cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two-Dimensional Resonance Raman Signatures of Vibronic Coherence Transfer in Chemical Reactions.

Two-dimensional resonance Raman (2DRR) spectroscopy has been developed for studies of photochemical reaction mechanisms and structural heterogeneity in condensed phase systems. 2DRR spectroscopy is motivated by knowledge of non-equilibrium effects that cannot be detected with traditional resonance Raman spectroscopy. For example, 2DRR spectra may reveal correlated distributions of reactant and product geometries in systems that undergo chemical reactions on the femtosecond time scale. Structural heterogeneity in an ensemble may also be reflected in the 2D spectroscopic line shapes of both reactive and non-reactive systems. In this chapter, these capabilities of 2DRR spectroscopy are discussed in the context of recent applications to the photodissociation reactions of triiodide. We show that signatures of “vibronic coherence transfer” in the photodissociation process can be targeted with particular 2DRR pulse sequences. Key differences between the signal generation mechanisms for 2DRR and off-resonant 2D Raman spectroscopy techniques are also addressed. Overall, recent experimental developments and applications of the 2DRR method suggest that it will be a valuable tool for elucidating ultrafast chemical reaction mechanisms.
Severe sepsis and cardiac arrhythmias.

Background: Although sepsis is a known risk factor for cardiac arrhythmias, data on incidence and outcomes of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias in severe sepsis is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of severe sepsis with cardiac arrhythmias and their impact on outcome in this patient population. Methods: We used hospital discharge data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) during the year 2012. All patients 18 years or older were included in the study. The International Classification of Diseases—Clinical Modi cation, 9th revision (ICD-9-CM) code was used to identify patients with discharge diagnosis of severe sepsis, atrial brillation (A Fib), atrial utter (AFL), ventricular brillation (VF) arrest and non-ventricular brillation (non-VF) arrest. In order to study the association of arrhythmias with severe sepsis, two groups were defined: group a—with severe sepsis was compared to group b—without severe sepsis. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression methods were used to adjust for potential confounding factors and variables associated with cardiac arrhythmias were determined. Results: A total of 30,712,524 NIS hospital discharges (weighted for national estimate) were included in our study, of which 1,756,965 (5.7%) had severe sepsis. On multivariate analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders, severe sepsis was associated with higher risk of A Fib (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.21–1.24), AFL (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.30–1.40), VF arrest (OR, 2.58; 95% CI, 2.38–2.79) (OR, 3.31; 95% CI, 3.07–3.57) and non-VF arrest (OR, 4.91; 95% CI, 4.74–5.07). In the severe sepsis group, cardiac arrhythmia was associated with higher in-hospital mortality (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.37–1.45), length of stay (LOS) >75% quartile (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.46–1.53) and total hospital charges >75% quartile (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.34–1.41). Advanced age, male sex, ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus (DM), congestive heart failure (CHF), valvular heart disease, respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation and use of vasopressors were independently associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Conclusions: Patients with severe sepsis are at high risk of atrial and life threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Despite adjustment for potential confounding factors, patients hospitalized with severe sepsis carry a signi cantly higher risk for cardiac arrest and increased mortality.
Applications of the hybrid finite element method

The hybrid finite element analysis (Hybrid FEA) method is based on combining conventional finite element analysis (FEA) with energy finite element analysis (EFEA) for expediting the FEA computations when very dense models are needed. The difficulty in using conventional FEA at higher frequencies originates from requiring a very large number of elements in order to capture the flexible wavelength of the panel members which are present in a structure. In the Hybrid FEA the conventional FEA model is modified by de-activating the bending behavior of the flexible panels in the FEA computations and introducing instead a large number of dynamic impedance elements for representing the omitted bending behavior. The excitation is considered to be applied on the conventional FEA model and the vibration analysis is conducted. The power flow through the dynamic impedance elements is computed and applied as excitation to the EFEA model of the flexible panels. The EFEA analysis computes the vibration of the flexible panels. In the past, the Hybrid FEA has been utilized successfully for evaluating the vibration is production automotive and rotorcraft structures. A brief theoretical background will be reviewed, the practical aspects of the method will be discussed, and results from previous correlation studies will be presented.The hybrid finite element analysis (Hybrid FEA) method is based on combining conventional finite element analysis (FEA) with energy finite element analysis (EFEA) for expediting the FEA computations when very dense models are needed. The difficulty in using conventional FEA at higher frequencies originates from requiring a very large number of elements in order to capture the flexible wavelength of the panel members which are present in a structure. In the Hybrid FEA the conventional FEA model is modified by de-activating the bending behavior of the flexible panels in the FEA computations and introducing instead a large number of dynamic impedance elements for representing the omitted bending behavior. The excitation is considered to be applied on the conventional FEA model and the vibration analysis is conducted. The power flow through the dynamic impedance elements is computed and applied as excitation to the EFEA model of the flexible panels. The EFEA analysis computes the vibration of the flexible pan...
Views Of Primary Care Providers On Testing Patients For Genetic Risks For Common Chronic Diseases.

