cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Code-Switching Strategies: Prosody and Syntax.

The contentious question of bilingual processing cost may be recast as a fresh question of code-switching (CS) strategies-quantitative preferences and structural adjustments for switching at particular junctures of two languages. CS strategies are established by considering prosodic and syntactic variables, capitalizing here on bidirectional multi-word CS, spontaneously produced by members of a bilingual community in northern New Mexico who regularly use both languages (Torres Cacoullos and Travis, 2018). CS strategies become apparent by extending the equivalence constraint, which states that bilinguals avoid CS at points of word placement conflict (Poplack, 1980), to examine points of inconsistent equivalence between the languages, where syntactic difficulty could arise. Such sites of variable equivalence are junctures where the word strings of the two languages are equivalent only sometimes due to language-internal variable structures. A case in point for the English-Spanish language pair is the boundary between main and complement clauses, where a conjunction occurs always in Spanish but variably in English. The prosodic distancing strategy is to separate the juncture of the two languages. Here the complement clause appears in a different prosodic unit from the main clause-disproportionately as compared both with monolingual benchmarks and with bilinguals' own unilingual English and Spanish. Prosodic distancing serves to mitigate variable equivalence. The syntactic selection strategy is to opt for the variant that is more quantitatively available and more discourse neutral. Here the preference is for the Spanish complementizer que-regardless of main or complement clause language. This is the more frequent option in bilinguals' combined experience in both their languages, whereas the English complementizer that is subject to a number of conditioning factors. Syntactic selection serves to restore equivalence. Discovery of community CS strategies may spur reconsideration of processing cost as a matter of relative difficulty, which will depend on bilinguals' prosodic and syntactic choices at particular CS sites.
Automatic generation of simulink models to find bugs in a cyber-physical system tool chain using deep learning

Testing cyber-physical system (CPS) development tools such as MathWorks’ Simulink is very important as they are widely used in design, simulation, and verification of CPS data-flow models. Existing randomized differential testing frameworks such as SLforge leverages semi-formal Simulink specifications to guide random model generation which requires significant research and engineering investment along with the need to manually update the tool, whenever MathWorks updates model validity rules. To address the limitations, we propose to learn validity rules automatically by learning a language model using our framework DeepFuzzSL from existing corpus of Simulink models. In our experiments, DeepFuz-zSL consistently generate over 90% valid Simulink models and also found 2 confirmed bugs by MathWorks Support.
Silver-carbon-nanotube metal matrix composites for metal contacts on space photovoltaic cells

In this work, multiwalled carbon nanotubes are being investigated for mechanical reinforcement of metal contacts on inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells. We have focused on a silver-carbon-nanotube layer-by-layer microstructure for our initial studies. The silver layer is electrodeposited, and the carbon nanotube layer is deposited by electrodeposition and nanospreading. To increase adhesion strength to metal and achieve efficient metal-nanotube stress transfer, carbon nanotubes are chemically functionalized with carboxylic or amine groups prior to deposition. The metal-carbon-nanotube composites are currently being characterized mechanically and electrically through nanoindentation and strain failure tests. The initial strain failure tests show that conductivity is maintained with 42-µm-wide microcracks in the composite layer, where the carbon nanotubes bridge the gap.
Resective epilepsy surgery: assessment of randomized controlled trials

Epilepsy is the most common form of chronic neurologic disease. Here, we review the available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the efficacy of resective epilepsy surgery in select patients suffering from medically intractable epilepsy (defined as persistent epilepsy despite two or more antiepileptic drugs [AEDs]). Three RCTs (two adult RCTs and one pediatric RCT) consistently supported the efficacy of resective surgery as treatment for epilepsy with semiology localized to the mesial temporal lobe. In these studies, 58–100% of the patients who underwent resective surgery achieved seizure freedom, in comparison to 0–13% of medically treated patients. In another RCT, the likelihood of seizure freedom after resective surgery was independent of the surgical approach (transSylvian [64%] versus subtemporal [62%]). Two other RCTs demonstrated that hippocampal resection is essential to optimize seizure control. But, no significant gain in seizure control was achieved beyond removing 2.5 cm of the hippocampus. Across RCTs, minor complications (deficit lasting 3 months) ranged 2–5% and 5–11% respectively. However, nonincapacitating superior subquadrantic visual-field defects (not typically considered a minor or major complication) were noted in up to 55% of the surgical cohort. The available RCTs provide compelling support for resective surgery as a treatment for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and offer insights toward optimal surgical strategy.
Abstract P169: Association Between Years Of Residency In The Usa Of Hispanic Immigrant Women And Small For Gestational Age

Maternal and fetal factors have been associated with small for gestational age (SGA) and cardiometabolic disease in adulthood. Acculturation in US Latino population has been correlated with negativ...
COVID-19 pandemic: Architecture librarians respond

