cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Client Satisfaction: Consideration of Correlates and Response Bias

The consideration of client satisfaction as a measure of clinical outcome is attractive, particularly for agency administrators, because of the apparent face validity of the construct as well as th...
Simultaneous Optical Pacing and Membrane Voltage Mapping in ChR2-Expressing Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocyte Cultures

Optogenetics is an emerging technology that combines optics and genetics to remotely and precisely control individual cells in a living tissue. Due to the high spatial and temporal resolution, this innovative approach has been widely employed in the field of neuroscience to manipulate the electrical activity of various types of neuron cells. However, its application in the study and therapy of cardiovascular diseases is still in the infancy. In this work, primary cultures of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) were infected with lentivirus containing the channelrhodopsin (ChR2) gene (teto-FUW-ChR2-eYFP) and paced with short pulses of LED light (wavelength 475 nm) delivered via optical fibers of various diameters (from 0.3 to 1mm). Wave propagation induced by optical pacing was monitored using a Vm-sensitive dye and a photodiode optical mapping system. Parameters of excitation waves induced by optical pulses were compared with those ones induced by electrical pacing. Our data showed that ChR2 protein can be stably and homogeneously expressed on the cell membrane of NRVMs without significantly affecting cell shape and monolayer confluence. The ChR2-expressing cultures could be paced by light pulses at varying frequencies (from 0.25 to 4Hz), using even the smallest 0.3-mm optical fibers, suggesting the high light sensitivity of ChR2 in NRVM cells. In addition, optical Vm mapping showed that key parameters of excitation waves (e.g., shape of optical action potentials and conduction velocity) induced by light pulses were similar to that ones induced by electrical stimulation. These results demonstrate the feasibility of optical pacing and simultaneous optical Vm mapping in ChR2-expressing NVRM monolayers, and lay a foundation for the development of novel optical-based pacing devices.
Pre-Ordering School Lunch Encourages Better Food Choices by Children

Nearly 1/3 of children between ages 6 and 19 are considered obese and their choosing of less healthy foods in school lunchrooms may contribute. To encourage students to select healthier foods, recent research has focused on how environmental changes and behavioral economics can guide children to make healthier choices. This includes the pre-ordering of lunch. Pre-ordering could pre-empt hunger-based, spontaneous selections and eliminate the sensory cues – evocative smells and sights – that lead to less healthy choices. We examine whether having students pre-order their entree (main dish) improves the healthfulness of entrees selected for lunch.
Neuromuscular physiology of the strike mechanism of the mantis shrimp, Hemisquilla†

This study was planned to determine the neuromuscular basis of the very rapid strike movement, lasting only 5–10 ms, used by mantis shrimps to capture prey or defend themselves. The raptorial second thoracic append-ages which are responsible for the strike action are unfurled by four muscles in the merus, two extensors and two flexors. All were found to be specialized for slow not fast contraction. The largest extensor muscle has a twitch time of 400 ms, reaches peak tetanic tension in 700 ms and takes one second to relax completely from this. It receives two “slow” and one “fast” motor axons distributed uniformly throughout the muscle. An overshooting spike occurs in each muscle fiber from the first activation of a train in the fast axon, but many seconds must elapse before the first muscle fiber will again respond with a spike. The smaller, medial extensor receives one fast axon which may give rise to overshooting spikes and an inhibitor whose effects appear to be minor; its muscle fibers are only weakly electrically excitable. The contraction and relaxation rates are slow, as are those of the medial flexor which receives two slow axons. The lateral flexor is divisible into two parts; a proximal region comprised of electrically passive fibers innervated solely by a slow axon and a distal region of spiking fibers innervated by a fast axon. The rapid strike action is explained not in terms of the rapid contraction of these muscles but in their operation of a mechanical device in the form of a “click-joint,” described previously.
Efficiently Finding Near Duplicate Figures in Archives of Historical Documents

The increasing interest in archiving all of humankind’s cultural artifacts has resulted in the digitization of millions of books, and soon a significant fraction of the world’s books will be online. Most of the data in historical manuscripts is text, but there is also a significant fraction devoted to images. This fact has driven much of the recent increase in interest in query-by-content systems for images. While querying/indexing systems can undoubtedly be useful, we believe that the historical manuscript domain is finally ripe for true unsupervised discovery of patterns and regularities. To this end, we introduce an efficient and scalable system that can detect approximately repeated occurrences of shape patterns both within and between historical texts. We show that this ability to find repeated shapes allows automatic annotation of manuscripts, and allows users to trace the evolution of ideas. We demonstrate our ideas on datasets of scientific and cultural manuscripts dating back to the fourteenth century.
Multiple sensitivity to chemical stimuli in single human taste papillae.

