cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Three-Phase Bidirectional-Flyback Differential-Inverter for Synchronous Electrostatic Machines

Synchronous electrostatic machines can deliver extremely low loss while holding rated torque, with recent direct drive demonstrations of 0.625 W/Nm holding torque. Until now, power electronics topologies have focused on the support of wide torque-speed operation of these machines, resulting in drive systems that are suboptimal for applications largely operating at stall. Leveraging the ability of these machines to support dc-voltages without saturation, bidirectional flyback DC-DC converters are arranged to form a compact three-phase differential-inverter from a line to line terminal perspective. The arrangement is analytically modelled and analyzed for the position and hold application. This topology provides large voltage-gain and reduced component count eliminating isolated gate drivers. Utilized in discontinuous conduction mode at high frequencies, the topology has reduced switching loss and reduced magnetic component sizes. These attributes provide a suitable roadmap for drive integration with the machine. For comparison to the analytical model the converter is simulated in PLECS and Vdq0 controller is utilized for charge-oriented control.
Characteristics of a Polluting Technology: Theory and Practice

The directional output distance function is used to measure the efficiency of 209 electric utilities in 1993 and 1997. Exploiting duality conditions, the directional output distance function is used to estimate the shadow price of sulfur dioxide and the Morishima elasticity of output substitution.
Finite Element Analysis of Polyurethane Based Composite Shafts Under Different Boundary Conditions

Depending on the type of matrix materials, composites can be broadly divided into three different major classifications: Organic-matrix composites (OMC), metal-matrix composites (MMC), and ceramic-matrix composites (CMC). OMC can be further sub-classified into polymer-matrix composites (PMC) and carbon-matrix composites or carbon-carbon composites. In this paper the main objective is to focus on polyurethane based PMC composites. Polyurethane is one of the widely used polymer matrix materials. It has diversified applications, easily available and cheap. In this computational study a composite shaft with a core made of matrix material completely wrapped around by a woven fiber cloth with a very strong bonding between core and fibers is considered. Three different types of woven fibers: fiber glass, Kevlar 49, and carbon fibers, are considered. A woven fabric is the interlocking or weaving of two unidirectional fibers. This configuration is often used to produce curve surfaces because of the ease with which it could be placed on and conform to curved surfaces. Authors had fabricated these three composites in their in-house laboratory. They had also experimentally measured the mechanical properties of these composites using 3-point bending test which already been published.In this current study finite element analyses has been performed for the modeling of the static response of these three different polyurethane based composite shafts as fiber glass reinforced polyurethane epoxy, carbon fiber reinforced polyurethane epoxy, and Kevlar fibers reinforced polyurethane epoxy for three different boundary conditions. These three boundary conditions are simply supported, cantilever, both end fixed types with bending loads applied at the middle for simply supported case and distributed load along the length of the shaft for the last two types of boundary conditions. A three dimensional model of the composite beam has been implemented in this study using SolidWorks. A finite element commercial software ANSYS is used to investigate the stress response and deformation behavior of the model geometry for these three polyurethane based composite shafts for these three boundary conditions. A twenty node three dimensional element has been implemented for the finite element formulation of the modeled geometry such that it is applicable for the analysis of a layered composite structure, while providing support for linear, large rotation, and large strain nonlinear loading conditions. Convergence has also been ensured for various mash configurations in this work.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Inpatient Glycemic Control With Sliding Scale Insulin in Noncritical Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Who Can Slide?

OBJECTIVE Despite clinical guideline recommendations, sliding scale insulin (SSI) is widely used for the hospital management of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). We aimed to determine which patients with T2D can be appropriately managed with SSI in non-critical care settings. METHODS We used electronic health records to assess inpatient glycemic control in medicine and surgical patients treated with SSI according to admission blood glucose (BG) concentration between June 2010 and June 2018. Primary outcome was the percentage of patients with T2D achieving target glycemic control, defined as mean hospital BG 70 to 180 mg/dL without hypoglycemia 250 mg/dL: OR, 7.2; 95% CI, 5.8-9.0), as compared with patients with BG <140 mg/dL. A total of 1,192 patients (15%) treated with SSI required additional basal insulin during hospitalization. CONCLUSION Most non-intensive care unit patients with admission BG <180 mg/dL treated with SSI alone achieve target glycemic control during hospitalization, suggesting that cautious use of SSI may be a viable option for certain patients with mild hyperglycemia.
The Classical Period: Renewable Power Takes Off

During the decade from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, successive Spanish governments of different parties developed and refined a generous system for promoting investment in renewable power. This support system, the “special regime,” was based primarily on a combination of regulated tariffs and premiums on top of the market price of electricity that facility owners could choose between. It was designed to ensure that investors would receive a reasonable return on their investments while trying to minimize the financial burden on electricity users, who would ultimately pay the costs of the support system. Under the special regime, Spain saw its first significant buildup in renewable generating capacity and electricity output, first in wind power and then in solar.
The effects of ionizing radiation on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) actuators: electrostatic, electrothermal, and bimorph

