cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microdomains Displace Laterally and Rotate in the Plasma Membrane of Cochlear Outer Hair Cells

Guinea pig outer hair cells (OHC) are cylindrical, with a near constant diameter of ∼8 μm and length ranging from 20 to 90 μm. OHC's lateral plasma membrane is literally packed with motor (prestin) and associated proteins organized in microdomains. These membrane microdomains are connected by hundreds of 25-nm long “pillars” to cytoskeletal microdomains of up to 10 μm2 composed by long, parallel actin filaments cross-linked by shorter spectrin tetramers. Membrane potential-dependent conformational changes in prestin molecules result in reversible changes of cell length (shortening and elongation) following cycle-by-cycle electrical stimulation. We labeled the lateral surface of isolated guinea pig OHCs with polystyrene microspheres (φ=0.5 μm) and, using 1,000 fps high-resolution video recording, investigated their movement simultaneously at the apical, middle and basal region of cells stimulated with a 50 Hz external alternating electrical field. Under electrical stimulation microspheres attached to non-motile cells or the basal region of OHCs didn’t move, whereas those at the middle and apical regions of the OHCs’ lateral wall showed robust back and forth displacements. During stimulation the directions of microspheres’ trajectories changed from random to parallel to the electrical field with angular speeds of up to 6 rad/s, and were back to random after 5 min without stimulation. Microspheres responses were affected by changes in plasma membrane cholesterol levels and cytoskeleton integrity, and by inhibitors of OHC motor response. We concluded that membrane microdomains are able to shift and rotate in the plane of the lateral plasma membrane of cochlear OHCs, and membrane lipid composition as well as the membrane skeleton regulates their dynamics.
Determinants of cognitive change after coronary artery bypass surgery: a multifactorial problem

Abstract Background . Several studies have investigated predictors of cognitive decline after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but there is little consensus as to which specific factors are predictive of poor cognitive outcomes. Methods . We evaluated 127 patients undergoing CABG with standardized neuropsychological tests preoperatively, at 1 month and at 1 year. The outcome measure was a continuous variable reflecting change in z-scores for eight cognitive domains over time for individual patients. Univariate analyses were performed to evaluate the association between the demographic, operative, and postoperative factors and the cognitive outcome variables. Factors that were significant were included in a multiple linear regression analysis. Results . Among the medical history variables, diabetes was associated with change in executive functions and psychomotor speed. Some of the operative variables were associated with short-term changes, but none with the 1-year outcomes. For example, the surgeon's rating of degree of difficulty in selecting a cross-clamp site was associated with change in attention. Higher mean pump rate during the procedure was associated with improved performance on tests of language. The cognitive domains associated with medical variables were different from those associated with surgical variables, and the associations observed at 1-year were different from those seen at 1-month. Conclusions . Change in cognition after CABG is associated with both medical and surgical variables. The specifics of these associations depend on the choice of time points after surgery. This suggests that there are multiple etiologies for these changes, with nonspecific effects of anesthesia and prolonged surgery interacting with the more specific effects of the surgical procedure itself.
Forced synthesis of trace amounts of juvenile hormone II from propionate by corpora allata of a juvenile hormone III-producing insect.

Corpora allata of the cockroachDiploptera punctata normally synthesize only the isoprenoid juvenile hormone III (JH III). Only under extreme in vitro conditions (absence of carbon sources other than propionate) do they produce trace amounts of the homoisoprenoid JH II in addition to JH III. The specificity of the in vitro synthesis of JH III byD. punctata is thus consistent with the observed lack of homoisoprenoid JHs in this insect.
Improving problem solving performance in computer-based learning environments through subgoal labels

Computer-based learning environments can provide valuable resources for learning at scale, but students in these environments might learn without an instructor. Subgoal labels have been used in worked examples in STEM domains to help a learner understand the purpose of a set of steps, and this feature has increased problem solving performance [1]. Subgoal labels, however, have not been tested in instructional text. The present study explored this intervention. The results of the present study show that learners who received subgoal labels in both the text and example outperformed those in other conditions. When subgoal labeled text is paired with an unlabeled example, however, performance does not improve. These findings indicate that subgoal labeled instructional text when paired with subgoal labeled examples can improve performance in a computer-based learning environment.
PCB Volatilization from Sediments

The loss of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from sediment by volatilization is currently under scrutiny by polluters, regulators, and researchers. In this research, a one-dimensional mathematical model for the volatilization of PCBs from sediment was developed. The model considers a system with three phases: A water-saturated PCB contaminated sediment, the overlying water, and air above the water. A simple microcosm consisting of sediment, water and air that allows for (pseudo)-one-dimensional transport of PCB from the sediment to the gas phase was utilized to perform PCB transport studies using two PCB congeners: 4, 4′ -dichlorobiphenyl (DCB) and 2, 2′ ,4, 4′ ,5, 5′ -hexachlorobiphenyl (HCB). The experimental data on DCB were used to calibrate and validate the mathematical model. The calibrated model was then used to simulate the effect of sediment layer thickness, depth of the overlying water, and the level of contamination on the rate of DCB volatilization.
Modeling the effect of water vapor on the interfacial behavior of high-temperature air in contact with Fe20Cr surfaces

