cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The size, causes, and equity implications of the demand-response gap

Abstract Our analysis of policy options was motivated by an inexplicable under-investment in demand response (DR) in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to estimating the size of the DR gap, we identify its causes and consequences. By modifying parameters of the U.S. flagship National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), we generate a baseline DR forecast with a default 4% maximum on-peak demand reduction, an achievable case with a DR limit of 20%, and a technical scenario that also halved the cost of storage. The results document many benefits of DR including a demand-reduction induced price effect (DRIPE), which makes DR more equitable than many other clean-energy policies that shift costs to non-participants. Our modeling results, literature review, and focus group analysis enable identification of DR barriers and motivators related to financial costs, electricity rates, consumer bills, pollution emissions, public health, energy equity, and inclusion. Our results suggest that the DR gap is caused less by technology limitations than by the need for financing initiatives, market innovations, infrastructure modernization, and enablers of socio-economic inclusion. By studying a state that lags in DR implementation, other countries and sub-national entities where DR is under-utilized can learn from our findings and methods.
An Agent Based Framework for Dynamic Management of Business Process Semantics

Competitiveness of an organization in the marketplace depends to a large extend on the adeptness of the business process in efficiently managing the workflow of an entity. Challenges that face business processes today is the inability reconfigure themselves based on knowledge from the workflow. The paper presents a framework that will allow information from the workflow to be stored as ontology documents that can be processed by a multi-agent system to provide dynamic capabilities to the business processes. The paper also looks at the benefits and limitations of integrating agent based semantic processing capabilities to workflow management systems.
Enzymic control of nucleic acid synthesis during synchronous growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. I. Deoxythymidine monophosphate kinase.

Abstract 1. 1. Essentially identical periodism in the rates of increase in the cellular level of DNA and the apparent level of dTMP kinase (ATP:dTMP phosphotransferase) was observed, except that the DNA curve was displaced 1 h later in the cell cycle than the dTMP kinase curve, suggesting that dTMP kinase may be limiting the rate of DNA synthesis during synchronous growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa . 2. 2. Periodism in the apparent level of dTMP kinase was shown to be due to changes in actual enzyme level rather than due to changes in enzyme activity. 3. 3. Periodism in the level of dTMP kinase was nearly the same as that previously observed for dCMP deaminase (dCMP aminohydrolase), suggesting that all of the enzymes on the dTTP pathway may be simultaneously limiting the rate of DNA synthesis and that the synthesis of these enzymes may be coordinated.
Structure of the Gene for Human von Willebrand Factor

von Willebrand factor is a large multimeric plasma protein composed of identical subunits which contain four types of repeated domains. von Willebrand factor is essential for normal hemostasis, and deficiency of von Willebrand factor is the most common inherited bleeding disorder of man. Four human genomic DNA cosmid libraries and one bacteriophage λ library were screened with von Willebrand factor cDNA probes. Twenty positive overlapping clones were characterized that span the entire von Willebrand factor gene. A high-resolution restriction map was constructed for ~ 75% of the locus and a total of ~ 33.8 kilobases was sequenced on both strands including all intron-exon boundaries. The gene is ~ 178 kilobases in length and contains 52 exons. The exons vary from 40 to 1379 base pairs in length, and the introns vary from 97 base pairs to ~ 19.9 kilobases in length. The signal peptide and propeptide (von Willebrand antigen II) of von Willebrand factor are encoded by 17 exons in ~ 80 kilobases of DNA while the mature subunit of von Willebrand factor and 3′ noncoding region are encoded by 35 exons in the remaining ~ 100 kilobases of the gene. A number of repetitive sequences were identified including 14 Alu repeats and a ~ 670-base pair TCTA simple repeat in intron 40 that is polymorphic. Regions of the gene that encode homologous domains have similar structures, supporting a model for their origin by gene segment duplication.
Ethics and Personal Selling: Death of a Salesman as an Ethical Primer

AbstractUsing the motif of the famous play, Death of a Salesman, this article discusses a number of critical issues facing sales managers that involve ethical concerns. The play provides a launching point for the discussion of sales ethics and the development of an ethical primer intended for sales representatives and managers.
Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is not an independent predictor of outcome in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) after long-term follow-up.

Objective To evaluate carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) expression as an independent prognostic marker for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). With recent smaller studies showing conflicting results, we aimed to update our initial analysis in 2007 with an additional 5-year follow-up. Patients and Methods We provided long-term follow-up of the same cohort used in our 2007 study (730 patients with unilateral, sporadic ccRCC treated surgically between 1990 and 1999). Associations of CAIX expression with RCC death and distant metastases were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results CAIX was expressed in 708 (97.0%) of the specimens; 163 tumours (22.3%) had low (≤85%) expression and 567 (77.7%) high (>85%) expression. There were 483 deaths and 265 RCC-specific deaths. The median follow-up for the 247 patients still under observation was 13.8 years. Univariately, low CAIX expression was associated with an increased risk of RCC death vs high expression (hazard ratio 1.62; P < 0.001). Low CAIX expression was not statistically significantly associated with RCC death or distant metastases after adjusting for nuclear grade or coagulative tumour necrosis. Conclusion After additional long-term follow-up of our large cohort, our results continue to suggest that CAIX is not an independent prognostic marker for ccRCC.
Mutation–Selection Balance

