cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fluorescent brightening agents for biological staining

Excitatory and emission wavelengths and quantum yields were determined for 16 fluorescent brightening agents. Optimal microscopic excitatory and barrier filters, determined by these results, were used to examine tissues with Phorwhite BKL and Leucophor PAF, the two agents showing the highest quantum yields. All slides exhibited a high degree of fluorescence and did not fade after several hours of exposure to light.
Imitation of Suprasegmental Patterns by Non-Native Speakers of English

Speakers with limited English proficiency (LEP) usually produce a combination of articulation errors and differences in the prosodic patterns of English. There are abundant measures of articulation...
A decision process over variables and their number: Two-phase optimality conditions

Abstract The paper considers the following unconstrained optimization problem: minimize f n ( x n , n ) = g n ( x n ) + h ( n ), where g n ( x n ) = αϵ i = 0 n −1 ∫ x i x i = 1 [ ∫ x x i + 1 b ( t ) d( t )]d x , over both the variables x 1 , x 2 , …, x n −1 , and their number n , when x 0 , x n ≡ X are known boundary conditions, and h ( n ) is increasing, unbounded and weakly convex. Examples that demonstrate the practical usefulness of this decision process are given, and a two-phase approach for solving it, namely, minimize first over the arguments for a fixed n , and then over n , is suggested. Simple conditions, for a general g n ( x n ), under which phase II can be carried out by a finite search are stated, and then the question: “Under what circumstances does the search for the optimal n reduce to a simple condition?” is posed. Kuhn-Tucker type two-phase optimality conditions that answer this question are established, and moreover, specifications on the dominating single variable function b ( x ) for which the conditions hold are set forth.
A Th2 Cytokine LCR: Adding a New Piece to the Regulatory Puzzle

DNase I hypersensitivity assays and phylogenetic analyses previously led to the identification of multiple enhancers in the Th2 cytokine cluster. As described in this issue of Immunity, Lee et al. have now used a transgenic mouse assay to identify a locus control region (LCR) that supports integration site-independent, copy number-dependent transcription of Il4 and Il13.
Opportunities in Time and Space

The purpose of this research is to consider what are the limits on entrepreneurs in their pursuit of opportunities, which are imposed by time and space? I frame these issues using routine activity ...
Decreased expression of ErbB4 and tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA and protein in the ventral midbrain of aged rats.

Abstract Decreased availability or efficacy of neurotrophic factors may underlie an increased susceptibility of mesencephalic dopaminergic cells to age-related degeneration. Neuregulins (NRGs) are pleotrophic growth factors for many cell types, including mesencephalic dopamine cells in culture and in vivo . The functional NRG receptor ErbB4 is expressed by virtually all midbrain dopamine neurons. To determine if levels of the NRG receptor are maintained during aging in the dopaminergic ventral mesencephalon, expression of ErbB4 mRNA and protein was examined in young (3 months), middle-aged (18 months), and old (24–25 months) Brown Norway/Fischer 344 F1 rats. ErbB4 mRNA levels in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), but not the adjacent ventral tegmental area (VTA) or subtantia nigra pars lateralis (SNl), were significantly reduced in the middle-aged and old animals when compared to young rats. Protein expression of ErbB4 in the ventral midbrain was significantly decreased in the old rats when compared to the young rats. Expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA levels was significantly reduced in the old rats when compared to young animals in the SNpc, but not in the VTA or SNI. TH protein levels in the ventral midbrain were also decreased in the old animals when compared to the young animals. These data demonstrate a progressive decline of ErbB4 expression, coinciding with a loss of the dopamine-synthesizing enzyme TH, in the ventral midbrain of aged rats, particularly in the SNpc. These findings may implicate a role for diminished NRG/ErbB4 trophic support in dopamine-related neurodegenerative disorders of aging such as Parkinson's disease.
Subatmospheric oxygen therapy complicating subcutaneous emphysema

An infant with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, excessive pulmonary blood flow, and tachypnea was placed on subatmospheric oxygen (supplemental nitrogen) to increase pulmonary vascular resistance and decrease pulmonary blood flow. His cardiorespiratory status stabilized without mechanical ventilation, but 2 weeks later he developed spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema. The emphysema worsened over approximately 1 month. During this time his left-to-right shunt gradually decreased, and he was weaned to room air. Even without the use of supplemental oxygen the emphysema resolved without complication, and the patient underwent successful orthotopic heart transplantation at 65 days of age.
Alternative to faith-based science.

