cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The use of cumulonimbus anvil growth data for inferences about the circulation in thunderstorms and severe local storms

The cumulonimbus anvil, studied by means of geosynchronous satellite, is used to reveal the circulation characteristics of local storms. Data is given for volume flux and divergence at the top of the storm, and these are compared with previous results by other investigators. Agreement is good, suggesting that satellite study of local storms is both useful and reliable. In regard to thunderstorm anvil outflow, a simple model of a point source in a uniform stream is shown to be a good approximation to observed anvil growth. Some evidence suggesting the interaction of proximate local storms with one another and with the environmental wind shear is presented. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1972.tb01558.x
Beyond "Voting with their Feet": Toward a Conceptual History of "America" in European Migrant Sending Communities, 1860s to 1914

The notion that most European immigrants "voted with their feet" by fleeing oppression for the political and religious freedom of the United States endures despite the contrary findings of years of migration research. This article calls the cliche into question in two ways. First, it presents some of the main findings of immigration scholarship that emphasize the role of labor and land, rather than freedom, as the principal factors drawing migrants from Europe. Second, the article applies methodologies from Begriffsgeschichte (the history of concepts) to interpret linguistic and folkloric sources from across Europe, discovering very different perceptions of America among ordinary nineteenth-century migrant sending communities. While some images were positive, others ranged from metaphorical associations of America with sleep, loss, and imprisonment, to satires of the myth of unlimited abundance, and resentment of the transformation U. S. society produced in many of the emigrants who went there. Rather than celebrating American exceptionalist credos by repeating platitudes about mass popular enthusiasm for American freedoms, this article calls for a more nuanced and deeper appreciation of the wide range of symbolic meanings America held in the minds of people who often left few written records of their views.
Learning about the game: designing science games for a generation of gamers

This paper is a response to “Challenges and Opportunities: Using a science-based video game in secondary school settings” by Rachel Muehrer, Jennifer Jenson, Jeremy Friedberg, and Nicole Husain. The article highlights two critical areas that I argue require more research in the studies of video games in education. The first area focuses on the need to better understand how children interact with non-educational games, outside of the school setting. This includes issues such as “gamer culture” and game play styles. The better we understand these issues, the better educational game designers and implementers can imagine the kinds of behaviors that might be elicited from students when we bring educational games into their classroom. In this focus, the student is the unit of analysis, but it is the student in and out of the classroom: the way the student understands video games when she is at home, playing with friends, and at school. The second area focuses on the study of the classroom as a unit of analysis. As the authors of this study reveal, classroom cultures affect the reception and success of an educational game. This is to ask, how does a game play when students have to play it in pairs or groups for a lack of resources? What is the role of the teacher in the success of video game implementation? How does a game react to multiple server requests in a short period of time? These are issues that are still largely unexplored in the educational game design literature.
Three-body scattering theory without knowledge of exact asymptotic boundary conditions

We formulate the theory of three-body scattering without explicit reference to exact asymptotic boundary conditions on the wave function. The transition rate and amplitude are expressed as volume integrals of the resolvent, which are insensitive to the region of asymptotically large distances. The physical branch of the resolvent is selected through the arrow of time, which is required to point forward in each subchannel. This is accomplished by first expressing the resolvent as an integral over time and then making a conformal transformation of each half of the time plane onto a unit disk. The physical branch corresponds to a path of integration in the upper half of the disk. We have tested the method, using a real discrete basis, by calculating the total cross section for singlet S-wave electron impact ionization of atomic hydrogen; our results are in reasonable agreement overall with the landmark results of Bartlet and Stelbovics [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 233201 (2004)].
Language and reading abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders and specific language impairment and their first‐degree relatives

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and specific language impairment (SLI) are developmental disorders exhibiting language deficits, but it is unclear whether they arise from similar etiologies. Language impairments have been described in family members of children with ASD and SLI, but few studies have quantified them. In this study, we examined IQ, language, and reading abilities of ASD and SLI children and their first-degree relatives to address whether the language difficulties observed in some children with ASD are familial and to better understand the degree of overlap between these disorders and their broader phenotypes. Participants were 52 autistic children, 36 children with SLI, their siblings, and their parents. The ASD group was divided into those with (ALI, n=32) and without (ALN, n=20) language impairment. Relationships between ASD severity and language performance were also examined in the ASD probands. ALI and SLI probands performed similarly on most measures while ALN probands scored higher. ALN and ALI probands' language scores were not related to Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule algorithm scores. SLI relatives scored lowest on all measures, and while scores were not in the impaired range, relatives of ALI children scored lower than relatives of ALN children on some measures, though not those showing highest heritability in SLI. Given that ALI relatives performed better than SLI relatives across the language measures, the hypothesis that ALI and SLI families share similar genetic loading for language is not strongly supported.
Metal surface Raman spectroscopy: Theory

