cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Residual deformation analysis in composite shell structures manufactured using automated fiber placement

Abstract The manufacturing of composites typically produces residual stresses that can significantly affect the final shape of the structure. The process of automated fiber placement (AFP) has become a prominent manufacturing technique in developing layups with tailored, variable stiffness morphology. The steered patterns of fiber tows with and without overlaps produce residual deformations that are distinctive from traditional layups. Digital image correlation was used to measure the AFP lamina coefficients of thermal expansion, which were incorporated into finite element analyses (FEA) to model the cooling phase of the cure cycle. The effects of nonlinear analysis and temperature-dependent lamina properties calculated using self-consistent field micromechanics, on the resulting residual deformation of shells, were also modeled. The predicted residual deformation was analyzed by considering out-of-roundness in cylindrical shells and compared to the experimental results. The shell FEA results were well-correlated with the overall deformed shape of the AFP cylinder with overlaps, while the shell FEA model of the AFP cylinder without overlaps did not show as good of qualitative match of the deformation pattern. Analytical correlation with measured results were insensitive to material softening at elevated temperatures, geometric nonlinearities, and variations in measured lamina thermal properties. To improve the accuracy of the residual deformation analysis, these results suggest that the thermo-chemical shrinkages preceding the cooldown should be considered, as well as possible variations in ply level microstructure due to the presence of the embedded fiber tow gaps and overlaps.
The role of identification and gratitude in motivating organization-serving intentions and behaviors

Abstract Whereas organizational identification (OID) is a cognitive construct pertaining to the connectedness one has with an organization, gratitude toward the organization (GRAT) is felt when one (beneficiary) perceives that an individual or organization (benefactor) has intentionally acted to improve the beneficiary's well-being. Both are thought to motivate a desire to help the organization achieve its goals. The current research specifies a model in which OID and GRAT mediate the direct effect of organizational prestige (PRES) and satisfaction with the benefits received from the organization (SATIS) on a set of outcomes supportive of the organization: donating behavior, paid membership, support of corporate sponsors, and word-of-mouth recommendations. Data from 407 alumni of a large public university provide support for this theorizing. The relative predictive ability of (1) OID vs. GRAT to act as mediators and (2) SATIS and PRES to act as antecedents are investigated. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Contributions of chemical potential to the diffusive Seebeck coefficient for bulk semiconductor materials

Predicting the behaviors of thermoelectric material, such as the Seebeck coefficient, using first-principle material properties will accelerate material design and selection to optimize the performance of thermoelectric generator. This paper presents an analytic framework for the Seebeck coefficient. Particularly, it elucidates the important contribution of chemical potential to the overall Seebeck coefficient. This factor, however, is often neglected when Seebeck coefficient is defined based on only electrostatic potential or when methods based on the Boltzmann transportation equation is used to derive the expression of the Seebeck coefficient. (The diffusion component due to chemical potential gradient is generally ignored.) In this paper, methods based on local equilibrium assumption and Fermi–Dirac distribution are utilized to derive the expressions for the Seebeck coefficients using the first-principle parameters. The analytic expression of both the total Seebeck coefficient and the contribution from chemical potential component is derived, which is solved using numerical methods. A case study on a popular thermoelectric material bismuth telluride (both n-type and p-type) is conducted based on the derived expressions. Results of numerical calculations prove that chemical potential contributes significantly to the total Seebeck coefficient of bismuth telluride (76% for n-type and 88% for p-type materials, respectively, at room temperature if the materials are doped with shallow energy level impurities) when working under optimal Seebeck coefficient conditions.
An 8-Element Frequency-Selective Acoustic Beamformer and Bitstream Feature Extractor with 60 Mel-Frequency Energy Features Enabling 95% Speech Recognition Accuracy

A synergistic approach to beamforming and feature extraction, reduces processing complexity and die area, and delivers the high SNR required for reliable speech recognition. The 1.1mm2 IC combines frequency-selective bitstream beamforming, bitstream Mel frequency-band feature extraction, and an array of continuous-time sigma-delta modulators (SDMs) without area/power-intensive decimation. When coupled with a DNN, the prototype achieves 95.3% accuracy in recognizing spoken words from the Tensorflow dataset.
Roles of Mn and Ni in Li-rich Mn-Ni-Fe oxide cathodes

