cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Total Dose Effects in Op-Amps With Compensated Input Stages

This paper discusses total dose damage in operational amplifiers with compensated input stages. The impact of this design approach on unit-to-unit variability of radiation damage is examined, along with hardness assurance methods that can be used to bound the radiation behavior. Data is included for an unusually large sample (100 devices) of one device type. Half of those devices were subjected to burn-in before irradiation to investigate the effect of burn-in on radiation response.
REPLICATION PROTEIN A: A Heterotrimeric, Single-Stranded DNA-Binding Protein Required for Eukaryotic DNA Metabolism

Replication protein A [RPA; also known as replication factor A (RFA) and human single-stranded DNA-binding protein] is a single-stranded DNA-binding protein that is required for multiple processes in eukaryotic DNA metabolism, including DNA replication, DNA repair, and recombination. RPA homologues have been identified in all eukaryotic organisms examined and are all abundant heterotrimeric proteins composed of subunits of approximately 70, 30, and 14 kDa. Members of this family bind nonspecifically to single-stranded DNA and interact with and/or modify the activities of multiple proteins. In cells, RPA is phosphorylated by DNA-dependent protein kinase when RPA is bound to single-stranded DNA (during S phase and after DNA damage). Phosphorylation of RPA may play a role in coordinating DNA metabolism in the cell. RPA may also have a role in modulating gene expression.
Female Independence in Mary Robinson’s The Natural Daughter

More provocatively than her contemporaries, Mary Robinson argues in The Natural Daughter that women must establish their voices in the public sphere to enact change while separately attending to the influential roles of wife and mother. She argues for financial independence and personal satisfaction by entering the public sphere through intellectual productions, such as writing. By examining Robinson’s concern for converging public and private spheres, we see a unique argument for women’s intellectual worth to be free of their reputations.
A modular extensible visualization system architecture for culled prioritized data streaming

Massive dataset sizes can make visualization difficult or impossible. One solution to this problem is to divide a dataset into smaller pieces and then stream these pieces through memory, running algorithms on each piece. This paper presents a modular data-flow visualization system architecture for culling and prioritized data streaming. This streaming architecture improves program performance both by discarding pieces of the input dataset that are not required to complete the visualization, and by prioritizing the ones that are. The system supports a wide variety of culling and prioritization techniques, including those based on data value, spatial constraints, and occlusion tests. Prioritization ensures that pieces are processed and displayed progressively based on an estimate of their contribution to the resulting image. Using prioritized ordering, the architecture presents a progressively rendered result in a significantly shorter time than a standard visualization architecture. The design is modular, such that each module in a user-defined data-flow visualization program can cull pieces as well as contribute to the final processing order of pieces. In addition, the design is extensible, providing an interface for the addition of user-defined culling and prioritization techniques to new or existing visualization modules.
REDUCTION IN LABOR REQUIREMENTS FOR BURLEY TOBACCO PRODUCTION, PART 1: PROGRESS SINCE THE 1970s

The high labor requirements of burley tobacco production have prompted considerable mechanization interest and efforts over the years. Significant progress has been made in reducing the amount of manual labor required. Major labor reductions of the 1972–2007 era for several practices having widespread adoption and the economic effects those reductions had for burley producers are analyzed in this article, the first in a two-part series. Major mechanization developments of the era considered in the analysis include the adoption of small-bale packaging, the transition from plant beds to float-bed systems, the use of outside field-curing structures, the use of stripping wheels and similar stripping aids, and the adoption of big-bale packaging. Total labor requirements at the beginning of the era were reported at more than 300 worker-hr/acre, but were reduced a total of 157 worker-hr/acre by 2007, or more than 50%, considering the widely adopted methods. Most of the adopted practices resulted in net savings t...
Cu-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition click reactions to form isoxazole linkers in chelating ligands for fac-[M(I)(CO)3]+ centers (M = Re, 99mTc).

Isoxazole ring formation was examined as a potential Cu-free alternative click reaction to CuI-catalyzed alkyne/azide cycloaddition. The isoxazole reaction was explored at macroscopic and radiotracer concentrations with the fac-[MI(CO)3]+ (M = Re, 99mTc) core for use as a noncoordinating linker strategy between covalently linked molecules. Two click assembly methods (click, then chelate and chelate, then click) were examined to determine the feasibility of isoxazole ring formation with either alkyne-functionalized tridentate chelates or their respective fac-[MI(CO)3]+ complexes with a model nitrile oxide generator. Macroscale experiments, alkyne-functionalized chelates, or Re complexes indicate facile formation of the isoxazole ring. 99mTc experiments demonstrate efficient radiolabeling with click, then chelate; however, the chelate, then click approach led to faster product formation, but lower yields compared to the Re analogues.
Material Fluxes Through the North-Inlet-Marsh System: Short-Term Temporal Fluctuations of Fungi and Related Parameters