AbstractLibrarianship is a resourceful profession, but COVID-19 created new challenges for everyone, especially those working in public service with architecture students and faculty. Unlike in STE...
Care and Support of Respiratory Staff Caring for End-of-Life Patients

Background: End of life care is difficult for all medical professionals, causing struggles with grief during and after the death. Very few respiratory therapists (RTs) perceive they are prepared to assist the dying process. These same RTs have to remove life support or stop life sustaining therapy. The objective of this project was to determine if a compassionate care RT support team trained with knowledge of end-of-life practices, brain death testing, religious and cultural requirements, and organ donation process including ventilator management would be a perceived benefit to our staff. Methods: A compassionate care RT team was formed in April 2019. Staff were trained using End of Life Nursing Education Training Course (ELNEC), Life-sharing lectures, simulation lab scenario training, and lectures on spiritual, religious, and cultural aspects of end-of-life care. 16 months after training and implementation of the team, a convenience sample of 120 pediatric RTs were provided the opportunity to complete an online survey about end-of-life help. Participants were asked five questions, but each question was optional. Results: Voluntary online participants (N = 48), of the survey respondents, respiratory staff each cared for between 1–20 (mean 2.79) end of life patients between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. Of these, 77.1% (37/48) would consult the compassionate care RT team as a resource for end-of-life care, and of those who would not call the team 22.9% (11/48) commented they felt they did not think they needed it, had been in the field a long time, or felt they would use other resources such as social worker, charge nurse, or respiratory director. 68.2% (30/48) knew the names of all the staff on the team. 95.8% (46/48) felt that having a compassionate care RT end of life team is beneficial to our staff. 4.2% (2/48) stated no benefit, but added the comment perhaps to newer therapists. When asked what the team could do better most 52% (25/48) stated there needed to be more team members on night shift, and 25% requested a better way to know whom to call on their shift if they have an end-of-life patient. Conclusions: Implementation of an end-of-life compassionate care RT team has been beneficial to our staff who feel comfortable calling them as a resource, and know the names of the staff on our team. Additional needs were identified for more night shift resources and improvement of communication during the shift if an end-of-life situation arose quickly.
Departure and Transition

Only yesterday, it seems, we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Peace Review with a special issue (volume 26:4). We looked back at our 1989 origins and at how we got from there to 2014. Another 7 y...
Genetics and functional genomics of probiotic bacteria: translation to applications

Publisher Summary The rapid expansion of genetic tools and genomic sequencing of Lactic Acid Bacteria [“LAB”] have yielded vast amounts of molecular information in a short time span of several years. Commercial applications of LAB and other beneficial bacteria in functional foods including dairy products would continue to evolve rapidly with the proliferation of knowledge of bacterial biological systems. Functional genomics would immediately impact the science of natural strain selection in the food industry. By comparing gene content and gene expression profiles in various environmental conditions including animal models, natural LAB strains might be evaluated for specific beneficial or metabolic functions and high throughput screening might be feasible. Rational selection based on particular biologic features would be possible using highly parallel investigations of gene content and gene expression of entire bacterial chromosomes. Engineered probiotics might eventually be developed for specific food applications, although the pharmaceutical industry would likely capitalize first on genetically-modified organisms for medical applications. The explorations of whole bacterial systems at the genomic level would advance the fields of functional foods and probiotics at a rapid pace unimaginable before the advent of functional genomics.
Utility of in situ assays for detecting environmental pollutants

In Situ bioassays are toxicity determining techniques applied to or designed for use under real world conditions outside of the control of the laboratory. A number of plants and animals, domestic and wild, are used in situ to measure and monitor mutagenesis, carcinogenesis and other biological endpoints; for example, growth, nitrogen fixation, excretion of urinary s-aminolevulinic acid, blood cell abnormalities, etc. The organisms include corn, soybean, spiderwort, white footed mouse, wild house mouse, mudminnow, white croaker and brown bullhead fish, sea urchin and mussel.
A physically-based hybrid framework to estimate daily-mean surface fluxes over complex terrain

In this study we developed and examined a hybrid modeling approach integrating physically-based equations and statistical downscaling to estimate fine-scale daily-mean surface turbulent fluxes (i.e., sensible and latent heat fluxes) for a region of southern California that is extensively covered by varied vegetation types over a complex terrain. The selection of model predictors is guided by physical parameterizations of surface flux used in land surface models and analysis showing net shortwave radiation that is a major source of variability in the surface energy budget. Through a structure of multivariable regression processes with an application of near-surface wind estimates from a previous study, we successfully reproduce dynamically-downscaled 3 km resolution surface flux data. The overall error in our estimates is less than 20 % for both sensible and latent heat fluxes, while slightly larger errors are seen in high-altitude regions. The major sources of error in estimates include the limited information provided in coarse reanalysis data, the accuracy of near-surface wind estimates, and an ignorance of the nonlinear diurnal cycle of surface fluxes when using daily-mean data. However, with reasonable and acceptable errors, this hybrid modeling approach provides promising, fine-scale products of surface fluxes that are much more accurate than reanalysis data, without performing intensive dynamical simulations.
Testosterone and Polygyny in Birds

