cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deciphering the Hieroglyphics of Functional Proteomics Using Small Molecule Probes

Fluorescence-based total protein detection is generally acknowledged to provide superior capabilities relative to the classical staining methods. Simple measurement of differences in protein expression, however, does not directly measure changes in protein activity and often fails to detect key posttranslational modifications. A number of fluorescence-based strategies tailored to the analysis of protein posttranslational modifications, functional domains, and enzymatic activities have been introduced recently. The new fluorescent staining methods have spurred the rapid development of sophisticated imaging devices that provide the highest possible detection capabilities. A limitation of the newly devised functional proteomics stains is that the abundances of the target proteins are often quite low, and as a consequence, protein prefractionation has increasingly become an integral part of proteomics analysis. It is expected that fluorescence-based approaches, originally devised for gels, will ultimately be adapted to liquid chromatographymass spectrometry, protein microarrays, and cell-based assays. Additionally, the powerful capabilities of differential protein expression profiling will be engineered into future probes, allowing for multiplexed analysis of posttranslational modifications and enzyme activities. Integrating protein prefractionation and small molecule probe-based detection with multiwavelength imaging significantly expands the power of gel electrophoresis for the large-scale elucidation of the functional properties of proteins.
Properties of the Phonon Gas

In the previous chapter we worked out the formalism for describing the normal modes for vibrations in two- and three-dimensional solids. We showed that the application of quantum mechanics leads to quantization of the energies of the normal modes, and gives a description of a quantum system known as the phonons, which in many ways is similar to the quantum excitations of the electromagnetic spectrum, known as photons. In this chapter, we begin by deriving the heat capacity associated with the phonon gas, which is the dominant term for insulating solids, but plays a smaller role in metals; we also work out the heat capacity for a nanoscale solid, which should display interesting geometrical effects at very low temperatures. We then turn to a discussion of how to treat phonons as point particles, and discuss phonon scattering and electron-phonon interactions. Finally, we work out the theory for the thermal conductivity of the phonon gas, and conclude with a brief description of the quantum limit to thermal conductance, a theory which has only recently been elucidated and demonstrated experimentally.
Methodology for Mitigating the Impact of Adhesive Shrinkage for PAAW Technology Applications

Abstract Photo-Activated Adhesive Work-holding (PAAW) is a new fixture technology used to hold complex parts for tight tolerance manufacturing processes. Adhesive shrinkage during polymerization leads to a finite degree of workpiece distortion that may limit the tolerances that can be achieved during machining. This paper presents a measurement and analysis procedure that can be used to accurately assess the impact of polymerization shrinkage on workpiece shape distortion and rigid body displacement. Using this procedure, practitioners can quickly assess the impact of PAAW application variables for the purpose of mitigating shape distortion and rigid body rotation for an existing application. Furthermore this can be done using a workpiece with imperfect geometry and without machining the workpiece. This paper demonstrates the utility of this measurement and analysis procedure through a series of experiments applied to the bonding of a plate to a simulated PAAW transfer fixture.
Transcranial and pulsed focused ultrasound that activates brain can accelerate remyelination in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts approximately 400,000 in the United States and is the leading cause of disability among young to middle aged people in the developed world. Characteristic of this disease, myelin within generally focal volumes of brain tissue wastes away under an autoimmune assault, either inexorably or through a cycle of demyelination and remyelination. This centrally located damage produces central and peripheral symptoms tied to the portion of brain within the MS lesion site. Interestingly, Gibson and colleagues noted that optical activation of transgenically tagged central neurons increased the thickness of the myelin sheath around those neurons. Since ultrasound, delivered transcranially, can also activate brain focally, we hypothesized that ultrasound stimulation that followed the temporal pattern of Gibson et al. applied to MS lesions in a mouse model might either decelerate the demyelination phase or accelerate its remyelination phase. We created a temporal pattern of ultrasound delivery that conformed to that of Gibson et al. and capable of activating mouse brain. We then applied ultrasound, transcranially, following that temporal pattern to separate cohorts of a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, using three different ultrasound carrier frequencies (0.625 MHz, 1.09 MHz, 2.0 MHz), during each of the demyelinating and remyelinating phases. After identifying the most promising protocol and MS brain state through qualitative analysis of myelin content, we performed additional studies for that condition then assayed for change in myelin content via quantitative analysis. We identified one ultrasound protocol that significantly accelerated remyelination, without damage, as demonstrated with histological analysis. MRI-guided focused ultrasound systems exist that can, in principle, deliver the ultrasound protocol we successfully tested here. In addition, MRI, as the clinical gold standard, can readily identify MS lesions. Given the relatively low intensity values of our ultrasound protocol – close to FDA limits – we anticipate that future success with this approach to MS therapy as tested using more realistic MS mouse models may one day translate to clinical trials that help address this devastating disease.
Failure to Launch: False Starts in Designing the Political Science Capstone as a True Ending to the Major.

