cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanism of human lymphotoxin and tumor necrosis factor induced destruction of cells in vitro: Phospholipase activation and deacylation of specific‐membrane phospholipids

The role of phospholipase (PLase) activation and lipid metabolism in lymphotoxin (LT)- and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-mediated destruction of murine L929 cells was examined. At the levels of LT and TNF employed, cell destruction began at 4-6 h and was 99% complete by 30 h. Cell membrane phospholipids (PL), labelled in situ at the C2 position with 14C arachidonic acid, were analyzed by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography and quantitated over a 30 h time course after LT or TNF treatment. The ratio of radiolabel incorporation relative to the actual amount of each PL present was determined by inorganic phosphate analysis. Radiolabelled arachidonic acid, eicosanoids, and neutral lipids were released into the medium prior to the onset of cell death (4-6 h) and continued to accumulate linearly throughout the destructive reaction. There was a quantitative relationship between the appearance of radiolabelled metabolites in the media and the loss of radiolabelled cellular PL. Cellular phosphatidylethanolamine was the primary PL deacylated by PLase action, showing a 75% reduction in radiolabel. The PLase inhibitors--quinacrine, hydrocortisone, dexamethasone, and indomethacin--were potent inhibitors of LT- and TNF-mediated cell destruction, suggesting that selective deacylation of specific membrane PL by PLase activation is an important step in the events that lead to LT- and TNF-mediated cellular destruction in vitro.
MACE-type correlation filter with controlled in-plane rotation response

The circular harmonic function (CHF) correlation filter originally proposed by Hsu and Arsenault uses only one harmonic of the reference image and thus ignores much of the discriminatory information contained in the reference image. Various methods have been proposed to make use of multiple harmonics. In this work, we present a method that combines three useful objectives: using multiple circular harmonics, controlling the correlation response to in-plane rotation and minimizing the correlation plane energy in order to achieve sharp correlation peaks. Basic theory underlying this method as well as some simulation results are presented. The implications of dealing with spatially discretized images on the interpretation of CHF coefficients also is discussed.
Supercritical carbon dioxide processing of conducting composites of polypyrrole and porous crosslinked polystyrene

Abstract Conducting composites (∼3 mm in thickness) of polypyrrole (PPy) and porous crosslinked polystyrene (PCPS) were prepared by first impregnating PCPS with iodine (I 2 ), and then contacting it with pyrrole (Py). Both these steps were carried out with and without supercritical carbon dioxide. The use of supercritical CO 2 as a solvent for I 2 and Py facilitated the transport and deposition of these substances in the pores of the permanently porous host and produced composites with conductivities as high as 10 −3 S cm −1 . Moreover, the deposition of I 2 in the pores could be controlled via the CO 2 pressure. The bulk and surface conductivities of the composite exhibited percolation behavior with respect to the amount of the I 2 deposited, whereas the volume conductivity exhibited a stepwise transition at approximately 100 wt% PPy+I 2 complex formed (with respect to the original mass of PCPS). Optical micrographs suggest that non-uniform distributions of PPy are obtained in the pores below this transition. The percolation threshold was as low as 10 wt% so that the stability and mechanical strength of the composites were approximately the same as those of the host PCPS. This was verified by TGA and compressive strength measurements. The temperature dependence of the conductivity conformed with Mott's variable-range hopping (VRH) model for three-dimensional electronic transport. However, the data could be correlated equally well with the CELT model.
Mapping the literature of cytotechnology

The major purpose of this study was to identify and assess indexing coverage of core journals in cytotechnology. It was part of a larger project sponsored by the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section of the Medical Library Association to map the literature of allied health. Three representative journals in cytotechnology were selected and subjected to citation analysis to determine what journals, other publication types, and years were cited and how often. Bradford's Law of Scattering was applied to the resulting list of cited journals to identify core titles in the discipline, and five indexes were searched to assess coverage of these core titles. Results indicated that the cytotechnology journal literature had a small core but wide dispersion: one third of the 21,021 journal citations appeared in only 3 titles; another third appeared in an additional 26 titles; the remaining third were scattered in 1,069 different titles. Science Citation Index Expanded rated highest in indexing coverage of the core titles, followed by MEDLINE, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, HealthSTAR, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). The study's results also showed that journals were the predominantly cited format and that citing authors relied strongly on more recent literature.
An expert system for tuning particle-beam accelerators

We have developed a proof-of-concept prototype of an expert system for tuning particle beam accelerators. It is designed to function as an intelligent assistant for an operator. In its present form it implements the strategies and reasoning followed by the operator for steering through the beam transport section of the Advanced Test Accelerator at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's Site 300. The system is implemented in the language LISP using the Artificial Intelligence concepts of frames, daemons, and a representation we developed called a Monitored Decision Script. 4 refs., 5 figs.
Fat Separation in Evaporated Milk II. Age-Thinning Of Concentrated, Sterilized Milk

