cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hematological Abnormalities in Copper Deficiency.

Introduction: Copper deficiency can rarely present as anemia and leucopenia. Copper and iron are essential trace elements through their functions as co-factors in numerous biochemical reactions. Hephaestin is a transmembrane copper-dependent ferroxidase necessary for effective iron transport from intestinal enterocyte into the circulation. Copper is hence required for the efficient utilization of iron in the mammalian system. Copper enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and cytochrome oxidase have an essential role in red cell development and heme maturation. We present 4 patients of copper deficiency. The first patient presented with anemia and leucopenia and the bone marrow showed increased vacuolated erythroblasts with and erythroid dysplasia. This patient had a bone marrow picture resembling erythroleukemia. However, as this patient had undergone a gastric bypass, further studies in the form of vitamin B12, red cell folate and copper were performed. Patient was found to have low copper and low ceruloplasmin levels, with normal B12 and red cell folate levels. Three patients had anemia and neutropenia and showed dysplasia in erythroid lineage, ring sideroblasts, and abnormal accumulation of iron granules in plasma cells. In all four cases, repletion of copper resulted in normalization of peripheral counts and bone marrow showed normal trilineage hematopoiesis. Discussion: Copper deficiency is known to present with microcytic anemia. However we report three cases in which patients presented as normocytic anemia and neutropenia.Bone marrow findings in addition to dysplasia, also showed abnormal iron granules in plasma cells as well as ring sideroblasts. Presence of ringed sideroblasts in myelodysplasia is associated with numerous point mutations in mitochondrial DNA. Mutations identified to date involve among others the cytochrome oxidase subunits I and II. Cytochrome c oxidase is involved in oxidizing FE++ to Fe+++ and incorporation into heme. Copper is a component of cytochrome c oxidase and superoxide dismutase and its deficiency leads to low levels of these enzymes. We propose that copper deficiency plays role in causing dysplastic changes in bone marrow and increase in ringed sideroblasts. Any patient presenting with unexplained anemia or leucopenia, with dysplasia and ringed sideroblasts should be evaluated for copper deficiency. Abnormal iron granules in plasma cells have been reported in other conditions like ethanol toxicity, however we report two patients with copper deficiency who were found to have iron granules in plasma cells. We consider copper an important component of the work-up of patients thought to have myelodysplasia especially if they have undergone a gastric bypass and have normal cytogenetics which is not suggestive of clonal hematopoiesis.
Organizational and Environmental Factors Influencing Hospital Community Orientation

Community orientation involves hospitals’ efforts to assess and meet the health needs of the local population. Only one study, to date, has considered the factors that promote or impede hospitals’ ...
Race as a Historico-Spatial Construct: The Hermeneutical Challenge to Institutional Racism

Although lip service is widely given to institutional racism, it tends to be marginalized with more attention being given to individual racist acts. Furthermore, institutional racism is reduced to a knowledge of the rates of death, disease, poverty, and so on, among racial minorities as compared with Whites, and this knowledge is often divorced from any kind of real understanding on the part of Whites of the lives of those reflected in the statistics. To combat this lack of understanding, which is in large part a product of the distance that separates the races, one must break free of analytic reasoning. The problem begins with the way racial categories are often interpreted as the products of a false biology, whereas they were initially thought of as geographical. When, as a result of migration and race mixing, these spatial divisions no longer held in their original form, attempts were made to recreate them through segregation. Learning to read the way racism reproduces itself within a given society is a hermeneutical task. By understanding race as a border concept, a particular kind of historico-spatial construct, institutional racism becomes more legible.
In vivo B 0 field shimming methods for MRI at 7T.

Functional MRI (fMRI) at 7T and above provides improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Contrast-to-Noise Ratio compared to 3T acquisitions. In addition to the beneficial effects on spin polarization and magnetization of deoxyhemoglobin, the increased applied field also further magnetizes air and tissue. While the magnets themselves typically provide a static B0 field with sufficient spatial homogeneity, the diamagnetism of tissue and the paramagnetism of air causes local field deviations inside the human head. These spatially-varying field offsets (ΔB0) cause image artifacts, especially in single shot EPI, including geometric distortion, signal dropout, and blurring. These effects are particularly strong near air-tissue interfaces such as the frontal sinus, and ear canals. Furthermore, if the field offsets are dynamically modulated through physiological processes such as respiration or motion, then the effect on the image time-series can be even more problematic. While post-processing methods have been developed to mitigate these effects, the ideal solution would be to reduce the ΔB0 variations at their source. Typically 7T scanners contain 2nd and some 3rd order spherical harmonic shim coil terms to cancel static ΔB0 variations of low spatial order. In this article, we will motivate the need for improved, higher-order compensation for B0 inhomogeneity and potentially add dynamic control of these fields. We discuss and compare several promising hardware approaches for static and dynamic B0 shimming using either higher-order spherical harmonic shim coils or multi-coil shim arrays as well as passive shimming approaches, and active variants such and adaptive current networks.
Mechanical behavior of carbon nanotube yarns with stochastic microstructure obtained by stretching buckypaper