An organism's genome is continually being altered by mutations, the vast majority of which are harmful to the organism or its descendants, because they reduce the bearer's viability or fertility. Consequently, in every generation, natural selection acts to weed out these deleterious mutations. The opposing processes of mutation and selection balance each other so that the frequency in a population of a deleterious mutation remains at an equilibrium value determined by the strength of selection and the frequency of mutation. The classic model of mutation–selection balance assumes a single biallelic locus under constant selection. In reality, selection and mutation can vary in time and space, loci can have multiple alleles, and the genome comprises many loci. Mutation–selection balance across the genome depends on factors such as linkage, recombination, mating system, epistasis, pleiotropy and the distribution of fitness effects of new mutations. Mutation–selection dynamics also inform genetic variance for quantitative traits under stabilising selection. Key Concepts: A deleterious mutation at a single locus has an expected equilibrium frequency determined by the rate at which it is produced by mutation, and the rate at which selection removes it from the population. The decrease in population fitness due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations under mutation–selection balance is called mutational load. In finite populations, deleterious mutations can depart from their equilibrium frequency, be lost or go to fixation, all by stochastic drift. Equilibrium expectations under the neutral model of mutation–selection balance provide important null hypotheses for measuring selection in natural populations. Mutation–selection dynamics at multiple loci depend on many factors such as dominance, recombination rate, linkage, epistasis, pleiotropy, mating system and population size. Variation at quantitative genetic traits can also be maintained by a balance between stabilizing selection and mutation. Keywords: natural selection; mutation; mutational load; population genetics; multiple loci; deleterious and beneficial mutations; genetic variation; evolution
Regulation of PutA-membrane associations by flavin adenine dinucleotide reduction.

Proline utilization A (PutA) from Escherichia coli is a multifunctional flavoprotein that is both a transcriptional repressor of the proline utilization (put) genes and a membrane-associated enzyme which catalyzes the 4e- oxidation of proline to glutamate. Previously, proline was shown to induce PutA-membrane binding and alter the intracellular location and function of PutA. To distinguish the roles of substrate binding and FAD reduction in the mechanism of how PutA changes from a DNA-binding protein to a membrane-bound enzyme, the kinetic parameters of PutA-membrane binding were measured under different conditions using model lipid bilayers and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The effects of proline, FAD reduction, and proline analogues on PutA-membrane associations were determined. Oxidized PutA shows no binding to E. coli polar lipid vesicles. In contrast, proline and sodium dithionite induce tight binding of PutA to the lipid bilayer with indistinguishable kinetic parameters and an estimated dissociation constant (KD) of 300-fold) generated by FAD reduction relative to the nonreducing ligands demonstrates that FAD reduction controls PutA-membrane associations. On the basis of SPR kinetic analysis with differently charged lipid bilayers, the driving force for PutA-membrane binding is primarily hydrophobic. In the SPR experiments membrane-bound PutA did not bind put control DNA confirming that the membrane-binding and DNA-binding activities of PutA are mutually exclusive. A model for the regulation of PutA is described in which the overall translocation of PutA from the cytoplasm to the membrane is driven by FAD reduction and the subsequent energy difference (∼ 24 kJ/mol) between PutA-membrane and PutA-DNA binding.
Allan Award Lecture: on jumping fields and "jumping genes".

First, let me thank the American Society of Human Genetics for this great honor. For the 40 years that I have attended the ASHG meeting, I have been impressed with the significance of the Allan Award in honoring research accomplishment in human genetics. This is a very important day for me, and I greatly appreciate your recognition.
Molecular dynamics of alamethicin transmembrane channels from open-channel current noise analysis

Conductance noise measurement of the open states of alamethicin transmembrane channels reveals excess noise attributable to cooperative low-frequency molecular dynamics that can generate fluctuations approximately 1 A rms in the effective channel pore radius. Single-channel currents through both persistent and nonpersistent channels with multiple conductance states formed by purified polypeptide alamethicin in artificial phospholipid bilayers isolated onto micropipettes with gigaohm seals were recorded using a voltage-clamp technique with low background noise (rms noise
Intermittent WLAN and interactions across heterogeneous wireless networks

It is envisioned that multiple radios may be integrated into a single portable device in the near future. Such multi-radio devices may participate in multiple networks at the same time. In this paper, we consider a 802.11 WLAN network that shares a common set of multi-radio devices with another network, say CO-NETWORK, and we discuss WiMAX as one example of CO-NETWORK. One multi-radio device may not actively operate in WLAN when the same device is transmitting or receiving in the CO-NETWORK. As such, two networks interact with each other via shared multi-radio devices; and scheduling in CO-NETWORK may affect the performance of WLAN. In this paper, we study how the fairness/throughput of a WLAN network may be affected by the scheduling of CO-NETWORK. We further propose some scheduling optimization criteria for CO-NETWORK to minimize such impact. Simulation and analytical results are provided to demonstrate benefits.
Sarcocystis leporum in cottontail rabbits and its transmission to carnivores.

