cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Solar wind drivers for low-latitude ionosphere models during geomagnetic storms

A prescription for modeling the low-latitude ionosphere under active geomagnetic storm conditions is given, using a set of simple empirical drivers based on parameters of the solar wind. These drivers describe the effects of energy input from the solar wind into the ionosphere, including prompt penetration electric fields and thermospheric heating, thus permitting the ionosphere to be more accurately modeled under these extreme conditions. These drivers are relevant to modeling both the global-scale ambient ionosphere and the plasma instability of the ionosphere. An application of the drivers to modeling the low-latitude ionosphere during the November 2004 storm is presented in a companion paper [Retterer, J.M., Kelley, M.C., Valladares, C., Chau, J., Ilma, R., Gentile, L., Groves, K., 2009. Modeling the low-latitude ionospheric electron density and plasma turbulence in the November 2004 storm period. J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., this issue].
Preparation of Dense Platinum-Yttria Stabilized Zirconia and Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Films on Porous La0.9Sr0.1MnO3 (LSM) Substrates

A sol–gel process has been developed to prepare fine powder of La0.9Sr0.1MnO3 (LSM) with an average particle size ∼40 nm. The LSM powder is pressed to pellets, on which a uniform green yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) film is deposited using an electrophoretic deposition process. A green composite film of platinum and YSZ (Pt-YSZ) is prepared on the top of the green YSZ film using a colloidal process, followed by filling the pores using a sol–gel process. The three-layered structure, a green Pt-YSZ film, and a green YSZ film on a green LSM substrate, is fired at 1250°C for 3 h, resulting in a dense Pt-YSZ and YSZ film supported by a porous LSM substrate. Electrical measurements show that the sensors with the three-layered structure display a well-defined diffusion-limited current in gases containing partial pressure of oxygen up to ∼9 vol%, implying that the quality of the Pt-YSZ and YSZ film is adequate for the sensor application.
Nanosecond time-resolved step-scan FT-IR spectroscopy of the photochemical ring-opening of 1,3-cyclohexadiene

Abstract Time-resolved step-scan FT-IR spectroscopy with 20 ns resolution has been used to investigate the conformational transformation from cZt-1,3,5-hexatriene to tZt-1,3,5-hexatriene following the photochemical ring opening of 1,3-cyclohexadiene. The step-scan FT-IR spectrometer and an IR flow-cell system for performing UV pump, IR probe experiments with 20 ns time resolution are described. At the earliest measurable time points, only features of the final tZt-hexatriene product were observed in the time resolved spectra. Therefore the time constant for this transformation must be faster than 20 ns.
Hierarchical polystyrene patterns produced by electrospinning

Abstract When a 25 wt% polystyrene solution was electrospun at relatively low applied voltage, the bending instability initiated, grew and disappeared, repeatedly. Upon further lowering of the applied voltage, the bending instability died immediately after it started and only a straight electrified jet was observed. By manipulating the bending instability of the jet, uniform polystyrene hierarchical patterns were produced by a buckling process. The observed buckling patterns are similar to those of a gravity-driven jet. The conditions for producing buckled polystyrene patterns are reproducible. These small scale buckled polymer patterns can be made very long and uniform. The size of the buckling coil was adjusted by changing the distance between tip and collector. Different large scale patterns, that consist of tiny buckled polymer patterns, can be written by a programmed machine. Fluffy fiber balls, composed of buckling coils, were produced.
Hoop tensile strength testing of small diameter ceramic particles

Abstract A method to measure hoop tensile strength of 1-mm-diameter brittle ceramic spheres was demonstrated through the use of a ‘C-sphere’ flexure strength specimen. This innovative specimen geometry was chosen because a simple, monotonically increasing uniaxial compressive force produces a hoop tensile stress at the C-sphere’s outer surface that ultimately initiates fracture. This enables strength quantification and strength-limiting-flaw identification of the sphere itself. Such strength information is relevant to design optimization and durability assessments of ceramic fuel particles and breeder/multiplier pebbles for fusion when particle surfaces are subjected to tensile stresses during their manufacturing or service.
Possible way to reduce fracture rates in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury

Lower extremity fractures in men with spinal cord injury (SCI) are a major problem. The use of thiazide diuretics, a simple and safe intervention, may be effective in reducing the risk of fracture in patients with traumatic SCI. Furthermore, thiazide diuretics have an added benefit of reducing kidney stone formation.
Hand Made: “Hands to Love”

THIS FLAG (Fig. 1) is the symbol of Hands to Love, a nonprofit organization created 12 years ago to serve children with congenital upper extremity differences and their families. An annual camp in north Florida has drawn attendees from all over the country since 2000. Empowered with a mission that difference does not equal disability, Hands to Love embraces the mantra that “anything is possible.” The 3 5-ft nylon fabric flag contains the tempera paint prints of participants from the 2012 Hand
Predicting the ratings of multimedia items for making personalized recommendations

