cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Generalized Mixed Isotropic-kinematic Hardening Plastic Model Coupled with Anisotropic Damage for Sheet Metal Forming

The paper presents a generalized mixed isotropic-kinematic hardening plastic model coupled with anisotropic damage for sheet metal forming. A nonlinear anisotropic kinematic hardening is developed. For the predication of limit strains at localized necking in stamping under complex strain history, the model and its associated damage criterion for localized necking are established and implemented into LS-DYNA3D by compiling it as a user subroutine. The finite element simulation of LS-DYNA3D based on the present model is carried out. The location of localized necking for sheet metal forming has been successfully identified.
The Virtue of Principle Ethics

I raise four issues that militate against adopting virtue ethics as a guiding concept: (a) In the resolution of most ethics cases, virtue ethics is irrelevant; (b) there is substantial redundancy between virtue and principle ethics; (c) acting and deciding are unavoidable tasks for which principle ethics is particularly suitable; and (d) the emphasis on character and community wisdom increases the possibility of idiosyncratic and unsound decision making.
A low complexity receiver for space-time coded CDMA systems

A novel receiver for space-time coded systems based on the reduced rank multistage Wiener filter (MWF) is presented. It is shown that this receiver has a complexity that is only a linear function of the processing gain (N), the number of transmit antennas (L t ), and the rank (D) of the MWF. The complexity of the equivalent MMSE solution is a function of (N L t )3. It is also demonstrated by numerical simulation that this receiver meets MMSE performance at a significantly lower rank. The MMSE implementation is derived and performance is evaluated for highly loaded synchronous CDMA systems in flat fading.
RhoA Influences the Nuclear Localization of Extracellular Signal–Regulated Kinases to Modulate p21Waf/Cip1 Expression

Background— The 42/44-kD mitogen-activated protein kinases (extracellular signal–regulated kinases, ERKs) regulate smooth muscle cell (SMC) cell-cycle progression and can either promote or inhibit proliferation depending on the activation status of the small GTPase RhoA. RhoA is involved in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and converges on multiple signaling pathways. However, the mechanism by which RhoA modulates ERK signaling is not well defined. The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether RhoA regulates ERK downstream signaling and cellular proliferation through its effects on the cytoskeleton and the nuclear localization of ERK. Methods and Results— Treatment of SMCs with Clostridia botulinum C3 exoenzyme, which inhibits RhoA activation, decreased SMC proliferation to 24±7% of that of controls and increased p21Waf1/Cip1 transcription and protein levels. These effects of RhoA were reversed by inhibition of ERK phosphorylation. However, inactivation of RhoA did not alter levels of E...
Time-Resolved Spectroscopy Of Stretched Polypropylene Films

IntroductionRecently, we have explored the application of time resolved spectroscopy (TRS) tostretching and relaxing polymer films and we find TRS to be a very promising new diagnostictechnique. Although the time interval, which is micro -seconds, is much slower than theobservations made by researchers in the ultraviolet and visible regions, there existsseveral important experiments in this time frame which should yield important scientificinformation.The TRS versus FTIR has been used to study the stretching -relaxation of a polypropylene.BackgroundTime resolved interferometry, as illustrated by Murphy et al. (1) is quite analogous toconventional stroboscopic techniques.* Using this analogy the theoretical considerationsfor time resolved interferometry can be deduced with a minimum amount of difficulty.The key to understanding the method of time resolved interferometry is the applicationof a timing system. This timing system illustrated in Figure 1 shows all the relationshipsbetween mirror position, time observed, and event offset. The general format for atiming diagram representing a FTIR interferometric data collection appears in Figure 1where the data collection occurs at every other He /Ne laser zero crossing (i.e. using anundersampling ratio, UDR, of 2).Figure 1
The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Normal and Neoplastic Epithelia

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) regulates a plethora of cellular and tissue functions in epithelia including cell division, survival, differentiation, and migration. EGFR signaling is up-regulated in pathologies involving aberrant growth like squamous cancer, and facilitates neoplastic progression. Many mechanisms through which the effects of EGFR are modulated in normal and pathological processes have been identified. In particular, recent research has yielded important and surprising insights into the effects of EGFR-dependent signaling on cutaneous biology and carcinogenesis. This review focuses on EGFR signaling in normal biology and squamous cancer, with emphasis on the skin as a model organ to illustrate the biological significance of EGFR signaling.
Generation to Generation: Passing on Religious and Spiritual Beliefs and Practices

Many families face difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships. Past research has identified that religious and/or spiritual beliefs and practices can enhance family well-being. Research has also shown that religious and/or beliefs and practices can shape the aging process. Yet there exists little information on the methods through which religious and/or spiritual beliefs are passed on to future generations. This study utilized Eriksonian conceptual ideas, and grounded theory methods to conduct interviews with 13 older adults on the process through which religious and/or spiritual beliefs are passed on to children and grandchildren. Ideas are discussed for practitioners based on study findings.
Surface Movements of Neocurtilla (Gryllotalpa) hexadactyla Recorded Drift-Trapsay

Macropterous northern mole crickets, Ncocurtilla hexadactyla (Perty), are occasionally captured at light traps but essentially nothing is known of the above-ground movements of the micropterous form of this species. This paper is a report of the drift-trap capture of over 1300 micropterous N. hexadactyla on the periphery of 2 Missouri ponds.
Method of Detection of Well-Differentiated Thyroid Cancers in Obese and Non-Obese Patients.

