cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Waste and Waste Management

Discard studies have demonstrated that waste is more than just a symptom of an all-too-human demand for meaning or a merely technical problem for sanitary engineers and public health officials. The afterlife of waste materials and processes of waste management reveal the centrality of transient and discarded things for questions of materiality and ontology and marginal and polluting labor and environmental justice movements, as well as for critiques of the exploitation and deferred promises of modernity and imperial formations. There is yet more waste will tell us, especially as more studies continue to document the many ways that our wastes are not only our problem, but become entangled with the lives of nonhuman creatures and the future of the planet we share.
In Silico Classification of Proteins from Acidic and Neutral Cytoplasms

Protein acidostability is a common problem in biopharmaceutical and other industries. However, it remains a great challenge to engineer proteins for enhanced acidostability because our knowledge of protein acidostabilization is still very limited. In this paper, we present a comparative study of proteins from bacteria with acidic (AP) and neutral cytoplasms (NP) using an integrated statistical and machine learning approach. We construct a set of 393 non-redundant AP-NP ortholog pairs and calculate a total of 889 sequence based features for these proteins. The pairwise alignments of these ortholog pairs are used to build a residue substitution propensity matrix between APs and NPs. We use Gini importance provided by the Random Forest algorithm to rank the relative importance of these features. A scoring function using the 10 most significant features is developed and optimized using a hill climbing algorithm. The accuracy of the score function is 86.01% in predicting AP-NP ortholog pairs and is 76.65% in predicting non-ortholog AP-NP pairs, suggesting that there are significant differences between APs and NPs which can be used to predict relative acidostability of proteins. The overall trends uncovered in the study can be used as general guidelines for designing acidostable proteins. To best of our knowledge, this work represents the first systematic comparative study of the acidostable proteins and their non-acidostable orthologs.
Matrix attachment regions (MARs) enhance transformation frequency and transgene expression in poplar

We tested the value of a matrix attachment region (MAR) fragment derived from a tobacco gene for increasing the frequency of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A binary vector that carried a GUS reporter gene containing an intron and an nptII gene was modified to contain flanking MAR elements within the T-DNA borders. Vectors containing or lacking MARs were then used to transform tobacco, a readily transformabl e poplar clone (Populus tremula × P. alba), and a recalcitrant poplar clone (Populus trichocarpa × P. deltoides). MARs increased GUS gene expression approximately 10-fold in the two hybrid poplar clones and twofold in tobacco one month after cocultivation with Agrobacterium; MARs also increased the frequency of kanamycin-resistant poplar shoots recovered
A Review of Reward Processing and Motivational Impairment in Schizophrenia

This article reviews and synthesizes research on reward processing in schizophrenia, which has begun to provide important insights into the cognitive and neural mechanisms associated with motivational impairments. Aberrant cortical-striatal interactions may be involved with multiple reward processing abnormalities, including: (1) dopamine-mediated basal ganglia systems that support reinforcement learning and the ability to predict cues that lead to rewarding outcomes; (2) orbitofrontal cortex-driven deficits in generating, updating, and maintaining value representations; (3) aberrant effort-value computations, which may be mediated by disrupted anterior cingulate cortex and midbrain dopamine functioning; and (4) altered activation of the prefrontal cortex, which is important for generating exploratory behaviors in environments where reward outcomes are uncertain. It will be important for psychosocial interventions targeting negative symptoms to account for abnormalities in each of these reward processes, which may also have important interactions; suggestions for novel behavioral intervention strategies that make use of external cues, reinforcers, and mobile technology are discussed.
Modeling the indoor MIMO wireless channel

This paper demonstrates the ability of a physically based statistical multipath propagation model to match capacity statistics and pairwise magnitude and phase distributions of measured 4 /spl times/ 4 and 10 /spl times/ 10 narrow-band multiple-input multiple-output data (MIMO) at 2.4 GHz. The model is compared to simpler statistical models based on the multivariate complex normal distribution with either complex envelope or power correlation. The comparison is facilitated by computing channel element covariance matrices for fixed sets of multipath statistics. Multipolarization data is used to demonstrate a simple method for modeling dual-polarization arrays.
A novel 2-hydroxyflavanone from Collinsonia canadensis

A new flavonoid, 2,5-dihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavanone (1), was isolated from the leaf and stem exudates of Collinsonia canadensis along with three known flavones, baicalein-6,7-dimethyl ether (2), norwogenin-7,8-dimethyl ether (3), and tectochrysin (5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavone).
Double-active-layer index-guided InGaAsP-InP laser diode

A buried crescent InGaAsP-InP laser with two active layers was fabricated to study the temperature behavior of the double-carrier-confinement structure. An anomalously high characteristic temperature T/sub 0/ was measured, and optical switching behavior was observed. A mode analysis and numerical calculation using a rate equation approach explained qualitatively very well the experimental results. It was revealed that both the Auger recombination in this special double-active-layer configuration and the temperature-dependent leakage current, which leads to uniform carrier distribution in both active regions, are essential to increase T/sub 0/. >
The effect of speculatively updating branch history on branch prediction accuracy, revisited

