cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3616: Hypoxia determines the fate of myeloid cell differentiation by controlling STAT3 activation in tumor site

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The abnormal differentiation of myeloid cells is the key element of altered immune response in cancer. Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a major component of immune suppressive network. MDSC accumulate in large numbers in peripheral lymphoid organs and inside tumors. Recent data indicated that the fate of MDSC depends on the localization of these cells. In contrast to peripheral lymphoid organs, inside tumors, MDSC rapidly differentiate to tumor associated macrophages with potent immune suppressive activity. Hypoxia is intricate part of tumor microenvironment. We have found that hypoxia plays a major role in regulation of MDSC differentiation to macrophages in tumor site. Hypoxia caused dramatic reduction in phosphorylated STAT3 in MDSC. These results were unexpected, since high level of STAT3 activity is a hallmark of MDSC present in blood and lymphoid organs. In our experiments spleen MDSC in tumor-bearing mice had much higher level of STAT3 phosphorylation than their counterparts in tumor site from the same mice. In cancer patients MDSC in tumor site also had substantially lower level of pSTAT3 than MDSC in peripheral blood. In vitro culture of spleen MDSC in hypoxia led to the suppression of STAT3 activation. Furthermore, mice with constitutively active STAT3 had shown the dramatic expansion of MDSC and down-regulation of macrophage population in tumor microenvironment, suggesting that STAT3 is a downstream target for hypoxia driven myeloid cells differentiation in cancer. We found that CD45 protein tyrosine phosphatase was a molecule that regulated STAT3 activation in hypoxia. The activity but not expression of CD45 phosphatase was up-regulated in tumor MDSC as compared to MDSC in spleens. The exposure of spleen MDSC to hypoxia led to the significant increase in CD45 activity. The siRNA mediated silencing of CD45 abrogated the effect of hypoxia on the down-regulation of STAT3 activity in MDSC. This suggests that hypoxia driven up-regulation of CD45 phosphatase activity suppresses STAT3 activation, which in turn plays a key role in differentiation of myeloid cells in tumor site. These unexpected findings may provide rationale for re-evaluation of therapeutic strategies targeting myeloid cells in cancer. Citation Format: Vinit Kumar. Hypoxia determines the fate of myeloid cell differentiation by controlling STAT3 activation in tumor site. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3616. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3616
The "French Paradox" and beyond: neuroprotective effects of polyphenols

Chronic ethanol ingestion is known to cause oxidative damage to a number of organs including the brain. This is partly due to the ability of ethanol to enhance oxygen free radical production and lipid peroxidation. Increase in oxidative stress has been regarded as an important underlying factor for a number of human health problems including cardiovascular diseases, aging, as well as many age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The strikingly low incidences of coronary heart diseases (CHD) in France, despite intake of a high-fat diet, have been attributed to the consumption of red wine containing high levels of polyphenolic compounds. In recent years, understanding the "French Paradox" has stimulated new research interest to investigate whether polyphenolic antioxidants may offer protective effects beyond the cardiovascular system, and whether polyphenols from other botanical sources may similarly offer beneficial effects to human health. Our studies with animal models have provided information clearly indicating the ability of grape polyphenols to ameliorate neuronal damages due to chronic ethanol consumption. Studies with resveratrol, an important component of grape polyphenols, also show protective effects on neuron cell death induced by ethanol and other oxidative agents. These studies demonstrate an urgent need to extend research beyond the "French Paradox" towards better understanding molecular mechanisms of action of polyphenolic compounds and their application to human health.
Pathological Correlation of Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Magnetization Transfer Biomarkers in a Preclinical Model of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (I5-5D)

Objective: To correlate neuropathological findings with changes observed by magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in an experimental model of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Introduction The sensitivity and specificity of MRI are critical issues in detecting mild TBI. Although both DTI and MTR are capable of detecting cerebral abnormalities, there is limited evidence of direct neuropathological correlation for both techniques. Methods TBI was generated on thirty-seven female 8-week-old Wistar rats by a 450g/2m weight drop. Animals were scanned in vivo using a Bruker 7T spectrometer at baseline and at 1, 10, 20, and 30 day-post-injury (DPI). Fractional anisotropy (FA), axial (AD), radial (RD) and mean diffusivity (MD) were derived for DTI; MTR were calculated from 20ppm and 3.3ppm saturation frequencies. Crossectional immunohistochemistry (IHC) examined neuropathology (SMI31: neurofilament; MBP: myelin; GFAP: astrogliosis; DAPI: cellularity). Pearson correlation analysis was performed on the data acquired from corpus callosum (CC) and cerebral cortex (CT). Results Axonal injury was seen at 1DPI and 10DPI. Myelin damage was seen at 20DPI. Astrogliosis increased progressively in both CC and CT. Increased cellularity was maximal at 10DPI (CC) and 20DPI (CT). Significant correlations (p<0.0001) were observed in CC between AD and SMI31 (r=0.642), FA and SMI31 (r=0.673), RD and MBP (r=-0.622), MTR-3.3ppm and SMI31 (r=0.684), and MTR-3.3ppm and MBP (r=0.432). In CT, correlations were shown between FA and GFAP (r=0.626), and MD and DAPI (r=0.618). In CC and CT, MTR-20ppm correlated with increased GFAP (r=0.755; p<0.0001). Conclusions MTR along with DTI provide confirmative results for detecting injury pathologies in mild TBI. Histological analysis substantiates the correlation of these imaging metrics to neuropathologies of axonal injury, myelin damage, and increased astrogliosis and cellularity. DTI and MTI together may provide useful complementary information of the tissues’ integrity, beyond any single method, in mild TBI. Disclosure: Dr. Williams has nothing to disclose. Dr. Tu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lescher has nothing to disclose. Dr. Turtzo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Frank has nothing to disclose.
Prefetching protocols for VBR video on demand