Abstract Studies of the Raman and i.r. spectra of several molecules adsorbed to metal surfaces indicate that special selection rules govern these spectra. In the case of i.r. reflection adsorption spectroscopy (IRS) as in the related techniques of electron energy loss spectroscopy (ELS) and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS), only modes which develop dipole moment perpendicular to the metal surface can be excited. We have shown that an image field model which has been proposed to account for these observations is equivalent to the presence of a new symmetry operation which consists of simultaneous reflection in the plane of the metal surface plus charge conjugation. As a result, instead of the point group of the molecule, the symmetry group which should be used to analyze the motions of a molecule adsorbed to a metal surface consists of the direct product group of the molecular point group and another which is isomorphous with C 2 . Furthermore, the activity representations of the system, molecule + image, for both i.r. and Raman spectra, are those which are compatible with the totally symmetric representation of C 2 . Both i.r. and Raman spectra of oriented metal adsorbates can therefore be used to probe molecular orientation. Depolarization ratios for specific orientations and scattering geometries have been derived and used to analyze the results of several experimental examples. The adsorbed molecule whose Raman spectrum has been most thoroughly studied is pyridine on silver. Using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, we have been able to show that the silver surfaces are atomically quite clean. The case of pyridine adsorbed on Ag is also of interest because of the relative intensity of some of its Raman lines. By comparison with the same lines in liquid pyridine, the intensity is apparently enhanced by a factor of 10 4 . Several theories of this enhancement are analyzed, including the possibility that the enhancement is a demonstration of the resonance Raman effect in which the surface plasmons mix with molecular electronic states so as to form a continuum of intermediate states for the scattering. Each theory implies a particular dependence of the Raman intensity on the frequency of the exciting radiation. Resonance interaction with the surface plasmons gives the closest agreement with experimental results.
Exploratory Correlation Analysis among Age Identity, Proximity of Clothing to Self, and Self-Actualization for Older Persons in the United States

This large-scale research project contributes to the theory development in the importance of clothing to the self and in the way that older persons might age successfully by fulfilling the need for self-actualization by incorporating a primary resource environment, such as clothing into their self-system. This paper presents one research objective from a lager project that explores the correlations among the Proximity of Clothing to Self (PCS), age identity (subjective or perceived age), and self-actualization (the highest level of human needs). A mail survey design was applied to this study. In November 2004, two questionnaires, Clothing: A Resource for Successful Aging? (to measure PCS, age identity, and demographic variables) and Personal Orientation Inventory (to measure self-actualization), were sent to 1,700 older persons in the U.S. and 195 completed usable questionnaires were returned (12% response rate). This research discovered that the age identity of older persons did not relate with PCS except for those 85 years and over. There were negative correlations among subscales of PCS and self-actualization. This result can be interpreted as that an older person who has not met the highest level of needs yet, can use clothing as a facilitator or need satisfier to meet a higher level of Self-Actualization (SA). Correlation analyses also revealed that older persons in the age category of 75 to 84 years were different from those in the category of 65 to 74 years and 85 years and over. This result implies that older persons in this age category are undergoing more psychological transitions than those in other categories. Further research is necessary to explore the relationship of several SA subscales with various clothing variables such as clothing interest, clothing involvement, or clothing satisfaction.
Physical properties of the red cell agglutinins in acquired hemolytic anemia.

The sera of 8 patients with acquired hemolytic anemia associated with elevated levels of cold agglutinins were studied by various procedures of zone electrophoresis. The agglutinating activity was found associated with proteins of variable mobility in the different cases. The majority represented "fast" γ-globulins. The 4 sera with the highest titers of cold agglutinins showed distinguishable abnormal electrophoretic components. The titers correlated with the height of the abnormal components. Ultracentrifugal analysis of the electrophoretic fractions indicated that the cold agglutinins were associated with proteins having a sedimentation coefficient of approximately 19 S. The abnormal component from the serum with the highest biological activity showed almost no contamination with lower molecular weight proteins. The amount of 19 S material found correlated with the titer of agglutinating activity. The high molecular weight character of the cold agglutinins was confirmed by procedures of density gradient zone centrifugation. The biological activity sedimented with proteins of the 19 S class in all the sera including those of relatively low titer with which no abnormal electrophoretic components were observed. Dissociation of the abnormal high molecular weight components was possible by means of certain sulfhydryl compounds. This resulted in disappearance of cold agglutinin activity. Some of the cases could be classified as macroglobulinemias because of the very large content of high molecular weight components. However, the same disease picture occurred without recognizable elevation of these components. The sera of 3 patients with severe acquired hemolytic anemia of the warm type associated with warm incomplete antibodies failed to show similar abnormal electrophoretic components and the antibody activity sedimented with proteins of the 7 S class.
Semi-definite programming (SDP) for power output control in wind energy conversion system

