cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antisense Oligonucleotides: Treating Neurodegeneration at the Level of RNA

Adequate therapies are lacking for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and other neurodegenerative diseases. The ability to use antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to target disease-associated genes by means of RNA may offer a potent approach for the treatment of these, and other, neurodegenerative disorders. In modifying the basic backbone chemistry, chemical groups, and target sequence, ASOs can act through numerous mechanisms to decrease or increase total protein levels, preferentially shift splicing patterns, and inhibit microRNAs, all at the level of the RNA molecule. Here, we discuss many of the more commonly used ASO chemistries, as well as the different mechanisms of action that can result from these specific chemical modifications. When applied to multiple neurodegenerative mouse models, ASOs that specifically target the detrimental transgenes have been shown to rescue disease associated phenotypes in vivo. These supporting mouse model data have moved the ASOs from the bench to the clinic, with two neuro-focused human clinical trials now underway and several more being proposed. Although still early in development, translating ASOs into human patients for neurodegeneration appears promising.
Introducing preservice teachers to issues surrounding evolution and creationism via a mock trial

Social studies and science education professors collaborated to introduce preservice teachers to the evolution vs. creationism debate via a mock trial. A hypothetical situation was created in which a sixth-grade teacher was fired for not balancing evolution and creationism in his teaching. Preservice teachers represented either the fired teacher or the school board in a trial that would reinstate the educator and affirm the right of the teacher to determine lesson content, or to uphold the decision for the teacher’s dismissal. Results suggested that the mock trial slightly increased students’ understanding of evolutionary principles. Students also reported themselves to be more aware of the difficulties of balancing evolution and creationism in science pedagogy.
Sequence analysis of gene 11 equivalents from "short" and "super short" strains of rotavirus.

wasinvestigated. The mRNAsofthese viruses weresynthesized invitro, andtheentire gene11equivalent ofeachofthese viruses was sequenced withspecific synthetic oligonucleotide primers. Thesesequences werecompared withpreviously published sequences of"long" pattern rotavirus gene11segments. Theincreased lengths ofthegene11 equivalents ofDS-1, 69M,andVMRIareduetoaprolonged, 3'untranslated region inthis genesegment. The 3'untranslated region oftheVMRIgene11equivalent contains aclear duplication ofaportion ofitscoding sequence. A stretch of18consecutive nucleotides within the330-nucleotide, 3'untranslated region of69Mis identical toasection ofUK coding sequence. TheDS-1andtheremainder ofthe69M3'-end additional sequences aresimilar toeachother, butneither issimilar toanyother currently available rotavirus gene sequence. Thisfinding suggests that aprocess other thanhomologous duplication isinvolved intheevolution ofthese sequences. Thewidespread occurrence ofhumanandanimal rotaviruses withshort andsuper short electropherotypes provides evidence thatintragenic andpossibly intergenic recombinational events associated withanerror-prone viral RNApolymerase mayplay arole inincreasing thegenetic repertoire ofrotaviruses. Rotavirus genomesconsist of11segments ofdoublestranded RNA.Theelectrophoretic patterns ofthese gene segments haveclassically beenusedtodistinguish among thevarious strains ofrotavirus (7,17).MostgroupA rotaviruses display the"long" electropherotype, withfour high-molecular-weight genes, five intermediate-sized genes, andtwosmaller genes. Thegenesarenumbered 1to11 according tothedistance migrated fromtheorigin during polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis (17). Overthepastdecade,groupA rotaviruses withelectropherotypes that vary
Managerial objectives of symphony orchestras

This paper considers the managerial objectives of not-for-profit symphony orchestras in the United States. Using data compiled by the American Symphony Orchestra League, an empirical analysis reveals dual attendance (quantity) and performance quality concerns for Major and Urban Community orchestras; and quality-only concerns for Metropolitan orchestras.
IRRIGATION IN THE TWENTY‐FIRST CENTURY: REFLECTIONS ON SCIENCE, POLICY AND SOCIETY

Irrigated agriculture will come under increased global pressures in the twenty-first century to be more efficient, productive, profitable and sustainable. This paper considers the implications of these pressures. It concludes that we will need the best of science to develop the scientific underpinnings for innovative approaches in irrigated agriculture; effective policies and institutions to control use, manage storage, balance water needs, and create incentives for adoption of innovations; and a broader set of actors working together as part of the solution set. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. RESUME En reaction a l'accroissement des pressions mondiales du 21eme siecle, l'agriculture irriguee devra etre plus efficace, productive, rentable et durable. Ce document examine les implications de ces pressions. Il conclut que nous aurons besoin du meilleur de la science pour developper les fondements scientifiques des approches innovantes de l'agriculture irriguee, de politiques et d'institutions efficaces pour controler l'utilisation, la gestion du stockage, les besoins en transferts d'eau, et de creer des incitations pour l'adoption des innovations, et de reunir un plus large ensemble d'acteurs qui collaboreraient chacun a la solution. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The relationship between counselor trainee perfectionism and working alliance with supervisor and client

