cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Halons and Halon Replacements on Hydrogen-Fueled Laminar Premixed Flames

Fundamental unstretched laminar burning velocities and flame response to stretch, as characterized by Markstein numbers, were considered experimentally and computationally. The investigation was limited to laminar premixed flames involving hydrogen burning in air with Halon 1301 (CF 3 Br), nitrogen, and carbon dioxide considered as flame suppressing diluents. Outwardly propagating spherical laminar premixed flames were observed for fuel equivalence ratios of 0.6-1.8, concentrations of oxygen in oxygen/nitrogen mixtures of 21% by volume before dilution with a suppressant, and normal temperature and pressure. Suppressants involved concentrations of the chemically active suppressant, Halon 1301, of 0-2% by volume and 'concentrations of the chemically passive (chemically inert) suppressants, nitrogen and carbon dioxide, of 0-50% by volume. The present flames were sensitive to flame stretch, yielding values of unstretched-to-stretched laminar burning velocities in the range of 0.6-1.2 for levels of flame stretch well below quenching conditions, for example, for Karlovitz numbers less than 0.15. The agreement between measured and predicted unstretched laminar burning velocities was good based on the mechanisms of Mueller et al. for H 2 /O 2 reactions and Babushok et al. for halogen reactions. The resulting flame structure predictions suggest that H and OH radical production and transport are important for flame suppression and preferential-diffusion/stretch interactions; this reflects the strong correlation between laminar burning velocities and the maximum concentrations of H and OH in the reaction zone of the present flames. It also was found that effects of flame suppression that reduced concentrations of H and OH in the reaction zone made the present flames more unstable to preferential-diffusion/stretch interactions, an effect that tends to counteract the beneficial effects of flame suppressants to some extent.
Chondral Delamination of the Knee in Soccer Players

This study reports on the diagnosis and treatment of chondral delamination in the knees of soccer players. The authors attempted to provide a clinical standard for comparison with emerging cartilage repair techniques. Twenty-three consecutive chondral fractures in a homogeneous population of athletes were evaluated using physical examination, magnetic resonance imaging, and arthroscopic examination. All knees were treated with debridement to a stable border and removal of the calcified cartilage base. Results were graded using the scoring system advocated by proponents of chondral transplant. All patients reported pain that limited soccer activities. Effusions occurred in 48%, joint line tenderness in 33%, and crepitus in 19% of the knees. Results from magnetic resonance imaging correlated with arthroscopic examination in 21% of the knees. Arthroscopic examinations revealed lesions on the medial femoral condyle in eight patients, the patella in six, the lateral femoral condyle in six, and the trochlea in three. Athletes returned to play at an average of 10.8 weeks. Repeat arthroscopic procedures in eight cases revealed fibrocartilage at the initial site. There were 6 excellent, 9 good, 0 fair, and 0 poor results at their 1-year followup examinations (15 knees). The definitive diagnosis of chondral delamination relies on a thorough arthroscopic probing of the articular surface. The early functional results of this treatment compare favorably with the autologous transplantation technique. Caution, however, is recommended when treating articular cartilage injuries because no long-term data exists on whether any treatment modality can prevent the development of degenerative joint disease.
PPM1A is a RelA phosphatase with tumor suppressor-like activity

Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling contributes to human disease processes, notably inflammatory diseases and cancer. NF-κB has a role in tumorigenesis and tumor growth, as well as promotion of metastases. Mechanisms responsible for abnormal NF-κB activation are not fully elucidated; however, RelA phosphorylation, particularly at serine residues S536 and S276, is critical for RelA function. Kinases that phosphorylate RelA promote oncogenic behaviors, suggesting that phosphatases targeting RelA could have tumor-inhibiting activities; however, few RelA phosphatases have been identified. Here, we identified tumor inhibitory and RelA phosphatase activities of the protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) phosphatase family member, PPM1A. We show that PPM1A directly dephosphorylated RelA at residues S536 and S276 and selectively inhibited NF-κB transcriptional activity, resulting in decreased expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1/chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 2 and interleukin-6, cytokines implicated in cancer metastasis. PPM1A depletion enhanced NF-κB-dependent cell invasion, whereas PPM1A expression inhibited invasion. Analyses of human expression data revealed that metastatic prostate cancer deposits had lower PPM1A expression compared with primary tumors without distant metastases. A hematogenous metastasis mouse model revealed that PPM1A expression inhibited bony metastases of prostate cancer cells after vascular injection. In summary, our findings suggest that PPM1A is a RelA phosphatase that regulates NF-κB activity and that PPM1A has tumor suppressor-like activity. Our analyses also suggest that PPM1A inhibits prostate cancer metastases and as neither gene deletions nor inactivating mutations of PPM1A have been described, increasing PPM1A activity in tumors represents a potential therapeutic strategy to inhibit NF-κB signaling or bony metastases in human cancer.
Facile Synthesis of 4-Bromo-4′-Vinyl Biphenyl and Its Polymerization: A Preliminary Study