Abstract Cobalt free, lithium-rich manganese, nickel, and iron composite oxides (nanoscale mixture of monoclinic, Li2MnO3, and rhombohedral, LiMO2, phases) are promising cathodes as they show attractive electrochemical performance in initial cycles and can reduce the cost and toxicity of lithium ion battery. However, capacity and voltage fading on cycling are the downsides. To better understand the electrochemical performance and degradation mechanism, a series of Li1.2Mn0.40+xNi0.30-xFe0.10O2 materials with x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 was synthesized and systematically studied. The results of this study suggest that two phase composition is beneficial for superior electrochemical performance. The series showed first discharge capacity at 0.1C of 267, 204, 226, and 277 mAhg−1 for x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 respectively, with capacity retention after 100 cycles at 0.3C of 57 %, 57 %, 94 % and 67 %. For the first time we report EXAFS data analysis at all three K-edges: Mn, Ni and Fe before and after extended cycling. Ni reduction to Ni2+ after cycling and voltage fading increased with Ni fraction in the series. There is no trend of Mn reduction (Li2MnO3 activation) on cycling with Mn content indicating composition selection is crucially important for improved performance. The information on changes in electronic states and atomic distances, which allows proposing comprehensive electrochemical (role of Li2MnO3 phase) and degradation (Li+/Ni2+ exchange, voltage fading, and capacity fading) mechanisms.
Abstract P210: Cognitive Testing During Mild Acute Ischemic Stroke Predicts Return to Work, Driving, and Good Functional Outcome at 3 Months

Introduction: Many patients after a mild ischemic stroke (IS) do not return to work or driving. Cognitive testing is commonly done to assess long-term cognitive impairment after IS. However, inpati...
The Political-Economic Correlates of Discursive Engagement in Europe:

We examine the individual-level characteristics and political and economic conditions associated with political discussion. To build our model of discursive engagement, we draw on existing research...
ODACH: A One-shot Distributed Algorithm for Cox model with Heterogeneous Multi-center Data

ObjectiveWe developed and evaluated a privacy-preserving One-shot Distributed Algorithm for Cox model to analyze multi-center time-to-event data without sharing patient-level information across sites, while accounting for heterogeneity across sites by allowing site-specific baseline hazard functions and feature distributions. Materials and MethodsWe constructed a surrogate likelihood function to approximate the Cox log partial likelihood function which is stratified by site, using patient-level data from a single site and aggregated information from other sites. The ODAC estimator was obtained by maximizing the surrogate likelihood function. We evaluated and compare the performance of ODACH with meta-analysis by extensive numerical studies. ResultsThe simulation study showed that ODACH provided estimates close to the pooled estimator, which is obtained by directly analyzing patient-level data from all sites via a stratified Cox model. The relative bias was <1% across all scenarios. As a comparison, the meta-analysis estimator, which was obtained by the inverse variance weighted average of the site-specific estimates, had substantial bias when the event rate is <5%, with the relative bias reaching 12% when the event rate is 1%. ConclusionsODACH is a privacy-preserving and communication-efficient method for analyzing multi-center time-to-event data, which allows the baseline hazard functions as well as the distribution of covariate variables to vary across sites. It provides estimates that is close to the pooled estimator and substantially outperforms the meta-analysis estimator when the event is rare. It is thus extremely suitable for studying rare events with heterogeneous baseline hazards across sites in a distributed manner.
Nucleic-Acid Scavengers Mitigate Breast Cancer Induced Inflammation, Invasion, and Metastasis

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women. Particular subtypes with aggressive behavior are major contributors to poor outcomes. Triple‑negative breast cancer (TNBC) is difficult‑to‑treat, pro-inflammatory and highly metastatic. We demonstrate that TNBC cells express TLR9, are responsive to TLR9 ligands, and treatment of TNBC cells with chemotherapy increases the release of nucleic acid-containing Damage Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) in cell culture. Such culture-derived and BC-patient derived DAMPs increase TLR9 activation and TNBC cell invasion in vitro. Notably, treatment with the nucleic acid scavenger (NAS) PAMAM-G3 significantly mitigates such effects. In mice that develop spontaneous BC induced by polyoma middle T oncoprotein (MMTV-PyMT), treatment with NAS reduced lung metastasis. Thus, NAS treatment may mitigate cancer induced inflammation and metastasis and represents a novel therapeutic approach for combating breast cancer.
Pseudodelirium: Psychiatric Conditions to Consider on the Differential for Delirium

Objective:The phenotypes of several psychiatric conditions can very closely resemble delirium; the authors describe such presentations as pseudodelirium. However, because the clinical management of...
BL Lacertae objects: Accretion, jets, and winds

Observed properties of BL Lacertae objects, in particular X-ray spectral shape, overall broadband spectral shape, and rapid variability in intensity, are reviewed briefly. A number of promising scenarios for the energy-producing mechanisms are then discussed in light of the observations. These include accretion disks in the vicinity of a massive black hole, and synchrotron and inverse Compton emission from a relativistic jet. Finally, the possible presence of winds, suggested by broad X-ray absorption features in the spectra of a handful of BL Lac objects, is described.
Venous thromboembolism after Diaphragm Pacing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Introduction: Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are prone to venous thromboembolism (VTE) and secondary complications. Because there is an increased incidence of VTE after surgical procedures, placement of a Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS) in ALS patients as treatment for respiratory muscle weakness could potentially increase the incidence of VTE, especially in patients with limited mobility. Methods: We implanted a DPS in 10 ALS patients who met the criteria for this procedure. They underwent a preoperative evaluation as recommended by the guidelines. Results: We report 2 patients with no symptoms of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) before the surgical procedure who then developed perioperative VTE. Conclusions: These patients highlight the need to consider preoperative screening for DVT and postoperative thromboprophylaxis in high-risk ALS patients who undergo DPS placement. Muscle Nerve 50: 863–865, 2014
Review of Robert Lanza & Bob Berman's Book: Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

