cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Current State of Retail Markets

Over the past three decades, electricity sectors in the United States have been re-structured through the formation of formal wholesale markets and retail competition. Some states have implemented retail competition without formal wholesale markets. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation to either fully or partially restructure their retail electricity markets (US EIA 2020; Quilici et al. 2019). Figure 4.1 illustrates the current status of state-level retail restructuring. Other than Vermont, all of New England has enacted legislation to allow retail competition. Much of the remainder of the Eastern Seaboard has as well. All Eastern states with retail competition, except Georgia, exist within the PJM Interconnection, ISO New England or New York ISO wholesale markets.
Heritage Language Learners and Automaticity: The Use of "por" and "para"

Resumen The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of the Spanish prepositions por and para (P&P) by heritagelanguage (HL) learners to analyze whether they demonstrate automaticity in their application, as is common with L1 Spanish speakers (i.e. “it just sounds right”), or if they rely on the conscious, declarative knowledge of the prescriptive uses of these prepositions, as is common with speakers for whom Spanish is an L2. Upper and lower HL learners and upper and lower FL learners (non-HL learners) were asked to complete a cloze test and a grammaticality judgment task and were asked to explain their judgments. The explanations given by students provide a glimpse into the type of knowledge, whether declarative or procedural, that students tap into when using P&P. This study found that while FL learners relied on declarative knowledge in the application of P&P, HL learners demonstrated a level of automaticity and procedural knowledge in their use of these prepositions. This suggests that HL learners have internalized the uses of P&P though communicative exposure throughout their childhood, which may be more effective than the explicit instruction FL learners have received on these structures. This study aims to add to the growing body of literature on heritage language processes and development. Keywords/Palabras clave heritage learners, L2 learners, SLA, declarative vs. procedural, por and para Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. This linguistics article is available in Entrehojas: Revista de Estudios Hispanicos: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/entrehojas/vol3/iss1/5
Wind Loads on Truss Bridges

Model tests indicate that the spacing of bridge trusses considerably affects wind resistance, and tha.t the resistance produced by the floor bears, little relation to its unshielded area. Other sim...
Seesaw Discipline: The Interactive Effect of Harsh and Lax Discipline on Youth Psychological Adjustment

Although extant research documents the negative consequences of harsh and lax discipline for youth, little empirical attention has been devoted to understanding the impact when parents utilize both strategies. As such, the current study was designed to explore the interaction of harsh and lax discipline on youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms in three developmental periods (early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence). Participants were 615 parents (55 % female) and one of their 3–17 year old children (45 % female). Parents provided reports of their harsh and lax parenting tactics as well as offspring internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Multiple linear regression analyses were utilized to examine the relations between the interaction of harsh and lax parenting on youth symptoms. The interaction between harsh and lax discipline was significantly related to youth internalizing, but not externalizing, problems in the both the young and middle childhood samples and marginally significant in the adolescence sample: seesaw discipline—a novel construct indicative of high levels of both harsh and lax discipline—was associated with the highest levels of youth internalizing problems. Parents who engage in seesaw parenting have children and adolescents who are more likely to evidence internalizing symptoms. Such findings may inform prevention and intervention efforts that target dysfunctional discipline.
MATLAB-Based Flight-Dynamics and Flutter Modeling of a Flexible Flying-Wing Research Drone

A relatively low-order linear dynamic model is developed for the longitudinal flight-dynamics analysis of a flexible flying-wing research drone, and results are compared to previously published results. The model includes the dynamics of both the rigid-body and elastic degrees of freedom, and the subject vehicle is designed to flutter within its flight envelope. The vehicle of interest is a 12–lb, unmanned flying-wing aircraft with a wingspan of 10 ft. In the modeling, the rigid-body degrees of freedom are defined in terms of motion of a vehicle-fixed coordinate frame, as required for flight-dynamics analysis. As a result, the state variables corresponding to the rigid-body degrees of freedom are identical to those used in modeling a rigid vehicle, and the additional states are associated with the elastic degrees of freedom. Both body-freedom and bending–torsion flutter conditions are indicated by the model, and it is shown that the flutter speeds, frequencies, and genesis modes suggested by this low-orde...
Response to Tumulty on Pain and Imperatives

Maura Tumulty has raised two objections to my imperative account of pain. First, she argues that there is a disanalogy between pains and other imperative sensations like itch, hunger, and thirst. Suppose (with Hall) one thinks that an itch says “Scratch here!” Scratch the itch, and it dutifully disappears. Not so with pain. The pain of a broken ankle has the content ‘Do not put weight on that ankle!’ Yet the coddled ankle still throbs: obeying the imperative does not extinguish it. Second, Tumulty argues that the imperative account cannot handle certain pains, particularly pains of the deep viscera. On my account, pains proscribe against taking action with the painful body part. Yet some pains are associated with body parts over which we have no control. Kidney stones cause intense pain, but I cannot (voluntarily) control my kidney. What action, then, could that pain possibly proscribe? Lacking such a story, it is hard to say (as I do) that pains are exhausted by their imperative content.
1 – Getting Started