The effects of ionizing radiation on the operation of polysilicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) electrostatic, electrothermal, and bimorph actuators were examined. All devices were irradiated up to a total ionizing dose of 1 megarad(Si) using both a low energy X-ray source (LEXR) and Cobalt-60 (Co-60) gamma source. The electrostatic actuators exhibited a decrease in capacitance and thereby an increase in voltage per deflection when subjected to the LEXR radiation environment. Devices irradiated with the Co-60 source showed no changes in the capacitance/voltage relationship after irradiation. The electrothermal actuator operation was not affected by exposure to either type of ionizing radiation. The tip deflection measurements of the bimorph actuators showed a slight decrease between pre- and post characterization.
Management of Dynamic and Imperfect User Context Information

In high-volume information systems, there is a trade-off between ease of querying and selectivity of the query (and thus relevance of the result set). This can be overcome by incorporating user context information into the interaction. But user context information is hard to acquire due to its dynamic nature and the approximative methods. This thesis work proposes a context model, which builds on annotations for qualifying and quantifying imperfection, and introduces the notion of sub contexts, which can be used to capture the dynamics of user context information. Its approach aligns with Semantic Web technologies.
Zero-bias THz detection using graphene transistors

We report zero-bias millimeter-wave and sub-THz detection using graphene FETs up to 220 GHz and graphene heterostructure diodes with reduced 1/f noise in direct detection. This detection leveraged the nonlinearity of the channel resistance through resistive field-effect transistor mixing. At a 50 ohm load, measured device responsivity was 70 V/W at 2 GHz to 33 V/W at 110 GHz. The measured noise power of the graphene FETs was ∼7.5 × 10−18 V2/Hz at zero-bias. The NEP at 110 GHz was estimated to be ∼80 pW/Hz0.5. A linear dynamic range of >40 dB was measured, providing 15 – 20 dB greater linear dynamic range compared to conventional CMOS detectors at the transistor level.
Effects of human trampling on macro- and meiofauna communities associated with intertidal algal turfs and implications for management of protected areas on rocky shores Southern California

Human visitation to coastal rocky shore ecosystems has numerous impacts via activities such as harvesting, rock-turning, pollution, and trampling. Human trampling, in particular, has been suggested to decrease the density and diversity of rocky shore organisms, especially large foliose algae. Inconsistent results have been seen in studies of the effects of human trampling on coralline algal turfs and the invertebrate communities (macro- and meiofauna) that inhabit them. Here, a relatively long-term manipulative trampling study based on realistic levels of human visitation was conducted in intertidal areas off Southern California dominated by coralline algal turf. Experimentally trampled plots (‘impact plots’) and control plots protected from foot traffic (‘protected control plots’) on turf-covered rocky intertidal benches were observed for 17 months in an area closed to human visitation. Control plots were also established at several other open-access sites (‘open-access control plots’) to determine whether patterns at the experimentally trampled site resembled those from sites where human visitation is allowed. Bare space increased in trampled plots as compared to pre-impact levels, but the percentage of bare rock in control plots did not change significantly. Trampled plots exhibited shifts in invertebrate community composition and significant declines in the abundances and richness of invertebrate taxa as compared to protected control plots throughout the experiment. Additionally, the trajectory of invertebrate community change through time in trampled plots was significantly different than that of both protected and open-access control plots. Nine months after trampling had ceased, the structure of the invertebrate communities from trampled plots was similar to protected control plots and bare space had decreased to pre-impact levels (ANOSIM analysis). However, trampled plots had significantly more taxa and higher Shannon diversity values than controls. These results indicate that to manage visitor impacts on rocky shore communities, ‘no-access’ zones may be as important as ‘no-take’ zones. However, the rapid recovery seen here also indicates that perhaps rotating or seasonal closures might be an effective management strategy to protect turf communities.
Designing Scoring Rubrics for Your Classroom.

Rubrics are rating scales-as opposed to checklists-that are used with performance assessments. They are formally defined as scoring guides, consisting of specific pre-established performance criteria, used in evaluating student work on performance assessments. Rubrics are typically the specific form of scoring instrument used when evaluating student performances or products resulting from a performance task.
Activity-based protein profiling of protein tyrosine phosphatases

