cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stereochemistry of Sagittamide A: Prediction and Confirmation

The C5−C10 relative stereochemistry of sagittamide A was predicted, with the use of the 3JH,H profiles assembled from the spin-coupling constants reported in the literature. The predicted relative stereochemistry was then confirmed by a total synthesis of two relevant remote diastereomers. The absolute configuration of sagittamide A was established through a detailed 1H NMR analysis of the two remote diastereomers, followed by doping experiments of them with the authentic natural product.
Structure and evolution of solar radio bursts at 26.4 MHz

Two dimensional source brightness distributions at 26.4 MHz for solar bursts of spectral type II, III, IV, and V are derived from observations with a multiple-baseline, time-sharing interferometer system. It was designed explicitly to study the large angle (∼40′ halo) component of low frequency solar bursts first reported by Weiss and Sheridan (1962). Thirty-two bursts occurring in the interval of June–August, 1975, were fit with a circular gaussian ‘core’ and an elliptical gaussian ‘halo’ component. Half-power halo diameters (E-W×N-S) averaged 30′×28′ for type III bursts and 42′×27′, 28′×37′, 30′×25′ for type V, II and IV bursts respectively. Typical core sizes fell in the range of 10′±4′ giving ∼ 3∶1 halo to core size ratio. All burst types were found to have some large angle structure: the specific intensity was ∼10% compared to the core but the total power in each component was comparable. Two processes for producing the core-halo structure of type III bursts are compared: scattering and refraction of a point source and refraction from many sources over an extended region. It is concluded that the core can be explained by either model but the halo is more consistent with emission from an extended source region of ∼40° in longitude.
Thermal Numerical Simulation and Correlation for a Power Package

Thermal resistance is sensitive to package structure, package material, thermal test board and ambient conditions. In this paper, a power package (D2PAK), with natural convection is studied. For the thermal test board, the special designed boards called "MINI Pad" board and "One Square Inch" board for power application are employed based on actual thermal testing. A testing procedure of thermal resistance theta JA for TO serial power products is introduced. Several factors in this procedure, such as the connection wires, socket and interface board are studied and discussed in order to reduce the heat loss by the connection fixtures which are not involved in FEA models. In the simulations, constant empirical heat transfer convection coefficient and temperature-dependent of it are applied on the FEA models separately as boundary conditions, and then the correlation from the simulation results to the measurements is examined. It is found that temperature-dependent formula of heat transfer coefficient is more reasonable for thermal simulation.
Targeting the Loss of the von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Gene in Renal Cell Carcinoma Cells

Late-stage clear cell renal carcinoma poses a formidable clinical challenge due to the high mortality rate associated with this disease. Molecular and genetic studies have identified functional loss of the von Hippel-Lindau ( VHL ) gene as a frequent and crucial event in the development of the malignant phenotype of clear cell renal carcinomas. Loss of VHL function thus represents a pathognomonic molecular defect for therapeutic exploitation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of targeting VHL loss through pharmacologic means. Chromomycin A3 (ChA3) was identified through in silico analysis of existing publicly available drug profiles from the National Cancer Institute as an agent that seemed to selectively target VHL-deficient clear cell renal carcinoma cells. Genotype-selective toxicity was first determined through short-term viability assays and then confirmed with clonogenic studies. Coculture of fluorescently labeled VHL-deficient and VHL-positive cells showed discriminate killing of the VHL-deficient cells with ChA3. Mechanistically, overexpression of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2α in VHL-positive clear cell renal carcinoma cells phenocopied loss of VHL with respect to ChA3 toxicity, establishing ChA3 as a HIF-dependent cytotoxin. This study shows the feasibility of selectively targeting the loss of the VHL tumor suppressor gene in clear cell renal carcinoma for potential clinical benefit and may have greater ramifications in the development of new targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer and other genetic diseases. [Cancer Res 2007;67(12):5896–905]
Editorial comment: health-related quality of life in hemodialysis patients: an Iranian multi-center study.