Finding myself in the company of a large group of researchers labeled as particularistic, atheoretical, and nonscientific by Gremillion et al. (1), I take issue with many of the assertions in their recent defense of the application of optimal foraging theory (OFT) to origins of agriculture (OA) research. First is the premise that regional-scale analyses can only identify more general evolutionary processes if they are explicitly situated with an “overarching framework for explaining the diversity of life,” which, according to Gremillion et al., is provided by OFT, held to be virtually synonymous with the larger disciplinary categories of human behavioral ecology (HBE) and evolutionary ecology (EE). In …
Accurate semiclassical electronic structure from dimensional singularities

Abstract A novel semiclassical approach to electronic structure has recently been developed by using 1/D as an expansion parameter, where D is the dimensionality of space. The first few terms of the series have been determined for two-electron atoms, but give poor numerical results for the energy at D = 3. By taking advantage of some exact properties of the energy as a function of D, we are able to evaluate the major contribution from singularities at D = 1. This improves estimates from the first few terms by three orders of magnitude at D = 3. From the singularity analysis we are also able to show that the correlation energy is nearly linear as a function of 1/D, in accord with numerical calculation.
Guiding, distribution, and storage of trains of shape-dependent droplets

We present a simple method of guiding, distributing, and storing of a train of shape-dependent droplets by using side flows, cavity guiding tracks, and storage chambers. The squeezing flow makes a train of flattened droplets to align to one side of the wall and the pushing flow guides it to one of the designated guiding tracks. Then the guided droplets move along the guiding track due to the lowered surface energy when they flow along the track. In addition, simultaneous droplet guiding and storing process has been demonstrated. An array of storage chambers placed in each track could store each train containing differently concentrated droplets. The proposed method will be useful for distribution of droplets for further processes or storing for multiplex, large-scale, dynamic assays over time.
Systemic Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Induces Favorable Histological Changes in the Corpus Cavernosum of Hypercholesterolemic Rabbits

ABSTRACTPurpose: Hypercholesterolemia causes erectile dysfunction that is associated with abnormalities in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells. We determined the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on corporeal tissue in hypercholesterolemic rabbits.Materials and Methods: A total of 16 New Zealand White rabbits were fed a 1% cholesterol diet for 6 weeks and were randomly divided into 3 groups. Group 1 (5 rabbits) received 2.5 μg recombinant bFGF intravenously once and again 3 weeks later. Group 2 (6 rabbits) received 2.5 μg bFGF intravenously once and placebo 3 weeks later. Group 3 (5 rabbits) received placebo intravenously each time. Rabbits were continuously fed a 1% cholesterol diet and sacrificed 3 weeks after the last treatment. Smooth muscle, endothelial cell and collagen content were assessed by immunohistochemistry and histochemical staining of corporeal tissue. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein and mRNA expression were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent ...
Microbial Metal Tolerance in Bermuda Carbonate Sediments

The recovery of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria from Bermuda carbonate sediments on metal-supplemented media varied as much as 44-fold over a 15-cm depth. Distributional relationships with sulfate-reducing bacteria and sediment character indicated that metal tolerance was a function of metal bioavailability.
Protection by 2-mercaptoethylamine against the mutagenic and lethal effects of x-rays in neurospora crassa

Abstract 2-mercaptoethylamine (MEA, cysteamine) was studied as a protective agent against X-ray-induced mutagenecity (adenine reverse mutations) and lethality. Maximal protection was obtained with concentrations of MEA in the range 0.020–0.025 M with protection factors 2–2.5 for both mutation and lethality. MEA protected to the same extent in water or saline solution, but saline was found to have a protective action of its own, as compared with treatment in water. Protection against mutation was seen only at X-ray doses below approx. 50 kR, whereas at higher doses the highest mutation frequency was found in the MEA-treated series. Increasing the temperature during MEA pretreatment led to an increased maximal protection, but protection by endogenous anoxia then occured simultaneously. At all temperatures tested, maximal protection was achieved with 0.025 M MEA without any toxic or mutagenic effects from the chemical, but the time margin for non-toxic pretreatment became narrower as the temperature was increased.
Processing and Sintering of Ultrafine MgO-ZrO2 and (MgO, Y2O3)-ZrO2 Powders

This paper reports chemical coprecipitation used to produce ultrafine and easily sinterable MgO-stabilized and (MgO,Y{sub 2}O{sub 3})-stabilized ZrO{sub 2} powders. The sintering behavior is very sensitive to post-precipitation washing because hard agglomerates form when the precipitated gels are washed with water, whereas soft agglomerates form when they are washed with ethanol. The soft agglomerates pack uniformly, resulting in homogeneous shrinkage of powder compacts to near-theoretical density. The hard agglomerates result in compacts which have regions of localized densification and a significant fraction of residual porosity.
Relation of aphid populations to field spread of lettuce mosaic virus in New York.

