cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incidence and severity of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and cerebral prostaglandin synthesis in essential fatty acid deficient and aspirin-treated rats

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in rats of the Lewis strain fed diets adequate or deficient in essential fatty acids (EFA). After induction of the disease, the diets were supplemented with aspirin (3.75 g/kg diet), and the effects of the drug on the course of EAE and on the synthesis of prostaglandin F (PGF) by brain slices from diseased animals and their Freund controls were examined. Aspirin supplementation delayed the onset of EAE in both dietary groups. EFA-deficient rats experienced an incidence and severity of the disease similar to that of aspirin-free, EFA-deficient rats, while the EFA-adequate group showed a greater severity but not an increased incidence, compared to aspirin-free controls. Aspirin treatment led to an increased PGF production by brain slices from rats on either diet and not subjected to an immunochallenge. When the diet was deficient in EFA, challenge with antigen plus adjuvant or adjuvant alone tended to decrease PGF synthesis by brain slices, and when the diet was adequate in EFA, immunochallenge caused a marked depression on PGF synthesis. It was concluded that the PG synthetase inhibitor aspirin can alter the course of EAE in the rat, providing further evidence that PGs or related metabolites may be involved in the immune response in this disease.
Interstitial Solute Trapping in Irradiated and Quenched Iron

The interaction of interstitial carbon and nitrogen solutes with defects produced by low temperature neutron irradiation and by quenching was studied in high purity and Ferrovac E iron. Magnetic disaccommodation techniques were applied to determine the interstitial solute content after irradiation and upon annealing. Doses of about 1017 neutrons/cm2 caused the trapping of about 20 ppm (atomic) interstitial solutes at 65 (carbon) and 40°C (nitrogen). Trapping of carbon in a Ferrovac E iron alloy occurred during a fast quench from 880°C. After trapping, the interstitial solutes reappeared in solid solution at 300 (carbon, neutron irradiation), 200 (nitrogen, neutron irradiation), and 620°C (carbon, quenching). Various possibilities for the defect traps were considered and it was concluded that trapping of the interstitial solutes occurred at iron interstitial clusters after neutron irradiation and at vacancy type defects after quenching.
Optimal spatial deployment of police patrol cars

The spatial deployment of a scarce municipal resource, police cars, is examined with respect to four criteria: response time, workload balance, patrol frequency, and interdistrict dispatches. Stand...
Visualizing steepest descent

The convergence of the method of steepest descent can be studied with computer graphics. The number of iterations required for convergence and the basin of attraction determined by the algorithm are both sensitive to initial conditions. The convergence in valleys is studied and beautiful, chaotic, images of the convergence are given.
Physics-Based Stochastic Model to Determine the Failure Load of Suspension Bridge Main Cables

A new methodology to determine the safety of suspension bridge main cables is proposed in this paper and illustrated by simulating the failure of a corrosion-deteriorated cable composed of 9,061 wires. The approach is the first to use a finite-element (FE) model to predict the failure load, account for load recovery due to friction in broken wires, and simulate the reduced strength of the cable as a three-dimensional random field. To obtain cable failure load, the load is increased gradually, causing individual wires break according to their residual strength variability. Because of the load transfer to surrounding wires, the breakage of an individual wire affects the stress state of its surrounding wires. Consequently, as the load is increased, this local damage spreads to its immediate vicinity, and eventually the entire cable fails. Because of the complexity of the problem, the critical failure load is determined through a Monte Carlo simulation approach that accounts for the uncertainty in the spatial variability of the residual strength of the individual wires. The probability distribution of the load that will drive a suspension bridge cable to failure is reported and investigated in the paper.
QCD ASPECTS OF HADRONIC DIFFRACTION

Experimental results on soft and hard diffractive processes obtained by the CDF Collaboration in $\bar{p} p$ interactions are examined with emphasis on regularities that point to QCD aspects of hadronic diffraction. Data are interpreted in a phenomenological approach in which diffractive cross sections are related to the underlying inclusive parton distribution functions of the nucleon. In this approach, diffraction appears to be mediated by the exchange of low-x partons subject to color constraints.
An investigation of enhanced formability in AA5182-O Al during high-rate free-forming at room-temperature: Quantification of deformation history

Abstract The goal of this work is to improve our understanding of formability enhancement in aluminum (Al) sheet alloys that has generally been observed during high-strain-rate forming. In the work presented here, experiments and numerical modeling were used to investigate the room-temperature formability of AA5182-O Al alloy sheet (1 mm thick) at high strain-rates using the electro-hydraulic forming (EHF) technique. A finite element model, using Johnson–Cook constitutive equation, was developed to simulate the high-rate forming behavior of Al under EHF and test samples were designed to obtain different strain paths at the apex of the EHF domes. The deformation history of Al sheets, under free-forming conditions and inside a conical die, was experimentally determined and compared to the model predictions. Experimental data shows that the high-rate formability of AA5182-O Al at minor strains of ∼−0.1 and ∼0.05, relative to its corresponding quasi-static formability, was enhanced locally by ∼2.5× and ∼6.5× under free-forming and when forming inside the conical die, respectively. The in-plane peak engineering strain-rate associated with the enhanced formability during free-forming was measured to be ∼3900/s while the pre-impact strain-rate during conical-die forming was estimated to be ∼4230/s. The strain-path associated with enhanced formability was experimentally determined under a free-forming case and was found to be in good agreement with that predicted by the numerical model. To the authors’ knowledge, these results are the first to experimentally quantify the deformation history associated with enhanced formability that has often been reported in the literature.
The causes and consequences of demographic transition

