cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Metabolomic Evaluation of Neutrophilic Airway Inflammation in Cystic Fibrosis

BACKGROUND Metabolomic evaluation of cystic fibrosis (CF) airway secretions could identify metabolites and metabolic pathways involved in neutrophilic airway inflammation that could serve as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. METHODS Mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics was performed on a discovery set of BAL fluid samples from 25 children with CF, and targeted MS methods were used to identify and quantify metabolites related to neutrophilic inflammation. A biomarker panel of these metabolites was then compared with neutrophil counts and clinical markers in independent validation sets of lavage from children with CF and adults with COPD compared with control subjects. RESULTS Of the 7, 791 individual peaks detected by positive-mode MS metabolomics discovery profiling, 338 were associated with neutrophilic inflammation. Targeted MS determined that many of these peaks were generated by metabolites from pathways related to the metabolism of purines, polyamines, proteins, and nicotinamide. Analysis of the independent validation sets verified that, in subjects with CF or COPD, several metabolites, particularly those from purine metabolism and protein catabolism pathways, were strongly correlated with neutrophil counts and were related to clinical markers, including airway infection and lung function. CONCLUSIONS MS metabolomics identified multiple metabolic pathways associated with neutrophilic airway inflammation. These findings provide insight into disease pathophysiology and can serve as the basis for developing disease biomarkers and therapeutic interventions for airways diseases.
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a disease of the third trimester of pregnancy involving pruritis and elevated bile acid levels. Its pathogenesis likely involves a genetic hypersensitivity to estrogen. Once thought to be benign for both mother and fetus, ICP has been associated with increased rates of fetal morbidity and mortality and an increased risk of maternal coagulopathy. Optimal obstretic management includes delivery after establishment of fetal lung maturity. Many treatments have been proposed for the maternal medical management of ICP, none of which is ideal.
Implementation of a movement paradigm using the Commodore 64 microcomputer.

Implementation of an alternating movement paradigm for monkeys was achieved using an inexpensive but versatile microcomputer, the Commodore 64. During task performance, the computer monitors one of three user selectable input signals (e.g. joint position) and continuously displays this signal as a moving cursor on a video monitor along with a user positioned target box. Other user defined parameters include in-target holding time and reinforcement ratio. The system also provides two sound cues to signal entry of the cursor into the target box and successful completion of a trial. Extensive use is made of the computer's intrinsic hardware features for implementation of movement paradigm functions. Use of external components is limited to digitizing and interface hardware. A two part software package consisting of a BASIC and a machine language program performs all task and hardware related functions. Acquisition and display of analog input signals, display of target positions, and delivery of auditory cues and applesauce rewards are all controlled by the machine language program. All user defined parameters are specified from the BASIC menu program. The specific programs described in this paper should be applicable to the control of tasks requiring alternation of a behavioral parameter between two target zones.
Advanced Computational Methods for Security Constrained Financial Transmission Rights: Structure and Parallelism

Abstract Financial Transmission Rights (FTRs) help power market participants reduce price risks associated with transmission congestion. FTRs are issued based on a process of solving a constrained optimization problem with the objective to maximize the FTR social welfare under power flow security constraints. Security constraints for different FTR categories (monthly, seasonal or annual) are usually coupled and the number of constraints increases exponentially with the number of categories. Commercial software for FTR calculation can only provide limited categories of FTRs due to the inherent computational challenges mentioned above. In this paper, a novel non-linear dynamical system (NDS) approach is proposed to solve the optimization problem. The new formulation and performance of the NDS solver is benchmarked against widely used linear programming (LP) solvers like CPLEX™ and tested on large-scale systems using data from the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). The NDS based solver can be easily parallelized while exploiting the data structure of the revised formalism to avoid backfill of coupled blocks, maintain numerical stability, and simultaneously reducing computational complexity. The NDS is demonstrated to outperform the widely used CPLEX algorithms by over two orders of magnitude while exhibiting superior scalability.
Blinded with science: Trivial graphs and formulas increase ad persuasiveness and belief in product efficacy.

The appearance of being scientific can increase persuasiveness. Even trivial cues can create such an appearance of a scientific basis. In our studies, including simple elements, such as graphs (Studies 1–2) or a chemical formula (Study 3), increased belief in a medication’s efficacy. This appears to be due to the association of such elements with science, rather than increased comprehensibility, use of visuals, or recall. Belief in science moderates the persuasive effect of graphs, such that people who have a greater belief in science are more affected by the presence of graphs (Study 2). Overall, the studies contribute to past research by demonstrating that even trivial elements can increase public persuasion despite their not truly indicating scientific expertise or objective support.
Comparative tumor‐inhibitory and anti‐bacterial activity of soluble and particulate glucan

