cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assembly of manganese-oxo clusters in solution as models for the photosynthetic Oxygen-Evolving Complex

The four-electron oxidation of water to form O2 in photosynthesis is a light-driven process that occurs in the multi-subunit membrane protein Photosystem II (PSII). The reaction is catalyzed by an inorganic cluster known as the Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC), which has a composition of Mn4OxCaCly.[1] A preliminary X-ray crystal structure of PSII has recently been determined,[2] but the nature of the ligands bound to the manganese ions and the internal structure of the core were not fully revealed. Insight into the structure of the OEC has been gained primarily through X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and spin resonance techniques (EPR/ENDOR) (reviewed in [3]). Based on these data, a number of candidate structures for the Mn4Ox subcore were described, of which the two leading candidates are the Mn4O4-funnel and the Mn4O4/Mn4O2-butterfly subcores (Figure 1).
Axonal migration of various ribonucleic acid species along the optic tract of the chick.

—The avian visual system has been used to study the axonal transport of RNA and protein. After monocular injection of radioactive uridine into 1-day-old chicks, a considerable amount of labelled RNA migrated along the optic tract to the optic tectum contralateral to the injected eye. This RNA was largely ribosomal, although it was contained in several subcellular fractions. The migration of RNA appeared to be a slow process. However, following monocular injection of radioactive proline, the migration of ribosomal protein was rapid. This discrepancy was resolved by examination of the kinetics of labelling of RNA and protein within the retina after intraocular injection of a mixture of labelled uridine and proline. Cytoplasmic RNA was labelled much more slowly than cytoplasmic protein. This lag in labelling of RNA could account for the delayed arrival of RNA at the contralateral optic lobe and suggests that ribosomes may travel rapidly along the axon. In other experiments, eyes were removed 4 days after the injection of labelled precursors. After a further 14 days, the remaining radioactivity in RNA and protein of contralateral optic lobes was 5–15% of that attributable to migration along the axon in control, unenucleated birds. Thus, the survival of the bulk of migrating macromolecules depends on the integrity of synaptic terminals. This observation suggests that both RNA and protein migrate within the axon rather than extra-axonally, and that they remain largely within the nerve cells along the axons of which they are transported.
Isolation and Identification of Objectionable Volatile Flavor Compounds in Defatted Soybean Flour

The volatile flavor constituents of defatted soy flour were isolated by a specially designed apparatus. The isolated volatiles were fractionated by gas chromatography. The fractions with characteristic beany, grassy, and green odors were identified by infrared and mass spectrometry. A total of 25 compounds was identified, including nine alcohols, six aldehydes, nine ketones, and 2-pentyl furan. Among the identified compounds, 2-pentyl furan and ethyl vinyl ketone are probably the key compounds for the beany and grassy odors of the soy flour. All the compounds identified in this study can be postulated as autoxidative decomposition products of soy lipids. Therefore, the presence of these compounds in soy flour might be due to the incomplete removal of lipids in soy flour.
Unloading in the elastic-plastic torsion problem☆

Abstract An elastic-plastic bar with simply connected cross section Q is clamped at the bottom and given a twist at the top. The stress function u , at a prescribed cross section, is then the solution of the variational inequality (0.1) min v ϵ K {∝ Q ¦ ▽ v¦ 2 − 2θ 1 ∝ Q v} = ∝ Q ¦ ▽ u¦ 2 − 2θ 1 ∝ Q u, u ϵ K, where (0.2) K = {v ϵ H 0 1 (Q), ¦ ▽ v¦ ⩽ 1 a.e. } and θ 1 is equal to the angle of the twist (after normalizing the units). Introducing the Lagrange multiplier λ θ 1 , the unloading problem consists in solving the variational inequality (0.3) min v ϵ K {∝ Q ¦ ▽ v¦ 2 + 2 ∝ Q λ θ 1 · ▽ v − 2θ 2 ∝ Q v} = ∝ Q ¦ ▽ w¦ 2 + 2 ∝ Q λ θ 1 ▽ u · ▽ w − 2θ 2 ∝ Q w. w ϵ K, where θ 2 is the twisting angle for the unloaded bar; θ 2 θ 1 . Let (0.4) K ∗ = {v ϵ H 0 1 (Q), −d(x) ⩽ v(x) ⩽ d(x)}, where d(x) = dist .(x, ∂Q) , and denote by u ∗ , w ∗ the solutions of (0.1), (0.3), respectively, when K is replaced by K ∗ . The following results are well known for the loading problem (0.1):(0.5) u = u ∗ ; (0.6) the plastic set P = (X ϵ Q ; ¦ ▽ u(x)¦ = 1} is connected to the boundary. In this paper we show that, in general, (0.7) w ≠ w ∗ ; (0.8) the plastic set P = {x ϵ Q ; ¦ ▽ w(x)¦ = 1} is not connected to the boundary. That is, we construct domains Q for which (0.7) and (0.8) hold for a suitable choice of θ 1 , θ 2 .
Peptide YY and vitamin E inhibit hormone-sensitive and -insensitive breast cancer cells

