cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Medication Exposure in Children on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Step in Prioritizing Future Pharmacologic Studies.

To identify medications administered to pediatric patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and to review the available pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics literature for the most commonly administered medications. Design Retrospective single-center study. Setting ICUs at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Patients Pediatric patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation between October 1, 2014, and September 30, 2018. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Drug exposure was described according to age group ( 12 yr) and ICU (cardiac, neonatal, pediatric). The association of drug exposure with patient's characteristics was examined using one-way analysis of variance for categorical variables and linear regression for continuous variables. All pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics literature for the 50 most commonly administered medications on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was reviewed, with inclusion of studies that reported dosing regimens in conjunction with pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics data. A total of 179 different medications were administered to 254 children. Cumulative drug exposure increased with the duration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation from a median (interquartile) of 10 drugs (6-14) at 1 week to 31 drugs (21-45) at 5 weeks following cannulation. There were significant differences in total drug exposure between age groups and ICUs. With exclusion of in vitro studies, published literature was available to support the use of 40% (20/50) of the most commonly administered medications. Dosing guidance was available for 20% (10/50) of medications and was primarily based on simulations and retrospective studies focusing on neonates and infants. Conclusions This study highlights specific needs for future pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics studies. Dosing guidelines are essential to optimize the care of critically ill children supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Coaching as a Mechanism to Challenge Surgical Professional Identities.

BACKGROUND The "surgical personality" is a mostly negative academic and cultural image of the surgeon as egotistical, paternalistic, and inflexible. Because of this image, surgeons have been viewed as resistant to change and some behaviors, vulnerability, for example, are viewed as "suspect" because they seemingly threaten professional competency. We report on exit interviews of surgeons who participated in a coaching program and demonstrate how their narratives challenge the surgical "personality" and forge an evolving and more open professional surgical identity. METHODS We interviewed n = 34 bariatric surgeons at the end of a 2-year surgical coaching program. Transcribed interviews were analyzed in NVivo, computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. Coding of transcripts was approached through iterative steps. We utilized an exploratory method; each member of our team independently examined 3 transcripts to evaluate emergent themes early in the investigation. The team met to discuss our independent themes and develop the codebook collectively. We created a descriptive framework for our first round of coding based on emerging themes and employed an interpretive framework to arrive at our themes. RESULTS Three major themes emerged from our data. Participants in this study discussed the ways that participation in the coaching program initially conflicted with their identity as a competent professional. Surgeons were acutely aware of how participation might have destabilized their surgical identity because they might be viewed as vulnerable. Despite these concerns about image, surgeons found impetus for improvement because of poor outcome scores or because they desired early career affirmation. Finally, surgeons report that the safe spaces of intentional coaching contributed to their ideas about how surgeons, and ultimately surgery, can change. CONCLUSIONS Participation in a coaching program challenged how surgeons thought of themselves in relationship to social and peer expectations. Our results indicate that surgeons do feel peer and social pressures related to identity but are much more complex and nuanced than has been previously discussed. The safe space of intentional coaching allowed participants to practice vulnerability without the pressures of sometimes caustic professional norms. Participants in this study viewed coaching as the way to improve the culture of surgery.
Stem Cell Based Cardioregeneration and Adipose Tissue

Cardiovascular medicine has recently implemented multiple pre-clinical and clinical trials intended to identify a feasible and safe approach for cell-based heart repair. In the myocardium, several recent studies demonstrate the benefit of ATSCs to include direct contribution to neovasculogenesis and de novo cardiogenesis, in addition to indirect paracrine action for cardioprotection, neoangiogenesis, and neuron spindle formation. Furthermore, treatment with ATSCs has demonstrated a diminished propensity for arrhythmogenic risk without any evidence for uncontrolled growth, systemic complications, or tumorigenic change. Engrafted adipose stem cells improves the myocardial function with the capacity for contribution both via direct differentiation and indirect regenerative paracrine signaling in the host myocardial microenvironment. Adipose tissue resource holds great promise in providing the raw stem cell material to generate therapeutic products in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, due to the heterogenous nature of derived stem cells, further evaluation is needed to delineate the mechanism of stem cell benefit within the myocardium and implement next generation approaches such as linage specification and combinatorial stem cell therapy.
Mid-Winter Breakout of Landfast Sea Ice and Major Storm Leads to Significant Ice Push Event Along Chukchi Sea Coastline