Recent research (A.R. Talcott, W. Yamamoto, M.J. Serrano, R.C. Wood, and M. Nemirovsky, Proc. 21st Annual Int. Symposium Comput. Archit., pp. 12-21, 1994) has suggested that the branch history register need not contain the outcomes of the most recent branches in order for the two-level adaptive branch predictor to work well. From this result, it is tempting to conclude that the branch history register need not be speculatively updated. This paper revisits this work and explains when the most recent branch outcomes can be omitted without significantly affecting performance. It also explains why this result does not imply that speculative updating is not important. This paper shows that because the number of unresolved branches present in the machine varies during program execution, branch predictors without speculative updating perform significantly worse than branch predictors with speculative updating.
Color Management of Printers by Regression over Enclosing Neighborhoods

A popular color management standard for controlling color reproduction is the ICC color profile. The core of the ICC profile is a look-up-table which maps a regular grid of device-independent colors to the printer colorspace. To estimate the look-up-table from sample input-output colors, local linear regression has been shown to work better than other methods. An open problem in local linear regression is how to define the locality or neighborhood for each of the local linear regressions. In this paper, new adaptive neighborhood definitions and regularized local linear regression are proposed to address this problem. The adaptive neighborhood definitions enclose the test sample, and are motivated by a result showing they yield bounded estimation variance. An experiment shows that both regularization and the proposed neighborhoods can lead to a significant reduction in error.
Social Functioning of Schizophrenic Patients: Clinical and Research Issues

Social dysfunction is generally considered an essential feature of schizophrenia. However, despite considerable interest in the social functioning of schizophrenic patients, the precise nature of the social deficits exhibited by these patients remains unspecified. No widely accepted criterion of social competence has been used to investigate their social functioning. Also, social skills researchers have often failed to recognize the heterogeneity of schizophrenia and the impact that this heterogeneity may have on attempts to implement psychosocial interventions. The adverse findings regarding the social behavior of schizophrenic patients are reviewed. Factors relating to schizophrenia that may affect their social functioning are discussed, as are directions for future research that may lead to more effective psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia.
Outcome comparison between open and endovascular management of axillosubclavian arterial injuries.

Background Endovascular repair (ER) of axillosubclavian arterial injuries is a minimally invasive alternative to open repair (OR). The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of ER vs OR. Methods A retrospective study was performed of patients who sustained axillosubclavian arterial injuries admitted to two high-volume academic trauma centers between 2003 and 2013. Patients undergoing ER and OR were matched according to 25 different demographic and clinical variables in a 1:3 ratio using propensity scores. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were complications and length of stay. Results Among 153 patients (79.7% male; mean age, 32.7 ± 15.9 years) who sustained axillosubclavian arterial injuries, 18 (11.8%) underwent ER and 135 (88.2%) had OR. Matched cases (ER, n = 18) and controls (OR, n = 54) had similar demographic and clinical data, such as age, gender, admission systolic blood pressure and Glasgow Coma Scale score, body Abbreviated Injury Scale scores, Injury Severity Score, and transfusion requirements. Patients undergoing ER had significantly lower in-hospital mortality compared with patients undergoing OR (5.6% vs 27.8%; P = .040; odds ratio, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.6-0.9). Similarly, patients undergoing ER had substantially lower rates of surgical site infections and a trend toward lower rates of sepsis. Outpatient follow-up was available in 88.2% (n = 15) of the patients at a median time of 8 months (1-30 months). Two ER patients required open reintervention for stent-related complications (one for a type Ia endoleak and another for stent thrombosis). Conclusions In our experience with axillosubclavian arterial injuries, ER was associated with improved mortality and lower complication rates. Patient follow-up demonstrates an acceptable reintervention rate after ER. Further multicenter prospective evaluation is warranted to determine long-term outcomes.
Performance of an upflow anaerobic reactor combining a sludge blanket and a filter treating sugar waste

A new hybrid reactor, the upflow blanket filter (UBF), which combines an open volume in the bottom two-thirds of the reactor for a sludge blanket and submerged plastic rings (Flexiring, Koch Inc., 235 squared m/cubic m) in the upper one-third of the reactor volume, was studied. This UBF reactor was operated at 27 degrees C at loading rates varying from 5 to 51 g chemical oxygen demand (COD)/l day with soluble sugar wastewater (2500 mg COD/l). Maximum removal rates of 34 g COD/l day and CH/sub 4/ production rates of 7 vol/vol day (standard temperature and pressure (STP)) were obtained. The biomass activity was about 1.2 g COD/g volatile suspended solids per day. Conversion (based on effluent soluble COD) was over 93% with loading rates up to 26 g COD/l day. At higher loading rates conversion decreased rapidly. The packing was very efficient in retaining biomass. 11 references.
Radiocarbon Dating: A Case against the Proposed Link between River Mollusks and Soil Humus

