cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using 3DVAR data assimilation system to improve ozone simulations in the Mexico City basin

Abstract. This study investigates the improvement of ozone (O3) simulations in the Mexico City basin using a three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) data assimilation system in meteorological simulations during the MCMA-2003 field measurement campaign. Meteorological simulations from the NCAR/Penn State mesoscale model (MM5) are used to drive photochemical simulations with the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx) during a four-day episode on 13–16 April 2003. The simulated wind circulation, temperature, and humidity fields in the basin with the data assimilation are found to be more consistent with the observations than those from the reference deterministic forecast. This leads to improved simulations of plume position, peak O3 timing, and peak O3 concentrations in the photochemical model. The improvement in O3 simulations is especially strong during the daytime. The results demonstrate the importance of applying data assimilation in meteorological simulations for air quality studies in the Mexico City basin.
Estimating enzyme kinetic parameters: A computer program for linear regression and non-parametric analysis

An IBM computer program, WILMAN4, is described which calculates the estimates, Km, V and Km/V from initial velocity measurements according to one of four statistical methods. Three of these methods involve linear regression analysis using weights given by assuming: (i) constant absolute error (G.N. Wilkinson, 1961, Biochem J., 80, 324-332), (ii) constant relative error (G. Johansen and R. Lumry, 1961, C.R. Trav. Lab. Carlsberg, 32, 185-214) and (iii) an error function in between the above two cases. (A. Cornish-Bowden, 1976, Principles of Enzyme Kinetics, Butterworths Inc, Boston, Mass., pp. 168-193). The fourth method is a non-parametric procedure derived by Eisenthal and Cornish-Bowden (Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 532 (1974) 268-272). Residuals are obtained by subtracting the experimental and the calculated velocities. Outliers, or residuals which are greater than two experimental standard deviations, can be identified and removed from the data set. If the sequence of positive and negative signs of the residuals is random as determined by a statistical probability calculation, the data set is assumed to obey the Michaelis-Menten equation.
Defining Discordance in Twin Studies of Risk and Protective Factors for Late Life Disorders

In studies that employ matched pair analysis to identify environmental exposures important for a disorder, criteria for discordant pairs are seldom discussed. Yet several assumptions concerning the definition of discordancy may have considerable influence over what results are found. Problems are exacerbated when age of onset for a disorder is late in life. We propose a new set of criteria for defining discordant pairs in studies of dementia, taking into account duration of discordance and competing causes of mortality, and evaluate the consequences of choosing alternative definitions of discordancy.
Conversion from delayed-release sodium valproate to extended-release sodium valproate: initial results and long-term follow-up.

Abstract Objective The goal of our study was to evaluate clinical and serum valproic acid concentration changes in patients following overnight conversion from delayed-release sodium valproate (VPA-DR) to the same daily dosage of extended-release sodium valproate (VPA-ER). Methods Epilepsy patients on VPA-DR were offered the chance to convert to VPA-ER. Thirty patients were converted to twice-daily dosing and 11 were converted to once-daily dosing. Trough levels of valproic acid were measured prior to the change and 2 weeks after conversion. Short-term and long-term clinical data were evaluated. Results Patients successfully converted from VPA DR to VPA-ER. No significant difference in percentage change in serum trough valproic acid level was observed when comparing dosing frequency of VPA-DR, total daily dosage of VPA, conversion to once-daily versus twice-daily VPA-ER, or presence of enzyme-inducing agents. Mean seizure count per month prior to conversion was 3.35 versus 3.29 following conversion. Improvements in tremor, weight gain, and nausea/vomiting were noted. Conclusions Overnight conversion to VPA-ER was well tolerated by all patients. Long-term results were favorable, with 77.5% of patients remaining on drug. Seizure counts and adverse events remained the same or were improved in both short-term and long-term evaluations. Dosing of VPA-ER either once-daily or twice-daily is acceptable.
Gapped gapless packing structures

The assumption of a gapless packing structure has previously been used to obtain the density and partial coordination numbers of a random mixture of hard spheres in the maximally dense regime. Here we extend the notion of a gapless packing structure to allow the determination of the characteristics of a packing away from maximal density by adding an appropriate number of void spherical elements. A gapless packing is then considered in which the void and solid spherical elements are assumed to be indistinguishable except for the purposes of calculating packing fraction and coordination number. We utilize the notion of specific volume to generate a one-parameter family of void distributions to obtain a set of coupled integral equations, which are solved numerically. Monodisperse and bi-disperse packings are investigated for packing fractions ranging from rho=0.26 to 0.78. Results are shown to be comparable to experiments and the effect of varying packing fraction on coordination numbers is shown to be invariant with respect to number distribution. A linear relationship between coordination number and packing fraction is elucidated for moderate to low packing fractions. Maximum and minimum random packing fractions are also discussed.
The role of supportive housing in homeless children's well-being: An investigation of child welfare and educational outcomes