Dear Editor, Psychosocial aspects of health have a significant impact on the clinical outcomes of patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis (HD) (1, 2). Quality of life (QOL) is a potentially modifiable risk factor for mortality in this patient population. Mapes et al. (3) previously showed that lower health related quality of life (HRQOL) scores are associated with higher hospitalizations and increased mortality in dialysis patients. The mental and physical component summary (MCS, PCS) scores and kidney disease composite summary (KDCS) score are frequently used to assess HRQOL throughout the world. However, there is limited data on the QOL of ESRD patients from the Middle East. Rostami et al. (4) recently performed a cross-sectional study designed to evaluate the perception of QOL in 6,930 chronic HD patients from Iran. This study is important, as it is the largest comprehensive data collection addressing HRQOL of HD patients in Iran. An Iranian adapted version of the kidney disease QOL short form version 1.3 (KDCS-SF1.3) questionnaire was used. This instrument was previously validated in general medical patients in Iran (5). They compared PCS, MCS and KDCS scores of their patients with 19 similar studies performed in America, Europe and Asia between 1996 and 2010. Patients with acute illnesses requiring hospitalization and vascular access failure requiring temporary catheter placement were excluded from the study. PCS and MCS scores were slightly higher than the overall results while KDCS was slightly lower than the overall results. A significant limitation of the study is that the majority of patients had a low literacy rate which could potentially skew the results of this questionnaire. The Iranian adapted version of the questionnaire was previously validated in healthy individuals in Tehran which may have higher literacy rate than the rest of the country (5). The study also did not have a control group of general medical patients to compare the results of the QOL scores. Dialysis adequacy as defined by a Kt/V between 1 and 1.2 was associated with a lower rate of hospitalization. As with many clinical variables, there is also a J-shaped relationship between URR and survival in HD patients (6). Adverse outcomes observed among patients with a higher URR and KT/V may reflect lower body mass and malnutrition which should prompt a nutritional status evaluation (7). Despite potential differences in culture and perceptions of QOL, this study suggests that the QOL of Iranian HD patients are similar to that of ESRD patients from other countries. Prospective studies are needed to better understand the impact of HD on the QOL of ESRD patients. Interventions to improve the QOL of ESRD patients around the world are urgently needed.
The Association Between Serotonin Transporter Gene Promotor Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and Elemental Mercury Exposure on Mood and Behavior in Humans

A functional polymorphism in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) is reported to affect mood and behavior in humans. In this study, the effects of 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on neurobehavioral and mood domains that are known to be affected by elemental mercury (Hg°) exposure in human subjects were examined. The Behavioral Evaluation for Epidemiologic Studies (BEES) test battery was administered concurrently with urine and buccal-cell collections for 164 male dentists (DD) and 101 female dental assistants (DA) with occupational exposure to Hg° for an average of 19 and 10 yr, respectively. Geometric mean urinary mercury (Hg) levels in DD and DA were 2.52 (2.22) μg/L and 1.98 (1.98) μg/L, respectively. Corresponding indices of chronic occupational Hg° exposure, weighted for historical exposure, were 1212 (1877) and 316 (429). 5-HTTLPR status was 40% and 20% wild type, 40% and 56% single allelic substitution, and 20% and 24% double allelic substitution for the two genders. DD...
The Disappearance of the Social in American Social Psychology

Preface Introduction. What happened to the social in social psychology? 1. The lost world 2. Wundt and Volkerpsychologie 3. Durkheim and social facts 4. The social and the psychological 5. Social psychology and the 'social mind' 6. Individualism and the social 7. Crowds, publics and experimental social psychology 8. Crossroads 9. Crisis 10. The rediscovery of the social? References Index.
Reinventing the Wheel

Abstract This paper responds to the seven comments on Lawson (1993). The author is in substantial agreement with the overlapping themes emerging from the seven comments: that the "big five" personality factor model be considered within the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA), that research in related fields can enrich TWA and vocational psychology research in general, and that attention to nonwork environments and other kinds of reinforcement can extend and elaborate TWA to its benefit.
ThunderDome: discovering upload constraints using decentralized bandwidth tournaments

ThunderDome is a system for collaboratively measuring upload bandwidths in ad-hoc peer-to-peer systems. It works by scheduling bandwidth probes between pairs of hosts, wherein each pairwise exchange reveals the upload constraint of one participant. Using the abstraction of bandwidth tournaments, unresolved hosts are successively paired with each other until every peer knows its upload bandwidth. To recover from measurement errors that corrupt its tournament schedule, ThunderDome aggregates multiple probe results for each host, avoiding pathological bandwidth estimations that would otherwise occur in systems with heterogeneous bandwidth distributions. For scalability, the coordination of probes is distributed across the hosts. Simulations on empirical and analytic bandwidth distributions--validated with wide-area PlanetLab experiments--show that ThunderDome efficiently yields upload bandwidth estimates that are robust to measurement error.
The Roles of UmuD in Regulating Mutagenesis

All organisms are subject to DNA damage from both endogenous and environmental sources. DNA damage that is not fully repaired can lead to mutations. Mutagenesis is now understood to be an active process, in part facilitated by lower-fidelity DNA polymerases that replicate DNA in an error-prone manner. Y-family DNA polymerases, found throughout all domains of life, are characterized by their lower fidelity on undamaged DNA and their specialized ability to copy damaged DNA. Two E. coli Y-family DNA polymerases are responsible for copying damaged DNA as well as for mutagenesis. These DNA polymerases interact with different forms of UmuD, a dynamic protein that regulates mutagenesis. The UmuD gene products, regulated by the SOS response, exist in two principal forms: UmuD2, which prevents mutagenesis, and UmuD2′, which facilitates UV-induced mutagenesis. This paper focuses on the multiple conformations of the UmuD gene products and how their protein interactions regulate mutagenesis.
CHOOSING NOT TO LOOK: REPRESENTATION, REPATRIATION, AND HOLOCAUST ATROCITY PHOTOGRAPHY1

