cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coiling preferences and evolution in the middle Miocene Fohsella chronocline

Abstract Micropaleontologists have traditionally recognized the mid-Miocene Fohsella lineage as a flagship for phyletic gradualism within the planktic foraminifera. However, study of a deep-sea record from the western equatorial Pacific (ODP Site 806) reveals that coiling ratios within this clade suddenly (
A doxastic behavioral characterization of generalized backward induction

We investigate an extension of the notion of backward induction to dynamic games with imperfect information and provide a doxastic characterization of it. Extensions of the idea of backward induction were proposed by Penta (2009) and later by Perea (2014), who also provided a doxastic characterization in terms of the notion of common belief of future rationality. The characterization we propose, although differently formulated, is conceptually the same as Perea's and so is the generalization of backward induction. The novelty of this contribution lies in the models that we use, which are dynamic, behavioral models where strategies play no role and the only beliefs that are specified are the actual beliefs of the players at the time of choice. Thus players' beliefs are modeled as temporal, rather than conditional, beliefs and rationality is defined in terms of actual choices, rather than hypothetical plans.
Information on food safety, consumer preference and behavior: The case of seafood in the US

Abstract In this paper, we study three issues related to US consumers' attitude about food safety for imported food. First, we investigate the relationship between U.S. consumers' perception and their actual behavior when purchasing seafood, and find a conflict in that many consumers think the food country of original label (COOL) is extremely important but they don't check the label when purchasing. Second, we assess factors that affect consumers' attitude toward country of origin information and safety certification labeling. We find demographic characteristics matter, in that female and less educated individuals care more about both kinds of labels than their counterparts. We also find older people tend to care more about COOL while consumers with higher consumption care more about the labels explicit on food safety. Finally, we address consumers' perception on the level of safety associated with fish and shellfish products produced in six major U.S. seafood importing countries. They trust Canada much more than Indonesia, Ecuador, Thailand, China and Viet Nam, and quality certification labels help to improve the trust on Indonesia and Ecuador but not much on the other countries.
The numerical solution of neutral functional differential equations by Adams predictor—corrector methods

Abstract An algorithm for the numerical solution of neutral functional differential equations is described. This algorithm is based on unequal-interval Adams-Bashford Adams-Moulton predictor-corrector methods with stepsize and order changing strategy based on the estimation of local discretization error by Milne's device. Results of numerical experiments on some test examples ranging from single delay and Volterra integro-differential equations to system of delay-differential equations from real-life applications are presented and compared.
Efficacy of autologous blood injection for treating overfiltering or leaking blebs after glaucoma surgery.

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of autologous blood injections for treating overfiltering or leaking blebs after glaucoma surgery. Method Retrospective review of ten eyes of ten patients who received intrableb autologous blood injections for hypotonous maculopathy. Results After intrableb blood injection, average intraocular pressure increased from 4.3 mm Hg to 6.4 mm Hg, and average visual acuity improved from 20/88 to 20/77. These results, however, were not statistically significant. Conclusion Our results with autologous blood injection are less favorable than those of previous reports, although further study with a larger case series is needed.
High-resolution broadband N2 coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy: comparison of measurements for conventional and modeless broadband dye lasers.

We have performed high-resolution N2 coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) measurements using a modeless dye laser (MDL) as the Stokes beam source to determine the effects of a reduction in mode noise on the accuracy and precision of the method. These results are compared with previous research that employed a conventional broadband dye laser (CBDL) as the Stokes beam source. A new spectral-fitting procedure was developed to avoid starting-point bias in the least-squares fitting results, which possibly had altered the previous measurements. Single-shot measurements of pressure were performed in a static-pressure vessel over the range of 0.1–4.0 atm to examine the pressure sensitivity of the technique. The precision of these measurements is a measure of the baseline noise level of the system, which sets the detection limit for flow-field pressure fluctuations. Centerline measurements of pressure and temperature in an underexpanded jet (Mj = 1.85) were also used to determine the performance of the technique in a compressible flow field. Our study represents the first known application, to our knowledge, of a MDL CARS system in a low-temperature, low-pressure supersonic environment. Improvements in accuracy for mean single-shot measurements and increased precision were found for pressure vessel conditions above 1.0 atm. For subatmospheric pressure vessel conditions (0.1–1.0 atm) and the underexpanded jet measurements, there was a decrease in accuracy and precision compared with the CBDL results. A comparison with the CBDL study is included, along with a discussion of the MDL system behavior.
Structures and stabilities of alkaline earth metal peroxides XO2 (X = Ca, Be, Mg) studied by a genetic algorithm

