cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prediction of shock initiation thresholds and ignition probability of polymer-bonded explosives using mesoscale simulations

Abstract The design of new materials requires establishment of macroscopic measures of material performance as functions of microstructure. Traditionally, this process has been an empirical endeavor. An approach to computationally predict the probabilistic ignition thresholds of polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) using mesoscale simulations is developed. The simulations explicitly account for microstructure, constituent properties, and interfacial responses and capture processes responsible for the development of hotspots and damage. The specific mechanisms tracked include viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity, fracture, post-fracture contact, frictional heating, and heat conduction. The probabilistic analysis uses sets of statistically similar microstructure samples to directly mimic relevant experiments for quantification of statistical variations of material behavior due to inherent material heterogeneities. The particular thresholds and ignition probabilities predicted are expressed in James type and Walker–Wasley type relations, leading to the establishment of explicit analytical expressions for the ignition probability as function of loading. Specifically, the ignition thresholds corresponding to any given level of ignition probability and ignition probability maps are predicted for PBX 9404 for the loading regime of Up = 200–1200 m/s where Up is the particle speed. The predicted results are in good agreement with available experimental measurements. A parametric study also shows that binder properties can significantly affect the macroscopic ignition behavior of PBXs. The capability to computationally predict the macroscopic engineering material response relations out of material microstructures and basic constituent and interfacial properties lends itself to the design of new materials as well as the analysis of existing materials.
The Global Hop: An Agricultural Overview of the Brewer’s Gold

A volume on the geography of beer would be incomplete without a detailed overview of hops, the ingredient that adds bitterness and aroma to beer and acts as a preservative. This chapter explains how European civilizations first used hops in beermaking by the ninth century, and how farmers and brewers spread knowledge of its cultivation to temperate regions across the world. Physical, cultural, and economic geographies have played crucial roles in this story. The history reflects how plants, people, and ideas engaged in global exchanges over centuries as a means to achieve agricultural and brewing success. In the twenty-first century, commercial hop growing occurs in many temperate regions of the world. But that was not always the case, and understanding how this specialty crop developed helps us better understand the contents of our beer glasses.
An increase in serum lipids increases luteal lipid content and alters the disappearance rate of progesterone in cows.

To determine whether an increase in serum lipids alters the area occupied by lipid droplets in steroidogenic luteal cells and(or) clearance rates of progesterone from serum, pregnant beef heifers received control (n = 6) or treatment (n = 5) diets. To increase serum lipids, the treatment diet contained calcium soaps of fatty acids. Control and treatment diets were formulated to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Feeding of diets was initiated approximately 100 d before parturition and continued through the third postpartum estrous cycle. On d 12 or 13 of the third postpartum cycle, corpora lutea were collected by ovariectomy and a center slice was processed for electron microscopy. Eight samples from each slice were sectioned, stained, and examined at a magnification of 2,500x. Five micrographs per sample were analyzed for area occupied by small (SLC) and large (LLC) luteal cells, percentage of the area of each steroidogenic cell type occupied by lipid, and total steroidogenic area (SLC + LLC) occupied by lipid. Jugular blood was collected before and after ovariectomy, and progesterone, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were quantified. Cows consuming treatment diets had approximately twice (P < .05) the concentration of cholesterol, HDL, and progesterone in serum that controls had. The percentage of the area of SLC, LLC, and total area occupied by lipid was greater (P < .05) in treated than in control cows. The average time required for serum concentrations of progesterone to decrease by 50% after ovariectomy was greater (P < .05) in treated than in control cows (170 +/- 16 vs 113 +/- 15 min).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Inpatient fall prevention from the patient's perspective: A qualitative study.

Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to describe the patient's perspective of fall prevention in an acute care setting to aid in the design of patient centered strategies. Background Falls are one of the most common adverse events in hospitals and can lead to preventable patient harm, increased length of stay, and increased healthcare costs. There is a need to understand fall risk and prevention from the patients' perspectives; however, research in this area is limited. Methods To understand the patient perspective, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve patients at an academic healthcare center. Results Qualitative analysis revealed three major themes: (1) how I see myself, (2) how I see the interventions; and (3) how I see us. The theme “How I see myself” describes patients' beliefs of their own fall risk and includes the sub-themes of awareness, acceptance/rejection, implications, emotions, and personal plan. Interventions, such as fall alarms, are illustrated in the theme “How I see the interventions” and includes the subthemes what I see and hear and usefulness of equipment. Finally, “How I see us” describes barriers to participating in the fall prevention plan. Conclusions Most fall prevention programs favor clinician-led plan development and implementation. Patient fall assessments needs to shift from being clinician-centric to patient-centric. Nurses must develop relationships with patients to facilitate understanding of their needs. Developing these truly patient-centered programs may reduce the over-reliance on bed alarms and allow for implementation of strategies aimed to mitigate modifiable risk factors leading to falls.
Intraspinal and Intracortical Delivery of AAV Vectors for Intersectional Circuit Tracing in Non-transgenic Species

The mapping of long-range axonal projections is a rapidly growing endeavor in the field of neuroscience. Recent advances in the development of adeno-associated viral vectors that can achieve efficient retrograde transport now enable the characterization and manipulation of specific neuronal subpopulations using Cre-dependent, intersectional approaches. Importantly, these approaches can be applied to non-transgenic animals, making it possible to carry out detailed anatomical studies across a variety of species including nonhuman primates. In this chapter, we demonstrate the utility of such intersectional strategies by describing methods for targeting viral constructs to distinct subsets of corticospinal motor neurons based on their projections to specific spinal cord segments.
A phase II trial cohort of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients (Pts) with recurrent/metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma (R/M ACC).

