cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Information, search, and house prices

Abstract Different groups of homebuyers have varying levels of information about the housing market as well as different search costs. Is the housing market efficient enough to ‘protect’ less informed buyers from paying more for comparable houses? And are search cost differentials large enough to induce significantly different prices across types of buyers? We examine these questions using a unique data base that allows us to compare house price across various groups of homebuyers. Surprisingly, the results reveal no systematic price differentials across types of buyers in the market.
Interaction between a Rydberg atom and neutral perturbers

A simple combination of quantum defect theory with a nonperturbative Fermi-type analysis is shown to reliably determine a class of molecular Born-Oppenheimer potential curves. Applications to alkali-metal-atom--rare-gas-atom dimers verify that their potential curves are determined to semiquantitative accuracy using two pieces of information: the alkali-atom quantum defects and the electron--rare-gas scattering phase shifts.
Neurological control of head movements: inverse modeling and electromyographic evidence

Abstract Experimentally obtained dynamics of time-optimal, horizontal head rotations have previously been simulated by a sixth order, nonlinear model driven by rectangular control signals. EMG recordings have aspects which differ in detail from the theoretical rectangular pulsed control signal. We have obtained control signals for time-optimal (with triphasic EMG activity) as well as suboptimal horizontal head rotations by means of a newly developed inverse modeling procedure. With experimentally measured dynamical data serving as the input, this procedure inverts the model to produce the neurological control signals driving muscles and plant. The relationships between these controller signals and EMG records should contribute to our understanding of the neurological control of movements.
Pattern-mixture-type Estimation and Testing of Neuroblastoma Treatment Regimes

Sequentially randomized designs are commonly used in biomedical research, particularly in clinical trials, to assess and compare the effects of different treatment regimes. In such designs, eligible patients are first randomized to one of the initial therapies, then patients with some intermediate response (e.g. without progressive diseases) are randomized to one of the maintenance therapies. The goal is to evaluate dynamic treatment regimes consisting of an initial therapy, the intermediate response, and a maintenance therapy. In this article, we demonstrate the use of pattern-mixture model (commonly used for analyzing missing data) for estimating the effects of treatment regimes based on familiar survival analysis techniques such as Nelson-Aalen and parametric models. Moreover, we demonstrate how to use estimates from pattern-mixture models to test for the differences across treatment regimes in a weighted log-rank setting. We investigate the properties of the proposed estimators and test in a Monte Carlo simulation study. Finally we demonstrate the methods using the long-term survival data from the high risk neuroblastoma study.
Alternate budgetary sources during budget rescissions

This chapter describes revenue-generating and cost-saving strategies that student affairs divisions may consider during periods of budget rescissions and categorizes them according to the decision-making entities involved in each. The chapter also explains why particular examples are well suited to individual institutions.
Apolipoprotein A-I stimulates human placental lactogen release by activation of MAP kinase

Abstract Apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) stimulates human placental lactogen (hPL) release via protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent pathways. Since PKC has been shown to activate the MAP kinase cascade in other cell types, we examined the effect of two inhibitors of the MAP kinase cascade on apo A-I-induced hPL secretion and the effect of apo A-I on MAP kinase activity in human trophoblast cells. Apigenin (10 μM) and PD98059 (100 μM) inhibited apo A-I-induced hPL release by 94 and 73%, respectively. Moreover, apo A-I activated MAP kinase in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Activation of PKC by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) stimulated MAP kinase activity, and down-regulation of PKC completely prevented apo A-I-stimulation of MAP kinase activity. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that activation of MAP kinase is involved in the intracellular mechanism of apo A-I-induced hPL release.
Single-Cycle Multihop Asynchronous Repeated Traversal: A SMART Future for Reconfigurable On-Chip Networks

Future scalability for kilo-core architectures requires solutions beyond the capabilities of protocol and software design. Single-cycle multihop asynchronous repeated traversal (SMART) creates virtual single-cycle paths across the shared network between cores, potentially offering significant reductions in runtime latency and energy expenditure.
Russian Digital Collections in North America: A Survey

This article discusses an inventory of Russian digital collections that was gathered from publically available material on the Web in 2011. It touches on the opportunities and difficulties that come with the increase of digital material on the Web and how librarians can attempt to bring smaller collections to the attention of scholars and researchers.
Production of a Male‐Inducing Hormone by a Parthenosporic Volox aureus*

SYNOPSIS. Male production in the M5 strain of Volvox aureus is controlled by a diffusible hormone. A new strain of V. aureus, DS, is described whose control mechanism for male production is deficient. DS forms males very rarely despite production of a fully functional male-inducing hormone, M5 colonies serving as testers. The DS and M5 hormones were both non-dialyzable, and both were > 50% inactivated when kept at 60 C for 30 min.
Simulation of nitrogen dynamics and shrimp growth in an intensive shrimp culture system: effects of feed and feeding parameters