Lanza`s book is not a rigorous scientific treatment, but the science he refers to is rigorous. Neither is his book a comprehensive philosophical development. Rather, Lanza has a colloquial style that is typical of good popular books, and his book can be understood by non-experts. This is a very important book for the right audience. You can find this book at Amazon: Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe .
Asymmetric effects of deletions and substitutions on high negative interference in coliphage lambda.

ABSTRACT Experiments have been performed to help clarify the role of nonhomologies in phage λ recombination. Three-factor crosses were carried out, and the frequencies of single and double recombinants in the two adjoining intervals were compared when the central marker was either a double point mutation ( v1v3 ) or deletion ( rex-cI deletion) or nonhomologous substitution ( imm434 ). In all cases the lefthand marker was a bio substitution (Fec - phenotype, which does not permit plating on recA - ), and the righthand marker was an amber mutation in gene O . Experiments were performed in all four possible arrangements of the central and rightward markers, while selecting for the Fec + phenotype on the recA - host. As anticipated, high negative interference (HNI) was observed with point mutations, but when the central marker was a substitution nonhomology, HNI was reduced about tenfold. Surprisingly, when the central marker was a simple deletion, a dramatic asymmetry in results was observed, with HNI being exhibited only when the central deletion marker was acquired by the double recombinant. These results indicate that under normal conditions ( red + , gam + , rec + ) and with noninhibited DNA replication, recombination in coliphage λ entails a highly asymmetric step that could be at the level of strand transfer or mismatch repair.
Educational Status and Blood Pressure: The Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1976–1980, and the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1982–1984

An inverse association between socioeconomic status, as measured by years of education, and blood pressure has been reported in a number of studies. However, two secular trends may have changed the nature of this relation: a higher mean level of education in the population and intervention for high blood pressure in the community. Given that education is the most commonly used indicator of social class and measurement is a critical issue in epidemiologic research, a study was initiated to examine the validity of education for predicting blood pressure among 11,554 examined persons aged 25-74 years from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1976-1980) or the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1982-1984). In univariate analysis, a consistent, inverse association between education and blood pressure was found for whites and blacks, but not for Mexican Americans. After adjustment for age and body mass, the effect persisted only for systolic blood pressure in whites. The association of education and blood pressure was positive in Mexican-American females. Education was inversely related to hypertensive status in whites and in black females. These findings suggest that information on education may be of little value for identifying populations at risk of high blood pressure, particularly if age and body mass are known. However, information on education may be of considerable value in the design and implementation of appropriate interventions.
Overview of the Present and Future of Clinical Transplantation

An historical overview of kidney transplantation including the rehabilitation status of long-term survivors, the ethical issues related to current American transplantation, and projections for the future are presented.
Thermal stability and flame retardancy of poly(methyl methacrylate)-clay nanocomposites

Abstract Three ammonium salts, hexadecylallyldimethyl ammonium chloride (Allyl16), hexadecylvinylbenzyldimethyl ammonium chloride (VB16) and hexadecylvinylbenzyldimethyl ammonium chloride (Bz16) were synthesized and ion exchanged onto montmorillonite. Poly(methyl methacrylate)–clay nanocomposites of all three clays were prepared by bulk polymerization and the resulting nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The clays which contain a pendant double bond are more likely to give an exfoliated material while that which contains no double bond is intercalated. The thermal stability and flame retardancy were measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Cone Calorimetry respectively.
Multilocus sequence data reveal extensive departures from equilibrium in domesticated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Limited genetic variation has been observed within tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), although no studies have extensively surveyed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity among tomato landraces. We estimated intraspecific DNA sequence variation by analyzing 50 gene fragments (23.2 kb) per plant in a 31 plant diversity panel. The majority of loci (80%) were polymorphic with the minor allele at a frequency of 10% or less for most (141 of 155) SNPs. Mean diversity as estimated by theta and pi was approximately 1.5 SNPs per kb. Significant linkage disequilibrium was observed between 19% of locus pairs, and within-locus population recombination estimates were negligible. We also sequenced 43 gene fragments from wild tomato Solanum arcanum Peralta as an outgroup. Various statistical tests rejected a neutral equilibrium model of molecular evolution at 10 of 50 loci. Rare, highly diverged alleles were observed, involving at least seven tomato lines and five loci. Some of these may represent introgressions that originated both from natural hybridization with Solanum pimpinellifolium L. and from crosses with S. pimpinellifolium and additional wild relatives for crop improvement. The former was reported from classical field studies carried out by CM Rick; the latter has been extensively documented in the crop, particularly for transfer of disease resistance alleles. Extensive introgression and frequent bottlenecks within S. lycopersicum will pose a challenge to reconstructing the genetic bases of domestication and selection using methods that rely on patterns of molecular polymorphism.
Does God Play Dice? A Response to Niels H. Gregersen, “The Idea of Creation and the Theory of Autopoietic Processes”

