cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reliability-constrained self-organization and energy management towards a resilient microgrid cluster

Microgrids, as individual controllable entities that can operate either islanded from or interconnected to main power grid, have emerged as a promising solution to improving energy efficiency and resilience to disturbance. When linked together in a self-organized manner, a cluster of microgrids can significantly enhance the reliability and power quality for critical load. With this insight, we study the self-organization and decentralized energy management of a microgrid cluster islanded from main grid after a disruptive event. In the self-organization stage, depending on the available generation resources, each microgrid decides on whether to connect to the cluster; and the microgrid energy management systems then “negotiate” on the optimal power exchange with each other in the cluster. Once the power exchange is determined, the generation and storage resources of each microgrid are managed to guarantee the energy reliability of critical loads and overall energy efficiency, through a scheduling procedure followed by a dispatch procedure. The effectiveness of the proposed method is revealed via case studies.
Ibotenic acid lesions of the superior colliculus produce longer lasting deficits in visual orienting behavior than aspiration lesions in the cat.

We compared the effects of unilateral surgical aspiration and ibotenic acid produced lesions of the superior colliculus (SC) on visual orienting behavior in 20 cats. Four animals with aspiration lesions initially showed an hemianopia in the contralateral hemifield which recovered fully in 4.5 weeks or less. These lesions also destroyed axons in the commissure of the superior colliculus (CSC). In 9 animals we produced complete loss of cells in one SC, with preservation of axons in the CSC, by injections of ibotenic acid. In these animals the contralateral hemianopia persisted for an average of 16.6 weeks, but may have persisted longer had we not intervened by either sacrificing the animal or ablating the visual cortex contralateral to the SC lesion. The cortical lesion produced an immediate hemianopia in the contralateral hemifield and a recovery in the previously hemianopic (‘collicular’) hemifield. In the remaining 7 animals with attempted ibotenic acid lesions, 5 had incomplete lesions and 2 others sustained major damage to the SC as well as the CSC. These 7 animals recovered visual orienting on an average of 3.0 weeks postoperatively. We conclude that unilateral loss of collicular cell function and the presence of fibers coursing through the commissure of the superior colliculus are both necessary for the prolonged deficit in visual orienting behavior. We suggest that competition between the two hemifields may play a role in the hemianopia caused by collicular manipulations and that the cholinergic pathway from the pedunculopontine nucleus to the contralateral SC via the CSC may be involved.
Combining Simulation and Optimization for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fuel Treatments for Four Different Fuel Conditions at Landscape Scales

The effectiveness of applying landscape level fuel treatments is analyzed for four different landscape conditions by using both simulation and optimization. The four landscape conditions represent a gradient of fuel conditions ranging from light, scattered to heavy, concentrated fuels. Different strategies of applying treatments are evaluated and compared across the four landscapes. A stochastic simulation modeling system, Simulating Vegetative Patterns and Processes at Landscape Scales (SIMPPLLE), is initially applied to assess wildfire, insect, and disease risks on each landscape without management treatments, but with fire suppression. These simulation results, in the form of risk ratings for each plant community, are input into the Multi-resource Analysis and Geographic Information System (MAGIS). MAGIS is an optimization modeling system, for scheduling activities that reduce these risks and address other management objectives. The derived treatment schedules are used in additional SIMPPLLE simulations to examine the impact on wildfire and other disturbance processes probability. Fuel treatment effects are quantified as changes in the predicted extent and intensity of future wildfires, impacts on other resource objectives, and the resulting economic benefits.
The effect of zinc on NADPH oxidation and monooxygenase activity in rat hepatic microsomes.

This study confirms that zinc is able to inhibit hepatic microsomal drug metabolism and the related oxidation of NADPH. Zinc activates microsomal pyrophosphatase, a zinc-containing enzyme capable of metabolizing both NADPH and NADH. Although this reaction produces a potent inhibitor of drug metabolism, 29,59-ADP9, the activation of pyrophosphatase by zinc was found not to be solely responsible for the zinc-dependent inhibition of drug metabolism. Zinc was seen to inhibit drug metabolism in the presence of 59-AMP, which inhibits pyrophosphatase. Incubation of zinc with microsomes prior to the addition of NADPH caused an interaction between zinc and the microsomal enzymes that was not reversed by NADPH. Zinc was found to exhibit noncompetitive inhibition of cytochrome c reduction and mixed inhibition of drug metabolism, with respect to NADPH. Zinc inhibition of drug metabolism was noncompetitive with drug substrate. Zinc was found to interact with cytochrome P-450, decreasing its ability to bind to both drugs and carbon monoxide. Zinc had a far greater effect on the reduction of cytochrome P-450 (90% inhibited) than on the reduction of exogenous cytochrome c (20% inhibited), although the same reductase is responsible for both reactions. It is concluded that zinc inhibits drug metabolism either by alteration of the oxidation-reduction potential of the flavoprotein or by interacting with a flavoprotein/cytochrome P-450 complex.
Effect of heat release and equivalence ratio on the inviscid spatial stability of a supersonic reacting mixing layer

We present some preliminary results of a numerical study of the stability of compressible mixing layers in which a diffusion flame is embedded. In this study we have approximated the mean velocity profile by a hyperbolic tangent profile and taken the limit of infinite activation energy which reduces the diffusion flame to a flame sheet. The addition of combustion in the form of a flame sheet was found to have important, and complex, effects on the flow stability.
Recurring genomic breaks in independent lineages support genomic fragility.

