cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Willamette, Oregon, Meteorite in History*

In 1902, Ellis Hughes found the Willamette, Oregon, meteorite on a hillside near Oregon City. It was on property belonging to the Oregon Iron & Steel Company. Unable to buy the land, Hughes constructed a crude truck, loaded the 16-ton object onto it, and, by means of a windless and horse, secretly moved it three-quarters of a mile to his own house, after three months of work. There he exhibited it to the public for a fee of 25 cents. The company from whose land the meteorite was moved soon brought suit to recover it. The lower court awarded it to the company. Hughes appealed to the State Supreme Court, and, on July 17, 1905, the high court decided that such objects are real estate and belong to the land where they are found. The company then moved the already famous object to Portland, where it was exhibited at the Lewis and Clark Exposition. On February 15, 1906, Mrs. William Dodge II of New York bought the meteorite from the owners and presented it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. There it has since remained.
Conjugate natural convection in a square enclosure: effect of conduction in one of the vertical walls

Abstract Steady, laminar, natural convection flow in a square enclosure has been analysed numerically. One vertical wall of the enclosure is thick, with a finite thermal conductivity, while the other three walls are taken to be of zero thickness. The problem is conjugate and the main focus of the study is on examining the effect of conduction in the wall on the natural convection flow in the enclosure. Three separate models to account for the wall conduction are investigated : (i) the complete conjugate case in which conduction in the thick vertical wall is assumed to be fully two-dimensional; (ii) a one-dimensional model in which conduction in the wall is assumed to be in the horizontal direction only; and (iii) a lumped parameter approach which assumes the solid-fluid interface temperature to be uniform. A Boussinesq fluid with Prandtl number of 0.7 (air) and Grashof numbers ranging from 103 to 107 are considered. For Grashof number > 105, the temperature distribution in the wall shows significant two-dimensional effects and the solid-fluid interface temperature is found to be quite non-uniform. This non-uniformity tends to make the flow pattern in the enclosure asymmetric. In the parametric range investigated, all three models predict nearly the same value for the overall heat transfer.
Local Tissue Oamaging (Hemorrhage and Myonecrosis) Toxins from Rattlcsnake and Other Pit Viper Venoms

AbstractSix hemorrhagic toxins have been isolated from Crotalus atrox (western diamondback rattlesnake) venom. All of them contain one mole of zinc per mole of protein, although the molecular weights vary from 24,000 to 68,000. All have proteolytic activity when tested on dimethyl-casein. Removal of zinc eliminates the hemorrhagic and proteolytic activities. Proteolytic specificity of hemorrhagic toxin a is highly specific and hydrolyzes the X-Leu bond. Hemorrhagic toxin b is less specific and hydrolyzes the X-Phe, X-Ser, and X-Leu bonds.There are several types of myonecrotic [muscle damaging) toxins, and of those, myotoxin a from C. viridis viridis (prairie rattlesnake) venom is the most extensively investigated. Myotoxin a consists of 42 amino acid residues with 3 disulfide bonds. There is no similarity in amino acid sequence and disulfide bond positions when compared to well-known post-synaptic neurotoxins (both Type I and II) of snake venoms. It is rather curious and interesting to note that there is ...
[Metabolic action of the Cardiac Glycosides. III. Influence of Ouabain on the Utilization of C14-Labeled Glucose, Lactate, and Pyruvate by Dog Heart Slices].

1. Respiring slices of dog myocardium supplied liberally with glucose uniformly labeled with C14 or with lactate or pyruvate labeled with C14 in the center carbon were exposed to 5 × 10−7 M ouabain. 2. The rate of C14O2 production from the radioglucose was doubled by the cardiac glycoside, although the uptake of the sugar was slowed. This acceleration of oxidation was accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the rate of glycolysis and accounted fully for the simultaneous acceleration of the respiration. The glycogen content of the slices remained unchanged at low values. 3. The uptake of the lactate, the production of C14O2 from this substrate, and the respiration in its presence were all accelerated by ouabain. 4. The uptake of the pyruvate, the production of C14O2 from this substrate, its reduction to lactate, and the respiration in its presence all remained unaffected by ouabain. The rate of respiration in pyruvate was about as high as in glucose and in lactate in the presence of ouabain. 5. The possible mechanism of the accelerating effect of ouabain on the oxidation of glucose and lactate by dog heart muscle is discussed.
Income Disparity and Risk of Death: The Importance of Health Behaviors and Other Mediating Factors

Background Income disparities in mortality are profound in the United States, but reasons for this remain largely unexplained. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of health behaviors, and other mediating pathways, separately and simultaneously, including health insurance, health status, and inflammation, in the association between income and mortality.
Coping with a Smart Jammer in Wireless Networks: A Stackelberg Game Approach

