cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Investigation into Glucose as a Potential Precursor of N-Nitrosothiazolidine in Bacon

The possible involvement of glucose in the formation of N-nitrosothiazolidine (NTHZ) in bacon was investigated by pumping pork bellies with brines containing added glucose (2 and 4%). Raw bacon samples processed with glucose had significantly lower levels of N-nitrosothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid than the smoked control bacons. When the bacon samples with glucose were fried for 6 and 12 min, no NTHZ was detected in the fried products. N-Nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) levels in these samples were much lower than those in the fried control samples. Results of this study demonstrate that the contribution of glucose to NTHZ formation in bacon is minimal relative to that of formaldehyde in the wood smoke.
On the number of gods

A god is a cosmic designer-creator. Atheism says the number of gods is 0. But it is hard to defeat the minimal thesis that some possible universe is actualized by some possible god. Monotheists say the number of gods is 1. Yet no degree of perfection can be coherently assigned to any unique god. Lewis says the number of gods is at least the second beth number. Yet polytheists cannot defend an arbitrary plural number of gods. An alternative is that, for every ordinal, there is a god whose perfection is proportional to it. The n-th god actualizes the best universe(s) in the n-th level of an axiological hierarchy of possible universes. Despite its unorthodoxy, ordinal polytheism has many metaphysically attractive features and merits more serious study.
Usefulness and Consequences of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Dialysis-Dependent Patients With Heart Failure

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is often deferred in dialysis-dependent patients with heart failure (HF) because of a perceived lack of benefit and potentially higher risks, although the outcomes associated with CRT in dialysis have not been reported. We therefore studied our center's experience with CRT in dialysis-dependent patients. We constructed a descriptive assessment of these patients (n = 15) and performed a case-control analysis matching for age, gender, bundle branch morphology, diabetes mellitus, cardiomyopathy origin, and β-blocker and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker use. Baseline and 6-month echocardiograms were assessed for evidence of reverse remodeling. No periprocedural or long-term complications were observed among dialysis patients. Heterogenous improvement in ejection fraction (+3.1 ± 9.2%) was noted and 2 patients derived absolute improvements of 8% and 22%, respectively. Dialysis patients demonstrated the following 3-year event rates: HF hospitalization, 31%; all-cause hospitalization, 100%; mortality, 73%; and HF hospitalization or death, 82%. In the case-control analysis, controls demonstrated superior reverse remodeling (+9.2 ± 9.5% increase in ejection fraction), decreased mortality (73% vs 44%, p = 0.038), and all-cause hospitalizations (76% vs 100%, p = 0.047), with no difference in HF hospitalizations (p = 0.39), compared with dialysis patients. In conclusion, at our center, the dialysis-dependent patients with HF who underwent CRT implantation did so safely and no serious complications were observed. Certain dialysis patients demonstrated compelling improvement after device implantation. Compared with matched controls, dialysis patients were at increased risk for adverse events and worsened echocardiographic outcomes.
Achieving safe autonomous landings on Mars using vision-based approaches

Autonomous landing capabilities will be critical to the success of planetary exploration missions, and in particular to the exploration of Mars. Past studies have indicated that the probability of failure associated with open-loop landings is unacceptably high. Two approaches to achieving autonomous landings with higher probabilities of success are currently under analysis. If a landing site has been certified as hazard free, then navigational aids can be used to facilitate a precision landing. When only limited surface knowledge is available and landing areas cannot be certified as hazard free, then a hazard detection and avoidance approach can be used, in which the vehicle selects hazard free landing sites in real-time during its descent. Issues pertinent to both approaches, including sensors and algorithms, are presented. Preliminary results indicate that one promising approach to achieving high accuracy precision landing is to correlate optical images of the terrain acquired during the terminal descent phase with a reference image. For hazard detection scenarios, a sensor suite comprised of a passive intensity sensor and a laser ranging sensor appears promising as a means of achieving robust landings.
A new formula for the measurement of diastolic mitral valve orifice area

This study evaluated the accuracy of a new formula for the calculation of mitral valve area. Fifty-two patients with mitral stenosis who underwent cardiac catheterization were evaluated by the standard Gorlin and the new formulas. The correlation between the two formulas was excellent (r = 0.89) for valve areas of 0-1.5 cm2. When the new valve area formula yielded an area greater than 1.5 cm2, there was no correlation with the Gorlin formula. However, the likelihood of the Gorlin mitral valve area being less than 1.0 cm2 was low (10%). The results of the new formula do not appear to be affected by atrial fibrillation and are probably subject to the same limitations when used in the presence of a regurgitant lesion. Therefore, with moderate to severe mitral stenosis, this new formula shows a good correlation. However, with mild stenosis, further work is needed to determine the accuracy and limitations of the new formula.
Parametric Sensitivity of Physiological Systems- Prognostic Analysis

