cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Perception-based generalization in model-based reinforcement learning

In recent years, the advances in robotics have allowed for robots to venture into places too dangerous for humans. Unfortunately, the terrain in which these robots are being deployed may not be known by humans in advance, making it difficult to create motion programs robust enough to handle all scenarios that the robot may encounter. For this reason, research is being done to add learning capabilities to improve the robot's ability to adapt to its environment. Reinforcement learning is well suited for these robot domains because often the desired outcome is known, but the best way to achieve this outcome is unknown. In a real world domain, a reinforcement-learning agent has to learn a great deal from experience. Therefore, it must be sample-size efficient. To do so, it must balance the amount of exploration that is needed to properly model the environment with the need to use the information that it has already obtained to complete its original task. In robot domains, the exploration process is especially costly in both time and energy. Therefore, it is important to make the best possible use of the robot's limited opportunities for exploration without degrading the robot's performance. This dissertation discusses a specialization of the standard Markov Decision Process (MDP) framework that allows for easier transfer of experience between similar states and introduces an algorithm that uses this new framework to perform more efficient exploration in robot-navigation problems. It then develops methods for an agent to determine how to accurately group similar states. One proposed technique clusters states by their observed outcomes. To make it possible to extrapolate observed outcomes to as-yet unvisited states, a second approach uses perceptual information such as the output of an image-processing system to group perceptually similar states with the hope that they will also be related in terms of outcomes. However, there are many different percepts from which a robot could obtain state groupings. To address this issue, a third algorithm is presented that determines how to group states when the agent has multiple, possibly conflicting, inputs from which to choose. Robot experiments of all algorithms proposed are included to demonstrate the improvements that can be obtained by using the approaches presented.
Harvesting Data from Genetically Engineered Crops

More than a billion acres have been planted with genetically engineered crops in the USA since 1996, but we do not fully know their ecological costs and benefits.
SATURATION IDENTIFICATION OF CODING SEQUENCES IN GENOMIC DNA

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of comprehensive transcriptional mapping, as it would be applied to the genomes of mammals or other higher vertebrates. In this context, the chapter discusses four techniques for gene identification that have demonstrated their utility for reliable analysis of large genomic regions: dbEST (database of expressed sequence tags) analysis, cDNA selection, exon trapping, and genomic sequence analysis. Generally developed for analysis of mammalian genomes, these techniques are applicable to any genome where the presence of introns, large intergenic distances, and/or repetitive DNA significantly reduces the proportion of coding to noncoding sequence. The chapter describes the general advantages and disadvantages of each technique. The chapter discusses the preliminary considerations for defining the magnitude and scope of the gene search and the necessary resources for beginning the gene search.
Inventive Activity in Agriculture, 1837–1890

Recent studies into technological change in the American economy have stressed the importance of economic conditions that operate through the market mechanism on both the direction of the inventive activity which has generally provided the basis for this change and on the rate at which newly developed techniques are commercially adopted. Schmookler has argued the former point persuasively in several articles, while North, for the latter, has asserted that â€œproductivity changes stemming from technological innovations are, in part at least, a nearly automatic response to successful expansion of industries in an acquisitive society under competitive market conditions.â€ With respect to American agriculture in the nineteenth century, our knowledge of the level of investment which incorporated new production techniques, and of the effects these techniques had on productivity and output has been greatly enhanced by the recent work of Kendrick, Gallman, and Towne and Rasmussen. Our account of inventive activity in agriculture, however, is still limited to mentioning and tracing through the effects of some of the more famous inventions in this field and to fragmentary patent citations. Accessibility to patent statistics since 1837 now makes possible a fuller treatment of agricultural inventions. In Part II of this paper I present a description of the level and composition of agricultural inventions between 1837â€“1890. In Part III, I attempt to test the importance of certain market conditions as determinants of this inventive activity.
Prevalence of Prescription and Illicit Drugs in Pregnancy‐Associated Non‐natural Deaths of Florida Mothers, 1999–2005

Abuse of prescription and illicit drugs has been rapidly increasing. This study examines the prevalence of drug use in the non-natural deaths of pregnant or recently pregnant women. Records from Florida's Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review conducted between 1999 and 2005 (n = 415) were linked to 385 toxicology reports obtained from Florida medical examiners' offices. The final study sample consisted of 169 drug-positive, pregnancy-associated non-natural deaths. Of these, 86 were positive for both blood and urine, 64 were positive for blood only and five for urine only, and the remainder were positive for some other specimen. Among these deaths, 91 cases (54%) involved prescription drugs, 78 cases (46%) involved illicit drugs, and 69 cases (41%) involved alcohol. Opioids constituted the majority of deaths associated with prescription drugs. Substantial co-use of opioids and benzodiazepines was seen. Pregnant or recently pregnant women may have more interactions with healthcare providers, which may present more opportunities for intervention and prevention.
Role of chemotherapy in the treatment of lung cancer: Evolving strategies for non-small cell histologies