This paper explores the design and initial implementation of a political science capstone. The capstone was organized around the theme of critical thinking. The course made the case to students tha...
Congenital megalourethra with delayed obstructive symptoms

Abstract Congenital megalourethra is a congenital non-obstructive dilation of the male urethra often associated with VACTERL anomaly malformations. We report a case of TE fistula associated congenital megalourethra with symptoms presenting approximately 2 months postpartum. At the time of referral, patient had distal penile flaccidity and poorly developed corpora. Imaging and cystoscopy showed development of hydronephrosis with significant sediment in the bladder. Attempts at retrograde catheterization failed, thus a Blocksum vesicostomy was required. This demonstrates the importance of serial physical examinations and ultrasound surveillance in patients with megalourethra.
The cost of a “benign” condition: Healthcare utilization and infectious outcomes in young children with primary autoimmune neutropenia

BACKGROUND Autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) is a common cause of chronic neutropenia in childhood. Despite an expected benign clinical course, many patients undergo extensive evaluation. Data on healthcare utilization and rates of bloodstream infections in young patients with AIN are limited. METHODS All patients with a diagnosis code of leukopenia, neutropenia, or AIN followed within the outpatient hematology clinic of a single institution from 2014 to 2016 were identified. Patients aged ≤5 years with absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≤500/µL persisting for ≥3 months, a clinical diagnosis of AIN, and documented resolution of neutropenia were included. Data on clinical management, including infectious outcomes and emergency center (EC) encounters, were collected. RESULTS Forty-three patients with AIN (18 male [42%], median age at diagnosis 12 months) met eligibility criteria. Children were followed by hematology for a median duration of 18 (range, 2-85) months. Diagnostic evaluations were variable. Thirty patients (70%) had ≥ 1 EC encounters for evaluation of isolated fever with a total of 113 EC encounters for the overall cohort. Patients with ANC < 500/µL and isolated fever were admitted for observation, which resulted in 24 hospitalizations in 16 patients. Of 138 blood cultures drawn, two were positive, both later determined to be contaminants. CONCLUSION At a large tertiary care center, no bloodstream infections were identified in a cohort of 43 children with AIN presenting to the EC for assessment of fever. A less-intensive, more cost-effective management paradigm, which continues to prioritize patient safety, among young children with AIN is needed.
Is Definitive Plate Fixation Overlap With External Fixator Pin Sites a Risk Factor for Infection in Pilon Fractures

Objectives To determine if overlap of definitive plate fixation with external fixator pin sites is a risk factor for infection in pilon fractures. Design Retrospective Cohort SETTING:: Level 1 trauma center PATIENTS:: One-hundred and forty-six patients with pilon fractures treated between 2012 and 2018. Intervention Staged treatment with ankle-spanning external fixation followed by delayed open reduction and internal fixation. Main outcome measures Demographic, radiographic, and operative data were reviewed and the distance between the temporary external fixator pin sites and the definitive plate was measured. The primary outcome measure was the development of a deep post-operative infection. Results Overall, 22 (15%) of patients developed deep wound infections. Overlap of definitive plate and external fixation pin-site occurred in 58 (40%) of ankles. Of these, 7 (12%) developed deep wound infection compared to 15 (17%) of patients without overlap (p=0.484). There was no significant difference in amount of overlap (p=0.636) or distance from plate to pin site (p=0.607) in patients with and without deep infection. Of the patients with deep infection, 11 (50%) occurred in patients with open fractures. Conclusion Overlap of definitive plate fixation with primary spanning external fixator pin sites is not a risk factor for development of deep infection in a staged treatment of high energy pilon fractures. Level of evidence Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Flow Obstacles Minimize Surface Turbulence in Tilt Casting

Abstract Here we explore mold obstacles as means of attenuating flow and minimizing surface turbulence in tilt casting. Surface turbulence refers surface undulations and droplet pinch off that increase the surface area of the flow, which become defects as metal freezes. The Weber number that depends strongly on velocity governs the onset of surface turbulence, however, the critical Weber number for tilt casting with large vertical drops between crucible and mold remains unexplored. Here we explore this critical Weber number to find that ∼3 prevents surface turbulence and also explore the influence of staggered posts along the edge of the mold to find that they substantially decrease the local velocity to minimize surface turbulence. For the configurations explored, the staggered posts outperformed a side runner.
Relationships of inflammation trajectories with white matter volume and integrity in midlife.

