cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chapter 109 – Ehrlichia

Human ehrlichioses are emerging, often life-threating, tick-borne diseases caused by obligately intracellular Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the genus Ehrlichia. Ehrlichiae lack cell wall components, lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan. Ehrlichiae are maintained in the enzootic cycle involving persistently infected vertebrate hosts such as deer and the vector tick. Human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis (HME), caused by Ehrlichia chaffeensis, is highly prevalent in the south-central, southeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Molecular and serological evidence suggest a worldwide distribution of ehrlichiae. Ehrlichia chaffeensis resides in monocytes and causes moderate-to-severe flu-like illness characterised by non-specific symptoms such as fever, headache, myalgia, etc. The disease can progress to a severe toxic-shock-like syndrome with multiorgan failure, liver injury, meningoencephalitis, acute respiratory distress syndrome and myocarditis. Aberrant host inflammatory responses are implicated in the disease pathogenesis. Frequent laboratory findings in HME patients include leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and elevated hepatic transaminases. Clinical diagnosis frequently requires application of appropriate molecular diagnostics. Ehrlichia ewingii and newly discovered Ehrlichia muris-like agent (EMLA) also cause human disease. Currently no vaccine is available against ehrlichiosis. Doxycycline is the drug of choice, and initiation of antibiotic therapy early during the infection is critical for its effectiveness.
Experimental assessment of microwave ablation computational modeling with MR thermometry.

Purpose Computational models are widely used during the design and characterization of microwave ablation (MWA) devices, and have been proposed for pretreatment planning. Our objective was to assess three-dimensional (3D) transient temperature and ablation profiles predicted by MWA computational models with temperature profiles measured experimentally using magnetic resonance (MR) thermometry in ex vivo bovine liver. Materials and methods We performed MWA in ex vivo tissue under MR guidance using a custom, 2.45 GHz water-cooled applicator. MR thermometry data were acquired for 2 min prior to heating, during 5-10 min microwave exposures, and for 3 min following heating. Fiber-optic temperature sensors were used to validate the accuracy of MR temperature measurements. A total of 13 ablation experiments were conducted using 30-50 W applied power at the applicator input. MWA computational models were implemented using the finite element method, and incorporated temperature-dependent changes in tissue physical properties. Model-predicted ablation zone extents were compared against MRI-derived Arrhenius thermal damage maps using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). Results Prior to heating, the observed standard deviation of MR temperature data was in the range of 0.3-0.7°C. Mean absolute error between MR temperature measurements and fiber-optic temperature probes during heating was in the range of 0.5-2.8°C. The mean DSC between model-predicted ablation zones and MRI-derived Arrhenius thermal damage maps for 13 experimental set-ups was 0.95. When comparing simulated and experimentally (i.e. using MRI) measured temperatures, the mean absolute error (MAE %) relative to maximum temperature change was in the range 5%-8.5%. Conclusion We developed a system for characterizing 3D transient temperature and ablation profiles with MR thermometry during MWA in ex vivo liver tissue, and applied the system for experimental validation of MWA computational models.
Deepening Interlocal Partnerships: The Case of Revenue-sharing Infrastructure Agreements:

Traditional economic development at the local level has been characterized as competitive, driven by local governments vying to attract business to their locality. This approach has largely created...
Patterns of Postpartum Ambulatory Care Follow‐up Care Among Women With Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy

Background Preeclampsia and gestational hypertension are hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) that identify an increased risk of developing chronic hypertension and cardiovascular disease late...
Gone with the Wind: Federalism and the Strategic Location of Air Polluters

In federal systems, both state governments and firms have incentives to strategically locate polluting facilities where the environmental and health consequences will be borne as much as possible by residents of other jurisdictions. We analyze air polluter location in the United States using a spatial point pattern model, which models where events occur in latitude and longitude. Our analyses indicate that major air polluters are significantly more likely to be located near a state's downwind border than a control group of other industrial facilities, results that are robust to a wide variety of model specifications and measurement strategies. This effect is particularly pronounced for facilities with toxic air emissions. The observed pattern of polluter location varies systematically across states and time in ways that suggest it is responsive to public policy at both the national and state levels.
Budesonide and a retinoid X receptor-selective ligand bexarotene prevent the development of ultraviolet B-induced skin cancer in SKH-1 hairless mice