6084Background: R/M ACC is a malignant neoplasm most commonly of salivary gland origin with no standard treatment. The impact of combined PD-1/CTLA-4 checkpoint blockade in R/M ACC is unknown. Meth...
Optimization-Based AMP for Phase Retrieval: The Impact of Initialization and $\ell_{2}$ Regularization

We consider an $\ell _{2}$ -regularized non-convex optimization problem for recovering signals from their noisy phaseless observations. We design and study the performance of a message passing algorithm that aims to solve this optimization problem. We consider the asymptotic setting $m,n \rightarrow \infty $ , $m/n \rightarrow \delta $ and obtain sharp performance bounds, where $m$ is the number of measurements and $n$ is the signal dimension. We show that for complex signals, the algorithm can perform accurate recovery with only $m = (({64}/{\pi ^{2}})-4)n \approx 2.5n$ measurements. Also, we provide a sharp analysis on the sensitivity of the algorithm to noise. We highlight the following facts about our message passing algorithm: 1) adding $\ell _{2}$ regularization to the non-convex loss function can be beneficial and 2) spectral initialization has a marginal impact on the performance of the algorithm. The sharp analyses, in this paper, not only enable us to compare the performance of our method with other phase recovery schemes but also shed light on designing better iterative algorithms for other non-convex optimization problems.
Hepatitis C virus infection increases autophagosome stability by suppressing lysosomal fusion through an Arl8b-dependent mechanism

Autophagy is a conserved cellular process involving intracellular membrane trafficking and degradation. Pathogens, including hepatitis C virus (HCV), often exploit this process to promote their own survival. The aim of this study was to determine the mechanism by which HCV increases steady-state autophagosome numbers while simultaneously inhibiting flux through the autophagic pathway. Using the lysosomal inhibitor bafilomycin A1, we showed that HCV-induced alterations in autophagy result from a blockage of autophagosome degradation rather than an increase in autophagosome generation. In HCV-infected cells, lysosome function was normal, but a tandem RFP–GFP–LC3 failed to reach the lysosome even under conditions that activate autophagy. Autophagosomes and lysosomes isolated from HCV-infected cells were able to fuse with each other normally in vitro, suggesting that the cellular fusion defect resulted from trafficking rather than an inability of vesicles to fuse. Arl8b is an Arf-like GTPase that specifically localizes to lysosomes and plays a role in autophagic flux through its effect on lysosomal positioning. At basal levels, Arl8b was primarily found in a perinuclear localization and co-localized with LC3-positive autophagosomes. HCV infection increased the level of Arl8b 3-fold and redistributed Arl8b to a more diffuse, peripheral pattern that failed to co-localize with LC3. Knockdown of Arl8b in HCV-infected cells restored autophagosome–lysosome fusion and autophagic flux to levels seen in control cells. Thus, HCV suppresses autophagic flux and increases the steady-state levels of autophagosomes by increasing the expression of Arl8b, which repositions lysosomes and prevents their fusion with autophagosomes.
Addressing the gap: a blueprint for studying bimanual hand preference in infants.

Between 4 and 7 months of age, infants begin to manipulate objects using role-differentiated bimanual manipulation (RDBM) where one hand stabilizes an object while the other hand manipulates the object (Rochat, 1989; Kimmerle et al., 1995, 2010). Because RDBM constrains the roles of the hands, it elicits a measurable asymmetry where the manipulating hand is considered to be the preferred hand for RDBM actions (i.e., RDBM hand preference). Initially, infants display partially differentiated roles for each hand, which is driven in part by the affordances of the object (Ramsay et al., 1979; Fagard and Jacquet, 1989; Fagard and Peze, 1997; Fagard, 1998; Fagard and Marks, 2000). Children exhibit increasing role differentiation with age (Vauclair and Imbault, 2009; Birtles et al., 2011; Cochet et al., 2011; Cochet, 2012). Only 50% of infants’ bimanual actions were characterized as fully differentiated at 12–13 months (Ramsay and Weber, 1986). At 18 months, children used a fully differentiated strategy on 71% of target RDBM actions; this figure increased to 94% by 24 months (Nelson et al., 2013). Early emerging RDBM skills (11–13 months) involve object removal and insertion, while later RDBM skills (18–24 months) include additional actions such as unscrewing and unzipping (e.g., Kimmerle et al., 2010; Nelson et al., 2013).
Policing the World: The Last (White) American Standing

