cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Persisting asymmetry in the probability distribution function for a random advection–diffusion equation in impermeable channels

Abstract In this paper, we study the effect of impermeable boundaries on the symmetry properties of a random passive scalar field advected by random flows. We focus on a broad class of nonlinear shear flows multiplied by a stationary, Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) time varying process, including some of their limiting cases, such as Gaussian white noise or plug flows. For the former case with linear shear, recent studies (Camassa et al., 2019) numerically demonstrated that the decaying passive scalar’s long time limiting probability distribution function (PDF) could be negatively skewed in the presence of impermeable channel boundaries, in contrast to rigorous results in free space which established the limiting PDF is positively skewed (McLaughlin and Majda, 1996). Here, the role of boundaries in setting the long time limiting skewness of the PDF is established rigorously for the above class using the long time asymptotic expansion of the N -point correlator of the random field obtained from the ground state eigenvalue perturbation approach proposed in Bronski and McLaughlin (1997). Our analytical result verifies the conclusion for the linear shear flow obtained from numerical simulations in Camassa et al. (2019). Moreover, we demonstrate that the limiting distribution is negatively skewed for any shear flow at sufficiently low Peclet number. We demonstrate the convergence of the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck case to the white noise case in the limit γ → ∞ of the OU damping parameter, which generalizes the results for free space in Resnick (1996) to the channel domain problem. We show that the long time limit of the first three moments depends explicitly on the value of γ , which is in contrast to the conclusion in Vanden Eijnden (2001) for the limiting PDF in free space. To find a benchmark for theoretical analysis, we derive the exact formula of the N -point correlator for a flow with no spatial dependence and Gaussian temporal fluctuation, generalizing the results of Bronski et al. (2007). The long time analysis of this formula is consistent with our theory for a general shear flow. All results are verified by Monte-Carlo simulations.
Texture of Hot-Air-Dried Persimmon ( Diospyros kaki ) Chips: Instrumental, Sensory, and Consumer Input for Product Development

Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is an underutilized tree fruit. Previous studies have shown the feasibility of making a hot-air-dried, chip-style product from persimmon. However, the texture of this type of product has not been explored or connected to consumer preference. Thus, for dried samples representing 37 cultivars, this study aimed to (1) predict trained sensory panel texture attributes from instrumental measurements, (2) predict consumer liking from instrumental measurements and sensory texture attributes, and (3) elucidate whether astringency type affects dried product texture. Partial least-squares regression models of fair-to-good quality predicted all measured sensory texture attributes (except Tooth Packing) from instrumental measurements. Modeling also identified that consumer preference is for a moist, smooth texture. Lastly, while astringency type has significant (p < 0.05) effects on several individual texture attributes, astringency type should not be used a priori to screen-in or -out persimmon cultivars for processing into a hot-air-dried product.
Risk of complete atypical femur fracture with Oral bisphosphonate exposure beyond three years.

Bisphosphonate (BP) therapy has been associated with atypical femur fracture (AFF). However, the threshold of treatment duration leading to increased AFF risk is unclear. In a retrospective cohort of older women initiating BP, we compared the AFF risk associated with treatment for at least three years to the risk associated with treatment less than three years. We used observational data from a large population of female members of an integrated healthcare system who initiated oral BP during 2002–2014. Women were retrospectively followed for incident AFF confirmed by radiologic adjudication. Demographic data, pharmacologic exposures, comorbidity, bone density, and fracture history were ascertained from electronic health records. Inverse probability weighting was used to estimate risk differences comparing the cumulative incidence (risk) of AFF if women discontinued BP within three years to the cumulative incidence of AFF if women continued BP for three or more years, adjusting for potential time-dependent confounding by the aforementioned factors. Among 87,820 women age 45–84 years who initiated BP (mean age 68.6, median T-score − 2.6, 14% with prior major osteoporotic fracture), 16,180 continued BP for three or more years. Forty-six confirmed AFFs occurred during follow-up in the two groups. AFF-free survival was greater for BP treatment < 3 years compared to treatment ≥3 years (p = 0.004 comparing areas under survival curves). At five years, the risk of AFF was 27 per 100,000 (95% confidence interval, CI: 8–46) if women received BP treatment < 3 years and 120 per 100,000 (95% CI: 56–183) if women received BP treatment ≥3 years (risk difference 93 per 100,000, 95% CI: 30–160). By ten years, the risks were 27 (95% CI: 8–46) and 363 (95% CI: 132–593) per 100,000 for BP treatment < 3 and ≥ 3 years, respectively (risk difference 336 per 100,000, 95% CI: 110–570). Bisphosphonate treatment for 3 or more years was associated with greater risk of AFF than treatment for less than 3 years. Although AFFs are uncommon among BP-treated women, this increased risk should be considered when counseling women about long-term BP use. Future studies should further characterize the dose-response relationship between BP duration and incident AFF and identify patients at highest risk.
Power from Air and Water Flows

