cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nile Delta exhibited a spatial reversal in the rates of shoreline retreat on the Rosetta promontory comparing pre- and post-beach protection

Abstract The coastline of the Nile Delta experienced accelerated erosion since the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964 and, consequently, the entrapment of a large amount of river sediments behind it. The coastline of the Rosetta promontory showed the highest erosion in the Delta with an average retreat rate of 137.4 m year − 1 . In 1991, in an effort to mitigate sediment loss, a 4.85 km long seawall was built on the outer margin of the promontory. For additional beach protection, 15 groins were constructed along the eastern and western sides of the seawall in 2003 and 2005. To quantify erosion and accretion patterns along the Rosetta promontory, 11 Landsat images acquired at unequal intervals during a 40 year time span (1972 and 2012) were analyzed. The positions of shorelines were automatically extracted from satellite imagery and compared with three very high resolution QuickBird and WorldView2 images for data validation. Analysis of the rates of shoreline change revealed that the construction of the seawall was largely successful in halting the recession along the tip of the promontory, which lost 10.8 km 2 prior to coastal protection. Conversely, the construction of the 15 groins has negatively affected the coastal morphology of the promontory and caused a reversal from accretion to fast erosion along the promontory leeside, where some segments of the shoreline have undergone as much as 30.8 m year − 1 of erosion. Without hard structures, the tip of the Rosetta promontory would have retreated 2.3 km by 2013 and lost 7.2 km 2 of land. About 10% of this land is deltaic fertile cultivated farms. Moreover, without additional protection the sides of the promontory will lose about 1.3 km 2 of land and the coastline would recede at an average rate of 200 m by 2020. Unless action is taken, coastal erosion, enhanced by rising sea level, will steadily eat away the Nile Delta at an alarming rate. The successful demonstration of the advocated procedures in this study could be adopted, with appropriate modifications, for other deltas worldwide.
Design of observer-based feedback control for time-delay systems with application to automotive powertrain control

A new approach for observer-based feedback control of time-delay systems is developed. Time-delays in systems lead to characteristic equations of infinite dimension, making the systems difficult to control with classical control methods. In this paper, a recently developed approach, based on the Lambert W function, is used to address this difficulty by designing an observer-based state feedback controller via assignment of eigenvalues. The designed observer provides estimation of the state, which converges asymptotically to the actual state, and is then used for state feedback control. The feedback controller and the observer take simple linear forms and, thus, are easy to implement when compared to nonlinear methods. This new approach is applied, for illustration, to the control of a diesel engine to achieve improvement in fuel efficiency and reduction in emissions. The simulation results show excellent closed-loop performance.
Appearance and Reality in Postwar Shopfloor Relations

This paper analyzes the institutional forces shaping and delimiting workers' control over shopfloor conditions in post-World War II U.S. manufacturing. It argues, in contrast to much liberal and radical discourse, that postwar relations between capital and organized labor never encompassed a set of institutional arrangements that could successfully contain class struggle in the labor process. During the 1960s a crisis emerged in shopfloor relations. It resulted from the contradictory nature of the postwar industrial relations system and, more specifically, from earlier actions by the state, the labor union bureaucracy and employers which bureaucratized the process of workplace dispute resolution, thereby giving management greater leverage in its shopfloor struggles with workers.
IRIS Pigmentation and Reactive Motor Performance

Worthy's (1974) hypothesis that brown-eyed subjects respond faster than blue-eyed subjects on reactive motor tasks was tested. Experiment 1 compared dark-brown and blue-eyed subjects on rotary pursuit and choice response time tasks. There was a tendency for the predicted effect, but it was only evident for choice responding where speed was the principal performance criterion. In Experiment 2 iris pigmentation effects were found to be limited to the reaction-time component, but not the movement time component, of a simple motor response. Differences in the filtering of lightwaves and in CNS neuro-pigmentation are mechanisms commonly used to explain these findings. Iris pigmentation effects were found for both auditory and visual stimuli, thus supporting the neuro-pigmentation explanation.
The CMU-CAM System

In developing a system for computeraided manufacturing of VLSI circuits at Carnegie-Mellon University, we devoted a major effort to the computational efficiency of algorithms implemented. The resulting software can be used for a variety of real-life tasks such as optimal process design, process diagnosis, and process control in commercial fabrication lines?providing an attractive externsion for CAM systems currently being introduced in VLSI fabrication processes.
METACOMMUNITY INFLUENCES ON COMMUNITY RICHNESS AT MULTIPLE SPATIAL SCALES: A MICROCOSM EXPERIMENT

