cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Memory expansion technology (MXT): competitive impact

Memory Expansion Technology (MXT™) has been discussed in a number of forums. It is a hardware-implemented means for software-transparent on-the-fly compression of the main-memory content of a computer system. For a very broad set of workloads, it provides a compression ratio of 2:1 or better. This ability to compress and store data in fewer bytes effectively doubles the apparent capacity of memory at minimal cost. While it is clear that a doubling of memory at little cost is bound to improve the price/performance of a system that can be offered to customers, the magnitude of the impact of MXT on price/performance has not been quantified. This paper estimates the range of price/performance improvements for typical workloads from available data. To summarize, the results indicate that MXT improves price/performance by 25% to 70%. The competitive impact of such a large step function in price/performance from a single technology is profound; it is comparable to the entire gross margin in the competitive market for "PC servers."
Alteration of food intake following intracerebroventricular administration of plasma from free-feeding domestic fowl

Abstract Four experiments were conducted to investigate the presence of a factor in the plasma of the domestic fowl that alters food intake when injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle. Plasma collected from free-feeding and 24-hour fasted birds was lyophilized and reconstituted to 2, 4, or 5 times normal concentration. Stainless steel guide cannulae were stereotaxically implanted into the lateral cerebral ventricle of 8-week-old Single Comb White Leghorn cockerels. Free-feeding birds received 10 μl intracerebroventricular (ICV) injections of normal (Experiment 1) and concentrated (Experiments 2, 3, and 4) plasma collected from free-feeding and 24-hour fasted birds. Artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) served as the control. Food intake was significantly decreased by ICV injections of 2, 4, and 5 times normal concentration of plasma from fed birds. Plasma from fasted birds did not alter food intake regardless of concentration, but did significantly reduce water intake when concentrated to five times normal. It appears that a satiety factor, which can be detected by the central nervous system, is present in the plasma of free-feeding domestic fowl.
Sports Medicine, Part II

1. The Elbow: Physical Exam, Common Injuries and Treatment (Sellards) 2. The Wrist: Clinical Anatomy and Physical Examination, An Update (Eathorne) 3. The Wrist: Common Injuries and Management (Parmelee-Peters and Eathorne) 4. The Hand in Sports: An Update on the Clinical Anatomy and Physical Examination (Patel, Dean, and Baker) 5. Hand Injuries in Sports Medicine (Hong) 6. Clinical Examination of the Foot and Ankle (Young, Niedfeldt, Morris, and Eerkes) 7. Ankle and Foot Injuries in Pediatric and Adult Athletes (Pommering, Kluchurosky, and Hall) 8. Hip and Groin Pain in Athletes: Part 1 (Morelli and Weaver) 9. Hip and Groin Pain in Athletes: Part 2 (Morelli and Espinoza) 10. Lower Back Pain in the Athlete: Common Conditions and Treatment (Baker and Patel) 11. Cervical Pain in the Athlete: Common Conditions and Treatment (Dorshimer and Kelly) 12. Basic Biomechanics of the Lower Extremity (Fields, Bloom, Priebe, and Foreman) 13. Sports-Related Osteochondral Injuries: Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis, And Treatment (Bruce, Hamby, and Jones) 14. Sports Pharmacology and Ergogenic Aids (Ellender and Linder)
An iterative reliability measure for semi-anonymous annotators

This study addresses problems of reliability in the creation of tagged corpora by self-selected semi-anonymous raters. In order to account for both strong and weak raters, this paper contributes a recursive technique for scoring rater reliability. By assigning raters trust scores in the proposed method, candidate labels can be weighted by a confidence score and low-confidence ratings can be routed to an expert rater or additional amateur raters for further action.
Forensic Application of FM-CW and Pulse Radar

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology has supplied vital assistance in criminal investigations. However, law enforcement personnel desire further developments such that the technology is rapidly deployable, and that it provides both a simple user interface and sophisticated target identification. To assist in the development of target identification algorithms, our efforts involve gathering background GPR data for the various site conditions and circumstances that often typify clandestine burials. For this study, forensic anthropologists established shallow-grave plots at The University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility (ARF) that are specific to GPR research. These plots contain donated human cadavers lying in various configurations and depths, surrounded by assorted construction material and backfill debris. We scanned the plots using two GPR technologies: (1) a multi-frequency synthetic-aperture FM-CW radar (200-700 MHz) (GPR-X) developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Special Technologies Laboratory (STL), Bechtel Nevada (Koppenjan et al., 2000), and (2) a commercial pulse radar (SIR-20) manufactured by Geophysical Survey Systems, Inc. (400 and 900 MHz)(GSSI). The sweep-frequency data show the large biological mass decomposing within the torso as encircled ''hot spots.'' The 400-MHz pulse radar exhibit major horizontal reflectors above the body, with shadow reflectors (horizontal multiples) occurring beneath the body at 60 cmmore » depth. The 400-MHz antenna was able to discern the grave walls and folded tarp covering the lower body. Under these moist, clay-rich conditions, the 900-MHz antenna was able to penetrate slightly beyond 30 cm beneath the concrete layer. However, neither system was able to penetrate beyond a one meter depth in the moist, clay-rich soil (fine, mixed, thermic Typic Paleudalf). Example scans from each system are provided, along with a discussion of the survey protocol and general performance.« less
Night Vision Disturbances After Corneal Refractive Surgery

