cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sexuality Scholarship as a Foundation for Change: Lawrence v. Texas and the Impact of the Historians' Brief

n the last Thursday in June 2003, the United States Supreme Court struck down a Texas state law criminalizing homosexual sex, determining that the 30-year-old law violated the U.S. Constitution. The decision, Lawrence v. Texas, which affirmed the right of John Lawrence and Tyron Garner to have sex at home, was a watershed moment. The next day, newspapers across the country shouted headlines like "Gay Rights Affirmed in Historic Ruling" and "Decision Represents an Enormous Turn in the Law."' Indeed, while it is not uncommon for the nation's highest court to strike down state laws and reverse the decisions of lower courts, in this case the court also overturned its own decision from 17 years earlier. In so doing, the court declared all anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional and, according to some observers, articulated one of the most significant human rights decisions in the country in nearly 50 years.2 Clearly, the implications of such a decision are widespread and multi-faceted. One set of implications, though, derives from the fact that the arguments presented to the Supreme Court-and reiterated by the justices in their decision-rested heavily on the scholarship of historians of sexuality. The historians' interpretation of the past, and particularly of the changing meaning of sodomy and sodomy laws, proved crucial to convincing the justices to go against their own precedent. Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion
Sunscreen and frontal fibrosing alopecia: A review

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a cicatricial alopecia of unknown etiology. The incidence of FFA appears to be increasing with time, leading to suspicion of a possible environmental trigger. Observational studies have reported a positive correlation between facial sunscreen use and FFA. This finding raises the question of whether sunscreen use plays a role in disease development. In this article, we review the available literature on the association of sunscreen with FFA. There is insufficient evidence to establish a direct causal relationship between sunscreen and FFA. Further studies are required to better characterize the role of sunscreen and the environment in the pathogenesis of this unique disease.
Power and Frequency Regulation of Synchronverters Using a Model Free Neural Network-Based Predictive Controller

Recent trends in the utilization of renewable and sustainable energy sources have led to an increased penetration of inertialess power electronics-based energy resources into the electrical grid. The concept of the virtual synchronous generator (VSG) has recently been studied to overcome the drawbacks of the fast-responding inertialess inverter by mimicking the behavior of a traditional synchronous generator. The majority of literature on VSGs assumes the operation of VSGs in inductive networks; however, such control algorithms do not operate well in a more resistive network such as a low-voltage distribution network. This article introduces a new neural network-based predictive control for VSGs that is capable of operating optimally in both inductive and resistive networks by optimizing the total tracking error during transients. After the introduction of the control scheme, simulation and experimental results are provided to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in reducing oscillations and settling time.
“If We Can Feel Like We Have Purpose and We Belong” - Exploring the Experiences of Drug-Involved Individuals in a Rural Jail

In rural areas, drug-involved individuals are frequently incarcerated rather than engaged in treatment or rehabilitation. While jails contend with high rates of incarceration, surrounding communiti...
"First You Feast with Your Eyes:" An Aesthetic Approach to Food and Risk.

Ideas surrounding risk, especially as it relates to health behaviors, contribute substantially to our understandings of health and wellbeing. However, more than being a way to forecast future behav...
Psychometric evaluation of the perceived context of reception scale among Hispanic and Somali adolescents

Objectives This study validates the psychometric properties and correlates of the perceived context of reception (PCOR) scale, a measure of immigrant youth's perceptions of the openness or hostility of their receiving communities, among Hispanic and Somali adolescents. Methods Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) was conducted to assess the properties of PCOR among a sample of first- and second-generation Hispanic and Somali youth (N = 311) recruited in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota. Results CFA results provided evidence that the negative dimension of PCOR was structurally equivalent across ethnicity and generation and has acceptable internal consistency reliability. Negative perception of the receiving community's attitude toward newcomers was positively correlated with perceived discrimination, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. Conclusion Results suggest that negative PCOR is cross-ethnically valid and that perceptions of the receiving community should be considered an important component of immigrant adaptation.
Teaching Online in 2020: Experiments, Empathy, Discovery

The rapid shift to fully online university courses in response to the global pandemic led to widespread instructor-based experimentation on an unprecedented scale. We summarize the experience of a full term of instruction in Spring 2020 in a Computer Science department serving close to 2000 declared undergraduate majors and graduate students. Three themes emerge: (1) there is extensive experimentation; (2) tracking the progress and well-being of students takes center stage; and (3) many instructors draw heavily on the toolbox assembled over the last decade of progress in online learning. We summarize recommendations for university instructors and course designers based on our findings, as well as for others interested in how to best serve learners in the emergent era of online learning.
Performance Art Is

In this manifesto, the artist inserted his body via dance clips and gestures from the studio throughout the text. The work is an attempt to outline what performance can be in the absence of an audi...
Data Models as Organizational Design: Coordinating beyond Boundaries Using Artificial Intelligence