Abstract Objective Elevated inflammation is associated with worse late-life cognitive functioning and brain health. Our goal was to examine the relationship between inflammation trajectories and white matter integrity in midlife. Methods Participants were 508 adults from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA; 51% female). Latent class analysis was used to identify inflammation trajectories based on repeated measures of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) over the 18 years before brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Outcomes were brain MRI measures of total and region-specific white matter volume and integrity at a mean age of 50.6 ± 3.4 years. Linear regression was used to examine if inflammation trajectories were associated with brain MRI outcomes, adjusting for potential confounds in all models and for disease and health behaviors in follow-up models. Results Lower-stable (38%), moderate-increasing (7%), and consistently-higher (54%), trajectories emerged. Compared to the lower-stable group, the moderate-increasing group showed lower white matter volume (β = −0.18, 95% CI −0.29, −0.06) and worse white matter integrity as indexed by lower fractional anisotropy (FA; β = −0.37, 95% CI −0.70, −0.04) and higher mean diffusivity (β = 0.44, 95% CI 0.11, 0.78) in the whole brain. The consistently-higher group showed lower whole-brain FA (β = −0.20, −0.38, −0.03). In exploratory analyses, the moderate-increasing group showed lower white matter volume, lower FA and higher MD in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes compared to the lower-stable group. The consistently-higher group showed lower white matter volume in the parietal lobe and lower FA in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, but similar MD, compared to the lower-stable group. Findings for the moderate-increasing, but not the consistently-higher, group were robust to adjustment for disease and lifestyle factors. Conclusion Increasing or high inflammation trajectories from early to mid adulthood are associated with worse brain health, as indexed by lower white matter volume and/or worse white matter integrity.
Total Hip Arthroplasty in a Patient with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency: A Case Report.

Case We present a 51-year-old woman with Aitken A proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD) managed with total hip arthroplasty (THA). This patient presented with a history of disabling hip arthritis and multiple operations to improve her proximal femoral deformity and maintain a reduced hip. The hip was dysplastic with persistent femoral deformity, erosive acetabular changes, and abductor weakness. The surgical treatment was a THA. Conclusion In the setting of hip arthritis, despite abductor weakness and deformity of the proximal femur, hip arthroplasty is a viable option for management of the patient with Aitken A PFFD.
The Interaction of Personal and Occupational Factors in the Suicide Deaths of Correction Officers

In the aftermath of a cluster of at least twenty suicides among correction officers working for a state department of correction, we conducted the first extensive mixed-methods study of correction ...
Surgical Management of Malignant Tumors of the Jaws

Summary Surgery for malignant tumors of the maxillofacial region has benefited significantly from advances in imaging technology and instrumentation and in maturation of craniofacial and orthognathic reconstructive surgical techniques during the past two decades. These developments allow the maxillofacial oncologic surgeon to precisely visualize the anatomic involvement of the malignant process in order to better determine exactly which surgical ablative procedure is of greatest benefit to the patient. Reconstructive surgical options are available that are not solely dependent on local tissues or delayed staged tissue transfers, enabling the surgeon to obtain satisfactory resection margins at the ablative surgical site and at the same time offering the patient the possibility of immediate restoration of anatomic form and an expeditious return of function depending on the specific malignant tumor treated. This review deals with some of the most common approaches to surgically treating malignancies of the maxilla and mandible, in addition to providing a brief review of malignant tumor-specific behavior and surgical recommendations as they relate to those malignancies of the jaws that have traditionally been treated through surgery. It is hoped that those colleagues dealing in maxillofacial surgical oncology will continue to report their findings so that these unfortunate patients can continue to benefit from evolving advances in this exciting field.
Pathways connecting family socioeconomic status in adolescence and sleep continuity in adult Black and White men.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the roles of parenting and adolescent characteristics during ages 13 to 16 in connecting family socioeconomic status (SES) during adolescence with adult sleep in Black and White men. Design Longitudinal school-based community study beginning in 1987-1988 when participants were enrolled in the first or seventh grade. Setting Pittsburgh, PA. Participants 291 men (54.4% Black, mean age = 33, SD = 2.5) participated in 2012-2014 in a week-long study of sleep measured by actigraphy and diary. Measures In adolescence (ages 13-16), measures of family SES based on occupation, education, income and public assistance; parenting based on monitoring, positive expectations for future, warm parent-child relationship, and communication; and adolescent characteristics based on anxiety, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and peer rejection. In adulthood, participant SES, minutes awake after sleep onset (WASO), duration, and diary-assessed sleep quality. Results Structural equation modeling confirmed significant indirect pathways: (1) low family SES in adolescence to negative parenting to low adult SES to greater WASO; (2) low family SES in adolescence to adolescent characteristics to low adult SES to greater WASO; (3) Black race to low family SES in adolescence to negative parenting to low adult SES to greater WASO; and (4) Black race to low family SES in adolescence to adolescent characteristics to adult SES to greater WASO. Similar models for duration and quality were not confirmed. Conclusions Parenting and adolescent characteristics may have an indirect association with adult sleep continuity. Parenting and mental health interventions in adolescence may improve adult sleep.
Tense tagging for verbs in cross-lingual context: a case study