Aphid species migrating to and colonizing lettuce plantings were sampled to assess their importance in field spread of lettuce mosaic virus (LMV) under conditions existing in New York State. The studies were carried out in small-plot experiments and included an evaluation of various insecticides for regulation of field spread of LMV through reduction of numbers of aphids colonizing lettuce. The potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) was the predominant species colonizing lettuce, but high-level populations throughout the season were not correlated with significant field spread of LMV. Conversely, LMV infection of more than 90% was noted when plants were treated with oxydemetoumethyl and aphid numbers were very low. Large numbers of LMV-infected plants were detected only in late August and September, and this corresponded closely with peak numbers of alatae aphid populations captured in water-filled yellow pans (Moericke traps). A close correlation was found between incidence of LMV-infected plants and peak numbers of alatae of green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Infected plants appeared in an apparent random pattern. Healthy plants protected from wandering apterae by sticky enclosures became infected with LMV as readily as plants not protected. These observations indicated that LMV was spread chiefly by the alatae. Oxydemetonmethyl was the most effective insecticide for reducing and maintaining low numbers of aphids on lettuce, but plants treated with a combination of DDT and malathion had more aphids than untreated plants. None of the insecticides was effective for preventing the spread of LMV.
Allopurinol as a Cardioprotectant during Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

OBJECTIVE:To examine the role of allopurinol as a cardioprotectant during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.DATA SOURCES:A search of MEDLINE (1966–October 2002) was performed using the following terms: allopurinol, xanthine oxidase, oxygen free radical, and coronary artery bypass. References evaluated were limited to English-language and human studies, yielding 41 citations, 13 of which were found suitable. The 5 largest studies are discussed.DATA SYNTHESIS:Multiple studies with various doses have evaluated the effects of allopurinol on outcomes in CABG patients. These studies found that allopurinol can reduce in hospital mortality, improve cardiac performance, reduce incidence of arrhythmias, reduce markers of ischemia and free-radical generation, and reduce the need for inotropic support. However, these findings were not consistent between all studies.CONCLUSIONS:Allopurinol may reduce the incidence of CABG complications. Although the optimal dose has not been determined, reviewed literature s...
Electrochemistry in Near-Critical and Supercritical Fluids. 9. Improved Apparatus for Water Systems (23-385 °C). The Oxidation of Hydroquinone and Iodide

The apparatus for electrochemical measurements in high-temperature water has been improved by replacing the alumina tube reactor with an oxidized titanium tube, producing a more rugged reactor. All metal fittings were replaced by titanium ones, decreasing corrosion problems. The working electrodes are Pt disks (radius, 14 μm) fabricated by sealing Pt−Ir wires in a high PbO-containing glass. This glass has the advantage over borosilicate glass in showing lower conductivity at temperatures above 230 °C, better corrosion resistance, and a coefficient of thermal expansion well-matched to Pt. Well-defined steady-state cyclic voltammograms for the oxidation of iodide ion and hydroquinone were obtained in (initially 23 °C) 0.2 M NaHSO4 solutions over a temperature range 23−385 °C. Diffusion coefficients (D) were determined from the limiting currents. The experimental D values were in excellent agreement with those calculated from the Stokes−Einstein equation and viscosity values for water at the relevant tempera...
Characterizing optically packaged MEMS & MOEMS devices using optical profiling techniques

Optical profiling (white light interferometry) has proven successful for measuring surface features of unpackaged MEMS devices. Most devices, however, perform differently once encased in their final packaging, which may include vacuum, elevated temperature or other special environments. This paper describes a novel interferometric surface profiling technique for high magnification measurement of devices through transparent packaging or environmental chambers. Three techniques are introduced into a long working distance interferometric objective: aberration correction, shaped illumination, and dispersive compensation. Data demonstrates that measurement results through the protective media are comparable to those of a standard objective measuring an unpackaged device.
Bacterial neuraminidase facilitates mucosal infection by participating in biofilm production

Many respiratory pathogens, including Hemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, express neuraminidases that can cleave alpha2,3-linked sialic acids from glycoconjugates. As mucosal surfaces are heavily sialylated, neuraminidases have been thought to modify epithelial cells by exposing potential bacterial receptors. However, in contrast to neuraminidase produced by the influenza virus, a role for bacterial neuraminidase in pathogenesis has not yet been clearly established. We constructed a mutant of P. aeruginosa PAO1 by deleting the PA2794 neuraminidase locus (Delta2794) and tested its virulence and immunostimulatory capabilities in a mouse model of infection. Although fully virulent when introduced i.p., the Delta2794 mutant was unable to establish respiratory infection by i.n. inoculation. The inability to colonize the respiratory tract correlated with diminished production of biofilm, as assessed by scanning electron microscopy and in vitro assays. The importance of neuraminidase in biofilm production was further demonstrated by showing that viral neuraminidase inhibitors in clinical use blocked P. aeruginosa biofilm production in vitro as well. The P. aeruginosa neuraminidase has a key role in the initial stages of pulmonary infection by targeting bacterial glycoconjugates and contributing to the formation of biofilm. Inhibiting bacterial neuraminidases could provide a novel mechanism to prevent bacterial pneumonia.
Bubble-Up: increasing utilization in modern warehouse scale computers via sensible co-locations