Population and Development: The Demographic Transition. 2010. By TIM DYSON. London: Zed Books. Pp. xv + 268. £16.99 or US$28.95, paperback. ISBN: 978-1-84277-960-6. Tim Dyson has given us a short b...
The effects of plug-in electric vehicles on a small distribution grid

The demand for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) is increasing rapidly which will pose complications in terms of supplying the power required to charge these electric vehicles' batteries. Idaho Power has contracted the EVI team to determine what power quality issues will be caused by the additional load on the electric grid incurred through charging PHEV batteries. The research performed by the EVI team will allow Idaho Power to ensure that they will be able to provide sufficient and reliable power as the load added by the charging of PHEV batteries increases. By the year 2040, the addition of PHEV battery charging will increase existing load by 18%. This increase in loading will cause the voltage in some ancillary areas to drop below 96% of nominal voltage. The additional load will require transformers, capacitors and other power distribution devices to be upgraded. A shift in charging times away from peak hours to later in the evening will result in a reduction in peak loading. The strain placed on the power grid by the charging of PHEV batteries can be managed by implementing a time of day incentive plan in conjunction with the systematic replacement of underrated devices.
A Deficit Round Robin with Fragmentation scheduler for IEEE 802.16e Mobile WiMAX

Deficit Round Robin (DRR) is a fair packet-based scheduling discipline commonly used in wired networks where link capacities do not change with time. In wireless networks especially wireless broadband networks such as IEEE 802.16e Mobile WiMAX, the link capacity can change over time and also depends on the user location. Moreover, Mobile WiMAX allows packet fragmentation which violates the packet-based service concept of DRR. Therefore, the traditional DRR can not directly be used in such networks. Therefore, we introduce Deficit Round Robin with Fragmentation (DRRF) to allocate resources in a fair manner, while allowing for varying link capacity. Similar to DRR and General Processor Sharing (GPS), the DRRF achieves perfect fairness. DRRF results in a higher throughput than DRR while causing less overhead than GPS. In addition, we extend DRRF to support users with minimum reserved traffic rate, maximum sustained traffic rate and traffic priority.
Computational Modeling of Driver Distraction by Integrating Cognitive and Agent-Based Traffic Simulation Models

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that the major cause of vehicle crashes in the United States has been driver inattention and distraction. Among various types of distraction, cell-phone dialing and text messaging have been shown to significantly degrade driving performance. Existing studies have mainly focused on driver distraction scenarios with one or a few vehicles, and have generally not looked at large-scale simulation of many vehicles. In contrast, currently available software for simulating traffic with many vehicles (e.g., CORSIM and VISSIM) has generally not considered the effects of driver distraction on driver/vehicle behavior. To overcome these limitations, the authors propose a computational modeling framework that integrates a cognitive model of distraction (i.e., Distract-R) and an agent-based traffic (micro-) simulation model (i.e., VISSIM). The framework aims to enable transportation modelers to easily set up virtual experiments and evaluate the impact of distracted drivers on large-scale networks. The authors validate the framework using two existing experimental data sets. Preliminary results indicate that the framework can account for statistically significant changes in speed fluctuation and headway distance in the presence of a significant number of distracted drivers.
The Replacement of Hydrocarbon Diluent With Surfactant and Water for the Production of Heavy, Viscous Crude Oil

Viscous crudes often are produced by means of a low viscosity hydrocarbon diluent to decrease viscosity of the produced fluid in the tubing and the flowlines. Rodpump difficulties may result from the slow fall of the rod string caused by high fluid viscosity. The use of a diluent reduces these rod-fall and associated flow problems. The authors' goal was to replace the diluent completely with a water/surfactant system without increasing the flowline pressures. This was accomplished with a produced water/surfactant mixture. However, in one field we found that using a combination of diluent, surfactant, and water was the most economical way to produce the crude. The crude is dispersed in a water-external system so that the viscosity is decreased appreciably. The authors initially evaluated different chemicals in the laboratory. Later tests were on individual wells, a 6-well pilot, and finally a 15-well pilot. Economics of the new system are projected to be more favorable than those of using diluent alone. This system can be used not only for heavy crudes but also for waxy crudes that have high pour points and are thus difficult to produce. It allows a lower pumping cost because of reduced viscous drag and can bemore » more economical than some diluent systems.« less
Plasmonics enhanced average broadband absorption of monolayer MoS 2