This essay considers, from ethical and historical-critical perspectives, alternatives to unconditional public access to Holocaust atrocity photographs. Photographic images have become the common coin of public awareness and historical information about the Holocaust. For the generations immediately following the genocide, atrocity photos and images of Nazi crimes served as vital testimony. For succeeding generations, however, access to certain “recirculated” images (Barbie Zelizer) has created a sense of familiarity with the Holocaust and with the National Socialist era that may prevent, rather than facilitate, engagement with the historical subject, particularly for students. Few of the victims of the Shoah pictured in either the best known or the least circulated images were willing subjects. As such, the bulk of Holocaust and National Socialist photography should perhaps fall under the same category as the results of Nazi medical experiments: they have been rendered inadmissible because they are ethically compromised materials, made without the participants’consent. While I am not advocating the wholesale destruction of Holocaust photographs, I will suggest that removing them from view or “repatriating” them might serve Holocaust memory better than their reduction to atrocious objects of banal attention. Just as the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 provided a mechanism for the reclassification of human remains, from ethnographic to spiritually sacred artifacts, we should consider what a similar reclassification of Holocaust photographs could offer. Have Holocaust atrocity photographs reached the limits of their usefulness as testimony?
Everett M. Rogers and His Contributions to the Field of Communication and Social Change in Developing Countries

The death of Professor Everett M. Rogers in 2004 was a profound loss to the scholarly communications fraternety in general and the development communications community in particular. From the early 1960s up to his last days, Professor Rogers’ scholarly writings and research influenced the fields of development communication, diffusion of innovations, communication technology, research and theory, as well as five generations of scholars in these fields. In this article I summarize the literature and development in developing countries, highlighting Professor Rogers’ seminal contributions to the body of this work.
Simulation of the Turbulent Dispersion of 10 Micron Particles in a Generic Half-Cabin Model

Study of particle dispersion in ventilated indoor environments is a very useful and effective way to understand the mechanism for disease transmission in an enclosed environment. In this investigation, a computational approach is adopted in order to gain more knowledge about the transport of particulate materials in a simplified half cabin model of a Boeing 767. The simulations are performed using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software and are validated through comparing the predictions with the corresponding experimental measurements. The Lagrange-Euler approach is invoked in the simulations. In this approach, while the air is considered as the continuous first phase, the particles are treated as the discrete second phase. By solving the particles equation of motion, the trajectory of particles is computed. The discrete phase equation of motion is coupled with the continuous phase governing equations through the calculation of drag and buoyancy forces acting on particles. The continuous phase flow is turbulent and Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) is employed in the calculation of velocity field. A complete study on grid dependence of RANS simulation is performed through a controllable local mesh refinement scheme. The grid dependence study shows that using unstructured grid with tetrahedral and hybrid elements in the refinement region are more efficient than using structured grid with hexahedral elements. The effect of turbulence on particle dispersion is taken into account by using a stochastic tracking method (random walk model). Through the comparison of computational predictions with corresponding experimental measurements the capability of Discrete Phase Model (DPM) in predicting the behavior of particles is studied.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Towards quantification of dedicated breast SPECT using non-traditional acquisition trajectories

Quantification of radiotracer uptake in lesions can provide valuable information to physicians in deciding patient care or determining treatment efficacy. Physical processes (e.g. scatter, attenuation), detector/collimator characteristics, sampling and acquisition trajectories, and reconstruction artifacts contribute to an incorrect absolute measurement of tracer activity and distribution. For these experiments, a cylinder with three syringes of varying radioactivity concentration, and a fillable 800mL breast with two lesion phantoms containing aqueous 99mTc pertechnetate were imaged using the SPECT subsystem of the dual-modality SPECT-CT dedicated breast scanner. SPECT images were collected using a compact CZT camera with various 3D acquisitions including vertical axis of rotation, 30o tilted, and complex sinusoidal trajectories. Quantitative differences in the measured absolute activity values were investigated for each acquisition trajectory to determine the efficacy of an acquisition trajectory to quantify regions of focal uptake. With attenuation and scatter corrections applied, reconstruction image results showed that the measured average activity concentrations in the hot-spot areas corresponded to within 15% of the actual dose calibrator measured activity concentration. More complete sampling trajectories outperform incomplete tilted acquisition trajectories.
Rain-induced Ejection of Pathogens from Leaves: Revisiting the Hypothesis of Splash-on-Film using High-speed Visualization

