cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Non-thermal hydrogen in the Venus exosphere - The ionospheric source and the hydrogen budget

A nonthermal, or 'hot', Venus corona of H atoms has been observed by Mariners 5 and 10 and Venera 9. Of the sources investigated, reaction of H2 with ionospheric O(+) is still the strongest. It can explain the smaller densities but falls somewhat short of the largest (from Mariner 5). The subsequent recombination of OH(+), supplemented by solar-wind processes, may give an escape flux of 10 million atoms per sq cm/s. The low density of thermal H atoms on the day side has previously been attributed to either a large eddy diffusion coefficient or an escape flux tenfold greater than this. An alternative mechanism, suggested by Hartle and Mayr (1977) is supported: the hydrogen is swept to the night side by strong thermospheric winds. This process is analogous to the 'Johnson pump' for the terrestrial winter helium bulge. Large nightside bulges of H and H2 are predicted; the night/day density ratio is estimated to be as large as 100 for each.
Simple Derivation of Queueing Formulas for Loop Systems

Some queueing theory formulas for loop systems with random slot seizure previously obtained by the author via a lengthy series of derivations are shown to follow immediately from priority queueing formulas derived by Takacs if an appropriate artifice is used to make Takacs' results applicable.
Energy conversion in biological systems—part I. chemical reactions and ion transport

Abstract Constitutive equations for nonisothermal chemical reactions are derived with attention to temperature dependent parameters. Equations are also developed for the coupling of chemical reactions to ion transport. The equations are shown to be consistent with the laws of thermodynamics.
Finite Element Analysis in Computational Fluid Mechanics

This paper highlights and illustrates the fundamental aspects that the finite element discrete approximation method has in development of key requirements for CFD algorithms for fluid mechanics conservation law systems The fundamental decision of trial and test space leads in a natural way to asymptotic error estimates that determine accuracy improvement rate with the choice. The issue of stability, hence dissipation and dispersion error mechanisms, is developed using a Taylor series extension. The choice of time-integration procedure is fundamental and analyzed. Comparisons to alternative theories are made, and representative numerical solutions are cited to add substance to the theoretical developments.
Characterization and sequencing of glutamine synthetase cDNA from liver of the ureotelic gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta).

Abstract The hepatic enzyme, glutamine synthetase (GSase) is a pivotal protein in the regulation of urea synthesis in fish. The sequence of the DNA encoding for GSase from liver of the ureotelic gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) was analyzed through a suite of molecular techniques (including cDNA cloning, RACE PCR, and genomic PCR). An open reading frame (ORF) was identified in the cDNA sequence which codes for a protein of 394 amino acids with high identity (86%) to dogfish shark GSase. In the course of generating a suitable probe, a partial sequence was also obtained for horned shark GSase which also had high identity with the dogfish shark gene (93%). Like the dogfish shark GSase, the toadfish gene has two methionine translation initiation sites; the downstream site apparently codes for a cytoplasmic isozyme, while the upstream site adds an N-terminal peptide leader sequence of 23 amino acids to the ‘cytoplasmic’ protein. This leader sequence has characteristics consistent with a mitochondrial targeting peptide, including a cleavage recognition motif (Arg-X-Phe) and the apparent ability to form an amphiphathic helix. Northern analysis revealed that there is a single predominant transcript of ∼2 kb in size. These results are consistent with the interpretation that in the gulf toadfish GSase cytoplasmic and mitochondrial isozymes are coded for by a single gene and mRNA transcript which is differentially translated at either initiation site. These results are discussed in the context of prior results for enzyme kinetic characteristics and urea synthesis/excretion physiology.
Text Criticism and the NJV Torah

(The Five Megilloth and Jonah, 1969) of the New Jewish Version (NJV) of the Hebrew Bible have been published. The NJV Torah, which appeared in 1962 with minor revisions in 1967, now receives further refinement and illumination in these notes from the work pads of the translation committee. This reviewer is currently engaged in a new Hebrew Bible text project, sponsored by the United Bible Societies, and is only too aware of the hours of painstaking work which lie back of such notes. In this period of renewed interest in textual criticism
Interactive Effects of Hydrology and Salinity on Oligohaline Plant Species Productivity: Implications of Relative Sea-level Rise

