cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two-dimensional active sensing system for bicyclist-motorist crash prediction

This paper develops an active sensing system for a bicycle to accurately track rear vehicles that can have two-dimensional motion. The active sensing system consists of a single-beam laser sensor mounted on a rotationally controlled platform. The sensing system is inexpensive, small, lightweight, consumes low power, and is thus ideally suited for the bicycle application. The rotational orientation of the laser sensor needs to be actively controlled in real-time in order to continue to focus on a rear vehicle, as the vehicle's lateral and longitudinal distances change. This tracking problem requires controlling the real-time angular position of the laser sensor without knowing the future trajectory of the vehicle. The challenge is addressed using a novel receding horizon framework for active control and an interacting multiple model framework for estimation. The features and benefits of this active sensing system are illustrated first using simulation results. Then, preliminary experimental results are presented using an instrumented bicycle to show the feasibility of the system in tracking rear vehicles during both straight and turning maneuvers.
Association Between Troponin Levels and Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source

BackgroundOur aim was to determine whether patients with embolic strokes of undetermined source (ESUS) have higher rates of elevated troponin than patients with noncardioembolic strokes. Methods an...
Adversarial authorship, interactive evolutionary hill-climbing, and author CAAT-III

We are currently witnessing the development of increasingly effective author identification systems (AISs) that have the potential to track users across the internet based on their writing style. In this paper, we discuss two methods for providing user anonymity with respect to writing style: Adversarial Stylometry and Adversarial Authorship. With Adversarial Stylometry, a user attempts to obfuscate their writing style by consciously altering it. With Adversarial Authorship, a user can select an author cluster target (ACT) and write toward this target with the intention of subverting an AIS so that the user's writing sample will be misclassified Our results show that Adversarial Authorship via interactive evolutionary hill-climbing outperforms Adversarial Stylometry.
Perinatal and Social Influences on One-Year Physical Outcomes

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the relative influence of medical and social variables on the infant’s health status and motor development level at one year of age. As described in chapter 1, following discharge from the obstetric ward the next scheduled contact between the collaborators on the Danish neonatal project and the mother-infant pairs was an intensive medical examination of the infants that was conducted as closely as possible to the first birthday. After birth and during the first year, the infants were not involved in any special preventive medical care program; health care during this period was left entirely to the individual families. Thus, the one-year follow-up inquiries did not include the imposed access to medical care that characterized the pregnancy and neonatal inquiries. The one-year examination consisted of a thorough physical and neurological examination carried out at the pediatric outpatient ward at Rigshospitalet. When parents were unable to bring their child to the hospital, home visits were arranged.
Blind Carrier Detection for Signals with Unknown Modulation

This paper proposes a blind carrier identification method for phase and/or amplitude modulated signals. The carrier frequency (f c ) of the received signal with unknown phase and/or amplitude modulation is identified from the ratio of the second derivative of the signal with itself. It is shown that this ratio is equal to –(2πf c )2. The second derivative is estimated by successive differences of the highly sampled received signal. It is shown that average of the ratio of estimated second derivative to the highly sampled received signal gives an accurate estimate of the carrier frequency. Since sinusoidal chips in the received signal are symmetrical around certain points, their convolution results in correlation up to a delay. While convolution of the noise, which is not symmetric by definition, with itself does not result in a peak as in the case of correlation. Thus to reduce the additive noise effect, different segments of the received signal are convolved with themselves and these convolution outputs are cross-correlated before computing the second derivative. This results in higher signal-to-noise ratio. This technique along with a bandpass filter bank improves the performance of the second derivative based carrier detection method in the presence of noise. The proposed carrier detection method is applied to M-PSK, QAM and CDMA signals and its performance in noise for each case is presented using root mean square error simulations.
Potential Therapeutic Effects of Mepacrine against Clostridium perfringens Enterotoxin in a Mouse Model of Enterotoxemia

Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) is a pore-forming toxin that causes the symptoms of common bacterial food poisoning and several non-foodborne human gastrointestinal diseases, including antibiotic-associated diarrhea and sporadic diarrhea. In some cases, CPE-mediated disease can be very severe or fatal due to the involvement of enterotoxemia. Therefore, the development of potential therapeutics against CPE action during enterotoxemia is warranted. Mepacrine, an acridine derivative drug with broad-spectrum effects on pores and channels in mammalian membranes, has been used to treat protozoal intestinal infections in human patients. A previous study showed that the presence of mepacrine inhibits CPE-induced pore formation and activity in enterocyte-like Caco-2 cells, reducing the cytotoxicity caused by this toxin in vitro Whether mepacrine is similarly protective against CPE action in vivo has not been tested. When the current study evaluated whether mepacrine protects against CPE-induced death and intestinal damage using a murine ligated intestinal loop model, mepacrine protected mice from the enterotoxemic lethality caused by CPE. This protection was accompanied by a reduction in the severity of intestinal lesions induced by the toxin. Mepacrine did not reduce CPE pore formation in the intestine but inhibited absorption of the toxin into the blood of some mice. Protection from enterotoxemic death correlated with the ability of this drug to reduce CPE-induced hyperpotassemia. These in vivo findings, coupled with previous in vitro studies, support mepacrine as a potential therapeutic against CPE-mediated enterotoxemic disease.
9 Speech Production and Perception

The chapter provides an overview of speech production and perception by summarizing research findings and theories in four domains. We describe theories of “phonological competence” in linguistics that characterize what language users know about the sound systems and word forms of their language. Next we summarize research and explanations of “phonological planning” whereby language users intending to speak develop a plan for an utterance at the level of language forms. Research findings include spontaneous errors of speech perception as collected both in nature and in the laboratory and nonerrorful productions made in behavioral research settings. Third, we summarize research, theories, and models of speech production, addressing such issues as the nature of “targets” of speech production (acoustic or gestural) and the importance of “motor equivalence” for understanding goals of production. Finally, we review research and theorizing about “speech perception,” focusing on research illuminating the nature of perceptual objects. An important idea linking theorizing across the domains is that of “parity,” the idea that the nature of language forms as known, planned, produced, and perceived have to be the same for language to serve its public communicative function. Keywords: speech perception; speech production; phonological planning; phonological competence; parity
Production of High-Resistivity Electrical Steel Alloys by Substitution of Si with Al and Cr

Fe-3Si-3Al and Fe-4Si-4Cr (wt%) experimental alloys were processed to assess the electrical resistivity and workability effects of substituting Al and Cr for Si in high-Si electrical steel alloys. The experimental alloys were made by arc melting, and processed by hot rolling and cold rolling to produce strips. Samples were characterized by means of metallography, hardness, workability and resistivity. Results showed that the two alloys could be rolled down to 200 µm thickness (90% hot-rolled reduction and 80% cold rolled reduction) without crack formation in the strips. Hardness in the annealed condition and electrical resistivity were 228 HV/74 µΩ cm and 243 HV/85 µΩ cm, respectively, for the Fe-3Si-3Al and for Fe-4Si-4Cr alloys. The resistivity measured for Fe-4Si-4Cr was higher than the resistivity reported for the benchmark high-Si alloy, Fe-6.5Si. Both experimental alloys showed improvement on the workability compared to Fe-6.5Si since there was no edge cracking on the cold-rolled strips up to 80% reduction, and the hardness was approximately 35% lower.
Carrier-Mediated Drug Transport at the Blood-Brain Barrier and the Potential for Drug Targeting to the Brain

Many drugs cannot be used for the treatment of central nervous system diseases because they do not reach therapeutic concentrations in brain at acceptable doses. Though multiple factors influence the amount of drug that eventually reaches active sites in brain, one of the most important is transport across the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier generally impedes the uptake of large, hydrophilic, or charged compounds into the nervous system (Rall and Zubrod, 1962; Fenstermacher, 1989; Jezequel, 1992). In addition, it limits the brain access of drugs that bind tightly and restrictively to plasma proteins (Robinson and Rapoport, 1992).
Shoaling Rhizomes: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Social Media’s Role in Discourse and Composition Education

Abstract Subjectivities and identities like race, gender, and class play a significant role in how we express ourselves through writing as well as how we engage digital technologies. In particular, understanding social media discourse as an instructional tool requires a theory with which we can better analyze and understand the presence and effect of social media on discourse and composition. In this article, we describe a theoretical framework for discussing social media in relation to composition instruction and critical discourse analysis, entitled shoaling rhizomes. After establishing our framework’s relationship to rhizome thinking, microaggressions, and community cultural wealth, we evaluate specific examples from Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr through the concept of shoaling rhizomes. We then discuss how instructors can use social media discourse study in the composition classroom to identify and use social media as a tool for activism, identity formation, and inclusion.
Perioperative Steroid Management in IBD Patients Undergoing Colorectal Surgery