4304 Solar ultraviolet (UV) B is a ubiquitous environmental carcinogen and a known risk factor for human nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC), including Squamous Cell Carcinomas (SCCs). The development of SCC directly correlates with cumulative exposure to UV radiation. Mutations in the p53 gene, as well as elevated cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity, are associated with the pathogenesis of SCC, and they may play a pivotal role in the development of SCCs in susceptible mice and human cohorts, as well as in the general population. Budesonide, one of the newest topical corticosteroids designed to maximize anti-inflammatory effects, is known to have chemopreventive as well as therapeutic efficacy in animal models of various cancers, particularly lung cancer. Bexarotene is a receptor-selective vitamin A derivative, and the classic retinoids are known to be effective for the treatment of pre-cancerous lesions, such as leukoplakia, actinic keratosis, and cervical dysplasia. This study assessed the chemopreventive effects of topically applied budesonide and bexarotene in UVB-induced SCC development in SKH-1 hairless mice. The SKH-1 mice, 25 mice in each group, were irradiated with 180 mJ/cm2 UVB twice a week for a total of 35 weeks. The mice in Group 1 received only UVB irradiation, whereas those in Group 2 received a vehicle, followed by UVB. The dorsal skin of the mice in groups 3 to 5 received budesonide (16 mg/kg body weight) or bexarotene (34 mg/kg body weight) or a combination of the two, 30 minutes prior to UVB irradiation. At week 35, an average of 11 or 12 tumors per mouse were detected in the UVB-irradiated or the UVB/vehicle-treated groups, respectively. Budesonide or bexarotene, when applied alone, showed on average a two-fold decrease in the number and size of the tumors. A combination treatment of budesonide and bexarotene showed a dramatic reduction in tumor multiplicity and growth. Mice treated with both budesonide and bexarotene showed overall decreases of 90% in both tumor number and size. Moreover, the budesonide/bexarotene treatment reduced the tumor incidence to 38%. Only 5 out of 13 mice developed visible tumors, with the remaining 8 mice tumor-free at week 35 following treatment. The budesonide/bexarotene treatment also reduced UVB-induced overexpression of cell cycle proteins, such as cyclins B1 and D1, which derive proliferation, and also inhibited the expression of COX-2 and ODC. In summary, our data indicate that budesonide and bexarotene are potent inhibitors of UVB-induced skin cancers in SKH-1 mice and that the combinational treatment could be a useful chemopreventive strategy for skin cancer.
Luminosity-Luminosity Correlations in Flux-limited Multiwavelength Data

We explore the general question of correlations among different waveband luminosities in a flux-limited multiband observational data set. Such correlations, often observed for astronomical sources, may be either intrinsic or induced by the redshift evolution of the luminosities and the data truncation due to the flux limits. We first address this question analytically. We then use simulated flux-limited data with three different known intrinsic luminosity correlations and prescribed luminosity functions and evolution similar to the ones expected for quasars. We explore how the intrinsic nature of luminosity correlations can be deduced, including exploring the efficacy of partial correlation analysis with redshift binning in determining whether luminosity correlations are intrinsic and finding the form of the intrinsic correlation. By applying methods that we have developed in recent works, we show that we can recover the true cosmological evolution of the luminosity functions and the intrinsic correlations between the luminosities. Finally, we demonstrate the methods for determining intrinsic luminosity correlations on actual observed samples of quasars with mid-infrared, radio, and optical fluxes and redshifts, finding that the luminosity–luminosity correlation is significantly stronger between mid-infrared and optical than that between radio and optical luminosities, supporting the canonical jet-launching and heating model of active galaxies.
Brief Musculoskeletal Screen and Patient Education for Down Syndrome-Associated Arthritis:

Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common birth defects in the United States with resulting in an estimated birth prevalence of 12.6 per 10 000 live births.1 DS is characterized by a heterogenous phenotype that results from a dosage imbalance of genes on human chromosome 21.2 Due to the heterogenous phenotype, broad presentation of presenting symptoms, and complex needs of the child with DS, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a clinical report for the health supervision of children with DS.3 The report discusses age-appropriate guidance on when to screen for specific conditions, when to refer to specialty care for evaluation, and anticipatory guidance for families as their child with DS ages. Inflammatory arthritis in children with DS was first described in 1984 and was termed Down syndrome arthropathy,4 however, the term Down syndrome-associated arthritis (DA) has been recommended to better describe the inflammatory nature of the disease.5 Studies have shown that DA is under-recognized with a delay in diagnosis.6 Most patients present with polyarticular (5 or more joints with arthritis), rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) negative disease.6 There are reports that DA is more prevalent than juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA),5,7 which is the most common pediatric rheumatologic disease.8 Additionally, DA appears more aggressive than JIA with more bone and joint damage at presentation, and despite aggressive therapy with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biologic therapy, disease burden is higher for those with DA compared to JIA.9 Despite this the American Academy of Pediatrics does not mention arthritis or screening for arthritis in the clinical report for health supervision of children with DS. In a national survey of Down syndrome clinic providers, 77% responded that they were aware of the risk for inflammatory arthritis in DS, however, less than half educated families about the risk, which is likely due to the lack of guidance around screening and evaluation for DA.10 The uncertainty and lack of guidance in screening for DA is a gap in the medial literature. Our objective was to develop and pilot a brief musculoskeletal screen for DA and our secondary objective was to provide education to families about DA.
Proactive spectrometer matching for excess noise suppression in balanced visible light optical coherence tomography (OCT)