We have shown that peptide YY, an endogenous gut hormone, and vitamin E succinate (VES) inhibit pancreatic cancer cell growth in vitro. We hypothesized that PYY and VES would inhibit breast cancer cell viability regardless of the hormone receptor status. Human breast ZR-75 ductal carcinoma (estrogen receptor negative) and MCF-7 adenocarcinoma (estrogen receptor positive) cells were cultured and exposed to VES (10 pg/ml), PYY (500 pmol), or both agents together. MTT assay was performed at 24, 48, and 72 h to evaluate cell viability. At every time interval, PYY and VES significantly inhibited cell growth compared to control. The effects of PYY were similar in magnitude to those of VES. Combining the agents resulted in a significant additive inhibition of growth with the greatest effect seen at 72 h. We have shown that PYY and vitamin E inhibit in vitro growth of breast cancer cells with variable hormone receptor status. When used in combination, the agents have a significant increase in effect. Further studies are ongoing to define the mechanism of action of these agents and to translate the experiments to an in vivo model.
Pretectal region and the pupillary light reflex. An anatomical analysis in the monkey.

The effects of discrete lesions in the pretectal region of the monkey upon the pupillary light reflex were studied, using infrared pupillography. Resulting degeneration was studied by silver impregnation methods. The nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) and the sublentiform nucleus (SL) project fibers to the nuclei of the posterior commissure (NPC) and to portions of the ipsilateral inferior pulvinar, pregeniculate nucleus and dorsal lateral geniculate body. NPC gives rise to the bulk of the fibers in the posterior commissure (PC) which largely terminate upon contralateral cells of NPC. Some fibers arising from NPC enter the ipsilateral central gray and terminate bilaterally primarily upon cells of the medial visceral columns of the oculomotor complex (OMC). These fibers partially decussate ventral to the aqueduct. Fibers from the olivary nucleus (ON) cross in the PC and project to terminations upon: (1) large cells of the opposite ON and (2) the anterior median nuclei and the contralateral lateral visceral cell column of OMC. NOT, and possibly ON, give rise to fibers crossing in PC that project to the contralateral accessory optic tract nucleus (AOTN). Unilateral lesions that fairly selectively destroy parts of NOT, ON, SL, NPC, central fibers of PC or the nucleus of the pretectal area (NPA), produce neither miosis, mydriasis, anisocoria, nor do they impair direct or consensual pupillary light reflexes. Unilateral lesions, which impair pupillary light reflexes, involve multiple structures, such as NPC, PC and lateral regions of the central gray.
Mortality of coronary artery bypass grafting before and after the advent of angioplasty

Abstract In an effort to determine whether the population of patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting and the outcome of these operations have changed, we analyzed the records of two patient populations from our institution. Interventionsl cardiology techniques (angioplasty, thrombolysis) were not used at our institution before 1982. The records of 736 patients (group 1) who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting from January 1975 to July 1981 were reviewed and compared with a group of 603 patients (group 2) who underwent operation from July 1985 to December 1987. The techniques of operation and myocardial preservation were virtually identical during the two periods. During the group 2 analysis period, 343 angioplasty procedures were performed. The patients in group 2 were significantly older, had increased preoperative New York Heart Association classification, had sustained more previous myocardial infarctions, and had more associated morbid medical conditions. There was a threefold increase in patients seen for reoperative revascularization procedures and a fourfold increase in emergency operations. Overall mortality, although not significantly different, did increase slightly from 2.69% in group 1 to 3.83% in group 2. Mortality after elective procedures remained essentially unchanged (2.05% for group 1 and 1.90% for group 2).
Development of GABAergic function of dissociated hippocampal cultures from fetal mice.

The GABA uptake mechanism has been characterized in hippocampal cell cultures prepared from fetal mice of 13–19 days gestational age. [3H]GABA is accumulated selectively by neuronal cells by a high-affinity (Km = 2 μM) mechanism that is an early property of the neurons. Autoradiography of [3H]GABA uptake revealed that approximately 30% of the neuronal cells had uptake. A unique small neuronal type did not have [3H]GABA uptake but was found to have [3H]glutamic acid uptake, suggesting that these neurons may be granule cells. The selective labeling of neurons with [3H]GABA and [3H]glutamic acid is consistent with the idea that high-affinity uptake of a transmitter may be unique to neurons that use that transmitter.
Cation-exchange in ground-water contaminated with sea-water near Miami, Florida

A comprehensive investigation of the ground-water resources of southeastern Florida by the Halted States Geological Survey from 1939 to 1944 has yielded a large amount of information about the quantity and quality of surface- and ground-waters available for municipal, industrial, and agricultural use in the area. In connection with studies of the chemical character of ground-water in areas along the coast in and near Miami where the ground-water is contaminated with sea-water, it was found that the composition of the contaminated water differed considerably from the composition of simple mixtures of ground-water and sea-water. Differences in the composition of salty ground-water in southern Florida have also been observed by SANFORD [see 1 of “References” at end of paper] and STRINGFIELD [2], It appears that the observed differences in the Miami Area can be explained as the result of cation-exchange.
A silicon-containing resist for immersion lithography

