cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Composition and fibre digestion in morphological components of an alfalfa-timothy sward

Abstract Forage intake in ruminants varies with the species and morphology of the plant and is related to the content of fibre and the rate and extent of its digestion in the rumen. Herbage was collected from an established sward of alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) and timothy ( Phleum pratense L.) and separated into leaf and stem fractions. Alfalfa leaf and stem were further divided by removing the five terminal internodes > 10 mm from each shoot. Leaf of both species was higher in nitrogen (N), dry matter disappearance in vitro and in fibre constituents, including neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), cellulose, hemicellulose and acid detergent lignin (ADL). Disappearance of NDF from leaves from the upper portion of alfalfa shoots was 632 g kg −1 , compared with 796 g kg −1 for timothy leaf. Lower alfalfa stem NDF had a disappearance of 311 g kg −1 NDF and timothy stem had 474 g kg −1 . In spite of this difference, the two fractions had the same amount of undigested NDF remaining after 12 h of incubation. This was caused by a higher rate of digestible NDF disappearance in alfalfa stem than in timothy stem. Alfalfa leaf fractions also had higher rates of NDF disappearance than timothy leaf. Digestible ADF disappearance rates were similar in the two species, except that the rate for the lower alfalfa stem component was 12.8% h −1 while the rate for timothy stem was 8.0% h −1 . Timothy leaf had higher rates of cellulose and hemicellulose disappearance than alfalfa leaf. Lower stem of alfalfa had the lowest cellulose and hemicellulose disappearance. Results of this experiment indicate that preferential consumption of leaf over stem or legume over grass would in general provide a diet lower in NDF, lower in indigestible NDF and with a higher rate of NDF disappearance.
ON THE IN VIVO FUNCTION OF THE RECA ATPASE

Abstract The Escherichia coli RecA protein is the prototype of the RecA/RAD51/DMC1 family of strand transferases acting in genetic recombination. The E96D mutant was previously isolated in a screen for toxic recA mutants and was found to constitutively derepress the SOS genes and inhibit chromosome segregation in E. coli . Here, we have found that the E96D mutation lowers the RecA k cat value for ATP hydrolysis 100-fold. Use of this mutant reveals that the ATPase and branch migration activities of RecA are not necessarily required for catalyzing in vivo recombinational pairing and LexA cleavage. In addition to its effect on ATP hydrolysis, the mutation causes ATP to more strongly promote the transition to the biologically active, extended conformation of the RecA enzyme. The enhanced ATP binding is apparently the cause for a broader nucleic acid ligand specificity. The use of RNA and double-stranded DNA as cofactors for LexA cleavage could give rise to the inappropriate, constitutive derepression of the SOS genes. This underscores the need for the ATP affinity to be optimized so that RecA becomes selectively activated only during DNA repair and recombination through binding single-stranded DNA.
A comparison of calcium dependent contraction in glycerinated uterine smooth muscle and cardiac muscle.

SummaryA comparison of Ca dependent contractions in glycerinated cardiac and uterine muscle fibers and the effects of extraction in progesterone on the maximum tension developed in glycerinated uterine fibers were made. It was concluded that cardiac muscle contains an extractable factor(s) which results in Ca dependent contractions. Uterine muscle contraction, however, is either made Ca dependent by a fundamentally different factor(s) or similar factor(s) which are so tightly bound to the contractile proteins that they cannot be extracted. In addition it was concluded that the low tension generated by glycerinated uterine fibers was probably not due to breakdown and release of proteolytic enzymes from lysosomes since progesterone which supposedly inhibits lysosome breakdown had no effect on the maximum tension generated.
The Maximum Divergence (Expectation Of Information) Of Receiver Operating Characteristics (Roc): A Figure Of Merit Of An Integral System Of A Machine And A Human

Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) is an empirical measure of performance of an integral system consisting of communication equipment and a human observer. ROC of two systems may interesect, thus making comparison of two ROC's difficult. Divergence (Kullback) can be used as a figure of merit for comparison in such instances. A theoretical basis of ROC necessary to calculate divergence from ROC is elaborated.
The epidemiology of gastric cancer.

The etiology of gastric carcinoma, especially its “epidemic” or “intestinal” type is reviewed. The prevailing etiologic hypothesis, based on the selective targeting of etiologic agents in different points of the chain of causation, is described. Support for the hypothesis is updated, based on descriptive and analytical epidemiologic studies as well as on recently obtained laboratory and experimental evidence. Primary and secondary prevention measures are briefly discussed.
Thermoplastic shear and fracture of steel during high-velocity sliding

Abstract A steel rail, severely gouged during a rocket-sled test, was the focus of an investigation of the microstructural changes which occur during high-velocity, sliding contact. Metallographic analysis of the damaged rail indicated that the mechanism of gouging probably was a crude machining process in which the sled shoe played the role of a tool. Cracks in bands of martensite and severely distorted pearlite regions were the principal microscopic features of the subsurface damage; the overall configuration of the pattern of cracks and martensite bands suggests that they formed as a result of catastrophic thermoplastic shear.
A Wavelet Packet Approach to Transient Signal Classification