Supercontinuum sources for visible light spectral domain OCT (SDOCT) are noisy and often expensive. Balanced detection can reduce excess noise, but is rarely used in SDOCT. Here, we show that balanced detection can achieve effective excess noise cancellation across all depths if two linear array spectrometers are spectrally well-matched. We propose excess noise correlation matrices as tools to achieve such precise spectral matching. Using optomechanical adjustments, while monitoring noise correlations, we proactively match wavelength sampling of two different spectrometers to just a few picometers in wavelength, or 0.001% of the overall spectral range. We show that proactively-matched spectrometers can achieve an excess noise suppression of more than two orders-of-magnitude in balanced visible light OCT, outperforming simple retrospective software calibration of mismatched spectrometers. High noise suppression enables visible light OCT of the mouse retina at 70 kHz with 125 microwatts incident power, with an inexpensive, 30 MHz repetition rate supercontinuum source. Averaged images resolve the retinal pigment epithelium in a highly pigmented mouse strain.
The Six Crises of Dick Gibson

"When Dick Gibson was a little boy he was not Dick Gibson." This is the first sentence of Stanley Elkin's third novel, The Dick Gibson Show.1 By the end of the novel the Uttle boy?whom we will never know?has be come Dick Gibson legally and spiritually, but the impUeations of his growth into that chosen name are the implications of America's growth from the Great Depression to the Vietnam War. Dick Gibson is a one-man cultural history and a history of a particular kind of American consciousness which had learned its lessons by the end of World War II and brought those les sons into full vapid literalization in the fifties and early sixties. By the end of the novel, by the end of the sixties, Dick Gibson is forced to confront squarely the consequences of his own development. What he confronts is a manufactured self?sometimes called a self-made man?who has been fashioned from the media, from comic books, old tunes, and old movies; who has pursued some version of the American Dream by mistaking stereo type for archetype, cUch? for myth; and who has devoted his life to routin izing the extraordinary. In the last moments of Boswell, the protagonist of that novel comes face to face with the product of his own ego. At the end of A Bad Man, the protagonist confronts the final workings of the seU. At the end of The Dick Gibson Show, Dick Gibson confronts Dick Nixon. But Dick Gibson isn't simply an allegorical representation of Dick Nixon. They are parallel Unes that converge?they are parallel manifestations of the same consciousness. It is a consciousness that takes in a variety of human beings besides Dick Nixon, including any of us who were sometimes somewhere touched by the magic illusion of upwardly mobile aspirations, and who have felt on occasion an almost atmospheric promise that we are chosen for uniqueness. Chosen and not Elect; Elect is too easy; the chosen get to suffer for the choice. It is a consciousness broad enough in its impli cations to make us see something about the development of the American character that indicates Dick Nixon was no mere aberration in American
Bacterial Inhibitors in Lake Water

The populations of six bacterial genera fell rapidly after their addition to sterile lake water but not after their addition to buffer. The decline in numbers of two species that were studied further, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Micrococcus flavus, occurred even when the buffer was added to sterile lake water. The inhibition of K. pneumoniae by substances in lake water varied with the season of the year, and the rate and extent of decline of both species were different in sterile samples of different lakes. The extent of reduction in the density of K. pneumoniae was independent of initial population size and was diminished by the addition of 10 μg of glucose per ml of lake water. The toxin was removed from lake water by dialysis and by a cation-exchange resin but not by an anion-exchange resin, and it was destroyed by heating. The inhibition of K. pneumoniae was not evident in lake water buffered at a pH value above 8.0. We suggest that toxins may be important in determining the composition of the bacterial community of lakes.
Transport processes in boiling and two-phase systems, including near-critical fluids

Aspects of pool boiling are considered, taking into account nucleate boiling, the nucleate boiling mechanism, film boiling, and the transition between nucleate and film boiling. The characteristics of two-phase flow are also investigated, giving attention to two-phase flow parameters and equations, the flow pattern in two-phase flow, the pressure drop in two-phase flow, heat transfer in two-phase flow, two-phase flow dynamics, the boiling crisis in two-phase flow, the critical flow rate, the propagation of the pressure pulse and the sonic velocity in two-phase media, instrumentation for two-phase flow, and geometry and field effects on boiling and two-phase flow. Near-critical fluids are also considered.
Strategic Moral Diplomacy: Mandela, Qaddafi, and the Lockerbie Negotiations

Understanding and mitigating the consequences of clashing moral perceptions should be a primary goal of diplomacy and foreign policy analysis. Personal interviews and primary documents about the Lockerbie negotiations are used to illustrate the dangerous collision of different moral claims in the international arena, the mistakes made by the United States and United Kingdom in handling this aspect of the negotiations, and South African President Nelson Mandela's use of strategic moral diplomacy to resolve the stalemate between Libya, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Mandela's strategy in these negotiations is an example of how an intelligent and pragmatic moral position, rather than the conventional image of an enemy as evil, can produce the desired strategic results—in this case, Colonel Qaddafi's handover of the two Libyan citizens accused of the Lockerbie bombing.
Does Risk Matter? Corporate Insider Transactions in Internet-Based Firms

