cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The metabolism of α-naphthoflavone (7,8-benzoflavone) by hepatic microsomes from the marine fish Stenotomus versicolor

Abstract Incubation of α-naphthoflavone with fish (scup; Stenotomus versicolor ) liver microsomes and NADPH resulted in the production of a major component and several minor components analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography. The appearance of these components was dependent on time, native protein, NADPH, and O 2 and was strongly inhibited by carbon monoxide. The appearance of the major component was abolished by addition of the epoxide hydrase inhibitor trichloropropene oxide. Mass spectral analysis of the major component yielded a molecular weight of 306. The results strongly indicate that α-naphthoflavone is metabolized by scup hepatic microsomal mixed-function oxygenases and epoxide hydrase and that the major product is a dihydrodiol.
Exploring the Association between Traffic Safety and Geometric Design Consistency Based on Vehicle Speed Metrics

AbstractPast design consistency research has demonstrated the relationship between operating speeds and geometric design features on two-lane rural highways. However, little is known about the relationship between geometric design consistency and traffic safety. In this study, design consistency is referred to as the difference between operating speed and inferred design speed, and design consistency density is measured to account for the effect of elements upstream and downstream of the study element. To perform the design consistency–safety evaluation in the present study, geometric design, roadway inventory, crash, and operating speed data were collected along two case-study highways in central Pennsylvania (U.S. 322 and PA 350). Several count regression model formulations were used to explore the statistical association between design consistency and total crash frequency. A statistically significant positive association between geometric design consistency and safety was found. Design consistency sur...
On numerical integration of the Hodgkin and Huxley equations for a membrane action potential.

Abstract Several methods of numerical integration of the Hodgkin and Huxley equations (6·3°C) for a membrane action potential have been compared for speed and accuracy of computations. Conversational languages make it possible to write compact programs for these equations which will run on minicomputers with only 4000 words of core memory. The shape of the computed action potential was found to be rather method-invariant but the latency (for a given stimulus) was found to depend on the method of integration and the size of the time increment. For stimuli near threshold, the computed response was found to be especially sensitive to these two variables. A new threshold value independent of integration method, has been determined to be − 6·50790 mV by linear extrapolations of threshold-time step relations to a zero step size. The simple Euler method was found to be fast but gave large latency errors compared to the true solution. The Runge-Kutta (RK) method (in the sequential mode, defined in the section on numerical integration methods) was slower but gave smaller latency errors. The Adams corrector-predictor method was still slower, gave less stable solutions, and had large latency errors. A hybrid program which combined a RK numerical integration for the membrane potential with analytic expressions for the variables m, n, and h gave errors indistinguishable from the RK method, but ran much faster. Modified Euler methods run in the parallel mode gave very accurate solutions with moderate computation times. Solutions run with the RK method in the parallel mode took about twice as long but gave no appreciable improvement in accuracy. We were able to develop a simple method for correcting the Euler integration, resulting in quite accurate solutions which were essentially independent of step size and stimuli. Because this method is not only accurate but also runs about as fast as the simple Euler, it appears to be the method of choice for most purposes.
2,6-dithiopurine blocks toxicity and mutagenesis in human skin cells exposed to sulfur mustard analogues, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide and 2-chloroethyl methyl sulfide

Sulfur mustard (bis-(2-chloroethyl)sulfide) is a well-known chemical warfare agent that induces debilitating cutaneous toxicity in exposed individuals. It is also known to be carcinogenic and mutagenic because of its ability to damage DNA via electrophilic attack. We previously showed that a nucleophilic scavenger, 2,6-dithiopurine (DTP), reacts chemically with several electrophilic carcinogens, blocking DNA damage in vitro and in vivo and abolishing tumor formation in a two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis model. To assess the potential of DTP as an antagonist of sulfur mustard, we have utilized monofunctional chemical analogues of sulfur mustard, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES) and 2-chloroethyl methyl sulfide (CEMS), to induce toxicity and mutagenesis in a cell line, NCTC2544, derived from a human skin tumor. We show that DTP blocks cytotoxicity in CEMS- and CEES-treated cells when present at approximately equimolar concentration. A related thiopurine, 9-methyl-6-mercaptopurine, is similarly effective. Correlated with this, we find that DTP is transported into these cells and that adducts between DTP and CEES are found intracellularly. Using a shuttle vector-based mutagenesis system, which allows enumeration of mutations induced in the skin cells by a blue/white colony screen, we find that DTP completely abolishes the mutagenesis induced by CEMS and CEES in human cells.
Quantification of Hydroxyl Radicals Produced in Aqueous Phase Pulsed Electrical Discharge Reactors