Large-scale processes are known to be important for patterns of species richness, yet the ways in which local and larger scale processes interact is not clear. I used metacommunities consisting of five interconnected microbial aquatic communities to examine the manner in which processes at different scales affect local and metacommunity richness. Specifically, I manipulated the potential dispersal rate, whether dispersal was localized or global, and variation in initial community composition. A repeated-measures ANOVA showed that a low dispersal rate and intermediate distance dispersal enhanced local richness. Initial assembly variation had no effect on local richness, while a lack of dispersal or global dispersal reduced local richness. At the metacommunity scale, richness was enhanced throughout the time course of the experiment by initial compositional variation and was reduced by high or global dispersal. The effects of dispersal were contingent on the presence of initial compositional variation. The treatments also affected individual species occupancy patterns, with some benefiting from large-scale processes and others being adversely impacted. These results indicate that the effects of dispersal on species richness have a complex relationship with scale and are not solely divisible into "regional" vs. "local" scales. Finally, predictions of the manner in which dispersal rate structures communities appear dependent upon species compositional variation among communities.
Terrorism and War

There are different kinds of terrorism as there are of war. It is unpersuasive to make the deliberate targeting of civilians a defining feature of terrorism, and states as well as non-state groups can engage in terrorism. In a democracy, voters responsible for a government’s unjustifiable policies are not necessarily innocent, while conscripts are legitimate targets. Rather than being uniquely atrocious, terrorism most resembles small war. It is not always or necessarily more morally unjustifiable than war. All war should be avoided, but some war is more unjustifiable than other war. Comparable judgments should be made about terrorism. It is appropriate to compare civilians killed by those seeking political change and those using violence to prevent such change. Sometimes the debate should focus on the justifiability or lack of it of the aims sought. While violence should always be used as little as possible, those in power are responsible for making other means than violence effective in achieving justifiable political change. When considering the likely causes of violence, one that has received inadequate attention is humiliation. Humiliation is not the same as shame. Causing humiliation can and should be avoided.
Synthesis and Structure−Activity Relationships of Amide and Hydrazide Analogues of the Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Antagonist N-(Piperidinyl)- 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (SR141716)

Analogues of the biaryl pyrazole N-(piperidinyl)-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (SR141716; 5) were synthesized to investigate the structure−activity relationship (SAR) of the aminopiperidine region. The structural modifications include the substitution of alkyl hydrazines, amines, and hydroxyalkylamines of varying lengths for the aminopiperidinyl moiety. Proximity and steric requirements at the aminopiperidine region were probed by the synthesis of analogues that substitute alkyl hydrazines of increasing chain length and branching. The corresponding amide analogues were compared to the hydrazides to determine the effect of the second nitrogen on receptor binding affinity. The N-cyclohexyl amide 14 represents a direct methine for nitrogen substitution for 5, reducing the potential for heteroatom interaction, while the morpholino analogue 15 adds the potential for an additional heteroatom interaction. The series of hydroxyalkyl amides of increasing chain length ...
A new host gene (groPC) necessary for lambda DNA replication.

The isolation of a bacterial mutation in a gene, designated groPC, which affects the growth of phages lambda and P2 is described. Lambda replication is severely limited in the strain, and some lambda π mutations, which map in (or near) the P gene, allow growth. The gro mutation, groPC259, is recessive to wild type and maps between threonine (thr) and diaminopimelate (dapB) on the E. coli chromosome. The possibility that the groPC gene is concerned with host DNA replication is discussed.
EXTREME FLOODS, CHANNEL CHANGE, AND RIPARIAN FORESTS ALONG EPHEMERAL STREAMS

The geomorphic effectiveness of extreme floods increases with aridity and decreasing watershed size. Therefore, in small dry watersheds extreme floods should control the age structure and spatial distribution of populations of disturbance-dependent riparian trees. We examined the influence of extreme floods on the bottomland morphology and forest of ephemeral streams in a semiarid region. Along six stream reaches on the Colorado Piedmont we examined channel changes by analyzing a rectified sequence of aerial photographs spanning 56 yr, and we investigated the spatial distribution of different-aged patches of forest by aging 189 randomly sampled cottonwood trees. Channel change in these ephemeral sand-bed streams is dominated by widening, which occurs over a span of hours during infrequent floods, and postflood narrowing, which occurs over decades between floods. Narrowing is accelerated where reliable moisture increases the density and growth rate of vegetation on the former bed. Reproduction of cottonwood trees has occurred mostly in former channel bed during periods of channel narrowing beginning after floods in 1935 and 1965 and continuing for as long as two decades. Thus cottonwood establishment is related to low flows at the time scale of a year, but to high flows at the time scale of decades. At sites that have not experienced major floods in the last 80 yr, little channel change has occurred, cottonwood reproduction has been limited, tree density has declined, and succession to grassland is occurring. Because channel change and tree reproduction in this region are driven by infrequent local events, channel width and tree age distributions vary greatly over time and among sites. For the same reason, riparian forests along these ephemeral streams can be as wide as forests along perennial rivers with much higher mean discharge.
Change and Continuity in Defense PAC Behavior

