cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting interleukin 18 with interleukin 18 binding protein

A novel, constitutively expressed and secreted interleukin 18 (IL18) binding protein (IL18BP) neutralises IL18. IL18BP shares many characteristics with soluble cytokine receptors of the IL1 family in that the protein exhibits specificity for IL18, belongs to the immunoglobulin-like class of receptors and has limited amino acid sequences with those of the IL1 receptor type II. However, unlike soluble cytokine receptors, IL18BP does not have a transmembrane domain and hence is not anchored to the cell membrane. IL18BP is a secreted protein and not cleaved from the cell surface. IL18BP is naturally occurring and was isolated from the urine of healthy subjects. Because IL18 is an important inducer of interferon gamma (IFNgamma), IL18BP suppresses the production of IFNgamma resulting in reduced T-helper type 1 immune responses. There are four human and two mouse isoforms-resulting from mRNA splicing and found in various cDNA libraries. Each of these IL18BP isoforms have been expressed, purified and assessed for binding and neutralisation of IL18 biological activities. Two human IL18BP isoforms exhibited the greatest affinity for IL18 with a rapid on-rate, a slow off-rate and a dissociation constant (kDa) of 399 pM. The two other isoforms with an incomplete immunoglobulin domain were unable to neutralise IL18. The two human isoforms that possess a complete immunoglobulin domain, neutralise >95% IL18 at a molar excess of two. Molecular modelling identified a large mixed electrostatic and hydrophobic binding site in the immunoglobulin domain of IL18BP, which could account for its high affinity binding to the ligand. These high affinity forms may be ideally suited for blocking IL18 in human disease. It is likely that preferential secretion of high affinity functional and non-functional isoforms of IL18BP affect the immune response and the outcome of disease.
Profit-charging market makers with bounded loss, vanishing bid/ask spreads, and unlimited market depth

Four desiderata for automated market makers have appeared in the literature: (1) bounded loss, (2) the ability to make a profit, (3) a vanishing bid/ask spread, and (4) unlimited market depth. Intriguingly, market makers that satisfy any three of these desiderata have appeared in the literature. However, it was an open question as to whether a market maker can simultaneously satisfy all four because the qualities are oppositional. In this paper, we design market makers that satisfy all four. We achieve this by introducing a new, practical framework. It extends constant-utility cost functions with two separate functions that are added to the prices quoted to the trader. The liquidity function uses its proceeds to increase the amount of liquidity provided by the market maker. The profit function represents a "lockbox" of savings that is separate from the rest of the market maker's decision-making process.
Transradial interventions with the GuideLiner catheter: role of proximal vessel angulation.

Abstract Background Transradial coronary intervention (TRI) is increasingly common, but anatomic variations and lack of guide catheter support may increase the complexity of TRI. The GuideLiner catheter (Vascular Solutions, Minneapolis,MN) is a guide catheter extension developed to provide increased guide catheter support. We hypothesized that TRI cases requiring GuideLiner support would have a greater proximal vessel angle and increased lesion angle tortuosity. Methods This was a retrospective study reviewing 146 TRI cases performed at a single institution between August 2010 and June 2012. 22 cases (15%) required use of the GuideLiner support catheter. Procedural and angiographic characteristics of all cases were analyzed. Multivariable analysis and receiver operator curves (ROC) were used to analyze predictors of GuideLiner use. Results The indications for TRI were similar between both groups. Subjects who required use of the GuideLiner support catheter at the time of TRI were significantly older (69 ± 12 years vs. 62 ± 13 years, p = 0.03). The proximal vessel angle was significantly greater in the cases requiring GuideLiner support (74° ± 35° vs. 37° ± 23°, p Conclusions TRIs requiring GuideLiner catheter support had significantly increased lesion complexity and vessel tortuosity. Proximal vessel angulation is significantly associated with the need for GuideLiner use during transradial intervention. Use of the Guideliner facilitated successful completion of PCI despite the use of a wide variety of guiding catheters in this series.
A regularity result for singular nonlinear elliptic systems in inverse-power weighted Sobolev spaces

The compactness method to weighted spaces is extended to prove the following theorem: Let H2,s1(B1) be the weighted Sobolev space on the unit ball in Rn with norm ‖ν‖12,s=∫B1 (1rs)|ν|2 dx + ∫B1 (1rs)|Dν|2 dx. Let n − 2 ⩽ s < n. Let u ϵ [H2,s1(B1) ∩ L∞(B1)]N be a solution of the nonlinear elliptic system ∫B11rs, ∑i,j=1n, ∑h,K=1N AhKij(x,u) DiuhDjψK dx=0 , ∨ ψ ϵ ¦C01(B1)¦N, where ¦Aijhk¦ ⩽ L, Aijhk are uniformly continuous functions of their arguments and satisfy: |η|2 = ∑i=1n, ∑j=1N |ηij|2 ⩽ ∑i,j=1n, 1rs, ∑h,K=1N AhKijηihηik,∀ηϵRNn . Then there exists an R1, 0 < R1 < 1, and an α, 0 < α < 1, along with a set Ω ⊂ B1 such that (1) Hn − 2(Ω) = 0, (2) Ω does not contain the origin; Ω does not contain BR1, (3) B1 − Ω is open, (4) u is Lipα(B1 − Ω); u is Lipα BR1.
The Morphology and Anatomy of the Flowers of the Salicaceae II

