cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Segmentation at Sticks Kebob Shop

This case is used in the Marketing Analytics elective at Darden. A Sticks executive team is interested in opening a second quick-service restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. But before doing so, the team wanted to gain a better sense of who were Sticks' customers, which location would attract the best customers, and how to best connect with customers. An opportunity to gather survey data presented itself. Would the demographic and psychographic assumptions the team had gathered from talking to people in stores align with the survey answers? And what would the data suggest about where to locate new stores and about what marketing channels and messages to use to promote them? Excerpt UVA-M-0866 Rev. Mar. 10, 2015 Segmentation at Sticks Kebob Shop Sticks Kebob Shop, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, had a problem. But it was a good problem to have. A restaurant chain in a fast-growing segment of the food-service industry, Sticks expected to add about one restaurant to its portfolio every year or two starting in 2014. A sticking point was picking the right markets to enter and then deciding on (and waiting for) the right location. Second Sticks Location in Charlottesville Figure 1. First Sticks location in Charlottesville. Source: Company photographs. . . .
Determining glenoid component version after total shoulder arthroplasty.

Background Glenoid component loosening after total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) may occur if retroversion is not corrected to Methods Preoperative glenoid version was measured using established methods with an axillary x-ray, 2-dimensional CT, and Glenosys software (Imascap, Plouzane, France). Postoperative glenoid component version and inclination were measured for 61 TSA patients using Mimics software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) with preoperative CT and postoperative x-rays. Four patients also had postoperative CTs. Glenoid implantation and imaging were performed on 14 cadavers, allowing validation of results against the gold standard postoperative CT glenoid retroversion measurement. Results Compared with the gold standard, retroversion and inclination measurement error was 2° ± 1° and 2° ± 1°, respectively. Average postoperative version correction was 6° ± 7°, with 35 of 61 patients (57%) corrected to Conclusions Glenoid component retroversion after TSA can be accurately measured with a method using only routine preoperative CT and postoperative x-rays, validated to within 1.9° of the gold standard postoperative CT measurement. Future studies using this method may correlate glenoid retroversion correction with glenoid component longevity to help optimize shoulder arthroplasty outcomes.
Observation of Aharonov-Bohm Suppression of Optical Tunneling in Twisted Multicore Fibers

We report the first observation of Aharonov-Bohm-like topological suppression of optical tunneling in twisted multicore fibers. Experimental results show that this effect is insensitive to imperfections, nonlinearities and mode-mixing processes, in agreement with theoretical predictions.
The Effects of Microplastic Pollution on Aquatic Organisms

Abstract Microplastic debris in aquatic ecosystems has become an important global pollution issue because of their ubiquitous presence in freshwater and marine environments. The abundance of microplastics, combined with their small size and subsequent association with plankton in the water column, allows for direct ingestion by aquatic biota at different trophic levels. The plastic particles may cause direct physical or nutritional problems when ingested, and these problems may be exacerbated by the presence of plasticizers in the particles or by the presence of other toxic pollutants that have adhered to the surface. There are also some indications that microplastics can affect primary producers at the base of aquatic food webs. This chapter summarizes current research on the topic and attempts to address the questions related to how these particles affect aquatic organisms at the individual and population levels.
Effect of cold exposure and nutrient intake on sympathetic nervous system activity in rat kidney.

Renal sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responses to environmental temperature and diet were evaluated using [3H]norepinephrine ([3H]NE) turnover as the index of sympathetic activity. Pharmacologica...
Johann Herbeck’s Edition of Choral Works by Franz Schubert: History and Analysis

Johann Herbeck (1831–1877) served in his native Vienna as conductor of the leading choral and instrumental organizations. He showed his devotion to the legacy of Franz Schubert in his performances and also in his edition, published by C.A. Spina and successors, of 51 selected works of the master for men’s, women’s and mixed chorus. Originally conceived as part-songs for ensembles of soloists, this repertoire had become choral music by Herbeck’s time. Included also are arrangements by Herbeck and others of pieces originally written for different performing media. Surviving copies of numbers in the edition, as well as two additional publications, reveal startling inconsistencies in editorial technique, ranging from a lack of intervention to a much freer approach, including liberal sprinkling of unauthentic markings and other deviations from the originals. In the latter category, the editor’s additions may be said to document the performance practice of these works during his time. His choice of sources was also inconsistent, in some cases resulting in faulty versions of the works presented. This study also documents the production and reception history of Herbeck’s edition.
Placental Macrophages: A Window Into Fetal Microglial Function in Maternal Obesity

