cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of morphological changes within stromata during sexual reproduction in Aspergillus flavus

Aspergillus flavus contaminates agricultural products worldwide with carcinogenic aflatoxins that pose a serious health risk to humans and animals. The fungus survives adverse environmental conditions through production of sclerotia. When fertilized by a compatible conidium of an opposite mating type, a sclerotium transforms into a stroma within which ascocarps, asci, and ascospores are formed. However, the transition from a sclerotium to a stroma during sexual reproduction in A. flavus is not well understood. Early events during the interaction between sexually compatible strains of A. flavus were visualized using conidia of a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled MAT1-1 strain and sclerotia of an mCherry-labeled MAT1-2 strain. Both conidia and sclerotia of transformed strains germinated to produce hyphae within 24 h of incubation. Hyphal growth of these two strains produced what appeared to be a network of interlocking hyphal strands that were observed at the base of the mCherry-labeled sclerotia (i.e., region in contact with agar surface) after 72 h of incubation. At 5 wk following incubation, intracellular green-fluorescent hyphal strands were observed within the stromatal matrix of the mCherry-labeled strain. Scanning electron microscopy of stromata from a high- and low-fertility cross and unmated sclerotia was used to visualize the formation and development of sexual structures within the stromatal and sclerotial matrices, starting at the time of crossing and thereafter every 2 wk until 8 wk of incubation. Morphological differences between sclerotia and stromata became apparent at 4 wk of incubation. Internal hyphae and croziers were detected inside multiple ascocarps that developed within the stromatal matrix of the high-fertility cross but were not detected in the matrix of the low-fertility cross or the unmated sclerotia. At 6 to 8 wk of incubation, hyphal tips produced numerous asci, each containing one to eight ascospores that emerged out of an ascus following the breakdown of the ascus wall. These observations broaden our knowledge of early events during sexual reproduction and suggest that hyphae from the conidium-producing strain may be involved in the early stages of sexual reproduction in A. flavus. When combined with omics data, these findings could be useful in further exploration of the molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying sexual reproduction in A. flavus.
Group Consciousness and Corrective Action: The Mediating Role of Perceived Media Bias and of Proattitudinal Selective Exposure:

This study examines the role that group consciousness plays in driving corrective action. Drawing from an online survey of Latinos in the United States (N = 588), it tests the relationships among g...
Auto-Agent-Distiller: Towards Efficient Deep Reinforcement Learning Agents via Neural Architecture Search.

AlphaGo's astonishing performance has ignited an explosive interest in developing deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for numerous real-world applications, such as intelligent robotics. However, the often prohibitive complexity of DRL stands at the odds with the required real-time control and constrained resources in many DRL applications, limiting the great potential of DRL powered intelligent devices. While substantial efforts have been devoted to compressing other deep learning models, existing works barely touch the surface of compressing DRL. In this work, we first identify that there exists an optimal model size of DRL that can maximize both the test scores and efficiency, motivating the need for task-specific DRL agents. We therefore propose an Auto-Agent-Distiller (A2D) framework, which to our best knowledge is the first neural architecture search (NAS) applied to DRL to automatically search for the optimal DRL agents for various tasks that optimize both the test scores and efficiency. Specifically, we demonstrate that vanilla NAS can easily fail in searching for the optimal agents, due to its resulting high variance in DRL training stability, and then develop a novel distillation mechanism to distill the knowledge from both the teacher agent's actor and critic to stabilize the searching process and improve the searched agents' optimality. Extensive experiments and ablation studies consistently validate our findings and the advantages and general applicability of our A2D, outperforming manually designed DRL in both the test scores and efficiency. All the codes will be released upon acceptance.
Variable abnormality of the melanopsin-derived portion of the pupillary light reflex (PLR) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and parkinsonism features.

Ascertain and quantify abnormality of the melanopsin-derived portion of the pupillary light reflex (PLR) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and parkinsonism features based on a statistical predictive modeling strategy for PLR classification. Exploratory cohort analysis of pupillary kinetics in non-disease controls, PD subjects, and subjects with parkinsonism features using chromatic pupillometry. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve interpretation of pupillary changes consistent with abnormality of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) was employed using a thresholding algorithm to discriminate pupillary abnormality between study groups. Twenty-eight subjects were enrolled, including 17 PD subjects (age range 64–85, mean 70.65) and nine controls (age range 48–95, mean 63.89). Two subjects were described as demonstrating parkinsonism symptoms due to presumed Lewy body dementia and motor system atrophy (MSA) respectively. On aggregate analysis, PD subjects demonstrated abnormal but variable pupillary dynamics suggestive of ipRGC abnormality. Subjects with parkinsonism features did not demonstrate pupillary changes consistent with ipRGC abnormality. There was no relationship between levodopa equivalent dosage or PD severity and ipRGC abnormality. The pupillary test sensitivity in predicting PD was 0.75 and likelihood ratio was 1.2. ipRGC deficit is demonstrated in PD subjects; however, the degree and constancy of abnormality appear variable.
Nonextensive Entropy and Geometry in General Relativity