The current work applies Conditional Random Fields to the problem of temporal reference mapping from Chinese text to English text. The learning algorithm utilizes a moderate number of linguistic features that are easy and inexpensive to obtain. We train a tense classifier upon a small amount of manually labeled data. The evaluation results are promising according to standard measures as well as in comparison with a pilot tense annotation experiment involving human judges. Our study exhibits potential value for full-scale machine translation systems and other natural language processing tasks in a cross-lingual scenario.
Hormones and human sexuality

The current entry discusses the relationship between hormones, molecular signals released by various glands throughout the body, and sexuality among humans. Hormones have an important impact on numerous areas of sexuality including sexual differentiation, anatomy, physiology, and behavior. The hormones discussed in this entry are androgens, estrogens, progesterone, gonadotropins, oxytocin, and prolactin. Examples of the relationship between hormones and areas of human sexuality are discussed. Keywords: estrogen; gonadotropins; oxytocin; progesterone; prolactin; testosterone
Chapter 8 Nonequilibrium Approaches to Free Energy Calculations

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on nonequilibrium approaches to free energy calculations. Free energies are central quantities to both thermodynamics and kinetics, relating to experimentally determined properties, such as equilibrium constants and reaction rates. Even though proper computation of enthalpies is relatively simple at particular molecular conformations, the estimates of entropic factors require sampling over large numbers of conformations. Under quasi-static (QS) conditions, the distribution of work values is very nearly a delta function. Under any transformation rate larger than zero, two things happen at the same time: the average work gets larger as the rate increases, while the width of the work distribution also increases. The Jarzynski relationship (JR) takes the exponentially weighted average of this distribution. The net effect of this nonlinear averaging is to pick, from the work distribution, trajectories that are low in work values. The number of these trajectories decreases drastically with an increase of the transformation rate, and hence the effort required to converge the nonexponential average increases quickly.
Evidence against clathrate‐derived methane release to Santa Barbara Basin surface waters?

[1] The Clathrate Gun Hypothesis suggests that methane from the marine sedimentary gas hydrate reservoir was episodically released into the atmosphere where it generated rapid atmospheric warming that drove late Quaternary abrupt millennial-scale climate change. Brief, large negative δ13C excursions recorded by planktonic (up to −3‰) and benthic (up to −5‰) foraminifera from Santa Barbara Basin sediments have been interpreted as evidence of clathrate-derived methane release to surface waters during or immediately before marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 interstadials. Molecular biomarkers from the δ13C excursion horizons have been interpreted to support this scenario. However, recent work at modern methane seeps show that fossil specimens can be contaminated with authigenic overgrowths or calcite replacement that may be difficult to detect through microscopy. The possibility that planktonic specimens are contaminated, and thus their δ13C values not a primary signal, warrants further inquiry. We generated a high-resolution continuous total organic carbon (TOC) δ13C record from fortuitously obtained samples across the younger foraminiferal δ13C excursion during Interstadial 8. The record exhibits variations similar in magnitude and timing to those that occurred in the basin over the last 600 years. Furthermore, previously published TOC δ13C values of discreet samples from this and the three other MIS 3 foraminiferal δ13C excursions are also similar to recent values. Although there are factors that could obscure a surface water methane signal in the TOC δ13C record, these results question the interpretation that methane was released to surface waters. An alternative hypothesis to explain the available data is that the foraminiferal δ13C excursions are an artifact of diagenetic processes at or below the sediment-water interface. This interpretation may be compatible with the molecular biomarker data. Further work is necessary to differentiate between the two hypotheses.
Protecting and respecting military nurses

Rushton P. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2011; 17: 615–620 Protecting and respecting military nurses There are data reported in psychological and sociological scientific literature concerning the physical and sexual abuse of members of the US Military Services with a focus on abuse of females. An extensive search of that literature found little evidence that military nurses had experienced physical or sexual abuse. An oral history project to collect accounts of wartime experiences of military nurses is currently ongoing from an institution in the western United States. A secondary analysis of data finds that project participants included almost no reports of such abuse. Rather, there were many reports that nurses were respected and protected from harm during the time of their military service.
Information Complexity and Estimation

We consider an input $x$ generated by an unknown stationary ergodic source $X$ that enters a signal processing system $J$, resulting in $w=J(x)$. We observe $w$ through a noisy channel, $y=z(w)$; our goal is to estimate x from $y$, $J$, and knowledge of $f_{Y|W}$. This is universal estimation, because $f_X$ is unknown. We provide a formulation that describes a trade-off between information complexity and noise. Initial theoretical, algorithmic, and experimental evidence is presented in support of our approach.
The Media, Foreign Policymaking, and Political Conflict

Late-Breaking Foreign Policy: The News Media's Influence on Peace Operations By Warren P. Strobel Media and Political Conflict: News from the Middle East By Gadi Wolfsfeld
The Grammar of Meaning: Normativity and Semantic Discourse