In this chapter the actuator disk ideal flow analysis method for the estimation of the maximum power available from air or water flows is briefly presented.
Multi-Armed Bandit Regularized Expected Improvement for Efficient Global Optimization of Expensive Computer Experiments With Low Noise

Computer experiments are widely used to mimic expensive physical processes as black-box functions. A typical challenge of expensive computer experiments is to find the set of inputs that produce the desired response. This study proposes a multi-armed bandit regularized expected improvement (BREI) method to adaptively adjust the balance between exploration and exploitation for efficient global optimization of long-running computer experiments with low noise. The BREI adds a stochastic regularization term to the objective function of the expected improvement to integrate the information of additional exploration and exploitation into the optimization process. The proposed study also develops a multi-armed bandit strategy based on Thompson sampling for adaptive optimization of the tuning parameter of the BREI based on the preexisting and newly tested points. The performance of the proposed method is validated against some of the existing methods in the literature under different levels of noise using a case study on optimization of the collision avoidance algorithm in mobile robot motion planning as well as extensive simulation studies.
Role of neutrophils in type 2 diabetes and associated atherosclerosis.

Abstract The development of cardiovascular diseases associated with Type-2 diabetes remains one of the most challenging public health burdens in the developed world. Early onset of metabolic deficiencies, namely dysregulated glucose homeostasis, peripheral insulin resistance, and impaired insulin production are accompanied by both innate and adaptive immune responses that culminate in a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation. Neutrophils are a critical component of the innate immune system which offer frontline defense against pathogens through a variety of potent effector functions. Recent data indicate an essential role of neutrophils in various disease processes that contribute to the development of Type-2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. In this brief review, we aim to distill the most relevant clinical and pre-clinical literature that investigates the role of neutrophils as an important mediator for the Type-2 diabetes/atherosclerosis connection.
Production of Ethanol from Engineered Trichoderma reesei

The nascent lignocellulosic ethanol industry relies on formulations of cellulases and hemicellulases, almost exclusively from the filamentous fungus, Trichoderma reesei , to generate monomeric sugars from the pretreated biomass. These sugars are then fermented to ethanol by various ethanologenic organisms. T. reesei not only has the ability to use the biomass sugars, d -glucose, d -mannose, d -galactose, d -xylose, and l -arabinose for growth, but also the basic biochemical pathway to ferment these sugars to ethanol, albeit at low rates and yields. We explored whether or not ethanol production from biomass sugars by T. reesei could be enhanced by engineering and enhancing the ethanol fermentative pathway beyond the wild type state. When genes coding for the two primary pathway enzymes for ethanol production, pyruvate decarboxylase ( ScPDC 1) and alcohol dehydrogenase ( ScADH 1), from the outstanding ethanologen, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , were expressed in T. reesei , the resulting strains showed significant increase in ethanol yield and a dramatic decrease of the byproduct, acetic acid, compared to the parent strain. These results demonstrate that T. reesei shows promise for being a useful organism for consolidated bioprocessing of biomass to ethanol with continued investment in pathway engineering.
Attractant-Directed Motility in Escherichia coli: Requirement for a Fluid Lipid Phase

Attractant-directed motility (chemotaxis) in Escherichia coli has an absolute requirement for a fluid membrane. No such requirement was detected for motility per se.
Direct Electrodeposition of Highly Dense 50 nm Bi2Te3-ySey Nanowire Arrays

Films and arrays of 200 and 50 nm diameter wires of Bi2Te3-xSex have been electrodeposited in the following general reaction: 2Bi3+ + (3−y)HTeO2+ + (y)H2SeO3 + (9+y)H+ + 18e- → Bi2Te3-ySey + (6+y)H2O. Films produced from an electrolyte of 0.0075 M Bi, 0.0090 M Te, and 0.0010 M Se in 1 M HNO3 at a potential of ∼0 V vs Ag/AgCl are single phase with composition Bi2Te2.6Se0.4 as determined by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Similar conditions yield arrays of 200 and 50 nm Bi2Te3-ySey wires when deposited into porous alumina templates. The wires are single phase, crystalline, and textured, with up to 85% pore filling.
4-1BB costimulation ameliorates T cell exhaustion induced by tonic signaling of chimeric antigen receptors

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting CD19 have mediated dramatic antitumor responses in hematologic malignancies, but tumor regression has rarely occurred using CARs targeting other antigens. It remains unknown whether the impressive effects of CD19 CARs relate to greater susceptibility of hematologic malignancies to CAR therapies, or superior functionality of the CD19 CAR itself. We show that tonic CAR CD3-ζ phosphorylation, triggered by antigen-independent clustering of CAR single-chain variable fragments, can induce early exhaustion of CAR T cells that limits antitumor efficacy. Such activation is present to varying degrees in all CARs studied, except the highly effective CD19 CAR. We further determine that CD28 costimulation augments, whereas 4-1BB costimulation reduces, exhaustion induced by persistent CAR signaling. Our results provide biological explanations for the antitumor effects of CD19 CARs and for the observations that CD19 CAR T cells incorporating the 4-1BB costimulatory domain are more persistent than those incorporating CD28 in clinical trials.
Emotion Awareness Predicts Body Mass Index Percentile Trajectories in Youth.