The structures and stabilities of alkaline earth metal peroxides XO2 (X = Ca, Be, Mg) were studied using an adaptive genetic algorithm (GA) for global structure optimization in combination with first-principles calculations. From the adaptive GA search, we obtained an orthorhombic structure for CaO2 with 12 atoms in the unit cell, which is energetically more favorable than the previously proposed structures. Reaction energy of the decomposition CaO2 → CaO + 1/2O2 determined by density functional theory (DFT) calculation shows that this orthorhombic calcium peroxide structure is thermodynamically stable. The simulated X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern using our predicted structure is in excellent agreement with experimental data. We also show that crystal phase BeO2 is unlikely to exist under normal conditions. MgO2 has a cubic pyrite structure, but it is not stable against decomposition: MgO2 → MgO + 1/2O2.
StringTie enables improved reconstruction of a transcriptome from RNA-seq reads

Methods used to sequence the transcriptome often produce more than 200 million short sequences. We introduce StringTie, a computational method that applies a network flow algorithm originally developed in optimization theory, together with optional de novo assembly, to assemble these complex data sets into transcripts. When used to analyze both simulated and real data sets, StringTie produces more complete and accurate reconstructions of genes and better estimates of expression levels, compared with other leading transcript assembly programs including Cufflinks, IsoLasso, Scripture and Traph. For example, on 90 million reads from human blood, StringTie correctly assembled 10,990 transcripts, whereas the next best assembly was of 7,187 transcripts by Cufflinks, which is a 53% increase in transcripts assembled. On a simulated data set, StringTie correctly assembled 7,559 transcripts, which is 20% more than the 6,310 assembled by Cufflinks. As well as producing a more complete transcriptome assembly, StringTie runs faster on all data sets tested to date compared with other assembly software, including Cufflinks.
Thinking about Advanced Learning Systems

Research in higher education is approaching a watershed in its history. There is a need to consider how best to deploy our intellectual resources to best effect. At ALS, even as we strive to become better and more sophisticated analysts of conditions and dynamics within our own local and national higher education setting, we are determined to move with the times. And the times suggest far more connection and dynamism in higher education on a global basis. The themes we have selected: human capacity with attention to leadership, diversity, technology, and globalization, are only a few of the ones that will be important to understanding the advanced learning systems that are emerging. We believe that one of the best ways to study these innovating systems is to create among higher education scholars an advanced learning system of our own, one that can become a powerful means of understanding higher education in the next century. We look forward to that possibility.
Implementation of Adaptive Proximate Time-Optimal Controllers

Following a brief review of the Proximate Time-Optimal Servomechanism (PTOS) and the Adaptive version of PTOS (APTOS), implementation technique will be described which make both algorithms practical for discrete time control of second order plants with real roots. The double integrator plant and the real pole plus an integrator plant are both used as examples. The effects of unmodeled dynamics on the algorithms are discussed and illustrated by simulation and experiment.
Papillomavirus E1 Protein Binds to and Stimulates Human Topoisomerase I

The papillomavirus (PV) E1 helicase plays a direct role in recruiting cellular DNA replication factors, such as replication protein A or polymerase α-primase, to replicate PV genomes. Here, E1 is shown to bind to human topoisomerase I and stimulate its relaxation activity up to sevenfold. The interaction between E1 and topoisomerase I was mapped to the E1 DNA binding domain and C terminus. These findings imply a mechanism for the recruitment of topoisomerase I to PV DNA replication forks and for stimulating topoisomerase I to allow for efficient relaxation of the torsional stress induced by replication fork progression.
Preparation of oligodeoxyribonucleoside methylphosphonates on a polystyrene support

Abstract An efficient procedure is described for synthesizing deoxyribonucleoside methylphosphonates on polystyrene polymer supports which involves condensing 5'-dimethoxytrityldeoxynucleoside 3'-methylphosphonates. The oligomers are removed from the support and the base protecting groups hydrolyzed by treatment with ethylenediamine in ethanol, which avoids hydrolysis of the methylphosphonate linkages. Two types of oligomers were synthesized: those containing only methylphosphonate linkages, d-Np(Np)nN, and those which terminate with a 5' nucleotide residue, dNp (Np)nN. The latter oligomers can be phosphorylated by polynucleotide kinase, and are separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis according to their chain length. Piperdine randomly cleaves the oligomer methylphosphonate linkages and generates a series of shorter oligomers whose number corresponds to the length of the original oligomer. Apurinic sites introduced by acid treatment spontaneously hydrolyze to give oligomers which terminate with free 3' and 5' OH groups. These reactions may be used to characterize the oligomers.
Sinonasal solitary enchondroma: Case report and review of the literature

Abstract Enchondromas are benign intramedullary tumors composed of nodules of hyaline cartilage. They are histologically distinct from chondromas, which are primarily soft tissue tumors. This is the first reported case in the literature of a solitary sinonasal enchondroma. Local recurrences are uncommon after gross total resection. More data are needed to conclude whether solitary sinonasal enchondromas can transform to malignant tumors, as has been reported with patients with multiple enchondromas such as in Maffucci's and Ollier's disease.
Behavior of Janus Particles at Liquid Interfaces

