cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of scratch-induced damages in multi-layer packaging film systems

Scratch-induced damages on multi-layer polymeric packaging films are investigated using laser confocal microscopy. Films were tested using a modified version of the standardized linearly increasing load scratch test (ASTM D7027-05/ISO 19252:2008), which has been successfully demonstrated to correlate field data of commercial films with lab data. Scratch test results show clear distinction between the two model film systems on both the interior and exterior surfaces. Microscopy was performed to investigate the feasibility of utilizing this methodology as a tool for packaging film structure evaluation by determining the effect each layer has on the resistance of scratch damages. It is shown that the film exhibiting superior scratch performance also possesses significantly better stress distribution through its layers during the scratch test, as well as better layer adhesion during severe deformation. The scratch test is capable of discerning film mechanical integrity in a layer-by-layer fashion.
Ultrastretchable Fibers with Metallic Conductivity Using a Liquid Metal Alloy Core

The fabrication and characterization of fi bers that are ultrastretchable and have metallic electrical conductivity are described. The fi bers consist of a liquid metal alloy, eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn), injected into the core of stretchable hollow fi bers composed of a triblock copolymer, poly[styreneb -(ethylene- co -butylene)- b -styrene] (SEBS) resin. The hollow fi bers are easy to mass-produce with controlled size using commercially available melt processing methods. The fi bers are similar to conventional metallic wires, but can be stretched orders of magnitude further while retaining electrical conductivity. Mechanical measurements with and without the liquid metal inside the fi bers show the liquid core has a negligible impact on the mechanical properties of the fi bers, which is in contrast to most conductive composite fi bers. The fi bers also maintain the same tactile properties with and without the metal. Electrical measurements show that the fi bers increase resistance as the fi ber elongates and the cross sectional area narrows. Fibers with larger diameters change from a triangular to a more circular cross-section during stretching, which has the appeal of lowering the resistance below that predicted by theory. To demonstrate their utility, the ultrastretchable fi bers are used as stretchable wires for earphones and for a battery charger and perform as well as their conventional parts.
Semi-adiabatic Shinnar–Le Roux pulses and their application to diffusion tensor imaging of humans at 7T

The adiabatic Shinnar-Le Roux (SLR) algorithm for radiofrequency (RF) pulse design enables systematic control of pulse parameters such as bandwidth, RF energy distribution and duration. Some applications, such as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) at high magnetic fields, would benefit from RF pulses that can provide greater B1 insensitivity while adhering to echo time and specific absorption rate (SAR) limits. In this study, the adiabatic SLR algorithm was employed to generate 6-ms and 4-ms 180° semi-adiabatic RF pulses which were used to replace the refocusing pulses in a twice-refocused spin echo (TRSE) diffusion-weighted echo planar imaging (DW-EPI) sequence to create two versions of a twice-refocused adiabatic spin echo (TRASE) sequence. The two versions were designed for different trade-offs between adiabaticity and echo time. Since a pair of identical refocusing pulses is applied, the quadratic phase imposed by the first is unwound by the second, preserving the linear phase created by the excitation pulse. In vivo images of the human brain obtained at 7Testa (7T) demonstrate that both versions of the TRASE sequence developed in this study achieve more homogeneous signal in the diffusion-weighted images than the conventional TRSE sequence. Semi-adiabatic SLR pulses offer a more B1-insensitive solution for diffusion preparation at 7T, while operating within SAR constraints. This method may be coupled with any EPI readout trajectory and parallel imaging scheme to provide more uniform coverage for diffusion tensor imaging at 7T and 3T.
The adsorption of ethylene on Mo(111): Evidence for a subsurface carbon

The adsorption of ethylene on Mo(111) has been studied using low energy Li + scattering, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Near room temperature the carbon from ethylene is present above the surface as indicated by ion scattering at grazing incidence. Annealing above 600 K causes an irreversible transition from a surface to a subsurface location. The subsurface site is carbidic and is located within about 5 A of the surface. The nature of the surface species is uncertain. Annealing above 1500 K causes the subsurface carbon to diffuse rapidly into the bulk crystal. The rate of oxygen co-adsorption on the Mo(111) in the presence of either surface or subsurface carbon is compared with the uptake for the clean surface. Although the carbon lowers the initial sticking coefficient, it does not strongly inhibit oxygen uptake in either case.
Comparison of fractal and pore models for electrolyte/electrode interfaces

Abstract Fractal and pore models connecting the fractional-power frequency dependence of the impedance of electrolyte/blocking electrode interface to the interface microstructure are compared. It is demonstrated that (a) Liu's fractal model is similar to a pore model because of the way the fractal interface is constructed; (b) the validity of the relation between the fractal dimension D and the impedance frequency exponent n derived by Liu depends crucially on the way the fractal dimension is defined; and (c) the relation between D and n derived by Nyikos and Pajkossy is questionable because their claim that all fractal interfaces have a fractional-power-law impedance is inconsistent with our numerical results.
Informational interviewing: A targeted approach

