cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimization of Aerospace Re-Entry Vehicle Trajectories through Independent Control of Lift and Drag

Equations of motion are written for a lifting manned space vehicle re-entering the atmosphere with means for independent control of lift and drag coefficients. A performance criterion is given as a weighted function of vehicle heating and deceleration experienced by the astronauts. Pontryagin's maximum principle is applied to optimize this performance criterion for the vehicle re-entering at orbital velocity and for no constraints on the terminal end of the trajectory. An iterative technique employing sensitivity functions is derived for solving the two-point boundary value problem. Computational problems encountered in employing the method are discussed, including nonlinearity of perturbations and extreme sensitivity to integration errors. Sample optimum re-entry trajectories obtained using the method are presented. It is shown that the lift and drag required by this method of vehicle optimization are physically realizable.
Macrophages Promote Cyst Growth in Polycystic Kidney Disease

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) exhibits an inflammatory component, but the contribution of inflammation to cyst progression is unknown. Macrophages promote the proliferation of tubular cells following ischemic injury, suggesting that they may have a role in cystogenesis. Furthermore, cultured Pkd1-deficient cells express the macrophage chemoattractants Mcp1 and Cxcl16 and stimulate macrophage migration. Here, in orthologous models of both PKD1 and PKD2, abnormally large numbers of alternatively activated macrophages surrounded the cysts. To determine whether pericystic macrophages contribute to the proliferation of cyst-lining cells, we depleted phagocytic cells from Pkd1fl/fl;Pkhd1-Cre mice by treating with liposomal clodronate from postnatal day 10 until day 24. Compared with vehicle-treated controls, macrophage-depleted mice had a significantly lower cystic index, reduced proliferation of cyst-lining cells, better-preserved renal parenchyma, and improved renal function. In conclusion, these data suggest that macrophages home to cystic areas and contribute to cyst growth. Interruption of these homing and proliferative signals could have therapeutic potential for PKD.
Short- and long-term sunlight radiation and stroke incidence

Objective: Examine whether long- and short-term sunlight radiation is related to stroke incidence. Methods: Fifteen-year residential histories merged with satellite, ground monitor, and model reanalysis data were used to determine sunlight radiation (insolation) and temperature exposure for a cohort of 16,606 stroke and coronary artery disease-free black and white participants aged � 45 years from the 48 contiguous United States. Fifteen-, 10-, 5-, 2-, and 1-year exposures were used to predict stroke incidence during follow-up in Cox proportional hazard models. Potential confounders and mediators were included during model building. Results: Shorter exposure periods exhibited similar, but slightly stronger relationships than longer exposure periods. After adjustment for other covariates, the previous year’s monthly average insolation exposure below the median gave a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.61 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15–2.26), and the previous year’s highest compared to the second highest quartile of monthly average maximum temperature exposure gave an HR of 1.92 (95%, 1.27–2.92). Interpretation: These results indicate a relationship between lower levels of sunlight radiation and higher stroke incidence. The biological pathway of this relationship is not clear. Future research will show whether this finding stands, the pathway for this relationship, and whether it is due to short- or long-term exposures. ANN NEUROL 2012;00:000–000
Supernormal Excitability and Conduction in the His-Purkinje System of the Dog

The electrophysiological characteristics of the period of supernormal excitability and supernormal conduction were investigated in the isolated canine His-Purkinje system. Strength-interval curves were determined as the minimum transmembrane current required to bring the impaled fiber to threshold potential following a conducted action potential. During the period of supernormal excitability, 17.0 ± 4.6% (SD) less current than that required during diastole was needed to reexcite fibers throughout the left and right bundle branch-Purkinje system. A period of supernormal excitability was not found in the His bundle proximal to its pseudobifurcation or in ventricular muscle. The period of supernormal excitability was voltage dependent in the bundle branch-Purkinje system; it began during phase 3 at full repolarization (88.8 ± 5.6 [SD] mv) and reached minimum current requirements at about 74.3 ± 5.8 mv. Action potentials evoked during this period were conducted faster than they were during diastole. The maxim...
A fixed dose combination of ibuprofen and famotidine

The NSAID class of medications is frequently used for mild to moderate pain. While overall safe, NSAIDs have several important adverse effects including esophageal, gastric and duodenal ulceration which limit their use. This has led to the development of NSAIDs with either less gastrointestinal side effects or concurrent use of medications to prevent NSAID gastrointestinal side effects. While several classes of medications exist for the prevention of gastrointestinal side effects, few combination treatments are available in a single pill. Towards this end, a combination pill of ibuprofen and famotidine (HZT-501, Horizon Therapeutics, Skokie, IL. USA) has been developed.
In vitro effects of prolactin and cortisol on water permeability of the urinary bladder of the teleost Gillichthys mirabilis