The relationships between perfectionism, counseling self-efficacy, and the supervisory and client working alliance were investigated among 143 counseling trainees and 46 supervisor–trainee dyads. Maladaptive perfectionism was negatively correlated with the supervisory alliance and working alliance. Counseling self-efficacy moderated the relationship between adaptive perfectionism and the supervisory alliance (perspective of the counseling trainee) and maladaptive perfectionism and the supervisory alliance (perspective of the supervisor). The authors conclude that supervisors should consider perfectionism and counseling self-efficacy as important factors in supervision.
Syntactic Annotations for the Google Books NGram Corpus

We present a new edition of the Google Books Ngram Corpus, which describes how often words and phrases were used over a period of five centuries, in eight languages; it reflects 6% of all books ever published. This new edition introduces syntactic annotations: words are tagged with their part-of-speech, and head-modifier relationships are recorded. The annotations are produced automatically with statistical models that are specifically adapted to historical text. The corpus will facilitate the study of linguistic trends, especially those related to the evolution of syntax.
Lamb wave Structural Health Monitoring Using a Hybrid PZT-Laser Vibrometer Approach

Lamb waves are dispersive and multi-modal, which makes the interpretation of Lamb wave signals very difficult in either the time or frequency domain. In the this article, we present our studies on Lamb wave propagation characterization and crack detection using a hybrid lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-laser vibrometer system and frequency–wave number analysis. A scanning laser Doppler vibrometer is used to acquiring high-resolution time–space Lamb wavefield excited by a PZT actuator. The recorded wavefield is then transformed to frequency–wave number domain by two-dimensional Fourier transform. Wave spectrum in the frequency–wave number domain shows clear distinction among Lamb wave modes being present. These concepts are illustrated through several experimental tests. However, the space information is lost during this transformation. A short-space two-dimensional Fourier transform is then adopted to obtain the frequency–wave number spectra at various spatial locations, resulting in the space–frequency–wave...
Au99(SPh)42 nanomolecules: aromatic thiolate ligand induced conversion of Au144(SCH2CH2Ph)60.

A new aromatic thiolate protected gold nanomolecule Au99(SPh)42 has been synthesized by reacting the highly stable Au144(SCH2CH2Ph)60 with thiophenol, HSPh. The ubiquitous Au144(SR)60 is known for its high stability even at elevated temperature and in the presence of excess thiol. This report demonstrates for the first time the reactivity of the Au144(SCH2CH2Ph)60 with thiophenol to form a different 99-Au atom species. The resulting Au99(SPh)42 compound, however, is unreactive and highly stable in the presence of excess aromatic thiol. The molecular formula of the title compound is determined by high resolution electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and confirmed by the preparation of the 99-atom nanomolecule using two ligands, namely, Au99(SPh)42 and Au99(SPh-OMe)42. This mass spectrometry study is an unprecedented advance in nanoparticle reaction monitoring, in studying the 144-atom to 99-atom size evolution at such high m/z (∼12k) and resolution. The optical and electrochemical properties of Au99(SPh)...
Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine

Flavour science is concerned with the sensory appreciation of food. However, flavor is not in the food; it is created by the brain, through multiple sensory, motor, and central behavioral systems. We call this new multidisciplinary field “neurogastronomy.” It is proving useful in integrating research findings in the brain with the biomechanics of generating food volatiles and their transport through retronasal smell. Recent findings in laboratory animals and in humans give new insights into the adaptations that have occurred during evolution that give humans an enhanced flavor perception. This process will be illustrated by an analysis of how the brain creates the taste of wine. The successive stages of the biomechanics of movement of the ingested wine and transport of the released volatiles will be correlated with activation of the multiple brain mechanisms, apparently engaging more of the brain than any other human behavior. These stages include the initial cephalic phase, visual analysis, ingestion, formation of the wine perceptual image, formation of the wine perceptual object, swallowing, and post-ingestive effects. This combined biomechanic and brain mechanism approach suggests a new discipline of “neuroenology (neuro-oenology),” adding to the contributions that science can make to the enhanced quality and appreciation of wine.
Propagation of Spectrum Preference in Cognitive Radio Networks: A Social Network Approach

The social behavior in cognitive radio networks is studied using analysis tools in social networks. A recommendation system is proposed for cognitive radio, thus incurring the channel preference propagation in the corresponding random geometric network. A mean field based ordinary differential equation is used to describe the dynamics of the channel preference propagation in cognitive radio networks. The conditional distribution of random geometric graph is studied. The convergence and the steady state of the mean field equation are discussed. Numerical simulations are used to demonstrate the properties uncovered by the analysis.
Supratentorial abnormalities in the Chiari II malformation, I: the ventricular "point".

