cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Accurate cancellation (to milliHertz levels) of optical phase noise due to vibration or insertion phase in fiber-transmitted light

A single-mode optical fiber is a convenient and efficient transmission medium for optical signal. However, the optical insertion phase written on the light field by the fiber is very sensitive to the surrounding environment, such as temperature or acoustic pressure. This phase-noise modulation tends to corrupt the original delta-looking Hz-level optical spectrum by broadening it toward the kilohertz domain. Here we describe a simple and effective technique for accurate cancellation of such induced phase noise, thus allowing fiber-based optical signal transmission in very demanding high-precision frequency-based applications where optical phase noise is critical the system is based on double-pass heterodyne measurement and digital phase division by two to obtain the correction signal for the phase compensating AOM. The underlying physical principle is the fact that an optical fiber path ordinarily possesses an excellent degree of linearity and reciprocity, such that two counterpropagating signals can experience the sam phase perturbations. Overall, the fiber's kilohertz level of broadening is reduced to sub-millihertz domain by our correction.
Dextromethorphan affects ventilation differently in male and female rats

Schlenker, Evelyn H. Dextromethorphan affects ventilation differently in male and female rats. J. Appl. Physiol. 81(5): 1911–1916, 1996.—Subcutaneous administration of aspartic acid results in a lo...
The Influence of Watershed and Development Characteristics on the Cumulative Impacts of Stormwater Detention Ponds

Stormwater detention ponds are a popular stormwater management practice in many communities, and city ordinances often require the uniform use of detention ponds on all new developments. Although peak flow reduction can be achieved immediately downstream from a development, this practice may not be successful for controlling peak discharges from the watershed as a whole. The purpose of this research was to correlate watershed and development characteristics with the cumulative impacts of detention ponds in a watershed. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of six watershed and development characteristics in synthetic watersheds. The sensitivity analysis evaluated two watershed characteristics: shape and slope. Four development characteristics were evaluated: size, intensity, stage, and sequence. Of the six watershed and development characteristics considered in the sensitivity analysis, watershed shape, the stage of development within the watershed, and the sequence of development within the watershed had the greatest effect on the cumulative impacts of detention ponds in the watershed. These three factors determined the pattern of impacts that occurred within a watershed. Development intensity, development size, and watershed slope contributed to the magnitude of the impacts which were created, but they were not the overriding factors that determined the pattern of impacts. These system-wide factors are not typically considered in the design and management of stormwater systems.
APC/CCdh1-dependent proteolysis of USP1 regulates the response to UV-mediated DNA damage

Targeted protein destruction of critical cellular regulators during the G1 phase of the cell cycle is achieved by anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosomeCdh1 (APC/CCdh1), a multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligase. Cells lacking Cdh1 have been shown to accumulate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage, suggesting that it may play a previously unrecognized role in maintaining genomic stability. The ubiquitin-specific protease 1 (USP1) is a known critical regulator of DNA repair and genomic stability. In this paper, we report that USP1 was degraded in G1 via APC/CCdh1. USP1 levels were kept low in G1 to provide a permissive condition for inducing proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) monoubiquitination in response to ultraviolet (UV) damage before DNA replication. Importantly, expression of a USP1 mutant that cannot be degraded via APC/CCdh1 inhibited PCNA monoubiquitination during G1, likely compromising the recruitment of trans-lesion synthesis polymerase to UV repair sites. Thus, we propose a role for APC/CCdh1 in modulating the status of PCNA monoubiquitination and UV DNA repair before S phase entry.
Molecular Mechanisms of Neural Crest Induction

The neural crest is an embryonic cell population that originates at the border between the neural plate and the prospective epidermis. Around the time of neural tube closure, neural crest cells emigrate from the neural tube, migrate along defined paths in the embryo and differentiate into a wealth of derivatives. Most of the craniofacial skeleton, the peripheral nervous system, and the pigment cells of the body originate from neural crest cells. This cell type has important clinical relevance, since many of the most common craniofacial birth defects are a consequence of abnormal neural crest development. Whereas the migration and differentiation of the neural crest have been extensively studied, we are just beginning to understand how this tissue originates. The formation of the neural crest has been described as a classic example of embryonic induction, in which specific tissue interactions and the concerted action of signaling pathways converge to induce a multipotent population of neural crest precursor cells. In this review, we summarize the current status of knowledge on neural crest induction. We place particular emphasis on the signaling molecules and tissue interactions involved, and the relationship between neural crest induction, the formation of the neural plate and neural plate border, and the genes that are upregulated as a consequence of the inductive events.
Methods for rearing the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (L.), along with baseline values for feeding rates, growth rates, development times, and blood composition