Abstract 4-Bromo-4′-vinyl biphenyl, a reactive functional monomer was synthesized in satisfactory yield through a convenient procedure. This monomer readily polymerized offering a powdery polymer which is soluble in a number of organic solvents. The molecular and spectroscopic properties of the polymer were investigated. Preliminary experiments with respect to the reactivity of the bromophenyl residues suggest that they are highly accessible to chemical reagents.
Freezing of Freely Suspended, Supercooled Water Drops in a Large Vertical Wind Tunnel

Abstract The design and operation of a large vertical wind tunnel (1.8 m diameter updraft) are described, together with the associated special photographic equipment and techniques required for studies of the interactions and freezing of freely suspended water drops. During the first two winters of operation several new and important observations have been made while freezing freely suspended, large supercooled water drops. The terminal velocity of the frozen pellet was found to be very different than that of the liquid drop. If individual drops freeze at −6C and colder they often exhibit a marked decrease (up to 4 m sec−1) in terminal velocity. Coalescence of a frozen pellet and a liquid drop produces an elongated ice pellet (8–15 mm horizontal axis) with a terminal velocity of 9 m sec−1. When an ice pellet becomes unstable and spins about a horizontal axis, it can obtain a rapid horizontal velocity. Two ice pellets frozen together display the same erratic tumbling. These observations indicate that some ...
Experimental realization of a multiproduct photorefractive correlation system for temporal signals

The design and operation of a multidimensional photorefractive correlator is described. With a photorefractive medium as the integrator, this system effects the correlation of up to four time-evolving signals. The holographic correlation volume is viewed by projection onto a two-dimensional detector. The correlator is designed for use with binary-phase signals, especially pseudorandom noise sequences.
Target volume changes through high-dose-rate brachytherapy for cervical cancer when evaluated on high resolution (3.0 Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract Purpose To evaluate tumor volume changes that occurred during courses of high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR) using high resolution (3.0 Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), along with the regression after external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Methods and Materials Fourteen patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IB1-IV cervical cancer were studied retrospectively. All patients underwent EBRT with concurrent chemotherapy followed by HDR brachytherapy. Gross tumor volume (GTV) and high-risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV) were contoured on a 3.0 Tesla MRI on the day of the HDR and on diagnostic MRI (1.5 Tesla) prior to EBRT. Two physicians independently contoured the GTV and HR-CTV on a total of 46 MRI data sets for the HDR plans. The percent volume changes of GTV and HR-CTV were quantified after EBRT and again after each HDR. The conformity indices (CIs) of the 2 contours were assessed. Results GTV and HR-CTV considerably regressed after the first ( --31.7% ± 19.3% and --26.4% ± 6.9%, respectively) and the second (--26.8% ± 14.3% and --23.8% ± 11.0%) fraction of HDR while relatively small regressions were observed after the third (--16.3% ± 14.2% and --10.6% ± 13.4%) and the fourth (--8.0% ± 3.4% and --9.0% ± 8.0%) fractions. The lymph node-positive on positron emission tomography (PET) and stage III or IV group showed, on average, more than 200% larger GTV and HR-CTV before EBRT than those of the other patients. The GTV and HR-CTV for the group were larger on average more than 150% after EBRT and before the first HDR fraction than the other group. Interobserver CI did not vary significantly (0.75 ± 0.11) for HR-CTV, although a smaller CI (0.56 ± 0.21) was found for GTV. Conclusions Larger tumor regressions were observed after the first and second fractions of HDR than after all subsequent fractions. The PET-identified lymph node-positive patient group and stage III or higher tumors showed larger tumor volumes before and after EBRT than other cases.
Genetic analyses of bacterial biofilm formation

Bacterial biofilms are generally described as surface-associated bacterial communities comprising exopolysaccharide-surrounded microcolonies. Interspersed between these microcolonies are water-filled channels that may serve as primitive circulatory systems. Over the past few years, much progress has been made in our understanding of the development of bacterial biofilms. This progress is largely due to the recent focus on analyzing biofilms using genetic and molecular biological approaches. Specifically, researchers have begun to identify the genetic components required for the formation of single-species bacterial biofilms. These findings are leading us to an understanding of the steps involved in initiating biofilm formation and the cellular components required to accomplish these steps.
The materiality of discourse as oxymoron: A challenge to critical rhetoric

Recent rhetorical theory has adopted two versions—variously idealist and relativist—of the proposition that discourse is influential in or even constitutive of social and material “reality.”; This idea, which underpins much critical communication scholarship, I am calling the “materiality of discourse hypothesis.”; This essay documents and criticizes the idealism and relativism of the materiality of discourse idea in postmodernist and post‐Marxist rhetorical theories, illustrates the critique with an extended critical analysis of Persian Gulf War news coverage, and defends materialist ideology criticism as an alternative to a critical rhetoric that has become increasingly affirmative of the social order and detached from reality.
A continuous Czochralski silicon crystal growth system