We study the capillary-induced interactions and configuration of spherical and non-spherical Janus particles adsorbed at flat liquid-fluid interfaces. For Janus spheres, the equilibrium orientation results in each hemisphere being exposed to its more favored fluid. However, experimental observations suggest that some of these particles may take a tilted orientation at the interface, giving rise to a deformed interface. On the other hand, Janus ellipsoids with a large aspect ratio or a small difference in the wettability of the two regions tend to tilt even at equilibrium. The overlap of deformed menisci results in energetic interactions between neighboring particles. We numerically calculate the interface shape around the particles by minimizing the total surface energy of the system comprising of the interface and particle-fluid regions. We quantify these interactions through evaluation of capillary energy variation as a function of the orientation and separation distance between the particles. We find that Janus spheres with similar orientations undergo a relative realignment in the interface plane in order to minimize the capillary energy. In case of ellipsoidal particles, the particles assemble in a preferred side-by-side configuration. We evaluate the role of anisotropy and degree of amphiphilicity on the inter-particle force and the capillary torque. The results can be used to predict the migration and oriented assembly of Janus particles with various geometrical and surface properties at liquid-fluid interfaces.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Benchmarking System Engineering: Harris Case Study

In 1991 Harris' Electronic System Sector decided to look for new ways to achieve significant improvements in its product development capabilities. A variety of plausible efforts were considered. One of the projects undertaken was to explore the applicability of Benchmarking as applied to the System Engineering discipline. In this paper Harris describes its benchmarking journey including the project origins, approach to benchmarking and lessons learned in applying this improvement technique. The practice of benchmarking requires a considerable amount of honesty and “soul baring” between benchmarking partners. But, it is accepted practice that information shared between partners be held in confidence. Therefore, this paper concentrates on the approach used and lessons learned in applying benchmarking rather than specific insights regarding how Harris or its benchmarking partners currently conduct their System Engineering or might change System Engineering practices as a result of the benchmarking.
The CLP language CHIP: constraint solving and applications

A short overview of the constraint logic programming language CHIP is presented. Constraint logic programming is a class of nondeterministic languages whose main operation is constraint solving over some computation domain. Besides the Herbrand universe, CHIP contains three computation domains: Boolean algebra, linear rational arithmetics, and finite domains. CHIP has been applied to a variety of combinatorial problems in hardware design (e.g. formal verification), in operations research (e.g. car-sequencing), and in decision-support systems. >
The Dilemma of Nursing Science: Current Quandaries and Lack of Direction:

The theme of this paper is the need to address the central question in nursing science. It is hypothesized that in the absence of a central, unifying question, the view of nursing as an applied science, the current research methodological debate, and the social policy statement definition of nursing have hindered nursing's ability to advance the science of nursing. The authors suggest that the terminology of applied science has been wrongfully interpreted as immediate application to nursing practice, that the research methodological debate has occurred because the focus of research efforts is on the means and not the end, and that the policy statement implies a stimulus-response approach to human behavior.
Poly(dimethyltin glutarate) as a Prospective Material for High Dielectric Applications

Poly(dimethyltin glutarate) is presented as the first organometallic polymer, a high dielectric constant, and low dielectric loss material. Theoretical results correspond well in terms of the dielectric constant. More importantly, the dielectric constant can be tuned depending on the solvent a film of the polymer is cast from. The breakdown strength is increased through blending with a second organometallic polymer.
A Cell Plate–Specific Callose Synthase and Its Interaction with Phragmoplastin

Callose is synthesized on the forming cell plate and several other locations in the plant. We cloned an Arabidopsis cDNA encoding a callose synthase (CalS1) catalytic subunit. The CalS1 gene comprises 42 exons with 41 introns and is transcribed into a 6.0-kb mRNA. The deduced peptide, with an approximate molecular mass of 226 kD, showed sequence homology with the yeast 1,3-β-glucan synthases and is distinct from plant cellulose synthases. CalS1 contains 16 predicted transmembrane helices with the N-terminal region and a large central loop facing the cytoplasm. CalS1 interacts with two cell plate–associated proteins, phragmoplastin and a novel UDP-glucose transferase that copurifies with the CalS complex. That CalS1 is a cell plate–specific enzyme is demonstrated by the observations that the green fluorescent protein–CalS1 fusion protein was localized at the growing cell plate, that expression of CalS1 in transgenic tobacco cells enhanced callose synthesis on the forming cell plate, and that these cell lines exhibited higher levels of CalS activity. These data also suggest that plant CalS may form a complex with UDP-glucose transferase to facilitate the transfer of substrate for callose synthesis.
Low-dose coronary computed tomography angiography using prospective ECG-triggering compared to invasive coronary angiography