Jamming defense is an important yet challenging problem. In this paper, we study the jamming defense problem in the presence of a smart jammer, who can quickly learn the transmission power of the user and adaptively adjust its transmission power to maximize the damaging effect. We consider both the single-channel model and the multi-channel model. By modeling the problem as a Stackelberg game, we compute the optimal transmission power for the user to maximize its utility, in the presence of a smart jammer. For the single-channel model, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the Stackelberg Equilibrium (SE) by giving closed-form expressions for the SE strategies of both the user and the player. For the multi-channel model, we prove the existence of the SE. We design algorithms for computing the jammer's best response strategy and approximating the user's optimal strategy. Finally, we validate our theoretical analysis through extensive simulations.
Application of Dispersion Relations to Low-Energy Meson-Nucleon Scattering

Relativistic dispersion relations are used to derive equations for low-energy S-, P-, and D-wave meson-nucleon scattering under the assumption that the (3,3) resonance dominates the dispersion integrals. The P-wave equations so obtained differ only slightly from those of the static fixed-source theory. The conclusions of the static theory are re-examined in the light of their new derivation.
Defective Implant Osseointegration Under Protein Undernutrition: Prevention by PTH or Pamidronate

Protein deficiency is associated with impaired titanium osseointegration. We studied whether systemic treatment with PTH or pamidronate could influence the resistance to pull-out of titanium rods implanted into rats proximal tibia under normal and isocaloric low protein intake. PTH or pamidronate prevented the deleterious effects of protein undernutrition on bone microarchitecture close to the implant and on mechanical fixation. PTH even significantly improved implant osseointegration. Introduction: Protein deficiency is highly prevalent among elderly patients hospitalized in orthopedic wards. Reduced protein intake impairs titanium osseointegration in rats. Whether stimulator of bone formation or inhibitor of bone resorption could improve implant osseointegration under protein deprivation is not known. We studied the effects of systemic treatment with PTH or pamidronate on the resistance to pull-out of titanium rods implanted into rats proximal tibia under normal and isocaloric low protein intake. Materials and Methods: We measured the resistance to pull-out 1-mm -diameter titanium rods implanted into the proximal tibias of 49 adult female rats receiving a normal or an isocaloric low protein diet. After 2 wk on either diet, the implants were inserted, and the rats received PTH(1–34), pamidronate or saline vehicle for 8 wk. The tibias were removed for μCT morphometry, followed by the evaluation of pull-out strength. Results: Pull-out strength was lower in rats fed an isocaloric low protein diet compared with rats fed a normal protein intake (−29%). PTH and pamidronate significantly increased pull-out strength in animals fed a normal or a low protein diet, the effect of PTH being of higher magnitude. The PTH- or pamidronate-mediated increase in pull-out strength was associated with significant increases of relative bone volume, bone-to -implant contact, and trabecular thickness, whereas trabecular spacing was reduced, in the vicinity of the implants. Conclusions: We confirmed that isocaloric low protein intake impairs titanium implant osseointegration. PTH or pamidronate prevented the deleterious effects of protein undernutrition and even significantly improved the implant osseointegration. These results indicate that systemic administration of PTH or pamidronate could be considered for preventing uncemented arthroplasty loosening in protein undernourished patients.
QoI-aware energy management in Internet-of-Things sensory environments

Considering physical sensors with certain sensing capabilities in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensory environment, in this paper, we propose an efficient energy management framework to control the duty cycles of these sensors under quality-of-information (QoI) experience in a multi-task-oriented IoT sensory environment. Contrary to past research efforts, our proposal is transparent and compatible both with the underlying low-layer protocols and diverse applications, and preserving energy-efficiency in the long run without sacrificing the QoI levels attained. Specifically, we first introduce the novel concept of QoI-aware “sensor-to-task relevancy” to explicitly consider the sensing capabilities offered by an sensor to the IoT sensory environments, and QoI requirements required by a task. Second, we propose a novel concept of the “critical covering set” of any given task in selecting the sensors to service a task over time. Third, energy management decision is made dynamically at runtime, to reach the optimum for long-term application arrivals and departures under the constraint of their service delay. Finally, an extensive case study based on utilizing the sensing sensors to perform water quality monitoring is given to demonstrate the ideas and algorithms proposed in this paper, and a complete simulation is made to support all performance analysis.
Speaker recognition with mixtures of Gaussians with sparse regression matrices

When estimating a mixture of Gaussians there are usually two choices for the covariance type of each Gaussian component. Either diagonal or full covariance. Imposing a structure though may be restrictive and lead to degraded performance and/or increased computations. In this work, several criteria to estimate the structure of regression matrices of a mixture of Gaussians are introduced and evaluated. Most of the criteria attempt to estimate a discriminative structure, which is suited for classification tasks. Results are reported on the 1996 NIST speaker recognition task and performance is compared with structural EM, a well-known, non-discriminative, structure-finding algorithm.
Wind energy resource map of Newfoundland