Abstract Demand for large silicon wafers has driven the growth of silicon crystals from 200 to 300 mm in diameter. With the increasing silicon ingot sizes, melt volume has grown dramatically. Melt flow becomes more turbulent as melt height and volume increase. To suppress turbulent flow in a large silicon melt, a new Czochralski (CZ) growth furnace has been designed that has a shallow melt. In this new design, a crucible consists of a shallow growth compartment in the center and a deep feeding compartment around the periphery. Two compartments are connected with a narrow annular channel. A long crystal may be continuously grown by feeding silicon pellets into the dedicated feeding compartment. We use our numerical model to simulate temperature distribution and velocity field in a conventional 200-mm CZ crystal growth system and also in the new shallow crucible CZ system. By comparison, advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system are observed, operating conditions are determined, and the new system is improved.
Pathological and biological relevance of cytophotometric DNA content to breast carcinoma genetic progression

Correlating cytophotometrically detectable genetic alterations to events of known biological and pathological significance in breast carcinoma has been challenging, in large part owing to the difficulty in isolating and analyzing premalignant (i.e., hyperplastic) or preinvasive (i.e., in situ carcinoma) lesions. This problem may be addressed by using histologically directed evaluation of intact, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Using image cytophotometry in preserved sections, we have identified clonal DNA content abnormalities (i.e., aneuploidy) in up to three-fourths of preinvasive breast carcinomas. Moreover, comparison of ploidy determinations between residual in situ and corresponding invading neoplastic populations suggests that host invasion is accompanied by measurable DNA content shifts in many cases. Image cytophotometric DNA content abnormalities are also detectable in florid/atypical proliferative lesions, albeit less frequently (∼25% of cases) and to a lesser extent (i.e., near-diploid) than in situ carcinomas. Taken together, these findings imply an association between clonal DNA content aberrations and histologic disease progression. Although the sensitivity of cytophotometric ploidy assessments in tissue sections is limited by nuclear sectioning artifact and overlap, the presence of genomic instability in precursor lesions is supported by evidence of individual chromosome aneuploidy, which can be demonstrated in tissue sections by interphase cytogenetics with fluorescent, centromere-specific probes. Further, presence of intra-tumoral clonal DNA content heterogeneity is confirmed by cytogenetic studies showing co-existing near-diploid chromosome number modes in many tumors with hyperdiploid stemlines. Karyotypic stemline analyses imply polyploidization events are an important mechanism of clonal evolution leading to genetic heterogeneity. Recent studies also demonstrate predictable relationships between cytophotometric and karyotypic alterations, as well as between cytophotometric ploidy and molecular level events. Therefore, we conclude that cytophotometrically detectable DNA content anomalies may precede unequivocal morphologic transformation in breast neoplasia. Moreover, clonal DNA content evolution via endoreduplication may not only accompany biologically critical steps in histologic progression of breast tumors, but may also be reflected in DNA histogram patterns.
BPRS Syndrome scales during the course of an episode of psychiatric illness

This report examines changes in symptom levels on the four major syndrome scales from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS): thought disturbance, paranoid disturbance, anxiety/depression, and emotional withdrawal/motor retardation. Baseline BPRS ratings were obtained during the first week of hospitalization for an acute episode of psychiatric illness, in 120 patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and depression. BPRS ratings were carried out in the week prior to discharge. Findings indicated that patients with schizoaffective disorder showed a greater magnitude of general clinical improvement than schizophrenics, although both groups had comparable improvement on thought disorder from admission to discharge. Paranoid symptoms did not recover as completely among schizophrenics compared to schizoaffective disorder patients. As expected, anxiety and depression symptoms remitted most prominently among the depressed inpatients.
A Staggered Upwind Embedded Boundary (SUEB) method to eliminate the FDTD staircasing error