Abstract Fetal placental macrophages and microglia (resident brain macrophages) have a common origin in the fetal yolk sac. Yolk-sac-derived macrophages comprise the permanent pool of brain microglia throughout an individual’s lifetime. Inappropriate fetal microglial priming may therefore have lifelong neurodevelopmental consequences, but direct evaluation of microglial function in a living fetus or neonate is impossible. We sought to test the hypothesis that maternal obesity would prime both placental macrophages and fetal brain microglia to overrespond to an immune challenge, thus providing a window into microglial function using placental cells. Obesity was induced in C57BL/6 J mice using a 60% high-fat diet. On embryonic day 17.5, fetal brain microglia and corresponding CD11b + placental cells were isolated from fresh tissue. Cells were treated with media or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production by stimulated and unstimulated cells was quantified via ELISA. We demonstrate for the first time that the proinflammatory cytokine production of CD11b + placental cells is strongly correlated with that of brain microglia (Spearman’s ρ = 0.73, p = 0.002) in the setting of maternal obesity. Maternal obesity-exposed CD11b + cells had an exaggerated response to LPS compared to controls, with a 5.1-fold increase in TNF-α production in placentas (p = 0.003) and 3.8-fold increase in TNF-α production in brains (p = 0.002). In sex-stratified analyses, only male obesity-exposed brains and placentas had significant increase in TNF-α production in response to LPS. Taken together, these data suggest that maternal obesity primes both placental macrophages and fetal brain microglia to overproduce a proinflammatory cytokine in response to immune challenge. Male brain and placental immune response is more marked than female in this setting. Given that fetal microglial priming may impact neuroimmune function throughout the lifespan, these data could provide insight into the male predominance of certain neurodevelopmental morbidities linked to maternal obesity, including cognitive dysfunction, autism spectrum disorder, and ADHD. Placental CD11b+ macrophages may have the potential to serve as an accessible biomarker of aberrant fetal brain immune activation in maternal obesity. This finding may have broader implications for assaying the impact of other maternal exposures on fetal brain development.
Outcomes of Halo Immobilization for Cervical Spine Fractures.

Study Design:Retrospective.Objectives:To evaluate complications and outcomes of halo immobilization in patients with cervical spine fractures treated at a level I trauma center.Methods:A retrospect...
Situating the Dominant Narrative: Deracialized Readers and Reading Locations

This chapter turns to an ideological assessment of the dominant narrative among real readers. The main argument is that the pattern of bypassing race/ethnicity is not an isolated phenomenon. It is rather predicated on and produced by dominant deracialized readers and reading locations. But rather than producing another reconstruction of Jesus, this chapter conducts an ideological investigation of the underlying dynamics of context, power, and representation by which scholarly reconstructions of Jesus are fashioned in the present. Only by approaching modern Jesus reconstructions from the subjective standpoint of real readers does one see that the non-ethnoracial pattern is not an isolated phenomenon. It is rather symptomatic of a broader deracializing ideology—the chief expression of which is the dominant Western representation of the white Jesus in the modern Christian imagination.
Three-Dimensional Flow in Tidal Channels

Abstract : The objective of this project is to improve understanding of shallow estuarine flows and sediment transport by collecting and analyzing measurements of three-dimensional flow structure in tidal channels and adjacent tidal flats.
Teaching Formal Languages through Visualizations, Simulators, Auto-graded Exercises, and Programmed Instruction

The material taught in a Formal Languages course is mathematical and requires students to practice proofs and algorithms to understand the content. Traditional Formal Languages textbooks are heavy on prose, and homework typically consists of solving many paper exercises. Students need to read a significant amount of text to achieve understanding. Inspired by the principles of the Programmed Instruction (PI) teaching method, we seek to develop a new Formal Languages eTextbook. The PI approach has students read a little, ideally a sentence or a paragraph, and then answer a question or complete an exercise related to that information. Based on the question response, students are permitted to continue to other frames of information or must retry to solve the exercise. However, students need to build Formal Languages models and apply different algorithms. Some instructors make use of Finite State Machine simulators like JFLAP for this purpose. However, JFLAP is built using Java, and it gives no support for auto-grading. We developed an open-access version of JFLAP, called OpenFLAP. OpenFLAP provides proficiency exercises, auto-graded exercises, and visualizations to help students understand and practice Formal Languages contents. To evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of our new eTextbook, we conduct time and performance evaluations across three offerings of the course CS4114 Formal Languages and Automata at Virginia Tech.
User Engagement with Chatbots: A Discursive Psychology Approach

Conversational agents have transcended into multiple industries with increased ability for user engagement in intelligent conversation. Conversations with chatbots are different from interpersonal communication in terms of turn-taking, intentions, and behavior. We study de-identified chat logs across 30 conversations with a well-recognized chatbot to understand (i) how people create turns in conversation to perform 'social action', extending human experiences and knowledge (ii) how people express typical human constructs like emotion in their interaction with chatbots, and, (iii) what are the discursive strategies used by people to create 'shared meaning' and identity for themselves. Our findings reveal conversational expectations and behavior of users being similar to those in human-to-human sharing (how people talk), but greater diversity in the nature of information shared (what they talk about). This can advance discussion both in how we can design conversational agents to be more intelligible, as well as sensitive to unnecessary information disclosure.
Recovery of Power Flow to Critical Infrastructures using Mode-dependent Droop-based Inverters.

