cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microbial Pollution Characterization at a TMDL Site in Michigan: Effect of Hydrological Conditions on Pollution Loading

Abstract Communities throughout the United States are developing and implementing watershed management plans to address nonpoint sources of pollution and meet Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements. Once a TMDL is established, a watershed management plan is developed and implemented to reduce contaminant sources and attain TMDL goals. Developing an effective TMDL and remediation plan should take into account fluctuation of pollution loadings and the timing of first-flush events. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of hydrological conditions on microbial pollutant levels at a TMDL site during spring and summer storm events. A total of 64 water samples were collected from Sloan Creek in mid-Michigan in the spring/summer of 2015. All samples were analyzed to quantify concentrations of E. coli, bovine-associated Bacteroides (BoBac) gene markers, and human-associated Bacteroides (HuBac) gene markers. Discharge was the driving force of microbial contaminant loading in the studied water body. E. coli concentrations had significant strong correlation with precipitation and discharge, and BoBac concentrations were positively related to discharge. E. coli, BoBac and HuBac patterns suggested first-flush phenomena occurred during summer storms. E. coli permit exceedance rates increased from 31% before first-flush, to 100% during and after first-flush in the summer. The resulting information may help develop a plan for restoring impaired waters and establish the maximum amount of pollutants that the body of water can receive during different hydrological conditions.
Behavior of cross-laminated timber diaphragm connections with self-tapping screws

Abstract Monotonic and cyclic tests were carried out to determine strength and stiffness characteristics of 2.44 m (8 ft) long shear connections with 8 mm and 10 mm diameter self-tapping screws. The goal of this research is to compare test values of cross-laminated timber (CLT) diaphragm connections in seismic force-resisting systems to the design values calculated from formulas in the National Design Specification for Wood Construction (USA) and the Eurocode. Understanding and quantifying the behavior of these shear connections will provide structural engineers with increased confidence in designing these components, especially with regard to the seismic force-resisting systems. Ratios of the experimental yield strength (from the yield point on the load-deflection curve) to factored design strength were in the range of 2.1–6.1. In the ASCE 41-13 acceptance criteria analysis, the m-factors for the Life Safety performance level in cyclic tests ranged from 1.6 to 1.8 for surface spline connections and from 0.9 to 1.7 for cyclic half-lap connections. The half-lap connections with a unique combination of angled and vertical screws performed exceptionally well with both high, linear elastic initial stiffness and ductile, post-peak behavior.
Adaptive topologies against jamming attacks in wireless networks: A game-theoretic approach

Abstract Towards securing wireless networks and ensuring their dependability under jamming attacks, this paper presents and analyzes game-theoretic formulations between an adversary and a defender. The adversary jams a subset of nodes to increase the level of interference in the network, while the defender makes judicious adjustments of the transmission power level of the nodes, thereby continuously adapting the underlying network topology to reduce the impact of the attack. The defender's strategy is based on playing Nash equilibria (NE) strategies securing a worst-case network utility. First, a discrete control set is considered in which the space of strategies of the defender grows exponentially with the network size. Scalable decomposition-based approaches are developed yielding a defense strategy whose performance closely approaches that of the non-decomposed game. Second, we develop a marginal strategy to assign the power levels while satisfying a coverage constraint thereby evading the combinatorial complexity associated with enumerating all pure actions. Third, we generalize the marginal-based strategy by considering a continuous action space for both players. For this setting, we prove the existence of a unique pure Nash equilibrium. The presented numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed defense approach against various attack policies and demonstrate the assignment strategies on a real wireless network deployed in a three-story building.
Cladistic Analysis of Partial ssrDNA Sequences among Unitunicate Perithecial Ascomycetes and Its Implications on the Evolution of Centrum Development

Cladistic analysis using maximum parsimony was performed on partial sequences of the nuclear-encoded small subunit ribosomal DNA among unitunicate perithecial ascomycetes, “pyrenomycetes”. Two lines of evolution were inferred within the group. Centrum types as described by multiple investigators are mapped onto the gene tree, and the evolution of centrum development is discussed. The evanescent paraphyses of the Clavicipitales and Hypocreales are treated as homologous, whereas, the homology of the centrum pseudoparenchyma described in Diaporthe centrum type versus that described for the genera Melanospora, Ceratocystis and the order Microascales is questioned. The existence of two lineages within the pyrenomycetes argues that parallel evolution involving the formation of the central cavity is an important aspect of centrum development.
Solid State Chemistry in the Fluorites and its Influence on the Spectroscopy

Fluorite materials occupy a prominent position in the understanding of solid state chemistry and in the control defects exert on that chemistry. Consequently, the fluorites are one of the world’s best studied materials and the knowledge gained from them penetrates much of solid state science. Despite this work, the present understanding of defect chemistry in at least some of the fluorites (alkaline earth fluorides) is probably wrong and the fundamental phenomena controlling defects in fluorites remain poorly understood.
Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter:

