cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A test platform for real-time waveform and impedance optimization in microwave radar systems

A test platform has been constructed at Baylor University to develop methods of simultaneous waveform and circuit optimization for cognitive radar. The ultimate goal of this work is to allow on-chip, simultaneous optimization of the waveform and the load impedance of the transmitter power amplifier from an FPGA cognitive-radio platform. The test bed includes a vector signal generator, load-pull tuners, a DC power supply, a power meter, and a spectrum analyzer, all controllable by MATLAB. The power meter and DC power supply are used to measure the power efficiency of the device under test, while the spectrum analyzer can be used to assess the spectral spreading, and hence linearity, of the device, through measurement of adjacent-channel power ratio or other means. Computationally intelligent routines for both load-impedance and waveform optimization will be created and evaluated using the test bed.
Masculinity and the mic: confronting the uneven geography of hip-hop

This article explores the uneven gendered geographies of rap music. It argues that Black men's blocked access to culturally dominant masculinity, vis-a-vis access to public space – and the resulting containment of Black men within Black communities – has produced an overly compensatory form of masculinity, for which access to and control of the public domain within Black communities is essential for access to hegemonic masculinity. Rapidly declining economic opportunity has meant that young Black men thrown out of work put their talents, time, and energy into an emerging youth culture brewing in parks, on street corners, train stations, and viaducts in places such as the South Bronx. The early innovators of the hip-hop movement used this new art form to remake the public space of the abandoned, segregated, and spatially disempowered Black neighborhoods they lived in. It was in this context that the link between masculinity and rap music was established. I conclude by providing an example of how Black wome...
Dilator-Associated Complications of Central Vein Catheter Insertion: Possible Mechanisms of Injury and Suggestions for Prevention

This report discusses different types of dilators used in central line insertion, describes the mechanisms of injury, and proposes guidelines tor safer dilator insertion and improvements in dilator design.* CASE 1 A double-lumen hemodialysls catheter was inserted in an 84-year-old woman with a history of congestive heart failure and renal failure. The anterior approach to the right internal jugular vein (RIJV) at the apex of the triangle formed by the sternocleidomastoid muscle was chosen. The RIJV was entered with the 18-gauge introducer needle and penetrated to a depth of 2 to 3 cm. Dark nonpulsatile blood return was noted. The guidewire was passed smoothly through the needle. A small incision was made around the guidewire with a scalpel. The 12F dilator was passed over the guldewlre to its full extent (about 19 cm) and then withdrawn. The catheter was then inserted over the wire, and blood return was obtained from both ports. Ten minutes after the procedure, the patient complained of respiratory distress and immediately went into cardiac arrest (pulseless electrical actwity). During intubation and resuscitation, a right-side chest tube was inserted, and it drained more than 700 mL of blood A chest radiograph showed that the dialysis catheter was in place in the superior vena cava (SVC), well above the right atrium. It *The authors did not xdentlfy manufacturers by name To their knowledge, all of the currently available central hne kits suffer from dilator design flaws.
Thrombolytic Therapy in Acute Stroke

Purpose:To report the safety and efficacy of local, direct, intra-arterial and intravenous fibrinolysis treatment in selected cases of clinically symptomatic patients with acute occlusion of the in...
FLT3-ITD Knockin Impairs Hematopoietic Stem Cell Quiescence/Homeostasis, Leading to Myeloproliferative Neoplasm

Internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations within the FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) render the receptor constitutively active driving proliferation and survival in leukemic blasts. Expression of FLT3-ITD from the endogenous promoter in a murine knockin model results in progenitor expansion and a myeloproliferative neoplasm. In this study, we show that this expansion begins with overproliferation within a compartment of normally quiescent long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs), which become rapidly depleted. This depletion is reversible upon treatment with the small molecule inhibitor Sorafenib, which also ablates the disease. Although the normal LT-HSC has been defined as FLT3(-) by flow cytometric detection, we demonstrate that FLT3 is capable of playing a role within this compartment by examining the effects of constitutively activated FLT3-ITD. This indicates an important link between stem cell quiescence/homeostasis and myeloproliferative disease while also giving novel insight into the emergence of FLT3-ITD mutations in the evolution of leukemic transformation.
The role of asset testing in public health insurance reform

Abstract Starting slowly with the 1996 Welfare Reform Act and culminating in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, means-tested public health insurance eligibility expanded to include adults in low-income families regardless of their asset holdings. This paper quantifies the effects of these eligibility expansions within the context of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. I construct a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with indivisible labor supply expanded to include an endogenous household choice of health insurance coverage and calibrate it to U.S. data. I establish that changes in the distribution of labor and welfare associated with removal of asset testing are driven by exit of high productivity and high wealth households from the labor market. I then expand my analysis to the 2010 Affordable Care Act to demonstrate that removal of asset testing is critical to the obtained results even when combined with other provisions of the Act. Finally, I find that a simple asset test for eligibility of health insurance transfers undoes the distortion to the household labor supply decision among high productivity types. These results are robust to the introduction of employer premium contributions, an independent health insurance market, and idiosyncratic shocks to eligibility for employment-based health insurance.
Are Blogs Here to Stay?: An Examination of the Longevity and Currency of a Static List of Library and Information Science Weblogs

