cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Liquid Milk Products | Liquid Milk Products: Super-Pasteurized Milk (Extended Shelf-Life Milk)

Extended shelf life (ESL) or superpasteurized milk refers to a fluid milk product that has a shelf life significantly greater than that of conventionally pasteurized milk (e.g., 45 days for ESL vs. 15 days for conventionally pasteurized), yet does not have pronounced cooked or scorched off-flavors typical of shelf-stable ultrahigh-temperature milk. ESL milk must be stored under refrigeration. The two- to threefold greater shelf life over conventional milk enables ESL milk to meet extended shipping and storage demands. Both direct and indirect systems are used to heat milk in ESL operations with typical heat treatments in the range of 125–145 °C for 2–4 s. ESL milk is packaged using aseptic filling technologies to control postprocess microbial contamination. Factors affecting the shelf life of ESL milk include the chemical, physical, and microbial quality of the raw milk, sanitation practices during processing, and the presence of thermoduric microflora or heat-stable enzymes such as plasmin. Typical forms of off-flavor development in ESL milk may include thermal degradation reactions, light- or metal-induced oxidative deterioration, gelation due to enzymatic or thermal alteration of the protein fraction, and microbial spoilage of lipid, protein, or lactose components.
Aerodynamic flow control using synthetic jet actuators

The suppression of post-stall separation over an unconventional 2-D airfoil at moderate Reynolds numbers (up to 106) using synthetic (zero net mass flux) jet actuators is discussed. As shown by the authors in earlier investigations, the apparent modification of the surface shape by the interaction domain between the actuator jets and the cross flow results in a local displacement of the cross flow streamlines. The concomitant modification of the streamwise pressure gradient upstream of where the flow nominally separates in the baseline configuration can lead to complete suppression of separation over a significant range of angles of attack in the post-stall domain. While in the absence of flow control the airfoil is stalled at angles of attack exceeding 5°, actuation leads to either completely or partially attached flow within the entire range of angles tested (up to 25°) that is accompanied by a dramatic increase in lift and a corresponding decrease in pressure drag. Actuation is typically effected at frequencies that are an order of magnitude higher than the characteristic (shedding) frequency of the airfoil [i.e., F+ ∼ O(10) rather than F+ ∼ O(1)]. When the actuation frequency F+ is O(1), the reattachment is characterized by a Coanda-like tilting of the separated shear layer and the formation of large vortical structures at the driving frequency that persist beyond the trailing edge of the airfoil and lead to unsteady attachment and consequently to a time-periodic variation in vorticity flux and in circulation. In contrast, the suppression of separation at high actuation frequencies [i.e., F+=O(10)] is marked by the absence of organized vortical structures along the flow surface. The dynamics of the transient lift in controlled reattachment and separation are investigated using pulsed amplitude modulation of the actuation input and is exploited to improve the efficacy of the jet actuators by using pulse modulation of the excitation input.
Institutional supply, public demand, and citizen capabilities to participate in environmental programs in Mexico and India.

In this paper, we argue that, like a three-legged stool, participatory programs require three elements for stability: a supply of participatory institutions, a demand from citizens to participate, and citizens with capabilities for participation. We illustrate the importance of these three elements using case studies from forest management in central India and southern Mexico, and use the evidence from these cases to suggest hypotheses for future investigation. We argue that when participatory programs are implemented in places where demand for citizen engagement is weak and citizens lack the capability to engage, participation is unlikely. On the other hand, where people demand to participate and have the capability to do so, they are sometimes able to overcome obstacles to utilizing participatory institutions. Individuals’ agency for citizen engagement is developed in interaction with the structures of participation; this means that there may be a long-term synergy between the supply of participatory institutions and the development of skills and demand for citizen engagement. Our work implies that designers of participatory programs should pay equal attention to cultivating participatory capabilities, providing incentives that enhance demand for participation, and building institutions to open spaces for participation in governance. Building participatory environmental governance may thus require long-term, sustained attention to both citizenship and institution-building.
Modeling Risks in Supply Chains

Abstract This chapter discusses ways to identify, categorize, and assess risks in supply chains. It pays particular attention to the often hidden risks that can lurk deep within global supply chains. Using case studies, the chapter shows how companies assess and prioritize supplier risks, and it explains the underlying factors that give rise to deep-chain risks. The sweep of examples in the chapter shows that companies can model the likelihood and impacts of a wide range of risks to their facilities, suppliers, and logistics infrastructure.
Collision cross section compendium to annotate and predict multi-omic compound identities.

Ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM-MS) expands the analyte coverage of existing multi-omic workflows by providing an additional separation dimension as well as a parameter for characterization and identification of molecules – the collision cross section (CCS). This work presents a large, Unified CCS compendium of >3800 experimentally acquired CCS values obtained from traceable molecular standards and measured with drift tube ion mobility-mass spectrometers. An interactive visualization of this compendium along with data analytic tools have been made openly accessible. Represented in the compendium are 14 structurally-based chemical super classes, consisting of a total of 80 classes and 157 subclasses. Using this large data set, regression fitting and predictive statistics have been performed to describe mass-CCS correlations specific to each chemical ontology. These structural trends provide a rapid and effective filtering method in the traditional untargeted workflow for identification of unknown biochemical species. The utility of the approach is illustrated by an application to metabolites in human serum, quantified trends of which were used to assess the probability of an unknown compound belonging to a given class. CCS-based filtering narrowed the chemical search space by 60% while increasing the confidence in the remaining isomeric identifications from a single class, thus demonstrating the value of integrating predictive analyses into untargeted experiments to assist in identification workflows. The predictive abilities of this compendium will improve in specificity and expand to more chemical classes as additional data from the IM-MS community is contributed. Instructions for data submission to the compendium and criteria for inclusion are provided.
Visual Analytics of Heterogeneous Data Using Hypergraph Learning

For real-world learning tasks (e.g., classification), graph-based models are commonly used to fuse the information distributed in diverse data sources, which can be heterogeneous, redundant, and incomplete. These models represent the relations in different datasets as pairwise links. However, these links cannot deal with high-order relations which connect multiple objects (e.g., in public health datasets, more than two patient groups admitted by the same hospital in 2014). In this article, we propose a visual analytics approach for the classification on heterogeneous datasets using the hypergraph model. The hypergraph is an extension to traditional graphs in which a hyperedge connects multiple vertices instead of just two. We model various high-order relations in heterogeneous datasets as hyperedges and fuse different datasets with a unified hypergraph structure. We use the hypergraph learning algorithm for predicting missing labels in the datasets. To allow users to inject their domain knowledge into the model-learning process, we augment the traditional learning algorithm in a number of ways. In addition, we also propose a set of visualizations which enable the user to construct the hypergraph structure and the parameters of the learning model interactively during the analysis. We demonstrate the capability of our approach via two real-world cases.
Investigation into the effect of lateral and longitudinal loads on railroad spike stress magnitude and location using finite element analysis

Abstract Multiple wide-gage derailments have recently been attributed to broken spikes in track constructed with premium elastic fastening systems. Premium fasteners on timber crossties were introduced into heavy axle load (HAL) freight service in North America over the past few decades and have gained popularity given they are thought to reduce maintenance costs, reduce rail-rollover risk, and they do not generally require rail anchors. However, given recent derailments and identification of failed spikes during field testing at higher rates than traditional fasteners, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is investigating the stress state of cut spikes in premium fasteners. This paper provides background on the broken spike problem and initial results from a validated finite element model that was developed to quantify the magnitude and location of spike stress concentrations as load magnitude, load direction, and crosstie species are varied. Results from this study indicate that the longitudinal loading, which is not generally present in traditional cut spike fasteners, is more detrimental to the performance of the spike than lateral loading. Further, the depth to the maximum stress concentration increases as the ratio of longitudinal to lateral load increases. Finally, as crosstie species is varied, the magnitude and depth of spike stress changes; these changes are more likely driven by changes in compressive and shear strengths, and then by modulus. Results from this work are presented in an effort to provide information which can be used to mitigate field failures by reducing the spike stresses in an effort to increase the overall safety of HAL freight rail networks and increase the life cycle of premium spike fastening systems.
Structural Controllability of Linear Dynamical Networks with Homogeneous Subsystems

Abstract Structural controllability of a linear dynamical network made up of interconnected homogeneous subsystems is examined. Subsystem- and network- level structural controllability are shown to be necessary but not sufficient for structural controllability of the full model. It is shown that the presence of certain high-multiplicity structural modes, which we call structural network-invariant modes, are barriers to structural controllability. An equivalence between structural network-invariant modes and the classical notion of a structural decentralized fixed mode is obtained, which allows testing and characterization of structural controllability.
Monitoring Energy: A Business Case

ABSTRACT The author follows a business case approach to promote the adoption of energy monitoring as a financially viable and effective tool for driving energy efficiency measures in the built environment. Drawing on his experience gained in design and deployment of energy monitoring systems globally, the author delves into the general types of available monitoring systems, deployment timelines, stakeholder involvement, installation challenges, and costs of implementation. Using specific project cases, it is demonstrated that energy monitoring can prove to be a financially more efficient tool than other methods available in the energy management ecosystem. The author presents research on implementation costs for a variety of building types to foster an understanding of how the costs relate to the building manager's operating expense budget. Although strong theoretical understanding about energy monitoring exists, there is a lack of market-level research to develop a business case. This article makes a con...
Adaptation is influenced by the complexity of environmental change during evolution in a dynamic environment