Abstract The development of yarns composed primarily from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been pursued recently with the intent of transferring to the yarn the exceptional mechanical and transport properties of individual nanotubes. In this work we study the process of yarn formation by dry stretching buckypaper, and the mechanical behavior of the resulting yarns, function of the CNT length and of the state of the CNT assembly before stretching. The analysis is performed using a coarse grained, bead-spring representation for individual CNTs. It begins with a random buckypaper structure composed from CNTs of diameter 13.5 A. This structure is stretched to form a yarn. This occurs once the stretch ratio becomes larger than a threshold which depends on the CNT length. At the threshold, adhesion stabilizes a highly aligned packing of CNT bundles. Packing defects and pores, reminiscent of the initial structure of the buckypaper, are incorporated in the yarn. The yarn is further tested in uniaxial tension. The defects have little effect on the mechanical behavior of the resulting yarns. However, the behavior depends sensitively on the degree of packing of the CNTs in the sub-bundles forming the yarn. Therefore, the initial structure of the buckypaper has little effect on the performance of the yarn. Increasing the CNT length increases the yarn flow stress and this is associated with the residual tortuosity of the CNTs in the yarn. Decreasing the temperature or increasing the strain rate lead to a small increase of the flow stress. These results have implications for yarn design, which are discussed in the article.
Which Antitakeover Provisions Matter

Antitakeover provisions play a central role in corporate governance research. But there is little agreement over which, if any, provisions affect takeover likelihoods. As a result, researchers variously use the G-index, E-index, ad hoc indices, or selected individual provisions such as classified boards, to measure firms’ takeover defenses. In tests that account for the endogenous use of antitakeover provisions, we find that only 11 of the 24 G-index provisions are negatively related to takeover likelihood. Various indices used in the literature to measure takeover defense relate to takeover likelihood to the extent they include this subset of provisions.
The scaffold proteins of lignin biosynthetic cytochrome P450 enzymes

Lignin is a complex and irregular biopolymer of crosslinked phenylpropanoid units in plant secondary cell walls. Its biosynthesis requires three endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, C4H, C3'H and F5H, to establish the structural characteristics of its monomeric precursors. These P450 enzymes were reported to associate with each other or potentially with other soluble monolignol biosynthetic enzymes to form an enzyme complex or a metabolon. However, the molecular basis governing such enzyme or pathway organization remains elusive. Here, we show that Arabidopsis membrane steroid-binding proteins (MSBPs) serve as a scaffold to physically organize monolignol P450 monooxygenases, thereby regulating the lignin biosynthetic process. We find that although C4H, C3'H and F5H are in spatial proximity to each other on the ER membrane in vivo, they do not appear to directly interact with each other. Instead, two MSBP proteins physically interact with all three P450 enzymes and, moreover, MSBPs themselves associate as homomers and heteromers on the ER membrane, thereby organizing P450 clusters. Downregulation of MSBP genes does not affect the transcription levels of monolignol biosynthetic P450 genes but substantially impairs the stability and activity of the MSBP-interacting P450 enzymes and, consequently, lignin deposition, and the accumulation of soluble phenolics in the monolignol branch but not in the flavonoid pathway. Our study suggests that MSBP proteins are essential structural components in the ER membrane that physically organize and stabilize the monolignol biosynthetic P450 enzyme complex, thereby specifically controlling phenylpropanoid-monolignol branch biosynthesis.
Teaching: Igniting the Fire Within

Dr. Lowell Mason (1875) asked teachers to reflect on the question: “Do we awaken the spirit of learning or dull it” (p. 5)? After some quality reflection I have concluded that it is my privilege to...
Stochastic Modeling of Neuronal Responses

The sequence of spikes in a train is considered to be a neuronal code. We have shown that a simple model in which the spikes are stochastically thrown down with the probabilities governed by a rate function over time estimated from the spike density over time. The numbers of spikes is determined by measuring the number of spikes over the interval of interest, usually several hundred milliseconds. By analyzing data from this model, which is instantiated by order statistics, neuronal spike trains can be decoded instant-by-instant as they unfold over time.
Introduction: Walking a Mile in Another Person’s Shoes

When we conceived this book, we thought we knew what was meant by ethnography and how its practitioners went about approaching their trade. And we thought that we could categorize ethnographies by what their topics were: offenders, police, homeless persons, or other actors or organizations involved in criminology research. What we found, however, is that we were more able to explain what it is not: it is not based on administrative data, on primarily closed-form questionnaires, on statistical analyses, on percentages, and on p values.
Risks and Challenges

