cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
3D behavioral model design for simulation and software engineering

Modeling is used to build structures that serve as surrogates for other objects. As children, we learn to model at a very young age. An object such as a small toy train teaches us about the structure and behavior of an actual train. VRML is a file standard for representing the structure of objects such as trains, while the behavior would be represented in a computer language such as ECMAScript or Java. VRML is an abbreviation for Virtual Reality Modeling Language [2], which represents the standard 3D language for the web. Our work is to extend the power of VRML so that it is used not only for defining shape models, but also for creating structures for behavior. “Behavior shapes” are built using metaphors mapped onto wellknown dynamic model templates such as finite state machines, functional block models and Petri nets. The low level functionality of the design still requires a traditional programming language, but this level is hidden underneath a modeling level that is visualized by the user. We have constructed a methodology called rube which provides guidelines on building behavioral structures in VRML. The result of our endeavors has yielded a set of VRML Prototypes that serve as dynamic model templates. We demonstrate several examples of behaviors using primitive shape and architectural metaphors.
Implications of direct-product ground states in the one-dimensional quantum XYZ and XY spin chains.

We state the conditions under which the general spin-s quantum XYZ ferromagnet (${H}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$) and antiferromagnet (${H}_{+}$) with an external magnetic field along one axis, specified by the Hamiltonian ${H}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} ${\mathcal{J}}_{l=1}^{N}$ (${J}_{x}$${S}_{l}^{x}$${S}_{l+1}^{x}$+${J}_{y}$${S}_{l}^{y}$S $_{l+1}^{y}$+${J}_{z}$${S}_{l}^{z}$${S}_{l+1}^{z}$)-h ${\mathcal{J}}_{l=1}^{N}$${S}_{l}^{z}$ exhibits a fully ordered ground state described by a wave function which is a direct product of single-site wave functions. We present a detailed analysis of the implications for the zero-temperature dynamical properties of this model. In particular, we derive a rigorous relation between the three dynamic structure factors ${S}_{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\mu}}$(q,\ensuremath{\omega}), \ensuremath{\mu}=x,y,z at T=0. For the special case of the s=(1/2) anisotropic XY model (${J}_{z}$=0), these relations are used to determine the dynamic structure factors ${S}_{\mathrm{xx}}$(q,\ensuremath{\omega}) and ${S}_{\mathrm{yy}}$(q,\ensuremath{\omega}) at T=0 and h=(${J}_{x}$${J}_{y}$${)}^{1/2}$ in terms of the known dynamic structure factor ${S}_{\mathrm{zz}}$(q,\ensuremath{\omega}).
Anthracycline-Induced Cardiotoxicity: A Review of Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Anthracyclines have been widely used in children and adults to treat hematologic malignancies, soft-tissue sarcomas, and solid tumors. However, anthracyclines come with both short- and long-term cardiotoxic effects, ranging from occult changes in myocardial structure and function to severe cardiomyopathy and heart failure that may result in cardiac transplantation or death. Here, we review the progress made over the past two decades in understanding the molecular and genetic basis of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity; detecting and monitoring myocardial dysfunction; using adjunct cardioprotectant therapies, such as dexrazoxane; and improving cardioprotection with agents such as liposomal and pegylated doxorubicin. Despite this increased understanding, preventing drug-induced cardiotoxicity while maintaining oncologic efficacy to achieve the highest quality of life over a lifespan remain cornerstones of successful anthracycline chemotherapy during childhood.
Heat stress protects against lung injury in the neutropenic, endotoxemic rat.

The objective of this study is to determine if heat stress prior to endotoxemia diminishes cardiopulmonary dysfunction by attenuating the cytokine inflammatory response. Rats were assigned to either: 1) neutropenia; 2) heat; 3) neutropenia, LPS; or 4) heat, neutropenia, LPS. Heart rate, blood gases, and blood, lung lavage, and lung mRNA for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2 were measured. Heat given before LPS resulted in a similar A-a O2 gradient as the heat-alone and neutropenic groups (8 ± 8 versus 8 ± 7 versus 4 ± 3 mm Hg) and a lower A-a O2 gradient when compared to the neutropenic, LPS rats (8 ± 8 versus 22 ± 8 mm Hg, p < 0.003). Blood, lung lavage, and lung mRNA for TNF-α, IL-1β, and MIP-2 were similar in the LPS rats regardless of heat. Heart rate was similar in both LPS groups but higher than non-LPS groups. Heat pretreatment attenuates lung injury in the neutropenic, endotoxemic rat but not by decreasing TNF-α, IL-1β, or MIP-2 in the lung. Heat prior to LPS did not prevent cardiac dysfunction in neutropenic rats.
Investigation of fundamental molecular parameters of polyaniline films

The effects of fabrication process and solvent on the structure of polyaniline (PANI) emeraldine base films and their intrinsic properties are examined. Freestanding films of PANI base fabricated from N,N'-dimethyl propylene urea (DMPU) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solutions, by casting and spin-coating procedures and subsequently drawn to different draw ratios, are examined. X-ray diffraction studies show that the PANI films processed from DMPU solution have a noncrystalline structure, whereas the PANI films cast from NMP solution are partially crystalline. The crystal structure is in conformity with the orthorhombic unit cell (EB-II) reported earlier. However, the c parameter of the unit cell was found to be slightly lower than the literature values. A near-infrared waveguide technique was used to determine the three-dimensional refractive indices of the processed and drawn PANI films. The anisotropies developed by the different fabrication and deformation procedures were compared and found to differ. Coupling birefringence and quantitative infrared dichroism measurements yields the intrinsic birefringence and transition moment angles of the infrared absorption bands of PANI.
‘For the Inscape's Sake’: Sounding the Self in the Metres of Gerard Manley Hopkins