Abstract The environmental conditions of microorganisms’ habitats may fluctuate in unpredictable ways, such as changes in temperature, carbon source, pH, and salinity to name a few. Environmental heterogeneity presents a challenge to microorganisms, as they have to adapt not only to be fit under a specific condition, but they must also be robust across many conditions and be able to deal with the switch between conditions itself. While experimental evolution has been used to gain insight into the adaptive process, this has largely been in either unvarying or consistently varying conditions. In cases where changing environments have been investigated, relatively little is known about how such environments influence the dynamics of the adaptive process itself, as well as the genetic and phenotypic outcomes. We designed a systematic series of evolution experiments where we used two growth conditions that have differing timescales of adaptation and varied the rate of switching between them. We used lineage tracking to follow adaptation, and whole genome sequenced adaptive clones from each of the experiments. We find that both the switch rate and the order of the conditions influences adaptation, and that switching can both speed up and slow down adaptation, depending on those parameters. We also find different adaptive outcomes, at both the genetic and phenotypic levels, even when populations spent the same amount of total time in the two different conditions, but the order and/or switch rate differed. Thus, in a variable environment adaptation depends not only on the nature of the conditions and phenotypes under selection, but also on the complexity of the manner in which those conditions are combined to result in a given dynamic environment.
Restoring Motor Neurons in Spinal Cord Injury With Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Spinal cord injury is a devastating neurological disorder that damages motor, sensory, and autonomic pathways. Recent advances in stem cell therapy have allowed for the in vitro generation of motor neurons showing electrophysiological and synaptic activity, expression of canonical motor neuron biomarkers, and the ability to graft into spinal lesions. Clinical translation, especially the transplantation of motor neuron precursors in spinal lesions, has thus far been elusive because of stem cell heterogeneity and protocol variability, as well as a hostile microenvironment such as inflammation and scarring, which yield inconsistent pre-clinical results without a consensus best-practice therapeutic strategy. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in particular have lower ethical and immunogenic concerns than other stem cells, which could make them more clinically applicable. In this review, we focus on the differentiation of iPSCs into neural precursors, motor neuron progenitors, mature motor neurons, and motor neuron subtype fates. Previous reviews have summarized motor neuron development and differentiation, but an up-to-date summary of technological and experimental advances holding promise for bench-to-bedside translation, especially those targeting individual motor neuron subtypes in spinal cord injury, is currently lacking. We discuss biological mechanisms of motor neuron lineage, recent experimental protocols and techniques for motor neuron differentiation from iPSCs, and transplantation of neural precursors and motor neuron lineage cells in spinal cord lesions to restore motor function. We emphasize efficient, clinically safe, and personalized strategies for the application of motor neurons and their subtypes as therapy in spinal lesions.
Human body reshaping and its application using multiple RGB-D sensors

Abstract Automatic reshaping of human bodies is a computer vision and graphics technique with many applications. It manipulates various shape attributes of the visual appearance of a person without any manual editing. Keeping coherent reshaping results across many video frames is more challenging. In this paper, we present a novel pipeline to reshape the human body using noisy depth data from multiple RGB-D sensors. Compared with a single view, the data from multiple RGB-D sensors provide more constraints and lead to more consistent results. However, there exist a number of challenges in estimating the pose and shape of human in RGB-D data due to self-occlusion and motion complexity. To cope with the time-varying articulated human shape, we propose a new approach that combines a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based fitting approach with a morphable model learned from range scans. Without any user input, this approach can automatically account for the variations in pose and shape, and enable different types of reshaping by changing body attributes such as height, weight or other physical features. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our system in manipulation of human body shapes.
Mobilization Strategies: HPC(A) Collections for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplants

Historically, CD34+ cells were harvested from donors by repeated aspiration of the bone marrow. Over the last 20 years, peripheral blood has become the preferred graft source for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. There are advantages and disadvantages of utilizing peripheral blood-mobilized hematopoietic progenitor cells compared to bone marrow. According to National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) guidelines, no more than 20 mL of marrow/kg is collected in one bone marrow harvest which may limit the number of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells that can be collected. Conversely, donors can undergo multiple days of apheresis, and any restrictions on volumes are for logistical concerns rather than safety. High number of hematopoietic progenitor cells are needed for successful allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant than it is possible to collect under normal conditions; thus, donors must undergo hematopoietic progenitor cells mobilization prior to collection. Hematopoietic progenitor cells mobilization in healthy donors is performed utilizing cytokines exclusively. Even among healthy donors, approximately 2–6% do not collect a minimum of 2 × 106 CD34+ cells/kg body weight (“minimal goal”) after two apheresis procedures and constitute “poor mobilizers.” Apheresis can be planned to coincide with conditioning regimen in the case of related donor allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant, and as such, apheresis product can be transfused without cryopreserving (“fresh”). Other cytokines (GM-CSF/PEG-filgrastim) and chemokine antagonists (plerixafor) have not currently replaced G-CSF. New mobilizing agents and combinations of agents are making their way through preclinical and early clinical trials and may eventually provide more rapid, robust, and safe alternatives to mobilizing normal donors for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
A Case for Integrating Experimental Containers with Notebooks