The chronological entries in Weblogs or blogs record musings, opinions, news or other information supplied by individuals or groups. The nature of blogs is ephemeral in that the content is closely tied to the time period of the posting. The author examines the library and information science blogs listed on Susan Herzog’s “BlogBib: Select Librarian/Library Blogs” to see if they were being updated thirteen months after Herzog stopped maintaining the Web site.1 Active, inactive, ceased, and blogs with changed URLs were recorded. Extra content was noted.
Prospective randomized study of Maloney esophageal dilation--blinded versus fluoroscopic guidance.

Controversy exists over the need for fluoroscopic guidance when performing Maloney esophageal dilation. This prospective randomized single-blinded study evaluated the safety and efficacy of blinded and fluoroscopic technique. A total of 162 dilations were performed in 43 patients with benign esophageal strictures referred for maintenance dilation, 88 randomized to blinded technique, and 74 to fluoroscopic guidance. Use of fluoroscopic guidance resulted in a higher rate of successful dilations than the blinded technique (96% vs. 80%, p
The hypolipidemic activity of N(4-methyl-phenyl)diphenimide in rodents

N(4-Methyl-phenyl)diphenimide afforded potent hypolipidemic activity in rodents. Serum cholesterol levels were reduced 67% and serum triglyceride were lowered 66% in rats by the drug after two weeks administration orally at 20 mg/kg/day. Rate limiting enzymes in the de novo synthesis of lipids in the liver were suppressed by the drug. Cholesterol was also removed from the body due to the drug accelerating bile excretion. Lipids removed from the blood compartment were not deposited in the organs of the body. VLDL and LDL cholesterol content was significantly reduced in rats treated with the drug with marked increase in HDL cholesterol after two weeks of administration. These data suggest that the drug may be useful in hyperlipidemic states and atherosclerosis in man, thus, further investigation of this class of chemicals is warranted.
Characterization of guided wave propagation with piezoelectric wafer actuators in prestressed plates

Plate-like aerospace engineering structures are prone to mechanical/residual load during flight operation. The mechanical/residual prestresses can cause significant changes in guided-wave (GW) propagation for structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. The paper focuses on the characterization of the GW propagation using surfacebonded piezoelectric wafer actuators in metallic spacecraft plates under prestresses. First, a new in-plane analytical model with coupled piezo-elastodynamics is proposed to quantitatively capture the dynamic load transfer between a thin piezoelectric actuator bonded onto an isotropic plate that is subject to prestresses. Based on the developed model, effects of prestresses on the GW propagation generated by piezoelectric actuators are then analyzed and demonstrated. It can be found that the both time-of-flight and amplitude of wave responses can be affected by the presence of prestresses in plates. The results hopefully provide useful information for the real-time SHM.
Effect of Cyclodextrins on Morphology and Barrier Characteristics of Isolated Rabbit Corneas

The objective of the present study is to investigate the confounding effects, if any, of beta-cyclodextrins (βCDs) on corneal permeability coefficients obtained from in vitro transmembrane diffusion studies. Transcorneal permeability studies were carried out with 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and randomly methylated-beta-cyclodextrin (RMβCD) at 5 and 2.5%w/v in isotonic phosphate-buffered solution (IPBS) (pH 7.4). Rabbit corneas received from Pel-Freez Biologicals® were used for these studies. Propranolol hydrochloride (PHCl) (1 mg/mL) was used as the paracellular permeability marker. A series of permeation studies were carried out with IPBS as the control, with CDs on the donor side only, CDs on the receiver side only, and CDs on both the donor and receiver sides. At the end of 1 or 3 h, corneas were collected and fixed using a solution containing 2%v/v glutaraldehyde + 2%w/v paraformaldehyde + IPBS and histological examinations were performed (Excalibur Pathology, Inc). The order of transcorneal permeability of PHCl was found to be CDs on the receiver side > control (no CDs) ≈ CDs on both the receiver and donor sides > CDs on the donor side. Histology studies revealed that the corneal epithelial and endothelial layers remained intact in the control sets. Damage to the cornea was observed in the order of CDs on the receiver side > CDs on the donor side > CDs on both sides > control. The use of CDs in solutions for in vitro permeation experiments with rabbit corneas needs to be carefully considered to avoid confounding effects in the data obtained.
The Exploitation of Autoimmune Disease: Breast Implant Litigation and Its Dire Implications for Women's Health