In this paper a wind resource map of Newfoundland is presented. A set of mesoscale wind maps, generated with the aid of NASA and NCEP/NCAR databases was studied for establishing a general pattern of wind speed variation throughout Newfoundland. Ground data from some key locations around Newfoundland is extrapolated for height and surface condition adjustments. By combining the modified ground data with one suitable global data based mesoscale map, a wind resource map indicating various classes of wind potential has been developed. It has been found that wind speed is generally higher in the coastal regions. Eastern Newfoundland, Northern Peninsula and Burin Peninsula have higher wind potential than the Avalon Peninsula and the western coast. Wind speed gradually increases from central Newfoundland towards the coasts. Several suggestions for further investigation and development of a complete wind map are also given.
Arterial baroreceptor resetting: contributions of chronic and acute processes

1. Pressure threshold (Pth) and suprathreshold pressure sensitivity (Sth) are important measures of the pressure-discharge characteristics of arterial baroreceptors. An in vitro preparation of the rat aortic arch-aortic nerve has been used to assess the influence of extracellular ion concentration, distensibility, smooth muscle activation and rapid resetting on single fibre baroreceptor discharge. 2. Changes in extracellular cations alter Pth and Sth in a reciprocal manner, suggesting that these two properties share common excitatory mechanisms probably at the level of membrane ion conductance channels. 3. During normal development and ageing in normotensive rats, Pth and blood pressure are fairly constant even during periods of greatly changing aortic distensibility. Sth increases progressively to maturity and then decreases somewhat with advanced age. 4. During hypertension, changes in distensibility in spontaneously hypertensive rats do not account for changes in Pth and Sth. 5. The capacity of arterial baroreceptors to rapidly reset during acute changes in the conditioning mean arterial pressure is not altered by chronic resetting, decreases in distensibility or by differences in the initial Pth or Sth of individual baroreceptors. 6. Within the maximal physiological or pathophysiological range, the prevailing or conditioning mean arterial pressure appears to be the most potent modulator of arterial baroreceptor discharge.
A generalized linear Boltzmann equation for non-classical particle transport

This paper presents a derivation and initial study of a new generalized linear Boltzmann equation (GLBE), which describes particle transport for random statistically homogeneous systems in which the distribution function for chord lengths between scattering centers is non-exponential. Such problems have recently been proposed for the description of photon transport in atmospheric clouds; this paper is a first attempt to develop a Boltzmann-like equation for these and other related applications.
Model for Unsteadiness in Lateral Dynamics for Use in Parameter Estimation

Cohen, C.B. and Reshotko, E., "The Compressible Laminar Boundary Layer with Heat Transfer and Arbitrary Pressure Gradient," NACA Rept. 1294, 1956. Schlichting, H., Boundary Layer Theory, Sixth Ed., McGraw Hill Book Co., New York, 1968. McGhee, R.J. and Beasley, W.D., "Low-Speed Aerodynamic Characteristics of a 17-Percent-Thick Airfoil Section Designed for General Aviation Application," NASA TN D-7428, 1973.
Automatic thesaurus generation for an electronic community system

This research reports an algorithmic approach to the automatic generation of thesauri for electronic community systems. The techniques used included term filtering, automatic indexing, and cluster analysis. The testbed for our research was the Worm Community System, which contains a comprehensive library of specialized community data and literature, currently in use by molecular biologists who study the nematode worm C. elegans. The resulting worm thesaurus included 2709 researchers' names, 798 gene names, 20 experimental methods, and 4302 subject descriptors. On average, each term had about 90 weighted neighboring terms indicating relevant concepts. The thesaurus was developed as an online search aide. We tested the worm thesaurus in an experiment with six worm researchers of varying degrees of expertise and background. The experiment showed that the thesaurus was an excellent “memory-jogging” device and that it supported learning and serendipitous browsing. Despite some occurrences of obvious noise, the system was useful in suggesting relevant concepts for the researchers' queries and it helped improve concept recall. With a simple browsing interface, an automatic thesaurus can become a useful tool for online search and can assist researchers in exploring and traversing a dynamic and complex electronic community system. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Resonator-zero-qubit architecture for superconducting qubits

We analyze the performance of the resonator--zero-qubit (RezQu) architecture in which the qubits are complemented by memory resonators and coupled via a resonator bus. Separating the stored information from the rest of the processing circuit by at least two coupling steps and the zero qubit state results in a significant increase in the on-to-off ratio and a reduction in the idling error. Assuming no decoherence, we calculate such idling error, as well as the errors for the move operation and tunneling measurement, and show that the RezQu architecture can provide the high-fidelity performance required for medium-scale quantum information processing.
The development and the regeneration of the color pattern in brachydanio rerio