Summary Data are presented to characterize further the phenomenon of age-thinning of evaporated milk. The loss of viscosity is inversely related to the logarithm of the storage time, and the slope of the curve for age-thinning is directly related to the storage temperature. These relationships can be expressed in mathematical terms. A method is presented for the utilization of the above relationships in the calculation of the average viscosity during the early stage of quiescent storage. In addition, a method is described whereby it is possible to dissipate quickly the temporary viscosity formed during sterilization.
Good for the Goose, Bad for the Gander: International Labor Standards and Comparative Development

The international labor rights movement, led by the International Labour Organization (ILO), asserts that developing countries are currently ready for more stringent labor standards. We investigate this claim by examining the timing of labor standard adoption in highly developed countries, which were all once as poor as today’s developing countries and made the trade-off between labor standards and income in the past. Their experience therefore suggests a safe income threshold for adopting similar labor standards in the developing world. We find that every ILO-proposed labor standard is highly premature for the developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Countries there are between 100 and 300 years from reaching this threshold. Similarly, we find that so-called sweatshop-intensive developing countries are between 35 and 100 years from this threshold. ILO-proposed policy is exactly backward. A substantial relaxation of labor standards is the appropriate labor policy for the developing world.
Forced Vibrations of Preloaded Elastic Beams With Joints in the Microdynamic Regime

Abstract The forced vibrations of preloaded elastic beams interconnected by deformable joints are studied. Attention is focused on vibrations in the microdynamic regime in which the beam displacements are in the micron range. First, various factors which could affect the microdynamic behavior of the beams are examined. Then mathematical models for typical joints involving contact deformations are derived from the Hertzian contact theory. The integration of the derived joint models with those for preloaded elastic beams is discussed. Their dynamic behavior is studied analytically and numerically by means of computer simulation.
Effects of neutral sphingomyelinase on phenylephrine-induced vasoconstriction and Ca2+ mobilization in rat aortic smooth muscle

Abstract The sphingomyelin pathway is now recognized as an important signal transduction system regulating various cellular functions, in which activation of a neutral sphingomyelinase induced by various extracellular stimulants results in selective degradation of sphingomyelin, yielding bioactive lipid intermediates, ceramides and phosphorylcholine. In the present study, our emphasis has been to examine the effects of exogenous Mg2+-dependent neutral sphingomyelinase, in physiological and pathophysiological magnesium concentrations, on phenylephrine-induced vasomotor tone and on intracellular free Ca2+([Ca2+]i) mobilization in vitro. Neutral sphingomyelinase (0.001–0.1 U/ml), alone, did not elicit any significant changes in either basal tension or resting levels of [Ca2+]i in rat aortic smooth muscle; similar results were obtained with phosphorylcholine. However, neutral sphingomyelinase (0.001–0.1 U/ml) and C2-ceramide or ceramide-1-phosphate, but not phosphorylcholine, attenuated phenylephrine-induced contractions, in isolated rat aortic rings, in a concentration-related manner. The addition of extracellular magnesium in different concentrations (0, 0.3, 1.2, 2.4 mM) modulated the neutral sphingomyelinase-vasorelaxant action in a concentration-dependent manner. Neutral sphingomyelinase-evoked relaxation was only partially endothelium-dependent. Nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, NG-nitro- l -arginine ( l -NNA) and l -NG-monomethyl-arginine ( l -NMMA), an inhibitor of prostanoid synthesis (indomethacin), and pharmacologic amine antagonists, such as atropine, diphenhydramine, cimetidine, propranolol, and methysergide as well as an opiate antagonist, naloxone, all failed to attenuate or interfere with the vasorelaxant responses of neutral sphingomyelinase. Three different inhibitors of protein kinase C (i.e., staurosporine, 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7) or bisindolylmaleimide I), when used over a wide concentration range, also failed to interfere with the neutral sphingomyelinase-induced relaxations. Neutral sphingomyelinase inhibited the elevations in [Ca2+]i in cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells caused by phenylephrine. Our results suggest that a Mg2+-dependent sphingomyelin signaling pathway may play an important regulatory role in arterial wall tone.
A resiliency-aware scheduling approach for FPGA configuration: Preliminary results

Hostile environments, shrinking feature sizes and processor aging elicit a need for resilient computing. Coarse-grained hardware approaches, such as Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) and Temporal Redundancy (TR), while exhibiting acceptable levels of fault coverage [1], are often wasteful of resources such as time, device/chip area and power. A TMR-hardened computation can exhibit poor performance relative to a non-TMR hardware configuration with similar area. This is because the resources that are used to replicate functional units in parallel (in the case of TMR) can only execute one operation at a time. Conversely, in an equivalent non-TMR configuration, those same resources could execute three different operations concurrently (albeit with no resiliency coverage). In short, TMR is very rigid in its allocation of resources, using them only for resiliency.
Molecular Mechanisms of Estrogen Carcinogenesis