Introduction 1. The ends and means of translation: critical reflections on Quine's indeterminacy of translation thesis 2. Synonymy, analyticity and a priori authority 3. Where do we go from here? A pragmatist account of normative judgement 4. The epistemology of meaning and the analysis of meaning 5. Robust meaning theories and canonical dispositionalism 6. Reduction and naturalism 7. Realism and factuality.
Multiple mechanisms of repairing meganuclease-induced double-strand DNA breaks in budding yeast

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) threaten the integrity of chromosomes. Consequently, cells have devised a number of mechanisms to repair broken chromosomes. There are several competing mechanisms of homologous recombination as well as multiple nonhomologous end-joining pathways that can repair chromosome breaks with varying degrees of fidelity. This review summarizes what has been learned about DSB repair in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where it is possible to create, rapidly and synchronously, a specific DSB using inducible meganucleases, HO or I-SceI. The physical monitoring of DNA undergoing recombination and the binding of various recombination proteins in the vicinity of the DSB provides a picture of the sequence of molecular events during recombination. We first examine an intrachromosomal recombination event, MAT gene switching, and then to interchromosomal ectopic events. In addition, repair by single-stand annealing, break-induced replication and nonhomologous end-joining are discussed.
Externalities, Prices and Taxes: Second Best Issues in Transportation

In my undergraduate course in environmental economics, after the usual treatment of externalities, Pigouvian taxes, and their application to air and water pollution control, I ask the students to spend a class hour identifying all of the incorrect price signals (externalities, subsidies, etc.) surrounding the use of the automobile for transportation in the United States. The students usually manage to fill a blackboard with examples of market failure. But the end of the hour comes too quickly. So I am never able to spend more than a minute or two talking about means of correcting these market failures with things like congestion tolls and pollution taxes on air emissions. Thus, when I was asked to write a paper for this conference, I did not feel well prepared for the task. But, I welcomed the opportunity to read in a literature that I was not particularly familiar with and to think about the use of market based instruments for controlling externalities in a new (to me) context.
Benzodiazepine Use, Cognitive Impairment, and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: Issues in the Treatment of a Patient in Need

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders when used in conjunction with benzodiazepine pharmacotherapy and when used as a monotherapy. Patients using CBT alone have dropout rates similar to or lower than those patients undergoing other forms of therapy, including benzodiazepines. CBT also works well with patients who do not respond adequately to pharmacotherapy. Combined CBT and benzodiazepine treatment has additive effects when compared with benzodiazepine monotherapy; however, patients receiving combined therapy who subsequently discontinue benzodiazepine treatment experience a loss of efficacy compared with CBT and placebo, perhaps due to fear extinction being context dependent. To avoid this loss of efficacy, CBT may be administered alone or as a bridge between benzodiazepine use and discontinuation during a medication taper. The case report upon which this supplement is based questions the value of CBT for patients experiencing cognitive impairment due to an anxiety disorder, benzodiazepine medication, substance abuse, or a combination of these factors. This article addresses this concern and asserts that CBT is a valuable treatment option in these cases.
A Comparative Study Of The Double Motor Innervation In Marine Crustaceans

A double motor innervation has been shown for several muscles of marine crustaceans. The adductors of the claws of Randallia and Blepharipoda and the adductor of the dactylopodite of the walking leg of Cancer were studied physiologically. The two motor axons which innervate these muscles have a different diameter (ratio 1.4:1). Stimulation of the thick fibre causes a response, which, though it is not always faster than the response of the thin fibre, must be considered as a "fast" contraction. In Randallia and in Blepharipoda the slow contraction is higher than the fast with frequencies of less than ± 50 per sec., in Cancer with frequencies less than 100 per sec. The action currents of the two kinds of contraction are different. Both show facilitation, but under the same conditions of stimulation the fast-action currents are higher. The first stimulus of the thick fibre causes an action current top which is clearly distinguishable, the action currents of the slow contraction show up only after a number of stimuli. Even when the mechanical reaction on stimulation of the thick fibre is smaller than on similar stimulation of the thin fibre, the action currents are higher in the first case. A single impulse in the thick fibre does not cause a contraction, but sets up a muscle-action current. The chronaxie of this action current in Blepharipoda and Randallia is 0.8{sigma} and is about the same as that found for the action current of the nerve. Two impulses in the thick fibre may cause a mechanical response, as is shown by summation experiments. The pseudo-chronaxie of this contraction was measured as 3.5 {sigma}. The second action current shows facilitation, when it follows the first within 1 sec.; a mechanical reaction results with summation intervals of two stimuli of less than 10{sigma}. The facilitation of the action current increases with decrease of the time interval between the two impulses; with the shortest intervals that give summation the resulting action current is a smooth high spike.
Zone of Intrusion for F-Shape and Single-Slope Concrete Barriers

