cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microenvironment stiffness requires decellularized cardiac extracellular matrix to promote heart regeneration in the neonatal mouse heart

The transient period of regeneration potential in the postnatal heart suggests molecular changes with maturation influence the cardiac response to damage. We have previously demonstrated that injury and exercise can stimulate cardiomyocyte proliferation in the adult heart suggesting a sensitivity to exogenous signals. Here, we consider whether exogenous fetal ECM and mechanically unloading interstitial matrix can drive regeneration after myocardial infarction (MI) surgery in low-regenerative hearts of day5 mice. Compared to controls, exogenous fetal ECM increases cardiac function and lowers fibrosis at 3 weeks post-injury and this effect can be augmented by softening heart tissue. In vitro experiments support a mechano-sensitivity to exogenous ECM signaling. We tested potential mechanisms and observed that fetal ECM increases nuclear YAP localization which could be enhanced by pharmacological stabilization of the cytoskeleton. Blocking YAP expression lowered fetal ECM effects though not completely. Lastly we observed mechanically unloading heart interstitial matrix increased agrin expression, an extracellular node in the YAP signaling pathway. Collectively, these data support a combined effect of exogenous factors and mechanical activity in altering agrin expression, cytoskeletal remodeling, and YAP signaling in driving cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity and regeneration in postnatal non-regenerative mice. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: With the purpose of developing regenerative strategies, we investigate the influence of the local niche on the cardiac injury response. We conclude tissue stiffness, as anticipated in aging or disease, impairs regenerative therapeutics. Most novel, mechanical unloading facilitates enhanced cardiac regeneration only after cells are pushed into a permissive state by fetal biomolecules. Specifically, mechanical unloading appears to increase extracellular agrin expression that amplifies fetal-stimulation of nuclear YAP signaling which correlates with observed increases of cell cycle activity in cardiomyocytes. The results further suggest the cytoskeleton is critical to this interaction between mechanical unloading and independently actived YAP signaling. Using animal models, tissue explants, and cells, this work indicates that local mechanical stimuli can augment proliferating-permissive cardiomyocytes in the natural cardiac niche.
AVALIAÇÃO DA ATIVIDADE DE EXTRATO DA ACCA SELLOWIANA NO CONTROLE DE RHIPICEPHALUS MICROPLUS EM MODELO IN VITRO

O Rhipicephalus microplus e um dos principais ectoparasitos que se alimenta de bovinos. E ovetor de protozoarios e riquetsias, os quais se encontra os agentes da tristeza parasitariabovina que causa tanto impacto na bovinocultura. O Brasil gasta anualmente, cerca de 800milhoes de reais para o controle do parasito. O metodo mais utilizado e feito por aplicacoes deprodutos quimicos, que associado a elevada frequencia e ao uso inadequado dos produtos,auxilia selecao de exemplares resistentes. Desse modo surge a necessidade de maneirasalternativas de controle, seja com tecnicas de manejo ou com produtos orgânicos cujo oimpacto ambiental seja neutro e a eficiencia seja promissora. A Acca sellowiana apresentadiversas propriedades em estudos em vitro, tais como, antifungica, antibacteriana,antioxidante, antiviral, antitumoral e anti-inflamatoria. O presente trabalho teve por objetivoavaliar a capacidade e potencial do estrato de Acca sellowiana in vitro para controle deRhipicephalus microplus. Os bioensaios foram conduzidos no laboratorio de Parasitologia doIFC- Campus Concordia. As teleoginas foram provenientes de animais naturalmenteinfectados do setor de Zootecnia III do Instituto. Utilizou-se o estrato liofilizado, o controlepositivo foi realizado com Amitraz (Am) e Fipronil (Fp), e o controle negativo com Alcool(Ac). Os parasitas foram pesados e separados, mergulhados nas solucoes durante cincominutos, secados e posteriormente prendidos em fita adesiva em placas de petri. As placasficaram na estufa com temperatura de 27oC durante 21 dias para oviposicao e mais 28 diaspara eclosao mantendo a mesma temperatura. Apos o termino, calculou-se a taxa de eclosao ea taxa da eficiencia reprodutiva. Foram utilizados ao todo 230 carrapatos. Foi possivelconcluir que, o extrato liofilizado de Acca sellowiana nao possui efeitos knockdown nasteleogenas, entretanto demonstrou efeitos positivos quanto a diminuicao da taxa de eclosaodos ovos e eficiencia reprodutiva dos parasitos.
Classifying Sound Sources Based On Directions Using Audio Visual Stimulus

