cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of sample moisture content on XRD-estimated cellulose crystallinity index and crystallite size

Although X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been the most widely used technique to investigate crystallinity index (CrI) and crystallite size (L200) of cellulose materials, there are not many studies that have taken into account the role of sample moisture on these measurements. The present investigation focuses on a variety of celluloses and cellulose containing materials—from loblolly pine wood to tunicin, and evaluated moisture-induced changes in CrI and L200. It was observed that upon introduction of a small amount of water (5%) into P2O5 dried samples, for most samples, both absolute intensity of (200) reflection and its full width at half maximum declined. Moreover, (200) peak position (2θ max) increased when the samples became moist. Although the extent of such changes were material dependent, in general, a greater degree of change was associated with lower sample CrI. For CrI, maximum and minimum increases occurred for oven dried NaOH treated red pine holopulp and tunicin, respectively. For L200, maximum and minimum increases were for wood and tunicin, respectively. Moreover, 2θ max position for (200) reflection increased most for the wood and oven dried NaOH treated red pine holopulp (acid chlorite delignified milled-wood) and least for tunicin. The nonparametric statistical test “sign test” further supported these results. Observations from longer duration drying experiments, post moistening, indicated that the changes to the XRD parameters were reversible to some degree. Based on the findings it is concluded that for most cellulose materials with Segal CrI < 90% the moisture content has a significant bearing on the XRD-estimated CrI and L200 data. Consequently, it is essential that when such materials are compared, their diffractograms should be obtained under similar levels of sample moisture content.
JET CONVERSIONS IN QUARK-GLUON PLASMA

In addition to loosing energy, a quark or gluon jet traversing through a quark-gluon plasma can also be converted to a gluon or quark jet through scattering with the thermal quarks and gluons. Their conversion rates due to two-body elastic and inelastic scattering have been evaluated in the lowest order in QCD. Including both energy loss and conversions of quark and gluon jets in the expanding quark-gluon plasma produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, a net conversion of quark jets to gluon jets has been found. This reduces the difference between the nuclear modification factors for quark and gluon jets in heavy ion collisions and thus enhances the ratios of high transverse momentum protons and antiprotons to pions that are produced from the fragmentation of these jets. To account for the observed similar ratios in central Au+Au and p+p collisions at same energy requires, however, a much larger net quark to gluon jet conversion rate than that given by the lowest-order QCD, indicating the importance of higher-order processes and the strongly coupling nature of the quark-gluon plasma in describing the propagation of jets in the quark-gluon plasma.
The Completion of the Optimization Phase

This chapter starts with the premise that an investigator has completed an optimization trial and analyzed the data. Now what? How does an investigator take these experimental results and use them to create an optimized intervention ? In other words, how does an investigator use empirical data from an optimization trial to make decisions about which components and component levels will constitute the optimized intervention? This chapter describes one approach to making the decisions needed to complete the optimization phase of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST). Familiarity with the material in Chaps. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 is assumed throughout the present chapter.
Neuromorphic device specifications for unsupervised learning in robots

We recently developed a novel learning solution for unsupervised learning in robots based on resistive memory devices arranged in a crossbar fashion and validated it by navigating a robot in an unknown environment with randomly placed obstacles [1]. In this work, we study the effects of variations in device doping concentrations and the resistive states on the performance of the robot during navigation tasks. Such variabilities arise from the variation in process parameters during device fabrication. We have modeled the variabilities in the initial device doping concentration and in the update of the device resistive states. We have also considered the possibility of a device getting stuck in a low resistance state. This study will help us evaluate the performance of our learning scheme and develop specifications on acceptable range of variability in these devices for application-specific tasks.
An Approach for High-Resolution Mapping of Hawaiian Metrosideros Forest Mortality Using Laser-Guided Imaging Spectroscopy

Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD) is a disease aggressively killing large numbers of Metrosideros polymorpha (‘ōhi‘a), a native keystone tree species on Hawaii Island. This loss threatens to deeply alter the biological make-up of this unique island ecosystem. Spatially explicit information about the present and past advancement of the disease is essential for its containment; yet, currently such data are severely lacking. To this end, we used the Carnegie Airborne Observatory to collect Laser-Guided Imaging Spectroscopy data and high-resolution digital imagery across >500,000 ha of Hawaii Island in June–July 2017. We then developed a method to map individual tree crowns matching the symptoms of both active (brown; desiccated ‘ōhi‘a crowns) and past (leafless tree crowns) ROD infection using an ensemble of two distinct machine learning approaches. Employing a very conservative classification scheme for minimizing false-positives, model sensitivity rates were 86.9 and 82.5, and precision rates were 97.4 and 95.3 for browning and leafless crowns, respectively. Across the island of Hawaii, we found 43,134 individual crowns suspected of exhibiting the active (browning) stage of ROD infection. Hotspots of potential ROD infection are apparent in the maps. The peninsula on the eastern side of Hawaii known as the Puna district, where the ROD outbreak likely originated, contained a particularly high density of brown crown detections. In comparison, leafless crown detections were much more numerous (547,666 detected leafless crowns in total) and more dispersed across the island. Mapped hotspots of likely ROD incidence across the island will enable scientists, administrators, and land managers to better understand both where and how ROD spreads and how to apply limited resources to limiting this spread.
On Interpretation of Network Embedding via Taxonomy Induction

