cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Furanocoumarin metabolism in Papilio polyxenes: biochemistry, genetic variability, and ecological significance

The ubiquitous occurrence of series of biosynthetically related plant secondary compounds within individual species has given rise to the suggestion that such multiplicity is adaptive; one possible mechanism that would serve to maintain such within-plant diversity is analog synergism. In a series of experiments, we provide evidence that synergism may account for the presence of multiple structurally related furanocoumarins in apiaceous plants. The black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, feeds exclusively on plant species containing furanocoumarins. Growth of larvae fed parsley leaves treated with both xanthotoxin and angelicin, two furanocoumarins that co-occur widely in swallowtail hostplants, was significantly slower than that of larvae fed leaves with an equimolar concentration of either xanthotoxin or angelicin. A multivariate combination of growth, food consumption and frass excretion differed significantly between larvae fed leaves treated with both xanthotoxin and angelicin and larvae fed leaves treated with angelicin alone. In addition, we measured rates of in vitro cytochrome P450-mediated metabolism of three furanocoumarins — bergapten, xanthotoxin, and angelicin. While bergapten and xanthotoxin, both linear furanocoumarins, were metabolized at similar rates (8.07 and 9.86 nmoles/min/g fw caterpillar, respectively), angelicin, an angular furanocoumarin, was metabolized more slowly (2.76 nmoles/min/g fw caterpillar). When all three furanocoumarins were assayed together, overall rates of metabolism were significantly reduced, suggesting substrate inhibition. Thus, the pattern of growth of larvae is consistent with the pattern of in vitro metabolism and is evidence in support of analog synergism. In a separate experiment, metabolism of xanthotoxin and angelicin individually and together were compared in six maternal families. Again, angelicin was metabolized more slowly than xanthotoxin and each furanocoumarin inhibited metabolism of the other. That significant family effects were found for rates of metabolism and for the ratio of moles of angelicin metabolized for each mole of xanthotoxin metabolized raises the possibility that genetic variation exists for the rate and specificity of metabolism and suggests that insect herbivores may be able to adapt to analog synergism.
Fanconi anemia and Bloom's syndrome crosstalk through FANCJ–BLM helicase interaction

Fanconi anemia (FA) and Bloom's syndrome (BS) are rare hereditary chromosomal instability disorders. FA displays bone marrow failure, acute myeloid leukemia, and head and neck cancers, whereas BS is characterized by growth retardation, immunodeficiency, and a wide spectrum of cancers. The BLM gene mutated in BS encodes a DNA helicase that functions in a protein complex to suppress sister-chromatid exchange. Of the 15 FA genetic complementation groups implicated in interstrand crosslink repair, FANCJ encodes a DNA helicase involved in recombinational repair and replication stress response. Based on evidence that BLM and FANCJ interact we suggest that crosstalk between BLM and FA pathways is more complex than previously thought. We propose testable models for how FANCJ and BLM coordinate to help cells deal with stalled replication forks or double-strand breaks (DSB). Understanding how BLM and FANCJ cooperate will help to elucidate an important pathway for maintaining genomic stability.
Community discovery and profiling with social messages

Discovering communities from social media and collaboration systems has been of great interest in recent years. Existing work show prospects of modeling contents and social links, aiming at discovering social communities, whose definition varies by application. We believe that a community depends not only on the group of people who actively participate, but also the topics they communicate about or collaborate on. This is especially true for workplace email communications. Within an organization, it is not uncommon that employees multifunction, and groups of employees collaborate on multiple projects at the same time. In this paper, we aim to automatically discovering and profiling users' communities by taking into account both the contacts and the topics. More specifically, we propose a community profiling model called COCOMP, where the communities labels are latent, and each social document corresponds to an information sharing activity among the most probable community members regarding the most relevant community issues. Experiment results on several social communication datasets, including emails and Twitter messages, demonstrate that the model can discover users' communities effectively, and provide concrete semantics.
Separate verbal memory and naming deficits in attention deficit disorder and reading disability

In this study, verbal memory and naming abilities were investigated in reading disabled (RD) and control children who were characterized according to the presence or absence of attention deficit disorder (ADD). Results indicate that deficits in learning and memory for recently acquired information occur as a function of ADD rather than RD while deficits in naming are specific to RD rather than ADD. We conclude that ADD is a major source of additional and separate cognitive morbidity in RD children.
Synthesis of alkyl glycoside fatty acid esters: Effect of reaction parameters and the incorporation of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Abstract Alkyl glycoside fatty acid esters were synthesized by lipase-catalyzed transesterification of methyl glucoside, methyl galactoside, and octyl glucoside as the carbohydrate starting material and methyl oleate, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid as the acyl donors. The experiments were carried out in benzene/pyridine using lipases from various sources as biocatalysts. The parameters studied were the effects of different enzymes, enzyme concentration, enzyme reuse, solvent volume, and different alkyl glycosides on the incorporation of oleic acid (n-9) and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids into alkyl glycosides. The immobilized Candida lipases SP382 and 2001 gave higher incorporation of fatty acids (44–75 mol%) compared to the immobilized Mucor miehei (18 mol%) and the other nonimmobilized lipases (0–37 mol%). For the different carbohydrates, methyl glucoside gave the highest incorporation of oleic acid (76.5 mol%) followed by methyl galactoside (71.5 mol%) and octyl glucoside (53.7 mol%). The optimal conditions for these reactions under the conditions studied were immobilized SP382 lipase from Candida antarctica as enzyme used at 20%, once, in 3 ml of benzene/pyridine (2:1 v/v), with methyl glucoside as the carbohydrate starting material and ethyldocosahexaenoic acid as the acyl donor.
Cascade theory of turbulence in a stratified medium

