cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pharmacological recruitment of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3A1 (ALDH3A1) to assist ALDH2 in acetaldehyde and ethanol metabolism in vivo

Correcting a genetic mutation that leads to a loss of function has been a challenge. One such mutation is in aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), denoted ALDH2*2. This mutation is present in ∼ 0.6 billion East Asians and results in accumulation of toxic acetaldehyde after consumption of ethanol. To temporarily increase metabolism of acetaldehyde in vivo, we describe an approach in which a pharmacologic agent recruited another ALDH to metabolize acetaldehyde. We focused on ALDH3A1, which is enriched in the upper aerodigestive track, and identified Alda-89 as a small molecule that enables ALDH3A1 to metabolize acetaldehyde. When given together with the ALDH2-specific activator, Alda-1, Alda-89 reduced acetaldehyde-induced behavioral impairment by causing a rapid reduction in blood ethanol and acetaldehyde levels after acute ethanol intoxication in both wild-type and ALDH2-deficient, ALDH2*1/*2, heterozygotic knock-in mice. The use of a pharmacologic agent to recruit an enzyme to metabolize a substrate that it usually does not metabolize may represent a novel means to temporarily increase elimination of toxic agents in vivo.
FLAME STRUCTURE AND BURNING SPEED OF JP-10 AIR MIXTURES

ABSTRACT The burning speed and flame structure of Jet Propellant (JP)-10 fuel-air mixtures have been studied using two similar constant volumes: a cylindrical vessel with end windows and a spherical chamber. Both vessels are equipped with a central ignition, pressure transducer for measuring pressure rise during combustion process and ionization probes for monitoring flame arrival time. Both spherical and cylindrical chambers can be heated up to 500 K. The spherical vessel can withstand 425 atm pressures while the maximum allowable pressure for cylindrical chamber is 50 atm due to the two windows at end caps. A thermodynamic model has been developed to calculate burning speed using dynamic pressure rise in the spherical vessel. The model considers a central burned gas core of variable temperature surrounded by a preheat zone, an unburned gas shell with uniform temperature and a thermal boundary layer at the wall. The model also includes losses associated with thermal radiation from burned gas to the wall ...
Decreasing Women's Alcohol Use During Pregnancy

A woman's use of alcohol during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), a combination of physical, neurological, and cognitive/behavioral abnormalities that has serious, lifelong ramifications for the child. Still pregnant women continue to consume alcohol with recently reported prevalence estimates of FASD on the increase. Intervention studies have been successful in decreasing prenatal alcohol use in alcohol dependent and nondependent women. Yet translation of these interventions into clinical practice is essential to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies. This article provides information to assist practitioners in the provision of evidence-based interventions that decrease prenatal alcohol use, thereby, decreasing future incidence of FASD.
Ultrasonic Measurement of Sub‐Micron Particles

Based on technology described in a Du Pont patent for an offline system, we have developed a prototype in-line ultrasonic cell for measuring particle size distribution. We have used this cell to verify the Allegra-Hawley model of ultrasonic attenuation in dilute (< 5 % vol) slurries of sub-micron ceramic particles, and we are developing a model that can cope with the multiple scattering effects occuring at higher concentrations. In this paper we present the results of attenuation measurements for ultrasound (2–50 MHz) in slurries with concentrations ranging from 0.5 010 to 38 010 (vol). The attenuation is proportional to slurry concentration up to 5 010 (vol) and is predicted by single scattering models. Above approximately 100% concentration, the attenuation is actually lower than expected. For the dilute slurries we find excellent agreement between our measurements and the Allegra-Hawley calculations, and the effects of the particle size distribution are evident in the ultrasonic attenuation spectrum. These ultrasonic data can be inverted to determine the particle size and concentration in aqueous slurries of sub-micron particles.
A kinetic model for virus binding which involves release of cell-bound virus-receptor complexes

A general kinetic mechanism is presented for reversible binding of viruses to cells followed by an irreversible step that initiates the delivery of the viral genome. A novel feature is additional pathways for the release of both virus-occupied and unoccupied receptors from cells. Due to one simplifying assumption, it does not apply at low receptor densities. However, it is sufficiently general to be applicable to ligand binding and internalization for those systems in which ligand diffusion is rate limiting. Three different versions of the model fit the usual kinetic data for the binding of an eclipse mutant of bacteriophage phi X174 to Escherichia coli. However, in each case binding to cell-bound receptors is irreversible. Therefore, this explains the apparent failure of this system to obey the Law of Mass Action. One version of the model also predicts that the release rate of lipopolysaccharide receptors from the outer membrane may be significantly lowered when virus is bound to these receptors.
LOCAL SOLVABILITY OF DEGENERATE, OVERDETERMINED FIRST-ORDER PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS : A CONTROL THEORETIC PERSPECTIVE