Data Models as Organizational Design: Coordinating beyond Boundaries Using Artificial Intelligence
The Return of Geopolitics and Declining U.S. Hegemony

This chapter focuses on the decline of U.S. global hegemony and the revival of national-interest policies and geopolitical issues. It focuses on rising China and resurgent Russia and their policies in the South China Sea and Ukraine, respectively, to illustrate the return of geopolitics. It also describes the policies of Presidents Obama and Trump and their retreat from global leadership as contributing to the emergence of geopolitical quarrels and declining U.S. hegemony. It also discusses the relationship between the relative decline in U.S. capabilities and the erosion of institutions that foster global cooperation.
Lack of support for surface diffusion of postsynaptic AMPARs in tuning synaptic transmission

Abstract Repetitive stimulation of excitatory synapses triggers molecular events required for signal transfer across neuronal synapses. It has been hypothesized that one of these molecular events, the diffusion of extrasynaptic α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPARs) (i.e., the diffusion hypothesis), is necessary to help synapses recover from paired-pulse depression. To examine this presumed role of AMPAR diffusion during repetitive presynaptic stimulation, a biophysical model based on published physiological results was developed to track the localization and gating of each AMPAR. The model demonstrates that AMPAR gating in short intervals of fewer than 100 ms is controlled by their position in relation to the glutamate release site and by their recovery from desensitization, but it is negligibly influenced by their diffusion. Therefore, these simulations failed to demonstrate a role for AMPAR diffusion in helping synapses recover from paired-pulse depression.
Astrocyte-Neuron Crosstalk Through Hedgehog Signaling Mediates Cortical Circuit Assembly

Neuron-glia interactions play a critical role in the regulation of synapse formation and neuron specification. The cellular and molecular mechanisms by which neurons and astrocytes communicate and coordinate are not well understood. Here we demonstrate that canonical Sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway signaling in cortical astrocytes acts to coordinate layer-specific synaptic connectivity and functional circuit development. We show that the Shh receptor Ptch1 is expressed by cortical astrocytes during development and that Shh signaling is necessary and sufficient to promote the expression of genes involved in regulating synaptic development and layer-specific astrocyte molecular identity. Loss of Shh in layer V neurons reduces astrocyte complexity and coverage by astrocytic processes in tripartite synapses, conversely, cell-autonomous activation of Shh signaling in astrocytes promotes cortical excitatory synapse formation. Furthermore, we determined that Shh-dependent genes Lrig1 and Sparc distinctively contribute to astrocyte morphology and synapse formation. Together, these results suggest that Shh secreted from deep layer cortical neurons acts to specialize the molecular and functional features of astrocytes during development to shape circuit assembly and function.
Effect of Metamaterial on Patch Antenna Performance

This paper explains the effect of MTM on patch antenna performance. In this paper, we proposed two antennas; i.e., one is wideband (2.75–11.54 GHz), and another one is unit cell inspired multiband (2.81–6.21 GHz) and (9.20–11.76 GHz) Antenna. Here, after adding MTM, we observed change in S11 and VSWR and radiation of antenna. The proposed MTM antenna is fabricated and tested. The MTM analysis was also done and represented by using HFSS 2020R1. Interestingly, in analysis process, we observed that where the MTM has −e, −µ, at that frequency the antenna not resonates that means here MTM acts as a band eliminating medium.
Improved architectures and training algorithms for deep operator networks.

Operator learning techniques have recently emerged as a powerful tool for learning maps between infinite-dimensional Banach spaces. Trained under appropriate constraints, they can also be effective in learning the solution operator of partial differential equations (PDEs) in an entirely self-supervised manner. In this work we analyze the training dynamics of deep operator networks (DeepONets) through the lens of Neural Tangent Kernel (NTK) theory, and reveal a bias that favors the approximation of functions with larger magnitudes. To correct this bias we propose to adaptively re-weight the importance of each training example, and demonstrate how this procedure can effectively balance the magnitude of back-propagated gradients during training via gradient descent. We also propose a novel network architecture that is more resilient to vanishing gradient pathologies. Taken together, our developments provide new insights into the training of DeepONets and consistently improve their predictive accuracy by a factor of 10-50x, demonstrated in the challenging setting of learning PDE solution operators in the absence of paired input-output observations. All code and data accompanying this manuscript are publicly available at \url{https://github.com/PredictiveIntelligenceLab/ImprovedDeepONets.}
Entropy in Landscape Ecology: A Quantitative Textual Multivariate Review.