High voltage pulsed electrical discharges in water are of interest for a number of applications, for example, in chemistry, water treatment, electrical transmission, and bioengineering, because of the formation of highly reactive molecular and radical species (including the hydroxyl radical). While the existence of hydroxyl radicals in these systems has been demonstrated by emission spectroscopy, accurate quantification of the rates of formation of this species is needed to develop insight into the means by which electrical discharge can promote useful chemical reactions. This paper focuses on quantification of hydroxyl radicals using chemical probes (dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and disodium salt of terephthalic acid (NaTA)).
TOWARD AN APPLIED SCIENCE OF EDUCATION: SOME KEY QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS*

Recent developments suggest the possibility that education might be developed into an effective applied science. In this paper I try to identify and discuss some of the key questions which should be addressed to achieve this goal: (1) Education should be approached by the same intellectual standards as those prevalent in all other successful applied sciences. (2) It would be both intellectually challenging and practically useful to address systematically the teaching of higher-level cognitive skills. Such efforts should be based on analyses of the underlying human information processing and could profit from recent work in cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence. (3) Major improvements in educational delivery could be achieved by exploiting present technological means to provide most students with excellent private nonhuman tutors who can be supplemented by human teachers where these are most uniquely useful. Such an approach can be effective and practical by investing first-rate talent and substantial efforts in initial development work. (4) Universities could contribute significantly to the advancement of education by transcending their present limited educational role and striving in education for the kind of excellence and innovative leadership pursued by them in other applied sciences.
Factors Influencing the Quantity of Abdominal Fat in Broilers 3. Dietary Energy Levels

Abstract Three trials were conducted to study the effect of dietary energy level on the quantity of abdominal fat in broilers. The dietary energy level of the starter diet fed the first 4 weeks appeared to influence the quantity of abdominal fat at 7 and 8 weeks of age, but by 9 weeks of age this influence was no longer present. Within each dietary treatment, the abdominal fat in females was a higher percentage of body weight than in the males. Broilers fed the dietary starter/finisher M. E. value combinations had abdominal fat expressed as a percentage of body weight in the following order (high to low): 3306/3372, 3141/3372, 3306/3207, 3306/3042, 3141/3207 and 3141/3042.
Winners, Losers, and the Nuclear-Waste Dilemma

This paper explores how property-right assignment affects social efficiency when a public program has both “public good” and “public bad” components. We show that when willingness to accept a public bad exceeds the willingness to pay, the net benefit is unambiguously lower when the property right supports the status quo institutional structure. Thus, Kaldor–Hicks efficiency tests tend to favor public programs and mitigation over the status quo even when mitigation negatively affects another group. To illustrate the result, we develop social-cost estimates for moving nuclear waste from current temporary-storage facilities to a permanent central repository at Yucca Mountain, NV, USA. For a representative city with a population of 226,195, the present value of the external cost of shipping waste is $1.42 billion when those living near temporary nuclear-waste storage facilities are assigned the property right to “health and safety.” That number swells to $5.95 billion when those living near the transport route are assigned the property right. Thus, property-right assignment affects the efficient level of nuclear-waste, and thus nuclear energy, produced.
Spatial Analysis of the Groundwater Quality in the Peshawar District, Pakistan☆

Abstract High population growth and increased exploitation of groundwater resources causes the degradation of groundwater quality. To evaluate the vulnerability of groundwater pollution a GIS based study was conducted in Peshawar district. The objectives of the study were (a) physiochemical assessment of groundwater quality (b) geospatial analysis & mapping of groundwater pollutant distribution. In order to assess the objectives 105 water quality samples were collected from the study area. Spatial statistical techniques and spatial interpolation was applied to map the spatial and directional distribution of each parameter. All parameter except Nitrate and pH were found to be highly concentrated in the main city as well as in the North-East and South-East parts of the district. It is recommended that water treatment plants should be installed at various locations to facilitate the inhabitants for drinking purpose.
Feature-based ensemble learning for hyperspectral chemical plume detection

Feature-based ensemble learning, where weak hypotheses are learned within the associated feature subspaces constructed by repeated random feature selection, is described. The proposed ensemble approach is less affected by noisy features or outliers unique to the training set than the bagging and boosting algorithms due to the randomized selection of feature subsets from the entire training set. The individual weak hypotheses perform their own generalization processes, within the associated feature subspaces, independently of each other. This allows the proposed ensemble to provide improved performance on unseen data over other ensemble learning methods that randomly choose subsets of training samples in an input space. The weak hypotheses are combined through three different aggregating strategies: majority voting, weighted average and neural network-based aggregation. The proposed ensemble technique has been applied to hyperspectral chemical plume data and a performance comparison of the proposed and oth...
Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Liver Gene Delivery