The idea that the Creator has a plan for creation is deeply rooted in the Christian notion of Providence. This notion seems to suggest that the history of creation must be the execution of the providential plan of God. Such an understanding of divine providence expects science to confirm that cosmic history is under supernatural guidance, that evolution is therefore oriented toward a goal—to bring forth human beings, for example. The problem is, however, that science finds evidence for neither supernatural guidance nor teleology in nature. To address this problem, I understand Niels H. Gregersen to suggest that God is involved in the creative process. The reason science cannot demonstrate God's supernatural guidance of evolution is that the Creator structures the process from within. Gregersen argues that God is involved in the process of creation by changing the overall probability pattern of evolving systems. In my view, such a model of how God interacts with creation is supported neither by orthodox Christianity nor by modern science. After a critique of Gregersen's argument and a brief history of the relationship between Christianity and science, I shall suggest an alternative. It is that the freedom of creation to create itself is implicit in the fundamental dogma of Christianity that God is love.
On-chip waveguide resonator with metallic mirrors

We introduce an optical microresonator consisting of a planar waveguide terminated by metallic mirrors. The resonator was fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator platform, and its optical performance was theoretically and experimentally investigated. The demonstrated device had dimensions of 200 mumx40 mum and exhibited a quality factor of about 1000 and a free-spectral range of about 8 nm. Application to high-throughput, label-free biochemical sensing is considered, and optimization with respect to the surface sensitivity is carried out. The optimized sensitivity makes it possible to detect subnanometer layers of molecules adsorbing to the surface of the resonator.
Ultrasound assessment of congenital spinal anomalies presenting in infancy

Sonography of the infant spine can rapidly and safely exclude or confirm the presence of a congenital malformation. This article reviews the embryology of the spinal cord, abnormal and normal sonographic findings, and findings associated with occult dysraphic lesions. Patient selection for sonographic assessment is also discussed. Illustrations of normal anatomy and the more common dysraphic lesions are provided.
Alternative splicing of the GABAA receptor α4 subunit creates a severely truncated mRNA

GABA(A) receptors, important sites of drug action, are chloride channels composed of 5 subunits chosen from among 19 or more. Alternative splicing for alpha 5, alpha 6, and rho 1 subunits results in truncated proteins which appear to lack function. We report a similar, relatively common (about 20%) form of alternative splicing of the alpha 4 subunit mRNA in mice and humans which, remarkably, creates a severely truncated message containing only the first two and last coding exons, with a frameshift in between. The only apparent translation product includes a short piece (39 amino acids) of the N-terminus right after the signal peptide. The splicing was developmentally and regionally regulated; the highest proportions of truncated alpha 4 mRNA, about 40%, were observed in embryonic day 18 whole brain and adult cerebellum. The truncated mRNA, when coexpresssed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells with the complete alpha 4 subunit and beta1 and gamma 2 S subunits, reduced observed GABA currents without kinetic alterations. No such effect of truncated alpha 4 was observed with alpha1 subunit-containing receptors. Thus, the truncated alpha 4 N-terminus may play a post-translational regulatory role in intracellular folding/glycosylation/assembly of the alpha 4 subunit.
Bichromaticity of bipartite graphs

Let B be a bipartite graph with edge set E and vertex bipartition M, N. The bichromaticity β(B) is defined as the maximum number β such that a complete bipartite graph on β vertices is obtainable from B by a sequence of identifications of vertices of M or vertices of N. Let μ = max{∣M∣, ∣N∣}. Harary, Hsu, and Miller proved that β(B) ≥ μ + 1 and that β(T) = μ + 1 for T an arbitrary tree. We prove that β(B) ≤ μ + ∣E∣/μ yielding a simpler proof that β(T) = μ + 1. We also characterize graphs for which Kμ, 2 is obtainable by such identifications. For QK. the graph of the K-dimensional cube, we obtain the inequality 2K−1 + 2 ≤ β(QK) ≤ 2K−1 + K, the upper bound attainable iff K is a power of 2.
A program for parsing mouse movements into component submovements

Most current movement control theories include the idea that movement toward a target can be broken into several submovements. The complexity of analyzing a movement into its constituent submovement structure and the additional complexity imposed by the problem of noise in the data and hand tremor seem to be daunting to researchers. This paper discusses a program that can ameliorate both of these problems and parse movements into their constituent submovements. It also contains a graphing feature that is useful as a visual tool for analyzing submovement structure. The programs are easily modifiable, so that researchers can specify their own parsing rules on the basis of different assumptions about movement control and use the parser for data from different experimental tasks.
The Text of Ignatius' Letter To the Trallians 12:3