Synopsis Plant diseases are a major cause of losses of crops worldwide. Although rainfalls and foliar disease outbreaks are correlated, the detailed mechanism explaining their link remains poorly understood. The common assumption from phytopathology for such link is that a splash is generated upon impact of raindrops on contaminated liquid films coating sick leaves. We examine this assumption using direct high-speed visualizations of the interactions of raindrops and leaves over a range of plants. We show that films are seldom found on the surface of common leaves. We quantify the leafsurface’s wetting properties, showing that sessile droplets instead of films are predominant on the surfaces of leaves. We find that the presence of sessile drops rather than that of films has important implications when coupled with the compliance of a leaf: it leads to a new physical picture consisting of two dominant rain-induced mechanisms of ejection of pathogens. The first involves a direct interaction between the fluids of the raindrop and the sessile drops via an offcentered splash. The second involves the indirect action of the raindrop that leads to the inertial detachment of the sessile drop via the leaf’s motion imparted by the impact of the raindrop. Both mechanisms are distinct from the commonly assumed scenario of splash-on-film in terms of outcome: they result in different fragmentation processes induced by surface tension, and, thus, different size-distributions of droplets ejected. This is the first time that modern direct highspeed visualizations of impacts on leaves are used to examine rain-induced ejection of pathogens at the level of a leaf and identify the inertial detachment and off-center splash ejections as alternatives to the classically assumed splash-on-film ejections of foliar pathogens.
Increased plasma levels of metalloproteinase-9 are associated with abdominal aortic aneurysms

Abstract Purpose: Previous investigators have identified disease-specific elevations of metalloelastase-9 (MMP-9) in aneurysm tissue biopsies. We hypothesized that circulating MMP-9 might also be elevated in patients with aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to compare plasma and aortic tissue MMP-9 levels in patients with infrarenal aneurysms (AAAs), patients with symptomatic aortoiliac occlusive disease (AOD), and healthy patients. Methods: A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure plasma MMP-9 in patients with AAA (n = 22; mean age, 72.7 years), with AOD (n = 9; mean age, 60.5 years), and without disease (n = 8; mean age, 35.3 years). The MMP-9 levels also were measured in 48-hour supernatants of organ culture tissue explants from patients with AAA (n = 10; mean age, 66.2 years) and AOD (n = 5; mean age, 50.4 years) and organ donors (n = 7; mean age, 48.1 years). The results were reported as the mean ± the standard error of the mean and analyzed with analysis of variance with multivariate regression. Results: The plasma MMP-9 levels were significantly higher in the patients with AAA (85.66 ng/mL ± 11.64) than in the patients with AOD (25.75 ng/mL ± 4.159; P P P P Conclusion: Plasma MMP-9 levels are significantly higher in patients with AAA than in patients with AOD or in healthy volunteers. The patients with multiple aneurysms have higher levels than those patients with an isolated AAA. Organ culture studies suggest that diseased aortic tissue is the source of MMP-9. (J Vasc Surg 1999;29:122-9.)
Laser-Induced Fluorescence diagnostic of barium ion plasmas in the Paul Trap Simulator Experiment

The Paul Trap Simulator Experiment (PTSX) is a cylindrical Paul trap whose purpose is to simulate the nonlinear dynamics of intense charged particle beam propagation in alternating-gradient magnetic transport systems. To investigate the ion plasma microstate in PTSX, including the ion density profile and the ion velocity distribution function, a laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic system is being developed as a nondestructive diagnostic. Instead of cesium, which has been used in the initial phase of the PTSX experiment, barium has been selected as the preferred ion for the laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic. A feasibility study of the laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic using barium ions is presented with the characterization of a tunable dye laser. The installation of the barium ion source and the development of the laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic system are also discussed.
Priority conservation areas for birds in El Salvador

El Salvador has the smallest protected areas system in Central America. High levels of habitat destruction and disturbance throughout the country make the reserve system especially important for conservation of biodiversity. I used complementarity approaches to assess the relative conservation importance of ten reserves in El Salvador. The principal criterion was presence of nationally threatened and endangered bird species. Additional criteria included residency status (resident species were more important than migratory non-breeding species) and regionally endemic species. Montecristo National Park was the most important area, with 42% of all nationally threatened birds present. El Imposible National Park, El Salvador's largest park (5000 ha), scored second, followed by Laguna El Jocotal wildlife refuge and Barra de Santiago wildlife refuge. In all, these four areas provide refuge for 83% of El Salvador's 268 nationally threatened bird species in less than 7600 ha of natural habitat. Because of small reserve sizes, all of El Salvador's threatened birds may need additional protection.
“Combining qualitative and quantitative methods information systems research: a case study