This paper presents a multivariate textual analysis of more than 1300 papers on entropy in ecology. There are six main insights that emerged. First, there is a large body of literature that has addressed some aspect of entropy in ecology, most of which has been published in the last 5–10 years. Second, the vast majority of these papers focus on species distribution, species richness, relative abundance or trophic structure and not landscape-scale patterns or processes, pe se. Third, there have been few papers addressing landscape-level questions related to entropy. Fourth, the quantitative analysis with hierarchical clustering identified a strongly nested structure among papers that addressed entropy in ecology. Fifth, there is clear differentiation of papers focused on landscape-level applications of entropy from other papers, with landscape focused papers clustered together at each level of the hierarchy in a relatively small and closely associated group. Sixth, this group of landscape-focused papers was substructured between papers that explicitly adopted entropy measures to quantify the spatial pattern of landscape mosaics, often using variations on Boltzmann entropy, versus those that utilize Shannon entropy measures from information theory, which are not generally explicit in their assessment of spatial configuration. This review provides a comprehensive, quantitative assessment of the scope, trends and relationships among a large body of literature related to entropy in ecology and for the first time puts landscape ecological research on entropy into that context.
The replication of T2 bacteriophage.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the life cycle of T2 bacteriophage, which is one of a somewhat an arbitrary family of phages capable of attacking Escherichia coli , strain B. The physical properties, morphology, biochemical make-up, and life cycles of these phages are well known. T2 is the archetype for virulence among viruses because of its ability to commandeer the metabolism of the host cell in the interests of its own reproduction. Hence, it is, in many ways, an ideal model for a study of the processes of cell control. Chemically and metabolically inert by itself, T2 consists externally of a complex of some eight proteins. Its head seems composed of a single protein whose function is to protect and stabilize, both chemically and mechanically, the contained genetic apparatus of the virus. The proteins of T2 in their native state, such as those of viruses in general, are remarkably stable to proteolytic enzymes. When the virus and host cell are mixed in liquid suspension at adequate concentrations, the virus collides with the cell as the result of random Brownian motion. The structural information of the invading phage particle must be transmitted not only heterocatalytically or functionally––that is, into directions for the synthesis of specific proteins––but also autocatalytically––that is, into the replication to form new phage particles.
Virulent Mutants of Bacteriophage P22 I. Isolation and Genetic Analysis

Abstract Mutants of phage P22 which form plaques on a P22 lysogen have been isolated. These virulent mutants have been classified into three groups. (i) VirA mutants arise spontaneously in wild-type stocks and form very small turbid plaques on a P22 lysogen. The single mutation responsible for VirA virulence maps near the mnt locus, one of the immunity regions of phage P22. (ii) VirB mutants do not arise spontaneously and have been isolated only from mutagenized P22 stocks. VirB mutants form small, clear plaques on a P22 lysogen. One of the VirB mutants, virB-3, was analyzed in detail. The virB-3 mutant is comprised of two mutations: K5, which maps within the c2 gene, and Vx, which maps in the region between the c2 and c3 genes. Phages carrying either the K5 or Vx mutation are not virulent in themselves but mutate to VirB virulence at a frequency of 10−5 to 10−6. It is concluded that K5 and Vx are mutations at specific sites which together confer the ability to undergo phage development in the presence of repressor. (iii) VirC mutants are defined by a large clear plaque morphology when plated on a P22 lysogen. VirC mutants are comprised of the determinants of both VirA and VirB virulence.
Termination of Vibrio cholerae virulence gene expression is mediated by proteolysis of the major virulence activator, ToxT

Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, a severe diarrhoeal illness. V. cholerae produces two major virulence factors: the cholera toxin, which directly causes diarrhoea, and the toxin-coregulated pilus, which is required for intestinal colonization. Production of these virulence factors is dependent on the major virulence regulator, ToxT. Under virulence-inducing growth conditions, transcription factors ToxR and TcpP initially activate transcription of toxT. However, once ToxT has been expressed, it produces more of itself independent of ToxR and TcpP by activating transcription of the long tcpA operon, within which toxT is located. It is known that V. cholerae terminates virulence gene expression prior to escape from the host, but it is unknown how this ToxT-positive feedback loop is broken, an essential step in terminating virulence gene expression. To better understand how ToxT protein activity is regulated, we monitored ToxT accumulation and activity under virulence-inducing and -repressing growth conditions. Our results suggest that ToxT protein undergoes proteolytic degradation to terminate virulence gene expression. This directed degradation of ToxT supports a model for terminating V. cholerae virulence gene expression late in infection, with both ToxT and TcpP undergoing proteolysis prior to escape from the host.
An Analytical Solution of Vector Diffraction for Focusing Optical Systems with Seidel Aberrations: I. Spherical Aberration, Curvature of Field, and Distortion

Abstract In this paper, a method developed by the author is used to study the image formation in various aplanatic systems with Seidel (fourth-order) aberrations. We study the spherical aberration, the distortion aberration and the curvature of field aberration. Just as in the case of scalar diffraction theory, it is shown that the distortion produces a shifted intensity pattern while in contrast with the scalar theory it is shown that the curvature of the field aberration produces a different intensity distribution. We also provide expressions for the location of the diffraction foci and calculate the Strehl intensity. We find that for the case of spherical aberration, the Strehl intensity increases with the increase in the numerical aperture whereas for the case of curvature of field aberration the Strehl intensity decreases with the increase in the numerical aperture. For distortion aberration the Strehl intensity is same as the Gaussian intensity. The computations are carried out for a focusing lens. ...
A Parameter Estimation Approach For Complex Industrial Systems By Human-computer Interaction