To assess the diagnostic accuracy of prospective ECG-triggering 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) coronary angiography for evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD). Forty-two patients (31 males, 11 females, mean age 64 years) underwent cardiac CT and invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Patients with a heart rate of <65 beats/min with stable heart rhythm were included in the study sample. We used a prospective ECG-triggering protocol. Luminal narrowing over 50% was considered to be significant according to a modified 17-segment AHA model, using invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as the standard of reference. The mean radiation dose was 3.5 mSv ± 0.3 (range, 3.3–4.2 mSv), and 542 of 549 segments (98.7%) in the 42 patients were diagnostic. In contrast, 119 of 542 segments (22%) were diagnosed as significant by ICA. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV were 95.0, 96.2, 96, 85.8 and 98.8%, respectively. False positive results were affected by densely calcified plaques, whereas false negatives were caused by motion artifact with poor vessel attenuation at the distal segments or near the bifurcation area of the coronary arteries. Prospective ECG-triggering MDCT is a useful method for evaluating CAD in patients with a lower heart rate with low radiation dose.
The role of inertial cavitation in acoustic droplet vaporization

The vaporization of a superheated droplet emulsion into gas bubbles using ultrasound-termed acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV)-has potential therapeutic applications in embolotherapy and drug delivery. The optimization of ADV for therapeutic applications can be enhanced by understanding the physical mechanisms underlying ADV, which are currently not clearly elucidated. Acoustic cavitation is one possible mechanism. This paper investigates the relationship between the ADV and inertial cavitation (IC) thresholds by studying parameters that are known to influence the IC threshold. These parameters include bulk fluid properties such as gas saturation, viscosity, and surface tension. Additionally, the degree of superheat of the emulsion dispersed phase is also varied. In all cases the ADV threshold occurred at a lower rarefactional pressure than the IC threshold (p< 0.01) indicating that the phase-transition occurs before IC events. Both the ADV (p=0.7) and IC (p=0.4) thresholds were not statistically different for degassed and gas saturated conditions. The viscosity and surface tension are shown to influence both thresholds directly and inversely, respectively. Additionally, both thresholds display an inverse temperature dependence when the droplet is not superheated. Based on a choice of experimental parameters, it is possible to achieve ADV with or without IC.
SHO Time for Limits-to-Arbitrage and Asset Pricing Anomalies

We examine the causal effect of limits-to-arbitrage on ten well-known asset pricing anomalies using Regulation SHO, which reduces the cost of short selling for a random set of pilot stocks, as a natural experiment. We find that the anomalies become weaker on portfolios constructed with pilot stocks during the pilot period. The effect is both statistically and economically significant, and Regulation SHO reduces the anomaly long-short portfolio returns by as much as 77 basis points per month. We also show that the effect comes only from the short legs of the anomaly portfolios. The effect remains intact after risk-adjustment with the Fama-French three-factor model.
Knockdown of Autophagy Inhibits Infectious Hepatitis C Virus Release by the Exosomal Pathway.

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma in humans. We showed previously that HCV induces autophagy for viral persistence by preventing the innate immune response. Knockdown of autophagy reduces extracellular HCV release, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we observed that knockdown of autophagy genes enhances intracellular HCV RNA and accumulates infectious virus particles in cells. Since HCV release is linked with the exosomal pathway, we examined whether autophagy proteins associate with exosomes in HCV-infected cells. We observed an association between HCV and the exosomal marker CD63 in autophagy knockdown cells. Subsequently, we observed that levels of extracellular infectious HCV were significantly lower in exosomes released from autophagy knockdown cells. To understand the mechanism for reduced extracellular infectious HCV in the exosome, we observed that an interferon (IFN)-stimulated BST-2 gene is upregulated in autophagy knockdown cells and associated with the exosome marker CD63, which may inhibit HCV assembly or release. Taken together, our results suggest a novel mechanism involving autophagy and exosome-mediated HCV release from infected hepatocytes. IMPORTANCE Autophagy plays an important role in HCV pathogenesis. Autophagy suppresses the innate immune response and promotes survival of virus-infected hepatocytes. The present study examined the role of autophagy in secretion of infectious HCV from hepatocytes. Autophagy promoted HCV trafficking from late endosomes to lysosomes, thus providing a link with the exosome. Inhibition of HCV-induced autophagy could be used as a strategy to block exosome-mediated virus transmission.
Gauge-invariant theories of linear response for strongly correlated superconductors