TEXT FIG. IO. Populus tremuloides 9. Diagrams showing origin, course, and distribution of the vascular supply to the pistillate flower of a typical poplar. a, section in median posterior-anterior plane; b, bract; ped, pedicel; p, pistil, dis, disk. b to g, transverse sections of flower at successively higher levels, A-A, B-B, C-C, etc.; fs, floral strand; bb, bract bundle; ped, pedicel; pb, vascular supply to pistil; dis, disk; disb, vascular supply to disk; o, ovary; mcb, and cp, median carpellary and placental bundles. 1The first part of this paper appeared in the preceding issue of the JOURNAL.
Social theorizing on the operatic stage: Jean‐Pierre Ponnelle's postmodern humanist production of Verdi's La Traviata

The late French director Jean‐Pierre Ponnelle's postmodern humanist production of Verdi's La Traviata demonstrates that the multivocality of opera lends itself to social theorizing in ways social theory cannot equal. Not only did Ponnelle dramatize the conflict among social theories that lack foundational authority in postmodern discourse, but he also rescued them from their relativist predicament by making them serve his humanist project: expanding the limits of traditionalist and modernist habits of understanding that constrain the possibilities of theory and practice. He attempted to do this by cultivating Barthesean spectators who recognize the role he asks them to play as third observers capable of “nesting” (incorporating) the variety of oppositions he puts before them. This humanist project allowed Ponnelle to cut through the relativism and nihilism commonly attributed to postmodern theorizing and to demonstrate the value of social theories when they are put into principled practice. Like Barthes, ...
A Three-Dimensional Transient Modeling and Experimental Analysis of Laser Transformation Hardening by Using High Power Direct Diode Laser

Laser transformation hardening (LTH) based on rapid heating and cooling cycles produce hard and wear-resistant layers of the metallic component. A high intensity moving laser beam heats up the thin layer of the external surface of the component without damaging the bulk of material. The metallurgical transformations taking place in the material during the thermo-kinetic cycles could effectively improve the mechanical properties of its surface. Nowadays, a high power direct diode laser (HPDDL) has been accepted by industry as a valuable tool to carry out this process. A three-dimensional (3-D) transient thermo-kinetic model has been developed to predict the temperature profile of the hardened layers of the material surface. The temperature-dependence of the thermal properties of the material is taken into account in the model. The laser beam is considered as a moving line heat source with a uniform distribution of laser power. The numerical solution is obtained by using a transient 3-D heat conduction equation with convection boundary conditions at the surfaces of the workpiece. A number of experiments have been carried out to harden components of AISI S7 tool steel by a continuous wave (CW) HPDDL at different power levels (1200 W – 2000 W) and different scanning speeds (5 mm/s – 20 mm/s). The main processing parameters such as laser power and scanning speed are optimized based on the numerical analysis of the heat conduction involved in this process. The numerical simulation results are compared with results produced experimentally by a HPDDL laser operating in CW, showing good agreement.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
A rapid method for quantitation of cell surface IgM by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Abstract Previous methods for quantitating cell surface immunoglobulins have been relatively tedious or have depended upon use of radioisotopes or specialized equipment (e.g., fluorescence activated cell sorter). We describe a rapid, reproducible method for measuring cell surface Ig on a population of B lymphocytes or lymphoblastoid cell lines by employing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that uses commercially available anti-human Ig-conjugated beads (Immunobeads). Standard curves can be generated that appear to mimic the reaction kinetics of anti-μ with viable cells. Reproducibility of surface μ quantitation depends upon (1) maintaining cell viability during the reaction procedure, and (2) avoiding buffers containing diethanolamine for the alkaline phosphatase reaction. Total Ig in populations of cells can easily be estimated by reacting 10,000 Xg supernatants from lysed cells with anti-Ig beads identical to the standard curve. Combining the methods of surface and total Ig determinations, we were able to analyze quantities of membrane and cytoplasmic μ in populations of lymphoid cells.
Absence of sodium appetite in cyclophosphamide and DOCA treated house mice

Abstract Intraperitoneal administration of cyclophosphamide 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg significantly lowered plasma sodium and significantly increased plasma potassium but did not result in saline preference in a strain of wild-derived house mice given a choice between water and saline (0.15M) to drink. Deoxycorticosterone acetate treatment in dosages up to 1.5 mg for four days also failed to increase salt intake. The data suggest a possible absence of a sodium appetite mechanism in this species.
Mössbauer and PAC studies of nanocrystalline Fe