Recovery of power flow to critical infrastructures, after grid failure, is a crucial need arising in scenarios that are increasingly becoming more frequent. This article proposes a power transition and recovery strategy by proposing a mode-dependent droop control-based inverters. The control strategy of inverters achieves the following objectives 1) regulate the output active and reactive power by the droop-based inverters to a desired value while operating in on-grid mode 2) seamless transition and recovery of power flow injections into the critical loads in the network by inverters operating in off-grid mode after the main grid fails; 3) require minimal information of grid/network status and conditions for the mode transition of droop control. A framework for assessing the stability of the system and to guide the choice of parameters for controllers is developed using control-oriented modeling. A comprehensive controller hardware-in-the-loop-based real-time simulation study on a test-system based on the realistic electrical network of M-Health Fairview, University of Minnesota Medical Center, corroborates the efficacy of the proposed controller strategy.
Synthesis of Metallic Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

Nanotechnology is one of the most promising technologies applied in all areas of science. Metal nanoparticles that are produced by nanotechnology has gained attention due to their extensive applications in the biomedical and physiochemical fields. Nanoparticles (NPs) cause attraction of researchers because of their unique properties, owing to their small size (1-100 nm), large surface-to-volume ratio and increased reactivity, which are reportedly shown to change the performance of any other material which is in contact with these tiny particles, these particles can be prepared by either physical, chemical or biological approaches but the biological approach is the most emerging because they are eco friendly and less time consuming. In this study, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles was prepared using leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica (neem leaf) and AgNo3. The flavonoids and terpenoids that are present in the extract act as both reducing and capping agent. Silver was of a particular interest for this process due to their evocative physical and chemical properties also silver nanoparticles showed Anti microbial activities. A fixed ratio of the neem plant extract to silver metal ion was prepared and the color change was observed which proved the formation of nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, FTIR, DLS, Zeta analysis, XRD and SEM. The nanoparticles were found to have size from 160-180 nm. The prepared nanoparticles can be widely used in biomedical applications like targeted drug delivery and to treat only the cancer cells rather affecting the healthy cells.
Identifying risks factors in thoracolumbar anterior fusion surgery through predictive analytics in a nationally representative inpatient sample

Anterior thoracolumbar (TL) surgical approaches provide more direct trajectories compared to posterior approaches. Proper patient selection is key in identifying populations that may benefit from anterior TL fusion. Here, we utilize predictive analytics to identify risk factors in anterior TL fusion in patients with trauma and deformity. In this retrospective cohort study of patients receiving anterior TL fusion (between and including T12/L1), population-based regression models were developed to identify risk factors using the National Readmission Database 2016–2017. Readmissions were analyzed at 30- and 90-day intervals. Risk factors included hypertension, obesity, malnutrition, smoking, alcohol use, long-term opioid use, and frailty. Multivariate regression models were developed to determine the influence of each risk factor on complication rates. A total of 265 and 375 patients were identified for the scoliosis and burst fracture cohorts, respectively. In patients with scoliosis, alcohol use was found to increase the length of stay (LOS) (p = 0.00061) and all-payer inpatient cost following surgery (p = 0.014), and frailty was found to increase the inpatient LOS (p = 0.0045). In patients with burst fractures, malnutrition was found to increase the LOS (p < 0.0001) and all-payer cost (p < 0.0001), obesity was found to increase the all-payer cost (p = 0.012), and frailty was found to increase the all-payer cost (p = 0.031) and LOS (p < 0.0001). Patient-specific risk factors in anterior TL fusion surgery significantly influence complication rates. An understanding of relevant risk factors before surgery may facilitate preoperative patient selection and postoperative patient triage and risk categorization.
Update on CD44 biomarker in oral rinses and tissues in oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients

We read with great interest the recent review article by Adeoye et al entitled "'Search less, verify more'-Reviewing salivary biomarkers in oral cancer detection".1 The authors underscore the value of salivary biomarker panels for the early detection of oral cancer and call for their validation. We support the conclusions made concerning soluble CD44 (solCD44), an efficacious and cost-effective screening tool. We would like to add the following salient points for the consideration of your readership.
Electricity Generation from Artificial Wastewater Using an Upflow Microbial Fuel Cell

The upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC) was developed to generate electricity while simultaneously treating wastewater. During a five-month period of feeding a sucrose solution as the electron donor, the UMFC continuously generated electricity with a maximum power density of 170 mW/m2. To achieve this power density, the artificial electron-mediator hexacyanoferrate was required in the cathode chamber. The power density increased with increasing chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rates up to 2.0 g COD/ L/day after which no further increases in power density were observed, indicating the presence of limiting factors. The overarching limiting factor for the UMFC in this study was the internal resistance, which was estimated as 84 omega at the maximum power density, and restricted the power output by causing a significant decrease in operating potential. Low Coulombic efficiencies varying from 0.7 to 8.1% implied that the electron-transfer bacteria were incapable of converting all of the available organics into electricity, so the excessive substrate created niches for the growth of methanogens. We found that the soluble COD (SCOD) removal efficiencies remained over 90% throughout the operational period, mainly because of methanogenic activity, which accounted for 35 to 58% of the SCOD removed at a loading rate of 1.0 g COD/L/ day. Additionally, transport limitation due to insufficient substrate diffusion was shown by cyclic voltammetry (CV).
Course Roadmap and Historical Perspective

The goal of this course is to understand the foundations of computation. We will ask some very basic questions, such as What does it mean for a function to be computable? Are there any noncomputable functions? How does computational power depend on programming constructs? a useful feature of the book: the exercises These questions may appear simple, but they are not. They have intrigued scientists for decades, and the subject is still far from closed.
Human Trabecular Meshwork Cells Secrete Neurotrophins and Express Neurotrophin Receptors (Trk)

METHODS. Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of NT and Trk receptor mRNAs in early-passaged, cultured HTM cells from donors of several ages. RT-PCR was used on ex vivo HTM tissues from donors to compare and contrast mRNA expression with cell culture results. In addition, immunohistochemistry was used to localize the translated NT and low- (p75) and high- (Trk) affinity NT receptor proteins within cultured HTM cells and trabecular meshwork tissues. Last, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was used to demonstrate secretion of NTs by HTM cells. RESULTS. Amplification products of the expected size for NTs were detected in both cultured HTM cells and ex vivo HTM tissues. Specifically identified were amplification products for the following NTs: NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4. Amplification products for the full-length Trk A and Trk C high-affinity receptor were observed, as well as truncated isoforms for Trk B and Trk C. No amplification products were produced for the full-length Trk B receptor nor for the low-affinity p75 receptor. Immunohistochemistry indicated that proteins for the various NTs and full-length and truncated Trk receptors were translated by cultured HTM cells and tissues. Immunoassays (ELISA) detected BDNF, NT-4, NGF, and NT-3 in the culture media from HTM cells. CONCLUSIONS. The results demonstrate, for the first time, mRNA expression for NT and Trk receptors by both cultured HTM cells and ex vivo HTM tissues. NTs were immunolocalized in HTM tissues and cultured HTM cells are capable of secreting NTs. Specific NTs acting through high-affinity Trk receptors within the HTM may be involved in maintaining the normal function of this complex tissue. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2000;41:3833‐3841)
Use of structural information in drug design: Current Opinion in Structural Biology 1992, 2:202–210

Abstract Modern drug design increasingly relies on structural information for the improvement of in vitro potency. Recently, these methods have been used to optimize in vitro properties as well. Barries to the sucessful integration of these technologies within the drug industry seem to be largely cultural rather than scientific.
Pneumocystis jirovecii colonization is associated with enhanced Th1 inflammatory gene expression in lungs of humans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disease, the pathogenesis of which remains incompletely understood. Colonization with Pneumocystis jirovecii may play a role in COPD pathogenesis; however, the mechanisms by which such colonization contributes to COPD are unknown. The objective of this study was to determine lung gene expression profiles associated with Pneumocystis colonization in patients with COPD to identify potential key pathways involved in disease pathogenesis. Using COPD lung tissue samples made available through the Lung Tissue Research Consortium (LTRC), Pneumocystis colonization status was determined by nested PCR. Microarray gene expression profiles were performed for each sample and the profiles of colonized and non-colonized samples compared. Overall, 18 participants (8.5%) were Pneumocystis-colonized. Pneumocystis colonization was associated with fold increase in expression of four closely related genes: INF-γ and the three chemokine ligands CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11. These ligands are chemoattractants for the common cognate receptor CXCR3, which is predominantly expressed on activated Th1 T-lymphocytes. Although these ligand-receptor pairs have previously been implicated in COPD pathogenesis, few initiators of ligand expression and subsequent lymphocyte trafficking have been identified: our findings implicate Pneumocystis as a potential trigger. The finding of upregulation of these inflammatory genes in the setting of Pneumocystis colonization sheds light on infectious-immune relationships in COPD.
What's new in burns and metabolism.