Lung cancer treatment has been considered to have made little progress except for advances in small cell carcinoma. For other histologies an attitude of nihilism has prevailed principally because of lack of effective systemic therapy and of no persuasive evidence that results could be improved by combined modality treatment. On the other hand, favorable results from surgery are confined to a small percent of all patients with this disease. This review emphasizes possibilities for progress in evolving new therapeutic strategies. Although improvement over other systemic therapies is modest, cisplatin-containing regimens yield more consistent response rates and apparent survival advantage relative to single agents. Immediate progression occurs in the minority of patients. In addition, regimens combining cisplatin with vinca alkaloids have no substantial deleterious effects on the lung, marrow or esophagus to aggravate radiation-induced complications. These features encourage the evolution of strategies which begin with chemotherapy and then use consolidation with radiation therapy. Clinical trials using these and newer strategies must be instituted if progress is to occur in the treatment of non-small cell histologies at all stages.
Viral Nanoparticles Donning a Paramagnetic Coat: Conjugation of MRI Contrast Agents to the MS2 Capsid

A nanoparticle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent was developed by conjugation of more than 500 gadolinium chelate groups onto a viral capsid. The high density of paramagnetic centers and slow tumbling rate of modified MS2 capsids provided enhanced T1 relaxivities up to 7200 mM-1s-1 per particle. A bimodal imaging agent was generated by sequential conjugation of fluorescein and Gd3+ chelate. These results illustrate the potential for engineering natural protein assemblies to address bionanotechnology applications.
Oleylamine-mediated synthesis of Pd nanoparticles for catalytic formic acid oxidation.

We report a facile synthesis of monodisperse Pd nanoparticles by the reduction of Pd(acac)2 with oleylamine and borane tributylamine complex. The oleylamine-coated Pd nanoparticles are readily “cleaned” with a 99% acetic acid wash, and the Pd particles supported on Ketjen carbon are catalytically active for formic acid oxidation in HClO4 solution. The catalyst shows no obvious activity degradation after 1500 cyclic voltammetry cycles under ambient conditions. These Pd particles hold promise as a highly active non-Pt catalyst for fuel cell applications.
Teaching J as a computer notation for secondary mathematics

This article summarizes a teacher-education course which introduces J as a computer notation well-suited for teaching secondary mathematics. This one-semester course is designed as a series of workshops with accompanying discussions. The first workshop is described here in detail; the others are sketched. Teachers' experiences and reactions to using J are reported informally throughout.
Secrecy, flagging, and paranoia: adoption criteria in encrypted email

We consider the social context behind users' decisions about whether and when to encrypt email, interviewing a sample of users from an organization whose mission requires secrecy. Interview participants varied in their level of technical sophistication and in their involvement with secrets. We found that users saw universal, routine use of encryption as paranoid. Encryption flagged a message not only as confidential but also as urgent, so users found the encryption of mundane messages annoying. In general, decisions about encryption were driven not just by technical issues such as usability, but also by social factors. We argue that understanding these social factors is necessary to guide the design of encryption technologies that can be more widely adopted.
Predicting discharge functional status and rehabilitation efficiency from preadmission functional assessments.

Various indicators have been used to predict functional change and outcome in stroke rehabilitation. One previous study indicated that functional assessments performed prior to rehabilitation admission correlated well with functional status at discharge and also were indicative of rehabilitation efficiency scores. The present study attempted to replicate these findings in a study of 14 additional stroke patients admitted to an inpatient unit; data collection on additional patients is ongoing. Patients' weekly Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores were assessed, together with their preadmission FIM score (PFM) and other clinical data. As in the previous study, PFM scores correlated well with functional ratings made by the team following admission (r = 0.78), and with discharge FIM scores (r = 0.68). Patients with PFM scores of 30 or less had much lower rehabilitation efficiency ratios (0.62) than those with PFM scores greater than 30 (0.97). Finally, in a multiple regression equation with discharge functional status as the dependent variable, PFM scores accounted for almost as much of the variance (47%) as FIM scores obtained during the first week of admission (63%). Overall, the results obtained were remarkably consistent with the previous study cited. The current results imply that the use of preadmission functional ratings may be a valid and useful way to predict functional change and efficiency of inpatient rehabilitation admission.
Kinetic mechanism for single-stranded DNA binding and translocation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Isw2.

The chromatin remodeling complex Isw2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yIsw2) mobilizes nucleosomes through an ATP-dependent reaction that is coupled to the translocation of the helicase domain of the enzyme along intranucleosomal DNA. In this study, we demonstrate that yIsw2 is capable of translocating along single-stranded DNA in a reaction that is coupled to ATP hydrolysis. We propose that single-stranded DNA translocation by yIsw2 occurs through a series of repeating uniform steps with an overall macroscopic processivity (P) of 0.90 ± 0.02, corresponding to an average translocation distance of 20 ± 2 nucleotides before dissociation. This processivity corresponds well to the processivity of nucleosome sliding by yIsw2, thus arguing that single-stranded DNA translocation or tracking may be fundamental to the double-stranded DNA translocation required for effective nucleosome mobilization. Furthermore, we find evidence that a slow initiation process, following DNA binding, may be required to make yIsw2 com...
Phonetic factors in letter detection: A reevaluation.