One of the key issues in wind energy is the control design of the wind energy conversion system (WECS) to achieve an expected performance under both power system and mechanical constraints which are subject to stochastic wind speeds. Quadratic control methods are widely used in the literature for such purposes, e.g., Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) and Model Predictive Control (MPC). In this paper, chance constraints are considered to address the stochastic behavior of the wind speed fluctuation on control inputs and system outputs instead of deterministic constraints in the literature. Also considered are two different models: the first one assumes the wind speed measurement error is Gaussian, where chance constraints can be reduced to deterministic constraints with Gaussian statistics; while the second one assumes the error is norm bounded, which is likely more realistic to practicing engineers, and the problem is formulated as a min-max optimization problem which has not been considered in the literature. Then, both models are formulated as semi-definite programming (SDP) optimization problems that can be solved efficiently with existing software tools. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.
Van wyk and grumbach syndrome: an unusual case and review of the literature.

Abstract Background The syndrome consisting of primary hypothyroidism, precocious puberty, and massive ovarian cysts was termed Van Wyk and Grumbach syndrome in 1960. Little is known about the effect of the cysts on ovarian tumor markers. Case A 12-year-old Caucasian female presented with headaches and fatigue. Imaging to evaluate her headaches revealed a pituitary macroadenoma. Soon after her macroadenoma was discovered, she presented to the emergency room with abdominal pain. Imaging at that time revealed massive bilateral ovarian masses with the left measuring 17 × 13 × 8.5 cm and the right measuring 18 × 11 × 10 cm. Ovarian tumor markers were drawn at this time, most of which were highly elevated. Subsequent evaluation revealed extreme hypothyroidism. Given these findings of a pituitary macroadenoma, bilateral ovarian masses, and severe hypothyroidism, the patient was diagnosed with Van Wyk and Grumbach syndrome. We followed the cyst conservatively and the ovaries and tumor markers returned to normal after adequate thyroid replacement. Comments This case supports conservative treatment as the first-line approach to massive ovarian cysts caused by hypothyroidism. In addition this case shows that tumor markers can be abnormal in the absence of a malignancy in this setting. Before proceeding with surgical evaluation, exclusion of hypothyroidism to exclude this rare but treatable syndrome should be undertaken. The most important diagnostic clue that the cyst may be caused by an endocrine source is the finding of bilateral ovarian cysts rather than one ovary affected as seen in most ovarian malignancies in this age group.
Nonuniform and directional grain growth caused by grain boundary mobility variations

Most derivations of grain growth relations require an assumption of constant grain boundary mobility; in fact, a number of these relations cannot be derived if boundary mobility varies in space or time. Computer simulations of grain growth in which boundary mobility varies in time and/or space have been performed. When mobility varies continuously with position, grains grow with locally normal kinetics. In contrast, when the mobility profile in discontinuous, deviations from normal growth may appear near the mobility discontinuity. When the boundary mobility varies in time as well as in space, different growth morphologies can occur. Under a one-dimensional Gaussian mobility profile moving across the sample with some velocity, three growth regimes can occur. At low and high profile velocities, grain growth is equiaxed and normal. At intermediate velocities, a fully columnar grain structure forms; the width of the columnar grains evolves with normal growth kinetics.
The preparation and use of pyridoxal [32P]phosphate as a labeling reagent for proteins on the outer surface of membranes.

Abstract Pyridoxal [ 32 P] phosphate was prepared using [γ- 32 P]ATP, pyridoxal, and pyridoxine kinase purified from Escherichia coli B. The pyridoxal [ 32 P] phosphate obtained had a specific activity of at least 1 Ci/mmol. This reagent was used to label intact influenza virus, red blood cells, and both normal and transformed chick embryo fibroblasts. The cell or virus to be labeled was incubated with pyridoxal [ 32 P] phosphate. The Schiff base formed between pyridoxal [ 32 P] phosphate and protein amino groups was reduced with NaBH 4 . The distribution of pyridoxal [ 32 P] phosphate in cell membrane or virus envelope proteins was visualized by autoradiography of the proteins separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The labeling of the proteins of both influenza and chick cells appeared to be limited exclusively to those on the external surface of the virus or plasma membrane. With intact red blood cells the major portion of the probe was bound by external proteins, but a small amount of label was found associated with the internal proteins spectrin and hemoglobin.
A new process for converting SO2 to sulfur without generating secondary pollutants through reactions involving CaS and CaSO4.