Objective To examine the rate of change in body mass index (BMI) percentile across 3 years in relation to emotion identification ability and brain-based reactivity in emotional processing regions. Study design A longitudinal sample of 202 youths completed 3 functional magnetic resonance imaging–based facial processing tasks and behavioral emotion differentiation tasks. We examined the rate of change in the youth's BMI percentile as a function of reactivity in emotional processing brain regions and behavioral emotion identification tasks using multilevel modeling. Results Lower correct identification of both happiness and sadness measured behaviorally predicted increases in BMI percentile across development, whereas higher correct identification of both happiness and sadness predicted decreases in BMI percentile, while controlling for children's pubertal status, sex, ethnicity, IQ score, exposure to antipsychotic medication, family income-to-needs ratio, and externalizing, internalizing, and depressive symptoms. Greater neural activation in emotional reactivity regions to sad faces also predicted increases in BMI percentile during development, also controlling for the aforementioned covariates. Conclusion Our findings provide longitudinal developmental data demonstrating links between both emotion identification ability and greater neural reactivity in emotional processing regions with trajectories of BMI percentiles across childhood.
Semiquantitative and visual analysis of FDG-PET images in pulmonary abnormalities.

UNLABELLED FDG PET images of the thorax can be analyzed semiquantitatively using standardized uptake ratios (SUR) or activity ratios between abnormal and normal tissue, or qualitatively by visual comparison of the abnormality to normal structures. Standardized uptake ratio evaluation of FDG PET images has been shown to accurately differentiate benign from malignant focal pulmonary abnormalities. The accuracy of activity ratios and visual analysis have not been evaluated. We therefore prospectively analyzed FDG PET images in patients with pulmonary abnormalities to evaluate differences in analytic schemes. METHODS We evaluated 107 patients with an indeterminate focal abnormality on chest radiograph or CT with FDG PET between November 1991 and March 1993. The PET studies were evaluated using SUR, activity ratios and visual analysis. Activity ratios of maximum activity/cc and average activity/cc between regions of interest (ROIs) in abnormalities and normal lung on the contralateral side were calculated. Visual interpretations were graded on a five-point scale of two observers' confidence of malignancy. FDG uptake in the abnormality was also visually graded in comparison to mediastinal activity. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve areas were generated for the SUR data, activity ratios and visual analysis. RESULTS Of 88 patients in which a conclusive diagnosis was made, 61 (69%) patients had malignancy and 27 (31%) patients had a benign process. SUR, maximum activity ratio, average activity ratio and visual interpretation ROC curve areas were 0.96, 0.95, 0.92 and 0.96, respectively. CONCLUSIONS SUR, activity ratios and visual evaluation are each equally accurate methods of FDG PET data analysis in differentiating malignant from benign focal pulmonary abnormalities.
Infants' unprovoked acts of force toward others.

Infants harm others at higher rates than older children and adults. A common explanation is that infants fail to regulate their frustration, becoming aggressive when they do not get what they want. The present research investigated whether infants also use force against others without provocation, for instance because they seek to explore the consequences of hitting or try to pet someone using too much force. Two studies with infants aged 11 to 24 months investigated infants' use of force against others in everyday life using maternal report (Study 1) and direct observation (Study 2). In both studies, a large proportion of infants' acts of force were unprovoked and occurred without signs of infant distress. Unlike provoked acts, unprovoked acts showed a decrease late in the second year and were positively associated with reports of infant pleasure-proneness. The presence of unprovoked acts of harm may reflect that infants' actions are not reliably guided by an aversion for harming others and may provide unique opportunities for early moral development.
College Teaching and Synchronicity: Exploring the Other Side of Teachable Moments

This study examined 144 experienced community college teachers’ perceptions of teachable moments. Our proposition is that a teachable moment, rather than being an objective predetermined cause-and-effect pedagogy, is a highly subjective-reflective event or intuitive learning process that occurs at unanticipated moments. We believe that Jung's (1977) theory of synchronicity can shed new light on such teachable moments. Our survey found that about half of the teachers surveyed had beliefs consistent with Jung's theory of synchronicity. Teachers that felt comfortable dealing with the unexpected were most likely to experience teachable moments. Additional teacher attitudes and beliefs about teachable moments are explored.
Ultrasonic Attenuation by Conduction Electrons in Potassium