Computational notebooks have gained much popularity as a way of documenting research processes; they allow users to express research narrative by integrating ideas expressed as text, process expressed as code, and results in one executable document. However, the environments in which the code can run are currently limited, often containing only a fraction of the resources of one node, posing a barrier to many computations. In this paper, we make the case that integrating complex experimental environments, such as virtual clusters or complex networking environments that can be provisioned via infrastructure clouds, into computational notebooks will significantly broaden their reach and at the same time help realize the potential of clouds as a platform for repeatable research. To support our argument, we describe the integration of Jupyter notebooks into the Chameleon cloud testbed, which allows the user to define complex experimental environments and then assign processes to elements of this environment similarly to the way a laptop user may switch between different desktops. We evaluate our approach on an actual experiment from both the development and replication perspective.
Study on Damping Characteristic Test of Power Transmission Line at Low Temperature

This paper set up the test platform of low-temperature characteristics of conductors, researched the damping characteristics of conductors at low temperature, selected two typical conductor models frequently used in the Engineering, and conducted damping ratio tests of conductors at low temperature and normal temperature (there are eight different temperatures). The test method process is shown as below: exerting short-time impact load to make the conductors damp free, conducting data acquisition via the damping curves of conductors, and obtaining the damping ratios data of conductors at a temperature. The test result shows that the damping ratio of the conductor at low temperature is smaller than that at normal temperature, and this also proves that the conductor vibration at low temperature is severer than that at normal temperature from another perspective [1]. This paper provides data support for study on low-temperature characteristics of conductors, and is in favor of enhancing design level of power transmission line in the low-temperature region. This study provides technical support for safe and stable running of power transmission lines at lower temperature.
Endocrine Genetic Defects

Nearly 15% of all couples will struggle with infertility. The role of the clinician is to not only evaluate and treat potentially correctable etiologies of infertility but also to discover and educate the couple on any potential genetic factors at play. After completion of the human genome sequencing (International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, 2001), the genetic basis of human reproduction began to take shape. The process of spermatogenesis relies on a complex hormonal interplay between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and testis to influence testicular function. Due to these complex interactions, there can be numerous problems in the hormonal support of male fertility due to genetic defects. These defects may lead to alterations in the hormonal milieu necessary for successful spermatogenesis by disrupting upstream signaling hormones such as gonadotropin releasing hormone (GNRH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and/or follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Alternatively, chromosomal defects may affect the testicular microenvironment, thereby impeding testicular function.
Anatomic surface landmarks to guide injection for posterior interosseous nerve block

Proper injection of the posterior interosseous nerve (PIN) is important for both the therapeutic and diagnostic management of wrist pain. However, no anatomical study exists describing the site of ...
Fiscal Shocks, Budgetary Pressures, and Public Education Expenditure Stabilization

Fiscal shocks exert budgetary pressures on school districts and constrain their ability to provide public education. An emerging literature examines the role of fiscal reserves to mitigate expendit...
A comparative study of thermal fatigue life of Eutectic Sn-Bi, Hybrid Sn-Bi/SAC and SAC solder alloy BGAs

Abstract Low melting temperature solders are becoming a hot topic in Pb-free solder studies. Among these solders, Sn Bi has attracted more attention because it can not only reduce the energy for reflow, but more importantly, increase the reliability of joints by minimizing warpage. In this study, the board-level reliability of the assembly of BGA components was investigated. Three types of assemblies are compared: mixed (hybrid) Sn-Bi/SAC305 assembly, which is made by soldering BGAs with SAC305 solder balls using eutectic Sn Bi solder pastes so that the low reflow temperature avoids the SAC305 solder joints from being molten; homogeneous eutectic Sn Bi assembly, which is made with solder balls and pastes that are both eutectic Sn-Bi; and homogenous SAC305 assembly as a control group. An accelerated thermal cycling test shows that homogeneous eutectic Sn Bi assembly exhibits the best cycling reliability while the mixed assembly has the shortest fatigue life. The failure mechanism of the mixed assembly is also different from the other two types. Based on the experimental fatigue life results, the parameters of constitutive equation of eutectic Sn Bi are calculated to evaluate the fatigue life of the solder joints. The study shows the better thermal cycling reliability of eutectic Sn Bi assembly and help predict the fatigue life of different assemblies.
Diffusion weighted imaging in acute ischemic stroke: A review of its interpretation pitfalls and advanced diffusion imaging application.

