cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of proteins in rat and human intestinal surfactant-like particles.

Abstract Phospholipid-rich particles isolated from the apical surface of rat enterocytes have surfactant-like properties and are enriched for intestinal alkaline phosphatase. Purified intact rat particles were used to produce antibodies in rabbits. Antiserum against the rat particle identified major proteins of 48, 68, 98, and 118 kDa on Western blots of isolated rat surfactant-like particle and did not detect any protein in rat intestinal basolateral membranes, rat brush border membranes, or human particles, but did detect a single 180-kDa protein in a preparation of rat milk fat globules, and two proteins (66 and 103 kDa) in rat pulmonary surfactant. The proteins detected on Western blot corresponded with the major proteins identified by Coomassie blue staining. Similar particles were isolated from the apical surface of human intestine and had an enzyme composition, buoyant density, and lipid content similar to those of the rat particles. Antiserum raised against the human jejunal particle detected proteins in the human particle by Western blot that were similar in size with the rat particle proteins (33, 52, 75,82, and 118 kDa), but did not cross-react with human brush border or rat particle proteins. These studies demonstrate that the surfactant-like particles are present in human as well as rat intestinal tissue, demonstrate similar enzyme and protein content, and confirm their unique identity, distinct from apical brush border or basolateral membranes.
Comparison of refractive error measurements in adults with Z-View aberrometer, Humphrey autorefractor, and subjective refraction

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether measurements obtained with the Ophthonix Z-View aberrometer (Vista, California) and a Humphrey autorefractor (Zeiss Humphrey, Dublin, California) correlate with standard subjective refraction measurements, based on visual acuity results. METHODS: Aretrospectivedataanalysiswascompletedfor97patients,agerange18to66years,without evidenceofsystemicoroculardisease.Alldatawerecollectedwithoutdilationorcycloplegia.Refractive correction measurements (sphere, cylinder, axis) were converted to power vectors for analysis. RESULTS: Differences-versus-means plots show generally excellent agreement between the results of each instrument and subjective refraction, all r 2 .0.77, with the Z-View consistently exhibiting less variability than the autorefractor (AR). Nonetheless, the Z-View tends to undercorrect myopia, whereas the ARtendstoovercorrectmyopia,withstatisticallysignificantmeandifferences(6SD)insphericalequivalents with respect to subjective refraction of 0.118 (60.311) and20.193 (60.474) diopters (D), respectively. Bothinstruments tend to overcorrect astigmatism of less than21.25 and20.75 D,respectively, in somecasesbyasmuchas20.87D.Bothinstrumentsalsotendtoerrincylinderaxismeasurementforlow astigmatism, often by more than 10 � . CONCLUSIONS: The Ophthonix Z-View aberrometer is a useful objective clinical instrument that provides better accuracy than an AR, and its results can be used as a good starting point for a subjective refraction for most patients. It also measures higher-order aberrations not identified by other techniques. However, as with AR results, a spectacle prescription based solely on its measurements may not be appropriate for all patients. Optometry 2011;82:231-240
The effects of chlordane, DDT, and 3-methylcholanthrene upon the metabolism and toxicity of diethyl-4-nitrophenyl phosphorothionate (parathion).

Abstract In rats, (1) DDT and chlordane cause equal stimulation of both pathways of parathion metabolism, similar to phenobarbital, and (2) 3-methylcholanthrene treatment results in preferential enhancement of the pathway leading to the formation of paraoxon. With mice, (1) DDT treatment results in greater enhancement of the pathway responsible for diethyl hydrogen phosphorothionate than of that producing paraoxon, (2) chlordane equally enhances both pathways of parathion metabolism, and (3) 3-methylcholanthrene treatment results in a repression of diethyl hydrogen phosphorothionate production. The differential inductive effects are discussed in terms of the hypothesis that two separate enzyme systems are involved in the metabolism of parathion. Results from toxicity studies in mice indicate that (1) no significant change in parathion toxicity results from DDT treatment, (2) toxicity is not altered significantly after treatment with 3-methylcholanthrene, and (3) chlordane treatment affords protection against the toxicity of parathion. The lack of correlation between the toxicity studies and the metabolic studies suggests that factors other than metabolism contribute to toxicity.
Stem cell self-renewal versus differentiation: tumor suppressor Mei-P26 and miRNAs control the balance.