This article is part of a cluster that draws material from the recent conference Metre Matters: New Approaches to Prosody, 1780–1914. It comprises an introduction by Jason David Hall and six articles presented at the conference, whose aim was to address renewed scholarly interest in versification and form across the long nineteenth century, as well as some of the methodologies underpinning it. The papers included in the cluster look both to the minutiae of Romantic and Victorian metres and to their cultural intertexts. The conference, hosted by the University of Exeter's Centre for Victorian Studies, was held 3–5 July 2008. The cluster is made up of the following articles: Jason David Hall, ‘Metre, History, Context: Introduction to the Metre Matters Cluster’. Emma Mason and Rhian Williams, ‘Reciprocal Scansion in Wordsworth's “There Was a Boy”’. Ross Wilson, ‘Robert Browning's Compounds’. Margaret A. Loose, ‘The Internationalism of Ernest Jones's Dialectical Prosody’. Nancy Jiwon Cho, ‘Gender and Authority in British Women Hymn-Writers’ Use of Metre, 1760–1900’. Ashley Miller, ‘Involuntary Metrics and the Physiology of Memory’. Summer Star, ‘“For the Inscape's Sake”: Sounding the Self in the Metres of Gerard Manley Hopkins’. *** This article explores the nature of (and makes an argument for) the relationship between Gerard Manley Hopkins's interests in the primary otherness in language and his philosophy of selfhood. To consider both the crucial and problematic nature of such a union, I contextualize Hopkins's own interest in primitive language with the ‘natural language’ theories that influenced and bourgeoned in the nineteenth century, arguing that Hopkins's ‘sprung rhythm’ was his own contribution to the search for the primitive roots of human speech. Hopkins's metrical expressions of physical movement in his poems with human subjects (specifically in the ‘St. Dorothea’ poems and ‘Harry Ploughman’) are a representation of the deep distinctiveness of subjective experience: the experience of ‘pitch’, which Hopkins theorized in his sermons, or of one's own instress. In this way, metre itself was for the poet a manifestation of an original union between the physical, bodily, and spiritual realms – enacting incarnation. Yet how can we reconcile the poeticizing of the pitch of another with Hopkins's own insistence on the utter and unapproachable difference of that other's own ‘self-taste’? Responding to resonances between this problem and modern ethical theory, particularly Merleau-Ponty's notion of how we conceive of otherness through physical observation, I consider Hopkins's metrical expressions of physical embodiment as a possible answer to their own ethical problem. Looking into his often-employed concept of ‘sake’, defined by Hopkins himself as ‘that being which a thing has outside itself’, this article finally compares the sounding of this human pitch, of hearing its echo, to Hopkins's religious faith in language as a manifestation of divine being in the world – and in a divine distinctiveness of self destined to transcend mortal limits.
The traditional model for perception and theory of knowledge: Its metaphor and two recent alternatives

This paper provides 1) a description of what has historically become the traditional model for perception theory and the theory of knowledge, 2) a characterization of the assumptions underlying that model, and 3) a comparison of that traditional model to each of two recent models. The two recent models are the “information-based” model of perception by the psychologist James J. Gibson, and the autopoietic or “organizational closure” model of perception by the biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela. A description of each model is presented, as are its underlying assumptions and conceptual viewpoint. The author's intent, in an examination of the two recent models, is to show 1) that problems attendant to the traditional model, and to Gibson's model as a variant of it, result from definitions within the ocular metaphor which describes that model; 2) that once the metaphor is discarded, both the theory of perception and the theory of knowledge can be differently circumscribed altogether; and 3) that the autopoietic model of Maturana and Varela has done just that.
Opioid and nonopioid forms of stress-induced analgesia: some environmental determinants and characteristics

Grau, Hyson, Maier, Madden, and Barchas (Science, 213, 1409, 1411) found that exposure to a series of inescapable shocks produces both an early nonopioid analgesia and a late-appearing opioid analgesia. The nonopioid analgesia was observed following 20 shocks, while the opioid analgesia was aroused after 60 and 80 shocks. Here in three experiments the environmental conditions necessary to produce and maintain the two forms of analgesia were examined. It was revealed in Experiment 1 that an extended number of continued shocks was necessary to arouse the late-appearing opioid analgesia. Neither remaining in the stress situation following an initial series of shocks nor receiving fewer shocks spread across the entire session was sufficient to produce the opioid analgesia. In Experiment 2 it was found that only five 5-sec shocks were sufficient to produce the nonopiate analgesia. In Experiment 3 the dissipation of the nonopioid analgesia aroused by 5 shocks was examined. The analgesia decayed to control levels within 10 min of shock termination. However, if the shocks were continued, the analgesia was still well above control levels 20 min following initial arousal. A large dose of an opiate antagonist failed to attenuate this analgesia.
Production allocation with dual provisioning