As much of the world's computing continues to move into the cloud, the overprovisioning of computing resources to ensure the performance isolation of latency-sensitive tasks, such as web search, in modern datacenters is a major contributor to low machine utilization. Being unable to accurately predict performance degradation due to contention for shared resources on multicore systems has led to the heavy handed approach of simply disallowing the co-location of high-priority, latency-sensitive tasks with other tasks. Performing this precise prediction has been a challenging and unsolved problem. In this paper, we present Bubble-Up, a characterization methodology that enables the accurate prediction of the performance degradation that results from contention for shared resources in the memory subsystem. By using a bubble to apply a tunable amount of “pressure” to the memory subsystem on processors in production datacenters, our methodology can predict the performance interference between co-locate applications with an accuracy within 1% to 2% of the actual performance degradation. Using this methodology to arrive at “sensible” co-locations in Google's production datacenters with real-world large-scale applications, we can improve the utilization of a 500-machine cluster by 50% to 90% while guaranteeing a high quality of service of latency-sensitive applications.
Solving maximum-entropy sampling problems using factored masks

We present a practical approach to Anstreicher and Lee’s masked spectral bound for maximum-entropy sampling, and we describe favorable results that we have obtained with a Branch-and-Bound algorithm based on our approach. By representing masks in factored form, we are able to easily satisfy a semidefiniteness constraint. Moreover, this representation allows us to restrict the rank of the mask as a means for attempting to practically incorporate second-order information.
Multiple Psychiatric Diagnoses Common in Privately Insured Children on Atypical Antipsychotics

Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of atypical antipsychotic use in privately insured children and the diagnoses associated with treatment. Study design. Claims were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2 through 18 years in the Midwest, covered by private insurance between 2002 and 2005 (n = 172 766). The 1-year prevalence of children receiving atypical antipsychotics was determined along with associated diagnoses. Results. The 1-year prevalence of atypical antipsychotics ranged from 7.9 per 1000 in 2002 to 9.0 in 2005. The leading diagnoses were disruptive behavior disorders (67%), mood disorders (65%), and anxiety disorders (43%).The authors found that 75% of children on atypical antipsychotics had more than one psychiatric diagnosis. Conclusions. Atypical antipsychotic use is primarily seen in children who have multiple psychiatric diagnoses. Studies are needed to assess the long-term safety and effectiveness in such patients with multiple diagnoses.
A conceptual framework to measure systems' performance during emergency preparedness exercises.

Large-scale public health emergencies require a sophisticated, coordinated response involving multiple entities to protect health and minimize suffering. However, the rarity of such emergencies presents a barrier to gathering observational data about the effectiveness of the public health response before such events occur. For this reason, public health practitioners increasingly have relied on simulated emergencies, known as “exercises” as proxies to test their emergency capabilities. However, the formal evaluation of performance in these exercises, historically has been inconsistent, and there is little research to describe how data acquired from simulated emergencies actually support conclusions about the quality of the public health emergency response system. Over the past six years, we have designed and evaluated more than seventy public health emergency exercises, collaborating with public health agencies, hospitals and others to test a wide variety of systems and their capabilities. Using the data and experience that we gathered, we have developed a conceptual framework that describes the essential elements necessary to consider when applying performance measurement science to public health emergency exercises. We suggest that this framework may assist practitioners and researchers who wish to better measure performance in exercises and to improve public health emergency preparedness.
ASCORBIC ACID RETENTION OF SELECTEDVEGETABLESBLANCHEDBY MICROWAVE AND CONVENTIONAL METHODS

Ascorbic acid content was determined and compared for the vegetables: green beans, purple hull peas, yellow squash, and mustard greens, blanched by microwave and conventional methods. Generally, no difference existed among methods o f blanching except for steam blanched purple hull peas which were higher in ascorbic acid content (P≤ 0.05) than those blanched by the other methods. Excessive loss of ascorbic acid seemed to be related to high surface to mass ratio as evidenced by low retention values for sliced yellow squash and mustard greens.
Evolutionary Green Computing Solutions for Distributed Cyber Physical Systems

Distributed Cyber Physical Systems (DCPSs) are networks of computing systems that utilize information from their physical surroundings to provide important services such as smart health, energy efficient cloud computing, and smart grids. Ensuring their green operation, which includes energy efficiency, thermal safety, and long term uninterrupted operation increases the scalability and sustainability of these infrastructures. Achieving this goal often requires researchers to harness an understanding of the interactions between the computing equipment and its physical surroundings.Modeling these interactions can be computationally challenging with the resources on hand and the operating requirements of such systems. To overcome these computational difficulties researchers have utilized Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs), which employ a randomized search to find a near optimal solution comparatively quickly and with compelling performance compared to heuristics in many domains. In this chapter we review several EA solutions for green DCPSs.We introduce three representative DCPS examples including Data Centers (DCs), Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), and Body Sensor Networks (BSN) and discuss several green computing problems and their EA based solutions.
Constructing Confidence Intervals for Effect Size Measures of an Indirect Effect

Confidence intervals for an effect size can provide the information about the magnitude of an effect and its precision as well as the binary decision about the existence of an effect. In this study, the performances of five different methods for constructing confidence intervals for ratio effect size measures of an indirect effect were compared in terms of power, coverage rates, Type I error rates, and widths of confidence intervals. The five methods include the percentile bootstrap method, the bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap method, the delta method, the Fieller method, and the Monte Carlo method. The results were discussed with respect to the adequacy of the distributional assumptions and the nature of ratio quantity. The confidence intervals from the five methods showed similar results for samples of more than 500, whereas, for samples of less than 500, the confidence intervals were sufficiently narrow to convey the information about the population effect sizes only when the effect sizes of regression coefficients defining the indirect effect are large.
"¿Cómo Estas?" "I'm Good." Conversational Code-Switching Is Related to Profiles of Expressive and Receptive Proficiency in Spanish-English Bilingual Toddlers.