Urinary bladders of the euryhaline teleost Gillichthys mirabilis were maintained in organ culture under defined conditions for four days. Examination of bladders cultured in medium containing cortisol or prolactin or both hormones indicates that cortisol increases bladder water permeability and that prolactin antagonizes the cortisol effect, causing a reduction in water permeability. Bladders co-cultured with teleost pituitaries or with teleost rostral pars distalis is show a pronounced reduction in osmotic permeability. The effects of prolactin and cortisol in vivo appear to be reproducible in vitro.
The structure and spectra of organic peroxy radicals

Recent spectroscopic and computational work on organic peroxy radicals, RO2, is reviewed and extended with an emphasis on radicals where R is an alkyl group. Detailed experimental spectral, structural relationships are developed and show the dependence of spectral properties on the number of carbon atoms in the radical, and its isomeric and conformeric structure. These empirical relationships are explored and rationalized with the help of a series of quantum chemistry calculations, which are in turn benchmarked by the experimental data. The application of the spectra as a diagnostic for sensitive and selective measurement of radical concentrations for different RO2 species in an isomer- and conformer-specific manner is described. Future areas of research including investigation of additional peroxy species and high resolution spectra of cold radicals are discussed.
The effect of starch on forage fiber digestion kinetics in vitro.

Abstract Purified corn and wheat starch were added to alfalfa, Coastal bermudagrass, fescue, and orchardgrass hays at 0, 40, 60, and 80% of the total as-fed substrate, and fiber digestion kinetics were determined in vitro. Kinetics were estimated by the model R=D O e −k(t−L) + U where R is residue remaining at time t, D O is digestible fraction, k is digestion rate constant, L is discrete lag time, and U is indigestible fraction. Parameters of the model were estimated by logarithmic transformation and a direct nonlinear least squares procedure. Corn and wheat starch did not differ in their effect upon lag time of fiber digestion, digestion rate, or potential extent of digestion. Alfalfa had a shorter lag time of fiber digestion (.86h) than Coastal bermudagrass (3.05h), but not than orchardgrass or fescue (1.66 and 2.42h). Orchardgrass differed in fiber digestion rate (.0542h −1 ) from Coastal bermudagrass (.0698h −1 ) but not from alfalfa or fescue (.0670 and .0658h −1 ). The potential extent of fiber digestion was similar for fescue (75.8%) and orchardgrass (76.0%). The potential extent of fiber digestion for alfalfa (50.9%) differed from Coastal bermudagrass (64.3%), and both of these forages differed from fescue or orchardgrass. Addition of starch resulted in a linear increase in lag time of fiber digestion, but digestion rate was not affected. Potential extent of digestion was decreased when starch was added.
A revised dated phylogeny of the arachnid order Opiliones.

Dating the Opiliones tree of life has become an important enterprise for this group of arthropods, due to their ancient origins and important biogeographic implications. To incorporate both methodological innovations in molecular dating as well as new systematic discoveries of harvestman diversity, we conducted total evidence dating on a data set uniting morphological and/or molecular sequence data for 47 Opiliones species, including all four well-known Palaeozoic fossils, to test the placement of both fossils and newly discovered lineages in a single analysis. Furthermore, we investigated node dating with a phylogenomic data set of 24,202 amino acid sites for 14 species of Opiliones, sampling all extant suborders. In this way, we approached molecular dating of basal harvestman phylogeny using different data sets and approaches to assess congruence of divergence time estimates. In spite of the markedly different composition of data sets, our results show congruence across all analyses for age estimates of basal nodes that are well constrained with respect to fossil calibrations (e.g., Opiliones, Palpatores). By contrast, derived nodes that lack fossil calibrations (e.g., the suborders Cyphophthalmi and Laniatores) have large uncertainty intervals in diversification times, particularly in the total evidence dating analysis, reflecting the dearth of calibration points and undersampling of derived lineages. Total evidence dating consistently produced older median ages than node dating for ingroup nodes, due to the nested placement of multiple Palaeozoic fossils. Our analyses support basal diversification of Opiliones in the Ordovician-Devonian period, corroborating the inferred ancient origins of this arthropod suborder, and underscore the importance of diversity discovery—both paleontological and neontological—in evolutionary inference.
Distribution of immunochemically defined apoB-containing lipoprotein subclasses in T1D

Abstract Objective Young women with T1D develop CHD without any apparent lipid related risk factor. To determine whether abnormalities in the five immunochemically defined apoB-containing lipoprotein subclasses might influence this risk, we have measured these subclasses in T1D subjects. Research design and methods ApoA- and B-containing lipoprotein subclasses were isolated immunochemically and quantitated in 37 young (mean age 31.8 ± 12.7 years) otherwise healthy subjects (16 males; 21 females) with T1D (HbA1c = 8.2 ± 1.7%) treated conventionally with subcutaneous insulin. Results T1D women had significantly more cholesterol-rich Lp-B particles (T1D: 55.9 ± 4.5 vs. control 46.8 ± 11.1 mg apoB/dL; p p r = 0.60; p r = 0.69; p Conclusions Women with T1D have a disturbance in the transport of Lp-B particles manifested by both an absolute and relative increase in their number that may result from portal hypoinsulinemia and reduced LDL B,E receptor activity. This pathway may enhance CHD risk in T1D women when of LDL and apoB levels are normal.
Are there racial disparities in utilization and outcomes after total elbow arthroplasty