Background The incidence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) is increasing rapidly. Many authors feel that this increase is due to over-diagnosis and that one of the contributing factors is the increasing use of various imaging studies. The rate of obesity has also been increasing in the United States. It has been suggested that patients with an increased body mass index (BMI kg/m2) have a higher incidence of WDTC than patients with normal BMI. One might hypothesize that thyroid nodules are more difficult to palpate in obese patients and that as more cancers are detected by imaging the apparent rate of increase in WDTC in obese patients would appear to be greater than in non-obese patients. This study was undertaken to evaluate this hypothesis by determining if there is any difference in the way thyroid cancers are initially detected in obese and non-obese patients.
Effect of Age on Nodule Induction by Azaserine and DNA Synthesis in Rat Pancreas

The efficacy of various azaserine treatment durations was evaluated with respect to induction of atypical acinar cell nodules in Wistar rat pancreas and was related to animal age and rate of pancreatic DNA synthesis during growth. The sensitivity to nodule induction was maximal in postnatal rats when the rate of pancreatic DNA synthesis was high, whereas treatment of weanlings was less effective and treatment of mature rats was least effective. When weaned growing rats were given 1, 3, or 5 weekly injections of 30 mg azaserine/kg, the number of nodules induced was proportional to the number of injections. A single dose at this level did not induce detectable pancreatic necrosis or inflammation; therefore, DNA synthesis due to regeneration was probably not a major factor in the initiation of nodules. We concluded that multiple daily injections of [3H]thymidine during the first or second postnatal week provided DNA of sufficiently high specific activity for use in DNA repair and biochemical toxicity studies.
CMS Trigger Improvements Towards Run II

Abstract The trigger systems of the LHC detectors play a crucial role in determining the physics capabilities of the experiments. A reduction of several orders of magnitude of the event rate is needed to reach values compatible with detector readout, offline storage and analysis capability. The CMS experiment has been designed with a two-level trigger system: the Level-1 Trigger (L1), implemented on custom-designed electronics, and the High Level Trigger (HLT), a streamlined version of the CMS offline reconstruction software running on a computer farm. Both systems need to provide an efficient and fast selection of events, to keep the average write-out rate below 1 kHz. For Run II, the doubling of both the center of mass energy to 13 TeV and the collision rate to 40 MHz, will imply increased cross sections and out-of-time pile-up. We will present the improvements brought to both L1 and HLT strategies to meet those new challenges.
Reproducibility of Technetium-99m Mebrofenin Hepatic Functional Parameters Obtained with Semi-Automatic Software

The reliability of quantitative measurement of two hepatobiliary functional parameters using semi-automatic computer software was tested for reproducibility within and between institutions in an academic and a community hospital. Hepatic extraction fraction (HEF) and excretion half-time (t½) values in ten normal controls and eleven patients were determined independently by two technologists from the same institution and one technologist from a different institution. HEF and excretion t½ values were obtained using semi-automatic nuclear hepatology software and were then compared using the paired t-test to determine their reproducibility. There was no difference in the HEF or excretion t½, values obtained independently by the three technologists. We conclude that results obtained using semi-automatic computer software for quantitative nuclear hepatology with technetium-99m IDA agents are highly reproducible and should be used routinely as a supplement to hepatobiliary imaging studies.
Invited talk 1: Computation of the far field from a nonuniformly spaced antenna elements using a least square method

The objective of this paper is to describe a least square method to compute the far field from a nonuniformly spaced antenna array. This is because the far field pattern of an antenna array is the Fourier transform of the current distribution developed on the antenna structure, This is equivalent to computing the spectrum from a nonuniformly spaced data set using a least squares method. The merit of analyzing a nonuniformly spaced data set is that one need not satisfy the Nyquist sampling theorem in the strict sense. This is acceptable as long as the average sampling rate for the nonuniformly spaced data satisfies the Nyquist sampling theorem. A Fourier based least squares method can easily be extended to deal with nonuniformly spaced data, however the disadvantage of this procedure is that it is highly computational time intensive. Hence in this approach a Hilbert transform based methodology is described to significantly reduce the computation time without sacrificing accuracy. Hence, in methodology, this method is an extension to the Lomb periodogram technique which deals with the computation of the spectrum from a nonuniformly based data set. The problem with the Lomb periodogram method is that it cannot differentiate between the positive and the negative frequencies of the spectrum even though it has various other advantages. For example the effect of bias in the processed data can be reduced significantly in addition for a nonuniformly spaced data. Also because of a nonuniformly sampled data it is difficult to correctly estimate the amplitude of the far field or equivalently the spectrum hence a two-step methodology will be presented where at the first stage one solves for the spectral components and then applies a least squares solution procedure to get the best amplitude of the spectrum or equivalently the complex amplitudes for the far field. The Hilbert transform methodology is applied to reduce the computation time by a factor of one half in the computation of the complex spectrum as the real and imaginary parts of a causal function are indeed related by the Hilbert transform.
A Regional Analysis of U.S. Insurance Reimbursement Guidelines for Massage Therapy.

