cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Studies on Effect of Gamma Radiation on Prostacyclin and Platelet-Activating Factor Synthesis and on Cell Growth Using Smooth Muscle, Fibroblast, and Endothelial Cells in Cultures

The effect of gamma radiation on cell division and the synthesis of prostaglandin and platelet-activating factor was studied using homogeneous cultures of smooth muscle, fibroblast, and endothelial cells isolated from the calf pulmonary artery. Exposure of these cultures to doses of up to 30 Gy resulted in some differences in the ability of the cultures to continue their growth. The endothelial cultures, which were the most rapidly proliferating at the time of irradiation, proved the most easily growth inhibited compared to the smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. On the other hand, the production of prostacyclin, in response to the addition of bradykinin and arachidonate, increased considerably within 30 hours of irradiation in all three cell types. Maximum activation was observed at 10 Gy. Exposure of smooth muscle cells to a trapper of oxygen radicals after irradiation reduced the radiation-induced increase in prostacyclin (PGI2) synthesis by about 60% in both the bradykinin- and arachidonate-treated cultures. Since the added arachidonate was illustrated to be directly converted to PGI2 without preliminary esterification, these experiments suggest that the cyclooxygenase complex activity was being affected. However, the synthesis of platelet-activating factor in endothelial cells in response to bradykinin and ionophore A23187 also increased almost twofold in response to irradiation, further suggesting that the action of phospholipase A2 is also affected by gamma irradiation.
Centromeres: Sequences, Structure, and Biology

Although technological advances have continued to change the speed, cost, and number of plant genomes sequenced (see Flagel and Blackman 2012, this volume), parts of genomes remain to be sequenced and explored. Even the best-sequenced plant genomes, including Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, are missing 7–8% of their total genomic information (Kaul et al. 2000; Goff et al. 2002; Yu et al. 2002). One chromosomal region not often sequenced in genome projects is the centromere. Centromeres of almost all higher eukaryotes contain large stretches (up to several megabases) of tandemly repeated arrays of satellite DNA and retrotransposons. Such long arrays of highly homogenized repetitive DNA sequences cannot readily be cloned, sequenced, and assembled using the currently available cloning and sequencing technologies.
Patterns of Misarticulation and Articulation Change

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the impact of linguistic theory on the description and treatment of articulation disorders. Children identified as delayed or disordered in the acquisition of the sound system of their language present an interesting opportunity to explore some of the claims made about the phonological organization of English. Such children do not appear to produce random errors. Errors occur in predictable places in the system, and these children produce what seems to be a simplification of that system. The chapter also presents some ways in which information gathered in the course of the treatment of articulation disorders can be used to evaluate linguistic claims. Two broad approaches to the study of phonology result in two very different descriptions of articulation problems. Assessment and teaching procedures based on a taxonomic model focus on the description and teaching of individual phonemes, whereas remedial procedures based on a generative model describe and seek to change the phonological rules or phonological processes used by the child.
Optical SNR Engineering Using Warped Stretch

We introduce a method for reversible engineering of signal to noise ratio of optical waveforms and discuss its potential for optical encryption and context-aware detection of weak signals in noisy environments.
The Resistance as Role Model: Disillusionment and Protest Among American Adolescents After 2016

We examine whether the unprecedented 2016 presidential election led to political disillusionment among young people, whether that disillusionment led to a withdrawal from politics or an intention to be more politically active, and if those effects vary by gender and partisan identity. Using a nationally-representative panel study of adolescents and their parents, we find that Democratic girls became more pessimistic about the responsiveness of the American political system in the wake of 2016. Democratic girls in general became substantially more interested in engaging in political protest after 2016, especially Democratic girls who became disillusioned with American politics. In addition, having a parent who became more likely to engage in protest after 2016 also encouraged more interest in protest among adolescents. We view these outcomes as evidence of the gendered character of the 2016 election (including the first woman nominee and the sexist language and behavior of her opponent) and the impact of activists in girls’ communities and families who served as role models for responding to the current political moment.
Differentiating trauma from taphonomic alterations

Differentiating traumatic injuries in bone from taphonomic damage in the postmortem period is a complex process requiring a systematic approach. Trauma by definition occurs while the individual is still living, but bone characteristics usually do not allow delineation of the moment of death. Thus, the anthropologist seeks characteristics that will associate a skeletal defect with the perimortem period, at or about the time of death. However, the anthropological designation of perimortem time period does not have precise boundaries. It refers to remains that lack any sign of remodeling or healing on the one hand, and which have not lost biomechanical elasticity and plasticity on the other hand, i.e., it refers to the condition of skeletal remains when they sustained the suspected injury. Fracture patterns that reflect biomechanical plasticity are lost gradually as the time since death increases, and this pace will depend on the environmental context. There are additional clues to identify postmortem status, including when the damaged feature fits a taphonomic pattern of scavenger modification or weathering, or physically overlies obvious postmortem modifications, or when the feature fits a known pattern of sharp force instruments or weapons. Damage due to recovery or the examination process must be ruled out. The timing of occurrence of a suspected perimortem injury can therefore extend for days or weeks into the time before the actual death, and it can extend for days to months after death. The anthropologist responds to the challenge of differentiating trauma and taphonomic modification by knowing the characteristics of healing bone, the features of biomechanical plasticity reflected in fracture morphology, the taphonomic patterns of scavenging and weathering, the environmental context of discovery and recovery, and the characteristics of the relevant regional taphonomy.
A size principle for leg motor control inDrosophila