Much of the recent growth and development in Bangladesh has been narrowly based; it has been primarily propelled by what is labeled in this study as the four drivers of development: ready-made garments; international migration and remittances: agriculture; and nongovernmental organizations. While these drivers have served the economy well in the past, their robustness is likely to be challenged in the future. This chapter identifies a trifecta of major risks, which are exogenous to the government and largely beyond its ability to manipulate. These are rooted, first, in the rapid changing technology in robotics and artificial intelligence; second, in the evolving global political and economic environment; and third, in climate change and natural disasters. Going forward, for sustained growth, the country needs to further diversify, which will require addressing various social, political, policy, and institutional challenges facing the economy, including poor governance, inadequate physical infrastructure, skill and educational bottlenecks, demographic burden, dwindling social capital, and lack of transformational leadership.
Dissecting Cardiac Surgery: A Video-based Recall Protocol to Elucidate Team Cognitive Processes in the Operating Room.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to elucidate the cognitive processes involved in surgical procedures from the perspective of different team roles (surgeon, anesthesiologist, and perfusionist) and provide a comprehensive compilation of intraoperative cognitive processes. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Nontechnical skills play a crucial role in surgical team performance and understanding the cognitive processes underlying the intraoperative phase of surgery is essential to improve patient safety in the operating room (OR). METHODS A mixed-methods approach encompassing semistructured interviews with 9 subject-matter experts. A cognitive task analysis was built upon a hierarchical segmentation of coronary artery bypass grafting procedures and a cued-recall protocol using video vignettes was used. RESULTS A total of 137 unique surgical cognitive processes were identified, including 33 decision points, 23 critical communications, 43 pitfalls, and 38 strategies. Self-report cognitive workload varied substantially, depending on team role and surgical step. A web-based dashboard was developed, providing an integrated visualization of team cognitive processes in the OR that allows readers to intuitively interact with the study findings. CONCLUSIONS This study advances the current body of knowledge by making explicit relevant cognitive processes involved during the intraoperative phase of cardiac surgery from the perspective of multiple OR team members. By displaying the research findings in an interactive dashboard, we provide trainees with new knowledge in an innovative fashion that could be used to enhance learning outcomes. In addition, the approach used in the present study can be used to deeply understand the cognitive factors underlying surgical adverse events and errors in the OR.
Post-Production Calibration of Analog/RF ICs: Recent Developments and A Fully Integrated Solution

We present recent developments on post-production calibration of analog and radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits (ICs) mainly focusing on on-chip solutions. Specifically, we summarize the state-of-the-art on both direct and statistical calibration techniques. The latter typically employ on-die sensors, which estimate the circuit under test (CUT) performances and tuning knobs, which along with machine learning-based methods are capable of calibrating the CUT. Existing sensors, tuning knobs and machine learning-based implementations are discussed and their limitations are outlined. Lastly, a fully integrated new architecture for on-chip calibration of a low-noise amplifier (LNA) through the use of an analog neural network is introduced.
What motivates the sharing of consumer-generated genomic information?:

Genomic medicine is an emerging practice that followed the completion of the Human Genome Project and that considers genomic information about an individual in the provision of their clinical care....
Current state of whole blood transfusion for civilian trauma resuscitation

Background Whole blood (WB) is rapidly emerging as the treatment modality of choice for the initial resuscitation of civilian trauma patients across the United States. The reemergence of WB has been rapid and driven in part by recognition of the importance of early plasma transfusion in the resuscitation process. Study design and methods The study was designed as a critical analysis of the available literature on WB transfusion in civilian trauma patients. Studies were included if they reported on transfusion of cold-stored WB used in a civilian setting and measured safety, feasibility, or a direct clinical outcome. Results Examination of the available literature supports the feasibility and safety of WB used in treatment of civilian trauma patients. The evidence regarding clinical outcomes, particularly with direct comparison to equivalent doses of component therapy, is more limited. The literature is predominantly descriptive and retrospective in nature and limited by the heterogeneity of clinical WB protocols being used. Based on this limited data set, there are limited conclusions that can be used to definitely support or refute the clinical superiority of WB to component therapy. Conclusion Current literature supports the safety and feasibility of WB, but prospective randomized trials comparing WB to component therapy are needed to provide the definitive evidence on this topic.
AUSTRALIANS TO 1788, by D.J. Mulvaney and J.P. White (eds)./[Volume 1 of AUSTRALIANS: A HISTORICAL LIBRARY, by A.D. Gilbert and K.S. Inglis (eds)