We present a diagrammatic theory for determining consistent electromagnetic response functions in strongly correlated fermionic superfluids. While a gauge-invariant electromagnetic response is well understood at the BCS level, a treatment of correlations beyond BCS theory requires extending this theoretical formalism. The challenge in such systems is to maintain gauge invariance, while simultaneously incorporating additional self-energy terms arising from strong correlation effects. Central to our approach is the application of the Ward-Takahashi identity, which introduces collective mode contributions in the response functions and guarantees that the $f$-sum rule is satisfied. We outline a powerful method, which determines these collective modes in the presence of correlation effects and in a manner compatible with gauge invariance. Since this method is based on fundamental aspects of quantum field theory, the underlying principles are broadly applicable to strongly correlated superfluids. As an illustration of the technique, we apply it to a simple class of theoretical models that contain a frequency-independent order parameter. These models include BCS-BEC crossover theories of the ultracold Fermi gases, along with models specifically associated with the high-${T}_{c}$ cuprates. Finally, as an alternative approach, we contrast with the path integral formalism. Here, the calculation of gauge-invariant response appears more straightforward. However, the collective modes introduced are those of strict BCS theory, without any modification from additional correlations. As the path integral simultaneously addresses electrodynamics and thermodynamics, we emphasize that it should be subjected to a consistency test beyond gauge invariance, namely that of the compressibility sum rule. We show how this sum rule fails in the conventional path integral approach.
Predation on Sod Webworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Eggs as Affected by Chlorpyrifos Application to Kentucky Bluegrass Turf

Predators consumed or carried off up to 75% of sod webworm ( Crambus and Pediasia spp.) eggs within 48 h of exposure in turf grass. One application of chlorpyrifos applied to Kentucky bluegrass turf reduced the predator-induced mortality of sod webworm eggs for at least 3 weeks after treatment. As evidenced by pitfall traps, the insecticide simultaneously reduced the number of ants and spiders moving through the turf. The ant Pheidole tysoni Forel, together with three other species of ants and a mite, Macrocheles sp., foraged on sod webworm eggs in turf. Four species of mites, five species of Carabidae, five species of Staphylinidae, and two other insect species fed on sod webworm eggs in the laboratory.
Between the Cloister and the World: The Franciscan Third Order of Colonial Querétaro

“The womb of the Province” is how one eighteenth-century resident described Queretaro, for within that city the Franciscans of the Province of San Pedro y San Pablo de Michoacan supported not only the friary of Santiago el Grande with its Spanish and Indian parishes, but also the pioneering College of Santa Cruz, the convents of Santa Clara and Santa Rosa de Viterbo for women, the seminary of the Province, the mission church of San Sebastian, and the friary and shrine of Nuestra Senora de Pueblito. The city additionally served as the seat of the Provincial chapter. Friars and nuns at these various foundations directed over twenty associations of laity organized into confraternities, or cofradios . Poised delicately between those who were professed Franciscans (male and female, of the First and Second Orders, respectively), and the lay confraternities affiliated with the monasteries, was the Third Order, an institute which has defied classification.
Integration of self-assembled vertically aligned nanocomposite (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3)(1-x):(ZnO)x thin films on silicon substrates.

Epitaxial (La0.7Sr0.3MnO3)1–x:(ZnO)x (LSMO:ZnO) in vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) form was integrated on STO/TiN-buffered silicon substrates by pulsed-laser deposition. Their magnetotransport properties have been investigated and are systematically tuned through controlling the ZnO concentration. The composite film with 70% ZnO molar ratio exhibits a maximum magnetoresistance (MR) value of 55% at 70 K and 1 T. The enhanced tunable low-field MR properties are attributed to structural and magnetic disorders and spin-polarized tunneling through the secondary ZnO phase. The integration of LSMO:ZnO VAN films on silicon substrates is a critical step enabling the application of VAN films in future spintronic devices.
Technology Study of Preparing Ferrite Powder by Attritor

In this paper, the principle and characteristics of attritor were introduced, and the technology program of preparing ferrite powder by attritor was studied in detail. The results show that attritor is one of the best equipment for preparing ferrite powders due to its higher grinding efficiency and fine effect.
Detection of HBsAg,HBsAb and ALT Among Freshmen in Ningde Normal University,2007-2011

Objective To understand the status of freshmen(2007-2011)with HBsAg,HBsAb and ALT in Ningde Normal University(NNU),and to develop effective prevention and control measures towards hepatitis B.Methods Freshmen of 2007-2011 in NNU taken as objects,method of ELISA was applied to detect HBsAg,HBsAb;and Reitman-Frankel' s method was applied to detect ALT.Results The positive rate of HBsAg was 11.08%,and the annual positive rates were not statistically significant among years;the positive rate of males(14.09%) was statistically higher than that of females(9.79%).The positive rate of HBsAb was 43.08%,with no significant difference between male and female.The abnormal rate of ALT was 0.30% and male's abnormal rate was statistically higher than that of female.Conclusion Pertinent measures including health education,establishing health file as well as vaccination should be timely taken to decrease and eliminate the prevalence of hepatitis B.
Palliative Operations for Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