The Zone of Intrusion (ZOI) is a measurement of the furthest protrusion of a vehicle component behind a permanent concrete barrier during a crash. Often, roadside objects or structures, such as luminaire poles or trees, are located within or near the ZOI of a barrier, posing a risk to the occupants of impacting vehicles. Due to the high costs of full-scale crash testing it is not practical to test for the ZOI of every size and shape of barrier. As an alternative, non-linear finite element simulation was used to develop ZOI guidelines for the 40-inch tall F-shape parapet and the 9.1-degree single-slope parapet (at heights of 36, 42 and 56 inches). Results showed a minimum ZOI of 0 inches for the 56-inch tall barrier and a maximum ZOI of 9 inches for the 36-inch one. The amount of vehicle structure overhanging the barriers was limited to the front corner of the hood, and under certain conditions, small portions of the fender. Tire friction, tire deflation, suspension component failures and combinations of those vehicle behaviors had little influence on the ZOI.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Rewarding Properties of Intracranial Stimulation

Monkeys can be trained to press a lever to obtain intracranial brain stimulation on a large fixed-ratio schedule as well as on a continuous reinforcement schedule. A long extinction curve appears to be indicative of a future high fixed-ratio performance.
Geopolitics and the cold war environment: The case of chromium

Strategic resources are critical to the well-being of any state; states can, and do go to war to protect access to such resources; indeed securing and maintaining an adequate supply of strategic resources will constitute a central concern of any state's foreign policy. Under such circumstances, a well-informed policy making process, guided by objective analysis becomes of paramount importance. This paper examines the role of mineral dependence in United States (US)/South Africa relations, specifically in the context of the sanctions issue of the 1980s. Using chromium as a case study, it highlights how inaccurate and irrelevant information concerning the importance of South African chromium to the US, and especially the US military was used to define dimensions of the issue, producing policy that was anything but well-informed and objective.
The Role of Social Distress, Political Affiliation, and Education in Measuring Punitive Attitudes Israel as a Case Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the different factors that shape and facilitate punitive attitudes among Israeli public. Punitive attitudes were examined in respect to several demographic and environmental variables such as gender, level of religiosity, level of education, political affiliation, and victimization. In addition, social distress in respect to the political climate of the country was taken into consideration to examine the effect of “historical” events on results reliability. Using a random selection, a sample of 471 Israeli respondents was examined at two different time periods (Wave I: 2008–2009 and Wave II: 2011). Results of the current study indicate that demographic characteristics as well as social distress are related to the manifestation of punitive attitudes among Israelis, and thus the study demonstrates the different factors that affect public attitudes toward crime and punishment in the Israeli context. Results are discussed in regard to policy, and recommendations are mad...
Adaptive bias LINC transmitter design using EDA software for power efficiency improvement

In this article, a novel adaptive bias LInear amplification with Nonlinear Components (LINC) transmitter is introduced and analyzed. Predistortion is applied to the baseband signal and the bias of the high-efficiency power amplifier is adaptively changed according to the envelope distribution of the baseband signal and the power amplifier itself. This novel transmitter can simultaneously achieve high average efficiency and linearity even with a high peak to average ratio signal. A comprehensive simulation framework has been developed using EDA software to validate this adaptive bias scheme with 16, 32, and 64 quadrature amplitude modulation signals. The simulation results show that this novel scheme can help in improving the average overall efficiency of the LINC transmitter by 15% while sustaining expected linearity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2013.
Markov-chain Monte Carlo for the performance of a channelized-ideal observer in detection tasks with non-Gaussian lumpy backgrounds

The Bayesian ideal observer is optimal among all observers and sets an upper bound for observer performance in binary detection tasks. This observer provides a quantitative measure of diagnostic performance of an imaging system, summarized by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and thus should be used for image quality assessment whenever possible. However, computation of ideal-observer performance is difficult because this observer requires the full description of the statistical properties of the signal-absent and signal-present data, which are often unknown in tasks involving complex backgrounds. Furthermore, the dimension of the integrals that need to be calculated for the observer is huge. To estimate ideal-observer performance in detection tasks with non-Gaussian lumpy backgrounds, Kupinski et al. developed a Markovchain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, but this method has a disadvantage of long computation times. In an attempt to reduce the computation load and still approximate ideal-observer performance, Park et al. investigated a channelized-ideal observer (CIO) in similar tasks and found that the CIO with singular vectors of the imaging system approximated the performance of the ideal observer. But, in that work, an extension of the Kupinski MCMC was used for calculating the performance of the CIO and it did not reduce the computational burden. In the current work, we propose a new MCMC method, which we call a CIO-MCMC, to speed up the computation of the CIO. We use singular vectors of the imaging system as efficient channels for the ideal observer. Our results show that the CIO-MCMC has the potential to speed up the computation of ideal observer performance with a large number of channels.
Dose-response of retinoic acid induced stress protein synthesis and teratogenesis in mice