(1989). AUSTRALIANS TO 1788, by D.J. Mulvaney and J.P. White (eds)./[Volume 1 of AUSTRALIANS: A HISTORICAL LIBRARY, by A.D. Gilbert and K.S. Inglis (eds) Australian Archaeology: Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 147-148.
Recruit and retain a diverse workforce

As the world erupts with demands for racial justice, the chemistry community has the obligation, opportunity and momentum to drive for diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Efforts towards that end must begin by allocating opportunities for success on the basis of potential, not privilege, and follow through by soliciting and acting upon feedback from the scholars we have recruited. As the world erupts with demands for racial justice, the chemistry community has the obligation, opportunity and momentum to drive for diversity and inclusion in the sciences. Efforts towards that end must begin by allocating opportunities for success on the basis of potential, not privilege, and follow through by soliciting and acting upon feedback from the scholars we have recruited.
OPF/PMMA cage system as an alternative approach for the treatment of vertebral corpectomy.

The spinal column is the most common site for bone metastasis. Vertebral metastases with instability have historically been treated with corpectomy of the affected vertebral body and adjacent intervertebral discs, and have more recently been treated with separation surgery. With demographics shifting towards an elderly population, a less-invasive surgical approach is necessary for the repair of vertebral defects. We modified a previously reported expandable hollow cage composed of an oligo[poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate] (OPF) containment system that could be delivered via a posterior-only approach. Then, the polymer of interest, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) bone cement, was injected into the lumen of the cage after expansion to form an OPF/PMMA cage. We compared six different cage formulations to account for vertebral body and defect size, and performed a cage characterization via expansion kinetics and mechanical testing evaluations. Additionally, we investigated the feasibility of the OPF/PMMA cage in providing spine stability via kinematic analyses. The in-vitro placement of the implant using our OPF/PMMA cage system showed improvement and mechanical stability in a flexion motion. The results demonstrated that the formulation and technique presented in the current study have the potential to improve surgical outcomes in minimally invasive procedures on the spine.
The origin of secondary microseism Love waves

The interaction of ocean surface waves produces pressure fluctuations at the seafloor capable of generating seismic waves in the solid Earth. The accepted mechanism satisfactorily explains secondary microseisms of the Rayleigh type, but it does not justify the presence of transversely polarized Love waves, nevertheless widely observed. An explanation for two-thirds of the worldwide ambient wave field has been wanting for over a century. Using numerical simulations of global-scale seismic wave propagation at unprecedented high frequency, here we explain the origin of secondary microseism Love waves. A small fraction of those is generated by boundary force-splitting at bathymetric inclines, but the majority is generated by the interaction of the seismic wave field with three-dimensional heterogeneity within the Earth. We present evidence for an ergodic model that explains observed seismic wave partitioning, a requirement for full-wave field ambient-noise tomography to account for realistic source distributions.
Introduction: Challenges facing racial minority immigrants

Racial minorities, particularly African Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans (e g , Navajo Nation) from low-income backgrounds, have been facing alarmingly high levels of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 To situate the context of racial minority immigrants, it is important to consider the growth of immigrant populations in the United States The real struggles that many immigrants face when leaving behind loved ones and a familiar cultural, religious, and linguistic context, and their resilience in the face of these losses and separations, remain largely invisible in public discourse in the current xenophobic state There is a dire need for psychologists and other mental health practitioners and researchers to engage in deeper inquiry into the experiences of racial minority immigrants and in resisting policies that threaten their basic sense of safety and humanity This introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the book and its chapters (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Numerical simulations of transonic flows with non-unique solutions

Inviscid, compressible flows are described by a first-order system of hyperbolic partial differential equations in conservation form, and are solved numerically with simple schemes. These schemes show the ability to reproduce well-known solutions and benchmarks for the two-dimensional Euler equations. Finally, the schemes are used to explore the anomaly of non-unique solutions in the transonic regime. Furthermore, numerical solutions for the isentropic Euler equations with γ = 2, which are analogous to the shallow water equations, also exhibit non-uniqueness. In the appendix, results computed with OVERFLOW also exhibit non-unique solutions for the same geometries considered in the text.
Blue Metros, Red States: The shifting urban-rural divide in America’s swing states, by David F. Damore, Robert E. Land and Karen A. Danielsen: Washington, D. C., Brookings Institution Press, 2021

In the wake of the protracted presidential election of 2020, many of us can name the urbanized counties in swing states from Arizona to Pennsylvania. This timely study examines the 13 swing states ...
Defining and Demystifying Automated Decision Systems