Con-formally invariant metrics can be obtained from the smooth deformation of otherwise flat spacetime. We obtain these metrics from the maximization of the non-extensive entropy of Tsallis with 2nd moments, quadratics of the coordinates as constraints. Evolution equations are Fokker-Planck diffusion type and the usual diffusion tensor (inverse) relations to fundamental metric tensors hold. It is found that an nD deformed q-metric corresponds to an embedding in an (n+1)D flat spacetime, and secondly that a q-non-extensive statistics derived FRW metric and Friedman equations and Hubble term may be obtained and connected to thermo-statistics.
An enhanced adaptation method for core monitoring systems

Abstract Current core monitoring systems for PWRs are based on online 3D calculations simulating the main physical phenomena. These calculations are affected by inaccuracies due to several causes: uncertainties in the knowledge of the reactor operating point (e.g. control bank positions, inlet water temperature), deviations between the design specifications and the built reactor, etc. These inaccuracies cause deviations between the predicted and measured neutron flux distribution, which can be reduced with an adaptation of the neutronic model to the measurements. As so, an adaptation method was conceived by Framatome. This paper presents the latest enhancements, which make the predictions of the model more reliable. With this adaptation, the computed flux is in good agreement with the incore detectors’ response. The method is based on an equivalence procedure which allows determining an adaptation parameter, called pseudo-buckling, acting on the data of the model. Comparisons with experimental data have been performed and show the good method’s efficiency.
Children and adults are exposed to dual risks from ingestion of water and inhalation of ultrasonic humidifier particles from Pb-containing water.

Abstract Room-sized ultrasonic humidifiers are exposure pathways to aerosolized metals, with dose positively associated with increased concentrations of metals in fill water. This study innovatively quantifies water ingestion along with inhalation doses from humidifiers for 10–1000 μg/L dissolved lead (Pb) in tap water. The subsequent indoor air Pb concentrations, average daily doses, and inhalation deposited respiratory fractions were predicted under four room scenarios for 3-mo, 12-mo, 28-mo, and 6-yr children and adults. Elevated blood Pb levels (BLLs) in children were modeled using USEPA's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model. Indoor air Pb exceeds the USEPA ambient air standard of 0.15 μg/m3 when humidifier fill water contains 33 μg/L Pb in the small room of 33.5 m3 and 0.2 h−1 air exchange rate (AER). For this room, ~40–46% inhaled Pb-containing humidifier particles deposit in children's respiratory tracts; inhaling humidifier particles from ≥500 μg/L Pb water results in >1 μg/dL BLL in 2–7 yr children. For adults, ~23% of particles deposit in the respiratory tract; 8-h inhalation exposure with ≥17 μg/L Pb water exceeds the California EPA reproductive toxicity guideline of 0.5 μg/day. Larger rooms and higher AER decrease Pb inhalation exposure under the same water Pb concentration.
Hydroxyl radical yields in the heavy ion radiolysis of water

Abstract The yields of hydroxyl radicals in the radiolysis of water with protons and carbon ions have been examined using experimental scavenging techniques coupled with Monte Carlo track simulations. Combined with previous results using helium ions, this set of data gives valuable information on the potential for radiation induced damage to biological systems for light ions with very different track structures. Carbon dioxide production from aerated formic acid solutions in concentrations ranging from 10−3 to 1 M was used as a probe of hydroxyl radical yields from about 6 ns to 818 ns. Numerical interpolation of the results at slightly different ion energies in combination with data from gamma radiolysis allows for a systematic analysis of both track average and track segment yields. As expected, considerable track chemistry is found to occur on the nanosecond to microsecond time scales. Monte Carlo track simulations employing stochastic diffusion-kinetic calculations of product yields are found to reproduce experimental observations satisfactorily. The track simulations are used to extract hydroxyl radical kinetics in pure water at neutral conditions.
Classification and computation of extreme events in turbulent combustion

Abstract In the design of practical combustion systems, ensuring safety and reliability is an important requirement. For instance, reliably avoiding lean blowout, flame flashback or inlet unstart is critical for ensuring safe operation. Currently, the science of predicting such events is based on prior experience, limited modeling or diagnostic tools and purely statistical approaches. Even though computational and experimental tools for studying combustion devices have vastly advanced in the last three decades, the analysis of such failure events has not been pursued widely. While the use of data for model development and calibration is being widely accepted, the extension to failure events introduces numerous challenges. In particular, the focus here is on so-called data-poor problems, where the cost of generating data is extremely high and is not easily amenable to existing computational and experimental approaches. Data-poor problems are particularly relevant when related to extreme events (also called anomalous events) that can lead to catastrophic failure of the system. It is argued that transient events that describe such failure can have different causal mechanisms. To develop the scientific inference process, a classification of such problems is used to determine specific modeling paths as well as computational tools needed. Research opportunities in the emerging field of extreme event prediction are highlighted in order to identify critical and immediate needs.
Understanding COVID-19: From Dysregulated Immunity to Vaccination Status Quo.

