cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The influence of the purine 2-amino group on DNA conformation and stability. II: Synthesis and physical characterization of d[CGT(2-NH2)ACG], d[CGU(2-NH2)ACG], and d[CGT(2-NH2)AT(2-NH2)ACG]

Abstract Synthesis of an N -protected derivative of 2-amino-2'-deoxyadenosine (dA') from 2'-deoxyguanosine is reported. The syntheses of several oligodeoxynucleotides containing this modified nucleoside are described, together with physical characterization via melting studies and CD conformational analysis. As expected, the 2-amino group is seen to add to the duplex stability. Although the sequence d(TA') 3 was found to undergo a salt-induced conformational transition, mixed sequences such as d(CGTA'CG) did not display this behavior. All guanine residues present in these sequences were O 6 protected, either with the cyanoethyl group or the 4-nitrophenylethyl group, to eliminate guanine degradation during phosphorylation and condensation reactions. Procedures for the introduction and removal of these O 6 protecting groups are described.
Cranial and appendicular ontogeny of Bactrosaurus johnsoni, a hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of northern China

The juvenile anatomy of various cranial and appendicular elements of the hadrosauroid dinosaur Bactro- saurus johnsoni is described in detail. Growth changes are documented from juvenile to adult stages for each skeletal element available. In the studied skull, ontogenetic trends consist of: development of features on the ventral surface of the frontal; reduction in the slope of the posteromedial pro- cess of the premaxilla; a posterior shift of the dorsal process of the maxilla; development of concavities on the medial surface of the prefrontal; increased robustness and develop- ment of the ventral flange of the jugal; decreased curvature of the long axis of the quadrate; increased ventral deflection of the dentary; and changes in the length ⁄ width proportions and depth of the anterior surface of the predentary. In the appendicular skeleton, the majority of ontogenetic variation from juvenile to adult occurs in the limb bones, including increased robustness of the deltopectoral crest of the humerus; relative shortening of the ulna; increased develop- ment of the fourth trochanter and mediolateral widening of the distal end of the femur; increased expansion of the cnemial crest of the tibia; and the increased prominence of articular protuberances and flanges of the metatarsals. A survey of the phylogenetically informative characters present in B. johnsoni indicates that several characters concerning the frontal, maxilla, jugal, quadrate, predentary, dentary, scapula, humerus and ilium are affected by ontogeny. Nevertheless, the majority of phylogenetic characters are not ontogenetically variable, suggesting that a substantial amount of the information provided by juvenile and suba- dult specimens for phylogenetic inference is reliable in basal hadrosauroids.
Beyond Compliance: Explaining Business Participation in Voluntary Environmental Programs

Government regulators have shown considerable interest in encouraging businesses to participate in voluntary environmental programs and practice environmental stewardship in ways that go beyond what regulations require. At the same time, researchers have increasingly worked to understand how businesses respond to regulatory and other government incentives, seeking to explain in particular why some businesses choose to take additional environmentally protective action even when they are not required to do so. Existing research on such beyond-compliance behavior, however, has drawn primarily on small-sample qualitative research. In this paper, we report findings from a large-sample survey that asked US managers to report on their facilities’ operations and participation in government-sponsored voluntary environmental programs. Our results confirm, and importantly extend, the existing literature in a number of ways. We find that some of the well-accepted outside pressures, such as looming regulation, appear to explain businesses’ ‘beyond-compliance’ decisions, but so too do internal factors that have so far tended to escape the kind of large-scale, systematic analysis we provide here. Facilities that are larger and report greater support from top-level management are more likely to join voluntary programs and otherwise report going beyond the requirements of environmental regulations. Similarly, facilities that exhibit an extroverted disposition and seek out the opinions of outside community and environmental advocacy groups are more likely to go beyond compliance. Our measures of these intra-organizational, dispositional factors remain statistically significant in most or all alternative specifications of our regression models. This study not only confirms the general importance of widely accepted external factors that affect beyond compliance behavior, but also reveals a need to pay greater attention to heretofore relatively neglected internal factors.
Oxygen transport in human subjects with hemoglobin variants having altered oxygen affinity.