A soluble fraction of particulate glucan was prepared and evaluated for its anti-tumor and anti-bacterial activity. Thin-layer chromatographic analysis indicated that the soluble preparation was composed of a variety of polyglucoses. Intravenous administration of soluble or particulate glucan resulted in significant reductions in the growth of a syngeneic anaplastic mammary carcinoma and melanoma B16. Survival data demonstrated that intravenous administration of soluble or particulate glucan prolonged survival of A/J and C57BL/6J mice with subcutaneous tumor implants. As regards to bacterial infections, soluble and particulate glucan decreased renal necrosis in S. aureus challenged mice as compared to control mice. Although the exact nature of the active soluble fraction(s) of glucan remains to be delineated, these studies demonstrate that a soluble glucan preparation exhibits significant anti-tumor and anti-staphylococcal activity. The active soluble fraction of particulate glucan may be preferable to particulate glucan in view of the inherent ease of parenteral administration.
Paced vs. unpaced paired-associate recall

In an attempt to eliminate a potentially confounding factor in the comparison of paced and unpaced recall procedures, Ss first learned either an A-B or successive A-B, A-C paired-associate lists. One week later, Ss were asked to recall the first-list responses. Recall was either paced or unpaced. In contrast to the typical experiment, in which Ss in unpaced conditions are asked to recall both B and C responses, Ss in this experiment were informed that recall of the second-list responses was not necessary. Contrary to the prediction based upon the two-factor theory of forgetting, which states that more retroactive inhibition should be obtained with paced recall procedures, paced and unpaced conditions yielded equivalent amounts of retroactive inhibition. It was suggested that these data may be taken as further evidence for the suggestion that competition at the time of recall is not an important determinant of interference effects.
Crisis Intervention: Facilitating Parental Acceptance of a Child's Handicap.

School psychologists consult with parents on many issues. One frequent task involves informing parents that their child is handicapped. The diagnosis of a handicap can bring on a situational life crisis for parents. This paper discusses various adjustment reactions displayed by some parents in the process of crisis resolution. Implications for the school psychologist's role with parents of exceptional children are presented within a crisis intervention framework.
Latent inhibition of the GSR conditioned to words

The GSR measure of the orienting reflex was obtained from 90 college students in a semantic conditioning and generalization experiment. Different groups received 0, 20, or 40 presentations of different words other than the CS word prior to the start of conditioning. Latent inhibition was manifested in differences in the CR peak attained by the three groups and the number of trials required to attain the peak. They also differed significantly in the magnitude of their responses to UCS omission during extinction. The three groups did not differ in the magnitude of their GSR to control words. It was concluded that conditioned attention theory as presently formulated cannot adequately account for all of these results. An alternative interpretation was offered in terms of a theory which asserts that classical conditioning of the GSR involves an active problem solving discovery process that leads to the generation of a voluntary OR. It is manifested in the form of a GSR-CR. Preconditioning habituation sessions serve as a masking task which interferes with successful problem solving, discovering the signal for the UCS.
Overview of Seismic Issues in Design Certification and Combined License Application Reviews

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) established a new process for licensing nuclear power plants under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” which provides requirements for early site permits (ESPs), standard design certifications (DCs), and combined license (COL) applications. In this process, an application for a COL may incorporate by reference a DC, an ESP, both, or neither. This approach allows for early resolution of safety and environmental issues. The COL review will not reconsider the safety issues resolved by the DC and ESP processes. However, a COL application that incorporates a DC by reference needs to demonstrate that pertinent site-specific parameters are confined within the safety envelopes established by the DC. This paper provides an overview of site parameters related to seismic designs and associated seismic issues encountered in DC and COL application reviews using the 10 CFR Part 52 process. Since DCs treat the seismic design and analysis of nuclear power plant (NPP) structures, systems, and components (SSC) as bounding to future potential sites, the design ground motions and associated site parameters are often conservatively specified, representing envelopes of site-specific seismic hazards and parameters. For a COL applicant to incorporate a DC by reference, it needs to demonstrate that the site-specific hazard in terms of ground motion response spectra (GMRS) is enveloped by the certified design response spectra of the DC. It also needs to demonstrate that the site-specific seismic parameters, such as foundation-bearing capacities, soil profiles, and the like, are confined within the site parameter envelopes established by the DC. For the noncertified portion of the plant SSCs, the COL applicant should perform the seismic design and analysis with respect to the site-specific GMRS and associated site parameters. This paper discusses the seismic issues encountered in the safety reviews of DC and COL applications. Practical issues dealing with comparing site-specific features to the standard designs and lessons learned are also discussed.
Self-consistent theory of freezing of the classical one-component plasma.