The teleost fish Brachydanio rerio is strikingly marked with longitudinal black stripes, which extend into the caudal fin and across the anal fin. Removal of the anal fin is followed by complete regeneration of the fin and of its normal color pattern. Microphotographic studies show that melanophores are at first uniformly distributed in the regenerating tissue and that later the melanophores disintegrate in the zone of the future light stripe and increase in the region of the future dark stripe. Observations on the normal development of the fin where the history of the individual melanophores has been followed show the same mode of formation of the stripes.
A COMPARISON OF NONINVASIVE TECHNIQUES FOR ESTIMATING TOTAL BODY FAT IN SHARP-SHINNED AND COOPER'S HAWKS

Abstract We evaluated the use of three direct methods (fat scoring, condition indices, and multiple regression of external morphological variables) to estimate total body fat (TBF) in Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus) and Cooper's Hawks (A. cooperii). All three methods explained more than 82% of the variation in actual TBF values, and all three methods required the use of multiple equations to account for the categories of species, age, and/or sex. We also evaluated an indirect method that estimates TBF by the difference between actual mass and estimated lean mass. We estimated lean mass using a multiple regression of external morphological variables, and this technique was fairly accurate (r = 0.94). The methods evaluated here, though reasonably precise, may not be accurate enough to reliably compare estimated TBF between individual birds. Using multiple regression to directly estimate TBF from mass and tarsus length measurements is the recommended technique because (1) it provides continuous esti...
History, Structure, Evolution, Behavior, Distribution, and Ecology of the Extinct Hawaiian Genus Ciridops (Fringillidae, Carduelini, Drepanidini)

Abstract The extinct drepanidine genus Ciridops is known from five historically taken specimens of Ciridops anna from the island of Hawaii, the last in 1892, and from fossil populations on Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai. The origins of the historical specimens and the taxonomic history of the genus are reviewed. The plumages of C. anna are interpreted as highly sexually dimorphic (red males vs. greenish females); the juvenile plumage of males included brownish feathers that appear to have been retained and mixed with the incoming definitive plumage. The thigh musculature and pelvic and hindlimb osteology show that the strong legs and feet of Ciridops were probably used to move plant debris in search of insects. The closest living analog may be the Yellowhead (Mohoua ochrocephala) of New Zealand. Analysis of stomach contents of the single fluid-preserved specimen of C. anna disclosed remains of insects that are widely distributed in Hawaiian forest ecosystems. The traditionally claimed association of Ciridops an...
A rare human variation: The relationship of the axillary and inferior subscapular nerves to an acessory subscapularis muscle

A case of bilateral occurrence of a variant subscapularis muscle is reported. The superior lateral aspect of each subscapularis muscle presented a small accessory muscle with an accompanying tendon that inserted into the lesser tubercle of the humerus along with the primary tendon of the subscapularis muscle. Each accessory subscapularis muscle was separated from the primary subscapularis muscle by the axillary and inferior subscapular nerves. No branches of the axillary or inferior subscapular nerves supplied the primary subscapularis muscle or the accessory muscle while the nerves passed through the myotendinous tunnel. The relationship of the nerves with the variant subscapularis muscles has clinical significance with regard to entrapment neuropathy.
Superconductivity in singlet La-Pr and in nonmagnetic La-rare earth alloys☆

Abstract We show that concentration dependence of the superconducting transition temperature of d.h.c.p. La Pr alloys is almost identical to that of La Y and La Lu alloys. This suggests that Pr is in a singlet ground state and that lifetime broadening caused by the 4ƒ electrons of Pr have little effect on the superconducting process in La Pr. The depression of the transition temperature arises largely from pair weakening (or possibly crystal field effects) rather than pair breaking effects.
Impact of the provision and timing of instructor-provided notes on university students’ learning

Since the advent of PowerPoint and course delivery programs like Blackboard, more instructors in higher education are providing students with outlines of their lectures and expecting students to su...
Positron-Emission Tomography Reporter Gene Expression Imaging in Rat Myocardium

Background— This study examines the quantitative accuracy, detection sensitivity, and time course of imaging the expression of a mutant herpes simplex type-1 virus thymidine kinase (HSV1-sr39tk) PET reporter gene in rat myocardium by using the PET reporter probe 9-(4-[18F]-Fluoro-3-Hydroxymethylbutyl)-Guanine ([18F]-FHBG) and a small-animal PET (microPET). Methods and Results— In 40 rats, adenovirus expressing HSV1-sr39tk driven by a cytomegalovirus promoter (Ad-CMV-HSV1-sr39tk, 1×106 to 1×109 pfu) was injected through a thoracotomy directly into the left ventricular myocardium. After 3 days, myocardial perfusion was imaged with [13N]-ammonia for delineating the left ventricular myocardium, followed by imaging the expression of the reporter gene with intravenous [18F]-FHBG. The total myocardial [18F]-FHBG accumulation was quantified in percent of injected dose (%ID). Immunohistochemistry and autoradiography demonstrated HSV1-sr39tk enzyme (HSV1-sr39TK) and accumulation of [18F]-FHBG in the inoculated myoc...
Toxicity of BSA-stabilized Silver Nanoparticles on Immune Circulating Cells