Abstract Worldwide increases in shrimp culture have caused concern about potential environmental impacts, particularly water pollution resulting from discharge of nitrogenous wastes from shrimp farms. This study describes development of a simulation model representing the effect of feed nutritional quality, feed physical characteristics, and feeding strategies on nitrogen dynamics and growth of the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, in intensive systems receiving dry feeds in the absence of natural productivity except bacteria. The model represents the addition of nitrogen to the culture system as dry feed, its consumption and metabolism by shrimp, and its loss in uneaten feed, particulate feed, feces, and excretion as ammonia. Shrimp somatic growth is based on the amount of nitrogen incorporated into whole body. The model was quantified using unpublished research results conducted at the Shrimp Mariculture Research Laboratory of Texas A&M University and published information on the species. The model is multivariate, deterministic, and uses a compartment model structure based on difference equations. Evaluation of the model consisted of simulating six indoor and one outdoor experiments that examined the effect of various feed and feeding parameters on shrimp growth. Simulated shrimp growth dynamics generally agreed with indoor experimental results but at low dietary protein levels (below 11%) and low feeding frequencies (below 2 times per day) simulated final biomass was underestimated by 22 and 50%, respectively. Simulated final biomass was overestimated by 15% when compared to the outdoor experiment. Simulations investigating a range of possible consumption rates suggested that either experimental animals used other sources of food or consumption rates for 2 g animals are underestimated in the literature.
Is intraoperative neuromonitoring a good idea in my practice

Summary Intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) is a growing field within neurology. IONM uses a variety of neurophysiologic modalities to detect signs of potential injury to neural structures while a patient is undergoing surgery. An early warning to the surgeon about signal changes may prevent permanent neurologic disability. Since all monitoring is done in real time, the work pace is fast. The operating room environment poses additional challenges for signal acquisition and interpretation. Specific training in the field is becoming increasingly available. Several practice models exist and IONM can be performed in an academic or a private practice setting. A career in intraoperative neuromonitoring can offer lots of opportunities, a high degree of job satisfaction, and flexibility to those choosing to enter the field.
Superconducting stripline resonators and high-T/sub c/ materials

The use of high-transition-temperature (T/sub c/) superconducting resonators to stabilize oscillators operating between 1 and 10 GHz is discussed. Measurements of surface resistance are presented and related to the resonator quality factor (Q). Projections of resonator Q and oscillator phase noise are discussed. Improved materials should offer a greater than 20-dB reduction in noise over competing technology. The implications of flicker noise in reaching this level of performance are discussed, and preliminary measurements of flicker noise in the high-T/sub c/ materials are reported. >
GARLIC IN CHINESE SAUSAGE1

Boneless pork shoulders were formulated with flavor adjuncts for the production of a semidry sausage. Nitrite was added as 75 or 150 ppm of the formulation and 5% fresh garlic, 1.2% garlic powder, or 0.006% garlic essential oil was incorporated. The samples with 150 ppm added nitrite were only slightly higher in pH than those with 75 ppm added nitrite, and this value decreased with storage time. TBA and TPC numbers indicated that the sausage samples did not spoil during storage. Garlic addition did not produce lower thiobarbituric acid (TBA) total plate count (TPC, or aerobic plate count, APC) numbers. Fresh garlic had a stronger flavor than garlic powder and garlic essential oil in the quantities used. Addition of 150 ppm nitrite resulted in a brighter color, and better antimicrobial ability than 75 ppm nitrite. Sensory evaluation revealed little differences between samples with 75 ppm and 150 ppm added nitrite.
Correlation between Ha-ras gene amplification and spontaneous metastasis in NIH 3T3 cells transfected with genomic DNA from human skin cancers.

Our previous studies have shown that DNA from some human skin cancers contained activated Ha-ras oncogenes capable of inducing tumorigenic transformation when introduced into NIH 3T3 cells by DNA-mediated gene transfer. In addition, we found that NIH 3T3 cells transfected with DNA from one of the human skin cancers not only induced s.c. tumors at the site of injection but also metastasized spontaneously to the lungs in 100 per cent of nude mice injected. In this present study we examined the relationship between Ha-ras oncogene amplification and metastatic potential in tumors induced by various human skin cancer DNA-transfectants. Total cellular RNA was extracted from nude mouse tumor cell lines and analyzed by northern blot hybridization to a32P-labeled, nick-translated Ha-ras probe. The metastatic potential of nude mouse tumor cell lines was assessed by their ability to form lung colonies after i.v. or s.c. injection. It was found that only the tumors expressing high levels of Ha-ras gene transcripts induced spontaneous metastasis after s.c. injection. There appeared to be little correlation between the level of Ha-ras oncogene amplification and experimental metastasis. These results suggest that amplification and overexpression of Ha-ras oncogene may play a role in the escape of cells from the primary tumor rather than in the ability of cells to survive in the circulatory system and colonize secondary sites.
Equal opportunity climate in the United States military: Are differences in the eye of the beholder?