The development of vaccines against infectious diseases has helped us battle the greatest threat to public health. With the emergence of novel viruses, targeted immunotherapeutics ranging from informed vaccine development to personalized medicine may be the very thing that separates us between life and death. Late in 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), made a remarkable entrance to human civilization, being one of many to cross the species barrier. This review discusses the important aspects of COVID-19, providing a brief overview of our current understanding of dysregulated immune responses developed using various experimental models, a brief outline of experimental models of COVID-19 and more importantly, the rapid development of vaccines against COVID-19.
Soil–Water Terminology and Applications

Two important expressions used to describe the state of water in the soil are water content and water potential. Water content is a measurement of the amount of water in the soil either by weight or volume and is defined as the water lost from the soil upon drying to constant mass at 105°C. It is expressed in units of either mass of water per unit mass of dry soil (kg/kg) or in units of volume of water per unit bulk volume of soil (m 3 /m 3 ). The second expression utilizes the potential energy status of a small parcel of water (say a milligram) in the soil. The expression applies also to a small parcel of water in a plant. All water in the soil (or plant) is subjected to force fields originating from four main factors: the presence of the solid phase (the matrix); the gravitational field; any dissolved salts; and the action of external gas or water pressure. If the force fields in the soil are compared to a reference point, then they can be expressed on a potential energy basis, and each of the four factors can be assigned a separate potential energy value. The sum of these four potential energy values is called the water potential of the soil or the total water potential to emphasize that it is comprised of several factors. The reference point for these potential energies is taken as pure free water at some specified height or elevation. Because water is held in the soil by forces of adsorption, absorption, cohesion, and solution, soil water is usually not capable of doing as much work as pure free water. Hence, the soil water potential is normally negative. The old term for soil water potential, no longer used, is the total soil moisture stress and it is defined using positive values. The chapter describes each component of the water potential.
Challenges of Designing Privacy Enhanced Context-Aware Middleware for Assisted Healthcare

After more than fifty years of designing computers that require users to adapt to them, we now enter the epoch of human-centric computing, where systems are designed to adapt to users. A primary concern in ubiquitous computing research is to understand the potential relationship between computation and embedded context. Developers currently face challenges in interpreting context and incorporate little support in designing frameworks that help end-users manage their privacy in an intuitive way. In this paper, we investigate context in assisted healthcare, and provide a more comprehensive definition of context. Based on this, we present the major challenges faced by developers in creating privacy enhanced context aware ubiquitous middleware.
High-Fidelity Simulation to Teach Accountability to Prelicensure Nursing Students

Abstract Background Accountability is a skill required of professional nurses. Little research has been done over the last 15 years discussing how to educate prelicensure nursing students in developing the skill of accountability. Method A qualitative, interpretive description study evaluated prelicensure nursing students to identify how they felt high-fidelity simulation assisted them in developing accountability skills. Results Five themes emerged from the data analysis and included (a) being aware of nursing actions, (b) practice and repetition of skills, (c) communication with peers and patients, (d) performing to the best of ability, and (e) errors and omissions. Conclusion This study indicated that high-fidelity simulation may be a method of teaching prelicensure nursing students how to become accountable nurses.
An Escherichia coli dnaE mutation with suppressor activity toward mutator mutD5.

The Escherichia coli mutator mutD5 is a conditional mutator whose strength is moderate when the strain is growing in minimal medium but very strong when it is growing in rich medium. The primary defect of this strain resides in the dnaQ gene, which encodes the epsilon (exonucleolytic proofreading) subunit of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. In one of our mutD5 strains we discovered a mutation that suppressed the mutability of mutD5. Interestingly, the level of suppression was strong in minimal medium but weak in rich medium. The mutation was localized to the dnaE gene, which encodes the alpha (polymerase) subunit of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. This mutation, termed dnaE910, also conferred improved growth of the mutD5 strain and caused increased temperature sensitivity in both wild-type and dnaQ49 backgrounds. The reduction in mutator strength by dnaE910 was also observed when this allele was placed in a mutL, a mutT, or a dnaQ49 background. The results suggest that dnaE910 encodes an antimutator DNA polymerase whose effect might be mediated by improved insertion fidelity or by increased proofreading via its effect on the exonuclease activity. Images
Purification and characterization of avian oligosaccharyltransferase : complete amino acid sequence of the 50-kDa subunit