Sea-level rise is anticipated to alter hydrologic and salinity regimes of coastal wetlands. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to determine species-level responses to 12 sea-level rise scenarios. Both hydrologic regime (−10, +5, and +20 cm flooding depth) and salinity level (fresh, 2‰, 4‰ and 6‰) were interactively manipulated. Within these various sea-level rise scenarios, we sought to determine the effects of hydrologic regime, salinity level, and the interaction of these two stresses on the productivity ofPanicum hemitomon, Sagittaria lancifolia, andSpartina patens, which are dominant macrophytes of fresh, intermediate, and brackish marsh types, respectively, in coastal Louisiana and the southeastern coastal plain. We found that altered hydrologic regimes and increased salinity levels differentially affected edaphic conditions and species-level productivity. Increases in flooding depth were most detrimental toS. patens. Salinity levels greater than 4‰ resulted in mortality ofP. hemitomon, and salinity levels of 6‰ resulted in reduced growth and eventual death, ofS. lancifolia. The effects of elevated salinity levels onP. hemitomon andS. lancifolia were exacerbated when coupled with increased flooding levels. Although soil organic matter was shown to increase in all vegetative conditions, increases were dependent upon the productivity of the species under the different hydrologic regimes and salinity levels withP. hemitomon displaying tremendous potential to increase soil organic matter under fresh conditions, especially when coupled with moderate flooding. The results of this study indicate that as plant communities are subjected to long-term changes in hydrology and salinity levels, community productivity and sustainability ulimately will be determined by species-level tolerances in conjunction with species interactions.
The taming of an expert: an anecdotal report

In the mid-80's when I joined the Texas Instruments Defense Systems Artificial Intelligence Lab, expert systems were a solution looking for a problem. My first assignment as a knowledge engineer was knowledge acquisition for a small expert system supporting an internal TI project. Preparing for the task, I reviewed texts [1][2][3] and journal articles [4][5] in the lab's small but growing technical library. Most texts agreed that effective knowledge acquisition was essential and that the process could be a bottleneck in system development. But the how-to, what-to, and how-fix were often missing. In an effort to supplement the limited material, the lab made available to its fledgling knowledge engineers internal guidelines to aid in beginning knowledge acquisition [6][7][8].
Escherichia coli double-strand uracil-DNA glycosylase: involvement in uracil-mediated DNA base excision repair and stimulation of activity by endonuclease IV.

Escherichia coli double-strand uracil-DNA glycosylase (Dug) was purified to apparent homogeneity as both a native and recombinant protein. The molecular weight of recombinant Dug was 18 670, as determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption−ionization mass spectrometry. Dug was active on duplex oligonucleotides (34-mers) that contained site-specific U·G, U·A, ethenoC·G, and ethenoC·A targets; however, activity was not detected on DNA containing a T·G mispair or single-stranded DNA containing either a site-specific uracil or ethenoC residue. One of the distinctive characteristics of Dug was that the purified enzyme excised a near stoichiometric amount of uracil from U·G-containing oligonucleotide substrate. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that the lack of turnover was the result of strong binding by Dug to the reaction product apyrimidinic-site (AP) DNA. Addition of E. coli endonuclease IV stimulated Dug activity by enhancing the rate and extent of uracil excision by promoting dissociation o...
Asymptotic form of the Kullback–Leibler divergence for multivariate asymmetric heavy-tailed distributions

Abstract An asymptotic expression for the Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence measure of multivariate skew- t distributions (MST) is derived. This novel class of flexible family distributions incorporates a shape and degree of freedom parameters, in order to manipulate the skewness and heavy-tail presence of the data, respectively. The quadratic form expressions of MST models are used to provide asymptotic measures. Additional inequalities for MST entropy and simulation studies are reported. Finally, the expected values of the KL divergence of a sample correlation matrix obtained by Pearson’s correlation coefficient are discussed.
Francis Bacon's Philosophy of Science: Machina intellectus and Forma indita

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) wrote that good scientists are not like ants (mindlessly gathering data) or spiders (spinning empty theories). Instead, they are like bees, transforming nature into a nourishing product. This essay examines Bacon's “middle way” by elucidating the means he proposes to turn experience and insight into understanding. The human intellect relies on “machines” to extend perceptual limits, check impulsive imaginations, and reveal nature's latent causal structure, or “forms.” This constructivist interpretation is not intended to supplant inductivist or experimentalist interpretations, but is designed to explicate Bacon's account of science as a collaborative project with several interdependent methodological goals.
Digital artifacts as quasi-objects: Qualification, mediation, and materiality

Digital artifacts have novel properties that largely derive from the processes that mediate their creation, and that can be best understood by a close examination of such processes. This paper introduces the concept of “quasi-object” to characterize these objects and elucidate the activities that comprise their mediations. A case study of “bugs” is analyzed to illustrate exemplary activities of justification, qualification, and binding in the process of bug fixing in Free-Open Source Software development. The findings of the case study lead to broader reflections on the character of digital artifacts in general. The relationship of “quasi-object” to other similar concepts are explored. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sacrificial Adhesion Promotion Layers for Copper Metallization of Device Structures