During the winter of 2016, anomalous sea ice conditions and a powerful storm culminated in a destructive erosion event along the Chukchi Sea coastline of Cape Espenberg, Alaska. This event is commonly referred to as an "ice push" or "ivu,” the Inupiat word for an ice ridging event. In this paper we report the process and impact of this event by combining traditional ecological knowledge, news accounts, meteorological data, remote sensing, and ground surveys. The mid-winter detachment of shorefast ice was caused by a low-pressure system and wind-driven swell that destabilized shorefast ice, while northerly winds developed an open-water lead offshore to the eventual impact area. These conditions preceded the impact of an extratropical cyclone on December 31, 2016, when powerful southerly winds and the second largest storm surge in Kotzebue Sound since at least 2003 led to the compressional failure of the ice cover under uni-axial loading perpendicular to the southern coastline of the Cape, resulting in the ice push event. Ice-pushed debris were shoved up to 6.2 m above mean high water, with ~3.5 km of coastline experiencing net erosion. The largest accumulation of ice-pushed debris had a volume of 1,000 m3, and rose 3+ m above the surrounding ground surface even after roughly 6 months of melting. On low-lying areas, driftwood and other debris were deposited 130 m landward by the surge 5.0 m above mean high water, indicating the potential threat of such events to property, infrastructure and, in this case, archeological sites and associated cultural resources. The anomalous environmental and sea ice conditions that preceded the ivu, seem to suggest that such events may occur more frequently in a warmer Arctic.
Effects of bath composition and thermal treatment on the performance of Co-Ni-Mo-P electrocatalyst supported on carbon for the electro-oxidation of ethanol

Abstract We explored the influence of bath compositions on the performance of as-deposited (ASD) Co-Ni-Mo-P electrocatalyst for the electrooxidation of ethanol using single-factor analysis. Further the effects of annealing temperature of the ASD electrocatalysts and influence of phosphorus on the catalyst performance were also evaluated. The specific peak currents for the forward (if) and backward (ib) oxidations and their ratios (if /ib) obtained from cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used to investigate and characterize the electrocatalyst performance. The results from the single-factor experiments showed that both current densities ( i f and i b ) increased with increasing electroless bath concentrations for all the bath species studied. Using if /ib ratio as the response factor, an optimum bath molar ratio of NiSO4 (N): CoSO4 (C): Na2MoO4 (M): NaPH2O2 (P) for the as-deposited catalyst was identified as 13.0:100.0: 1.0: 94.0 which was equivalent to Ni:Co:Mo:P surface composition ratio of 3: 1.5: 1.0: 1.1 (Ni3Co1.5MoP1.1) in the electrocatalyst. The absence of phosphorus in the ASD electrocatalyst resulted in poor ethanol oxidation performance (low if /ib ratio) and low catalyst stability. An optimal temperature of 350 °C was determined for thermally treated ASD electrocatalyst under H2/Ar gas for which if and if /ib ratios were higher than at any other annealing temperature including the ASD electrocatalyst and this was attributed to the formation of a new phase - Co2Mo3. The stability of the thermally treated electrocatalyst was found to be lower than that of ASD electrocatalyst. Overall, the work provided a direction on the use of electroless deposition method to optimize and prepare electrocatalyst containing phosphorus for effective electrooxidation of ethanol.
Self-consistent conversion of a one-component bulk viscous fluid to particles.

Comparison of heavy-ion experiments to fluid dynamics simulations requires the conversion of the fluid to particles. Extending the approach in Molnar & Wolff, PRC 95, 024903 (2017), this work presents self-consistent bulk viscous corrections from kinetic theory for a one-component system with isotropic $2\to 2$ interactions. The phase space corrections are contrasted to the Grad ansatz and also to corrections obtained from the relaxation time approximation. In addition, the bulk viscosity of the system is calculated and compared with the Grad result, as well as the $\zeta \propto (1 - 3 c_s^2)^2 \eta$ relation between shear and bulk viscosity near the conformal limit. The possible influence of various bulk correction choices on differential elliptic flow $v_2(p_T)$ in heavy-ion collisions is also estimated.
A review of the design of high-entropy aluminum alloys: a pathway for novel Al alloys

Aluminum (Al) alloys are of great importance and interest because of their extensive applications in various engineering fields. Lightweighting of our infrastructure has been a driver for more than the last two decades as our need to reduce carbon footprint on a global scale has become an inevitable reality. As a result, we have witnessed much progress in alloy development in Al alloys, especially with the advent of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) and other computational tools. However, the limitations of the properties one may attain through alloy development to date have relied on the traditional solvent/solute model, where the matrix is Al with additions of elements (solute) to the matrix. Despite making much progress, we are still locked-in to the strength-ductility curve without any appreciable increase in modulus (stiffness) of the alloy. High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) provide a new paradigm as they differ from conventional alloys in entropy-based mixing logic of various elements, which is different from the solvent/solute model. HEAs offer the opportunity to move out of the strength-ductility curve as well as the opportunity to increase the alloy’s modulus. In this paper, we present a retrospective view of Al alloys, followed with an understanding of the principles of HEAs, and lastly, with the idea of applying high entropy concept to conventional Al alloys to develop a novel Al alloy category, which we have coined HEAl. Preliminary results with a commentary on potential future opportunities are also given.
Mass flux and current density distributions of electrospray plumes