Muscle from Sarcocystis-infected cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) was fed to coccidia-free cats (Felis domestica) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Only cats became infected and shed sporocysts in their feces. The prepatent period ranged from 10 to 25 days and the patent period from 3 to 46 days. Sporocysts were fully sporulated when shed. They contained 4 sporozoites and a coarse granular residuum and averaged 9.4 by 13.6 μm (N=55). Doses of 200-75,000 sporocysts were orally administered to 5 domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Domestic rabbits did not become infected, suggesting a strict host specificity for the intermediate host S. floridanus.
Effect of strain rate on the viscoelastic properties of high polymeric fibrous materials

Stress-strain measurements have been made at a relatively low strain rate (100%/min.) and at relatively high strain rates (approximately 260 × 103%/min.) on a series of high polymeric materials of different chemical composition in textile yarn form. The series comprises the following classes of materials: polyacrylic, polyamide, polyester, polymodacrylic, polyolefin, polypeptide, polyurea, polyurethane, polyvinylidene chloride, rubber, and glass. The yarns, with a few exceptions, were conventional continuous filament, low twist structures of varied filament count and denier. Polyvinylidene chloride was tested both as a monofil and also in the form of a slit film. Polyethylene was tested as a monofil. Two polyurethanes and the rubber were tested as monofils with and without cotton covering. From the results of the stress-strain measurements there were calculated values for the following properties at two strain rates: tenacity and elongation at break, work-to-break, and initial modulus. The effects of increased strain rate on these properties are shown. In general, increased strain rate increases the tenacity and initial modulus. These changes are usually, but not always, accompanied by decreases in elongation at break, so that the work to break may either decrease or increase with increasing strain rate. The physical form in which the yarns were tested (denier, number of filaments, conventional yarns versus slit film type) appeared to have only slight effect on their behavior at different strain rates. However, the chemical nature of the polymer molecules and their physical organization within the yarn filaments both have appreciable effects on yarn behavior at different strain rates. The first effect, that due to chemical nature, is exemplified by silk. The behavior of this natural polypeptide, which contains an appreciable number of side chains attached to the main polymer chain, differs markedly, as the strain rate is increased, from the behavior of polyamides which do not contain such side chains. The side chains evidently tend to keep the main polymer chains apart and thus the interchain forces in the polypeptide differ greatly from the interchain forces in polyamides which do not have such side chains. The second effect, that due to the physical organization (crystallinity and degree of orientation) of polymer molecules within a fiber, is demonstrated by a comparison of the behavior of undrawn and regular nylon at low and high strain rates. The stress-strain behavior of the other polymers in yarn form at different strain rates is discussed in the light of their chemical structure and macromolecular organization.
Line Search Filter Methods for Nonlinear Programming: Motivation and Global Convergence

Line search methods are proposed for nonlinear programming using Fletcher and Leyffer's filter method [Math. Program., 91 (2002), pp. 239--269], which replaces the traditional merit function. Their global convergence properties are analyzed. The presented framework is applied to active set sequential quadratic programming (SQP) and barrier interior point algorithms. Under mild assumptions it is shown that every limit point of the sequence of iterates generated by the algorithm is feasible, and that there exists at least one limit point that is a stationary point for the problem under consideration. A new alternative filter approach employing the Lagrangian function instead of the objective function with identical global convergence properties is briefly discussed.
Prodrugs for Improving Tumor Targetability and Efficiency

As the mainstay in the treatment of various cancers for several decades, chemotherapy is successful but still faces challenges including non-selectivity and high toxicity. Improving the selectivity is therefore a critical step to improve the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy. Prodrug is one of the most promising approaches to increase the selectivity and efficacy of a chemotherapy drug. The classical prodrug approach is to improve the pharmaceutical properties (solubility, stability, permeability, irritation, distribution, etc.) via a simple chemical modification. This review will focus on various targeted prodrug designs that have been developed to increase the selectivity of chemotherapy drugs. Various tumor-targeting ligands, transporter-associated ligands, and polymers can be incorporated in a prodrug to enhance the tumor uptake. Prodrugs can also be activated by enzymes that are specifically expressed at a higher level in tumors, leading to a selective anti-tumor effect. This can be achieved by conjugating the enzyme to a tumor-specific antibody, or delivering a vector expressing the enzyme into tumor cells.
Ionization Potentials of Argon, Nitrogen, Carbon Monoxide, Helium, Hydrogen and Mercury and Iodine Vapors