The adhesion of copper films to adjacent device layers including TiN, Ta, and TaN diffusion barriers is a crucial reliability issue for integrated circuits. We report that ultrathin layers of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) prepared on barrier surfaces or on the native oxide of Si wafers dramatically increase the interfacial adhesion of Cu films deposited by the H2 assisted reduction of bis(2,2,7-trimethyloctane-3,5-dionato)copper in supercritical carbon dioxide. Similar improvements were achieved on Si wafers using a simple vapor phase exposure of the substrate to acrylic acid prior to metallization. The deposited films and the substrate/Cu interfaces were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. No trace of the adhesion layer was detected at the interface, indicating it was sacrificial at the deposition conditions used. Moreover, the presence and subsequent decomposition of the PAA layer during deposition substantially reduced or eliminated metal oxides at the substrate interface. For depositions on PAA-treated Si wafers, copper was present primarily as Cu0 at the interface and Si was present only as Si0. On PAA-treated Ta substrates, XPS analysis indicated Ta was present primarily as Ta0 at the metallized interface whereas Ta2O5 dominated the interface of samples prepared without the adhesion layers. The technique can be extended to patterned substrates using adsorption of acrylic acid or thermal/UV polymerization of acrylic acid.
AN ADAPTIVE PROCEDURE FOR GOODNESS-OF-FIT BASED ON SAMPLE SPACINGS

In the univariate case the problem of testing the null hypothesis that the sample is drawn from a specified continuous distribution is reduced to the problem of testing the null hypothesis that the sample is drawn from a uniform distribution on (0, 1), through the application of the probability integral transformation. There are a number of tests based on sample spacings, which have been considered in the literature, for testing uniformity. Generally, the choice of a test should depend on the specification of the alternative distribution under consideration. However, where there is little indication of the alternative distribution, as in the nonparametric setting, it is often difficult to choose from the alternative tests. In this paper we propose an adaptive procedure for testing the null hypothesis based on the sample spacings. The procedure first selects an appropriate test from among a given number of tests. The selected test is associated with the smallest p-value, where the p-values of the given tes...
An observational study of multiple tropical cyclone events in the western north Pacific

Best-track and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data are used to study the statistics of multiple cyclone events (MCEs), in which one tropical cyclone (the ‘daughter’) forms to the east of another extant TC (the ‘mother’) during the mother’s lifetime, in the western north Pacific. It is found that approximately 30% of all tropical cyclones become mothers, and that MCEs occur relatively more frequently in the early and late season than the peak season. Composite differences in large-scale conditions between MCEs and events in which a daughter does not form show that MCEs are favoured by easterly vertical shear and cyclonic low-level horizontal shear. These findings are broadly consistent with (though they do not prove) the hypothesis that Rossby wave radiation is an important mechanism in a significant fraction of MCE events and that the radiation is governed by linear stationary wave dynamics.
State Space Modeling for 3-D Variation Propagation in Rigid-Body Multistage Assembly Processes

Dimensional variation propagation modeling is a critical enabling technique for product quality variation reduction in a multistage assembly process (MAP). However, the complex inter-stage correlations make the modeling extremely difficult. This paper aims to improve the existing techniques by developing a generic state space approach to modeling 3-D variation propagation induced by various types of variation sources in general MAPs. A concept of differential motion vector (DMV) is adopted to represent deviations with respect to four types of coordinate systems and to formulate the variation propagation as a series of homogeneous transformation among different coordinate systems. Based on this representation and formulation strategy, a novel generic mechanism is proposed to model the effect of variations induced by part fabrication processes and a MAP. A case study on 3-D variation propagation in a panel fitting process is presented to demonstrate the modeling and analysis capability of the proposed methodology.
Monitoring Microbial Populations on Wide-Body Commercial Passenger Aircraft

Although exposure to bacteria has been assessed in cabin air previously, minimal numbers of samples have been collected in-flight. The purpose of this research was to comprehensively characterize bacterial concentrations in the aircraft cabin. Twelve randomly selected flights were sampled on Boeing-767 aircraft, each with a flight duration between 4.5 and 6.5 h. N-6 impactors were used to collect sequential, triplicate air samples in the front and rear of coach class during six sampling intervals throughout each flight: boarding, mid-climb, early cruise, mid-cruise, late cruise and deplaning. Comparison air samples were also collected inside and outside the airport terminals at the origin and destination cities. The MIXED procedure in SAS was used to model the mean and the covariance matrix of the natural log-transformed bacterial concentrations. A total of 513 airborne culturable bacterial samples were collected. During flight (mid-climb and cruise intervals), a model-adjusted geometric mean (GM) of 136 total colony-forming units per cubic meter of air sampled (CFU x m(-3)) and geometric standard deviation of 2.1 were observed. Bacterial concentrations were highest during the boarding (GM 290 CFU x m(-3)) and deplaning (GM 549 CFU x m(-3)) processes. Total bacterial concentrations observed during flight were significantly lower than GMs for boarding and deplaning (P values <0.0001-0.021) in the modeled results. Our findings highlight the fact that aerobiological concentrations can be dynamic and underscore the importance of appropriate sample size and design. The genera analysis indicates that passenger activity and high occupant density contribute to airborne bacterial generation. Overall, our research demonstrates that the bacteria recovered on observed flights were either common skin-surface organisms (primarily gram-positive cocci) or organisms common in dust and outdoor air.
Social Equity in the New 21st-Century America: A Case for Transgender Competence Within Public Affairs Graduate Programs