(1984). Informational interviewing: A targeted approach. Communication Education: Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 404-407.
Guidelines for selection of an optimal structuring element for Mathematical Morphology based tools to detect power system disturbances

Mathematical Morphology (MM) has been reported as a promising application to detect power system disturbances. The real-time applications of MM based tools are also reported to detect disturbances. However, there is no clear guideline for selection of the structuring element for a particular application, despite the fact that the structuring element is a key component of any MM based tool. This paper shows a method to generalize and numerically optimize the structuring element to detect power system disturbances. Power system fault cases are simulated using a professional time-domain software, and the current and voltage waveforms from these cases are used to illustrate the methodology. Results are observed and analyzed. Some guidelines to select an optimum structuring element to detect power system disturbances are provided based on the results.
Parallel sample path generation for discrete event systems and the traffic smoothing problem

We review two approaches, the Standard Clock (SC) technique and Augmented System Analysis (ASA), that have been proposed for generating sample paths of Discrete Event Systems (DES) in parallel. These are placed in the unifying framework of the fundamentalsample path constructability problem: for a finite discrete parameter set Θ = {θ1, ..., θm}given a sample path under θ1 the problem is to simultaneously construct sample paths under all remaining parameter values. Using the ASA approach we then consider the problem of smoothing arbitrary, generally bursty, and possibly nonstationary traffic processes which are encountered in many applications, especially in the area of flow control for integrated-service, high-speed networks. We derive some basic structural properties of a smoothing scheme known as the Leaky Bucket (LB) mechanism through which it is seen that the variability of a traffic process can be monotonically decreased by decreasing an integer-valued parameter of this scheme. Finally, we show that a sample path under any value of this parameter is constructable with respect to an observed sample path under any other value. Therefore, by controlling this parameter on line, we show how simple iterative optimization schemes can be used to achieve typical design objectives such as keeping both the mean packet delay due to smoothing and the variability of the traffic process low.
Effect of Graphite Concentration on Shear-Wave Speed in Gelatin-Based Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms

Elasticity-based imaging modalities are becoming popular diagnostic tools in clinical practice. Gelatin-based, tissue mimicking phantoms that contain graphite as the acoustic scattering material are commonly used in testing and validating elasticity-imaging methods to quantify tissue stiffness. The gelatin bloom strength and concentration are used to control phantom stiffness. While it is known that graphite concentration can be modulated to control acoustic attenuation, the impact of graphite concentrationon phantom elasticity has not been characterized in these gelatin phantoms. This work investigates the impact of graphite concentration on phantom shear stiffness as characterized by shear-wave speed measurements using impulsive acoustic-radiation-force excitations. Phantom shear-wave speed increased by 0.83 (m/s)/(dB/(cm MHz)) when increasing the attenuation coefficient slope of the phantom material through increasing graphite concentration. Therefore, gelatin-phantom stiffness can be affected by the conventional ways that attenuation is modulated through graphite concentration in these phantoms.
Tryptophol Cation Conformations Studied with ZEKE Spectroscopy

The relative energies of several conformations of the tryptophol cation are determined by zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy and photoionization efficiency measurements. Recently published high-resolution electronic spectroscopy on the neutral species determined the absolute configuration of the different conformers in the S1 spectrum. These assignments are utilized in the photoelectron experiments by pumping through conformer specific S1 resonances yielding ZEKE spectra of the specific, assigned conformations. The adiabatic ionization of one specific conformation is definitively determined, and two others are estimated. The photoelectron spectra, coupled with calculations, reveal that structural changes upon ionization are dominated by interactions of the hydroxyl group with the changes of electronic structure in the aromatic system.
Polarization holography: orthogonal plane-polarized beam configuration with circular vectorial photoinduced anisotropy

This paper presents a complete model for the complex underlying mechanisms of vectorial holography using orthogonal S- and P-polarized beams. This configuration is of great interest, being the only one allowing creation of purely-vectorial holographic gratings. We model both the interference process and the material's photoinduced vectorial anisotropy using simple matrix formalism. We demonstrate further that combined linear and circular vectorial anisotropy makes the grating polarization-selective in diffraction allowing non-destructive polarization-measurement on the incident beam. This strict material condition explains the very few experimental successes previously reported. Appropriate material selection might open the path to complete non-destructive polarimetric solutions, polarization-discrimination or routing applications. The presented model can be easily extended further to other polarization configurations.
Synthesis and evaluation of novel light‐curable amino acid‐constructed glass–ionomer cements

