cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of live yeast on differential genetic and functional attributes of rumen microbiota in beef cattle

Several studies have evaluated the effects of live yeast supplementation on rumen microbial population; however, its effect on differential microbial genes and their functional potential has not been described. Thus, this study applied shotgun metagenomic sequencing to evaluate the effects of live yeast supplementation on genetic and functional potential of the rumen microbiota in beef cattle. Eight rumen-cannulated Holstein steers were randomly assigned to two treatments in a cross-over design with two 25-day experimental periods and a 10-day wash-out between the two periods. The steers were housed in individual pens and fed 50% concentrate-mix and 50% red clover/orchard hay ad libitum. Treatments were (1) control (CON; basal diet without additive) and (2) yeast (YEA; basal diet plus 15 g/d of live yeast product). Rumen fluid samples were collected at 3, 6, and 9 h after feeding on the last d of each period. Sequencing was done on an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Dietary yeast supplementation increased the relative abundance of carbohydrate-fermenting bacteria (such as Ruminococcus albus, R. champanellensis, R. bromii, and R. obeum) and lactate-utilizing bacteria (such as Megasphaera elsdenii, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, and D. vulgaris). A total of 154 differentially abundant genes (DEGs) were obtained (false discovery rate < 0.01). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation analysis of the DEGs revealed that 10 pathways, including amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism, polyketide sugar unit biosynthesis, protein export, ribosome, and bacterial secretory system, were enriched in steers fed YEA. Annotation analysis of the DEGs in the carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZy) database revealed that the abundance of genes coding for enzymes belonging to glycoside hydrolases, glycosyltransferases, and carbohydrate binding modules were enriched in steers fed YEA. These results confirm the effectiveness of a live S. cerevisiae product for improving rumen function in beef steers by increasing the abundance of cellulolytic bacteria, lactic acid-utilizing bacteria, and carbohydrate-active enzymes in the rumen.
A simple reproducible technique for the retrieval of broken proximal femoral blades, a technical note and review of literature.

Abstract Despite advances in metallurgy, fatigue failure of hardware in orthopaedics is common especially when a fracture fails to heal. Revision procedures can be difficult, usually requiring removal of intact or broken hardware. Several different methods are usually used to successfully remove the intact or broken hardware. The proximal blade fracture is rare and under-reported in the literature. In our tertiary non-union and limb reconstruction unit, we have developed a technique for an easy and quick removal of a broken proximal femoral blades.
VPN Traffic Detection in SSL-Protected Channel

In recent times, secure communication protocols over web such as HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) are being widely used instead of plain web communication protocols like HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). HTTPS provides end-to-end encryption between the user and service. Nowadays, organizations use network firewalls and/or intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) to analyze the network traffic to detect and protect against attacks and vulnerabilities. Depending on the size of organization, these devices may differ in their capabilities. Simple network intrusion detection system (NIDS) and firewalls generally have no feature to inspect HTTPS or encrypted traffic, so they rely on unencrypted traffic to manage the encrypted payload of the network. Recent and powerful next-generation firewalls have Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) inspection feature which are expensive and may not be suitable for every organizations. A virtual private network (VPN) is a service which hides real traffic by creating SSL-protected channel between the user and server. Every Internet activity is then performed under the established SSL tunnel. The user inside the network with malicious intent or to hide his activity from the network security administration of the organization may use VPN services. Any VPN service may be used by users to bypass the filters or signatures applied on network security devices. These services may be the source of new virus or worm injected inside the network or a gateway to facilitate information leakage. In this paper, we have proposed a novel approach to detect VPN activity inside the network. The proposed system analyzes the communication between user and the server to analyze and extract features from network, transport, and application layer which are not encrypted and classify the incoming traffic as malicious, i.e., VPN traffic or standard traffic. Network traffic is analyzed and classified using DNS (Domain Name System) packets and HTTPS- (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure-) based traffic. Once traffic is classified, the connection based on the server’s IP, TCP port connected, domain name, and server name inside the HTTPS connection is analyzed. This helps in verifying legitimate connection and flags the VPN-based traffic. We worked on top five freely available VPN services and analyzed their traffic patterns; the results show successful detection of the VPN activity performed by the user. We analyzed the activity of five users, using some sort of VPN service in their Internet activity, inside the network. Out of total 729 connections made by different users, 329 connections were classified as legitimate activity, marking 400 remaining connections as VPN-based connections. The proposed system is lightweight enough to keep minimal overhead, both in network and resource utilization and requires no specialized hardware.
The tanning hormone, bursicon, does not act directly on the epidermis to tan the Drosophila exoskeleton.