This paper focuses on the importance of transgender education in public affairs programs, particularly as its students prepare to enter an increasingly diverse workforce in the 21st century. The pa...
Analysis of multiscale products for step detection and estimation

We analyze discrete wavelet transform (DWT) multiscale products for detection and estimation of steps. Here the DWT is an over complete approximation to smoothed gradient estimation, with smoothing varied over dyadic scale, as developed by Mallat and Zhong (1992). The multiscale product approach was first proposed by Rosenfeld (1970) for edge detection. We develop statistics of the multiscale products, and characterize the resulting non-Gaussian heavy tailed densities. The results may be applied to edge detection with a false-alarm constraint. The response to impulses, steps, and pulses is also characterized. To facilitate the analysis, we employ a new general closed-form expression for the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) for discrete-time step-change location estimation. The CRB can incorporate any underlying continuous and differentiable edge model, including an arbitrary number of steps. The CRB analysis also includes sampling phase offset effects and is valid in both additive correlated Gaussian and independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) non-Gaussian noise. We consider location estimation using multiscale products, and compare results to the appropriate CRB.
Peripheral Blood Toxicity of Topical 5-Fluorouracil on the Syrian Hamster Cheek Pouch

Toxicological studies on the peripheral blood after topical application of 5-fluorouracil to the buccal pouch of the Suriam hamster showed that a daily application of 10 mul (9.5 mg) was the maximum ideal dose for this animal. This dose did not depress to a significant degree the white blood cell count, red blood cell count, hemoglobin leve., hematocrit value, or the peripheral differential blood counts after 14 daily applications. Doses of increased concentration either daily or periodically were less effective and toxic.
Comment on ‘Magnetic appraisal using simulated annealing’ by S. E. Dosso and D. W. Oldenburg

During the last few years the electromagnetic community has enthusiastically adopted extremal inversion as a tool for constructing models from data. The concept is simple: one minimizes or maximizes some penalty on the model, m, whilst demanding that the model fit the observed data to within some reasonable level of misfit, x+. A Lagrange multiplier formulation is usually employed to realize this concept, so that an unconstrained functional U U=R(m) + p-’x(m), (1) is minimized. Dosso & Oldenburg (1991, this issue) use this approach, as can be seen by inspection of their equation (9). The first term, R(m) is a functional of the model which returns a property which one wishes to penalize; Dosso & Oldenburg choose a boxcar average of the model. The term x(m) measures the misfit obtained by the model. The relative importance of the model penalty and the misfit is
In Vivo Activities of Evernimicin (SCH 27899) against Vancomycin-Susceptible and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Experimental Endocarditis

To assess the potential efficacy of evernimicin (SCH 27899) against serious enterococcal infections, we used a rat model of aortic valve endocarditis established with either a vancomycin-susceptible Enterococcus faecalis or a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium strain. Animals infected with either one of the test strains were assigned to receive no treatment (controls) or 5-day therapy with one of the following regimens: evernimicin 60-mg/kg of body weight intravenous (i.v.) bolus once daily, 60-mg/kg i.v. bolus twice daily (b.i.d.), 60 mg/kg/day i.v. by continuous infusion, or 120 mg/kg/day i.v. by continuous infusion. These regimens were compared with vancomycin at 150 mg/kg/day. In animals infected with E. faecalis , evernimicin at 120 mg/kg/day by continuous infusion significantly reduced bacterial counts in vegetations (final density, 5.75 ± 3.38 log 10 CFU/g) compared with controls (8.51 ± 1.11 log 10 CFU/g). In animals infected with 0.5 ml of an 8 × 10 7 -CFU/ml inoculum of the vancomycin-resistant E. faecium , both 60-mg/kg bolus once a day and b.i.d. dose regimens of evernimicin were very effective (viable counts, 3.45 ± 1.44 and 3.81 ± 1.98 log 10 CFU/g, respectively). Vancomycin was unexpectedly active against infections induced with that inoculum. In animals infected with a 10 9 -CFU/ml inoculum of the vancomycin-resistant E. faecium , the evernimicin 60-mg/kg i.v. bolus b.i.d. reduced viable counts in vegetations compared with controls (6.27 ± 1.63 versus 8.34 ± 0.91 log 10 CFU/g; P
Unity, Number and Time: The Third Account of Transcendental Perfect Identity

Immediately after discussing what we identified in Chap. 6 as transcendental causation in 1.4.2, Hume introduces his four-part system. A detailed explanation of this system is lacking in the literature, although Kemp Smith (1941), does parse it into respective parts, and gives a brief explanation of it as a four part system (pp. 474–487). However, in the next few chapters I give a much more exhaustive account.
Fifty Years of Development in the Singapore Economy: An Introductory Review