Objective The sonographic diagnosis of fetal myelomeningocele has improved dramatically over the past 20 years, mainly because the diagnostic focus has shifted from observation of the spinal abnormality to observation of cranial abnormalities. We describe an abnormality in the shape of the occipital horn that has received scant attention in the sonographic literature. The abnormality is a misshapen occipital horn that is "pointed" rather than rounded. This study analyzed the frequency of this observation and technical aspects that improve its visualization. Methods From a database of obstetric sonograms, we searched for all cases in which open fetal myelomeningocele was sonographically detected. The search covered the period from 1999 to 2007. We then retrospectively reviewed the fetal intracranial findings in each case, with special attention to the contour of the occipital horn of the lateral ventricle. Results A total of 89 fetuses were identified. The mean and median gestational ages were 22 weeks 4 days and 22 weeks 2 days, respectively. Of the 89 cases, 62 (70%) had an occipital horn with a pointed shape. This abnormality was better seen in cases judged to be well visualized and in cases in which digital video clips were available for review. The abnormality was more frequently seen in fetuses at less than 24 weeks' gestation and in fetuses without ventriculomegaly. Finally, it was seen as commonly among fetuses with mild posterior fossa deformations as in those with more severe distortions. Conclusions The occipital point is a common supratentorial feature of the Chiari II malformation. It is seen more commonly in fetuses at less than 24 weeks and in fetuses with normal-sized ventricles. As well, it is seen as commonly among fetuses with mild posterior fossa deformations as in those with more severe distortions. Therefore, its usefulness is enhanced as an observation in the armamentarium of cranial findings for detection of fetal myelomeningocele.
5.8 GHz circularly polarized low incident power density rectenna design and array implementation

The design and performance of a single rectifying antenna (rectenna) are presented as well a scalable array implementation. The presented rectenna design achieves optimum power conversion at incident power densities below established safety regulations, an axial ratio of less than 0.3 dB, and an optimal conversion efficiency of 82%.
CRISPR‐Mediated Gene Targeting of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease systems can create double-stranded DNA breaks at specific sequences to efficiently and precisely disrupt, excise, mutate, insert, or replace genes. However, human embryonic stem or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are more difficult to transfect and less resilient to DNA damage than immortalized tumor cell lines. Here, we describe an optimized protocol for genome engineering of human iPSCs using a simple transient transfection of plasmids and/or single-stranded oligonucleotides. With this protocol, we achieve transfection efficiencies greater than 60%, with gene disruption efficiencies from 1-25% and gene insertion/replacement efficiencies from 0.5-10% without any further selection or enrichment steps. We also describe how to design and assess optimal sgRNA target sites and donor targeting vectors; cloning individual iPSC by single cell FACS sorting, and genotyping successfully edited cells.
An algorithm for a microcontrolled reconfigurable PLA

The PLA (programmable logic array) has become a major subsystem block in the hardware of many systems. A mapping algorithm and hardware for a reconfigurable PLA (RPLA) interfaced to a general purpose microcontroller are described. The functional reconfigurability is achieved by altering the input literal associated with each product and output terms of the function set. The scheme gives a flexibility in realignment of the functions to be implemented. >
The evolution and current use of invasive hemodynamic monitoring for predicting volume responsiveness during resuscitation, perioperative, and critical care

Traditional hemodynamic monitors such as pulmonary artery and central venous catheters provide continuous data and secure intravenous access, but their diagnostic efficacy has been criticized. Dynamic arterial waveform monitoring is promising, but studies suggest it is reliable only within narrow ventilation and rhythm parameters. Newer algorithm-based hemodynamic monitors have emerged; they, too, are limited in their accuracy and applicability. Intravascular monitors are used to predict fluid responsiveness and need for alternative therapies, such as vasomotor or inotropic support. Recent efficacy data, along with other important clinical findings, are reviewed with regard to invasive monitors. We caution against over-generalizing from existing studies, and provide guidance for clinicians wishing to target monitoring techniques for appropriate patients.
Eosinophil chemotactic factor-L (ECF-L): a novel osteoclast stimulating factor.

Screening a cDNA library enriched for genes expressed in OCLs identified ECF-L. ECF-L enhanced OCL formation without increasing RANKL levels. Anti-ECF-L inhibited RANKL-induced OCL formation. These results support a potent role of ECF-L in osteoclastogenesis. Introduction: To investigate the molecular mechanisms that control osteoclastogenesis, we developed an immortalized osteoclast (OCL) precursor cell line that forms mature OCLs in the absence of stromal cells and used it to form pure populations of OCLs. Materials and Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) selective cDNA subtraction was used to identify genes that are highly expressed in mature OCLs compared with OCL precursors employing OCL and OCL precursors derived from this cell line. Results: Eosinophil chemotactic factor-L (ECF-L), a previously described chemotactic factor for eosinophils, was one of the genes identified. Conditioned media from 293 cells transfected with mECF-L cDNA, or purified ECF-L Fc protein, increased OCL formation in a dose-dependent manner in mouse bone marrow cultures treated with 10−10 M 1,25(OH)2D3. OCLs derived from marrow cultures treated with ECF-L conditioned media formed increased pit numbers and resorption area per dentin slice compared with OCLs induced by 1,25(OH)2D3 (p < 0.01). Addition of an antisense S-oligonucleotide to mECF-L inhibited OCL formation in murine bone marrow cultures treated only with 10−9 M 1,25(OH)2D3 compared with the sense S-oligonucleotide control. Time course studies demonstrated that ECF-L acted at the later stages of OCL formation, and chemotactic assays showed that mECF-L increased migration of OCL precursors. mECF-L mRNA was detectable in mononuclear and multinucleated cells by in situ hybridization. Interestingly, a neutralizing antibody to ECF-L blocked RANKL or 10−9 M 1,25(OH)2D3-induced OCL formation in mouse bone marrow cultures, although ECF-L did not induce RANKL expression. Conclusions: These data show ECF-L is a previously unknown factor that is a potent mediator of OCL formation, which acts at the later stages of OCL formation and enhances the effects of RANKL.
High-yield positron systems for linear colliders