Three experiments in which subjects searched for the letter e in printed text were conducted to examine the effects of phonetic factors in silent reading. In Experiment 1, subjects made more errors on silent es than on pronounced es, but silent es always occurred at the ends of words, whereas pronounced es occurred in the middle of words. In Experiment 2, all instances of the letter e occurred in the penultimate location in the words, and no effects of letter voicing were obtained. In Experiment 3, subjects made more errors on es in unstressed syllables than on es in stressed syllables in three-syllable words. However, this effect occurred only for es in the second and third syllables and only for the more common words. All three experiments yielded large effects of word frequency, which were reduced in passages printed in alternating typecase. It was concluded that letter detection is affected by syllable stress but not by letter voicing and that the stress effect depends on whether the subject is able to form reading units at the syllable level.
Design of developable surfaces using duality between plane and point geometries

Abstract The concept of duality between points and planes in 3D projective space is used to develop a new representation for developable surfaces in terms of plane geometry. In this manner, a developable surface is designed using control planes with appropriate basis functions. The use of rational Bezier and B-spline bases is focused on, and a technique for the geometric design of developable surfaces is developed that has all the characteristics of existing methods for curve design. It is shown that some of the geometric constructions that exist for curves also generalize to the design of developable surfaces. In particular, de Casteljau- and Farin-Boehm-type construction algorithms are developed for Bezier developable surfaces.
A Rule of One

A rule ofone-one rational person is enough to make a market; one irrational person is enough to break a game. Let me explain. The power of the market as an exchange institution rests in its ability to move resources from lowto highvalued uses. The market works if one person is rational enough to look for arbitrage opportunities among the other irrational players, he buys low and sells high, the market collects and disseminates this information such that others
Looking for ‘the vision thing’: The rhetoric of leadership in the 1992 presidential election

Contemporary political leadership is often said to be visionary and charismatic, but do we really know what is meant by these terms? Do the politicians who utilize strategies of vision and charisma understand the relationship between the two, and do they understand how visionary leadership facilitates the dynamic process of change? We provide illumination for these questions by examining and expanding upon four interrelated models of charisma, paradigms which have been both insightful and problematic in the study of organizational leadership. By expanding these dominant models, we are better able to identify and analyze those dimensions of leadership most necessary to the change process. Because researchers of organizational communication have made a strong argument for the management of meaning and the management of change as crucial, interrelated strategies of leadership, we use these dimensions to further add to our understanding of charisma and the means by which politicians can become change masters.
Noise level analysis of commercially available toys.

Abstract There have been several isolated reports of hearing loss due to noise levels from toys. Guidelines for noise production by toys is regulated by the Voluntary Product Standards PS 72–76: Toy Safety Act of 1969. To determine the current risk of noise induced hearing loss from toys currently on the market, 25 toys were purchased at a national toy store chain and sound levels were measured at distances approximating ear level (2.5 cm) and a child's arm length (25 cm) from the surface of the toy. Testing revealed peak sound levels ranging from 81 to 126 dBA at 2.5 cm and 80 to 115 dBA at 25 cm from the surface of the toy.
An empirical study of impacts of production mix, product route efficiencies on operations performance and profitability: a reverse logistics approach

This research studies the impact of two reverse logistics business strategies on profitability of the firm through operations management (OM). The study is employed on scrap steel industry. The first strategy is production mix efficiency (PME), which is involved in the process of producing goods. The second strategy is product route efficiency (PRE), which engages in the transportation of goods. Our finding indicates that OM alone does not have a positive impact on profitability. However, the two strategies have a positive effect on profitability, which provides a potential answer to firms trying to improve profitability.
Phragmoplastins, the Trentepohliales, and the Evolution of the Cytokinesis in Green Plants

Green plants have been shown to have a common ancestor and to contain two lineages: the Chlorophytes and the Streptophytes, both encompassing representatives of the original ‘green algae’. The phragmoplast-mediated cell division characterizes the land plants in the Streptophyte lineage and some basal green algal orders (Coleochaetales, Charales and Zygnematales). However, a well-developed phragmoplast-type cell division has been documented in two subaerial green algae (Cephaleuros parasiticus and Trentepohlia odorata) belonging to the order Trentepohliales, an order that molecular sequence data place unequivocally within the Chlorophytes (rather than Streptophytes). Is the phragmoplast-mediated cell division of the Trentepohliales a case for homology or nonhomology? In order to reveal the answer to this question, we are exploring the potential phylogenetic information inferred from gene sequences of phragmoplastin, a dynamin-like protein which has been demonstrated to be associated with cell plate formation during the phragmoplast-mediated cytokinesis in land plants. Primers were designed based on an available phragmoplastin sequence from soybean, and yielded PCR amplifications from the green algae (Trentepohlia and Cephaleuros), a bryophyte (Bazzania) and land plants (Glycine and Arabidopsis). The evolutionary history of the development of the phragmoplast may remain in the analysis of the gene sequences for this group of proteins.
Deposition rate dependence of nanopatterning on periodically strained surfaces