Relations between bilingual children’s patterns of conversational code-switching (responding to one language with another), the balance of their dual language input, and their expressive and receptive proficiency in two languages were examined in 115 2½-year-old simultaneous Spanish-English bilinguals in the U.S. Children were more likely to code-switch in response to Spanish than English. Children’s expressive vocabulary scores were higher in English than in Spanish, while their English and Spanish receptive language scores were not different. Analyses of subgroups of children with different but consistent patterns of code-switching confirmed that children who code-switched to English showed greater English skills, specifically in the expressive domain. Children who did not code-switch were more balanced bilinguals in both expressive and receptive skills. Children with other code-switching patterns showed still different profiles of dual language expressive and receptive proficiency. These findings revea...
Women's Status and World-System Position: An Exploratory Analysis

Our aim here is to strengthen the links between the world-systems perspective and research ongender inequality. Grounding our analysis in theories assessing the connections between genderrelationships and world-system processes, we empirically explore (]) the extent to whichwomen's status in nations overlaps with the world-system position of those nations and (2) theinfluence of women's status within nations on a variety of national characteristics. We find thatwomen's status has a moderately strong association with world-system position, which suggeststhat macro-comparative research may confound the respective effects on a variety of socialcharacteristics of women's status and world-system position if indicators of both factors are notincluded in analyses. We also find that, controlling for world-system position, GDP per capita,and urbanization, in nations where women have higher status (variously measured), total fertilityrates, infant mortality rates, military expenditures, and inflows of foreign direct investinent arelower, and public health care expenditures and per capita meat consumption are higher. Theseresults suggest that women's status likely has social effects that can be seen on the macro-level,and that world-systems analysts should pay more attention to theories of gender in their research.
Two-Pin Fixation of Proximal Interphalangeal Joint Fusion for Hammertoe Correction

Single-pin external Kirschner wire (K-wire) fixation has traditionally been a mainstay in proximal interphalangeal joint fusion for central hammertoe repair. Concerns over cosmesis, inconvenience, pin tract infection, hardware failure, nonunion, and early hardware removal have led to the development of implantable internal fixation devices. Although numerous implantable devices are now available and represent viable options for hammertoe repair, they are costly and often pose a challenge in the event removal becomes necessary. An alternative fixation option not typically used is a 2-pin K-wire fixation technique. The perceived advantage of obtaining 2 points of fixation compared with 1 across the fusion site is improved stability against the rotational and bending forces, thus decreasing the potential for pin-related complications. A retrospective assessment of 91 consecutive hammertoe repairs consisting of proximal interphalangeal joint fusion with 2-pin fixation in 60 patients was performed. The K-wires were removed at 6 weeks postoperatively, and the overall postoperative follow-up duration was 28.56 (range 1.40 to 86.83) months. Of the 91 digits, 89 (98%) did not encounter a complication postoperatively and 2 (2.20%) had sustained loosened or broken hardware. No postoperative infection was encountered. The low incidence of complications observed supports the 2-pin K-wire fixation technique as a low-cost and viable construct for proximal interphalangeal joint fusion hammertoe repair.
The Ancient Curse: Rabies

Rabies is one of the oldest recognized zoonotic diseases. The first recorded description of canine rabies was apparently made by Democritus around 500 B.C.E. Aristotle, writing of rabies in his Natural History of Animals, described dogs suffering from a madness causing irritability and noted that other animals became diseased after being bitten by these sick dogs. Little has changed with this human-carnivore dynamic since the time of Aristotle’s observations. In most areas of the world where the disease is enzootic, dogs and other carnivores remain the predominant sources of human rabies virus infection. For the lucky few that live in countries where canine rabies has been eliminated, the epidemiology of human rabies continues to implicate bats as an important emerging rabies reservoir. Bats are also the focus of ongoing discovery of new lyssaviruses (15 total recognized or putative species), many of which are still poorly understood.
The Yin and Yang of copper during infection