Men, women, and children are subject to a number of disease conditions that have been documented over many centuries. Among the most recently described and the least understood of these conditions are autoimmune diseases. As we unfortunately have seen in recent years, the obscure nature of autoimmune disorders has allowed scientific distortion by individuals who stand to profit by claiming a cause-and-effect relationship among some types of autoimmune conditions and a number of medical products, resulting in a rapidly expanding use of "junk science" in our courtrooms. Attempts have been made recently to implicate a number of environmental factors in the development of autoimmune disorders, most notably silicone gel-filled breast implants. The controversies surrounding these alleged relationships have proved to be among the most contentious, costly, and dangerous events ever to occur in women's health care.
Performance Trade‐offs in In Situ Chemostat NMR

Investigating cell cultures with NMR requires high cell densities to provide adequate signal-to-noise, or scans must be summed over long time periods and short-term events are lost. The mixing within a chemostat can be used to shorten the time required to acquire informative in situ NMR spectra from cell cultures. However, performance trade-offs can occur between net signal, spectral resolution, and oxygenation due to sampling volume, conductivity, gas bubble, and fluid flow effects. These trade-offs and the effect of different mixing regimes were theoretically analyzed to quantify how device design decisions impact performance. The results were found to concur with data from cell-free NMR experiments performed in 18 mS/cm conductivity medium. The results also guided the redesign of an NMR bioreactor in terms of relative radio frequency (rf) coil and sample dimensions and other factors. The design, which entails using chemostat mixing to shunt sample through a rf coil in ca. 0.4 s, provides adequate oxygenation for the 4-16% (v/v) cell suspensions examined. Gains realized include lower conductive losses, better magnetic field homogeneity, and the exclusion of gas bubbles from the sampling zone. These gains enable the acquistion of spectra from dilute (3-4% v/v) Saccharomyces cerevisiae chemostat cultures in 6.9 min with high resolution in both the orthophosphate and the beta-NTP regions. Samples with 16% (v/v) cells also yield useful spectra within 0.5-1.0 min.
Hydraphile synthetic ion channels alter root architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana

The presence of low concentrations of hydraphile synthetic amphiphiles have been found to dramatically alter the primary/lateral root architectural balance in the A. thaliana plant model system and a correlation to ion transport by the hydraphiles is consistent with the effects.
Congenital interruption of the ampullary portion of the fallopian tube.

We present a rare case of a congenital isolated missing segment of the fallopian tube, including hysterosalpingographic and laparoscopic images. We conclude that when this occurs without concomitant mullerian anomalies, the mechanism of development would not be expected to be associated with an increase in renal abnormalities.
A genetic algorithm for optimal design of an inflatable knee bolster

An inflatable knee bolster (IKB) is an inflatable airbag cushion deployed in the knee area in conjunction with the frontal airbags to reduce lower-leg injuries. It is conceivable that the IKB has potential to prevent severe lower-leg injuries. However, the effects of the IKB on occupant head and chest injuries are still unknown. This research investigates the effects of the IKB, and its interaction with other components of the occupant restraint system, on the occupant head and chest injuries, using a genetic algorithm (GA). One of the major challenges for the introduction of the IKB is that it may result in a significant increase in the number of possible discrete combinations, as the number of design parameters increase. GA works simultaneously on a population of designs based on the survival of the fittest. It has potential to obtain a global optimal design, and it gives more flexibility to engineering implementations because it provides multiple design solutions. The results demonstrate that the GA is a useful and applicable tool to optimize design configurations for a large-scale occupant simulation problem.
On the fractional statistics of excitations in doped spin liquid states

Abstract We study a generalized t-J model for lightly doped Mott insulators. The fractional statistics of both spinons and holons are discussed in a U(1) gauge theory. We explicitly derive the Chern-Simons term in the chiral spin liquid. The effective theory of holons is that of a charged scalar field coupled to a U(1) gauge field with a Chern-Simons term. We derive from the microscopic model, using the canonical quantization method, the anyon Hamiltonian of Fetter, Hanna and Laughlin.
Design of cross-point metal-oxide ReRAM emphasizing reliability and cost

Metal-Oxide Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM) technology is gaining popularity due to its superior write bandwidth, high density, and low operating power. An ReRAM array structure can be built with three different approaches: a traditional design with a dedicated access transistor (1T1R) or an access diode (1D1R) for each cell, or an intrinsic cross-point structure (0T1R), where the metal-oxide is directly sandwiched between the horizontal and vertical wires. Each of these different structures has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is a complicated process to perform a systematic comparison of delay, energy, area, and cost of one over others for a given cell parameters set and technology. In this paper, we analyze both advantages and disadvantages for ReRAM arrays built in 1T1R, 1D1R, and 0T1R structures. Based on the analysis, we propose a design flow and provides key insights into architectural tradeoffs. We do this in three stages: first, we use a matrix-based mathematical model to determine the optimal array size, read/write bandwidth, and other key characteristics. This acts as input to the second stage to explore the design space of ReRAM banks and the entire chip. Finally, we estimate the chip-level cost using the area, metal layers, pin count, and cooling requirements. Using the proposed model, we also present a case study in which we compare the energy, performance, and area of a 1D1R cross-point design and a 0T1R design, and show that the 1D1R structure is more promising for a cost-driven memory design.
Risperidone and Lorazepam Concomitant Use in Clonazepam Refractory Catatonia: A Case Report