The general goal of research is to improve scientific productivity, to enlighten the world, and to establish a personal tradition of excellence. Nothing is more idiosyncratic than the start of a research career. Every established investigator has a different story, and each experience varies depending on the environment (geographic, intellectual, historic, biopolitical, and economic) that the new investigator faces. Practical considerations dictate many choices: if the investigator's mentor is a whiz at signal transduction or at molecular modeling, or in the flummoxing of cytokines, that will likely influence the candidate's early exposure. In beginning to look at specific goals, a primary consideration is providing answers for important individual problems. As a first step, they had to develop simple, reliable, and reproducible methods for the early diagnosis of esophageal cancer that could be carried out by doctors with extremely limited resources and supplies.
Structure of Replicating Simian Virus 40 Deoxyribonucleic Acid Molecules

Abstract Properties of replicating simian virus 40 (SV40) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have been examined by sedimentation analysis and by direct observation during a lytic cycle of infection of African green monkey kidney cells. Two types of replicating DNA molecules were observed in the electron microscope. One was an open structure containing two branch points, three branches, and no free ends whose length measurements were consistent with those expected for replicating SV40 DNA molecules. A second species had the same features as the open structure, but in addition it contained a superhelix in the unreplicated portion of the molecule. Eighty to ninety per cent of the replicative intermediates (RI) were in this latter configuration, and length measurements of these molecules also were consistent with replicating SV40 DNA. Replicating DNA molecules with this configuration have not been described previously. RI, when examined in ethidium bromide-cesium chloride (EB-CsCl) isopycnic gradients, banded in a heterogeneous manner. A fraction of the RI banded at the same density as circular SV40 DNA containing one or more single-strand nicks (component II). The remaining radioactive RI banded at densities higher than that of component II, and material was present at all densities between that of supercoiled double-stranded DNA (component I) and component II. When RI that banded at different densities in EB-CsCl were examined in alkaline gradients, cosedimentation of parental DNA and newly replicated DNA did not occur. All newly replicated DNA sedimented more slowly than did intact single-stranded SV40 DNA, a finding that is inconsistent with the rolling circle model of DNA replication. An inverse correlation exists between the extent of replication of the SV40 DNA and the banding density in EB-CsCl. Under alkaline conditions, the parental DNA strands that were contained in the RI sedimented as covalently closed structures. The sedimentation rates in alkali of the covalently closed parental DNA decreased as replication progressed. Based on these observations, some possible models for replication of SV40 DNA are proposed.
Enhancing Web Performance

This paper provides an overview of techniques for improving Web performance. For improving server performance, multiple Web servers can be used in combination with efficient load balancing techniques. We also discuss how the choice of server architecture affects performance. We examine content distribution networks (CDN’s) and the routing techniques that they use. While Web performance can be improved using caching, a key problem with caching is consistency. We present different techniques for achieving varying forms of cache consistency.
Protein network in DNA damage response and breast carcinogenesis

We investigate the ATM (mutated in ataxia telangiectasia) signaling network, with focus on its interaction with DNA repair proteins. IR-induced phosphorylation of NBSl (Nijmegen breakage syndrome), a component of a recombination and repair complex requires ATM. Mutations of NBSl gene lead to developmental defects, chromosome breakage, and predisposition to lymphoma. Complexes containing ATM and NBSl exist in vivo in both untreated and cells treated with IR. We have identified residues of NBSl that are phosphorylated in vitro by ATM and whose modification in vivo is essential for the cellular response to DNA damage, including cell cycle checkpoint activation, formation of NBS1/Mre11/Rad50 (N/M/R) foci and rescue of hypersensitivity to IR. These works are among the first to provide mechanistic insights into the interaction between checkpoint kinases and DNA double strand break repair proteins. We demonstrate that optimal chromatin-association of Rad50/Mre11/NBSl proteins require both the conserved forkhead-associated (FHA) and breast cancer carboxyl-terminus (BRCT) domains of NBSl. Both FHA and BRCT domains are essential for IR-induced foci (IRIF) formation of N/M/R and S phase checkpoint activation, but only the BRCT domain is needed for cellular survival after IR. The A-T like syndrome is due to mutations of Mre11 nuclease that form the repair protein complex. We have determined the kinase/substrate relationship between ATM and Mre11. It has been shown recently that N/M/R complex is required for IR-induced activation of ATM. Chromatin SMCl protein is an effector of ATM and NBSl. Future studies are aimed toward understanding how N/M/R complexes and chromatin structure changes lead to ATM activation.
Ethyl 2,4‐Diphenylbutanoate

Ethyl 2,4-diphenylbutanoate product: ethyl 2,4-diphenylbutanoate product: ethyl 2-methyl-2-phenylpropanoate Keywords: alkylation, C-alkylation; ammonia
RAPID DETERMINATION OF LEAD IN URINE BY ION EXCHANGE.

