cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pharmacists' Perceptions and Drivers of Immunization Practices for COVID-19 Vaccines: Results of a Nationwide Survey Prior to COVID-19 Vaccine Emergency Use Authorization.

Background: Pharmacists play a vital role in recommending and providing vaccines to improve public health and are on the front line of mass immunization efforts. Aim: The objective of this study is to evaluate pharmacists’ perceptions on COVID-19 vaccines prior to emergency use authorization (EUA) amid a global pandemic. Methods: A voluntary, anonymous, cross-sectional survey was conducted between September and November 2020. Survey respondents included a convenience sample of licensed pharmacists in the United States. The primary outcomes were pharmacists’ willingness to receive and recommend hypothetical COVID-19 vaccines. Covariates assessed in the survey included COVID-19 exposure or personal experience, primary pharmacy practice setting, background in training, geographic region, and prioritization of clinical data. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: This study surveyed 763 pharmacists and results from 632 participants were included in final analysis. Overall, 67.1% of the pharmacists were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and 63.4% of the pharmacists were willing to recommend a COVID-19 vaccine at ≤1 year from the time of vaccine approval. At >1 year after vaccine approval, 78% of the pharmacists were willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and 81.2% of the pharmacists were willing to recommend a COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusions: Survey findings suggest that, while a majority of pharmacists surveyed indicate acceptance of hypothetical COVID-19 vaccines, there remains to be hesitancy among pharmacists to receive or recommend vaccination.
Early Palliative Care Consultation in the Burn Unit: A Quality Improvement Initiative to Increase Utilization.

Despite significant morbidity and mortality for major burns, palliative care consultation (PCC) is underutilized in this population. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a protocol using recommended "triggers" for PCC at a single academic burn center. This is a retrospective review of patient deaths over a 4-year period. The use of life-sustaining treatments, comfort care (de-escalation of one or more life-sustaining treatments), and do not attempt resuscitation (DNAR) orders were determined. The use of PCC was compared during periods before and after a protocol establishing recommended triggers for early ( 24 hours, 67% (n = 14/21) had PCC. Frequency of PCC increased after protocol development, with 100% vs 36% of these patients having PCC before death (P = .004). However, even during the later period, less than half of patients had early PCC despite meeting criteria at admission. In conclusion, initiation of life-sustaining measures in severely injured burn patients occurs prior to or early during hospitalization. Thus, value-based early goals of care discussions are valuable to prevent interventions that do not align with patient values and assist with de-escalation of life-sustaining treatment. In this small sample, we found that while there was increasing use of PCC overall after developing a protocol of recommended triggers for consultation, many patients who met criteria at admission did not receive early PCC. Further research is needed to elucidate reasons why providers may be resistant to PCC.
International and Domestic Leadership by U.S. States on Ocean Acidification

Reducing global carbon dioxide emissions is the fundamental action required to make progress on climate change and to reduce ocean acidification. Acting on climate this way is acting on acidificati...
Clinical Characteristics of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults: A Systematic Review.

Importance Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A) has not been well described. Improved diagnosis and treatment of MIS-A might mitigate COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Objective To summarize the descriptive epidemiology and clinical characteristics of MIS-A. Evidence review This systematic review identified patients with MIS-A using 3 strategies: (1) literature review from May 1, 2020, to May 25, 2021, by searching MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, CAB Abstracts, PsycINFO, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), Academic Search Complete, Scopus, World Health Organization Global COVID-19 Literature Database, and Google Scholar; (2) voluntary reports of MIS-A to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and (3) reports among persons aged 18 to 20 years in the CDC surveillance system for MIS in children. Findings Of 221 patients with MIS-A, the median age was 21 (interquartile range [IQR], 19-34) years, and 154 of 219 (70%) with data available were men. Sixty of 169 patients (36%) were non-Hispanic Black individuals, and 122 of 209 (58%) had no underlying comorbidity. One hundred two of 149 patients (68%) noted a previous symptomatic COVID-19-like illness (median, 28 [IQR, 20-36] days previously). Most patients with MIS-A presented with fever (197 of 205 [96%]), hypotension (133 of 220 [60%]), cardiac dysfunction (114 of 210 [54%]), shortness of breath (102 of 198 [52%]), and/or diarrhea (102 of 197 [52%]). The median number of organ systems involved was 5 (IQR, 4-6). Median hospital stay was 8 (IQR, 5-12) days; 115 of 201 patients (57%) were admitted to the intensive care unit; 101 of 213 (47%) required respiratory support, and 15 of 220 (7%) died. Most patients (176 of 195 [90%]) had elevated markers of coagulopathy and/or inflammation and a positive SARS-CoV-2 serologic finding (139 of 194 [72%]). Ten patients with MIS-A presented with Kawasaki disease. Conclusions and relevance These findings suggest that MIS-A is a serious hyperinflammatory condition that presents approximately 4 weeks after onset of acute COVID-19 with extrapulmonary multiorgan dysfunction.
The Mount Sinai Interdisciplinary Approach to Perioperative Care Improved the Patient Experience for Transgender Individuals