The C/sup 14/ link between river mollusks and soil humus is discussed. It is stated that the explanation that the C/sup 13/ deficiency should be attributed to the uptake of soil CO/sub 2/ by ground water (oxidation of humus in the soil, rather than after it has been transported into streams) and the C/sup 14/ deficiency to the solution of limestone is far more plausible. It was concluded that any relation between the radiocarbon concentrations in soil humus and fresh water mollusks is almost certainly coincidental. (P.C.H.)
Onset of Nucleate Boiling and Active Nucleation Site Density During Subcooled Flow Boiling

The partitioning of the heat flux supplied at the wall is one of the key issues that needs to be resolved if one is to model subcooled flow boiling accurately. The first step in studying wall heat flux partitioning is to account for the various heat transfer mechanisms involved and to know the location at which the onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) occurs. Active nucleation site density data is required to account for the energy carried away by the bubbles departing from the wall. Subcooled flow boiling experiments were conducted using a flat plate copper surface and a nine-rod (zircalloy-4) bundle. The location of ONB during the experiments was determined from visual observations as well as from the thermocouple output. From the data obtained it is found that the heat flux and wall superheat required for inception are dependent on flow rate, liquid subcooling, and contact angle. The existing correlations for ONB underpredict the wall superheat at ONB in most cases. A correlation for predicting the wall superheat and wall heat flux at ONB has been developed from the data obtained in this study and that reported in the literature. Experimental data are within630 percent of that predicted from the correlation. Active nucleation site density was determined by manually counting the individual sites in pictures obtained using a CCD camera. Correlations for nucleation site density, which are independent of flow rate and liquid subcooling, but dependent on contact angle have been developed for two ranges of wall superheat—one below 15°C and another above 15°C. @DOI: 10.1115/1.1471522#
Distribution Effects Of Gasoline Taxes In The South: Comparison Of the Expenditure and Income Approaches

Variations in the spending on gasoline and motor oil by quintiles are determined using both an income and expenditure base. Total expenditure data in relationship to expenditures on gasoline and motor oil in the Southern urban areas in 1990 are a relatively stable percent over the first four expenditure quintiles, 4.4 to 4.5 percent. Using income before taxes, depicts a continual decrease in the percent of income spent on gasoline, as expected. In the Southern states a gasoline tax loses much of its regressivity when permanent income is used as the base, and becomes markedly regressive when income before taxes becomes the basis for determining the tax burden.
Tunable metasurfaces (Presentation Recording)

Metasurfaces composed of sub-wavelength artificial structures show promise for extraordinary light-manipulation and development of ultrathin optical components such as lenses, wave plates, orbital angular detection, and holograms over a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum. However structures developed to date do not allow for post-fabrication control of antenna properties. We have investigated the integration of the transparent conductor indium tin oxide (ITO) active elements to realize gate-tunable phased arrays of subwavelength patch antenna in a metasurface configuration to enable gate tunable permittivity. The magnetic dipole resonance of each patch antenna interacts with the carrier density-dependent permittivity resonance of the ITO to enable phase and amplitude tunability. Operation of patch antennas and beam steering phased arrays will be discussed.
Abstract 176: Saxagliptin and Tadalafil Differentially Alter Global and Cellular Cardiac Function in a Translational Miniature Swine Model of Left Ventricle Hypertrophy

Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is a common characteristic of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Our lab recently characterized a mini-swine model of LV hypertrophy induced by aortic banding (AB) that displays clinical features associated with HFpEF including LV hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, and depressed contractile reserve. Disrupted cGMP signaling, a result of impaired production or enhanced catabolism, may play a role in development of HFpEF. We hypothesized preservation of cGMP signaling would attenuate pathological remodeling and improve cardiac function. The purpose of this study was to promote cGMP signaling via two mechanisms: 1) the DPP4 inhibitor saxagliptin; and 2) the PDE5 inhibitor tadalafil. We assessed whole heart and individual cardiomyocyte function 6 months post-AB in: control non-banded (CON; n=6), AB-control (AB; n=7), AB saxagliptin-treated (AB-SAX; n=7), and AB tadalafil-treated (AB-TAD; n=8) swine. Heart weight:body weight ratio increased to a similar extent in all AB groups. However, changes in cardiomyocyte morphology were variable. Cardiomyocyte length was increased only in the AB-TAD group, while cell width increased in both AB and AB-TAD animals. Cardiomyocyte length:width ratio decreased in the AB and AB-TAD groups, commensurate with decreased LV end diastolic (ED) and end systolic (ES) volumes. These changes were prevented in AB-SAX animals, as LV volumes and cell morphology were similar to CON. Pressure-volume analysis showed resting LV wall stiffness (ED pressure volume relationship [EDPVR] slope) was increased similarly in all AB groups. Increased resting LV contractility (ESPVR and preload recruitable stroke work) was observed in AB and AB-TAD animals. Interestingly, cardiomyocyte shortening was reduced in the AB-TAD group contrasting findings observed at the whole heart level. Saxaglitpin attenuated hypercontractile LV function at rest and preserved normal cardiomyocyte shortening. In conclusion, LV and cardiomyocyte function was distinctly altered in response to separate methods of pharmacological cGMP regulation. Our data suggest different pharmacological approaches to augment cGMP signaling promote distinct LV functional adaptations to developing HF.
Effect of Phanerochaete chrysosporium on Graphite Degradation during Pre-Treatment of Simulated Gold Preg-Robbing Ore

