cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parkinson disease loci in the mid-western Amish

Previous evidence has shown that Parkinson disease (PD) has a heritable component, but only a small proportion of the total genetic contribution to PD has been identified. Genetic heterogeneity complicates the verification of proposed PD genes and the identification of new PD susceptibility genes. Our approach to overcome the problem of heterogeneity is to study a population isolate, the mid-western Amish communities of Indiana and Ohio. We performed genome-wide association and linkage analyses on 798 individuals (31 with PD), who are part of a 4,998 member pedigree. Through these analyses, we identified a region on chromosome 5q31.3 that shows evidence of association (p value < 1 × 10−4) and linkage (multipoint HLOD = 3.77). We also found further evidence of linkage on chromosomes 6 and 10 (multipoint HLOD 4.02 and 4.35 respectively). These data suggest that locus heterogeneity, even within the Amish, may be more extensive than previously appreciated.
Novel SOS phenotypes caused by second-site mutations in the recA430 gene of Escherichia coli

Abstract E coli recA430 mutants are recombination-proficient, extremely UV sensitive, UV nonmutable and partially deficient in RecA-mediated proteolysis and in RecA-dependent ‘induced replisome reactivation’ (IRR), the ability to recover DNA replication activity after UV irradiation. To determine how this pleiotropic phenotype can be altered by mutation, we isolated 10 independent derivatives of a recA430 strain, selecting for increased UV resistance. Eight of the 10 owed their resistance to altered recA alleles. We here describe the phenotypes conferred by two of the new recA alleles (recA720 and recA727), each of which contains the original recA430 mutation (G662 to A) and a second-site transition: T167 to C in recA720, and G103 to A in recA727. The second-site change in recA720 suppresses all the defects caused by recA430, and causes RecA720 to exhibit greater activity than RecA+ in some respects. Some, but not all, of the recA430 defects are partially corrected by the second-site mutation in recA727.
The Relationship Between a College Preparation Program and At-Risk Students' College Readiness

This study evaluates the relationship between elements of a college preparation program and the college readiness of low-income and/or Latina/o students at the completion of 6 years of participation in the program. Hours of participation in tutoring, mentoring, advising, college campus visits, summer programs, and educational field trips are examined in relationship to students' college-track course completion and Preliminary SAT (PSAT) participation. In addition, the relationship between students' expectations for college and their ranking of program activities is examined. Results indicate that key program elements related to college readiness include advising, college campus visits, and college information through booklets and speakers.
RACIAL/ETHNIC AND GENDER DISPARITIES IN RENAL CELL CARCINOMA INCIDENCE AND SURVIVAL

Purpose: We used a population based cancer registry to examine trends in renal cell carcinoma incidence and survival among 4 racial/ethnic groups (white, black, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander) and both genders.Materials and Methods: Race/ethnicity, gender, age, staging, length of survival and cause of death data were analyzed using 39,434 cases of renal cell carcinoma from 1988 to 2004 from the California Cancer Registry. Annual age adjusted incidence rates and relative survival rates were calculated for the racial/ethnic and gender groups. These rates and the percent of localized cancer were plotted by year, and Microsoft Excel® was used to calculate linear regression equations. Median age was also calculated. Z-tests and chi-square tests were performed to determine p values.Results: An increase in renal cell carcinoma incidence was found with localized cancer accounting for most of the increase. Black patients had a significantly higher incidence rate (p <0.0001) and lower survival rate (p <0.0001)...
Automatic orientation determination from Kikuchi patterns

Some formal aspects of crystal orientation determination from Kikuchi patterns are discussed, with respect to writing general and fast algorithms for automatic indexing of the patterns and orientation determination. The geometry of the problem is presented in a general form which is also suitable for channeling patterns or X-ray Kossel patterns. Moreover, geometrical ambiguities and other reliability issues are considered. Some strategies designed to handle artifacts of automatic pattern analysis are presented. Finally, the reliability and the accuracy of the described procedures and the sensitivity of the results to the errors of the basic measurement parameters were tested on computer-generated patterns.
The tissue renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in diabetes mellitus

Diabetes is associated with an inordinate burden of cardiovascular and renal disease, which is expected to accelerate during the next few decades. The relationship between the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and diabetic macrovascular and microvascular disease is well established. The contribution of the tissue RAS in disease pathogenesis has recently been the focus of much interest, and has prompted investigators to explore the use of high-dose RAS inhibition with monotherapy or combination therapy to provide a more complete blockade of the actions of angiotensin II, beyond lowering blood pressure. There is now evidence to support this approach to maximize cardiovascular and renal protection. Optimal dosing strategies remain uncertain, but tissue specificity does not appear to be important if the doses of angiotensin-converting enzyme-I and angiotensin-receptor binders are high enough. The purpose of this review is to highlight our current understanding of the role of the tissue RAS in the pathogenesis of diabetic end-organ damage and ongoing strategies to interfere pharmacologically.
Your new resource for exciting research in applied ornithology