Colorectal surgeons must be familiar and confident with perioperative steroid management in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as their underlying disease and associated comorbidities introduce several challenges. While suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis is known to occur with chronic steroid supplementation, the dosage or duration of steroid exposure required to suppress an appropriate endogenous response to surgical stress is unknown. Historically, standard practice included stress-dose or high-dose perioperative steroid administration in any steroid-dependent patient undergoing surgery to prevent adrenal insufficiency; however, perioperative high-dose steroids are not without consequence. Over the past 6 decades, several large case series have been conducted in both IBD and non-IBD patients challenging the practice of stress-dose steroid administration, but there remains great variability in perioperative steroid dosing practices for IBD patients undergoing surgery. In this chapter, we review the literature and evidence surrounding perioperative steroid dosing followed by our recommendations for steroid management in patients with IBD undergoing colorectal surgery. Based on the available data, we recommend that steroid-treated IBD patients undergoing major colorectal surgery be managed with low-dose perioperative steroids equivalent to their preoperative steroid dose in the perioperative period.
Design and Simulation for Tank Farm Emission Control at a Polymer Plant

Abstract Tank farms at polymer plants generate highly reactive VOC (volatile organic compound) emission sources, mainly 1, 3-butadiene, which needs to be recycled instead of flared for the sake of industrial and environmental suitability. However, current practices for such an emission control mainly depends on new operating procedures, process modifications, as well as preventive and predictive maintenances. Few have addressed the use of a flare gas recovery unit (FGRU). This paper developed four FGRUs with their simulation models for effective tank farm emission control at a polymer plant, which includes a distillation process, a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process, and two combinations of both distillation and PSA wherein PSA is employed either before or after the distillation unit. Process simulations for the emission control of the studied polymer plant have demonstrated the efficacy of the four designed emission control processes. The study has also compared their capital and energy consumption costs. The development of this study provides a solid foundation for better emission controls in the polymer industry.
The tidal evolution of dark matter substructure – I. subhalo density profiles

Accurately predicting the abundance and structural evolution of dark matter subhaloes is crucial for understanding galaxy formation, modeling galaxy clustering, and constraining the nature of dark matter. Due to the nonlinear nature of subhalo evolution, cosmological $N$-body simulations remain its primary method of investigation. However, it has recently been demonstrated that such simulations are still heavily impacted by artificial disruption, diminishing the information content on small scales and reducing the reliability of all simulation-calibrated semi-analytical models. In this paper, we utilize the recently released DASH library of high-resolution, idealized simulations of the tidal evolution of subhaloes, which are unhindered by numerical overmerging due to discreteness noise or force softening, to calibrate an improved, more-accurate model of the evolution of the density profiles of subhaloes that undergo tidal heating and stripping within their host halo. By testing previous findings that the structural evolution of a tidally truncated subhalo depends solely on the fraction of mass stripped, independent of the details of the stripping, we identify an additional dependence on the initial subhalo concentration. We provide significantly improved fitting functions for the subhalo density profiles and structural parameters ($V_\mathrm{max}$ and $r_\mathrm{max}$) that are unimpeded by numerical systematics and applicable to a wide range of parameter space. This model will be an integral component of a future semi-analytical treatment of substructure evolution, which can be used to predict key quantities, such as the evolved subhalo mass function and annihilation boost factors, and validate such calculations performed with cosmological simulations.
Recent advances in colloidal delivery systems for nutraceuticals: A case study – Delivery by Design of curcumin

Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound found in turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizome that has potential biological benefits, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer activity. Incorporation of curcumin into functional food and beverage products, however, is challenging due to its low water-solubility, poor chemical stability, rapid metabolism, and low oral bioavailability. Researchers are, therefore developing a suite of particle-based delivery systems to maximize the potential health benefits of curcumin. Colloidal delivery systems, such as micelles, microemulsions, nanoemulsions, emulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, biopolymer nanoparticles, and microgels have all been developed for this purpose. The functional performance of each of these delivery systems depends on its structure and physicochemical properties, such as particle composition, particle size, morphology, physicochemical stability, optical properties, rheology, and sensory attributes. As a result, each delivery system has its advantages and disadvantages for particular applications. Consequently, a delivery system must be specifically designed for the particular bioactive agent to be encapsulated, as well as the particular food matrix it will be incorporated into. In this review, we highlight the potential of the Delivery by Design (DbD) approach for identifying and selecting the most appropriate colloidal delivery system for a particular food application, using curcumin as a model bioactive agent.
Visual Servoing for Final Approach Phase of Spacecraft Proximity Operations with Unknown Targets

