cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protoglobin and Globin-coupled Sensors

The strategy for detecting oxygen, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, and sulfides is predominantly through heme-based sensors utilizing either a globin domain or a PAS domain. Whereas PAS domains bind various cofactors, globins bind only heme. Globin-coupled sensors (GCSs) couple an N-terminal sensor globin domain to varied C-terminal signaling domains to effect aerotaxis and gene regulation. Having descended from an ancient protoglobin, GCSs are now ubiquitous and are encoded in the genome of several extremophiles (temperature, salt, and pH). We postulate that their role in regulating gene expression governs microbial processes critical to elemental recycling, bioremediation, and cellulose degradation. Functional and evolutionary analyses of the GCSs, their protoglobin ancestor, and their relationship to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) are also discussed in the context of globin-based signal transduction.
Palissage Reduces Cluster Zone Lateral Shoots Compared to Hedging

Summary Goals: Hedging grapevines is a common canopy management practice in vineyards in the northeastern United States, however it is criticized as being a short-term solution to vine vigor because it can stimulate lateral shoot growth, resulting in a repeated cycle of hedging and leaf removal that costs growers time and money. Palissage is an alternative canopy management tool where long shoot tips are tucked down into the canopy (i.e. Tuck) or wrapped horizontally along the top of the canopy (i.e. Wrap). Anecdotally, growers had reported that palissage initiated earlier cessation of shoot growth during the growing season and reduced or eliminated the need for leaf removal in the fruiting zone due to fewer lateral shoots. This work aimed to test the effects of palissage on vegetative and reproductive growth, yield, disease incidence and severity, and juice and wine sensory on Riesling ( Vitis vinifera L.) grown in northeastern United States. Key Findings Neither palissage treatment affected vine yield in 2015, but Tuck increased yield in 2016 compared to hedging. Wrap reduced the number of laterals in the fruit zone in 2015 but not 2016 compared to hedging. Tuck increased rachis length by 1.4 cm compared to hedging in 2016, but cluster compactness wasn’t reduced by either treatment. Tuck and Wrap decreased botrytis incidence slightly in 2016 when compared to hedging. A sensory panel found that wines grouped separately by treatment based on aroma. Impact and Significance: This study demonstrated that palissage – particularly Wrap - was a potentially viable canopy management technique to reduce lateral growth in the fruit zone. Impacts varied based on year, but in at least one year palissage reduced lateral shoot growth in the fruiting zone, increased rachis length, and maintained or increased yield, although fruit in the Tuck treatment was less ripe. The potential long-term impacts palissage has on vine vigor, yield, and fruit quality need to be further explored, but these methods hold promise to break the hedging-leaf removal cycle in vigorous vineyards.
Metacognition-based process improvement practices

Abstract While cognition is the knowledge structure used by people to make an assessment or decision, metacognition is the higher-order process controlling that existing knowledge structure. Thus, the functional role of metacognition in process improvement practices (PIP) is quite different from the role of cognition. Metacognition has been studied in several disciplines, including education, psychology, and neuroscience; however, research has yet to address the role of metacognition in an operations management context. Thus, the present study explored how a process improvement leader's metacognitive awareness influences PIP effectiveness. A survey was conducted with process improvement leaders from U.S.-based firms. Results revealed that managerial metacognition was positively related to adaptive PIP performance within the organization. There was also a positive synergistic relationship between managerial metacognition and PIP implementation on a firm's competitive advantage. We discussed practical and theoretical implications as well as future research agendas for how managerial metacognitive skills can be utilized for advantageous operational activities. This study not only contributes to the operations literature by providing new insights into the relationship between psychological and methodological mechanisms in PIP implementation but also provides the first step toward theory-building in terms of metacognition concepts in operations management.
Highly reproducible murine model of oralSalmonellainfection via inoculated food

Abstract Oral infection of mice with Salmonella Typhimurium is an important model system. In particular C57Bl/6 mice, which are susceptible to Salmonella, are used to study both systemic and gastrointestinal pathogenesis. Pretreatment with streptomycin disrupts the intestinal microbiota and results in colitis resembling human intestinal Salmonellosis. Oral gavage is typically used for delivery of both antibiotic and bacteria. Although convenient, this method requires a moderate level of expertise, can be stressful for experimental animals, and may lead to unwanted tracheal or systemic introduction of bacteria. Here, we demonstrate a simple method for oral infection of mice using small pieces of regular mouse chow inoculated with a known number of bacteria. Mice readily ate chow pieces containing up to 108 CFU Salmonella, allowing for a wide range of infectious doses. In mice pretreated with streptomycin, infection with inoculated chow resulted in less variability in numbers of bacteria recovered from tissues compared to oral gavage, and highly consistent infections even at doses as low as 103Salmonella. Mice not treated with streptomycin, as well as resistant Nramp1 reconstituted C57Bl/6J mice, were also readily infected using this method. In summary, we show that foodborne infection of mice by feeding with pieces of chow inoculated with Salmonella results in infection comparable to oral gavage but represents a natural route of infection with fewer side effects and less variability among mice.
Gene expression of putative type VI secretion system (T6SS) genes in the emergent fish pathogen Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis in different physiochemical conditions

Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis (Fno) is an emergent fish pathogen and the etiologic agent of piscine francisellosis. Besides persisting in the environment in both biofilm and planktonic forms, Fno is known to infect and replicate inside tilapia macrophages and endothelial-derived cells. However, the mechanism used by this emergent bacterium for intracellular survival is unknown. Additionally, the basis of virulence for Fno is still poorly understood. Several potential virulence determinants have been identified in Fno, including homologues of the recently described F. tularensis Type VI Secretion System (T6SS). In order to gain a better understanding of the role the putative Fno T6SS might play in the pathogenesis of piscine francisellosis, we performed transcriptional analysis of Fno T6SS gene-homologues under temperature, acidic, and oxidative stress conditions. Few transcriptional differences were observed at different temperatures, growth stages and pHs; however, a trend towards higher expression of Fno T6SS-homologue genes at 25 °C and under oxidative stress was detected when compared to those quantified at 30 °C and under no H2O2 (p < 0.05). Results from this study suggest that several of the F. tularensis T6SS-homologues may play an important role in the virulence of Fno, particularly when the bacterium is exposed to low temperatures and oxidative stress.
Testing Dynamic Incentive Compatibility in Display Ad Auctions

The question of transparency has become a key point of contention between buyers and sellers of display advertising space: ads are allocated via complex, black-box auction systems whose mechanics can be difficult to model let alone optimize against. Motivated by this concern, this paper takes the perspective of a single advertiser and develops statistical tests to confirm whether an underlying auction mechanism is dynamically incentive compatible (IC), so that truthful bidding in each individual auction and across time is an optimal strategy. The most general notion of dynamic-IC presumes that the seller knows how buyers discount future surplus, which is questionable in practice. We characterize dynamic mechanisms that are dynamic-IC for all possible discounting factors according to two intuitive conditions: the mechanism should be IC at each stage in the usual sense, and expected present utility (under truthful bidding) should be independent of past bids. The conditions motivate two separate experiments based on bid perturbations that can be run simultaneously on the same impression traffic. We provide a novel statistical test of stage-IC along with a test for utility-independence that can detect lags in how the seller uses past bid information. We evaluate our tests on display ad data from a major ad exchange and show how they can accurately uncover evidence of first- or second-price auctions coupled with dynamic reserve prices, among other types of dynamic mechanisms.
Clinical research study designs: The essentials

In clinical research, our aim is to design a study which would be able to derive a valid and meaningful scientific conclusion using appropriate statistical methods. The conclusions derived from a research study can either improve health care or result in inadvertent harm to patients. Hence, this requires a well-designed clinical research study that rests on a strong foundation of a detailed methodology and governed by ethical clinical principles. The purpose of this review is to provide the readers an overview of the basic study designs and its applicability in clinical research.
SERTS-97 Measurements Of Relative Wavelength Shifts In Coronal Emission Lines Across A Solar Active Region

We used slit spectra from the 18 November 1997 flight of Goddard Space Flight Center's Solar EUV Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS-97) to measure relative wavelength shifts of coronal emission lines as a function of position across NOAA active region 8108. The shifts are measured relative to reference wavelengths derived from spectra of the region's nearby quiet surroundings (not necessarily at rest) because laboratory rest wavelengths for the coronal EUV lines have not been measured to sufficient accuracy for this work. An additional benefit to this approach is that any systematic uncertainties in the wavelength measurements are eliminated from the relative shifts by subtraction. We find statistically significant wavelength shifts between the spatially resolved active region slit spectra and the reference spectrum. For He ii 303.78 A the maximum measured relative red shift corresponds to a Doppler velocity ∼+13 km s−1, and the maximum relative blue shift corresponds to a Doppler velocity ∼−3 km s−1. For Si x 347.40 A, Si xi 303.32 A, Fe xiv 334.17 A, and Fe xvi 335.40 A the corresponding maximum relative Doppler velocities are ∼+19 and ∼−14, ∼+23 and ∼−7, ∼+10 and ∼−10, and ∼+13 and ∼−5 km s−1, respectively. The active region appears to be divided into two different flow areas; hot coronal lines are predominantly red-shifted in the northern half and either blue-shifted or nearly un-shifted in the southern half. This may be evidence that material flows up from the southern part of the region, and down into the northern part. Qualitatively similar relative wavelength shifts and flow patterns are obtained with SOHO/CDS spectra.
Jamming Distance Dictates Colloidal Shear Thickening.