In this article, we explore the potential role of social media in helping movements expand and/or strengthen themselves internally, processes we refer to as scaling up. Drawing on a case study of B...
T-cell receptor-α CDR3 domain chemical features correlate with survival rates in bladder cancer

In certain cancer settings, a T-cell response to cancer represents a relatively favorable outcome. Thus, the near-future challenges include a better understanding of exactly which T-cell features contribute to a response to which cancer antigen-groups, to maximize the opportunities for tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL)-based therapies and other immunotherapies. The immune receptor complementarity determining region-3 (CDR3) is considered to be important for antigen binding, hence, in this report, we evaluated the chemical features of the CDR3 of 846 T-cell receptor-α (TCR-α) coding regions associated with bladder tumor tissue, using bioinformatics databases. Results indicated that statistically significantly distinct, low value, CDR3 region isoelectric points associate with a better outcome (log rank p < 0.027, overall survival). Moreover, in samples representing the more favorable isoelectric points, known driver mutations, for example, PIK3CA (E → K) with chemically complementary features overlap the better-outcome, low isoelectric point samples. Further work extended these results, i.e., survival rate-CDR3 associations, to other CDR3 chemical features and other cancers, consistent with the initial isoelectric point-related, bladder cancer findings. A bioinformatics assessment of cancer-associated TCR biochemical features may improve the accuracy of the predictions of which TILs will be best for ex-vivo amplification and which patients will benefit from other immunotherapies.
Experimental Study of Swept Impinging Oblique Shock/Boundary-Layer Interactions

An experimental investigation has been conducted on swept impinging oblique shock/boundary-layer interactions at a nominal Mach number of 2.28 with a fully turbulent incoming boundary layer (Reθ=55...
Abstract B043: Enhanced T-cell immunity in vivo using injectable bioengineered scaffolds

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potentially curative therapy for hematological malignancies and immunologic disorders, but allogeneic HSCT is limited by deficiency and dysregulation of T-cells. We aimed to enhance post-HSCT T-cell reconstitution and hypothesized that a T-cell lymphopoietic bone marrow niche might be engineered to foster production of T-cell progenitors in vivo, which can undergo host-driven selection. To test this hypothesis, we created an injectable biomaterial-based scaffold that promotes T-cell development in vivo by recapitulating key features of the bone marrow niche. The composite device, referred to as a bone marrow cryogel (BMC), is comprised of a macroporous hydrogel-based scaffold permitting cellular infiltration. The presentation of T-lineage cues in a bone marrow-like microenvironment enhanced thymic seeding of progenitors and facilitated the enhancement of donor T-cell reconstitution after HSCT in mice. The BMC-reconstituted T-cells were functional, with a diverse T-cell receptor repertoire and modulated GVHD. BMC may represent a simple to administer, off-the-shelf approach to post-HSCT T-cell regeneration. Citation Format: Nisarg Shah, David J. Mooney. Enhanced T-cell immunity in vivo using injectable bioengineered scaffolds [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; Sept 30-Oct 3, 2018; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2019;7(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B043.
Innovative N2-selective metallic membranes for the potential use of CO2 capture

Abstract The permeability of nitrogen in Group V metal membranes having an approximate thickness of 40 μm was determined for the first time at conditions of relatively low temperature (400–600 °C) and pressure (300–600 kPa). Vanadium, niobium and tantalum membranes were investigated to evaluate the permeation characteristics towards nitrogen permeation. Analogous to the hydrogen transport mechanism through palladium-based membranes, the nitrogen permeating flux through the metallic membranes was determined to take place through a solution-diffusion mechanism. In particular, at 400 °C, the nitrogen permeability was found to be 1.15 × 10-12, 1.05 × 10-12, and 6.54 × 10-13 mol/(m s Pa0.5) for vanadium, niobium and tantalum, respectively. The optimal nitrogen partial pressure exponent value was found to be 0.5 for all the membranes investigated. The nitrogen permeability for the vanadium membrane was described by an Arrhenius-type relation where the pre-exponential factor and apparent activation energy for this correlation were 3.55 × 10-15 mol/(m s Pa0.5) and 31.8 kJ/mol, respectively. For niobium and tantalum membranes, it was not possible to perform any permeation tests due to cracks, which formed at temperatures higher than 500 °C. SEM and EDS analyses revealed the formation of metal oxides on the surface of V, Nb, Ta membranes, which may benefit the transport of nitrogen through the membrane as it may aid in preserving the structured nature of the bulk phase thereby preventing the formation of defects and/or grain migration at high temperature. Although the nitrogen permeability through metallic membranes is low and metal oxides form on the surface, this work describes the performance of metallic membranes toward nitrogen permeation, and it can be considered as the benchmark for future work related to this field.
Optical properties and mechanical loss of amorphous Ta2O5 thin films bombarded with low energy assist ions

Amorphous tantala (Ta2O5) thin films were deposited by reactive ion beam sputtering with simultaneous low energy assist Ar+ or Ar++O2+ bombardment. The films absorption and mechanical losses are not significantly affected by the ion bombardment.
The opioid crisis and the infrastructure of social capital.