Background & Aims The adipose tissue represents an accessible, abundant, and replenishable source of adult stem cells for potential applications in regenerative medicine. Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) resemble bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) with respect to morphology, immune-phenotype, and multiple differentiation capability. In the present study, we investigated the feasibility of AT-MSC-based liver gene delivery for the treatment of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency. Methods Mouse AT-MSCs were transduced by rAAV vectors and transplanted into the mouse liver. Results We showed that AT-MSCs can be transduced by recombinant adeno-associated viral vector serotype 1 (rAAV1-CB-hAAT). After transplanting to the mouse liver, ex vivo transduced AT-MSCs expressed the transgene product, human alpha 1-antitrypsin (hAAT). Importantly, serum levels of hAAT were sustained and no anti-hAAT antibody was detected in any recipients. Conclusions These results demonstrated that AT-MSCs can be transduced by rAAV vectors, engrafted into recipient livers, contribute to liver regeneration, and serve as a platform for transgene expression without eliciting an immune response. AT-MSC-based gene therapy presents a novel approach for the treatment of liver diseases, such as AAT deficiency.
Analysis of the dielectric functions of CdS and CdTe for grain size, stress, and temperature: Potentialities for on-line monitoring

Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) has been applied to study the magnetron sputter deposition of polycrystalline CdTe and CdS thin films on crystalline silicon wafer substrates held at different temperatures (T s ). The broadening parameters Γ n of the dielectric function critical points (CPs) measured at room temperature for the CdS and CdTe films show variations with T s , from which the group speeds of the band gap excitations and the polycrystalline grain sizes can be consistently estimated. The shifts in the room temperature CP energies E n relative to those of single crystals provide information on strain in the CdTe and CdS films. Because both E n and Γ n vary approximately linearly with measurement temperature T m in a known way, grain size and film stress can be deduced at any known value of T m . From the accumulated results of this investigation, a comprehensive database is available for a spatially scanning SE system for on-line monitoring of stack thickness, structure, grain size, and stress in CdTe solar cell fabrication.
Lipid Raft Targeting of the TC10 Amino Terminal Domain Is Responsible for Disruption of Adipocyte Cortical Actin

Overexpression of the Rho family member TC10α, disrupts adipocyte cortical actin structure and inhibits insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation when targeted to lipid raft microdomains. This appears to be independent of effecter domain function because overexpression of the wild-type (TC10/WT), constitutively GTP-bound (TC10/Q75L), and constitutively GDP bound (TC10/T31N) all inhibit adipocyte cortical actin structure and GLUT4 translocation. To examine the structural determinants responsible for these effects, we generated a series of chimera proteins between TC10 with that of H-Ras and K-Ras. Chimera containing the 79 (TC10–79/H-Ras), 41 (TC10–41/H-Ras), or 16 (TC10–16/H-Ras) amino acids of the TC10 amino terminal extension fused to H-Ras disrupted cortical actin and inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. In contrast, the same amino terminal TC10 extensions fused to K-Ras had no significant effect on either GLUT4 translocation or cortical actin structure. Similarly, expression of TC10β was without effect, whereas fusion of the amino terminal 8 amino acid of TC10α onto TC10β resulted in an inhibition of insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. Within the amino terminal extension point mutation analysis demonstrated that both a GAG and GPG sequences when lipid raft targeted was essential for these effects. Furthermore, expression of the amino terminal TC10 deletions ΔNT-TC10/WT or ΔNT-TC10/T31N had no detectable effect on cortical actin organization and did not perturb insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. Surprisingly, however, expression of ΔNT-TC10/Q75L remained fully capable of inhibiting insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation without affecting cortical actin. These data demonstrate that inhibitory effect of TC10 overexpression on adipocyte cortical actin organization is due to the specific lipid raft targeting of the unusual TC10 amino terminal extension.
“Misconceptions about Optimal Equity Allocation and Investment Horizon”: Authors' Response

This material comments on “Misconceptions about Optimal Equity Allocation and Investment Horizon”.
PCB differential capacitor cross-talk study and design using HFSS

The speeds of computers need to increase. A limitation to increasing this speed is the layout design of printed circuit boards (PCB's). One of the critical limiting factors of the PCB is the orientation of differential capacitors with respect to one another. This paper determines the optimal orientation of these capacitors in order to reduce the return loss (DS11) from crosstalk as the speeds of computers rise to 20 GHz.
Selection of growth parameters to define failure to thrive.

Failure to thrive (FTT) is a syndrome of growth failure due to undernutrition. Determining whether an infant has FTT is based on the use of an anthropometric indicator and a selected cutoff value for that indicator. These anthropometric indicators include weight for age, weight for length, and length for age, and the cutoff values include the 10th, 5th, and 3rd percentiles. Each indicator and selected cutoff value provide unique information about an infant's growth. However, these parameters are often used interchangeably to explain the same growth phenomenon. The sensitivity and specificity of each anthropometric indicator are a function of the cutoff value selected and dictate which infants will be classified as having FTT and which infants will be classified as healthy. Depending on the sensitivity and specificity of the indicator, some infants with FTT will be classified as healthy, and some healthy infants will be classified as having FTT. A clear rationale for the selection of an anthropometric indicator and a cutoff value for defining FTT are important for increasing the generalizability of research findings and thereby expanding the current knowledge base related to FTT.
A full vectorial generalized discontinuous Galerkin beam propagation method (GDG-BPM) for nonsmooth electromagnetic fields in waveguides