It is often difficult to estimate the facility performance parameters in a complex industrial system. The estimated parameters by only regression methods Iike contradictory to the people's experiences so they can't he accepted by the operators. We propose a new approach to estimate the parameters by human-computer interaction. At first the computer acquires the knowledge about the facility performance from experts then it cut out the unreasonable samplers and determines the above and below boundaries of parameters. The acceptable parameters call be obtained by a bounded parameter estimation algorithm. This approach is used to identify the boiler efficiency curves in a power plant, the results have proved that it is a very efficient and useful tool.
Transformation-Based Verification Using Generalized Retiming

In this paper we present the application of generalized retiming for temporal property checking. Retiming is a structural transformation that relocates registers in a circuit-based design representation without changing its actual input-output behavior. We discuss the application of retiming to minimize the number of registers with the goal of increasing the capacity of symbolic state traversal. In particular, we demonstrate that the classical definition of retiming can be generalized for verification by relaxing the notion of design equivalence and physical implementability. This includes (1) omitting the need for equivalent reset states by using an initialization stump, (2) supporting negative registers, handled by a general functional relation to future time frames, and (3) eliminating peripheral registers by converting them into simple temporal offsets. The presented results demonstrate that the application of retiming in verification can significantly increase the capacity of symbolic state traversal. Our experiments also demonstrate that the repeated use of retiming interleaved with other structural simplifications can yield reductions beyond those possible with single applications of the individual approaches. This result suggests that a tool architecture based on re-entrant transformation engines can potentially decompose and solve verification problems that otherwise would be infeasible.
Evaluation of bivariate Archimedean and elliptical copulas to model wind power dependency structures

When modeling wind power from several sources, consideration of the dependency structure of the sources is of critical importance. Failure to appropriately account for the dependency structure can lead to unrealistic models, which may result in erroneous conclusions from wind integration studies and other analyses. The dependency structure is fully described by the multivariate joint distribution function of the wind power. However, fewif anyexplicit joint distribution models of wind power exist. Instead, copulas can be used to create joint distribution functions, provided that the selected copula family reasonably approximates the dependency structure. Unfortunately, there is little guidance on which copula family should be used to model wind power. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which copula families are best suited to model wind power dependency structures. Bivariate copulas are considered in particular. The paper focuses on power from wind plantscollections of wind turbines with a common interconnection pointbut the methodology can be generally extended to consider power from individual wind turbines or even aggregate wind power from entire systems. Twelve Archimedean and elliptical copulas are evaluated using hourly data from 500 wind plant pairs in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Eastern Dataset. The evaluation is based on (2) and Cramer-von Mises statistics. Application guidelines recommending which copula family to use are developed. It is shown that a default assumption of Gaussian dependence is not justified and that the use of Gumbel copulas can result in improved models. An illustrative example shows the application of the guidelines to model dependence of wind power sources in Monte Carlo simulations. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Induction of caspase 3 activation by multiple Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm substrates

Summary The intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila is able to strike a balance between the death and survival of the host cell during infection. Despite the presence of high level of active caspase 3, the executioner caspase of apoptotic cell death, infected permissive macrophages are markedly resistant to exogenous apoptotic stimuli. Several bacterial molecules capable of promoting the cell survival pathways have been identified, but proteins involved in the activation of caspase 3 remain unknown. To study the mechanism of L. pneumophila-mediated caspase 3 activation, we tested all known Dot/Icm substrates for their ability to activate caspase 3. Five effectors capable of causing caspase 3 activation upon transient expression were identified. Among these, by using its ability to activate caspase 3 by inducing the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria, we demonstrated that VipD is a phospholipase A2, which hydrolyses phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphocholine (PC) on the mitochondrial membrane in a manner that appears to require host cofactor(s). The lipase activity leads to the production of free fatty acids and 2-lysophospholipids, which destabilize the mitochondrial membrane and may contribute to the release of cytochrome c and the subsequent caspase 3 activation. Furthermore, we found that whereas it is not detectably defectively in caspase 3 activation in permissive cells, amutant lacking all of these five genes is less potent in inducing apoptosis in dendritic cells. Our results reveal that activation of host cell death pathways by L. pneumophila is a result of the effects of multiple bacterial proteins with diverse biochemical functions.
Liquid immiscibility and crystallization in refractory phosphate glasses

