cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Magnetic Field of Saturn: Pioneer 11 Observations

The intrinsic magnetic field of Saturn measured by the high-field fluxgate magnetometer is much weaker than expected. An analysis of preliminary data combined with the preliminary trajectory yield a model for the main planetary field which is a simple centered dipole of moment 0.20 +/- 0.01 gauss-Rs(3) = 4.3 +/- 0.2 x 10(28) gauss-cm(3) (1 Rs = 1 Saturn radius = 60,000 km). The polarity is opposite that of Earth, and, surprisingly, the tilt is small, within 2 degrees +/- 1 degrees of the rotation axis. The equatorial field intensity at the cloud tops is 0.2 gauss, and the polar intensity is 0.56 gauss. The unique moon Titan is expected to be located within the magnetosheath of Saturn or the interplanetary medium about 50 percent of the time because the average subsolar point distance to the magnetosphere is estimated to be 20 Rs, the orbital distance to Titan.
Photoneutron and photofission cross sections for 238U and 232Th using neutron capture gamma rays

Abstract The photofission and total photoneutron cross section of 238 U and 232 Th have been measured as a function of energy between 5 and 11 MeV. The photons used were those produced in the neutron capture reaction in the Tangential Beam Port Facility of the University of Virgina Reactor. The capture γ ray sources used were the following; Al, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, N, S and Ti. A computer code was used to calculate the spectrum of each capture γ ray beam used in the irradiations. This calculation accounted for the attenuation in the beam and the contribution from neutron capture in A1 and H. A second code iteratively solved for the best fit cross section curve for the experimentally obtained yield data.
Hardness of thin Films of Nanocrystalline Silver and Nickel Composites Studied by Nanoindentation and Finite Element Analysis

While gas condensation and mechanical alloying have been used to produce nano-phase powders, an effective method of applying these powders as coatings is still lacking. Furthermore, fundamental studies of the mechanical properties of nano-phase powders may be complicated by the porosity associated with consolidation processes. Recently, we have made nano-crystalline composite thin films of Ag-Mo and Ag-Ni by depositing two immiscible elements simultaneous onto substrates. We found, using XRD and TEM, that the average grain size varies from 10 to 100 nm by choosing an appropriate substrate temperature. Nanoindentation measurements showed the hardness of the composite is increased four times by reducing the grain-size of both phases from 100 to 10 nm. The load vs. displacement curves were simulated using a finite element method (ABAQUS). A relationship between the hardness of the two-phase composite and the yield strength of each phase is obtained.
Novelty-induced enhancement in spatial memory: is infancy a critical period?

Development of many psychological functions is known to occur within a limited time window and beyond such a critical period, environmental stimulation has little or no effect. With a split-litter 2 × 2 factorial design in which neonatal and early adulthood novelty exposure were two within-litter factors, we examined whether infancy is a critical period for novelty exposure experience to induce a long-lasting functional enhancement in spatial memory and whether the known enhancement effect induced by early life experience can be further augmented by later adult experience. Spatial memory performance was evaluated in a three-day moving platform Morris water maze task. We found that the animals deprived of novelty exposure during infancy could nevertheless benefit from a delayed adult exposure and that the magnitude of this enhancement was comparable to the enhancement induced by neonatal exposure. This finding indicates that infancy is not a critical period beyond which novelty exposure will have little effect on enhancing spatial memory. Surprisingly, although both neonatal and adult experience alone produced enhancement in spatial memory performance, animals that experienced both neonatal and adult exposures showed no statistically significant difference from those who had none. This finding indicates that the cumulative effect of neonatal and early adulthood experience of novelty is not additive but a result of non-linear interaction and that knowing the effect of a single-stage-intervention does not allow one to predict the final developmental outcome without taking into consideration events occurring before or after.
Potential indicators of reproductive toxicity: Testicular sperm production and epididymal sperm number, transit time, and motility in Fischer 344 rats

Comprehensive assessment of the effects of chemicals on male reproductive functioning requires study of effects on spermatogenesis and the quality of spermatozoa produced. As potential indicators of toxic effects, we have examined sperm production rate (SPR) and epididymal sperm numbers, transit time, and motility (percentage motile cells and swimming speeds) in Fischer-344 (F-344) rats. Groups (n = 14 or 15) of rats at 6, 8, 10, 15, and 20 weeks of age were studied to investigate the suitability of these indicators for detecting toxic effects, and to establish the age at which this strain of rat sexually matures. Mean SPRs (10(6) sperm/rat/day), as measured by enumerating spermatids in testicular homogenates, were 2 +/- 3, 22 +/- 6, 41 +/- 7, 49 +/- 6, and 46 +/- 7 at 6, 8, 10, 15, and 20 weeks, respectively. Epididymal sperm numbers and the percentage of motile spermatozoa also increased with age. No correlation was found between SPR and either testis weight or epididymal sperm number at 10, 15, or 20 weeks of age. Our results indicate that male F-344 rats become sexually mature between 10 and 15 weeks of age, and that testis weight and epididymal sperm number are unreliable quantitative indicators of sperm production rate. The low variability among adult rats in SPR and some of the other indicators of testicular and epididymal functioning examined in this study suggest that they should be sensitive measures of male reproductive toxicity.
Out of Sight: Industrial Espionage, Ocular Authority and East German Communism, 1965–1989