In this paper, we propose a new full vectorial generalized discontinuous Galerkin beam propagation method (GDG-BPM) to accurately handle the discontinuities in electromagnetic fields associated with wave propagations in inhomogeneous optical waveguides. The numerical method is a combination of the traditional beam propagation method (BPM) with a newly developed generalized discontinuous Galerkin (GDG) method K. Fan, W. Cai, X. Ji, A generalized discontinuous Galerkin method (GDG) for Schrodinger equations with nonsmooth solutions, J. Comput. Phys. 227 (2008) 2387-2410]. The GDG method is based on a reformulation, using distributional variables to account for solution jumps across material interfaces, of Schrodinger equations resulting from paraxial approximations of vector Helmholtz equations. Four versions of the GDG-BPM are obtained for either the electric or magnetic field components. Modeling of wave propagations in various optical fibers using the full vectorial GDG-BPM is included. Numerical results validate the high order accuracy and the flexibility of the method for various types of interface jump conditions.
The Supreme Court and Police Practices: The Last Two Terms

The 2003–2004 term of the Supreme Court was noteworthy because it decided a relatively large number of cases dealing with police practices, many of which were of special significance. The next two terms (2004–2005 and 2005–2006 terms) were not quite as noteworthy, but still the Court decided eight police practices cases, dealing with such important issues as the detention of the residents of a home while executing a search warrant, the use of canine sniffs during a traffic stop, the validity of anticipatory search warrants, and the validity of third party consent to search when another person with authority to consent is present and objects to the search. These two terms do not provide enough cases to permit a confident prediction about the approach that the two new members of the Court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, are likely to take in police practices cases. However, their positions in the cases discussed in this article suggest that both will take positions in support of the police in these cases.
Optimum beamforming for coherent signal and interferences

An approach is described to optimum beamforming in the presence of correlated interferences completely overcoming the signal cancellation phenomenon. In contrast with classical adaptive beamforming where no assumptions are made on the statistical properties of the interference and noise, other than their being uncorrelated with the desired signal, the present approach is based on an explicit statistical model of the signal environment. The method is adaptive, however, in that the characterization of the signal environment is extracted from the measured array data. >
Some Statistical Procedures to Refine Estimates of Uncertainty when Sparse Data are Available for Model Validation and Calibration.

This paper presents some statistical concepts and techniques for refining the expression of uncertainty arising from: a) random variability (aleatory uncertainty) of a random quantity; and b) contributed epistemic uncertainty due to limited sampling of the random quantity. The treatment is tailored to handling experimental uncertainty in a context of model validation and calibration. Two particular problems are considered. One involves deconvolving random measurement error from measured random response. The other involves exploiting a relationship between two random variates of a system and an independently characterized probability density of one of the variates.
Radiative and Electrical Properties of Exploding Silver Wires

The radiative properties of silver wires exploded by capacitive discharge are studied using time-integrated and time-resolved spectroscopy. Discharge current measurements are obtained from a calibrated current shunt and are correlated with time-resolved spectra to obtain a model for the current conduction processes during wire explosions. Two basic explosion mechanisms are described, both of which begin with the conversion of the wire from a conducting solid to a rapidly expanding dielectric cylinder of metal vapor. This results in a rapid reduction of discharge current. Current then may resume in one of two ways. In He at atmospheric and reduced pressure and in air at reduced pressure dielectric breakdown of the gas surrounding the wire occurs with current conduction peripheral to the expanding metal vapor cylinder. In air at atmospheric pressure, dielectric breakdown occurs through the metal vapor. This results in current conduction along the vapor cylinder axis. The advantages of peripheral current conduction for the analysis of metals electroplated on the surface of silver wires are discussed. Parametric studies with Cd-plated silver wires indicate that the intensity of the background continuum can be reduced by nearly 2 orders of magnitude with little effect on Cd line intensities by reducing the pressure from 730 Torr to 50 Torr in He where peripheral current conduction occurs.
Opportunistic carrier sensing for energy-efficient information retrieval in sensor networks

We consider distributed information retrieval for sensor networks with cluster heads or mobile access points. The performance metric used in the design is energy efficiency defined as the ratio of the average number of bits reliably retrieved by the access point to the total amount of energy consumed. A distributed opportunistic transmission protocol is proposed using a combination of carrier sensing and backoff strategy that incorporates channel state information (CSI) of individual sensors. By selecting a set of sensors with the best channel states to transmit, the proposed protocol achieves the upper bound on energy efficiency when the signal propagation delay is negligible. For networks with substantial propagation delays, a backoff function optimized for energy efficiency is proposed. The design of this backoff function utilizes properties of extreme statistics and is shown to have mild performance loss in practical scenarios. We also demonstrate that opportunistic strategies that use CSI may not be optimal when channel acquisition at individual sensors consumes substantial energy. We show further that there is an optimal sensor density for which the opportunistic information retrieval is the most energy efficient. This observation leads to the design of the optimal sensor duty cycle.
Observations from a case study on user adaptive reminders for medication adherence