Prognostic analysis is a procedure for studying a broad class of multivariable dynamic physiological systems with respect to parametric changes. The technique is basically an application of sensitivity analysis and leads to a computer method for extrapolating the observed behavior of a system for a range of parametric deviations about their nominal values due to operational malfunctions.
A continuous family of partition statistics equidistributed with length

This article investigates a remarkable generalization of the generating function that enumerates partitions by area and number of parts. This generating function is given by the infinite product @?"i">="11/(1-tq^i). We give uncountably many new combinatorial interpretations of this infinite product involving partition statistics that arose originally in the context of Hilbert schemes. We construct explicit bijections proving that all of these statistics are equidistributed with the length statistic on partitions of n. Our bijections employ various combinatorial constructions involving cylindrical lattice paths, Eulerian tours on directed multigraphs, and oriented trees.
Design techniques for scientific visualization

This poster illustrates examples from a work in progress and is presented with the intention of receiving feedback from conference attendees. The work is a collaborative effort in which we are investigating various visual design techniques for scientific visualization that we believe will maximize the flow of information from the video or computer monitor to the viewer.
Deliquescence‐controlled activation of organic aerosols

[1] We examine the cloud condensation nucleation behavior expected for dry submicron particles composed of organic species having limited solubility in water and thus exhibiting deliquescence only under water-supersaturated conditions. If saturated solution water activities aw are approximately 0.97 < aw < 1, then deliquescence is likely to control the supersaturation required to activate submicron particles, leading to high sensitivity of critical supersaturation to dry diameter. Similar behavior may occur for species, including polymeric compounds, that exhibit limited miscibility in water until very dilute conditions. Treating the sparingly-soluble or limited-miscibility species as insoluble aerosol components in calculations of their hygroscopic growth does not reproduce the predicted strong dependence of critical supersaturation on dry particle size. Lack of information on the solubility characteristics of organic-species-dominated atmospheric particulate matter may thus lead to discrepancies between predicted and measured droplet activation, even when particle composition and size are well-constrained by measurements.
Discovery of Water Maser Emission in Five AGNs and a Possible Correlation Between Water Maser and Nuclear 2-10 keV Luminosities

We report the discovery of water maser emission in five active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with the 100 m Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The positions of the newly discovered masers, measured with the VLA, are consistent with the optical positions of the host nuclei to within 1 � (0B3 radio and 1B3 optical) and most likely mark the locations of the embedded central engines. The spectra of three sources, 2MASX J08362280+3327383, NGC 6264, and UGC 09618 NED02, display the characteristic spectral signature of emission from an edge-on accretion disk with maximum orbitalvelocityof � 700, � 800,and � 1300kms � 1 ,respectively.WealsopresentaGBTspectrumofapreviouslyknown source, Mrk 0034, and interpret the narrow Doppler components reported here as indirect evidence that the emission originatesinanedge-onaccretiondiskwithorbitalvelocityof � 500kms � 1 .Weobtainedadetectionrateof 12%(5out of 41) among Seyfert 2 and LINER systems with 10,000 km s � 1 < vsys < 15;000 km s � 1 . For the 30 nuclear water masers with available hard X-ray data, we report a possible relationship between unabsorbed X-ray luminosity (2Y10 keV) and total isotropic water maser luminosity, L2� 10 / L 0:5� 0:1 H2O , consistent with the model proposed by Neufeld and Maloney, in which X-ray irradiation and heating of molecular accretion disk gas by the central engine excites the maser emission. Subject headingg galaxies: active — galaxies: individual (2MASX J08362280+3327383, NGC 6264, UGC 09618 NED02, IRAS 03355+0104, SBS 0927+493, Markarian 0034, NGC 3393, NGC 5495, VII Zw 073, IC 0184, AM 2158� 380 NED02) — galaxies: Seyfert — ISM: jets and outflows — ISM: molecules — masers
Spatial and temporal variations of the Lyman-alpha airglow and related atomic hydrogen distributions

Abstract Spatial variations of the atomic hydrogen Lyman-alpha airglow were observed at 550 km from the OSO-4 spacecraft. Near the subsolar position, the zenith, horizon and nadir emission rates were 27,50 and 35 kR, respectively, while near the antisolar position, the respective emission rates were 2·0, 2·7 and 1·2 kR on 27 October 1967. Analyses of these results shows that the mean vertical optical depth above satellite altitude is in the range 0·87–3·5 with 1·3 as the preferred value. Atomic hyrdogen undergoes a diurnal density variation of the order of a factor of 1·7 with a maximum in the early morning and a minimum in the afternoon. A hydrogen altitude profile corresponding to 1100 K exospheric temperature is adequate to explain the data. Temporal variations of the airglow observed from OGO-4 show that the solar line-center Lyman-alpha flux should typically increase by 50 per cent for an increase in Zurich sunspot count from 30 to 210.
Assessment of vernier acuity development using the "equivalent intrinsic blur" paradigm.