Abstract In this paper we address the question of the existence of classical solutions to an overdetermined system of degenerate, first order partial differential equations. The adjective, degenerate, means that the vector fields, corresponding to the differential operators in these equations, are allowed to become linearly dependent at certain points of the ambient manifold. Thus these equations are, in a restricted sense, analogues of differential equations with singularities. The method of investigation is a combination of tools from nonlinear control theory involving invariant manifolds and foliations (with singularities) and ideas akin to the method of characteristics. The motivation for the study of this question arises from problems in nonlinear control theory. We provide some sufficient conditions for an affirmative answer to the the aforementioned question using techniques which are themselves inspired from the methods of control theory.
The rhetoric of "family values": Scapegoating, utopia, and the privatization of social responsibility

This article performs an ideographic analysis of the bipartisan political deployment of the slogan during the 1992 Presidential election campaign. The analysis shows that talk functioned during that campaign to scapegoat Black men and poor Americans for social problems. However, the ideograph also is invested with a gendered utopian narrative that makes its scapegoating less apparent and more persuasive. Ultimately, in constructing the family as the site of all responsibility and change, the rhetoric of privatizes social responsibility for ending poverty and racism.
Structural origin of chirality and properties of a remarkable helically pillared solid.

A new helically pillared and chiral solid, Cu(pzc)2AgReO4 (I, pzc = pyrazinecarboxylate), was synthesized from hydrothermal reactions at 95−125 °C. The structural origin of its chirality, relative to the achiral M(pzc)2(H2O)2AgReO4 (II, M = Co; III, M = Ni) analogues, arises from significantly tilted pillars and hydrogen bonds to the AgReO4 layers. The new pillared structure exhibits second harmonic generation activity, CO2 absorption, thermal stability to ∼250 °C, and Curie−Weiss magnetism expected for isolated Cu2+.
Accumulation of PEG-liposomes in the inflamed colon of rats: potential for therapeutic and diagnostic targeting of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Therapeutic intervention in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) is often associated with severe toxicity related to the nonspecific and ubiquitous interaction of drugs with the organs and tissues. In order to prevent side effects from aggressive and prolonged treatment with glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents, preferential accumulation of these potent drugs in diseased tissue is desired. In this work, we report that liposomes show a remarkable tendency to accumulate in inflamed colon of rats with experimental colitis. The disposition of liposomes was monitored by labeling them with Tc-99m followed by gamma camera imaging, and determining biodistribution of radioactivity in various organs. The images showed distinct accumulation of radioactivity in the colon of rats with colitis, while the abdomen of normal rats was conspicuously free of any visible radioactivity. Although images acquired 4 h after Tc-99m-liposome injection were clear enough for diagnostic indication, the real potential of liposome...
Geologic influences on source-water mixing along a paleochannel in the Southern High Plains aquifer, New Mexico

Lithology and geologic structure of a paleochannel in the Southern High Plains aquifer were tested for possible influence on source water mixing that has been implicated in the alteration of water types within the Southern High Plains aquifer. Geochemical and physical data suggested changes to source-water mixing across short distances in the Southern High Plains aquifer as a result of location relative to a paleochannel center. Changes in saturated thickness because of changes in elevation of the aquifer base layer from paleochannel incision appear to be an important influence on water composition. The thicker saturated interval of the aquifer near the paleochannel center minimizes geochemical influences from smaller volume source waters such as agricultural recharge and cross-formational flow that differ in composition compared to the more dominant natural recharge from concentrated surface flow. The thinner saturated thicknesses of the paleochannel bank and paleohighland areas allow geochemical changes in source waters to be visible in mixed groundwater samples. Examination of the water columns through resistivity and temperature indicates stratified layers that corresponded to the three major source waters that were implied by the variable geochemical signal of the mixed groundwater samples. Changes in lithology along the paleochannel did not appear to influence the contribution of cross-formational flow as warmer, more conductive water was present across the site in the lowermost layer of the stratified aquifer. The influence of agricultural recharge appeared highly variable with strong differences in groundwater composition in the paleohighland area near large agricultural areas.
In vivo Degradation of Histamine-adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate to Histamine Ribonucleoside