Performance and lifetime analysis of electrospray thrusters requires accurate knowledge of the mass and charge distributions of the plume. Mass flux and current density distributions were measured for a single capillary electrospray emitter using EMI-Im and found to be substantially different across a wide range of flow rates and emission voltages. Mass flux measurements yield an n∼3 super-Gaussian profile across all flow rates and voltages, while current density measurements change shape from n∼1.5– 2.5 super-Gaussian profiles monotonically with decreasing flow rate, where n=1 is Gaussian and higher n values correspond to increasingly more flat-top “super-Gaussian” profiles with steeper drop-off toward higher angles. For increasing flow rate, the mass flux profile grows while maintaining its shape, whereas the current density profile exhibits higher kurtosis, i.e., plumes that distribute proportionately more charge to higher angles. Additionally, higher extraction voltages exhibited tilted emission that led to highly off-axis plumes, ∼10°, for both mass flux and current density. Lifetime and performance assessments of electrospray thrusters must consider that mass flux and current density in the plume display different distribution shapes and trends in shape across changes in extraction voltage and flow rate.
Implications of intensive care unit admissions among medicare beneficiaries following resection of pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND Intensive care unit (ICU) use has increased among patients with cancer. We sought to define factors associated with ICU admissions among patients with pancreatic cancer and characterize trends in mortality among hospital survivors. METHODS The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database was used to identify patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent resection. Multivariable analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with ICU admission and mortality among hospital survivors. RESULTS Among 6422 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent resection of pancreatic cancer, 2386 (37.1%) had an ICU admission. Patients with ICU admissions were more likely to be younger (10-year increase odds ratio [OR]: 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-0.89), male (OR: 1.17, 95% CI 1.05-1.30) and undergo resection at a teaching hospital (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.05-1.36). While the majority of patients survived to hospital discharge (n = 2106; 88.3%), a majority of patients (n = 1296; 54.3%) died within 6 months. Among patients who had subsequent ICU admissions, 1- and 5-year survival was only 31.8% and 11.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Over one-third of patients with pancreatic cancer had an ICU admission. While most patients survived hospitalization, more than one-half of patients died within 6 months of discharge and two-thirds died within 1 year. These data should serve to guide patient-provider discussions around prognosis relative to ICU utilization.
Micromechanisms Associated with the Dynamic Compressive Failure of Hot-Pressed Boron Carbide

Brittle failure in boron carbide has been studied in dynamic uniaxial compression using a Kolsky bar technique. A detailed study of fragments was performed using SEM-EDS, to identify the mechanisms responsible for failure. Microstructural characterization and fracture surface observations revealed that carbon inclusions oriented at certain angles with respect to the direction of loading might act as possible crack initiation sites. Cracks developed from these inhomogeneities had a tensile character, and were linked to the wing crack mechanism.
For Youth's Future

(1943). For Youth's Future. The Journal of Health and Physical Education: Vol. 14, No. 8, pp. 407-442.
Analysis of a polarization agile communication system

A phased array system with polarization agility for the purpose of interference rejection is evaluated. Polarization agility is defined as a system which can transmit or receive any given polarization and switch its polarization in near real time. First, the efficiency that is sacrificed to gain polarization agility with a simple interleaved dual subarray (IDS) system is quantified. Second, the interference rejection which is gained with a random-polarization-hopping technique is analyzed. Third, various approaches for processing the received signal are discussed and compared. The combined analysis provides a full picture of the true costs and benefits of employing a simplified communication system with polarization agility.
Introducing data mining

An introduction to data mining has been incorporated into two courses. The breadth of data mining makes it a challenge to select material and topics. This paper discusses the material evaluated and the material and topics selected. The paper continues with a condensed version of the material presented to students.
A study of carbide removal mechanisms during quartz abrasion: II: Effect of abrasive particle shape