A constant mean thermal gradient is present in a fluid which is assumed incompressible, except for the buoyancy force. The latter couples the momentum equation for the velocity fluctuations to the heat equation for the thermal fluctuations. A single-cascade method, which decomposes a fluctuation into a macroscopic and a random part, resolves in closing the correlation hierarchy, by degenerating a quadruple correlation into a product of two double correlations of different ranks of randomness. The method introduces a preferential pair-coupling between the modes of the quadruple correlation. One of the double correlation appears in the form of an eddy viscosity. The determination of its spectral structure, or equivalently, the problem of the approach to equilibrium, involves a memory-chain of many relaxations. This requires the use of a repeated-cascade. The memory-chain is cutoff on the basis of an isomeric distribution of spectrum in all links of the chain. The solutions of the equations of balance, between the kinetic energy and the potential energy of the thermal field, yield spectral laws k ?3 , k ?1 and k ?5/3 in diverse subranges of the two energy spectra, and the k ?7/3 , k ?5 laws for the co-spectrum of heat flux. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1975.tb01649.x
Real-Time Glucose Sensing Using a MEMS-Based Bi-Material Deflecting Membrane

Self-monitoring of blood glucose has become an important and critical tool for effective management of diabetes. A closed-loop, real-time sensing and dispensing system, however, has been elusive. We describe here, a novel MEMS-based sensor intended to measure, in realtime, the concentration of glucose in a solution. The device utilizes a bi-material membrane with a functional hydrogel layer that swells reversibly, and in proportion to, the presence of glucose. The hydrogel is composed of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) functionalized with 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (AAPBA) groups as the glucose-sensitive moiety. Phenylboronic acid (PBA) derivatives interact with glucose by forming a charged complex, causing the hydrogel to swell by solvent intake [1].Copyright © 2006 by ASME
A novel geminal diol as a highly specific and stable in vivo inhibitor of insect juvenile hormone esterase

Thio-containing and acetylenic trifluoromethyl ketones were potent inhibitors of insect juvenile hormone (JH) esterase with greater inhibitory activity than aliphatic and α,β-unsaturated homologs. Octylthio-1,1,1-trifluoropropan-2-one was the most potent inhibitor with the greatest equilibrium hydration constant in pure water. However, a keto/hydrate equilibrium was not necessary for JH esterase inhibition. The carbonyl tautomer of 1-octyl [1-(3,3,3-trifluoropropan-2,2- dihydroxy)] sulfone (OTPdOH-sulfone) was not detectable, and yet OTPdOH-sulfone was a potent in vitro inhibitor of JH esterase with an I50 of 1.2 nM. The mechanism of JH esterase inhibition by these compounds is discussed. OTPdOH-sulfone inhibited JH esterase with minimal activity toward insect 1-naphthyl acetate esterase and electric eel acetylcholinesterase. The inhibitor was also active in vivo, selective for JH esterase, and persistent for over 32 h. OTPdOH-sulfone when topically applied to larval and adult cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni, elicited juvenoid activity apparently because of the specific in vivo inhibition of JH metabolism. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 36:165–179, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Growth and welfare analysis of tax progressivity in a heterogeneous-agent model

Abstract In this paper, we use a general equilibrium model of endogenous growth in which there is heterogeneity in skill, income, and tax rates to evaluate the effect of progressivity of taxes on growth and welfare. In this framework, changes in the progressivity of tax rates can have positive growth effects even in situations where changes in flat rate taxes have no effect. Experiments on a calibrated model indicate that the quantitative effects of moving to a flat rate system are economically significant. The assumption made about the “engine” of growth—an external effect arising from production activities of skilled workers or intentional employment of skilled workers for research and other productivity enhancing activities—has an important effect on the impact of a change in progressivity. Welfare is unambiguously higher in a flat rate system when comparisons are made across balanced growth equilibria; however, when the costs of transition to the higher growth equilibrium are taken into account, only the currently skilled slightly prefer the flat rate system.
Acute endothelial reperfusion injury after coronary artery bypass grafting