Abstract Time–frequency transforms, including wavelet and wavelet packet transforms, are generally acknowledged to be useful for studying non-stationary phenomena and, in particular, have been shown or claimed to be of value in the detection and characterization of transient signals. In many applications time–frequency transforms are simply employed as a visual aid to be used for signal display. Although there have been several studies reported in the literature, there is still considerable work to be done investigating the utility of wavelet and wavelet packet time–frequency transforms for automatic transient signal classification. This paper contributes to this ongoing investigation through the development of a non-parametric wavelet packet feature extraction procedure which identifies features to be used for the classification of transient signals for which explicit signal models are not available or appropriate. Recent literature in this area is devoted to truly ad-hoc, high-dimensional, non-parametric types of classification in which one or more time–frequency transform forms the base from which a large number of features are determined by trial and error. In contrast, the wavelet-packet-based procedure presented in this paper was formulated to systematically adapt to any data dictionary within which several classes must be distinguished. This method is aimed at focusing the information in the data set to find the smallest number of features for robust, reliable classification. The promise of our method is illustrated by performing our procedure on a set of biologically generated underwater acoustic signals. For this example the wavelet-packet-based features obtained by our method yield excellent classification results when used as input for a neural network and a nearest neighbor rule.
Cell adhesion: integrating cytoskeletal dynamics and cellular tension

Cell migration affects all morphogenetic processes and contributes to numerous diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. For most cells in most environments, movement begins with protrusion of the cell membrane followed by the formation of new adhesions at the cell front that link the actin cytoskeleton to the substratum, generation of traction forces that move the cell forwards and disassembly of adhesions at the cell rear. Adhesion formation and disassembly drive the migration cycle by activating Rho GTPases, which in turn regulate actin polymerization and myosin II activity, and therefore adhesion dynamics.
Long-term results after partial left ventriculectomy.

Abstract Background: Long-term clinical, echocardiographic and hemodynamic effects after partial left ventriculectomy (PLV) and predictors of outcome have been determined. Methods: Between January 1995 and July 1999, PLV was performed in 39 patients. In 15 patients the etiology of heart failure was idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP), 19 patients had ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICMP) and five patients had valvular cardiomyopathy. Concomitant procedures included coronary artery bypass grafting in 16 patients, mitral valve repair in 33 patients and aortic valve replacement in five patients. All patients belonged in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV. Mean follow-up was 663±514 days. Clinical, echocardiographic and hemodynamic assessments and metabolic stress testing were performed preoperatively, within 30 days postoperatively and 6, 12 and 24 months after the operation. Results: Actuarial survival was 64% after 1 year, 55% after 2 years and 44% 3 years after the operation. In patients with ICMP as well as in patients with DCMP actuarial 1 year survival was 60%. At 2-year follow-up NYHA functional class was improved significantly ( P Conclusions: PLV is associated with considerable postoperative mortality and lacking long-term improvement of cardiac performance.
The Art of Asking Questions

Abstract In this paper I discuss how we should distinguish legitimate from illegitimate questions. I will argue that we should not make such distinctions prior to asking our questions; that questioning is more of an art than a science and that this art is part of the art of conversation in general. Nonetheless, the desire to limit in advance the questions that we can legitimately ask is not infrequent. In the philosophy of science this ambition manifests in response to concerns regarding the corruption of scientific knowledge and inquiry. Similarly in the quantitative social sciences researchers develop measures by isolating in advance just those questions that they believe will best illuminate the construct under investigation. In order to preserve the integrity of their data much is done to avoid and adjust for errant respondent understandings of these questions. I argue, however, that limiting our questions in these ways does not secure knowledge and inquiry from bias, but rather unduly limits what we ...
Linear semibridging carbonyls—III. Carbonyl and thiocarbonyl ligands as four-electron donors

Abstract Parameter-free Fenske—Hall molecular orbital calculations predict the electronic structure and bonding of several heterobimetallic complexes containing linear semibridging carbonyl and thiocarbonyl ligands. The results suggest that the linear semibridging ligand acts as a four-electron donor only when the secondary metal centre is an electron-deficient early transition metal atom. When the secondary centre is a late transition metal atom, the linear semibridging ligand acts as a π-acceptor of electron density, even if the late metal has less than 18 electrons. Holes in the d shell of the early metal atoms are more prominent than those in the late metal atoms where the higher nuclear charge pulls the d electrons closer to the nucleus. The role of the semibridging ligand is to fill in the prominent holes in the d shell when they exist by donating electron density from an occupied π orbital. When there are no holes in the d shell, or when the holes are very small, the semibridging ligands accept electron density from the secondary metal centre into a π* orbital.
Does polygyny reduce fertility