In this paper we outline several high-performance prefetching protocols for the transport of VBR-encoded video on demand. For the same image quality and cost, our protocols allow a VoD service provider to provide significantly more video connections than what is possible with CBR-encoded videos. The protocols therefore allow VoD service providers to earn significantly more revenue without increasing cost. The protocols require each client to have about 10 Mbytes of memory dedicated to the VoD application. Our protocols are particularly well-suited for the provision of VoD from a cable headend or from an ADSL switch over a community network to household PCs or to Web-TVs. The protocols are designed for high-performance video-on-demand: They give immediate commencement of playback upon user request, they allow for instantaneous user interactivity, and they promise consistently high image quality. We present two protocols. The first protocol is appropriate for when all of the videos emanate from a single server. The second is appropriate for when the videos emanate from multiple servers.
Molecular basis of suppressor macrophages : arginine metabolism via the nitric oxide synthetase pathway

A molecular explanation for "suppressor" macrophage inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation is described. NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (NGMMA), a specific inhibitor of the nitric oxide synthetase pathway, markedly augments Con A-induced proliferation of rat splenic leukocytes. Macrophages are necessary and sufficient for NGMMA-releasable-suppression, as indicated by a loss of suppression after either pretreatment of isolated splenic macrophages with NGMMA or their depletion by plastic adherence or L-leucine methyl ester. L- (but not D-) arginine overrides NGMMA-releasable suppression, and suppression is blocked by RBC as would be expected if nitric oxide were the effector molecule. Unlike rats, NGMMA did not augment Con A-induced proliferation of normal mouse splenic leukocytes. However, NGMMA did augment Con A-induced proliferation of mouse splenic leukocytes induced to contain suppressor macrophages by intravenous injection of Corynebacterium parvum, which suggests a quantitative, not qualitative, difference in suppressor macrophages between rats and mice. Nitrite production, as an indicator of nitric oxide synthesis, correlated with suppressor macrophage activity in rats and mice and was inhibited by NGMMA. Finally, NGMMA also markedly enhanced proliferation with every other mitogen examined (PHA, protein A, PWM, and LPS). It is concluded that immunoregulation of lymphocyte proliferation by suppressor macrophages is mediated, in part, directly or indirectly by products of the nitric oxide synthetase pathway.
Admission control and dynamic routing schemes for wide-area broadband networks: their interaction and network performance

We consider wide-area broadband networks where multiple services with differing bandwidth requirements are offered (with peak rate allocation for the duration of a connection in a loss network environment). We present several dynamic routing schemes in such a multi-service setting along with an admission control policy. The routing schemes cover issues such as crankback, periodicity of computation of routing, and what type of information is used in routing decisions. We present results on their performance under normal as well as overloaded network conditions. We observe that in an integrated environment, for low-bandwidth service (such as voice), the various routing schemes provide similar performance; this is not so for high-bandwidth service (such as video) - we observe noticeable differences in the network performance for high-bandwidth service depending on whether the routing scheme has crankback, and how the routing decision is made. We also observe that the proper setting of the admission control scheme can reduce the discrepancies in blocking for different services.
Understanding price/value rating in online consumer review

Extant research on online word-of-mouth (WOM) has examined how online WOM influences sales as well as the moderation effects of type of the product, characteristics of reviews as well as reviewers. New insights cannot be generated without more in-depth understandings of consumer's behavior of creating online WOM. In this paper, we first develop a conceptual model of Price/Value by incorporating economic theories into traditional marketing models. We then use data of consumer product ratings from an online retailer website to test the hypotheses generated from above united framework. We found that the relationship between product's price and consumer's rating of price-discounted value (Price/Value) of the product is different across different price levels of the product and different market conditions. This heterogeneity in price-Price/Value relationship is also moderated by the brand name and manufacturer's warranty. Based on above findings of consumer's behavior of creating online WOM, we discuss the marketing implications of retailers' role in facilitating online WOM and improve consumer welfare.
Thymic cyst: Computed tomography and ultrasound correlation