In insects, continuous growth requires the periodic replacement of the exoskeleton. Once the remains of the exoskeleton from the previous stage have been shed during ecdysis, the new one is rapidly sclerotized (hardened) and melanized (pigmented), a process collectively known as tanning. The rapid tanning that occurs after ecdysis is critical for insect survival, as it reduces desiccation, and gives the exoskeleton the rigidity needed to support the internal organs and to provide a solid anchor for the muscles. This rapid postecdysial tanning is triggered by the “tanning hormone”, bursicon. Since bursicon is released into the hemolymph, it has naturally been assumed that it would act on the epidermal cells to cause the tanning of the overlying exoskeleton. Here we investigated the site of bursicon action in Drosophila by examining the consequences on tanning of disabling the bursicon receptor (encoded by the rickets gene) in different tissues. To our surprise, we found that rapid tanning does not require rickets function in the epidermis but requires it instead in peptidergic neurons of the ventral nervous system (VNS). Although we were unable to identify the signal that is transmitted from the VNS to the epidermis, we show that neurons that express the Drosophila insulin-like peptide ILP7, but not the ILP7 peptide itself, are involved. In addition, we found that some of the bursicon targets involved in melanization are different from those that cause sclerotization. Our findings show that bursicon does not act directly on the epidermis to cause the tanning of the overlying exoskeleton but instead requires an intermediary messenger produced by peptidergic neurons within the central nervous system. Thus, this work has uncovered an unexpected layer of control in a process that is critical for insect survival, which will significantly alter the direction of future research aimed at understanding how rapid postecdysial tanning occurs.
Determinants of Trustworthiness to Conduct Medical Research: Findings from Focus Groups Conducted with Racially and Ethnically Diverse Adults

Potential research participants, particularly those from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medical research, often decide to participate based on how they judge people, places, and study protocols as trustworthy. And yet, few studies have explored notions of trustworthiness or determinants of trustworthiness from the perspective of potential medical research participants. This paper describes how racially and ethnically diverse potential medical research participants conceptualize what makes researchers, research settings, and research protocols seem trustworthy. Using a criterion sampling strategy, we recruited African American, Latinx, and White adults for participation in focus groups conducted at a community center servings the Latinx community and at a health clinic that primarily serves the African American community. A total of 57 African American, Latinx, and White adults We conducted seven focus groups that explored perceptions and determinants of research, trust, privacy, confidentiality, and research participation. We used a phenomenological thematic analytic approach to explore the determinants of trustworthiness to conduct medical research. In our effort to identify the factors that affect potential research participants’ perspectives on the trustworthiness of medical research, we found three themes: Who is trustworthy to conduct medical research? What influences perceptions of trustworthiness in medical research? And what institutions or settings are trustworthy to conduct medical research? These findings highlight that one’s willingness to participate in research is driven in part by their perception of the trustworthiness of researchers, research institutions, and the information they are given about potential research opportunities. There are important and modifiable determinants of trustworthiness that may facilitate minority participation in research. We found that research, researchers, and research institutions each have things that can be done to increase trustworthiness and minority participation in research.
Drosophila SERTAD domain protein Taranis is required in somatic cells for maintenance of male germline stem cells.

Author(s): Dutta, Pranabananda; Nath, Soma; Li, Jinghong; Li, Willis X | Abstract: BackgroundPolycomb proteins are essential for maintaining stem cell identity across different stem cell niches. However, how they function to maintain stem cell niches is not fully understood.ResultsHere we show that the SERTAD protein Taranis (Tara), which is a Polycomb-trithorax group protein, is expressed in the adult testis niche and plays a role in its maintenance in Drosophila. We found that tara is expressed in early cyst cells, likely including somatic cyst stem cells (CySCs) of Drosophila male testis tip region, which houses both germline and somatic cyst stem cells along with the hub cells, forming the stem cell niche. Consistent with its expression, we found that, while loss of tara in germline cells only had minimal effects, tara knockdown in all cells or only in somatic cells of the niche reduced the number of not only somatic cells, but also germline stem cells (GSCs). We further found that Tara might antagonize Notch signaling in CySCs to maintain the stem cell niche.ConclusionsOur studies suggest that Tara might function in somatic CySCs for GSC maintenance in the Drosophila testis.
Handbook on gender in Asia: edited by Shirlena Huang and Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020, 438 pp., $225.00 (hbk), ISBN 978-1-78811-290-1

Edited by Shirlena Huang and Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, the Handbook on Gender in Asia makes a timely contribution to the body of scholarship on gender, geography and migration within and from Asia, in...
Summary and Future Work

The purpose of our research is to develop computational algorithms for an automatic fingerprint recognition system, which is able to achieve high performance with high confidence. We have developed several algorithms for this purpose.
Mitral Valve Replacement