We have developed a new silicon-containing resist for 193-nm immersion lithography. This resist is compatible with topcoats used in the industry today for immersion lithography. Most of the current topcoats contain 4-methyl-2- pentanol as a solvent. Our evaluations indicated that the previously developed silicon-containing resists are not compatible with the current topcoats because of their solubility in 4-methyl-2-pentanol. In the new resist polymers, we have incorporated high percentage (> 60 mol%) of lactone monomers to prevent them from dissolving in this solvent. In order to increase the lactone content in a silicon polymer, we have incorporated lactone containing acidlabile functionalities in addition to widely used acid-inert lactone monomers. Utilizing these polymers, we have demonstrated a functional silicon-containing photoresist for immersion lithography.
Production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and trihalomethane (THM) precursor from peat soils

Water passing through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta contains elevated concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and trihalomethane (THM) precursor relative to upstream waters from the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. Drainage from agricultural peat soils has been identified as one of the major sources of DOC and THM precursor. A series of controlled laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate abiotic and biotic effects on the quantity and the nature of DOC and THM precursors produced from oxidized surface and reduced subsurface soils in the Delta. For abiotic effects, DOC was extracted from both soils with synthetic solutions containing a range of salinity (0-4 dS/m) and sodicity (0 to infinity ). The results showed that an increase in salinity significantly decreased the concentration of DOC in the soil-water from both soils but increased its aromaticity, as indicated by specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA). For biotic effects, peat soils were incubated over a range of temperatures (10 degrees C, 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C) and soil moisture contents (0.3-10 g water/g soil). After 8 weeks of incubation, only extracted DOC from flooded conditions and flooded and non-flooded cycles showed an increase in DOC. These findings indicate that neither salinity nor sodicity is the major factor for DOC production, but both can affect the solubility and mobility of DOC in the Delta soils. We believe wetting processes in oxidized peat soils produce significant amounts of DOC found in agricultural drainage discharged into the Delta waters.
Direct phosphorylation of proliferative and survival pathway proteins by RET

Background Gain-of-function mutations in the RET tyrosine kinase receptor cause the multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes type 2a and 2b, and medullary thyroid cancer. We have previously shown that RET signals through focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in medullary thyroid cancer cells and that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity can be blocked by pp2, an inhibitor of both Src and RET. We hypothesized that RET could directly phosphorylate FAK and ERK. Methods RET and ERK kinase activity were measured with the use of an in vitro kinase assay. The relative contribution of RET in phosphorylation of ERK was tested by treating cells with PD98059, an inhibitor of MEK, and the RET inhibitor PP2, then measuring ERK activity. Results Immunoprecipitated, mutant RET from cells or the recombinant RET kinase domain was able to directly phosphorylate tyrosine residues on FAK. Specifically Y576/577, Y861, and Y925, but not the autophosphorylation site Y397 of FAK, were phosphorylated by RET. Similarly ERK 2 could be phosphorylated at Y187 (Y204 in ERK1). Inhibition of both MEK (upstream of ERK) and RET was more potent than inhibition of either alone in decreasing ERK activity. Furthermore, tyrosine residues in DOK1, the p85 subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3′ kinase, JNK 1 and 2, P-38, and phospholipase-γ were directly phosphorylated by RET. Conclusions RET directly phosphorylates tyrosine residues on FAK, ERK 1/2, DOK1, the p85 subunit of of phosphatidylinositol 3′ kinase, JNK 1 and 2, P-38, and phospholipase-γ. These data indicate a direct interaction between RET and a broad range of effector molecules that may contribute to tumor pathogenesis.
Metacontrast masking is specific to luminance polarity.

A1 -spot was flashed up on a screen, followed by a snugly fitting annular mask. We measured the amount of masking as a function of stimulus luminance. The surround was always mid-gray, the masking ring was either black or white, and the luminance of the spot target ranged from 0% to 100% of white in 4% steps. Observers reported the apparent lightness of the masked spot by adjusting a matching spot. Results: A black annular mask made all spots that were darker than the gray surround appear to be transparent, that is, of the same luminance as the surround (complete masking). The black ring had virtually no masking effect on spots that were lighter than the surround. Conversely, a white ring made all spots that were lighter than the gray surround look apparently the same luminance as the surround (complete masking), but had virtually no masking effect on spots that were darker than the surround. In summary, a black ring masked spatial decrements but not increments, whilst a white ring masked spatial increments but not decrements. Thus masking occurred only when the spot and the ring had the same luminance polarity. This same-polarity masking still occurred when the target spot was larger than the donut hole of the masking ring, so that the target and ring partly overlapped. This ruled out simple edge-cancellation theories. Instead, masking disrupts the filling-in process that normally propagates inward from the edges of a spot [Vision Res. 31 (7–8) (1991) 1221]. We conclude that metacontrast masking occurs within, but not between, separate visual ON and OFF pathways. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Vertical air motion and raindrop size distributions in convective systems using a 94 GHz radar