Introduction: Massage techniques fall within the scope of many different health care providers. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, and chiropractors receive insurance reimbursement for health care services, including massage. Although many patients pay out of pocket for massage services, it is unclear how the insurance company reimbursement policies factor provider qualifications into coverage. This project examined regional insurance reimbursement guidelines for massage therapy in relation to the role of the provider of massage services. Methods: A qualitative content analysis was used to explore guidelines for 26 health insurance policies across seven US companies providing coverage in the northeastern United States. Publicly available information relevant to massage was obtained from insurance company websites and extracted into a dataset for thematic analysis. Data obtained included practice guidelines, techniques, and provider requirements. Information from the dataset was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Of the policies reviewed, 23% explicitly stated massage treatments were limited to 15-minute increments, 19% covered massage as one part of a comprehensive rehabilitation plan, and 27% required physician prescription. Massage techniques mentioned as qualifying for reimbursement included: Swedish, manual lymphatic drainage, mobilization/manipulation, myofascial release, and traction. Chiropractors, physical therapists, and occupational therapists could directly bill for massage. Massage therapists were specifically excluded as covered providers for seven (27%) policies. Conclusion: Although research supports massage for the treatment of a variety of conditions, the provider type has not been separately addressed. The reviewed policies that served the Northeastern states explicitly stated massage therapists could not bill insurance companies directly. The same insurance companies examined reimbursement for massage therapists in their western U.S. state policies. Other health care providers were able to bill directly for massage services to companies that did not accept direct billing by massage therapists. The specific exclusion of massage therapists as eligible providers violates the Affordable Care Act’s non-discriminatory provision. Massage therapists should continue to advocate for reimbursement privileges to spur wider acceptance of massage therapy in health care.
Vertical Transmission as an Unrecognized Problem in Transmission of Infection

The potential of vertical transmission (from one generation to the next) as a significant means of spreading infection in mammals is discussed, using cattle as a model.
Changing Environmental Practice: Understanding and Overcoming the Organizational and Psychological Barriers

Since the early 1990s, the environmental management literature has grown from a small offshoot of mainstream academic study to become a vibrant field of its own. The contributions of this field lie in the study of corporations and their impact upon the natural world. We are impressed by the large quantity of good ideas that have developed concerning how to improve the environment in ways that are good for business. Yet we also have observed that many executives and organizations have been slow to adopt wise environmental practices. We offer insight from both behavioral decision research and organizational theory to explain the barriers to change, and suggest means of surmounting those barriers. After providing an overview of both the applied and academic areas of environmental management, we identify specific barriers to its implementation and offer direction for diffusing wise environmental management practices at a faster rate.
Chromosome pattern in childhood acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL)

We studied the karyotype in 26 children with ANLL, which was diagnosed on the basis of the FAB classification. Clonal chromosome abnormalities were found in 21 of 26 patients. Four patients, including 3 with Down's syndrome, had AML(M1). Nine patients, including 3 with t(8;21), had AML(M2). All 3 patients with APL(M3) had t(15;17). Four patients had AMMOL(M4); 3 of these had a normal karyotype. Six patients had AMOL(M5); 5 and 11q rearrangements, and 3 of these had a break in 11q23. Only one patient had EL(M6), and he had a normal karyotype. One patient with t(11;19), classified as AML(M2) on Wright-Giemsa-stained cells, had a strong alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase reaction, indicating that the leukemic cells had a cytochemical feature characteristic of monocytes. Whereas t(8;21) and t(15;17) are uniquely associated with AML(M2) and APL(M3), respectively, the 11q rearrangements are also seen in AML(M1/M2), although they are more common in AMOL(M5) and AMMOL(M4). The case with t(11;19) suggests that cells with 11q rearrangements and with AML(M1/M2) may have both monocytic and granulocytic features. When we used our data and previous reports on 243 aneuploid patients (169 adults and 74 children) to correlate the chromosome abnormalities with patient age, we found differences in the chromosome pattern seen among various age groups. This suggests that different etiologic factors as well as changes in host susceptibility may influence the development of and the karyotypic pattern in the various types of leukemia. Moreover, the frequency of various chromosome abnormalities in childhood ANLL can provide a baseline for comparison of the frequency of the same abnormality in adults. The karyotypic analysis of childhood ANLL is important not only because of the information that can be obtained about childhood ANLL, but also because the data can provide substantial insight into the etiology of ANLL in adults.
Gravitational Waves and Engineering Aspects of Thermal and Earth Quakes of Earth