The effect of abrasive particle shape on fracture and pit formation in carbides during low stress abrasion of high chromium white cast irons by AFS 50–70 Ottawa quartz test sand is described in this paper. Abrasion tests were performed using a rubber wheel abrasion test apparatus and the abraded surfaces were examined in the scanning electron microscope. The shapes of the fresh and used abrasive particles were analyzed using the scanning electron microscope. Scratch tests were performed in situ in the scanning electron microscope using individual grains of fresh semiangular quartz particles and fractured angular quartz particles as scratch tools. Hertzian elastic theory was applied to gain a semiquantitative understanding of the effect of the radius of curvature of the abrasive particle tip on carbide fracture. The results of this study indicate that fracture of the carbides is initiated by the action of an extremely small portion of the abrasive particles which fracture during abrasion and therefore become very sharp and angular. Further crack extension and subsequent pit formation in carbides can be caused by the action of fresh rounded abrasive particles.
The relationship between short-term mortality and quality of care for hip fracture: a meta-analysis of clinical pathways for hip fracture.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between use of clinical pathways for hip fracture and changes in the rates of five inpatient complications and short-term mortality. DESIGN: Meta-analysis of published studies examining clinical pathways for hip fracture, identified through systematic searches of electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and hand searches of selected article bibliographies. SETTING: Observational and interventional studies of clinical pathways for hip fracture examining rates of deep venous thrombosis, pressure ulcer, surgical site infection, urinary tract infection, pneumonia, and inpatient or 30-day mortality. PARTICIPANTS: Two reviewers. MEASUREMENTS: Reviewers independently assessed eligibility and quality of studies and extracted data for outcomes of interest. RESULTS: Meta-analysis of nine studies (4,637 patients) demonstrated lower odds of deep venous thrombosis (odds ratio (OR)=0.33, 95% CI=0.14–0.75), pressure ulcer (OR=0.48, 95% CI=0.30–0.75), surgical site infection (OR=0.48, 95% CI=0.25–0.89), and urinary tract infection (OR=0.71, 95% CI=0.52–0.98) in patients managed according to clinical pathways than in those receiving usual care. Statistically significant differences were not observed in the odds of pneumonia (OR=1.01, 95% CI=0.67–1.53) or in a combined outcome of in-hospital or 30-day mortality (OR=0.86, 95% CI=0.66–1.13). CONCLUSION: An association was observed between clinical pathway use and lower odds of four common complications of hospitalization after hip fracture; only a small, statistically insignificant association was observed between pathway use and changes in short-term mortality, suggesting that assessments of hospital quality based on short-term mortality may not reflect important improvements in patient outcomes that hospitals may achieve using clinical pathways.
Stability of chemical reactions in a CSTR with delayed recycle stream

This paper shows how recycling delays affect the dynamics of certain types of exothermic reactions in continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR). We only consider a special type of recycle in which all the chemical specie at the output are recycled at an identical rate.
Comparing Colorectal Cancer Screening and Immunization Status in Older Americans

Background This study examined patterns of use of three adult preventive services—influenza vaccination, pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination, and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening; factors associated with different use patterns; and reasons for non-use. Methods Data from 3675 individuals aged 65 and older responding to the 2004 National Adult Immunization Survey, which included a CRC screening module, were analyzed in 2005–2006. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize patterns of use of preventive services, and to assess reasons for non-use. Polytomous logistic regression modeling was used to identify predictors of specific use patterns. Results Thirty-seven percent of respondents were current with all three preventive services; 10% were not current with any. Preventive services use varied by demographic and healthcare utilization characteristics. Having a recent visit to a doctor or other health provider was the most consistent predictor of use. Concern about side effects was the most frequently cited reason for not having an influenza vaccination (25%), while not knowing that the preventive service was needed was the most common reason for non-use of pneumonia vaccination (47%) and CRC tests (44% FOBT, 51% sigmoidoscopy, 47% colonoscopy). Conclusions Rates of influenza and pneumonia vaccination and CRC screening are suboptimal. This is especially apparent when examining the combined use of these services. Patient and provider activation and the new “Welcome to Medicare” benefit are among the strategies that may improve use of these services among older Americans. Ongoing monitoring and further research are required to determine the most effective approaches.
Relational Communication Traitsand Their Effect on Adaptiveness and Sales Performance

Two relational communication traits, communication apprehension and interaction involvement, are investigated within an adaptive selling framework to assess their impact on salesperson adaptiveness and sales performance. Using a sample of 239 insurance salespeople, results demonstrate that salespeople exhibiting lower levels of communication apprehension are more highly involved in communication interactions, and higher involvement facilitates increased adaptiveness and sales performance. This research highlights the importance of effective communication within sales interactions and offers suggestions to improve salesperson communication skill.
Reproduction of an inbred strain of Culex pipiens prevented by loss of Wolbachia pipientis.

Abstract The development time for an autogenous strain of Culex pipiens was prolonged after the mosquitoes were “cured” of their symbiotic Wolbachia pipients with tetracycline. Eggs produced by aposymbiotic females caged with either aposymbiotic or normal males failed to hatch. Neither growth rate nor reproduction was improved by feeding the larvae a commensal flagellate, bovine blood cells, or adenylic acid.
Synthesis of face-centered tetragonal FePt nanoparticles and granular films from Pt@Fe2O3 core-shell nanoparticles

