cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chronic cathepsin inhibition by E-64 in Dahl salt-sensitive rats.

Cysteine cathepsins are lysosomal enzymes expressed in the kidneys and other tissues, and are involved in the maturation and breakdown of cellular proteins. They have been shown to be integrally involved in the progression of many cardiovascular and renal diseases. The goal of this study was to determine the involvement of cysteine cathepsins in the development of salt-sensitive hypertension and associated kidney damage. In our experiments, Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rats were fed an 8% high salt NaCl diet and intravenously infused with the irreversible cysteine cathepsin inhibitor E-64 (1 mg/day) or the vehicle (control). Both the control and E-64 infused groups developed significant hypertension and kidney damage, and no difference of the mean arterial pressure and the hypertension-associated albuminuria was observed between the groups. We next tested basal calcium levels in the podocytes of both control and infused groups using confocal calcium imaging. Basal calcium did not differ between the groups, indicative of the lack of a protective or aggravating influence by the cathepsin inhibition. The efficacy of E-64 was tested in Western blotting. Our findings corresponded to the previously reported, E-64 induced increase in cathepsin B and L abundance. We conclude that the inhibition of cysteine cathepsins by E-64 does not have any effects on the blood pressure development and kidney damage, at least under the studied conditions of this model of SS hypertension.
The Deaf Mentoring Survey: A Community Cultural Wealth Framework for Measuring Mentoring Effectiveness with Underrepresented Students

Disabled individuals, women, and individuals from cultural/ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Research has shown that mentoring improves retention for underrepresented individuals. However, existing mentoring surveys were developed to assess the majority population, not underrepresented individuals. We describe the development of a next-generation mentoring survey built upon capital theory and critical race theory. It emphasizes community cultural wealth, thought to be instrumental to the success of individuals from minority communities. Our survey targets relationships between deaf mentees and their research mentors and includes Deaf community cultural wealth. From our results, we identified four segregating factors: Being a Scientist, which incorporated the traditional capitals; Deaf Community Capital; Asking for Accommodations; and Communication Access. Being a Scientist scores did not vary among the mentor and mentee variables that we tested. However, Deaf Community Capital, Asking for Accommodations, and Communication Access were highest when a deaf mentee was paired with a mentor who was either deaf or familiar with the Deaf community, indicating that cultural competency training should improve these aspects of mentoring for deaf mentees. This theoretical framework and survey will be useful for assessing mentoring relationships with deaf students and could be adapted for other underrepresented groups.
Serotonergic transmission at Merkel discs: modulation by exogenously applied chemical messengers and involvement of Ih currents.

The Merkel disc is a main type of tactile end organ consisting of Merkel cells and Aβ-afferent endings that responds to tactile stimulation with slowly adapting type 1 (SA1) afferent impulses. Our recent study has shown that Merkel discs in whisker hair follicles are serotonergic synapses using endogenous serotonin to transmit tactile signals from Merkel cells to Aβ-afferent endings. In the present study, we hypothesize that tactile sensitivity of Merkel discs can be modulated by chemical messengers. We tested this hypothesis by determining whether and how SA1 responses of mouse whisker hair follicles may be affected by exogenously applied chemical messengers. We found that SA1 responses were potentiated by serotonin at low concentration (10 μM) but almost completely occluded by serotonin at high concentration (2 mM). In contrast, SA1 responses were not significantly affected by ATP and its metabolically stable analog α,β-methylene-ATP, glutamate, GABA, and histamine. SA1 responses were also not affected by antagonists for P2X receptors, ionotropic glutamate receptors, and ionotropic GABA and glycine receptors. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings reconfirm the presence of both ionotropic and metabotropic 5-HT receptors on afferent neurons and their terminals innervating whisker hair follicles. All whisker afferent neurons expressed hyperpolarization-activated inward currents (Ih), which are potentiated by serotonin through the activation of metabotropic 5-HT receptors. Taken together, the findings substantiate the serotonergic mechanism of tactile transmission at Merkel discs and identify the involvement of Ih currents in postsynaptic excitatory actions of serotonin. In addition, the findings do not favor any significant involvement of ATP, glutamate, histamine, GABA, or glycine in tactile transmission at the Merkel discs of whisker hair follicles. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Targeted therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with brain metastasis: Overall survival (OS) and safety.

e15517 Background: Brain metastases (b-met) in RCC are associated with poor prognosis and median OS of about 7 months in the pre-targeted therapy (TT) era (Culine, Cancer 1998). The role of TT in t...
Tannic acid prevents angiogenesis in vivo by inhibiting CXCR4/SDF-1 alpha binding in breast cancer cells