We are undergoing big changes at Condor. Most obviously, as you see before you (Figure 1), the journal has been renamed The Condor: Ornithological Applications. This name clearly states the area of ornithology we aim to cover. You may also be reading this Editorial as part of the first set of papers released online, in the first week of 2014. Our new publishing model will allow accepted papers to make their way into press without the delay of quarterly publishing. On the journal’s main web page you can see how we are working together with The Auk: Ornithological Advances. Simply put, both journals become more efficient and more valuable to the ornithological community by dividing subject matter but sharing editorial and production offices. Behind the scenes are a newly configured joint editorial office, a new manuscript tracking system, a new online publishing platform, and a new print house, all of which are shared with Auk. As an example of new services the combined editorial office can provide, we work with authors and university outreach departments to highlight significant papers. These changes mean little to the discipline if we can’t produce a quality product. We think the explicit subject matter focus makes The Condor: Ornithological Applications an attractive place to submit your paper. First and foremost, as an author you can be assured your paper will be reviewed by ornithologists who know both the birds and the applied context. An exciting innovation is the opportunity for double-blind review, at your discretion as an author. We hope you will consider this option when you submit your paper. Additionally, a subset of papers will be open access from the time they appear online, giving your work a chance to reach audiences removed from academic libraries. As a reader, you can be assured any results and recommendations we publish have been thoroughly vetted by ornithologists. Our first set of papers quickly reveals that we are publishing important information for conservation of birds. We’ve expanded the expertise of the editorial staff to stay on the cutting edge of applied ornithology. In particular, in addition to the Editor-in-Chief, we have two Editors with full authority to accept or reject papers. Jen Owen brings unique skills in avian disease research, and Paul Doherty is an expert on analytical techniques. Our review system moves to the Associate Editor (AE) system, much as has been used at The Auk for more than a decade, in which AEs solicit external reviews and recommend a decision to the Editor-in-Chief or Editors. With all these changes, I want also to offer a bit of history to remind the reader of the long tradition of the Cooper Ornithological Society’s publications. As Editorin-Chief, I’m humbled to follow in the footsteps of not just our excellent recent editors, but also those of Joseph FIGURE 1. New cover design of The Condor: Ornithological Applications. The first issue features a Kittlitz’s Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) with its prey of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii). Photo credit: Milo Burcham
A model to exploit power-performance efficiency in superscalar processors via structure resizing

Power consumption has become a major cause of concern spanning from data centers to handheld devices. Traditionally, improvement in power-performance efficiency of a modern superscalar processor came from technology scaling. However, that is no longer the case. Many of the current systems deploy coarse grain voltage and/or frequency scaling for power management. These techniques are attractive, but limited due to their granularity of control and effectiveness in nano-CMOS technologies. This paper proposes a novel architecture-level mechanism to exploit intra thread variations for power-performance efficiency in modern superscalar processors. This class of processors implements several buffering/queuing structures to support speculative out-of-order execution for performance enhancement. Applications may not need full capabilities of such structures at all times. A mechanism that collaboratively adapts a finite set of key hardware structures to the changing program behavior can allow the processor to operate with heterogeneous power-performance capabilities. We present a novel offline regression based empirical model to estimate structure resizing for a selected set of structures. It is shown that using a few processor runtime events, the system can dynamically estimate structure resizing to exploit power-performance efficiency. Results show that using the proposed empirical model, a selective set of key structures can be resized at runtime to deliver 35% power-performance efficiency over a baseline design, with only 5% loss of performance.
Improved Tracking by Decoupling Camera and Target Motion

ABSTRACT Video tracking is widely used for surveillance, security, and defense purposes. In cases where the camera is notxed due to pans and tilts, or due to being xed on a moving platform, tracking can become more dicult.Camera motion must be taken into account, and objects that come and go from the eld of view should becontinuously and uniquely tracked. We propose a tracking system that can meet these needs by using a frameregistration technique to estimate camera motion. This estimate is then used as the input control signal to aKalman lter which estimates the targets motion model based on measurements from a mean-shift localizationscheme. Thus we decouple the camera and object motion and recast the problem in terms of a principled controltheory solution.Our experiments show that using a controller built on these principles we are able to track videos with multipleobjects in sequences with moving cameras. Furthermore, the techniques are computationally ecient and allowus to accomplish these results in real-time. Of specic importance is that when objects are lost o-frame theycan still be uniquely identied and reacquired when they return to the eld of view.Keywords: Algorithms, Tracking, Mean Shift, Registration, Kalman Filter, Control
Text reference service: Teens' perception and use

