cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Uridinediphosphogalactose-4-Epimerase Deficiency in Salmonella typhimurium and Its Correction by Plasmid-Borne Galactose Genes of Escherichia coli K-12: Effects on Mouse Virulence, Phagocytosis, and Serum Sensitivity

The synthesis of smooth lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in relation to mouse virulence and resistance to serum bactericidal activity in vitro and to rapid intravenous clearance in vivo was studied in Salmonella typhimurium by using a virulent [median lethal dose (LD 50 ) = 10 2 ], smooth, and genetically marked strain, a uridinediphosphogalactose epimerase-deficient mutant of it which was, therefore, rough, and a derivative of the mutant made smooth again by acquisition of the galactose-positive genes of Escherichia coli . The mutant was of reduced virulence (LD 50 = 10 6 ) but the smooth derivative regained the virulence character typical of the parent. The non-smooth phenotype also made the mutant, but not the smooth relatives (parent and derivative), susceptible to serum bactericidal activity and also to rapid intravenous clearance by phagocytosis by the liver. The mutant was similarly treated by germ-free mice (expected to be relatively free of opsonizing antibodies). The clearance of the mutant could be impaired by prior intravenous inoculation of homologous bacteria or their LPS but was reversible by preopsonization of the second inoculum with nonimmune mouse serum, suggesting that the initial inoculum preempted the opsonizing antibodies. Independent evidence of clearance specificity was also provided in mixed inoculum experiments on impaired mice by the rapid clearance of an antigenically unrelated heptose-deficient mutant while maintaining the decelerated clearance of the epimerase mutant. The latter, however, was converted to accelerated clearance by the intravenous inoculation during the impaired state of anti-epimerase mutant immune mouse serum.
Long-term evolution in transit duration of extrasolar planets from magnetic activity in their parent stars

Abstract Existing upper limits on variations in the photospheric radius of the Sun during the solar magnetic activity cycle are at a fractional amplitude of ∼ 2 × 10 - 4 . At that level, the transit duration of a close-in planet around a Sun-like star could change by a fraction of a second per year. This magnitude of variation is larger than that caused by other studied effects (owing to proper motion or general relativistic effects), and should be included in the analysis of constraints on multi-planet systems from transit timing. A temporal correlation between the transit duration and spectroscopic measures of stellar activity can be used to separate the stellar radius change from other effects. The magnetic activity effect could be significantly larger for late-type stars, such as M-dwarfs, which are more variable than the Sun. In general, precision transit measurements provide a new tool for measuring long-term variations of stellar radii.
The interrelationships between abuse, substance use, and psychosocial stress during pregnancy.

Objective: To describe the association between abuse during pregnancy and substance use and psychosocial stress. Design: Prospective study of pregnant women. Setting: Urban prenatal clinics. Participants: 1,937 predominately low- income, ethnically diverse women. Main Outcome Measures(s): Three questions from the Abuse Assessment Screen were used to measure abuse. For the total sample, 25.7% reported physical abuse in the past year, 10.5% physical abuse since pregnancy, and 4.5% sexual abuse in the past year. Adolescents were significantly more likely to report any abuse (37.6%) than were adults (22.6%) (chi-square = 44.94; df=1 ; p Conclusions: Abuse during pregnancy is associated with an increased incidence of substance use and psychosocial stress. These relationships must be incorporated into the clinical care of abused pregnant women.
Broker-client contact and client satisfaction: Are client attitudes towards brokers bullish and bearish with the stock market?

The rapidly changing financial services industry requires an intimate understanding of broker clients in order for brokerage firms to increase and maintain a client base. This study uses a questionnaire in order to determine what clients felt were brokers' strengths and weaknesses in attaining client satisfaction. The results of the survey indicate that clients' perceptions of brokers' honesty, aptitude, knowledge and service to its customers are main determinants of client satisfaction. The overall responses during the bull market and the bear market show little change in client attitudes towards brokers.
Energy dispersive spectrophotometric and X-ray diffraction observations in IUDs.

This paper describes preliminary observations of the surface deposits on Lippes Loop, Dalkon Shield, and Saf-T-Coil IUDs removed after periods of time up to 15 years. Rosettes of euhedral rhombic crystals with a columnar prismatic habit were observed on a Lippes Loop that had beenin situ for 15 years. All mineral deposits were found to be calcium salts, but the degree of crystallization varied significantly, from almost totally amorphous to the perfect euhedral crystal form. The microenvironment alone or in combination with cyclic changes in the biochemical milieu surrounding the IUD may influence the deposition of specific mineral species.
A Strategy for Improving Literature Reviews in Psychology Courses

A teaching intervention to help undergraduates learn to write literature review papers is described.
Prosodically-conditioned variability in children's production of French determiners