The etiology of mitral valve disease is generally categorized as degenerative, ischemic, rheumatic, or infectious. Globally, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a major cause of mitral valve disease. Mitral valve replacement may be performed for both mitral valve stenosis and mitral valve regurgitation due to structural or functional changes in the mitral valve apparatus. Replacement options include mechanical valves, bioprosthetic valves, and less commonly stentless valves or use of a pulmonary autograft. In general, mechanical valves offer increased durability compared to bioprosthetic valves but at the expense of an increased risk of valve thrombosis requiring long term coagulation. Transcatheter mitral valve replacement is an emerging technology for the management of mitral valve disease.
Metabolic and cardiovascular effects of body weight supported treadmill walking in healthy older adults.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine if body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) decreased metabolic and cardiovascular demand in older (50-74 years) healthy adults while walking a self-selected speeds. The results of this study could impact clinician application to exercise therapy. METHODS Twenty subjects (50% female, 58.3+7.3 yr) completed 3, 5-minute treadmill walking trials at a self-selected pace, with 0%, 15%, and 30% body weight support (BWS). Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and oxygen uptake (VO2) were measured at rest, and during walking trials. Mean data from minutes 3-5 were analyzed for difference by repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc testing. RESULTS At rest, HR was 70.8+8.2 bpm and BP was 126.8+12.2 / 84.3+8.6 mmHg. Mean walking speed was 67.1 m/min. Tested parameters during exercise trials were significantly (p<0.05) different from rest, but no significant differences were detected among the 3 exercise trials. CONCLUSIONS In older adults walking at self-selected speeds, up to 30% BWS had no significant impact on metabolic or cardiovascular demand.
Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and an Epidural Abscess During a Spinal Cord Stimulator Trial: A Case Report.

INTRODUCTION Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) is commonly utilized for treatment and management of chronic intractable low back and lower extremity pain. While SCS is an overall low-risk procedure, there are potential life-threatening complications, including surgical site infections such as an epidural abscess. Immunosuppression, a risk factor for epidural abscess, is becoming more common as an increasing number of patients are being treated with biologics for a multitude of autoimmune disorders. One class of commonly utilized biologics is anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) alpha. While these drugs can provide tremendous benefit for treatment and management of autoimmune disorders, there is no clear understanding of the degree to which these medications increase a patient's risk for surgical site infection, including those associated with SCS-related procedures. CASE We present a case of an epidural abscess that developed immediately following an SCS trial in a patient with multiple undisclosed risk factors, including the use of an anti-TNF alpha agent to treat ankylosing spondylitis. DISCUSSION For an epidural abscess, early diagnosis is key to preventing devastating complications and the need for surgical intervention. Immunosuppression can be the result of multiple issues including cancer, HIV, and biologic agents such as anti-TNF alpha for the management of autoimmune diseases. There is limited evidence pertaining to the development of epidural abscesses in patients on anti-TNF alpha medications who undergo SCS. Studies focused on infections in patients undergoing SCS trials and permanent implants while on anti-TNF alpha agents could provide recommendations and guidance.
Design space for scaling-in general purpose computing within the DDR DRAM hierarchy for map-reduce workloads

This paper conducts a design space exploration of placing general purpose RISCV cores within the DDR DRAM hierarchy to boost the performance of important data analytics applications in the datacenter. We investigate the hardware (where? how many? how to interface?) and software (how to place data? how to map computations?) choices for placing these cores within the rank, chip, and bank of the DIMM slots to take advantage of the locality vs. parallelism trade-offs. We use the popular MapReduce paradigm, normally used to scale out workloads across servers, to scale in these workloads into the DDR DRAM hierarchy. We evaluate the design space using diverse off-the-shelf Apache Spark Workloads to show the pros-and-cons of different hardware placement and software mapping strategies. Results show that bank-level RISCV cores can provide tremendous speedup (up to 363X) for the offload-able parts of these applications, amounting to 14X speedup overall in some applications. Even in the non-amenable applications, we get at least 31% performance boost for the entire application. To realize this, we incur an area overhead of 4% at the bank level, and increase in temperature of
Mechanisms and constraints underlying acoustic variation in rodents

Like passerines among birds, rodents among mammals have experienced an enormous radiation. Similar to songbirds, this radiation is associated with the evolution of a critical innovation in how vocal signals are produced. Recent studies on the anatomical and physiological bases of vocal production provide an opportunity to understand how proximate mechanisms shape acoustic variation to influence signal function and evolution. Acoustic variation ranges from subtle changes within individuals in different social contexts to extreme divergence among closely related species. Despite increased appreciation of this modality, relatively few studies have assessed variability of acoustic features within individuals over time and/or the consequences of such variation. Moreover, our understanding of the mechanisms that promote and constrain acoustic variation is limited. Herein, we review ontogenetic, social and endocrine factors associated with intraspecific acoustic signal variation in murid and cricetid rodents, summarize the functional consequences of such variation and describe morphological and physiological adaptations underlying vocal displays. We then suggest a framework for developing mutually informative mechanistic and functional studies to explore the evolution of signal elaboration. Clarifying the causes and consequences of interspecific and intraspecific acoustic variation is critical to understanding the evolution and function of vocalizations in the largest radiation of mammals.
Factors Associated with the Adoption of Health Information Technologies to Increase Patient Engagement in US Hospitals