A visual navigation and control architecture for the final-approach phase of autonomous spacecraft rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) with unknown targets is presented. Two spacecraft are considered: a maneuvering chaser, and a possibly tumbling non-cooperative target. The target spacecraft is assumed to be unknown, therefore none of its physical characteristics (geometry, moments of inertia, etc.) are available to the chaser a priori. An image-based visual servo (IBVS) controller is implemented to compute maneuvers for the chaser to achieve a desired goal pose with respect to the target. The controller seeks to minimize pixel location error of matched image feature points on the target. Importantly, because control error is calculated in the image space, a full relative pose estimate between the chaser and target is not required. In order to assess the controller under realistic conditions, the stochastic nature of image feature tracking is modeled via four types of errors: image feature location error, feature nonidentification (occlusion), feature misidentification (outliers), and feature depth estimation error. A bank of Kalman filters are used to track feature points and residual monitoring is used to reject feature measurement outliers. Two novel methods are proposed to generate goal images needed to implement IBVS with unknown targets. The architecture is implemented in a 6DOF simulation using nonlinear relative spacecraft dynamics and camera modeling. Results show that this architecture can robustly control complex RPO maneuvers, to include RPO with tumbling targets.
Optimizing Screening for Anorectal, Pharyngeal, and Urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections in At-Risk Adolescents and Young Adults in New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California, United States

Author(s): Man, Olivia M; Ramos, Wilson E; Vavala, Gabriella; Goldbeck, Cameron; Ocasio, Manuel A; Fournier, Jasmine; Romero-Espinoza, Adriana; Fernandez, M Isabel; Swendeman, Dallas; Lee, Sung-Jae; Comulada, Scott; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Klausner, Jeffrey D | Abstract: BackgroundPublic health organizations have inconsistent recommendations for screening adolescents and young adults for Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N. gonorrhoeae) infections. Guidelines suggest different combinations of anorectal, pharyngeal, and urogenital testing based on age, sex, and sexual activity. Further evaluation of how identity and behaviors impact the anatomic distribution of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infection is needed to optimize future screening practices.MethodsWe assessed the positivity of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infections at different anatomic sites in a cohort of at-risk sexually active adolescents and young adults between 12-24 years old in New Orleans, Louisiana and Los Angeles, California. Participants were tested for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae at three sites (anorectum, pharynx, and urethral/cervix) every four months using self-collected swabs. We stratified anatomic distributions of infection into four gender and sexual behavior categories: (i) cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women (MSMTW), (ii) cis-heterosexual males, (iii) cis-heterosexual females, and (iv) gender minorities assigned female at birth.ResultsWhile three-site testing detected all infections, two-site (anorectum and urethra/cervix) testing identified 92-100% of C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae infections in participants assigned female at birth and cis-heterosexual males. For MSMTW, two site anorectal and pharyngeal testing versus single site anorectal testing increased the proportion of individuals with either infection from 74 to 93%.ConclusionSexual behavioral and gender identity factors may influence detection of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infections at specific anatomic testing sites. Testing guidelines should incorporate sexual behavior and gender identity.
Crime and (a Preference for) Punishment: The Effects of Drug Policy Reform on Policing Activity

We still know very little about the incentives of police, often due to data constraints and the underlying policy environment. Using geocoded crime data and a novel source of within-city spatial and temporal variation in punishment severity, I am able to shed light on enforcement behavior. I find that in parts of a city where drug penalties were weakened, there is a 13% decrease in drug arrests within a year; there is no displacement of non-drug offenses and majority black neighborhoods have a larger decline in drug arrests. If offenders were significantly deterred by harsher penalties, as the law intended and Becker’s (1968) model predicts, there should have been an increase in drug arrests. My results are therefore consistent with police treating enforcement effort and punishment severity as complementary. I also find that citywide crime and drug use do not increase following the weakening of drug penalties; this calls into question the "War on Drugs" view of punishment and suggests that certain types enforcement can be reduced without incurring large public safety costs.
Abstract 416: Pluripotent Stem Cell Signaling in Pediatric Heart Failure Patients

Pediatric heart failure is a heterogeneous disease process with congenital heart disease being the most common indication for heart transplantation in infants, and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) the ...
Long-term Outcomes after Toe-To-Thumb Transfers for Burn Reconstruction in Children.

