cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vision and voice: Phenomenology and theology in the work of Jean-Luc Marion

The kind of phenomenology that can be useful to theology will be a hermeneutical phenomenology, one that takes us beyond the Cartesian/Husserlian ideal of presuppositionless intuition. It will also be a phenomenology of inverse intentionality, one in which the constituting subject is constituted by the look and the voice of another. In light of these suggestions, the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion is defended against three critiques, namely that it compromises the boundary between phenomenology and theology, that the theology it serves is a bad one to boot, and that it has an inadequate account of the subject. At the heart of this defense is Marion’s clear distinction between phenomenology as a description of possible experience, and theology as the claim that a certain kind of experience, namely revelation or epiphany, is not merely actual but veridical. Phenomenology says, If revelation occurs it will be in the form of a saturated phenomenon. Theology says, for example, the burning bush was an epiphany, or Jesus Christ is a revelation. The attentive reader should have no trouble distinguishing Marion’s phenomenological analyses, which should be persuasive to believer and unbeliever alike, from his theological claims. Marion’s account of the subject falls under the heading of inverse intentionality, and there are hints that vision is aufgehoben in the voice. The seer is first of all the one seen, but above all the one addressed, called forth into response-able being.
Laminin‐5 and modulation of keratin cytoskeleton arrangement in FG pancreatic carcinoma cells: Involvement of IFAP300 and evidence that laminin‐5/cell interactions correlate with a dephosphorylation of α6A integrin

Under normal culture conditions, epithelial cells of the FG line, derived from a pancreatic tumor, characteristically grow in mounds and fail to flatten efficiently onto their substrate. In such cells, keratin intermediate filaments (IFs) are concentrated in the perinuclear region. Furthermore, the IF associated protein, IFAP300, primarily localizes along these keratin bundles. Additionally, alpha 6 beta 4 integrin heterodimers localize in streaks or spots towards the edges of cells while alpha 3 beta 1 integrin is predominantly at cell-cell surfaces. Neither show any obvious interaction with IF. Remarkably, upon plating FG cells into medium containing soluble rat laminin-5, FG cells rapidly adhere and spread onto their substrate. Moreover, FG cells "capture" rat laminin-5 and place it basally in circles or arcs at areas of cell-substrate interaction. Double label immunofluorescence microscopy reveals colocalization of IFAP300 as well as alpha 6 beta 4 and alpha 3 beta 1 integrin with the polarized laminin-5. Concomitantly, alpha 6 integrin undergoes dephosphorylation on serine residue 1041. Laminin-5-induced rapid adhesion can be blocked by antibodies against the alpha 3 integrin subunit. In contrast, while alpha 6 integrin antibodies do not block laminin-5-induced rapid adhesion, they prevent FG cells from assuming an epithelial-like morphology. Keratin IF bundles associate with IFAP300-alpha 6 beta 4/alpha 3 beta 1 integrin complexes along the cell-substratum-attached surface of FG cells coincubated in laminin-5-containing medium. Coprecipitation results suggest that in these complexes, IFAP300 may associate with the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin heterodimer. Based on our results and published evidence that IFAP300 binds keratin in vitro [Skalli et al., 1994; J. Cell Biol. 125:159-170], we propose that laminin-5/FG cell interaction results in a novel integrin dephosphorylation event, which subsequently induces IFAP300 association with alpha 6 beta 4 integrin. IFAP300 then mediates the interaction of IFs with the cell surface via the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin heterodimer.
EPR Investigations of Charring and Char/Air Interaction of Cellulose, Pectin, and Tobacco

A room-temperature EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) study on the charring (under He flow) and char transformation (by air) of pectin, cellulose, and tobacco is reported. The EPR intensities of pectin and tobacco chars (with charring temperatures from 250 °C to 600 °C) first increase rapidly and then decrease slowly during the room-temperature air exposure, indicating that the air exposure of pectin and tobacco chars involves two different types of chemical processes: the production and annihilation of free radicals. During air exposure, “new” radicals form at nonradical sites of the char surface, not through direct reactions of O2 with “old” free radicals generated by pyrolysis. These new free radicals have larger g-values than the old radicals, implying an oxygen-centered structure for the former. The low-temperature chars of pure cellulose show only an apparently small, slow decrease in radical concentration upon air exposure. For the high-temperature (> 400 °C) chars of cellulose, air exposure is...
Cell interactions underlying notochord induction and formation in the chick embryo.