The recent discovery of gravitational waves announced on February 11th 2016 forms the background of Einstein’s discovery about a century ago forms the background. To use the strain measured on the earth from Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory and determine the energy given the Earth from passing gravitational waves. A finite element model of the Earth is made and presented. The results obtained are discussed over the warming of Earth albeit slowly. This energy is responsible in breaking of Pangea over 300 million years ago and bringing it to the present continental positions as in Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory. The continental drift of the tectonic plates with each passing of gravitational waves and imparting energy causes Earthquakes.
A novel proof of concept for capturing the diversity of endophytic fungi preserved in herbarium specimens

Herbarium specimens represent important records of morphological and genetic diversity of plants that inform questions relevant to global change, including species distributions, phenology and func...
Effects of socioeconomic status and executive function on school readiness across levels of household chaos.

Abstract Isolating child attributes and familial characteristics that support school readiness in children on the upper half of the socioeconomic spectrum can complement existing research on lower-socioeconomic status (SES) children and facilitate a more complete understanding of how children’s performance varies across the full SES spectrum. This study examined if relations between SES, two components of executive function (EF; set-shifting and inhibitory control), and school readiness vary as a function of household chaos in 564 four-year-old children, primarily from middle- to upper-middle class families in the Northeast Region of the United States. Structural equation modeling of direct and indirect effects revealed three major findings: (1) higher levels of EF were related to better school readiness regardless of level of household chaos; (2) SES had an indirect effect on school readiness through set-shifting; and (3) household chaos was negatively associated with school readiness.
ALAS: An Intervention to Promote Career Development Among Latina/o Immigrant High School Students:

This article describes the rationale, development, delivery, and evaluation strategy of a pilot career intervention program for immigrant Latina/o high school students: Advocating for Latina/o Achi...
Resting State Functional Connectivity between Thalamic Nuclei and Hippocampal Subfields in Epilepsy Using 7 T MRI (S19.007)

Objective: We assessed if focal epilepsy involves alterations in connectivity between hippocampal sub-fields and thalamic nuclei, towards characterizing target circuits for neurostimulation therapy. Background: Recent work suggests a central role of the thalamus in epilepsy. The anterior nucleus of thalamus receives afferent connections from the hippocampus that may propagate epileptiform activity across cortex. For the first time, we used ultra-high field (7T) MRI to evaluate resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) connectivity between hippocampal sub-fields and thalamic nuclei in patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Design/Methods: This study was approved by the Mount Sinai IRB. Data from sixteen patients with focal, non-lesional medically refractory epilepsy (8 male), and 10 healthy controls (6 male) are represented here. Siemens Magnetom 7T MRI (Erlangen, Germany) was used to acquire data. T1-weighted anatomical images were generated with MP2RAGE (700 μm). Whole-brain multi-echo multi-band BOLD EPI data were acquired during rest (2.5mm isotropic resolution, TR=1.8s, MB=2 TEs=9ms–44ms, 10 min). rs-fMRI data were processed using multi-echo independent component analysis (ME-ICA; AFNI meica.py). Subject head motion artifacts were controlled by automated removal of non-BOLD signals. Thalamus parcellation into nuclei was based on the Morel atlas. FreeSurfer 6.0 generated parcellations of hippocampus. The corresponding sub-regional functional connectome was derived with time series correlation and Fisher transform (R–Z). Group differences were elucidated using 2-sample T-test in Network Based Statistics (NBS), implementing family-wise error (FWE) correction using 20,000 permutations. Results: No adverse reactions to 7T MRI were reported. fMRI motion artifacts were removed with ME-ICA, yielding mean SNR of 320. We found a circuit of hyper-connectivity between right anterio-medial nucleus and lateral geniculate nucleus of thalamus and left dentate gyrus of hippocampus. This circuit finding survived FWE correction at alpha Conclusions: Medically refractory focal epilepsy patients showed hyper-connectivity of hippocampus and anterior nucleus of thalamus, supporting its targeting for neurostimulation treatment in epilepsy. Study Supported by: P.B. is supported by NIH R00 NS070821 Disclosure: Dr. Kundu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Marcuse has nothing to disclose. Dr. Feldman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Fields has nothing to disclose. Dr. Balchandai has nothing to disclose.
Effects of Nitro-L-Arginine on Blood Pressure and Cardiac Index in Anesthetized Rats: A Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Analysis