Purpose: Although medical care for transgender and gender nonbinary (TGNB) individuals is rapidly expanding, numerous gaps in the organization of quality care for TGNB individuals remain. In 2018, ...
Protein Composites: Biominerals

Introduction Historical Outline Type I Collagen Synthesis and Secretion Molecular Structure and Fibril Assembly Chemistry of Collagen Crosslinking Matrix Mineralization and Organization Tooth Enamel Invertebrate Mineralization and Organization Outlook and Perspectives Acknowledgments Keywords: collagen; chitin; matrix proteins; bone; dentin; enamel; shell matrix proteins; hydroxyapatite; calcite; biomineralization; mollusk; sea urchin
Discrete Observer Design for Systems with Unknown Exogenous Inputs

A design procedure is developed for determining optimal discrete observers for estimating system states and unknown exogenous system inputs. This procedure is based on augmenting a standard system observer with an input model. The augmented model is then transformed into the discrete z-domain to determine relevant input/output transfer function matrices. The transfer functions matrices are used to develop transfer function relationships between unknown exogenous inputs and the observer estimate of these inputs. Then it is shown that the optimal observer gains can be determined by implementing the observer as a Fisher filter. An example of the procedure is demonstrated with a third order point-mass tracking filter.
Echocardiographic manifestations of complications of radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy may affect all of the layers of the heart (epicardial arteries, pericardium, valves, and myocardium). This is especially true after mediastinal or breast irradiation. Coronary artery disease, with resultant myocardial infarction, is the most common cause of death. We present a patient who developed typical constrictive pericarditis as well as valve lesions typical of radiation toxicity (the mitral valve leaflets were thickened at their bases, with the tips spared). The pericardial constriction was manifested by all of the typical echo Doppler findings, namely septal bounce, dilated inferior vena cava, significant respiratory drop in inspiratory mitral E velocity with a normal tissue Doppler e′, and expiratory reversal of flow into the hepatic veins. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 26, July 2009)
Experimenting with galaxies

A study to demonstrate how the dynamics of galaxies may be investigated through the creation of galaxies within a computer model is presented. The numerical technique for simulating galaxies is shown to be both highly efficient and highly robust. Consideration is given to the anatomy of a galaxy, the gravitational N-body problem, numerical approaches to the N-body problem, use of the Poisson equation, and the symplectic integrator.
Cascaded Directed Arc Consistency and No-Good Learning for the Maximal Constraint Satisfaction Problem

This paper describes new branch and bound methods for overconstrained CSPs. The first method is an extension of directed arc consistency preprocessing, used in conjunction with forward checking. After computing directed arc consistency counts, inferred counts are derived for each value, based on the counts of supporting values in future variables. This inference process can be ‘cascaded’ from the end to the beginning of the search order, to augment the initial counts. The second method is a form of wipeout-driven nogood learning: the method for finding nogoods is described and conditions for the validity of the nogood are established. In tests with random problems, significant improvements in efficiency were found with cascaded DACCs; in contrast, no-good learning did not enhance performance when used alone or in any combination of strategies.
Clusterless decoding of position from multiunit activity using a marked point process filter

Point process filters have been applied successfully to decode neural signals and track neural dynamics. Traditionally these methods assume that multiunit spiking activity has already been correctly spike-sorted. As a result, these methods are not appropriate for situations where sorting cannot be performed with high precision, such as real-time decoding for brain-computer interfaces. Because the unsupervised spike-sorting problem remains unsolved, we took an alternative approach that takes advantage of recent insights into clusterless decoding. Here we present a new point process decoding algorithm that does not require multiunit signals to be sorted into individual units. We use the theory of marked point processes to construct a function that characterizes the relationship between a covariate of interest in this case, the location of a rat on a track and features of the spike waveforms. In our example, we use tetrode recordings, and the marks represent a four-dimensional vector of the maximum amplitudes of the spike waveform on each of the four electrodes. In general, the marks may represent any features of the spike waveform. We then use Bayes's rule to estimate spatial location from hippocampal neural activity. We validate our approach with a simulation study and experimental data recorded in the hippocampus of a rat moving through a linear environment. Our decoding algorithm accurately reconstructs the rat's position from unsorted multiunit spiking activity. We then compare the quality of our decoding algorithm to that of a traditional spike-sorting and decoding algorithm. Our analyses show that the proposed decoding algorithm performs equivalent to or better than algorithms based on sorted single-unit activity. These results provide a path toward accurate real-time decoding of spiking patterns that could be used to carry out content-specific manipulations of population activity in hippocampus or elsewhere in the brain.
Development of Mold Compounds With Ultralow Coefficient of Thermal Expansion and High Glass Transition Temperature for Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging

Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between an underfill encapsulant material and integrated circuit chips mounted on a substrate is the major reason for device failure in a fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) assembly. In this paper, a variety of moldable polymer composite systems with evenly dispersed dielectric nanoparticles or microparticles and minimal cure shrinkage for FOWLP assemblies have been investigated. Most importantly, a low CTE of 6.6 ppm/°C and a high glass transition temperature ( $T_{g}$ ) above 300 °C were achieved through a processing methodology that exhibits fairly good repeatability. A special surfactant treatment of the particle surfaces has played a crucial role in further enhancing the thermomechanical properties, yield, and repeatability of the composite material.
Identification of the plasma instabilities responsible for mid-latitude decameter-scale ionospheric irregularities

Joint measurements by the Blackstone SuperDARN radar, and the Millstone Hill Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) are analyzed to investigate the generation source responsible for the observed decameter-scale irregularities in the nightside sub-auroral ionosphere during quiet and active geomagnetic periods. In this work, the Temperature Gradient Instability (TGI) and the Gradient Drift Instability (GDI) are extended into the kinetic regime appropriate for HF radar frequencies and analyzed as the cause of these irregularities. A critical comparison of TGI and GDI is made for the observed mid-latitude irregularities. To perform this comparison, the nonlinear evolution of the TGI is investigated utilizing gyro-kinetic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulation techniques with Monte Carlo collisions for the first time. The purpose of this investigation is to identify the mechanism responsible for nonlinear saturation and associated anomalous transport and ultimately the implications on the observed steady state irregularities. It is found that the saturation amplitude level and the associated diffusion are greatly enhanced as a result of electron collisions. The simulation results show that the nonlinear E × B convection (trapping) of electrons is the dominant saturation mechanism for the TGI instability. The spatial power spectra of the electrostatic potential and density fluctuations associated with the TGI are also computed and the results show wave cascading of TGI from kilometer scales into the decameter-scale regime of the radar observations. The ground GPS spectral density measurements are calculated and found to be consistent with simulation results and previous in situ satellite measurements, revealing that the spectral index of mid-latitude density irregularities are of the order 2. The spectral calculations suggest that initially TGI or/and GDI irregularities are generated at large scale size or sizes (km-scale) and the dissipation of the energy associated with these irregularities occurs by generating smaller and smaller (decameter-scale) irregularities. The GPS measurements along with radar observations suggest that the mid-latitude decameter-scale irregularities observed by SuperDARN radars, co-exist with kilometer-scale irregularities that cause GPS L band scintillations during active geomagnetic periods. The reasonable agreement between experimental, theoretical, and simulation results of this study suggests that a TGI turbulent cascade is the most likely generation mechanism for the quiet time irregularities that cause the observed low-velocity Sub-Auroral Ionospheric Scatter (SAIS), while turbulent cascade processes of both TGI and GDI may cause the observations of midlatitude GPS scintillations during disturbed geomagnetic conditions. This lends further support to the E region being responsible for shorting out the F region TGI and GDI electric fields before and around sunset and ultimately resulting in irregularity suppression.
Accelerometer-enhanced orbit control near the sun-earth L1 libration point

Because the halo-orbit about the sun-earth L(1) libration point in which the satellite ISEE-3 was maintained for nearly four years is unstable, a loose control scheme about a precomputed nominal path was implemented which required orbit maneuvers approximately every three months. Execution errors were minimized by processing on-board accelerometer telemetry data in real time, and adjusting the maneuvers. Because spacecraft vibrations caused oscillations in the accelerometer data, smoothing techniques were applied to provide accurate estimates of the performance of pulse mode thrusters employed in the spin stabilization of the spacecraft. It has been found that the processed accelerometer data has an average error of only + or - 1.3 per cent.
Human factors and the innovation process

Abstract The goal of this paper is to describe two typologies of human factors that help explain the technical innovation process, and to illustrate their predictive power. The first typology defines five categories of inventors based on inventors' views of success and their corresponding attitudes toward technology, reaching the market, and creating a business. In diminishing order of likely technical innovation success, these five types are ‘entrepreneurs with technology’, ‘industry-specific inventors’, ‘professional inventors’, ‘grantsmen’, and ‘inveterate inventors’. The second typology categorizes the motivations that underlie the choices made by inventors in the development of their technologies. Inventor motivations need to be considered by managers of innovation programs because the success of any innovation program requires that there be some degree of overlap between the program's goals and the inventor's own definition of success. These typologies can help managers of innovation programs direct scarce resources to inventors with the greatest probability of commercial success. They also indicate the types of assistance that will be most instrumental in accelerating the commercialization of new technologies. The ability of these typologies to explain rates of success in the commercial development of new technologies is illustrated using data from the small business and independent inventors who have participated in the Energy-Related Inventions Program (ERIP). The ERIP is a federal program operated jointly by the US Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is designed to assist the development of non-nuclear inventions with outstanding potential for saving or producing energy.
Nonlinear Dynamics and Stability of Boiling Water Reactors: Part 2 — Quantitative Analysis

A physical model of nonlinear boiling water reactor (BWR) dynamics has been developed and employed to calculate the amplitude of limit cycle oscillations and their effects on fuel integrity over a ...
Low Temperature 1H MAS NMR Spectroscopy Studies of Proton Motion in Zeolite HZSM-5