Abstract Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a widely used imaging technique to evaluate patients with stroke. It can detect brain ischemia within minutes of stroke onset. However, DWI has few potential pitfalls that should be recognized during interpretation. DWI lesion could be reversible in the early hours of stroke and the entire lesion may not represent ischemic core. False negative DWI could lead to diagnosis of DWI negative stroke or to a missed stroke diagnosis. Ischemic stroke mimics can occur on DWI with non-cerebrovascular neurological conditions. In this article, the history of DWI, its clinical applications, and potential pitfalls for use in acute ischemic stroke are reviewed. Advanced diffusion imaging techniques with reference to Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging that has been studied to evaluate ischemic core are discussed.
Encounters and medication use for ocular surface disorders among patients treated with dupilumab: A cohort study.

Background Although dupilumab has been associated with the development of conjunctivitis, little is known about other ocular surface disorders such as dry eye and how these side effects are managed. Objective To evaluate the incidence and management of ocular surface disorders, including dry eye and conjunctivitis, among patients treated with dupilumab. Methods Using US claims data, we evaluated the incidence of encounters for ocular surface disorders among patients treated with dupilumab. Secondary outcomes included ophthalmic medication use. A propensity score matched, active-comparator, new-user cohort design was used to compare the incidence of ocular surface disorders between those starting dupilumab versus methotrexate. Results Among those with a history of atopic dermatitis, encounters for ocular surface disorders were more common in the 6 months after starting dupilumab than in the 6 months prior (11.7% versus 8.7%, P Limitations Observational design. Conclusions Dupilumab use for atopic dermatitis was associated with an increased risk of ocular surface disorders. Most patients who developed an ocular surface disorder received a prescription for an ophthalmic medication.
Family Perspectives on Clinical Research for Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Enhancing Equity:

Pediatric new drug trials are federally mandated, but family perspectives in multiple sclerosis (MS) research are limited. Due to MS chronicity and long-term medical system involvement, we obtained...
Toward efficient navigation in uncertain gyre-like flows

We present the development and experimental validation of an autonomous surface/underwater vehicle control strategy that leverages the environmental dynamics and uncertainty to navigate in a stochastic fluidic environment. We assume that the workspace is composed of the union of a collection of disjoint regions, each bounded by Lagrangian coherent structures LCSs. LCSs are dynamical features in the flow field that behave like invariant manifolds in general time-invariant dynamical systems and delineate the boundaries of attraction basins. We analyze a passive particle's noise-induced transition between adjacent LCS-bounded regions and show how most probable escape trajectories with respect to the transition probability between adjacent LCS-bounded regions can be determined. Additionally, we show how the likelihood of transition can be controlled through minimal actuation. The result is an energy efficient navigation strategy that leverages the inherent dynamics of the surrounding flow field for mobile sensors operating in a noisy fluidic environment. We experimentally validate the proposed vehicle control strategy and analyze its theoretical properties. Our results show that the single vehicle control parameter exhibits a predictable exponential scaling with respect to the escape times and is effective even in situations where the structure of the flow is not fully known and control effort is costly.
Axon elongation. Effect of nerve growth factor on microtubule protein.

Abstract Nerve growth factor (NGF) causes a rapid outgrowth of axons from dorsal root ganglia in vitro. Abundant microtubules are found in such axons, as well as in axons of control ganglia not treated with NGF. Using the colchicine-binding assay for microtubule protein, it was found that NGF treatment does not cause an increased accumulation of microtubule protein over that seen in non-NGF controls. Similarly, total protein synthesis in control and NGF-treated ganglia is identical during the critical early phases of axonal outgrowth. Thus, NGF does not appear to elicit axon outgrowth by causing increased rates of overall protein synthesis, or by differential accumulation of microtubule protein. Instead, NGF may act by stimulating “growth cone” activity.
Pion-nucleon scattering and the nucleon Σ term in an extended linear Σ model