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004 51 The migration of cancer cells from the primary tumor to a secondary site is a complex process involving invasion, trafficking, localization, growth and angiogenesis. How tumors are able to grow and create new blood vessels is still unknown. However, new evidence has demonstrated a strong correlation between CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and its ligand stromal cell-derived factor-1 alpha (CXCL12), suggesting that they have a pivotal role in the angiogenesis, migration, and localization of cancer cells. Recent studies have shown that these chemoattractants can regulate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). Blocking the binding of CXCR4 with SDF-1 alpha may inhibit the development of new blood vessels to tumors. Tannic acid, found in nuts, wines, and wood extracts, is a water-soluble polyphenol known to inhibit the proliferation of various cancer cell lines, induce apoptosis, and increase life expectancy in tumor bearing mice. We hypothesized that tannic acid may reduce angiogenesis induced by metastatic breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 (which have been demonstrated to express CXCR4), by inhibiting the binding of CXCR4 with SDF-1 alpha. Dimethyl-cellulose patches containing different concentrations of SDF-1 alpha and tannic acid were added to the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of a chick embryo. Concentrations of tannic acid ranged from 5uM to 25uM and 5x10^5 cells were then placed on top of the each patch and allowed to diffuse. Angiogenesis inhibition was quantified using a novel computer-analyzing program. This program allowed us to count the density percentage, the branching points, and the total length of developing vessels. We report that MDA-MB-231 and dimethyl-cellulose patches on the CAM produced 788.69mm of vessel length, 260 branching points, and 76.08% of vessel density. SDF-1 alpha added to the membrane created 888.05mm, 367 branching points, and 80.78% density. Tannic acid at 25uM reduced angiogenesis to 589.45mm, 163 branching points, and 75.2% density. In MDA-MB-435, 25uM of tannic acid decreased the vessel length by 397.28mm, 275 branching points, and the density percentage by 1.96. Tannic acid has shown to reduce angiogenesis and may be a potential inhibitor of the binding of CXCR4 and SDF-1 alpha. Further research is required to demonstrate the mechanisms of tannic acid inhibition of angiogenesis and to confirm if it inhibits the binding of SDF-1 alpha to CXCR4.
“No Opportunity for Song:” A Slovak Immigrant's Silencing Analyzed through Her Pronoun Choice

I can9t tell the most frightening story I know, because stories are made of words, and once I was without them. I was trekking in Nepal and ended up with amnesia. Later I stumbled into a mission hospital with a bruised jaw. A bad fall? I can9t say. I had no words. No words for this thing that was wrenching and crying, in which “I” - a bundle of terror - seemed trapped. No words for where I began, stopped, or the mud stubble terrace on which I sat. No words to map, no words to define, no words to possess. No words for the blobs of light and shadow shifting or parking before me. No words to rank or relate the garbage - my own memories - blasting against my consciousness, randomly, insistently. Names shouted inside my head - my family, my lover, my own name; places - my hometown in America, the name of the mission hospital I9d eventually find my way to. An eleven-thousand foot mountain rose in front of me. A backpack pulled at my shoulders. A Nepali woman stroked my arm. I had no words to weave any of these into a safety net of story or meaning. All were uncontrollable, unpredictable, stimuli, which somehow, suddenly, had complete, and therefore sinister, power, and struck again and again against - some other thing - me - a thing I couldn9t name or inhabit, for I had no words. I remember this sensation now when I want to know what it must have been like for my immigrant mother when, as an eight-year-old Slovak peasant child, she first arrived in America in 1929.
Reactivity determination using the hybrid transport point kinetics and the area method

Abstract This paper presents an application of the hybrid transport point kinetic (HTPK) technique to the reactivity determination in subcritical reactor configurations. The mathematical model of the HTPK, initially proposed by Picca et al. (2011) to simulate the time-dependent neutron transport, is here extended to incorporate delayed emissions. The classical area method (Sjӧstrand, 1956), developed to invert the point kinetic (PK) model, is then adapted to accommodate the peculiarities of the HTPK approach, to allow its analytical inversion. This novel inverse neutron kinetic methodology is tested on a three-region reactor configuration, showing the interesting performance of the approach based on the HTPK model as compared to the standard area method and highlighting its potential to overcome some of the limitations of the PK-based inversion.
Imaging a seizure model in zebrafish with structured illumination light sheet microscopy

Zebrafish are a promising vertebrate model for elucidating how neural circuits generate behavior under normal and pathological conditions. The Baraban group first demonstrated that zebrafish larvae are valuable for investigating seizure events and can be used as a model for epilepsy in humans. Because of their small size and transparency, zebrafish embryos are ideal for imaging seizure activity using calcium indicators. Light-sheet microscopy is well suited to capturing neural activity in zebrafish because it is capable of optical sectioning, high frame rates, and low excitation intensities. We describe work in our lab to use light-sheet microscopy for high-speed long-time imaging of neural activity in wildtype and mutant zebrafish to better understand the connectivity and activity of inhibitory neural networks when GABAergic signaling is altered in vivo. We show that, with light-sheet microscopy, neural activity can be recorded at 23 frames per second in twocolors for over 10 minutes allowing us to capture rare seizure events in mutants. We have further implemented structured illumination to increase resolution and contrast in the vertical and axial directions during high-speed imaging at an effective frame rate of over 7 frames per second.
Product flows and decision models in Internet fulfillment warehouses

Internet Fulfillment Warehouses (IFWs) present a new operational model in the design and control of warehouses. IFWs operate with new paradigms, specifically, the use of an explosive storage policy...
Enhanced (Na+K)-ATPase activity and expression in mouse brain after chronic ethanol administration.