Measurement of the Ionization potential of Gases was accomplished by means of a two electrode tube, by determining the point on the current-voltage curve at which the current increases at a rate faster than that given by Langmuir's equation $i=A{(V+{V}_{0})}^{\frac{3}{2}}.$The effect of a voltage drop along the cathode was eliminated by a commutator arrangement which broke the filament heating circuit while the electron current was being measured.The initial velocity of the electrons, ${V}_{0}$, was determined directly from the currentvoltage curve.Ionization potentials were obtained by measurement as follows: Argon 15.6, nitrogen 15.8, carbon monoxide 15.0, hydrogen 15.1, helium 20.5, mercury vapor 10.1, iodine vapor 8.5. The ionization potential of argon was found to be constant for pressures between 1 and 200 bars.
Expression of Umbelopsis ramanniana DGAT2A in Seed Increases Oil in Soybean

Oilseeds are the main source of lipids used in both food and biofuels. The growing demand for vegetable oil has focused research toward increasing the amount of this valuable component in oilseed crops. Globally, soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important oilseed crops grown, contributing about 30% of the vegetable oil used for food, feed, and industrial applications. Breeding efforts in soy have shown that multiple loci contribute to the final content of oil and protein stored in seeds. Genetically, the levels of these two storage products appear to be inversely correlated with an increase in oil coming at the expense of protein and vice versa. One way to overcome the linkage between oil and protein is to introduce a transgene that can specifically modulate one pathway without disrupting the other. We describe the first, to our knowledge, transgenic soy crop with increased oil that shows no major impact on protein content or yield. This was achieved by expressing a codon-optimized version of a diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2A from the soil fungus Umbelopsis (formerly Mortierella) ramanniana in soybean seed during development, resulting in an absolute increase in oil of 1.5% (by weight) in the mature seed.
Polyp regeneration from isolated tentacles of Aurelia scyphistomae: a role for gating mechanisms and cell division

Isolated tentacles from mature scyphistomae of North Atlantic Aurelia aurita consistently regenerate complete polyps. Polyp formation occurs precipitously 6–12 w after isolation. Synchronous, accelerated regeneration may be achieved by a 12–18 h exposure to 58 mM CsCl. Precursor incorporation and inhibitor studies reveal a requirement for DNA synthesis/cell division to effect polyp formation. Continuous incubation of tentacles in hydroxyurea (5–10 mM) or aphidicolin (15–30 µM) prevents polyp formation and inhibits 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. Upon removal from a reversible inhibitor tentacles initiate DNA synthesis and transform into normal polyps. Tentacles placed into hydroxyurea immediately following CsCl exposure do not exhibit precocious morphogenesis. A role for gating mechanisms and cell division is discussed.
Subunit structure of thrombin-activated human factor VIIIa.

Abstract Proteolytic activation of human Factor VIII (VIIIa) by thrombin was correlated with the generation of a light-chain-derived 73(71) kDa polypeptide plus polypeptides of 51 and 43 kDa derived from the heavy chain(s). Factor VIIIa activity was unstable and decayed to an inactive form (VIIIi) in the absence of additional proteolysis. The subunit structure of Factor VIIIa was studied using two rapid chromatographic methods. Gel filtration of Factor VIIIa showed that coagulant activity was correlated with the 73 and 51 kDa polypeptides which co-eluted with a Stokes radius of 46 A and was separated from the 43 kDa fragment. A similar polypeptide elution pattern was obtained for Factor VIIIi following prolonged incubation with thrombin. Gel filtration of EDTA-inactivated Factor VIIIa showed that the 73 and 51 kDa polypeptides eluted separately with Stokes radii of 32 and 38 A, respectively. Anion-exchange HPLC of Factor VIIIa resolved the coagulant-active 73/51 kDa dimer from the inactive dimer. The labile activity of Factor VIIIa was stabilized by chemical crosslinking reagents, presumably by formation of intra-chain crosslinks. A native M r of 136000 for Factor VIIIa, calculated from its Stokes radius (46 A) and sedimentation coefficient (7.1 S), was compatible with a non-covalent dimer composed of 73 and 51 kDa subunits.
A Real-Time Transit Signal Priority Control Model Considering Stochastic Bus Arrival Time

Transit signal priority (TSP) strategy gives transit vehicles preferential treatments to move through an intersection with minimum delay. To produce a good TSP timing, advance planning with enough look-ahead time is the key. This,however, means added uncertainty about bus arrival time at stop bar. In this paper, we proposed a stochastic mixed-integer nonlinear program (SMINP) model as the core component of a real-time TSP control system. The model adopts a novel approach to capture the impacts of the priority operation to other traffic by using the deviations of the phase split times from the optimal background split times. In addition, the model explicitly accounts for the randomness of the bus' arrival time by considering the bus stop dwell time and the delay caused by standing vehicle queues. The SMINP is implemented in a simulation evaluation platform developed using a combination of a microscopic traffic simulator and a commercial optimization solver. Comparison analyses were performed to compare the proposed control model with the state-of-the-practice TSP system [i.e., ring-barrier controller (RBC)-TSP]. The results showed the SMINP has yielded asmuch as 30% improvement of bus delay compared with RBC-TSP in a single-bus case. In a multiple-bus case, SMINP handles the bus priority request much more effectively under congested traffic conditions.
Evolution of efficient methods to sample lead sources, such as house dust and hand dust, in the homes of children