Thymic cyst is a rare cause of an anterior mediastinal mass that cannot be easily differentiated from more sinister neoplastic anterior mediastinal processes on the chest radiograph. It is controversial as to whether computed tomography can make the distinction between thymic cysts and neoplastic disease. Sonography is a useful adjunct to the computed tomographic examination in determining whether or not an anterior mediastinal mass is cystic. Sonography is easily performed provided the mass is in contact with the chest wall.
Solute diffusion and interactions in cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels studied by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.

Controlled diffusion and release of soluble molecules is one of the key challenges in developing three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications in part because current methods to measure dynamic transport properties are difficult to perform directly, are strongly affected by the experimental setup, and therefore can be a subject to various artifacts. In this work we present a method for direct measurement of translational diffusion of solutes, namely Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), by characterizing the diffusion of model proteins through a 3D cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel scaffold. We examined both the dynamics of hydrogel structure (e.g., cross-linking and swelling) as well as protein size and their effect on protein diffusivity. For example, we demonstrated that protein diffusivity was closely related to protein size as smaller proteins (e.g., lysozyme) diffused faster than larger proteins (e.g., γ-globulin or Ig). We validated the FCS protein diffusivity results by comparison to standard bulk diffusion assays. Additionally, due to the nature of FCS measurements, we were able to probe for hydrogel–protein interactions during cross-linking that may contribute to the obstructed protein diffusion in the 3D scaffold. We determined that such interactions in this system were not covalent (i.e., were independent of the cross-linking chemistry) but may be due to weaker hydrogen bonding or ionic interactions. Also, these interactions were protein specific and contributed up to 25% of the total decrease in protein diffusivity in the hydrogel as compared to diffusivity in water. Though interactions between various proteins and PEG have been reported, this is the first study that has explored these effects in detail in cross-linked PEG hydrogels using FCS; our findings question the assumption that PEG hydrogels are completely inert to protein interactions when applied as drug delivery matrices and tissue engineering scaffolds.
c-Myc Enhances Sonic Hedgehog-Induced Medulloblastoma Formation from Nestin-Expressing Neural Progenitors in Mice

Medulloblastomas are malignant brain tumors that arise in the cerebella of children. The presumed cells-of-origin are undifferentiated precursors of granule neurons that occupy the external granule layer (EGL) of the developing cerebellum. The overexpression of proteins that normally stimulate proliferation of neural progenitor cells may initiate medulloblastoma formation. Two known mitogens for neural progenitors are the c-Myc oncoprotein and Sonic hedgehog (Shh), a crucial determinant of embryonic pattern formation in the central nervous system. We modeled the ability of c-Myc and Shh to induce medulloblastoma in mice using the RCAS/tv-a system, which allows postnatal gene transfer and expression in a cell type-specific manner. We targeted the expression of Shh and c-Myc to nestin-expressing neural progenitor cells by injecting replication-competent ALV splice acceptor (RCAS) vectors into the cerebella of newborn mice. Following injection with RCAS-Shh alone, 3/32 (9%) mice developed medulloblastomas and 5/32 showed multifocal hyperproliferation of the EGL, possibly a precursor stage of medulloblastoma. Following injection with RCAS-Shh plus RCAS-Myc, 9/39 (23%) mice developed medulloblastomas. We conclude that nestin-expressing neural progenitors, present in the cerebellum at birth, can act as the cells-of-origin for medulloblastoma, and that c-Myc cooperates with Shh to enhance tumorigenicity.
On the modeling of miscible flow in multi-component porous media

An analytical model of miscible flow in multi-component porous media is presented to demonstrate the influence of pore capacitance in extending diffusive tailing. Solute attenuation is represented naturally by accommodating diffusive and convective flux components in macropores amd micropores as elicited by the local solute concentration and velocity fields. A set of twin, coupled differential equations result from the Laplace transform and are solved simultaneously using a differential operator for one-dimensional flow geometry. The solutions in real space are achieved using numeric inversion. In addition, to represent more faithfully the dominant physical processes, this approach enables efficient and stable semi-analytical solution procedure of the coupled system that is significantly more complex than current capacitance type models. Parametric studies are completed to illustrate the ability of the model to represent sharp breakthrough and lengthy tailing, as well as investigating the form of the nested heterogeneity as a result of solute exchange between macropores and micropores. Data from a laboratory column experiment is examined using the present model and satisfactory agreement results.
Heritability of Flight Duration in the Milkweed Bug Lygaeus kalmii