Network embedding has been increasingly used in many network analytics applications to generate low-dimensional vector representations, so that many off-the-shelf models can be applied to solve a wide variety of data mining tasks. However, similar to many other machine learning methods, network embedding results remain hard to be understood by users. Each dimension in the embedding space usually does not have any specific meaning, thus it is difficult to comprehend how the embedding instances are distributed in the reconstructed space. In addition, heterogeneous content information may be incorporated into network embedding, so it is challenging to specify which source of information is effective in generating the embedding results. In this paper, we investigate the interpretation of network embedding, aiming to understand how instances are distributed in embedding space, as well as explore the factors that lead to the embedding results. We resort to the post-hoc interpretation scheme, so that our approach can be applied to different types of embedding methods. Specifically, the interpretation of network embedding is presented in the form of a taxonomy. Effective objectives and corresponding algorithms are developed towards building the taxonomy. We also design several metrics to evaluate interpretation results. Experiments on real-world datasets from different domains demonstrate that, by comparing with the state-of-the-art alternatives, our approach produces effective and meaningful interpretation to embedding results.
Serotonin-Substance-P Pathway in the Manifestation of Gut Withdrawal

In whole gut isolated from tolerant-dependent guinea pigs, naloxone (10 -7 M) produced a contacture which was totally blocked by a 15 min pretreatment with tetrodotoxin (TTX, 10 g/ml). This naloxone-induced contracture was only partially blocked by a 15 min pretreatment with atropine (2 × 10 -6 M). The atropine-resistant naloxone-induced contracture could be antagonized by pretreatment with the serotonin antagonist phenylbiguanide (5 × 10 -5 g/ml) or by desensitization to the excitatory effects of 5-HT. Moreover, naloxone (10 3 -5 M) caused a 16 + 2.3 S.E. % increase in the rate of release of H-5-HT from tolerant dependent guts. Desensitization to substance P reduced by 88% the magnitude of the atropine-resistant naloxone contracture without effecting excitatory responses to acetylcholine, histamine or electrical stimulation (0.01Hz). Thus, a serotonin-substance P pathway appears to mediate at least a portion of the manifestation of acute precipitated gut withdrawal.
Are there Counterexamples to the Closure Principle

Very often, a person can’t know a proposition without knowing various logical consequences of that proposition. So, for instance, if you know that your friend is wearing a yellow tie, you can’t fail to know that your friend is wearing a tie, period. In this case, the relation of logical consequence is obvious. When the relation isn’t obvious, a proposition you know may have a logical consequence you don’t know — for example, a suitably obscure mathematical theorem. In light of these considerations, it seems plausible to hold that if a person knows a given proposition, that person must also know any logical consequence of that proposition which he or she recognizes as such. Putting it differently, we might say that knowledge is closed under known logical implication.1
Lateral Vehicle Control for Automated Lane Following

Abstract A new method to stabilize a vehicle, which is autonomously guided on the road by an optical sensor, is presented. Since the behavior of a vehicle is nonlinear and contains mutual couplings in the dynamical variables, the design of the algorithms for lateral control is based on the universal valid principle of feedback linearization. This method works independently from any operating point and, thus, a high degree of accuracy and free pole assignment for the overall system is provided. The design of the control system is based on absolute angular velocities. A strategy transforming these variables into a relative system by an adequate transformation is described. A linear behavior with free pole assignment can be imposed on the overall system and disturbances are handled by an integral term in the control algorithm. Therefore stability and convergence can be guaranteed even in case of constant disturbances.
Removing Financial Bottlenecks to Labor Productivity in Thailand

The National Institute of Health (NTH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the U.S. have been funding through the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the University of Chicago a large socioeconomic/institutional survey in Thailand which serves as a major input for this paper. The funding was received and the surveys designed prior to the crisis with the goal of understanding and analyzing the structural underpinnings of Thai growth at that time. A particular goal was the evaluation of the role of various kinds of financial institutions, both informal and formal, running the gamut from the family and networks of friends and relatives to finance companies and commercial banks. In designing the study, a particular concern was the observation that prior growth was associated with increasing inequality and apparent financial deepening. Increasing inequality had long been a concern of the Thai government, and to some extent financial deepening, or at least targeted credit through a particular set of institutions, has been promoted as a partial remedy. In summary it was thought important at the time of the design of the project to understand the role that these various financial and social institutions were playing in growth, inequality, and financial deepening.
Mechanism-guided repurposing: Effect of deferiprone on the eIF5A hydroxylation-dependent synthesis of proline cluster-containing proteins (PccPs) in uterine serous carcinoma (USC).