The ability to accurately monitor the dynamics involved with the activity and state of a specific protein population in a complex biological system represents one of the major technological challenges in studying systems biology. Over the past several years a number of groups have attempted to spearhead this new frontier of systems biology by developing enzyme family-specific activity-based chemical probes linked to appropriate reporter groups that by nature only target and subsequently tag the active form of these enzymes. In this work, we will highlight the methods used to characterize activity-based probes as to their utility in biological contexts. Specifically, we will address activity-based protein profiling of the protein tyrosine phosphatases, a highly conserved enzyme family responsible for the phospho-tyrosine hydrolysis reaction, a ubiquitous reaction that is absolutely essential to the regulation of a myriad of cellular processes.
Effect of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Patients With Insulin-Treated Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (DM) modify outcome in patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to analyze the risk for death, HF alone, combined end point HF/death, and ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) in patients with mild HF without DM and in those with DM, further stratified by the presence of insulin treatment. We determined whether cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) versus implantable cardioverter defibrillator improves clinical outcomes in these 3 subgroups. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze 1,278 patients with left bundle branch block in the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy trial. Treatment with CRT-D versus implantable cardioverter defibrillator was associated with 76% risk reduction in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.24; 95% confidence interval 0.08 to 0.74, p = 0.012) in subgroup of diabetic patients treated with insulin only (interaction p = 0.043). Significant risk reduction in HF alone, HF/death, and the VT/VF after CRT-D was observed across investigated groups and similar left ventricular reverse remodeling to CRT-D. In conclusion, patients with mild HF with DM treated with insulin derive significant risk reduction in mortality, in HF, and VT/VF after implantation of CRT-D. Diabetic patients not receiving insulin benefit from CRT-D by reduction of HF events.
Coupling of insulin receptors to glucose transport: a temperature-dependent time lag in activation of glucose transport.

We have studied the ability of occupied insulin receptors to activate (or couple to) the glucose transport system in isolated rat adipocytes. Maximal insulin action is seen when only a small proportion (<10%) of the receptors is occupied, and this fraction can be rapidly filled (<5 s) at an insulin concentration of 100 ng/ml. Additionally, control studies show that when the extracellular glucose concentration is tripled, the rate of transport triples within 10 s, indicating that changes in transport activity can be observed nearly instantaneously. Therefore, when cells are exposed to a high insulin concentration (100 ng/ml), any delay in the onset of insulin action beyond this time must be due to the time required for coupling of occupied insulin receptors to the glucose transport system. At 24 °C there is a lag of at least 200 s after insulin addition before a significant stimulation of 2-deoxyglucose transport is seen. The length of this lag phase is temperature dependent, decreasing to 45 s at 37 °C. An Arrhenius plot of the coupling lag is linear, with an activation energy of 25 kcal/mol. After the delay in the onset of initial transport activation the full response appears in a gradual manner, requiring 20 min at 24 °C to attain maximal stimulation. The time required for the full insulin response to appear is also temperature dependent, decreasing to 5 min at 37 °C. Similar results were obtained for the kinetics of insulin activation of 3-O-methyl glucose transport. Thus, the coupling of insulin receptors to the glucose transport system can be divided into two components: an initial absolute time lag followed by a gradual incremental process before the maximal, or full, effect of insulin is achieved. In conclusion, (1) there is an absolute delay in the onset of the insulin's initial action on glucose transport, (2) after an initial delay, activation of transport proceeds in a gradual manner, and (3) the coupling process between insulin receptors and the glucose transport system is temperature dependent and can be described by a linear Arrhenius plot. This suggests that the rate of activation is not limited by membrane fluidity.
Impact of advertisement and clinic populations in symptoms and perception of irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: This study assessed the impact of recruitment on irritable bowel syndrome clinical trials, by determining whether irritable bowel syndrome patients recruited from advertisement or a specialty clinic differ in clinical and physiologic measures. Methods: We prospectively surveyed 657 irritable bowel syndrome patients who either: (i) were referred from a functional bowel disease clinic (52%); or (ii) responded to advertisement for clinical trials (48%), using questionnaires about bowel and psychological symptoms, and quality of life. In a subset of 42 irritable bowel syndrome patients (29 advertisement and 15 clinic patients), rectal discomfort thresholds were measured before and after repetitive sigmoid stimulation. Results: While the advertisement population more commonly consulted primary care physicians, the clinic population more commonly consulted gastroenterologists. The clinic population reported more prevalent and severe abdominal pain, and higher psychological symptom scores, while the advertisement population had greater quality of life. In the visceral perception studies, both subgroups were hypersensitive to rectal distension. Conclusion: Compared to the clinic population, the advertisement population had less severe abdominal pain and psychological symptoms, better quality of life but similar visceral perception. The differences in clinical self-reports may have consequences for enrolment of these different patient populations into clinical trials.
Prosodic Factors in Grammar-Evidence from Aphasia

This investigation studied the conditions under which the function words of grammar are omitted or confused in aphasic speech. Twenty-seven Broca’s aphasics and 23 fluent (Wernicke and amnesic) aph...
Wave interactions with continuous fractal layers

Many natural structures possess self-similar multiscales which can be characterized by power law spectra. Under appropriate conditions, knowledge of the strength of these scale sizes provides information on the physical processes which formed these objects. In this paper, we investigate wave interactions with continuous fractal layers which model geological and variegated structures. Since fractal characteristics of the layers are embedded in the scattered field, they can be retrieved under appropriate conditions. This inversion can be performed in either the frequency or the time domain as desired.
Eosinophilia terminating in myeloblastoma.