This work uses molecular dynamics simulation to provide an atomistic view of the contrasting interfacial behavior between high-temperature dry air and wet (10–40 vol.% water) air in contact with stainless steels. A key finding was that H2O preferentially adsorbs and displaces oxygen at the metal–fluid interface. We also discuss how these findings are consistent with Ehlers et al. proposed competitive adsorption mechanism for the interpretation of the breakaway oxidation, and highlight their impact on other properties.
A posteriori error analysis of finite element method for linear nonlocal diffusion and peridynamic models

Abstract. In this paper, we present some results on a posteriori error analysis of finite element methods for solving linear nonlocal diffusion and bond-based peridynamic models. In particular, we aim to propose a general abstract frame work for a posteriori error analysis of the peridynamic problems. A posteriori error estimators are consequently prompted, the reliability and efficiency of the estimators are proved. Connections between nonlocal a posteriori error estimation and classical local estimation are studied within continuous finite element space. Numerical experiments (1D) are also given to test the theoretical conclusions.
Influence of oxygen partial pressure on the quality of nanowires for energetic photon detection applications

ZnO based semiconductors have emerged as promising materials for energetic photon detection. Aimed to improve photon detection efficiency, we have successfully grown ZnO nanowires based on vapor- liquid-solid approach. In this paper, we examine the influence of oxygen partial pressure on the quality ZnO nanowires. Optical properties of the nanowires grown under different oxygen environment were characterized, and we found that low oxygen partial pressure can result in large concentration of defect states, as reflected by increased visible emission and an elevated threshold for stimulated emission.
Enhancement of the jets in NGC 1097

Plates of NGC 1097 taken in four spectral bands have been digitized and processed at JPL's Image Processing Laboratory. The processing has revealed that (1) there is a fourth jet, R4, counter to the L-shaped jet, R1; (2) the area density of point sources in the jets is no different from that found on the sky; (3) two of the jets, R1 and R2, are bluer than the night sky, while one of the jets, R3, is redder than the night sky; (4) the nonstellar objects situated on the jets are noticeably bluer than the night sky; and (5) color-enhanced images of the spiral structure illustrate the distribution of both gaseous and spiral-arm stellar population disrupted from symmetry by an apparent companion elliptical.
A uniqueness theorem for some elliptic equations with boundary conditions of functional type

Abstract Some recent results from a problem in viscous hydrodynamics have suggested a novel type of boundary value problem. The usual specification of boundary data has been in part replaced by certain functional type conditions. A generalized version of the problem is proposed, and a uniqueness theorem is proven.
KLASSP: Entering Passwords on a Spyware Infected Machine Using a Shared-Secret Proxy

In this paper we examine the problem of entering sensitive data, such as passwords, from an untrusted machine. By untrusted we mean that it is suspected to be infected with spyware which snoops on the user?s activity. Using such a machine is obviously undesirable, and yet roaming users often have no choice. They are in no position to judge the security status of internet cafe, airport lounge or business center machines. Either malice or negligence on the part of an administrator means that any such machine can easily be running a keylogger. The roaming user has no reliable way of determining whether it is safe, and has no alternative to typing the password. We consider whether it is possible to enter data to confound spyware assumed to be running on the machine in question. The difficulty of mounting a collusion attack on a single user?s password makes the problem more tractable than it might appear. We explore several approaches. In the first, we show how the user can embed a password in random keystrokes to confuse spyware, while leaving the actual login unaffected. In the second we employ a proxy server to strip random keys. In the third we again employ a proxy that inverts a key mapping performed by the user. We examine also several potential attacks.
A COMPARISON OF NATURALLY AND ARTIFICIALLY AROUSED IMPULSES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NERVE BLOCKS

1. Natural impulses in the phrenic, as well as impulses set up artificially, can be arrested by an electrical (tripolar) block and by freezing mixtures, especially by liquid air. 2. With but one exception, the same strength of block was required for natural impulses as for impulses set up by very weak electrical stimuli. 3. As has been previously shown by other observers, the phrenic nerve is a mixed nerve containing both afferent and efferent fibres. This is definitely proved by stimulating the nerves centrally to a block and thus causing a change in the rate and force of contraction of the opposite slip of the diaphragm.
Constrained Complexity Generalized Context-Tree Algorithms

In this paper, we present a generalization of the context tree weighting algorithm that can address limitations imposed by the tree structure of traditional context-tree algorithms. By allowing a more general graphical structure, we demonstrate how a greatly increased class of models can be compactly represented using a context graph. Furthermore, through a judicious choice of this context graph, we show that a modified version of the weighting algorithm exists with computational complexity that remains linear in the context-graph depth. Although we present this method specifically in the context of universal prediction and focus on a particular context graph, the method is generally applicable and can be used to trade off algorithmic complexity with modeling power.
Reactive oxygen intermediates induce monocyte chemotactic protein-1 in vascular endothelium after brief ischemia.