The development of the notochord in the chick is traditionally associated with Hensen's node (the avian equivalent of the organizer). However, recent evidence has shown that two areas outside the node (called the inducer and responder) are capable of interacting after ablation of Hensen's node to form a notochord. It was not clear from these studies what effect (if any) signals from these areas had on normal notochord formation. A third area, the postnodal region, may also contribute to notochord formation, although this has also been questioned. Using transection and grafting experiments, we have evaluated the timing and cellular interactions involved in notochord induction and formation in the chick embryo. Our results indicate that the rostral primitive streak, including the node, is not required for formation of the notochord in rostral blastoderm isolates transected at stages 3a/b. In addition, neither the postnodal region nor the inducer is required for the induction and formation of the most rostral notochordal cells. However, inclusion of the inducer results in considerable elongation of the notochord in this experimental paradigm. Our results also demonstrate that the responder per se is not required for notochord formation, provided that at least the inducer and postnodal region are present, although in the absence of the responder, formation of the notochord occurs far less frequently. We also show that the node is not specified to form notochord until stage 4 and concomitant with this, the inducer loses its ability to induce notochord from the responder. The coincident timing of these changes in the node and inducer suggests that notochord specification and the activity of the inducer are regulated through a negative feedback loop. We propose a model relating our results to the induction of head and trunk organizer activity in the node.
Document image quality: making fine discriminations

We estimate, using synthetically generated images, the smallest changes in document image quality that can be distinguished reliably and fully automatically by T. Kanungo's (1996) bootstrapping test. Six parameters of a physics based document image degradation model (H.S. Baird, 1992), are varied, one at time: for each, over a range of parameter value differences, two sets of synthetic images are generated pseudorandomly and the two sets tested for statistical equivalence using Kanungo's method. The rate at which Kanungo's method rejects the hypothesis that the two sets are drawn from the same distribution is analyzed as a function of parameter difference (a specialized "power function"). The finest discriminations afforded by the method are given by the width of the power function at a low fixed reject threshold. The data show that remarkably fine discriminations are possible-often subtler than are evident to visual inspection-for all six parameters. As few as 25 reference images are sufficient. These results suggest that Kanungo's method is sufficiently sensitive to a wide range of physics based image degradations to serve as an engineering foundation for many image quality estimation and OCR engineering purposes.
Contact and Deformation Modeling for Interactive Environments

Contact and deformation modeling for interactive environments has seen many applications, from surgical simulation and training, to virtual prototyping, to teleoperation, etc., where both visual feedback and haptic feedback are needed. High-quality feedback demands a high level of physical realism as well as a high update rate in rendering, which are often conflicting requirements. In this paper, we present a unique approach to modeling force and deformation between a rigid body and an elastic object under complex contacts, which achieves a good compromise of reasonable physical realism and real-time update rate (at least 1 kHz). We simulate contact forces based on a nonlinear physical model. We further introduce a novel approximation of material deformation suitable for interactive environments based on applying Bernoulli-Euler bending beam theory to the simulation of elastic shape deformation. Our approach is able to simulate the contact forces exerted upon the rigid body (that can be virtually held by a user via a haptic device) not only when it forms one or more than one contact with the elastic object, but also when it moves compliantly on the surface of the elastic object, taking friction into account. Our approach is also able to simulate the global and local shape deformation of the elastic object due to contact. All the simulations can be performed in a combined update rate of over 1 kHz, which we demonstrate in several examples.
Non-invasive assessment of elastic modulus of arterial constructs during cell culture using ultrasound elasticity imaging.

Mechanical strength is a key design factor in tissue engineering of arteries. Most existing techniques assess the mechanical property of arterial constructs destructively, leading to sacrifice of a large number of animals. We propose an ultrasound-based non-invasive technique for the assessment of the mechanical strength of engineered arterial constructs. Tubular scaffolds made from a biodegradable elastomer and seeded with vascular fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells were cultured in a pulsatile-flow bioreactor. Scaffold distension was computed from ultrasound radiofrequency signals of the pulsating scaffold via 2-D phase-sensitive speckle tracking. Young's modulus was then calculated by solving the inverse problem from the distension and the re- corded pulse pressure. The stiffness thus computed from ultrasound correlatedwell with direct mechanical testing results. As the scaffolds matured in culture, ultrasound measurements indicated an increase in Young's modulus, and histology confirmed the growth of cells and collagen fibrils in the constructs. The results indicate that ultra- sound elastography can be used to assess and monitor non-invasively the mechanical properties of arterial constructs. (E-mail: kangkim@upmc.edu) 2013 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.
The effect of interfaces on electronic switching in VO2 thin films

Abstract IR radiance observations and bolometric profile measurements on VO2 coplanar switching device structures have revealed an anomalous thermal filament that is inconsistent with that expected for the conductivity transition observed in bulk VO2. This filament nucleates in the interface layer at the VO2-substrate interface and is due to the exponential dependence of conductivity with temperature at the interface. Once nucleated, the filament thermally drives the balance of the VO2 film through the conductivity transition and initially dominates the radiance and bolometric measurements. With increased current, a second filament with the expected characteristics emerges and begins to dominate. Devices structures that do not exhibit the interface thermal filament fail catastrophically upon switching. The VO2 switching results and the electronic properties of the interface layer indicate that stable switching requires an interface layer in which the electronic states are delocalized. This type of interface invariably results when VO2 films are deposited onto quartz substrates. Unstable switching invariably occurs when the metallic VO2 phase is nucleated in films deposited onto sapphire substrates and is associated with a sudden electronic delocalization of the interfaces of these systems.
The regional distribution of poly (A) and total RNA concentrations during early Xenopus development