Coronary artery endothelium exhibits functional impairment after ischemia and reperfusion. Canine left anterior descending coronary arteries were exposed to ischemia (60 minutes) followed by reperfusion (60 minutes) through a left internal mammary artery graft. In organ chamber experiments, control (left circumflex coronary artery) and reperfused (left anterior descending coronary artery) arterial segments were contracted with prostaglandin F2 alpha and exposed to hypoxia (oxygen tension = 35 +/- 5 mm Hg). Reperfused coronary rings with endothelium exhibited contractions to hypoxia that were significantly greater than contractions in control rings with endothelium (+78% +/- 8% and +14% +/- 5%, respectively; p < 0.05). This phenomenon could be blocked by NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. Electron microscopic studies showed platelet adhesion and aggregation, denudation of the endothelium and disruption of the intercellular junctions, edematous subendothelial matrix, and vesiculation of the smooth muscle cells in reperfused LAD. Swelling, vacuole formation, and loss of neurofilament occurred in the nerve fibers accompanying the vessels. These phenomena were not observed in control vessels. This study demonstrates that early after coronary artery bypass grafting, hypoxia can induce coronary vasospasm mediated by an L-arginine-dependent metabolic pathway in the endothelium. The ultrastructural changes in the coronary endothelium include platelet adhesion, aggregation, and platelet-induced contraction of coronary smooth muscle. The endothelium-dependent hypoxic coronary vasospasm and ultrastructural changes in the coronary endothelium may play an important role in the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia and infarction after coronary artery bypass grafting.
The trigeminal nerve

The trigeminal nerve is the largest of the cranial nerves, serving as a major conduit for sensory information from the head and neck and primarily providing motor innervation to the muscles of mastication. An understanding of the pathologic processes that may involve this nerve requires a detailed knowledge of its origin within the brain stem as well as its course intracranially. This article describes the neuroanatomy of the nerve and divides it into its various segments to provide a differential diagnosis of common and some uncommon pathologic processes.
The spectral sensitivity of the lateral eye of the green iguana

Abstract The scotopic spectral sensitivity curve obtained by electroretinographic techniques from the Green Iguana was a broad curve with peaks at 520 and 600 nm. Light-adaptation by white or red light resulted in a loss of sensitivity in the blue end of the spectrum, and the remaining sensitivity curve peaked at 600 nm and compared favorably with a 600 nm nomogram curve. Adaptation of the dark-adapted eye to red light resulted in a depression in the red region of the spectrum but the fit of the remaining sensitivity curve to either a 530 or 540 nm nomogram curve was only fair.
SYNCHRONIZATION OF TETRAHYMENA IN LARGE MASS CULTURES.

Summary An apparatus is described which induces synchronized cell division in microbial mass cultures of 30 1.
Power conservation for reflector antennas with truncated feed patterns

Reflector-antenna calculations using idealised truncated feed patterns can lead to incorrect values of total secondary radiated power. It is demonstrated that this discrepancy is due to the presence of higher-order spherical modes incident on the reflector. When a proper spherical-wave expansion of the incident field is used, in conjunction with the physical-optics technique, to determine the scattered field, the total power of the scattered field will equal the power radiated by the feed.
Multiple Topological Domains Mediate Subtype-specific Internalization of the M2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor *

Endocytosis of agonist-activated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is required for both resensitization and recycling to the cell surface as well as lysosomal degradation. Thus, this process is crucial for regulation of receptor signaling and cellular responsiveness. Although many GPCRs internalize into clathrin-coated vesicles in a dynamin-dependent manner, some receptors, including the M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR), can also exhibit dynamin-independent internalization. We have identified five amino acids, located in the sixth and seventh transmembrane domains and the third intracellular loop, that are essential for agonist-induced M2 mAChR internalization via a dynamin-independent mechanism in JEG-3 choriocarcinoma cells. Substitution of these residues into the M1 mAChR, which does not internalize in these cells, is sufficient for conversion to the internalization-competent M2 mAChR phenotype, whereas removal of these residues from the M2 mAChR blocks internalization. Cotransfection of a dominant-negative isoform of dynamin has no effect on M2mAChR internalization. An internalization-incompetent M2mutant that lacks a subset of the necessary residues can still internalize via a G protein-coupled receptor kinase-2 and β-arrestin-dependent pathway. Furthermore, internalization is independent of the signal transduction pathway that is activated. These results identify a novel motif that specifies structural requirements for subtype-specific dynamin-independent internalization of a GPCR.
Scève's Asses Plus Long, Qu'vn Siecle Platonique

(2004). Sceve's Asses Plus Long, Qu'vn Siecle Platonique. The Explicator: Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 66-68.
Delayed diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

A late diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy has implications for both child and family. This repeat audit has shown that the diagnosis continues to be delayed. The failure to recognize that non-motor, and specifically speech and language delay are common features of this disease may detract from the motor difficulties in affected children and contribute to the late diagnosis of this disorder. In the absence of a national newborn screening programme for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, all health care professionals should be made more aware of the condition and have a lower threshold for measuring a creatine phosphokinase level.
The role of dynamic threshold shifts in the performance of inverters and NAND gates in PD SOI technology