Chemokine expression is associated with reperfusion of infarcted myocardium in the setting of tissue necrosis, intense inflammation, and inflammatory cytokine release. The specific synthesis of monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 mRNA by cardiac venules in reperfused infarcts corresponded to the region where leukocytes normally localize. MCP-1 could be induced by exogenous tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α or by postischemic cardiac lymph containing TNF-α. However, the release of TNF-α during early reperfusion did not explain the venular localization of MCP-1 induction. To better understand the factors mediating MCP-1 induction, we examined the role of ischemia/reperfusion in a model of brief coronary occlusion in which no necrosis or inflammatory response is seen. Adult mongrel dogs were subjected to 15 minutes of coronary occlusion and 5 hours of reperfusion. Ribonuclease protection assay revealed up-regulation of MCP-1 mRNA only in ischemic segments of reperfused canine myocardium. Pretreatment with the reactive oxygen scavenger N -(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine completely inhibited MCP-1 induction. In situ hybridization localized MCP-1 message to small venular endothelium in ischemic areas without myocyte necrosis. Gel shift analysis of nuclear extracts from the ischemic area showed enhanced DNA binding of the transcription factors AP-1 and nuclear factor (NF)-κB, crucial for MCP-1 expression, in ischemic myocardial regions. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated reperfusion-dependent nuclear translocation of c-Jun and NF-κB (p65) in small venular endothelium, only in the ischemic regions of the myocardium, that was inhibited by N -(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine. In vitro, treatment of cultured canine jugular vein endothelial cells with the reactive oxygen intermediate H 2 O 2 induced a concentration-dependent increase in MCP-1 mRNA levels, which was inhibited by the antioxidant N -acetyl-l-cysteine, a precursor of glutathione, but not pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, an inhibitor of NF-κB and activator of AP-1. In contrast to our studies with infarction, incubation of canine jugular vein endothelial cells with postischemic cardiac lymph did not induce MCP-1 mRNA expression suggesting the absence of cytokine-mediated MCP-1 induction after a sublethal ischemic period. These results suggest that reactive oxygen intermediate generation, after a brief ischemic episode, is capable of inducing MCP-1 expression in venular endothelium through AP-1 and NF-κB. Short periods of ischemia/reperfusion, insufficient to produce a myocardial infarction, induce MCP-1 expression, potentially mediating angiogenesis in the ischemic noninfarcted heart.
Ruin problems with compounding assets

Abstract We consider a generalization of the classical model of collective risk theory. It is assumed that the cumulative income of a firm is given by a process X with stationary independent increments, and that interest is earned continuously on the firm's assets. Then Y ( t ), the assets of the firm at time t , can be represented by a simple path-wise integral with respect to the income process X . A general characterization is obtained for the probability r ( y ) that assets will ever fall to zero when the initial asset level is y (the probability of ruin). From this we obtain a general upper bound for r ( y ), a general solution for the case where X has no negative jumps, and explicit formulas for three particular examples. In addition, an approximation theorem is proved using the weak convergence theory for stochastic processes. This shows that if the income process is well approximated by Brownian motion with drift, then the assets process Y is well approximated by a certain diffusion process Y ∗ , and r(y) is well approximated by a corresponding first passage probability r ∗ (y) . The diffusion Y ∗ , which we call compounding Brownian motion, is closely related to the classical Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.
Experimental verification of lipid bilayer structure through multi-scale modeling.

Abstract Great progress has been made in applying coarse-grain molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations to the investigation of membrane biophysics. In order to validate the accuracy of CGMD simulations of membranes, atomistic scale detail is necessary for direct comparison to structural experiments. Here, we present our strategy for verifying CGMD lipid bilayer simulations. Through reverse coarse graining and subsequent calculation of the bilayer electron density profile, we are able to compare the simulations to our experimental low angle X-ray scattering (LAXS) data. In order to determine the best match to the experimental data, atomistic simulations are run at a range of areas (in the NPNAT ensemble), starting from distinct configurations extracted from the CGMD simulation (run in the NPT ensemble). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this procedure with two small, single-component bilayers, and suggest that the greater utility of our algorithm will be for CGMD simulations of more complex structures.
Using RE-AIM Metrics to Evaluate Diabetes Self-Management Support Interventions