It is noted that the SLC (Standford Linear Collider), having electron energies up to 50 GeV, presents the possibility of generating positron bunches with a useful charge even exceeding that of the initial electron bunch. The exact positron yield to be obtained depends on the particular capture, transport, and damping system used. Using 31-GeV electrons impinging on a W-type converter target, and with adequate matching of the positron beam phase-space at the target to the acceptance of the capture RF section, the SLC source is capable of producing, for every electron, up to two positrons within the acceptance of the positron damping ring. The design of this source and the performance of the positron system as built are described. Also, future prospects and limitations for high-yield positron systems are discussed. >
Thyroid regeneration: how stem cells play a role?

Many tissues if not all are thought to contain stem cells that are responsible for regeneration and repair of the tissue after injury. Dysregulation of tissue regeneration may result in various pathological conditions, among which cancer is the most extensively studied. Notably, the so called cancer stem cells or tumor-initiating cells, have been studied in order to understand the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and/or metastasis. However, the nature of cancer stem cells, let alone normal stem/progenitor cells, particularly those of the thyroid remains elusive. There remains a gap in knowledge between adult thyroid stem/progenitor cells and cancer stem cells of the thyroid, and if and/or how they are related to each other. Understanding of the mechanism for thyroid regeneration and mode of participation of normal adult thyroid stem/progenitor cells in this process will hopefully yield a more complete understanding of the nature of thyroid cancer stem cells, and/or help understand the pathogenesis of other thyroid diseases. This review summarizes the current understanding of adult thyroid stem/progenitor cells, with particular emphasis on how they contribute to thyroid regeneration.
The Weibel-Palade Body in the Diagnosis of Endothelial Tumors

The Weibel-Palade body (WPB), a cytoplasmic marker for endothelial cells, was utilized in this ultrastructural study to confirm the light microscopic diagnosis in four different neoplasms of suspected endothelial origin. The WPB was prominent in benign endothelial neoplasms but was less so or absent in the malignant counterpart.
On quantized consensus by means of gossip algorithm - Part I: Convergence proof

This paper deals with the distributed averaging problem over a connected network of agents, subject to a quantization constraint. It is assumed that at each time update, only a pair of agents can update their own numbers in terms of the quantized data being exchanged. The agents are also required to communicate with one another in a stochastic fashion. In the first part of the paper, it was shown that the quantized consensus is reached by means of a stochastic gossip algorithm proposed in a recent paper, for any arbitrary quantization. The current part of the paper considers the expected value of the time at which the quantized consensus is reached. This quantity (corresponding to the worst case) is lower and upper bounded in terms of the topology of the graph, for uniform quantization. In particular, it is shown that the upper bound is related to the principal minors of the weighted Laplacian matrix. A convex optimization is also proposed to determine the set of probabilities (used to pick a pair of agents) which leads to the fast convergence of the gossip algorithm.
The Selection and Usage of Information for Perceiving and Remembering Intended and Unintended Object Properties

The current study was designed to investigate the linkage between intention, attention, and information selection and detection. Two experiments determined whether the intention to perceive maximum overhead reaching height with the use of handheld rods with different rotational inertia resulted in the ability to remember the rods' heaviness after they were removed from view. Participants were partially successful at distinguishing the heaviness of rods but only when visual information was restricted and reaching height was perceived using the rods by dynamic touch. The results support an ecological approach to attention, and suggest that information picked up for perception can support the memory of other properties of the environment if their informational bases are related.
Green Rocket Propulsion by Reaction of Al and Mg Powders and Water

The efficacy of using aluminum-water and magnesium-water as propellants for underwater thruster applications has been investigated by the authors. The theoretical specific impulse for both reactant systems is high, and the products of reaction (alumina, magnesia, and hydrogen) are environmentally benign. The attractiveness of these systems as “green” propellants has been commented on previously, however, no practical experimentation with these systems has been made. The present work describes the testing of a linear combustor with magnesium-water and aluminum-water under conditions of pressure and oxidizer-fuel ratios and with a metal powder feed system that could be employed in actual rocket engines. Measurements of off-design specific impulse are compared with theoretical predictions that take into account two-phase losses. Measurements of heat fluxes available to vaporize regeneratively the liquid water oxidizer are presented as well. Perhaps of most importance, observations of the degree of product oxide accumulation in the combustor are presented. These measurements and observations are used to determine the effectiveness of these two metal fuel systems as practical green propellants.
FROM TRAGEDY TO HIERARCHY AND BACK AGAIN: WOMEN IN GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT

The earliest attempts at a theoretical understanding of politics occur in the city-states of ancient Greece. Women had no place in the politics of those cities. However, the Greek tragedians and philosophers raised questions about the fundamental assumptions underlying political life by introducing women into their writings. Thus, women appear in some Greek tragedies as a counter to the male sense of political efficacy—the sense that men can create through speech and ignore the facts of physical creation entailed in the process of reproduction. A discussion of two tragedies, The Seven Against Thebes and the Antigone, suggests how the failure of male political leaders to acknowledge the demands of the physical and that which is different brings on tragedy. The Socratic response in the Republic is to overcome tragedy by making the male and the female the same. Aristotle attempts to incorporate sexual difference in the theoretical framework of hierarchy. Finally, there is a brief consideration of the role of the pre-Socratic philosophers in setting the agenda for the Greeks' confrontation with the problems of incorporating difference into the political community.
An evaluation of network stack parallelization strategies in modern operating systems

As technology trends push future microprocessors toward chip multiprocessor designs, operating system network stacks must be parallelized in order to keep pace with improvements in network bandwidth. There are two competing strategies for stack parallelization. Message-parallel network stacks use concurrent threads to carry out network operations on independent messages (usually packets), whereas connection-parallel stacks map operations to groups of connections and permit concurrent processing on independent connection groups. Connection-parallel stacks can use either locks or threads to serialize access to connection groups. This paper evaluates these parallel stack organizations using a modern operating system and chip multiprocessor hardware. Compared to uniprocessor kernels, all parallel stack organizations incur additional locking overhead, cache inefficiencies, and scheduling overhead. However, the organizations balance these limitations differently, leading to variations in peak performance and connection scalability. Lock-serialized connection-parallel organizations reduce the locking overhead of message-parallel organizations by using many connection groups and eliminate the expensive thread handoff mechanism of thread-serialized connection-parallel organizations. The resultant organization outperforms the others, delivering 5.4 Gb/s of TCP throughput for most connection loads and providing a 126% throughput improvement versus a uniprocessor for the] heaviest connection loads.
Efficient weakly-radiative wireless energy transfer: An EIT-like approach

Abstract Inspired by a quantum interference phenomenon known in the atomic physics community as electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), we propose an efficient weakly radiative wireless energy transfer scheme between two identical classical resonant objects, strongly coupled to an intermediate classical resonant object of substantially different properties, but with the same resonance frequency. The transfer mechanism essentially makes use of the adiabatic evolution of an instantaneous (so called “dark”) eigenstate of the coupled 3-object system. Our analysis is based on temporal coupled mode theory (CMT), and is general enough to be valid for various possible sorts of coupling, including the resonant inductive coupling on which witricity-type wireless energy transfer is based. We show that in certain parameter regimes of interest, this scheme can be more efficient, and/or less radiative than other, more conventional approaches. A concrete example of wireless energy transfer between capacitively-loaded metallic loops is illustrated at the beginning, as a motivation for the more general case. We also explore the performance of the currently proposed EIT-like scheme, in terms of improving efficiency and reducing radiation, as the relevant parameters of the system are varied.
Inhibiting the Diffusion of Contagions in Bi-Threshold Systems: Analytical and Experimental Results

We present a bi-threshold model of complex contagion in networks. In this model a node in a network can be in one of two states at any time step, and changes state if enough of its neighbors are in the opposite state, as determined by “up-threshold” and “down-threshold” parameters. This dynamical process models several types of social contagion processes, such as public health concerns and the spread of games on online networks. Motivated by recent literature calling for the investigation of peer pressure to reduce obesity, which can be viewed as a control problem of population dynamics, we focus on the computational complexity of finding critical sets of nodes, which are nodes that we choose to freeze in state 0 (a desirable state) in order to inhibit the spread of an undesirable state 1 in the network. We define a minimum-cost critical set problem and show that it is NP-complete for bi-threshold systems. We show that several versions of the problem can be approximated to within a factor of O(log n), where n is the number of nodes in the network. Using the ideas behind these approximations, we devise a heuristic, called the Maximum Contributor Heuristic (MCH), which can be used even when the diffusion model is probabilistic. We perform simulations with well-known networks from the literature and show that MCH outperforms the High Degree Heuristic by several orders of magnitude.
What Is the Best Approach to Quantify Myocardial Blood Flow with PET

In recent years, many approaches have been developed in an attempt to optimize the quantitative measurement of myocardial blood flow (MBF) using agents labeled with positron-emitting radionuclides. These blood flow techniques fall into 2 basic categories: inert freely diffusible tracers (category I
Vibrational spectroscopy of pyrope-majorite garnets: Structural implications