This paper presents a method for the observation of air vertical velocity and raindrop size distribution in convective storms, based on the interpretation of Mie backscattering oscillations seen in the Doppler spectrum observed at vertical incidence with a 94 GHz Doppler radar. The location of the first minimum allows an accurate determination of vertical air motion, which is used to shift the spectrum so that it relates to the raindrops terminal velocity alone. The drop size distribution is then retrieved from the shifted Doppler spectrum. An example of the structure of two-dimensional updrafts and downdrafts observed in the low levels of a convective storm is presented. Drop size distributions can also be estimated and evidence of small drop removal by the updraft is presented.
Computability structure of the Sobolev spaces and its applications

In this paper we present a definition of s-computability for functions in Sobolev spaces Hs(Rd), s ϵ R. Two applications of s-computability are then discussed. One is to address several open problems regarding classical computable functions; the other is to conduct computable analysis of several important classes of partial differential equations.
Model for passive coherent beam combining in fiber laser arrays

We present a new model for studying the beam combining mechanism, spectral and temporal dynamics, the role of nonlinearity, and the power scaling issue of discretely coupled fiber laser arrays. The model accounts for the multiple longitudinal modes of individual fiber lasers and shows directly the formation of the composite-cavity modes. Detailed output power spectra and their evolution with increasing array size and pump power are also explored for the first time. In addition, it is, to our knowledge, the only model that closely resembles the real experimental conditions in which no deliberate control of the fiber lengths (mismatch) is required while highly efficient coherent beam combining is still attained.
Sustained Delivery of Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) by Means of Implantable Ceramic Devices

A total of 25 Sprague-Dawley albino male rats were assigned to five groups, each group consisting of five rats. Polylactic acid-impregnated ALCAP capsules filled with 40 mg DFMO were implanted subcutaneously (sc) or intraperitoneally (ip) in group I and II rats, respectively. Rats in group III were implanted with empty ALCAP capsules (ALCAP control). Group IV rats were administered orally 3% DFMO in drinking water. Rats in group V served as control. Blood samples were collected every week for six weeks via the tail artery. The concentration of DFMO was determined by a modified ninhydrin hydrindantin method. Data obtained in this investigation showed that the levels of DFMO in the serum of rats in groups I and II were 41.87 +/- 6.8 and 237.62 +/- 13.3 micrograms/mL, respectively. Body, spleen, liver, prostate, seminal vesicles, and testicular weights of the controls and DFMO treated rats were not significantly different (p less than 0.05) over the entire duration of this study. The diarrhea often noted in rats treated orally with DFMO was not observed in rats implanted with ALCAP capsules filled with DFMO. The results of this study suggest that (1) polymer-impregnated ALCAP ceramic capsules can be used to deliver DFMO in a sustained manner for long durations of time, (2) side effects associated with oral administration of DFMO can be avoided by using DFMO-filled ALCAP ceramic implants, and (3) a ceramic system can be designed to deliver DFMO and drugs such as DFMO in a sustained manner over long periods of time in humans.
The effect of sulfur deficiency on the amino acids of alfalfa.

Abstract Sulfur-deficient alfalfa plants grown in sand culture contained increased amounts of aspartic acid and arginine, and decreased amounts of 16 other amino acids when compared with normal control alfalfa plants. The data suggest that asparagine acts as a primary, and arginine as a secondary storage form for nitrogen in the sulfur-deficient plant, and that important changes in the protein make-up of the plant take place during sulfur deficiency.
Yeast homologues of lethal giant larvae and type V myosin cooperate in the regulation of Rab-dependent vesicle clustering and polarized exocytosis.

Lgl family members play an important role in the regulation of cell polarity in eukaryotic cells. The yeast homologues Sro7 and Sro77 are thought to act downstream of the Rab GTPase Sec4 to promote soluble N-ethylmaleimide–sensitive factor adaptor protein receptor (SNARE) function in post-Golgi transport. In this article, we characterize the interaction between Sro7 and the type V myosin Myo2 and show that this interaction is important for two distinct aspects of Sro7 function. First, we show that this interaction plays a positive role in promoting the polarized localization of Sro7 to sites of active growth. Second, we find evidence that Myo2 negatively regulates Sro7 function in vesicle clustering. Mutants in either Myo2 or Sro7 that are defective for this interaction show hypersensitivity to Sro7 overexpression, which results in Sec4-dependent accumulation of large groups of vesicles in the cytoplasm. This suggests that Myo2 serves a dual function, to both recruit Sro7 to secretory vesicles and inhibit its Rab-dependent tethering activity until vesicles reach the plasma membrane. Thus Sro7 appears to coordinate the spatial and temporal nature of both Rab-dependent tethering and SNARE-dependent membrane fusion of exocytic vesicles with the plasma membrane.
A program development for a university course in geometric modeling

