cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Industrial Application of a Large-Scale Dynamic Data Reconciliation Strategy

In a modern chemical plant, distributed control systems provide access to a wide variety of process data that typically contain both random and gross errors. Although data reconciliation has been an often-studied topic to reduce the amount of error in measurements, applications of dynamic data reconciliation to problems in industry are virtually nonexistent. This is because standard formulations of the dynamic data reconciliation problem result in large nonlinear programs, which are thought to be too difficult to solve in real time. With increases in computing speeds and improvements in optimization technology, these concerns are diminishing. This paper describes the implementation of a dynamic data reconciliation application at an ExxonMobil Chemical Company plant. The specifics of the application will be discussed and some solutions to the practical problems encountered in an industrial setting are presented.
Theory of normal premixed turbulent flames revisited

Abstract We review the theory of normal premixed flames based on a second-moment closure employing the Bray-Moss-Libby aerothermochemical model of premixed turbulent combustion. The physical notions behind the model are emphasized and the mathematical nature of the formulation when applied to a normal flame is examined. An earlier ad hoc assumption regarding the conditional intensities is replaced by a more physically based model which perhaps can be applied in other situations and is shown to lead to satisfactory agreement with experimental data. We conclude with indications of the directions for future work along these lines.
The EFSA health claims ‘learning experience’

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently highlighted the need to provide scientific requirements for health claims and to find new regulatory issues for healthy food products. For this reason, EFSA asked its Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) panel to draft additional guidelines on scientific assessment of these claims. A new approach for a strict substantiation of health issues in selected fields: the Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 established in fact that health claims applications should only be authorized after a high level of scientific validation conducted by EFSA using appropriate measures in this evaluation. The legislation should not only protect consumers but also define specific research areas with appropriate outcome measures to assess the quality, relevance and adequacy of studies conducted for scientific validation of health claims. The new system was not only a necessary support for consumers to make the correct choice of products, but rather a way for EFSA to demonstrate transparency of this new approach. This was the field of the pharmaceutical industry, this new regulation is, therefore, also for EFSA, an expensive learning process.
Addendum: “Partial agglomeration during Co silicide film formation” [J. Mater. Res. 7, 269 (1992)]

After this article was published as a communication in the February issue of Journal of Materials Research, (1989), the authors wished to add the following statement about their paper.
Separation of germ cell apoptosis from toxin-induced cell death by necrosis using in situ end-labeling histochemistry after glutaraldehyde fixation

Abstract In situ end-labeling of fragmented DNA is routinely being used to detect apoptotic cells in various tissues including the testis. In this study, we examined the influence of various fixatives (neutral buffered formalin, paraformaldehyde, and glutaraldehyde) on the testicular structural integrity and the immunoreactivity of fragmented DNA in apoptotic germ cells of the adult rat. Accelerated apoptosis of germ cells was induced in the adult rat by gonadotropin deprivation. Visualization of apoptotic DNA fragmentation in individual germ cells was achieved by direct immunoperoxidase detection of digoxigenin-labeled genomic DNA. Glutaraldehyde fixation significantly improved the in situ detection of apoptotic germ cells while maintaining excellent morphological preservation. The labeling is also specific for apoptosis since necrotic germ cells show no specific signals. Fixed tissues could be processed for electron microscopy for further characterization of germ cell death using morphological criteria. Thus, glutaraldehyde fixation is advantageous for recognition of apoptotic germ cells with high sensitivity and specificity on a cell-by-cell basis. It should also be applicable to detect apoptosis in other cells and tissues.
Biological Hydrogen Production Using Chloroform-treated Methanogenic Granules

In fermentative hydrogen production, the low-hydrogen-producing bacteria retention rate limits the suspended growth reactor productivity because of the long hydraulic retention time (HRT) required to maintain adequate bacteria population. Traditional bacteria immobilization methods such as calcium alginate entrapment have many application limitations in hydrogen fermentation, including limited duration time, bacteria leakage, cost, and so on. The use of chloroform-treated anaerobic granular sludge as immobilized hydrogen-producing bacteria in an immobilized hydrogen culture may be able to overcome the limitations of traditional immobilization methods. This paper reports the findings on the performance of fed-batch cultures and continuous cultures inoculated with chloroform-treated granules. The chloroform-treated granules were able to be reused over four fed-batch cultures, with pH adjustment. The upflow reactor packed with chloroform-treated granules was studied, and the HRT of the upflow reactor was found to be as low as 4 h without any decrease in hydrogen production yield. Initial pH and glucose concentration of the culture medium significantly influenced the performance of the reactor. The optimum initial pH of the culture medium was neutral, and the optimum glucose concentration of the culture medium was below 20 g chemical oxygen demand/L at HRT 4 h. This study also investigated the possibility of integrating immobilized hydrogen fermentation using chloroform-treated granules with immobilized methane production using untreated granular sludge. The results showed that the integrated batch cultures produced 1.01 mol hydrogen and 2 mol methane per mol glucose. Treating the methanogenic granules with chloroform and then using the treated granules as immobilized hydrogen-producing sludge demonstrated advantages over other immobilization methods because the treated granules provide hydrogen-producing bacteria with a protective niche, a long duration of an active culture, and excellent settling velocity. This integrated two-stage design for immobilized hydrogen fermentation and methane production offers a promising approach for modifying current anaerobic wastewater treatment processes to harvest hydrogen from the existing systems.
Manipulation of ZnO Nanowire by Low-Temperature Solution Approach