Abstract A seventy-seven year old man with an eleven year history of benign, idiopathic eosinophilia died with a rapidly progressive myeloblastoma of the pleura and pericardium. The only bone marrow involvement resulted from contiguous extension of the pleural neoplasm into ribs, and there were no distant tumor foci. The course differed from that in previously reported eosinophilic conditions and included elevated serum vitamin B 12 levels, normal serum muramidase and absence of visceral involvement by eosinophils. At no time was there evidence of leukemia.
Osteoclasts eat stem cells out of house and home.

Osteoclasts carve out the marrow space where hematopoietic stem cells reside, but they have been considered bystanders during hematopoiesis. Osteoclasts are now shown to mediate stem cell mobilization, enabling stem cell emigration from the marrow to the circulation ( pages 657 – 664 ).
Reading subskill differences between students in Shanghai-China and the US: evidence from PISA 2009

Based on different language systems and educational practices of their respective countries, hypotheses were made regarding how 15-year-old students from Shanghai-China and the US might differ in the 5 reading subskills designated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) when they have the same overall reading ability (i.e., when their overall reading ability is controlled for). A multilevel analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses using the PISA 2009 reading dataset. When we controlled for students' overall reading ability, individual socioeconomic status (SES), and school mean SES, Shanghai-Chinese students performed significantly better in integrating and interpreting than US students. Further, when we controlled for students' overall reading ability and school mean SES, US students showed significantly higher performance in reading non-continuous texts than Shanghai-Chinese students, whereas US students showed significantly lower performance in reading continuous texts. The re...
Treatment of advanced Hodgkin's disease with B‐CAVe following MOPP failure

Between March 1973, and December 1976, 22 patients who developed disease progression during or after MOPP therapy were treated with a new combination, B-CAVe (Bleomycin 5 mg/m2 iv days 1, 28, 35; CCNU 100 mg/m2 po day 1; adriamycin 60 mg/m2 iv day 1; and vinblastine 5 mg/m2 iv day 1). Objective responses were achieved in 17 of 22 patients (77%) and 11 of 22 responses were complete (50%). The actuarial survival for all patients is 16.4 months. For complete responders the median is 24 months with 2 complete responders dead without evidence of Hodgkin's Disease. Median relapse free survival for complete responders has not been reached at 35+ months while that for partial responders is 14 months. Significant adriamycin cardiotoxicity was encountered in two patients. There were no life threatening bacterial infections during B-CAVe. Two patients died of Pneumocystis carinii several months after cessation of therapy. B-CAVe is effective in the therapy of advanced Hodgkin's disease after MOPP failure, and this regimen is comparable to other previously reported MOPP salvage combinations.
Estimation of scale parameters for two exponential distributions (reliability theory)

The scale parameter of the exponential distribution is estimated using conditional specification. When there are two censored samples available for estimating the scale parameter, a preliminary test is usually used to determine whether to pool the samples or to use the individual minimum-variance unbiased estimator. This latter estimator (usual preliminary-test estimator) is studied. The optimum levels of significance and their corresponding critical values for the preliminary test are obtained on the basis of the minimax regret criterion. A preliminary-test shrinkage estimator is proposed, and the optimum values of its shrinkage estimator is proposed, and the optimum values of its shrinkage coefficients are obtained. For a mean-square-error criterion of goodness of estimation, the preliminary-test shrinkage estimator is better than the usual preliminary-test estimator. >
Automatic selection of arterial input function using tri-exponential models

Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) is one method for drug and tumor assessment. Selecting a consistent arterial input function (AIF) is necessary to calculate tissue and tumor pharmacokinetic parameters in DCE-MRI. This paper presents an automatic and robust method to select the AIF. The first stage is artery detection and segmentation, where knowledge about artery structure and dynamic signal intensity temporal properties of DCE-MRI is employed. The second stage is AIF model fitting and selection. A tri-exponential model is fitted for every candidate AIF using the Levenberg-Marquardt method, and the best fitted AIF is selected. Our method has been applied in DCE-MRIs of four different body parts: breast, brain, liver and prostate. The success rates in artery segmentation for 19 cases are 89.6%±15.9%. The pharmacokinetic parameters computed from the automatically selected AIFs are highly correlated with those from manually determined AIFs (R 2 =0.946, P(T<=t)=0.09). Our imaging-based tri-exponential AIF model demonstrated significant improvement over a previously proposed bi-exponential model.
Ignition of methane flames in oxygen near inert surfaces: Effects of composition, pressure, preheat, and residence time

