cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molecular recognition at kappa opioid receptors

Structure-activity relationships are rarely straightforward, and often are more com- plicated than they appear. For this reason, the use of site-directed mutagenesis as a comple- mentary tool to analyze structure-activity relationships has been invaluable. Here, we illus- trate how site-directed mutagenesis has led to greater insight into the molecular basis for molecular recognition of norbinaltorphimine and to the design of novel kappa antagonists. Given the paucity of high-resolution crystal structures for membrane-bound receptors, the use of a coordinated "two-dimensional" paradigm that involves molecular modification of both the ligand and the receptor, affords a useful approach to the study of molecular recog- nition. This paradigm has led to the design of highly potent and selective kappa opioid recep- tor antagonists that are derivatives of the delta opioid receptor antagonist, naltrindole.
Active Balance in Free-Space Electro-Optic Detection of Terahertz Waves

A method for increasing the stability of terahertz (THz) time-domain spectrometers utilizing electro-optic balanced detection is presented in this paper. The stability of these systems is sensitive to optical alignment and polarization quality; small changes in temperature, pressure, stress, and strain can all affect SNR. High stability is achieved by precise rotation of the quarter-wave plate (QWP) balance position during the operation of the THz spectrometer. Providing feedback via QWP rotation optimizes the noise floor with minimal modulation to the THz signal in a nonideal optical system. Applying active balance control eliminates constant tuning by the operator between scans, after purging with dry nitrogen, applying vacuum, and during system setup.
Stability of higher-level energy norms of strong solutions to a wave equation with localized nonlinear damping and a nonlinear source term

We derive global in time a priori bounds on higher- level energy norms of strong solutions to a semilinear wave equa- tion: in particular, we prove that despite the influence of a nonlinear source, the evolution of a smooth initial state is globally bounded in the strong topology ∼ H 2 × H 1 . And the bound is uniform with respect to the corresponding norm of the initial data. It is known that an m-accretive semigroup generator monotoni- cally propagates smoothness of the initial condition; however, this re- sult does not hold in general for Lipschitz perturbations of monotone systems where higher order Sobolev norms of the solution may blow- up asymptotically as t → ∞. Due to nonlinearity of the system, the only a priori global-in-time bound that follows from classical meth- ods is that on finite energy: ∼ H 1 × L 2 . We show that under some correlation between growth rates of the damping and the source, the norms of topological order above the finite energy level remain globally bounded. Moreover, we also establish this result when damping exhibits sublinear or superlinear growth at the origin, or at infinity, which has immediate applications to asymptotic estimates on the decay rates of the finite energy. The approach presented in the paper is not specific to the wave equation, and can be extended to other hyperbolic systems: e.g. plate, Maxwell, and Schrodinger equations.
True muonium on the light front

Applying Discretized Light Cone Quantization, we perform the first calculation of the spectrum of true muonium, the atom, as modified by the inclusion of an Fock component. The shift in the mass eigenvalue is found to be largest for triplet states. If me is taken to be a substantial fraction of , the integrated probability of the electronic component of the state is found to be as large as . Initial studies of the Lamb shift for the atom are performed. Directions for making the simulations fully realistic are discussed.
Seduction by the Internet: a study of undergraduate use of Web resources

The purpose of this study was to examine upper class undergraduate student citation strategies that were used in completing their research assignments. We analyzed a total of 826 citations from seventyfive (75) political science undergraduate research papers in order to determine the types of scholarly resources that were utilized by these students. Additionally we attempted to determine the extent of student use of online sources and the persistence of these online sources over time. Findings are highlighted with suggestions for future research.
From Indonesian-Dutch to Indonesian-Dutch-American: Irene's Journey to "The Land of Opportunity"

At a time when the world was struggling to bounce back from the devastation caused by the Great Depression of the 1930s and the negative effects of World War II, many immigrants saw the United States as a safe haven—providing expanded opportunity, increased security, and guaranteed basic freedoms. Among the hopefully was my Oma—Irene Schram—an Indonesian-Dutch immigrant. Like many other Asian immigrants entering the United States at this time, Irene left her native land of Indonesia in search of a better future for not only herself, but also more importantly, her family. While the immigration process for many Asians is similar, the process of immigration for Indo-Dutch immigrants proves to be unique in that their biracial ethnicity acts as a hindering factor for assimilation within Indonesia and the Netherlands, while conversely facilitating their process of assimilation within the United States.
An Epidemiological Study of the Association Between Delayed Estrus in Swine and Low Levels of Aflatoxin B1, in Naturally Contaminated Feed

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi found as contaminants of feed grains. Some mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), zearalenone (ZE) , deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, and T-2 toxin, are toxic to animals when ingested, inhaled, and when topically applied. Many of the toxins affecting animal production are produced by fungal species from three genera: Fusarium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. These fungi are ubiquitous and under suitable environmental conditions will grow and produce toxic metabolites in feedstuffs and foods.
Determination of Azarole Plus Its Reduction Product by HPLC