Abstract Vernier acuity in human infants is more than two orders of magnitude poorer than in adults and does not appear to reach adult levels until well beyond the first postnatal year. One source of these developmental differences in vernier acuity may be the presence of levels of intrinsic blur that are higher in infants than in adults. We investigated this hypothesis by measuring vernier acuity in 3-month-olds, 5-month-olds, and adults using stimuli blurred by two-dimensional Gaussian filters. Experiment 1 showed that more stimulus blur is required to degrade vernier acuity in infants than in adults. From these data we estimated that the level of equivalent intrinsic blur for this vernier acuity task decreased by approx. 1.5 log units between 3 months of age and adulthood. These results also suggested that this reduction of equivalent intrinsic blur can account entirely for the improvement in vernier acuity between 3 and :5 months postnatal. However, the large further improvement which occurs between 5 months of age and adulthood cannot be explained solely by equivalent intrinsic blur. In Expt 2, we measured vernier acuity in 3-month-olds and adults using a non-blurred stimulus with the same luminance contrast as the most-blurred stimulus used in Expt 1. Infants' and adults' thresholds were degraded slightly, relative to the non-blurred stimulus from Expt 1, but still were significantly better than the most blurred condition of Expt 1. This suggests that the results from the first experiment were not due simply to the reduction in overall luminance contrast which occurs when stimuli are blurred.
Refinable bivariate quartic C 2 -splines for multi-level data representation and surface display

In this paper, a second-order Hermite basis of the space of C 2 -quartic splines on the six-directional mesh is constructed and the refinable mask of the basis functions is derived. In addition, the extra parameters of this basis are modified to extend the Hermite interpolating property at the integer lattices by including Lagrange interpolation at the half integers as well. We also formulate a compactly supported super function in terms of the basis functions to facilitate the construction of quasi-interpolants to achieve the highest (i.e., fifth) order of approximation in an efficient way. Due to the small (minimum) support of the basis functions, the refinable mask immediately yields (up to) four-point matrix-valued coefficient stencils of a vector subdivision scheme for efficient display of C 2 -quartic spline surfaces. Finally, this vector subdivision approach is further modified to reduce the size of the coefficient stencils to two-point templates while maintaining the second-order Hermite interpolating property.
The cybrid model of sporadic Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the eponym attached to the most prevalent neurodegenerative movement disorder of adults, derived from observations of an early nineteenth century physician and paleontologist, James Parkinson, and is now recognized to encompass much more than a movement disorder clinically or dopamine neuron death pathologically. Most PD ( approximately 90%) is sporadic (sPD), is associated with mitochondrial deficiencies and has been studied in cell and animal models arising from the use of mitochondrial toxins that unfortunately have not predicted clinical efficacy to slow disease progression in humans. We have extensively studied the cytoplasmic hybrid ("cybrid") model of sPD in which donor mtDNAs are introduced into and expressed in neural tumor cells with identical nuclear genetic and environmental backgrounds. sPD cybrids demonstrate many abnormalities in which increased oxidative stress drives downstream antioxidant response and cell death activating signaling pathways. sPD cybrids regulate mitochondrial ETC genes and gene ontology families like sPD brain. sPD cybrids spontaneously form Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, linking mtDNA expression to neuropathology, and demonstrate impaired organelle transport in processes and reduced mitochondrial respiration. Our recent studies show that near-infrared laser light therapy normalizes mitochondrial movement and can stimulate respiration in sPD cybrid neurons, and mitochondrial gene therapy can restore respiration and stimulate mitochondrial ETC gene and protein expression. sPD cybrids have provided multiple lines of circumstantial evidence linking mtDNA to sPD pathogenesis and can serve as platforms for therapy development. sPD cybrid models can be improved by the use of non-tumor human stem cell-derived neural precursor cells and by an introduction of postmortem brain mtDNA to test its causality directly.
Measurements of Complex Dynamic Moduli for Laminated Fiber-Reinforced Composites:

Measurements of storage and loss moduli are reported for laminated glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite beams at frequencies up to 9400 Hz. The storage moduli were relatively insensitive and the ...
The Science of Human Mating Strategies: An Historical Perspective

There is much that is admirable, scientifically accurate, and useful in “The Ape That Thought It Was a Peacock.” It summarizes, albeit selectively, much empirical evidence that has cumulated about ...
Medical versus surgical management of Staphylococcus aureus prosthetic valve endocarditis.