Government agencies are increasingly using automated decision systems to aid or supplant human decision-making and policy enforcement in various sensitive social domains. They determine who will have their food subsidies terminated, how much healthcare benefits a person is entitled to, and who is likely to be a victim of a crime. Yet, existing legislative and regulatory definitions fail to adequately describe or clarify how these technologies are used in practice and their impact on society. This failure to adequately describe and define “automated decision systems” leads to such systems evading scrutiny that policymakers are increasingly recognizing is warranted and potentially impedes avenues for legal redress. Such oversights can have concrete consequences for individuals and communities, such as increased law enforcement harassment, deportation, denial of housing or employment opportunities, and death. This article is the first in law review literature to provide two clear and measured definitions of “automated decision systems” for legislative and regulatory purposes and to suggest how these definitions should be applied. The definitions and analytical framework offered in this article clarify automated decision systems as prominent modes of governance and social control that warrant greater public scrutiny and immediate regulation. The definitions foreground the social implications of these technologies in addition to capturing the multifarious functions these technologies perform as they relate to rights, liberties, public safety, access, and opportunities. To demonstrate the significance and practicality of these definitions I analyze and apply them to two modern use cases: teacher evaluation systems and gang databases. I then explore how policymakers should determine exemptions and evaluate two technologies routinely used in government: email filters and accounting software. This law review provides a much-needed intervention in global public policy discourse and interdisciplinary scholarship regarding the regulation of emergent, data- driven technologies.
Effects of timber harvest on survival and movement of stream salamanders in a managed forest landscape

With escalating anthropogenic alteration of landscapes worldwide, managed forests are increasingly important as providers of ecosystem services and wildlife habitat. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain a balance between producing forest products and biodiversity conservation. Several studies have reported negative effects of forest management on terrestrial plethodontid salamanders, but fewer have focused on stream‐dwelling species or evaluated mechanisms for shifts in their abundance (e.g., mortality vs. movement). We used a before–after–control–impact design to examine the effects of clear‐cut harvesting on a semi‐aquatic stream‐breeding salamander endemic to the Ouachita Mountains, Desmognathus brimleyorum. We conducted a three‐year capture–mark–recapture (CMR) study at three streams within a managed pine (Pinus spp.) landscape in west‐central Arkansas, USA. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands surrounding two of the streams were clear‐cut (leaving a 14–21 m wide forested buffer on each side of the stream) midway through the study; the third stream served as a control site and remained unharvested. We estimated apparent survival using open CMR models and compared salamander movement over time and between harvested and control streams. Overall, our models revealed seasonal and temporal variation in salamander survival and abundance, but little evidence for strong immediate effects of timber harvesting on post‐metamorphic salamanders within two years postharvest. However, there was increased salamander movement at sites where forest harvest occurred. Our results suggest that streamside buffers of at least 14–28 m on either side of a stream are effective for minimizing immediate effects of forestry activities on juvenile and adult stream‐dwelling salamanders, when timber harvest occurs in the winter months. These results will inform management decisions aimed at conserving biodiversity and ecosystem integrity in managed forest landscapes while also filling a critical gap in the knowledge of stream salamander demographic parameters.
Ophthalmology and COVID-19: A snapshot of clinical practice in the US

Purpose : Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a respiratory virus that initially appeared in Wuhan, China in December of 2019. It quickly spread around the globe with the World Health Organization declaring the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. With rapidly changing national and global guidelines researchers at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) surveyed ophthalmologists across the United States to examine their response to the pandemic during the months of April 2020 to July 2020. Methods : The survey is a population based, cross-sectional study. Participants were identified on April 21, 2020 with the Find an Ophthalmologist feature on the American Academy of Ophthalmology's website allowing for random retrieval of contact information across the 50 states, ensuring a random sampling of participants by state and general demographics. We distributed the survey via email with responses collected between April and July 2020. We sent 2,299 emails and collected 147 responses (response rate of 6%). Results were compiled and analyzed using the Google Survey Tool. Results : Ophthalmologists of every specialty, practice type, and geographic region responded. Patient visits across the country fell with 41.8% of respondents seeing less than 25% of their usual volume. Only 20.5% of ophthalmology practices were seeing 26- 50% of their patients, 12.3% of practices were seeing 51-75% of patients, and 11.6% of practices were still seeing 76-100% of their patients;13.7% of ophthalmology practices saw no patients at all. The most common changes implemented were physicians and staff masking (97.29%), decreasing ancillary staff (96.66%), patients masking (95.24%), and cleaning rooms between patients (91.84%). In the office, 61.0% of respondents implemented telemedicine software with another 47.1% indicating they plan to use telehealth at a later date. In our survey, 42.9% of respondents indicated they were performing elective procedures with 68% of respondents stating surgical masks were appropriate for short, low risk procedures compared to 80% of respondents stating N95 was most appropriate for high risk, short cases of less than one-hour duration. Conclusions : The majority of respondents followed national trends and adhered to CDC and AAO recommendations. Significant financial burden and unpredictable viral trends further emphasize the importance of continual monitoring and adherence to established guidelines.
Dark Matter Effective Theory