In this paper, a method is described for quantifying DTS effects in PD SOI. If one chooses to characterize SOI with a single nFET Vt (and single pFET Vt) of the "equivalent" bulk technology, the additional drive enhancement due to DTS amounts at most to a few % for the 0.18 /spl mu/m technology case considered. Buried within this characterization are much larger DTS effects that can be studied within the same framework. The results suggest there is opportunity for further DTS advantage for PD SOI by decreasing the drain-body capacitance compared to the gate-body capacitance.
Autonomic mechanisms regulating myocardial contractility in conscious animals

In this review some of the issues and controversies involved in the neural control of the myocardial inotropic response to stress have been discussed. For example, it is surprising that either direct or reflex activation of the sympathetic nerves induces a relatively small increase (20-40%) in the left ventricular inotropic state when compared with the three-five-fold increase associated with maximal dynamic exercise. Studies contrasting the levels of circulating catecholamines with the left ventricular inotropic responses induced by hemorrhage, exercise and exogenously administered catecholamines, suggest that the catecholamine concentration at the synaptic cleft is the primary determinant of the left ventricular inotropic response. Although parasympathetic neural activation alone appears to have little direct influence on the left ventricular inotropic state and central nervous system integration of the autonomic nervous system usually insures there is a reciprocal relationship between sympathetic and parasympathetic neural activity, the potential for parasympathetic inhibition of the response to sympathetic or sympathomimetic augmentation of the intropic response exists. The importance of sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system interaction in physiologic and pathologic conditions has yet to be defined. It is this type of knowledge of the interactions of reflex pathways which will be critical to the full understanding of autonomic reflex control of myocardial performance under physiologic and pathologic conditions.
A Compact Permanent-Magnet Helicon Thruster

A small helicon source using a permanent magnet has been tested for possible application as a spacecraft thruster. Ion energy distributions measured with a retarding-field ion analyzer show that ions are ejected with energies of $\sim 5~KT_{e}$ , in agreement with theory. The specific impulse can be increased by applying a positive bias to the endplate of the discharge.
Management and environmental factors associated with annual sow culling rate: A path analysis

The relationships between management and environmental factors and annual sow culling rate were investigated in 152 Minnesota swine breeding herds. Data were obtained through a postal survey. A general path model was hypothesized to describe relationships among variables. Multiple least-squares and logistic regressions were used to test the statistical significance of pathways. The associations between the indepen variables and the annual culling rate (ACR) were decomposed into direct, indirect, and common cause associations. The mean ACR of the 152 farms was 39% ± 2% rm(SE). Using path-analysis techniques, only the type of flooring during gestation, the size of the herd and the lactation length had a direct relationship with ACR. The type of housing during gestation and farrowing were related indirectly to the ACR. Their association was mediated by the type of flooring during gestation and the weaning age. Herds housing their sows in total confinement during gestation were most likely to keep them on partially or totally slatted floors which were associated with a higher ACR. Sows kept in crates during the farrowing period were more likely to have a short lactation length which was associated with a higher ACR. Most associations between the use of preventive veterinary services and the ACR were due to association with other variables. Herds using veterinary preventive medicine were most likely to have a short lactation length, a large number of females, and sows housed in total confinement during gestation and in crates during the farrowing period. All of the aforementioned variables were associated with a high ACR. The relationships of other management and environmental factors with the ACR were due to common cause associations. These factors included having the sows individually identified, using a more comprehensive recording system, mainly a hand-mating system, testing regularly for pregnancy and housing sows in total confinement during the breeding period. The strongest associations with the ACR were the type of flooring during gestation and the size of the herd.
Computational studies on high-stiffness, high-damping SiC-InSn particulate reinforced composites

With the objective of achieving composite material systems that feature high stiffness and high mechanical damping, consideration is given here to unit cell analysis of particulate composites with high volume fraction of inclusions. Effective elastic properties of the composite are computed with computational homogenization based on unit cell analysis. The correspondence principle together with the viscoelastic properties of the indium–tin eutectic matrix are then used to compute the effective viscoelastic properties of the composite. Comparison is made with parallel experiments upon composites with an indium–tin eutectic matrix and high volume fractions of silicon-carbide reinforcement. The analytical techniques indicate that combinations of relatively high stiffness and high damping can be achieved in particulate composites with high SiC volume fractions. Based on analysis, the tradeoffs between stiffness and damping characteristics are assessed by changing the volume fraction, size, packing, and gradation of the particulate reinforcement phases. Practical considerations associated with realization of such composites based on the surface energy between the SiC and the InSn are discussed. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
The artificial pancreas: is it important to understand how the β cell controls blood glucose?