Abstract The sensitivities of 15 human fungiform papillae were tested using a 5-alternative forced-choice procedure. Subjects were asked to recognize which of the following stimuli was presented to a papilla on each of 250 trials: 5.0 M NaCl, 0.5 N citric acid, 1.0 M sucrose, 0.1 M quinine hydrochloride, and distilled H 2 O. Solution droplets were delivered to individual papillae from 0.5 mm diameter platinum wire loops. Based on each subject's responses to distilled H 2 O, corrections were made for individual response biases. Of the papillae tested, 33 percent responded to all four compounds, 33 percent to three, none to only two, 20 percent to only one, and 13 percent to none of the chemical stimuli. These results are contradictory to earlier work, in which it was suggested that taste quality is encoded by chemically specific papillae, but are consistent with the electrophysiological data suggesting multiple sensitivity of mammalian gustatory receptor cells and first-order neurons. The data suggested that the narrow range of sensitivity reported by von Bekesy [2] was determined by the reciprocal relationship between the size of the stimulated area and the concentration necessary to elicit a threshold sensation.
Deterministic parameter estimation for near-optimum feedback control

Recently neighboring optimum design has been extended to systems with unknown plant parameters. These developments suggest an important class of deterministic parameter estimation problems. These problems have not received sufficient attention, although some results have been obtained as limiting cases of stochastic estimation schemes. In this paper state estimation theory is modified for deterministic parameter estimation in near optimum control of non-linear systems.
INTERSCAFFOLDING ADDITIVITY. ASSOCIATION OF P1 VARIANTS OF EGLIN C AND OF TURKEY OVOMUCOID THIRD DOMAIN WITH SERINE PROTEINASES

Standard mechanism protein inhibitors of serine proteinases share a common mechanism of interaction with their cognate enzymes. The P1 residue of the inhibitor interacts with the enzyme in a substrate-like manner. Its side chain becomes imbedded in the S1 cavity of the enzyme. The nature of P1, the primary specificity residue, greatly affects the strength and specificity of the enzyme inhibitor association. In canonical inhibitors, residues P4-P2'(P3'), where P1-P1' is the reactive site, share a common main chain conformation that does not change on complex formation. The remainder of the inhibitor's structure, the scaffolding, is not always common. Instead, there are at least 20 inhibitor families, each with a different scaffolding. In this paper, we ask whether the differences in standard free energy of association of enzyme-inhibitor complexes upon P1 mutations are independent of the nature of the scaffolding. We have already reported on 25 P1 variants of turkey ovomucoid third domain, a member of the Kazal inhibitor family, interacting with six different serine proteinases. Here, we report on seven different P1 variants of eglin c, a potato I family member, interacting with the same six serine proteinases under the same conditions. The differences in standard free energy on P1 mutations in the eglin c system agree very well, when P1 Pro is omitted. Complete agreement indicates that these P1 residues are interscaffolding additive. This is consistent with the superimposition of the high-resolution structures of eglin c and of turkey ovomucoid third domain with chymotrypsin. In both cases, the P1 Leu side chain is similarly oriented in almost indistinguishable specificity pockets of the enzyme.
Effects of precipitation and land use on storm runoff

: Storm-runoff quantity and quality were studied in three watersheds located near St. Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota, from April 15 through September 15 of 1984, 1985, and 1986 to qualitatively determine the effects of precipitation and selected land uses on storm runoff. In respect to precipitation effects, differences in stormrunoff quantity between years in an urban watershed that lacks wetlands appear to be related to the average storm size (amount of precipitation) during the study period of each year. In contrast, the differences in storm-runoff quantity from watersheds that contain wetlands appear to be related to total precipitation during study period of each year. In respect to land use, the differences in storm-runoff quantity appear to be related to the amounts of impervious and wetland area. The watershed that contains the largest amount of impervious area and smallest amount of wetland area has the largest amount of storm runoff. Differences in storm-runoff quality appear to be related to the amounts of wetland and lake area. The watershed that contains the largest amounts of wetland and lake area has the smallest storm-runoff loading of suspended solids, phosphorus, and nitrogen. The wetland and lake areas likely retain the loading and, subsequently, lower the amount of storm-runoff loading exported from a watershed.
Development of damage resistant optics for KrF excimer lasers

At excimer wavelengths the photon energy either exceeds or is comparable to bandgap energies of most materials. This severely limits the materials suitable for optical coatings and is also responsible for the rapid decrease in observed damage threshold fluences as laser wavelength drops. Most materials traditionally used in coating fabrication are unsuitable at the shorter excimer wavelengths. For longer wavelength coatings materials are chosen for properties such as index contrast and ease of deposition. We are currently reevaluating the suitability of selected materials for damage resistant optical coatings at the KrF excimer wavelength. The low and medium index fluorides are promising as is aluminium oxide. We report the results of damage experiments on both single layer films and dielectric reflectors fabricated from promising combinations of these materials. 1.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Entrapment Through the Lens of the Actio Libera in Causa

The entrapment defense is a puzzle of long standing. One the one hand, we are offended by the government’s subjecting someone vulnerable to extreme temptation. It seems like something anyone might fall prey to. On the other hand, it is hard to explain why someone who actually commits, or attempts a crime, and who would be liable if anyone other than the government had tempted him, should escape punishment. His blameworthiness seems the same. This essay seeks to illuminate this puzzle by showing how it parallels the long-standing debate surrounding the criminal law problem of the actio libera in causa—situations in which someone seeks to escape liability by contriving to put a certain defense in place, such as provoking his victim into attacking him, so that he can then kill him in self-defense. The parallels between the two problems do not serve to resolve either, but make them appear in a rather different light.
Pregnancy wantedness and maternal behavior during pregnancy.