Abstract Consider a manufacturer that has existing in-house capacity to produce certain products. However, due to recent growth in demand, the existing capacity is insufficient to meet the total requirements over a finite planning horizon. As a short term solution, the manufacturer has decided to order part of the total requirements from an external supplier. This paper presents a model that focuses on the issue of allocating a production quantity among the in-house facility and an external supplier. We construct a product allocation problem that determines an optimal allocation so that the total relevant cost (in-house production cost, ordering cost, etc.) is minimized. In addition, we analyze the complexity of the problem and develop two different Lagrangian heuristics for generating near-optimal allocations.
Curvature and discrete series representation of SL2(IR)

On utilise une caracterisation d'operateurs d'onde de Hilbert T dans B 1 (D) qui sont unitairement equivalents a φ s (T) pour toutes les applications de Mobius du disque unite D pour obtenir une nouvelle demonstration des representations en series discretes de SL 2 (R)
Development progress for the amplifier of the SG-III laser facility

Development plan and some progress have been made for amplifier of SGIII laser facility. According to this plan, a single-segment amplifier has been designed and experimented to test key units and correct simulating code in National Laboratory of Laser Fusion of China. The preliminary design for 4 X 2 X 3 amplifier prototypes, including amplifier modules, pulsed power, assembly equipment, and optics for SGIII will be finished.
Downregulation of Bid is associated with PKC ɛ -mediated TRAIL resistance

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising anticancer agent as it selectively kills tumor cells but spares normal cells. Resistance to TRAIL by tumor cells limits its therapeutic use. We have previously shown that protein kinase C-ɛ (PKCɛ) acts as an antiapoptotic protein in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. In the present study, we have investigated the mechanism(s) by which PKCɛ contributes to TRAIL resistance. Overexpression of PKCɛ inhibited caspase-8 and -9 activation, release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and cell death induced by TRAIL, but did not interfere with the recruitment of caspase-8 to the death-inducing signaling complex. Knockdown/inhibition of PKCɛ resulted in enhanced sensitivity to TRAIL. The level of Bcl-2 was increased and Bid was decreased by PKCɛ at both the protein and mRNA level but PKCɛ had no effect on Bax. Knockdown of Bcl-2 by siRNA reversed TRAIL resistance in PKCɛ-overexpressing cells, whereas depletion of Bid contributed to TRAIL resistance in MCF-7 cells. A decrease in Bid content was also associated with inhibition of TRAIL-induced caspase-8 activation. Furthermore, PKCɛ depletion or overexpression of DN-PKCɛ was associated with a decrease in Bcl-2 protein level. Thus, our results suggest that PKCɛ acts upstream of mitochondria and mediates TRAIL resistance via both Bcl-2 and Bid in MCF-7 cells.
Surgical treatment of enterovesical fistulas in Crohn's disease

A review of the surgical treatment of enterovesical fistula in Crohn's disease was undertaken to evaluate its effectiveness and long-term results. Sixty-three patients, 39 men and 24 women, with a mean age of 34.4 years were identified with enterovesical fistula. They had documented Crohn's disease for a mean period of 7.0 years. Distribution of anatomic pattern was 34.9 percent ileal, 7.9 percent colonic, and 57.2 percent ileocolic. Nineteen (30.1 percent) had previous abdominal surgery for Crohn's disease. Presenting symptoms included frequency and dysuria in 93.6 percent, pneumaturia in 79.3 percent, and fecaluria in 63.4 percent; 60.3 percent of patients had all three features. Enterovesical fistula was confirmed preoperatively in 43 patients, suspected clinically in 15 patients, and diagnosed intraoperatively in 5 patients. Sixty-one of 63 patients underwent surgery with resection of the phlegmon or abscess with the diseased bowel and curettage or resection of the fistula. After curettage of the bladder defect, pelvic and bladder drainage was instituted. Coexistent fistulas, most commonly ileosigmoid, occurred in 31 patients. Intra-abdominal abscesses were found in 21 patients, of whom 15 required two-stage procedures. One patient died (mortality 1.6 percent), urine leak occurred in 3.2 percent, and wound infection occurred in 1.6 percent. Follow-up (mean, 106 months) has identified one recurrence of enterovesical fistula due to Crohn's disease, and a further recurrence from concomitant sigmoid diverticulitis. Enterocutaneous fistulas developed in 6.4 percent and 11 patients (17.4 percent) have required further resections for Crohn's disease. Surgical treatment of enterovesical fistula in Crohn's disease is a safe and effective treatment.
Prognostic significance of Bcl-2 in Wilms' tumor and oncogenic potential of Bcl-XL in rare tumor cases