Abstract Blood from subjects with abnormal hemoglobins possesses the highest (T50, 12 mm Hg) and lowest (t50, 70 mm Hg) oxygen affinities yet described in mammals. Compensatory mechanisms result in changes in the oxygen carrying capacity, depending on the direction and degree of shift of the oxygen dissociation curve. These two properties are matched so as to result in normal oxygen transport by blood at the normal cardiac output at rest. Thus arteriovenous oxygen difference and mixed venous oxygen tension are within the normal range in each instance. The homeostatic regulation resulting in the appropriate stable hematocrit for each blood oxygen affinity is probably mediated by variations in erythropoietin secretion in response to changes in intrarenal oxygen tension.
The development and metamorphosis of the mid‐intestinal epithelium of Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say) (Coleoptera)

Two sizes of cells are found in the mid-gut epithelium of late embryos. The larger cells contain nuclei having twice the number of prochromosomes and nearly twice the volume as compared with the nuclei of the smaller cells. During each larval instar, the nuclei of the functional mid-gut epithelium nearly double their volume and there is a corresponding increase in the amount of chromatin. It is suggested that chromosome division without nuclear division occurs in these epithelial cells during the pre-ecdysial periods of each instar. The mid-intestinal epithelial cells and their nuclei undergo characteristic changes during the feeding and pre-ecdysial periods of each instar. Prochromosomes as well as cytoplasmic globules, which represent a cytoplasmic diminution process, are visible in the latter period. The regeneration cells which give rise to the pupal and mid-gut epithelia have origin from the small embryonic mid-gut cells and from nuclei and cytoplasm derived from the larval epithelium by means of an apparent ‘pseudoreduction’ of the large larval nuclei during the late third and fourth instars.
Si- and Be-implementation in In P:Fe activated by halogen lamp rapid thermal annealing

Halogen lamp rapid thermal annealing is performed at different temperatures and time durations to activate InP:Fe implanted with 200 keV Si and 60 keV Be ions in the range of 5 x 1012 -4 x 1014 cm-2 . Better electrical properties are obtained in the rapid thermal annealed material than in conventional furnace annealed material. The mea-sured maximum dopant activation and electron mobility for a 200 keV/1 x 1014 cm-2 Si-implant are 76% and 1440 cm2/V-s, respectively. For a 60 keV/4 x 1014 cm-2 Be-implant an activation of 28% and a sheet resistance of 810 Ω/sq are obtained by using rapid thermal annealing. An implant profile broadening is observed in Be-implanted samples activated with either furnace annealing or rapid thermal annealing.
Dysregulation of the unfolded protein response in db/db mice with diet‐induced steatohepatitis

In humans with nonalcoholic fatty liver, diabetes is associated with more advanced disease. We have previously shown that diabetic db/db mice are highly susceptible to methionine choline-deficient diet (MCD)-induced hepatic injury. Because activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is an important adaptive cellular mechanism in diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver, we hypothesized that dysregulation of the UPR may partially explain how diabetes could promote liver injury. Db/db and db/m mice were fed the MCD or control diet for 4 weeks to characterize differences in UPR activation and downstream injury. Wildtype mice (C57BLKS/J) fed the MCD or control diet were treated with SP600125; a c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor and its effect on liver injury and UPR activation was measured. The MCD diet resulted in global up-regulation of the UPR in both diabetic db/db and nondiabetic db/m mice. db/db mice had an inadequate activation of recovery pathways (GADD34, XBP-1(s)) and accentuated activation of injury pathways related to persistent eif2-α phosphorylation (activating transcription factor 4 [ATF-4], C/EBP homologous transcription factor [CHOP], oxireductase endoplasmic reticulum oxidoreductin-1 [ERO-1α], JNK, nuclear factor kappaB [NF-κB]) compared to db/m mice. This led to increased expression of inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), ICAM-1, and MCP-1 compared to db/m mice. Interestingly, whereas pharmacologic JNK inhibition did not prevent the development of MCD diet-induced steatohepatitis, it did attenuate UPR and downstream inflammatory signaling. Conclusion: MCD-fed db/db mice develop a more proinflammatory milieu than db/m mice associated with an impaired ability to dephosphorylate eif2-α through GADD34, impairing cellular recovery. These data may enhance our understanding of why diabetics with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis are prone to develop more severe liver injury than nondiabetic patients. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)
Plantation agriculture: Its genesis, management, and role in the Malaysian economy

About 34% of Malaysia's rubber and over 50% of its palm oil and cocoa are currently produced under the plantation system. The distinctive features of the Malaysian plantation system lie in its bureaucratic structure, its employment of a large labor force, and its systematic application of scientific principles to agricultural production. This article reviews the evolution of the plantation system in the Malaysian context and presents cost components for a sample of 75 rubber estates to illustrate the distinctive features in the plantation system. Results from a previous study to show the role of management, both its short-run and long-run aspects are presented. The contributions of the plantation system to the economic development of Malaysia are discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Tool-specific performance of vibration-reducing gloves for attenuating palm-transmitted vibrations in three orthogonal directions