Silver nanoparticles have shown immense potential in many biomedical applications, specifically wound healing. These nanoparticles reduce the degree of inflammation in wounds and increase the rate of wound healing overall in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, silver nanoparticles exhibit antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. While the mechanism of action for silver nanoparticles is not clear, current studies focus on the effect of silver nanoparticles on recipient cells and tissues. It is shown that silver nanoparticles are more toxic to these recipient cells in comparison to other metal nanoparticles. This suggests that the bactericidal properties of the silver nanoparticles are size dependent. Our present work investigates the toxicity level of silver nanoparticles on specific immune circulating cells. The approach is to report the LD50 level as a function of the ratio of the nanoparticles concentration (ppm) to the cell concentration (cell number/ml) used in the assays. This method allows a normalization of the LD50 capable to compare the toxicity of the nanoparticle on different types of cells. Next, the localization of the silver nanoparticles within the cells will be determined, and the toxic mode of action of the nanoparticles will be modulated by the modification of the synthesis method.
SHIC: a view-dependent rendering framework for isosurfaces

We present selective and hierarchical isopoint clustering (SHIC) as a framework for interactive isosurface visualization. SHIC is an octree-based vertex hierarchy where each surface component in a cell is represented by a vertex (isopoint) with encoded connectivity. We describe a novel connectivity encoding scheme, called connectivity encoding bitmap, and two topology-preserving isopoint clustering algorithms to build the vertex hierarchy. Our framework is able to cluster surface components with up to four intersection points on a cell edge. During rendering, an incremental isosurface extraction algorithm is used to construct the isosurface dynamically. Events associated with vertex tree modifications and active vertices changes are unified using timestamps. Our framework is efficient, space-saving, and suitable for rendering large isosurface objects with local modifications.
Construccionismo, conocimiento y realidad: una lectura crítica desde la Psicología Social

This article discusses the perspective of constructionism , from the point of view of the social psychology. It presents the main arguments and criticisms that have been made to this position.
I-Aq and I-Ap bind and present similar antigenic peptides despite differing in their ability to mediate susceptibility to autoimmune arthritis

Susceptibility to collagen induced arthritis (CIA) in the murine model is linked to expression of the MHC class II alleles, I-Aq and I-Ar. We have examined the molecular basis for this MHC-linked susceptibility by studying the antigen presentation function of two class II molecules, I-Aq and I-Ap, that are closely related yet differ in mediating susceptibility to CIA. These class II molecules differ by only 4 amino acids, yet only mice expressing I-Aq develop CIA. Although the I-Ap molecule can bind the same immunodominant determinant from type II collagen as I-Aq, H-2P APC have difficulty generating I-AP:CII peptide complexes when processing of CII is required. Immunization of H-2P mice with type II collagen (CII) generated only a weak T cell response when compared to H-2q mice, whereas immunization with the a CII peptide containing the dominant determinant induced a strong T cell response in both strains. In antigen presentation assays, H-2P APC were very inefficient in stimulating T cells when native C...
Hemodynamic sequelae of age-related increases in arterial stiffness in healthy women ☆

Stiffening of central arteries is believed to contribute to the increase in the incidence of cardiovascular disease with age, presumably through its adverse influence on arterial blood pressure. We found that (1) the physiologic link between age-related increases in arterial stiffness and blood pressure appears to be elevated systemic vascular resistance, and (2) increased arterial stiffness and systemic vascular resistance with age were inversely related to blood volume, stroke volume, and cardiac output.
Modeling and Evaluating Safety Impacts of Access Management Features in the Las Vegas, Nevada, Valley

This paper presents results of a study that developed statistical models that relate access management (AM) features to traffic safety in midblock sections of street segments. The objective of the study was to evaluate and quantify the impact of the AM features on traffic crashes in the midblock sections. Models were calibrated for two main types of median treatments for street segments: raised medians (RM) and two-way left-turn lanes (TWLTL). Other AM features considered were signal spacing and the densities of driveways, median openings, and unsignalized crossroads. Separate models were developed to determine the impact on total crash rates and types and severity of crashes. The study results confirmed the intuitive expectation that these AM features do have a significant impact on safety. They show that the crash rate of segments with RM was lower by 23% as compared with segments with TWLTL. The results also showed that higher densities of driveways, unsignalized crossroads, and median openings resulte...
BiblioMapper: a cluster-based information visualization technique

The purpose of the paper is to develop a visualization system of a document space, called BiblioMapper, for CISI collections, one of the bibliographic databases available on the Internet. The major function of BiblioMapper is to visualize the document space with a cluster-based visualization technique. The cluster-based visualization technique assembles a set of documents according to semantic similarities. One advantage of this technique is that users are able to focus on and assess each cluster and the documents which the cluster comprises according to their information needs.
Nonparametric regression of state occupation, entry, exit, and waiting times with multistate right-censored data.

