cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
OPTIMAL LOW-THRUST RENDEZVOUS USING EQUINOCTIAL ORBIT ELEMENTS

Abstract The problem of optimal low-thrust rendezvous using continuous constant acceleration is presented based on the use of the non-singular equinoctial orbit elements. State and adjoint equations are integrated numerically by applying the thrust vector along a direction that maximizes the variational Hamiltonian at each instant of time. The two-point-boundary-value problem is solved via a Newton-Raphson scheme after guessing the initial values of the Lagrange multipliers as well as the total flight time. The transversality condition for the Hamiltonian at the final time is also used to carry out the 7 × 7 search. Equinoctial elements have previously been used to carry out minimum-time orbit transfers by considering only the five slowly varying elements. The inclusion of the sixth element representing the fast variable has allowed us to extend the applicability of the non-singular formulation to problems of orbital rendezvous.
Transoral robotic surgery alone for oropharyngeal cancer: quality-of-life outcomes.

Importance Few studies have examined quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes in patients who undergo transoral robotic surgery (TORS) alone (ie, without adjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy). Objective To report QOL outcomes of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who receive only TORS. Design, Setting, and Participants Medical records for all patients undergoing TORS for treatment of primary oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma from May 1, 2010, to March 31, 2014, at a tertiary care academic cancer center were examined from June through September 2014. Thirty-four patients who did not receive adjuvant therapy after TORS were included in the study. Intervention Primary surgical resection via TORS. Main Outcomes and Measures The University of Washington Quality of Life, version 4, questionnaire was completed by patients preoperatively and at 1-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month intervals after TORS. Demographic, clinicopathologic, and follow-up data were collected. Results Mean follow-up time was 14 months (May 1, 2010, to April 30, 2014). Most patients had T1 (20 [59%]) or T2 (13 [38%]) and N0 (13 [38%]) or N1 (16 [47%]) disease. Statistically significant improvement in QOL outcomes was noted in the following postoperative domains: chewing from 1 month (median, 50 [IQR, 50-100]) to 12 months (100 [IQR, 100-100]; P = .048), swallowing from 1 month (70 [IQR, 30-85]) to 6 months (100 [IQR, 70-100]; P = .047) and 1 to 24 months (100 [IQR, 70-100]; P = .048), pain from 1 month (38 [IQR, 25-75]) to 6 months (88 [IQR, 75-100]; P = .006) and 1 to 12 months after surgery (100 [IQR, 75-100]; P = .01), and activity from 1 month (63 [IQR, 50-88]) to 24 months (100 [IQR, 75-100]; P = .03). Two participants (6%) died during the follow-up period: 1 because of disease and 1 because of a myocardial infarction. Two patients (6%) required temporary gastrostomy tube placement, but none required tracheostomy. Conclusions and Relevance Appropriately selected patients who undergo TORS alone for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma experience acceptable short- and long-term QOL outcomes.
The Opportunity Cost of Travel Time as a Noisy Wage Fraction

Few issues are more important to welfare estimation with recreation demand models than the specification of the opportunity cost of travel time. The two most common approaches to specifying this cost treat it as a fixed fraction of the recreationist's wage, and either estimate the fraction (done infrequently) or assume it takes some value (done commonly), with references to results from the commute time literature used to justify the latter. However, these approaches lack firm conceptual rationales, and the consequences of using them are not fully understood. Recognizing that information limitations often preclude more general approaches, we use a joint recreation travel‐labor supply model to show that under relatively modest assumptions the opportunity cost of travel time can be expressed as a wage fraction with noise. This formulation is straightforward to implement as part of random parameters‐based recreation demand models. We then evaluate the welfare consequences of using the two approaches noted above, which are special cases of the noisy wage fraction specification. Our results suggest that the more critical restriction to relax in opportunity cost of travel time specifications is the absence of noise, rather than the specific level of the wage fraction.
A METABOLIC STUDY OF DESICCATED SUPRARENAL MEDICATION IN MAN

Desiccated suprarenal substance has been in use as a therapeutic agent for many years. It is a standard article of commerce in the pharmaceutical trade. There are in the literature many nebulous claims of benefit following its use, but of reports of clean-cut, controlled investigation in human subjects there is a dearth. For the past three years we have been engaged in a diagnostic-therapeutic study of the subject of dementia praecox. Among some 130 patients subjected to somewhat elaborate diagnostic study, more than half have shown functional deviations from normality that point toward endocrine deficiency. One common picture presented in this disorder is reduction of body temperature, blood pressure, and basal metabolic rate; secondary anemia; and reduction of bodily vigor. This picture is suggestive of adrenal deficiency. In numerous instances suprarenal substance has been administered alone or in combination with other medicaments. The general conditions under which the work was carried out have been ...
A Note on the Discriminator

Abstract Forf(X)∈ Z [X], letDf(n) be the least positive integerkfor whichf(1), …, f(n) are distinct modulok. Several results have been proven about the functionDfin recent years, culminating in Moree's characterization ofDf(n) wheneverflies in a certain (large) subset of Z [X] andnis sufficiently large. We give several improvements of Moree's result, as well as further results on the functionDf.
Mode-selective excitation using ultrafast chirped laser pulses