Copper is an essential micronutrient for both pathogens and the animal hosts they infect. However, copper can also be toxic in cells due to its redox properties and ability to disrupt active sites of metalloproteins, such as Fe-S enzymes. Through these toxic properties, copper is an effective antimicrobial agent and an emerging concept in innate immunity is that the animal host intentionally exploits copper toxicity in antimicrobial weaponry. In particular, macrophages can attack invading microbes with high copper and this metal is also elevated at sites of lung infection. In addition, copper levels in serum rise during infection with a wide array of pathogens. To defend against this toxic copper, the microbial intruder is equipped with a battery of copper detoxification defenses that promote survival in the host, including copper exporting ATPases and copper binding metallothioneins. However, it is important to remember that copper is also an essential nutrient for microbial pathogens and serves as important cofactor for enzymes such as cytochrome c oxidase for respiration, superoxide dismutase for anti-oxidant defense and multi-copper oxidases that act on metals and organic substrates. We therefore posit that the animal host can also thwart pathogen growth by limiting their copper nutrients, similar to the well-documented nutritional immunity effects for starving microbes of essential zinc, manganese and iron micronutrients. This review provides both sides of the copper story and evaluates how the host can exploit either copper-the-toxin or copper-the-nutrient in antimicrobial tactics at the host-pathogen battleground.
Ethanol Americas Safety Net

No matter how you look at it, the subject of Ethanol is going into two separate directions; one is that of clear support and the other is that of opposition. Both are maintaining their own areas of study and analysis for validity. There is little middle ground between the groups. Much like today’s developing polarization in American Society.
Blockage Development in a Transonic, Axial Compressor Rotor

A detailed experimental investigation to understand and quantify the development of blockage in the flow field of a transonic, axial flow compressor rotor (NASA Rotor 37) has been undertaken. Detailed laser anemometer measurements were acquired upstream, within, and downstream of a transonic, axial compressor rotor operating at 100%, 85%, 80%, and 60% of design speed which provided inlet relative Mach numbers at the blade tip of 1.48, 1.26, 1.18, and 0.89 respectively. The impact of the shock on the blockage development, pertaining to both the shock / boundary layer interactions and the shock / tip clearance flow interactions, is discussed. The results indicate that for this rotor the blockage in the endwall region is 2–3 times that of the core flow region, and the blockage in the core flow region more than doubles when the shock strength is sufficient to separate the suction surface boundary layer.Copyright © 1997 by ASME
Scott’s Ivanhoe and the Saxon Question

At first glance, Sir Walter Scott’s treatment of the Catholic Question resembled Wordsworth’s – both opposed the measure from a Tory standpoint, both saw Catholicism as incompatible with national identity, both feared potential chaos from an Irish insurrection and both saw aesthetic representations of national history and topography as central to the controversy. Yet, while Wordsworth and Southey steadfastly opposed Catholic Emancipation, Scott was among the Tories who switched positions. In 1829 Scott counselled J.G. Lockhart, then editor of the conservative Quarterly Review, not to publish Southey’s ‘purple article’ against Catholic Emancipation, which he argued would only enflame national prejudice and risk ‘public disturbance’ (LWS 11: 24–6). Scott thus parted company with Southey’s uncompromising opposition to Catholic Emancipation, a position he would label ‘Toryissimus’ (JWS 475). Amid the petitions on the Catholic Question inundating Parliament in 1829, Prime Minister Robert Peel singled out Scott’s signature in support of the Bill: ‘Your name was of the utmost value, and had more weight than any other single name. The mention of it, as attached to the Edinburgh petition, was received with loud cheers’ (Peel 100). This Tory migration, which also included Coleridge, enabled the Bill’s passage and broke a legislative deadlock that had persisted since 1791.
Broadband Deep UV Spectra of Interfacial Aqueous Iodide

The behavior of ions at aqueous interfaces influences vital processes in many fields but has long remained a subject of controversy. Over the past decade, counterintuitive surface concentration enhancement of several ions in aqueous solution has been demonstrated via nonlinear laser spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. While the evidence for significant ion enhancement at the air-water interface is convincing, the mechanism remains incompletely understood. Toward this end, we present the full broadband DUV-SFG spectrum of the charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) band of interfacial aqueous iodide measured in a single laser shot with a newly developed broadband deep UV-SFG technique, clearly revealing a ∼8 nm redshift and a significant linewidth narrowing relative to bulk solution spectra. KI and NaI solutions yield indistinguishable results. Additionally, we observe a dramatic change in the relative intensities of the J = 3/2 and 1/2 CTTS transitions.
Spatial Heterogeneity of Gut Microbial Composition along the Gastrointestinal Tract in Natural Populations of House Mice

There is a growing appreciation of the role of gut microbial communities in host biology. However, the nature of variation in microbial communities among different segments of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is not well understood. Here, we describe microbial communities from ten different segments of the GI tract (mouth, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, ileum, proximal cecum, distal cecum, colon, rectum, and feces) in wild house mice using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We also measured carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic ratios from hair samples of individual mice as a proxy for diet. We identified factors that may explain differences in microbial composition among gut segments, and we tested for differences among individual mice in the composition of the microbiota. Consistent with previous studies, the lower GI tract was characterized by a greater relative abundance of anaerobic bacteria and greater microbial diversity relative to the upper GI tract. The upper and lower GI tracts also differed in the relative abundances of predicted microbial gene functions, including those involved in metabolic pathways. However, when the upper and lower GI tracts were considered separately, gut microbial composition was associated with individual mice. Finally, microbial communities derived from fecal samples were similar to those derived from the lower GI tract of their respective hosts, supporting the utility of fecal sampling for studying the gut microbiota of mice. These results show that while there is substantial heterogeneity among segments of the GI tract, individual hosts play a significant role in structuring microbial communities within particular segments of the GI tract.
Forwarding loop attacks and counter measures in content centric networks