The evolution, maintenance, and functioning of avian mating systems and breeding strategies are of great interest to ethologist and behavioral cologists. Indeed, critical inquiries into the origins of mating systems provided some of the “cornerstone” of the field of behavioral ecology e.g., Crook, 1964; Verner, 1964; Orians, 1969, 1972). Classically, mating systems were defined with respect to the number of mates obtained by males and females per breeding period (Oring, 1982): monogamous individuals had one mate, polygamous individuals more than one, and promiscous individuals mated indiscriminately or nearly so. Recently, recognition has grown that various strategies and selective pressures result in the monogamy/polygamy/promiscuity division and that breeding strategies are not dicrete entities but form a continuum of relationship between the sees. Accordingly, mating systems are now classified by the abilities of individuals to monopolize resources and mates (Emlen and Oring, 1977; Oring, 1982; Gowaty, 1992). For example, monogamy is seen as the consequence of the inability of members of either sex to monopolize more than a single mate. Males may be polygynous because they can garner more than one mate through the acquisition and defense of sufficient breeding resources(thus the designation “resource-defense polygyny”).
Advancing Wave-like Epitheliopathy: Clinical Features and Treatment

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe an entity referred to as advancing wave-like epitheliopathy and successful treatment of this keratopathy with 1 % silver nitrate solution. Methods: Eleven eyes of 7 patients were identified with advancing wave-like epitheliopathy. A thorough history and physical examination was performed on each patient, and attempts were made to identify the cause for the epitheliopathy. Six eyes with associated visual loss due to the epitheliopathy involving the visual axis were treated with 1 % silver nitrate solution to the superior conjunctival limbus. Results: Possible causes for the epitheliopathy included use of antiglaucomatous medications or contact lens care solutions (6 of 11 eyes), soft contact lens wear (4 of 11 eyes), a history of ocular surgery (3 of 11 eyes), or the presence of an underlying dermatologic or inflammatory disorder (3 of 11 eyes). All patients treated with 1 % silver nitrate solution (6 of 6 eyes) experienced resolution of their symptoms with either complete or partial resolution of the epitheliopathy. Conclusions: Advancing wave-like epitheliopathy is a keratopathy characterized by centripetally advancing waves of coarse, irregular epithelium arising from the superior limbus. The cause appears to be multifactorial. Symptoms include ocular redness, irritation, and a decrease in visual acuity if the visual axis is involved. Application of 1 % silver nitrate solution to the superior limbus is well tolerated and effective in treating this condition.
Mean Flow Characteristics for the Oblique Impingement of an Axlisymmetric Jet

The oblique impingement of an axisymmetric jet has been investigated. A summary of the data and the analytical interpretations of the dominant mechanisms which influence the flow are reported. The major characteristics of the shallow angle oblique jet impingement flow field are: (1) minimal dynamic spreading as revealed by the surface pressure field, (2) pronounced kinematic spreading as revealed by the jet flow velocity field, (3) a pronounced upstream shift of the stagnation point from the maximum pressure point, (4) the production of streamwise vorticity by the impingement process.
Chapter 11 Multidimensional SFE and SFC

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the use of on-line supercritical fluid extraction/ gas chromatography [(SFE)/GC] and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in terms of theory of operation, interface mechanics, instrumentation and application examples from the literature and from the laboratory. Additionally, examples of selectivity enhancements in SFE are described and an approach towards the automation of on-line SFE using sequential multiple vessels is discussed. The on-line coupling of SFE to GC (SFE/GC) has the advantages of having no sample handling between the sample preparation step and the analytical determination step. An SFE system delivery pump compresses the primary extraction fluid and solubilizes the analytes from a sample matrix, which is contained in a heated extraction vessel. As a means of sample introduction to GC, on-line SFE presents itself as an alternative to the conventional means of GC sample introduction such as headspace, purge and trap, thermal desorption, pyrolysis, and even conventional syringe injection.
Clinical Management of Musculoskeletal Pain Syndromes

The child presenting to the general practitioner with complaints of musculoskeletal pain is common and pediatricians need to be more knowledgeable of these conditions. It presents a challenge to make the diagnosis without invasive and expensive testing. A complete physical exam is essential. Often, simple reassurance, analgesics, physical therapy, and lifestyle changes are sufficient for most complaints. More specific knowledge of the multidisciplinary approach needed to treat fibromyalgia (FM) and myofascial pain syndrome (MFPS) can be helpful.
Floer theoretically essential tori in rational blowdown