In western society, the causes of several cancers--including breast, endometrium, ovary, liver, and prostate--have been linked to inappropriate and/or prolonged exposure to synthetic or endogenous steroidal hormones. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of estrogen carcinogenesis with a focus on estrogen metabolism to 16 alpha-hydroxy estrone and 2- and 4-hydroxy catechol estrogens and the potential effects of these metabolites in vitro and in vivo on hamster liver and kidney and rat liver carcinogenesis models. The examples demonstrate that the parent compounds and their metabolites cause both nongenotoxic cell proliferative effects as well as direct and indirect genotoxic effects, which illustrates the complex nature of estrogen carcinogenesis. These effects, in combination with the metabolic state of the tissue and the timing of its exposure, may determine the cell type (organ) of tumor development and the severity of disease.
Flying-capacitor boost converter

This paper introduces the flying-capacitor dc-dc boost converter. In the proposed topology, a high voltage gain ratio and improved conversion efficiency are achieved with low inductor core and copper losses. The input current ripple of the new converter is low while its ripple frequency is high, yielding a low-sized input filter. Furthermore, the voltage stresses on the power switches and diodes of the proposed converter are considerably low. It is shown that the proposed converter can be extended to higher stages to achieve a higher voltage gain ratio at enhanced efficiency. The principle of operation of the new converter is proposed, and the comparison with the conventional boost topology is presented. A complete analysis of this converter in the steady state and small signal operation is performed as well. Simulation results and a design example are also given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed power converter.
Design considerations for an inductive heater for conductor stability testing

A discussion is presented of the considerations and the lessons learned in designing inductive heaters for stability testing of a 200-kA conductor for superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES). Two separate tests were run using different inductive heater designs: the first was a long heater about a subcable pitch in length (50 cm) and was wound with inner and outer coils with currents flowing in opposite directions to minimize stray fields; the second was a short coil about 2 cm long without an inner coil. The thermocouples were used in both tests to measure the total energy delivered to the conductor. In order to calculate the stability margin, it is necessary to know the energy delivered per unit volume of conductor. For the long heater with inner and outer coils, the energy distribution has been calculated to be fairly uniform along the length of the heater. However, for a single short heater, the losses are distributed in a very non-uniform fashion; in fact, they are considerably higher at the test conductor ends due to coupling losses induced by the radial field component. Another design consideration in the test was to let the LRC circuit ring, with the hope of increasing the efficiency of energy transfer to the test conductor. The main conclusions of this study are that the induced heating in the test conductor will depend on the cabling geometry, resistance, and applied field distributions and that great care must be taken to correctly interpret stability margin results based on inductive heat input to very large cabled conductors.
Screening herbaceous lignocellulosic energy crops in temperate regions of the United States

Abstract Data have been collected from five species screening and selection trials in the Midwest/Lake States and in the Southeast since 1985 and from two trials in Iowa and North Dakota since 1988. Results to date indicate that species must be selected by region. Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] has had yields near 30 dry Mg ha−1 in the Midwest but only 8 to 10 dry Mg ha−1 in the Southeast. Energy cane (Saccharum spp.) and napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) have had yields near 30 dry Mg ha−1 in the Southeast. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has done well at many sites. Cool-season perennials have produced poor yields in the Southeast and moderate yields similar to warm-season perennials at wet sites in the Lake States. Double cropping with sorghum has provided mixed results. Research indicates that gains can be made by selecting within a species.
Dynamic sculpting and deformation of point set surfaces

This paper presents a novel paradigm for point set surface editing, which takes advantages of the potential of implicit surfaces, the strength of physics based modeling techniques, and the simplicity of point sampled surfaces. Our point set surface is evaluated as the zero set of the weighted sum of the collection of the scalar trivariate B-spline functions defined over the local domain of each point sample. The implicit representation of the point set surfaces allows the user to easily modify the topology of the sculpted objects. The deformation of the surfaces is conducted by dynamically modifying the local reference domains, as well as their scalar control coefficients. We have developed a variety of sculpting toolkits that can dynamically manipulate the implicit point set surface and easily perform CSG Boolean operation on arbitrarily shaped objects. Our research work complements existing point rendering and modeling pipelines for efficient interactive sculpting and deformation.
Alanine-scanning mutagenesis of the beta-sheet region of phage T4 lysozyme suggests that tertiary context has a dominant effect on beta-sheet formation.