Abstract The house cricket, Acheta domesticus, is an adaptable experimental animal, that can be inexpensively reared year round in a small temperature-regulated room. Growth is rapid and development occurs without diapause at 30 °C. Different size glass aquaria or any convenient containers can be used to house the crickets as long as the relative humidity in the container can be regulated to be high for hatchlings and about 50 % for older crickets. Reusable cardboard gallon cartons with screen lids provide excellent containers for groups of up to 15 crickets each. Purina® Cricket Chow® provides all essential nutrients for continuous generations of large, healthy crickets. Specific information is provided for colony management, and isolation of known age individuals. Some basic developmental, metabolic and physiological values for the house cricket are provided. Zusammenfassung Eine Zuchtmethode fur die Hausgrille, Acheta domesticus (L.), mit Angaben zu Fras- und Wachstumsraten, Entwicklungszeit sowie zur Blutzusammensetzung Die Hausgrille, Acheta domesticus, ist ein anpassungsfahiges Versuchstier, das kostengunstig wahrend des ganzen Jahres in kleinen, klimatisierten Raumen gezuchtet werden kann. A. domesticus zeichnet sich durch schnelles Wachstum und bei einer Temperatur von 30 °C durch eine Entwicklung ohne Diapause aus. Verschieden grose Glasaquarien oder andere Behalter konnen zur Zucht verwendet werden, soweit in den Zuchtgefasen eine hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit wahrend der Schlupfphase und ca. 50 % rh fur altere Grillen eingestellt werden kann. Wiederverwendbare Pappkartons mit einem Gitternetz als Deckel sind ideale Behaltnisse fur eine Gruppe von bis zu 15 Grillen. Die Diat Purina® Cricket Chow® enthalt alle wichtigen Nahrstoffe fur eine gesunde Dauerzucht. Besondere Hinweise werden zur Koloniegrose und zur Isolation von Tieren bekannten Alters gegeben; ebenso Daten zur Entwicklung und Metabolisierung sowie physiologische Werte der Hausgrille.
RESILIENT MODULUS OF MINNESOTA ROAD RESEARCH PROJECT SUBGRADE SOIL

Laboratory remolded subgrade soil samples have been widely used to study subgrade resilient modulus (Mr). But physical conditions, such as moisture content and density, of such specimens may not represent in situ conditions very well. Therefore, AASHTO and the Long-Term Pavement Performance program have recommended that undisturbed, thin-walled tube samples be used to study subgrade resilient behavior. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is developing mechanistic-empirical pavement design approaches through the Minnesota Road Research project and has realized the importance of Mr in the design approaches. Currently, MnDOT is making an effort to study the Mr of unbound pavement materials through laboratory experiments. Under a research project at MnDOT, several thin-walled tube samples of sub-grade soil were obtained from six different pavement sections at the Minnesota Road Research project. Repeated loading triaxial tests were conducted on the soil specimens to determine the Mr at the MnDO...
Computational design of a water-soluble analog of phospholamban.

Membrane proteins and water-soluble proteins share a similar core. This similarity suggests that it should be possible to water-solubilize membrane proteins by mutating only their lipid-exposed residues. We have developed computational tools to design water-soluble variants of helical membrane proteins, using the pentameric phospholamban (PLB) as our test case. To water-solublize PLB, the membrane-exposed positions were changed to polar or charged amino acids, while the putative core was left unaltered. We generated water-soluble phospholamban (WSPLB), and compared its properties to its predecessor PLB. In aqueous solution, WSPLB mimics all of the reported properties of PLB including oligomerization state, helical structure, and stabilization upon phosphorylation. We also characterized the truncated mutant WSPLB (21–52) comprising only the former transmembrane segment of PLB. This peptide shows a decreased specificity for forming a pentameric oligomerization state.
Heat and mass transfer between an evaporative interface in a porous medium and an external gas stream

Steady state heat and mass transfer between a submerged evaporative interface in a porous medium and an external gas stream were analyzed theoretically. Local and average evaporation rates for laminar and turbulent flow over a flat plate as well as for fully developed laminar or turbulent flow near the thermal entry region of a duct were obtained as a function of the position of the evaporative interface. Calculated local evaporation rates are significantly lower than values computed by Luikov, who did not take into account the variation of evaporative surface temperature with recession, indicated both by the present analysis and by observations related to the drying of thick porous materials. Application to the analysis of the drying process is discussed.
A survey of seedling establishment in sugar‐beet crops in 1980 and 1981

SUMMARY One hundred and twenty five crops distributed throughout the UK sugar-beet growing area were examined to identify the growth stage at which failures occurred during the seedling establishment phase. Establishment varied between 15 and 90% and averaged 64 and 67% in 1980 and 1981 respectively. It exceeded 70% in 46% of fields. Overall, the actual seed spacing was only 0·15cm wider than the 17·0cm intended but the number of seed stations in individual fields varied from 27% less to 19% more than the target. On average the drill failed to place a seed at 5% of seed stations but up to 14% misses were recorded. Germination in the field was 92% - only 1% less than in the standard laboratory germination test. However, on average, 16% (range 2 - 42%) of seeds which germinated failed to develop much further; the cause of only a quarter of these losses was identified as due to soil pests, diseases or being caught under stones or clods. There was a tendency for more seeds to fail between germination and emergence as the proportion of empty seed stations increased. Rapid emergence usually resulted in greater final emergence. There were post-emergence losses in 122 of the 125 fields. These losses averaged 6% and exceeded 14% on five fields. Birds were considered to have killed plants in 49 fields, soil pests caused losses in 20 fields and herbicides, fungal disease or grazing by rabbits or hares decreased plant stands in about 10 fields.
Visualizing real-time language-based feedback on teamwork behavior in computer-mediated groups