Low temperature 1H MAS NMR spectroscopy is used to study protonic motion in zeolite HZSM-5 in both samples that have been dried using procedures that are standard in the literature and samples that have been more carefully dehydrated. A significant enhancement of proton mobility is seen for the “standard” dehydrated HZSM-5 sample in comparison to that seen for the much drier sample. This is ascribed to a vehicle-hopping mechanism involving the residual water that is present in these zeolites. A gradual change of the framework structure is observed on cooling to approximately 213 K, as monitored via the change in 1H chemical shift values of the Bronsted acid resonances and by X-ray diffraction. A more sudden change in structure is seen by differential scanning calorimetry and NMR at approximately 220−230 K, which is associated with changes in both the mobility and the modes of binding of the residual water to the Bronsted acid sites and the zeolite framework.
Functional Results of Dynamic Splinting after Transmetacarpal, Wrist, and Distal Forearm Replantation

The results of replantation at the wrist and distal forearm are reported to be better than at the metacarpal level, in part because the latter involve direct injury to the intrinsic muscles. This study evaluates a new post-operative protocol for replantation at the metacarpal, wrist and distal forearm levels. 3 days after replantation, the patient was placed in a dynamic crane outrigger splint with MP joint control, compensating for intrinsic muscle function loss. From 4 to 12 weeks, an anticlaw splint alternated with the outrigger splint. After 12 weeks, a dynamic wrist extension orthosis was added to the anti-claw splint. 11 patients (four replantations at the transmetacarpal level, three at the wrist and four in the distal forearm) had this protocol between 1988 and 1993. For distal forearm replantation, TAM of fingers averaged 216°, grip strength 42 lb, and pinch strength 7.2 lb with 75% good or excellent results. For wrist replantations, TAM of fingers averaged 243°, grip strength 37 lb and pinch strength 10.6 lb with 100% good or excellent results. For transmetacarpal replantations, TAM of fingers averaged 189°, grip strength 37 lb and pinch strength 5.6 lb, with 75% good and excellent results. Early protected mobilization, as described here, preserves tendon gliding, muscle strength and excursion. Our results support this protocol for wrist and distal forearm replantation and especially for transmetacarpal replantation, the results of which tend to be poor according to the medical literature.
Simulation study of driving performance with selected route guidance systems

Abstract Experiments were conducted in a driving simulator developed by the Hughes Aircraft Corporation to study the human factors aspects of route guidance systems. The primary objective of this research was to study how in-vehicle route guidance system attributes, driver characteristics, and traffic conditions affect driving performance. Four types of route guidance systems were tested. They are: (1) Paper Map, (2) Heads Down Electronic Map, (3) Heads Up Display (HUD) in combination with Electronic Map, and (4) Voice Guidance in combination with Electronic Map. Data were collected for a total of 18 subjects, 9 male and 9 female. All subjects were tested in all four route guidance systems. The following performance measures were collected in the simulator: Number of Navigation Errors and Reaction times to external events. Apart from these, an unobstrusive eye tracker was also used to monitor eye fixations. Data were also collected on driver preferences and subjective workload associated with each of the four route guidance systems. The results of the study can be summarized as follows: (a) Subjective workload, user perceptions, eye tracker dwelling times, and number of errors all indicated that the voice guidance/electronic map combination performed the best, and the paper map the worst. The electronic map was found to be the second best, closely followed by the HUD electronic map. (b) The reaction time modelling yielded slightly different device performance depending on the event being reacted to. The heads up display/electronic map combination performed much better in comparison to its performance in the other performance measures, with voice/electronic map also doing well. The paper map again consistently performed the worst. (c) Driving performance did vary with gender and experience. Not surprisingly, drivers with higher experience performed better than drivers with lower experience. This effect was more prominent among females than males.
Effects of lumbosacral subarachnoid catheterization in horses.

Objectives To evaluate the effects of long duration subarachnoid catheterization in horses on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cellularity and bacteriology, arterial blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, rectal body temperature, and spontaneous locomotor activity. Study Design Prospective experimental study. Animal Five clinically normal healthy adults horses weighing 511 ± 47 kg. Methods Subarachnoid catheters were placed using sedation and local anesthesia and maintained for 48 hours in standing horses. Cerebrospinal fluid samples were tested for cellularity and bacteria growth. Heart rate, respiratory rate, arterial blood pressure, and body temperature were recorded. Locomotor activity was graded. One-way repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni's test were used to statistically compare data from baseline to 12, 24, and 48 hours. Results Subarachnoid catheterization in horses produced an acute inflammatory reaction after 12 hours of catheterization, as evidenced by a statistically significant increase in CSF white blood cell count. No bacterial contamination was encountered. No significant differences were found in heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and arterial blood pressure. The horses did not develop motor ataxia or proprioceptive deficits during 48 hours of catheterization. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that 48 hours of subarachnoid catheterization in horses does not produce clinical signs of neurologic dysfunction or cardiovascular and respiratory changes, even though an inflammatory reaction occurred. Clinical Relevance Subarachnoid catheterization in horses is preferred for monitoring CSF pressure or for repeated collection. Understanding the effects of catheterization alone, allows the clinician to better interpret abnormalities in CSF collected.
Spectrophotometric determination of palladium with didodecyldithio-oxamide