Stress proteins are synthesized in response to a variety of stressors, including several teratogenic agents. However, their role, if any, in the teratogenic process is unknown. We have previously demonstrated that all-trans-retinoic acid administered to pregnant CD-1 mice on gestational day 11 or 13 produced limb defects and cleft palate near term in a dose-responsive manner. This chemical also induced the synthesis of several nuclear stress proteins in embryonic tissues within several hours of dosing. The stress proteins were only observed in tissues that eventually became malformed and not in tissues that appeared normal at term. In the current work, we examined the stress response in embryonic target tissues after several different doses of retinoic acid. The nuclear stress proteins were synthesized in a dose-related manner and at a lower retinoic acid dose than doses producing malformations in the corresponding tissue at birth. Each individual stress protein and the total stress protein response were highly correlated, across dose, with the respective malformations observed at term.
Commentary on “Stimulation-based anticipation and control of state transitions in the epileptic brain” by Kalitzin, Velis, and Lopes da Silva

‘‘Stimulation-Based Anticipation and Control of State Transitions in the Epileptic Brain” (by Kalitzin, Velis, and Lopes da Silva) introduces the readership of Epilepsy & Behavior to a biophysical treatment (pun intended) of the formidable challenge of controlling pharmacoresistant seizures, which afflict a large number (36%) of people with epilepsy [1]. The gist of the ‘‘message” of Lopes da Silva’s group is that the different states of the epileptic brain (interictal, ictal, etc.) may each be thought of as having a certain shape and distinctive behavior. Transition from one state/shape to another (from interictal to ictal) may occur by way of a change in shape of the interictal attractor through a process of deformation, which may be predictable. A more prevalent scenario, though, may be that the epileptic brain is endowed with multiple attractors (interictal, ictal, etc.), and changes in state in this multistable system are due to ‘‘jumps” between attractors, a dynamic feature that makes prediction of seizure onset problematic. However, Kalitzin et al., provide support for their claim that perturbation of the epileptogenic zone with electrical pulses would allow statistical (read probabilistic) prediction of seizure onset. Their views on ictiogenesis shape their approach to the blockage of interstate transitions. They hypothesize that transitions (‘‘jumps” between attractors) in multistable systems may be reversed with even a single electrical pulse, a feature anticipated by Foss and Milton [2], and envision a different treatment for seizures resulting from a change in the shape of the system’s attractors. Recently, published work buttresses their postulates. The worth of this contribution is threefold: (1) It provides a ‘‘blueprint” for fruitful assimilation of knowledge that, although unfamiliar to many, is highly germane to epileptology, a dynamic disease [3]. (2) It provides a scientifically based therapeutic strategy. (3) It generates a testable hypothesis, without which trial and error (with all its limitations) becomes the default approach. As terms unfamiliar to neurologists and epileptologists populate the text, a glossary (written by Kalitzin and Osorio) is provided to facilitate ‘‘decoding” of the contents of this informative article.
Relationship between lectin monosaccharide specificity and binding to the plasma membrane of human fibroblasts.

Abstract The binding of concanavalin A to cultured normal human fibroblasts has been investigated. Scatchard analysis of the binding data shows the presence of two classes of concanavalin A binding site on the cell surface. One class of binding site, having a high affinity for concanavalin A, is saturated at 0.25 μg/ml. The other, lower affinity sites are saturated at 100 μg/ml concanavalin A. At 4°C the K a for the high affinity sites is approximately 2.2 · 10 6 M −1 . The average number of high affinity sites/cell is 3.1 · 10 6 , representing less than 1% of the total receptor sites for the lectin. The rate constants of association of concanavalin A are 5.4 · 10 6 M −1 · s −1 and 1.9 · 10 5 M −1 · s −1 for the high and low affinity sites, respectively. From these data, rate constants of dissociation have been calculated as 2.4 · 10 −3 s −1 for the high affinity sites and 0.8 · 10 −1 s −1 for the low affinity sites. Addition of methyl-α- D -mannopyranoside caused a rapid dissociation of concanavalin A from both binding sites. To further characterize the high and low affinity binding sites, we studied their interaction with other lectins. Nine lectins with a variety of carbohydrate binding speficificities were used. Pea and lentil lentins, which have very similar monosaccharide specificity to concanavalin A, inhibited concanavalin A binding by only 25% while concanavalin A completely inhibited the binding of both pea and lentin lectins. These results suggest that all pea and lentil lectin binding sites are also concanavalin A sites but that only one-quarter of all concanavalin A binding sites are also pea and lentil lectin sites. When lectins with monosaccharide specificities different from concanavalin A were studied, none had any effect on concanavalin A binding except wheat germ agglutinin which inhibited by 30%. We conclude that monosaccharide specificity alone is not sufficient to determine the sites to which a lectin will bind on the cell surface.
Developmental switch in phenotypic expression of preproenkephalin mRNA and 45Ca2+ accumulation following kainate-induced status epilepticus