It is the general hypothesis that the primary mode of action of ethanol is the alteration of membrane structure and function including the conformation of receptors and ion channels essential for neurotransmission and signal transduction. However, the issue of whether ethanol affects (Na+K)-ATPase under physiological conditions remains unsettled. In this study, adult mice were treated with a daily dose of 5 g/kg of ethanol for 28 days. The RNA was isolated from brain and the (Na+K)-ATPase mRNA level was determined using Northern blot analysis. We have found an increased expression of (Na+K)-ATPase α-subunit in the chronically treated alcohol group as compared with that of controls. This result was further substantiated by increased protein phosphorylation as well as increased specific activity of this enzyme in the synaptosomal plasma membrane after chronic ethanol administration. Thus we have demonstrated that ethanol may directly affect (Na+K)-ATPase in vivo, leading to the increased synthesis of this enzyme through adaptive mechanisms.
Design of Wireless Transceivers

The rapid development of wireless communications is not possible without advancement of the wireless transceiver technology. Regardless the wide area network (WAN) or local area network (LAN), wireless transceivers constitute the physical layer of any wireless network. Notwithstanding the hardware progress, algorithms for digital signal processing in wireless transceivers have also experienced major developments in the past two decades. Notables include those for MIMO wireless channels in order to increase the data rate and to satisfy the more stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements. This chapter focuses on signal processing side of the wireless transceiver technology, including channel estimation, equalization, precoding and data or symbol detection which are fundamental to design of wireless transceivers.In this chapter, several wireless systems will be introduced, with emphasis on direct sequence (DS) spread sequence CDMA (code division multiple access) systems and OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplex) modulated systems over fading channels. Optimal algorithms will be presented for zero-forcing channel equalization, precoding, and linear receivers. These algorithms are developed for MIMO channels due to the multiuser nature of the wireless communication system and multiple antenna technology. Finally optimal multiuser symbol detection will be considered jointly with decision feedback. It will be seen that Kalman filtering and LQR control play pivotal roles in developing optimal design algorithms for wireless transceivers.
The Cost to Medicare of Bladder Cancer Care.

Abstract Background Bladder cancer care is costly, including cost to Medicare, but the medical cost associated with bladder cancer patients relative to identical persons without bladder cancer is unknown. Objective To determine incremental bladder cancer cost to Medicare and the impact of diagnosis stage and bladder cancer survival on cost. Design, setting, and participants A case–control study was conducted using 1998–2013 Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results–Medicare data. Controls were propensity score matched for diagnosis year, age, gender, race, and 31 Elixhauser Comorbidity Index values. Three incident cohorts, 1998 (n = 3136), 2003 (n = 7000), and 2008 (n = 7002), were compared. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Survival following diagnosis and Medicare payments (in 2018 dollars) were tabulated, and compared between cases and controls. Results and limitations From 1998 to 2008, bladder cancer patients became older and had more comorbidities at diagnosis, although no stage migration or change in survival occurred. Incremental costs (above those associated with controls) were highest during the 1st year after diagnosis and were higher for distant ($47 533) than for regional ($42 403) or localized ($14 304) cancer. Bladder cancer survival was highly stage dependent. After an initial spike in costs lasting 1–2 yrs, monthly costs dropped in survivors but remained higher than for controls. Long-term survivors in the full sample accrued cumulative Medicare costs of $172 426 over 16 yrs—46% higher than for controls. Limitations include omission of indirect costs and reliance on traditional Medicare. Conclusions While a bladder cancer diagnosis incurs initial high Medicare cost, particularly in patients with advanced cancers, the cumulative costs of bladder cancer in long-term survivors are higher still. Bladder cancer prevention saves Medicare money. However, while early detection, better therapies, and life extension of bladder cancer patients are worthwhile goals, they come at the cost of higher Medicare outlays. Patient summary The lifetime cost of bladder cancer, reflecting surveillance, treatment, and management of complications, is substantial. Since care is ongoing, cost increases with the length of life after diagnosis as well as the severity of initial diagnosis.
Worst of all possible worlds

Mercury and Venus are two of Earth's closest cousins, says Leah Crane. So how did they turn out so hellish?
Parylene-Coated Piezoelectrically-Actuated Silicon Disc Resonators for Liquid-Phase Sensing

In this work a novel surface treatment is applied to thin-film piezoelectric-on-silicon disc resonators that enables liquid phase operation of the resonator while maintaining a high quality factor (Q). By coating the backside and the surrounding trenches of the resonator with Parylene-C, a biocompatible insulation layer is formed that completely avoids the penetration of liquid into small gaps while enabling the surface functionalization for various sensing purposes. The effect of viscous damping on different vibration modes of the disc resonator is investigated and a high order contour mode is identified at 17.2 MHz which exhibits the least drop in the quality factor (Q) when operated in liquid media. A record Q of 440 is measured for this resonance mode in water, corresponding to a ~55% reduction from the Q measured in air. Such high Q values in water facilitate implementation of high resolution liquid-phase mass sensors for biomedical or industrial applications.
Cancer Alternative Medicine and Cancer Prevention Research