e23159Background: Hydroxylation of eIF5A by deoxyhypusyl hydroxylase (DOHH) forms its hypusine residue, which relieves stalling within the ribosomal exit tunnel of a subset of nascent, cellular or ...
A lowest-order weak Galerkin method for linear elasticity

Abstract The lowest-order weak Galerkin (WG) method is considered for linear elasticity based on the displacement formulation. The new method approximates the displacement using piecewise constant vector functions both inside and on the boundary of each mesh element and its bilinear form does not require a stabilization term for the existence and uniqueness of the solution. A-priori error estimates of optimal order in the discrete H 1 - and L 2 -norms for the displacement are proved when the solution is smooth. The error estimates are independent of the Lame constant λ , thus the performance of the new method does not deteriorate as the elastic material becomes incompressible. Further, a simple post-processing technique to obtain a numerical approximation of the stress is presented. A careful error analysis reveals that the L 2 -norm error in the stress is also optimal and independent of λ . Several numerical experiments confirm the locking-free property and optimal convergence rates of the new method.
A National Study of Online Learning Leaders in U.S. Community Colleges.

Online learning has become a major endeavor in US higher education. A 2016 national study of leadership for online learning explored a new leadership role that Presidents and Provosts at US universities have established to coordinate and direct their efforts in this vital area. But a significant portion of online education is offered by two-year schools, so this systematic national study of online learning leaders at our community college will complement the first study and contribute to our understanding of this vital academic initiative in those institutions.
Implementation of IEC 61850 process bus. A Utility view on design, installation, testing and commissioning, and lifetime issues.

The Architecture of Substation Secondary Systems (AS ) [6] is a project within National Grid Electricity Transmission which is seeking to overcome some of the ownership challenges presented by modern protection and control (P&C) devices, which have an inherent short life due to their dependence on modern electronics and software. This will be achieved by implementation of a process bus using IEC 61850 [3]. This paper seeks to review the high level design principles required to allow for the implementation of IEC 61850 with respect to minimising installation and subsequent asset replacement outages, testing and commissioning requirements, and lifetime issues with respect to operations and maintenance. This paper is based on internal discussions and working groups within National Grid and is a high level outline of the findings to date. The findings could well be implemented as formal policy at later date but have yet to be, and as such the contents of this paper in no way represent National Grid formal policy and should not be used as such. (5 pages)
Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC): A Comprehensive Health Promotion Program for Mexican Immigrants in East Los Angeles

With the continued influx of Mexican immigrants to the United States, especially to Southern California, health concerns and needs have increased among this population over the last several years. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) obtained a federal grant that provided resources to establish the Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). COPC consists of comprehensive efforts to improve the overall well-being of the Angela Chanslor area within the City of Pomona in East Los Angeles. Focus areas of the project include 1) Education and Integrated Services, 2) Community Planning and Capacity Building for Neighborhood Revitalization and Safety, and 3) Job Development and Training. The focus of this paper is health promotion activities within Education and Integrated Services. The primary objective of this portion of the program was to provide residents with physical examinations and health screenings, health education, and medical and social service referrals. Topics discussed are the target community, general overview of COPC, Family Services Information and Referral Program (i.e. health promotion program within Education and Integrated Services), program impact and results, and suggestions for continued implementation and future efforts. / Con la influencia continua de inmigrantes Mexicanos a los Estados Unidos, especialmente al sur de California, ciertas necesidades con respecto a la salud han incrementado en esta poblacion en los ultimos anos. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Obtuvo ayuda Federal para establecer El Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). El centro COPC consiste de esfuerzos conprensivos para mejorar el bienestar del area Angela Chanslor que esta ubicado en la Ciudad de Pomona en la parte Este de Los Angeles. Las partes enfocadas del proyecto incluyen, 1) Educacion y servicios Integrados, 2) Plan para la Comunidad y un Edificio de Capacitacion para la comunidad que dara revitalizacion y seguridad, 3) Y habrira trabajos y entrenamientos. El enfoque de este proyecto es de actividades en Promocion de Salud aliadas con educacion y Servicios Integrados. El objetivo principal de esta porcion del programa era de proveer a los residentes con examinaciones fisicas, educacion para la salud, y eran referidas a servicios medicos y sociales. Los topicos que son tratados son: La comunidad que sera ayudada, El enfoque general de COPC, informacion del programa para referir a servicios familiares, el impacto del programa y resultados, y sugerencias para implementar futuros esfuerzos.
Neural stimulation and recording performance in human somatosensory cortex over 1500 days

