cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
H2 excretion after ingestion of complex carbohydrates.

Abstract Malabsorption of fermentable material in a variety of foods was assessed by measurement of breath H 2 excretion. Breath H 2 increased well above that observed in fasting subjects after ingestion of 100 g of carbohydrate in oats, whole wheat, potatoes, corn, and baked beans. Rice caused only a minimal increase in H 2 excretion and hamburger was associated with no increase. We estimated the malabsorption of fermentable material by comparing the H 2 excretion for 9 h after ingestion of various complex carbohydrates with that after 10 g of lactulose. The mean malabsorption of fermented material after 100-g carbohydrate meals was 20 g for baked beans; 7–10 g for wheat, oats, potatoes, and corn; and 0.9 g for rice. Whole oats or whole wheat resulted in 2–5 times more H 2 than did the refined flours. As purified fiber appeared to be a poor substrate for H 2 production by fecal homogenates, we conclude that most complex carbohydrates, with the exception of rice, contain a good deal of fermentable material that escapes small bowel absorption and it seems likely that this fermentable material is malabsorbed starch.
Verifying systems rules using rule-directed symbolic execution

Systems code must obey many rules, such as "opened files must be closed." One approach to verifying rules is static analysis, but this technique cannot infer precise runtime effects of code, often emitting many false positives. An alternative is symbolic execution, a technique that verifies program paths over all inputs up to a bounded size. However, when applied to verify rules, existing symbolic execution systems often blindly explore many redundant program paths while missing relevant ones that may contain bugs.Our key insight is that only a small portion of paths are relevant to rules, and the rest (majority) of paths are irrelevant and do not need to be verified. Based on this insight, we create WOODPECKER, a new symbolic execution system for effectively checking rules on systems programs. It provides a set of builtin checkers for common rules, and an interface for users to easily check new rules. It directs symbolic execution toward the program paths relevant to a checked rule, and soundly prunes redundant paths, exponentially speeding up symbolic execution. It is designed to be heuristic-agnostic, enabling users to leverage existing powerful search heuristics.Evaluation on 136 systems programs totaling 545K lines of code, including some of the most widely used programs, shows that, with a time limit of typically just one hour for each verification run, WOODPECKER effectively verifies 28.7% of the program and rule combinations over bounded input, whereas an existing symbolic execution system KLEE verifies only 8.5%. For the remaining combinations, WOODPECKER verifies 4.6 times as many relevant paths as KLEE. With a longer time limit, WOODPECKER verifies much more paths than KLEE, e.g., 17 times as many with a fourhour limit. WOODPECKER detects 113 rule violations, including 10 serious data loss errors with 2 most serious ones already confirmed by the corresponding developers.
The structure of the dimer of 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline

Abstract The acid-catalyzed dimerization of 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline (“acetone anil”) is shown to occur between the 4,6′-positions of the two dihydroquinoline ring systems. The mode of formation of the dimer is in accord with observed substituent effects in the benzene ring of “acetone anil” derivatives and with dueterium exchange studies on the monomer.
The vaccinia virus A33R protein provides a chaperone function for viral membrane localization and tyrosine phosphorylation of the A36R protein.

Vaccinia virus, the prototypic member of the poxvirus family, is a complex enveloped DNA virus with antigenically distinct intracellular and extracellular infectious forms (1, 5). Although the majority of intracellular mature virions (IMV) reside in the cytoplasm until cell lysis, some are wrapped by additional membranes and transported to the cell surface. Two related types of extracellular virions have been identified: adherent cell-associated enveloped virions (CEV), which are needed for efficient cell-to-cell spread (4), and released extracellular enveloped virions (EEV), which promote long range dissemination (19). Although the mechanism of formation of IMV is still poorly understood, considerable progress has been made in identifying the cellular membranes and viral proteins required for extracellular virion formation. The double membranes that wrap IMV to form intracellular enveloped virions (IEV) are derived from late Golgi or endosomal cisternae (15, 25). IEV are transported to the cell periphery, where they acquire actin tails, similar to those made by other intracellular pathogens such as Listeria and Shigella spp., and form the tips of protruding microvilli (6, 14, 16, 27). Virions are externalized at the plasma membrane, apparently losing the outermost of the two IEV-specific membranes in the process. Six proteins, encoded by the F13L, B5R, A33R, A34R, A36R, and A56R open reading frames (ORFs), have been identified as constituents of the IEV or EEV membrane (8, 10, 17, 18, 20, 22, 29). Deletion of any of these ORFs, except for A56R, which encodes the viral hemagglutinin, yields a mutant with a small-plaque phenotype. Mutants with deleted F13L or B5R (3, 11, 30) ORFs have defects in membrane wrapping that lead to reduced production of CEV and EEV. The small-plaque phenotypes of A33R, A34R, or A36R deletion mutants, however, correlated with defects in actin tail formation rather than with reduced production of EEV (21, 24, 31, 33). The latter results indicated that actin tails were important for virus spread rather than for the egress of vaccinia virus. Based on the above observations, we proposed that the A33R, A34R, and A36R proteins interact to form a platform for nucleation of actin tails (33). While we were carrying out experiments to further investigate this hypothesis, evidence for physical associations among EEV proteins and between tyrosine-phosphorylated A36R protein and the cellular adapter protein Nck, leading to the recruitment of N-WASP to the site of actin assembly, was reported (12, 23). Here, we confirm interactions between the A33R and A36R proteins and demonstrate that both are phosphorylated predominantly on serine residues and that viral membrane localization and tyrosine phosphorylation of the A36R protein are dependent on expression of the A33R protein.
Modeling and analysis of biological cells in DRAM implementation

