cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modeling the Influence of Land-Shape on the Energy Production Potential of a Wind Farm Site

During wind farm planning, the farm layout or turbine arrangement is generally opti-mized to minimize the wake losses, and thereby maximize the energy production. How-ever, the scope of layout design itself depends on the speciﬁed farm land-shape, wherethe latter is conventionally not considered a part of the wind farm decision-making pro-cess. Instead, a presumed land-shape is generally used during the layout design process,likely leading to sub-optimal wind farm planning. In this paper, we develop a novelframework to explore how the farm land-shape inﬂuences the output potential of a site,under a given wind resource variation. Farm land-shapes are deﬁned in terms of their as-pect ratio and directional orientation, assuming a rectangular conﬁguration. Simultane-ous optimizations of the turbine selection and placement are performed to maximize theenergy production capacity, for a set of sample land-shapes with ﬁxed land area. Themaximum farm capacity factor or farm output potential is then represented as a functionof the land aspect ratio and land orientation, using quadratic and Kriging response surfa-ces. This framework is applied to design a 25MW wind farm at a North Dakota site thatexperiences multiple dominant wind directions. An appreciable 5% difference in capacityfactor is observed between the best and the worst sample farm land-shapes at this windsite. It is observed that among the 50 sample land-shapes, higher energy production isaccomplished by the farm lands that have aspect ratios signiﬁcantly greater than one,and are oriented lengthwise roughly along the dominant wind direction axis. Subsequentoptimization of the land-shape using the Kriging response surface further corroboratesthis observation. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4026201]Keywords: capacity factor, farm land-shape, response surface, wind distribution, windfarm layout optimization
Boundary-layer analysis for effects of viscosity of the irrotational flow on the flow induced by a rapidly rotating cylinder in a uniform stream

We study the streaming flow past a rapidly rotating circular cylinder. The starting point is the full continuity and momentum equations without any approximations. We assume that the solution is a boundary-layer flow near the cylinder surface with the potential flow outside the boundary layer. The order of magnitude of the terms in the continuity and momentum equations can be estimated inside the boundary layer. When terms of the order of is the circulatory velocity at the outer edge of the boundary layer. The pressure from this boundary-layer solution has two parts, an inertial part and a viscous part. The inertial part comes from the inertia terms in the momentum equations and is in agreement with the irrotational pressure; the viscous part comes from the viscous stress terms in the momentum equations and may be viewed as a viscous pressure correction, which contributes to both drag and lift. Our boundary-layer solution is in reasonable to excellent agreement with the numerical simulation in the companion paper by Padrino & Joseph (2006).
Lack of a Role for Glucagon in the Disposal of an Oral Glucose Load in Normal Man

The present study was undertaken to determine the role of glucagon in determining the disposition of an oral glucose load in normal man. To accomplish this, the plasma glucose response to an oral glucose load was determined in four normal men who were studied on two occasions. During one study, glucagon (3 ng/kg-min) was administered to prevent the fall in plasma glucagon noted after oral glucose ingestion. Despite elevation of plasma glucagon levels to 350 pg/ml in this protocol, the plasma insulin and glucose levels achieved were virtually identical to those obtained after oral glucose alone. These results indicate that neither physiological elevations of plasma glucagon nor the suppression of plasma glucagon seen during oral glucose administration alter glucose tolerance in normal man. Thus, in a normal man capable of secreting appropriate amounts of insulin in response to the ingestion of glucose, glucagon plays no appreciable role in the disposition of this glucose load.
Contributions of the interdomain loop, amino terminus, and subunit interface to the ligand-facilitated dimerization of neurophysin: crystal structures and mutation studies of bovine neurophysin-I.

Current evidence indicates that the ligand-facilitated dimerization of neurophysin is mediated in part by dimerization-induced changes at the hormone binding site of the unliganded state that increase ligand affinity. To elucidate other contributory factors, we investigated the potential role of neurophysin's short interdomain loop (residues 55–59), particularly the effects of loop residue mutation and of deleting amino-terminal residues 1–6, which interact with the loop and adjacent residues 53–54. The neurophysin studied was bovine neurophysin-I, necessitating determination of the crystal structures of des 1–6 bovine neurophysin-I in unliganded and liganded dimeric states, as well as the structure of its liganded Q58V mutant, in which peptide was bound with unexpectedly increased affinity. Increases in dimerization constant associated with selected loop residue mutations and with deletion of residues 1–6, together with structural data, provided evidence that dimerization of unliganded neurophysin-I is constrained by hydrogen bonding of the side chains of Gln58, Ser56, and Gln55 and by amino terminus interactions, loss or alteration of these hydrogen bonds, and probable loss of amino terminus interactions, contributing to the increased dimerization of the liganded state. An additional intersubunit hydrogen bond from residue 81, present only in the liganded state, was demonstrated as the largest single effect of ligand binding directly on the subunit interface. Comparison of bovine neurophysins I and II indicates broadly similar mechanisms for both, with the exception in neurophysin II of the absence of Gln55 side chain hydrogen bonds in the unliganded state and a more firmly established loss of amino terminus interactions in the liganded state. Evidence is presented that loop status modulates dimerization via long-range effects on neurophysin conformation involving neighboring Phe22 as a key intermediary.
Stiffening Our Resolve Against Adult Weight Gain