In general, α-helical conformations in proteins depend in large part on the amino acid residues within the helix and their proximal interactions. For example, an alanine residue has a high propensity to adopt an α-helical conformation, whereas that of a glycine residue is low. The sequence preferences for β-sheet formation are less obvious. To identify the factors that influence β-sheet conformation, a series of scanning polyalanine mutations were made within the strands and associated turns of the β-sheet region in T4 lysozyme. For each construct the stability of the folded protein was reduced substantially, consistent with removal of native packing interactions. However, the crystal structures showed that each of the mutants retained the β-sheet conformation. These results suggest that the structure of the β-sheet region of T4 lysozyme is maintained to a substantial extent by tertiary interactions with the surrounding parts of the protein. Such tertiary interactions may be important in determining the structures of β-sheets in general.
The striking similarities between standard, distractor-free, and target-free recognition

It is often assumed that observers seek to maximize correct responding during recognition testing by actively adjusting a decision criterion. However, early research by Wallace (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 4:441–452, 1978) suggested that recognition rates for studied items remained similar, regardless of whether or not the tests contained distractor items. We extended these findings across three experiments, addressing whether detection rates or observer confidence changed when participants were presented standard tests (targets and distractors) versus “pure-list” tests (lists composed entirely of targets or distractors). Even when observers were made aware of the composition of the pure-list test, the endorsement rates and confidence patterns remained largely similar to those observed during standard testing, suggesting that observers are typically not striving to maximize the likelihood of success across the test. We discuss the implications for decision models that assume a likelihood ratio versus a strength decision axis, as well as the implications for prior findings demonstrating large criterion shifts using target probability manipulations.
Parametric Average-Value Modeling of Multiple-Input Buck Converters

Average-value modeling of DC-DC converters is an indispensable tool for analysis of power electronic systems. However, analytical derivation of accurate models may be quite challenging especially when multiple modes and the circuits' parasitics are considered. Recently, a computer-aided average-value modeling approach has been proposed in the literature, wherein the average model has a well-defined structure and is constructed with the assistance of the detailed simulation. This paper extends the parametric approach by appropriately including the multi-input source and output dynamics. The approach is based on corrected state-space average model, where the so-called duty-ratio constraint and correction matrix are expressed as nonlinear algebraic functions of the duty cycle and the switching-stage dynamic impedance. The proposed model is shown to be accurate in predicting large-signal time-domain transients and small-signal characterization.
REINFORCEMENT MAGNITUDE AND RESPONDING DURING TREATMENT WITH DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT

Basic findings indicate that the amount or magnitude of reinforcement can influence free-operant responding prior to and during extinction. In this study, the relation between reinforcement magnitude and adaptive behavior was evaluated with 3 children as part of treatment with differential reinforcement. In the first experiment, a communicative response was shaped and maintained by the same reinforcer that was found to maintain problem behavior. Two reinforcement magnitudes (20-s or 60-s access to toys or escape from demands) were compared and found to be associated with similar levels of resistance to extinction. The relation between reinforcement magnitude and response maintenance was further evaluated in the second experiment by exposing the communicative response to 20-s or 300-s access to toys or escape. Results for 2 participants suggested that this factor may alter the duration of postreinforcement pauses.
Electrostatic Interaction of Oil Droplets with Adsorbed Surface-Active Ions in Dilute Electrolyte Solutions

Using the Haydon-Taylor model in which the surfactant head groups are situated at some distance from the oil surface, the interaction energy of electrostatic repulsion (VR) between oil droplets in dilute electrolyte solutions is derived for the two cases: constant-surface potential and constant-surface charge. For comparison, the repulsive energy is also derived for the constant-surface charge case without the effect of this adsorbed layer model. The Haydon-Taylor model accounts for the penetrability of the electrolyte and dielectric constant in the adsorbed surfactant layer of varying thickness, the degree of surface coverage, particle-size effect, ionic strength, and the dielectric constant in the bulk solution. In the constant-potential case, the resulting VR equation is identical to the classical Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO) one. Computations show that as flat plates and spheres approach each other, VR (constant-surface charge with impenetrable adsorbed layer) > VR (constant-surface charge with penetrable adsorbed layer) > VR (constant-surface potential). Because of the possible 50- to 100-fold difference in magnitude between them, proper choice of the model is important when considering application of the theory to the rigorous kinetic treatment of the coalescence of o/w emulsions and flocculation of suspensions.
Implementation Vision for Distributed Control of Traffic Signal Subsystems