Two questions that have risen out of equal opportunity research are whether the level of harassment and discrimination differs for racial and ethnic groups and whether the concept of harassment and discrimination differs for these groups. The responses of 1000 randomly selected American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and White United States military personnel to three scales from the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey were examined. Results confirmed results from previous studies that Whites viewed equal opportunity in the military more favourably than other ethnic/racial groups. Item response theory analyses suggested that the concept of harassment and discrimination is similar for all groups. The implications for equal opportunity in the military and in the larger American society are discussed.
Accelerating MPI Collective Communications through Hierarchical Algorithms Without Sacrificing Inter-Node Communication Flexibility

This paper presents and evaluates a universal algorithm to improve the performance of MPI collective communication operations on hierarchical clusters with many-core nodes. This algorithm exploits shared-memory buffers for efficient intra-node communication while still allowing the use of unmodified, hierarchy-unaware traditional collectives for inter-node communication (including collectives like Alltoallv). This algorithm improves on past works that convert a specific collective algorithm into a hierarchical version and are generally restricted to fan-in, fan-out, and All gather algorithms. Experimental results show impressive performance improvements utilizing a variety of collectives from MPICH as well as the closed-source Cray MPT for the inter-node communication. The experimental evaluation tests the new algorithms with as many as 65536 cores and sees speedups over the baseline averaging 14.2x for Alltoallv, 26x for All gather, and 32.7x for Reduce-Scatter. The paper further improves inter-node communication by utilizing multiple senders from the same shared memory buffer, achieving additional speedups averaging 2.5x. The discussion also evaluates special-purpose extensions to improve intra-node communication by returning shared memory or copy-on-write protected buffers from the collective.
An overview of the Tecton proof system

The Tecton proof system is an experimental tool for constructing proofs of first-order logic formulas and of program specifications expressed using formulas in Hoare's axiomatic formalism. It is designed to make interactive proof construction easier than with previous tools, by maintaining multiple proof attempts internally in a structured form called a proof forest; displaying them in an easy to comprehend form, using a combination of tabular formats, graphical representations, and hypertext links; and automating substantial parts of proofs through rewriting, induction, case analysis, and generalization inference mechanisms, along with a linear arithmetic decision procedure. —From the Authors' Abstract
Rats barpress in order to change the rate at which they are fed

Four rats were fed irregularly but on the average of once every 3 min. If a rat pressed a bar, the average interfeeding interval dropped to once every 30 sec. All four rats learned to barpress. When barpresses no longer changed the average interfeeding interval, the rats tended not to press. A reintroduction of the relation between barpressing and reduction of the interfeeding interval generated renewed barpressing.
Silicon nitride synthesis in an atmospheric pressure convection—Stabilized arc

Submicron α-, β-, and amorphous-phase silicon nitride particles have been synthesized in an experimental plasma reactor, using metallic silicon and ammonia as reactants. Injection of ammonia at different locations of the reactor results in different yields. A maximum yield of 85 wt% has been achieved by injecting NH3 at both downstream and upstream locations of the reactor. The powders synthesized in this way contained approximately 60 wt% silicon nitride in crystal form with equal amounts of α and β phases. The remainder consisted of the amorphous phase. The average size of the particles ranged from 50 to 90 nm, with a standard deviation of 1.47–1.87 depending on the location of ammonia injection. Seeding with 1 and 10 wt% of preexisting silicon nitride particles for fostering heterogeneous nucleation did not improve the yield, but it changed the particle size distribution.
Saving the Ratzer Map: Lessons Learned in the Conservation, Restoration, Management, and Publicity of Cartographic Resources

This article describes the Brooklyn Historical Society's recovery and restoration of a first state of Bernard Ratzer's Plan of the City of New York. In particular, it discusses the lessons learned by collections staff regarding the conservation, restoration, management, and publicity of cartographic resources.
Optical multiplexer using vertical coupler based on high contrast metastructure

The optical interconnect is the key technology to support the large bandwidth demand of the super computers and data centers. As the tremendous number of optical links being implemented in the system, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is the solution to reduce the use of optical fibers. In this work, we propose to use the vertical coupler based on the high contrast metastructure to enable the multiplexing and input-output coupling on the photonics chip. The coupling efficiency can reach 90% for 35 nm 1 dB bandwidth by multiplexing four on-chip channels into the optical fiber.
Differential recognition of the left vs. the right side of human faces