Au nanoparticles were anchored on top of monolayer MoS 2 . Direct reflection spectra were studied, which indicates significant improvement (∼ 3.5%) of total average absorption in vis-NIR range by the plasmonic absorption of Au nanoparticles.
A quick method of soil moisture determination

Abstract The method described here is useful for the quick determination of soil moisture, especially when many determinations are to be made at a time. The only pieces of apparatus required are some wide‐mouthed conical flasks, a few pieces of glass rod and a balance. The principle involves recording the weight of the flask filled with water and soil sample of known weight (A). This flask weight (H), and the predetermined soil particle density (Dp) and weight of the water‐filled flask (G) are then used to calculate moisture percentage (MP) in the soil sample from the formula: The method was compared with conventional oven‐drying technique for a wide range of soil textures, moisture contents and other contrasting soil properties. The results obtained showed that the accuracy, precision and simplicity of the method are good, particularly for rapid practical uses.
Mixing-induced aggregation and associated microstructures in the capillary flow.

With a device that uses microscopic imaging as the signal detection method for online laser light scattering of solutions driven to flow in a capillary tube, we have found that mixing of a solution with water and vice versa induce large numbers of aggregates in the free flow stream. The degrees of aggregation as measured from the total number of aggregates and the corresponding light-scattering intensities are dependent on the species of the solution. This species dependence of the mixing aggregation in the capillary flow has the potential for the development of new protocols or even spectroscopic methods for the detection of solute molecules and the assessment of solution qualities. Furthermore, even with pure-distilled and de-ionized water in the steady-state capillary flow, there are still countable numbers of aggregates detectable in the free flow stream, although of extremely low concentration of an estimated value of no more than ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}15}\text{ }\text{M}$.
Modular chemical probes for visualizing and tracking endogenous ion channels.

Abstract Fluorescently labeled, small molecule ligands designed for the labeling and tracking of neuronal receptors have become an increasingly popular tool in neurobiology. The small size of these probes allows for subcellular imaging of proteins in their native state with minimal perturbation of the system. Several factors such as the selectivity of the pharmacophore, the size and composition of linkers used, and the fluorescence stability of the fluorophore can all influence the effectiveness of the small molecule probe. Here we discuss a few key molecular targets of this technology including the NMDA receptor, serotonin transporter, dopamine transporter, and adenosine receptor due to their involvement in numerous neurodegenerative diseases. Future iterations of these probes will allow for a better understanding of many important neurological proteins as well as the development of new and potent therapeutic drugs. This review will cover probe design considerations and discuss examples of specific small molecule fluorescent ligands that have been used to study a multitude of neuronal receptors through fluorescent imaging. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled ‘Fluorescent Tools in Neuropharmacology’.
YY1 binds five cis-elements and trans-activates the myeloid cell-restricted gp91(phox) promoter.

Four transcriptional activatingcis-elements within the gp91phox promoter bind a protein complex of similar mobility and binding specificity, denoted BID (binding increased during differentiation). The intensity of BID complexes increases upon myeloid cell differentiation, coincident with induction of gp91phox expression, and BID competes with the transcriptional repressor CDP for binding to each of these promoter elements. To determine the identity of BID, an expression library was ligand screened with the BID-binding site that surrounds the −145-base pair (bp) region of the gp91phox promoter. One recovered factor that exhibits the expected binding specificity is YY1, a ubiquitous multifunctional transcription factor. BID complexes that form with the four binding sites within the gp91phox promoter are disrupted by YY1 antiserum, and a fifth YY1-binding site was detected in the −412-bp promoter region. Overexpression of YY1 in transient co-transfection assays trans-activates a minimal promoter containing two copies of the −145-bp binding site from the gp91phox promoter. Neither the level of YY1 protein nor DNA binding activity increases during myeloid cell differentiation. These studies identify a target gene of YY1 function in mature myeloid cells, and demonstrate that YY1 function can be controlled during myeloid development by the modulation of a competing DNA-binding factor.
Abstract B121: Phase I study of MK‐0646, a humanized monoclonal antibody against IGF‐1R in combination with gemcitabine or gemcitabine + erlotinib (E) for advanced previously untreated pancreatic cancer