A new formulation of the modified weighted density approximation of inhomogeneous classical fluids is presented which is exact to third order in the functional expansion of the excess free energy but includes, approximately, correlations to all orders. It requires as input the pair and triplet structure of the uniform liquid, and when applied to the one-component plasma yields results which are in good agreement with simulation data.
Seeded melt texture growth processing of with coatings

In an attempt to minimize the occurrence of surface nucleation events, the effects of coatings on the surface of (Y-123) pellets processed by top-seeded melt texture growth processing were studied. During the melt processing of coated Y-123, coatings react to form and a Yb-containing liquid, which reduce the peritectic temperature below that of Y-123. As a result of this, during cooling, the coated surface regions will freeze last and allow the oriented domain nucleated at the seed to grow without any interference from domains nucleated at the periphery of the pellet.
An investigation of the organization of pigtail monkey groups through the use of challenges

In a sequence of tests challenging pigtail monkey groups through presentation of a variety of stimuli in an openable release box, or by humans directly, it was found that the control male responded to direct challenges to the group and that other males were most active when the challenge was less direct, i.e., contained in a box. Immature males opened the box and were in the vicinity of the stimulus box more than any other group members, regardless of box content. On most trials with group members serving as stimuli, subordinate animals did not approach or release higher status animals. Findings were consistent with other reports of the organization of macaque, baboon, and capuchin social groups.
Different reinnervation patterns in the celiac/mesenteric and superior cervical ganglia following guanethidine sympathectomy in adult rats.

We sought to determine whether chronic guanethidine (Gu) treatment in adult rats produces depletion of sympathetic neurons and hyperinnervation by sensory neuropeptides in the celiac/superior mesenteric (C/SMG) ganglion. Rats received Gu 40 mg/kg per day i.p or saline for 5 weeks. Upon completion of treatment, the C/SMG and the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) were examined for neuropeptide Y (NPY), substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), both by immunocytochemistry (ICC) and radioimmunoassay (RIA). Gu produced marked depletion of NPY-containing neurons and NPY content in the C/SMG, similar to that in the SCG (-89 +/- 2 vs. -92 +/- 4%, respectively). SP and CGRP immunoreactivities were significantly higher in control C/SMG as compared with SCG; after Gu treatment, there was no significant increase in either SP or CGRP in the C/SMG, however, both increased in the SCG. In contrast, VIP levels were similar in the SCG and C/SMG in controls and increased in the C/SMG but not in the SCG after Gu treatment. Thus, in adult rats, the C/SMG is as susceptible as the SCG to Gu treatment; the different pattern of hyperinnervation by SP, CGRP and VIP of the C/SMG as compared with the SCG may reflect the different sources for these neuropeptides in prevertebral as compared with paravertebral ganglia.
On Quasi Likelihood Equations with Non-parametric Weights

To apply the quasi likelihood method one needs both the mean and the variance functions to determine its optimal weights. If the variance function is unknown, then the weights should be acquired from the data. One way to do so is by adaptive estimation, which involves non-parametric estimation of the variance function. Adaptation, however, also brings in noise that hampers its improvement for moderate samples. In this paper we introduce an alternative method based not on the estimation of the variance function, but on the penalized minimization of the asymptotic variance of the estimator. By doing so we are able to retain a restricted optimality under the smoothness condition, however strong that condition may be. This is important because for moderate sample sizes we need to impose a strong smoothness constraint to damp the noise-often stronger than would be adequate for the adaptive method. We will give a rigorous development of the related asymptotic theory, and provide the simulation evidence for the advantage of this method.
Attempted eyelid closure affects intraocular pressure measurement.

Abstract PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of attempted eyelid closure on intraocular pressure measurement. METHODS: Normal subjects underwent intraocular pressure measurement in both eyes using Goldmann applanation tonometry and Tono-pen XL (Mentor, Inc, Norwell, Massachusetts) by the same examiner holding the eyelids open, both with and without the subject simultaneously attempting forced eyelid closure. Subjects were seated during all measurements and waited 5 minutes between measurements with each instrument; the order of measurement was randomized. RESULTS: Thirty eyes of 15 subjects (six men, nine women) were enrolled. Mean age was 30.5 ± 5.2 years (range, 24 to 40 years). With Goldmann applanation tonometry, intraocular pressure increased in both eyes with attempted eyelid closure by a mean of 1.5 ± 2.0 mm Hg ( P = .0002, paired t test; range, −2 to 8 mm Hg). With the Tono-pen XL, intraocular pressure also increased in both eyes with attempted eyelid closure by a mean of 1.9 ± 2.7 mm Hg ( P = .0002, paired t test; range, −2 to 9 mm Hg). Tono-pen XL mean intraocular pressure values in both eyes (14.4 ± 2.3 mm Hg) consistently overestimated those of Goldmann applanation tonometry (13.0 ± 2.2 mm Hg) by a mean of 1.4 ± 2.3 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Attempted forced eyelid closure is a common and statistically significant source of error in routine outpatient measurement of intraocular pressure and could influence clinical management of glaucoma.
Visualization of Faraday rotation and optical activity at oblique incidence

