cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CYTOCHROME P450 Role in Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity

Most pharmacologic agents undergo biotransformation in the liver. Although the processes involved in metabolism of drugs generally result in inactive products, biotransformation using the cytochrome P450 system may give rise to active and potentially toxic metabolites. 9 At the present time, there are relatively few instances in which metabolic byproducts of this enzyme system have been documented to result in hepatotoxicity; however, a number of drugs that are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system are potentially hepatotoxic. It is anticipated that future research may well establish a more important role for cytochrome P450 in organ toxicities of various types.
Bubbaboard and Mommaspeaker: creating digital tonal sounds from an acoustic percussive instrument

This paper describes the transformation of an everyday object into a digital musical instrument. By tracking hand movements and tilt on one of two axes, the Bubbaboard, a transformed handheld washboard, allows a user to play scales at different octaves while simultaneously offering the ability to use its inherent acoustic percussive qualities. Processed sound is fed to the Mommaspeaker, which creates physically generated vibrato at a speed determined by tilting the Bubbaboard on its second axis.
Geometry Classroom Pictures: What's Developing?.

Teachers value student development of a knowledge base of geometric relationships the NCTM's curriculum standards, teachers find a clear vision of mathematics classrooms as rich environments where students can explore, conjec ture, reason logically, and connect mathematics with the real world. The Standards' vision assumes that teachers will use strategies that promote stu dents' active participation in the learning process. For geometry, especially, those strategies should include activities that foster the interplay of de ductive and inductive reasoning (NCTM 1989). The pictures that develop from actual practice can differ significantly from the NCTM's vision of the modern secondary-level geometry classroom. What happens in the classroom depends on a com plex set of decisions made before, during, and after instruction?as I discovered in a study of teachers' decision making in geometry. My observations of five geometry teachers and their classes, as well as interviews with the teachers, have generated a set of pictures from a variety of classroom settings. The views that are slowly developing from the study highlight different facets of geometry and the fac tors that influenced the teachers' decisions.
The role and impact of community health workers in childhood obesity interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Childhood obesity increases the risk for poor health during childhood, as well as for adult obesity and its associated comorbidities. Children from racial/ethnic minority groups or who live in poverty experience elevated rates of obesity. One potential method for reducing childhood obesity disparities is to involve community health workers (frontline public health workers who are trusted members of and/or have an unusually close understanding of the community served). The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the role and effectiveness of community health workers in childhood obesity interventions. Eleven studies met inclusion criteria, of which nine were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Results demonstrated that community health workers played various roles in childhood obesity interventions in the home, clinic, school, and community setting. Interventions focused primarily on children from underserved populations. Meta-analytic findings demonstrated a small but significant impact on BMIz and BMI percentile (BMIz [7 studies]: -0.08, 95% CI: -0.15, -0.01, p = 0.03, I2 = 39.4%; BMI percentile [2 studies]: -0.25, 95% CI: -0.38, -0.11, p < 0.01, I2 = 0%). Findings from this review demonstrate that partnering with community health workers may be an important strategy for reducing childhood obesity disparities and advancing health equity.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy using pacemakers vs defibrillators in patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy: The United States experience from 2007 to 2014.

Background The impact of implantable defibrillator therapy on outcomes of patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) who receive a cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) device is controversial. Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of NICM patients who receive a CRT-pacemaker (CRT-P) vs CRT-defibrillator (CRT-D). Methods Using 2007–2014 claims data for a 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries, we followed patients with NICM who received a CRT device (1236 CRT-P, 4359 CRT-D), excluding those with a prior history of ventricular arrhythmias with a primary outcome of all-cause mortality and secondary outcomes including time to first cardiac hospitalization and total medical costs. Propensity score matching and Cox proportional hazard models were used to balance patient characteristics between treatment groups. Results At 5 years, 2007 patients (36%) died and 3809 (68%) were hospitalized for any reason, whereas 2504 (45%) were hospitalized for cardiac causes. In the propensity score matched sample, the time to all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74–1.09), any hospitalization (HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.98–1.30), and cardiac hospitalization (HR 0.98; 95% CI 0.83–1.17) did not differ between matched CRT-P and CRT-D recipients. However, CRT-P recipients had significantly lower medical costs (difference ∼$20,000) and cardiac-related medical costs at 12 and 24 months. Conclusion Although more expensive, defibrillator therapy is not associated with prolonged survival or decreased risk of hospitalization in CRT recipients with NICM. These results suggest that in patients with NICM and no previous history of ventricular arrhythmias, CRT-P devices should be considered. These findings have important clinical and economic implications.
The effects of weight loss and metformin on cognition among breast cancer survivors: Evidence from the Reach for Health study