Researchers have long noted that children's grammatical morphemes are variably produced, raising questions about when and how grammatical competence is acquired. This study examined the spontaneous production of determiners by two French-speaking children aged 1;5-2;5. It found that determiners were produced earlier with monosyllabic words, and later with disyllabic and trisyllabic words. This suggests that French-speaking children's early determiners are prosodically licensed as part of a binary foot, with determiners appearing more consistently only once prosodic representations become more complex. This study therefore provides support for the notion that grammatical morphemes first appear in prosodically licensed contexts, suggesting that some of the early variability in morphological production is systematic and predictable.
Unsuccessful initial search for a midmantle chemical boundary with seismic arrays

Compositional layering of the midmantle has been proposed to account for seismic and geochemical patterns [van der Hilst and Karason, 1999], and inferred radiogenic heat source concentrations [Kellogg et al., 1999]. Compositional layering would require thermal boundary layers both above and below an interface. We construct a minimal 1-D model of a mid-mantle boundary consistent with the observed nearly adiabatic compressional velocity structure [Dziewonski and Anderson, 1981] and the proposed high heat flow from the lower mantle [Albarede and van der Hilst, 1999; Kellogg et al., 1999]. Ray tracing and reflectivity synthetic seismograms show that a distinct triplication is predicted for short-period P waves. Although topography on a boundary would cause uncertainty in the strength and the range of the triplication, many clear observations would be expected. We examine data from the US West Coast regional networks in the most likely distance range of 60° to 70° for a 1770-km-depth boundary, and find no evidence for P wave triplications.
Child abuse as a life-course social determinant of adult health

Despite prevention efforts worldwide, many children today continue to experience abuse within close relationships, and many adults carry with them histories of abuse. This narrative review focuses on the growing body of research regarding the long-term health consequences of child abuse. First, the review presents a brief introduction to the phenomenon of child abuse, as well as a discussion of theoretical approaches to describing processes through which child abuse can jeopardize later adult health. The review then provides an integrative summary of studies based on community samples that examine associations between physical, psychological, and sexual abuse in childhood and adult mental and physical health. The article concludes with a discussion of conceptualizing child abuse as a life-course social determinant of adult health for both clinical and public health purposes and calls for translational research that can inform efforts to promote the health of diverse individuals and populations with histories of child abuse.
Simulations of Enhancer Evolution Provide Mechanistic Insights into Gene Regulation

There is growing interest in models of regulatory sequence evolution. However, existing models specifically designed for regulatory sequences consider the independent evolution of individual transcription factor (TF)-binding sites, ignoring that the function and evolution of a binding site depends on its context, typically the cis-regulatory module (CRM) in which the site is located. Moreover, existing models do not account for the gene-specific roles of TF-binding sites, primarily because their roles often are not well understood. We introduce two models of regulatory sequence evolution that address some of the shortcomings of existing models and implement simulation frameworks based on them. One model simulates the evolution of an individual binding site in the context of a CRM, while the other evolves an entire CRM. Both models use a state-of-the art sequence-to-expression model to predict the effects of mutations on the regulatory output of the CRM and determine the strength of selection. We use the new framework to simulate the evolution of TF-binding sites in 37 well-studied CRMs belonging to the anterior-posterior patterning system in Drosophila embryos. We show that these simulations provide accurate fits to evolutionary data from 12 Drosophila genomes, which includes statistics of binding site conservation on relatively short evolutionary scales and site loss across larger divergence times. The new framework allows us, for the first time, to test hypotheses regarding the underlying cis-regulatory code by directly comparing the evolutionary implications of the hypothesis with the observed evolutionary dynamics of binding sites. Using this capability, we find that explicitly modeling self-cooperative DNA binding by the TF Caudal (CAD) provides significantly better fits than an otherwise identical evolutionary simulation that lacks this mechanistic aspect. This hypothesis is further supported by a statistical analysis of the distribution of intersite spacing between adjacent CAD sites. Experimental tests confirm direct homodimeric interaction between CAD molecules as well as self-cooperative DNA binding by CAD. We note that computational modeling of the D. melanogaster CRMs alone did not yield significant evidence to support CAD self-cooperativity. We thus demonstrate how specific mechanistic details encoded in CRMs can be revealed by modeling their evolution and fitting such models to multispecies data.
Optimization of lithotripter waveform to reduce tissue injury without compromising stone comminution

To reduce the potential of vascular injury without compromising stone comminution in shock wave lithotripsy, an in situ pulse superposition technique has been developed to suppress intraluminal bubble expansion by modifying an HM-3 reflector based on theoretical analysis and pressure waveform measurement. Using high-speed imaging, it was found that the large Intraluminal bubble expansion was significantly suppressed using the upgraded reflector. Consequently, no rupture of vessel phantom could be observed near the lithotripter focus even after 200 shocks at 24 kV. In comparison, the vessel phantom could be ruptured within 50 shock using the original HM-3 reflector at 20 kV. At corresponding reflector configurations, stone phantom comminution is comparable up to 2,000 shocks. Furthermore, animal studies have demonstrated a significant reduction in renal injury using the upgraded reflector, which confirms the validity of this approach in vivo.
Modulation of Bulbospinal Rostral Ventral Lateral Medulla Neurons by Hypoxia/Hypercapnia but Not Medullary Respiratory Activity