The fluctuations of fungi in the water of a creek draining 1800 ha of marsh were examined in relation to total microbial biomass (measured as adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)), temperature, salinity, total volatile material (TVM), total fixed solids (TFS), and particulate organic carbon (POC). Synoptic samples were taken periodically over 10 h from 12 sites within a 320-m transect. Fungi were found to fluctuate out of phase with the tide, with high values observed at low tide and low values obtained at high tide. Similar patterns of fluctuation were obtained for TVM and POC. TFS and ATP were found to fluctuate in phase with the tide. Temperature and salinity showed very little fluctuation over the study period. Statistical analysis (Pearson's r) revealed a significant positive association between fungi and both measures of suspended organic material, TVM and POC. Conversely, significant negative correlations were found between fungi and both TFS and ATP. These data suggest that fungi are attached to particulate organic material and resuspended in the water column by ebbing tides.
Relationship Between Plasma Chemistry and Electron Trapping rate in Plasma-Deposited Silicon Nitride

Silicon nitride deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from SiH4 and NH3 is not crystalline Si3N4 with a specific stoichiometric ratio, but rather SiNxHy, an Amorphous network in which the N/Si ratio can vary from zero in Amorphous Si (a-Si) to almost two. The rate at which injected electrons are trapped in SiNxHy decreases by over 103 when N/Si is increased from 4/3 to the N saturation point, and the trapping centers are therefore likely to be Si dangling bonds. Trapping is undesirable in semiconductor devices except in memory applications, because it shifts the device’s flat-band voltage, although in a-Si thin-film transistors (TFT’s) the nitride trapping rate can easily be made Much smaller than the rate of electron trapping in deep states of the a-Si. When deposition plasma chemistry is driven to the N-saturation point, SiNxHy has a trapping rate lower than that of the best PECVDSiO2, although this is still 104 above that of thermal oxide grown on single-crystal Si. N-saturated deposition requires not only a high NH3/’SiH4 feed ratio, but also sufficient plasma power to activate the NH3 so that it will completely consume the SiH4 in formation of the tetra-aminosilane [Si (NH2) 4] precursor molecule. Then, the Si in the Amorphous network becomes entirely bonded to N rather than to both H and N, and NH groups act like O does in SiO2 to lower the coordination of the network and thus avoid dangling bonds.
Epidemidogical Analysis an outbreak of paratyphoid A in Fengyang in 2005

Objective To explore prevalent status of paratyphoid A in Fengyang in 2005 and to provide the basis to develop prevention and control measures.Methods Data about paratyphus A in Fengyang in 2005 were collected and analyzed.Results The period with highest incidence of this outbreak fell in october to december.The cases aged 10 to 20 years accounted for 69.2%of total reported cases.The cases who were students accounted for 56.7%of total reported cases.A paired case control study on related factors were used and discovered that eating out were major cause(OR=5.71,P0.01).Conclusion The most important interventions to prevent the outbreak of paratyphoid A include strengthening management of restaurants and changing bad health habits.Strict and effective measures taken at early epidemic are considered as the effective assurance of promply controling of an outbreak.
GSPN-based Reliability Analysis of Computer Network

In view of the problem that there are more difficulties in the reliability analysis of computer network(CN),generalized stochastic petri net(GSPN) in the application of reliability analysis of CN is introduced.How to use these model elements of GSPN is researched,and these GSPN-based models of representative CN logic system are built up.The dynamic behaviour of CN can be simulated with the model.A case study of CN is given to verify the proposed approach.
Aesthetic fields—Null theory II

We have again studied a null theory within the complex aesthetic field theory. This time we required that the spatially inverted origin point data represent the imaginary part of the complex origin point data. This was not the case in our previous studies of the null aesthetic field theory. However, this procedure did not lead to effects not previously observed as far as we could tell. Adding an additional term to the origin point data that presented the null character of the theory also did not lead to new effects. We also investigated a real null theory that led to constant fields. This theory was then made complex by a procedure discussed in the early part of the paper. We found that the resulting complex theory remained trivial nevertheless. Again, we found that it was not necessary for the theory to be null to find “confluence” type solutions.
A Control-Message Quenching Algorithm in Openflow-Based Wireless Mesh Networks with Dynamic Spectrum Access

In recent years, Open Flow [1] is becoming a popular network architecture. As more and more users starts to join the conventional Internet, the drawbacks of the conventional networks are now gradually appearing. OpenFlow network provides us a brand new sight to the development of networks. This architecture separates the control plane and data plane from the hardware level(physically). OpenFlow has plenty of benefit compare to other network structures. Firstly, the control plane and data plane are decoupled, this means more flexible networks can be figure out with customized rules in the network. Secondly, OpenFlow provides us a new platform to design and test network protocols. Researchers could test new protocols in a real network environment. Thirdly, in OpenFlow architecture networks we could monitor flow traffic statistics. This fine-grained monitoring of flows enables us to better understanding the network protocols and scheme we applied.
Single Molecule Assays of Full Length SOS on Membranes using Crude Cell Lysates