Gyrotropic and chiral media are known to rotate the polarization of electromagnetic waves, yielding the Faraday-rotation and optical-activity effects, respectively. In this paper, we analyze these effects based on the constitutive tensors of both media, and propose closed-form expressions for the rotation angles of waves impinging at oblique incidence. The analysis and predictions, based on the kDB system, are illustrated by showing the propagation of a Gaussian beam through layered gyrotropic and chiral media. In particular, the reciprocal character of optical activity, and the nonreciprocal character of Faraday rotation, are clearly shown.
Volatile Constituents of Bing Sweet Cherry Fruit following Controlled Atmosphere Storage

Volatile constituents of Bing sweet cherry fruit were analyzed by purge and trap sampling from fruit homogenates at harvest and after air or controlled atmosphere storage. Acetic acid and aldehydes were quantitatively the largest volatile compounds present at harvest. Changes during storage in the concentrations of three compounds previously identified as contributors to sweet cherry fruit flavor, benzaldehyde, E-2-hexenal, and hexanal, were independent of storage conditions. Ethanol accumulated in fruit stored in 15 or 20% CO2 with 5% O2 after 6 weeks of storage. Qualitative and quantitative changes in ester production, particularly ethyl acetate, were coincident with the accumulation of ethanol. 2-Propanol concentrations were consistently highest in fruit stored in 5% O2 with 0.1% CO2. Some qualitative changes in volatile production after 4 weeks of storage were unrelated to storage conditions and may reflect metabolic changes occurring during sweet cherry senescence. A number of esters were not detecta...
Shape modeling and validation of stress-biased piezoelectric actuators

Piezoelectric composites with a characteristic initial curvature and accompanying residual stresses are capable of enhanced performance, relative to flat actuators. This paper utilizes Rayleigh–Ritz techniques with revisions regarding the effective in-plane resultant force and the effective bending moment. The Rayleigh–Ritz technique is based on the assumption that the stable geometric configuration developed in the actuator after manufacturing is the configuration that minimizes the total potential energy. This energy is a function of the displacement field which can be approximated by either a four-term model or a 23-term model. In this case, Thunder ® , a composite of steel, polyimide adhesive, PZT, and aluminum is constructed with varying geometries so that three-dimensional surface topology maps are measured. Numerically, the four-coefficient model produces results that are not comparable to experimental data. The 23-coefficient model generally shows good agreement with the data for all studied actuators. In the case of actuators with a length to width ratio of one, simulations are close to experimental results. In the case of length to width ratios different to unity, the model accurately predicts the devices’ shape. It is further demonstrated that the curvature of the devices seems to follow the rolling direction of the stainless steel layer, challenging the isotropy assumption. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
Maintenance of a Mountain Valley Cold Pool: A Numerical Study

Abstract A persistent cold-air pool in the Yampa Valley of northwestern Colorado was simulated with the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5). The observed cold-air pool, which was identified by temperature measurements along a line of surface stations ascending the eastern side of the valley, remained in place throughout the day of 10 January 2004. The baseline simulation with horizontal resolution of 1 km, which is close to the resolution of operational regional mesoscale model forecasts, neither matched the strength of the observed cold-air pool nor retained the cold pool throughout the day. Varying the PBL parameterization, increasing the vertical resolution, and increasing the model spinup time did not significantly improve the results. However, the inclusion of snow cover, increased horizontal resolution, and an improved treatment of horizontal diffusion did have a sizable effect on the forecast quality. The snow cover in the ba...
An Oral History of First-Generation Leaders in Education of Children With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Part 2: Important Events, Developments, and People:

As the second part of an oral history of education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, 15 first-generation leaders were asked about the events, policies, and people that have had t...
Paper Chromatographic Estimation of Phenylalanine and Tyrosine Using Finger-tip Blood Its Application to Phenylketonuria

A paper chromatographic method for the determination of serum phenylalanine and tyrosine has been developed that requires only 0.12 ml. of serum, no deproteinization, and no expensive equipment. This method has been applied to the detection of phenylketonuria and to check serum levels of phenylketonurics on low-phenylalanine diets.
Relationship between Temperature and Shell Disease in Laboratory Populations of Juvenile American Lobsters (Homarus americanus)

ABSTRACT Epizootic shell disease is affecting American lobster (Homarus americanus) populations and the associated fisheries significantly. Historical movement of the disease suggests that temperature has been a critical factor in driving the susceptibility of lobsters to this disease. Here, juvenile lobsters were held in the laboratory at 10°C, 15°C, or 20°C for up to 1,021 days. Survival, growth, and shell disease were tracked throughout, and a separate experiment was conducted to assess the rate at which dietary white lobsters deposited pigment to the cuticle at the different temperatures. In the laboratory, shell disease was tracked as an initial “spot,” the melanization of the cuticle in response to the bacterial ingress, or, as it progressed, a lesion, which was a visible erosion of the shell. The length of the molt cycle (number of days from one molt to the next consecutive molt) was inversely associated with temperature. Average growth (increase in weight and carapace length per molt) at 10°C and ...
RELAXATION OF INDUCED INDIRECT DEFENSES OF ACACIAS FOLLOWING EXCLUSION OF MAMMALIAN HERBIVORES