Although there are no proven methods to definitively prevent cancer in either conventional medicine or cancer complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), many cancer prevention approaches currently under investigation focus on dietary changes, nutritional supplements, lifestyle modifications (e.g., increasing exercise, decreasing sun exposure), and decreasing environmental exposures, many of which fall into the field of CAM research. Although the field of research on CAM in treatment of diseases, including cancer, has exploded in the past few years, there is a notable lag in the development of research protocols in the area of cancer prevention. Research on treating disease generally progresses through systematic phases of theory development, lab and animal testing, followed by small pilot trials to large population studies (see Chap. 1). However, prevention research may follow a less defined trajectory. Theories of cancer prevention often originate from correlational, longitudinal databases, or observations of populations, national or cultural patterns of diet, or lifestyle that might impact cancer rates.
Effects of Operating Room Size on Surgical Site Infection Following Lumbar Fusion Surgery.

ABSTRACT Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) represent a devastating complication after spine surgery. Many factors have been identified, but the influence of operating room (OR) size on infection rate has not been assessed. Methods: Two thousand five hundred and twenty-three patients who underwent open lumbar spine fusion at a single institution between 2010 and 2016 were included. Patients were dichotomized into large versus small groups based on OR volume. Bivariate logistic regression and a final multivariate model following a multicollinearity check were used to calculate odds of infection for all variables. Results: A total of 63 patients (2.5%) developed SSIs with 46 (73%) in the larger OR group and 17 (27%) in the smaller OR group. The rate of SSIs in larger ORs was 3.02% compared with 1.81% in smaller ORs. Significant parameters impacting SSI in bivariate analysis included an earlier year of surgery, BMI > 30, more comorbidities, more levels decompressed and fused, smoking, and larger OR volumes. Multivariate analysis identified BMI > 30, Elixhauser scores, smoking, and increasing levels decompressed as significant predictors. Topical vancomycin was found to significantly decrease rate of infection in both analyses. Conclusions: OR size (large versus small) was ultimately not a significant predictor of infection related to rates of SSIs, although it did show a clinical trend toward significance, suggesting association. Future prospective analysis is warranted. Level of Evidence: 3.
Clearing prices under margin calls and the short squeeze

In this paper, we propose a clearing model for prices in a financial markets due to margin calls on short sold assets. In doing so, we construct an explicit formulation for the prices that would result immediately following asset purchases and a margin call. The key result of this work is the determination of a threshold short interest ratio which, if exceeded, results in the discontinuity of the clearing prices due to a feedback loop. This model and threshold short interest ratio is then compared with data from early 2021 to consider the observed price movements of GameStop, AMC, and Naked Brand which have been targeted for a short squeeze by retail investors and, prominently, by the online community r/WallStreetBets.
Simple vertex coloring algorithms.

Given a graph $G$ with $n$ vertices and maximum degree $\Delta$, it is known that $G$ admits a vertex coloring with $\Delta + 1$ colors such that no edge of $G$ is monochromatic. This can be seen constructively by a simple greedy algorithm, which runs in time $O(n\Delta)$. Very recently, a sequence of results (e.g., [Assadi et. al. SODA'19, Bera et. al. ICALP'20, Alon Assadi Approx/Random'20]) show randomized algorithms for $(\epsilon + 1)\Delta$-coloring in the query model making $\tilde{O}(n\sqrt{n})$ queries, improving over the greedy strategy on dense graphs. In addition, a lower bound of $\Omega(n\sqrt n)$ for any $O(\Delta)$-coloring is established on general graphs. In this work, we give a simple algorithm for $(1 + \epsilon)\Delta$-coloring. This algorithm makes $O(\epsilon^{-1/2}n\sqrt{n})$ queries, which matches the best existing algorithms as well as the classical lower bound for sufficiently large $\epsilon$. Additionally, it can be readily adapted to a quantum query algorithm making $\tilde{O}(\epsilon^{-1}n^{4/3})$ queries, bypassing the classical lower bound. Complementary to these algorithmic results, we show a quantum lower bound of $\Omega(n)$ for $O(\Delta)$-coloring.
Mechanical characterisation and optimisation of stir casting parameters for Al 6063/Al2O3 (alumina) reinforced metal matrix composites