Increasing adiposity with a clinical endpoint of obesity is associated with a progressive increase in risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, we are only beginning to understand the physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms by which excessive body fat storage causes CVD. In this issue of Hypertension , the findings of Wildman et al1 extend and strengthen previous observations2–5 by showing that changes in arterial stiffness, as measured by aortic pulse-wave velocity (PWV), are related to changes in body weight over a 2-year follow-up period in healthy men and women aged 20 to 40 years. Weight gain was associated with an increase, whereas weight loss was associated with a decrease in aortic PWV, independent of changes in blood pressure. The greatest increases in aortic PWV were observed in those subjects who gained the most weight (≥4.5 kg). Importantly, the changes in aortic PWV were related to changes in body mass index (BMI), indicating that the associations with body weight were mediated by changes in adiposity (rather than fat-free mass). Changes in aortic PWV over time also were related to baseline body weight, BMI, and waist circumference (an indirect measure of abdominal adiposity), providing evidence that higher initial levels of total and abdominal body fatness are associated with greater future increases in arterial stiffness. The study included subjects with a broad range of BMI, suggesting that the findings are applicable to both nonobese and obese adults in the general population. An important finding was that black adults demonstrated greater increases in weight gain-adjusted and blood pressure-adjusted aortic PWV over time, suggesting that they undergo greater increases in arterial stiffness in response to the same age-associated weight gain compared with whites. These observations provide further support for the emerging concept that adiposity-driven weight gain during adulthood contributes significantly to the adverse changes …
Terrorism and Regional Integration in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of the CFA Franc Zone

To the extent that regional currency integration changes the cost of imported inputs used in the production of terror, it can change the supply of terror produced by rational terrorists. In this paper, we appeal to a theory of rational terrorism where a country’s membership in a regional currency union conditions the cost of imported inputs that produce terror, and estimate the parameters of static and dynamic terrorism supply functions with Generalized Estimating Equation count data estimators for Sub-Saharan Africa between 1974 and 2006. Our parameter estimates reveal that regional currency integration has counter-terrorism benefits as countries with membership in the newly constituted CFA Franc Zone had fewer terrorism incidents relative to other Sub-Saharan African countries. Our parameter estimates also suggest that the CFA Franc Zone caused a decrease in terrorism. As terrorism constrains important drivers of economic growth, our results suggest that another potential channel by which regional currency integration improves living standards in Sub-Saharan Africa is through reducing terrorism.
Respiratory and cardiovascular effects of buprenorphine in conscious rabbits

Abstract Objective To quantify the respiratory and cardiovascular effects of intravenous or subcutaneous buprenorphine in conscious rabbits. Study design Prospective experimental trial. Animals Eight healthy, young adult New Zealand white rabbits (four female). Methods Rabbits were instrumented with intraabdominal arterial and venous catheters and diaphragmatic electromyographic electrodes 2 weeks before experiments. Arterial blood pressure, arterial blood gases, heart rate and respiratory rate were monitored during experiments. Buprenorphine (0.06 mg) was administered either intravenously or subcutaneously to conscious rabbits. Respiratory and cardiovascular parameters were compared to baseline at 10 and 22 minutes after intravenous buprenorphine administration, and at 30, 60, and 90 minutes after subcutaneous buprenorphine administration. Results Buprenorphine administration, at a dose of approximately 0.02 mg kg−1, did not change blood pressure or heart rate. However, respiratory rate decreased from 252 ± 26 to 39 ± 26 breaths minute−1 (mean ± SD), and from 306 ± 38 to 90 ± 38 breaths minute−1 following intravenous and subcutaneous administration of buprenorphine, respectively. Subsequent to intravenous and subcutaneous buprenorphine, arterial oxygen tension decreased from 88 ± 4 to 72 ± 4 mmHg (11.7 ± 0.5 to 9.6 ± 0.5 kPa) and from 87 ± 3 to 77 ± 3 mmHg (11.6 ± 0.4 to 10.3 ± 0.4 kPa), respectively. Buprenorphine, by either route of administration, increased arterial carbon dioxide tension from 36 to 41 mmHg (4.8–5.5 kPa) and increased the alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient from 15 to ≥20 mmHg (2 to ≥2.7 kPa). Conclusions and clinical relevance Buprenorphine administration decreased respiratory rate and produced mild hypoxemia in conscious rabbits. While these changes were well tolerated by healthy animals, caution should be exercised when administering buprenorphine to rabbits predisposed to respiratory depression.
The international drug control regime’s straight jacket: are there any policy options?