A certain percentage of patients complain of "glare" at night after undergoing a refractive surgical procedure. When patients speak of glare they are, technically, describing a decrease in quality of vision secondary to glare disability, decreased contrast sensitivity, and image degradations, or more succinctly, "night vision disturbances." The definitions, differences, and methods of measurement of such vision disturbances after refractive surgery are described in our article. In most cases of corneal refractive surgery, there is a significant increase in vision disturbances immediately following the procedure. The majority of patients improve between 6 months to 1 year post-surgery. The relation between pupil size and the optical clear zone are most important in minimizing these disturbances in RK. In PRK and LASIK, pupil size and the ablation diameter size and location are the major factors involved. Treatment options for disabling glare are also discussed. With the exponential increase of patients having refractive surgery, the increase of patients complaining of scotopic or mesopic vision disturbances may become a major public health issue in the near future. Currently, however, there are no gold-standard clinical tests available to measure glare disability, contrast sensitivity, or image degradations. Standardization is essential for objective measurement and follow-up to further our understanding of the effects of these surgeries on the optical system and thus, hopefully, allow for modification of our techniques to decrease or eliminate post-refractive vision disturbances.
Classifying Lung Cancer Recurrence Time Using Novel Ensemble Method with Gene Network based Input Models

An accurate prognostic model of a cancer patient after treatment can be useful in deciding the next course of treatment or efficacy of said treatment. Gene expression microarray data has been used to predict survival times [1], or to classify the patient as having a good/poor prognosis [2] by predicting whether the patient belongs to the class that will have a recurrence of cancer before or after a certain period, typically 3 or 5 years. Microarrays typically contain thousands of gene expression probes and a typical study may only contain a few hundred patients or less. Typical regression techniques will fail to generalize, suffering from the ‘Curse of Dimensionality’, resulting in an over-fitted model that performs very well on the training data, and very poorly or validation data. Various feature selection/reduction methods have been used to reduce the dimensionality of the data and improve or facilitate a solution [3]. Gene expression is known to be modulated by the expression of other genes, forming a so-called gene network or pathway. Furthermore, several networks may affect the aggressiveness of the cancer simultaneously [4]. While past studies have selected features based on statistical methods alone [5] or have simply included ‘known cancer genes’, none to our knowledge have used classification models based on ensembles of models based on multiple known gene networks. Based on the data presented in Shedden, et. al. [6], this study uses a General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) Oracle ensemble that combines several Partial least squares (PLS) models trained to predict recurrence times from 12 different gene networks. We hypothesize that it is possible to correctly classify recurrence by combining the results based on the gene network models.
Gibberellins regulate the abundance of RNAs with sequence similarity to proteinase inhibitors, dioxygenases and dehydrogenases

In an effort to understand the molecular mechanism of gibberellin (GA) action, we have cloned and performed an initial characterization of three cDNAs (GAD1, 2, and 3) which correspond to RNAs that become less abundant by 2 h after treatment of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) shoot tissue with gibberellic acid (GA3). Treatment with either auxin or ethephon also decreases the abundance of all three of the GAD RNAs. The tomato ethylene-insensitive mutant, Nr, and the GA-deficient mutant, gib1, were used to show that GA or auxin regulation of GAD RNA abundance is not dependent on ethylene sensitivity, and that ethylene or auxin regulation is not dependent on normal levels of gibberellin biosynthesis. Treatment with abscisic acid (ABA) antagonizes the GA induced suppression of the GAD1 and GAD2 RNAs. GAD1 is similar to type-II wound-inducible plant proteinase inhibitors. Like the well-characterized proteinase inhibitor II (pin II) of tomato, the GAD1 and GAD2 RNAs are wound inducible. Induction of pin II and GAD1 RNA in gib1 was found to require less-severe wounding than was required using wild-type plants or plants doubly mutant for gib1 and sit (the sit mutation causes ABA deficiency). The predicted GAD2 protein sequence is similar to 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases while the predicted GAD3 protein sequence is similar to proteins belonging to the nonmetalloshort-chain alcohol-dehydrogenase family, especially the T ASSELSEED2 (TS2) gene of maize and bacterial hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases.
The opposite of losses: Where lies the soul of American Sports?

