cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Physiological Responses to In-Bed Cycle Ergometry Treatment in Intensive Care Unit Patients with External Ventricular Drainage

Evidence suggests that early physical activity can be accomplished safely in the neurocritical care unit (NCCU); however, many NCCU patients are often maintained in a state of inactivity due to impaired consciousness, sensorimotor deficits, and concerns for intracranial pressure elevation or cerebral hypoperfusion in the setting of autoregulatory failure. Structured in-bed mobility interventions have been proposed to prevent sequelae of complete immobility in such patients, yet the feasibility and safety of these interventions is unknown. We studied neurological and hemodynamic changes before and after cycle ergometry (CE) in a subset of NCCU patients with external ventricular drains (EVDs). Patients admitted to the NCCU who had an EVD placed for cerebrospinal fluid drainage and intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring underwent supine CE therapy with passive and active cycling settings. Neurologic status, ICP and hemodynamic parameters were monitored before and after each CE session. Twenty-seven patients successfully underwent in-bed CE in the NCCU. No clinically significant changes were recorded in neurologic or in physiological parameters before or after CE. There were no device dislodgements or other adverse effects requiring cessation of a CE session. These data suggest that supine CE in a heterogeneous cohort of neurocritical care patients with EVDs is safe and tolerable. Larger prospective studies are needed to determine the efficacy and optimal dose and timing of supine CE in neurocritical care patients.
Monadic Composition for Deterministic, Parallel Batch Processing

Achieving determinism on real software systems remains difficult. Everyday code interacts with a wide array of nondeterministic sources including those internal to the system (OS system calls, CPU instructions, other processes), external to the system (time, date, network communication), and arising from software abstractions (concurrency, threaded execution, data races). Nondeterminism complicates many tasks, from achieving reliable software builds across systems, to creating reproducible scientific results. Existing approaches to enforcing determinism assume that source code is available or changing the operating system is possible. Several approaches have high overhead as runtime monitoring causes performance to suffer. In this work we present DetFlow, a framework for writing and deploying new and legacy software which guarantees determinism. DetFlow uses a novel approach combining static, language-level guarantees with a lightweight runtime enforcement system. Applications that leverage DetFlow must have an entrypoint that lives in the DetIO monad, a type which requires all operations—including I/O—be deterministic. Furthermore, DetFlow allows the execution of arbitrary code not written in this framework by executing it in a determinizing runtime. Combining support for deterministic parallelism, filesystem access, and logging, DetFlow is an ideal platform for writing scripted workflows that process large data sets simultaneously. We show several use cases of DetFlow by applying it to bioinformatics data pipelines and software build systems. Our evaluation shows we can determinize existing software with minimal modifications, while preserving performance and exploiting software parallelism. We show that DetFlow makes it easier to discover nondeterminism and data races sooner, as DetFlow forces programmers to get reproducibility and parallelism right from the onset.
Contemporary lung cancer screening and the promise of blood-based biomarkers

In this issue, the study by Dagnino and colleagues represents an important addition to the maturing field of blood-based biomarkers for lung cancer screening. Their comprehensive approach to analyzing circulating inflammatory proteins identified CDCP1 as a potential biomarker for distinguishing patients with or without lung cancer, a finding that was confirmed in a validation cohort. CDCP1 blood levels, when combined with smoking history, gave an AUC receiver operator characteristic of 0.75. Analysis of transcripts in peripheral blood cells suggested a Wnt/β-catenin signaling-based mechanism for CDCP1 in tumorigenesis providing biologic plausibility. CDCP1 now joins the ranks of other potential blood-based lung cancer screening biomarkers (including epithelial tumor marker proteins, tumor-associated miRNA, antitumor antibodies, and tumor-specific DNA methylation) that need validation in future clinical trials. Further exploration of how CDCP1 levels might be integrated into current lung cancer screening programs, including both detection of lung cancer, and evaluation of the need for invasive biopsies, as well as how CDCP1 performs in different racial populations, is warranted.See related article by Dagnino et al., p. 3738.
Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging

Wall Attenuation and Dispersion, A. Hussein Muqaibel, M.A. Alsunaidi, Nuruddeen M. Iya, and A. Safaai-Jazi Antenna Elements, Arrays, and Systems for Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging, A. Hoorfar and A. Fathy Beamforming for Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging, G. Alli and D. DiFilippo Image and Localization of Behind-the-Wall Targets Using Collocated and Distributed Apertures, Y.D. Zhang and A. Hunt Conventional and Emerging Waveforms for Detection and Imaging of Targets behind Walls, F. Ahmad and R.M. Narayanan Inverse Scattering Approaches in Through-the-Wall Imaging, K. Sarabandi, M. Thiel, M. Dehmollaian, R. Solimene, and F. Soldovieri Through-the-Wall Microwave Building Tomography, P.B. Weichman, E.M. Lavely, E.H. Hill III, and P. Zemany Analytical Ray Methods for Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging, R.J. Burkholder, R.J. Marhefka, and J.L. Volakis Synthetic Aperture Radar Techniques for Through-the-Wall Imaging, T. Dogaru and C. Le Impulse SAR and Its Application for Through-the-Wall Detection and Identification of People and Weapons, J.Z. Tatoian Through-the-Wall SAR for Characterization of Building Interior Structure Using Attributed Scattering Center Features, E. Ertin and R.L. Moses Detection Approaches in Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging, C. Debes and A.M. Zoubir Detection of Concealed Targets in Through-the-Wall Imaging, L. Crocco Fast Acquisition and Compressive Sensing Techniques for Through-the-Wall Radar Imaging, M. Amin, Y-S. Yoon, and S. Kassam Radar Micro-Doppler Signatures for Characterization of Human Motion, V.C. Chen, G.E. Smith, K. Woodbridge, and C.J. Baker Index
Cumulative Risk Across Family Stressors: Short- and Long-Term Effects for Adolescents

This study examined the relationship between number of family risk factors during adolescence and three areas of psychosocial adjustment (internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and academic achievement) in adolescence and 6 years later in young adulthood. Risk factors examined included parental divorce, interparental conflict, maternal physical health problems, maternal depressive mood, and mother-adolescent relationship difficulties. The findings indicated both concurrent and long-term associations between number of family risk factors and psychosocial adjustment; however, the results differed based on area of adjustment examined and whether concurrent or longitudinal data were considered. Furthermore, a steep increase in adjustment difficulties occurred when number of risk factors increased from three to four. The results are discussed in the framework of four hypotheses which were tested, and clinical implications are delineated.
Symmetries and reduction for multi-agent control

This paper computes all the continuous point-transformation symmetries for a planar multi-agent dynamical control system. The relative configuration among the agents is often the most important aspect of this problem, and this paper presents a method to “factor out” the location and orientation on the plane of a multi-agent formation problem. This is useful in the case where only the relative positioning of the agents is of concern. The method to compute the symmetries and determine the reduced coordinates is well-established. The contributions of this paper are 1) computing the symmetries for a multi-agent system, 2) highlighting the utility of the reduction for the formation control application such as formation stability and 3) analyzing the symmetries to determine a relatively broad class of systems which have the same symmetries and hence identical coordinates for reduction. Although it has been addressed in various ways, essentially all methods to determine the stability properties of the formation control problem need the dynamics to be formulated on a reduced, relative space. Hence, stability (and stability-like notions such as that which follow from LaSalle's Principle) analyses will be the main beneficiary of this work.
Fairness for transactional events

Transactional events are a recent concurrency abstraction that combines first-class synchronous message-passing events with all-or-nothing transactions. While prior work gave a semantics and an implementation for transactional events, it provided no guarantees about which of the many non-deterministic executions might be exhibited by a program. For concurrent systems, like transactional events, it is natural to expect certain fairness conditions to hold on executions. Intuitively, fairness guarantees that any system component that could (sufficiently often) make progress does, in fact, make progress. In this work, we investigate fairness for transactional events. We give a rigorous definition of fair program executions in transactional events, describe a refined operational semantics that guarantees fair executions, and discuss restrictions and assumptions necessary for the correctness of an implementation based on the refined semantics.
Identification, evaluation and quantification of VOCs as biosecure markers of swine carcass degradation

Swine carcasses were composted using passively-aerated composting system designed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency during the 2004 Avian influenza outbreak in British Columbia. In this system, swine carcasses were fully covered by plastic sheets due to biosecurity concerns and visual inspection of the swine carcasses was impossible. Monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from carcasses was a promising approach to assess progress and completion of the carcass degradation. In this study, VOCs were sampled using solid phase microextraction (SPME). Samples were analyzed using multidimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (MDGC-MS) (a) to develop a comprehensive chemical library of volatile organic compounds emitted during carcass composting, (b) to determine if specific compounds could be correlated with various phases of the composting process and therefore be used to determine completion of composting and, (c) to determine the effects of compost operating parameters on the chemical make-up of gaseous emissions. A completely new quantification method of measuring VOCs was developed with accuracy ranging from 79.04 to 98.53 % and method detection limits ranging from 0.01 to 580 ppbv. Eighty five μm CAR/PDMS was shown to extract the highest amount of analytes at one hour sampling time. Dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, and pyrimidine were found to be produced during degradation of swine carcass tissues but not produced from decaying plant (envelope) materials. These compounds could serve as marker compounds of swine carcass degradation process. Laboratory studies showed that marker compounds cannot be detected in the headspace when the respiration rates of carcasses decrease to a level of 3.25 mg CO2-C/g VS*d (stable compost). Field studies showed that when carcass degradation was incomplete, detection of marker compounds was still possible in the eighth
Chemistry of Dissolved Organic Carbon at Bear Brook Watershed, Maine: Stream Water Response to (NH4)2SO4 Additions