Abstract Objective Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) in somatosensory cortex can restore sensation to people who have lost it due to spinal cord injury or other conditions. One potential challenge for chronic ICMS is whether neural recording and stimulation can remain stable over many years. This is particularly relevant since the recording quality of implanted microelectrode arrays frequently experience degradation over time and stimulation safety has been considered a potential barrier to the clinical use of ICMS. Our objective is to evaluate stability of recordings on intracortical stimulated and non-stimulated electrodes in a human participant across a long period of implantation. Additionally, we would like to assess the ability to evoke sensations with ICMS over time. Approach In a study investigating intracortical implants for a bidirectional brain-computer interface, we implanted microelectrode arrays with sputtered iridium oxide tips in the somatosensory cortex of a human participant with a cervical spinal cord injury. We regularly stimulated through electrodes on these microelectrode arrays to evoke tactile sensations on the hand. Here, we quantify the stability of these electrodes in comparison to non-stimulated electrodes implanted in motor cortex over 1500 days in two ways: recorded signal quality and electrode impedances. Additionally, we quantify the perceptual stability of ICMS-evoked sensations with detection thresholds. Main results We found that recording quality, as assessed by the number of electrodes with high-amplitude waveform recordings (> 100 µV), peak-to-peak voltage, noise, and signal-to-noise ratio, generally decreased over time on stimulated and non-stimulated electrodes. However, stimulated electrodes were much more likely to continue to record high-amplitude signals than non-stimulated electrodes. Interestingly, the detection thresholds for stimulus-evoked tactile sensations decreased over time from a median of 31.5 μA at Day 100 to 10.4 μA at Day 1500, with the most substantial changes occurring between Day 100 and Day 500. Significance These results provide evidence that ICMS in human somatosensory cortex can be provided over long periods of time without deleterious effects on recording or stimulation capabilities. In fact, psychophysical sensitivity to stimulation improves over time and stimulation itself may promote more robust long-term neural recordings.
Profiles of autonomic stress responsivity in a sample of justice-involved youth: Associations with childhood trauma exposure and emotional and behavioral functioning.

A limited number of studies have begun to investigate how the coordinated actions of distinct physiological systems may be related to the development of psychopathology. However, the form taken by these patterns of coordination as well as their antecedents and developmental implications remain to be clarified. The Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM) proposes four prototypical patterns of physiological stress responsivity and corresponding behavioral patterns, which are further tied to varying levels of childhood adversity. The current study is among the first to investigate whether patterns of sympathetic and parasympathetic stress responsivity predicted by the ACM generalize to a sample of justice-involved youth with disproportionately high rates of childhood trauma exposure. Psychophysiological and self-report data were collected from 822 justice-involved youth (182 girls) ages 12-19 years. Latent profile analyses yielded five profiles of physiological responsivity that largely corresponded to the patterns proposed by the ACM. Further, these profiles demonstrated predicted associations with self-reported emotionality and adjustment. Trauma exposure was associated with a lower likelihood of membership in one of the profiles showing blunted physiological responsivity. Our discussion highlights ways in which insights from the ACM may inform understanding about linkages between physiology and adjustment.
Assessing the efficacy of early voting access on Indian reservations: evidence from a natural experiment in Nevada

An emergency legal injunction in Nevada granted two Indian reservations on-site early voting locations in the 2016 general election. These locations were two of four remote reservations participati...
Monitoring, Creeping, or Surveillance? A Synthesis of Online Social Information Seeking Concepts

Affordances of Internet sites and Internet-based applications make personal information about romantic partners, friends, family members, and strangers easy to obtain. People use various techniques to find information about others, capitalizing on online affordances by using search engines to find relevant websites and databases; scouring the target’s social media or social networking site presence; accessing information about the target via their links or network association with others on social media; or asking questions or crowdsourcing information through online channels. Researchers have coined an assortment of terms to describe online social information seeking behaviors, such as interpersonal electronic surveillance, social surveillance, monitoring, patient-targeted Googling, cybervetting, websleuthing, human flesh search, lateral surveillance, Facebook surveillance, and Facebook stalking. Although considerable research has examined these behaviors, there has been little effort to clarify the concepts themselves. As a result, the literature is currently full of inconsistent and overlapping conceptualizations. To synthesize these concepts for future research, this review examines 73 online social information seeking concepts extracted from 186 articles. Specifically, the concepts are reviewed in light of their scope; the information seeker or target of information seeking (e.g., romantic partners, parents, children, employees, criminals); motives for information seeking (e.g., uncertainty, threat, curiosity); and the intensity of the behavior. Recommendations are provided for future research, such as employing clear conceptualizations and incorporating affordances. Finally, we offer a decision tree that researchers can use to help select appropriate terms to use in their work moving forward.
Life at the “people’s universities”: organizational identification and commitment among regional comprehensive university faculty members in the USA