Abstract A detailed outline for a university course in geometric modeling is given in this paper. The course has been taught at the University of South Florida as an interdisciplinary course offered to engineering, computer science, mathematics, and art students.
Marine phytoplankton growth and survival under simulated upwelling and oligotrophic conditions

Abstract Dialysis cultures of a diatom, Chaetoceros affinis Lauder, and a dinoflagellate, Gymnodnium splendens Lebour were subjected to simulated upwelling conditions which were followed by oligotrophy. Upwelling was simulated by pumping nutrient-enriched sea water past the enclosed cultures. Oligotrophy was simulated by pumping nutrient-poor sea water past the cultures. After the period of upwelling oligotrophy was carried on for 65 days for G. splendens and 80 days for C. affinis. Both algae survived oligotrophic conditions as evidenced by the ability to initiate new cultures or by observation of motility. Nutrient analyses showed that oligotrophy developed slowly — over a period of several days — so that the cultures were subjected to slow changes similar to those which might occur in the sea when upwelling ceases or when upwelled water moves offshore. C. affinis responded to oligotrophy by developing small flagellated cells (male gametes), by losing discrete protoplasts in silicified cells, and by the breaking up of normal chains of cells. Plastids in G. splendens cells became more discrete under oligotrophic conditions and some large non-flagellated cells were observed. The use of dialysis cultures to simulate features of the ocean is discussed.
Tamoxifen sex reverses alligator embryos at male producing temperature, but is an antiestrogen in female hatchlings

Tamoxifen is an anticancer drug widely used in the treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer. In hatchling alligators it acts as a pure antiestrogen in that it completely blocks the effect of estradiol-induced oviductal hypertrophy and completely blocks the estradiol-induced hepatic vitellogenin secretion. Paradoxically, when injected into alligator eggs incubated at 33°C, a temperature which would normally result in 100% male hatchlings, tamoxifen ‘sex reverses’ the embryos into apparently normal female hatchlings.
Lysine 190 is the catalytic base in MenF, the menaquinone-specific isochorismate synthase from Escherichia coli: implications for an enzyme family.

Menaquinone biosynthesis is initiated by the conversion of chorismate to isochorismate, a reaction that is catalyzed by the menaquinone-specific isochorismate synthase, MenF. The catalytic mechanism of MenF has been probed using a combination of structural and biochemical studies, including the 2.5 A structure of the enzyme, and Lys190 has been identified as the base that activates water for nucleophilic attack at the chorismate C2 carbon. MenF is a member of a larger family of Mg2+ dependent chorismate binding enzymes catalyzing distinct chorismate transformations. The studies reported here extend the mechanism recently proposed for this enzyme family by He et al.: He, Z., Stigers Lavoie, K. D., Bartlett, P. A., and Toney, M. D. (2004) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126, 2378−85.
Risk of ischemic heart disease death from impaired fasting glucose and impaired renal function attenuated by their interaction among male hypertensive subjects

Purpose Our study assessed the joint association of impaired fasting glucose (IFG: serum glucose ≥ 110 mg/dL) and impaired renal function (IRF: creatinine clearance ≤60 mL/min) with the risk for ischemic heart disease (IHD) death in treated male hypertensive subjects. Methods We examined data for 6831 participants in the Worksite Hypertension Control Program with baseline creatinine clearance and serum glucose values. Patients with preexisting renal disease were excluded, as were those with follow-up less than 180 days. Mean follow-up time was 10.5 years (range 0.5–22.5). Mean age at entry was 52 years. IHD death outcomes ( n = 373) were defined as those with International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision (ICD-9), codes 410 through 414 ascertained from the National Death Index. Serum glucose was dichotomized as impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and normal. Creatinine clearance, estimated by the Cockcroft–Gault formula, was dichotomized as IRF and normal. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed with IFG, IRF, age, ethnicity, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen, body mass index, smoking, and a previous history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, left ventricular hypertrophy, or prior antihypertensive treatment. Results IFG and IRF each showed a significant positive association with IHD. An interaction product term of IRF and IFG significantly ( P = 0.004) improved the model. The product term was negatively associated with IHD (hazard ratio HR = 0.46; 95% confidence interval CI = 0.26, 0.80; P = 0.006). Stratifying by IRF found IFG a highly significant predictor of IHD (HR = 1.49; 95% CI = 1.13, 1.95; P = 0.004) in the normal renal stratum; in the IR stratum, IFG was not a significant predictor of IHD (HR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.36, 1.08; P = 0.09). Conclusion These results suggest an attenuating qualitative interaction between creatinine clearance less than 60 mL/min and IFG among treated male hypertensive subjects. Whether the observed qualitative interaction is simply statistical or reflects a biological counter-regulatory mechanism that mitigates the atherosclerotic effects of IFG and IRF needs further study.
Steel reinforcement corrosion detection with coaxial cable sensors