This analysis tests the proposition that women wanting their pregnancies and subsequent births behave differently during their pregnancies than other women. The data are drawn from the National Natality Survey conducted by the US National Center for Health Statistics a follow-back survey based on a probability sample of 9941 live births that occurred in the US in 1980. A sample of 7825 remained after exclusion of out-of-wedlock births. Pregnancy "wantedness" was measured with a series of questions directed towards the period previous to the pregnancy. Almost 29% had wanted to become pregnant but at a later time. 6.3% did not want to become pregnant at the time they did or ever. 31.35 of the women overall had smoked before their pregnancy and only 16% of these quit after pregnancy confirmation although the mean number of cigarettes smoked decreased. Variables indicating planning status and the tendency to seek prenatal care affected independently (although slightly) the probability that a prepregnant smoker would quit. The impact of pregnancy wantedness was smaller than anticipated with regard to the maternal behaviors examined. The degree of effectiveness of pregnancy planning could be underestimated by the studys elimination of unwanted and aborted pregnancies and by inaccuracies caused by maternal denial of pregnancy wantedness.
A Vacuum System for the Argonne 6 GeV Synchrotron Light Source

The ANL vacuum system for the 6 GeV light source storage ring features non-evaporable strip getter pumps for uniform pumping around the ring within a gas desorption antechamber, and it also features lumped getter pumping directly under and above crotch radiation absorbers that are positioned after each bending magnet. Based on experiments at ANL in 1980 and by others, the technical and economical advantages have been established for the use of the distributed NeG pumps of non-magnetic strips coated with a nonevaporable Zr Al getter matrix. The NeG strip pump lifetime approaches ten years. The antechamber improves the isolation of the gas desorption process from the main beam chamber and beam. The combination oE these vacuum techniques; the NeG strip getter pumps, the gas desorption antechambers, and the lumped ion and lumped getter pumping provide a unique and reliable system for maintaining long beam lifetime.
Incidence of Hypogammaglobulinemia in Patients Receiving Rituximab and the Use of Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Recurrent Infections

Abstract Background Rituximab has altered the treatment approach to B-cell malignancies and other diseases. Reports consider that rituximab had limited impact on serum immunoglobulins. However, anecdotes suggest that rituximab can cause symptomatic hypogammaglobulinemia. This retrospective study examined the relationship among rituximab, hypogammaglobulinemia, and treatment of symptomatic hypogammaglobulinemia with intravenous immune globulin (IVIG). Methods Patients with serial quantitative serum immunoglobulin (SIgG) concentrations before and subsequent to rituximab administration at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center were identified. Information regarding rituximab administration, SIgG concentrations, frequency of infection, and administration of IVIG were recorded. Results Between December 1998 and April 2009, 211 patients with B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab and with serial SIgG concentrations were identified. One hundred seventy-nine (85%) patients had normal SIgG before rituximab, 32 (15%) had low SIgG. After rituximab use, hypogammaglobulinemia was identified in 38.54% of patients with initially normal SIgG. The risk was greater in patients who received maintenance rituximab. Symptomatic hypogammaglobulinemia that prompted IVIG administration developed in 6.6% of patients. Conclusions In this data set, rituximab administration was associated with a high frequency of hypogammaglobulinemia, particularly symptomatic hypogammaglobulinemia, among patients who received multiple courses of rituximab. Baseline and periodic monitoring of SIgGs is appropriate in patients who receive rituximab.
Misinterpreting School Reform: The Dissolution of a Dual-Immersion Bilingual Program in an Urban New England Elementary School

This article explores local state bilingual-education policy vis-a-vis pervasive dominant-language ideologies about language-education policy and practice. State-level language-education policy, especially for English Language Learners (ELs), spans a wide range, from states that through policy legally require some form of bilingual education to states that have made bilingual education virtually impossible in lieu of English-language immersion. This research is part of an ongoing ethnographic case study of a large urban elementary school in Connecticut that explores the dissolution of a dual-language immersion program due to a school reconstitution, despite the state policy requiring bilingual education. This article examines the interwoven contexts of Connecticut bilingual-education policies, the language-education policies of the school, and how they are interpreted and enacted by teachers. We find on the one hand, official state policy calls for transitional bilingual education in specific EL contexts;...
Learning Theory and Gifted Education.