Background Current healthcare evidence relies on relatively narrow efficacy data to make decisions about program impact. This paper illustrates the application of impact indices derived from the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework that takes a broader perspective and includes issues important to decision makers, such as reach, adoption, and cost. Methods Composite RE-AIM indices that summarize impact and cost efficiency at the individual participant and setting levels are used to compare two different diabetes self-management support approaches. One study, the Diabetes Priority (DP) program, involved 886 diabetes patients from 30 primary care offices, and relied on usual clinical staff for program implementation. The other study, Diabetes Health Connection (DHC), involved 335 diabetes patients in both HMO and fee-for-service settings, and used health education staff. Results The DP performed better on the setting-level impact index, but the programs produced similar results on individual-level impact. The DP had a greater reach (50% vs 38%); was more effective at the initial follow-up (median effect size [ES]=0.23 vs 0.17); and had greater impact consistency across various populations. The DHC performed better on several indices, including higher physician office adoption (20% vs 6%) and staff adoption (79% vs 70%), and there was less variability among intervention staff on protocol implementation (median ES=0.0 vs 0.50). Conclusions Greater use of indices focused on public health and external validity criteria could help identify programs most likely to have a meaningful impact on population health and to fit local settings and priorities.
Arbitrary pattern shaping for wideband signals

A pattern synthesis technique for wideband uniformly spaced linear or planar weighted arrays is developed. The synthesis approach is based on modeling the array as a maximum entropy filter and imposing a spatial spectrum which is chosen so as to obtain a desired radiation pattern. The weights are then adjusted to approximate the desired pattern by the actual one. The main attractions of the proposed method are: the design procedure is very simple and is given in a closed-form solution; any pattern shape (under the constraint of a finite array) can be easily designed; and the resultant pattern is guaranteed to have the best fit to the desired pattern. >
Optimal Subcarrier-Chunk Scheduling for OFDM Systems

In practical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, subcarriers are grouped into chunks and a chunk of subcarriers is regarded as the minimum unit for subcarrier allocation. We consider the optimal chunk assignment that maximizes a utility function of average user rates for a wireless OFDM system under different power control policies. It is shown that the optimal schemes adopt a greedy structure. Novel low-complexity algorithms are developed to approach the optimal strategies without a-priori knowledge of statistics of the intended wireless channels. Numerical results are provided to gauge the performance of the proposed schemes.
Antibacterial activity and phytochemical profile of fermented Camellia sinensis (fuzhuan tea)

Abstract Fuzhuan tea is a traditional preparation of Camellia sinensis L. (Theaceae) from Hunan, China, that is fermented with the fungus Eurotium cristatum. Metabolomic analysis was performed on fuzhuan tea extracts and compared to extracts of non-fermented green teas using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-ToF-MS). Principal component analysis revealed a unique phytochemical profile between the two types of tea with the largest separation visible along the third principle component, which accounted for 12.4% of dataset variation. Spectral comparison of significantly different tea metabolite features allowed tentative identification of flavonoids including catechins, fatty acid amides, and other lipids and polysaccharides. Fuzhuan tea extracts, at a concentration of 5 mg/mL or less, reduced the growth of enteric pathogens Shigella sonnei and Staphylococcus aureus by 50%, and had a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.625 mg/mL against S. aureus. These results support a distinct phytochemical profile associated with fermented fuzhuan tea compared to non-fermented green teas that warrant further investigation for novel compounds with antimicrobial bioactivity.
Transductive learning algorithms for nonstationary environments

Many traditional supervised machine learning approaches, either on-line or batch based, assume that data are sampled from a fixed yet unknown source distribution. Most incremental learning algorithms also make the same assumption, even though new data are presented over periods of time. Yet, many real-world problems are characterized by data whose distribution change over time, which implies that a classifier may no longer be reliable on future data, a problem commonly referred to as concept drift or learning in nonstationary environments. The issue is further complicated when the problem requires prediction from data obtained at a future time step, for which the labels are not yet available. In this work, we present a transductive learning methodology that uses probabilistic models to aid in computing ensemble classifier voting weights. Assuming the drift is limited in nature, the proposed approach exploits a probabilistic estimate to determine the class responsibility of components in a Gaussian mixture model (GMM), generated from labeled and unlabeled data. A general error bound is provided based on the ensemble decision, the probabilistic estimate of the GMM, and the true labeling function, which, unfortunately is never actually known.
cot1: A regulator of Arabidopsis trichome initiation