In Ras activation, the Ras-specific nucleotide exchange factor Son of sevenless (SOS) plays critical roles in trnasducing receptor stimuli into Ras as well as shaping bimodal distribution of Ras activity. SOS consists of multiple modular domains that prevent the unchecked activation of Ras and also fully activate its own activity in response to receptor ligation. The molecular behavior of SOS is multilayered and controlled by complicated intra- and inter-molecular interactions in the context of membrane environments. Although great details of regulatory mechanisms of SOS have been revealed using purified, truncated SOS variants (C-terminal truncated SOS-HDPC, 1-1050) in vitro, the molecular kinetics of native full-length SOS is not yet well studied, mainly owing to difficulties in purifying full-length proteins. Here, we developed purification-free, cell-lysate based single molecule enzyamtic assays to sutdy molecular kinetics of full-length SOS on a supported lipid bilayer. We observed that allosterically activated full-length SOS exhibits stochastic fluctuation of catalytic activity and similar enzymatic rate distribution as observed in SOS-HDPC. In addition, C-terminal domain provides an additional layer of autoinhibition of SOS by reducing basal interactions with Ras. This mehtod could be generalizable to study enzymatic activity of native proteins on the membranes at the single molecule level.
Theory and propositions

Following the ancient Greeks, I contend that appetite, spirit and reason are fundamental drives, each seeking its own ends. Existing paradigms of international relations are nested in appetite (Marxism, liberalism) or fear (realism). The spirit – what the Greeks often called thumos – had not until recently generated a paradigm of politics, although Machiavelli and Rousseau recognized its potential to do so. Using Homer's Iliad as my guide, I constructed an ideal-type honor society in A Cultural Theory of International Relations and used it as a template to analyze the role of the spirit in international relations in the ancient and modern worlds. In this chapter, I provide a brief overview of the characteristics and tensions of spirit-based worlds and their implications for warfare. In this connection, I derive six propositions about the origins of war which I then test against a data set. I limit myself to four underlying motives: appetite, spirit, reason and fear. Modern authorities have offered different descriptions of the psyche and human needs. Freud reduces all fundamental drives to appetite, and understands reason only in its most instrumental sense. Another prominent formulation is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, developed from his study of great people and what accounted for their accomplishments. More recently, psychologists have sought to subsume all human emotions to seven fundamental ones. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is conceptually confusing and rooted in a distinctly nineteenth-century understanding of human nature.
Integrating Social Media and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Surgery: An Analysis of Patient, Surgeon, and Hospital Use.

Purpose The purpose of this observational study of social media in sports medicine was to investigate and analyze the presence and shared content of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) patients, sports surgeons, and top orthopaedic hospitals on popular social media streams. Methods A search of 2 public domains (Instagram and Twitter) was performed over a 6-month period. ACL surgery ("#aclsurgery") was selected for the Instagram-based patient analysis after exclusion of veterinary ACL operations. A binary scoring system was used for media format, time (preoperatively or postoperatively), perioperative period (within 1 week of surgery), tone (positive or negative), return-to-work reference, return-to-play reference, rehabilitation reference, surgical-site reference, satisfaction reference, and dissatisfaction reference; perspective of the media was noted as well. A sample of 97 National Football League team surgeons was used for analysis of physician use in social media outlets and quantified by the number of posts. Hospital analysis categorized a sample of the top 50 orthopaedic hospitals by average number of posts and monthly posting rates with regard to orthopaedics, research, education, and personnel focus. Results In the patient analysis, 3,145 public posts of human subjects were shared on Instagram. Of these, 92% were personal recovery stories, with an emphasis on postoperative photographs (93%) with a positive tone (88%) more than 1 week after surgery (73%). Posts focused on surgical site (25%), return to play (30%), and postoperative rehabilitation (37%). Of the physicians, 16% had Twitter accounts, with an average of 94 posts per surgeon; none had Instagram accounts. Of the hospitals, 96% had Twitter accounts and 32% had Instagram accounts. Most of the hospital-based Instagram content in the sample was centered on patients or celebrities. Conclusions Orthopaedic surgery has a large social media presence. Patients emphasize wound appearance, the rehabilitation process, and return to play. Ninety-six percent of hospitals are represented in social media outlets, whereas physicians are relatively under-represented. Clinical Relevance Social media offers a unique window into what truly matters to patients after surgery and may help us better manage expectations, enhance health care delivery, and improve marketing strategies.
Structural Basis for the Activation of IKK1/α

Distinct signaling pathways activate the NF-κB family of transcription factors. The canonical NF-κB-signaling pathway is mediated by IκB kinase 2/β (IKK2/β), while the non-canonical pathway depends on IKK1/α. The structural and biochemical bases for distinct signaling by these otherwise highly similar IKKs are unclear. We report single-particle cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray crystal structures of human IKK1 in dimeric (∼150 kDa) and hexameric (∼450 kDa) forms. The hexamer, which is the representative form in the crystal but comprises only ∼2% of the particles in solution by cryo-EM, is a trimer of IKK1 dimers. While IKK1 hexamers are not detectable in cells, the surface that supports hexamer formation is critical for IKK1-dependent cellular processing of p100 to p52, the hallmark of non-canonical NF-κB signaling. Comparison of this surface to that in IKK2 indicates significant divergence, and it suggests a fundamental role for this surface in signaling by these kinases through distinct pathways.
Imaging of Oculomotor (Third) Cranial Nerve Palsy