Teachers need to know the psychology of meaningful learning to understand how gifted children learn.
Permeability of arterial internal elastic laminae in irradiated mice

Abstract Mice were exposed to 1500 R X-irradiation and then injected with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) about 2 min prior to sacrifice on Days 1, 2, 3, 3.5 and 4 post-exposure. Arteries from various tissues were examined for localization of HRP reaction product. Some arteries showed little or no localization whereas others showed moderate to intense localization in the internal elastic lamina and elastic tissue in the adventitia, suggesting early damage to dense elastic tissue.
Mechanistic and spectroscopic studies of metallo-β-lactamase NDM-1.

In an effort to biochemically characterize metallo-β-lactamase NDM-1, we cloned, overexpressed, purified, and characterized several maltose binding protein (MBP)-NDM-1 fusion proteins with different N-termini (full-length, Δ6, Δ21, and Δ36). All MBP-NDM-1 fusion proteins were soluble; however, only one, MBP-NDM-1Δ36, exhibited high activity and bound 2 equiv of Zn(II). Thrombin cleavage of this fusion protein resulted in the truncated NDM-1Δ36 variant, which exhibited a k(cat) of 16 s(-1) and a K(m) of 1.1 μM when using nitrocefin as a substrate, bound 2 equiv of Zn(II), and was monomeric in solution. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure studies of the NDM-1Δ36 variant indicate the average metal binding site for Zn(II) in this variant consists of four N/O donors (two of which are histidines) and 0.5 sulfur donor per zinc, with a Zn-Zn distance of 3.38 A. This metal binding site is very similar to those of other metallo-β-lactamases that belong to the B1 subclass. Pre-steady-state kinetic studies using nitrocefin and chromacef and the NDM-1Δ36 variant indicate that the enzyme utilizes a kinetic mechanism similar to that used by metallo-β-lactamases L1 and CcrA, in which a reactive nitrogen anion is stabilized and its protonation is rate-limiting. While they are very different in terms of amino acid sequence, these studies demonstrate that NDM-1 is structurally and mechanistically very similar to metallo-β-lactamase CcrA.
Computer-Interfaced Temperature Controller for FT-IR Diffuse Reflectance Cell

Variable-temperature diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (VT-DRIFTS) is proving to be a powerful tool for rapid and qualitative investigations of certain surface reactions. Murthy and Leyden have shown that room-temperature (RT) DRIFTS is useful for the determination of the concentration of a silane on the surface of silica gel. However, when VT-DRIFTS was attempted for quantitative purposes, two problems became obvious. First, the thermal expansion of the sample post at higher temperature resulted in changes in band intensities. To eliminate this experimental artifact, we modified the DRIFTS accessory (DRA-2CN) from Harrick Scientific Corp. to include a one-dimensional translation stage. This permitted precise location of the sample at the optimum height, thus minimizing effects due to thermal expansion. The second problem was the need for precise control of the temperature for every VT-DRIFTS scan so that results from different scans could be compared. A survey of commercially available temperature controllers revealed that they were expensive and did not have adequate flexibility. We decided to build a temperature controller around an Apple II+ microcomputer. This note describes the hardware and software details of such a controller.
Determination of the Radial Profile of Absorption and Emission Coefficients and Temperature in Cylindrically Symmetric Sources with Self-Absorption

The Abel inversion method of determining the radial profile of the volume emission coefficient in cylindrically symmetric sources is extended through an iteration technique to apply to sources which are not optically thin. An experiment is described in which this technique is applied to a low temperature plasma, and the radial profile of the volume emission and absorption coefficients are obtained. The ratios of these two profiles are used to obtain the temperature profile of the plasma using Kirchhoff’s law under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium.
Cognitive process as a basis for intelligent retrieval systems design

Abstract Two studies were conducted to investigate the cognitive processes involved in online document-based information retrieval. These studies led to the development of five computational models of online document retrieval. These models were then incorporated into the design of an “intelligent” document-based retrieval system. Following a discussion of this system, we discuss the broader implications of our research for the design of information retrieval systems.
A simple method of calendar conversion in computer applications

Abstract Indexing weather data with a sequentially numbered day rather than the usual month and day can greatly speed automatic computations of time intervals and rates of changes for seasonal data which extend over or between different months. Most large computer facilities have routines to convert year, month, and day to a Julian or other perpetual date, however, these are cumbersome to incorporate into programs if they are available. Data acquisition systems can be rigged to record the day-of-year number (for example, see Ripley and Ohm, 1973) or if data files are indexed with the month and day, then the technique described here permits rapid interconversion between the two forms for computation, storage, plotting, or printed output. Agricultural climatologists have traditionally numbered days or weeks of the year beginning with March 1 to avoid special handling of leap years (Barger and Thom, 1949). This arrangement permits computation of the climatological day with the simple formula given as statement 20 in Table 1. The conversion factor of 30.6 was derived by 10 IF M THEN LET M = M + 12 20 N % = M ∗30.6 + D −91.3 fitting a straight line to the accumulated number of days corresponding to months numbered from March 1. This slope is not surprising since it is the average number of days per month if February is excluded. The constant 91.3 accounts for the first counted climatological month being April, plus 0.5 for computer “rounding” by deleting the fractional part in converting the answer to an integer. The reverse calculation of month and day from climatological day number is shown in Table II. The sample statements are in BASIC where a variable followed by a percent sign represents an integer number. If data occur only between March and December, statements 10 and 90 are not needed. By changing the constant and/or testing for leap year, the formula can be used to number days from January 1 or any other reference date as may be desired in uses such as phenology or accounting.
A high density cylinder-type MIM capacitor integrated with advanced 28nm logic High-K/Metal-Gate process for embedded DRAM