We study the symplectic topology of some finite algebraic quotients of the An Milnor fibre which are diffeomorphic to the rational homology balls that appear in Fintushel and Stern's rational blowdown construction. We prove that these affine surfaces have no closed exact Lagrangian submanifolds by using the already available and deep understanding of the Fukaya category of the An Milnor fibre coming from homological mirror symmetry. On the other hand, we find Floer theoretically essential monotone Lagrangian tori, finitely covered by the monotone tori which we study in the An Milnor fibre. We conclude that these affine surfaces have non-vanishing symplectic cohomology.
The Essence of Urban Academic Librarianship

A reference librarian discovers the essence of urban academic reference librarianship in serving a growing population of non-traditional students in a milieu where both resources and time are never sufficient.
Body image and sexually transmissible infection prevalence among men who have sex with men

Compared with men who have sex with women, some evidence suggests that men who have sex with men (MSM) have increased prevalence of body image dissatisfaction. MSM also have a higher prevalence of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) than other population groups. As part of a cross-sectional study, body image among 104 MSM using the standardised, validated Male Body Attitudes Scale was assessed. Associations between body image and prevalent STI were examined. Body image was not associated with prevalent STI in unadjusted [prevalence ratio (PR): 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86–1.52] or adjusted analyses (PR: 1.17, 95% CI: 0.89–1.53).
I Double‐Dog Dare you in Jesus’ Name! Claiming Christian Wealth and the American Prosperity Gospel

Since the 1980s, prosperity gospel Christianity has exploded in its size and influence, with global television ministries like Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), Daystar Television Network, and The Word Network expanding the reach of the American-born religion to every nation. Most popularly called the Faith movement many may recognize this form of Christianity by a variety of other labels, such as the Gospel of Wealth and Health, Word of Faith, Prosperity Theology, Name it and Claim it, Seed-Faith, Abundant Life, or the more derisive Blab it and Grab it. Most observers associate the Faith movement with two teachings: first, God grants all his faithful followers physical health and financial prosperity; second, believers claim their divine right to wealth and health through positive confession, financial offerings, and the persistent faith that God must fulfill his promises. Promises of total transformation, concern over exploitation, and controversies over Biblical interpretation have made the prosperity gospel a topic of scholarly and popular interest. This article explores the history of the prosperity gospel, with particular emphasis on understanding the largest and most visible of these traditions, the Faith movement. Throughout, I will highlight scholarly literature critical for understanding the contemporary and historic development of the prosperity gospel and ministries that have coalesced around its optimistic message. As I explore relevant works on New Thought, African American religions, and the Faith movement, I hope to provide insight into central questions, possible pitfalls, and under-investigated dimensions of the American prosperity gospel, and finally to gesture towards fruitful avenues for future inquiry.
George Woody on Dr. Anonymous: "Treatment failure one step removed: the loss of researchers in the addictions".

Putting aside the current budget problems and their potential adverse impact on many areas in the USA (defense, welfare, social security, etc.), I think that what is written reflects a systematic p...
A nexus of contracts theory of legal entities

Abstract In this paper, we develop a theory that explains why firms are so commonly organized as legal entities that are formally distinct from their owners. A legal entity permits an owner to create a firm as a bundle of contracts that can be transferred to someone else, but only if they are transferred together. This bundled assignability allows for a balancing of several potentially conflicting interests. First, the owner who assembles the contracts wants liquidity – that is, the ability to transfer the contracts and cash out. Second, the firm's contractual counterparties want protection from opportunistic transfers that will reduce the value of the performance they have been promised. And third, the owner wants long-term commitments from the firm's counterparties to protect the value of her investments in the bundle. Because transfers of equity interests in a legal entity will generally not be considered assignments of the entity's contracts, entities reduce the contracting costs of creating bundled assignability. We find that owners will prefer bundled assignability when investments in the bundle are alienable from the owner; but when investments are specific to the owner, contracts that prohibit changes of control are optimal.
Multi-year measurements of cloud base heights at South Pole by lidar

[1] The Micropulse Lidar Network has operated a full-time lidar measurement program at South Pole Station since 2000. Observations from this instrument are an important multi-year record of clouds over the Antarctic plateau. Earlier South Pole observations relied mostly on passive measurements to characterize clouds; the lidar's active profiles present an opportunity to validate current understanding of Antarctic clouds, as well as study properties that are not adequately captured in passive measurements. Lidar observations show clouds to be present roughly 40 percent of the time, and often appearing in wind-swept layers immediately above ground-based scattering layers such as blowing snow and suspended ice particles. There is very little indication of seasonal variability in cloud base heights; this contradicts earlier observations from an interferometer made in 1992 when it was determined that the distribution of cloud base heights in the summer months was different from that seen at other times. Those observations had also indicated that cloud base heights over the high plateau are distributed bimodally, with many near-surface clouds, and a second mode of other clouds well above the surface–based inversion. The lidar observations, however, suggest that this may be true only of the optically thicker clouds and even then only in the spring.
Intensive care unit physician staffing: Financial modeling of the Leapfrog standard*