We surveyed 488 primary care providers in community and academic practices in New York City in the period 2014–16 about their views on genetic testing for chronic diseases. The majority of the providers, most of whom were current or recent physicians in training, had had formal genetics education and had positive views of the utility of genetic testing. However, they felt unprepared to work with patients at high risk for genetic conditions and were not confident about interpreting test results. Many were concerned that genetic testing might lead to insurance discrimination and lacked trust in companies that offer genetic tests. These findings point to some of the attitudes and knowledge gaps among the providers that should be considered in the clinical implementation of genomic medicine for chronic conditions. Enhanced training, guidelines, clinical tools, and awareness of patient protections might support the effective adoption of genomic medicine by primary care providers.
Numerical methods and computers used in elastohydrodynamic lubrication

Some of the methods of obtaining approximate numerical solutions to boundary value problems that arise in elastohydrodynamic lubrication are reviewed. The highlights of four general approaches (direct, inverse, quasi-inverse, and Newton-Raphson) are sketched. Advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are presented along with a flow chart showing some of the details of each. The basic question of numerical stability of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication solutions, especially in the pressure spike region, is considered. Computers used to solve this important class of lubrication problems are briefly described, with emphasis on supercomputers.
Antiferromagnetic Instability in Substitutional Alloys

We study the Hubbard1 model of electrons in a disordered narrow band in the limit when the disorder is stronger than the electron-electron repulsion, U. Some new results for the staggered (antiferromagnetic) susceptibility in the small-U limit are obtained, and contrasted with earlier approximate treatments of this model. Disorder appears to enhance the tendency towards antiferromagnetism in the system considered.
Dissociative photoionization of CH3C(O)CH2 to C2H5

Abstract We use a combination of crossed laser-molecular beam scattering experiments and velocity map imaging experiments to investigate the dissociative ionization of the CH3C(O)CH2 radical to C2H5+. We form the radical from C–Cl bond fission in the photodissociation of chloroacetone at 193 nm. Upon 10.5 eV VUV photoionization, the radical is not detected at a parent mass-to-charge ratio of 57, but instead is only detected at the fragment m/z = 29 (C2H5+). While the appearance of multiple daughter ions is expected, and indeed observed, using 200 eV electron bombardment ionization, one normally expects “soft” VUV photoionization to give signal at parent ion. We present electronic structure calculations that offer an explanation of our experimental results. The results presented herein also confirm the presence of a minor dissociation channel for the highly vibrationally excited CH3C(O)CH2 radicals – one that forms C2H5 + CO following isomerization to CH3CH2CO.
AI Meets AI: Leveraging Query Executions to Improve Index Recommendations

State-of-the-art index tuners rely on query optimizer's cost estimates to search for the index configuration with the largest estimated execution cost improvement`. Due to well-known limitations in optimizer's estimates, in a significant fraction of cases, an index estimated to improve a query's execution cost, e.g., CPU time, makes that worse when implemented. Such errors are a major impediment for automated indexing in production systems. We observe that comparing the execution cost of two plans of the same query corresponding to different index configurations is a key step during index tuning. Instead of using optimizer's estimates for such comparison, our key insight is that formulating it as a classification task in machine learning results in significantly higher accuracy. We present a study of the design space for this classification problem. We further show how to integrate this classifier into the state-of-the-art index tuners with minimal modifications, i.e., how artificial intelligence (AI) can benefit automated indexing (AI). Our evaluation using industry-standard benchmarks and a large number of real customer workloads demonstrates up to 5x reduction in the errors in identifying the cheaper plan in a pair, which eliminates almost all query execution cost regressions when the model is used in index tuning.
Immersive Learning for Scale and Order of Magnitude in Newtonian Mechanics

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding on the role of immersive learning in regards to one’s intuition on the order of magnitude and scale, by using projectile motion as an example of Newton mechanics. We developed a semi-tangible virtual reality (VR) application that serves as virtual learning environment (VLE). In this application, participants throw objects and explore the effects of different conditions, such as variations in gravity and air density. A questionnaire was conducted prior to and following the VR experience. Its purpose was to assess the participant’s skill in estimating an object’s behavior in varying conditions and their perception of the immersive experience. The VLE aimed to immersively train the participants to improve their perception of the scale and order of magnitude of key variables in Newtonian Physics. Our studies have shown that a semi-tangible virtual reality application improves the intuition of the scale and order of magnitude for the given Newtonian sample system and provide a highly immersive experience.
At the Crossroads of Intersecting Ideologies: Community-Based Art Education, Community Engagement, and Social Practice Art