Polygyny can increase, decrease, or have no effect on fertility. Understanding how this can occur requires consideration of both the proximate determinants of fertility and the ultimate effects of polygyny as a female reproductive strategy. Several factors reduced the fertility of polygynous women in 19th century Utah, including marrying at an older age, marrying older men, and conflict between co-wives. Sterility did not explain the reduced number of children in polygynous women, nor is there evidence of a "dilution effect" from sharing a husband. If women could anticipate a reduction in their own fertility, why would they still choose polygyny? Evidence suggests that they chose it because the children of polygynous men had increased fertility, high enough to offset the low fertility of polygynous women themselves.
U.S.‐Soviet climate research: More, better

The draft of an agreement for cooperative U.S.-Soviet climate research contains a number of proposed projects that should lead to unprecedented knowledge of the worldwide atmospheric distribution of trace gases and their effect on climate change. Activities named in the document include the shared measurement of Antarctica's ozone hole, a joint experiment to investigate the relationship between aerosols and ozone in the Arctic stratosphere, and a program to measure biogenic methane produced in permafrost areas of the United States and the Soviet Union. The protocol, signed in preliminary form November 2, 1987, by representatives of both countries, is the latest update of a bilateral agreement in place since 1972. Ultimate approval of the protocol should come in the next few months, in the form of a final signing by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Thomas and the head of the equivalent ministry in the Soviet Union, Yuri Izrael.
Black Men, Racial Stereotyping, and Violence in the U.S. South and Cuba at the Turn of the Century

Two decades after the abolition of slavery, fear-inducing stereotypes of black men emerged in the U.S. South and Cuba that had not been pervasive before emancipation or in its immediate aftermath. Simultaneously, white antiblack violence reached unprecedented levels with the lynching of more than twentyfive hundred blacks in the U.S. South between 1884 and 1930, and the massacre of several thousand blacks in Cuba in 1912.1 Yet beyond this common trajectory toward racial stereotyping and violence, important differences existed in the ideas of these two former slave societies about the place blacks should occupy in freedom, the kinds of images that were applied to them, and the nature of the violence exercised against them. The first part of this article analyzes and compares the different images of otherness that emerged in the South after Reconstruction and in Cuba after independence. These images exemplified and shaped the power relationship between dominant and dominated. Expressed in a racial and gendered form, these stereotypes asserted white males' domination.2 They presented the dominated blacks as fearful "others," thus helping to establish a social hierarchy and boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. Racial images also fueled the dominant group's violence, which was used to further teach blacks their "true place" in society.3 In the South and Cuba, the fearsome image of the black rapist targeted the entire black population, and was the most likely stereotype to ignite racial violence: examples include the lynchings by white mobs in the South throughout this period, and the 1912 massacre of Cuban blacks by the army and white posses. Apart from the 1912 massacre, however, the prevailing image of otherness in Cuba from the 1900s to the 1930s was that of the black male witch (brujo)-an image which only targeted a portion of the population of African descent, and prompted repression rather than mob violence.4 The article goes on
Structure and Function of the Mouthparts and Salivary Gland Complex of the Giant Waterbug, Belostoma lutarium (Stål) (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae)

Belostoma lutarium (Stal) is semiaquatic predator common to vegetated ponds, lakes, and bayous throughout eastern North America. We used scanning electron microscopy and histological cross sections to show that the morphology of the feeding structures of B. lutarium agrees with the general hemipteran feeding plan. Slight deviations from the previously reported observations for other Nepomorpha include the structure of the triturating devices, feeding stylets, and the efferent salivary duct. Furthermore, interrupted feeding trials indicate that B. lutarium is able to feed on large prey for over 2 h and not deplete its supply of salivary enzymes. All three productive components of the salivary gland (main, lateral, and accessory glands) empty most of their salivary products during the first 2 h of feeding, and begin regenerating their secretions during the feeding process. Essentially, no latency period for saliva production exists in this species. The structure and function of the mouthparts and salivary gland are adapted for the predaceous feeding habits of Belostomatidae.
Clinical considerations for the use of intravenous nicardipine in the treatment of postoperative hypertension.

The incidence of postoperative hypertension after both cardiac and noncardiac surgery is a major concern. α-Adrenergic-blocking drugs, such as phentolamine, and direct-acting vasodilators, such as nitroglycerin and nitroprusside, are commonly used to treat hypertension. Nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, may also be used, but because no intravenous preparation is available, its effects are not titratable. A new short-acting calcium channel blocker, nicardipine, is a potent vasodilator and produces more selective responses in the coronary versus the systemic vascular circulation. It is an effective cerebral vasodilator, increasing cerebral blood flow and oxygen delivery. Nicardipine can be administered as an intravenous loading infusion of 10 to 15 mg/hr for 25 minutes, followed by a maintenance infusion of 3 to 5 mg/hr. Nicardipine has a short duration factor, is easily titratable and is as effective as nitroglycerin or nitroprusside in the control of hypertension. In summary, nicardipine has many properties of an ideal drug for the treatment of postoperative hypertension.
Suboptimal feedback control of distributed systems: Part II. Discussion of test systems and numerical results

The suboptimal control algorithms developed in Part I are tested on four example problems to obtain some indication of their performance. Results are presented and compared with results obtained from the application of classical open-loop optimal control synthesis algorithms to the same test problems. The suboptimal feedback control algorithms are found to give acceptable performance on both linear and nonlinear systems at the expense of very little computational effort.
Survey of oral health practices among adults in a North Carolina Hispanic population.