This study was conducted to determine the response of stream water DOC and organic acidity to increased inputs of ammonium sulfate to a whole catchment. Precipitation, throughfall, soil solutions (from Spodosols) and stream waters were characterized for DOC concentrations and fractions (hydrophobic acids and neutrals, hydrophilic acids, bases, and neutrals) in both the control (East Bear) and the treatment (West Bear) catchments of Bear Brook Watershed, Maine (BBWM), a northern hardwood forest. In all solutions except precipitation, DOC was composed primarily of organic acids, with hydrophobic acids dominating (> 60% of DOC) in forest floor leachates (5000 μmol C L-1), and a balance of hydrophobic and hydrophilic acids in deep B horizons and stream waters (∼ 150 μmol C L-1). Stream waters had higher concentrations of DOC during storm or snowmelt events (high discharge), often reaching 300 to 400 μmol C L-1. Forest floor leachate C was rapidly attenuated by the mineral soils under all flow conditions, indicating how important mineral soil sorption of DOC was in reducing the loss of C via surface water from BBWM. No differences occurred between control and treatment streams for concentration or composition of DOC due to treatment from 1989 through 1994. In 1995, West Bear Brook had much lower concentrations of DOC than East Bear for the first time. However, this occurred during a year of record low runoff, suggesting that hydrology may have affected export of C. Average annual export of DOC from the catchments was similar (1000 to 2000 mol C ha-1 yr-1). Organic anions in streamwaters increased slightly during high flow events (e.g., East Bear had means of 15 and 19 μeq L-1 organic anions during base flow and high discharge in 1995). Treatment of West Bear caused a decrease in organic anions, both in concentration and contribution to overall anion composition (organic anions during high discharge as a percentage of total anions decreased from about 8 to 4% for 1987-89 and 1993-95 samples, respectively). This was probably due to decreased solution pH (greater protonation of organics) and higher concentrations of inorganic anions. Overall, there were no clear, detectable changes in stream water DOC, with only minor changes in organic anions, as a result of treatment with ammonium sulfate.
Psychophysiological components of imagery

McGuigan's neuromuscular model of information processing (1978a, 1978b, and 1989) was investigated by electrically recording eye movements (electro-oculograms), covert lip and preferred arm responses (electromyograms), and electroencephalograms. This model predicts that codes are generated as the lips are uniquely activated when processing words beginning with bilabial sounds like "p" or "b," as is the right arm to words like "pencil" that refer to its use. Twelve adult female participants selected for their high imagery ratings were asked to form images to three orally presented linguistic stimuli: the letter "p," the words "pencil" and "pasture," and to a control stimulus, the words "go blank." The following findings were significant beyond the 0.05 level: an increased covert lip response only to the letter "p," increased vertical eye activity to "p" and to the word "pencil," right arm response only to the word "pencil," and a decreased percentage of alpha waves from the right 02 lead only to the word "pasture." Since these covert responses uniquely occurred during specific imagery processes, it is inferred that they are components of neuromuscular circuits that function in accord with the model of information processing tested.
DENSITY FUNCTIONAL CALCULATIONS NEAR FERROMAGNETIC QUANTUM CRITICAL POINTS

We discuss the application of the density functional theory in the local density approximation (LDA) near a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. The LDA fails to describe the critical fluctuations in this regime. This provides a fingerprint of a materials near ferromagnetic quantum critical points: overestimation of the tendency to magnetism in the local density approximation. This is in contrast to the typical, but not universal, tendency of the LDA to underestimate the tendency to magnetism in strongly Hubbard correlated materials. We propose a method for correcting the local density calculations by including critical spin fluctuations. This is based on (1) Landau expansion for the free energy, evaluated within the LDA, (2) lowest order expansion of the RPA susceptibility in LDA and (3) extraction of the amplitude of the relevant (critical) fluctuations by applying the fluctuation-dissipation theorem to the difference between a quantum-critical system and a reference system removed from the quantum critical point. We illustrate some of the aspects of this by the cases of Ni3Al and Ni3Ga, which are very similar metals on opposite sides of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. LDA calculations predict that Ni3Ga is the more magnetic system, but we find that due to differences in the band structure, fluctuation effects are larger in Ni3Ga, explaining the fact that experimentally it is the less magnetic of the two materials.
"Our" Anthropology of Technoscience?