Measurements of ultrasonic attenuation due to electron-lattice interaction were made on potassium wire samples with a pulse-echo or resonant-decay technique from 2.5 to 20\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K at frequencies between 200 and 400 kc/sec ($\mathrm{ql}\ensuremath{\ll}1$ region). The magnitude of the attenuation was found to be on the average 1.6 times larger than predicted by the free-electron theories on the basis of the measured values of electrical conductivity. The imperfect knowledge of the background introduced a maximum 30% error. Various reasons for the observed discrepancy are discussed, but the results may be within the limits of the approximations involved in the theories. The temperature and frequency dependence of the attenuation were found to be in good agreement with the theoretical expectations.
g-Jitter induced free convection in a transverse magnetic field

Abstract This paper reports an analytical analysis of g-jitter induced flows in microgravity under the influence of a transverse magnetic field. The analysis is carried out for a simple system consisting of two parallel plates held at different temperatures. A single component of time harmonic g-jitter is considered. General solutions are obtained for the velocity profile with a combined effect of oscillating g-jitter driving force and induced Lorentz force, the latter resulting from an application of a transverse magnetic field. Various limiting cases are examined based on the general solutions. Detailed calculations are also provided. Results show that the g-jitter frequency, applied magnetic fields and temperature gradients all contribute to affect the convective flow. It is found that the amplitude of the velocity decreases at a rate inversely proportional to the g-jitter frequency and with increase in the applied magnetic field. The induced flow oscillates at the same frequency as the affecting g-jitter, but out of a phase angle. The phase angle is a function of geometry, applied magnetic field, temperature gradient and frequency. While a magnetic field can be applied to suppress oscillating flows associated with g-jitter, it is more effective in damping low frequency flows but only has a moderate damping effect on the flow induced by high frequency g-jitter. The temperature gradient also has a profound effect on the g-jitter induced flow. The oscillating velocity profile evolves from a single wave to a half wave across the channel and the maximum magnitude of the velocity increases as much as a factor of three as the wall temperature parameter increases. The wall electric conditions also affect the flows and stronger damping effects occur when the walls are electrically conducting.
Modification of poly(vinyl alcohol) through reaction with phosphorus‐containing reactants

Crosslinked products of the form: and have been formed from the interfacial condensation of phosphorus diacid halides with poly(vinyl alcohol). Product yield and amounts of phosphorus reactant included in the product increases as the amount of base increases. Product stability in aqueous systems decreases in the order neutral > base > acid.
Helper T cell epitope-mapping reveals MHC-peptide binding affinities that correlate with T helper cell responses to pneumococcal surface protein A.

Understanding the requirements for protection against pneumococcal carriage and pneumonia will greatly benefit efforts in controlling these diseases. Several proteins and polysaccharide capsule have recently been implicated in the virulence of and protective immunity against Streptococcus pneumonia. Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is highly conserved among S. pneumonia strains, inhibits complement activation, binds lactoferrin, elicits protective systemic immunity against pneumococcal infection, and is necessary for full pneumococcal virulence. Identification of PspA peptides that optimally bind human leukocyte antigen (HLA) would greatly contribute to global vaccine efforts, but this is hindered by the multitude of HLA polymorphisms. Here, we have used an experimental data set of 54 PspA peptides and in silico methods to predict peptide binding to HLA and murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II. We also characterized spleen- and cervical lymph node (CLN)-derived helper T lymphocyte (HTL) cytokine responses to these peptides after S. pneumonia strain EF3030-challenge in mice. Individual, yet overlapping peptides, 15 amino acids in length revealed residues 199 to 246 of PspA (PspA199–246) consistently caused the greatest IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-5 and proliferation as well as moderate IL-10 and IL-4 responses by ex vivo stimulated splenic and CLN CD4+ T cells isolated from S. pneumonia strain EF3030-challeged F1 (B6×BALB/c) mice. IEDB, RANKPEP, SVMHC, MHCPred, and SYFPEITHI in silico analysis tools revealed peptides in PspA199–246 also interact with a broad range of HLA-DR, -DQ, and -DP allelles. These data suggest that predicted MHC class II-peptide binding affinities do not always correlate with T helper (Th) cytokine or proliferative responses to PspA peptides, but when used together with in vivo validation can be a useful tool to choose candidate pneumococcal HTL epitopes.
Walking Along the Serendipitous Path of Discovery

Deciphering of the molecular mechanism of the "unfolded protein response" (UPR) provides a wonderful example of how serendipity can shape scientific discovery. Secretory and membrane proteins begin their journey to the cell surface in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Before leaving the organelle, proteins are quality-controlled, and only properly folded proteins are transported onwards. The UPR detects an insufficiency in the protein-folding capacity in the ER and in the ways of a finely tuned homeostat adjusts organelle abundance according to need. If the protein-folding defect in the ER cannot be corrected, the UPR switches from a cell-protective to a cell-destructive mode and activates apoptosis in metazoan cells. Such life or death decisions position the UPR in the center of numerous pathologies, including viral infection, protein-folding diseases, diabetes, and cancer. The UPR proved to be a rich field for serendipitous discovery because the molecular machines that transmit information about insufficient protein folding and activate appropriate gene expression programs function in unusual, unprecedented ways. A key regulatory switch in the UPR, for example, is a cytoplasmic, nonconventional mRNA spicing reaction, initiated by a bifunctional transmembrane kinase/endoribonuclease.
Design and performance analysis of a nanoscaled inverter based on wrap-aroundgate nanowire MOSFETs