This article reports how quantitative and qualitative methods were combined in a longitudinal multidisciplinary study of interrelationships between perceptions of work and a computer information system. The article describes the problems and contributions stemming from different research perspectives and methodological approaches. It illustrates four methodological points: (1) the value of combining qualitative and quantitative methods; (2) the need for context-specific measures of job characteristics rater than exclusive reliance on standard context-independent instruments; (3) the importance of process measures when evaluating the information systems; and (4) the need to explore the necessary relationships between a computer system and the perceptions of its users, rather than unidirectional assessment of computer system impacts on users or of users characteristics on computer system implementation. Despite the normative nature of these points, the most important conclusion ins the desirability for a variety of approaches to studying information systems. No one approach to information systems research can provide the richness that information systems, as a discipline, needs for further advancement.
An exposed approach to reliable multicast in heterogeneous logistical networks

An exposed approach in computer service architecture is one that offers client software a primitive service whose semantics are closely based on the underlying physical infrastructure. The exposed approach relies on the client to build higher-level services, with more abstract semantics, out of such primitive tools using sophisticated compilation or run-time algorithms. Current approaches to reliable multicast focus on encapsulated algorithms for efficient retransmission of datagrams to sets of receivers that require them. These approaches include augmenting the primary multicast data channel with direct TCP connections or with secondary multicast channels for retransmissions, and on the possibility of retransmissions originating from nodes in the middle of the network. In this paper we offer an exposed approach to multicast that uses an underlying Logistical Networking infrastructure that makes possible the implementation of any of the current retransmission algorithms, as well as new strategies yet to be devised.
Episodic hypoxia evokes long-term facilitation of genioglossus muscle activity in neonatal rats.

The aim of this study was to determine if episodic hypoxia evokes persistent increases of genioglossus muscle (GG) activity, termed long-term facilitation (LTF), in neonatal rats in vivo. Experiments were performed on anaesthetized, spontaneously breathing, intubated neonatal rats (postnatal days (P) 3–7), divided into three groups. The first group (n= 8) was subjected to three 5-min periods of hypoxia (5% O2–95% N2) alternating with 5 min periods of room air. The second group (n= 8) was exposed to 15 min of continuous hypoxia. The third (n= 4) group was not exposed to hypoxia and served as a control. GG EMG activity and airflow were recorded before, during and for 60 min after episodic and continuous hypoxic exposure. During hypoxia, GG EMG burst amplitude and tidal volume (VT) significantly increased compared to baseline levels (episodic protocol: mean ±s.e.m; 324 ± 59% of control and 0.13 ± 0.007 versus 0.09 ± 0.005 ml, respectively; continuous protocol: 259 ± 30% of control and 0.16 ± 0.005 versus 0.09 ± 0.007 ml, respectively; P 0.05). After the continuous protocol, there was no lasting increase in GG EMG burst amplitude. We conclude that LTF of upper airway muscles is an adaptive respiratory behaviour present from birth.
The quantitative assay of 3-hydroxy-3- methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase: comparison of a thin-layer chromatographic assay with a rapid chloroform extraction assay

Two assays for the quantitative measurement of HMG-CoA reductase, the major regulatory enzyme in hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis, are described. The first of these procedures employs thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of the reaction product on plastic-backed silica gel G strips impregnated with ammonium carbonate. The TLC strip is then cut into 14 segments and each segment is assayed for radioactivity. Extraction efficiency and exact chromatographic mobility are monitored by the use of authentic [4-3H]mevalonolactone as an internal reference. A wide and complete separation is achieved between HMG and mevalonolactone. Also the radiochemical purity of biosynthetic [3-(14)C]mevalonolactone can be assessed by measurement of the 3H/14C ratio across the mevalonolactone peak. While the TLC assay is accurate and sensitive, it is laborious. Therefore a second assay procedure was developed using chloroform extraction of an incubation mixture saturated with solid equal molar KH2PO4-K2HPO4 at pH 6.8. Extraction efficiency was monitored by the addition of authentic [4-3H]mevalonolactone as an internal reference. The chloroform assay procedure was compared with the TLC procedure over a wide range of enzyme activities, both for rat liver microsomal HMG-CoA reductase and for solubilized enzyme. Excellent correspondence (r = 0.999) between the two assays was observed. TLC performed on the chloroform extract demonstrated that biosynthetic [3-14C]mevalonolactone was the only 14C-labeled compound present in the extract. The chloroform extraction assay is rapid; 20–30 samples can be processed in 2–3 hr. This procedure should facilitate studies concerning the nature and regulation of HMG-CoA reductase.
Causal relationships of energy consumption, price, and CO2 emissions in the U.S. building sector

Abstract The U.S. building sector was the most significant emission contributor (over 40%). This paper attempts to examine and use the causal relationships between energy resource consumption, energy prices, and carbon dioxide emissions (from 1973 to 2012) to determine the effects of energy sources and prices on carbon emissions. The relationships would potentially allow policymakers better understand the use of different energy sources, and prices to manipulate carbon emissions in the building sector. Using the Granger causality test and generalized impulse response functions, several causal relationships have been verified. The results indicate that there were long-run causalities from natural gas prices to natural gas consumption in both the residential and commercial sectors, as well as from electricity prices to electricity consumption in the commercial sector. Moreover, electricity and coal consumption were found to cause carbon dioxide emissions in the residential and commercial sectors, respectively. The short-run causality test found that natural gas consumption is the most sensitive toward changes in natural gas price in the residential sector, and electricity consumption is the most sensitive toward electricity prices in the commercial sector. This research also found that the commercial sector's energy consumption generated greater influence on carbon emissions than the residential sector.
NMRmix: A Tool for the Optimization of Compound Mixtures in 1D (1)H NMR Ligand Affinity Screens.