Abstract Didodecyldithio-oxamide reacts with palladium in strong hydrochloric acid solutions to form a yellow water-insoluble complex which can be extracted into chloroform. Optimum conditions for the use of the reagent have been studied. Tolerance limits for other platinum group elements and selected base metals have been determined. The procedure has been successfully applied to the determination of palladium in the presence of high concentrations of diverse ions. The sensitivity of the reaction is 0.005 μg cm 2 .
Analysis on Gas Drainage Based on High-Pressure Water Injection

Gas outburst has been a major disaster in high gas mine. Flow law of gas in coal seam was studied, and gas drainage measures were proposed were extraordinarily useful for mine safety and rational use of gas. Finite element numerical method was applied to study changing law of gas pressure before and after the high-pressure water injection and damage deformation of coal under high-pressure water based on fluid-solid coupling and gas-solid coupling and damage theory. This research shows that: (1) a damage area was generated in coal seam under high-pressure water injection. Range of the damage area increase rapidly at the start of water injection and gradually slow down with the passage of time, eventually be more stable. (2) The permeability of rock mass of coal under high-pressure water injection. (3) High-pressure water injection had significant effect on gas drainage in a certain area. It provided a theoretical basis for selecting reasonable design programs to product gas by high-pressure water injection technology.
Primary Apical Lung Carcinoma

The usual locations of primary lung cancers and their clinical manifestations have been described in many papers and are today well known. Pancoast (1) recently described an unusual syndrome caused by small cancers at the apex of the lung. It is characterized by pain in the arm and shoulder, Horner9s syndrome, atrophy of the hand muscles, and destruction of bone, usually the adjacent vertebrae and ribs posteriorly. There is a striking absence of intrathoracic metastasis, as shown by roentgenologic studies. No post-mortem studies were made in his series of seven cases. In two cases biopsy specimens showed carcinoma. One is recorded as carcinoma spinocellulare and in the other the type is not given. Pancoast calls these cancers “superior pulmonary sulcus tumors,” and suggests that they arise from an embryonic remnant of the fifth branchial pouch. We have studied three cases which seem to belong in this group and from our observations believe that the tumors originated in the lung and that they are a clinically distinct and generally unrecognized type of cancer. Two cases were studied at autopsy; in the other biopsy was done.
Effect of Fe on the cycle life of Cu6Sn5 anodes

Abstract The addition of 10 wt.% Fe to a Cu 6 Sn 5 alloy resulted in a significant improvement in the cycle lifetime of the alloy. The volumetric capacity of the Cu 6 Sn 5 –10 wt.% Fe material at 100 cycles is almost three times the theoretical capacity of graphite.
Equations of properties as a function of temperature for seven fluids

Abstract Equations are developed for property data of seven common fluids. These equations are useful in computer applications where it is desirable to determine properties without using tables or requiring the user to input data during the execution of programs. An equation is found that accurately approximates the variation of the fluid property data with temperature and is in a simple and convenient form. Equations are presented for the properties of the following fluids: air, liquid water, water vapor, carbon dioxide, Freon-12, engine oil, and mercury. The properties presented in equation form are: density, dynamic viscosity, constant pressure specific heat, thermal conductivity, and Prandtl number. Properties are presented for wide ranges of temperature and at atmospheric pressure.
Habitat values and endemicity in the vanishing rain forests of Sri Lanka

TROPICAL forests are among the most seriously threatened terrestrial environments, and while biologists and conservationists argue for preservation, the plunder continues virtually unabated1. In Sri Lanka (Ceylon), for example, the southern rain forests and montane forests contain a rich assemblage of endemic animals, but despite the protestations of the local conservationists, deforestation is rapidly destroying these habitats. One reason for govenment inaction in Sri Lanka, as elsewhere, may be the inability of conservationists to make an objective case for the value or uniqueness of these forests. In this paper, we propose some new approaches to this old problem.
Kinetic and microcalorimetric analysis of substrate and cofactor interactions in epoxyalkane:CoM transferase, a zinc-dependent epoxidase.