The Stasi continues to enjoy a reputation as one of the most effective espionage agencies in the world, especially in the area of foreign intelligence gathering. This article employs the case of Gerhardt Ronneberger, one of East Germany's most capable spies, to challenge assumptions about the Stasi's operational successes, economic relevance and methodological proficiency. In particular, it argues that East German intelligence gathering was undermined by an institutionalisd distinction between sight, or the work of observation, and vision, or the process of signification. In Ronneberger's case, the spy agency wasted considerable time and resources trying to make sense of his operational performance and political reliability. In the end, however, even his most spectacular successes, which included smuggling a laser-guided navigation system into the GDR and acquiring proscribed computer chip and microprocessor designs from Toshiba, did not matter, since they did not change East Germany's inability to narrow the technological gap with the West.
On sums and products of distinct numbers

Let A be a set of k complex numbers, and let A+ (respectively, A×) be the set of sums (resp. products) of distinct elements of A. Let gc(k) = minA⊂C,|A|=k {|A+| + |A×|}. Ruzsa posed the question whether gc(k) grows faster than any power of k. In this note we give an affirmative answer to this question.
Acoustic measurements of the spatial and temporal structure of the near-bottom boundary layer in the 1990-1991 STRESS experiment

Abstract As part of the 1990–1991 Sediment TRansport Events on Shelves and Slopes (STRESS) experiment, a 5 MHz Acoustic BackScatter System (ABSS) was deployed in 90 m of water to measure vertical profiles of near-bottom suspended sediment concentration. By looking at the vertical profile of concentration from 0 to 50 cm above bottom (cmab) with 1 cm vertical resolution, the ABSS was able to examine the detailed structure of the bottom boundary layer created by combined wave and current stresses. The acoustic profiles clearly showed the wave-current boundary layer, which extends to (order) 10 cmab. The profiles also showed evidence of an “intermediate” boundary layer, also influenced by combined wave and current stresses, just above the wave-current boundary layer. This paper examines the boundary-layer structure by comparing acoustic data obtained by the authors to a 1-D eddy viscosity model formulation. Specifically, these data are compared to a simple extension of the Grant-Glenn-Madsen model formulation. Also of interest is the appearance of apparently 3-D “advective plume” structures in these data. This is an interesting feature in a site which was initially chosen to be a good example of (temporally averaged) 1-D bottom boundary-layer dynamics. Computer modeling and sector-scanning sonar images are presented to justify the plausibility of observing 3-D structure at the STRESS site. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
Rehabilitation of the long-term respirator patient.

Abstract Changing medical concepts, created by the evolution of newer techniques in the prevention of disease processes, and the management of severely disabled patients, indicate the value of a dynamic approach toward fulfillment of our responsibilities. This is illustrated by the rehabilitation management of the long-term respirator patient, who may be considered a prototype of disabling chronic disease.
Invariant, non-invariant operators and quantum fluctuations in tunneling

Abstract Quantum fluctuations occurring in tunneling processes are studied via the operator Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) formalism, generated from the principles of Feynman and Schwinger. It is shown that due to these quantum fluctuations and the ordering procedure, the operator HJ equation does not transform likewise its classical counterpart, and that two kinds of quantum operators (one invariant and the other non-invariant), associated to a classical invariant, can be unambiguously distinguished within this formalism.
Improving Positive Airway Pressure Adherence in Children.

CPAP is a safe and effective treatment for children with OSAS that has many beneficial effects. The major limiting factor for successful treatment with CPAP is adherence. Psychosocial factors and patient characteristics are the main predictors of poor adherence, with low maternal education being the strongest. Managing suboptimal adherence entails engaging and educating the child and parent about CPAP. This approach involves discussing preexisting attitudes, outcome expectations, and side effects, in addition to providing constant support from a dedicated team. More intensive cognitive-behavioral interventions may prove useful in overcoming poor CPAP adherence in complex cases.
A novel Volume-Compensated Particle method for 2D elasticity and plasticity analysis