Pour rendre intelligible le texte de la derniere phrase de ce passage, l'A. propose de diviser le mot peri/keimai, suivi d'une virgule.
Micropatterning Microscopic Charge Heterogeneity on Flat Surfaces for Studying the Interaction between Colloidal Particles and Heterogeneously Charged Surfaces

An effective technique for micropatterning microscopic chemical heterogeneity onto solid surfaces for studying colloid interaction with heterogeneously charged surfaces is presented. Charge heterogeneity is micropatterned onto glass surfaces by the chemical modification of specified surface regions with aminosilane. The deposition (adsorption) of colloidal particles onto the micropatterned glass surfaces, under well-controlled laminar flow conditions, is observed in real time using a stagnation point flow cell and an optical microscope with a CCD camera.
Invasion Genes Are Not Required for Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium To Breach the Intestinal Epithelium: Evidence That Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 Has Alternative Functions during Infection

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium invasion genes are necessary for bacterial invasion of intestinal epithelial cells and are thought to allow salmonellae to enter and cross the intestinal epithelium during infection. Many invasion genes are encoded on Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1), and their expression is activated by HilA, a transcription factor also encoded on SPI1. We have studied the role of Salmonella invasion genes during infection of mice following intragastric inoculation. We have found that strains containing a mutation in hilA or invG were recovered from the intestinal contents, intestinal tissues, and systemic tissues at a lower frequency than their parental wild-type strain. In contrast, a strain in which SPI1 is deleted was recovered from infected mice at a frequency similar to that of its parental wild-type strain. The ΔSPI1 phenotype indicates that S. enterica does not require invasion genes to cross the intestinal epithelium and infect systemic tissues. This result has forced us to reconsider the long-held belief that invasion genes directly mediate bacterial infection of the intestinal mucosa and traversion of the intestinal barrier during infection. Instead, our results suggest that hilA is required for bacterial colonization of the host intestine. The seemingly contradictory phenotype of the ΔSPI1 mutant suggests that deletion of another gene(s) encoded on SPI1 suppresses the hilA mutant defect. We propose a model for S. enterica pathogenesis in which hilA and invasion genes are required for salmonellae to overcome a host clearance response elicited by another SPI1 gene product(s).
A Score Sheet for Evaluating Breastfeeding Educational Materials

Lactation consultants and other professionals are frequently asked to review or recommend a video, pamphlet, or teaching aid for a specific audience. This article lists positive features that support the art and science of breastfeeding, and identifies errors and concepts detrimental to the course of breastfeeding. Six central messages are detailed: milk supply, comfort during breastfeeding, health of baby and mother, social support, presentation of the message, and packaging, including the financial motivation of the author.
Comparison of two multidisciplinary optimization strategies for launch-vehicle design

The investigation focuses on development of a rapid multidisciplinary analysis and optimization capability for launch-vehicle design. Two multidisciplinary optimization strategies in which the analyses are integrated in different manners are implemented and evaluated for solution of a single-stage-to-orbit launch-vehicle design problem. Weights and sizing, propulsion, and trajectory issues are directly addressed in each optimization process. Additionally, the need to maintain a consistent vehicle model across the disciplines is discussed. Both solution strategies were shown to obtain similar solutions from two different starting points. These solutions suggests that a dual-fuel, single-stage-to-orbit vehicle with a dry weight of approximately 1.927 x 10(exp 5)lb, gross liftoff weight of 2.165 x 10(exp 6)lb, and length of 181 ft is attainable. A comparison of the two approaches demonstrates that treatment or disciplinary coupling has a direct effect on optimization convergence and the required computational effort. In comparison with the first solution strategy, which is of the general form typically used within the launch vehicle design community at present, the second optimization approach is shown to he 3-4 times more computationally efficient.
Amino terminal residue heterogeneity of bovine and ovine growth hormones as revealed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Prolonged electrophoresis (4 to 16 h) of bovine and ovine growth hormones on analytical polyacrylamide gels in Tris-EDTA-borate buffers of pH 7.6 to 8.1 resulted in the separation of alanyl, phenylalanyl, and methionyl terminal polypeptide chains of these hormones similar to that obtained by isoelectric focusing in Ampholine pH gradients. Their relative anodic mobilities were methionyl < phenylalanyl < alanyl. The mobilities of the respective monomers were inversely related to their isoionic points as determined by isoelectric focusing in Ampholine pH gradients. The resolution of the different monomers is attributed to differences in the dissociation constants of the amino groups of the alanyl, phenylalanyl and methionyl terminal residues. Rat growth hormone, which consists of monomers with only a phenylalanyl amino terminus, did not display heterogeneity on gel electrophoresis. The applicability of employing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for the assessing of amino terminal residue heterogeneity is n...
Average summer peak UV‐B in central Texas, 1995–2001