Abstract. In this study, the effect of Phanerochaete chrysosporium on graphite was investigated, and graphite was used as a substitute of elemental carbon in carbonaceous gold ores. Under the condition of optimum process, the fungal degradation rate of graphite reached to 13.49%, and the carbon content of graphite was decreased by 5.13%. XRD analysis indicated that Phanerochaete chrysosporium could destroy the crystal structure of graphite. FTIR analysis indicated that Phanerochaete chrysosporium could increase the number of aliphatic structures and oxygen-containing groups. The cyanide leaching gold tests showed that Phanerochaete chrysosporium can decrease the preg-robbing capacity of graphite, about 9.52%. It indicated that Phanerochaete chrysosporium is an available microorganism, which was employed to pre-treat carbonaceous matter in carbonaceous gold ores to reduce the interference of gold cyanidation leaching.
pAKT Expression and Response to Sorafenib in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Sorafenib has an antitumor activity in patients with radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma (RAIR-DTC). Prior research has implicated signaling through the MAPK and AKT/PI3K pathways in the progression of DTC. To assess whether the activity of these pathways is predictive of response to sorafenib, we retrospectively studied molecular tumor markers from these two pathways from a phase 2 study of sorafenib in RAIR-DTC. Tumor samples from 40 of 53 DTC subjects obtained prior to initiation of sorafenib were immunostained with DAB-labeled antibodies to phospho-AKT (pAKT), phospho-ERK (pERK), and phospho-S6 (pS6). BRAFV600E genetic mutation analysis was performed on all samples. Expression levels and mutational status were compared to response and progression-free survival (PFS) for each patient. Low tumor expression of nuclear pAKT was associated with partial response to sorafenib (p < 0.01). Patients with nuclear pAKT expression that was below the median for our sample were more than three times as likely to have a partial response as patients with equal to or above median expression. There was no correlation between tumor expression of nuclear pERK or pS6 and response. Endothelial cell and pericyte expression of pERK, pAKT, and pS6 were not predictive of response. There was no correlation between BRAFV600E mutation status and partial response. No correlation was observed between either the expression of pAKT, pERK, or pS6, or the presence of the BRAFV600E mutation, and PFS. In conclusion, lower tumor expression of nuclear pAKT was associated with higher rate of response to sorafenib. This observation justifies evaluation of combination therapy with sorafenib and an inhibitor of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in RAIR-DTC.
Handle Positions and Angles in a Dynamic Lifting Task

Thirty industrial subjects took part in a manual lifting task, using different handle positions on a container and different angles between handle and container. Lifts were from floor to waist, waist to shoulder and floor to shoulder. Upper extremity body angles were measured, with heart rate and rated perceived exertion. As in previous static holding experiments, it was found that handle positions with both horizontal and vertical stability gave good results. As a result of this work, handle positions are recommended in the middle of the front edge of a box (at 60°) and in the middle of the lower edge (at 50°). Such an arrangement will minimize wrist deviation and slippage angle between handle and hand.
Symmetry and parity in Frobenius action on cohomology

We prove that the Newton polygons of Frobenius on the crystalline cohomology of proper smooth varieties satisfy a symmetry that results, in the case of projective smooth varieties, from Poincare duality and the hard Lefschetz theorem. As a corollary, we deduce that the Betti numbers in odd degrees of any proper smooth variety over a field are even (a consequence of Hodge symmetry in characteristic zero), answering an old question of Serre. Then we give a generalization and a refinement for arbitrary varieties over finite fields, in response to later questions of Serre and of Katz.
Investigation on airborne pollution caused by room decoration

Objective:To investigate the interior airborne pollution in newly decorated apartments in Hangzhou,to explore the Influencing Factors for interior decoration induced pollution and provide scientific evidences for the control of indoor air pollution.Methods:From September 2006 to October 2008,we determined the concentrations of formaldehyde,benzene,toluene,xylene and total volatile organic compounds(TVOC) in interior air in 112 newly decorated apartment.Results:The point exceeding standard rates and the family exceeding standard rates of the surveyed pollutants in the 112 houses respectively were 22.5% and 38.7% for formaldehyde,63.0% and 80.0% for the total volatile organic compounds,2.8% and 2.8% for benzene,7.5% and 7.5% for toluene,and 9.3% and 9.3% for Xylene.The exceeding rate of TVOC was the highest among the surveyed pollutants.The concentrations of pollutants were associated with the interior-temperature in the apartment.The concentrations of formaldehyde and TVOC in temperature of 25℃ or above were higher than those in temperature below 25℃(P0.05).The concentrations of formaldehyde and TVOC in the bedroom and study room were higher than those in the living room,kitchen and dining-room.Conclusion:Interior-decoration would cause serious indoor airborne pollution.Formaldehyde and total volatile organic compounds are main pollutants to cause indoor environmental pollution,and the next is benzene.The concentrations of indoor air pollutants are positively associated with room temperature.It is suggested that measures such as ventilation and air exchanging should be strengthened to reduce the concentrations of pollutants and to protect residents′ health.
Pharmaceutical liposomal drug delivery: a review of new delivery systems and a look at the regulatory landscape