Abstract Vibration-reducing (VR) gloves have been increasingly used to help reduce vibration exposure, but it remains unclear how effective these gloves are. The purpose of this study was to estimate tool-specific performances of VR gloves for reducing the vibrations transmitted to the palm of the hand in three orthogonal directions (3-D) in an attempt to assess glove effectiveness and aid in the appropriate selection of these gloves. Four typical VR gloves were considered in this study, two of which can be classified as anti-vibration (AV) gloves according to the current AV glove test standard. The average transmissibility spectrum of each glove in each direction was synthesized based on spectra measured in this study and other spectra collected from reported studies. More than seventy vibration spectra of various tools or machines were considered in the estimations, which were also measured in this study or collected from reported studies. The glove performance assessments were based on the percent reduction of frequency-weighted acceleration as is required in the current standard for assessing the risk of vibration exposures. The estimated tool-specific vibration reductions of the gloves indicate that the VR gloves could slightly reduce ( Relevance to industry Hand-transmitted vibration exposure may cause hand-arm vibration syndrome. Vibration-reducing gloves are considered as an alternative approach to reduce the vibration exposure. This study provides useful information on the effectiveness of the gloves when used with many tools for reducing the vibration transmitted to the palm in three directions. The results can aid in the appropriate selection and use of these gloves.
Biological denitrification of spent regenerant brine using a sequencing batch reactor

The successful development of a laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) denitrification process to treat and reuse nitrate ion-exchange brine is described. Whereas previous research has focused on the use of a continuous upflow sludge blanket reactor (USBR) to denitrify 0.36 N NaHCO3 or 0.17 N NaCl brine containing up to 700 mg NO3-N l−1, this work examines the feasibility of using an SBR to denitrify 0.5 N NaCl brine containing up to 835 mg NO3-N l−1. The influence of salt concentration on denitrification rate was investigated with artificial brine at concentrations of 0.25 and 0.5 N when methanol was the sole exogenous carbon source. After acclimation, the denitrification rate in 0.5 N NaCl was only 10% lower than in the no-salt control reactor. The effect of mass ratio (R) of methanol to nitrate-nitrogen on denitrification rate and residual TOC in the denitrified SBR effluent was studied in the range of 2.2–3.2. At the optimum methanol-to-nitrate-nitrogen ratio of 2.7, the time for >95% denitrification was 8 h. In one set of runs, actual spent regenerant was reused 15 times; each time it was denitrified in the SBR, filtered and compensated with NaCl before reuse. The research indicates that a denitrifying batch reactor provides simple operation, reliable effluent quality and compatibility with the inherent batch operation of the ion-exchange process.
Appropriate Use of Varicella Vaccine

Varicella (chickenpox) is the last major exanthem of childhood not yet controlled by immunisation. One reason for the delay in recognising the need for a vaccine has been the perception that varicella is a trivial disease. Background data to dispel this perception are presented. This is followed by descriptions of the cellular and humoral immune responses to the wild virus, which led to the development of the vaccine.
Differential mechanical response and microstructural organization between non-human primate femoral and carotid arteries

Unique anatomic locations and physiologic functions predispose different arteries to varying mechanical responses and pathologies. However, the underlying causes of these mechanical differences are not well understood. The objective of this study was to first identify structural differences in the arterial matrix that would account for the mechanical differences between healthy femoral and carotid arteries and second to utilize these structural observations to perform a microstructurally motivated constitutive analysis. Femoral and carotid arteries were subjected to cylindrical biaxial loading and their microstructure was quantified using two-photon microscopy. The femoral arteries were found to be less compliant than the carotid arteries at physiologic loads, consistent with previous studies, despite similar extracellular compositions of collagen and elastin ( $$P> 0.05$$ ). The femoral arteries exhibited significantly less circumferential dispersion of collagen fibers ( $$P< 0.05$$ ), despite a similar mean fiber alignment direction as the carotid arteries. Elastin transmural distribution, in vivo axial stretch, and opening angles were also found to be distinctly different between the arteries. Lastly, we modeled the arteries’ mechanical behaviors using a microstructural-based, distributed collagen fiber constitutive model. With this approach, the material parameters of the model were solved using the experimental microstructural observations. The findings of this study support an important role for microstructural organization in arterial stiffness.
Thermal Shock Resistance and Fracture Behavior of ZrB2–Based Fibrous Monolith Ceramics

The thermal shock resistance and fracture behavior of zirconium diboride (ZrB2)-based fibrous monoliths (FM) were studied. FMs containing cells of ZrB2–30 vol% SiC with cell boundaries composed of graphite–15 vol% ZrB2 were hot pressed at 1900°C. The average flexure strength of the FMs was 375 MPa, less than half of the strength of hot-pressed ZrB2–30 vol% SiC. Flexure specimens failed noncatastrophically and retained 50%–85% of their original strength after the first fracture event. A critical thermal shock temperature (ΔTc) of 1400°C was measured by water quench thermal shock testing, a 250% improvement over the previously reported ΔTc values for ZrB2 and ZrB2–30 vol% SiC of similar dimensions (4 mm × 3 mm × 45 mm). The flexure strength was maintained with ΔTc values of 1350°C and below. As ΔTc increased, the stiffness of the flexure specimen decreased linearly. The lower stiffness and improvement in thermal shock resistance is attributed to crack propagation in the cell boundary and crack deflection around the load-bearing cells. The critical thermal shock was attributed to the fracture of the ZrB2–30% SiC cell material.
Using Strategic Fit for Portfolio Management