Ninety-one college students inspected six adult male faces (frontal view) for 5 min, with the instruction to remember each face. In a recognition test conducted 1 week later, they attempted to identify the six faces seen previously from a group of 12 adult male faces. During the test, three independent groups (n=30-31/group) saw the full faces, only the left side, or only the right side of each face. The subjects viewing full faces during the recognition test committed reliably fewer errors (p <.001) than those viewing either half of the faces. Further, those viewing the left side committed reliably fewer errors (p <.05) than those viewing the right side. The left side of a face either contains more cues mediating individual recognition or, more likely, evokes more efficient central processing than does the right side.
Tissue uptake, subcellular distribution, and metabolism of 14CH3HgCl and CH3203HgCl by rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri

Uptake, whole tissue, and subcellular distribution of methylmercury (MeHg) by rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, was studied during, and in three 2-wk intervals following, a single 24-h exposure to 14CH3HgCl and CH3203HgCl. Gel permeation chromatography of cytosol fractions was performed on select tissues. Gills contained approximately 10 times as much MeHg as any other tissue after 24-h exposure whereas concentrations were lowest for brain and skeletal muscle. In the 2-wk period following exposure, gill MeHg concentrations decreased to levels comparable with most other tissues; methylmercury in most other tissues increased and then decreased during the subsequent 4-wk period. Methylmercury levels in brain, skeletal muscle, and gonad were highest at 6 wk. During the 6-wk interval following MeHg exposure, the percent of mercury as inorganic mercury (Hg++) increased in gill, kidney, and liver and to a lesser extent in all other tissues except skeletal muscle. Total MeHg was greatest in cytosol fractions and us...
Constructions of multiplicative-periodic functions on

This article studies the Riemann surfaces generated by factorization of the multiplicative group of nonzero complex numbers through its discrete subgroups. The first section of the article provides a classification of the discrete subgroups of ( ,·), and the Riemann surfaces that they generate. Meromorphic functions on these surfaces correspond to functions that are multiplicative-periodic in the complex plane and have essential singularities at 0 and ∞. The second part of the article presents constructions of multiplicative-periodic functions. The final section discusses the relationship between the functions constructed and elliptic double periodic functions.
Solution-Phase Parallel Synthesis of Novel Membrane-Targeted Antibiotics

The increase in the incidence of antibiotic-resistant infections is a major concern to healthcare workers and requires the development of novel antibacterial agents. Recently, we described a series of benzophenone-containing antibiotics which displayed activity against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We have shown that these agents function by disrupting the bacterial membrane. To further explore these compounds, a practical and efficient solution-phase parallel synthesis method was developed which allowed us to prepare combinatorial libraries of these agents. Using this method, we prepared 218 compounds in 58 reactions. All of the compounds were characterized by HPLC and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Analysis of this library for antibacterial activity identified six compounds which displayed MIC values of 2.0 mg/L against Staphylococcus aureus. Examination of the structure−function relationships of these agents revealed that cationic groups were required and that cyclic, aliphatic amines were crucial for a...
The Design of High-Performance Dynamic Asynchronous Pipelines: Lookahead Style

A new class of asynchronous pipelines is proposed, called lookahead pipelines (LP), which use dynamic logic and are capable of delivering multi-gigahertz throughputs. Since they are asynchronous, these pipelines avoid problems related to high-speed clock distribution, such as clock power, management of clock skew, and inflexibility in handling varied environments. The designs are based on the well-known PSO style of Williams and Horowitz as a starting point, but achieve significant improvements through novel protocol optimizations: the pipeline communication is structured so that critical events can be detected and exploited earlier. A special focus of this work is to target extremely fine-grain or gate-level pipelines, where the datapath is sectioned into stages, each consisting of logic that is only a single level deep. Both dual-rail and single-rail pipeline implementations are proposed. All the implementations are characterized by low-cost control structures and the avoidance of explicit latches. Post-layout SPICE simulations, in 0.18-mum technology, indicate that the best dual-rail LP design has more than twice the throughput (1.04 giga data items/s) of Williams' PSO design, while the best single-rail LP design achieves even higher throughput (1.55 giga data items/s).
Electrical, structural, and superconducting properties of hydrogenated Nb-Ta superlattices.

The electrical resistivity and superconducting transition temperatures are studied as a function of hydrogen content on two series of Nb-Ta superlattices grown by molecular-beam epitaxy with modulation wavelengths of 20 and 85 A. Hydrogen enhances the resistivity of the structures which, in extreme cases, leads to a logarithmic temperature dependence at very low temperatures. All structures undergo a transition to a superconducting state, but with increasing hydrogen content the transition temperatures are continuously depressed. This behavior differs from that of bulk hydrogenated Nb and Ta systems and is believed to have its origin in the epitaxial constraints imposed by the substrate on these single-crystalline superlattices.
The antecedent factors influencing entry mode choices of multinational lodging firms.