A catalyst free, structure-induced heterogeneous nucleation and direct growth of ZnO nanowires on organic and inorganic substrates was prepared by low-temperature solution approach process. The experimental results showed that ZnO nanowires could be directly synthesized upon the concave of substrate without any pre-seeding. In this work ZnO nanowires were grown on both polystyrene bead layer and physical-grinded wafer substrate. ZnO nanowires with a broad aspect ratio of 10−2 ∼ 102 was controlled mainly by adjusting of reactant concentration and pH state of solution. A needle-like ZnO nanotip were also prepared by a two-step limited growth condition as a result that tip diameter is several nanometers only, which may be highly in favor of the field emission. Structure-induced heterogeneous nucleation and growth facilitates the fabrication of ZnO nanowires as the potential photoeletronic units in field-emission displays.
Electron-impact excitation of Fe xxv and Kr xxxv in the relativistic distorted-wave approximation

Cross sections for the electron-impact excitation of the n=2 states of the heliumlike ions Fe XXV and Kr XXXV are calculated in the relativistic distorted-wave approximation. Both bound-core orbitals and continuum-scattering orbitals are calculated using the Dirac Hamiltonian. The most significant relativistic effects result from the spin-orbit mixing of the 2 /sup 3/P/sub 1/ and 2 /sup 1/P/sub 1/ excited states. We compare our results with previous calculations based on a perturbation-theory treatment of relativistic effects.
THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATIC VARIABILITY ON US IRRIGATION ADOPTION

This paper contributes to the literature underscoring the importance of climatic variance by developing a framework for incorporating the means and tails of the distributions of rainfall and temperature into empirical models of agricultural production. The methodology is applied to estimate the impact of climate change on the discrete choice decision to adopt irrigation since it is an important adaptation to climate change. We develop a discrete choice model for the decision to install irrigation capacity that captures the effects of both climate means and extremes. Climatic means and frequencies of climatic events in the upper tails of the temperature and precipitation distributions are used to estimate the parameters of a normal distribution for temperature and a Weibull distribution for precipitation. Using estimates from a probit model, we examine the independent effects of changing climatic mean and variance on the probability of adopting irrigation. Increasing the mean temperature, holding variance constant, shifts the entire distribution toward warmer temperatures - increasing the frequency of extreme temperatures. For precipitation, the specification captures the separate effects of mean rainfall, frequency of rainfall, and frequency of extreme events. The results show that the tails of the temperature and precipitation distributions, not the means, are the dominant climatic determinants in irrigation adoption. The results also show that water availability, soil characteristics, farm size and operator demographics are important determinants of irrigation.
Teaching problem solving in an introductory computer science class

This paper deals the difficulties of teaching problem solving in an introductory level computer science course where the majority of students are not computer science majors. An approach is suggested using top-down design techniques. The specific pseudo language, problem definition form, and design procedure taught in this course are described.
Fusing DEDD with ubiquitin changes its intracellular localization and apoptotic potential.

DEDD, a highly conserved and ubiquitous death effector domain containing protein, exists in non, mono, and diubiquitinated forms. We previously reported that endogenous unmodified DEDD is only found in nucleoli and that mono- and diubiquitinated DEDD associate with caspase-3 in the cytosol suggesting that ubiquitination may be important to the apoptosis regulating functions of DEDD in the cytosol. We now demonstrate that many of its 16 lysine residues can serve as alternative acceptors for ubiquitination to maintain the monoubiquitination status of DEDD. A central region in DEDD (amino acids 109–305) outside the death effector domain was found to be essential for ubiquitination and/or the docking of the ubiquitination machinery. Fusion of ubiquitin to the C-terminus of DEDD to mimic monoubiquitinated DEDD relocated DEDD from nucleoli to the cytosol. This fusion protein also demonstrated a greater apoptosis potential than unmodified DEDD. Finally, we show that both mono- and polyubiquitination of DEDD can be achieved by the cellular inhibitor of apoptosis proteins 1 and 2 (cIAP-1/2). In addition, the cotransfection of DEDD with cIAP-1 or cIAP-2 results in the relocalization of the IAPs to the nucleoli. Our data suggest that monoubiquitination of DEDD regulates both its cytoplasmic localization and its proapoptotic potential and that IAP proteins can regulate DEDD's ubiquitination status.
Laser guide-star measurements at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Recent results from the Laser Guide Star Project at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are presented. Photometry of the return signal has shown that the photon return is approximately 10 photons/cm2/ms at the pupil of the receiving telescope in agreement with a detailed model of the sodium interaction. Wavefronts of the laser guide star have also been measured with a Shack-Hartmann technique and power spectra have been shown to agree with those of nearby natural stars. Plans for closed loop demonstrations using the laser guide star at LLNL and nearby Lick Observatory are discussed.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Signal processing times in neutrophil activation: dependence on ligand concentration and the relative phase of metabolic oscillations