There are times when a person is in an environment where they must focus on one conversation when multiple others are happening around them. This is referred to as the cocktail party phenomenon. Individuals with impaired hearing lack this ability. This paper gives insight into how the brain handles these situations and how it filters out what a person is not focusing on. Three video monitors were placed in front of the subject and each source played video and audio. The objective was to find any changes in the accuracy of classification when video stimuli are provided. Using a g. Nautilus headset and multiple audio and video sources, EEG is collected from a subject. This data is collected for each data source. Each dataset is used to train a single machine learning classifier which distinguishes the source of sound with a certain accuracy. The results yield an average accuracy of 94.28%
Growth and Residency of Juvenile Fishes Within a Surf Zone Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico

Over a 32-month study period, 154,469 fish representing 76 species were collected from the Gulf shore of Horn Island, Mississippi. Fishes collected were identified as either resident or migrant species according to length frequency data. The migrant component, dominated numerically by Anchoa Zyolepis, represented the greatest number of species and individuals collected. Resident fishes constituted only six species but comprised 42.0% of all fish captured. The more abundant species residing within the Horn Island surf zone, Tkachinotus carolinus, Menticirrhus littoralis, and Harengula juguanu, appeared to utilize this habitat as a nursery for approximately 3 months throughout the spring and summer period. Of these three residents, the two former species exhibited intermittent recruitment into the exposed beach habitat during the spring and early summer, whereas larval H. juguana exhibited two distinct periods of immigration, occurring Fist in the late spring and again in midsummer.
Parametrized Verification of Linear Networks Using Automata as Invariants

In this paper we proposed a formalism based on automata on two dimensional strings for specifying inductive invariants for proving correctness of families of linear and circular networks. We proved our inductive approach to be sound and complete (semantical completeness). We have illustrated our approach by simple examples.
Anne Shirley, Storyteller: Orality and Anne of Green Gables

L.M. Montgomery's use of orality within the print narrative of Anne of Green Gables , established through the presentation of Anne as storyteller, has both narratological and social implications. Anne's continual storytelling is woven together with the voice of the omniscient narrator as well as other members of the community, creating a polyvocal narrative style that collapses the author-narrator-reader hierarchy. Anne's characterization as tribal, or community, storyteller serves both intertextual and extratextual functions as she demonstrates how story has the capacity of healing communal rupture by encouraging imagination and personal agency. The fairy content of her stories also connects Anne and the novel itself to an older, oral tradition outside the world of Green Gables and, together with the use of invocation, generates an eternal temporality to the narrative. Montgomery's use of orality recuperates the reader into the communal experience of a listening audience that oral storytelling represents.
Asymptotic solution for supersonic viscous flow past a compression corner

Abstract : The boundary-layer flow is forced to separate from the wall when a downstream compressive disturbance of sufficient magnitude is encountered. The correct asymptotic mathematical structure for such a viscous-inviscid interacting flow has been developed by Stewartson and Williams in their paper on self-induced separation. A numerical solution of these asymptotic equations of motion is presented here for the case of separation produced in supersonic flow past a compression ramp. The flow through separation ahead of the corner agrees with the Stewartson and Williams solution, but the reattachment of the separated flow onto the ramp is of different nature than the downstream flow in their case. (Author)
Spuriousness and tourism: Politics of Two Canadian Provincial Government

Abstract Papson, Stephen, Spuriousness and Tourism: Politics of Two Canadian Provincial Government. Annals of Tourism Research 1981, VIII(2):220–235. Using Boorstein's and MacCannell's notions of pseudo-events and of staged authenticity, this paper explores the process by which socio-cultural reality takes on the quality of spuriousness. Theoretically, it is argued that reality is spurious to the extent that it is imposed from sources outside of the everyday existence of members of a community. Empirically, the policies of the provincial governments of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are analyzed. It is argued that tourist marketing, routing and zoning, creating community events, and organizing historical sites are a form imposing a layer of reality over the everyday which is spurious.
Exact Nonlinear Command Generation and Tracking for Robot Manipulators and Spacecraft Slewing Maneuvers

Design and hardware implementation schemes for exact model followers based on feedback linearization are discussed, both for spacecraft maneuvering and robotic manipulator control.
Revelations of the Dream

In the following, we explore the interplay between the movies Inception (Nolan 2010) and eXistenZ (Cronenberg 1999) and the biblical Apocalypse of John (Book of Revelation). In each of these, inescapable, labyrinthine, and finally unmanageable dreams or virtual realities both undercut the reader's sense of reality and challenge the dominant modernist epistemology, for which the fantastic must always be secondary to waking reality. This intertextuality – a widely noted characteristic of much postmodern art and narrative, but also an important feature in John’s Apocalypse – profoundly unsettles ideology’s certainties.
Sublethal effects of insecticides on adult longevity and fecundity of German cockroaches (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