Xenopus laevis embryos were oriented and sectioned into six regions along one of three axes: animal-vegetal, dorsal-ventral, or right-left. Total RNA (predominantly ribosomal RNA) and poly riboadenylate [poly (A)] were measured for each region during early embryogenesis. The concentrations of both total RNA and poly(A) are nonuniformly distributed during early development. Total RNA is approximately four-fold more concentrated in the more animal portions than the more vegetal portions of the embryo. The dorsal-most region contains a 1.5-fold higher concentration than in the other five regions of the four-celled embryo along the dorsal-ventral axis. Poly(A) concentrations show temporal and regional specific changes in concentration during early development with higher concentrations more generally found in the animal-most regions.
Characterization of a Spectral Imaging System

Complete infiltrating brain tumor margin resection continually eludes neurosurgeons due to inherent limitations of current margin localization techniques. A need exists for an objective, on-site, real-time imaging system which can accurately localize brain tumor margins and therefore be used as a basis for image-guided surgery. Optical biopsy methods are a proven means for successful brain tissue discrimination, indicating promise for spectral imaging to fill such a need. Before testing spectral imaging for surgical guidance, various spectral imaging modalities must be systematically compared to determine the modality most conducive to the clinical setting. A liquid crystal tunable filter spectral imaging system was characterized for field of view, spatial and spectral resolution, and ability to retain spectral features acquired from a clinical single-pixel spectroscopy system. For a 35-mm diameter field of view, the system possessed a spatial resolution of 50 μm in both image dimensions and a spectral resolution which monotonically increased from 10 to 30 nm over the tuning range of the filter. Differences between imaging and single-pixel spectra for location and FWHM of fluorescence peaks from two fluorescent dye targets were summarily less than 3 nm. However, two remediable artifacts were introduced to imaging system spectra during spectral sensitivity correction.
Solid-phase binding analysis of N-CAM interactions with brain fodrin.

The large cytoplasmic domain form of the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM has been reported to interact specifically with fodrin, a submembranous cytoskeletal protein. We tested the abilities of fodrins from bovine brain and embryonic chicken brain to bind to N-CAM that had been isolated from differentiated or undifferentiated mouse N2A neuroblastoma cells or from the brains of embryonic day 11 or day 14 chickens. Labeled fodrin samples bound with immobilized fodrin at a minimum soluble fodrin concentration of 2.5 · 10−8 M, but the labeled fodrin did not bind to the immobilized N-CAM when incubated at 20-fold higher fodrin concentrations.
Using Complexity Measures to Evaluate Software Development Projects: A Nonparametric Approach

In this article, we use newly developed complexity metrics for software development projects that are more useful than traditional measures such as lines of code and functional points. Next, we present an approach to assessing the relative efficiency of software projects using these complexity measures as outputs. Due to the nature of the complexity measures, the constant returns to scale assumption often used in data envelopment analysis (DEA) is not appropriate. We relax this assumption and estimate the DEA model assuming variable returns to scale. This two-step approach provides project managers with a decision support tool to assess project productivity, categorize projects, and evaluate critical success/failure factors in software development projects.
LC–ESI-MS/MS analysis for the quantification of morphine, codeine, morphine-3-β-D-glucuronide, morphine-6-β-D-glucuronide, and codeine-6-β-D-glucuronide in human urine

A liquid chromatographic-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometric method for the quantification of the opiates morphine, codeine, and their metabolites morphine-3-b-D-glucuronide (M-3-G), morphine-6-b-D-glucuronide (M-6-G) and codeine-6-b-D-glucuronide (C-6-G) in human urine has been developed and validated. Identification and quantification were based on the following transitions: 286 to 201 and 229 for morphine, 300 to 215 and 243 for codeine, 644 to 468 for M-3-G, 462 to 286 for M-6-G, and 476 to 300 for C-6-G. Calibration by linear regression analysis utilized deuterated internal standards and a weighting factor of 1/X. The method was accurate and precise across a linear dynamic range of 25.0 to 4000.0 ng/ml. Pretreatment of urine specimens using solid phase extraction was sufficient to limit matrix suppression toless than40% for allfive analytes. Themethod proved to be suitable for thequantification of morphine, codeine, and their metabolitesin urine specimens collected from opioid-dependent participants enrolled in a methadone maintenance program. Copyright  2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Loss of p21WAF1/CIP1 accelerates Ras oncogenesis in a transgenic/knockout mammary cancer model.

Upregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1 and subsequent cell growth arrest or senescence is one mechanism by which normal cells are believed to respond to stress induced by the constitutively activated GTPase Ras. We hypothesize that in the absence of p21, the onset of Ras-dependent oncogenesis is accelerated. To test this hypothesis, we crossed MMTV/v-Ha-ras transgenic mice into a p21-deficient background. By 63 days of age, all 8 ras/p21−/− mice developed either malignant (mammary and/or salivary adenocarcinomas) or benign (Harderian hyperplasia) tumors. In contrast, by the same age, only one out of nine of the ras/p21+/+ mice developed a tumor. Furthermore, by 94 days of age, half of the ras/p21−/− mice, but none of the ras/p21+/+ mice, developed mammary tumors. p21-deficiency also accelerated the development of salivary (T50=66 days for ras/p21−/− vs T50=136 days for ras/p21+/+) and Harderian (T50=52 days for ras/p21−/− vs T50>221 days for ras/p21+/+) tumors. Furthermore, two out of the eight ras/p21−/− mice had metastatic lesions, one in its lungs, the other in its abdomen. None of the nine ras/p21+/+ mice had metastatic lesions. By 4 months of age, the mammary tumor multiplicity was 10-fold greater in ras/p21−/− (average 3.40 tumors/mouse) than in ras/p21+/+ (average 0.33 tumor/mouse) mice. However, once the tumors appeared, their growth rate, apoptosis level, and mitotic index were not affected by the loss of p21, suggesting that loss of p21 is critical in early but not late eventsof Ras oncogenesis. Altogether, the results show that tumor onset in MMTV/v-Ha-ras mice is p2l-dependent with loss of p2l associated with earlier tumor appearance and increased tumor multiplicity and aggressiveness.
Functional abnormalities in normally appearing athletes following mild traumatic brain injury: a functional MRI study

Memory problems are one of the most common symptoms of sport-related mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), known as concussion. Surprisingly, little research has examined spatial memory in concussed athletes given its importance in athletic environments. Here, we combine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a virtual reality (VR) paradigm designed to investigate the possibility of residual functional deficits in recently concussed but asymptomatic individuals. Specifically, we report performance of spatial memory navigation tasks in a VR environment and fMRI data in 15 athletes suffering from MTBI and 15 neurologically normal, athletically active age matched controls. No differences in performance were observed between these two groups of subjects in terms of success rate (94 and 92%) and time to complete the spatial memory navigation tasks (mean = 19.5 and 19.7 s). Whole brain analysis revealed that similar brain activation patterns were observed during both encoding and retrieval among the groups. However, concussed athletes showed larger cortical networks with additional increases in activity outside of the shared region of interest (ROI) during encoding. Quantitative analysis of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal revealed that concussed individuals had a significantly larger cluster size during encoding at parietal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right hippocampus. In addition, there was a significantly larger BOLD signal percent change at the right hippocampus. Neither cluster size nor BOLD signal percent change at shared ROIs was different between groups during retrieval. These major findings are discussed with respect to current hypotheses regarding the neural mechanism responsible for alteration of brain functions in a clinical setting.
Differentiation of Chemical Components in a Binary Solvent Vapor Mixture Using Carbon/Polymer Composite-Based Chemiresistors

We demonstrate a “universal solvent sensor” constructed from a small array of carbon/polymer composite chemiresistors that respond to solvents spanning a wide range of Hildebrand solubility parameters. Conductive carbon particles provide electrical continuity in these composite films. When the polymer matrix absorbs solvent vapors, the composite film swells, the average separation between carbon particles increases, and an increase in film resistance results, as some of the conduction pathways are broken. The adverse effects of contact resistance at high solvent concentrations are reported. Solvent vapors including isooctane, ethanol, diisopropylmethylphosphonate (DIMP), and water are correctly identified (“classified”) using three chemiresistors, their composite coatings chosen to span the full range of solubility parameters. With the same three sensors, binary mixtures of solvent vapor and water vapor are correctly classified; following classification, two sensors suffice to determine the concentrations...
The Crusader Rebranding of Jerusalem's Temple Mount

This article explores the Temple Mount under crusader rule. It examines how the space was transformed physically and, more importantly, how it was spiritually re-branded to fit into the new sacred geography of crusader Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock was consecrated as a church, known as the Templum Domini and was associated primarily with the story of Jesus forgiving the adulteress about to be stoned. The site also became the place of confession for pilgrims. Therefore this site absorbed the original purpose of the Jewish Temple, the forgiveness of sins, but reworked to fit with Christian doctrine, namely the rite of confession. Likewise the Al-Aqsa mosque, which the Muslim sources before 1099 argued was Solomon’s Temple, was recast by the crusaders as Solomon’s house or palace shortly after the conquest. This happened because the mosque became the royal palace under Baldwin I.
A multiple testing procedure for clinical trials.

