cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CDF-II and B physics

Abstract This paper reports on the CDF-II B physics goals and new detector systems presently being built for Run-II of the Tevatron collider in the year 2000. The B physics goals are focused towards observing and studying CP violation and B s flavor oscillations. Estimates of expected performance are reported. The new detector systems described are: the 5-layer 3-D silicon vertex detector, the intermedia silicon tracking layers, the central tracking drift chamber, muon system upgrades, and a proposed time-of-flight system.
Anxiety-like behavior of mice produced by conditional central expression of the HIV-1 regulatory protein, Tat

Rationale Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with substantial increases in generalized anxiety. The HIV regulatory protein, transactivator of transcription (Tat), has been implicated in the neuropathogenesis related to HIV-1 infection. However, direct examination of the effect of Tat on behavioral measures of anxiety has not been demonstrated.
Philosophy and Theory in the Study of Gifted Children.

Philosophers in the Western tradition have, as a rule, not devoted systematic attention to children. However, a recent book, The Philosopher's Child: Critical Essays in the Western Tradition (Turner & Matthews, 1998), demonstrates that many important philosophers have discussed children in ways which are profound and illuminating with regard to children in general and gifted children in particular. This article examines a pair of positions by diverse philosophers—the ancient Stoics and the contemporary moral and political philosopher John Rawls—and shows the relevance of their disagreement concerning the way children develop morally. The position produced from this disagreement, duly developed, is then applied to two generally accepted features of giftedness, the sensitivity to justice (and injustice) as well as the frequently intense desire for perfection. The point of this application is not to suggest that the conclusions drawn from the philosophers are necessarily true, but only to show the fertile gr...
The Safety of Aquaflor (50% Florfenicol) Administered in Feed to Fingerling Yellow Perch

Abstract Aquaflor is an aquaculture feed premix containing 50% florfenicol and is approved for use in more than 50 countries to control mortality in a variety of cultured fishes caused by diseases associated with infectious bacterial pathogens. As part of an effort to expand the current approval in the United States, we conducted a study to evaluate the safety of Aquaflor to Yellow Perch Perca flavescens when administered in feed at 0× (0 mg/kg), 1× (15 mg/kg), 3× (45 mg/kg), or 5× (75 mg/kg) the proposed maximum therapeutic treatment dose of 15 mg florfenicol·kg fish−1·d−1 for 20 consecutive days, 2× the proposed therapeutic treatment duration of 10 consecutive days. Fingerling Yellow Perch (7.8 ± 1.6 cm and 5.0 ± 3.4 g; mean ± SD) were stocked into flow-through test tanks at 15 fish per tank, and treatments were randomly assigned to tanks in triplicate. At the end of the 20-d exposure period, mean cumulative mortality in the 0× and 3× groups (6.7% for both) was greater than that in the 1× and 5× groups ...
Protease activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) mediated platelet aggregation is dependant on clopidogrel response

Introduction Clopidogrel inhibits ADP mediated platelet aggregation through inhibition of the P2Y12 receptor by its active metabolite. Thrombin induces platelet aggregation by binding to protease activated receptor-1 (PAR-1), and inhibition of PAR-1 has been evaluated in patients treated with clopidogrel to reduce ischemic events after acute coronary syndromes. Residual PAR-1 mediated platelet aggregation may be dependent on extent of clopidogrel response.
A MOLECULAR DYNAMICS STUDY OF NICKEL VAPOR DEPOSITION: TEMPERATURE, INCIDENT ANGLE, AND ADATOM ENERGY EFFECTS

Abstract The morphology and microstructure of metallic thin films synthesized by physical vapor deposition are known to be sensitive functions of the incident flux, its angular distribution and kinetic energy as well as the substrate temperature. Using an embedded atom method to represent the interatomic interactions, two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted to identify the role of these variables upon vacancy formation and surface morphology evolution during nickel deposition. The results reveal the existence of a critical incident angle above which mono-vacancies and vacancy clusters/voids are created by atomic shadowing. Increasing the substrate temperature and the adatom kinetic energy in the 0.1–2.0 eV range significantly reduces vacancy formation. Time lapse analyses have been used to identify the atomic mechanisms for this. They indicate that low defect concentration films can be synthesized at low temperatures by increasing the adatom kinetic energy to a few eV. A simple empirical model is proposed to relate the vacancy concentration to the controllable process conditions.
Double-curvature surfaces in mirror system design

The use in mirror system design of double-curvature surfaces such as sections of toroids or ellipsoids is discussed. Four design examples are presented that illustrate how double-curvature surfaces could be used to advantage in mirror system design.
Patient Predictors of Irregular Discharge from Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment

The authors conducted a controlled cohort study to determine the characteristics of patients irregularly discharged from inpatient substance-abuse treatment and to derive and validate an instrument to predict such early discharge. The sample was 220 subjects (110 consecutive patients who were discharged early and 110 matched control patients) admitted to a voluntary substance abuse treatmentunit of a general hospital. Structured chart audits were used to collect demographic and clinical data. Hierarchical logistic regression identified only three predictors of irregular discharge: predominant heroin use, failure to complete high school, and age younger than 30 years. These three items were used to derive and validate an instrument for predicting completion of treatment. Readily available information on age, education, and psychoactive substance history is useful in identifying the risk of early discharge from inpatient substance abuse treatment.
Product Diversification and Market Value of Large International Firms: A Macroenvironmental Perspective:

Abstract Drawing on a strategic fit perspective in international marketing, this study explores how macroenvironmental factors—cultural dimensions and globalization forces—affect the relationship between product diversification and market value of large international firms. The author hypothesizes that (1) the four dimensions of culture (individualism–collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity–femininity) significantly affect product diversification and (2) economic and social globalization positively moderate the relationship between product diversification and market value of large international firms. The author empirically examines the hypothesized relationships using a sample of 485 firm-year observations from 17 countries for the period between 2006 and 2009. Using the hierarchical linear modeling technique, the author demonstrates that firms in countries with cultures characterized by high uncertainty avoidance and low power distance have a higher degree of product diversi...
Tissue Plasminogen Activator and Its Receptor in the Human Amnion, Chorion, and Decidua at Preterm and Term

The plasminogen activator system consists of two proteins: tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), which act upon their specific receptors to generate plasmin from plasminogen located on the cell surface. Plasmin then acts directly and indirectly to degrade the components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This process is likely to be important in the normal turnover of the ECM of fetal membranes and in its premature weakening in preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes. Quantitative Northern analysis and in situ hybridization have shown that the decidua expresses mRNA for tPA. However, the immunolocalized tPA protein was most strongly associated with the amnion and chorion, as was its receptor annexin II, suggesting that the amnion and chorion are the targets for decidual tPA. At term, decidual tPA expression was unaffected by labor, and the tPA receptor was elevated both before and after labor. At preterm, the converse was found: decidual tPA expression was significantly (p < 0. 05) up-regulated by labor, but the tPA receptor was not. The results suggest that the generation of plasmin at term would be controlled by an increased concentration of the tPA receptor in the amnion and chorion, whereas at preterm a pathological increase in plasmin would be generated by an overexpression of tPA, initiated by labor.
Human-Robot Interaction for Cooperative Manipulation: Handing Objects to One Another

For manipulation tasks, the transfer of objects between humans and robots is a fundamental way to coordinate activity and cooperatively perform useful work. Within this paper we demonstrate that robots and people can effectively and intuitively work together by directly handing objects to one another. First, we present experimental results that demonstrate that subjects without explicit instructions or robotics expertise can successfully hand objects to a robot and take objects from a robot in response to reaching gestures. Moreover, when handing an object to the robot, subjects control the object's position and orientation to match the configuration of the robot's hand, thereby simplifying robotic grasping and offering opportunities to simplify the manipulation task. Second, we present a robotic application that relies on this form of human-robot interaction. This application enables a humanoid robot to help a user place objects on a shelf, perform bimanual insertion tasks, and hold a box within which the user can place objects. By handing appropriate objects to the robot, the human directly and intuitively controls the robot. Through this interaction, the human and robot complement one another's abilities and work together to achieve results.
ATP- and Cytosol-dependent Release of Adaptor Proteins from Clathrin-coated Vesicles: A Dual Role for Hsc70

Clathrin-coated vesicles (CCV) mediate protein sorting and vesicular trafficking from the plasma membrane and the trans-Golgi network. Before delivery of the vesicle contents to the target organelles, the coat components, clathrin and adaptor protein complexes (APs), must be released. Previous work has established that hsc70/the uncoating ATPase mediates clathrin release in vitro without the release of APs. AP release has not been reconstituted in vitro, and nothing is known about the requirements for this reaction. We report a novel quantitative assay for the ATP- and cytosol- dependent release of APs from CCV. As expected, hsc70 is not sufficient for AP release; however, immunodepletion and reconstitution experiments establish that it is necessary. Interestingly, complete clathrin release is not a prerequisite for AP release, suggesting that hsc70 plays a dual role in recycling the constituents of the clathrin coat. This assay provides a functional basis for identification of the additional cytosolic factor(s) required for AP release.
The distribution of biogenic thiols in surface waters of Galveston Bay