Poly(alkenoic acid)s constructed with β-alanine and glutamic acid were synthesized and grafted with glycidyl methacrylate (GM). The purified polymers were further formulated with water, acrylic acid (AA), and Fuji II LC glass filler to form photocurable dental cements. Compressive strength (CS) and flexural strength (FS) of the cement, and viscosity of the resin liquid were used as screening tools to find the optimal formulation. The specimens were conditioned in distilled water at 37°C for 24 h, prior to testing. The results show that the effects of grafting ratio, polymer content, powder liquid (P/L) ratio, initiator concentration, and light exposure time were significant, but the effect of molecular weight was not. Aging study shows that the experimental cement showed a constant increase in mechanical strength for up to 1 week and then kept constant over 1 month. The formulation with 50/25/25 (liquid composition of polymer/AA/water), 70% (grafting ratio of GM), 3.2/1 (P/L ratio) as well as 0.9% (camphorquinone) and 1-min light exposure time were found to be the optimal. The experimental cement was 19% higher in CS, 47% higher in diametral tensile strength and 176% higher in FS, compared to Fuji II LC. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 1587–1595, 2007
Metallic spinal artifacts in magnetic resonance imaging.

Study design The magnetic resonance artifact susceptibility of traces of surgical aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel in a human spine model was investigated. Metallic filings were deposited in noncontiguous disc spaces in five human thoracic spines before magnetic resonance imaging with spin echo and gradient echo sequences. Objectives Spin echo and gradient echo sequences were used for quantitate and compare void artifact produced by commonly used surgical metals. This was compared to a liquid paraffin control. Summary of background data No significant susceptibility artifact was seen with any metal in all spin echo sequences, including T1 (TR 600, TE 12), T2 (TR 2000, TE 30), proton density (TR 2000, TE 80), and fast T2 scanning (TR 3800, TE 96, Ef). Methods Sagittal magnetic resonance imaging permitted void artifact quantification and comparison between different metallic alloys. Two neuroradiologists, working on a blinded basis, evaluated all data and rated the void susceptibility artifact on a scale of 1 (least) to 4 (greatest). Results In general, the magnitude of an imaging artifact during magnetic resonance imaging correlated with the magnetism of the metal. Nickel, found in a larger concentration in 316L than in 304 stainless steel, decreases the magnetic resonance artifact of specific metals because of its ability to stabilize iron in a non-magnetic state. Therefore, the 316L stainless steel yielded less artifact production than 304 stainless steel on gradient echo imaging. Conclusion If upon gradient echo imaging in the postoperative period significant artifact production is noted, stainless steel deposition should be suspected as the causative agent. In this situation, spin echo techniques should be the first approach for attempting optimal visualization of the spinal cord and soft tissue structures.
Ethyl Glucoside as a Multifunctional Initiator for Enzyme-Catalyzed Regioselective Lactone Ring-Opening Polymerization

The one-pot biocatalytic synthesis of novel amphiphilic products consisting of an ethyl glucopyranoside (EGP) headgroup and a hydrophobic chain is described. The porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL) catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactone (e-CL) by the multifunctional initiator EGP was carried out at 70 °C in bulk. Products of variable oligo(e-CL) chain length (Mn = 450, 2200) were formed by variation of the e-CL/EGP ratio. Extension of this approach using Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym-435) and EGP as the initiator for trimethylene carbonate (TMC) ring-opening polymerization also resulted in the formation of an EGP−oligo(TMC) conjugate (Mn = 7200). Structural analysis by 1H, 13C, and COSY (13C-13C) NMR experiments showed that the reaction was highly regiospecific; i.e., the oligo(e-CL)/oligo(TMC) chains formed were attached by an ester/carbonate link exclusively to the primary hydroxyl moiety of EGP.
Fate of mirex-14C in the rat and plants

About 58.5 percent of the uniformly labeled mirex-14C administered to rats as a single oral dose was excreted in feces and 0.69% in urine after 7 days. Considerable tissue storage of mirex was observed; fat, muscle, liver, kidneys and intestines contained 27.8, 3.20, 1.75, 0.76 and 0.23 percent of the total dose, respectively 7 days after treatment. While the first half-life of mirex was 38 hours, the projected second half-life was in excess of 100 days indicating a very slow rate of elimination from the body. No metabolite of mirex was detected in the feces, urine or any of the tissues. Nor was any mirex metabolite detected on incubation with rat, mouse, and rabbit liver preparations or plant root preparations. Mirex was concentrated by pea and bean roots and smaller amounts were translocated to the aerial parts when the plants were allowed to grow in water containing 1, 5 and 10 ppm mirex for 2 days. The resistance of mirex to biodegradation and its long biological half-life indicate that this insecticide may have an environmental half-life which far surpasses that of any previously studied insecticide.
Analyses of Markov Decision Process Structure Regarding the Possible Strategic Use of Interacting Memory Systems