Nonferrous smelters and coal gasification processes generate environmentally harmful sulfur dioxide streams, most of which are treated to produce sulfuric acid with the accompanying problems of market shortage and transportation difficulties. Some sulfur dioxide streams are scrubbed with an alkali solution or a solid substance such as limestone or dolomite, which in turn generates wastes that pose other pollution problems. While the conversion of sulfur dioxide to elemental sulfur has many environmental advantages, no processes exist that are environmentally acceptable and economically viable. A new method for converting sulfur dioxide to elemental sulfur by a cyclic process involving calcium sulfide and calcium sulfate without generating solid wastes has been developed. In this process, calcium sulfate pellets as the starting raw material are reduced by a suitable reducing agent such as hydrogen to produce calcium sulfide pellets, which are used to reduce sulfur dioxide producing elemental sulfur vapor a...
Judging a Book by its Album Cover: A Study of the Relationship Between Musical Preference and Personality

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between musical preference and personality. Despite an overall lack of research on this psychological aspect of music, a wide array of studies have indicated a strong relationship between musical preference and personality, income, criminality, and various other personal characteristics. Upon reviewing this related literature, it is clear that musical preference can be used as a reasonably good predictor of one’s personality. Furthermore, it is also clear that musical preference can often reveal a great deal about an individual’s lifestyle.
Rapid High Throughput Amylose Determination in Freeze Dried Potato Tuber Samples

This protocol describes a high through put colorimetric method that relies on the formation of a complex between iodine and chains of glucose molecules in starch. Iodine forms complexes with both amylose and long chains within amylopectin. After the addition of iodine to a starch sample, the maximum absorption of amylose and amylopectin occurs at 620 and 550 nm, respectively. The amylose/amylopectin ratio can be estimated from the ratio of the 620 and 550 nm absorbance values and comparing them to a standard curve in which specific known concentrations are plotted against absorption values. This high throughput, inexpensive method is reliable and reproducible, allowing the evaluation of large populations of potato clones.
Mortality in Vietnam, 1979-1989

Little is known about past and present mortality in Vietnam, as the first official data on mortality have only recently become available from censuses taken in 1979 and 1989. Using these data, I estimate Vietnamese mortality during the intercensal period using two techniques that rely on age-specific growth rates from two successive age distributions. Intercensal emigration and differential completeness of census enumeration associated with massive outflows of refugees in the wake of the Vietnam War; population-redistribution policies, and a highly mobile population represent important sources of bias for the estimation of intercensal mortality. I incorporate several strategies to minimize bias from these sources and to select the method that is least sensitive to errors associated with them. Life expectancy at birth estimated for the 1979–1989 intercensal period is 61.4 years for males and 63.2 for females. These results suggest a trend of declining mortality between the 1970s and the 1980s and add solid empirical evidence to the debate over whether mortality in Vietnam has been deteriorating or improving.
User-Defined Aggregates in Database Languages

User-defined aggregates (UDAs) can be the linchpin of sophisticated data mining functions and other advanced database applications, but they find little support in current database systems. In this paper, we describe the SQL-AG prototype that overcomes these limitations by supporting UDAs as originally proposed in Postgres and SQL3. Then we extend the power and flexibility of UDAs by adding (i) early returns, (to express online aggregation) and (ii) syntactically recognizable monotonic UDAs that can be used in recursive queries to support applications, such as Bill of Materials (BoM) and greedy algorithms for graph optimization, that cannot be expressed under stratified aggregation. T his paper proposes a unified solution to both the theoretical and practical problems of UDAs, and demonstrates the power of UDAs in dealing with advanced database applications.
Method and effect of adjustment for heterogeneous variance.

Lactation records were standardized for differing genetic and error variances across herds and over time based on phenotypic variance for each herd-year-parity group. Each herd-year-parity phenotypic variance estimate was combined with those of adjacent years and regressed toward a region-year-parity variance. Heritability was assumed to be .25 at mean variance within year and to range from .2 for herds with smallest phenotypic SD to .3 for herds with largest phenotypic SD. Lactation deviations from management group mean were adjusted by ratio of base genetic SD to genetic SD estimated from heritability and phenotypic SD. The base was defined as 1987 calvings for first parity and 1988 calvings for later parities. Records were weighted according to heritability by multiplying lactation length weight by herd error weight defined as ratio of base error variance to error variance in the adjusted record. Estimated genetic trend for milk increased by nearly 5 kg/yr for Holsteins with this adjustment, which caused predicted breeding values of oldest animals to be lower by about 100 kg. Most correlations of parent and progeny information were slightly higher with adjusted data. Cows in high variance herds were most likely to have large reductions in their evaluations. Adjustment for heterogeneous variance was implemented in July 1991 for national evaluations for yield traits.
Designing CMOS hardware processor for vehicle tracking