Existing multimedia recommenders suggest a specific type of multimedia items rather than items of different types personalized for a user based on his/her preference. Assume that a user is interested in a particular family movie, it is appealing if a multimedia recommendation system can suggest other movies, music, books, and paintings closely related to the movie. We propose a comprehensive, personalized multimedia recommendation system, denoted MudRecS, which makes recommendations on movies, music, books, and paintings similar in content to other movies, music, books, and/or paintings that a MudRecS user is interested in. MudRecS does not rely on users' access patterns/histories, connection information extracted from social networking sites, collaborated filtering methods, or user personal attributes (such as gender and age) to perform the recommendation task. It simply considers the users' ratings, genres, role players (authors or artists), and reviews of different multimedia items, which are abundant and easy to find on the Web. MudRecS predicts the ratings of multimedia items that match the interests of a user to make recommendations. The performance ofMudRecS has been compared with current state-of-the-art multimedia recommenders using various multimedia datasets, and the experimental results show that MudRecS significantly outperforms other systems in accurately predicting the ratings of multimedia items to be recommended.
Nuclear magnetic resonance structural studies of intramolecular purine.purine.pyrimidine DNA triplexes in solution. Base triple pairing alignments and strand direction.

Abstract Recently, P.A. Beal and P.B. Dervan, expanding on earlier observations by others, have established the formation of purine · purine · pyrimidine triple helices stabilized by G · GC, A · AT and T · AT base triples where the purine-rich third strand was positioned in the major groove of the Watson-Crick duplex and anti-parallel to its purine strand. The present nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) study characterizes the base triple pairing alignments and strand direction in a 31-mer deoxyoligonucleotide that intramolecularly folds to generate a 7-mer (R/Y −)n · (R+)n(Y −)n triplex with the strands linked by two T5 loops and stabilized by potential T · AT and G · GC base triples. (R and Y stand for purine and pyrimidine, respectively, while the signs establish the strand direction.) This intramolecular triplex gives well-resolved exchangeable and non-exchangeable proton spectra with Li+ as counterion in aqueous solution. These studies establish that the T1 to C7 pyrimidine and the G8 to A14 purine strands are anti-parallel to each other and align through Watson-Crick A · T and G · C pair formation. The T15 to G21 purine-rich third strand is positioned in the major groove of this duplex and pairs through Hoogsteen alignment with the purine strand to generate T · AT and G · GC triples. Several lines of evidence establish that the thymidine and guanosine bases in the T15 to G21 purine-rich third strand adopt anti glycosidic torsion angles under conditions where this strand is aligned anti-parallel to the G8 to A14 purine strand. We have also recorded imino proton n.m.r. spectra for an (R −)n · (R+)n(Y −)n triplex stabilized by G · GC and A · AT triples through intramolecular folding of a related 31-mer deoxyoligonucleotide with Li+ as counterion. The intramolecular purine · purine · pyrimidine triplexes containing unprotonated G · GC, A · AT and T · AT triples are stable at basic pH in contrast to pyrimidine · purine · pyrimidine triplexes containing protonated C+ · GC and T · AT triples, which are only stable at acidic pH.
Aerosol generation by metered-dose inhalers containing dimethyl ether/propane inverse microemulsions.

Water soluble compounds were incorporated into metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) by using water-in-propellant lecithin microemulsions, in which dimethyl ether (DME) and propane acted as both continuous phase and propellant. Lecithin, water, and water soluble compounds were added to glass MDI containers, valves were crimped on, and propellants were added using a pressure burette. Aerosols were produced using commercially available actuators, and inertial impaction was used to determine the mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD), geometric standard deviation (GSD), and fine particle fraction (FPF) of the resulting aerosols. The DME/propane/lecithin, microemulsion MDIs generated aerosols with particle size distributions suitable for pulmonary delivery (eg, MMAD 3.1 μm, FPF 59% for DME with lecithin content 3%, water content 2.5% [wt/wt]). Increasing water concentration (up to 8% wt/wt) was correlated with a reduction in FPF. Freezing and rewarming had no adverse effect on MMAD, GSD, or FPF. Storage of microemulsion samples for up to 3 weeks did not adversely affect the MMAD, GSD, or FPF. This approach may enable the pulmonary delivery of water soluble therapeutic agents via MDIs.
A client-server architecture for state-dependent dynamic visualizations on the web

As sophisticated enterprise applications move to the Web, some advanced user experiences become difficult to migrate due to prohibitively high computation, memory, and bandwidth requirements. State-dependent visualizations of large-scale data sets are particularly difficult since a change in the client's context necessitates a change in the displayed results. This paper describes a Web architecture where clients are served a session-specific image of the data, with this image divided into tiles dynamically generated by the server. This set of tiles is supplemented with a corpus of metadata describing the immediate vicinity of interest; additional metadata is delivered as needed in a progressive fashion in support and anticipation of the user's actions. We discuss how the design of this architecture was motivated by the goal of delivering a highly responsive user experience. As an example of a complete application built upon this architecture, we present OrgMaps, an interactive system for navigating hierarchical data, enabling fluid, low-latency navigation of trees of hundreds of thousands of nodes on standard Web browsers using only HTML and JavaScript.
Partial sequencing and mapping of clones from two maize cDNA libraries