Intracellular NAD(P)H oscillations exhibited by polarized neutrophils display congruent with 20 s periods, which are halved to congruent with 10 s upon stimulation with chemotactic peptides such as FNLPNTL (N-formyl-nle-leu-phe-nle-tyr-lys). By monitoring this frequency change, we have measured accurately the time interval between stimulus and metabolic frequency changes. A microscope flow chamber was designed to allow rapid delivery of FNLPNTL to adherent cells. Using fluorescein as a marker, we found delivery to be complete and stable throughout the chamber within approximately 400 ms. Peptides were injected into the chamber at concentrations ranging from 10(-6) to 10(-9) M. Injections also varied with respect to the relative phase of a cell's NAD(P)H oscillations. The time interval between injection of 10(-6) M FNLPNTL and the acquisition of congruent with 10 s period metabolic oscillations was found to be 12.2+/-3.3 s when injections occurred at the NAD(P)H oscillation peak whereas the lag time was 22.5+/-4.8 s when coinciding with a trough. At 10(-8) M FNLPNTL, lag times were found to be 26.1+/-5.2 and 30.5+/-7.3 s for injections at NAD(P)H peaks and troughs, respectively. FNLPNTL at 10(-9) M had no effect on metabolic oscillations, consistent with previous studies. Our experiments show that the kinetics of transmembrane signal processing, in contrast to a simple transmembrane chemical reaction, can depend upon both ligand dose and its temporal relationship with intracellular metabolic oscillations.
Stability of the monochloroiron(III) cation in aqueous solutions between 298 and 398 K

Abstract Equilibrium constants for the reaction [Fe(H 2 O) 6 ] 3+ +Cl − ⇌[Fe(H 2 O) 5 Cl] 2+ were determined as a function of temperature over the range 298 to 398 K. As predicted by temperature corrected Pourbaix pH-potential diagrams and subsequently shown experimentally, this corresponds to the entire temperature range of stability of the [Fe(H 2 O) 6 ] 3+ ion in 1 M HClO 4 . The equilibrium constants were subjected to a van't Hoff analysis from which the enthalpy of reaction at ionic strength of 1 was estimated at 5.8+-0.2 kcal mol −1 . The entropy of reaction at ionic strength 1 is estimated at 21.1+-0.7 cal mol −1 K −1 . The excellent fit of the van't Hoff plot (correlation coefficient 0.990) for 11 independently determined equilibrium constants over a 100 degree temperature range, suggests that throughout the Pourbaix ‘region of stability’ for the [Fe(H 2 O) 6 ] 3+ ion, the formation of the monochloroiron(III) cation obeys a simple thermodynamic model.
Relational supervision case study

Relational supervisors possess an underlying belief that success between a supervisee and his client is largely affected by the therapeutic relationship, and therefore any difficulties a supervisee...
Effects of Temperature and Moisture on Sheet Molding Compounds

A summary is given on the effects of moisture and temperature on the properties of chopped fiber reinforced sheet molding compounds. The properties surveyed include tensile strength and modulus, compression strength and modulus, shear strength and modulus, flexural strength and modulus, fatigue, creep, vibration damping, moisture absorption characteristics, and thermal expansion.
Schistosoma mansoni: genetic restriction and cytokine profile of the CD4 + T helper cell response to dominant epitope peptide of major egg antigen Sm-p40.