It is well known that vehicle tracking processes are very computationally intensive. Traditionally, vehicle tracking algorithms have been implemented using software approaches. The goal of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of developing a hardware-based tracking system. We propose a tracking algorithm with vehicle motion detection based on block matching algorithm, which is well suited to customized hardware implementation. The proposed tracking algorithm is first simulated in MATLAB and the CMOS circuit design was simulated in Cadence. When tested on traffic images captured from an intersection, it is found that vehicle movements can be accurately identified in spite of some noisy motion. Also, the estimated computational time for the hardware based tracking system is much reduced compared to traditional software-based tracking system.
A Novel Geometric Algorithm for Fast Wire-Optimized Floorplanning

As the size and complexity of VLSI circuits increase, the need for faster floorplanning algorithms also grows. In this work we introduce Traffic, a new method for creating wire- and area-optimized floorplans. Through the use of connectivity grouping, simple geometry, and efficient data structures, Traffic achieves higher result quality than Simulated Annealing (SA) in a fraction of the time. This speed allows designers to explore a large circuit design space in a reasonable amount of time, rapidly evaluate small changes to big circuits, and quickly produce initial solutions for other floorplanning algorithms.
Interactive data exploration with a supercomputer

Scientific data of high-dimensionality is particularly difficult to understand if there are complex (and perhaps unknown) interactions among parameters. In such situations, the scientist can turn to a process Tukey has called exploratory data visualization. In exploratory data visualisation, we typically do not know exactly what we are looking for; instead, we explore the data with a variety of visualization techniques that can help us understand the nature of the data by demonstrating patterns in it. Given the complexity of the data and the large number of ways to map the data to a display, exploratory visualization can be truly effective only if it can also be interactive. In this paper we describe an experiment in exploratory data visualization using a massively parallel processor. With this approach we were able to find new features in some of our oldest datasets and to create more vivid presentations of familiar features in these datasets. Our experience has also led us to a better understanding of the nature of exploratory visualization and has resulted in some formal representations of the interaction process in this environment.
Roles of residues in mammalian mitochondrial elongation factor Ts in the interaction with mitochondrial and bacterial elongation factor Tu.

Abstract The crystal structure of the complex betweenEscherichia coli elongation factors Tu and Ts (EF-Tu·Ts) and subsequent mutagenesis work have provided insights into the roles of a number of residues in E. coli EF-Ts in its interaction with EF-Tu. The corresponding residues in bovine mitochondrial EF-Ts (EF-Tsmt) have been mutated. The abilities of the resulting EF-Tsmt derivatives to stimulate the activities of bothE. coli and mitochondrial EF-Tu have been tested. Mutation of several residues in EF-Tsmt corresponding to amino acids important for the activity of E. coli EF-Ts has little or no effect on the activity of the mitochondrial factor, suggesting that these factors may use somewhat different mechanisms to promote guanine nucleotide exchange. In general, mutations that reduce the strength of the interaction between EF-Tsmt and E. coliEF-Tu increase the ability of EF-Tsmt to stimulate the activity of the bacterial factor. In contrast, these mutations tend to reduce the ability of EF-Tsmt to stimulate the activity of EF-Tumt. For example, F19A/I20A and H176A derivatives of EF-Tsmt are as active as E. coli EF-Ts in simulating E. coli EF-Tu. However, these mutations significantly decrease the ability of EF-Tsmt to stimulate EF-Tumt.
Diagnostic Classification of Learning Problems: Some Data.

Despite the large body of literature on diagnoses related to learning problems, little systematic information has been gathered on the specific labels assigned by professionals and the bases for their determination. In this study of children enrolled in a clinical school program, only one diagnosis out of fifteen resulted from a consistent pattern of test findings, while over half the diagnoses were based primarily on observation, and a third were arrived at despite contradictory evidence. Implications for current clinical and research practices are considered.
A relative access measure to identify barriers to efficient transit use by persons with visual impairments.

Purpose. Persons with visual impairments or blindness can face significant restrictions to their efficient travel, especially when attempting transit transfers and using a large, multi-modal terminal. Little is known about what makes some tasks much harder than others. This paper presents an approach to empirically measure the difficulty of a variety of transit tasks.Method. An experiment was conducted at an urban transit terminal, with three other transit modes nearby. Thirty persons with visual impairments attempted to make five simulated transfers between these modes. Errors and time to complete these tasks were collected in order to quantify the nature of various barriers to efficient travel for this group. In total, 20 locations were visited. Completion times were compared to a sighted traveler to determine a measure of the time penalty, or ‘relative access measure.’Results. Two basic findings are reported. Empirical data showed that different types of transit tasks and locations had a wide range of ...
Dynamic memory balancing for virtual machines