Abstract This paper reflects upon ethnographic work carried out in a suburban Massachusetts town that has experienced particularly high rates of opioid mis/use. In open-ended conversations, residents attributed the local opioid crisis to institutional betrayals of various sorts. Building upon the idea that social capital tends to be health-enhancing, this paper traces the decline in the infrastructure of social capital and the associated decline in cultural capital or scripts for making sense out of life’s challenges.
RECENT TRENDS IN VAN AND SMALL TRUCK SAFETY

The dramatic increase in the use of pickup trucks and vans over the past few years raises some questions about the performance of these vehicles with regard to safety. This study, using data mainly from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS), indicates that these vehicles are not demonstrably less safe than are passenger cars. There remain, however, some unresolved issues with regard to the patterns of use and the degree of protection that these vehicles offer their occupants.
Employing a glutathione-s-transferase-tag and hyaluronidase to control cytokine retention and release from a hyaluronic acid hydrogel matrix:

Thiolated hyaluronic acid can be combined with poly-(ethylene glycol)-diacrylate to generate a self-polymerizing hydrogel with potential applications as an injectable depot for targeted drug delive...
Toward Conceptual Clarity: A Scoping Review of Coteaching in Teacher Education

While coteaching is not a novel or even new approach in P–12 classrooms, its application in teacher education contexts has become increasingly prevalent. Coteaching in teacher education has been to...
The Use of Virtual Reality in Podiatric Medical Education

Virtual reality in medical education is a recent development that significantly improves surgical skills, which translates to improved outcomes in the operating room (OR). The development of the Western University of Health Sciences virtual OR provides podiatric medical students basic OR knowledge and skills through performing basic surgical procedures. This new method of presenting content in podiatric medical education enhances the learning experience in a less stressful environment. The virtual reality experience allows students to gain experience without undue risk to the patient. Thus students can improve competency while focusing on the experience instead of the potentially overwhelming OR setting.
On the optimization of knot allocation for B-spline parameterization of the dielectric function in spectroscopic ellipsometry data analysis

Dielectric function representation by B-splines became quite popular and widely used in the context of spectroscopic ellipsometry data interpretation. B-splines are defined by a polynomial degree and a sequence of knots (i.e., the number and positions of knots). Defining the knot sequence is non-trivial, and this task has a significant effect on the actual effectiveness of the B-spline parameterization in spectroscopic ellipsometry data analysis. In this paper, we propose a simple, practical, and systematic knot placement scheme that improves ordinary trial-and-error technique in establishing the knot spacing. The approach suggested here is based on an integral span, a measure introduced in this work. The proposed procedure provides a possibility to determine the knot locations automatically (or, at least, semi-automatically) and excludes widespread modeling ambiguities associated with uncertain knot vector. Moreover, our approach guarantees the absence of non-monotonic behavior of the mean-squared-error function and thereby improves the accuracy of our analysis. The performance of the proposed method has been tested for several real cases of the study.
How the New Deal built Florida tourism: the Civilian Conservation Corps and state parks: by David J. Nelson, Gainesville, University of Florida Press, 2019, 314 pp., US$85.00 (hardcover), ISBN 978-0-8130-5631-9

David J. Nelson’s study of the New Deal’s role in developing Florida’s tourism industry is wide-ranging and meticulously researched. His main point is well-argued: the federal government underwrote...
Plurality Decisions and the Ambiguity of Precedential Authority

The Supreme Court sometimes decides cases without reaching a majority-supported agreement on a rule of decision that explains the outcome. Determining the precedential effect of such plurality decisions is a task that has long confounded both the Supreme Court and the judges of the lower courts. But while academic commenters have proposed a variety of frameworks for addressing the problem of plurality precedent, little existing commentary has focused on a deeper and more fundamental question—namely, what makes plurality precedent so confusing? Answering this question is not only critical to developing a more coherent and administrable doctrine of plurality precedent but is also a useful prism through which to examine our shared understanding of precedential authority more generally. This Article argues that plurality decisions are so confusing because they expose a latent ambiguity in our law of precedent. Looking to the debates surrounding plurality precedent reveals at least three distinct, and to some extent, mutually inconsistent models of precedential authority. The first of these models, the “judgment model” is closely connected to the traditional, common law view, which grounds the precedential authority of judicial statements in the ability of those statements to explain the particular judgment issued by the court in the case before it. The second model, the “prediction model,” views the holding of a case as the rule that best predicts the future behavior of the court based on the expressed views of the participating judges. Finally, the “pronouncement model,” focuses on the judiciary’s law declaration function, viewing all majority-endorsed legal rules as entitled to precedential force regardless of their connectedness to the court’s judgment or their capacity to predict the court’s future behavior. Exposing the ambiguities inherent in plurality precedent does not provide a clear answer to how the conflict among the competing models should be resolved. But doing so may help to eliminate some of the conceptual confusion that has grown up around plurality precedent. In particular, focusing on the underlying theories of precedential authority driving the various approaches to plurality precedent suggests that some of the most widely accepted approaches that have been embraced by lower court judges may lack a coherent justification in any plausible model of precedential authority. Recognizing the underlying ambiguity can also help to expose potential connections to other, seemingly unrelated doctrinal areas that may be affected by changes to the doctrine surrounding plurality precedent.
Structures of the alkanesulfonate monooxygenase MsuD provide insight into C-S bond cleavage, substrate scope, and an unexpected role for the tetramer.