Since 2009, substantial investments have been made to incentivize the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) and other health information technology (HIT). Emphasis is placed on the adoption of HIT for patient engagement, a policy priority. However, different hospitals are at different stages in their adoption. Some are hesitant and slow to adopt new HIT, while others have adopted technologies with a wide range of patient engagement functionalities. This study applies open systems theory to determine which organizational and environmental factors are salient in predicting the number of adoption of HIT functionality for patient engagement
Erratum to: Analysis of transient queues with semidefinite optimization

We correct Corollary 1 in Osogami and Raymond [1]. In [1], Theorem 1 gives an upper bound on the probability, πa,b,∞, that the random walk in one dimension crosses a boundary, b, before crossing a boundary,−a. Theorem 1 is used to derive Corollary 1, which gives an upper bound on Pr(W (a) ≥ y), the probability that the maximum waiting time in the first busy period of a GI/GI/1 queue is at least y, given that the initial work that the first job sees in the system is a. This upper bound in Corollary 1 is derived on the erroneous basis of Pr(W (a) ≥ y) = πa,y,∞, which we here correct to Pr(W (a) ≥ y) = πa,y−a,∞. For y > a, the corrected upper bound on Pr(W (a) ≥ y) is given by replacing y with y − a in the expression of Corollary 1. For y ≤ a, we have Pr(W (a) ≥ y) = 1. Here, we also correct the upper bound on the corresponding expected value, E[W (a)] = ∫∞ 0 Pr(W (a) ≥ y) dy, by integrating the corrected upper bound on Pr(W (a) ≥ y) for y > a and integrating Pr(W (a) ≥ y) = 1 for y ∈ [0, a]. Specifically, the corrected upper bound is given by adding a into the erroneous upper bound in [1]. Equations (2) and (3) involve the same error as Corollary 1 and need to be corrected in the analogous manner. To summarize, here we correct Corollary 1 in [1] as follows:
Reaction-Bonded SiC Composites Without Residual Si

A method of creating near-net-shape silicon carbide (SiC) structures without residual silicon has been developed at the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). The technique involves slip-casting Si-SiC particle mixtures so that complex structures can be easily prepared, sintering the Si to the SiC, then converting the Si to continuous SiC. It does not include metal infiltration so no residual channels of Si remain in the structure, but it is 35% porous. The porosity reduces flexural strength but permits infiltration of a wide variety of polymers or ductile metals to make significantly tougher, continuous SiC composites with high residual compressive stresses. A preliminary ballistics test indicated that polymer-infiltrated SiC is much less prone to shattering than a dense SiC with similar stopping power. Metal-infiltrated SiC has not yet been tested. In addition, because the reaction bonding material begins as a slurry, it can be infiltrated into mats of woven high-temperature fibers to produce simple SiC-fiber composites. Production of these composites is only in the early stages.
Event localization and visualization in social networks

Social networks such as Twitter carry important information on ongoing events and as such can be viewed as networks of sensors that monitor and report events in the physical world. An important problem in sensor network literature is that of localization. In the case of monitoring physical events, the localization problem refers to inferring event location from sensor data. In this demonstration, we present a tool that automatically identifies distinct physical events referred to in social network feeds (namely, Twitter feeds) and automatically localizes them. To do so, we designed an algorithm that identifies distinct event signatures in the blogosphere, clusters microblogs based on events they describe, and analyzes the resulting clusters for location information. This information is then translated using the Google Maps API for geo-location, offering a real-time view of ongoing events on a map. To evaluate this tool, we used road traffic related Twitter feeds from San Francisco area in California and corroborate automatic event localization within our service to manually obtained ground truth data. Results show a great correspondence between our automatically determined geo-locations and ground-truth. In the demo, users will be allowed to interact with this and other Twitter data, identify distinct physical events, and locate them in time and space on a map.
Radiation Injury to the Normal Brain Measured by 3D‐Echo‐Planar Spectroscopic Imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging: Initial Experience