Virtualization essentially enables multiple operating systems and applications to run on one physical computer by multiplexing hardware resources. A key motivation for applying virtualization is to improve hardware resource utilization while maintaining reasonable quality of service. However, such a goal cannot be achieved without efficient resource management. Though most physical resources, such as processor cores and I/O devices, are shared among virtual machines using time slicing and can be scheduled flexibly based on priority, allocating an appropriate amount of main memory to virtual machines is more challenging. Different applications have different memory requirements. Even a single application shows varied working set sizes during its execution. An optimal memory management strategy under a virtualized environment thus needs to dynamically adjust memory allocation for each virtual machine, which further requires a prediction model that forecasts its host physical memory needs on the fly. This paper introduces MEmory Balancer (MEB) which dynamically monitors the memory usage of each virtual machine, accurately predicts its memory needs, and periodically reallocates host memory. MEB uses two effective memory predictors which, respectively, estimate the amount of memory available for reclaiming without a notable performance drop, and additional memory required for reducing the virtual machine paging penalty. Our experimental results show that our prediction schemes yield high accuracy and low overhead. Furthermore, the overall system throughput can be significantly improved with MEB.
Rewarding and aversive brain stimulation opposite effects on medial thalamic units.

Abstract Most of the neurons recorded from rat medial thalamus are inhibited by medial forebrain bundle and excited by reticular stimuli delivered at frequencies of 20–60 Hz. These opposite neural responses in single units parallel the opposite behavioral and motivational properties of the brain stimuli and may play a role in integrating reward and pain mechanisms.
Three-switch integrated single-phase rectifier-inverter converter in light PHEV powertrain

This manuscript proposes a novel and simple integrated rectifier-inverter converter topology to handle electric power exchange between generator or alternator, utility (for plug-in charging) and electric motor in light plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (LPHEV). The power system of PHEVs can be three-phase or single-phase based on overall system power capability, requirements or design criteria; however, this paper only deals with the presentation of a new idea related to single phase power architecture for light PHEVs. There are different topologies to exchange single-phase electric power in literature such as three full-bridges with 12 switches, three half-bridge with 4 switches and other conversion topologies in which three separate stages for motor, generator and utility are utilized. The performance evaluation of this novel rectifier-inverter structure includes output voltage regulation, output voltage total harmonic distortion (THD) and transient response for inverter section and power factor correction (PFC), common DC bus voltage regulation and DC bus neutral point imbalance rejection for rectifier. The proposed idea is supported by simulation and CHIL (controller hardware in the loop) results for a generator-utility input and a VSI(Voltage Source Inverter)-based single-phase induction motor.
Improving power save protocols using carrier sensing for dynamic advertisement windows

Energy efficient protocols are important in ad hoc networks since battery life for wireless devices is limited. The IEEE 802.11 protocol specifies a simple power save mechanism (PSM) to conserve energy. Packets are advertised for a fixed length of time, known as an advertisement window, at epochs known as beacon intervals. However, the protocol needlessly wastes energy when traffic is relatively light in a network. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing the use of carrier sensing to dynamically adjust the size of the advertisement windows. The adjustment is based on the amount of traffic that needs to be advertised in the current window as opposed to the static window size used by 802.11 PSM. Carrier sensing is used for two different aspects of our protocol. First, carrier sensing is used as an energy efficient method to provide a binary signal which lets neighbors know if a node intends to advertise any packets in the upcoming window. Second, carrier sensing is used as a mechanism for nodes to keep track of whether their neighbors have already stopped listening for advertisements and possibly returned to sleep. Using the ns-2 simulator we show that our techniques can significantly reduce the energy consumption of 802.11 PSM while only slightly increasing latency
Evaluation of a New Device for Rapidly Separating Serum or Plasma from Blood

I have evaluated the suitability of a new device for the rapid and efficient separation of cell-free serum or plasma from whole blood. Thirty-four clinical chemistry procedures were used in the analysis of 750 paired blood samples. One sample from each pair was processed by double centrifugation, the other by single centrifugation with the new device. Differences between means for the paired samples were evaluated by Student's t -test. At a significance level of P ≤ 0.05, only uric acid, lactate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 2, and CO2 show a statistically significant difference between the two separation procedures. These differences do not appear to be of sufficient magnitude to preclude use of the device in the clinical chemistry laboratory.
ZEUS results on the measurement and phenomenology of F(2) at low x and low Q**2

Measurements of the proton structure function \(F_2\) for \(0.6< Q^2 < 17 {\rm GeV}^2\) and \(1.2\times 10^{-5} < x < 1.9\times 10^{-3}\) from ZEUS 1995 shifted vertex data are presented. From ZEUS \(F_2\) data the slopes \(dF_2/d\ln Q^2\) at fixed x and \(d\ln F_2/d\ln(1/x)\) for \(x < 0.01\) at fixed \(Q^2\) are derived. For the latter, E665 data are also used. The transition region in \(Q^2\) is explored using the simplest non-perturbative models and NLO QCD. The data at very low \(Q^2 \leq 0.65{\rm GeV}^2\) are described successfully by a combination of generalised vector meson dominance and Regge theory. From a NLO QCD fit to ZEUS data the gluon density in the proton is extracted in the range \(3\times 10^{-5} < x < 0.7\). Data from NMC and BCDMS constrain the fit at large x. Assuming the NLO QCD description to be valid down to \(Q^2\sim 1{\rm GeV}^2\), it is found that the \(q\bar{q}\) sea distribution is still rising at small x and the lowest \(Q^2\) values whereas the gluon distribution is strongly suppressed.
Langmuir monolayer approaches to protein recognition through molecular imprinting.