A cylinder-type Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) capacitor integrated with advanced 28nm logic High-K/Metal-Gate (HKMG) process for embedded DRAM has been developed. The stacked cell capacitor is formed using low temperature high-K dielectrics to achieve sufficient storage capacitance without significantly impacting logic transistors. This paper describes techniques to achieve cylinder-type MIM capacitor's capacitance >10fF/cell and keep the low leakage (&#60;0.1fA/cell) requirements. The MIM dielectric reliability test passes Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) lifetime (>10 years). The test vehicle is composed of 72 macros of 4.5Mb each. We successfully demonstrate fully functional good yield of 28nm eDRAM 324Mb test vehicle with access speed >330MHz.
Multiple retinoid-responsive receptors in a single cell: families of retinoid "X" receptors and retinoic acid receptors in the Xenopus egg.

Abstract In a search for nuclear hormone receptors expressed in early development we found that Xenopus laevis eggs contain mRNAs from two retinoic acid receptor genes (xRAR alpha and xRAR gamma) and two retinoid "X" receptor genes (xRXR alpha and xRXR gamma). We also show that RXRs are members of a family of at least three genes, thus expanding the number of genes encoding retinoic acid-responsive transcription factors to six. With the exception of xRXR gamma, these maternal mRNAs are degraded before gastrulation. The RXRs isolated are differentially activated by retinoic acid and by 3,4-didehydroretinoic acid. Considered together, these four receptors provide a molecular basis for the pleiotropic effects of retinoic acid on early development, and their pattern of expression suggests a role for retinoic acid at the earliest stages of embryonic determination.
Investigation for optoelectronic characteristics and imaging performance of InAs quantum dot covered with In0.1Ga0.9As/GaAs multilayer based focal plane array

We report on a structure prepared by metalorganic chem- ical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy techniques in- corporated with a standard process of compound semiconductor to achieve In0.1Ga0.9As/InAs/In0.1Ga0.9As quantum dot infrared photodetec- tor (QDIP)-based focal plane array. For investigating the mechanism of carrier transport and optoelectronic behavior, the photoresponse spec- tra and dark current were measured in agreement with the theoretical simulations. Furthermore, a model is proposed with the systematic anal- yses and explained for designing high-performance QDIPs based on the calculations of thermal activation energy and detectivity. For QDIP pho- toresponse measurements, the photovoltaic photoresponse is achieved, which can be attributed to the asymmetric morphology of quantum dot epitaxy. With increasing bias, the photoresponse spectra exhibit a red- shift due to band bending that generates a thinner triangle barrier which increases the escape possibility of the excited carriers situated at lower excited-state levels. The trapezoid-edged scheme enhances infrared cou- pling and increases the photoresponse intensity. A single-sided gradient AlxGa1-xAs (x = 0.25→0) barrier can suppress the dark-current under bias efficiently. The infrared imaging performance of InGaAs QDIP based on 320×256 FPA is also demonstrated in this paper. C 2011 Society of Photo-
Insecticide resistance in the house fly: identification of a gene that confers resistance to organotin insecticides and acts as an intensifier of parathion resistance.

A strain of Musca domestica L. known as California Parathion (Cal P-R) possesses an unusually high level (100-fold) of resistance to parathion and is resistant also to organotin toxicants such as tributyltin chloride (TBTC). When the phenomenon of simultaneous resistance to parathion and organotin was investigated toxicologically and genetically, resistance to parathion was found to be conferred only by a single 2nd-chromosomal incompletely dominant gene that is probably allelic with previously reported genes conferring organophosphate resistance. Also, a gene conferring resistance to TBTC was isolated and shown to be a 3rd-chromosomal incomplete recessive; it is designated organotin -R and given the mutant symbol “tin.” When a synthesized strain possessing only the tin gene was crossed with the Tropical “P” classic-wing strain that is moderately resistant to parathion (30-fold), rigorous selection of the F2 and F3 generations with parathion resulted in a new strain having 100-fold resistance to parathion and a level of resistance to TBTC identical to that of the parent tin strain. Hence, the tin gene, or a closely linked modifier, acts as an intensifier of resistance and therefore the high level of resistance to parathion in the Cal P-R strain is caused by the interaction of 2 independent major genes.
Cuprate/manganite heterostructures