The deposition rate dependence of nanopattern formation on periodically strained surfaces is investigated by means of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. This study proposes that technologically achievable strain fields (that often are less than 1%) can be used to produce periodic nanopatterns of reasonable quality for a narrow range of deposition rates. On the other hand, for large strain-field modulations good nanopatterning can be achieved for a wide range of deposition rates. We show that the optimum nanopattern quality does not only depend on surface strain field, temperature and deposition rate but also on the amount of material deposited. The best nanopatterns are obtained after the deposition of material corresponding to 30% of a full surface layer.
Secondary and tertiary treatment of supraventricular tachycardia in the pediatric patient

Abstract Recalcitrant supraventricular arrhythmias in children can be quite challenging to the pediatric cardiologist. These patients generally fall within 4 subgroups of patients: (1) those with structurally normal hearts who have reentrant supraventricular tachycardia due to an accessory connection not controlled with digoxin and /or beta blockers; (2) the postoperative pediatric cardiovascular patient with atrial flutter; (3) the rare child with atrial ectopic tachycardia; and (4) the older child with atrioventricular node reentry tachycardia. Many advances have been made in the available treatment modalities for these children, including antiarrhythmic drug therapy, surgical and catheter ablation, and atrial antitachycardia pacing. The treatment modality chosen requires a thorough investigation of the tachycardia mechanism in order to match the diagnosis with the best treatment option for each individual patient.
MEMS-based method of polymer bead handling for chemical array sensors

Combination of micromachined platforms and chemically sensitive micro-beads have been demonstrated for use as multi-analyte chemical and biological agent detectors [1,2]. In many of these systems agarose beads have been used as the "container" of various chemical sensors and enzymes. This paper discusses a method of array assembly using such sub-millimeter size beads.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Male victims of child sexual abuse.

Despite the increased attention the subject of child sexual abuse has received in recent years, rarely has much consideration been given to the boys and adolescent males who are the victims of such abuse. That young girls are consistently the clear majority of sexual abuse victims is not disputed, however the extent to which they are the majority is in question. A review of existing literature has indicated that one of the leading factors for this inadvertent negligence in presenting a truer picture of the magnitude of the problem for male victims concerns the area of under-reporting of the incidence of abuse of young males. Under-reporting has served to give a false sense of the scope of child sexual abuse, particularly for male children. Many societal and methodological factors contribute to under-reporting. Reasons for the discrepancy in reporting abuse will be presented and implications for practice will be discussed.
Photodissociation of ClONO2 at 193 and 248 nm

Abstract The photodissociation of chlorine nitrate (ClONO2) at 193 and 248 nm was investigated by photofragment translational energy spectroscopy. Only two primary dissociation channels, Cl + NO3 and ClO + NO2, were observed. The branching ratios between Cl and CIO photoproducts were found to be ΦClO : ΦClO = 0.66:0.34 at 193 nm and 0.54:0.46 at 248 nm, with uncertainties of ±0.08 in the relative yields. The yield of CIO products is a lower bound, because a fraction of primary ClO fragments underwent secondary photodissociation. No compelling evidence was found for photodissociation via a ClONO + O channel at either wavelength. Center-of-mass total translational energy and angular distributions were obtained for each observed primary channel. In the analysis of the 248 nm data, the secondary photodissociation of CIO was modeled in order to permit deconvolution of all contributions to the signal at m/z= 35 (Cl+). All channels had positive anisotropy parameters, indicating that dissociation was prompt (occurring in less than a rotational period) and that parallel transitions were excited. The similarity of the ClO + NO2 translational energy distributions (
Anharmonicity and bond angle of matrix-isolated ozone

The vibrational frequencies of the six antisymmetric stretching modes of the ozone isotopomers, /sup 16/O/sub 3/, /sup 16/O/sub 2/, /sup 18/O, ..., /sup 18/O/sub 3/, in both Ar and Kr matrices have been measured (+- 0.05 cm/sup -1/). Upper and lower limits to the valence bond angle have been calculated and compared to each other and to the gas-phase bond angle. Derived values of the anharmonicity of the antisymmetric stretching mode (2X/sub 33/ + (1/2)X/sub 13/ + (1/2)X/sub 23/) of O/sub 3/ are -41.65 +- 1.5 cm/sup -1/ in Ar and -44.18 +- 1.5 cm/sup -1/ in Kr. The ozone molecule has very anharmonic antisymmetric vibrations compared with other known molecules. The bond angles of O/sub 3/ in both Ar and Kr, which were derived from measured frequencies including the effects of anharmonicity, agree with one another within the experimental uncertainity (0.4/sup 0/) and these angles are also in agreement with the gas-phase angle, 116.8 +- 0.5/sup 0/. It was concluded that, in general, bond angle determination from the frequencies of antisymmetric stretching modes of isotopomers cannot be done accurately without information about the vibrational anharmonicity. 4 figures, 5 tables.
"A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant": emulation, rhetoric, and cruel propriety in "Titus Andronicus.".

Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus critically engages and enacts teachings and patterns of emulation, including those of Quintilian, Roger Ascham, and other contemporary humanists and playwrights, pressing emulation's uses to extremes that suggest that imitative self-fashioning potentially results in monstrous or fragmented characters, decisions, and texts. The professed aim of the grammar-school education, the ability to judge well, is conflicted by Titus's exposure of judgment as itself a contested concept, locked within a circularity of intertextual precedents. Titus's excessive, even parodic, repetition of emulative strategies acts as a rebuttal of seemingly straightforward humanist models of character, judgment, self, and decorum.
Impact of a Century of Climate Change on Small-Mammal Communities in Yosemite National Park, USA

We provide a century-scale view of small-mammal responses to global warming, without confounding effects of land-use change, by repeating Grinnell's early-20th century survey across a 3000-meter-elevation gradient that spans Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Using occupancy modeling to control for variation in detectability, we show substantial ( approximately 500 meters on average) upward changes in elevational limits for half of 28 species monitored, consistent with the observed approximately 3 degrees C increase in minimum temperatures. Formerly low-elevation species expanded their ranges and high-elevation species contracted theirs, leading to changed community composition at mid- and high elevations. Elevational replacement among congeners changed because species' responses were idiosyncratic. Though some high-elevation species are threatened, protection of elevation gradients allows other species to respond via migration.
Persistence of impaired insulin secretion in infant rhesus monkeys that had been hyperinsulinemic in utero.

Chronic in utero hyperinsulinemia in the fetal rhesus monkey produces a number of changes in the fetus that are similar to those found in the human infant of the diabetic mother, including macrosomia, selective organomegaly, and altered insulin secretion during the neonatal period. The chronically hyperinsulinemic fetal rhesus model has been used to test the hypothesis that the effects of chronic hyperinsulinemia persist beyond the neonatal period into later life and may, in part, be responsible for the increased prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes found in the human infant of the diabetic mother. We report that infant rhesus monkeys that had plasma insulin concentrations of approximately 10 times basal levels (2176 +/- 808 pmol compared to 172 +/- 101 pmol) exhibited reduced insulin secretion during the first 5 months of life. The integrated incremental change in plasma insulin and immunoreactive C-peptide (IRCP) concentration was significantly reduced by approximately 50% in response to...
Human milk versus formula after gastroschisis repair: effects on time to full feeds and time to discharge

Human milk versus formula after gastroschisis repair: effects on time to full feeds and time to discharge
Perception and expression of emotion in right-handers and left-handers

Abstract Photographs of facial composites, half the face smiling and the other half not smiling, were tachistoscopically presented to right-handed and left-handed subjects. Both handedness groups perceived faces as happier when it was the left side of the poser's face that was smiling, and this held for both left- and right-handed posers. Additionally, right-handed, but not left-handed, subjects perceived faces as happier when the smiling half-face was in the left visual field.
The control of stable postures in the multijoint arm

The stiffness that is measured at the hand of a multijoint arm emerges from the combined effects of the elastic properties of the muscles and joints, the geometry of the linkages and muscle attachments, and the neural control circuits that act on the arm. The effective stiffness of a nonlinear linkage such as a two-joint arm depends on the force acting on the system as well as the intrinsic stiffness of the actuators. This paper presents an analysis of the factors that affect limb stiffness, including the effects of external forces. Three potential strategies for controlling the stability of the limb are proposed and demonstrated by computer simulations. The predictions from the simulations are then compared experimentally with measured stiffness values for human subjects working against an external force. These experiments were directed toward understanding what strategies are used by the CNS to control limb stiffness and stability. The experimental evidence showed that human subjects must increase the stiffness at the joints in order to maintain limb stability in the presence of applied external forces at the hand. In the process we identified a precise role for muscles which span two or more joints in the control of overall limb stiffness. A local strategy may be used to achieve limb stability, in which the muscle stiffness increases with muscle force. Multijoint muscles are shown to provide mechanical couplings which are necessary for the maintenance of stability. By utilizing these muscles, the neuro-musculo-skeletal system can control a global property of the system (stability) with a passive local strategy.
Generation of heat-killed E. coli expressing cow milk proteins for immunotherapy regiment for the milk allergic mice