Abstract "What's New in Surgery" evolves from the contributions of leaders in each of the fields of surgery. In every instance the author has been designated by the appropriate Council from the American College of Surgeons' Advisory Councils for the Surgical Specialties. This feature will be presented in issues of the Journal through the year beginning in 2001 (formerly published in one issue, February, of each volume of JACS) .
Fast Computation of the Non-Central Chi Square PDF Outside the HDR Under a Requisite Precision Constraint

Computation of the non-central chi square probability density function is encountered in diverse fields of applied statistics and engineering. The distribution is commonly computed as a Poisson mixture of central chi square densities, where the terms of the sum are computed starting with the integer nearest the non-centrality parameter. However, for computation of the values in either tail region these terms are not the most significant and starting with them results in an increased computational load without a corresponding increase in accuracy. The most significant terms are shown to be a function of both the non-centrality parameter, the degree of freedom and the point of evaluation. A computationally simple approximate solution to the location of the most significant terms as well as the exact solution based on a Newton–Raphson iteration is presented. A quadratic approximation of the interval of summation is also developed in order to meet a requisite number of significant digits of accuracy. Computationally efficient recursions are used over these improved intervals. The method provides a means of computing the non-central chi square probability density function to a requisite accuracy as a Poisson mixture over all domains of interest.
Abstract 18075: Prevalence and Predictors of the Absence of Obstructive Epicardial Coronary Artery Disease in Patients Referred for Index Coronary Angiography

Background: As many as 62.4% of patients undergoing elective coronary angiography have no obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease (CAD). These patients have substantial morbidity and are inadequately characterized. Our aim was to identify the prevalence and predictors of the absence of epicardial obstructive CAD and to assess the clinical characteristics of this population. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing index coronary angiography. Patients with known CAD, a history of myocardial infarction, or an emergent indication were excluded, as were those evaluated for transplantation or valvular/cardiac surgery. Obstructive CAD was defined as a stenosis ≥70% (≥50% left main). We performed multivariable logistic regression of clinical variables, peak troponin levels, and stress findings to identify predictors of the absence of obstructive epicardial CAD. Results: The study population included 935 patients with median age of 62 years and 10-year ASCVD risk score of 17.7%; 55.6% of the patients were male, 35.1% had diabetes, 77.3% had hypertension, and 67.8% had hyperlipidemia. No obstructive CAD was found in 442 patients (47.3%). Ten variables were independent predictors of the absence of obstructive CAD in a multivariable analysis (Table 1). In the 258 patients who underwent stress imaging, a negative stress ECG (OR 3.1 (1.6-6.0), p Conclusion: Despite a cohort with substantial cardiac risk factors and an intermediate median ASCVD risk score, the prevalence of index angiograms without obstructive epicardial CAD was high. Traditional markers of disease were predictors, including positive troponin and stress imaging; however the model was only 78% predictive. Additional research is needed to better characterize patients referred for catheterization without obstructive CAD.
A search for low energy gamma rays from CG 195+4

A 13-deg-wide region of sky containing the high-energy gamma-ray source CG 195+4 was searched for X-ray and gamma-ray emission in the energy interval from 0.035 to 8.737 MeV. The balloon-altitude measurements were undertaken on October 4, 1977, at Palestine, Texas, and used an actively collimated scintillation counter. As a result of the measurements, low upper limits have been found for the spectrum from the source. Combined with the positive detections made with satellites at high energies, the measurements show that the photon number spectrum must have a spectral index harder than 2.0. The data appear inconsistent with models of the source in which the presumed neutron star is surrounded by a cloud thick to X-rays. Negative results of the search for periodicity are discussed.
Uracil metabolism--UMP synthesis from orotic acid or uridine and conversion of uracil to beta-alanine: enzymes and cDNAs.

Publisher Summary The importance of maintaining balanced pyrimidine nucleotide metabolism is evident because it has been shown that many biosynthetic pathways are dependent on pyrimidines. Pyrimidine nucleotides are also important for the continued biosynthesis of various macromolecules, such as phospholipids and polysaccharides, for which specific nucleotides are required as cofactors in activating appropriate precursors, as exemplified by CMP-choline and UDP-glucose. Even the conversion of uracil to β-alanine is a biosynthetic pathway, although historically this has been referred to as catabolism. A biosynthetic designation for this pathway comes from the importance of β-alanine, which functions as a neurotransmitter, as well as a building block for various dipeptides. These peptides include the ubiquitous pantothenate, the precursor for the acyl-carrier protein in fatty acid synthase and for coenzyme A. The inability of humans to synthesize pantothenate makes it a vitamin. The biochemical roles of carnosine and other dipeptides containing β-alanine are discussed in the chapter. Nucleotides presumably exist at very low concentrations in the extracellular environment, though no values have been published for their concentration in blood. DNA sequencing suggests that many mammalian or human proteins may be coded by two or more genes, and that such gene duplication may provide a simple safety factor in the event of a mutation in one gene, or provide a more sophisticated regulatory strategy if the genes lead to slightly altered isozymes to be expressed in unique tissues.
The Leadership Challenge: Supporting the Learning of All Students