Abstract Ignition behavior of premixed methane-oxygen mixtures in stagnation flow near a heated inert surface was examined using the GRI reaction mechanism [1]. The effects of pressure (1–100 atm), preheat (298–773 K), and residence time (3–250 ms) on ignition temperature were investigated for the full range of fuel-to-oxygen ratios. A minimum in ignition temperature with composition occurred at about a 15% methane in oxygen feed (φ = 0.3) and was not affected strongly by pressure, preheat, or residence time. At atmospheric pressure, thermal feedback from the heat of reaction was a prerequisite for ignition at all fuel-to-oxygen ratios. However, at 50 atm, thermal feedback was only necessary for ignitions of mixtures leaner than 15% methane. For mixtures richer than 15% methane at 50 atm, ignitions due to chain branching preceded thermal ignitions. These chain-branching ignitions were unaffected when the thermal feedback was computationally turned off. Moreover, the fuel-rich ignitability limit increased from 55% methane at atmospheric pressure to 66% methane at 50 atm, while the fuel lean ignitability limit at 7% methane was not affected significantly by pressure. Reaction path analysis before ignition showed that for high-temperature ignitions, methane consumption for fuel-lean mixtures was by OH and O radicals, while for fuel-rich mixtures, it was by H and OH radicals. The main source of OH radicals for these ignitions was by the reaction of H and O2. For low-temperature ignitions, methane was predominantly consumed by OH radicals before ignition regardless of feed composition, and the main source of OH radicals was by reactions involving HO2 and H2O2.
Adrenocortical Causes of Hypertension

Primary aldosteronism is the most common cause of secondary hypertension. In the past, screening for primary aldosteronism was offered only in patients with hypertension associated with hypokalemia. Recent studies showed that hypokalemia is seen in only 25% of the patients with primary aldosteronism, which has increased the prevalence of primary aldosteronism to 10–15% of all cases with new onset hypertension.
Challenging Recruitment of Youth With Type 2 Diabetes Into Clinical Trials

Purpose To better understand and overcome difficulties with recruitment of adolescents with type 2 diabetes into clinical trials at three United States institutions, we reviewed recruitment and retention strategies in clinical trials of youth with various chronic conditions. We explored whether similar strategies might be applicable to pediatric patients with type 2 diabetes.
Cardiovascular Effects of Mycelium Extract of Ganoderma lucidum : Inhibition of Sympathetic Outflow as a Mechanism of Its Hypotensive Action

In an effort to understand the mechanism of cardiovascular actions of Ganoderma lucidum which was cultivated in Korea, the mycelium was isolated for a large-scale culture. Water extract of the mycelia was evaluated for its cardiovascular activity in anesthetized rabbits and rats. The left femoral artery and vein were cannulated for the measurement of arterial pressure and subsequent delivery of drugs. The left kidney was exposed retroperitoneally and a branch of the renal nerve was used to integrate renal efferent or afferent nerve activities. The extract decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which was accompanied by an inhibition of renal efferent sympathetic nerve activity. The extract did not decrease heart rate in these animals, although there was clear hypotension in the extract dose dependent manner. This suggests that the hypotension induced by the treatment of the extract was secondary to the primary effect of the extract in the central nerve system, which suppressed the sympathetic outflow. Therefore we concluded that the mechanism of hypotensive action of Ganoderma lucidum was due to its central inhibition of sympathetic nerve activity.
Large‐scale neutral composition gravity waves in the thermosphere observed by Esro 4

Neutral composition waves with a wavelength of about 5000 km and a wave period of about 2.5 h were observed by ESRO 4 in the altitude region of 250 km. The amplitudes are of the order of 25% for Ar, 15% for N2, and roughly 10% for He and O at 25 deg geographic latitude. The Ar and N2 waves are almost in phase, whereas He is in antiphase, and O is in between. The wave amplitudes are seen to decrease toward lower latitudes, suggesting that the composition waves are launched by auroral sources. Simultaneous ground-based ionosonde measurements of the F2 layer critical frequency at middle and low latitudes show a wave period consistent with the satellite observations. From the relation between wavelength and wave period these waves are identified as gravity waves. The theoretical investigation with a multicomponent model shows that diffusion plays a major role in explaining the observed phase and amplitude relations between atmospheric constituents.
Reducing interracial aggression: inhibiting effects of victim's suffering and power to retaliate

Summary A 2×2×2 factorial experiment employing 64 white male university students investigated the aggression-inhibiting effects of three characteristics of a victim: his race, expression of pain, and potential to retaliate. As predicted, pain cues effectively inhibited aggression. A triple-order interaction effect extended previous findings by demonstrating that the expression of suffering reduced aggression (a) even if the victim had no power to retaliate and (b) even if the victim was a member of a racial minority. In contrast to the suppressive effect of suffering, potential retaliation was a relatively ineffective deterrent of physical attack. Additional factors limiting the aggression-inhibiting power of threatened retaliation were the victim's expression of suffering and expectations of weak counteraggression.
Numerical solution of two-dimensional axisymmetric hyperbolic heat conduction