To move the body, the brain must precisely coordinate patterns of activity among diverse populations of motor neurons. In many species, including vertebrates, the motor neurons innervating a given muscle fire in a specific order that is determined by a gradient of cellular size and electrical excitability. This hierarchy allows premotor circuits to recruit motor neurons of increasing force capacity in a task-dependent manner. However, it remains unclear whether such a size principle also applies to species with more compact motor systems, such as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which has just 53 motor neurons per leg. Using in vivo calcium imaging and electrophysiology, we found that genetically-identified motor neurons controlling flexion of the fly tibia exhibit a gradient of anatomical, physiological, and functional properties consistent with the size principle. Large, fast motor neurons control high force, ballistic movements while small, slow motor neurons control low force, postural movements. Intermediate neurons fall between these two extremes. In behaving flies, motor neurons are recruited in order from slow to fast. This hierarchical organization suggests that slow and fast motor neurons control distinct motor regimes. Indeed, we find that optogenetic manipulation of each motor neuron type has distinct effects on the behavior of walking flies.
Development of a Mixture Model (SMM) Allowing for Smoothing Functions of Trajectories

ABSTRACT In the health and social sciences, two types of mixture model have been widely used by researchers to identify heterogeneous trajectories of participants within a population: latent class growth analysis (LCGA) and the growth mixture model (GMM). Both methods parametrically model trajectories of individuals, and capture latent trajectory classes, by using an expectation-maximization (E-M) algorithm. However, parametric modeling of trajectories using polynomial functions or monotonic spline functions results in limited flexibility for modelling trajectories; as a result, group membership may not be classified accurately due to model misspecification. In this paper, we propose a mixture model (SMM) allowing for smoothing functions of trajectories using a modified E-M algorithm. In the E step, participants are reassigned to only one group for which the estimated trajectory is the most similar to the observed one; in the M step, trajectories are fitted using generalized additive mixed models (GAMM) with smoothing functions of time. This modified E-M algorithm is straightforward to implement using the recently released “gamm4” macro in R. The SMM can incorporate time-varying covariates and be applied to longitudinal data with normal, Bernoulli, and Poisson distributions. Simulation results show favorable performance of the SMM in terms of classification of group membership. The proposed method is illustrated by its application to body mass index data of individuals followed from adolescence to young adulthood and the relationship with incidence of cardiometabolic disease.
A Consensus-based Approach for Distributed Quickest Detection of Significant Events in Networks

This paper studies the problem of quickest detection of significant events in networks, where nodes undergo a change in the data generating the distributions of their observations due to events that occurred at some unknown time. Events can propagate dynamically along edges in the network to affect more nodes over time; however, the propagation dynamics are assumed to be unknown. A consensus-based distributed-detection algorithm is proposed to detect a "significant" event, i.e., at least η nodes have been affected by the event, as quickly as possible, subject to false alarm constraints. It is shown that the proposed distributed algorithm achieves an equivalent performance to that of a centralized algorithm, which was shown to be first-order asymptotically optimal, as the false alarm rate goes to zero. Finally, numerical experiments are provided to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
Fast Fourier transform-based Retinex and alpha-rooting color image enhancement

Efficiency in terms of both accuracy and speed is highly important in any system, especially when it comes to image processing. The purpose of this paper is to improve an existing implementation of multi-scale retinex (MSR) by utilizing the fast Fourier transforms (FFT) within the illumination estimation step of the algorithm to improve the speed at which Gaussian blurring filters were applied to the original input image. In addition, alpha-rooting can be used as a separate technique to achieve a sharper image in order to fuse its results with those of the retinex algorithm for the sake of achieving the best image possible as shown by the values of the considered color image enhancement measure (EMEC).
Health promotion model in the management of patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis

Objective To explore health promotion model in the management of patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Methods 58 patients received health education on peritoneal dialysisrelated information. The understanding level of peritoneal dialysis and the incidence of complications were evaluated before and after the education. Results One year after the application of health promotion model, the rates of peritoneal dialytic proedure, dialysis cathether care, and diet management increased from 62.1% to 94.8%, 51.7% to 86.2%, and 63.8% to 91.4%, respectively; and the incidence of dialysis-related complications decreased significantly (P< 0.05). Conclusions Health promotion model can strengthen patients' knowledge of self-management, improve treatment compliance, and reduce the incidence of dialysis-related complications. Key words: Health promotion model; Peritoneal dialysis; Management
Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality: by Jennifer Nash, Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 2019, 184 pp., $24.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-4780-0059-4

How has black feminism come to view the analytic of intersectionality as something that must be defended? How might this impact intersectionality's future, and how could it be imagined otherwise? I...
Potential and Design of Zeolite Nanosheets as PervaporationMembranes for Ethanol Extraction

To facilitate the production of ethanol from renewable biomass to meet the increasing energy demand with reduced CO2 emissions, molecular simulations are employed to investigate zeolite nanosheets ...
Kinetic- versus Diffusion-Driven Three-Dimensional Growth in Magnesium Metal Battery Anodes

Summary Until now, a key barrier toward realizing a high energy density Mg2+ battery has been the limited understanding of mechanisms governing multivalent metal electrodeposition. This, compounded with recent observations of Mg dendrites, highlights the need for better fundamental insight into multivalent systems. We present a comprehensive study of electrodeposition in practical coin-cell configurations to evaluate the mechanisms of growth from common Mg(TFSI)2-based electrolytes. Our findings indicate a transition from charge-transfer-limited to diffusion-limited electrodeposition processes that govern the morphological evolution of Mg deposits. We observe the signature of cell shorting under a wide range of current densities that we attribute to 3D hemispherical growth of Mg deposits that form under mixed diffusion and kinetic control and are distinguished from traditional fractal dendrites. Our results highlight synergy with classical electrochemical theories for growth and lay groundwork for future approaches to achieve stable electroplated multivalent metal electrodes.
Disasters and “Conditions of Possibility”: Rethinking Causation through an Analysis of Nepal Earthquakes

What causes a disaster's aftermath? Scholars have increasingly turned toward historical approaches that link outcomes to pre-disaster sociopolitical dynamics. Disasters lead to "critical junctures" that "trigger" events unfolding in the disaster's wake. In this paper I argue that the "critical junctures" paradigm shares limitations with "path dependency" theory from which it derives, namely a tendency toward historicism-a functionalist teleology better able to explain continuity than change. As an alternative, I use Foucault's understanding of "conditions of possibility" as a way of rethinking agency/causation away from individual subjects, events, or even historical conditions toward, instead, the new, radically-destabilized "epistemological field" emerging in the disaster's aftermath. This paper examines a series of devastating earthquakes in Nepal to consider how post-disaster "epistemological fields" open up new "conditions of possibility" within which new ideas, actions, and outcomes become thinkable and possible in ways that pre-disaster historical conditions could not have predicted. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences in Pharmacogenomics Offered by US Pharmacy Programs

Objective. To characterize advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) with a primary focus in pharmacogenomics at schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States. Methods. This was a cross-sectional, multicenter, observational study of pharmacogenomics APPEs at US pharmacy schools. Directors of experiential education at 146 accredited schools of pharmacy were contacted by phone and asked if their school offered a pharmacogenomics APPE. The preceptors of pharmacogenomics APPEs identified by this phone screen were sent an email with a link to an online survey that asked about their APPE offerings. Results. Of the 142 schools of pharmacy that were successfully reached via phone, 40 (28%) offered an APPE with a primary focus in pharmacogenomics. Thirty unique APPEs with pharmacogenomics as a primary focus were identified. The total number of preceptors involved in the pharmacogenomics APPEs was 33: 19 (58%) faculty preceptors and 14 (42%) non-faculty preceptors. Twenty-three of the 30 pharmacogenomics APPEs completed the survey (77% response rate). The APPE sites were diverse and included academic medical centers, community health systems, pharmacogenomic testing laboratories, and schools of pharmacy. Each pharmacogenomics APPE accommodated an average of six students per year. The APPE activities varied across sites. Conclusion. Only a small number of US pharmacy schools offer an APPE with a primary focus in pharmacogenomics. These rotations are diverse in scope and precepted by faculty or non-faculty pharmacists. The Academy should pursue opportunities to increase experiential education in pharmacogenomics.
Reading Generously: Scientific Criticism, Scientific Charity, and the Matter of Evidence

This essay examines the emergence of “scientific criticism” in the modern US research university in order to rethink longstanding conversations about whether literary studies is in fact a science. Histories of the discipline tend to focus in this regard on the impact of the natural and physical sciences on literary studies. By contrast, this essay explores the perhaps less likely but no less consequential influence of another upstart field, the social sciences. The methodological commonalities shared by “scientific charity” and “scientific criticism” ultimately offer a new genealogy of responses to the institutional hegemony of the scientific method at the turn of the twentieth century and anticipate contemporary interest in the sociology of literature.
Chemical characterization data of raw Loblolly pine bark nuggets