When evaluating a patient with an oculomotor cranial nerve palsy it may be unclear which neuroimaging modality is optimal; MRI, MR angiography, computed tomography, computed tomography angiography, or intraarterial digital subtraction angiography. We discuss the clinical guidelines in the evaluation of such patients and review neuroimaging techniques, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Growth differentiation factor-15/macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 induction after kidney and lung injury.

Abstract The immunoregulatory cytokine macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1), a divergent TGF-beta family member, and its murine ortholog, growth/differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) are induced in hepatocytes by surgical and chemical injury and heat shock. To better understand the in vivo role this factor plays in organ injury, we examined the regulation of GDF-15 in murine models of kidney and lung injury. We demonstrate herein induction of GDF-15/MIC-1 after surgical, toxic/genotoxic, ischemic, and hyperoxic kidney or lung injury. Gdf15 induction was independent of protein synthesis, a hallmark of immediate-early gene regulation. Although TNF induced GDF-15 expression, injury-elicited Gdf15 expression was not reduced in mice deficient for both TNF receptor subtype. Furthermore, although the stress sensor p53 is known to induce GDF-15/MIC-1 expression, injury-elicited Gdf15 expression was unchanged in p53-null mice. Our results demonstrate that GDF-15 induction after organ injury is a hallmark of many tissues. These data demonstrate that GDF-15/MIC-1 is an early mediator of the injury response in kidney and lung that might regulate inflammation, cell survival, proliferation, and apoptosis in a variety of injured tissues and disease processes.
EFFECT OF NITROFURAN AND CHLORTETRACYCLINE ON THE MICROBIAL POPULATION OF SHRIMP

Chlorotetracycline (CTC) and two nitrofuran compounds alone and in combination were examined for their effects on extending the shelf life of iced shrimp. Nitrofuran AF-2 (furylfuramide) inhibited the growth of aerobes but was less effective against anaerobic bacteria. The growth of lipolytic and proteolytic bacteria was not significantly inhibited but some suppression was noted. Nitrofuran Z (nitrofuryl acrylamide) had no significant effect on the microbial population of iced shrimp. Both nitrofurans extended the shelf life of shrimp as detected organoleptically. Nitrofuran Z combined with CTC did not appreciably inhibit bacterial growth; whereas, nitrofuran AF-2 coupled with CTC was effective in extending the shelf life of shrimp as evidenced by both bacterial and chemical analyses. However, it should be pointed out that organoleptic differences between shrimp samples treated with nitrofuran AF-2/CTC and nitrofuran Z/CTC combinations were obscured by the use of the narrow five-point scale. Both the trim...
Terahertz spectroscopy of the mineral/water interface

A terahertz spectroscopic study of the dynamics of monomolecular water layers absorbed on the surface of clay minerals is reported. The THz frequency absorption coefficient of the water monolayer is observed to be substantially lower than the value established for bulk water. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with recently published calculations of the correlation function of the water electrical dipole moment which predict that the hydrogen bonds in monolayer clay hydrates form and break at a lower rate compared to hydrogen bonds in bulk water.
Copper-Mediated sp2 C–H Chlorination with Trichloroacetamide Using a Removable Directing Group

2-Aminophenyl-1H-pyrazole was discovered as a removable, bidentate directing group for copper-mediated aerobic oxidative sp 2 C–H bond chlorination employing trichloroacetamide as a new chlorine source. When Cu(OAc)2 was employed as the copper source, 1,1,3,3-­tetramethylguanidine (TMG) as an organic base, the reaction, optimally carried out overnight in DMSO at 80 °C in open air, produced a variety of mono- and dichlorinated products in moderate to excellent yields. This directing group can be removed oxidatively with cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN).
A Review of: “Cameron I. Crouch. Managing Terrorism and Insurgency: Regeneration, Recruitment and Attrition.”

Experts generally agree that terrorist groups, a la Douglas MacArthur, typically do not die but rather just fade away. This is an acknowledgement that rarely, despite the rhetoric of George Bush's ...
Sodic soil reclamation potential of gypsum and biocharadditions: influence on physicochemical properties and soil respiration.