The present study focused on the mechanical properties of stir cast Al 6063/Al2O3 (alumina) reinforced metal matrix composites. Aluminum-alumina composites are used in various industries including fabrication, aerospace, automobile sectors, etc. The properties like corrosion resistance, low density, and high modulus of elasticity, higher thermal, and electrical conductivity make them the best choice for its applications in various industries (Prasad, 2004). The present work focus on the hardness of Al 6063/Al2O3 (alumina) reinforced metal matrix composites by varying the percentage of the reinforced element alumina in the base matrix alloy Al 6063, stirring speed and stirring time (Kok, 2005). The thickness of the sample was taken 10 mm, width 30 mm and length 100 mm. Nine samples were prepared by varying the percentage of alumina 2%, 4%, 6% (wt %), stirring speed of 800, 1000 and 1200 (Rpm) and stirring time of 5, 10, 15 (minutes). In this experiment work various works has been reviewed in which lower concentration of alumina was taken to analyse the effect on the response factor, that's why lower even concentration of alumina was taken. It was shown from the experiment that the hardness value increases with the increase in reinforcement percentage but after that, there was a decrease in hardness value.
Interfacial toughening with self-assembled monolayers enhances perovskite solar cell reliability

Iodine-terminated self-assembled monolayer (I-SAM) was used in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to achieve a 50% increase of adhesion toughness at the interface between the electron transport layer (ETL) and the halide perovskite thin film to enhance mechanical reliability. Treatment with I-SAM also increased the power conversion efficiency from 20.2% to 21.4%, reduced hysteresis, and improved operational stability with a projected T80 (time to 80% initial efficiency retained) increasing from ~700 hours to 4000 hours under 1-sun illumination and with continuous maximum power point tracking. Operational stability-tested PSC without SAMs revealed extensive irreversible morphological degradation at the ETL/perovskite interface, including voids formation and delamination, whereas PSCs with I-SAM exhibited minimal damage accumulation. This difference was attributed to a combination of a decrease in hydroxyl groups at the interface and the higher interfacial toughness.
Extra Time Is A Virtue: How Standardized Testing Accommodations After College Throw Students with Disabilities Under the Bus

This Article explores the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and how these key pieces of legislation interact with high-stakes, standardized testing in postgraduate education, beginning with how the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act utilize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as a guideline and a supplement to help students with disabilities of all ages. The Article further explains the de-escalation of annotated standardized test scores (known as “flagging”) across all educational levels, and provides a critical view of Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Law School Admissions Council, Inc., which is the largest disability discrimination settlement pertaining to high-stakes standardized testing.
Adipogenic Differentiation Alters Properties of Vascularized Tissue-Engineered Skeletal Muscle.

Abstract Advances in the engineering of comprehensive skeletal muscle models in vitro will improve drug screening platforms and can lead to better therapeutic approaches for the treatment of skelet...
Radiologically Occult Lung Cancer Curatively Treated with High-Dose Rate Endobronchial Brachytherapy.

Most patients diagnosed with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be easily cured with surgery or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Modalities such as photodynamic therapy, cryotherapy, or laser therapy only offer temporary palliation. A 79-year-old gentleman with early-stage NSCLC who underwent a left lower lobe lobectomy in 2009 presented to us again in 2010 with hemoptysis. A friable ~5 cm tumor along the bifurcation of anterior and the posterior segment of the right upper lobe was noted on bronchoscopic examination, and biopsy confirmed this to be squamous cell carcinoma. Because of his previous surgery, the patient was not a candidate for another surgery. SBRT was not possible as the lesion could not be seen on radiologic imaging. The patient was, therefore, treated with curative intent high-dose rate endobronchial brachytherapy (HDR-EBBT) in 4 weekly sessions of 7 Gy per fraction delivered at a depth of 8 mm, covering ~5 cm tumor plus 1 cm margin proximally and distally. He tolerated the treatment well without any acute or late side effects and was followed every 3 months thereafter with bronchoscopy examinations for 6 months and subsequently with computerized tomography (CT) imaging. In July 2018, the patient started having episodes of hemoptysis and evaluation leads to diagnosis of a third primary lung cancer, which was successfully treated with SBRT with image-guided radiotherapy using a five-fraction regimen. The patient’s most recent CT from July 2019 showed no evidence of disease. We conclude that in patients with early-stage NSCLC, when surgery or SBRT is not feasible due to radiologic occult nature, HDR-EBBT can yield excellent long-term outcome.
Current Harmonics Dead Time Design Method to Achieve ZVS with Non-Linear Output Capacitance

A novel current harmonic dead time design method is presented to guarantee zero-volt switching (ZVS) of a resonant LCCL network, regardless of loading condition, accounting for non-linear characteristics of the parasitic output capacitance. Dead time voltage modeling is omitted; an upper bound on necessary dead time to achieve ZVS is instead developed with a charge-based approach to modeling parasitic capacitance. The harmonic dead time design method is shown to conservatively estimate the necessary dead time, using only the harmonics created by all full-bridge inverters. The calculated dead time criterion is shown to be conservative for many loading conditions. Considerations are made for a mistuned systems and parasitic effects. Simulation validation of the design method is presented. A full hardware test also demonstrates the validity of the design technique. The harmonic design method can be applied to nearly any LCCL resonant converter designs to guarantee ZVS at all load conditions.
Determination of cooling air mass flow for a horizontally-opposed aircraft engine installation