We have purified oligosaccharyltransferase from hen oviduct microsomes some 850-fold. Oligosaccharyltransferase activity copurified with a 200-kDa complex consisting of two 65-kDa polypeptides and a 50-kDa polypeptide. N-terminal sequence analysis indicated that the 50-kDa subunit was the avian form of OST48, a canine pancreatic microsomal protein associated with oligosaccharyltransferase. As the first step toward reconstitution of the oligosaccharyltransferase complex, the 50-kDa subunit was purified to homogeneity under nondenaturing conditions. The complete amino acid sequence of the 50-kDa subunit was determined by sequence analysis of peptides isolated by a combination of gel filtration and high performance liquid chromatography from chemical and enzymatic digests. The protein consists of 412 residues in a single polypeptide chain. The amino acid sequence of the 50-kDa subunit of avian oligosaccharyltransferase is 92% identical to the sequence of canine OST48 protein and about 25% identical to WBP1 protein from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast WBP1 protein has been shown in vitro, as well as in vivo, to be essential for the oligosaccharyltransferase activity.
Remote Sensing as a Tool for Tropical Ecology

Tropical forests provide important habitat for a tremendous diversity of plant and animal species. However, limitations in measuring and monitoring the structure and function of tropical forests has caused these systems to remain poorly understood. Remote-sensing technology has provided a powerful tool for quantification of structural patterns and associating these with resource use. Satellite and aerial platforms can be used to collect remotely sensed images of tropical forests that can be applied to ecological research and management. The purpose of this article is to highlight the resources available for tropical forest remote sensing and to present a case-study that demonstrates its application to a neotropical forest located in the Peten region of northern Guatemala.
Partial Region and Bitstream Cost Models for Hardware Multitasking on Partially Reconfigurable FPGAs

Partial reconfiguration (PR) on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) enables multiple PR modules (PRMs) to time multiplex partially reconfigurable regions (PRRs), which affords reduced reconfiguration time, area overhead, etc., as compared to non-PR systems. However, to effectively leverage PR, system designers must determine appropriate PRR sizes/organizations during early stages of PR system design, since inappropriate PRRs, given PRM requirements, can negate PR benefits, potentially resulting in system performance worse than a functionally-equivalent non-PR design. To aid in PR system design, we present two portable, high-level cost models, which are based on the synthesis report results generated by Xilinx tools. These cost models estimate PRR size/organization given the PRR's associated PRMs to maximize the PRRs' resource utilizations and estimate the PRM's associated partial bitstream sizes based on the PRR sizes/organizations. Experiments evaluate our cost models' accuracies for different PRMs and required resources, which enable our models to afford enhanced designer productivity since these models preclude the lengthy PR design flow, which is typically required to attain such analysis.
Comparison of Vertebrate Collagenase and Gelatinase Using a New Fluorogenic Substrate Peptide

A fluorogenic substrate for vertebrate collagenase and gelatinase, Dnp-Pro-Leu-Gly-Leu-Trp-Ala-D-Arg-NH2, was designed using structure-activity data obtained from studies with synthetic inhibitors and other peptide substrates of collagenase. Tryptophan fluorescence was efficiently quenched by the NH2-terminal dinitrophenyl group, presumably through resonance energy transfer. Increased fluorescence accompanied hydrolysis of the peptide by collagenase or gelatinase purified from culture medium of porcine synovial membranes or alkali-treated rabbit corneas. Amino acid analysis of the two product peptides showed that collagenase and gelatinase cleaved at the Gly-Leu bond. The peptide was an efficient substrate for both enzymes, with kcat/Km values of 5.4 microM-1 h-1 and 440 microM-1 h-1 (37 degrees C, pH 7.7) for collagenase and gelatinase, respectively. Under the same conditions, collagenase gave kcat/Km of about 46 microM-1 h-1 for type I collagen from calf skin. Since both enzymes exhibited similar Km values for the synthetic substrate (3 and 7 microM, respectively), the higher catalytic efficiency of gelatinase reflects predominantly an increase in kcat. Both enzymes were inhibited by HSCH2(R,S)CH[CH2CH(CH3)2]CO-L-Phe-L-Ala-NH2 in this assay (50% inhibition at 20 nM and less than 1 nM for collagenase and gelatinase, respectively). Soluble type I collagen was a competitive inhibitor of peptide hydrolysis by collagenase (KI = 0.8 microM) and exhibited mixed inhibition of gelatinase (KI = 0.3 microM).
Systemic lupus erythematosus in three ethnic groups. XIV. Poverty, wealth, and their influence on disease activity.