We propose a method to control population transfer and coherence in a multimode system using a transform-limited pump and a linearly chirped Stokes pulse in stimulated Raman scattering. Simultaneously applied pump and Stokes pulse are shown to induce the ac Stark shifts that result in nonadiabatic coupling of the dressed states, through which the pulse chirp governs population distribution. The method may be applied to selectively excite Raman transitions having the frequency difference less than the bandwidth of a transform-limited pulse.
Photoinduced Energy and Charge Transfer in P3HT:SWNT Composites

Using steady-state photoluminescence and transient microwave conductivity (TRMC) spectroscopies, photoinduced energy and charge transfer from poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are reported. Long-lived charge carriers are observed for excitons generated in the polymer due to interfacial electron transfer, while excitation of the SWNTs results in short-lived carriers confined to the nanotubes. The TRMC-measured mobility of electrons injected into the SWNTs exhibits a surprisingly small lower limit of 0.057 cm2/(V s), which we attribute to carrier scattering within the nanotube that inhibits resonance of the microwave electric field with the confined carriers. The observation of charge transfer and the lifetime of the separated carriers suggest that the primary photoinduced carrier generation process does not limit the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices based on P3HT:SWNT composites. With optimization, blends of P3HT with semiconducting SWNTs (s-SWNTs) may...
Feasible Set Points With Positive Tensions for a Cable Suspended Robot With a Lyapunov Controller

This paper considers characterization of the admissible workspace of set-points for a cable-suspended robot with positive input constraints. The main steps are: find the range of system states in terms of set-points using the system’s error dynamics, use the constraint inequalities in a manner such that positive input constraints are satisfied. The feasible workspace obtained by the proposed method is compared with the workspace given by iterative simulations. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is illustrated by laboratory experiments on a six-degree-of-freedom cable-suspended robot.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Controlling Turbulence in Tight Rod Bundles

The flow in rod bundles is of key importance in a variety of engineering fields. It is representative, for instance, of the flow in a nuclear reactor core and the flow in a tube and shell heat exchanger. For particularly tight rod bundles (pitch to diameter ratio lower than 1.1 in hexagonal arrays) the flow is subject to a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability that is present in both laminar and turbulent flows and is likely to influence transition.Such instability has been proven to exist in bare bundles and even in bundles containing spacing devices. In fact, rod bundles are typically separated by devices designed to keep the rods (or tubes) in place and avoid vibrations. Simple spacer designs, such as honeycomb arrays with dimples, do not remove the instability.The present paper discusses a procedure to investigate the effect of spacing devices have on the most unstable mode of turbulence. A linear stability analysis of the laminar flow for several spacing device configurations has been performed by using adjoint methods. The results show the effect of the spacing on the formation of large scale coherent structures and help lay the ground for a theory of turbulence control in tight rod bundles.© 2013 ASME
Expression of apolipoprotein C-IV is regulated by Ku antigen/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ complex and correlates with liver steatosis

Background/Aims We previously reported that hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein up regulated transcription of apolipoprotein C-IV (ApoC-IV, 10.7-fold increase), a member of the apolipoprotein family implicated in liver steatosis. Here, we identified host transcription factors regulating the ApoC-IV gene expression. Methods Transcriptional regulators were identified by DNA affinity purification and steatosis was detected by oil red O staining and triglyceride assay. Results We defined a 163-bp ApoC-IV promoter as a core protein responsive element, and identified Ku antigen complex (Ku70 and Ku80) as well as nuclear receptors PPARγ/RXRα as key regulators of ApoC-IV gene expression. Both Ku70 overexpression and PPARγ agonist significantly increased ApoC-IV promoter activity; conversely, Ku70 silencing or mutation of PPARγ binding site diminished the ApoC-IV promoter activity. Interestingly, transient transfection of ApoC-IV cDNA into a human hepatoma cell line was able to trigger moderate lipid accumulation. In agreement with this in vitro study, ApoC-IV transcript level was increased in HCV infected livers which correlated with triglyceride accumulation. Conclusions ApoC-IV overexpression may perturb lipid metabolism leading to lipid accumulation. HCV core protein may modulate ApoC-IV expression through Ku antigen and PPARγ/RXRα complex.
Some problems in the study of differences in cognitive processes

To test whether groups differ in a particular ability, researchers often compare their performance on two tasks: an experimental task that is sensitive to the ability of interest and a control task that measures other influences on the experimental task. A group difference will be reflected in a differential deficit, a greater difference between groups in experimental task performance than in control task performance. Before concluding from such a result that the groups differ in the ability of interest, three methodological problems must be faced. First, a differential deficit may be an artifact of task differences in discriminating power. That is, the experimental task may be more sensitive than the control task to group differences in abilities other than the one of interest. Second, a differential deficit may be an artifact of group differences in familiarity with the stimuli or the task. Third, a group difference in one ability may be due to a difference in some other ability that is more, or less, general than the first. These problems affect research in a number of areas, including cognitive development, psychopathology, learning disabilities, and the theory of intelligence. We discuss some possible solutions to these problems.
Shifts on the HyperfiniteII1Factor