In Arabidopsis, the timing and spatial arrangement of trichome initiation is tightly regulated and requires the activity of the GLABROUS1 (GL1) gene. The COTYLEDON TRICHOME 1 (COT1) gene affects trichome initiation during late stages of leaf development and is described in this article. In the wild-type background, cot1 has no observable effect on trichome initiation. GL1 overexpression in wild-type plants leads to a modest number of ectopic trichomes and to a decrease in trichome number on the adaxial leaf surface. The cot1 mutation enhances GL1-overexpression-dependent ectopic trichome formation and also induces increased leaf trichome initiation. The expressivity of the cot1 phenotype is sensitive to cot1 and 35S::GL1 gene dosage, and the most severe phenotypes are observed when cot1 and 35S::GL1 are homozygous. The COT1 locus is located on chromosome 2 15.3 cM north of er. Analysis of the interaction between cot1, try, and 35S::GL1 suggests that COT1 is part of a complex signal transduction pathway that regulates GL1-dependent adoption of the trichome cell fate.
Random Time-Modulation of the Main Bang for Increased Accuracy in Digital Range Measurement

Because of its conceptual simplicity, random modulation of the main bang is an attractive solution to the resolution problem in digital ranging. The accuracy of such a scheme in the presence of gate jitter has been analyzed in this paper and the results show that it can effectively reduce the resolution error.
Adaptive image representation with segmented orthogonal matching pursuit

In this paper a novel algorithm for adaptive signal expansion is presented. Here the main concern is to efficiently represent the natural images and audio signals. These signals are one or two dimensional signals with unknown or time-varying characteristics. For this type of signal, linear expansion with a fixed set of basis functions is not flexible enough to represent the data with the desired degree of sparseness. We introduce a new algorithm called segmented orthogonal matching pursuit (SOMP). Our experimental results show that the SOMP algorithm is more suitable than the existing signal expansion algorithms for efficient representation of audio and visual information.
Regular Consumption of Nuts Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women with Type 2 Diabetes

Higher nut consumption has been associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in several epidemiologic studies. The study examined the association between intake of nuts and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a cohort of women with type 2 diabetes. For the primary analysis, there were 6309 women with type 2 diabetes who completed a validated FFQ every 2–4 y between 1980 and 2002 and were without CVD or cancer at study entry. Major CVD events included incident myocardial infarction (MI), revascularization, and stroke. During 54,656 person-years of follow-up, there were 452 CHD events (including MI and revascularization) and 182 incident stroke cases. Frequent nut and peanut butter consumption was inversely associated with total CVD risk in age-adjusted analyses. After adjustment for conventional CVD risk factors, consumption of at least 5 servings/wk of nuts or peanut butter [serving size, 28 g (1 ounce) for nuts and 16 g (1 tablespoon) for peanut butter] was significantly associated with a lower risk of CVD (relative risk = 0.56; 95% CI: 0.36–0.89). Furthermore, when we evaluated plasma lipid and inflammatory biomarkers, we observed that increasing nut consumption was significantly associated with a more favorable plasma lipid profile, including lower LDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and apolipoprotein-B-100 concentrations. However, we did not observe significant associations for HDL cholesterol or inflammatory markers. These data suggest that frequent nut and peanut butter consumption is associated with a significantly lower CVD risk in women with type 2 diabetes.
Structuring the Classroom for Performance: Cooperative Learning with Instructor-Assigned Teams.

The main concern is a longstanding one in classroom instruction—the determinants of effective team performance. The paper explicitly examines the effect of teacher-controlled factors on the use and functioning of student teams. From a sample of 500 undergraduate students, data are obtained on aptitude, diversity, instability, motivation, personality style, size, and performance. The regression results suggest that team motivation and instability, which are both partly controlled by the instructor, are particularly important in determining a team's performance. An implication is that instructor decisions about team make-up and incentives can have a significant impact on student achievement.
Ladder polyether synthesis via epoxide-opening cascades using a disappearing directing group.

The combination of a trimethylsilyl group, a Bronsted base, a fluoride source, and a hydroxylic solvent enables the first construction of the tetrad of tetrahydropyran rings found in the majority of the ladder polyether natural products by way of a cascade of epoxide-opening events that emulates the final step of Nakanishi's proposed biosynthetic pathway. The trimethylsilyl group disappears during the course of the cascade, and thus these are the first epoxide ring-opening cascades that afford ladder polyether subunits containing no directing groups at the end of the cascade.
The HLA System: Genetics, Immunology, Clinical Testing, and Clinical Implications

The human major histocompatibility complex HLA is located on the short arm of chromosome 6. It is known to be the most polymorphic genetic system in humans. The biological role of the HLA class I and class II molecules is to present processed peptide antigens. The HLA system is clinically important as transplantation antigens. Molecular HLA allele typing is routinely performed to provide HLA class I and class II allele matching in unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Prospective lymphocyte crossmatching is critical in solid organ transplantation to prevent allograft rejection. HLA alloimmunization causes various problems in transfusion therapy. The HLA system is associated with certain diseases, but its underlying mechanisms are not yet fully explained.
Markerless View-Independent Registration of Multiple Distorted Projectors on Extruded Surfaces Using an Uncalibrated Camera

In this paper, we present the first algorithm to geometrically register multiple projectors in a view-independent manner (i.e. wallpapered) on a common type of curved surface, vertically extruded surface, using an uncalibrated camera without attaching any obtrusive markers to the display screen. Further, it can also tolerate large non-linear geometric distortions in the projectors as is common when mounting short throw lenses to allow a compact set-up. Our registration achieves sub-pixel accuracy on a large number of different vertically extruded surfaces and the image correction to achieve this registration can be run in real time on the GPU. This simple markerless registration has the potential to have a large impact on easy set-up and maintenance of large curved multi-projector displays, common for visualization, edutainment, training and simulation applications.
Multi-period Survey Forecasts Of Business Investment: Is There Room For Improvement?