For routine screening of employees in the lead industry, a method for determination of urinary lead was developed in which this element is removed from urine by means of a chelating agent, eluted, and determined by a modified dithizone method. The method gives values which are about 5% below those obtained by the wet ashing technic, with a precision of ± 2.1% in the range of 2-15 µg. of lead per 50 ml. urine sample. The advantages of the method are that it requires only about 1 hr. to carry out, is convenient, and avoids the time-consuming and potentially hazardous wet ashing step.
A post-remediation assessment in Jersey City of the association of hexavalent chromium in house dust and urinary chromium in children

Although all chromite ore processing residue (COPR) sites near residential neighborhoods in Jersey City, New Jersey have undergone remediation, recent studies found widespread, but low levels of hexavalent chromium (Cr(+6)) in house dust both in Jersey City and in communities with no known sources of Cr(+6). This study was designed as a follow-up to determine whether there is an association between current Cr(+6) levels in house dust and urinary chromium concentrations in young children. Dust samples (N=369) were collected from 123 homes. The median Cr(+6) concentration was 3.3 μg/g (mean±SD 5.2±7.5) and the median Cr(+6) loading was 1.1 μg/m(2) (1.9±3.1). These levels were not elevated compared with previously reported levels in background communities (median concentration=3.5 μg/g; median loading=2.8 μg/m(2)). Urinary chromium concentrations were measured in spot urine samples collected from 150 children, ages 3 months to 6 years. The median uncorrected urinary chromium concentration was 0.19 μg/l (0.22±0.16). Current urinary chromium concentrations were significantly lower than those previously reported before and during remediation (t-test; P<0.001). Urinary chromium concentrations were not significantly higher in homes with high (75th or 90th percentile) Cr(+6) dust levels (concentration or loading) compared with other homes. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationship between Cr(+6) levels (concentration and loading) in house dust and urinary chromium concentrations (uncorrected and specific gravity corrected). Contrary to pre-remediation studies, we did not find a positive association between Cr(+6) levels in house dust and urinary chromium concentrations. The findings indicate that current Cr(+6) levels in house dust are not positively associated with children's chromium exposure as measured by urinary chromium, and the children's exposure to Cr(+6) in house dust is below the level that could be identified by urine sampling.
The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony: America's War of Liberation in Canada, 1774–1776 Mark R. Anderson. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2013.

The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony: America's War of Liberation in Canada, 1774-1776 Mark R. Anderson. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2013.Mark R. Anderson is an independent scholar who served as a military planner for the United States Air Force during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He brings insight from this experience into his analysis of an earlier war of liberation. The American campaign in Canada has received comparatively little attention from American and Canadian historians. For Americans, the military operations in Canada during the first year of the Revolution proved to be a strategic deadend. Boldly conceived, the American assault on British interests along the St. Lawrence River ended in a fiasco, with demoralized Continental troops being chased out of the country by a large army that soon threatened to invade the United States. For Canadians, the American incursion did not provoke the nationmaking resistance seen during the War of 1812. Offering little for either side to celebrate, historians have treated this episode as an abortive sideshow and moved on to greener pastures. Anderson makes a convincing case that the American war of revolution in Canada deserves to be rescued from its obscurity.Acquired by force of arms during the French and Indian War, Canada was different from the thirteen British colonies immediately to the south. The overwhelming majority of its population was French and Roman Catholic. A royal governor ruled the province, assisted by an appointive council; there was no elected legislature. As relations deteriorated with its American colonists, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act in 1774. In many ways an admirable attempt to reconcile the Canadian French to their status as British subjects, the Quebec Act opened up opportunities for them to hold office, permitted French civil law, and recognized the preeminent position of the Catholic Church. The Quebec Act outraged the American colonists because of the favor shown Catholicism and because the boundary of Quebec was extended to include the Ohio Valley, seemingly cutting off the colonies from westward expansion. Many Anglophone Canadians were also outraged by the Quebec Act because it did not make provision for a legislature, in their eyes depriving them of their rights as Englishmen. As war broke out between the British government and the Americans, some of these Canadians were agitating against the Quebec Act. …
Complexes of copper and silver with tetracyanobiimidazole