Background: MK‐0646 binds to IGF‐1R and blocks its interaction with the IGF‐I/ II ligands, enhances gemcitabine (G)‐induced apoptosis and inhibits the MEK/ Erk and the PI3‐kinase/Akt signaling. Collectively, these pathways are important in cellular proliferation, survival and drug resistance in pancreatic cancer. Receptor cross‐talk between IGF‐1R and EGFR and enhanced IGF‐1R‐induced activation of the PI3‐kinase/ Akt pathways mediate resistance to anti‐EGFR agents such as E. IGF‐1R + EGFR antagonists result in synergistic anti‐tumor activity in preclinical pancreatic cancer models. Methods: Patients with stage IV, previously untreated pancreatic cancer, ECOG performance status (PS) 0–1, adequate hematologic and organ function were enrolled. MK‐0646 was escalated in two dose levels using 3+3 statistical design. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia or cardio‐respiratory conditions were exclusions. Arm A: G 1000 mg/m2 over 100 min, weekly × 3, MK‐0646 over 60 min: 5 or 10 mg/kg, weekly × 4; Arm B: same schedule of G and MK‐0646 as Arm A + E 100 mg daily. Cycles were repeated every 4 weeks. Radiologic responses measured with RECIST (study radiologist PB). Study endpoints: maximal tolerated dose, progression‐free survival (PFS), response rate, toxicity and overall survival. Results: 22 pts enrolled, 15 males, 2 priorWhipple, 20 PS 1, 2 PS 0. Median of 2 cycles (range 1–8) administered as of 9/09. Hematologic toxicity was common: grade 3 or 4 neutropenia (n=9) or thrombocytopenia (n=6). Other grade 3 toxicities: hyperglycemia (n=2), fatigue (n=2), ALT (n=3). Two dose limiting toxicities observed in Arm B at dose level 2 (MK‐0646 at 10 mg/kg + E + G): febrile neutropenia (n=1), hepatic transaminitis (n=1). Best radiologic responses: 6 PR (including 1 hepatic CR), 7 PD, 3 SD, 4 too early, 1 not evaluated, 1 not treated. PFS range in weeks for evaluable patients (n=12) was (4, 36+). Conclusion: MK‐0646 is tolerable in a dose of 10 mg/kg with G 1000 mg/m2 and at 5 mg/kg with G 1000 mg/m2 and E 100 mg. Promising anti‐tumor activity was noted. A randomized phase II study will be conducted with the control arm of G+E. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):B121.
Development of a recursive algorithm for parameter uncertainty interval estimation

This article addresses the problem of recursively estimating the parameter uncertainty intervals for a linear discrete system, whose output measurements are contaminated with noise. The estimator provides the maximally tight bounding rectangular hyperparallelepiped, whose vertices are computed in an optimal manner so as to contain all parameter values consistent with the system structure and the l/sub 1/ norm of the error bounds. The proposed method relies on a recursive formulation of the underlying posed linear programming problem in Milanese and Belforte (1982), by exploring its distinct structure. The computational effort associated with the finding of this optimal outer box is minimal. A recursive algorithm is presented for the cases of an increasing, and a fixed size sample time-sliding window. Simulation studies are included to highlight the algorithm's performance.
Applying Systems Engineering Principles in Improving Health Care Delivery

Background In a highly publicized joint report, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine recently recommended the systematic application of systems engineering approaches for reforming our health care delivery system. For this to happen, medical professionals and managers need to understand and appreciate the power that systems engineering concepts and tools can bring to redesigning and improving health care environments and practices.
Age related decreases in thermoregulation and cardiovascular function in horses.

Summary Reason for performing study: Older horses have an increased risk of hyperthermia due to impaired cardiovascular function. While many studies have investigated thermoregulation in horses during exercise, none have investigated the effects of ageing. Objective: To test the hypothesis that there is a difference in thermoregulation during exercise and plasma volume (PV) in young and old horses. Methods:Study 1: 6 young (Y, 7.7 ± 0.5 years) and 5 old (O, 26.0 ± 0.8 years) unfit Standardbred mares (507 ± 11 kg, mean ± s.e.) ran on a treadmill (6% grade, velocity calculated to generate a work rate of 1625 watts) until core temperature reached 40°C. Core (CT), skin (ST), rectal temperature (RT) and heart rate (HR) were measured every min until 10 min post exertion. Packed cell volume (HCT), lactate (LA) and plasma protein (TP) were measured in blood samples collected before, at 40°C and every 5 min until 10 min post exercise. Sweat loss was estimated using bodyweight. Study 2: Plasma volume was measured in 26 young (8.2 ± 0.7 years) and 8 old (26.6 ± 0.7 years) Standardbred mares (515 ± 12 kg) using Evans Blue dye. Pre-exercise blood (rBV) and red cell (rRCV) volumes were calculated using PV and HCT. Data analysis utilised repeated measures ANOVA and t tests and data are expressed as mean ± s.e. Results: Old horses reached 40°C faster (998 ± 113 vs. 1925 ± 259 s; P 0.05) post exercise. Age did not alter (P>0.05) CT, ST, RT, LA, HCT or TP. Plasma volume was greater in Y vs. O horses (P<0.05, 28.5 ± 1.4 vs. 24.1 ± 1.6 l) as was rBV (41.3 ± 2.0 vs. 35.3 ± 2.3 l) and rRCV (13.3 ± 0.6 vs. 11.1 ± 0.8 l). Conclusion: Ageing compromises the ability to handle the combined demand of exercise and thermoregulation in part due to decreased absolute pre-exercise PV.
Thin-type dense sets and related properties