Chapter 10 features an analysis of the current Other as crimefighter, a Muslim or Middle Eastern character, with a profile of the 2018 Hulu series, The Looming Tower, about the turf war between the CIA and FBI prior to 9/11 and the key role of Agent Ali Soufan. The chapter also looks at the slew of films and TV shows that still showcase the white male crimefighter hero, including more Die Hard sequels, Tom Cruise films, and a reboot of the Tom Clancy hero, Jack Ryan. The chapter ends with a closer look at Captain America, the American everyman transformed into a superhero and the nation’s defender since the 1940s, also made over to be relevant to modern times, including going rogue in the 2016 film, Captain America: Civil War.
Convergent stress response repertoire to thermal challenges in a temperate aposymbiotic coral

Corals are threatened worldwide due to rapidly warming oceans associated with anthropogenic climate change. A growing body of work has explored how corals respond to heat stress, however, responses of corals across the full range of their thermal breadth are rarely explored even though winter colds are also known to induce coral stress. Here, we leverage the temperate stony coral, Astrangia poculata, which naturally exhibits a facultative symbiosis with Symbiodiniaceae, to explicitly examine how thermal challenges influence coral hosts in isolation from their symbionts. Aposymbiotic A. poculata were collected from Woods Hole, MA, the northern range limit for this species. Corals were thermally challenged in two independent common garden experiments (Heat challenge: 31 C, 10 days; Cold challenge: 6 C, 16 days) to determine the effects of divergent thermal stressors. Behavioural responses to food stimuli were monitored throughout the thermal challenges and genome-wide gene expression profiling (TagSeq) was used to characterize molecular underpinnings of the coral response to stress in its aposymbiotic state. Behaviourally, both thermal challenges induced polyp retraction and colonies failed to respond to food stimuli. Surprisingly, seven times as many genes were differentially expressed under cold challenge heat challenge. Despite a greater magnitude of response under cold challenge, significant similarities in gene expression were detected across the two thermal challenge experiments, with many of the most responsive genes having been previously implicated in coral heat stress response. Given that our data were generated from aposymbiotic colonies, we hypothesize that these genes previously linked to heat stress are more likely indicative of a generalized stress response. Overall this work highlights the unique insights facultatively symbiotic corals offer for deciphering the stress response of the coral host in the absence of bleaching.
Location-dependent Task Assignment for Opportunistic Mobile Crowdsensing

In mobile crowdsensing applications that rely on opportunistic sensing and communication, efficient task assignment strategies are needed to ensure that the tasks are completed before their expiration time. This requires to optimize the tradeoff between high task completion ratio and cost-efficiency by assigning tasks only to a small group of users who are expected to be of most assistance to task owners. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose two new task assignment protocols based on a new metric that accurately measures the utility of users to each other in performing tasks in specific regions. Through simulations we show that the proposed protocols not only provide a high task completion ratio, but also utilize the network resources efficiently by assigning tasks to as few users as possible, hence they perform better than the previous work.
Distance travelled by military recruits during basic training is a significant risk factor for lower limb overuse injury

Introduction Military initial training results in a high incidence of lower limb overuse injuries (stress fractures and medial tibial stress syndrome). This study aimed to determine whether the distance travelled by recruits, both on and off duty, was a risk factor for overuse injury. Methods 14 male airborne infantry recruits from three training platoons carried global positioning system receivers throughout the first 19 weeks of basic military training. Total distance travelled each day was recorded. This was compared with time of clinical manifestation of 52 lower limb overuse injuries (stress fractures and medial tibial stress syndrome) collected from the 276 airborne infantry recruits in the period immediately preceding the study. Results Recruits travelled significantly farther than the UK average male population in 17 of 18 measured weeks. Pearson correlation between distance travelled per week and injuries was not significant (p=0.4448); however, correlation between distance travelled per week and injuries two weeks later was significant (p=0.0263). A generalised linear model found distance travelled as a significant covariate (p=0.0144) to the expected number of injuries two weeks later. Conclusion Recruits travel long distances during basic training, particularly in the first few weeks when they are not yet conditioned. This distance travelled is likely a contributing risk factor to the high incidence of overuse injuries seen during training, and strategies to reduce this distance should be explored.
Physics-Consistent Data-Driven Waveform Inversion With Adaptive Data Augmentation

Seismic full-waveform inversion (FWI) is a nonlinear computational imaging technique that can provide detailed estimates of subsurface geophysical properties. Solving the FWI problem can be challenging due to its ill-posedness and high computational cost. In this work, we develop a new hybrid computational approach to solve FWI that combines physics-based models with data-driven methodologies. In particular, we develop a data augmentation strategy that can not only improve the representativity of the training set but also incorporate important governing physics into the training process and, therefore, improve the inversion accuracy. To validate the performance, we apply our method to synthetic elastic seismic waveform data generated from a subsurface geologic model built on a carbon sequestration site at Kimberlina, California. We compare our physics-consistent data-driven inversion method to both purely physics-based and purely data-driven approaches and observe that our method yields higher accuracy and greater generalization ability.
Fresh in My Mind! Investigating the Effects of the Order of Presenting Opportunistic and Restrictive Design for Additive Manufacturing Content on Creativity