Abstract R. T. Powers has constructed a family of unital endomorphisms of the hyperfinite II 1 factor R . The range of each Powers shift σ is a subfactor of index 2 in R . A cocycle conjugacy invariant for a Powers shift is its commutant index, i.e., the first index k for which the range of σ k has a nontrivial relative commutant in R . Previously we have shown that all Powers shifts of commutant index 2 are cocycle conjugate. In this paper results are obtained on the classification of the cocycle conjugacy classes of Powers shifts of higher commutant index.
Comparative transcriptome analysis of Pima and Acala cotton during boll development using 454 pyrosequencing technology

Information on gene expression during cotton fiber development for high fiber quality genotypes including Pima (Gossypium barbadense L.) and Acala cotton (G. hirsutum L.) is lacking, impeding the discovery of novel genes and DNA markers for fiber quality traits. In the present study, massively parallel sequencing technology was used to generate a total of 394,301 expressed sequence tag (EST) sequence reads, totaling over 42 million bp, from immature ovaries at 10 days post-anthesis of Pima Phy 76 and Acala 1517-99. For Pima Phy 76, 1,900 EST contigs were tentatively assembled from 21.8% (50,876) ESTs which resulted in 1,541 tentative consensus sequences (TCs). 1,005 and 1,064 EST contigs were homologous to TCs from the A2 and D5 genomes, respectively, while 738 of the EST contigs were shared by both genomes. For Acala 1517-99, 2,151 EST contigs were tentatively assembled from 24.5% (39,368) ESTs and resulted in 1,787 TCs. 1,220 and 1,206 EST contigs were homologous to known transcripts from A2 and D5 genomes and only 452 of the EST contigs were shared by both genomes. 691 EST contigs are also homologous (E-value ≤ 1 × 10−10) between Pima Phy 76 and Acala 1517-99, of which 38 contigs pairs were highly homologous (E-value ≤ 1 × 10−60) with sequence variations, predominantly single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A Blast search of a sample of contigs to Upland cotton ESTs in GenBank indicated that more than 75% EST contigs may contain SNPs. This report represents the first research in cotton using 454 pyrosequencing technology to enrich ESTs for high fiber quality cotton.
Seeding risk following percutaneous approach to hepatocellular carcinoma

Background Tumour biopsy is usually considered mandatory for patient management by oncologists. Currently percutaneous ablation is used therapeutically for cirrhotic patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), not suitable for resection or waiting for liver transplantation. However malignant seeding is a recognized complication of both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in patients with HCC. Although percutaneous therapy whether with or without biopsy of a suspected HCC nodule may minimize the risk of seeding, this has not been confirmed. Aim To evaluate the risk of seeding, defined as new neoplastic disease occurring outside the liver capsule, either in the subcutaneous tissue or peritoneal cavity following needle biopsy and/or local ablation therapy (LAT). Methods A literature search resulted in 179 events in 99 articles between January 1983 and February 2007: 66 seedings followed liver biopsy, 26 percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI), 1 microwave, 22 radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and 64 after combined biopsy and percutaneous treatment (5 microwave; 33 PEI; 26 RFA). Results In 41 papers specifying the total number of patients biopsied and/or treated, the median risk of seeding was 2.29% (range 0–11%) for biopsy group; 1.4% (1.15–1.85%) for PEI when used with biopsy and 0.61% (0–5.56%) for RFA without biopsy, 0.95% (0–12.5%) for RFA with biopsy and 0.72% (0–10%) for liver nodules (including non-HCC nodules) biopsied and ablated. Conclusion Risk of seeding with HCC is substantial and appears greater with using diagnostic biopsy alone compared to therapeutic percutaneous procedures. This risk is particularly relevant for patients being considered for liver transplantation.
Possible protein phosphatase inhibition by bis(hydroxyethyl)sulfide, a hydrolysis product of mustard gas

Abstract Recently, the natural vesicant cantharidin was shown to bind exclusively to and inhibit protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in mouse tissue extracts (Li and Casida (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89, 11867–11870). To explore the generality of this effect in vesicant action, we measured the protein serine/threonine phosphatase activity in mouse liver cytosol (in the form of the okadaic acid inhibitable increment of p-nitrophenyl phosphate (-NPP) phosphatase activity) in the presence of aqueous sulfur mustard or its hydrolysis product, bis(hydroxyethyl)sulfide (TDG). Sulfur mustard inhibited -NPP hydrolysis. However, inhibition correlated with the time elapsed between thawing and the addition of mustard to the enzyme preparation, not with concentration. TDG exhibited a direct, concentration-related inhibition of -NPP hydrolysis between 30 and 300 μM. We conclude that sulfur mustard also has an inhibitory effect on protein serine/threonine phosphatases. However, the inhibition is an effect of its non-alkykating hydrolysis product TDG, not of sulfur mustard itself.
Differences in the Modifiability of a Response Pattern between Young-Adult and Senescent Rats