Abstract We build on Gruenhage, Natkaniec, and Piotrowskiʼs study of thin, very thin, and slim dense sets in products, and the related notions of (NC) and (GC) which they introduced. We find examples of separable spaces X such that X 2 has a thin or slim dense set but no countable one. We characterize ordered spaces that satisfy (GC) and (NC), and we give an example of a separable space which satisfies (GC) but not witnessed by a collection of finite sets. We show that the question of when the topological sum of two countable strongly irresolvable spaces satisfies (NC) is related to the Rudin–Keisler order on βω . We also introduce and study the concepts of κ -thin and superslim dense sets.
The use of adult stem cells in regenerative medicine

The cellular component of the tissue engineering paradigm is arguably the most important piece of the complex task of regenerating or repairing damaged or diseased tissue. Critical to the development of clinical strategies is the need for reliable sources of multipotent cells that can be obtained with limited morbidity. The adult stem cell population may be well suited for this task. The next several years will bring many phase I and II studies using adult stem cells as the cellular foundation for engineered tissue constructs. Future research should be directed toward better characterization of this cell population, including identifying unique markers and mapping out lineage development. For now, the ideal source of adult stem cells remains uncertain, but as questions are answered, adult stem cell biology will likely transition from bench top to clinical reality.
Some Applications of Optimization Techniques to Water Quality Modeling and Control

Dynamic water quality modeling methodology is presented along with a number of applications of optimization theory to deterministic water quality modeling and control. Two of the applications are basically parameter estimation problems. The first involves the generation of a dynamic model for the behavior of coliform bacteria in Grand Traverse Bay, while the second is concerned with the estimation of parameters in an existing model for the growth of bacteria in organic carbon limited media. The third application utilizes the proposition that the laws of nature are in some sense optimal to aid in the characterization of an algae inhibition function. The basic problem involves the development of a model of phytoplankton succession in lakes involving two species of algae and two nutrients. An unknown algal inhibition function is treated as an unknown control that is to be determined to minimize the loss of nutrients from the system, which is considered as an approximate optimality principle for the system. The resultant solution possesses an optimal singular subarc that has an interesting ecological interpretation. An active control application utilizing the same model is also presented.
Intervention with battered women: the lawyer-social worker team

Cathy Costantino, MSW, was, at the time of writing, Social Worker, Domestic Violence Unit, Community Services, San Jose, California, and is now studying law at Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley. Intervention with battered women as preserver of the family unit by is currently recognized as being within advocating reconciliation or marital the jurisdiction of both the social work counseling. Martin asserted that coun and legal professions. Neither disciseling tends to be "steeped in sex pline, however, has effectively met the role stereotyping, with rehabilitation of needs of these clients. It is the premise the family or reconciliation as its pri of this author that a multitude of factors mary goal."3 has contributed to the ineffectiveness 2. Fear and lack of training in deal of the services that social workers and ing with violent situations. Coser con attorneys render to battered women, tended the more intimate the ties are This article explores such reasons among members of a group, the higher from the perspectives of the two prothe average level of conflict will be.4 fessions. Then, utilizing social work Thus, given that the family system is and legal services as a model, the auone of the most intimate social groups, thor proposes a paradigm for a comit follows that potential for violent con prehensive multidisciplinary approach flict among members is increased, to effective intervention with battered Because they have been trained to women. The term "battered woman" intervene primarily with nonviolent will be used to refer to any woman who families, most social workers tend to has been beaten or physically harassed deny the reality of domestic violence by a spouse, cohabitant, or boyfriend, directed against women. This is some The parties need not be married or livwhat paradoxical given the tradition of ing together. social work intervention with abused children. The issue of a woman being
Pseudo Random Binary Phase Offset Scheme for Multi-Carrier Delay Diversity Modulation

In cyclic delay diversity (CDD) based multiple input multiple output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, correlation can evolve among parallel channels due to closeness of antennas or lack of scatterers in the environment. In this work, pseudo random binary phase offsets are induced into the transmitting symbols to mitigate the correlation effect. Average capacity per sub-carrier and pairwise error probability (PEP) are used as metrics to analyze the system performance for an arbitrary number of transmitting and receiving antennas. Our analysis reveals that depending on the channel spatial correlation, some of the sub-carriers have substantially lower average capacity than others and may, therefore, deteriorate the system performance. In such cases, the proposed scheme enables those sub-carriers to recover from correlation effects and reinstates all the sub-carriers with the same upper bound of the average capacity as offered by the uncorrelated channel. Our analysis of PEP demonstrates the effects of spatial correlation on the squared Euclidean distance between any two codewords and shows how the proposed scheme mitigates those effects without knowledge of the channel spatial correlation. We observe in simulation that depending on the channel spatial correlation, our proposed scheme can yield a dramatic performance improvement.
One-sided measurement of material dielectric properties using a liquid dielectric immersion technique