Many plants offer rewards to attract ants that provide indirect defense against herbivores. These rewards include nectar and swollen thorn domatia, and their production can be inducible. Theory predicts that costly rewards should be relaxed if the risk of herbivory is reduced, although this has not been previously demonstrated. Acacia drepan- olobium trees in East Africa produce two ant rewards, extrafloral nectar and swollen thorns. We compared the rewards offered by trees experimentally protected from mammalian brows- ing for seven years with those offered by unprotected trees. Protected trees produced 25% fewer nectaries per leaf and 25% fewer swollen thorns than did trees in browsed plots. Relaxation of indirect defenses when trees are protected from herbivores is consistent with the dual hypotheses that inducible defenses are dynamic and that plants can save costs by relaxing these defenses when they are not needed. Among trees exposed to mammalian herbivores, trees that were browsed within roughly the past year provided rewards for ants similar to those provided by trees exposed to herbivores but not browsed within the past year. This result suggests that relaxation of indirect defenses only occurs following more than one year of protection from mammalian herbivory.
A 15 watt PFP GaAs PHEMT MMIC power amplifier for 3G wireless transmitter applications

This work describes a wide-bandwidth highly integrated MMIC linear power amplifier implemented with high voltage GaAs PHEMT device technology targeting 3G wireless infrastructure applications. The MMIC amplifier exhibits 34 dB small signal gain, less than 0.5 dB gain variation across the UMTS frequency band centered at 2.14 GHz, and a peak-envelope power in excess of 15 W when biased with a 12 volt supply. Under a 64 traffic channel single carrier W-CDMA signal (test model 1, with a 11 dB peak-to-average signal ratio), the amplifier achieves 2W average output power and 17% power added efficiency at an ACPR of -40 dBc. Under a 9-channel single carrier IS-95 forward-link signal, the amplifier achieves 4 W average power at an efficiency of 25% at an ACPR of -38 dBc. The MMIC amplifier is highly integrated consisting of 3-gain stages, input and interstage matching circuits, and output pre-matching - all contained on the GaAs IC. The use of on-chip pre-matching for the output load line greatly simplifies and reduces off chip component matching elements and their tolerances. To the author's best knowledge, this amplifier represents the highest power and efficiency reported to date for a GaAs PHEMT amplifier realized at this level of integration.
MMSE V-BLAST for Imperfect MIMO Channels

In practical V-BLAST systems, channel estimation is often imperfect due to noise and interference. This paper analyzes the impacts of imperfect channel estimation on MMSE V-BLAST system under the assumption that the channel estimation errors are unknown deterministic and norm-bounded. Two novel V-BLAST ordering algorithms are therefore presented with the idea of worst-case post-processing performance optimization. The proposed algorithms organize the order of symbol processing according to their worst-case post-processing performance while maintain the simple implementation of the V-BLAST structure. The simulation results show our approaches are robust to the channel estimation errors.
Early psychosocial intervention for youth at risk for bipolar I or II disorder: a one-year treatment development trial.

Objectives Previous studies have identified behavioral phenotypes that predispose genetically vulnerable youth to a later onset of bipolar I or II disorder, but few studies have examined whether early psychosocial intervention can reduce risk of syndromal conversion. In a one-year open trial, we tested a version of family-focused treatment adapted for youth at high risk for bipolar disorder (FFT-HR).
In Situ Visualization at Extreme Scale: Challenges and Opportunities

In situ visualization is clearly a promising solution for ultrascale simulations. We've seen some success in realizing this solution and in ongoing efforts to add support for in situ visualization to open source visualization toolkits such as ParaView and Visit. However, for others to adopt this approach, we need further research and experimental studies to derive a set of guidelines and usable visualization software components. If this research is successful, it will lead to a new visualization and data-understanding infrastructure, potentially change how scientists work, and accelerate scientific discovery. This paper discusses critical issues in realizing in situ visualization and suggest important research directions.
BUDGETING IN THE WESTERN STATES NEVADA CHANGE AND THE POLITICAL TIPPING POINT

BUDGETING IN THE WESTERN STATES NEVADA CHANGE AND THE POLITICAL TIPPING POINT Robert Morin Western Nevada College Carson City, Nevada 89703 Robert.Morin@wnc.edu 2013 Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association Loews Hotel Hollywood, California March 28 – 30, 2013
Numerical approximation of Quasi‐Newtonian flows by ALE‐FEM

The aim of this work is to investigate the numerical approximation of a nonlinear, time-dependent quasi-Newtonian flow problem formulated in the framework of Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian method. We present some stability results and convergence analysis of finite element solutions for semidiscrete and fully discretized problems, respectively. Numerical results supporting the derived error estimate are also presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2012
Spacer visibility problem in field emission displays due to surface contamination