ENZYME-CATALYSED interactions of histamine with pyridine coenzymes, leading to formation of histamine-substituted dinucleotides, were previously observed in our laboratory1–3. These findings were later confirmed by Muraoka et al.4,5 and Devi et al.6. In more recent experiments, 214C (ring)-labelled histamine was administered to guinea pigs7, or it was incubated with mast cell preparations8 and guinea pig lung mitochondria9. In all experimental set-ups, after deproteinization of the homogenized carcass or the incubation mixtures, carrier (non-labelled) histamine dinucleotides were added to the supernatant. After re-isolation and repeated (up to 15 times) purification by alternative ionophoretic and chromatographic procedures, the dinucleotides were examined for radioactivity (autoradiography). By this procedure, traces of de novo biosynthesized dinucleotides were invariably detected. In addition, however, unidentified labelled product(s) appeared during the isolation procedures. On the assumption that histamine-adenine dinucleotides are rapidly degraded in the body or in tissues, we recently studied the fate of histamine-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (structurally: histamine-ribose-pyrophosphate(ribose-2′-phosphate)adenine) after intraperitoneal injection of the labelled compound in mice and guinea pigs. This is a preliminary account of our findings in mice.
Comparision of acidic and basic volatile compounds of cocoa butters from roasted and unroasted cocoa beans

A total of nine acidic and 83 basic compounds was identified in the roasted and unroasted cocoa butter samples. Forty seven of the compounds identified are being reported for the first time in cocoa. The higher concentration of short chain fatty acids in the unroasted cocoa butter is responsible for its acidic aroma characteristics. The roasted cocoa butter generally contained greater numbers and higher concentrations of compounds whose formations would be favored by thermal processing. These compounds included pyrazines, thiazoles, oxazoles and pyridines. The aromas of many of these compounds are characteristic of the aroma differences between the two cocoa butters and contribute to the cocoa aroma of roasted cocoa butter.
The Invariance Principle and Income-Wealth Conservation Laws

In the early part of the nineteenth century William Rowan Hamilton discovered a principle which can be generalized to encompass many areas of physics, engineering and applied mathematics. Hamilton’s principle roughly states that the evolution in time of a dynamic system takes place in such a manner that integral of the difference between the kinetic and potential energies for the system is stationary. If the “action” integral is free of the time variable, the sum of the kinetic and potential energies, the Hamiltonian, is constant—the conservation law of the total energy.
Improving MCE with electrochemical detection using a bubble cell and sample stacking techniques

Two efforts to improve the sensitivity and limits of detection for MCE with electrochemical detection are presented here. One is the implementation of a capillary expansion (bubble cell) at the detection zone to increase the exposed working electrode surface area. Bubble cell widths were varied from 1x to 10x the separation channel width (50 mum) to investigate the effects of electrode surface area on detection sensitivity, LOD, and separation efficiency. Improved detection sensitivity and decreased detection limits were obtained with increased bubble cell width, and LODs of dopamine and catechol detected in a 5x bubble cell were 25 and 50 nM, respectively. Meanwhile, fluorescent imaging results demonstrated approximately 8 and approximately 12% loss in separation efficiency in 4x and 5x bubble cell, respectively. Another effort at reducing the LOD involves using field amplified sample injection for gated injection and field amplified sample stacking for hydrodynamic injection. Stacking effects are shown for both methods using amperometric detection and pulsed amperometric detection. The LODs of dopamine in a 4x bubble cell were 8 and 20 nM using field amplified sample injection and field amplified sample stacking, respectively. However, improved LODs were not obtained for anionic analytes using either stacking technique.
Development of long PCR techniques to analyze deletion mutations of the human hprt gene

DNA primers and reaction conditions for long polymerase chain reaction amplification (PCR) of portions of the human hprt gene are presented. Use of these primers with DNA from previously defined hprt deletion mutants demonstrated production of the expected smaller size products as compared to DNA from wild type cells. These primers will be of value in the rapid analysis and subsequent sequencing of hprt deletion mutations in human cells.
Abnormal unloading reflex in a patient with infarction of the medial lemniscus

The unloading reflex was measured in the intrinsic muscles of the hand. By removing various fractions of the load on the muscles, we determined the size of the electromyographic response as a function of the change in the external force. This technique was applied to both hands of a patient with a pontine lesion who had impaired position sense in the left hand. The response to fractional unloading was significantly smaller in the left hand, an asymmetry not found in control subjects. The results suggest (1) that the unloading reflex is mediated, at least in part, by suprasegmental pathways, and (2) that the fractional unloading technique can reveal abnormalities not found by conventional methods.
Catalase gene expression in response to auxin-mediated developmental signals.