One of the most important trends in PAC behavior has been the coordination of PAC strategies by such umbrella groups as the Business-Industrial Political Action Committee and such party organizations as the Republican National Committee. This article assesses the degree to which one set of important PACs—those representing key defense firms—has succumbed to or resisted such “nationalizing” forces. An analysis of the behavior of ten defense PACs across two consecutive election cycles indicates that defense PACs generally have remained independent actors and that their behavior appears remarkably insensitive to changes in the political environment.
Problem-solving and incompetence traps in service operations course

Problem-based learning through team projects and case analyses is as much an art as it is a science for business students. As novices, students frequently lack critical-thinking and problem-solving skills and consequently fall into incompetence traps that arise due to defective seeing (tunnel vision vs. blurred vision) and defective thinking (loose vs. oblivious thinking), resulting in fallacies of singularity, multiplicity, constraint neglect and context neglect. We argue that instructors, as experts, should help novice students escape from incompetence traps in a way adjusted to specific knowledge domains. We approach incompetence traps in areas of service operations as triggers of particular operational challenges and propose strategies that will help instructors teach students the art of problem solving and enhance their critical-thinking skills in business education.
Control of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Diameter by Selective Growth on the Exposed Edge of a Thin Film Multilayer Structure

Selective area growth of carbon nanotubes (CNT) has been used to control the diameter of CNTs. Narrow lines of SiO2 (12-60 nm) are formed at the cleaved face of a Si/SiO2/Si multilayer structure. CNTs are then grown by a chemical vapor deposition process with a ferrocene/xylene/ H2/Ar mixture at 700 °C. CNTs are observed to grow only on the exposed SiO2 surface at the edge of the “mesa” structure with a diameter equal to the thickness of the SiO2 layer.
Scarcity and Inequality Prologue to the Onset of Mass Revolution

This study examines the relationship between scarcity and inequality, especially in the comparison between the behavior of agrarian and industrial societies. Specifically, we ask why it is that major revolutions almost always occur in predominantly agrarian societies but almost never in industrial ones. Whereas industrialized countries experience increased equality with increased a bundance, and follow a hypothesized curvilinear function, this is not true for agrarian societies as evidenced in three data sets. Redistributive and authenticating revolutions follow from the scarcity condition. Exponential distributions of landholdings and increased inequality are found to apply in agrarian, prerevolutionary situations. Land inequality is a potent predictor of mass revolution. Population growth is found to be a major source of inequality, and the emergence of inequality even in advanced industrial societies suggests certain similarities with the early stages of the agrarian sector. Thus, the future stability ...
Transmission Congestion and Competition on Power Generation Expansion

Generation expansion planning involves decisions on location and capacity of new generation, which may lead to adding or relieving congestion in transmission lines and to increasing or reducing competition in deregulated markets. Generation expansion may encounter congestion in the transmission network by constrained single-line flows as well as flowgate transfer capabilities. In this paper, a model to study the interaction between competition and transmission congestion on power generation expansion is proposed. The generation expansion problem is modeled as a Cournot competition game. Network transmission constraints are included in the optimal generation expansion problem to comply with power flow limits. Results from a five-bus power network and the IEEE 24-bus system are presented and discussed
Investigation and Replication of the Surface Microstructure of Early Chinese Black Bronzemirrors

Many ancient Chinese bronze mirrors have survived with their original surface decorationsintact, particularly those with “glassy” black surface coatings. The microstructures and compositions of cross-sectional samples from ancient mirrors have been analyzed with optical and electron microscopy and synchrotron x-ray fluorescence. The core has a two-phase metal structure while the surface shows evidence of selective dissolution of copper from the α (Curich) phase. The ci phase regions are replaced pseudomorphically by a mineral product with the δ (Sn-rich) phase remaining metallic. A fundamental study of the electrochemistry of the copper-tin system has given information on theconditions under which selective dissolution of copper takes place. Electrochemical polarization has been used to drive the copper dealloying process in cast high-tin bronze. Theresulting microstructure is similar to the dealloyed microstructure observed in the ancient samples.
Headstega: e-mail-headers-based steganography methodology

The frequent exchange of e-mails is widely popular and generates a high volume of traffic that allows communicating parties to establish a covert channel without a suspicious pattern rendering e-mails an attractive steganographic carrier to transmit hidden messages. This was the motive of developing e-mail-headers-based steganography methodology (Headstega). Headstega encodes a message then assigns it to steganographic carriers (e-mail-headers), e.g. recipient's e-mail addresses, names, subject fields, etc., in order to camouflage data by following Nostega paradigm. Thus, Headstega neither hides data in a noise (errors) nor produces noise while a message is concealed in the textual e-mail headers and the e-mail contents (the body of e-mails) are completely legitimate and do not conceal data. The presented implementation, validation and steganalysis of Headstega demonstrate: the robust capabilities of achieving the steganographic goal, the adequate room for concealing data and the superior bitrate to all contemporary text steganography approaches, which is roughly 3.38 7.67%.
Separate signals for target selection and movement specification in the superior colliculus.