We focus in this paper on a tool to improve portfolio management. More precisely, of the three major goals that Cooper et al. specify for project portfolio management - selecting the MVP projects, balancing portfolio, and aligning project portfolio with strategy- goal three attracted our attention. Even more precisely, we look to use strategic fit for the goal three. For this reason, we need to use concepts of diverse disciplines of project management, business strategy, portfolio management and alignment business strategy with project management. The theory building literature stream is also reviewed to gain better understanding of how to build a theoretical model of using strategic lit approach for portfolio management. Finally, we conclude this paper laying down concept of our ideas to use the strategic fit.
Water permeability of clay sediment — Theory of seepage consolidation

Abstract A theory of seepage consolidation is described which uses the (non-seepage) sedimentation data to predict the water permeability of the sediment when seepage through a pervious bottom takes place. Theoretically, the infiltration resistance of sediment under seepage consolidation is a function of time, weight of solid per unit area, initial solid concentration, dynamic pressure drop across the system, and the characteristics of the sediment including the correlation between the permeability and the solid fraction, the correlation between the compressive stress of solid and solid fraction, and the tortuosity or axial ratio of the particles. In this article, the correlations mentioned above were obtained from batch sedimentation experiments. The dynamic pressure drop, the weight of solid per area, and the initial solid concentration are independent variables. When the axial ratio is 25, the theory predicts from numerical analysis an infiltration resistance-time curve and a seepage flow rate-time curve which match the experimental curves of a kaolinite system fairly well within the first 5 min. After that, deviations occur which are believed to be due to the wash-in mechanism in the real system.
Noise problems in motor-driven home appliances

DURING RECENT YEARS, the reduction of noise in motor-driven home appliances has become a major design consideration.
Selective alpha1-adrenergic antagonists: Therapeutically relevant antihypertensive agents

Abstract Alpha-adrenergic antagonists were the first substances to receive serious consideration as antihypertensive agents. However, their therapeutic potential in the management of essential hypertension was not realized until prazosin, a highly selective α 1 -adrenergic antagonist, became available. A number of analogs of prazosin have now been synthesized, as have several structurally distinct α 1 -adrenergic antagonists- Preliminary investigations suggest that these agents may also be clinically useful antihypertensive drugs. The α 1 receptor of arteriolar smooth muscle is the predominant adrenergic subtype determining sympathetically mediated vascular tone. Therefore, its selective blockade by an agent such as prazosin is a relevant approach to the major pathophysiologic defect in hypertension: an elevation of peripheral vascular resistance. Because prazosin has little selectivity for the α 2 receptor, the negative feedback control of norepinephrine release from sympathetic nerve terminals remains intact. This unique action of prazosin may explain why it effectively lowers arterial pressure without markedly increasing cardiac output, heart rate and plasma renin activity. An additional factor in the favorable therapeutic effects of this agent is its ability to induce a balanced reduction in both arteriolar and venous tone, with little change or even improvement in renal hemodynamics. The antihypertensive effects of prazosin, when used as a single agent, may be modest. However, it may be useful as initial as well as adjunctive therapy for the management of hypertension because of its high toxic to therapeutic ratio, coupled with a sustained reduction in arterial blood pressure, a low incidence of side effects, and a potentially favorable metabolic profile.
The contributions of zooarchaeology to historical ecology in the neotropics

Zooarchaeology can contribute to issues that lie beyond the traditional boundaries of archaeology and paleobiology. The techniques and methods of zooarchaeology are essential to an historical ecology that has emerged as a powerful perspective for understanding indigenous peoples and landscapes of the neotropics, both in the present and the past. In order to realize fully its potential contributions to historical ecology, zooarchaeology must reject the arbitrary dichotomization of culture and nature and a viewpoint that considers indigenous peoples as passive reactors to environments rather than as active creators of human landscapes. Zooarchaeology must avoid the seduction of neo-Malthusian assumptions that underlie many cherished models, and should do more than simply list extinctions at the hands of prehistoric humans. Instead, zooarchaeologists should focus on the study of past human landscapes, explore dynamic disturbances and the human maintenance of habitat mosaics, record the infrastructure of intensive agriculture, and understand the indigenous logic of past biodiversity management. When archaeologists study the landscapes of previous human populations, they are engaged in the practice of historical ecology.
Sympathetic Control of Coronary Circulation