Abstract There is a significant interest in repurposing commercial agricultural waste products, such as lignocellulosic pine bark biomass, to produce biochar as a nutritive soil enhancer, and as an adsorbent to remove toxic contaminants from water. Collecting and understanding the baseline chemical properties of this material is necessary for its use in industrial design and engineering solutions. Therefore, experiments were performed to characterize the chemical properties of raw Loblolly pine bark (Pinus taeda) using wet chemistry, microscopy, and spectroscopy. The results indicated that the acid value of the pine bark and the point of zero charge (pHpzc) were found to be at a pH of 7.01 and 5.51, respectively. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) analysis revealed that the biomass was primarily composed of the elements C, O, N, S, and had traces of Al, Si, Ca, and K. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) provided insight into the relative roughness and geometry of the biomass surface. It is expected that these data will be useful for the researchers working with Loblolly pine bark.
Teaching Testing with Modern Technology Stacks in Undergraduate Software Engineering Courses

Students' experience with software testing in undergraduate computing courses is often relatively shallow, as compared to the importance of the topic. This experience report describes introducing industrial-strength testing into CMPSC 156, an upper division course in software engineering at UC Santa Barbara. We describe our efforts to modify our software engineering course to introduce rigorous test-coverage requirements into full-stack web development projects, requirements similar to those the authors had experienced in a professional software development setting. We present student feedback on the course and coverage metrics for the projects. We reflect on what about these changes worked (or didn't), and provide suggestions for other instructors that would like to give their students a deeper experience with software testing in their software engineering courses.
Multi-module Recurrent Convolutional Neural Network with Transformer Encoder for ECG Arrhythmia Classification

The automatic classification of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals has played an important role in cardiovascular diseases diagnosis and prediction. Deep neural networks (DNNs), particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), have excelled in a variety of intelligent tasks including biomedical and health informatics. Most the existing approaches either partition the ECG time series into a set of segments and apply 1D-CNNs or divide the ECG signal into a set of spectrogram images and apply 2D-CNNs. These studies, however, suffer from the limitation that temporal dependencies between 1D segments or 2D spectrograms are not considered during network construction. Furthermore, meta-data including gender and age has not been well studied in these researches. To address those limitations, we propose a multi-module Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks (RC-NNs) consisting of both CNNs to learn spatial representation and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) to model the temporal relationship. Our multi-module RCNNs architecture is designed as an end-to-end deep framework with four modules: (i) time-series module by 1D RCNNs which extracts spatio-temporal information of ECG time series; (ii) spectrogram module by 2D RCNNs which learns visual-temporal representation of ECG spectrogram ; (iii) metadata module which vectorizes age and gender information; (iv) fusion module which semantically fuses the information from three above modules by a transformer encoder. Ten-fold cross validation was used to evaluate the approach on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database (MIT-BIH) under different network configurations. The experimental results have proved that our proposed multi-module RCNNs with transformer encoder achieves the state-of-the-art with 99.14% F 1 score and 98.29% accuracy.
Fuzzy FMEA for Biology-Guided Radiotherapy (BgRT)

Purpose/Objective(s) Biology-guided Radiotherapy (BgRT) is a new external beam radiotherapy delivery modality combining positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) with a linear accelerator. Our research group has previously introduced the BgRT specific prospective process map for developing an initial clinical workflow and has performed the risk analysis for the BgRT process that will bring in a new treatment paradigm. However, due to a lack of experience and historical data, assigning an accurate value of each risk factor in traditional FMEA leads to difficulties for evaluators. Also, there are certain sub-processes where the differences in weights of risk factors needs to be considered. Therefore, in this study, we introduced the fuzzy FMEA to perform a comprehensive analysis of failure modes (FMs) of BgRT and overcome weaknesses of conventional FMEA. Materials/Methods Five sub-processes unique to BgRT out of a total of 15 sub-processes were selected and relevant 84 FMs were identified. The evaluators used the fuzzy linguistic variables (very low, low, medium, high, and very high) to evaluate the importance of risk factors for assigning weights as well as the evaluation of each risk factor (occurrence, severity, and detectability) of each failure mode. Then, the fuzzy measure was used to calculate the weights of risk factors and the fuzzy integral method was used to fuse every value of risk factor of FMs to obtain the final fuzzy risk priority number value. Results Top 3 FMs are the machine down/emergency during beam delivery, failure to meet activity before PET pre-scan, and failure/delay of tracer delivery from a local vendor. The mitigation plans are discussed by team members including complete guidelines for the emergencies on the treatment machine, maintenance program of PET tracers by dedicated staffs, and staff training program for the BgRT procedure. Strong cooperation with a local PET tracer vendor and timely patient scheduling to allow multiple PET images at the treatment machine were also included in mitigation plans. Conclusion The proposed fuzzy FMEA presents a more reasonable and effective method for assessing potential failures allowing fuzzy linguistic variables terms that are easier to use than numerical assignments to evaluate the FMs, especially with the new prototype machine for BgRT. The results have been shared with team members, and mitigation plans will be implemented.
Estimating Flow Conditions for River Models

