation. Analytical models of the PVDF-based sensing system are presented to capture the wheel/ground contact information and friction characteristics. The sensed deformation measurements are integrated with the onboard control system through a wireless data transmission module. Experimental results on a skid-steered mobile robot are presented to show the feasibility and estimation of wheel/ground friction characteristics using the developed sensing system.
Patent Ductus Arteriosus of the Preterm Infant

Postnatal ductal closure is stimulated by rising oxygen tension and withdrawal of vasodilatory mediators (prostaglandins, nitric oxide, adenosine) and by vasoconstrictors (endothelin-1, catecholamines, contractile prostanoids), ion channels, calcium flux, platelets, morphologic maturity, and a favorable genetic predisposition. A persistently patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in preterm infants can have clinical consequences. Decreasing pulmonary vascular resistance, especially in extremely low gestational age newborns, increases left-to-right shunting through the ductus and increases pulmonary blood flow further, leading to interstitial pulmonary edema and volume load to the left heart. Potential consequences of left-to-right shunting via a hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) include increased risk for prolonged ventilation, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis or focal intestinal perforation, intraventricular hemorrhage, and death. In the last decade, there has been a trend toward less aggressive treatment of PDA in preterm infants. However, there is a subgroup of infants who will likely benefit from intervention, be it pharmacologic, interventional, or surgical: (1) prophylactic intravenous indomethacin in highly selected extremely low gestational age newborns with PDA (<26 + 0/7 weeks' gestation, <750 g birth weight), (2) early targeted therapy of PDA in selected preterm infants at particular high risk for PDA-associated complications, and (3) PDA ligation, catheter intervention, or oral paracetamol may be considered as rescue options for hsPDA closure. The impact of catheter-based closure of hsPDA on clinical outcomes should be determined in future prospective studies. Finally, we provide a novel treatment algorithm for PDA in preterm infants that integrates the several treatment modalities in a staged approach.
Fever of unknown origin: the naming of uncertainty.

So many medical stories begin when the patient arrives at the doctor’s office or the hospital. The doctor enters the room, and the patient begins the narrative that will determine a diagnosis and treatment. But as hospitalists, we see patients with their stories already unfolding. Someone already made a diagnosis, or at least obtained preliminary information to get us to that point. That affords hospitalists a degree of certainty that can be reassuring to some, frustrating to others. But what happens when the patient arrives and no one knows the answers? What do we do in the face of uncertainty? Our nameless patient arrived carrying a folder full of diagnostic statements, pathology reports, and a couple of compact discs with radiologic images. She was 14 years old, thin, and had dark circles under her eyes. “She has not been sleeping well,” her mother said, “the fevers keep her up at all times of the night.” The mother also looked exhausted, sharing her daughter’s dark circles of sleeplessness. Our patient had fevers for almost 3 weeks, sometimes with temperatures as high as 106°F, intermittently feeling sick and acting normally, with symptoms appearing and disappearing almost as quickly: leg aches, a rash, lethargy, and swollen lymph nodes. She stayed in the hospital for about 10 days. During the hospitalization, her blood counts, electrolytes, endocrine studies, plain x-rays, computed tomography scans, and magnetic resonance imaging scans were all normal. A bone marrow aspiration revealed no malignancy. A lymph node biopsy showed normal lymphatic tissue. When one of the specialists recommended a full body positive emitron tomography scan, the mom requested we discharge them so she could obtain a second opinion. …
Interdiffusion of PCBM and P3HT Reveals Miscibility in a Photovoltaically Active Blend

Developing a better understanding of the evolution of morphology in plastic solar cells is the key to designing new materials and structures that achieve photoconversion efficiencies greater than 10%. In the most extensively characterized system, the poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric-acid-methyl-ester (PCBM) bulk heterojunction, the origins and evolution of the blend morphology during processes such as thermal annealing are not well understood. In this work, we use a model system, a bilayer of P3HT and PCBM, to develop a more complete understanding of the miscibility and diffusion of PCBM within P3HT during thermal annealing. We find that PCBM aggregates and/or molecular species are miscible and mobile in disordered P3HT, without disrupting the ordered lamellar stacking of P3HT chains. The fast diffusion of PCBM into the amorphous regions of P3HT suggests the favorability of mixing in this system, opposing the belief that phase-pure domains form in BHJs due to immiscibility of these two components.
Ancient Versions of two Trigonometric Lemmas