Objective To determine the impact of wealth on disease activity in the multiethnic (Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian) LUMINA (Lupus in Minorities, Nature versus nurture) cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and disease duration ≤5 years at enrollment. Methods Variables (socioeconomic, demographic, clinical, immunologic, immunogenetic, behavioral, and psychological) were measured at enrollment and annually thereafter. Four questions from the Women's Health Initiative study were used to measure wealth. Disease activity was measured with the Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM). The relationship between the different variables and wealth was then examined. Next, the impact of wealth on disease activity was examined in regression models where the dependent variables were the SLAM score and SLAM global (physician). Variables previously found to impact disease activity plus the wealth questions were included in the models. Results Questions on income, assets, and debt were found to distinguish patients into groups, wealthier and less wealthy. Less wealthy patients tended to be younger, women, noncaucasian, less educated, unmarried, less likely to have health insurance, and more likely to live below the poverty line. They also tended to have more active disease, more abnormal illness-related behaviors, less social support, and lower levels of self reported mental functioning. None of the wealth questions was retained in the regression models, although other socioeconomic features (such as African American ethnicity, poverty, and younger age) did. Conclusions Wealth, per se, does not appear to have an additional predictive value, over and above traditional measures of socioeconomic status, in SLE disease activity.
Federal Education Policy as an Anti-Poverty Strategy

Poster for the Race and Wealth Disparities in 21st Century America Lecture Series featuring the lecture "Federal Education Policy as an Anti-Poverty Strategy" by Kenneth Wong.
The effects of maternally administered magnesium sulfate on the neonate

The effects of parenterally administered magnesium sulfate on maternal and neonatal calcium and magnesium metabolism in nonasphyxiated, term pregnancies complicated by pregnancy-induced hypertension were studied prospectively. In addition, the neurobehavioral effects of neonatal hypermagnesemia were investigated by means of a neonatal assessment scale that specifically measures reflex activity and both passive and active muscle tone. Maternal magnesium sulfate infusion was associated with maternal and neonatal hypermagnesemia when compared with that of control subjects (1.8 +/- 0.10 to 3.6 +/- 0.5 mg/dl, p less than 0.001, and 1.75 +/- 0.2 to 3.6 +/- 0.5 mg/dl, p less than 0.005, respectively). Maternal serum calcium levels fell with magnesium therapy (9.3 +/- 0.18 to 7.9 +/- 0.1 mg/dl, p less than 0.001), while neonatal calcium levels were unaffected (10.8 +/- 0.44 to 10.5 +/- 0.38 mg/dl, p less than 0.05). Neurological status examinations in the neonate were similar in both the control and treatment groups. In addition, neurological performance of the neonate did not correlate with cord magnesium levels or to the total dose of magnesium administered.
On the role of DNA in wet heat sterilization of micro-organisms

This article investigates some consequences of the assumption that the genetic homogeneity and DNA chemical homogeneity of a microbial population are not equivalent. This assumption is used to explain some long standing anomalous results regarding non-logarithmic survival of micro-organisms exposed to sterilizing thermal environments. The analysis provides evidence that the principal mechanism for wet heat sterilization of Bacillus subtilis is DNA denaturation.
Fatigue Crack Propagation Analysis of Gear Tooth Under Various Load Conditions and Repaired With Boron/Epoxy Patch

In this paper, 3D finite element analyses are conducted to study both crack trajectory and crack growth rate in a gear tooth. Fracture mechanics approach is employed here to model mixed-mode fatigue crack propagation in a gear tooth containing an initial fatigue crack. Two various load conditions are considered: the contact load acting along the whole thickness or the half thickness of gear tooth. Those two load conditions result in different crack trajectories, stress intensity factors and fatigue crack propagation lives of gear tooth. Furthermore, a cracked gear tooth can be repaired by composite patches. It is shown that Boron/Epoxy patches would enhance the fatigue crack propagation life of the gear-tooth.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Where's the Party? Congressional Candidate Recruitment and American Party Organizations:

RE candidates for Congress recruited by political parties, or do A they emerge from a pool of politically interested citizens having had little or no contact with formal party organizations? The answer is of considerable importance to students of American politics, for the influence of political parties is dependent to a significant extent on the ability of party organizations to influence the selection of officeholders. Moreover, theories of the revitalization of party organizations can also be evaluated if we have more information about their role in the recruitment of candidates.
Molecular and surface hyperpolarizability of oriented chromophores of low symmetry

In chromophores of low symmetry, including chiral species, modeling calculations generally do not produce the most convenient set of coordinates for evaluating the molecular second order nonlinear polarizability tensor β ( 2 ) . By referencing the internal coordinate axes with respect to a single, dominant transition, the number of significant electric-dipole allowed β ( 2 ) tensor elements can be reduced from 18 in second harmonic generation (SHG) to at most 3, with the complete removal of all chiral elements. This coordinate transformation reduces the complexity of SHG measurements of oriented chiral systems to a level consistent with chromophores of significantly higher symmetry and provides a straightforward approach for extracting orientation information from polarization measurements.
Distribution of (Na+-K+-stimulated ATPase activity in rat intestinal mucosa