Abstract Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been employed to investigate ferritin adsorption to binary surfactant monolayers of cationic dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DOMA) and non-ionic methyl stearate (SME). Surfactant molar ratios, miscibility, and lateral mobility were controlled to define the number, size, and distribution of “binding sites” for ferritin, which under the low ionic strength conditions investigated, adsorbed to the monolayers predominantly through electrostatic interactions. Successive adsorption/desorption cycles revealed that fluid monolayers, capable of laterally restructuring during the initial protein adsorption event, bound up to 60% more ferritin (dependent on SME:DOMA ratios) as compared to monolayers that were immobilized on a hydrophobic support during this first adsorption step. The enhanced binding of ferritin to fluid monolayers was accentuated in films having non-ionic SME as the principal component. These findings support the premise that the surfactants reorganize to form favorable interactions with an adsorbing protein, leading to protein specific charge patterns, or templates, in the films. Template assessment, however, was complicated by the presence of an irreversibly bound protein fraction, which AFM revealed to be locally ordered protein clusters.
The design and fabrication of fiber-reinforced implant prostheses

Abstract The use of fiber composite technology in the creation of metal-free implant prostheses may solve many of the problems associated with a metal alloy substructure such as corrosion, toxicity, complexity of fabrication, high cost, and esthetic limitations. Laboratory and clinical research evaluating glass fiber-reinforced composite prostheses used to restore and replace teeth has shown that these materials exhibit excellent mechanical properties and can form a chemical bond to resin-based veneer materials such as those used in the fabrication of certain types of implant prostheses. Two different designs of fiber-reinforced composite implant prostheses have been developed and placed in human subjects. One design (screw-retained, retrievable prosthesis) is used with implant abutments that allow for screw-retained prostheses; the other design is used with abutments that retain prostheses with a luting material. Both designs are described in this article. The prostheses have functioned well in a small group of preliminary subjects, but clinical trials with larger subject populations are needed to more completely evaluate the potential of fiber-reinforced composites in implant prosthodontics. (J Prosthet Dent 2002;88:449-54.)
Synthesis of dispersed surface waves by means of Fourier transform

ABSTRACT Flexual disturbances propagated upon a thin aluminum plate were studied experimentally. The thickness of the plate is 1.0 mm., and the distances between the source and the observation points are r = 0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, 15.0, and 20.0 cm. Using the method of Fourier transform, the dispersion curve was obtained. It agrees well with the theory, and the thickness of the plate was estimated with good accuracy (0.981 mm.). Disturbances at the distances 7.0, 3.0, and 0 cm. were numerically reproduced by means of Fourier synthesis from the data obtained at r = 15 cm. and 20 cm., and were compared with the observed disturbances. The agreement of the two kinds of curves are fairly good, with a little larger discrepancy for the case r = 0 than for the others.
Distributed Coordination Control for Multi-Robot Networks Using Lyapunov-Like Barrier Functions

This paper addresses the problem of multi-agent coordination and control under multiple objectives, and presents a set-theoretic formulation amenable to Lyapunov-based analysis and control design. A novel class of Lyapunov-like barrier functions is introduced and used to encode multiple, non-trivial control objectives, such as collision avoidance, proximity maintenance and convergence to desired destinations. The construction is based on recentered barrier functions and on maximum approximation functions. Thus, a single Lyapunov-like function is used to encode the constrained set of each agent, yielding simple, gradient-based control solutions. The derived control strategies are distributed, i.e., based on information locally available to each agent, which is dictated by sensing and communication limitations. Furthermore, the proposed coordination protocol dictates semi-cooperative conflict resolution among agents, which can be also thought as prioritization, as well as conflict resolution with respect to an agent (the leader) which is not actively participating in collision avoidance, except when necessary. The considered scenario is pertinent to surveillance tasks and involves nonholonomic vehicles. The efficacy of the approach is demonstrated through simulation results.
History of Prostate-Specific Antigen, from Detection to Overdiagnosis