We report experimental and computational observations of dynamic contact networks for colloidal suspensions undergoing shear thickening. The dense suspensions are comprised of sterically stabilized poly(methyl methacrylate) colloids that are spherically symmetric and have varied surface roughness. Confocal rheometry and dissipative particle dynamics simulations show that the shear thickening strength $\ensuremath{\beta}$ scales exponentially with the scaled deficit contact number and the scaled jamming distance. Rough colloids, which experience additional rotational constraints, require an average of 1.5--2 fewer particle contacts as compared to smooth colloids, in order to generate the same $\ensuremath{\beta}$. This is because the surface roughness enhances geometric friction in such a way that the rough colloids do not experience a large change in the free volume near the jamming point. The available free volume for colloids of different roughness is related to the deficiency from the maximum number of nearest neighbors at jamming under shear. Our results further suggest that the force per contact is different for particles with different morphologies.
A hierarchical Bayesian mixture model for distinguishing active gene expression from transcriptional noise

Abstract Identifying the genes that are expressed in each organ and cell is essential to understanding the regulatory mechanisms that translate genetic information into organ function. However, determining which genes are active in a given tissue is challenging because gene regulation, like all biological processes, is noisy. Inactive genes, through rare stochastic events, can still produce detectable numbers of transcripts in RNA-sequencing samples. Conversely, active genes can go undetected in some samples due to technical factors. There is a clear need for robust and objective methods for establishing the boundary between active gene expression and background noise. We describe a hierarchical Bayesian mixture model method that infers the distributions of expression levels exhibited by active and inactive genes in a set of replicate transcriptomes, and estimates the probability that each gene in the genome is in the active or inactive state in the corresponding tissue. Expression probabilities estimated in this fashion reflect an inherent property of the tissue, can be integrated over any number of independent experiments, and can be compared among any number of species and tissues. By analyzing empirical and simulated datasets, we show that model-based inferences of gene expression states make efficient use of experimental replication and are consistent with other sources of information such as chromatin marks and data derived from developmental-genetic studies. We discuss several avenues of research in developmental and evolutionary genomics that will benefit from the analysis of gene expression states. As an example, we identify several genes that underwent a qualitative gain of expression in specific brain regions in human evolution. We implemented our method as a freely available R package called zigzag.
An unusual cause of right upper quadrant pain

Highlight With less than 20 cases reported worldwide, cystic dilation of the cystic duct (type 6 biliary cyst) is a very rare condition which can commonly present as right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Dharan presents imaging of this rare entity and briefly discusses the available literature.
Patients with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome on the diagnostic odyssey: Rethinking complexity and difficulty as a hero's journey

Patients with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, an hereditary disorder of the connective tissue, often face a long and difficult diagnostic odyssey in pursuit of a name for their condition. Clinicians may dismiss subjective symptoms of chronic pain, thus prolonging patients' odysseys and worsening their care and satisfaction and creating antagonisms in the patient-provider relationship. A greater understanding of patient experiences is necessary in order to decrease burdens of this relationship and to improve care. To that end, we conducted 22 in-depth, semistructured interviews with individuals who had undergone this diagnostic odyssey. We focused on the impact that the odyssey had on their lives, both inside and outside the clinic. Through narrative analysis, we found a sort of "hero's journey" in the description of their cases, highlighting issues of uncertainty and integration as well as honoring their struggles. Interviewees had encountered difficulties in working with clinicians, in multiplying symptoms, and in negative psychosocial consequences. Attention to patients' lived experience may help to build empathy and understanding for the difficult and complex clinical situation presented by Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Using the hero's journey as a lens onto this experience allows for a more patient-centered approach to this understanding and has potential value for comprehension of other complex diseases and invisible illnesses.
The Philosophy of Integrated Pest Management

While the ability of modern pesticides to annihilate pests locally is undeniable, the prevailing dependence on these pest control chemicals has repeatedly led to crisis situations (including pest resurgence, secondary pest outbreak, resistance, environmental contamination, and hazards to human health) that prove far worse than the original pest problem. In the last decade many have recognized the need for a new management approach that would minimize such negative side effects of pest control actions yet give effective, economical control of pest organisms. The new control strategy that has subsequently developed is Integrated Pest Management.
Spatial Equilibrium and Programming Models

While a common element of the above models is examining market behavior over time, another class of economic models is concerned with models describing commodity process at one point in time or representing commodity transfers over space. Such a modeling approach has been applied to both mineral and energy industries and derives from classical activity analysis or mathematical programming models. The methodology of linear and nonlinear programming and numerous practical applications are described by Dantzig (1963), Wagner (1969) and more recently Brooke et al. (1988). These kinds of models have been applied to mineral and energy markets in the form of linear or transportation programming, process programming, quadratic programming, mixed integer programming, linear complementarily programming, and variational inequalities. Further analysis of this approach can be found in Labys, Takayama and Uri (1989) and Labys and Yang (1991, 1997).
Scheduling of real-time traffic in IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs

The desire to provide universal connectivity for mobile computers and communication devices is fueling a growing interest in wireless packet networks. To satisfy the needs of wireless data networking, study group 802.11 was formed under IEEE project 802 to recommend an international standard for Wireless Local Networks lWANsr. A key part of the standard are the Medium Access Control lMACr protocols. Given the growing popularity of realdtime services and multimedia based applications it is critical that the 802.11 MAC protocols be tailored to meet their requirements. The 802.11 layer protocol provides asynchronous, timedbounded, and contention free access control on a variety of physical layers. In this paper we examine the ability of the point coordination function to support time bounded services. We present our proposal to support realdtime services within the framework of the point coordination function and discuss the specifies of the connection establishment procedure. We conduct performance evaluation and present numerical results to help understand the issues involved.
A view of current status of space-time processing algorithm research