Abstract This is a multiple-case study to explore relationships among the antecedent factors and entry mode choices of multinational lodging firms as they plan expansion into existing and/or new international markets. The data was collected utilizing interviews and secondary resources regarding five multinational lodging firms. The findings from this research included fifteen propositions that explain the above relationships. These propositions were used to create a framework to illustrate the antecedent factors which may support the entry mode choices of the multinational lodging firms.
Insulator-to-metal transition of gold films observed by interferometric picometrology

We obtain the complex refractive index and dielectric properties of ultra-thin gold films as a continuous function of thickness from 0.2 nm to 10 nm using picometrology. The atom-to-bulk transition of gold is observed.
Towards an understanding of the heat distortion temperature of thermoplastics

A systematic understanding of the heat distortion temperature (HDT) of amorphous and semi-crystalline polymers is possible through a direct correlation with the modulustemperature behavior. For amorphous polymers, the precipitous drop in modulus at the glass transition temperature makes the HDT a well-defined, reproducible and predictable property. Furthermore, the addition of reinforcing fillers has a negligible effect on the HDT of the amorphous polymer. For semi-crystalline polymers, however, the exact opposite may hold true. The modulus exhibits a “plateau” region between the glass transition and the melting transition. Hence the HDT often is difficult to predict, is sensitive to thermal history and may be greatly increased through the addition of fillers. More importantly, the HDT may not be an accurate measure of the upper use temperature for semi-crystalline polymers in load bearing situations since considerable stiffness may still be retained even upon exceeding the HDT.
Inelastic neutron scattering spectrum of cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine: a comparison with solid-state electronic structure calculations.

Solid-state geometry optimizations and corresponding normal-mode analysis of the widely used energetic material cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) were performed using density functional theory with both the generalized gradient approximation (BLYP and BP functionals) and the local density approximation (PWC and VWN functionals). The structural results were found to be in good agreement with experimental neutron diffraction data and previously reported calculations based on the isolated-molecule approximation. The vibrational inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectrum of polycrystalline RDX was measured and compared with simulated INS constructed from the solid-state calculations. The vibrational frequencies calculated from the solid-state methods had average deviations of 10 cm-1 or less, whereas previously published frequencies based on an isolated-molecule approximation had deviations of 65 cm-1 or less, illustrating the importance of including crystalline forces. On the basis of the calculations and...
Magellan: a search and machine learning-based framework for fast multi-core design space exploration and optimization

In this paper, we treat multi-core processor design space exploration as an application-driven machine learning problem. We develop two machine learning-based techniques for efficiently exploring the processor design space. We observe that these techniques result in multi-core processors whose performance is comparable (within 1%) to a processor design that requires an exhaustive exploration of the design space. These techniques often take orders of magnitude (a factor of 3800 at the minimum) less time for coming up with these processors. The benefits are up to 13% over intelligent search techniques that have been adapted to do multi-core design space exploration. We leverage the knowledge gained in this research to develop Magellan - a framework for accelerating multi-core design space exploration and optimization. Magellan can be used to find the highest throughput processors of a given type for a given area, power, or time budget. It can be used to aid even experienced processor designers that prefer to rely on intuition by allowing fast refinements to an input design.
Landing reference governor

This paper describes how reference governors, that are schemes for modifying the reference command to a feedback system as to prevent violation of pointwise-in-time constraints, can be applied to a class of terminal state (soft-landing) online control problems.
X-ray study of pressure-collapsed fullerite.

X-ray-diffraction studies are described for a new phase of carbon called collapsed fullerite (CF) that was produced by application of high pressure to fullerite (${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$). At \ensuremath{\sim}20 GPa there is an irreversible transition to a phase that has neither the (111) Bragg peak of diamond nor any of the Bragg peaks associated with the fcc phase of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$. The spectrum of CF is flat and featureless in the range of study.
Wavelets in optimal radar range-Doppler imaging

It is shown that the most accurate reconstruction of a range-Doppler target density that can be computed from N waveforms and their echoes is obtained by transmitting the singular functions corresponding to the N largest singular values of two kernels derived from the target density. The singular functions are valid wavelets that obey an additional orthogonality constraint in the frequency domain. Using this result, the author briefly discusses a solution to the problem of choosing a set of N waveforms to reconstruct with high accuracy an arbitrary unknown target range-Doppler density function. >
On the functional completeness of simple tournaments

The theory of multitraces provides a new proof that any simple tournament with more than two elements is functionally complete.
Fermentation characteristics and aerobic stability of wet corn distillers grains with solubles ensiled in combination with whole plant corn