Much is made in American sports discourse of the distinction between ‘fan’ and ‘corporate’ interests. An historical analysis of the role of sports in American nation-building, however, suggests that the two sets of interests are far less distinct than they appear on the surface. Rather, the idea of these different interests operates recursively to assert the relative morality of different sports-related decisions by both corporations and fans. Using examples from my ethnographic fieldwork among the bleacher regulars of Wrigley Field, I demonstrate how this recursivity and moral judgment work in practice.
INHIBITION OF RAT CHOLINESTERASE ISOENZYMES IN VITRO AND IN VIVO BY THE POTATO ALKALOID, α‐CHACONINE1,2

The inhibition of purified bovine erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and horse serum cholinesterase (ChE) by α-chaconine was found to be a mixed-type with inhibition constants (Ki) for both enzymes of 8.3 × 10-6 M and 4.0 × 10-4 M, respectively. Kinetic constants for AchE obtained for the hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine iodide averaged 7.2 × 10-5 moles/liter/min (Vmax) and 6.2 × 10-5 M (Km) whereas for ChE these were 3.8 × 10-4 moles/liter/min (Vmax) and 1.3 × 10-4 M (Km) for the hydrolysis of butyrylthiocholine iodide. Subcellular acetylcholinesterase activity in nuclear-free rat brain homogenate showed the highest activity to be equally distributed between the mitochondrial and microsomal fractions, with only little activity in the nuclear fraction. Inhibition of the rat brain subcellular enzyme activity in vitro by 0.016 M α-chaconine was 43% for whole homogenate, 55% for nuclear fraction, 35% for mitochondria, and 33% for microsomes. In vivo administration of α-chaconine, (10, 30 and 60 mg/kg) to adult male rats caused a reduction of brain AchE activity to 79, 55 and 18% of the control activity for the respective doses. Heart and plasma AchE activity of treated animals did not show a dose-related inhibition similar to that of brain. Inhibition of heart AchE was 61%, while that of plasma was 51% for rats administered to 10 mg/kg and no further inhibition for rats given 30 mg/kg α-chaconine was noted. Isoenzymes of rat brain cholinesterases, separated by acrylamide gel electrophoresis, were inhibited by 30 and 60 mg/kg α-chaconine administered intraperitoneally. Electrophoretic separation of plasma from the treated animals resulted in five anodally migrating zones that hydrolyzed acetylthiocholine and α-naphthylacetate. Inhibition of the activity of isoenzyme bands 1 and 2 was 40 and 77% respectively for animals given 10 mg/kg α-chaconine, while rats given 30 mg/kg showed inhibition of 100 and 75%, respectively. Isoenzyme bands 3 and 4 were completely inhibited in the plasma of alkaloid treated animals. In vitro inhibition of rat plasma, erythrocyte and brain esterase isoenzymes was estimated by incubating gels with 10-4 M α-chaconine after electrophoretic separations. The slower-moving isoenzyme bands were inhibited completely, while the faster migrating isoenzyme bands in plasma and erythrocytes were least affected by the concentration of α-chaconine used.
Meta-Optimization of Evolutionary Strategies for Empirical Potential Development: Application to Aqueous Silicate Systems

The use of evolutionary strategy optimizations in fitting empirical potentials against first-principles data is considered. Empirical potentials can involve a large number of interdependent quantities, the number varying with the complexity of the potential, and the optimization of these presents a challenging numerical problem. Evolutionary strategies are a general class of optimization methods that mimic natural selection by stochastically evolving a population of trial solutions according to rules that select for high values of some fitness function. In this work we apply a variety of evolutionary optimization methods to a representative “parametrization problem” in order to determine which such methods are well-suited to such applications. Prior work on the design of evolutionary strategies has generally focused on finding the extrema of relatively simple mathematical functions, and the findings of such studies may not be transferable to chemical applications of very high dimensionality. The test prob...
GABA-mediated biphasic inhibitory responses in hippocampus

γ-Amlnobutyric acid (GABA) can have a biphasic effect on membrane potential when applied to certain central nervous system neurones1–3. Typically with iontophoresis, this effect is a negative–positive sequence of deflections and both phases are associated with an increase in conductance. However, iontophoretic application of neurotransmitter substances can produce effects even in cases where ordinary synaptic transmitter release is impossible; for example, on dorsal root ganglion cells. Thus, it is important in assessing the physiological relevance of the depolarising GABA response to determine if similar actions are produced synaptically. In addition, although the depolarising aspect of the GABA response has been attributed to activation of dendritic receptors, this identification has remained uncertain. Here, we have used the hippocampal slice preparation to demonstrate that a biphasic inhibitory response results from orthodromic, but not antidromic electrical stimulation in the presence of anaesthetic concentrations of pentobarbital. (For the sake of brevity, we use the term ‘biphasic inhibitory postynaptic potential (i.p.s.p.)’ to describe the response complex, although it seems likely that a combination of two distinct events, rather than two parts of a single event, occurs.) GABA antagonists and tetrodotoxin (TTX) were used to show that the depolarising phase is due to synaptically released GABA acting on dendritic sites in the CA1 region. Both negative and positive phases are associated with a large conductance increase, and both block cell firing, indicating their inhibitory nature. The ionic mechanism of the depolarising phase is not fully understood but seems to involve a chloride conductance increase. Although the functional significance of the depolarising sign of the i.p.s.p. is not clear, the dendritic location would provide very effective control over dendritic excitability.
Performance of link adaptation algorithms and reconfigurable antennas for MIMO-OFDM wireless systems