To capitalise the design freedoms enabled by additive manufacturing (AM), designers must employ opportunistic and restrictive design for AM (O- and R-DfAM respectively). The order of information pr...
Optical tuning of Si 3 N 4 ring resonators using an external short visible wavelength laser source

The use of integrated silicon photonic devices has been critical in the advancement of data communication technologies. However, the fabrication and operation of active photonic devices for these applications is often complicated and costly. By using an external 478nm laser source, we have demonstrated the ability to opto-thermally tune passive photonic devices. We have demonstrated various methods of thermal tuning using an external laser source with tuning capabilities up to 24.4 pm/mW for a passive Si3N4 chip with SiO2 cladding material. By etching the cladding layer using standard reactive ion etching techniques to better thermally isolate the individual resonators, we increased the tuning capability to 44.4 pm/mW. In this way, we have successfully tuned the resonance of a passive photonic chip without the use of electrical contacts or thermal electric devices. This poses potential alternatives to conventional thermal tuning techniques.
Planificación utópica y realidad : enfrentamiento al devenir del aprendizaje del siglo XXI

La planificacion social, economica y educativa actual se orienta a identificar metas mas que a crearlas, a continuar una realidad mas que a transformarla; es esta un tipo de planificacion denominada realista que resulta incapaz de cambiar el curso o direccion de la sociedad. Frente a ella el autor nos propone lo que denomina: planificacion “utopica” como “climax” de pensamiento que amplia el juicio a la reflexion, a la idealizacion, en definitiva, a la creatividad. La diferencia de la planificacion realista reside en que esta ultima tiene varias metas de desarrollo a las que se llega mediante la conjuncion de recursos disponibles y ampliacion de la capacidad de absorcion en dichos recursos, mientras que en la planificacion utopica o planificacion de alternativas convergentes a un solo parametro tiene una unica y sola meta a alcanzar. Dependiendo de los recursos disponibles se planifica a la marcha hacia esa utopia deseable. El sistema desarrollista ha dado a la institucion educativa la unica funcion de formar recursos para el aparato productivo y no el papel de mejoramiento global .del hombre. Este, autentico eje de desarrollo, ha sido cambiado por una de sus creaciones: la produccion de objetos. Este tipo de planificacion realista es, asi mismo, insuficiente a la hora de hacer llegar los nuevos adelantos cientificos y tecnicos a las instituciones escolares que continuan perpetuando el pizarron y la tiza. Asi pues, el aprendizaje del siglo XXI, -tan solo faltan diecinueve anos-, exigira del sistema una mayor participacion en su futuro: la tecnologia nos facilitara con mayor rapidez y calidad la informacion; la jornada laboral se vera disminuida en funcion del aumento del tiempo de ocio creativo; el sistema educativo recobrara su mision autentica de servir al hombre ayudandolo en su formacion, en la capacidad de reflexion y critica, en la actitud cooperativa con sus iguales; esta preparacion para el futuro del hombre que debe empezar aqui y ahora es la que predica la planificacion utopica. “La unica esperanza es planificar la utopia y dirigirse hacia ella con obsesion".
Current Programmed Control

So far, we have discussed duty ratio control of PWM converters, in which the converter output is controlled by direct choice of the duty ratio d(t). We have therefore developed expressions and small-signal transfer functions that relate the converter waveforms and output voltage to the duty ratio.
Biological transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.

Publisher Summary This chapter aims at providing a perspective as to the efforts in developing biological murine models of AD. The chapter discusses that a novel approach toward the development of models of neurodegeneration in mammals includes the use of lentiviral and adeno-associated viral vectors. These vectors can be injected into the eggs or directly into the brains of mature animals, including mice, rats, and macaques, with excellent results. Crosses of transgenic (tg) models of neurodegeneration with other models expressing anti-oxidant, pro-inflammatory, antiapoptotic or molecular chaperones have been developed to test new possible treatments and mechanisms of disease. The chapter emphasizes that most studies suggest that oligomers and protofibrils rather than fibrillar structures and inclusions are responsible for the pathogenesis of the neurodegenerative process. Thus it is important when developing these models to demonstrate not only a wide range of clinical and neuropathological features but also the formation of oligomers, which in the end are the primary target for therapy. These models hold the promise for development and discovery of new treatments for these diseases.
Galactic Neighborhood and Laboratory Astrophysics