Thiolic compounds are important metal-complexing ligands as well as important components of the global sulfur biogeochemical cycle. A lack of information on the concentration and distribution of thiols in natural waters, especially in the dissolved fraction, is still a major impediment to a complete understanding of the role of thiols in these biogeochemical processes. The concentrations of dissolved, colloidal, and particulate thiols were measured along a salinity gradient in estuarine waters off of Galveston Bay, Texas. The majority of thiols were present in the dissolved fraction, although more thiolic species were detected in the particulate phase. Dissolved glutathione was present at higher concentrations (0.23 to 6.23 nM) than was the particulate glutathione (0.094 to 0.72 nM). Most g-glutamylcysteine was present in the particulate phase, with concentrations as high as 2.24 nM in the middle of the estuary. Phytochelatin-2 was ubiquitous in surface waters, with chlorophyll a‐normalized concentrations of up to 6.3 mmol g Chl a 21 . A major thiol peak was present in Lower Galveston Bay and a minor peak in Upper Galveston Bay, and in both regions, 5‐6 mol of g-glutamylcysteine were produced per mole of glutathione. This bimodal distribution indicates in situ production of thiols from two different phytoplankton communities in Galveston Bay during this period.
Managing sensor network configuration and metadata in ocean observatories using instrument pucks

Cabled observatories, such as MARS or the regional scale cabled observatory system planned for in the NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), consist of many deployed instruments that communicate with human operators and shore-side data repositories. In addition, these deployed devices may actually communicate with one another, facilitating capabilities such as autonomous event response. These potentially complex interactions between multiple entities - human and machine - require that knowledge of the system configuration be available to participants. Users of instrument data require information - metadata - about the sensor that generated the data. Software that coordinates and controls instruments requires access to the software interfaces of those devices. "Manual configuration" has been used on small-scale systems, but in a network consisting of hundreds or thousands of instruments, the configuration challenge becomes critical. We propose to address the problem through automation of the configuration process; which will be achieved at several levels. Automated configuration will simplify the system operator's task of building and maintaining the observatory network. We describe a small, low-powered information storage device that we call a "instrument puck". When plugged into a suitable computer (lab workstation, deployed observing node), information can be written to or read from the puck. While an instrument is being prepared for initial integration into observatory, a technician "loads" a puck with information necessary to configure the instrument within the observatory, and then physically attaches the puck to its instrument. Thereafter the attached puck always travels with its instrument, no matter where it is being installed in the observing network. The information loaded into the puck encompasses whatever is necessary to enable automatic configuration and system integration of the instrument when it is plugged into the observatory network, and any other information required by observatory policies. This information may include structured descriptions of the instrument's sensor and data characteristics (metadata). The information can also include actual software code that is retrieved from the puck and executed by an observatory node when the device is plugged in; this code could implement distributed instrument control and data retrieval interfaces, allowing network-wide access to the instrument functionality. We believe the puck concept to be a powerful one, a given instrument puck is configured just once; enabling automatic configuration of its instrument no matter it is installed on the network thereafter. We also describe mechanisms by which an instrument and its puck can be "discovered" by the observatory network when the devices are plugged in. Several approaches are explored, with varying degrees of automation. We evaluate these approaches with special consideration to electrical and safety aspects of the undersea environment. Information and results from our prototyping efforts are also presented.
Reduction of Patient Anxiety in PET/CT Imaging by Improving Communication Between Patient and Technologist

Patients experience anxiety during imaging procedures because of the confined space, uncertainty about the procedure, worry about the results, and other concerns. When a patient experiences anxiety during PET/CT imaging, the quality of the scan can be affected in several ways. Current patient–technologist communication is limited in PET/CT because the technologist must be separated from the patient during the course of the imaging workflow. This study investigated the use of a call device enabling rapid communication to reduce patient anxiety. Methods: Clinical patients with various oncologic indications and undergoing 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging were asked to participate in anxiety surveys under several conditions. Metrics were tracked regarding the survey results for comparison between groups and survey conditions. During the course of this study, 2 patient surveys were used. One of the patient populations was asked to fill out a survey on personal perceptions of the use of such a device, with questions related to their comfort with the device and the degree to which they perceived the device to reduce their anxiety. The 2 remaining populations were given a standard Spielberger State Anxiety survey for anxiety assessments against control populations. Results: Perception survey results indicated that 75% of the respondents experienced a reduction in anxiety and that 84% would request this type of device for other procedures. A correlation was observed between improved patient–technologist communication and perceived feelings of safety, with identical percentages of positive responses. Although responses were mostly positive, 18.8% did not perceive any reduction in anxiety, and the same number indicated they would not use the system in the future. For those patients given the standard Spielberger State Anxiety survey, a statistically significant reduction in anxiety was observed (P , 0.05) in those patients given a call device. Reductions in anxiety were observed for all patient populations, including first-time and repeated-imaging patients. Conclusion: Patient anxiety can be reduced through the use of a tangible device that improves communication between the patient and the imaging staff. Reducing anxiety may have a positive effect on imaging, because involuntary motion may be reduced and there may be improvement in the patients’ comfort and in their overall experience with the imaging procedure.
Sterilization Decision Making Among Medically At-Risk Obese Pregnant Women:

In this article, we describe a study using a qualitative, naturalistic grounded theory design to explore sterilization decision making by pregnant obese women. Semistructured interviews of women who intended to undergo sterilization at the time of delivery were conducted in the third trimester of pregnancy (n = 15) and again postpartum (n = 11). The decision for sterilization was based on personal criteria for family composition and the nature of each woman's relationship with her partner. The process of decision making began with developing a personal comfort with cessation of childbearing, followed by social confirmation, informing the provider, and then awaiting the procedure. Sterilization was seen as reversible, despite a desire for "something permanent." Obesity was rarely viewed as related to any part of the decision for or against sterilization, and was rarely discussed by providers. Participants made sterilization decisions in their personal and social contexts, and then shared the decision with their providers, whom they often perceived as challenging that decision.
Reducing the global burden of childhood unintentional injuries

Among 1-19-year olds, unintentional injuries accounted for 12% of 5.1 million global deaths from injuries in 2010. Despite this high burden, childhood injuries have not received much attention in global health. This paper describes the major causes of deaths from childhood unintentional injuries and provides a review of interventions for reducing this burden. About 627,741 deaths were due to unintentional injuries in 2010 among 1-19-year olds. The proportionate mortality increased with age-from 12.6% among 1-4-year olds to 28.8% among 15-19-year olds. Deaths from Western sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia accounted for more than 50% of all deaths. Rates in these regions are 68.0 and 36.4 per 100 000 population, respectively, compared to 6.4 in Western Europe. Road traffic injuries (RTI) are the commonest cause of death, followed by deaths from drowning, burns and falls. Male children are more predisposed to unintentional injuries except for burns which occur more frequently among females in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Effective solutions exist--including barriers for preventing drowning; safer stoves for burns; child restraint systems for RTI--but the effectiveness of these measures need to be rigorously tested in LMICs. The general lack of a coordinated global response to the burden of childhood unintentional injuries is of concern. The global community must create stronger coalitions and national or local plans for action. Death rates for this paper may have been underestimated, and there is need for longitudinal studies to accurately measure the impact of injuries in LMICs.
Mast cell-dependent control of Giardia lamblia infections in mice.

Mast cells are important for protective immunity to intestinal helminth infections and as mediators of allergic disease. Their role in protozoan infections is less well described. We have therefore analyzed mast cell responses and parasite control in mice infected with the protozoan Giardia lamblia. We also measured immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses to the parasite, as IgA can have a protective role in this model. c-kitw/wv mice failed to make parasite-specific IgA, mount a mast cell response, or eliminate the infection. Anti-c-kit-treated C57BL/6 mice had normal IgA responses, lacked mast cell responses, had reduced interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA in the small intestine, and failed to control the infection within 10 days. IL-9-deficient mice had a significant but reduced mast cell response and still controlled the infection within 2 weeks. Interestingly, IL-6-deficient mice had enhanced mast cell responses yet failed to rapidly control the infection. However, prevention of mast cell responses in IL-6-deficient mice by anti-c-kit treatment did not lead to parasite elimination. Both IL-6- and IL-9-deficient mice had normal IgA production. IL-6-deficient mice had significant serum levels of mast cell mediators, histamine and mast cell protease 1, following infection. Together, these results show that mast cells are important for the rapid control of Giardia infections in mice. Furthermore, they show that IL-6 is not necessary for these mast cell responses. Instead, they suggest that mast cell production of IL-6 appears to be important for control of this infection.
Towards Computing Ratcheting and Training in Superconducting Magnets

The Superconducting Magnet Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has been developing 3D finite element models to predict the behavior of high field Nb3Sn superconducting magnets. The models track the coil response during assembly, cool-down, and excitation, with particular interest on displacements when frictional forces arise. As Lorentz forces were cycled, irreversible displacements were computed and compared with strain gauge measurements. Additional analysis was done on the local frictional energy released during magnet excitation, and the resulting temperature rise. Magnet quenching and training was correlated to the level of energy release during such mechanical displacements under frictional forces. We report in this paper the computational results of the ratcheting process, the impact of friction, and the path-dependent energy release leading to a computed magnet training curve.
Selective Weighted Voting in the UN General Assembly: Rationale and Methods

This article presents some alternative proposals for moderating the most extreme effects of the one-state, one-vote rule in the UN General Assembly by the selective application of weighted voting. Included is a brief summary of some results of an empirical analysis of General Assembly decision making that pointed to the kinds of decisions for which weighting is recommended. Several proposed formulas and the weights which result from them are more fully described and illustrated because of their novelty and their sometimes unexpected effects.
Metal–organic Kagome lattices M3(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaiminotriphenylene)2 (M = Ni and Cu): from semiconducting to metallic by metal substitution