A multiple testing procedure is proposed for comparing two treatments when response to treatment is both dichotomous (i.e., success or failure) and immediate. The proposed test statistic for each test is the usual (Pearson) chi-square statistic based on all data collected to that point. The maximum number (N) of tests and the number (m1 + m2) of observations collected between successive tests is fixed in advance. The overall size of the procedure is shown to be controlled with virtually the same accuracy as the single sample chi-square test based on N(m1 + m2) observations. The power is also found to be virtually the same. However, by affording the opportunity to terminate early when one treatment performs markedly better than the other, the multiple testing procedure may eliminate the ethical dilemmas that often accompany clinical trials.
Conductive properties of semi-insulators with special reference to research on thermally stimulated processes

Abstract The paper considers recent findings on the effect of minority carrier injection, with special reference to (a) relaxation effects, and (b) trapping processes, and relates them to the interpretation of results obtained in the course of experiments on thermally stimulated currents.
Simulation of pancake-ice dynamics in a wave field

From many field observations, it has become well known that pancake ice is ubiquitous in a wave-dominated sea. These strikingly uniform circular floes are consistently found in the Antarctic seas during the ice-formation season. Their presence has also been reported in the Bering Sea, the Greenland Sea and in polynyas and leads within pack ice. In one estimate made by P. Wadhams (personal communication, 1991) the areal coverage of pancake ice in the Southern Ocean marginal ice zone is around 6 × 106 km2. Pancake ice forms through a combination of thermodynamic growth and mechanical thickening, caused by rafting of floes that is driven by wave motion This complex growth process is much faster than pure thermodynamic growth and hence may be the main factor responsible for ice-edge advance in marginal ice zones. In this paper we simulate wave/ice-floe dynamics by combining a new three-dimensional discrete element model with wave hydrodynamics. In one set of simulations we calculate ice-drift speed as a function of wave amplitude and ice collisional dynamics. In a second set of simulations we place a non-reflecting vertical barrier meant to simulate the fast-ice edge. The simulation results show the rate of increase of the ice impact force on the barrier, and the accompanying thickening of the rafted region in front of the barrier, as a function of wave amplitude. Results from this study will help quantify the formation process for pancake-ice covers in a wave field.
Comparative in vitro and in vivo benzo[a]pyrene-DNA adduct formation and its relationship to CYP1A activity in two species of ictalurid catfish.

We have measured the formation and persistence ofbenzo[a]pyrene (BaP)–DNA adducts in the liver oftwo closely related species of fish, the brown bullhead(Ameriurus nebulosus) and the channel catfish(Ictalurus punctatus) using the32P-postlabeling method. Liver microsomalethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity,arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity, andin vitromicrosome-mediated DNA binding were all significantly higher in thechannel catfish. In anin vivotime-course experiment, fishwere either induced with βNF followed by a single BaP ip injection(20 mg/kg) or treated with corn oil. BaP–DNA adducts and EROD activityin liver were analyzed 1, 3, 7, 14, and 45 days after the BaP dosage.As in thein vitroexperiments, EROD activities in channelcatfish were significantly higher at most time points than in bullheadliver (p< 0.05). However, in contrast tothein vitrodata, the BaP–DNA adduct profile revealedsignificantly higher levels of adducts in the bullhead than the channelcatfish throughout the time course (p<0.05). Prior induction with βNF did not significantly affect thelevel or type of adduct binding to DNA in either species. Furthercharacterization of the major adduct by HPLC confirmed it to be theanti-BPDE-dGuo adduct. Analysis of tissue distribution of[14C]BaP in the two species suggested similar absorptionand initial distribution, but slower elimination from the liver ofbullhead than the catfish. The BaP–adduct profiles were consistentwith the relative species susceptibility to polycyclic aromatichydrocarbon-induced liver neoplasia. EROD activities, however, werenegatively associated with adduct levels followingin vivoexposure.
Para-aminobenzoic acid in the treatment of acute rheumatic fever.

Abstract A case of rheumatic fever with refractoriness to 10 gm. of aspirin daily manifested by an uninterrupted fever for five weeks showed dramatic improvement after the addition of para-aminobenzoic acid in a dose of 24 gm. daily.
Cyanine-labeling reagents: sulfobenzindocyanine succinimidyl esters.

A synthetic method for shifting the absorption and emission wavelengths of cyanine dye labels by 15−30 nm to the red has been developed. This step significantly increases the potential for preparing fluorescent probes for multiparameter analysis in cytometry and diagnostics. The new sulfobenzindocyanine dyes contain succinimidyl esters as reactive groups and can be readily conjugated to antibodies, avidin, modified DNA, and other amino group-containing materials. The labeling reagents are water soluble, and their fluorescence is not sensitive to pH. One of the reagents, Cy3.205, can be optimally excited with the 568 nm Kr laser line and is useful for confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Another dye, Cy5.205, can be excited with the 633 He-Ne or 647 nm Kr laser lines available with many flow cytometers and laser-scanning microscopes. New laser diodes emitting near 660−690 nm should also be excellent excitation sources for Cy5.205.
The Reaction between Nitrite and Deoxyhemoglobin REASSESSMENT OF REACTION KINETICS AND STOICHIOMETRY