While most collaboration technologies are concerned with supporting particular tasks such as workflows or meetings, many work groups do not have the teamwork skills essential to effective collaboration. One way to improve teamwork is to provide dynamic feedback generated by automated analyses of behavior, such as language use. Such feedback can lead members to reflect on and subsequently improve their collaborative behavior, but might also distract from the task at hand. We have experimented with GroupMeter - a chat-based system that presents visual feedback on team members' language use. Feedback on proportion of agreement words and overall word count was presented using two different designs. When receiving feedback, teams in our study expressed more agreement in their conversations and reported greater focus on language use as compared to when not receiving feedback. This suggests that automated, real-time linguistic feedback can elicit behavioral changes, offering opportunities for future research.
On a class of stable, traversable Lorentzian wormholes in classical general relativity

It is known that Lorentzian wormholes must be threaded by matter that violates the null energy condition. We phenomenologically characterize such exotic matter by a general class of microscopic scalar field Lagrangians and formulate the necessary conditions that the existence of Lorentzian wormholes imposes on them. Under rather general assumptions, these conditions turn out to be strongly restrictive. The most simple Lagrangian that satisfies all of them describes a minimally coupled massless scalar field with a reversed sign kinetic term. Exact, nonsingular, spherically symmetric solutions of Einstein's equations sourced by such a field indeed describe traversable wormhole geometries. These wormholes are characterized by two parameters: their mass and charge. Among them, the zero mass ones are particularly simple, allowing us to analytically prove their stability under arbitrary space-time dependent perturbations. We extend our arguments to nonzero mass solutions and conclude that at least a nonzero measure set of these solutions is stable.
Exploring high-speed low-power hybrid arithmetic units at scaled supply and adaptive clock-stretching

Meeting power and performance requirement is a challenging task in high speed ALUs. Supply voltage scaling is promising because it reduces both switching and active power but it also degrades robustness. Recently, researchers have proposed novel design technique for linear time complexity adders that maintain high yield and high clock frequency even at scaled supply voltage. The idea is based on the fact that the critical paths of arithmetic units are exercised rarely. The technique (a) predicts the set of critical paths, (b) reduces the supply voltage to operate non-critical paths at rated frequency, and; (c) avoids possible delay failures in the critical paths by dynamically stretching the clock period (to say, two-cycles assuming all standard operations are single-cycle), when they are activated. This allows circuits to operate at scaled supply with minimal performance degradation. The off-critical paths operate in single clock cycle while critical paths are operated in stretched clock period. Different classes of adders may benefit differently using such technique. For example, ripple carry adders can reap the benefits more effectively than say, tree adders (balanced paths). However, logic modification may ease the application of supply voltage scaling. In this paper, we explore various arithmetic units for possible use in high speed, high yield ALU design at scaled supply voltage with variable latency operation. We demonstrate that careful logic optimization of the existing arithmetic units indeed make them further suitable for supply voltage scaling with tolerable area overhead. Simulation results on different adder and multiplier topologies in BPTM 70nm technology show 18--60% extra improvement in power with only 2--8% increase in die-area at iso-yield. We also extend our studies to design low power and high yield multipliers. These optimized low power datapath units can be used to construct low power and robust ALU that can operate at high clock frequency with minimal performance degradation due to occasional clock stretching.
Improving interoperability by using a three data model approach

Achieving interoperability in multidatabase systems is unlikely to be achieved without a full understanding of component database systems' semantics. The full semantics of many database applications cannot be understood without combining the database's data semantics from a logical model of data L with data semantics embedded in a file-system model F and in a physical storage model P. To prove this assertion, the authors use proof by contradiction on its negation. Two examples are provided to demonstrate false positives, multidatabases with identical logical models L which are not interoperable, one due to differences in F and the other in P. One example is provided to demonstrate a missing value, an interoperable database without an explicit logical model L, but rich in semantics desirable from its file-system model F. A technique is proposed for describing how semantics embedded in L, F and P can be combined. >
PROXIMAL NEUROPATHIES OF THE UPPER EXTREMITY

This article provides a comprehensive review of the diagnosis and management of mononeuropathies of the long thoracic, suprascapular, axillary, and musculocutaneous nerves. Although these nerves are frequently injured in conjunction with other portions of the brachial plexus, this discussion focuses on isolated injury to each of these nerves. The anatomy, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, findings on electrodiagnostic evaluation, origin, management, and prognosis of each mononeuropathy is discussed.
Free/dissociable insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, not total IGF-I, correlates with growth response during growth hormone treatment in children born small for gestational age.