Data rates and channel capacity in MIMO-OFDM wireless systems can be improved through the use of Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) and pattern reconfigurable antennas. In this paper, we propose a Spatially Adaptive Modulation and Coding (SAMC) scheme that operates in two stages. In the first, it searches for the optimal antenna configuration. Then, the technique applies AMC based on the post-processing Signal-to-Noise Ratio (ppSNR) yielded by the selected configuration and additional system constraints. The AMC algorithm uses fixed link tables defined by ppSNR regions for supportable spectral efficiencies. The performance of the proposed scheme in a 2×2 MIMO-OFDM wireless system in an indoor environment is evaluated.
The Role of the PKR-Inhibitory Genes, E3L and K3L, in Determining Vaccinia Virus Host Range

Vaccinia virus encodes two regulators of the cellular antiviral response. The E3L gene is thought to act primarily by sequestering double-stranded RNA, whereas the K3L gene is thought to act as a competitive inhibitor of the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase, PKR. The broad host range associated with vaccinia virus replication appears to be related to the presence of these genes. The E3L gene is required for replication in HeLa cells, but is not required for replication in BHK cells. On the contrary, the K3L gene is required for replication in BHK cells, but is dispensable for replication in HeLa cells. Our results suggest that these cell lines varied in the expression of endogenous activatable PKR and that replication of vaccinia virus in different cell lines led to altered levels of double-stranded RNA synthesis from the virus. Vaccinia virus was able to overcome these cellular variations by regulating PKR activity through the synthesis of either E3L or K3L. The results suggest that vaccinia virus has evolved a broad host range by maintaining both the E3L and the K3L genes.
Wall mass transfer and pressure gradient effects on turbulent skin friction

The effects of mass injection and pressure gradients on the drag of surfaces were studied theoretically with the aid of boundary-layer and Navier-Stokes codes. The present investigation is concerned with the effects of spatially varying the injection in the case of flat-plate drag. Effects of suction and injection on wavy wall surfaces are also explored. Calculations were performed for 1.2 m long surfaces, one flat and the other sinusoidal with a wavelength of 30.5 cm. Attention is given to the study of the effect of various spatial blowing variations on flat-plate skin friction reduction, local skin friction coefficient calculated by finite difference boundary-layer code and Navier-Stokes code, and the effect of phase-shifting sinusoidal mass transfer on the drag of a sinusoidal surface.
PROFESSOR RYLE'S DISCUSSION OF AGITATIONS

THE attempt to explain lawlike statements about the physical world has often led to the postulation of some sort of " substance " or " stuff ", which endured through the many alterations of the world, and hence accounted for the continuity and order of those alterations. In the same way, a dispositional account of mental-concepts runs the risk of hypostatizing the patterns of behaviour, either as "Faculties " and " Ideas ", or as Dispositions. Professor Gilbert Ryle, in Concept of Mind,' occasionally commits this error, although he would undoubtedly repudiate it if confronted with it explicitly. One of the most interesting examples of this hypostatization is the discussion of agitations in the chapter entitled Emotions. An analysis of the argument will illustrate the way in which the error is committed, and the care which must be exercised to avoid objectifying dispositions, tendencies, and other pseudosubstantives. Ryle begins the chapter by distinguishing four different kinds of " emotions": moods, motives (or inclinations), feelings, and agitations. The last three are relevant to our discussion. Motives are simply the dispositions and inclinations wbich he has previc usly analysed; pride, vanity, avarice, patriotism, laziness, and so ferth. Feelings are "the sorts of things which people often describe as thrills, twinges, pangs, throbs, wrenches, itches, prickings, chills, glows, loads, qualms, hankerings, curdlings, sinkings, tensicns, gnawings, and shocks (pp. 83-84)." Quite different from these are agitations, or commoticns. Agitations are conflicts or interferences between two motives, or between a motive and the world. They are frustrations, shocks, anxieties, and distractions. Ryle says:
The Changing Shape of Korsgaard’s Understanding of Constructivism

The influence of Christine Korsgaard on contemporary ethical theory has increased from the time of her article on Kant’s formula of humanity to the publication of her most recent book, Self-Constitution. During this time, some philosophers have pursued arguments that share with Korsgaard a central claim concerning the foundations of moral theory: that an account of our moral reasons for action must be constructed by way of an account of practical reason more generally. Another way to put this is to say that moral philosophy must be situated within a broader philosophy of action, inasmuch as this concerns how we must conduct ourselves simply as agents, and this, Korsgaard holds, is key to understanding how and why we ought to act morally. Korsgaard has developed what marks the difference between realist and constructivist approaches to ethical theory in Self-Constitution in ways that can be seen as a response to her position in The Sources of Normativity. In The Sources of Normativity, there arises a tension in her claim that ethical concepts are rooted in a philosophy of action and exist only as the solution to a concrete practical problem. In Self-Constitution, she proposes a more moderate account of the distinction between realism and constructivism, but problems remain even with that account.
GENERALIZED HYPERGEOMETRIC, DIGAMMA AND TRIGAMMA DISTRIBUTIONS