Anaplastic Wilms' tumors are commonly believed to be rare forms of progression, driven by p53 mutations, of the more common classical Wilms' tumor or nephroblastoma. Contrary to classical Wilms' tumors, anaplastic tumors traditionally tend to metastasize, to be drug-resistant and to have a poor prognosis. The Bcl-2 gene product protects cells from programmed cell death, and its over-expression has been proposed to be tumorigenic and to mediate resistance to therapy. Because Bcl-2 has been reported to be transcriptionally repressed by p53, using immuno-histochemistry and mRNA analyses, we have examined Bcl-2 expression in a panel of 10 classical and 3 anaplastic nephroblastomas in which the p53 status had been previously analyzed. We found that classical Wilms' tumors expressed significant amounts of Bcl-2 mRNA and protein, whereas anaplastic tumors did not, regardless of p53 mutations. However, because mortality occurred both among patients with classical and among those with anaplastic tumors, which had divergent Bcl-2 expression, analysis of variance failed to demonstrate prognostic Bcl-2 significance. Therefore, we examined the expression of the Bcl-X and Bax genes, which are known to synergize and antagonize Bcl-2, respectively. With the exception of anaplastic tumor W17, the monotony of Bcl-X and Bax mRNA levels did not suggest that the expression of these apoptosis-regulating genes could have a role in the prognosis of nephroblastoma. In addition to the standard 2.7-kb Bcl-XL mRNA, W17 expressed a 3.5-kb mRNA species which had the same coding capacity for Bcl-XL as the 2.7-kb mRNA. Western analysis demonstrated that W17 had the highest level of Bcl-XL protein, suggesting that Bcl-XL over-expression could play a part in the development of anaplasia in rare Wilms' tumor cases without affecting prognosis. Int. J. Cancer (Pred. Oncol.) 84:192–200, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Multiphoton induced inverse electronic relaxation

High order infrared multiphoton excitation in the ground electronic state of collision free CrO2Cl2 has resulted in visible fluorescence. The prompt fluorescence has been studied as a function of laser fluence, pulse duration, under collisional and collision-free conditions and was shown to arise from a spontaneous one-photon radiative decay of molecular eigenstates. Intramolecular scrambling of vibronic levels corresponding to the ground state electronic manifold with a discrete level(s) belonging to the low lying excited electronic state is believed to be the origin of such eigenstates. This fluorescent channel is shown to compete with a dissociative channel forming CrO2Cl + CI; the radical further dissociates to the stable product Cr02. The threshold for fluorescence versus dissociation is discussed and a branching ratio, and consequent chemical mechanism are suggested.
The effect of 5-bromodeoxyuridine on the synthesis of nuclear and cytoplasmic DNA-binding proteins isolated from sea urchin embryos.

Abstract Newly synthesized DNA-binding proteins were isolated from the nuclei and, separately, from the cytoplasm of sea urchin morula stage embryos. The presence of 5-bromode-oxyuridine during embryogenesis did not appear to alter the synthesis of either class of DNA-binding proteins. This result tends to argue that cell differentiation in early embryos is not regulated by differential synthesis of DNA-binding proteins. Sea urchin morulae synthesize a broad range, by molecular weight, of cytoplasmic DNA-binding proteins which dissociate from sea urchin DNA-cellulose at relatively high salt concentrations (0.6–2.0 M NaCl). The most prominant of these apparently high-binding-affinity proteins has an approximate molecular weight of 33,000.
Crystallization of amorphous silicon films

Kinetics and morphology in crystallization of unsupported amorphous silicon films are investigated by hot stage transmission electron microscopy. Crystallization occurs by thermally activated nucleation and growth processes; activation energies of 470 kJ/mol for nucleation and 280 kJ/mol for growth are obtained. Nucleation rates are observed to increase with annealing time, whereas the growth rate depends on the annealing temperature and the crystallographic growth direction. Kinetik und Morphologie der Kristallisation amorpher Silizium-Schichten wird elektronenmikroskopisch untersucht. Die Kristallisation erfolgt uber thermisch aktivierte Keimbildung und Wachstum, wobei die Aktivierungsenergie mit 470 kJ/Mol fur die Keimbildung und 280 kJ/Mol fur das Wachstum bestimmt werden. Die Keimbildungsrate nimmt wahrend isothermer Temperung zu; die Wachstumsgeschwindigkeit hangt dagegen nur von der Temperungstemperatur und der kristallographischen Wachstumsrichtung ab.
Performance, metabolic, and endocrine responses of periparturient Holstein cows fed 3 sources of fat

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of feeding diets containing fat supplements enriched in either saturated fatty acids (n = 10), Ca salts of trans-octadecenoic fatty acids (tFA, n = 10) or Ca salts of safflower oil fatty acids (SFL, high in linoleic acid, n = 9) on performance, metabolic, and endocrine responses of periparturient Holstein cows. Dietary treatments were initiated at approximately 28 d before calculated calving dates and continued through 49 d postpartum. Blood samples for metabolite and hormone analyses were collected weekly beginning 1 wk before estimated calving date through 7 wk postpartum. Incorporation of tFA or SFL into the peripartum diet had no detectable effects on body weight or body condition score. Cows fed the SFL-enriched diet produced less milk fat and established a positive energy balance sooner after calving than those fed the tFA supplement. Analysis for individual fatty acids resulted in increased concentrations of trans 18:1 fatty acid and conjugated linoleic acid isomers in milk fat from cows supplemented with SFL. Across weeks, the average nonesterified fatty acids concentration in plasma was lower in cows fed the SFL-enriched diet than in those consuming the tFA-supplemented diet. Mean concentrations of plasma glucose, insulin-like growth factor-I, and progesterone were greater in cows fed the SFL-enriched diet compared with those fed the saturated fatty acid-supplemented diet. Feeding fat supplements that can suppress milk fat production during the early postpartum period may help minimize negative energy balance, reduce adipose tissue mobilization, and improve circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-I and progesterone. Whether the SFL supplement would have similar effects without a decrease in milk fat production remains to be determined and warrants further investigation.
Ecological Feasibility Studies in Restoration Decision Making