We present the design and exploratory evaluation of a sensor-driven adaptive reminder system for home medical tasks. Our prototype implementation consists of a mobile reminder delivery device and ambient sensors for determining opportune moments for reminder delivery. A volunteer used the prototype in a residential research facility while adhering to a regimen of simulated medical tasks for ten days. Based on this case study, including direct observation of individual alert-action sequences, we make four recommendations for designers of context-sensitive adaptive reminder systems.
Optimal Array Processor Performance Trade-offs under Directional Uncertainty

Detection performance in terms of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is obtained for three specific problems involving either signal or noise source location uncertainty. The array processors are optimum in the sense that they form the likelihood ratio of the outputs of the individual array elements. Performance trade-offs due to signal uncertainty, signal and noise source location uncertainty, and array size are presented.
Elastic secondary flows in sharp 90 degree micro-bends: A comparison of PEO and DNA solutions

The growth or absence of elastic secondary flows is documented for flows of dilute and semi-dilute polymer solutions in sharp 90° micro-bends in channels of rectangular cross-section; secondary flows are not present for Newtonian flows under similar conditions. Flow visualization shows that a vortex is present in the inner, upstream corner of the bend and grows with increasing Reynolds (Re) and Weissenberg (Wi) numbers for flows of shear-thinning, semi-dilute polymeric solutions containing λ-DNA (9.9×10−7<Re<3.1×10−2, 0.42<Wi<126) or high molecular weight poly(ethylene) oxide (PEO) (3.5×10−4<Re<4.7×10−3, 1.8<Wi<17.7). Rheological differences, likely due to differences in the flexibility of DNA and PEO, influence the degree of vortex enhancement with increasing Wi. The vortex is absent for flow of a dilute, non-shear-thinning PEO solution over a large Re and Wi range (3.3×10−4<Re<1.6×10−2, 1.1<Wi<52.8) that includes conditions where vortices are observed for the semi-dilute, shear-thinning solutions. Hence...
Behavioral Antecedents To Intrinsic Motivation In Capital Equipment Exchange Relationships

This study utilizes cognitive evaluation theory to assess interorganizational relationships. Sales personnels influence strategies and opportunistic behaviors are cast as antecedent to purchasers intrinsic motivation for the exchange. Influence strategies are classified based upon whether sanctions (medicated influence) or information (non-mediated influence) are employed to gain compliance. Ninety-four mainframe computer users reported on their working relationships with multiple marketing personnel. The results suggest that non-mediated influence raises intrinsic motivation while mediated influence and opportunism have a negative impact upon motivation.
A Comparison of Cost and Reward Procedures With Interdependent Group Contingencies

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of two variations of a token economy for reducing disruptive behavior within a general education classroom. One variation involved a group contingency in which tokens were removed contingent on disruptive behavior (response cost), and the other variation involved a group contingency in which tokens were gained according to a differential reinforcement of other behavior schedule. Two elementary school teachers and their students participated. Results indicated that both procedures were effective in reducing the overall number of students disrupting; however, both teachers and students indicated a greater preference for the response cost condition. Implications for the use of these behavior management strategies in the classroom are discussed in terms of effectiveness and ease of implementation.
Preparation and Characterization of Bi-Doped LaAlO3 via Sol-Gel Process

A series of Bi-doped BixLa1-xAlO3 (x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) powders have been prepared by sol-gel method at 800°C. The influences of Bi doping content on phase, morphology, particle size, surface area, infrared absorption spectrum are discussed. XRD results show that there is no second phase in powders when x≤0.3, however, there exist impure phases when x≥0.4. The SEM analysis indicates the particle size of powder is 50-150nm. The specific surface area is 5-13 m2/g.
Optimizing the performance of a plastic dye-sensitized solar cell

This article describes that a fluorine plasma treatment can increase the nanopore filling of a plastic electrolyte in a dye-sensitized solar cell to improve its performance. The one-step fluorine treatment can be used in a controlled way to increase the size of nanopores and nanochannels in the TiO2 nanoparticle electrode and, at the same time, passivate the TiO2 nanoparticle surfaces. In combination with the fluorine treatment, a sequential electrolyte filling process has been developed that allows the overall cell conversion efficiency to be increased by as much as 25%. The plastic-based electrolyte cells are found to be much more stable compared with their counterpart, the liquid electrolyte cells. Using this new process, and in combination with a photon confinement scheme, the overall cell efficiency can reach to about 9% using a masked frame measurement technique.
Irreversible Adsorption in Porous Materials