Spacer visibility is a critical issue in field emission displays (FEDs). Many reasons can lead to visible spacers, such as charging due to secondary electron emission under electron bombardment. In this paper, we will present results on spacer visibility due to chemical contamination on the spacer surface. We have identified Na contamination as the cause for the white spacer problem observed in the early developing stage of FED. The diffusion of Na from spacers to its adjacent cathode area during field emission operation caused higher field emission current from those field emitters. We believe the higher emission is due to the temporary gettering effect from the Na species, which cleaned the local field emitters. We have also found the existence of Pb on the spacer surface could create the dark spacer problem. To avoid any spacer visibility problem, the spacer surface must be kept clean. Any post clean procedure used to clean the surface should not leave any trace of elements such as Na, or Pb.
DDDAS-based multi-scale framework for pedestrian behavior modeling and interactions with drivers

A multi-scale simulation framework is proposed to analyze pedestrian delays at signalized crosswalks in large urban areas under different conditions. An aggregated-level model runs in normal conditions, where each crosswalk is represented as an agent. A derived probability function extended from Adams' model is utilized to estimate an average pedestrian delay with corresponding traffic flow rate and traffic light control at each crosswalk. When an abnormality is detected, a detailed-level model with each pedestrian being an agent is executed in the affected subareas. Pedestrian decision-making under abnormal conditions, physical movement, and crowd congestion are explicitly considered in the detailed-level model. In addition, pedestrian-driver interactions under unsignalized condition such as midblock crossing have been modeled as a two-player Pareto game. By mimicking cognitive decision making processes of drivers and pedestrians, we intend to identify the significant variables that help improve comfort and convenience as well as safety of pedestrian crossing.
Post-operative complications following minimal access surgery

The growth in popularity of minimal access surgery in gynaecology has coincided with a reduction in the length of hospital stay. Patients need to be made aware of the potential for and symptoms and signs of complications to ensure that they seek help at an early stage. Clinicians need to be vigilant in the recognition of adverse events both intra- and post-operatively to minimize the risk of developing serious complications. The growth in litigation in minimal access surgery represents, in part, a failure of surgeons to adapt to the new demands of this type of surgery.
THE EEG IN OLDER AND YOUNGER ADULT GROUPS WITH CONVULSIVE DISORDER.)

SUMMARY 1 EEG data, together with clinical findings, are presented in two groups of epileptics of widely differing age: 177 patients older than 51 years, and 177 patients between the ages of 21 and 40. 2 Evidence of organic etiology of seizures (vascular disorders, brain tumors and degenerative diseases) was more frequently seen in the older group; seizures of unknown etiology were more common in the younger group. 3 A greater incidence of focal EEG abnormality was found in older adults; a greater incidence of generalized abnormality was observed in the younger group. These findings are congruent with the relative incidence of known vs. unknown etiology in the two groups, as well as with the relative incidence of focal vs. generalized seizures. 4 In both the younger and the older groups, the brain area most often implicated was the temporal region, the left about twice as often as the right. RESUME 1 Les auteurs presentent les donnees cliniques et electroencephalographiques recueillies dans deux groupes d'epileptiques adultes d'âge tres different: 177 sujets âges de plus de 51 ans et 177 sujets d'âge compris entre 21 et 40 ans. 2 Les signes d'etiologie organique (maladies vasculaires, tumeurs cerebrales et maladies degeneratives) sont plus souvent oberves dans le groupe des plus âges. Les crises d'etiologie inconnue sont plus frequentes dans le groupe des plus jeunes. 3 La proportion des anomalies E.E.G. focalisees est plus grande dans le groupe des plus âges tandis que des anomalies generalisees sont plus frequentes chez les plus jeunes. Ces constatations s'accordent bien avec la frequence relative des etiologies connues et inconnues et des crises focales et generalisees dans les deux groupes. 4 Dans les deux groupes, c'est la region temporale qui est le plus souvent impliquee, du cote gauche deux fois plus qu'a droite.
Raju's Differential Functioning of Items and Tests (DFIT)

Nambury S. Raju (1937–2005) developed two model-based indices for differential item functioning (DIF) during his prolific career in psychometrics. Both methods, Raju's area measures (Raju, 1988) and Raju's DFIT (Raju, van der Linden, & Fleer, 1995), are based on quantifying the gap between item characteristic functions (ICFs). This approach provides an intuitive and flexible methodology for assessing DIF. The purpose of this tutorial is to explain DFIT and show how this methodology can be utilized in a variety of DIF applications.
A generalized set theoretic approach for time and space complexity analysis of algorithms and functions