An analytical methodology for the assay of azarole plus its reduced product in plasma was developed. The method consists of oxidation of the sample with potassium ferrocyanide, extraction, and subsequent analysis by high performance liquid chromatography. Assays of prepared plasma samples demonstrated an overall precision of +/- 6.2%; accuracy ranged from -9.1% low to 5.1% high, based on mean values at several concentrations. Analysis of variance for the effects of concentration, time, and the interactive term concentration X time were all insignificant.
Aminosilane-Functionalized Cellulosic Polymer for Increased Carbon Dioxide Sorption

Improvement in the efficiency of CO2 separation from flue gases is a high-priority research area to reduce the total energy cost of carbon capture and sequestration technologies in coal-fired power plants. Efficient CO2 removal from flue gases by adsorption systems requires the design of novel sorbents capable of capturing, concentrating, and recovering CO2 on a cost-effective basis. This paper describes the preparation of an aminosilane-functionalized cellulosic polymer sorbent with enhanced CO2 sorption capacity and promising performance for use in postcombustion carbon capture via rapid temperature-swing adsorption systems. The introduction of aminosilane functionalities onto the backbone of cellulose acetate was achieved by the anhydrous grafting of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminoisobutyldimethylmethoxysilane. The dry sorption capacity of the modified cellulosic polymer reached 27 cc (STP) CO2/cc sorbent (1.01 mmol/g sorbent) at 1 atm and 39 cc (STP) CO2/cc sorbent (1.46 mmol/g sorbent) at 5 atm and 308 K. T...
A paradoxical stability phenomenon with spontaneously agglutinating diphtheria bacilli and its practical import.

One of the interesting and perhaps practical outgrowths of our inquiry into the role of surface tension in the stability of bacterial suspensions1 is indicated by the title. Briefly, it has been found possible to stabilize certain strains, e. g., in 0.85 per cent NaCl, in which immediate and complete flocculation results, if the conventional methods of preparing the suspensions are employed.The strain is readily emulsified in 2.5 per cent NaCl and when this is then diluted with two volumes of distilled water making the final concentration about 0.8 per cent, or with four volumes making it 0.5 per cent, the organism is then quite stable for serological work. With MgCl2 and Na citrate the same procedure is adequate. A few other strains of this group appear to behave similarly. How general the application of the procedure will be cannot now be stated.The procedure was tried experimentally on the basis of consideration involved in Gibb's Law which indicates an inverse reciprocal relation between interfacial s...
Experimental study of supersonic turbulent corner flow evolution in a low aspect ratio rectangular channel

Supersonic turbulent flows in a rectangular duct are characterized by secondary flows in each of the four corners of the duct. These secondary flows comprise of two counter rotating vortices forcing the fluid towards the corner. The vortices are developed as a result of the Reynolds stress gradients which exist in each of the corners. Previous studies 1,2 have primarily used intrusive techniques such as Preston/pitot tubes and hot wire in order to study the secondary flows in the corners. However use of these techniques would substantially modify the flow in low aspect ratio rectangular channels. Thus, there is a need for non-intrusive measurements to study the evolution of corner vortices in such flows. In this study we present the experimental results of stereo particle image velocimetry conducted on a Mach 2.75 flow in a low aspect ratio rectangular channel. Data is recorded at multiple cross-section planes and analyzed to study the formation of corner vortices and their effects on the structure of the mean flow field. Results show that the corner vortices are formed in the corner and then convect away from it. There is a significantly strong secondary flow associated with the corner vortices possibly causing open flow separation. The vortices significantly modify the local variation of the skin friction coefficient.
Ethical Concerns When Settlement Includes an Agreement About Expungement

When a customer makes a complaint against his or her securities broker, the complaint may become a matter of public record and be made available to the public through the broker's BrokerCheck report provided by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA established the BrokerCheck system to provide the public with information about the professional background, business practices, and conduct of brokers and brokerage firms. Understandably, brokers generally attempt to keep as clean a record as possible because potential clients may use BrokerCheck to decide whether to invest with that broker. Potential employers may also look to BrokerCheck when deciding whether to hire a broker. To remove a complaint from BrokerCheck, the broker must seek expungement of the complaint. FINRA has established an elaborate set of procedures that must be followed when a broker wishes to seek expungement. If a broker has settled the complaint with the customer, the broker may seek the customer’s cooperation in the expungement process. Over time, FINRA has made changes to its expungement procedures, which has created interesting ethical issues. This paper examines these expungement procedures and the ethical implications for a customer’s attorney when a broker seeks a customer’s cooperation in the process.
The Actin Cytoskeleton Mediates Hyperoxia Response of Patient-Derived Primary Endothelial Progenitor Cells through Thymosin BETA-4 and Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Signaling