High-purity Fe powder was mechanically milled under argon at ambient temperature using an SPEX 8000 mill. The local atomic and magnetic structure was studied using57Co/Fe Mossbauer and111In/Cd perturbed angular correlations (PAC) spectroscopies. After 32 hours of milling, X-ray diffraction revealed effective grain diameters of 18 nm and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis indicated a Cr impurity concentration of ∼5%, presumably introduced by mechanical attrition of steel ball bearings used for milling. In addition to a spectral component very similar to bulk iron metal, the Mossbauer spectra exhibited hyperfine field shifts attributed to the Cr impurities. PAC spectra on Fe milled for 5 h, with no contamination, exhibited two components: (1) A slightly broadened magnetic interaction attributed to interior, defect-free sites of In/Cd probes with a mean hyperfine field slightly greater than in macroscopic grains. The defect-free site fraction grew appreciably during milling, even though In is essentially insoluble in Fe. (2) An indistinct signal due to mixed magnetic and quadrupole interactions attributed to probes at surface or other defect sites.
A path integral method for data assimilation

Abstract Described here is a path integral, sampling-based approach for data assimilation, of sequential data and evolutionary models. Since it makes no assumptions on linearity in the dynamics, or on Gaussianity in the statistics, it permits consideration of very general estimation problems. The method can be used for such tasks as computing a smoother solution, parameter estimation, and data/model initialization. Speedup in the Monte Carlo sampling process is essential if the path integral method has any chance of being a viable estimator on moderately large problems. Here a variety of strategies are proposed and compared for their relative ability to improve the sampling efficiency of the resulting estimator. Provided as well are details useful for its implementation and testing. The method is applied to a problem in which standard methods are known to fail, an idealized flow/drifter problem, which has been used as a testbed for assimilation strategies involving Lagrangian data. It is in this kind of context that the method may prove to be a useful assimilation tool in oceanic studies.
Expression of HOXDIO Gene in Normal Endometrium and Endometrial Adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVE Hox genes encode DNA transcription regulatory proteins that contain a conserved 61 amino acid protein called the homeodomain. Although best known for their role in cellular differentiation during embryonic development, aberrant expression of these genes has been associated with hematologic and solid neoplasms. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative expression of HOXD10 in human endometrial adenocarcinomas. METHODS mRNA was isolated from 7 normal endometrial specimens and 28 endometrial adenocarcinoma specimens. cDNA was synthesized using random hexamer primers. The expression of HOXD10 relative to beta-tubulin (internal control) was assessed by densitometric comparison of co-amplified Phosphorus-32 (32P) labeled gene products separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. Direct sequencing of purified HOXD10 polymerase chain reaction product was also performed. RESULTS The sequence of the purified HOXD10 product corresponds to the known DNA sequence reported in the National Institute of Health Gene Bank. mRNA expression of HOXD10 relative to beta-tubulin is significantly lower in endometrial carcinomas than in normal endometrium. Furthermore, the ratio of HOXD10 to beta-tubulin expression varies inversely with the histologic grade of the tumor (P = .0009). CONCLUSION Cancer is a multistep process involving the aberrant expression of genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation. Human HOXD10 gene expression is altered in endometrial carcinoma and varies with the histologic grade of differentiation. This observation supports the theory that homeobox genes play a role in oncogenesis.
Magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate and bladder

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the prostate and bladder provides, for the first time, the ability to image directly in multiple planes without any loss of resolution. It is thus proving very helpful in the evaluation of the prostate, the periprostatic structures and the urinary bladder. We will discuss the current role and limitations of MRI in evaluating diseases of the prostate and the urinary bladder.
A bullying intervention system in high school: A two-year school-wide follow-up

Abstract This study is an evaluation of a systemic, two-year, whole-school bullying intervention initiative that was implemented in a US public high school. Students and staff members were anonymously surveyed before and after the intervention. The goals of the initiative were to reduce bullying and victimization, increase disclosure, increase intervention efforts, and reduce student aggression. Except for a reduction in victimization, all goals were achieved in some measure. Self-reported bullying decreased 50% or more. Students’ reporting that peers intervened in bullying increased. Staff-reported reductions in student aggression, and staff's belief that the school's efforts to address bullying were adequate increased. This evaluation points to the possible success of a whole-school, systemic approach to managing bullying at the high school level.
High frequency scattering from polygonal impedance cylinders and strips

An analysis is presented for the high-frequency diffraction by convex polygonal cylinders with arbitrary side impedances. The authors extend their solution for the multiply diffracted fields associated with a double wedge (see ibid., vol.36, no.5, p.664-678, 1988). The analysis thus utilizes the extended spectral ray method (ESRM) that is applicable to nonray optical regions. Diffraction coefficients yielding a uniform total field are given for up to and including all fourth-order mechanisms. An important aspect of this analysis is the rigorous and uniform incorporation of the surface-wave effects in the resulting diffraction coefficients. A general polygon computer code was written that includes up to a third-order mechanisms. Based on this code, backscatter and bistatic patterns are given for impedance cylinders with triangular and square cross sections. The results are found to be in remarkable agreement with corresponding moment method data. As a matter of completeness, uniform diffraction coefficients are presented for a strip (which is a special case of a cylinder) that can have unequal face impedances. >
Interstitial Protozoa and Algae of Louisiana Salt Marshes