Background Recent findings indicate that evolutionary breaks in the genome are not randomly distributed, and that certain regions, so-called fragile regions, are predisposed to breakages. Previous approaches to the study of genomic fragility have examined the distribution of breaks, as well as the coincidence of breaks with segmental duplications and repeats, within a single species. In contrast, we investigate whether this regional fragility is an inherent genomic characteristic and is thus conserved over multiple independent lineages.
Resilience, Empathy, and Wellbeing in the Health Professions: An Educational Imperative.

Hillel the Elder, who was born in Babylon and lived in Jerusalem in the first century of the Common Era, is a Jewish sage credited with many aphorisms, including the famous one listed above. A closer examination of his wise words suggests that they can apply to many of us: students, faculty, and practitioners in the health professions, especially with regard to the important issue of self-care. Serving others is the core mission of all healthcare professions. But many times these dedicated professionals neglect their own care to the detriment of themselves and their patients. Flight attendants, perhaps following Hillel's advice, remind us to put our oxygen masks on first, before assisting others. The reason is rather straightforward: If we are not in optimum health, our ability to help others is greatly compromised.
Temperature-dependent optical measurements of the dominant recombination mechanisms in InAs/InAsSb type-2 superlattices

Temperature-dependent measurements of carrier recombination rates using a time-resolved optical pump-probe technique are reported for mid-wave infrared InAs/InAs1−xSbx type-2 superlattices (T2SLs). By engineering the layer widths and alloy compositions, a 16 K band-gap of ∼235 ± 10 meV was achieved for five unintentionally and four intentionally doped T2SLs. Carrier lifetimes were determined by fitting lifetime models based on Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH), radiative, and Auger recombination processes to the temperature and excess carrier density dependent data. The minority carrier (MC), radiative, and Auger lifetimes were observed to generally increase with increasing antimony content and decreasing layer thickness for the unintentionally doped T2SLs. The MC lifetime is limited by SRH processes at temperatures below 200 K in the unintentionally doped T2SLs. The extracted SRH defect energy levels were found to be near mid-bandgap. Also, it is observed that the MC lifetime is limited by Auger recombination in ...
Synthesis and Performance of High Efficiency Cosurfactants: 2. Commercial Variants

ABSTRACT Commercially viable cosurfactant species of enhanced surface activity were used to formulate middle phase microemulsions. These cosurfactants were made from butanol, with randomly added equal weights of ethoxylate (EO) and propoxylate (PO) groups, to give a wide variation in molecular weight. It was found that cosurfactant requirements for microemulsion formation with the highest molecular weight compound studied was reduced more than an order of magnitude when compared to 2-butanol.
E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM32 negatively regulates tumor suppressor p53 to promote tumorigenesis

Tumor suppressor p53 has a key role in maintaining genomic stability and preventing tumorigenesis through its regulation of cellular stress responses, including apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and senescence. To ensure its proper levels and functions in cells, p53 is tightly regulated mainly through post-translational modifications, such as ubiquitination. Here, we identified E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM32 as a novel p53 target gene and negative regulator to regulate p53-mediated stress responses. In response to stress, such as DNA damage, p53 binds to the p53 responsive element in the promoter of the TRIM32 gene and transcriptionally induces the expression of TRIM32 in cells. In turn, TRIM32 interacts with p53 and promotes p53 degradation through ubiquitination. Thus, TRIM32 negatively regulates p53-mediated apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and senescence in response to stress. TRIM32 is frequently overexpressed in different types of human tumors. TRIM32 overexpression promotes cell oncogenic transformation and tumorigenesis in mice in a largely p53-dependent manner. Taken together, our results demonstrated that as a novel p53 target and a novel negative regulator for p53, TRIM32 has an important role in regulation of p53 and p53-mediated cellular stress responses. Furthermore, our results also revealed that impairing p53 function is a novel mechanism for TRIM32 in tumorigenesis.
RESEARCH ARTICLE: Oil and Gas Produced Water Management and Surface Drinking Water Sources in Pennsylvania

Produced water from oil and gas development requires management to avoid negative public health effects, particularly those associated with dissolved solids and bromide in drinking water. Rapidly e...
Generation of eosinophils from cryopreserved murine bone marrow cells