Abstract Hernandez, H. J., Edson, C. M., Harn, D. A., Ianelli, C. J., and Stadecker, M. J. 1998. Schistosoma mansoni : Genetic restriction and cytokine profile of the CD4+ T helper cell response to dominant epitope peptide of major egg antigen Sm-p40. Experimental Parasitology 90 , 122–130. Granuloma formation in schistosomiasis is mediated by MHC class II-restricted CD4 + T helper lymphocytes sensitized to egg antigens. We previously reported that C3H mice, which develop large granulomas, display strong CD4 + T helper cell responses to the major egg antigen Sm-p40. Moreover, all members of a panel of egg antigen-specific T cell hybridomas responded to the Sm-p40 antigen. Given the significance of the Sm-p40 molecule in the C3H T cell repertoire against schistosomal egg antigens, the current work was undertaken to map its immunogenic epitopes, using a library of 15 synthetic overlapping 30-mer peptides. The dominant epitope recognized by polyclonal CD4 + Th cells was located in peptide 10 (amino acids 229–258); subdominant epitopes were detected in peptides 8 (amino acids 179–208) and 12 (amino acids 279–308). The anti-Sm-p40 T cell hybridomas variously responded to any one of the same three stimulatory peptides. Furthermore, studies with various mouse strains demonstrated that a strong anti-Sm-p40 response was restricted by H-2 k . Interestingly, the cells responding to peptide 10 and to the Sm-p40 antigen only secreted IL-2 and IFN-γ, but not IL-4 and IL-10, indicating that they are entirely of the Th-1-type, a subset with demonstrated capacity to mediate egg granuloma formation. The identification of dominant epitopes within key egg antigens offers opportunities for desensitization of the CD4 + Th cells that mediate pathology in schistosomia sis.
New PTH assays and renal osteodystrophy.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels have been used instead of bone histomorphometric analysis in renal failure, but the assessment of tetracycline-labeled bone biopsy remains the most reliable method to diagnose the different subtypes of renal osteodystrophy. The availability of the first-generation immunometric PTH assay (1st PTH-IMA) allowed the distinction between the different types of renal bone diseases. However, 1st PTH-IMA not only detects the intact hormone PTH(1–84), but also additional PTH truncated fragments. A second-generation immunometric PTH assay (2nd PTH-IMA) recognizes only PTH(1–84) and possible PTH fragments that are truncated at the carboxyl-terminus, but not PTH(7–84). In addition, whether assessment of the ratio PTH(1–84) and amino-terminally truncated PTH(1–84) fragments is a better predictor of bone turnover remains controversial. An initial study using the 2nd PTH-IMA suggested that the ratio between PTH(1–84) and amino-terminally truncated PTH(1–84) fragments more accurately predicts bone turnover in adult patients treated with hemodialysis. However, subsequent studies using the Scantibodies assay have failed to better predict the underlying bone disease in adults undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Furthermore, a different 2nd PTH-IMA (Immutopics) with similar, but not identical, in vitro characteristics did not show a superior predictive value of the ratio in pediatric patients treated with peritoneal dialysis. Although the 2nd PTH-IMA may provide important new insights into the physiology of parathyroid gland function, at present, measurement of PTH using either 1st or 2nd PTH-IMAs provides similar accuracy for predicting bone turnover in patients treated with dialysis. Thus, the current data do not yet support the claim that 2nd PTH-IMAs provide an advantage over 1st PTH-IMAs for the diagnosis of the different subtypes of renal bone diseases.
Ant guests from Fiji and the British Solomon Islands

The species hereafter described and noted were collected by the writer during 1915-1916, during an eighteen months’ excursion to the South Seas as Sheldon Traveling Fellow of Harvard University.* The figures were drawn by R. S. McEwen.
Temperature-sensitive host-dependent mutants of Sindbis virus

Abstract Following chemical mutagenesis of Sindbis virus, two viral clones (clone 35 and clone 58) were isolated which at 34.5° had a relative plaquing efficiency on Aedes albopictus mosquito cells 10 4 - to 10 5 -fold lower than that of wild type virus. Standard growth curves showed that at 34.5° the viral mutants were restricted in mosquito cells but not in primary cultures of chick embryo fibroblasts (CEF). Adsorption of intact virus particles of clone 35 and clone 58 to mosquito cells was as efficient as that observed with wild type virions. However, transfection of mosquito cells with viral RNA of these mutant clones gave a significantly lower plaquing efficiency than infectious RNA from standard virus. Both mutants were temperature sensitive in CEF as well as in A. albopictus cells. At the nonpermissive temperature they were RNA − and by complementation analysis were assigned to group F. Clones 35 and 58 did not complement each other.
Effect of lergotrile on3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) concentration and dopamine turnover in rat brain

Lergotrile, a dopamine agonist, lowered whole brain DOPAC (3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid) concentration in rats. At low doses down to 0.5 mg/kg of lergotrile mesylate, this effect occurred within 30 min, whereas at higher doses (20 mg/kg) the decline in DOPAC was delayed. The decrease in DOPAC persisted for several hours and presumably resulted from a compensatory decrease in brain dopamine turnover secondary to receptor stimulation by lergotrile. Other indications of decreased brain dopamine turnover after lergotrile included (a) a slower decline in dopamine concentration after synthesis inhibition byα-methyltyrosine, (b) a slower declineα-methyl-m-tyramine, a false transmitter that is stored and released by dopamine neurons, and (c) a decreased accumulation of dopamine in response toγ-butyrolactone, an agent that blocks firing and dopamine release by dopamine neurons. Lergotrile mesylate (20 mg/kg) also increased brain levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol sulfate, metabolites of serotonin and norepinephrine, respectively, and these increases were not antagonized by spiperone, a dopamine receptor antagonist.
Incorporation of Selenium-75 into Dog Hair

SummaryTrace amounts of Se75 injected subcutaneously into dogs as either Se75O3 were deposited and retained in hair for as long as 316 days. Se75 was found in the cystine-rich protein keratin when the latter was isolated as the thiosulfate, S-sulfo-kerateine, and in the cystine fraction isolated from hair. The source of selenium which is incorporated into hair protein is discussed.The technical assistance of Benjamin R. Larke is gratefully acknowledged.
Carcinoma of the maxillary sinus following thorotrast instillation.