Content Centric Networking (CCN) is a novel networking approach that aims at overcoming some of the limitations of the current Internet. In particular, CCN aims at providing better security and privacy by focusing on the data rather than on the location of data. However, this new networking concept opens up avenues for launching several new types of attacks including the “Forwarding Loop attacks”. This paper describes how malicious customers can attack the availability of Content Centric Networks (CCNs) by creating forwarding loops. These loops cause one request to be processed repeatedly or even indefinitely, resulting in unwanted resource consumption and potential Denial-of-Service attacks. Next, we propose detection and mitigation techniques that will allow routers to identify and prevent the formation of such loops. To evaluate the practicality of such forwarding-loop attacks, we use the popular CCN simulation software, ndnSIM to simulate the occurrences of the loops and show how they can affect the overall service of the network.
Chromosomal Abnormalities in the Early Stem Cell Population of CML Patients in Complete Cytogenetic Remission.

Abstract Clonal cytogenetic abnormalities, most commonly involving chromosomes 7 and 8, are detectable by conventional karyotyping in Ph-negative metaphases of some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients with a major cytogenetic response (MCyR) to imatinib. It is unknown whether these abnormalities involve the primitive progenitor cell compartment, and whether their frequency in this compartment may exceed the frequency detected by karyotyping. To answer these questions we analyzed lineage-negative CD34+/CD38− and CD34+/CD38+ cells from CML patients in complete cytogenetic response (CCyR), using by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for chromosome 7 and 8 abnormalities and BCR-ABL. Methods: Mononuclear cells (MNC) were selected from the bone marrow of patients with CCR by Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation and enriched for lineage-negative cells using an immunomagnetic column. Lineage-negative cells were further sorted into CD34+/38− and CD34+/38+ cells by multicolor FACS. Interphase FISH analysis was performed using 7 LSI D7S522 Spectrum Orange / CEP7 Spectrum Green (chromosome 7), CEP8 Spectrum Aqua (chromosome 8) and LSI BCR/ABL +9q34 TriColor Dual Fusion Probe. Thus far, 5 CML patients with CCR (3 with a normal karyotype and 2 with trisomy 8) and 1 normal control have been analyzed. Results: Of the three CML patients in CCR with normal karyotype, one had 9% deletion 7q (internal cut off of 0.5%) and the second 1.2% trisomy 8 (just over the internal cut off of 1%) cells in the CD-34+/38− population, while the CD-34+/38+ cell population did not show abnormalities. The third CCR patient had no abnormalities in the CD-34+/38− and CD-34+/38+ cell populations. Two CML patients in CCR with 45% trisomy 8 abnormal cells by conventional cytogenetics had 44% and 60% trisomy 8 positive cells in the CD34+/38+ population (two few CD34+/CD38− cells were available for analysis). No BCR-ABL signal was detected in any cell. In the healthy control, the CD34+/38+ cells were normal, but 4.1% of CD34+/38− showed a deletion of 7q. Conclusion: Clonal chromosomal of chromosomes 7 and 8 in Ph-negative primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells may be more common than suggested by conventional karyotyping. A larger cohort of CML patients in CCR and healthy individuals is under study to determine if this phenomenon is indeed related to CML or occurs also in normals. Results will have implications for the interpretation of karyotypes in patients with hematologic malignancies.
Development of optically pumped DBR-free semiconductor disk lasers (Conference Presentation)

Semiconductor disk lasers (SDLs) are attractive for applications requiring good beam quality, wavelength versatility, and high output powers. Typical SDLs utilize the active mirror geometry, where a semiconductor DBR is integrated with the active region by growth or post-growth bonding. This imposes restrictions for the SDL design, like material system choice, thermal management, and effective gain bandwidth. In DBR-free geometry, these restrictions can be alleviated. An integrated gain model predicts DBR-free geometry with twice the gain bandwidth of typical SDLs, which has been experimentally verified with active regions near 1 μm and 1.15 μm. The lift-off and bonding technique enables the integration of semiconductor active regions with arbitrary high quality substrates, allowing novel monolithic geometries. Bonding an active region onto a straight side of a commercial fused silica right angle prism, and attaching a high reflectivity mirror onto the hypotenuse side, with quasi CW pumping at 780 nm, lasing operation was achieved at 1037 nm with 0.2 mW average power at 1.6 mW average pump power. Laser dynamics show that thermal lens generation in the active region bottlenecks the laser efficiency. Investigations on total internal reflection based monolithic ring cavities are ongoing. These geometries would allow the intracavity integration of 2D materials or other passive absorbers, which could be relevant for stable mode locking. Unlike typical monolithic microchip SDLs, with the evanescent wave coupling technique, these monolithic geometries allow variable coupling efficiency.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Early Life Nutritional Programming: Lessons from the Avian Model