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) may cause cognitive and neuropsychological impairment and hence objective assessment of adverse effects of radiation may be valuable to plan therapy. The purpose of our study was to determine the potential of echo planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in detecting subacute radiation induced injury to the normal brain. MATERIALS AND METHODS Four patients with brain metastases and three patients with lung cancer underwent cranial irradiation. These patients were subjected to 3D-EPSI and DTI at two time points (pre-radiation, and 1 month post-irradiation). Parametric maps of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), choline (Cho), mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA) were generated and co-registered to post-contrast T1-weighted images. Normal appearing gray-matter and white-matter regions were compared between the two time points to assess sub-acute effects of radiation using independent sample t-tests. RESULTS Significantly increased MD (P = .02), Cho/Cr (P = .02) and a trend towards a decrease in NAA/Cr (P = .06) was observed from the hippocampus. Significant decrease in FA (P = .02) from the centrum-semiovale and a significant increase in MD (P = .04) and Cho/Cr (P = .02) from genu of corpus-callosum was also observed. CONCLUSIONS Our preliminary findings suggest that 3D-EPSI and DTI may provide quantitative measures of radiation induced injury to the normal brain.
Transsternal Approach to the Cervicothoracic Junction

The cervicothoracic junction represents one of the morc complex areas of the spine because of the proximity of visceral and vascular structures at the thoracic inlet. With the introduction of magnctic resonance imaging (M1U), it is apparcnt that most tumors, infections, and degenerative processes result in compression of the cord from a ventral direction. Logically, therefore, direct anterior approaches offer the best exposure for direct decompression of the spinal cord. In the majority of cases, restoration of spinal stability by reconstruction of the resected segments represents an equally important goal of surgery. Such reconstruction should he carried out in conjunction with instrumentation to achieve rigid and immediate internal fixation.
Postnatal Changes in Animo Acid Metabolism of Kitten Brain

Publisher Summary The complexities of the functioning central nervous system in vivo , obviously, will be understood only when sufficient information is available, which will correlate the morphology, physiology, and biochemistry of the organ. One approach that adds materially toward this goal is ontogenetic studies; these provide data that make possible the integration of structural development with physiological and biochemical changes. The work of the Flexners on the developing guinea-pig brain, among others, may be cited as an example of the studies designed to provide such correlations. In further fulfillment of this aim, a series of biochemical investigations on the developing cat brain has been initiated in which the major objective is to specify factors that are associated with morphological and physiological maturation of various brain areas. The cat was chosen for these studies because considerable information is already available on the morphological and physiological development of its cerebral cortex. In this chapter, the postnatal changes in the brain content of glutamic acid, glutamine, aspartic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutathione (GSH) are presented. In addition, preliminary results on the fate of tracer amounts of L -[ 14 C]glutamic acid administered into the cisterna magna of newborn and adult animals have been obtained and are discussed in this chapter.
HAMP Domain Rotation and Tilting Movements Associated with Signal Transduction in the PhoQ Sensor Kinase

ABSTRACT HAMP domains are α-helical coiled coils that often transduce signals from extracytoplasmic sensing domains to cytoplasmic domains. Limited structural information has resulted in hypotheses that specific HAMP helix movement changes downstream enzymatic activity. These hypotheses were tested by mutagenesis and cysteine cross-linking analysis of the PhoQ histidine kinase, essential for resistance to antimicrobial peptides in a variety of enteric pathogens. These results support a mechanistic model in which periplasmic signals which induce an activation state generate a rotational movement accompanied by a tilt in α-helix 1 which activates kinase activity. Biochemical data and a high-confidence model of the PhoQ cytoplasmic domain indicate a possible physical interaction of the HAMP domain with the catalytic domain as necessary for kinase repression. These results support a model of PhoQ activation in which changes in the periplasmic domain lead to conformational movements in the HAMP domain helices which disrupt interaction between the HAMP and the catalytic domains, thus promoting increased kinase activity. IMPORTANCE Most studies on the HAMP domain signaling states have been performed with chemoreceptors or the HAMP domain of Af1503. Full-length structures of the HAMP-containing histidine kinases VicK and CpxA or a hybrid between the HAMP domain of Af1503 and the EnvZ histidine kinase agree with the parallel four-helix bundle structure identified in Af1503 and provide snapshots of structural conformations experienced by HAMP domains. We took advantage of the fact that we can easily regulate the activation state of PhoQ histidine kinase to study its HAMP domain in the context of the full-length protein in living cells and provide biochemical evidence for different conformational states experienced by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium PhoQ HAMP domain upon signaling.
The link between nutritional status and clinical outcome: can nutritional intervention modify it?