MEASUREMENT of tethered flight provides an index of flight behaviour in migratory insects1. Although tethered flight probably overestimates field performance2, the frequency distributions are similar for flight duration in Lygaeus kalmii caught in the field (Iowa City, Iowa populations) and reared in the laboratory (Fig. 1). Thus it is possible to obtain from populations reared in the laboratory data which index behaviour of ecological significance and to examine in detail individual differences in flight behaviour. These differences may reflect effects of both genetic and environmental variation.
On the structure and analysis of complex systems of first-order chemical reactions containing irreversible steps—II Projection properties of the characteristic vectors

Abstract In systems of first-order reactions containing some irreversible steps, characteristic vectors occur that do not correspond to directly observable straight line reaction paths. A projection technique is presented and discussed that will transform such characteristic vectors into artificial straight line reaction paths that can be directly observed.
Regulation of MITF stability by the USP13 deubiquitinase

The microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is essential for melanocyte development. Mutation-induced MAPK pathway activation is common in melanoma and induces MITF phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and proteolysis. Little is known about the enzymes involved in MITF ubiquitination/deubiquitination. Here we report the identification of a deubiquitinating enzyme, named ubiquitin-specific protease 13 (USP13) that appears to be responsible for MITF deubiquitination, utilizing a short hairpin RNA library against known deubiquitinating enzymes. Through deubiquitination, USP13 stabilizes and upregulates MITF protein levels. Conversely, suppression of USP13 (through knockdown) leads to dramatic loss of MITF protein, but not messenger RNA. Through its effects on MITF deubiquitination, USP13 was observed to modulate expression of MITF downstream target genes and, thereby, to be essential for melanoma growth in soft agar and in nude mice. These observations suggest that as a potentially drugable protease, USP13 might be a viable therapeutic target for melanoma.
SmartSiren: virus detection and alert for smartphones

Smartphones have recently become increasingly popular because they provide "all-in-one" convenience by integrating traditional mobile phones with handheld computing devices. However, the flexibility of running third-party softwares also leaves the smartphones open to malicious viruses. In fact, hundreds of smartphone viruses have emerged in the past two years, which can quickly spread through various means such as SMS/MMS, Bluetooth and traditional IP-based applications. Our own implementations of two proof-of-concept viruses on Windows Mobile have confirmed the vulnerability of this popular smartphone platform.In this paper, we present SmartSiren, a collaborative virusdetection and alert system for smartphones. In order to detect viruses, SmartSiren collects the communication activity information from the smartphones, and performs joint analysis to detect both single-device and system-wide abnormal behaviors. We use a proxy-based architecture to offload the processing burden from resource-constrained smartphones and simplify the collaboration among smartphones. When a potential virus is detected, the proxy quarantines the out-break by sending targeted alerts to those immediately threatened smartphones. We have demonstrated the feasibility of SmartSiren through implementations on a Dopod 577w smartphone, and evaluated its effectiveness using simulations driven by 3-week SMS traces from a national cellular carrier. Our results show that SmartSiren can effectively prevent wide-area virus outbreaks with affordable overhead.
Street Life: Aggravated and Sexual Assaults among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents

This article examines aggravated and sexual assaults among 240 runaway and homeless adolescents in Des Moines, Iowa. Unlike previous research studies on homeless and runaway adolescents that used small samples, limiting these samples to persons in youth shelters, and/or used clinical data, the current study contacted homeless and runaway adolescents where they congregated and lived. A social learning approach to victimization was used to show that deviant behavior among adolescents directly relates to coercive, aggressive, harsh, and abusive parental techniques. The results partially support the proposition that homeless and runaway adolescents are at risk of life-threatening situations on the streets (aggravated and sexual assaults) due to aggressive and abusive parents. In addition, there are strong indications that the street life situations of homeless and runaway adolescents have significant impacts on the probability that they will become assaulted aggravatedly and/or sexually.
Laser Trabeculoplasty Induces Changes in the Trabecular Meshwork Glycoproteome: A pilot study

Laser trabeculoplasty (LT) is a commonly used modality of treatment for glaucoma. The mechanism by which LT lowers the intraocular pressure (IOP) is unknown. Using cat eyes, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) with a Q-switched frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser was used to treat the trabecular meshwork (TM). Laser treated TM was then subjected to proteomic analysis for detection of molecular changes and histological analysis for the detection of structural and protein expression patterns. In addition, the protein glycosylation patterns of laser treated and non-treated TM was assessed and differentially glycosylated proteins were proteomically identified. SLT laser treatment to the TM resulted in elevated glycosylation levels compared to non-lasered TM. TM laser treatment also resulted in protein expression levels changes of several proteins. Elevated levels of biglycan, keratocan and prolargin were detected in laser treated TM compared to non-lasered controls. Further investigation is anticipated to provide insight into how glycosylation changes affect TM proteins and TM regulation of aqueous outflow in response to laser trabeculoplasty.
Thermochemistry of uranium compounds VI. Standard enthalpy of formation of cesium diuranate (Cs2U2O7). Thermodynamics of formation of cesium and rubidium uranates at elevated temperatures