In this paper we introduce and study new probability distributions named “digamma” and “trigamma” defined on the set of all positive integers. They are obtained as limits of the zero-truncated Type B3 generalized hypergeometric distributions (inverse Polya-Eggenberger or negative binomial beta distributions), and also by compounding the logarithmic series distributions.
Perlecan mediates the antiproliferative effect of apolipoprotein E on smooth muscle cells. An underlying mechanism for the modulation of smooth muscle cell growth

Abstract Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is known to inhibit cell proliferation; however, the mechanism of this inhibition is not clear. We recently showed that apoE stimulates endothelial production of heparan sulfate (HS) enriched in heparin-like sequences. Because heparin and HS are potent inhibitors of smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation, in this study we determined apoE effects on SMC HS production and cell growth. In confluent SMCs, apoE (10 μg/ml) increased 35SO4 incorporation into PG in media by 25–30%. The increase in the medium was exclusively due to an increase in HSPGs (2.2-fold), and apoE did not alter chondroitin and dermatan sulfate proteoglycans. In proliferating SMCs, apoE inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA by 50%; however, despite decreasing cell number, apoE increased the ratio of35SO4 to [3H]thymidine from 2 to 3.6, suggesting increased HS per cell. Purified HSPGs from apoE-stimulated cells inhibited cell proliferation in the absence of apoE. ApoE did not inhibit proliferation of endothelial cells, which are resistant to heparin inhibition. Analysis of the conditioned medium from apoE-stimulated cells revealed that the HSPG increase was in perlecan and that apoE also stimulated perlecan mRNA expression by >2-fold. The ability of apoE isoforms to inhibit cell proliferation correlated with their ability to stimulate perlecan expression. An anti-perlecan antibody completely abrogated the antiproliferative effect of apoE. Thus, these data show that perlecan is a potent inhibitor of SMC proliferation and is required to mediate the antiproliferative effect of apoE. Because other growth modulators also regulate perlecan expression, this may be a key pathway in the regulation of SMC growth.
Maternal diabetes and renal agenesis/dysgenesis†‡

BACKGROUND: Renal agenesis and dysgenesis are potentially lethal congenital malformations affecting 2 to 5 infants per 10,000 live births annually in the United States. The low prevalence of these malformations has complicated understanding of potential risk factors. Maternal diabetes (type 1, type 2, and gestational) has been evaluated extensively as a risk factor for other congenital malformations, but only a limited number of studies have assessed the association between diabetes and renal agenesis. METHODS: We conducted a population-based case-control study of deliveries after 20 weeks gestation in Texas Health Service Region 6 (Houston/Galveston area) from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2002. Cases of renal agenesis/dysgenesis (n = 89) were ascertained from the Texas Birth Defects Registry. Cumulative incidence sampling was used to randomly select, from birth and fetal death records, 356 controls frequency matched to cases by delivery year and vital status. Maternal diabetes and other covariates were collected from vital records. RESULTS: The odds of renal agenesis/dysgenesis were 3.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–9.3) times greater among deliveries of mothers with diabetes compared to deliveries of mothers without diabetes, controlling for matching factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with prior, but limited, research identifying diabetes as a risk factor for renal agenesis/dysgenesis. While these data did not differentiate diabetes diagnoses by type, the results suggest that maternal diabetes may be associated with renal malformations. Further study is warranted. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Enhanced functional properties of tannic acid after thermal hydrolysis

Abstract Thermal hydrolysis processing of fresh tannic acid was carried out in a closed reactor at four different temperatures (65, 100, 150 and 200 °C). Pressures reached in the system were 1.3 and 4.8 MPa at 150 and 200 °C, respectively. Hydrolysis products (gallic acid and pyrogallol) were separated and quantified by HPLC. Gallic acid and pyrogallol production was increased ( p ⩽ 0.05) when heated to 150 °C. Pyrogallol production reached ( p ⩽ 0.05) up to 4.6 mg/ml at 200 °C. Antioxidant activity of processed tannic acid at different temperatures was measured by the Rancimat® method using soybean oil. Processed tannic acid at 200 °C showed a ∼3-fold increase ( p ⩽ 0.05) in induction time from ∼7 h for the control. Pyrogallol had higher ( p ⩽ 0.05) antioxidant capacity than gallic acid, thus pyrogallol was proven to be one of the major compounds responsible for enhanced antioxidant capacity in processed tannic acid. However, the induction point of processed tannic acid at 200 °C was higher than that of synthetic pyrogallol at higher concentration. This shows that pyrogallol alone is not responsible for the antioxidant capacity of processed tannic acid. A disc diffusion assay showed that tested Gram positive pathogenic strains ( Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus ) were more ( p ⩽ 0.05) sensitive (40–51 mm) to processed tannic acid than Gram negative pathogens (22.8–26.8 mm). Regardless of bacterial species, pyrogallol also showed higher antimicrobial activity than gallic acid. Simple thermal processing of hydrolyzable tannic acid could be used to produce gallic acid and pyrogallol with enhanced antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity.
Influence of the A15 mutation on the conformational energy balance in Escherichia coli tRNATyr