Abstract We have recently reported the synthesis and properties of a remarkable new ligand 4,4′,5,5′-tetracyano-2,2′-biimidazole (H 2 Tcbiim). 1 This acidic ligand readily binds metal ions in its dianionic form and appears to act as a strong pi acceptor. Its use as a quadridentate bridging ligand allows study of metal-metal interactions through a planar conjugated system and extends earlier work by us 2 and by Hendrickson and coworkers 3 on 2,2′-biimidazole. In this communication we report on the reactions of H 2 Tcbiim with Ag(I), Cu(I) and Cu(II) salts.
Identification of a forbidden line in Kr xxiii

A line at 1462.65 A in the emission spectrum of Alcator-C plasmas seeded with krypton has been identified as the 3s/sup 2/3p/sup 2/ /sup 3/P/sub 0/--3s/sup 2/3p/sup 2/ /sup 3/P/sub 1/ magnetic dipole transition in Si-like krypton.
APPROACHES TO UNCERTAINTY VISUALIZATION

Visualized data often have dubious origins and quality. Different forms of uncertainty and errors are also introduced as the data are derived, transformed, interpolated, and finally rendered. In the absence of integrated presentation of data and uncertainty, the analysis of the visualization is incomplete at best and often leads to inaccurate or incorrect conclusions. This paper surveys techniques for presenting data together with uncertainty. These uncertainty visualization techniques present data in such a manner that users are made aware of the locations and degree of uncertainties in their data so as to make more informed analyses and decisions. The techniques include adding glyphs, adding geometry, modifying geometry, modifying attributes, animation, sonification, and psycho-visual approaches. We present our results in uncertainty visualization for environmental visualization, surface interpolation, global illumination with radiosity, flow visualization, and figure animation. We also present a classification of the possibilities in uncertainty visualization, and locate our contributions within this classification.
Electrical energy converters for practical human total artificial hearts--an opinion in support of electropneumatic systems.

Summary: Until recently, most artificial hearts have served as research tools to acquire further knowledge necessary ultimately to design practical systems for human use. Transcutaneous systems or percutaneous systems utilizing permanently implanted energy converters, batteries, and electronics packages have a number of substantial problems that would not exist if most system elements were kept outside the body. These problems include physiologic control, fit and fixation, foreign body infection, hermetic sealing, cable insulation and fatigue, inherent system complexity, stringent requirements for maintenance-free operation with long-term high reliability, and high cost. Percutaneous systems, particularly those in which only the blood pump is implanted, are an attractive choice for practical systems in the near future. A wearable, battery-powered electropneumatic total heart system should be developed. A practical artificial heart is one that patients can live with. Tether-free, electrically powered devices certainly have the potential to provide an acceptable quality of life. Energy converter design must be part of an integrated systems approach that someday makes the crucial decision to utilize either the transcutaneous or percutaneous approach. There are many difficult technical problems with transcutaneous systems that can be avoided with percutaneous leads. Furthermore, the percutaneous approach leaves external components accessible for maintenance and replacement without surgery. In my opinion, percutaneous portable electropneumatic systems have the best potential for practical application to large numbers of human patients within the foreseeable future. They are particularly suited to orthotopic total artificial hearts using free diaphragm or tethered-sac designs. Their development should be emphasized at this time.
Thermodynamics of the lanthanide halides I. Heat capacities and Schottky anomalies of LaCl3, PrCl3, and NdCl3 from 5 to 350 K☆

Abstract The heat capacities of LaCl 3 , PrCl 3 , and NdCl 3 have been measured from 5 to 350 K by adiabatic calorimetry. No co-operative thermal anomalies were seen in the temperature range investigated but substantial magnetic heat-capacity contributions of the non-cooperative (Schottky) type were found. Subtraction of the heat capacity of the diamagnetic and isostructural LaCl 3 from those of the paramagnetic members yields experimental Schottky heat-capacity contributions which are compared with heat capacities derived from spectroscopically determined energy levels. Small discrepancies between the calculated and experimental contributions are probably due to differences in lattice heat capacities between LaCl 3 and the others. The values of {( S o (298.15 K) − S o (0)}/cal th K −1 mol −1 are for LaCl 3 and NdCl 3 , 32.88 and 36.67. Due to the possibility of a low-temperature phase transition, the entropy of PrCl 3 covers only the experimental range of this research and that of Colwell, Mangum, and Utton. { S o (298.15 K) − S o (0.294 K)} for PrCl 3 is 36.64 cal th K −1 mol −1 .
A robust technique for semantic annotation of group activities based on recognition of extracted features in video streams