Disruptions to pro-growth, proliferation, and angiogenesis signaling pathways within endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) may play key role in the pathogenesis of multiple pediatric pulmonary diseases, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Using high-throughput, single-molecule, single-cell imaging of multiple RNA and protein species, we have created spatiotemporal “stop-motion” movies of F-actin structure, thymosin beta-4 (Tβ4), hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression in a unique resource of primary, patient-derived EPC isolated from the umbilical cord blood of preterm- and term-birth infants, grown in vitro using differing oxygen environments. In particular, a hyperoxic growth environment mimics preterm birth, raising the environmental oxygen level at an abnormal time point during fetal development. We find that EPC isolated from preterm- versus term-birth infants have different spatial expression of Tβ4 and HIF-1α protein at basal conditions and that upon exposure to hyperoxia, the two classes of EPC respond with markedly different spatiotemporal expression of Tβ4/HIF-1α protein and VEGF/eNOS RNA. Additionally, hyperoxia causes a remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton that releases excess Tβ4, an actin sequestering protein, into the cytosol. Because preterm EPC have an elevated cytosolic level of Tβ4 at basal conditions compared to term EPC, this excess of Tβ4 activates an inhibitory feedback network to reduce Tβ4 levels and subsequently limits the translocation of HIF-1α, a potent transcription factor for the VEGF-eNOS signaling pathway, to the nucleus. Overall these signaling changes due to hyperoxia have the effect of down-regulating growth, proliferation, and angiogenesis in EPC isolated from preterm-birth infants. Our results suggest a new potential pathway for molecular intervention that may restore normal angiogenesis after preterm birth.
Computer attitudes

Students in a beginning computer science course were surveyed concerning their attitudes toward computers. Two statistical tests showed results: there were significant differences in attitudes from before until after the course, and between students who passed the course and those who failed or dropped. No correclation was evident between the opinions surveyed and the grades received by individual students.
TV or Not TV: The Telecast of Appellate Arguments in Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Superior Court began televising en banc oral arguments. The reception of this practice has been extremely positive. The essay discusses the development of televising oral arguments in Pennsylvania’s Superior Court.
Generation of Mouse Lines Conditionally Over-expressing MicroRNA Using the Rosa26-Lox-Stop-Lox System

MicroRNAs are currently the object of intensive investigation due to their role in a myriad of physiological processes and pathological conditions, such as gene regulation and tumorigenesis. To better understand microRNA function, numerous laboratories have already taken advantage of the available techniques of genome editing in mouse. Here, we describe how to generate genetically engineered mouse lines using the popular Rosa-26 Lox-Stop-Lox Knock-In (Rosa-LSL-KI) targeting. This strategy allows for the selective overexpression of microRNAs of interest when coupled to a tissue-specific Cre-expressing line. The present protocol illustrates in detail both the engineering of the targeting vector and the generation of mutated ES clones ready for injection into mouse blastocysts.
Perioperative Management of High-Flow Arteriovenous Malformations: Hemodynamic Monitoring and Anesthetic Considerations

High-flow AVMs represent formidable management challenges. Since AVM resection is almost never emergent, a thoughtful management plan can be formulated with attention to goals for blood pressure management. In addition to routine monitoring, pulmonary artery catheters, or at least central venous lines, are recommended. Monitoring cerebral hemodynamics can assist in 1) titration of drug effects for cerebral protection (e.g. barbiturates) or brain relaxation (e.g. hypocapnia), 2) monitoring for the occurrence of cerebral hyperperfusion, 3) monitoring for the occurrence of regional cerebral ischemia during vascular manipulation, 4) monitoring for the occurrence of global cerebral ischemia during induced hypotension, 5) differentiating arterial and venous structures, 6) identifying patients at high risk for post-operative hyperfusion complications. Methods currently available include transcranial Doppler ultrasound, micro-vascular Doppler, thermal clearance CBF, laser Doppler CBF, 133-Xe CBF, EEG and direct intravascular pressure measurement.
Smoking Is So Ew!: College Smokers’ Reactions to Health- Versus Social-Focused Antismoking Threat Messages

ABSTRACTThis study utilizes Terror Management Theory (TMT) to examine differences between eliciting social death and physical death anxiety related to smoking, smoking attitudes, and quitting intent among college students. Moreover, an important TMT variable—self-esteem—was used as a moderator. A 2 × 3 between-subjects factorial design crossed smoking-based self-esteem (low, high) with mortality salience manipulation (health-focused, social-focused, control). Results suggest while both making health-focused salient and making social-focused mortality salient were effective at getting smokers to quit, there was less effect for health-focused mortality salience on those whose self-esteem is strongly tied to smoking. Effect of social-focused mortality salience was more pronounced among participants who highly linked self-esteem with smoking. For smokers with low smoking-based self-esteem, both health-focused and social-focused mortality salience were effective at motivating attitude change toward smoking and...
Theory Applied: Experiential Teaching Integrates Student Learning With Community Needs