In spite of its flexibility and second-order accuracy in a homogeneous medium, Yee's finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method suffers from serious degradation when treating material interfaces, greatly reducing its accuracy in the presence of inhomogeneous media and perfect conductors. Indeed, such so-called staircasing approximation may lead to local zeroth-order and global first-order errors. In this work, an embedded FDTD scheme, the staggered upwind embedded boundary (SUEB) method, is developed for the solution of oneand two-dimensional Maxwell's equations. This simple embedded technique uses upwind conditions in the FDTD method to correctly represent the location and physical conditions of material and metallic boundaries, hence eliminating problems caused by the staircasing approximation. Accuracy analysis has been made to show that the SUEB method maintains a second-order accuracy globally. Since the entire problem has been embedded into the simple staggered grid similar to that employed by the Yee's scheme, extra effort is only needed when treating the grid points close to the interfaces. Therefore, little additional computational cost is needed over Yee's scheme. The SUEB method has been validated by analytical solutions for plane wave normally incident to a planar boundary and for the TM wave propagation in the presence of a dielectric cylinder and a perfectly electrically conducting cylinder.
Male Oriental Fruit Moth Response to a Combined Pheromone-Based Attracticide Formulation Targeting Both Oriental Fruit Moth and Codling Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Combined attracticide formulations targeting Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), and codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), were tested in a field trapping experiment. Capture of male codling moths in traps baited with the combined formulation was reduced compared with traps baited with the codling moth formulation alone, whereas capture of male Oriental fruit moth was increased compared with traps baited with the Oriental fruit moth formulation alone. Subsequent wind tunnel experiments showed that a single locus of the mixed attracticide formulation or close parallel presentation of the two formulations enhanced source contact by male Oriental fruit moths but did not influence earlier behaviors. However, the two formulations presented in a serial arrangement to Oriental fruit moth males in the wind tunnel resulted in enhanced lock-on, upwind flight, and source contact behaviors. In addition, male Oriental fruit moths remained on mixed pheromone droplets of the paste matrix longer than on droplets of the Oriental fruit moth formulation alone. The increased time spent on the mixed droplet was correlated with a more rapid poisoning and a greater proportion of poisoned males compared with males exposed to the Oriental fruit moth attracticide alone. These results demonstrate that a combined attracticide formulation will have different effects on each of the targeted species. It is anticipated that, due to decreased attractiveness, a combined formulation would be less effective against the codling moth. However, a mixed formulation, due to increased attractiveness and toxicity, could be more effective against the Oriental fruit moth under field conditions.
Automatic Design of Synthetic Gene Circuits through Mixed Integer Non-linear Programming

Automatic design of synthetic gene circuits poses a significant challenge to synthetic biology, primarily due to the complexity of biological systems, and the lack of rigorous optimization methods that can cope with the combinatorial explosion as the number of biological parts increases. Current optimization methods for synthetic gene design rely on heuristic algorithms that are usually not deterministic, deliver sub-optimal solutions, and provide no guaranties on convergence or error bounds. Here, we introduce an optimization framework for the problem of part selection in synthetic gene circuits that is based on mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP), which is a deterministic method that finds the globally optimal solution and guarantees convergence in finite time. Given a synthetic gene circuit, a library of characterized parts, and user-defined constraints, our method can find the optimal selection of parts that satisfy the constraints and best approximates the objective function given by the user. We evaluated the proposed method in the design of three synthetic circuits (a toggle switch, a transcriptional cascade, and a band detector), with both experimentally constructed and synthetic promoter libraries. Scalability and robustness analysis shows that the proposed framework scales well with the library size and the solution space. The work described here is a step towards a unifying, realistic framework for the automated design of biological circuits.
A novel high-order tree for secure multicast key management

Multicast is used to deliver packets to a group of users. To prevent users outside the group from eavesdropping, a group key is maintained to encrypt the group communication, and the group key is changed (rekeying) when a new member joins the group or an existing member leaves the group. Rekeying costs could be as high as n for a group with n members. The hierarchical key-tree approach is widely used to achieve logarithmic rekeying costs. However, the key tree has to be kept balanced in order to keep logarithmic rekeying costs. Goshi and Ladner propose the height-balanced 2-3 tree (a B-tree of order m=3) and found that it has the best performance among the balancing strategies tested. However, balancing a B-tree [J. Goshi et al., (2003)] after member joining involves splitting oversized tree nodes and results in (m+2)h worst-case rekeying cost, where h is the tree height. We propose an NSBHO (nonsplit balancing high-order) tree in which balancing tree after member joining does not involve node splitting, thus having 2h worst-case rekeying cost. An NSBHO tree is always balanced and its nodes may not satisfy the node properties of a standard B-tree. Our proposed NSBHO tree has the same worst-case rekeying cost incurred by a member removing as a B-tree [J. Goshi et al., (2003)] does. Our experiments show that the NSBHO tree has better average-case rekeying performance and far superior worst-case rekeying performance than a B-tree.
Prior family planning experiences of obese women seeking abortion care.