Recognition and understanding of group activities can significantly improve situational awareness in Surveillance Systems. To maximize reliability and effectiveness of Persistent Surveillance Systems, annotations of sequential images gathered from video streams (i.e. imagery and acoustic features) must be fused together to generate semantic messages describing group activities (GA). To facilitate efficient fusion of extracted features from any physical sensors a common structure will suffice to ease integration of processed data into new comprehension. In this paper, we describe a framework for extraction and management of pertinent features/attributes vital for annotation of group activities reliably. A robust technique is proposed for fusion of generated events and entities’ attributes from video streams. A modified Transducer Markup Language (TML) is introduced for semantic annotation of events and entities attributes. By aggregation of multi-attribute TML messages, we have demonstrated that salient group activities can be spatiotemporal can be reliable annotated. This paper discusses our experimental results; our analysis of a set of simulated group activities performed under different contexts and demonstrates the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed modified TML data structure which facilitates seamless fusion of extracted information from video streams.
Decentralisation and development in post-socialism: local characteristics and outcomes in post-socialist Bulgaria

Over the past two decades decentralisation of government has been widely promoted by international development organisations. In former socialist economies, where governance had been extremely centralised, decentralisation seemed a way to build economic efficiency and improve public sector governance from the bottom up. This article examines the experience with decentralisation in Bulgaria at the end of its first decade. It finds that the characteristics of local governments varied greatly and evaluates the impact of varying local government characteristics on economic and social outcomes. There is some evidence that local government characteristics do have a significant impact on performance, but this is impact is outweighed by inherited, historical differences in economic development.
Deciphering the NMR fingerprints of the disordered system with quantum chemical studies.

Recent developments in solid-state NMR techniques helped acquire high-resolution NMR spectra for solid systems with structural disorder. But the structural origin of the observed chemical shift nonequivalence in these systems has not been revealed. We report a quantum chemical investigation of the solid-state NMR spectrum in N,N-bis(diphenylphosphino)-N-((S)-α-methylbenzyl)amine, where eight nonequivalent 31P NMR chemical shifts were resolved with a range of 13.0 ppm. Results from using different quantum chemical methods, computational algorithms, intermolecular effects, and structures indicate that for the disordered system, geometry optimization gives the best accord with experimental NMR chemical shifts, which has a theory-versus-experiment correlation R2 = 0.949 and SD = 1.1 ppm, or R2 = 0.994 and SD = 0.4 ppm when the average of two unassigned NMR shifts for each molecule is used. In addition, these calculations indicate that the experimental chemical shift nonequivalence in this system is mainly a c...
Invited Review: Nutrition Support for the Elderly

The increasing size and longevity of the geriatric patient population dictates that all health care practitioners become more cognizant of the unique requirements for nutritional assessment and support of the elderly. This review summarizes recent advances in the understanding of the nutrition support needs of the old and oldest-old patients requiring enteral or parenteral feeding. When a nutrition support formula individualized for the geriatric patient is being developed, there is a fine line between excess and deficit, requiring the involvement of the entire support team in monitoring the success of feeding. Indications for choosing enteral or parenteral feeding are considered excessively invasive by some and necessarily "heroic" by others. The patient and his or her family should be part of the decision-making process.
Cardiac ankyrins: Essential components for development and maintenance of excitable membrane domains in heart

Ankyrins are intracellular proteins required for the biogenesis and maintenance of membrane domains in both excitable and non-excitable cells. Ankyrin family polypeptides have been implicated in the targeting and stabilization of membrane proteins including ion channels, transporters, exchangers and cell adhesion molecules in diverse tissues and cell types including the erythrocyte, kidney, lung and brain. Dysfunction in ankyrin-based pathways has previously been linked to abnormalities in vertebrate physiology including spherocytosis and anemia, ataxia and axonal degeneration. Recent findings have illuminated the importance of ankyrin-based pathways in excitable cells of the heart. Specifically, two ankyrin gene products, 220-kDa ankyrin-B and 190-kDa ankyrin-G, have been implicated in the targeting of structurally diverse membrane ion channels and transporters to excitable membrane domains in cardiomyocytes. Moreover, findings in humans and mice have determined the critical nature of ankyrin-based pathways for normal cardiac excitability. Reduction of ankyrin-B expression levels in mice or the presence of ankyrin-B loss-of-function mutations in humans leads to 'ankyrin-B syndrome', a cardiac disease with a spectrum of clinical presentations including bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death in response to catecholaminergic stimuli. Ankyrin-G is required for expression of the major cardiac voltage-gated Na(v) channel, Na(v)1.5, at specialized cardiac membrane domains. Human variants in SCN5A (encodes Na(v)1.5) that block Na(v)1.5 interaction with ankyrin-G lead to loss of Na(v)1.5 membrane expression and Brugada syndrome. Together, these recent findings in heart reinforce the importance of ankyrin-based pathways for normal vertebrate physiology and raise exciting new questions regarding the cellular roles for ankyrin polypeptides in cardiac and other excitable cells. While ankyrins have only been recently identified in heart, our current understanding suggests that elucidating the roles of ankyrins in organizing and targeting protein complexes to excitable membrane domains will yield important insights into the molecular basis of cardiac arrhythmias.
Hula-Hoops, Pet Rocks and Intravascular Brachytherapy