This paper investigates an unintended consequence of equity-based compensation plans: in highly volatile firms, managers appear to undermine the compensation system's intended effect of aligning managers' interests with those of shareholders. Specifically, many managers are selling at least a portion of their equity stakes, or exercising their stock options and selling the acquired shares. These sales may reduce the desired incentive-alignment; they also have the potential to directly decrease equity value if market participants interpret the sales as a signal that managers believe their firms to be overvalued. But overvaluation is not the only reason that these corporate insiders sell. Many managers in Internet-firms have undiversified portfolios, holding mainly the equity of their firms. This lack of diversification, combined with the high volatility of Internet-based firms, and the limited control managers have over that volatility, gives managers an incentive to diversify by selling their stock holdings, irrespective of their beliefs about the accuracy of the current stock price. Indeed, based upon the average Internet firm's volatility of 113% annually (relative to the 22% of the S&P 500 Index), a non-diversified insider would be better off selling shares to diversify even if he/she believed the firm to be undervalued by the market by almost 50%. This paper investigates whether the market response to insider selling in Internet-based companies reflects these multi-faceted incentives. I find that, in contrast to insider selling in the general population of firms, sales in Internet-based companies do not produce negative excess returns (the mean return on an insider selling day is +0.82%, net-of-market movements, for an Internet-based firm). This result suggests that market participants do not, on average, interpret managerial sales in Internet-based as a signal of overvaluation. The relatively high incidence of managerial sales in Internet-based firms may instead reflect the high value managers' place on holding a diversified portfolio, an observation that raises questions about the optimal compensation-mix in such firms.
Hepatic MRI for GE Scanners

MRI techniques continue to evolve rapidly, but the basic components of a liver examination, and the clinical role of each component, have changed little. The three most important considerations for choosing techniques for imaging the liver continue to be contrast, motion artifact, and coverage. This unit presents a Basic Protocol for liver imaging for General Electric (GE) scanners. However, these basic approaches to hepatic MR imaging are quite similar, with most details relating to minor vendor-specific differences.
The Japan-Mexico Treaty 1888 and the Most Favored Nation Clause in the Unequal Treaties

The Japan-Mexico Treaty 1888 was the first treaty that Japan concluded in equal and reciprocal terms with a Western Nation during the most crucial period of Japan's modern diplomatic history as it was the revision of the Unequal Treaties.The generic name "Unequal Treaties" refers to 16 international conventions that Japan signed between 1854 and 1874 with the Western Powers. These treaties were unilateral, not reciprocal, all citizens of the treaty nations enjoyed extraterritorial privileges that rendered them, for all intents and purposes, immune from Japanese justice. Even more onerous and problematic, these treaties denied Japan of tariff autonomy, and autonomy in the treaty ports. In 1883, Mexico proposed to Japan to conclude a treaty based on absolute equality to serve as support and precedent for Japan to denounce the Unequal Treaties. Japan declined the Mexican offer adducing that it was first necessary to obtain the revision of the Unequal Treaties, to avoid extending, the new advantageous conditions of an equal treaty to the Treaty Powers, by way of the Most-Favored-Nation clause. Japan carried forward the Treaty Revision Conferences between 1882 and 1886 without obtaining any significant progress. Five years later, in 1888, despite the fact that the Treaty Powers had neither renounced the MFN clause, nor revised the extra-territoriality provisions, Japan concluded its first equal treaty with Mexico. How did the Japanese government solve this impasse? This paper addresses this question as well as the arguments and motivations that shaped the new unconditional interpretation of the MFN clause, or Ōkuma Doctrine. The cornerstone of the treaty system was the Most Favored Nation clause. This paper delineates the main features of the MFN clause emphasizing the Conditional and Unconditional MFN interpretations. It also explains why this MFN was the main obstacle for the revision of the Unequal Treaties, and how this problem was solved by the Ōkuma's interpretation; his conditional interpretation of the MFN, is called the Ōkuma Doctrine.
Improving performance of dispatch rules for daily scheduling of assembly and test operations