The ASA-NBER multiperiod survey forecasts of business investment are compared with univariate forecasts to assess predictive information content. In general, the survey forecasts fail to be unbiased, and, none fully exploit the information in the past history of business investment. Interestingly, however, they contain predictive information on other relevant (quantitative or qualitative) variables. Combined forecasts of survey and univariate models score significant improvements over either, suggesting their potential usefulness in policy-making.
Douglas-Fir Beetle Infestations Are Associated with Certain Rock and Stand Types in the Inland Northwestern United States

Abstract Landscape-level geographic analysis was used to examine the occurrence of Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in association with geology (rock type) and forest stand types on the Panhandle National Forests of northern Idaho and northeastern Washington from 1996 to 1999. Beetle infestations occurred most often in mature stands comprised primarily of trees ≥23 cm in diameter at breast height (≈1.4 m), in habitat types likely to contain Douglas-fir. Douglas-fir stands growing on Prichard and lower Wallace formation metasedimentary rocks and intrusive dikes and sills were significantly more likely than Douglas-fir stands growing on other rock types to harbor beetle populations during nonoutbreak years early in the study period. By 1999 (when outbreak populations of Douglas-fir beetle were present), beetle infestations occurred across all rock types at rates proportional to the amount of stand area on those rocks, indicating a decrease in infestation rates for stands on particu...
Investigation of Fast Pyrolysis of Brassica Carinata in an Auger Type Reactor

Fast pyrolysis is one method of creating bio-oil from biomass such as native prairie grasses, corn stover, and other organic commercial and industrial byproducts. In this study, fast pyrolysis of Brassica carinata meal, or simply carinata meal, was performed in an auger-type reactor. The bio-oil produced in the reactor was collected and analyzed to determine the effects of reactor and condenser temperatures on the properties of the bio-oil produced. Five reactor temperatures and two condenser temperatures were investigated in this research. The rheological properties of the bio-oil samples were analyzed, water content was determined with the Karl Fisher method, energy content was measured with a bomb calorimeter, and acidity was determined using a total acid titration test. The aging characteristics of the bio-oil were also investigated at seven days, fourteen days, and twenty-eight days after the oil was created to determine what effect, if any, time had on the its properties. Preliminary results indicate that any reactor temperature above 500°C produces bio-oils of similar composition, although with changes in yield. In addition, the short-term aging results of the bio-oils have shown insignificant changes in total acid number, water content, and energy content.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Synthesis and Electronic Properties of Single-Crystalline Indium Nitride Nanowires

InN nanowires were synthesized and characterized using a variety of techniques. A two-zone chemical vapor deposition technique was employed to operate the vapor generation and the nanowire growth at differential temperatures, leading to high-quality products and growth rates as high as 4–10 μm/hour. The as-grown nanowires showed highly single-crystalline structures and precisely controlled diameters by using monodispersed gold clusters as the catalyst. Devices consisting of single nanowires have been fabricated to explore their electronic transport properties. The temperature dependence of the conductance revealed thermal emission as the dominating transport mechanism.
Latent customer needs elicitation for big-data analysis of online product reviews

Traditional customer needs elicitation methods are often time and cost consuming due to the linguistic analysis of customer needs. Furthermore, many of them are unable to identify latent customer needs, such as interviews and focus groups. This paper proposes a new paradigm of customer needs elicitation based on sentiment analysis of individual product attributes of online product reviews. Support vector machines are used to build prediction models built on the features extracted from a list of affective lexicons based on affective norms for English words and WordNet. The proposed method is able to compile sentiment information on individual product attributes. Such information greatly facilitates the process to elicit customer needs, especially latent ones. We also present a case study to show the potential and feasibility of the proposed method.
Taxpayer Civil Penalty Protection: Long Term Capital Holdings and Its Wake