One of the most important factors that limit the accuracy of nondestructive measurements of dielectric and related physical properties of solid electrically insulating materials is the presence of an erratically non-uniform air gap between the sensor head and the material surface due to electrode thickness and surface roughness and deformations. Sensitivity analysis shows that the statistical error of interdigital sensor measurements due to non-ideal contact conditions may be reduced by filling the air gap with a dielectric liquid that has relatively high dielectric permittivity. A feasibility study with several combinations of liquid and solid dielectrics is presented. Two measurement approaches are explored. In the first case, the capacitance of a reference interdigital single-wavelength sensor immersed in a dielectric liquid is compared to the capacitance of a twin sensor in the same dielectric liquid adjacent to the solid dielectric. Borrowing the methodology from more common parallel-plate methods, one mixes two liquids with different properties until matching of the dielectric constant of the solid and liquid dielectrics is achieved. In the second case, multiple penetration depth measurement options are utilized to measure properties of the solid dielectric. The achieved accuracy and the potential improvements of this approach are discussed.
Megalopolis 50 Years On: The Transformation of a City Region

This article examines Megalopolis 50 years after Gottmann’s seminal study of the most urbanized region of the US Eastern Seaboard. His study provides an invaluable datum point, and we use it as a benchmark for reexamining the socio-spatial transformations of a city region. After redefining Megalopolis and showing major aggregate trends since 1950, we analyze 39 selected variables for place level census data for 2,353 places to perform a principal components analysis (PCA). Our analysis shows that Megalopolis remains a significant center for the nation’s population and economic activity. A half century of urban restructuring demonstrates that the forces of urban decentralization have made the region a more fully suburbanized agglomeration. We reveal a complex socioeconomic pattern of a vast urban area structured by class, education, housing tenure, housing age, and race and ethnicity. The cluster analysis reveals five distinct clusters of urban places identified by our PCA: ‘affluent places’, ‘places of poverty’, ‘Black middle class places’, ‘immigrant gateway places’ and ‘middle America places’.
1000 Genomes on the Road to Personalized Medicine.

The recently announced 1000 Genomes Project is an international collaboration to sequence 1000 individuals in an effort to produce the most complete catalog of human genetic variation to date. Building on the International HapMap Project, the 1000 Genomes Project will utilize new sequencing technologies to catalog genetic variants that are present in the human population across most of the genome at a rate of 1 percent or greater frequency. Investigators will not only look for single letter changes in the genome (called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs), but will also look for differences in structural variants in the genome (segments of the genome that have been rearranged, deleted, or duplicated) (1). The first phase of the Project will involve three pilot studies. The first will sequence the genomes of two nuclear families (an adult child and both parents) at deep coverage (20x). The second will sequence the genomes of 180 people at low coverage (2x). The third will sequence the coding regions (exons) of about 1000 – 2000 gene regions in 1000 people at deep coverage (20x) (2). The 1000 Genomes Project represents a major step forward on the road to personalized genomic medicine. By creating an important scientific resource, the Project will help advance understanding of the complex relationship between genetic variation and human health and disease. The promise of personalized genomics is not new; it was almost twenty years ago that the New York Times published an article that predicted: “In the not-so-distant future, we can expect to walk into a physician's office for an annual physical and walk out with a blueprint of our genetic inheritance - and with the knowledge of the most likely cause of our own death.” (3) In the past year, individual genome sequencing has become possible (4–5) but it is still a long way from becoming a routine part of medical care. In order to achieve its fullest potential, the 1000 Genomes Project, like other large scale sequencing projects that came before it, will have to be carefully designed to ensure adequate protection and respectful treatment of research participants. In addition to addressing the research ethics issues involved, however, this new initiative creates an opportunity to reflect on the larger health system challenges that will have to be addressed before the knowledge that is gained through genome research can be integrated into routine clinical care.
Group theoretical analysis of vibrational modes and rovibronic levels of extended aromatic C48N12 azafullerene

We have presented a group theoretical analysis of the vibrational normal modes and rovibronic levels of a novel extended aromatic C48N12 azafullerene. We have also predicted the properties of the 3Au, 3Eg, and 3Eu excited states of C48N12 that lie 1.9 eV above the 1Ag ground state, and that the 3Eg and 3Eu states would undergo Jahn–Teller distortion into chiral structures with no symmetry and an achiral structure with Ci symmetry. The correlation of the rovibronic and rotational levels and their relation to the parent Ih symmetry are presented through induced and subduced representations.
Toward assessing traumatic events and stress symptoms in preschool children from low-income families

Traumatic events can seriously disrupt the development of preschool children. Yet few studies capture developmentally specific examples of traumas and the expression of distress for this age group. Mothers and teachers of 138 preschoolers from low-income families were interviewed about traumatic events and completed a new measure assessing their child's traumatic stress symptoms. They reported traumatic events as the death of a person, death of a pet, family violence, high conflict divorce, sudden family loss, accident or injury, and viewing the World Trade Center attack. Factor analysis of 17 trauma symptoms revealed three internally consistent and valid scales: Intrusions, Emotional Reactivity, and Fears, plus a Total omnibus score. Traumatic stress symptoms varied by the type of event. Scores were higher for traumatic events involving close family members than for distal events.
Concave‐outward slow shocks in coronal mass ejections