In this article, I examine the intersecting ideologies and practices of community engagement, social practice art, and community-based art education through social interaction and cooperation. Usin...
SiC Cantilevers for Generating Uniaxial Stress

This paper demonstrates the first beam resonators fabricated from bulk high purity semi-insulating 4H Silicon Carbide wafers (HPSI 4H-SiC). Our innovations include: (1) Multi-level front-side, back-side inductively coupled plasma- deep reactive ion etching (ICP-DRIE) technology to fabricate thin, low-mass, bending-mode resonators framed by the SiC substrate (2) Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) measurements of mechanical quality factors (Q) > 10,000 with frequencies ranging from 300 kHz to 8MHz and (3) Calculated uniaxial in-plane surface stress 20 MPa at top surface of resonator base when operating at resonance in vacuum.
Safe Off-Policy Deep Reinforcement Learning Algorithm for Volt-VAR Control in Power Distribution Systems

Volt-VAR control is critical to keeping distribution network voltages within allowable range, minimizing losses, and reducing wear and tear of voltage regulating devices. To deal with incomplete and inaccurate distribution network models, we propose a safe off-policy deep reinforcement learning algorithm to solve Volt-VAR control problems in a model-free manner. The Volt-VAR control problem is formulated as a constrained Markov decision process with discrete action space, and solved by our proposed constrained soft actor-critic algorithm. Our proposed reinforcement learning algorithm achieves scalability, sample efficiency, and constraint satisfaction by synergistically combining the merits of the maximum-entropy framework, the method of multiplier, a device-decoupled neural network structure, and an ordinal encoding scheme. Comprehensive numerical studies with the IEEE distribution test feeders show that our proposed algorithm outperforms the existing reinforcement learning algorithms and conventional optimization-based approaches on a large feeder.
Texas Estate Planning Judicial Update: End of 2019 Edition

This article discusses recent judicial developments (last half of 2019) relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters. The discussion of each case concludes with a moral, i.e., the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that have led to time consuming and costly litigation in the past, estate planners can reduce the likelihood of the same situations arising with their clients.
Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse: A Pharmacy Technician Tool Kit.

The misuse of prescription medications in the United States is a worsening public health problem. Pharmacy technicians are often the first pharmacy staff member to receive newly dropped off prescri...
Perceived diagnostics of virtual try-on technologies and attitudes toward men's suits

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of virtual try-on technologies and their perceived diagnostics on consumers' purchase intentions for men's suits using a conceptual model based on the stimulus-organism-response theory. A within-subjects research design was developed to empirically test the conceptual model and a total of 264 usable participant responses were collected. Participants were directed to a website to virtually try men's suits in different sizes, colours, fits, and designs on their personalised avatars. Perceived diagnostics from virtual try-on technologies were found to reduce consumers' perceived risks regarding product attributes and to increase purchase intentions for Hugo Boss men's suits. Therefore, we suggest that e-fashion retailers and technology developers continue to enhance and implement virtual try-on technologies and vivid 3D images in the sale of apparel. Also, men's wear companies should provide sufficient information about product attributes to strengthen perceived diagnostics through 3D technologies, thus increasing e-consumers' purchasing intentions for the apparel.
Simple model for the nonlinear radiation field of a free electron laser

It is shown that Jacobi elliptic function solutions of the nonlinear Duffing equation model the radiation field in a high-gain free electron laser through early saturation. After initial start-up, the field can be expressed equivalently with a hyperbolic secant. The model is derived for arbitrary detuning from resonance, which enables study of the spectral properties in the early nonlinear regime.
General Feasibility Bounds for Sample Average Approximation via Vapnik-Chervonenkis Dimension

We investigate the feasibility of sample average approximation (SAA) for general stochastic optimization problems, including two-stage stochastic programming without the relatively complete recourse assumption. Instead of analyzing problems with specific structures, we utilize results from the Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC) dimension and Probably Approximately Correct learning to provide a general framework that offers explicit feasibility bounds for SAA solutions under minimal structural or distributional assumption. We show that, as long as the hypothesis class formed by the feasbible region has a finite VC dimension, the infeasibility of SAA solutions decreases exponentially with computable rates and explicitly identifiable accompanying constants. We demonstrate how our bounds apply more generally and competitively compared to existing results.
Characterization of select physical and thermal properties of crystalline 97% 10B powder