Abstract Research has demonstrated that homeless children have disproportionate negative academic experiences, including absenteeism, high rates of mobility, grade repetition, and the need for special education services, which may all contribute to poor academic performance. Homeless children are also more exposed to violence and social isolation due to their often dangerous living environments, past histories of victimization, and trauma experienced by their mothers. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of family supportive housing service receipt on children's well-being, including the academic functioning and child protection involvement of homeless children. A total of 183 children's supportive housing records were sequentially linked to data from the Minnesota Departments of Education and Human Services, including the Minnesota Automated Reporting Student System, MCA-II database, and Social Services Information System through Minn-LInK. Generalized Estimating Equation analysis was implemented to examine the three-year longitudinal role of supportive housing for homeless children's educational and child protection outcomes. Significantly positive effects of recipients of supportive housing services were found in school mobility, school attendance, and math achievement. The proportion of children with child protection involvement for the supportive housing group sharply decreased over time. Recommendations for policy and future research are made; study limitations are addressed.
Evidence for double stranded RNA region in macrophage antigen-binding RNP.

Abstract Peritoneal macrophages contain a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) which is unique to this cell type. Upon exposre of macrophages to antigens, fragments of the antigens are found to be associated with the RNP molecule. In this report, we provide evidence that the RNP molecule contains a double stranded RNA component. The RNP moiety can be degraded by treatment with a combination of ribonucleases A, T 1 and III followed by heating. It is suggested that both the polypeptide component and the double stranded RNA component of the complex contribute to the resistance of the complex to ribonucleases.
A Comparison of Numerical Solutions for the Fluid Motion Generated by a Rotating Disk Electrode

The velocity and pressure profiles in the electrolyte due to a rotating disk electrode are determined by solving the two-dimensional (2D) Navier-Stokes equations employing axial symmetry. Most applications in the literature employ a one-term approximation of the series solution to von Karman's one-dimensional (1D) model for the rotating disk electrode. In this work, the finite-element method is used to solve the model equations rigorously within an electrochemical cell of practical dimensions, and the results are compared with the one-term approximate solution and a complete solution to the ID model. The different hydrodynamic models are coupled with a mass-transport model for oxygen reduction reaction at the surface of the rotating ring disk electrode. The complete series solution is accurate to within four digits when compared to the 2D model, whereas the one-term approximation gives rise to an error as high as 4% in the limiting current values. Similar calculations on a ring disk electrode show that the one-term approximation underestimates the collection efficiency and the ratio of the ring and the disk currents of a sectioned electrode by 1-4%.
The intentionality of smell.

If any sense modality represents, vision does, but argument is needed to show that smell does. This paper rebuts two reasons for doubting that smell represents, and offers several arguments that it does. The paper then considers several recent proposals as to exactly what a smell represents, and defends a version of the author’s original proposal—that a smell represents a miasma in the air—against its competitors.
Stabilization of arsenic-bearing solid residuals in polymeric matrices.

This research investigates the use of polymeric matrices to encapsulate solid sorbents used to remove arsenic from drinking water. Arsenic-containing granular ferric oxy/hydroxide and ferric hydroxide amended alumina residuals were encapsulated in a polymeric matrix using a novel aqueous-based manufacturing process. The polymer was a blend of poly(styrene butadiene) and an epoxy resin. The polymeric waste forms produced were capable of containing more than 60 wt% of sorbent (dry basis), while keeping good mechanical properties. Arsenic leaching from encapsulated and unencapsulated residuals was evaluated using the standard toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and the California Waste Extraction Test (CA-WET). The results show that waste forms of the polymer-encapsulated residuals crushed for testing retain good leaching resistance when evaluated with the more aggressive CA-WET test, yielding leachate arsenic concentrations below the toxicity characteristic (TC) standard of 5 mg/L. When residuals were preprocessed and encapsulated in a polymer form that avoided the size reduction required by leaching protocols, arsenic leached up to 700 times less than that from the unencapsulated residuals. Comparison of the waste form developed here with conventional cement matrices containing the same residuals show that the polymeric matrices were capable of encapsulating appreciably more material and leached arsenic at concentration levels that were more than an order of magnitude lower than cement.
Affinity‐Specific protein separations using ligand‐coupled particles in aqueous two‐phase systems: II. Recovery and purification of pyruvate kinase and alcohol dehydrogenase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The novel approach of using aqueous two-phase systems for the elution of protein from ligand-coupled particles is investigated using pyruvate kinase and alcohol dehydrogenase from recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Cibacron blue F3G-A-coupled Sepharose CL6B (Blue-Sepharose) particles as a model system. The ligand-coupled particles distribute quantitatively to the polyethylene glycol-(PEG-) rich top phase and the recovered enzymes partition selectively to the dextran-(DEX-) rich bottom phase. An effective recovery and partial purification of pyruvate kinase and alcohol dehydrogenase from Blue-Sepharose particles using PEG8000-DEXT500 aqueous two-phase systems are demonstrated through a modest increase of salt concentration. The bioselective eluting agent, MgADP, which is useful in chromatographic operations, is not required for the process using aqueous two-phase systems. Recovery of pyruvate kinase, which is bound to ligand-coupled particles, in the DEX-rich bottom phase of aqueous two-phase systems can be up to 95% in one-step operations. The mixing time of ligand-coupled particles with aqueous two-phase systems is a major controlling variable. The salt concentration, the molecular weight of polymer, and the total volume of aqueous two-phase systems also influence the recovery of pyruvate kinase from ligand-coupled particles. The recovered enzymes in the DEX-rich bottom phase remain biologically stable over a long period of storage time. The concentration of product protein in a reduced volume and the easy separation from ligand-coupled particles are added advantages of the process using aqueous two-phase systems. Preliminary studies with goat polyclonal anti-pyruvate kinase-coupled Sepharose particles indicate that the process also may be applicable when a high-affinity ligand such as antibody is used. The experimental results and a theoretical derivation based on equilibrium models for binding/dissociation of ligands and proteins show that the process results in better recovery as compared to that of conventional bulk elution techniques.
More evidence for anthropogenic influence on climate change