Motivated by recent experimental synthesis of a semiconducting metal–organic graphene analogue (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 8859), i.e., Ni3(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaiminotriphenylene)2 [Ni3(HITP)2], a new Kagome lattice, Cu3(HITP)2, is designed by substituting the coordination of Ni by Cu. Such substitution results in interesting changes in electronic properties of the M3(HITP)2 bulk and two-dimensional (2D) sheets. In Ni3(HITP)2, each Ni atom adopts the dsp2 hybridization, forming a perfect 2D conjugation, whereas in Cu3(HITP)2, each Cu atom adopts the sp3 hybridization, resulting in a distorted 2D sheet. The M3(HITP)2 bulks, assembled from M3(HITP)2 sheets via both strong π–π interaction and weak metal–metal interaction, are metallic. However, the 2D Ni3(HITP)2 sheet is a semiconductor with a narrow band gap whereas the 2D Cu3(HITP)2 sheet is a metal. Remarkably, both the 2D M3(HITP)2 Kagome lattices possess Dirac bands in the vicinity of the Fermi level. Additional ab initio molecular dynamics simulations show that both sheets exhibit high thermal stability at elevated temperatures. Our theoretical study offers new insights into tunability of electronic properties for the 2D metal–organic frameworks (MOFs).
The Recycling Folded Cascode: A General Enhancement of the Folded Cascode Amplifier

A recycling amplifier architecture based on the folded cascode transconductance amplifier is described. The proposed amplifier delivers an appreciably enhanced performance over that of the conventional folded. This is achieved by using previously idle devices in the signal path, which results in an enhanced transconductance, gain, and slew rate. Moreover, the input referred noise and offset analyses are included to demonstrate that the proposed modifications have no adverse effects on these design metrics. Transistor-level simulations and experimental results in TSMC 0.18 mum CMOS process confirm the theoretical results. When compared to the conventional folded cascode, and for the same area and power budgets, the proposed amplifier has almost twice the bandwidth (134.2 MHz versus 70.7 MHz) and better than twice the slew rate (94.1 V/mus versus 42.1 V/mus) while driving the same 5.6 pF load. Also a gain enhancement of 7.6 dB is observed.
Benefits of Perfusion MR Imaging Relative to Diffusion MR Imaging in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hyperacute Stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The development of thrombolytic agents for use with compromised cerebral blood flow has made it critical to quickly identify those patients to best treat. We hypothesized that combined diffusion and perfusion MR imaging adds vital diagnostic value for patients for whom the greatest potential benefits exist and far exceeds the diagnostic value of diffusion MR imaging alone. METHODS: The cases of patients with neurologic symptoms of acute ischemic stroke who underwent ultra-fast emergent MR imaging within 6 hours were reviewed. In all cases, automatic processing yielded isotropic diffusion images and perfusion time-to-peak maps. Images with large vessel distribution ischemia and with mismatched perfusion abnormalities were correlated with patient records. All follow-up images were reviewed and compared with outcomes resulting from hyperacute therapies. RESULTS: For 16 (26%) of 62 patients, hypoperfusion was the best MR imaging evidence of disease distribution, and for 15 of the 16, hypoperfusion (not abnormal diffusion) comprised the only imaging evidence for disease involving large vessels. For seven patients, diffusion imaging findings were entirely normal, and for nine, diffusion imaging delineated abnormal signal in either small vessel distributions or in a notably smaller cortical branch in one case. In all cases, perfusion maps were predictive of eventual lesions, as confirmed by angiography, CT, or subsequent MR imaging. CONCLUSION: If only diffusion MR imaging is used in assessing patients with hyperacute stroke, nearly one quarter of the cases may be incorrectly categorized with respect to the distribution of ischemic at-risk tissue. Addition of perfusion information further enables better categorizing of vascular distribution to allow the best selection among therapeutic options and to improve patient outcomes.
A general auto-associative memory model

This paper attempts to establish a theory for a general auto-associative memory model. We start by defining a new concept called supporting function to replace the concept of energy function. The latter relies on an assumption of symmetric connection weights, which is used in the conventional Hopfield auto-associative memory, but not evidenced in any biological memories. We then formulate the information retrieval or recalling process as a dynamic system by making use of the supporting function, explore its stability and attraction conditions, and develop an algorithm for learning the attraction condition based upon Rosenblatt's perceptron rule. The effectiveness of the learning algorithm is evidenced by some outstanding experiment results.
Wall Shear Stress and Pressure Distribution on Aneurysms and Infundibulae in the Posterior Communicating Artery Bifurcation

A growing number of cases of rupture at an infundibulum, progression of infundibulum to a frank aneurysm, and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in the posterior communicating artery (PCoA) have been reported. Using patient-specific geometric models of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA) with PCoA infundibulum or aneurysm, high-resolution computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with a spectral/hp element method. Simulation results show that the flow impinges at the distal wall of infundibulum near the outside of the ICA bend and creates a region of higher pressure (4-5 mmHg) surrounded by a band of a high wall shear stress (WSS) (20-30 N/m(2) on average). At the proximal end of the infundibulum, another stagnation area is formed characterized by low WSS (<1 N/m(2)) and high oscillating shear index. This impingement region seems to coincide with the locations of the rupture of infundibulae or progression to aneurysms. In addition, the pulsatile flow becomes unstable due to the presence of aneurysms or aneurysm-like infundibulae, and this leads to WSS temporal fluctuations inside the aneurysm, which may accelerate the degenerative processes in the vessel walls.
Virtual in-situ calibration method in building systems