The civil penalty protection provisions of the Internal Revenue Code are a taxpayer’s last line of defense when the Internal Revenue Service seeks to punish the taxpayer. This Article examines the evolution of legislative, administrative, and judicial attitudes toward penalizing taxpayers and predicts that, if current trends continue unabated, the penalty protection that taxpayers now receive from relying on the advice of their tax advisors will be effectively eliminated in many cases. Because the district court’s decision to impose substantial penalties on the taxpayers in Long Term Capital Holdings v. United States was well publicized and came at a critical juncture in that evolution, the case and its wake provide a useful framework for understanding those legislative, administrative, and judicial trends and evaluating their potential future impact. Although the district court’s opinion of the aggressive tax planning employed in that case was ultimately approved on appeal, several of the bases for its decision to deny penalty protection represented significant departures from pre-existing, taxpayer-friendly case law in this area, were arguably misguided, and could discourage taxpayers considering less controversial tax planning. Fortunately, those bases have not been widely adopted in subsequent cases. Nevertheless, the persistence of pro-penalty legislative and administrative trends in Long Term Capital Holdings’ wake suggests that many taxpayers may ultimately be prevented from relying on outside tax advisors for protection from penalties when their attempts to properly apply our increasingly intricate tax laws to complicated business transactions go awry.
Vertical Structure of Internal Modes in Stratified Flows

An analytic solution of the linearized two-dimensional equations for stably stratified flows driven by a surface shear stress which is periodic in the horizontal direction, and in time, is developed. The solution is based on the assumptions of a fluid with infinite Prandtl number and a linear thermal stratification which is constant in each horizontal plane. The analytic solution is used to examine the joint effect of the viscosity value, the frequency of the driving force and the intensity of the stratification on the vertical structure of the internal modes. It is shown that as the viscosity value increases, the formation of higher-order modes is prohibited. The validity of the assumptions of the analytic solution is tested by comparing it with numerical solutions of the same problem.
Phase transition and water incorporation into Eu2Sn2O7 pyrochlore at high pressure

Abstract Structural changes of europium stannate pyrochlore, Eu 2 Sn 2 O 7 , have been investigated at high pressures with in situ Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), and synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The XRD measurements suggest that a pressure-induced phase transition starts at 34.4 GPa. The PL spectrum from Eu 3+ cations also suggests a phase transition above 36 GPa. XRD analysis shows that the unit cell of the cubic phase deviates from the equation of state at pressures above 23.8 GPa. This is due to the incorporation of water from the pressure medium in the structure at high pressures, which is confirmed by optical spectroscopy measurements.
Morphology selection via geometric frustration in chiral filament bundles

Geometric frustration selects the equilibrium morphology of cohesive bundles of chiral filaments by controlling the relative costs of filament bending and the straining of the cohesive bonds.
A Two-Temperature Model for the Analysis of Passive Thermal Control Systems for Electronics

Passive control of unsteady thermal loads using phase change materials is being explored for a variety of military and consumer electronics applications. The phase change materials usually have very low thermal conductivity. To enhance the thermal response of the system, thermal conductivity enhancers like metal foams, internal fins and metal filler particles have been proposed. Local thermal equilibrium between the solid matrix and the fluid is not ensured in such systems since the thermal conductivities and heat capacities for the fluid and solid are very different. The use of a single volume-averaged energy equation for both the phases cannot be justified in such situations. A two-medium approach is developed in the present work to account for the local thermal non-equilibrium. Separate energy equations are written for the solid and fluid respectively, and are closed using a steady-state interstitial heat transfer coefficient between the two phases. A general momentum equation which includes the Brinkman-Forchheimer extension to Darcy flow is employed. The resulting equations are solved using a finite volume scheme. The influence of various parameters such as the ratios of fluid to solid conductivities and heat capacities, porosity, Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, and Darcy number on the thermal and flow fields is investigated. The importance of using a two-medium approach for such situations is illustrated using the results obtained.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Trace metal content of hair. II. Cadmium and lead of human hair in relation to age and sex.

Cadmium and lead content of hair of males and females was found to he age-dependent. Regression analysis showed two male groups with respect to cadmium, namely those under and those over 12 years of age, while the data revealed only one male group with respect to lead. Analysis of the data also indicated that hair cadmium distribution for females delineated one group below, and one above, 50 years. Females showed hair lead which fell into two groups, one below and the other above 30 years of age. Cadmium and lead in the hair of both sexes showed a high degree of association of the metals (r= 0.4052 (P = .001) for males and r = 0.2563 (P = .02) for females). The data indicate that comparisons of metallic content of hair in humans must be limited to a narrow age range and to one sex.
Correlation Between Network Topological Index and Volatility of Shanghai Stock Market

Taking stocks and the correlation between stocks as network nodes and edge respectively,the network of Shanghai stock market was constructed by minimum spanning tree( MST). The basic topological index of network was calculated. And then the correlation between these indexes and stock market volatility was analyzed. The results showthat there is a negative correlation between average path length of network and market volatility when market volatility is higher,distances between nodes are shorter,network contraction is closer; and there is a negative correlation between mean occupation layer and market volatility when the market volatility increases,nodes in the network close to the center node; and there is a positive correlation between the maximum number of links and market volatility when market volatility is higher,connection between the network nodes is strengthener,the co-movement tendency is reinforced.The volatility changing in the stock market is forecasted by analyzing the changing lawof topological index of stock network.
Construction of a novel bifunctional biogenic amine receptor by two point mutations of the H2-histamine receptor.