Studies of climate change by means of optimal detection of faint signals embedded in natural variability have been underway for several decades now (1⇓–3), and some more recent ones are referred to in refs. 4⇓⇓–7. These studies are also sometimes referred to as “fingerprint” studies. The idea is that if the space–time pattern of response to one or more external stimuli, such as greenhouse gas increases, is known from, for example, a model simulation or analytical model, then there is an optimal way of weighting the observed data stream over the same space–time domain in such a way as to determine whether the response is really in the data stream. It boils down to construction of a statistical model in the framework of which some kind of statistical significance test can be performed.
An end-user approach to the measurement of performance of capital in an environmental context in Asia

Abstract This paper describes a user-based service level (SL) approach to valuing natural and constructed assets in order to make better project and policy level decisions. Using the SL approach improves the ability of local decision makers to monitor asset performance, calculate real rates of asset degradation, make sound managerial decisions and perform more cost-effective environmental impact assessments. On a national scale, SL performance indicators will enable policy makers to better understand and quantify the linkages between economic growth, infrastructure bottlenecks, and environmental degradation. It also has the potential to improve social and environmental accounting.
Localized corrosion of Al90Fe5Gd5 and Al87Ni8.7Y4.3 alloys in the amorphous, nanocrystalline and crystalline states: resistance to micrometer-scale pit formation

Abstract The role of isothermal aging on the localized corrosion behavior of Al 90 Fe 5 Gd 5 and Al 87 Ni 8.7 Y 4.3 alloys was characterized in 0.6 M NaCl solution. The pitting ( E pit ) and repassivation ( E rp ) potentials were both increased ∼400 mV by the presence of transition and rare earth metal additions in supersaturated solid solution and amorphous structure. A statistical distribution in E pit observed on small electrodes was due, in part, to the sensitivity of this critical potential to the presence of a population of critical surface flaws that serve as pit initiation sites. Mechanistic insight on the spacing of critical flaws was enabled by varying the tested electrode surface area. E rp was not dependent on electrode surface area due to the similarity of pit depths in all electrode sizes. The critical potentials were also characterized after heat treating the amorphous ribbons isothermally at 150 °C for 25 h and 550 °C for 1 h. The former produced Al-rich nanocrystals embedded in the remaining amorphous matrix while the latter produced a fully crystalline condition containing intermetallic phases. Notably, the improved resistance to the formation of micrometer-scale pits was not lost compared with the fully amorphous condition when small Al-rich nanocrystals were present in an amorphous matrix. However, improvement in pitting corrosion resistance was completely lost in the fully crystallized condition as indicated by values for E pit and E rp that were similar to those of high purity, polycrystalline aluminum.
Taming inflammation by targeting cytokine signaling: new perspectives in the induction of transplantation tolerance

Transplantation tolerance remains an elusive goal, partly due to limitations in our understanding of the interplay between inflammatory mediators and their role in the activation and regulation of T lymphocytes. Although multiple mechanisms acting both centrally and peripherally are responsible for tolerance induction, the signaling pathways leading to activation or regulation of adaptive immunity are often complex, branched, redundant and modulated by the microenvironment's inflammatory milieu. Accumulating evidence clearly indicates that inflammatory cytokines limit the tolerogenic potential of immunomodulatory protocols by supporting priming of the immune system and counteracting regulatory mechanisms, ultimately promoting rejection. In this review, we summarize recent progress in the development of novel therapeutics to manipulate this inflammatory environment and achievements in targeted inhibition of inflammatory cytokine signaling. Ultimately, robust transplant tolerance induction will probably req...
The pharmacogenetics of asthma: a candidate gene approach.

Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 2Department of Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH; Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO; 4Whitehead Institute for Genome Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Soybean Root Colonization by Fusarium solani f. sp. glycines in Fields.

ABSTRACT Soybean roots were sequentially collected from two no-till fields from June 1997 through December 1998. Roots were ground to isolate and enumerate the fungus Fusarium solani f. sp. glycines, the causal agent of soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS), to obtain CFU per gram of root. The log CFU [log10(CFU + 1)] versus sampling time was used to produce the pathogen population curve, and the area under the pathogen population curve (AUPC) was calculated for each plot. The average log CFU from all plots for each sampling date was used to fit the logistic equation. Plot data of log CFU at each sampling time of the growing season, AUPC, and foliar disease index (FDX) were correlated with each other. Correlations among the log CFU in root residue in the winter of 1997, the log CFU and FDX in the 1998 growing season were also conducted. Geostatistics was applied to determine the spatial dependence in root colonization for different lag distance in the fields using semiviograms. Spatio-temporal autocorrelati...
Perceptual grouping in audition.

The present experiments evaluated the effect of relative frequency as a determinant of the figure-ground organization of sequences of auditory tones. Observers counted sequences of 20 ms tones that...
Factors Affecting Sensitivity and Specificity of a Diagnostic Test: The Exercise Thallium Scintigram

Technical and methodological factors might affect the reported accuracies of diagnostic tests. To assess their influence on the accuracy of exercise thallium scintigraphy, the medical literature (1977 to 1986) was non-selectively searched and meta-analysis was applied to the 56 publications thus retrieved. These were analyzed for year of publication, sex and mean age of patients, percentage of patients with angina pectoris, percentage of patients with prior myocardial infarction, percentage of patients taking beta-blocking medications, and for angiographic referral (workup) bias, blinding of tests, and technical factors. The percentage of patients with myocardial infarction had the highest correlation with sensitivity (0.45, p = 0.0007). Only the inclusion of subjects with prior infarction and the percentage of men in the study group were independently and significantly (p less than 0.05) related to test sensitivity. Both the presence of workup bias and publication year adversely affected specificity (p less than 0.05). Of these two factors, publication year had the strongest association by stepwise linear regression. This analysis suggests that the reported sensitivity of thallium scintigraphy is higher and the specificity lower than that expected in clinical practice because of the presence of workup bias and the inappropriate inclusion of post-infarct patients.
The Solubility of Silver Nitrate in Glycerine, Ethylene Glycol and 1,3-Propanediol at 25°C

Abstract The solubility of silver nitrate in the chromatographic support solvents, glycerin, ethylene glycol and 1,3-propanediol has been determined at 25°C, in the absence and presence of 5% water. The solubilities are reported as mole fractions, molality and molarity of silver nitrate. The solubilities in the solvents increase in the order: 1,3-propanediol < ethylene glycol < glycerin. These solubility data allow estimation of the amount of silver nitrate on the column support.
Anesthesia and sleep medicine: an opportunity to be mutually informative?

The fields of anesthesiology and sleep medicine have the potential to be mutually informative to both clinicians and researchers about etiologies and risks for respiratory instability during non-wakeful states. For example, it is likely that the end states (sleep and sedation/anesthesia), and the underlying neurobiology of these states, are similar and different in important ways. The following review considers such aspects as state of consciousness definitions, control of breathing during wakefulness versus sleep/sedation, and the methodologies that are currently used to quantify respiratory disturbances during altered states of consciousness.
Multiple Sclerosis: Cerebrospinal Fluid Immune Complexes That Bind Clq

• We used a sensitive C1q-binding assay to measure levels of soluble immune complexes in 182 samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from control patients and patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Soluble immune complexes in CSF were detected in 16% of patients with progressive MS, 38% of patients with exacerbating-remitting MS, 55% of patients with infectious or inflammatory diseases, 3% of patients with noninflammatory neurologic disorders, and in 0% of control patients with back pain. No correlations were found between the results of the C1q-binding assay and abnormalities of other CSF parameters. These included an elevated level of myelin basic protein, pleocytosis, oligoclonal bands, or an increased IgG level. Because of the lack of correlation to laboratory indexes of disease activity and the nonspecificity of a positive test, the C1q-binding assay seems to have little clinical usefulness in the diagnosis or management of patients with MS.
Quantitative measurements of hip strength in different age groups