Les Houches 2021 lectures on dark matter effective field theory (short course). The aim of these two lectures is to calculate the DM-nucleus cross section for a simple example, and then generalize to the treatment of general effective interactions of spin-1/2 DM. Relativistic local operators, the heavy-DM effective theory, the chiral effective Lagrangian, and nuclear effective operators are briefly discussed.
MPD choke control considering the thixotropic gelation behavior of drilling fluids

Abstract This study evaluates control algorithms that manage choke pressure during managed pressure drilling applications (MPD) while also taking the thixotropic behavior of drilling fluids into account. This evaluation analyzes proportional-integral (PI) feedback control and proposed preview-based feedback control for choke pressure. A pressure spike can be observed in standpipe and bottomhole pressure after making a drillstring connection or experiencing a prolonged break in drilling operations. This is caused by the gelation of drilling fluids. It is vital to be able to predict the magnitude of such pressure spikes when drilling with active annular pressure control, such that the choke can be effectively controlled to mitigate an induced non-productive time event (i.e., lost circulation events, pump or pipe failures, or well control situations). In this study, a shear-rate and time-dependent thixotropy model is integrated into a rigorously validated transient hydraulics engine with MPD control capabilities. Drilling scenarios are simulated with choke controllers and a case study is presented. When using a preview-based feedback control algorithm, a physics-based model is executed while setpoints are established proactively. The combined capabilities of the physics-based model and the improved MPD controller are demonstrated. Accurately modeling and controlling pressure during drilling operations is essential, especially for wells drilled in narrow-margin environments. The results of our study show that a reactive PI controller is not fast enough to account for transient pressure behavior related to fluid thixotropy. Moreover, the results show that a preview-based feedback controller is more robust and efficient. We demonstrate how a physics-based model can be used in a preview-based control scenario to keep the bottomhole pressure constant with strongly attenuated pressure fluctuations, leading to safer, more optimized operations.
Characteristic pattern based on mathematical morphology

Shape analysis is a very important issue in image analysis and computer vision. This paper describes a methodology using morphological operations to classify shapes by their decomposed components according to morphological structuring elements. A method called characteristic pattern is introduced to extract unique representations of an object shape among other shapes. Shape size analysis using mathematical morphology was introduced by Serra [1] where size criteria are discussed and geometrical properties of morphological processing on shapes are presented with morphological measurement. With size criteria, local area size parameters and global shape size distribution are both counted in Lebesque measure. Recent development of shape distribution can be found in [3,4,5,9]. In [5], pattern spectrum is used to describe the size distribution. Shape decomposition is another approach toward shape analysis, similar to a morphological skeletonization process. In [9], decomposition is completed by using a simplest object component (a disk) and analysis of an image is through a union of disks. The characteristic pattern concept is introduced in Section 2 of this paper to provide another approach toward shape analysis and matching. The basic concept is to derive a specific pattern associated with the object shape while other shapes within sample space do not possess this pattern orientation. We call this pattern orientation characteristic pattern. Characteristic pattern can be used to identify objects and classify shapes through decomposition — a parallel process using only local neighborhood pixel information.
Residential Homes and Institutions

It is generally recognized that our perception of any given phenomenon is influenced to a significant degree by its subjective meaning to us. Styles and patterns of child rearing being emotionally charged as they are, are inevitably colored by our particular bias. Our appraisal of their relative effectiveness and value is frequently askew. Constant vigilance and soul-searching are necessary prerequisites to deal with the subject on a detached and objective level.
Preparing and using agarose microbeads.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the preparing and using agarose microbeads. High-quality, intact genomic DNA can be rapidly prepared and digested in agarose microbeads with the protocols described in this chapter. The agarose microbeads potentially offer several advantages over agarose blocks, both in ease of handling, and in the speed with which the DNA can be prepared and enzymatically manipulated. Despite this, however, microbeads have not been widely considered to be satisfactory replacements for agarose plugs. This is due for the most part to difficulties many researchers have reported when working with microbead-embedded DNA. Complete lysis and deproteinization are achieved with a combined incubation time of 2 hr or less. Furthermore, digestion with all restriction enzymes tested has been completed within 1 hr, the time typically allowed for the digestion of DNA in solution. Microbeads not only protect large DNA molecules from shear, but also act as giant DNA-carrying “cells,” thus converting DNA into a “solid state” and allowing its easy and rapid transfer to various solutions by sedimenting, washing, and resuspending the microbeads.
Asymmetric reactions based on 1,3-oxathianes3̄