Abstract Most clinicians subjectively feel that malnutrition in surgical patients is associated with poor clinical outcome. This overview provides a chronologic review of studies relating poor nutritional status to increased surgical morbidity. Techniques for identifying surgical patients with clinically important nutritional deficits are discussed. Retrospective and/or non-randomized clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of perioperative forced feeding are reviewed. These data suggest a possible role for preoperative nutritional support of selected malnourished surgical candidates and provide the rationale for a large-scale nutrition-intervention clinical trial.
Equilibrium Properties of Semiconductors

In this chapter, we describe the equilibrium properties of semiconductors. The fact that electrical conductivity of a semiconductor can be readily changed by many orders of magnitude through the incorporation of foreign impurities has made the semiconductor one of the most intriguing and unique electronic materials among all the crystalline solids. The invention of germanium and silicon transistors in the early 1950s and the silicon integrated circuits in the 1960s as well as the development of microprocess chips in the late 1970s and 1980s has indeed transformed semiconductors into the most important and indispensable electronic material of modern times.
Error margin for antenna gain measurements

The specification of measured antenna gain is incomplete without knowing the error of the measurement. Also, unless gain is measured many times for a single antenna or over many identical antennas, the uncertainty or error in a single measurement is only an estimate. In this paper, we examine in detail a typical error budget for common antenna gain measurements. We also compute the gain uncertainty for a specific UHF horn test that was recently performed on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) antenna range. The paper concludes with comments on these results and how they compare with the "unofficial" JPL range standard of /spl plusmn/ 1/2 dB.
Increased solubility of trimethoprim-resistant type SI DHFR from Staphylococcus aureus in Escherichia coli cells overproducing the chaperonins GroEL and GroES

The production of the trimethoprim-resistant type S1 dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) from Staphylococcus aureus in Escherichia coli cells overproducing the chaperonins GroEL and GroES is described. The simultaneous overproduction of the chaperonins with DHFR results in an increased solubility of the enzyme. We compare the time course of production of active type S1 DHFR by measuring enzyme activity in cells overproducing or not overproducing the chaperonins. Although co-overproduction of the chaperonins reduces the total production level of type S1 DHFR, the amount of soluble and active DHFR is increased several-fold in comparison with cells producing only DHFR. Thus, the higher concentrations of GroES and GroEL in cells overproducing the chaperonins partially protect DHFR from aggregation, resulting in higher concentrations of soluble and active DHFR in the cell. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that the chaperonins can improve in vitro refolding yields of type S1 DHFR. These results suggest that it is possible to purify suitable amounts of trimethoprim-resistant type S1 DHFR for X-ray crystallographic studies.
Comparative effects of endotoxin on canine and primate intestine.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare the responses of perfused monkey and dog intestine following lethal intravenous injections of E. coli endotoxin. Experiments were carried out on adult anesthetized, partially enterectomized rhesus monkeys and mongrel dogs. A loop of the isolated small intestine was perfused by blood obtained from the femoral artery. Studies were carried out for 2 hours after endotoxin. Mean systemic arterial pressures fell to identical minimal values by 90 minutes postendotoxin. Mesenteric resistances initially elevated in both species differed markedly during the course of the experiment; resistance maintained at elevated values in dogs and declined markedly below control values in monkeys. Intestinal weight increases after endotoxin in the dog greatly exceeded those of the monkey, which were modified only minimally. Results from this study require further evaluation in terms of the pathogenesis of bacteremic shock in man.
A meta‐analytic review of social skill deficits in depression

The social skill deficit theory of depression states that a lack of social skill is related to the development of depression. However, the findings on this relationship are mixed, possibly due to a variety of variables surrounding the conceptualization and assessment of social skill, as well as the type of subjects used in these investigations. A meta‐analysis was conducted to determine the magnitude of the relationship between depression and social skill as measured by self‐reports, observer‐ratings, and behavioral assessments. The results showed moderate, but not unequivocal, support for the social skill deficit theory. Depression was most strongly related to social skill deficits when they were measured via self‐reports. Observer‐ratings and behavioral analyses of social skill revealed weaker and more sporadic relationships with depression. Several moderator variables as well as a tendency toward negative self‐evaluation in depression appear to influence these relationships.
Trisomy 8 in stage I and stage III ovarian cancer detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Abstract Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic maligancy among women in the United States. In 1997, there were nearly 27,000 ovarian cancer cases with over 14,000 deaths. Recent attempts at early detection of ovarian cancer have been aimed at the identification of biomarkers that would indicate an underlining malignant process or reflect the biological behavior of the tumor. Our previous studies revealed that chromosome 8 copy number abnormality, especially trisomy, is common in several cancers. Archival tissues from 24 cases of papillary serous ovarian carcinoma (10 stage I and 14 stage III) were analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a chromosome 8-specific α-satellite probe (Oncor, Gaithersburg, MD). The analysis was done according to standard protocols of the Lifespan Academic Medical Center Cytogenetics Laboratory at Rhode Island Hospital. Twenty-one of 24 cases (87.5%) were found to be trisomic for chromosome 8, if a cutoff point of ≥15% cells with three signals is adopted. Overall, 80% of stage I and 93% of stage III tumors had trisomy 8. This study confirms the presence of a high frequency of trisomy 8 in both early and late stages of the disease and suggests that trisomy 8 may be an early event in the multistep process leading to ovarian cancer. It is of interest to note that a higher frequency of trisomy 8 was found in a higher stage of disease, consistent with our previous results on breast cancer. Thus, additional FISH studies of ovarian tumors for chromosome 8 copy number assessment may be warranted.
Transesophageal echocardiographically detected atherosclerotic aortic plaque is a marker for coronary artery disease