The papers in this volume provide a retrospective analysis of Singapore's economic development during the past 50 years, from the perspectives of different policy domains. This introductory review highlights common themes among the papers, chiefly the primacy of economic growth in driving social as well as economic policies, the interconnection between different policy arenas, the persistence of a particular development model despite sharp changes in policy direction, and the dominant role of the state. The authors collectively conclude that economic policy was both innovative and effective in the first two to three decades of independence, particularly in simultaneously delivering on both rapid economic growth and improved social welfare. In more recent decades, economic growth and social welfare for a significant minority of residents have begun to diverge. Looking ahead, there appears to be a consensus that slower GDP growth, higher productivity, a relative shift from manufacturing to services and from...
Genotypic Testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Drug Resistance

There are 16 approved human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) drugs belonging to three mechanistic classes: protease inhibitors, nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors, and nonnucleoside RT inhibitors. HIV-1 resistance to these drugs is caused by mutations in the protease and RT enzymes, the molecular targets of these drugs. Drug resistance mutations arise most often in treated individuals, resulting from selective drug pressure in the presence of incompletely suppressed virus replication. HIV-1 isolates with drug resistance mutations, however, may also be transmitted to newly infected individuals. Three expert panels have recommended that HIV-1 protease and RT susceptibility testing should be used to help select HIV drug therapy. Although genotypic testing is more complex than typical antimicrobial susceptibility tests, there is a rich literature supporting the prognostic value of HIV-1 protease and RT mutations. This review describes the genetic mechanisms of HIV-1 drug resistance and summarizes published data linking individual RT and protease mutations to in vitro and in vivo resistance to the currently available HIV drugs.
Sea Lion Field, North Falkland Basin: seismic inversion and quantitative interpretation

Extensive use has been made of seismic-derived quantitative interpretation for mapping and predicting reservoir properties in the Sea Lion Field, North Falkland Basin. The Sea Lion sands are acoustically hard compared to the encasing shales, with fairly constant rock properties. The fans are typically 20–60 m in thickness and are predominantly seismically tuned events. Detection of hydrocarbon fluid effects from seismic data has proved elusive to date. Extended elastic impedance (EEI) was selected as the appropriate seismic analysis tool. Almost all sands are visible on the full-stack seismic data. Coloured inversion of an EEI volume with a rotation angle (χ) of −70° (henceforth shown as EEI(−70)) was found to be an optimal sand predictor and is primarily sensitive to the shale volume of the sands. This EEI χ angle also allows detection of sand that is not observed on the full-stack seismic. The EEI(−70) coloured inversion data were also used to estimate net sand thickness and the net-to-gross maps of the fans. Subsequently, a new algorithm termed DT-AMP was used to apply seismic amplitude detuning to the full three-dimensional (3D) seismic volume. This has proved useful in the evaluation of new exploration targets beyond the Sea Lion Field area. A sand classification was performed using multiple EEI attributes, including lithology and fluid cubes. This indicates that there are differences in the amplitude v. offset (AVO) response across the main Sea Lion fan complex. Pre-stack simultaneous inversion was also performed using both deterministic and stochastic schemes. A three-term inversion was tested but density estimation was considered to be unreliable. Seismic data were tested at several stages to constrain the static reservoir model, using coloured, deterministic and stochastic inversion methods. The final static model incorporated a set of scenarios using net-to-gross maps inferred from the quantitative analysis of the EEI(−70) data.
Storage temperature and time influences sensory quality of mandarins by altering soluble solids, acidity and aroma volatile composition

Mandarins are very prone to losing flavor quality during storage and, as a result, often have a short shelf life. To better understand the basis of this flavor loss, two mandarin varieties ('W. Murcott' and 'Owari') were stored for 0, 3 and 6 weeks at either 0 ◦ C, 4 ◦ C, or 8 ◦ C plus 1 week at 20 ◦ C, and then
Influence of 9-β-l(+)-adenosine on malate dehydrogenase activity in rice

The activity of malate dehydrogenase (MDH, EC 1.1.1.37) in rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. California M-201) roots was increased within 25 min by a foliar application of 37 nM of 9-β-l(+)-adenosine [l(+)-adenosine]. A similar concentration of 9-β-d(-)-adenosine [d(-)-adenosine] did not affect MDH. Triacontanol (2.7 nM) which elicits l(+)-adenosine in plants also increased MDH activity in roots of rice seedlings. whereas neither octacosanol nor a mixture of equimolar concentrations of triacontanol and octacosanol had any effect on MDH activity. l(+)-Adenosine increased MDH activity of rice seedlings grown at 10.20 and 40°C. The effect was measurable 24 h after application at 10 and 20°C, but not 6 h after treatment at 40°C. Ninety minutes after l(+)-adenosine was applied to the foliage of plants grown at 10, 20 and 40°C, MDH activity in the roots was 40, 30 and 9% more, respectively, than in the untreated controls. The concentration of water soluble protein was also increased by l(+)-adenosine and was positively correlated with MDH activity. When measured 90 min after application of l(+)-adenosine at different times of day, MDH activity and dry weight were increased most when l(+)-adenosine was applied 9 and 12 h after the lights came on in a 16-h photoperiod. The optimum light intensity for the response of rice to l(+)-adenosine, as measured by MDH activity, was 450 μmol m−2 s−1.
Queuing Models of Classification and Connection Delay in Railyards

The major components of delay to rail cars in passing through yards are waiting for classification and connection to an appropriate outbound train. This paper proposes queuing models for each of these components which provide expressions for both the mean and variance of delay times. The models are then used in an example application to draw inferences regarding the effectiveness of alternative strategies for dispatching trains between yards.
Binding of a dimeric derivative of vancomycin to L-Lys-D-Ala-D-lactate in solution and at a surface.