Purpose The study's purpose was to identify prognostic factors associated with mortality in Staphylococcus aureus prosthetic valve endocarditis and to determine whether these factors influenced decisions to treat medically versus surgically. We also analyzed whether there was a subset of patients who were cured with medical therapy alone. Subjects and methods A retrospective review of patients with S aureus prosthetic valve endocarditis was performed. Demographic and clinical data were collected from existing medical records. Severity of illness was classified using American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score. Impact of treatment on in-hospital mortality was assessed using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Fifty-five patients met the Duke criteria for definite S aureus prosthetic valve endocarditis. Twenty-three patients were treated medically, and 32 patients had surgical intervention. Overall mortality was 36% (28% in the surgical group and 48% in the medical group). ASA score IV ( P P = .014) were significant risk factors of mortality. Patients with ASA score IV ( P = .037) and multiple prosthetic valves ( P = .013) were less likely to undergo surgery. Medically treated patients were older compared with those in the surgical group (median age 66 vs 55 years, P = .04). All 4 patients aged less than 50 years in the medically treated group survived. Conclusion Mortality was generally higher in the medically treated patients with S aureus prosthetic valve endocarditis. Multivariable analysis showed that ASA class IV and bioprosthetic valves were independent predictors of mortality. A subset of medically treated patients characterized by age less than 50 years, ASA score III, and without cardiac, central nervous system, or systemic complications were cured without surgical intervention.
An Archive of Anecdotes: Raising Lesbian Consciousness after the Daughters of Bilitis

This essay attends to the archive as an “inventional site for rhetorical pasts” (Morris, “Introduction”) by examining the construction of a queer archive and its effects on lesbian subjects. Drawing on queer archival theories of ephemera, I argue that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon's Lesbian/Woman (1972) constitutes an archive of lesbian experience that functioned rhetorically as a communal and identificatory resource. Martin and Lyon rendered the experiences of women associated with the lesbian homophile organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in the form of “anecdotes” and strategically curated them into middle-class categories designed in direct contrast to the gender and class transgressions of the lesbian bar scene. I identify the rhetorical effect on readers, “archival consciousness raising,” by analyzing autobiographical letters Martin and Lyon received in response and tracing the limits of this effect for more diverse lesbian readers.
Strategic design of protocols to evaluate vision in research on aphasia and related disorders

Background: Most experimental and assessment tasks in studies of neurogenic language disorders rely on visual information processing. Given that many patients with such disorders have visual deficits, failure to describe and/or control for visual function may lead to invalid data collection and interpretation. A review of literature on participant description in aphasia research indicates a clear need for improvement in the description of and control for visual acuity, colour perception, visual fields, visual attention, and ocular motor functions. Few authors control for or describe even basic aspects of vision. This work was supported in part by grant number DC00153‐01A1 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The author wishes to thank Dr Patrick Lavin and Dr Sherry Crawford for expert guidance and training on visual assessment procedures, and Dr Petula Vaz for assistance with visual assessment resources. Aims: Strategic design of visual screening protocols is advocate...
Influence of maternal corticosterone treatment on incubation length of eggs laid by Japanese quail hens selected for divergent adrenocortical stress responsiveness.

1. Previous studies have shown that more yolk corticosterone is found in the eggs of random bred Japanese quail hens implanted with corticosterone during egg formation; both unstressed and stressed quail hens selected for exaggerated (high stress) rather than reduced (low stress) plasma corticosterone response to brief restraint deposit more corticosterone into their egg yolks. The length of egg incubation is also known to be shorter in eggs laid by high than low stress hens. 2. Here we investigated the interactive effects of quail stress line (low vs. high stress) with maternal corticosterone treatment (empty implant controls vs. corticosterone-implants) during egg formation on length of egg incubation. 3. Mean (±SEM) length of egg incubation for high stress control eggs (397⋅3 ± 0⋅4 h) was similarly shorter (by about 4.5 h) than that found for low stress control eggs (392⋅8 ± 0⋅2 h). In addition, on average, the incubation length of eggs laid by corticosterone-implanted hens (392⋅9 ± 0⋅5 h) was nearly 3...
Solvated Succinate Dianion: Structures, Electron Binding Energies, and Dyson Orbitals

Structures and isomerization energies for the succinate dianion, O 2 C(CH 2 ) 2 CO 2 2-, in coordination with one or two water molecules are obtained from ab initio calculations. For the monohydrated case, the most stable structure has two hydrogen bonds between the water and one of the carboxylate groups in a bifurcated arrangement, while the next most stable structure places the water in a bridge between the carboxylate groups. Electron detachment energies obtained from electron propagator calculations agree closely with anion photoelectron spectra. Corresponding Dyson orbitals are most concentrated on carboxylate oxygens that are not directly involved in hydrogen bonds. For the dihydrated complex, the most stable structure has a water molecule coordinated to each carboxylate in a bifurcated arrangement, but there is a closely lying alternative in which there is one bifurcated water molecule coordinated to a carboxylate and another water molecule that bridges between the carboxylates. Predicted electron detachment energies are close to estimates that are made by extrapolation from experimental data on related hydrated dianions. Carboxylate oxygens make the largest contributions to the Dyson orbitals for the lowest electron detachment energies. In the alternative dihydrated structure, carboxylate oxygen amplitudes are reduced by the presence of hydrogen bonding in the Dyson orbitals for the lowest electron detachment energy.
A Model-Driven Question-Answering System for Mixed-Initiative Computer-Assisted Construction