Abstract Sensors play an important role in guiding building systems to achieve desired operation and efficiency. However, sensors are subject to continuous degradation and failures over time. Although a periodical calibration is needed, it is exceptionally difficult and/or impractical to many sensors with a conventional manual approach. Uncalibrated problematic sensors could significantly compromise the systems' performance and lead to unintended loss of energy efficiency in buildings. We propose a methodology, termed virtual in-situ calibration, to solve this critical issue. It is developed by mathematically extracting the characteristics of essential aspects involved in a calibration, including the environment assessment, benchmark establishment, and uncertainty quantification. A case study of a supply air temperature sensor in rooftop units illustrates the implementation process; the erratic uncertainty is reduced from ± 19.2 °C to ± 0.7 °C after the virtual in-situ calibration. The calibration method can be implemented online to significantly improve the reliability of sensor networks in buildings.
Inhibition of human lymphocyte cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases by the chlorinated adenosine analog DTA-35.

AbstractHuman (E†)-T-lymphocytes have multiple cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activities, some of which are markedly inhibited by the chlorinated adenosine derivative 9-(3′,5′-dichloro-2′,3′,5′-trideoxy-β-D-rtreo-pentofuranosyl)adenine (DTA-35).
Comparing development approaches and reuse strategies

ContextThere is a debate in the aerospace industry whether lessons from reuse successes and failures in nonembedded software can be applied to embedded software. Reuse supposedly reduces development time and errors. The aerospace industry was an early advocate of reuse, but in Aerospace, not all reuse experiences have been as successful as expected. Some major projects experienced large overruns in time, budget, as well as inferior performance, at least in part, due to the gap between reuse expectations and reuse outcomes. This seemed to be especially the case for embedded systems. ObjectiveOur goal is to discover software reuse practices in the aerospace industry. In particular, we wish to learn whether practitioners who develop embedded systems use the same development approaches and artifacts as software practitioners who develop nonembedded systems. We wish to learn whether reuse influences selection of development approaches and artifacts and whether outcomes are impacted. MethodWe developed a survey given to software practitioners in a major Aerospace Corporation developing either embedded or nonembedded systems. The survey probed to identify development methods used, artifacts reused and outcomes resulting from the reuse. We used qualitative and quantitative methods such as descriptive statistics, MANOVA, Principle Component Analysis and an analysis of freeform comments to compare reuse practices between embedded systems and nonembedded systems development. ResultsWe found that embedded systems were more likely to include component based development, product line development and model based development in their development approach, whereas nonembedded systems were more likely to include Ad Hoc and COTS/GOTS in their development approach. Embedded systems developers tended to reuse more and different reuse artifacts. ConclusionWe found that, while outcomes were nearly identical, the development approaches and artifacts used did, in fact, differ. In particular, the tight coupling between code and the platform in embedded systems often dictated the development approach and reuse artifacts and identified some of the reasons.
Fault interactions and triggering during the 10 January 2012 Mw 7.2 Sumatra earthquake

The 10 January 2012 Mw 7.2 Sumatra earthquake in the Wharton basin occurred 3 months before the great Mw 8.6 and Mw 8.2 earthquakes in the same region, which had complex ruptures and are the largest strike-slip earthquakes ever recorded. Teleseismic P wave back projection of the Mw 7.2 earthquake images a unilateral rupture lasting ∼40 s without observable frequency dependency (low frequency, 0.05–0.3 Hz, high frequency, 0.3–1 Hz). In addition to radiation bursts during the Mw 7.2 main shock, coherent energy releases from 50 to 75 s and from 100 to 125 s are observed about 143 km northeast of the main shock rupture and landward of the trench. Analysis of globally recorded P waves, in both 0.02–0.05 Hz velocity records and 1–5 Hz stacked envelope functions, confirms the presence of coherent sources during the time windows. The observed energy bursts are likely to be large early aftershocks occurring on or near the subduction interface. Both dynamic and static triggering could have induced these early aftershocks, as they initiated after the surface wave passed by, and the Coulomb stress perturbations from the Mw 7.2 main shock promote earthquakes in the observed locations. The earthquake sequence is a clear example of a seaward-intraplate strike-slip earthquake triggering landward-intraplate earthquakes in the same region, in contrast to previously reported normal-reverse or reverse-normal interactions at subduction zones.
Autoethnography in Health Research Growing Pains