All societies have to control individual behaviors that are considered as socially damaging. The use of mind altering drugs is one such behavior. These controls have always been determined locally but in the 20th Century an international drug control regime was developed that established a globally unified normative control system formulated in the three United Nations drug conventions. The global normative system is based on a prohibitionist paradigm. The international norms are very difficult to change and impose strong restrictions on the ways in which countries may manage addictive mind altering drugs. The essay surveys the development of the international drug control regime, identifies its main characteristics and makes a naive proposal to manage the consumption of those drugs through an insurance system aimed at minimizing the sum of the social costs generated by drug addiction and anti-drug policies.
Chinese Military-Related Think Tanks and Research Institutions:

The national security research community in Beijing is dominated by think tanks and other research institutes affiliated with specific governmental institutions. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) maintains its own set of internal and affiliated research institutions, performing a variety of intelligence, exchange and research functions. The growth and professionalization of the Chinese military think tank community, combined with the widening degree of interaction between PLA researchers and foreigners presents a new set of challenges and opportunities for scholarly research. On the one hand, the new environment complicates the task of outside scholars as they seek to understand the biases and reliability of new sources of information. At the same time, it offers foreign scholars an unprecedented opportunity to test theories, delve into new research and improve understanding of the PLA. This article examines the roles, missions and composition of the units in this system, assesses the influence, authoritativeness and utility of the output from these organs, and offers some preliminary implications for Western study of the Chinese military.
PREP-Mt: predictive RNA editor for plant mitochondrial genes

In plants, RNA editing is a process that converts specific cytidines to uridines and uridines to cytidines in transcripts from virtually all mitochondrial protein-coding genes. There are thousands of plant mitochondrial genes in the sequence databases, but sites of RNA editing have not been determined for most. Accurate methods of RNA editing site prediction will be important in filling in this information gap and could reduce or even eliminate the need for experimental determination of editing sites for many sequences. Because RNA editing tends to increase protein conservation across species by "correcting" codons that specify unconserved amino acids, this principle can be used to predict editing sites by identifying positions where an RNA editing event would increase the conservation of a protein to homologues from other plants. PREP-Mt takes this approach to predict editing sites for any protein-coding gene in plant mitochondria. To test the general applicability of the PREP-Mt methodology, RNA editing sites were predicted for 370 full-length or nearly full-length DNA sequences and then compared to the known sites of RNA editing for these sequences. Of 60,263 cytidines in this test set, PREP-Mt correctly classified 58,994 as either an edited or unedited site (accuracy = 97.9%). PREP-Mt properly identified 3,038 of the 3,698 known sites of RNA editing (sensitivity = 82.2%) and 55,956 of the 56,565 known unedited sites (specificity = 98.9%). Accuracy and sensitivity increased to 98.7% and 94.7%, respectively, after excluding the 489 silent editing sites (which have no effect on protein sequence or function) from the test set. These results indicate that PREP-Mt is effective at identifying C to U RNA editing sites in plant mitochondrial protein-coding genes. Thus, PREP-Mt should be useful in predicting protein sequences for use in molecular, biochemical, and phylogenetic analyses. In addition, PREP-Mt could be used to determine functionality of a mitochondrial gene or to identify particular sequences with unusual editing properties. The PREP-Mt methodology should be applicable to any system where RNA editing increases protein conservation across species.
Selective extinction of late Neogene bivalves on the temperate Pacific coast of South America

We assessed selective extinction patterns in bivalves during a late Neogene mass extinction event observed along the temperate Pacific coast of South America. The analysis of 99 late Neogene and Quaternary fossil sites (recorded from 7°S to 55°S), yielding ∼2800 occurrences and 118 species, revealed an abrupt decline in Lyellian percentages during the late Neogene–Pleistocene, suggesting the existence of a mass extinction that decimated ∼66% of the original assemblage. Using the late Neogene data set (n = 59 species, 1346 occurrences), we tested whether the extinction was nonrandom according to taxonomic structure, life habit, geographic range, and body size. Our results showed that the number of higher taxa that went extinct was not different than expected by random. At first sight, extinction was selective only according to life habit and geographic range. Nevertheless, when phylogenetic effects were accounted for, body size also showed significant selectivity. In general, epifaunal, small-sized (after phylogenetic correction), and short-ranged species tended to have increased probability of extinction. This is verified by strong interactions between the variables herein analyzed, suggesting the existence of nonlinear effects on extinction chances. In the heavily decimated epifaunal forms, survival was not enhanced by widespread ranges or larger body sizes. Conversely, the widespread and large-sized infaunal forms tended to have lower probability of extinction. Overall, the ultimate extinction of late Neogene bivalve species along the Pacific coast of South America seems to have been determined by a complex interplay of ecological and historical (phylogenetic) effects.
Driving Employee Engagement: The Expanded Role of Internal Communications