This paper describes a pragmatic question-answering system which was developed for experimental use in a computer-assisted instruction environment. The two primary design goals of this system are 1) the representation of dynamic processes along with their causal interrelationships, and 2) the generation of responses in units of discourse greater than simple sentences. A method of modeling processes with augmented finite-state automata is discussed and is shown to permit efficient inferencing as well as provide a satisfactory deep structure for paragraph generation. Coupled with the dynamic process model is a semantic/conceptual network which contains static or factual information. Examples of the inferencing techniques using both the automaton model and the semantic network are given.
Cyanosis in Patients with Atrial Septal Defect Due to Systemic Venous Drainage into the Left Atrium

Abstract Cyanosis and clubbing of the digits in patients with atrial septal defect usually are indicative of reversal of the interatrial shunt consequent to reduced right ventricular compliance and severe pulmonary hypertension. The condition may be considered inoperable. The cases reported herein emphasize the occurrence of cyanosis in patients with interatrial communication and continued significant left to right shunting, as a consequence of systemic venoarterial shunting into the left atrium. Carefully planned cardiac catherization is indicated to detect the less well recognized mechanisms of cyanosis so that such patients are not denied the benefits of surgical closure of the septal defect.
Sexual selection in a socially monogamous bird: male color predicts paternity success in the mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides

Ornamental traits are thought to evolve because they give individuals an advantage in securing multiple mates. Thus, the presence of ornamentation among males in many monogamous bird species presents something of a conundrum. Under certain conditions, extra-pair paternity can increase the variance in reproductive success among males, thus increasing the potential for sexual selection to act. We addressed this possibility in the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides), a socially monogamous songbird in which males possess brilliant ultraviolet (UV)-blue plumage. Specifically, we asked whether a male’s success at siring offspring within his own nest and within the nests of other males was related to his coloration. In pairwise comparisons, males that sired extra-pair offspring were not more colorful than the males that they cuckolded. However, males that sired at least one extra-pair offspring were, on average, brighter and more UV-blue than males that did not sire extra-pair offspring. Brighter, more UV-blue males sired more offspring both with their own mate and tended to sire more offspring with extra-pair mates and thus sired more offspring overall. Our results support the hypothesis that the brilliant UV-blue ornamental plumage of male mountain bluebirds evolved at least in part because it provides males with an advantage in fertilizing the eggs of multiple females.
Humic acids reduce the bioaccumulation and photoinduced toxicity of fluoranthene to fish

The effects of dissolved humic materials (DHM) on the photoinduced toxicity of fluoranthene to juvenile fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were studied in single-treatment evaluations in a laboratory system under simulated sunlight (UV-A = 140.2 {+-} 2.6 {micro}W/cm{sup 2}, UV-B = 6.40 {+-} 0.21 {micro}W/cm{sup 2})(mean {+-} SE). Five concentrations of fluoranthene and five concentrations of DHM were achieved. The presence of DHM reduced the acute photoinduced toxicity of fluoranthene. Regression analysis revealed that median lethal times (LT50) were directly related to DHM concentration and inversely related to fluoranthene water concentration. The presence of DHM also reduced fluoranthene bioaccumulation, and LT50 values were inversely related to fluoranthene body residues. These findings demonstrate that (1) the photoinduced toxicity of fluoranthene is dependent on body residue and (2) site-specific environmental parameters that affect uptake and/or elimination can determine the rates of mortality due to photoinduced toxicity.
The hypocholesterolemic effect of dietary soybean protein vs. casein in hamsters fed cholesterol-free or cholesterol-enriched semipurified diets

Golden Syrian hamsters fed a cholesterol-free diet containing 25% casein had higher plasma total triglyceride and cholesterol levels and VLDL + LDL cholesterol levels than animals fed a 25% soybean protein diet. Hamsters fed the cholesterol-free casein diet also had higher HDL cholesterol levels than animals fed the soybean protein diet, but these differences were not statistically significant. Addition of cholesterol to the diets caused even greater mean differences between the animals fed different types of protein, but the increased inter-animal variability of response to the added cholesterol resulted in less statistically significant differences. Although less responsive than the nonhybrid Golden Syrian hamsters, hybrid F1B hamsters showed similar effects of dietary casein vs. soybean protein on plasma lipids. These results indicate that the hamster may be a useful model to examine the effect of different types of protein and the interaction with dietary cholesterol on various plasma lipids and lipoproteins.
LT codes-based secure and reliable cloud storage service