The effects of sublethal concentrations of chlorpyrifos, cyfluthrin, and hydramethylnon on adult longevity and fecundity of German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), were investigated. Longevity of males declined linearly with increasing doses of insecticide. An LD50 of cyfluthrin decreased male longevity by 52%, whereas an LD50 of hydramethylnon reduced male longevity by 81%. Longevity of females increased linearly with increasing sublethal doses of chlorpyrifos, whereas all doses of both cyfluthrin and hydramethylnon decreased longevity of females. Fecundity increased linearly with increasing sublethal doses of chlorpyrifos. Number of oothecae formed, oothecae hatched, and number of offspring produced in each ootheca increased with increasing sublethal concentrations of chlorpyrifos. In contrast, fecundity declined with increasing sublethal concentrations of cyfluthrin and hydramethylnon. Formation of the first ootheca occurred approximately 8 d after mating for untreated females but generally longer with sublethal concentrations of all insecticides. The period between oothecae hatch and the formation of subsequent oothecae increased with successive oothecae in all treatments.
From acute pancreatitis to end-organ injury: mechanisms of acute lung injury.

Background: Multi-organ dysfunction, and in particular lung injury, is often responsible for the unfavorable outcome of patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Understanding of the mechanisms by w...
OCT1 is a high-capacity thiamine transporter that regulates hepatic steatosis and is a target of metformin

Organic cation transporter 1, OCT1 (SLC22A1), is the major hepatic uptake transporter for metformin, the most prescribed antidiabetic drug. However, its endogenous role is poorly understood. Here we show that similar to metformin treatment, loss of Oct1 caused an increase in the ratio of AMP to ATP, activated the energy sensor AMP-activated kinase (AMPK), and substantially reduced triglyceride (TG) levels in livers from healthy and leptin-deficient mice. Conversely, livers of human OCT1 transgenic mice fed high-fat diets were enlarged with high TG levels. Metabolomic and isotopic uptake methods identified thiamine as a principal endogenous substrate of OCT1. Thiamine deficiency enhanced the phosphorylation of AMPK and its downstream target, acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Metformin and the biguanide analog, phenformin, competitively inhibited OCT1-mediated thiamine uptake. Acute administration of metformin to wild-type mice reduced intestinal accumulation of thiamine. These findings suggest that OCT1 plays a role in hepatic steatosis through modulation of energy status. The studies implicate OCT1 as well as metformin in thiamine disposition, suggesting an intriguing and parallel mechanism for metformin and its major hepatic transporter in metabolic function.
Getting Out of a Rut: Decolonizing Western Women's History

For over three decades, western women9s historians have been working not just to challenge male biases within western history scholarship but also to create a more multicultural inclusive narrative. Paradoxically, however, the overarching narrative of western women9s history continues to sideline women of color and to advance a triumphalist interpretation of white women in the West. This essay argues that a multicultural approach has not provided an adequate framework for understanding women and gender in the American West. Instead, western women historians must "decolonize" our narrative and our field through seriously considering the West as a colonial site. To do so, we must employ the tools and theories that scholars of gender and colonialism worldwide have developed to analyze other comparable colonial contexts and projects.
Disparities in Health Care: An Overview

The most important predictor of quality of health care across all racial and ethnic groups is access, especially insurance status and the ability to pay for health care. If we consider populations with equal access to health care, two groups emerge with differing qualities of health care: non-minority and minority populations. When studies control for the stage of disease at presentation, comorbidities, severity of illness, and other variables, substantial differences in health care based on race and ethnicity can still be found. Raising the consciousness of this issue is an important step toward recognizing and eliminating health care disparities.
An Interdisciplinary Laboratory Experience for Sustainability

A new senior level interdisciplinary lab experience has been developed at Western New England College which focuses on the use of biodiesel in an interdisciplinary engineering design and sustainability team project. A biodiesel generation system has been developed as part of two senior capstone design projects, and the system is capable of converting all of the waste vegetable oil (WVO) generated by the college food services department into biodiesel for use in diesel powered utility equipment on campus, and to heat the mechanical engineering laboratories. This fuel is also used to power vehicles designed as part of the senior level interdisciplinary lab experience which previously involved the development of a solar powered vehicle. Teams comprised of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering students are required to design and fabricate biodiesel powered vehicles designed to transport a payload across a race track in the shortest time possible using the biodiesel generated by each student team from waste cooking oil found on campus. Students gain hands on experience in the conversion of waste cooking oil into fuel and learn that the quality of the fuel generated plays an important role on vehicle performance. Students are given tight budgetary constrains to encourage the use of recycled materials and used parts found in the engineering labs. A mathematical energy model is developed to predict vehicle performance and an onboard data acquisition system is developed to measure performance parameters such as vehicle speed, engine rpm, and wind speed for comparison to the predictive energy model. Students are graded on vehicle performance on race day, the total cost of the vehicle and the vehicle weight. The experience gives students valuable insights into the interdisciplinary team dynamic and the importance of engineering for sustainability.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Effect of Interactivity upon Student Achievement, Completion Intervals, and Affective Perceptions