The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically useful method of assessing the strength of the hip musculature and to develop a normal data base with this technique. The strength of 72 subjects aged 20-81 years (37 women and 35 men) was measured through the use of a modified Cybex II with an upright stabilization frame for testing sagittal and frontal plane motions; transverse plane motions of internal and external rotation were tested in the seated position. The subjects were tested at multiple isokinetic speeds and isometric angles. Regardless of age or gender, hip extensors were the strongest muscle group, following by flexors, adductors, abductors, and rotators. As the velocity of exercise increased, the magnitude of the torques produced decreased. Demographically, younger men produced the greatest torques and older women the lowest. The strength values of older men and younger women were similar. The results have clinical implications for objective assessment of strength in pathologic patient populations.
A 5.2-to-13GHz class-AB CMOS power amplifier with a 25.2dBm peak output power at 21.6% PAE

increasing demand for higher data rates in communication links has created a need for power amplifiers with large instantaneous bandwidth. Moreover, software-defined radio and smart antenna systems require power stages capable of transmitting at programmable carrier frequencies within a large bandwidth to achieve frequency multiplicity. Also, advanced radar imaging systems, such as through-the-wall imaging, require amplification of broadband signals whose reflection/transmission spectral information can be used for target detection. However, conventional multi-GHz broadband power amplifiers are commonly implemented as distributed amplifiers, which typically have poor power efficiency due to non-optimum load impedance at each stage. Balanced amplifier techniques yield better efficiency but require wide-band on-chip couplers which limit their use within millimeter-wave frequencies due to excessive area consumption for GHz range implementations. To address these issues, we present a power amplifier design technique which enables the output network to track the optimum load impedance across a broad operation bandwidth. This provides high efficiency with small area consumption for broadband power amplification. As an implementation example, a 90nm CMOS PA is presented that achieves a −3dB bandwidth of 7.8GHz (5.2 to 13 GHz) with a peak P sat of +25.2dBm at a PAE of 21.6%.
Singlet oxygen interaction with Ca(2+)-ATPase of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

We investigated the role of singlet oxygen (generated from photoactivation of rose bengal) on the calcium transport and Ca(2+)-ATPase activity of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Isolated cardiac SR exposed to rose bengal (10 nM) irradiated at 560 nm resulted in significant inhibition of Ca2+ uptake (from 2.27 +/- 0.05 to 0.62 +/- 0.05 mumol Ca2+/mg.min [mean +/- SEM], p less than 0.01) and Ca(2+)-ATPase activity (from 2.08 +/- 0.05 to 0.28 +/- 0.04 mumol Pi/min.mg [mean +/- SEM], p less than 0.01). The inhibition of calcium uptake and Ca(2+)-ATPase activity by rose bengal-derived activated oxygen (singlet oxygen) was dependent on the duration of exposure and intensity of light. Singlet oxygen scavengers ascorbic acid and histidine significantly protected SR Ca(2+)-ATPase against rose bengal-derived activated oxygen species, but superoxide dismutase and catalase did not attenuate the inhibition. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of SR exposed to photoactivated rose bengal for up to 14 minutes demonstrated complete loss of the Ca(2+)-ATPase monomer band, which was significantly protected by histidine. The addition of dithiothreitol (5 mM) had a slight protective effect, showing that new disulfide bond formation was not a major cause of aggregation. The results were also confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography of the SR exposed to irradiated rose bengal. Irradiation of rose bengal also caused an 18% loss of total sulfhydryl groups of SR. On the other hand, superoxide radical (generated from xanthine oxidase action on xanthine) and hydroxyl radical (in the presence of Fe(3+)-EDTA or 0.5 mM H2O2 plus Fe(2+)-EDTA) as well as H2O2 (0.25-12 mM) were without any effect on the 97,000-d Ca(2+)-ATPase band of SR. Generation of radical species (superoxide and hydroxyl radical) from rose bengal was studied by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy using the spin trap 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO). The results showed that irradiation of rose bengal formed a 1:2:2:1 quartet, characteristic of the DMPO-OH adduct, which was scavenged by ethanol but not by superoxide dismutase, catalase, or histidine. No radical species could be detected from irradiated rose bengal or irradiated DMPO under the assay conditions used. Peroxy adducts of DMPO might be produced but would be observed only at very low temperatures. Similarly, we could not detect any measurable.O2- anion from irradiation of rose bengal as indicated by either cytochrome c reduction at 550 nm or nitro blue tetrazolium reduction at 560 nm. These results show that SR is damaged most likely by singlet oxygen derived from rose bengal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Dielectrophoresis of Janus particles under high frequency ac-electric fields

Janus polystyrene particles with gold and dielectric multilayer coatings on one hemisphere are shown to drastically alter the dielectrophoresis (DEP) behavior of homogeneous precursor particles under ac-electric fields. Alkanethiol coatings on the gold-coated hemisphere can effectively modify the DEP crossover frequency (ωc) with a negative (n) to positive (p) (p→n) DEP transition as increasing ac-frequency, in contrast to p→n DEP transition observed with precursor particles. All measured n→p DEP crossover frequencies with dependence on particle size, alkanethiol thickness, and medium conductivity are collapsed to yield a scaling with the resistance-capacitance (RC) time of the alkanethiol layer capacitance and the conductive medium resistance.
Activity coefficients of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid in n-dodecane