Hyperbolic heat conduction in two-dimensional axisymmetric coordinates is investigated numerically using a second order TVD scheme. Complex boundary conditions such as convection and radiation on the surfaces, are considered in the numerical modeling, and their effects on the thermal wave propagation are presented. Newton's iteration method is used to treat the nonlinear nature of radiation boundary. Numerical experiments include a continuous heat flux, a single pulsed heat flux, and a periodically pulsed heat flux at the left boundary. Numerical solution agrees well with the known analytical solution in cases where analytical solution is available.
Crystal pulling with a floating nonwetted shaper

Abstract In crystal growth by pulling from the melt, the crystal cross-section can be controlled with the help of a shaper, which in the case of semiconductor and metal single crystals is usually lighter than and not wetted by the melt. In order to better control the crystal cross-section, we controlled the temperature near the aperture of the shaper during crystal growth. Graphite was used as a floating shaper and in order to allow close observation of crystal growth, a low melting-point material, i.e., Sn, was chosen as the melt. Single crystals were grown with excellent control over the cross-sectional shape and size. Single crystals were also grown under two other conditions, i.e., no temperature control and crucible temperature control. The control over the crystal cross-section in these two cases, however, was inferior to that in the case of shaper (aperture) temperature control. This difference was explained with the help of knowledge of the shaper (aperture) temperature, which was measured in each of the three cases.
Gaining Control with Self-Ligation

Self-ligating brackets and square wires were used to reduce treatment time and increase patient comfort. A case report is presented for the In-Ovation "R" self-ligating bracket ("Reduced" denoted herein as the "R" bracket; Dentsply GAC International, Bohemia, NY 11716) with square wires to enhance treatment. The treatment time was compared for patients treated with "R" brackets and square wires to patients treated with traditional stainless steel ligated, preadjusted edgewise brackets. Patients treated with the self-ligating brackets finished an average of 5.7 months sooner (19 months on average) than those undergoing traditional treatment. The combination of the self-ligating bracket and square wires enhanced orthodontic mechanotherapy with individualized 3-dimensional tooth movement. Nonsurgical, palatal expansion was performed with a bonded rapid palatal expansion bite plane system, followed by a Cetlin palatal bar (GAC International) to correct patients having deficient maxillary/mandibular width. Combining self-ligating brackets with nickel titanium and beta titanium wires allowed more patients to be treated in less time with stable results.
The direct and indirect measurement of boundary stress and drag on individual and complex arrays of elements

Motivated by the study of drag on plant canopies, a novel non-intrusive drag measurement device was developed—its design, calibration, and validation are presented. The device is based on isolating a region of a test facility, a section of the bed of an open channel flume in the present case, from the facility itself. The drag plate, sufficiently large to allow for spatial averaging over multiple elements, is constrained to move on essentially frictionless rails in the direction of flow, and the force applied to the plate by the interaction of objects on the plate with the flow is monitored. In contrast to force balances used in wind tunnels, our design allows for easy mounting of multiple elements on different configurations, it holds large vertical loads with negligible effect to the horizontal forces measured, does not require intrusive frames to hold the elements within the flow, all of its components are externally located at the bottom of the flume, providing immediate access for adjustments, and the mounted load cell is easily interchangeable to increase the measurement dynamic range without system modifications. The measurement of two canonical, well-studied cases is used to validate the drag plate approach: drag induced by a turbulent boundary layer and the drag on a rigid cylinder. A third series of experiments, flow through arrays of rigid cylinders, is presented to show the applicability of the drag plate on more complex flows. The experimental results confirm the drag plate approach to be suitable for the accurate direct measurement of drag on simple and complex arrays of objects, which makes it ideal for studies of vegetated flows, natural rough boundary layers, coastal structures, and urban canopies, just to name a few possibilities.
The ear oximeter as a circulatory monitor

Abstract In a previous report we demonstrated that, by making a simple modification in the method of recording the ear oximeter, one is able to obtain, in addition, a record of blood flow in the ear which is closely related to cardiac output. In this paper, we report our observations on the relationship between this measure of cardiac output and the actions of vasoconstrictor drugs during cardiac surgery. In some instances, we have seen a rise in cardiac output with a rise in blood pressure; while in others, there has been an accompanying fall in cardiac output. The method offers itself as a very convenient way of assessing the actions of the various vasopressor drugs on cardiac output. In instances where a rise in blood pressure produced by the vasopressor is not accompanied by an increase in cardiac output, all vasopressor therapy is abandoned or a change is made to a more suitable drug.
Recognizing solid objects by alignment with an image

In this paper we consider the problem of recognizing solid objects from a single two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional scene. We develop a new method for computing a transformation from a three-dimensional model coordinate frame to the two-dimensional image coordinate frame, using three pairs of model and image points. We show that this transformation always exists for three noncollinear points, and is unique up to a reflective ambiguity. The solution method is closed-form and only involves second-order equations. We have implemented a recognition system that uses this transformation method to determine possible alignments of a model with an image. Each of these hypothesized matches is verified by comparing the entire edge contours of the aligned object with the image edges. Using the entire edge contours for verification, rather than a few local feature points, reduces the chance of finding false matches. The system has been tested on partly occluded objects in highly cluttered scenes.
Parallel Newton-Krylov solvers for modeling of a navigation lock filling system