Eosinophils are produced in the bone marrow from CD34+ eosinophil lineage-committed progenitors, whose levels in the bone marrow are elevated in a variety of human diseases. These findings suggest that increased eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor production is an important process in disease-associated eosinophilia. The pathways central to the biology of the eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor remain largely unknown. Thus, developing new methods to investigate the regulators of eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor differentiation is needed to identify potential therapeutic targets to specifically inhibit eosinophil production. We tested cytokine regimens to optimize liquid cultures for the study of eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor and eosinophil precursor differentiation into mature eosinophils. Stem cell factor (but not fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand) was required for optimal yield of eosinophils. Furthermore, we evaluated the effects of cell preservation and scale on the culture, successfully culturing functional eosinophils from fresh and frozen murine bone marrow cells and in a standard-sized and 96-well culture format. In summary, we have developed an adaptable culture system that yields functionally competent eosinophils from murine low-density bone marrow cells and whose cytokine regime includes expansion of progenitors with stem cell factor alone with subsequent differentiation with interleukin 5.
Multi-layered photonic crystals de novo: new formalism, results, insights, and analytic possibilities

A new formalism for calculating the photonic band structure of multi-layer photonic band gap (PBG) materials is presented. The formalism expresses all boundary conditions in terms of tangents rather than exponential functions. The formalism is compact, algorithmically simple, and physically appealing, and provides a new conceptual framework for describing the photonic band structure of layered materials. Its simplicity makes it possible to represent eigenfrequency conditions using geometric constructs, find a factored form of the secular equation, and derive analytic eigenfrequency conditions and analytic wave functions for multi-layer structures. Computationally, the new formalism makes it possible to find explicitly the complete band structure of multi-layer PBG materials with integer ratios of optical path lengths (i.e., any combination of quarter-wave, half-wave, etc., stacks) through a single diagonalization of a low order secular equation, the alternative being an implicit root search via the transfer matrix formalism. The formalism is demonstrated on multi-layered structures arranged in the Fibonacci sequence and a half-wave-quarterwave- eighth-wave PBG.
Modeling temporal variations in multipolarized radar scattering from intertidal coastal wetlands

Abstract Coastal wetlands form critical ecosystems that are very sensitive to natural and anthropogenic environmental factors. These dynamic environments can exhibit both seasonal and year-to-year variability causing significant temporal variations in remotely sensed data. Understanding these variations is necessary if time series of remotely sensed data are to be used to monitor and manage coastal environments. Coastal areas can also experience persistent cloud cover, thereby making the use of microwave sensors, such as radar, potentially attractive for monitoring. Data acquired by polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Laser Altimeter (LIDAR) sensors are analyzed to evaluate the response of a coastal marsh complex to climatic and tidal processes. The utility of L-band SAR data is investigated for detecting the presence of inundation and quantifying seasonal variations in plant phenology in several wetland environments. A coherent microwave scattering model is used to simulate radar backscatter from the marsh under different phenological and inundation conditions. Coastal marshes can exhibit scattering behavior that is different from other environments, such as forests and inland grasslands, for which scattering phenomena have been more thoroughly studied. Using a high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from LIDAR data and ancillary measurements of climatic and tidal conditions, changes in the multi-polarization L-band SAR responses over a three-year period are related to specific scattering mechanisms in the marsh. Results indicate that variations in polarization preference of herbaceous marshes are often more pronounced than those observed over upland areas. Succulent halophytic plants in the high marsh respond strongly to inundation but only mildly to climatic factors, such as average daily temperature. Conversely, the response of non-succulent halophytic plants in the low marsh is strongly dependent on climate, which in turn affects their response to inundation. Results indicate that some knowledge of the vegetation phenology is required, along with scattering simulations, for meaningful interpretation of multi-temporal SAR data over coastal wetlands.
A Foray into Library Digital Publishing: The British Virginia Project at Virginia Commonwealth University

Part of the Library and Information Science Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, and the United States History Commons An indexed, print copy of the Proceedings is also available for purchase at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/ charleston. You may also be interested in the new series, Charleston Insights in Library, Archival, and Information Sciences. Find out more at: http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/series/charleston-insights-library-archival-and-information-sciences.
A controller architecture for integrating a fast tool servo into a diamond turning machine

Diamond turning has become an important fabrication technique for producing reflective optics. However, the generation of a general optical surface requires the capability to fabricate nonrotationally symmetric surfaces. Current commercial diamond turning machines cannot perform this task at production rates because of the limited bandwidth of their axis motions and the limited update speed of their controllers. Although a fast tool servo overcomes the bandwidth limitation, the problem of integrating a fast control process (for the servo axis) and a slower control process (for the slide axes) remains. This article describes the computer hardware and software required to integrate a high-speed, low-amplitude fast tool servo into a conventional T-based diamond turning machine. This system can machine θ-dependent features, synchronized to the radial and axial position of the tool, up to the displacement of range of the servo. A set of interface boards have been designed and built that pass the position feedback data from the laser interferometer to both a high-speed servo controller and a slower slide axes controller. This design allows the fast tool servo to be an independent add-on accessory to the diamond turning machine and successfully incorporates nonrotationally symmetric fabrication capability. As an example of the surfaces possible with this system, an off-axis segment of a parabolic mirror has been machined on-axis. The peak-to-valley figure error of this 125-mm optic is less than 1.1 waves (0.7 μm).
Multilevel Resonance Analysis of 59Co Neutron Transmission Measurements