This paper discusses an existent course which couples theoretical learning with business application. Though many attempts have been made at such an integration, this course is unique in a number of respects. Student teams function as would actual business teams, synergistic teams are developed and students can even fire team members. The theoretical instruction is taught in the form of a complete unit, directly coordinated with the phase of work being done with a team’s business client. Resultant student/business associations are so strong and mutually beneficial that complete business cooperation is received during the entire course. Businesses fully participate in and sponsor the final course seminar, and a very high percentage of team proposals are implemented by businesses. The potentials of the method are far reaching and extensions into other courses are discussed.
Charlotte Attitudes Towards Sleep (CATS) Scale: A validated measurement tool for college students.

ABSTRACTObjective: Using a 4-phase study design, the present study developed and tested the Charlotte Attitudes Towards Sleep (CATS) Scale, a measurement tool for assessing sleep attitudes in college students. Participants: Participants were 706 undergraduate students recruited at a southeastern university and on a national recruitment Web site between October 2013 and April 2015. Methods: All participants completed the CATS Scale. Participants then completed either a measure of social desirability, faulty sleep beliefs, or measures of sleep and sleep hygiene. Phase 3 participants (N = 168) completed the CATS Scale 2 weeks later to examine test-retest reliability. Results: Analyses indicated that the scale was content valid, internally consistent, and independent of social desirability, yielded acceptable temporal stability, and demonstrated concurrent validity in relation to sleep behaviors and outcomes. Conclusions: The CATS Scale is a theoretically driven instrument with promising psychometric properti...
The development and initial psychometric validation of the eHealth readiness scale

Participant attrition and non-adherence are common issues within eHealth interventions. There is need for a better understanding of who has interest in using these technologies. The current study developed and psychometrically evaluated the eHealth Readiness scale, which assesses user preparedness to engage in eHealth interventions. Construction of scale items was informed by the theory of self-efficacy, as well as the eHealth and eLearning literature. An initial validation was conducted with an undergraduate sample (N=195, Aged 1851, M=21.53, SD=5.16). Continued validation of the scale was done with a sample of military mental health providers (N=64, Aged 2980, M=49.30, SD=11.97) in a randomized controlled trial for an eHealth intervention. Results illustrated that scale items demonstrated good internal reliability (Cronbach's =. 81 and 0.83), and a stable one-factor solution. Results also established construct validity for the scale. Results of an independent samples t-test indicated no significant difference in eHealth readiness scores between those who did and did not engage with the eHealth intervention, but scores for those who engaged were marginally higher. Current findings provide preliminary support for the psychometric properties of the eHealth readiness scale. Scale was developed to assess preparedness to engage with eHealth interventions.Results provide initial support for our scale as a brief, reliable and valid tool.Future study should substantiate the scale as a screening tool and factor structure.
Laboratory-Based Surveillance of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Eastern China

With 25% of the global burden, China has the highest incidence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in the world. However, surveillance data on extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) from China are scant. To estimate the prevalence of XDR-TB in Zhejiang, Eastern China, 30 of 90 TB treatment centers in Zhejiang were recruited. Patients with suspected TB who reported to the clinics for diagnosis were requested to undergo a smear sputum test. Positive sputum samples were tested for drug susceptibility. Data on anti-TB drug resistance from 1999 to 2008 were also collected to assess drug resistance trends. A total of 931 cases were recruited for drug susceptibility testing (DST). Among these, 23.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.8–24.4) were resistant to any of the following drugs: isoniazid, rifampin, streptomycin, and ethambutol. Multidrug resistant (MDR) strains were identified in 5.1% of all cases (95% CI, 3.61–6.49). Among MDR-TB cases, 6.4% were XDR (95% CI, 1.7–18.6) and 8.9% (95% CI, 7.0–10.8) of all...
Desynchronization and resynchronization of interconnected finite and infinite dimensional systems: interpretation of attack and accommodation using FDI framework

This work proposes a synchronization controller for a class of networked finite and infinite dimensional systems. The leader, or reference model is assumed known and networked controllers are proposed to ensure that each networked system follows the leader and synchronize with each other. An attack, which takes the form of severing a link or reversing the sign of a synchronization gain, is assumed to occur at an unknown time, and its goal is to either desynchronize or destabilize the networked systems. Adaptive detection observers are designed to monitor the systems and at the onset of an attack, declare the presence of an attack and subsequently engage in an attack accommodation via an appropriate control reconfiguration. To enhance robustness against false alarms and minimize the detection time, time varying thresholds are introduced. When any of the residuals exceed the time varying thresholds, an attack in the networked systems is declared. Migrating to the infinite dimensional case requires additional assumptions and the corresponding stability and convergence results are not trivially extendable. A numerical example of four networked diffusion PDEs is included in order to provide an insight on the effects of a fixed threshold in detecting the presence of an attack and on the effects of accommodation in aiding the systems to recover by resynchronizing.
Abstract A33: An integrated cancer control initiative for research translation and community engagement