Abstract Focus group interviews were conducted to investigate how teen library users perceive and use text reference service. Findings indicate that teens have a mixed attitude toward the service, and they anticipate using it primarily for imposed queries. Teens' perception of three aspects of the service is also discussed: response time, librarians' use of texting abbreviations, and the impact of texting constraints. Strategies are provided to increase awareness, motivate use, and meet expectations. Findings will help inform libraries' text reference practice, providing them with a clear understanding of how teens can benefit from the service, and how their information needs can be fulfilled to their satisfaction. Such an understanding will then lead libraries to develop more effective strategies to promote and deliver library services to teens, strengthen the role libraries play in teens' information-seeking process, and establish a positive and sustaining relationship between teens and libraries.
CpG methylation inactivates the transcriptional activity of the promoter of the human p53 tumor suppressor gene

Alterations of the methylation patterns of DNA are common in cancer cells and could conceivably comprise a subset of causal events in the carcinogenesis process. Although it has previously been shown that methylation of CpG islands in the 5'-control regions of tumor suppressor genes such as p16, Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome gene, and the retinoblastoma (RB) gene can suppress expression and function of these gene products, the elements that control the expression of the p53 gene have not been examined in detail. In this study we examined the effect of CpG methylation in a region of the p53 promoter containing major transcription start sites. A region of the p53 promoter (from -199 to +142) containing 15 CpG dinucleotides was placed in a pCAT reporter plasmid and reporter activity was assessed in host CV-1 cells. We show for the first time that transcriptional activation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, as assessed by a reporter plasmid construct, can be down-regulated by cytosine methylation in the basal promoter region. We believe these data suggest a role for methylation of CpG sequences in the regulation of transcription of p53. This implies that the tumor suppressor gene p53 could, therefore, contribute to carcinogenesis by inactivation via methylation of a key element in cell cycle control.
Modulation of pulmonary immune defense mechanisms by sulfuric acid: effects on macrophage-derived tumor necrosis factor and superoxide.

Abstract There is considerable interest in the potential health effects resulting from inhalation of acidic aerosols. However, except for well documented irritant effects and acid-induced changes in lung clearance function, other potential health effects have not been well defined. This study was designed to provide further insight regarding the relationship of sulfuric acid aerosol to the pathogenesis of respiratory disease by describing the effects of inhaled acid on the release and/or activity of biologically active mediators critical for maintaining pulmonary immunocompetence and resistance against infectious diseases. Results of this study demonstrated that a single inhalation exposure of rabbits to environmentally relevant and higher concentrations of sulfuric acid depresses the release/activity of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated tumor necrosis factor-α and also reduces the ability of pulmonary macrophages to produce superoxide anion radical in response to opsonized zymosan. These findings should be considered when evaluating the health risks associated with sulfuric acid exposure.
Topographic classification of digital image intensity surfaces using generalized splines and the discrete cosine transformation

A complete mathematical treatment is given for describing the topographic primal sketch of the underlying grey tone intensity surface of a digital image. Each picture element is independently classified into a unique descriptive label, invariant under monotonically increasing grey tone transformations, from the set {peak, pit, ridge, ravine, saddle, flat, and hillside}, with hillside having subcategories {inflection point, slope, convex hill, concave hill, and saddle hill}. The topographic classification is based on the first and second directional derivatives of the estimated image intensity surface. Two different sets of basis functions, generalized splines and the discrete cosine basis, are used to estimate the image intensity surface. Zero-crossings of the first directional derivative are identified as location of interest in the image.
Thermovoltaic detection. III. Thermal decomposition of some amino acids

Abstract The thermal dissociation reactions of selected amino acids were studied by thermovoltaic detection (TVD), TG and DSC. All of the TVD curves except L-arginine contained a broad EMF output peak in the 200–300°C temperature range. The leading edges of the peak maxima were reproducible to within ± 1–2% while the trailing edges were reproducible to ± 20% or so. The latter was related to the irreproducible nature of the electrode-decomposition products interface. The TVD curves were not unique in that they yielded thermal analysis curves that were not inherently different from other TA techniques.
A fast inorganic scintillator

Abstract Measurement of the scintillation of ZnO:Ga by α-particles show a greater light output than plastic organic scintillators with a decay time of 0.4 ± 0.15 nsec.
The disaster simulation: a problem-based learning or assessment experience for primary care professionals

Disaster simulation can be a powerful experience for medical students or faculty, in interdisciplinary or multiprofessional teams. This paper illustrates the potential of such simulations for developing, and assessing, the integration of professional competencies. Operation Kauai is a disaster relief simulation which has been used successfully in workshops for multiprofessional faculty development at the University of Hawaii and elsewhere. Its sequence of scenarios uses a variety of stimuli designed to promote or assess teamwork skills as well as individuals performance. This kind of simulation may appeal to medical educators wanting a broader approach to problem-based learning or an interdisciplinary framework for the assessment of clinical competence.
Anvil next generation: a multi-format variable data printtemplate based on PPML-T

Anvil Next Generation is a toolset enabling the usage of multiple formats, as templates. It is mainly based on the Personalized Print Markup Language Template (PPML-T) workflow. The possibility of supporting several template formats within the same workflow enables more flexibility, whilst maintaining the data merge and binding operations unchanged.
Chemical speciation of PM2.5 collected during prescribed fires of the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona.