The irreversible, sequential adsorption of particles on substrates of various geometries was investigated by computer simulation. The results of interest are the ultimate coverage at the jamming limit and the kinetic or scaling law for approach to that limit The substrates considered here include spherical particles, cylindrical fibers and randomly porous solids. It was found that for the case of fibrous substrates the final coverage is not a monotonic function of the size of the particles, but that it goes through a minimum. In the case of irreversible adsorption onto the surface of a porous “sponge”, results for various values of the particle size and porosity indicate that the adsorption kinetics follow the same limiting power law as for random sequential adsorption on a plane surface. The maximum coverage θ∞ was found to be higher than that for the plane surface case in all cases. An empirical correlation for θ∞ as a function of particle size and porosity is presented.
Identification and Determination of Polymers in Compounded Cured Rubber Stocks by Pyrolysis and Two-Channel Gas Chromatography

Abstract Methods for analysis of carbon-black-loaded vulcanizates are of considerable interest to the rubber industry and to those supplying its raw materials. Identification of polymers or copolymers present in such stocks is an important step in this analysis. Often it becomes desirable also to determine the composition of a blend of two or more elastomers. In recent years gas chromatographic analysis of volatile pyrolysis products has been increasingly applied to these intractable materials. A wide variety of polymers and experimental techniques for pyrolysis and subsequent chromatographic analysis have been used. A complete resume of this work is beyond the scope of this report, but recent papers dealing with the use of these methods in elastomer analysis include those of Groten, Hulot and Lebel, Blenkin, Lebel, Fiorenza and Bonomi, and an excellent review of pyrolytic techniques by Brauer. This study was an evaluation of the applicability of simultaneous flame ionization and electron capture (dual-ch...
The demographic face of America's elderly.

Based on a 1996 U.S. census report on aging the author discusses possible future trends in the aging of the U.S. population with a focus on the consequences of significant changes in the number and proportion of elderly. The need to understand these trends in order to plan effectively for the future is emphasized. (ANNOTATION)
Evidence of Incorporation of Abiotic S and N into Prairie Wetland Dissolved Organic Matter

Wetlands in the prairie pothole region of North America, which are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world, provide many services, ranging from waterfowl habitats to pesticide attenuation to carbon sequestration. The dissolved organic matter (DOM) that occurs within these wetlands, in surface waters and sediment porewaters, was examined by molecular-level techniques. While it contains components typical of DOM from surface and subsurface waters, both sulfidic and nitrogenous organic molecules are significantly more abundant in this DOM pool than in other natural waters and show distribution patterns that exactly mimic the pattern observed for DOM that is comprised of only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. This indicates that incorporation of N and S within DOM is abiotic and nonspecific, likely involving hydrogen sulfide, polysulfides, and N-containing nucleophiles.
Comparative Analysis of Cellulophaga algicola and Flavobacterium johnsoniae Gliding Motility

ABSTRACT Gliding motility is common in members of the phylum Bacteroidetes, including Flavobacterium johnsoniae and Cellulophaga algicola.F. johnsoniae gliding has been extensively studied and involves rapid movement of the cell surface adhesin SprB. Genetic analysis of C. algicola allowed a comparative analysis of gliding. Sixty-three HimarEm1-induced mutants that formed nonspreading colonies were characterized. Each had an insertion in an ortholog of an F. johnsoniae motility gene, highlighting similarities between the motility systems. Differences were also observed. C. algicola lacks orthologs of the F. johnsoniae motility genes gldA, gldF, and gldG that are thought to encode the components of an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter. In addition, mutations in any of 12 F. johnsoniae gld genes result in complete loss of motility, whereas all C. algicola gld mutants retained slight residual motility. This may indicate that C. algicola has multiple motility systems, that the motility proteins exhibit partial redundancy of function, or that essential components of the motility machinery of both C. algicola and F. johnsoniae remain to be discovered. IMPORTANCE The development of genetic tools for C. algicola and comparative analysis of F. johnsoniae and C. algicola motility mutants identified similarities and differences between their gliding motility machineries. Gliding motility is common in the phylum Bacteroidetes. Proteins that are important for gliding in both C. algicola and F. johnsoniae are potential core components of the Bacteroidetes gliding motility machinery.
Spectral Examination of the 16 June 1992 Earthquake and Quarry Blast Near Evansville, Indiana