The effect of auxin on maize catalase gene expression was examined at several different developmental stages during embryo and seedling development. All three catalase genes and their respective proteins were induced by both natural and synthetic auxin in immature embryos. Total catalase (CAT) activity increased dramatically in response to high concentrations of auxin, with CAT-2, which is not normally expressed at this stage, being the isozyme most responsible for the increase. Cat1 transcript accumulated to high levels at 2-8 h after auxin treatment, while Cat2 and Cat3 transcripts increased dramatically, but only after 12 h. In CAT-2 null mutant lines, the CAT-1 isozyme compensated for the missing CAT-2 activity and was the major isozyme responsible for the observed increase in total CAT activity. Auxin treatment mimics the germination process (i.e. induces germination) in immature embryos. Thus, the observed early induction of CAT-1 and the later increase of CAT-2 during the germination process may be due, in part, to changes in auxin content. In germinating embryos, auxin also induces total CAT activity and Cat transcript accumulation, although to a lesser extent. Auxin also induces Cat1 transcript accumulation in young leaves. The involvement of ROS in the auxin response is discussed.
Individual Differences in Response to Prediction Bias Training

Depressed and dysphoric individuals predict negative outcomes more often than healthy individuals, and more frequently than positive outcomes. However, it is unclear if there is a causal relationship between negative emotional processing biases and depressive symptoms. We examined whether prediction-targeted neurocognitive training changed symptoms, behavior, and physiological reactivity to positive or negative feedback in euthymic and dysphoric undergraduates. Participants were randomized to a positive training intervention or neutral training. Among participants who received the positive training, pupillary reactivity to negative feedback predicted decreased symptoms and decreased after each session. Neither effect was present in the neutral training group. Both groups were more likely than controls to predict positive outcomes after training. Data suggested that change in a physiological mechanism indexing emotional reactivity and change in depressive symptoms during a targeted intervention may be rela...
Varying levels of marijuana use by adolescents and the amotivational syndrome.

The amotivational syndrome hypothesis states that marijuana use decreases the users' activity level and will to achieve. The syndrome is a consistent feature of the clinical studies that dominate the marijuana literature, but the experimental studies have produced equivocal results. The present study used an objective measure of motivation to determine the effect of various levels of marijuana usage on motivation. The subjects were 55 high-school age adolescents who were categorized into four marijuana usage groups: non-users, casual users, heavy users, and heavy users who were now ex-users. The results showed that the heavy- and ex-users were significantly lower on the measure of motivation than the casual and non-users. The conclusion was that a third factor, such as boredom or peer-group association, produces both an increased likelihood of heavy marijuana use and lowered motivation.
The association between vascular risk factor-mediating medications and cognition and dementia diagnosis in a community-based sample of African-Americans.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between medications that ameliorate vascular risk factors and the prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia in an older African-American population. DESIGN: A community-based survey to identify subjects with and without evidence of cognitive impairment and subsequent diagnostic evaluation of a stratified sample of these subjects using formal diagnostic criteria for dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). SETTING: Urban neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Indiana. SUBJECTS: A random sample of 2212 African-American adults aged 65 years and older residing in 29 contiguous census tracts. MEASUREMENTS: Subjects' scores on the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia (CSID), formal diagnostic and clinical assessments for dementia, current medication use and history of medical illnesses, both self-report and, where possible, from an informant. Four outcome measures were defined by the following criteria: (1) cognitive impairment as defined by the subject's performance on the CSID cognitive scale; (2) cognitive/functional impairment as defined by the total CSID score that included a relative's assessment of the subject's functional abilities; (3) dementia as defined by explicit diagnostic criteria; and (4) possible or probable Alzheimer's Disease as defined by explicit criteria. RESULTS: The vascular risk factor mediating medications, when analyzed together, were associated with a significantly decreased risk of diagnosis of cognitive impairment after controlling for age, education, and stroke (OR 0.73, P = .01) and also a significantly decreased risk of cognitive/functional impairment (OR 0.66, P = .02). Antihypertensive agents, excluding centrally acting sympatholytic drugs were associated with a significantly reduced risk of diagnosis of cognitive impairment (OR 0.56, P < .01) and cognitive/functional impairment (OR 0.64, P = .01). Centrally acting sympatholytic agents were associated with an increased risk of diagnosis of cognitive impairment (OR 2.24, P < .01). There was a trend toward protection from a diagnosis of AD and dementia for the vascular risk factor mediating medications and for the antihypertensive medication, but this did not reach significant levels. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the use of medications to ameliorate vascular risk factors, particularly antihypertensive medication, may also be useful in reducing the risk of cognitive impairment in older subjects. However, they also suggest that physicians should be cautious in prescribing antihypertensive drugs with centrally acting sympatholytic properties to older subjects.
Wireless Synchronization of a Multi-Pinhole Small Animal SPECT Collimation Device With a Clinical Scanner