Advances in thin film deposition techniques have made it possible to produce heterostructures of high-temperature superconducting compounds and manganite perovskites. The latter exhibit the phenomenon of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). The half-metallic character of the CMR compounds results in their carriers being spin polarized. Experiments with these heterostructures have demonstrated that the injection of spin-polarized carriers into high-temperature superconductors results in a reduction of parameters such as the critical current and critical temperature. The experimental situation is reviewed, and open questions are identified.
The role of the carnitine system in human metabolism

Metabolism cycles daily between the fed and fasted states. The pathways of energy production are reversible and distinct. In the anabolic (fed) state, the liver stores glucose as glycogen, and fatty acid/triglyceride synthesis is active. In the catabolic (fasted) state, the liver becomes a glucose producer, lipogenesis is slowed, and fatty acid oxidation/ketogenesis is activated. The rate-limiting step for the latter is vested in the carnitine/carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) system, and the off/on regulator of this is malonyl CoA. The AMP-induced protein kinase primarily determines the concentration of malonyl CoA. Four other systems have significant influence: two on fatty acid oxidation and two on lipogenesis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-1 alpha, a master regulator of metabolism, induces hepatic gluconeogenesis and fatty acid oxidation in the catabolic phase. Deficiency of stearoyl CoA desaturase, although having no role in gluconeogenesis, powerfully induces fatty acid oxidation and weight loss despite increased food intake in rodents. Major stimulators of lipogenesis are carbohydrate-responsive element binding protein and the Insig system. The malonyl CoA-regulated CPT system has been firmly established in humans. The other systems have not yet been confirmed in humans, but likely are active there as well. Activation of fatty acid oxidation has considerable clinical promise for the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, steatohepatitis, and lipotoxic damage to the heart.
The broad host range of Metharmostis multilineata precludes its use as a biological control agent of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa

Rhodomyrtus tomentosa is an invasive weed in Florida and Hawaii, USA. Host range testing indicates that the stem-mining lepidopteran Metharmostis multilineata, collected from Hong Kong, China aggressively feeds and completes development on R. tomentosa as well as New World species in three other genera. The unsuitability of M. multilineata as a biological control agent and details of the newly described species' biology are addressed.
Molecular weight distribution in polymers of tetrafluoroethylene

Abstract Molecular weight distributions of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) determined by viscoelastic spectroscopy contain two (or three) components varying in average molecular weight by about an order of magnitude. The lowest molecular weight component has a ‘most probable’ distribution and is made only in the early stage of the polymerization. It is believed to be made in particles which are too small to contain more than one radical for an appreciable time. The intermediate and higher molecular weight components have narrower distributions characteristic of termination by combination of radicals. On the other hand, copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene (FEP) have a single population with a binary coupling distribution.
Biological Validation of Differentially Expressed Genes in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Identified by Applying Multiple Statistical Methods to Oligonucleotide Microarrays

Oligonucleotide microarrays are a powerful tool for profiling the expression levels of thousands of genes. Different statistical methods for identifying differentially expressed genes can yield different results. To our knowledge, no experimental test has been performed to decide which method best identifies genes that are truly differentially expressed. We applied three statistical methods (dChip, t-test on log-transformed data, and Wilcoxon test) to identify differentially expressed genes in previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We used a training set of Affymetrix Hu133A microarray data from 11 patients with unmutated immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain variable region (VH) genes and 8 patients with mutated Ig VH genes. Differential expression was validated using semiquantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays and by validating models to predict the somatic mutation status of an independent test set of nine CLL samples. The methods identified 144 genes that were differentially expressed between cases of CLL with unmutated compared with mutated Ig VH genes. Eighty genes were identified by Wilcoxon test, 60 by t-test, and 65 by dChip, but only 11 were identified by all three methods. Greater agreement was found between the t-test and the Wilcoxon test. Differential expression was validated by semiquantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays for 83% of individual genes, regardless of the statistical method. However, the Wilcoxon test gave the most accurate predictions on new samples, and dChip, the least accurate. We found that all three methods were equally good for finding differentially expressed genes, but they found different genes. The genes selected by the nonparametric Wilcoxon test are the most robust for predicting the status of new cases. A comprehensive list of all differentially expressed genes can only be obtained by combining the results of multiple statistical tests.
SU‐E‐J‐02: Accuracy of Fiducial Marker Localization Using Axial and Helical CT, Cone‐Beam CT and KV Imaging