The aim of the study was to assess racial disparities in utilization rates and outcomes after primary total elbow arthroplasty (TEA). We used the National Inpatient Sample from 1998 to 2010, a US national database. Patient characteristics, comorbidity and outcomes after TEA were assessed over time and differences by race studied over the study period. Cochran-Armitage test was used for time trends and logistic regression for the comparison of outcomes by race. In 1998, TEA utilization rate was 0.38/100,000 in Whites and 0.24/100,000 in Blacks (p = 0.002); in 2010, it was 0.91 and 0.59/100,000, respectively (p < 0.0001). White-Black disparity in TEA utilization was significant across 13 years (p = 0.03). Compared with White patients, Black patients undergoing TEA were younger (61.9 vs. 52 years; p < 0.0001), less likely to be female (70.6 vs. 61.4 %; p = 0.0007) and more likely to have rheumatoid arthritis as the underlying diagnosis (13.0 vs. 17.2 %; p = 0.036). Mortality was rare, 0.26 % in Blacks and 0.32 % in Whites (p = 0.83). Discharge to an inpatient facility was higher in White versus Black patients in unadjusted analyses (16.8 vs. 10.4 %; p = 0.003), but in analyses adjusted for age, sex, Deyo-Charlson index and the underlying diagnosis, the differences were no longer significant (p = 0.79). The length of hospital stay greater than the median stay was noted in 29.8 % Whites versus 31.2 % Blacks, respectively (p = 0.61). There was no evidence of White-Black disparity in hospital length of stay in 1998-2000 (p = 0.66) or 2009-2010 (p = 0.59) periods. In this study, we found persisting racial disparities in TEA utilization rates. No White-Black disparities were noted in TEA outcomes, except slight differences in discharge disposition.
A Shift Towards Iterative and Open-Source Design for Musical Interfaces

The aim of this paper is to define the process of iterative interface design as it pertains to musical performance. Embodying this design approach, the Monome OSC/MIDI USB controller represents a minimalist, open-source hardware device. The open-source nature of the device has allowed for a small group of Monome users to modify the hardware, firmware, and software associated with the interface. These user driven modifications have allowed the re-imagining of the interface for new and novel purposes, beyond even that of the device’s original intentions. With development being driven by a community of users, a device can become several related but unique generations of musical controllers, each one focused on a specific set of needs.
Phylogeography of the pitviper clade Agkistrodon: historical ecology, species status, and conservation of cantils.

We used mitochondrial DNA sequences from three gene regions and two tRNAs (ND4, tRNA-HIS-SER, 12S, and 16S rDNA) to investigate the historical ecology of the New World pitviper clade Agkistrodon , with emphasis on the disjunct subspecies of the cantil, A. bilineatus . We found strong evidence that the copperhead ( A. contortrix ) is basal to its congeners, and that the cottonmouth ( A. piscivorus ) is basal to cantils. Phylogeography and natural history of the living terminal taxa imply that Agkistrodon primitively occupied relatively temperate habitats, with subsequent evolution of tropicality in ancestral A. bilineatus . Our best supported phylogeny rejects three gulf arc scenarios for the biogeography of A. bilineatus . We find significant statistical support for an initial divergence between populations on the east and west coasts of Mexico and subsequent occupancy of the Yucatan Peninsula, by way of subhumid corridors in northern Central America. Based on phylogenetic relationships, morphological and molecular divergence, and allopatry we elevate A. b. taylori of northeastern Mexico to species status. Taylor’s cantil is likely threatened by habitat destruction and small geographical range, and we offer recommendations for its conservation and management.
Fitness versus physical activity patterns in predicting mortality in men

Purpose To compare the contributions of fitness level and physical activity patterns to all-cause mortality. Methods Of 6213 men referred for exercise testing between 1987 and 2000, 842 underwent an assessment of adulthood activity patterns. The predictive power of exercise capacity and activity patterns, along with clinical and exercise test data, were assessed for all-cause mortality during a mean (±SD) follow-up of 5.5 ± 2 years. Results Expressing the data by age-adjusted quartiles, exercise capacity was a stronger predictor of mortality than was activity pattern (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38 to 0.83; P P P = 0.002) were the only significant predictors of mortality; these two variables were stronger predictors than established risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Age-adjusted mortality decreased per quartile increase in exercise capacity (HR for very low capacity=1.0; HR for low=0.59; HR for moderate=0.46; HR for high=0.28; P P Conclusion Exercise capacity determined from exercise testing and energy expenditure from weekly activity outperform other clinical and exercise test variables in predicting all-cause mortality.
Progressive image transmission over space-time coded OFDM-based MIMO systems with adaptive modulation