NMR ligand affinity screening is a powerful technique that is routinely used in drug discovery or functional genomics to directly detect protein–ligand binding events. Binding events can be identified by monitoring differences in the 1D 1H NMR spectrum of a compound with and without protein. Although a single NMR spectrum can be collected within a short period (2—10 min per sample), one-by-one screening of a protein against a library of hundreds or thousands of compounds requires a large amount of spectrometer time and a large quantity of protein. Therefore, compounds are usually evaluated in mixtures ranging in size from 3 to 20 compounds to improve the efficiency of these screens in both time and material. Ideally, the NMR signals from individual compounds in the mixture should not overlap so that spectral changes can be associated with a particular compound. We have developed a software tool, NMRmix, to assist in creating ideal mixtures from a large panel of compounds with known chemical shifts. Input ...
Sources and Reduction of Noise in Circuits and Systems

ABSTRACTThis article provides information on sources of different types of noise in circuits and their deleterious effects, and provides recommendations to mitigate their impact on circuits and systems. The effects of noise on circuit and system performance are discussed, followed by the characteristics of noise from electrical and non-electrical sources. Good circuit layout considerations are provided, including grounding, shielding, and filtering.
Subscale test method for ablative properties of throat insert using C /C composites woven with axial carbon rods

Based on the braided structure of new throat insert material C /C composite material with axial carbon rods,the subscale test method on evaluating full-scale motor throat insert ablative properties using a subscale motor with circle throat insert was developed.Several subscale ablation motor tests were performed.The formula for evaluating ablative properties of throat insert using C /C composites with axial carbon rods which relate to motor work condition,structural dimension and propellant type were obtained by combining the ablation data of subscale motor and full-scale motor.The formula was verified by using ablation data of other batch throat insert in different type motors.Results show that the relativity of ablative properties between subscale motor and full-scale motor could be represented by the developed test method and the evaluating formula.
Serum colony-stimulating activity of dogs with cyclic neutropenia.

Bone marrow cells, from both normal and cyclically neutropenic (CN) dogs, treated with CN or normal dog serum produced large numbers of leukocytic colonies in soft agar cultures. The largest number of colonies was formed in cultures treated with serum taken from CN dogs at the nadir of the neutropenia. The serum colony-stimulating activity was shown to be inversely related to the CN dog’s peripheral neutrophil counts, suggesting a negative feedback control of granulopoiesis.
Colloidally Prepared 3-Mercaptopropionic Acid Capped Lead Sulfide Quantum Dots

Colloidally suspended PbS quantum dots stabilized with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA) were prepared via solution ligand exchange. The optical properties of the as-prepared colloidal QDs were investigated by absorption and emission spectroscopy. The 3-MPA exchanged QDs luminesced with intensities comparable to oleate capped PbS QDs. The nanocrystal ligand chemistry was investigated by solution 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which indicated a dynamic ligand shell undergoing rapid exchange. Optical properties of the QD colloid evolved over time and were correlated to the oxidative conversion of 3-MPA into dithiodipropionic acid (DTDPA) in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) observed by NMR.
Influence of Surface Energy on Organic Alloy Formation in Ternary Blend Solar Cells Based on Two Donor Polymers.

The compositional dependence of the open-circuit voltage (Voc) in ternary blend bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells is correlated with the miscibility of polymers, which may be influenced by a number of attributes, including crystallinity, the random copolymer effect, or surface energy. Four ternary blend systems featuring poly(3-hexylthiophene-co-3-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophene) (P3HT75-co-EHT25), poly(3-hexylthiophene-co-(hexyl-3-carboxylate)), herein referred to as poly(3-hexylthiophene-co-3-hexylesterthiophene) (P3HT50-co-3HET50), poly(3-hexylthiophene-thiophene-diketopyrrolopyrrole) (P3HTT-DPP-10%), and an analog of P3HTT-DPP-10% with 40% of 3-hexylthiophene exchanged for 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethylthiophen-2-yl (3MEO-T) (featuring an electronically decoupled oligoether side-chain), referred to as P3HTTDPP-MEO40%, are explored in this work. All four polymers are semicrystalline and rich in rr-P3HT content and perform well in binary devices with PC61BM. Except for P3HTTDPP-MEO40%, all polymers exhibit simila...
Rheology, Microstructure, and Functionality of Cheese