Since the late 1980s, there has been a renewed interest in space-time adaptive processing (STAP) with applications to airborne early warning (AEW) radars, as illustrated by the fact that several major research and development projects have been initiated. This paper presents our observations on some of space-time processing algorithm research issues which need further attention. Discussed in certain detail are the suppression of coherent repeater jammers and the calibration error effect on the emulated airborne clutter data using the inverse displaced phase center array method. Other issues commented on in this paper include aperture design, system performance comparison, polarization-space-time adaptive processing, new applications, etc.
Undergraduate recruitment strategies at Penn State's School of Forest Resources

Enrollment declines in natural resources programs across the nation since the midnineties have raised concerns about the future of natural resources education. Since its peak in 1998, enrollment in Penn State’s School of Forest Resources has dropped from a record high of 535 to 315 in fall 2003. At the same time state and federal agencies seeking to maintain and diversify their workforce are facing unprecedented rates of retirement. To address this issue, the School of Forest Resources is continually evaluating its recruitment and retention efforts. Gone are the days of waiting for students to come to us. Current recruitment and retention strategies include: 1) marketing to the large pool of existing undecided Penn State students, 2) marketing to Penn State advisors in other programs and at other Penn State locations, 3) recruiting at other “feeder” institutions, 4) summer natural resources experience programs, 5) increased personal contact with potential students, 6) peer-to-peer recruiting, 7) increased scholarship funds, and 8) retooled marketing materials and web presence. These strategies are under constant evaluation and unsuccessful efforts discarded so that new tactics may be tested. While we wait to discover the ultimate effectiveness of these new strategies, their very nature reflects an important and fundamental change in attitude toward student recruitment and retention at Penn State’s School of Forest Resources.
The Toll-like receptor 1/2 agonists Pam3CSK4 and human β-defensin-3 differentially induce interleukin-10 and nuclear factor-κB signalling patterns in human monocytes

Human β-defensin 3 (hBD-3) activates antigen-presenting cells through Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 1/2. Several TLR1/2 agonists have been identified but little is known about how they might differentially affect cellular activation. We compared the effects of hBD-3 with those of another TLR1/2 agonist, Pam3CSK4, in human monocytes. Monocytes incubated with hBD-3 or Pam3CSK4 produced interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and IL-1β, but only Pam3CSK4 induced IL-10. The IL-10 induction by Pam3CSK4 caused down-modulation of the co-stimulatory molecule, CD86, whereas CD86 expression was increased in monocytes exposed to hBD-3. Assessment of signalling pathways linked to IL-10 induction indicated that mitogen-activated protein kinases were activated similarly by hBD-3 or Pam3CSK4, whereas the non-canonical nuclear factor-κB pathway was only induced by Pam3CSK4. Our data suggest that the lack of non-canonical nuclear factor-κB signalling by hBD-3 could contribute to the failure of this TLR agonist to induce production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, in human monocytes.
Over-the-counter vs. prescription medications: are consumer perceptions of the consequences of drug instruction non-compliance different?

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications are widely available and are extensively used by consumers to treat a range of health maladies. These medications are viewed as both safe and effective when used appropriately. However, the US Food and Drug Administration cautions that very serious adverse reactions frequently result from overdose of common OTC medications. The frequency and severity of these adverse reactions stemming from non-compliance with OTC usage suggest that these medications may not be treated with the same level of care by consumers as those afforded to prescription drugs. Consequently, the purpose of the present research is to investigate the different perceptions consumers may have regarding the importance of complying with the drug instructions for prescription vs. OTC medications. Results suggest that when considering compliance attitudes and intentions towards the usage instructions of a new and unfamiliar medication, subjects do not perceive there to be an initial difference in the consequences of non-compliance with drug instructions across the two classification conditions. However, when thinking about OTC and prescription drug instructions in general, subjects tend to take the prescription drug instructions more seriously. While further studies are obviously needed, these preliminary results provide insight into consumer perception of non-compliance with different classes of medications.
Urea and Guanidine Hydrochloride Denaturation of Ribonuclease, Lysozyme, α-Chymotrypsin, and b-Lactoglobulin