As one component of a maize genome project, we report the analysis of a number of randomly selected cDNAs, by a combination of measuring mRNA expression, 'single-pass' sequencing (SPS), and genome mapping. Etiolated seedling (490) and membrane-free polysomal endosperm cDNA clones (576) were evaluated for their transcription levels by hybridizing with a probe prepared from total mRNA and categorized as corresponding to abundantly or rarely expressed mRNAs and as either constitutive or tissue-specific. A total 313 clones from the two libraries were submitted to 'single-pass' sequencing from the presumed 5' end of the mRNA and the nucleotide sequence compared with the GenBank database. About 61% of the clones showed no significant similarities within GenBank, 14% of the clones exhibited a high degree of similarity, while the remaining 25% exhibited a lesser degree of similarity. The chromosomal location of more than 300 clones was determined by RFLP mapping using standard populations. The results demonstrate that a combination of analyses provides synergistic information in eventually deducing the actual function of these types of clones.
Nerve-dependent changes in clonable myoblast populations

Abstract Between the 3rd and 12th days of development at least four distinct classes of clonable myoblast are present in chick embryo leg skeletal muscle (N. K. White, P. H. Bonner, D. R. Nelson, and S. D. Hauschka, 1975, Develop. Biol. 44, 346–361) . In the present study, the behavior of each class has been examined quantitatively by clonal growth and differentiation of cells derived from denervated and normal embryos. Embryos functionally denervated by cauterization of the posterior spinal cord or by injection of the neuromuscular blocking agent d-tubocurarine exhibit changes in the two broad categories of clonable myoblast—fresh medium-sufficient (FMS) and conditioned medium-requiring (CMR) muscle cells. Clonal analysis of cells derived from leg muscle tissue of 10- to 12-day-old embryos denervated early in development (Days 3 to 6) has shown that the proportion of FMS clonable myoblasts is reduced to about 60% of the level found in normally innervated leg muscle. The CMR class is composed of three subclasses: CMR-I, CMR-II, and CMR-III (White et al., 1975) . Clonal analysis of cells from denervated muscle has shown that, while the total CMR clone proportion is unchanged, the three subclasses are rearranged. The proportions of CMR-I and CMR-II muscle clones are greatly increased and the CMR-III subclass is severely reduced or absent when compared to clones derived from normally innervated leg muscle tissue.
Radial Head—Resect, Fix, or Replace

Management of radial head fractures has evolved over the years, as have the techniques and implants used to treat them. However, no standardized treatment protocols exist because of the complexity with which radial head fractures may present. They range from stable, nondisplaced fractures to displaced, comminuted fractures with associated ligamentous, and osseous defects. Management of the complex fractures can be challenging. Historically, radial head excision was recommended for comminuted fractures, but with increased awareness of elbow and forearm biomechanics, the treatment choice for complex radial head injuries has evolved to internal fixation or replacement. The Mason classification may be used to guide treatment, however fracture characteristics and associated injuries must also be considered. Regardless of the treatment option, early range of motion and restoration of elbow anatomy with good surgical technique are imperative.
Altered T cell receptor signaling and disrupted T cell development in mice lacking Itk

Abstract Itk is a T cell protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) that, along with Btk and Tec, belongs to a family of cytoplasmic PTKs with N-terminal pleckstrin homology domains. Btk plays a critical role in B lymphocyte development. To determine whether Itk has an analogous role in T lymphocytes, we used gene targeting to prepare mice lacking expression of Itk. Such animals had decreased numbers of mature thymocytes, an effect most clearly observed in mice expressing T cell receptor (TCR) transgenes. Mature T cells from Itk-deficient mice had reduced proliferative responses to allogeneic MHC stimulation and to anti-TCR cross-linking, but responded normally to stimulation with phorbol ester plus ionomycin or with IL-2. These results provide genetic evidence that Itk is Involved in T cell development and also suggest that Itk has an important role in proximal events in TCR-medlated signaling pathways.
Nucleon-nucleon scattering with the complex scaling method and realistic interactions

We demonstrate the validity of the complex scaling method for realistic strong, nonlocal, nucleon-nucleon interactions by comparing the deuteron bound state and nucleon-nucleon scattering phase shifts with results from other high-precision methods. This opens a pathway for the simultaneous ab initio solutions of the nuclear bound and scattering problems within a unified framework.
Collagen injections for intrinsic sphincter deficiency in the neuropathic urethra