Autoethnography is gaining acceptance as a legitimate research method in health science research. The growing volume of published autoethnographies is indicative of this trend. After discussing the methodological tenents of this qualitative research method and its compatibility with health-related research, the author illustrates this trend with examples of published autoethnogrpahic books, theses, and journal articles. While celebrating the potential of autoethnography as a suitable health research method, the author critiques dominatly descriptive and evocative illness self-narratives that may evoke emontionally compelling responses from readers but offer insufficient sociocultural insights about the illness phenomenon. To identify a “desirable” autoethnography that provides not only a “thick description” of personal experiences but also a sociocultural interpration of such experiences, the author recommends both creators and consumers of autoethnography to ask five evaluative questions: (1) Does the au...
A Comprehensive Approach to Cataloging Missile Aerodynamic Performance Using Surrogate Modeling Techniques and Statistical Learning

A fundamental understanding of the aerodynamics of missile systems is foundational to missile system engineering. For many systems, the Mach number and angle of attack range can cover both attached and separated flows with and without interference from upstream artifacts through subsonic, transonic, supersonic and, occasionally hypersonic flight conditions. Wind Tunnel tests, flight tests, and computational fluid dynamics are all used in an effort to both fundamentally discover the nature of fluid flow around missile systems and to enable the reliable prediction of the integrated aerodynamic characteristics, which is critical to the dynamic simulation of missile system performance. In this paper, we develop a multivariable function approximation approach, using statistical learning techniques, such as, projection pursuit regression, neural networks and multivariate nonlinear regression, in support of rapid characterization of the aerodynamic characteristics of missile systems and show that it is a viable alternative to existing fast predictor methods.
Drafting the NRA Code of Fair Competition for the Bituminous Coal Industry

D URING the summer and fall of 1933 the fledgling National Recovery Administration engaged in a tumultuous battle with the bituminous coal operators to draft its industrial Code of Fair Competition. The tiring, seemingly endless negotiations consumed three months, involved the NRA director, General Hugh S. Johnson, personally more than those for any other industry, and forced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to intervene time after time. Beginning his talks with the coal operators before the Recovery Act was passed in June, Johnson had to pull "every conceivable wire" before he could present the President with a code in mid-September. Shortly after Roosevelt signed the code, Johnson proclaimed it the NRA's "greatest achievement." He maintained that the coal fracas had been the NRA's "hardest fight," a sentiment echoed by the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, which called it the "most difficult problem yet to be faced by the NRA."' In the midst of the struggle, a leading operator informed the government that it was physically impossible to draft a single code for the sprawling industry. Yet over the summer by cajoling and bargaining, swapping and haggling, the NRA won the operators' agreement to a coal code. When the fight ended, the New Republic noted that getting the coal operators to agree "to anything at all is a triumph."2
New Hipparcos-based Parallaxes for 424 Faint Stars

We present a catalog of 424 common proper-motion companions to Hipparcos stars with good (>3 σ) parallaxes, thereby effectively providing new parallaxes for these companions. Compared with typical stars in the Hipparcos catalog, these stars are substantially dimmer. The catalog includes 20 white dwarfs and an additional 29 stars with MV > 14, the great majority of the latter being M dwarfs.
Modified People: Indicators of a Body Modification Subculture in a Post-Subculture World

This article contributes to the debate on the relevance of subculture as a theoretical concept for understanding groups in contemporary Western societies. Utilising data from a virtual ethnography of body modifiers, the article challenges the dominance of post-subcultural approaches. The body modification subculture discussed in this article has not only formed along socioeconomic lines, it has developed alternative work opportunities that enable and promote continued involvement in the subculture beyond one’s youth. While scenes and (neo-)tribes maintain their relevance for scholars investigating groups with a more temporary nature, the data presented herein show that subcultures did not vanish as society transitioned from post-War to postmodernity.
A unified approach to ent-atisane diterpenes and related alkaloids: synthesis of (-)-methyl atisenoate, (-)-isoatisine, and the hetidine skeleton.

A unified approach to ent-atisane diterpenes and related atisine and hetidine alkaloids has been developed from ent-kaurane (−)-steviol (1). The conversion of the ent-kaurane skeleton to the ent-atisane skeleton features a Mukaiyama peroxygenation with concomitant cleavage of the C13–C16 bond. Conversion to the atisine skeleton (9) features a C20-selective C–H activation using a Suarez modification of the Hofmann–Loffler–Freytag (HLF) reaction. A cascade sequence involving azomethine ylide isomerization followed by Mannich cyclization forms the C14–C20 bond in the hetidine skeleton (8). Finally, attempts to form the N–C6 bond of the hetisine skeleton (7) with a late-stage HLF reaction are discussed. The synthesis of these skeletons has enabled the completion of (−)-methyl atisenoate (3) and (−)-isoatisine (4).
Brain-Wide Insulin Resistance, Tau Phosphorylation Changes, and Hippocampal Neprilysin and Amyloid-β Alterations in a Monkey Model of Type 1 Diabetes.