It has been more than 7 years since the first fully automated closed-loop insulin delivery system that linked subcutaneous insulin delivery and glucose sensing was published. Since the initial report, the physiologic insulin delivery (PID) algorithm used to emulate the β cell has been modified from the original proportional-integral-derivative terms needed to fit the β cell’s biphasic response to a hyperglycemic clamp to include terms emulating cephalic phase insulin release and the effect of insulin per se to inhibit insulin secretion. In this article, we compare the closed-loop glucose profiles obtained as each new term has been added, reassess the ability of the revised PID model to describe the β cells’ insulin response to a hyperglycemic clamp, and look for the first time at its ability to describe the response to a hypoglycemic clamp. We also consider changes that might be added to the model based on perfused pancreas data. We conclude that the changes introduced in the PID model have systematically improved the closed-loop meal response. We note that the changes made do not adversely affect the ability of the model to fit hyperglycemic clamp data but are necessary to fit the response to a hypoglycemic clamp. Finally, we note a number of β cell characteristics observed in the perfused pancreas have not been included in the model. We suggest that continuing the effort to understand and incorporate aspects of how the β cell achieves glucose control can provide valuable insights into how improvements in future artificial pancreas algorithms might be achieved.
Thermal Expansion and Viscosity of Confined Liquids

The thermal expansion and viscosity of water and salt solutions in porous silica glasses have been systematically investigated, and the effect of salts on the properties of water in confined geometry has been addressed. A dilatometric method has been devised and utilized to measure the thermal expansion of confined liquids. A beam-bending method that was developed to study the permeability of porous bodies has been used to measure the relative viscosity of salt solutions to water inside the silica pores. This work has demonstrated that water when confined in nanopores shows anomalous behavior and its thermal expansion is higher than bulk water. This work has also suggested that the presence of ions in water could enhance the anomaly of water in confined space and the extent of the ion effect is dependent on the ion charge.
Willingness to pay for a Green Energy program: A comparison of ex-ante and ex-post hypothetical bias mitigation approaches

The most persistently troubling empirical result in the contingent valuation method literature is the tendency for hypothetical willingness to pay to overestimate real willingness to pay. Two approaches, ex-ante and ex-post, have been developed to mitigate or eliminate the overstatement of hypothetical willingness to pay. The ex-ante approach addresses hypothetical bias in the survey design stage while the ex-post approach addresses hypothetical bias with follow-up questions to the hypothetical willingness to pay question. We find that willingness to pay estimates are similar when either the ex-ante or ex-post approach are employed. Our results suggest that the approaches should be considered as complements and not substitutes. Employing both approaches to mitigate hypothetical bias we estimate that the annual benefits of the regional amenities associated with a Green Energy program in North Carolina are $186 million.
Domain decomposition methods for PDE constrained optimization problems

Optimization problems constrained by nonlinear partial differential equations have been the focus of intense research in scientific computing lately. Current methods for the parallel numerical solution of such problems involve sequential quadratic programming (SQP), with either reduced or full space approaches. In this paper we propose and investigate a class of parallel full space SQP Lagrange-Newton-Krylov-Schwarz (LNKSz) algorithms. In LNKSz, a Lagrangian functional is formed and differentiated to obtain a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) system of nonlinear equations. Inexact Newton method with line search is then applied. At each Newton iteration the linearized KKT system is solved with a Schwarz preconditioned Krylov subspace method. We apply LNKSz to the parallel numerical solution of some boundary control problems of two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Numerical results are reported for different combinations of Reynolds number, mesh size and number of parallel processors.
ABCG5/ABCG8-independent biliary cholesterol excretion in lactating rats

Lactation is associated with increased expression of bile acid transporters and an increased size and hydrophobicity of the bile acid pool in rats. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters multidrug resistance protein 2 (Mdr2), Abcb11 [bile salt export pump (Bsep)], and Abcg5/Abcg8 heterodimers are essential for the biliary secretion of phospholipids, bile acids, and cholesterol, respectively. We investigated the expression of these transporters and secretion of their substrates in female control and lactating Sprague Dawley rats and C57BL/6 mice. Expression of Abcg5/Abcg8 mRNA was decreased by 97 and 60% by midlactation in rats and mice, respectively; protein levels of Abcg8 were below detection limits in lactating rats. Mdr2 mRNA expression was decreased in lactating rats and mice by 47 and 59%, respectively. Despite these changes in transporter expression, basal concentrations of cholesterol and phospholipid in bile were unchanged in rats and mice, whereas increased Bsep mRNA expression in early lactation coincided with an increased basal biliary bile acid concentration in lactating mice. Following taurocholate infusion, coupling of phospholipid and taurocholate secretion in bile of lactating mice was significantly impaired relative to control mice, with no significant changes in maximal secretion of cholesterol or bile acids. In rats, taurocholate infusion revealed a significantly impaired coupling of cholesterol to taurocholate secretion in bile in lactating vs. control animals. These data reveal marked utilization of an Abcg5/Abcg8-independent mechanism for basal biliary cholesterol secretion in rats during lactation, but a dependence on Abcg5/g8 for maximal biliary cholesterol secretion.
Coupled Sliding Discharges: A Scalable Nonthermal Plasma System Utilizing Positive and Negative Streamers on Opposite Sides of a Dielectric Layer