There exists a variety of techniques for analyzing the computational complexity of algorithms and functions. This analysis is critical in finding out the upper and the lower bounds on time and space requirements using the big-oh and the big-omega notations. Besides these, there are other complexity criteria, such as, small omega and small o complexities, which are also useful. Complexity analysis is used in selecting an appropriate algorithm for solving a given problem using computer. Unfortunately, most of the existing techniques are complex, obsolete and hard to use in practice. Besides, there is a trend to abuse notational complexities by considering them as functions. However, notational complexities are sets of functions rather than bare functions. In this paper, it has been established that the notational complexities are sets of functions that include all algorithms and functions on the given order satisfying certain constraints. Moreover, starting from the scratch, we show how to determine the time and space complexity functions for a given computational algorithm. We consider application of the proposed framework in determining the notational complexities. The proposed framework may be extended for functions involving multiple variables. Also the space-time bandwidth product has been discussed in deciding the economy of using the computational algorithms.
Substitutions in the Periplasmic Domain of Low-Abundance Chemoreceptor Trg That Induce or Reduce Transmembrane Signaling: Kinase Activation and Context Effects

We extended characterization of mutational substitutions in the ligand-binding region of Trg, a low-abundance chemoreceptor of Escherichia coli. Previous investigations using patterns of adaptational methylation in vivo led to the suggestion that one class of substitutions made the receptor insensitive, reducing ligand-induced signaling, and another mimicked ligand occupancy, inducing signaling in the absence of ligand. We tested these deductions with in vitro assays of kinase activation and found that insensitive receptors activated the kinase as effectively as wild-type receptors and that induced-signaling receptors exhibited the low level of kinase activation characteristic of occupied receptors. Differential activation by the two mutant classes was not dependent on high-abundance receptors. Cellular context can affect the function of low-abundance receptors. Assays of chemotactic response and adaptational modification in vivo showed that increasing cellular dosage of mutant forms of Trg to a high-abundance level did not significantly alter phenotypes, nor did the presence of high-abundance receptors significantly correct phenotypic defects of reduced-signaling receptors. In contrast, defects of induced-signaling receptors were suppressed by the presence of high-abundance receptors. Grafting the interaction site for the adaptational-modification enzymes to the carboxyl terminus of induced-signaling receptors resulted in a similar suppression of phenotypic defects of induced-signaling receptors, implying that high-abundance receptors could suppress defects in induced-signaling receptors by providing their natural enzyme interaction sites in trans in clusters of suppressing and suppressed receptors. As in the case of cluster-related functional assistance provided by high-abundance receptors for wild-type low-abundance receptors, suppression by high-abundance receptors of phenotypic defects in induced-signaling forms of Trg involved assistance in adaptation, not signaling.
COLLISION-INDUCED MIXING IN THE 2$sup 3$P LEVELS OF HELIUM.

The cross section for the transfer of excitation from the $2^{3}P_{0}$ level of helium to the $2^{3}P_{1}$ and $2^{3}P_{2}$ levels as a result of collisions with the ground-state helium atom ($1^{1}S_{0}$) has been measured with a conventional resonance-fluorescence technique. A ${\mathrm{He}}^{4}$ source excited the $2^{3}S_{1}\ensuremath{-}2^{3}P_{0}$ transition in a ${\mathrm{He}}^{3}$ absorption cell. The scattered light was examined with a high-resolution grating spectrometer and the ratio of the $2^{3}P_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2^{3}S_{1}$ to the $2^{3}P_{1,2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2^{3}S_{1}$ intensities was measured as a function of cell pressure from 0.05 to 10 Torr. The cross section for collision-induced transitions out of the $2^{3}P_{0}$ level is found to be (68\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3) \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}16}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ at room temperature.
A Preference Procedure that Compares Efficacy of Different Intravenous Drug Reinforcers in the Rhesus Monkey

A number of animal species, including man, will perform operant responses for intravenous injections of various psychoactive drugs. The comparability between certain aspects of infrahuman drug self-administration and human drug abuse (see Schuster and Thompson, 1969; Schuster and Johanson, 1974 for reviews) has validated the use of laboratory animals as a means of studying elements of human drugtaking behavior under highly controlled conditions. One of the problems with research in this area has been that, in addition to reinforcing behavior which precede them, drug injections can also affect subsequent responding. For example, an injection of cocaine will reinforce the response which produced it but may also increase the likelihood of responding over the next few minutes because cocaine often increases response rates when given noncontingently. An important area of current research concerns the development of new dependent variables that can separate the reinforcing effects of drugs from their other behavioral effects.
Concealing, revealing, and coming out: lesbian visibility in Dalibor Matanić’s Fine Dead Girls and Dana Budisavljević’s Family Meals

Drawing and expanding upon the scholarship that has analysed how non-heteronormative identities have been represented and discussed in the post-socialist spaces of the former Yugoslavia, this article examines two Croatian films, Fine mrtve djevojke/Fine Dead Girls and Nije ti život pjesma Havaja/Family Meals to reassess the notion that real lesbians are not represented in mainstream films from Eastern Europe. Although the two films employ diverse genres and provide substantively different points of view, they are crucial for understanding the evolution of cinematic representations of lesbians in Croatia and for evaluating the ongoing changes in public perception of sexual minorities. Through an analysis of the films’ production and consumption, their narrative structures and cinematic techniques, this article uncovers the ways in which these films offer divergent perspectives of the lesbian subject. While Fine Dead Girls uses lesbian characters as a medium that ultimately reaffirms the heterosexist projec...
Laboratory Rearing of Monarch Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Danaiidae), Using an Artificial Diet