Objective:To evaluate from a hospital’s perspective the costs and savings, over a 1-yr period, of implementing The Leapfrog Group’s Intensive Care Unit Physician Staffing (IPS) standard compared with the existing standard of nonintensivist staffing in adult intensive care units.Design:Using publishe
Superbase Route to Supertetrahedral Chalcogenide Clusters

Supertetrahedral Tn clusters are exact fragments of a cubic ZnS type lattice. Thus far, Tn clusters up to T4 with 20 metal sites can be synthesized in a discrete molecular form. Yet, synthesis of larger discrete supertetrahedral clusters still remains a great challenge, likely due to the rapidly increasing negative charge on the cluster as the size goes up. By using organic superbases (DBN and DBU) to help stabilize the negative charge, a family of discrete supertetrahedral chalcogenide clusters with sizes spanning from T3 (10 metal sites) to T5 (35 metal sites) have been made. The T5 cluster represents the largest molecular supertetrahedral Tn cluster known to date.
Relationships of Several Stability Indices to Convective Weather Events in Northeast Colorado

Abstract Seven familiar stability indices were computed from sounding data for each of 83 days of a convection forecasting experiment conducted during the summer of 1985 in northeast Colorado. Observations of convectively driven weather events were collected; the values of the indices were compared against this dataset to examine their performance as predictors of severe weather (large hail, tornadoes, high wind) and significant weather (nonsevere but important from an economic or public safety standpoint). The results of the analysis are Benchmark values of the indices that give their typical magnitudes on active days versus quiescent days. These values, compared with those computed in other regions, illustrate the potential fallacy of interpreting the indices in the absence of analogous region-specific reference statistics. Rankings that determine which indices worked best in this experiment. The highest ranked indices were the SWEAT index for severe weather and buoyancy for significant weather. Interes...
Doppler detection capable good polyphase code sets based on Piecewise Linear FM

In this paper, pieces of P3/P4 polyphase codes are used to design new classes of Doppler detection capable polyphase code sets, motivated by the phase history of a modified version of the Piecewise Linear FM code sets. The receiver is modeled as a matched filter which is decomposed into two pieces. The decomposition of the matched filter helps extract information regarding the radial direction of the target in addition to its radial speed. The code sets are shown to possess good correlation properties and Doppler properties. A subclass of the proposed code sets is converted to quadphase (via quantizing the phase terms by rounding them off to the nearest multiple of π/2) and is compared to existing quadphase code sets, one of which is simulated for comparison in this paper. The simulations show that the proposed code sets possess good correlation properties, comparable to existing code sets but stand out in being the only ones that can both tolerate and detect Doppler shifts.
Dual-level parallelism for high-order CFD methods

A hybrid two-level parallel paradigm with MPI/OpenMP is presented in the context of high-order methods and implemented in the spectral/hp element framework to take advantage of the hierarchical structures arising from deterministic and stochastic CFD problems. We take a coarse grain approach to OpenMP shared-memory parallelization and employ a workload-splitting scheme that reduces the OpenMP synchronizations to the minimum. The hybrid algorithm shows good scalability with respect to both the problem size and the number of processors for a fixed problem size. For the same number of processors, the hybrid model with 2 OpenMP threads per MPI process is observed to perform better than pure MPI and pure OpenMP on the SGI Origin 2000 and the Intel IA64 Cluster, while the pure MPI model performs the best on the IBM SP3 and on the Compaq Alpha Cluster. A key new result is that the use of threads facilitates effectively p-refinement, which is crucial to adaptive discretization using high-order methods. � 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Which judgments show weak exhaustivity? (And which don’t?)

This paper considers two of the most prominent kinds of evidence that have been used to argue that certain embedded questions receive weakly exhaustive interpretations. The first kind is exemplified by judgments of consistency for declarative sentences that attribute knowledge of a wh-question and ignorance of the negation of that question to the same person, and the second concerns asymmetries between the role of positive and negative information in validating question-embedding surprise ascriptions, and similar judgments for other attitudes. I argue that neither type suffices to show weak exhaustivity. The first can be analyzed in terms of strong exhaustivity in combination with domain restriction effects, while the second can be analyzed in terms of a mention-some interpretation. These kinds of evidence have served as the empirical basis for many claims about weakly exhaustive readings, so the observation that they are unreliable calls into questions a large body of established work on the semantics of question embedding.
Solubility of 7-Chloro-2-methylamino-5-phenyl-3H-1,4-benzodiazepine-4-oxide, 7-Chloro-1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-5-phenyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one, and 7-Chloro-5-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-hydroxy-1,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one in (Propane-1,2-diol + Water) at a Temperature of 303.2 K