This experimental investigation was aimed at determining the effect of interactivity upon student achievement, completion intervals, and affective perceptions. A professionally prepared training video tape was “repurposed” to an interactive videodisc medium. University students from a variety of academic majors were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group experienced the repurposed interactive videodisc-based instructional unit; the second group experienced the linear video tape-based presentation mode. Records were maintained regarding the amount of time required to complete each unit of study. In addition, both groups completed a multiple choice examination and an affective response instrument. Computed f-tests revealed no statistically significant differences in student achievement or in the amount of time (interval) required to complete the unit of study. However, students expressed significant preferences (p < .05) for the interactive videodisc-based instructional mode.
Structural Modeling of PhoB Dimer and Its Interaction With RNAP Complex

PhoB is a response regulator of the two-component signal transduction system. Structurally, PhoB can be divided into two domains. A N-terminal Receiver Domain (ED) that adopts a flavodoxin-like fold shared by receiver domains of other response regulators. The C-terminal Effector Domain (ED) of PhoB adopts a winged-helices fold that recognizes and binds to its targeted DNA duplex. Structures of PhoB molecule have been well-studied including the homo-dimers of the ED (PDB accession code: 1GXP), the RD (PDB accession code: 2JB9) and the two domains structure (PDB accession code: 1KGS). However, the functional form (DNA-binding) of the PhoB two-domains structure is still not available. Here, we engaged in an exercise to develop a structural model of the molecule in its dimeric functional form binding to its targeted DNA duplex. The model was developed using the observed crystal contacts between the domains of various response regulators. The modeled structure of PhoB/DNA complex is assembled into the RNAP/DNA complex (also modeled by our group) to study the interactions between PhoB and RNAP as shown in the attached figure.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Hoarding in obsessive compulsive disorder: Results from a case-control study

Hoarding occurs relatively frequently in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and there is evidence that patients with hoarding symptoms have more severe OCD and are less responsive to treatment. In the present study, we investigated hoarding symptoms in 126 subjects with OCD. Nearly 30% of the subjects had hoarding symptoms; hoarding was twice as prevalent in males than females. Compared to the 90 non-hoarding subjects, the 36 hoarding individuals had an earlier age at onset of, and more severe, obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Hoarders had greater prevalences of symmetry obsessions, counting compulsions, and ordering compulsions. Hoarders also had greater prevalences of social phobia, personality disorders, and pathological grooming behaviors (skin picking, nail biting, and trichotillomania). Hoarding and tics were more frequent in first-degree relatives of hoarding than non-hoarding probands. The findings suggest that the treatment of OCD patients with hoarding symptoms may be complicated by more severe OCD and the presence of co-occurring disorders. Hoarding appears to be transmitted in some OCD families and may differentiate a clinical subgroup of OCD.
Mo¨ssbauer effect measurement in single crystal iron subjected to cyclic stress

Backscattered Moessbauer spectra were recorded at different fatigue levels in cyclically fatigued high-purity single-crystal iron specimens in the form of rectangular strips with appropriate concentrators in the midplane. The Moessbauer spectra were submitted to a least-squares analysis to determine the isomer shift, quadrupole shift, hyperfine field, and peak spectral widths in each spectrum. It is shown that the quadrupole shift and the isomer shift changed little with fatigue, whereas the effective internal field and the associate line widths exhibit significant variation as a function of fatigue level. It is concluded that the impurity concentration builds up slowly with increasing fatigue level in the region of stress concentration. Since there is a direct correlation between crack initiation and defect concentration level, it is expected that Moessbauer measurements in the test specimen can provide a means of monitoring the impurity buildup presumed to be the eventual cause of fatigue crack initiation and failure.
The study of diabetic cataractogenesis in the intact rabbit lens by deuterium NMR spectroscopy.

Abstract The polyol pathway has been implicated in the process of diabetic cataractogenesis. We report the use of deuterium (2H) spectroscopy for dynamically monitoring the polyol and glycolytic pathways in the single intact rabbit lens. Using 2H labeled C-1 D-glucose, the formation of sorbitol from glucose and the metabolism of sorbitol to fructose was dynamically monitored at 5.5 mM and 35.5 mM glucose concentrations. The accumulation of sorbitol at 35.5 mM glucose concentration was prevented by the inhibition of aldose reductase using an inhibitor (Sorbinil). 2H spectra were obtained in short acquisition times because of the short T1's of deuterated metabolites. A further advantage of 2H spectroscopy is that the natural abundance resonance of water (HDO) can be used as an internal reference standard. These findings confirm previous studies and demonstrate for the first time by NMR spectroscopy activity in the polyol pathway at low glucose concentrations.
Ion escape fluxes from Mars