Abstract Background The prevalence of obesity among women of reproductive age calls for research focused on strategies that ensure obese women receive high-quality reproductive health care. This study adds to this literature on service delivery by exploring obese women's experiences receiving or avoiding family planning care. Methods We included 651 women seeking abortion care who completed iPad surveys about their previous family planning experiences. Findings One quarter were classified as obese, with almost 5% morbidly obese. Only 1% of obese women reported avoiding family planning care. More than 12% of morbidly obese women reported not having their family planning needs met (pap smears, sexually transmitted infection testing, or ultrasonography). This is compared with only 2% among overweight and obese women and 0% among normal and underweight women. Almost 10% of obese and morbidly obese women reported that at least one of the previous family planning clinics they had visited was not prepared to provide care for heavier women and around 25% of obese women reported at least one item in the clinic (such as blood pressure cuffs and examination gowns) was not adequate for their size. Results Contrary to expectations, we did not find that obese women avoided family planning care. However, morbidly obese women reported not having all of their family planning needs met when they attended care. Family planning providers should ensure that their facilities have the capacity to meet the family planning needs of obese women and that they have adequate equipment to care for this population of women.
Visioning studies in emergency health care to support R&D of new technologies

Editor's Summary Given the risk and cost of proposed but unproven technologies, a method to project likely outcomes offers great value. Visioning studies deliver that opportunity by enabling potential users and other stakeholders the chance to explore new technologies. Goals include validating benefits, exposing unanticipated consequences, discovering hurdles to deployment and revealing considerations for funding. A visioning study was used to investigate 3D telepresence technology in emergency health care, enabling paramedics to work on a simulated trauma victim along with a remote physician. In another phase of the study, three groups of stakeholders viewed a brief video on the proposed technology and were interviewed to understand their thoughts on advantages, obstacles and potential fit. Through the visioning study, researchers were able to explore implementation of the technology and experience its potential benefits and challenges in a realistic test mode. Knowledge gained through visioning can lead to better-informed decisions and more effective use of limited resources.
Infections associated with haemophagocytic syndrome

Haemophagocytic syndrome or haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a rare disease that is often fatal despite treatment. Haemophagocytic syndrome is caused by a dysregulation in natural killer T-cell function, resulting in activation and proliferation of lymphocytes or histiocytes with uncontrolled haemophagocytosis and cytokine overproduction. The syndrome is characterised by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenias, liver dysfunction, and hyperferritinaemia. Haemophagocytic syndrome can be either primary, with a genetic aetiology, or secondary, associated with malignancies, autoimmune diseases, or infections. Infections associated with haemophagocytic syndrome are most frequently caused by viruses, particularly Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). We present a case of EBV-associated haemophagocytic syndrome in a young adult with no known immunosuppression. We briefly review haemophagocytic syndrome and then discuss its associated infections, particularly EBV and other herpes viruses, HIV, influenza, parvovirus, and hepatitis viruses, as well as bacterial, fungal, and parasitic organisms.
Search Less, Find More? Examining Limited Consumer Search with Social Media and Product Search Engines

With the proliferation of social media, consumers' cognitive costs during information-seeking can become non-trivial during an online shopping session. We propose a dynamic structural model of limited consumer search thatcombines an optimal stopping framework with an individual-level choice model. We estimate the parameters of the model using a dataset of approximately 1 million online search sessions resulting in bookings in 2117 U.S. hotels. The model allows us to estimate the monetary value of the the search costs incurred by users of product search engines in a social media context. On average, searching an extra page on a search engine costs consumers $39.15 and examining an additional offer within the same page has a cost of $6.24, respectively. A good recommendation saves consumers, on average, $9.38, whereas a bad one costs $18.54. Our policy experiment strongly supports this finding by showing that the quality of ranking can have significant impact on consumers’ search efforts, and customized ranking recommendations tend to polarize the distribution of consumer search intensity. Our model-fit comparison demonstrates that the dynamic search model provides the highest overall predictive power compared to the baseline static models. Our dynamic model indicates that consumers have lower price sensitivity than a static model would have predicted, implying that consumers pay a lot of attention to nonprice factors during an online hotel search.
Applying Cognitive Theory to Developing Effective Electronic Presentations

SUMMARYExamining evidence from psychology regarding human memory and the cognitive processes that enhance the likelihood that information is perceived, attended to, and comprehended provides a good foundation for development of visual presentations. Electronic presentations afford educators the flexibility and capabilities that can assist them in creating effective presentations. The flexibility of these newer technologies is addressed and their capabilities are examined through a series of useful tips and techniques for using these technologies to create presentations.
Integral equation solution to the skin effect problem in conductor strips of finite thickness

The skin effect of single and coupled conductor strips of finite thickness is analyzed using the dyadic Green's function and the integral equation formulation. Galerkin's method is used to solve the integral equation for the dispersion characteristics. The effects of the geometrical and electrical parameters on the conductor loss are investigated. Results are compared with previously published data and shown to be in good agreement. This approach is very useful for analyzing the electrical properties of interconnects in high-performance computer circuitries. >
Convergent evolution within the V3 loop domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in association with disease progression.