Experimental solubilities of 7-chloro-2-methylamino-5-phenyl-3H-1,4- benzodiazepine-4-oxide (chlordiazepoxide), 7-chloro-1,3-dihydro-1-methyl-5- phenyl-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one (diazepam), and 7-chloro- 5-(2-chlorophenyl)- 3-hydroxy-1,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one (lorazepam) in (propane-1,2-diol + water) at T = 303.2 K were reported. The solubility of drugs increased with the addition of propane-1,2-diol and reached the maximum values in pure propane-1,2-diol. The Jouyban-Acree model was used to fit the experimental data, and the solubilities were reproduced using a previously trained version of the Jouyban-Acree model and the solubility data in monosolvents in which the overall mean relative deviations (OMRDs) of the back-calculated and predicted values with the corresponding experimental data were 4.2% and 10.7%. The solubilities of the three drugs were also predicted using a trained version of the log-linear model of Yalkowsky, and the OMRD was 21.1%. © 2010 American Chemical Society.
Feed pellet and corn durability and breakage during repeated elevator handling

Pelleting of animal feeds is important for improved feeding efficiency and for convenience of handling. Pellet quality impacts the feeding benefits for the animals and pellet integrity during handling. To compare the effect of repeated handling on the quality of feed pellets and corn, a 22.6-t (1000-bu) lot of feed pellets made from corn meal and a 25.4-t (1000-bu) lot of shelled corn, were each transferred alternately between two storage bins in the USDA-ARS, Grain Marketing and Production Research Center research elevator at Manhattan, Kansas, at an average flow rate of 59.4 t/h. Samples from a diverter-type sampler were analyzed for particle size distribution (by sieving) and durability (by the tumbling box method). The apparent geometric mean diameter of pellet samples decreased with repeated transfers, whereas the mass of accumulated broken pellets increased with repeated transfers. The percentage of broken pellets increased by an average of 3.83% with each transfer from an initial value of 17.5%, which was significantly different from the values obtained from shelled corn (p 0.05) during the transfers. The durability index of shelled corn was also not significantly different during the transfers. Analysis of dust removed by the cyclone separators showed that the mass of dust < 0.125 mm was significantly less for feed pellets (0.337 kg/t of pellet mass) than for shelled corn (0.403 kg/t of corn mass).
Gene-Gene and Gene-Environment Interactions in HIV-Associated Nephropathy: A Focus on the MYH9 Nephropathy Susceptibility Gene

HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) is a leading cause of ESRD in African Americans. The HIV-1 virus infects podocytes, cells integral to formation of the glomerular filtration barrier, often leading to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. HIVAN is typically a complication of late-stage HIV infection, associated with low CD4 cell counts and elevated serum HIV RNA levels. Highly active antiretroviral therapy is partially protective and has altered the natural history of HIV-associated kidney disease. Nonetheless, HIVAN remains an important public health concern among HIV-infected African Americans. Although polymorphisms in the MYH9 gene on chromosome 22 are strongly associated with HIVAN, as well as with idiopathic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and global glomerulosclerosis (historically labeled "hypertensive nephrosclerosis"), the majority of HIV-infected patients who are genetically at risk from MYH9 do not appear to develop severe kidney disease. Therefore, we postulate that additional environmental exposures and/or inherited factors are necessary to initiate human HIVAN. Gene-environment interactions have also been proposed as necessary for the initiation of HIVAN in murine models. It is important that these novel risk factors be identified because prevention of environmental exposures and targeting of additional gene products may reduce the risk for HIVAN, even among those harboring 2 risk alleles in MYH9.
Effect of metoclopramide on gastric liquid emptying in patients with diabetic gastroparesis.

Metoclopramide tablets have been approved for use in the acute and chronic management of diabetic gastroparesis. Its efficacy as an antiemetic has been well documented. We measured the acute and chronic effects of oral metoclopramide on gastric liquid emptying in 12 diabetic patients with symptoms of stasis using scintiscanning techniques. We found that liquid emptying in these subjects was abnormal, as determined by residue area determination when compared to normal volunteers (P<0.01). Metoclopramide 10 mg orally acutely enhanced emptying, restoring it to control values (P<0.01). In contrast, when gastric emptying was evaluated following one month of chronic liquid metoclopramide use, 10 mg before each meal, the acute effect of the drug on emptying could no longer be demonstrated and residue areas returned to baseline values, suggesting that chronic oral administration of metoclopramide may result in a loss of the gastrokinetic properties of this drug.
The stored grain ecosystem: A global perspective☆