Formation of slow shocks in a simplified model corona consisting of closed magnetic field lines near the coronal base with overlying open magnetic field lines is analyzed. An increase in the magnetic field strength in the closed region is utilized to drive the corona outward, generating slow shocks for a suitable selection of parameters. The study demonstrates that concave-upward slow shocks can be formed in a magnetic environment, and provides evidence that nonlinear manifestations of all three wave modes (slow, intermediate, and fast) can occur as the corona adjusts from ambient conditions to those produced by the driver. The results show the existence of nonlinear disturbances due to all three wave modes in the coronal response to the expanding driver magnetic fields.
Grounding Development in Cognitive Processes

Developmentalists have made remarkable progress over the last several decades in detailing what children know at various points in development. Less progress has been made, however, in detailing the processes through which knowledge is realized in real-time tasks, or in detailing the processes of developmental change. We argue that the operating characteristics of perceiving and remembering provide a foundation for making progress on these issues in the next century. We include three examples applying these ideas to specific phenomena in early word learning. These examples illustrate how forming developmental hypotheses in terms of perceiving and remembering may bring new insights into specific phenomena as well as into how the ordinary operating characteristics of perceiving and remembering serve as bootstraps to more specialized and more abstract kinds of knowledge.
Caprylic Acid Supplemented in Feed Reduces Enteric Campylobacter jejuni Colonization in Ten-Day-Old Broiler Chickens

Campylobacter is one of the leading causes of human foodborne illness in the United States, and epidemiological evidence indicates that poultry and poultry products are a significant source of human Campylobacter infections. Reducing Campylobacter in the intestinal tract would reduce contamination of poultry products and eggs. Caprylic acid, an 8-carbon medium-chain fatty acid has been shown to be bactericidal against several pathogenic bacteria. It has, however, not been tested in the control of Campylobacter in chickens. Four trials were carried out to evaluate the efficacy of caprylic acid against cecal Campylobacter jejuni colonization in 10-d-old chicks. In the first 2 trials, day-of-hatch chicks (n=40 per trial) were assigned to negative controls (no Campylobacter, no caprylic acid), positive controls (Campylobacter, no caprylic acid), and a low (0.7%) and a high (1.4%) dose of caprylic acid supplemented in regular chick starter feed (n=10 chicks/treatment). Two more trials were carried out to evaluate a wider range of caprylic acid doses on cecal Campylobacter counts, in which day-of-hatch chicks (n=90 per trial) were assigned to 9 treatments: negative controls (no Campylobacter, no caprylic acid) and caprylic acid doses of 0 (positive controls), 0.35, 0.525, 0.7, 0.875, 1.05, 1.225, and 1.4% (n=10 chicks/treatment). Except for the negative controls, chicks were orally gavaged with approximately 1 x 10(6) cfu Campylobacter on d 3. On d 10, cecal contents were collected and Campylobacter concentrations were determined in each trial. In all 4 trials, the 0.7% dose of caprylic acid consistently reduced Campylobacter content counts compared with the positive control. In trials 3 and 4, doses less than 1.05% consistently reduced cecal Campylobacter content in both trials. At the higher doses, caprylic acid reduced feed consumption and body weight, but did not affect feed conversion when compared with the positive controls. These data suggest that low-dose supplementation with caprylic acid in feed may reduce Campylobacter colonization in young chickens.
Conducting‐Polymer Nanotubes Improve Electrical Properties, Mechanical Adhesion, Neural Attachment, and Neurite Outgrowth of Neural Electrodes

An in vitro comparison of conducting-polymer nanotubes of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and poly(pyrrole) (PPy) and to their film counterparts is reported. Impedance, charge-capacity density (CCD), tendency towards delamination, and neurite outgrowth are compared. For the same deposition charge density, PPy films and nanotubes grow relatively faster vertically, while PEDOT films and nanotubes grow more laterally. For the same deposition charge density (1.44 C cm(-2)), PPy nanotubes and PEDOT nanotubes have lower impedance (19.5 +/- 2.1 kOmega for PPy nanotubes and 2.5 +/- 1.4 kOmega for PEDOT nanotubes at 1 kHz) and higher CCD (184 +/- 5.3 mC cm(-2) for PPy nanotubes and 392 +/- 6.2 mC cm(-2) for PEDOT nanotubes) compared to their film counterparts. However, PEDOT nanotubes decrease the impedance of neural-electrode sites by about two orders of magnitude (bare iridium 468.8 +/- 13.3 kOmega at 1 kHz) and increase capacity of charge density by about three orders of magnitude (bare iridium 0.1 +/- 0.5 mC cm(-2)). During cyclic voltammetry measurements, both PPy and PEDOT nanotubes remain adherent on the surface of the silicon dioxide while PPy and PEDOT films delaminate. In experiments of primary neurons with conducting-polymer nanotubes, cultured dorsal root ganglion explants remain more intact and exhibit longer neurites (1400 +/- 95 microm for PPy nanotubes and 2100 +/- 150 microm for PEDOT nanotubes) than their film counterparts. These findings suggest that conducting-polymer nanotubes may improve the long-term function of neural microelectrodes.
Voltage and power balance control for a cascaded multilevel solid state transformer