Background The emergence of bacteria that are resistant to vancomycin (V), a glycopeptide antibiotic, results from the replacement of the carboxy-terminal d-Ala-d-Ala of bacterial cell wall precursors by d-Ala-d-lactate. Recently, it has been demonstrated that covalent dimeric variants of V are active against vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). To study the contribution of divalency to the activities of these variants, we modeled the interactions of V and a dimeric V with l-Lys-d-Ala-d-lactate, an analog of the cell-wall precursors of the vancomycin-resistant bacteria. Results A dimeric derivative of V (V-R d -V) was found to be much more effective than V in inhibiting the growth of VRE. The interactions of V and V-R d -V with a monomeric lactate ligand — diacetyl-l-Lys-d-Ala-d-lactate (Ac c KdAdLac) — and a dimeric derivative of l-Lys-d-Ala-d-lactate (Lac-R′ d -Lac) in solution have been examined using isothermal titration calorimetry and UV spectroscopy titrations; the results reveal that V-R d -V binds Lac-R′ d -Lac approximately 40 times more tightly than V binds Ac 2 KdAdLac. Binding of V and of V-R d -V to N α -Ac-l-Lys-d-Ala-d-lactate presented on the surface of mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold indicates that the apparent off-rate for dissociation of V-R d -V from the surface is much slower than that of V from the same surface. Conclusions The results are compatible with the hypothesis that divalency is responsible for tight binding, which correlates with small values of minimum inhibitory concentrations of V and V-R d -V.
The Reaction of AL with Vitreous Silica

The solid state chemical reaction between aluminum films and vitreous silicon dioxide substrates is reported. This reaction where aluminum reduces silicon dioxide to form elemental silicon and aluminum oxide is extensively used in the semiconductor industry to remove native SiO2 thin layers at ohmic contacts and to promote adhesion of aluminum to silica. Sorbed water vapor on silica is shown to interfere with the reaction reducing the adherence of aluminum to silica. The rate of penetration of the reaction into silicon dioxide was found to follow an Arrhenius relationship with an activation energy of 2.562 eV.
Porosity controls on secondary recovery at the Loudon field, south-central Illinois

AbstractWaterflooding has been used as an effective means to enhance oil recovery in mature oil fields for decades. The success of waterflooding is a function of geology, facies changes, and fluid dynamics, specifically, formation porosity and permeability. Within the Loudon oil field (Illinois), waterflooding has been used to increase production, but the degree of success has been variable. We have used 3D facies modeling was evaluate the variables controlling the success or failure of waterflooding. Three leases within the Loudon field exhibiting varying degrees of waterflood success were investigated. The K. Stubblefield lease, with the highest mean porosity of 13.5%, responded most favorably to waterflooding, with an increase of more than 750 bbl/month. Thick, high-porosity zones are well connected within the lease area, contributing to greater communication among the injection wells and the producing wells. The Rhodes-Williams lease, with porosity of 11.5%, had an increase in production of 350 bbl/...
Mechanical performance of spared myocytes after myocardial infarction in rats: effects of captopril treatment

To determine the effects of myocardial infarction-induced left ventricular failure on the mechanical characteristics of the remaining viable myocytes, coronary arterial occlusion was performed in rats, and cell function was examined 1 wk later. Moreover, to establish the mechanisms by which treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors ameliorates cardiac dynamics, captopril was administered immediately after surgery, and the contractile behavior of the unaffected cells was similarly analyzed 7 days later. The severe impairment in left-side pump function was found to be associated with a decrease in the velocities of myocyte shortening and relengthening and peak shortening despite a prolongation of contraction duration. In addition, a uniform property was recognized in myocytes from infarcted and noninfarcted hearts. Longer cells manifested greater velocity of shortening, whereas wider cells of identical length exhibited depressed shortening velocity. After infarction, the depression in cell contractility coupled with lateral expansion of myocytes exceeded the influence on cell mechanical behavior linked to myocyte lengthening leading to an overall decrease in contractility of the hypertrophied cells. Captopril therapy preserved, in part, the ability of myocytes to shorten and relengthen, which was accompanied by a decrease in the lateral and longitudinal expansions of these cells.
The Political Consequences of Motherhood by Jill S. Greenlee

In 1928 the New York Times predicted: “This year the President of the US will probably be chosen by women” (27). Indeed, many declared the 1928 election as the year of the woman, with Hoover’s camp...
Review: Oxidation of Lignin Using Ionic Liquids—An Innovative Strategy To Produce Renewable Chemicals