The relationship between the amount of cooling air flow and the corresponding flow pressure difference across an aircraft engine was investigated in flight and on the ground. The flight test results were consistent with theory, but indicated a significant installation leakage problem. A ground test blower system was used to identify and reduce the leakage. The correlation between ground test cell determined engine orifice characteristics and flight measurements showed good agreement if the engine pressure difference was based on total pressure rather than static pressure.
Ten Years of Lithium Transport Research

The occasion of an international symposium on the subject of lithium transport appropriately calls for a short review of some of the history behind this area of research. We are fortunate to have represented in this symposium a number of researchers from Europe and the United States, all of whom have been working for several years in this particular area of biological psychiatry. The communication that symposiums such as this provide for those of us working in this area will hopefully accelerate progress in understanding the relevance of lithium transport to the clinical practice of psychiatry. But first, a short review of the last ten years of lithium transport research. This will be a personal view of things reflecting primarily those events which have most influenced my own research directions.
Telomere dysfunction in peripheral lymphocytes as a predisposition factor for renal cancer

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 4990 Genetic integrity is maintained, in part, by the architecture of telomeres. By capping the ends of chromosomes, telomeres prevent nucleolytic degradation, end-to-end fusion, and irregular recombination. Telomere shortening might lead to chromosomal instability. We previously developed a laser scanning cytometry based quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization assay (Q-FISHLSC) to assess telomere length in individual cells and showed that telomeres in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) were significantly shorter in patients with tobacco-related cancers than in matched controls. In this study, we aim to further refine this assay, expand our kidney cancer study and extend our analysis to subpopulations of lymphocytes. We cultured PBLs in the presence of phytohemagglutinin to expand T cell population and then isolated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells using a conventional immunomagnetic separation method. We modified our Q-FISHLSC assay, incorporated 9 internal controls to normalize telomere length, and applied to a case-control study with 65 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients and 65 age (±1 year), sex, and ethnicity matched controls. We found that the telomere length was significantly shorter in cases than in controls. The normalized telomere length in cases and controls was 0.84 ± 0.15 vs. 0.95 ± 0.18 for CD4+ cells (P=0.001); 0.80 ± 0.21 vs. 0.95 ± 0.22 for CD8+ cells (P<0.001); and 0.88 ± 0.25 vs. 0.99 ± 0.22 for overall PBLs (P=0.011). There was no significant difference between the telomere length of CD4+ and that of CD8+ T cells either in controls (P=0.15) or in cases (P=0.85). After adjusted by age, sex, ethnicity, and smoking status and using the 75th percentile of telomere length in the controls as a cutoff point, the short telomeres in CD4+ T cells was associated with a significantly increased risk for RCC (OR=3.08, 95% CI= 1.14-8.34). After stratifying by the quartiles of the telomere length distribution in the controls, a dose response association between telomere length and RCC risk was discovered. Compared to individuals with the highest quartile of telomere length, the ORs for those with the 3rd quartile, 2nd quartile and the lowest quartile were 1.81 (95% CI 0.54-6.08), 2.15 (95% CI 0.67-6.91) and 5.41 (95% CI 1.78-16.4), respectively (P for trend <0.01). Similar trends were observed in CD8+ T cells and overall PBLs. Our data further strengthened the hypothesis that telomere shortening is a genetic predisposing factor for cancer, but not due to different subpopulations of immune cells resulting from differential clonal expansion. Incorporating sufficient internal controls to normalize the telomere length enhanced the reproducibility of Q-FISHLSC assay. Supported by grants CA98897 and CA85576 .
Distributed processing in support of an imaging project

This paper describes the results of a distributed processing system implemented as part of a research project under the guidance of Dr. Peter Cooper, chair of the Department of Computer Science at Sam Houston State University.The project involves the development of a mechanism for delivering "near real-time" 3D, manipulable, medical images to low-end computing systems. The initial implementation is one in which MRI data is processed into a small number of clusters, each representing a specific tissue type and then each cluster being structured as a vector of tiles that can then be transmitted to the client and represented on the screen. The statistical techniques used to cluster the data are beyond the scope of this paper, which is primarily concerned with managing the computing resources.A system for processing a large amount of image data was required that did not involve purchasing high-end equipment. By using distributed computing techniques to distribute the processing of the image data, an economical and readily available resource was provided. Processing the data closer to real-time can be achieved as this system is improved and developed further. From this system, it can be expected to greatly improve the efficiency and reduce the time involved for solving large problems.
Studies of Membrane Formation in Tetrahymena pyriformis THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF PROTEINS AND THEIR ASSEMBLY INTO MEMBRANES OF GROWING CELLS