A multi-pinhole collimation device for small animal single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) uses the gamma camera detectors of a standard clinical SPECT scanner. The collimator and animal bed move independently of the detectors, and therefore their motions must be synchronized. One approach is manual triggering of the SPECT acquisition simultaneously with a programmed motion sequence for the device. However, some data blurring and loss of image quality result, and true electronic synchronization is preferred. An off-the-shelf digital gyroscope with integrated Bluetooth interface provides a wireless solution to device synchronization. The sensor attaches to the SPECT gantry and reports its rotational speed to a notebook computer controlling the device. Software processes the rotation data in real-time, averaging the signal and issuing triggers while compensating for baseline drift. Motion commands are sent to the collimation device with minimal delay, within approximately 0.5 second of the start of SPECT gantry rotation. Test scans of a point source demonstrate an increase in true counts and a reduction in background counts compared to manual synchronization. The wireless rotation sensor provides robust synchronization of the collimation device with the clinical SPECT scanner and enhances image quality.
First report of peanut stunt cucumovirus naturally infecting Desmodium sp.

Plant species in the genus Desmodium (Fabaceae) are used as forage and cover crops and include a number of common weeds such as beggarweed (D. tortuosum) and beggarlice (D. intortum). Accessions of the genus are part of the plant genetic resources collection maintained at Griffin, GA. Peanut stunt cucumovirus (PSV) was detected in naturally infected plants of Desmodium sp. PI 322505 (from Brazil) in a germ plasm regeneration plot by a direct antigen coating-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAC-ELISA) with an antiserum against PSV strain ER (subgroup I) originally isolated from cowpea in Georgia. The infected plants showed mild mosaic symptoms. Indicator host studies in the greenhouse revealed symptoms characteristic of PSV on Nicotiana tabacum cv. Burley 21 (ringspots and oak leaf pattern), Chenopodium album subsp. amaranticolor (chlorotic local lesions), and Vigna unguiculata (chlorotic spots followed by systemic mild mosaic). These symptomatic indicator plants tested positive for PSV by DAC-ELISA. Greenhousegrown plants of D. incanum (kaimi-clover) and D. uncinatum (Spanish tick-clover) were inoculated with the field isolate and the plants were tested for PSV by DAC-ELISA (10 infected of 10 tested and 3 infected of 9 tested, respectively). The PSV isolate infecting Desmodium spp. was found to contain satellite RNA and it generated the predicted products in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs) with primers based on specific PSV-ER sequences. The RT-PCR products were confirmed by restriction-enzyme digestion (1). This is the first report of PSV naturally infecting a member of the genus Desmodium. Because some members of this genus may grow as perennial weeds near peanut, cowpea, or other host crops, this genus may serve as an alternate/overwintering host for the virus. Reference: (1) R. A. Naidu et al. Phytopathology 85:502, 1995.
Applications of almost surely convergent constructions of weakly convergent processes

Abstract : The paper discusses the usefulness of almost surely convergent constructions in proving results involving weak convergence on general metric spaces. Particular emphasis is placed upon the two important cases of partial-sum processes and empirical processes. (Author)
A transmission line simulator for high-speed interconnects

Transmission line effects in high-speed interconnects may cause reliability problems in digital integrated circuits. It is shown how signals at user designated points on a multipoint interconnect can be obtained at discrete instances of time. The transmission line simulator (TLSIM) program is based on a method of iteratively updating the signal values at a node (point) based on the previous signal values at neighboring nodes. The novel characteristics of the method avoid the time-consuming numerical solution of partial differential equations in time and distance along the length of an interconnect. The method is especially significant for power and clock nets where the number of interconnects can be quite large. Included are preliminary results on stability analysis and experimental results. >
CHARACTERIZATION OF IMIDAZOLE-CURED EPOXY-PHENOL RESINS

The physical and chemical properties of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) cured with different concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) and 2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole (EMI-24) were examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical and dielectric analyses, and solvent extraction studies. The effects of the phenol-epoxide and the secondary hydroxyl (R-OH)-epoxide reactions on the network formation process were analyzed using a recursive modeling technique to obtain expressions for the weight-averaged molecular weight, the weight fraction solubles, and the gel point as a function of the extent of cure and the epoxide-phenol reactant ratio. The sol fraction and the gel point predictions from recursive modeling studies of the network formation process agreed with the results obtained from the extraction studies. The results from the network modeling studies were also related to the thermal and rheological properties of the resin during cure.
Species-Specific Dynamic Responses of Gut Bacteria to a Mammalian Glycan