Introduction: Despite Federal legislation and allocated funding to address health disparities, the gaps in cancer disparities are increasing among ethnic minorities. Further, the NCI Cancer Center guidelines emphasize translational research that will advance patient care, interdisciplinary research, clinical trials, cancer prevention and early detection, cancer center collaboration, and population and community-based initiatives. Albeit, cancer center programs addressing health disparities, particularly from a multi-systemic, community participatory framework is in its infancy. The purpose of this presentation is to describe an integrated cancer control initiative for research translation and community engagement. This implementation project adopts and advances the National Cancer Institute9s (NCI) Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD)- Community Network Program model into the City of Hope (COH) Cancer Center9s health disparities program. Methods: The Center of Community Alliance for Research and Education (CCARE) was developed in an effort to advance the community and cultural relevance of our cancer control efforts by the inclusion of community based organizations and advocate/leaders. CCARE fosters optimal bi-directional communication between the community members and the scientific community; and the exchange and cross-fertilization of wisdom, knowledge, and skills. The CCARE Model is a multidimensional initiative with three major priorities: 1) Community Prevention: education, screening/early detection and medical follow-up; 2) Research: Therapeutic, non therapeutic and observational, and 3) Training: educating students, researchers, clinicians and 54 American Association for Cancer Research Poster Session A Behavioral and Social Science Community-based Interventions community advocates. Results: Community Prevention: The Community Collaborative Annual Screening will report on the evaluations from approximately 200 participants and community cancer education forums from 400 participants. Research: The findings from the community participatory therapeutic and non-therapeutic interventional trials with over 365 participants will be reported; preliminary results for one study suggest improved HRQOL and stress outcomes in African- and Latina-American breast cancer survivors. Training: The progress of the California State University-COH collaborative, our Cancer Center-Minority Serving Institution collaboration (P20) project will be discussed. Implications: CCARE is a unique opportunity for collaborative projects involving investigators from many disciplines, and an intentional network of community organizations and advocates. This proposed comprehensive, community embedded model may result in improved: 1) community participation and contribution in cancer control initiatives, 2) health outcomes, and 3) cultural diversity and competency of the health-related workforce. Thus, this model champions a practical and comprehensive framework for addressing health disparities within our diverse and medically underserved communities.
Design Sheet: A System for Exploring Design Space

This paper describes Design Sheet, an advanced software system which facilitates the conceptual design of complex engineering systems. Design Sheet enables the designer to quickly explore large areas of design space and study how the different performance and cost criteria tradeoff with respect to one another. It provides an interactive interface for building analysis models in terms of systems of nonlinear algebraic equations, and automatically writes computational procedures for solving these equations based on user-specified tradeoff criteria. The paper briefly describes the principles and the methodology behind the software, and showcases some of its capabilities. To demonstrate its practical applicability, a system-level fatigue life analysis model of an automotive drive train has been developed. The paper discusses the model and how it is used in performing design tradeoff studies.
Oxygen isotope systematics of chondrules in the Murchison CM2 chondrite and implications for the CO-CM relationship.

High-precision oxygen three-isotope measurements of olivine and pyroxene were performed on 29 chondrules in the Murchison CM2 chondrite by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The oxygen isotope ratios of analyzed chondrules all plot very close to the primitive chondrule minerals (PCM) line. In each of 24 chondrules, the olivine and/or pyroxene grains analyzed show indistinguishable oxygen isotope ratios. Exceptions are minor occurrences of isotopically distinguished relict olivine grains, which were found in nine chondrules. The isotope homogeneity of these phenocrysts is consistent with a co-magmatic crystallization of olivine and pyroxene from the final chondrule melts and a significant oxygen isotope exchange between the ambient gas and the melts. Homogeneous type I chondrules with Mg#'s of 98.9-99.5 have host chondrule Δ17O values ranging from -6.0‰ to -4.1‰, with one exception (Δ17O: -1.2‰; Mg#: 99.6). Homogeneous chondrules with Mg#'s 0%) and at dust enrichments of ~300-2000×. Regarding the Mg# and oxygen isotope ratios, the chondrule populations sampled by CM and CO chondrites are similar and indistinguishable. The similarity of these 16O-rich components in CO and CM chondrites is also supported by the common Fe/Mn ratio of olivine in type II chondrules. Although they accreted similar high-temperature silicates, CO chondrites are anhydrous compared to CM chondrites, suggesting they derived from different parent bodies formed inside and outside the snow line, respectively. If chondrules in CO and CM chondrites formed at the same disk locations but the CM parent body accreted later than the CO parent body, the snow line might have crossed the the common chondrule-forming region towards the Sun between the time of the CO and CM parent bodies accretion.
Is Teaching English as an International Language All about Being Politically Correct