This study examined faculty identification and commitment at regional universities, institutions marginalized by global status hierarchies that position internationally known research universities at the top while assigning low status to regional universities. Analysis was focused on the USA because of the country’s global influence. The study used interpretive qualitative and secondary data analysis methods to explore faculty life at three regional comprehensive universities and one regionally focused Historically Black University. Of the 18 faculty participants, 16 identified with their institutions, seeing themselves in their students and perceiving alignment between their personal values and their institution’s mission. Two faculty members did not experience identification and desired higher status for their institutions. All faculty members—regardless of identification style—demonstrated commitment to advancing their institution’s mission. Participants who experienced identification demonstrated affective and normative commitment, expressing moral obligation to their institution’s mission and love for their students and institution. The participants who did not experience identification demonstrated continuance commitment, remaining at their institutions to avoid the costs associated with leaving. Findings are of international import because they examine faculty life at regional universities emplaced within global status hierarchies that valorize research universities and their faculties while marginalizing regional universities and their faculties.
An interview study with medical scribes on how their work may alleviate clinician burnout through delegated health IT tasks.

Objectives To understand how medical scribes' work may contribute to alleviating clinician burnout attributable directly or indirectly to the use of health IT. Materials and methods Qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with 32 participants who had scribing experience in a variety of clinical settings. Results We identified 7 categories of clinical tasks that clinicians commonly choose to offload to medical scribes, many of which involve delegated use of health IT. These range from notes-taking and computerized data entry to foraging, assembling, and tracking information scattered across multiple clinical information systems. Some common characteristics shared among these tasks include: (1) time-consuming to perform; (2) difficult to remember or keep track of; (3) disruptive to clinical workflow, clinicians' cognitive processes, or patient-provider interactions; (4) perceived to be low-skill "clerical" work; and (5) deemed as adding no value to direct patient care. Discussion The fact that clinicians opt to "outsource" certain clinical tasks to medical scribes is a strong indication that performing these tasks is not perceived to be the best use of their time. Given that a vast majority of healthcare practices in the US do not have the luxury of affording medical scribes, the burden would inevitably fall onto clinicians' shoulders, which could be a major source for clinician burnout. Conclusions Medical scribes help to offload a substantial amount of burden from clinicians-particularly with tasks that involve onerous interactions with health IT. Developing a better understanding of medical scribes' work provides useful insights into the sources of clinician burnout and potential solutions to it.
Statistical Distance Metric Learning for Image Set Retrieval

Measuring similarity between two image sets is instrumental in many computer vision tasks, such as video face recognition, multi-shot person re-identification and gait recognition. In most of the recent works, it is done by aggregating the embedding features of images as a fixed size vector, and calculating a metric in vector space (i.e. Euclidean distance). The embedding feature function can be learned by deep metric learning (DML) technique. However, methods relying on feature aggregation fail to capture the diversity and uncertainty within image sets. In this paper, we obviate the need of feature aggregation and propose a novel Statistical Distance Metric Learning (SDML) framework, which represents each image set as a probability distribution in embedding feature space and compares two image sets by statistical distance between their distributions. Among all types of statistical distance, we choose Jeffrey’s divergence (JD), which can be obtained from two embedding feature sets by kNN based density estimator. We also design a statistical centroid loss function to enhance the discriminative power of training process. Our SDML framework naturally preserves the diversity within an image set, and the relation between two sets. We evaluate our proposed approach on gait recognition and multi-shot person re-id. The experiment results show that SDML outperforms conventional DML, and also receives competitive/superior performance comparing to the previous state-of-the-arts on the aforementioned tasks.
Principles of Digital Communication

Preface 1. Introduction to digital communication 2. Coding for discrete sources 3. Quantization 4. Source and channel waveforms 5. Vector spaces and signal space 6. Channels, modulation, and demodulation 7. Random processes and noise 8. Detection, coding and decoding 9. Wireless digital communication.
Three Proposals to Harness Private Information in Contract

Savvy judges realize that they are normally less informed than private litigants and will accordingly be prone to error in deciding cases. Judges in deciding contract cases should therefore try to harness the parties' private information. This paper applies this idea of harnessing private information to make three proposals about how judges should decide contracts cases. In particular, I favor (1) interpretive safe harbors, (2) extending Hadley v. Baxendale to benefit buyers as well as sellers; and (3) giving defendants the option of making injunctions inalienable.
Examination of Isolated Yeast Cell Vacuoles for Active Transport