Abstract A thermal+epithermal neutron irradiation canister was constructed at the University of Texas at Austin’s TRIGA Mark-II reactor to create an irradiation facility with a fast neutron energy spectrum resembling the Watt fission spectrum. The irradiation canister primarily used 97% enriched 10 B powder wrapped in a 0.5 mm layer of Cd. This work details a follow-up on the heating studies of the facility where the boron powder involved did not have a well documented thermal conductivity measurement existing in literature. Two experiments using the radial heat flow methodology were performed to measure the effective thermal conductivity of the irradiation canister and consequentially the boron powder. An outside experiment performed by Hot Disk® was used to affirm the results of the radial heat flow method. Hot Disk® reported the thermal conductivity to be 0.2255 ± 0 . 0012 W m K at 23 °C. Extrapolations of a powder-bed approximation concluded the agreement between the radial heat flow method data and the Hot Disk® data. SolidWorks Flow simulations were performed to determine the heating in the irradiation canister at a reactor power level of 950 kW. The heating in the irradiation canister was modeled using MCNP6.1.1beta +F6 tallies. SEM, XRD, FTIR and TOF-SIMS were performed to characterize the powder’s morphology, structure and isotopic composition. Boric acid was found to comprise about 2% of the mass content of the air-exposed powder samples.
The Role of Acceptance in the Transition to Adulthood: A Multi-Informant Comparison of Practitioners, Families, and Youth with Autism

This study investigated the role of acceptance during the transition process among autistic young adults, parents, and practitioners. Six focus groups were run and thematic analysis was used to identify four themes: Youth on the autism spectrum discussed transition as a time where Self-Advocacy and Self-Acceptance were salient. Both youth and parents discussed the Lack of Understanding and Acceptance they experience. Particularly, youth highlighted the lack of understanding of sensory needs and parents underscored the lack of understanding by medical professionals. In contrast, practitioners highlighted the presence of Community Openness. Both practitioners and parents discussed Finding Personal Support through Acceptance. Self-acceptance and acceptance of autism are imperative for autistic young adults and families to achieve well-being.
Queering the ED: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Health in Emergency Medicine

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) community has made significant advances in recent years, yet disparities in health and healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes still persist. These disparities reflect a long history of structural stigma, discrimination, and violence targeted at sexual minorities, in which the healthcare system is complicit (Eckstrand et al., Trauma and resilience in the lives of people who are or may be LGBT, gender nonconforming, or born with DSD: implications for clinical care and health outcomes. Association for American Medical Colleges, 2014). In order to eliminate these disparities, emergency medicine providers (EPs) must understand how to competently address the unique healthcare needs of patients who may identify as LGBQ and work to provide an affirmative, respectful, and inclusive care environment. In addition, it is imperative to more effectively incorporate such skills into both medical education and emergency medicine (EM) training programs.
NOVIA: A Framework for Discovering Non-Conventional Inline Accelerators

Accelerators provide an increasingly valuable source of performance in modern computing systems. In most cases, accelerators are implemented as stand-alone, offload engines to which the processor can send large computation tasks. For many edge devices, as performance needs increase accelerators become essential, but the tight constraints on these devices limit the extent to which offload engines can be incorporated. An alternative is inline accelerators, which can be integrated as part of the core and provide performance with much smaller start-up times and area overheads. While inline accelerators allow greater flexibility in the interface and acceleration of finer grain code, determining good inline candidate accelerators is non-trivial. In this paper, we present NOVIA, a framework to derive inline accelerators by examining the workload source code and identifying inline accelerator candidates that provide benefits across many different regions of the workload. These NOVIA-derived accelerators are then integrated into an embedded core. For this core, NOVIA produces inline accelerators that improve the performance of various benchmark suites like EEMBC Autobench 2.0 and Mediabench by 1.37x with only a 3% core area increase.
Understanding Circadian Mechanisms of Sudden Cardiac Death: A Report From the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop, Part 2: Population and Clinical Considerations.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the sudden, unexpected death due to abrupt loss of heart function secondary to cardiovascular disease. In certain populations living with cardiovascular disease, SCD f...
A Standard Design Process for Sustainable Design

Abstract This exploratory research examined the degree of adoption and impact of the concepts of Building Information Model (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Integrated Design Process (IDP) and Building Energy Simulation (BES) on the design processes of advanced architectural firms when executing sustainable design. Six offices identified by the press and peers’ recognition for a strong commitment to sustainable design and influence in the design of high performance buildings were selected. In semi-standardized interviews, these firms presented their perceptions of the influence of BIM, BES, and IPD/IDP. The results show that a generalization of sustainable design processes is possible. A design process for sustainability (DEPROSU) model was created by collecting best practices from data gathered from the interviews and the critical literature review. This research provides evidence of commonalities found in the design processes of the selected firms. These commonalities represented in the DEPROSU model can potentially be validated as protocols or standards for sustainable design, providing architectural design practices with concrete patterns for improvement and or validation of their design methods.
Studies on the erythropoietic stimulating factor in the plasma of mice after receiving testosterone.