Abstract The A15 mutation in Escherichia coli tRNA su3 Tyr produces a transfer RNA whose tertiary structure has either a higher or lower t m than the wild type, depending on Mg 2+ concentration. The enthalpy that stabilizes the tertiary structure is greatly reduced by the A15 mutation, but there are large compensating entropy changes. At 37 °C the mutation decreases the magnitude of the free energy stabilizing the tertiary structure for all Mg 2+ concentrations. The nucleotide modifications s 4 U, iA and G ∗ do not contribute detectably to tertiary structure stability. The results can be interpreted in terms of a tertiary pairing between A15 and C57 in tRNA su3 A15 Tyr , of a form suggested by the unusual bonding between G15 and C48 found in crystallographic studies of yeast tRNA phe . The observed disturbance in the conformational energy balance should contribute to the defective function of tRNA su3 A15 Tyr .
Farmers' perception of precision technology: The case of autosteer adoption by cotton farmers

Precision agriculture and autosteer technology are, overall, profitable investments for farmers, as previous literature has established. However, what has not been investigated is whether or not farmers perceive these technologies as such. This research postulates that cotton farmers must see potential for higher profits as a result of adopting precision technologies in order to adopt it. Using the 2009 Southern Cotton Precision Farming Survey and multinomial logit model, this research investigates farmers' perception of precision agriculture and how those perceptions impact adoption of the autosteer GPS guidance system. Autosteer adoption was found to be significant and positively related to the perceived future importance of precision agriculture as well as farmers' ranking of input cost savings relative to other attributes of the autosteer GPS technology. Additionally, results show that the attributes of the cotton picker are also important factors in adoption of autosteer GPS technology.
Bond-stretch isomerism: a case study of a quiet controversy

The phenomenon of bond-stretch isomerism in transition metal coordination chemistry – two isomers of a complex differing only in one bond length – was first suggested in the early 1970s and remained controversial until the early 1990s, when it was generally agreed to be illusory. The course of this controversy is considered from two points of view, as a straightforward narrative in chemical history, and in the context of several concepts promulgated by studies of science from the outside.
Low temperature electron paramagnetic resonance studies on iron-sulfur centers in cardiac NADH dehydrogenase.

Abstract EPR signals arising from at least seven iron-sulfur centers were resolved in both reconstitutively active and inactive NADH dehydrogenases, as well as in particulate NADH-UQ reductase (Complex I). EPR lineshapes of individual iron-sulfur centers in the active dehydrogenase are almost unchanged from that in Complex I. Iron-sulfur centers in the inactive dehydrogenase give broadened EPR spectra, suggesting that modification of iron-sulfur active centers is associated with loss of the reconstitutive activity of the dehydrogenase. With the reconstitutively active dehydrogenase, the E m8.0 value of Center N-2 (iron-sulfur centers associated with NADH dehydrogenase are designated with prefix N) was shifted to a more negative value than in Complex I and restored to the original value on reconstitution of the enzyme with purified phospholipids.
First Report of Diplodia quercivora Causing Shoot Dieback and Branch Cankers on Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) in the United States.

In September 2010, live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill.) trees in an Alachua County, FL, shopping center parking lot were observed with shoot dieback and cankers on small branches. Isolations were made from canker margins by surface sterilizing tissue in 2.5% sodium hypochlorite and plating on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubating at 23°C. Fungi morphologically similar to Diplodia quercivora Linaldeddu & A.J.L. Phillips (mycelium initially velvety and white and later turning pale to dark olivaceous and grayish in reverse) were consistently isolated from symptomatic tissue (2). The two loci used by Linaldeddu et al. (2) in the description of D. quercivora were sequenced to identify a representative isolate (PL1345) as D. quercivora. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) (GenBank Accession No. KF386635) and translation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) (KF386636) regions were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1F/ITS4 (3) and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (1). BLASTn searches of the two sequences resulted in 99% (467 of 4...
Oven-Based Thermally Tunable Aluminum Nitride Microresonators