ABSTRACT The mammalian intestine provides nutrients to hundreds of bacterial species. Closely related species often harbor homologous nutrient utilization genes and cocolonize the gut, raising questions regarding the strategies mediating their stable coexistence. Here we reveal that related Bacteroides species that can utilize the mammalian glycan chondroitin sulfate (CS) have diverged in the manner in which they temporally regulate orthologous CS utilization genes. Whereas certain Bacteroides species display a transient surge in CS utilization transcripts upon exposure to CS, other species exhibit sustained activation of these genes. Remarkably, species-specific expression dynamics are retained even when the key players governing a particular response are replaced by those from a species with a dissimilar response. Bacteroides species exhibiting distinct expression behaviors in the presence of CS can be cocultured on CS. However, they vary in their responses to CS availability and to the composition of the bacterial community when CS is the sole carbon source. Our results indicate that diversity resulting from regulation of polysaccharide utilization genes may enable the coexistence of gut bacterial species using a given nutrient. IMPORTANCE Genes mediating a specific task are typically conserved in related microbes. For instance, gut Bacteroides species harbor orthologous nutrient breakdown genes and may face competition from one another for these nutrients. How, then, does the gut microbial composition maintain such remarkable stability over long durations? We establish that in the case of genes conferring the ability to utilize the nutrient chondroitin sulfate (CS), microbial species vary in how they temporally regulate these genes and exhibit subtle growth differences on the basis of CS availability and community composition. Similarly to how differential regulation of orthologous genes enables related species to access new environments, gut bacteria may regulate the same genes in distinct fashions to reduce the overlap with coexisting species for utilization of available nutrients.
Asymmetric batch incremental view maintenance

Incremental view maintenance has found a growing number of applications recently, including data warehousing, continuous query processing, publish/subscribe systems, etc. Batch processing of base table modifications, when applicable, can be much more efficient than processing individual modifications one at a time. In this paper, we tackle the problem of finding the most efficient batch incremental maintenance strategy under a refresh response time constraint; that is, at any point in time, the system, upon request, must be able to bring the view up to dare within a specified amount of time. The traditional approach is to process all batched modifications relevant to the view whenever the constraint is violated. However, we observe that there often exists natural asymmetry among different components of the maintenance cost; for example, modifications on one base table might be cheaper to process than those on another base table because of some index. We exploit such asymmetries using an unconventional strategy that selectively processes modifications on some base tables while keeping batching others. We present a series of analytical results leading to the development of practical algorithms that approximate an "oracle algorithm" with perfect knowledge of the future. With experiments on a TPC-R database, we demonstrate that our strategy offers substantial performance gains over traditional deferred view maintenance techniques.
The Measurement of Surface Temperature in Dry or Lubricated Sliding

This paper describes the development and calibration of an original test apparatus to study the effect of frictional heating on lubricant effectiveness. The configuration used the Seebeck effect between a stainless steel ball and a disk of tool steel. Good agreement was found between the average temperature rise indicated by the thermoelectric voltage and Archard's models. Surface temperature rises approaching 200 o C were obtained in lubricated contact and an upper bound temperature of 830 o C was found in dry contact. The likely effect of track heating was assessed by analysis and,,for this configuration, was found to be negligible
Can the goal of honesty be primed

Abstract In a simple study involving 64 participants, Rasinski, Visser, Zagatsky, and Rickett (2005) reported that requiring people to make semantic judgments involving four words related to honesty (embedded among other words) increased the likelihood that they would later admit to having engaged in problematic alcohol-related behaviors (e.g., drinking to the point of blackout). If valid, this honesty-priming effect would offer a powerful intervention to improve the validity of self-report data in many different contexts. To determine whether the effect is repeatable, we first attempted two replications using the same materials, tasks, and measures used by Rasinski et al. Experiment 1 repeated the study with a sample of 150 students. No priming effects were observed here, nor in a follow-up study using adults recruited on the web (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 used the same priming manipulation together with a more refined measure of response candor (derived from Paulhus, 1991 ). Again, the honesty-related primes had no detectable effects.
Gap junctional coupling and connexin immunoreactivity in rabbit retinal glia.

Gap junctions provide a pathway for the direct intercellular exchange of ions and small signaling molecules. Gap junctional coupling between retinal astrocytes and between astrocytes and Miiller cells, the principal glia of vertebrate retinas, has been previously demonstrated by the intercellular transfer of gap-junction permeant tracers. However, functional gap junctions have yet to be demonstrated between mammalian Muller cells. In the present study, when the gap-junction permeant tracers Neurobiotin and Lucifer yellow were injected into a Miiller cell via a patch pipette, the tracers transferred to at least one additional cell in more than half of the cases examined. Simultaneous whole-cell recordings from pairs of Miiller cells in the isolated rabbit retina revealed electrical coupling between closely neighboring cells, confirming the presence of functional gap junctions between rabbit Miiller cells. The limited degree of this coupling suggests that Muller cell-Muller cell gap junctions may coordinate the functions of small ensembles of these glial cells. Immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting were used to identify the connexins in rabbit retinal glia. Connexin30 (Cx30) and connexin43 (Cx43) immunoreactivities were associated with astrocytes in the medullary ray region of the retinas of both pigmented and albino rabbits. Connexin43 was also found in Miiller cells, but antibody recognition differed between astrocytic and Miiller cell connexin43.
Older Adults Receiving Assistance With Physician Visits and Prescribed Medications and Their Family Caregivers: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Hours of Care