Abstract Plasma of mice injected with testosterone contained a detectable increase of an erythropoietic stimulating factor (ESF). ESF was no longer present if bilateral nephrectomy was performed 8 hours prior to collecting the plasma. On the other hand if both ureters were ligated 8 hours prior to sampling, the plasma levels were even higher than in unoperated mice. The plasma ESF activity following testosterone was neutralized by incubation with antierythopoietin, suggesting its identity with erythropoietin. We propose that testosterone stimulates erythropoiesis by altering the kidneys and thereby somehow increasing erythropoietin production.
An empirical approach to derive MODIS ocean color patterns under severe sun glint

[1] Oil tracking in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the Deepwater Horizon accident requires timely and accurate observations of major circulation patterns such as the Loop Current and LC eddies. When the eastern GOM becomes nearly isothermal at the surface and the use of sea surface temperature imagery is limited, MODIS ocean color data can be used instead. However, frequent and extensive sun glint prevents such an application when glint reflectance, Lg, is >0.01 sr−1. Here, an empirical approach is developed to remove sun glint and clouds based on band ratios between the Rayleigh-corrected reflectance (Rrc) at 469, 555, 645, 859, and 1240-nm. To minimize the effect of residual errors due to variable aerosols and imperfect glint correction, a color index (CI) is derived to represent the color patterns. Comparison between results from adjacent days with different glint and aerosol patterns suggests that the approach is able to derive consistent color patterns under severe sun glint (Lg < 0.15 sr−1). Tests of the approach over the Tropical Atlantic, East China Sea, and ocean waters off South Africa further validate the approach's general applicability. The color index (CI) also shows significant correlation with MODIS band-ratio Chl (<1 mg m−3) for each case examined. The simple design of the approach makes it straightforward to implement for other subtropical and tropical regions when a qualitative MODIS CI is desired to infer circulation patterns and to trace eddies under severe sun glint.
Anita Hill Meets Godzilla: Confessions of a Horror Movie Fan

The cases and events discussed in this Essay involve African-American women who have confronted oppression in the civil and criminal courts, and other arenas, in both celebrated and unsung victories: victories not only for Black women, but for women and men of all hues who seek social justice. I will use these cases and events to illustrate the relationship between stereotypes and myths, born during the antebellum and Jim Crow era, and contemporary manifestations of sexual harassment and other forms of sex-based *1922 exploitation. I will go on to discuss the means used by women, in the workplace of chattel slavery, to resist racial oppression and sexual exploitation based on myths and stereotypes.
Agreement about acts of aggression in marriage

Psychological and Physical Aggression scales met internal consistency and agreement standards on the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) in a randomly recruited sample of 453 married community couples with children. Moreover, partners agreed on the extent of psychological and physical aggression as much or more than they did on CTS2 Negotiation scale and positive behaviors assessed on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. On the other hand, the CTS2 Sexual Coercion and Injury scales had much lower internal consistencies as measured by Cronbach's alpha, and agreement was generally very low. Men and women reported less abusive behavior and consequent injury than partners reported about them. Correction factors were provided for prevalence estimates of abusive behavior and injury when only perpetrator reports were available.
Mother sold food, daughter sells her body: the cultural continuity of prostitution.

Abstract This article provides a cultural interpretation of female prostitution in contemporary lowland Buddhist Thai society. The heterosexual transmission of AIDS through prostitution has exposed the shallowness of our understanding of prostitution as a sociocultural phenomenon. The data were collected through case studies, participant-observation, and review of Thai language media and texts. It is argued that in the past decade or so, the simultaneous rapid growth of prostitution as a lucrative sex industry and of the Thai economy as an emerging newly industrialized country (NIC) have, paradoxically, enabled female prostitutes to conserve the basic institutions of society. This has occured at a time when landlessness, rampant commercialism and poverty have threatened the survival of traditional lifeways among the majority rural agricultural population. Prostitution, although illegal, has flourished at least in part because it enables women, through remittances home and merit-making activities, to fulfil traditional cultural functions of daughters, conserving the institutions of family and village-level Buddhism, as well as of government.
Reconstructing ancestral ranges in historical biogeography: properties and prospects

Abstract Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of quantitative methods for biogeographic inference. In particular, novel parametric approaches represent exciting new opportunities for the study of range evolution. Here, we review a selection of current methods for biogeographic analysis and discuss their respective properties. These methods include generalized parsimony approaches, weighted ancestral area analysis, dispersal–vicariance analysis, the dispersal–extinction–cladogenesis model and other maximum likelihood approaches, and Bayesian stochastic mapping of ancestral ranges, including a novel approach to inferring range evolution in the context of island biogeography. Some of these methods were developed specifically for problems of ancestral range reconstruction, whereas others were designed for more general problems of character state reconstruction and subsequently applied to the study of ancestral ranges. Methods for reconstructing ancestral history on a phylogenetic tree differ not only in the types of ancestral range states that are allowed, but also in the various historical events that may change the ancestral ranges. We explore how the form of allowed ancestral ranges and allowed transitions can both affect the outcome of ancestral range estimation. Finally, we mention some promising avenues for future work in the development of model-based approaches to biogeographic analysis.
AX3 spin system dynamics from forbidden cross peaks in double-quantum two-dimensional NMR experiments, with application to acyl carrier protein