One comment I often receive when I talk about teaching English as an international language (TEIL) is that TEIL is all about being politically correct – a mere gesture to be inclusive and egalitari...
SOME COMMENTS ON HIDDEN STRUCTURE IN LINEAR PROGRAMS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses hidden structure in linear programs and describes linear programs (LPs), which are equivalent to network or other easily solved LPs—except for a few complicating constraints—or equivalent to network LPs but by a transformation other than the projective equivalence transformation. The identification of a maximal generalized upper bound set in a general LP is equivalent to the minspike problem solved in triangularizing a basis prior to inversion. The columns that are set as spikes in the triangularization correspond to the complicating constraints. The conflict matrix methodology is applied to a number of real-world problems. A heuristic method is used in trianguiarizing the conflict matrix.
PET Investigation of Post-Traumatic Cerebral Blood Volume and Blood Flow

Hemodynamic changes following traumatic brain injury (TBI) may reflect cellular damage leading to secondary injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regional hemodynamic parameters acutely after TBI among regions in and around contusions. Sixteen patients (11 male, 5 female) showing evidence of contusion on CT and 18 normal volunteers (12 male, 6 female) underwent positron emission tomography (PET) with O-15 CO and O-15 H2O to estimate cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF), respectively. A flow to volume ratio (FVR = CBF/CBV) was also calculated as an index of vasodilatation. The hemodynamic parameters were compared among contusion, pericontusion, and remote areas. Globally, hemodynamic parameters did not differ between patients and normal volunteers, and did not correlate with intracranial pressure (ICP). Regionally, contusional and pericontusional areas showed significantly lower CBF and FVR compared with normal volunteers, while CBV did not differ significantly. The correlation between CBF and CBV was significant (r = 0.37, p < 0.01). Remote areas did not show a significant difference in any of the PET parameters. In conclusion, regional brain edema is likely to occur in contusion and pericontusion areas, while some of the contusional tissue may show vascular engorgement.
Loose synchronization for large-scale networked systems

Traditionally, synchronization barriers ensure that no cooperating process advances beyond a specified point until all processes have reached that point. In heterogeneous large-scale distributed computing environments, with unreliable network links and machines that may become overloaded and unresponsive, traditional barrier semantics are too strict to be effective for a range of emerging applications. In this paper, we explore several relaxations, and introduce a partial barrier, a synchronization primitive designed to enhance liveness in loosely coupled networked systems. Partial barriers are robust to variable network conditions; rather than attempting to hide the asynchrony inherent to wide-area settings, they enable appropriate application-level responses. We evaluate the improved performance of partial barriers by integrating them into three publicly available distributed applications running across PlanetLab. Further, we show how partial barriers simplify a re-implementation of MapReduce that targets wide-area environments.
Identifying risk factors for preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancies in women with a history of preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE) is a prevalent hypertensive disorder of pregnancy that causes significant maternal-fetal mortality. It has been reported that 60% of maternal mortality can be prevented. Studies have demonstrated that nursing has the ability to influence the mortality rates by providing proactive and competent care. Part of proactive, competent care is to identify those women at the highest risk for PE. Multiple studies have identified a history of PE as a significant risk factor for PE in future gestations. We conducted a nested case control study with our Rule Out Pre-Eclampsia (ROPE) cohort to identify comorbidities most likely to lead to recurrent PE.
Composite Materials Design: Biomineralization Proteins and the Guided Assembly and Organization of Biomineral Nanoparticles

There has been much discussion of the role of proteins in the calcium carbonate biomineralization process, particularly with regard to nucleation, amorphous stabilization/transformation, and polymorph selection. However, there has been little if any discussion of the potential role that proteins might play in another important process: the guided assembly and organization of mineral nanoparticles into higher-ordered structures such as mesocrystals. This review discusses particle attachment theory and recent evidence of mineral-associated proteins forming hydrogels that assemble and organize mineral clusters into crystalline phase. From this discussion we postulate a mechanism by which biomineralization protein hydrogel aggregation assists in mineral nanoparticle assembly and organization within calcium carbonate skeletal elements and discuss potentials ways for harnessing this process in materials design.
Orthogonal Halogen-Bonding-Driven 3D Supramolecular Assembly of Right-Handed Synthetic Helical Peptides