In this paper, a 20kVA Solid State Transformer (SST) based on 6.5kV IGBT is proposed for interface with 7.2kV distribution system voltage. The proposed SST consists of a cascaded multilevel AC/DC rectifier stage, a Dual Active Bridge (DAB) converter stage with high frequency transformers and a DC/AC inverter stage. Based on the single phase d-q vector control, a novel control strategy is proposed to balance the rectifier capacitor voltages and the real power through the DAB parallel modules. Furthermore, the power constraints of the voltage balance control are analyzed. The SST switching model simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed voltage and power balance controller. A 3kW SST scale-down prototype is implemented. The experiment results verify the single phase d-q vector controller for the SST cascaded multilevel rectifier.
Night eating syndrome among nonobese persons

Objective To compare the characteristics of obese persons with the night eating syndrome (NES) with those of nonobese persons with the NES. Methods Eighty subjects (40 with a body mass index [BMI] greater than 30 and 40 with a BMI less than 25) identified themselves on a website for the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ) as suffering from the NES. The responses of the 40 obese website subjects were compared with 21 obese persons with the NES who had undergone face-to-face interviews. The responses on the NEQ of the 40 obese and the 40 non-obese website subjects were then compared. Results There was no difference in the NEQ results of the 40 website obese subjects and 21 obese night eaters who had undergone face-to-face interviews. The responses of these same 40 obese subjects showed very little difference compared with those of the 40 nonobese subjects. The major difference between the two groups was the considerable younger age of the normal-weight NES subjects. Discussion The striking similarity in the characteristics between obese and nonobese subjects with the NES indicates that this disorder, considered until now to occur primarily among obese persons, also occurs among nonobese persons. The younger age of the nonobese subjects suggests that the NES may contribute to the development of obesity. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 35: 217–222, 2004.
Regression of Recurrent Malignant Gliomas With Convection-Enhanced Delivery of Topotecan

Convection-enhanced delivery of chemotherapeutics for the treatment of malignant glioma is a technique that delivers drugs directly into a tumor and the surrounding interstitium through chronic, low grade positive-pressure infusion. This allows for high local concentrations of drug while overcoming the limitations imposed by toxicity and the blood-brain barrier in systemic therapies that prevent the use of many potentially effective drugs. To examine the safety profile of a conventional chemotherapeutic agent, topotecan, via convection-enhanced delivery in the treatment of recurrent malignant gliomas and, secondarily, to assess radiographic response and survival. We performed a prospective, dose-escalation Phase Ib study of the topoisomerase-I inhibitor, topotecan, given by convection-enhanced delivery in patients with recurrent malignant gliomas. Significant anti-tumor activity as described by radiographic changes and prolonged overall survival with minimal drug-associated toxicity was demonstrated. A maximum tolerated dose was established for future phase II studies. Topotecan by convection-enhanced delivery has significant anti-tumor activity at concentrations that are non-toxic to normal brain. The potential for use of this therapy as a generally effective treatment option for malignant gliomas will be tested in subsequent Phase II and Phase III trials.
Ontologies, methodologies, and new uses of Big Data in the social and cultural sciences:

In our Introduction to the Conceiving the Social with Big Data Special Issue of Big Data & Society, we survey the 18 contributions from scholars in the humanities and social sciences, and highlight several questions and themes that emerge within and across them. These emergent issues reflect the challenges, problems, and promises of working with Big Data to access and assess the social. They include puzzles about the locus and nature of human life, the nature of interpretation, the categorical constructions of individual entities and agents, the nature and relevance of contexts and temporalities, and the determinations of causality. As such, the Introduction reflects on the contributions along a series of binaries that capture the dualities and dynamisms of these themes: Life/Data; Mind/Machine; and Induction/Deduction.
Advances in the Measurement and Utilization of Health-Related Quality of Life Instruments

Adolescents with chronic illnesses have unique and important perspectives on how their illness affects their daily lives. As adolescents are transitioning toward more independent care, measuring their symptoms and the effects of the disease on their daily functioning should be utilized to optimize quality of care. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), such as health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures, provide a meaningful tool for obtaining this information. This chapter emphasizes the benefits of utilizing PROs, particularly HRQOL measures, in a clinic setting. Further, we review current trends in PRO development, such as electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs). Finally, we address the recent movement toward family-centered care for patients with chronic conditions. Collaborative care is a paradigm in which the patient and physician make critical health care decisions together, which is particularly important for adolescents aiming toward greater independence and autonomy. It is recommended that psychologists, who have a strong background in psychometrics and instrument development, contribute to the development of new PROs and facilitate integration of these measures into clinical trials and family-centered care.