Although sympathetic vasomotor discharge has respiratory modulation, the site(s) responsible for this cardiorespiratory interaction is unknown. One likely source for this coupling is the rostral ventral lateral medulla (RVLM), where presympathetic neurons originate in close apposition to respiratory neurons. The current study tested the hypothesis that RVLM bulbospinal neurons are modulated by medullary respiratory network activity using whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiological recordings of RVLM neurons while simultaneously recording fictive respiratory bursting activity from the hypoglossal rootlet. Additionally, we examined whether challenges to cardiorespiratory function, mainly hypoxia/hypercapnia, alter the activity of bulbospinal neurons and, secondarily, whether changes in synaptic input mediate these responses. Surprisingly, our results indicate that inspiratory-related activity did not modulate glutamatergic, γ-aminobutyric acid-ergic, or glycinergic synaptic events or spontaneous action potential firing in these RVLM neurons. However, hypoxia/hypercapnia reversibly decreased the frequency of γ-aminobutyric acid and glycine inhibitory postsynaptic currents. Glycinergic inhibitory postsynaptic current frequency was depressed from the fifth through the 10th minute, whereas the depression of γ-aminobutyric acid-ergic events became significant only at the 10th minute of hypoxia/hypercapnia. On the basis of spontaneous firing activity, there were 2 populations of RVLM bulbospinal neurons. The firing frequency of low-discharging RVLM neurons was facilitated by hypoxia/hypercapnia, and this increase depended on reduced inhibitory neurotransmission. The firing frequency in RVLM neurons with high-discharge rates was inhibited, independent of synaptic input, by hypoxia/hypercapnia. This article demonstrates that sympathetic-respiratory coupling is not active in the neonatal brain stem slice, and reductions in inhibitory neurotransmission to low spontaneously active bulbospinal RVLM neurons are responsible for hypoxia/hypercapnia-elicited increases in activity.
Living Cities: An Urban Myth? Government and Sustainability in Australia by Garry Smith and Jennifer Scott

Garry Smith and Jennifer Scott, Living Cities: An Urban Myth? Government and Sustainability in Australia (Dural Delivery Centre, New South Wales: Rosenberg Publishing, 2006).A leading question for ...
Phase Relations in the System MgO‐GeO2‐MgF2

Four compounds analogous to the humite minerals were synthesized in the system Mg2GeO4-MgF2 by crystallization from melts and solid state reaction techniques. Precise optical and X-ray diffraction data were obtained. Several other phases were observed within the system MgO-GeO2-MgF2.
Conditions for the distributivity of multiplication with respect to set addition and their effect on the design of array multipliers

Some conditions for distributivity of multiplication with respect to set addition are determined. In particular, distributivity holds if positive numbers are used, but does not hold for negative numbers in radix complement form. Use of simple recoding methods to achieve distributivity is not helpful, since costs of elementary multipliers and summing networks are increased. Distributivity does hold for the digit sets used for signed-digit arithmetic, and the requirement for distributivity provides guidance for the design of elementary multipliers.
Phototransduction in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Nougaret Night Blindness

The Nougaret form of dominant stationary night blindness is linked to a G38D mutation in the rod transducin-alpha subunit (Talpha). In this study, we have examined the mechanism of Nougaret night blindness using transgenic mice expressing TalphaG38D. The biochemical, electrophysiological, and vision-dependent behavioral analyses of the mouse model revealed a unique phenotype of reduced rod sensitivity, impaired activation, and slowed recovery of the phototransduction cascade. Two key deficiencies in TalphaG38D function, its poor ability to activate PDE6 (cGMP phosphodiesterase) and decreased GTPase activity, are found to be the major mechanisms altering visual signaling in transgenic mice. Despite these defects, rod-mediated sensitivity in heterozygous mice is not decreased to the extent seen in heterozygous Nougaret patients.
USE OF PROJECTORS FOR INTEGRABLE MODELS OF QUANTUM FIELD THEORY

This paper is a discussion of the placement of integrable field theory models on a lattice of arbitrary spacing and the construction of the corresponding quantum integrals of motion. Two methods for producing local lattice models of both fundamental and nonfundamental types are covered. It is shown how projectors can be used to construct quasilocal lattice integrable models from quantum integrable field theories. The advantage of the projector method over other methods is the preservation of the original $\mathsf{R}$-matrix. The integrable structure of the model is then left unchanged and the continuum integrals of motion are regained in the infinitesimal lattice limit.
Statistical power for detecting epistasis QTL effects under the F-2 design