River water quality models are important management tools for assessing the impact of point and diffuse pollution loads on the chemical and biological characteristics of the water at various points in a river network. In a river basin, the magnitude of the flow at any point and time is a dominant characteristic affecting pollutant concentrations. Flows from headwaters, surface and subsurface lateral inflow, point loads, and diversions, are input as boundary conditions to water quality models so that the flow at any location on the river network can be computed. This paper describes a “man-in-the-loop” computer model developed to utilize available historical streamflow data and user judgement to estimate flow boundary conditions for a water quality model. Applications of the model include the efficient allocation of irrigation water, and performing mass balances on any conservative substance, such as salinity.
The Ideal Spermatozoon for ART

The spermatozoon is a very unique cell in that it is comprised of separate yet interrelated components, each of which plays a crucial role during conception. The utilization of an individual cell to treat severe male factor infertility by ICSI is on the rise, and the need for the assessment of surgically retrieved specimens has shifted the focus on the assessment of the sole gamete. Selection of the ideal sperm cell is carried out by assessing the acrosome, the chromosomal status of the male gamete, which is crucial, and another often overlooked organelle, the centrosome, which functions as the scaffold to ordain chromosomal segregation in the new conceptus. The fully developed spermatozoon is also characterized by defects in chromatin integrity, and its source and relevance are still object of intense investigation. Thus, the quest for the ideal spermatozoon has set the stage for future research to develop means and procedures to identify a male gamete with the best fitness to generate a healthy offspring.
Design of fiber/coating systems for high strength in ceramic matrix composites

A finite element model is used to study the stresses arising in ceramic matrix composites with different coatings and sliding interfaces. Stress concentrations in the fibers are found near matrix cracks, and their magnitudes depend on the location of the debonded interface and the sliding interfacial shear stress. When debonding occurs away from the fiber surface, fiber flaws are constrained from opening by the coating and fibers are effectively stronger. The probability of flaw failure under the computed stress fields is calculated and used in the Global Load Sharing model to predict composite strength. Results show that composite strength can be optimized by using fibers with a low Weibull modulus m and by designing interfaces with high interfacial shear stress tau, but with debonding away from the fiber/coating interface. These guidelines are consistent with data on "low" strengths in SiC/Glass composites (high m, high tau, fiber/coating debonding) and "high" strengths of SiC/SiC with multilayer coatings (low m, high tau, debonding in coating).
A Low-Cost System to Remotely Measure Piezometric Head

Alow-cost rapid response system to remotely collect piezometric head data in compressible porous media has been constructed. The system is based on low-cost temperature compensated pressure transducers, standard low-cost CMOS logic devices, low-cost commercially available two-way radios and a portable microcomputer. The basic system operation involves encoding a pressure transducer output, which is then transmitted on command via two-way FM radios to a base station located up to one-half mile away. The base station includes a TRS-80 Model 100 microcomputer which controls the network of remote stations and decodes and stores the information. This information is partially processed in the microcomputer and may be readily transferred to a mainframe for further data analysis. The base station interrogates as many as 16 remote stations at a specified sampling rate. The versatility of the system also allows it to be used to operate any remote instrumentation system having a suitable voltage output.
Neuroscience: Behavioural effects of cocaine reversed

Cocaine use causes lasting changes in behaviour by altering the strength of connections between neurons. The finding that these changes can be reversed in mice suggests strategies that could be used to treat drug addiction. See Letter p.71 Synaptic plasticity is known to occur in drug addiction, but there is little evidence to link drug-evoked plasticity to the behavioural adaptations seen in drug-addicted animals. Pascoli et al. report that specific potentiation in dopaminergic neurons expressing the type I dopamine receptor causes the locomotor sensitization often observed in animals exposed to cocaine. Specific depotentiation of this pathway using optogenetics both restores normal synaptic transmission and eliminates the behavioural phenotype. These data link synaptic potentiation of D1R-expressing neurons to drug-evoked behaviour, and suggest that therapeutic reversal of cocaine-induced adaptive synaptic changes could lead to behavioural corrections.
The relationship of the mouse adrenal cortex to the pituitary.