Abstract An experimental system has been developed to analyze the synthesis and intracellular deployment of proteins in growing cells of Tetrahymena pyriformis. There are marked differences in the rates at which radioactive proteins appear in various parts of the cell, including certain membranes, following [3H]leucine pulse-chase labeling experiments. Proteins labeled during a 5-min exposure to the isotope require approximately 2 hours for intracellular dissemination. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that all individual proteins of a particular cell fraction accumulate radioactivity at equivalent rates, except in the case of cilia. Further subfractionation of purified cilia yielded three components: matrix, axonemes, and membranes. The latter fraction was found to have a relatively simple protein composition involving only four major constituents. The matrix fraction, which had the highest specific radioactivity immediately following the 3H pulse, appeared to contain new proteins being conveyed to membranes and axonemes. By 2 hours following the chase, all three subfractions of the cilia had nearly equivalent specific radioactivities. Radioactive membrane lipids also seem to be transported into cilia via the matrix fraction. However, ciliary membrane lipids accumulate radioactivity more slowly than do the membrane proteins, apparently because of the tendency for radioactive lipids to exchange with pre-existing lipid molecules of membranes encountered during the first stages of intracellular transport. Other major differences in rates of lipid and protein labeling qualify Tetrahymena as a potentially rewarding model system for studying the process of membrane assembly.
Multicolor Photometry for Mode Identification

The goal of asteroseismology is to discern the physical conditions of stars by comparing observed pulsations with models.To obtain this goal, the observed pulsation periods and the spherical harmonics (n, l, and m) need to match the theoretical model.Typically the most difficult part in this process is the identification of the pulsation modes in the observations.Multicolour photometry is one method that has proven useful for identifying pulsation modes.By observing stars through various wavebands, and comparing the amplitudes and phases, it is possible to determine the spherical harmonics.This contribution will emphasize the work of Watson (1988), which has since been applied to many different types of variable stars including δ Scuti (Garrido et al., 1990), γ Doradus (Breger et al., 1997), β Cepheid (Cugier et al., 1994), and EC 14026 (Koen, 1998) stars. I will also discuss the technique of summing spectra (especially UV) into various wavebands which are then used to identify modes as pioneered by Robinson, Kepler, and Nather (1982) and applied to white dwarf stars (Kepler et al., 2000).
Crystallographic Polarity of WC

The hexagonal crystal structure of WC is non-centro-symmetric, resulting in polar character of crystal faces of the {100} type. One consequence of this is the formation of triangular-prism crystals bounded by {100} faces. A number of simple experimental methods have been investigated for revealing the polar behavior of WC, similar to the extensive studies by others on AIII-BV and AIII-BVI compounds. The experiments include K2CO3 electrolytic etching, contact angles of liquid drops, and microhardness. These results are discussed in terms of the crystal structure and bonding of WC.
Autonomy, Slavery, and Mill's Critique of Paternalism

Critics have charged that John Stuart Mill's discussion as of paternalism in On Liberty is internally inconsistent, noting, for example, the numerous instances in which Mill explicitly endorses examples of paternalistic coercion. Similarly, commentators have noted an apparent contradiction between Mill's political liberalism – according to which the state should be neutral among competing conceptions of the good – and Mill's condemnation of non-autonomous ways of life, such as that of a servile wife. More generally, critics have argued that while Mill professes an allegiance to utilitarianism, he actually abandons it in favor of a view that values personal autonomy as the greatest intrinsic good. This paper presents an interpretation of Mill that provides a viable and consistent treatment of paternalism, thereby refuting each of the aforementioned critiques. Mill's views, it argues, are consistently utilitarian. Moreover, the interpretation accounts for all of Mill's departures from his otherwise blanket prohibition of paternalistic legislation. In particular, it explains his most notorious example, the condemnation of voluntary contracts for slavery. The interpretation emphasizes Mill's conceptual linkage between autonomy and utility, noting his implicit use of at least three different senses of the notion of autonomy.
Kinetics of the reaction of oxygen with clean nickel single crystal surfaces: I. Ni(100) surface

Abstract The initial stages of the interaction of oxygen gas with a clean Ni (100) surface have been studied by a combination of LEED, AES, work function change and ion bombardment sectioning techniques. The reaction could be divided into three reaction regions: a fast dissociative chemisorption leading to surface structures based on the initial nickel interatomic spacing and resulting in an oxygen coverage of approximately 0.4 monolayers; a rapid oxidation leading to epitaxial NiO, two layers thick ; and a final slow thickening of bulk NiO. The first two regions were dependent only upon oxygen exposure. The third region was observed only at high gas-phase oxygen pressures or very low surface temperatures. Kinetics analyses are developed to explain the rate of oxygen chemisorption and the rate of oxide nucleation and growth.
Real-time detection of moving objects from moving vehicles using dense stereo and optical flow