We investigate the performance of an assembly and test semiconductor facility.New dispatch rules are developed for setting up and assigning lots to machines.The methodology combines metaheuristic logic and discrete event simulation.On-time delivery and throughput benefit greatly from the new rules. In recent years, there has been an increasing effort to improve the performance of semiconductor assembly and test facilities given their critical role in achieving on-time delivery. Using the simulation package AutoSched AP (ASAP) as the analytic tool, the goal of this paper is to show how the logic of intelligent heuristics can be combined with discrete event simulation to evaluate various dispatch rules for machine setup and scheduling in such facilities. The problem addressed is defined by a set of resources that includes machines and tooling, process plans for each product, and four hierarchical objectives: minimize the weighted sum of key device shortages, maximize weighted throughput, minimize the number of machines used, and minimize makespan for a given set of lots in queue.Three new dispatch rules are presented for configuring machines and assigning lots to them in assembly and test facilities. The first gives priority to hot lots containing key devices while using the setup frequency table obtained from our machine optimizer that takes the form of a greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP). The second embeds the more robust selection features of GRASP in the ASAP model through customization. This allows ASAP to explore a larger portion of the feasible region at each decision point by randomizing machine setups using adaptive probability distributions that are a function of solution quality. The third rule, which is a simplification of the second, always picks the setup for a particular machine that gives the greatest marginal improvement in the objective function among all candidates. The computational analysis showed that the three dispatch rules greatly improved ASAP performance with respect to the four objectives.
A generalized approach to image representation

The representation process in both statistical and syntactical approaches is analyzed and discussed. A representation approach that incorporates the topological information about the image without the requirement for a pattern grammar and parser is introduced. This approach is believed to be applicable to a wide domain of situations. Results of implementing this approach for recognition of digitized English characters are given. The test data used for the experiments were obtained by digitizing English text at a density of 250 pixels/in. A sample digitized character is shown. >
A New Interpretation of Serum Albumin Surface Passivation

We report our efforts to understand the passivation behavior of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and its structural changes at interfaces using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. The work investigated protein adsorption on two surfaces with widely different surface free energies. We investigated a hydrophilic surface represented by clean glass and a hydrophobic surface prepared by modifying a glass surface with a fluorinated self-assembled monolayer. The experiments indicate that, on the hydrophilic surface, BSA adsorbs in a two-step process and passivation of the surface is reached. Adsorption of BSA on the hydrophobic surface also continues until passivation of the surface. In contrast, however, the process occurs in a single step. Contact angle measurements show that at the completion of the adsorption process in both cases the same contact angle is reached despite the different adsorption behavior. We believe that this strongly indicates that the same outer surface composition ...
Thrombolytic agents and anticoagulants.

The medical and scientific communities, appreciating the pivotal role of thrombosis in the evolution and expression of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, have embarked upon intense efforts to develop safe, effective, and affordable thrombolytic agents and anticoagulants. With an understanding that more is not always better, these new compounds, mutants, and derivatives will be designed specifically to impair, neutralize, or enhance several key components of well-characterized thrombotic and fibrinolytic processes. If efforts continue at the current pace, one or more “designer” thrombolytics and anticoagulants will be ready for Phase II or Phase III clinical trials in the near future.
Satellite observations of cloud plumes generated by Nauru

A cloud plume is generated by the interaction of low-level easterly flow and diurnal surface heating on the island of Nauru in the tropical Pacific. Diurnal and seasonal cycles of cloud plume length, frequency, and heading were obtained by inspection of a year of hourly daytime GMS images. The cloud plume extends downwind and typically grows during the day to a mean length of 125 km by late afternoon with a maximum observed length of 425 km. The longest average plumes occur during March and April. The afternoon plume frequency was 63% compared to 50% for all observations. Further evaluation of the plume effects is needed to fully assess their impact on the development of long-term statistics of cloud and radiation parameters derived from surface instruments on the island's leeward side.
A Fourier-Based Textural Feature Extraction Procedure

A procedure is presented to discriminate and characterize regions of uniform image texture. The procedure utilizes textural features consisting of pixel-by-pixel estimates of the relative emphases of annular regions of the Fourier transform. The utility and derivation of the features are described through presentation of a theoretical justification of the concept followed by a heuristic extension to a real environment. Two examples are provided that validate the technique on synthetic images and demonstrate its applicability to the discrimination of geologic texture in a radar image of a tropical, vegetated area.
Killing for girls: predation play and female empowerment.

Predation games—games in which the player is actively encouraged and often required to hunt and kill in order to survive—have historically been the purview of male players. Females, though now much...
Magnetostatic surface modes of a y.i.g. slab

Recent theoretical results suggest a new interpretation of the magnetostatic surface modes in Brundle and Freedman's continuous-wave experiments. These results, which are strongly affected by the component of the k vector along the applied field, are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values.
Dynamic stiffness removal for direct numerical simulations