With the increasing adoption of cloud computing for data storage, assuring data service reliability, in terms of data correctness and availability, has been outstanding. While redundancy can be added into the data for reliability, the problem becomes challenging in the “pay-as-you-use” cloud paradigm where we always want to efficiently resolve it for both corruption detection and data repair. Prior distributed storage systems based on erasure codes or network coding techniques have either high decoding computational cost for data users, or too much burden of data repair and being online for data owners. In this paper, we design a secure cloud storage service which addresses the reliability issue with near-optimal overall performance. By allowing a third party to perform the public integrity verification, data owners are significantly released from the onerous work of periodically checking data integrity. To completely free the data owner from the burden of being online after data outsourcing, this paper proposes an exact repair solution so that no metadata needs to be generated on the fly for repaired data. The performance analysis and experimental results show that our designed service has comparable storage and communication cost, but much less computational cost during data retrieval than erasure codes-based storage solutions. It introduces less storage cost, much faster data retrieval, and comparable communication cost comparing to network coding-based distributed storage systems.
The Use of Complex Plane Plots in Studying the Electrical Response of Rocks

Laboratory measurements have been made of the impedance of saturated samples of Berea Sandstone and Spirit River Formation sandstone throughout the frequency range of 5Hz to 13MHz. When the data from a saturated sample are presented as a complex impedance plot the frequency dispersion produces a “non-ideal” distribution of points in the form of a depressed and slightly distorted semicircle and an inclined straight line. It is possible to separate the low frequency electrode response from the bulk sample response, thereby isolating the effect of polarization at the sample/electrode interface. The frequency response of the sample can be modelled by an equivalent circuit proposed by RAISTRICK et al. (1976) which includes a frequency dependent admittance term. Different samples and varying levels of water saturation cause changes in the complex impedance plots which can be related to this admittance term. The form of this term and its significance with respect to rock properties needs further investigation.
Detection and characterization of heavy drizzle cells within subtropical marine stratocumulus using AMSR-E 89-GHz passive microwave measurements

Abstract. This empirical study demonstrates the feasibility of using 89-GHz Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer–Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) passive microwave brightness temperature data to detect heavily drizzling cells within subtropical marine stratocumulus. For the purpose of this paper, we define heavily drizzling cells as areas ≥ 6 km × 4 km with C-band Z > 0 dBZ; equivalent to > 0.084 mm h−1. A binary heavy drizzle product is described that can be used to determine areal and feature statistics of drizzle cells within the major marine stratocumulus regions. Current satellite liquid water path (LWP) and cloud radar products capable of detecting drizzle are either lacking in resolution (AMSR-E LWP), diurnal coverage (MODIS LWP), or spatial coverage (CloudSat). The AMSR-E 89-GHz data set at 6 km × 4 km spatial resolution is sufficient for resolving individual heavily drizzling cells. Radiant emission at 89 GHz by liquid-water cloud and precipitation particles from drizzling cells in marine stratocumulus regions yields local maxima in brightness temperature against an otherwise cloud-free background brightness temperature. The background brightness temperature is primarily constrained by column-integrated water vapor for moderate sea surface temperatures. Clouds containing ice are screened out. Once heavily drizzling pixels are identified, connected pixels are grouped into discrete drizzle cell features. The identified drizzle cells are used in turn to determine several spatial statistics for each satellite scene, including drizzle cell number and size distribution. The identification of heavily drizzling cells within marine stratocumulus regions with satellite data facilitates analysis of seasonal and regional drizzle cell occurrence and the interrelation between drizzle and changes in cloud fraction.
Influence of Various Concentrations of Nutrients on Growth and Alkaloid Synthesis in Datura stramonium

In the present investigation field-grown plants of Datura stramonium L. were fertilized with prepared nutrient mixtures containing varying amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Following a four-month growing period the effect of various nutrient formulas on the growth and alkaloid content of the plants was determined. Of the various concentrations of nutrients tested, the mixture containing equal parts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (10-10-10) was most effective in increasing the total of alkaloidal yield from both the leaves and roots. It appears that as the concentration of nitrogen in the formula is decreased (the other nutrients remaining constant), the production of alkaloid in the leaves and roots is also decreased. The physical size of the plants also appears to be directly related to the concentration of nitrogen in the fertilizer. The influence of potassium and phosphorus on the growth of the plants and the alkaloidal content is also considered.
The joint toxicity of type I, II, and nonester pyrethroid insecticides.

ABSTRACT Evidence suggests that there are separate binding domains for type I and II pyrethroid insecticides on the voltage gated sodium channel of the nerve cell axon, but there are no studies that have examined the mixture toxicity of nonester pyrethroids and type I and II pyrethroids. Therefore, we examined the effect of nonester pyrethroid (etofenprox), type I (permethrin), and type II (cypermethrin) pyrethroid insecticides alone and in all combinations to Drosophila melanogaster Meigen. The combination of permethrin + etofenprox and permethrin + cypermethrin demonstrated antagonistic toxicity, while the combination of cypermethrin + etofenprox demonstrated synergistic toxicity. The mixture of permethrin + cypermethrin + etofenprox demonstrated additive toxicity. The toxicity of permethrin + cypermethrin was significantly lower than the toxicity of cypermethrin alone, but the combination was not significantly different from permethrin alone. The toxicity of permethrin + cypermethrin + etofenprox was s...
CMOS circuit performance enhancement by surface orientation optimization