SYNOPSIS. The majority of Louisiana salt marshes consists of stagnant pools among a vegetation of Spartina spp. and Distichlis spicata. The sediments constitute a “sulphide biome,'’with Eh values reaching to –350 mV. The 200 interstitial ciliate species had definite stratification. Generally, algivores and omnivores occurred in the upper, and bactivores in the lower layers of the sediments. Compaction of particles prevented the flexible and large ciliates from inhabiting the lower layers, while Eh below –200 mV limited the distribution of some species but favored certain bactivores. The pH/Eh range and the abundance of nutrients in the sulfide biome provide habitable conditions for all the major groups of microflora. These, in turn, support nutritionally diverse predatory ciliate populations.
Phase Stability and Pressure Dependence of Defect Formation in Gd2Ti2O7 and Gd2Zr2O7 Pyrochlores

We report dramatically different behaviors between isostructural Gd2Ti2O7 and Gd2Zr2O7 pyrochlore at pressures up to 44 GPa, in which the substitution of Ti for Zr significantly increases structural stability. Upon release of pressure, the Gd2Ti2O7 becomes amorphous. In contrast, the high-pressure phase of Gd2Zr2O7 transforms to a disordered defect-fluorite structure. First-principle calculations for both compositions revealed that the response of pyrochlore to high pressure is controlled by the intrinsic energetics of defect formation.
A Molecular Spectroscopic Description of Optical Spectra of J-Aggregated Dyes on Gold Nanoparticles

The extinction spectra of J-aggregated dyes on gold nanoparticles, which exhibit interferences between the plasmonic and dye resonances, are simulated by a quantum mechanical model that considers the dye transition to interact through transition-dipole coupling with a continuum of nanoparticle states. This alternative to the classical core-shell dielectric model provides the wavefunctions of the coupled molecule-nanoparticle system and qualitatively explains the enhancement of resonance Raman, fluorescence, and other light-driven processes of molecules adsorbed to nanoparticles.
Knowledge of cervical cancer pathology of high school students in San Carlos, Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer, despite accessibility of screening through the universal health care system. There is little understanding of knowledge levels of the adolescent population on cervical cancer, although this population is the most exposed to risk factors. This study sought to learn about male and female adolescent knowledge of preventative methods, infection acquisition, clinical manifestations and medical services. A total of 533 students from grades 7-12 from five public high schools in the rural San Carlos region participated in the study from March through April 2012. Students were found to lack knowledge, as only 30.8% of students stated that they knew what cervical cancer is. Additionally, a connection was lacking between cervical cancer concepts, as for example 75.2% of students had heard of Human Papiloma Virus, but only 33.9% of those students knew that HPV is related to cervical cancer. Age had a positive relationship with knowledge of main concepts (p < 0.001). More women than men had heard of cervical cancer and the Papanicolaou (p = 0.025, p < 0.0001), but otherwise no significant difference in mean response between genders was found. Students were found to have a limited awareness of the educational cervical cancer campaign (7.7% of the student population) and the ability to go alone to the doctor to receive medical attention (30.6% of students). Additionally, the public education system does not require cervical cancer to be included in the present curriculum. Hence, as students lack education on prevention and risk factors, the majority of prevention responsibility falls only on the universal health care system to regularly perform Papanicolaou exams to detect pre-cancerous or cancerous changes. The findings indicated the importance of including cervical cancer in the sexual education curriculum of the public education system in Costa Rica to educate the at-risk population of preventative methods, infection development, clinical manifestations and medical services in order to lower the presence of cervical cancer.
Production of Hydroxyl Radical in the Hippocampus After CO Hypoxia or Hypoxic Hypoxia in the Rat

Carbon monoxide poisoning produces both immediate and delayed neuronal injury in selective regions of the brain that is not readily explained on the basis of tissue hypoxia. One possibility is that cellular injury during and after CO poisoning is related to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the brain. In this study, we hypothesized that the extent of ROS generation in the brain would be greater after CO than after hypoxic hypoxia due to intracellular uptake of CO. We assessed hydroxyl radical (OH.) production by comparing the nonenzymatic hydroxylation of salicylic acid to 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHBA) in the hippocampus of the rat by microdialysis during either CO hypoxia or an exposure to hypoxic hypoxia that produced similar PO2 and cerebral blood flow (CBF) values in the region of microdialysis. We found neither control animals nor animals exposed to 30 min of hypoxic hypoxia at a mean tissue PO2 of 15 mmHg demonstrated significant increases in 2,3-DHBA production in the hippocampus over the 2-h the exposure. In contrast, CO exposed rats which also developed brain PO2 values in the range of 15 mmHg showed highly significant increases in 2,3-DHBA production. We conclude that cerebral oxidative stress in the hippocampus of the rat during CO hypoxia in vivo is not a direct effect of decreased tissue oxygen concentration.
Critical Measures of Transit Service Quality in the Eyes of Older Travelers