Phylogenetic analysis was used to study in vivo genetic variation of the V3 region of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in relation to disease progression in six infants with vertically acquired human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. Nucleotide sequences from each infant formed a monophyletic group with similar average branch lengths separating the sets of sequences. In contrast to the star-shaped phylogeny characteristic of interinfant viral evolution, the shape of the phylogeny formed by sequences from the infants who developed AIDS tended to be linear. A computer program, DISTRATE, was written to analyze changes in DNA distance values over time. For the six infants, the rate of divergence from the initial variant was inversely correlated with CD4 cell counts averaged over the first 11 to 15 months of life (r 52 0.87, P 5 0.024). To uncover evolutionary relationships that might be dictated by protein structure and function, tree-building methods were applied to inferred amino acid sequences. Trees constructed from the full-length protein fragment (92 amino acids) showed that viruses from each infant formed a monophyletic group. Unexpectedly, V3 loop protein sequences (35 amino acids) that were found at later time points from the two infants who developed AIDS clustered together. Furthermore, these sequences uniquely shared amino acids that have been shown to confer a T-cell line tropic phenotype. The evolutionary pattern suggests that viruses from these infants with AIDS acquired similar and possibly more virulent phenotypes. Since the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), it has been recognized that the virus is characterized by extensive genetic variation and biological heterogeneity (3, 27, 39, 47). Furthermore, it has been suspected that these properties of HIV-1 are related to viral pathogenesis. Numerous studies have shown that HIV-1 strains that are isolated fromindividualswithAIDSdifferinbiologicalpropertiesfrom those isolated from asymptomatic persons (6, 11, 34, 46). In addition, strains recovered from an individual early during the course of infection differ from those isolated from the same individual at a later time, when disease has developed. Among the properties of HIV-1 that have been shown to change over time in infected individuals are efficiency of viral replication in vitro, differential tropism for macrophages and T-cell lines, and ability to induce syncytium formation in T-cell lines (13, 20, 26, 30, 37, 40, 48). The genetic determinants of these biologicalpropertiesofHIV-1havebeenlocalizedprimarilyto the V3 region of theenvgene. Although HIV-1 strains appear to change over time and to acquire properties associated with virulence, how this process occurs is unknown.
Seeking Mrs. Right: Uncertainty Reduction in Online Surrogacy Ads

Surrogate mothers use online advertisements to reduce the uncertainty associated with the surrogacy journey. This paper identifies five key desirability traits used by surrogates in online advertisements. These perceived desirability traits include idealism, logistics, moral boundaries, willingness parameters, and personal disclosure. Our findings suggest surrogates construct communication messages using these perceived desirability traits to reduce uncertainty and encourage matching.
Stability and Optimization of the Portal Frame with Rigid Members and Flexible Joints

This paper considers a portal frame with rigid members and flexible joints. The stability and postbuckling characteristics are derived analytically. The optimum frame to raise a load to a given height is trapezoidal in shape, with only the top two joints heavily strengthened.
Properties of a new high-tg FBE coating for high-temperature service

A new fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) coating based on brominated epoxy resin with a high glass transition temperature was developed for high-temperature pipeline operation. The coating performs significantly better in cathodic disbondment and 0water soak tests than conventional FBE coatings. It also has good ultraviolet resistance.
Intrathecal Liposomal Cytarabine and Leptomeningeal Medulloblastoma Relapse: A Valuable Therapeutic Option

BACKGROUND Relapsed medulloblastoma (MB) is a highly lethal disease, requiring for new effective treatment strategies. Intrathecal (IT) therapy both for de novo or relapsed brain tumors with meningeal metastasis is rarely used in first line and relapse protocols. PATIENTS AND METHODS We report on three cases of children with relapsed MB treated with IT liposomal cytarabine administered after mild sedation every 15 days. RESULTS The treatment was well-tolerated in all patients, achieving a prolonged progression-free survival (4-11 months) with a good quality of life. CONCLUSION This experience suggests the need for a phase II trial in brain embryonal tumors with leptomeningeal metastasis to better evaluate the efficacy of IT liposomal cytarabine.
Performance modeling for the ATAMM data flow architecture

The algorithm-to-architecture mapping model (ATAMM) is a new marked graph (a class of Petri net) model from which the rules for data and control flow in a homogeneous, multicomputer, data-flow architecture may be defined. This study is concerned with performance modeling for periodic execution of large-grain, decision-free algorithms in such an ATAMM-defined architecture. Major applications are expected to be real-time implementation of control and signal processing algorithms where performance is required to be highly predictable. The computing environment, problem domain, and algorithm execution pattern are described. Performance measures of computing speed and throughout capacity are defined. Performance bounds are established. Resource (computing element) needs are determined for periodic execution of algorithms. >
Urban History, Culture and Urban Ethnography