The Machine in Me: An Anthropologist Sits among Computer Engineers. Gary Downey. New York: Routledge, 1998. 288 pp. Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots. Robbie Davis-Floyd and Joseph Dumit. eds. New York: Routledge, 1998. 358 pp. Modest_Witness. Second_Millennium. FemaleMan©_Meets_OncoMouse™. Feminism and Technoscience. Donna Haraway. New York: Routledge, 1996 361 pp. Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life in. Digital World. Stefan Helmreich. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. 314 pp.
A Characterization of the Near Field of a Two-Dimensional Wake by Photon Correlation

The importance of turbulent shear flows such as boundary layers, jets, and wakes in applied problems of engineering has led to considerable effort being focussed on developing and experimentally testing simple scaling laws for these inhomogeneous flows [1]. Recently due in large part to the observations of KLINE and RUNSTALER [2] and BROWN and ROSHKO [3] there has been a concentration on searching for the existence of large scale structures in the turbulent shear flows. Their observations clearly pointed to the highly intermittent nature of the turbulent flow. The violent bursts of activity at local regions of space and time can provide a significant contribution to quantities such as mean velocities, turbulence intensities, and Reynolds stress. The intermittent activity directly contradicts the premises on which simple scaling theories are built.
Renal venography: anatomy, technique, applications, analysis of 132 venograms, and a review of the literature.

Selective renal venography is a simple but important diagnostic procedure which has few complications. A thorough knowledge of renal venous anatomy is essential for its proper performance and clinical application. This is particularly true because renal venous variations are frequent and may interfere with the successful approach to retroperitoneal surgery.
Microporous alumina membranes

Abstract In recent years there has been a growing interest in utilizing inorganic membranes, particularly microporous membranes, to address a variety of separation problems in many industries. In this paper, both commercial and developmental microporous membranes made of α- and transitiona-lumina are described. Two methods of alumina membrane preparation are summarized in relation to microstructural and separation properties of the membranes. The salient features of the common tubular configuration and the unique monolithic design of membrane elements are discussed in terms of permeability, hydraulic resistance and operating characteristics.
A broadband low-reflection metamaterial absorber

Artificially engineered metamaterials have enabled the creation of electromagnetic materials with properties not found in nature. Recent work has demonstrated the feasibility of developing high performance, narrowband electromagnetic absorbers using such metamaterials. These metamaterials derive their absorption properties primarily through dielectric loss and impedance matching at resonance. This paper builds on that work by increasing the bandwidth through embedding resistors into the metamaterial structure in order to lower the Q factor and by using multiple elements with different resonances. This is done while maintaining an impedance-matched material at normal incidence. We thus present the design, simulation, and experimental verification of a broadband gigahertz region metamaterial absorber, with a maximum absorption of 99.9% at 2.4 GHz, and a full width at half maximum bandwidth of 700 MHz, all while maintaining low reflection inside and outside of resonance.
Effect of polyimide thickness on its adhesion to silicon nitride substrate with and without adhesion promoter

Resistance a l'arrachement de revetement de polyimide sur pastilles de nitrure de silicium utilisees en electronique
Evolution of Anoline Lizard Display Behavior

Based on my conceptual framework of anoline display behavior, I am suggesting the following evolutionary trends. Lateral presentation during display was probably promoted by monocular vision. Along with lateral presentation, postures evolved to increase lateral outline. These postures which magnified body size were probably of selective advantage within aggressive social contexts since larger animals tend to dominate smaller ones through bluff. Body movement evolved along with lateral orientation and size-enhancing postures. These movements would be most effective if they complemented lateral orientation. Effectors available for such movements were primarily pre-adapted for vertical motion. The patterns of movement generated were probably simple oscillatory bobbing movements by the head which were weakly stereotyped, interspecifically similar, appearing in many contexts, and having a weakly defined information content. Events having selective advantage for species recognition promoted stereotypy of bobbing behavior into species-unique displays; each species had its unique signature display which served in a manifold communicatory capacity. The signature display appeared in assertion, courtship, and challenge contexts. Its information content varied depending upon context and recipient of the display (e.g., male or female). Besides the stereotyped aspects of the display, certain features remained variable with potential information significance. Core variability (see text) promotes individual recognition and may be the origin of new unique display patterns as sibling species emerge. Display modifiers (see text) are variable display features shared by members of a population (many being shared interspecifically) that provide a graded appearance to display performance; modifiers can indicate level of arousal and facilitate interspecific communication. For some species display repertoire size seems to have evolved from a single display (signature display) to repertoires of multiple displays; these subsequent displays are generally restricted to aggressive interactions.
Aircraft Endurance Maximization at Medium Mach Numbers by Extremum Seeking

Aircraft endurance is maximized by optimizing the lift to drag ratio over a two-dimensional space spanned by the angle of attack and the Mach number, constrained to a one-dimensional curve on which the lift equals the weight of the aircraft. The gradient estimator used in the optimization is excited by atmospheric turbulence in the vertical and longitudinal directions. This new form of extremum seeking requires a reformulation of the standard gradient estimator used in extremum seeking to provide gradient estimates that are independent of the amplitude of the dither signal. A new gradient estimator based on an estimation error approach is presented to this end. Through stochastic averaging analysis, the estimator is shown to stabilize the aircraft to the optimal endurance speed, with a bias that is proportional to the square of the turbulence amplitude and thus is small when the turbulence is light. The controller is tested in a high-fidelity six-degree-of-freedom simulation provided by local industry. Si...
Die Rolle des „Crazing” beim Bruchmechanismus von glasartigen Polymeren†