Abstract Ecosystem principles and processes, such as biological succession, population dynamics, niche concept, limits to growth, and food webs apply to grain storage systems, as well as to forests, oceans, lakes, prairies, and preharvest agroecosystems. In 1989, Odum classified the food-storage system as a human-subsidized, solar-powered ecosystem, one of the four main ecosystems of the world. A grain storage ecosystem is a complex system that can be described in several scales. One may consider the storage structure and its contents as an entire system, or one may consider a group of storage structures as an archipelago of ecological islands linked by transportation and commerce. Government policies and consumer demands are part of the environment that must be considered in effective economic management of the stored grain ecosystem. The grain storage system is part of the postharvest ecosystem, a larger system which extends from harvest to consumption. An understanding of the interrelationship of biological and physical factors, and selection pressures in the system is essential to making sound decisions about the long term directions of postharvest research, as well as the daily management of grain and other food commodities in the postharvest system. In this paper, ecosystem principles are used to draw together progress which has been made in understanding: (1) the physical elements, defined in part by the structure, (2) the biological elements, including human society, and (3) the interrelationships of physical and biological elements in postharvest systems throughout the world. Suggestions given for future directions in ecosystem-based research on the postharvest grain system are drawn from systems in several areas of the world and include examples of reverse technology.
Lipoxygenase metabolites induced expression of adhesion molecules and transendothelial migration of monocyte-like HL-60 cells is linked to protein kinase C activation.

Studies have shown that, among lipoxygenase metabolites examined, 15(S)-hydroperoxy-5,8,11,13-eicosa-tetraenoic acid (15[S]-HPETE), at micromolar concentrations, selectively causes injury to cultured endothelial cells. We investigated whether physiologically relevant concentrations of lipoxygenase metabolites affected the expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) involved in the adhesion of leukocytes and/or the accumulation of leukocytes in the vascular endothelium, these being the initial events in endothelial cell injury. Among lipoxygenase metabolites, 15(S)-HPETE and 12(S)-HETE, at nanomolar concentrations, induced surface expression of a subset of cell adhesion molecules (CAM), ICAM-1, ELAM-1, and VCAM-1, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), which is associated with an increased binding activity of the transcription factor, NF-κB, to the consensus motif common to the CAM genes in the HUVEC nuclear extracts. Furthermore, 15(S)-HPETE (1 nM) caused a threefold increase in the rate of transendothelial migration of vitamin D3-differentiated HL-60 monocyte-like cells and showed a thirtyfold increase in the phosphorylation of PECAM-1, an adhesion molecule involved in endothelial cell-cell adhesion. Both an antibody to PECAM-1 and the protein kinase C inhibitor, GF 109203X, reduced 15(S)-HPETE-induced transmigration of monocyte-like HL-60 cells by approximately 75% and 85%, respectively. Treatment of HUVEC with a phosphatase inhibitor, calyculin A, augmented both the phosphorylation of PECAM-1 and transmigration of monocyte-like HL-60 cells induced by 15(S)-HPETE. Our results show that 15(S)-HPETE, at physiological concentrations, induced activation of protein kinase C in HUVEC and leads to the phosphorylation of PECAM-1, thus facilitating the migration of monocyte-like HL-60 cells across the endothelial cell monolayer. It is suggested that phosphorylation/dephosphorylation events in PECAM-1 are important in regulating the trafficking of monocytes across the endothelial cell monolayer. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Inhibitory effect of mannose on erythrocyte defense against oxidants.

Abstract The erythrocyte can phosphorylate a variety of hexoses. Since it can consume mannose and glucose equivalent in the hereditary deficiencies of hexokinase and phosphoglucose isomerase and since erythrocyte defense against oxidants is impaired in a variety of hereditary hemolytic anemias, we tested the hypothesis that mannose may be a significant alternative to glucose as a fuel for this defense system. Unexpectedly, mannose inhibited defense against oxidants as manifested by increased Heinz body formation when both normal and high-reticulocyte erythrocytes were incubated with acetylphenylhydrazine (APH). Using APH as the oxidant, mannose-incubated erythrocytes and decreased reduced glutahione stability and impaired hexose oxidation by the pentose shunt compared to glucose-incubated erythrocytes. After incubation with mannose and APH, normal erythrocyted showed a decreased in ATP content. Approximately 25% of the consumed mannose accumulated in the erythrocytes as mannose 6-phosphate. Erythrocyte incubated with mannose and APH displayed a significant loss of redox potential as manifested by decreased NADH/(NADH + NAD + ) and NADPH/(NADPH + NADP + ) ratioes. Since phosphomannose isomerase is the rate-limiting step for mannose metabolsim, our suggest that mannose impairs erythrocyte defense against oxidants by causing ATP depletion and by impairing the regeneration of reduced pyridine nucleotides by the Embden-Meyerhof and pentose phosphate pathways.
Some remarks on V 2 -splines

A characterization theorem for visually C^2 (short: V^2) curves and a short derivation of v-spline interpolants is given.
USEable security: interface design strategies for improving security