Abstract The isolation in high yield of a membrane-bound high specific activity (Na+-K+-stimulated ATPase from rat intestinal mucosal cells is descrbed. The activity is originally associated with the mitochondrial subcellular fraction but can be isolated by sucrose gradient centrifugation after aging of the crude mitochondrial fraction. The final (Na+-K+)-stimulated ATPase membrane is relatively free of brush border, mitochondria, nuclear and microsomal contamination and would appear to be plasma membrane. The activity is recovered in greater than 50% yield from the original homogenate and with a 25–35-fold increase in specific activity. A small, but consistent amount of (Na+-K+-stimulated ATPase is also found in the brush border fraction. These findings are discussed in relation to active transport in the intestine.
ELECTRODIALYSIS OF RAW WHEY AND WHEY FRACTIONATED BY REVERSE OSMOSIS AND ULTRAFILTRATION

Electrodialysis is a unit operation which removes ionic species from a solution through the use of an imposed voltage and ion-selective membranes. The temperature, flow rate, and composition of the feed, and the applied voltage all influence the rate of ionic transport in electrodialysis systems. The effects of the aforementioned process parameters on the performance of an electrodialysis system were investigated using cottage cheese whey as the process feed. Increasing the flow rate proved to be of little value in decreasing the membrane stack resistance for a given run, but it significantly retarded the rate at which the stack resistance increased in repeated runs. The effect of increasing the total solids concentration of the whey without altering the solute composition was to increase the potential rate of demineralization through an increase in conductivity. Prefractionation of the feed by ultrafiltration enhanced the value of the whey solids by increasing the protein concentration and decreasing the ash concentration. However, the electrodialytic process was less efficient in removing the remaining ash in this case than it was in demineralizing other feeds.
Direct microinjection of soman or VX into the amygdala produces repetitive limbic convulsions and neuropathology.

Rats were injected in the amygdala and other forebrain sites with nmolar amounts of the highly toxic organophosphate 'nerve agent' compounds soman or VX (O-ethyl-S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl)-methylphosphonothioate) in an attempt to determine the mechanism(s) responsible for the permanent brain pathology that has been observed following systemic intoxication with these agents. Injections were performed using a stereotaxically guided microsyringe in animals maintained under halothane/oxygen anesthesia or using chronically implanted cannulae in conscious animals. Bilateral microsyringe injections of up to 11.0 nmol soman into the amygdala failed to evoke abnormal behavior or brain pathology. When rats were pretreated with lithium chloride, or when carbachol was coadministered, soman injections evoked repetitive clonic convulsions and neuropathology. Unilateral injections of 3.4 nmol of VX into the amygdala elicited convulsions and brain damage in 67% of the animals tested. Atropine pretreatment (15.0 mg/kg, i.p.) prevented the development of convulsions and brain damage. Neuropathology was observed only in animals that developed repetitive convulsions; the piriform and entorhinal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus and thalamus were the brain structures most consistently damaged. With unilateral injections, the damage was more severe on the side ipsilateral to the injection. The behavioral topography of the convulsions and the neuroanatomical distribution and nature of the subsequent pathology closely resemble that observed with systemic administration of these compounds. The results indicate that the nerve agents are not directly neurotoxic, that peripherally induced hypoxia or anoxia are unlikely mechanisms of the neuropathology, and that the brain damage produced by these compounds is primarily seizure-mediated.
The effects of triclopyr on 2,4-D mineralization in two soils

Abstract The effects of the herbicide triclopyr (3,5,6‐trichloro‐2‐pyridinyloxyacetic acid) on the mineralization of 2,4‐D (2,4‐dichlorophenoyxacetic acid) in two soils which differed in their histories of prior exposure to the two herbicides were investigated. The relative effects of triclopyr on 2,4‐D mineralization and most probable numbers of 2,4‐D degraders were dependent upon the soil. Triclopyr was shown to increase 2,4‐D mineralization rates in a soil which had been exposed to both 2,4‐D and triclopyr, but decreased the mineralization rate of 2,4‐D and inhibited the increase of most probable numbers of 2,4‐D degraders in a soil that had not been directly exposed to either herbicide.
Micromechanical Model for Examination and Characterization of Interfacial Response of Fibrous Composites

A micromechanical model for a Representative Volume Element (RVE) of a composite material to study the interface adhesion is introduced. The composite constituents assumed to have elastic properties with unidirectional fiber arrangement. The characterization is performed to study the interface and the separation/delamination of layers and their impacts on the overall mechanical response and properties of the composite material. Finite element package ANSYS is used to simulate the conditions of the interface employing cohesive zone modeling. The impact of an increasing axial transverse loading force on the interface in terms of its separation is studied. The exponential traction-separation curve pioneered by Xu and Needleman [1] will be implemented. The RVE is periodically constrained to represent a common element within the continuum domain far from the locality influence of the force and for a homogenized mechanical behavior study of the interface. The examination of the characteristics of the cohesive zone element as a simulation tool for interface analysis gives us conditions of a closer simulation for tissue engineering analysis.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Time-related variation of non-protein sulfhydryl concentrations in rat tissues and human blood