The design and analysis of a silicon nanowire inverter with a wrap-around-gate nMOS is presented and its performance is compared with that of a conventional inverter. The analysis shows that the nano-channel structure design can improve carrier mobility by suppressing the transverse component of the electric field. This results in an enhancement in the current drive of the nMOS, and contributes to lowering power consumption and the switching delay. Simulated power consumption and rise time of the proposed design was found to be about 20 µW and 0.5 ns, respectively, compared with 2.5 mW and 1.5 ns achievable with conventional planar MOSFETs. Investigation of the gate length shows that a nMOS with shorter gates have an improved switching response compared with long channel devices.
CODING RESPONSES AND THE GENERALIZATION OF MATCHING TO SAMPLE IN CHILDREN

Two experiments studied the conditions of stimulus control necessary for the generalization of relational matching to sample. Matching required the selection of comparison shapes rotated 90 degrees clockwise from the orientation of the corresponding sample. In Experiment 1, five children were taught to: (a) code the orientations of samples, (b) transform sample codings to account for the 90 degree rotation, and (c) repeat the transformed sample coding response to a comparison. High levels of generalization occurred with a set of novel stimuli for which stable sample-coding responses were initially available. In another novel set, where stable sample-coding responses were not initially available, low levels of generalized matching were recorded. Matching performance improved after stable coding responses were trained. In Experiment 2, two children and three adults were trained in a form of the matching task that produced poor generalization despite the presence of stable sample-coding responses. Retraining to modify the stimulus control exerted by these coding responses produced an immediate improvement in generalized matching to sample. Results suggest that the generalization of matching is dependent on structure of stimulus control that the component responses exert on each other.
Study on storage components and application performance for mask haze prevention

The amount of sulfate ion on mask surface will increase haze defect growing once exposed by an ArF laser. And then the storage conditions influence amount of sulfate ion was investigated. Therefore, our evaluations used extraction method and IC (Ion Chromatography) test to examine the amount of ions for current mask pods and storage cabinet. The pods included the different material of ABS (Amber and Violet Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), PMMA (Polymethyl meth acrylate), PEEK (Polyether ether ketone), Metal case, LCP (Liquid Crystal Plastic), PC+CF (Polycarbonate with carbon fiber) and PC+CNT (Polycarbonate with Carbon nano-tubes). Moreover, PSM (Phase shift Mask) haze life time and dosage was strongly interrelated with the amount of chemical contaminant aggregation for storage pods. The other factor to impact haze generation of ArF PSM masks is the condition of storage environment; therefore, we're comparing the different structure of cabinet from different vendors to extend mask life time. They included 3 types of storage system: cabinet with XCDA, purge cabinet and purge stocker. According to this point of view, we used the impinger and Cr Blank IC test to verify the best storage system and remove some of the polluted parts for cabinet to ensure haze free. Resulting from our investigations, we setup storage BKM (Best Known Method) and monitor haze performance to record their results. Consequently, the optimization components of storages will contribute the enormously economical benefit.
Nutritional value and diet preference of arboreal lichens and hypogeous fungi for small mammals in the Rocky Mountains

Many small mammals consume lichen and fungi, but southern red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi (Vigors, 1830)) and northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus (Shaw, 1801)) exhibit strong myco...
Increased calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity in vitamin E and selenium-deficient rat lung, liver, and spleen cytosol is time-dependent and reversible

Long-Evans hooded rats maintained on vitamin E and selenium-deficient diets for 6 weeks from weaning exhibited a pattern of enhancement of calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity in spleen cytosol similar to that previously reported for the lung and liver. The spleen cytosols from vitamin E and selenium deficient rats had approximately 5 fold higher activity than the samples from animals maintained on diets sufficient in these two nutrients (control) or deficient in either nutrient alone. The calcium-dependent PLA2 activity was about 6 fold higher in spleen cytosol of vitamin E and selenium deficient rats compared with cytosolic samples from animals on the other three diets. Time course studies indicated that in rats the calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity in lung, liver, and spleen increased initially between 4 and 6 weeks of consuming the diets deficient in both vitamin E and selenium, and increased even further again at 7 weeks. This bi-phasic response to the deficiency occurred 1 week after indicators of vitamin E and Se status had reached minimum levels. When animals that were maintained on the deficient diet for 6 weeks consumed the control diet for 1 week the phospholipase A2 activity of lung, liver, and spleen was not different than the activity of the control animals. The malondialdehyde concentration of lung and spleen measured at 6 and 7 weeks correlated positively with the calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity. These results indicate that deficiency of vitamin E and selenium in the rat leads to a bi-phasic increase in calcium-independent PLA2 activity in rat lung, liver, and spleen, and that the initial increase can be reversed by partial repletion of the two antioxidant nutrients.
On Liapunov Functions for Nonautonomous Systems