ABSTRACTReclamation of sodic soils is proving increasingly vital as greater land area becomes salt-affected in the northern Great Plains of the United States. Flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) can be an agriculturally important resource for increasing land productivity through the amelioration of sodic soils. Biochar is also considered as an aid in reclaiming degraded soils. In this incubation study, two rates of FGDG (33.6 Mg ha−1 and 66.2 Mg ha−1), two rates of biochar made from sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) pulp (16.8 Mg ha−1), and one rate of FGDG combined with one rate of biochar (33.6 Mg ha−1 ea.) were applied to a sodic soil. Soil physicochemical properties, including cationic exchange, pH, electrical conductivity (ECe), sodium adsorption ratio (SARe), total organic carbon (TOC), water retention, and soil respiration rate, were assessed during and at the end of the incubation period. Addition of FGDG to sodic soil increased ECe from 3.5 to 8.4 dS m−1 and decreased SARe from 16 to 9. Biochar ad...
Oruka and Sage Philosophy: New Insights in Sagacious Reasoning

The chapter begins with an overview of the earliest beginnings of the sage philosophy project, first in its near precursors (such as Radin’s and Griaule’s research) and its coming to birth with Odera Oruka’s efforts, in the context of encouragement as well as criticism by Kwasi Wiredu and Paulin Hountondji. The chapter then explains some of Odera Oruka’s motivation for the project as well as the historical and cultural context at University of Nairobi in the 1970s. Presbey outlines sage philosophy’s methodology and goals, as well as early efforts and publications from Kenya. This is followed by a survey of the use of the method by other Kenyan philosophers, and the spread of the method to other African countries including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, and elsewhere, as well as providing insight into the criticism and advocacy the project has received. Presbey summarizes some of the key insights and contributions to philosophy made by the sages themselves. Finally, Presbey tackles the question of sage philosophy’s continued relevance in our rapidly changing and globalized world, and especially in the context of many political, economic, and cultural changes in Africa. The chapter ends with a survey of recent work in African philosophy that is related to sage philosophy but departs from (or goes beyond) Oruka’s methods or goals.
Reactive Oxygen Species in Physiologic and Pathologic Angiogenesis

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, play a major role in angiogenesis. High ROS doses induce oxidative stress and subsequent cell death in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension and atherosclerosis. However, low doses of externally applied ROS directly promote angiogenesis by causing sub-lethal cell membrane damage and subsequent fibroblast growth factor-2 release, by increasing growth factor production, or by enhancing growth factor binding to their receptors. Once angiogenic growth factor signaling is initiated, ROS are produced intracellularly through NAD(P)H oxidases and manganese superoxide dismutase as messengers in downstream growth factor signaling for proliferation, migration, and tube formation. This chapter discusses our current understanding of the vascular ROS balance in both physiologic and pathologic angiogenesis, as well as innovative approaches to applying ROS to induce angiogenesis.
Assessing the interactions of metal nanoparticles in soil and sediment matrices - A quantitative analytical multi-technique approach.

The impact and behavior of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) entering the environment is an important issue due to their growing use in consumer and agricultural products. Their mobility and fate in the environment are heavily impacted by their interactions with natural particle components of saturated sediments and soils. In this study, functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs – used as model ENMs) were spiked into complex solid-containing media (standard soils and estuarine sediment in moderately hard water). AuNPs were characterized in the colloidal extract (<1 μm) following centrifugal separation of the non-colloidal phase, using different analytical techniques including asymmetric-flow field-flow fractionation and single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Attachment of functionalized AuNPs to the soil particles did not significantly depend on their concentration or surface coating (citrate, bPEI, PVP, PEG). Similarly, UV degradation of coatings did not substantially alter their recovery. Conversely, the presence of natural organic matter (NOM) is a key factor in their adhesion to matrix particles, by decreasing the predicted influence of native surface chemistry and functional coatings. A kinetic experiment performed over 48 h showed that attachment to soil colloids is rapid and that hetero-aggregation is dominant. These results suggest that transport of ENMs away from the point of discharge (or entry) could be limited in soils and sediments, but additional experiments under more realistic and dynamic field conditions would be necessary to confirm this more generally. Transport properties may also differ substantially in matrices where NOM is largely absent or otherwise sequestered or when dissolution of ENMs is an important factor.
Metallodielectric antenna for spontaneous emission enhancement

Semiconductors have an intrinsically slow spontaneous emission rate, on the order of 1ns. Consequently, light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be directly modulated at a maximum rate of 250 MHz (in contrast to lasers, which can be directly modulated at a maximum rate of about 50 GHz). The slow spontaneous emission rate can fundamentally be attributed to the mismatch between the wavelength of light emission and a characteristic dipole length, which is approximately given by the lattice period. In other words, bare LEDs serve as poor antennas for their own radiation.
Sensitivity Analysis of Optimal Building Thermal Mass Control

In order to avoid high utility demand charges from cooling during the summer and to level a building’s electrical demand-profile, precooling of the building’s massive structure can be applied to shift cooling-related thermal loads in response to utility pricing signals. Several previous simulation and experimental studies have shown that proper precooling can attain considerable reduction of operating cost in buildings. This paper systematically evaluates the merits of the passive building thermal capacitance to minimize energy cost using optimal control. The evaluation is conducted by means of a sensitivity analysis utilizing a dynamic building energy simulation program coupled to a popular technical computing environment. The optimal controller predicts the required extent of precooling (zone temperature setpoint depression) depending on utility rate structure, occupancy and on-peak period duration and onset, internal gains, building mass, occupancy period temperature setpoint range, and weather as characterized by diurnal temperature and relative humidity swings. In addition to quantifying the building response, energy consumption, and utility cost, this paper extracts the dominant features of the optimal precooling strategies for each of the investigated cases so that guidelines for near-optimal building thermal mass savings can be developed in the future. These will offer guidance to HVAC system operators and practitioners on how to adapt existing or design new building thermal mass control strategies in order to save operating cost or energy.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Gene transfer of troponin I isoforms, mutants, and chimeras.