Three instances of Louise Tilly's influence on and engagements with anthropology are discussed: first, her work on families, households, and women's work; second, her critique of anthropology for descriptions lodged in "the ethnographic present" rather than in real past and present events; third, a call for documenting political process and collective action. Anthropology over the past two decades has largely overcome her temporal critique, and deployed a more nuanced, and historical, conception of culture {if not in undergraduate textbooks and case studies). Within urban ethnography, a tradition of attention to power relations, beginning with Engels and Du Bois and consolidated in anthropology during the 1920s-l940s, has flourished. These developments have made urban ethnography more historical, for the better. Still, a distinctive anthropological "upstream1 view of the past from the present persists, one based in fieldwork "ground truth.11 [culture, Tilly, Louise, urban ethnography, urban history]
Joint source-channel decoding for MPEG-4 video transmission over wireless channels

This paper investigates the use of joint source-channel coding for reliable transmission of MPEG-4 video over wireless channels. We present a maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) based, joint source-channel decoder (JSCD) for variable length coded intra macroblocks and inter macroblocks in a MPEG-4 encoded video stream. We then provide a comprehensive evaluation of this paradigm as an alternative method for achieving error resilience. In particular, our method is tested in conjunction with the MPEG-4 error resilience tools such as reversible variable length codes (RVLC), resynchronization markers, and data partitioning, with and without forward error controls (FECs) and, finally, without the use of RVLCs (only variable length codes). In addition, the JSCD algorithm is tested with and without the use of FECs [Reed-Solomon (RS) codes]. These tests show that the best performance at high channel bit-error rate is obtained when all error resilience tools are co-opted. The maximum improvement due to the proposed decoder when used without FEC is about 7 dB for RVLC and 8 dB for VLCs. These numbers are about 2.2 and 7.5 dB, respectively, when the MAP decoder is used in conjunction with the RS codes.
Containing Compensation Costs: Why Firms Differ in their Willingness to Reduce Pay

Driven by concerns about negative reactions among employees, most firms have traditionally avoided reducing compensation in response to competitive pressures or labor market opportunities. Thus, recent moves by a number of firms to reduce compensation raises questions about why, increasingly, firms differ in their willingness to lower compensation in response to pressures and/or opportunities. Using organizational level data obtained from over 400 human resource managers, this study examines determinants of efforts to reduce compensation—both in real and nominal terms. The results suggest that efforts to lower compensation are related to competitive pressures faced by the firm and to human resource policies and practices. These human resource policies and practices are thought to affect sensitivity to environmental change and the degree to which reductions generate incidental costs for the firm. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
XASH-3, a novel Xenopus achaete-scute homolog, provides an early marker of planar neural induction and position along the mediolateral axis of the neural plate

We have isolated a novel Xenopus homolog of the Drosophila achaete-scute genes, called XASH-3. XASH-3 expression is neural specific and is detected as early as stage 11 1/2, making it one of the earliest markers of neural induction so far described. Moreover, XASH-3 expression within the neural plate is regionally restricted. Transverse bands of XASH-3 mRNA mark discrete positions along the anteroposterior axis, while longitudinal bands mark a discrete position along the mediolateral axis. This latter site of XASH-3 expression appears to demarcate the prospective sulcus limitans, a boundary zone that later separates the functionally distinct dorsal (alar) and ventral (basal) regions of the spinal cord. In sandwich explants lacking any underlying mesoderm, XASH-3 is expressed in longitudinal stripes located lateral to the midline. This provides the first indication that planar or midline-derived inductive signals are sufficient to establish at least some aspects of positional identity along the mediolateral axis of the neural plate. By contrast, the transverse stripes of XASH-3 expression are not detected, suggesting that this aspect of anteroposterior neural pattern is lost or delayed in the absence of vertically passed signals. The restricted mediolateral expression of XASH-3 suggests that mediolateral patterning of the neural plate is an early event, and that this regionalization can be achieved in the absence of inducing signals derived from underlying mesoderm.
Collaborative Agreements in the Context of NYU as a Global Network University

The founders of New York University (NYU) chose in 1831 to move education out of the “ivy tower” and created an institution that was to be “in and of the city”. Since its inception, NYU has been providing its students with the opportunity to create new knowledge through research and discovery, to pass on knowledge to the next generation, and to apply knowledge in solving problems of societal significance. NYU has also been taken seriously its duty to prepare its students to become engaged and contributing citizens. The rapid spread of technology and information, the interdependence of economies, the transnational nature of major human challenges, and an increasing embrace of diversity have added new challenges to universities in the twenty-first century. NYU has responded to this globalization and “flattening of the world” by becoming a university that is now “in and of the world”, i.e. NYU prides itself to be a global network university.
A Note on Imperfection Sensitivity of Thin Plates on a Non-linear Elastic Foundation

The considerations which follow are intended as a contribution to the asymptotic theory of the effects of imperfections on the initial post-buckling behavior of non-linear elastic structures, in the sense of KOITER.
Candidate Opioid Peptides for Interaction with the Immune System