This paper considers a progressive image transmission system over wireless channels by combining joint source-channel coding (JSCC), space-time coding, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). The BER performance of the space-time coded OFDM-based MIMO system based on a newly built broadband MIMO fading model is first evaluated by assuming perfect channel state information at the receiver for coherent detection. Then, for a given average SNR (hence, BER), a fast local search algorithm is applied to optimize the unequal error protection design in JSCC, subjected to fixed total transmitted energy for various constellation sizes. This design allows the measurement of the expected reconstructed image quality. With this end-to-end system performance evaluation, an adaptive modulation scheme is proposed to pick the constellation size that offers the best reconstructed image quality for each average SNR. Simulation results of practical image transmissions confirm the effectiveness of our proposed adaptive modulation scheme
Does Media Violence Predict Societal Violence? It Depends on What You Look at and When

This article presents 2 studies of the association of media violence rates with societal violence rates. In the first study, movie violence and homicide rates are examined across the 20th century and into the 21st (1920–2005). Throughout the mid-20th century small-to-moderate correlational relationships can be observed between movie violence and homicide rates in the United States. This trend reversed in the early and latter 20th century, with movie violence rates inversely related to homicide rates. In the second study, videogame violence consumption is examined against youth violence rates in the previous 2d ecades. Videogame consumption is associated with a decline in youth violence rates. Results suggest that societal consumption of media violence is not predictive of increased societal violence rates.
Combinatorial approximation algorithms for generalized flow problems

Generalized network flow problems generalize normal network flow problems by specifying a flow multiplier ?((v,w)) for each arc (v,w). For every unit of flow entering the arc, ?((v,w)) units of flow exit. We present a strongly polynomial algorithm for a single-source generalized shortest paths problem, using a left-distributive closed semiring. This permits use of a dynamic-programming routine similar to the Bellman?Ford algorithm, given a guess for the value of the optimal solution. Using Megiddo's parametric search scheme, we can compute the optimal value in strongly polynomial time. The algorithm's running time O(mn2logn) matches the previously best known, but the algorithm is simpler, is based on the well-known theory of closed semirings, and directly works with the given graph. All previous polynomial-time algorithms were based on interior-point methods or directly solved the dual problem and translated the solution back to the primal problem. Using this generalized shortest paths algorithm, we present fully polynomial-time approximation schemes for the generalized versions of the maximum flow, the nonnegative-cost minimum-cost flow, the concurrent flow, the multicommodity maximum flow, and the multicommodity nonnegative-cost minimum-cost flow problems with running times independent of the size of the flow multipliers' representation.
Simple solution models applied to virial coefficients

Modele de solution base sur le volume ou la pression selon le facteur de compressibilite choisi. Discussion des lois d'Amagab et de Bartlett
Unbiased estimation of the common mean of a multivariate normal distribution

The problem of unbiased estimation of the common mean of a multivariate normal population is considered. An unbiased estimator is proposed which has a smaller variance than the usual estimator over a large part of the parameter space.
Knee Joint Effusion and Cryotherapy Alter Lower Chain Kinetics and Muscle Activity

Arthrogenic muscle response is an ongoing reflex inhibition or facilitation of joint musculature after distension or damage to structures of the joint. 1 2 A natural response, it is designed to protect the joint from further damage. However, the presence of arthrogenic muscle response creates gait deficiencies 3 and potentially retards the rehabilitation process despite complete muscle integrity. 2 If the affected joint can be protected from further damage, a decrease in arthrogenic muscle response might allow for early active exercise to expedite the rehabilitation process. Early active exercise during rehabilitation after joint injury is essential for decreased healing time, 4 increased structural strength and stiffness of ligaments, 5 increased collagen synthesis in tendons, 6 increased proteoglycan content in articular cartilage, 7 and periosteal expansion of bone tissue. 8 Uninhibited motor recruitment would also help to restore normal movement patterns around the injured joint during active exercise, assisting in the restoration of neuromuscular control and the overall rehabilitation process. Neuromuscular consequences have been examined in an experimentally induced joint effusion model. 3 9–13 Cryotherapy may disinhibit or undo the inhibition of the quadriceps muscle after knee joint effusion. 10 Previous authors 10 have demonstrated that joint cryotherapy after artificial knee joint effusion resulted in disinhibition or facilitation of the quadriceps. In other words, the inhibition due to the knee joint effusion was removed after joint cryotherapy treatment. The measurement used in this study, however, was a resting or involuntary measure of motor recruitment (Hoffmann reflex). During voluntary recruitment, different motor strategies may be used to accomplish closed chain movement. Therefore, the results of disinhibition after joint cooling, as previously reported, 10 may not be generalizable to voluntary contraction and subsequent functional movement. Muscle inhibition and/ or cryotherapy-induced disinhibition could be masked by altered descending volleys, and potential changes to the motoneuron pools of antagonists and/or synergists may have an effect on the overall movement pattern. 10 Essentially, functional movement could be affected by compensation from other joints of the lower chain or by changes in recruitment of other muscle groups crossing the joint. More data are needed to determine if cryotherapy might have beneficial effects on voluntary, closed chain movement after joint injury. My purpose was to quantify muscle recruitment changes and knee joint kinetics during a voluntary, closed chain activity after joint effusion and subsequent joint cryotherapy. This study will provide some evidence as to whether joint cryotherapy restores normal motor function about the knee after joint effusion.
A comparison of finite difference and reflectivity seismograms for marine models