Abstract The use of prescribed fire is expected to increase in an effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire, particularly at urban/forest interfaces. Fire is a well-known source of particulate matter (PM) with particle sizes ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), small diameter PM known to affect climate, visibility, and human health. In this work, PM2.5 was collected during seven first-entry burns (flaming and smoldering stages) and one maintenance burn of the Coconino National Forest. Samples were analyzed for organic and elemental carbon, cations (sodium, potassium [K+], and ammonium [NH4 +]), anions (nitrate [NO3 −] and sulfate), and 48 elements (with atomic weights between sodium and lead). The PM2.5 contained high organic carbon levels (typically >90% by mass), commonly observed ions (K+, NH4 +, and NO3 −) and elements (K+, chlorine, sulfur, and silicon), as well as titanium and chromium. Flaming produced higher K+ and NH4 + levels than smoldering, and the elemental signature was more complex (20 versus 7 elements)....
The chicken carbonic anhydrase II gene: evidence for a recent shift in intron position

Abstract The complete nucleotide sequence of the coding region of the chicken carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) gene has been determined from clones isolated from a chicken genomic library. The sequence of a nearly full length chicken CA II cDNA clone has also been obtained. The gene is approximately 17 kilobase pairs (kb) in size and codes for a protein that is comprised of 259 amino acid residues. The 5' flanking region contains consensus sequences commonly associated with eucaryotic genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II. Six introns ranging in size from 0.3 to 10.2 kb interrupt the gene. The number of introns as well as five of the six intron locations are conserved between the chicken and mouse CA II genes. The site of the fourth intron is shifted by 14 base pairs further 3' in the chicken and thus falls between codons 147 and 148 rather than within codon 143 as in the mouse gene. Measurements of CA II RNA levels in various cell types suggest that CA II RNA increases in parallel with globin RNA during erythropoiesis and exists only at low levels, if at all, in non-erythroid cells.
Sensibility and rationality in bioethics.

In his preface to The Liberal Imagination, Lionel Trilling remarks on John Stuart Mill's discovery of a troubling tendency in liberalism's attitude toward the sentiments and the imagination, an inclination to view the world "prosaically," which is to say, devoid of variousness and possibility. I stress the cultural rather than the political meaning of liberal here, though the two senses are inseparable. Following Trilling, I note that "the word liberal ... defines itself by the quality of life it envisages, by the sentiments it desires to affirm." The paradox at the heart of liberalism is that "in the interests of its great primal act of imagination ... in the interests, that is, of its vision of a general enlargement and freedom and rational direction of human life--it drifts toward a denial of the emotions and the imagination."(1) In its zeal to organize the sentiments rationally, liberalism tends to select dispositions and emotions that are most susceptible of organization and to develop theories that account for that selection. In doing so it risks omitting much of what makes life meaningful. As a godchild of liberalism, bioethics is prey to this paradox, against which those who value liberalism's virtues must be vigilant. Bioethics organizes the moral life of illness and injury around some central propositions, such as, "Patients are the rightful arbiters of medical interventions upon their person" and, "Everyone has a right to basic medical care." Propositional discourse, in the service of bioethics, distills such ideas from the unruly abundance of deep feeling about life and death, suffering and healing, and argues their merit. Some such simplifying impulse is an indispensable prerequisite to an orderly engagement with the welter of emotion and opinion characteristic of contemporary medical morality. But as propositional discourse has become the preponderant mode of analysis, the link between sensibility and rationality has been severed. Bioethical rationality has lost sight of the fact that the imagination is the joint possession of the emotions and the intellect; it has become, in Mill's sense, "prosaic." Narrative discourse, using the figurative language of fiction, drama, and poetry, is an alternative mode of knowing and naming, sorting and sifting through experience. It asks of experience not, Is it true? but, What does it mean? Whereas the organizing impulse of propositional discourse is to bring rational order to experience, narrative discourse is driven by the desire to discern meaning through metaphorical approximation and refinement. The poet reflects upon a mother's dying: How can I think what thoughts to have of you with a mind so unready? What I remember most: you did not want to go. Then choice slipped from you like snow from the mountain, so death could graze you over with the sweet muzzles of the deer moving up from the valleys, pausing to stare down and back toward the town. …
A HONEYMOON EFFECT IN CHILD PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION: A RESEARCH NOTE