Children are one of the most vulnerable populations to burns, and hands are frequently burned anatomical structures. Restoring function in a severely burned pediatric hand is challenging. We present our experience with pediatric toe-to-thumb transfers for burn reconstruction. A retrospective review was conducted of all pediatric toe-to-thumb transfer patients between 2009 and 2014. Children under the age of 18 who underwent secondary reconstruction after electrical or thermal burn injuries with at least 5-year follow-up were included. Functional outcomes were measured with the modified Kapandji score. Complications of the reconstructed hand as well as donor foot were recorded. Four children with 10 toe-to-hand transfers (4 great toes, 2 second toes, and 2 combined second-third toes) met the inclusion criteria. Average follow-up length was 104 months (range 60-144 months) Two children sustained thermal burn injuries and two sustained electrical burn injuries. Three children achieved opposition of the reconstructed toe-to-thumb transfer to the small finger (Kapandji score 5), and one child achieved opposition of the reconstructed toe-to-thumb transfer to the proximal phalanx of the middle finger, the only remaining finger (Kapandji score 3). No donor foot morbidities were noted postoperatively. Toe-to-thumb transfers should be considered the gold standard for thumb reconstruction in children with severe burn injuries of their hands and provide restoration of sensation, pinch, grasp and opposition with minimal morbidity of the donor foot.
Strategic Choice of Channel Structure in an Oligopoly

The traditional wisdom holds that the benefits of a decentralized channel structure arise from downstream competitive relationships. In contrast, in their 2007 paper in the Accounting Review, Arya and Mittendorf show that the value of decentralization can also come from the upstream relationship when the downstream firms convey internal strife (decentralization) to an upstream input supplier. This paper demonstrates that the Arya and Mittendorf result continues to hold irrespective of the market structure of the upstream input market. However, if the upstream market is monopolized and the monopoly supplier follows a uniform price policy, decentralization may not result from the centralization–decentralization game. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pandemic of Fear: Understanding how People Cope with the Idea of Death during a Pandemic (preprint)

Due to the worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 (commonly referred to as COVID-19), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic in March 2020. Referring to the Terror Management Health Model for Pandemics (TMHMP), we obtained qualitative empirical findings to understand real-life experience of customer-facing frontline workers during the pandemic. Customer-facing employees encountered a new challenge in dealing with customers and safeguarding themselves from the spread of virus, while processing anxieties that a heightened state of mortality salience can provoke. Using the TMHMP, we aim to understand how essential frontline employees cope with the fear and anxiety of death during the pandemic. We leverage thematic analysis of interview transcriptions to identify salient themes. We take an interpretative approach to encompass social theories to understand the events from the perspective of the frontline workers. The practical implication of our study is to help employers craft communications for future pandemics in order to better manage employees' emotional and behavioral responses. We contribute to theory by providing the first empirical findings to support the TMHMP;along with novel insight into the nature of Terror Management Theory, including Actionable Proximal Defenses (APD) and Internal Proximal Defenses (IPD).
Legal Opacity: Artificial Intelligence’s Sticky Wicket

Proponents of artificial intelligence (“AI”) transparency have carefully illustrated the many ways in which transparency may be beneficial to prevent safety and unfairness issues, to promote innovation, and to effectively provide recovery or support due process in lawsuits. However, impediments to transparency goals, described as opacity, or the “black-box” nature of AI, present significant issues for promoting these goals. An undertheorized perspective on opacity is legal opacity, where competitive, and often discretionary legal choices, coupled with regulatory barriers create opacity. Although legal opacity does not specifically affect AI only, the combination of technical opacity in AI systems with legal opacity amounts to a nearly insurmountable barrier to transparency goals. Types of legal opacity, including trade secrecy status, contractual provisions that promote confidentiality and data ownership restrictions, and privacy law independently and cumulatively make the black box substantially opaquer. The degree to which legal opacity should be limited or disincentivized depends on the specific sector and transparency goals of specific AI technologies, technologies which may dramatically affect people’s lives or may simply be introduced for convenience. This Response proposes a contextual approach to transparency: Legal opacity may be limited in situations where the individual or patient benefits, when data sharing and technology disclosure can be incentivized, or in a protected state when transparency and explanation are necessary.
Ribonucleotide reductase isolated from human cells. Heterogeneity among the sources.