Large discrepancies exist between the high-resolution 59Co neutron transmission data of Harvey et al. and the resolved resonance parameters of ENDF/B-VI. In order to provide new resonance parameters consistent with these data, the high-resolution transmission measurements have been analyzed with the computer code SAMMY. Results of that analysis are reported here.
Cross-linker dynamics determine the mechanical properties of actin gels

To evaluate the contributions of cross-linker dynamics and polymer deformation to the frequency-dependent stiffness of actin filament gels, we compared the rheological properties of actin gels with three types of cross-linkers: a weak one, Acanthamoeba alpha-actinin (dissociation rate constant 5.2 s-1, association rate constant 1.1 x 10(6) M-1 s-1); a strong one, chicken smooth muscle alpha-actinin (dissociation rate constant 0.66 s-1, association rate constant 1.20 x 10(6) M-1 s-1); and an extremely strong one, biotin/avidin (dissociation rate constant approximately zero). The biotin/avidin cross-linked gel, whose behavior is determined by polymer bending alone, behaves like a solid and shows no frequency dependence. The amoeba alpha-actinin cross-linked gel behaves like a viscoelastic fluid, and the frequency dependence of the stiffness can be explained by a mathematical model for dynamically cross-linked gels. The stiffness of the chicken alpha-actinin cross-linked gel is independent of frequency, and has viscoelastic properties intermediate between the two. The two alpha-actinins have similar association rate constants for binding to actin filaments, consistent with a diffusion-limited reaction. Rigid cross-links make the gel stiff, but make it elastic without the ability to deform permanently. Dynamically cross-linked actin filaments should allow the cell to react passively to various outside forces without any sort of signaling. Slower, signal-mediated pathways, such as severing filaments or changing the affinity of cross-linkers, could alter the nature of these passive reactions.
A strain amplitude-based algorithm for impact localization on composite laminates

Automated detection of damage due to low energy impacts in composite structures is very important for aerospace structural health monitoring applications. Low-velocity impact creates subsurface dam...
Diverging pathways: Differential benzenoid and phenylpropanoid volatile production in Phlox subulata L. cultivars

Abstract Previous research into the genetic mechanisms of benzenoid and phenylpropanoid volatile biosynthesis has suggested the potential for metabolic flux, in which phenylalanine substrate dedicated to one pathway branch (i.e., benzenoid production) could alter volatile production in other pathways (i.e., phenylpropanoid production). However, little research has been conducted in planta to verify the validity of this hypothesis. We examined the emission rates of representative benzenoid and phenylpropanoid volatiles from seven cultivars of Phlox subulata L. to determine if cultivars had metabolic flux differences in terms of these two compound categories. Cultivars that produced large quantities of methyl benzoate and benzaldehyde were found to emit little or no phenylacetaldehyde and 2-phenylethanol, and vice versa. These results suggest that P. subulata cultivars experience phenylalanine substrate flux directed toward one pathway and away from the alternate branch. Such a pattern may be the result of differential selection pressures, in which gene expression has been altered to direct flux away from either benzenoid or phenylpropanoid production. Moreover, if these patterns hold true in wild populations, metabolic flux may lead to differential pollinator behavior and further phenotypic evolution. Future research using molecular tools could verify the role of metabolic flux in determining scent phenotypes and pinpoint the exact nature of the genetic mutations leading to phenotypic differences in odor.
Host Factors and Antibody Response in Haemophilus influensae Type b Meningitis and Epiglottitis

Levels of antibody in serum after infection with Haemophilus influenzae type b or challenge with polysaccharide vaccine are highly variable. Convalescent-phase serum antibody to the capsular polysaccharide of H. influenzae type b was measured in two groups of patients with pathophysiologically distinct diseases, meningitis and acute epiglottitis. Antibody response after H. influenzae meningitis was subnormal. Mean levels of antibody, the distribution of antibody levels by age, and erythrocyte and genetic marker lymphocyte antigens were studied; all results suggested that these two groups of patients were genetically and immunologically different from each other. Evidence suggested that the magnitude of the important host immunologic response was under host genetic control. Haemophilus influenzae type b is the etiologic agent for at least two diseases with distinctive clinical and epidemiologic features. Although patients with either meningitis or epiglottitis have bacteremia during the acute phase of illness, organisms localize preferentially in different anatomic sites, the meninges or epiglottal submucosa. Compared with meningitis, epiglottitis occurs in older children, has a more rapid onset, has more florid symptoms of septicemia, and occurs more often in spring and summer rather than in winter
THE MEMPHIS STUDY: OPTOMETRIC CLASSIFICATIONAL DISTRIBUTIONS