This paper describes a new approach for making face-centered tetragonal (fct) FePt nanoparticles with a diameter of 17 nm and granular films from Pt@Fe2O3 core-shell nanoparticle precursors. The core-shell nanoparticles were converted to fct FePt through a reduction and alloy formation process at enhanced temperatures. The Fe and Pt elemental analysis was conducted on both individual nanoparticles and granular films using energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Our convergent evidence from selected area electron diffraction (SAED), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and EDX analysis indicates that the final products are fct FePt alloys. The fct FePt films have coercivities of 8.0-9.1 kOe at 5 K and 7.0 kOe at 300 K measured by a SQUID magnetometer. These values depend on the conversion temperatures of Pt@Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Unlike the previously synthesized disordered face-centered cubic (fcc) FePt nanoparticles with diameters of 4-6 nm (Sun, S. H.; Murray, C. B.; Weller, D.; Folks, L.; Moser, A. Science 2000, 287, 1989), the FePt nanoparticles presented in this work not only possess the preferred fct phase but also are in a size range that is expected to be ferromagnetic and have high coercivity, which is important to the practical applications in ultrahigh density data storage media and magnetic nano devices.
Outage probability and spectrum efficiency of cellular mobile radio systems with smart antennas

Relying on the distribution of noncentral multivariate F variates, we investigate the outage probability and spectrum efficiency performance of cellular systems with smart antennas. We consider interference-limited systems in which the number of interferers exceeds or is equal to the number of antenna elements, and we present closed-form expressions when the desired signal is subject to Rician-type fading and interfering signals exhibit Rayleigh-, or, more general Nakagami-type fading. When applicable, these new expressions are compared to those previously reported in the literature dealing with the performance of cellular systems without smart antenna capabilities and the performance of cellular systems with optimum combining when both the desired and interfering signals are subject to Rayleigh-type fading. Corresponding numerical results and plots are also provided and discussed.
Mutation that Dramatically Alters Rat Titin Isoform Expression and Cardiomyocyte Passive Tension

Abstract Titin is a very large alternatively spliced protein that performs multiple functions in heart and skeletal muscles. A rat strain is described with an autosomal dominant mutation that alters the isoform expression of titin. While wild type animals go through a developmental program where the 3.0 MDa N2B becomes the major isoform expressed by two to three weeks after birth (~ 85%), the appearance of the N2B is markedly delayed in heterozygotes and never reaches more than 50% of the titin in the adult. Homozygote mutants express a giant titin of the N2BA isoform type (3.9 MDa) that persists as the primary titin species through ages of more than one and a half years. The mutation does not affect the isoform switching of troponin T, a protein that is also alternatively spliced with developmental changes. The basis for the apparently greater size of the giant titin in homozygous mutants was not determined, but the additional length was not due to inclusion of sequence from larger numbers of PEVK exons or the Novex III exon. Passive tension measurements using isolated cardiomyocytes from homozygous mutants showed that cells could be stretched to sarcomere lengths greater than 4 μm without breakage. This novel rat model should be useful for exploring the potential role of titin in the Frank–Starling relationship and mechano-sensing/signaling mechanisms.
Influence of Drying Temperature, Water Content, and Heating Rate on Gelatinization of Corn Starches

The gelatinization properties of starch extracted from corn and waxy corn dried at different temperatures were determined at various water contents and heating rates by differential scanning calorimetry. All gelatinization transition temperatures increased with drying temperature and heating rate. Onset and peak temperatures remained relatively constant, whereas end temperature decreased in the presence of excess water. The gelatinization enthalpy (¢Hg) of corn starch decreased with drying temperature at 50% water; however, it remained constant for waxy corn starch. The effects of water content and heating rate on ¢Hg were dependent on each other. The minimum water levels required for gelatinization of starch extracted from corn dried at 20 and 100 °C are 21 and 29%, respectively. The activation energy (Ea) was calculated using an Arrhenius-type equation and two first-order models; the degree of conversion (R) was predicted using a newly proposed model that produced good results for both Ea and R.
The design and construction of an axial multiple-reflection absorption cell

Abstract An axial multiple-reflection cell of optical path length about 2 m has been designed for use with a Perkin-Elmer 12C spectrometer. The basic optical theory is discussed and the important constructional details are given. The special features of this cell are its relatively small volume and its robust construction which makes it suitable for use with gases at high pressures.
Insulinoma in dogs: a review

Insulinomas are rare malignant functional pancreatic tumors of the β cells that retain the ability to produce and secrete insulin. Insulinomas are the most common pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor in dogs that can induce a variety of clinical signs that result from hypoglycemia and secondary neuroglycopenic and adrenergic effects. Diagnosis and treatment is considered challenging, and the prognosis can be extremely variable depending on the therapeutic choices. This review aims to summarize and update classic knowledge with current trends in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of insulinomas.
High-Speed 4-Way Rotary On/Off Valve for Virtually Variable Displacement Pump/Motor Applications