Abstract A novel Volume-Compensated Particle model (VCPM) is proposed for the modeling of deformation and fracture in solids. In this proposed method, two potentials are introduced to model the interactions between material particles, i.e., a local pair-wise potential and a non-local multi-body potential. The local pair-wise potential is utilized to account for the constitutive relationship within the connecting bonds between particles while the non-local multi-body potential is employed for considering the volumetric effects under general mechanical loadings. The potential coefficients are determined by matching the potential energy stored in a discrete unit cell to the strain energy at the classical continuum level. A volume conservation scheme is proposed to model the plastic deformation. The validity of the proposed model is tested against the classical elasticity and elasto-plasticity benchmarks before its application to fracture problems. Several conclusions are drawn based on the proposed study.
What's growth got to do with it? Process and product in the evolution of ontogeny

Growth allometries are regularly used to diagnose evolutionary perturbations in the rate and timing of development, and to study their effects on morphological change. Metric variables are measured for ancestor and descendant, plotted on logarithmic scales, and the two estimated linear relationships are compared. The relationship between these two lines has been a tool of choice for inferring heterochronic history, particularly when age data are not available. Size, plotted on the abscissa, is often used as a proxy for age; the variable plotted along the ordinate typically measures some aspect of ontogenetic change. Under the rubric of "allometric heterochrony", changes in the slopes and intercepts of ancestral and descendant growth allometries are taken to reveal heterochronic processes (changes in the rates of growth, offset timing, and onset timing of shape relative to size) and their two products—paedomorphosis (the retention in mature descendants of ancestral juvenile characteristics) and peramorphosis (the acquisition in mature descendants of features that transcend ancestral adult characteristics). This framework is said to be grounded in the pioneering work of Gould (1977) and Alberch et al. (1979). In this paper, we examine the meanings of "shape" in heterochronic analysis. We argue that the current diagnostic toolkit departs significantly from those constructed by Gould (1977) and Alberch et al. (1979), and bears little relevance to the problems they addressed. We show why growth allometries (as typically read) do not capture evolutionary relationships between growth (Gould's "size") and development (Gould's "shape").
Fatigue analysis and the local stress–strain approach in complex vehicular structures

Abstract In the last 20 years the `strain-life' fatigue analysis philosophy has achieved the status of industry standard in the automotive, truck and earth moving industries in North America. Although the fundamental concepts of the method are quite simple, the recent massive computerization of the techniques, and their incorporation into large dynamically loaded body and chassis durability calculation models, has resulted in new capabilities and insights for engineers, but also has meant new challenges for the creators of fatigue simulation software. This paper gives a brief history of the evolution of this type of calculation software in the vehicular industry from the observation of stress–strain hysteresis behavior, through the early development of computer versions of the stress–strain shape and memory models, to their evolution into routines that are closely linked to vehicle dynamics models that calculate loads in structures, finite element models that transform the loads into local stresses, and subsequent plasticity correction and damage evaluation routines which yield expected life color contour plots for vehicle body and chassis.
Optimal algorithms: Tools for mathematical modeling

In this paper we discuss the use of optimal error algorithms as tools to aid the process of mathematical modeling. Often a model cannot directly be tested, but computational experiments are performed and the models are evaluated based on the performance of algorithms which embody the model. In general the only conclusion that should be drawn from such comparisons is which algorithm, not which model, is best. If, however, we compare optimal error algorithms which embody different models, we can draw conclusions about the appropriateness of the different models. After a general discussion of the use of optimal algorithms in modeling, we present an example from the modeling of human reconstruction of surfaces from sparse visual depth data. We then discuss the interplay of contaminated data and modeling. We end with a short discussion of the interplay between optimal error algorithms, algorithm complexity, and modeling.
Development of on—line measurement system for grinding machining

In this paper a new type of intelligent on-line measurer is developed which is used for on-line measuring diametershape and place value of the axle. In the meter MCS-51''1 microcontroller is adopted. The sensor is an inductance transducer. The dynamic character of the sensor is analyzed in detail. That is say how the poor dynamic character of the meter make the on-line measuring error If the meter is a first-order system and the input function is a ramp function the respond error of the system to the input is analyzed. With this method the system error is compensated by the software. So the accuracy of the measuring result is high enough. In order to keep the measuring system work at worksite in normal condition the anti-interference techniques are adopted. In addition to hardware anti-interference technique is used the redundant programming technique and watchdog system are used too in the software. lastly the real measuring result is given.
A GPIb alpha-related protein is expressed by fresh human breast carcinoma tissue and is regulated by a PKC-sensitive mechanism