Epistasis refers to gene interaction effect involving two or more genes. Statistical methods for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) with epistasis effects have become available recently. However, little is known about the statistical power and sample size requirements for mapping epistatic QTL using genetic markers. In this study, we developed analytical formulae to calculate the statistical power and sample requirement for detecting each epistasis effect under the F-2 design based on crossing inbred lines. Assuming two unlinked interactive QTL and the same absolute value for all epistasis effects, the heritability of additive × additive (a × a) effect is twice as large as that of additive × dominance (a × d) or dominance × additive (d × a) effect, and is four times as large as that of dominance × dominance (d × d) effect. Consequently, among the four types of epistasis effects involving two loci, 'a × a' effect is the easiest to detect whereas 'd × d' effect is the most difficult to detect. The statistical power for detecting 'a × a' effect is similar to that for detecting dominance effect of a single QTL. The sample size requirements for detecting 'a × d', 'd × a' and 'd × d' are highly sensitive to increased distance between the markers and the interacting QTLs. Therefore, using dense marker coverage is critical to detecting those effects.
A convolution interpretation of (M,d,k) run-length-limited capacity

This paper considers the problem of capacity equivalence for a general class of (M,d,k) run-length-limited constraints, namely we look for pairs (M,d,k) and (M',d',k') that have the same capacity. Our approach is based on a time domain interpretation where the characteristic (M,d,k) polynomial is viewed as an impulse train and factorization is related to convolution in discrete time. Using this interpretation, we first derive the known binary equivalence relations and then generalize to the M-ary case.
Effects of Acoustic Deprivation on Morphological Parameters of Development of Auditory Neurons in Rat

Acoustical experience, along with predetermined maturation processes, appears to participate in the development of neurons of the central auditory pathway. In cat, physiological investigations have demonstrated a decrease in neural response latency with maturation (Aitkin and Moore, 1975; Romand and Marty, 1975). Sound deprivation during development was reported to produce changes in binaural interactions and latencies of neurons in the rat inferior colliculus (Silverman and Clopton, 1977; Clopton and Silverman, 1978). Morphological investigations in mice (Webster and Webster, 1977, 1979) and rats (Coleman and O’Connor, 1979) have further shown that sound attenuation during early development leads to reduction in cell size of central auditory neurons. The present investigation was aimed at morphological parameters of normal development and the effects of one form of acoustical deprivation during infancy.
Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome with prominent postexercise exhaustion

A 66-year-old man with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, polyneuropathy, and small cell lung cancer, developed profound muscle weakness with a prolonged period of ventilatory dependency. Electrophysiological studies demonstrated very small compound muscle action potentials in response to supramaximal nerve stimulation, limited tetanic and postexercise facilitation, and prolonged prominent postexercise exhaustion (40-60% of baseline value) persisting up to 20 minutes. It is hypothesized that these changes may reflect both a severe defect in acetylcholine release and decreased availability of releasible acetylcholine from the terminal axon.
Next-generation sequencing-based transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of the common reed, Phragmites australis (Poaceae), reveals genes involved in invasiveness and rhizome specificity

Premise of the study The common reed (Phragmites australis), one of the most widely distributed of all angiosperms, uses its rhizomes (underground stems) to invade new territory, making it one of the most successful weedy species worldwide. Characterization of the rhizome transcriptome and proteome is needed to identify candidate genes and proteins involved in rhizome growth, development, metabolism, and invasiveness. Methods We employed next-generation sequencing technologies including 454 and Illumina platforms to characterize the reed rhizome transcriptome and used quantitative proteomics techniques to identify the rhizome proteome. Key results Combining 336514 Roche 454 Titanium reads and 103350802 Illumina paired-end reads in a de novo hybrid assembly yielded 124450 unique transcripts with an average length of 549 bp, of which 54317 were annotated. Rhizome-specific and differentially expressed transcripts were identified between rhizome apical tips (apical meristematic region) and rhizome elongation zones. A total of 1280 nonredundant proteins were identified and quantified using GeLC-MS/MS based label-free proteomics, where 174 and 77 proteins were preferentially expressed in the rhizome elongation zone and apical tip tissues, respectively. Genes involved in allelopathy and in controlling development and potentially invasiveness were identified. Conclusions In addition to being a valuable sequence and protein data resource for studying plant rhizome species, our results provide useful insights into identifying specific genes and proteins with potential roles in rhizome differentiation, development, and function.
A parametric mixture model for clustering multivariate binary data

The traditional latent class analysis (LCA) uses a mixture model with binary responses on each subject that are independent conditional on cluster membership. However, in many practical applications, the responses are correlated because they are observed on the same subject; this is known as local dependence. In this paper, we extend the LCA model to allow for local dependence in each cluster to improve clustering accuracy. The clustering problem is hard because of its unsupervised learning nature (the true cluster memberships and even the true number of clusters are unknown), the difficulty of estimating a correlation matrix for each cluster and the paucity of information in binary data. Therefore, we follow a parametric approach in which we fit a mixture model whose components follow multivariate Bernoulli distributions (one for each cluster). An extension of a family of parametric models by Oman and Zucker[1] is adopted for this purpose and the maximum likelihood estimation method is used for fitting. The Bayesian information criterion (BIC) due to Schwarz[2] is employed to select the number of clusters. Subjects are classified to clusters using the maximum posterior rule. The proposed method is tested and compared with the LCA method via simulation and by applying both methods to two real data sets. Significant improvement is demonstrated relative to the LCA method. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 3: 3-19, 2010
Developing infrastructure to mass-produce MEMS