In this paper, we propose a novel technique in modeling and analysis of biological cells to implement DRAM storage elements in the post-CMOS era. The motivation is based on the known characteristics of biological cells. By applying an electric pulse with a fixed duration, we may calculate the voltage across the cytoplasmic membrane, also called a cell membrane or plasma membrane, and the nuclear membrane within biological cells. The induced voltage across the membranes may function like a capacitor does in a DRAM storage element. The electron charge accumulated on a membrane is also leaky, similar to the traditional DRAM. The electron charge and discharge time constants for cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes can be fine-tuned through careful selection of different sizes and types of biological cells. Experimental results by simulation show that about 75 percents (75%) of the applied voltage is distributed across the cytoplasmic membrane. Hence, cytoplasmic membrane is more suitable in the application of DRAM implementation. This means that when applying 0.9 V - 1 V of voltage across a biological cell, roughly 0.7 V - 0.75 V of the voltage is induced across the cytoplasmic membrane. The electron charge and discharge time can be achieved within 100 ns for certain size and type of biological cells. The required DRAM refresh frequency is therefore approximately 10 MHz for such biological cells.
Cyclicality of real wages among young men

Abstract This paper analyzes the cyclical behavior of real wages received by the young men in the National Longitudinal Surveys of labor market experience. It extends the studies by Bils (Journal of Political Economy, 1985, 93, 666–689) and Tremblay (Quarterly Review of Economics and Business, 1990, 30, 90–101) by using the full duration of the survey and by examining differences in wage cyclicality across industries and between workers that change employers and those that stay with the same employer.
Mass Cytometric Functional Profiling of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Defines Cell-Cycle and Immunophenotypic Properties That Correlate with Known Responses to Therapy

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by a high relapse rate that has been attributed to the quiescence of leukemia stem cells (LSCs), which renders them resistant to chemotherapy. However, this hypothesis is largely supported by indirect evidence and fails to explain the large differences in relapse rates across AML subtypes. To address this, bone marrow aspirates from 41 AML patients and five healthy donors were analyzed by high-dimensional mass cytometry. All patients displayed immunophenotypic and intracellular signaling abnormalities within CD34+CD38low populations and several karyotype and genotype-specific surface marker patterns were identified. The immunophenotypic stem and early progenitor cell populations from patients with clinically favorable core-binding factor AML demonstrated a five-fold higher fraction of cells in S-phase compared to other AML samples. Conversely, LSCs in less clinically favorable FLT3-ITD AML exhibited dramatic reductions in S-phase fraction. Mass cytometry also allowed direct observation of the in vivo effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy.
Neisseria infection of rhesus macaques as a model to study colonization, transmission, persistence, and horizontal gene transfer

The strict tropism of many pathogens for man hampers the development of animal models that recapitulate important microbe–host interactions. We developed a rhesus macaque model for studying Neisseria–host interactions using Neisseria species indigenous to the animal. We report that Neisseria are common inhabitants of the rhesus macaque. Neisseria isolated from the rhesus macaque recolonize animals after laboratory passage, persist in the animals for at least 72 d, and are transmitted between animals. Neisseria are naturally competent and acquire genetic markers from each other in vivo, in the absence of selection, within 44 d after colonization. Neisseria macacae encodes orthologs of known or presumed virulence factors of human-adapted Neisseria, as well as current or candidate vaccine antigens. We conclude that the rhesus macaque model will allow studies of the molecular mechanisms of Neisseria colonization, transmission, persistence, and horizontal gene transfer. The model can potentially be developed further for preclinical testing of vaccine candidates.
Dual responsive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels having spironaphthoxazines as pendant groups

Stimuli responsive hydrogels (PNIPAAm-MSp) with a thermoresponsive backbone and photochromic pendant groups were synthesized via free radical polymerization using N-isopropylacrylamide, modified spironaphthoxazines with a polymerizable double bond (MSp) as photochromic monomer, the crosslinker N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) and the initiator 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile) in dimethylsulfoxide. The polymers are dual responsive, in that poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) responds to temperature changes whereas the pendant spironaphthoxazines respond to light. Irradiation enhanced the water absorption of the polymers while increases in temperature decreased it. The irradiated PNIPAAm-MSp showed best water absorption at 0 °C (Q = 3.25) while water desorbed at higher temperatures (35 °C; Q = 0.30); where Q is the amount of water absorbed by a gram of dry polymer. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3318–3325, 2009
Feature Integration without Visual Attention: Evidence from the Correlated Flankers Task