The nature and evolution of liquid immiscibility and essentially complete crystallization in an optimized glass composition containing Al2O3, SiO2 and P2O5 are examined from the results of electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and density changes. Phase separation occurs during cooling from the melt; subsequent reheating to 850° C causes crystal nucleation followed by growth of the refractory phases of mullite (nominally 3Al2O3-2SiO2) and AlPO4 at approximately 1050 and 1160° C, respectively. Additional crystallization of these phases also occurs at 1400° C. Similar materials containing additions of ZrO2 and Y2O3 are also discussed.
Clinical and Genetic Description of a Family With a High Prevalence of Autosomal Dominant Restless Legs Syndrome

OBJECTIVE To conduct clinical and molecular genetic analyses of the members of an extended family in Central Indiana with a high prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS). PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS From February 1, 2006, through August 31, 2008, we collected data from members of this family, which is of English descent. Genealogical methods were used to expand the family tree, and family members were screened with an RLS questionnaire. Telephone interviews and personal examinations were performed at Mayo Clinic and during a field trip to Central Indiana. Blood samples were collected for molecular genetic analysis. A follow-up telephone interview was conducted 1 year later. RESULTS The family tree spans 7 generations with 88 living members, 30 of whom meet the criteria for diagnosis of RLS established by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group. Three affected family members also have Parkinson disease or essential tremor. The mode of RLS inheritance is compatible with an autosomal dominant pattern. The affected family members do not exhibit linkage to the 5 known RLS loci or mutations in the RLS susceptibility genes MEIS1 and BTBD9 . CONCLUSION Of 88 members of this single extended family in Central Indiana, 30 were diagnosed as having RLS. Because our analysis shows that the disease is not linked to any of the known RLS loci or risk-associated genes, we postulate that members of this family may carry a gene mutation in a novel genetic locus.
The mitochondrial uncoupler dicumarol disrupts the MTT assay

Dicumarol is routinely added to the 3-[4,4-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to study the role of NAD(P)H:quinone oxido-reductase in drug activation and detoxification. We assessed the direct impact of dicumarol (a mitochondrial uncoupler) on the MTT assay. Mouse mammary tumor (EMT6) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were treated with media containing either 10 or 1% fetal bovine serum and dicumarol (0-1000 microM) mimicking standard assay conditions. MTT, clonogenic, total reactive oxygen species (ROS), and oxygen consumption assays were performed. Significant increases in the apparent viability of EMT6 and CHO cells were observed with MTT assays after short time periods with maximum effects at 2 hr. Reduced serum concentrations intensified this effect. Conversely, significant decreases in viability for both cell lines occurred after longer incubations and serum withdrawal enhanced this effect in both cell lines. Clonogenic assays provided contrasting results where viability increased significantly only in EMT6 cells (not CHO) and was smaller than that reported by MTT. Furthermore, greater dicumarol toxicity was observed in clonogenic assays. Significant toxicity compared to control occurred after 4-hr treatment (vs. 12 hr MTT) and serum withdrawal also increased the toxicity of dicumarol with extended culture. ROS production in EMT6 and CHO cells increased in a concentration-dependent manner with 20-min dicumarol administration and thereafter declined. The EC(50) for dicumarol-induced oxygen consumption was 0.84 microM in CHO compared to 1.18 microM in EMT6 cells. Cell lines are differentially sensitive to the toxicity of dicumarol and cell survival data may be skewed by its inclusion, probably due to ROS production and mitochondrial uncoupling. Dicumarol is not recommended for inclusion in the MTT assay.
Primary cutaneous Richter syndrome: Prognostic implications and review of the literature

The term Richter syndrome (RS) describes the transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia into a high-grade lymphoma. RS occurs in 3% to 10% of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cases, and its onset is often characterized by the abrupt development of systemic symptoms (eg, fever in the absence of infection, night sweats, and weight loss), progressive lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly. RS frequently arises in the lymph nodes or bone marrow, and rarely presents with extranodal involvement, which includes the gastrointestinal tract, eye, testis, central nervous system, lung, kidney, and skin. We review the literature regarding the clinical course and treatment of RS, present a patient with primary cutaneous RS, and discuss the prognostic implications.
Mitochondrial DNA synthesis during fungal spore germination

Germinating spores of the fungus Botryodiplodia theobromae incorporated guanine-8-C14 into both the nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA fractions. Ethidium bromide inhibited the synthesis of mitochondrial DNA without having a significant effect on nuclear DNA synthesis or on the rate and extent of spore germination. Rates of leucine and uracil incorporation and of oxygen uptake were not significantly affected by ethidium bromide until germination was nearly completed. Mitochondrial DNA synthesis is apparently not required for germination of the spores of B. theobromae but is probably essential to continued vegetative growth.
Transcutaneous Measurement (TcB) of Total Serum Bilirubin (TSB) by Multi-Wavelength Spectral Reflectance (BiliCheck™): Accuracy and Precision in Newborn Babies

Transcutaneous Measurement (TcB) of Total Serum Bilirubin (TSB) by Multi-Wavelength Spectral Reflectance (BiliCheck™): Accuracy and Precision in Newborn Babies
Aerosol formation during photooxidation of organosulfur species