Epoxyalkane:CoM transferase (EaCoMT) is a key enzyme of bacterial propylene metabolism, catalyzing the nucleophilic attack of coenzyme M (CoM, 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid) on epoxypropane to form the thioether conjugate2-hydroxypropyl-CoM. The biochemical and molecular properties of EaCoMT suggest that the enzyme belongs to the family of alkyltransferase enzymes for which Zn plays a key role in activating an organic thiol substrate for nucleophilic attack on an alkyl-donating substrate. In the present work, the role of Zn in the EaCoMT-catalyzed reactions is established by removing Zn from EaCoMT, resulting in loss of catalytic activity that was restored upon addition of Zn back to the enzyme, and by expressing an inactive and Zn-deficient form of the enzyme that was activated by addition of ZnCl 2 or CoCl 2 . Site-directed mutagenesis of one of the predicted Zn ligands (C220A) resulted in the formation of a largely catalytically inactive protein (0.06% of wild-type activity) that, when purified, contained a substoichiometric complement of Zn. EaCoMT was kinetically characterized and found to follow a random sequential mechanism with kinetic parameters K m , e p o x y p r o p a n e = 1.8 μM, K m , C o M = 34 μM, and k c a t = 6.5 s - 1 . The CoM analogues 2-mercaptopropionate, 2-mercaptoethanol, and cysteine substituted poorly for CoM as the thiol substrate, with specific rates of epoxyalkane conjugation that were at best 0.6% of the CoM-dependent rate, while ethanethiol, propanethiol, glutathione, homocysteine, and lipoic acid provided no activity. 2-Mercaptoethanol was a weak competitive inhibitor vs CoM with a K 1 of 192 mM. Isothermal titration calorimetry was used to investigate the thermodynamic binding determinants for the interaction of CoM and analogues with holo, Zn-deficient, and C220A EaCoMT variants. The stoichiometry of CoM binding correlated directly with the Zn content rather than monomer content of protein samples, reinforcing the importance of Zn in CoM binding. The binding of CoM to EaCoMT occurred with ΔG = -7.5 kcal/mol (K d = 3.8 μM) and was driven by a large release of enthalpy. The thermodynamic contributors (K a , AG, ΔH, ΔS) to the individual binding of CoM, ethanesulfonate, and ethanethiol were determined and used to assess the contributions of the thiol, alkyl, and sulfonate moieties to total binding energy in the E.CoM binary complex.
EEG mean frequencies are sensitive indices of phenylalanine effects on normal brain

We previously reported that changes in plasma phenylalanine (PHE) concentrations of 1000 microM or more adversely affected cognitive function and reduced mean frequency of the EEG power spectrum. In the present study, we characterized EEG effects of changes in plasma PHE from physiological to supraphysiological concentrations. Subjects were mentally normal children and adult volunteers with 3 different genotypes for phenylalanine hydroxylase (PHY): homozygous deficient, heterozygous, and homozygous normal. Double-blinded crossover studies were performed at equilibrium during PHE restriction and supplementation. The mean frequency of the power spectrum and the mean across a set of alpha-theta factors showed highly significant, reversible, generalized EEG slowing during PHE supplementation in subjects homozygous for PHY deficiency. Smaller but significant changes in EEG mean frequencies occurred in the heterozygous and normal subjects. Spectral profiles of EEG change were similar in both groups; the mean alpha-theta was more sensitive in the second group. Demonstration of EEG changes with PHE supplementation in normal individuals has important dietary implications.
SOME MEASUREMENTS OF THE INFRARED SPECTRAL RADIANCES AND EMISSIVITIES OF HYDROGEN FLUORIDE IN COMBUSTION GASES AT 1000°C"

Spectral radiances and emissivities were determined from moderate-resolution emission and absorption measurements in the exhaust gases of a small rocket motor. Data was obtained in the 2 to 3 p region for ClFa-NHs combustion products in which hydrogen fluoride was the principal infrared emitting species. The results are presented as average spectral emissivities, which are considered to be representative of 3.0 cm-atm of HF at 1250°K. The experimental techniques and methods of data analysis are discussed in some detail. SPECTRAL emissivities in the infrared vibration-rotation bands of combustion gases are required for a number of engineering purposes, such as calculations of radiant heat transfer and studies of combustion dynamics in propulsion devices. The combustion products of most importance in this regard are COz, HzO, and HF. Although the infrared spectra of these molecules have been known for a great many years, only recently has attention been given to the determination of quantitative spectral emissive properties, especially at elevated temperatures. Carbon dioxide has received most of this attention; measurements of spectral emissivity in the 2.7 and 4.3 ~1 bands have been made in a furnace-heated cell,(@J) a shock tube,@) and a small rocket motor.@) The resultant data, representative of a wide range of optical depths, can be well correlated by use of a statis- tical band model@) and are in reasonable agreement with approximate theoretical calculations.@) similar measurements of spectral emissivity have been made and correla- tions are being sought for the 2.7 band of water vapor at elevated temperatures.('JQJ@ On the other hand, except for a recent determination of total emissivity in an ammonia- fluorine flame(ll), no high-temperature experimental data for hydrogen fluoride have been reported in the literature. The present work consists of a set of emission and absorption measurements obtained at moderate resolution in the combustion products of liquid ammonia and chlorine trifluoride, a mixture of HF, HCI, and Nz, at a temperature of about 1250°K. Spectral radiances and emissivities were obtained at spectral slit widths of 0.005 and 0.02 p in the 2 to 3 p and the 2 to 5 p regions respectively.
Effects of temperature on the viability, growth and gene profile of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica inoculated in milk