The developments that have led to the construction of the 2070 controller are reviewed. The intelligent transportation system community has proposed many features and user services that will likely use this new controller. In general, many of the functions proposed for this controller, such as emergency vehicle preemption, transit priority, weather monitoring, dynamic lane assignment, enhanced malfunction diagnostics, and adaptive algorithms, are all technically feasible. To achieve widespread deployment of systems that integrate several advanced traffic management system features, however, a systematic method for integrating a variety of distributed computing subsystems must be thoughtfully defined. The fundamental benefits of adopting a distributed control model for traffic signal subsystems are described and summarized.
Prognostic features and markers for testicular cancer management

Testicular neoplasm accounts for about 1% of all cancers in men. Over the last 40 years, the incidence of testicular cancer has increased in northern European male populations for unknown reasons. When diagnosed at early stage, testicular cancer is usually curable with a high survival rate. In the past three decades, successful multidisciplinary approaches for the management of testicular cancer have significantly increased patient survival rates. Utilization of tumor markers and accurate prognostic classification has also contributed to successful therapy. In this article, we highlight the most commonly used tumor markers and several potential "novel" markers for testicular cancer as part of the ongoing effort in biomarker research and discovery. In addition, this article also identifies several key prognostic features that have been demonstrated to play a role in predicting relapse. These features include tumor size, rete testis invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and tumor histology. Together with tumor markers, these prognostic factors should be taken into account for risk-adapted management of testicular cancer.
Cognitive Performance and the Role of Control Beliefs in Midlife

Midlife has been touted as being a time of peak performance in many different areas of functioning. In the present study, we investigated whether this was true for cognitive functioning on tasks assessing speed, reasoning, short-term memory, and vocabulary. We also explored the extent to which levels of cognitive functioning could be attributed to individual differences in general control beliefs. Middle-aged adults showed little or no cognitive declines on speed, reasoning, and short-term memory measures relative to the young and outperformed the young on vocabulary. Relative to the elderly, middle-aged adults scored higher on all tasks except vocabulary, for which there were no differences. Adults in midlife, on the other hand, had lower scores on measures of general control beliefs compared to younger adults. Thus, although midlife is a time of high cognitive functioning, it is also a time of lower beliefs about control. To investigate the relationship between control beliefs and cognitive performance,...
Long-Term Alteration of Adult Bone Marrow Colony Formation by Prenatal Chlordane Exposure

Female mice were treated with either 0, 4, or 8 mg of chlordane per kilogram body weight daily for 18 days during pregnancy. The offspring of these mice were assayed for bone marrow hematopoietic activity at 100 and 200 days of age. Hematopoietic activity was evaluated for in vitro granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (GM-CFU) and in vivo spleen CFU (CFU-S). The consistent finding was a significant depression both of the numbers of bone marrow GM-CFU and of the CFU-S in offspring exposed to either 4 or 8 mg/kg chlordane even at 100 and 200 days after cessation of treatment. Prenatal treatment with chlordane did not affect the number of recoverable viable bone marrow cells at either of these time points. Ontological development was selectively affected by chlordane exposure, since subchronic (18 day) treatment of adult mice did not significantly alter bone marrow GM-CFU or CFU-S levels. These data suggest that the decreased delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions noted previously in mice exposed to chlordane prenatally may be due to a change in the functional capacity of myeloid lineage cells rather than altered T cell function.
The expanded role of the barium enema in the evaluation of patients presenting with acute abdominal pain.

Abstract The role of the barium enema in theevaluation of patients with acute abdominal pain is well established. It is utilized in the diagnosis and treatment of several suspected clinical entities, including appendicitis, diverticulitis, intussusception, and volvulus. There is another group of patients in whom a vague clinical presentation and an indeterminate bowel gas pattern fail to clarify the diagnosis. The role of the barium enema has been expanded as an early diagnostic aid in the evaluation of these patients. Based on abdominal film findings, three patient categories are presented, in whom the early use of a “judicious” barium enema may safely and quickly contribute to the preoperative definition of the underlying disease process, allowing for the correct mode of therapy to be undertaken.
A sea lamprey glycoprotein hormone receptor similar with Gnathostome thyrotropin hormone receptor

The specificity of the vertebrate hypothalamic‐pituitary‐gonadal and hypothalamic‐pituitary‐thyroid axes is explained by the evolutionary refinement of the specificity of expression and selectivity of interaction between the glycoprotein hormones GpH (FSH, LH, and TSH) and their cognate receptors GpH-R (FSH-R, LH-R, and TSH-R). These two finely tuned signaling pathways evolved by gene duplication and functional divergence from an ancestral GpH/GpH-R pair. Comparative analysis of the protochordate and gnathostome endocrine systems suggests that this process took place prior or concomitantly with the emergence of the gnathostome lineage. Here, we report identification and characterization of a novel glycoprotein hormone receptor (lGpH-R II) in the Agnathan sea lamprey. This 781 residue protein was found w43% identical with mammalian TSH-R and FSH-R representative sequences, and similarly with these two classes of mammalian receptors it is assembled from ten exons. A synthetic ligand containing the lamprey glycoprotein hormone b-chain tethered upstream of a mammalian a-chain activated the lGpH-R II expressed in COS-7 cells but in a lesser extent than lGpH-R I. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of vertebrate GpH-R protein sequences suggests a closer relationship between lGpH-R II and gnathostome thyrotropin receptors. Overall, the presence and characteristics of the lamprey glycoprotein hormone receptors suggest existence of a primitive functionally overlapping glycoprotein hormone/glycoprotein hormone receptor system in this animal.
Sexual Characteristics in a Midwestern USA Population of Cotinis nitida Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and Consequences for Determining Gender