Fresh frozen breast carcinoma tissues were examined for the presence of GPIb alpha by immunohistochemistry. GPIb alpha was detected in six of seven primary invasive intraductal breast carcinoma tissues whereas staining was negative in seven of seven nonmalignant breast specimens. When biotin-labeled, triton-lysed, phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-incubated breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells were immunoprecipitated with a MoAb directed against the platelet GPIb/IX complex, expression of GPIb was significantly enhanced in comparison to control preparations. Furthermore, incubation of MCF-7 cells for 84 h with 16 nmol/L PMA, but not with its biologically inactive derivative MePMA, induced a three- to fourfold increase in the surface expression of both GPIb alpha and GPIb/IX by flow cytometry. This PMA-enhanced GPIb alpha expression was almost completely abrogated when MCF-7 cells were first preincubated with the specific protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, H-7, prior to PMA treatment. Finally, PMA-incubated MCF-7 cells demonstrated a 63% (N = 6; P < 0.001) increase in tumor-induced platelet agglutination when added to platelets in comparison to control tumor cells. This enhancement could be abrogated by H-7. These findings confirm the expression of a protein with homology to platelet GPIb alpha expressed by fresh human breast carcinoma tissues, demonstrate that PMA enhances GPIb membrane expression by MCF-7 cells, and suggest that PKC plays a role in this process.
Histone deacetylase inhibitors: insights into mechanisms of lethality

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have recently emerged as an important target for therapeutic intervention in cancer and potentially other human diseases. By modulating the acetylation status of histones, histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) alter the transcription of genes involved in cell growth, maturation, survival and apoptosis, among other processes. Early clinical results suggest a potentially useful role for HDACIs in the treatment of certain forms of lymphoma (e.g., cutaneous T cell lymphoma) and acute leukaemia. An unresolved question is how HDACIs induce cell death in tumour cells. Recent studies suggest that acetylation of nonhistone proteins may play an important role in the biological effects of this class of compounds, and may explain lack of correlation between histone acetylation and induction of cell death by HDACIs in some circumstances. Recently, attention has focussed on the effects of HDACIs on disruption of co-repressor complexes, induction of oxidative injury, upregulation of the expression of death receptors, generation of lipid second messengers such as ceramide, interference with the function of chaperone proteins and modulation of the activity of NF-kappaB as critical determinants of lethality. Aside from providing critical insights into the mechanism of action of HDACIs in neoplastic disease, these findings may provide a foundation for the rational development of combination studies, involving HDACIs in combination with either conventional cytotoxic drugs as well as more novel targeted agents.
Evaluation of self-magnetically pinched diodes up to 10 MV as high-resolution flash X-ray sources

The merits of several high-resolution, pulsed-power-driven, flash X-ray sources are examined with numerical simulation for voltages up to 10 MV. The charged particle dynamics in these self-magnetically pinched diodes (SMPDs), as well as electron scattering and energy loss in the high-atomic-number target, are treated with the partic by coupling the output from LSP with the two-dimensional component of the integrated tiger series of Monte Carlo electron/photon transport codes, CYLTRAN. The LSP/CYLTRAN model agrees well with angular dose-rate measurements from positive-polarity rod-pinch-diode experiments, where peak voltages ranged from 5.2-6.3 MV. This analysis indicates that, in this voltage range, the dose increases with angle and is a maximum in the direction headed back into the generator. This suggests that high-voltage rod-pinch experiments should be performed in negative polarity to maximize the extracted dose. The benchmarked LSP/CYLTRAN model is then used to examine three attractive negative-polarity diode geometry concepts as possible high-resolution radiography sources for voltages up to 10 MV. For a 2-mm-diameter reentrant rod-pinch diode (RPD), a forward-directed dose of 740 rad(LiF) at 1 m in a 50-ns full-width at half-maximum radiation pulse is predicted. For a 2-mm-diameter nonreentrant RPD, a forward-directed dose of 1270 rad(LiF) is predicted. For both RPDs, the on-axis X-ray spot size is comparable to the rod diameter. A self-similar hydrodynamic model for rod expansion indicates that spot-size growth from hydrodynamic effects should be minimal. For the planar SMPD, a forward-directed dose of 1370 rad(LiF) and a similar X-ray spot size are predicted. These results show that the nonreentrant RPD and the planar SMPD are very attractive candidates for negative-polarity high-resolution X-ray sources for voltages of up to 10 MV.
A robust methodology for discriminant analysis based on least-absolute-value estimation

Many important real-world discriminant problems require application of linear discriminant analysis to data that are contaminated with outliers and do not approximate the assumptions required for the near-optimal performance of the standard statistical model. A robust diagnostic methodology is developed based on least-absolute-value estimation which addresses both descriptive and classification objectives of discriminant analysis. When used in conjunction with standard discriminant analysis this methodology allows the assessment of the impact of contamination on standard discriminant analysis and identification of possible assumption violations and contaminating data points through an informal graphical display. An application to the mortgage loan-granting problem is used as a basis for demonstrating the methodology.
Minimizing input filter physical size subject to electrical performance constraints [SMPS CAD]

This paper describes an automated technique, based on a circuit optimizer, for minimizing the physical dimensions of a switch mode power supply input filter. The technique is shown on a two-section input filter. Results are assessed statistically and graphically.
Hair flow sensors: From bio-inspiration to bio-mimicking - A review