Abstract A theoretical description of the origin of the several types of forbidden cross peaks encountered in two-dimensional double-quantum spectra of AX 3 spin systems in macromolecules is presented. We present a double-quantum data set for a small protein, acyl carrier protein (ACP), and focus on the seven alanine residues found in ACP. An analysis of the forbidden peaks associated with the alanine residues and threonine-2 indicates that the carboxyl terminus of the protein is much more flexible than the amino terminus. We discuss how an understanding of methyl group dynamics obtained from such spectra can aid in the correct interpretation of NOE cross peaks involving these groups in terms of internuclear distances.
Tissue-Specific Patterns and Steady-State Concentrations of Ecdysteroid Receptor and Retinoid-X-Receptor mRNA during the Molt Cycle of the Fiddler Crab,Uca pugilator

Abstract In the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, we have investigated the temporal expression of receptors in various tissues using probes that encode Uca ecdysteroid receptor ( UpEcR ) and retinoid-X-receptor ( UpRXR ) gene homologs. During molt stages C 4 through D 1–4 , UpEcR and UpRXR transcripts are expressed in regenerating limb buds, gills, eyestalks, hypodermis, hepatopancreas, muscle from nonregenerating walking legs, and the large cheliped. Some of these tissues have not previously been recognized as ecdysteroid-target tissues. Levels of ecdysteroids in the hemolymph fluctuate significantly during the molt cycle of U. pugilator. The variation in steady-state concentrations of UpEcR transcripts in tissues from C 4 to D 1–4 implies molt cycle-related differences in the potential of these tissues to respond to changing titers of ecdysteroids in the hemolymph. In singly autotomized crabs, highest concentrations of UpEcR transcript in some tissues did not coincide with the highest levels of circulating ecdysteroids, suggesting that UpEcR expression in these tissues is not dependent on high ecdysteroid titers and may be induced by low or rising concentrations of ecdysteroids. UpEcR and UpRXR genes were expressed simultaneously in tissues, supporting the possibility of heterodimerization for EcR and RXR in vivo. In some tissues, however, levels of transcripts differed, suggesting other possible receptor interactions. Moreover, UpEcR expression in tissues from multiply autotomized crabs differed from the expression patterns in tissues from singly autotomized crabs.
Geology of the Southwestern High Plateaus of Utah: Bear Valley Formation, an Oligocene-Miocene Volcanic Arenite

The area which today comprises the southern High Plateaus of Utah was the locale during the early and middle Tertiary of extensive volcanic activity which formed a volcanic pile many thousands of feet thick. During the time it took for this vast build-up of lava flows, volcanic mudflow-breccias, and ignimbrites, there occurred, in the late Oligocene and early Miocene, a cessation of regional volcanic activity which was marked by the accumulation of volcanic arenite and associated clastic sediments in and around what is today the northern Markagunt Plateau. The rock stratigraphic unit thus formed is defined here as the Bear Valley Formation. The Bear Valley Formation was deposited in an extensive structural and physiographic basin within which faulting and volcanism were contemporaneous with sediment accumulation. Little volcanism accompanied the early stages of sand deposition; the later stages, however, were marked by local eruptive activity which admixed a considerable quantity of glass shards in the sand and produced local ignimbrite and tuff strata. Deposition of the arenite was accomplished mostly by the wind, and took place under arid climatic conditions. This is indicated by the mineralogy and texture of the sand and by the large-scale cross-bedding throughout most of the section. After deposition and subsequent burial by renewed volcanism, the sand was cemented by clinoptilolite. Today the Bear Valley Formation crops out over an area of more than 1000 sq mi and has a maximum exposed thickness in excess of 1000 ft. Typically, it may be described as moderately to well sorted, fine- to medium-grained, zeolite-cemented submature to mature volcanic arenite. No fossils have been recovered from this rock unit.
Survivin expression correlates with apoptosis resistance after lymphocyte activation and is found preferentially in memory T cells

Abstract The prevention of apoptosis may be critical for immunological function. Survivin is a recently cloned member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family. We analyzed survivin expression before and after lymphocyte activation in isolated cell populations. Prior to activation, survivin was undetectable. After activation with IL-2 and OKT-3, CD3 + cells expressed survivin. Next, we correlated survivin expression with Fas, FasL and the amount of apoptosis over time in culture. After activation, survivin was readily detected by day 2 and decreased thereafter. Prior to activation (day 0), Fas was present on 60% of the cells and on 100% by days 2–6. Peak FasL mRNA expression was at day 2. During peak survivin expression (days 2–4) the apoptotic fraction was low, but when survivin expression decreased the apoptotic fraction increased rapidly. Finally, we found that CD45RO + memory T cells showed a higher expression of survivin than did CD45RA + naive T cells after activation. These results suggest that survivin may contribute to T-cell survival early in T-cell responses as well as in memory immune responses.
Mindspan: Lessons from Rat Models of Neurocognitive Aging