Twelve subjects experiencing stress urinary incontinence caused by spinal injury or myelomeningocele were treated by periurethral injection of a bulking agent, glutaraldehyde cross-linked (GAX) collagen. Of the 11 subjects who completed the program, seven were either cured or improved and four were only slightly improved or no better following injection. The valsalva (abdominal) leak point pressure (LPP) rose an average of 57 cm H2O (pre-treatment mean of 60 cm H2O versus post-treatment mean of 117 cm H2O) and none of the patients experienced significant complications during the mean follow-up period of 24 months. Every subject injected was able to maintain an intermittent catheterization program after treatment. These data support the use of GAX collagen as an alternative or adjunct therapy to pharmacotherapy, surgical reconstruction or implantation of a prosthesis in the management of stress urinary incontinence in the neuropathic urethra.
How to Treat the Loss of Beat: Modeling and Simulation of Ventricular Growth and Remodeling and Novel Post-Infarction Therapies

Heart disease is the primary cause of death in industrialized nations. In 2007 alone, an estimated 79 million adults in the U.S., one in three, had one or more types of cardiovascular disease, generating health care costs in excess of $430 billion. A leading cause of congestive heart failure is myocardial infarction. Within the first few hours after the infarct, a complex cascade of events is initiated in the myocardium manifesting itself clinically in disproportionate thinning and dilation of the infarct region accompanied by distortion in form and function of the entire heart, figure 1. As remodeling progresses, volume-overloaded hypertrophy and further deterioration of cardiac function are common natural consequences. Historically, therapies for myocardial infarction have been developed by trial and error methods, as opposed to therapy design and development through scientific understanding of the functional and structural changes in the infarcted tissue. Continuum theories, in combination with modern computer simulation technologies, offer the potential to provide greater insight into the complex pathways of myocardial infarction, and thereby guide the design of successful post-infarction therapies such as direct cell injection into the damaged myocardium1 and implantation of tissue engineered vascular grafts2 as sketched in figure 1.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Epstein-Barr virus and the B cell: that's all it takes.

Abstract Recent experiments demonstrate that a much broader range of B cells harbor-Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in vivo than was previously expected from in vitro studies. In this review it is argued that EBV persists in vivo by integrating its biology with that of the normal B cells within which it resides, and that the B cell provides all the environments necessary for EBV to maintain its life cycle.
Helium pre‐enrichment in the first stars

We show that element diffusion can produce large fluctuations in the initial helium abundance of stars. Diffusion time-scale, which in stellar cores is much larger than the Hubble time, can fall below 10 8 yr in the neutral gas clouds of stellar mass, dominated by collisionless dark matter or with dynamically important radiation or magnetic pressure. Helium diffusion may therefore explain the recent observations of globular clusters, which are inconsistent with initially homogeneous helium distribution.
Structural and magnetic investigation of Fe3+ and Mg2+ substitution into the trigonal bipyramidal site of InGaCuO4

Abstract The solid solutions of InGa1−xFexCuO4, InFeCu1−xMgxO4, and InGa1−xFexCu1−xMgxO4 were synthesized and characterized through the use of X-ray and neutron diffraction, and DC—magnetism measurements. All compositions of InGa1−xFexCuO4 are single phase and crystallize in the R 3 ¯ m space group, but a transformation to the spinel InFeMgO4 structure was observed for the other series of Fe3+ and Mg2+—rich compounds. As a result of the similar ionic radii for Ga3+ and Fe3+, there was not an obvious change in the c/a ratio for InGa1−xFexCuO4. In the hexagonal domains, the c/a ratio of InFeCu1−xMgxO4 and InGa1−xFexCu1−xMgxO4 showed a linear trend that can be explained by the change in electronic configurations between Cu2+ and Mg2+. All hexagonal compositions display negative Weiss temperatures, and there is an increase in the magnetic transition temperature with the addition of Fe3+. Additional AC magnetic susceptibility measurements for the x=0.4 and 0.6 compositions within the InGa1−xFexCuO4 solid solution show that these transitions are consistent with spin glass behavior, not long range AFM ordering.
Grandmothers to grandmothers: African AIDS orphans initiatives.

As a result of the AIDS epidemic in Africa a majority of orphaned children are being raised by their grandparents though they often lack the most basic resources or social benefits. This column highlights a few innovative programs established to help these African "grannies." A Canadian grassroots has established the grandmothers-to-grandmothers initiative which promotes Canadian grandmothers to raise funds for African grandmothers to help pay for their families food education housing and even coffins. In related work the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project was established in Uganda to assist grandmothers and their orphaned grandchildren.
AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs with extrinsic base regrowth

N—p—n abrupt AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with a 500 A_ -thick GaAs base, and regrown thick extrinsic base layers of p‘ AlGaAs/GaAs have been fabricated. The regrown extrinsic base layers allow easy contact to the base with low base resistance to achieve high f .!9 . f .!9 was improved by a factor of &2 with regrown base compared to conventional processing, up to a value of 45 GHz in these non-self-aligned devices. The extrinsic base regrowth was done at 500iC by MOMBE, which employed low-temperature in situ etch using tris-dimethylaminoarsenic to remove residual oxide from the surface before regrowth. ( 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Harnessing Attosecond Science in the Quest for Coherent X-rays