Purpose: To determine localization errors of fiducial markers using axial (ACT) and helical CT (HCT), cone beam CT(CBCT) and kV imaging.Methods and Materials: A thorax phantom containing markers of various sizes (2.5, 5, 10, 20mm) was imaged using ACT, HCT, CBCT and kV imaging. The phantom was imaged with and without motion (15mm amplitude, 15 cycles/min). CTimages were reconstructed at 0.625, 1.25, 2.5 and 5mm thickness. Marker location and length were measured using axial and coronal imaging.Results: The measured marker size increased almost linearly with increased slice thickness used in CTreconstruction with ACT for the stationary phantom. In HCT, the marker size varied non‐linearly with increase in slice thickness. Motion of the phantom induced further blurring and shifts of the center of the marker with different sizes. The 10 mm marker was elongated up to 13.5 mm and 16.2 mm in the ACT and HCT, respectively. The markers were elongated up to nearly 26 mm using axial and helical scanning modes by phantom motion. The displacement of maker center was more prominent in the HCT with a shift up to 2 mm due to slice thickness for stationary phantom. The marker center was displaced by up to 18 and 22 mm using ACT and HCT, respectively, which was even higher than 15 mm motion amplitude. KV imaging produced the sharpest marker image with the least difference between actual and measured marker sizes. Conclusion: Increase in slice thickness enlarged the apparent marker size and displaced the maker center in ACT and HCT. Motion led to further enlargement in the maker size and displacement of maker center that depended on the motion amplitude. These effects should be considered in CT‐based image‐guidedradiation therapy to ensure accurate tumor localization and patient positioning with implanted markers.
Women, food, and mood

Associations between food intake and mood greatly interest both lay and scientific audiences, although scientific support for many observed associations is sparse. Of particular interest are issues surrounding food intake, food cravings, and mood in women throughout the menstrual cycle. Further research is necessary to support or disprove current hypotheses about the relationship between food intake and mood. Meanwhile, health professionals should be prepared to inform the public about the complexity of factors that influence the relationship between food intake and mood.
A new fluorescence complementation biosensor for detection of estrogenic compounds.

Estrogenic compounds are an important class of hormonal substances that can be found as environmental contaminants, with sources including pharmaceuticals, human and animal waste, the chemical industry, and microbial metabolism. Here we report the creation of a biosensor useful for monitoring such compounds, based on complementation of fluorescent protein fragments. A series of sensors were made consisting of fragments of a split mVenus fluorescent protein fused at several different N-terminal and C-terminal positions flanking the ligand binding domain of the estrogen receptor alpha. When expressed in HeLa cells, sensor 6 (ERα 312-595) showed a nine-fold increase in fluorescence in the presence of estrogen receptor agonists or antagonists. Sensor 2 (ERα 281-549) discriminated between agonists and antagonists by showing a decrease in fluorescence in the presence of agonists while being induced by antagonists. The fluorescent signal of sensor 6 increased over a period of 24 hours, with a twofold induction visible at 4 hours and four-fold at 8 hours of ligand incubation. Ligand titration showed a good correlation with the known relative binding affinities of the compound. The sensor could detect a number of compounds of interest that can act as environmental endocrine disruptors. The lack of a substrate requirement, the speed of signal development, the potential for high throughput assays, and the ability to distinguish agonists from antagonists make this an attractive sensor for widespread use.
1-Adamantanethiolate monolayer displacement kinetics follow a universal form.

Alkanethiol molecules in solution displace 1-adamantanethiolate self-assembled monolayers on Au{111}, ultimately leading to complete molecular exchange. Specifically, here, fast insertion of n-dodecanethiolate at defects in the original 1-adamantanethiolate monolayer nucleates an island growth phase, which is followed by slow ordering of the n-dodecanethiolate domains into a denser and more crystalline form. Langmuir-based kinetics, which describe alkanethiolate adsorption on bare Au{111}, fail to model this displacement reaction. Instead, a Johnson−Mehl−Avrami−Kolmogorov model of perimeter-dependent island growth yields good agreement with kinetic data obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry over 100-fold variation in n-dodecanethiol concentration. Rescaling the growth rate at each concentration collapses all the data onto a single universal curve, suggesting that displacement is a scale-free process. The rate of displacement varies as the square-root of the n-dodecanethiol concentration acro...
Asymmetric dimethylarginine as a marker of metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular disease

Substantial effort has been devoted to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases through modifiable lifestyle factors, but more innovation is needed to better understand mediators of disease progression and to ultimately improve risk prediction. Markers of endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress may contribute to the underlying processes of atherosclerosis and premature coronary heart disease. Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, has emerged as a potential novel marker of cardiovascular disease. Accumulation of ADMA leads to endothelial dysfunction and initiates and promotes processes involved with atherogenesis. Plasma ADMA levels have been associated with coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease. ADMA may be an important link between endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease risk and progression. This review discusses the current literature on ADMA as a novel marker of metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.
Evidence-based disease management in medication-use evaluation: application to drotrecogin alfa (activated) in severe sepsis.