Abstract— This study assessed the changes in the intensity of behavior problems over the course of 12-week hospitalization in 28 children hospitalized on a child psychiatry inpatient service. The results indicated that the symptoms of uncontrolled aggression, misbehavior and excessive dependency were more vivid 60 days post-admission than they had been after 14 days of hospitalization. The results provide some empirical support for the‘honeymoon’ effect.
Genomic absence of the gene encoding T cell receptor Vβ7.2 is linked to the presence of autoantibodies in Sjögren's syndrome

Objective It is not yet known whether the absence of certain T cell receptor Vβ (TCRBV) genes (e.g., due to genomic deletion) has functional significance. We examined this question in relation to a known 21.6-kb insertion/deletion-related polymorphism (IDRP) in the human BV locus. Methods New polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genotyping methods were used. Monoclonal antibodies to TCRBV gene products were used to confirm the absence of the relevant proteins. Patients with Sjogren's syndrome (SS) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were compared with normal controls with regard to TCR genotypes and serologic profiles. Results There are 3 known haplotypes (I, D1, D2) and 6 possible genotypes related to the 21.6-kb IDRP. Novel PCR-based methods were used to define these genotypes. In subjects with deleted/deleted (D/D) genotypes, T cells could not express Vβ7.2 TCRs, as assayed with a new antibody specific for Vβ7.2. This was the sole significant difference between subjects without the insertion and those with either 1 or 2 copies. Surprisingly, we found that the D/D genotype was associated with primary SS, but only when pathogenic autoantibodies were present. Conclusion These results suggest that T cells expressing TCRs with Vβ7.2 are protective against a pathogenic immune response in SS. Thus, genomic polymorphism of TCR genes (along with the correct HLA alleles) determines whether T cells can direct a pathogenic autoimmune response.
Catalytic turnover of substrate benzylamines by the quinone-dependent plasma amine oxidase leads to H2O2-dependent inactivation: evidence for generation of a cofactor-derived benzoxazole.

Incubation of bovine plasma amine oxidase (BPAO) with benzylamine and various p-substituted analogues results in a time-dependent inactivation that is attributable to buildup of the H2O2-turnover product on the basis of protection afforded by coincubation with catalase. The mechanism of inactivation is distinct from that effected by H2O2 itself, which requires higher concentrations. Solution studies using models for the 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine quinone (TPQ) cofactor reveal a loss of catalytic activity arising from oxidation of the dihydrobenzoxazole tautomer of the product Schiff base, that competes with hydrolytic release of benzaldehyde product. The resulting stable benzoxazole exhibits a characteristic absorption depending on the nature of the benzylamine p-substituent. For benzylamine itself, the model benzoxazole absorbs at 313 nm, in an area of strong absorption by the enzyme, whereas for 4-nitrobenzylamine, the absorption of the model benzoxazole is sufficiently red-shifted (at 365 nm) to be ...
Detailed theory of the negative conductance of bulk negative mobility amplifiers, in the limit of zero ion density

The complex admittance behavior is calculated for a bulk negative conductivity semiconductor, such as n-type GaAs, in the limit of zero doping and zero trapping, when all electrons are due to space-charge limited emissions from the cathode. Two different approximations are used: in the first, in closed analytical form, electron diffusion is neglected; in the second, by computer simulation of the internal space-charge dynamics, it is included. Both approximations agree at low frequencies where they predict a positive device conductance. Both predict a negative conductance, of slightly different magnitude, at frequencies around the reciprocal electron transit time. At higher frequencies the diffusionless theory predicts slowly damped conductance oscillations; diffusion effects strongly increase the damping.
Shape from shading—a method of integration of sonar images and bathymetric data for ocean mapping

Abstract Shape from shading is one of the methods that derive geometric information of objects from analysis of monocular images. Application of this technique to underwater sonar images enables the conversion of imposed reflectance characteristics in sonar images to shape information, namely, slopes, about the seafloor surface. A combination of this shape information and available sparse distributed depth points results in improved dense bathymetric data. The reconstruction of shape models of seafloor surfaces from sonar images is treated as an inverse problem and is solved by the regularization theory. Sparse gridded points are used for boundary constraints. The regularization is implemented as a relaxation procedure with a hierarchical structure of multiresolution grids.
Crystallographic studies of one-dimensional polyiodide conductors 3. Structure of non-stoichiometric coumarin-iodine complexes by X-ray analysis and exafs☆