Corrosion processes in the steel reinforced structures can result in structural deficiency and with time create a threat to human lives. Millions of dollars are lost each year because of corrosion. According to the U. S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) the average annual cost of corrosion in the infrastructure sector by the end of 2002 was estimated to be $22.6 billion. Timely remediation/retrofit and effective maintenance can extend the structure's live span for much less expense. Thus the considerable effort should be done to deploy corrosion monitoring techniques to have realistic information on the location and the severity of damage. Nowadays commercially available techniques for corrosion monitoring require costly equipment and certain interpretational skills. In addition, none of them is designed for the real time quality assessment. In this study the crack sensor developed at Missouri University of Science and Technology is proposed as a distributed sensor for real time corrosion monitoring. Implementation of this technology may ease the pressure on the bridge owners restrained with the federal budget by allowing the timely remediation with the minimal financial and labor expenses. The sensor is instrumented in such a way that the location of any discontinuity developed along its length can be easily detected. When the sensor is placed in immediate vicinity to the steel reinforcement it is subjected to the same chemical process as the steel reinforcement. And corrosion pitting is expected to develop on the sensor exactly at the same location as in the rebar. Thus it is expected to be an effective tool for active corrosion zones detection within reinforced concrete (RC) members. A series of laboratory tests were conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Nine sensors were manufactured and placed in the artificially created corrosive environment and observed over the time. To induce accelerated corrosion 3% and 5% NaCL solutions were used. Based on the test results, the proposed/corrosion distributed sensor is capable of delivering fairly accurate information on the location of a discontinuity along the sensor caused by corrosion pitting. Forensic study was also conducted to validate the concept. In order to test the sensors in real live condition, 27 sensors were prepared to be placed into RC beams. The beams will be subjected to corrosive environment. After that the sensors will be monitored over the time for signs of corrosion.
Inelastic ion-surface collisions: scattering and dissociation of low energy benzene molecular cations

Abstract We have studied collisions of benzene cations with a self-assembled monolayer surface of alkanethiol on gold substrate at kinetic energies ranging from 10 to 50 eV at 45° impact angle using a modified crossed-beam tandem mass spectrometer. Neutralization is the main reaction at all kinetic energies investigated. At ion kinetic energies below 10 eV, most reflected benzene cations are inelastically scattered with little fragmentation even though they lose most of their kinetic energy in the collision process. As ion energy is increased, the probability of surface-induced dissociation (SID) increases rather slowly. At all energies investigated neither elastic scattering nor SID occurs at the specular scattering angle. The total energy lost by benzene ions in inelastic/dissociative collisions increases as the ion kinetic energy is increased. Kinetic energy distributions of inelastically scattered benzene ions are rather broad and strongly dependent upon the ion kinetic energy. At lower energies, there is only one peak in the kinetic energy distribution of inelastically scattered benzene ions whereas at 50 eV benzene ions exhibit three peaks distinguishable in both energy and scattering angle. The high-energy peak corresponds to nearly zero energy loss (quasielastic scattering) and the lowest energy peak is quasithermalized. These two peaks are narrower than the central main peak suggesting a different dynamic mechanism for each of these collision processes.
The Relationship between the Base Extractable Species Found in Middle Distillate Fuel and Lubricity

The compositional changes a diesel fuel undergoes during hydrotreating were investigated, specifically in relation to the changes in natural lubricity components. A unique set of six diesel fuels from the United States, England, Israel, and Spain were hydrotreated to four different levels of sulfur and aromatic content. Three different ASTM methods were used to determine the lubricity of these samples. These tests showed that the lubricity of the fuels was severely impacted by the hydrotreating process. A chemical test was developed that employed a base extraction followed by GC analysis that positively correlated with the ASTM tests. Additionally, GC/MS was employed to determine the major classes of compounds that are responsible for a fuel's inherent lubricity. The samples were aged at ambient conditions for two years as well as undergoing accelerated aging experiments. There appears to be a fuel dependent relationship between aging and compositional changes that affords a fuel its lubricity.
An Exact Solution Algorithm for a Class of Production Planning and Scheduling Problems

This paper presents a formulation and an exact solution algorithm for a class of production planning and scheduling problems. The problem is one of optimally specifying production levels for each product in each period of the planning horizon. The objective is to minimize the sum of the set-up, regular time production, overtime and inventory holding costs. The problem has been formulated as a variation of fixed charge transportation problem. The problem discussed here is NP-hard in computational complexity. A numerical example is presented for better understanding of the algorithm.
Differences in the effect of insulin on the generation by adipocytes and IM-9 lymphocytes of a chemical mediator which simulates the action of insulin on pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Abstract Insulin treatment of adipocytes increased the amount or activity of a low molecular weight, acid stable material which, when isolated and partially purified from intact adipocytes, yielded a single active fraction which stimulated pyruvate dehydrogenase. IM-9 lymphocytes contained a similar active material but in contrast to the adipocyte, insulin treatment of IM-9 lymphocytes caused a reduction in the amount or activity of the material either by decreasing production of the material or by increasing production of an inhibitory substance. These findings are consistent with the reported biological effects of insulin on these two cell types and suggest that the active material from these two cell types is the putative insulin chemical mediator.
Some additional morphological and metrical observations on pan brain casts and their relevance to the taung endocast