Bacterial two-component flavin-dependent monooxygenases cleave the stable C-S bond of environmental and anthropogenic organosulfur compounds. The monooxygenase MsuD converts methanesulfonate (MS-) to sulfite, completing the sulfur assimilation process during sulfate starvation, but the mechanism of this conversion remains unclear. To explore the mechanism of C-S bond cleavage, we report a series of crystal structures of MsuD from Pseudomonas fluorescens in different liganded states. This report provides the first crystal structures of an alkanesulfonate monooxygenase with a bound flavin and alkanesulfonate, elucidating the roles of the active site lid, the protein C terminus, and an active site loop in flavin and/or alkanesulfonate binding. These structures position MS- closest to the flavin N5 position, consistent with an N5-(hydro)peroxyflavin mechanism rather than a classical C4a-(hydro)peroxyflavin mechanism. A fully enclosed active site is observed in the ternary complex, mediated by interchain interaction of the C terminus at the tetramer interface. These structures identify an unexpected function of the protein C terminus in this protein family in stabilizing tetramer formation and the alkanesulfonate-binding site. Spurred by interest from the crystal structures, we conducted biochemical assays and molecular docking that redefine MsuD as a small- to medium-chain alkanesulfonate monooxygenase. Functional mutations verify the sulfonate-binding site and reveal the critical importance of the protein C terminus for monooxygenase function. These findings reveal a deeper understanding of MsuD's functionality at the molecular level and consequently how it operates within its role as part of the sulfur assimilation pathway.
Comparison of RT-PCR cycle threshold values from respiratory specimens in symptomatic and asymptomatic children with SARS CoV-2 infection

Background: Understanding viral kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 is important to assess risk of transmission, manage treatment, and determine the need for isolation and protective equipment. Children have been noted to have less severe illness than adults and may have less transmission potential. We sought to determine whether children deemed to be asymptomatic had a difference in the PCR cycle threshold (Ct) value of respiratory samples from symptomatic children with SARS CoV-2 infection.
Playing with Race: How Racial Diversity Affects Redistributive Behavior in Simulated Public Goods Games

Contact between groups of different racial and ethnic backgrounds is the focus of much research, yet there exists no overall consensus of the conditions under which such contact may help to create more tolerant attitudes and behavior, or foster resentment and intolerant behavior. We develop an experimental design that uses simulated economic games to test whether racial demographics have an effect on financial contributions to a good. Subjects were situated in a virtual community meeting where contributions toward a public park were elicited. Using an original database of faces, we varied the racial demographics of the community while keeping gender ratios and attractiveness constant. Our results indicate that diversity has few baseline effects on white Americans' generosity toward a public good in the experimental setting. Where effects do exist, they vary in line with whether public good is shared by the subject with others than when it is not shared by the person contributing. Our findings reject a "racial threat" hypothesis, but fall short of allowing us to meaningfully conclude that racial "contact" improves inter-racial attitudes and behavior. Further, our results suggest that subjects do not use race as a "strategic heuristic." Instead, "exclusionary attitudes" may account for differential rates of generosity across conditions. Finally, our results reveal some interesting treatment effect heterogeneity conditional on race and gender of the experimental subjects.
Surgical Treatment of Obesity and Diabetes

Obesity has increasingly been recognized as an epidemic in the United States. The incidence of obesity has risen such that the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999–2000) demonstrates that two-thirds of Americans are classified as overweight or obese (1). A person’s adiposity is typically described in terms of body mass index (BMI), defined as a person’s weight (kg) divided by body surface area (m2), at which obesity starts at a BMI of 30 kg/m2. This rise in obesity is closely associated with increases in numerous related diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux, stroke, certain types of cancer, degenerative joint disease, and depression (2,3). Obese individuals may suffer from diminished life expectancy, depending on the age of onset of obesity (2–5 yr for those who are moderately obese and 5–20 yr for those with severe obesity) (4). This increased mortality contributes to approx 280,000 deaths annually in the United States alone (5). The economic cost of combating obesity and associated comorbidities is estimated to exceed $100 billion annually in the United States (6).
Marfan Syndrome, Not Marfan’s Syndrome

To the Editor: I read with interest the case of infantile Marfan syndrome reported by Doroshow, Lin, and Milliken.1 But I wish they would not use the possessive form of Marfan syndrome. Use of eponyms for diseases is a common practice in medicine. It often conveys a nice sense of …
Metal-Insulator Transition and Orbital Reconstruction in Mott-Type Quantum Wells Made of NdNiO 3