The restoration of degraded systems is essential for maintaining the provision of valuable ecosystem services, including the maintenance of aesthetic values. However, restoration projects often fail to reach desired goals for a variety of ecologic, financial, and social reasons. Feasibility studies that evaluate whether a restoration effort should even be attempted can enhance restoration success by highlighting potential pitfalls and gaps in knowledge before the design phase of a restoration. Feasibility studies also can bring stakeholders together before a restoration project is designed to discuss potential disagreements. For these reasons, a feasibility study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of restoring a tidal freshwater marsh in the Potomac River near Alexandria, Virginia. The study focused on science rather than engineering questions, and thus differed in approach from other feasibility studies that are mostly engineering driven. The authors report the framework they used to conduct a feasibility study to inform other potential restoration projects with similar goals. The seven steps of the framework encompass (1) initiation of a feasibility study, (2) compilation of existing data, (3) collection of current site information, (4) examination of case studies, (5) synthesis of information in a handbook, (6) meeting with selected stakeholders, and (7) evaluation of meeting outcomes. By conducting a feasibility study using the seven-step framework, the authors set the stage for conducting future compliance studies and enhancing the chance of a successful restoration.
The kinetic treatment of geochemical cycles

Abstract Treating geochemical cycles as complex kinetic chemical reactions, we have applied recent kinetic techniques to the classical concepts employed in geochemical cycles. Matrix algebra serves as a powerful tool to give insight into the response and stability of a linear geochemical cycle. Several important theorems are proven which are pertinent to this development. Extension of the method allows also an analysis of the more interesting non-linear coupled geochemical cycles. The approach is similar to that used by Prigogine and coworkers in the irreversible thermodynamics of complex reactions and of periodic phenomena. Important results concerning the stability of a coupled system are treated for the special case of the C-O cycle and for a general two-reservoir system.
Location of Seminal Stains by their Phosphorescence and its Use in Determining the Order of Deposition of Overlapping Seminal and Bloodstains

A technique has been developed in which the low temperature phosphorescence from seminal stains on fabric is used to make the stains and their flow pattern visible and to identify the side of the fabric on which the semen was deposited. This technique, which is non-destructive, is useful in determining the order of deposition of overlapping blood and seminal stains. Characteristics that can be used to estimate the elapsed time between depositions of overlapping blood and seminal stains are given.
Novel oral detoxification of mercury, cadmium, and lead with thiol-modified nanoporous silica.

We have developed a thiol-modified nanoporous silica material (SH-SAMMS) as an oral therapy for the prevention and treatment of heavy metal poisoning. SH-SAMMS has been reported to be highly efficient at capturing heavy metals in biological fluids and water. Herein, SH-SAMMS was examined for efficacy and safety in both in vitro and in vivo animal models for the oral detoxification of heavy metals. In simulated gastrointestinal fluids, SH-SAMMS had a very high affinity (Kd) for methyl mercury (MeHg(I)), inorganic mercury (Hg(II)), lead (Pb(II)), and cadmium (Cd(II)) and was superior to other SAMMS with carboxylic acid or phosphonic acid ligands or commercially available metal chelating sorbents. SH-SAMMS also effectively removed Hg from biologically digested fish tissue with no effect on most nutritional minerals found in fish. SH-SAMMS could hold Hg(II) and MeHg(I) tightly inside the nanosize pores, thus preventing bacteria from converting them to more absorbable forms. Rats fed a diet containing MeHg(I),...
Lipoic acid attenuates inflammation via cAMP and protein kinase A signaling

Background Abnormal regulation of the inflammatory response is an important component of diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis (MS). Lipoic acid (LA) has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is being pursued as a therapy for these diseases. We first reported that LA stimulates cAMP production via activation of G-protein coupled receptors and adenylyl cyclases. LA also suppressed NK cell activation and cytotoxicity. In this study we present evidence supporting the hypothesis that the anti-inflammatory properties of LA are mediated by the cAMP/PKA signaling cascade. Additionally, we show that LA oral administration elevates cAMP levels in MS subjects.
Effects of carpal tunnel release on the relative motion of tendon, nerve, and subsynovial connective tissue in a human cadaver model.