A nonthermal plasma system based on simultaneously formed positive and negative streamers on either side of a dielectric layer is described. The coupled sliding discharge (CSD) reactor based on this concept was found to be scalable by stacking and operating multiple electrode assemblies in parallel, similarly to the shielded sliding discharge (SSD) reactor reported earlier. A comparison of the two systems showed that although the energy density in the CSD reactor was lower, the efficiency for NO conversion and ozone synthesis from dry air were significantly higher. The energy cost for 50 % NO removal was ~30 eV/molecule compared to ~60 eV/molecule in the case of the SSD under the same conditions of 330 ppm initial NO concentration in air. The energy cost decreased to ~12 eV/molecule in both cases when NO was mixed with plasma-activated air at the outlet of the reactor to utilize ozone for NO conversion i.e., indirect plasma treatment. The energy yield for ozone generation from dry air was at ~70 g/kWh, comparable in both systems. The results show that the concept of a CSD, as that of SSDs, allows the construction of compact, efficient plasma reactors.
Turbulent mixed-boundary flow in a corner formed by a solid wall and a free surface

Results from a joint numerical/experimental study of turbulent flow along a corner formed by a vertical wall and a horizontal free surface are presented. The objective of the investigation was to understand transport mechanisms in the corner. Numerical simulations were conducted at NRL to obtain data describing the dynamics of the near corner region. The Reynolds number for the simulations was Re θ 220. Flow visualization experiments conducted in the Rutgers free surface water tunnel were used to initially identify coherent structures and to determine the effect of these structures on the free surface. Time-resolved streamwise LDA measurements were made for Re θ 1150. The most significant results were the identification of inner and outer secondary flow regions in the corner. The inner secondary motion is characterized by a weak slowly evolving vortex with negative streamwise vorticity. The outer secondary motion is characterized by an upflow along the wall and outflow away from the wall at the free surface. Additional salient results included observations of surfactant transport away from the surface in cores of vortices connected to the free surface, intermittent energetic transport of fluid to the surface, and attenuation of streak motion by the free surface.
Representations of Modality-Specific Affective Processing for Visual and Auditory Stimuli Derived From Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data

r r Abstract: There is converging evidence that people rapidly and automatically encode affective dimen- sions of objects, events, and environments that they encounter in the normal course of their daily rou- tines. An important research question is whether affective representations differ with sensory modality. This research examined the nature of the dependency of affect and sensory modality at a whole-brain level of analysis in an incidental affective processing paradigm. Participants were pre- sented with picture and sound stimuli that differed in positive or negative valence in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Global statistical tests, applied at a level of the individual, demonstrated significant sensitivity to valence within modality, but not valence across modalities. Modality-general and modality-specific valence hypotheses predict distinctly different mul- tidimensional patterns of the stimulus conditions. Examination of lower dimensional representation of the data demonstrated separable dimensions for valence processing within each modality. These results provide support for modality-specific valence processing in an incidental affective processing paradigm at a whole-brain level of analysis. Future research should further investigate how stimulus- specific emotional decoding may be mediated by the physical properties of the stimuli. Hum Brain Mapp 35:3558-3568, 2014. V C 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Glucocorticoid-dextran conjugates as potential prodrugs for colon-specific delivery: steady-state pharmacokinetics in the rat.

Chronic colitis, e.g., ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is presently treated with glucocorticoids and other antiinflammatory agents. Side-effects limit chronic glucocorticoid therapy. The dose, and consequently the side-effects, may be reduced by using prodrugs that selectively deliver drug to the colon. We previously synthesized glucocorticoid-dextran conjugates in which dexamethasone was attached to dextran (weight-average molecular weight = 72,600) using dicarboxylic acid linkers (succinate and glutarate). In the present study, dexamethasone-succinate-dextran and dexamethasone-glutarate-dextran were administered to two groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats by intragastric infusion. In two additional groups, disodium dexamethasone phosphate and dexamethasone hemisuccinate were each administered by subcutaneous infusion. In a fifth group, dexamethasone was administered by intragastric infusion. All groups were infused for sufficient time for steady state to be achieved. Colon-specific delivery was quantified using a drug-delivery index (DDI) in which steady-state dexamethasone concentrations in the cecum and colon were compared with those measured in blood after separate administrations of dexamethasone and dexamethasone-dextran conjugate. The colonic DDI values for dexamethasone-succinate-dextran and dexamethasone-glutarate-dextran were approximately seven and four, respectively. These values were a result of higher tissue concentrations and lower blood concentrations of dexamethasone after intragastric administration of the conjugates compared to subcutaneous and intragastric administration of dexamethasone. The pharmacokinetics of methyl-prednisolone was also investigated after subcutaneous infusion. Observed cecal and colonic tissue-to-blood ratios of 19:1 and 12:1, respectively, showed that this drug is extensively delivered to the large intestine even after subcutaneous administration.
A brief history of shock.