Purpose.The purpose of this study was to collect baseline data pertaining to the oral health of Hispanics residing in Siler City, NC, a microcosm of the flourishing Latino growth found especially in the southeastern United States. Methods. A convenience sample of 158 Hispanic adults was recruited. A 41-item Spanish language survey was utilized. Questions addressed preventive oral health practices, oral health knowledge and beliefs, perceived needs, and demographic information. Results. Analysis of data were conducted to find demographic characteristics, frequencies, and correlations. The following associations were found statistically significant (p Conclusions. This exploratory study found that this population lacks knowledge related to oral health and that they have indicated an overwhelming need for preventive dental prophylaxis. Characteristics found in this population were low income, low education, no dental insurance, and not speaking fluent English. The following suggestions may aid in eliminating dental health care disparities among this population: 1) training and recruiting oral health care providers that are culturally sensitive and speak Spanish; 2) conducting oral health promotional programs sensitive to the needs of Hispanics; 3) Dental Hygiene programs should expand clinical rotations to provide culturally diverse dental hygiene services; 4) changes should be made in North Carolina dental hygiene practice laws to increase care to underserved population.
A practical approach for integrated order and production scheduling problems

Many commercial manufacturers sell products to end users through retail dealers, referred to as customers. With limited manufacturing capacity and long lead times for raw materials, a manufacturer may not be able to fully deliver customer orders on time. Determining when to deliver and what quantities to deliver is the "order scheduling" problem. Ideally, order scheduling should be coupled with shop production scheduling. In view of the complexity of manufacturing environments, however, they are usually treated separately, leading to poor system performance. In this paper, the integrated order and production scheduling is considered for a simplified flowshop where the bottleneck is at the first stage of production, and the arrivals of raw materials are assumed to be given. A separable problem formulation is presented, and the problem, is solved by using the Lagrangian relaxation technique. Subproblems are solved by enumeration, and the Lagrange multipliers are updated at the high level by using the facet ascending algorithm. The algorithm is currently under implementation. This method has the potential to efficiently generate near optimal schedules with quantifiable quality. >
Efficient regular expression evaluation: theory to practice

Several algorithms and techniques have been proposed recently to accelerate regular expression matching and enable deep packet inspection at line rate. This work aims to provide a comprehensive practical evaluation of existing techniques, extending them and analyzing their compatibility. The study focuses on two hardware architectures: memory-based ASICs and FPGAs.
Back to the future: a non-automated method of constructing transfer models

Representing domain knowledge is important for constructing educational software, and automated approaches have been proposed to construct and refine such models. In this paper, instead of applying automated and computationally intensive approaches, we simply start with existing hand- constructed transfer models at various levels of granularity and use them as a lens to examine student learning. Specifically, we are interested in seeing whether we can evaluate schools by examining the grain-size at which its students are best represented. Also, we are curious about whether different types of students are best represented by different transfer models. We found that better schools and stronger students are best represented by models with a fewer number of skills. Weaker students and schools are best represented, for our data, by models that allow no transfer of knowledge in between skills. Perhaps surprisingly, to accurately predict the level at which a student represents knowledge it is sufficient to know his standardized test score rather than indicators of socio economic status or his school.
The Real Deal: Using Cytochalasin B in Sonodynamic Therapy to Preferentially Damage Leukemia Cells

Background/Aim: Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a form of ultrasound therapy in which chemotherapeutic agents known as sonosensitizers are administered to increase the efficacy of ultrasound's preferential damage to neoplastic cells. Perhaps one of the most intriguing capabilities of ultrasound is its ability to preferentially lyse cells based on size. Cytochalasin B is a cytokinesis inhibitor that preferentially enlarges and multinucleates malignant cells, making them much more sensitive to ultrasonic irradiation. Materials and Methods: The present study investigated the extent of preferential damage inflicted by cytochalasin B on U937 leukemia/human blood cell populations. Cell mixtures were treated with cytochalasin B and then sonicated under a relatively low intensity (3W/cm2). Results: Cytochalasin B preferentially damages U937 cells both before and after sonication. This agent also reduces rapid proliferation as the clonogenicity of U937 cells was considerably reduced following treatment. Conclusion: Cytochalasin B may have profound therapeutic applications when combined with SDT.
Precision PEP-II optics measurement with an SVD-enhanced Least-Square fitting