AbstractEliminating the achievement gap and ensuring high-quality education for diverse student populations depend upon the capacity of local educational leaders to be highly effective at enabling schools in all contexts to teach all students. Realizing this goal also depends upon the capacity of local universities to prepare and support educational leaders to achieve these results. This article describes the UCEA Developing Leaders to Support Diverse Learners (LSDL) curriculum modules for educational leadership preparation, which were designed to build the knowledge, skills, and experiences leadership candidates need to effectively lead the learning of diverse student populations.
Securing the global airspace system via identity-based security

• To globally deploy new communications technologies into the GAS those technologies must meet all the requirements of the “Able List”. • The GAS currently consists of a variety of communications links, often quite old such as Very High Frequency (VHF) analog radios with limited bandwidth capability. • New technologies such as Gatelink and AeroMACS offer greater capability, greater band- width, better security and potential cost savings. - These systems will not be deployed if the cost of deployment and management outweighs the benefits. • Identity-based security with single certificate sign-on for system access along with the capability of managing QoS policy for diverse systems in a centralized location has the potential to ensure a smooth, evolvable, scalable, manageable, affordable deployment. • Modern telecommunications networks have shown this to be possible for single communication technologies types (e.g. LTE and WiMAX). • The tools and architectures exist.
Event associations in SNOBOL4 for program debugging

An event association facility for the SNOBOL4 programming language is described. This facility permits the execution of a programmer-defined function to be associated with the occurrence of a specified event. The events with which associations can be made are those applicable to program debugging. Associations can be made with events such as variable referencing, statement execution, program interruption, function call and return, and execution-time errors. By making event associations available at the source-language level, debugging aids can be written in SNOBOL4 itself, using the full capabilities of that language. As illustrated by several examples, this approach facilitates the implementation of simple yet powerful debugging aids written in the same language as the programs to be debugged. Event associations provide a mechanism for the unification of the existing SNOBOL4 debugging facilities, and a basis for the addition of other events. The implementation of event associations is also described.
Characteristics of a GaAs spontaneous infrared source with 40 percent efficiency

The external quantum efficiency of a forward-biased GaAs p-n junction device selected for high efficiency measures 40.5, 32, and 7.3 percent at 20, 77, and 295°K, respectively. The optical exit path is through bulk material doped to a 1017donors/cm2level. The infrared emission is measured directly with a silicon solar cell. The effective transmissivity of the GaAs bulk device material is measured to be 42 and 8.3 percent at 77 and 295°K, respectively. The corresponding values for the internal quantum efficiency are 76 and 88 percent. The primary optical rise time measured for high level current pulsing conditions is 0.6 and 1.6 ns at 77 and 295°K, respectively.
Recurrent and Relapsing Pancreatitis

Recurrent acute pancreatitis is a common clinical problem. Most cases of pancreatitis are identified by a careful history and physical examination. Despite advanced evaluation, the cause is not apparent in about 10% of cases. The etiology of recurrent acute pancreatitis appears to be multifactorial, with genetic and environmental influences playing a significant role. The strength of evidence for certain etiologies is highly variable, and natural history data are limited. Controversy exists regarding the most appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Recurrent acute pancreatitis often represents a continuum with chronic pancreatitis.
Do nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs interfere with blood pressure control in hypertensive patients?

Exacerbation of hypertension by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in hypertensive patients remains controversial among physicians and investigators. Because of the many differences among studies of oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and blood pressure control in patients with hypertension, the authors critically evaluated the published clinical evidence on this subject using standardized methodologic criferia. A search of the literature from 1965 to 1986 identified 31 relevant studies, of which only eight were double-blind randomized controlled trials that provided the most clinically useful information. Of these eight best-designed studies, five of the six that studied indomethacin concluded that it may interfere with antihypertensive effectiveness in selected patients with treated, stable hypertension. The remaining double-blind randomized studies included comparisons of other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Their limited results suggest that sulindac is less likely than piroxicam, naproxen or indomethacin to cause an attenuation of antihypertensive therapy. More research on this subject is needed, with greater attention to methodologic details and identification of predisposing risk factors for impairment of blood pressure control by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
DDD‐Pacemaker Pseudomalfunction During Supraventricular Tachycardia

Asynchronous pacing during the presence of electromagnetic interference or other sources of "noise" is a protective mechanism available to prevent pacemaker output inhibition. We describe a patient with a DDD pacemaker who had asynchronous dual chamber or noise reversion pacing as a consequence of repetitive signals (QRS complexes) falling into the noise sampling period (NSP) of the pacemaker ventricular refractory period. During supraventricular tachycardia at a rate of 215 bpm, noise reversion mode pacing occurred when QRS complexes were well detected immediately after the termination of a normal pacemaker ventricular refractory period and treated as a premature ventricular depolarization, resulting in automatic refractory period extension. Recycling of this extended refractory period occurred when consecutive QRS complexes were detected during the NSP and forced asynchronous dual chamber pacing at the programmed lower rate. The mechanism is presented and was supported by subthreshold esophageal pacing simulating the tachycadia and initiating the noise reversion response.
Climate sensitivity and cloud response of a GCM with a superparameterization