Stem cell self-renewal versus differentiation: Tumor suppressor Mei-P26 and miRNAs control the balance
Simulation of Present-Day and Twenty-First-Century Energy Budgets of the Southern Oceans

Abstract The energy budget of the modern-day Southern Hemisphere is poorly simulated in both state-of-the-art reanalyses and coupled global climate models. The ocean-dominated Southern Hemisphere has low surface reflectivity and therefore its albedo is particularly sensitive to cloud cover. In modern-day climates, mainly because of systematic deficiencies in cloud and albedo at mid- and high latitudes, too much solar radiation enters the ocean. Along with too little radiation absorbed at lower latitudes because of clouds that are too bright, unrealistically weak poleward transports of energy by both the ocean and atmosphere are generally simulated in the Southern Hemisphere. This implies too little baroclinic eddy development and deficient activity in storm tracks. However, projections into the future by coupled climate models indicate that the Southern Ocean features a robust and unique increase in albedo, related to clouds, in association with an intensification and poleward shift in storm tracks that i...
The future of high angular resolution astronomy: Seeing the unseen

Abstract Technological advances during the last quarter century are leading to the development of new techniques for high angular resolution astronomy and are allowing the implementation of methods originally suggested in the last century. This paper describes the achievements and limitations of speckle interferometry and imaging with large, single aperture telescopes and explores the scientific potential implied by milli-arcsecond resolution that will result from the ground-based optical array projects now under development. Interferomtry from space-based instruments will eventually permit unprecedented resolution when baselines of many kilometers are employed at optical wave-lengths.
Phosphorylation of osteopontin is required for inhibition of calcium oxalate crystallization.

Under near-physiological pH, temperature, and ionic strength, a kinetics constant composition (CC) method was used to examine the roles of phosphorylation of a 14 amino acid segment (DDVDDTDDSHQSDE) corresponding to potential crystal binding domains within the osteopontin (OPN) sequence. The phosphorylated 14-mer OPN peptide segment significantly inhibits both the nucleation and growth of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), inhibiting nucleation by markedly increasing induction times and delaying subsequent growth by at least 50% at concentrations less than 44 nM. Molecular modeling predicts that the doubly phosphorylated peptide binds much more strongly to both (−101) and (010) faces of COM. The estimated binding energies are, in part, consistent with the CC experimental observations. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicates that phosphorylation does not result in conformational changes in the secondary peptide structure, suggesting that the local binding of negatively charged phosphate side chains to cr...
A clinical trial of hypertonic saline nasal spray in subjects with the common cold or rhinosinusitis.

Objective To determine whether hypertonic saline nasal spray relieves nasal symptoms and shortens illness duration in patients with the common cold or acute rhinosinusitis. Design Randomized trial with 2 control groups. Setting Two family practice clinics. Participants One hundred forty-three adult patients with a cold or sinus infection. Patients with allergic rhinitis, symptoms for more than 3 weeks, or other respiratory diagnoses were excluded, as were those who had used topical decongestants. Intervention Hypertonic saline or normal saline spray 3 times a day or observation. Subjects completed a 7-day symptom checklist that included a well-being question ("Do you feel back to normal?"). Main outcome measures Nasal symptom score (sum of scores for nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, and headache) on day 3 and day of well-being (day of symptom resolution). Results Data were collected for 119 subjects. No difference was found in either primary outcome when hypertonic saline was compared with either normal saline or observation. Mean day of well-being was 8.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.9-9.7), 9.2 (95% CI, 6.9-11.43), and 8.0 (95% CI, 6.7-9.3) days in the hypertonic saline, normal saline, and observation groups, respectively. Day 3 mean nasal symptom score was 3.8 (95% CI, 3.0-4.5) for hypertonic saline, 3.7 (95% CI, 2.9-4.5) for normal saline, and 4.1 (95% CI, 3.5-4.7) for observation. Only 44% of the patients would use the hypertonic saline spray again. Thirty-two percent noted burning, compared with 13% of the normal saline group (P = .05). Conclusion Hypertonic saline does not improve nasal symptoms or illness duration in patients with the common cold or rhinosinusitis.
Microwave‐Assisted Synthesis of Crosslinked Poly(vinyl alcohol) Nanocomposites Comprising Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes, and Buckminsterfullerene

We report a facile method to accomplish the crosslinking reaction of PVA with SWNTs, MWNTs, and C-60 using MW irradiation. Nanocomposites of PVA crosslinked with SWNT, MWNT and C-60 were prepared expeditiously by reacting the respective carbon nanotubes with 3 wt.-% PVA under MW irradiation, maintaining a temperature of 100 °C, representing a radical improvement over literature methods to prepare such crosslinked PVA composites. This general preparative procedure is versatile and provides a simple route to manufacture useful SWNT, MWNT and C-60 nanocomposites.
Strong-field double optical resonance with two kinds of homogeneous broadening

Abstract We study the absorption spectrum of a probe field in a two-level atomic system excited by a strong laser field in the presence of both collisional and laser dephasing processes. We show that the effects of these two kinds of homogeneous broadening on the absorption line shape are quite different.
Medically indicated preterm birth: recognizing the importance of the problem.

Preterm birth complicates over 500,000 births annually, affecting 12.5% of pregnancies in the United States. Much of the temporal increase in preterm birth (
Comparative aspects of fatty acid synthesis in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli.