Increasingly, organizations and their public relations professionals are recognizing the importance of strengthening internal communication with employees. Internal communication is important for building a culture of transparency between management and employees, and it can engage employees in the organization’s priorities. This exploratory study uses findings from interviews with public relations executives to explore the growing role that internal communication plays in employee engagement. Executives employ a variety of communication methods, including face-to-face communication, to communicate with employees. The executives’ chosen communication strategies aim to build trust and engagement with employees. In doing so, public relations executives find themselves in an expanded role of fostering employee engagement.
Power gain of homodyne detection over direct detection receivers for free space optical communication in the presence of interference

Diversity mitigates fades, but increasing diversity does not always improve direct detectionpsilas performance in the presence of interference. We find the power gain of homodyne over direct detection with optimal diversity, with and without interference.
Familial aggregation of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Evaluation of conflicting results.

• In this issue, Coryell and Zimmerman report no significant increase in the risk of schizophrenia or "schizophrenia spectrum" personality disorders in relatives of schizophrenics vs never-ill controls. This article attempts to evaluate critically and interpret their findings. Given the modest number of relatives studied, their negative findings regarding schizophrenia could easily be the result of sampling variation. Relatives were assessed using a general personality disorder instrument, and over two thirds were interviewed by telephone; this method may have a low sensitivity to detect key features of the schizophrenia spectrum such as inadequate rapport and suspiciousness. True population differences may, however, exist in the pattern of familial aggregation for schizophrenia and related disorders. The convincing demonstration of this would be of considerable interest and should lead to a constructive search for the source of the interpopulation differences.
Sprouty1 is a critical regulatory switch of mesenchymal stem cell lineage allocation

Development of bone and adipose tissue are linked processes arising from a common progenitor cell, but having an inverse relationship in disease conditions such as osteoporosis. Cellular differentiation of both tissues relies on growth factor cues, and we focus this study on Sprouty1 (Spry1), an inhibitor of growth factor signaling. We tested whether Spry1 can modify the development of fat cells through its activity in regulating growth factors known to be important for adipogenesis. We utilized conditional expression and genetic-null mouse models of Spry1 in adipocytes using the fatty acid binding promoter (aP2). Conditional deletion of Spry1 results in 10% increased body fat and decreased bone mass. This phenotype was rescued on Spry1 expression, which results in decreased body fat and increased bone mass. Ex vivo bone marrow experiments indicate Spry1 in bone marrow and adipose progenitor cells favors differentiation of osteoblasts at the expense of adipocytes by suppressing CEBP-β and PPARγ while up regulating TAZ. Age and gender-matched littermates expressing only Cre recombinase were used as controls. Spry1 is a critical regulator of adipocyte differentiation and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) lineage allocation, potentially acting through regulation of CEBP-β and TAZ.—Urs, S., Venkatesh, D., Tang, Y., Henderson, T., Yang, X., Friesel, R. E., Rosen, C. J., Liaw, L. Sprouty1 is a critical regulatory switch of mesenchymal stem cell lineage allocation.
Neural tree network/vector quantization probability estimators for speaker recognition

A new classification system for text-independent speaker recognition is presented. This system combines the output probabilities of distortion-based classifiers and a discriminant-based classifier. The distortion-based classifiers are the vector quantization (VQ) classifier and Gaussian mixture model (GMM). The discriminant-based classifier is the neural tree network (NTN). The VQ and GMM classifiers provide output probabilities that represent the distortion between the observation and the model. Hence, these probabilities provide an intraclass measure. The NTN classifier is based on discriminant training and provides output probabilities that represent an interclass measure. Since, these two classifiers base their decision on different criteria, they can be effectively combined to yield improved performance. Two combining methods are evaluated for several speaker recognition tasks, including speaker verification and closed set speaker identification. The results show the both methods to yield advantages for the speaker recognition tasks. >
PROFILE OF CHRONICALLY MENTALLY ILL PSYCHOTIC PATIENTS IN FOUR COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS

This study described patients (N = 160) of four public mental health facilities who had a diagnosis of psychotic chronic mental illness. Relationships were examined between a chronic psychotic diagnosis and sociodemo-graphic characteristics, medical diagnosis, social, economic and legal problems, and characteristics of treatment. A diagnosis of chronic psychotic illness was related to being male, unmarried, unemployed, and Asian; to having medical and economic problems; and to being treated with pharmacotherapy, by a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse; and to remaining in therapy. Patients who remained in treatment were distinguished from dropouts by the use of pharmacotherapy in treatment and the presence of medical problems.
Finding stable local optimal RNA secondary structures

Motivation: Many RNAs, such as riboswitches, can fold into multiple alternate structures and perform different biological functions. These biologically functional structures usually have low free energies in their local energy landscapes and are very stable such that they cannot easily jump out of the current states and fold into other stable conformations. The conformational space of feasible RNA secondary structures is prohibitively large, and accurate prediction of functional structure conformations is challenging. Because the stability of an RNA secondary structure is determined predominantly by energetically favorable helical regions (stacks), we propose to use configurations of putative stacks to represent RNA secondary structures. By considering a reduced conformational space of local optimal stack configurations instead of all feasible RNA structures, we first present an algorithm for enumerating all possible local optimal stack configurations. In addition, we present a fast heuristic algorithm for approximating energy barriers encountered during folding pathways between each pair of local optimal stack configurations and finding all the stable local optimal structures. Results: Benchmark tests have been conducted on several RNA riboswitches, whose alternate secondary structures have been experimentally verified. The benchmark results show that our method can successfully predict the native ‘on’ and ‘off’ secondary structures, and better rank them compared with other state-of-art approaches. Availability: The software is freely available and can be downloaded at http://genome.ucf.edu/RNASLOpt. Contact: shzhang@eecs.ucf.edu Supplementary Information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Mechanisms of Antifertility Action of Chlormadinone Acetate in the Rabbit

Chlormadinone acetate was given orally in an aqueous vehicle to mature female rabbits, using a variety of dosage schedules, in a model “minipill’ test. Two distinct mechanisms effective in preventing pregnancy were identified. At a dose level of 0.9 mg/kg/day, given for 3 or 4 days before artificial insemination and ovulation induction, fertilization of eggs was reduced to 12%. Continuation of the dosing for 8 days after ovulation did not alter the ED100. Acceleration of the rate of egg transport was observed whether progestin administration ceased before or after ovulation, indicating a direct effect of progestins upon the musculature of the reproductive tract. When similarly dosed animals were examined on the 15th day of pregnancy, complete inhibition of pregnancy was caused by 0.09 mg/kg/day. Investigation of the animals just prior to implantation revealed that the mechanism was compounded of accelerated egg transport, together with inhibition of blastocyst growth, shown by reduced egg recoveries and computation of blastocyst volumes, respectively. The results obtained are discussed as being analogous to the differing contraceptive mechanisms of high and low dose levels of chlormadinone acetate in the human. Comparisons are drawn between the ovulation-inhibiting action of high dose levels in human, and the fact that the high dose level used in this study (0.9 mg/kg/day) is above that needed for ovulation inhibition in the rabbit. Further similarities also exist between suboptimal ovulation inhibiting doses in the human (0.5 mg/kg/day) and in the rabbit (0.09 mg/kg/day), in that penetration of cervical mucus by spermatozoa is possible. It is suggested that inhibition of implantation may be implicated in the action of low doses of 17-acetoxy progestins in women.
On the finiteness of θQCD renormalization in supersymmetric theories

Abstract We point out that neither a softly broken Peccei-Quinn symmetry nor a softly broken supersymmetry per se suffices to insure the finiteness of θ QCD renormalization. This is due to a logarithmic divergence that in general occurs in the higher loop corrections to the gluino mass.
The Relation of Drug Trafficking Fears and Cultural Identity to Attitudes Toward Mexican Immigrants in Five South Texas Communities.

ABSTRACTThis paper reports the findings of research investigating the relationship of spill-over fears related to drug trafficking and of cultural identity to Mexican Americans’ attitudes toward recent immigrants from Mexico in five non-metropolitan communities in the US–Mexico borderlands of South Texas. A mixed methods design was used to collect data from 91 participants (30 intact families with two parents and at least one young adult). Quantitative findings showed that the majority of participants expressed the view that most people in their communities believed that newcomers were involved in drug trafficking and in defrauding welfare programs. A significant interaction indicated that Mexican cultural identity buffered the negative effects of drug trafficking fears as related to the view that the newcomers were creating problems in the communities and region. Qualitative data yielded positive and negative themes, with those that were negative being significantly more numerous. The findings have impli...
Carbon Monoxide (CO)- and Hydrogen-Driven, Vanadium-Catalyzed Deoxydehydration of Glycols