The sympathetic control of left circumflex coronary blood flow was studied by stellate ganglion and hypothalamic stimulation. Flow was measured acutely in dogs under chloralose or pentobarbital anesthesia by an electromagnetic flowmeter. Coronary vasoconstriction was observed when the left stellate ganglion was stimulated after blocking beta receptors with propranolol or INPEA. The possibility of coronary sympathetic cholinergic vasodilation of the type found in skeletal muscle was examined in three types of experiments in which vasodilation occurred in skeletal muscle: (1) peripheral sympathetic nerve stimulation after chronic catecholamine depletion with reserpine, (2) peripheral sympathetic nerve stimulation after acute block of alpha and beta receptors, (3) hypothalamic stimulation to give a defense reaction after acute block of alpha and beta receptors. Within the limits of these experiments, skeletal muscle cholinergic vasodilation was demonstrated but coronary sympathetic cholinergic vasodilation was not, even as part of the defense reaction elicited by hypothalamic stimulation.
On the completeness of quantum theory

This is an essay on the interpretation of quantum theory. I take the central interpretive problem to be the problem of completeness. Partial assignments of values to the quantities are forced out by the 0 and 1 probabilities of the theory. Can we complete the assignments so as to assign values in superposed states? What is at stake is the very capacity of quantum theory to provide an intelligible picture of the world. Thus no ‘interpretation’ of the theory that fails to build in an affirmative answer to completeness can be acceptable. I explore here the program of hidden variables as a way of completing the theory and I assess the impact on that program of recent work on ‘locality’ by Bell and Wigner. Although I do not find that this work tells against hidden variables (just as I do not find it bearing on locality), I do wind up abandoning the hidden variable program for another one, one which does seem neatly to complete the theory.
The photoisomerization of dihydrocostunolide

Abstract Photoisomerization of the germacranolid dihyrocostunolide (2) proceeds with a high degree of regio-and stereoselectivity to give the guaianolide photunolide (16) as the only major product. The conversion of photunolide to two guaianolides of known structure (8 and 9) and synthesis from O-acetylisophotosantonic lactone (11) provide unambiguous proof of both the structure and the stereochemistry of photunolide. The photoisomerization of 2 to 16 appears to involve an intramolecular hydrogen shift.
Automated processing of data from pharmacokinetic investigations.

Abstract A program has been developed to evaluate plasma levels of antibiotics, compute pharmacokinetic constants for a two compartment open model, the parameter estimates for a one compartment model and the appropriate estimates for renal function determinations. The parameters estimated include volumes of distribution, body clearance, K 12 , K 21 , K e 1 , and t 1 2 (half-life) to name a few. In addition a summary table is included which tabulates the individual subject estimates along with the mean, standard deviation, and standard error for each statistic. The program is written in FORTRANIV, requires 252 K of storage, and is currently being used on the IBM 370.
Predicting photoreaction rates in surface waters

Predicting the rates of photolysis of organic compounds in natural waters is limited by several factors. For direct photolysis of dilute solutions of organic compounds in surface waters, the product of the quantum yield (efficiency) and light absorption rate are needed, but can rarely be calculated from structure activity relations (SARs); direct kinetic constants can be estimated reliably using measured quantum yields and solar models or simple spread sheet data bases to calculate rates as a function of latitude and season. Indirect photoreaction constants can be calculated from measured or estimated rate constants and the average transient photooxidant concentration. SARs for photooxidant rate constants are available for some classes of compounds. The overall indirect photolysis rate for a specific compound is the sum of all significant oxidation reactions for the compound. Quantitation of the rate process requires that a reaction profile be developed for each compound.
Frequency of Memory Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes to Equine Infectious Anemia Virus Proteins in Blood from Carrier Horses

Abstract Horses with equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) have episodes of viremia and disease; however, most eventually become inapparent carriers. A possible mechanism of control is cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). To evaluate CTL in inapparent carriers with low viral loads, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were stimulated in vitro with autologous EIAV-infected PBMC and human IL-2 to detect memory CTL (CTLm). In initial studies, three carriers had CTLm and one of these had low-level effector CTL (CTLe). The CTLm were restricted by equine lymphocyte alloantigen-A (ELA-A) locus encoded MHC class I molecules on autologous equine kidney (EK) target cells. In addition, EK cells did not express MHC class II molecules. The CTLm frequency in PBMC from five inapparent carriers infected for 22 to 50 months was determined by limiting dilution analysis. PBMC were diluted, stimulated, and tested on EK cell targets infected with EIAV and recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing EIAV Env or Gag/Pr proteins. All five carriers had CTLm to EIAV-infected targets, while four had CTLm to targets expressing Env and four had CTLm to targets expressing Gag/Pr proteins. The CTLm frequency range was 60 to 468 per 10 6 PBMC to EIAV-infected targets, 4 to 286 to Env-expressing targets, and 25 to 190 to Gag/Pr-expressing targets. These results should facilitate the identification of epitopes recognized by predominant CTLm from horses controlling a lentivirus infection.
New results on the computability and complexity of points--to analysis