BACKGROUND: Wet corn distillers grains with solubles (WDG) are prone to aerobic spoilage when stored for an extended period of time. The objective of this study was to evaluate the fermentation characteristics of ensiling WDG with whole plant corn (WPC) using the following combinations: (1) 100% WPC; (2) 75% WPC + 25% WDG; (3) 50% WPC + 50% WDG; and (4) 100% WDG. RESULTS: The initial pH was greatest for 100% WPC and lowest for 100% WDG (5.7, 4.6, 4.0, and 3.1, respectively). Concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (12.0, 26.8, 40.7, and 50.8 g kg−1 dry matter (DM)) and Crude protein (CP) (98.7, 155.8, 206.8, and 307.9 g kg−1 of DM) increased with increasing concentrations of WDG. Lactic acid concentration prior to ensiling was greatest for 100% WDG (9.0 g kg−1 DM) and decreased with WPC in the silage. Acetic, propionic, and butyric acids were not present prior to ensiling. The pH of the ensiled feeds dropped below 4.0 by day 3, with no further decrease over time. Acetic acid increased from undetected amounts at day 0 to 38.8, 43.9, 43.2, and 2.2 g kg−1 of DM at day 129 as concentration of WDG increased. Aerobic stability was enhanced with increasing WDG concentration in the silage. CONCLUSION: Fermentation, nutrient profile, and aerobic stability can be improved when ensiling wet distillers grains with whole plant corn. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry
Thermal Characterization of Interlayer Microfluidic Cooling of Three-Dimensional Integrated Circuits With Nonuniform Heat Flux

It is now widely recognized that the three-dimensional (3D) system integration is a key enabling technology to achieve the performance needs of future microprocessor integrated circuits (ICs). To provide modular thermal management in 3D-stacked ICs, the interlayer microfluidic cooling scheme is adopted and analyzed in this study focusing on a single cooling layer performance. The effects of cooling mode (single-phase versus phase-change) and stack/layer geometry on thermal management performance are quantitatively analyzed, and implications on the through-silicon-via scaling and electrical interconnect congestion are discussed. Also, the thermal and hydraulic performance of several two-phase refrigerants is discussed in comparison with single-phase cooling. The results show that the large internal pressure and the pumping pressure drop are significant limiting factors, along with significant mass flow rate maldistribution due to the presence of hot-spots. Nevertheless, two-phase cooling using R123 and R245ca refrigerants yields superior performance to single-phase cooling for the hot-spot fluxes approaching ∼300 W/cm 2 . In general, a hybrid cooling scheme with a dedicated approach to the hot-spot thermal management should greatly improve the two-phase cooling system performance and reliability by enabling a cooling-load-matched thermal design and by suppressing the mass flow rate maldistribution within the cooling layer.
Subcellular distribution of gold in rat renal cortex cells: limitations of electron microscopy and subcellular fractionation techniques.

Abstract Electron microscopic and subcellular fractionation studies of renal cortex tissue from male Sprague-Dawley rats given gold sodium thiomalate (16 mg Au/kg) were undertaken to investigate the subcellular distribution of gold in kidney tissue. Although gold was present in the nuclear fractions prepared by differential centrifugation, electron microscopic examination indicated extensive contamination by aurosomes, which pellet in the nuclear fraction due to their greater density. No gold could be detected in the nuclei of intact tissue preparations by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDA). This observation does not preclude the possible presence of dispersed gold at levels below the 500 μ m limit of detection for EDA. Nuclei from control animals, which were free of contamination by lysosomes, took up gold(I) from an incubation medium to the extent of 2.0 μg Au/mg of nuclear protein, independent of the gold concentration. When the nuclei were lysed, the gold was associated with the membrane fraction.
R-loop stability as a function of RNA structure and size

The sequence-specific formation of R-loops can be assayed using RNAs which overlap a HindIII cleavage site in a 3.5 kb plasmid. Chemical modification of the displaced DNA strand has permitted stabilization of these R-loops and allowed a systematic investigation of the dependence of these triple-stranded structures on the chain length and structure of the input RNA. RNAs as short as 50 nt form stable R-loops if 5-allylamine uridines (Uaa-RNA) are used in place of normal uridines; normal RNAs must be 100 nt long to form R-loops quantitatively. Since acetic anhydride decreases the hybridization efficiency of Uaa-RNAs, the positive charge of the RNAs must diminish the electrostatic repulsion of the three negatively charged phosphodiester backbones. The dependence of R-loop stability on the length of RNA can be stimulated with a random walk model, which also applies to strand migration within Holiday junctions. R-loop hybridization provides a versatile method to generate single-stranded DNA in a sequence-selective manner.
Some permeability properties of isolated rat liver cell mitochondria.