The metal-insulator transition and the underlying electronic and orbital structure in ${e}_{g}^{1}$ quantum wells based on ${\mathrm{NdNiO}}_{3}$ were investigated by dc transport and resonant soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy. By comparing quantum wells of the same dimension but with two different confinement structures, we explicitly demonstrate that the quantum well boundary condition of correlated electrons is critical to selecting the many-body ground state. In particular, the long-range orderings and the metal-insulator transition are found to be strongly enhanced under quantum confinement by sandwiching ${\mathrm{NdNiO}}_{3}$ with the wide-gap dielectric ${\mathrm{LaAlO}}_{3}$, while they are suppressed when one of the interfaces is replaced by a surface (interface with vacuum). Resonant spectroscopy reveals that the reduced charge fluctuations in the sandwich structure are supported by the enhanced propensity to charge ordering due to the suppressed ${e}_{g}$ orbital splitting when interfaced with the confining ${\mathrm{LaAlO}}_{3}$ layer.
Enhancement of Semidiurnal Tidal Currents in the Tidal Inlets to Mississippi Sound

Harmonic analysis of data collected in Mississippi Sound and the adjacent continental shelf in 1980 and 1981 indicates a pronounced difference between offshore and inshore tidal current regimes. On the shelf, the form number of the water levels and currents are approximately equal (6–7), while currents in the tidal inlets to Mississippi Sound have form numbers less than half that of the corresponding water levels. Most of the variation in current form number can be explained by a change from a two- to a one-dimensional flow field. Theoretical form numbers derived for Sverdrup waves and uniform flow through an inlet indicate continuity causes semidiurnal currents to increase relative to diurnal currents at the inlets and results in the reduced current form number. Water levels are not affected by the continuity constraint. Variations in the observed current form numbers from theoretical values are caused by compound tides and overtides of the diurnal constituents, which have contaminated the harmonic constant estimates of semidiurnal currents. The K2/K1 ratio (K2 representing the first harmonic of K1 generated locally) is estimated to be 0.3 in the inlet currents, and the two waves differ in phase by 180°. The enhancement of semidiurnal currents should occur in most tidal inlets bordering mixed or diurnal seas.
Control of phytoplankton bloom inception in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, by Ekman restratification

[1] Observations from November 2006 in the southwestern Ross Sea indicate that stratification developed in a localized fashion, proximal to upper ocean fronts. These regions were hotspots for biological productivity, exhibiting greater drawdown of CO2 and accumulation of oxygen, indicative of enhanced photosynthesis and air-sea gas exchange. While the effect of stratification is clear, the reasons for its development was not; air temperatures were unseasonably cold, sea-ice melt and sea surface warming were not significant. By comparing a one-dimensional mixed layer model with two-dimensional numerical simulations that include horizontal density gradients characteristic of the region, it is shown that Ekman advection is critical to structuring early season stratification. Where fronts are forced by winds that oppose the surface frontal current, Ekman advection displaces lighter water over dense. As biological productivity is light limited in the Ross Sea, and thus sensitive to the depth of the mixed layer, Ekman restratification plays an important role in determining the spatial distribution and development of the annual phytoplankton bloom in the region. The presence of fronts is therefore of first-order importance to the restratification and bloom dynamics of the Ross Sea in the early spring. Citation: Long, M. C., L. N. Thomas, and R. B. Dunbar (2012), Control of phytoplankton bloom inception in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, by Ekman restratification, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 26, GB1006, doi:10.1029/2010GB003982.
Modeling of the Mechanical Properties of a Polymer-Metal Foam Interpenetrating Phase Composite

An interpenetrating phase composite is made by injection molding thermoplastic polymers into the voids of open-cell aluminum foam. Two types of polypropylene and an acetyl were mechanically introduced into the open cells of a Duocel® aluminum foam. Prior experimental work revealed that the combination of the polymer and the metal foam yields a hybrid that is stiffer than the polymer alone but has a reduced tensile strength. A finite element model using a tetrakaidecahedral unit cell is used to model the metal foam ligaments with the polymer occupying the remaining space. The geometric model as well as the interface between the two materials were validated against the experimental results. The resulting conclusions are that the aluminum ligaments oriented along the load direction cause an increase in stiffness but ligaments oriented laterally cause stress concentration that yield lower strength. The finite element model is used to give both qualitative and quantitative explanations of the physics of the interrelations between the metal foam and the polymer.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
A specific and sensitive assay for disulfides.