Abstract Rationale Cow milk (CM) is one of the major causes of food hypersensitivity in children. However, there are no definitive prevention or treatment approaches for the cow milk allergy (CMA). Recently, we have demonstrated that the heat-killed E. coli (HKE) expressing mutated major peanut (PN) protein allergens was effective in protecting PN allergic C3J/HeJ mice from PN induced adverse reactions. Therefore, we proposed to employ the heat-inactivated E. coli expressing four major cow milk allergens (α S1 -, α S2 -, and β-caseins, and β-lactoglobulin) in attempt to reestablish oral tolerance to CM in the CM allergic mice. Moreover, in order to identify the antigen presenting cells involved in the initial antigen uptake we make use of the heat-killed E.coli expressing a fusion protein of α S1 -casein adjacent to the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP-α S1 ). Methods and results The target protein cDNAs were subcloned into the pET24b(+) vector and the final constructs were introduced into E.coli BL21 strain. The Western immunoblot analysis showed that the specific recombinant protein content in both the live and in the heat-killed bacteria is at least equals to that in the previously described PN expressing bacteria. The antigen uptake by the mouse spleen macrophages in vivo demonstrated that the EGFP-α S1 containing HKE could be detected by fluorescent microscopy inside the cell up to 3 hours after initial antigen exposure. Conclusions Clones of E.coli BL21 expressing the major milk protein allergens have been generated and characterized. Properties of these clones appear to make them a good tool for future immunotherapy study.
Cytogenetic basis of human cancer

The significance of germ-line and somatic genetic changes to the etiology of cancer has been a subject of continuing interest for cancer cell biologists. Recognition of certain basic principles of cancer cell genetics such as the clonal nature of tumors and their dynamic genetic systems were the early results of these studies, which mainly related to chromosomes in tumor cells. Recent advances in techniques of chromosome analysis and the integration of tumor cytogenetics with immunology and molecular genetics have permitted extraordinary insights into the nature of the perturbations that gene structure and function undergo in cancer cells. These developments have been reviewed here in so far as they address the central issue of cancer genetics, namely, the role of somatic and gerrn-line chromosome change in the origin and evolution of neopolastic cells.
Phosphorothiolate pesticides and related compounds: Oxidative bioactivation and aging of the inhibited acetylcholinesterase☆

Abstract Several phosphorothiolates with a C2 to C6 S-alkyl substituent (i.e., ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, t-butyl, n-pentyl, or cyclohexyl) undergo microsomal oxidase activation to more potent acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. Profenofos is activated by both mouse liver and house fly abdomen microsomes. The phosphorothiolates examined having S-methyl, S-benzyl, S-phenyl, and a variety of other thiol substituents and the phosphoramidothiolates were not converted to more potent AChE inhibitors. The microsomal oxidese system cleaves (±)-profenofos predominantly at the P-S-propyl linkage probably via initial sulfoxidation. (−)-Profenofos and O,S-diethyl O-phenyl phosphorothioate undergo in vivo oxidative activation as evidenced by lessened chick brain AChE inhibition after pretreatment with piperonyl butoxide. AChE inhibited in vitro by several bioactivated phosphorothiolates quickly becomes refractory to oxime reactivation, i.e., it undergoes aging. Thus, the toxicological properties of some S-propyl, S-butyl, and related phosphorothiolates are determined in part by their bioactivation and AChE-aging reactions.
Effect of adenosine triphosphate, magnesium, and calcium on the phosphate uptake by rabbit erythrocytes.

1. 1. The addition of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to rabbit erythrocytes in vitro stimulated the uptake of labelled orthophosphate ions. 2. 2. The addition of calcium or magnesium ions alone inhibited phosphate uptake when the concentrations of Ca, Mg, and phosphate were approximately equal. 3. 3. The addition of both magnesium ions and ATP had a variable effect on phosphate uptake ranging from inhibition, when the concentrations of phosphate and magnesium were approximately equal, to stimulation when the concentration of ATP was greater or less than that of Mg. 4. 4. An attempt has been made to explain these observations on the basis of the known effects of ATP on the solubility of divalent alkaline metal phosphates and the possible interactions which might occur in a system including ATP, Mg and phosphate ions.
Monitoring growth and acetic acid secretion by a thermotolerant Bacillus using conduction microcalorimetry

A method is described to determine power of heat-time curves by conduction microcalorimetry in order to monitor the viability and ability of a thermotolerantBacillus strain to secrete acetic acid both during exponential growth and during stationary-phase. In this system secreted acetic acid is neutralized by an insoluble source of lime (dolime) which results in a poor correlation between optical density and culture dry weight. As an alternative, cells and residual dolime were rapidly resuspended in isothermal fresh medium with glucose in a conduction microcalorimeter. Heat evolution was rapid over a period of 200–800 s. Steady state heat evolution rate decreased as a function of culture time and did not correlate with: 1) specific growth rate: 2) viable cell number: 3) glucose consumption rate; or 4) acetic acid secretion rate. Glucose consumption and acetic acid secretion during the stationary growth phase were correlated with specific heat evolution rate. These initial results indicate that this technique may be useful for further development as an on-line flow or stopped-flow method to monitor the physiology of bacilli in response to nutrient depletion or growth inhibition.
On-column refractive index detector for flash chromatography