Efficient sampling methods to recover lead-containing house dust and hand dust have been evolved so that sufficient lead is collected for analysis, and to ensure that correlational analyses linking these two parameters to blood lead are not dependent on the efficiency of sampling. Precise collection of loose house dust from a 1-unit area (484 cm2) with a Tygon or stainless steel sampling tube connected to a portable sampling pump (1.2 to 2.5 liters/min) required repetitive sampling (three times). The Tygon tube sampling technique for loose house dust less than 177 microns in diameter was around 72% efficient with respect to dust weight and lead collection. A representative house dust contained 81% of its total weight in this fraction. A single handwipe for applied loose hand dust was not acceptably efficient or precise, and at least three wipes were necessary to achieve recoveries of greater than 80% of the lead applied. House dusts of different particle sizes less than 246 microns adhered equally well to hands. Analysis of lead-containing material usually required at least three digestions/decantations using hot plate or microwave techniques to allow at least 90% of the lead to be recovered. It was recommended that other investigators validate their handwiping, house dust sampling, and digestion techniques to facilitate comparison of results across studies. The final methodology for the Cincinnati longitudinal study was three sampling passes for surface dust using a stainless steel sampling tube; three microwave digestions/decantations for analysis of dust and paint; and three wipes with handwipes with one digestion/decantation for the analysis of six handwipes together.
Bilateral difference in hamstrings to quadriceps ratio in healthy males and females

Abstract Objective To compare the isometric and isokinetic hamstrings to quadriceps (H:Q) ratio 1) between the dominant (D) and non-dominant (ND) legs, and 2) between healthy males and females. Design Cross-sectional. Setting University research laboratory. Quadriceps and hamstrings strength were assessed by maximum isometric contractions at six angles (40°, 50°, 60°, 70°, 80°, 90°) and concentric contractions at three angular velocities (60°s −1 , 180°s −1 , 300°s −1 ). Participants Forty physically active adults (25 males). Main outcome measures Peak isometric and isokinetic torques of the quadriceps and hamstrings, and the corresponding H:Q ratios. Results Isometric H:Q ratio increased with greater knee extension ( P P P P Conclusions When setting rehabilitation goals, it may be appropriate to adjust the H:Q ratio and leg strength based on the uninvolved leg with consideration of leg dominance. Gender-related differences do not explain the discrepancy in the literature regarding bilateral differences in the H:Q ratio. Other subject characteristics such as age and training may be more relevant.
Acquired megacolon in psychiatric patients.

Possibly megacolon occurs with increased frequency in psychiatric patients. Reports of recent experiences reveal the variety of clinical problems that may be encountered and the use of surgery and other measures of therapy in their management. Gangrenous megacolon presents a formidable problem.
Unveiling Assigned Amount Unit (AAU) Trades: Current Market Impacts and Prospects for the Future

The sale of assigned amount units (AAUs) from countries whose emissions have declined since their baseline year under the Kyoto Protocol has led critics to be skeptical of carbon markets due to the lack of actual emission reductions that occur as a result of these trades. This policy review describes the historical context of AAU trading, current market price and volumes, and environmental and economic impacts of the current AAU trading rules. Options for how to handle current, and prevent the creation of future, surplus AAUs are discussed.
Subchronic studies in rats fed octenyl succinate-modified food starch

Abstract Fischer 344 rats were fed octenyl succinate-modified food starch in a semi-purified diet from conception until they were killed 30 or 90 days after weaning. Complete autopsies and histopathological evaluations showed that growth and haematology were unaffected, but that liver, kidney and caecal weights tended to increase with increasing concentrations of dietary octenyl succinate starch. There were no consistent changes in serum chemistry values that could be associated with octenyl succinate starch intake. Female rats had higher concentrations of urinary magnesium and calcium than did male rats, and these higher mineral concentrations correlated with an increased incidence of renal cortico-medullary mineralization. The increase in mineralization of the cortico-medullary junction occurred in both control and in octenyl succinate starch-treated female rats. Pelvic nephrocalcinosis was not observed in any of the rats. It is concluded that no adverse effects associated with feeding octenyl succinate starch occurred in rats under the conditions of this study.
Thin layer chromatography of substituted nitroanilines and related compounds

Abstract A thin layer chromatography system has been developed to separate substituted nitroanilines and related compounds. The solvent system consists of purified n-hexane and acetone (ratio 3:1). The absorbant used was Silica Gel G. Colorless compounds were detected by spraying in succession with 5% NaNO2 in 1 N HCl, 5% aqueous phenol, and 7% aqueous sodium carbonate, or with o.1 M ferric chloride and or M potassium ferricyanide13, or with 5% α-naphthol in methanol13RF values of substituted nitroanilines and related compounds are listed.
Open Educational Resources: What Next? (Abstract Only)