It is widely assumed that the separable features of visual objects, such as their colors and shapes, require attention to be integrated. However, the evidence in favor of this claim comes from experiments in which the colors and shapes of objects would have to be integrated and then also subjected to an arbitrary, instruction-based, stimulus-response (S-R) translation in order to have an observable effect. This raises the possibility that attention is not required for feature integration, per se, but is only required when color-shape conjunctions must undergo an arbitrary S-R translation. The present study conducted a more specific test and found strong evidence in favor of feature integration in the absence of attention. The implications of these results are discussed.
Immediate changes in spinal height and pain after aquatic vertical traction in patients with persistent low back symptoms: a crossover clinical trial.

Objective To investigate the effect of aquatic vertical traction on spinal height, pain intensity, and centralization response compared with a land-based supine flexion position for patients with low back pain and signs of nerve root compression. Design Single-blind, repeated-measures crossover design. Setting Outpatient physical therapy clinic. Subjects Ninety-eight subjects were recruited using consecutive sampling, with 28 men and 32 women of a mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of 59.6 ± 11.6 years completing testing. Intervention Each subject participated in 2 sessions that consisted of loaded walking for 15 minutes, followed by either 15 minutes of land-based supine position or 15 minutes of aquatic vertical traction. Measurements Spinal height change, measured using a commercial stadiometer, was determined after completing loaded walking and after each intervention. Results The mean ± SD height change of 4.99 ± 2.88 mm after aquatic vertical traction was similar to that of 4.21 ± 2.53 mm after the land-based supine flexion ( P = .0969). Paired t -test indicated that both interventions resulted in significant increased height ( P P = .0034), and centralization of symptoms was more pronounced after aquatic vertical suspension compared with the supine land-based flexion condition ( P r = 0.39; P = .001) and centralization ( r = 0.29; P = .013) was observed for the aquatic intervention only. Conclusion Although both the aquatic and land interventions produced significant increases in overall spinal height, the aquatic intervention produced greater pain relief and centralization response in subjects with low back pain and signs of nerve root compression.
Identification, Synthesis, and Bioassay of a Male-Specific Aggregation Pheromone from the Harlequin Bug, Murgantia histrionica

Sexually mature male harlequin bugs produced a sex-specific compound, identified as one of the stereoisomers of the sesquiterpene epoxyalcohol 4-[3-(3,3-dimethyloxiran-2-yl)-1-methylpropyl]-1-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-ol (henceforth murgantiol), a compound with four chiral centers and 16 possible stereoisomers. Production of the compound was highest during the middle of the day. Individual virgin male bugs in separate containers produced the compound at a higher rate than virgin males in groups. The carbon skeleton was verified by synthesis of several mixtures which, in total, contained all possible isomers, one of which matched the insect-produced compound. The relative and absolute configurations of the insect-produced compound remain to be determined. In laboratory bioassays, insect-produced and synthetic murgantiol attracted harlequin bugs of both sexes, suggesting that murgantiol is a male-produced aggregation pheromone, analogous to those found in a number of other phytophagous bug species.
Machiavellianism and manipulation in the mental patient role.

Summary Patients’ Machiavellian orientations were compared to their reputations among the staff as manipulators, helpers, or model patients. For both acute and chronic patients, Machiavellianism was consistently found to relate significantly to the manipulator reputation and not to the other reputations The relationships held for patients diagnosed psychotic as well as nonpsychotic. These findings support the propositions that mental patients attempt to manipulate the staff in their everyday contact with them and that manipulation constitutes one of the major adaptive styles employed by patients The relationships were demonstrated more reliably in group treatment programs than in an individual treatment program Expected differences in the relationships according to birth order were not found Machiavellian social desirability significantly related to the helper and model patient reputations for acute patients, suggesting its potential value as a dispositional variable also.
Energy harvesting using nana scale dual layers PVDF film for blood artery