Purpose. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors such as Nitro-L-arginine (L-NA) are being considered for the management of hypotension observed in septic shock. However, little information is available regarding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of these agents. Our objective was to examine the relationships between L-NA plasma concentration and various hemodynamic effects such as cardiac index (CI), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) elicited by L-NA administration in rats.
Gut dysbiosis during antileukemia chemotherapy versus allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Background In the field of malignant hematology, most microbiome studies have focused on recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). As a result, this population has remained the primary target for novel microbiota therapeutics. Because the types of insults to the microbiome are similar during hematopoietic cell transplantation and intensive antileukemia therapy, this study evaluated whether the dysbiosis states are similar in the 2 settings. Methods This study compared gut microbiota assemblages and community domination states in 2 cohorts of patients: patients with intensively treated acute leukemia (AL) and allo-HCT recipients. 16S ribosomal RNA gene profiling of thrice weekly stool samples was performed. Linear discriminant analysis effect size was used to determine differentially abundant taxa in groups of interest, and mixed modes were used to determine the predictors of microbiome states. Results Microbiome changes in both cohorts were characterized by a marked loss of diversity and domination of low-diversity communities by Enterococcus. In the AL cohort, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was also inversely correlated with diversity. Communities dominated by these genera were compositionally different. Conclusions Similarities in microbiota assemblages between the 2 cohorts support a broader scope for microbiota-directed therapeutics than previously considered, whereas specific differences suggest a personalized aspect to such therapeutics with the possibility of a differential response.
Phase Transitions in the Dynamic Mode Decomposition Algorithm

We analyze the Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) algorithm in the noisy data setting. Previous work has shown that DMD is a source separation algorithm in disguise, i.e., that it is capable of unmixing linearly mixed time series. In this work, we analyze the performance of DMD when the mixed time series are corrupted by noise. We demonstrate that a preprocessing step of the truncated SVD before applying DMD yields significant benefits, and quantify the performance of the truncated-SVD-plus-DMD (tSVD-DMD) algorithm using tools from random matrix theory. We validate our findings with numerical simulations.
Orthogonal Functions for Evaluating Social Distancing Impact on CoVID-19 Spread

Abstract Early CoVID-19 growth often obeys: , with Ko = [(ln 2)/(tdbl)], where tdbl is the pandemic doubling time, prior to society-wide Social Distancing. Previously, we modeled Social Distancing with tdbl as a linear function of time, where N [t] 1 ≈ exp[+KAt/ (1+,γot)] is used here. Additional parameters besides {Ko, γo} are needed to better model different ρ[t] = dN [t]/dt shapes. Thus, a new Orthogonal Function Model [OFM] is developed here using these orthogonal function series: where N (Z) and Z[t] form an implicit N [t] N (Z[t]) function, giving: with Lm(Z) being the Laguerre Polynomials. At large MF values, nearly arbitrary functions for N [t] and ρ [t] = dN [t]/dt can be accommodated. How to determine {KA, γo} and the {gm; m = (0, +MF)} constants from any given N (Z) dataset is derived, with ρ [t] set by: The bing com USA CoVID-19 data was analyzed using MF = (0, 1, 2) in the OFM. All results agreed to within about 10 percent, showing model robustness. Averaging over all these predictions gives the following overall estimates for the number of USA CoVID-19 cases at the pandemic end: which compares the pre- and post-early May bing com revisions. The CoVID-19 pandemic in Italy was examined next. The MF = 2 limit was inadequate to model the Italy ρ [t] pandemic tail. Thus, regions with a quick CoVID-19 pandemic shutoff may have additional Social Distancing factors operating, beyond what can be easily modeled by just progressively lengthening pandemic doubling times (with 13 Figures).
Improvements on modelling wettability alteration by Engineered water injection: Surface complexation at the oil/brine/rock contact

Abstract Several laboratory experiments demonstrated that different water compositions cause rocks to change from oil- to water-wet state. Although it is a consensus that wettability alteration is the main recovery process, modeling the underlying mechanism is still a major challenge. Our main goal is to improve and validate a physically based model to predict contact angles from zeta-potential measurements. We hypothesize that, if rock and oil surface are sufficiently close as consequence of thin water layer, then the charge development of one surface will be affected by the other. We propose a new mass-action formulation for surface complexation modelling that includes the energy interface of two interacting double layers. Currently, surface complexation models consider rock and oil as completely isolated surfaces. Additionally, we develop a method of determining surface complexation equilibrium constants to honor several zeta-potential measurements for different ion concentrations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42− and H+). Finally, we estimate contact angles using disjoining pressure calculations and compare them with experimental ones reported in the literature. For the proposed parallel surface model, the system of equations’ solution is very distinct to isolated surface approach when the interaction between surfaces are close (spacing approximately bellow 2 nm) at high salinity. Regarding zeta-potential prediction for calcite-brine system, we argue that Na+ might not be an indifferent ion as suggested previously. Our simulation results indicate that, besides the renowned potential-determining ions, sodium adsorption on calcite can play an important role in electrostatic interactions, switching surface charge polarity. Thus, we only honor zeta-potential measurements when Na+ is considered in the surface complexation reactions. Finally, contact angle estimation using proposed surface complexation modelling and disjoining pressure theory provide good predictions of seven different cases reported in the literature. We validate our method on a total of 66 and 163 contact angle and zeta-potential measurements, respectively. The present work is a novel approach to represent how electrostatic interactions among rock, brine and oil modify the rock surface charge and the rock wetting state.
A simple method to calculate the volume of shipworm tunnels from radiographs