[1] The climate sensitivity of an atmospheric GCM that uses a cloud-resolving model as a convective superparameterization is analyzed by comparing simulations with specified climatological sea surface temperature (SST) and with the SST increased by 2 K. The model has weaker climate sensitivity than most GCMs, but comparable climate sensitivity to recent aqua-planet simulations of a global cloud-resolving model. The weak sensitivity is primarily due to an increase in low cloud fraction and liquid water in tropical regions of moderate subsidence as well as substantial increases in high-latitude cloud fraction.
Stress induced differential intake of various diets and water by rat: the role of the opiate system.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of acute mild stress (12–48 hour food and water deprivation) and acute severe stress (12 hour food and water deprivation followed by 10 min swim in water at 4°) on the intake of different isocaloric dietary regimes. Each group of experimental animals was given only one particular diet. Rats subjected to mild stress showed very little preference of dietary regimes. When the food intake was measured during 3 hour period, following 48 hours of fasting, animals showed 2 to 3 fold increase in the food and water intake but no particular dietary preference. However, when rats were subjected to severe stress, there was an increase in the food intake of 154% (control diet); 174% (high-carbohydrate diet); 310% (high protein diet) and 423% (high fat diet) compared to animals subjected to mild stress. In terms of the absolute quantity of food, the animals subjected to severe stress ate more high-fat diet than any other diet; the consumption of high fat diet was 142% more than high-protein diet, 180% more than control diet and 258% more than high carbohydrate diet. Animals subjected to severe stress and given high-carbohydrate and high fat diet also showed 80% increase in the water intake. Prior administration of naloxone (1 mg/kg body weight, i.p.) reduced the stress induced increase in the intake of food and water. Naloxone inhibited the intake of high-fat diet more than any other diet. The ability of naloxone to block the increase in the intake of high-fat diet, and the reported increase in the concentration of β-endorphin in the different regions of brain of the animals subjected to the cold swim, suggest that endogenous opioid system in body is activated during stress. An activation of the endogenous opioid system leads to a preferential increase in the intake of palatable foods.
Design and Synthesis of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals. 25. An Approach to New Materials for Ultra-Fast Electronic Electro-Optic Modulators

Combining excellent processibility on silicon integrated circuits with a thermodynamically stable polar structure, ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) provide an attractive potential approach to s...
Updates on the Inherited Cardiac Ion Channelopathies: From Cell to Clinical

The inherited channelopathies are a rare, heterogeneous group of diseases with widely variable clinical presentations and courses. Systematic clinical and experimental work has led to identification of disease-causing genetic mutations and their biophysical manifestation. The process by which the knowledge base is developed, from genetic mutation, to cardiac myocyte, to whole heart, and finally to clinical presentation, has dramatically expanded our understanding of these diseases. Most importantly, we can now begin to comprehend how small changes at the genetic level can dramatically influence a patient’s clinical course.
The action of ranatensin, a new polypeptide from amphibian skin, on the blood pressure of experimental animals.

Abstract 1. The blood pressure response to ranatensin, an undecapeptide from the skin of the frog, Rana pipiens, has been studied in various experimental animals. 2. Ranatensin raised blood pressure in the dog and rabbit. The response was not altered by atropine, phentolamine, propranolol or hexamethonium, suggesting a direct peripheral vasoconstrictor action. In both animals ranatensin was about one-tenth as potent as angiotensin. Tachyphylaxis to ranatensin did occur, but there was no cross-tachyphylaxis with angiotensin, bradykinin, or noradrenaline. 3. The peptide lowered blood pressure in the monkey, being as potent as eledoisin. The response was not altered by atropine, phentolamine, propranolol, tripelennamine, tetraethylammonium, bretylium, or methysergide. This again suggests a direct peripheral action on vascular smooth muscle. There was no tachyphylaxis to the depressor action, nor was there cross-tachyphylaxis with angiotensin, eledoisin, bradykinin, or noradrenaline. 4. Ranatensin did not alter the blood pressure in cats and had a variable action in the guinea-pig with a rapid onset of tachyphylaxis. 5. Ranatensin has a variable effect on the blood pressure in the rat that is related to the basal level of blood pressure. When the blood pressure is high, the response to the peptide is hypotension. Ranatensin raises blood pressure in the rat when the basal blood pressure is low. The pressor response to ranatensin appears to be due, in part, to the release of noradrenaline from peripheral sympathetic nerve endings. 6. The composite action of ranatensin on blood pressure of various experimental animals is unlike that of any other peptide. Its hypertensive action in the dog or rabbit, together with a potent hypotensive action in the monkey, readily distinguishes it from all other vasoactive peptides.
Wing Color of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in Eastern North America across Life Stages: Migrants Are “Redder” than Breeding and Overwintering Stages