Author(s): Hartman, Sheri J; Nelson, Sandahl H; Marinac, Catherine R; Natarajan, Loki; Parker, Barbara A; Patterson, Ruth E | Abstract: ObjectiveBreast cancer survivors experience problems with cognition that interfere with daily life and can last for years. In the general population, obesity and diabetes are risk factors for cognitive decline, and weight loss can improve cognition; however, the impact of intentional weight loss on cancer survivors' cognition has not been tested. We investigated the impact of weight loss and metformin on changes in cognitive function in a sample of breast cancer survivors.MethodsOverweight/obese postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (nn=n333) were randomized to a weight loss intervention versus control and metformin versus placebo in a 2n×n2 factorial design. Outcomes were changes in five cognitive domains from baseline to 6nmonths measured by objective neurocognitive tests.ResultsThere were no statistically significant intervention effects for the metformin or weight loss interventions in five neurocognitive domains. Baseline body mass index (BMI) was a significant effect modifier of the changes in verbal functioning for the weight loss (Pn=n0.009) and metformin interventions (Pn=n0.0125). These effect modifications were independent of percent weight loss achieved during the 6-month study period.ConclusionsThis randomized controlled trial of weight loss and metformin interventions that examined changes to cognition among breast cancer survivors suggests that these interventions may not improve cognitive functioning among breast cancer survivors in general. However, weight loss may improve verbal functioning among individuals with a higher BMI.
Temperature dependence of a sub-wavelength compact graphene plasmon-slot modulator

We investigate a plasmonic electro-optic modulator with an extinction ratio exceeding 1 dB/μm by engineering the optical mode to be in-plane with the graphene layer, and show how lowering the operating temperature enables steeper switching.
Integrating word embedding neural networks with PubMed abstracts to extract keyword proximity of chronic diseases

Chronic diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. They are common enough to affect large numbers of patients, and the chronic nature makes them costly to both patients and healthcare providers. Diagnosis of many chronic diseases is challenged by variability in their clinical manifestations. Although chronic diseases bear a set of structured terminology aiming to standardize nomenclature of the presentation and outcomes of the disease, in practice there is a wide spectrum of terminology associated with these diseases across different venues such as clinical notes, biomedical literature, and health-related social media. Among these sources, the scientific articles published in the biomedical literature usually follow principled approaches to terminology and are thus especially valuable for extracting diseases keywords. Given the fact that it is very costly and time-consuming to manually extract disease terminology from a large column of scientific articles, we aim to utilize artificial neural network strategies to automatically extract vocabularies associated with a set of chronic diseases. Our finding indicates the feasibility of developing word embedding neural nets for autonomous keyword extraction and abstraction of chronic diseases.
"Western Diet"-Induced Adipose Inflammation Requires a Complex Gut Microbiota.

Background & Aims Consumption of a low-fiber, high-fat, Western-style diet (WSD) induces adiposity and adipose inflammation characterized by increases in the M1:M2 macrophage ratio and proinflammatory cytokine expression, both of which contribute to WSD-induced metabolic syndrome. WSD-induced adipose inflammation might result from endoplasmic reticulum stress in lipid-overloaded adipocytes and/or dissemination of gut bacterial products, resulting in activation of innate immune signaling. Hence, we aimed to investigate the role of the gut microbiota, and its detection by innate immune signaling pathways, in WSD-induced adipose inflammation. Methods Mice were fed grain-based chow or a WSD for 8 weeks, assessed metabolically, and intestinal and adipose tissue were analyzed by flow cytometry and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Microbiota was ablated via antibiotics and use of gnotobiotic mice that completely lacked microbiota (germ-free mice) or had a low-complexity microbiota (altered Schaedler flora). Innate immune signaling was ablated by genetic deletion of Toll-like receptor signaling adaptor myeloid differentiation primary response 88. Results Ablation of microbiota via antibiotic, germ-free, or altered Schaedler flora approaches did not significantly impact WSD-induced adiposity, yet dramatically reduced WSD-induced adipose inflammation as assessed by macrophage populations and cytokine expression. Microbiota ablation also prevented colonic neutrophil and CD103- dendritic cell infiltration. Such reduced indices of inflammation correlated with protection against WSD-induced dysglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and liver dysfunction. Genetic deletion of myeloid differentiation primary response 88 also prevented WSD-induced adipose inflammation. Conclusions These results indicate that adipose inflammation, and some aspects of metabolic syndrome, are not purely a consequence of diet-induced adiposity per se but, rather, may require disturbance of intestine-microbiota interactions and subsequent activation of innate immunity.
Prior antiplatelet therapy and haematoma expansion after primary intracerebral haemorrhage: an individual patient-level analysis of CLEAR III, MISTIE III and VISTA-ICH.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between prior antiplatelet therapy (APT) and outcomes after primary intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), and assess if it varies by haematoma location. Methods We pooled individual patient data from the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive-ICH trials dataset, Clot Lysis: Evaluating Accelerated Resolution of Intraventricular Hemorrhage III trial and the Minimally Invasive Surgery Plus Alteplase for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Evacuation Phase III trial. The exposure was APT preceding ICH diagnosis. The primary outcome was haematoma expansion at 72 hours. Secondary outcomes were admission haematoma volume, all-cause mortality, death or major disability (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score ≥4) and shift in mRS distribution. Mixed-effects models were used to assess the relationship between APT and outcomes. Secondary analyses were stratified by ICH location and study cohort. Results Among 1420 patients with ICH, there were 782 (55.1%) lobar and 596 (42.0%) deep haemorrhages. APT was reported in 284 (20.0%) patients. In adjusted regression models, prior APT was not associated with haematoma expansion (OR, 0.97; 95% CI 0.60 to 1.57), major disability or death (OR, 1.05; 95% CI 0.61 to 1.63), all-cause mortality (OR, 0.89; 95% CI 0.47 to 1.85), admission haematoma volume (beta, −0.17; SE, 0.09; p=0.07) and shift in mRS (p=0.43). In secondary analyses, APT was associated with admission haematoma volume in lobar ICH (beta, 0.25; SE, 0.12; p=0.03), but there was no relationship with other ICH outcomes when stratified by haematoma location or study cohort. Conclusions In a large heterogeneous cohort of patients with ICH, prior APT was not associated with haematoma expansion or functional outcomes after ICH, regardless of haematoma location. APT was associated with admission haematoma volumes in lobar ICH.
Can a bilingual lexicon be sustained by phonotactics alone?: Evidence from Ecuadoran Quichua and Media Lengua