A modified linear $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ model that allows for ${g}_{A}=1.26$ by addition of vector and pseudovector $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ coupling terms was discussed by Bjorken and Nauenberg and by Lee. In this extended linear $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ model the elastic $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ scattering amplitudes satisfy the relevant chiral low-energy theorems, such as the Weinberg-Tomozawa relation for the isovector $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ scattering length and in some cases Adler's ``consistency condition.'' The agreement of the isospin symmetric $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ scattering length with experiment is substantially improved in this extended $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ model as compared with the original linear one. We show that the nucleon sigma term $({\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{N})$ in the linear and the extended $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ models with three different kinds of chiral symmetry breaking terms are identical. Within the tree approximation the formal operator expression for the ${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{N}$ term and the value extracted from the $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ scattering matrix coincide. Large values of ${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{N}$ are easily obtained without any $s\overline{s}$ content of the nucleon. Using chiral rotations the Lagrangian of this extended \ensuremath{\Sigma} model reproduces the lowest-order $\ensuremath{\pi}N$ chiral perturbation theory Lagrangian.
The nun apothecaries of Renaissance Florence: marketing medicines in the convent

Using unpublished archival sources, this essay analyses the development of convent pharmacies in sixteenth-century Florence and situates them in a changing medical and political landscape. These female-run apothecary shops shed light on several important issues for historians of Renaissance medicine and society: the nature and extent of women's medical agency; the acquisition and transmission of specialized knowledge outside a university or guild setting; the regulation of unofficial practitioners by guild and state authorities. By producing and marketing drugs to the public, Renaissance religious women both augmented the medical resources available in Italian urban society and acquired roles of public significance beyond the spiritual realm. I analyse the roots of convent pharmacies in new social welfare initiatives circa 1500, then consider their products, clientele, business practices and methods of training new practitioners. Finally, I ask how convent pharmacies were regulated and why they were protected by early Medici dukes. I argue that Florentine convent pharmacies remained vigorous entities throughout the sixteenth century despite tighter enclosure provisions and professionalizing aspirations, partly because contestations over their status enabled Cosimo I de' Medici and his successors to advance their personal authority within a centralizing state.
Molecular Computing: From Conformational Pattern Recognition to Complex Processing Networks

Natural biomolecular systems process information in a radically different manner than programmable machines. Conformational interactions, the basis of specificity and self-assembly, are of key importance. A gedanken device is presented that illustrates how the fusion of information through conformational self-organization can serve to enhance pattern processing at the cellular level. The device is used to highlight general features of biomolecular information processing. We briefly outline a simulation system designed to address the manner in which conformational processing interacts with kinetic and higher level structural dynamics in complex biochemical networks. Virtual models that capture features of biomolecular information processing can in some instances have artificial intelligence value in their own right and should serve as design tools for future computers built from real molecules.
What Lies Ahead

This chapter describes various research and development topics that are likely to receive attention in the near future. A distinction is made between theoretical research, applied research, and developments in system design.
CSCOPE and Impact on Student Achievement

Curriculum models number many in the world of education. One particular curriculum SCOPE, a comprehensive web based curriculum management program, implemented in Texas schools, has drawn the interest of various educators throughout the state. The purpose of this paper was to carry out a quasi-experimental study to test that the CSCOPE curriculum will improve math TAKS scores for eleventh grade students in a south central Texas urban school district. This paper reviewed three studies in particular pertaining to CSCOPE and its effects on improving math TAKS scores of eleventh grade students in south central Texas urban school districts. The independent variable(s) were the curriculum used by the districts. The dependent variable(s) are the TAKS math scores. The results were mixed. Ultimately, the studies should expand by further disaggregating commended performance, college career and readiness, dig deeper into the subpopulations and subjects of English and Spanish language arts, and social studies.
Fixed-smoothing Asymptotics and Asymptotic F and t Tests in the Presence of Strong Autocorrelation

Abstract New asymptotic approximations are established for the Wald and t statistics in the presence of unknown but strong autocorrelation. The asymptotic theory extends the usual fixed-smoothing asymptotics under weak dependence to allow for near-unit-root and weak-unit-root processes. As the locality parameter that characterizes the neighborhood of the autoregressive root increases from zero to infinity, the new fixed-smoothing asymptotic distribution changes smoothly from the unit-root fixed-smoothing asymptotics to the usual fixed-smoothing asymptotics under weak dependence. Simulations show that the new approximation is more accurate than the usual fixed-smoothing approximation.
Interlocking Rogowski coils: a fool's transformer

We have constructed interlocking, air-core, toroidally-wound solenoids. In principle, there should be no coupling between these Rogowski coils (in the absence of return loop and capacitive effects). We have searched for a mutual inductance between two such interlocking coils and report preliminary results. >
Student Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Psychotropic Drugs