Context: IGF-I plays an important role in pre- and postnatal growth. Its serum levels are regulated by metabolic and genetic factors. Mean total IGF-I in short, small for gestational age (SGA) children is reduced, but within the normal range. Free/dissociable IGF-I is the bioactive form of IGF-I. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate changes in free IGF-I during GH treatment in short SGA children and to evaluate whether free IGF-I levels contribute to predicting first-year growth response and/or adult height. Design, Setting, and Intervention: We conducted a randomized, double-blind GH dose-response study with a GH dose of either 1 mg/m 2 d (group A) or 2 mg/m 2 d (group B). Free IGF-I, total IGF-I, and IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-3 were determined at baseline, after 1 and 5 yr, at stop, and 6 months after GH discontinuation. Patients: We studied 73 (46 male) short SGA children (36 group A) with a baseline mean age of 7.7 (2.2) yr and a mean GH duration of 8.2 (2.1) yr. MainOutcomeMeasures: Untreated SGA children had a mean free IGF-I SD score (SDS) of 0.2 (1.2), not related to total IGF-I. During GH therapy, free IGF-I significantly increased to 1.6 (0.7) SDS, as did total IGF-I and IGFBP-3 [2.0 (0.8) and 1.3 (0.9), respectively]. Multiple regression analysis showed that baseline free IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were negatively correlated with adult height SDS, whereas baseline bone age delay, target height SDS, baseline height SDS, and GH dose were positively correlated. Free IGF-I was also negatively correlated with first-year growth response. Conclusions: Circulating baseline free IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were better predictors for adult height in GH-treated SGA children than total IGF-I, or total IGF-I to IGFBP-3 ratio. This suggests a possible role for free IGF-I measurement in predicting the effect of GH therapy in short SGA children. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 92: 2992–3000, 2007)
Galaxy: a comprehensive approach for supporting accessible, reproducible, and transparent computational research in the life sciences

Increased reliance on computational approaches in the life sciences has revealed grave concerns about how accessible and reproducible computation-reliant results truly are. Galaxy http://usegalaxy.org, an open web-based platform for genomic research, addresses these problems. Galaxy automatically tracks and manages data provenance and provides support for capturing the context and intent of computational methods. Galaxy Pages are interactive, web-based documents that provide users with a medium to communicate a complete computational analysis.
Serum Concentrations of Estradiol and Free T4 Are Inversely Correlated With Sperm DNA Damage in Men From an Infertility Clinic

Sperm DNA damage adversely affects male fertility and contributes to poorer embryo development and lower pregnancy rates. Endogenous hormones are critical to spermatogenesis and maintenance of male reproductive function and likely play an important role in human sperm DNA integrity, but this relationship is not fully understood. The present study measured serum hormone levels and sperm DNA damage with the neutral comet assay in 362 male partners of infertile couples. When sperm concentration and other potential confounding variables were included in multiple linear regression, serum estradiol and free T4 levels were inversely associated with sperm DNA damage. Among other statistically significant associations that were observed, an interquartile range (IQR) increase in estradiol was associated with a 6.3% decline (95% confidence intervals: 29.7%, 22.9%) in comet extent and a 16.2% (222.4%, 29.2%) decline in the percentage of DNA in the comet tail (Tail%), whereas an IQR increase in free T4 was associated with a 24.4% (231.5%, 217.4%) decline in Tail%. Likewise, in multiple logistic regression, men in the highest estradiol quartile had an 81% reduced risk of having a comet extent value in the highest quartile compared with men in the lowest estradiol quartile. Men in the highest free T4 quartile had 92% decreased odds of being categorized in the highest Tail% quartile compared with men in the lowest free T4 quartile. These results suggest that estradiol and free T4 may have a protective effect against sperm DNA damage, but future mechanistic
Human reproductive cloning and reasons for deprivation

Human reproductive cloning provides the possibility of genetically related children for persons for whom present technologies are ineffective. I argue that the desire for genetically related children is not, by itself, a sufficient reason to engage in human reproductive cloning. I show this by arguing that the value underlying the desire for genetically related children implies a tension between the parent and the future child. This tension stems from an instance of a deprivation and violates a general principle of reasons for deprivation. Alternative considerations, such as a right to procreative autonomy, do not appear helpful in making the case for human reproductive cloning merely on the basis of the desire for genetically related children.
Constant-delay MSB-first bit-serial adder

A new MSB-first bit-serial adder/subtracter architecture is proposed. The architecture utilizes a modified Manchester carry chain to accommodate the carry from the future LSB's. The carry chain is shown to have the constant delay of two AND gates and one XOR gate regardless of the operand width, which allows a fast constant operational clock frequency. When compared to the conventional parallel addition approach where the operand bits are stored and then added in parallel, the proposed architecture also provides a significant area saving. It is also shown that the proposed architecture can be generalized for radix-r operands.
Ingestion of live filamentous diatoms by the Great Lakes amphipod, Diporeia sp.: a case study of the limited value of gut contents analysis