Research on the biology of aging seeks to enhance understanding of basic mechanisms and thus support improvements in outcomes throughout the lifespan, including longevity itself, susceptibility to disease, and life-long adaptive capacities. The focus of this review is the use of rats as an animal model of cognitive change during aging, and specifically lessons learned from aging rats in behavioral studies of cognitive processes mediated by specialized neural circuitry. An advantage of this approach is the ability to compare brain aging across species where functional homology exists for specific neural systems; in this article we focus on behavioral assessments that target the functions of the medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex. We also take a critical look at studies using calorie restriction (CR) as a well-defined experimental approach to manipulating biological aging. We conclude that the effects of CR on cognitive aging in rats are less well established than commonly assumed, with much less supportive evidence relative to its benefits on longevity and susceptibility to disease, and that more research in this area is necessary.
Progressive cone beam CT dose control in image-guided radiation therapy

Purpose: Cone beam CT (CBCT) in image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) offers a tremendous advantage for treatment guidance. The associated imaging dose is a clinical concern. One unique feature of CBCT-based IGRT is that the same patient is repeatedly scanned during a treatment course, and the contents of CBCT images at different fractions are similar. The authors propose a progressive dose control (PDC) scheme to utilize this temporal correlation for imaging dose reduction. Methods: A dynamic CBCT scan protocol, as opposed to the static one in the current clinical practice, is proposed to gradually reduce the imaging dose in each treatment fraction. The CBCT image from each fraction is processed by a prior-image based nonlocal means (PINLM) module to enhance its quality. The increasing amount of prior information from previous CBCT images prevents degradation of image quality due to the reduced imaging dose. Two proof-of-principle experiments have been conducted using measured phantom data and Monte Carlo simulated patient data with deformation. Results: In the measured phantom case, utilizing a prior image acquired at 0.4 mAs, PINLM is able to improve the image quality of a CBCT acquired at 0.2 mAs by reducing the noise level from 34.95 to 12.45 HU. In the synthetic patient case, acceptable image quality is maintained at four consecutive fractions with gradually decreasing exposure levels of 0.4, 0.1, 0.07, and 0.05 mAs. When compared with the standard low-dose protocol of 0.4 mAs for each fraction, an overall imaging dose reduction of more than 60% is achieved. Conclusions: PINLM-PDC is able to reduce CBCT imaging dose in IGRT utilizing the temporal correlations among the sequence of CBCT images while maintaining the quality.
Kinetic movements in magnetic fields of chitons with ferro-magnetic structures

A number of species of chitons (mollusks) have radulae (tongues), that are covered by ferro-magnetic denticles. The radulae and shells of two previously untested species were studied. The radulae of Acompapleura granulata (Gmenin) and Chiton Squamosis (Linne) were found to be ferro-magnetic but the shells were not. Live specimens of the chiton, Chaetopleura apiculata, that also have ferro-magnetic radulae, were observed in a weak magnetic field and the earth's field. Results from three indexes of movement under these two conditions show that animals rotate more and move farther in a weak than in the earth's magnetic field. These results together with others suggest that the chiton is responsive to magnetic fields and shows kinetic movements within them.
A case for myopia.

This case presentation reviews the refractive options facing a myopic patient who chose to remain myopic after cataract extraction. The factors leading to this choice are explained.
Fine-Grained Analysis of Packet Losses in Wireless Sensor Networks

Packet losses in a wireless sensor network represent an indicator of possible attacks to the network. Detecting and reacting to such losses is thus an important component of any comprehensive security solution. However, in order to quickly and automatically react to such a loss, it is important to determine the actual cause of the loss. In a wireless sensor network, packet losses can result from attacks affecting the nodes or the wireless links connecting the nodes. Failure to identify the actual attack can undermine the efficacy of the attack responses. We thus need approaches to correctly identify the cause of packet losses. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing and building a fine-grained analysis (FGA) tool that investigates the causes of packet losses and reports the most likely cause of these losses. Our tool uses parameters, e.g. RSSI and LQI, present within every received packet to profile the links between nodes and their corresponding neighborhood. Through real-world experiments, we have validated our approach and shown that our tool is able to differentiate between the various attacks that may affect the nodes and the links.
Identification of cell cycle regulatory genes as principal targets of p53-mediated transcriptional repression.