Abstract Cesium diuranate, Cs2U2O7, was reacted with 1 mol dm−3 HCl in a solution calorimeter. The enthalpy of reaction, −(46087 ± 102) calth mol−1, leads to a standard enthalpy of formation, ΔHfo(Cs2U2O7, c, 298.15 K), of −(754.3 ± 1.6) kcalth mol−1. Thermodynamics of the Cs + U + O and Rb + U + O systems are discussed with particular emphasis on the formation of cesium and rubidium uranates and diuranates in nuclear reactor fuel. Formation of the monouranates is expected to predominate, although diuranates are also predicted to form, but in rather low concentrations.
Comprehensive synchronization elimination for Java

In this paper, we describe three novel analyses for eliminating unnecessary synchronization that remove over 70% of dynamic synchronization operations on the majority of our 15 benchmarks and improve the bottom-line performance of three by 37-53%. Our whole-program analyses attack three frequent forms of unnecessary synchronization: thread-local synchronization, reentrant synchronization, and enclosed lock synchronization. We motivate the design of our analyses with a study of the kinds of unnecessary synchronization found in a suite of single- and multithreaded benchmarks of different sizes and drawn from a variety of domains. We analyze the performance of our optimizations in terms of dynamic operations removed and run-time speedup. We also show that our analyses may enable the use of simpler synchronization models than the model found in Java, at little or no additional cost in execution time. The synchronization optimizations, we describe enable programmers to design efficient, reusable and maintainable libraries and systems in Java without cumbersome manual code restructuring.
Adaptive test optimization through real time learning of test effectiveness

Production test suites include a large number of redundant test patterns due to the inclusion of multiple test types with overlapping defect detection and the use of simple fault models for test generation. Identification and elimination of ineffective test patterns promises a significant reduction in test cost. This paper proposes a test framework that learns, without extensive data collection and at no additional test time, the effectiveness of individual test patterns during production testing by getting defect detection feedback from a dynamic test flow. The proposed technique is further capable of adapting to changes in the underlying defect mechanisms by tracking the defect detection trend of test patterns.
The tunnel vision syndrome: Massively delaying progress

Summary form only given. Not only the multicore dilemma massively reduces programmer productivity and the progress of energy-efficient performance — a critical issue for the long term overall affordability of computing. Because of the Tunnel Vision Syndrome the solutions coming from a few isolated areas, are by far too slow and massively imperfect. Systolic arrays (SA) have been introduced by a mathematician. His synthesis method was “of course” algebraic, supporting only a few applications and sequencing concepts were “not his job”. A decade later we transformed this SA draft into a general purpose machine paradigm which was presented at the 3rd and 8th through 11th ASAP. The acceptance of our other fundamental idea, Term Rewriting System (TRS) top-down use for microchip design EDA, was delayed by the TRS expert scene: by 30 years! The R&D landscape requires radically new solutions. We must avoid the reductionist philosophies of most specialized research areas and introduce connected thinking to bridge the gaps between different paradigms and between several abstraction levels. We must urgently rethink all basic assumptions and far-reaching cooperation patterns.
Anger, disgust, and the negative aesthetic emotions: Expanding an appraisal model of aesthetic experience.

Among Andres Serrano's many controversial photographs—images of corpses in a morgue, portraits of Ku Klux Klan members, images of blood and semen pressed between glass—Piss Christ stands out. Before a 1997 exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia, the Catholic Church sued unsuccessfully to prevent the showing of Serrano's photographs. During the exhibition, Piss Christ was defaced twice in 2 days: ineffectively by a man with his bare hands, and effectively by a teenager with a hammer (?Protestor Damages Serrano Photo,? 1997). In an era where ignorance about the arts is high, negative emotions like anger, disgust, and contempt are common responses to provocative and challenging works. So what do psychological theories of aesthetic emotions have to say about negative responses to art? How can we understand the emotions that lead people to reject, censor, and deface works of art? The study of aesthetic emotions is central to the psychology of the art (Cupchik, 2006), yet essentially no research has been done on negative responses to art. The present research thus applies a recent appraisal model of aesthetic emotions (Silvia, 2005b) to anger and disgust in response to visual art. This model can explain when negative aesthetic emotions occur and predict subtle differences between similar emotions.
Analytical method for design of relay servos