We construct nonparametric regression estimators of a number of temporal functions in a multistate system based on a continuous univariate baseline covariate. These estimators include state occupation probabilities, state entry, exit, and waiting (sojourn) time distribution functions of a general progressive (e.g., acyclic) multistate model. We subject the data to right censoring, and the censoring mechanism is explainable by observable covariates that could be time dependent. The resulting estimators are valid even if the multistate process is non-Markov. We study the performance of the estimators in two simulation settings. We establish large sample consistency of these estimators. We illustrate our estimators using a data set on bone marrow transplant recipients.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PARASITOID HYPOSOTER EXIGUAE AND THE CABBAGE LOOPER, TRICHOPLUSIA NI: EFFECTS ON HEAD-CAPSULE WIDTH, LIVE AND DRY WEIGHTS, AND HEMOLYMPH SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF HOSTS AT DIFFERENT AGES12

The effects of parasitism by Hyposoter exiguae (Viereck) on certain developmental parameters of Trichoplusia ni (Hubner) were influenced by host age at parasitism.Head-capsule growth increments for parasitized Trichoplusia ni became smaller with each successive molt during parasitism so that determination of instar on the basis of head-capsule width became impossible.Parisitized T. ni showed a proportionately smaller gain in weight from time of stinging until parasitoid emergence the older they were when stung (6 times for 3rd instars; 2 times for 4th instars; and no gain for 5th instars). This retardation was evident 24 h after parasitism. Essentially the same results were obtained for dry weight.Percentage dry weight of parasitized larvae tended to increase over control values until the 5th stadium when controls abruptly increased. Values for parasitized 5ths remained below the controls. Values found on the last days reflected those of the parasitoid which composed most of the mass inside the host cuticle.Hemolymph specific gravity in controls and parasitized 3rd instars oscillated with a frequency of one stadium in the 3rd, 4th, and early 5th stadia. Specific gravity of controls then rose to a maximum of 1.0501 in the prespinning phase and dropped by the pharate–pupal phase. Values for parasitized larvae in the 5th stadium rose slightly before leveling off, and parasitized 5th instars rose to a maximum on the next-to-last day. Maximum values attained for hosts parasitized as 3rd and 5th instars never reached that for controls on day 11. This may be related to the complete unacceptability or unsuitability of T. ni larvae for parasitism from day 11 on.
Backlog Estimation and Management for Real-Time Data Services

Real-time data services can benefit data-intensive real-time applications, e.g., e-commerce, via timely transaction processing using fresh data, e.g., the current stock prices. To enhance the real-time data service quality, we present several novel techniques for (1) database backlog estimation, (2) fine-grained closed-loop admission control based on the backlog model, and (3) hint-based incoming load smoothing. Our backlog estimation and feedback control aim to support the desired service delay bound without degrading the data freshness critical for real-time data services. Workload smoothing, under overload, help the database admit and process more transactions in a timely manner by probabilistically reducing the burstiness of incoming data service requests. In terms of the data service delay and throughput, our feedback-based admission control and probabilistic load smoothing considerably outperform the baselines, which represent the current state of the art, in the experiments performed in a stock trading database testbed.
In-building wideband partition loss measurements at 2.5 and 60 GHz

This paper contains measured data and empirical models for 2.5 and 60 GHz in-building propagation path loss and multipath delay spread. Path loss measurements were recorded using a broadband sliding correlator channel sounder which recorded over 39000 power delay profiles (PDPs) in 22 separate locations in a modern office building. Transmitters and receivers were separated by distances ranging from 3.5 to 27.4 m and were separated by a variety of obstructions, in order to create realistic environments for future single-cell-per-room wireless networks. Path loss data is coupled with site-specific information to provide insight into channel characteristics. These measurements and models may aid in the development of future in-building wireless networks in the unlicensed 2.4 and 60 GHz bands.
Precision-efficient use of block adaptive algorithms in data-driven echo cancellers

Data-driven echo cancellers are used in full-duplex voiceband data transmission at rates of 4800 b/s and above, and in digital subscriber loops for ISDN (integrated services digital network) at rates of 160 kb/s (or above). It is well-known that the required 60 dB of cancellation mandates high coefficient and processor precision if the stochastic-gradient (least-mean-squares (LMS)) adaptive algorithm for the echo canceller is implemented in fixed-point arithmetic. However, the use of block LMS or block adaptive algorithms significantly improves this situation without increasing computation. The improvement in numerical accuracy is traded (almost linearly) for a decrease in tracking speed of the echo canceller, which, however, is often an acceptable tradeoff as the echo channel does not exhibit significant time variation. A drawback of the block adaptive algorithms, their requirement of more temporary internal variables, is also discussed. >
The evolutionarily conserved longevity determinants HCF-1 and SIR-2.1/SIRT1 collaborate to regulate DAF-16/FOXO.