As people start depending more on technology and the internet they are opening themselves up to new risks. In this project, we specifically investigated wireless router interfaces to understand the needs of users when they configure security. Two studies were conducted: a baseline study comparing the interfaces of two routers on the market and a study comparing a prototype and the Linksys interface. The baseline study showed that there was no difference between the current interfaces. We then conducted a controlled experiment with a prototype that gave visual feedback. The prototype showed significant improvement in level of security achieved.
C10 is a novel chemokine expressed in experimental inflammatory demyelinating disorders that promotes recruitment of macrophages to the central nervous system

Chemokines may be important in the control of leukocytosis in inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system. We studied cerebral chemokine expression during the evolution of diverse neuroinflammatory disorders in transgenic mice with astrocyte glial fibrillary acidic protein-targeted expression of the cytokines IL-3, IL-6, or IFN-α and in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Distinct chemokine gene expression patterns were observed in the different central nervous system inflammatory models that may determine the phenotype and perhaps the functions of the leukocytes that traffic into the brain. Notably, high expression of C10 and C10-related genes was found in the cerebellum and spinal cord of GFAP-IL3 mice with inflammatory demyelinating disease and in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In both these neuroinflammatory models, C10 RNA and protein expressing cells were predominantly macrophage/microglia and foamy macrophages present within demyelinating lesions as well as in perivascular infiltrates and meninges. Intracerebroventricular injection of recombinant C10 protein promoted the recruitment of large numbers of Mac-1 + cells and, to a much lesser extent, CD4 + lymphocytes into the meninges, choroid plexus, ventricles, and parenchyma of the brain. Thus, C10 is a prominent chemokine expressed in the central nervous system in experimental inflammatory demyelinating disease that, we show, also acts as a potent chemotactic factor for the migration of these leukocytes to the brain.
Some perspective projection invariants

An important part of stereo vision consists of finding and matching points in two images that correspond to the same physical element in the scene. When the two images of the same scene are taken from quite different points of view, matching corresponding elements can be difficult. It is desirable therefore to consider perspective projection invariants, that is, features or image properties that are invariant for arbitrary perspective projections. We prove theorems about the projections of zeros of curvature of curves, namely, that zeros of curvatures of planar curves are perspective invariants and that zeros of curvature of arbitrary curves are almost always perspective invariants. We also show that the projected zeros of curvature of planar curves are only stable for deformations occurring in the plane of the curve.
Assessing preference in elders with dementia using multimedia and verbal pleasant events schedules

The current study compared an abbreviated oral interview version of the Pleasant Events Schedule – Alzheimer’s Disease (PES-AD) to a multimedia-supplemented version. Both measures identified multiple preferred items and their scores were moderately correlated (r ¼ .481). Direct observations were conducted to determine whether either of the two measures predicted subsequent engagement. For all nine individuals with dementia, items endorsed as preferred by both versions of the PES-AD resulted in high levels of engagement and items endorsed as non-preferred items on both measures resulted in low to moderate levels of engagement. Individuals with MMSE scores of 10 or higher had more stable and differentiated patterns of engagement than individuals with scores below 10. For individuals with higher MMSE scores, items endorsed only by the multimedia version resulted in high engagement levels (i.e., true positive) while items endorsed only on the verbal presentation resulted in low levels (i.e., false positive). Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Human recognition in a video network

Video networks is an emerging interdisciplinary field with significant and exciting scientific and technological challenges. It has great promise in solving many real-world problems and enabling a broad range of applications, including smart homes, video surveillance, environment and traffic monitoring, elderly care, intelligent environments, and entertainment in public and private spaces. This paper provides an overview of the design of a wireless video network as an experimental environment, camera selection, hand-off and control, anomaly detection. It addresses challenging questions for individual identification using gait and face at a distance and present new techniques and their comparison for robust identification.
Thermal properties and enthalpy relaxation of tyrosine-derived polyarylates

Sixteen degradable, tyrosine-derived polyarylates with well-defined chemical structures were used to study the effect of polymer structure on the glass transition temperature and enthalpy relaxation kinetics (physical aging). These polyarylates compose a model system where the number of methylene groups present in either the pendent chain or the polymer backbone can be altered independently and in a systematic fashion. Quantitative differential scanning calorimetry was employed to measure the glass transition temperature and the enthalpy relaxation kinetics. Correlations between these material properties and the polymer structure were established. The glass transition temperature of this family of polymers ranged from 13 to 78°C. The addition of methylene groups to either the pendent chain or the polymer backbone made a fairly constant contribution to lowering the glass transition temperature. The rate of enthalpy relaxation increased with an increasing number of methylene groups in the polymer backbone, but was independent of the number of methylene groups in the pendent chain. This observation indicated that the rate of enthalpy relaxation in these polymers was limited by the mobility of the polymer backbone. The enthalpy relaxation data was fitted to the Cowie-Ferguson model and the relaxation times obtained ranged from 44 min to about 100 min. Although these structure-property correlations facilitate the design of new materials with predictable thermal properties, they are rarely investigated for biomedical polymers. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 63: 1441–1448, 1997