Abstract This study focuses on bilingual speakers of Ecuadoran Quichua and the mixed language known as Media Lengua, which consists of Quichua morphosyntactic frames with all content word roots relexified from Spanish. For all intents and purposes, only the lexicon – more specifically, lexical roots – separate Media Lengua from Quichua, and yet speakers generally manage to keep the two languages apart in production and are able to unequivocally distinguish the languages in perception tasks. Two main questions drive the research effort. The first, given the very close relationships between Quichua and Media Lengua, is whether each language has a distinct lexicon, or a single lexical repository is shared by the two languages. A second and closely related question is the extent to which language-specific phonotactic patterns aid in language identification, possibly even to the extent of constituting the only robust language-tagging mechanism in a joint lexicon. Using lexical-decision and false-memory tasks to probe the Quichua-Media Lengua bilingual lexical repertoire, the results are consistent with a model based on a single lexicon, partially differentiated by subtle phonotactic cues, and bolstered by contemporary participants’ knowledge of Spanish as well as Quichua.
Context-Dependent Expectations of Privacy in Self-Generated Mobile Health Data

Converging technological, regulatory, and social forces point to a future of health care delivery that will emphasize personalized information generation, open access, and collaborative decision-making. One driver of this transition is the increasing availability of health apps, digital sensors, and other health self monitoring tools that enable individuals to track a broad swath of their own physiological and behavioral health in near-real-time and selectively share that information with an expanding team of supportive clinical care providers, family, friends, and public health experts. Because self-generated health data are subject to few statutory privacy protections, users’ privacy and security rest heavily on their own data management practices, which in turn rest on a number of complex factors, including individual conceptualizations of tracking devices, device wearing habits, and understandings of information flows and privacy rights.The broad goal of this exploratory research was to investigate how users of health self-tracking services engage with and understand the wider context of the health self-tracking ecosystem. We were particularly interested in understanding how individuals understand and utilize their privacy options to manage online health information.
Long-run Performance of Debt Renegotiations: Large-Sample Evidence

We examine the long-run performance of over 17,000 debt renegotiations. We find that, compared with non-renegotiating firms matched on size, book-to-market, profitability, and investment, renegotiating firms, on average, deliver 11 (19) percent higher stock returns over the three (five) years after the renegotiation. This renegotiation effect occurs regardless of the market’s initial reaction, is strongest for lender consents/waivers, decreases with the borrower’s bargaining power, and is causal. Renegotiations lead to immediate increases in capital expenditures and working capital but lagged improvements in earnings and cash flow from operations. Renegotiations followed by larger improvements in accounting fundamentals have better long-run stock returns.
A Semantically Rich Knowledge Graph to Automate HIPAA Regulations for Cloud Health IT Services

As healthcare organizations adopt cloud-based services to manage their patient data, compliance with the rules and policies of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulation becomes increasingly complex. At present, HIPAA rules are available only in large textual format and require significant human effort to implement in the Health IT systems. Moreover, every change in the regulation, like the recent relaxation in telehealth policy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has to be manually implemented in the IT system. We have developed a semantically rich Knowledge graph, using Semantic Web technologies to represent HIPAA rules in a machine-processable format. This will significantly help in automatically reasoning of HIPAA policies. In this paper, we describe our design along with the results of our study of the current status of research on HIPAA ontology. We have validated our design against use cases defined by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This knowledge graph can be integrated with existing healthcare systems to provide automated compliance with HIPAA policies.
Parental anxiety, endorsement of literacy learning, and home literacy practices among Chinese parents of young children