AbstractLiposomes were the first nanoscale drug to be approved for clinical use in 1995. Since then, the technology has grown considerably, and pioneering recent work in liposome-based delivery systems has brought about remarkable developments with significant clinical implications. This includes long-circulating liposomes, stimuli-responsive liposomes, nebulized liposomes, elastic liposomes for topical, oral and transdermal delivery and covalent lipid-drug complexes for improved drug plasma membrane crossing and targeting to specific organelles. While the regulatory bodies’ opinion on liposomes is well-documented, current guidance that address new delivery systems are not. This review describes, in depth, the current state-of-the-art of these new liposomal delivery systems and provides a critical overview of the current regulatory landscape surrounding commercialization efforts of higher-level complexity systems, the expected requirements and the hurdles faced by companies seeking to bring novel liposome...
14 – Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) enables noninvasive analysis of the chemical composition of matter, and when combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, it provides a readily available method for noninvasive mapping of low-molecular weight metabolites in living systems. Although single-voxel MRS measurements will continue to play a role for many biomedical applications, it is the spectroscopic imaging methods that provide the extended spatial information required for mapping of metabolite distributions. MRSI provides a unique neuroimaging method for evaluation of brain metabolites that can be readily implemented on widely available clinical MRI instruments. These studies can be conveniently integrated with MRI examination providing complementary information that is of interest for many clinical diagnostic applications and biomedical research applications. Although detection sensitivity limits observation to a few of the most abundant metabolites, these compounds have been demonstrated to provide valuable information on oxidative, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. Major clinical application areas include detection of malignancy and neurodegenerative diseases, but also include areas as diverse as psychiatric diseases and encephalopathies.
Dietary intake and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in a worksite population.

OBJECTIVES Nonsmokers who live with smokers have poorer dietary habits than those who live in nonsmoking households. This relationship may be due to shared lifestyle patterns by spouses and family members. However, in order to fully understand the nature of this relationship, it is also important to examine the association between diet and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at the workplace. Further, blue collar workers' patterns of exposure to ETS both at work and at home have not been studied. The goal of this study is to examine the dietary intake of manufacturing workers as it relates to exposure to ETS at work and at home. METHODS The Working Well Trial surveyed 10,833 nonsmokers about a variety of health behaviors, including smoking, dietary behaviors, and ETS exposure. RESULTS Nonsmokers who had ETS exposure in their household had significantly lower intake of all target micronutrients, compared to those without household exposure. Exposure to ETS at the workplace was associated with lower intakes of vitamin C and fruits and vegetables, but not the other micronutrients examined. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to ETS was associated with poorer dietary habits. Household exposure was a stronger predictor of intake than was workplace exposure. Because of the antagonistic effects of many components of a healthful diet in relation to the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, these findings have relevance larger than either ETS exposure or diet considered singly.
Chapter Nine - Cellular Roles of Beta-Arrestins as Substrates and Adaptors of Ubiquitination and Deubiquitination

β-Arrestin1 and β-arrestin2 are homologous adaptor proteins that are ubiquitously expressed in mammalian cells. They belong to a four-member family of arrestins that regulate the vast family of seven-transmembrane receptors that couple to heterotrimeric G proteins (7TMRs or GPCRs), and that modulate 7TMR signal transduction. β-Arrestins were originally identified in the context of signal inhibition via the 7TMRs because they competed with and thereby blocked G protein coupling to 7TMRs. Currently, in addition to their role as desensitizers of signaling, β-arrestins are appreciated as multifunctional adaptors that mediate trafficking and signal transduction of not only 7TMRs, but a growing list of additional receptors, ion channels, and nonreceptor proteins. β-Arrestins' interactions with their multifarious partners are based on their dynamic conformational states rather than particular domain-domain interactions. β-Arrestins adopt activated conformations upon 7TMR association. In addition, β-arrestins undergo various posttranslational modifications that are choreographed by activated 7TMRs, including phosphorylation, ubiquitination, acetylation, nitrosylation, and SUMOylation. Ubiquitination of β-arrestins is critical for their high-affinity interaction with 7TMRs as well as with endocytic adaptor proteins and signaling kinases. β-Arrestins also function as critical adaptors for ubiquitination and deubiquitination of various cellular proteins, and thereby affect the longevity of signal transducers and the intensity of signal transmission.
A time-stepping method for Galerkin approximations for nonlinear parabolic equations

A modified backward difference time discretization is considered for Galerkin approximations to the solution of the nonlinear parabolic equation c(x, u)ut−▽·(a(x, u)▽u)=f(x, u). This procedure allows efficient use of such direct methods for solving linear algebraic equations as nested dissection. Optimal order error estimates and almost optimal order work requirements are derived.
Case 2: Solitary Foot Nodule in a Newborn