Summary The long term latent carcinogenic effect of residual radioactive thorium dioxide in the maxillary sinus is reviewed. Seven of the eleven cases noted previously in the world literature have been treated at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Despite the rarity of these cases, an additional three patients have since been treated. The relatively few cases thus far reported may be due to the long latent period from instillation to malignancy. Thirteen of the fourteen patients developed cancers of the maxilla and adjacent paranasal sinuses. Of the ten patients with malignancy treated by radical surgery at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, three are alive and free of disease from seven to eighteen years. One of the three surgical survivals was a radiation failure salvaged by radical maxillectomy. One patient had benign sinusitis diagnosed thirteen years following instillation of the thorotrast, then treated by removal of all the contrast material and the mucosal lining, and has been free from evidence of malignancy for the succeeding ten years. No patient was successfully treated by irradiation alone. A program for all patients known to have intrasinusal thorotrast is proposed.
Longitudinal spin relaxation in a dilute, degenerate Fermi gas at arbitrary polarization

We calculate the longitudinal magnetic relaxation timeT1−1 for a dilute, polarized Fermi gas with short range interactions at low temperatures. In the limit of small polarizationsT1−1 is proportional toT−2 in agreement with earlier predictions, while in the opposite caseT1−1 is strongly affected by polarization, and in the limit of large polarizations becomes proportional to the square of the energy separation between the Fermi surfaces for up and down spins. The possibility of measuringT1 in dilute solutions of3He in superfluid4He is investigated.
Computational and data sciences for health-GIS

Computational and data sciences are transforming the entire science enterprise. In the arena of GIS, this is represented by the emergence of cyberGIS. We provide an overview of applying the cyberGIS approach to spatial analysis for health studies. We emphasize that cyberGIS is not just a service to traditional spatial analyses, but itself is an alternative approach to problem solving. Some fundamental and profound distinctions of cyberGIS approaches in health-GIS include the following: (1) they may greatly reduce the reliance on models or assumptions, and instead seek actual empirical evidence through mining a large amount of data or virtual empirical evidence generated through computation; (2) they tend to be non-parametric and tend to generate local solution; (3) they are scalable to high-resolution and less aggregated data; (4) they tend to be stochastic rather than deterministic; and (5) with these approaches, the large amount of data may not be only from input data-sets, but also from analytical work...
Simplified simulation of dynamic effects of atmospheric turbulance on IR digital imagery

A fast approximation method for simulating the dynamic effects of atmospheric turbulence on infrared digital imagery is presented. The method is based on the distant phase screen approximation for certain turbulent conditions and is an application of the theoretical work published by M. I. Charnotskii, et al. in 1990. The computational efficiency of the method allows realistic incorporation of the atmospheric turbulence effects in high resolution interactive simulation environments for military and commercial applications. Simulations of turbulence effects on digital infrared images are presented together with actual images obtained from a commercial 8- to 12-micrometers infrared system imaging through thermally induced atmospheric turbulence.
WE‐C‐116‐03: Spectral Parameter Estimation in the Presence of Macroscopic B0 Variations Using Fast Chemical Shift Imaging

Purpose: To assess the ability to correct for macroscopic B0 variations to obtain accurate estimates of T2* and amplitude in voxels containing multiple chemical species. Methods: A solid lipid/water phantom was constructed by adding 1.5% (w/v) agarose and 1.4% (w/v) lecithin to a mixture containing equal parts water and lard by volume. The phantom was imaged using fast multi‐echo GRE sequence (TEmin=3.8ms, ΔTE=2 ms, 10 echoes) while a linear gradient was applied in the slice direction at six linearly spaced values ranging from 32 to 200 μT/m. The decay of the complex data was corrected assuming an ideal (boxcar) slice profile and Gaussian slice profile estimated from phantom measurement. At each gradient strength, the T2* and amplitude of both chemical species was estimated using an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model on the corrected and uncorrected data. Results: Before correction, the observed decrease in T2* over the range of gradient strengths was greater in water (ΔT2*=−37%) compared to fat (ΔT2*=−23%ms). The Gaussian slice profile assumption led to a better estimation of T2* (ΔT2*=−7% (water), +3%ms (fat) ) compared to the ideal slice profile assumption (ΔT2*=−18% (water); −9%ms (fat) ). Without any correction, the water fraction was overestimated by 2.8% compared to .7% and 1.1% for the Gaussian and boxcar slice profile assumptions, respectively. Conclusion: The method described in this work allows the T2* and amplitude of multiple chemical species to be corrected for the effects of linear B0 variations in the slice direction. In general, B0 variations have a greater effect on water T2* than fat T2*. The Gaussian slice profile provides a more robust correction for both T2* and amplitude estimates. Future work will focus on investigating the sensitivity of this model over a range of spectral parameters. This research is supported in part by the MD Anderson Cancer Center Support Grant CA016672 and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number TL1TR000369.
Free radical pathology: Inactivation of human α-1-proteinase inhibitor by products from the reaction of nitrogen dioxide with hydrogen peroxide and the etiology of emphysema