Health care decision-makers are continually challenged with applying the evidence reported in randomized clinical trials to clinical practice. Health care organizations that add new medications to their drug formulary may implement processes to restrict the drugs’ use, based in part or in
Recovery of near's mission to eros

Abstract On December 20, 1998, the main bipropellant thruster on the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft was commanded to start a 15-minute burn. It was the first and largest of four planned maneuvers that would cancel NEAR's velocity relative to (433) Eros to allow capture into orbit about the asteroid in January 1999. But the burn aborted and the spacecraft tumbled, causing loss of communication. The spacecraft corrected the problem, but used 29 kg of fuel in the process. A day later, NEAR was reacquired with just enough time to upload a sequence of commands to image Eros extensively as the spacecraft hurtled past the asteroid on December 23. The NEAR team designed a large bipropellant maneuver that successfully cancelled most of NEAR's velocity relative to Eros on January 3, 1999. But then NEAR was almost 1 million kilometers from Eros, so a long “U-turn” journey was begun to return to the asteroid on February 14, 2000. The spacecraft remains healthy and enough fuel remains to enter orbit about Eros to complete all of the mission goals. This will be the first time that an interplanetary spacecraft has failed an orbital capture burn and returned to accomplish its objectives. This is possible because NEAR had a generous fuel supply and a robust contingency plan.
The shape of the allowed positron spectrum of Na 22

The shape of the allowed positron spectrum from the decay of Na22 has been studied under various experimental conditions in an ironfree, double-focusing spectrometer in search of instrumental distortions of the spectrum. The possibility of positrons back-scattering from the material directly behind the source on the optical path of the positrons was studied. The beta spectrum shape was measured with end-plates (located ∼6.5 cm behind the source) of aluminum, lucite and lead. Different spectrometer baffle settings were also used. No differences were observed in the spectrum shapes taken under the different experimental conditions. The experimental shape factor could be fitted with an empirical shape of the form of (1+b/W) with 0.10≲b≲0.3 in agreement with earlier work.
Soldiers, Shahs and Subalterns in Iran: Opposition, Protest and Revolt, 1921–1941

Soldiers, Shahs and Subalterns in Iran: Opposition, Protest and Revolt, 1921–1941, Stephanie Cronin, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, ISBN 978-0-230-53794-1, 344 pp. Stephanie Cronin's Soldiers,...
Skin-friction measurements and computational comparison of swept shock/boundary-layer interactions

A joint experimental and computational study of skin friction in weak-to-strong swept shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interactions has been carried out. A planar shock wave is generated by a sharp fin at angles of attack α=10 and 16 deg at M ∞=3 and 16 and 20 deg at M ∞=4. Measurements are made using the laser interferometer skin friction (LISF) meter, which optically detects the rate of thinning of an oil film applied to the test surface.
The Characteristic Intersection Property of Line-Free Choquet Simplices in E d

Abstract. Generalizing the characteristic intersection property of Choquet simplices, it is proved that for line-free convex bodies B 1 and B 2 in E d , the following conditions are equivalent: (i) there is a line-free convex body B ⊂ E d such that every nonempty intersection B 1 ∩ (v + B 2 ) , v ∈ E d , is a homothetic copy of B , (ii) both B 1 and B 2 are Choquet simplices and the nonempty intersections B 1 ∩ (v + B 2 ) , v ∈ E d , are homothetic copies of a Choquet simplex B . All such triplets B 1 ,B 2 ,B are described.
Temporal Traffic Dynamics Improve the Connectivity of Ad Hoc Cognitive Radio Networks

In an ad hoc cognitive radio network, secondary users access channels temporarily unused by primary users, and the existence of a communication link between two secondary users depends on the transmitting and receiving activities of nearby primary users. Using theories and techniques from continuum percolation and ergodicity, we analytically characterize the connectivity of the secondary network defined in terms of the almost sure finiteness of the multihop delay, and show the occurrence of a phase transition phenomenon while studying the impact of the temporal dynamics of the primary traffic on the connectivity of the secondary network. Specifically, as long as the primary traffic has some temporal dynamics caused by either mobility and/or changes in traffic load and pattern, the connectivity of the secondary network depends solely on its own density and is independent of the primary traffic; otherwise, the connectivity of the secondary network requires putting a density-dependent cap on the primary traffic load. We show that the scaling behavior of the multihop delay depends critically on whether or not the secondary network is instantaneously connected. In particular, we establish the scaling law of the minimum multihop delay with respect to the source-destination distance when the propagation delay is negligible.
Experimental lung transplantation in the baboon.

Abstract In clinical lung transplantation it will be necessary for the transplanted lung to provide immediate respiratory support. The majority of studies in the dog have been associated with a high rate of complications. Left-lung autotransplants with immediate contralateral pulmonary artery ligation were performed in 24 baboons. Twenty are long-term survivors. In each instance the transplanted lung assumed immediate and adequate function to support the animal. Complications usually seen in the dog do not appear in the primate model. This study would suggest that the baboon is a better model to study the physiological aspects of immediate function in experimental lung transplantation.
Weak Cayley Table Groups

Abstract Let G , H be groups. We study bijections f : G → H which preserve conjugacy classes and satisfy: for all g , g ′ ∈ G the elements f ( gg ′) and f ( g ) f ( g ′) are conjugate. These are related to 2-characteristics of groups, objects originally studied by Frobenius and more recently by K. W. Johnson et. al. If G = H , then any automorphism or anti-automorphism satisfies these conditions. We call these trivial. We show, among other things, that any such f : G → G for G being the symmetric group S n , n > 0, dihedral group D n , n ∈ N ∪ {∞}, or the free group F n , n ≠ 3, is trivial.