Peptide-mediated self-assembly is a prevalent method for creating highly ordered supramolecular architectures. Herein, we report the first example of orthogonal C-X⋅⋅⋅X-C/C-X⋅⋅⋅π halogen bonding and hydrogen bonding driven crystalline architectures based on synthetic helical peptides bearing hybrids of l-sulfono-γ-AApeptides and natural amino acids. The combination of halogen bonding, intra-/intermolecular hydrogen bonding, and intermolecular hydrophobic interactions enabled novel 3D supramolecular assembly. The orthogonal halogen bonding in the supramolecular architecture exerts a novel mechanism for the self-assembly of synthetic peptide foldamers and gives new insights into molecular recognition, supramolecular design, and rational design of biomimetic structures.
Probing prothrombin structure by limited proteolysis

Prothrombin, or coagulation factor II, is a multidomain zymogen precursor of thrombin that undergoes an allosteric equilibrium between two alternative conformations, open and closed, that react differently with the physiological activator prothrombinase. Specifically, the dominant closed form promotes cleavage at R320 and initiates activation along the meizothrombin pathway, whilst the open form promotes cleavage at R271 and initiates activation along the alternative prethrombin-2 pathway. Here we report how key structural features of prothrombin can be monitored by limited proteolysis with chymotrypsin that attacks W468 in the flexible autolysis loop of the protease domain in the open but not the closed form. Perturbation of prothrombin by selective removal of its constituent Gla domain, kringles and linkers reveals their long-range communication and supports a scenario where stabilization of the open form switches the pathway of activation from meizothrombin to prethrombin-2. We also identify R296 in the A chain of the protease domain as a critical link between the allosteric open-closed equilibrium and exposure of the sites of cleavage at R271 and R320. These findings reveal important new details on the molecular basis of prothrombin function.
P53 versus inflammation: an update.

Etiologies of human pathophysiology have been associated with states of severe inflammation. The endothelium defender P53 supports cellular functions, by orchestrating anti-inflammatory responses. ...
Arctic sea ice sensitivity to lateral melting representation in acoupled climate model

Abstract. The melting of sea ice floes from the edges (lateral melting) results in open water formation and subsequently increases absorption of solar shortwave energy. However, lateral melt plays a small role in the sea ice mass budget in both hemispheres in most climate models (Keen et al., 2020). This is likely influenced by simple parameterizations of this process in sea ice models that are constrained by limited observations. Here we use a coupled climate model (CESM2.0) to assess the sensitivity of modeled sea ice state to the lateral melt parameterization. The results show that sea ice is sensitive both to the parameters determining the effective lateral melt rate, as well as the nuances in how lateral melting is applied to the ice pack. Increasing the lateral melt rate within the range of reasonable values is largely compensated by decreases in the basal melt rate, but can still result in a significant decrease in sea ice concentration and thickness, particularly in the marginal ice zone. We suggest that it is important to consider the efficiency of melt processes at forming open water, which drives the majority of the ice-albedo feedback. Melt processes are more efficient at forming open water in thinner ice scenarios (as we are likely to see in the future), suggesting the importance of well representing thermodynamic evolution. Revisiting model parameterizations of lateral melting with observations will require finding new ways to represent important physical processes.
The functional role of decorin in corneal neovascularization in vivo.

Abstract Our earlier decorin (Dcn) gene overexpression studies found that the targeted Dcn gene transfer into the cornea inhibited corneal angiogenesis in vivo using a rabbit model. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that anti-angiogenic effects of decorin in the cornea are mediated by alterations in a normal physiologic balance of pro- and anti-angiogenic factors using decorin deficient (Dcn −/−) and wild type (Dcn +/+) mice. Corneal neovascularization (CNV) in Dcn −/− and Dcn +/+ mice was produced with a standard chemical injury technique. The clinical progression of CNV in mice was monitored with stereo- and slit-lamp microscopes, and histopathological hematoxylin and eosin (HE p 0.05) compared to neovascularized Dcn +/+ mice corneas. These gene deficience studies carried with transgenic Dcn −/− mice revealed decorin's role in influencing a physiologic balance between pro-and anti-angiogenic factors in the normal and injured cornea. We infer that the functional deletion of Dcn promotes irregular corneal repair and aggravates CNV.
Generations of Working Fathers: Career, Family, and Life

This study addresses a critical gap in the literature since very few management studies on working fathers have been published. Using a cross-sectional design, we investigated work-family variables (conflict and synergy) among working fathers with a child 18 years old or younger for different generational groups: GenY, GenX, and Baby Boomers. Using the theory of generations, we examined levels of work-family conflict, work-family synergy, job pressure, time spent on self, stress, depression, health, and satisfaction. We found generational similarities and differences in the variables under investigation. Implications and directions for future research on working fathers were discussed.
Labor market impacts of land protection: The Northern Spotted Owl