Abstract A systematic approach was developed to derive non-stiff reduced mechanisms for direct numerical simulations (DNS) with explicit integration solvers. The stiffness reduction was achieved through on-the-fly elimination of short time-scales induced by two features of fast chemical reactivity, namely quasi-steady-state (QSS) species and partial-equilibrium (PE) reactions. The sparse algebraic equations resulting from QSS and PE approximations were utilized such that the efficiency of the dynamic stiffness reduction is high compared with general methods of time-scale reduction based on Jacobian decomposition. Using the dimension reduction strategies developed in our previous work, a reduced mechanism with 52 species was first derived from a detailed mechanism with 561 species. The reduced mechanism was validated for ignition and extinction applications over the parameter range of equivalence ratio between 0.5 and 1.5, pressure between 10 and 50 atm, and initial temperature between 700 and 1600 K for ignition, and worst-case errors of approximately 30% were observed. The reduced mechanism with dynamic stiffness removal was then applied in homogeneous and 1-D ignition applications, as well as a 2-D direct numerical simulation of ignition with temperature inhomogeneities at constant volume with integration time-steps of 5–10 ns. The integration was numerically stable and good accuracy was achieved.
Digital alloy AlAsSb/AlGaAsSb distributed Bragg reflectors lattice matched to InP for 1.3 - 1.55 µm wavelength range

The authors report a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) consisting of 15.5 periods of AlAsSb and AlGaAsSb digital alloy with a peak reflectivity >95% at 1.46 µm. The DBR is grown by molecular beam epitaxy on an InP substrate.
MOMS: formative evaluation and subsequent intervention for mothers living with HIV

The Making Our Mothers Stronger (MOMS) Project is a randomized controlled behavioral trial, comparing a stress-reduction and social support intervention (Healthy MOMS) to a parenting skills intervention (Parenting Skills for MOMS) for mothers living with HIV. Outcomes include maternal mental and physical health, parenting behaviors, and children's behavior. To ensure that these interventions were tailored to the needs of HIV+ mothers, extensive formative work was conducted with members of the intended audience and relevant service providers. Findings from focus groups and semi-structured interviews highlighted the need for Healthy MOMS to: (1) include appropriate approaches to group discussion and problem solving; (2) address the stressors of being both a parent and a woman living with HIV; and (3) enhance social support. Six weekly group sessions focused on topics including coping with stress and anxiety; enhancing nutrition, exercise, and sexual health; improving medical adherence; improving communication with health care providers; and communicating health needs to family, friends, and co-workers. Initial anecdotal responses from participants suggest that the Healthy MOMS intervention addresses several salient issues for the growing population of HIV+ mothers who can benefit from long-term support in adapting to this chronic disease.
The regional and temporal significance of primary aeolian magnetic fabrics preserved in Alaskan loess

Abstract The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data presented herein underscore the resolving power magnetic anisotropy has in non-lithified poorly consolidated sediments. We turn our attention to primary aeolian sedimentary magnetic fabrics preserved along two coeval loess profiles in Central Alaska at the Halfway House (HH3) and Gold Hill Steps (GHS2) sites. We first demonstrate that published preliminary results along HH1 and HH2 are reproducible. Moreover, the new sample suite, the first ever at GHS, collected at a higher temporal resolution and statistical confidence permits a better evaluation of the significance of the inferred paleowind directions and their temporal variability. The data demonstrate that the resolvability of the magnetic lineation is independent of both the eccentricity of the AMS ellipsoid and the strength of the magnetic foliation. Furthermore, the orientations and temporal variability of the most significant magnetic lineations are not artifacts of the data filtering process developed to isolate them. We conclude that the temporal variations of inferred paleowind directions along HH3 track paleoclimatic glacial–interglacial cycles as well as provide additional constraints to the geochronology of the loess deposit. Along GHS2, the limited coeval primary magnetic fabrics suggest an influence from a local microclimate not present at the HH site, complicating the interpretation of small-scale variability in paleowind directions. However, the overall average paleowind directions are similar to those inferred along HH3 confirming a regional (spatial) consistency of past surface air circulation.
Why No Cycles

This article explains the absence of cycles in regular governmental voting procedures. Most acts of Congress and other legislative bodies are the result of the negotiation carried on in private. As a result of this negotiation, the bill would be impossible to beat by any ordinary alternative.
Quantitative assessment of the genotoxicity of fecapentaenes.

Fecapentaenes are a group of fecal mutagens of microbial origin isolated from human stools. Fecapentaene-12 (F-12) and fecapentaene-14 (F-14), differing only in two carbon atoms in the side chain, are glyceryl ethers with a highly reactive chromophoric aliphatic side chain incorporating a conjugated pentaene moiety. Although these compounds are known for their genotoxicity, no test systems have been developed to precisely assess their relative genotoxicity. In this study F-12 and F-14 were assayed for their genotoxicity using the SOS Chromotest in which the induction of β-galactosidase in E. coli PQ37 was used as a quantitative measure of biological activity. The activity obtained with F-12 and F-14 was compared with that of 4-nitroquinoline oxide (4-NQO) as the reference standard of a direct acting mutagen. While F-14 was almost as active as 4-NQO, F-12 was only about 25% as active as F-14, the higher analog.
Rapid isolation of carcinogen-bound DNA and RNA by hydroxyapatite chromatography.