Lignin, one of the three subcomponents of lignocellulosic biomass (along with cellulose and hemicellulose), represents more than 20% of the total mass of the Earth’s biosphere. However, essentially due to its complex structure, this renewable polymer derived from biomass is mainly burned as a source of energy in the pulp and paper industry. Today, the valorization of lignin into the production of chemical feedstocks represents a real challenge in terms of both sustainability and environmental protection. This review first briefly outlines the main points of this challenge and compares the different methods investigated by chemists over the past several decades, pointing out the major difficulties met. Next, the review highlights the recent use of ionic liquids (ILs) as solvents that have provided some new opportunities to efficiently convert lignin and lignin model compounds into value-added aromatic chemicals. Particular focus is given to these new strategies in terms of selectivity, separation and the u...
Biomechanical Evaluation of a Lift Assist Device while Using a Light Weight Jackhamer

There are currently relatively few interventions designed to decrease the risk of injury while operating a jackhammer. One intervention that is aimed at reducing the risks of overexertion and repetitive lifting injury is the lift assist attachment. However, research on the effectiveness of this device is non-existent. This study investigated the effectiveness of the lift assist device through the muscle activity and grip pressure variations while using a light weight jackhammer. The lift assist reduced grip pressure by 31%, along with the left and right Bicep Brachii muscle activity by 49% and 45% respectively. These results show that the effort required to lift the jackhammer is being reduced through the use of the lift assist. With less effort required by the operator, the risk of an overexertion or repetitive lifting injury is decreased.
Experimental Canine Cholera IV. The Chronic Carrier State for Vibrio cholerae

Studies during the present pandemic of cholera due to Vibrio cholerae, var. el tor, have indicated that the chronic carrier state in man may be significant in the persistence of vibrios in the environment. Although Kulesha in 1911 described one chronic carrier with organisms in the gall bladder [1], the first documentation of this condition in recent times was in convalescent patients in the Philippines [2]. In one such patient, stools as well as duodenal aspirates continued to yield positive cultures for V. cholerae for 6 years [3]. Reports from other endemic areas [4, 5] have also documented the occurrence of the persistent carrier of V. cholerae, and have indicated that between 57o and 21 Jo of patients with cholera may continue to excrete vibrios for many weeks following recovery. Indirect evidence strongly suggests that these human carriers harbor the vibrios in the gallbladder. Prior to these recent observations on the car-
Manipulation of DNA Repair Proficiency in Mouse Models of Colorectal Cancer

Technical and biological innovations have enabled the development of more sophisticated and focused murine models that increasingly recapitulate the complex pathologies of human diseases, in particular cancer. Mouse models provide excellent in vivo systems for deciphering the intricacies of cancer biology within the context of precise experimental settings. They present biologically relevant, adaptable platforms that are amenable to continual improvement and refinement. We discuss how recent advances in our understanding of tumorigenesis and the underlying deficiencies of DNA repair mechanisms that drive it have been informed by using genetically engineered mice to create defined, well-characterized models of human colorectal cancer. In particular, we focus on how mechanisms of DNA repair can be manipulated precisely to create in vivo models whereby the underlying processes of tumorigenesis are accelerated or attenuated, dependent on the composite alleles carried by the mouse model. Such models have evolved to the stage where they now reflect the initiation and progression of sporadic cancers. The review is focused on mouse models of colorectal cancer and how insights from these models have been instrumental in shaping our understanding of the processes and potential therapies for this disease.
Enriching Word Embeddings Using Knowledge Graph for Semantic Tagging in Conversational Dialog Systems

Unsupervised word embeddings provide rich linguistic and conceptual information about words. However, they may provide weak information about domain specific semantic relations for certain tasks such as semantic parsing of natural language queries, where such information about words can be valuable. To encode the prior knowledge about the semantic word relations, we present new method as follows: We extend the neural network based lexical word embedding objective function Mikolov, et.al. 2013 by incorporating the information about relationship between entities that we extract from knowledge bases. Our model can jointly learn lexical word representations from free text enriched by the relational word embeddings from relational data (e.g., Freebase) for each type of entity relations. We empirically show on the task of semantic tagging of natural language queries that our enriched embeddings can provide information about not only short-range syntactic dependencies but also long-range semantic dependencies between words. Using the enriched embeddings, we obtain an average of 2% improvement in F-score compared to the previous baselines.
Early discharge in the bariatric population does not increase post-discharge resource utilization