With the advent of novel device structures that can be easily fabricated outside of the traditional (100) plane, it may be advantageous to change the crystal orientation to optimize CMOS circuit performance. The use of alternative surface orientations such as [110] and (111) enhances hole mobility while degrading electron mobility, thus allowing for adjustment of the ratio between nMOS and pMOS transistor drive currents. By optimizing the surface orientation, up to a 15% improvement in gate delay can be expected. This value depends upon the type of logic gate, the off-state leakage specification, and technology scaling trends. The introduction of high-/spl kappa/ dielectrics may provide an added incentive for the use of non-(100) orientations as this method of circuit performance enhancement may be used to compensate for mobility degradation from the high-/spl kappa/ interface. Additional concerns including layout area and device reliability are discussed.
A Simplified Preparation for Relating Cellular Events to Behavior: Contribution of LE and Unidentified Siphon Sensory Neurons to Mediation and Habituation of the Aplysia Gill- and Siphon- Withdrawal Reflex

We have begun to analyze several elementary forms of learning in a simple preparation consisting of the isolated mantle organs and abdominal ganglion of Aplysia. Previous studies suggested that plasticity at siphon sensory neuron synapses contributes to habituation and dishabituation of the gill- and siphon-withdrawal reflex in this preparation. We next wished to identify the sensory neurons that participate in the reflex and examine their plasticity more directly. To investigate the contribution of the LE siphon mechanosensory cells, we recorded from them and gill or siphon motor neurons during the same siphon stimulation that has been used in behavioral experiments in this preparation. Our results indicate that the LE cells make a substantial contribution to the evoked response in the motor neurons under these conditions, but they suggest that other as yet unidentified siphon sensory neurons with lower thresholds and shorter latencies also contribute. In addition, we find that homosynaptic depression of monosynaptic postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) from LE sensory cells makes an important contribution to habituation of the response in the motor neurons. To investigate plasticity of PSPs from the unidentified sensory neurons, we recorded the PSP that was produced in a motor neuron by water-movement stimulation of the siphon, which does not cause firing of LE cells. Our results suggest that PSPs from the unidentified sensory neurons and the LE neurons undergo similar plasticity during habituation and dishabituation training. These results support the idea that plasticity at synapses of both LE and unidentified sensory neurons contributes to habituation and dishabituation of the reflex response in this preparation.
A Model for University–Community Engagement: Continuing Education's Role as Convener

Abstract Administrators are continually seeking university-community engagement. Continuing education departments are in a unique position to further these initiatives by connecting academic faculty, staff, and students with emerging community needs. This article provides a model to demonstrate the significant role continuing educators can play in convening groups of people to unite efforts around a common mission. These community collaborations can further academic research initiatives while addressing significant needs within our community. By linking academic needs and resources with community needs and resources, continuing education departments can foster relevant, mutually beneficial engagement initiatives that demonstrate a shared responsibility of social and civic engagement for our students, our university, and our community.
Dynamin Assembly Strategies and Adaptor Proteins in Mitochondrial Fission

Mitochondrial fission is mediated by a dynamin-related GTPase that assembles at constricted sites on the organelle. The mechanism of action of this GTPase in fission is related to that of classical dynamin, which severs the necks of clathrin-coated pits at the plasma membrane. The scale of these membrane remodeling events differs by an order of magnitude, however, and structural studies have revealed variations in the assembly properties of classical and mitochondrial dynamins that accommodate these differences. Despite this progress, structural and mechanistic models have not yet incorporated a growing number of adaptor proteins that are required for the membrane recruitment and function of mitochondrial dynamins. Here, we review the structure and assembly properties of the yeast and mammalian mitochondrial dynamins and discuss what is known about the activities of their adaptor proteins.
From Intuition to Data: Using Logic Models to Measure Professional Development Outcomes for Educators Working With Students on the Autism Spectrum

Given the substantial increase in the numbers of students identified with an autism spectrum disorder, it is imperative that effective training for classroom teachers, administrators, and other sup...
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, statin therapy, and risks of atrial fibrillation: an exploratory analysis of the JUPITER trial