Family caregivers provide the overwhelming majority of disability-related assistance to older adults (IOM, 2008). The considerable time demand of family caregiving has been documented within the context of chronic disability (LaPlante, Harrington, & Kang, 2002; Wolff & Kasper, 2006) and specific health conditions (Hurd, Martorell, Delavande, Mullen, & Langa, 2013; Langa et al., 2001; Yabroff & Kim, 2009). The scope of the “family caregiver” role has been most often defined on the basis of disability-related assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living (Giovannetti & Wolff, 2010; LaPlante et al., 2002; Wolff & Kasper, 2006). However, there is growing awareness that late-life interpersonal exchanges commonly extend to managing health system demands (Bookman & Harrington, 2007). A recent national survey found family caregivers commonly assist with complex medical and nursing tasks, most often medication management and coordination of care (Reinhard, Levine, & Samis, 2012). Other studies indicate nearly 4 in 10 older adults regularly attend physician visits with an unpaid companion, predominantly a spouse or adult child (Wolff & Roter, 2008, 2011). Although these studies provide valuable insight regarding family caregivers’ involvement in health care activities, many unanswered questions remain. In particular, how assistance with specific health care tasks inter-relates with mobility, self-care, and household activity assistance and the associated time demands of assisting with these activities has not been previously described. This study contributes novel insight regarding a poorly understood aspect of late-life interpersonal exchanges among community-dwelling older adults. We draw from a new nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries to examine how community-dwelling older adults manage health care activities, focusing specifically on physician visits and prescribed medications as two distinct activities that relate to health system interactions and self-management, respectively. We examine who assists older adults with these activities, as well as whether their involvement extends to help with household, self-care, and mobility activities that have traditionally defined family caregiving (Giovannetti & Wolff, 2010). Finally, we examine how total weekly hours of assistance received by older adults and provided by their helpers varies by assistance with health care tasks.
Reliable cell tracking by global data association

Automated cell tracking in populations is important for research and discovery in biology and medicine. In this paper, we propose a cell tracking method based on global spatio-temporal data association which considers hypotheses of initialization, termination, translation, division and false positive in an integrated formulation. Firstly, reliable tracklets (i.e., short trajectories) are generated by linking detection responses based on frame-by-frame association. Next, these tracklets are globally associated over time to obtain final cell trajectories and lineage trees. During global association, tracklets form tree structures where a mother cell divides into two daughter cells. We formulate the global association for tree structures as a maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) problem and solve it by linear programming. This approach is quantitatively evaluated on sequences with thousands of cells captured over several days.
Radio Tomographic Imaging with Wireless Networks

Radio Tomographic Imaging (RTI) is an emerging technology for imaging the attenuation caused by physical objects in wireless networks. This paper presents a linear model for using received signal strength (RSS) measurements to obtain images of moving objects. Noise models are investigated based on real measurements of a deployed RTI system. Mean-squared error (MSE) bounds on image accuracy are derived, which are used to calculate the accuracy of an RTI system for a given node geometry. The ill-posedness of RTI is discussed, and Tikhonov regularization is used to derive an image estimator. Experimental results of an RTI experiment with 28 nodes deployed around a 441 square foot area are presented.
Low Power High Performance Digitally Assisted Pipelined ADC

Pipeline analog to digital converters are subject to different errors caused by analog circuit imperfections which limit their accuracy. Much work has been done in recent years to compensate for these errors in the digital domain. However, none of them has addressed all possible errors. Only few of them compensate for higher order nonlinearity in pipeline interstage gain which can be the limiting factor for high resolutions (i.e.14-bit and over). This paper presents the design of a 14-bit 50 Msps pipeline ADC using a comprehensive calibration engine. Linear, nonlinear and memory errors in the residue stage as well as the capacitor mismatch in the multibit internal DAC are all compensated for in a digital calibration unit. The design also incorporates a novel approach for estimating higher order nonlinearities. Circuit implementation of the ADC and trade-offs in the system and circuit level design are discussed in detail. The 14-bit 50 Msps pipeline ADC is implemented in 0.25 um technology and consumes 170 mw from a 2.5 V supply. The power consumption of the digital calibration circuit is estimated to be 30 mw using a 1 V supply.
The Antibody Response in Rabbits to Killed Suspensions of Pathogenic T. pallidum.