There is a trend toward shorter-stay bariatric surgery. However, reducing LOS may increase complications and post-discharge resource utilization. Our goal was to compare outcomes before and after implementation of short-stay bariatric surgery. A retrospective chart review of a single-surgeon series of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and laparoscopic gastric bypass (LRYGB). The two cohorts “target discharge POD 1” and “target discharge POD 2” were analyzed for on time discharges (feasibility) and complications. Patients who were successfully discharged in each cohort were further analyzed for post-discharge resource utilization. Early discharge was initiated in November of 2014 with 107 patients identified in this group. An additional 107 patients from those immediately preceding represented the target DC POD 2 group. The target DC POD 2 patients had a significantly higher percentage of patients who met their target LOS. The SD group (overall and LRYGB) had a significantly higher rate of hospital readmissions; this was the only significant difference in primary outcomes between the two groups. There was no difference in mortality, leaks or reoperation. This study suggests that short-stay bariatric surgery is feasible and safe. Reducing the LOS from 2 to 1 day did not significantly increase the rate of hospital readmissions, ED visits or patient calls to our office. Further research is necessary to determine whether LOS can be further abbreviated to allow outpatient LSG and LRYGB.
A Syndemic Approach to Understanding HIV/AIDS Among People Who Inject Drugs in the U.S.

People who inject drugs (PWID) have experienced the second highest number of HIV infections and HIV-related deaths of any risk group in the U.S. after men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), and they also suffer from high prevalence of Hepatitis C, other infectious diseases, and chronic health conditions. PWID in the US are currently most affected by 3 overlapping syndemics: (1) substance use, HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis C; (2) these 3 conditions along with an epidemic of sexually-transmitted infections, particularly among PWID who are African American, Latino, and/or MSM; and (3) these 4 conditions along with an epidemic of fatal drug overdose. These syndemics represent an enormous amount of suffering that is largely preventable. Syndemic theory can help us better understand the etiology and epidemiology of HIV and related conditions by revealing the links among social determinants, networks and behaviors that expose PWID to multiple synergistic health problems.
Optimal mass transport-based adaptive mesh method for phase-field models of two-phase fluid flows

In this paper, we present an efficient adaptive mesh method for solving phase-field model of a mixture of two-phase incompressible fluid flows. The adaptive mesh is generated by a coordinate transformation that is determined as the solution of the classical problem of the optimal mass transportation, also known as MongeKantorovich problem (MKP). The numerical solution of the MKP is computed by taking the gradient of the steady state solution of a parabolic MongeAmpre equation (PMAE). Several numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the performance of the PMAE method for solving phase-field models. The numerical results illustrate that the adaptive mesh computed with PMAE method captures well the moving interface of the phase-field function.
Vascular Surgery Training: Multiple Pathways to Success

Much like in other surgical specialties, vascular surgery has more than one pathway to success. Alternate training pathways allow for individuals to choose which might be best for them and allow them to optimally accomplish their career goals. This chapter highlights the various vascular surgery programs and the pros and cons of each.
Drug screening method development for paper spray coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer

Paper spray mass spectrometry is a direct analysis method in which compounds are extracted and ionized from biofluids dried on paper. It is an attractive option for performing rapid drug screening because it is fast (the entire sample analysis takes <2 minutes), simple (there is no sample preparation or chromatography), and sensitive (low ng mL−1 levels of many drugs can be detected from dried blood spots). Here, we discuss method development for paper spray mass spectrometry on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Specifically, detection criteria, selected reaction monitoring (SRM) ratio tolerance, fragment ion selection, selectivity, and signal to blank considerations are all addressed. 134 drugs and drug metabolites commonly encountered in forensic toxicological analyses were spiked into blood at concentrations reasonable for post-mortem drug screening applications. Detection of some 130 drug and drug metabolites using a single paper spray MS/MS is shown for these spike and recover experiments.
Analysis of technical feasibility and neurovascular safety of endoscopic distal biceps repair: a cadaveric study.

Background This cadaveric study was designed to analyze the safety of endoscopic repair of distal biceps tendon (DBT) tears using 2 reattachment techniques. We evaluated the proximity of neurovascular structures to endoscopy portals; iatrogenic injury to neurovascular, musculotendinous, and osseous structures; and changes in compartment pressures. We hypothesized that an all-endoscopic repair of the ruptured DBT would be technically safe and the risk of iatrogenic injury would be low. Methods A 2-portal endoscopic tendon repair was performed in 28 fresh-frozen cadaveric elbows with button devices (with or without interference screws) (n = 17) and suture anchors (n = 11). Dissection was performed, and neurovascular, musculotendinous, and osseous structures were assessed for iatrogenic injury. The repair construct (tendon-tuberosity contact area and implant placement site) was evaluated, and compartment pressures were measured. Statistical analysis was performed to determine significant differences in iatrogenic injury, compartment pressure changes, and tendon-bone contact area between different devices. Results The lateral cutaneous nerve, cephalic vein, and radial artery were in close proximity to the portals. The button group showed a significantly higher number of iatrogenic injuries than the anchor group (P = .036). All-suture anchor repair showed a significantly higher contact area (mean, 85 mm2) than repairs with all other devices (P Conclusion Endoscopic DBT repair was technically feasible with both fixation techniques. Button devices were associated with a significantly higher number of iatrogenic injuries. Endoscopic repair with dual suture anchors was safe in cadavers; however, further clinical results are necessary to establish the clinical safety of this technique.