At any given instant, multiple potential targets for saccades are present in the visual world, implying that a “selection process” within the brain determines the target of the next eye movement. Some superior colliculus (SC) neurons begin discharging seconds before saccade initiation, suggesting involvement in target selection or, alternatively, in postselectional saccade preparation. SC neurons were recorded in monkeys who selected saccade targets on the basis of motion direction in a visual display. Some neurons carried a direction-selective visual signal, consistent with a role in target selection in this task, whereas other SC neurons appeared to be more involved in postselection specification of saccade parameters.
Development of a low cost, fault tolerant, and highly reliable command and data handling computer (Pulse/sup TM/)

Command and data handling computers have been designed to manage the different and many remote interface units within the satellite "bus" platform. In this distributed architecture, the command and data handling requires low throughput processors (1-4 MIPS) to pass data to other units or for download to ground stations for further processing. The advent of very large radiation hardened ASICs has enabled the application of powerful processing of the RHPPc (based on the Motorola licensed PowerPC 603e) with a simplified IEEE-1394 backplane bus to provide a highly reliable and cost competitive centralized command and data handling sub-system as described. This robust architecture is tailorable and easily modified to meet the varying needs of the satellite and space transportation applications. By using a commercially compliant processor (RHPPc is fully compliant with the instruction set of PowerPc 603e processor), software and its tools, which are one of the most complex, high risk, and expensive undertakings of the system architecture for a satellite bus controller, become a low risk design issue and much more cost effective. An extensive array of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software tools is currently available for the Power PC processor family, rendering the software development environment associated with the Pulse/sup TM/ to be a relatively low impact on the overall program, thus reducing the overall program recurring and non-recurring cost. Pulse/sup TM/ supports most of the COTS operating systems with the current Board Support Package (both basic and custom) being designed to be VxWorks compliant.
Physical factors mediate effects of grazing by a non-indigenous snail species on saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) in New England marshes.

In the southeastern US, grazing by a common indigenous littorinid snail has caused large declines in the biomass of saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). In northeastern marshes, a closely related but non-indigenous snail may also negatively affect production of this key marsh-building plant. We manipulated densities of the gastropod Littorina littorea at two sites to investigate the effect of its grazing on plant production and sediment accumulation. The effects of the manipulation differed between sites. The site with longer inundation periods, lower elevation, and poorer drainage attributable to smaller sediment grain size had more stressful conditions for S. alterniflora. At that site, protection from snail grazing resulted in higher end-of-season plant biomass than all the other treatments and controls. Rates of sediment accumulation were also lower at that site, and the difference between sites increased as the season progressed. At the site where physical conditions were benign, snail manipulation had no effect on S. alterniflora biomass. The nature of the physical conditions at a site may influence the susceptibility of S. alterniflora to grazing pressure by this ubiquitous snail species. Accelerating anthropogenic impacts, such as sea-level rise, could further stress saltmarsh plants, leaving them increasingly susceptible to herbivory.
Abnormal serum uric acid levels in children

Abstract Measurement of the serum uric acid level, most commonly considered in adult patients, is frequently obtained inadvertently for pediatric patients because it is a standard component of many multichannel chemistry profiles offered by clinical laboratories. Most standard references for normal uric acid values do not take into account the impact of the metabolic changes in children at different ages on the uric acid level. A substantial number of childhood conditions may produce perturbations in the serum uric acid level. Knowledge of normal serum uric acid levels and of the conditions affecting those levels in children enables a more focused pursuit of underlying abnormalities. (J P EDIATR 1996;128:731-41)
Mass spectrometric analysis of the human 40S ribosomal subunit: Native and HCV IRES‐bound complexes

Hepatitis C virus uses an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the viral RNA to directly recruit human 40S ribosome subunits during cap-independent translation initiation. Although IRES-mediated translation initiation is not subject to many of the regulatory mechanisms that control cap-dependent translation initiation, it is unknown whether other noncanonical protein factors are involved in this process. Thus, a global protein composition analysis of native and IRES-bound 40S ribosomal complexes has been conducted to facilitate an understanding of the IRES ribosome recruitment mechanism. A combined top-down and bottom-up mass spectrometry approach was used to identify both the proteins and their posttranslational modifications (PTMs) in the native 40S subunit and the IRES recruited translation initiation complex. Thirty-one out of a possible 32 ribosomal proteins were identified by combining top-down and bottom-up mass spectrometry techniques. Proteins were found to contain PTMs, including loss of methionine, acetylation, methylation, and disulfide bond formation. In addition to the 40S ribosomal proteins, RACK1 was consistently identified in the 40S fraction, indicating that this protein is associated with the 40S subunit. Similar methodology was then applied to the hepatitis C virus IRES-bound 40S complex. Two 40S ribosomal proteins, RS25 and RS29, were found to contain different PTMs than those in the native 40S subunit. In addition, RACK1, eukaryotic initiation factor 3 proteins and nucleolin were identified in the IRES-mediated translation initiation complex.
Current approaches to therapy for vascular injury