Given a program and two variables p and q, the goal of points-to analysis is to check if p can point to q in some execution of the program. This well-studied problem plays a crucial role in compiler optimization. The problem is known to be undecidable when dynamic memory is allowed. But the result is known only when variables are allowed to be structures. We extend the result to show that, the problem remains undecidable, even when only scalar variables are allowed. Our second result deals with a version of points-to analysis called flow-insensitive analysis, where one ignores the control flow of the program and assumes that the statements can be executed in any order. The problem is known to be NP-Hard, even when dynamic memory is not allowed and variables are scalar. We show that when the variables are further restricted to have well-defined data types, the problem is in P. The corresponding flow-sensitive version, even with further restrictions, is known to be PSPACE-Complete. Thus, our result gives some theoretical evidence that flow-insensitive analysis is easier than flow-sensitive analysis. Moreover, while most variations of the points-to analysis are known to be computationally hard, our result gives a rare instance of a non-trivial points-to problem solvable in polynomial time.
An anti-windup input–output linearization scheme for SISO systems

Abstract A control synthesis scheme for the feedback linearization of single-input single-output nonlinear systems subject to constraints is presented. The approach requires an external, state-dependent saturation element, which translates the actuator bounds to the feedback linearizing control input. Thus the “linearizing” properties of the differential geometric controller are preserved, and a linear anti-windup can be applied in the outer loop. Conditions for nominal stability are provided. An application to a numerical example is presented. ©
A Year in the Life: Two Seventh Grade Teachers Implement One-to-One Computing.

AbstractMaine was the first state to put laptops in the hands of an entire grade of students. This interpretive case study of two middle school science-math teachers was driven by the general question: Given ubiquitous computing, how do teachers use computers in constructing curriculum and delivering instruction? Specifically, the researchers sought to examine the facilitators and barriers for teachers in using laptops in the classroom. Using qualitative methods, the researchers collected data during the first year of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). Differential effects of one-to-one computing on each teacher were found along two dimensions: the effect of technical technological issues, and the educational effect of technology policies. For both teachers, the effects were deeply altered by the teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning, which in turn affected their ultimate choices of how their time (and their students’ time) was spent. This empirical study offers a preliminary analysi...
The public documents commission: Politics and presidential records

Abstract The history of the Public Documents Commission and the Presidential Records Act begins with the events of the closing months of the Nixon Presidency. In order to assume control of the Nixon records and tapes. Congress quickly enacted the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act. Title II of the Act established the Public Documents Commission. It was thought that careful study by this Commission would lead to carefully developed legislation concerning presidential records. However, for reasons inherent in the organization of the Commission, it unfortunately had only a peripheral effect upon the legislation. The Commission was subject to casual decisions by the Ford Administration and dominated by its Chairman, Herbert Brownell. Its history is one of division and disagreement. The final result was the submission to the President and Congress of two reports—a majority report and an alternate report signed only by one commissioner and the chairman. As a result, no leadership was exerted to ensure the passage of a thoughtful Presidential Records Act. Impetus for legislation came from an interested member of Congress who had had no affiliation with the Commission and little knowledge of the body of material it had gathered. The Act finally passed into law through compromise with a White House more concerned with its own records than the far reaching effects of the legislation.
Hybrid dynamic iterations for the solution of initial value problems

Many scientific problems are posed as Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs). A large subset of these are initial value problems, which are typically solved numerically. The solution starts by using a known state space of the ODE system to determine the state at a subsequent point in time. This process is repeated several times. When the computational demand is high due to large state space, parallel computers can be used efficiently to reduce the time to solution. Conventional parallelization strategies distribute the state space of the problem amongst cores and distribute the task of computing for a single time step amongst the cores. They are not effective when the computational problems have fine granularity, for example, when the state space is relatively small and the computational effort arises largely from the long time span of the initial value problem. We propose a hybrid dynamic iterations method which combines conventional sequential ODE solvers with dynamic iterations to parallelize the time domain. Empirical results demonstrate a factor of two to four improvement in performance of the hybrid dynamic iterations method over a conventional ODE solver on an 8 core processor. Compared to Picard iterations (also parallelized in the time domain), the proposed method shows better convergence and speedup results when high accuracy is required.
A Wideband Power Amplifier in 45 nm CMOS SOI Technology for X Band Applications

A fully-integrated wideband power amplifier (PA) operating in 9-15 GHz range is implemented in a standard 45 nm CMOS SOI technology. The PA is designed with three dynamically-biased stacked Cascode cells (6 stacked transistors) to overcome the low breakdown voltages of nanoscale CMOS transistors. The stacked Cascode cells ensure stable operation and facilitate high gain, and high optimum load impedance, leading to high output power, high efficiency and good linearity characteristics over the entire bandwidth. The unbalanced amplitude and phase of drain-source voltage signals caused by internodal parasitic capacitance are equalized by adjusting the sizing of transistors. With a supply voltage of 4.8 V at 12 GHz, the measured saturated output power and linear power are 22.5 dBm and 19.2 dBm, respectively, while the peak power-added efficiency (PAE) is 19.2%. At a reduced power supply of 3.6 V, the PA achieves peak PAE of 25.7% where the drain efficiency reaches 40.7%. Including its pads, the PA occupies a compact chip area of 0.22 mm2.
Global analysis of mRNA isoform half-lives reveals stabilizing and destabilizing elements in yeast.