Individuals of the Great Lakes amphipod, Diporeia sp. (formerly named Pontoporeia hoyi) were collected from a 45-m deep station in southeastern Lake Michigan and isolated in small laboratory feeding vessels at 4 °C, after the animals had voided their guts over a 24-hour period. Over a 20-day period, following introduction of a single ration of live cells of the filamentous diatom, Melosira varians, 9 of 10 animals had ingested this material, and 7 of these 9 individuals had deposited fecal pellets. Subsequent examination of gut contents and fecal pellets showed that although animals had ingested whole algal cells/filaments, little of the material in gut contents or fecal pellets bore any identifiable structural similarity to cells/filaments prior to ingestion. The results suggest that earlier studies of pontoporeiid gut contents may seriously underestimate the importance of algal components in the amphipod's diet and imply that Diporeia sp. growth and production may be more closely linked to primary production than previously thought.
Cycle-Accurate Replay and Debugging of Running FPGA Systems

Finding bugs in software that are timing dependent or caused by non-deterministic inputs is notoriously difficult. In FPGAs, the problem is much worse because the visibility into the running design tends to be very low, and existing tools either gather too little data for diagnosis, or are so intrusive that they perturb the timing and may mask the bug. This leads to long FPGA development cycles, and is exacerbated by the steady increase in complexity of FPGA designs. We present a tool - Panoptic on - that logs data and timing information at key design points, extracts it from the FPGA, and uses it for cycle-accurate replay of the entire execution in simulation. This allows interactive debugging with full visibility into the design.
Polytype distribution of circumstellar silicon carbide: microstructural characterization by transmission electron microscopy

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a particularly interesting species of presolar grain because it is known to form on the order of a hundred different polytypes in the laboratory, and the formation of a particular polytype is sensitive to growth conditions. Astronomical evidence for the formation of SiC in expanding circumstellar atmospheres of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) carbon stars is provided by infrared (IR) studies. However, identification of the crystallographic structure of SiC from IR spectra is controversial. Since 95% of the presolar SiC isolated from meteorites formed around carbon stars, a determination of the structure of presolar SiC is, to first order, a direct determination of the structure of circumstellar SiC. We therefore determined the polytype distribution of presolar SiC from the Murchison CM2 carbonaceous meteorite using analytical and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). High-resolution lattice images and electron diffrac- tion of 508 individual SiC grains demonstrate that only two polytypes are present, the cubic 3C (-SiC) polytype (79.4% of population by number) and the hexagonal 2H (-SiC) polytype (2.7%). Intergrowths of these two polytypes are relatively abundant (17.1%). No other polytypes were found. A small population of one-dimensionally disordered SiC grains (0.9%), whose high density of stacking faults precluded classifica- tion as any polytype, was also observed. The presolar origin of 2H -SiC is unambiguously established by tens-of-nanometers-resolution secondary ion mass spectroscopy (NanoSIMS). Isotopic maps of a TEM- characterized 2H -SiC grain exhibit non-solar isotopic compositions of 12 C/ 13 C 64 4 and 14 N/ 15 N 575 24. These measurements are consistent with mainstream presolar SiC thought to originate in the expanding atmospheres of AGB carbon stars. Equilibrium condensation calculations together with inferred mineral condensation sequences predict relatively low SiC condensation temperatures in carbon stars. The laboratory observed condensation temperatures of 2H and 3C SiC are generally the lowest of all SiC polytypes and fall within the predictions of the equilibrium calculations. These points account for the occurrence of only 2H and 3C polytypes of SiC in circumstellar outflows. The 2H and 3C SiC polytypes presumably condense at different radii (i.e., temperatures) in the expanding stellar atmospheres of AGB carbon stars. Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Ltd
The effects of leveraged buyouts on corporate growth and diversification in large firms

This study investigates the effects of LBOs on corporate growth and diversification in large U.S. firms which underwent leveraged buyouts during the 1980s. Based on the analysis, this study found that revenue and employee growth are significantly lower in LBO firms than in control firms that remained public. Strategically, we find that LBO firms decreased the size of both their periphery and core businesses more than public control firms and that LBO firms divested a significantly higher volume of periphery and core businesses than control firms. These postbuyout differences between LBO and public firms are consistent with the argument that LBO firms provide managers with incentives to downsize and prune lines of business, resulting in reduction in overall firm size and diversification.
Theorizing Issue Selection in Advocacy Organizations: An Analysis of Human Rights Activism around Darfur and the Congo, 1998–2010

Why do advocacy organizations focus on some issues rather than others? Issue selection is an important area of study given that advocacy organizations have limited time and resources and thus many ...
Hyperalimentation bei Krebspatienten