Vascular injury is a ubiquitous phenomenon which can be both occult (such as with hyperlipidemia) and overt (such as with angioplasty). While the exact pathophysiology differs between acute and chronic atherosclerosis, both lesions can be mechanistically explained by the vasculature’s exaggerated response to injury. Pharmacological attempts to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease can be categorised by their role in modifying this inflammatory response. This manuscript reviews current therapy for cardiovascular injury at two levels: the chronic smouldering atheromatous lesion and intimal hyperplasia associated with acute vascular intervention. In addition, future therapeutic strategies, based within this inflammatory paradigm, are discussed.
Molecular phylogeny of Eastern Pacific porcelain crabs, genera Petrolisthes and Pachycheles, based on the mtDNA 16S rDNA sequence: phylogeographic and systematic implications.

Porcelain crabs, genera Petrolisthes and Pachycheles, are diverse and abundant members of the eastern Pacific near-shore decapod crustacean community. Morphology-based taxonomic analyses of these crabs have determined groupings of affiliated species, but phylogenetic relationships remain unknown. We used sequence data from the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene of 46 species of eastern Pacific porcelain crabs to perform phylogenetic analyses by distance and parsimony methods. Our results are used to compare the taxonomic significance of morphological and molecular characters, to examine sequence divergence rates of crab 16S rRNA genes, and to analyze the phylogeographic history of these crabs. Our phylogenetic trees indicate that the genus Petrolisthes is divided into two main clades, reflecting morphological features. One clade contains primarily tropical species, and the other contains species from throughout the eastern Pacific, as well as species in the genera Allopetrolisthes and Liopetrolisthes. Phylogenetic trees of Pachycheles suggest an antitropical distribution; north and south temperate species form one clade and tropical species form a second clade. Sequence divergence rates of the 16S rRNA gene from three pairs of geminate species can be used to date divergence times, and we discuss porcelain crab phylogeographic patterns in relation to paleogeographic events.
Detecting Risk of Intellectual Property (IP) Leakage due to Reverse Design in Collaborative Product Development Environments

Intellectual Property (IP) leakage during collaborative product development is drawing more and more attentions nowadays. Unlike most of existingresearch, which is focused on the effect of IP leakage on the supply chain’s material and information flows, we propose a reverse design based conceptual model of information leakage during collaborative product development environments. In addition, a generic extensible framework is proposed to detect and estimate the IP leakage due to reverse design. Specifically, we propose an inference model to obtain inferred knowledge based on public knowledge and shared knowledge. We also present an algorithm to detect potential IP leakage due to reverse design in collaborative product development environments when potential competition may exist between a product partner and the manufacturer. An industrial example is used to demonstrate the problem and our proposed approach.
Dobutamine in the Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndrome

A 56-year-old businessman was awakened at 2:15 a.m. by a “heavy feeling” across his chest, followed by generalized weakness; he reports, “I just couldn’t get a deep breath.” His wife called emergency services, and within 15 minutes he was in the emergency room of the local hospital.
Solubility of Inhalation Anesthetics in Various Media: A New Correlation

A new correlation for the solubility of inhalation anesthetics and other gases and vapors in lipid phases, polymers, and other media is derived from thermodynamic considerations. The correlation is applicable to solute concentrations in Henry’s law limit, such as is the case for clinical concentrations of anesthetics. Ostwald solubility coefficients for a variety of anesthetics and light gases in lipids, rubber, and silicone rubber were correlated over a range of 6 orders of magnitude in solubility values. The proposed correlation should prove useful for estimating solubility coefficients of gases and vapors in a variety of media, as well as the temperature dependence of these coefficients.
The Changing Nature of QU Carinae: SN Ia Progenitor or a Hoax?