Abstract Exposure of human α-1-proteinase inhibitor to 75 ppm nitrogen dioxide and 1 mM hydrogen peroxide results in a 65% loss in the anti-elastase activity of the protein after one hour. Exposure to either nitrogen dioxide or hydrogen peroxide alone has no effect. The inhibition is partially prevented when mannitol or superoxide dismutase is included during the exposure, implying that superoxide and the hydroxyl radical are formed in reactions between nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen peroxide and play a role in the inhibitory process.
Transport of metal cations through a nutrient-poor forest ecosystem

Metal cations were analyzed in bulk precipitation, soil water, and stream flow in a southeastern U.S. lower Coastal Plain pine flatwoods for 6 yr. Extractable ions in mineral soil and total amounts in herbaceous vegetation were also determined. Concentrations for all ions were higher in soil water than in bulk precipitation, but especially Na+ and Mg++. There were smaller concentration differences between soil water and stream flow, except for three-fold higher Ca++ in stream flow. Base saturation in the mineral soil was less than 10%, with Al dominating cation exchange sites. Of all cations, only K showed a significant relationship between exchangeable amounts in the soil and total amounts in herb layer vegetation. Soils in the watershed-ecosystem are experiencing minimal mineral weathering, although this can be spatially quite variable. We conclude that the chemistry of such soils is susceptible to change over several forest harvest rotations and continued acid deposition.
Estimating chlorophyll with thermal and broadband multispectral high resolution imagery from an unmanned aerial system using relevance vector machines for precision agriculture

Abstract Precision agriculture requires high-resolution information to enable greater precision in the management of inputs to production. Actionable information about crop and field status must be acquired at high spatial resolution and at a temporal frequency appropriate for timely responses. In this study, high spatial resolution imagery was obtained through the use of a small, unmanned aerial system called AggieAir TM . Simultaneously with the AggieAir flights, intensive ground sampling for plant chlorophyll was conducted at precisely determined locations. This study reports the application of a relevance vector machine coupled with cross validation and backward elimination to a dataset composed of reflectance from high-resolution multi-spectral imagery (VIS–NIR), thermal infrared imagery, and vegetative indices, in conjunction with in situ SPAD measurements from which chlorophyll concentrations were derived, to estimate chlorophyll concentration from remotely sensed data at 15-cm resolution. The results indicate that a relevance vector machine with a thin plate spline kernel type and kernel width of 5.4, having LAI, NDVI, thermal and red bands as the selected set of inputs, can be used to spatially estimate chlorophyll concentration with a root-mean-squared-error of 5.31 μg cm −2 , efficiency of 0.76, and 9 relevance vectors.
Lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase isozyme patterns in tissues of temperature-acclimated goldfish (Carassius auratus L.).

Abstract 1. 1. The lactate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase isozyme patterns from goldfish ( Carassius auratus L.) tissues were examined by starch gel electrophoresis and immunoprecipitation. 2. 2. Electrophoretic analyses reveal no detectable qualitative or quantitative alterations in the isozyme patterns due to the effects of temperature acclimation at 5, 15 and 25°C. 3. 3. The only variations of LDH * isozyme patterns observed were those attributable to genetic polymorphism and to different ratios of red and white skeletal muscle fibres.
Extraction and concentration of mammogenic fractions from anterior pituitary gland.

SummaryIt has been shown that appreciable quantities of mammogenic factor are left in initial residue of anterior pituitary gland after extraction of the known hormones by usual technics. This factor was extractable by either a monosodium-disodium phosphate buffer solution or a saline solution. The active factor precipitated from the phosphate buffer system along with phosphate salts after addition of ethanol and butanol and adjusting the pH to 12.5. Phosphate salts were subsequently removed by dialysis, during which mammogenic hormone precipitated out of solution. Active factor was precipitated from saline solution by saturation of solution with NaCl and chilling. Resulting light grey, amorphous powder obtained by phosphate extraction was 223 times more potent in promoting mammary gland growth than progesterone, and contained negligible, if any, lactogenic activity. A highly purified lactogenic preparation assayed for mammogenic activity at the same time was only 1.59 times as potent as progesterone. On ...
Seismologists Must Begin Forecasting Earthquakes