Abstract Shipworms (Bivalvia: Teredinidae) are considered one of the main agents of wood bioerosion in the marine environment. They dig tunnels inside the wood they feed on, causing its progressive weakening. X-rays are a widely used non-destructive technique to assess wood biodeterioration (e.g. EN 275). However, an X-ray is a two-dimensional projection, with the possibility that some of the objects overlap and obfuscate each other. The higher the density of the shipworms, the more difficult is to count and measure the single tunnel. The aim of this work was to find a straight-forward method for calculating the volume of shipworm tunnels based on the size of shipworm shells, which are always clearly identifiable on the X-rays. Some wood test panels attacked by shipworms were analysed, with two distinct geometric methods being applied to estimate the tunnels volume based on radiographs. An allometric model was then introduced linking the volume to the shell diameter, which allows an easy estimation of the actual bioeroded volume from conventional two-dimensional radiographs. This technique allows to evaluate the bioerosion after the first growing season, shortening the exposure time and reducing costs. The model can be applied even when the tunnels are difficult to distinguish from each other, i.e. overlapped, folded or covering the whole surface of the radiograph.
An Examination of a Group of Middle School Students’ Engagement during a Series of Afterschool Computing Activities in an Urban School District

In this study, the authors analyzed data from a sample of thirty-two middle school students from an urban school district in the southeastern United States who used MIT’s App Inventor to design, create, and remix mobile apps during an afterschool program for one school year. This paper focuses on computer science learning outcomes as measured by an assessment created by the authors. Findings indicated a linear relation between the number of apps a participant created during the given afterschool program and their level of accuracy on the assessment. Findings and discussion should be of interest to both researchers and practitioners.
High Histamine Control Concentration Leads to False Negative Allergy Skin Testing.

BackgroundAllergy skin test reliability depends on the reagents and controls selected. Histamine is used at 1 mg/ml and 6 mg/ml concentration but few studies address the rationale for selecting one...
An Opportunity Cost View of Fixed Asset Theory and the Overproduction Trap: Comment

The Johnson-Pasour (JP) article can be characterized as (a) mistakenly asserting that important integral components of asset fixity (investment/ disinvestment) theory are not in that theory, (b) containing questionable logic, and (c) displaying an unwillingness to accept the possibility that a market-controlled economy can fail to allocate durable investments in an optimal manner. The JP article is divided more or less equally between asset fixity theory and exit barriers theory from Caves and Porter. While this comment largely leaves Caves and Porter to fend for themselves, it provides them with some support. JP state:
Triboelectric nanogenerators for self-powered drug delivery

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can convert human biomechanical activities into electricity. They have been used in many biomedical and healthcare applications due to their attractive features such as the wide range of biocompatible materials, simple fabrication process, portable size, high output power, and low cost. Recently, they have been combined with drug delivery systems as an emerging technology to achieve on-demand and controllable release of drugs. This review comprehensively highlights the current development of TENG-based self-powered drug delivery systems from three different mechanisms, including microfluidics, electrophoresis, and iontophoresis. Although there are still some challenges remaining to be addressed, TENG-based drug delivery systems are promising as a new option for drug administration and could play an important role in personalized healthcare.
An Agent-Based Framework for Association Rules Mining of Distributed Data

Data mining applications today are more likely to deal with distributed data. One of the challenges is to protect the privacy of local data from being exposed to other sites. Various approaches have been reported in the literature, but we have found no work using the mobile agent approach to tackle this problem while mobile agents are considered very suitable for distributed computing tasks. In this paper, we propose an agent-based approach to mine association rules from data sets that are distributed across multiple locations while preserving the privacy of local data. This approach relies on the local systems to find frequent itemsets that are encrypted and the partial results are carried from site to site. We present a structural model that includes several types of mobile agents with specific functionalities and communication scheme to accomplish the task.
Chromosome Preparation and Banding

Reliable techniques have been developed to produce large numbers of mitotic cells and to collect them at metaphase in order to visualize individual chromosomes. After cell culture and spreading of the metaphases onto slides, the chromosomes are stained to produce unique banding patterns or to reveal specialized structures. Molecular techniques have been developed to identify submicroscopic rearrangements and to compare karyotypes of different species. Keywords: chromosome banding; chromosome spreading; fluorescence in situ hybridization; high resolution banding; metaphase spreads; sister chromatid exchange
Some anomalies associated with moisture diffusion in epoxy matrix composite materials