RECENTLY, 2 MIDDLE-AGED COUSINS were admitted to the Level I trauma center where I attend as a trauma surgeon. Each had been shot twice. Their wounds were similar; both suffered a single gunshot wound to the epigastrium and a second wound in the left flank. The first cousin (let us call him Joe), had a normal pulse and blood pressure and was oriented and composed; his skin was pink and dry. The second cousin (let us call him Frank) was hypotensive and tachycardic; he was apathetic and disoriented, although paramedics reported that he had been agitated and combative in the field just minutes before. His skin was pale and he was diaphoretic. There was 1 operating room immediately available and 1 that would be ready in 20 minutes. Frank was given priority. At surgery, he was found to have a bullet track passing through the left lobe of the liver, the gastric antrum, the pancreatic neck, and the splenic artery. There were $2 L of blood in his abdomen. Joe was found to have a bullet track that passed through the right lobe of the liver (nonbleeding) and through the hepatic flexure of colon. He had 140,000 citations. The meaning of the term ‘‘shock’’ varies depending upon the
Structure and activity of apoferritin-stabilized gold nanoparticles.

A simple method for synthesizing gold nanoparticles stabilized by horse spleen apoferritin (HSAF) is reported using NaBH4 or 3-(N- morpholino)propanesulfonic acid (MOPS) as the reducing agent. AuClreduction by NaBH4 was complete within a few seconds, whereas reduction by MOPS was much slower; in all cases, protein was required during reduction to keep the gold particles in aqueous solution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the gold nanoparticles were associated with the outer surface of the pro- tein. The average particle diameters were 3.6 and 15.4 nm for NaBH4-reduced and MOPS-reduced Au-HSAF, respectively. A 5-nm dif- ference in the UV-Vis absorption maximum was observed for NaBH4-reduced (530 nm) and MOPS-reduced Au-HSAF (535 nm), which was attributed to the greater size and aggregation of the MOPS-reduced gold sample. NaBH4-reduced Au-HSAF was much more effec- tive than MOPS-reduced Au-HSAF in catalyzing the reduction of 4-nitrophenol by NaBH4, based on the greater accessibility of the NaBH4-reduced gold particle to the substrate. Rapid reduction of AuClby NaBH4 was determined to result in less surface passivation by the protein. Methods for studying ferritin-gold nanoparticle assemblies may be readily applied to other protein-metal colloid systems.
Deriving Realistic Source Boundary Conditions for a CFD Simulation of Concentrations in Workroom Air

Computationalfluiddynamics(CFD)isusedincreasinglytosimulatethedistributionofairborne contaminants in enclosed spaces for exposure assessment and control, but the importance of realistic boundary conditions is often not fully appreciated. In a workroom for manufacturing capacitors,full-shiftsamplesforisoamylacetate(IAA)werecollectedfor3daysat16locations,and velocities were measured at supply grills and at various points near the source. Then, velocity and concentration fields were simulated by 3-dimensional steady-state CFD using 295K tetrahedral cells, the k-e turbulence model, standardwall function, and convergence criteria of 10 26 for all scalars. Here, we demonstrate the need to represent boundary conditions accurately, especially emission characteristics at the contaminant source, and to obtain good agreement between observations and CFD results. Emission rates for each day were determined from six concentrations measured in the near field and one upwind using an IAA mass balance. The emission was initially represented as undiluted IAA vapor, but the concentrations estimated using CFD differed greatly from the measured concentrations. A second set of simulations was performed using the same IAA emission rates but a more realistic representation of the source. This yielded good agreement with measured values. Paying particular attention to the region with highest worker exposure potential—within 1.3 m of the source center—the air speed and IAA concentrations estimated by CFD were not significantly different from the measured values (P 5 0.92 and P 5 0.67, respectively). Thus, careful consideration of source boundary conditions greatly improved agreement with the measured values.
The Role of the Speaker’s Emotional State in Im/politeness Assessments:

Brown and Levinson proposed that three sociological variables—Distance, Power, and Ranking of the imposition—affect politeness assessments. Later scholarship, however, argued that these variables c...
A2A Adenosine Receptor Signaling in Lymphocytes and the Central Nervous System Regulates Inflammation during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Extracellular adenosine has an important role in regulating the severity of inflammation during an immune response. Although there are four adenosine receptor (AR) subtypes, the A2AAR is both highly expressed on lymphocytes and known as a prime mediator of adenosine's anti-inflammatory effects. To define the importance of A2AAR signaling during neuroinflammatory disease progression, we used the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) animal model for multiple sclerosis. In EAE induction experiments, A2AAR antagonist treatment protected mice from disease development and its associated CNS lymphocyte infiltration. However, A2AAR(-/-) mice developed a more severe acute EAE phenotype characterized by more proinflammatory lymphocytes and activated microglia/macrophages. Interestingly, very high levels of A2AAR were expressed on the choroid plexus, a well-established CNS lymphocyte entry point. To determine the contribution of A2AAR signaling in lymphocytes and the CNS during EAE, we used bone marrow chimeric mice. Remarkably, A2AAR(-/-) donor hematopoietic cells potentiated severe EAE, whereas lack of A2AAR expression on nonhematopoietic cells protected against disease development. Although no defect in the suppressive ability of A2AAR(-/-) regulatory T cells was observed, A2AAR(-/-) lymphocytes were shown to proliferate more and produced more IFN-γ following stimulation. Despite this more proinflammatory phenotype, A2AAR antagonist treatment still protected against EAE when A2AAR(-/-) lymphocytes were adoptively transferred to T cell-deficient A2AAR(+/+) mice. These results indicate that A2AAR expression on nonimmune cells (likely in the CNS) is required for efficient EAE development, while A2AAR lymphocyte expression is essential for limiting the severity of the inflammatory response.
Healthy ecosystems and sustainable economies: the federal interagency ecosystem management initiative

This article provides an overview of the process used by about 20 agencies of the United States federal government to review federal efforts to adopt an ecosystem approach and to recommend ways to strengthen this approach. The method utilized by these agencies was to form a Working Group representing each agency and to select seven case study sites where federal agencies were already working together to coordinate their efforts across an ecosystem. Based upon the results of the case studies and discussions with people involved in other ecosystem efforts, the Working Group identified key issues that need to be considered in order to strengthen this approach. Five issue groups were formed to further refine these issues and to make recommendations for effectively dealing with them. This paper provides brief descriptions of the case study sites, reviews the key issues and presents highlights of recommendations. It is the work of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of their respective federal agencies or of the Interagency Ecosystem Management Task Force.
Etanercept as an adjuvant to interferon and ribavirin in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: a phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study ☆

Background/Aims Current therapies for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not achieve sustained viral clearance in most patients, and are associated with severe toxic effects. Our aim was to investigate the efficacy and safety of etanercept as adjuvant to interferon and ribavirin in treatment-naive patients with HCV. Methods Double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial. Fifty patients with chronic HCV were randomly assigned to receive interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin with either etanercept or placebo for 24 weeks. The main outcome measure was the absence of HCV RNA at 24 weeks, the on treatment response at the end of the etanercept randomization period. Results At 24 weeks, HCV RNA was absent in 63% (12/19) etanercept patients compared to 32% (8/25) placebo patients ( P =0.04). In addition, patients receiving etanercept had lower frequency of most adverse events categories compared to placebo. Conclusions Etanercept given for 24 weeks as adjuvant therapy to interferon and ribavirin significantly improved virologic response at the end of the etanercept randomization period among patients with HCV, and was associated with decreased incidence of most adverse effects associated with interferon and ribavirin.
Vehicle steering system state estimation using sliding mode observers

The increasing sophistication of the electronics package available on board the modern automobile, has made viable a number of new technologies that can greatly enhance the driveability and safety of the vehicle. One area that has received much attention is the use of drive by wire steering systems that partially or in some cases (such as in some envisaged IVHS systems) completely takes over the tasks of vehicle directional control. The vehicle handling dynamics are quite nonlinear (especially for severe maneuvers and over large variations in longitudinal speed). Most steering control algorithms require knowledge of the vehicle states and in many cases are quite sensitive to the values of various vehicle parameters such as tire cornering stiffness, tire-road coefficient of friction etc. Measuring the states is usually expensive and direct measurement of the parameters is often impossible. Thus, some means of estimating these variables becomes imperative. Recent advances in sliding mode control/estimation theory have demonstrated the effectiveness of such schemes when applied to nonlinear systems. This paper presents some extensions to the theory of sliding mode observers and an application to the problem of estimating vehicle steering system states.
Dinner with the Valkyries (a novel excerpt)

In this novel excerpt, a food addict named for a Norse battle goddess, Svafa Lindeman is a woman caught in a half-life. Suspended between the reality of running a junk business with her aging, hostile mother and evanescent memory of her missing sister, Svafa seeks solace in comestibles from homegrown eggs to double-decker burgers. A chance to write restaurant reviews for the local paper seems like a dream come true, but making peace with food proves to be as tumultuous and ultimately elusive as making peace with the ghosts of her childhood. iv
East, Emerson, and the Birth of Maize Genetics

After the rediscovery of Mendel's work, acceptance and incorporation of the principles of heredity was natural to those whose interests were in agricultural advance. This chapter examines the circumstances and opportunities in which maize genetics research was founded, its role in establishing and spreading genetics widely, and its influence on cooperative sharing of information and data among investigators. Two scientists, E. M. East and R. A. Emerson, were largely responsible for the development of maize as a pivotal species in genetics.