A singular value decomposition (SVD)-enhanced Least-Square fitting technique is discussed. By automatic identifying, ordering, and selecting dominant SVD modes of the derivative matrix that responds to the variations of the variables, the converging process of the Least-Square fitting is significantly enhanced. Thus the fitting speed can be fast enough for a fairly large system. This technique has been successfully applied to precision PEP-II optics measurement in which we determine all quadrupole strengths (both normal and skew components) and sextupole feed-downs as well as all BPM gains and BPM cross-plane couplings through Least-Square fitting of the phase advances and the Local Green's functions as well as the coupling ellipses among BPMs. The local Green's functions are specified by 4 local transfer matrix components R12, R34, R32, R14. These measurable quantities (the Green's functions, the phase advances and the coupling ellipse tilt angles and axis ratios) are obtained by analyzing turn-by-turn Beam Position Monitor (BPM) data with a high-resolution model-independent analysis (MIA). Once all of the quadrupoles and sextupole feed-downs are determined, we obtain a computer virtual accelerator which matches the real accelerator in linear optics. Thus, beta functions, linear coupling parameters, and interaction point (IP) optics characteristics can be measured and displayed.
Fundamental Study of Clay: XI, Note on the Effect of Fluoride Ions on a Clay Suspension

The effect of fluoride ions on the viscosity, yield point, pH, and conductivity of hydrogen-clay slips and a calcium-clay slip is shown. These data indicate that fluoride ions deflocculate hydrogen-clay slips by the same mechanism as hydroxyl ions because these ions are isoelectric and approximately the same size. The data tend to confirm the electrocratic theory of deflocculation. The fluoride ion was not effective for deflocculating the calcium-clay slip.
Validation of Alternating Kernel Mixture Method Based Segmentation of the Human Brain

This paper describes the application of a novel segmentation method in high resolution MRI subvolumes containing hippocampus in five subjects and occipital lobe in five subjects. The alternating kernel mixture (AKM) algorithm is used to segment the MRI subvolumes into cerebrospinal fluid, gray matter, and white matter. The segmentation is validated by comparison with manual segmentation. The misclassification errors are 0.10-0.17 (n=10). When compared with Bayesian segmentation method, AKM yields smaller errors. By generating multiple mixtures for each tissue compartment, AKM mimics the increasing variance in the manual segmentation in partial volumes between the highly folded tissues. AKM's superior performance makes it useful for automated segmentation of sub-cortical and cortical structures in neuro-imaging studies.
Judicial Decision Making During Wartime

The separation of powers becomes increasingly stressed during wartime, as power is traditionally accumulated by and consolidated in the executive. This article asks to what degree the separation of powers collapses by examining judicial deference to the executive during wartime. By analyzing a set of cases in the courts of appeals from a 100-year time period, this article demonstrates that while judicial preferences undergo a fundamental shift with respect to criminal cases, there is no evidence of heightened deference to the executive during wartime. These findings suggest that a state of war has a preference-altering effect on judicial treatment of criminal defendants. They further suggest that concerns about judicial deference to the executive during times of war may not be as serious as conventional wisdom suggests.
Endogenous surface expression of ΔF508-CFTR mediates cAMP-stimulated Cl(-) current in CFTR(ΔF508/ΔF508) pig thyroid epithelial cells.

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is both an anion channel and a regulator of other transport proteins. Mutations in the CFTR gene underlie the human disease, cystic fibrosis. The most common CFTR mutation, ΔF508, produces a misfolded protein which traffics improperly. The availability of transgenic CFTRΔF508/ΔF508 pigs allows measurement of the impact of ΔF508 in native tissue. Thyroid epithelia respond to cAMP-elevating agents by increasing anion transport, a process reliant on functional CFTR. To assess whether endogenous levels of ΔF508-CFTR mediate thyroid transport, primary thyroid epithelial cultures (pThECs) were grown from newborn CFTR+/+ (wild-type) and CFTRΔF508/ΔF508 (ΔF) pig thyroids and the stimulated, secretory components of short-circuit current (Isc) compared. Surface biotinylation studies assessed the surface presentation of ΔF508-CFTR. Baseline Isc levels of both wild-type and ΔF pThECs consisted of an amiloride-sensitive component. In ΔF pThECs, this mirrored previous measurements in CFTR−/− (knockout) pThECs. Surprisingly, elevation of cAMP transiently increased Isc to peak levels ∼65% of those achieved by wild-type. In contrast, knockout pThECs were indifferent to cAMP activation. In ΔF pThECs, total ΔF508-CFTR expression was ∼9% that of wild-type, consistent with misfolding and enhanced degradation. Surface biotinylation studies indicated that ∼4% of the total ΔF508 resided at the surface and did not increase with cAMP elevation. The present findings show that low endogenous levels of pig ΔF508-CFTR can mediate substantial anion transport by thyroid epithelia. These data suggest that both wild-type and ΔF508-CFTR regulate additional thyroid transporters, and together co-ordinate the overall Isc response.
Fluorescence of blastomyces and other fungi in papanicolaou-stained pulmonary cytology preparations: Comparison with light microscopy