Clinical records at Southern College of Optometry from 1968–70 were encoded into the digital computer in 29 main categories, each divided generally into nine levels. The recorded information in each level was counted, and the total distribution of all three years in each category was made. Thus, the present study of optometric characteristics of the Memphis population offers data for comparison with those of other populations.
The Making of ‘Undeserving’ Homeless Women: A Gendered Analysis of Homeless Policy in South Korea from 1997 to 2001:

The Asian Debt Crisis of 1997–2001 led to drastically higher levels of unemployment, resulting in enormous social anxiety and shock. For the first time in its history, South Korea's attention was forcibly drawn to homeless people. Both the new government of the first civilian president, Kim Dae Jung, and an emerging civil society began to pay unprecedented attention to homeless issues. In this new context, homelessness was constructed as a product of the economic crisis. However, although certain homeless men who fit the category of employability and rehabilitation were considered ‘deserving’, long-term street living people and homeless women were disregarded and further marginalized through specific gendered processes. In particular, homeless women were rendered invisible and considered ‘undeserving’ because they fell outside of normative gender expectations, including the idea that a woman's place was in the home, regardless of their ability or desire to work. Building upon ‘needs-talk’ analysis created by Nancy Fraser, this paper exposes the important role of gender norms in the making of a neoliberal welfare citizenship in South Korea, by arguing that the narratives of homeless policy administrators and shelter managers designated homeless women as ‘undeserving’ welfare citizens.
Quantum physics: observations turn up the heat.

The idea that observers can influence what they observe has a history that stretches back beyond quantum physics. That we can affect how a system heats up and cools down simply by probing it is a new twist.
The Relationship Between Imprint Size and Drop Diameter for an Airborne Drop Sampler.

Abstract Data are presented on the relationship between drop size and imprint diameter produced by the impact of water drops with aluminum foil in an aircraft precipitation sampler at speeds of 140 and 230 kt. Examination of the data obtained for drops of from <1 mm diameter to ∼5 mm diameter indicates that the ratio of imprint to drop diameter lies in the range 1.0–1.30.
Activated Factor VII Levels in Patients With Angiographically Confirmed Coronary Artery Disease

We have examined factor VIIa levels in consecutive consenting patients undergoing coronary angiography (n = 702) to determine if levels are related to the presence of coronary arterial narrowing and to the degree and extent of that narrowing. Both men and women with clinically defined coronary artery disease (> or = 50% stenosis in at least 1 vessel) had factor VIIa levels that were similar to men and women with less stenosis or normal coronary arteries.
Phospholipase C ε Modulates β-Adrenergic Receptor– Dependent Cardiac Contraction and Inhibits Cardiac Hypertrophy

Phospholipase C (PLC) epsilon is a recently identified enzyme regulated by a wide range of molecules including Ras family small GTPases, Rho A, Galpha(12/13), and Gbetagamma with primary sites of expression in the heart and lung. In a screen for human signal transduction genes altered during heart failure, we found that PLCepsilon mRNA is upregulated. Two murine models of cardiac hypertrophy confirmed upregulation of PLCepsilon protein expression or PLCepsilon RNA. To identify a role for PLCepsilon in cardiac function and pathology, a PLCepsilon-deficient mouse strain was created. Echocardiography indicated PLCepsilon(-/-) mice had decreased cardiac function, and direct measurements of left ventricular contraction demonstrated that PLCepsilon(-/-) mice had a decreased contractile response to acute isoproterenol administration. Cardiac myocytes isolated from PLCepsilon(-/-) mice had decreased beta-adrenergic receptor (betaAR)-dependent increases in Ca2+ transient amplitudes, likely accounting for the contractile deficiency in vivo. This defect appears to be independent from the ability of the betaAR system to produce cAMP and regulation of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pool size. To address the significance of these functional deficits to cardiac pathology, PLCepsilon(-/-) mice were subjected to a chronic isoproterenol model of hypertrophic stress. PLCepsilon(-/-) mice were more susceptible than wild-type littermates to development of hypertrophy than wild-type littermates. Together, these data suggest a novel PLC-dependent component of betaAR signaling in cardiac myocytes responsible for maintenance of maximal contractile reserve and loss of PLCepsilon signaling sensitizes the heart to development of hypertrophy in response to chronic cardiac stress.
The regulation of aspartokinase inBacillus licheniformis