Though microelectromechanical systems are often made from silicon, the existing semiconductor technology base faces numerous challenges to meet the special requirements of fabricating MEMS devices. To realize economies of scale, seven aspects of MEMS manufacturing infrastructure must be improved: computer aided design and simulation; lithography; etching; parametric testing; functional testing; packaging; and capital equipment.
Antioxidant properties of argpyrimidine

Argpyrimidine, the product of non-enzymatic protein glycation by methylglyoxal, has been implicated in the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus and neurodegenerative diseases. Chemically, argpyrimidine is a substituted pyrimidinol with structural features common to known antioxidants. The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of argpyrimidine. Argpyrimidine was synthesized by mixing L-arginine with 3-acetoxypentane-2,4-dione under acidic conditions and purified by chromatography. Argpyrimidine inhibited lipid peroxidation of rat brain homogenates catalyzed by hydroxyl radicals, metal ions, and autooxidation in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In addition, argpyrimidine scavenged superoxide anion, 1,1-diphenyl 2-picryl-hydrazyl-stable free radical, intracellular-hydrogen peroxide, and inhibited free-radical-mediated nicking of plasmid-DNA. Taken together, our data suggest that argpyrimidine has antioxidant properties and may therefore have biological relevance in pathophysiologies associated with diabetes mellitus and neurodegenerative diseases.
Three Anointings and One offering: The Sinful Woman in Luke 7.36-50

The story of a woman pouring oil on Jesus' feet or head is attested in all four canonical gospels. While some see the Lukan version pointing to an event that is different from the `Bethany' anointing found in the other three gospels, I argue that all four accounts are based on the same event. The differences in Luke's narrative, instead, can be accounted for by seeing the pouring of oil in Luke as symbol of a sacrificial offering rather than an anointing. Understanding this symbolic act as an offering/sacrifice fits Luke's theme of forgiveness, which is evident in this passage and many others. Moreover, it shows how Luke's gospel moves his readers from a Jewish, male, temple-based religion at the beginning of Jesus' ministry to a Jewish and Gentile, male and female, Spirit-based religion that culminates at Pentecost. Such a reading may also provide clues about the relationships among the Spirit, forgiveness and worship in Luke's gospel.
Sound the alarm: learned association of predation risk with novel auditory stimuli by fathead minnows ( Pimephales promelas ) and glowlight tetras ( Hemigrammus erythrozonus ) after single simultaneous pairings with conspecific chemical alarm cues

Fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, and glowlight tetras, Hemigrammus erythrozonus, were tested for their ability to associate predation risk with novel auditory stimuli after auditory stimuli were presented simultaneously with chemical alarm cues. Minnows and tetras gave a fright response when exposed to skin extract (alarm cue) and an artificial auditory sound stimulus, but no response to water (control) and sound, indicating that they did not have a pre-existing aversion to the auditory stimulus. When retested with sound stimuli alone, minnows and glowlight tetras that had previously been conditioned with water and sound showed no response, but those that had been conditioned with alarm cues and sound exhibited antipredator behaviour (reduced activity) in response to the auditory cue. This is the first known demonstration of learned association of an auditory cue with predation risk, and raises questions about the role of sound in mediating predator-prey interactions in fishes.
Anticipating Reactions: Factors that Shape Competitor Responses

This chapter discusses the results of an empirical study of actions and reactions in the airline industry.
Inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis suppresses sleep in rabbits

The effects of N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis, on spontaneous and interleukin-1 (IL-1)-induced sleep were examined in rabbits. Animals were injected intracerebroventricularly or intravenously during the light phase with vehicle, L-NAME, IL-1, or the combination of L-NAME and IL-1. Injection of L-NAME (5 mg icv and 100 mg/kg iv) suppressed both non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) for 4-6 h. The sleep-suppressive effects are unlikely due to pressor responses to L-NAME because administration of L-NAME (5 mg icv) produced only a transient (3-4 min) slight increase in systemic blood pressure. Injection of IL-1 (20 ng icv) elicited fever, suppressed REMS, and increased NREMS for 6 h. NREMS was suppressed for 3 h after the combined intracerebroventricular injections of 5 mg L-NAME and 20 ng IL-1 and was elevated during postinjection hours 4-6. Administration of IL-1 (30 ng/kg iv) increased NREMS and brain temperature for 2 h. After the combined injection of IL-1 and L-NAME (100 mg/kg), NREMS was significantly suppressed during postinjection hours 1-5. It is not known whether the interactions between the sleep-suppressive effects of L-NAME and the NREMS-promoting effects of IL-1 are specific, being mediated via a common mechanism, or whether they are additive, being mediated via independent mechanisms. The pyrogenic and REMS-suppressive actions of either intracerebroventricularly or intravenously injected IL-1 were not affected by L-NAME.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Corona Discharge Activation and Reconstruction of Elastomer Surfaces