Four oxo-vanadium complexes of the type Z+LVO2– (1–4) have been evaluated for activity as catalysts for the deoxydehydration (DODH) of glycols to olefins with various reductants. Among these, a new complex, [Bu4N](Salhyd)VO2 (4), is found to be uniquely effective for the DODH reaction using the practical reductants: hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO).
Finding Motivation Online Information Seeking Following Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that has no manifestations for carriers but is terminal for those diagnosed with it. CF is identified through newborn screening (NBS) tests, and most families have no knowledge about CF before their contact with a NBS program. Acknowledging the Internet as a popular health information source, this study examined information exchange about CF in online community forums. This article, guided by self-determination theory, aimed at providing understanding of psychological needs and motivation for health information seeking and active communication about CF. Through online communication with other families who share similar experience, caregivers of newborns diagnosed with CF sought and received support for their competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs during the initial CF testing and diagnosis reconciliation process. Online communities play an important role in the information seeking related to CF diagnosis and could become active partners in strategic knowledge dissemination efforts.
Evaluating the utility of methodological assumptions in mass media effects research on children

AbstractThis essay focuses on six methodological practices that are widespread in the literature examining media effects on children and adolescents by presenting a critical analyses of the assumptions that underlie each of these practices. The first three practices deal with measurement—the use of attribute variables as surrogates, the use of behavioral self report data, and assuming the validity of measures. The remaining three practices deal with data analysis—assuming that scales are better than individual items, assumptions about testing relationships, and assumptions about testing group differences. These critical analyses demonstrate that each of these practices is based on faulty assumptions. The essay concludes with recommendations about how relatively minor changes in our design decisions have the potential to reduce some of the limitations that keep our literature from being more powerful and more useful.
Reversible retinopathy associated with oral deferasirox therapy

A 17-year-old girl with a history of sickle cell anaemia undergoing chronic blood transfusions and iron-chelation therapy presented for multiple ophthalmic examinations. During treatment with deferoxamine, her examination remained stable but 2 years after changing to deferasirox she presented with decreased visual acuity and only mild funduscopic changes. Marked electrophysiological abnormalities were also evident. After cessation of deferasirox, her visual acuity improved and electrophysiological responses improved. No prior reports of deferasirox-related retinopathy are available. We suggest that oral deferasirox caused a reversible retinopathy in our patient and clinicians be aware of this entity.
The primary standard material for burning rate measurement of composite solid propellants

The HTPB propellant was selected as the primary standard material of burning rate measurement.Its formulation and preparation were introduced.The test results of the verification of uniformity and three-year stability meet the requirements.Two definite value methods with different principles (acoustic emission method and target wire method) were used,and uncertainty of definite value was evaluated according to ISO 1993(E).The standard value of burning rate standard material was defined as 10.229mm/s and its uncertainty was 0.076mm/s (under the measurement condition of 7MPa,20℃).
Oxidative stress induces early-onset apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells and neointima formation in response to injury.

The present study dissects the mechanisms underlying the rapid onset of apoptosis that precedes post injury vascular remodelling. Using the rat balloon injury model, we demonstrated that a significant number of arterial vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) undergo apoptosis at 90 min after the procedure. This apoptotic wave caused significant loss in media cellularity (>90%) over the next 3 h and was accompanied by a marked accumulation of oxidative stress by-products in the vascular wall. Early apoptotic VSMC were rich in p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the transcription factor c-Jun and secreted IL-6 and GRO/KC into the milieu as determined using multiplex bead assays. Neointima thickness increased steadily starting on day 3 as a result of pronounced repopulation of the media. A second apoptotic wave that was detected at 14 days after injury affected mostly the neointima and was insufficient to control hyperplasia. Suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production using either the NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor VAS2870 or pegylated superoxide dismutase (PEG-SOD) significantly decreased the number of apoptotic cells during the first apoptotic wave and showed a trend towards reduction in the neointima-to-media thickness ratio at 30 days post injury. These results indicate that oxidative stress in response to injury induces early-onset apoptosis of VSMC through the activation of redox-sensible MAPK pro-apoptotic pathways. This remodelling process leads to the local accumulation of inflammatory cytokines and repopulation of the media, which ultimately contribute to neointima formation.
Bayes Estimation for the Marshall-Olkin Exponential Distribution

SUMMARY Bayes estimators of the parameters of the Marshall-Olkin exponential distribution are obtained when random samples from series and parallel systems are available. The estimators are with respect to the quadratic loss function, and the prior distribution allows for prior dependence among the components of the parameter vector. Exact and approximate highest posterior density credible ellipsoids for the parameters are also obtained. In contrast with series sampling, the Bayes estimators under parallel sampling are not in closed form, and numerical procedures are required to obtain estimates. Bayes estimators of the reliability functions are also given. The gain in asymptotic precision of parallel estimates over series estimates is also ascertained theoretically.
Bifunctional Porous Polymers Bearing Boronic and Sulfonic Acids for Hydrolysis of Cellulose