A specific and sensitive assay for disulfide groups has been developed, based on reduction with dithioerythritol or dithiothreitol and determination of the resulting monothiols with 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) in the presence of arsenite. The dissociation constants for the complexes formed between arsenite and dithioerythritol, dithiothreitol, 1,3-dithioglycerol, and 1,2-dithioglycerol have been measured, as well as the rate constants for the formation and breakdown of the complexes and for the bimolecular reaction between the complexes and 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). The pK values of dithiothreitol are 8.3 and 9.5, and those for dithioerythritol are 9.0 and 9.9.
A philosophical analysis of agent‐based modelling: a new tool for theory development in nursing

anderson c.a. & whall a.l. (2011) A philosophical analysis of agent-based modelling: a new tool for theory development in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing67(4), 904–914. Abstract Aim. In this paper we present a discussion of the nature of agent-based modelling from nursing’s philosophical perspectives and truth criteria as a means of evaluating this methodological tool’s disciplinary fit. Background. Agent-based modelling is a new methodological tool used to study complex systems. Researchers from a multitude of disciplines are using agent-based models to enhance understanding of problems that transcend disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Because of the growing interest in complexity science in the discipline of nursing, this new tool may prove useful for nurses engaged in research and theory development. Data sources. Electronic indexes and iterative bibliographic searches were used to identify papers, books and abstracts addressing agent-based modelling. In order to trace the emergence of the topic in the literature, date limiting parameters were not used. Selected studies from the international literature were limited to English language reports in the social sciences. The work was completed in 2008. Discussion. Recurrent themes concerning the use of agent-base modelling include heterogeneity, dynamics, adaption, emergence and ‘bridging’. The themes were congruent with philosophical views and metanarratives in nursing. Implications for nursing. Agent-based models offer practical advantages in the pursuit of new knowledge, including the ability to pilot research studies using simulation or to visualize potential practice changes prior to implementation. Conclusion. The use of agent-based modelling as tool for nursing theory development, should be expanded. As nurses and other researchers become more familiar with the use of these models, methodological critique will contribute to the development of increasingly valid models.
Age-Related Differences in Identity Style: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The Identity Style Inventory–Revised for a Sixth-Grade Reading Level (ISI-6G) was administered to samples of community college students (N = 99) and middle school and high school students (N = 320). Tests of between-groups differences indicated that the college sample had a significantly lower mean diffuse-avoidant score on the ISI-6G than the middle and high school sample. In terms of actual assignment to identity styles, college students were significantly more likely to be classified as informational or normative, while the younger students were more likely to be diffuse-avoidant. The mean ages of participants for each of the three identity styles were compared, and it was found that diffuse-avoidant participants had the lowest mean age (15.54 years), while individuals with an informational orientation had the highest mean age (17.20 years). Results suggest that, in general, identity style evolves with age and maturity and the general trajectory or progression involves movement away from a diffuse-avoidant orientation. Findings are discussed in terms of current knowledge of neurocognitive development during adolescence and early adulthood.
A Comparative Study of the Biological and Chemical Assays of Aureomycin Treated Under Certain Conditions

When aureomycin hydrochloride is heated in the presence of water, the bioassay shows a lower potency value than is indicated by physicochemical assay methods. Hydrolytic degradation products of aureomycin hydrochloride influence the physico-chemical assay results, but products resulting from thermal degradation of dry aureomycin hydrochloride do not interfere with the chemical assays. Physicochemical assay methods can be substituted for the bioassay when a comparison of the two procedures has shown agreement. The potency of aureomycin hydrochloride in glycerinated gelatin suppositories prepared according to the U. S. P. procedure can be determined only by the bioassay method. The effects of different treatments upon the ultraviolet spectrum of aureomycin are reported.
Amorphization reactions during mechanical alloying/milling of metallic powders

Abstract Solid-state amorphization reactions resulting from the severe mechanical deformation obtained by high-energy ball milling are reviewed. Two classes of such reactions are discussed: 1. “mechanical alloying” where material transfer occurs between elemental powders or alloys, and 2. “mechanical milling” where an equilibrium crystalline intermediate phase is transformed to the amorphous structure by milling. The thermodynamic and kinetic criteria for the crystalline-to-amorphous transition are outlined. Recent experimental results from the author's laboratory on the amorphization of intermediate phases by milling are presented. The implications of these results for mechanisms of the crystalline-to-amorphous transformation are discussed.
Hypersonic nonequilibrium flow computations using the Roe flux-difference split scheme

The Roe flux difference splitting scheme is investigated for accuracy in simulating hypersonic reacting flows. The extension of the Roe scheme to include the finite rate chemical kinetic equations follows the approach of Grossman and Cinnella. Formal second-order accuracy is obtained by employing the monotonic upstream schemes for conservation laws (MUSCL) approach in conjunction with the minmod limiter to degenerate the solution to first-order accuracy in the vicinity of strong shock waves. The full Navier-Stokes equations are solved with finite rate chemistry for the flow past an axisymmetric blunt body at zero incidence at several Mach numbers. The vibrational energy is assumed to be in thermodynamic equilibrium with the other internal energy modes
Radicalization and Subversion: Al Qaeda and the 7 July 2005 Bombings and the 2006 Airline Bombing Plot