Abstract Rapid and accurate sexing of the green June beetle, Cotinis nitida L., is important in research on this species, and secondary sexual characteristics are often used in sexing this insect. However, information about C. nitida secondary sexual dimorphism is limited to a small sample collected from the northeastern United States. We studied the distribution of morphological traits which are thought to be sex-dependent characteristics (number of teeth on anterior tibia, ratio of the hind tibia to the hind tarsus, pubescence of the last abdominal sternite, and general shape of clypeal horn) in a large sample acquired from a Missourian C. nitida population. These beetles exhibited a lesser degree of secondary sexual dimorphism in comparison to northeastern US C. nitida populations, especially in older females that possibly had worn down tibial teeth and abdominal hairs by digging in soil to lay eggs. Consequently, the method of sexing C. nitida by the use of secondary sexual characteristics is probably...
Si single-electron MOS memory with nanoscale floating-gate and narrow channel

Floating-gate MOS memories based on single electron effect are very attractive, because of the potential quantized threshold voltage shift, quantized charging voltage to create the shift, small device size and fast charging time. However, to relax the challenges in fabricating such devices, previous single-electron MOS memories (SEMMs) had to have nonconventional structures (e.g. a polysilicon channel or a floating gate consisting of many isolated silicon nanocrystals), causing large fluctuation in device dimension and performance and making them unsuitable to ULSI. Here we present the first SEMMs having a narrow crystalline Si channel and a nanoscale poly-Si floating gate of a well controlled dimension. We report that charging of a single electron to the floating gate will lead to, at room temperature, quantized threshold voltage shift, discrete charging voltage, and self-limiting charging process.
Heart rate characteristics monitoring for neonatal sepsis

While heart rate variability has been measured in many clinical settings and has offered insights into how HR is controlled, rarely has it offered unique information that has led to changes in patient management. We review our experience in developing continuous HR characteristics monitoring to aid in the early diagnosis of sepsis in premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. A predictive algorithm, developed at one center and validated at another, has led to diagnosis and treatment of this subacute and potentially catastrophic illness prior to appearance of symptoms of severe illness.
Approach and Resources

Those who practice aesthetic medicine need to be familiar with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and be able to identify these patients during consultation. Unfortunately, diagnosis and therapy for those afflicted with BDD can be quite difficult for the dermatologist, plastic surgeon, or other physician or health care provider. For slight abnormalities, it may be very difficult to decide whether the preoccupation is disproportionate. In addition, once suspected, most will be hesitant to accept the diagnosis along with appropriate referral. This chapter offers tips, approach tactics, and resources to help those caring for patients with BDD.
The Pricing of Multi-Class Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities

This paper considers the pricing of multi-class commercial mortgage-backed securities. A contingent-claims pricing methodology that overcomes state variable dimensionality problems is developed to examine mortgage pools with many distinct underlying assets and whose loan cash flow values are subject to interest rate uncertainty. Security structure and the correlation structure of collateralizing assets within a pool are found to be important determinants of tranche price and required yield spread. By disentang- ling default loss risk from default-related call risk, we show it is possible that mezzanine investment classes may require lower yield spreads than higher priority investment classes. Of particular interest is the finding that reduced cash flow volatility obtained through pool diversification may actually decrease the value of the first-loss (junior) tranche. When examining the relationship of pool size and tranche value, we find that five to ten distinct mortgages are required to realize most of the effects of asset diversification.
Segmentation of Right Ventricle in Cardiac MR Images Using Shape Regression

Accurate and automatic segmentation of the right ventricle is challenging due to its complex anatomy and large shape variation observed between patients. In this paper the ability of shape regression is explored to segment right ventricle in presence of large shape variation among the patients. We propose a robust and efficient cascaded shape regression method which iteratively learns the final shape from a given initial shape. We use gradient boosted regression trees to learn each regressor in the cascade to take the advantage of supervised feature selection mechanism. A novel data augmentation method is proposed to generate synthetic training samples to improve regressors performance. In addition to that, a robust fusion method is proposed to reduce the the variance in the predictions given by different initial shapes, which is a major drawback of cascade regression based methods. The proposed method is evaluated on an image set of 45 patients and shows high segmentation accuracy with dice metric of $$0.87\pm 0.06$$. Comparative study shows that our proposed method performs better than state-of-the-art multi-atlas label fusion based segmentation methods.
Metal Building Vehicular-Access Door Wind Analysis and Design

AbstractAn analysis-based vehicular-access door design protocol for pre-engineering metal buildings is introduced. Existing access door curtain and jamb design approaches are viable for rigid door ...
Human leukocyte locus A (HL-A) antigens and infectious mononucleosis.