A great many living beings, such as aquatics and arthropods, are equipped with highly sensitive flow sensors to help them survive in challenging environments. These sensors are excellent sources of inspiration for developing application-driven artificial flow sensors with high sensitivity and performance. This paper reviews the bio-inspirations on flow sensing in nature and the bio-mimicking efforts to emulate such sensing mechanisms in recent years. The natural flow sensing systems in aquatics and arthropods are reviewed to highlight inspirations at multiple levels such as morphology, sensing mechanism and information processing. Biomimetic hair flow sensors based on different sensing mechanisms and fabrication technologies are also reviewed to capture the recent accomplishments and to point out areas where further progress is necessary. Biomimetic flow sensors are still in their early stages. Further efforts are required to unveil the sensing mechanisms in the natural biological systems and to achieve multi-level bio-mimicking of the natural system to develop their artificial counterparts.
Statistical distributions of DCT coefficients and their application to an interframe compression algorithm for 3-D medical images

Displacement estimated interframe (DEI) coding, a coding scheme for 3-D medical image data sets such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) images, is presented. To take advantage of the correlation between contiguous slices, a displacement-compensated difference image based on the previous image is encoded. The best fitting distribution functions for the discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients obtained from displacement compensated difference images are determined and used in allocating bits and optimizing quantizers for the coefficients. The DEI scheme is compared with 2-D block discrete cosine transform (DCT) as well as a full-frame DCT using the bit allocation technique of S. Lo and H.K. Huang (1985). For X-ray CT head images, the present bit allocation and quantizer design, using an appropriate distribution model, resulted in a 13-dB improvement in the SNR compared to the full-frame DCT using the bit allocation technique. For an image set with 5-mm slice thickness, the DEI method gave about 5% improvement in the compression ratio on average and less blockiness at the same distortion. The performance gain increases to about 10% when the slice thickness decreases to 3 mm. >
SURVEY EVIDENCE ON EXCESSIVE PUBLIC PESSIMISM ABOUT THE FUTURE BEHAVIOR OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Two of the questions in the Surveys of Consumer At- titudes undertaken by the Survey Research Center of the Univer- sity of Michigan deal with households' expectations about infla- tion and the change in unemployment. We compare quarterly time series of the mean responses with the actual behavior of inflation and unemployment to see whether households are overly optimistic or pessimistic about the future behavior of inflation and unemployment. We find an asymmetry. Over the 21 years of our analysis, on average the public is neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic about future inflation. However, the public has been significantly too pessimistic about the future behavior of unemployment. These results have an important implication for macroeconomic policy. If politicians respond to complaints from the public about inflation and unemployment they will target policy instruments at unemployment to a greater extent than if the public was not so pessimistic about the behavior of unemploy- ment. The result may be a higher rate of inflation than if the public were not mistakenly pessimistic about the behavior of un- employment.
Generalized hybrid orbital for the treatment of boundary atoms in combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical calculations using the semiempirical parameterized model 3 method

The application of combined quantum mechanical (QM) and molecular mechanical methods to large molecular systems requires an adequate treatment of the boundary between the two approaches. In this article, we extend the generalized hybrid orbital (GHO) method to the semiempirical parameterized model 3 (PM3) Hamiltonian combined with the CHARMM force field. The GHO method makes use of four hybrid orbitals, one of which is included in the QM region in self-consistent field optimization and three are treated as auxiliary orbitals that do not participate in the QM optimization, but they provide an effective electric field for interactions. An important feature of the GHO method is that the semiempirical parameters for the boundary atom are transferable, and these parameters have been developed for a carbon boundary atom consistent with the PM3 model. The combined GHO-PM3/CHARMM model has been tested on molecular geometry and proton affinity for a series of organic compounds.
Transarterial Chemoembolization and (90)Y Radioembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Review of Current Applications Beyond Intermediate-Stage Disease.

OBJECTIVE. The practice guideline of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases currently recommends transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the treatment of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The use of transarterial radioembolization (TARE) using 90Y microspheres is not formally recommended. This article discusses the current clinical applications of TACE and TARE and compares the clinical utility of these techniques for various subpopulations of patients with HCC. CONCLUSION. For most clinical scenarios, the efficacy and safety of TACE and TARE are probably equivalent. However, TARE appears to have an advantage over TACE in the facilitation of surgical resection by resulting in compensatory hypertrophy of the future liver remnant and possibly in the treatment of patients with portal vein tumor thrombus. On the contrary, TACE is the transarterial treatment of choice for patients with marginal hepatic reserve (i.e., hyperbilirubinemia, ascites) who may be candidates for t...
Likelihood Analysis of Asymmetrical Mutation Bias Gradients in Vertebrate Mitochondrial Genomes