Crazes sind keine echten Risse, sondern dunne Bereiche, die polymeres Material enthalten, das noch mit dem ungestorten Material in Verbindung steht. Der Craze ist anscheinend ein Stoffbereich, der in Richtung der Beanspruchung orientiert ist, ohne das dabei jedoch eine Einschnurung auftritt, wie sie normalerweise beim Ziehen zu beobachten ist. In Gegenwart von manchen Medien (z. B. Athylalkohol) kann man durch vorsichtiges Recken der Probe den Craze durch den ganzen Probenquerschnitt bindurchwachsen lassen. Bei zunehmender Belastung wird der Craze breiter, jedoch nicht infolge Umwandlung von neuem Material in Craze Material, sondern durch Expansion des letzteren, das dann 40 bis 60% Leerraum enthalten kann. Da Craze-Material Rontgenstrahlen streut, ergibt sich damit eine Moglichkeit, die einzelnen Energieanteile der Craze-Bildung sowie die Craze-Dicke genau zu ermitteln. Die in der Arbeit be schriebenen Messungen wurden an Polymethylmethacrylat, Polystyrol, Polycarbonat und Acrylnitrill Styrol-Copolymeren durchgefuhrt. The part played by crazing in the fracture mechanism of glassy polymers Crazes are no genuine cracks but thin zones containing polymer materials which are still in contact with the undisturbed material. The craze appears to be a zone of material orientated in the direction of the stress which does not, however, cause a constriction of the kind normally observed after stretching. In the presence of certain media, e. g. ethyl alcohol, it is possible, by stretching the specimen carefully, to let the craze extend over the entire cross-section of the specimen. With increasing load, the craze is enlarged; but this is due not to the conversion of new material into craze material but to the expansion of the latter, which may then contain 40 to 60 per cent. voids. As craze material has the effect of scattering X-rays, the different energy components of craze formation and the thickness of the craze can be determined accurately. The observations described in the paper were obtained from polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrol, polycarbonate, and acrylnitrillstyrol copolymers.
Simulation using the state-space representation of noisy dynamic systems to determine effective integrated process control designs

There has been considerable interest in investigating control policies that can be applied to dynamic systems to take advantage of engineering process control (EPC) and statistical process control (SPC). We design two simulation models using Simulink to represent control of noisy dynamic systems given by a state-space representation. We use the models on systems with dynamic behavior that have been degraded by an additive ARMA noise process. Our findings show that the combination of EPC and SPC is a more effective policy on a complex dynamic system than on a simple dynamic system.
Characterization of the interface: Some initial results for mica‐polypropylene composites

Preliminary results are presented that demonstrate that the chemical and physical structure of the polypropylene at the mica-polypropylene interface can be markedly different from that of the bulk polymer. This results from the ability of the mica to nucleate the crystallization of polypropylene, from the adsorption of polar impurities onto the mica surface, and from the effect of the mica surface on degradation reactions, particularly with chlorinated hydrocarbon coupling agents.
Systematic Gain-Scheduling Control Design: A Missile Autopilot Example

The missile autopilot was designed using linear parameter-varying (LPV) control techniques. The controller provides exponential stability guarantee and performance bound in terms of induced L2 norm for the missile plant. The systematic gain-scheduling approach is motivated by the recent development in LPV control theory and provides a well founded and systematic procedure for high performance missile autopilot design problem.
Novel approaches to lipid based drug delivery

Abstract Lipid based drug delivery is hardly new; however, it is experiencing a renaissance due to new applications, such as gene therapy, new methods of enhancing vesicle circulation in the bloodstream by steric stabilization, and novel self-assembly approaches to more complex structures. Interfacing electronic materials with lipids and proteins is also showing promise with possible applications toward combinatorial chemistry, biosensors, and protein separations. What appears necessary in all of these endeavors is a better appreciation of lipid phase behavior and its modifications due to the proteins, polymers and ions, and how these interactions can be best controlled to provide an optimal microstructure, combined with a careful understanding of the biomedical application to determine just what that optimal microstructure might be.
An electrostatic discharge failure mechanism in semiconductor devices, with applications to electrostatic discharge measurements using transmission line pulsing technique

Abstract Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is responsible for more than 25% of semiconductor device and chip damage each year. This paper focuses on an ESD event resulting from the charge being transferred from a human body to an integrated circuit (called the human body model, HBM). In particular, the study provides simulation and experimental results to determine the main mechanism governing the failure of MOS devices subjected to the HBM stress. Based on this mechanism, the correct pulse needed to measure the HBM ESD characteristics using the transmission line pulsing technique is also determined and recommended.
Multimodality PET/MRI agents targeted to activated macrophages