A universal detector for on-column analysis in flash chromatography is reported. The detection scheme takes advantage of refractive index changes as analytes move through an illuminated region of the column. The column packing material is a diffuse scattering medium when the refractive index of the solvent is significantly different than that of the packing material. The magnitude of the 'signal' depends on the degree to which the refractive index mismatch is changed. An empirical model that qualitatively accounts for the observed trends is presented. This detection scheme provides a simple, inexpensive means to monitor the end of a flash chromatography column in order to determine the exit time of the species of interest, thus greatly reducing the post-column analysis time. Additionally, the detector is movable along the length of the column, offering the potential to monitor separations as they occur.
Two level heuristic for the resource constrained scheduling problem

A two level heuristic for the resource constrained scheduling problem is presented. This heuristic is based on a combination of priority rules where utilization of resources by the operations, the critical path of operations in a job, and the due dates of the jobs are taken into account. The schedules that this heuristic generates have been compared with small problems for which optimal solutions are available and it is shown that these solutions are generally within 15% of the optimal. Also the polynomial time and space complexity of the heuristic is demonstrated.
Multimedia authenticity with ICA watermarks

For the first time the blind source de-mixing is applied to authenticity protection for multimedia products. We give an overview of the current state of multimedia authenticity protection, including the requirements of various multimedia applications, current approaches to the problem, and the robustness of the approaches. We then introduce the de-mixing algorithm, based on the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) seeking statistically factorized probability density and yielding a fast de-mixing computing using unsupervised artificial neural networks (ANN). We describe how their blind demixing capability extends signal processing from the conventional one-sensor approach to a multi-sensor approach, as in the 2 eyes and 2 ears of human sensor systems but packaged in a spatio-temporal multiplexing fashion. For trademark security, a covert ICA can serve as a dormant digital watermark embedded within the multimedia data. Unauthorized removal of the trademark as plagiarism could degrade the quality of the content data (not shown here). We show how these new approaches contribute to a flexible, robust, and relative secure system for protecting the authenticity of multimedia products.
Desulfurization of Digester Gas on Catalytic Carbonaceous Adsorbents: Complexity of Interactions between the Surface and Components of the Gaseous Mixture

Five carbonaceous materials exhibiting catalytic activity for hydrogen sulfide oxidation from moist air were used as H2S removal media from digester gas. The breakthrough capacity was measured at dynamic conditions with various amounts of water present in the system (either on carbon or in the challenging digester gas). The initial and exhausted materials after the breakthrough tests were characterized using sorption of nitrogen, thermal analysis, XRF, and surface pH measurements. The results obtained demonstrate the complex dependence of the capacity on surface chemistry, porosity (volume and sizes), and water content. In all cases, elemental sulfur is the predominant product of surface reactions. In the case of materials with potassium present in the ash, preadsorbed water enhances the adsorption capacity, likely contributing to dissociation of hydrogen sulfide, which is further oxidized to sulfur by oxygen chemisorbed on the carbon. When the inorganic phase contains alkaline earth oxides nonreactive wi...
A novel immunoregulatory function for IL-23: Inhibition of IL-12-dependent IFN-γ production

Most studies investigating the function of IL-23 have concluded that it promotes IL-17-secreting T cells. Although some reports have also characterized IL-23 as having redundant pro-inflammatory effects with IL-12, we have instead found that IL-23 antagonizes IL-12-induced secretion of IFN-γ. When splenocytes or purified populations of T cells were cultured with IL-23, IFN-γ secretion in response to IL-12 was dramatically reduced. The impact of IL-23 was most prominent in CD8+ T cells, but was also observed in NK and CD4+ T cells. Mechanistically, the IL-23 receptor was not required for this phenomenon, and IL-23 inhibited signaling through the IL-12 receptor by reducing IL-12-induced signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) phosphorylation. IL-23 was also able to reduce IFN-γ secretion by antagonizing endogenously produced IL-12 from Listeria monocytogenes (LM)-infected macrophages. In vivo, LM infection induced higher serum IFN-γ levels and a greater percentage of IFN-γ+CD8+ T cells in IL-23p19-deficient mice as compared with WT mice. This increase in IFN-γ production coincided with increased LM clearance at days 2 and 3 post-infection. Our data suggest that IL-23 may be a key factor in determining the responsiveness of lymphocytes to IL-12 and their subsequent secretion of IFN-γ.
Application of Adjoint Methodology in Various Aspects of Sonic Boom Design