[1] This paper develops the statistical treatment necessary to calculate the error bars associated with the average summer peak UV-B irradiance (ASPUV), a measure of annual solar UV-B irradiance similar to the “summertime peak UV Index” introduced by McKenzie et al. These errors include the effects of autocorrelation among daily average values of the solar UV-B irradiance at local noon as measured by a variance inflation factor (VIF), which increases the variance of the ASPUV beyond its value for no autocorrelation by amounts ranging from 14% to 52% depending on the year. Including the VIF in the error estimates of the ASPUV allows one to gauge the significance of possible changes in this quantity. As an example, the treatment is applied to broadband radiometric measurements carried out at Georgetown, TX (30.6°N, 97.7°W) and it is found that from summer 1995 to summer 2001 the ASPUV has decreased, the values for 1995 and 2001 differing by about 3 standard deviations.
Involvement of midbrain structures in tactually and visually elicited prey acquisition behavior in the frog, Rana pipiens

1. Complete removal of the optic tectum inRana pipiens abolishes prey acquisition responses to visual but not to tactile stimuli. The lesions involve some damage to non-tectal structures (Fig. 2) and result in some alterations in the frequency and amplitude of tactually elicited responses (Table 1). 2. Lesions completely restricted to the optic tectum are without effect on tactually elicited prey acquisition behavior. 3. The severity of tactile deficits resulting from various midbrain lesions correlates with the extent of incursion into torus semicircularis from its lateral margin (Fig. 5, Table 2). Large unilateral lesions abolish responsiveness to stimuli delivered to the contralateral body surface. 4. Unilateral damage to torus can abolish responsiveness to contralateral tactile stimulation without abolishing responsiveness to visual stimulation (Fig. 6, Table 3).
Use of RNA polymerase as an enzymatic probe of nucleosomal structure

Nucleosomes prepared from human placental nuclei and Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (nucleoside triphosphate: RNA nucleotidyl transferase EC.2.7.7.6) form stable initiation complexes. This property is utilized as a probe of nucleosome structure. RNA polymerase initiation has been studied on purified nucleosomes, nucleosome cores, and nucleosomal DNA. The affinity of E. coli RNA polymerase for both nucleosome cores and monomers was 5-6 fold less than found for nucleosomal DNA. No difference in apparent initiation Km was found between cores and mononucleosomes. This suggests that initiation does not preferentially occur on the DNA tails of nucleosomes. Once initiated and allowed to form nascent RNA, these complexes are very stable to ionic strength changes. Under conditions in which free enzyme is inactivated with rifampicin, the enzyme in the complex retains activity as demonstrated by its ability to transcribe and reinitiate on both nucleosomes and free DNA. These complexes can be well resolved from free nucleosomes on preparative polyacrylamide gels and both can be eluted from gels for analysis of proteins and DNA sequence complexity. Studies using (125I) labelled nucleosomes show that histones are retained in the initiation complex, and are not dissociated by the enzyme during initiation.
Shouldering Risks: The Culture of Control in the Nuclear Power Industry

The article reviews the book “Shouldering Risks: The Culture of Control in the Nuclear Power Industry,” by Constance Perin.
Regional performance targets for transparent near-infrared switching electrochromic window glazings

Abstract With building heating and cooling accounting for nearly 14% of the national energy consumption, emerging technologies that improve building envelope performance have significant potential to reduce building energy consumption. Actual savings from these technologies will depend heavily upon their performance in diverse climate and operational conditions. In many cases, early-stage research can benefit from detailed investigation in order to develop performance thresholds and identify target markets. One example, a dynamic, highly transparent, near-infrared switching electrochromic (NEC) window glazing, is the focus of this investigation. Like conventional electrochromics, the NEC glazing can dynamically tune its optical properties with a small applied voltage. Consequently, the glazing can block or transmit solar heat to reduce cooling or heating loads, respectively. Unlike conventional electrochromics, NEC glazings remain transparent to visible light, causing no adverse effect to daylighting or building aesthetics. This study utilizes the software COMFEN to simulate a broad range of NEC performance levels, for commercial and residential buildings in 16 climate-representative reference cities. These simulations are the basis for identifying performance levels necessary to compete with existing static technologies. These results indicate that energy savings are strongly influenced by blocking-state performance. Additionally, residential applications have lower performance requirements due to their characteristic internal heat gains. Finally, the most dynamic NEC performance level is simulated in competition with high performing static alternatives. Here heating and cooling energy savings range from 5 to 11 kWh/m2 yr for commercial and 8–15 kWh/m2 yr for residential, in many regions on the order of 10%.
Computer vision for improved single-sensor spectrum sensing

Spectrum sensing is the technology for determining spectrum usage as seen from a single sensor. This paper presents an improved approach to spectrum sensing. The technique is based on processing the spectrogram using computer vision methods, including morphological operations and computing connected components. The use of these non-linear methods improves performance. For a fixed false alarm rate of 10%, the technique presented improved detection accuracy from 50% to near 90% over a time adaptive method based on cell-averaging. (5 pages)
Effect of early methane introduction on the properties of nano-seeded MPCVD-diamond films