Modern laser technology has revolutionized the sensitivity and precision of spectroscopy by providing coherent light in a spectrum spanning the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelength regimes. However, the generation of shorter-wavelength coherent pulses in the x-ray region has proven much more challenging. The recent emergence of high harmonic generation techniques opens the door to this possibility. Here we review the new science that is enabled by an ability to manipulate and control electrons on attosecond time scales, ranging from new tabletop sources of coherent x-rays to an ability to follow complex electron dynamics in molecules and materials. We also explore the implications of these advances for the future of molecular structural characterization schemes that currently rely so heavily on scattering from incoherent x-ray sources.
Attitudes toward risk taking in disadvantaged and academically excellent students.

Smith, et al. (1986) found few differences berween disadvantaged students in an Educational Opportunity Fund program and regular students on a questionnaire on which they had to rate the riskiness of 39 activities (such as selling marihuana, going away to college, a homosexual relationship, and cheating on tests). To explore this further, the same questionnaire was given to 12 male and 22 female Upward Bound students (disadvantaged) and 30 male and 37 female Rotary students (academically excellent), all aged 16 or 17 yr. Each activity had to be rated for the degree of risk involved on a scale from 1 to 7. In addition, each student rated himself as a risk taker and whecher he enjoyed taking risks. The Rotary students rated 17 of the activities as more risky than the Upward Bound students including quitting a job without another, selling marihuana, driving a car 20 miles an hour above the speed limit, and vandalism or minor theft) and only two as less risky. The Rotary students did not see themselves as taking risks more (Ms = 3.9 and 4.6; SDs = 1.5 and 1.3; t = 1.74), but they did enjoy risk-taking more than the Upward Bound students (Ms = 4.5 and 3.5; SDs = 1.4 and 1.4; t = 3.28). Thus, this study found that academically excellent students rated situations as more risky than disadvantaged students. This suggests that they may be more conservative in their actions since they see situations as riskier.
Developmental heptachlor exposure increases susceptibility of dopamine neurons to N-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)in a gender-specific manner.

Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is primarily thought of as a disease of aging. However, recent evidence points to the potential for exposure to xenobiotics during development to increase risk of PD. Here, we report that developmental exposure to the organochlorine pesticide heptachlor alters the dopamine system and increases neurotoxicity in an animal model of PD. Exposure of pregnant mice to heptachlor led to increased levels of the dopamine transporter (DAT) and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) levels at both the protein and mRNA level in their offspring. Increased DAT and VMAT2 levels were accompanied by alterations of mRNA levels of nuclear transcription factors that control dopamine neuron development and regulate DAT and VMAT2 levels in adulthood. At 12 weeks of age, control and heptachlor-exposed offspring were administered a moderate dose (2× 10 mg/kg) of the parkinsonism-inducing agent MPTP. Greater neurotoxicity as evidenced by a greater loss of striatal dopamine and potentiation of increased levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein and α-synuclein was observed in heptachlor-exposed offspring. The neurotoxicity observed was greater in the male offspring than the female offspring, suggesting that males are more susceptible to the long-term effects of developmental heptachlor exposure. These data suggest that developmental heptachlor exposure causes long-term alterations of the dopamine system thereby rendering it more susceptible to dopaminergic damage in adulthood.
The Challenges Our Contemporary World Presents to Christian Educators

This article explores Jacques Ellul’s challenges to Christian educators in a society permeated with technique or technological thinking. Responses to the three challenges Ellul puts forth to believing Christians, and, specifically, to Catholic Christian school educators, integrate a process of contemplative practice. This process integrates Catholic tradition and scriptural-based Gospel values with the practice of school leadership. The process focuses on the mindfulness required of leaders to make daily decisions coherent with a professed faith. Final reflections of the article argue the importance of critique and contemplative practice to prepare future Catholic Christian educational leadership. The article suggests that the responses to Ellul’s challenges within Catholic education serve as an example to all faith-based education.
The Effects of Load on E-Selectin Bond Rupture and Bond Formation.

Molecular dissociation rates have long been known to be sensitive to applied force. We use a laser trap to provide evidence that rates of association may also be force-dependent. We use the thermal fluctuation assay to study single bonds between E-selectin and sialyl Lewisa (sLea), the sugar on PSGL-1 to which the three selectins bind. Briefly, an E-selectin-coated bead is held in a laser trap and pressed with various compressive loads against the vertical surface of a bead coated with sLea. The time it takes for a bond to form is used to calculate a specific two-dimensional on-rate, $$ k_{\text{on}}^{\text{o}} . $$ We observe an increase in $$ k_{\text{on}}^{\text{o}} $$ with increasing compressive force, providing single molecule evidence that on-rate, in addition to off-rate, is influenced by load. By measuring bond lifetimes at known tensile loads, we show that E-selectin, like its family members L- and P-selectin, is capable of forming catch bonds. Our data support a reverse Bell model, in which compressive forces lower the activation energy for binding. Load-dependent on-rates may be a general feature of all intermolecular bonds.
Preliminary Observations of the Role of Material Morphology on Protein-Electrophoretic Transport in Gold Nanocomposite Hydrogels