Older travelers use public transportation services for relatively few of their trips. Attracting additional older riders will require that transit operators pay more attention to the specific mobility preferences of older travelers. Focus group research generated measures of transit service quality. These measures rate factors that affect the relative levels of consumer satisfaction for older persons, who rate certain factors differently from other travelers. The travel attributes that were most highly valued by seniors in the focus groups are used to assess current travel modes and to suggest near-term and long-term improvement strategies for public transit operators. Public transit systems most likely to succeed in attracting older persons (and other riders as well) are expected to be those systems that offer the following: more choices in travel modes and their corresponding attributes, especially price; greater focus on higher-quality services; and greater degree of service articulation, in which travel services are more closely tailored to the specific travel needs of the individual traveler and a specific trip.
The Enormous Loss from Ox-Warble

I HAVE read Mr. John Walker's remarks on “warbles.” This is one of the many important subjects to which Miss Eleanor Ormerod has lately drawn attention. I can readily believe that there is a loss of two to three millions to the country through the ravages of this fly, but such statements, it must be remembered, should be qualified by the thought that it might cost two or three millions to protect all the cattle of this country against such attacks. The labour would be great, the vigilance would entail higher-classed stock-men, in almost all cases with higher wages, for you cannot get our labourers, dairy-men, and bailiffs even, to attend to such matters without great difficulty. The loss does not, I think, fall upon farmers, unless it is from the irritation to the cattle when they hear the buzz of the fly meditating her attack.
Focusing on Units to Support Prospective Elementary Teachers' Understanding of Division in Fractional Contexts

This theoretical paper proposes a way to extend the partitive and measurement interpretations of whole number division to fractional contexts focusing on the issue of units. We define the unit-changing and unit-keeping interpretations for division and suggest a stronger and earlier focus on the concept of units in courses for prospective elementary teachers. As we highlight the importance of the concept of unit, we use the proposed interpretations in the analysis of one example that emerged in our methods course, discuss the idea of inverting and multiplying, and suggest implications for teacher education.
Imaging of Hippocampal Circuits in Epilepsy

Seizures and epilepsy are fundamentally neuronal circuit phenomena. This article describes the development and application of multiple dynamic imaging techniques that, in combination, facilitate the elucidation of hippocampal circuit function in animal models of epilepsy. This combined approach has significant promise in furthering our understanding of the mechanisms underlying epilepsy. For an expanded treatment of this topic see Jasper's Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies, Fourth Edition (Noebels JL, Avoli M, Rogawski MA, Olsen RW, Delgado-Escueta AV, eds) published by Oxford University Press (available on the National Library of Medicine Bookshelf [NCBI] at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books).
Neural correlates of perceptual contributions to nondeclarative memory for faces.

Abstract Face priming is a nondeclarative memory phenomenon that can be observed when recognition is facilitated for a recently encountered face. This data-driven form of priming is distinct from conceptually driven priming. Moreover, it includes two dissociable components, the facilitated access to pre-existing representations and facilitation in perceptual processing of faces. In the present study, we measured neural correlates of perceptual contributions to face priming with event-related brain potentials. Faces appeared two times (separated by 7–17 s), while participants discriminated familiar from unfamiliar faces. Half of the initial face stimuli were inverted, thereby disrupting perceptual face processing and making possible an assessment of perceptual contributions to face priming. Whereas none of the brain waves previously linked to perceptual processing of faces showed indications of priming, such effects were observed between 200 and 600 ms at left occipito-parieto-temporal recording sites. This electrical activity was present for both unfamiliar and familiar faces. The scalp topography of this effect was consistent with sources within the temporal and occipital cortices of the left hemisphere (based on a LORETA source localization). These findings suggest that priming of perceptual face processing is subserved by prolonged neural activity from 200 to 600 ms primarily in the left hemisphere. We propose that this priming reflects facilitated selection based on second-order relations among facial features.
The assessment of social‐communicative anxiety via self‐reports: A comparison of measures

A necessary assumption for the derivation of general summative propositions about any personality dimension is that measures assessing the characteristic are equivalent. In communication, research on social‐communicative anxiety has reflected this assumption. The present research assessed the accuracy of the assumption in terms of self‐report measures of social‐communicative anxiety. Fourteen instruments, representative of three conceptual groups (performance, communicative and social anxiety) were completed by a group of undergraduates. Three major tests of empirical equivalence were completed (correlations, factor analysis, classification analysis). Results indicated that virtually every measure was significantly and strongly associated with most other measures and most reflected the same general construct. The classification analysis revealed only moderate agreement among measures. A replication was completed which supported the conclusion of the primary study. In addition, the different measures were ...
No mercy for messages that mess with the ribosome