Using an increased sample of chimpanzee brains and brain casts, 32 hemispheres were measured to determine the variability of OP–FP (occipital–pole) and OP–LS (occipital pole–lunate sulcus) arc dimensions and their ratios. The Taung endocast was remeasured to test Falk's assertions that the lunate sulcus is in a pongid position. The average ratio for the chimpanzee brains was 0.218, a value more than 2 + S.D.'s posterior to Falk's placement of the lunate sulcus on the Taung specimen. It is suggested that the chimpanzee and Taung occipital poles have a different morphometric pattern, the former being coincident with the caudal end of the LC (lateral calcarine) fissure. The Taung OP–LS arc consistently measured at least 42 mm, and not 40 mm as claimed by Falk.
Gas Permeability Properties of Mixed-Matrix Matrimid Membranes Containing a Carbon Aerogel: A Material with Both Micropores and Mesopores

A carbon aerogel was prepared by carbonizing a resorcinol−formaldehyde polymer gel at 800 °C. Nitrogen adsorption shows the obtained carbon aerogel has both micropores (0.54 nm) and mesopores (2.14 nm). Matrimid mixed-matrix membranes containing the carbon aerogels were successfully prepared and evaluated for the permeation of H2, N2, O2, CH4, CO2, and gas mixtures. The ideal selectivity of H2/N2, CO2/CH4, and O2/N2 gas pairs increased from 79.6, 34.5, and 6.6 for pure Matrimid to 111, 47.8, and 9.1 at 20% loading, respectively. These results suggest that the polymer chains can penetrate the carbon mesopores to achieve good contact between the carbon aerogel and Matrimid, while the micropores may provide size and shape selectivity.
Presence of Somatic Mutations in Most Early-Stage Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia

More information is needed about genetic factors that initiate development of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms—the most common precursors of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. We show that more than 99% of the earliest-stage, lowest-grade, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasm-1 lesions contain mutations in KRAS, p16/CDKN2A, GNAS, or BRAF. These findings could improve our understanding of the development and progression of these premalignant lesions.
Developing Social Competence in the Inclusive Primary Classroom

(2001). Developing Social Competence in the Inclusive Primary Classroom. Childhood Education: Vol. 78, No. 2, pp. 70-78.
Implementing Outcomes Assessment in an Academic Affairs Support Unit

While outcomes assessment has become a focus for institutions of higher education, assessment in academic support units remain sparse. Traditionally, assessment has been comprised of one-time student satisfaction surveys and/or supervisor evaluations tied specifically to job criteria. Although informative, these methods fail to account for or measure specific student learning outcomes completed by students via their interaction with faculty and staff. This article presents the development and implementation of a program of outcomes assessment at a 4-year public university in the northeast. Results indicate that students come to college with varying expectations of the role of academic advisors and range on a continuum of academic and social preparation to meet the demands of higher education. A majority of students are meeting the stated learning outcomes. Feedback from this assessment model is being used to improve the quality of services provided to successive cohorts of students at this institution.
A versatile sharp interface immersed boundary method for incompressible flows with complex boundaries

A sharp interface immersed boundary method for simulating incompressible viscous flow past three-dimensional immersed bodies is described. The method employs a multi-dimensional ghost-cell methodology to satisfy the boundary conditions on the immersed boundary and the method is designed to handle highly complex three-dimensional, stationary, moving and/or deforming bodies. The complex immersed surfaces are represented by grids consisting of unstructured triangular elements; while the flow is computed on non-uniform Cartesian grids. The paper describes the salient features of the methodology with special emphasis on the immersed boundary treatment for stationary and moving boundaries. Simulations of a number of canonical two- and three-dimensional flows are used to verify the accuracy and fidelity of the solver over a range of Reynolds numbers. Flow past suddenly accelerated bodies are used to validate the solver for moving boundary problems. Finally two cases inspired from biology with highly complex three-dimensional bodies are simulated in order to demonstrate the versatility of the method.
Denoising multisensor data

Multisensor array processing of noisy measurements has received considerable attention in many areas of signal processing. The optimal processing techniques developed so far usually assume the signal and noise processes are at least wide-sense-stationary, yet a need exists for efficient, effective methods for processing nonstationary signals. While wavelets have proven to be useful tools in dealing with certain nonstationary signals, the way in which wavelets are to be used in the multisensor setting has only recently been considered. In this work we show how multisensor denoising can be carried out in perturbed, narrowband arrays even in the absence of the signal source's direction of arrival. We show that our proposed blind estimator can be implemented efficiently and robustly employing only wavelet and discrete Fourier transforms while entailing only a small loss in performance.
Effectiveness of multiple pageable page sizes for commercial applications