Endogenous opioids are a recently discovered group of peptides which have been implicated as modulators of a number of biological systems. Both opiate receptors and their peptide ligands are widely distributed throughout the CNS and are additionally located in some peripheral sites. The classical effects of opiates as analgesics have perhaps overshadowed many other important biological activities of this group of neuroactive peptides. This book provides strong indications that endogenous opioid peptides play a crucial role in the regulation of the immune system.
Simultaneous Optimization and Heat Integration for Biodiesel Production from Cooking Oil and Algae

In this article, we address the optimal production of second-generation biodiesel using waste cooking oil and algae oil. We consider five different technologies for the transesterification of the oil (homogeneous acid- or alkali-catalyzed, heterogeneous basic-catalyzed, enzymatic, and supercritical uncatalyzed). We formulate the problem as an MINLP problem where the models for each of the reactors are based on surface response methodology to capture the effects of the variables on the yield. The aim is to perform simultaneous optimization and heat integration for the production of biodiesel from each of the different oil sources in terms of the technology to use and the operating conditions to apply. Furthermore, a process network is designed to minimize the freshwater consumption. The optimal conditions in the reactors differ from those traditionally used because the separation tasks are taken into account in this work. For algae oil, the optimal process employs alkali as the catalyst and has a productio...
Detecting Structural Changes in Myosin using Bifunctional Spin Labels

Actomyosin interaction is responsible for driving a vast number of cellular processes, including force generation during muscle contraction. In this context, myosin is the molecular “motor” that produces muscle contraction. The myosin motor domain is comprised from three major subdomains: the force-generating domain (relay helix, SH-1, and converter), the ATP-binding pocket and the actin-binding cleft. During the cycle of force generation, myosin undergoes a series of structural rearrangements including “bending” of the relay helix, which communicates the biochemical state of the ATP binding pocket to the lever arm. The relay helix has previously been shown to reflect changes in distance, dynamics and orientation by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) with nucleotide state of the myosin catalytic domain. We now observe relay helix conformational changes using two rigidly attached bifunctional spin labels (BSL) on the relay helix (492.496) and in the lower 50 kDa domain (639.643) of the Dictyostelium myosin II motor domain by double electron electron resonance spectroscopy (DEER). We observe changes in relay helix conformation with various allosteric effectors - including potent myosin II inhibitors and physiological inhibitors such as site-directed oxidation. This approach allows for characterization of perturbations in chemo-mechanical coupling within the actomyosin complex under inhibitory conditions, as well as showing the reliability of relay helix spin probe sensitivity to the changes in myosin structural dynamics.
The inner magnetosphere ion composition and local time distribution over a solar cycle

Using the Cluster/Composition and Distribution Function (CODIF) analyzer data set from 2001 to 2013, a full solar cycle, we determine the ion distributions for H+, He+, and O+ in the inner magnetosphere (L < 12) over the energy range 40 eV to 40 keV as a function magnetic local time, solar EUV (F10.7), and geomagnetic activity (Kp). Concentrating on L = 6–7 for comparison with previous studies at geosynchronous orbit, we determine both the average flux at 90° pitch angle and the pitch angle anisotropy as a function of energy and magnetic local time. We clearly see the minimum in the H+ spectrum that results from the competition between eastward and westward drifts. The feature is weaker in O+ and He+, leading to higher O+/H+ and He+/H+ ratios in the affected region, and also to a higher pitch angle anisotropy, both features expected from the long-term effects of charge exchange. We also determine how the nightside L = 6–7 densities and temperatures vary with geomagnetic activity (Kp) and solar EUV (F10.7). Consistent with other studies, we find that the O+ density and relative abundance increase significantly with both Kp and F10.7. He+ density increases with F10.7, but not significantly with Kp. The temperatures of all species decrease with increasing F10.7. The O+ and He+ densities increase from L = 12 to L ~ 3–4, both absolutely and relative to H+, and then drop off sharply. The results give a comprehensive view of the inner magnetosphere using a contiguous long-term data set that supports much of the earlier work from GEOS, ISEE, Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers, and Polar from previous solar cycles.
'Environmental justice': The central role of research in establishing a credible scientific foundation for informed decision making

Although much of the evidence is anecdotal and circumstantial, there are mounting concerns that environmental health risks are borne disproportionately by members of the population who are poor and nonwhite. We examine the central role of environmental health research in defining the dimensions of the problem, understanding its causes, and identifying solutions. Environmental health sciences, including epidemiology, exposure analysis. pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and surveillance monitoring, must be employed to determine the extent to which society has achieved "equity" and "justice" in safeguarding the health and safety of its citizens. By improving our ability to identify, evaluate, prevent, and/or reduce risks for all members of society, environmental health research can contribute directly to fair and equitable protection for everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, race, or socioeconomic status.