An artificial diet for the laboratory rearing of larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (L.), has been developed. Techniques of preparing the diet and rearing the larvae are described. Monarch larvae reared on this diet compared favorably with foliage-fed control animals. More than 90% of the larvae survived to pupation and achieved a mean pupation weight of 1.24 g in 14 days.
Analysis of Typical Commissioning Problem for Boiler Makeup Water Treatment System

This article introduces the typical examples of design error,equipment defect and construction quality during the commission of boiler makeup water treatment system.By the technological analysis,it puts forward the countermeasure to solve the existing problem,provided technical references for improvement and increasing of the following boiler makeup water treatment system debugging.
Association between Estrogen Receptor α Gene Polymorphisms and Bone Age Index in Girls with Precocious Puberty

Objective To investigate the association between estrogen receptor α(ERα) gene polymorphisms and bone age index(BAI) in girls with precocious puberty.Methods Two hundred girls with precocious puberty(113 cases of advanced bone age and 87 cases of normal bone age) and 200 healthy controls were recruited,and polymorphisms of ERα gene were analyzed using PCR-RFLP method.Results There were no significant differences between the girls with normal bone age and healthy controls in genotype frequencies of PvuⅡ and XbaⅠ(P0.05),and between girls with advanced bone age and healthy controls in genotype frequencies of PvuⅡ(P0.05).There were significant differences between girls with advanced bone age and healthy controls in genotype frequencies of XbaⅠ(P0.05).Conclusion XbaI genotype of ERαgene is associated with advanced bone age in girls with precocious puberty.Genetic testing for ER may provide the molecular targets and theoretical basis for the diagnosis and early treatment of precocious puberty.
Plasma vasopressin levels and urinary flow during cardiopulmonary bypass in patients with valvular heart disease: effect of pulsatile flow.

The effect of pulsatile flow on plasma vasopressin levels during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was studied in 20 patients undergoing open valve replacement. Routine bypass was used in 10 patients and the AVCO pulsatile bypass pump was utilized in the other 10. In Group I (nonpulsatile) during CPB, the vasopressin level was markedly elevated (3.1 ± 2 to 80 ±22 pg/ml) as was urine flow (0.6 ± 0.2 to 5.9 ± 2 ml/min) and urine Na+ concentration (69 ± 19 to 116 ±7 mEq/L). In Group 11 (pulsatile) during CPB, the vasopressin level (3.8 ± 3 to 54 ± 14 pg/ml), urine flow (0.6 ± 0.1 to 16.2 ± 4.8 ml/min), and urine Na+ concentrations (61 ± 13 to 97 ± 10 mEq/L) were also elevated. The rise in vasopressin and urine Na+ was less in the pulsatile group (p
Structural and Biochemical Analyses Reveal the Mechanism of Glutathione S-Transferase Pi 1 Inhibition by the Anti-cancer Compound Piperlongumine

Glutathione S-transferase pi 1 (GSTP1) is frequently overexpressed in cancerous tumors and is a putative target of the plant compound piperlongumine (PL), which contains two reactive olefins and inhibits proliferation in cancer cells but not normal cells. PL exposure of cancer cells results in increased reactive oxygen species and decreased GSH. These data in tandem with other information led to the conclusion that PL inhibits GSTP1, which forms covalent bonds between GSH and various electrophilic compounds, through covalent adduct formation at the C7-C8 olefin of PL, whereas the C2-C3 olefin of PL was postulated to react with GSH. However, direct evidence for this mechanism has been lacking. To investigate, we solved the X-ray crystal structure of GSTP1 bound to PL and GSH at 1.1 A resolution to rationalize previously reported structure activity relationship studies. Surprisingly, the structure showed that a hydrolysis product of PL (hPL) was conjugated to glutathione at the C7-C8 olefin, and this complex was bound to the active site of GSTP1; no covalent bond formation between hPL and GSTP1 was observed. Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of the reactions between PL and GSTP1 confirmed that PL does not label GSTP1. Moreover, MS data also indicated that nucleophilic attack on PL at the C2-C3 olefin led to PL hydrolysis. Although hPL inhibits GSTP1 enzymatic activity in vitro, treatment of cells susceptible to PL with hPL did not have significant anti-proliferative effects, suggesting that hPL is not membrane-permeable. Altogether, our data suggest a model wherein PL is a prodrug whose intracellular hydrolysis initiates the formation of the hPL-GSH conjugate, which blocks the active site of and inhibits GSTP1 and thereby cancer cell proliferation.
Violent neoliberalism: development, discourse, and dispossession in Cambodia

Violent neoliberalism is a passionately written collection of mostly previously published and now revised essays exploring the dark underbelly of global capitalism, with an empirical focus on the d...