Summary To test the hypothesis that previously observed differences in learning between adult and senescent rats may have been a function of greater behavioral rigidity in the old rats, 18 young-adult (100–120 days old) and 18 senescent (730–760 days old) male hooded rats were studied. The apparatus was a Y-maze with three discriminably different arms. A dipper at the end of each arm contained a sucrose solution, and subjects could not repeat responses in the same arm twice in a row. After 10 sessions of positive reinforcement, responding in one arm was extinguished for one session. Two extinction procedures were used. One involved turning off the dipper (few secondary reinforcing cues) and the other involved removing the sugar solution but allowing the dipper to operate. Following the extinction session, responding in all three arms was again reinforced. The results from the extinction session indicated that in both the dipper-on and dipper-off conditions the senescent rats made more responses than the y...
Byzantine resilient synchronization for content and presence updates in MANETS

In this paper, we present techniques for synchronizing nodes that periodically broadcast content and presence updates to co-located nodes over an ad-hoc network, where nodes may exhibit Byzantine malicious behavior. We first propose an algorithm for synchronizing the periodic transmissions of all the nodes in an attacker-free multi-hop network. This allows nodes to save battery power by switching off their network cards without missing updates from their neighbors. We then introduce a suite of spoofing attacks and show that they are able to disrupt synchronization and destabilize the network even when launched by a single attacker in large, multi-hop networks. Finally, we devise a rating based algorithm that rates neighbors based on the consistency of their behaviors. By favoring well-behaved nodes in the synchronization process, we show that we can address the issue of Byzantine malicious behavior very effectively. Our evaluation shows that the algorithms are computationally efficient and, for the setup considered, extend the device lifetime by 30% over an always-on Wi-Fi scenario. Moreover, in the presence of attacks, our rating based algorithm quickly stabilizes the synchronization process and reduces the number of lost updates by 85%.
Abstract 5635: Development of a high-throughput cell and fluorescent image-based ABCB1-mediated efflux assay for screening inhibitors of ABCB1.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC ABCB1, also known as P-glycoprotein (P-gp) or multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1), is a membrane-associated multidrug transporter of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family. It is one of the most widely studied transporters that enable cancer cells to develop drug resistance. Reliable high-throughput assays that can identify compounds that interact with ABCB1 are crucial for developing new therapeutic drugs. A high-throughput assay for measuring ABCB1-mediated calcein AM efflux was developed using the IncuCyteFLR technology. Time- and dose-dependent accumulation of fluorescent calcein in ABCB1-overexpressing KB-V1 cells was recorded using the IncuCyteFLR. Validation of the assay was performed with known ABCB1 inhibitors, XR9576, verapamil, and cyclosporin A, all of which displayed dose-dependent inhibition of ABCB1-mediated calcein AM efflux in this assay. A kinase inhibitor library and other compounds with known therapeutic targets were screened. The assay is highly reproducible and inhibitors for ABCB1-mediated efflux were identified from the kinase inhibitor library. Among compounds with known targets, BEZ235, BI 2536, IKK 16, and Ispinesib (SB-715992) inhibited calcein AM efflux in a dose-dependent manner and were also active in the flow cytometry based efflux assay. BEZ235, BI 2536, and IKK 16 also successfully competed with radiolabeled photoaffinity substrate [125I]iodoarylazidoprazosin (IAAP) for binding to ABCB1. Inhibition of ABCB1 lowered the IC50 value of BI 2536 treated ABCB1-overexpressing cancer cells. Phase and fluorescent images taken by the IncuCyteFLR provided additional opportunities for evaluating compounds that are cytotoxic or produce false positive signals. This high-throughput assay provides an efficient, reliable, and simple technique for screening libraries of natural and synthetic compounds to identify ABCB1 inhibitors. The same approach may be applied to screen inhibitors of other ABC transporters when suitable cell lines and fluorescent substrates are used. Citation Format: Megan R. Ansbro, Suneet Shukla, Suresh V. Ambudkar, Stuart H. Yuspa, Luowei Li. Development of a high-throughput cell and fluorescent image-based ABCB1-mediated efflux assay for screening inhibitors of ABCB1. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5635. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5635
Critical Praxis beyond the Ivory Tower: A Critical Commentary

n his article, "Beyond the Ivory Tower: Critical Praxis in Medical Anthropology," Merrill Singer has attempted to answer what is arguably the major criticism of critical medical anthropology: that this perspective has had much to say, but little to do, about the contradictions inherent in capitalist health care. For years, devotees of this theoretical perspective have made scholarly pronouncements about the relationships among social inequality, inadequate medical care, and ill health. They also have condemned the work of clinically applied anthropologists for unwittingly perpetuating social inequality. Although I am clearly a clinician/researcher embedded in the health care system of the United States, I have found some theoretical merit in the critical perspective. Nevertheless, I have long awaited a discussion of critical praxis, and I value this opportunity to respond to Singer's interesting ideas. In reading Singer's article, one is constantly reminded that critical medical anthropologists view the world through lenses colored by class consciousness. Thankfully, Singer acknowledges this fact when he states that "critical medical anthropology is consciously political." As politicians are wont to do, he then proceeds to "recognize that health is a profoundly political issue," to "acknowledge the fundamental importance of class, racial, and sexual inequality," to "recognize the doctor-patient relationship ... as unavoidably conflictual," and to "define power as a fundamental variable in health" (emphases mine). I would submit that these are a few of many cleverly worded assertions about the nature of reality that Singer and other critical medical anthropologists expect all "conventional" medical anthropologists to accept as Truth. The great appeal of these assertions about the world of patients, illnesses, and care for anthropologists-who reflexively champion the causes of the disenfranchised everywhere-is obvious. But good practitioners must always question their underlying assumptions about the world, as well as their feelings about the people who are the objects of either study or praxis. I have seen very little written by anthropologists (other than Howard Stein) about our tendency to identify with and idealize the powerless, and there is nothing
A Magnetically Excited and Sensed MEMS-Based Resonant Compass