Measurements of aerosol formation during the photooxidation of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethyldisulfide (DMDS) in an outdoor smog chamber are compared with predictions from a model of aerosol nucleation and growth in the chemically reacting system. The aerosol is assumed to consist of methanesulfonic acid (MSA), sulfuric acid, and water. Source rates of the two acid species are obtained from a detailed chemical mechanism for the organosulfur precursor oxidation and are used to drive the aerosol model. Good agreement between experiment and predictions was observed for DMDS and DMS oxidation in the presence of NOx, but maximum total number concentrations achieved during DMDS oxidation in the absence of NOx were somewhat underpredicted. The effect upon model predictions of variations in model input parameters is evaluated.
An efficient algorithm for mutual exclusion using queue migration in computer networks

A nonsymmetric deadlock-free mutual exclusion algorithm for computer networks is presented. The algorithm requires O(m) messages to synchronize m modes in a lightly loaded system, and the performance approaches a constant k dependent on m as the workload increases. In a medium to heavily loaded system, it outperforms other proposed algorithms and its performance is independent of network topology. >
Metabolic regulation of carbon and electron flow as a function of pH during growth of Sarcina ventriculi

The physiology and biochemistry of Sarcina ventriculi was studied in order to determine adaptations made by the organism to changes in environmental pH. The organism altered carbon and electron flow from acetate, formate and ethanol production at neutral pH, to predominantly ethanol production at pH 3.0. Increased levels of pyruvate dehydrogenase (relative to pyruvate decarboxylase) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase occurred when the organism was grown at neutral pH, indicating the predominance of carbon flux through the oxidative branch of the pathway for pyruvate metabolism. When the organism was grown at acid pH, there was a significant increase in pyruvate decarboxylase levels and a decrease in acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, causing flux through the non-oxidative branch of the pathway. CO2 reductase and formate dehydrogenase were not regulated as a function of growth pH. Pyruvate dehydrogenase possessed Michaelis-Menten kinetics for pyruvate with an apparent Km of 2.5 mM, whereas pyruvate decarboxylase exhibited sigmoidal kinetics, with a S0.5 of 12.0 mM. Differences in total protein banding patterns from cells grown at pH extremes suggested that synthesis of pyruvate decarboxylase and other enzymes was in part responsible for metabolic regulation of the fermentation products formed.
CONSIDERING BUILD-LATER FOR MAJOR TRANSIT INVESTMENTS

This paper uses a theoretical model of benefit-cost analysis to consider the timing of major transit investments. The model takes into account the net benefits of a project, the variation of net benefits with project age and investment timing, capital cost and its growth, and the discount rate. Three questions are examined: (1) when might build-later be evaluated? (2) how do changes in the discount rate and other parameters of an investment affect its optimal timing? and (3) how significantly do differences in the stream of net benefits from an investment affect its optimal timing? The first two questions are examined analytically, and the last question is examined numerically. Implications are discussed with respect to planning for major transit investments.
Basin evolution of Upper Cretaceous–Lower Cenozoic strata in the Malargüe fold‐and‐thrust belt: northern Neuquén Basin, Argentina

The Andean Orogen is the type-example of an active Cordilleran style margin with a long-lived retroarc fold-and-thrust belt and foreland basin. Timing of initial shortening and foreland basin development in Argentina is diachronous along-strike, with ages varying by 20–30 Myr. The Neuquen Basin (32°S to 40°S) contains a thick sedimentary sequence ranging in age from late Triassic to Cenozoic, which preserves a record of rift, back arc and foreland basin environments. As much of the primary evidence for initial uplift has been overprinted or covered by younger shortening and volcanic activity, basin strata provide the most complete record of early mountain building. Detailed sedimentology and new maximum depositional ages obtained from detrital zircon U–Pb analyses from the Malargue fold-and-thrust belt (35°S) record a facies change between the marine evaporites of the Huitrin Formation (ca. 122 Ma) and the fluvial sandstones and conglomerates of the Diamante Formation (ca. 95 Ma). A 25–30 Myr unconformity between the Huitrin and Diamante formations represents the transition from post-rift thermal subsidence to forebulge erosion during initial flexural loading related to crustal shortening and uplift along the magmatic arc to the west by at least 97 ± 2 Ma. This change in basin style is not marked by any significant difference in provenance and detrital zircon signature. A distinct change in detrital zircons, sandstone composition and palaeocurrent direction from west-directed to east-directed occurs instead in the middle Diamante Formation and may reflect the Late Cretaceous transition from forebulge derived sediment in the distal foredeep to proximal foredeep material derived from the thrust belt to the west. This change in palaeoflow represents the migration of the forebulge, and therefore, of the foreland basin system between 80 and 90 Ma in the Malargue area.
Spatial Methodology for Assessing Distribution of Transportation Project Impacts with Environmental Justice Framework