Abstract Coumarin forms highly conducting complexes with alkali iodides and iodine. The diffraction pattern of the isomorphous K, Rb and Cs complexes shows the iodine substructure to be incommensurate with the coumarin lattice along the triclinic c -axis direction. The iodine lattice has a translation repeat of 3.06 A, which corresponds to the average I-I distance. The hk 0 projection shows the cation columns to be surrounded by a polar mantle of oxygen atoms of the coumarin molecules. The crystals further contain infinite chains of iodine atoms, plus a set of three closely spaced iodine columns with occupancies of about 2 3 , 1 3 and 2 3 relative to the main columns. All columns are parallel to the c -axis. The structure refinement, in which all coumarin molecules are constrained to have identical, but variable, geometry, gives evidence for the non-stoichiometry of the complexes, with the cation and main iodine columns being deficient relative to a full occupancy of the coumarin sites. The deficiency varies from compound to compound and is believed to be an important factor explaining the high ionic conductivity of the complexes. In particular, the cation columns are deficient by as much as 20% relative to a full site occupancy. The structures are compared with those of previously determined benzophenone-iodide complexes of potassium and lithium. The higher conductivity of the coumarin complexes is thought to be related to the nature of the cation columns, which contain vacancies and are not interrupted by solvent molecules as in the benzophenone-iodide phases.
Buchu, a new cultivated crop in South Africa

The farmers of South Africa hare provided the first steps in the domestication of a medicinal herb endemic to the Cape Province.
Experimental study of nonane/hexanol mixture droplet combustion without natural or forced convection

In this paper we present new data on the combustion of stationary nonane/hexanol mixture droplets burning in microgravity to promote spherical symmetry. Compositions of 10%, 25%, 40%, 60%, and 80% (volume percent hexanol) were examined in a drop tower to create an environment whereby droplets could burn without a strong influence of buoyancy. The evolution of droplet, soot shell, and flame diameter were measured, and photographs are presented to show sooting trends as composition was varied. Droplets with initial diameters between 0.46 mm and 0.57 mm were studied. The results show that dilution of nonane by hexanol reduces soot formation and decreases the droplet burning rate, the latter of which was found to be time dependent. Mechanisms for this effect which are considered include soot formation, the potential for absorption of combustion products in the droplets as they burn, and droplet heating. Because of the similarity of the boiling points of the mixture components, preferential vaporization did not occur. The droplets burned to completion, and extinction was not observed because of minimal radiative losses for the small droplet sizes examined and low propensity for water to condense on the droplet surface and dissolve in it for nonane and hexanol. A soot shell was not visible for hexanol loadings above 10%. The flame and soot shell standoff ratios increased continuously during burning. The flame diameter showed no sign of a quasi-steady behavior at any time during the combustion process. As hexanol concentration was increased, the flame moved toward the droplet.
Use of finite volume schemes for transition simulation

The use of finite-volume methods in the study of spatially and temporally evolving transitional flows over a flat plate is investigated. Schemes are developed with both central and upwind differencing. The compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved with a Runge-Kutta time stepping scheme. Disturbances are determined using linear theory and superimposed at the inflow boundary. Time accurate integration is then used to allow temporal and spatial disturbance evolution. Characteristic-based boundary conditions are employed. The requirements of using finite-volume algorithms are studied in detail. Special emphasis is placed on difference schemes, grid resolution, and disturbance amplitudes. Moreover, comparisons are made with linear theory for small amplitude disturbances. Both subsonic and supersonic flows are considered, and it is shown that the locations of branch 1 and branch 2 of the neutral stability curve are well predicted, given sufficient resolution.
Public Perceptions of Sagebrush Ecosystem Management in the Great Basin

Intact sagebrush communities in the Great Basin are rapidly disappearing because of invasion of nonnative plants, large wildfires, and encroachment of pinyon and juniper woodlands. Land management options, including the use of prescribed fire, grazing, herbicides, or mechanical treatments, can reduce the potential for wildfire and restore plant communities. Public acceptance of management actions, and trust in agencies to carry out those actions, is a critical component of developing and implementing successful long-term land management plans. This study examines citizens’ opinions and perceptions about rangeland management in the Great Basin. In fall 2006 we conducted a mail survey of randomly selected households in three urban and three rural regions of the Great Basin, receiving 1 345 valid responses for a 45% response rate. Overall, respondents perceived that the environment is moderately healthy; however, they do recognize threats to sagebrush ecosystems. Public acceptance is relatively high for the use of prescribed fire, grazing, felling woodland trees, and mowing shrubs, but low for herbicide treatment and chaining. Although respondents indicated high levels of acceptance for some management actions, they expressed relatively low levels of trust in land management agencies to implement these actions.
PHLED45: An Enhanced Version of Caesar Supporting 45 &#176; Geometries

Caesar is an interactive graphic editor that is used to generate layouts for VLSI circuits. It runs on a VAX-11/780 under the UNIX 1 operating system with Berkeley extensions. Caesar has a unique and simple user interface. Phled is an enhanced version of Caesar that runs on a M68000-based engineering work station. Phled45 is based on Phled; its distinctive feature is the ability to enter layout containing 45° angles. The design considerations for implementing the capability to edit 45° shapes are discussed. The details of the implementation are presented.
Ferromagnetism in hexagonal-close-packed elements.