An all-magnetic micromachined resonant compass was designed, fabricated by a low-temperature CMOS-compatible microfabrication technique, and characterized. The microelectromechanical sensor consists of a silicon micromachined mechanically resonant disk structure bearing a small permanent magnet. The resonant structure is powered using an electromagnetic excitation coil, which requires very little operating voltage. The interaction between the external magnetic field surrounding the sensor (such as the Earth's field) and the permanent magnet generates a rotating torque on the disc, changing the stiffness of the beam and therefore the resonant frequency of the sensor. By monitoring changes of the resonant frequency while changing the orientation of the sensor with respect to the external magnetic field, the direction of the external magnetic field can be determined. The fabricated device can measure the direction of the magnetic field of the Earth with a resolution of 15deg, for a 100-mV resonator excitation voltage
Gene Expression Profile Classification Using Random Projection and Sparse Representation

A new gene expression profile classification scheme is developed in this study. Random projection is used for feature selection, and classification is formulated into a problem as finding sparse representations of test samples with respect to training samples. The sparse representation is computed by the l1-regularized least square method. To investigate its performance, the proposed method is applied to three tumor gene expression datasets and compared with the combination of support vector machine (SVM) and two popular gene selection methods. The experimental results have shown that the performance of the proposed method is comparable with or better than those of SVM. In addition, the proposed method is more efficient than SVM as it has no need of model selection.
Multi-material interface reconstruction on generalized polyhedral meshes

We describe multi-material (more than two materials) interface reconstruction methods for 3D meshes of generalized polyhedra. The basic information used in interface reconstruction is the volume fraction of each material in mixed cells, that is, those containing multiple materials. All methods subdivide a mixed cell into a set of pure non-overlapping sub-cells, each containing just one material that have the reference volume fraction. We describe three methods. The first two methods represent an extension of standard piece-wise linear interface construction (PLIC) methods to 3D and use information only about volume fractions. The first method is first-order accurate and is based on the discrete gradient of the volume fraction as an estimate of the normal to the interface. The second method is planarity-preserving (second-order accurate) and is an extension to 3D of the least squares volume-of-fluid interface reconstruction algorithm (LVIRA, see E. Puckett, A volume-of-fluid interface tracking algorithm with applications to computing shock wave refraction, in: H. Dwyer (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Computational Fluid Dynamics, 1991, pp. 933-938; J.E. Pilliod, E.G. Puckett, Second-order accurate volume-of-fluid algorithms for tracking material interfaces, Journal of Computational Physics 199 (2004) 465-502] for the 2D case). The third method is an extension to 3D of the so-called moment-of-fluid (MoF) method V. Dyadechko, M. Shashkov, Moment-of-fluid interface reconstruction, Tech. Rep. LA-UR-05-7571, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2005. Also available as http://cnls.lanl.gov/~shashkov/; V. Dyadechko, M. Shashkov, Multi-material interface reconstruction from the moment data, Tech. Rep. LA-UR-06-5846, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2006. Also available as http://cnls.lanl.gov/~shashkov/]. The MoF method is also second-order accurate. This method uses information not only about volume fractions but also about the position of the centroids of each material. In contrast to standard PLIC methods, the MoF method uses only information from the cell where reconstruction is performed; no information from neighboring cells is needed. Also, the MoF method provides automatic ordering of the materials during interface reconstruction. Optimal ordering is based on comparing the positions of the reference centroids and actual centroids of the reconstructed pure sub-cells. The performance of the methods is demonstrated with numerical examples.
A stereo-compound hybrid microscope for combined intracellular and optical recording of invertebrate neural network activity

Optical recording studies of invertebrate neural networks with voltage-sensitive dyes seldom employ conventional intracellular electrodes. This may in part be due to the traditional reliance on compound microscopes for such work. While such microscopes have high light-gathering power, they do not provide depth of field, making working with sharp electrodes difficult. Here we describe a hybrid microscope design, with switchable compound and stereo objectives, that eases the use of conventional intracellular electrodes in optical recording experiments. We use it, in combination with a voltage-sensitive dye and photodiode array, to identify neurons participating in the swim motor program of the marine mollusk Tritonia. This microscope design should be applicable to optical recording studies in many preparations.
Simple reporter gene-based assays for hairpin poly(amide) conjugate permeability and DNA-binding activity in living cells