Given the importance of transportation planning and the heavy investment in transportation made in metropolitan regions across the country, there is insufficient analysis of the distribution of investments and transportation project impacts. Methods of analysis in the academic arena and in practice by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are not adequate to describe the distribution of impacts or the cumulative nature of these impacts on local populations across a region. Although transportation planners evaluate specific project benefits and burdens and perform some regional distribution analyses, a thorough and scientific analysis of the impacts throughout a region is not currently performed. The project described here offers new methods for the evaluation of transportation project impacts by combining geographic information system practices with spatial analysis techniques to bring additional analytic capabilities to the process. Although this project does not address all of the shortcomings of t...
Hemostasis and diagnosis of preeclampsia

Abstract The diagnosis of preeclampsia, with all of its consequences, is at times difficult to establish, especially when the patient has underlying chronic hypertension and is not known from prior prenatal care visits. Many screening tests have been proposed. These should be sensitive, relatively specific, easy to perform, of low cost, and have a reasonable interval from prediction to disease onset. Laboratory assays would obviously be useful. We evaluated hemostasis tests for the diagnosis of preeclampsia, and compared fibronectin, antithrombin III and α2-antiplasmin in 48 preeclamptics and 86 control nulliparas. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that fibronectin is the most effective of these tests. A similar analysis comparing the results of previous studies using serum iron, angiotensin infusion, urinary calcium/creatinine ratio, the roll-over test and uric acid suggested a possible role for fibronectin in the diagnosis of preeclampsia. While not ideal, there seems to be, at present, no other, easy to perform laboratory test that outperforms fibronectin in predicting preeclampsia.
Negative Feedback Regulation following Administration of Chronic Exogenous Corticosterone

Administration of exogenous glucocorticoids is known to suppress the HPA axis and has been reported to occupy brain glucocorticoid receptors, eventually leading to down-regulation. To determine the effects of chronic corticosterone administration on HPA axis function, corticosterone was administered as both 25% and 50% corticosterone/cholesterol pellets. Rats were sacrificed 6 days after corticosterone pellet implantation. The 25% corticosterone pellets produced a small increase in morning corticosterone concentrations but no change in evening ACTH or corticosterone secretion. The 50% corticosterone pellets produced constant corticosterone concentrations of 5-6 micrograms/dl, with no circadian variation in corticosterone, indicating inhibition of evening ACTH and corticosterone secretion. The 25% corticosterone pellets produced no significant decrease in thymus weight or in adrenal weight; 50% corticosterone pellets produced significant decreases in thymus weight and adrenal weight. Neither 25% nor 50% corticosterone pellets produced significant decreases in GR in hippocampus and cortex. The 50% corticosterone pellets treatment resulted in a decrease in anterior pituitary POMC mRNA levels, a decrease in baseline and oCRH stimulated ACTH release from the anterior pituitary, and a near complete inhibition of the AM and PM response to restraint stress. These results suggest that: 1) the HPA axis was able to adjust to the small increase in glucocorticoids produced by the 25% cort pellets with minimal disturbances in function and 2) 50% corticosterone pellets exert a significant inhibitory effect on stress and diurnal ACTH secretion which appears to be exerted at the pituitary as well as possible inhibitory effects on brain.
Nonclinical toxicity studies of antiviral drugs indicated for the treatment of non-life-threatening diseases: evaluation of drug toxicity prior to phase 1 clinical studies.

Abstract The types of nonclinical toxicity studies conducted during the preclinical research and development of antiviral drugs intended for the treatment of non-life-threatening diseases in humans are reviewed. This guidance also applies to other classes of drugs under development for nonlife-threatening diseases that fall under the regulatory responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration's Division of Antiviral Drug Products, including systemic antifungals, antimycobacterials, and immunomodulators.
Sections and projections of homothetic convex bodies

For a pair of convex bodies K1 and K2 in Euclidean space \( \mathbb{E}^n \), n ≥ 3, possibly unbounded, we show that K1 is a translate of K2 if either of the following conditions holds: (i) the orthogonal projections of K1 on 2-dimensional planes are translates of the respective orthogonal projections of K2, (ii) there are points p1 ∈K1 and p2 ∈K2 such that for every pair of parallel 2-dimensional planesL1and L2 through p1 and p2, respectively, the section K1 ∩ L1is a translate of K2 ∩ L2.
Striatal dopaminergic pathways as a target for the insecticides permethrin and chlorpyrifos.