The course of events in the mouse adrenal cortex after hypophysectomy has been dealt with (Jones, 1949; 1950). It seems that the zona glomerulosa is independent of the pituitary in so far as it may be considered a histological entity, and that both the zona fasciculata and the X zone degenerate after removal of the hypophysis. In this paper the results of the injections of different, albeit impure, fractions of the anterior pituitary into hypophysectomized mice are given. The mice chosen are those whose adrenals possess an X zone and these fall into various categories. In the virgin female the X zone is a distinctive layer of cells surrounding the medulla and it persists for a varying length of time in adult life (Howard, 1927; Deanesly, 1928). In the male the X zone normally disappears at puberty. If, however, the immature mouse is castrated the X zone continues to develop and comes to occupy a large portion of the cortex as in the virgin female.
Time-resolved EPR study of 3C60 in solid matrices

Using time-resolved cw EPR and pulsed EPR techniques, a study was made of the characteristics of the photoexcited triplet state of C60 adsorbed in silica gel pores and embedded in a polymethylmethacrylate matrix. It was found that the time-resolved spectra from 3C60 in these matrices at room temperature retain the absorption/emission features of spectra from 3C60 in frozen solution (≤120 K). Apparently, the combination of molecular rotation and pseudo rotation (resulting from interconversion between Jahn-Teller states) is not fast enough, to lead to complete averaging of the dipole-dipole interaction between the unpaired electrons. The study explored the effect of introduction of solvent molecules in the silica gel pores on the 3C60 spectrum and quenching of the triplet by electron donors.
SU( N) Higgs problem with adjoint representation, and Michel's conjecture

Abstract Recently a geometrical method has been devised for analyzing the minimum of complicated Higgs potentials. Using the method we analyze the general quartic Higgs potential, including cubic coupling, for SU( N ) adjoint representation. The task of proving Michel's conjecture is reduced to showing that the orbit space is generally “star-shaped”.
Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia secondary to chronic aspiration of pharmaceutical tablets: Radiologic–pathologic correlation

Abstract Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is a clinicopathologic syndrome occurring as a subacute or chronic respiratory illness characterized pathologically by masses of granulation tissue in the lumina of small airways, alveolar ducts, and some alveoli. Chest CT scan findings include ground-glass opacities or consolidations of variable size in a peripheral or peribronchial distribution. We present the clinicoradiological and pathological findings in a rarely described case of BOOP with pulmonary crospovidone deposits secondary to chronic aspiration of pharmaceutical tablets in a neurologically debilitated patient.
Measurements of the fission cross section ratio of 238U to 235U from 2 3 MeV

Measurements of σf(238U)σf(235U) were primarily carried out in the “plateau”-range at 2·5 MeV. Gas scintillation counters and the time-of-flight technique were used. Four different methods were employed for mass assignment. The measured values were slightly higher than those presently used in reactor evaluations. A value of 0·435 ± 0·007 was obtained at 2·5 MeV.
Prevention of glomerular basement membrane thickening by aminoguanidine in experimental diabetes mellitus.

Abstract The etiology of diabetic glomerulopathy appears to be related, at least in part, to the degree of hyperglycemia, the resultant nonenzymatic glycosylation of proteins, and the eventual formation of advanced glycosylation end products in long-lived structural proteins. To investigate the ralationship between the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) changes of diabetic nephropathy and the formation of advanced glycosylation end products, we studied control rats, diabetic rats, and control and diabetic rats who received aminoguanidine, a compound that pharmacologically inhibits formation of advanced glycosylation end products. After 9 months, rat weight was smaller and kidney weight larger in both diabetic groups compared with both control groups. GBM width was increased in the diabetic group compared with the control group. Aminoguanidine administration to diabetic rats ameliorated this increase in GBM. Thus, aminoguanidine administration from the onset of experimental diabetes prevented the widening of the GBM that is typical of diabetes.
Application of a C2-Symmetric Copper Carbenoid in the Enantioselective Hydrosilylation of Dialkyl and Aryl–Alkyl Ketones

We report excellent reactivity and enantioselectivity of a C2-symmetric copper-bound N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) in the hydrosilylation of a variety of structurally diverse ketones. This catalyst exhibits extraordinary enantioselctivity in the reduction of such challenging substrates as 2-butanone and 3-hexanone. Even at low catalyst loading (2.0 mol %), the reactions occur in under an hour at room temperature and often do not require purification beyond catalyst and solvent removal. The scope of this transformation was investigated in the reduction of 10 aryl–alkyl and alkyl–alkyl ketones.
Synchronization and consensus controllers for a class of parabolic distributed parameter systems

Abstract This work examines the consensus control problem for a class of partial differential equations with a Riesz-spectral state operator. The objective is to design controllers that ensure that the state of each of the N systems agrees with the remaining states and at the same time achieves the control objectives of tracking or regulation. Both the case of full state and partial state availability are considered and in the special case of Riesz-spectral operators, one can obtain an explicit bound on the convergence rate of the pairwise state errors. The results are also extended to the case where the all-to-all connectivity among the N systems assumption is relaxed. Extensive numerical studies provide a further insight on the effects of consensus control.
Modeling fracture in Mindlin–Reissner plates with the extended finite element method