RELAY SERVOMECHANISMS, in general, show advantages over continuous servomechanisms with regard to cost, size, weight, and complexity. The application of relay servomechanisms, however, has been retarded by the meager understanding of obtainable operating characteristics and the lack of practical design methods.
Parametric Solution for the Diode Space Charge at Relativistic Energies

ABSTRACT Transformation of the basic equations that describe the behaviour of the diode space charge “including Poisson's relation” into a time-dependent form allows straightforward solution in the relativistic domain. The parametric solution lends itself to securing various approximate explicit results and readily yields the extreme relativistic limit of a current linearly dependent upon anode voltage.
Atomtronics: An Ultracold Analogue of Semiconductor Devices

We report on progress in developing "atomtronics"; the atom analog of electronics, for a strongly interacting ultracold Bose gas in an optical lattice.
Heterogeneous–homogeneous interactions in catalytic microchannel reactors

Micromachining of chemical reactors enables the manufacture of microchannel reactors with unsually large surface-to-volume ratios. This can strongly affect the coupling between heterogeneous (wall) reactions and homogeneous (gas-phase) reactions, ultimately leading to a complete quenching of homogeneous reactions. Using a 2D boundary-layer model coupled with detailed reaction kinetics for surface and gas-phase reactions, we investigate the ignition behavior of hydrogen/air mixtures in a Pt-coated microchannel. The influence of temperature, pressure, reactor diameter, and fuel-to-air ratio is studied. We find that a purely kinetic radical scavenging by the catalytic surface can indeed result in a complete suppression of gas-phase reactions. However, the attainability of “intrinsic safety” in microchannel reactors is strongly dependent on a fine interplay between homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction pathways in the individual reaction system. In particular, the strong dependency of homogeneous reactions on pressure leads to a breakdown of intrinsic reactor safety at sufficiently high reactor pressure. A generalized equation for the boundary of safe reactor operation is derived for the current reaction system. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006
Open Clip-Free Radial Artery Harvesting With the Harmonic Shears

Background: The Ultracision Harmonic Scalpel is associated with several advantages in radial artery (RA) harvesting. It allows fewer hemostatic clips to close the collateral branches, less thermal injury of the conduit, and reduced time of harvesting in comparison with the conventional RA harvesting technique with electrocautery and hemostatic clips. We recently started open RA harvesting with the harmonic shears (HSH). In this study, we aimed at evaluating the feasibility of this simplified ultrasonically activated harvesting technique, and report the results of RA harvesting with HSH. Methods: The RA harvesting with HSH was performed in 20 patients operated on for myocardial revascularization from July 2004 to December 2005. Results: The harvest of the RA was completed in little time, without any complication. Neither bleeding from the collateral branches nor spasm alongside the entire length of the RA was observed. No bleeding occurred from the muscles of the forearm. Conclusion: This technique of RA harvesting with HSH is impressive in terms of short time of harvest, complete absence of clips for the collateral branches, and no thermal injury of the conduit.
Integration of an Autopilot System With a Hobby RC Helicopter

This paper describes the integration and test work of a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with autopilot capability, which is currently being developed at New Mexico State University. The UAV is an integration of a commercially available autopilot system (Micropilot’s MP2128HELI ) with an RC helicopter (Raptor 90). It has been found quite challenging to integrate an autopilot system with a hobby RC helicopter for research purpose because hobby airframes, as low-cost and manually operated toys, were not designed readily for working with delicate and sensitive autopilot electronics. In our case, the strong vibration disturbances from the gas engine and other moving parts of the airframe significantly corrupted the signals from the avionics hardware. Innovative vibration isolation technique has been developed to mechanically isolate the vibrations from affecting the autopilot system. Several other key problems related to electromagnetic interference shielding and safe flight test were also effectively solved on the project. The integration work has been completed and the UAV is currently being tested.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Oxygen ordering and plane-to-chain electron transfer in YBa2Cu3O7−δ

A microscopic model is described which is able to reproduce the observed dependence of Tc on oxygen stoichiometry for the 123 superconductor YBa2Cu3O7−δ. The approach provides a way of estimating the electron hole concentration at the planar copper sites and makes use of the expected location of the d orbital energy levels of copper atoms in various coordination geometries. There are two important features. The first is that the presence of isolated oxygen vacancies in a CuO3 chain leads to the generation of excess holes in the x2−y2 band of the planar copper atoms. Such an effect leads to the 90 K plateau and that part of the 60 K plateau for δ > 0.5. The second is the ineffectiveness of short chains in plane-to-chain charge transfer. This is responsible for the 60 K plateau for δ < 0.5, and gives insight into to the time-dependent behavior of Tc for rapidly quenched samples.
Coherent laser addition using binary phase gratings