Abstract This study was aimed at deciphering the viability and growth of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica in milk at different temperatures, and at identifying the temperature-dependent changes in gene expression in Yersinia . Fresh Yersinia culture was suspended either in pasteurized or in autoclaved milk and subjected to different temperature ranges. Colony forming units (CFU) were determined from inoculated milk after one and two weeks of storage using direct plating technique. In both one and two weeks of storage, growth of Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica increased significantly at 4 °C and 24 °C ( P Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica were optimal at 4 °C and 24 °C. Remarkably, at 37 °C there was no detectable level of CFU from both Yersinia spp inoculated in pasteurized milk, whereas they grew well at 37 °C in autoclaved milk. The NotI-profile of Y. pseudotuberculosis grown at 24 °C generated different banding patterns from other treatment groups when compared to FseI and XbaI-PFGE pulso-type. Microarray interrogation of 4038 genes of Y. pseudotuberculosis revealed that 38 genes were upregulated by ≥8 fold and 237 genes exhibited ≥2 fold downregulation (at 95% significant level) after temperature shift from 4 °C to 24 °C. The findings of this study highlight the survival potential of Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica in milk under different temperatures and the associated gene expression patterns, which may be important in the processing and safety of milk and dairy products.
A control oriented low order dynamic model for planar SOFC using minimum Gibbs free energy method

Abstract Given the complicated mechanisms associated with the operation of the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), mathematical models developed to capture the SOFC’s dynamic characteristics often result in high order and complex dynamics that make the model unsuitable for control design and analysis. In this paper, the minimum Gibbs free energy (MGFE) method is exploited to simplify the calculation of the mass balance dynamics of the fuel flow in the SOFC in an effort to develop a control oriented model that achieves appropriate trade-off between model accuracy and simplicity. The simplified model is compared with a baseline model where dynamic governing equations are derived for the mass balance of each of the six gas species in the fuel flow. The implications of the MGFE method on the modeling performance are investigated through numerical simulations and frequency domain analysis. The MGFE method leads to the elimination of 5 out of 11 states in the baseline model, thereby resulting in a significantly lower order model. Critical parameters that may influence the accuracy of the simplified model are also identified. The study concludes that the accuracy of the reduced-order model is acceptable at normal conditions for both steady-state and transient operations. Noticeable model errors are only observed in steady-state responses at extreme conditions, where the fuel inlet has a high fraction of CH 4 and the fuel cell has low fuel utilization, and in transient when the inputs change at high frequency.
Decomposition method for solving weakly coupled algebraic Riccati equation

Normal Minimum Gain Controllers by Continuation Method," Proceedings of the 1989 American Controls Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 21-23, 1989, pp. 817-824. Maghami, P. G., and Juang, J.-N., "Efficient Eigenvalue Assignment for Large Space Structures," Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 13, No. 6, 1990, pp. 1033-1039. Golub, G. H., and Van Loan, C. F., Matrix Computations, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, MD, 1983.
Overcoming limiting side reactions associated with an NHS-activated precursor of polymethacrylamide-based polymers.

Combinatorial polymer libraries have recently gained popularity for the development of novel materials for a variety of biomedical applications including non-viral gene delivery systems and biodegradable polymers for tissue engineering. To streamline the nontrivial task of library synthesis, activated ester homopolymers have been used to serve as a backbone to which primary amine-containing functional groups (NH2-FGs) can be covalently bound at varying ratios. Polymethacryloxysuccinimide (poly(MAOS)) is one such homopolymer that was previously reported to be an attractive precursor for polymeric drug and gene delivery systems. The reported functionalization protocols entailed conjugating the precursor with 2 equiv of the NH2-FG at a reaction concentration of 25 mg poly(MAOS)/150 μL DMSO for either 5 h at 50 °C or 16 h at 25 °C. More recently, both protocols were revealed to be associated with ring-opening and glutarimide-forming side reactions that compromise the utility of the homopolymer. Using 1-dimens...
The Effect of Drugs on the Isolation of Salmonella gallinarum from Inoculated Chicks

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION IN POSITIVE diagnosis of the infectious disease, the demonstration of the causative organism is of great importance. If the organism cannot be isolated, a positive diagnosis is difficult to make. Diagnosticians have frequently experienced difficulty in isolating causative organisms and have speculated about it. One factor suspected as being a possible cause has been the use of coccidiostats, growth promoting additives, and therapeutic drugs in the feed or water of the individual in question. Belding (1956) and Henderson (1956) have at times suspected that antibiotics have decreased their chances of recovering the organism but they offer no proof of this assumption. Peckham (1956) has had some failures in isolation but blames them on varying technique rather than on the presence of drugs in the feed. The only isolation difficulty Delaplane (1956) has experienced has been in isolating the fowl typhoid organism from birds on treatment with furazolidone. Smith (1955) . . .
Advanced enrichment monitoring technology based on transmission measurements with an X-ray source and NaI(Tl) spectrometer