In the past few years implanted devices have developed and many miniature devices have been introduced. However, these devices functionality are mainly dependent on its battery life which remains a major drawback of implantable medical devices. Therefore, human energy harvesting would be a competent and reliable as alternative energy source. Piezoelectric material can be recruited for harvesting human body movement such as the cardiovascular system, which can be considered an unceasing power source. Piezoelectric polymer such as P-PVDF is capable of utilizing the mechanical deformation of an artery to scavenge energy. It is aimed on converting blood heart pressure energy into electrical power through the pulsatile motion of the arterial wall throughout the systolic and diastolic phases of the cardiac cycle. This paper ameliorates a current state of the art conducted by Potkay and Brooks (2008). A Nano-scale dual layer of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) film embedded with a biocompatible self-curling silicon cuff for harvesting energy from a blood artery. The device size of 0.30 Cm3 is predicted to generate a peak power up to 60 nW when it is wrapped around a blood artery, which is much higher than the reported 16 nW by Potkay and Brooks (2008). The nano- scale of PVDF thickness was reduced precisely from 26 to 17μm using reactive ion etching (RIE) and preserving piezoelectric effects at the same time. The artery cuff would be capable of generating and accumulating the energy for powering an implanted device such as a pacemaker.
ALOHA With Collision Resolution (ALOHA-CR): Theory and Software Defined Radio Implementation

A new scheme, namely ALOHA with Collision Resolution (ALOHA-CR) is proposed, which is a cross-layer approach for high throughput wireless communications in a cellular uplink scenario. Transmissions occur in a time-slotted ALOHA-type fashion but with an important difference: simultaneous transmissions of two users can be successful. In the beginning of each slot, users with non-empty queues contend with some probability after experiencing an intentional random delay. If more than two users transmit in the same slot, no attempt is made by the base station (BS) to separate the collision; the packets are discarded and the users are asked to retransmit at a later time. If one or two users transmit, then, depending on the state of the channel, the base station can recover the transmitted packets. The latter is achieved by oversampling the collision signal and exploiting independent information about the users that is contained in the signal polyphase components. The properties of the user intentional random delays are determined to maximize the probability of a second order collision being separable. The throughput of ALOHA-CR under both infinite and finite backlog assumptions is derived. Under the former assumption, the optimal contention probability is calculated to maximize the system throughput, while under the latter assumption, the region of stabilizing contention probabilities is determined based on the packet arrival rate. Queuing delay analysis for network users is also conducted. The performance of ALOHA-CR is demonstrated on the Wireless Open Access Research Platform (WARP) testbed containing five software defined radio nodes. The testbed results indicate that ALOHA-CR leads to significant increase in throughput and reduction of service delays as compared to ALOHA.
Seed coat morphology differentiates blackberry cultivars.

1 Dept. of Horticulture, Oregon State University, 4017 Agriculture and Life Sciences, Corvalis, OR 97331-7304. 541-738-4218, wadas@hort.oregonstate.edu 2 USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository, 33447 Peoria Rd., Corvallis, OR 97333-2521. 541-7384216, Barbara.Reed@ars.usda.gov Abstract Determining the cultivar identity of blackberry (Rubus L.) fruit may be problematic when the parent plant is not available for examination. The ability to correctly identify commercial cultivars is important to the industry. Less desirable cultivars may be mistaken or substituted for more desirable ones, resulting in mislabeled products or economic losses. The objective of this study was to develop a simple and effective method to distinguish blackberry cultivars using seed morphology. Seeds of 17 commercially important blackberry cultivars (‘Black Diamond’, ‘Black Pearl’, ‘Boysen’, ‘Cacanska Bestrna’, ‘Chester Thornless’, ‘Hull Thornless’, ‘Kotata’, ‘Loch Ness’, ‘Marion’, ‘Navaho’, ‘Nightfall’, ‘Obsidian’, ‘Newberry’, ‘Silvan’, ‘Tupy’, ‘Wild Treasure’, and ‘Young’) were collected from the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR) and Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory (HCRL), Corvallis, Oregon. Seeds were examined with a dissecting light microscope and scanning electron microscopy. A key characteristic was the shape of the raphe on the seed: straight, concave or convex. The 17 cultivars could be divided into three groups based on raphe shape. Cultivars within each group could be differentiated by seed shape, size, color and seed-coat sculpturing. Cultivars originating from the same parents (full sibs) or the same maternal line could be distinguished as well. Although scanning electron microscopy showed the seed coat sculpturing in greater detail, all cultivars could be distinguished successfully using a dissecting microscope.
Multi-Photon Microscopy in Biological Tissue with Ultrashort Shaped Pulses

Multi-photon imaging with ultrashort (~10 fs) pulses has been limited by phase distortions introduced by microscope objectives. Here we present a number of advantages in biomedical imaging gained by phase-corrected and phase shaped femtosecond pulses.
The Nuclear Receptor FXR Links Metabolism with Breast Cancer.