Open educational resources - assignments, labs, course notes, and other types of materials made available for anyone interested in using them - have the potential to have a significant positive impact on courses and students at many institutions. Distribution and use of course materials is also an important factor in encouraging the adoption and use of innovative teaching practices. However, the use of open resources is still somewhat uncommon, with most instructors preferring to use their own materials.This BoF will bring together providers and users of open educational resources to pose the following questions: Who is using open resources? Who isn't using open resources? How could open resources, and the repositories where they are made available, better meet the needs of potential users? What is necessary to make sharing of educational resources easier and more effective? Are there inherent barriers to sharing and reuse, and how can they be overcome?
Congress, Health Care Reform, and Reconciliation

This article explores the role of reconciliation in the passage of health care reform in the 111th Congress. Although counterintuitive, the analysis suggests that the loss of a filibuster-proof super-majority with the election of Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) aided Democrats in clearing the overhaul package by facilitating the use of reconciliation. Reconciliation provided the critical procedural mechanism enabling health care reform to be enacted into law. Despite reconciliation's importance, substantively the reconciliation “fixes” were relatively modest amendments. Moreover, notwithstanding the use of reconciliation, Congress passed the health care legislation with largely conventional means—separate health care reform measures cleared the House and Senate in 2009, in 2010 the House approved the Senate bill, and then both chambers quickly passed the reconciliation addendum. This research draws on discussions I had with over a dozen key actors after health care reform passed.
Automatic Horizontal Curve Identification and Measurement Method Using GPS Data

AbstractHorizontal curves play a critical role in roadway safety by providing a smooth transition between tangent sections. Because radii of horizontal curves are one of the most fundamental elements in roadway geometry design, transportation agencies, e.g., state DOTs, need to measure them to support network-level safety analysis. However, the traditional methods that are commonly used by transportation agencies, e.g., plan sheet reading method and chord-offset method, are time consuming, labor intensive, and inaccurate. Although some semiautomatic and automatic methods have been developed using global positioning system (GPS) data and/or geographic information system (GIS) functions in recent years, these methods are not yet ready to be practically used in a network-level analysis because they either require intensive manual intervention or lack of the capability in automatically identifying complex curves. This study is aimed to develop a new method using widely available GPS data that can automaticall...
Adaptive robotic tool use under variable grasps

Successful robotic manipulation of human tools will greatly advance robotic collaboration with humans in manufacturing and robotic assistance in human environments, e.g.,źin hospitals, offices, and homes. In these settings, the robot needs to grasp a tool (e.g.,źa drill) before using it, rather than rely on the tool being firmly attached to the robot's end effector. Thus, when using the tool, the robot has to account for the uncertainty in the hand-tool interface, since the grasp will vary between trials. To address this challenge, we propose a new framework in which control-relevant parameters are extracted about the uncertain interface between palm and tool tip. Our approach allows a robot to control position and force at the tool tip using either visual or tactile feedback. In addition, the proposed framework allows a robot to move the tip of a tool along a surface, despite uncertainty about how the tool is held in the hand and uncertainty about the structure of the surface. We demonstrated the feasibility of our new approach on two robotic platforms: the DARPA ARM robot operating a hand-held drill and an ST Robotics R17 robot drawing with a pencil. Framework for handling human tools with a robot coping with uncertainty of grasp.Robot adapts to unknown configuration between robot hand and tool.Robot adapts by testing actions and observing resulting sensory feedback.We demonstrate robot experiments using visual and tactile feedback.
Transvergence and cultural detours: Nadia El Fani's Bedwin Hacker (2002)

AbstractWhen analysing films by women directors from Tunisia, the usual theoretical toolbox at the critic's disposal contains, for instance, postcolonial, feminist or transnational cinema studies. Although useful to start investigating the work of women who are at least bilingual and bicultural—steeped in a Muslim culture and trained in a western one—these frameworks fail to reflect the multi-fold resistance to authoritarian discourse (on either side of the Mediterranean) in which these directors are engaged. This article argues that their dissident moves find a more plausible explanation in Marcos Novak's notion of ‘derailments’.The directors use various ‘tactics of derailment’ away from the cultures to which they are affiliated, to say what their Muslim culture will not frown upon, what their public can accept. Following the multiple derailments and detours at work in Nadia El Fani's Bedwin Hacker, this article shows how this film, as a work of cinematic transvergence, takes cinema from the familiar to ...
Growth of juvenile Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus (Pisces: Clupeidae) in MERL mesocosms: Effects of eutrophication