Frequency tuning of aluminum nitride (AlN) microresonators has been demonstrated via localized heating (ovenization) of the resonator. Specifically, piezoelectrically driven ~ 100 MHz microresonators were heated by embedded joule heaters in vacuum. Three different designs with three different film stacks were tested, and among the tested devices, thermal resistances as large as 92 K/mW have been demonstrated, which corresponds to 1-mW power consumption to yield a temperature increase of 92°C. To minimize heat loss, the devices were suspended from the substrate by high thermal isolation beam-type supports. The beams exhibit very high thermal resistance not only due to their high length to cross-sectional area ratio but also because they are made of thin-film-deposited polycrystalline aluminum nitride. Film-deposited AlN has been shown to have thermal conductivity much lower than that measured in bulk materials. Thermal time constants for these devices were measured ranging from submilliseconds to 10 ms depending on the design and film stacks, and frequency tunability was measured as high as 2548 parts per million/mW. The availability of a power-efficient frequency tuning method, coupled with all other performance benefits, makes AlN microresonators a promising candidate for the next-generation timing devices and tunable filters for multiband communication systems.
Field-dependence and form discrimination

Rod-and-Frame Test scores were correlated with performance in a tactile form discrimination task. It was found that the more field-independent the S, the higher the accuracy in the discrimination task. Of additional interest was the finding that the strongest correlation emerged between female RFT scores and the active touch condition.
Repurposing Blu-ray movie discs as quasi-random nanoimprinting templates for photon management

Quasi-random nanostructures have attracted significant interests for photon management purposes. To optimize such patterns, typically very expensive fabrication processes are needed to create the pre-designed, subwavelength nanostructures. While quasi-random photonic nanostructures are abundant in nature (for example, in structural coloration), interestingly, they also exist in Blu-ray movie discs, an already mass-produced consumer product. Here we uncover that Blu-ray disc patterns are surprisingly well suited for light-trapping applications. While the algorithms in the Blu-ray industrial standard were developed with the intention of optimizing data compression and error tolerance, they have also created quasi-random arrangement of islands and pits on the final media discs that are nearly optimized for photon management over the solar spectrum, regardless of the information stored on the discs. As a proof-of-concept, imprinting polymer solar cells with the Blu-ray patterns indeed increases their efficiencies. Simulation suggests that Blu-ray patterns could be broadly applied for solar cells made of other materials.
The effect of diabetes mellitus on aortic prostanoid synthesis and serum cholesterol levels in the rat fed a high cholesterol diet.

Abstract The effect of diabetes mellitus on serum cholesterol and aortic microsomal prostanoid synthesis was studied in cholesterol fed male Lewis rats. Normal, diabetic and diabetic rats treated with pancreatic islets were divided into three diet subgroups, control diet, control +2% cholesterol for 8 weeks and control +2% cholesterol diet for 16 weeks. Serum glucose levels were elevated three-fold in the diabetic group compared to normal. Treatment with islets restored serum glucose to normal levels in diabetic rats. The 2% cholesterol diet did not significantly alter serum glucose levels in any of the groups. Body weights in the diabetic group were significantly lower than normal or diabetic rats treated with islets. Feeding 2% cholesterol for 16 weeks significantly increased weight in normal and islet treated diabetic rats but not in the diabetic group. Aortic microsomal prostanoid synthesis was similar in all experimental groups with 6-keto-PGF 1α (PGI 2 metabolite) being the major product synthesized in all groups. Aortic microsomal prostanoid levels were not altered by the 2% cholesterol diet. Serum cholesterol levels increased 14-fold in the diabetic group which returned to the normal level in the diabetic animals treated with islets. These data show that diabetes does not alter aortic microsomal prostanoid levels in the rat. However, diabetes significantly increased serum cholesterol levels which were reversed by islet transplantation.
High resolution phosphorus NMR spectroscopy of transfer ribonucleic acids

The temperature dependence of the 31P NMR spectra of yeast phenylalanine tRNA, E. coli tyrosine, glutamate (2), and formylmethione tRNA, and bovine liver aspartate (2b) tRNA is presented. The major difference between the 31P NMR spectra of the different acceptor tRNAs is in the main cluster region between -0.5 and -0.3 ppm. This confirms earlier assignment of the main cluster region to the undistorted phosphate diesters in the hair-pin loops and helical stems. In addition the 31P NMR spectra for all tRNAs reveal approximately 16 non-helical diester signals spread over approximately 7 ppm besides the downfield terminal 3'-phosphate monoester. In the presence of 10 mM Mg++, most scattered and main cluster signals do not shift between 22 and 66 degrees C, thus supporting our earlier hypothesis that 31P chemical shifts are sensitive to phosphate ester torsional and bond angles. At greater than 70 degrees, all of the signals merge into a single random coil conformation signal. Measured spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times for tRNAPhe reveal another lower temperature transition associated with a conformational change of the anticodon loop besides the thermal denaturation process. A number of the scattered peaks are shifted (0.2--1.7 ppm) and broadened between 22 and 66 degrees C in the presence of Mg++ as a result of this conformational transition. The effects Mg++ and Mn++ ions on the 31P NMR spectra of tRNAPhe have been used to identify some of the scattered signals upfield and downfield from the main cluster signals. The 31P NMR spectrum of the dimer formed between yeast tRNAPhe and E. coli tRNA2Glu is reported. This dimer stimulates codon-anticodon interaction since the anticodon triplets of the two tRNAs are complementary. Evidence is presented that the anticodon-anticodon interaction alters the anticodon conformation and partially disrupts the tertiary structure of the tRNA.
1363 OUTCOME OF INBORN VS. TRANSPORTED HIGH-RISK INFANTS