Die intravenose Hyperalimentation (IVH) wurde vor 1972 vor allem aus zwei Grunden nicht in grosem Umfang bei Krebspatienten eingesetzt: 1. Es bestand der Verdacht, das das Tumorwachstum durch den hohen Kaloriengehalt der Nahrlosungen stimuliert wurde. 2. Man furchtete septische Komplikationen durch den fur die IVH unerlasslichen zentralen Venenkatheter. Insbesondere Tumorpatienten schienen hierbei besonders gefahrdet, da durch die Chemo- oder Radiotherapie ihre Leukozytenzahl ohnehin bereits vermindert und ihr Immunstatus als Sekundarfolge der onkologischen Therapie oder einer bereits vorher bestehenden Mangelernahrung beeintrachtigt war.
Thermodynamics of Cloud Glaciation

Abstract A detailed thermodynamical analysis of the glaciation of a supercooled cloud parcel has been carried out, applying a linear approximation to the vapor pressure curves for ice and water. The process can lead to three different final states: one in which partial glaciation of the supercooled cloud water brings the parcel temperature to 0C, one in which sublimation of water vapor takes place from the frozen phase, and one in which deposition occurs to it. It is pointed out that a treatment which considers only the release of latent heat of fusion, without taking into account the subsequent change in water vapor density, is a special, case and is generally incorrect.
The University Immune System: Overcoming Resistance to Change

A university, similar to any other organization, has an immune system that erects a powerful barrier against change. This article discusses the university immune system and what can be done to counteract its negative effects and thereby allow change to occur.
Ventilation monitoring during moderate sedation in GI patients.

Sedation in locations outside the operating room (OR) is common. Guidelines for safe patient monitoring have been updated by the American Society of Anesthesiology to include monitoring of ventilation and/or carbon dioxide (CO2). Although technologies exist to monitor these variables, the quality and/or availability of these measurements in non-OR settings is not optimal. This quality improvement project assessed the value of impedance technology for monitoring minute ventilation (MV) compared to standard end-tidal monitoring of CO2 (ETCO2). Patients undergoing GI exams with moderate sedation provided by anesthesia providers were monitored for MV with a respiratory volume monitor (ExSpiron 1Xi, Respiratory Motion, Waltham, MA) and ETCO2 via nasal cannula (NC). Calibration and baseline data were collected prior to sedation. Continuous MV and ETCO2 data were collected and averaged, providing minute values after sedation medications throughout the procedure. Stable periods of reduced MV were averaged and used in comparison to ETCO2. Data from 20 patients were evaluated. After sedation, the expected decrease in MV after sedation was observed in 18 of 20 patients (average -47.82 %), while an increase in ETCO2 was observed in just 10 of 20 patients (average -5.17 mm Hg). The correlation coefficient between changes in MV and ETCO2 in response to sedation administration was positive and not significant, r = 0.223. Ventilation monitoring may provide an element of safety for earlier and more reliable detection of reduced ventilation compared to a surrogate for hypoventilation, ETCO2, in patients undergoing sedation for GI procedures outside of the OR.
Wall St. Fraud and Fiduciary Responsibilities: Can Jail Time Serve as an Adequate Deterrent for Willful Violations?

The answer to the question posed by the title of this hearing is: only prison sentences can deter the violations that caused the debacle. We should, however, never rely solely on prosecutions to constrain crimes. The criminal justice system needs to work with regulation not only to make regulation more effective, but also to prevent “private market discipline” from becoming a “criminogenic” oxymoron. To understand the vital role that the criminal justice system must play if we are to avoid the recurrent, intensifying financial crises that have beset this and many other nations for nearly three decades we must begin by understanding the epidemics of “control fraud” that are driving these crises.
Creation of Apolipoprotein C-II (ApoC-II) Mutant Mice and Correction of Their Hypertriglyceridemia with an ApoC-II Mimetic Peptide.

Apolipoprotein C-II (apoC-II) is a cofactor for lipoprotein lipase, a plasma enzyme that hydrolyzes triglycerides (TGs). ApoC-II deficiency in humans results in hypertriglyceridemia. We used zinc finger nucleases to create Apoc2 mutant mice to investigate the use of C-II-a, a short apoC-II mimetic peptide, as a therapy for apoC-II deficiency. Mutant mice produced a form of apoC-II with an uncleaved signal peptide that preferentially binds high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) due to a 3-amino acid deletion at the signal peptide cleavage site. Homozygous Apoc2 mutant mice had increased plasma TG (757.5 ± 281.2 mg/dl) and low HDL cholesterol (31.4 ± 14.7 mg/dl) compared with wild-type mice (TG, 55.9 ± 13.3 mg/dl; HDL cholesterol, 55.9 ± 14.3 mg/dl). TGs were found in light (density < 1.063 g/ml) lipoproteins in the size range of very-low-density lipoprotein and chylomicron remnants (40–200 nm). Intravenous injection of C-II-a (0.2, 1, and 5 μmol/kg) reduced plasma TG in a dose-dependent manner, with a maximum decrease of 90% occurring 30 minutes after the high dose. Plasma TG did not return to baseline until 48 hours later. Similar results were found with subcutaneous or intramuscular injections. Plasma half-life of C-II-a is 1.33 ± 0.72 hours, indicating that C-II-a only acutely activates lipolysis, and the sustained TG reduction is due to the relatively slow rate of new TG-rich lipoprotein synthesis. In summary, we describe a novel mouse model of apoC-II deficiency and show that an apoC-II mimetic peptide can reverse the hypertriglyceridemia in these mice, and thus could be a potential new therapy for apoC-II deficiency.
Shock Waves in Luminuos Early-Type Stars