Abstract Corona discharge in air appreciably increased surface energies of ethylene—propylene—diene rubber (EPDM), a blend of chlorobutyl and natural rubbers, and styrene—butadiene rubber (SBR), as determined by contact angle measurements. High energy surfaces were typically short-lived, on the order of minutes, presumably due to facile reconstruction of the surface by mobile elastomer chains. Surface activation occurred despite the relatively thick specimens (1.8–2.5 mm) and the presence of up to 35% by weight of carbon black. Electrode configurations had an effect on the experimental results. Ozone, a byproduct of corona discharge, eroded the surface of SBR. Modest improvements in the bonding of an elastomeric urethane coating were realized with some of the surface-activated elastomers.
Buffering Carbon Nanotube Interconnects Considering Inductive Effects

While copper interconnect scaling is approaching its fundamental physical limit, increasing wire resistivity and delay have greatly limited the circuit miniaturization. The emerging carbon nanotube...
Varietal status for a hirsute phase of Mirabilis linearis (Nyctaginaceae)

For the upcoming treatment of the genus Mirabilis for the Flora of North America North of Mexico, M. linearis (Pursh) Heimerl is treated as having three thoroughly intergrading varieties: M. linearis var. linearis, M. linearis var. decipiens (Standley) S. L. Welsh, and M. linearis var. subhispida (Heimerl) Spellenberg, a new combination published here, based on M. linearis f. subhispida Heimerl. Mirabilis linearis var. subhispida is common on the Great Plains, where it has most often passed as narrow-leaved phases of M. hirsuta (Pursh) Macmillan, or as M. gausapoides (Standley) Standley. A key is provided to distinguish the three varieties of M. linearis.
A Statistical Analysis of Anti-dumping Cases in China and the Enlightenment

Using descriptive statistics method,the current situation of the anti-dumping of our country is analyzed.The results show that the current situation of anti-dumping in China does not match the status of China being a large importer,especially the implementation rate and symmetry rate are comparatively low,and the industrial structure of anti-dumping investigation is unitary,basically focusing on chemical industry and capital-intensive industry.Therefore,corresponding suggestions are put forward in terms of studying the feasibility of anti-dumping laws,giving play to the rigidity effect of the law,promoting the international competitiveness of enterprises and innovating anti-dumping strategies,and so on.
Laser Absorption Diagnostics for Aldehydes in Shock Tube Kinetics Studies

Aldehydes are important intermediate products in the oxidation of hydrocarbons, and benchmark species in engine testing. Sensitive and accurate diagnostics for aldehydes are needed to advance combustion kinetics studies and engine design. So far, common methods to measure aldehydes in low-temperature kinetic experiments have emphasized mass spectroscopy (MS) and gas chromatography (GC).
Current Challenges in the Evaluation and Management of Hyponatremia.

Background: Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte imbalance that clinicians face on a regular basis. Summary: This review aims to discuss four current challenges that can arise when diagnosing and treating hyponatremia: low solute intake, heart failure, exercise-associated hyponatremia, and mild chronic hyponatremia. Low solute intake in a person who already has a urinary concentrating defect will lead to increased retention of free water. The free water retention will cause or worsen hyponatremia that is already present. Low solute intake is overlooked in patients with other disease processes that can cause hyponatremia, such as liver disease or heart failure. Heart failure and hyponatremia present their own set of challenges specifically with treatment as there are limited options. The newer class of aquaretics allows for the short-term treatment of hyponatremia. Exercise-associated hyponatremia is a phenomenon that has been described in ultra-endurance athletes. This happens when a person drinks a significant amount of water while exercising in the setting of antidiuretic hormone production from prolonged exercise. This acute drop in sodium must be treated with hypertonic saline. The term asymptomatic mild chronic hyponatremia is no longer valid. Mild chronic hyponatremia carries an increased risk of falls and fractures, specifically in the elderly populations. Key Message: In summary, hyponatremia is a multifaceted disease and presents many challenges for physicians treating it.
Effect of phasic vagal stimulation and atrial pacing site on atrioventricular conduction time

We tested the hypothesis that the effect of phasic vagal stimulation on atrioventricular (AV) conduction time is affected by the site of atrial pacing in anesthetized dogs. We paced the right atrium at a constant cycle length from the interatrial septum (IAS), superior coronary sinus (SCS), or inferior coronary sinus (ICS) regions, and we evaluated the time-dependent effects of vagal stimulation on AV conduction at each pacing site. When we stimulated the vagi at stimulus (St)-A phases greater than 136 +/- 40 ms and less than the phase that blocked AV conduction (182 +/- 70 ms), IAS pacing prolonged A-V intervals by 8.6 +/- 8.2 ms more than ICS pacing. A change in pacing site affected the A-V intervals by up to 30 ms when we stimulated the vagus at those times that caused the A-V intervals to prolong maximally. Furthermore, the effect of atrial pacing site on A-V intervals was modulated by AV nodal recovery times during the second or third cycles after the vagal stimulus.
Gene correction in patient-specific iPSCs for therapy development and disease modeling

The discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent and the development of engineered endonucleases for enhancing genome editing are two of the most exciting and impactful technology advances in modern medicine and science. Human pluripotent stem cells have the potential to establish new model systems for studying human developmental biology and disease mechanisms. Gene correction in patient-specific iPSCs can also provide a novel source for autologous cell therapy. Although historically challenging, precise genome editing in human iPSCs is becoming more feasible with the development of new genome-editing tools, including ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR. iPSCs derived from patients of a variety of diseases have been edited to correct disease-associated mutations and to generate isogenic cell lines. After directed differentiation, many of the corrected iPSCs showed restored functionality and demonstrated their potential in cell replacement therapy. Genome-wide analyses of gene-corrected iPSCs have collectively demonstrated a high fidelity of the engineered endonucleases. Remaining challenges in clinical translation of these technologies include maintaining genome integrity of the iPSC clones and the differentiated cells. Given the rapid advances in genome-editing technologies, gene correction is no longer the bottleneck in developing iPSC-based gene and cell therapies; generating functional and transplantable cell types from iPSCs remains the biggest challenge needing to be addressed by the research field.
Interventional Nanotheranostics of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) accounts for over 90% of all pancreatic cancer. Nanoparticles (NPs) offer new opportunities for image-guided therapy owing to the unique physicochemical properties of the nanoscale effect and the multifunctional capabilities of NPs. However, major obstacles exist for NP-mediated cancer theranostics, especially in PDAC. The hypovascular nature of PDAC may impede the deposition of NPs into the tumor after systemic administration, and most NPs localize predominantly in the mononuclear phagocytic system, leading to a relatively poor tumor-to-surrounding-organ uptake ratio. Image guidance combined with minimally invasive interventional procedures may help circumvent these barriers to poor drug delivery of NPs in PDAC. Interventional treatments allow regional drug delivery, targeted vascular embolization, direct tumor ablation, and the possibility of disrupting the stromal barrier of PDAC. Interventional treatments also have potentially fewer complications, faster recovery, and lower cost compared with conventional therapies. This work is an overview of current image-guided interventional cancer nanotheranostics with specific attention given to their applications for the management of PDAC.
“If I Could Write This in Fire, I Would Write This in Fire”

If we don’t love our own babies, who is gonna do it for us? Get yo’ babies. I don’t care what’s wrong wit ‘em: ugly, pretty, sweet, bad, retarded [sic], it don’t matter – get yo’ babies. If you don’t tell ‘em you love, if you don’t hold ‘em, if you don’t make ‘em feel good about [themselves], they gon’ get in the streets and have hatred in they heart, and they gonna kill somebody else’s baby.
Incomparable worth: The debate over equal pay for comparable worth

As explained in Chapter 1, full-time working women get only $.71 for every dollar received by full-time working men. Supporters of comparable worth know that few years have passed since separate want ads for men and women restricted options for working women. They also know that surveys show that many managers think men more likely than women to have the traits thought to be associated with managerial effectiveness. They cite court cases showing that some major firms continue to restrict women's access to jobs and promotions. And they endorse and publicize an influential report of the National Academy of Science's National Research Council which concludes that a substantial portion of the wage gap results from sex discrimination. Comparable-worth advocates are outraged that male animal-care attendants get paid more than female child-care workers, and male high school graduates more than female college graduates. They argue that remedying such discrimination is efficient as well as fair since “resources aren't reasonably allocated when some people are underpaid and others are overpaid, relative to their contribution to the employer.” Moreover, at a time when so many families are dependent on women's income, underpaying women is considered a cause of poverty and other social ills.
Noise levels of amusement ride operators

ABSTRACTOne of the leading causes of noise-induced hearing loss is occupational noise exposure; however, little attention has been given to the exposure among amusement ride operators. According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, 600,000 ride operators are employed in the U.S. The first objective of this descriptive study was to evaluate if ride operators were exposed to noise levels over 85 dB. The second objective was to classify the ride features that led to the highest noise levels. 136 rides were measured at 17 total amusement parks, county fairs, and festivals in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during summer 2015. A sound level meter recorded noise measurements as close in proximity to the ride operator as possible. Each ride was measured for two or three complete ride cycles, which included loading and operating the ride. The sound level meter was programmed to measure noise as recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists an...
The Special Moral Importance of Health