The race to the elusive Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) progenitors is at its zenith, with numerous clues from SNe Ia ejecta and a dearth of observational candidates. Still, the single degenerate channel is a viable route of mass accumulation onto a white dwarf to the Chandrasekhar limit. I present long-term high resolution spectroscopy of QU Carinae, one of the most promising single degenerate SNe Ia progenitors. I discuss its highly variable nature and compare it to current scenarios for mass accumulation onto high-mass white dwarfs, eventually leading to WD detonation and to a supernova explosion.
The Application of Ground-Water Flow Models as Predictive Tools—A Review of Two Ground-Water Models of Eastern Honey Lake Valley, California-Nevada

In the late 19809s Washoe County, Nevada, entered into an agreement with a private water development company to develop and export ground water from the Nevada portion of the arid Honey Lake Valley to the rapidly growing Reno-Sparks area. The proposed project is known as the Truckee Meadows Project (TMP). Honey Lake Valley is 35 mi north of Reno, Nevada; but is located predominantly in California. Computer groundwater models of the valley were prepared by the USGS and the TMP proponents and presented to the Nevada State Engineer to evaluate the impacts of the proposed exportation of 15,000 ac-ft annually from eastern Honey Lake Valley. By using assumptions, numbers, and data which are not justified by the scientific data, both models place unreasonable and, in some instances, artificial constraints on the geology and hydrogeology of the ground-water system rather than allowing the geology and hydrogeology to constrain the models. Neither model is useful as a predictive tool. However, the major problems with the two models fall into two fundamentally different classes. The USGS model exceeded the technical limitations of the model code and made large, inappropriate adjustments to the water budget to compensate for these undetected errors. The TMP model used a water budget that was not technically justified or explained and placed the spatial distribution of ground-water recharge and discharge beyond the realm of hydrogeologic reality.
Drug delivery to the central nervous system: general principles and relevance to therapy for infections of the central nervous system.

This brief review focuses on four major areas: (1) factors influencing drug entry into the CSF; (2) the concept of a blood-brain barrier (BBB); (3) methods employed to circumvent or increase drug traversal across the BBB; and (4) relevance to therapy for CNS infections
Heat Transfer Based Scale-Down of Chemical Reactions

Mathematical models of dose controlled reactions based on heat flow data(1, 2) are quite common and well developed; however, such predictions for nondose controlled reactions from heat flow data are difficult, requiring extensive study of the kinetics of multiple chemical transformations as well as physical phenomena such as dissolution and diffusion. Presented here is a new scale-down methodology to directly observe, in the laboratory, a variety of dose controlled and nondose controlled large scale thermal effects. This experiment-based scale-down approach has been derived mathematically from first principles, as well as demonstrated experimentally. This approach limits the heat transfer of the laboratory reactor to the scale equivalent of the intended large scale vessel by dynamic jacket set points based on the ratio of the heat transfer coefficients of lab and plant scale reactors. This allows large scale reaction temperature and other temperature-related effects to be mimicked on small scale while mai...
A Study on the Types and Evolvement of World Agriculture and Development of Modern Agriculture

Based on the analysis of global agricultural types and evolvement, this article has described the modern agriculture in developed countries and pointed out that modern agriculture is a modern industry including all branches from field to table. The article has concluded that the investment of agricultural science and technology is an investment of national future during the process of changing traditional agriculture to modern agriculture accelerated by the revolution of modern science and technology.
Adenosine induces endothelial apoptosis by activating protein tyrosine phosphatase: a possible role of p38α

Endothelial cell (EC) apoptosis is important in vascular injury, repair, and angiogenesis. Homocysteine and/or adenosine exposure of ECs causes apoptosis. Elevated homocysteine or adenosine occurs ...
Measurement of Shale Matrix Permeability and Adsorption with Canister Desorption Test

Permeability estimation is a crucial part of the shale mudrock characterization because it affects the production rate, the pace of recovery and the technically recoverable hydrocarbons. Shale permeability typically falls in the low range of tens of micro-Darcy down to nano-Darcy. Accurate measurement of permeability is a challenging task because the measurement errors are more likely to occur in the low permeability range. This paper presents a common and accurate experimental method for permeability measurement of shale mudrocks known as the canister desorption test. We describe the experiment procedure and present the governing partial differential equation (PDE). The impact of linear and nonlinear adsorption isotherms and the corresponding analytical and numerical solutions are discussed. A workflow for the estimation of permeability and the gas adsorption parameter is presented. The workflow is used to measure the shale matrix permeability and the adsorption parameter for an organic-rich sample from the Marcellus formation. The measurements are in good agreement with an independent study on the Marcellus organic-rich core samples. The results show that the measurement of the adsorption parameter is as important as the permeability measurement in the organic-rich shales. In addition, given that the measurements of permeability and adsorption parameter are performed at a small scale and the gas properties are approximated by average values, it is recommended to perform multiple experiments at different pressures to constrain the uncertainty of the permeability and adsorption measurements. The limitations of the proposed workflow are discussed.
Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma in a Patient With Psoriasis.