Nanocomposite polymeric hydrogels have potential to play an important role in clinical diagnostics, therapeutic agents, and electroanalytical devices, among other biotechnological applications. However, the relationship between nanocomposite structure (morphology) and transport specifically of proteins has not been systematically described. In this study, polyacrylamide (PAM) nanocomposites have been synthesized containing various compositions and aspect ratios of gold nanoparticles (GNP). These nanocomposite hydrogels have been characterized for morphology, and examined for their ability to change the effective electrophoretic mobility of a model protein, ovum serum albumin (OSA), under a low applied electric field of 6.7 V/cm. Addition of spherical (low aspect ratio) gold nanoparticles reduces the effective mobility of OSA, a result that cannot be explained by the lower effective cross-link density noted in swelling studies. However, the effective mobility of OSA can be predicted using simple tortuous p...
Speaking of Monks: Religious Biography in India and China

The two essays in this volume explore how monks in medieval India and China wrote about themselves with their fellow monks. The author translates and discusses biographies and autobiographies of two Jain monks, who lives in the 11th and 14th century CE. The book tells us how a community of Chinese Buddhists viewed the life of the founder of their group, and how his biography reflected the changes that the community underwent. The essays are the result of a joint research project on religious biographies in Asia, carried out with assistance from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Panel: implications of social computing in health informatics

Events occur daily that challenge the health, security and sustainable growth of our society, and often find us unprepared for the catastrophic outcomes. These events involve the interaction of complex processes such as climate change, emerging infectious diseases, energy reliability, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, natural and man-made disasters, and geopolitical, social and economic vulnerabilities. If we are to prevent the adversities and leverage the opportunities that emerge from these events, integrated anticipatory reasoning has to become an everyday activity. There is increased awareness among subject-matter experts, analysts, and decision makers that a combined understanding of interacting physical and human factors is essential in addressing strategic decision making proactively. For example, multilevel studies that consider a broad range of biological, family, community, socio-cultural, environmental, policy, and macro-level economic factors provide an ideal systems science approach for public health informatics with reference to challenges such as emerging infectious diseases. Existing health modeling paradigms can be supported through the integration of socio-cultural models. This enables a more accurate characterization of how public health responses reflect factors such as social order, individual and community-based health knowledge, and behavior change due to public health communications in mass media and emerging Web technologies.
Queueing Models for 4D Trajectory-Based Aircraft Operations in NextGen

*† This paper develops a queueing model for aircraft landings at a single runway under trajectory-based flight operations. The situation is expected to arise in the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Aircraft are assigned scheduled times of arrival, which they meet with some stochastic error. It is assumed that errors are small enough for scheduled order to be maintained, and they follow a normal distribution. A recursive queueing model is formulated, and Clark's approximation for the maximum of a finite set of random variables is employed to analytically approximate the mean and variance of flight delays. For a given airport demand and capacity it is shown that total delay is proportional to the standard deviation of the stochastic error; this result facilitates the estimation of the system's total delay through lookup tables. The approximation method is found to be reasonably accurate and very fast computationally.
Policy Innovation, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Adoption of Climate Protection Initiatives by U.S. Cities

In the absence of federal requirements, how do state- and municipal-level character- istics impact the probability of local policy innovation? This article provides insight by examining the adoption of sub-national climate change mitigation initiatives in the United States. Drawing from literature on policy innovation, a multilevel model is developed to examine the factors influ- encing over 900 U.S. cities to eschew free-rider tendencies and formally commit to greenhouse gas reduction. Multilevel analysis recognizes the nested structure of cities within states and accounts for the shared economic, political, and policy environments experienced by cities within the same state. The level of initiative state governments have taken toward climate protection varies considerably, and the influence of different state policies on related local decisions is empirically examined. Re- sults are consistent with hypotheses derived from the innovation literature and suggest local-level characteristics are the dominant drivers of cities' decisions to commit to climate protection.
Indirect assessment of system reliability

Assessing system-reliability has been a major goal of many people in many walks of life, including those that develop and deploy systems. For that purpose many methods and techniques have been published. However, most of these techniques and methods rely heavily on failure data. Because the design of high-reliability systems generally requires that the individual system components have extremely high reliability, even after long periods of time, and because short product-development times and tightened-budgets imply that reliability tests must be conducted with severe time-constraints, frequently no failures occur during such tests. Thus, there is a growing need to assess reliabilities for complex systems for which it is difficult to collect failure data. This paper focuses on a method that expresses the failure time and consequently the reliability of a system as a function of several explanatory variables (referred to as covariates). Then, the system reliability is assessed indirectly by using information on these covariates. From a practical viewpoint, this method might be more complicated and difficult to apply. The author still recommends this methodology because there are many situations where it is difficult to have data on failure times of expensive and complex systems, and this method can handle such situations.
CHARACTERIZATION OF GRANULAR SYSTEMS BY DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING OF LOW STRAIN WAVE RESPONSE