Recent evidence suggests that the reaction between nitrite and deoxygenated hemoglobin provides a mechanism by which nitric oxide is synthesized in vivo. This reaction has been previously defined to follow second order kinetics, although variable product stoichiometry has been reported. In this study we have re-examined this reaction and found that under fully deoxygenated conditions the product stoichiometry is 1:1 (methemoglobin:nitrosylhemoglobin), and unexpectedly, the kinetics deviate substantially from a simple second order reaction and exhibit a sigmoidal profile. The kinetics of this reaction are consistent with an increase in reaction rate elicited by heme oxidation and iron-nitrosylation. In addition, conditions that favor the "R" conformation show an increased rate over conditions that favor the "T" conformation. The reactivity of nitrite with heme is clearly more complex than has been previously realized and is dependent upon the conformational state of the hemoglobin tetramer, suggesting that the nitrite reductase activity of hemoglobin is under allosteric control.
Microemulsion structure from a three-component lattice model

Phase diagrams and all three independent structure functions of oil, water, and amphiphile mixtures have been calculated from a three-component lattice model introduced previously. Both two- and three-dimensional systems were studied, by transfer-matrix methods and mean-field theory, respectively. With increasing amphiphile concentration, the phase diagram shows the commonly observed progression from three-phase coexistence through a microemulsion to two-phase coexistence with a lamellar phase. All three structure functions of the microemulsion are in qualitative agreement with experiment.
Applications of inter-digitized transducers (IDTs) for structural health monitoring (SHM) of bridge structures

Ultrasonic surface wave generating inter-digitized transducers (IDTs) have been designed, fabricated and applied to a simulated critical component of a bridge structure. The goal of the current investigation using a simulated gusset plate was to find out the minimum number of IDT sensors required to achieve the maximum monitoring coverage over a given gusset plate, as well as the size and the optimum operating frequency for the sensors. These sensors can be customized depending on the design of gusset plate to include the number of bolt holes or welds, thickness, and overall dimensions. Various sizes of sensors ranging from several centimeters to several millimeters with resonance frequencies between 100 KHz and 3 MHz were tested. IDT sensors operating at 1 MHz with the overall physical dimensions of 15 mm x 17 mm were found to give the best coverage with a minimum number of sensors. A second test component investigated in this work was a dog-bone shaped fatigue test component to simulate fillet welds of bridge structures. The main goal for this fatigue testing was to find how early in the fatigue process a fillet weld failure can be detected using surface waves. Changes in the amplitude of surface waves were monitored in-situ for this study and it was found that the fillet welds tested on a fatigue loading frame showed an indication of weld failure at an early stage of the fatigue crack initiation.
Absolute diffuse reflectance from relative reflectance measurements

A method is presented whereby any photometer than can measure relative diffuse reflectance of materials in the laboratory can be used to measure absolute diffuse reflectance of such samples without any modification to the apparatus. No additional integrating spheres or special optical geometries are required. All that is needed are two powdered materials, one a very strong absorber and one a very weak absorber at the wavelength of interest, a requirement that is not difficult to meet. A theoretical development based on the Kubelka-Munk theory, the results of experimental testing, and an error analysis are presented.
Plaque rupture and consequent thromboses probably do not cause acute coronary syndromes.

Abstract The objective of this communication is to provide evidence that the spasm of resistance vessel (S-RV) concept of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and other ischemic disorders provides a more consistent set of explanations for acute coronary syndromes than the accepted mechanism of plaque rupture and consequent thromboses. The concept avers that S-RV directly induces symptoms in the various syndromes of IHD, including acute coronary syndromes. The S-RV concept is considered to be an alternate paradigm to explain IHD, and interest only develops in such models when there is significant doubt about the validity of the accepted paradigm. This report is an update of a study reported in this Journal in 1999 and has 2 changes; evidence will be evaluated by formal verification/falsification (pass/fail) methods – the method used to evaluate paradigms, and this report focuses on the mechanism of acute coronary syndromes because of the importance of these syndromes. It is well accepted that acute coronary syndromes are due directly to plaque rupture/thromboses, and there is considerable evidence to support this obvious mechanism. In spite of the obviousness of this mechanism, the S-RV concept asserts that S-RV is a more rational mechanism to explain acute coronary syndromes. Consistent with this position, the results of the study favor the S-RV concept. The standard position was given 8 passes, 2 passes with associated possible limited failures, and 2 possible failures. In contrast, the S-RV concept was given 12 passes, and no failures. Hopefully, the results of this study, and other available information about the S-RV concept, will prompt interest in the concept – such as independent testing of its premises.
A Comparison of Two Approaches to Learning to Detect Harmonic Alterations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate instructional activities and practice techniques of musicians attempting to improve their accuracy in detecting errors in music examples heard. In this study, a commonly recommended practice procedure, keyboard sight-reading, was compared with listening to recorded examples of simple piano works characteristic of those used in college-level class piano courses. The authors randomly assigned 59 college music majors to two groups. One group (Group R) studied examples by sight-reading music excerpts at the keyboard; the other group (Group L) studied the same excerpts by listening to recordings. Both groups were tested using taped examples of the excerpts with harmonic alterations. When data were collected for harmonic alterations not detected (misses) and for errors indicated where none were performed (false alarms), Group L was significantly more accurate (p = .0001) in detecting harmonic alterations than was Group R. The difference between the two groups was the sa...
Mitogenomics: digging deeper with complete mitochondrial genomes