[1] A 3D, multi-species, non-ideal MHD numerical code was used to calculate the ion escape fluxes from Mars. The calculations were carried out for six cases with different nominal solar wind, solar cycle and crustal field orientation conditions and the total escape fluxes (the sum of the three major ionospheric species, O+, O2+, and CO2+) varied by about an order of magnitude from 2.7 × 1023 to 2.4 × 1024 sec−1. These results were compared to the recently measured Mars Express results of 3.2 × 1023 sec−1 (O+, O2+, and CO2+), which were obtained near solar cycle minimum conditions, indicating a good agreement between measured and calculated fluxes. We also calculated the escape flux for “extremely” high solar wind conditions which leads to a flux of 3 × 1025 sec−1.
Axial Loading and Buckling Response Characteristics of Pultruded Hybrid Glass-Graphite/Epoxy Composite Beams

The effects of hybridization on the buckling characteristics of flat pultruded glass-graphite/epoxy composite beams has been investigated. Theoretical buckling loads were obtained based on Euler’s formulation. Finite element models were constructed with different beam dimensions and end constraint conditions to simulate buckling. Experiments were conducted to verify and validate the theoretical and finite element results.The experimental results were found to be consistent with the theoretical and finite element models. The buckling characteristics of composites showed that buckling strengths improve with increase in graphite fiber content. The improvements were more pronounced when glass fibers were replaced with graphite fibers located in the outer layers of the composite. The effectiveness of hybridization for improving the buckling performance of composite beams is highlighted.
An ultrasonic study of the thermotropic transition of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine.

Abstract The acoustic absorption of sonicated and unsonicated suspensions of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine has been studied as a function of temperature at frequencies between 0.6 and 4.0 MHz. The absorption at a fixed frequency passes through a maximum at a temperature which is dependent on the sample preparation and history and somewhat dependent on the frequency of observation, with sonicated vesicles exhibiting a temperature of maximum absorption 2–3°C below that found for unsonicated dispersions. The temperature dependence of the absorption at fixed frequency suggests a cooperative process while the frequency dependence of the absorption at fixed temperature indicates that more than a single relaxation time is required to describe the acoustic absorption.
Pathway Analysis Reveals Common Pro-Survival Mechanisms of Metyrapone and Carbenoxolone after Traumatic Brain Injury

Developing new pharmacotherapies for traumatic brain injury (TBI) requires elucidation of the neuroprotective mechanisms of many structurally and functionally diverse compounds. To test our hypothesis that diverse neuroprotective drugs similarly affect common gene targets after TBI, we compared the effects of two drugs, metyrapone (MT) and carbenoxolone (CB), which, though used clinically for noncognitive conditions, improved learning and memory in rats and humans. Although structurally different, both MT and CB inhibit a common molecular target, 11β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, which converts inactive cortisone to cortisol, thereby effectively reducing glucocorticoid levels. We examined injury-induced signaling pathways to determine how the effects of these two compounds correlate with pro-survival effects in surviving neurons of the injured rat hippocampus. We found that treatment of TBI rats with MT or CB acutely induced in hippocampal neurons transcriptional profiles that were remarkably similar (i.e., a coordinated attenuation of gene expression across multiple injury-induced cell signaling networks). We also found, to a lesser extent, a coordinated increase in cell survival signals. Analysis of injury-induced gene expression altered by MT and CB provided additional insight into the protective effects of each. Both drugs attenuated expression of genes in the apoptosis, death receptor and stress signaling pathways, as well as multiple genes in the oxidative phosphorylation pathway such as subunits of NADH dehydrogenase (Complex1), cytochrome c oxidase (Complex IV) and ATP synthase (Complex V). This suggests an overall inhibition of mitochondrial function. Complex 1 is the primary source of reactive oxygen species in the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation pathway, thus linking the protective effects of these drugs to a reduction in oxidative stress. The net effect of the drug-induced transcriptional changes observed here indicates that suppressing expression of potentially harmful genes, and also, surprisingly, reduced expression of pro-survival genes may be a hallmark of neuroprotective therapeutic effects.
Convergence of Peridynamics to Classical Elasticity Theory

The peridynamic model of solid mechanics is a nonlocal theory containing a length scale. It is based on direct interactions between points in a continuum separated from each other by a finite distance. The maximum interaction distance provides a length scale for the material model. This paper addresses the question of whether the peridynamic model for an elastic material reproduces the classical local model as this length scale goes to zero. We show that if the motion, constitutive model, and any nonhomogeneities are sufficiently smooth, then the peridynamic stress tensor converges in this limit to a Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor that is a function only of the local deformation gradient tensor, as in the classical theory. This limiting Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor field is differentiable, and its divergence represents the force density due to internal forces. The limiting, or collapsed, stress-strain model satisfies the conditions in the classical theory for angular momentum balance, isotropy, objectivity, and hyperelasticity, provided the original peridynamic constitutive model satisfies the appropriate conditions.
Kinetics of Protein Adsorption and Desorption on Surfaces with Grafted Polymers