In this study, 152 Papanicolaou-stained pulmonary cytologic smears from 15 known cases of pulmonary fungal infection were randomly mixed with 194 control pulmonary smears. All slides were examined for fungi by three observers, first by light microscopy and then by fluorescent microscopy. The results of the light and fluorescent microscopy were compared. It was concluded that when both methods were used for fungal detection, the yield of positive results was higher.
Kinetics of the (salen)Cr(III)- and (salen)Co(III)-catalyzed copolymerization of epoxides with CO2, and of the accompanying degradation reactions

The (salen)Cr(III)- and (salen)Co(III)-catalyzed copolymerization reactions between a variety of epoxides with CO2 were studied by computational methods, and these findings were compared with experimental observations. The displacement of a polymeric carbonate by an epoxide, followed by epoxide ring-opening, was found to be the overall rate determining step (ΔG‡ = 22–27 kcal mol−1), whereas carboxylation of the metal-bound alkoxide is fast (ΔG‡ = 6–8 kcal mol−1). Chromium(III)-catalyzed systems have higher free energy barriers than cobalt(III) systems, consistent with the fact that (salen)Cr(III)-catalyzed polymerization reactions have to be performed at higher temperatures; such differences are attributed to enthalpy. The metal-bound polymer carbonate and alkoxide backbiting reactions generally have higher barriers than when unbound, due to the terminal oxygen atoms’ reduced nucleophilicity. Homopolymerization of epoxides to give polyether defects is negligible in both chromium- and cobalt-catalyzed systems. This is due to carboxylation (metal-bound or metal-free) being competitive, and because displacement of a polymeric alkoxide from the metal center by an epoxide is strongly endergonic.
Dynamic Fault-Tolerance and Metrics for Battery Powered, Failure-Prone Systems

Emerging VLSI technologies and platforms are giving rise to systems with inherently high potential for runtime failure. Such failures range from intermittent electrical and mechanical failures at the system level, to device failures at the chip level. Techniques to provide reliable computation in the presence of failures must do so while maintaining high performance, with an eye toward energy efficiency. When possible, they should maximize battery lifetime in the face of battery discharge non-linearities. This paper introduces the concept of adaptive fault-tolerance management for failure-prone systems, and a classification of local algorithms for achieving system-wide reliability. In order to judge the efficacy of the proposed algorithms for dynamic fault-tolerance management, a set of metrics, for characterizing system behavior in terms of energy efficiency, reliability, computation performance and battery lifetime, is presented. For an example platform employed in a realistic evaluation scenario, it is shown that system configurations with the best performance and lifetime are not necessarily those with the best combination of performance, reliability, battery lifetime and average power consumption.
Mamas 2011: Is a Law Degree a Good Investment Today?

There continues to be an active debate on the question of whether or not law school is a good investment. I prefer to think of the question not in terms of “whether,” but in terms of “when.” In this essay, I conduct an analysis for three current undergraduates who are considering attending private law schools. I demonstrate how such individuals should take all known costs and all expected benefits into account in making their “investment” decision. As the calculation necessarily differs dramatically from one potential law student to another, my conclusions are far less important than my methodology.
Self-sustained UWB Sensing: A Link and Energy Adaptive Approach

Energy efficiency is a challenging issue in autonomous and distributed sensing systems, especially when these systems are powered by renewable energy sources. In this paper, we present a link and energy adaptive UWB-based sensing technique to improve the detection time coverage and detection range coverage for self-sustained embedded applications. The basic idea is derived from the fact that domain-specific information in such applications is often available. Thus, by jointly exploiting the link information between the transmitter and receiver of the UWB pulse radar, and the non-deterministic characteristics of the renewable energy, the proposed technique dynamically adjusts the pulse repetition frequency of the UWB radar to enhance the sustainable operation under the unreliable energy supply. The overhead of the proposed technique is negligible as compared with the overall energy consumption of the UWB pulse radar. It was demonstrated that the proposed technique can achieve much better detection time coverage and detection range coverage than the conventional UWB radar. The proposed technique is also insensitive to many practical issues such as the limited battery capacity.
Ruminally-Protected Lysine (SafeGain) Improves Performance of Growing Beef Cattle

Lysine frequently is cited as the first-limiting amino acid for cattle diets. Synthetic lysine, while routinely added to pig diets, is ineffective in fulfilling lysine requirements of cattle due to extensive degradation by microbes within the rumen. Lysine can be encapsulated with compounds, such as saturated fats, that minimize degradation by ruminal microbes, thereby assuring that a greater proportion of the amino acid is available for absorption post-ruminally. The purpose of this experiment was to measure the impact of SafeGain (H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc., Little Rock, AR), an encapsulated form of lysine sulfate, on rate of gain and feed efficiency in backgrounding cattle.
Fungi associated with decayed wood in stored willow and cottonwood logs