The Galerkin least-squares finite element method for solving the Reynolds-averaged incompressible turbulent 3-D Navier-Stokes equations is employed to simulate a navigation lock filling system in the numerical code Adaptive Hydraulics (ADH). The linear system is solved at each nonlinear iteration within every time-step using biconjugate gradient stabilized (BiCGstab) in combination with block-Jacobi (bjacobi) preconditioners, as it failed to solve the linear system because of dramatic changes in flow velocity and pressure early in the simulation. To overcome this problem, we used the Portable Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation (PETSc), a numerical library that provides multiple types of linear solvers. PETSc has been incorporated into the ADH code. The ADH-PETSc interface helps to systematically investigate the best linear solver for an ADH simulation. We found that a variant, known as enhanced BiCGstab(l) in combination with the additive Schwarz method (ASM), made it possible to simulate the John Day lock filling system. The BiCGstab(l) solver improved the rate of convergence because of a more reliable update strategy for the residuals. In addition, the simulation was run with various numbers of processors. The result shows good scaling of solution time as the number of processors increases
The development of ACH- and GABA-activated currents in normal and target-deprived embryonic chick ciliary ganglia.

Abstract We have examined the expression of functional ACh and GABA receptors on embryonic chick ciliary ganglion neurons between Stages (St) 29 and 44 (Embryonic Day 6 to Embryonic Day 18). Whole-cell currents activated by ACh or GABA were measured in neurons 3–6 hr after dissociation to estimate the level of functional receptors in vivo. The mean peak IACh increased sevenfold between St 29 (321 pA) and St 44 (2345 pA) in two steps, separated by a plateau between St 35 and St 38 (E9 to E12). Cell size, estimated from measurements of membrane capacitance, increased only threefold over the same interval. Moreover, IACh and cell size were not well correlated at any stage examined. IGABA increased twofold between St 29 and St 38; the change was gradual and without any indication of two phases. The increase in IACh during development was not dependent on innervation of target cells within the eye. We removed the primordial eye between St 11 and St 13 (E2) and allowed the embryos to mature to various stages. Despite a small (20–50%) reduction in IACh at every stage examined, IACh still increased dramatically (about 10-fold) between St 29 and St 44 in target-deprived neurons. IACh was not uniquely affected by early target removal; IGABA and capacitance were also slightly reduced in target-deprived neurons.
A Comparison of Interhemispheric Transmission Times as Measured by Verbal and Manual Reaction Time

Interhemispheric transmission times (IHTTs) were calculated for 33 right-handed subjects. Verbal and manual response times (RTs) were recorded to visual stimuli exposed in either the left or right visual fields (LF, RF) for 50 msec. Each subject received 15 stimuli (dots) in the LF (1.5 degrees to the left of fixation), 15 stimuli in the RF, and 15 blank trials in both the verbal and manual response condition. IHTTs were calculated for each subject by subtracting the mean RF RT (i.e., uncrossed path) from the mean LF RT (i.e., crossed path). Results indicated a nonsignificant IHTT obtained under the manual response condition of 5 msec and a highly significant IHTT obtained under the verbal response condition of 20 msec. While no significant correlation was found between IHTTs obtained under both response conditions, high correlations were found between component RT measures (i.e., manual RF RT, manual LF RT, verbal RF RT, and verbal LF RT). Thus, IHTT is independent of simple RT.
Macrophage depletion increases the safety, efficacy and persistence of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer in vivo.

The consequences of macrophage depletion achieved by intravenous infusion of liposome-encapsulated clodronate (dichlormethylene diphosphonate (Cl2MDP)) on adenovirus-mediated transfer of a recombinant human α1-antitrypsin (hAAT) gene were examined in 12–14-week-old male Balb/c mice. The levels of hAAT expression following tail vein infusions of 109 p.f.u. of Ad.RSV-hAAT were approximately four-fold higher in macrophage-depleted animals than in control animals pretreated with liposome-encapsulated phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Clodronate pretreatment also significantly increased the survival of animals injected with high doses of viral vector. Long-term studies performed in animals receiving tail vein infusions of the adenoviral vector also indicated that clodronate pretreatment significantly attenuated the rapid loss of transgene expression usually observed in immunocompetent animals. These findings indicate that the depletion of macrophages before adenovirus-mediated gene transfer may increase the transduction efficiency and reduce the rate of immunologic elimination of the adenovirally transduced cells, thereby increasing the persistence of transgene expression in immunocompetent animals.
Comparison of Protein Preparation Procedures and Starch versus Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis for Examining Casein Degradation Products in Cheese