The rates of penetration of various solutes into isolated rat liver mitochondria have been studied. Sodium, potassium, and sucrose were observed to enter the mitochondria until an equilibrium concentration was reached. The diffusion of these solutes, after the first few minutes, followed the predicted diffusion curve for solutes entering a particle with a rate-limiting membrane and instantaneous mixing in the interior. Reasons for deviations from the predicted equation during the first few minutes of diffusion are suggested. The data show that at pH 7.4 sodium and potassium enter more rapidly than sucrose. I131-labelled albumin was found to enter very slowly, if at all. Increasing the pH from 7.4 reduced the rate at which sodium ion penetrated the mitochondria. The rate of diffusion of sucrose into mitochondria was considerably slower than diffusion of sucrose into a sphere of water of the same size. Sodium ion was not found to be concentrated in vitro against an external concentration gradient as has been reported by other investigators. It is concluded that the rate of diffusion of solutes between the external medium and the interior of mitochondria is probably restricted and controlled by a mitochondrial membrane exhibiting passive permeability characteristics.
Phase II Trial of Neoadjuvant Weekly Nanoparticle Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel, Carboplatin, and Biweekly Bevacizumab Therapy in Women With Clinical Stage II or III HER2-Negative Breast Cancer

Abstract Background We hypothesized that adding bevacizumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) with nab-P and carboplatin would increase the rates of pCR in BC patients and that early changes in tumor vascularity imaged by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) would predict pCR. Methods Thirty-three women with clinical stage II or III HER2-negative BC received nab-P 100 mg/m2 and carboplatin area under the curve = 2 on days 1, 8, and 15 in combination with bevacizumab 10 mg/kg on days 1 and 15 administered every 28 days. Results Six patients (18%) achieved pCR, all pCRs occurred in triple-negative BC (TNBC) (pCR = 50% for TNBC). At the end of cycle 2, the changes in relative angiogenic volume were significantly different between responders and nonresponders ( P = .001). The major toxicity of this NCT was myelosuppression. Conclusion NCT with weekly nab-P, carboplatin, and biweekly bevacizumab resulted in a pCR rate that was neither superior to the historical data with anthracycline- or taxane-containing NCT nor to carboplatin and taxane combinations in patients with HER2-negative BC. In patients with TNBC, the observed pCR rate was 50%. The early changes in the relative angiogenic volume imaged by DCE-MRI could predict pCR.
Utility of a faceted catalog for scholarly research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a faceted OPAC interface offers improvements to information discovery in scholarly research.Design/methodology/approach – The 5.2 million records of an entire library catalog were loaded into a faceted navigation interface and an attractive search term suggestion tool. Humanities PhD students at the dissertation level and familiar with this collection were observed while using this interface to continue their research into the literature on their dissertation topic.Findings – From a group of 12 subjects, nine reported finding materials that they had not found in their previous use of the traditional catalog interface.Research limitations/implications – No attempt is made to isolate the effects of relevance ranking on discovery from those of faceted navigation or the search term suggestions. The differences between the circumstances of scholars who did and did not find previously undiscovered materials are not examined.Practical implications – Fac...
Nuclear Receptor Coregulators: Promising Therapeutic Targets for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

The concept that androgens exert control over the prostate and prostate disease dates back to the eighteenth century, when the first observations of seasonal variations in the size of the prostate gland were observed in animals. Since then, a direct link between testis-derived androgens and prostate growth was established, leading to the seminal study of Charles Huggins who demonstrated that surgical or medical castration is able to inhibit the growth of metastatic and advanced prostate cancer (CaP). Today, more than six decades after Huggins’ original groundbreaking report, so-called androgen deprivation therapies are still the preferred treatment option for CaP patients who do not benefit from surgery or radiation therapy. While such treatment regimes initially result in a clinical favorable response and an overall decrease in tumor burden in a majority of patients, disease regression is not complete, and androgen deprivation is therefore not curative. Recent findings of physiologically relevant tissue levels of androgens in castration-recurrent prostate cancer (CRPC) have led to a paradigm shift that CaP, which recurs following androgen deprivation therapy, is not androgen-independent and has rekindled research into alternative means of blocking androgen action as a therapeutic option during prostate cancer progression. Here, we explore the possibility of targeting coregulator proteins, which are critical determinants for androgenic responses, as an indirect means of blocking androgen action in CaP cells.
NCC27, a homolog of intracellular Cl− channel p64, is expressed in brush border of renal proximal tubule

NCC27, a 27-kDa homolog of the intracellular chloride channel p64, was recently described as a chloride channel in nuclear membrane. We probed human Northern blots for NCC27 and found an ∼1.7-kb message in all tissues examined, including kidney, the transcript being most abundant in heart and skeletal muscle. NCC27-specific antisera was raised to a COOH-terminal peptide derived from the NCC27 coding region. Using this antisera, we find NCC27 is expressed in an intracellular vesicular compartment in HeLa cells, PancI cells, and macrophages. In human and mouse kidney, NCC27 is expressed at low levels in most cells of the kidney. NCC27 is highly expressed in glomeruli, in periarterial smooth muscle, and in the apical membrane of a subset of cortical tubule cells. Double staining with nephron segment-specific lectins indicates that the NCC27-expressing cells are proximal tubule cells.
Retrospective analysis of pharmacist interventions in an ambulatory palliative care practice