A term male infant weighing 3.6 kg is born to a 33-year-old gravida 2, para 1 white mother by normal vaginal delivery at 41 1/7 weeks. The prenatal and delivery course was unremarkable. Physical examination at birth shows a small nodule on the plantar aspect of the right foot measuring 1 × 1 × 0.6 cm (Fig 1). The nodule is reddish-brownish in color and firm in consistency, with mild crusting. Also notable are some areas of dry blood over the nodule. On further examination, a pink vascular patch measuring 8 × 4 mm is noted on the right anterior chest. The remainder of the physical examination findings are unremarkable. Complete blood cell count shows a white blood cell count of 12,100/μL (12.1 × 109/L), hemoglobin of 19.1 g/dL (191 g/L), hematocrit of 58.8% (0.58), and platelet count of 306 × 103/μL (306 × 109/L). The patient undergoes excisional biopsy of the nodule on day 3 …
Inclusive production of $\Omega^-$ and $\overline{\Omega}^+$ by $K^0_l$ carbon interactions in the energy range 80-GeV/c - 280-GeV/c

We have measured the total cross sections of ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and ${\overline{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{+}$ forward (${x}_{\mathrm{F}}g~0$) inclusive production in ${K}_{L}^{0}$-carbon interactions in the range ${E}_{{K}^{0}}=80 \mathrm{to} 280$ GeV to be 3.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.4 and 2.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.0 \ensuremath{\mu}b, respectively. We observe that the ${x}_{\mathrm{F}}$ distributions for both of these states are increasing from ${x}_{\mathrm{F}}=0$ to ${x}_{\mathrm{F}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.6$. The ${p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2}$ distributions are described as an exponential function in ${p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ with an average ${p}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}^{2}$ of 0.540 Ge${\mathrm{V}}^{2}$/${\mathit{c}}^{2}$.
Oesophageal disease in systemic sclerosis: Does heritability play a role?

OBJECTIVES In systemic sclerosis (SSc) the most common gastrointestinal tract (GIT) complaint is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which may contribute to oesophagitis, stricture, Barrett's oesophagus, and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. We used a genealogical resource the Utah Population Database (UPDB) to analyse SSc pedigrees for hereditability of oesophageal disease. METHODS SSc, GERD, oesophagitis, stricture, Barrett's, and oesophageal adenocarcinoma were defined by ICD Ninth and Tenth Revision codes. Familial aggregation, relative risk (RR) of the GIT disease in SSc proband and their relatives was estimated by Cox regression model. The model (adjusted for sex and birth year) was used to evaluate the effects of having or being related to, a case or control for SSc, on GIT diseases. RESULTS We identified 2,227 unique SSc patients and 11,136 randomly selected controls matched by birth year, gender, and whether born in Utah, in an approximately 1:5 ratio. A SSc proband had a significant high risk of GERD (RR: 3.28), dysphagia (RR 5.58), oesophageal stricture (RR: 5.16), oesophagitis (RR: 4.86), and Barrett's (RR: 4.52) all with significant p-values <2e-16. First-degree relatives of a SSc proband were at elevated risk of GERD (RR: 1.14, p=6.85e-05), dysphagia (RR: 1.22 p=0.002), and oesophagitis (RR: 1.37, p=2.10e-06). First cousins (RR: 1.09, p=0.03) and spouses (RR; 1.37, p=0.02) were at increased risk of esophagitis and dysphagia. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that independent of GERD, oesophagitis in SSc patients and their relatives may have both a hereditable and environmental etiology. There does not seem to be a heritable component to Barrett's oesophagus.
Large resistance change on magnetic tunnel junction based molecular spintronics devices

Abstract Molecular bridges covalently bonded to two ferromagnetic electrodes can transform ferromagnetic materials and produce intriguing spin transport characteristics. This paper discusses the impact of molecule induced strong coupling on the spin transport. To study molecular coupling effect the octametallic molecular cluster (OMC) was bridged between two ferromagnetic electrodes of a magnetic tunnel junction (Ta/Co/NiFe/AlOx/NiFe/Ta) along the exposed side edges. OMCs induced strong inter-ferromagnetic electrode coupling to yield drastic changes in transport properties of the magnetic tunnel junction testbed at the room temperature. These OMCs also transformed the magnetic properties of magnetic tunnel junctions. SQUID and ferromagnetic resonance studies provided insightful data to explain transport studies on the magnetic tunnel junction based molecular spintronics devices.
We Are “Both in Charge, the Academics and Self‐Advocates”: Empowerment in Community‐Based Participatory Research

Background: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) brings academics and community members into research partnerships. Although power is central to CBPR, little is known about community partners' experience with empowerment in CBPR with people with developmental disabilities. We interviewed 15 community partners with and without developmental disabilities about empowerment in CBPR. Community partners identified empowered mindsets and behaviors and CBPR factors that facilitated or hindered their empowerment. Our findings indicate CBPR provides opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to gain and develop important qualities, such as empowerment. However, CBPR partnerships need to be carefully constructed and monitored to fully realize positive outcomes.
Trading Epistemological Insults: “Positive Knowledge” and Natural Science in Germany, 1800–1850