Abstract Diamond films are attractive for both electronic and mechanical applications because of their superior hardness, strength, chemical stability, etc. For applications in MEMS, very smooth thin films are desired. Our main objective was to deposit a smooth and thin diamond film. Diamond films were deposited on 3-inch diameter, p-type, 〈100〉 oriented silicon substrates using a microwave plasma disk reactor (MPDR). Four-nanometer diamond powder was used for seeding the silicon wafers. In this paper, we study the effects of the early introduction of methane. The deposition conditions were changed to introduce methane right at the beginning instead of introducing it after about 5 min as was done previously. Due to this change, there was a considerable increase in nucleation density and growth rate. Very smooth films were obtained in the shorter duration depositions. The initial phase deposition revealed some graphite content in the films, which decreased with increasing deposition time.
Saturation numbers for families of Ramsey-minimal graphs

Given a family of graphs F , a graph G is F-saturated if no element of F is a subgraph of G, but for any edge e in G, some element of F is a subgraph of G + e. Let sat(n,F) denote the minimum number of edges in an F -saturated graph of order n. For graphs G,H1, . . . , Hk, we write that G → (H1, . . . , Hk) if every k-coloring of E(G) contains a monochromatic copy of Hi in color i for some i. A graph G is (H1, . . . , Hk)-Ramsey-minimal if G → (H1, . . . , Hk) but for any e ∈ G, (G − e) 6→ (H1, . . . , Hk). Let Rmin(H1, . . . , Hk) denote the family of (H1, . . . , Hk)-Ramseyminimal graphs. In 1987, Hanson and Toft conjectured that
Quasi-tem spectral domain technique for multiconductor structures with rectangular and trapezoidal conductor cross sections

An efficient technique based on the quasi-TEM spectral domain analysis is formulated to compute the characteristic parameters of multiconductor-multilayered structures with finite thickness conductors having trapezoidal and rectangular cross sections. Computed results for typical single and coupled lines on alumina and GaAs substrates are presented and compared with results based on finite and boundary element techniques and measured data for the effective dielectric constant.
Effects of intrahypothalamic administration of opioid peptides selective for μ-, κ-, and δ-receptors on different schedules of water intake in the rat

The effects of opioid peptides selective for μ-, κ-, and δ-opioid receptors were investigated on 3 different schedules of water intake in the rat: spontaneous, deprivational (12 h), and hypertonic saline-induced drinking. Peptides were injected into the paraventricular and supraoptic hypothalamic nuclei.d-Ala-2-NMePhe4-Gly(ol)-enkephalin, a μ-selective opioid agonist, tended to increase water intake in non-deprived rats, but 0.01 and 0.1 μg significantly decreased water intake for 45 min in deprived rats, and for up to 60 min in hypertonic saline-injected rats when injected into the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. The κ-selective agonist, dynorphin A1–13 (0.1, 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 μg) and the δ-selective agonist, [d-Pen2,l-Pen5]enkephalin (0.3 and 3.0 μg) did not affect spontaneous, deprivation or hypertonic saline-induced water intakes when injected into either the paraventricular or supraoptic hypothalamic nuclei. Thus, a μ-selective opioid peptide produced dose- and time-dependent effects on drinking that were pharmacologically and anatomically specific, and dependent upon the schedule of water intake.
Iron overload and urinary lysosomal enzyme levels in β-thalassaemia major

The urinary levels of the lysosomal enzymes n-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) (EC 3.2.1.52) and α-mannosidase (EC 3.2.1.24) were evaluated in patients with β-thalassaemia major and normal control subjects. Two groups of patients with different degrees of iron overload, as judged by their serum ferritin levels, were investigated. Renal disease was not present in any of the patients. A statistically significant increase in the levels of NAG was observed in the high ferritin (>3,000 mg/dl) group compared to the low ferritin (<3,000 mg/dl) and the control groups. No difference was observed in the urinary α-mannosidase levels between the groups examined. The finding of increased NAG levels in the patients with the increased iron load suggests that kidney lysosomes are a target of iron toxicity. The different behaviour of the two lysosomal enzymes may reflect the intra- and inter-lysosomal heterogeneity in kidney.
Tensor Hydraulic Conductivity Estimation for Heterogeneous Aquifers under Unknown Boundary Conditions