One of the advances in computational design has been the development of adjoint methods allowing efficient calculation of sensitivities in gradient-based shape optimization. This paper discusses two new applications of adjoint methodology that have been developed to aid in sonic boom mitigation exercises. In the first, equivalent area targets are generated using adjoint sensitivities of selected boom metrics. These targets may then be used to drive the vehicle shape during optimization. The second application is the computation of adjoint sensitivities of boom metrics on the ground with respect to parameters such as flight conditions, propagation sampling rate, and selected inputs to the propagation algorithms. These sensitivities enable the designer to make more informed selections of flight conditions at which the chosen cost functionals are less sensitive.
The role of singlet oxygen in bilirubin photo-oxidation

Summary Bilirubin photo-oxidation is a self-sensitised reaction involving singlet oxygen.
Network simulations of retinal and cortical contributions to color constancy

A biologically-based neural network simulation is used to analyze the contributions to color perception of each of several processing steps in the visual system from the retina to cortical area V4. We consider the effects on color constancy and color induction of adaptation, spectral opponency, non-linearities including saturation and rectification, and spectrally-specific long-range inhibition. This last stage is a novel mechanism based on cells which have been described in V4. The model has been tested with simulations of several well known psychophysical color constancy and color induction experiments. We conclude from these simulations the following: (1) a simple push-pull spectrally specific contrast mechanism, using large surrounds analogous to those found in V4, is very effective in producing general color constancy and color induction behavior; (2) given some spatio-temporal averaging, receptor adaptation can also produce a degree of color constancy; (3) spectrally opponent processes have spatial frequency dependent responses to color and brightness contrast which affect the contribution of the V4 mechanism to color constancy in images with nonuniform backgrounds; and (4) the effect of the V4 mechanism depends on the difference between center and surround while the effect of adaptation depends on the total sum of inputs from both center and surround and therefore the two stages cooperate to increase the range of stimulus conditions under which color constancy can be achieved.
Radiation exposure from head computed tomography scans in pediatric trauma

Abstract Background We have previously reported that children receive significantly less radiation exposure after abdominal and/or pelvis computed tomography (CT) scanning for acute appendicitis when performed at our children's hospital (CH) rather than at outside hospitals (OH). In this study, we compare the amount of radiation children receive from head CTs for trauma done at OH versus those at our CH. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed on all children transferred to our hospital after receiving a head CT for trauma at an OH between July 2012 and December 2012. These children were then blindly case matched based on date, age, and gender to children at our CH. Results There were 50 children who underwent head CT scans for trauma at 28 OH. There were 21 females and 29 males in each group. Average age was 7.01 ± 0.5 y at the OH and 7.14 ± 6.07 at our CH ( P = 0.92). Average weight was 30.81 ± 4.69 kg at the OH and 32.69 ± 27.21 kg at our CH ( P = 0.81). Radiation measures included dose length product (671.21 ± 22.6 mGycm at OH versus 786.28 ± 246.3 mGycm at CH, P = 0.11) and CT dose index (53.4 ± 2.26 mGy at OH versus 49.2 ± 12.94 mGy at CH, P = 0.56). Conclusions There is no significant difference between radiation exposure secondary to head CTs for traumatic injuries performed at OH and those at a dedicated CH.
Low-dimensional models from upper bound theory

Abstract A novel model reduction strategy for forced dissipative infinite-dimensional nonlinear dynamical systems is described. Unlike popular but empirical methods, this new approach does not require extensive data sets from experiments or direct numerical simulations of the governing field equations. Instead, truly predictive reduced dynamical models are constructed using Galerkin projection onto a priori eigenfunctions drawn from energy stability and upper bound theory. Within the context of porous medium convection, we show that these eigenfunctions contain information about boundary layers and other complex dynamic features and, thus, are well suited for the low-order description of highly nonlinear phenomena. Crucially, our analysis reveals the existence of a gap in the eigenvalue spectrum—even for strongly supercritical forcing conditions—enabling the identification of a rational truncation scheme. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach via comparison with Fourier–Galerkin approximations of various orders.
WOOD ANATOMY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF LACTORIDACEAE

Mature wood of Lactoris, not previously available for study, reveals ten distinctive characters: vessels with simple perforation plates; vessels in pore multiples; vessel-to-axial parenchyma pits scalariform or transitional, vessel-to-vessel pits alternate; fiber-tracheids with vestigial pits; fiber-tracheids, vessels, and axial parenchyma storied; axial parenchyma vasicentric scanty; axial parenchyma either not subdivided or, if subdivided, with thin nonlignified walls between the cells (like the septa in septate fibers); rays wide and tall, little altered during ontogeny; ray cells upright; and ray cells taller adjacent to fascicular areas. All of these features occur in woods of Piper and other Piperaceae. The systematic position of Lactoris is therefore reassessed. Evidence available to date is consonant with placement of Lactoridaceae in Piperales, in which it would be more primitive than Piperaceae or Saururaceae. Features cited as evidence for