To relieve young children of a burden and to encourage informal literacy practices such as shared book reading, the Chinese Ministry of Education implemented an early education policy that forbids the teaching of formal literacy (e.g., Chinese character recognition and Pinyin) as well as more ambitious literacy teaching practices (e.g., Teaching English as a Second Language—ESL) in kindergartens. Yet, little is known about the extent to which formal or ambitious literacy education is endorsed by low socioeconomic status (SES) and highly anxious parents who usually rely on classroom education as the great equalizer for their children. Neither do we know about the relationship between parental endorsement on these advanced learning goals and parents’ informal home literacy practices (e.g., shared book reading). This study intends to address this dearth in the literature by applying structural equation modeling to a sample of 4395 middle to low SES parents in China. Our findings show that, contrary to the policy makers’ expectation that downplaying Chinese word recognition and ESL would encourage informal literacy practices, highly anxious Chinese parents are motivated by their children’s Chinese word recognition to engage in shared book reading with their children. Without this motivator, highly anxious parents would read to their children even less. In comparison, calm parents were more likely to be motivated by their children’s ESL learning.
On the Hybrid Neural Network Model for Solving Optimization Problems

A recent model of neural networks, named the Hybrid Neural Network Model (HN), for solving optimization problems appeared in [3]. In [3], the main algorithm called the Hybrid Network Updating Algorithm (HNUA) is used to drive the HN model. The best thing about the HNUA is that it reaches a feasible solution very quickly. Our argument here is that while the HNUA is very quick to satisfy the constraints, it guarantees very little in terms of the quality of the generated solution. In this paper we rewrite one of the steps in the HNUA so that the goal function is better served. we demonstrate our work using the traveling salesman problem as an example.
Teaching the Material and Teaching the Students: Reflections on Introductory Courses for Non-Majors

Teaching a required introductory Bible course to non-majors at a church-related college presents a number of pedagogical challenges. When considering how to teach such a course in the context of concerns common to the liberal arts, I find myself reflecting on authority. My thoughts on the teaching of this course in my own context are organized around authority understood as a developmental issue, an educational issue, and a religious issue. In each case, I seek to use my discipline and the primary and secondary materials of the course as occasions for the development of capacities that will contribute to the life of students as critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and responsible global citizens.
Picosecond discharges and stick–slip friction at a moving meniscus of mercury on glass

At a meeting of the French Academy in 1700, Bernoulli demonstrated that swirling mercury in an evacuated flask generates light1,2. He emphasized that this ‘barometer light’ “has not been explained since its discovery about 30 years ago” by Picard3. Here we revisit this phenomenon and find that the repetitive emission of light from mercury moving over glass is accompanied by the collective picosecond transfer of large numbers of electrons. When brought into contact with mercury, the glass acquires a net charge. This charge separation provides a force which, in our experiment in a rotating flask, drags mercury against gravity in the direction of the motion of the glass. Eventually the edge of the mercury slips relative to the glass, accompanied by a picosecond electrical discharge and a flash of light. This repetitive build-up and discharge of static electricity thus gives rise to stick–slip motion. The statistics of the intervals between events and their respective magnitudes are history-dependent and are not yet understood.
Carbon isotope ratios in oxygen rich Mira and SRa variables.

Carbon isotope ratios have been measured in oxygen rich Mira and SRa variables brighter than K=+0.6. Results are now available for 34 stars (25 Miras and 9 SRa variables). The longer period Miras have a 12C/13C ratio about three times larger than the shorter period Miras. For Miras, period, Tc abundance and 12C/13C are shown to be functionally related. This is interpreted in terms of a period-mass relation.
The Kelvin Transform

The Kelvin transform performs a role in harmonic function theory analogous to that played by the transformation f(z) ↦ f(1/z) in holomorphic function theory. For example, it transforms a function harmonic inside the unit sphere into a function harmonic outside the sphere. In this chapter, we introduce the Kelvin transform and use it to solve the Dirichlet problem for the exterior of the unit sphere and to obtain a reflection principle for harmonic functions. Later, we will use the Kelvin transform in the study of isolated singularities of harmonic functions.
Communication: Fully coherent quantum state hopping