The conserved DAF-16/FOXO transcription factors and SIR-2.1/SIRT1 deacetylases are critical for diverse biological processes, particularly longevity and stress response; and complex regulation of DAF-16/FOXO by SIR-2.1/SIRT1 is central to appropriate biological outcomes. Caenorhabditis elegans Host Cell Factor 1 (HCF-1) is a longevity determinant previously shown to act as a co-repressor of DAF-16. We report here that HCF-1 represents an integral player in the regulatory loop linking SIR-2.1/SIRT1 and DAF-16/FOXO in both worms and mammals. Genetic analyses showed that hcf-1 acts downstream of sir-2.1 to influence lifespan and oxidative stress response in C. elegans. Gene expression profiling revealed a striking 80% overlap between the DAF-16 target genes responsive to hcf-1 mutation and sir-2.1 overexpression. Subsequent GO-term analyses of HCF-1 and SIR-2.1-coregulated DAF-16 targets suggested that HCF-1 and SIR-2.1 together regulate specific aspects of DAF-16-mediated transcription particularly important for aging and stress responses. Analogous to its role in regulating DAF-16/SIR-2.1 target genes in C. elegans, the mammalian HCF-1 also repressed the expression of several FOXO/SIRT1 target genes. Protein–protein association studies demonstrated that SIR-2.1/SIRT1 and HCF-1 form protein complexes in worms and mammalian cells, highlighting the conservation of their regulatory relationship. Our findings uncover a conserved interaction between the key longevity determinants SIR-2.1/SIRT1 and HCF-1, and they provide new insights into the complex regulation of FOXO proteins.
Calcite and Aragonite Precipitation Under Controlled Instantaneous Supersaturation: Elucidating the Role of CaCO3 Saturation State and Mg/Ca Ratio on Calcium Carbonate Polymorphism

Abstract For many decades researchers have attempted to clarify the factors controlling the precipitation of calcium carbonate polymorphs and the incorporation of Mg into calcite precipitating in natural systems. In this study a novel experimental approach delineates the role of instantaneous supersaturation and solution Mg/Ca ratio in calcium carbonate mineralogy and composition. The results of this study show that in solutions with different Mg/Ca ratios, the transition between the aragonite and the calcite + aragonite precipitation fields is controlled by a combination of the saturation state of the solution with respect to CaCO3 and the Mg/Ca ratio in solution. The data show that for increasing solution Mg/Ca ratios, progressively higher supersaturation level is required for calcite precipitation. The predominance of aragonite at high solution Mg/Ca and low supersaturations is attributed to a relative decrease in calcite growth rates as a result of increasing incorporation of Mg2+ in the calcite lattice at higher solution Mg/Ca ratios. As suggested by abundant experimental work, increasing solution Mg/Ca decreases the growth rate of calcite while aragonite growth rates stay unaffected. Our experiments do demonstrate that despite decreased growth rate the percentage of MgCO3 in calcite increases with increasing solution Mg/Ca ratio. As calcite growth rates decrease, aragonite growth rates stay constant and it becomes the dominant mineral phase in solutions with high Mg/Ca ratio and low supersaturations. These findings are relevant to present-day mineralogical distributions in carbonate systems and might be the key to elucidate the environmental conditions responsible for mineralogic changes through geologic time. The observed dependence of calcium carbonate mineralogy on solution composition and supersaturation suggests that carbonate mineralogy is controlled by kinetics of growth.
TOUCH: a robotic vision system for underwater object tracking

TOUCH is a real-time computer vision system that has been developed in order to aid the operation of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The algorithm is based on a modified 4-connectivity approach that scans the incoming frames for a target hue range and based upon the largest connected blobs of hue, tracks an object and provides the two dimensional Cartesian coordinates of the desired object. Since few algorithms exist for tracking and recognizing objects in underwater environments, this algorithm provides a way for AUVs and ROVs to acquire, track or recognize objects by using a relatively fast and inexpensive vision system. This paper presents the details on TOUCH, its testing, some areas that warrant improvement and possible course of action for the future.
Perceptions of Functioning in Worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Research has suggested that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may underestimate the quality of their cognitive and interpersonal functioning, raising the question of whether perceived impairments are widespread across life domains and distinguish GAD from other forms of severe worry. The present study addressed these questions by examining perceived and actual (grade point average and interviewer-rated) impairments in GAD worriers, non-GAD high worriers, and normal worriers. Elevated performance standards were examined as an explanation for perceived impairments. Participants were assigned to groups based on diagnostic interview and measures of worry. They completed measures of perceived functioning and performance standards. Both groups of worriers reported widespread impairments and preliminary evidence suggestive of elevated performance standards. Results suggest that both GAD and non-GAD worriers perceive themselves to be impaired across important life domains. However, grade point average does not show evidence of impairments and some amount of the impairment reported by both high worry groups may reflect elevated performance standards.
An Efficient Approach of Overlapping Communities Search