H2-histamine receptors mediate a wide range of physiological functions extending from stimulation of gastric acid secretion to induction of human promyelocyte differentiation. We have previously cloned the H2-histamine receptor gene and noted that only three amino acids on the receptor were sufficient to define its specificity and selectivity. Despite only modest overall amino acid homology (34% amino acid identity and 57.5% similarity) between the H2-histamine receptor and the receptor for another monoamine, the β2-adrenergic receptor, there is remarkable similarity at their critical ligand binding sites. We hypothesized that, if the specificity and selectivity of both receptors are invested in just three amino acids, it should be possible to convert one of the receptors into one that recognizes the ligand of the other by simple mutations at only one or two sites. We explored the effect of two single mutations in the fifth transmembrane domain of the H2-histamine receptor, which encompasses the sites that determine H2 selectivity. The canine H2 receptor gene was mutated at Asp186 and Gly187 (Asp186 to Ala186 and Gly187 to Ser187) by oligonuceotide directed mutagenesis. The coding region of both the wild-type and mutated H2 receptors was subcloned into the eukaryotic expression vector, CMVneo, and stably transfected into Hepa cells and L cells. The biological activity of histamine and epinephrine on the expressed receptor was examined by measurement of cellular cAMP production and inositol trisphosphate formation. Hepa cells transfected with the Ala186-Ser187 mutant H2 receptor demonstrated a biphasic rise in cAMP in response to epinephrine with an early phase (ED50 ≈10−11 M) that could be inhibited by both propranolol and cimetidine. Epinephrine also induced IP3 generation in the same cells, a biological response that is characteristic of activation of the wild-type H2 but not of the β-adrenergic receptor. L cells transfected with the Ala186-Ser187 mutant H2 receptor also responded to epinephrine in a cimetidine and propranolol inhibitable manner. We converted the H2-histamine receptor into a bifunctional one that has characteristics of both histamine and adrenergic receptors by two simple mutations. These results support the hypothesis that ligand specificity is determined by only a few key points on a receptor regardless of the structure of the remainder of the molecule. Our studies have important implications on the design of pharmacological agents targeted for action at physiological receptors.
Basic and clinical psychopharmacology of nicotine

Nicotine acts on nearly every physiological system of the human body. While the actions of nicotine on the autonomic nervous system may be of interest in understanding possible deleterious long-term effects of smoking on the cardiovascular system, the actions of nicotine on the central nervous system are of the most interest in understanding why people smoke. Many studies of the effects of nicotine on human cognitive function have been performed. Improvement in attention, learning, reaction time, and problem solving have been reported. However, most of the results are inconclusive owing to methodologic problems. Whether the enhanced performance observed after smoking is attributable to relief of symptoms of abstinence or to a primary effect of nicotine on the brain is not clear. The pharmacodynamic effects of nicotine must be considered in the design of studies of the effects of nicotine on human performance. It is not known if the effects of nicotine on performance are subject to tolerance. The facilitation of performance, perceived as a reinforcement, may tend to lessen throughout the day, as do other effects of nicotine. Studies of chronic tolerance to the behavioral effects of nicotine are needed; comparisons between regular smokers and occasional smokers may be helpful. At present, the facilitatory actions of nicotine on human performance have been explained in terms of arousal. However, nicotine actions cannot be explained in terms of this single concept. Different processes, including attention, stimulus evaluation, and response selection, appear to be involved in the effect of nicotine on human information processing. Finally, one must consider that the predominant effects of nicotine may differ among individuals, as different people smoke for different reasons, and the motives for (rewards of) smoking may vary in different situations.
An Empirical IR Frequency Map for Ester C═O Stretching Vibrations

We present an approach for parametrizing spectroscopic maps of carbonyl groups against experimental IR absorption spectra. The model correlates electric fields sampled from molecular dynamics simulations with vibrational frequencies and line shapes in different solvents. We perform an exhaustive search of parameter combinations and optimize the parameter values for the ester carbonyl stretching mode in ethyl acetate by comparing to experimental FTIR spectra of the small molecule in eight different solvents of varying polarities. Hydrogen-bonding solvents require that the peaks are fit independently for each hydrogen bond ensemble to compensate for improper sampling in molecular dynamics simulations. Spectra simulated using the optimized electrostatic map reproduce C═O IR absorption spectra of ethyl acetate with a line center RMSD error of 4.9 cm–1 over 12 different solvents whose measured line centers span a 45 cm–1 range. In combination with molecular dynamics simulations, this spectroscopic map will be ...