Fatty acid synthesis in B. subtilis and E. coli is compared. Cell free fatty acid synthesizing systems from both organisms require malonyl-CoA, NADPH and a “priming” substrate. In the case of E. coli the priming substrate is acetyl-CoA and the products of fatty acid synthesis are saturated and unsaturated straight-chain fatty acids. B. subtilis synthesizes branched-chain fatty acids predominantly and uses branched-chain acyl-CoA esters as priming substrates. The fundamental difference between the fatty acid synthesizing systems of these two organisms lies in the specificity of the initial acyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase and the role this enzyme plays in dictating the nature of the fatty acids formed. 1 The utilisation of various acyl-CoA primers by a B. subtilis cell-free fatty acid synthesizing system was studied. This system was unable to utilize acetyl-CoA. However, if acetyl acyl carrier protein was used as the priming substrate, the initial acyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase was by-passed and acetate was rapidly incorporated into straight-chain fatty acids. 2 Similar experiments using a cell-free system from E. coli indicated that the substrate specificity of the E. coli acyl-CoA:acyl carrier protein transacylase was much less critical. The branched-chain CoA esters and intermediates were, as a whole, poorly utilized by the E. coli system.
Potential inventory cost reductions using advanced time series forecasting techniques

This paper compares demand forecasts computed using the time series forecasting techniques of vector autoregression (VAR) and Bayesian VAR (BVAR) with forecasts computed using exponential smoothing and seasonal decomposition. These forecasts for three demand data series were used to determine three inventory management policies for each time series. The inventory costs associated with each of these policies were used as a further basis for comparison of the forecasting techniques. The results show that the BVAR technique, which uses mixed estimation, is particularly useful in reducing inventory costs in cases where the limited historical data offer little useful information for forecasting. The BVAR technique was effective in improving forecast accuracy and reducing inventory costs in two of the three cases tested. In the third case, unrestricted VAR and exponential smoothing produced the lowest experimental forecast errors and computed inventory costs. Furthermore, this research illustrates that improvements in demand forecasting can provide better cost reductions than relying on stochastic inventory models to provide cost reductions.
Radioisotopic labelling by surface catalysis—I. Preparation and quality control of 131I-4-iodoantipyrine

Abstract A new method of radioiodination, apparently involving halogen exchange by surface catalysis, has been developed for the synthesis of 131I-4-iodoantipyrine (131I-4-IAP) in high specific activity. On a silica gel surface, for instance, radioiodide reacts with antipyrine (AP) in hydrochloric acid at pH 1.0 to form 131I-4-IAP in a radiochemical yield of 82.2 ± 1.8%. Subsequent separation of the 131I-4-IAP from the AP by thin layer chromatography (TLC) has afforded greater than 99.5% radiochemically pure 131I-4-IAP. Quality control procedures utilizing TLC and high performance liquid chromatography have been developed.
Breast Cancer Incidence Rates Among Orthodox Jewish Women

BRCA 1/BRCA2 founder mutations have been documented among Ashkenazi Jews. Little is known about cancer rates and cancer-related health behaviors among an insular subset of this population, Orthodox Jews. The goal of this study was estimate the risk of breast and ovarian among the Orthodox Jewish population. We used geo-coding with surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) data to identify this subgroup and estimate breast and ovarian cancer rates. Relative to neighborhoods with lower estimated Jewish populations, higher breast cancer rates were found in neighborhoods with higher estimated Orthodox Jewish population, there were no comparable differences in ovarian cancer rates. Implications include more research on health behaviors that may contribute to breast cancer in this insular community.
Differentiating User Authentication Graphs

Authentication using centralized methods is a primary trust mechanism within most large-scale, enterprise computer networks. This paper proposes using graphs to represent user authentication activity within the network. Using this mechanism over a real enterprise network dataset, we find that non-privileged users and users with system administration privileges have distinguishable graph attributes in terms of size and complexity. In addition, we find that user authentication graphs provide intuitive insights into network user behavior. We believe that understanding these differences in even greater detail will lead to improved user behavior profiling and the elusive detection of authentication credential misuse.
A high-amplitude 2T mode of vortex-induced vibration for a light body in XY motion

Abstract Although there are a great many papers dedicated to the problem of a cylinder vibrating transverse to a fluid flow (Y-motion), there are almost no papers studying the more practical case of vortex-induced vibration in two degrees of freedom (XY-motion) where the mass and natural frequencies are precisely the same in both X and Y directions. We have designed the present pendulum apparatus to achieve both of these criteria. Even down to the low mass ratios, where m ∗ =6 , it is remarkable that the freedom to oscillate in-line with the flow, affects the transverse vibration surprisingly little. There is, however, a dramatic change in the fluid–structure interactions when mass ratios are reduced below m ∗ =6 . A new amplitude response branch with significant streamwise motion appears, in what we call the “super-upper” branch, yielding massive amplitudes of 3 diameters peak-to-peak ( A ∗ Y ∼1.5 ). We discover a corresponding periodic vortex wake mode, comprising a triplet of vortices being formed in each half cycle, in what we define as a “2T” mode. The extensive studies of VIV for Y-only body motions, built up over the last 35 years, remain of strong relevance, for m ∗ >6 . It is only for “light” bodies, m ∗ , that one observes a rather marked departure from previous results.
Combine and conquer: advantages and disadvantages of fixed-dose combination therapy