The kinetics of protein adsorption are studied using a generalized diffusion approach which shows that the time-determining step in the adsorption is the crossing of the kinetic barrier presented by the polymers and already adsorbed proteins. The potential of mean-force between the adsorbing protein and the polymer-protein surface changes as a function of time due to the deformation of the polymer layers as the proteins adsorb. Furthermore, the range and strength of the repulsive interaction felt by the approaching proteins increases with grafted polymer molecular weight and surface coverage. The effect of molecular weight on the kinetics is very complex and different than its role on the equilibrium adsorption isotherms. The very large kinetic barriers make the timescale for the adsorption process very long and the computational effort increases with time, thus, an approximate kinetic approach is developed. The kinetic theory is based on the knowledge that the time-determining step is crossing the potential-of-mean-force barrier. Kinetic equations for two states (adsorbed and bulk) are written where the kinetic coefficients are the product of the Boltzmann factor for the free energy of adsorption (desorption) multiplied by a preexponential factor determined from a Kramers-like theory. The predictions from the kinetic approach are in excellent quantitative agreement with the full diffusion equation solutions demonstrating that the two most important physical processes are the crossing of the barrier and the changes in the barrier with time due to the deformation of the polymer layer as the proteins adsorb/desorb. The kinetic coefficients can be calculated a priori allowing for systematic calculations over very long timescales. It is found that, in many cases where the equilibrium adsorption shows a finite value, the kinetics of the process is so slow that the experimental system will show no adsorption. This effect is particularly important at high grafted polymer surface coverage. The construction of guidelines for molecular weight/surface coverage necessary for kinetic prevention of protein adsorption in a desired timescale is shown. The time-dependent desorption is also studied by modeling how adsorbed proteins leave the surface when in contact with a pure water solution. It is found that the kinetics of desorption are very slow and depend in a nonmonotonic way in the polymer chain length. When the polymer layer thickness is shorter than the size of the protein, increasing polymer chain length, at fixed surface coverage, makes the desorption process faster. For polymer layers with thickness larger than the protein size, increases in molecular weight results in a longer time for desorption. This is due to the grafted polymers trapping the adsorbed proteins and slowing down the desorption process. These results offer a possible explanation to some experimental data on adsorption. Limitations and extension of the developed approaches for practical applications are discussed.
Relation of Dietary Fats to Action of Thyroid Extract in Rats

ConclusionAll fats do not bear the same relation to thyroid extract action. Some fats as cod liver oil, olive oil, lard, antagonize to different degrees the action of thyroid extract; others, as cocoanut oil, crisco, do not.
VeriML: typed computation of logical terms inside a language with effects

Modern proof assistants such as Coq and Isabelle provide high degrees of expressiveness and assurance because they support formal reasoning in higher-order logic and supply explicit machine-checkable proof objects. Unfortunately, large scale proof development in these proof assistants is still an extremely difficult and time-consuming task. One major weakness of these proof assistants is the lack of a single language where users can develop complex tactics and decision procedures using a rich programming model and in a typeful manner. This limits the scalability of the proof development process, as users avoid developing domain-specific tactics and decision procedures.In this paper, we present VeriML - a novel language design that couples a type-safe effectful computational language with first-class support for manipulating logical terms such as propositions and proofs. The main idea behind our design is to integrate a rich logical framework - similar to the one supported by Coq - inside a computational language inspired by ML. The language design is such that the added features are orthogonal to the rest of the computational language, and also do not require significant additions to the logic language, so soundness is guaranteed. We have built a prototype implementation of VeriML including both its type-checker and an interpreter. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our design by showing a number of type-safe tactics and decision procedures written in VeriML.
Comparative Sensor Fusion Between Hyperspectral and Multispectral Satellite Sensors for Monitoring Microcystin Distribution in Lake Erie

Urban growth and agricultural production have caused an influx of nutrients into Lake Erie, leading to eutrophication in the water body. These conditions result in the formation of algal blooms, some of which are toxic due to the presence of Microcystis (a cyanobacteria), which produces the hepatotoxin microcystin. The hepatotoxin microcystin threatens human health and the ecosystem, and it is a concern for water treatment plants using the lake water as a tap water source. This study demonstrates the prototype of a near real-time early warning system using integrated data fusion and mining (IDFM) techniques with the aid of both hyperspectral (MERIS) and multispectral (MODIS and Landsat) satellite sensors to determine spatiotemporal microcystin concentrations in Lake Erie. In the proposed IDFM, the MODIS images with high temporal resolution are fused with the MERIS and Landsat images with higher spatial resolution to create synthetic images on a daily basis. The spatiotemporal distributions of microcystin within western Lake Erie were then reconstructed using the band data from the fused products with machine learning or data mining techniques such as genetic programming (GP) models. The performance of the data mining models derived using fused hyperspectral and fused multispectral sensor data are quantified using four statistical indices. These data mining models were further compared with traditional two-band models in terms of microcystin prediction accuracy. This study confirmed that GP models outperformed traditional two-band models, and additional spectral reflectance data offered by hyperspectral sensors produces a noticeable increase in the prediction accuracy especially in the range of low microcystin concentrations.
NSMC for UXO discrimination in cases with overlapping signatures