A recent study describes a novel mRNA-surveillance pathway called 'no-go decay' that triggers the endonucleolytic cleavage of yeast mRNAs with translation-elongation stalls. This adds to the repertoire of mRNA-decay processes in which abnormal translation may activate mRNA degradation through proteins recruited to the ribosomal A site.
Links between sunspots and magnetic storms

‘Bubbles’ and ‘holes’ in the sun's diffuse outer layer apparently can cause as much disturbance in the earth's magnetic field as solar flares. Bubblelike clouds of erupting gas in the sun's tenuous halo, the corona, appear to be associated with the two largest storms reported so far during the present 11-year sunspot cycle. In addition to these coronal ‘transients,’ there are long-lived sources of high-speed particle streams, called coronal ‘holes,’ whose relationship to the sunspot cycle has just been described mathematically by a team of investigators at the Space Environment Laboratory (NOAA) in Boulder. Solar flares, with their spectacular outbursts of hot gases, have a strong, but often overlooked, rival in the production of magnetic storms, namely, coronal transients. These powerful particle eruptions lack the fiery sendoff typical of solar flares, and they are often marked simply by the sudden disappearance of dark bands or ‘filaments’ of gas that are supported in the corona by strong magnetic fields.
Spectral density and a family of Dirac operators

Abstract The spectral density for a class of Dirac operators is investigated by relating its even and odd parts to the Riemann ζ-function and to the η-invariant by Atiyah, Patodi and Singer. Asymptotic expansions are studied and a “hidden” supersymmetry is revealed and used to relate the Dirac operator to a supersymmetric quantum mechanics. A general method for the computation of the odd spectral density is developed, and various applications are discussed. In particular the connection to the fermion number and a relation between the odd spectral density and some ratios of Jost functions and relative phase shifts are pointed out. Chiral symmetry breaking is investigated using methods analogous to those applied in the investigation of the fermion number, and related to supersymmetry breaking in the corresponding quantum mechanical model.
Market-Driven Solutions to Economic, Environmental, and Social Issues Related to Water Management in the Western USA

Water management issues continue to plague the western United States, including rapid population growth, degraded aquatic ecosystems, unfulfilled claims to American Indian users, the threat of global warming, an economic recession, and many other issues. This essay outlines some advantages of market-driven reforms to the management of water resources in the western USA. Historical and contemporary western water resource issues are examined from economic, environmental, and social viewpoints. In all such contexts, it is argued that regulated water markets provide flexible and just solutions to western water dilemmas, and reallocations may provide much-needed additional water supply.
Large-scale tests of a keyed, appearance-based 3-D object recognition system

We describe and analyze an appearance-based 3-D object recognition system that avoids some of the problems of previous appearance-based schemes. We describe various large-scale performance tests and report good performance for full-sphere/hemisphere recognition of up to 24 complex, curved objects, robustness against clutter and occlusion, and some intriguing generic recognition behavior. We also establish a protocol that permits performance in the presence of quantifiable amounts of clutter and occlusion to be predicted on the basis of simple score statistics derived from clean test images and pure clutter images.
Application of Monte Carlo Simulation and Optimization to Multi-Objective Analysis of Sustainable Building Designs

During the design phase of a building, there are often multiple options for selecting building materials and components that make up the building. This variety of options often results in multiple possible designs, each having different construction time, cost, and environmental impact. In order to determine optimal designs, optimization procedures such as genetic algorithms have been typically applied. However, current optimization procedures do not consider data uncertainties in productivity, environmental impact, and unit cost; thus it is not known how data uncertainties may impact on the determination of optimal solutions. Simulation of Environmental Impacts of Construction, or SimulEICon, is a multiobjective analytical tool for observing relationships between time, cost and environmental impact during the early design stage of a building. In this paper, the extension of existing SimulEICon is discussed to include Monte Carlo simulation to account for data uncertainties and availability of data, and analyze their impact together with genetic algorithm-based multi-objective optimization. Monte Carlo sampling is used to address the inherent uncertainty in the data. All data are behaviorally modeled using probability distributions based on various parameters and used to simulate the environmental impact, construction duration and cost of a building. The analytic tool is implemented by using MATLAB. The results are used to explain trade-off relationships between multi-objectives and to validate the impact of uncertainties. By observing results of different simulations it becomes evident that the effect of uncertainty is inherent to each solution set. This emphasizes how important the impact of uncertainty and availability of data is to a project.
Recent Developments in Nanofabrication Using Focused Ion Beams

Focused ion beam (FIB) technology has become increasingly popular in the fabrication of nanoscale structures. In this paper, the recent developments of the FIB technology are examined with emphasis on its ability to fabricate a wide variety of nanostructures. FIB-based nanofabrication involves four major approaches: milling, implantation, ion-induced deposition, and ion-assisted etching of materials; all these approaches are reviewed separately. Following an introduction of the uniqueness and strength of the technology, the ion source and systems used for FIB are presented. The principle and specific techniques underlying each of the four approaches are subsequently studied with emphasis on their abilities of writing structures with nanoscale accuracy. The differences and uniqueness among these techniques are also discussed. Finally, concluding remarks are provided where the strength and weakness of the techniques studied are summarized and the scopes for technological improvement and future research are recommended.
Psychogenic Chest Pain in Children