Behavioral tasks are often used to study the different memory systems present in humans and animals. Such tasks are usually designed to isolate and measure some aspect of a single memory system. However, it is not necessarily clear that any given task actually does isolate a system or that the strategy used by a subject in the experiment is the one desired by the experimenter. We have previously shown that when tasks are written mathematically as a form of partially-observable Markov decision processes, the structure of the tasks provide information regarding the possible utility of certain memory systems. These previous analyses dealt with the disambiguation problem: given a specific ambiguous observation of the environment, is there information provided by a given memory strategy that can disambiguate that observation to allow a correct decisionµ Here we extend this approach to cases where multiple memory systems can be strategically combined in different ways. Specifically, we analyze the disambiguation arising from three ways by which episodic-like memory retrieval might be cued (by another episodic-like memory, by a semantic association, or by working memory for some earlier observation). We also consider the disambiguation arising from holding earlier working memories, episodic-like memories or semantic associations in working memory. From these analyses we can begin to develop a quantitative hierarchy among memory systems in which stimulus-response memories and semantic associations provide no disambiguation while the episodic memory system provides the most flexible
Image Reconstruction in Multi-Channel Model under Gaussian Noise

The image reconstruction from noisy data is studied. A nonparametric boundary function is estimated from observations in a growing number, N, of independent channels in the Gaussian white noise. In each channel, the image and the background intensities are unknown. They define a set of unidentifiable nuisance parameters that slow down the typical minimax rate of convergence. The asymptotically minimax rate is found as N → ∞, and an asymptotically optimal estimator of the boundary function is suggested.
Security Challenges for the Public Cloud

Cloud computing represents today's most exciting computing paradigm shift in information technology. However, security and privacy are perceived as primary obstacles to its wide adoption. Here, the authors outline several critical security challenges and motivate further investigation of security solutions for a trustworthy public cloud environment.
Reliability and validity of portable blood pressure/pulse units during a competitive challenge

The aim of the present study was to determine the reliability and validity of recordings from three portable blood pressure/pulse units compared with simultaneous recordings from a poly­ graph used as the standard for these comparisons. The units tested included the Sears Digital Z153, Industrial Biomedical Sensor (IBS) Digital SD-700, and the Sphygmostat B-350/PU-102 (analog scale). Thirty healthy subjects were exposed to Pac-Man video game and mental arith­ metic stressors. Each stressor was preceded by relaxation and followed by recovery periods. Dur­ ing each period, systolic/diastolic blood pressure and pulse were taken from one of the three port­ able units and the polygraph. The three units were reliable in recording systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate across baseline, stressor, and recovery periods. The blood pres­ sure/pulse readings from the digital units by Sears and IBS corresponded more closely to simul­ taneous polygraph recordings than did the analog scale device by Sphygmostat. These results suggest that the digital blood pressure/pulse units employed in this investigation are reliable and valid measurement devices suitable for field research with clinical populations.
The Effect of DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase on Adeno-Associated Virus Replication

Background: DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a DNA repair enzyme and plays an important role in determining the molecular fate of the rAAV genome. However, the effect this cellular enzyme on rAAV DNA replication remains elusive. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the present study, we characterized the roles of DNA-PK on recombinant adenoassociated virus DNA replication. Inhibition of DNA-PK by a DNA-PK inhibitor or siRNA targeting DNA-PKcs significantly decreased replication of AAV in MO59K and 293 cells. Southern blot analysis showed that replicated rAAV DNA formed head-to-head or tail-to-tail junctions. The head-to-tail junction was low or undetectable suggesting AAV-ITR self-priming is the major mechanism for rAAV DNA replication. In an in vitro replication assay, anti-Ku80 antibody strongly inhibited rAAV replication, while anti-Ku70 antibody moderately decreased rAAV replication. Similarly, when Ku heterodimer (Ku70/80) was depleted, less replicated rAAV DNA were detected. Finally, we showed that AAV-ITRs directly interacted with Ku proteins. Conclusion/Significance: Collectively, our results showed that that DNA-PK enhances rAAV replication through the interaction of Ku proteins and AAV-ITRs.
Osseous Remodeling After Femoral Head-neck Junction Osteochondroplasty

Femoral head-neck junction osteochondroplasty is commonly used to treat femoroacetabular impingement, yet remodeling of the osteochondroplasty site is not well described. We therefore describe bony remodeling at the osteochondroplasty site and analyze clinical outcomes and complications associated with femoral osteochondroplasty. We retrospectively reviewed 135 patients (150 hips) who underwent femoral head-neck osteochondroplasty combined with hip arthroscopy, surgical hip dislocation, periacetabular osteotomy, or proximal femoral osteotomy. The minimum clinical followup was 10 months (mean, 22.3 months; range, 10–65 months). We assessed the femoral-head neck offset, head-neck offset ratio, alpha angle, and cortical remodeling. We used the Harris hip score to determine hip function. We observed an increase in the head-neck offset, offset ratio, and decrease in the alpha angle postoperatively and at latest followup. Ninety-eight of 113 (87%) hips had partial or complete recorticalization at the osteochondroplasty site. The mean Harris hip score improved from 64 to 85. We excised heterotopic bone in one hip. There were no femoral neck fractures. The deformity correction achieved with femoral head-neck osteochondroplasty is maintained and recorticalization occurs in the majority of cases during the first two years. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Theory and Practice in Health Communication Campaigns: A Critical Interrogation