The majority of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) do not achieve the glycaemic goals recommended by leading diabetes organizations using monotherapy alone, and often require multiple antihyperglycaemic agents to achieve glycaemic control. Fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapies offer a means to simplify complex treatment regimens, and have several advantages that help patients reach their glycaemic goals. In this review, four key benefits are identified and discussed in support of FDCs for treatment of patients with T2DM: (i) Greater efficacy compared with higher dose monotherapy, (ii) Reduced risk of adverse reactions relative to higher dose monotherapy, (iii) Lower overall costs and (iv) Improved medication concordance. Given these advantages, the place of fixed combination therapy in the course of treatment is discussed. Establishing a therapeutic strategy that incorporates fixed combination therapy (including combinations with insulin) will simplify the treatment of diabetes, ideally resulting in improved medication concordance, clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients with T2DM.
The Effects of Parenteral Amino Acid Therapy on Protein Carbamylation in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients.

Objective Protein carbamylation is a urea-driven post-translational protein modification associated with mortality in dialysis patients. Free amino acids (AAs) are competitive inhibitors of protein carbamylation and animal studies suggest increasing AA concentrations reduces carbamylation burden. We hypothesized that AA therapy in maintenance hemodialysis patients would reduce carbamylation, carrying the potential to improve clinical outcomes. Design Prospective pilot clinical trial (NCT1612429). Setting The study was conducted from March 2013 to March 2014 in outpatient dialysis facilities in the Boston metropolitan area. Subjects and Intervention We enrolled 23 consecutively consenting hemodialysis subjects, infusing the first 12 individuals with 250 cc of AAs 3 times per week postdialysis over 8 weeks. The remaining 11 subjects served as controls. Main Outcome Measure Change in carbamylated albumin (C-Alb), a measure of total body carbamylation burden, between baseline and 8 weeks was the primary outcome. Results The treated and control groups had similar clinical characteristics and similar baseline C-Alb levels (mean ± SE 9.5 ± 2.4 and 9.3 ± 1.3 mmol/mol, respectively; P = .61). The treated arm showed a significant reduction in C-Alb compared with controls at 4 weeks (8.4% reduction in the treated arm vs. 4.3% increase in controls; P = .03) and the effect was greater by 8 weeks (15% reduction in the treated vs. 1% decrease in controls; P = .01). Conclusion In this pilot study, AA therapy appeared safe and effective at reducing C-Alb levels in hemodialysis patients compared with no treatment. The impact of reduced protein carbamylation on clinical outcomes should be further investigated.
A Control Algorithm for Optimal Energy Performance of a Solarium/Greenhouse with Combined Interior and Exterior Motorized Shading☆

Abstract A solarium/greenhouse attached to a building can provide many benefits, such as collecting solar energy, allowing the cultivation of plants and providing an enjoyable living space to its occupants. Integrating moveable shading devices with fenestration is a recognized way to reduce heat losses and control solar gains. The control strategy for operating shades can have a significant impact on the energy performance of fenestration systems. The aim of this study is to develop an algorithm for the optimum control of combined interior and exterior motorized shading devices based on an energy balance method. The algorithm developed here is designed to maximize solar heat gains while reducing heat losses during the heating season for a cold climate. An attached solarium with motorized shading devices located in Montreal is simulated during the heating season. Results show that heating requirements can be reduced by up to 76% using the proposed algorithm compared to a control scheme based on a fixed solar radiation level. The solarium could collect up to 3.2 MWh (or 134 kWh/m2 of floor area) of excess heat that could be supplied to the house during the heating season. This algorithm could be useful especially in solariums/greenhouses and could be of interest also for solar houses and high efficiency buildings when increasing solar gains and reducing heat losses is a priority.
Characterization and Leaching of Elements from Municipal Solid Waste Compost

Municipal solid waste (MSW) compost was collected from the St. Cloud, MN and Pembroke Pines, FL composting facilities on several occasions during 1990 to 1993. The total content, phase association, and water solubility of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) were determined using sequential chemical extraction (SCE) and synthetic acid rainwater cascade (SRC) extraction protocols to assess the environmental acceptability of MSW composts. The MSW composts are enriched with Pb (314-671 mg/kg), Cd (2.6-10.8 mg/kg), Cu (121-762 mg/kg), and Zn (540-2790 mg/kg). The SRC leachable fraction of Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Fe was <6% in the Pembroke Pines compost and <10% in the St. Cloud compost. Nickel solubility, however, was high and variable in the composts studied. The SRC-extractable Ni ranged from 11.3% for Pembroke Pines compost to 56.2% for St. Cloud compost. The SCE-exchangeable fraction of Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Fe in these composts was <4%. Cadmium was an exception, where 12.8 and 10.3% of the Cd was extracted from the SCE-exchangeable phase of the St. Cloud and Pembroke Pines composts, respectively. Higher Cd contents of the SCE-exchangeable phase extractions in comparison to the SAR leachates for these composts is attributed to the formation of soluble Cd complexes because of the use of MgCl 2 as the SCE exchangable phase extraction fluid.
Burden of Acting neither White nor Black: Asian American Identities and Achievement in Urban Schools.