Agriculturally important domestic animals such as the chicken and the pig have played a pivotal role in advancing basic fundamental knowledge in nutrition and physiology. These investigations have provided a deeper insight into the role of different nutrients in promoting human and animal health and productivity. Properly designed experiments in domestic animals fed with well-controlled diets can facilitate new and innovative comparative nutrition research, expand our knowledge of basic sciences, and lead to dietary strategies that will ameliorate human and animal diseases. In addition, such research will improve animal production efficiency and food product quality. The aim of this article is to provide an insight into using poultry as a model to investigate early life nutritional programming as affected by essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Impact of Genetic Targets on Therapy in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Despite advances in surgical technique, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, the mortality from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has not improved significantly. Squamous cell carcinoma is caused by tobacco use, alcohol consumption and infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus. It is the 6th most common cancer in the world, with upwards of 45,000 new cases reported yearly in the United States alone.
Design and Performance of a 1 mm 3 Resolution Clinical PET System Comprising 3-D Position Sensitive Scintillation Detectors

We are developing a 1-mm3 resolution, high-sensitivity positron emission tomography (PET) system for loco-regional cancer imaging. The completed system will comprise two $16.5\times 10$ cm detector panels and contain 4 608 position sensitive avalanche photodiodes (PSAPDs) coupled to arrays of $0.9\times 0.9\times 1$ mm3 LYSO crystal elements for a total of 294 912 crystal elements. For the first time, this paper summarizes the design and reports the performance of a significant portion of the final clinical PET system, comprising 1 536 PSAPDs, 98 304 crystal elements, and an active field-of-view (FOV) of $16.5\times3.3$ cm. The sub-system performance parameters, such as energy, time, and spatial resolutions are predictive of the performance of the final system due to the modular design. Analysis of the multiplexed crystal flood histograms shows 84% of the crystal elements have>99% crystal identification accuracy. The 511 keV photopeak energy resolution was 11.34±0.06% full-width half maximum (FWHM), and coincidence timing resolution was 13.92 ± 0.01 ns FWHM at 511 keV. The spatial resolution was measured using maximum likelihood expectation maximization reconstruction of a grid of point sources suspended in warm background. The averaged resolution over the central 6 cm of the FOV is 1.01 ± 0.13 mm in the X-direction, 1.84 ± 0.20 mm in the Y-direction, and 0.84 ± 0.11 mm in the Z-direction. Quantitative analysis of acquired micro-Derenzo phantom images shows better than 1.2 mm resolution at the center of the FOV, with subsequent resolution degradation in the y-direction toward the edge of the FOV caused by limited angle tomography effects.
CO2 conversion by the integration of biological and chemical methods: Spirulina sp. LEB 18 cultivation with diethanolamine and potassium carbonate addition.

The aim of this work was to evaluate if the addition of the chemical absorbents diethanolamine and potassium carbonate affects the CO2 biofixation, growth and biomass composition of Spirulina sp. LEB 18. The association of the diethanolamine (DEA) and potassium carbonate (K2CO3) absorbents increased the dissolved inorganic carbon concentration in the cultivation medium, allowing greater CO2 biofixation by the Spirulina. Higher biomass concentration (2.1 g L-1) and maximum productivity (174.2 mg L-1 d-1) were observed with the mixture of 1.64 mmol L-1 of DEA and 0.41 mmol L-1 of K2CO3. In this cultivation condition, Spirulina sp. LEB 18 showed high protein content (58.8 w w-1) and an increased carbohydrate concentration (23.7% w w-1). The addition of these absorbent concentrations may be applied in the cultivation of Spirulina sp. LEB 18 to increase CO2 biofixation and cell growth.
Preventing Exclusion at the Bottleneck

Competition has entered the regulated network industries with a vengeance over the last 15 years. In the natural gas industry, the combination of deregulated wellhead prices and open access to pipeline transportation now supports a robust futures market. In telecommunications, long-distance prices continue to fall as new technologies and corporate restructurings promise even greater competition in the near future. In electricity, bidding markets continue to supplant monopoly provision of power.
Substance Abuse and HIV in China

Using data from a population-based survey conducted in 2003 and employing multilevel modeling, the chapter examines the impact of residential characteristics and mobility on substance abuse and HIV in China. Both individual characteristics and contextual factors are hypothesized to affect individual drug-using behavior and HIV infection. The results suggest that being migrant is associated with significantly less risky drug-using behavior and lower odds of HIV infection. Drug use is also significantly associated with being male, less educated, single, and psychosocial well-being. At the contextual level, drug use is significantly and negatively associated with poverty. HIV infection is significantly correlated with prevalence of drug use in the community. For both drug use and HIV infection, there are significant cross-community variances in the random intercept component, suggesting that the likelihood of substance abuse and HIV infection vary significantly across geographic locations. HIV research and behavioral intervention need to pay particular attention to contextual characteristics.