Abstract The amount of ammonium sulfate required to precipitate the ribonucleotide reductase activities derived from histocytic lymphoma cells obtained from patients or from KB or Connaughton cultured human cells is different than for reductase activity derived from Molt-4F and HeLa-S3 cells. The reductase activity of Molt-4F cells sedimented in a sucrose density gradient at a faster rate than the enzyme activity from KB cells; CDP and ADP reductase activity from either source co-sedimented. Enzymes from both cell lines sedimented at a faster rate in the presence of CDP and ATP than in the absence of these compounds, with CDP and ADP reductase still co-sedimenting. In addition, the enzymes obtained from the two sources have different stabilities at 37°. Hydroxyurea, 1-formylisoquinoline thiosemicarbazone (IQ-1), 1,10-phenanthroline and potassium chloride inhibit the enzyme activity derived from either Molt-4F or KB cells. However, a difference in the ratio of CDP to ADP reductase activity in Molt-4F and KB cells and a difference between the sensitivities of the CDP and the ADP reductase activities from the same cell line to various concentrations of inhibitors was observed.
Enzymatic Breakage and Joining of Deoxyribonucleic Acid V. END GROUP LABELING AND ANALYSIS OF DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID CONTAINING SINGLE STRAND BREAKS

Radioactive labeling of the 5′-termini of DNA with polynucleotide kinase has been used in conjunction with treatment by alkaline phosphatase from Escherichia coli to study single strand breaks (phosphodiester bond interruptions) produced in duplex DNA molecules by the action of pancreatic deoxyribonuclease. At 37° alkaline phosphatase will quantitatively hydrolyze external phosphomonoesters (those located at either end of the duplex molecule), but it will not hydrolyze internal phosphomonoesters (those located at single strand breaks). However, at elevated temperatures or following denaturation of the DNA, both external and internal phosphomonoesters are hydrolyzed by phosphatase. These methods permit (a) the identification, measurement, and characterization of single strand breaks in DNA molecules and (b) the preparation of specifically labeled DNAs used for studies on enzymes acting at internal and external termini.
Structure of the gamma subunit of Escherichia coli F1 ATPase probed in trypsin digestion and biotin-avidin binding studies.

The arrangement and functional role of the gamma subunit of the Escherichia coli F1ATPase (ECF1) has been probed by protease digestion and avidin-biotin labeling experiments using wild-type enzyme and four mutants, gamma S8C, gamma T106C, gamma S179C, and gamma V286C, respectively. Trypsin was found to cleave the gamma subunit at four sites, Arg70, Lys199, Lys201, and Lys212. Cleavage at these four sites did not greatly reduce the high ATPase activity of the enzyme that is obtained when the epsilon subunit is removed by the protease treatment. However, prolonged trypsin cleavage led to loss of inhibition by epsilon subunit added back to the trypsin-treated enzyme. Endoproteinase-Lys-C cleaves the gamma subunit of ECF1 at three of the four sites, i.e. Lys199, Lys201, and Lys212, but not at Arg70. The enzyme was activated by treatment with this protease because of degradation and release of the epsilon subunit, but added pure epsilon subunit still caused inhibition of ATPase activity. Therefore, cleavage at Arg70 by trypsin is responsible for the loss of response to the epsilon subunit inhibition. Biotin was reacted with Cys residues at positions 8, 106, 179, and 286 in different gamma subunit mutants and the accessibility of the biotin to avidin monitored in the intact ECF1 from the different mutants. Avidin was able to react with biotin when incorporated at position 106, not at 8, 179, or 286. The four trypsin cleavage sites, Arg70, Lys199, Lys201, and Lys212, as well as Thr106 are in regions of the gamma subunit predicted to be mainly beta-sheet and beta-turn structures.
Level set segmentation of hyperspectral images using joint spectral edge and signature information