Abstract The unfolding of ribonuclease, lysozyme, α-chymotrypsin, and goat β-lactoglobulin by urea and guanidine hydrochloride (GmHCl) has been followed with the use of optical rotation measurements. Urea denaturation leads to a more negative rotation for each protein than does GmHCl denaturation, but the concentration dependence is such that the rotations are almost identical in the absence of denaturant. This indicates that both urea and GmHCl denaturation lead to a similar, randomly coiled conformation. By assuming a two-state mechanism, an apparent free energy of unfolding, ΔGapp, has been calculated as a function of denaturant concentration. ΔGapp varies linearly with denaturant concentration. The dependence of ΔGapp on concentration ranges from 1.1 to 2.1 Cal per mole per molar concentration for urea and from 1.9 to 4.1 Cal per mole per molar concentration for GmHCl for the four proteins. These values depend on the size and composition of the part of the polypeptide chain which is freshly exposed to denaturant by unfolding. By using model compound data and a procedure developed by Tanford (Advan. Protein Chem. (1970) 24, 1–95), an estimate of the amount of buried polypeptide chain needed to account for the experimental results has been obtained. The estimates based on urea and on GmHCl are in excellent agreement. This offers further support for the idea that the extent of unfolding is the same for the two denaturants and also suggests that the mechanism of unfolding is the same in the presence of the two denaturants. The relative effectiveness of the two denaturants depends on the protein. GmHCl is 2.8 times more effective than urea in unfolding ribonuclease but only 1.7 times more effective for lysozyme. This results because the buried polypeptide chain is more polar for ribonuclease than for lysozyme and the solubilizing ability of GmHCl relative to urea is greater for polar groups than for nonpolar groups. Estimates of ΔGapp in the absence of denaturant, ΔGh2oapp, were obtained from the analysis with the use of model compound data and also from a direct linear extrapolation of ΔGapp to zero concentration of denaturant. For urea, the two approaches lead to values of ΔGh2oapp in reasonably good agreement. For GmHCl, only the values of ΔGh2oapp from the direct extrapolation are in good agreement with the results from urea. The ΔGh2oapp values obtained are 9.7 ± 1.7 Cal per mole for ribonuclease at pH 6.6, 6.1 ± 0.4 for lysozyme at pH 2.9, 8.3 ± 0.4 for α-chymotrypsin at pH 4.3, and 11.7 ± 0.8 for β-lactoglobulin at pH 3.2. These results suggest that several recent estimates of ΔGh2oapp are too high by 3 to 10 Cal per mole.
Measurements and modeling of the effects of an orthogonal bias field on properties of isotropic magnetic materials

vii 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Hysteresis and magnetization processes 1 1.1.1 Hysteresis of magnetic materials 1 1.1.2 Magnetization process 1 1.1.2.1 Rotation of domains 3 1.1.2.2 Motion of domain walls 4 1.1.2.3 Magnetization of magnetic materials 5 1.2 Development of hysteresis theory 7 1.3 Background 12 1.4 Scope of this thesis 16 2. MEASUREMENTS OF THE ORTHOGONAL FIELD EFFECT 18 2.
Closed and open-ended stacking fault tetrahedra formation along the interfaces of Cu–Al nanolayered metals

Stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) are volume defects that typically form by the clustering of vacancies in face-centred cubic (FCC) metals. Here, we report a dislocation-based mechanism of SFT formation initiated from the semi-coherent interfaces of Cu–Al nanoscale multilayered metals subjected to out-of-plane tension. Our molecular dynamics simulations show that Shockley partials are first emitted into the Cu interlayers from the dissociated misfit dislocations along the Cu–Al interface and interact to form SFTs above the triangular intrinsic stacking faults along the interface. Under further deformation, Shockley partials are also emitted into the Al interlayers and interact to form SFTs above the triangular FCC planes along the interface. The resulting dislocation structure comprises closed SFTs within the Cu interlayers which are tied across the Cu–Al interfaces to open-ended SFTs within the Al interlayers. This unique plastic deformation mechanism results in considerable strain hardening of the Cu–Al ...
The Calibration at the National Bureau of Standards of Mass Standards for Ultramicroanalysis

Measurements may be made with a precision of tenths or hundredths of a microgram. Small weights suffer from an unfavorable surface-to-mass ratio and should be checked from time to time. This may be done by regular procedures used in weight calibration, provided a suitable selection of nominal weight values exist in each set.
EFFECTS OF AMPHENONE “B” ON THYROID AND ADRENAL FUNCTIONS1

AMPHENONE “B”3 (Allen and Corwin, 1951), a substituted desoxy- benzoin, given orally or subcutaneously, produces marked enlargement of rat thyroid and adrenal glands (Hertz, Allen and Tullner, 1950; Hertz, Tullner and Allen, 1951; Hogness, Williams and Lance, 1952). The thyroid enlargement is associated with reduction in I131 concentration (Hogness, Williams and Lance, 1952) and a lowered metabolic rate (Holtkamp, Heming and Sax, 1952). The thyromegalic effects are not found in hypophysectomized rats (Hertz, Allen and Tullner, 1950) or in those given supplementary thyroid extract (Hertz, Tullner and Allen, 1951). The adrenomegaly produced by Amphenone “B”is associated with increase in cholesterol concentration (Hogness et al., 1952) without evidence of decreased adrenal function (Hertz et al., 1951; Hogness et al., 1952; Heming et al., 1952). As in the case of the thyroid, adrenal enlargement is not found in hypophysectomized animals (Hertz et al., 1950) or in those given cortisone (Hertz et al., 1951).
Chip-scale cavity-optomechanical accelerometer