Identification des champignons associes a la degradation de bois de Salix nigra et Populus deltoides stockes a l'exterieur pendant 17 ou 48 semaines
Measurement and Modeling of Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium for Ternary and Quaternary Mixtures of Water, Methanol, 2-Propanol, and 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane at 293.2 K

Liquid−liquid equilibrium (LLE) phase compositions for ternary and quaternary mixtures of water, methanol, 2-propanol, and 2,2,4-trimethylpentane were measured at 293.2 K. The universal quasichemic...
Evolution of the electronic transport properties of V 6 O 11 and V 7 O 13 under pressure

V${}_{6}$O${}_{11}$ and V${}_{7}$O${}_{13}$ are two members of the V${}_{n}$O${}_{2n\ensuremath{-}1}$ Magn\'eli series ($n=3--9$). At ambient pressure, V${}_{6}$O${}_{11}$ manifests a metal to insulator (MI) transition near ${T}_{\mathrm{MI}}=170$ K and V${}_{7}$O${}_{13}$ (the exception in the series that does not become insulating at ambient pressure) manifests an antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition with spin density wave character at ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}=43$ K. Temperature-dependent resistivity data for V${}_{6}$O${}_{11}$ and V${}_{7}$O${}_{13}$ were measured under pressures up to 7.52 and 6.40 GPa, respectively with critical pressures of ${P}_{c}^{\mathrm{MI}}=3.8$ GPa for V${}_{6}$O${}_{11}$ and ${P}_{c}^{\mathrm{AFM}}=3.5$ GPa for V${}_{7}$O${}_{13}$. As the MI transition for V${}_{6}$O${}_{11}$ is suppressed no features associated with an AFM transition in the resistivity are seen. Near the critical pressure for V${}_{6}$O${}_{11}$ where the first-order MI transition disappears, a ${T}^{2}$ dependence of the low-temperature resistance can be found. On the other hand, in V${}_{7}$O${}_{13}$ as the second-order, antiferromagnetic transition is brought towards $T=0$, the resistivity shows a vanishing low-temperature region of Fermi-liquid-like behavior, consistent with proximity to a quantum critical point. Improved hydrostaticity of the pressurized sample space enhances the divergence of the ${T}^{2}$ coefficient for V${}_{7}$O${}_{13}$ near the AFM critical pressure, 3.5 GPa.
Multiresonant Coherent Multidimensional Vibrational Spectroscopy of Aromatic Systems: Pyridine, a Model System

Multiresonant four wave mixing has been used to measure the coherent multidimensional spectroscopy (CMDS) of representative aromatic ring modes using pyridine as a model system. This work identifies the cross-peaks that appear between several modes and measures their coherent and incoherent dynamics. The work also explores the consequences of using multiresonant CMDS for molecules with transition moments that are typical of most vibrational modes. Typically, CMDS experiments rely on using transitions with exceptionally large transition moments. To observe cross-peaks, the pyridine concentration was raised until absorption effects became very important. These effects interfere with the parametric CMDS coherence pathways, but they do not make important contributions to the nonparametric pathways.
Urban material flow of Xi'an City in ecological construction

Material flow in Xi'an from 2001 to 2010 were analyzed. Material flow structure in city scale and calculation indicators were established and modified to get adaptive to the situation in Xi'an. The material flow in Xi'an were analyzed from five respects: quantity of imported resources,quantity of pollutants,material productivity,resource efficiency and environmental efficiency,which contributed to the drawing of panoramic picture showing material flow in Xi'an. It was indicated that the industrial structure needs further adjustment to meet the requirements for the construction of ecological city.
Numerical analysis of local reinforcement of composite case under complicated load

The composite case of SRM was analyzed under the combined load condition, consisting of axis pressure, external pressure and bending moment. The analysis results show that the layer design of the case structure isn' t proper, causing bad distortion coordination which lead to structure failure. Therefore, the local reinforcement of structure under complicated loads is investigated via numerical simulation, and optimized scheme proposed. The result shows that load-bearing capability can be greatly improved. This method is available for improving the structure design.
Identifying gene interaction networks.

In this chapter, we introduce interaction networks by describing how they are generated, where they are stored, and how they are shared. We focus on publicly available interaction networks and describe a simple way of utilizing these resources. This chapter features two case studies, both of which utilize Cytoscape, an open source and user-friendly network visualization and analysis tool. In the first example, we demonstrate the basic functionalities of Cytoscape by building an interaction network from a publicly available database, analyzing its topological features, and performing gene ontology enrichment. For the second section, we constructed a network from scratch starting with an experimental gene expression dataset. From there, we implement more advanced visual annotations of the network and perform subnetwork enrichment. The methods described are applicable to larger networks that can be collected from various resources.
Users' Mental Models for Three End-to-End Voting Systems: Helios, Prêt í Voter, and Scantegrity II

This study sought to understand voter's mental models for three end-to-end e2e voting systems: Helios, Pret i Voter, and Scantegrity II. To study voters' mental models of e2e systems, 16 Houston area voters participated in mock elections that required them to vote first with a paper ballot and then with the three e2e systems. After using each system, subjects were asked to draw their mental model--or how the system works, then describe it to the experimenter, and last complete an interview. We found that most participants think about the systems first and foremost in terms of how-to-vote procedures, rather than detailed, conceptual models that describe all aspects of a system, including how they work. When designing e2e voting systems, the findings from this study can be used by system developers to ensure that voters find the systems easy to use and that the designs align with voters' pre-existing mental models for voting.
Magnetotherapy: new technology.