Background: Abnormal metabolism, as measured by obesity, has been associated with an increase risk in both the development of breast cancer as well as breast cancer recurrence and death. To date, identification of a molecular link between obesity and breast cancer remains elusive. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a ligand dependent transcriptional factor and plays a critical role in bile acid, cholesterol and carbohydrate metabolism. Little is known of the function of FXR in cancer although several recent studies have shown that FXR may contribute to breast, colorectal and hepatocellular cancer. Given the role of FXR in metabolism and emerging data suggesting a role for FXR in cancer, we hypothesize that expression of FXR in breast tissue may be related to metabolism. In addition, changes in FXR expression may also be associated with breast cancer development and progression. Methods: Clinical data on estrogen/progesterone receptor positive, Stage I and II breast cancer patients were extracted from an institutionally approved prospective database established in 2006. Paired formaldehyde fixed, paraffin embedded normal, in situ, and invasive tissues from these patients were identified from the COH tissue repository. Immunohistochemical staining of FXR using a validated polyclonal antibody was completed with appropriate positive and negative controls. The slides were graded independently by two investigators using an agreed upon scale to detect the percentage of positively stained cells to the nearest 10 th percentile. Clinical data were correlated with expression analysis. Statistical analyses were performed with ANOVA tests followed by Fisher9s t-tests for pair-wise comparisons. In determination of factors accounting for FXR expression, a multivariate analysis was completed. A p-value of 0.05 was considered significant in all analyses. Results: Paired normal tissue and invasive cancer was identified in all 43 patient specimens. In 40% (17/43) of these specimens, in situ disease was also identified. FXR expression in normal breast tissue was significantly less when compared to both invasive and noninvasive cancer (p≤ 0.001). The mean percentage of cells staining positive for FXR in normal breast tissue was 60%, non-invasive 77% and invasive 83% (p Conclusions: FXR expression is upregulated in invasive cancer and increases progressively along the continuum from normal breast tissue to malignancy. Expression of FXR correlates with BMI in normal breast tissue, suggesting that FXR may be a molecular link between obesity and the development and progression of breast cancer. Our results warrant further investigation into the relationship of FXR, obesity and breast cancer. These findings may provide support for the development of targeted FXR agents in prevention and treatment of obesity related cancers. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 5153.
Aircraft Carrier Burble Mitigation With Alternating Current Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators

Vortices shedding off the edges of aircraft carriers produce turbulent airflow in the region aft of the carrier. The phenomenon, known as the burble, generates adverse conditions, including a velocity deficit and a large sudden downwash. Since aircraft on approach travel near stall speed and at high angles of attack, the burble further increases the likelihood of stall. Mitigating burble would make aircraft carrier landings safer for naval aviators. A computational and experimental study has been conducted to examine this phenomenon, and to explore its control. For this latter objective, alternating current dielectric barrier discharge (AC DBD) plasma actuators were used to leverage their known ability to add momentum to the flow and thus reduce shedding from bluff bodies. This project proposed that by reducing vortical shedding, the AC DBDs would attenuate the downwash in the burble. The project tested the effectiveness of DBDs in reducing the downwash for various forcing frequencies A transient solution was obtained in ANSYS Fluent for both the baseline and active flow control cases. Analysis of the experimental and computational data at various spanwise and streamwise locations aft of the aircraft carrier showed that the plasma actuators attenuated the downwash to some degree. The computational and experimental data exhibited similar trends in decreasing the downwash magnitude.
Design and performance of optimal detectors for guided wave structural health monitoring

Ultrasonic guided wave measurements in structural health monitoring systems are affected over a long term by measurement noise, environmental conditions, transducer aging, and malfunction. This res...
Robert Traub (1916–1996): A Bibliography

Robert Traub, the world's foremost authority on fleas and flea-borne diseases and one of the most accomplished and respected medical entomologists of his generation, was closely associated with the Journal of Medical Entomology from its founding in 1964. He served on the Journal's editorial board from 1964 to 1988, and many of his most important contributions graced its pages. Because this issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology is dedicated to him, we provide here a bibliography of his scientific publications. Just a glance at this list, which contains papers on fleas, mites, mosquitoes, leeches, even amebiasis, as well as on a vast range of host vertebrates, will instantly evidence Dr. Traub's central role in the history of 20th century parasitology. The list totals 207 citations spanning the years 1944–1998.
Boundaries of Long-Term Orientation in Family Firms

Although prior research offers many reasons why family influence helps firms achieve longer-term orientations, some recent studies argue that certain investments with long horizons, such as R&D or ...
Pearls and pitfalls in experimental models of spreading depression.

BackgroundSpreading depression (SD) is the electrophysiological substrate of migraine aura and a potential trigger for headache. Since its discovery by Leao in 1944, SD has transformed from being viewed as an epiphenomenon into a therapeutic target relevant in the pathophysiology of migraine and brain injury.AimDespite decades of research, the underpinnings of SD are still poorly understood, hampering our efforts to selectively block its initiation and spread. Experimental models have nevertheless been useful to measure the likelihood of SD occurrence (i.e. SD susceptibility) and characterize genetic, physiological and pharmacological modulation of SD in search of potential therapies, such as in migraine prophylaxis and stroke. Here, I review experimental SD susceptibility endpoints and surrogates, and minimum essential model requirements to improve their utility in drug screening.ConclusionA critical reappraisal of strengths and caveats of experimental models of SD susceptibility is needed to set standar...
Leveraging human decision making through the optimal management of centralized resources