The DSM-IV recognizes catatonia as a subtype of schizophrenia characterized by at least two of the following: motor immobility, excessive motor activity not influenced by external stimuli, and peculiarities of voluntary movement. Catatonia may also occur secondary to mania, depression, or a general medical condition including encephalitis, focal neurological lesions, metabolic disturbances, and drug intoxications and withdrawals. Benzodiazepines remain the first line of treatment; up to 80% of patients respond promptly to Lorazepam challenge; failure to respond to lorazepam may be followed by electroconvulsive therapy. Atypical antipsychotics may be a new alternative in the treatment of catatonia. Successful reduction of the catatonic symptoms has been demonstrated with atypical antipsychotics. A possible mechanism of action for the efficacy of this class of drugs involves the antagonism of the 5-HT2A receptor. We are now reporting a case of treatment response to risperidone in a patient with chronic catatonia resistant to benzodiazepines.
Tax subsidies, the rational demand for insurance and the health care crisis

Abstract An individual's optimal insurance coverage depends on balancing his gain through avoiding risk against his loss through the distortion of demand. The U.S. tax system subsidizes the purchase of excessive health insurance by excluding employer premium payments from employees' taxable incomes and by permitting the deduction of a portion of individual premiums. The current operational model of demand for health insurance shows that the tax subsidy does substantially increase insurance coverage. Since much of the rise in health care costs can be attributed to the growth of insurance, the tax subsidy is responsible for much of what is widely perceived as a health care crisis.
Polymer Coated Tin Oxide Nanowires for Improved Sensitivity of MEMS Chemical Sensors Based on Microbeams

MEMS mass sensors are an important field of study for chemical and biological sensing. We utilize the massive surface area to volume ratio of tin oxide nanowires to improve the sensing characteristics of resonant cantilever gas sensors. The nanowires are grown onto released silicon cantilevers via the vapor liquid solid method, a type of chemical vapor deposition. Through intelligent catalyst placement the nanowires are grown selectively onto predefined surfaces of the cantilever. The increased surface area of our nanowire coatings provides greatly increased active binding area for analytes, while high quality factors are still achieved with this method. Our experiments actively monitor the removal of a silane self assembled monolayer from the sensor surface. Current nanowire coated sensors show a tenfold increase in sensitivity when compared to the bare sensors. We have functionalized the nanowires with a variety of polymer coatings. These functionalized sensors also show a substantial increase in sensitivity to the analytes. By varying the polymer coating applied to the nanowires, a sensor array can be generated that achieves gas recognition while having incorporated the increased sensitivity of the nanowire coatings.© 2008 ASME
A requirement for ER-derived COPII vesicles in phagophore initiation

A major unanswered question in the field of autophagy is how the double-membrane phagophore is formed. As this membrane expands, it engulfs proteins and organelles that are destined for degradation and then seals to form an autophagosome. A growing consensus in the field is that a subdomain of the ER initiates formation of the phagophore. We show that ER-derived COPII-coated vesicles, which bud from a specialized domain of the ER called the ER exit site (ERES), are a source of this membrane. This finding will now pave the way for a biochemical description of the early steps of phagophore initiation.
Localization, superconducting fluctuations, and superconductivity in thin films and narrow wires of aluminum.

We report a comprehensive set of experiments on wide and narrow thin-film strips of aluminum which test the predictions of recent localization theory. The experiments on wide films in the two-dimensional regime confirm the theoretical predictions and also yield insight into inelastic mechanisms and spin-orbit scattering rates. Our extension of the existing theory for one-dimensional systems to include spin-orbit scattering and Maki-Thompson superconducting fluctuations is verified by the experiments. We find clear evidence for one-dimensional localization, with inferred inelastic rates identical to those in two-dimensional films. The prediction of the localization theory for a dimensional crossover from two-dimensional to one-dimensional behavior is also confirmed. We have reanalyzed the results of some previous experiments on thin films and narrow wires in light of these results.
Estimating electromyographic and heart rate fatigue thresholds from a single treadmill test.