Hairpin poly(amide)s (HPs) are sequence specific DNA-binding compounds that have engendered considerable interest as potential pharmacological agents to manipulate the expression of specific genes. However, recent reports have indicated that the ability of HP conjugates to pass through cell membranes is sensitive to the cell type employed and the nature of the conjugate. Furthermore, while binding of HPs to DNA sequences in vitro is relatively well understood, packing of DNA into chromatin in living cells makes predicting the efficiency with which a given poly(amide) will bind its cognate site less certain. Previous methods to evaluate HP permeability and binding in vivo, while effective, are somewhat tedious and qualitative. We report here two related reporter gene-based assays that provide a more convenient and quantitative measure of poly(amide) permeability and DNA binding activity in living cells. We anticipate that these methods will complement existing tools and facilitate the development of HP conjugates with the desired biological activity.
Some pitfalls in paleosol interpretation in carbonate sequences

In Quaternary carbonate units composed mostly of eolianites, paleosols are important stratigraphic markers that help differentiate episodes of carbonate deposition tied to glacio-eustatic sea level fluctuations. Paleosols used in this manner can be misinterpreted, and thus lead to errors in interpretation of the geologic record. Some possible pitfalls include: failure to differentiate between terra-rossa paleosols and calcarenite protosols; failure to recognize that separate paleosols may merge laterally into composite paleosols; failure to recognize that single paleosols may bifurcate in highly weathered bedrock; and failure to recognize soil-derived material that infills karst features. The Quaternary carbonates of the Bahamas are used to illustrate these pitfalls, which may occur in carbonates of any age.
Endogenous Production of Nitric Oxide in Neonatal Endotoxemia 1683

Pulmonary production of NO increases in adult animals exposed to endotoxin. Neonatal endotoxemia is usually accompanied by pulmonary hypertension. The existence of pulmonary hypertension in the presence of increased NO production is inconsistent with NO's role as a vasodilator. We examined pulmonary NO production in neonatal endotoxemia by measuring exhaled NO and by comparing plasma NO metabolite concentration in paired pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein samples. Ten to fourteen day old piglets were anesthetized, tracheostomized and instrumented with pulmonary artery and systemic arterial catheters. Each piglet received 20 mcg/kg E. Coli lipopolysaccharide infused over 30 minutes. PVR, SVR, exhaled NO and paired PA and PV plasma NO metabolites were measured at 60 minute intervals. One hundred twenty minutes after endotoxin infusion was completed, the piglets were randomized to receive either a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (L-NAME or aminoguanidine), the substrate for NO production (L-Arginine) or saline control. PVR increased significantly from baseline and was sustained throughout the 240 minute experimental period with no difference among groups after randomization. There was no change in peak exhaled NO over time in the control group or in those receiving L-NAME or aminoguanidine. Exhaled NO increased significantly in the two hours following administration of L-Arginine (4.41 ± 2.6 to 8.1± 3.8 ppb, p < 0.01). There was no difference in plasma NO metabolites over time within groups or between groups. We conclude that neonatal endotoxemia does not acutely increase pulmonary production of NO. We speculate that an inability to increase NO production may play a role in pulmonary hypertension associated with neonatal sepsis.
Development of leaf thickness for Plectranthus parviflorus – Influence of photosynthetically active radiation

Photosynthetically active radiation (PhAR) is apparently the environmental factor having the greatest influence on leaf thickness for Plectranthus parviflorus Henckel (Labiatae). A four-fold increase in leaf thickness from 280 to 1170 μm occurred as the PhAR was raised from 1.3 to 32.5 mol m−2 day−1. Compared to a constant PhAR of 2.5 mol m−2 day−1, a PhAR of 32.5 mol m−2 day−1 for one week during the first week (with return to 2.5 mol m−2 day−1 during the second and third weeks) led to an increase in final leaf thickness by 323 μm (to 802 μm). When increased PhAR was applied during the second week the increase in final thickness over the control was 217 μm, and when increased PhAR was applied during the third week it was 99 μm. However, leaf thickness was not simply responding to total daily PhAR, since a leaf 450 μm thick could occur at a low instantaneous PhAR for a long daytime (total daily PhAR of 1.5 mol m−2 day−1) and at a high PhAR for a short daytime (4.5 mol m−2 day−1). Total daily CO2 uptake (net photosynthesis) was approximately the same in the two cases, suggesting that this is an important factor underlying the differences in leaf thickness. Leaf thickness is physiologically important, since thicker leaves tend to have greater mesophyll surface area per unit leaf area (Ames/A) and hence higher photosynthetic rates.
Crossing the boundaries of sensory neurogenesis.