Binary phase diffraction gratings are shown to couple light coherently from a laser array into a single on-axis beam. The diffraction grating, designed to split a single beam into a specific number of equal intensity diffraction orders, is placed inside the cavity formed by the laser array and a common output mirror. The grating superimposes the light beams from the lasers in the array and produces a far-field pattern with the same divergence as that of a single laser. Six GaAlAs lasers from an antireflection-coated linear array were combined with a coupling efficiency of 68.4%. The far field of the combined GaAlAs lasers consisted of a single on-axis Gaussian beam.
Separation of Oleic Acid from Soybean Oil Using Mixed-Bed Resins

Two mixed bed ion-exchange resins (Dowex Monosphere MR-450 UPW and Amberlite MB-150) were investigated for their ability to remove oleic acid from a laboratory-prepared 5 % (w/w) oleic acid/soybean oil mixture. The performance of the heterogeneous mixed-bed resins to remove oleic acid from the mixture was investigated for resin loading and reaction duration while the mixing rate, reaction temperature, and initial oleic acid composition of the mixture were kept constant. Both resins removed > 93 % of the oleic acid in the sample within 4 h with a 20 % (w/w) resin loading in a nonpressurized batch reactor system at 50 °C. The maximum adsorption capacity for Amberlite MB-150 and Dowex Monosphere MR-450 UPW was determined to be 0.27 g·g−1 (oleic acid/wet resin) and 0.26 g·g−1 (oleic acid/wet resin), respectively. Ion-exchange of oleic acid onto the quaternary ammonium site of the mixed-bed resin was determined to be the mechanism of oleic acid removal. The presented research has promising application in the a...
Ecological inference in empirical software engineering

Software systems are decomposed hierarchically, for example, into modules, packages and files. This hierarchical decomposition has a profound influence on evolvability, maintainability and work assignment. Hierarchical decomposition is thus clearly of central concern for empirical software engineering researchers; but it also poses a quandary. At what level do we study phenomena, such as quality, distribution, collaboration and productivity? At the level of files? packages? or modules? How does the level of study affect the truth, meaning, and relevance of the findings? In other fields it has been found that choosing the wrong level might lead to misleading or fallacious results. Choosing a proper level, for study, is thus vitally important for empirical software engineering research; but this issue hasn't thus far been explicitly investigated. We describe the related idea of ecological inference and ecological fallacy from sociology and epidemiology, and explore its relevance to empirical software engineering; we also present some case studies, using defect and process data from 18 open source projects to illustrate the risks of modeling at an aggregation level in the context of defect prediction, as well as in hypothesis testing.
Size and temporal dependence of the average kinetic-energy release during the evaporation of sputtered Cs(CsI)n+ clusters.

The average kinetic-energy release is measured for the evaporation of CsI and (CsI${)}_{2}$ molecules from sputtered Cs(CsI${)}_{\mathrm{n}}^{+}$ clusters (n=2--17) in two different time windows. Size and temporal (temperature) dependence of the average kinetic-energy release (KER) is found to be in reasonable agreement with the predictions of the evaporative ensemble model, except for evaporation processes involving the cluster with magic number n=13. Agreement can be obtained for the latter if the assumption of the independence of the heat of evaporation on the cluster size in the model is removed.
Sheep Hill Memories, Carver Dreams: Creating a Living Newspaper Today

In November 2000, the living newspaper drama Sheep Hill Memories, Carver Dreams premiered to packed houses at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. This documentary play concerns the history and survival of Carver, a historically African- American working-class community bordering VCU which was being threatened by the university’s planned expansion. Performed by a Carver-based theater group with a twenty-seven-year history, in collaboration with TheatreVCU, Sheep Hill Memories, Carver Dreams was the outcome of a two-year collaboration between a grass-roots community organization and the university. As playwright and co-director of the two-year Carver Living Newspaper Project, I present the development of the project, its outcomes, and the challenges we faced along the way in creating the play.
Helium diffraction from MgO(100)

Abstract Helium diffraction from the cleavage plane of MgO was studied with different He energies and different angles of incidence. Hard-wall intensity analyses of in-plane and out-of-plane spectra obtained with 63 and 86 meV yielded the corrugation function, which is simply sinusoidal in both unit-cell directions with an amplitude of 0.18 ± 0.02A. A discussion of the total corrugation amplitudes of MgO and NiO on the one side and of LiF and NaCl on the other, in connection with the ionic radii of the respective constituents, provides evidence that the ionic bonding is largely maintained at the surface of the alkali halides, but that an appreciable charge redistribution takes place at the surface of the oxides.
Thermodynamic equation of state approach for the choice of working fluids of absorption cooling cycles