To justify certain steps of the computation developed in his Sand-Reckoner , Archimedes cites (without proof) the following inequalities relative to the sides of right triangles: if of two right-angled triangles, (one each of) the sides about the right angle are equal (to each other), while the other sides are unequal, the greater angle of those toward [sc. next to] the unequal sides has to the lesser (angle) a greater ratio than the greater line of those subtending the right angle to the lesser, but a lesser (ratio) than the greater line of those about the right angle to the lesser. That is, with reference to the two right triangles ABG, DEZ (Fig. 1), where AG equals DZ and the angle at B is greater than that at E, ZE:GB
E-cadherin expression in obesity-associated, Kras-initiated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in mice

Background The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is critical in the development of invasive epithelial malignancies. EMT is accelerated by inflammation and results in decreased E-cadherin expression. Diet-induced obesity is an inflammatory state that accelerates pancreatic carcinogenesis; its effect on EMT and E-cadherin expression in the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is unclear. Methods Conditional Kras G12D mice were fed a control diet or a high-fat, high-calorie diet for 3 or 9 months ( n = 10 each). Immunohistochemistry with anti-E-cadherin antibody was performed. E-cadherin expression was characterized by staining intensity, location, and proportion of positive cells. In vitro expression of E-cadherin and Slug in primary pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) and cancer cells was determined by Western blot. Results The HFCD led to increased weight gain in both 3- (15.8 vs 5.6 g, P P = .007) mice. No differences in E-cadherin expression among various stages of preinvasive PanIN lesions were found—regardless of age or diet. In invasive cancer, E-cadherin expression was aberrant, with loss of membranous staining and prominent cytoplasmic staining, associated with strong, cytoplasmic expression of β-catenin. In vitro expression of E-cadherin was greatest in primary PanIN cells, accompanied by absent Slug expression. Cancer cell lines demonstrated significantly decreased E-cadherin expression in the presence of upregulated Slug. Conclusion Despite increased pancreatic inflammation and accelerated carcinogenesis, the high-fat, high-calorie diet did not induce changes in E-cadherin expression in PanIN lesions of all stages. Invasive lesions demonstrated aberrant cytoplasmic E-cadherin staining. Loss of normal membranous localization may reflect a functional loss of E-cadherin.
Arthroscopic Release of Frozen Shoulder

Arthroscopic release of the frozen shoulder is a reliable procedure when performed correctly and with the right surgical indications. The primary components of this technique include a scalene block and forward elevation manipulation followed by surgical release of the rotator interval and anterior-inferior capsule. Postoperative pain control for the first 48 hours is provided by an intraarticular pain catheter. Patients are instructed in shoulder range of motion exercises and provided with a continuos passive motion device.
History Dependence of Rate Covariation between Neurons during Persistent Activity in an Oculomotor Integrator

Persistent firing in response to a brief stimulus is a neural correlate of short-term memory in a variety of systems. In the oculomotor neural integrator, persistent firing that encodes eye position is maintained in response to transient saccadic eye-velocity commands. To a first approximation, firing rates in the integrator vary linearly with eye position. Thus, viewed across many cells, the pattern of persistent firing in the integrator may be constrained to a unique line of stable states. Here this idea was tested by examining the relationship between firing rates of simultaneously recorded neurons. Paired recordings were obtained in awake goldfish from neurons in hindbrain area I, an essential part of the horizontal eye-position integrator. During spontaneous eye movements consisting of sequential fixations at different horizontal positions, the pair relationship between the majority of cells on the same side of the integrator was not unique: for a given rate of one cell, the rate of the paired cell assumed different values that depended systematically on the preceding saccade history. This finding suggests that the set of persistent firing states that encode eye position is not constrained to a unique line, and that models with stable states restricted to a such a line need to be modified accordingly.
Information-theoretic lower bounds on the routing overhead in mobile ad-hoc networks