Thin filament proteins play an essential role in the regulation of myocardial pressure development. Within the thin filament of the sarcomere, troponin I (Tnl) plays a key role in regulating the Ca2+ sensitivity of force. During myocardial development, there is a transition in Tnl isoform expression from the slow skeletal isoform (ssTnl) in embryonic/fetal myocardium to the cardiac isoform (cTnl) expressed in adult hearts. Over a similar developmental time window, the calcium sensitivity of force development also decreases. Gene transfer of ssTnl, and chimeras derived from ssTnl and cTnl, into adult ventricular myocytes have provided insights into the isoform-specific domains of Tnl responsible for differentially influencing myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity. Two separate isoform-specific regions, located in the carboxyl- and amino- portions of the protein, have been identified by comparing Ca2+-activated isometric tension in myocytes expressing the Tnl isoforms or chimeras. The carboxyl-portion of Tnl also contributes to isoform-dependent differences in myofilament sensitivity to acidic pH, which ensues during several myocardial disease states. In contrast, the diminished Ca2+ sensitivity observed in response to β-adrenergic-mediated phosphorylation of cardiac Tnl requires the aminoportion of the cardiac Tnl isoform yet, does not depend on the presence of a specific isoform in the carboxyl-region of Tnl. Recent studies with a mutation linked to hypertrophie cardiomyopathy have demonstrated that changes in protein charge also influence the ability of Tnl isoforms to regulate myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity. Information gained from these, and future studies on more localized and specific changes in the amino acid sequence, may one day lead to the use of genetically engineered Tnl for therapeutic manipulation of contractile function.
Fixed Point Iteration in Availability Modeling

This paper presents a fixed point iteration technique for modeling system availability of large fault tolerant systems. The systems modeled are composed of several subsystems having redundant components. Real systems have a large number of subsystems and very general types of interaction between components within a subsystem and between subsystems. Exact solution techniques applied to real systems often result in the generation of a Markov chain with a million or more states which is too large to be solved. Simplifying approximations are often used. However, these approximations often do not account for general types of stochastic dependence between components and between subsystems. The accuracy of such approximations is insufficient in the analysis of many high availability systems.
The Interface to UNIX Profiling Tools

The first performance visualization tool integrated into the FIELD environment was xprof a simple interface to the information gathered by the profserver described in Section 6.2. The initial implementation combined the two, so that the tool both gathered and displayed the relevant information. The current implementation separates these two tasks so that other tools can have message-based access to the performance data without the user running the visualization front end.
Phototropism in Fungi

Phototropism, the curvature of a growing part of a plant or fungus toward or away from light, is a well known, but not particularly well understood, phenomenon. The general topic of phototropism has been extensively reviewed (Foster, 1977; Dennison, 1979; Hertel, 1980; Gressel and Horwitz, 1982; Pohl and Russo, 1984; Briggs and Baskin, 1988; Firn, 1990; Iino, 1990). This chapter will focus on two Zygomycete fungi, Phycomyces and Pilobolus, both of which are currently under active investigation. A recent review (Galland, 1990) compares phototropism in Phycomyces with that in higher plants. For a more extensive coverage of the classical work on fungi, see the review article by Page (1968). A more recent phototropism review with some coverage on fungi is that by Pohl and Russo (1984). Page (1968) has listed fungi with known phototropism and offered the generalization that, although phototropism occurs widely in terrestrial fungi, it does not seem to occur in aquatic fungi.
Parallel Non-Uniform MLFMA for Multiscale Electromagnetic Simulation

In this paper, we present a parallel, non-uniform wideband MLFMA which enables simulation of electrically-large objects with sub-wavelength features or regions of dense discretization. We demonstrate both excellent control over accuracy and parallel performance.
Chapter 3 – Stimulants

Stimulants drugs elevate mood, energy, alertness, stamina, and muscle power. Effects are mediated in both the central nervous system and peripheral systems. In a medical context, these effects can be therapeutic, but in athletics, they convey an unfair advantage, so most of them are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The most prominent types used as performance enhancers are amphetamines and caffeine. The neurochemical and physiological mechanism of each class is reviewed briefly. Negative behavioral effects of high doses include agitation, irritability, impaired judgment, and hallucinations. Negative physiological effects include hyperthermia, hyponatremia, and cardiac arrhythmias, which collectively increase the risk for myocardial infarction and hemorrhagic stroke. Repeated use can produce physiological and psychological dependence.
Decoupling Peripheries from the Center: The Dangers of Diaspora in Chinese Migration Studies