The concentration of non-protein sulfhydryl compounds (NPSH) were measured at various times of the day in rat blood, liver, lung, and kidney as well as in human blood. In each of these cases, there was a significant (p < 0.05) 24 h concentration variation. The variation in rat liver non-protein sulfhydryl concentration, with a maximum around the noon-time period and a minimum around midnight, appeared to be related to food intake. Blood, lung, and kidney concentrations were not similarly related to food intake. No simple, linear correlation could be shown between tissue non-protein sulfhydryl concentration among the four rat tissues. Thus, rat blood NPSH does not predict rat tissue NPSH concentrations. In seven normal human volunteers, four males and three females, significant 24 h variations in blood NPSH concentrations were observed.
Sex-Role Identity and Achievement Motivation

The hypothesis tested in this study was that the social role demands of college and feminine sex-typed roles were to some extent incompatible and that this resulted in sex-role confusion among coll...
Oxidant free radical initiated chain polymerization of protein and other biomolecules and its relationship to diseases

We review the evidence for free radical initiated chain polymerization of biomolecules. Our hypothesis predicts damaging effects of this chain polymerization. Free radical lipid peroxidation could initiate the chain polymerization of amyloid peptides and other biomolecules found in Alzheimer's disease. Reactions forming polymers present in other neurodegenerative diseases could follow the same pathway. Antioxygenic nutrients could protect against free radical oxidant damage, thereby delaying or preventing the onset of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases The onset of Alzheimer's disease could be delayed if the initiation of free radical chain polymerization were inhibited or limited by nutrients that act as chain terminators or provide reducing conditions to reduce peroxidized lipids in the brain. Vitamins E and C and coenzyme Q are chain terminators. Selenium, sulfur amino acids and vitamin C provide reducing conditions.
Swirling Flow in Thrust Nozzles

This paper investigates the effects of adding swirl to a dump combustor-nozzle propulsion system. The results of cold-flow testing are summarized and compared to a numerical analysis of the nozzle flowfield. The cold-flow testing included thrust, mass flow rate, and pressure measurements for two different conical nozzles in combination with four swirlers, one of which was a blank. Five-port probe measurements were made across the nozzle entrance. The measurements were used to determine the stagnation pressure and swirl distributions and to provide initial conditions for a nozzle analysis program. The measured results show that swirl has a strong effect on the stagnation pressure distribution. The largest losses occur near the swirl axis. Swirl also significantly reduces the system discharge coefficient. In contrast, the effect of swirl on the nozzle stream thrust efficiency was small, but measurable. Swirl reduced the nozzle stream thrust efficiency by about 0.5% for the highest swirl tested. Computed nozzle flowfields that do not account for the stagnation pressure distribution in the swirling flow can produce highly distorted and unrealistic results. Comparison of measured and computed results (which use measured stagnation pressure and swirl distributions) shows reasonable agreement.
Enzymological characterization of the signal-transducing uridylyltransferase/uridylyl-removing enzyme (EC 2.7.7.59) of Escherichia coli and its interaction with the PII protein.

The uridylyltransferase/uridylyl-removing enzyme (UTase/UR) of Escherichia coli plays an important role in the regulation of nitrogen assimilation by controlling the uridylylation state of the PII ...
Ultralow-threshold Yb(3+):SiO(2) glass laser fabricated by the solgel process

A Yb-doped silica microcavity laser on a silicon chip is fabricated from a solgel thin film. The high-Q microtoroid cavity, which has a finesse of 10,000, is evanescently coupled to an optical fiber taper. We report a threshold of 1.8 μW absorbed power that is, to the best of our knowledge, the lowest published threshold to date for any Yb-doped laser. The effect of Yb3+ concentration on laser threshold is experimentally quantified.
The Structure of Voter Preferences

Economic models of voting typically assume the transitivity of individual-level preferences. Other conditions, such as single-peakedness or dichotomization, are also sometimes postulated. Despite the ubiquity of these assumptions, there is a paucity of empirical tests using real-world elections with mass electorates. Using CPS data, I address these issues in the context of U.S. presidential elections from 1972 to 1984. It is maintained that (a) the traditional assumption of transitivity is empirically plausible, even with a large number of alternatives, and while preferences are (b) predominantly not dichotomous, they do (c) tend to be single-peaked along a traditional ideological dimension.
Autophagy: a broad role in unconventional protein secretion?