Although resection can provide long-term survival approaching 20 %, only 20–30 % of newly diagnosed cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma are amenable to surgical resection and over 50 % of patients have distant disease at presentation. Knowledge of the various palliative operative and non-operative procedures is therefore critical in the multidisciplinary treatment of this disease. Palliative care for pancreas cancer encompasses a large number of medical, procedural, and surgical interventions that have evolved over the years. There are several surgical interventions available; some prophylactic and others designed for symptomatic relief. It is important to understand their benefits, applicability, and outcomes when compared to less invasive procedures.
Supervisor Prosocial Motivation, Employee Thriving, and Helping Behavior: A Trickle-Down Model of Psychological Safety:

Although helping behaviors have increased in importance as work has become more interdependent, employees may be hesitant to help others for fear of it affecting their ability to complete their own...
Metals in Bone: Aluminum, Boron, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Silicon, and Strontium

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the various metals present in the bones and discusses their possible effects. Aluminium accumulation in bone increases as the plasma concentration increases, whether due to increased intake, as in dialysis with liquids that contain Al, or under conditions of decreased capacity for excretion, as in renal osteodystrophy. Bone accumulation of Al can also increase when turnover is diminished, as in diabetes mellitus. As aluminum accumulates in the skeleton, it inhibits mineralization and acts on bone cells. Cadmium (Cd) intoxication, whether acute or chronic, is principally the result of heavy metal mining for lead, zinc, or copper, with Cd often not being the object of the mining process, but constituting a contaminant. Cd causes changes in cell morphology and causes a decrease in osteoblast and osteoclast number and in alkaline phosphatase activity, all of which are likely to contribute to diminished collagen production and impaired mineralization. A second indirect effect of Cd is the acceleration of bone turnover, particularly bone resorption, which can be a result of the induced calcium deficiency. The element chromium (Cr) belongs to the first series of the transition elements and occurs in several oxidation states and Cr deficiency or Cr excess may lead to bone changes. When Pb is ingested, it largely follows the routes of calcium. As it binds to calbindin in the duodenum, vitamin D enhances Pb absorption. High bone Pb levels are associated with attention deficit, aggression, and delinquency, which follows a developmental course.
Laboratory measurements of nitrogen dissolution in Titan lake fluids

Abstract We obtained laboratory measurements of nitrogen solubility in mixed solutions of ethane and methane at temperatures and pressures relevant to Titan's lakes and seas. Our results show that nitrogen solubility is increased at higher methane concentration, lower temperature, and higher pressure. We developed an empirical fit that agrees well with our measurements. We show that significant volumes of nitrogen gas will be released from Titan lake fluids on heating, and that significant volumes of nitrogen gas will be absorbed by Titan lake fluids on cooling. The densities of the lake fluids will be affected by nitrogen dissolution. We also show that mixing of two cryogenic fluids of different composition can lead to the release of large amounts of nitrogen gas. This has implications for lake fluids, bubble formation, geological phenomena, and also for future landed missions on the surface of Titan. We find in particular that methane-rich lakes at lower temperatures on Titan will be the most sensitive to changes in surface conditions, either cooling, heating, or compositional mixing.
Rickettsiae as Emerging Infectious Agents.

With advances in molecular genetics, more pathogenic rickettsial species have been identified. Pathogenic rickettsiae are transmitted by vectors, such as arthropods, into the patient's skin and then spread into the microvascular endothelial cells. Clinical manifestations are characterized by fever with headache and myalgias, followed by rash 3 to 5 days later. The undifferentiated nature of clinical symptoms, knowledge of the epidemiology, and the patient's history of travel and exposure to arthropod vectors are critical to the empiric administration of antimicrobial therapy. Doxycycline is currently the most effective antibiotic for treatment of all spotted fever group and typhus group rickettsioses.
Leveling the playing field: Graphical aids on mathematics tests

ABSTRACTThis research suggests that structural accommodation can be implemented during the construction phase of standardized mathematics examinations. Data from a racially diverse district in the United States are used to compare student performance on questions with and without graphical aids. Findings suggest that mathematics questions possessing helpful graphical aids significantly reduce the performance gap between ELLs and non-ELLs. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis flagged 32 items, with just five containing a helpful graphical aid. Interestingly, these five all had negative coefficients favoring ELLs. As graphical aids are implemented in the construction phase of standardized testing, test score validity issues associated with typically used ELL accommodations are minimized. This research suggests that more useful graphical aids should be used when constructing mathematics examinations for elementary school students.
Effects of curcumin and ursolic acid on the mitochondrial coupling efficiency and hydrogen peroxide emission of intact skeletal myoblasts.