Growth and mortality of recently hatched Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrunnus) were examined for 7 months under two levels of nutrient enrichment (with and without silicate enhancement) and control conditions in experimental marine mesocosms (13 m3). Results from six plankton-dominated systems confirmed the often hypothesized but rarely demonstrated link between nutrient loading, food quantity, and growth in marine fish. Weekly abundance and mortality were not significantly different (P z 0.05) between controls and treatment mesocosms. On the other hand, von BertalanfIy’s growth coefficients and mean asymptotic sizes of juvenile Atlantic menhaden were significantly different (P < 0.05), with highest values in the two silicate-enhanced systems, intermediate values in the nutrient-addition tanks, and lowest values in the two control systems. Growth and size were significantly (P < 0.05) and positively correlated (rz = 0.98) with mean food availability (measured as the sum of phytoplankton plus zooplankton carbon), which in turn was significantly (P < 0.05) and positively correlated (r2 = 0.94) with nutrient loading (measured as the input of N+P+Si).
Oxidative damage to 5-methylcytosine in DNA

Abstract Exposure of pyrimidines of DNA to ionizing radiation under aerobic conditions or oxidizing agents results in attack on the 5,6 double bond of the pyrimidine ring or on the exocyclic 5-methyl group. The primary product of oxidation of the 5,6 double bond of thymine is thymine glycol, while oxidation of the 5-methyl group yields 5-hydroxymethyluracil. Oxidation of the 5,6 double bond of cytosine yields cytosine glycol, which decomposes to 5-hydroxycytosine, 5-hydroxyuracil and uracil glycol, all of which are repaired in DNA by Escherichia coli endonuclease III. We now describe the products of oxidation of 5-methylcytosine in DNA. Poly(dG-[3H]dmC) was gamma-irradiated or oxidized with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of Fe3+ and ascorbic acid. The oxidized co-polymer was incubated with endonuclease III or 5-hydroxymethyluracil-DNA glycosylase, to determine whether repairable products were formed, or digested to 2'-deoxyribonucleosides, to determine the total complement of oxidative products. Oxidative attack on 5-methylcytosine resulted primarily in formation of thymine glycol. The radiogenic yield of thymine glycol in poly(dG-dmC) was the same as that in poly(dA-dT), demonstrating that 5-methylcytosine residues in DNA were equally susceptible to radiation-induced oxidation as were thymine residues.
The Asian scholar and the American crisis

(1969). The Asian scholar and the American crisis. Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 12-17.
An H3 coding region regulatory element is common to all four nucleosomal classes of mouse histone-encoding genes

Abstract We have previously identified the α element within the mouse H2A and H3 histone gene coding region activating sequences (CRAS). This common element is required for normal in vivo expression of these two replication-dependent genes and interacts with nuclear factor(s). Here we report that the CRAS α element is present in the coding region sequences of two other replication-dependent mouse H genes, H2B and H4. The DNA-protein interactions were examined by DNase I footprinting and methylation-interference assays, and are very similar, if not identical, for these replication-dependent genes, confirming that the α element is the binding site for common nuclear protein(s) in H genes of all four nucleosomal classes. Moreover, we show that the same nuclear factor is involved in these DNA-protein interactions. Our findings, together with the fact that a replication-independent H gene, H3.3, has a mutated α element that fails to interact with nuclear proteins, suggest that this regulatory element is involved in the coordinate expression of the replication-dependent core H genes in the eukaryotic cell cycle.
Relationship of depression to clonidine detoxification of opiate addicts

Abstract Moderate levels of self-rated depression were related to failure during outpatient detoxification from methadone maintenance in 44 ex-addicts. Failure among those ex-addicts with depression was just as likely using either clonidine or the slow tapering of methadone over 1 month. The Beck Depression score correctly predicted 80% of the failures. Demographic factors and psychosocial stressors, as assessed by the Addiction Severity Index, were not significantly associated with failure or depression. These findings support the general conclusion about opiate addicts that depression is a relatively strong predictor of treatment failure and that for even moderately depressed addicts inpatient detoxification or postponement of outpatient detoxification should be considered.
Micrometeors and the Paul trap

Abstract In the late 1950’s, a Paul trap was investigated as a way to electrically charge micron size iron particles, for a laboratory micrometeor simulator. Particles could be charged but not high enough. The alternating quadrupole electric field was found to form stable arrays of charged particles, inside the trap, which could be resonantly excited. Positive and negative ions were also trapped and detected by their absorption of radio frequency power at their frequency of oscillation in the three dimensional effective potential well. These studies were done under a then active federally mandated aerospace independent research and development (IRD which, along with published papers, produced a (now public domain) patent which includes particle arrays, particle resonance schemes, particle damping, and particle expulsion.
Sweet sorghum as a model system for bioenergy crops.