Summary Finite difference and reflectivity synthetic seismograms are compared for laterally homogeneous seafloor models with step and ramp discontinuities in elastic properties. Given suitable numerical parameters in each case excellent agreement can be obtained. For step discontinuities between a liquid and a solid the explicit finite difference formulation of the elastic wave equation for heterogeneous media is unstable. It is necessary to introduce the boundary conditions specifically at the interface and suitable formulations correct to first and second order in the space increment are given. For ramp discontinuities between a liquid and a solid the finite difference formulation for heterogeneous media is stable and agrees with the reflectivity method when, in the latter case, the gradient is approximated by homogeneous layers thinner than one-fifth of the minimum compressional wavelength at the upper half-power frequency. For a step discontinuity between two solids the explicit finite difference formulation of the elastic wave equation for heterogeneous media, although stable, is inaccurate and boundary conditions must again be specifically introduced.
Arc Lengths in Special Relativity

There has lately been an unusual amount of interest in a relativistic phenomenon which has come to be called the clock paradox. It may be simply stated in the following way. If a man were to leave the earth on a powered space ship for an extended trip into space, he would find upon returning to earth that he was younger than he would have been if he had remained on earth.
Modeling virtual channel flow control in hypercubes

An analytical model for virtual channel flow control in n-dimensional hypercubes using the e-cube routing algorithm is developed. The model is based on determining the values of the different components that make up the average message latency. These components include the message transfer time, the blocking delay at each dimension, the multiplexing delay at each dimension, and the waiting delay at the source node. The first two components are determined using a probabilistic analysis. The average degree of multiplexing is determined using a Markov model, and the waiting delay at the source node is determined using an M/M/m queueing system. The model is fairly accurate in predicting the average message latency for different message sizes and a varying number of virtual channels per physical channel. It is demonstrated that wormhole switching along with virtual channel flow control make the average message latency insensitive to the network size when the network is relatively lightly loaded (message arrival rate is equal to 40% of channel capacity), and that the average message latency increases linearly with the average message size. The simplicity and accuracy of the analytical model make it an attractive and effective tool for predicting the behavior of n-dimensional hypercubes. >
Venous thromboembolism after radical cystectomy: Experience with screening ultrasonography.

Objectives To detect the incidence of immediate postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) using screening lower extremity ultrasonography (US) in patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) and to determine the rate of symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE) after RC and identify risk factors for venous thromboembolic (VTE) events in a RC population.
Determination of Diffusion Constants for Metabolites in Multicell Tumor Spheroids

Multicell tumor spheroids (MTS) exhibit many of the characteristics of tumors, including central necrosis, heterogeneities in proliferative status and clonogenic capacity, and subpopulations of radiation and chemotherapeutic resistant cells (Freyer and Sutherland, 1980; Sutherland and Durand, 1976). In tumors, control of most of these parameters appears to be due to low molecular eight nutrients such as oxygen and glucose. Tannock (1976) suggested that loss of proliferative activity was correlated with the oxygen diffusion distance. Low values of oxygen partial pressure in tumors are common (Thews and Vaupel, 1974), as are low pH values (Vaupel et al., 1981). Tumor extracellular fluid has been shown to contain low levels of glucose (Guillino, 1975). Most tumors are very heterogeneous with respect to the local microenvironment (Mueller-Klieser et al., 1980) due to the random structure and chaotic functioning of the vascular system. Thus, it has been proven difficult to establish precisely which nutrient(s) are critical for cellular proliferation and viability in vivo.
Epiregulin is required for lung tumor promotion in a murine two‐stage carcinogenesis model