Dynamic scene perception is very important for autonomous vehicles operating around other moving vehicles and humans. Most work on real-time camera based object tracking from moving platforms has used sparse features or assumed flat scene structures. We have recently extended a real-time, dense stereo system to include real-time, dense optical flow, enabling more comprehensive dynamic scene analysis. We describe algorithms to robustly estimate 6-DOF robot egomotion in the presence of moving objects using dense flow and dense stereo. We then use dense stereo and egomotion estimates to identify other moving objects while the robot itself is moving. We present results showing accurate egomotion estimation and detection of moving people and vehicles under general 6-DOF motion of the robot and independently moving objects. The system runs at 18.3 Hz on a 1.4 GHz Pentium M laptop, computing 160/spl times/120 disparity maps and optical flow fields, egomotion, and moving object segmentation. We believe this is a significant step toward general unconstrained dynamic scene analysis for mobile robots, as well as for improved position estimation where GPS is unavailable.
Detection of human papillomavirus DNA in feline premalignant and invasive squamous cell carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common malignant cutaneous and oral neoplasm of cats. Papillomavirus (PV) DNA has been identified in a proportion of feline Bowenoid in situ carcinomas (BISCs), cutaneous SCCs and a single oral SCC, but its exact role in the pathogenesis remains unknown. In humans, it has been suggested that ultraviolet (UV) light and human PV (HPV) may act as cofactors in cutaneous SCC carcinogenesis. Little is known about the influence of UV light on PV prevalence in feline cutaneous lesions, including actinic keratosis (AK). Additionally, PV prevalence in noncutaneous feline lesions, including oral SCC, is largely not known. This study aimed to determine the presence of PV in 84 cats with premalignant and invasive SCC from cutaneous and noncutaneous sites using polymerase chain reaction and to investigate an association with UV light. Papillomaviral DNA was amplified from two of 12 cases of AK, seven of 22 BISCs, nine of 39 cutaneous SCCs and two of 35 non-cutaneous SCCs. Of the PV DNA sequenced, 50% was most similar to HPV of the genus Betapapillomavirus, while the other 50% was most similar to Felis domesticus PV type 2. Exposure to UV was not associated with an increase in PV for cutaneous SCC. The results of this study suggest that in the cat, HPV DNA may be detectible within a higher percentage of squamous lesions than previously demonstrated, UV exposure may not be a confounder for PV presence, and noncutaneous lesions may have a low prevalence of PV.
VerroTouch: high-frequency acceleration feedback for telerobotic surgery

The Intuitive da Vinci system enables surgeons to see and manipulate structures deep within the body via tiny incisions. Though the robotic tools mimic one's hand motions, surgeons cannot feel what the tools are touching, a striking contrast to non-robotic techniques. We have developed a new method for partially restoring this lost sense of touch. Our VerroTouch system measures the vibrations caused by tool contact and immediately recreates them on the master handles for the surgeon to feel. This augmentation enables the surgeon to feel the texture of rough surfaces, the start and end of contact with manipulated objects, and other important tactile events. While it does not provide low frequency forces, we believe vibrotactile feedback will be highly useful for surgical task execution, a hypothesis we we will test in future work.
Autonomous Local Control and Stability Analysis of Multiterminal DC Systems

A new approach to local control and system stability analysis of dc power systems having multiple sending and/or receiving terminals is presented. The terminals are classified as voltage-source (VS) and current-source (CS) terminals. A VS terminal has a filter capacitor in parallel with its dc interconnect ports and appears as a VS to the dc network, while a CS terminal has a filter inductor in series with its dc ports and appears as a CS to the dc network. A local controller regulates the current behind the capacitor in a VS terminal and the voltage behind the inductor in a CS terminal. Such local controls are designed based on local operation objectives and stability requirements of individual terminals. The capacitor voltages at VS terminals and inductor currents at CS terminals are not directly controlled, but are determined by the network topology and system dynamics. Supervisory system controls may be incorporated to influence VS terminal voltage and CS terminal current responses by changing local control set points. Different local control methods and their effects on system stability are presented for various network topologies. Small-signal methods to assess system stability are also discussed. An offshore wind farm with series-dc collection and high-voltage dc transmission is used as an example to demonstrate the proposed methods.
Epstein-Barr virus enters B cells and epithelial cells by different routes

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects two cell types, B lymphocytes and epithelial cells. Electron microscopic studies have shown that the virus fuses with the lymphoblastoid cell line Raji but is endocytosed into thin-walled non-clathrin-coated vesicles in normal B cells before fusion takes place. To compare early interactions of EBV with epithelial cells and B cells, a fluorescence dequenching assay of fusion was employed, using virus labeled either with the pH-insensitive probe octadecyl rhodamine B chloride (R18) or with 5(N-octadecanoyl) aminofluorescein (AF), which loses emission intensity at a pH below 7.4. Fusion of virus labeled with R18 could be monitored with B cells, Raji cells, and epithelial cells. Lowering the extracellular pH or pretreatment of cells with ammonium chloride or methylamine had no effect on these measurements. In contrast, fusion of virus labeled with AF could be measured with Raji cells and epithelial cells, but not with normal B cells unless cells were previously treated with ammonium chloride. Fusion of virus with normal B cells was inhibited with chlorpromazine, chloroquine, and sodium azide, but none of these reagents had any effect on fusion with Raji or epithelial cells. These results suggest that entry of EBV into nonpolarized suspensions of epithelial cells occurs by fusion at the cell surface, that EBV may be incapable of fusing with normal B cells unless it has first been endocytosed, and that pH appears to be irrelevant to either event. A combination of the two probes, R18 and AF, may have general use for determining the sites of entry of enveloped viruses that fuse in a pH-independent manner.