Abstract The activity coefficients of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid, HDEHP, in n-dodecane in the concentration range 1 × 10−3 − 1 F have been evaluated from liquid-liquid distribution studies of Eu+3, Tm+3 and Ca2+. The deviations from ideality have been interpreted in terms of solute-solute weak interactions, where the interacting solute species is the HDEHP dimer.
Vibrational Coherence Due to Promoting Mode Activity in the Relaxation Dynamics of the Class III Mixed-Valence Molecule (Ru2TIEDCl4) +

We present the first measurements of the excited-state relaxation dynamics of a bimetallic class III mixed-valence molecule. The 800 nm absorption of [Ru2TIEDCl4]+ (TIED = tetraiminoethylenedimacrocycle) relaxes in 250 and 1000 fs to at least two different intermediate states that can be followed with transient absorption spectroscopy. These states decay in 1.3 and 11.5 ps, and the absorption of the 1.3 ps intermediate displays a large amplitude, very low frequency, highly damped vibrational coherence that completely modulates the absorption. The coherence frequency is 20 ± 5 cm-1, and the dephasing times range from 360 to 730 fs over the wavelength range of the absorption band. The occurrence of a low-frequency coherence at room temperature, the nearly 100% modulation amplitude, and the phase properties as a function of wavelength are consistent with a nonradiative rate modulation rather than the typical impulsive mechanism that creates a coherent Franck−Condon modulation of the absorption. A nonradiativ...
A POISSON METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE MAXIMUM TOLERABLE NUMBER OF TYPE I ERRORS

The problem of controlling the risk of occurrence of at least one Type I Error in a family of n statistical tests has been discussed extensively in psychological literature. However, the more gener...
Identification of elements in human long 3′ UTRs that inhibit nonsense-mediated decay

The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway serves an important role in gene expression by targeting aberrant mRNAs that have acquired premature termination codons (PTCs) as well as a subset of normally processed endogenous mRNAs. One determinant for the targeting of mRNAs by NMD is the occurrence of translation termination distal to the poly(A) tail. Yet, a large subset of naturally occurring mRNAs contain long 3' UTRs, many of which, according to global studies, are insensitive to NMD. This raises the possibility that such mRNAs have evolved mechanisms for NMD evasion. Here, we analyzed a set of human long 3' UTR mRNAs and found that many are indeed resistant to NMD. By dissecting the 3' UTR of one such mRNA, TRAM1 mRNA, we identified a cis element located within the first 200 nt that inhibits NMD when positioned in downstream proximity of the translation termination codon and is sufficient for repressing NMD of a heterologous reporter mRNA. Investigation of other NMD-evading long 3' UTR mRNAs revealed a subset that, similar to TRAM1 mRNA, contains NMD-inhibiting cis elements in the first 200 nt. A smaller subset of long 3' UTR mRNAs evades NMD by a different mechanism that appears to be independent of a termination-proximal cis element. Our study suggests that different mechanisms have evolved to ensure NMD evasion of human mRNAs with long 3' UTRs.
Student and Teacher Ratings of Academic Competence: An Examination of Cross-Informant Agreement

Two studies were conducted with samples of middle and high school teachers and students to examine cross-informant agreement on the Academic Competence Evaluation Scales. Cross-informant agreement was examined using Pearson correlations and conditional probability indices. Results of Study 1 (N = 65) and Study 2 (N = 66) indicated that teacher and student ratings shared more variance than typically reported in prior cross-informant studies of problem or social behavior. Although teacher and student ratings shared strong correlations, there was significant disagreement when scores were dichotomized for decision making. Implications of the results for school psychology practice and future research are discussed.
A Comparison of Sea Ice Dynamics Models at High Resolution

Abstract An elastic-viscous-plastic (EVP) model for sea ice dynamics has recently been proposed as a computationally efficient alternative to the viscous-plastic (VP) model widely in use. The EVP model features a fully explicit discretization that improves the model’s efficiency, particularly on high-resolution grids, and adapts easily to parallel computation. Comparison of two high-resolution Arctic sea ice simulations, identical except for the ice dynamics, indicates that the EVP model reproduces the VP model behavior on timescales relevant to climate studies. The ice concentration and thickness distributions over a 1-yr integration period are remarkably similar in the two models, although the EVP model responds more rapidly and accurately to strong synoptic weather systems than does the VP model, compared to drifting Arctic buoys. A close look at rates of strain shows that elastic waves in the EVP model do not significantly alter the ice behavior in highly compact areas, where the waves most benefit nu...
Detection of argininosuccinic aciduria by gas chromatography.