Mitochondrial genomes are being used to study increasingly ancient divergences among animal groups. Recent studies of complete mitochondrial DNA sequences have arrived at somewhat heretical conclusions, raising questions about the use of mitochondrial gene sequences for studying the relationships among highly divergent lineages. Other studies have documented convergent evolution of mitochondrial gene order, casting doubt on the use of these characters for phylogenetic analysis. The use of mitochondrial genomes for studying such deep divergences is coming under increased scrutiny, and these novel results need to be confirmed with data from nuclear genes.
The impact of psychiatric comorbidity on Medicare reimbursement for inpatient medical care

Funding for psychiatric consultation-liaison (C-L) services has been a difficult problem. It has been suggested that the identification of psychiatric co-morbidities in Medicare patients on medical services could generate incremental hospital revenue by moving patients from a lower to a higher paying Diagnostic Related Group (DRG). This increased revenue could be used as a means of supporting the psychiatric C-L service. This study documents the financial impact of screening for and documenting psychiatric co-morbidities on a general acute medical service. We clinically assessed 100 consecutive Medicare admissions and found 25 psychiatric co-morbidities in 20 patients. In only one case did the psychiatric diagnosis result in moving the case to a higher DRG. However, the need for psychiatric consultation remains evident as there was significant lack of recognition and documentation of the psychiatric diagnoses by the medical team. The authors discuss both the financial and clinical implications of screening medical inpatients for psychiatric co-morbidities and propose directions for further studies in this area.
A broadly applicable surgical teaching method: evaluation of a stepwise introduction to cataract surgery.

Objective Although cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in the country, it is a microsurgical procedure that is difficult to learn and to teach. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a new method for introducing postgraduate year (PGY)-3 ophthalmology residents to cataract surgery. Setting Hospital-based ophthalmology residency program. Design Retrospective cohort study. Participants PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents of the Harvard Medical School Ophthalmology Residency from graduating years 2010 to 2012. Results In July 2009, a new method of teaching PGY-3 ophthalmology residents cataract surgery was introduced, which was termed "the stepwise introduction to cataract surgery." This curriculum aimed to train residents to perform steps of cataract surgery by deliberately practicing each of the steps of surgery under a structured curriculum with faculty feedback. Assessment methods included surveys administered to the PGY-4 residents who graduated before the implementation of these measures ( n = 7), the residents who participated in the first and second years of the new curriculum ( n = 16), faculty who teach PGY-4 residents cataract surgery ( n = 8), and review of resident Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education surgical logs. Resident survey response rate was 100%. Residents who participated in the new curriculum performed more of each step of cataract surgery in the operating room, spent more time practicing each step of cataract surgery on a cataract surgery simulator during the PGY-3 year, and performed more primary cataract surgeries during the PGY-3 year than those who did not. Faculty survey response rate was 63%. Faculty noted an increase in resident preparedness following implementation of the new curriculum. There was no statistical difference between the precurriculum and postcurriculum groups in the percentage turnover of cataracts for the first 2 cataract surgery rotations of the PGY-4 year of training. Conclusions The introduction of cataract surgery to PGY-3 residents in an organized, stepwise manner improved resident preparedness for the PGY-4 year of residency. This surgical teaching method can be easily applied to other surgical specialties.
Topological routing in SURF: Generating a rubber-band sketch

A multi-layer topological router for generating rubberband sketches is described. The router uses hierarchical togdown partitioning to perform global routing for all nets simultaneously. I t combines this with successive refinement to help correct mistakes made before more detailed local information is discovered. Layer assignment is performed during the partitioning process to generate routing that has fewer vias and is not restricted to one-layer one-direction. The local router uses a region connectivity graph to generate shortest-path rubber-band routing.
Electron Microscopy Study of the Influence of the Adhesion Layer for Pt Electrode on the Microstructure of Sol-Gel Crystallized Pzt

PZT ferroelectric capacitors are commonly fabricated using Pt electrodes. Crystallization in an oxygen ambient of sol-gel deposited PZT films is influenced by the nature of the adhesion layer used for the Pt electrode. Here we report results of the TEM investigation of the microstructures of PZT crystallized on Pt/Ti and Pt/TiO2 substrates. PZT films on either substrate show a two-phase microstructure consisting of larger perovskite grains and finegrained ( twins. EDS spectra detect a lower Pb/Ti ratio for the pyrochlore matrix compared to the perovskite grains. Differences between the two substrates consist of the perovskite to pyrochlore ratio and more importantly the perovskite grain size.
Development of three-phase distribution power flow using common information model