In recent reviews of the body of work on health campaigns, communication scholars discussed the importance of reflective thinking about the capacity of campaigns to effect change; this reflective thinking is especially important in the realm of the increasing gaps in society between the health rich and the health poor and the increasing marginalization of the poorer sections of society. This article critically reviews 3 central theories of health communication campaigns that represent the dominant cognitive approach: theory of reasoned action, health belief model, and the extended parallel process model. After articulating the limitations of these theoretical approaches, the article summarizes new directions in theory, methodology, and application of health communication campaigns targeting marginalized populations.
Left ventricular ejection fraction and first third ejection fraction early after acute myocardial infarction: value for predicting mortality and morbidity.

Abstract In 102 patients with acute myocardial infarction total ejection fraction was measured 1 to 4 days after hospital admission with simultaneous measurement of first third ejection fraction, using first pass radionuclide angiography, in 44. Ejection fraction was reduced ( 0.52. Nine of 21 patients (43 percent) with a first third ejection fraction value of Thus, relatively early after admission for acute myocardial infarction total ejection fraction can fail to show left ventricular dysfunction in one third of patients, whereas the first third ejection fraction appears to be highly sensitive for detecting depressed left ventricular function. A total ejection fraction of
Visibility editing for all-frequency shadow design

We present an approach for editing shadows in all-frequency lighting environments. To support artistic control, we propose to decouple shadowing from lighting and focus on providing intuitive controls to edit the former. To accomplish this task, we precompute and store scene visibility information separately from lighting and BRDFs and allow artists to edit visibility directly, by providing operations to select shadows and edit their shape. To facilitate a wider range of editing operations, we generalize visibility from binary to three-channel floating point quantities and introduce a novel shadow representation based on computation of visibility ratios between the original render and the edited one. We demonstrate our results for diffuse and glossy surfaces, still scenes and animations.
Three Distinct Mechanisms of Neuro-Muscular Junction Excitation by Infrared Pulses

Post-synaptic currents (PSCs) were recorded using whole cell voltage clamp to examine excitatory responses of the neuro-muscular junction to infrared pulses (1862nm, 200μs/pulse, 5-30 pulses/s, 20-1000 μJ/pulse over 125 nm2). In wild type Caenorhabditis elegans, optical stimuli excited the post-synaptic cell by 1) immediate opto-mechanical triggering of pulse-by-pulse miniature excitatory currents (mLEC) with 0.7ms latency to peak and 2) relatively slow (τ∼1.3s onset) thermodynamically driven reduction in a tonic outward rectified K+ current (LTC). The same optical stimuli acted on the pre-synaptic neuron to 3) rapidly increase the rate of synaptic vesicle release and the rate of miniature PSCs (mPSCs). In addition, mPSC kinetics were increased with infrared stimulation resulting in a decrease in average charge per event from 52 to 32fC. The pulse-by-pulse mLECs were enhanced in muscle degenerin gain of function mutant (unc-105) suggesting the fast response was due to opto-mechanical activation of the degenerin stretch receptor. The slow tonic current (LTC) reversed at the K+ equilibrium potential, exhibited a highly rectified outward conductance, and a thermal-dependent closure analogous to shaker related channels including Kv1.1. In the pre-synaptic neuron, the spontaneous rate of synaptic vesicle release and the laser-evoked increase was nearly eliminated in a loss of function mutation of the voltage insensitive cation leak channel (unc-77, nca-1). The increased mPSC rate (presynaptic action) and reduction in the tonic outward K+ current (post-synaptic action) contributed in nearly equal proportions at −60mV holding potential and accounted for over 90% of the total laser-evoked PSC. [Supported by NIH R01 DC006685 & R01DC011481]
Cloning and expression of the pediocin operon in Streptococcus thermophilus and other lactic fermentation bacteria.

Production of pediocin in Pediococcus acidilactici is associated with pMBR1.0, which encodes prepediocin, a pediocin immunity protein, and two proteins involved in secretion and precursor processing. These four genes are organized as an operon under control of a single promoter. We have constructed shuttle vectors that contain all four structural genes, the chromosomal promoter STP2201 from Streptococcus thermophilus, and repA from the 2-kbp S. thermophilus plasmid pER8. The recombinant plasmid, pPC318, expressed and secreted active pediocin in Escherichia coli. Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, and Enterococcus faecalis were electrotransformed with pPC418, a modified vector fitted with an erythromycin resistance tracking gene. Pediocin was produced and secreted in each of the lactic acid bacteria, and production was stable for up to ten passages. The expression of pediocin in dairy fermentation microbes has important implications for bacteriocins as food preservatives in dairy products.
Automatic Offloading C++ Expression Templates to CUDA Enabled GPUs