The recent emergence of multimodality imaging, particularly the combination of PET and MRI, has led to excitement over the prospect of improving detection of disease. Iron oxide nanoparticles have become a popular platform for the fabrication of PET/MRI probes owing to their advantages of high MRI detection sensitivity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. In this article, we report the synthesis of dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (DIO) labeled with the positron emitter ^(64)Cu to generate a PET/MRI probe, and modified with maleic anhydride to increase the negative surface charge. The modified nanoparticulate PET/MRI probe (MDIO-^(64)Cu-DOTA) bears repetitive anionic charges on the surface that facilitate recognition by scavenger receptor type A (SR-A), a ligand receptor found on activated macrophages but not on normal vessel walls. MDIO-^(64)Cu-DOTA has an average iron oxide core size of 7–8 nm, an average hydrodynamic diameter of 62.7 nm, an r_1 relaxivity of 16.8 mM^(−1) s^(−1), and an r_2 relaxivity of 83.9 mM^(−1) s^(−1) (37 °C, 1.4 T). Cell studies confirmed that the probe was nontoxic and was specifically taken up by macrophages via SR-A. In comparison with the nonmodified analog, the accumulation of MDIO in macrophages was substantially improved. These characteristics demonstrate the promise of MDIO-^(64)Cu-DOTA for identification of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques via the targeting of macrophages.
Cupric and nickel ion interactions with proteins as studied by circular dichroism.

Abstract The characteristic visible circular dichroism curves produced by cupric and nickel ion interactions at amino terminal, histidyl, and sulfhydryl groups in model peptides are employed to interpret the binding of these transition metal ions to solutions of proteins. From the wavelength of the single CD minimum, the first equivalent of cupric or nickel ions chelates at the amino terminus of lysine vasopressin, conalbumin, α-chymotrypsin, and bovine albumin. Primarily amino terminal interactions are also indicated for the first equivalent of cupric ion with lysozyme and nickel ion with ribonuclease. Cupric ion does not appear to chelate at the amino terminus of ribonuclease. The second or third equivalent of cupric or nickel ions interacts with the sulfhydryl group of bovine albumin.
EFFECTIVE GPU ACCELERATION OF LARGE SCALE, ASYNCHRONOUS SIMULATIONS ON GRAPHS

The recent emergence of GPGPU programming has resulted in a number of very efficient, but ultimately ad-hoc implementations of GPU accelerated simulations of complex systems. Because developing applications for the GPU is still a difficult and time consuming task, efficient GPU parallelizations of general purpose modeling frameworks are very useful. The dimer automaton is a stochastic modeling and simulation framework with a good balance of robustness, generality, and simplicity with capacity to model a wide range of phenomena. A major advantage of dimer automata is the ease in which they can be applied to any space that can be represented as a graph. Therefore, we have developed an efficient GPU implementation of dimer automata that runs up to 80 times faster than the serial implementation.
Alterations in the Binding of [Cl(NH3)5RuIII]2+ to DNA by Glutathione: Reduction, Autoxidation, Coordination, and Decomposition

The autoxidation of glutathione (GSH) is catalyzed by [Cl(NH3)5RuIII]2+ yielding only [OH(NH3)5RuIII]2+ and GSSG according to the rate law d[GSSG]/dt = k[Ru][GSH], where k = 3 M-1 s-1. The anaerobic reaction of GSH with [Cl(NH3)5RuIII]2+ yields first [OH(NH3)5RuIII]2+ and then [GS(NH3)5RuIII]+ at neutral pH, both through redox catalysis. The reaction appears to proceed through reduction of RuIII by GSH to give [H2O(NH3)5RuII]2+, followed by coordination to produce [GSH(NH3)5RuII]2+ and then oxidation of the latter ion by [OH(NH3)5RuIII]2+ or GSSG to yield [GS(NH3)5RuIII]+. [GS(NH3)5RuIII]+ is also produced by the reaction of GSH with [(NH3)6Ru]3+ or [py(NH3)5Ru]3+. Glutathione reduces [OH(NH3)5RuIII]2+ through a pre-equilibrium mechanism according to the following rate law: d[RuII]/dt = k[RuIII][GSH]/(Ki + [GSH]), where Ki = 2.0 × 10-3 M-1 and k = 2.3 × 10-3 s-1. The reduction potential of [(GS)(NH3)5RuIII,] is pH-dependent according to the Nernstian equation: E = E° − 0.59log {Ka/([H+] + Ka)}, where E°...
A Monocone-Bicone Collinear Array

A wideband monocone-bicone array is designed that has on average 5.5 dB higher gain than a single monocone antenna. The array is fed using a novel feed technique that enables performance similar to that of an ideally fed array. The computed bandwidth that takes into account the radiation pattern stability over a field of view determined by ideal array theory, specifically the radiation pattern of a continuously scaled resonant thin monopole-dipole array is used as a benchmark with respect to which the bandwidth of various monocone-bicone arrays are computed and optimized. Two cost functions are proposed and optimal configurations are determined. It is shown that the antennas maintain performance better than the baseline monopole-dipole array for more than 80% of a 10:1 bandwidth. Methods for feeding the array and mitigating unwanted radiation from the feed network are also explored. Theoretical results are well supported by measurements. The effects of a non-ideal combiner and the finite sized ground plane are also discussed.
Sex allocation and mating systems in pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan ( Fabaceae )