Combining results from mixed integer optimization, stochastic modeling and queuing theory, we will advance the interdisciplinary problem of efficiently and effectively allocating centrally managed resources. Academia currently fails to address this, as the esoteric demands of each of these large research areas limits work across traditional boundaries. The commercial space does not currently address these challenges due to the absence of a profit metric. By constructing algorithms that explicitly use inputs across boundaries, we are able to incorporate the advantages of using human decision makers. Key improvements in the underlying algorithms are made possible by aligning decision maker goals with the feedback loops introduced between the core optimization step and the modeling of the overall stochastic process of supply and demand. A key observation is that human decision-makers must be explicitly included in the analysis for these approaches to be ultimately successful. Transformative access gives warfighters and mission owners greater understanding of global needs and allows for relationships to guide optimal resource allocation decisions. Mastery of demand processes and optimization bottlenecks reveals long term maximum marginal utility gaps in capabilities.
Automatic measurement software of respiratory ciliary beat frequency based on COM

Ciliary beat frequency(CBF) is a key parameter to accurately investigate respiratory cilia activity,to measure CBF automatically,software measuring respiratory ciliary beat frequency based on COM is designed and developed.It integrates the accurate analysis method of CBF with the friendly interface of Visual Basic.A program is developed to get user's input based on COM and ACTIVEX CLIENT technology,by communicating with OLE server,the result of data processed is given by server and returned to user.The software can also draw curving graph and have other supporting functions for user's convenience of result analysis.With the software,the measurement of CBF is entirely automatic.
Radio Spectrum Occupancy - Signals and Noise

The purpose of this paper is to describe activities of the Office of Telecommunications, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (OT/ITS) in signal and noise spectrum occupancy. Topics discussed are signal occupancy, man-made noise data, and models of man-made noise. Planned future activities also are presented. The work is being performed in the Radio Spectrum Occupancy Group of the Spectrum Utilization Division of ITS.
Intracranial Germ-Cell Tumors

Prognosis of 26 children with intracranial germ-cell tumors (17 germinomas and 9 teratomas) treated in a 10 year period is reported from the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Working for Tip(DC)s

Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) reintroduces high-affinity, antigen-specific T cells into a host for direct eradication of tumor cells. It can produce substantial clinical responses, even though tumor microenvironments present multiple barriers to immune function. The success of ACT in a subset of patients indicates that, at least under certain conditions, the tumor microenvironment might permit the cytotoxic function of infiltrating T cells. Marigo et al . tested the hypothesis that ACT induces a “helper” population of myeloid cells that positively feed back on T cell function and are required for optimal therapeutic efficacy. Arginine metabolism is a key inhibitory pathway in tumor microenvironments, and it is regulated by arginase 1 (ARG) and nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2). Surprisingly, the authors demonstrated that deletion of host NOS2, but not ARG, actually reduced the efficacy of experimental ACT in preclinical tumor models. After ACT, tumors accumulated a population of antitumor myeloid cells, termed Tip-DCs [tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and NOS2-prsoducing inflammatory dendritic cells], in a CD40-CD40L–dependent manner. Intratumoral transfer of mouse or human Tip-DCs into mice with a NOS-deficient background improved survival after ACT, indicating that NOS2 production from Tip-DCs is sufficient to enhance ACT efficacy in mice. Interestingly, Tip-DC accumulation depended upon tumor antigen load and T cell affinity. Inhibition of colony, stimulating factor–1 receptor (CSF-1R) prevented tumor infiltration of immunosuppressive ARG-expressing macrophages but had no effect on tip-DCs and, as a result, enhanced the efficacy of ACT. In human colorectal cancer, high expression of CD40LG , NOS2 , and TNF consistently correlated with enhanced T cell presence and improved survival over tumors relative to those that scored low for all three genes. This study provides a model showing how high-affinity, antigen-specific T cells induce accumulation of “helper” myeloid cells that positively feed back on T cell function. As such, this work suggests that host preconditioning through myeloid reprogramming—shifting the balance from suppressive macrophages to activating Tip-DCs—might be a viable strategy to further enhance ACT efficacy in the clinic. I. Marigo et al. , T cell therapy requires CD40-CD40L activation of tumor necrosis factor and inducible nitric-oxide-synthase-producing dendritic cells. Cancer Cell 30 , 377–390 (2016). [[Full Text]][1] [1]: http://www.cell.com/cancer-cell/fulltext/S1535-6108(16)30389-0
Erratum to: Dissecting deuteron Compton scattering I: The observables with polarised initial states

In addition to the changes of the first erratum, the results of eqs. (17) and (18) in the paper are not correct. The corrections needed appear in this erratum.
Enhanced Colloidal Stability of Various Gold Nanostructures Using a Multicoordinating Polymer Coating