Introduction: The purposes of this study were to (1) develop a fatigue threshold based on electromyography (EMG) and heart rate (HR) responses for treadmill running from a single incremental test; and (2) propose a new fatigue threshold called the RVEMGFT and RVHRFT. Methods: Eleven men performed incremental treadmill exercise to exhaustion on a single occasion. The RVEMGFT and RVHRFT were defined as the average of the highest velocity that resulted in a nonsignificant slope coefficient for the EMG amplitude versus time relationship and the lowest velocity that resulted in a significant positive slope coefficient. Results: There was a significant (P < 0.05) difference between the 2 thresholds [RVEMGFT = 11.7 ± 0.6 km/h and RVHRFT = 8.3 ± 0.8 km/h]. Conclusions: The fatigue threshold for EMG amplitude and heart rate can be determined from a single incremental treadmill test, but there are differences between cardiac and neuromuscular factors of fatigue. Muscle Nerve 46: 577–581, 2012
Density of States Calculations of Small Diameter Single Graphene Sheets

The densities of states for the {pi}-band of single graphene sheets with small diameters were calculated by employing a linear combination of atomic orbital approach using as the basis set the carbon p{sub z} atomic orbitals together with a modified Hueckel approximation wherein the overlap integrals out to the fourth nearest neighbors set were included. These densities of states were used to predict the voltage of lithiated carbon vs. lithium metal, an important characteristic for disordered carbon used as the negative electrode in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Calculations were made for isolated single graphene sheets, C{sub n}, with n = 24, 54, 96, 150, and 216. The results suggested that the lowest voltage should occur for lithiated carbon electrodes composed of single graphene sheets with the smallest diameter ({approx} 0.7 nm for C{sub 24}).
Psychiatric Assessment and Confirmation of Dual Disorders in Rural Substance Abusing Women

Accurate diagnosis of a comorbid or dual disorder in substance abusing women is critical to treatment and recovery. However, accurate diagnosis of comorbid disorders is difficult. Factors such as instrumentation and timing of diagnostic interview make results highly variable. This article describes difficulties encountered in screening and diagnosing dual disorders in a sample of rural, substance abusing women. The efficacy of screening and diagnostic measures in detecting depression and substance abuse is evaluated, and factors affecting diagnosis are described. The implications of those findings for case finding and management in psychiatric nursing practice are discussed.
The penetration of a long bubble through a viscoelastic fluid in a tube

The penetration of a long gas bubble through a tube filled with a viscoelastic fluid is studied. This problem has practical applications in gas-assisted injection molding, enhanced oil recovery, production of hollow fiber membranes, and coating of ceramic monoliths for the manufacture of catalytic converters. A hydrodynamic coating is formed on a capillary tube wall by injecting a single long gas bubble through the fluid. This problem has been studied extensively for Newtonian fluids, but little work has been done to understand how non-Newtonian fluids behave in this flow. The work presented in this paper is directed at identifying the effects of fluid elasticity on the hydrodynamic fractional coverage created by a long penetrating bubble. Experiments were performed with four test fluids including two Newtonian fluids and two highly elastic, constant shear viscosity fluids. Hydrodynamic fractional coverage, m was characterized in terms of the capillary number, Ca and Deborah number, De. For small Deborah number, De<1, both viscoelastic fluids exhibit a fractional coverage identical to that of a Newtonian fluid at an equivalent capillary number. The fractional coverage for both viscoelastic fluids begins to increase relative to the Newtonian result at De≈1. Fractional coverage continues to increase with Deborah number for all De≥1. At De≈5 fractional coverage is 30% greater than the Newtonian fluid result. A plot of fractional coverage versus capillary number is found to be independent of tube diameter for a Newtonian fluid. However, for a viscoelastic fluid, fractional coverage is found to be a strong function of tube diameter. The Deborah number is found to collapse fractional coverage data for experiments conducted with different tube diameters.
Computational Characterization of the Disordered Ensembles of Vasopressin and Oxytocin

Vasopressin and oxytocin are intrinsically disordered cyclic nanopeptides belonging to a family of neurohypophysial hormones. Vasopressin is an antidiuretic, regulating the retention of water and salts in mammals by indirectly promoting the insertion of aquaporin-2 channels into the epithelial cells of kidney nephron collecting ducts. Oxytocin, in contrast, is a neurotransmitter responsible for inducing labor and the subsequent lactation, as well as modulating some social behaviors. Although unique in their functions, these peptides only differ by two residues and both feature a tocin ring formed by the disulfide bridge between 1st and 6th cysteine residues. This structural similarity was experimentally linked to inhibition of activity at vasopressin receptors by the present oxytocin. Conversely, previous studies have also shown that single-residue mutations in both peptides have a significant impact on their receptor specificities.In this study we perform molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of wild type and mutant oxytocin and vasopressin in order to characterize their structural ensembles and relate them to the observed variation in activity. The generated ensembles of Y21H and P26L mutants of vasopressin and Q23T and Q23T,P26G mutants of oxytocin reveal significant population shifts compared to the wild type peptides. Here we present the classification of these populations based on the distribution of radius of gyration and deformation of the tocin ring, and attempt to relate the structural changes to the experimentally determined peptide activity and carrier protein binding affinity.
Introduction to Big Data: Scalable Representation and Analytics for Data Science Minitrack

Big data is an emerging phenomenon characterized by the three Vs: volume, velocity, and variety. The volume of data has increased from terabytes to petabytes and is encroaching on exabytes. Some pundits are suggesting that zettabytes (1021) are reachable within the next several years. Velocity is concerned with not only how fast we accumulate data, but also how fast some of the data that we already have is changing. Some systems accumulate data at the rate of multiple petabytes per year, some systems have stored data that changes at the rate of terabytes per year. Changing data usually lags accumulating data by several orders of magnitude. Data accumulating at a multiple petabyte rate requires terabits to petabits of transport capacity. Finally, the variety and modality of data is continually evolving, it may be both structured and unstructured.
The relationship between pH and the amount of calcium bound to glycerinated muscle fibers.