In this paper, we report our progress toward the development of an advanced enrichment monitoring technology for safeguarding gas centrifuge enrichment plants. We compare the ${\rm UF}_{6}$ gas pipe attenuation and sensitivity to X-ray tube HV variations for two transmission energies: 22 keV and 25.5 keV. The first experimental enrichment results taken with a static ${\rm UF}_{6}$ gaseous source and X-ray tube based transmission source over a wide gas pressure range are presented.
PLX: An Instruction Set Architecture and Testbed for Multimedia Information Processing

PLX is a concise instruction set architecture (ISA) that combines the most useful features from previous generations of multimedia instruction sets with newer ISA features for high-performance, low-cost multimedia information processing. Unlike previous multimedia instruction sets, PLX is not added onto a base processor ISA, but designed from the beginning as a standalone processor architecture optimized for media processing. Its design goals are high performance multimedia processing, general-purpose programmability to support an ever-growing range of applications, simplicity for constrained environments where low power and low cost are paramount, and scalability for higher performance in less constrained multimedia systems. Another design goal of PLX is to facilitate exploration and evaluation of novel techniques in instruction set architecture, microarchitecture, arithmetic, VLSI implementations, compiler optimizations, and parallel algorithm design for new computing paradigms. Key characteristics of PLX are a fully subword-parallel architecture with novel features like wordsize scalability from 32-bit to 128-bit words, a new definition of predication, and an innovative set of subword permutation instructions. We demonstrate the use and high performance of PLX on some frequently-used code kernels selected from image, video, and graphics processing applications: discrete cosine transform, pixel padding, clip test, and median filter. Our results show that a 64-bit PLX processor achieves significant speedups over a basic 64-bit RISC processor and over IA-32 processors with MMX and SSE multimedia extensions. Using PLX's wordsize scalability feature, PLX-128 often provides an additional 2× speedup over PLX-64 in a cost-effective way. Superscalar or VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) PLX implementations can also add additional performance through inter-instruction, rather than intra-instruction parallelism. We also describe the PLX testbed and its software tools for architecture and related research.
Assessment of nonrandom crosslinking in polymer networks by small‐angle light scattering

The angle-dependent, isotropic light scattering exhibited by a diluent-swollen, ideal network is theoretically derived and compared with the light scattering exhibited experimentally by swollen real networks. In good diluents the difference is a measure of the spatial nonrandomness of the degree of crosslinking. A nonrandomness index (NRI) is introduced in terms of the Rayleigh ratios at zero scattering angle. A procedure is given for reliably obtaining the zero-angle Rayleigh ratio from experimental data at finite angles (2–30°). Measurements are reported for a series of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) networks, prepared at varying stages of dilution (in ethylene glycol, EG) and varying amounts of crosslinker (ethylene glycol dimethyacrylate, EGDMA). The theoretical Rayleigh ratios are calculated by employing the equilibrium degrees of swelling, refractive indices, and Young's moduli of the gels, measured in EG. The NRI is found to decrease upon decreasing the dilution during network formation and upon increasing the average crosslinking density. The NRI provides a probe of the network structure on a (sub)microscopic level. It is suggested that the NRI is closely correlated with the performance of elastomers under mechanical loading conditions.
THE RELATION OF THE SPLEEN TO BLOOD DESTRUCTION AND REGENERATION AND TO HEMOLYTIC JAUNDICE : III. THE CHANGES IN THE BLOOD FOLLOWING SPLENECTOMY AND THEIR RELATION TO THE PRODUCTION OF HEMOLYTIC JAUNDICE.

The results of this study of the changes in the blood after splenectomy and of the effect of the administration of hemolytic serum allow the following tentative conclusions: 1. The failure of a hemolytic serum to cause jaundice is due in some way to the anemia which frequently follows splenectomy. Animals, whether splenectomized or not, which have a low blood count and low hemoglobin content do not readily develop jaundice after administration of a hemolytic serum. On the other hand, in animals with a normal blood picture such a serum readily causes, during early periods after splenectomy, a well marked jaundice. 2. The difficulty of producing hemoglobinemia and jaundice in animals splenectomized one month or more, is due, as shown by blood count, the use of hypotonic salt solution test, and by the search for the presence of hemoglobin in the serum and urine, to an increase in the resistance of the red cells. The results of detailed serologic tests upon this point will be presented later. 3. It is possible that spontaneous jaundice occurring at long periods after splenectomy is an accompaniment of the complete regeneration of the blood. The study of the blood in animals splenectomized for long periods, seven to ten months, indicates that spontaneous jaundice occurs only when the animal has recovered from the initial period of anemia and has a high red cell count and high hemoglobin content. 4. As to the mechanism responsible for the anemia following splenectomy and for the increased resistance of the red cells, we can at present offer no explanation.
Occurrence of candiduria in a population of chronically catheterized patients with spinal cord injury.

Occurrence of candiduria in a population of chronically catheterized patients with spinal cord injury