This paper investigates the computational characteristics of the software applications that are developed to support typical modern e-commerce applications. These applications have a significant impact on global commerce, and their influence is expected to continue. We show that the micro-architectural features of the memory subsystem, assisted by the operating system (such as the use of concurrent pageable page sizes), can significantly improve the performance of these applications. In particular, we show that using 64 kB page size in addition to the default 4 kB page size provides substantial throughput improvements for a typical commercial application (Trade6) without adding any complexity for the application developer or the system administrator. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Interaction of the J-Protein Heterodimer Pam18/Pam16 of the Mitochondrial Import Motor with the Translocon of the Inner Membrane

Import of proteins across the inner mitochondrial membrane through the Tim23:Tim17 translocase requires the function of an essential import motor having mitochondrial 70-kDa heat-shock protein (mtHsp70) at its core. The heterodimer composed of Pam18, the J-protein partner of mtHsp70, and the related protein Pam16 is a critical component of this motor. We report that three interactions contribute to association of the heterodimer with the translocon: the N terminus of Pam16 with the matrix side of the translocon, the inner membrane space domain of Pam18 (Pam18(IMS)) with Tim17, and the direct interaction of the J-domain of Pam18 with the J-like domain of Pam16. Pam16 plays a major role in translocon association, as alterations affecting the stability of the Pam18:Pam16 heterodimer dramatically affect association of Pam18, but not Pam16, with the translocon. Suppressors of the growth defects caused by alterations in the N terminus of Pam16 were isolated and found to be due to mutations in a short segment of TIM44, the gene encoding the peripheral membrane protein that tethers mtHsp70 to the translocon. These data suggest a model in which Tim44 serves as a scaffold for precise positioning of mtHsp70 and its cochaperone Pam18 at the translocon.
DelaY: An Efficient Tool for Retiming with Realistic Delay Modeling

The retiming transformation can be used to optimize synchronous circuits for maximum speed of operation by relocating their storage elements. In this paper, we describe DelaY, a tool for retiming edge-triggered circuits under a realistic delay model that handles load-dependent gate delays, variable register setup times, interconnect delays, and clock skew. The operation of DelaY relies on a novel linear programming formulation of the retiming problem in this model. For the special case where clock skew is monotonic and all registers have equal propagation delays, the retiming algorithm in our tool runs in polynomial time and can transform any given edge-triggered circuit to achieve a specifi clock period in O(V/sup 3/F) steps, where V is the number of logic gates in the circuit and F is bounded by the number of registers in the circuit.
Spatio-temporal dynamics of pneumonia in bighorn sheep

Summary 1. Bighorn sheep mortality related to pneumonia is a primary factor limiting population recovery across western North America, but management has been constrained by an incom- plete understanding of the disease. We analysed patterns of pneumonia-caused mortality over 14 years in 16 interconnected bighorn sheep populations to gain insights into underlying dis- ease processes. 2. We observed four age-structured classes of annual pneumonia mortality patterns: all-age, lamb-only, secondary all-age and adult-only. Although there was considerable variability within classes, overall they differed in persistence within and impact on populations. Years with pneumonia-induced mortality occurring simultaneously across age classes (i.e. all-age) appeared to be a consequence of pathogen invasion into a na€ive population and resulted in immediate population declines. Subsequently, low recruitment due to frequent high mortality outbreaks in lambs, probably due to association with chronically infected ewes, posed a sig- nificant obstacle to population recovery. Secondary all-age events occurred in previously exposed populations when outbreaks in lambs were followed by lower rates of pneumonia- induced mortality in adults. Infrequent pneumonia events restricted to adults were usually of short duration with low mortality. 3. Acute pneumonia-induced mortality in adults was concentrated in fall and early winter around the breeding season when rams are more mobile and the sexes commingle. In con- trast, mortality restricted to lambs peaked in summer when ewes and lambs were concen- trated in nursery groups. 4. We detected weak synchrony in adult pneumonia between adjacent populations, but found no evidence for landscape-scale extrinsic variables as drivers of disease. 5. We demonstrate that there was a >60% probability of a disease event each year following pneumonia invasion into bighorn sheep populations. Healthy years also occurred periodically, and understanding the factors driving these apparent fade-out events may be the key to man- aging this disease. Our data and modelling indicate that pneumonia can have greater impacts on bighorn sheep populations than previously reported, and we present hypotheses about processes involved for testing in future investigations and management.
Likelihood ratio test-based interval estimate of the number of signals present in a measurement

A multi-step procedure is proposed to construct a confidence interval for the number of signals present and a comparative analysis of our procedure with other existing procedures is conducted. The proposed procedure uses likelihood ratio statistics and its simulated percentiles sequentially to determine the upper and lower limits for the confidence interval. A preference zone in the parameter space of the population eigenvalues is defined and it is used to separate the signals and the noise. The least favourable configuration (LFC) is derived asymptotically under the preference zone. Under the LFC, the procedure parameters necessary to attain the required confidence level are determined. A comparative analysis with other procedures is presented in tables.