Adenocarcinoma accounts for ∼40% of lung cancer, equating to ∼88 500 new patients in 2015, most of who will succumb to this disease, thus, the public health burden is evident. Unfortunately, few early biomarkers as well as effective therapies exist, hence the need for novel targets in lung cancer treatment. We previously identified epiregulin (Ereg), an EGF-like ligand, as a biomarker in several mouse lung cancer models. In the present investigation we used a primary two-stage initiation/promotion model to test our hypothesis that Ereg deficiency would reduce lung tumor promotion in mice. We used 3-methylcholanthrene (initiator) or oil vehicle followed by multiple weekly exposures to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT; promoter) in mice lacking Ereg (Ereg-/- ) and wildtype controls (BALB/ByJ; Ereg+/+ ) and examined multiple time points and endpoints (bronchoalveolar lavage analysis, tumor analysis, mRNA expression, ELISA, wound assay) during tumor promotion. At the early time points (4 and 12 wk), we observed significantly reduced amounts of inflammation (macrophages, PMNs) in the Ereg-/- mice compared to controls (Ereg+/+ ). At 20 wk, tumor multiplicity was also significantly decreased in the Ereg-/- mice versus controls (Ereg+/+ ). IL10 expression, an anti-inflammatory mediator, and downstream signaling events (Stat3) were significantly increased in the Ereg-/- mice in response to BHT, supporting both reduced inflammation and tumorigenesis. Lastly, wound healing was significantly increased with recombinant Ereg in both human and mouse lung epithelial cell lines. These results indicate that Ereg has proliferative potential and may be utilized as an early cancer biomarker as well as a novel potential therapeutic target. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Virtual Sleep Laboratory for Population Health

Sleep apnea, a potentially serious sleep disorder affectsmore than 18 million Americans according to the NationalSleep Foundation. The symptoms are chronic snoring and day time sleeping. Since people with sleep apnea are sleepdeprived, they may suffer from various conditions such asdifficulty in concentration, depression, irritability, heartarrhythmia, high blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, learningand memory difficulties and falling sleep at work or whiledriving. The cost of Sleep Apnea to the national economy dueto loss of life and productivity is estimated to be multiplebillions of dollars per year.
Micromechanisms of Deformation and Fracture in a Ti3Al-Nb Alloy

The object of this study has been to gain a greater understanding of deformation and fracture processes in a Ti-24Al-11Nb (at %) alloy. The in-situ TEM deformation technique has been used to observe these processes as they occur. Material characterization studies revealed the existence of three different crystal structures in the material (α2, B2 and orthorhombic (0)). Slip is first initiated in the B2 and 0 phases. Although dislocations are observed in the α2 phase in the deformed material, they are seen only in high-stress regions and only in some laths. While numerous dislocations may be injected into the corresponding grain and phase boundaries, slip does not easily propagate into the α2 phase. Cracks are seen to originate most frequently in the regions transformed fully to α2 laths, and sometimes in the regions that contain α2 laths at prior β grain boundaries. Failure of grain or phase boundaries in the B2 or 0 phases where no α2 is present is not observed. Crack branching in the α2 phase is common, particularly in the vicinity of phase boundaries. Crack propagation in the B2 and 0 phases occurs by plastic thinning, and cracks formed in the α2 lath regions are either stopped in phase boundaries or blunted in the neighboring 0 or B2 grains.
Si-Cluster Luminescence

We report on a technique for generating Si-clusters in the nanometer size regime. The cluster source is capable of generating micron-thick cluster films in a few minutes. The cluster films luminesce in the visible and infrared. Source construction is discussed. Electron micrographs of the clusters are shown. Luminescence and optical absorption spectra for the clusters are presented.
A Method for the Local Incorporation of Er3+ into LiNbO3 Guided Wave Optic Devices by Ti Co-diffusion

Optical amplification has been demonstrated in waveguides fabricated in Nd-doped LiNbO3 grown from a melt1 and in planar diffused Er: LiNbO3.2 Such substrates are, however, not compatible with guided wave integrated optics since absorption will occur in every section of the waveguide which is not optically pumped to transparency. Lateral confinement of the gain medium is also necessary to avoid absorption of the evanescent field. We report a method for local incorporation of Er3+ which significantly enhances the diffusivity of the rare earth ion and is compatible with standard Ti: LiNbO3 photolithographic processing.
Magmatic life at low Reynolds number

The extremely high viscosities of high-silica liquids mean that intermediate and high-silica magmas exist deep within the laminar range of fluid behavior. Many common interpretations of layering in plutonic rocks rely on analogies with sedimentation in water, but for such high-viscosity liquids (including interstitial liquid in partially crystallized intermediate magmas), these analogies cannot be correct. Particle Reynolds numbers for high-silica liquids are exceedingly small, on the order of 10−6 or less. In such a regime, inertia is negligible, and everyday experience is inapplicable. Layering and other pseudo-sedimentary structures in granodiorites and granites likely arise from processes such as chemical diffusion, self-organization, and crystal ripening.
Physical Barriers and Cultural Practices in Cabbage Maggot (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) Management on Broccoli and Chinese Cabbage