Diffusion of moisture into graphite/epoxy composites was investigated and some anomalies observed. In particular, data are presented which indicate a departure from classical Fickian behavior. An apparent two-stage diffusion process is observed in both the neat epoxy resin and derived graphite/epoxy composites. Evidence is presented which suggests time-dependent matrix cracking as the mechanism associated with the two-stage diffusion process. Comparison of laminate diffusion data with unidirectional data suggests that the diffusion coefficient is stress dependent.
An Atlas of Surgical Techniques of the Hand and Wrist

An Atlas of Surgical Techniques of the Hand and Wrist. Raoul Tubiana, Alain Gilbert, and Alain C. Masquelet. With illustrations by Leon Dorn. Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, and London, Martin Dunitz, 1999. $235.00, 517 pp. All of the procedures in this book are described by three prominent hand surgeons who have a wealth of expertise in the field. There are ten sections, each of which is …
Dopamine-β-hydroxylase activity in serum

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the dopamines- β -hydroxylase (DBH) activity in serum. The DBH activity found in blood is biochemically similar to DBH activity in the adrenal medulla and sympathetic nerves with regard to co-factor requirements, requirement for oxygen; Michaelis–Menten constant for substrate, and response to the addition of cupric ion to inhibit endogenous inhibitors of the enzyme. Starch block electrophoresis of serum DBH activity, and the enzyme activity found in sympathetic nerves, and the adrenal medulla has demonstrated that there are differences in the electrophoretic mobilities of the DBH activity among various species, but that within a given species the enzymatic activity found in the blood has the same electrophoretic mobility as that found in other tissues. Immunochemical studies have shown that there is immunochemical cross reactivity within a given species of serum DBH with antibody formed in response to the purified adrenal enzyme from that same species.
Perspectives for the CAP

To provide background information, the contents of the Green Paper and the Policy Orientations in which the Commission of the European Communities presents its views on the future development of the Common Agricultural Policies, are summarized and discussed. First, an outline of the Community's institutional framework for agricultural policy making is given and the papers on agricultural policy reforms published by the Commission in previous years are surveyed. The article concludes with a description of the development of the Community's agricultural policy budget. Copyright 1987 by Oxford University Press.
Information theoretic approaches to phonological structure: the case of Finnish vowel harmony

This paper offers a study of vowel harmony in Finnish as an example of how information theoretic concepts can be employed in order to better understand the nature of phonological structure. The probability assigned by a phonological model to a corpus is used as a means to evaluate how good such a model is, and information theoretic methods allow us to determine the extent to which each addition to our grammar results in a better treatment of the data. We explore a natural implementation of autosegmental phonology within an information theoretic perspective, and find that it is empirically inadequate; that is, it performs more poorly than a simple bigram model. We extend the model by means of a Boltzmann distribution, taking into consideration both local, segment-to-segment, relations and distal, vowel-to-vowel, relations, and find a significant improvement. We conclude with some general observations on how we propose to revisit other phonological questions from this perspective.
Torsional waves in an infinite elastic solid containing a penny-shaped crack

In dieser Arbeit wird das axialsymmetrische Problem der Torsionswellen in einem unendlichen, isotropen und homogenen elastischen Korper mit einem kreisformigen Schlitz betrachtet. Es werden zwei Fredholmsche Integralgleichungen zweiter Art fur das gestreute Feld aufgestellt, welche sich bei kleinen Frequenzen zur iterativen Behandlung eignen. Die erste davon ist insofern vorteilhafter, als sie die Verschiebungs- und die Schubspannungsverteilung auf der Schlitzoberflache direkt liefert und bei iterativer Behandlung viel weniger Arbeit kostet als die zweite. Es werden Ausdrucke fur das Verschiebungs- und das Spannungsfeld an der Schlitzoberflache in Form von Potenzreihen des Frequenzfaktors erhalten. Ebenso wird ein Ausdruck fur den Spannungsintensitatsfaktor als Potenzreihe von α gewonnen.
Diversity in enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductases

The enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR) is the last enzyme in the fatty acid elongation cycle. Unlike most enzymes in this essential pathway, ENR displays an unusual diversity among organisms. The growing interest in ENRs is mainly due to the fact that a variety of both synthetic and natural antibacterial compounds are shown to specifically target their activity. The primary anti-tuberculosis drug, isoniazid, and the broadly used antibacterial compound, triclosan, both target this enzyme. In this review, we discuss the diversity of ENRs, and their inhibitors in the light of current research progress.
A time-resolved fluorescence-resonance energy transfer assay for identifying inhibitors of hepatitis C virus core dimerization.