We describe the effectiveness of a multicoordinating polymer coating to surface functionalize gold nanospheres, nanoshells, and nanorods and promote their steric stabilization in biological media. The polymer ligand synthesized via one-step nucleophilic addition reaction starting with poly(isobutylene-alt-maleic anhydride) precursor presents multiple lipoic acid groups for strong coordination on metal-rich surfaces and several hydrophilic motifs (e.g., zwitterion groups or short poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains) to promote water solubilization. We show that nanocrystals ligated with this polymer are compact in size and exhibit excellent long-term colloidal stability over broad conditions. We compare the ability of zwitterion- and PEG-modified polymer ligands to shield the metal surfaces from sodium cyanide digestion, or resist the competitive removal by dithiothreitol (DTT). We find that polymers appended with either hydrophilic motif essentially eliminate DTT competition for surface binding, while nano...
Combined Influence of Gestational Weight Gain and Estimated Fetal Weight on Risk Assessment for Small- or Large-for-Gestational-Age Birth Weight: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objectives To evaluate the frequency with which gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight do not track across gestation and to assess the risk of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) birth weight as a function of tracking. Methods This study included a pregnancy cohort (2009–2013) of 2438 women from 4 racial/ethnic groups in the United States. We calculated race- and trimester-specific gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight z scores. The prevalence of how often gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight did not or did directly track was examined by grouping z scores into measure-specific categories ( 1 SD) and then examining 2-measure combinations. Trimester-specific relative risks for SGA and LGA births were estimated with a gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight z score interaction. We estimated coefficients for selected gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight values (–1 SD, 0 SD, and +1 SD) compared with the referent of 0 SD for both measures. Small and large for gestational age were calculated as birth weight below the 10th and at or above the 90th percentiles, respectively. Results Gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight were within 1 SD 55.5%, 51.5%, and 48.2% of the time in the first, second, and third trimesters, respectively. There was no significant interaction between gestational weight gain and estimated fetal weight on the risk of SGA in the first and second trimesters (interaction term P = .48; P = .79). In the third trimester, there was a significant interaction (P = .002), resulting in a 71% (95% confidence interval, 1.45–2.02) increased risk of SGA when estimated fetal weight was low and gestational weight gain was high. These relationships were similar for the risk of LGA. Conclusions Deviations in either measure, even in the presence of average gestational weight gain or estimated fetal weight, still suggest an increased risk of SGA and LGA.
Sensitivity of Three-Way Catalyst Light-Off Temperature to Air-Fuel Ratio

The operating conditions of the automotive three-way catalyst (TWC) are characterized by continuous variation of the air-fuel ratio (λ) that determines the composition of the exhaust supplied to the catalyst. It is well known that the ability of the TWC to simultaneously catalyze reduction of NOx and oxidation of CO and hydrocarbons is sensitive to the air-fuel ratio. In efforts to formulate improved TWCs with greater activity at lower temperatures, the impact of air-fuel ratio on light-off temperature must therefore be considered. This paper reports an investigation of the impact of air-fuel ratio on the temperatures at which representative exhaust species in a simulated exhaust mixture reach 90% conversion (T90) over a family of rhodium-based model catalysts, with focus on the performance of a recently developed catalyst comprising rhodium supported on titania-modified alumina with exceptional light-off performance. Over a range of air-fuel ratios 0.977 200 °C between 0.995 1.001; and the T90s for representative hydrocarbons ethylene, propylene, and propane decrease by more than 100 °C between 0.977 < λ < 0.995, then increase again by 30 °C (propylene) to 180 °C (propane) between 0.998 < λ < 1.001. These dramatic shifts in T90 over a small range of air-fuel ratio are attributed to facile conversion of CO and olefins by oxidation, facile conversion of propane by steam reforming, and inhibition of propane steam reforming by both oxygen and CO. Balancing these factors leads to optimal conversion of all exhaust components at an air-fuel ratio λ ~ 0.995.
Unstable Reaction-Diffusion PDE with Input Delay

In this chapter and in Chapter 20 we introduce the problems of stabilization of PDEPDE cascades. First, we deal with PDEs with input delays (the reaction-diffusion PDE in this chapter, and the antistable wave PDE in Chapter 20). Then we deal with cascades of unstable heat and wave PDEs (in either order) in Chapter 20.
Applications of an anisotropic parameter to cortical bone.