Forty patients with infectious mononucleosis were compared with 51 unmatched controls and 32 matched Epstein-Barr virus antibody-negative controls for 21 HL-A specificities. The data did not disclose any association between HL-A antigens and infectious mononucleosis.
Key technologies of digital river surveying

To improve and develop the method and equipment of river-crossing reconnaissance,digital river surveying was implemented with GPS-RTK(real time kinematic),ultrasonic sounding,and digital mapping technology.The main design was introduced,and the technical theories of RTK orientating,depth surveying and flow velocity mensurating were expounded.The solution to two important problems,survey-line control and data transfer,was brought forward.Compared with traditional measures,RTK has merits of high frequency,high precision,all weather,and real time.So it is a trend of development of river-crossing reconnaissance in the future.
Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Genomics: Read-Write Genome Evolution as an Active Biological Process.

The 21st century genomics-based analysis of evolutionary variation reveals a number of novel features impossible to predict when Dobzhansky and other evolutionary biologists formulated the neo-Darwinian Modern Synthesis in the middle of the last century. These include three distinct realms of cell evolution; symbiogenetic fusions forming eukaryotic cells with multiple genome compartments; horizontal organelle, virus and DNA transfers; functional organization of proteins as systems of interacting domains subject to rapid evolution by exon shuffling and exonization; distributed genome networks integrated by mobile repetitive regulatory signals; and regulation of multicellular development by non-coding lncRNAs containing repetitive sequence components. Rather than single gene traits, all phenotypes involve coordinated activity by multiple interacting cell molecules. Genomes contain abundant and functional repetitive components in addition to the unique coding sequences envisaged in the early days of molecular biology. Combinatorial coding, plus the biochemical abilities cells possess to rearrange DNA molecules, constitute a powerful toolbox for adaptive genome rewriting. That is, cells possess “Read–Write Genomes” they alter by numerous biochemical processes capable of rapidly restructuring cellular DNA molecules. Rather than viewing genome evolution as a series of accidental modifications, we can now study it as a complex biological process of active self-modification.
Non-equivalent behavior of α and β subunits in methemoglobin reduction

Abstract Methemoglobin reduction is shown to be a biphasic reaction with a rapid and a slow phase, differing in their rates by 4–6 fold. Preferential reduction of met-hemoglobin β subunits by NADH methemoglobin reductase (activated by potassium ferrocyanide) was demonstrated by three different techniques: (1) Hemoglobin solution was oxidized to 50% by potassium ferricyanide (oxidizes both α and β subunits) and by Cu2+ (oxidizes only β subunits). The product of each reaction was reduced enzymatically. The rate of reduction of methemoglobin prepared by copper was shown to be twice as great as that prepared by potassium ferricyanide, indicating a greater reduction rate for β subunits, (2) α and β subunits of a 30% reduced methemoglobin sample were stabilized with KCN and CO. The chains were then separated by p-chloromercuribenzoate and isolated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This resulted in 4–6 times more reduced β than α subunits. (3) When partially (25%) reduced methemoglobin solutions were reoxidized by Cu2+, less than 5% of the hemoglobin to be reoxidized; whereas, if reduced α and β subunits had been present in equal amounts, about 12.5% of the hemoglobin would have remained reduced. In more completely reduced (50%, 75%) methemoglobin solutions, the proportion which failed to be reoxidized by Cu2+, i.e., α subunits, increased. It is concluded that during the reduction of methemoglobin by methemoglobin reductase, the β subunits are preferentially reduced with 4–6 fold greater reduction rate.
Adolescent development of insula‐dependent interoceptive regulation