This review situates Shelly Chan’s analysis of temporality in Chinese migrations as “diaspora moments” in response to leading opponents of the application of diaspora in Chinese overseas studies. C...
Early prostate-specific antigen response post-abiraterone as predictor of overall survival in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer

Abiraterone is an important agent in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Early changes in prostate-specific antigen while on abiraterone in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer potentially have financial and health implications for patients. Limited data is available on early prostate-specific antigen change and subsequent survival given phase III trials did not measure prostate-specific antigen changes before 12 weeks. A single-center retrospective study was performed. Metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with abiraterone (without prior enzalutamide) at Tulane Cancer Center were reviewed with a focus on early prostate-specific antigen decline and relationship to overall survival. A total of 110 patients were analyzed for prostate-specific antigen response of ≥ 30 and > 50% at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. A prostate-specific antigen response of either > 30% or > 50% at 4, 8, or 12 weeks was associated with improved overall survival at all time points except > 50% decline at 8 weeks. Multivariate analysis indicated, for all time points, that early prostate-specific antigen declines were predictive of overall survival. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and docetaxel pretreatment also were predictive in many, but not all, of the multivariate analyses. A > 30% or > 50% prostate-specific antigen decline at 4, 8, or 12 weeks provides important information regarding subsequent overall survival for patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. While these data require validation with a large, multi-institutional trial, they can provide physicians with information regarding prognosis and the timing of expected outcomes. These data affirms the notion that prostate-specific antigen responses as early as 4 weeks after abiraterone initiation can be used to inform both patients and physicians about metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer outcomes after initiating treatment with this important but costly therapeutic choice.
Effects of Behavioral Treatment Modified to Fit Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits

Research suggests that children with conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits show a diminished response to behavior therapy, perhaps due to a reward-oriented, punishment insensiti...
Additive manufacturing of fatigue resistant austenitic stainless steels by understanding process-structure–property relationships

The limited understanding of additive manufacturing process-structure–property inter-relationships raises some concerns regarding the structural reliability, which limits the adoption of this emerg...
Social Psychological Theory as History: Outlining the Critical-Historical Approach to Theory:

The mainstream epistemology of social psychology is markedly ahistorical, prioritizing the quantification of processes assumed to be lawful and generalizable. Social psychologists often consider theory to be either a practical tool for summarizing what is known about a problem area and making predictions or a torch that illuminates the counterintuitive causal force underlying a variety of disparate phenomena. I propose a third vision of critical-historical theory. From this perspective, theories should be committed to deep interdisciplinarity and historical validity claims-understanding individual and group experiences as part of historically contingent forces. Theories also should be critical, containing an awareness of the researcher as implicated in the social process and committed to actively improving society. To demonstrate its viability, I review classic works from the history of the discipline that exemplify critical-historical theory and offer concrete implications for theorists interested in employing this approach in their own work.
Standards of Afrocentric Education for School Leaders and Teachers

What is Afrocentric education (ACE)? What are the implications of ACE for school leaders and teachers? What is the relationship of ACE to multicultural education (MCE) and how does ACE differ from ...
Smoking levels and associations between sociodemographic factors and smoking continuation in U.S. stroke survivors.

Abstract Purpose Although stroke survivors who continue smoking face increased risk for subsequent strokes, little is known about U.S. poststroke smoking patterns. We examined smoking prevalence in U.S. stroke survivors and what sociodemographic factors are associated with continuation of smoking in these individuals. Methods We determined the prevalence of smoking in U.S. stroke survivors (n = 56,523) using 2016–2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. A logistic regression was created to identify associations between sociodemographic factors and poststroke smoking continuation. Results 20.4% of stroke survivors continued to smoke after their stroke (14.7% smokes every day, 5.7% smokes some days). Older age, being male (OR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.05–1.27), Asian (OR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.52–5.11) or Hispanic (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.06–1.63) ethnicity, higher income, higher educational attainment, and access to health care (OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.02–1.59) and a personal doctor (one doctor OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.25–1.83; more than one doctor OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.27–1.99) corresponded with increased odds of smoking continuation after a stroke. Conclusions A greater push for smoking cessation by clinicians and support programs to aid with cessation in U.S. stroke survivors is needed to decrease the high prevalence of poststroke smoking in this population.
Energetics and Structure of Ni Atoms and Nanoparticles on MgO(100)