Abstract The specific activity of aspartokinase (ATP: l -aspartate 4-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.2.4) decreases rapidly to a 10 to 20-fold lower level at the end of the growth phase in Bacillus licheniformis grown on a minimal glucose-salts medium. Concurrent with this decrease in specific activity is a loss of sensitivity to feedback inhibition by l -lysine and a slower decrease in the concerted inhibition caused by l -lysine and l -threonine. Growth of the cells in the minimal medium plus l -lysine and l -threonine caused the production of aspartokinase with characteristics similar to those of enzyme from cells harvested 4 h after the end of growth. Growth in the presence of either l -lysine or l -threonine did not affect the specific activity of the enzyme but did alter its inhibition sensitivity. The addition of l -lysine to the medium during growth on the minimal medium caused a rapid loss of sensitivity to lysine inhibition, 50% desensitization occurring in 15 min. These latter conditions did not produce an alteration in the specific activity of the enzyme or in the concerted inhibition by lysine and threonine. Despite the marked alteration in feedback-inhibition properties, changes in physical or kinetic properties of purified aspartokinase were not observed. Throughout the purification steps there was no evidence that more than one aspartokinase was present in B. licheniformis cells. It is concluded that this enzyme is unusually plastic and assumes alternate forms depending on the physiology of the cell.
2020 computing: can computers help to explain biology?

The road leading from computer formalisms to explaining biological function will be difficult, but Roger Brent and Jehoshua Bruck suggest three hopeful paths that could take us closer to this goal.
Research ethics and consent in the intensive care unit.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The subject of research ethics and informed consent in the ICU has recently received unprecedented attention during the past year, the reasons for which are reviewed herein. RECENT FINDINGS: The controversy over research design and informed consent issues in studies conducted by the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network in the United States have been responsible for much of the attention on research ethics. So has the draft directive to create a harmonization of the provisions governing clinical trials within the European Union. These and other factors have prompted renewed interest in the proper design of clinical trials, the difficulty of obtaining informed consent for research from critically ill patients and their surrogates, conflicts of interest on the part of investigators and their institutions, the need for improving institutional protections for human subjects, and the desirability of clarifying the investigator-subject relationship. SUMMARY: Clinical trials should compare new therapies with "standard" ones if a standard of care exists. Surrogate consent is required for research involving most critically ill subjects, and state laws in the United States and national statutes in Europe should reflect this requirement. Conflicts of interest should be identified at both the individual and the institutional levels. Institutional review boards should focus on ethical issues after conflicts of interest are evaluated. Making the investigator-subject relationship transparent should help protect subjects.
Initial myocardial infarction among veterans. Nontransmural myocardial infarction. Bundle branch block.

Abstract 1. 1. An analysis and follow-up is presented of 94 patients with initial myocardial infarction whose electrocardiograms did not show abnormal Q waves. The terminology of this variety of ischemic heart disease is discussed, and nontransmural myocardial infarction is suggested as the most appropriate term. 2. 2. The acute and long-term prognosis of this group of patients was not significantly different from that of the group with initial transmural myocardial infarction. 3. 3. An additional group of 23 patients with initial myocardial infarction whose electrocardiograms showed persistent bundle branch block was analyzed. The acute and long-term mortality in this group was very high. All of the autopsied cases had a large area of infarction, and all but one showed significant cardiac hypertrophy.
Multiplex Near-Field Microscopy using Diffractive Elements

We propose and simulate a method of using diffractive elements in the near-field of a scatterer to achieve superior signal-to-noise ratio and faster image acquisition than near-field scanning optical microscopy.
On the distribution of thermal stresses around an elliptical crack in an infinite solid

Abstract This article is concerned with the construction of harmonic functions from which the stresses and displacements in an infinite solid containing an elliptical crack and conducting heat under steady-state conditions may be obtained. Various solutions are presented when the crack surfaces are exposed to polynomial thermal environments. Detailed calculations are carried out for quadratic polynomials. Expressions for the stress-intensity factors which govern the stability behavior of cracks in some current fracture theories are deduced. The harmonic functions developed here may be used to solve various related mixed boundary problems for a half-space with an elliptical surface of separation. They immediately yield the stresses and displacements around an elliptical crack embedded in an infinite isothermal elastic solid when the crack surfaces are opened out and/or sheared by polynomial stresses.
Disease Development in Cultured Cells of Nicotiana tabacum L. var. Samsun NN Injected with Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Cell chains were transferred from callus tissue shake cultures of N. tabacum var. Samsun NN, a local lesion host of TMV, to oil-chamber microscope slides. In each slide culture a single cell of one chain was directly injected with a bacteria-free aqueous suspension of TMV. A single cell of another chain was injected with heatinactivated TMV. A third cell chain was not inoculated. Injections were made with a hollow glass needle connected to a microinjection syringe and guided by a micromanipulator. Inoculated and uninoculated control cells showed no evidence of infection. Cells injected with infective TMV, and noninjected cells in the same chain, lived 4-10 days and slowly developed disease symptoms. Inclusions appeared at the nucleus, beginning 23-69 hours after inoculation, and gradually assumed the hexagonal disc form of TMV crystals. Transvacuolar cytoplasmic strands merged with the parietal cytoplasm and cytoplasmic streaming slowed to a stop. The cytoplasmic reticulum became less complex and eventually disappeared. Most plastids and other organelles gradually disappeared from the cytoplasm. Plastids remaining in the cytoplasm became much smaller. In some cells numerous spherical bodies of various size appeared in the vacuole. One cell contained an inclusion similar to an X-body.
Weighting Components of Type in Classifying Holstein