Abstract Carcinogen-bound DNA and RNA are conveniently isolated by solvent extraction and hydroxyapatite (HAP) chromatography. Tissue is suspended in 8 M urea-0.24 M sodium phosphate-1 % sodium dodecyl sulfate-10 mM EDTA, pH 6.8 (MUP-SDS-EDTA_ and extracted with chloroform-isoamylalcohol-phenol (24:1:25; CIP) to remove protein. RNA and DNA are separated by passing the aqueous solution through an HAP column; RNA is eluted with MUP, DNA with 0.48 M sodium phosphate, pH 6.8. Examples presented are: (1) calf thymus DNA that has been reacted with N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene (N-OAc-AAF), (2) isolated intact rat hepatocytes incubated with N-hydroxy-AAF and (3) livers from Sprague-Dawley rats treated with N-hydroxy-AAF.
Some properties of β2a-myeloma proteins

Abstract 1. 1. Seventeenβ2A-type myeloma sera and 40γ-type myeloma sera were examined paper electrophoretically, immunologically, and by ultracentrifugation. 2. 2. On paper electrophoresis,γ-type myeloma proteins are predominantly located in theγ1-γ2-globulin positions, the β2A-type myeloma proteins preferentially at the β2-γ1-globulin positions. 3. 3. By ultracentrifugation, all β2A-myeloma sera revealed intermediate, Z-fractions, maximally 4 ; of 40γ-type myeloma sera, Z-fractions were observed in 7 cases. 4. 4. The intermediateβ2A-myeloma fractions are characterized by: a.β2A-specificity as evidenced by absorption studies; b. Disulfide bonds which are susceptible to mercaptans ; c. Periodicity of the S-constants (G - 6.94; Z1 - 9.39; Z2 - 11.26; Z3 - 13.16; Z4 -15. 28); and of the molecular weights of Z fractions which appear to represent mul-tiples of the 7 S G-β2A-components (G - 160,000; Z1 - 323,000; Z2 - 477,000; Z3-629, 000; Z4 - 815,000). 5. 5. These data support the suggestion that Z-fractions of β2A-myeloma sera represent polymers of the 7 S G-β2A-monomer.
Study of methyl chalcogen compounds with ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract Dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl selenide, dimethyl telluride, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl diselenide and dimethyl trisulfide have been studied by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. For the first time, the high resolution He(I) spectrum of dimethyl trisulfide is reported. However, the main thrust of this work is to examine trends among related compounds. We report the results of correlations of the first three ionization energies of (CH3)2X, X = O, S, Se, and Te and of the correlations of the first five ionization energies of (CH3)2X2, X = O, S, and Se with the ionization energies of oxygen, sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. Where possible, orbital trends of isoelectronic molecules were also examined. Finally, we report the results of correlations of the FWHM of the first three bands of CH3(S)nCH3 with the number of sulfur atoms and investigate convergence of the first two orbital bandwidths to the bandwidths of the two highest occupied bands in μ-sulfur.
Simultaneous multipoint fiber optic Raman sampling for chemical process control using diode lasers and a CCD detector

A diode-laser-based portable Raman spectrometer is described that uses a 2-dimensional-array detector (charge-coupled device--CCD) to simultaneously measure chemical processes at several remote points using fiber optics. Optical multiplexing with the CCD allows simultaneous measurements with little loss of sensitivity and the low-energy near-visible (NVIS) excitation (e.g., 786 to 820 nm) prevents most sample luminescence. Several fiber- optic sensor configurations optimized for particular applications, including surface-enhanced Raman (SER), are presented. Applications are described including in-situ epoxy cure chemistry monitoring in a curing oven, monitoring a distillation apparatus, and mixed waste monitoring. Some of the limitations of the system are discussed.
Locus of Control and Marital Satisfaction in Long-Term Marriages

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between spousal locus-of-control orientation and marital satisfaction. Two competing hypotheses were examined. The similarity hypothesis states that spouses with similar locus-of-control orientation will be more satisfied with their marriage than will those with dissimilar orientations. The internality hypothesis postulates that couples in which both partners have an internal locus-of-control orientation will be more satisfied than will other couples. The similarity hypothesis was not supported by the results. The data were more consistent with the internality hypothesis although the interaction effect shows that one's internality is more important than the partner's internal locus of control. Implications of these findings for famlly practitioners are discussed.
Randomized Instruction Sets and Runtime Environments Past Research and Future Directions

Instruction set randomization offers a way to combat code-injection attacks by separating code from data (specifically, by randomizing legitimate code's execution environment). The author describes the motivation behind this approach and two application environments.
Habitat-correlated variation in blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima: Rosaceae) seed germination response