For about the past year, I have been engaged in a behavior that some seismologists would consider ridiculous, others foolish, others amusing, and still others a waste of time. What could I have been doing that would raise such opinions in so many colleagues? Well, I have been issuing regular and frequent earthquake forecasts. I have been doing this publicly for New England and privately to a few colleagues for California. So far, there has yet to be a time when an earthquake that I have forecast has actually occurred (well, maybe one). However, that has not discouraged me. I intend to keep trying. So what would cause an otherwise conservative and mainstream seismologist to engage in such rash and foolish behavior? I do it because I think that earthquake forecasting and prediction must become a major direction of research and public education for earthquake seismologists. The public expects us to predict earthquakes, as is known by anyone who is frequently interviewed about earthquakes. The work of many different branches of our government would be enhanced by a proven ability to predict damaging earthquakes. The earthquake research that stands to affect the financial markets is arguably earthquake prediction, since knowledge of earthquake risk is important for financial planning. As Chip Groat, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, indicated at the 2002 annual SSA meeting, earthquake forecasting and prediction must be important goals if we are to improve future funding for seismological science in the U.S. The public expects us to predict earthquakes ... I believe that the seismological community needs to be prominently promoting earthquake forecasting and prediction research. In particular, we need to convince the public that much of our current research is helping us forecast future earthquake activity. I think some new earthquake forecasting and prediction research is …
Left ventricular Doppler diastolic filling patterns in patients with isolated left bundle branch block

To evaluate the effect of isolated left bundle branch block (LBBB) on diastolic filling patterns, we evaluated 14 subjects with isolated LBBB and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects with normal ventricular conduction by echocardiography. Maximum E-wave velocity, E/A ratio, deceleration time of E wave, and the slope of deceleration of the E wave were lower in subjects with LBBB compared with subjects with normal ventricular conduction. Doppler filling patterns were significantly altered in subjects with isolated LBBB.
Output Feedback Control of Wind Display in a Virtual Environment

This research focuses on development of a haptic system to create controlled air flow acting on a user in the Treadport virtual environment. The Treadport active wind tunnel (TPAWT) is thus created in order to produce air flow patterns that allow a variety of wind angles and speeds to be felt by the user. In order to control this system in real-time, the small gain theorem is used in conjunction with a dynamic extension to formulate an output feedback control law. Examples of controller formulations are derived and discrete time simulations in FLUENT demonstrate their effectiveness. The controller is then validated experimentally using a scale model of the TPAWT.
Failure detection and identification

Using the geometric concept of an unobservability subspace, a solution is given to the problem of detecting and identifying control system component failures in linear, time-invariant systems. Conditions are developed for the existence of a causal, linear, time-invariant processor that can detect and uniquely identify a component failure, first for the case where components can fail simultaneously, and then for the case where they fail only one at a time. Explicit design algorithms are provided when these conditions are satisfied. In addition to time-domain solvability conditions, frequency-domain interpretations of the results are given, and connections are drawn with results already available in the literature. >
Detection of physics-based ultra-wideband signals using generalized RAKE with multiuser detection (MUD) and time-reversal mirror

This paper first introduces per-path pulse distortion in multiuser detection for ultra-wideband communications. A new generalized RAKE structure that estimates and compensates for the pulse distortion is used. An finite-impulse response filter representation of the per-path impulse response is used and estimated. The new structure greatly improves the system performance. With four users considered in our simulations in a high-rise building environment, it is found that the average performance of the generalized RAKE using minimum mean-square error (MMSE) detection is improved over the conventional RAKE by 1.8 dB. Both synchronous and asynchronous transmission schemes for decorrelating detector and MMSE detector are considered.
PeerCQ: a decentralized and self-configuring peer-to-peer information monitoring system

PeerCQ is a totally decentralized system that performs information monitoring tasks over a network of peers with heterogeneous capabilities. It uses Continual Queries (CQs) as its primitives to express information-monitoring requests. A primary objective of the PeerCQ system is to build a decentralized Internet scale distributed information-monitoring system, which is highly scalable, self-configurable and supports efficient and robust way of processing CQs. This paper describes the basic architecture of the PeerCQ system and focuses on the mechanisms used for service partitioning at the P2P protocol layer. A set of initial experiments is reported, demonstrating the sensitiveness of the PeerCQ approach to large scale P2P information monitoring and the effectiveness of the PeerCQ service-partitioning algorithms with respect to load balancing and system utilization.
System sensitivity for optimal problems with singular control

Abstract Extensions of the differential performance index sensitivity to small parameter variations are presented in this paper. The system considered is assumed to be linear with free end time and initial and final target manifolds. Results, previously reported for systems with bang.bang type implementation or control law resulting in from a minimum-fuel type performance index implementation. were all subject to the normality condition constraint. In this paper the normality requirements were removed from the system considered, thus extending the results to the singular control case. A universal expression thus presented which relates the variations of the performance index to that of the initial and final manifolds and a term that represents a physical constant, related to the Hamiltonian and which is independent of the way by which the optimal control was implemented.
Effect of partial denervation and terminal field expansion on neuromuscular transmitter release and nerve terminal structure