Abstract A gas Chromatographic method for the determination of urinary argininosuccinic acid (ASA) has been developed. It consists of precipitation of ASA with barium hydroxide, cleavage of ASA under strong alkaline conditions to aspartic acid and ornithine, and preparation of the N -trinuoroacetyl n -butyl esters of the two amino acids.
Designing for auditory web access: accessibility and cellphone users

Low-end mobile phones are becoming generally available throughout the world and the main window onto the Web. A large constituency for Web access is being created whose experience Web designers are not familiar with, particularly because of the central role of auditory, rather than visual access. This is analogous to problems faced by visually impaired users, where again Web designers have an audience whose experience they rarely share. One might think that proven design practices of working directly with users or intermediaries would be effective, but we argue that in these situations they are difficult to apply, not least because of the distance geographically and culturally from the users. We therefore present alternative ways for developers to gain insight into the experience of auditory access. We also discuss the potential of tools and resources such as simulations of an auditory interaction with the Web and illustrate how these can help --- particularly with early stage design. Successful simulations can reduce the cost and effort needed to design a usable auditory Web experience, and as a bonus, the insights gained often improve a site for many other users as well.
Effects of ouabain on spontaneous afferent activity in the aortic and carotid sinus nerves of cats.

Abstract Spontaneous afferent traffic over aortic and carotid sinus nerves was studied in cats subjected to progressive, lethal intoxication with ouabain. Neural activity was enhanced by the glycoside administration in 80% of aortic nerves and in 86% of carotid sinus nerves. While chemoreceptor activity was not separated from baroreceptor activity with certainty, the results suggested that both types of function were increased.
The chelate effect in binding, catalysis, and chemotherapy

Jacobus Henricus van't Hoff was in many senses the father of modern chemistry. It is a great honor to be invited to give this eighth van't Hoff lecture, and a great pleasure to visit the Netherlands again. Among his other contributions, van't Hoff made us aware of the importance of the three-dimensional structure of chemical substances. In 1874 he was the first to explain optical isomerism and geometrical isomerism in organic chemistry, ruffling the feathers of older established chemists such as Kolbe. In this lecture, I will describe three studies in somewhat diverse areas - binding, catalysis, and cancer chemotherapy - that are related in the sense that they all involve the cooperative action of two groups of a molecule acting on a substrate. As will become clear, the three-dimensional arrangement of these groups (“La chimie dans l'espace”) is a critical aspect of their effective cooperation.
CMOS SC-Spinning, Current-Feedback Hall Sensor for High Speed and Low Cost Applications

A low cost, high speed Hall sensor for motor application is presented. The Hall sensor, its signal conditioning amplifier, Hall plate and Hall biasing circuit are fully integrated in a single chip. The Hall device is a single plate configuration made by only standard mask process for low cost feature. The signal conditioning amplifier applied the noise shaping and offset filtering by chopping technique, also designed by current- feedback approach to broaden its operational speed. The Hall biasing circuit designed by proposed signal-chopped spinning current method (sc-spinning current) to combine spinning current and chopping signal into Hall biasing circuit, which ease feed-forward path design and decrease the poles in signal path. The Hall sensor has typical offset of 600 nV. The sensing speed can operate more than 400kHz operation bandwidth.
Racial and Geographic Disparities in the Utilization of Surgical Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to increase, a trend that will likely continue because of the rising prevalence of chronic hepatitis C infection. This study sought to determine the recent patterns of utilization of surgical therapy (hepatectomy, ablation, or liver transplantation) for HCC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results national cancer registry. Data were extracted for 16,121 patients with HCC diagnosed between 1998 and 2004. Twenty-three percent of patients underwent surgical therapy (9.5% resection, 7.8% ablation, 6% transplant); the proportion of patients treated with surgical therapy increased ∼9% over the study period. On multivariate analysis, female sex, younger age, and smaller solitary tumors were associated with increased utilization of surgical therapy. Blacks and Hispanics were 24–27% less likely to receive surgical therapy than white individuals (P < 0.001). Racial and geographic disparities persisted despite the adjustment for Health Service Area and limitation of the cohort to small localized HCC. Blacks were especially disadvantaged in the utilization of liver transplant for small HCC (OR = 0.42, P < 0.001). Further investigation to understand the etiology of these profound racial and geographic disparities is essential to ensure equitable provision of surgical therapies, which provide the only potentially curative treatments for HCC.
Mutations in sodium channel β1- and β2-subunits associated with atrial fibrillation.