Abstract Casein degradation products in five varieties of cheese, ranging in age from one day to 13 months, were prepared for zonal electrophoresis in both starch and polyacrylamide gels by oxalate solubilization, hexane extraction, and direct dispersion in alkaline urea buffer. No significant differences were observed in the electrophoretic patterns related to the method of protein preparation, and therefore, the simpler, direct dispersion procedure is recommended. Starch and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis provided a similar number and location of protein zones for the different cheese varieties although the zones in starch gel electrophoresis were more symmetrical and better defined. Starch gel electrophoresis provided better resolution of the κ -casein region zones than polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and also permitted simultaneous examination of cationic casein degradation products.
Characterization of the infection of Aedes albopictus cell clones by Sindbis virus

Abstract We have investigated the infection of Aedes albopictus (mosquito) cell clones by Sindbis virus. Variation in the multiplicity of infection (MOI) from ranges of 50–0.00005 pfu/cell was determined to have no effect on the progression of the infection to high acute phase titer, suggesting that intracellular factors alone are responsible for the restriction of virus production seen as the infection enters the persistent phase. While persistently infected (over 1 year post infection) cell clones are morphologically indistinct from uninfected cells, they do display a uniform 30% reduction in growth rate compared with uninfected cells of the same clone. Using flow cytometry-based DNA content analysis, we found that persistent Sindbis virus infection induces distinct cytological effects on these cells, including an increase in apoptosis and polyploidy in one clone and cell cycle phase effects in another. Finally, the observation that the number of cells in persistently infected cell cultures which are productively infected closely approximates the number of cells dying by apoptosis prompted us to investigate the role that cell death may play in the maintenance of the persistent infection. Persistently infected cell cultures which were artificially induced into apoptosis by short 45°C heat treatments do not display increased Sindbis virus production. This result does not support the hypothesis that infection sensitivity induced by random apoptosis in persistently infected cell cultures is responsible for the long-term maintenance of the persistent infection.
Adenosine triphosphatase activity of heart mitochondria of the turtle, Chrysemys picta.

1. 1. ATPase activity has been estimated in heart mitochondria of the fresh-water turtle, Chrysemys picta. 2. 2. This activity is Mg2+-dependent and stimulated by the presence of DNP. 3. 3. The pH optima of ATPase activities are 8·5 with Mg2+ ions, and 7·4 in the presence of DNP. 4. 4. Differential responses to inhibitors are evident in the presence of added Mg2+ ions or DNP, with DNP-stimulated activities being sensitive to a wider spectrum of inhibitors and to the aging process. 5. 5. Bovine serum albumin, but not EDTA, effectively preserves DNP-stimulated ATPase activity during aging. A causal relationship with fatty acids is implied. 6. 6. These data may be used to support either a one or a two enzyme hypothesis, with the latter being favored.
Competitiveness and Unemployment in the Eurozone

The paper analyzes the long term dynamics of the relationship between the competitiveness and the unemployment in the Eurozone, with the emphasis on the “North” and “South” differences. Using the productivity per person as a proxy for competitiveness, it shows both the differences between the North and South of the Eurozone and the differences between the pre-crisis and crisis periods in both areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that the relationship between the competitiveness and unemployment is negative in the North and undetectable in the most of the South. These results indicate that the recent gains in competitiveness can be preserved – and even perhaps extended – without the negative impact on employment. Indeed, in this context the structural reforms are the key.
Magnetization of an electron plasma by microwave pulses: Faraday induction

It has been argued theoretically that the recently proposed vacuum fieldB(3) is not accompanied by a real electric fieldE(3). Experimental evidence for this interence is available in the data reported by Deschampset al. [10], using microwave magnetization of an electron plasma set up in helium gas. Faraday induction due toB(3) does not occur in the inert gas and is not observed experimentally in the absence of free electrons. WheneverB(3) interacts with free electrons, however, Faraday induction occurs through a pulse of induced magnetization (i.e., induced orbital electronic angular momentum).
Approximating rainfall-runoff modelling uncertainty using the stochastic integral equation method

Abstract Although the uncertainty in rainfall-runoff model predictions has been frequently demonstrated, little attention has been paid towards including uncertainty in rainfall-runoff models, or providing a methodology that not only accommodates the uncertainty, but can be readily integrated into most rainfall-runoff modelling structures. In this paper, the uncertainty problem is approached by providing a methodology which can be incorporated into almost all rainfall-runoff models. The methodology is based upon the standard theory of stochastic integral equations which has been successfully applied to several problems in the life sciences and chemical engineering. The stochastic integral formulation is used to represent the total variation between a record of measured runoff data and model estimates. Because of the simplicity of the technique, the stochastic integral equation method can be integrated into most currently available rainfall-runoff models. The method provides the capability to develop probability distributions of almost all criterion variable estimates as produced from almost any rainfall-runoff modelling approach.