Because insecticide exposure has been linked to both Parkinsons disease and Gulf War illness, the neurotoxic actions of pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides on behavior and striatal dopaminergic pathways were investigated in C57BL/6 mice treated with permethrin (three i.p. doses at 0.2-200 mg/kg) or chlorpyrifos (three s.c. doses at 25-100 mg/kg) over a 2-week period. Permethrin altered maximal [3H]dopamine uptake in striatal synaptosomes from treated mice, with changes in Vmax displaying a bell-shaped curve. Uptake was increased to 134% of control at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg. At higher doses of PM (25 mg/kg), dopamine uptake declined to a level significantly below that of control (50% of control at 200 mg/kg, P < 0.01). We also observed a small, but statistically significant decrease in [3H]dopamine uptake by chlorpyrifos, when given at a dose of 100 mg/kg. There was no significant effect on the Km for dopamine transport. Evidence of cell stress was observed in measures of mitochondrialfunction, which were reduced in mice given high-end doses of chlorpyrifos and permethrin. Although cytotoxicity was not reflected in decreased levels of striatal dopamine in either 200 mg/kg PM or 100 mg/kg CPF treatment groups, an increase in dopamine turnover at 100 mg/kg CPF was indicated by a significant increase in titers of the dopamine metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid. Both permethrin and chlorpyrifos caused a decrease in open field behavior at the highest doses tested. Although frank Parkinsonism was not observed, these findings confirm that dopaminergic neurotransmission is affected by exposure to pyrethroid and organophosphorus insecticides, and may contribute to the overall spectrum of neurotoxicity caused by these compounds.
The numerical analysis of a phase field model in moving boundary problems

Moving boundary problems arise in a large number of applications including the phenomena of melting and solidification. The classical treatment is the Stefan model which ignores some of the important factors such as surface tension, supercooling, and superheating during the process. A new model called “the phase field model,” which captures such phenomena in pure and isotropic materials, is considered. It contains as a special case the classical Stefan model in the sense that there is diffusion away from the free surface and liberation of latent heat at phase transitions. Based on a Helmholtz free energy functional, a phase function indicating the phase state of the material is coupled with emperature to form a phase field model which contains a set of parabolic type equations. By using the theory of positively invariant regions, a global existence theorem is given. Numerical schemes are suggested along with stability and convergence studies. In one dimension the results of computation are compared with t...
Six-helix and eight-helix DNA nanotubes assembled from half-tubes

DNA nanotubes are cylinder-like structures formed from DNA double-helical molecules whose helix axes are fused at least twice by crossovers. It is potentially useful to use such tubes as sheaths around rodlike species that arise in biological systems and in nanotechnology. It seems easiest to obtain such sheathing by joining two or more components around an object rather than attempting to thread the object through a cavity in the tube. We report two examples of tubes containing a specific number of helices that are assembled from half-tube components. These tubes are a six-helix bundle and an eight-helix bundle, constructed respectively from two bent triple-crossover (BTX) molecules and from two four-helix arched motifs. Both species contain single strands in one molecule that are missing in its mate. The six-helix bundle is formed from two different BTX molecules, whereas the eight-helix species is a closed cyclic dimer of the same molecule. We demonstrate the formation of these species by gel electrophoresis, and we examine their arrangement into long one-dimensional arrays by means of atomic force microscopy.
Use of Warranty and Reliability Data to Inform Call Center Staffing

This article develops a call center staffing methodology for a new product release by integrating four models related to supply chain logistics, product reliability, call volume, and call center staffing.
Exome sequencing makes medical genomics a reality

Massively parallel sequencing of the exomes of four individuals with Miller syndrome, combined with filtering to exclude benign and unrelated variants, has identified causative mutations in DHODH. This approach will accelerate discovery of the genetic bases of hundreds of other rare mendelian disorders.
Cytokines and cellular interactions in inflammatory synovitis

Considerable evidence accumulated over the past decade has clarified some of the mechanisms of cell-cell interactions in rheumatoid synovitis and the important roles of IL-1 and TNF-α in inflammation and tissue destruction (1, 2). These advances in knowledge have led to the development of novel anticytokine therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, in spite of these successes, disagreement remains concerning the relative roles of T cell–dependent versus T cell–independent mechanisms and of IL-1 versus TNF-α in the initiation and perpetuation of rheumatoid synovitis. Studies in experimental animal models of inflammatory arthritis have shed some light on these issues in RA, although it is generally recognized that no animal model is completely equivalent to the human disease. The article by Niki et al. in this issue of the JCI provides some interesting new findings on effects of IL-1 on synovitis (3) and speaks to some of the broader questions regarding the cells and cytokines that drive this disease.
A contribution to the taxonomy of Chaetoceros muelleri Lemmermann (Bacillariophyceae) and related taxa

Abstract Chaetoceros muelleri Lemmermann has been reported from brackish waters in Europe and North America under more than 10 different specific names. Recently we have studied specimens of C. muelleri and C. hohnii from the western USA, as well as C. wighamoides from South Africa. We have concluded that two different forms of C. muelleri exist in North America. The nominate form is characterized by the frequent presence of a small process on the valve face. We propose the combination Chaetoceros muelleri var. subsalsum for populations consistently lacking processes. C. hohnii and C. wighamoides should be considered synonyms of C. muelleri var. subsalsum. Chaetoceros muelleri is a variable. taxon, both in vegetative cells and resting spores.