Kainic acid-induced status epilepticus results in delayed degeneration of CA3 hippocampal neurons in the mature but not immature rat hippocampus. In adult rats, the putative opioid precursor, preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA increases in the dentate gyrus (DG), a region resistant to damage, following continuous limbic seizures. To explore why the immature brain is resistant to seizure-induced damage, the regional distribution of PPE mRNA expression and 45Ca2+ accumulation were compared in postnatal day 14 (P14) pup, and adult hippocampus at 5-6 h after kainate-induced status epilepticus. Inverted patterns of PPE expression and Ca2+ uptake were observed at the two ages. In P14 pups, PPE mRNA expression increased in DG and escalated in CA3, regions where 45Ca2+ accumulations were absent. In adult rats, PPE mRNA expression increased only in DG; 45Ca2+ labeling was predominant in CA3a,c and absent in DG. Pronounced increases in enkephalin neuropeptide synthesis in immature CA3 neurons may reduce glutamate release presynaptically and also prevent voltage-gated Ca2+ uptake into these neurons despite recurrent seizure activity. Opioid-mediated inhibition may provide an explanation for the resistance of the immature CA3 region to seizure-induced damage.
Subacute toxicity of apholate to the mature chicken

Abstract Apholate administered to mature chickens at varying levels in the diet from 500 to 5000 ppm produced a significant depression in reproductive performance. Fertility was completely depressed in both cocks and hens. Among males, semen volume, sperm concentration, and sperm motility were greatly depressed. Testis weight of these birds was significantly depressed, and microscopic examination of these tissues revealed degeneration of the cellular elements of the seminiferous tubules. Hens fed apholate-treated diets ceased egg production, and the gonads became highly involuted. Marked leukopenia occurred among apholate-treated males and females. Appreciable changes were not found in erythrocyte numbers except in the case of severe poisoning. Males were more sensitive to high levels of apholate in the diet than females as indicated by the severity of signs of apholate intoxication and greater mortality.
Effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on prostaglandin production by rat cerebral microvessels

Abstract Diabetes has been shown to result in reduced prostacyclin synthesis by macrovascular tissue in rats and humans. Other studies have shown that plasma levels of 6-keto-prostaglandin-F 1a (6-keto-PGF 1a ) and synthesis of 6-keto-PGF 1a by isolated glomeruli are either unchanged or increased in diabetes. Thus, microvascular tissue may respond differently to diabetes than macrovascular tissue. Accordingly, we have studied the effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus on prostaglandin synthesis by rat cerebral microvessel (RCMV). Prostaglandin synthesis from both endogenous and exogenous arachidonic acid was determined. The yield of RCMV from diabetic and control animals was similar. Under basal conditions and following stimulation of prostaglandin synthesis by melittin (5 μg/ml), RCMV production of prostacyclin (measured as immunoreactive 6-keto-PGF 1a was greater than production of PGE 2 . Both 6-keto-PGF 1a and PGE 2 production under basal and stimulated conditions were found to be similar for control and diabetic RCMV. The RCMV converted exogenous [ 3 h]arachidonic acid predominately to PGD 2 and to a lesser extent to 6-keto-PGF 1a . No significant differences in the conversion of exogenous [ 3 h]arachidonic acid to PGD 2 and 6-keto-PGF 1a was observed between control and diabetic RCMV. This study suggests that the effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus on prostaglandin formation by microvascular endothelium is different from its effect on macrovascular tissue.
Biogeochemistry: Who lives in the sea floor?

The sediments that blanket the sea floor contain tremendous numbers of microorganisms. This deep marine biosphere, which is probed by deep-sea drilling, is a new frontier for microbiologists and geochemists.
Dynamic-mechanical response of graphite/epoxy composite laminates and neat resin

Dynamic mechanical measurement results are presented for the case of carbon fiber-reinforced, epoxy matrix composite laminates subjected to loading perpendicular to the lamination plane, as well as for neat epoxy resin under the same conditions, where temperatures ranged between 20 and 200 C and deformation levels lie within the linear viscoelastic region. In-phase and out-of-phase stiffnesses are found to become superposed, forming master curves that cover a 12-decade frequency range. The application of a master curve scaling procedure shows that the in-phase stiffness has the same shape, and out-of-phase stiffness has the same dispersion, for all laminates irrespective of stacking sequence and are, in turn, nearly identical to those for the neat epoxy resin. An empirical function is found for the relaxation modulus which, when converted to a dynamic modulus, yields good overall agreement for both of the dynamic stiffness components as a function of frequency.