The application of switched mode control to hydraulic systems has the potential of decreasing component complexity, size, and cost. This is accomplished by enabling variable pump or motor functionality using a single on/off valve paired with a compact, inexpensive fixed displacement machine. A 4-way tandem rotary on/off valve is presented in this paper that extends a novel rotary valve concept (experimentally validated for pump applications) to hydraulic pump/motors. The pump/valve system is referred to as a Virtually Variable Displacement Pump/Motor (VVDPM) since the effective displacement of the system is variable and not the physical displacement of the pump itself. This paper investigates the design and efficiency of the proposed rotary valve when utilizing the VVDPM on a light weight power-split hydraulic hybrid passenger vehicle that is driven over a standard federal drive cycle. Simulated VVDPM efficiency maps are presented for motoring and pumping and the cycle efficiency of an optimized VVDPM is compared to that of a typical bent axis unit. Vehicle fuel economy is also explored through simulation.© 2011 ASME
Farewell to Feyerabend

It is with some trepidation that I offer this critical review of Feyerabend's new book. I do not relish the prospect of getting involved in one of the nasty little fights Feyerabend picks with those who criticize his work. Nevertheless, Feyerabend's work cries out for critical attention. Of particular interest is the degree to which this new work deepens or enhances Feyerabend's earlier castigations of Reason. Fans of Feyerabend will be disappointed to learn that Feyerabend's philosophy is not deepened or enhanced in any significant way, and that his responses to his critics are on the whole unconvincing.
Studies on the mechanism of cardiac glycoside action

Abstract A series of cardiac glycosides was investigated with regard to their effect on cellular and intracellular membranes isolated from the cardiac tissue. The movement of electrolyte (Na + , K + and Ca 2+ ), in intact heart muscle as affected by these glycosides, was also studied. It was found that there was an intimate relationship between the inhibition of Na + -K + activated ATPase and the inotropic effect. At the initial inotropic stage, 45 Ca influx was increased without measurable alteration of total electrolyte content. At a later toxic stage, the tissue content of both Na + and Ca 2+ was increased. Since the above findings were observed with all cardiac glycosides possessing an inotropic effect, it was concluded that an increase of intracellular Na + resulting from the inhibition of Na + -K + activated ATPase caused an increase in 45 Ca influx, which in turn increased the contractility of heart muscle. It was also found, with one exception, that all active cardiac glycosides tested caused an increase in the amount of Ca 2+ released from cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum fragments. This effect of cardiac glycosides may also contribute to the initial increase in the concentration of intracellular-free Ca 2+ which leads to the inotropic effect.
Tissue Characterization Using Energy-Selective Computed Tomography

Energy-selective computed tomography has several important properties useful for in-vivo tissue characterization. Most importantly, it produces more information than conventional computed tomography. This information can be considered to be an added dimension which can be used to eliminate the ambiguities in conventional CT data. The noise in energy-selective computed tomography is also two dimensional and an un-correlated coordinate system can be defined which is needed for studying the capabilities of the technique for characterizing tissues. By using the calibration material basis set, the information from energy-selective CT can be extracted with extreme accuracy. Our preliminary experiments indicate that the technique is accurate enough to characterize the difference between gray and white matter. Most conventional systems have difficulty in distinguishing these materials, much less characterizing the reason for their differing attenuation. Thus energy-selective CT has the promise of providing extremely accurate tissue characterization based on its physical properties.
Inside Front Cover: Polymer–Silicon Flexible Structures for Fast Chemical Vapor Detection (Adv. Mater. 23/2007)

Vladimir Tsukruk and co-workers demonstrate on p. 4248 the application of plasma-polymerized organic/silicon bimaterial structures as highly sensitive and agile chemical sensors. Owing to their unique nanoscale topology, highly crosslinked structure, and precise choice of the precursors, polymer films coated on microcantilevers exhibited record sensitivity to water vapor and other volatile organic compounds in conjunction with fast response times. The inside cover image by Brian Schrank shows the bimaterial structure deflection in the presence of a stimuli vapor.
Region-specific changes of GABAA receptors by tolerance to and dependence upon pentobarbital

Abstract An experimental model for inducing tolerance to and dependence upon pentobarbital was characterized. Rats were infused with pentobarbital, 300 μg/10 μ1 per h i.c.v. for 6 or 7 days, through pre-implanted cannulas by osmotic minipumps. Measurement of brain and serum levels showed that pentobarbital remained mainly inside of the brain. Measurements of sleeping time and susceptibility to convulsant-induced seizures indicated a substantial degree of tolerance and dependence (24 h after termination of infusion). Results of GABA A receptor binding assays showed marked regional variations. While [ 35 S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) binding sites were increased in frontal cortices and striata of pentobarbital-dependent animals, K D was increased in striata of tolerant animals. Dependence upon pentobarbital was correlated with increased [ 3 H]flunitrazepam binding sites in all three regions examined. Both high and low affinity [ 3 H]muscimol binding sites were increased in dependent animals, but low affinity sites were decreased in frontal cortices of tolerant animals. K D s of [ 3 H]muscimol high affinity sites were increased in cerebellum after animals developed dependence upon pentobarbital. K D s of [ 3 H]muscimol low affinity sites were decreased in striata of pentobarbital tolerant animals. These findings further support the hypothesis that GABA A receptors in discrete areas of the brain have different subunit compositions and are regulated differentially by pharmacological modulators.
America's Uninsured: The Statistics and Back Story