A facile strategy is reported in this study to synthesize bifunctional porous polymers bearing boronic and sulfonic acids as a new type of cellulase-mimetic solid acids for cellulose hydrolysis in water. The boronic acid and sulfonic acid groups of the solid acids mimicked the cellulose-binding domains and the cellulose-hydrolytic domains of cellulase, respectively. As expected, the cellulase-mimetic solid acids were able to hydrolyze microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel) to glucose effectively because of the synergic effect between the boronic and sulfonic groups. For example, the solid acid synthesized from naphthalene-1-boronic acid at 120 °C was able to hydrolyze Avicel to glucose by 42.7% at 24 h and 94.6% at 48 h, respectively. If the Avicel was ball-milled for 2 h, it could be hydrolyzed by 94.9% within 24 h at 120 °C.
Parallel Triggering and Conduction of Rail-Gap Switches in a High-Current Low-Inductance Crowbar Switch

The field-reversed configuration heating experiment (FRCHX) was designed to form closed-field-line magnetized target plasmas for magnetoinertial fusion and other high energy density plasma research. These plasmas are in a field-reversed configuration and are formed via a reversed-field theta pinch on an already magnetized background plasma. To extend the duration and temporal uniformity of the pinch, the capacitor bank driving the reversed-field discharge is crowbarred near the current peak. Four parallel rail-gap switches are used on the FRCHX for this application to ensure a low-inductance crowbar discharge path and to accommodate the large magnitude of the discharge current (often greater than 1 MA). Historically, parallel operation of spark gap switches in a crowbarring arrangement has often proved to be difficult due to the very low voltage present on the bank and across the switches at the time of peak current. In a low-inductance design, triggering can be further complicated by the rapid collapse of what little voltage there is across the switches as soon as the first spark gap begins conduction. This paper reports on the efforts that were made to develop a low-inductance crowbar switch for the FRCHX and to ultimately enable successful triggering and operation of the four parallel rail-gap switches used in the crowbar. The design of the low-inductance parallel switch assembly is presented first, followed by a description of the triggering scheme employed to ensure conduction of all four switches.
Assessment of a Cross-Vane Trap as a Tool for Sampling the Invasive Megacopta cribraria (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) in Soybean with Associated Evaluations of Female Reproductive Status.

Megacopta cribraria (F.) (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) is an established pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, in the southeastern United States. Populations of this pest in soybean are typically estimated using sweep nets, a time-consuming procedure. Cross-vane traps may provide an alternative to using sweep nets. The relationship between trap and sweep-net sampling, and the effect of distance from field edges on M. cribraria densities were studied in 2013 and 2014. Adults were detected in the traps up to 3 wk before they were present in the sweep-net samples. Adults and nymphs collected from trap and sweep-net sampling decreased from the field edge toward the field interior. Across all dates and distances, there was a strong positive association between the two sampling methods ( r = 0.60), but only 36% of location analyses by week showed significant association. Females collected using both sampling methods were dissected and rated based on egg development. Female populations of all reproductive maturities dispersed into soybean, but proportions varied with sampling method. Results provide a foundation for work into understanding dispersal cues, with implications for management in soybean. Cross-vane traps may serve as an early-season tool to monitor populations, but more studies are needed before robust sampling recommendations can be defined.
Understanding Internal Chirality Induction of Triarylsilyl Ethers Formed from Enantiopure Alcohols.

Chirality transmission from point chirality to helical chirality was explored using triarylsilyl ethers. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy was employed to show that the alcohol stereocenter of silylated, enantiopure secondary alcohols can transmit chirality to the aryl groups on the silicon resulting in a higher population of one helical conformation over another. Cotton effects characteristic of the aryl groups organized into one preferred conformation were observed for all of the compounds examined, which included both triphenyl- and trinaphthylsilyl groups. Alcohols with an R configuration typically induced a PMP helical twist, while an S configuration induced a MPM helical twist. Molecular modeling combined with solid-state structures also gave evidence signifying that point chirality adjacent to triphenylsilyl groups could bias the conformation of the phenyl groups. This work helps in our understanding of the origin of selectivity in our silylation-based kinetic resolutions and a role the phenyl g...
Towards synergistic control of hands-on needle insertion with automated needle steering for MRI-guided prostate interventions