Historians have often described the rise of a “positivist natural science” as a defining feature of mid-nineteenth century German culture. This chapter argues, however, that “positivist” was not in fact a label that mid-nineteenth-century German scientists claimed for themselves. Indeed, the word was initially far more likely to be assigned to the natural sciences as an insult rather than as praise. In the German intellectual tradition, “positive knowledge” was a concept originally used in law and theology, not in natural science. The concept came to be associated with the natural sciences during a set of contentious debates over educational reform in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s; in these debates, “positive” knowledge was devalued and seen as potentially dangerous to the education of elite young men.
Variation in x-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) expression and its dependent endoplasmic reticulum chaperones does not regulate adiponectin secretion in dairy cows

Adiponectin is an insulin-sensitizing hormone produced predominantly by adipose tissue; it circulates as oligomers of 3, 6, 18, or more units. Plasma adiponectin might be involved in the development of insulin resistance in transition dairy cows because it falls to a nadir around parturition. The possibility that this regulation occurs through a post-transcriptional mechanism was suggested in a previous study that showed unchanged adiponectin mRNA abundance combined with reduced expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperones implicated in assembly of adiponectin oligomers. Expression of ER chaperones is controlled by x-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), suggesting a model whereby transcriptional regulation of ER chaperones during the transition period contributes to the regulation of adiponectin production. In support of this model, XBP1 expression in adipose tissue, measured either as the active spliced XBP1 mRNA or as the total of all XBP1 mRNA isoforms, was 45% lower on d 8 of lactation than 4 wk before parturition; ATF6 mRNA abundance remained unchanged over the same period. To assess the functional importance of XBP1, preadipocytes isolated from pregnant cows were differentiated into adipocytes that secrete adiponectin. Infection of differentiating cells with an adenovirus expressing the active spliced version of bovine XBP1 did not alter adiponectin mRNA but increased the expression of ER chaperones 1.5- to 5-fold. Despite the latter, XBP1 overexpression did not affect the total amount of adiponectin secreted in medium. In additional experiments, adiponectin production was dependent on exogenous lipid in the medium and was reduced during incubation with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα). Accordingly, we asked whether the repressive effects of these factors on adiponectin production were related to a reduction in the expression of adiponectin or determinants of ER function (XBP1, ATF6, and ER chaperones). Exogenous lipid had no effect on the expression of any of these genes, whereas TNFα repressed adiponectin mRNA abundance by 61% but had little effect on determinants of ER function. Overall, this work shows that XBP1 is a positive regulator of ER chaperone expression in adipose tissue but provides no support for XBP1 and its dependent ER chaperones in the regulation of adiponectin production in bovine adipocytes. Mechanisms accounting for reduced plasma adiponectin in transition cows remain poorly understood.
Introduction to Magnetic Recording Channels

The continuing integration of computers and the Internet into our society demands vast, inexpensive, and reliable digital data storage. High speed CPUs and networks require high transfer speed to and from the storage device, while new applications such as high quality electronic imaging necessitate large storage capacity. Commonly used storage devices include magnetic rigid disk drives, optical disk drives and magnetic tape drives. Among them, the magnetic rigid disk drives offer the best combination of capacity, speed and price, therefore are often used as the major storage device in a computer system.
Suicide in Old Age

ABSTRACT The increase in life expectancy has caused older persons to undertake a qualitative analysis of such long life. Causes, clues and concerns with respect to suicide in old age are here examined.
THE QUESTION OF FUNCTION: DOMINANCE AND PLAY

“Each woman presents a different problem, or, alternatively, each woman presents the same problem” (Stephen Potter, “Woo Basic”).
Individual versus group responses for non-market public goods

Abstract Stated preference methods have been used to value non-market public goods but questions remain about their incentive compatibility. A public goods referendum has proven to be incentive compatible for the more popular contingent valuation method. For attribute based choices, the choice experimental method values goods and services by attribute levels producing marginal values for the economic good. A referendum procedure has been proposed for this attribute based method but it is unclear how its use impacts participant choices. This research develops a controlled laboratory experiment eliciting individual and group responses for two non-market public goods using a referendum format for attribute based choice experiments. Results of the experiments find that a majority referendum rule induces individuals to form responses based upon group perceptions which may lead to non-truthful preference revelation.
Short operational differences support granulation in a lab scale reactor in comparison to another conventional activated sludge reactor.