BackgroundWe have previously reported the development of an outpatient palliative care practice under pharmacist–physician collaboration. The Doris A. Howell Service at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center includes two pharmacists who participate in a transdisciplinary clinic and provide follow-up care to patients.ObjectiveThis study evaluated pharmacist interventions and patient outcomes of a pharmacist-led outpatient palliative care practice.MethodsThis was a retrospective data analysis conducted at a single, academic, comprehensive cancer center. New (first visit) patient consultations were referred by an oncologist or hematologist to an outpatient palliative care practice. A pharmacist evaluated the patient at the first visit and at follow-up (second, third, and fourth visits). Medication problems identified, medication changes made, and changes in pain scores were assessed.ResultsEighty-four new and 135 follow-up patient visits with the pharmacist occurred from March 2011 to M...
Sensitive Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells for Improving Therapy Selection

For metastatic disease, biomarker profiling of distant metastases is done only when feasible because biopsy of metastases is invasive and associated with potential morbidity without proven benefit. So although biomarker expression may differ in distant metastases, treatment with targeted therapies is almost always based on biomarker targets derived from a patient’s primary breast tumor, usually excised years before development of metastatic disease. This work addresses measurement of biomarker expression on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as a source of current biomarker expression. CTCs are rapidly located on a planar substrate with a sensitive detection instrument using Fiber Array Scanning Technology. The instrument targets abundant cytokeratins rather than EpCAM. The assay includes quantitative measurement of expression levels of 3 breast cancer markers (HER2, ER and ERCC1) that predict efficacy of treatment. We have observed high discordance rates in cancer markers between CTC and tissue. Multiplex testing may allow for personalized therapy for patients.
Diagnostic Algorithm for Encephalitis

Diagnostic algorithm for initial evaluation of encephalitis in children is proposed with a consensus statement from the International Encephalitis Consortium, a committee begun in 2010 to serve as a practical aid to clinicians evaluating patients with suspected encephalitis.
Mesenchymal Stem Cell Interactions with 3D ECM Modules Fabricated via Multiphoton Excited Photochemistry

To understand complex micro/nanoscale ECM stem cell interactions, reproducible in vitro models are needed that can strictly recapitulate the relative content and spatial arrangement of native tissue. Additionally, whole ECM proteins are required to most accurately reflect native binding dynamics. To address this need, we use multiphoton excited photochemistry to create 3D whole protein constructs or “modules” to study how the ECM governs stem cell migration. The constructs were created from mixtures of BSA/laminin (LN) and BSA alone, whose comparison afforded studying how the migration dynamics are governed from the combination of morphological and ECM cues. We found that mesenchymal stem cells interacted for significantly longer durations with the BSA/LN constructs than pure BSA, pointing to the importance of binding cues of the LN. Critical to this work was the development of an automated system with feedback based on fluorescence imaging to provide quality control when synthesizing multiple identical c...
Fluid Mixing in Channels With Microridges

Microflows in complex channels with uneven surface often display unusual flow behavior compared to their macroscale counterparts. Channels with micro ridges are created in a plastic device using photolithography and molding. Recirculation is reported in the flow in these ridged channels [1]. We use recirculation to enhance fluid mixing and the utility is demonstrated by homogenizing fluorescein and water in the microchannels. In addition, deconvolution microscopy is developed to visualize the fluid flow in the ridged channel. Flow twisting, as expected, results in enhanced fluid mixing; the fluorescence intensity at a cross section is calculated as an indicator of the degree of mixing. The preliminary results show rapid mixing in the ridged channels, verifying existence of circulation. We also compared the experimental results with that from computational fluid dynamics simulation.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Turning Defects to Advantages: The Discourse of Labour in the Autobiographies of Soviet Blinded Second World War Veterans:

This article explores how blinded Soviet Second World War veterans faced the problem of social reintegration and adjustment to peacetime civilian life. Their suddenly acquired blindness compelled t...
How do you know when it is torture

The forensic psychiatric expert's assessment of torture survivors who manifest Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and apply for refugee asylum is a paradigmatic example of the interface of psychiatry and the law. While it is necessary to acknowledge the utility of current dominant and well-established protocols, it is also imperative to note and correct their failures and limitations. This paper illustrates a model which simultaneously comprehends and designates the negative dimensions of the humanitarian catastrophe of torture and brings forth monumental and profound positive strengths of character which sustain survivors. One case drawn from two decades of evaluations of torture demonstrates this innovative update of mainstream medical-scientific practice. A reproducible and easily communicated heuristic model respects clinical variables and reports the interactivity of individual psychological factors with the cultural/ political nexus. A consistent pattern emerged from review of country reports, survivors' affidavits, interviews, reports and testimonies to the court. Ordinary means led to extraordinary findings that were needed to incorporate and supersede the previous paradigms that have defined torture and designated capacities of psychological response. Torture is a crime of specific intent- to deconstruct and shatter the human connections of their subjects. Survivors had the force of human ties to sustain them. Necessary and legitimate methods achieve valid examination and forensic reporting. Professionals have the force to do right-verifiable objective means nurture justice and social progress.