We demonstrate an optomechanical accelerometer using a v-groove fiber coupled photonic-crystal nanocavity integrated with a high-Q nanotethered test mass. The nanocavity frequency can be tuned to that of an input laser by on-chip capacitive actuators.
SU-E-T-656: Multi-Criteria Direct Aperture Optimization

Purpose: Multi‐criteria optimization has been applied to IMRT planning, mainly in the fluence‐map optimization stage, to interactively explore the trade‐off between conflicting treatment objectives. However, the subsequent leaf‐sequencing step may degrade the plan quality due to dose discrepancies. To circumvent this issue, this study aims at developing multi‐criteria optimization approaches to IMRT planning using direct aperture optimization methods. Methods: The direct aperture optimization problem is formulated and solved using a multi‐criteria optimization approach. In particular, a solution method is developed to obtain a collection of apertures that can adequately span the entire Pareto surface. To that end, the column generation method for direct aperture optimization is extended to a multi‐criteria setting in which apertures that can improve the entire Pareto surface are sequentially identified and added to the aperture collection. More specifically, we approximate the improvement rate of an aperture in the Pareto surface by sampling Pareto‐optimal points and measuring the cumulative improvement rate of the aperture at those sampling points. Results: Our solution method is tested on a paraspinal case in which the trade‐off between target coverage and spinal cord sparing is studied. We compare the trade‐off curves obtained using our solution method and two other related heuristics. The computational results validate that the proposed method obtains a balanced approximation of the Pareto surface over a wide range of clinically relevant plans. Conclusion: We have developed a multi‐criteria direct aperture optimization method that allows for conducting the trade‐off exploration directly in the space of deliverable plans, thereby avoiding dose discrepancies caused by the leaf‐sequencing stage.
Distributed optimal load shedding for disaster recovery in smart electric power grids: a second-order approach

In this paper, we consider the problem of distributed load shedding optimization for disaster recovery in smart grids. We develop distributed second-order interior-point based load shedding algorithms that enjoy a fast quadratic convergence rate. Our main contributions are two-fold: (i) We propose a rooted spanning tree based reformulation that enables our distributed algorithm design; (ii) Based on the spanning tree reformulation, we design distributed computation schemes for our proposed second-order interior-point based load shedding. Collectively, these results serve as an important first step in load shedding and disaster recovery that uses second-order distributed techniques.
Antigenic differences in human sperm samples related to various morphological abnormalities.

Sperm samples were collected from male partners of fertile and infertile couples having unexplained and male factor infertility and analyzed for morphological abnormalities. After a staining procedure, sperm samples of these infertile men showed a variety of abnormalities. The sperm samples were also studied for their binding with the Abs directed against protamine (the nuclear protein), fertilization antigen (FA-1, sperm surface antigen), and the lithium diiodosalicylate- (LIS-) solubilized sperm preparation, and the binding was correlated with the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm in the sample. Abs used in the present study were raised in female rabbits and had high titers (ELISA titers, 1:4096 to 1:8196), and recognized no band (anti-protamine), one 49,000- +/- 2000-dalton band (anti-FA-1), and at least 8 bands of various molecular identities in the 14,000- to 92,000-dalton range (anti-LIS sperm) on the Western blot of LIS-solubilized human sperm. The affinity-purified Fab' antibodies were iodinated and used in a radioimmunobindingassay for testing their binding with the sperm cells. Anti-protamine Fab's showed minimal binding and the binding activity (cpm bound/10 x 10(6) sperm cells) did not correlate (head defect, r = .12; midpiece defect, r = .07; tail defect, r = .11) significantly with percentage of abnormal cells in the sample. The binding of the anti-FA-1 Fab's also did not show a significant correlation (head defect, r = .29; midpiece defect, r = .48; tail defect, r = .23), though a positive trend (p = .05) was observed with the midpiece defect. In contrast, the binding of anti-LIS sperm Fab's demonstrated a significant correlation with the percentage of abnormal sperm cells in the sample (head defect, r = .51, p = .04; midpiece defect, r = .80, p less than .0001; tail defect, r = .23, p = .039). With an increased percentage of abnormal sperm cells, especially those with midpiece defect, there was an increased binding of anti-LIS sperm Fab's. These results suggest that with an increase in percentage of abnormal sperm, there is a change in antigenicity of the sperm cells. An increase in structural abnormality may enhance antibody binding to an abnormal sperm cell, thus causing a further decrease in its fertilizing capacity.
An insider's view on person-centred rehabilitation: a case study.