Background The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of flexor retinaculum division (simulated carpal tunnel release) on the relative motion of flexor tendon, subsynovial connective tissue, and median nerve in human cadaver specimens.
MBE grown type-II MWIR and LWIR superlattice photodiodes

Abstract We report on the status of GaSb/InAs type-II superlattice diodes grown and fabricated at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed for infrared absorption 2–5 μm and 8–12 μm bands. Recent LWIR devices have produced detectivities as high as 8 × 1010 Jones with a differential resistance–area product greater than 6 Ohm cm2 at 80 K with a long wavelength cutoff of approximately 12 μm. The measured internal quantum efficiency of these front-side illuminated devices is close to 30% in the 10–11 μm range. MWIR devices have produced detectivities as high as 8 × 1013 Jones with a differential resistance–area product greater than 3 × 107 Ohm cm2 at 80 K with a long wavelength cutoff of approximately 3.7 μm. The measured internal quantum efficiency of these front-side illuminated MWIR devices is close to 40% in the 2–3 μm range at low temperature and increases to over 60% near room temperature.
Competition between π Donation and α-C−H Agostic Interactions in Complexes of the Type Tp‘Ta(CH-t-Bu)(X)(Y) (X = Halide; Y = Halide, NR2, OR; Tp‘ = Hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate)

The compounds Tp‘Ta(CHC(CH3)3)X2 (2 (X = Cl), 3 (X = Br)) (Tp‘ = hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate), have been synthesized by the reaction of KTp‘ with Ta(CHC(CH3)3)X3(thf)2 in THF. One Cl ligand in 2 can be substituted with OR- (R = i-Pr, Me) or NMe2-. The values of 1JC-H for the alkylidene carbon are uniformly low due to the α-H agostic interaction between the metal center and the alkylidene proton. The magnitude of 1JC-H in these compounds depends upon the π donor properties of the remaining ligands. Attempted synthesis of monoarylamide complexes by displacement of Cl- from 2 with N(H)Ar- results in proton transfer from N to C and formation of the imido complexes Tp‘Ta(CH2C(CH3)3)(NAr)Cl (Ar = 2,6-i-PrC6H3 (7), Ph (8)). When 2 reacts with KN(Me)Ph, proton transfer occurs from the Me group to the alkylidene carbon giving the imine complex Tp‘Ta(η2-CH2NPh)(CH2CMe3)Cl (9). A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of 9 confirmed the structure and suggested that 9 is best described as an azametallacycl...
Between a Rock and a Soft Place.

Catholic colleges and universities are caught between two competing pressures. On the one side the church hierarchy, especially the Vatican, wants to make certain that these institutions of higher learning remain faithful to the intellectual tradition and the teachings of the church. On the other side these institutions exist in a postmodern world where relativity and individuality are the norm. This paper proposes to examine how Catholic colleges and universities struggle to remain faithful to the rock of St. Peter (the Vatican) in a postmodern world where norms are flexible and soft. In order to accomplish this, this paper will first examine the efforts by the Vatican to strengthen the Catholic identity of these institutions and their fidelity to the Catholic tradition. Secondly, the paper will examine what is meant by postmodernism. Finally, the author will suggest how Catholic colleges and universities can find the balance between these competing pressures.
William Pulteney Alison, the Scottish Philosophy, and the Making of a Political Medicine

This article considers the public health and social-reform agitations of Dr. William Pulteney Alison (1790-1858), professor of medicine at Edinburgh University and leader of the Scottish medical profession, in the context of Scottish moral philosophy. Throughout his career, Alison reflected on what has come to be recognized as a central problem of social medicine: where did its domain end? At what point did the medical mis- sion of identifying and eliminating factors that harm health pass into a non- medical domain—the provinces of political economy, individual liberty, participatory politics, or acceptance of nature's dictates? On these issues Alison was an expansionist, relentlessly pushing back the borders of medi- cine. Drawing on Alison's writings on such disparate topics as the philoso- phy of mind, the epidemiology of infectious diseases, and modes of agrarian organization, the article argues that the trajectory of much of Alison's work was to discover the structural implications of a comprehen- sive biological reading of human capacity and behavior. It is therefore appropriate to see him as a promulgator of a "political medicine," which he presented as a critical alternative to the classical political economy of the Scottish Malthusians. The article concludes by suggesting that Alison's work (and influence) have been under-recognized and remain pertinent to modern social epidemiology, public health, and medicine more broadly.
Open systems planning: Its theory and practice

This article interrelates a set of concepts applicable to understanding and improving the functioning of all living systems–from the individual, to the group, to the organization, and beyond. Its central focus is upon the organization, however One of the most important and yet least understood strategies for improving individual and organizational effectiveness that has been developed during the last ten years is open systems planning. While the underlying notions of open systems planning have their roots in much ancient wisdom, there are, nevertheless, three people who deserve much credit for putting these notions together in a meaningful manner: Will Mc-Whinney, James V. Clark, and Charles Krone. The purpose of this article is to draw together a number of the most important ideas pertaining to this strategy of change in the hope that more people will appreciate its value and seek to use it The article concludes by showing how the practice of open systems planning compares and contrasts with two other popular approaches to organizational change–the conventional sociotechnical systems approach and the contingency approach–along nine separate dimensions.
Digital Anti-Windup PI Controllers for Variable-Speed Motor Drives Using FPGA and Stochastic Theory

The windup phenomenon occurs when the output of a proportional-integral (PI) controller is saturated, which results in performance degradation or even instability. In this letter, three new anti-windup algorithms are proposed for a digital PI-speed controller to improve the control performance of variable-speed motor drives. These designs are implemented in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device and stochastic theory is employed to enhance the computational capability of FPGA. Compared with conventional digital anti-windup techniques, the proposed methods offer several advantages: large dynamic range, easy digital design, minimal scaling of digital circuits, reconfigurability, and direct hardware implementation, while maintaining high control performance. The developed controllers are applied to the speed control of a field-oriented controlled induction motor drive using a hardware-in-the-loop test bench. The improved speed responses confirm the effectiveness of the proposed anti-windup schemes
Characterization of MALS/Velis-1, -2, and -3: a Family of Mammalian LIN-7 Homologs Enriched at Brain Synapses in Association with the Postsynaptic Density-95/NMDA Receptor Postsynaptic Complex