We measured half-lives of 21,248 mRNA 3′ isoforms in yeast by rapidly depleting RNA polymerase II from the nucleus and performing direct RNA sequencing throughout the decay process. Interestingly, half-lives of mRNA isoforms from the same gene, including nearly identical isoforms, often vary widely. Based on clusters of isoforms with different half-lives, we identify hundreds of sequences conferring stabilization or destabilization upon mRNAs terminating downstream. One class of stabilizing element is a polyU sequence that can interact with poly(A) tails, inhibit the association of poly(A)-binding protein, and confer increased stability upon introduction into ectopic transcripts. More generally, destabilizing and stabilizing elements are linked to the propensity of the poly(A) tail to engage in double-stranded structures. Isoforms engineered to fold into 3′ stem-loop structures not involving the poly(A) tail exhibit even longer half-lives. We suggest that double-stranded structures at 3′ ends are a major determinant of mRNA stability.
Temperature dependence of correlation functions in the spacelike direction in hot QCD.

We study the temperature dependence of quark-antiquark correlations in the spacelike direction. In particular, we predict the temperature dependence of spacelike Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes using recent lattice gauge data for the spacelike string potential. We also investigate the effect of the spacelike string potential on the screening mass and discuss possible corrections which may arise when working with point sources.
Simulation analysis of dynamics and decentralized control of robot manipulators

The dynamic equations of robot manipulators which include the effect of payload are simulated using Runge-Kutta and Adams- Bashforth methods. A decen tralized scheme is developed for independent joint control of robot manipulators and a simple algorithm is presented for simulating the decentralized control laws. Responses of the robot to joint torques are ob tained to show the basic characteristics of the robot dy namics. Closed-loop system consisting of the robot and the decentralized controller is simu lated to demonstrate the capabilities of the control scheme.
Probabilistic shortest path problems with budgetary constraints

Abstract This paper presents an algorithm for finding approximate solutions to constrained shortest path problems whose arc lengths are random variables. An additional feature of the model is that the distribution functions associated with these random variables may be “improved” by selectively allocating resources to the arcs. Performance is measured by a utility function defined over the range of possible outcomes. Consequently, rather than minimizing expected time or distance, the objective is to maximize expected utility. This is achieved with a heuristic that employs a dynamic programming algorithm to solve fixed instances of the probabilistic problem within a simulation framework. The approach is discussed with reference to the project selection problem, but has broad application in transportation, communications, and computer systems design. Results are presented for networks containing up to 25 nodes and 40 arcs, using exponential and normal distributions for the arc lengths. The fact that computation times grow rapidly with network size, though, effectively limits the use of the methodology to problems with no more than 100 nodes and several 100 arcs.
Body image and brace wear adherence: preliminary results from brAIST

There were no differences between subjects in the least adherent group and the most adherent group at baseline (n=36 and 95, respectively) or at any follow-up visits regarding BMI, largest Cobb angle, quality-of-life, and body image. Conclusions Findings from this study do not support previous research indicating that wearing a brace may have a negative impact on body image, which could ultimately lead to poor brace wear adherence. In fact, this study found no difference in body image between the least adherent and the most adherent brace wear groups at any follow-up visit up to 2 years. Further analysis is being conducted to assess relationships between body image, quality-of-life, and demographic and clinical variables within brace wear adherence groups.
An exact fermion model with monopole and quadrupole pairing

Abstract A hamiltonian for valence nucleons is shown to give exact eigenstates that consist of monopole and quarupole pair creation operators acting on u unpaired nucleons. he quantum numbers and eigenenergies for u = 0 are shown to be the same as those given by the interacting boson approximation in the vibrational limit.
Pharmacokinetics of bisphenol A in neonatal and adult Sprague-Dawley rats