Sex allocation theory predicts that: (1) resources allocated to androecium should decrease with an increase in selfing, (2) a decrease in androecium biomass should be accompanied by an increase in the biomass of pistils, and (3) a decrease in androecium biomass should be coupled with a decrease in flower size, specifically corolla biomass. Another predicted change in reproductive traits associated with variation in selfing concerns seed to ovule ratios, but does not directly stem from sex allocation theory. It has been postulated that seed to ovule ratios should be positively correlated with the amount of selfing. These predictions were tested for six accessions of pigeonpea,Cajanus cajan L., that differed in selfing rates. The results were remarkably in accordance with the predictions. We conclude that sex allocation theory provides a powerful tool to understand the evolution of many reproductive traits in plants.
Psychometric testing in bacterial meningitis: results of a long-term prospective study of infants and children treated between 1973 and 1977.

Acute bacterial meningitis can result in structural damage to the nervous system with associated functional derangements. Neurologic abnormalities can be transient, although some sequelae, including lasting impairment in cognition and behavior, may be permanent. 1,2 In this brief report, we present the results of psychometric testing of patients conducted over a 5-year period in our prospective study of acute bacterial meningitis begun in 1973.
Mother-offspring discrimination in the red-backed salamander may be context dependent

Kin discrimination, or the differential treatment of kin, is evident in a wide variety of taxa. The benefits and costs of kin discrimination may vary according to social and ecological conditions, causing discrimination to be context specific. We tested for context-dependent kin discrimination in the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), a terrestrial species in which adults of both sexes defend feeding territories in which juveniles are often found. If individuals demonstrate the ability to discriminate kin from non-kin, this action would indicate that a mechanism for long-term parental care is present. Mother salamanders may provide protection for juveniles by defending territories from cannibalistic intruders or by feeding on large invertebrates that are predators of juveniles. However, mother salamanders did not significantly discriminate their offspring from unrelated neonates when simple interactions between the two were monitored or when conspecific intruders were added to chambers. Neonates did not behave significantly differently toward mothers than they did toward unrelated females during simple interactions. They also failed to discriminate between substrates that had been scented by their mothers and those that had been scented by unrelated females. When given a choice between related and unrelated neonates, however, females cannibalized unrelated neonates significantly more than their own offspring. This study suggests that kin discrimination between mothers and offspring may occur only in particular contexts, but that mothers possess the mechanism by which they are able to discriminate their offspring from unrelated neonates.
Channel‐storage and unit‐hydrograph studies

Recent studies of the rainfal-and-runoff relation tend towards treatment of the subject in two parts, namely, (1) the ground-phase, which includes the study of such processes as infiltration and evaporation, and (2) the channel-phase, which comprehends the study of the flow of water in the channel-system with particular reference to flood-wave movement. This paper discusses the channel-phase.
Coil embolization of large spontaneous splenorenal shunt for chronic refractory hepatic encephalopathy

Coil embolization of large spontaneous splenorenal shunt for chronic refractory hepatic encephalopathy
Numerical study of the collapse of a global texture

We study the numerical solution to the full field equations describing the evolution of a spherically symmetric global texture. We concentrate on the evolution of the fields after the texture collapses. We compare this result with a previous analytical solution found by Turok and Spergel using the nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ model approximation. The energy produced in massive modes is of the order of ${10}^{16}$ GeV and is almost independent of the initial size of the texture.
Using Resolved Galaxies in Hubble Space Telescope Images to Measure Absolute Proper Motions

We explore the possibility of using resolved background galaxies to measure accurate absolute proper motions with the Hubble Space Telescope. Because galaxies are not point sources, we cannot use stellar point-spread functions (PSFs) to measure their positions. Rather, we must develop a template for each galaxy that can be used to measure a consistent position for it in each exposure at each epoch. We find that there are enough measurable galaxies in a 1200-s exposure in F606W and F775W to define an astrometric reference frame to better than 0.02 WFC pixel (1 mas). There are, however, some limitations. For example, observations taken at different orientations may suffer from the fact that the PSF is asymmetric, which can induce apparent shifts in the positions of stars and galaxies when the field is rotated relative to the PSF. This is present at the 0.03-pixel level. Nonetheless, being able to measure absolute proper motions relative to background galaxies will open up some interesting possibilities for targeted observations and pencil-beam surveys. This investigation uses the Ultra Deep Field, but the concept could work for any deep field that has extragalactic sources and dithered observations.
Broadband image steering using a liquid crystal device