Infrared reflectance, thin-film absorbance, and polarized Raman spectra were acquired from ~100 to ~4000 cm−1 from polycrystalline garnets along the pyrope (Py = Mg3Al2Si3O12)-majorite [Mj = Mg3(MgSi)Si3O12 ] join. We measured Py100, Mj39, Mj45, Mj80, and natural single-crystal, nearly end-member pyrope. Consistency is obtained between measured absorption spectra and absorption coefficients calculated through Kramers-Kronig analysis of reflectivity ( R ) data, if R -values are scaled to account for losses through scattering. The widths of the lattice modes double from each end-member toward the middle of the binary, whereas frequencies are nearly independent of composition. Strong polarization of Raman peaks of all our samples except pyrope shows that the space group is reduced from cubic, even for the Al-rich majorites. The largest number of IR or Raman peaks is observed for Mj80. The number of peaks for Al-rich majorites lies between those seen for cubic pyrope and I 41/ a majorite. The behavior of symmetry-breaking modes supports the I 41/ acd space group, which was inferred from X-ray data for Mj contents near 30 to 45% (Nakatsuka et al. 1999a). Also, the internal mode types that are expected for isolated SiO4 tetrahedra in any garnet-like structure do not fully describe the patterns of peaks seen for some intermediate compositions along the Py-Mj join. The appearance of Sioct-O-Sitet bending modes in the available spectral data for Mj contents near 30–40 and 80–90%, but not near 45–50%, is attributed to two-mode behavior. Specifically, disruption of the structural chain -Sioct-O-Sitet-O-Sioct-O-Sitet-in Si-rich majorites by units such as ![Graphic][1] alters the electrostatic balance so that the internal modes are not entirely described by motions of isolated SiO4 tetrahedra. Short chains are formed at both high and low Al contents, promoting coupling of Si octahedral and tetrahedral vibrations. Near Mj50, each tetrahedron is linked (on average) to four octahedra containing two Al-, one Si-, and one Mg, and the Sioct-O-Sitet bending modes disappear. Order-disorder in majorite garnets is characterized not only by increased peak widths, but also by the presence of modes due to the bridging O atoms, whereas splittings and the appearance of new peaks indicate the space group for non-cubic garnets. [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Biliary injuries as a result of blunt and penetrating trauma

Although rare in even the busiest trauma centers, lacerations, transections, or avulsions of the extrahepatic biliary ducts occur in patients who have experienced both blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma. The diagnosis is difficult in the patient undergoing observation only after blunt abdominal trauma and may not be made for several weeks. Ductal injuries have also been missed at operation in patients with associated injuries to the hilum of the liver or pancreatoduodenal complex. Scanning with HIDA, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, and intraoperative cholangiography has been useful in detecting occult ductal injuries. The technique of repair in stable patients depends primarily on the location and extent of the ductal injury and has ranged from lateral choledochorrhaphy with absorbable sutures to biliary enteric bypass. T tubes or stents are frequently used because of the small size of the ductal system, although no agreement exists on how long they should remain in place after operation. Results of biliary enteric bypass operations for complex injuries are excellent as long as the tenuous blood supply of the bile duct is preserved and the anastomosis is tension free.
Further studies on the thermostable leukocytosis factor of exudates.

Discussion and conclusionsThe significance of the thermostable leukocytosis factor as a contributing factor in the mechanism of leukocytosis with inflammation has already been pointed out(3). At the time no conclusion could be reached as to whether the thermolabile LPF and the thermostable leukocytosis factor are one and the same substance, or whether the two factors are distinct entities. The present studies bearing on the nitrogen content of the crystals of the thermostable leukocytosis factor support the view that the two factors are two distinct substances.In conclusion, the thermostable leukocytosis factor, recovered especially from acid exudates, and which is found in association with the pyrogenic factor, pyrexin, has been crystallized, and the crystals as such have essentially neither pyrogenic nor leukopenic properties. The crystals of the thermostable leukocytosis factor induce a leukocytosis characterized by a discharge into the circulation of immature 1-lobe form of granulocytes.
High-Throughput Enantiopurity Analysis Using Enantiomeric DNA-Based Sensors

Distinguishing between the two enantiomers of a molecule is a challenging task due to their nearly identical physical properties. Time-consuming chromatography methods are typically required for this task, which greatly limits the throughput of analysis. Here we describe a fluorescence-based method for the rapid and high-throughput analysis of both small-molecule enantiopurity and concentration. Our approach relies on selective molecular recognition of one enantiomer of the target molecule using a DNA aptamer, and the ability of aptamer-based biosensors to transduce the presence of a target molecule into a dose-dependent fluorescence signal. The key novel aspect of our approach is the implementation of enantiomeric DNA biosensors, which are synthesized from d- and l-DNA, but labeled with orthogonal fluorophores. According to the principle of reciprocal chiral substrate specificity, these biosensors will bind to opposite enantiomers of the target with equal affinity and selectivity, enabling simultaneous q...
One-pot synthesis of ammonia-borane and trialkylamine-boranes from trimethyl borate.