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an important industrial chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic products and epoxy resin-based food can liners. The presence of BPA in urine of >90% of Americans aged 6-60 suggests ubiquitous and frequent exposure. The current study used LC/MS/MS to measure serum pharmacokinetics of aglycone (active) and conjugated (inactive) BPA in adult and neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats by oral and injection routes. Deuterated BPA was used to avoid issues of background contamination. Linear pharmacokinetics were observed in adult rats treated orally in the range of 0-200 microg/kg bw. Evidence for enterohepatic recirculation of conjugated, but not aglycone, BPA was observed in adult rats. Significant inverse relationships were observed between postnatal age and measures of internal exposures to aglycone BPA and its elimination. In neonatal rats treated orally, internal exposures to aglycone BPA were substantially lower than from subcutaneous injection. The results reinforce the critical role for first-pass Phase II metabolism of BPA in gut and liver after oral exposure that attenuates internal exposure to the aglycone form in rats of all ages. The internal exposures to aglycone BPA observed in adult and neonatal rats following a single oral dose of 100 microg/kg bw are inconsistent with effects mediated by classical estrogen receptors based on binding affinities. However, an impact on alternative estrogen signaling pathways that have higher receptor affinity cannot be excluded in neonatal rats. These findings emphasize the importance of matching aglycone BPA internal dosimetry with receptor affinities in experimental animal studies reporting toxicity.
Teaching and assessing systems-based competency in ophthalmology residency training programs.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has mandated that residency programs, including ophthalmology, teach and assess specific competencies, including systems-based learning. We review the pertinent literature on systems-based learning for ophthalmology and recommend specific “good practices” to manage the ACGME mandate. Tools are required that both teach and assess systems based learning competency simultaneously, that are reliable and valid, that have low faculty burden, and that are affordable, practical, and fair. Future research should provide evidence that these interventions produce improved educational and patient outcomes and show proof of competence in systems based learning among residents and clinicians in practice.
Performance at different stimulus intensities with the within- and across-channel adaptive tests of temporal resolution.

AbstractObjective: The Adaptive Tests of Temporal Resolution (ATTR©) software provides within-channel (WC) and across-channel (AC) adaptive measures of temporal resolution that are feasible for clinical applications. The purpose of the present study was to obtain normative values for young adults on two of the ATTR tests: the narrow-band noise within-channel (NBN-WC) test and the narrow-band noise across-channel (NBN-AC) test, at different stimulus intensities. Design: Gap detection thresholds were measured at five sensation levels. A Latin square design was used to control for practice effects. Study sample: The NBN-WC group and the NBN-AC group each consisted of 25 young adults with normal hearing. Results: Gap detection thresholds for both conditions decreased with increasing stimulus intensity, and stimulus intensities above 20 dB SL were not associated with large improvements in performance. Variability was larger in the NBN-AC condition. Values obtained for the NBC-WC condition were very similar to ...
X-Ray Diffraction Measurement of Residual Stresses in Thick, Multi-Pass Steel Weldments

A unique X-ray diffraction instrument for residual stress measurement has been developed that provides for speed, ease of measurement, accuracy, and economy of surface stress measurement. Application of this instrument with a material removal technique, e.g., electropolishing, has facilitated detailed, high resolution studies of three-dimensional stress fields. This paper describes the instrumentation and techniques applied to conduct the residual stress measurement and presents maps of the residual stress data obtained for the surfaces of a heavy 21/4 Cr 1 Mo steel plate weldment.
Prospective, controlled study of an intervention to reduce errors in neonatal antibiotic orders.

Prospective, controlled study of an intervention to reduce errors in neonatal antibiotic orders
The effects of learner errors on the development of a collocation detection tool

Texts produced by language learners often contain a fair amount of noise, such as misspellings, grammar errors and word-choice errors. These pose a challenge to designing an automated tool to process these texts, partly because most existing tools used in text processing preliminary to linguistic analysis, such as POS-tagging and syntactic parsing, are trained on native-speaker data from which errors have been edited out, and are not designed to deal with atypical errors produced by language learners. In designing and implementing an NLP or a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) tool, determining which "non-pertinent" errors (i.e. errors not specifically targeted by the tool) to deal with and how exactly to deal with them can have a measurable impact on the tool performance. This paper discusses how dealing with some of the "non-pertinent" learner errors in the development of an automated tool to detect miscollocations in learner texts significantly reduces potential tool errors.
Suspension flow modeling for general geometries

The flow of concentrated suspensions is well known to be accompanied by irreversible bulk migrations. One approach to modeling the migration of particles relative to the bulk motion is based on a particle flux induced by spatial variation of the particle normal stresses. A frame-invariant formulation of the mixture stresses is presented in a general form and used in this approach; specific forms of the constitutive model for the stress are considered. These forms either include only the isotropic shear-induced particle stress (particle pressure) or include both normal stress differences and the particle pressure. The predicted flow and migration behavior are considered for complex geometries, using the flows in a contraction and an expansion as the primary examples. Results are limited to two-dimensional flows.
Why can't appositives be extraposed?

(1973). Why can't appositives be extraposed? Paper in Linguistics: Vol. 6, No. 1-4, pp. 243-254.