In this paper the normalized surface magnetic charge model (NSMC) is employed for discriminating objects of interest, such as unexploded ordnances (UXO), from innocuous items, in cases when UXO electromagnetic induction (EMI) responses are contaminated by signals from other objects or magnetically susceptible ground. The model is designed for genuine discrimination and it is a physically complete, fast, and accurate forward model for analyzing EMI scattering. In the NSMC the overall EMI inverse problem can be summarized as follows: first, for any primary magnetic field the scattered magnetic field at selected points outside the object is recorded; and second, using the scattered field information an object buried object location, orientation and the amplitude of the NSMC are estimated. Finally, the total NSMC is used as a discriminant for distinguishing between UXO and non-UXO items. To illustrate the applicability of the NSMC algorithm, blind test data, which are collected at Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory facility for actually buried objects under different type soil, are processed and analyzed.
LED eye safety considerations in the design of iris capture systems

We have developed a standoff iris biometrics system for improved usability in access-control applications. The system employs an eye illuminator, which is composed of an array of encapsulated near-infrared light emitting diodes (NIRLEDs), which are triggered at the camera frame rate for reduced motion blur and ambient light effects. Neither the standards / recommendations for NIR laser and lamp safety, nor the LED-specific literature address all the specific aspects of LED eye-safety measurement. Therefore, we established exposure limit criteria based on a worst-case scenario combining the following: the CIE/ANSI standard/recommendations for exposure limits; concepts for maximum irradiance level and for strobing from the laser safety standards; and ad-hoc rules minimizing irradiance on the fovea, for handling LED arrays, and for LED mounting density. Although our system was determined as eye safe, future variants may require higher exposure levels and lower safety margins. We therefore discuss system configuration for accurate LED radiometric measurement that will ensure reliable eye-safety evaluation. The considerations and ad hoc rules described in this paper are not, and should not be treated as safety recommendations.
The degeneration and disappearance of the centrioles during the development of the rat spermatozoon.

An intensive search has failed to locate a proximal centriole in the neck of the rat spermatozoon. This centriole is present in late spermatids but disappears before spermiation. The distal centriole also degenerates during spermiogenesis, though more gradually; it is no longer demonstrable by the time the spermatozoa reach the cauda epididymidis (except as a few remnants in a small minority of the cells). The rat spermatozoon is thus exceptional among mammals in being effectively acentriolate. The implications of this are discussed. Since there are no centrioles, the activity and control of the flagellum cannot depend on a centriole as a kinetic center. Furthermore, since no centrioles are introduced by the rat spermatozoon at fertilization, there can be no paternal inheritance of a formed centriole through the cytoplasm. And, in this species at least, paternal centrioles have no role in the first cleavage of the fertilized egg.
The impact of herbicides on the incidence and development of Rhizoctonia solani-induced cotton seedling damping-off

ABSTRACT The impact of three pre-plant herbicides, trifluralin, pendimethalin and prometryn, on the incidence and the development of Rhizoctonia solani-induced cotton seedling damping-off was investigated in the controlled environmental chamber and in the field. In the controlled environmental chamber experiments, trifluralin, pendimethalin and prometryn were applied to the soil at 1.8, 2.4, and 3.6 μg a.i. g-1 soil, respectively (equivalent to the respective recommended field concentrations of 0.7, 0.9, and 1.3 kg a.i. ha-1). In the controlled environmental chamber experiments, where soil was infested at planting, application of prometryn, but not pendimethalin or trifluralin, to the soil caused a significant (P < 0.05) increase in damping-off incidence. In controlled environmental chamber experiments where soil was infested after emergence, damping-off increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the presence of pendimethalin and prometryn, but not trifluralin. In a field experiment conducted in Safford, Arizo...
Super receiver design for superchannel coherent optical systems

Recently efforts have been focused on ultra-high speed optical communication systems which can support 1Tb/s per channel transmission. However, 1Tb/s over a single carrier requires either or both very high-level modulation format (i.e. PDM-1024QAM) and high baud rate. Therefore, grouping a number of tightly spaced "sub-carriers", to form a terabit channel has been considered and this has been refered to as a superchannel. Nyquist-WDM and Coherent Optical- OFDM (CO-OFDM) are the two approaches to achieve ultra-high spectral efficiency in superchannel coherent optical systems. In Nyquist-WDM systems, optical subcarriers are tightly packed at channel spacing near or equal to the baud rate, potentially inducing strong inter-channel interference (ICI). The traditional way to mitigate the impact of ICI is by applying aggressive optical filters to each channel; however this typically induces severe inter-symbol interference (ISI). In this paper, we investigate receiver architectures for Nyquist-WDM superchannel coherent systems, and propose a new "super receiver" architecture, which jointly detects and demodulates multiple channels simultaneously. Several joint DSP algorithms are developed and tested through experimental and simulated data. The simulation results showed that more than 5 dB ONSR gain was achieved comparing to conventional method at narrow channel spacing conditions.
Long-range predictability in the tropics. Part II: 30-60-day variability