Autophagy, a cellular ‘self-eating’ process in eukaryotic cells, exists in both a basal and in an activated state that is induced in response to starvation. Basal and induced autophagy are associated with the packaging of cellular components, including damaged and/or redundant organelles, into double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes, followed by autophagosome fusion with lysosomes, in which their contents are degraded and recycled. Recent results highlight a novel role for autophagy that does not involve lysosomal degradation of autophagosomal contents, but instead involves their redirection towards the extracellular delivery of an unconventionally secreted protein. Here, we discuss these findings, evaluate the strength of evidence, consider their implications for the field of protein trafficking, and suggest the next steps required to probe this interesting pathway.
THORACIC BLASTOMYCOSIS: A REVIEW OF ITS RADIOGRAPHIC MANIFESTATIONS IN 40 DOGS

Thoracic radiographs of 40 dogs with confirmed blastomycosis were reviewed to determine the incidence of the associated radiographic signs. The predominant patterns of disease were determined in each dog and were as follows: nodular interstitial densities, 13 dogs; a mixed lung pattern not localized to any particular part of the lung, ten dogs; a bronchointerstitial pattern, five dogs; a nonspecific hazy interstitial pattern, four dogs; a mixed alveolar and interstitial density, two dogs; a cavitary lesion, one dog. The lungs appeared normal in four dogs. Concurrent findings included eight dogs with thoracic lymphadenopathy, two dogs with pneumomediastinum, and one dog with pleural effusion. None of the lesions appeared mineralized.
Bhartṛhari and Maṇḍana on Avidyā

The concept of avidyā is one of the central categories in the Advaita of Śaṇkara and Maṇḍana. Shifting the focus from māyā, interpreted either as illusion or as the divine power, this concept brings ignorance to the forefront in describing duality and bondage. Although all Advaitins accept avidyā as a category, its scope and nature is interpreted in multiple ways. Key elements in Maṇḍana’s philosophy include the plurality of avidyā, individual selves as its substrate and the Brahman as its field (viṣaya), and the distinction in avidyā between non-apprehension and misapprehension. A closer investigation shows that Maṇḍana is directly influenced by Bhartṛhari’s linguistic non-dualism in developing the concept of avidyā. This study also compares other key constituents such as vivartta and pariṇāma that are relevant to the analysis of avidyā. As the concept of counter-image (pratibimba) emerges as a distinct stream of Advaita subsequent to Maṇḍana, this study also compares the application of pratibimba in the writings of Bhartṛhari and Maṇḍana.
Some physiological aspects of iron deficiency in plants

Abstract This paper is a brief review and interpretation of seme of the information presented at the seminar reported in this volume. Dicot plants tend to excrete H+ from roots when Fe deficient but monocots do not. This can be interpreted as greater cation to anion uptake ratios in the dicots than in monocots. The fact that dicot roots excrete considerable H+ when Fe deficient explains why dicot roots result in much Fe chelate splitting before Fe uptake. Iron then is taken up by the plant with chelating agent remaining in the culture medium. Without the H+ production the chelate is more stable and Fe tends to be taken up by plants as Fe chelate but more sluggishly than when Fe chelate is split. With monocots then, which do not tend to excrete H+, Fe chelates are a relatively poor source of Fe and often lead to Fe deficiency in the presence of chelated Fe. Previous studies of the effect of pH on Fe and chelating agent uptake by plants tends to confirm these conclusions. From a theoretical point of view, p...
Differential Reflection Spectroscopy: A Novel Method for Explosive Detection

Di erential Re ection Spectroscopy: A Novel Method for Explosive Detection S.E. Yuksel, T. Dubroca, R.E. Hummel and P.D. Gader Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville FL, USA Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA In the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks, there has been an increasing need for automated, high-speed detection technologies that can detect trace amounts of explosives without human intervention. Our group at the University of Florida has developed di erential re ection spectroscopy which can detect explosive residue on surfaces such as parcel, cargo and luggage. In this di erential re ection device, explosives show spectral ngerprints at speci c wavelengths, for example, the spectrum of 2,4,6, trinitrotoluene shows an absorption edge at 420 nm. Additionally, we have developed a support vector machine based computer software to classify the explosives and non-explosive materials. In this study we will (i) describe this system and give an insight into the operation of our prototype, (ii) demonstrate our software for the detection of the spectral nger-prints, and (iii) discuss the normalization of the data which signi cantly increases classi cation rates and decreases the number of parameters. DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.123.263
Prognostic factors in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma: A multivariate analysis

Background. Current methods to predict survival in patients with advanced, metastatic melanoma are limited. To determine clinical prognostic factors that accurately predict survival in patients with metastatic melanoma, a retrospective analysis was performed. Methods. Clinical, hematologic, and biochemical pretreatment parameters from 284 patients entered on 18 Phase I and II clinical trials were analyzed to determine their prognostic effect on survival. A multivariate parametric regression based on the Weibull distribution was derived to estimate survival. Results. Multivariate Weibull survival regression analysis showed that a simple model using the logarithm of the pretreatment values of lactate dehydrogenase and serum albumin, dichotomized as high and low, significantly and adequately predicted survival. A more complex multivariate model was also derived that involved the pretreatment platelet count, visceral organ involvement, and gender as additional factors. However, a larger study is needed to statistically validate such a model. Conclusions. The pretreatment values of serum lactate dehydrogenase and albumin are independent prognostic factors for survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. These two factors can be used to estimate survival of patients with advanced, metastatic melanoma and should be considered when designing melanoma trials in which survival is an endpoint.