Protein assembly at the postsynaptic density (PSD) of neuronal synapses is mediated in part by protein interactions with PSD-95/discs large/zona occludens-1 (PDZ) motifs. Here, we identify MALS-1, -2, -3, a family of small synaptic proteins containing little more than a single PDZ domain. MALS-1, -2, and -3 are mammalian homologs LIN-7, a Caenorhabditis elegans protein essential for vulval development. In contrast to functions for LIN-7 in epithelial cells, MALS-1 and -2 are selectively expressed in specific neuronal populations in brain and are enriched in PSD fractions. In cultured hippocampal neurons, MALS proteins are clustered together with PSD-95 and NMDA type glutamate receptors, consistent with a postsynaptic localization for MALS proteins. Immunoprecipitation and affinity chromatography studies readily identify association of MALS with PSD-95 and an NMDA receptor subunit. The PDZ domain of MALS selectively binds to peptides terminating in E-T/S-R/X-V/I/L, which corresponds to the C terminus of NMDA type 2 receptors and numerous other ion channels at the PSD. This work suggests a role for MALS proteins in regulating recruitment of neurotransmitter receptors to the PSD.
Fast mobility control protocols with sink location protection in wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we propose several novel fast converging mobility control protocols to achieve optimal deployment for streaming data flows in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We also identify a unique sink privacy issue in mobility control protocols and propose a new privacy-preserving scheme which can be integrated into mobility control protocols to protect the sink. The simulation and performance analysis show that the proposed privacy-preserving mobility control protocols, with the sink node well-protected, can reach near-optimal results in terms of convergence speed, energy consumption and the communication cost.
Describing the phenomenon of homelessness through the theory of occupational adaptation.

The purpose of this study was to illustrate the value of the theory of Occupational Adaptation (Schkade & Schultz, 1992; Schultz & Schkade, 1992) in describing the phenomenon of homelessness. Case ...
A two-step program of competitive bidding and physician feedback to reduce coronary angioplasty equipment costs.

Abstract The major limitation of our study is that it addresses only 1 aspect of the delivery of interventional cardiology services, namely, equipment costs. We did not include catheterization laboratory overhead or hospitalization costs. We focused on equipment costs for 2 reasons. First, we have control over and accountability for the catheterization laboratory as a cost center. Second, the allocation of institutional overhead to catheterization laboratory activities involves a significant degree of arbitrariness. By focusing on the fairly narrow issue of equipment costs, we thought we could more clearly define the outcome of our interventions. Whether continued physician feedback will be useful in controlling costs in the era of new devices and novel anticoagulant agents remains to be seen.
Space-time coding and Kalman filtering for time-selective fading channels

This paper proposes a novel decoding scheme for Alamouti's (see IEEE J. Select. Areas Commun., vol.16, p.1451-1458, 1998) space-time (ST) coded transmissions over time-selective fading channels that arise due to Doppler shifts and carrier frequency offsets. Modeling the time-selective channels as random processes, we employ Kalman filtering for channel tracking in order to enable ST decoding with diversity gains. Computer simulations confirm that the proposed scheme exhibits robustness to time-selectivity with a few training symbols.
Methylene blue staining of axons in the ventral nerve cord of insects.

Axons and some nerve cell bodies in the abdominal nerve cords of 5 species of insects were stained within 0.5-2 hr after intraabdominal or intrathoracic injection of a rongalit-reduced 0.4% methylene blue solution at pH 5. Leuco methylene blue solutions produced by Na2S2O4, or by rongalit at a lower pH, were not as effective. Injection of the stain into an intact animal produced much better results than application to a dissected preparation. The stain was fixed with a cold, about 1.5% ammonium picrate solution followed by cold 8–15% ammonium molybdate. The nerve cord was removed, placed on a slide, dehydrated with t-butanol, cleared with xylene, and covered.
Alphabetically biased virtual keyboards are easier to use: layout does matter

Virtual keyboard layouts have been optimized for expert users with no consideration of novice users' ease of locating individual keys. This paper presents a new layout produced by means of a Metropolis algorithm with an added alphabetical bias term to the previous Fitts-digraph energy function. At a small cost of expert's performance, the new layout with alphabetical tendency offered 9% improvement to novice user's performance.
Validating a plan-based model of narrative conflict

Conflict is an essential element of interesting stories. In previous work, we proposed a formal model of narrative conflict based on intentional planning that is designed to facilitate story generation. This paper presents the results of an experiment to test whether or not our model can answer "who?" "why?" and "when?" questions about conflict similarly to humans analyzing the same stories. Our model has some success at predicting which conflicts human readers will report and performs well at recognizing which characters are in conflict and for how long.
Response-Dependence, Noumenalism, and Ontological Mystery