Abstract It is suggested that the slow evolution of the tropical Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) has the potential to improve the predictability of tropical and extratropical circulation systems at lead times beyond 2 weeks. In practice, however, the MJO phenomenon is extremely difficult to predict because of the lack of good observations, problems with ocean forecasts, and well-known model deficiencies. In this study, the potential skill in forecasting tropical intraseasonal variability is investigated by eliminating all those errors. This is accomplished by conducting five ensemble predictability experiments with a complex general circulation model and by verifying them under the perfect model assumption. The experiments are forced with different combinations of initial and boundary conditions to explore their sensitivity to uncertainties in those conditions. When “perfect” initial and boundary conditions are provided, the model produces a realistic climatology and variability as compared to reanalysis,...
Pch2 Links Chromatin Silencing to Meiotic Checkpoint Control

The PCH2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for the meiotic checkpoint that prevents chromosome segregation when recombination and chromosome synapsis are defective. Mutation of PCH2 relieves the checkpoint-induced pachytene arrest of the zip1, zip2, and dmc1 mutants, resulting in chromosome missegregation and low spore viability. Most of the Pch2 protein localizes to the nucleolus, where it represses meiotic interhomolog recombination in the ribosomal DNA, apparently by excluding the meiosis-specific Hop1 protein. Nucleolar localization of Pch2 depends on the silencing factor Sir2, and mutation of SIR2 also bypasses the zip1 pachytene arrest. Under certain circumstances, Sir3-dependent localization of Pch2 to telomeres also provides checkpoint function. These unexpected findings link the nucleolus, chromatin silencing, and the pachytene checkpoint.
Stress and strain energy of a periodic array of interfacial wedge disclination dipoles in a transversely isotropic bicrystal

Abstract Analytical closed-form solutions are obtained for the elastic stress and strain energy density fields of a periodic array of interfacial wedge disclination dipoles in a bicrystal. The adjoining crystals are transversely isotropic with maximum dissimilar in-plane crystallographic orientations (0 and π/2). The solutions are obtained by the method of image dislocations. The strain energy per unit area of the bicrystal interface is also obtained numerically. The results show that significant discrepancies can exist between the bicrystal and the isotropic homogeneous solutions. The rates of decrease/increase of the strain energy density and stresses from the interface are smaller in the crystal whose larger stiffness direction is perpendicular to the interface. Also, the strain energy of the bicrystal boundary is a function of the dipole arm length (2 a ) and period ( L ). The maximum strain energy occurs at a / L =0.25 and is estimated to be ∼8.9 J/m 2 if the dipole period is 10 nm and the disclination strength is π/2.
Characterization of a putative oomycete taurocyamine kinase: Implications for the evolution of the phosphagen kinase family

Abstract Phosphagen kinases (PKs) are known to be distributed throughout the animal kingdom, but have recently been discovered in some protozoan and bacterial species. Within animal species, these enzymes play a critical role in energy homeostasis by catalyzing the reversible transfer of a high-energy phosphoryl group from Mg⋅ATP to an acceptor molecule containing a guanidinium group. In this work, a putative PK gene was identified in the oomycete Phytophthora sojae that was predicted, based on sequence homology, to encode a multimeric hypotaurocyamine kinase. The recombinant P. sojae enzyme was purified and shown to catalyze taurocyamine phosphorylation efficiently (kcat/KM (taurocyamine) = 2 × 105 M− 1 s− 1) and glycocyamine phosphorylation only weakly (kcat/KM (glycocyamine) = 2 × 102 M− 1 s− 1), but lacked any observable kinase activity with the more ubiquitous guanidinium substrates, creatine or arginine. Additionally, the enzyme was observed to be dimeric but lacked cooperativity between the subunits in forming a transition state analog complex. These results suggest that protozoan PKs may exhibit more diversity in substrate specificity than was previously thought.
Toward one-band superconductivity in MgB 2

The two-gap model for superconductivity in ${\mathrm{MgB}}_{2}$ predicts that interband impurity scattering should be pair breaking, reducing the critical temperature. This is perhaps the only prediction of the model that has not been confirmed experimentally. It was previously shown theoretically that common substitutional impurities lead to negligible interband scattering---if the lattice is assumed not to distort. Here we report theoretical results showing that certain impurities can indeed produce lattice distortions sufficiently large to create measurable interband scattering. On this basis, we predict that isoelectronic codoping with Al and Na will provide a decisive test of the two-gap model.