Abstract In final scores of type from classifying 12,890 Holstein cows in 96 herds in Michigan, 1963 to 1966, the official classifiers underemphasized dairy character and body capacity and correspondingly weighted general appearance and mammary system excessively in relation to weights specified by the Dairy Cow Unified Score Card. In weighting designed to emphasize each component of type appropriately to make as large as possible the correlation between final score and milk produced in the lactation contemporary with the scoring, dairy character should receive most of the attention. For practical purposes dairy character could be the only component of type used since all others added scarcely any information. However, precisely what ratings of dairy character include and what the score card intends to do may introduce reservations about how influential dairy character should be.
Surface Functionality and Carbon Structures in Lignocellulosic-Derived Biochars Produced by Fast Pyrolysis

Switchgrass- and pine wood-derived biochars produced by fast pyrolysis were characterized to estimate the degree of thermochemical transformation and to assess their potential use as a soil amendment and to sequester carbon. The feedstocks were pyrolyzed to biochars in an auger reactor at 450, 600, and 800 °C with a residence time of 30 s. Ash contents of switchgrass and pine wood biochars varied from 13 to 22% and from 1.3 to 5.2%, respectively. Nutrients, such as N, P, K, S, Mg, and Ca, in switchgrass biochars ranged from 0.16 to 1.77%. Under combustion conditions, switchgrass chars were decomposed at lower temperatures than pine wood biochars because of the structural differences between the two feedstocks. Principal component analysis of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra allowed for the discrimination of all biochars by significant contributions of cellulose-derived functionality at low pyrolysis temperatures, while the same analysis of the Raman spectra presented apparent separation of al...
Cardioprotective Effects of a C1 Esterase Inhibitor in Myocardial Ischemia and Reperfusion

Background Myocardial injury after ischemia and reperfusion can be attributed largely to the effects of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). The complement system plays an important role as a chemotactic agent, affecting adhesion molecule expression and neutrophil accumulation. Methods and Results In the present study, the cardioprotective effects of C1 esterase inhibitor (C1 INH) were examined in a feline model of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (90 minutes of ischemia followed by 270 minutes of reperfusion). C1 INH (15 mg/kg) administered 10 minutes before reperfusion significantly attenuated myocardial necrosis compared with vehicle (10±2% and 29±2% necrosis as a proportion of area at risk, respectively; P<.01). Myocardial preservation was also related to reduced plasma accumulation of creatine kinase activity. C1 INH treatment resulted in improved recovery of cardiac contractility and preservation of coronary vascular endothelial function, as assessed by relaxation in response to acetylcholine, com...
Dynamic production control of door manufacturing line at an automotive assembly plant

In this paper, an application study of dynamic control of a door manufacturing line at an automotive assembly making two types of products is introduced. A hybrid analytical/simulation method is presented, where the analytical model derives aggregated machines to characterize line performance, and by using the aggregated machines, the simulation model investigates the optimal control policy based on real-time status of the system. Recommendations on control policies to satisfy production volume and reduce starvation are provided to plant management.
Effects of the Los Angeles transit strike on highway congestion

In this paper we investigate the effect of the Los Angeles transit strike on highway congestion through analysis of highway sensor data, using both a before-and-after comparison, and a control group comparison. We found that average 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. traffic speeds declined by as much as 20% during the strike, and the average length of the rush period increased by as much as 200%, even though increases in traffic were small, despite the fact that transit riders constitute a small fraction of the traveling population. Speeds declined the most at locations upstream from the places where queues normally end. We believe that highways are especially susceptible to congestion during strikes because travelers have little opportunity to adjust and equilibrate their travel patterns, as is possible during ordinary periods of traffic growth.
Age-related changes in auditory nerve-inner hair cell connections, hair cell numbers, auditory brain stem response and gap detection in UM-HET4 mice.

This study compared the timing of appearance of three components of age-related hearing loss that determine the pattern and severity of presbycusis: the functional and structural pathologies of sensory cells and neurons and changes in Gap Detection, the latter as an indicator of auditory temporal processing. Using UM-HET4 mice, genetically heterogeneous mice derived from four inbred strains, we studied the integrity of inner and outer hair cells by position along the cochlear spiral, inner hair cell-auditory nerve connections, spiral ganglion neurons, and determined auditory thresholds, as well as pre-pulse and gap inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR). Comparisons were made between mice of 5-7, 22-24 and 27-29 months of age. There was individual variability among mice in the onset and extent of age-related auditory pathology. At 22-24 months of age a moderate to large loss of outer hair cells was restricted to the apical third of the cochlea and threshold shifts in auditory brain stem response were minimal. There was also a large and significant loss of inner hair cell – auditory nerve connections and a significant reduction in Gap Detection. The expression of Ntf3 in the cochlea was significantly reduced. At 27-29 months of age there was no further change in the mean number of synaptic connections per inner hair cell or in gap detection, but a moderate to large loss of outer hair cells was found across all cochlear turns as well as significantly increased ABR threshold shifts at 4, 12, 24 and 48 kHz. A statistical analysis of correlations on an individual animal basis revealed that neither the hair cell loss nor the ABR threshold shifts correlated with loss of gap detection or with the loss of connections, consistent with independent pathological mechanisms.
Expanding the Possibilities for Enterprise Computing: Multi-Agent Autonomic Architectures