Bioenergy is the reduction of carbon via photosynthesis. Currently, this energy is harvested as liquid fuel through fermentation. A major concern, however, is input cost, in particular use of excess water and nitrogen, derived from an energy-negative process, the Haber–Bosch method. Furthermore, the shortage of arable land creates competition between uses for food and fuel, resulting in increased living expenses. This review seeks to summarize recent knowledge in genetics, genomics, and gene expression of a rising model species for bioenergy applications, sorghum. Its diploid genome has been sequenced, it has favorable low-input cost traits, and genetic crosses between different cultivars can be used to study allelic variations of genes involved in stem sugar metabolism and incremental biomass.
FACTORS AFFECTING TEXTURE OF COCKTAIL SHRIMP

Texture of shrimp was influenced by pH, cooking time, and length of storage but not by the method of thawing the raw product or the soluble solids contents of the sauce. Shrimp cooked for 2, 5, 10, and 15 min required larger forces to shear than raw shrimp. Larger shear forces were also found with lengthening either the cooking or the storage periods. Shrimps packed in cocktail sauce maintained at pH 6.0 or 8.0 were more tender than those packed at pH 4.0.
DEUTERON OPTICAL-MODEL ANALYSIS WITH SPIN-ORBIT POTENTIAL.

An optical-model analysis of 19 deuteron elastic-scattering angular distributions in the energy range from 12 to 26 MeV was performed both with and without a spin-orbit term included in the potential. The spin-orbit potential was of the Thomas form which had been found satisfactory for fitting the measured deuteron elastic polarization. Including the spin-orbit term always resulted in an improvement in the quality of the fits. Without the spin-orbit term, various families of potentials fitted the data equally well, but when the spin-orbit potential was added the various families were no longer equivalent in many cases. The deuteron optical-model potential which most closely approximates the sum of the neutron and proton optical-model potentials was found to give the most consistently satisfactory results for all the angular distributions.
Free Expression and Digital Dreams: The Open and Closed Terrain of Speech

En considerant le fait que toute nouvelle technologie de communication peut alterer l'infrastructure du discours, l'A. examine l'impact de la reconception actuelle massive des modes de communication (les reves numeriques d'une autoroute electronique) sur la liberte d'expression. Dans cette optique, il distingue deux modeles de parole : le terrain ouvert et le terrain ferme de la parole (proche de la distinction espace public/espace prive). Il montre qu'aucune de ces deux formes n'est plus democratique que l'autre et que l'important est de conserver un equilibre entre les deux. Il examine ainsi le changement intervenant dans la maniere de transmettre et de distribuer l'information a un groupe de citoyens
2-(1-Acetyl-2-oxopropyl)-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin and Its Transition-Metal Complexes

The 2-(1-acetyl-2-oxopropyl)-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin free base (H2TPP-AOP) and its transition-metal complexes (MTPP-AOP, M = Cu2+, Zn2+) have been synthesized. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the 1-acetyl-2-oxopropyl (AOP) group is attached to a β-pyrrolic position through the methylene group. The mean plane of the AOP is almost perpendicular to the porphyrin ring. The zinc(II) complex crystallizes as a five-coordinate species with one methanol/water solvate in the axial position, whereas the copper(II) complex is four-coordinate. These compounds exhibit strong absorption in the UV and visible regions. The fluorescence lifetimes are 1.85 and 8.0 ns for the free base and zinc(II) complex, respectively. Density functional calculations indicate that these porphyrins are energetically suitable for electron injection from their lowest-unoccupied molecular orbitals to the conduction band of the titanium dioxide semiconductor. However, the energy conversion efficiencies of the three porphyrin-sensitized solar cells are low, that is, 0.14, 0.015 and 0.021 % for ZnTPP-AOP, CuTPP-AOP and H2TPP-AOP, respectively. The poor photovoltaic performance is ascribed to the low dye-loading of these porphyrins on the titanium dioxide surface. The neighbouring phenyl groups exert sufficient steric hindrance on the AOP to limit its binding to the TiO2 semiconductor.
Determination of intermittent duty rating of an aircraft motor by equivalent thermal circuit and a direct analog computer

THE ELECTRIC MOTOR is an important accessory in the functioning of modern aircraft. Motors like all other accessories must be tailored to the job to be done and, because of unknown factors of application, aircraft design, to be successful, cannot tolerate wastefully large and bulky accessories, nor can it tolerate the risk of plane and mission with equipment that is undersized for its task.
Hydrodynamic Response of Plasma Channels to Propagating Ion Beams

Hydrodynamic response of plasma channels induced by intense propagating ion beams is examined with use of both analytical estimates and a one-dimensional radial numerical model. It is found that mega-ampere, 3--5-MeV proton beams can be propagated in deuterium background over several meters.
On The Elastic Modulus of Metallic Nanowires

Previous atomistic simulations and experiments have attributed size effects in the elastic modulus of Ag nanowires to surface energy effects inherent to metallic surfaces. However, differences in experimental and computational trends analyzed here imply that other factors are controlling experimentally observed modulus changes. This study utilizes atomistic simulations to determine how strongly nanowire geometry and surface structure influence nanowire elastic modulus. The results demonstrate that although these factors do influence the elastic modulus of Ag nanowires to some extent, they alone are insufficient to explain current experimental trends in nanowire modulus with decreasing dimensional scale. Future work needs to be done to determine whether other factors, such as surface contaminants or oxide layers, contribute to the experimentally observed elastic modulus increase.