Isolated vacuoles of the yeast Candida utilis did not show active transport of S-adenosylmethionine, uric acid, and several amino acids which they concentrate in vivo.
Electron Excitation Cross Sections for the 2s22p2 3P→2s22p2 1D Transition in O2+

Absolute experimental excitation cross sections are reported for the combined 2s22p2 3P 0,1,2→2s22p2 1D2 spin- and symmetry-forbidden transitions in O2+. These excitations correspond to the optical emission wavelengths λ5009.0 (J = 2 → 2) and λ4960.9 (J = 2 → 1). Use is made in the measurements of the electron energy-loss method with merged electron and ion beams. Data are reported for the center-of-mass collision energy range of 2.48 eV (threshold) to 5.35 eV (or 2.2× threshold). One finds agreement between experiment and some of the predictions of resonances in a recent 26 state R-matrix calculation. In particular, experiment confirms the presence of strong, narrow resonances near 2.7 and 4.2 eV, detectable with an experimental electron-beam energy spread of only 0.10 eV (FWHM). Resonance enhancement predicted at 3.1 eV is absent in the experiment.
Design and implementation of a passively clamped quasi resonant DC link inverter

The passively clamped quasi resonant DC link (PCQRL) inverter is a novel soft switched inverter topology proposed to solve two major problems associated with the conventional passively clamped resonant DC link inverter: the high clamp factor problem and the lack of PWM capability. This paper deals with design and control of a three phase PCQRL inverter. Major design issues are discussed. Successful operation of this novel PCQRL inverter based on a prototype design is demonstrated. The results show that this novel converter can reduce the clamp factor from the value of 2.0 p.u. obtained in previous circuits to around 1.25 and add the PWM capabilities to the conventional passive clamp resonant DC link. Several results are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed inverter topology.
The Role of Brain Extracellular Proteins in Learning and Memory

In mammalian brain, the cellular and biochemical mechanisms of learning and memory have the capacity to store information for long periods, in man, this may be upwards of 50 years. How is this achieved? If we search the components of the CNS looking for molecules that can fulfill this criterion of long-term stability, we find that everything except the DNA is in a dynamic state. The average half-life of proteins ranges between 6 and 14 days (Lajtha and Toth, 1966); the RNA turnover can vary from 1.5 to 24 hr (Appel, 1967); lipids and carbohydrates are in a rapid state of flux (Bourre et al., 1977). Essentially we find that there are no biochemical components present in the CNS, except the DNA, that have a lifetime stability comparable to that required for long-term memory. Since no evidence indicating DNA has been found as yet, it would seem therefore that only the structure and connectivity patterns of the CNS have features with sufficient stability for use in establishing a long-term memory. Such a concept, first proposed in 1893 by Tanzi, reduces the search for the biochemical correlates of memory to the identification of specific physiological, metabolic, and molecular components that can ultimately lead to permanent alterations of neural circuits. These may be processes common to all cells but specially adapted for the CNS, or they may be unique to the CNS requiring specific molecules (Shashoua, 1976). Whether one or both of these types are used, the processes must have the additional property of being controllable by individual cells or parts of cells within the CNS.
Dynamic Visualization of Cellular Signaling

Our understanding of cellular signaling is critically dependent on our ability to visualize and quantify specific signaling events with high spatial and temporal resolution in the cellular context. Over the past decade or so, biosensors based on fluorescent proteins and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) have emerged as one major class of fluorescent probes that are capable of tracking a variety of cellular signaling events, such as second messenger dynamics and enzyme activation/activity, in time and space. Here we review recent advances in the development of such biosensors and some biological insights revealed by these biosensors in living cells, tissue, and organisms.
Engine idle speed control

This paper concerns an automotive idle speed control problem. We develop an engine model for the instantaneous engine speed containing quasi-AC component. When there are different torque variations in the cylinders of the engine, the engine speed ripple fluctuates, which causes more vibration of the vehicle. We develop a control strategy to reduce this fluctuation with only engine speed as the measured variable by using 4 spark advances as control inputs.
Extracellular matrix remodeling, integrin expression, and downstream signaling pathways influence the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on poly(lactide-co-glycolide) substrates.

The possibility of using multipotent adult bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for tissue-engineering applications hinges on the ability to predictably control their differentiation. Previously, we showed the osteogenic potential of adult bone marrow–derived MSCs cultured on thin films of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) depends in part on the identity of extracellular matrix (ECM) ligands initially deposited onto the material from serum in the culture medium. Here we have addressed the hypothesis that remodeling of the PLGA surface via the de novo synthesis of ECM proteins by the MSCs may also play an important role in governing their osteogenic differentiation. Supporting this hypothesis, increasing amounts of fibronectin and type-I collagen were synthesized and deposited onto thin-film PLGA substrates, whereas vitronectin levels diminished over a 28-day time course. Integrin expression profiles changed accordingly, with higher levels of α2β1 and α5β1 than αvβ3 at three different time poi...
Race, regionality and pre-diabetes in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.