The Stoner theory of ferromagnetism has been applied to 3d transition metals in the hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) phase. The elements Co and Ni (and possibly Cr) are found to be ferromagnetic. A self-consistent calculation of the band structure of paramagnetic hcp Ni revealed the highest-known density of states at the Fermi level of any transition metal in any structure, providing strong evidence for ferromagnetism. A first-principles, spin-polarized band-structure calculation for hcp Ni yielded a stable magnetic moment of 0.76${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ per atom and an average spin splitting of 0.1 Ry.
Three-Dimensional Inelastic Stress Analysis of Center Notched Composite Laminates with Damage

In this paper, a constitutive model for characterization of mechanical response in inelastic composite materials due to damage developed recently by the authors is first outlined. The formulation is based on the concept of damage surface and on the assumption that the change of material behavior is independent of loading path over which the damage state of material develops, but is dependent on the current stress state and the energy dissipated. The method is applied to describe the behaviors of graphite fiber reinforced composite laminates containing a small hole. The elastic-damaged response of interlaminar stresses in the composite laminates due to uniaxial tension is investigated with the aid of displacement-based finite element method. The initiation and development of damage zones in the laminates are examined using a three-dimensional analysis. The results of interlaminar stress distributions of the composite laminates analyzed with and without taking material stiffness degradation into account und...
Large area, cost effective X-ray masks for high energy photons

The cost effectiveness of the deep X-ray lithography and electrodeposition process, LIGA, depends directly on the throughput of the process. The use of high energy photons allows the exposure of stacked photoresist and results in high throughput. High energy X-ray exposures require a different mask than low energy X-ray exposures. The high energy mask allows a large area exposure but requires a thicker X-ray absorber. The cost of generating high energy X-ray masks can be drastically reduced by using a thick optical photoresist process rather than an X-ray exposure process. The cost can be further reduced by using alternatives to the typical X-ray absorber, gold. High atomic weight (high Z) materials are ideal absorbers. Lead has been demonstrated as being a useable alternative as an X-ray absorber.
Adrenoreceptors and the pharmacology of affective illness: A unifying theory

Based on recent clinical and preclinical research, it is theorized that antimanic and antidepressant effects of clinically available drugs can be produced through their actions on alpha-1 adrenoreceptor-mediated neurotransmission in the central nervous system. The theory suggests that final effects on alpha-1 mediated neurotransmission may be produced not only by drugs which have direct effects on the alpha-1 receptor or its second messenger, but also by drugs having effects on neurotransmitter systems such as acetylcholine, GABA, and serotonin, among others, which modulate the activity of central norepinephrine neurons or, via feedback mechanisms, by drugs having effects on adrenergic receptors other than the alpha-1 receptor itself.
Minimal effect of ectopic gene conversion among recent duplicates in four mammalian genomes.

Gene conversion between duplicated genes has been implicated in homogenization of gene families and reassortment of variation among paralogs. If conversion is common, this process could lead to errors in gene tree inference and subsequent overestimation of rates of gene duplication. After performing simulations to assess our power to detect gene conversion events, we determined rates of conversion among young, lineage-specific gene duplicates in four mammal species: human, rhesus macaque, mouse, and rat. Gene conversion rates (number of conversion events/number of gene pairs) among young duplicates range from 8.3% in macaque to 18.96% in rat, including a 5% false-positive rate. For all lineages, only 1–3% of the total amount of sequence examined was converted. There is no increase in GC content in conversion tracts compared to flanking regions of the same genes nor in conversion tracts compared to the same region in nonconverted gene-family members, suggesting that ectopic gene conversion does not significantly alter nucleotide composition in these duplicates. While the majority of gene duplicate pairs reside on different chromosomes in mammalian genomes, the majority of gene conversion events occur between duplicates on the same chromosome, even after controlling for divergence between duplicates. Among intrachromosomal duplicates, however, there is no correlation between the probability of conversion and physical distance between duplicates after controlling for divergence. Finally, we use a novel method to show that at most 5–10% of all gene trees involving young duplicates are likely to be incorrect due to gene conversion. We conclude that gene conversion has had only a small effect on mammalian genomes and gene duplicate evolution in general.
Formation and decompositions of chloride adduct ions, [M + Cl]−, in negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The ability to promote chloride-attachment ions of the form [M + Cl]− in negative ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) has been developed using chlorinated solvents such as chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. This approach expands the current capabilities of negative ion ESI-MS by enabling detection of analytes that lack acidic sites and thus exhibit weak [M − H]− signals. In contrast to the remote-site collision-induced dissociation (CID) often observed in positive ion ESI-MS/MS for alkali metal cation adducts, the decomposition of chloride adducts usually proceeds via competitive dissociations to form Cl−, which is not structurally informative, or [M − H]−. The latter can provide structural information via consecutive decompositions. For compounds having higher gas-phase acidities than HCl, a low CID collision energy can promote the formation of [M − H]−, whereas for the majority of compounds with lower gas phase acidities than HCl, higher collision energies generally improve the relative yield of [M − H]−. Because chloride attachment occurs primarily at electrophilic hydrogens, the daughter ion ratio, Cl−/[M − H]−, depends primarily upon the difference in gas phase acidity between the analyte molecule and HCl. At higher collision energies, entropic factors take on increased importance in determining the product ratio. The difference between the ΔS0 terms for formation of Cl− and formation of [M − H]− has been estimated for a series of substituted phenols and a series of acetic acid analogs. Finally, a novel neutral loss of CH3Cl from glycerophosphocholine and from ganglioside GM3 methyl ester is reported.
Flow path influence on an N:P ratio in two headwater streams: A paired watershed study