Blackbrush is a dominant shrub species in the transition zone between North American warm and cold deserts. Its seeds are dormant at dispersal and lose dormancy in response to moist chilling. Seeds from warmer low-elevation habitats have shorter chilling requirements and a higher optimum chilling temperature than those from colder habitats where winter snow regularly occurs. This ecotypic variation functions to time germination optimally in habitats with contrasting chilling regimes. Regulation of germination phenology is an important feature of the life history of this ecotonal species, which must be able to migrate elevationally through recruitment from seed in response to long-term climatic shifts in order to survive.
CouchFS: A High-Performance File System for Large Data Sets

Numerous file systems have been implemented to meet the needs in today's big data era, however many of them require specific configurations or frameworks for data processing. This paper presents CouchFS, a POSIX-compliant distributed file system for large data sets. We build CouchFS on top of CouchDB, which grants us flexibility to handle semistructured data. Since a database has similar behaviors as a file system, and CouchDB provides a high customizable MapReduce view for indexing, CouchFS is able to achieve high-performance searching for both text and supported binary objects. This work compares search of Wikipedia data using CouchDB, PostgreSQL and Spotlight on HFS+ file system. We show our design of CouchFS and discuss future approaches to improve this file system.
Nd and Sr isotopic compositions of tektite material from Barbados and their relationship to North American tektites

Isotopic analyses of Nd and Sr on individual microtektites and a bulk microtektite sample from Barbados show them to have a very well defined isotopic composition. These data plot on an e_(Sr)e_(Nd) diagram precisely within the narrow field determined by North American tektites (e_(Sr) ≈ 111; e_(Nd) ≈ −6.2). They yield an Nd model age of 0.6 AE. These results show that the microtektites from the Oceanic beds of late Eocene age are derived from the same target as the North American tektites and should be associated with the same event. Samples of the deep sea sediments in which the Barbados microtektites occur are found to have isotopic signatures which appear to reflect ambient sea water and detrital sediments. They cannot be the source of Sr or Nd in the tektites. Following the arguments of SHAW and WASSERBURG (1982) we conclude that the target area which produced the North American tektite field was composed of sediments (Eocambrian or younger) derived from very late Precambrian crust. Glass beads from Lake Wanapitei Crater are isotopically different from all other tektites (e_(Sr) ≈ 960; e_(Nd) ≈ −31.4) and cannot be related to the North American tektites.
A High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for Measuring Brain Dihydroxyphenylalanine Levels and Dopamine Synthesis Rates

: A high performance liquid chromatography method by which one can detect as little as 45 pmol of dihydroxyphenylalanine in brain tissue is described. Dihydroxyphenylalanine was reacted with fluorescamine and was quantitated, after chromatography, by fluorescence spectroscopy. The steady state levels of dihydroxyphenylalanine in the mouse striatum were found to be below 90 pmol/g, but the dihydroxyphenylalanine levels were rapidly increased by inhibition of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase. The method described was utilized to demonstrate the effects of pharmacologic agents on dihydroxyphenylalanine synthesis in mouse striatum.
Development and applications of a solid-phase radioimmunoassay for the PO protein of peripheral myelin.

: This is the first report of a quantitative radioimmunoassay for P0. The assay uses antigen-coated plastic microwells, with antibody binding detected by 125I-labeled protein A. Either peripheral myelin proteins or purified P0 may be used as the antigen. Optimal extraction of tissue samples for P0 immunoassay requires careful attention to the sodium dodecyl sulfate-to-protein ratio. Sodium dodecyl sulfate interference with antibody binding can be minimized by adding an excess of nonionic detergent and carrier protein to the incubation buffer. This method allows the detection of 0.8 ng of P0 (20 ng/ml). Results from this assay showed little or no im-munoreactivity in extracts of brain, central myelin, liver, purified myelin basic proteins, cultured, purified second ary Schwann cells, or membrane preparations from these cells. P0 was clearly detectable in Schwann cell cultures from 3- to 4-day-old rats at 12–18 h after dissociation (4% of the level in adult sciatic nerve) and in extracts of one-day-old rat sciatic nerve (2% of the level in adult nerve). Myelin basic protein radioimmunoassays showed that the ratio of P0 to myelin basic protein is essentially constant in extracts of sciatic nerve from one-day-old, four-day-old and young adult rats. Another result was that P0 levels are reduced in the trembler mouse sciatic nerve.
Numerical modelling of unsteady heating and melting of the anode by electric arc. Part 1. Mathematical model and computed characteristics of the arc column

The two-dimensional mathematical model in the approximation of a partial local thermodynamic equilibrium of plasma and the technique for numerical computation of the unsteady electric arc characteristics, including the conjugate heat exchange of the electric-arc plasma flow with the treated product (anode) are considered. The results of overall testing of the numerical algorithm point to the correctness of the model and computational technique. The results of the computation of the arc characteristics from the conventional ignition moment until the passage to stationary regime are presented. It is found that a single thermal torus, which scatters fairly quickly in the ambient medium, forms around the arc column.