Abstract Variation of pH over the range 6.2–7.4 had no effect on the Ca2+ titration curve of glycerinated rabbit psoas muscle fibers. Thus the effect of H+ on muscle contraction is not due to a simple H+Ca2+ competition for binding sites.
Pancreatic polypeptide (PP)-like immunoreactivity in the Pancreatic islets of the anglerfish (Lophius americanus) and the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Pancreatic polypeptide (PP) immunoreactivity was demonstrated in the endocrine pancreas of the anglerfish (Lophius americanus) and the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) using immunohistochemistry. In both species, PP-immunoreactive cells were localized at the periphery of endocrine tissue. In Lophius americanus, PP-immunoreactivity could be localized in the principal islet, the pyloric or secondary islet, and the mesenteric or tertiary islets. A peripheral localization of PP-immunoreactive cells having characteristic angular, or dendritic, appearance demonstrated in the above two species are a common finding among many teleost species. This peripheral localization of cells, particularly in principal (splenic) anglerfish islets, make them an ideal source of islet tissue which can be easily enriched or depleted of pancreatic polypeptide-containing cells for use in studying the synthesis and secretion of islet hormones.
The nature of Blackstone's achievement

That Pembroke College should devote its annual Blackstone Lecture to Blackstone himself in the bicentenary year of his death is entirely proper. On reflection, I am not sure that the Selden Society will further its objects by going in much for the commemoration of individual lawyers.1 It may encourage legal historians in their chronic error: we attribute too much to particular causes and expect too much, as it were, of particular people. Because we know that law is the product of people thinking about problems, it is curiously hard to avoid imagining its history as a kind of Pilgrim's Progress, with a single professional mind addressing the problems raised by a changing world. The mistake is one of scale. The changes the historian can see were too large to be seen by the lawyers he is thinking about; and the problems the lawyers were thinking about were too small for the historian to see. The mechanism of common law response has been indirect, involving a kind of market in ideas. What the large change does is to concentrate demand, raising small daily problems in a particular area; and small and marginal solutions accumulate into central changes. There are no great ideas, and in that sense no great lawyers. An anonymous profession serves its day, or not. Legal writers, of course, do not. They serve the servants; and their business is to arrange yesterday's results in whatever way will be most convenient for those working on today's problems. But you can order the past about more confidently than the present; and the writer's arrangement of yesterday's results may reach further into the future than the results themselves. We have lately, I think, attributed too little to Blackstone. He first gave his lectures in 1753. The syllabus was published in 1756,2 and the Commentaries themselves between i765 and 1769. Excluding, of course, reprints of that first edition produced for the antiquarian and scholarly markets in recent years, working editions appeared in England until about about the time of the Judicature Acts, in the United States until about the turn of the century. And of Stephen's version, first produced between I841 and i845 as a more up-to-date survey especially for students, an edition was actually produced after the second world war.
Derivation of a model for the human eye-positioning mechanism

A model for the human eye-movement mechanism is derived. The derivation is based on a literature search directed toward identifying and mathematically describing each component through physiological and anatomical considerations. It is felt that although certain parameter values may not be exactly correct (for the data were taken from a wide variety of animals), we can place a great deal of confidence in the configuration.
Thermionic emission in heterosystems with different effective electronic masses.

It is shown that the usual way of calculating thermionic emission takes into account incorrectly the conservation law of the quasimomentum of the electrons on the boundary separating two regions with different effective masses of electrons. Therefore, at a thermodynamic equilibrium the opposite flows of the electrons crossing this boundary are different (because the Richardson constants are different). This paradox disappears if one takes into account that not all electrons with larger effective mass can cross the boundary even if the part of their kinetic energy perpendicular to the interface is larger than the barrier height. In fact this condition is contained in the quantum-mechanical coefficient of electron transmission. It is shown that in the spherical and parabolic effective-mass approximation the Richardson constant is defined by the smallest effective mass. This fact is important in the calculations of the thermionic currents in semiconductor contact phenomena especially in heterostructures. It makes clear what effective mass must be used in the definition of the pre-exponent factor of the thermionic current.
Overloaded overheads: Activity-based cost analysis of material handling in cell manufacturing