Abstract Objectivts. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that atherosclerotic plaque in the thoracic aorta detected by transesophageal echocardiography is a marker for coronary artery disease. Background. Previous pathologic and roentgenographic studies have suggested a relation between aortic plaque and coronary artery disease but have lacked clinical utility. Methods. We performed transesophageal echocardiography on 61 patients (30 women and 31 men aged 22 to 83 years [mean 60 ± 14]) who had previously undergone cardiac catheterization with coronary angiography. The clinical indications for angiography were angina (n = 26), valvular heart disease (n = 17), positive noninvasive evaluation for ischemia without angina (n = 6), postmyocardial infarction (n = 5), familial hypercholesterolemia (n = 4), coronary cameral fistula (n = 1), atrial myxoma (n = 1) and suspected aortic dissection (n = 1). All patients underwent transesophageal echocardiography with Imaging of the thoracic aorta. The criteria used to diagnose atherosclerotic plaque on transesophageal echocardiography were the presence of linear or focal increased echodensity with lumen irregularity and thickening or calcification of the aortic intima. Results. In 41 of the 61 patients, obstructive coronary artery disease was detected by angiography in at least one vessel (>50% left main coronary artery stenosis or >70% stenosis in the left anterior descending, right coronary or left circumflex artery distribution). In 37 of the 41, atherosclerotic plaque was detected in the thoracic aorta by transesophageal echocardiography. Twenty of the 61 patients had normal coronary angiographic findings or nonobstructive lumen irregularities. In 2 of these 20 patients, plaque was detected in the thoracic aorta on transesophageal echocardiography. The presence of aortic plaque on transesophageal study had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 90% for angiographically proved obstructive coronary artery disease. The positive predictive value of aortic plaque for obstructive coronary artery disease was 95% and the negative predictive value was 82%. Conclusions. The detection of atherosclerotic plaque in the thoracic aorta by transesophageal ecbocardiography appears to be a marker for the identification of obstructive coronary artery disease and deserves further investigation.
Developments in direct thermal extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of fine aerosols

This review examines thermal extraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TE-GC-MS) applied to aerosols collected on filters. Several different TE-GC-MS systems as a group have speciated hundreds of individual organic constituents in ambient fine aerosols. Improved molecular marker source apportionment (chemical mass balance) may be one of the benefits of further developing TE-GC-MS to determine organic aerosol composition.
Growth of InP Nanostructures via Reaction of Indium Droplets with Phosphide Ions: Synthesis of InP Quantum Rods and InP−TiO2 Composites

InP quantum rods were synthesized via the reaction of monodispersed colloidal indium droplets with phosphide ions. In0 droplets, which do not act as a catalyst but rather a reactant, are completely consumed. The excess electrons that are produced in this reaction are most likely transferred to an oxide layer at the indium surface. For the synthesis of InP quantum rods with a narrow size distribution, a narrow size distribution of In0 particles is also required because each indium droplet serves as a template to strictly limit the lateral growth of individual InP nanocrystals. Free-standing quantum rods, 60, 120, or 150 A in diameter, with aspect ratios of 1.6−3.5, and without the residual metallic catalyst at the rod tip, were synthesized from the diluted transparent solution of metallic indium particles. The same approach was used to synthesize InAs quantum rods. A photoactive InP−TiO2 composite was also prepared by the same chemical procedure; InP nanocrystals grow as well-defined spherical or slightly ...
Density-functional theory for ensembles of fractionally occupied states. II. Application to the He atom.