The growth morphology and interfacial energetics of vapor deposited Ni on the MgO(100) surface at 300 and 100 K have been studied using single crystal adsorption calorimetry (SCAC), He+ low-energy ...
Purification and assay of bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the purification and assay of bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI). BPI has been detected only in PMNs and PMN precursors and has been isolated from human, rabbit, and cow PMNs. The BPI content of these cells is ca. 60 μg/10 8 PMNs. Thus, greater than milligram quantities of BPI can be readily obtained from suitable starting material. Approximately 10 9 PMNs/animal can be collected in nearly homogeneous form from acute inflammatory peritoneal exudates of rabbits 6 to 15 hr after intraperitoneal injection of 250 to 300 ml of sterile physiological saline supplemented with glycogen (ca. 1–2 mg/ml). PMNs can also be isolated from peripheral blood. BPI can be extracted from isolated granules or from whole cell lysates. Granule-rich fractions can be prepared by disruption of cells at 0° to 4° under osmotically protective conditions and differential centrifugation. Two different methods of cell lysis have been used: (1) Homogenization of PMNs in 0.34 M sucrose using a Potter–Elvehjem homogenizer with glass mortar and motor-driven Teflon-coated pestle; (2) N 2 cavitation of PMNs equilibrated in a high-pressure bomb at 400 psi in relaxation buffer minus ethylene glycol bis(β-aminoethyl ether) N,N′-tetraacetic acid [EGTA: 100 mM KCl, 3 mM NaC1, 1 mM ATP(Na)2,3.5 m M MgCl 2 , 10 mM PIPES, pH 7.3].
From the Dance Hall to Facebook: Teen Girls, Mass Media, and Moral Panic in the United States, 1905–2010: By Shayla Thiel-Stern. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2014, 203 pp.

You might have thought that the media portrayal of girls as weak, foolish snivelers began with the role of “Kitten” in the 1950s sitcom, “Father Knows Best,” or perhaps the 1960s portrayal of “Gidg...
Cluster assisted water dissociation mechanism in MOF-74 and controlling it using helium

We show that the water dissociation reaction H2O → OH + H in the confined environment of MOF-74 channels can be precisely controlled by the addition of noble gas He. Elucidating the entire reaction process using ab initio methods and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, we prove that the interaction between water molecules is critical to the formation of water clusters, which reduce the dissociation barrier by up to 37% and thus influence the reaction significantly. Our time-resolved IR measurements confirm that the formation of these clusters can be suppressed by introducing He gas, providing unprecedented control over water dissociation rates. Since the water dissociation reaction is the cause of the structural instability of MOF-74 in the presence of water, our finding of the reaction mechanism lays the groundwork for designing water stable versions of MOF-74 as well as understanding water related phenomena in MOFs in general.
Classification of Motor Control Difficulty using EMG in Physical Human-Robot Interaction

In physical human-robot interaction, a variable admittance/impedance controller is desired to adjust its controller parameters to enhance the collaboration by minimizing the human effort and maximizing the stability. In this paper, we propose a physiological monitoring approach based on electroencephalogram activities to classify the motor control difficulty and use that information for adjusting an admittance controller. We designed a physical human-robot interaction experiment where the human guides the robot’s end-effector across four tasks with varying motor control difficulty. Each task is a combination of high/low damping and fine/gross motor control. During the experiments, we measure the muscle activation information in terms of surface electromyogram from eight channels. Two sets of features based on Riemann geometry and time domain (Hudgins’ features) are extracted every 500 ms from the EMG data. A support vector machine classifier is trained on these features to estimate whether the existing admittance parameters are comfortable for the user else an increase/decrease of the damping is suggested. Riemann geometry-based features yielded higher accuracy (85.7%) than the Hudgins’ features (69.1%) across 21 participants; however, the performance of these classifiers on the new sessions degraded to 63.1% and 54.5% respectively. To address this issue, we implemented a transfer learning approach using Riemannian features that improved the inter-session detection rate to 73.95%.
The Demarcation Problem in Jurisprudence: A New Case for Scepticism

Legal philosophers have been preoccupied with specifying the differences between two systems of normative guidance that are omnipresent in all modern human societies: law and morality. Positivists propose a solution to this ‘Demarcation Problem’ according to which the legal validity of a norm cannot depend on its being morally valid, either in all or at least some possible legal systems. The proposed analysis purports to specify the essential and necessary features of law in virtue of which this is true. Yet, the concept of law is an ‘artefact concept’, that is, a concept that picks out a phenomenon that necessarily owes its existence to human activities intended to create it. Artefact concepts, even simple ones like ‘chair’, are notoriously resistant to analyses in terms of their essential attributes, precisely because they are hostages to human ends and purposes, and also cannot be individuated by their natural properties. Twentieth-century philosophy of science dealt with a kindred Demarcation Problem: how to demarcate epistemically reliable forms of inquiry from epistemically unreliable ones, that is, how to demarcate science from pseudo-science or nonsense. Like the legal philosophers, they sought to identify the essential properties of a human artefact (namely, science). They failed, and spectacularly so, which led some philosophers to wonder, ‘Why does solving the Demarcation Problem matter?’ This essay develops the lessons for legal philosophy from this episode and its philosophical aftermath, and concludes that, in order not to become embroiled in pointless Fullerian speculations about the effects of jurisprudential doctrines on behaviour, we should abandon the Demarcation Problem in jurisprudence.