In the last few years, many scientific applications have been developed for powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) and have achieved remarkable speedups. This success can be partially attributed to high performance host callable GPU library routines that are offloaded to GPUs at runtime. These library routines are based on C/C++-like programming toolkits such as CUDA from NVIDIA and have the same calling signatures as their CPU counterparts. Recently, with the sufficient support of C++ templates from CUDA, the emergence of template libraries have enabled further advancement in code reusability and rapid software development for GPUs. However, Expression Templates (ET), which have been very popular for implementing data parallel scientific software for host CPUs because of their intuitive and mathematics-like syntax, have been underutilized by GPU development libraries. The lack of ET usage is caused by the difficulty of offloading expression templates from hosts to GPUs due to the inability to pass instantiated expressions to GPU kernels as well as the absence of the exact form of the expressions for the templates at the time of coding. This paper presents a general approach that enables automatic offloading of C++ expression templates to CUDA enabled GPUs by using the C++ metaprogramming technique and Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation methodology to generate and compile CUDA kernels for corresponding expression templates followed by executing the kernels with appropriate arguments. This approach allows developers to port applications to run on GPUs with virtually no code modifications. More specifically, this paper uses a large ET based data parallel physics library called QDP++ as an example to illustrate many aspects of the approach to offload expression templates automatically and to demonstrate very good speedups for typical QDP++ applications running on GPUs against running on CPUs using this method of offloading. In addition, this approach of automatic offloading expression templates could be applied to other many-core accelerators that provide C++ programming toolkits with the support of C++ template.
Measurements of aerosol optical depths in the UV-A: a comparison between a USDA Yankee Environmental Systems UV-multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer and an EPA Brewer spectrophotometer

This study presents measurements of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) spectral dependence in the Ultraviolet (UV) (317-368 nm) from a USDA UV-Multi-Filter Rotating Shadow band Radiometer (UV-MFRSR) and an EPA Brewer spectrophotometer collocated at Boulder, Colorado. The square of the correlation coefficients between the two instruments are: 0.93 for the 317-320 nm wavelength pair, 0.86 for the 332- 340 nm wavelength pair, and 0.94 for the 368-360 nm wavelength pair (first wavelength represents the UV-MFRSR, while the second represents the Brewer). The ratio of the UV-MFRSR to Brewer AOD for all wavelengths is 1.01 +/- 0.35. The daily-averaged AOD for wavelengths 317/320, 332/340, and 368/360 nm range from 0.112 to 0.373, 0.136 to 0.328, and 0.103 to 0.289, respectively, based on averages from both instruments. The hourly mean angstrom exponents were calculated to be 0.8 +/- 1.5 for the UV-MFRSR and 1.3 +/- 2.4 for the Brewer (which are not statistically different than zero at the 95% confidence level). The wavelength dependence of the AOD is explained based on reasonable assumptions for the size distribution and optical properties of the aerosol particles using Mie theory.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Acute posterior wall myocardial infarction: Electrocardiographic manifestations

Myocardial infarction (MI) of the posterior wall of the left ventricle involves occlusion of either the left circumflex or the right coronary artery. Posterior wall MI most often occurs along with acute inferior or lateral MI; isolated posterior wall MI, however, does occur. Electrocardiographic abnormalities suggestive of acute posterior wall MI include the following (in leads V1, V2, or V3): (1) horizontal ST segment depression; (2) a tall, upright T wave; (3) a tall, wide R wave; and (4) and R/S wave ratio greater than 1.0 (in lead V2 only). Further, the combination of horizontal ST segment depression with an upright T wave increased the diagnostic accuracy of these two separate electrocardiographic findings. The additional-lead electrocardiogram using left posterior thorax leads is potentially helpful; ST segment elevation greater than 1 mm in this distribution suggests an acute posterior wall MI>
Aminoglycosides for the treatment of gram-negative infections: therapeutic use, resistance and future outlook.

he aminoglycosides are a large group of antimicrobial molecules which are the products of (or semisynthetic derivatives of the products of) bacterial or fungal metabolism. Streptomycin, derived from the soil organism, Streptomyces griseus, was discovered in 1944, and found early use in the treatment of tuberculosis. Toxicity issues have blunted enthusiasm for the use of aminoglycosides.There is a trend toward use of other equally effective and less toxic alternative drug classes for the treatment of suspected or proven infections due to aerobic gram negative bacilli.As the use of aminoglycosides has been reduced, the vast majority of gram-negative aerobes, including multiple drug-resistant strains, remain susceptible to one or more aminoglycosides.Thus, these agents remain important in the modern antimicrobial armamentarium.
Totems and Teachers: Key Figures in the History of Anthropology

Totems and Teachers: Key Figures in the History of Anthropology. Sydel Silverman, eds. New York: AltaMira Press, 2004. 258 pp.
Intramolecular interactions of the regulatory domains of the Bcr-Abl kinase reveal a novel control mechanism