Abstract A technique for the modeling of cracks and crack growth in plates using the extended finite element method (X-FEM) is presented. Beginning with a plate formulation which does not exhibit shear locking, the finite element approximation is enriched with both discontinuous and near-tip functions. This allows for the modeling of crack geometries which are independent of the finite element mesh topology, and greatly facilitates the simulation of crack growth. Guidelines for the construction of the enriched approximation and the numerical integration of the weak form in the X-FEM framework are reviewed. To obtain the mixed-mode stress intensity factors, we derive appropriate domain forms of an interaction integral in the context of Mindlin–Reissner plate theory. Several benchmark problems of through-the-thickness cracks in infinite and finite plates are solved to illustrate the accuracy and utility of the new formulation.
Biotechnology and research: promise and problems

Summary Biotechnology has expanded greatly during the last two decades. This expansion is due to worldwide investment in basic biomedical research. The new knowledge generated by this investment has led to a bounty of potential applications for improvement of health, which are being explored for commercial purposes by the biotechnology industry. Private investment is thus ever present in development of these biotechnological products. All these factors raise important questions, including increasing concerns about intellectual property and conflict of interest. As this expansion continues, the established processes of peer review should be strengthened.
QUASAR PHOTOMETRY WITH THE SDSS MONITOR TELESCOPE

Photometric data were obtained for a set of known QSOs in five bands with a filter system for the purpose of testing the ability of the SDSS system to separate QSO colors from the colors of the stellar locus. Data were obtained from two similar telescopes and camera systems, and were intercompared. The F stars BD +26 degrees 2606 and BD +17 degrees 4708 were used as primary standards to set the zero pints for the rest of the observed objects. The standard star magnitudes were found to be in reasonable agreement with the theoretical predicted magnitudes, and the QSO colors were well separated from the stellar locus, defined by random stars in the QSO fields.
Using Adobe Connect to Deliver Online Library Instruction to the RN to BSN Program

This paper takes a look at how one academic health sciences librarian brought mediated literature searching to the distance RN to BSN nursing students. It takes a look at why Adobe Connect was the webinar software that was selected to deliver online instruction to the students. The article explains how students participated in a pre-class survey to determine what days of the week and times the instruction was delivered and how the PICO format was an essential component in the instruction content. It also answers the following questions: Was this online instruction delivery model successful? And will it be continued?
Clinical features, triage, and outcome of patients presenting to the ED with suspected acute coronary syndromes but without pain: A multicenter study

We studied the impact on triage and outcome of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms suggestive of an acute coronary syndromes (ACS) but without a complaint of pain. Data from a prospective clinical trial of patients with symptoms suggesting an ACS in the EDs of 10 US hospitals comparing patient demographics, clinical variables, and outcomes was used to perform a secondary analysis. Of 10,783 subjects, a final diagnosis of an ACS was confirmed in 24% of which 35% had acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 65% unstable angina pectoris (UAP). Pain was absent in 6.2% of patients with acute ischemia and in 9.8% of those with AMI. Compared to similar patients who presented with pain, patients with painless ischemia were older, were more commonly women, had more cardiac and related diseases. Among patients with AMI, fewer patients without pain were admitted to critical care units compared to similar patients with pain. Among patients with AMI, logistic regression predicting lack of pain identified age, heart failure and diabetes, with only age and heart failure among all with ACS. After controlling for clinical features, lack of pain during acute ischemia predicted increased hospital mortality. We concluded that age and heart failure are independently associated with painless ACS, in addition to diabetes among those with AMI. Lack of pain predicts increased hospital mortality in patients with ACI through mechanisms that remain to be elucidated. There is a need for greater awareness in the general public of the different manifestations of ACS to enhance the recognition of and prompt response to their symptoms.
Regional analysis of the spatial patterns of Fos induction in brain following flurothyl kindling.