Effective analysis on the distribution system will rely heavily on an accurate and interoperable three-phase power flow. One of the major challenges for distribution power flow development has been standardization of data modeling between developers. Developer-specific data models make it difficult to compare algorithms as well as challenging to integrate power flow applications with other distribution analysis tools. EPRI's common information model (CIM) provides a standard data representation of power system objects for the transmission system based on object-oriented methodology. This paper proposes a general data model for three-phase distribution power flow using CIM schema. Possible extensions, such as three-phase attribute and feeder model, are discussed. By using object-oriented design patterns, common characteristics of distribution power flow are captured and modeled. The proposed power flow model supports different algorithms and is easy to modify and upgrade. This model also reduces the effort of interfacing power flow applications with other applications or systems.
Cell Broadband Engine Processor Design Methodology

The cell BE design methodology is described which enables high frequency, high performance, power efficient, and area optimized design. It includes a hierarchical design style, clean clock boundary, effective use of non-scan latches, at-speed scan testing, custom design like synthesized macro, fine grained clock gating scheme, and cycle accurate power analysis.
Noncompetitive phage anti-immunocomplex real-time polymerase chain reaction for sensitive detection of small molecules.

Immuno polymerase chain reaction (IPCR) is an analytical technology based on the excellent affinity and specificity of antibodies combined with the powerful signal amplification of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), providing superior sensitivity to classical immunoassays. Here we present a novel type of IPCR termed phage anti-immunocomplex assay real-time PCR (PHAIA-PCR) for the detection of small molecules. Our method utilizes a phage anti-immunocomplex assay (PHAIA) technology in which a short peptide loop displayed on the surface of the M13 bacteriophage binds specifically to the antibody-analyte complex, allowing the noncompetitive detection of small analytes. The phagemid DNA encoding this peptide can be amplified by PCR, and thus, this method eliminates hapten functionalization or bioconjugation of a DNA template while providing improved sensitivity. As a proof of concept, two PHAIA-PCRs were developed for the detection of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, a major urinary metabolite of some pyrethroid insecticides, and molinate, a herbicide implicated in fish kills. Our results demonstrate that phage DNA can be a versatile material for IPCR development, enabling universal amplification when the common element of the phagemid is targeted or specific amplification when the real time PCR probe is designed to anneal the DNA encoding the peptide. The PHAIAPCRs proved to be 10-fold more sensitive than conventional PHAIA and significantly faster using magnetic beads for rapid separation of reactants. The assay was validated with both agricultural drain water and human urine samples, showing its robustness for rapid monitoring of human exposure or environmental contamination.
Distributions of eigenvalues of large Euclidean matrices generated from lp balls and spheres

Abstract Let x 1 , … , x n be points randomly chosen from a set G ⊂ R N and f ( x ) be a function. The Euclidean random matrix is given by M n = ( f ( ‖ x i − x j ‖ 2 ) ) n × n where ‖ ⋅ ‖ is the Euclidean distance. When N is fixed and n → ∞ we prove that μ ˆ ( M n ) , the empirical distribution of the eigenvalues of M n , converges to δ 0 for a big class of functions of f ( x ) . Assuming both N and n go to infinity proportionally, we obtain the explicit limit of μ ˆ ( M n ) when G is the l p unit ball or sphere with p ⩾ 1 . As corollaries, we obtain the limit of μ ˆ ( A n ) with A n = ( d ( x i , x j ) ) n × n and d being the geodesic distance on the ordinary unit sphere in R N . We also obtain the limit of μ ˆ ( A n ) for the Euclidean distance matrix A n = ( ‖ x i − x j ‖ ) n × n . The limits are a + b V where a and b are constants and V follows the Marcenko–Pastur law. The same are also obtained for other examples appeared in physics literature including ( exp ⁡ ( − ‖ x i − x j ‖ γ ) ) n × n and ( exp ⁡ ( − d ( x i , x j ) γ ) ) n × n . Our results partially confirm a conjecture by Do and Vu [14] .
Can the efficacy of electrically stimulated pedaling using a commercially available ergometer BE improved by minimizing the muscle stress–time integral?

Introduction: The cardiorespiratory and muscu- lar strength benefits of functional electrical stimulation (FES) pedaling for spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects are limited because the endurance of electrically stimulated muscle is low. Methods: We tested new electrical stimulation timing patterns (Stim3, designed using a forward dynamic simulation to mini- mize the muscle stress-time integral) to determine whether SCI subjects could increase work and metabolic responses when pedaling a commercial FES ergometer. Work, rate of oxygen uptake ( _ VO2), and blood lactate data were taken from 11 sub- jects (injury level T4-T12) on repeated trials. Results: Subjects performed 11% more work pedaling with Stim3 than with exist- ing stimulation patterns (StimErg) (P ¼ 0.043). Average ( _ VO2) and blood lactate concentrations were not significantly different between Stim3 (442 ml/min, 5.9 mmol/L) and StimErg (417 ml/ min, 5.9 mmol/L). Conclusion: The increased mechanical work performed with Stim3 supports the use of patterns that mini- mize the muscle stress-time integral to prolong FES pedaling. Muscle Nerve 45: 393-402, 2012