Thirty-six children with psychogenic chest pain were studied. A specific stressful situation causally related to the onset of symptoms could be identified in most patients with psychogenic chest pain. Fifty-five per cent of children with psychogenic chest pain had a history of other recurrent somatic complaints and 30% had a history of significant sleep disturbances.
Histologic and electron microscopy findings in myocardium of treated Fabry disease

Summary The well-described histologic and electron microscopic findings in Fabry disease cardiomyopathy are hypertrophic vacuolated cells with electron dense concentric lamellar bodies. We present altered findings in an endomyocardial biopsy from a patient with treated Fabry disease. A 51-year-old male with Fabry disease, treated with recombinant α-galactosidase enzyme replacement therapy for over 18 months, underwent an endomyocardial biopsy for heart failure. The histologic changes showed widespread hypertrophy and vacuolization with rare eosinophilic bodies. Electron microscopy failed to reveal the characteristic globotriaosylceramide concentric lamellar bodies (myelin figures) in the sarcoplasm. Instead, extensive aggregates and single tubular crystalline structures, giant secondary lysosomes as well as abnormal branched chain glycogen were present. This is the first histologic description of long-standing treated Fabry disease in cardiac myocytes.
Parametric Study of One – Dimensional Solute Transport in Deformable Porous Media

Formulation for the effect of dissipation of excess pore water pressure on one-dimensional advective-diffusive transport of solutes in clays is presented. The formulation is based on the effect of the rate of consolidation or swelling and excess pore pressure or suction dissipation on transient, nonlinear advective component of transport through clay. One partial differential equation is presented for advective diffusive transport that is dependent upon soil/solute properties and transient hydraulic head gradient, which is calculated from the Terzaghi consolidation equation. Finite difference method is used to solve the system of partial differential equations for consolidation and solute transport. Four hypothetical cases are evaluated to demonstrate the effect of consolidation under loading and swelling under hydraulic gradient on advective-diffusive transport and breakthrough in single and double drainage clay layer. The results show that consolidation in doubly drained clay impacts concentration profiles, but does not significantly impact breakthrough of the diffusive flux. Consolidation under single drainage conditions, significantly impacts the diffusional flux. When drainage path is the same as the diffusional flux, consolidation accelerates transport and breakthrough time can be less than 5% of the diffusional breakthrough time under no consolidation. Swelling under hydraulic gradient application can either accelerate or retard the advective diffusive flux, depending upon the ratio of the effective diffusion coefficient relative to the coefficient of consolidation. Higher the effective diffusion coefficient and lower the coefficient of consolidation result in an increase in the effect of pressure dissipation on transport.
The influence of hydrology and climate on the isotope geochemistry of playa carbonates: a study from Pilot Valley, NV, USA

Carbonates often accompany lake and lake-margin deposits in both modern and ancient geological settings. If these carbonates are formed in standing water, their stable isotope values reflect the aquatic chemistry at the time of precipitation and may provide a proxy for determining regional hydrologic conditions. Carbonate rhizoliths and water samples were collected from a playa lake in eastern Nevada. Pilot Valley (� 43N) is a closed-basin, remnant playa from the Quaternary desiccation of palaeo-Lake Bonneville. Water is added to the playa margin by free convection of dense brines to the east and forced convection of freshwater off the alluvial fan to the west. Both freshwater and saline springs dot the playa margin at the base of an alluvial fan. Water samples collected from seven springs show a range from )16 to )0AE2& (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water), and are consistent with published values. The d 18 Ocalcite values from rhizolith samples range from )18AE 3t o)6AE7& (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite), and the average is )12& V-PDB (1 ) r SD 2&). With the exception of samples from Little Salt Spring, the range in the d 18 Ocalcite values collected from the rhizoliths confirms that they form in equilibrium with ambient water conditions on the playa. The initial geochemical conditions for the spring waters are dictated by local hydrology: freshwater springs emerge in the northern part of the basin to the east of a broad alluvial fan, and more saline springs emerge to the south where the influence of the alluvial fan diminishes. Rhizoliths are only found near the southern saline springs and their d 13 Ccalcite values, along with their morphology, indicate that they only form around saltgrass (Distichlis sp.). As the residence time of water on the playa increases, evaporation, temperature change and biological processes alter the aquatic chemistry and initiate calcite precipitation around the plant stems. The range in d 18 Ocalcite values from each location reflects environmental controls (e.g. evaporation and temperature change). These rhizoliths faithfully record ambient aquatic conditions during formation (e.g. geochemistry and water depth), but only record a partial annual signal that is constrained by saltgrass growth and the presence of standing water on the playa margin.
PRESERVATION OF MYELIN LAMELLAR STRUCTURE IN THE ABSENCE OF LIPID: A Correlated Chemical and Morphological Study