Background— We and others have reported mutations in the cardiac predominant sodium channel gene SCN5A in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We also have reported that SCN1B is associated with Brugada syndrome and isolated cardiac conduction disease. We tested the hypothesis that mutations in the 4 sodium channel β-subunit genes SCN1B – SCN4B contribute to AF susceptibility. Methods and Results— Screening for mutations in the 4 β-subunit genes was performed in 480 patients with AF (118 patients with lone AF and 362 patients with AF and cardiovascular disease) and 548 control subjects (188 ethnically defined anonymized subjects and 360 subjects without AF). The effects of mutant β-subunits on SCN5A mediated currents were studied using electrophysiological studies. We identified 2 nonsynonymous variants in SCN1B (resulting in R85H, D153N) and 2 in SCN2B (R28Q, R28W) in patients with AF. These occur at residues highly conserved across mammals and were absent in control subjects. In 3 of 4 mutation carriers, the ECGs showed saddleback-type ST-segment elevation in the right precordial leads. Transcripts encoding both SCN1B and SCN2B were detected in human atrium and ventricle. In heterologous expression studies using Chinese hamster ovary cells, the mutant β1- or β2-subunits reduced SCN5A -mediated current and altered channel gating compared with coexpression of wild-type subunits. Conclusions— Loss of function mutations in sodium channel β-subunits were identified in patients with AF and were associated with a distinctive ECG phenotype. These findings further support the hypothesis that decreased sodium current enhances AF susceptibility. Received March 11, 2008; accepted January 12, 2009.
Optical flow odometry with robustness to self-shadowing

An optical flow odometry method for mobile robots using a single downward-looking camera is presented. The method is robust to the robot's own moving shadow and other sources of error. Robustness derives from two techniques: prevention of feature selection on or near shadow edges and elimination of outliers based on inconsistent motion. In tests where the robot's shadow dominated the image, prevention of feature selection near shadow edges allowed accurate velocity estimation when outlier rejection alone failed. Performance was evaluated on two robot platforms and on multiple terrain types at speeds up to 2 m/s.
Sphingolipidomics: high-throughput, structure-specific, and quantitative analysis of sphingolipids by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Sphingolipids are a highly diverse category of compounds that serve not only as components of biologic structures but also as regulators of numerous cell functions. Because so many of the sphingolipids in a biological system are bioactive and are often closely related structurally and metabolically (for example, complex sphingolipids ceramide sphingosine sphingosine 1-phosphate), to understand the role(s) of sphingolipids in a given context one must conduct a "sphingolipidomic" analysis-i.e., a structure-specific and quantitative measurement of all of these compounds, or at least all members of a critical subset. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC MS/MS) is currently the only technology with the requisite structural specificity, sensitivity, quantitative precision, and relatively high-throughput capabilities for such analyses in small samples ( approximately 10(6) cells). This review describes a series of protocols that have been developed for the relatively rapid analysis of all of the molecular species from 3-ketosphinganines through sphingomyelins and some glycosphingolipids (including all the compounds that are presently regarded as sphingolipid "second messengers") using normal- and reverse-phase LC to separate isometric and isobaric species (such as glucosylceramides and galactosylceramides) in combination with triple quadrupole (for MS/MS) and hybrid quadrupole-ion trap (for MS3) mass spectrometry. Also discussed are some of the issues remaining to be resolved in the analysis of the full sphingolipidome.
Fabricating capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers with direct wafer-bonding and LOCOS technology

We present an improved fabrication method for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). Recently, a process was developed to fabricate CMUTs using direct wafer-bonding instead of the traditional sacrificial release method. This paper presents a method based on local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) and direct wafer-bonding to improve the controllability of gap heights and the parasitic capacitance. Critical vertical dimensions are determined by a thermal oxidation process, which allows tight vertical tolerances (< 10 nm) with unmatched uniformity over the entire wafer. Using this process we successfully fabricated CMUTs with gap heights as small as 40 nm with a uniformity of plusmn 2 nm over the entire wafer.
Septum Magnets for Secondary Beams at NAL

Septum magnets have been built for the front ends of secondary beam lines M1 and M6 in the Meson Area. The septum sizes are 1.742 in (1.248 in) for the M1 (M6) magnet. Field quality is reasonably good, as measured, although not as good as the design goals of 0.3% (0.1%) for M1 (M6).
Design for the Operability and Controllability of Chemical Processes

Quantitative and systematic methods of design are evolving to improve upon the operability and controllability of chemical processes. Progress is described in the development of new analytical and algorithmic methods for the design of complex processes that are difficult to operate and control. The methods are being demonstrated for the design of four processes and a prototype computing system is being created as the designs proceed.
Ethics instruction: A case study approach

Instruction in ethics for engineering and engineering technology students may take many forms, such as inclusion as part of technical courses, separate courses taught in technical departments, or courses taught in other departments. In exploring various options, the author found that personal anecdotes in which ethics problems were encountered and dealt with were quite popular with students. Students came to understand that situations with ethical implications can arise at unexpected times and must be dealt with. If the instructor can explain that he or she actually experienced these situations, the students come to understand that they will undoubtedly also encounter them and must be able to deal with then. In an attempt to formalize this method so that material could be provided for use by other instructors, a case study approach, similar to that often used extensively in business and commerce schools, was adopted by the author. >