Protein-coding genes in mitochondrial genomes have varying degrees of asymmetric skew in base frequencies at the third codon position. The variation in skew among genes appears to be caused by varying durations of time that the heavy strand spends in the mutagenic single-strand state during replication (D(ssH)). The primary data used to study skew have been the gene-by-gene base frequencies in individual taxa, which provide little information on exactly what kinds of mutations are responsible for the base frequency skew. To assess the contribution of individual mutation components to the ancestral vertebrate substitution pattern, here we analyze a large data set of complete vertebrate mitochondrial genomes in a phylogeny-based likelihood context. This also allows us to evaluate the change in skew continuously along the mitochondrial genome and to directly estimate relative substitution rates. Our results indicate that different types of mutation respond differently to the D(ssH) gradient. A primary role for hydrolytic deamination of cytosines in creating variance in skew among genes was not supported, but rather linearly increasing rates of mutation from adenine to hypoxanthine with D(ssH) appear to drive regional differences in skew. Substitutions due to hydrolytic deamination of cytosines, although common, appear to quickly saturate, possibly due to stabilization by the mitochondrial DNA single-strand-binding protein. These results should form the basis of more realistic models of DNA and protein evolution in mitochondria.
Thermally Responsive Fluid Behaviors in Hydrophobic Nanopores

A fundamental understanding of the thermal effects on nanofluid behaviors is critical for developing and designing innovative thermally responsive nanodevices. Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and experiment, we investigate the temperature-dependent intrusion/adsorption of water molecules into hydrophobic nanopores (carbon nanotubes and nanoporous carbon) and the underlying mechanisms. The critical infiltration pressure is reduced for elevated temperature or increased pore size. The variation of wettability is related to the thermally responsive fluid characteristics, such as the surface tension and contact angle, which arise from the variations of multiple atomic variables including the confined water density, hydrogen bond, and dipole orientation. With thermal perturbation, most of these physical quantities are found to be more significantly influenced in the confined nanoenvironment than in the bulk. By utilizing the prominent thermal effect at the nanoscale, the feasibility and prospective efficiency of employing nanofluidics for energy storage, actuation, and thermal monitoring are discussed.
Quantum mechanical ground state of hydrogen obtained from classical electrodynamics

The behavior of a classical charged point particle under the influence of only a Coulombic binding potential and classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation, is shown to agree closely with the probability density distribution of Schrodinger's wave equation for the ground state of hydrogen. These results again raise the possibility that the main tenets of stochastic electrodynamics (SED) are correct.
Histopathologic changes in the vestibule after cochlear implantation.

OBJECTIVE: The study goal was to determine the histopathologic changes of the vestibular end organs after cochlear implantation and to relate them to clinical performance.STUDY DESIGN: To different...
SPLATTER! SPLATTER! SPLATTER! Workers’ Health and the Spray Machine Debate

A conflict between industrialization and worker health developed in the painting industry during the early 1900s with the introduction of the spray machine. This technological innovation allowed the application of paint at greater speed and lower cost than hand painting and increased the rate at which painters were exposed to lead and other toxins contained in paint. From roughly 1919 to 1931, the painters’ trade union clashed with employers, paint manufacturers, and legislatures over the impact of the spray machine on the health of workers and the need to enact legislation to regulate its use. While painters made gains on local, state, and national levels during the 1920s to prevent the use of the spray machine, their efforts ultimately failed.
Strategies Used by Older Adults with Asthma for Adherence to Inhaled Corticosteroids

BACKGROUND Older adults with asthma have low levels of adherence to their prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). While prior research has identified demographic and cognitive factors associated with ICS adherence among elderly asthmatics, little is known about the strategies that older adults use to achieve daily use of their medications. Identifying such strategies could provide clinicians with useful advice for patients when counseling their patients about ICS adherence.
Enhancement of Sendai virus-mediated cell fusion by cupric ions.

The effect of divalent cations on cell fusion by concentrated Sendai virus, inactivated by beta-propiolactone, was investigated using Vero and mouse L-929 cells in monolayers. With both cell lines, which are normally resistant to exogenous viral fusion, Cu2+ in sublethal concentrations was found to promote polykaryon formation to a marked degree. The simultaneous presence of Cu2+ and virus was required for this effect, which was thought to be related to the cytotoxic action of Cu2+ on the cell membrane. Accordingly, under standard conditions and in the absence of virus, leakage of isotopically labeled intracellular protein was shown to bear a quantitative relationship to Cu2+ concentration. Concomitant changes in the membrane were seen electron microscopically to consist of loss of microvilli and the appearance of numerous vesicles on, or adjacent to, the membrane. The relationship of enhanced fusibility to these toxic changes was not further elucidated. The fusion-promoting effect of Cu2+ far exceeded that of Ca2+; and other cations tested had no effect.
REscope: High-dimensional Statistical Circuit Simulation towards Full Failure Region Coverage