Let us call representations such as concepts and terms ‘response-dependent’ just in case they are connected in an a priori manner to responses of suitably situated subjects to their referents. To possess the concept RED and master the term ‘red’, on this view, is to possess the concept and master the term that are linked to the responses of normal human beings to objects that appear red to them under normal conditions. Notions of response-dependence trace to John Locke’s (1979) analysis of secondary-quality concepts (or ‘ideas’). On one reading of Locke, the concept RED is the concept of something to which normal human beings respond by perceiving that it is red under normal conditions. Tracing the notion forward, on one reading of Immanuel Kant (1998), all concepts are connected in an a priori manner to responses that normal human beings have to objects that appear to them in particular ways. Because he understands all concepts in terms of how they relate to human beings, Kant has been called the first to give a thoroughgoing ‘anthropocentric’ account of knowledge. For Kant, all concepts are connected in an a priori manner to paradigmatic anthropocentric responses. Recently there has been much interest among analytic philosophers in response-dependence theories. Most theories proposed have been, like Locke’s, local. They concern only some concepts. One prominent response-dependence theory, however, takes its cue not from Locke but from Kant. Philip Pettit (2005b) has proposed a global response-dependence theory, according to which all concepts and terms are linked to human responses. In fact Pettit himself explicitly calls all such representations ‘anthropocentric’ (2005b: 13–7, 53–8). While Pettit introduces his global theory to rebut skepticism about rule-following (1990; 1996: chs. 2, 4; 2005b: essay 1), my interest is not in whether Pettit succeeds in doing so. It is instead in the price that Pettit must pay to be a global response-dependence theorist in the first place. As Michael Smith and Daniel Stoljar (1998) explain, Pettit’s theory entails noumenalism, the thesis that reality possesses an intrinsic nature that remains unknowable. Though Pettit acknowledges that his global response-dependence theory does entail noumenalism, he argues contra Smith and Stoljar that this commitment is not particularly problematic. For Pettit claims that his noumenalism, like Kant’s own, admits of ontological and epistemic construals. Pettit takes Smith and Stoljar to construe noumenalism ontologically, according to which there is some ‘nature’ or ‘realm’ of existence that is separate and inaccessible from the one in which we reside. Pettit himself construes noumenalism epistemically. While there
Binocular Fixation on Wide-Angle Foveated Vision System - Contour-Based Feature Generation from Space-Variant Image Using DFT -

This paper introduces a novel interactive vision system, which is suitable for cooperative works between the human and computer. This system acquires human-like binocular wide-angle foveated (WAF) information from a stereo camera head with special wide-angle optical lens and provides processed video signals both to the computers and to the user's sight simultaneously. The user can observe this unique information on 3D head mount display (HMD). The developed vision system is quite applicable for the human brain and vision research like psychophysics, because it has two kinds of loop, which are biology and computational. In the system implementation, binocular fixation provides well-fused 3D images to the user. This paper proposes to carry out it based on features extracted from contour images, and examines about scale, rotation and translation (SRT) invariant features generated from WAF space-variant images using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT).
AM1 molecular orbital studies of the structures, conformations, protonation energies, and electronic properties of triazine dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors

Les proprietes structurales, conformationnelles et electriques de trois antifolates de triazine sont determinees par les calculs AM1 de l'orbitale moleculaire. Les resultats sont compares avec d'autres etudes theoriques et avec les etudes cristallographiques aux rayons X sur les memes triazines ou sur des triazines similaires a l'etat cristallin ou comme des complexes de reductase de dihydrofolate. En general, les proprietes structurale et conformationnelle calculees sont en bon accord avec les resultats cristallographiques
Modeling Off-Nominal Behavior in SysML

Specification and development of fault management functionality in systems is performed in an ad hoc way - more of an art than a science. Improvements to system reliability, availability, safety and resilience will be limited without infusion of additional formality into the practice of fault management. Key to the formalization of fault management is a precise representation of off-nominal behavior. Using the upcoming Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission for source material, we have modeled the off-nominal behavior of the SMAP system during its initial spin-up activity, using the System Modeling Language (SysML). In the course of developing these models, we have developed generic patterns for capturing off-nominal behavior in SysML. We show how these patterns provide useful ways of reasoning about the system (e.g., checking for completeness and effectiveness) and allow the automatic generation of typical artifacts (e.g., success trees and FMECAs) used in system analyses.
Passivation of InAs quantum dots for novel photovoltaics

Novel photovoltaic device designs offer the possibility of limiting efficiencies well in excess of conventional limits [1,2]. Many of the suggested devices rely on the inclusion of nanostructures in order to improve conventional energy conversion mechanisms or allow new mechanisms to be exploited. Because nanostructures rely on quantum confinement realized by heterojunctions, strain induced defects at hetero-interfaces, and the non-ideal recombination pathways they bring, need to be passivated, in order for the novel devices to operate as intended [3,4]. We report attempts to passivate quantum dots in the much studied InAs/GaAs system using a Sb flux treatment immediately prior to capping of the quantum dots with GaAs. The photoluminescence results suggest an optimum exposure time to the Sb flux after which the performance degrades substantially. Temperature dependent photoluminescence results as well as X-ray diffraction results are also presented in order to explain the structure at the quantum dot - cap interface. The impact of these results in terms of the design of two novel photovoltaic devices, the intermediate band solar cell and the hot carrier solar cell is also discussed.