Abstract Manufacturing managers today are pressed by aggressive international competitors, high input factor prices, and customers who demand better quality at lower cost. In such an environment, there is a growing need to exploit the time, cost and quality advantages of cell manufacturing (Hyer and Wemmerlov (1984)). Unfortunately, traditional cost accounting systems may be a major roadblock on the highway to future manufacturing competitiveness. These systems may stifle manufacturing initiatives to improve process design by providing inaccurate cost information. They may also send the wrong signals to managers who must evaluate the cost/benefit impact of process innovation (such as cells and group technology implementation), thereby causing companies to retain outmoded, inefficient manufacturing practices. We discuss the results of our field study which illustrates the use of activity-based costing (ABC) to quantify the benefits of cell manufacturing and synchronized process flows. Auto Light Company, a Fortune 500 automobile components manufacturer, had begun to replace its functional layout with synchronous manufacturing cells. Although dramatic progress had been made in operational measures (such as throughput time, work-in-process (WIP) inventories, and material flow distance), existing accounting systems failed to trace these savings to the source, namely the change in manufacturing practices. Overheads were being allocated to products on the basis of direct labor or machine hours, which at Auto Light are no different in cells than in traditional manufacturing. A joint Auto Light management/Carnegie Mellon University team examined the impact of cell manufacturing on major cost categories. The group identified material handling expenses (which exceed $5,000,000 per year, and comprise approximately 10% of total factory costs) as a promising area for analysis using ABC principles. We sought to identify relevant material handling cost drivers: that is, activities that (1) create costs and (2) seem reasonable to use as proxies for assigning costs to products. Interviews, plant records and time-and-effort studies pointed to “number of moves” and “distance moved” as key drivers of material handling costs. Annual production volumes, physical dimensions of products and their production routings were used to calculate the number of moves, and the distance
Metabolic Sources of Hydrogen Peroxide in Aerobically Growing Escherichia coli

Exposure of cells to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) mediates adaptive responses or oxidative damage, depending on the magnitude of the challenge. Determining the threshold for peroxide-mediated oxidative stress thus requires quantitation of the changes in endogenous H2O2 production. The intracellular steady-state concentrations of H2O2 were measured in intact Escherichia coli under different conditions. Compounds that block electron transport at NADH dehydrogenase (rotenone) or between ubiquinone and cytochrome b (antimycin) showed that univalent reduction of O2 can occur at these sites in vivo to form superoxide anion (O2-), in agreement with reports for mammalian mitochondria. Mutational inactivation of different components of the respiratory chain showed that H2O2 production also depended on the energy status of the cell and on the arrangement of respiratory chain components corresponding to particular growth conditions. Production rates for O2- and H2O2 were linearly related to the number of active respiratory chains that reached maximal values during exponential growth. In the strains defective in respiratory chain components, catalase activity was regulated to compensate for changes in the H2O2 production rates, which maintained intracellular H2O2 at 0.1-0.2 microM during aerobic growth over a wide range of cell densities. The expression of a katG'::lacZ fusion (reporting transcriptional control of the catalase-hydroperoxidase I gene) was increased by H2O2 given either as a pulse or as a steady production. This response not only depended on the type and severity of the stimulus but was also strongly influenced by the growth phase of the cells.
Modeling of Current-voltage Characteristics of thin film Solar cells

Abstract An analytical model is developed to study the current–voltage characteristics of thin film solar cells by incorporating exponential photon absorption, carrier trapping and carrier drift in the absorber layer. An analytical expression for the external voltage dependent photocurrent is derived by solving the continuity equation for both electrons and holes assuming the electric field remains uniform in the absorber layer. The analytical results are verified with the numerical self-consistent solution of the steady-state continuity equations and the Poisson’s equation. The overall load current is calculated considering the actual solar spectrum. It is found that the solar cell efficiency critically depends on the transport properties of the carriers that drift towards the bottom contact. The recombination current dominates over the ideal diode current in CdTe based solar cells. The theoretical model is fitted with the published experimental data on various thin film solar cells and shows a very good agreement.
Analysis and design of distributed algorithms for X-consensus

This paper presents analysis and design results for distributed consensus algorithms in multi-agent networks. We consider arbitrary consensus functions of the initial state of the network agents. Under mild smoothness assumptions, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions characterizing any algorithm that asymptotically achieves consensus. This characterization is the building block to obtain various design results. We first identify a class of smooth functions for which one can synthesize in a systematic way distributed algorithms that achieve consensus. We apply this result to the family of weighted power mean functions, and characterize the exponential convergence properties of the resulting algorithms. We conclude with two distributed algorithms that achieve, respectively, max and min consensus in finite time.
Maimonides and Analogy