In this chapter I argue that health has special moral importance. I do so by suggesting that disadvantage ought to be the proper target of concern when examining justice. If we explore the nature of disadvantage suffered when one is in poor health or living with a disability, we can see that it negatively impacts one’s ability to secure other valuable states of being. I suggest that disadvantage differs not only in degree, but in kind, and as such, capabilities that result in corrosive disadvantage when insecure ought to be prioritized as a matter of justice.
The Measurement of Unsteady Surface Pressure Using a Remote Microphone Probe

Microphones are widely applied to measure pressure fluctuations at the walls of solid bodies immersed in turbulent flows. Turbulent motions with various characteristic length scales can result in pressure fluctuations over a wide frequency range. This property of turbulence requires sensing devices to have sufficient sensitivity over a wide range of frequencies. Furthermore, the small characteristic length scales of turbulent structures require small sensing areas and the ability to place the sensors in very close proximity to each other. The complex geometries of the solid bodies, often including large surface curvatures or discontinuities, require the probe to have the ability to be set up in very limited spaces. The development of a remote microphone probe, which is inexpensive, consistent, and repeatable, is described in the present communication. It allows for the measurement of pressure fluctuations with high spatial resolution and dynamic response over a wide range of frequencies. The probe is small enough to be placed within the interior of typical wind tunnel models. The remote microphone probe includes a small, rigid, and hollow tube that penetrates the model surface to form the sensing area. This tube is connected to a standard microphone, at some distance away from the surface, using a "T" junction. An experimental method is introduced to determine the dynamic response of the remote microphone probe. In addition, an analytical method for determining the dynamic response is described. The analytical method can be applied in the design stage to determine the dimensions and properties of the RMP components.
Power system state estimation with a limited number of measurements

This paper is concerned with the power system state estimation (PSSE) problem, which aims to find the unknown operating point of a power network based on a given set of measurements. The measurements of the PSSE problem are allowed to take any arbitrary combination of nodal active powers, nodal reactive powers, nodal voltage magnitudes and line flows. This problem is non-convex and NP-hard in the worst case. We develop a set of convex programs with the property that they all solve the non-convex PSSE problem in the case of noiseless measurements as long as the voltage angles are relatively small. This result is then extended to a general PSSE problem with noisy measurements, and an upper bound on the estimation error is derived. The objective function of each convex program developed in this paper has two terms: one accounting for the non-convexity of the power flow equations and another one for estimating the noise levels. The proposed technique is demonstrated on the 1354-bus European network
Universal photonic interconnect for data centers

Tb/s class, co-packaged CWDM optical engine based on 4 wavelength VCSELs around 1μm is presented. The capability to scale bandwidth and link distance > 2km using single mode VCSELs and standard SMF28 fiber is demonstrated.
Flipper: A Systematic Approach to Debugging Training Sets

As machine learning methods gain popularity across different fields, acquiring labeled training datasets has become the primary bottleneck in the machine learning pipeline. Recently generative models have been used to create and label large amounts of training data, albeit noisily. The output of these generative models is then used to train a discriminative model of choice, such as logistic regression or a complex neural network. However, any errors in the generative model can propagate to the subsequent model being trained. Unfortunately, these generative models are not easily interpretable and are therefore difficult to debug for users. To address this, we present our vision for Flipper, a framework that presents users with high-level information about why their training set is inaccurate and informs their decisions as they improve their generative model manually. We present potential tools within the Flipper framework, inspired by observing biomedical experts working with generative models, which allow users to analyze the errors in their training data in a systematic fashion. Finally, we discuss a prototype of Flipper and report results of a user study where users create a training set for a classification task and improve the discriminative model's accuracy by 2.4 points in less than an hour with feedback from Flipper.
On Being Bayes and Unbiasedness: Bayes and Unbiasedness

Assuming squared error loss, we show that finding unbiased estimators and Bayes estimators can be treated as using a pair of linear operators that operate between two Hilbert spaces. We note that these integral operators are adjoint and then investigate some consequences of this fact. An extension to loss functions that can be defined via an inner product is also presented.
An evaluation of motion mitigation techniques for pancreatic SBRT

Background and purpose Ablative radiation therapy can be beneficial for pancreatic cancer, and motion mitigation helps to reduce dose to nearby organs-at-risk. Here, we compared two competing methods of motion mitigation—abdominal compression and respiratory gating.
Prenatal and postnatal administration of prebiotics and probiotics

Colonization of the neonatal gut by beneficial bacteria is important for the establishment and maintenance of the mucosal barrier, thus protecting the neonate from enteric pathogens and local and systemic inflammation. The neonatal microbiome is influenced by infant diet, environment, and the maternal microbiome. Dysbiosis in pregnancy increases the risk of pre-eclampsia, diabetes, infection, preterm labor, and later childhood atopy. Dysbiosis of the neonatal gut plays an important role in colic in the term infant, in the disease processes which plague preterm infants, including necrotizing enterocolitis and sepsis, and in the long-term outcomes of neonates. Administration of enteral prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics during pregnancy, lactation, and postnatal life appears to be a safe and feasible method to alter the maternal and neonatal microbiome, thus improving pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.