During the last decade LaSalle developed a general theory for examining the behavior of solutions of systems of differential equations with respect to certain sets (see [4] and its references). His main tool was to employ properties of the derivative of a Liapunov function in order to locate limit sets of soiu- tions of a given system. Although the most significant results were given for autonomous systems for which an invariance principle can be applied, Yoshizawa and LaSalle have proved some useful results for nonautonomous systems (see [4, 61). Th e p u rp ose of this paper is to give an improved result for nonautonomous systems. Let x’ =f(t, x) (’ = dldt), (1) where f: [0, co)
Determination of πN sigma term from pion nucleus scattering

Abstract We make use of the current algebra sum rules developed by Fubini and Furlan for pion-nucleon scattering to evaluate π−-nucleus scattering lengths. Assuming that the pion-nucleus sigma term Σ can be written as a coherent sum of pion-nucleon sigma terms S and using experimental data we determine S for each reaction tested averaging 22 ± 1 MeV. With S = 22 ± 1 we calculate π−-nucleus scattering lengths and our results indicate a good agreement with experimental data.
Genotoxic potential of crown ethers in mammalian cells: induction of sister-chromatid exchanges

Crown ethers are macrocyclic polyethers which possess ionophoric properties. These compounds are currently being studied for potential use as pharmaceutical agents as well as antibacterials. Though crown ethers have been shown to be highly toxic in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, there have been few investigations into the potential genotoxicity of these compounds. When sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) were quantitated after exposure to crown ethers, the results reflected no significant genotoxic effects on Chinese hamster V79 cells at any of the crown ether concentrations utilized. One crown ether, dicyclohexyl 21-crown-7, did appear to possess antigenotoxic activity. The data on the induction of SCEs by crown ethers reported herein suggest that these compounds are not genotoxic in mammalian cells despite their cytotoxicity.
Staircase ammonia coverage ratio profile control for Diesel engine two-cell selective catalytic reduction systems

This paper presents a Diesel engine selective catalytic reduction (SCR) ammonia surface coverage ratio profile control design for a two-cell SCR system, which enables a staircase ammonia coverage ratio profile for simultaneous high NO x conversion efficiency and low tailpipe ammonia slip. The novel two-cell SCR architecture greatly increases the system complexity, and controlling ammonia surface coverage ratios of two cells at different levels by a single control input is not trivial. To address these challenges, a nonlinear backstepping based control law is proposed to regulate the ammonia coverage ratio of the upstream cell to a desired (high) value in order to maintain high SCR NO x conversion efficiency, and to keep the ammonia coverage ratio of the downstream cell below a low upper limit for high ammonia adsorption capability. Simulation studies based on the first phase of the FTP75 cycle showed that the proposed controller can regulate the ammonia coverage ratios in each cell well and can satisfy the control requirements.
Teratogenesis in cats associated with griseofulvin therapy

Multiple congenital malformations occurred in kittens of three cats treated orally at weekly intervals with 500-1000 mg of the antifungal drug griseofulin. Malformations of the brain included exencephaly, malformed prosencephalon, caudal displacement, and hydrocephalus. Skeletal malformations included cranium bifidium, spina bifida (C1 through C4, and sacral), abnormal atlantooccipital articulation, cleft palate, absence of maxillae, and lack of tail vertebrae. Cyclopia and anophthalmia with absence of optic nerves and rudimentary optic tracts were also observed. Atresia ani, atresia coli, lack of atrioventricular valves in the heart, and absence of external nares and soft palate were other abnormalities present.
Nonsusceptibility to otitis media of the laboratory gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus

Mongolian gerbils housed with laboratory rats under conditions designed to maximize the transmission of otitis media were found at necropsy to be free of this middle ear disease, while the rats were found to have an 83% incidence.
Detection of Chlorine Ions in the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Spectrum of the Io Plasma Torus

The spectrum of the Io plasma torus in the range of 995-1187 A was recorded at 0.26 A resolution by the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) on 2000 January 20. Five orbits of data were obtained in point-and-shoot mode (no tracking of the moving target), with the east ansa of the torus initially centered in the 30'' × 30'' aperture of the FUSE LiF spectrographs yielding a total observation time of 3405 s. The spectral resolution exceeds by a factor of 10 that of the data obtained by the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) during the Astro-1 mission. This region of the spectrum is dominated by resonance multiplets of S III and S IV, whose multiplet structures are nearly completely resolved, as well as numerous S II multiplets originating on the 2Do state of the ground configuration. Weak emission from a few lines of the resonance multiplets of Cl III and Cl II is detected at or above the 3 σ level, Cl III being stronger with two components roughly one-tenth the brightness of the main components of S III λ1018. We derive an abundance of Cl+2 of 3% relative to S+2, leading to an overall chlorine ion abundance in the torus of ≈1%. The ratio of S IV to S III brightness is about twice that observed by HUT, which, when the different slit geometries are accounted for, supports the earlier analysis that S IV emissions originate from a region more extended out of the centrifugal plane than the S III emissions.
The Military, Psychiatry, and “Unfit” Soldiers, 1939–1942