Binding of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA to core, the capsid protein, results in the formation of the nucleocapsid, the first step in the assembly of the viral particle. A novel assay was developed to discover small molecule inhibitors of core dimerization. This assay is based on time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) between anti-tag antibodies labeled with either europium cryptate (Eu) or allophycocyanin (XL-665). The N-terminal 106-residue portion of core protein (core106) was tagged with either glutathione-S-transferase (GST) or a Flag peptide. Tag-free core106 was selected as the reference inhibitor. The assay was used to screen the library of pharmacologically active compounds (LOPAC) consisting of 1,280 compounds and a 2,240-compound library from the Center for Chemical Methodology and Library Development at Boston University (CMLD-BU). Ten of the 28 hits from the primary TR-FRET run were confirmed in a secondary amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay (ALPHA screen)...
Desirable teeth: the medieval trade in Arctic and African ivory*

This article examines the Danish archaeologist Else Roesdahl’s hypothesis that, by the early fourteenth century, an abundance in Europe of elephant ivory from Africa caused a price drop that edged out walrus ivory, with a devastating economic impact on Norse Greenland that directly contributed to the colony’s collapse. While it seems clear that artisanal use of walrus ivory fell from the late fourteenth century onward, and that Greenland exports of walrus ivory decreased in the fourteenth century, evidence for a pre-1500 price drop for African elephant ivory in the European market is lacking. Nor can it be demonstrated that European demand for walrus tusks shrank prior to 1500. Roesdahl’s speculations about changes in the ivory trade and their effect on the Norse Greenland colony are therefore open to question as an explanation for the colony’s demise. An alternative view is proposed, namely that reduced export of Greenland walrus ivory was initiated by the Greenlanders themselves in response to political and economic changes in the Atlantic and North Sea region, at a time when codfish drew English fishermen and fish merchants ever farther west into the North Atlantic, and that the Greenlanders took part in that westward movement.
A distance determination for the supernova remnant G27.4+0.0 and its central X-ray source

We have determined the distance to the supernova remnant G27.4+0.0, one of the handful of remnants with a bright central X-ray source. H I absorption data obtained with the VLA toward the remnant and adjacent H II regions allow us to constrain the distance to G27.4+0.0 to lie between 6 and 7.5 kpc. We briefly discuss the implications of this result for the nature of the central source.
A review of exosome separation techniques and characterization of B16-F10 mouse melanoma exosomes with AF4-UV-MALS-DLS-TEM

Exosomes participate in cancer metastasis, but studying them presents unique challenges as a result of their small size and purification difficulties. Asymmetrical field flow fractionation with in-line ultraviolet absorbance, dynamic light scattering, and multi-angle light scattering was applied to the size separation and characterization of non-labeled B16-F10 exosomes from an aggressive mouse melanoma cell culture line. Fractions were collected and further analyzed using batch mode dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy and compared with known size standards. Fractogram peak positions and computed radii show good agreement between samples and across fractions. Ultraviolet absorbance fractograms in combination with transmission electron micrographs were able to resolve subtle heterogeneity of vesicle retention times between separate batches of B16-F10 exosomes collected several weeks apart. Further, asymmetrical field flow fractionation also effectively separated B16-F10 exosomes into vesicle subpopulations by size. Overall, the flow field flow fractionation instrument combined with multiple detectors was able to rapidly characterize and separate exosomes to a degree not previously demonstrated. These approaches have the potential to facilitate a greater understanding of exosome function by subtype, as well as ultimately allow for “label-free” isolation of large scale clinical exosomes for the purpose of developing future exosome-based diagnostics and therapeutics.
Dust Control in Handling Refractory Brick.

(1958). Dust Control in Handling Refractory Brick. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal: Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 229-232.
The effects of moisture on LiD single crystals studied by temperature-programmed decomposition

Abstract Temperature-programmed decomposition (TPD) technique was performed on LiOH powders and LiD single crystals previously exposed to different moisture levels. Our results show that the LiOH decomposition process is rate-limited by an inward moving reaction front mechanism with an activation energy barrier of ∼122–149 kJ/mol. The LiOH structure is stable even if kept at 320 K. However, LiOH structures formed on the surface of LiD single crystals during moisture exposure at low dosages may have multiple activation energy barriers, some of which may be much lower than 122 kJ/mol. The rate-limiting mechanism for the decomposition of LiOH structures with reduced activation energy barriers is consistent with a unimolecular nucleation model. We attribute the lowering of the activation energy barrier for the LiOH decomposition to the existence of sub-stoichiometric Li(OH)x with x LiOH · H 2 O formation is observed. The release of H2O molecules from LiOH · H 2 O structure has small activation energy barriers in the range of 48–69 kJ/mol and follows a unimolecular nucleation process. The loosely bonded H2O molecules in the LiOH · H 2 O structure can be easily pumped away at room temperature in a reasonable amount of time. Our experiments also suggest that handling LiD single crystals at an elevated temperature of 340 K or more reduces the growth rate of LiOH and LiOH · H 2 O significantly.