A great deal of research has been dedicated to discover overlapping communities, as in most real life networks such as social networks and biology networks, a node often involves in multiple overlapping communities. However, most work has focused on community detection, which takes the whole graph as input and derives all communities at one time. Community detection can only be used in offline analysis of networks and it is quite costly, not flexible and can not support dynamically evolving networks. Online community search which only finds overlapping communities containing given nodes is a flexible and light-weight solution, and also supports dynamic graphs very well. Thus, in this paper, we study an efficient solution for overlapping community search problem. We propose an exact algorithm whose performance is highly improved by considering boundary node limitation and avoiding duplicate computations of multiple input nodes, and we also propose three approximate strategies which trade off the efficiency and quality, and can be adopted in different requirements. Comprehensive experiments are conducted and demonstrate the efficiency and quality of the proposed algorithms.
Off-Gassing and Particle Release by Heated Polymeric Materials

Polymers are one of the major constituents in electrical components. A study investigating precombustion off-gassing and particle release by polymeric materials over a range of temperatures can provide an understanding of thermal degradation prior to failure which may result in a fire hazard. In this work, we report simultaneous measurements of pre-combustion vapor and particle release by heated polymeric materials. The polymer materials considered for the current study are silicone and Kapton. The polymer samples were heated over the range 20 to 400°C. Response to vapor releases were recorded using the JPL Electronic Nose (ENose) and Industrial Scientific’s ITX gas monitor configured to detect hydrogen chloride (HCl), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Particle release was monitored using a TSI PTRAK particle counter.
ATPS-19POLO LIKE KINASE INHIBITOR VOLASERTIB SYNERGISTICALLY IMPROVE RADIATION EFFICACY IN GLIOBLASTOMA

Despite the availability of hundreds of drugs, there is little data on the efficacy of these agents in the extremely heterogeneous populations of tumor cells observed in glioblastoma. In this study, a high-throughput compound-screening (HTS) assay was used to identify drug sensitivities in a panel of 15 glioblastoma stem cell (GSC) lines, which are representative of the classic cancer genome atlas (TCGA) molecular subtypes, to 21 compounds in Published Protein Kinase Inhibitor Set (PKSI, GSK). This HTS screen identified sensitivity of GSCs to inhibitors of polo like kinase-1 (PLK-1), a key regulator of mitosis. Given that PLK-1 is often overexpressed in a broad spectrum of cancers, and with highest expression levels being correlated with poor prognosis in several cancer types, we further verified the HTS result with the second-generation PLK1 inhibitor volasertib as a single agent or in combination with ionizing radiation. Efficacy of volasertib was analyzed by Cell-Titer Glo 5 days after treatment. Molecular and cellular changes were approached by immunoblotting and flow cytometry. In vitro studies showed that volasertib inhibited cell viability with an IC50 ranging from 8.2nM to 4.36 µM. Volasertib induced G2/M arrest accompanied by high levels of PLK-1, Aurora B and phospho-histone 3 and prominent cleaved poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Colony formation assay demonstrated that volasertib plus ionizing radiation had synergistic effects on colony formation inhibition, suggesting that GSCs arrested in M phase by volasertib are more sensitive to ironizing radiation. Intracranial xenograft models showed that the combination of volasertib (10mg/Kg) and 10Gy radiation significantly inhibited GSC tumor growth and prolonged median survival when compared with radiation alone. Taken together, our results reinforce the potential therapeutic efficacy of volasertib in combination with radiation therapy for the treatment of glioblastoma.
Self-Assembling Peptide Monolayers: Endothelial Cell Behavior on Functionalized Metal Substrates

Despite the high initial success rate with metallic stents for the treatment of a variety of vascular lesions, problems have included occlusion due to thrombus formation or intimal proliferation. Improving the biological behavior of these and other other implantable metallic devices may require the use of biomimetic peptide coatings which promote specific cellular responses at the biological-materials interface. Thiol-terminated peptides, without the addition of a cysteine residue, were synthesized by a modification of standard solid phase methodology. Gold/mica or gold/glass surfaces were exposed for 6 hours at 23 °C to one of three peptide solutions: GRGD(βA)3YNH(CH2)2SH (RGD); (βA)6NH (CH2)2SH (bAla); or a 1:1 mix of both peptides. Peptide films were examined by external reflectance infrared (IR) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) which confirmed the presence of unique close-packed structures for bAla and the 1:1 mix. Endothelial cell proliferative, migratory, and adhesive behavior were evaluated using 3H-thymidine and 51Cr labeling techniques, respectively. Cell proliferation, migration, and adhesion were significantly higher on RGD containing peptide films. Well-ordered protein assemblies on metallic substrates can be produced with the proper choice of peptide chain structure and terminal residues. Biological activity is a function of film composition and oligopeptide pendant structure.
Iloperidone: Does it have a meaningful place in therapy?

Whenever an atypical antipsychotic comes to market, certain questions arise: Do we know enough about its efficacy and safety to confidently recommend it? Does it offer any advantages over currently available therapies? Is it affordable? Ultimately, the most important question is, what is iloperidone