Abstract Objective To determine the association between race, region and pre-diabetes. Method The study used 2003–2007 United States baseline data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study for this cross-sectional analysis. Participants in this study were 45 years or older at recruitment. Logistic regression was used to assess whether race and region are associated with pre-diabetes independent of demographics, socioeconomic factors and risk factors. Results Twenty-four percent of the study participants (n = 19,889) had pre-diabetes. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for having pre-diabetes was 1.28 (1.19–1.36) for blacks relative to whites and 1.18 (1.10–1.26) for people living in the Stroke Belt region relative to the other parts of the United States. The odds of having pre-diabetes for Stroke Belt participants changed minimally after additional adjustment for race (OR = 1.20; 1.13–1.28), age and sex (OR = 1.24; 1.16–1.32), socioeconomic status (OR = 1.22; 1.15–1.31) and risk factors (OR = 1.26; 1.17–1.35). In the adjusted model, being black was independently associated with pre-diabetes (OR = 1.19; 1.10–1.28). Conclusion The prevalence of pre-diabetes was higher for both blacks and whites living in the Stroke Belt relative to living outside the Stroke Belt, and the prevalence of pre-diabetes was higher for blacks independent of region.
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a new tool for investigating methods of corrosion protection

Abstract The application of EIS as a new tool for the investigation of methods of corrosion protection is illustrated for corrosion inhibitors, conversion coatings, polymer coatings, polymer coating and oxide layers as well as for cathodic protection of stainless steels in seawater. It is pointed out that it is essential for all these cases to develop the appropriate models for the impedance which can be used to fit the experimental data and extract the parameters which characterize the corrosion process.
Developing a Millifluidic Platform for the Synthesis of Ultrasmall Nanoclusters: Ultrasmall Copper Nanoclusters as a Case Study

The future of lab-on-a-chip devices for the synthesis of nanomaterials hinges on the successful development of high-throughput methods with better control over their size. While significant effort in this direction mainly focuses on developing “difficult to fabricate” complex microfluidic reactors, scant attention has been paid to the “easy to fabricate” and simple millifluidic systems that could provide the required control as well as high throughput. By utilizing numerical simulation of fluids within the millifluidic space at different flow rates, the results presented here show velocity profiles and residence time distributions similar to the case of microfluidics. By significantly reducing the residence time and residence time distribution, a continuous flow synthesis of ultrasmall copper nanoclusters (UCNCs) with exceptional colloidal stability is achieved. In-situ synchrotron-radiation-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveal that the as-prepared clusters are about 1 nm, which is further supported by transmission electron microscopy and UV–vis spectroscopy studies. The clusters reported here are the smallest ever produced using a lab-on-a-chip platform. When supported on silica, they are found to efficiently catalyze C–H oxidation reactions, hitherto unknown to be catalyzed by Cu. This work suggests that a millifluidic platform can be an inexpensive, versatile, easy-to-use, and powerful tool for nanoparticle synthesismore » in general, and more specifically for ultrasmall nanoclusters (UNCs).« less
Sediment Sorting in Alluvial Channels: ABSTRACT

The formation of primary sedimentary structures in and along an alluvial channel occurs as a result of interactions between gravity, the physical characteristics of the sediment and fluid as well as the hydraulic environment. However, the actual process by which recognizable structures develop arises from sorting of the sediment with respect to size, shape, or density, both along the bed and within the stream. The settling rates of the particles, turbulent diffusion, gravitational sliding, and the shear stress in the vicinity of the bed, all contribute to the sorting processes. Certain aspects of the various sorting processes may be predicted by analytical means, whereas others may be determined only by laboratory experiments. Using an alluvial channel together with the n rmal sequence of bed regimes as a point of departure, a discussion of the underlying principles of the various aspects of sorting in alluvial channels along with some related laboratory experiments is presented in this paper. From the laboratory experiments, quantitative information pertaining to the spectrum of bed forms, including subaqueous dunes and ripples which develop in an alluvial channel, is presented, and the data are compared with existing empirical and analytical relationships. Under favorable conditions of preservation, limited estimates of the hydraulic environment may be made by measuring the physical characteristics of cross-stratified units and related bed forms. End_of_Article - Last_Page 519------------
P663Cardiac energy dependence on glucose increases metabolites related to glutathione and activates metabolic genes controlled by mTOR