Cheese rheology is highly complex and an attempt to understand the basic and advanced concepts has been carried out in this chapter. The chapter discusses the basic terminology and the methods used to test the rheology in a detailed manner. The distinctive features of cheese that rheologists should be aware of while designing experiments have been explained. Also, the pros and cons of the rheological test methods along with their procedures are explicated. The microstructure has been discussed briefly. Finally, the textural attributes of various cheeses have also been elaborated.
13 Year Survivorship of Ceramic-Ceramic THA in Patients Less Than 50

Introduction: Young patients have been reported to have a higher risk of revision following total hip arthroplasty (THA) than older cohorts, possibly to due higher activity and a higher incidence of deformity and prior surgery. Ceramic-on-ceramic bearing surfaces have been proposed for use in young and active individuals due to their low wear, low risk of adverse biologic reaction, and long-term survivorship. We assessed the clinical results and long-term survivorship of uncemented ceramic-on-ceramic THA in a young patient population. Methods: 341 total hip arthroplasties in 218 patients under 50 years of age at the time of surgery were performed were performed using alumina ceramic-on-ceramic bearings from August 1999 to April 2009 as part of a prospective nonrandomized study. All patients received uncemented acetabular components with flush-mounted acetabular liners using an 18 degree taper and uncemented femoral components. The average patient age at the time of surgery was 41.7 years (range 17.8–49.9 years). The minimum follow-up time was 2 years, (mean 9.1, range 2–13.9). We evaluated implant-related complications and performed Kaplan-Meier analyses to determine survivorship of the femoral and acetabular components with revision for any reason as the endpoint. Results: There were no dislocations or failures due to osteolysis or aseptic loosening. The 13-year survivorship of all components was 95.9% (CI 91.0–98.2). The 13-year survivorship was 97.4% (CI 92.3–99.1) for the acetabular component and 98.5% (CI 95.3–99.5) for the femoral component. There were two liner fractures (0.59%) and one head fracture (0.3%), two of which were sustained as a result of a fall from significant height. There were three failures of osseointegration (0.88%), and one acetabular component dislodged (0.3%) immediately following surgery. Two patients reported nonreproducible squeaking. One hip was revised at an outside institution for unknown reasons. In conclusion, ceramic-on-ceramic THA in the young patient population is very reliable with a low revision rate and absence wear-related osteolysis. Component fracture typically occurs with high-energy trauma, and squeaking occurrence is rare in the flush-mounted ceramic liners used in our study. Conclusion Total hip arthroplasty in young patients demonstrates excellent survivorship when uncemented titanium implants are coupled with ceramic-ceramic bearings.
Temporally extrapolating object-based threshold for updating urban extents from nighttime light data

This study proposed an object-based method to estimate the relationship of optimal thresholds in different The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light (NTL) images for the purpose of mapping large-scale urban dynamics. In the method, the optimal threshold for an urban object was predicted by delineating the reference threshold and relating it to that in a target year through object-based normalization. The process of threshold normalization assumed the stability or proportional change of NTL intensity over time for pseudo invariant pixels. A test in China to extend the thresholds derived for F152000 NTL data to F152005 and F182010 NTL images showed that the proposed method successfully connect thresholds between years. The estimated threshold was highly correlated with the one derived from the reference urban area, with R2 of 0.96 and 0.90 and RMSE of 2.9 and 4.9 for 2005 and 2010, respectively. At the object level, R2 and RMSE of the estimated vs. reference urban areas were 0.91 and 14 pixels and 0.85 and 30 pixels for 2005 and 2010, respectively. At provincial level, R2 was 0.92 and 0.87 and RMSE was 316 and 451 pixels for 2005 and 2010, respectively.
Depressive symptomatology after spinal cord injury: A multi-center investigation of multiple racial-ethnic groups.

Objective: To identify (1) racial-ethnic differences in depressive symptomatology after spinal cord injury (SCI) and (2) the relationship of multiple additional factors to depressive symptoms, including health behaviors, employment, fatigue, and pain interference.Design: Cross-sectionalSetting: Data were collected at 3 specialty hospitals in different regions of the USA (Southeastern, Mountain, Western).Participants: Participants (N = 1,063) were identified from outpatient records of the 3 hospitals with oversampling of racial-ethnic minority groups.Interventions: N/AMain Outcome Measure(s): The outcome, depressive symptomatology, was measured by the Older Adult Health and Mood Questionnaire (OAHMQ). Participant demographic and injury characteristics were measured as statistical controls, as well as other variables including health behavior factors, depression/stress relief medication usage, fatigue, and pain interference. The multivariate analyses were developed using OLS regression models and logistic r...
Experimental and analytical study of galloping of a slender tower