Aims Increasing evidence supports a role for inflammation in promoting atrial fibrillation (AF) and statins have anti-inflammatory effects that may be relevant for the prevention of AF. However, studies of statin therapy and incident AF have yielded mixed results and not focused on individuals with an underlying pro-inflammatory response. We studied whether high-sensitivity C-reactive protein is associated with incident AF and whether treatment with rosuvastatin is associated with a lower incidence of AF compared with placebo. Methods and results We randomized men and women with LDL cholesterol <130 mg/dL and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein ≥2 mg/L to receive either rosuvastatin 20 mg daily or placebo. Atrial fibrillation was determined from treatment-blind adverse event reports. Among 17 120 participants without prior history of arrhythmia, each increasing tertile of baseline high-sensitivity C-reactive protein was associated with a 36% increase in the risk of developing AF (95% CI: 1.16–1.60; P -trend < 0.01). Allocation to rosuvastatin when compared with placebo was associated with a 27% reduction in the relative risk of developing AF during the trial period; specifically, AF was reported among 138 participants in the placebo group and 100 in the rosuvastatin group (incidence rate 0.78 vs. 0.56/100 person-years, HR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56–0.94, P = 0.01). The exclusion of participants who developed a major cardiovascular event prior to the report of AF yielded similar results. Conclusion Within the JUPITER trial cohort of individuals selected for underlying inflammation, increasing levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were associated with an increased risk of incident AF and random allocation to rosuvastatin significantly reduced that risk.
Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Precursors for Chemical Vapor Deposition of Oxide-Based Electronic Materials

Ferroelectric and other high dielectric constant metal oxides currently are sought-after for a variety of applications in the electronics industry. To meet the demand of preparation of these interesting materials in a manner compatible with traditional silicon-based fabrication procedures, chemical vapor deposition routes are desired for film growth. Compounds displaying high vapor phase stability are necessary as precursors for these applications. Additionally, in general, it is preferred to utilize compounds in a liquid state, due to the more rapid re-establishment of equilibrium at a liquid-vapor interface, compared to that present at a solid-vapor interface. This combination of desired molecular properties, in turn, presents a great challenge to the coordination chemist. Several of the metals of interest for these uses reside in groups 2–5. Common design features are emerging for the ligands best suited for attachment to these metals for subsequent utilization in the deposition of metal oxides. In order to achieve coordinative saturation of the relatively high ionic radii exhibited by most of these elements, multidentate, monoanionic ligands are relied upon. In the past, most often, homoleptic ligand sets have been employed, thereby reducing the chance for ligand scrambling to occur during the growth process. Such disproportionation processes have been credited, in previous work, with the observation of a temporal decay in vapor pressure of heteroleptic compounds. In some interesting new developments, it has been found that heteroleptic compounds possess sufficient vapor phase integrity to permit their evaluation as CVD precursors. These, and related, results are presented herein.
DNA Cleavage Activity of the V(D)J Recombination Protein RAG1 Is Autoregulated

RAG1 and RAG2 catalyze the first DNA cleavage steps in V(D)J recombination. We demonstrate that the isolated central domain of RAG1 has inherent single-stranded (ss) DNA cleavage activity, which does not require, but is enhanced by, RAG2. The central domain, therefore, contains the active-site residues necessary to perform hydrolysis of the DNA phosphodiester backbone. Furthermore, the catalytic activity of this domain on ss DNA is abolished by addition of the C-terminal domain of RAG1. The inhibitory effects of this latter domain are suppressed on substrates containing double-stranded (ds) DNA. Together, the activities of the reconstituted domains on ss versus mixed ds-ss DNA approximate the activity of intact RAG1 in the presence of RAG2. We propose how the combined actions of the RAG1 domains may function in V(D)J recombination and also in aberrant cleavage reactions that may lead to genomic instability in B and T lymphocytes.
Comment on Drummond and French: GIS Evolution: Are We Messed Up by Mashups?

Mapping and location-based services have taken off in recent years. Web sites and mobile devices provide navigation aides and map locations of restaurants, ATM machines, and homes for sale. Tens, i...
A Theory of Political Districting

Fair districting requires more than compact, contiguous equal-sized districts; namely, sets of districts should also possess certain features. Specifically, they should be neutral (treat all parties alike) and responsive to changes in votes. In order to establish the extent to which these goals can be achieved, we give a precise definition to the concept of neutrality and expand the notion of responsiveness into three characteristics: the range in actual votes over which a districting plan is responsive; the degree of responsiveness in the vicinity of the “normal vote” (i.e., competitiveness); and the constancy of the swing ratio (i.e., the rate at which vote changes yield seat changes) over a range of votes. We show that while all possible values for these features are readily attainable when considered individually, certain combinations of values cannot be achieved. Finally, we identify the nature of the compromises required and the properties that the compromises possess, and show the kinds of trade-offs that result in reasonably fair districting plans.
Blood and Urinary Tests in Stone Formers

Kidney stone disease is highly prevalent, has a rising incidence, and a high recurrence rate. Stone events greatly impact quality of life of patients and pose a great financial burden on society. Over several decades, the surgical treatment of stone disease has advanced significantly. While surgical technique has evolved, evidence demonstrates medical therapy decreases stone recurrence rates and prevention should not be overshadowed by surgical advances. A thorough metabolic evaluation of stone formers helps guide therapy for prevention. Herein we review the specific blood and urine tests that can be done in stone formers to identify specific treatable metabolic abnormalities.