A physically based inverse method is developed using hybrid formulation and coordinate transform to simultaneously estimate hydraulic conductivity tensors, steady-state flow field, and boundary conditions for a confined aquifer under ambient flow or pumping condition. Unlike existing indirect inversion techniques, the physically based method does not require forward simulations to assess model-data misfits. It imposes continuity of hydraulic head and Darcy fluxes in the model domain while incorporating observations (hydraulic heads, Darcy fluxes, or well rates) at measurement locations. Given sufficient measurements, it yields a well-posed inverse system of equations that can be solved efficiently with coarse grids and nonlinear optimization. When pumping and injection are active, well rates are used as measurements and flux sampling is not needed. The method is successfully tested on synthetic aquifer problems with regular and irregular geometries, different hydrofacies and flow patterns, and increasing conductivity anisotropy ratios. All problems yield stable inverse solutions under increasing head measurement errors. For a given set of observations, inversion accuracy is strongly affected by the conductivity anisotropy ratio. Conductivity estimation is also affected by flow pattern: within a hydrofacies, when Darcy flux component is very small, the corresponding directional conductivity perpendicular to streamlines becomes less identifiable. Finally, inversion is successful even if the location of aquifer boundaries is unknown. In this case, the inversion domain is defined by the location of the measurements.
A classification of errors in lay comprehension of medical documents

Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted Highlights? Taxonomy of errors of lay comprehension of medical documents is feasible. ? This paper offers a classification serving as the beginning of such a taxonomy. ? Content analysis of document retellings is a viable taxonomy building procedure. ? Lay participants had the most trouble with medication names. ? Other difficulties concerned clinical concepts, terms, findings and research aims. Emphasis on participatory medicine requires that patients and consumers participate in tasks traditionally reserved for healthcare providers. This includes reading and comprehending medical documents, often but not necessarily in the context of interacting with Personal Health Records (PHRs). Research suggests that while giving patients access to medical documents has many benefits (e.g., improved patient-provider communication), lay people often have difficulty understanding medical information. Informatics can address the problem by developing tools that support comprehension; this requires in-depth understanding of the nature and causes of errors that lay people make when comprehending clinical documents. The objective of this study was to develop a classification scheme of comprehension errors, based on lay individuals' retellings of two documents containing clinical text: a description of a clinical trial and a typical office visit note. While not comprehensive, the scheme can serve as a foundation of further development of a taxonomy of patients' comprehension errors. Eighty participants, all healthy volunteers, read and retold two medical documents. A data-driven content analysis procedure was used to extract and classify retelling errors. The resulting hierarchical classification scheme contains nine categories and 23 subcategories. The most common error made by the participants involved incorrectly recalling brand names of medications. Other common errors included misunderstanding clinical concepts, misreporting the objective of a clinical research study and physician's findings during a patient's visit, and confusing and misspelling clinical terms. A combination of informatics support and health education is likely to improve the accuracy of lay comprehension of medical documents.
Identifying novel protein complexes in cancer cells using epitope-tagging of endogenous human genes and affinity-purification mass spectrometry

Affinity-purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS) is the preeminent technique for identification of eukaryotic protein complexes in vivo. AP-MS workflows typically express epitope-tagged bait proteins, immunopurify, and then identify associated protein complexes using mass spectrometry. However, challenges of existing strategies include the construction of expression vectors for large open reading frames and the possibility that overexpression of bait proteins may result in expression of nonphysiological levels of the bait protein with concomitant perturbation of endogenous protein complexes. To address these issues, we use human cell lines with epitope-tagged endogenous genes as AP-MS substrates to develop a platform that we call "knock-in AP-MS", thereby avoiding the challenges of expression vector construction and ensuring that expression of tagged proteins is driven by endogenous regulatory mechanisms. Using three different bait genes (MRE11A, DNMT1 and APC), we show that cell lines expressing epitope-tagged endogenous genes make good substrates for sensitive and reproducible identification of protein interactions using AP-MS. In particular, we identify novel interactors of the important oncoprotein Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC), including an interaction with Flightless-1 homologue (FLII) that is enriched in nuclear fractions.
Osteogenesis and leukopoiesis within diffusion-chamber implants of isolated bone marrow subpopulations.

The developmental potential of isolated rabbit bone marrow cell populations was examined following autogeneous implantation into diffusion chambers. After 4 weeks, tbe implants were harvested and processed for light and electron microscopy. More total tissue was formed in abdominally implanted chambers than in corresponding femoral chambers. Two of the separated marrow cell populations produced significantly greater amounts of fibrous connective tissue, cartilage, and bone than did whole-marrow controls. These two populations, which were defined by density gradients of 1.050–1.055 gm/cm3 and 1.064–1.067 gm/cm3, consistently produced a fibrous connective tissue nodule in which were found dispersed foci of hyaline cartilage and woven bone. The denser population was distinguished further by the presence of leukopoietic foci in several of the implant chambers. Cartilage foci were found predominantly towards the center of the tissue nodules, whereas bone was dominant towards the periphery. Blood vessels, osteoclasts, bone remodeling, and mature lamellar bone were found only in those chambers which had been penetrated by the host's vascular system. The results indicate that (1) normal marrow tissue contains two separate osteoprogenitor cell populations; (2) these two progenitor populations represent separate osteogenic and chondrogenic capabilities; (3) one of these populations possesses a leukopoietic as well as an osteogenic potential; and (4) a competent vascular system is essential for the remodelling of bone into mature bone organs.