A significant hurdle of accurate needle tip placement in percutaneous needle-based prostate interventions is unmodeled needle deflection and tissue deformation during insertion. This paper introduces a robotic platform for developing synergistic, cooperatively controlled needle insertion algorithms decoupled from closed-loop image-guided needle steering. Shared control of the surgical workspace through human-robot synergy creates a balance between the accuracy of robotic autonomy while still providing ultimate control of the procedure to the physician. Validation tests were performed using camera-based image-guided feedback control of needle steering with cooperative hands-on needle insertion. Locations were targeted inside a transparent gelatin phantom with an average total error of 2.68 ± 0.34mm and in-plane error of 2.59 ± 0.30mm.
The Role of Data and Inference in the Development and Application of Ecological Site Concepts and State-and-Transition Models

On the Ground Information embodied in ecological site descriptions and their state-and-transition models is crucial to effective land management, and as such is needed now. There is not time (or money) to employ a traditional research-based approach (i.e., inductive/deductive, hypothesis driven inference) to address the unknowns in developing and documenting ecological site concepts. We propose that the development of ecological site products is a dynamic task of defining concepts and processes that best explain the available data (i.e., abductive reasoning), and as such a more iterative approach to their development is needed than is currently used. Under the proposed approach, ecological site concepts are never viewed as final but only the best representation that is supported by available knowledge and data. The natural result of this way of thinking is that products like ecological site descriptions and state-and-transition models should continually be tested and improved as new data become available.
COMPARISON OF THE METAL ION BINDING SITES IN RAT ONCOMODULIN AND PARVALBUMIN

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the comparison of the metal ion binding sites in rat oncomodulin and parvalbumin. The change observed with increasing pH in the rat parvalbumin spectrum is consistent with report for the pike and carp proteins. As the pH is raised, the doublet centered at 5794 A is gradually replaced by a broad peak centered at 5784 A. There is a definite shoulder on the high pH spectrum that is far less pronounced in the spectrum of the pike protein. This pH-dependence of the spectra is attributed to the deprotonation of water molecules coordinated to the bound Eu 3+ ions. At higher ratios, a broad feature appears at lower wavelength. This observation implies sequential occupation of the EF site followed by the CD site. Since the high pH spectrum arising from Eu 3+ bound at the CD site is already apparent at pH 5.5, the pKa for this transition must be substantially lower than that observed for the parvalbumins examined. The ability to distinguish the bound Eu 3+ ions in oncomodulin spectroscopy has allowed to measure preference of each site for the lanthanide ion relative to Ca 2+ .
Enantioselective Synthesis of a Chiral C3-Symmetric Bridgehead Amine

An efficient enantioselective synthesis of the above C3-symmetric chiral quinuclidine starting with N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-4-pyridone has been developed.
Local quantum criticality of a one-dimensional Kondo insulator model

The continuous quantum phase transition and the nature of the quantum critical point (QCP) in a modified Kondo lattice model with Ising anisotropic exchange interactions are studied within the density-matrix renormalization group algorithm. We investigate the effect of quantum fluctuations on critical Kondo destruction QCP by probing static and dynamic properties of the magnetic order and the Kondo effect. In particular, we identify that local Kondo physics itself becomes critical at the magnetic phase transition point, providing unbiased evidences for local quantum criticality between two insulators without involving the Fermi surface.
Machinability Data Base Systems for Automated Manufacturing

A machinability data base system, which forms a part of the common manufacturing data base and is also capable of adapting and optimizing the machining data, is an important component of automated manufacturing systems. In this paper, the current status of machinability data base systems is analyzed. Several drawbacks of the present systems and the need for new developments are discussed. A generative type machinability data base system is proposed for automating the adaptation and optimization of the machining data. Various elements of these types of systems such as the machinability data base design, model builder, optimization algorithm, and adaptation algorithm are discussed. A typical machining problem is formulated and analyzed to illustrate the proposed adaptive optimization methodology.
The Status of Combined Injuries

The association of blunt-penetrating trauma, thermal burns, and radiation injury has been witnessed only once—after the detonation of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In the years that followed, many lessons were learned from the survivors, but little documentation of the medical effects of these combined injuries is available.
The Discrete Haar Transform

Recall that a function f(x) defined on [0,1] has an expansion in terms of Haar functions as follows.
Modeling the Bistable Dynamics of the Innate Immune System

The size of primary challenge with lipopolysaccharide induces changes in the innate immune cells phenotype between pro-inflammatory and pro-tolerant states when facing a secondary lipopolysaccharide challenge. To determine the molecular mechanisms governing this differential response, we propose a mathematical model for the interaction between three proteins involved in the immune cell decision making: IRAK-1, PI3K, and RelB. The mutual inhibition of IRAK-1 and PI3K in the model leads to bistable dynamics. By using the levels of RelB as indicative of strength of the immune responses, we connect the size of different primary lipopolysaccharide doses to the differential phenotypical outcomes following a secondary challenge. We further predict under what circumstances the primary LPS dose does not influence the response to a secondary challenge. Our results can be used to guide treatments for patients with either autoimmune disease or compromised immune system.