Three field experiments in 1984 and 1985 tested effects of various physical barriers and granular treatments on cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.), populations, and yields of broccoli and Chinese cabbage. Maggot numbers were significantly reduced in nearly all experiments by Reemay spun polyester row covers. The row covers, with and without plastic mulch, also increased early season growth and final yields of both crops in 1985. Other treatments that significantly reduced maggot numbers were diazinon (both crops) and straw and plastic mulch (Chinese cabbage only). However, yields were not increased by these treatments. Thus, yield-enhancing effects of row covers were probably due to changes in crop microenvironment such as increased temperature and humidity. Of the other treatments tested, tarpaper collars and diatomaceous earth had no effect on maggot populations, while greenchop mulch (broccoli), and sand and woodash treatments (Chinese cabbage) increased maggot numbers. Yields were not adversely affected by these increased levels of infestation.
Erectile Response to Topical, Intraurethral and Intracorporal Pharmacotherapy in a Rat Mode! of Spinal Cord Injury

AbstractIn order to compare the erectile response to topical, intraurethral and intracorporal administration of vasoactive substances in neurologically intact and spinal cord injured (SCI) rats, a standard rat model of SCI using impact trauma at the level of T10 was employed, comparing the tumescence of 24 SCI and 25 control rats. Four weeks after SCI, the effect of vasoactive substances on erectile function was evaluated. Under ketamine anesthesia, the penis was exposed and intracorporal pressure (ICP) was monitored using saline infusion cavemosometry through a 24-gauge catheter inserted into one corpus cavemosum. Changes in ICP were recorded in response to the topical and intraurethral (IU) application of minoxidil (0.1 ml, 2% solution) and 2% nitroglycerin (NTG) ointment (0.1 gm), as well as the intracorporal (IC) administration of papaverine (0.0001–0.10 mg/kg). Results indicated that the mean baseline ICP was 8±5 mmHg for SCI and 9±4 mmHg for control rats. No response to topical therapy onto the unde...
Abstract and Concrete Review

The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the case-or-controversy language of Article III to impose rigorous standing requirements for the adjudication in all federal courts, including constitutional cases in the Supreme Court itself. "At a minimum, the standing requirement is not met unless the plaintiff has 'such a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court so largely depends...' " Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 770 (1984) [quoting Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 204 (1962)]. Standing and related doctrines such as ripeness and mootness implement a broader prohibition on the issuance of advisory opinions. In constitutional litigation, these limits on the powers of Article III courts collectively characterize the American version of a practice that sometimes goes by the name of "concrete review."
Laser-sintered mesoporous TiO2 electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Low-temperature laser sintering has been successfully demonstrated to improve the overall conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. Mesoporous TiO2 electrodes were prepared from a colloidal solution of TiO2 nanopowders by a laser direct-write technique and then sintered by a quasi-continuous-wave UV laser (λ=355 nm) for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells. The overall conversion efficiency of the cells based on the laser-sintered TiO2 electrodes was double that of the devices with non-laser-treated TiO2 electrodes. This enhancement is attributed to both the removal of organic additives and the improved inter-nanoparticle electrical contacts induced by the laser-sintering process, which led to an increase in porosity and dye-absorption sites in the TiO2 electrodes.
Porting window CE operating system to broadband enabled STB devices

WinCE is a small footprint versatile operating system, which consists of full stack of IP protocols, Win32 APIs, and relatively complete set of graphics, windowing and event handling subsystems. Therefore we choose to port this OS to Philips broadband enabled set-top box (STB) for media streaming applications. In this paper, we describe the techniques and steps involved in this porting process. The experimental result demonstrated WinCE is a better choice to support Internet Web browsing, MPEG video streaming, and to allow the user to have a rich set of functions of word processing, email handling, spreadsheets, and other popular application programs with many to be readily added in the future.
Linguistic Minority Students Go to College: Preparation, Access, and Persistence by Kanno, Y., & Harklau, L. (Eds.)

While the field of applied linguistics has rightfully focused on experiences of multilingual students in k-12 settings, a space remains for understanding the post-secondary academic lives of these ...
Individual temperature based models for nondestructive evaluation of complex moduli in asphalt concrete

Abstract The rheological properties of bituminous materials play important roles in the selection of paving materials, and analysis and design of asphalt pavements. The series of models developed in this study are composed of five formulations for the creation of the dynamic modulus mastercurve at a wide range of testing temperatures. The predictability of these models is assessed by comparing the predicted dynamic modulus mastercurves of different mixtures with measured ones from a nondestructive impact resonance (IR) test. This assessment shows that the predictions match the dynamic modulus values measured from different techniques with a good level of accuracy.
Nitric oxide is an obligate bacterial nitrification intermediate produced by hydroxylamine oxidoreductase

Ammonia (NH 3 )-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) emit substantial amounts of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), both of which contribute to the harmful environmental side effects of large-scale agriculture. The currently accepted model for AOB metabolism involves NH 3 oxidation to nitrite (NO 2 – ) via a single obligate intermediate, hydroxylamine (NH 2 OH). Within this model, the multiheme enzyme hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (HAO) catalyzes the four-electron oxidation of NH 2 OH to NO 2 – . We provide evidence that HAO oxidizes NH 2 OH by only three electrons to NO under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. NO 2 – observed in HAO activity assays is a nonenzymatic product resulting from the oxidation of NO by O 2 under aerobic conditions. Our present study implies that aerobic NH 3 oxidation by AOB occurs via two obligate intermediates, NH 2 OH and NO, necessitating a mediator of the third enzymatic step.
Influence of Proton Acceptors on the Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Reaction Kinetics of a Ruthenium–Tyrosine Complex