Statistical circuit simulation is exhibiting increasing importance for circuit design under process variations. Existing approaches cannot efficiently analyze the failure probability for circuits with a large number of variation, nor handle problems with multiple disjoint failure regions. The proposed rare event microscope (REscope) first reduces the problem dimension by pruning the parameters with little contribution to circuit failure. Furthermore, we applied a nonlinear classifier which is capable of identifying multiple disjoint failure regions. In REscope, only likely-to-fail samples are simulated then matched to a generalized pareto distribution. On a 108-dimension charge pump circuit in PLL design, REscope outperforms the importance sampling and achieves more than 2 orders of magnitude speedup compared to Monte Carlo. Moreover, it accurately estimates failure rate, while the importance sampling totally fails because failure regions are not correctly captured.
Intron-independent Association of Splicing Factors with Active Genes

The cell nucleus is organized as discrete domains, often associated with specific events involved in chromosome organization, replication, and gene expression. We have examined the spatial and functional relationship between the sites of heat shock gene transcription and the speckles enriched in splicing factors in primary human fibroblasts by combining immunofluorescence and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The hsp90α and hsp70 genes are inducibly regulated by exposure to stress from a low basal level to a high rate of transcription; additionally the hsp90α gene contains 10 introns whereas the hsp70 gene is intronless. At 37°C, only 30% of hsp90α transcription sites are associated with speckles whereas little association is detected with the hsp70 gene, whose constitutive expression is undetectable relative to the hsp90α gene. Upon exposure of cells to heat shock, the heavy metal cadmium, or the amino acid analogue azetidine, transcription at the hsp90α and hsp70 gene loci is strongly induced, and both hsp transcription sites become associated with speckles in >90% of the cells. These results reveal a clear disconnection between the presence of intervening sequences at specific gene loci and the association with splicing factor–rich regions and suggest that subnuclear structures containing splicing factors are associated with sites of transcription.
Esotropia in Children with Ventricular-Peritoneal Shunts.

ABSTRACTPurpose: Compared with the general population, patients with hydrocephalus are more likely to have strabismus. This study was undertaken to examine characteristics and outcomes of children with esotropia and ventricular-peritoneal shunt placement due to hydrocephalus.Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of all pediatric patients with esotropia and a history of ventricular-peritoneal shunt placement seen by our pediatric ophthalmology service between January 2000 and December 2010.Results: Sixteen patients between the age of 3 months and 5.6 years met study criteria. Nine were premature and all but one of the patients had developmental delay. Although all patients had a ventricular-peritoneal shunt, the diagnosis leading to shunt placement was intraventricular hemorrhage or congenital hydrocephalus in 75% of the patients. In all but 3 patients the hydrocephalus was diagnosed before the esotropia. Ten children had congenital esotropia and 6 had acquired esotropia. Eleven of the 16 children ...
Future of Wetland Restoration

The future of wetland restoration is filled with uncertainties. Water withdrawals, land conversion to agriculture, eutrophication, shoreline and waterfront development, and climate change, all driven by a growing human population, will test our ability to successfully restore wetlands in the twenty-first century. From a restoration perspective, where we are able, we must anticipate and prepare for these changes. First and foremost, we need to ensure adequate water to sustain hydrology of existing wetlands and to restore degraded ones. It is important to reduce sediment and nutrient loadings to aquatic ecosystems to maintain water quality and limit the spread of invasive species. Climate change poses many challenges, including CO 2 enrichment, warming, increasing variability of temperature and precipitation, and sea level rise. Restoration projects today will need to consider these changes by creating dynamic buffers to enable wetlands to migrate with rising sea level and placing sites in areas that will support shifting species ranges. The future of wetland restoration depends on our virtuous stewardship of the earth's watery, muddy, and peaty resources.
Using Special Assessments as a Tool for Smart Growth: Louisville's New Metro Government as a Potential Example

Local governments require a variety of smart growth tools to respond to the dual problems of suburban sprawl and underused urban cores. Cities and towns have often financed some of the expenses of building streets, sidewalks and sewers by assessing some of their costs against the nearby properties which received a special benefit from the public expenditure. This article looks at one major metropolitan city, Louisville, Kentucky, as an example of how special assessments might also be used for parks and open space, as well as major new facilities downtown, drawing on law and experience in jurisdictions such as Massachusetts and California, as well as Kentucky.
Combined Angiotensin Receptor Antagonism and Neprilysin Inhibition