Ogbu’s theory of “burden of acting white” has been one of the most frequently cited studies to explain black and white achievement gap. However, emerging studies have argued that Ogbu’s theory may be limited when examining variability of school achievement among black and white students. Research shows that in addition to culture, other social forces, such as class, peer networks, and school context may play a significant role when accounting for minority students’ academic aspirations and achievement. In the midst of this on-going debate, however, there is a limited understanding of how, if at all, theory of “acting white” plays a role for racial groups other than black and white students. By extending the discussion beyond a black-and-white discourse, this research examines how Asian American students in two different social and economic contexts, negotiate their race and ethnic identities. Framed by a prevalent model minority stereotype that conflates Asian Americans with whiteness, the findings show that portrayal of Asian “success” much like black “failure” cannot be explained solely on their cultural orientation. By comparing experiences of two groups of Korean American students—both high- and low-achieving—in different economic and school contexts, this study illustrates how the two groups of Korean American students adopt different racial strategies depending on their socioeconomic backgrounds, peer networks, and school contexts. Using Korean American students in urban schools as a case study, this research complicates and challenges our understanding of the role of culture in school achievement and illustrates how culture intersects with class, race, and schools.
Design Theory versus Architectural Design

This paper is an attempt to track the path of architectural design both on design-theoretical and on practical (computer-aided design) planes. It begins with the practical problems of design which can be couched in terms of mathematical programming problems. The potential for applications of artificial intelligence and knowledge-based systems in architectural design is then considered. Last the place of architectural design within design theory is discussed.
On cellular botnets: measuring the impact of malicious devices on a cellular network core

The vast expansion of interconnectivity with the Internet and the rapid evolution of highly-capable but largely insecure mobile devices threatens cellular networks. In this paper, we characterize the impact of the large scale compromise and coordination of mobile phones in attacks against the core of these networks. Through a combination of measurement, simulation and analysis, we demonstrate the ability of a botnet composed of as few as 11,750 compromised mobile phones to degrade service to area-code sized regions by 93%. As such attacks are accomplished through the execution of network service requests and not a constant stream of phone calls, users are unlikely to be aware of their occurrence. We then investigate a number of significant network bottlenecks, their impact on the density of compromised nodes per base station and how they can be avoided. We conclude by discussing a number of countermeasures that may help to partially mitigate the threats posed by such attacks.
Performance evaluation of Bluetooth system in the presence of WLAN IEEE802.11 system

This paper uses the protocols of IEEE 802.15 (Bluetooth) and IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) to develop a Bluetooth radio system on an OPNET platform. Typically, this wireless model is an indoor model of the Bluetooth TM technology implemented in C programming language and assisted by a Matlab programming language. We evaluate the performance of voice in the presence of interference from a WLAN system. One major challenge for interference in an indoor area is the complexity of radio propagation. This article provides a fundamental understanding of issues related to indoor radio transmission that is needed for design and performance evaluation of emerging systems for different indoor configurations.
Network distributed virtual design using coevolutionary agents

In an increasingly networked global marketplace, products and services are seldom created in isolation and are instead being realized through strategic and dynamic partnerships between suppliers, contract manufacturers, and customers. Superior design-supplier-manufacturing decisions are critical to the survival of enterprises that seek to compete in this environment. A novel evolutionary decision support framework (coevolutionary virtual design environment) particularly suited to distributed network-enabled organizations is introduced. In this framework an electronic interchange of design, supplier, and manufacturing information facilitates concurrent, network distributed decision-making based on evolutionary computation. The approach utilizes distributed evolutionary agents and mobile agents as principal entities that support a network-efficient exploration of planning alternatives in which successive populations systematically select planning alternatives that reduce cost and increase throughput.
Electron microscopy of carbon-loaded polymers

It is very difficult to fully characterize the spatial distribution of particles in carbon-loaded polymers using traditional methods. One approach has been to cross-section the polymers, using ultramicrotomy techniques, to a thickness of 80-100 nm. These sections are then examined in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Unfortunately, the information on particle dispersion obtained from such images is essentially two-dimensional in nature, and therefore does not lend itself easily to a three-dimensional interpretation. By increasing the thickness of the cross sections to 0.5 µm or more, one is able to utilize stereoscopic imaging techniques and obtain a three-dimensional image of the carbon particle dispersion. In this way, the characteristic dispersion of the carbon particles may be fully evaluated along a particular direction in the polymer film. Examples are given of the three-dimensional analyses of polymer films containing different carbon-particle loadings.
van der Waals and hygroscopic forces of adhesion generated by spider capture threads