Boundary cap cells of the dorsal root ganglia were thought to be limited to a structural role regulating migration into or out of the neural tube. Now a study in this issue reports that they are progenitors of small-diameter nociceptive neurons.
Comparative LCA of a Linear Motor and Hybrid Feed Drive under High Cutting Loads

Abstract Linear motor drives (LMDs) are well known to provide significant advantages in terms of positioning speed and accuracy over traditional screw drives (SDs), making them better suited for high-speed high-precision machine tools. However, their use in such machine tools is severely limited by their tendency to consume a lot of electrical energy and cause thermal issues, particularly under high cutting loads. A hybrid feed drive (HFD) has recently been proposed as a possible solution to this dilemma. The HFD switches between LMD and SD actuation depending on the mode of the manufacturing operation, thus achieving speeds and accuracies similar to LMDs while consuming much less energy. This paper presents a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA) of the proposed HFD with an LMD as the baseline for the comparison. The functional unit is taken as the production of parts that involve heavy cutting by a small-sized 3-axis precision milling machine for 250 8-hour work days per year over a 12-year first-use life span. Energy savings provided by the HFD during its use phase vis-a-vis the additional energy investments into the HFD at various phases in its life cycle are compared. The analysis predicts a net positive impact, in terms of energy and the environment, for the HFD compared to the LMD under high cutting loads.
Thermodynamic Stability of Zimmerman Self-Assembled Dendritic Supramolecules from Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations

We have used the vibrational density of state (DoS) derived from classical molecular dynamic (MD) simulations to investigate the origin of the generation-dependent stability of the hydrogen-bond-mediated self-assembly of supramolecular dendritic structures synthesized and characterized by Zimmerman and co-workers. In this method, the DoS distribution is calculated from the Fourier transform of the velocity autocorrelation function, and the thermodynamic properties are determined by weighting each vibrational mode with the harmonic oscillator statistics. Our simulation results confirm the experimental findings that circular and linear configurations may coexist at lower generations but that only circular forms are stable at higher generations. From analyzing the free energy extracted from the MD on both linear and hexagonal forms of the first through fourth generation dendrimers, we find that entropic contributions dominate the stability of these self-assembled systems. This method provides additional detailed information on the thermodynamic properties of suprastructures, which should be useful in the study of other complex systems such as proteins and DNA.
Carrion's Disease. III Experimental Production in Animals.

SummaryThe 3 types of infection seen in human Carrion's disease have been reproduced in the monkey. The cutaneous form (verruga peruana) was produced in monkeys by the inoculation of (a) infected lymph nodes from a patient with the anemic form (Oroya fever), or (b) human verruga tissue, or (c) cultures of Bartonella bacilliformis from the blood of human verruga cases. The anemic form (Oroya fever) was reproduced in one splenectomized monkey, free from spontaneous bartonella infection, by the inoculation of blood from an Oroya-fever patient. This animal died showing a multiple infection of his red cells with Bartonella bacilli-fonnis. The asymptomatic form was produced in monkeys by the inoculation of blood from Oroya-fever patients.
Antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic actions of oestrogen receptor β in prostate cancer

Oestrogen receptor (ER) β , the second ER, appears to be a tumour suppressor in most tissues that have been investigated. Recently, studies of prostate cancer have shown that tumour-suppressive effects of ER β occur through varying mechanisms including increased apoptosis, reduced invasiveness and epithelial mesenchymal transition as well as inhibited proliferation. It has been suggested that ER β is a potential drug target for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Xenobiotic organic compounds in runoff from fields irrigated with treated wastewater.

Investigations of agricultural nonpoint source pollution typically focus on a relatively narrow range of targeted toxic and biostimulatory compounds (e.g., specific pesticides, nutrients). Regular application of numerous other organic compounds to agricultural fields in pesticide formulations, irrigation water, soil amendments, and fertilizers may result in their transport into surface waters via runoff. We examined whether potentially toxic dissolved and particle-associated “nontarget” organic compounds were present in surface runoff from agricultural fields irrigated with disinfected tertiary recycled water or wastewater effluent-dominated streamwater. Gas chromatographic−mass spectrometric analyses of filtered runoff samples revealed the presence of numerous nontarget compounds of potential toxicological significance including pesticide transformation products, pesticide adjuvant chemicals, plasticizers, flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, and personal care product ingredients. Although the toxicity of ...
The therapeutic future in headache.

There are many categories and individual types of headache and most have a variety of treatment protocols, while a few are best treated by just one medication. This paper will concentrate on acute care medications for migraine and discuss some new and future acute care treatments. There is not much to discuss about prevention, except that onabotulinumtoxinA has been approved for prevention of chronic migraine. Cluster headache will also be discussed, as there are some future treatments for acute care and prevention being studied at present. For the acute care of migraine in the US, we have seven triptans by tablet plus other routes and one non steroidal anti-inflammatory medication approved by the FDA that is currently available (Cambia brand of buffered diclofenac potassium for oral solution). There are several other acute care medications in various stages of development and there are three new methods of administering a triptan and others under investigation. The optimal acute care therapy for migraine should be faster, easier to use and more efficient with fewer adverse events than what is currently available. What follows is a brief review of the status in development for five of the many new acute care medications being investigated: the CGRP antagonist tablet telcagepant, the sumatriptan iontophoretic patch Zelrix, sumatriptan powder for use in the OptiNose apparatus, dihydroergotamine for oral inhalation (Levadex), civamide nasal solution for prevention of episodic cluster headache (Civanex) and sphenopalatine ganglion stimulation for acute cluster attacks in chronic cluster headaches. Other future treatments that will not be discussed include transcranial magnetic stimulation, a 5-HT1F agonist named alniditan, large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel openers, glial modulators or other medications and devices in early stages of development.
GEOMETRIC EQUIVALENCE RELATIONS ON MODULES