In this paper, we describe a new and fully coherent stochastic surface hopping method for simulating mixed quantum-classical systems. We illustrate the approach on the simple but unforgiving problem of quantum evolution of a two-state quantum system in the limit of unperturbed pure state dynamics and for dissipative evolution in the presence of both stationary and nonstationary random environments. We formulate our approach in the Liouville representation and describe the density matrix elements by ensembles of trajectories. Population dynamics are represented by stochastic surface hops for trajectories representing diagonal density matrix elements. These are combined with an unconventional coherent stochastic hopping algorithm for trajectories representing off-diagonal quantum coherences. The latter generalizes the binary (0,1) "probability" of a trajectory to be associated with a given state to allow integers that can be negative or greater than unity in magnitude. Unlike existing surface hopping methods, the dynamics of the ensembles are fully entangled, correctly capturing the coherent and nonlocal structure of quantum mechanics.
Effects of radical-scavenging enzymes and reduced oxygen exposure on growth and chromosome abnormalities of Werner syndrome cultured skin fibroblasts

Two sister strains of skin fibroblast-like (FL) cells from a patient with Werner's syndrome (adult progeria) were grown in regular tissue culture medium or medium supplemented with the radical-scavenging enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. Differences in proliferative potential were shown to be due to strain variation rather than to treatment with the enzymes. Two independent strains were also grown in ambient (18%) or reduced (1%) concentrations of oxygen. All cultures (untreated, treated with enzymes, treated with reduced oxygen exposure) displayed the limited in vitro growth potential and cytogenetic abnormality characteristic of Werner's syndrome FL cells; thus the underlying defect in Werner's syndrome does not appear to be related to defective protection against or repair of damage by free radicals.
Dense invariant sets of common cyclic vectors for Jordan operators

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that various collections of cyclic Jordan operators have dense invariant sets of common cyclic vectors.
War Powers in the Obama Administration

Despite the presence of a new American Commander in Chief in Barack Obama in 2009, the use of military force abroad remains a staple of American foreign policy. This article examines the constitutional war powers political environment of the Obama presidency, which seeks to explain how the Obama administration perceives its constitutional authority to use force abroad. The article examines President Obama's and Vice President Joseph Biden's previous views on war powers while they served in the United States Senate, and in addition assesses two cases of President Obama's military actions, including examinations of Obama's military policymaking on Afghanistan and Obama's decision to authorize the US Navy Seals’ use of force against Somali pirates in 2009. The findings suggest that despite having substantial records in the US Senate of supporting meaningful consultation between the Congress and the President prior to new military action, the Obama administration has acted much like previous Commanders in Chi...
Threshold for Electron Radiation Damage in ZnSe

A threshold for the displacement of an atom from the ZnSe lattice by electron bombardment has been observed at 240 keV. An electron of 240 keV transfers a maximum energy of 8.2 eV to the selenium atom and 10 eV to the zinc atom. The displacement is observed by the production at 85\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K of a broad fluorescence band which is resolvable into two overlapping bands with peaks at 5460 and 5850 \AA{}. The radiation damage anneals completely at a temperature of 160\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K.
Polymerizability, copolymerizability, and properties of cyanoacrylate‐telechelic polyisobutylenes I: three‐arm star cyanoacrylate‐telechelic polyisobutylene

This series of papers concern new materials for possible biological applications created by combining the chemistry of highly reactive cyanoacrylates (CAs) with polyisobutylene (PIB) rubbers. First, a new strategy for the synthesis of CA–telechelic PIBs is described. Subsequently, the strategy is employed for the synthesis of low viscosity (syringible) CA–telechelic three-arm star PIB [O(PIB–CA)3]. The intermediates of the synthesis route are characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Injecting liquid O(PIB–CA)3 into living tissue (fresh chicken egg) produces a bolus of crosslinked PIB rubber. The spectacular oxidative resistance of this rubber is documented by its resistance to concentrated HNO3. A structural model of the crosslinked rubber obtained upon contacting O(PIB–CA)3 with proteinaceous tissue is proposed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Joint RANS/LES Approach to Premixed Flame Modelling in the Context of the TFC Combustion Model

We present an original timesaving joint RANS/LES approach to simulate turbulent premixed combustion. It is intended mainly for industrial applications where LES may not be practical. It is based on successive RANS/LES numerical modelling, where turbulent characteristics determined from RANS simulations are used in LES equations for estimation of the subgrid chemical source and viscosity. This approach has been developed using our TFC premixed combustion model, which is based on a generalization of the Kolmogorov’s ideas. We assume existence of small-scale statistically equilibrium structures not only of turbulence but also of the reaction zones. At the same time, non-equilibrium large-scale structures of reaction sheets and turbulent eddies are described statistically by model combustion and turbulence equations in RANS simulations or follow directly without modelling in LES. Assumption of small-scale equilibrium gives an opportunity to express the mean combustion rate (controlled by small-scale coupling of turbulence and chemistry) in the RANS and LES sub-problems in terms of integral or subgrid parameters of turbulence and the chemical time, i.e. the definition of the reaction rate is similar to that of the mean dissipation rate in turbulence models where it is expressed in terms of integral or subgrid turbulent parameters. Our approach therefore renders compatible the combustion and turbulent parts of the RANS and LES sub-problems and yields reasonable agreement between the RANS and averaged LES results. Combining RANS simulations of averaged fields with LES method (and especially coupled and acoustic codes) for simulation of corresponding nonstationary process (and unsteady combustion regimes) is a promising strategy for industrial applications. In this work we present results of simulations carried out employing the joint RANS/LES approach for three examples: High velocity premixed combustion in a channel, combustion in the shear flow behind an obstacle and the impinging flame (a premixed flame attached to an obstacle).
Molecular Distinction of Phosphatidylcholine Synthesis between the CDP-Choline Pathway and Phosphatidylethanolamine Methylation Pathway