(1993). Magnetotherapy: New technology. Neurological Research: Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 142-143.
Role of oxygen-derived free radicals in canine reperfusion arrhythmias.

The role of oxygen-derived free radicals in reperfusion arrhythmias was investigated in open-chest anesthetized dogs. The left anterior descending coronary artery was cannulated and perfused by an arterial bypass shunt. Ischemia was produced for 15 min by shunt occlusion and retrograde diversion of collateral blood flow. Dogs (n = 12) were treated with saline, N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)glycine (50 mg/kg), deferoxamine (10 mg/kg), superoxide dismutase (15,000 U/kg) plus catalase (55,000 U/kg), or dimethylthiourea (500 mg/kg). All agents were infused intravenously for 1 h starting 30 min before occlusion and continuing for 5 min of reperfusion. There were no differences in mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, antegrade coronary flow, retrograde coronary flow, or size of the risk region among the five treatment groups. None of the dogs developed ventricular fibrillation during occlusion, whereas 88% of the 60 dogs fibrillated upon reperfusion. The antioxidant interventions did not alter the incidence of re...
Parenchymal Airspace Profiling: Sensitive Quantification and Characterization of Lung Structure Evaluating Parenchymal Destruction

Lung morphometry was introduced over 50 years ago to provide quantitative evaluation of the lung structure. The existing parameters, such as mean linear intercept and destructive index, suffer from simplistic data interpretation and a subjective data acquisition process. To overcome these existing shortcomings, parenchymal airspace profiling (PAP) was developed to provide a more detailed and unbiased quantitative method. Following the standard protocols of fixation, embedding, and sectioning, lung micrographs were: (1) marked with nonparenchymal area, preprocessed, and binarized under the researcher’s supervision; (2) analyzed with a statistical learning method, Gaussian mixture model, to provide an unbiased categorization of parenchymal airspace compartments, corresponding to a single alveolus, alveolar sac, and ductal/destructive airspace; and (3) further quantified into morphometric parameters, including reference volume, alveolar count, and ductal/destructive fraction (DF) based on stereological princ...
Soft but significant power in the Paris Agreement

The success of the Paris Agreement relies on a system of 'pledge and review', and the power of shaming laggards. This puts much of the burden for holding countries accountable on civil society.
The Effect of Stontium Ranelate on Fracture Reduction in Osteogenesis Imperfecta is Comparable to Recent Bisphosphonate Data.

We would like to comment on the paper by Shi et al [1] published in this journal. The authors of this paper used the growing oim/oim mouse which we have used to study the effects of potential therapies on OI for the past 20 years [2-11]. In the introduction to their paper the authors' state ”…it is unclear whether treatment with BPs can reduce the incidence of fracture and improve the clinical status in OI patients…” giving references to clinical trials of bisphosphonates. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
The Human Rights Philosophy: Support and Opposition Among Undergraduate Social Work Students

ABSTRACTIn response to the rising importance of human rights, social work student attitudes toward human rights and the effect of human rights course content on these attitudes were assessed. Descriptive results from a sample of 77 students pointed to a few areas of low support for the human rights philosophy, specifically rights related to mental illness, juvenile justice, asylum seeking, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests suggest that human rights content infusion was successful in fostering higher levels of support for some but not all human rights.
Providing chronic pain management in the "Fifth Vital Sign" Era: Historical and treatment perspectives on a modern-day medical dilemma

Abstract Background Over 100 million Americans are living with chronic pain, and pain is the most common reason that patients seek medical attention. Despite the prevalence of pain, the practice of pain management and the scientific discipline of pain research are relatively new fields compared to the rest of medicine − contributing to a twenty-first century dilemma for health care providers asked to relieve suffering in the “Fifth Vital Sign” era. Methods This manuscript provides a narrative review of the basic mechanisms of chronic pain and history of chronic pain management in the United States − including the various regulatory, health system and provider factors that contributed to the decline of multidisciplinary pain treatment in favor of the predominant opioid treatment strategy seen today. Multiple non-opioid pain treatment strategies are then outlined. The manuscript concludes with three key questions to help guide future research at the intersection of pain and addiction. Conclusions The assessment and treatment of chronic pain will continue to be one of the most common functions of a health care provider. To move beyond an over reliance on opioid medications, the addiction and pain research communities must unite with chronic pain patients to increase the evidence base supporting non-opioid analgesic strategies.