The intravenous injection into rabbits of suspensions of dead T. pallidum derived from rabbit testicular chancres regularly caused the appearance of Wassermann and flocculation antibodies in significantly increased titer. Control suspensions of cultured treponemes (Reiter strain) added to extracts of normal testes were ineffective. This suggests that the Wassermann and flocculation reagin elaborated during syphilitic infection may be an antibody to T. pallidum which happens to cross-react with alcoholic extracts of mammalian tissue. The antisera did not cause the agglutination of suspensions of pathogenic T. pallidum, living or dead, did not give specific complement fixation with those suspensions, and did not usually cause the living treponemata to lose their infectiousness. Animals immunized with such aqueous suspensions for as long as 4 months, or with organisms suspended in a water-in-oil emulsion, were not demonstrably resistant to infection. As few as ten living organisms inoculated intradermally into animals "immunized" with as many as 38 billion dead treponemata regularly produced typical darkfield positive infections; and two of five animals inoculated intratesticularly with ten organisms were also infected. The contradiction involved in the production of antibodies cross-reacting with a non-specific antigen, and the non-appearance of specific antibodies against the organism used as antigen, is discussed in the text.
Career Concerns, Inaction, and Market Inefficiency: Evidence from Utility Regulation

This paper examines how career concerns can generate inefficiencies not only within firms but also in market outcomes. Career concerns may lead agents to avoid actions that, while value-increasing in expectation, could potentially be directly associated with a bad outcome. We apply this theory to natural gas procurement by regulated public utilities and show that career concerns may lead to a reduction in surplus-increasing market transactions during periods when the benefits of trade are likely to be greatest. We show that data from natural gas markets are consistent with this prediction and difficult to explain using alternative theories.
A Picture of the Self Which Supports Moral Responsibility

Let us assume (as surely we must) that we can hold at least some people morally responsible for at least some of their actions. What sort of picture of the self is compatible with that assumption? In particular, we need to ask the question of whether we can hold people responsible for actions which follow inevitably from their characters (whether they are innate or have been formed through experience) being what they are. Prima facie, there appears to be a problem in reconciling the two com monly assumed prerequisites of an action for which one can be held morally accountable: (1) that the action be done freely and (2) that the action be, in a significant sense, the self's action. The first requirement might be thought of as entailing that (1') no antecedent conditions, including the self's character being what it is, determine the action. The second requirement, on the other hand, might be interpreted as maintaining that (2') the action follows from the self's character being what it is (or, more precisely, that the action follows from facts about the self's character together with facts about the circumstances). To avoid a contradiction, one must either a) deny that (1) and/or (2) is a prerequisite of moral responsibility, b) deny the in terpretation given above of one of these requirements so they will no longer be incompatible, or c) deny both interpretations (1 ') and (2') of these re quirements. Typically, philosophers select the second alternative. They ac cept both (1) and (2) as prerequisites of moral responsibility but reject one of the above interpretations of those requirements. Many Soft Determinists (or Compatibilists), for instance, deny that (1 ') is the correct interpretation of (1), while accepting (2') as the correct interpretation of (2). Libertarians, on the other hand, deny that (2') is the correct interpretation of (2), but ac cept (1 ') as the correct interpretation of (1). I shall consider options a), b) and c) in turn and argue that c) may well be the most defensible position, in that it preserves more of our intuitions about moral responsibility than do the other positions. The consequence of denying (2 '), in particular, is that we must have a picture of the self which is more complex than customarily envisioned in order to hold people responsi ble for at least some of their actions.
Mining scale-free networks using geodesic clustering

Many real-world graphs have been shown to be scale-free---vertex degrees follow power law distributions, vertices tend to cluster, and the average length of all shortest paths is small. We present a new model for understanding scale-free networks based on multilevel geodesic approximation, using a new data structure called a multilevel mesh.Using this multilevel framework, we propose a new kind of graph clustering for data reduction of very large graph systems such as social, biological, or electronic networks. Finally, we apply our algorithms to real-world social networks and protein interaction graphs to show that they can reveal knowledge embedded in underlying graph structures. We also demonstrate how our data structures can be used to quickly answer approximate distance and shortest path queries on scale-free networks.
Micrandra inundata (Euphorbiaceae), a New Species with Unusual Wood Anatomy from Black-water River Banks in Southern Venezuela

Micrandra inundata is a distinctive new species adapted to seasonally flooded black-water river banks in southern Venezuela. Trees rarely exceed 10 m in height but have thick basal trunks composed of very lightweight wood. It has the smallest leaves and fruits of any known Micrandra species and appears to be most closely related to M. minor Benth. The botanical description is accompanied by habit photographs, line illustrations of morphological features, and photomicrographs and detailed descriptions of the wood anatomy.