Shock waves that occur in stellar atmospheres have their origin in some hydrodynamic instability of the atmosphere itself or of the stellar interior. In luminous early-type stars these two possibilities are represented by shocks due to an unstable radiatively-accelerated wind, and to shocks generated by the non-radial pulsations known to be present in many or most OB stars. This review is concerned with the structure and development of the shocks in these two cases, and especially with the mass loss that may be due specifically to the shocks. Pulsation-produced shocks are found to be very unfavorable for causing mass loss, owing to the great radiation efficiency that allows them to remain isothermal. The situation regarding radiatively-driven shocks remains unclear, awaiting detailed hydrodynamics calculations.
Throughput and fairness considerations in overlay networks for content distribution

The Internet has been designed as a best-effort network, which does not provide any additional services to applications using the network. Overlay networks, which form an application layer network on top of the underlying Internet, have emerged as popular means to provide specific services and greater control to applications. Overlay networks offer a wide range of services, including content distribution, multicast and multimedia streaming. In my thesis, I focus on overlay networks for content distribution, used by applications such as bulk data transfer, file sharing and web retrieval. I first investigate the construction of such overlay networks by studying the bootstrapping functionality in an example network (the Gnutella peer-to-peer system). This study comprises the analysis and performance measurements of Gnutella servents and measurement of the GWebCache system that helps new peers find existing peers on the Gnutella network. Next, I look at fairness issues due to the retrieval of data at a client in the form of multipoint-to-point sessions, formed due to the use of content distribution networks. A multipoint-to-point session comprises multiple connections from multiple servers to a single client over multiple paths, initiated to retrieve a single application-level object. I investigate fairness of rate allocation from a session point of view, and propose fairness definitions and algorithms to achieve these definitions. Finally, I consider the problem of designing an overlay network for content distribution, which is fair to competing overlay networks, while maximizing the total end-to-end throughput of the data it carries. As a first step, I investigate this design problem for a single path in an Overlay-TCP network. I propose two schemes that dynamically provision the number of TCP connections on each hop of an Overlay-TCP path to maximize the end-to-end throughput using few extraneous connections. Next, I design an Overlay-TCP network, with the secondary goal of intra-overlay network fairness. I propose four schemes for deciding the number of TCP connections to be used on each overlay hop. I show that one can vary the proportion of sharing between competing overlay networks by varying the maximum number of connections allowed on overlay hops in each competing network.
Use of chromatin remodeling ATPases as RNAi targets for parental control of western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera) and Neotropical brown stink bug (Euschistus heros)

RNA interference (RNAi) is a gene silencing mechanism that is present in animals and plants and is triggered by double stranded RNA (dsRNA) or small interfering RNA (siRNA), depending on the organism. In the western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), RNAi can be achieved by feeding rootworms dsRNA added to artificial diet or plant tissues transformed to express dsRNA. The effect of RNAi depends on the targeted gene function and can range from an absence of phenotypic response to readily apparent responses, including lethality. Furthermore, RNAi can directly affect individuals that consume dsRNA or the effect may be transferred to the next generation. Our previous work described the potential use of genes involved in embryonic development as a parental RNAi technology for the control of WCR. In this study, we describe the use of chromatin-remodeling ATPases as target genes to achieve parental gene silencing in two insect pests, a coleopteran, WCR, and a hemipteran, the Neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros Fabricius (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Our results show that dsRNA targeting chromatin-remodeling ATPase transcripts, brahma, mi-2, and iswi strongly reduced the fecundity of the exposed females in both insect species. Additionally, knockdown of chd1 reduced the fecundity of E. heros.
A.N. Whitehead’s Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness: Examples from Economics

The fallacy of misplaced concreteness is considered, following Whitehead, as a general difficulty in abstract conceptual thought. A connection to economic theory was made by Whitehead himself, although that was not his primary reason for investigating the fallacy. More recently Georgescu-Roegen has identified misplaced concreteness as the cardinal sin of standard economics. This article develops these points, and offers specific examples of this fallacy found in the works of several leading economists. In conclusion some rules of thumb for avoiding the fallacy of misplaced concreteness are offered.
The Impact of University Technology Transfer Offices on Faculty Consulting: Decisions by Individual Inventors

This study contributes to the research on industry-university interface by analysing the effect of technology transfer offices (TTO) on faculty consulting. Using fixed effects and survival analyses, I find a 25% decrease in consulting following the establishment of technology transfer offices at US universities. This effect is smaller for the researchers engaged in consulting prior to the establishment of TTO and larger for the new entrants to consulting. My findings suggest that licensing and consulting are substitutes as the sources of additional income for scientists. This result enhances our understanding of institutional change after the Bayh-Dole Act, the incentive structures of university scientists and their contribution to private sector research.
Disc electrophoresis as a micropreparative technique for hemolymph and soluble tissue proteins.