CASE PRESENTATION An 85-year-old male presented to the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Emergency Department with 3 weeks of diffuse, erythematous, scaly skin plaques covering greater than 90% of his body (Figure A). He was previously diagnosed with plaque psoriasis and polyarthralgia. Recent rheumatologic workup for this was suggestive of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease and osteoarthritis, and he was started on colchicine and a prednisone taper 3 weeks prior. Within a week of completion of the taper, he developed a burning sensation of his skin, pruritus, diffuse scaling and peeling. At the time of admission, his skin exfoliations involved greater than 90% of his body surface area. The dermatology service performed a punch biopsy. He was prescribed fluocinonide ointment for his body rash and hydrocortisone cream for his face. The rheumatology service evaluated him and deferred any systemic therapy until final biopsy results. His erythroderma and scaling improved, and he was discharged home on Hospital Day 4 with dermatology and rheumatology follow-up. On pathological examination of the skin biopsy using hematoxylin and eosin stain sections the overall histologic and immunologic impression was highly suspicious for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. There was perivascular and lichenoid lymphocyte predominant inflammatory infiltrate with scattered intermediate-sized atypical lymphoid cells within the superficial papillary dermis (Figure B, blue arrows). Scattered intermediate-sized atypical hyperchromatic
Nurse practitioners and intent to retire.

BackgroundThe demand for primary care services is rising because of expansion of health insurance coverage through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, 2010) and changes in the composition of the U.S. population. The 65 years old and older age group will increase from 13% of the po
Pharmacotherapy for pediatric cardiovascular diseases: the role of off-label drug use in the 21st century.

Rigorous scientific investigation is the foundation for many of the remarkable advances in medical care that have occurred over the course of the last century. Patients with cardiovascular diseases, in particular, have received considerable benefit from such research, especially that which pertains to drugs and medical devices. Infants and children, however, have not benefited proportionately from this great increase in knowledge, due to several factors: the economic return on investment is often insufficient for industry to justify the commitment of substantial resources to meet the opportunity cost of a relatively small patient population; the research capacity for pediatrics has been limited; and child patients have been considered ethically unsuitable subjects for study. As a result, drug therapy of many sorts in pediatric patients has been guided too often by theory or extrapolation from practice with adults and by expert experience and good intentions rather than by evidence obtained through clinical trials. To this day, most pediatric pharmacotherapy is based on the off-label use of drugs.1 This must change. Article see p 74 Pasquali et al,2 writing in this issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes , report the experience of off-label drug use in patients 18 years old and younger who have congenital and acquired heart disease severe enough to require hospitalization. Using the Pediatric Health Information System database, they identified potential study subjects through International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes pertinent for congenital and acquired cardiovascular diseases; both diagnostic and procedural codes were screened, and only infants with an isolated patent ductus arteriosus were excluded. Qualified patients were then assessed for use of a wide variety of cardiovascular medications: antiarrhythmic drugs; adrenergic agents; β- and α-adrenergic blocking agents; vasodilators; calcium channel blockers; …
Modern main-memory database systems

This tutorial provides an overview of recent developments in main-memory database systems. With growing memory sizes and memory prices dropping by a factor of 10 every 5 years, data having a "primary home" in memory is now a reality. Main-memory databases eschew many of the traditional architectural tenets of relational database systems that optimized for disk-resident data. Innovative approaches to fundamental issues such as concurrency control and query processing are required to unleash the full performance potential of main-memory databases. The tutorial is focused around design issues and architectural choices that must be made when building a high performance database system optimized for main-memory: data storage and indexing, concurrency control, durability and recovery techniques, query processing and compilation, support for high availability, and ability to support hybrid transactional and analytics workloads. This will be illustrated by example solutions drawn from four state-of-the-art systems: H-Store/VoltDB, Hekaton, HyPeR, and SAP HANA. The tutorial will also cover current and future research trends.
Positive and strongly relaxed purifying selection drive the evolution of repeats in proteins

Protein repeats are considered hotspots of protein evolution, associated with acquisition of new functions and novel phenotypic traits, including disease. Paradoxically, however, repeats are often strongly conserved through long spans of evolution. To resolve this conundrum, it is necessary to directly compare paralogous (horizontal) evolution of repeats within proteins with their orthologous (vertical) evolution through speciation. Here we develop a rigorous methodology to identify highly periodic repeats with significant sequence similarity, for which evolutionary rates and selection (dN/dS) can be estimated, and systematically characterize their evolution. We show that horizontal evolution of repeats is markedly accelerated compared with their divergence from orthologues in closely related species. This observation is universal across the diversity of life forms and implies a biphasic evolutionary regime whereby new copies experience rapid functional divergence under combined effects of strongly relaxed purifying selection and positive selection, followed by fixation and conservation of each individual repeat.
Optical and electrical properties of pseudomorphic glass