The efficacy of evoked ACh release by intact and newly sprouted terminals in response to partial denervation and expansion of the motor neuron terminal field was studied in mouse soleus muscle after section of the L-5 spinal root. From 2 to 4 d after partial denervation until 90 d later, only 3–7 motor units of the normal 21 remained. Regeneration of the dissected nerve was prevented while the remaining motor units were sprouting. The indirect twitch, which was only 20% of direct twitch tension 2–4 d after nerve section, recovered between 28 and 50 d postoperatively. However, the depression of twitch in low Ca/high Mg solution, which was equal to control 2–3 d postoperatively, was 2–3 times more depressed than control by 50 d and remained so up to 90 d. This indicated persistent reduction of the safety factor in sprouted motor units. Intracellular measurement of quantal content in 0.4 mM Ca, 2.75 mM Mg revealed 2 groups of nerve terminals in partially denervated muscle. The quantal content of the first group was greater than contralateral control at earlier times (28–50 d) and only slightly greater than control later (74 and 90 d). This group consisted of the original undenervated terminals, since it was associated with normal miniature endplate potential (MEPP) frequency and end-plate potential (EPP) latency, and presumably with the class of fibers with normal (zinc iodide osmium-stained) nerve terminal morphology and occasional large myelinated preterminal axons.
Relaxed MultiJava: balancing extensibility and modular typechecking

We present the rationale, design, and implementation of Relaxed MultiJava (RMJ), a backward-compatible extension of Java that allows programmers to add new methods to existing classes and to write multimethods. Previous languages supporting these forms of extensibility either restrict their usage to a limited set of programming idioms that can be modularly typechecked (and modularly compiled) or simply forego modular typechecking altogether. In contrast, RMJ supports the new language features in a virtually unrestricted form while still providing mostly-modular static typechecking and fully-modular compilation. In some cases, the RMJ compiler will warn that the potential for a type error exists, but it will still complete compilation. In those cases, a custom class loader transparently performs load-time checking to verify that the potential error is never realized. RMJ's compiler and custom loader cooperate to keep load-time checking costs low. We report on qualitative and quantitative experience with our implementation of RMJ.
Input-output Hamiltonian Systems and Neural Signal Processing

Motivated by problems arising in neuroscience, we investigate properties of a class of nonlinear finite dimensional systems whose characteristic responses are pulse-like traveling waves. With a view toward investigating their signal processing capabilities, we develop suitable input-output structures for these systems and show that they are, in fact, Hamiltonian relative to a suitable symplectic structure. The Hamiltonian structure provides a way to keep track of the energy flow and to study the effects of parasitic dissipation. In this framework, we develop an effective theory of interconnection, network structures, etc. This leads to a signal processing formalism in which the primary mode of communication is through pulses
Control of octahedral connectivity in perovskite oxide heterostructures: An emerging route to multifunctional materials discovery

Research in ABO3 perovskite oxides ranges from fundamental scientific studies in superconductivity and magnetism to technologies for advanced low-power electronics, energy storage, and conversion. The breadth in functionalities observed in this versatile materials class originates, in part, from the ability to control the local and extended crystallographic structure of corner-connected octahedral units. While an established paradigm exists to alter the size, shape, and connectivity of the octahedral building blocks in bulk materials, these approaches are often limited to certain subsets of the allowed perovskite archetypes and chemistries. In this article, we describe emerging routes in thin films and multilayer superlattices enabled by epitaxial synthesis aimed at engineering the octahedral connectivity—rotational magnitudes and patterns—to reach unexplored portions of the crystallographic structure–property phase space for rational materials design. We review three promising chemistry-independent strategies that provide a handle to tune the octahedral connectivity: epitaxial strain, interfacial control at perovskite/perovskite heterojunctions, and rotation engineering in short-period superlattices. Finally, we touch upon potential new functionalities that could be attained by extending these approaches to static and dynamic manipulation of the perovskite structure through external fields and highlight unresolved questions for the deterministic control of octahedral rotations in perovskite-structured materials.
Diffusion-limited scalar cascades

An important process at the heart of many ﬂuid phenomena in the physical andengineering sciences is the advection and diﬀusion of a passive scalar. One of thecanonical idealizations of this process is the problem ﬁrst broached by Zeldovich(1937), in which the scalar is advected inside a closed container by an incompressibleﬂuid with an arbitrary velocity ﬁeld. There is no source or sink of the scalar withinthe ﬂuid, and its concentration is maintained in some ﬁxed pattern on parts of theboundary, whilst other areas of the boundary are impermeable.The mathematical formulation of Zeldovich’s problem is the advection–diﬀusionequation for the scalar ﬁeld,