Abstract Background The Abl nonreceptor tyrosine kinase is implicated in a range of cellular processes and its transforming variants are involved in human leukemias. The N-terminal regulatory region of the Abl protein contains Src homology domains SH2 and SH3 which have been shown to be important for the regulation of its activity in vivo . These domains are often found together in the same protein and biochemical data suggest that the functions of one domain can be influenced by the other. Results We have determined the crystal structure of the Abl regulatory region containing the SH3 and SH2 domains. In general, the individual domains are very similar to those of previously solved structures, although the Abl SH2 domain contains a loop which is extended so that one side of the resulting phosphotyrosine-binding pocket is open. In our structure the protein exists as a monomer with no intermolecular contacts to which a biological function may be attributed. However, there is a significant intramolecular contact between a loop of the SH3 domain and the extended loop of the SH2 domain. This contact surface includes the SH2 loop segment that is responsible for binding the phosphate moiety of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins and is therefore critical for orienting peptide interactions. Conclusions The crystal structure of the composite Abl SH3–SH2 domain provides the first indication of how SH2 and SH3 domains communicate with each other within the same molecule and why the presence of one directly influences the activity of the other. This is the first clear evidence that these two domains are in contact with each other. The results suggest that this direct interaction between the two domains may affect the ligand binding properties of the SH2 domain, thus providing an explanation for biochemical and functional data concerning the Bcr–Abl kinase.
On some statistical paradoxes and non-conglomerability

Some statistical paradoxes arising from the use of non-conglomerable finitely additive distributions are discussed.
Federal crime legislation through the eyes of Alexis de Tocquiville

The political process entailed in the passage of federal crime legislation in 1994 and the revisions of it being considered in 1995 are analyzed as a manifestation of three central themes about American politics articulated by Alexis de Tocqueville inDemocracy in America published in 1835. It is argued that “crackdown” measures of dubious value in fighting crime are the result of majoritarianism, a national consensus favoring very conservative crime policies. A second factor at work is pluralism, the strong role played by interest groups in American politics. Thirdly, the racial politics which De Tocqueville thought were destined to plague the United States indefinitely are shown to form a backdrop to the formulation of crime control measures. The article concludes with a discussion of a strategy for the development of more enlightened crime policies in the face of stark realities about the nature of the policy-making process.
Action, Emotion, and Personality: Emerging Conceptual Integration

Several literatures converge on the idea that approach and positive affect related to goal pursuit are managed by one self-regulatory system and that avoidance (or withdrawal) and negative affect related to threats are managed by a second self-regulatory system. After briefly reviewing these literatures, the authors consider the relation of these themes to the broader domain of personality. In particular, they map individual differences in the responsivity of the approach system onto the personality dimension of extraversion and map individual differences in the responsivity of the withdrawal system onto the dimension of neuroticism. This mapping requires a slight refocusing of current conceptions of extraversion and neuroticism. However, such a refocusing brings a gain as well as a cost: In particular, it would embed these dimensions more explicitly in a process-oriented conceptualization of action control.
Nanoencapsulation Enhances Epigallocatechin-3-gallate Stability and Its Antiatherogenic Bioactivities in Macrophages

We have successfully synthesized (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) encapsulated nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCE) and chitosan-coated NLCE (CSNLCE) using natural lipids, surfactant, chitosan, and EGCG. Nanoencapsulation dramatically improved EGCG stability. CSNLCE significantly increased EGCG content in THP-1-derived macrophages compared with nonencapsulated EGCG. As compared to 10 μM nonencapsulated EGCG, both NLCE and CSNLCE at the same concentration significantly decreased macrophage cholesteryl ester content. NLCE and CSNLCE significantly decreased mRNA levels and protein secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels in macrophages, respectively. These data suggest that nanoencapsulated EGCG may have a potential to inhibit atherosclerotic lesion development through decreasing macrophage cholesterol content and MCP-1 expression.
Lack of a comprehensive requirements' definition results in never-ending costly product development

Abstract The preparation of a comprehensive requirements' definition is probably the most critical and yet overlooked activity that it is necessary to undertake during product development. Corporate senior management often does not recognize the importance of this activity, and does not support it adequately. This results in a never-ending, costly product-development process known as ‘product support’. The paper outlines the process of requirements' definition preparation, focusing on two key elements: (a) the identification of the marketing requirements, based on external and internal needs, and (b) the translation of those marketing requirements into verifiable technical performance specifications. The author concludes that the preparation of a proper requirements' definition should be a well organized team effort with several decision points, and recommends the establishment of a specialized function to coordinate these activities.
Stability of n-order discrete systems with overflow arithmetic

Abstract The stability of n-order discrete systems with general overflow arithmetic is investigated. Conditions are presented for global stability for systems with zero input and for bounded-input, bounded-output stability and overflow stability for systems with non-zero input. A procedure is given to construct limit cycles of period one and two for n-order direct form system matrices.
Synthesis and structure of a linked-bis(amidate) ligand and some complexes with titanium.