In [4] Gersten developed the notion of homotopy for ring homomorphisms. A simple homotopy of two ring homomorphisms f,g : A +B can be viewed as a deformation over the parameter space Spec Z[t]. This is a homomorphism A+B[t] which restricts to f when t = 0 and to g when t = 1. Two homomorphisms f and g are homotopic if there is a chain of homomorphisms starting with f and ending with g such that each term is simple homotopic to the next. Let A be a k-algebra and k a field. Consider the finite dimensional representations of A and require that a simple homotopy of representations be given by a deformation over Speck[t] = A:. Using direct sum we can make the homotopy classes of representations into an abelian monoid. Now it is more useful to use any nonsingular, rational affine curve as well as A: for the parameter space of a homotopy. (This becomes apparent when A is commutative; see Section 1.3.) The abelian monoid of homotopy classes is denoted by N(A) and its associated group by R(A). Two modules (representations) whose classes in R(A) are the same are said to be ‘rationally equivalent’. In Section 1.3 we show that when A is commutative R(A) is isomorphic to the Chow group of O-cycles of SpecA modulo rational equivalence. In Section 1.2 we prove basic structure theorems about the functor H from kalgebras (finitely generated) to abelian monoids. Now consider more general deformations using any connected affine k-scheme as the parameter space. The result is a coarser equivalence relation on the finite dimensional A-modules and a corresponding abelian monoid which we denote C(A). In Section 1 .I we determine C(A) for some algebras: finite dimensional algebras, enveloping algebras, commutative algebras. We prove basic structure theorems about C(A *kB), C(A Ok@, C(A x B). Let D(A) be the associated abelian group. Two finite dimensional modules M and N are said to be ‘algebraically
Low-rank coal-water fuel combustion in a laboratory-scale furnace

Abstract A detailed study of hot-water dried lignite slurry combustion and the formation of nitrogen-containing pollutants was performed in a vertical, laboratory-scale combustor. Space-resolved local measurements of solid and gaseous combustion products were obtained from throughout the combustion zone using a stainless steel, water-quenched sample probe. Coal burnout (daf) of greater than 99% was achieved without supplementary fuel support, in an estimated residence time of 1.4 s. Flame stability was strongly affected by the atomized droplet size, which is controlled by the atomizing air to slurry mass ratio ( A S ). For A S greater than 0.7, coal burnout was relatively insensitive to further increases in A S , yet burnout decreased rapidly as A S was decreased. Nitric oxide (NO) emissions were not affected greatly by changes in A S . Decreasing stoichiometric ratio (SR) to about 0.8 caused coal burnout to decrease from about 98% to 94% and NO emissions to decrease from around 600 ppm to less than 100 ppm. Changes in secondary air swirl number from 0 to 4.25 had little or no effect on coal burnout or NO emissions for a SR of 1.1 and an A S of 0.75. At low A S (0.24), high secondary air swirl was required to stabilize the slurry flame. Reactor mapping tests showed rapid mixing between the slurry and the combustion air. CO was found only near the slurry inlet at a maximum concentration of 0.3%. No other fuel-rich species were detected in measurable quantities.
Implantation of carbon into thin iron films

Abstract Polycrystalline iron films, 1000 A thick, were implanted with carbon ions at 38 kV to an average concentration of 6 at.%. After implantation and subsequent annealing, lattice parameter and microstructural determinations were made with transmitted electrons. Immediately after implantation, the carbon is retained in supersaturated solid solution and the lattice type is transformed from the normal body-centered cubic of alpha iron to body-centered tetragonal with a c/a ratio of 1.6. After annealing above 330 °C for several hours, the carbon precipitates from solid solution as a carbide phase and the c/a ratio is reduced. These results can be interpreted in terms of the formation and annealing of the metastable martensite constituent of the iron-carbon system.
Kinetics of the Single-Crystal to Single-Crystal Two-Photon Photodimerization of α-trans-Cinnamic Acid to α-Truxillic Acid

The quadratic dependence of the rate of photodimerization of R-trans-cinnamic acid induced by 532 nm pulsed laser light confirms a two-photon mechanism in the single crystals. Single crystals in well-defined orientations and circularly polarized light were used in the experiments. The reaction rate deviates from firstorder kinetics, but fits the JMAK expression with a coefficient indicating a mechanism intermediate between a random distribution of product molecules in the crystal and the existence of growing nuclei. The reaction is accompanied by a large change in the monoclinic � -angle of the unit cell, corresponding to increased π-overlap between adjacent molecules and therefore to an increased reaction rate. The improved penetration of the light in the crystal and more homogeneous product formation are significant advantages in studies of mechanisms of chemical reactions in single crystals.