The galactic neighborhood, extending from the Milky Way to redshifts of about 0.1, is our unique local laboratory for detailed study of galaxies and their interplay with the environment. Such study provides a foundation of knowledge for interpreting observations of more distant galaxies and their environment. The Astro 2010 Science Frontier Galactic Neighborhood Panel identified four key scientific questions: 1) What are the flows of matter and energy in the circumgalactic medium? 2) What controls the mass-energy-chemical cycles within galaxies? 3) What is the fossil record of galaxy assembly from first stars to present? 4) What are the connections between dark and luminous matter? These questions, essential to the understanding of galaxies as interconnected complexes, can be addressed most effectively and/or uniquely in the galactic neighborhood. The panel also highlighted the discovery potential of time-domain astronomy and astrometry with powerful new techniques and facilities to greatly advance our understanding of the precise connections among stars, galaxies, and newly discovered transient events. The relevant needs for laboratory astrophysics will be emphasized, especially in the context of supporting NASA missions.
Ocular infection with a murine neurovirulent retrovirus does not cause retinal degeneration.

The developing eyes of CFW/D mice inoculated at birth with a neurovirulent mutant (tsl) of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMuLV), nonneurovirulent wild type (wt) MoMuLV, and conditioned virusfree medium were studied comparatively by immunohistochemistry, lectin histochemistry, and light microscopy. Cellular targets for viral antigen expression in the eye were identical in both tsl and wt MoMuLV-infected mice. Viral antigen first was observed in endothelial cells of the retina and subsequently spread in a spatial and temporal pattern consistent with normal vascularization of the developing retina. The virus also was observed in (1) epithelial cells of the bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva, ora ciliaris retinae, and lacrimal gland; (2) endothelial cells of the ciliary body, iris, choroid, and sclera; (3) amacrine cells of the retina; and (4) smooth muscle cells and endothelia of the periocular muscle. Although tsl MoMuLV induced a spongiform encephalopathy in the brain and spinal cord, structural lesions were not observed in the retina or other tsl MoMuLV-infected ocular structures; differentiation of the retina was normal. The lectin Ricinus communis agglutinin-I (RCA-I) labeled (1) endothelial cells of the hyaloid vessels, tunica vasculosa lentis, retina, ciliary body, iris, choroid, and sclera; (2) epithelial cells of the cornea, bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva, ora ciliaris retinae, and lacrimal gland; (3) smooth muscle cells and endothelia of the periocular muscle; (4) inner segments of the photoreceptor layer; and (5) amacrine cells of the retina. The retina did not contain RCA-I-labeled cells with morphologic features comparable the RCA-I-positive microglial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). Previous studies showed that tsl MoMuLV-induced lesions in the brain and spinal cord correlated with the infection and activation of resident RCA-I-positive microglial cells. These ocular studies suggested that retinal lesions may not occur in tsl MoMuLV-infected mice because there is an absence of appropriate targets cells (RCA-I-positive microglial cells) suitable for pathologic virus infection. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 33:384-389,1992
Genetic studies with tumorigenic adenoviruses. II. Heterogeneity of cyt mutants of adenovirus type 12.

Abstract The cytocidal, large-plaque-forming, and low tumorigenic cyt mutants of two strains (Huie and 1131) of adenovirus type 12 (Ad. 12) are heterogeneous. Some isolates ( kb ) produce maximal cyt cytopathic effect (CPE), but fail to propagate in a line of KB cells (KB-1, nonpermissive), while other isolates ( kb + ) as well as parental viruses multiply in these cells. Both cyt kb + and cyt kb propagate readily in another line of KB cells (KB-2, permissive). Hexon antigen is not produced in cyt kb infections of KB-1 cells, whereas T antigen is produced apparently normally. Parental viruses complement the growth of cyt kb in KB-1 cells. The cyt kb mutants are heterogeneous with respect to spontaneous revertibility. Some revert to cyt + kb + , while others do not. The revertants are recovered after two passages in KB-1 cells and are as tumorigenic as parental viruses. It may be hypothesized that cyt kb mutations are nonsense mutations.
Application of trusted computing in automation to prevent product piracy

Product piracy has become a serious threat for automation and mechanical engineering in recent years. Therefore effective protection measures are desperately needed. Especially the software has to be protected since it determines the machine's functionality and without software the machine (and the imitations) cannot work. Thereby it has to be prevented that software can be copied from one machine to another and that it can be manipulated in order to activate additional machine functionalities. Moreover the unauthorized replacement of software-equipped machine components must be prohibited. This can be achieved by applying Trusted Computing and TPMs to this new field of application.
Atlas of Cellular Dynamics during Zebrafish Adult Kidney Regeneration

The zebrafish is a useful animal model to study the signaling pathways that orchestrate kidney regeneration, as its renal nephrons are simple, yet they maintain the biological complexity inherent to that of higher vertebrate organisms including mammals. Recent studies have suggested that administration of the aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin in zebrafish mimics human acute kidney injury (AKI) through the induction of nephron damage, but the timing and details of critical phenotypic events associated with the regeneration process, particularly in existing nephrons, have not been characterized. Here, we mapped the temporal progression of cellular and molecular changes that occur during renal epithelial regeneration of the proximal tubule in the adult zebrafish using a platform of histological and expression analysis techniques. This work establishes the timing of renal cell death after gentamicin injury, identifies proliferative compartments within the kidney, and documents gene expression changes associated with the regenerative response of proliferating cells. These data provide an important descriptive atlas that documents the series of events that ensue after damage in the zebrafish kidney, thus availing a valuable resource for the scientific community that can facilitate the implementation of zebrafish research to delineate the mechanisms that control renal regeneration.
Harnessing fetal and adult genetic reprograming for therapy of heart disease