The fine structure of myelin was studied in glutaraldehyde-fixed rat sciatic nerves depleted of lipid by acetone, chloroform:methanol (2:1 v/v), and chloroform:methanol:concentrated HCl (200:100:1, v/v/v). One portion of each of these nerves, plus the extracts, was saponified and analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography for fatty acids. The remainder of each nerve was stained in osmium tetroxide in CCl4 (5g/100cc) and was embedded in Epon 812. Thin sections, examined in the electron microscope, revealed the preservation of myelin lamellar structure with a 170 A periodicity in nerves depleted of 98% of their lipids. Preservation of myelin lamellar structure depended on glutaraldehyde fixation and the introduction of osmium tetroxide in a nonpolar vehicle (CCl4) after the lipids had been extracted. It is concluded that the periodic lamellar structure in electron micrographs of myelin depleted of lipid results from the complexing of osmium tetroxide, plus uranyl and lead stains, with protein.
Neuroprotective Sirtuin ratio reversed by ApoE4

The canonical pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease links the expression of apolipoprotein E e4 allele (ApoE) to amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing and Aβ peptide accumulation by a set of mechanisms that is incompletely defined. The development of a simple system that focuses not on a single variable but on multiple factors and pathways would be valuable both for dissecting the underlying mechanisms and for identifying candidate therapeutics. Here we show that, although both ApoE3 and ApoE4 associate with APP with nanomolar affinities, only ApoE4 significantly (i) reduces the ratio of soluble amyloid precursor protein alpha (sAPPα) to Aβ; (ii) reduces Sirtuin T1 (SirT1) expression, resulting in markedly differing ratios of neuroprotective SirT1 to neurotoxic SirT2; (iii) triggers Tau phosphorylation and APP phosphorylation; and (iv) induces programmed cell death. We describe a subset of drug candidates that interferes with the APP–ApoE interaction and returns the parameters noted above to normal. Our data support the hypothesis that neuronal connectivity, as reflected in the ratios of critical mediators such as sAPPα:Aβ, SirT1:SirT2, APP:phosphorylated (p)-APP, and Tau:p-Tau, is programmatically altered by ApoE4 and offer a simple system for the identification of program mediators and therapeutic candidates.
Mixed-Mode Fracture of Hot-Pressed Si3N4

The mixed-mode fracture of hot-pressed Si3N4 was investigated using inclined indentation surface flaws in bending and large crack geometries in combined tension/torsion. Non-coplanar fracture was observed in all cases. Values of KIc, KIIc, and KIIIc stress intensity factors were obtained, with ratios KIIc/KIc= 0.79 and KIIIc/KIc= 1.55 observed. For large cracks, mode II conditions had more of an effect on mode I fracture than mode III conditions. The mixed-mode I-II fracture of surface flaws was significantly different from that for large cracks, suggesting surface flaw shear resistance effects. A model describing these effects was derived, based on the ratio of the crack-opening displacement to the crack surface asperity height.
Reduced Navier–Stokes equations near a flow boundary

We derive a hierarchy of PDEs for the leading-order evolution of wall-based quantities, such as the-skin-friction and the wall-pressure gradient, in two-dimensional fluid flows. The resulting Reduced Navier-Stokes (RNS) equations are defined on the boundary of the flow, and hence have reduced spatial dimensionality compared to the Navier-Stokes equations. This spatial reduction speeds up numerical computations and makes the equations attractive candidates for flow-control design. We prove that members of the RNS hierarchy are well-posed if appended with boundary-conditions obtained from wall-based sensors. We also derive the lowest-order RNS equations for three-dimensional flows. For several benchmark problems, our numerical simulations show close finite-time agreement between the solutions of RNS and those of the full Navier-Stokes equations. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Studies on RNA Recombination in vivo and in vitro

RNA recombination in the TCV system occurs between satellite (sat-) RNAs and between sat-RNAs and the TCV genomic RNA. Plants and protoplasts inoculated with TCV genomic RNA and its associated sat-RNA D accumulate recombinant molecules containing sat-RNA D at the 5′ end and TCV sequence at the 3′ end. We have previously identified a hot-spot for RNA recombination at the base of a stable hairpin in the 3′ untranslated region of the TCV genomic RNA. Sequences comprising this hairpin and other recombination hot-spot hairpins resemble sequences located at the 5′ ends of TCV and its associated subviral RNAs. Our previous model suggests that recombination occurs by template switching of the TCV replicase during plus-strand synthesis and that reinitiation of synthesis on the acceptor TCV genomic RNA occurs at sequences and/or structures that resemble sequence/structural requirements for normal plus-strand synthesis.
Survey on High-Temperature Packaging Materials for SiC-Based Power Electronics Modules

High temperature SiC devices need the materials for device packages also capable of working at higher temperature than those for Si devices. This paper presents a selection of materials that are potentially suitable for use in high temperature package assembly, including die attach, substrate, interconnections, encapsulation, case, heat spreader and heat sink. The temperature under consideration is up to 250degC, corresponding to the need of many applications, including automobiles and aircraft.