[1] Hydrologic flow paths were assessed and stream water quality was monitored in two adjacent watersheds to improve the understanding of how flow paths impact stream water nitrate nitrogen to total phosphorus ratios (NO3:TP). We hypothesized that a watershed with mostly subsurface flow paths will have high stream water NO3:TP ratios relative to a watershed with a greater tendency to have overland flow paths. Flow paths were assessed with end member mixing analysis (EMMA), stream water temperature, and stream discharge flashiness. The EMMA suggested that groundwater comprised a larger percentage of stream discharge in the west stream compared to the east stream. The analysis of stream water temperature and stream flashiness corroborated the results from the EMMA. Nitrate and TP concentrations were similar in both streams during low discharge. However, during storm flows nitrate decreased and TP increased in the east stream, while nitrate and TP concentrations remained similar during all discharge rates in the west stream. Thus, NO3:TP ratios in the east stream dramatically decreased during peak storm flows, while NO3:TP ratios remained relatively stable during all discharge rates in the west stream. Exploring hydrological processes helped explain the temporal variation within and spatial variation between the two streams, with regard to NO3:TP ratios. Further attention is necessary to understand whether hydrologic flow paths act as a control of other stream water N:P ratios and quantify flow path control relative to in-stream processes.
Page-Oriented Holographic Memories And Expert Optical Systems

While Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) based Expert Systems (ES) have been discussed before, the amount of knowledge that can be represented in this manner is very small. Combining SLM based ES with page oriented holographic memories not only cures this problem but also produces for optical ES a decisive advantage over optical ES.
Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Low-Carbon Steel Treated by One-Step Quenching and Partitioning Process

A low carbon steel was treated by quenching and partitioning (Q&P) process, and a detailed characterization of the microstructural evolution and testing of mechanical properties were carried out. The resulted mechanical properties indicate that with the partitioning time increasing, the tensile strength decreases rapidly first and then remains stable, and the total elongation increases first then decreases. The investigated steel subjected to Q&P process exhibits excellent products of strength and elongation (17.8-20.6 GPa•%). The microstructural evolution of martensite matrix during the partitioning step was observed, and the morphology and content of retained austenite were characterized. The working hardening behavior of the samples was analyzed, and the retained austenite with higher carbon content contributes to the uniform elongation more effectively.
Accounting for Multiple Scattering in Retrievals from Space Lidar

Multiple scattering effects on signals from space lidar are significant and must be accounted for in the retreival of aerosol and cloud extinction. It is shown that a simple parameterization of multiple scattering allows one to account for multiple scattering effects using a slightly modified form of a commonly used single-scatter retrieval solution. All orders of scattering are considered in the development of parameterizaiton appropriate for the CALIPSO lidar. Applications to aerosol and cloud retreivals are discussed.
An insulin-like compound consisting of the B-chain of bovine insulin and an A-chain corresponding to a modified A- and the D-domains of human insulin-like growth factor I.

We report the synthesis and biological evaluation of a two-chain, disulfide-linked, insulin-like compound consisting of the B-chain of bovine insulin and an A-chain corresponding to the A- and D- domains of human insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in which the A-domain amino-acid residues -Phe49-Arg50-Ser51- found in IGF-I have been replaced by -Ala-Gly-Val-, the homologous region of sheep insulin. The compound is indistinguishable from a previously reported compound whose A-chain corresponds to the A- and D-domains of IGF-I without the substitution, in assays for insulin-like activity as well as in assays for growth-promoting activity. We conclude that these A-domain residues do not contribute significantly to the interaction of IGF-I with either insulin or IGF-I receptors.