A polypyridyl ruthenium complex with fluorinated bipyridine ligands and a covalently bound tyrosine moiety was synthesized, and its photo-induced proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactivity in acetonitrile was investigated with transient absorption spectroscopy. Using flash–quench methodology with methyl viologen as an oxidative quencher, a Ru3+ species is generated that is capable of initiating the intramolecular PCET oxidation of the tyrosine moiety. Using a series of substituted pyridine bases, the reaction kinetics were found to vary as a function of proton acceptor concentration and identity, with no significant H/D kinetic isotope effect. Through analysis of the kinetics traces and comparison to a control complex without the tyrosine moiety, PCET reactivity was found to proceed through an equilibrium electron transfer followed by proton transfer (ET-PT) pathway in which irreversible deprotonation of the tyrosine radical cation shifts the ET equilibrium, conferring a base dependence on the rea...
Innate and Environmental Factors in the Development of Visual Form Perception

Is the perception of form innate? Since the analysis of the question by Locke in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) and by Berkeley in his Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision (1709), it has been widely assumed that the perception of primitive sensations such as color or light intensity is innate, but that form perception is acquired slowly through visual experience. It was recognized, first, that the retinal image represents a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional world, and hence could supply information from which the third dimension had to be inferred. Secondly, it was understood that any object of stimulation had a nonunique relationship to any retinal image, since conditions of illumination, distance of the object, and the orientation of the receptor organ (e.g., eye and head movements) were constantly changing. It was thought likely that considerable experience was required to discover the underlying invariances inherent in what William James called the booming, buzzing confusion of stimulation projected onto the proximal receptor surface. The perception of a line, given a projected linear array of light dots projected onto the retina, was for empiricists not a simple, innately given competence. Rather, they believed an organism had to experience those light dots simultaneously so that associations could form between the neural representatives of those light dots. Empiricism has retained its theoretical vigor, especially following Hebb’S neurophysiological formalization of its principles (1949). The present chapter, Blakemore’S (this volume), and Haith’S (this volume) document the continuing wealth of behavioral and neurophysiological research which Empiricism has stimulated.
Pretrial Release Decisions

Once an alleged offender has been taken into custody by arrest, it then must be decided whether he or she will remain in custody pending trial or will be released (and, if so, under what conditions). Traditionally, this decision has been the responsibility of the magistrate at the initial appearance.
Discriminative models and dimensionality reduction for regression

Many prediction problems that arise in computer vision and robotics can be formulated within a regression framework. Unlike traditional regression problems, vision and robotics tasks are often characterized by a varying number of output variables with complex dependency structures. The problems are further aggravated by the high dimensionality of the input. In this thesis, I address two challenging tasks related to learning of regressors in such settings: (1) developing discriminative approaches that can handle structured output variables, and (2) reducing the dimensionality of the input while preserving the statistical correlation with the output. A complex dependency structure in the output variables can be effectively captured by probabilistic graphical models. In contrast to traditional joint data modeling for probabilistic models, I propose conditional models and a discriminative learning approach that are directly related to the ultimate prediction objective. While discriminative learning of structured models such as Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) has attracted significant interest in the past, learning structured models in the regression setting has been rarely explored. In this work I first extend the CRF and the discriminatively trained HMM methods to the structured output regression problem. I propose two different approaches based on directed and undirected models. In the second approach the parameter learning is cast as a convex optimization problem, accompanied by a new approach that effective handles the density integrability constraint. Experiments in several problem domains, including human motion and robot-arm state estimation, indicate that the new models yield high prediction accuracy comparable to or better than state-of-the-art approaches. In the second part of the thesis, I consider the task of finding a low-dimensional representation of the input covariates while preserving the statistical correlation in regressing the output. This task, known as the dimensionality reduction for regression (DRR), is particularly useful when visualizing high-dimensional data, efficiently designing regressors with a reduced input dimension, and eliminating noise in the input data by uncovering essential information for predicting the output. While the dimensionality reduction methods are common in many machine learning tasks, their use in the regression settings has not been widespread. A number of recent methods for DRR have been proposed in the statistics community but suffer from several limitations, including non-convexity and the need for slicing of potentially high-dimensional output space. I address these issues by proposing a novel approach based on covariance operators in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHSes) that provide a closed-form DRR solution without the need for explicit slicing. The benefits of this approach are demonstrated in a comprehensive set of evaluations on several important regression problems in computer vision and pattern recognition.
The Quaker Migration, 1675–1725

England went through the greatest revolution in its history in the half-century between the founding of Massachusetts in 1630 and Pennsylvania in 1682. Quakerism grew out of the turmoil of that period.