Abstract Many previous studies have been conducted to investigate wind-induced galloping of slender structures or structural members. While some recent studies have examined the particular problem of galloping involving coupling between vibration components about the principal axes, few occurrences of such vibrations of full-scale structures have been reported. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation that incorporates full-scale and wind tunnel experiments and an analytical formulation to study the galloping oscillation of a type of slender tower. The full-scale and wind tunnel experiments were conducted to assess the characteristics of the oscillations, their correlation with the wind characteristics, as well as the core parameters that influence the interaction between the tower and the wind. Based on the results from the experiments, a state-space model for coupled galloping of slender towers is formulated. This model enables the prediction of the susceptibility of a slender tower to galloping instability through an evaluation of the net damping resulting from the wind-structure interaction. The tower subjected to monitoring in the full-scale study is used as an example structure in an illustrative application of the analytical model.
Using Single Molecule FRET to Examine the Impact of Enzymatic Deglycosylation on the Structure of Immunoglobulin G Antibodies

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies have sugar molecules bound in the fragment crystallizable (Fc) region. The removal of these sugar molecules diminishes the ability of IgG molecules to bind to receptor molecules, leading to a diminished immune response. Some studies explain the abrogated receptor binding interaction as a result of a collapse of the Fc region, which causes the receptor binding site to be occluded. Other studies indicate that an increase in the flexibility of the Fc region is a more plausible explanation. We have used single molecule Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) to study glycosylated and enzymatically deglycosylated IgG molecules to further examine this question. By examining freely diffusing IgG antibodies labeled with dye molecules, we have obtained smFRET efficiency histograms of the Fc region conformations present for both glycosylated and enzymatically deglycosylated IgG. We have used accessible volume calculations to validate the histograms obtained for the glycosylated structures. We have also obtained mass spectrometry data confirming the complete enzymatic removal of the sugar molecules. This allows differences in the FRET histograms to be attributed to the removal of the sugar molecules. Our results support the notion that the flexibility of the Fc region increases upon deglycosylation.
Effects of Patient Preferences on Outcomes in the Predictors of Remission in Depression to Individual and Combined Treatments (PReDICT) Study

Objective:The Predictors of Remission in Depression to Individual and Combined Treatments [PReDICT] study aimed to identify clinical and biological factors predictive of treatment outcomes in major depressive disorder among treatment-naive adults. The authors evaluated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and two antidepressant medications (escitalopram and duloxetine) in patients with major depression and examined the moderating effect of patients’ treatment preferences on outcomes.Method:Adults aged 18–65 with treatment-naive major depression were randomly assigned with equal likelihood to 12 weeks of treatment with escitalopram (10–20 mg/day), duloxetine (30–60 mg/day), or CBT (16 50-minute sessions). Prior to randomization, patients indicated whether they preferred medication or CBT or had no preference. The primary outcome was change in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), administered by raters blinded to treatment.Results:A total of 344 patients were randomly assigned...
A Literature-Based Approach on International Perspectives of Bilingual Education

This study examines the bilingual education in Spain and in Canada, and discusses their historical backgrounds, current bilingual education programs in use, and teacher proficiency within their bilingual education programs. The purpose of this study is to examine these two countries’ bilingual education programs and find a way to implement a bilingual education program in Turkey. Because of innovative legal conditions and the establishment of special programs in Basque Country in Spain, the potential for increasing learners and speakers of the language is greater than ever before. Bilingual education models in the BAC have increased the number of well-educated young students and allowed them to have a better future. French is taught as a foreign language in Canada, and English is usually accepted as a first language, which has hindered the development of diverse types of immersion programs. Immersion programs have helped students learn other subjects and have also allowed them to acquire an additional language. This study presents a comparison of the situation of minority languages in Turkey with Canada and Spain offers many lessons. The purpose of this discussion is to establish the benefits and shortcomings of these bilingual education programs and the suitability of their models for minority groups living in Turkey. To provide an efficient education system, the differing needs of various areas should be considered. This can be demonstrated in examples drawn from Canada’s consideration of the French language and Spain’s consideration of the Basque language.
Basic VL Codes

The dates of most of the important historical events are known, but not always very precisely. We know that Kublai Khan, grandson of Ghengis Khan, founded the Yuan dynasty in 1280 (it lasted until 1368), but we don’t know precisely (i.e., the month, day and hour) when this act took place. A notable exception to this state of affairs is the modern age of telecommunications, a historical era whose birth is known precisely, up to the minute. On Friday, 24 May 1844, at precisely 9:45 in the morning, Samuel Morse inaugurated the age of modern telecommunications by sending the first telegraphic message in his new code. The message was sent over an experimental line funded by the American Congress from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington, DC to the B & O railroad depot in Baltimore, Maryland. Taken from the Bible (Numbers 23:23), the message was “What hath God wrought?” It had been suggested to Morse by Annie Ellsworth, the young daughter of a friend. It was prerecorded on a paper tape, was sent to a colleague in Baltimore, and was then decoded and sent back by him to Washington. An image of the paper tape can be viewed at [morse-tape 06].