An equational description of the extent of the anisotropy in cortical bone is presented from both the perspective of plane stress (two–dimensional stress state) and plane strain (three–dimensional stress state). The orthotropic elastic properties that are incorporated in these states are used to provide a more thorough and refined description of planar and volumetric anisotropy in comparison to the commonly used ratio of elastic moduli. The resulting anisotropic parametric equations (nσ and ne) are applied to the elastic material properties measured from cortical bone within rats, dogs, cows and humans as reported in 12 previous studies. The resulting calculated parameters reduce the typically nine indepenDent properties down to three parameters which in turn represent the degree of anisotropy within the three orthogonal planes of symmetry as are common in cortical bone. It was found that no statistical difference existed between the plane stress versus plane strain parameter in all but two studies (p > 0.10). Planar and volumetric anisotropies were compared to the isotropic condition nσ = ne = 1.0) for all of the included studies. All of the studies reported cortical bone properties that were volumetrically anisotropic (p 0.05). Future use of these parametric equations will allow further illucidation of the issue of mesomechanical and micromechanical levels of anisotropy within other tissues and materials of interest. ©2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers
The crystallographer's assistant

instances. The Crystallographer ’s Assistant is based upon a case-based reasoning approach, and involves, as a first step, creating a database (from both existing experiment notebooks and on-going experiments), of about 1000 examples of crystallography experiments. These examples will provide us with both successful as well as failed experiments, and will be used both by RL as well as the case-based reasoner. Given the significant complexity and weak theory of the relationships between the features of the experiments, a case-based approach is being taken for similarity assessment. Experiential data concerning how the domain experts define pairs of cases to be similar and different will be used to guide the indexing and selection of cases. The result will be an experimenter’s assistant which, given the results of the latest set of experiments, will remind the user of previous experiments with similar conditions and make suggestions based upon what was done in both cases
Approaches toward lithium metal stabilization

Historically, batteries with lithium metal anodes have been a hazard, as the lithium becomes rough and eventually finely divided during cycling. The promise of higher energy density, however, continues to drive the search for novel approaches to manage this light and reactive material. Significant improvement has been achieved by designing new liquid-electrolyte compositions and interface barriers to stabilize the lithium in traditional batteries, but it is clear that solid-state batteries ensure a higher level of safety and perhaps higher energy density and lifetimes. The materials challenge then is to fabricate a cost-effective solid electrolyte that effectively maintains lithium as a dense uniform metal layer. This article describes the ideal cycling behavior of lithium and progress toward this goal of a solid electrolyte using glassy, ceramic, polymer, and composite electrolytes, as well as the challenges that continue to arise toward long-term, high-rate, and efficient cycling of lithium metal.
Resonant Characteristics In 7X7 Microwave Discharge Array Based On Microstrip Split Ring Resonator

There is a growing interest in combining the adjustable electrical properties of plasma with the novel characteristics of metamaterials. Resonant frequencies and electric field distributions of a two-dimensional 7x7 discharge array consisting of 49 split ring resonators (SRR) are investigated.
Uncertainty associated with ambient ozone metrics in epidemiologic studies and risk assessments.

Epidemiologic studies relating ambient ozone concentrations to adverse health outcomes have typically relied on spatial averages of concentrations from nearby monitoring stations, referred to as “composite monitors.” This practice reflects the assumption that ambient ozone concentrations within an urban area are spatially homogenous. We tested the validity of this assumption by comparing ozone data measured at individual monitoring sites within selected US urban areas to their respective composite monitor time series. We first characterized the temporal correlation between the composite monitor and individual monitors in each area. Next, we analyzed the heteroskedasticity of each relationship. Finally, we compared the distribution of concentrations measured at individual monitors to the composite monitor distribution. Individual monitors showed high correlation with the composite monitor over much of the range of ambient ozone concentrations, though correlations were lower at higher concentrations. The variance between individual monitors and the composite monitor increased as a function of concentration in nearly all the urban areas. Finally, we observed statistical bias in the composite monitor concentrations at the high end of the distribution. The degree to which these results introduce uncertainty into studies that utilize composite monitors depends on the contributions of peak ozone concentrations to reported health effect associations.
Spatial Functions for Modeling and Analysis of Safety-Critical Systems of Systems

Our work is concerned with the modeling and analysis of safety-critical systems of systems (SoS). They emerge from the arrangement of independent and useful physical systems integrated into a larger system that delivers unique capabilities such as multi-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or robotic swarms. Successful collaboration and interaction between component systems in (increasingly) reduced spaces is contingent to precise and accurate perception, interpretation and management of various spatial representations of self and teaming systems. This is needed for effective decision making (the right action at the right time, and in the right place) for keeping safety-critical SoS safe. Thus, we develop and propose space-based interaction functions to model and evaluate the spatial properties and interactions of systems (as agents) within a safety-critical SoS. These mathematical spatial functions define, express and provide means to evaluate physical and communication interactions between pairs of agents and between an agent and all the other agents in the SoS. They are shown to be valuable mechanisms for rigorous, systematic, domain independent analysis of safety-critical SoS and can be implemented by systems of any size or shape. Architecture for the implementation of the functions is described for support of models and simulations of safety-critical SoS across a wide variety of applications including multi-UAS package delivery systems.
“Chip-on-a-Transwell” Devices for User-Friendly Control of the Microenvironment of Cultured Cells

We present microfabricated poly(dimethylsiloxane) templates assembled atop Transwell membranes (“Chip-on-a-Transwell”) for focal delivery of soluble reagents to cells. This modified Transwell opera...