Epidemiological findings suggest that diabetic individuals are at a greater risk for developing Alzheimer9s disease (AD). To examine the mechanisms by which diabetes mellitus (DM) may contribute to AD pathology in humans, we examined brain tissue from streptozotocin-treated type 1 diabetic adult male vervet monkeys receiving twice-daily exogenous insulin injections for 8–20 weeks. We found greater inhibitory phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 in each brain region examined of the diabetic monkeys when compared with controls, consistent with a pattern of brain insulin resistance that is similar to that reported in the human AD brain. Additionally, a widespread increase in phosphorylated tau was seen, including brain areas vulnerable in AD, as well as relatively spared structures, such as the cerebellum. An increase in active ERK1/2 was also detected, consistent with DM leading to changes in tau-kinase activity broadly within the brain. In contrast to these widespread changes, we found an increase in soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) levels that was restricted to the temporal lobe, with the greatest increase seen in the hippocampus. Consistent with this localized Aβ increase, a hippocampus-restricted decrease in the protein and mRNA for the Aβ-degrading enzyme neprilysin (NEP) was found, whereas various Aβ-clearing and -degrading proteins were unchanged. Thus, we document multiple biochemical changes in the insulin-controlled DM monkey brain that can link DM with the risk of developing AD, including dysregulation of the insulin-signaling pathway, changes in tau phosphorylation, and a decrease in NEP expression in the hippocampus that is coupled with a localized increase in Aβ. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Given that diabetes mellitus (DM) appears to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer9s disease (AD), understanding the mechanisms by which DM promotes AD is important. We report that DM in a nonhuman primate brain leads to changes in the levels or posttranslational processing of proteins central to AD pathobiology, including tau, amyloid-β (Aβ), and the Aβ-degrading protease neprilysin. Additional evidence from this model suggests that alterations in brain insulin signaling occurred that are reminiscent of insulin signaling pathway changes seen in human AD. Thus, in an in vivo model highly relevant to humans, we show multiple alterations in the brain resulting from DM that are mechanistically linked to AD risk.
“I Know What Them Girls Like”: A Rhetorical Analysis of Thug Appeal in Rap Lyrics

Rap music, once associated with low-income urban communities, has become a staple in contemporary pop culture extending globally beyond the ghettos, and projects from where it began. Along with the...
The rate of adenocarcinoma in endoscopically removed colorectal polyps.

The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of cancer in a modern series of colorectal polyps. All pathology reports from colon and rectal polyps from 1999 to 2002 were reviewed. Reports of bowel resections, cancer-free polyps, and polyp-free mucosal biopsies were excluded. Polyps were grouped by size, and the rate of adenocarcinoma was determined. x2 was used for analysis. A total of 4,443 polyps were found, of which 3,225 were adenomatous [2,883 (89.4%) tubular adenomas, 399 (9.3%) tubulo-villous adenomas, 32 (1.0%) villous adenomas, and 11 (0.3%) carcinomas]. The rate of adenocarcinoma by size was 0.07 per cent for polyps 2 cm, representing significantly fewer cancers for each category of polyp size than the accepted standard. The rate of carcinoma in colon polyps is much lower than previously thought and currently stated in many texts. These data do not alter the recommendations for polyp removal, however, failure to retrieve a specimen in a polyp <1 cm in size is unlikely to have an adverse outcome because the chances of malignancy are very low.
The Genetic Landscape of β-Cell Proliferation: Toward a Road Map.

β-Cell failure underlies much of the pathogenesis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and restoring β-cell mass, for example by stimulating proliferation, has been an active area of investigation. β-Cells are generally, although not universally, quiescent. Numerous studies have documented the low but nonzero replicative capacity of both rodent and human β-cells (1,2). Further, in adult rodent models, it appears that β-cell proliferation can occur in response to injury (3), nutrients (4), or pregnancy (5,6). In humans, the matter may be more complicated, with many pathways under consideration (7). Therefore, understanding what regulates β-cell proliferation could have important implications for regenerative medicine, as the mechanisms underlying this process may lead to new avenues for therapeutic intervention. Gene-expression profiling of β-cells has been challenging because islets comprise a heterogeneous cell population. Early efforts profiled intact islets without regard to cell type; for example, Affymetrix profiling of islets from pregnant mice (8,9) pointed to pathways potentially responsible for the proliferative response during pregnancy. For the most part, such a strategy is reasonable in rodent islets as they are typically composed of >80% β-cells. In human islets, however, β-cells barely make up 50% of the population. Transcriptomic analysis of individual cell types in the human islet, based on sorting cells by …
Unfermented and Fermented Cocoa Extracts as Inhibitors of Pancreatic α-Amylase, α-Glucosidase, and Pancreatic Lipase

Fermentation and roasting of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) decrease levels of flavan-3-ols, which may aid in prevention of obesity and type-2 diabetes. Our objective was to determine the impact of fermen...