On 16 June 1992, an m Lg 2.3 earthquake occurred in southwestern Indiana, near Evansville. This area is part of the Illinois Basin coal belt, an area of active surface mines with numerous strip-mine blasts daily. The co-location of earthquakes and strip-mine blasts enable spectral comparisons without significant concern for differences due to path propagation effects. Discriminating between the two types of events can be done visually due to the distinctive appearance of the Rg phase in strip-mine blasts and high frequency coda of earthquakes. A strong Rg phase is indicative of shallow source depths. However, earthquakes previously located at shallow depths elsewhere within the Illinois Basin do not exhibit a distinctive Rg phase, indicating either poor control in focal depth determination or a fundamental difference in source mechanism. Visual and spectral examination shows that earthquakes are richer in energy at higher frequencies than strip-mine blasts. Earthquakes have significant energy at 20–30 Hz, while the significant energy content of blasts is closer to 10 Hz. The significant difference compared to previous earthquake-nuclear explosion discriminant studies is that the chemical explosion has reduced high frequency content compared to the earthquake.
Research on Medium Voltage Power Line Carrier IP Networking Technology

The 10 kV power line carrier communication technology is one of important electric communication technologies. To meet the development needs of power communication network and adapt to network remote specifications,there is a need to change the existing polling mechanism and adopt the carrier network IP networking mode. This paper analyzes the implementation difficulties of the carrier IP networking technology from the application and technical aspect of the power line carrier IP networking respectively,and summaries several IP networking technologies including the network interface high-speed carrier communication technology,the timedivision multiplexing technology and the network logical port mapping technology. Further,this paper proposes IP networking application solutions of concurrent communication networking for the multi-carrier network and multi-channel parallel networking for the single carrier network,which is suitable for small-scale IP networking applications in the medium voltage carrier network.
Multi-Parameter Estimation in Compound Gaussian Clutter by Variational Bayesian

In this paper, we consider the problem of multi-parameter estimation in the presence of compound Gaussian clutter for cognitive radar by the variational Bayesian method. The advantage of variational Bayesian is that the estimation of multi-variate parameters is decomposed to problems of estimation of univariate parameters by variational approximation, thus enabling analytically tractable approximate posterior densities in complex statistical models consisting of observed data, unknown parameters, and hidden variables. We derive the asymptotic Bayesian Cramer–Rao bounds and demonstrate by numerical simulations that the proposed approach leads to improved estimation accuracy than the expectation maximization method and the exact Bayesian method in the case of non-Gaussian nonlinear signal models and small data sample size.
Metastasis to an ectopic kidney presenting as a right lower quadrant mass.

AbstractA case is reported of bronchogenic carcinoma metastasizing to a crossed ectopic kidney, producing a right lower quadrant abdominal mass.
Influence of Lithium Additives in Small Molecule Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells.

Light-emitting electrochemical cells (LEECs) utilizing small molecule emitters such as iridium complexes have great potential as low-cost emissive devices. In these devices, ions rearrange during operation to facilitate carrier injection, bringing about efficient operation from simple, single layer devices. Recent work has shown that the luminance, efficiency, and responsiveness of iridium-based LEECs are greatly enhanced by the inclusion of small amounts of lithium salts (≤0.5%/wt) into the active layer. However, the origin of this enhancement has yet to be demonstrated experimentally. Furthermore, although iridium-based devices have been the longstanding leader among small molecule LEECs, fundamental understanding of the ionic distribution in these devices under operation is lacking. Herein, we use scanning Kelvin probe microscopy to measure the in situ potential profiles and electric field distributions of planar iridium-based LEECs and clarify the role of ionic lithium additives. In pristine devices, ...
Making Sense of Science Texts: A Mixed‐Methods Examination of Predictors and Processes of Multiple‐Text Comprehension

Previous research has identified various factors that contribute to readers’ comprehension of expository texts, including strategy expertise, language proficiency, prior knowledge, and more recently, readers’ beliefs about knowledge. This study addresses the need to understand the relative contributions of these predictors to readers’ comprehension of multiple texts and the processes used by readers to make sense of texts. Eighty-three students (grades 5–7) participated in this mixed-methods study. The sample consisted of monolingual students and emergent and proficient bilingual students who completed measures of expository comprehension, strategic knowledge and awareness, English-language proficiency, prior content knowledge, and epistemic beliefs. Ten bilingual students from this sample also completed a think-aloud protocol to allow for close examination of their meaning-making processes. In a multiple regression analysis, English-language proficiency was the strongest predictor of comprehension, followed by content knowledge. Strategy knowledge and awareness and epistemic beliefs were not related to multiple-text comprehension in the model. The relationship between English-language proficiency and comprehension was stronger for bilingual students than for monolingual students. Students in the think-aloud sample demonstrated emergent knowledge of processes of disciplinary reading of multiple texts, including metacognitive monitoring, theorizing authorial identity, and intertextual integration, while also displaying a tendency to defer to institutionalized authority when evaluating credibility of the texts. The findings provide directions for future research on the way young adolescents comprehend and learn from expository texts in the discipline of science.
Advertising magic: The paradox of keeping-while-giving