The two density-functional methods of calculating excitation energies proposed in the preceding paper, combined with the recently formulated quasi-local-density approximation for the equiensemble exchange-correlation energy functional [W. Kohn, Phys. Rev. A 34, 737 (1986)], are applied to the He atom. Although the splittings between nearly degenerate levels with different angular momenta are badly overestimated, in both approaches the averages over angular momentum and spin of the experimental excitation energies measured from the ionization threshold are reproduced within a few percent. The computed self-consistent ensemble-averaged densities and the Kohn-Sham potentials associated with them are discussed.
On the compressive failure of fiber reinforced composites

Abstract In this paper a combination of experimentation and analysis is used to identify and study the mechanisms that govern the failure of unidirectional fiber composites under compression. The experimental part includes experiments in which the compressive strength and the prevalent failure mechanisms of AS4/PEEK composite are established, tests for establishing the constitutive properties of the composite and its constituents, and an evaluation of the extent of misalignment of fibers in manufactured composites. The failure load of the composite was confirmed to be affected by geometric imperfections in the form of fiber waviness, and failure was found to lead to kink bands with distinct orientations and widths. Motivated by the experimental findings, the composite was idealized as a two-dimensional solid with alternating fiber and matrix layers, each having the measured properties of the two constituents. The compressive responses of microsections of finite width with imperfections of various spatial distributions were established numerically. The calculated responses are characterized by an initially stiff, stable regime terminated by a limit load instability which is associated with the strength of the composite. Following the limit load, the deformation localized into inclined bands with distinct widths. It has been verified that, as the localization process progresses, the fiber bending stresses at the ends of these bands grow to values comparable to those of the fiber strength. The sensitivity of the calculated response to the geometric characteristics of the imperfections was studied parametrically.
Robust Calibration with Respect to Background Variation

The application of linear regression on wavelet coefficients for robust calibration of spectral data with highly variable background was successfully demonstrated with synthetic and real data. A Monte Carlo study was made to investigate the performance of the methods in both the cases where the background variation in the prediction set was the same as in the calibration set and where the variation was different. Multivariate linear regression on wavelet coefficients proved to be competitive in the first case and superior in the second case with respect to partial least squares (PLS) calibration. Results on real near-infrared (NIR) data confirmed the simulation study. As a study of regression on wavelet coefficients, this is the first application study of regression on wavelet coefficients that shows how the wavelet’s property of vanishing moments can be used for reducing the effects of varying background. As a background correction method, the proposed approach avoided errors introduced in the estimation process. In addition, the strategy proposed here can be applied to data collected by various other analytical techniques as well.
A design method for high-speed propulsor blades

This study uses a nonlinear optimization method coupled with a vortex lattice cavitating propeller analysis method to design efficient propeller blades. Different constraints are imposed to improve propeller design. Several advancements in the method are shown, including the option for quadratic skew, user specified skew distribution, and a constraint limiting the minimum pressure in wetted regions of the blade. Results for a series of fully wetted runs demonstrate the effectiveness of the constraint on minimum pressure in preventing the onset of bubble or mid-chord cavitation. A comparison ofa design in uniform inflow with a design in non-axisymmetric inflow indicates that a propeller designed by the present method in non-axisymmetric inflow has more favorable cavitating flow characteristics than a propeller design assuming uniform inflow. Results are also shown for a series of runs utilizing the cavity constraints. These results indicate that the present method can be used to improve on propeller designs by imposing constraints on the cavity area and cavity volume velocity harmonics, as well as by using a quadratic skew distribution
Design of fluidic self-assembly bonds for precise component positioning

Self Assembly is a promising alternative to conventional pick and place robotic assembly of micro components. Its benefits include parallel integration of parts with low equipment costs. Various approaches to self assembly have been demonstrated, yet demanding applications like assembly of micro-optical devices require increased positioning accuracy. This paper proposes a new method for design of self assembly bonds that addresses this need. Current methods have zero force at the desired assembly position and low stiffness. This allows small disturbance forces to create significant positioning errors. The proposed method uses a substrate assembly feature to provide a high accuracy alignment guide to the part. The capillary bond region of the part and substrate are then modified to create a non-zero positioning force to maintain the part in the desired assembly position. Capillary force models show that this force aligns the part to the substrate assembly feature and reduces sensitivity of part position to process variation. Thus, the new configuration can substantially improve positioning accuracy of capillary self-assembly. This will result in a dramatic decrease in positioning errors in the micro parts. Various binding site designs are analyzed and guidelines are proposed for the design of an effective assembly bond using this new approach.
Constant Stress Drop from Small to Great Earthquakes in Magnitude-Area Scaling

Abstract Earthquakes span a tremendous range of scales, more than 5 orders of magnitude in length. Are earthquakes fundamentally the same across this huge range of scales, or are the great earthquakes somehow different from the small ones? We show that a robust scaling law seen in small earthquakes, with stress drops being independent of earthquake size, indeed holds for great earthquakes as well. The simplest hypothesis, that earthquake stress drops are constant from the smallest to the largest events, combined with a more thorough treatment of the geometrical effects of the finite seismogenic layer depth gives a new magnitude-area scaling that matches the data well and matches the data better over the whole magnitude range than the currently used scaling laws, which have nonconstant stress-drop scaling. This has significant implications for earthquake physics and for seismic hazard estimates.