Abstract Reduction of the previously prepared1 chiral 2-acyl-l,3-oxathianes derived from (+)-pulegone with various metal hydride combinations proceeds stereoselectively, with diastereomer excess (d.e.) of as much as 97% in the case of reduction of phenyl ketones with lithium tri-sec.butylborohydride. Lesser selectivity (maximum 82% d.e.) is achieved with primary or tertiary alkyl ketones: the predominant diastereomer is readily purified by chromatography. The major product in these cases is that predicted by Cram's chelate rule. The product ratio is reversed with diiasobutylaluminum hydride and also in the reduction of secondary alkyl ketones with lithium sec. butylborohydride, where stereoselectivity is low. The 2-hydroxyalkyl-l,3-oxathianes are cleaved to α-hydroxyaldehydes with N-chlorosuccinimide-silver nitrate and the aldehydes reduced to glycols, RCHOHCH2OH with sodium borohydride with little or no racemization. Esters, RCHOHCO2CH3, are obtained in high enantiomeric purity by O-benzylating the 2-hydroxyalkyl-l,3-oxathianes prior to cleavage, oxidizing with sodium chlorite following cleavage, esterifying and debenzylating. A method for measuring the enantiomeric purity of glycols RCHOHCH2OH by conversion to 2-phenyl-l,3-dioxolanes with benzaldehyde, followed by proton NMR analysis of the resulting 2-phenyl-4-alkyl-l,3-dioxolane diastereomer pair in the presence of a chiral europium shift reagent is described.
Stalking the wily multinational: power and control in the US food system.

The ten largest food and beveragecorporations control over half of the food sales inthe United States and their share may be increasing.Using data from a range of secondary sources, weexamine these corporations and their boards ofdirectors. Social and demographic characteristics ofboard members gleaned from corporate reports, thebusiness press, and elsewhere are presented.Information on interlocking corporate directorates andother common ties among members of the boards ofdirectors show that US based food and beveragecorporations are tied together through a web ofindirect interlocks.
On a Conjecture concerning the Petersen Graph: Part II

Robertson conjectured that the only 3-connected, internally 4-connected graph of girth 5 in which every odd cycle of length greater than 5 has a chord is the Petersen graph. We provide a counterexample to this conjecture.
Prediction of protein function using signal processing of biochemical properties

We present a technique to find the biological function of protein from its primary sequence. Currently used protein classification methods make use of multiple alignments. We use signal-processing features obtained from the primary sequence of the protein, to predict its biological function. The primary sequence of protein is converted to signals based on the encoding of biochemical properties like hydrophobicity, solubility, molecular weight of constituent amino acids. Signal processing features like complexity, mobility and fractal dimension are extracted from the obtained signals. Studies are conducted for lipase, protease and isomerase of length between 100 and 200 amino acids.
Inactivation of Rabbit Muscle Adenosine Triphosphate-Adenosine 5'-Phosphate Phosphotransferase by Alkylation of Methionine Residues

Abstract The reaction of rabbit muscle myokinase with dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) results in the formation of a stable, soluble, and enzymatically inactive derivative in which both reactive sulfhydryl groups on the enzyme have been reversibly protected. Myokinase activity is completely regenerated by the addition of dithiothreitol to the derivative. Alkylation of the myokinase derivative with iodoacetic acid at pH 2.4 completely prevents regeneration of activity by dithiothreitol. Amino acid analysis shows that the loss in activity is due to the specific modification of 2 to 3 methionine residues. A magnetic resonance study (proton relaxation rate) showed that alteration of the methionine had greatly reduced the capacity of the enzyme to form an enhanced ternary complex with nucleotide substrates.
The bystander and systematic adverse effects of senescent preadipocytes (LB54)

Introduction: Senescent cells with essentially irreversible loss of replicative potential accumulate in various tissues with aging. Cellular senescence is associated with a pro-inflammatory senesce...
Rehabilitating Objectivity: Rorty, Brandom, and the New Pragmatism

In recent years, a renascent form of pragmatism has developed which argues that a satisfactory pragmatic position must integrate into itself the concepts of truth and objectivity. This New Pragmatism, as Cheryl Misak calls it, is directed primarily against Rorty’s neo-pragmatic dismissal of these concepts. For Rorty, the goal of our epistemic practices should not be to achieve an objective view, one that tries to represent things as they are ‘in themselves,’ but rather to attain a view of things that can gain as much inter-subjective agreement as possible. In Rorty’s language, we need to replace the aim of objectivity with that of solidarity. While the New Pragmatists agree with Rorty’s ‘humanist’ and ‘anti-authoritarian’ notion that the world by itself cannot dictate to us what we should think about it, they demur from his suggestion that this requires us to give up
Absorption of radioactive sodium instilled into the vagina