In addition to the CDP-choline pathway for phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis, the liver has a unique phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) methyltransferase activity for PC synthesis via three methylations of the ethanolamine moiety of PE. Previous studies indicate that the two pathways are functionally different and not interchangeable even though PC is the common product of both pathways. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that these two pathways produce different profiles of PC species. The PC species from these two pathways were labeled with specific stable isotope precursors, D9-choline and D4-ethanolamine, and analyzed by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Our studies revealed a profound distinction in PC profiles between the CDP-choline pathway and the PE methylation pathway. PC molecules produced from the CDP-choline pathway were mainly comprised of medium chain, saturated (e.g.16:0/18:0) species. On the other hand, PC molecules from the PE methylation pathway were much more diverse and were comprised of significantly more long chain, polyunsaturated (e.g.18:0/20:4) species. PC species from the methylation pathway contained a higher percentage of arachidonate and were more diverse than those from the CDP-choline pathway. This profound distinction of PC profiles may contribute to the different functions of these two pathways in the liver.
Lead, cadmium, and arsenic residues in animal tissues in relation to those in their surrounding habitat.

Abstract The relationships of the residues of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in animal tissues to those in surrounding vegetation and soil were determined in a natural habitat representing a wide range of such residues. The samples studied were selected from 18 different locations. Analyses were performed on a total of 113 animals, 332 plant specimens (representing 33 species), and 408 soil samples (taken at different depths). For the purpose of evaluating relationships, the samples from each location were averaged and reported as parts per million on a dry weight basis. The average lead residues from different locations ranged from 1.4–9.2 ppm in the liver, 45–195 in bones, 4–283 in vegetation, and 15–1399 in soil samples. The cadmium contents ranged from 1–27 ppm in the liver, 3–77 in bones, 0.5–5 in vegetation, and 1–10 in soil. The arsenic contents in different components of the ecosystem varied with an average of 1–9 ppm in liver, 0.6–94 in vegetation, and 7–655 in soil samples. The soil residues varied considerably according to the depth of sampling. Little variation was noted in different species of vegetation or in soil and vegetation samples according to the time and year of sampling. Statistical analyses performed on the averages indicated a significant correlation between vegetation and soil residues for all three elements, and also between animal to vegetation and animal to soil cadmium residues. Multiple linear correlations for all elements in soil, vegetation, and animal tissues were determined. The results indicated a possibility of an increase in cadmium in animal tissues depending upon the increased residues of this metal in the environment.
Microscopically-constrained Fock energy density functionals from chiral effective field theory. I. Two-nucleon interactions

Abstract The density matrix expansion (DME) of Negele and Vautherin is a convenient tool to map finite-range physics associated with vacuum two- and three-nucleon interactions into the form of a Skyrme-like energy density functional (EDF) with density-dependent couplings. In this work, we apply the improved formulation of the DME proposed recently in arXiv:0910.4979 by Gebremariam et al. to the non-local Fock energy obtained from chiral effective field theory (EFT) two-nucleon (NN) interactions at next-to-next-to-leading-order (N 2 LO). The structure of the chiral interactions is such that each coupling in the DME Fock functional can be decomposed into a coupling constant arising from zero-range contact interactions and a coupling function of the density arising from the universal long-range pion exchanges. This motivates a new microscopically-guided Skyrme phenomenology where the density-dependent couplings associated with the underlying pion-exchange interactions are added to standard empirical Skyrme functionals, and the density-independent Skyrme parameters subsequently refit to data. A link to a downloadable Mathematica notebook containing the novel density-dependent couplings is provided.
Safety evaluation of existing partially prestressed concrete girder bridges

Abstract An efficient method for evaluating the safety of existing girder bridges as a function of the load and resistance parameters is presented. The bridge capacity is determined using a nonlinear finite element program in terms of the truck load which is increased until structure collapse occurs. It is determined that the reliability of fully prestressed bridges is higher than that of partially prestressed bridges, with the bridge system reliability is one-and-half to two times the girder reliability index. It is also found that the system reliability is more sensitive to accidental or local damage of the exterior girders than the interior ones.
Interconvertbility of set constraints and context-free language reachability