This article provides an overview of why health insurance matters, a profile of the uninsured, and a discussion of the roles and limits of private and public health insurance as sources of coverage. It concludes with reflections on the current health insurance environment and prospects for reform.
Long term sustainability of differentially reliable systems in the dark silicon era

As transistor miniaturization continues, providing robustness and computational correctness comes with rising power, performance, and area overhead costs. However, the diversity of software error tolerance is increasing as modern society embraces ubiquitous computing. This diversity can be exploited by differentially reliable (DR) multicore systems. The rising level of dark silicon-the portion of a chip that must remain inactive due to power budget constraints-makes such DR systems even more attractive when compared to homogeneous designs because power efficiency is improved with the increased flexibility of dynamically selecting appropriate cores for a given software workload. However, ensuring the long-term sustainability of these DR systems is a profound challenge. Asymmetric utilization of cores, differential aging degradation, and manufacturing process variation alter the relative reliability of DR system components, degrading and even eliminating the energy efficiency advantage. In this paper, we propose a feedback control based thread-to-core mapping framework to ensure longterm sustainability and extend the energy efficiency of a DR system. Over a ten-year lifespan, we analyze our approach on two DR design techniques and respectively demonstrate 14.4-16.3% and 26.1-31.0% in sustained energy-efficiency benefits, surpassing the recently proposed race-to-idle approach.
Purification, primary structure, and neuronal localization of cerebral peptide 1 from Aplysia

We are investigating peptidergic neurotransmission between ganglia in the Aplysia CNS. Neurons in the cerebral ganglia of Aplysia synthesize [35S]methionine-labeled peptides, which are transported to other central ganglia by fast axonal transport. We report the characterization of one of these peptides, termed cerebral peptide 1 (CP1). Transported [35S]methionine-labeled CP1 was used as a probe for the purification of CP1 from the pooled extracts of 1000 cerebral ganglia using three sequential modes of RP-HPLC. Amino acid sequence analysis by automated Edman degradation yielded the following sequence: Phe-Ser-Gly-Leu-Met-Ser-Glu-Gly-Ser-Ser-Leu-Glu-Ala. This sequence was consistent with data from amino acid composition analysis and FAB-MS of the purified peptide. In addition, a synthetic peptide with the proposed sequence coeluted with [35S]methionine-labeled native CP1 using the three RP-HPLC conditions used in the purification. Antisera raised against synthetic CP1 stained about 90 neuronal cell bodies in the cerebral ganglion including those of the asymmetric H cluster. Extracts of the H cluster dissected from ganglia incubated in [35S]methionine synthesized a radiolabeled peptide that coeluted with synthetic CP1, indicating that these neurons indeed synthesize authentic CP1. The other major ganglia each contained only a few CP1-immunoreactive neurons. The neuropil of each ganglion contains both smooth and varicose-immunoreactive fibers. Thus, CP1 is broadly distributed within the Aplysia CNS and may be a new peptide transmitter.
Mouse vocal communication system: Are ultrasounds learned or innate?

Mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are often used as behavioral readouts of internal states, to measure effects of social and pharmacological manipulations, and for behavioral phenotyping of mouse models for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. However, little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms of rodent USV production. Here we discuss the available data to assess whether male mouse song behavior and the supporting brain circuits resemble those of known vocal non-learning or vocal learning species. Recent neurobiology studies have demonstrated that the mouse USV brain system includes motor cortex and striatal regions, and that the vocal motor cortex sends a direct sparse projection to the brainstem vocal motor nucleus ambiguous, a projection previously thought be unique to humans among mammals. Recent behavioral studies have reported opposing conclusions on mouse vocal plasticity, including vocal ontogeny changes in USVs over early development that might not be explained by innate maturation processes, evidence for and against a role for auditory feedback in developing and maintaining normal mouse USVs, and evidence for and against limited vocal imitation of song pitch. To reconcile these findings, we suggest that the trait of vocal learning may not be dichotomous but encompass a broad spectrum of behavioral and neural traits we call the continuum hypothesis, and that mice possess some of the traits associated with a capacity for limited vocal learning.
Optimal placement of controllers for seismic structures

Abstract Active control devices can be implemented on seismic structures to reduce structural response from earthquakes. Certain locations of the structure are advantageous for placement of the controllers in the sense that these locations effectively reduce structural response while using the minimum control effort. A method is proposed which uses an empirical procedure to find the optimal locations by maximizing an optimal locations index. The method takes into consideration the modal responses and earthquake spectra for two different earthquake records. The proposed method is compared to two methods; in the first method a control energy performance index is minimized; the second method uses a minimum response performance index as the criterion. The proposed method is found to agree with the two alternative methods and saves computation time.
Microfluidic flow-scanning optical tomography