Abstract 1. The use of radioactive sodium provides a delicate method whereby the transportation of this substance throughout the body may be accurately followed. 2. Radioactive sodium readily passes into the general circulation following its instillation into a traumatized vagina. Absorption from the intact vagina and/or cervix is less marked. 3. These experiments suggest the need for special caution in administering douches containing poisonous ingredients, particulary when the vagina and/or cervix have been recently traumatized.
Predicting tense: finite verb morphology and subject pronouns in the speech of typically-developing children and children with specific language impairment

According to the AGREEMENT/TENSE (Agr/Tns) OMISSION MODEL, children's failure to produce finite verb morphemes represents the selection of an optional infinitive form, in which tense and/or agreement is not specified. When agreement is specified, nominative case is licensed. Following the assumptions of this model, a child's utterance such as She run reflects a failure to specify tense only, given that the subject pronoun shows nominative case. We tested this assumption in two studies through the analysis of spontaneous speech samples from young typically-developing (TD) children and children with specific language impairment (SLI). In Study 1, 15 children were included (TD aged 2;1-3;11, SLI aged 4;0-6;2); in Study 2, 33 children were included (TD aged 2;5-3;11, SLI aged 3;6-6;9). We determined whether there was a relationship between the children's use of past tense -ed and their use of third person singular -s and copula is when nominative case was also used. Because nominative case was used, any failures to produce third person singular -s and copula is should be attributable to tense and not agreement. Such use should therefore be related to the children's use of -ed which presumably hinges on tense only. However, a relationship was not found in the speech of either group of children. This was true both for the children in each group who were consistent in using nominative case pronouns and for those who were not. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.
Thermal Diffusivity of Diamond Films Using a Laser Pulse Technique

Polycrystalline diamond films were deposited using a microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process. A laser pulse technique was developed to measure the thermal diffusivity of diamond films deposited on a silicon substrate. The effective thermal diffusivity of a diamond film on silicon was measured by observing the phase and amplitude of the cyclic thermal waves generated by laser pulses. An analytical model is presented to calculate the effective in-plane (face-parallel) diffusivity of a two-layer system. The model is used to reduce the effective thermal diffusivity of the diamonds/silicon sample to a value for the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of the diamond film. The average effective diffusivity values are 1.47 + or - 0.03 and 1.83 + or - 0.10 yielding thermal diffusivity values of 7.46 + or - 0.90 and 7.33 + or - 0.70 sq cm/s respectively, for the two samples; the calculated thermal con ductivity values are 13.50 and 13.28 W/cmK, which are better than that of type 1a natural diamond. The phase and amplitude measurements give similar results.
Gas Turbine Exhaust Energy Margin in a Combined Cycle Power Plant

Margining gas turbine exhaust energy exposes the EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) contractor to risk when developing overall plant performance guarantees. The objective of this paper is to explain the nature of this risk, recognize its significance and propose ways of mitigation. Sharing risk between the Developer and the contractor should be apportioned to maximize value for the project. Attention is focused on 2 on 1 combined cycle power plants, but the results are relevant for all types of gas turbine based power and cogeneration facilities. Risk mitigation alternatives discussed include both assessment of margins to the bottomline performance and the application of performance corrections at the time of field testing. Allowing for corrections leads to enhanced overall plant performance guarantees.© 2002 ASME
An immunological study of predation on hatchery-reared, juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus): preparation and assays of a “red drum-specific” protein for predator-prey experiments

Abstract This immunological study is part of a program to test the feasibility of artificial stock enhancement using hatchery-reared red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) (L.) and specifically to determine the predation mortality of newly released fish. Initially, a polyvalent antiserum was produced in a goat by multiple injections of a soluble red drum extract. In comparative experiments with soluble extracts of 12 different fishes and three different invertebrates found in the same environment, using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the goat polyvalent anti-serum for Western blots, an 80 kDa “red drum specific” protein was selected that was absent from the other species. The protein was present as two isoforms in fingerlings, but as one protein in older fish. The protein was purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, and column chromatography with the Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography system. A second goat was immunized with the highly purified red drum 80 kDa protein to obtain a specific antiserum for immunoassays. Cross-reactivity in Western blots with pre-immune and immune goat sera and unrelated fish proteins was removed from the sera by solid phase adsorption. The adsorbed goat anti-80 kDa glycoprotein serum was used in predator-prey studies to identify partially digested-visually unrecognizable red drum. In controlled laboratory feeding experiments, the 80 kDa protein was detected in Western blots of stomach contents after 1 and 2 h of digestion, but not after 4 h. Western blots after 2 h showed immunoreactive breakdown products from the 80 kDa protein in stomach contents. The methods with the red drum protein appear applicable to any fish for specific identification in predator gut contents by immunological procedures.