Heart is the first organ formed during organogenesis. The fetal heart undergoes several structural and functional modifications to form the four-chambered mammalian heart. The adult heart shows different adaptations during compensatory and decompensatory heart failure. However, one common adaptation in the pathological heart is fetal reprogramming, where the adult heart expresses several genes and miRNAs which are active in the fetal stage. The fetal reprogramming in the failing heart raises several questions, such as whether the switch of adult to fetal genetic programming is an adaptive response to cope with adverse remodeling of the heart, does the expression of fetal genes protect the heart during compensatory and/or decompensatory heart failure, does repressing the fetal gene in the failing heart is protective to the heart? To answer these questions, we need to understand the expression of genes and miRNAs that are reprogrammed in the failing heart. In view of this, we provided an overview of differentially expressed genes and miRNAs, and their regulation in this review. Further, we elaborated novel strategies for a plausible future therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Journal of Nature and Science, 1(4):e71, 2015
Quantum Beat Spectroscopy using Tunable Pulsed Dye Lasers

The recently developed broadly tunable N2 — laser pumped pulsed dye lasers are an ideal source of light excitation for Quantum Beat experiments. Using one of these lasers, we have observed optically induced hyperfine Quantum Beats in the 72P3/2 state of Cs . This experiment shows that the detection of dye laser induced Quantum Beats may be developed as a practical tool in high resolution spectroscopy without Doppler effect. Some speculations regarding future applications of the technique are considered.
NADH→NAD+ Transhydrogenation in Adult Ascaris suum Mitochondria

Abstract: Although lacking an NADPH→NAD+ transhydrogenase system, the essentially energetically anaerobic mitochondria of the adult intestinal nematode Ascaris suum display an inner membrane-associated NADH→NAD+ transhydrogenation reaction. This reaction is considered to be reflective of a mechanism(s) that acts in catalyzing a transmembrane translocation of reducing equivalents from NADH in the intermembrane space to matrix NAD+, thereby forming matrix NADH that would serve in electron transport. Ascarid mitochondrial lipoamide dehydrogenase rather than an NADH→NAD+ transhydrogenase system has been viewed as the predominant source of inner membrane-associated NADH→NAD+ transhydrogenation activity. However, the present study made apparent yet another source of mitochondrial, inner membrane–associated NADH→NAD+ activity in A. suum, viz., NADH dehydrogenase. This was made evident via comparisons of the A. suum mitochondrial NADH→NAD+ transhydrogenation, NADH dehydrogenase, and lipoamide dehydrogenase activ...
FLAVOR OF LAMB AND MUTTON

It has been confirmed that sheep meat (lamb or mutton) possesses distinct strong species-related flavor notes that many regard as not pleasing. The intensity of this flavor can be influenced by various antemortem and postmortem factors such as animal diet, age, sex, meat pH, the type and extent of cooking, and curing. Post-cooking storage and modulation of lipid oxidation in mutton also has effects on flavor characteristics. Various chemical compounds have been implicated as responsible for or contributing to ovine flavor. Of those compounds, medium-length branched-chain fatty acids have been confirmed to be the most important. Definitive generalizations regarding sheep production management practices yielding meat with the most desirable flavor attributes have not yet been made. Meanwhile, processing methods that reduce or modify the species flavor, such as washing and extrusion with nonmeat ingredients, have been evaluated
Design of sample-and-hold amplifiers for high-speed low-voltage A/D converters

Multi-step analog-to-digital converters typically employ a sample-and-hold amplifier at the front end that must achieve high speed and high linearity with low power dissipation. Furthermore, sampling circuits can be used to alleviate the timing and bandwidth limitations of one-step converters such as flash and interpolative architectures. This paper describes design techniques for sample-and-hold circuits utilized in high-speed low-voltage data converters, Following a review of the role of sampling in various converter architectures, two broad categories of sampling techniques are introduced and properties of basic analog switches are summarized. Next, conventional sampling architectures are discussed, design methods for CMOS, bipolar, and BiCMOS implementations are studied, and several examples embodying these methods are presented. Finally, characterization of high-speed sampling circuits is described.
Mother-infant attachment in the squirrel monkey: adrenal response to separation.