A modified method of micropreparative disc electrophoresis was devised that eliminates polymerization of the sample of insect tissue or hemolymph in a gel. The modification consists of applying the sample to the top of a column of gel, covering the solution with dialysis tubing soaked in electrophoresis buffer, and subjecting the sample to electrophoresis.
A SEARCH FOR QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI AFFECTING ASYMMETRY OF MANDIBULAR CHARACTERS IN MICE.

An interval mapping procedure was used to search for and describe the effects of any quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for directional asymmetry (DA) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of 10 bilateral mandible characters in house mice. It was hypothesized that more QTLs would be found for DA than for FA, but that any discovered for FA should tend to exhibit dominance. All mandible characters were triply measured and 76 microsatellite markers were scored in an average of 471 mice from the F2 intercross of the Large (LG/J) and Small (SM/J) inbred strains. A total of 16 QTLs significantly affected DA in nine of the 10 mandible characters, and this was more than the 9.5 expected by chance alone. These QTLs were found on seven of the 19 chromosomes, often at or near locations of QTLs affecting the mean of the two sides for various dimensions on the mandible. It was concluded that there is genetical variability for DA in these characters, although its level was low (4.4% of the total variation in this particular F2 population). Eleven QTLs were detected for FA, suggesting that there is very little genetic variability for FA, at least as seen in the mandible characters in this particular F2 population. As hypothesized, however, these QTLs did tend to exhibit dominance.
Elastic, Transversely Isotropic Film Indented by a Punch; Application to Multilayered Thin Films

A model calculates the compliance of elastic contact between a punch and bilayer, the latter consisting of a transversely isotropic film on top of isotropic substrate. Used in data analysis, the model helps estimate the Young’s modulus of amorphous silicon (100±20 GPa) layers within amorphous silicon/aluminum multilayer composites deposited on silicon.
Effect of O2 partial pressure on the myeloperoxidase pathway of neutrophils.

Neutrophils recruited to different tissues undergo respiratory burst activity at widely different PO2 levels. The present study investigated the in vitro effects of PO2 on neutrophil oxidative meta...
Constructing a publically available distracted driving database and research tool.

Abstract Background The goal of the current work was to create a publicly available visualization tool of distracted driving research, the purpose of which is to allow the public and other stakeholders to empirically inform questions of their choice that may bear on policy discussions. Methods Fifty years of distracted driving research was used to design a comprehensive database of studies that evaluated the effects of distraction on driving performance. Distraction sources (e.g., texting, talking, visual distraction) and performance measures were defined, and the sample of studies were evaluated and categorized by their measures. Results The final product yielded 342 studies using various methodologies. Across all measures, 1297 found distractions degraded driving performance, 54 found distraction improved driving performance, and 257 found distraction had no effect on driving performance. An analysis of the most common phone distractions (texting and talking) showed that texting almost always results in degraded performance. Aggregate data reveal no difference in performance decrements for hand-held or hands-free phones even though single studies of those variables vary in their outcomes. Conclusions This project illustrates how scientific research can be made publically available for use by a diverse audience of stakeholders. An important result of this project is that data aggregated along a simple set of characteristics such as whether or not performance is decreased, improved or not affected, can reveal trends in the data that are less clear from any individual study.
Addressing the Math-Practice Gap in Elementary School: Are Tablets a Feasible Tool for Informal Math Practice?

Students rarely practice math outside of school requirements, which we refer to as the “math-practice gap”. This gap might be the reason why students struggle with math, making it urgent to develop means by which to address it. In the current paper, we propose that math apps offer a viable solution to the math-practice gap: Online apps can provide access to a large number of problems, tied to immediate feedback, and delivered in an engaging way. To substantiate this conversation, we looked at whether tablets are sufficiently engaging to motivate children’s informal practice math. Our approach was to partner with education agencies via a community-based participatory research design. The three participating education agencies serve elementary-school students from low-SES communities, allowing us to look at tablet use by children who are unlikely to have extensive access to online math enrichment programs. At the same time, the agencies differed in several structural details, including whether our intervention took place during school time, after school, or during the summer. This allowed us to shed light on tablet feasibility under different organizational constraints. Our findings show that tablet-based math practice is engaging for young children, independent of the setting, the student’s age, or the math concept that was tackled. At the same time, we found that student engagement was a function of the presence of caring adults to facilitate their online math practice.