The history of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is full of significant discoveries that have revolutionized the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. In this chapter we summarize the history of the discovery of PSA and how it became such an integral part of prostate cancer management. Basic biology and physiology of PSA will also be discussed to provide insight about its current and future applications.
Winning Coalitions for Climate Policy: Green Industrial Policy Builds Support for Carbon Regulation

The gap is wide between the implications of climate science and the achievements of climate policy. Natural sciences tell us with increasing certainty that climate change is real, dangerous, and solvable; social sciences report that key constituencies largely support action. But current and planned policy remains weak and will allow a long-term increase in temperature of 3.6°C (1). How can we address the gap between science and policy? From the political successes of climate policy leaders, we identify key strategies for building winning coalitions for decarbonization of domestic economies. Green industrial policy provides direct incentives for growth of green industries, which builds political support for carbon regulation.
Low functional robustness in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

Abstract Objectives Brain functional topology was investigated in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) by means of graph theory measures in two differentially defined graphs. Measures of segregation, integration, and centrality were compared between subjects with mTLE and healthy controls (HC). Methods Eleven subjects with mTLE (age 36.5±10.9years) and 15 age-matched HC (age 36.8±14.0years) participated in this study. Both anatomically and functionally defined adjacency matrices were used to investigate the measures. Binary undirected graphs were constructed to study network segregation by calculating global clustering and modularity, and network integration by calculating local and global efficiency. Node degree and participation coefficient were also computed in order to investigate network hubs and their classification into provincial or connector hubs. Measures were investigated in a range of low to medium graph density. Results The group of patients presented lower global segregation than HC while showing higher global but lower local integration. They also failed to engage regions that comprise the default-mode network (DMN) as hubs such as bilateral medial frontal regions, PCC/precuneus complex, and right inferior parietal lobule, which were present in controls. Furthermore, the cerebellum in subjects with mTLE seemed to be playing a major role in the integration of their functional networks, which was evident through the engagement of cerebellar regions as connector hubs. Conclusions Functional networks in subjects with mTLE presented both global and local abnormalities compared to healthy subjects. Specifically, there was significant separation between groups, with lower global segregation and slightly higher global integration observed in patients. This could be indicative of a network that is working as a whole instead of in segregated or specialized communities, which could translate into a less robust network and more prone to disruption in the group with epilepsy. Furthermore, functional irregularities were also observed in the group of patients in terms of the engagement of cerebellar regions as hubs while failing to engage DMN-related areas as major hubs in the network. The use of two differentially defined graphs synergistically contributed to findings.
Mechanistic investigations of matrix metalloproteinase-8 inhibition by metal abstraction peptide.

The mechanism of matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) inhibition was investigated using ellipsometric measurements of the interaction of MMP-8 with a surface bound peptide inhibitor, tether-metal abstraction peptide (MAP), bound to self-assembled monolayer films. MMP-8 is a collagenase whose activity and dysregulation have been implicated in a number of disease states, including cancer metastasis, diabetic neuropathy, and degradation of biomedical reconstructions, including dental restorations. Regulation of activity of MMP-8 and other matrix metalloproteinases is thus a significant, but challenging, therapeutic target. Strong inhibition of MMP-8 activity has recently been achieved via the small metal binding peptide tether-MAP. Here, the authors elucidate the mechanism of this inhibition and demonstrate that it occurs through the direct interaction of the MAP Tag and the Zn2+ binding site in the MMP-8 active site. This enhanced understanding of the mechanism of inhibition will allow the design of more pote...
A taxonomic review of the trapdoor spider genus Promyrmekiaphila Schenkel (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Cyrtaucheniidae, Euctenizinae)

The mygalomorph spider genus Promyrmekiaphila comprises two species known from northern and central California. The type species, P. clathrata (Simon), is considered a senior synonym of P. gertschi Schenkel and P. zebra (Chamberlin & Ivie); male and female exemplar specimens are described. A new species, Promyrmekiaphila winnemem, from Shasta and Tehama Counties in northern California, is described.
Spontaneous Resolution of Presumed Idiopathic Elevated Episcleral Venous Pressure.

PURPOSE To report a case of presumed idiopathic elevated episcleral venous pressure (EVP) initially requiring medical management. METHODS We present a case report of a 28-year-old white man presenting with eye redness and soreness as a referral to the glaucoma service. He was diagnosed with idiopathic elevated EVP after systematic workup. RESULTS Unilateral elevated intraocular pressure was detected along with dilated episcleral vessels, mild cupping of optic nerve head, and blood in Schlemm's canal, yet negative angiographic imaging and hypercoagulable labs. Topical antiglaucoma medication normalized intraocular pressure, which then maintained with resolution of episcleral vessel caliper and blood in Schlemm's canal after discontinuation of medication. CONCLUSIONS This is the first reported case of spontaneous resolution of presumed idiopathic elevated EVP, persisting after discontinuation of medical therapy and without surgical intervention.