A flexible space solar cell coverglass replacement called Pseudomorphic Glass (PMG) has been under investigation in hopes of providing a robust, high transmissivity replacement for conventional coverglass. PMG is composed of ceria doped borosilicate or fused silica beads incorporated in a variety of polymer matrices. The glass beads provide the primary radiation protection and the polymer matrix provides the mechanical integrity. Ideally, PMG will be flexible, conductive, stable in the UV wavelengths, and emissive in the infrared wavelengths for thermal control. The infrared emittance of the beads and matrix that make up PMG was examined, demonstrating high emissivity of the adhesives in the infrared region. This may allow a PMG coated array to operate at lower temperatures than traditional coverglass. Conductivity of PMG was measured using investigated with multiple techniques. PMG demonstrated little improved conductivity over coverglass, prompting further exploration of incorporation of conductivity into PMG.
Closing the gap: a novel technique for humeral shaft nonunions using cup and cone reamers

Abstract Introduction Nonunion following closed treatment of humeral shaft fracture is estimated to be 5.5%. Many surgical techniques have been described to address humeral shaft nonunion including: open reduction, internal fixation (ORIF) with compression plating and bone graft, dual plating, cortical strut allograft and autograft, and adding biologic augmentation (BMP). The current standard of care includes ORIF with compression plating and bone grafting, but even this technique has an approximated 10% failure rate. We describe a novel surgical technique using cup and cone reamers, which were originally designed for metatarsophalangeal or metacarpalphalangeal arthrodesis. Cup and cone reamers are the appropriate size for mid-shaft, transverse humeral nonunions to ensure ideal apposition of healthy, bleeding bone. Methods and patients We retrospectively reviewed 3 patients with nonunion of the midshaft humerus which were treated with the cup and cone technique and a large fragment LCDC plate. An anterolateral approach was used in 2 cases and a posterior in the other. After exposure of fracture ends, 24-mm hemispherical convex and concave reamers were then used to ream the proximal and distal ends in order to create a “cup and cone” articulation of the fracture ends. All patients were followed for a minimum of 6 months with a mean follow-up of 12 months. Results All patients treated with this technique achieved union, reported zero pain and full functional outcome. Specifically, patients had a mean age of 36.3 and the mean interval between injury and time to surgery was 11.5 months. Two of the patients presented with nonunions after attempted closed treatment and the other patient had 3 prior surgeries for infected nonunion. Union was achieved at a mean of 12 weeks. Conclusion To our knowledge, the use of cup and cone reamers for nonunion of the humerus has never been described. We describe a simple and effective technique for humeral shaft nonunions which has been successful in both septic and hypertrophic nonunions, as well as from multiple approaches-both anterolateral and posterior.
Road to Cyberculture in Tropical Africa

Africans have embraced Western culture with the olive branch and the future prospect for indigenous African cultural practices is uncertain especially with respect to the present and future generation of youths who should be the custodian of living cultures. Word of mouth was the normative form of interpersonal communication. Then came telephones and Internet, and the shift in communication became radical. These are media that should serve to strengthen traditional cultures, but on the contrary they are seen as vehicles to promote Western cultures at the expense of local ones.
Effective Fetch and Duration of Tropical Cyclone Wind Fields Estimated from Simultaneous Wind and Wave Measurements: Surface Wave and Air–Sea Exchange Computation

AbstractSimultaneous wind and wave measurements have been obtained inside tropical cyclones in several hurricane hunter missions. Analyses of these datasets show that the surface wave development inside hurricanes follows essentially the same duration- and fetch-limited growth functions established in steady wind forcing conditions. This paper explores the application of several parameterization functions of wind-wave systems to quantify the energy and momentum exchanges inside hurricanes from an initially limited input of the environmental parameters, such as the wind field alone. A critical prerequisite to applying the wind-wave growth functions is the knowledge of fetch and duration for the hurricane wind field. Four sets of simultaneous wind and wave measurements from hurricane hunter missions are analyzed to derive a fetch and duration scaling model. Time series of 2D hurricane wind fields can then be used to investigate the detailed spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the sea state parame...
Lung Gene Expression Analysis (LGEA): an integrative web portal for comprehensive gene expression data analysis in lung development

'LungGENS', our previously developed web tool for mapping single-cell gene expression in the developing lung, has been well received by the pulmonary research community. With continued support from the 'LungMAP' consortium, we extended the scope of the LungGENS database to accommodate transcriptomics data from pulmonary tissues and cells from human and mouse at different stages of lung development. Lung Gene Expression Analysis (LGEA) web portal is an extended version of LungGENS useful for the analysis, display and interpretation of gene expression patterns obtained from single cells, sorted cell populations and whole lung tissues. The LGEA web portal is freely available at http://research.cchmc.org/pbge/lunggens/mainportal.html.