The outcome of 694 births of infants weighing <1500 grams from two sources was compared. 301 births occurred in 5 metro area hospitals (MH) with Level I nursery facilities; the high-risk infants were transported to Level III nurseries. 393 infants were born in University Hospital (UH) where Level III intrapartum and neonatal care are available. Fetal deaths were twice as frequent in the MH population as in the UH group, 25 vs. 12.5% (p <.01). Neonatal deaths were slightly increased in the MH, 37 vs. 30% but not to a significant degree. Infant deaths occurred in 3 and 4% respectively in MH and UH. Outcome at approximately 12-24 months was the same in both groups. Because 61% of the UH population in this weight group comes from in utero transport patients from the region, this population was reviewed. Fetal deaths occurred in 9.5% of total maternal transport births. Neonatal deaths were similarly reduced (27%) and outcome slightly improved 33%. When the in utero transport patients from the MH were credited back to these hospitals the fetal death rate was 22% compared to the UH rate of 17% (p=NS). Maternal transport patients constitute a population which differs from that of the MH and UH. Data on maternal complications, neonatal morbidity, birth weight, gestational age, socioeconomic status, type of transport and long-term outcome in relation to these factors is in preparation.
WAAS Receiver Carrier Tracking Loop and Data Demodulation Performance in the Presence of Wideband Interference

The Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for GPS I Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) airborne equipment [l] specifies an interference mask and minimum signal conditions that will be valid for all phases of flight. In addition, demodulated WAAS word error requirements are specified. In support of the RTCA Special Committee (SC)-159 WAAS MOPS activities, a detailed phase-locked loop carrier tracking simulation and analysis for the WAAS satellite signals was performed using the current link budget assumptions. The high-fidelity, nonlinear carrier tracking loop simulations include the Viterbi decoder, and provide word error, bit error, and cycle slip rates as a function of the carrier to noise-plus-interference ratio. Based on the simulation data, it appears that there is approximately a 1 dB link budget gap, which must be addressed by the appropriate industry/government committees.
Autonomous precision agriculture through integration of wireless underground sensor networks with center pivot irrigation systems

Abstract Precision agriculture (PA) refers to a series of practices and tools necessary to correctly evaluate farming needs. The accuracy and effectiveness of PA solutions are highly dependent on accurate and timely analysis of the soil conditions. In this paper, a proof-of-concept towards an autonomous precision irrigation system is provided through the integration of a center pivot (CP) irrigation system with wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs). This Wireless Underground Sensor-Aided Center Pivot (WUSA-CP) system will provide autonomous irrigation management capabilities by monitoring the soil conditions in real time using wireless underground sensors. To this end, field experiments with a hydraulic drive and continuous-move center pivot irrigation system are conducted. The results are used to evaluate empirical channel models for soil-air communications. The experiment results show that the concept of WUSA-CP is feasible. Through the design of an underground antenna, communication ranges can be improved by up to 400% compared to conventional antenna designs. The results also highlight that the wireless communication channel between soil and air is significantly affected by many spatio-temporal aspects, such as the location and burial depth of the sensors, soil texture and physical properties, soil moisture, and the vegetation canopy height. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on the development of an autonomous precision irrigation system with WUSNs.
Quorum-Dependent Mannopine-Inducible Conjugative Transfer of an Agrobacterium Opine-Catabolic Plasmid

The Ti plasmid in Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain 15955 carries two alleles of traR that regulate conjugative transfer. The first is a functional allele, called traR, that is transcriptionally induced by the opine octopine. The second, trlR, is a nonfunctional, dominant-negative mutant located in an operon that is inducible by the opine mannopine (MOP). Based on these findings, we predicted that there exist wild-type agrobacterial strains harboring plasmids in which MOP induces a functional traR and, hence, conjugation. We analyzed 11 MOP-utilizing field isolates and found five where MOP induced transfer of the MOP-catabolic element and increased production of the acyl-homoserine lactone (acyl-HSL) quormone. The transmissible elements in these five strains represent a set of highly related plasmids. Sequence analysis of one such plasmid, pAoF64/95, revealed that the 176-kb element is not a Ti plasmid but carries genes for catabolism of MOP, mannopinic acid (MOA), agropinic acid (AGA), and the agrocinopines. The plasmid additionally carries all of the genes required for conjugative transfer, including the regulatory genes traR, traI, and traM. The traR gene, however, is not located in the MOP catabolism region. The gene, instead, is monocistronic and located within the tra-trb-rep gene cluster. A traR mutant failed to transfer the plasmid and produced little to no quormone even when grown with MOP, indicating that TraRpAoF64/95 is the activator of the tra regulon. A traM mutant was constitutive for transfer and acyl-HSL production, indicating that the anti-activator function of TraM is conserved.