Purpose. The author, a rehabilitation specialist of more than 30 years, presents her observations of the medical and rehabilitation services her husband received after a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Building on the person-centred approach, she identified several problems and describes theory-based strategies how she and her husband (patient) addressed these problems. In addition, she provides insight in the complex role she fulfilled as family caregiver: liaison, advocate and as personal health manager (taking care of her own health).Method. A qualitative analysis and interpretation based on personal observations and discussions with medical and rehabilitation professionals.Results. The author argues that the culture of the institution (knowledge and compassion) and the role of the patient advocate have major implications on the outcome of a patient's functional gains. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health can be a useful tool to enhance transparency within the pati...
Strategies for infusing curricula with a multicultural perspective

We describe pedagogical strategies for infusing a multicultural perspective into courses across a variety of disciplines; these methods have proven effective with students who are predominantly Anglo and oriented toward careers in the human services. The strategies include personalizing information through vicarious learning and case studies; inculcating critical thinking skills; simulations; literary analysis; and cooperative learning in large classes. Changes were documented in student attitudes, emotions, knowledge, professional skills, and the classroom environment. We review lessons learned about the process of curriculum revision, especially the importance of faculty support systems and impediments to implementation.
Reelin Induces Erk1/2 Signaling In Cortical Neurons Through A Non-Canonical Pathway

Reelin is an extracellular protein that controls many aspects of pre- and postnatal brain development and function. The molecular mechanisms that mediate postnatal activities of Reelin are not well understood. Here, we first set out to express and purify the full length Reelin protein and a biologically active central fragment. Second, we investigated in detail the signal transduction mechanisms elicited by these purified Reelin proteins in cortical neurons. Unexpectedly, we discovered that the full-length Reelin moiety, but not the central fragment, is capable of activating Erk1/2 signaling, leading to increased p90RSK phosphorylation and the induction of immediate-early gene expression. Remarkably, Erk1/2 activation is not mediated by the canonical signal transduction pathway, involving ApoER2/VLDLR and Dab1, that mediates other functions of Reelin in early brain development. The activation of Erk1/2 signaling likely contributes to the modulation of neuronal maturation and synaptic plasticity by Reelin in the postnatal and adult brain.
Three dimensional single-molecule tracking with confocal-feedback microscope

Three dimensional single-molecule tracking (3D-SMT) holds great promises of providing insights into molecular transport and localization dynamics in live cells. Sub-diffraction localization precision, sub-millisecond temporal resolution and tens-of-seconds observation period are the benchmarks of recent SMT techniques. Among various techniques, the optical fiber-based confocal-feedback tracking microscope has advantages in large axial tracking range, high signal-to-noise ratio, and time-resolved fluorescence analysis. Here we report the optimization of a confocal-feedback tracking system through Monte Carlo simulation, and show it's possible to combine molecular tracking with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements.
H-bus: a media acquisition bus optimized for multiple streams

The H-Bus is a dedicated input bus designed for transmitting digital media streams from multiple sources to one acquiring host device. Unlike previous solutions to this problem which utilized a star topology to connect each source to a bank of analog-to-digital converters in the host device, the H-Bus places the A/D converters at each of the sources and uses a linear topology to connect the devices together in one contiguous chain. In this paper we explain the engineering requirements which motivated our design, describe the electrical and physical characteristics of, and applications for, the H-Bus.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Histamine, theophylline and tryptamine transport through lipid bilayer membranes

Abstract Diffusion of histamine, theophylline and tryptamine through planar lipid bilayer membranes was studied as a function of pH. Membranes were made of egg phosphatidylcholine plus cholesterol (1 : 1 mol ratio) in tetradecane. Tracer fluxes and electrical conductances were used to estimate the permeabilities to nonionic and ionic species. Only the nonionic forms crossed the membrane at a significant rate. The membrane permeabilities to the nonionic species were: histamine, 3.5 · 10 −5 cm · s −1 ; theophylline, 2.9 · 10 −4 cm · s −1 ; and tryptamine, 1.8 · 10 −1 cm · s −1 . Chemical reactions in the unstirred layers are important in the transport of tryptamine and theophylline, but not histamine. For example, as pH decreased from 10.0 to 7.5 the ratio of nonionic (B) to ionic (BH+) tryptamine decreased by 300-fold, but the total tryptamine permeability decreased only 3-fold. The relative insensitivity of the total tryptamine permeability to the ratio, [B]/[BH+], is due to the rapid interconversion of B and BH+ in the instirred layers. Our model describing diffusion and reaction in the unstirred layers can explain some ‘anomalous’ relationships between pH and weak acid/base transport through lipid bilayer and biological membranes.
Atomic physics: Collisions give sense of direction

The ability to measure small or slow rotations relative to an inertial frame is valuable in navigation as well as in fundamental physics. A device that exploits techniques developed in atomic physics could lead to sensitive and compact rotation sensors.
Development of a framework to measure health profession regulation strengthening

This paper describes the development of a framework to evaluate the progress and impact of a multi-year US government initiative to strengthen nursing and midwifery professional regulation in sub-Saharan Africa. The framework was designed as a capability maturity model, which is a stepwise series of performance levels that describe the sophistication of processes necessary to achieve an organization's objectives. A model from the field of software design was adapted to comprise the key functions of a nursing and midwifery regulatory body and describe five stages of advancing each function. The framework was used to measure the progress of five countries that received direct assistance to strengthen regulations and to benchmark the status of regulations in the 17 countries participating in the initiative. The framework captured meaningful advancements in regulatory strengthening in the five supported countries and the level of regulatory capacity in participating countries. The project uses the framework to assess yearly progress of supported countries, track the overall impact of the project on national and regional nursing regulation, and to identify national and regional priorities for regulatory strengthening. It is the first of its kind to document and measure progress toward sustainably strengthening nursing and midwifery regulation in Africa.
Metal nitrate and thiocyanate complexes with 2,6-lutidine n-oxide