A one-pot procedure for the preparation of ammonia borane from trimethyl borate in 90% yield and >99% purity has been reported. This methodology has been modified to prepare a series of trialkylamine–boranes in 70–82% yields from trimethyl borate and lithium hydride/aluminum chloride in the presence of the corresponding trialkylamine.
The molecular pharmacology of volatile anesthetics.

Volatile anesthetics (VAs) transformed medical practice, although their impact may now be taken for granted. More than 150 years after they were introduced, VAs are now ubiquitous in operating rooms, but should not be considered commonplace in terms of our understanding of how they act. Despite their history of use, there is still much to learn about them, including their precise mechanism of action.
Solvent Effects on the Growth Morphology and Phase Purity of CL-20

The performance and stability of the high energy secondary explosive 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (HNIW, also known as CL-20) can be affected by factors including the phase purity of the bulk material, as well as the particle size, morphology, and defect density of the individual crystallites. Slow evaporation crystallization of CL-20 from 16 different single solvent and co-solvent systems was performed. The phase purity of the bulk material obtained was analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. These complementary methods confirmed that under most of the slow evaporation conditions examined, a concomitant mixture of two or more crystalline phases was usually obtained. Numerous individual crystal morphologies were determined using single crystal X-ray goniometry and compared against calculated BFDH morphologies. Examination of the packing interactions in the different CL-20 phases via Hirshfeld surface analysis provides some insight int...
HIL range performance of notional hyperspectral imaging sensors

In the use of conventional broadband imaging systems, whether reflective or emissive, scene image contrasts are often so low that target discrimination is difficult or uncertain, and it is contrast that drives human-in-the-loop (HIL) sensor range performance. This situation can occur even when the spectral shapes of the target and background signatures (radiances) across the sensor waveband differ significantly from each other. The fundamental components of broadband image contrast are the spectral integrals of the target and background signatures, and this spectral integration can average away the spectral differences between scene objects. In many low broadband image contrast situations, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) can preserve a greater degree of the intrinsic scene spectral contrast for the display, and more display contrast means greater range performance by a trained observer. This paper documents a study using spectral radiometric signature modeling and the U.S. Army’s Night Vision Integrated Performance Model (NV-IPM) to show how waveband selection by a notional HSI sensor using spectral contrast optimization can significantly increase HIL sensor range performance over conventional broadband sensors.
Theory of Electric Power Emergency Management and Its Technological Countermeasures

The severe disasters occurred in power grids home and abroad are introduced and analyzed in brief.On the basis of researching their features,burst disasters occurred in power grids are classified,and the formula to calculate the risk of power grid burst disaster is proposed;the four disaster-causing factors in the proposed formula,i.e.,the danger of burst disaster,the supporting body of disaster and its vulnerability,and the ability of disaster prevention and reduction,are discoursed upon.Four links in power emergency management,i.e.,the prevention,preparation,response and restoration,are pointed out and their concrete contents are analyzed.The development stages of power emergency management technology are expounded and the development direction of current emergency management work is clarified.The relation between power emergency management and risk management as well related technologies are researched.Finally,the technological countermeasures for power emergency management are suggested.
Performance Analysis of Nozzleless Booster with Series Dual Burning Rate Grain

Performance of nozzleless boosters with series dual burning rate grain(L/D=5.1) is analyzedby using numerical method.In the course of simulation,a 2D axisymmetrical unsteady model of pure gas flow is established,burning surface regression is realized by moving boundary and dynamic mesh techniques,and burning rate of both grains are controlled by erosive law and pressure exponent relation.The results show that,Under the condition of same grain in the front of combustors,the pressure curve drops slowly and Pmax/P-tb diminishes quickly with the burning rate decreasing of rear-end grain.However,the thrust curve rises under the same condition,as well as the motor′s specific impulse.Finally the applications of this techology were disscussed in this paper.
Dynamic Analysis for Bottom-Hole Pressure in Composite Gas Condensate Reservoir by Using 3-Realm Flowing Model

The oil-gas distribution model for conventional gas condensate reservoir is not used to properly deal with the bottom-hole pressure in gas condensate reservoir.A new 3-realm composite well testing model of such a reservoir is developed in this paper.The external boundaries with infinite,enclosed and constant pressures are taken into consideration for educing expressions of bottom-hole pressures under different external boundaries and plotting corresponding type curves.The dynamic changes and affected factors to the bottom-hole pressure in this reservoir are analyzed and discussed.The study shows that this new model is more closed to the real conditions in the process of gas condensate production,and it can be as a guide for performance analysis of such reservoirs.
A Novel Symbol Rate Blind Estimation Algorithm for Multi-h CPM Signal

A low complex algorithm for symbol rate estimation of Multi-h CPM(Continuous-Phase Modulated) signal is presented.The main contribution in this paper is that a prefilter and square estimator is derived and its principle is explained using PAM decomposition of Multi-h CPM signal.Computer simulation results show the unbiased estimator is robust and it does not need prior informations of carry frequence and modulate index.
Vinblastine as a second rescue for the treatment of canine multicentric lymphoma in 39 cases (2005 to 2014).