Cribellar thread is the most primitive type of sticky prey capture thread found in aerial spider webs. Its outer surface is formed of thousands of fine fibrils that issue from a cribellum spinning field. The fibrils of primitive cribellar thread are cylindrical, whereas those of derived threads have nodes. Cribellar threads snag on insect setae but also adhere to smooth surfaces. A previous study showed empirically that cylindrical fibrils use only van der Waals forces to stick to smooth surfaces, as their stickiness is the same under different humidity. By contrast, noded fibrils are stickier under high humidity, where they are presumed to adsorb atmospheric water and implement hygroscopic (capillary) adhesion. Here, we model thread stickiness according to these two adhesive mechanisms. These models equate stickiness with the force necessary to overcome the adhesion of fibril contact points in a narrow band along each edge of the contact surface and to initiate peeling of the thread from the surface. Modeled and measured thread stickiness values are similar, supporting the operation of the hypothesized adhesive forces and portraying an important transition in the evolution of spider threads. Cribellar threads initially relied only on van der Waals forces to stick to smooth surfaces. The appearance of fibril nodes introduced hydrophilic sites that implemented hygroscopic force and increased thread stickiness under intermediate and high humidity.
A NEW GALERKIN-BASED APPROACH FOR ACCURATE NON-LINEAR NORMAL MODES THROUGH INVARIANT MANIFOLDS

A method for producing accurate reduced order models of non-linear vibratory systems is presented based on the invariant manifold description of non-linear normal modes (NNM). This approach makes use of polar co-ordinates to obtain equations which govern the geometry of the invariant manifold. These equations are discretized through a series expansion and Galerkin projection over a chosen amplitude and phase domain, yielding non-linear equations in the expansion coefficients. These equations, when solved numerically, yield an invariant manifold which is accurate to the degree of the expansion, and devoid of the limitations which plague typical asymptotic solutions. Such Galerkin-based solutions may be used to generate accurate reduced-order models for large-amplitude, strongly non-linear motions. This procedure is illustrated using two non-linear examples, a two degree-of-freedom oscillator, and a finite element beam model. The solution convergence and manifold geometry are discussed and the resultant reduced-order models are shown to possess exceptional accuracy over large amplitude ranges. This approach allows the full potential of the invariant manifold formulation to be reached, and is suitably general for application to a wide variety of non-linear systems.
Condition Numbers of Indefinite Rank 2 Ghost Wishart Matrices

Abstract We define an indefinite Wishart matrix as a matrix of the form A = W T W Σ , where Σ is an indefinite diagonal matrix and W is a matrix of independent standard normals. We focus on the case where W is L × 2 which has engineering applications [1] , [2] . We obtain the distribution of the ratio of the eigenvalues of A. This distribution can be “folded” to give the distribution of the condition number (Eq. (14) ). We calculate formulas for W real ( β = 1 ) , complex ( β = 2 ) , quaternionic ( β = 4 ) or any ghost 0 β ∞ . We then corroborate our work by comparing them against numerical experiments.
Marshall R. Urist: a renaissance scientist and orthopaedic surgeon.

In 1965, Marshall R. Urist discovered that the intramuscular implantation of demineralized bone matrix elicits new bone formation. This discovery, made in the Bone Research Laboratory of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), marked the beginning of the development of knowledge concerning bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). Stimulated by Urist's observations, research on BMPs was undertaken in laboratories throughout the world, and, in the last decade, the advance of knowledge pertaining to the capacity of BMPs to induce the healing of segmental bone defects has been phenomenal. This article briefly describes Marshall Urist's career as a scientist and orthopaedic surgeon, his life, his family, and his friends. Marshall R. Urist was born on June 11, 1914. He was raised in South Haven, Michigan. He attended the Crane Technical High School and had an abiding interest in architecture. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan, where he came under the influence of Professor Alfred H. Stockard, and graduated in 1936. Armed with a recommendation from Dr. Stockard, he pursued a year of graduate work in the laboratory of Franklin C. McLean at the University of Chicago and received his MS degree in 1937. During this year in Chicago, he began his lifelong friendship with Franklin McLean and Charles B. Huggins, who was well known for his work on epithelial osteogenesis and prostate cancer. Marshall Urist entered the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1937 and received his MD degree in 1941. After a year of residency at the Children's Hospital in Baltimore, Urist joined the war effort in 1943. He was Chief of Orthopaedics in the 22nd General Hospital Division in England and the 97th General Hospital Division in Germany. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1947 and became an instructor in …
Critical Review of the Thermophysical Properties of Fast-Reactor Fuel