Here we investigate a novel approach to steering broadband imagery with a Liquid Crystal Optical Phased Array (LCOPA). Our approach overcomes the deleterious blurring and echoing effects inherent in the use of such a device. We develop a model for the LCOPA and formulate a method in which a steered, graybody scene may be restored through the application of a Wiener filter. We also show this approach may be extended to scenes that are not strictly composed of graybodies but instead are only spectrally smooth over an appropriate bandwidth. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.
Confinement of infrared radiation to nanometer scales through metallic slit arrays

One-dimensional metallic slit array has been intensively studied in the spectral range from ultraviolet to near-infrared due to its enhanced transmission for transverse magnetic waves. However, the transmission enhancement is sensitive to the wavelength of incident radiation because of resonance characteristics. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate that confining mid-infrared radiation to nanometer scales with a large transmission enhancement can be achieved from an aluminum slit array in a wavelength-insensitive manner, for potential applications in localized heating and nanothermal patterning. The Poynting vector and energy density calculated from the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) are used to explain the strong localization of electromagnetic energy in the near-field regime. Furthermore, the localization of energy is also studied when a dielectric substrate is used to support the slit array in practical applications.
Patricia Beatty's historical novels and her engagement with feminism

In this paper, I place Patricia Beatty's historical novels that feature girl protagonists in the context of the women's movement. I argue that Beatty, a self-identified feminist, writes into her novels a woman-centered history. In so doing, she was writing in the same tradition as women historians in the 1970s, who were challenging the absence of women from traditional historical narratives. In her novels set in the American West, she writes about women's domestic lives, their work, and their move toward independence and suffrage in the nineteenth century. In novels set in the Civil War and Reconstruction, she writes about the displacement of women mill workers in the South. She also addresses issues of prejudice and slavery. An analysis of the texts of Beatty's historical novels and her notes makes visible her attitudes and values toward feminism, which are based on the concept of equality rather than difference. Beatty's contribution to writing in women's history in her novels has largely been unrecogni...
Redox Reactions of Copper Complexes Formed with Different β-Amyloid Peptides and Their Neuropathalogical Relevance†

The binding stoichiometry between Cu(II) and the full-length β-amyloid Aβ(1−42) and the oxidation state of copper in the resultant complex were determined by electrospray ionization−Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR-MS) and cyclic voltammetry. The same approach was extended to the copper complexes of Aβ(1−16) and Aβ(1−28). A stoichiometric ratio of 1:1 was directly observed, and the oxidation state of copper was deduced to be 2+ for all of the complexes, and residues tyrosine-10 and methionine-35 are not oxidized in the Aβ(1−42)−Cu(II) complex. The stoichiometric ratio remains the same in the presence of more than a 10-fold excess of Cu(II). Redox potentials of the sole tyrosine residue and the Cu(II) center were determined to be ca. 0.75 and 0.08 V vs Ag/AgCl [or 0.95 and 0.28 V vs normal hydrogen electrode (NHE)], respectively. More importantly, for the first time, the Aβ−Cu(I) complex has been generated electrochemically and was found to catalyze the reduction of ox...
Use of the electron microprobe in the characterization of bone, cartilage, and tendon.

Specimens of human, dog, and rabbit articular cartilage, annulus fibrosis, meniscus, tendon, and subchondral bone were analyzed using the electron microprobe to weight percentage content sulfur, calcium, and phosphorus. Sulfur concentrations were highest in articular cartilage and progressively decreased for annulus fibrosis, meniscus, tendon, and subchondral bone. Calcium and phosphorus content determinations were significant only in bone and confirmed values previously determined. Sulfur determinations have delineated a new technique for characterizing these musculo-skeletal tissues and, in some cases, appear to enable identification of a particular tissue by means of determining its sulfur concentration alone.
Effects of Surface Asymmetry on Neuronal Growth

Detailed knowledge of how the surface physical properties, such as mechanics, topography and texture influence axonal outgrowth and guidance is essential for understanding the processes that control neuron development, the formation of functional neuronal connections and nerve regeneration. Here we synthesize asymmetric surfaces with well-controlled topography and texture and perform a systematic experimental and theoretical investigation of axonal outgrowth on these substrates. We demonstrate unidirectional axonal bias imparted by the surface ratchet-based topography and quantify the topographical guidance cues that control neuronal growth. We describe the growth cone dynamics using a general stochastic model (Fokker-Planck formalism) and use this model to extract two key dynamical parameters: diffusion (cell motility) coefficient and asymmetric drift coefficient. The drift coefficient is identified with the torque caused by the asymmetric ratchet topography. We relate the observed directional bias in axonal outgrowth to cellular contact guidance behavior, which results in an increase in the cell-surface coupling with increased surface anisotropy. We also demonstrate that the disruption of cytoskeletal dynamics through application of Taxol (stabilizer of microtubules) and Blebbistatin (inhibitor of myosin II activity) greatly reduces the directional bias imparted by these asymmetric surfaces. These results provide new insight into the role played by topographical cues in neuronal growth and could lead to new methods for stimulating neuronal regeneration and the engineering of artificial neuronal tissue.