This paper describes a new method for segmenting hyperspectral imagery (HSI) using dynamic curves. We are concerned about challenging HSI target segmentation/detection use cases where the scene includes confusers exhibiting a spectral return similar to the desired signature and in close proximity of the object of interest. Our method is based on a level sets approach. It fuses all available spectral bands and incorporates spectral as well as spatial information to obtain a finer target segmentation. The proposed method applies level set segmentation to HSI by defining an expansion force field that combines both hyperspectral gradient information as well as the desired spectral signature. We carry out experiments on HSI datacubes obtained from a sensor spanning visible and near IR and show improved results when compared to direct spectral matching in challenging close range scenes including significant level of nearby confusers.
Chapter 16 The (Holey) study of mitochondria in apoptosis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the study of mitochondria in apoptosis. Accumulating evidence has shown that mitochondria also play an integral role in the death of a cell by apoptosis. Because of the mitochondrial cytochrome c release and its regulation by Bcl-2 family members appears to be a common mitochondrial change during apoptosis, the chapter focuses on the methods used to study cytochrome c release. The chapter also discusses methods to examine other mitochondrial parameters that may relate to the apoptosis, including the identification of proteins released from the mitochondria concomitantly with cytochrome c . Many inducers of apoptosis have shown to induce the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria of cultured cells. Radiation, topoisomerase inhibitors, protein synthesis inhibitors, and protein kinase inhibitors are all commonly used apoptotic stimuli that trigger cytochrome c release. None of these toxins appears directly to induce the release of cytochrome c ; rather they use signaling pathways that may involve Bax, Bid, or other proapoptotic Bcl-2 family members. Various toxins act directly on mitochondria to induce cytochrome c release. Some of these toxins induce a phenomenon known as permeability transition (PT) in isolated mitochondria.
Mass spectrometric characterization of halogenated flame retardants

RATIONALE Concerns about the adverse health effects of ubiquitous flame retardants spurred our interest in the development of a sensitive and reliable analytical method for these toxic compounds in various sample matrices. This study focuses on the investigation of fragmentation pathways and the structures of target ions of thirteen new halogenated flame retardants. METHODS In this study, we use gas chromatography (GC)/high-resolution double-focusing sector mass spectrometry to characterize the fragmentation pathways of these new flame retardants. Along with the isotope patterns, accurate mass data were acquired to verify the molecular formula. RESULTS The fragmentation pathways are classified based on the types of bond dissociations, e.g. σ-bond cleavage, α-bond cleavage and multiple-bond dissociations with a hydrogen shift. The α-bond dissociation occurs among 1,2-bis-(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane, allyl 2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (ATE), 2,3-dibromopropyl 2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (DPTE) and 2-bromoallyl 2,4,6-tribromophenyl ether (BATE). The peak clusters that dominated ATE, BATE and hexachlorocyclopentenyl-dibromocyclooctane (HCDBCO) spectra correspond to two fragments as proved by accurate mass data and isotope patterns. These two fragments are formed as the result of two competing fragmentation pathways of radical loss and hydrogen shift. Fragmentation pathways of the other compounds are complex, involving cleavage of multiple bonds and hydrogen shifts. CONCLUSIONS The accurate-mass-based GC/MS method offers great selectivity and sensitivity for quantitative analysis of the persistent organic pollutants. Thus, elucidation of the structures of the fragments is of prime importance for building an accurate-mass-based isotopic method. In addition, this study is useful for GC/MS/MS method development because multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions of precursor ions and product ions may be easily elucidated based on these fragmentation patterns. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Solid Solution Phases in the Olivine-Type LiMnPO4/MnPO4 System

Solid Solution Phases in the Olivine-Type LiMnP0 /MnP0 System Guoying Chen* and Thomas J. Richardson*' Environmental Energy Technologies Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, California 94720 USA Abstract Nonstoichiometry is reported in the LiMnP04/MnP04 system for the first time. As lithium is removed from crystalline LiMnPCU by chemical or electrochemical methods, the resulting two phase mixture consists of stoichiometric LiMnP04 and a delithiated phase, LLJvlnPC^, whose lattice parameters depend upon the global extent of delithiation and on the crystalline domain size of the delithiated phase. This behavior is reproduced during electrochemical insertion of lithium. Again, no evidence for nonstoichiometry was found in the vicinity of LiMnP04. Attempts to create single phase solid solutions by heating mixtures of the two phases failed due to the thermal instability of L L M n P 0 . Electrochemical Society Active Member z E-mail: tjrichardson@lbl.gov
New CDC Recommendations: Annual Influenza Vaccination Recommended for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injuries