This article examines the psychiatric screening of U.S. soldiers during the Second World War, established by psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1949), as a key moment in the public application of clinical psychiatry, as well as a turning point in Sullivan's intellectual and professional career. After a brief look at the ideas and expectations Sullivan brought to the screening system, I discuss a major problem of the screening: the mismatch between the medical concept of disease prevention and the realities of the mass screening as a public policy. As a way to highlight this mismatch, I focus on Sullivan's failure to protect homosexual men from medical and social stigmatization by screening them out of the armed forces. Despite his liberal approach to the issue of homosexuality before the war, which he had created in his clinical practice, Sullivan was unable to persuade the military and the public of gay men's right to serve the nation. The examination of how his sympathetic view of homosexuality became circumscribed reveals not only the gap between clinical insights and public policy, but also how tentative views of homosexuality in public debate among liberal psychiatrists during the decade preceding the war contributed to the failure to make non-homophobic policy in the 1940s. This article shows that the relative conservatism in the politics of sexuality among liberal psychiatrists, as well as the intransigent conservatism as seen in homophobic tradition of the Army, contributed to the discriminatory screening criteria.
Theoretical study of metal borides stability

We have recently identified metal-sandwich (MS) crystal structures and shown with ab initio calculations that the MS lithium monoboride phases are favored over the known stoichiometric ones under hydrostatic pressure [Phys. Rev. B 73, 180501(R) (2006)]. According to previous studies synthesized lithium monoboride $(\mathrm{Li}{\mathrm{B}}_{y})$ tends to be boron deficient $(y=0.8--1.0)$, however, the mechanism leading to this phenomenon is not fully understood. We use a simple model to simulate this compound with ab initio methods and discover that the boron-deficient lithium monoboride is a remarkable adaptive binary alloy: it has virtually no energy barriers to change its composition post synthesis within a small but finite range of $y$ at zero temperature. Having demonstrated that the model well explains the experimentally observed off-stoichiometry, we next compare the $\mathrm{Li}{\mathrm{B}}_{y}$ and MS-LiB phases and find that the latter have lower formation enthalpy under high pressures. We also systematically investigate the stability of MS phases for a large class of metal borides. Our results suggest that MS noble-metal borides are less unstable than the corresponding $\mathrm{Al}{\mathrm{B}}_{2}$-type phases but not stable enough to form under equilibrium conditions.
In Situ Monitoring of Soil Solution Nitrate: Proof of Concept

A lack of in situ instrumentation limits continuous monitoring of contaminants and plant nutrients in soil solution to evaluate environmental and agricultural management practices. We developed a prototype soil solution monitoring technique to measure long-term in situ NO3 -N concentration, consisting of an in situ stainless steel (SS) porous cup, with real time concentration measurements using an ion selective electrode and an ultraviolet fiber-optic sensor. The measurement technique does not require soil solution extraction, but is based on in situ soil solution equilibration by diffusion between the porous cup and the surrounding medium. The technique was tested on a NO 3 -N solution with two different SS collection cups. Analytical solutions evaluated solute diffusion coefficients, as controlled by a variety of experimental conditions. The principles of operation were developed for diffusion in a liquid solution and a saturated sand, illustrating the potential application in a soil environment.
Nanomechanical Motions of Cantilevers: Direct Imaging in Real Space and Time with 4D Electron Microscopy

The function of many nano- and microscale systems is revealed when they are visualized in both space and time. Here, we report our first observation, using four-dimensional (4D) electron microscopy, of the nanomechanical motions of cantilevers. From the observed oscillations of nanometer displacements as a function of time, for free-standing beams, we are able to measure the frequency of modes of motion and determine Young’s elastic modulus and the force and energy stored during the optomechanical expansions. The motion of the cantilever is triggered by molecular charge redistribution as the material, single-crystal organic semiconductor, switches from the equilibrium to the expanded structure. For these material structures, the expansion is colossal, typically reaching the micrometer scale, the modulus is 2 GPa, the force is 600 μN, and the energy is 200 pJ. These values translate to a large optomechanical efficiency (minimum of 1% and up to 10% or more) and a pressure of nearly 1,500 atm. We note that the observables here are real material changes in time, in contrast to those based on changes of optical/contrast intensity or diffraction.
Concomitant activation of two types of glutamate receptor mediates excitation of salamander retinal ganglion cells.