During the past 25 years, we have seen dramatic changes in the management of patients with coronary artery disease. The introduction of coronary angioplasty, or balloon dilatation, by Gruentzig in 1977 heralded a fundamental breakthrough in the treatment of patients with obstructive coronary artery disease.1 Now termed percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), more than one million patients per year are treated worldwide, making PCI the most commonly performed therapeutic procedure in adult medicine.2 Despite remarkable chronological developments that refined the safety and effectiveness of PCI, its Achilles heel was the vexing problem of restenosis, a rapid (within six months) growth of scar tissue, or neointima, within the PCl-treatment site. Most of the 25-35% of patients who experienced restenosis ultimately needed a repeat PCI or coronary bypass operation. In light of its frequent occurrence, restenosis limited the application of PCI to patients with predominately single- or double-vessel coronary artery disease.3 While hundreds of adjunctive medical therapies and specialized PCI catheter technologies such as laser and atherectomy were tested over the years in an attempt to curb restenosis, none were successful. The introduction of coronary artery stents vastly improved PCI safety, yet stenting resulted in only a minor reduction of restenosis.4
Characterization of cement from a well at Teapot Dome Oil Field: Implications for geological sequestration

Abstract Wellbores represent the weakest link in terms of CO 2 storage permanence. As a result, special attention to the numerous existing wells that perforate storage formations is needed. The pre-injection condition of the cement can influence the rate (and type) of alteration by the injected CO 2 plume. The condition of the existing well cement depends on a variety of factors including wellbore/formation and wellbore/brine interactions as well as the composition and type of cement placed in the well (i.e. type of admixtures used, water/solids ratio, sulfate resistant mixes, etc.). In this paper, the details of recovering wellbore cement from an older well to determine pre-injection seal integrity are described. Petrographical and chemical analyses are presented for samples of cement that were retrieved from a 19-year-old well at Teapot Dome in Wyoming. Examination revealed that the retrieved cement had altered as a result of original slurry composition and with respect to the local downhole wellbore environment. Although samples were obtained from a single well, significant differences were observed in their alteration and condition. Sulfate attack resulted in abundant ettringite formation in a cement sample taken adjacent to the Wall Creek sandstone (3060 ft), while cement taken adjacent to the Tensleep formation (5478 ft) was decalcified and enriched in magnesium, owing to reaction of calcium hydroxide in the cement with the dolomitic formation.
Single‐voxel 1H PRESS at 4.0 T: precision and variability of measurements in anterior cingulate and hippocampus

The precision [coefficient of variation or CV (%) = 100SD/X] of single-voxel point resolved spectroscopic data was characterized bilaterally, in anterior cingulate and in hippocampus, at 4.0 T in a healthy subject. Data acquisition was replicated 10 times after voxel repositioning and readjusting higher order shims. Precision measurements show that the scan-to-scan precision is better in anterior cingulate than in hippocampus, with an average CV of 9.2% (for total NAA, tCho and Cr) in anterior cingulate and 13.9% in hippocampus. Variability measurements made by the same method in 24 healthy subjects and in 29 schizophrenia patients showed that there is substantial biological variability in metabolite levels, even in healthy subjects. Simple calculations suggest that more than 200 subjects would be needed to detect a 5% difference in NAA between patients and controls. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simulation of wear evolution using fictitious eigenstrains

A numerical algorithm is described in which changes of geometry caused by wear can be simulated by ascribing fictitious anisotropic eigenstrains to a set of surface nodes. These eigenstrains are related to the wear depth at any location, and can be incorporated into calculations using the existing expansion modules in commercial codes, such as anisotropic swelling or thermal expansion. The proposed algorithm has been implemented, and the results compared to those from a conventional wear model involving periodic re-meshing. It has been shown to be accurate and efficient. The method provides an alternative to the re-meshing technique, and may provide advantages in history-dependent problems such as those involving plasticity, hysteretic friction or micro-slip.
Gadgets are garbage.