Abstract We have recently demonstrated that eight, daily flurothyl-induced generalized clonic seizures, followed by a four week stimulus-free interval, results in a long-lasting reduction in generalized seizure threshold and a change in the type of seizure expressed in response to flurothyl from clonic to tonic. There is a progressive increase in the probability that a mouse will express a tonic seizure during the four week interval, suggesting that prior flurothyl seizures initiate a proepileptogenic process that requires time to develop. In this study, the immunohistochemical detection of the c-fos protein (Fos) was used to evaluate whether seizure-induced epileptogenesis resulted in regional differences in the degree of neuronal activation. Fos immunoreactivity was examined 1.5 h following either a single generalized seizure, the last of eight consecutive daily seizures or a retest seizure evoked two weeks after the last of eight seizures. In each condition, generalized seizure behaviours were elicited in C57BL/6 mice using flurothyl and classified as either “forebrain” (face and forelimb clonus) or “brainstem” (running bouncing, treading, tonic extension). The spatial distribution of Fos induction was compared on the basis of the seizure phenotype and the seizure history. The predominant differences in Fos distribution were found to be related to the type of seizure expressed regardless of the seizure history. Furthermore, the different motor components that make up a “brainstem” seizure could not be distinguished by the pattern of Fos labelling suggesting that multiple convulsive behaviours are mediated by one anatomical system. Finally, Fos induction in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus preceded and predicted the change in seizure type from “forebrain” to “brainstem”. These data support the concept that separate anatomical systems mediate the expression of the two generalized seizure phenotypes. In addition, the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus may be a point of interaction between the systems and may play a role in seizure-induced neural reorganization.
Pointwise optimal control of dynamical systems described by constrained coordinates

A feedback control law is developed for dynamical systems described by constrained generalized coordinates. For certain complex dynamical systems, it is more desirable to develop the mathematical model using more general coordinates then degrees of freedom which leads to differential-algebraic equations of motion. Research in the lastfew decades has led to several advances in the treatment and in obtaining the solution of differential-algebraic equations. We take advantage of these advances and introduce the differential-algebraic equations and dependent generalized coordinate formulation to control. A tracking feedback control law is designed based on a pointwise-optimal formulation. The stability of pointwise optimal control law is examined.
Aluminum (26Al) Metabolism in Rats

Because of the lack of a suitable isotope and a sensitive technique of analysis, aluminum has been studied indirectly using analogs such as 67Ga (t1/2 = 78 hr). Recently, with the development of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), it has become possible to use the artificially produced radionuclide of aluminum, aluminum 26 (26AI), (t1/2 = 7.16 x 10(5) years). AMS is used for measuring long-lived and stable isotopes with the sensitivity of an attomole (10(-17) mol). To study aluminum metabolism, 26AlCl3 was administered to rats intraperitoneally (ip) by injection and orally by gavage (n = 3/group). Blood was collected periodically. On Day 8 following perfusion, blood, liver, kidney, femur, brain, and spleen were collected and analyzed for 26AI. Of all the tissues studied, 26AI accumulation was greatest in the bone. 26AI accumulated in tissues as: bone > spleen > kidney approximately liver > brain, but absorption was low (0.97% of dose). AMS offers great potential in AI research as it is the only technique available for tracer aluminum study.
An overview of new approaches to deep desulfurization for ultra-clean gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel

Abstract This review discusses the problems of sulfur reduction in highway and non-road fuels and presents an overview of new approaches and emerging technologies for ultra-deep desulfurization of refinery streams for ultra-clean (ultra-low-sulfur) gasoline, diesel fuels and jet fuels. The issues of gasoline and diesel deep desulfurization are becoming more serious because the crude oils refined in the US are getting higher in sulfur contents and heavier in density, while the regulated sulfur limits are becoming lower and lower. Current gasoline desulfurization problem is dominated by the issues of sulfur removal from FCC naphtha, which contributes about 35% of gasoline pool but over 90% of sulfur in gasoline. Deep reduction of gasoline sulfur (from 330 to 30 ppm) must be made without decreasing octane number or losing gasoline yield. The problem is complicated by the high olefins contents of FCC naphtha which contributes to octane number enhancement but can be saturated under HDS conditions. Deep reduction of diesel sulfur (from 500 to
ZnT2 is a critical mediator of lysosomal-mediated cell death during early mammary gland involution

Mammary gland involution is the most dramatic example of physiological cell death. It occurs through an initial phase of lysosomal-mediated cell death (LCD) followed by mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. Zinc (Zn) activates both LCD and apoptosis in vitro. The Zn transporter ZnT2 imports Zn into vesicles and mitochondria and ZnT2-overexpression activates cell death in mammary epithelial cells (MECs). We tested the hypothesis that ZnT2-mediated Zn transport is critical for mammary gland involution in mice. Following weaning, ZnT2 abundance increased in lysosomes and mitochondria, which paralleled Zn accumulation in each of these organelles. Adenoviral expression of ZnT2 in lactating mouse mammary glands in vivo increased Zn in lysosomes and mitochondria and activated LCD and apoptosis, promoting a profound reduction in MECs and alveoli. Injection of TNFα, a potent activator of early involution, into the mammary gland fat pads of lactating mice increased ZnT2 and Zn in lysosomes and activated premature involution. Exposure of cultured MECs to TNFα redistributed ZnT2 to lysosomes and increased lysosomal Zn, which activated lysosomal swelling, cathepsin B release, and LCD. Our data implicate ZnT2 as a critical mediator of cell death during involution and importantly, that as an initial involution signal, TNFα redistributes ZnT2 to lysosomes to activate LCD.