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate response and outcome of dogs with multicentric lymphoma treated with single-agent vinblastine as a second rescue. METHODS Medical records from 39 client-owned dogs receiving vinblastine rescue treatment (having relapsed on or following completion of UW-Madison and CCNU/L-asparaginase protocols), between 2005 and 2014, were reviewed for information regarding clinical presentation, diagnostic testing, drug dosage, number of treatments, side effects, response and outcome. RESULTS The median starting dose of vinblastine was 2·6 mg/m2 (1·7 to 2·8 mg/m2), administered weekly until disease progression. Of the 39 dogs treated, 3 dogs (7·7%) achieved a complete remission, 7 dogs (17·9%) achieved a partial response, 18 dogs (46·2%) maintained stable disease and 11 (28·2%) had progressive disease. Ten dogs (25·6%) developed a grade III or IV neutropenia, and 4 dogs (10·3%) developed grade III or IV thrombocytopenia (one dog in both categories). After starting vinblastine, the median progression-free survival was 29·5 days (0 to 77 days) and overall median survival time was 46 days (4 to 250 days). Duration of first remission was identified as a positive predictor of outcome. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Single-agent vinblastine is well tolerated in dogs with relapsed or refractory lymphoma. Responses were incomplete and short-lasting.
Frequency domain model for transient analysis of lightning protection systems of buildings

Abstract A frequency domain modeling approach for lightning protection systems (LPS) of buildings is described and validated in this paper. The model is based on a 2-port transmission line representation of each conductor, and the further assembling of a network representing the complete structure. Horizontal and vertical conductors are modeled using formulas based on the complex images method, in order to take into account frequency dependence. Variation of electrical parameters with height is also considered for vertical conductors. This is accomplished by means of a non-uniform modeling approach based on conductor subdivision and cascaded connection of chain matrices computed for each segment. The results from the model are validated by means of comparisons with measurements reported elsewhere, as well as simulations using PSCAD/EMTDC.
Long-term progression of viral load and serum markers of fibrosis among treated and untreated patients with chronic hepatitis B

Background and Aims Antiviral therapy for patients with hepatitis B (HBV) infection is generally deferred for “immune inactive” patients, although longitudinal changes in viral load and liver fibrosis remain understudied in this population. Likewise, in treated patients, the temporal relationship between changes in viral load and liver fibrosis is not well-characterized. Using data from the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, we investigated viral load and the Fibrosis-4 index (FIB4, a serum-based marker of liver fibrosis) trajectories in both untreated and treated HBV patients. Materials and Methods We applied a bivariate, piecewise, linear spline, mixed-effects modeling approach to data from 766 HBV patients (342 untreated, 424 treated). Treatment selection bias was adjusted using propensity scores. Multiple sensitivity analyses were used to confirm results in untreated patients. Results Among all untreated patients, FIB4 began to increase by 0.9% per month (11% per year) (p < 0.05) at 28 months post-index date, suggesting fibrosis progression. Significant FIB4 progression was also observed within a subgroup analysis of “immune inactive” untreated patients. In treated patients, viral load declined 31.8% per month (p < 0.05) for the first 5 months after treatment initiation, and 1.4–1.7% per month (p < 0.05) thereafter. At 5 months after treatment initiation, FIB4 began to decline 0.5% per month (p < 0.05), stabilizing at 28 months. Conclusion Among untreated HBV patients, FIB4 gradually increases over time, suggesting fibrosis progression, even in those patients designated as immune inactive. In treated patients, antiviral therapy results in a rapid decline in viral load followed by a delayed decline in markers of liver fibrosis.
A New Topological Degree Theory for Perturbations of Demicontinuous Operators and Applications to Nonlinear Equations with Nonmonotone Nonlinearities

Let be a real reflexive locally uniformly convex Banach space with locally uniformly convex dual space . Let be maximal monotone of type (i.e., there exist and a nondecreasing function with such that for all , , and be linear, surjective, and closed such that is compact, and be a bounded demicontinuous operator. A new degree theory is developed for operators of the type . The surjectivity of can be omitted provided that is closed, is densely defined and self-adjoint, and , a real Hilbert space. The theory improves the degree theory of Berkovits and Mustonen for , where is bounded demicontinuous pseudomonotone. New existence theorems are provided. In the case when is monotone, a maximality result is included for and . The theory is applied to prove existence of weak solutions in of the nonlinear equation given by , ; , ; and , , where , , , , , is a nonempty, bounded, and open subset of with smooth boundary, and satisfy suitable growth conditions. In addition, a new existence result is given concerning existence of weak solutions for nonlinear wave equation with nonmonotone nonlinearity.