Identification des proprietes pour lesquelles des donnees supplementaires sont necessaires pour les analyses de surete des surregenerateurs. Revue des etudes en cours sur la pression de vapeur au-dessus de UO 2 et (U,Pu)O 2−x fondus, la transition solide-solide dans les oxydes d'actinides et la conductivite thermique d'UO 2 fondu
Small-World Phenomena and the Dynamics of Information

The problem of searching for information in networks like the World Wide Web can be approached in a variety of ways, ranging from centralized indexing schemes to decentralized mechanisms that navigate the underlying network without knowledge of its global structure. The decentralized approach appears in a variety of settings: in the behavior of users browsing the Web by following hyperlinks; in the design of focused crawlers [4, 5, 8] and other agents that explore the Web’s links to gather information; and in the search protocols underlying decentralized peer-to-peer systems such as Gnutella [10], Freenet [7], and recent research prototypes [21, 22, 23], through which users can share resources without a central server. In recent work, we have been investigating the problem of decentralized search in large information networks [14, 15]. Our initial motivation was an experiment that dealt directly with the search problem in a decidedly pre-Internet context: Stanley Milgram’s famous study of the small-world phenomenon [16, 17]. Milgram was seeking to determine whether most pairs of people in society were linked by short chains of acquaintances, and for this purpose he recruited individuals to try forwarding a letter to a designated “target” through people they knew on a first-name basis. The starting individuals were given basic information about the target — his name, address, occupation, and a few other personal details — and had to choose a single acquaintance to send the letter to, with goal of reaching the target as quickly as possible; subsequent recipients followed the same procedure, and the chain closed in on its destination. Of the chains that completed, the median number of steps required was six — a result that has since entered popular culture as the “six degrees of separation” principle [11]. Milgram’s experiment contains two striking discoveries — that short chains are pervasive, and that people are able to find them. This latter point is concerned precisely with a type of decentralized navigation in a social network, consisting of people as nodes and links joining
Absolute ozone absorption cross section in the Huggins Chappuis minimum (350-470 nm) at 296 K

Abstract. We report the ozone absolute absorption cross section between 350–470 nm, the minimum between the Huggins and Chappuis bands, where the ozone cross section is less than 10−22 cm2. Ozone spectra were acquired using an incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectrometer, with three channels centered at 365, 405, and 455 nm. The accuracy of the measured cross section is 4–30%, with the greatest uncertainty near the minimum absorption at 375–390 nm. Previous measurements vary by more than an order of magnitude in this spectral region. The measurements reported here provide much greater spectral coverage than the most recent measurements. The effect of O3 concentration and water vapor partial pressure were investigated, however there were no observable changes in the absorption spectrum most likely due to the low optical density of the complex.
Analysis of volatile organic compound mixtures using radio-frequency ionization/mass spectrometry

Radio-frequency ionization (RFI) coupled with Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) was used to analyze volatile compounds from bio-oil and commercial gasoline samples. Fingerprinting of bio-oil and gasoline samples was possible using RFI/MS. Differentiation of three gasoline grades was achieved by principal component analysis of RFI/MS data.
An Essay on Biological Degradation of Collagen

The limitations of language very often tend to confuse concepts. We are intuitively led to believe that the cleavage of a molecule is a “degradative” or catabolic activity. However, enzymatic removal of portions of molecules serves the purpose of activating them if they are enzymes or altering their behavior so that they may now form a highly ordered superstructure, as in the case of the fibrinogen—fibrin conversion or procollagen—collagen transformation in fibril-logenesis. The inactive precursor molecules are “degraded” to shorter sizes that permit their participation in the process for which they were designed. In the case of morphogenesis at the tissue level, total destruction of the extensive collagenous lamellae of the tadpole tail during metamorphosis involves highly synchronized and selective removal of collagen fibrils, the function of this process being to prepare the animal for its transition from an aqueous to a terrestrial environment. On another level during embryonic development, highly localized and in some cases massive programmed death of cells is an important phase of morphogenesis (e.g., limbs and nervous system). From the viewpoint of the dismantled structural or cellular element, it is undergoing degradation, but viewed from the higher level of the tissue or the organism as a whole, the process is merely a phase of essential remodeling to facilitate overall function.
Lunar swirls: Far-UV characteristics