The pituitary-adrenal response following separation was evaluated in mother and infant squirrel monkeys. Four mother-infant pairs and a pregnant female, living in a social group, were the subjects of this experiment. The plasma cortisol levels of the mothers and infants were determined after the following conditions: (1) basal levels at 1100 hr, (2) 30 min after momentary separation and reunion, (3) 30 min after infant removal from the group, and (4) 30 min after mother removal from the group. The levels of plasma cortisol were significantly elevated in both mothers and infants following separation and the response was not reduced by the presence of familiar animals (e.g., separated infants which were “aunted” by the pregnant female). Separation followed by immediate reunion did not result in elevated values. These data indicate that a specific attachment relationship develops between mother and infant, and that the agitation following separation is reduced only by reunion with the object of attachment.
Lasting effects of repeated cocaine administration on acoustic and fear-potentiated startle in rats

Rationale: Following cocaine withdrawal, humans may experience an abstinence syndrome with high levels of anxiety. Studying anxious behavior in animals following repeated cocaine administration may help elucidate important variables that contribute to a withdrawal syndrome. Objectives: This study investigated whether repeated cocaine pre-exposure produced lasting increases in conditioned fear as measured by fear-potentiated startle responses in rats. Methods: Startle was measured in response to 50 ms acoustic stimuli of 95, 105 and 115 dB. Cocaine (20 mg/kg, IP) or saline was administered for 7 days and after each injection rats were either placed in startle chambers for 30 min or returned to the home cage. After a 1-week cocaine-free period, most rats were given ten light-footshock pairings in the startle chamber. Fear-potentiated startle was tested by presenting acoustic startle-eliciting stimuli of 95, 105 and 115 dB in the presence or absence of the light. Rats that were not fear conditioned received acoustic stimuli one week after 7 days of 20 mg/kg cocaine. Results: Startle responses, both in the presence and absence of the light CS, were greater in fear-conditioned rats that received cocaine pre-exposure in the startle chamber than in saline pre-exposed rats. Startle responses in the presence of the light CS were further augmented at 115 dB. In contrast, home-cage exposure to cocaine did not enhance startle responses. In rats that were not fear conditioned, cocaine pre-exposure reduced acoustic startle. Conclusions: Repeated cocaine pre-exposure can increase, decrease or not change acoustic startle depending on whether fear conditioning occurred and whether cocaine was given in the testing chamber. The data suggest that cocaine pre-exposure may act as a contextually conditioned occasion setting stimulus that can facilitate anxious behavior similar to the postulated human cocaine abstinence syndrome.
Effect of 3-hydroxy-2-phenylcinchoninic acid on renal secretion of phenyl red and penicillin.

SummarySimilar to carinamide, 3-hydroxy-2-phenylcinchoninic acid causes higher concentrations of penicillin in the plasma when injected before the administration of the penicillin. Both substances also decrease the rate of excretion of phenol red. The activities of the two drugs are roughly of the same order of magnitude. This increase in concentration of penicillin in the plasma and decrease in rate of excretion of phenol red is attributed to a blocking of the renal tubular secretory mechanism.We wish to thank Sara Ann Verplanck and Irene T. Payne for technical assistance.
Use of molecular dynamics to investigate polymer melt–metal wall interactions

Abstract The classical boundary condition of fluid dynamics, i.e. the no-slip condition is violated during the flow of various complex fluids including polymer melts and polymeric suspensions. It is recognized that the dynamics of the behavior of the macromolecules at the wall, their adsorption, and disentanglement from each other and from the wall all play significant roles during shearing and flow. During wall slip it is not clear whether the macromolecules detach from the wall (adhesive failure of the slip condition) or whether the macromolecules remain tethered to the wall but disentangle from the neighboring macromolecules (cohesive failure). In this study, we seek to shed light to the basic mechanisms of the wall slip of polymers by focusing on the dynamics of the polymer behavior at the wall for three polymers, two of which exhibit significant strong wall slip, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), and one which does not exhibit wall slip under typical extrusion conditions, i.e. a block copolymer BAMO/AMMO, (crystalline blocks of poly(3,3-bis(azidomethyl)-oxetane), BAMO, and amorphous blocks of poly(3-azidomethyl)-3-methyl-oxetane, AMMO). The cohesive energy densities of the three polymers were found to be in the same range, with the cohesive energy density of BAMO/AMMO being slightly higher than those of the other two. The molecular dynamics based cohesive energy density values compared well with calculations based on the determination of the group molar attraction constants. On the other hand, the energy of adhesion value exhibited by the copolymer BAMO/AMMO/iron oxide is significantly higher than the energy of adhesion values for the iron oxide/PDMS and iron oxide/HDPE systems. Considering that over the same broad range of shear stresses the block copolymer BAMO/AMMO does not exhibit wall slip and the other two polymers HDPE and PDMS do, these findings suggest that at least for these three polymers wall slip is more likely to occur on the basis of an adhesive failure mechanism.
Contributions of muscle imbalance and impaired growth to postural and osseous shoulder deformity following brachial plexus birth palsy: a computational simulation analysis.