Abstract Environmental policies often draw criticism due to their potential impacts on labor market outcomes. Previous work has studied sector-specific impacts following air quality regulations, or examined overall employment effects of land-use policies. In the case of the protection of the Northern Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act in 1990, millions of acres of highly productive federal timberland in the Pacific Northwest and northern California were set aside. Concerns regarding declining employment in the timber industry following the listing are often mentioned as a cautionary tale regarding future listings under the Act. However, disentangling the policy impact from other economic factors affecting employment such as recessions and sector-specific trends is challenging. We use a range of control groups to estimate the impact of the 1990 listing of the Northern Spotted Owl had on labor market outcomes in the Lumber and Wood Products sector. Our set of main results indicate long-run declines in timber industry employment of 13.9% using a regional perspective, 28.1% using a national perspective, and a 9.5% decline in the number of establishments. In the owl habitat range there were 114,600 timber employees in the pre-treatment period; about 1.4% of total employment in those counties. In terms of jobs, the declines represent around 16,000 or 32,000 timber jobs within the Pacific Northwest and northern California. We find heterogeneous effects with areas having larger shares of protected federal timberland experiencing larger declines in employment. Our findings indicate land protection policies may pose significant employment impacts to land-reliant industries.
Deep Learning Approach for high Energy efficient Real-Time Detection of Weeds in Organic Farming

Organic farming, vision based detection and classification systems can be used to reduce chemical and synthetic pesticides. Automated weeding control requires in addition to classification also localization through bounding boxes. By using tensor processing units, the typical implementation of convolutional neural networks by means of graphics cards should be improved. The main objective is to improve energy consumption without deteriorating accuracy and frame rate. In this approach a Google Coral USB Accelerator with an Edge-TPU and a Raspberry PI 4 Model B is used. The MobileNetV2-SSD was chosen for this application because of its ability to run on embedded systems. The use of tensor processors can enable time-saving calculations. An accuracy of up to 62.3% is achieved. A maximum power of 5.7 W is obtained. Compared to a tiny-YOLO network accelerated on a Jetson TX2, the speed of the CNN is outperformed and the energy efficiency is increased. In addition, the acquisition costs are lower. Nevertheless, the accuracy of a tiny-YOLO network accelerated on a Jetson TX2 was not achieved.
Gustatory and Olfactory Rhetorics

Equally ignored in most literature on communication are the gustatory and olfactory rhetorics that we employ on a daily basis. Yet these signals help regulate our appetite, our sense of home and place, and even our openness to sexual intercourse. From an evolutionary standpoint, they are senses that greatly contribute to our ability to cooperate and carry on our genes to the next generation.
A matrix-free trust-region newton algorithm for convex-constrained optimization

We describe a matrix-free trust-region algorithm for solving convex-constrained optimization problems that uses the spectral projected gradient method to compute trial steps. To project onto the intersection of the feasible set and the trust region, we reformulate and solve the dual projection problem as a one-dimensional root finding problem. We demonstrate our algorithm’s performance on various problems from data science and PDE-constrained optimization. Our algorithm shows superior performance when compared with five existing trust-region and spectral projected gradient methods, and has the added benefit that it is simple to implement.
ANALYSIS OF AIRBORNE ALERTING ALGORITHMS FOR CLOSELY SPACED PARALLEL APPROACHES

This paper describes the analysis of an airborne alerting system for aircraft that are landing on closely spaced parallel runways. Such alerting systems have the potential to increase airport capac...
Managing the Data Resource

Effective management of organizations, both private and public, depends on information concerning the firm’s operations, finances, and the allocation of its resources. With such information management can control costs and maximize profits (private industry) or operational efficiency (public institutions). Such information also provides a basis for planning for future developments, i.e., new products, new services, improved operations.
Chapter 18. Newer Agents for the Treatment of Arthritis

Publisher Summary Among the various anti-arthritic agents, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAI) drugs are by far the largest and most important class. Some new insights have been gained concerning the mechanisms, by which NSAI agents control inflammation. The basic mode of action of these drugs is the ability of these agents to influence the biosynthesis of prostaglandins (PG). NSAI agents are of definite benefit to arthritic patients in aiding them to maintain a reasonably normal life by controlling the symptoms of inflammation. Although such drugs at high doses are considered as an effective anti-inflammatory drug, toxic side-effects can limit its use. Several of the newer NSAI drugs are more potent than Aspirin on a dose basis and the offer needed improved toleration. A longer half life of some of the newer agents offers the convenience of less frequent dosing and provides more constant plasma drug levels with more uniform control of the symptoms of inflammation. The immunoregulatory agents are at an earlier stage of development and those in clinical trials generally exhibit limiting side-effects. However, this class of compounds, rather than primarily alleviating symptoms, as the NSAI drugs do, offer the possibility of arresting the arthritic disease process and, thereby halting progressive joint destruction. The trend in current drug research is toward the development of well-tolerated and safe drugs that will arrest or reverse the arthritic disease process.