This article analyzes the suicide bomb attacks on four London transportation targets on 7 July 2005 and the plot to bomb simultaneously at least seven American and Canadian passenger airliners as they departed from London's Heathrow Airport. American, British, and Pakistani authorities thwarted this planned attack in August 2006. Both incidents are among the most important Al Qaeda operations in recent years. Initially, they were dismissed by the authorities, pundits, and the media alike as the work of amateur terrorists—untrained “bunches of guys” acting entirely on their own with no links to Al Qaeda. Subsequent evidence, however, has come to light, which reveals clear links to senior Al Qaeda commanders operating in Pakistan's lawless frontier border area with Afghanistan.
DNA ploidy of ovarian granulosa cell tumors. Lack of correlation between DNA index or proliferative index and outcome in 40 patients

Background. Most cases of granulosa cell tumor of the ovary are characterized by relatively good outcome ; however, some tumors behave aggressively, and some tend to recur many years after the initial diagnosis. Because DNA ploidy has been shown to predict biologic behavior better than conventional prognostic variables in many types of genitourinary tumors, the DNA ploidy of granulosa cell tumors was studied to determine if this test correlates with recurrence or survival. Methods. Paraffin embedded tissue blocks were available from the primary ovarian tumors of40 patients. DNA ploidy, percent S-phase fraction, and proliferative index were determined for each sample and were compared with patient outcome. Results. Of the 40 tumors, 33 were DNA diploid, 5 were DNA near diploid/aneuploid, and 2 were aneuploid. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the probability of tumors not recurring within 5 years postoperatively was 0.907 (95% confidence interval : 0.811, 1.00). Conclusions. There is insufficient evidence to claim that the DNA pattern is associated with morphology, stage of disease at diagnosis, or tumor size or that either survival or progression free survival differs with respect to any of the conventional prognostic factors considered. However, progression free survival tends to be shorter for those whose maximal tumor dimension was at least 10 cm (borderline significance, P = 0.0597), and survival time tends to be shorter for those with a high proliferative index (P = 0.0008). Cancer 1995 ; 75 :2295-8.
The enthalpy of formation of barium monoxide

The enthalpies of solution of Ba metal and BaO have been measured in 1 M HCl(aq) and found to be −(127.95 ± 0.41) kcalth mol− and −(65.29 ± 0.23) kcalth mol−1, respectively. From these results the enthalpy of formation of barium monoxide is calculated to be ΔHof(BaO, cubic, 298.15 K) = −(130.98 ± 0.47) kcalth mol−1.
Biomechanical assessment of upright stance in parkinson's disease: a single-subject study

In order to evaluate the usefulness of biomechanical measures in the clinical assessment of Parkinson's disease, we studied the kinematics of upright stance in a patient with evident fluctuations in clinical state (ON-OFF), which allowed us to optimize experimental control. We determined the total amount of movement and the variability of whole body and body segment kinematics in the vertical, anterior-posterior (A-P), and medial-lateral planes. The total excursion parameter (TEX) represented the co-ordinate path over a 20 s period, and the movement variability parameter (VAR) was calculated based on the standard deviation about the quadratic fit to this path. Discriminant analysis was employed to assess the ability of these parameters to discriminate the patient's clinical state, and statistical reduction of the number of measures was accomplished with a stepwise selection procedure. Measures of shoulder A-P movement and the vertical motion of the centre of gravity (COG) were selected for inclusion in both discriminant functions. The VAR function included only four measures (vertical COG and A-P head, shoulder, and hip), while the TEX function required six measures to discriminate the clinical state. Results obtained with the VAR function were superior to those obtained with TEX, and VAR discriminated the OFF state, a common characteristic of Parkinson's disease, especially well. The results are promising, as the measures appear sensitive to the patient's clinical state even though fluctuation of symptoms was reduced in the latter part of the study by various treatments.
Guided cardiogenesis for safe stem cell‐based therapy

Background/Aims Pluripotent embryonic stem cells are an emerging source for cardiotherapy, but harbor a risk for uncontrolled growth on transplantation to host tissue. This creates a need to identify a stem cell phenotype committed to the cardiac fate to achieve guided cardiogenesis for safe cell-based cardiac repair. Methods/Results Bolus delivery of uncommitted embryonic stem cells (>1000 cells/mg myocardium) into naive hearts resulted into a teratogenic side effect. A tumor-free outcome was achieved with overexpression of the cytokine Tumor Necrosis Factor α (TNFα) which secured guided cardiogenesis of injected stem cells. Protein-based scans following TNFα stimulation demonstrated an increase in the secreted proteome, which included upregulation of downstream cardiogenic factors, such as Transforming Growth Factor β (TGFβ). With TNFα stimulation, the yield of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes doubled, while the TGFβ antagonist, latency associated peptide, abolished the TNFα effect. The TNFα/TGFβ signaling recruited a proliferative cardiac precursor cell phenotype expressing master cardiac transcription factors, Csx/Nkx2.5 and MEF2C. Conclusions This study identifies a novel cell phenotype devoted to the cardiac fate that is recruited and amplified by TNFα initiated TGFβ signaling. With differentiation limited to cardiopotency, such cardiopoetic stem cells loose the teratenogenic capacity thereby enhancing the therapeutic index for cell-based cardiac repair. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2005) 77, P3–P3; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.11.015
Analysis of End-of-Life Content in Selected Introductory Health Education Textbooks:

The quantity and quality of end of life (EOL) information in commonly used introductory health textbooks was studied. A total of 12 textbooks were identified and rated for the presence of helpful i...
A 10pJ/bit 135Mbps IR-UWB transmitter using pulse position modulation and with on-chip LDO regulator in 0.13µm CMOS for biomedical implants

This paper describes a compact low-power high-datarate impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) transmitter IC for biomedical implants. The transmitter is powered through an on-chip low-dropout (LDO) regulator to tune its oscillation frequency which, together with the pulse width control, ensures that the transmitted pulse's power spectral density (PSD) fits within the FCC mask and has a BW ≥ 500MHz. The transmitter uses pulse position modulation (PPM) and the maximum measured datarate is 135Mbps with a figure of merit of 10pJ/bit. The chip is fabricated in 0.13μm CMOS. The core VCO occupies (35 × 125)μm2 area, while the area of both the regulator and the PPM oscillator is (0.325 × 0.17)mm2.
Molecular effects in field ionization of H2

Abstract New structure in the energy distribution of H + produced by field ionization of HD is reported. The structure is shown to result from a field induced pendulum type of motion of HD + before it dissociates. Effects of associated pair field ionization are discussed.
SRAM Yield Sensitivity to Supply Voltage Fluctuations and Its Implications on Vmin

With technology scaling and migration towards low supply low-power designs, supply voltage and threshold voltage fluctuations are becoming increasingly significant for circuit performance. In this paper, we analyze the sensitivity of statistical performance and yield of 65 nm SRAM designs to these fluctuations. The implications of these fluctuations on Vmin and power budgeting are also studied.
Acoustic gravity waves in the ionosphere/thermosphere system

Abstract It is well known that the ionosphere/thermosphere system is perturbed by acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs) as they propagate through it. At high latitudes, a primary source of AGW is the aurora. On the other hand, energy inputs of meteorological origins from the lower atmosphere are also believed to be important. For both cases, AGWs generated in the neutral atmosphere are coupled to the ionosphere, creating perturbations in density, velocity, etc. of the ionization. Therefore, the study of ionospheric perturbations due to AGWs involves the investigation of the downward coupling between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere, and the upward coupling between the middle atmosphere and the ionosphere, as well as the parallel coupling between the thermosphere and the ionosphere. Based on AGW theory, the specific features of these coupling processes will be described. Important parameters that can be used to characterize gravity wave activities will be identified. Techniques to observe and analyze these parameters will be described. The effects of AGWs on the ionosphere/thermosphere system will be discussed. Specific examples will be presented.
Sensitive and selective detection of nitric oxide using an H-NOX domain.

Tt Y140F, a mutant of the H−NOX (Heme-Nitric Oxide or OXygen binding domain) protein from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, is presented as a novel genetically encoded NO sensor. Tt Y140F is easily purified and obtained in high yields from standard E. coli expression systems. It is extremely stable as both the ferrous unligated and ferrous-nitrosyl complexes in air over a range of temperatures (up to 70 °C) without oxidizing, denaturing, or binding O2. NO binding is quantitative and can be followed using simple absorbance spectroscopy. In theory, NO concentrations between 300 nM and 30 μM can be accurately and easily detected.
Two new S-phase-specific genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Two new yeast genes, ASF1 (Anti-Silencing Function) and ASF2, as well as a C-terminal fragment of SIR3, were identified as genes that derepressed the silent mating type loci when overexpressed. ASF2 overexpression caused a greater derepression than did ASF1. ASF1 overexpression also weakened repression of genes near telomeres, but, interestingly, ASF2 had no effect on telomeric silencing. Sequences of these two genes revealed open reading frames of 279 and 525 amino acids for ASF1 and ASF2, respectively. The ASF1 protein was evolutionarily conserved. MCB motifs, sequences commonly present upstream of genes transcribed specifically in S phase, were found in front of both genes, and, indeed, both genes were transcribed specifically in the S phase of the cell cycle. While an asf2 mutant was viable and had no obvious phenotypes, an asf1 mutant grew poorly. Neither mutant exhibited derepression of the silent mating type loci. The asf1 mutant was sensitive to methyl methane sulfonate, slightly UV-sensitive and somewhat deficient in minichromosome maintenance. It also lowered the restrictive temperature of a cdc13ts mutant. These phenotypes suggested a role for ASF1 in DNA repair and chromosome maintenance. The GenBank accession numbers for the ASF1 and ASF2 sequences are L07593 and L07649, respectively. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.