We have developed a tomographic microscopy technique. Using a microfluidic channel, we observe samples in the phase-space domain. The technique is robust to sample motion and demonstrated on freely-swimming C.Elegans.
Effects of temperature, acyl chain length, and flow-rate ratio on liposome formation and size in a microfluidic hydrodynamic focusing device

Microfluidic hydrodynamic focusing of an alcohol–lipid mixture into a narrow fluid stream by two oblique buffer streams provides a controlled and reproducible method of forming phospholipid bilayer vesicles (i.e., liposomes) with relatively monodisperse and specific size ranges. Previous work has established that liposome size can be controlled by changing the relative and absolute flow rates of the fluids. In other previous work, a kinetic (non-equilibrium) theoretical description of the detergent dilution liposome formation method was developed, in which planar lipid bilayer discs aggregate until they become sufficiently large to close into spherical liposomes. In this work, we show that an approximation of the kinetic theory can help explain liposome formation for our microfluidic method. This approximation predicts that the liposome radius should be approximately proportional to the ratio of the membrane bending elasticity modulus to the line tension of the hydrophobic edges of the lipid bilayer disc. In combination with very fast microfluidic mixing, this theory enables a new method to measure the ratio of the elasticity modulus to the line tension of membranes. The theory predicts that the temperature should change the liposome size primarily as a result of its effect on the ratio of the membrane bending elasticity modulus to the line tension, in contrast to previous work on microdroplet and microbubble formation, which showed that the effect of temperature on droplet/bubble size was primarily due to viscosity changes. In agreement with theory, most membrane compositions form larger liposomes close to or below the gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature, where the membrane elasticity modulus is much larger, and they have a much smaller dependence of size on temperature far above the transition temperature, where the membrane elasticity modulus is relatively constant. Other parameters modulated by the temperature (e.g., viscosity, free energy, and diffusion coefficients) appear to have little or no effect on liposome size, because they have counteracting effects on the lipid aggregation rate and the liposome closure time. Experiments are performed using phospholipids with varying hydrophobic acyl chain lengths that have phase transition temperatures ranging from −1 °C to 55 °C, so that the temperature dependence is examined below, above, and around the transition temperature. In addition, the effect of IPA stabilizing the edges of the bilayer discs can be examined by comparing the liposome sizes obtained at different flow-rate ratios. Finally, polydispersity is shown to increase as the median liposome size increases, regardless of whether the change in size is due to changing temperature or flow-rate ratio.
Identification of a Glycosaminoglycan-binding Site in Chemokine Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1α

Chemokines bind to receptors of the seven-transmembrane type on target cells and also bind to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), including heparin. In this study, we have sought to identify structural motifs mediating binding of the β-chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α) to GAGs. Alignment of β-chemokine amino acid sequences revealed the presence of several highly conserved basic amino acids, and molecular modeling predicted that the side chains of three of the basic amino acids fold closely together in MIP-1α. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to change the conserved basic residues in MIP-1α to alanines, and both wild-type and mutant proteins were produced in a transient COS cell expression system. Wild-type MIP-1α bound to heparin-Sepharose, while three of the mutants, R18A, R46A, and R48A, failed to bind. Mutant K45A eluted from heparin-Sepharose at lower NaCl concentrations than wild type, while the binding of K61A, with a mutation in the C-terminal α-helix, was indistinguishable from that of the wild-type protein. To determine whether GAG-binding capacity is required for receptor binding and cell activation, we performed competition radioligand binding and calcium mobilization experiments using one of the non-heparin-binding mutants, R46A. R46A bound as efficiently as wild-type MIP-1α to CCR1 and was equally active in eliciting increases in intracellular free calcium concentrations. Our data define a GAG binding site in MIP-1α consisting of three noncontiguous basic amino acids and show that the capacity to bind to GAGs is not a prerequisite for receptor binding or signaling in vitro
Host translational inhibition by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Exotoxin A Triggers an immune response in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Intestinal epithelial cells are exposed to both innocuous and pathogenic microbes, which need to be distinguished to mount an effective immune response. To understand the mechanisms underlying pathogen recognition, we investigated how Pseudomonas aeruginosa triggers intestinal innate immunity in Caenorhabditis elegans, a process independent of Toll-like pattern recognition receptors. We show that the P. aeruginosa translational inhibitor Exotoxin A (ToxA), which ribosylates elongation factor 2 (EF2), upregulates a significant subset of genes normally induced by P. aeruginosa. Moreover, immune pathways involving the ATF-7 and ZIP-2 transcription factors, which protect C. elegans from P. aeruginosa, are required for preventing ToxA-mediated lethality. ToxA-responsive genes are not induced by enzymatically inactive ToxA protein but can be upregulated independently of ToxA by disruption of host protein translation. Thus, C. elegans has a surveillance mechanism to recognize ToxA through its effect on protein translation rather than by direct recognition of either ToxA or ribosylated EF2.