Dans le cadre d'une etude sur Maimonide, l'A. se demande si la predication d'une relation entre deux etres permet de leur accorder les memes attributs. Grâce a une distinction entre substance et accident, il analyse l'analogie reliant Dieu a ses creatures chez Maimonide, comme ne permettant determiner l'essence divine
Analysis of Autoantibodies to T-Cell Receptors among HIV-Infected Individuals: Epitope Analysis and Time Course

Abstract Individuals seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) express elevated levels of autoantibodies (AAbs) directed against recombinant T-cell receptors (TCRs) and synthetic peptide epitopes duplicating β chain markers. We performed longitudinal studies of anti-TCR AAbs in HIV-1-infected individuals, making comparisons with uninfected sera and sera from other individuals infected with a nonviral agent. We determined levels of autoantibodies by titration using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and developed a means for characterizing “autoantibody CDR recognition spectrotypes” for individual sera. Antibody levels against certain defined synthetic epitopes were substantially elevated in HIV-infected subjects relative to reactivities by control groups. Individual sera showed relatively high AAb levels to a subset of CDR1 peptide epitopes. Two patients who subsequently developed AIDS showed particular reactivity to Vβ2.1, 8.1, 10.1, and 22.1 epitopes. Our results show that production AAbs to TCR Vβ epitopes is a general consequence of HIV infection. The response is individual but shows some restriction and shifts in AAb subpopulations often occur with time.
Ureteral ejaculation of urine visualized by ultrasound

This article describes an ultrasonographic noninvasive method for the visualization of the ureteral ejaculation of urine into the bladder and its use in 99 normal women and in one affected by a previously unsuspected bilateral hydronephrosis and hydroureter.
Complementation between Sindbis viral RNAs produces infectious particles with a bipartite genome.

Abstract Sindbis virus, the type member of the alpha-viruses, is an enveloped virus containing a nonsegmented positive-strand RNA genome. We show that the nonstructural and the structural genes can function to produce infectious virus particles when they are expressed on two different RNA segments. The nonstructural genes are translated from an RNA in which the structural genes have been replaced by the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene [Xiong, C., Levis, R., Shen, P., Schlesinger, S., Rice, C. M. & Huang, H. V. (1989) Science 243, 1188-1191]. The structural genes are encoded in a defective-interfering RNA but are translated from a subgenomic RNA. Both segments contain the cis-acting sequences required for replication and packaging and are copackaged. This type of genome provides a model for an ancestral intermediate between alphaviruses and the multipartite positive-strand RNA viruses of plants. These different viruses show sequence similarities in their replicative proteins and are thought to have evolved from a common ancestor.
Predictors of Satisfaction Among Adult Recipients of Medicaid Mental Health Services

This study measured service satisfaction, perceptions of service quality and general health, and overall quality of care among 787 adult recipients of Medicaid mental health services. Methods included cross-sectional retrospective design and stratified random sampling technique. Respondents were satisfied with consumer-provider relationships and were dissatisfied with functional outcomes resulting from treatment. Satisfaction was positively correlated with ratings of mental health care and the mental health component score of the SF-12. Predictors of satisfaction included ratings of mental health care and overall health. Recommendations include coordination of services that promote patient functioning and measurement of consumer satisfaction as an indicator of quality.
The Importance of Parenting During Early Childhood for School-Age Development

This study reports on the relation of 4 patterns of responsive parenting across early childhood (birth-4 1.2 years) with children's rate of cognitive and social development through 8 years of age for a cohort of children born preterm and of very low birthweight and term. Consistent responsiveness across early childhood predicted faster rates of cognitive and social growth than did inconsistent or minimal responsiveness, particularly for preterm children. As parenting at 6 and 8 years did not alter this relation, results suggest that parenting across early childhood plays a unique role in children's development. We also examined whether mothers could be facilitated to use a set of responsive behaviors across infancy that increased children's learning. Compared to control mothers, mothers randomly assigned to receive the intervention displayed greater changes in behaviors that established a social learning context supporting infants' object exploration and vocalization of interests. This, in turn, resulted in greater changes in infants' cognitive and social skills. As in the 1st study, preterm infants appeared to benefit to a greater extent from this more responsive social learning context.
A Comparison of Photodetector and Endoscopic Evaluations of Velopharyngeal Function

Simultaneous videoendoscopic and photodetection analyses were made of specific onset and offset times of velopharyngeal opening and closing in two normal speaking subjects. Both procedures were fou...
Solar cells in bulk InP, made by an open tube diffusion process

Abstract This paper describes a simple open tube diffusion process for the fabrication of n+-p solar cells in indium phosphide. Large area cells (>0.25 cm2) have been made by this process, with a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 16.3% under simulated AM1 conditions of illumination. The external quantum efficiency of these cells has been measured, and is approximately 68% without an antireflective (AR) coating, and 100% with a 750 A coating of silicon monoxide. An ideality factor of 1.1 and a saturation current density of 8×10−15 A/cm2 have been observed for these cells. These are the lowest (best) values reported to date for diffused structures in bulk InP.