Abstract A methodology is developed for the application of thermodynamic equations of state of fluids and fluid mixtures in evaluating working fluid combinations of absorption cooling cycles. Thermodynamic phase equilibrium formulation of this methodology is presented. In the application of this approach for the comparitive study and choice of working fluids, the Redlich-Kwong equation of state is used for a number of possible working fluid combinations for solar absorption cooling cycles. It is demonstrated that when limited experimental data are at hand this approach could be a useful screening technique for potential working fluid combinations.
Linking Climate Litigation and Human Rights

Human activities since the beginning of the industrial age have produced emissions that are accelerating natural forces and changing the global climate. The expected impacts on sea levels, temperature, precipitation and storm intensity will stress many human communities and, in many cases, will threaten basic human rights. Climate litigation provides one tool that can be used to shape climate policy and to seek redress from climate-related injuries. This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of linking climate litigation and human rights in order to find effective strategies for protecting those most vulnerable to threats to well-being created by climate change.
Calibration of Polytomous Item Families Using Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling

For complex educational assessments, there is an increasing use of item families, which are groups of related items. Calibration or scoring in an assessment involving item families requires models that can take into account the dependence structure inherent among the items that belong to the same item family. This article extends earlier works in three directions: (a) extends the model to take into account item families with polytomous items and implements a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for the estimation of the model parameters, (b) generalizes family response functions to polytomous item families and defines the family score function as ways to examine each family graphically, and (c) uses Bayes factors to select either the more complicated model or a simple model. All three extensions of the earlier works on item families are demonstrated using two data sets: one simulated and one from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The temperatures of F-K dwarfs and the solar value of R-I

From published FGK-star data, the solar value of (R-I)c is found to be 0.337 ± 0.0024 mag. The equivalent value of (R-I)J is 0.343 ± 0.0033 mag. The data base which yields these values includes integrated Halpha and Hbeta measurements and also temperatures derived from Balmer-line wings. These latter temperatures can be combined with the quoted value of (R-I)c and data from the infrared flux method to yield a temperature calibration. The result is theta=1.075(R-I)c + 0510, and is valid for F III-V, G IV-V, and K V stars with 0.06.
Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis: An Update

Objective To describe spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in the context of currently accepted criteria for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Design A review of SBP and its associated etiopathogenic factors is presented. Material and Methods Numerous studies on mechanisms of disease, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention are discussed. Diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms are presented. Results Peritonitis in patients with ascites in the absence of secondary causes, such as perforation of a viscus, occurs primarily in patients with end-stage liver disease. Enteric organisms, mainly gram-negative bacilli, probably translocate to regional lymph nodes to produce bacteremia and seeding of ascitic fluid. Signs and symptoms of peritonitis are usually subtle. The ascitic fluid polymorphonuclear leukocyte count is the best determinant for early diagnosis and treatment of SBP. Third-generation cephalosporins such as cefotaxime are considered the drugs of choice for treatment, whereas quinolones such as norfloxacin are used to decrease recurrence. Conclusion Despite increased awareness, early diagnosis, and prompt and effective antimicrobial therapy, SBP recurs frequently and is associated with a high mortality rate. Patients with SBP should be assessed for candidacy for liver transplantation.
Genetics of primary pulmonary hypertension

Abstract This manuscript concentrates on the recent finding that familial primary pulmonary (FPPH) hypertension is caused by mutations in bone morphogenetic protein receptor II (BMPR2). BMPR2 mutations are also found in 25% of individuals with sporadic primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). These mutations have not been systematically studied in other forms of PPH such as HIV-associated pulmonary hypertension and appetite suppressant PPH. When possible, the potential role of BMPR2, a member of the transforming growth factor receptor-beta (TGF-B superfamily, is integrated into the known clinical and pathobiological findings previously reported in PPH. It is thought that BMPR2 mutations interrupt the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway with subsequent failure to maintain small vessel integrity. This chapter also discusses other types of FPPH, and the risk factors and immunogenetic HLA-class II/autoantibody associations found in PPH.
Mutational and Pharmacological Alterations of Neuronal Membrane Function Disrupt Conditioning in Drosophila

Neuronal membrane channels of Drosophila melanogaster were altered either genetically or pharmacologically in order to investigate the role of specific ionic currents in the acquisition and retention of a conditioned behavior. Conditioning could not be detected for Shaker mutants, in which the fast transient potassium current (IA) is altered; a second potassium channel mutant, eag (ether a go-go) is conditioned like wild type, but the retention period is abnormally short. The napts mutant (no action potential, temperature sensitive), in which nerve excitability is reduced, also expresses normal acquisition and a shortened period of retention. Double mutants of Sh5 and napts as well as Sh5 treated with tetrodotoxin, are essentially normal with respect to acquisition; in both cases these flies remain retention-defective. These experiments therefore reveal a behavioral phenotype of Drosophila mutants in which the primary physiological defect seems to be in the functioning of specific neuronal ionic channels.