The characterization and quality assessment of composite materials, particularly those constructed of residual materials such as slags, ashes, and crumb rubber, are difficult because of chemical and physical inhomogeneity and inconsistency at the time of their production. The characterization of granular systems, constructed of a mixture of geological and residual materials, may provide inconclusive information when tested by existing methods. The proposed nondestructive evaluation uses low-strain, low-frequency dynamic excitation as a means to better evaluate such materials. The applied excitation results in a sample response characterized by wave patterns. The wave pattern response is analyzed by digital signal processing and an artificial neural networks (ANN) system to facilitate characterization of the material. Dynamic excitation of representative samples was accomplished using a longitudinal-torsional resonant column. Nondestructive testing was conducted at low strain levels applying a torsional os...
Introduction to the Special Section on Moving Toward a Cumulative Science: Maximizing What Our Research Can Tell Us.

As the conversation about methods and practices continues to evolve both within and beyond the borders of psychological science, researchers are seeking their footing in a new and still shifting landscape of policies, recommendations, and standards. The end goal, however, is clear. We’re scientists. We want to learn from our research. We want to accumulate knowledge that converges on truth. The question is: What concrete steps can we take,
Problems with the Platonist Exemplification Tie between Located Entities and an Unlocated Entity

Selon une ontologie platonicienne, il faut qu'une exemplification platonicienne lie des particuliers physiques et un universel non localise pour qu'il y ait connexion entre propriete et choses. Dans cet article, je discute du lien d'exemplification platonicien, lequel a l'interessante faculte de lier des entites localisees a une entite non localisee et donc, pour reprendre les mots d'Armstrong, la faculte de traverser le domaine du non spatialement localise et celui du spatialement localise. La litterature ne contient a peu pres aucune discussion de l'exemplification. J'en discute et signale une nouveau probleme relatif a la connexion entre un universel platonicien et des particuliers physiques.
An update on NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins program

NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins has been progressing along a roadmap first established in 1996. Key features of that roadmap included technological and scientific stepping stones linking major missions. This paper provides an overview of the current roadmap version published in 2003, overall status of the program, and discusses top level evolution of the processes for linking these missions. Other speakers/panel members can present more details concerning these issues in this session.
Stream prediction using a generative model based on frequent episodes in event sequences

This paper presents a new algorithm for sequence prediction over long categorical event streams. The input to the algorithm is a set of target event types whose occurrences we wish to predict. The algorithm examines windows of events that precede occurrences of the target event types in historical data. The set of significant frequent episodes associated with each target event type is obtained based on formal connections between frequent episodes and Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). Each significant episode is associated with a specialized HMM, and a mixture of such HMMs is estimated for every target event type. The likelihoods of the current window of events, under these mixture models, are used to predict future occurrences of target events in the data. The only user-defined model parameter in the algorithm is the length of the windows of events used during model estimation. We first evaluate the algorithm on synthetic data that was generated by embedding (in varying levels of noise) patterns which are preselected to characterize occurrences of target events. We then present an application of the algorithm for predicting targeted user-behaviors from large volumes of anonymous search session interaction logs from a commercially-deployed web browser tool-bar.
Learning Non-Isomorphic Tree Mappings for Machine Translation

Often one may wish to learn a tree-to-tree mapping, training it on unaligned pairs of trees, or on a mixture of trees and strings. Unlike previous statistical formalisms (limited to isomorphic trees), synchronous TSG allows local distortion of the tree topology. We reformulate it to permit dependency trees, and sketch EM/Viterbi algorithms for alignment, training, and decoding.
Deriving a cardiac ageing signature to reveal MMP-9-dependent inflammatory signalling in senescence.

Aims Cardiac aging involves the progressive development of cardiac fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction coordinated by matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9. Here, we report a cardiac aging signature that encompasses macrophage pro-inflammatory signaling in the left ventricle (LV) and distinguishes biological from chronological aging. Methods and Results Young (6-9 months), middle-aged (12-15 months), old (18-24 months), and senescent (26-34 months) mice of both C57BL/6J wild type (WT) and MMP-9 null were evaluated. Using an identified inflammatory pattern, we were able to define individual mice based on their biological, rather than chronological, age. Bcl6 , Ccl24 , and Il4 were the strongest inflammatory markers of the cardiac aging signature. The decline in early to late LV filling ratio was most strongly predicted by Bcl6 , Il1r1 , Ccl24 , Crp , and Cxcl13 patterns, while LV wall thickness was most predicted by Abcf1 , Tollip , Scye1 , and Mif patterns. With age, there was a linear increase in cardiac M1 macrophages and decrease in cardiac M2 macrophages in WT mice, both of which were prevented by MMP-9 deletion. In vitro , MMP-9 directly activated young macrophage polarization to an M1/M2 mid-transition state. Conclusions Our results define the cardiac aging inflammatory signature and assign MMP-9 roles in mediating the inflammaging profile by indirectly and directly modifying macrophage polarization. Our results explain early mechanisms that stimulate aging-induced cardiac fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction.
Race, Ethnic, and Gender Divides in Juvenile Court Sanctioning and Rehabilitative Intervention:

Objectives:Drawing on focal concerns theory, as well as scholarship on the juvenile court’s mandate to consider youth culpability and amenability to treatment, we develop hypotheses that seek to examine whether the court will (1) punish Whites less severely and (2) be more likely to intervene with Whites through rehabilitative intervention and, simultaneously, be more punitive and less rehabilitative with minorities, and, in particular, Black males.Method:Florida juvenile court referral data and multinomial logistic regression analyses are used to examine multicategory disposition and “subdisposition” measures.Results:Findings suggest that minority youth, especially Black males, are not only more likely to receive punitive sanctions, they also are less likely than White youth to receive rehabilitative interventions and instead experience significantly higher rates of dismissals. The analyses indicate that similar racial and ethnic disparities emerge when “subdispositions”—specifically, placement options w...
The meteorological nature of variable soluble iron transport and deposition within the North Atlantic Ocean basin

[1] Aerosol transport from the Sahara desert to the North Atlantic Ocean generates the largest annual flux of mineral dust and total Fe found in the global oceans, enriching the mixed layer with soluble iron. We use the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Global Chemical Transport model to examine the transport and deposition of bioavailable iron on time scales ranging from seasonal to daily. The model is compared with observed mineral dust concentrations, depositions, and soluble Fe fractions. It is shown that simulated cumulative soluble Fe deposition (SFeD) employing a variable Fe solubility parameterization compares well with observed short-term changes of dissolved iron within a thermally stratified surface mixed layer, while assuming a constant 2% solubility does not. The largest year-to-year variability of seasonal SFeD (45 to 90%) occurs throughout winter and spring in the central and northeast Atlantic Ocean. It is strongly linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, producing substantially more SFeD during the positive phase than the negative phase. The ratio of wet to total SFeD increases with distance from the Saharan source region and is especially large when concentrations are small during the negative NAO. In summer, the relatively steady circulation around the Azores high results in low interannual variability of SFeD (<30%); however, regional short-term events are found to be highly episodic, and daily deposition rates can be a factor of 4 or more higher than the monthly mean flux. Three-dimensional backward trajectories are used to determine the origin and evolution of a specific SFeD event. We show that the dust mass-mean sedimentation rate should be incorporated into the air parcel dynamical vertical velocity for a more precise transport path.
Contour-Map Encoding of Shape for Early Vision

Contour maps provide a general method for recognizing two-dimensional shapes. All but blank images give rise to such maps, and people are good at recognizing objects and shapes from them. The maps are encoded easily in long feature vectors that are suitable for recognition by an associative memory. These properties of contour maps suggest a role for them in early visual perception. The prevalence of direction-sensitive neurons in the visual cortex of mammals supports this view.
Empirical Studies in End-User Software Engineering and Viewing Scientific Programmers as End-Users -- POSITION STATEMENT --

My work has two relationships with End User Software Engineering. First, as an Empirical Software Engineer, I am interested in meeting with people who do research into techniques for improving end-user software engineering. All of these techniques need to have some type of empirical validation. In many cases this validation is performed by the researcher, but in other cases it is not. Regardless, an independent validation of a new approach is vital. Second, an area where I have done a fair amount of work is in software engineering for scientific software (typically written for a parallel supercomputer). These programmers are typically scientists who have little or no training in formal software engineering. Yet, to accomplish their work, they often write very complex simulation and computation software. I believe these programmers are a unique class of End-Users that must be addressed
Storage of cowpea and its utilization at farmer's level in Bangladesh.

Indigenous storing containers such as earthen pots, metallic drums and tins, polythene, gunny bags, etc., are being used to store cowpea grains and kept in dwelling room or "gola ghar" at farms level. Study of 50 farms from three areas revealed that an average farmer stored 111.27 kg cowpea grains in 1995 spending a total Tk 368.17 in which 93% shared by labour and 796 shared by material cost. During storage period farmers followed 6–7 times exposure of grains to the sun at 25 to 30 days Interval and 26% farmers used marsh pepper and ashes in storing to prevent insects and no incidence of insects was found in it, However, 22% farmers had incidence of insects who did not use traditional items in storing and their average loss was 0.14 kg of grains. Earthen pots and polythene inside drums were found to be advantageous among three identlfhld incidence of insects and adaptability. In total stored grains 46% sold and 54% used at home. Farmers processed cowpea in indigenous method and prepared dal and curry using 0.53 kg to 0.59 kg cowpea per day In a family of 5–6 members and used dal 9 days and curry 4 days In one month period.