Heart failure affects ≈5.7 million people in the United States alone. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, β-blockers, and aldosterone antagonists have improved mortality in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction, but mortality remains high. In July 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first of a new class of drugs for the treatment of heart failure: Valsartan/sacubitril (formerly known as LCZ696 and currently marketed by Novartis as Entresto) combines the angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan and the neprilysin inhibitor prodrug sacubitril in a 1:1 ratio in a sodium supramolecular complex. Sacubitril is converted by esterases to LBQ657, which inhibits neprilysin, the enzyme responsible for the degradation of the natriuretic peptides and many other vasoactive peptides. Thus, this combined angiotensin receptor antagonist and neprilysin inhibitor addresses 2 of the pathophysiological mechanisms of heart failure: activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and decreased sensitivity to natriuretic peptides. In the Prospective Comparison of ARNI With ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure (PARADIGM-HF) trial, valsartan/sacubitril significantly reduced mortality and hospitalization for heart failure, as well as blood pressure, compared with enalapril in patients with heart failure, reduced ejection fraction, and an elevated circulating level of brain natriuretic peptide or N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide. Ongoing clinical trials are evaluating the role of valsartan/sacubitril in the treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and hypertension. We review here the mechanisms of action of valsartan/sacubitril, the pharmacological properties of the drug, and its efficacy and safety in the treatment of heart failure and hypertension.
Discrete element modeling of the process zone shape in mode I fracture at peak load and in post-peak regime

Abstract The bonded particle discrete element method is used to study the fracture process zone in three point bending tests of notched beams. Five different specimen sizes and different material ductility are studied. To capture the damaged contacts around the induced macro-crack (fully softened and detached contacts in front of the notch), a contact bond model with softening is implemented. Material ductility is modified by changing the post-peak slope of the load-displacement curve of the contact points between the particles. A servo-controlled loading routine is defined to capture the post-peak behavior and to reveal the impact of macro-crack extension on the size of the process zone. The results show that with the increase in the specimen size, both the width and length of the fracture process zone increase. Examination of the orientation of the contacts around the macro-crack suggests that while close to the macro-crack, contacts with a wide orientation range enter into the softening regime, damaged contacts at some horizontal distance from the induced vertical macro-crack have preferential directions; the damaged contacts are parallel or sub-parallel to the macro-crack at some distance from the macro-crack.
Why I got Interested in Dyadic Differentiation

My story begins in 1969. I spent my first year after graduate school proving that the Walsh-Fourier series of an Lp function converges almost everywhere when p > 1. I submitted it for publication and waited on the referee’s report. About three months later the report came back. The result was already known, proved by P. Sjolin a few months earlier.
NMSC in Organ Transplant Recipients and Other High-Risk Groups

Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) are the most commonly occurring malignancies in the United States, with over 1 million cases annually. Several subsets of patients within the general population are particularly susceptible to the development of basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. These groups include patients with xeroderma pigmentosum, basal cell nevus syndrome, epidermodysplasia verruciformis, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia as well as organ transplant recipients. Organ transplant recipients are the largest and best characterized of these subsets of patients. Review of the available data regarding the epidemiology, etiology, and clinical features of NMSC in organ transplant patients provides insight into the care of other high-risk patients.
Handling and storage of cowpea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. as a leaf vegetable

A high-yielding cowpea cultivar, 'Vita 7', was grown to develop recommendations for handling and storage of fresh leaves. The best packaging was a closed 2 mil polythene bag at temperatures 15-30°C. Over half the leaves (fresh weight basis) were still edible when stored six days at l5°C. Leaves developed chilling injury when stored 2-5 days at temperatures below 15°C. Irrespective of storage temperature and package ventilation, edible leaves retained a moisture content similar to that of freshly harvested leaves.
Investigating the functionality of an OCT4-short response element in human induced pluripotent stem cells

Pluripotent stem cells offer great therapeutic promise for personalized treatment platforms for numerous injuries, disorders, and diseases. Octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) is a key regulatory gene maintaining pluripotency and self-renewal of mammalian cells. With site-specific integration for gene correction in cellular therapeutics, use of the OCT4 promoter may have advantages when expressing a suicide gene if pluripotency remains. However, the human OCT4 promoter region is 4 kb in size, limiting the capacity of therapeutic genes and other regulatory components for viral vectors, and decreasing the efficiency of homologous recombination. The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the functionality of a novel 967bp OCT4-short response element during pluripotency and to examine the OCT4 titer-dependent response during differentiation to human derivatives not expressing OCT4. Our findings demonstrate that the OCT4-short response element is active in pluripotency and this activity is in high correlation with transgene expression in vitro, and the OCT4-short response element is inactivated when pluripotent cells differentiate. These studies demonstrate that this shortened OCT4 regulatory element is functional and may be useful as part of an optimized safety component in a site-specific gene transferring system that could be used as an efficient and clinically applicable safety platform for gene transfer in cellular therapeutics.