Curcumin may improve blood glucose management, but the mechanism is not fully established. We demonstrated that curcumin (40 μM) reduced the mitochondrial coupling efficiency (percentage of oxygen consumption coupled to ATP synthesis) of intact skeletal muscle cells. A 30-minute pretreatment with curcumin reduced mitochondrial coupling efficiency by 17.0 ± 0.4% relative to vehicle (p 0.7). The interaction between curcumin and ursolic acid, another natural compound that may improve blood glucose management, was also examined. Pretreatment with ursolic acid (0.12 μM) increased the mitochondrial coupling efficiency of intact cells by 4.1 ± 1.1% relative to vehicle (p < 0.008) and attenuated the effect of curcumin when the two compounds were used in combination. The observed changes to mitochondrial coupling efficiency and hydrogen peroxide emission were consistent with the established effects of curcumin on blood glucose control. Our findings also show that changes to mitochondrial coupling efficiency after curcumin pretreatment may go undetected unless cells are assessed in the intact condition.
Urban riparian systems function as corridors for both native and invasive plant species

Riparian areas are often the only green areas left in urban and suburban landscapes, providing opportunities for conservation and connectivity of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. While city planners and land managers often tout the importance of riparian networks for these uses, it is not well established if urban riparian plant communities are actually functioning as connected assemblages. Furthermore, urban riparian zones are well known to be highly invaded by non-native plant species and may be functioning to increase the spread of non-native species across the landscape. Here we examine connectivity of plant assemblages in riparian networks within an extensively urbanized landscape. We sampled riparian plant communities at 13 sites along three second-order streams of the Rahway River watershed, New Jersey. We also characterized propagule dispersal at each site by sampling litter packs on the river banks five times between March–October 2011 and identifying germinants from litter packs after cold stratification. Species turnover of both riparian and litter vegetation was more strongly associated with flow distance, particularly for native species, indicating that riverine systems are important for promoting connectivity of native plant assemblages in urban landscapes. However, non-native germinants significantly dominated propagule dispersal along the stream reaches, particularly early in the growing season, suggesting spread utilizing the river system and preemption may be an important mechanism for invasion success in this system. Our data show that management of invasive species should be planned and implemented at the watershed scale to reduce spread via the river system.
Resource allocation for a multichannel ultrasonic through-wall communication system

This paper presents novel techniques to achieve high-rate ultrasonic communications through thick metallic barriers utilizing ultrasound and provides a characterization and analysis of a 7 × 7 MIMO-OFDM acoustic-electric channel array and determines that, due to unique channel properties yielding well-conditioned channel gain matrices, a slowly adaptive crosstalk mitigation structure achieves near-optimal performance while minimizing complexity. The paper also focuses on resource allocation for the multichannel ultrasonic through-wall communication system and applies rate-maximization techniques including a novel power allocation algorithm which is shown to outperform both conventional bit-loading and greedy bit filling techniques.
A noise circulating cross-coupled VCO with a 195.6dBc/Hz FoM and 50kHz 1/f 3 noise corner

This paper presents a transformer-based cross-coupled voltage-controlled-oscillator (VCO) topology with a noise circulating active core. The proposed noise circulating technique suppresses both the 1/f2 and 1/f3 phase noise. Due to its broadband nature, the resulting VCO phase noise in both 1/f2 and 1/f3 regions is greatly improved over a wide tuning range. A prototype VCO at 2. 35GHz is implemented in a standard 130nm bulk CMOS process with 0. 36mm2 core area. It consumes 2. 15mA from a 1. 2V supply. The measured figure-of-merit (FoM) is 193.1/195.0/195.6 dBc/Hz at 100k/lM/10MHz offsets with a 1/f3 phase noise corner of only 50kHz. The VCO design consistently achieves >192.8dBcFoM at 100k/lM/10MHz offsets and <60kHz1/f3 phase noise corner over its entire 18.6% tuning range (2.05–2.47GHz). It has very low supply pushing of -25MHz/V and -13MHz/V at the highest and lowest frequencies, respectively.
Distinguishing one from many using super-resolution compressive sensing

Distinguishing whether a signal corresponds to a single source or a limited number of highly overlapping point spread functions (PSFs) is a ubiquitous problem across all imaging scales, whether detecting receptor-ligand interactions in cells or detecting binary stars. Super-resolution imaging based upon compressed sensing exploits the relative sparseness of the point sources to successfully resolve sources which may be separated by much less than the Rayleigh criterion. However, as a solution to an underdetermined system of linear equations, compressive sensing requires the imposition of constraints which may not always be valid. One typical constraint is that the PSF is known. However, the PSF of the actual optical system may reflect aberrations not present in the theoretical ideal optical system. Even when the optics are well characterized, the actual PSF may reflect factors such as non-uniform emission of the point source (e.g. fluorophore dipole emission). As such, the actual PSF may differ from the PSF used as a constraint. Similarly, multiple different regularization constraints have been suggested including the l1-norm, l0-norm, and generalized Gaussian Markov random fields (GGMRFs), each of which imposes a different constraint. Other important factors include the signal-to-noise ratio of the point sources and whether the point sources vary in intensity. In this work, we explore how these factors influence super-resolution image recovery robustness, determining the sensitivity and specificity. As a result, we determine an approach that is more robust to the types of PSF errors present in actual optical systems.
Implementation of pulsed neural networks in CMOS VLSI technology