Long chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL) catalyze long chain fatty acids (FA) conversion to acyl-CoAs. Temporal ACSL1 inactivation in mouse hearts (Acsl1H-/-) impaired FA oxidation (FAO) and dramatically increased glucose uptake, glucose oxidation, and mTOR activation, resulting in cardiac hypertrophy. Our objective was to elucidate the cardiac cellular response to increased glucose utilization in response to the genetic inactivation of FAO using metabolomics and gene expression analyses. Using metabolomics analysis, we identified 60 metabolites altered in Acsl1H-/- hearts, including 6 related to glucose metabolism and 11 to cysteine and glutathione pathways. Concurrently, global transcriptional analysis revealed differential expression of 568 genes in Acsl1H-/- hearts, a subset of which we hypothesized were targets of mTOR; subsequently, we measured the transcriptional response of several genes after chronic mTOR inhibition via rapamycin treatment during the period in which cardiac hypertrophy develops. Hearts from Acsl1H-/- mice increased expression of several Hif1α-responsive glycolytic genes regulated by mTOR; additionally, expression of Scl7a5, Gsta1/2, Gdf15, and starvation-response genes Fgf21, Asns, Trib3, Mthfd2, were strikingly increased by mTOR activation. The switch from FA to glucose utilization causes mTOR-dependent alterations in cardiac metabolism. We identified cardiac mTOR-regulated genes not previously identified in other cellular models, suggesting tissue-specific mTOR signaling. Increased glucose utilization also changed glutathione-related pathways and compensation by mTOR. The hypertrophy, oxidative stress, and metabolic changes that occur within the heart when glucose supplants FA as a major energy source suggests substrate switching to glucose may not be entirely benign ![Figure][1] [1]: pending:yes
Reciprocal eye contact as an interaction technique

Modeled on how humans use eye contact to engage one another, the interaction technique presented here enables users to effectively engage devices in ubiquitous computing contexts. Equipping devices to reciprocate eye contact enables users to effectively address devices, infer device attention, and target control actions.
Thermal Expansion and Elastic Properties of Two‐Phase Ceramic Bodies

The elastic properties and thermal expansion coefficients of two-phase ceramic bodies were determined in order to study the effect of the difference in thermal expansions of the two phases. Room-temperature elasticity was determined by a dynamic method. These values were extrapolated to theoretical density to obtain values for the fully dense bodies. Thermal expansion, measured on a precision dilatometer at 25° to 350°C, was independent of porosity. Experimental values of elastic moduli and expansion coefficients were compared with values given by several theories. Where the difference in expansion coefficients was small the experimental and theoretical values of elastic moduli and expansion coefficients were in agreement. Microscopic examination of these bodies did not reveal any internal cracking. When the difference in expansion coefficients became large enough, the experimental data were scattered and not in agreement with theory for either the elastic properties or expansion coefficients. Microscopic observations of these specimens revealed microcracks.
Impact of Habitat Edges on Density and Secondary Production of Seagrass-associated Fauna

Species richness and abundance of seagrass-associated fauna are often positively correlated with seagrass biomass and structure complexity of the habitat. We found that while shoot density and plant biomass were greater in interior portions of turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) beds than at edges, mean faunal density was significantly greater at edges than interior sites during 1994. This pattern was also observed in 1995, although differences were not significant. The four numerically dominant taxonomic groups showed varying degrees of elevated densitities at edges ofT. testudinum beds. Peracarids and polychaetes had significantly greater densities at edges oft. testudinum beds, while both decapods and gastropods showed dramatic temporal variability in density, with reversals in density between edge and interior occurring during the course of the study. This within-habitat variability in abundance may reflect both active accumulation of fauna at edges and settlement shadows for species with pelagic larvae. Active accumulation of highly mobile taxa seeking refuge in seagrass beds may explain the differences in density between edge and interior ofT. testudinum patches for peracarids in 1994 and in 1995. Active accumulation at edges may also explain differeces in density for some decapod taxa. Chauges in gastropod densities between habitats may reflect larval settlement patterns. Results showed a distinct settlement shadow for the gastropodCaecum nitidum whose densities (primarily second stage protoconch) increased by more than an order of magnitude in 1994. Settlement shadows and post-settlement processes may also explain density differences of polychaetes between the edge and interior ofT. testudinum patches. The differences in faunal densities between edge and interior habitat resulted in habitat specific differences in secondary production among the major taxonomic groups. On four of five dates in 1994 and in 1995, secondary production was greater at edge than interior locations. These unexpected results suggest that differences in faunal densities and secondary production between edges and interiors of seagrass patches represent a potentially vital link in seagrass trophic dynamics. If this elevated secondary production leads to increases in trophic transfer, then edges may serve as a significant trophic conduit to higher-level consumers in this system.