The article discusses the environment aspects of consumer electronics. According to the author, consumers have demanded that various industries make their manufacturing processes more environmental friendly, such as the reduction of chemicals that cause acid rain. He argues that consumer electronics, which contain many toxic components, is an area that needs the public's attention and discusses the environmental impact of obsolete, discarded electronic devices.
Inflammation and its role in neuroprotection, axonal regeneration and functional recovery after spinal cord injury

Trauma to the central nervous system (CNS) triggers intraparenchymal inflammation and activation of systemic immunity with the capacity to exacerbate neuropathology and stimulate mechanisms of tissue repair. Despite our incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that control these divergent functions, immune-based therapies are becoming a therapeutic focus. This review will address the complexities and controversies of post-traumatic neuroinflammation, particularly in spinal cord. In addition, current therapies designed to target neuroinflammatory cascades will be discussed.
The extraction of ordered vector drainage networks from elevation data

Abstract A data structure is presented for efficiently encoding the ordered vector representation of terrain drainage networks. A method is outlined for producing drainage networks from terrain elevation data using this data structure. The crucial elements in this method are the processes of converting raster drainage data into vector form, linking discontinuous data, and structuring the vector data to reflect the ordering of the drainage branches. Experimental results are presented using the method on actual elevation data produced automatically by machine and from maps (DMA DTED level one data).
The distribution of a moment estimator for a parameter of the generalized poisson distribution

The ratio of the sample variance to the sample mean estimates a simple function of the parameter which measures the departure of the Poisson-Poisson from the Poisson distribution. Moment series to order n−24 are given for related estimators. In one case, exact integral formulations are given for the first two moments, enabling a comparison to be made between their asymptotic developments and a computer-oriented extended Taylor series (COETS) algorithm. The integral approach using generating functions is sketched out for the third and fourth moments. Levin's summation algorithm is used on the divergent series and comparative simulation assessments are given.
Smectic tilt susceptibility : Anharmonic behavior in surface-induced smectic layers above the nematic-smectic-A transition temperature

Fr\'eedericksz transition measurements were performed on the Merck liquid crystal SCE12R. The results were used to determine the quartic contribution to the free energy associated with molecular tilt relative to the layer normal in the surface-induced smectic layers above the nematic\char21{}smectic-$A$ transition temperature ${T}_{\mathit{NA}}$. Both the quadratic and quartic coefficients are consistent with the scaling relation ${(T\ensuremath{-}{T}_{\mathit{NA}})}^{\ensuremath{-}3\ensuremath{\nu}}$, where $\ensuremath{\nu}$ is the correlation length critical exponent, and their ratio was approximately constant with $T$. The dielectric constants, the refractive indices, and the bend elastic constant for SCE12R also are reported.
Hepato-renal pathology in pkd2ws25/- mice, an animal model of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Polycystic liver diseases, the most important of which are autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive polycystic kidney diseases, are incurable pathological conditions. Animal models that resemble human pathology in these diseases provide an opportunity to study the mechanisms of cystogenesis and to test potential treatments. Here we demonstrate that Pkd2ws25/− mice, an animal model of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, developed hepatic cysts. As assessed by micro-computed tomography scanning of intact livers and by light microscopy of hepatic tissue, hepatic cystic volumes increased from 12.82 ± 3.16% (5- to 8-month-old mice) to 21.58 ± 4.81% (9- to 12-month-old mice). Renal cystogenesis was more severe at early stages of disease: in 5- to 7-month-old mice, cystic volumes represented 40.67 ± 5.48% of kidney parenchyma, whereas in older mice cysts occupied 31.04 ± 1.88% of kidney parenchyma. Mild fibrosis occurred only in liver, and its degree was unchanged with age. Hepatic cysts were lined by single or multiple layers of squamous cholangiocytes. Cystic cholangiocyte cilia were short and malformed, whereas in renal cysts they appeared normal. In Pkd2ws25/− mice, mitotic and apoptotic indices in both kidney and liver were increased compared with wild-type mice. In conclusion, Pkd2ws25/− mice exhibit hepatorenal pathology resembling human autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and represent a useful model to study mechanisms of cystogenesis and to evaluate treatment options.
Catecholamine varicosities in cat dorsal root ganglion and spinal ventral roots.

Abstract Catecholamine (CA) varicosities have been observed within the dorsal root ganglion and spinal ventral roots of the cat at all spinal levels. There was no apparent change in either appearance or numbers of these CA varicosities following spinal transection or distal spinal root lesion. It is suggested that the source of CA innervation of these areas is sympathetic accompanying transdural blood vessels.
Comparison of Probabilistic Seismic‐Hazard Models Using Averaging‐Based Factorization