This article presents a CMOS implementation of a biologically-inspired neuron. The neuron accommodates multiple excitatory and inhibitory inputs with digital weights and generates a pulse-width modulated output waveform of constant frequency based on the level of activation. The behavior of this implementation is demonstrated and it is shown that combinations of neurons form a complete logic set for realizing Boolean functions. Simulation results using a VHDL model are presented, along with applications for pattern recognition and input encoding.
Exploring reliability of exascale systems through simulations

Exascale computers are predicted to emerge by the end of this decade with millions of nodes and billions of concurrent cores/threads. One of the most critical challenges for exascale computing is how to effectively and efficiently maintain the system reliability. Checkpointing is the state-of-the-art technique for high-end computing system reliability that has proved to work well for current petascale scales. This paper investigates the suitability of checkpointing mechanism for exascale computers, across both parallel filesystems and distributed filesystems. We built a model to emulate exascale systems, and developed a simulator, RXSim, to study its reliability and efficiency. Experiments show that the overall system efficiency and availability would go towards zero as system scales approach exascale with checkpointing mechanism on parallel filesystems. However, the simulations suggest that a distributed filesystem with local persistent storage would offer excellent scalability and aggregate bandwidth, enabling efficient checkpointing at exascale.
Scanned Projection Radiography

The field of diagnostic radiology has incorporated many exciting new procedures and technical developments during its 85-year history since the discovery of the x-ray in 1895. But no period has been more fruitful, perhaps, than the last decade when developments have appeared at a remarkable pace. Through all these changes, however, the fundamental goals of diagnostic radiology have remained unaltered. Basically, these goals are:
Galls on Flower and Fruit

Although flowers are highly specialized organs of plants, flower galls are on the whole relatively simple structures. Structurally and ecologically, they show some affinity to galls on vegetative buds (Chapter VI), but do not surpass them in complexity of structure and development. Inspite of this relative simplicity and low incidence, flower galls exhibit certain ecologic specializations, not found among galls on other organs. The morphogenesis of flower galls is in general more or less complicated by the morphogenetic patterns of the individual floral parts and often embraces an abnormal accentuation of these normal patterns. Though flower galls are caused by Fungi, Nematodes, Acarina, Thysanoptera, Heteroptera, Psyllidae, Aphidae, Brachyscelidae, Coleoptera, Cynipidae and Itonididae, the communities associated with these galls are perhaps the smallest of plant gall communities in general. The number of inquilines, parasites and other ecologic groups is exceptionally small in flower galls. As most flower galls are typically deciduous, successori (vide Chapter XI) may be said to be practically non-existent. Some of the other peculiarities of galls on flowers are related to the restricted seasonal appearance of flowers and the short duration of their development.
Bottom Breakout Of Objects Resting On Soft Clay Sediments

Bottom breakout force is the force that is required to free an object resting on a soft saturated clay sediment. This paper summarizes the results of a laboratory study relating to the bottom breakout force of a cylindrical object on three different soft clay sediments. Two important parameters for the estimation of the bottom breakout force are the plasticity of the soil and the in situ rest time of the object on the sediment.
Role of axon resealing in retrograde neuronal death and regeneration after spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury leads to persistent behavioral deficits because mammalian central nervous system axons fail to regenerate. A neuron’s response to axon injury results from a complex interplay of neuron-intrinsic and environmental factors. The contribution of axotomy to the death of neurons in spinal cord injury is controversial because very remote axotomy is unlikely to result in neuronal death, whereas death of neurons near an injury may reflect environmental factors such as ischemia and inflammation. In lampreys, axotomy due to spinal cord injury results in delayed apoptosis of spinal-projecting neurons in the brain, beyond the extent of these environmental factors. This retrograde apoptosis correlates with delayed resealing of the axon, and can be reversed by inducing rapid membrane resealing with polyethylene glycol. Studies in mammals also suggest that polyethylene glycol may be neuroprotective, although the mechanism(s) remain unclear. This review examines the early, mechanical, responses to axon injury in both mammals and lampreys, and the potential of polyethylene glycol to reduce injury-induced pathology. Identifying the mechanisms underlying a neuron’s response to axotomy will potentially reveal new therapeutic targets to enhance regeneration and functional recovery in humans with spinal cord injury.