Abstract Expanding social work roles in medication management and psychoeducation, especially in mental health, clearly require that students possess an enlarged knowledge base and a set of enlightened attitudes regarding psychotropic medications and their use. This article reports the results of a survey that investigated the knowledge of and attitudes toward psychotropic medications among a population of social work students. If the survey results were scored like a school exam, then the average student surveyed scored a “C !.” The article also suggests that both personal and professional experiences in the mental health field apparently influence knowledge of and attitudes toward psychotropic drugs. It is recommended that social work course content be expanded to include relevant information on psychotropic drugs.
Comment on “Fundamentals of Myanmar's Macroeconomy: A Political Economy Perspective”

Turnell’s (2011) is a highly informative and eminently readable paper that characterizes the Burmese economy as one in which there are few if any property rights protections and policy is implemented in an arbitrary and capricious manner. The predictable result is low investment, low growth, and capital outflow, as even politically connected elites, fearing expropriation, move their money, some of it ill-gotten, abroad. In short, Burma is depicted as a poor country that exports capital as the masses are immiserized – even before Cyclone Nargis hit in 2008. aepr_1191 154..155 Professor Turnell argues that increasing net exports have accounted for more than half of growth in the last 5 years (p. 138), and that the government budget is in substantial surplus (p. 140) (though this depends importantly on how gas exports are accounted for), which would be supportive of the maintenance of positive net exports. If correct, this suggests that in recent years, domestic absorption has been growing more slowly than the population, and that in all probability, private consumption has been lagging population growth by an even greater margin. These results suggest that the natural gas bounty is not being widely shared (p. 145).
Fluid Dynamics and MHD of the Solar Convection Zone and Tachocline: Current Understanding and Unsolved Problems (Invited Review)

We review recent progress and define unanswered scientific questions in five related topics: granulation- to supergranulation-scale convection and magnetic structures; global convection and circulation; the rise of magnetic flux tubes to the photosphere, and their injection into the base of the convection zone; tachocline fluid dynamics and MHD; and the solar dynamo. We close with a set of observational’ targets’ for helioseismologists to aim for.
The treating psychiatrist as forensic evaluator.

Much has been made in the literature of the importance of “objective” or “impartial” expert psychiatric testimony in forensic psychiatric cases; one results of this emphasis is a strong feeling that a treating physician cannot present unbiased testimony in court on issues such as competency to stand trial and especially criminal responsibility. Many states have explicit regulations designed to ensure that expert psychiatric witnesses who testify in criminal cases are not contaminated by past (or even the potential of future) treatment relationships with defendants. The author argues that such policies often prevent mentally ill defendants from receiving treatment from psychiatrists with the most experience in working with forensic psychiatric patients; and that the opportunity to treat as well as to evaluate such patients might well attract more treating psychiatrists to the forensic science field.
Exploitation of Environmental Complexity in Shallow Water Acoustic Data Communications

Abstract : LONG-TERM GOALS. Conduct feasibility experiments and associated algorithm design to explore how complexity of the shallow water acoustic environment can be used advantageously in acoustic data communications. OBJECTIVES. Exploit environmental complexity through both real and synthetic aperture spatial processing to mitigate multipath-related fading and intersymbol interference in acoustic data communications. APPROACH. The origin of this research is our experience with carrying out ocean acoustic time reversal experiments over a broad range of frequencies. Through a series of experiments conducted jointly between MPL and the NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC), we have demonstrated that complexity of the ocean environment fundamentally is advantageous and facilitates rather than inhibits the resolution of physical processes, detection of targets, and acoustic telemetry of data. Furthermore, the time reversal experiments have illustrated that the ocean maintains a far greater inherent coherence than previously has been thought possible. Thus, the overall goal of this research is to take advantage of the self-adaptive nature of the complex ocean environment and learn how to exploit fluctuations, scattering, and variability. Multiple-Input / Multiple-Output (MIMO) Acoustic Data Communications The active time-reversal approach directly achieves spatial diversity through use of an array of sources. Source array diversity can be complemented with receive array diversity to enable transmitting independent communication sequences in parallel thus increasing the total data rate through the channel. The source array and receive array pair implements a multiple-input/multipleoutput (MIMO) system.
α-Aminoadipate δ-Semialdehyde Synthase mRNA Knockdown Reduces the Lysine Requirement of a Mouse Hepatic Cell Line