1. Cells in the ganglion cell layer of salamander retinal slices were voltage clamped using patch pipettes. Light elicited transient excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) in on-off ganglion cells and sustained EPSCs in on ganglion cells. Light-evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents in these cells could be blocked by 100 microM-bicuculline methobromide and 500 nM-strychnine. 2. In the presence of external Cd2+, at a concentration that blocked light-evoked synaptic inputs, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and the non-NMDA-receptor agonists, quisqualate and kainate, gated conductances in both on-off and on ganglion cells. The current-voltage (I-V) curve for the conductance elicited by NMDA had a negative slope between -40 and -70 mV and a reversal potential near 0 mV. The I-V curves for the non-NMDA-receptor-mediated conductances were nearly linear and also had reversal potentials near 0 mV. 3. I-V curves were measured at an early time point near the peak of transient EPSCs and at a later time point during the decay phase of the responses. The late I-V curve had a negative slope below -40 mV. The early I-V curve had a positive slope over the entire voltage range but the slope was greater at positive than at negative potentials. The evoked current reversed near 0 mV at both time points. 4. The region of negative slope of the late I-V curve was eliminated when Mg2+ was removed from the external saline. A slowly decaying component of transient EPSCs was eliminated in 20 microM-DL-2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoate (AP7), an NMDA-receptor antagonist. 5. Application of 1 microM-6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX), a non-NMDA-receptor antagonist at this concentration, blocked a fast component of transient EPSCs. 6. Our results demonstrate that the synaptic inputs to on-off ganglion cells have two components: a slower NMDA-receptor-mediated component having a time-to-peak of 110 +/- 45 ms and an e-fold decay time of 209 +/- 35 ms at -31 mV (mean +/- S.D., n = 5), and a faster non-NMDA-receptor-mediated component having a time-to-peak of 28 +/- 10 ms and an e-fold decay time of 43 +/- 20 ms at -31 mV (n = 8). 7. A similar analysis of sustained EPSCs of on ganglion cells showed that these currents resulted from sustained activation of both NMDA and non-NMDA receptors.
Global δf particle simulation of neoclassical transport and ambipolar electric field in general geometry

A generalized global particle-in-cell (PIC) code has been developed to systematically study neoclassical physics and equilibrium electric field dynamics in general toroidal geometry. This capability enables realistic assessment of the irreducible minimum transport level and the bootstrap current in toroidal systems. The associated analysis takes into account the comprehensive influences of large orbits, toroidal geometry, and self-consistent electric field, for more meaningful experimental comparisons. The simulation model and δf algorithm are described, and an interesting new result of non-local ion thermal transport is presented.
The data behind the Hood River analyses

Abstract Five houses from the Hood River Conservation Project data base were selected and their energy use patterns individually evaluated. The conclusions derived from visual inspection of the data were compared to the PRISM analyses. The houses used a surprisingly high proportion of electricity for non-space-heating end uses. The impact of the retrofits was nevertheless easily seen in the energy use graphs for some houses. The anomalous PRISM results for one house were explained by irregular use of a wood stove. When dealing with large data sets, it is essential to trace individual cases through each step of the analysis. In this way, one obtains a better appreciation of the capabilities and drawbacks of the assumptions and the techniques that were applied.
Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride Finishes for Durable Flame Retardancy for Cotton Fabrics

Abstract Cotton flannels were padded with flame retardant compositions comprising a vinyl chloride co-polymer resin, a halogenated phosphate ester plasticizer and a small amount of an unsaturated alkyl dimethacrylate monomer to give varying add-on's-up to 60% by weight of the cottons. The padded cotton flannels were then exposed to high energy electron beam irradiation dosages in the presence of air at ambient temperatures. Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) measurements are reported for the treated cottons for increasing numbers of laundering cycles and correlated with fabric weight changes. Analogous experiments were carried out with the same flame retardant composition padded onto the cotton flannels to similar add-on's but with the resultant samples not subjected to electron beam irradiation. The laundering durability of the irradiated treated cotton flannels was significantly superior and weight losses were lower, especially after extended launderings. Irradiation treatments offer a potentially attractive a...
ON THE METAPHARMACOLOGY OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS.

Summary We have proposed psychoanalytic metapsychology as a useful explanatory tool for investigation of drug effects upon the psychic apparatus. All six metapsychological points of view: (1) genetic; (2) dynamic; (3) topographic; (4) structural; (5) economic; (6) adaptive, were brought to bear upon the psychic events in connection with drug use. Psychopharmacology can be seen as composed of two major divisions: A. Pharmacology —site, mode of action, etc.; and B. Metapharmacology —the application of the above six metapsychological points of view to the phenomenology and interpretation of drug response. This approach provides an overlapping frame of reference for psychopharmacology and psychoanalytic psychiatry, and permits the psychoanalytic psychiatrist to use his skills in an integrated approach to treatment.
Membrane cholesterol modulates the fluid shear stress response of polymorphonuclear leukocytes via its effects on membrane fluidity.

Continuous exposure of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) to circulatory hemodynamics points to fluid flow as a biophysical regulator of their activity. Specifically, fluid flow-derived shear str...