Magic is alive in advertising industries through the organized assemblages of magicians, formulas and rites that perform magically. Creatives (the magicians) employ mystic formulas in creative processes and in rites of awards ceremonies and business pitches, where they transform ephemeral ideas into broad marketing campaigns. Transformative ideas are esteemed as agency assets and celebrated of creatives in their names, but are also disseminated as essential tools for building economic value and maintaining client relationships. As such, advertising presents a paradoxical system of exchange which overlays political strategies of power and authority. Advertisers are both producers and distributors of ideas that transform culture but which also sustain practices of status and power that play a major role in reproducing culture.
P1.31 The costs of targeted ciprofloxacin therapy vs. empiric therapy for neisseria gonorrhoeae infections over a thirteen-month study period

Introduction Novel approaches to combating drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae infections are urgently needed. Targeted therapy with ciprofloxacin for susceptible infections has been made possible by the development of a rapid molecular assay for the determination of mutation in the gyrase A gene of N. gonorrheoae , which reliably predicts susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Methods Using previously collected data over a thirteen-month study period of all N. gonorrhoeae cases diagnosed to UCLA Health System, we determined the costs per-test of running the rapid genotypic gyrase A assay and treatment with 500 mg of ciprofloxacin for wild-type infections and compared these estimations with the costs of the standard of care treatment, which is empiric dual therapy with 250 mg ceftriaxone injection and 1000 mg azithromycin. Cost estimates for non-empiric therapy included assay reagents, labour, refrigerator space, and ciprofloxacin 500 mg. Cost estimates for empiric therapy included costs of ceftriaxone 250 mg, injection, azithromycin 1000 g, needle, syringe, and clinic space. Results There were 167 non-empirically treated anatomic site-specific N. gonorrhoeae infections during the thirteen month study period, 51 (30.5%) of which were wild-type, and 49 (29.3%) were mutant. Using the total number of specimens tested (167) we calculated the cost of running the assay per specimen to be $97.4. With an additional cost of $2.2 per pill of ciprofloxacin, the total cost of non-empiric therapy for wild-type infections was estimated to be $99.6. The cost of empiric treatment with ceftriaxone and azithromycin was estimated to be $141, however there may be additional costs of up to $300 based on the clinic facility fees, which vary greatly by location. Conclusion We found that the genotypic assay with ciprofloxacin therapy among wild-type infections is less costly than empiric therapy. Furthermore, given the consequences ceftriaxone resistance, including continued transmission and the sequela of untreated infection, the true difference in cost may be even greater.
Iridium‐Catalyzed, Silyl‐Directed, peri‐Borylation of C−H Bonds in Fused Polycyclic Arenes and Heteroarenes

peri-Disubstituted naphthalenes exhibit interesting physical properties and unique chemical reactivity, due to the parallel arrangement of the bonds to the two peri-disposed substituents. Regioselective installation of a functional group at the position peri to 1-substituted naphthalenes is challenging due to the steric interaction between the existing substituent and the position at which the second one would be installed. We report an iridium-catalyzed borylation of the C-H bond peri to a silyl group in naphthalenes and analogous polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The reaction occurs under mild conditions with wide functional group tolerance. The silyl group and the boryl group in the resulting products are precursors to a range of functional groups bound to the naphthalene ring through C-C, C-O, C-N, C-Br and C-Cl bonds.
Reorganizing the Federal Administrative State: The Disutility of Criminal Investigative Programs at Federal Regulatory Agencies

President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies and has invited the public to suggest ways to reorganize the federal government to make it more effective and efficient. One possibility is to reorganize at least part of federal law enforcement. Numerous federal regulatory agencies have criminal investigative divisions. Congress and the President should consider consolidating those programs and transferring them to a traditional federal law enforcement agency. The FBI is a possible home for those agents, but the U.S. Marshals Service may have certain advantages that the FBI does not possess, including the possibility of a less costly transition. Either agency would make a more suitable home for investigative programs currently housed in administrative agencies.
The Story Behind the Sharp Decline in US Tanning Bed Rates.

The author reflects on a decline in rates of tanning bed use by adolescent girls and young women in the U.S. from 2009 to 2018. It states that legislation banning teenagers from using tanning beds resulted in 57 percent of teenage girls living in states with age restrictions by 2015. It comments on research finding a 10- to 20-year time period between peak use in tobacco use and tanning bed use and its decline. It suggests a nation-wide ban on tanning bed use among adolescents.
Latapi's lepromatosis (Lucio's leprosy) without Lucio's phenomenon in a pubertal boy.

A diagnosis of Latapi’s lepromatosis (Lucio’s leprosy) is usually established in the setting of Lucio’s phenomenon. The report by Diogenes et al. showed that Latapi’s lepromatosis can be diagnosed in the absence of Lucio’s phenomenon. Our clinical experience with 30 patients with Lucio’s phenomenon and Latapi’s lepromatosis has indicated what features are strongly suggestive of Latapi’s lepromatosis. We then recognised that one of our patients in our earlier series probably had Latapi’s lepromatosis at the time of presentation. Also this patient was on the brink of puberty at the time of diagnosis.