Monarch butterflies are famous among insects for their unique migration in eastern North America to overwinter sites in Mexico and their bright orange wing color, which has an aposematic function. While capturing migrating monarchs in northeast Georgia, USA, I noticed that many appeared to have unusually deep orange wings. I initiated the current study to compare wing hues (obtained using image analysis of scanned wings) of migrants (captured in 2005 and 2008) to samples of breeding and overwintering monarchs. Consistent with initial observations, migrants had significantly lower orange hues (reflecting deeper, redder orange colors) than breeding and overwintering monarchs. There was also a difference in hue between sexes and a relationship with wing size, such that larger monarchs had deeper, redder hues. The reasons for the color difference of migrants are not apparent, but one possibility is that the longer-lived migrant generation has denser scalation to allow for scale loss over their lifespan. Alternatively, this effect could be confined to the subpopulation of monarchs in the Southeastern United States, which may not be well represented at the Mexican overwintering sites. In any case, this discovery highlights the many questions emerging on the significance of wing color variation in this species.
NASA at the crossroad

Abstract During the quarter-century that Technology in Society has been published, great strides have been made in planetary exploration and space flight in near-Earth orbit, both with robotic spacecraft and with piloted space vehicles. Robotic spacecraft have visited every planet in the solar system and several hundred people have been in space learning how to live and work in that environment. The International Space Station is well on the way to completion and the Earth-orbiting “Great Observatories” have unlocked many of the secrets of the universe. There have also been great difficulties. Management failures have caused delays and cost increases in several major programs. Two of the five space shuttles, Columbia and Challenger, have been lost, at the cost of 14 human lives. NASA has not found a focus for its efforts around which the resources to operate a successful space exploration enterprise can be mobilized. Suggestions to remedy NASA’s management and programmatic problems are made in this paper.
An experimental study of hydrocarbon emissions from closed vessel explosions

Two combustion bombs are used to determine the exhaust hydrocarbon emission after laminar flame propagation through the reactors. Propane and air are used as fuel and oxidizer, and gas chromatography is used to analyze, the emission, gases. Data are taken over an initial pressure range from 50 kPa to 400 kPa and from an equivalence ration of 0.7 to the soot limit at 2.0. During experimentation, extreme care is taken to keep the reactor vessels clean while reducing crevice storage volumes using indium seals and displacement materials. The results under lean conditions indicate that the charging and subsequent outgassing of fuel molecules from storage volumes into a relatively cold bulk gas is the primary cause of exhaust emissions. This is consistent with recent numerical results under near stoichiometric conditions, indicating that flame quench hydrocarbons rapidly diffuse and oxidize, producing less unburnt material than previously thought. Under these conditions, the levels of exhaust hydrocarbons are observed to be two orders of magnitude lower than previously reported in the literature. Furthermore, under rich conditions, >1.2, the results indicate that processes other than storage effects and wall-quenching—possibly occurring in the bulk gas—may be the cause of the exhaust hydrocarbon emission from clean vessels.
Filtered density function simulator on unstructured meshes

A new computational filtered density function (FDF) methodology is developed for large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent reacting flows. This methodology is based on a Lagrangian Monte Carlo (MC) FDF solver constructed on a domain portrayed by an unstructured mesh. The base filtered transport equations on this mesh are solved by a finite-volume (FV) method. The consistency of the hybrid FV-MC solver and the realizability of the simulated results are demonstrated via LES of a temporally developing mixing layer. The overall performance of the model is appraised by comparison with direct numerical simulation (DNS) data. The algorithmic implementation in the commercial software ANSYS-FLUENT facilitates future FDF-LES of turbulent combustion in complex configurations.
Self and Older-People Referents in Evaluating Life Problems

This study examined the severity of common life problems among "older people" as reported in national survey data along with similar evaluations of such problems among the respondents themselves. The two surveys, seven years apart (1974-1981), permit the examination of cohort changes in such perceptions over time. People of all ages, including older adults, evaluate the problems of "older people" as being more substantial than such problems among the respondents themselves. More recent cohorts (younger people) were more likely than earlier cohorts to report serious personal problems during the first survey and even more so by the second survey. The more recent cohorts also felt that the seriousness of problems among older people increased over time, whereas earlier cohorts reported just the opposite in assessing the problems of their age peers. It appears that younger people believe older persons' problems are more serious than do the older people themselves, and this difference in perceptions did not disappear over time.