We show the interconvertibility of context-free-language reachability problems and a class of set-constraint problems: given a context-free-language reachability problem, we show how to construct a set-constraint problem whose answer gives a solution to the reachability problem; given a set-constraint problem, we show how to construct a context-free-language reachability problem whose answer gives a solution to the set-constraint problem. The interconvertibility of these two formalisms offers an conceptual advantage akin to the advantage gained from the interconvertibility of finite-state automata and regular expressions in formal language theory, namely, a problem can be formulated in whichever formalism is most natural. It also offers some insight into the "O(n3) bottleneck" for different types of program-analysis problems, and allows results previously obtained for context-free-language reachability problems to be applied to set-constraint problems.
Association of galactosamine-induced hepatitis in the rat with hyperhyaluronanaemia and decreased hyaluronan uptake by the isolated, perfused liver

Abstract Plasma hyaluronan (HA) concentration and the rate of HA uptake by the isolated, perfused liver were measured in rats treated with saline, D -galactosamine (GaINH 2 , 50 mg/100 g body wt), gadolinium chloride (GdCl 3 ) (0.5 mg/100 g body wt), and GdCl 3 + GaINH 2 . GdCl 3 was given 24 hr before GaINH 2 or saline. Plasma L -alanine:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.2), a marker for hepatocyte damage, was increased by 8 hr and remained elevated for 24 hr after GaINH 2 injection. GdCl 3 did not affect plasma enzyme levels when given alone or in association with, but prior to, GaINH 2 . Plasma HA levels were increased (200%) within 2 hr GaI administration. A plateau was reached at 8 hr, which was maintained for at least 24 hr. Although GdCl 3 alone did not affect plasma HA levels, it slightly delayed the increase in HA concentration in GaINH 2 -treated rats. Liver, isolated 24 hr after GaINH 2 treatment, exhibited a severe depression (approximately 67%) of HA uptake. GdCL 3 did not prevent this suppression. The data presented indicate that: (1) one of the sinusoidal endothelial cell-dependent functions of the liver, i.e. removal of HA from the blood stream, is profoundly impaired during galactosamine-induced hepatitis, and (2) the adverse effect of GaINH 2 on this sinusoidal endothelial cell function may not be dependent on GdCl 3 -suppressible Kupffer cell functions.
Emotion versus Tension in Haydn's Symphony no. 104 as Measured by the Two-Dimensional Continuous Response Digital Interface

This study compared musicians' responses while listening to the first movement of Haydn's Symphony no. 104 using a two-dimensional continuous response digital interface (CRDI). The two-dimensional CRDI uses a mouse cursor via a computer screen to indicate the interrelationship of two dimensions simultaneously. In the present investigation, 50 musicians were presented with the dimensions of arousal (i.e., relaxing-exciting) and affect (i.e., ugly-beautiful). The vertical dimension on the computer screen listed the word “Exciting” at the top and “Relaxing” at the bottom; the horizontal axis listed “Ugly” on the left side and “Beautiful” on the opposite side. Subjects moved the cursor as they tracked their response to the musk. Results indicated that there was an inverse relationship between the two dimensions as subjects tracked responses during this selection. The correlation between the two dimensions was r = −.58. Additionally, graphic analysis indicated almost a mirror-image relationship between the two...
A Lorentz field theory for ferroelectric transitions in layered perovskites

Abstract The polarization transitions in layered perovskites have been studied from the view point of dipole—dipole interaction. The Lorentz field enhancement to the ferroelectricity has been calculated using several models of simplified and realistic crystal structures. The preference for in-plane polarization in layered perovskites is confirmed and is attributed to the two-dimensionality of the crystal structure and the anisotropy of dipole—dipole interaction. In addition, all layered perovskites considered, including Bi4Ti3O12, SrBi2Nb2O9, and SrBi2Ta2O9, show a preference for polarization along the B—O chain direction, although a small c-polarization appears feasible. The effect of the perovskite layer number (m) on polarization transitions has also been considered and a gradual convergence of the behavior of simple perovskite and layered perovskite is seen when m is large. In analogy to the findings in BaTiO3, a two-step transition sequence is proposed to account for the structure found in ferroelect...
A simulation model of patronage behavior within shopping centers

This paper presents a micro-analytic store choice model which eliminates the assumptions of homogeneity of stores and homogeneity of shoppers found in earlier models. The model simulates individual shopping trips within a shopping center and was successful in predicting the stores chosen by a sample of shopping center patrons. Two earlier models were also tested, but the proposed model performs better than either of the simpler models. Besides its predictive value, the model suggests a number of strategic implications for retailers and shopping center developers and provides a methodology that may be useful in other areas of behavioral research.
EXPLORING GPU- AND CLUSTER-BASED IMPROVEMENTS FOR OVER-SAMPLED VOLUME RAY CASTING OPACITY CORRECTION