The synthesis of a new ligand system in which two amides are coupled via a rigid phenylene spacer is readily accomplished in a high-yield, single-step reaction. The dilithio salt (NO)2Li2(THF)x reacts with Ti(NR2)4 (R = Me, Et) to yield the titanium amides [(NO)2Ti(NR2)2]2. The latter react with excess Me3SiCl to produce the dichloride (NO)2TiCl2, which was also obtained by the reaction of [(NO)2Ti(NMe2)2]2 with TiCl4(THF)2 in refluxing toluene, and in a lower-yielding route, by salt metathesis between the dilithio salt and TiCl4(THF)2.
Modulation of branched-chain α-keto acid decarboxylase activity in rat liver mitochondria by hypophysectomy

Abstract A reliable and reproducible assay was developed for measuring mitochondrial α-keto acid decarboxylase activity using ferricyanide as the electron acceptor. This method permitted the functional isolation and investigation of the decarboxylase step of the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenases in rat liver mitochondria. Pyruvate and α-ketoglutarate decarboxylases are known to be separate and distinct enzymes from the branched-chain α-keto acid decarboxylases and were studied as controls. The relative specific activities of rat liver mitochondrial decarboxylases as measured by the ferricyanide assay showed that pyruvate and α-ketoglutarate were decarboxylated twice as rapidly as α-ketoisovalerate and four to ten times as fast as α-keto-β-methylvalerate and α-ketoisocaproate. The three branched-chain α-keto acids individually inhibit pyruvate and α-ketoglutarate decarboxylases. Inactivation of mitochondrial branched-chain α-keto acid decarboxylase activity by freezing and thawing and by prolonged storage resulted in a proportional decrease in decarboxylase activity toward each of the three branched-chain α-keto acids. However, hypophysectomy was found to increase decarboxylase activity with α-keto-β-methylvalerate to four times normal and with α-ketoisovalerate to three times normal, but the activity with α-ketoisocaproate was not changed. Hypophysectomy did not alter mitochondrial decarboxylase activity with pyruvate, α-ketoglutarate, or α-ketovalerate. The finding that hypophysectomy differentially alters the mitochondrial decarboxylase activity with the three branched-chain α-keto acids suggests either that there is more than one substrate-specific enzyme with branched-chain α-keto acid decarboxylase activity or that there is a modification of one enzyme such that the catalytic activity is selectively altered toward the three substrates.
Identification and characterization of Grainyhead-like epithelial transactivator (GET-1), a novel mammalian Grainyhead-like factor.

LMO-4 is an LIM-only factor that is highly expressed in many epithelial cells, including those of the epidermis and hair follicles. Because LMOs may function by interacting with DNA-binding proteins, we have used the yeast two-hybrid system to screen mouse skin libraries for LMO-4-interacting DNA-binding proteins. In this screen, we isolated a novel LMO-4-interacting factor highly related to the Drosophila gene Grainyhead. Grainyhead is epidermally expressed and carries out important functions in cuticular formation in the fly embryo. With the identification of this novel mammalian Grainyhead-like gene, referred to as Grainyhead-like epithelial transactivator 1 (GET-1), the known members of the mammalian Grainyhead-like gene family are extended to six, falling into two classes based on sequence homology. Of interest, the expression pattern of GET-1 is similar to that of Drosophila Grainyhead with highest expression in the somatic ectoderm/epidermis, but GET-1 is additionally expressed in epithelial cells of gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and respiratory tracks. The GET-1 protein localizes to the nucleus and binds to at least one Grainyhead DNA-binding site. The GET-1 DNA-binding domain maps to a region containing homology to the Drosophila Grainyhead DNA-binding domain. GET-1 homodimerizes in solution by means of a short C-terminally located domain that is homologous to other Grainyhead-like genes. A short domain located between amino acids 100 and 190, which bears no homology to known transactivation domains, is sufficient to confer transactivation to the heterologous GAL4 DNA-binding domain. In addition, GET-1 appears to contain repression domains consistent with the observation that Grainyhead and other mammalian Grainyhead-like genes can act both as activators and repressors. These data suggest that GET-1 is a transcriptional regulator that may perform important functions in epithelial tissues of mammals.
Sources, properties and nutraceutical potential of lycopene.

Lycopene, a nonprovitamin A carotenoid, provides the vibrant red pigment to tomatoes and is the most predominate carotenoid found in tomatoes. From a molecular standpoint, lycopene is a hydrocarbon...
Novel GABA agonists depress the reward effect of lateral hypothalamic stimulation in rats

Rats were given systemic injections of one of a series of novel GABA compounds which can penetrate the blood-brain barrier to release GABA into the brain. They were then tested on lateral hypothalamic self-stimulation behavior using a rate-frequency paradigm to discriminate effects on reward from those on motor/performance. Both reward and, to a lesser extent, motor/performance impairments were found with all GABA compounds. In more extensive testing with one compound, LG2, no differences in the effects of three salts (acetate, ascorbate, and tartarate) were found except that the tartarate salt effects decayed more rapidly.