Historically, most studies attribute p53 function to the transactivation of target genes. That p53 can selectively repress genes to affect a cellular response is less widely appreciated. Available evidence suggests that repression is important for p53-induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. To better establish the scope of p53-repressed target genes and the cellular processes they may affect, a global expression profiling strategy was used to identify p53-responsive genes following adenoviral p53 gene transfer (Ad-p53) in PC3 prostate cancer cells. A total of 111 genes, 0.77% of the 14,500 genes represented on the Affymetrix U133A microarray, were repressed more than 2-fold (p ≤ 0.05). Validation of the array data, using reverse transcription-PCR of 20 randomly selected genes, yielded a confirmation rate of >95.5% for the complete data set. Functional over-representation analysis revealed that cell cycle regulatory genes exhibited a highly significant enrichment (p ≤ 5 × 10–28) within the transrepressed targets. 41% of the repressed targets are cell cycle regulators. A subset of these genes exhibited repression following DNA damage, preceding cell cycle arrest, in LNCaP cells. The use of a p53 small interfering RNA strategy in LNCaP cells and the use of p53-null cell lines demonstrated that this repression is p53-dependent. These findings identify a set of genes not known previously to be down-regulated by p53 and indicate that p53-induced cell cycle arrest is a function of not only the transactivation of cell cycle inhibitors (e.g. p21) but also the repression of targets that regulate proliferation at several distinct phases of the cell cycle.
Nutrition Label Formatting: Customer Perceptions and Behaviors

In response to increasing U.S. obesity rates, legislators have begun mandating that chain restaurants make nutrition information available. While other studies have addressed various aspects of nutrition information labeling in restaurants, there has been little research into the efficacy of the various forms of delivery of restaurant nutrition information. The results of this study indicate that menu nutrition formatting has little impact on customer behavior. This study also found that when nutrition information was influential in the decision making process, consumers chose food items averaging 30% less calories. Consumers who did not change their food selection based on nutrition information still indicated they found the information valuable and appreciated its availability.
A cAMP-independent carbohydrate-driven mechanism inhibits tnaA expression and TnaA enzyme activity in Escherichia coli.

When Escherichia coli is grown in a medium lacking glucose or another preferred carbohydrate, the concentration of cAMP–cAMP receptor protein (cAMP–CRP) increases, and this latter complex regulates the expression of more than 180 genes. To respond rapidly to changes in carbohydrate availability, E. coli must maintain a suitable intracellular concentration of cAMP by either exporting or degrading excess cAMP. Currently, cAMP export via the TolC protein is thought to be more efficient at reducing these levels than is CpdA-mediated degradation of cAMP. Here, we compared the contributions of TolC and CpdA by measuring the expression of cAMP-regulated genes that encode tryptophanase (TnaA) and β-galactosidase. In the presence of exogenous cAMP, a tolC mutant produced intermediate levels of these enzymes, suggesting that cAMP levels were held in check by CpdA. Conversely, a cpdA mutant produced much higher amounts of these enzymes, indicating that CpdA was more efficient than TolC at reducing cAMP levels. Surprisingly, expression of the tnaA gene halted rapidly when glucose was added to cells lacking both TolC and CpdA, even though under these conditions cAMP could not be removed by either pathway and tnaA expression should have remained high. This result suggests the existence of an additional mechanism that eliminates intracellular cAMP or terminates expression of some cAMP–CRP-regulated genes. In addition, adding glucose and other carbohydrates rapidly inhibited the function of pre-formed TnaA, indicating that TnaA is regulated by a previously unknown carbohydrate-dependent post-translational mechanism.
Marina characteristics and wet slip pricing: An application to policy

Abstract A hedonic pricing model is used to estimate the implicit prices of amenities, location, accessibility, and structure on wet slip prices for Florida's coastal marinas. Characteristics that are important to the determination of wet slip prices include age, draft, total slips, availability of telephone, and location in the Palm Beach or South Florida regions. The model is used to illustrate how state submerged land fees can be calculated in an equitable manner.
Why socialism failed: Toward a theory of system breakdown -- Causes of disintegration of East European state socialism

In 1942 Schumpeter wrote Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. 1 The book was written in the shadows of the Great Depression and was inspired by the hopes of an allied victory. Of central importance to the book then was to construct the vision, and write of the needs, of the post-fascist post-war reconstruction era. In the work, in the light of the developments of the second half of the twentieth century, Schumpeter asked two poignant questions and gave two debatable answers: "Can capitalism survive? No ''2 and "Can socialism work? Of course it can" Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, in our mind, is a companion volume of Mannheim's Man and Society in the Age of Reconstruction 3 and Karl Polanyi's The Great TransformationJ Schumpeter, Mannheim, and Polanyi shared one common belief and one common interest: each one of them believed that with the Great Depression and the Second World War laissez-faire capitalism had came to its end, and all three were interested in working on blue-prints for post-war reconstruction of Western societies, s Reconstruction - all three agreed - has to be innovative and has to have a new base of departure: it can neither be capitalism as we used to know it nor can it be totalitarianism of rightwing or left-wing versions. Each in his own way foreshadowed something that eventually became the social-democratic welfare state of the 1950s-1970s and that proved to be by all objective measures the most successful epoch of capitalism.