Performance improvements to the known opacity correction mechanisms for over-sampled volume ray casting (VRC), especially using two forms of commodity hardware, are explored. Data-parallel strategies that enable exploitation of parallelism using either: (1) a programmable graphics processing unit (GPU) or (2) cluster computation are a prime focus. The GPU-based approach is finely granular. The cluster-based approaches here utilize less finely granular processing that allows acceleration through multi-processing and multi-threading. These approaches also include features, such as early ray termination, empty-space skipping, term rearrangement, and term reduction, that have not been previously explored in depth for opacity-corrected VRC. A new strategy enabling more accurate opacity correction is also presented. The performance of the improvements on real volume data are also explored. The improvements allow opacity correction to be performed in a way that efficiently exploits either GPU- or cluster-based capabilities.
Periconceptional nutrient intakes and risks of orofacial clefts in California

Evidence indicates that maternal nutrient intake may play a role in the development of birth defects. We investigated the association of maternal periconceptional intake of vitamin supplements and dietary nutrients with risk of developing cleft palate (CP) and cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CLP). Data were from a population-based, case–control study of fetuses and liveborn infants delivered in California in 1999–2003. Analyses included 170 cases with CP, 425 with CLP, and 534 nonmalformed controls. Dietary intake was estimated from a food frequency questionnaire. Vitamin supplement intake was associated with a modestly decreased risk of clefts, but the confidence intervals (CIs) include 1.0. Among women who did not use vitamin supplements, dietary intake of several micronutrients was associated with risk of clefts. We found at least a twofold elevated risk of CP with low intake of riboflavin, magnesium, calcium, vitamin B12, and zinc; all CIs excluded 1.0. For CLP, we found at least a twofold elevated risk with low intake of niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B12, and calcium, and a decreased risk with high intake of folate and cryptoxanthin; all CIs excluded 1.0. The results suggest that periconceptional nutrient intake may be associated with risk of CP and CLP.
Comparing the Predictive Ability of T-method and Cobb-Douglas Production Function for Warranty Data

Predictive models are used in an attempt to anticipate future transitions, mitigate losses, and maximize economic gains. In today’s market, companies look for high reliability and quality of products due to great market competition. Hence warranty data is of considerable interest to companies. Warranty shows the ability of a system or component to perform its functions within a given customer usage. Many statistical and data mining methods are available to predict the warranty data. This study focuses on analyzing the predictive efficiency of the T-method and Cobb-Douglas production function on warranty data by comparing their prediction capability. The T-method, developed by Genichi Taguchi, is founded upon the fundamentals of the Taguchi System of Quality Engineering which is used to calculate an overall prediction based on signal-to-noise ratio. Using this method, the required parameters are calculated to obtain an overall estimate of the true value of the output for each signal member. The Cobb-Douglas production function is then applied on the same dataset. In economics, the Cobb-Douglas functional form of production function is widely used to represent the relationship of the output to inputs. The strength of the relationship is then assessed using the R-squared and adjusted R-squared values.© 2009 ASME
Biaxial Response of Ovine Spinal Cord Dura Mater

The dura mater plays a major functional role in the spinal cord-meningeal complex (SCM). Being the strongest structure of the meninges, it helps in sustaining the flow and pressure of the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) in addition to protecting the spinal cord from external mechanical loading. Loss of integrity of the dura can result in subdural and epidural hematomas. Accidental damage of the dura during procedures such as lumbar puncture and epidural anesthesia can potentially result in post-dural-puncture headaches (PDPH).Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Sexual strategies of female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

Evidence is reviewed that female Japanese macaques have multiple male mating partners when they are available and show a preference for mating with sexually unfamiliar males. Several lines of evidence suggest that this aspect of female sexual behavior results in the offspring of an individual female being sired by more than one male thereby maintaining the genetic diversity of the troop. Evidence is presented in this paper that a decrease in the number of adult troop males and a lack of extra-troop migrant males in the Arashiyama West troop of Japanese macaques following transplantation to a ranch in south Texas had consequences for the sexual behavior of the females.
Cu(II) Halide and Primary Amine Complexes of Kinetin and 6-Benzylaminopurine

Abstract Cu(II) halide and primary amine complexes of kinetin (Kin) and 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) of the type Cu(Kin)Cl2, Cu(Kin)Br2, Cu(6-BAP)Cl2, and Cu(Kin)2(CH3NH2)3 were synthesized. Low frequency IR absorptions of the halide adducts can be assigned to Cu-X stretches and are suggestive of a trans square-planar arrangement about the metal centre. The amine complex exhibits the loss of an aromatic IR N-H stretch, consistent with deprotonation of the purine ring and the formation of a metal complex. Room temperature magnetic susceptibilities are subnormal for mononuclear Cu(II) compounds. N(3)-N(9) bridging between copper centres is postulated by comparison with known metal ion structures of purines; the possibility of N(7)-N(9) bridging cannot however be disregarded.