a-Aminoadipate d-semialdehyde synthase (AASS) is the bifunctional enzyme containing the lysine a-ketoglutarate reductase(LKR)andsaccharopinedehydrogenaseactivitiesresponsibleforthefirst2stepsintheirreversiblecatabolismof lysine.A rarediseasein humans,familialhyperlysinemia, can be causedby very low LKR activityand, as expected,reduces thelysine‘‘requirement’’oftheindividual.Thisconceptwasappliedtoamurinehepaticcellline(ATCC,FL83B)utilizingRNA interference(RNAi)toachieveAASSmRNAknockdown. Cellswereantibioticselectedfor stabletransfectionof2plasmids that express different short hairpin RNA sequences for AASS knockdown. Compared with the wild-type cell line, AASS mRNA abundance was reduced 79.0 6 6.4% (P , 0.05), resulting in a 29.8 6 5.2% (P , 0.05) reduction in AASS protein abundance, 41.3 6 10.0% (P , 0.05) less LKR activity, and a reduction in lysine oxidation by 50.7 6 11.8%. To determine the effect of AASS knockdown on the lysine requirement, cells were grown in media containing 12.5, 25.0, 50.0, 100, or 200 mmol/L lysine. Using a segmented model approach for growth rate analysis, the lysine requirement of the cell line with AASSsilencingwas43.4 61.7 mmol/L, ;26%lower(P ,0.05),thanthelysinerequirementofthewild-typecellline.These results indicate AASS knockdown decreases the lysine requirement of the cell via a reduction of lysine catabolism through
Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula located by indicator dilution studies.

Abstract Two cases of pulmonary arteriovenous fistula are described in which thoracotomy was performed and the lesion resected. In both patients the site of the venoarterial shunt and the absence of significant lesions in the opposite lung were demonstrated by indicator-dilution curves. During cardiac catheterization, peripheral arterial unsaturation was demonstrated and venoarterial shunts of 32 per cent of systemic flow and 53 per cent of systemic flow, respectively, were calculated.
Fourier transform emission lifetime spectrometer.

We report a rapid and low cost Fourier transform spectrometer that uses a path length modulated Michelson interferometer to simultaneously measure excitation spectra and excitation wavelength-dependent emission lifetimes. Excitation spectra and lifetimes of excited tris(2,2′-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) measured using this technique corresponded to values known in the literature. Excitation-dependent lifetimes of porous silicon measured with this technique suggest the influence of quantum confinement effects. This method may be useful for measuring mixtures of emitting species with closely spaced lifetimes as well as studying excitation wavelength-dependent emission phenomena.
Varying Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating on the Levitated Dipole Experiment

Plasmas in the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) are formed and sustained currently via two electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) sources: 2.5 kW at 2.45 GHz and 2.5 kW at 6.4 GHz. An important topic being investigated is how varying the ECRH affects the confinement and stability of the plasma. We report the results of using different operational combinations of our RF sources, such as varying the power composition, changing the power levels, and sequencing of the onset time.
High frame rate imaging system for limited diffraction array beam imaging with square-wave aperture weightings high frame rate imaging system for limited diffraction array beam imaging with square-wave aperture weightings

A general-purpose high frame rate (HFR) medical imaging system has been developed. This system has 128 independent linear transmitters, each of which is capable of producing an arbitrary broadband (about 0.05-10 MHz) waveform of up to plusmn144 V peak voltage on a 75-ohm resistive load using a 12-bit/40-MHz digital-to-analog converter. The system also has 128 independent, broadband (about 0.25-10 MHz), and time-variable-gain receiver channels, each of which has a 12-bit/40-MHz analog-to-digital converter and up to 512 MB of memory. The system is controlled by a personal computer (PC), and radio frequency echo data of each channel are transferred to the same PC via a standard USB 2.0 port for image reconstructions. Using the HFR imaging system, we have developed a new limited-diffraction array beam imaging method with square-wave aperture voltage weightings. With this method, in principle, only one or two transmitters are required to excite a fully populated two-dimensional (2-D) array transducer to achieve an equivalent dynamic focusing in both transmission and reception to reconstruct a high-quality three-dimensional image without the need of the time delays of traditional beam focusing arid steering, potentially simplifying the transmitter subsystem of an imager. To validate the method, for simplicity, 2-D imaging experiments were performed using the system. In the in vitro experiment, a custom-made, 128-element, 0.32-mm pitch, 3.5-MHz center frequency linear array transducer with about 50% fractional bandwidth was used to reconstruct images of an ATS 539 tissue-mimicking phantom at an axial distance of 130 mm with a field of view of more than 90deg. In the in vivo experiment of a human heart, images with a field of view of more than 90deg at 120-mm axial distance were obtained with a 128-element, 2.5-MHz center frequency, 0.15-mm pitch Acusori V2 phased array. To ensure that the system was operated under the limits set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the mechanical index, thermal index, and acoustic output were measured. Results show that higher-quality images can be reconstructed with the square-wave aperture weighting method due to an increased penetration depth as compared to the exact weighting method developed previously, and a frame rate of 486 per second was achieved at a pulse repetition frequency of about 5348 Hz for the human heart