This paper describes the performance of variable topology routing protocol in comparison with a theoretical minimum routing overhead, which is the amount of information needed to describe the changes in a dynamic network topology. A network of identical but distinguishable nodes lies within a bounded region of space. There are two levels of hierarchy for nodes. All the nodes of a sub-region form a cluster and randomly select a cluster head from the nodes within the same sub-region. A cluster-head maintains two types of topology information: (i) Local cluster topology information, (ii) Global topology information.
An initial experience using concurrent paclitaxel and radiation in the treatment of head and neck malignancies

Abstract Background: Combined modality therapy plays a central role in the management of head and neck malignancies. This study examined the feasibility and preliminary results of treating a group of patients using concurrent bolus paclitaxel (Taxol™) and radiation therapy. Methods: Fourteen patients with a median age of 56 years (range 42–81) were treated. Paclitaxel was given every 3 weeks at a dose of 100 mg/m2 concurrently with external beam radiation. The patients treated included those who had failed to achieve a complete response (CR) to induction chemotherapy with cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin (PFL), or who had locally advanced disease not previously treated. Results: Median follow-up from the initiation of treatment is 40 months (range 23–48). The majority of patients (13/14) achieved clinical CRs at the primary site. The development of responses was characterized by a long time course. Three patients who were nonresponders (NRs) to induction PFL chemotherapy were treated. One was a clinical CR at the primary site, one did not achieve a CR, and the other had residual disease in the neck. Four patients have failed, one with local-regional disease, one with a marginal failure, one with distant metastases, and one was not rendered disease-free by the treatment. As expected, significant local toxicity was observed. Most patients were managed with the aid of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). Two patients experienced significant moist desquamation and required treatment breaks of greater than 1 week. Conclusion: Paclitaxel can be given on a 3-week schedule at 100 mg/m2 concurrently with radiation. The preliminary results indicate good local responses and acceptable toxicity. This treatment approach merits further study in the treatment of head and neck malignancies, and should be considered as an option in other sites.
Resistance and tolerance in Populus tremuloides: genetic variation, costs, and environmental dependency

Plants defend themselves against herbivores via resistance, which reduces damage, and tolerance, which minimizes the negative effects of damage. Theory predicts the existence of tradeoffs between defense and growth, as well as between resistance and tolerance, that could maintain the genetic variation for resistance and tolerance often observed in plant populations. We examined resistance and tolerance among aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees grown under divergent soil nutrient regimes. This common garden experiment revealed substantial genetic variation for resistance and tolerance under both low- and high-nutrient conditions. Costs of resistance exist, particularly under high-nutrient conditions where allocation to resistance chemicals competes directly with growth for limited carbon resources. We found no significant costs of tolerance, however, under either nutrient condition. Despite genetic variation for both resistance and tolerance, we found no evidence for a tradeoff between these two defense traits suggesting that resistance and tolerance are complementary, rather than mutually exclusive, defenses in aspen.
Risk Factors for Venous Thromboembolism Among Reproductive Age Women.

Abstract Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is rare among young women and is often presumed to occur in the setting of a genetic predisposition or during the use of estrogen-containing combined hormonal contraceptive or to have an unknown cause. This study aims to describe the distribution of VTE risk factors among women with a confirmed VTE. Methods: We identified all women aged 15–46 years with a VTE diagnosis at Columbia University Medical Center from 2005 to 2012 using medical center databases. We then reviewed all electronic medical records to validate the diagnoses and identify risk factors associated with each confirmed case. Results: We identified 315 cases and confirmed 186 (59%). The proportion of unconfirmed cases increased over time. Forty percent of confirmed cases were associated with hormonal contraceptives or pregnancy. Ninety-five percent of confirmed cases had identifiable major risk factors including a personal history, family history, malignancy or other predisposing illness, rec...