Abstract Lunar swirls – the enigmatic, magnetically-anomalous regions – are observed for the first time at far-UV (FUV) wavelengths using LRO/LAMP. Swirls in both highlands and mare regions are spectrally relatively red (or less blue) than surrounding terrains, indicating a difference in weathering and/or composition in the swirls vs. non-swirl regions. We compare spectra of the highlands swirl Gerasimovich with mature and immature low-Fe highlands regions as measured by LAMP and show that the swirl itself does not have the spectral characteristics of either the mature or the immature regions. Mature, weathered highlands regions are spectrally blue in the FUV; immature highlands are less blue, especially at wavelengths > ∼160 nm. In contrast, the Gerasimovich swirl is spectrally red at wavelengths > ∼160 nm. We also compare Reiner Gamma, a mare swirl, with mature and immature high-Ti mare regions as measured by LAMP. We find that the mature and immature high-Ti mare regions are spectrally indistinguishable while the Reiner Gamma spectra are less blue at wavelengths > ∼160 nm. We conclude that both swirls (Reiner Gamma and Gerasimovich) are consistent with less mature spectra than the immature terrains studied here, in accordance with the lower amounts of weathering expected in a solar wind standoff scenario. However, the swirl spectra are also consistent with greater abundances of feldspathic material, as we show that anorthite exhibits a characteristic red spectrum at wavelengths > ∼160 nm. Thus, the LAMP data are also consistent with a model wherein compositional sorting occurs at swirls.
Field Developmental Time of Nondiapausing Horn Flies in Missouri

Field developmental time of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (L.), was investigated for 3 years in Missouri, and the data were analyzed by determining the least-squares regression between mean temperature during development and the developmental rate. The pooled predictive equation was calculated to be: 1/T = −0.04769 + 0.005168 θ; T = time required for development (in days) and θ = mean temperature (°C) during development.
Surface Patterning of Mesoporous Niobium Oxide Films for Solar Energy Conversion

An array of periodic surface features were patterned on mesoporous niobium oxide films by a soft-lithographic technique with the goal of constructing a photonic crystal (PC) structure on the back side of the oxide. The oxide films, fabricated by mixing sol–gel derived niobium oxide nanoparticles and hydroxypropyl cellulose, were employed as photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), and their performance evaluated against their flat counterparts. The surface patterns were imprinted using a photocurable perfluoropolyether (PFPE) soft-replica of a silicon master with a two-dimensional array of cylindrical posts (200 nm (D) × 200 nm (H)) in hexagonal geometry. The PC on the niobium oxide surface caused large changes in optical measurements, particularly in the blue wavelengths. To evaluate the optical effect on solar energy conversion, the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) was measured in the patterned devices and the control group. The IPCE of patterned niobium oxide anodes...
Inside/Outside Succession and Organizational Size: The Pragmatics of Executive Replacement

The article discusses research pertaining to the impact of organizational size on inside versus outside executive succession. The study results indicate that larger organizational size is associate...
Paradigm and Praxis Shifts: Transitions to Sustainable Environmental and Sustainable Peace Praxis

The diffusion of both paradigms of sustainable environmental practice and sustainable peace practice has quickened in the last thirty to forty years, but has occurred unevenly across time and space, across regions, and even within individual countries and subregions of countries. Some disciplines have been more hospitable to one or the other. In large part, until recently, environmental studies has not found peace issues relevant, nor peace studies environmental issues. The beginning of the coming together of these paradigms and their practice is a significant change. This chapter examines the evolution of the separate paradigms of sustainable environment and sustainable peace, and their gradual but as yet incomplete engagement with each other. It also examines texts at the level of global governance, particularly at the United Nations, with respect to the same issues, asking how and why UN and other documents and conceptualizations in the 1970s have increasingly begun to reflect the linkages between these issues.
Tyson Toles on Leadership

Unless we learn to manage our own behavior more intentionally, how can we possibly lead others effectively? This is a descriptive case of one MBA student's views on core leadership principles, his personal charter, his personal mission statement, and his life's dream. The case therefore gives an opportunity to discuss how people need to develop the ability to lead their own lives in order to lead others. The material would work well with the technical note Personal Charters (UVA-OB-0801) and be suitable for any MBA or executive education classroom. Excerpt UVA-OB-0997 May 3, 2010 TYSON TOLES ON LEADERSHIP I have always considered myself a little bit different and have always tried to take a different path. Born to an African-American couple later in their lives, I stood apart from my siblings, who were substantially older. In the small rural town where I grew up, I stood apart from other children amid an eclectic mix of middle-class Anglos and Mexican migrants. I was often the “only one of my kind,” smart and friendly with classmates, but certainly distinct from them. Academics and school were fun, and the camaraderie was even more fun. It came as no surprise, then, that upon reaching high-school age, I asked my parents if I could attend Bellarmine College Preparatory, a Jesuit school considered to be the best school in our area across the board: academics, athletics, and community. Students from that school were always looked at a little differently. “He goes to Bellarmine,” one would hear whispered in hushed tones when a student walked by, as if the student were royalty. Ignorant of the fact that I would face five hours on a bus each day and (even worse) that it was an all-boys school, I had decided that I had to be there. My four years at Bellarmine were invaluable for my personal growth, enabling me to strive to be citius, altius, fortius—swifter, faster, stronger—toward college and beyond. From there, I was able to attend law school and spar intellectually with some of the world's brightest minds on issues that touch everyday life. Upon graduation, I practiced law as a civil litigator, but I made a discovery that would require a change in direction: I had not become a leader. . . .