Enterprise computing faces major challenges such as ever-increasing size and complexity and escalating costs of administering mission-critical IT systems, numerous human-caused failures and outages of IT systems, lack of sufficient supply of trained system administrators, and major obstacles in dealing with changes throughout the software system life cycle. Thus, it is practically impossible to rely on human intervention and administration for development, integration, deployment, and management of enterprise IT systems in mission critical applications. This has led to the development of autonomic computing that is derived from human body?s self-regulatory nervous system. Autonomic computing is an emerging trend for building nextgeneration enterprise IT systems. Autonomic systems are envisioned to be self-aware and able to selfmanage. The focus of our research is to develop multi-agent autonomic architectures. The application domains range from telehealth and telemedicine to quality management and space exploration. This paper presents our multi-agent autonomic architecture design.
Multiparameter Flow Cytometry

(2000). Multiparameter Flow Cytometry. Journal of Immunoassay: Vol. 21, No. 2-3, pp. 255-272.
Direct counts of the ribosomes per cell in the zoospores of Blastocladiella emersonii.

Summary The volume of the nuclear cap in a Blastocladiella emersonii zoospore was computed to be 4.8845 × 10−8 mm3 using a median bisecting section selected from a set of serial longitudinal sections. Nuclear cap ribosomes measured 174 ± 29 A by 202 ± 25 A. The total number of such ribosomes, established from direct counts of ribosome population densities in thin sections, was estimated to be 8.23 ± 1.47 × 105.
A comparative analysis of internal cranial anatomy in the hylobatidae.

Craniometric studies on the hylobatids using external metrics (Creel and Preuschoft, 1976, 1984) sorted hylobatid populations into primary species groupings which are in accordance with the four currently recognized generic-level groupings. The goal of the current study was to assess the relative orientations of the orbits, palate, and basioccipital clivus among the hylobatid genera in an effort to further clarify whether the lesser apes differ significantly in these internal cranial features and how that variation patterns across the groups. Nine angular variables quantifying orbital, palatal, and basioccipital clivus orientations were measured on lateral view radiographs of adults representing three of the four hylobatid genera: Hylobates; Nomascus; and, Symphalangus. The interspecific adult hylobatid means for the angular variables were analyzed using t-test contrasts. The total sample was further subjected to discriminant function analysis (DFA) to test for the ability of craniofacial angular variables to distinguish the hylobatid genera from one another. The three hylobatid genera displayed significant morphological differentiation in orbital, palatal, and posterior skull base orientations. Normal, jackknifed, and cross-validation DFA procedures correctly identified the hylobatids 50–100% of the time. The observed morphological patterns generally mapped onto the findings of earlier external craniometric hylobatid studies and suggest concordance between specific internal and external cranial features. This article is the first comprehensive study of variation in internal cranial anatomy of the Hylobatidae and includes the first published craniofacial angular data for Nomascus. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:250–265, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Malaria and the tropical splenomegaly syndrome in New Guinea

Abstract The pattern of malarial parasitaemia and the incidence and degree of splenomegaly have been studied in the population of the Upper Watut Valley in New Guinea. Malaria is the only apparent cause of splenomegaly found in this area, and all cases of gross splenomegaly in adults conform to the descriptions of the tropical splenomegaly syndrome. Malaria is meso-endemic and moderately stable. The incidence of parasitaemia is similar in villages at 3300 feet and 5200 feet above sea level, although the incidence of splenomegaly in adults is lower at the higher altitude. Peak parasitaemia is recorded at 3 years of age and then declines slowly, and parasite rates are significantly lower in adult subjects with splenomegaly than in those without palpable spleens. No difference in distribution of species of plasmodia was found between individuals with different grades of splenomegaly or in different age groups or at different altitudes. P. vivax was the predominant species in all groups.
A bivariate Markov inequality for Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind

This note presents a Markov-type inequality for polynomials in two variables where the Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind in either one of the variables are extremal. We assume a bound on a polynomial at the set of even or odd Chebyshev nodes with the boundary nodes omitted and obtain bounds on its even or odd order directional derivatives in a critical direction. Previously, the author has given a corresponding inequality for Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind and has obtained the extension of V.A. Markov's theorem to real normed linear spaces as an easy corollary.To prove our inequality we construct Lagrange polynomials for the new class of nodes we consider and give a corresponding Christoffel-Darboux formula. It is enough to determine the sign of the directional derivatives of the Lagrange polynomials.