Abstract Complexes formed by interaction of excess 2,6-lutidine N-oxide (LNO) with various metal nitrates and thiocyanates were prepared and characterized by means of spectral, magnetic and conductance studies, as follows: [M(LNO) 6 ](NO 3 ) 3 (M = Cr, Fe), involving distorted octahedral complex cations and ionic nitrate; [M(LNO) 2 (ONO 2 )(O 2 NO)] (MMn, Co, Ni, Zn), pentaco-ordinated neutral complexes, containing one mono- and one bi-dentate nitrato groups; [Cu(LNO) 2 (ONO 2 ) 2 ], planar, and [Cd(LNO) 4 (ONO 2 ) 2 ], hexaco-ordinated, with monodentate nitrato ligands; [(LNO)(SCN) 2− Mg(LNO) 2 Mg(NCS) 2 (LNO)], dimeric, pentaco-ordinated, LNO-bridged, with N-bonded thiocyanate; [(NCS) 2 Hg(LNO) 2 Hg(SCN) 2 ], dimeric, tetrahedral, LNO-bridged, with S-bonded thiocyanate; [(LNO) 2 (SCN)M(NCS) 2 M(NCS)(LNO) 2 ] (M  Co, Ni), pentaco-ordinated dimers with terminal isothiocyanato as well as bridging NCS groups; and [Cu(LNO) 2 (NCS) 2 ] x , hexaco-ordinated polymeric complex with bridging NCS ligands. [Fe(LNO) 6 ](NO 3 ) 3 is the first example of a compound characterized by the Fe III O 6 moiety and exhibiting spin-free-spin-paired equilibria; the polymeric [Cu(LNO) 2 (NCS) 2 ] x exhibits a subnormal magnetic moment. The influence of the steric effects of LNO on the types of complexes formed is discussed.
Photochemistry of the Nonspecific Hydroxyl Radical Generator, N-Hydroxypyridine-2(1H)-thione

The photochemistry of N-hydroxypyridine-2(1H)-thione (N-HPT) has been investigated in aqueous and organic solvents using laser flash photolysis (λexc = 308 or 355 nm). Independent of the environment, UV excitation of N-HPT causes homolytic N−O bond cleavage, which leads to formation of the 2-pyridylthiyl (PyS•) and hydroxyl (•OH) radicals. In aqueous media, this process occurs efficiently from both the anionic and neutral forms (ΦN-O ≈ 0.20−0.30). In addition to N−O bond scission, N-HPT undergoes other primary photoprocesses which are pH-dependent. At pH = 7, photoionization (Φe− = 0.09 (λexc = 308 nm) and 0.05 (λexc = 355 nm)) of the anionic form generates the hydrated electron as well as the semioxidized radical of N-HPT. Fast rearrangement of the latter species produces the N-oxy-2-pyridylthiyl radical. At pH = 2, where the uncharged structure predominates, formation of an excited triplet state (ET ≥ 59.5 kcal mol-1) is observed (ΦT ≥ 0.05 using λexc = 355 nm) but photoionization does not take place. T...
Myostatin genotype regulates muscle-specific miRNA expression in mouse pectoralis muscle

Background Loss of functional Myostatin results in a dramatic increase in skeletal muscle mass. It is unknown what role miRNAs play in Myostatin mediated repression of skeletal muscle mass. We hypothesized that Myostatin genotype would be associated with the differential expression of miRNAs in skeletal muscle.
Inhibition of δ-aminolevulinate synthetase induction by α-amanitin in avian liver cell cultures

Abstract The induction of δ-aminolevulinate synthetase by the 5β-steroid etiocholanolone and the barbiturate derivative 2-allyl-2-isopropylacetamide was blocked by α-amanitin in avian hepatocyte cultures. δ-Aminolevulinate synthetase controls the initial and rate-limiting step of the porphyrin-heme pathway. α-Amanitin was demonstrated to be a potent inhibitor of the nucleoplasmic DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in chick embryo liver cells in culture. It is shown that nuclear RNA synthesis and nucleoplasmic RNA polymerase activities were inhibited by the toxin at an early time (6–6.5 h) in the induction period; whereas the nucleolar RNA polymerase was not inhibited. At this particular time of the induction period, enhancement of RNA synthesis was observed and was dependent on the effect of inducers; this enhancement was eliminated by α-amanitin. It is concluded that the increment of new RNA synthesized by the α-amanitin-sensitive nucleoplasmic RNA polymerase is required as one of the early steps in the induction process of δ-aminolevulinate synthetase, either as mRNA for the enzyme or for a specific protein required in the induction process.