Adolescence is hypothesized to be a critical period for the maturation of self-regulatory capacities, including those that depend on interoceptive sensitivity, but the neural basis of interoceptive regulation in adolescence is unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and psychophysiology to study interoceptive regulation in healthy adolescent females. Participants regulated their gut activities in response to a virtual roller coaster by deep breathing aided by visually monitoring their online electrogastrogram (EGG) activity through a virtual thermometer (i.e. gut biofeedback), or without biofeedback. Analyses focused on the insula, given its putative role in interoception. The bilateral posterior insula showed increased activation in the no-biofeedback compared to biofeedback condition, suggesting that the participants relied more on interoceptive input when exteroceptive feedback was unavailable. The bilateral dorsal anterior insula showed activation linearly associated with age during both induction and regulation, and its activation during regulation correlated positively with change of EGG in the tachygastria frequency band from induction to regulation. Induction-related activation in the bilateral ventral anterior insula was nonlinearly associated with age and peaked at mid-adolescence. These results implicate different developmental trajectories of distinct sub-regions of the insula in interoceptive processes, with implications for competing neurobiological theories of female adolescent development.
The Double Integrator

A double integrator is a dynamical model for a wide variety of physical systems. This includes a mass moving in one dimension and an object rotating around a shaft. It represents a broad class of systems with two states. In this chapter, you will learn how to model a double integrator and how to control it. In the process, you will create some very important functions for implementing control systems, plotting, and performing numerical integration. This will provide a springboard to other, more complex systems in later chapters.
International and Multicultural Perspectives on Youth Recovery

ABSTRACTThis article introduces the special thematic issue, which includes multiple and diverse perspectives to illustrate how youth treatment and recovery from substance use/dependence/misuse is approached and studied internationally. Although treatment and recovery services are available to and in use by youth across the world, this introduction explains that there is a noticeable gap in literature documenting the continuum of care for this vulnerable population. This introductory piece presents a synopsis of the articles in the issue, which address group treatment and recovery supports internationally and multi-culturally from a youth treatment and recovery lens. The articles offer an integration of international and diverse adolescent recovery supports, including those in Canada, Norway and the United States, and add to the larger body of recovery literature.
An Interprofessional Small-Group Learning Experience in Early Childhood Caries With Fluoride Varnish Application.

Abstract Introduction Early childhood caries has become a significant public health issue in selected populations in the US and is one of the most common infectious diseases of childhood. It is imp...
The effect of a temporary product distribution channel on supply chain performance

We analyze a supply chain of a manufacturer and two retailers, a permanent retailer who always stocks the manufacturer's product and an intermittent deal-of-the day retailer who sells the manufacturer's product online for a short time. We find that without a deal-of-the-day (DOTD) retailer, it is suboptimal for the manufacturer to offer a quantity discount while it is optimal for the retailer to offer periodic price discounts to consumers. With the addition of a DOTD retailer, it is likely to be optimal for the manufacturer to offer a quantity discount. We show that even without market expansion, i.e., no exclusive DOTD retailer consumers, opening the intermittent channel can leave the permanent retailer no worse-off while increasing the manufacturer's profit. We identify the regular and discounted wholesale prices and the threshold quantity at which the manufacturer should give the discount. We also identify the optimal retail prices. We find that opening the intermittent channel increases the profit of the manufacturer, is likely to decrease the average retail price and to increase sales, and may increase the permanent retailer's profit.© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2016
Shannon sampling and an inverse problem for the Schrodinger equation on combinatorial graphs

We consider functions on a weighted combinatorial graph G (finite or countable) whose evolution in time −∞ < t < ∞ is governed by the Schrodinger type equation ∂g(t, v)/∂t = iΔg(t, v), v ∊ V (G), with the combinatorial Laplace operator on the right side. Two Shannon-type sampling theorems are proved which imply that if the initial data g(0, v) is a Paley-Wiener function of bandwidth ≤ ω then the solution g(t, v) for all t ∊ (−∞,∞), v ∊ V (G) can be perfectly reconstructed from the values of g on a set K × S where K is a sufficiently dense set of equally spaced real numbers and S is a sampling set for the space of Paley-Wiener function of bandwidth ≤ ω. We also consider an inverse problem of reconstructing the initial function g(0, ·) from a single sample g(T, ·).
Robot Sociality: Genuine or Simulation?

It is clear that people can interact with programs and robots in ways that appear to be, and can seem to participants to be, social. Asking the question of whether or not such interactions could be genuinely social requires examining the nature of sociality and further examining what requirements are involved for the participants in such interactions to co-constitutively engage in genuine social realities – to constitute genuine social agents. I will attempt to address both issues. A further question is “Why ask the question?” Isn’t “sociality” like a program in that simulating the running of a program is the running of a program – so sufficiently simulated sociality is genuine sociality? What more could be relevant and why? As I will explain, there are at least two sorts of answers to the question of why the difference between genuine performance and simulation matters: (1) to better understand the ontology of sociality and thereby its potentialities and ways in which “merely” simulated sociality might fall short, especially of the developmental and historistic potentialities of sociality, and (2) to better understand the issues of ethics surrounding interactions among and between humans and robots.