Abstract This study explains how small operational differences support excellent granulation in aerobic granular reactors. Short settling time promoted granulation in AGS reactor. Gene expressions based on mRNA revealed much higher ammonium monooxygenase (amoA) in conventional reactor biomass than in the aerobic granular reactor (AGS) biomass during a complete cycle operation. The number of glycogen accumulating organisms in conventional was much higher than in the granular reactor. The denitrifying functional genes in the granular systems were upregulated in anaerobic and aerobic phases. The granular reactor removed 1.84 kg COD-m−3day−1, 0.09 kg NH4+-N-m−3day−1, and 0.063 kg PO43—P-m−3day−1. The conventional reactor removed 1.14 Kg-m−3day−1 COD, 0.05 kg-m−3day−1 NH4+-N, and 0.028 kg-m−3day−1 PO43−-P. The granular reactor showed faster kinetics for nutrient and organics removal compared to the conventional reactor. Flocs in the conventional reactor had a lower abundance of Candidatus accumulibacter sp. and higher relative abundance of Candidatus competibacter.
Sexual minority women and Cannabis use: The serial impact of PTSD symptom severity and coping motives.

Abstract Sexual minority women (SMW) report greater rates of cannabis use. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity is related to greater cannabis use among SMW, and it is theorized that this is due to SMW using cannabis in an attempt to manage negative affectivity associated with PTSD symptoms. However, this is the first known study to test this hypothesis. Among undergraduate women who endorsed lifetime cannabis use (N = 439, 10.5% self-identified SMW), SMW reported greater rates of cannabis use, more frequent cannabis use, greater coping-motivated use, and greater PTSD symptom severity than heterosexual women. Serial mediation analyses revealed that SMW reported more frequent cannabis use via the serial effect of PTSD symptom severity and coping-motivated cannabis use. Given the high rates of trauma exposure and cannabis use among SMW, findings suggest that SMW could benefit from exposure-based interventions in addition to cognitive behavioral skills that would teach them more adaptive strategies to manage negative affect associated with trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms.
A Wide-Band Dual-Polarized Frequency-Reconfigurable Slot-Ring Antenna Element Using a Diagonal Feeding Method for Array Design

A reconfigurable slot-ring antenna that can switch between S- and C-band is presented. By turning on the eight PIN-diode switches, an S-band slot-ring antenna can be reconfigured into a 2×2 C-band slot-ring antenna array. This antenna operates from 2.75 to 4.1 GHz in the S-band state and from 5.5 to 8.1 GHz in the C-band state. In the C-band state, a diagonal feeding method is used to excite the 2×2 array and is able to provide either vertical or horizontal polarization; this feeding method can avoid the mutual coupling between two ports for V- and H-polarization.
Graphene oxide as selective transporter of flavonols for physiological target DNA: A two-color fluorescence approach.

Abstract Our study determines the selectivity of graphene oxide (GO) to recognize its ligands (e.g. flavonoids) in facilitating the binding with their respective cellular targets. The polyhydroxy phenolic compounds, flavonoids, have a broad spectrum of therapeutic activities with high potency and low systemic toxicity. Despite the vast medicinal importance, their bioavailability is low. In this exploratory study, GO has been used as the transporter of three flavonols fisetin (3, 7, 3′, 4′-OH flavone), quercetin (3, 5, 7, 3′, 4′-OH flavone), and morin (3, 5, 7, 2′, 4′-OH flavone) for the physiological target DNA. Calf thymus DNA is chosen as the model physiological target. Characterization of GO is performed using FTIR, Raman and dynamic light scattering (DLS) spectroscopy. The strong absorption peak at 1730 cm−1 indicated the presence of carbonyl groups (C=O) at the edges of GO. The presence of sp3 carbons due to oxidation of sp2 carbons in GO is further proved by Raman spectroscopy. DLS provided the average size of the GO particles to be ~9 μm. The dual luminescence behavior of the flavonols has been used in this study for the noninvasive sensing of the GO-flavonol and GO-flavonol-DNA interactions; as well as for the selectivity of GO for one flavonol over other in transferring the ligand to DNA. Furthermore, circular dichroism (CD) indicated that the optical activity of GO undergoes drastic change when conjugated with flavonols. Molecular modeling corroborated the findings from the binding studies. GO provides high promise as facilitators for drug delivery.
Bias CRLB in Sine Space for a Three-Dimensional Sensor

As bias estimation methods are developed, it becomes necessary to obtain the bound on bias estimation for more complex bias and sensor models. Three-dimensional (3-D) sensors, such as radars commonly used in applications, contain both scale and additive biases in sine space which result in a nonlinear estimation problem that may have poor observability and accuracy depending on the geometry of the sensors. By converting the sine space and range measurements to Cartesian using an unbiased conversion, it is possible, via creation of pseudomeasurements, to eliminate the need to estimate the target's state thereby reducing the sensor bias estimator complexity. The present paper evaluates the Cramer–Rao lower bound (CRLB) for estimating scale and additive biases in sine space for 3-D sensors and compares it with a maximum likelihood formulation implemented via iterated least squares, which is thereby shown to be statistically efficient. Additionally, the importance of measurement diversity is investigated with respect to the CRLB.
ACO Contracts With Downside Financial Risk Growing, But Still In The Minority.

Success of the accountable care organization (ACO) model may require stronger financial incentives, such as including downside risk in contracts. Using the National Survey of ACOs, we explored ACO ...