Purpose Two potential mechanisms leading to postural and osseous shoulder deformity after brachial plexus birth palsy are muscle imbalance between functioning internal rotators and paralyzed external rotators and impaired longitudinal growth of paralyzed muscles. Our goal was to evaluate the combined and isolated effects of these 2 mechanisms on transverse plane shoulder forces using a computational model of C5–6 brachial plexus injury. Methods We modeled a C5–6 injury using a computational musculoskeletal upper limb model. Muscles expected to be denervated by C5–6 injury were classified as affected, with the remaining shoulder muscles classified as unaffected. To model muscle imbalance, affected muscles were given no resting tone whereas unaffected muscles were given resting tone at 30% of maximal activation. To model impaired growth, affected muscles were reduced in length by 30% compared with normal whereas unaffected muscles remained normal in length. Four scenarios were simulated: normal, muscle imbalance only, impaired growth only, and both muscle imbalance and impaired growth. Passive shoulder rotation range of motion and glenohumeral joint reaction forces were evaluated to assess postural and osseous deformity. Results All impaired scenarios exhibited restricted range of motion and increased and posteriorly directed compressive glenohumeral joint forces. Individually, impaired muscle growth caused worse restriction in range of motion and higher and more posteriorly directed glenohumeral forces than did muscle imbalance. Combined muscle imbalance and impaired growth caused the most restricted joint range of motion and the highest joint reaction force of all scenarios. Conclusions Both muscle imbalance and impaired longitudinal growth contributed to range of motion and force changes consistent with clinically observed deformity, although the most substantial effects resulted from impaired muscle growth. Clinical relevance Simulations suggest that treatment strategies emphasizing treatment of impaired longitudinal growth are warranted for reducing deformity after brachial plexus birth palsy.
The validity of reading comprehension therapy materials

This study examines the degree to which reading comprehension therapy materials measure reading comprehension. Thirty-six non-brain-damaged adults (18 females, 18 males) ranging in age from 55 to 75 years participated. They answered written multiple-choice questions from aphasia therapy workbooks before and after reading the paragraphs (n = 40) to which the questions related. Results showed that for each of four sets of workbook materials, subjects answered an average of 24% to 49% more of the questions after reading the paragraphs relative to the number they answered before reading the paragraphs. For questions that could not be answered using one's prior knowledge, subjects were more dependent on having to read the paragraph in order to answer the questions correctly. Based on binomial probabilities, at least half of the questions from 32/40 paragraphs were answered correctly at greater than chance levels without reading the related paragraph.
A geochemical study of rock alteration by hot springs in the Paint Pot Hill area, Yellowstone Park

Abstract The rhyolitic country rocks in two thermal areas in Yellowstone Park have been extensively altered by hot-spring waters of widely different compositions. There are two major types of springs: 1. (1) The acid sulfate springs and mud-pots; and 2. (2) the alkaline Na-Cl-HCO 3 springs and geysers. Overflow from these springs controls the composition of the main drainage ways. The alteration process at the acid springs is easily accessible for direct observation. Nearsurface oxidation of effluent sulfur gases in these springs produces sulfuric acid which then attacks the rocks resulting in an assemblage of kaolinite, alunite and silica minerals. A typical acid water could result from a reaction between Na, K-feldspar in the rock and H 2 SO 4 of strength well within the range of values expected from oxidation of solutions saturated with H 2 S gas at the spring temperature. The compositions of all the acid springs plot in the thermodynamic stability field of alunite in the corresponding temperature range. The alkaline springs are lined with thick deposits of silica obscuring any alteration of the wall rocks. Their analyses plot in the field of stability of an idealised Na-montmorillonite phase between 25 and 95°C. It is possible, however, that some of the reactions controlling their composition take place at higher temperatures underground.
The anterior cingulate cortex in autism: heterogeneity of qualitative and quantitative cytoarchitectonic features suggests possible subgroups

Autism is a behaviorally defined disorder with deficits in social interaction, communication, atypical behaviors, and restricted areas of interest. Postmortem studies of the brain in autism have shown a broad spectrum of abnormalities in the cerebellum and neocortex, involving limbic regions such as anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, Brodmann's area 24). Using stereological techniques, we analyzed quantitatively cytoarchitectonic subdomains of the ACC (areas 24a, b, c) with regard to cell packing density and cell size. Microscopic examination of the ACC was also done to identify any neuropathologies. Results showed a significant decrease in cell size in layers I-III and layers V-VI of area 24b and in cell packing density in layers V-VI of area 24c. Direct comparisons revealed irregular lamination in three of nine autism brains and increased density of neurons in the subcortical white matter in the remaining cases. Because previous studies have suggested that von Economo neurons (VENs) may be altered in autism, a preliminary study of their density and size was undertaken. VEN density did not differ between autism and control brains overall. However, among the nine autism cases, there were two subsets; three brains with significantly increased VEN density and the remaining six cases with reduced VEN density compared to controls. Collectively, the findings of this pilot study may reflect the known heterogeneity in individuals with autism and variations in clinical symptomotology. Further neuroanatomic analyses of the ACC, from carefully documented subjects with autism, could substantially expand our understanding of ACC functions and its role in autism.