Abstract We generalize the formulation of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis to accommodate simulation‐based hazard models by expressing the joint probability distribution among the parameters of a kinematically complete earthquake rupture forecast in terms of a conditional hypocenter distribution and a conditional slip distribution. The seismological hierarchy implied by these dependencies allows the logarithmic excitation functional to be exactly and uniquely decomposed into a series of uncorrelated terms that include zero‐mean averages of the site, source, hypocenter, and source‐complexity effects. We use this averaging‐based factorization to compare the CyberShake prototype hazard model developed by the Southern California Earthquake Center, CS11, with the empirical ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) of the 2008 Next Generation Attenuation (NGA08) project. For horizontal‐response spectral accelerations at long periods (2–10 s), the basin and directivity effects of CS11 are substantially larger than those of the NGA08 GMPEs. Directivity–basin coupling and other 3D wave propagation effects not represented in the GMPEs contribute significantly to the excitation patterns in CS11. The total variance of the CS11 excitations is about 60% higher than the NGA root mean square (rms) at the 2 s period but almost 30% lower at 10 s. Relative to the NGA rms, the residual variance in CS11 at 2 s is larger than the aleatory variability in the NGA08 database by a factor of nearly 1.6. Recent CyberShake experiments with alternative source and structural models suggest that the high CS11 variances are due to an overestimation of the basin and directivity effects at short periods. The CyberShake site and path effects unexplained by the NGA08 models account for 40%–50% of total residual variance, suggesting that improvements to the simulation‐based hazard models could reduce the aleatory variability intrinsic to the current GMPEs by as much as 25%.
Importance of the proximity of solvation: molecular dynamics and free energy perturbation studies of [1 6 ]starand and its model with various alkali metal ions

Strong affinity and high selectivity are good characteristics of a host in host–guest chemistry. Because [16]starand has only one conformation, it should serve as a good probe to study fine structure of solvation. We investigated the complexation behavior of [16]starand and its model with various alkali metal ions using free energy perturbation and molecular dynamics methods. The results from gas phase simulations show that the binding energy difference decreases as the radius of metal ion increases, with only a small disparity between the binding energy difference and binding free energy difference. This small entropy effect in the gas phase may be due to the structural rigidity of [16]starand and its model system. When the complexes lie immersed in water, the order of binding free energies reverses, i.e. the binding energy increases as the radius of alkali metal ion increases. This reversal of order should be from solvent effect. To investigate why complexations with larger metal ions are favored in water, we performed radial distribution function (RDF) analyses from alkali ions to water oxygens. Water coordination numbers for the free solvated ions (NW) and for those in complexes (NC) in aqueous solution were obtained from the RDF data. One might rationally anticipate that the relative free energies would correlate well with the ratio of these coordination numbers (NC/NW), but our findings suggest no direct relationship exists. Interestingly, however, the order of relative binding energies does relate to the solvation ratio within a constant radius very near to the ions. These results demonstrate that the proximity of solvation is an important factor to decide the relative binding free energies.
Fatty acids and anionic phospholipids alter the palmitoyl coenzyme A kinetics of hepatic monoacylglycerol acyltransferase in Triton X-100 mixed micelles.

In order to gain a better understanding of the kinetics of activation and inhibition of hepatic monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) (EC 2.3.1.22) by fatty acid, we examined the effect of fatty ...
Speckle-photography study of nuclear-waste vault deformations

White-light speckle photography was applied to measure the viscoplastic deformation of a proposed nuclear-waste repository. The repository vaults are carved into bedded salt deep in the earth, and deform extremely slowly. The research demonstrates the feasibility of using whole-field techniques to detect mine wall strains, confirms certain, but not all, measurements of point-by-point instruments, and also confirms the predictions of a site-specific numerical model.
Altered sequence specificity identified from a library of DNA-binding small molecules.

Abstract Background: The ability to target specific DNA sequences using small molecules has major implications for basic research and medicine. Previous studies revealed that a bis -intercalating molecule containing two 1,4,5,8-napthalenetetracarboxylic diimides separated by a lysine- tris -glycine linker binds to DNA cooperatively, in pairs, with a preference for G + C-rich sequences. Here we investigate the binding properties of a library of bis -intercalating molecules that have partially randomized peptide linkers. Results: A library of bis -intercalating derivatives with varied peptide linkers was screened for sequence specificity using DNase I footprinting on a 231 base pair (bp) restriction fragment. The library mixtures produced footprints that were generally similar to the parent bis -intercalator, which bound within a 15 bp G+C-rich repeat above 125 nM. Nevertheless, subtle differences in cleavage enhancement bands followed by library deconvolution revealed a derivative with novel specificity. A lysine- tris -β-alanine derivative was found to bind preferentially within a 19 bp palindrome, without substantial loss of affinity. Conclusions : Synthetically simple changes in the bis -intercalating compounds can produce derivatives with novel sequence specificity. The large size and symmetrical nature of the preferred binding sites suggest that cooperativity may be retained despite modified sequence specificity. Such findings, combined with structural data, could be used to develop versatile DNA ligands of modest molecular weight that target relatively long DNA sequences in a selective manner.