Serious, life-threatening complications of influenza among people with chronic diseases include pneumonia and exacerbations of coexisting conditions that can result in hospitalization or death. Persons with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI&D) are at increased risk for pulmonary impairments and respiratory illness complications due to impaired cough and less effective clearance of secretions, weak respiratory muscles, autonomic changes, including bronchoconstriction, and decreased overall mobility (1). In addition, changes in immune function have been demonstrated following complete cervical spinal cord injuries, which may result in altered clinical response to infection (1). The result is increased mortality and morbidity from respiratory-related illnesses in the SCI population (2). In fact, the most common causes of death have been respiratory complications during both the acute and chronic phases of SCI for the past 2 decades (2,3). DeVivo and colleagues reported that persons with SCI who contracted influenza or pneumonia were 37 times more likely to die from influenza or pneumonia than were comparable individuals from the general population (3).
Methods from Multiscale Theory and Wavelets Applied to Nonlinear Dynamics

We show how fundamental ideas from signal processing, multiscale theory and wavelets may be applied to nonlinear dynamics.
Reengineering: An Engineering Problem

Abstract : This paper discusses a plan that addresses how the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) may assist the Department of Defense (DoD) in reengineering its large software-intensive systems. This plan is based on a view of reengineering as an engineering problem to improve the cost-effective evolution of large software-intensive systems. This view of reengineering, which takes the whole software engineering process into account, fosters a growth path by leveraging promising emerging software engineering technologies. Reengineering also builds on the industry's improvement in its ability to manage the software engineering process, an accomplishment of SEI work in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and its key process areas.... Software engineering, Software-intensive systems, Reengineering, Reengineering tools
Magnetic resonance imaging for calf deep venous thrombophlebitis.

Study objective: To compare magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the calf with venography for patients with suspected calf deep venous thrombophlebitis (DVT). Design: Ten consecutive adult patients with suspected calf DVT received venography and, within 48 hours, MRI scans. The tests were reviewed blindly by two radiologists, and results of the tests were compared. Setting: The emergency department of a large teaching hospital with an annual census of 60,000 patients. Main results: All patients with negative venograms had no suggestion of DVT on MRI scan. Two of these patients had other significant demonstrable abnormalities. Four of the five patients with positive venograms had positive calf MRI scans. One patient with a venogram that was difficult to interpret had no DVT on MRI. A thigh DVT was seen on his venogram and was suggested by MRI findings. Conclusion: MRI may replace ascending venography as the standard for diagnosis of calf DVT.
Chlorofluorocarbon‐11 removal in anoxic marine waters

Measurements of the chlorofluorocarbons CCl{sub 3}F (F-11) and CCl{sub 2}F{sub 2}(F-12) made in the subsurface anoxic zones of the Black Sea and Saanich Inlet, B.C., Canada show a pronounced depletion of dissolved F-11. These zones are strongly reducing and are characterized by the absence of dissolved nitrate (NO{sub 3}{sup {minus}}) and the presence of hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S). Models incorporating the atmospheric input histories of these CFCs and the observed distributions are used to estimate residence times for water in these zones and first order in-situ removal rates for F-11. In contrast, measurements in the mid-depth low-oxygen zone of the eastern Pacific (where NO{sub 3}{sup {minus}} is present and H{sub 2}S is below detection limits) do not show evidence of similar rapid F-11 removal. 22 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.
Effects of cold stress on brain regional calcium content in rats and mice

Abstract The calcium levels of striatum, cerebellum, cortex, medulla and diencephalon from rat brain were significantly reduced after 30 minutes of cold exposure at 8°C even though body temperatures were no different from pre-cold exposure values. Calcium content remained significantly depressed in striatum, cerebellum and diencephalon after 2 hours of cold exposure, at which time body temperatures were significantly depressed. A similar effect of short-term cold stress on calcium content in these brain regions from mice was observed. These results are consistent with a role of calcium in the maintenance of temperature and in adaptive responses to cold environments.
The Pittsburgh Sleep Diary

Increasingly, there is a need in both research and clinical practice to document and quantify sleep and waking behaviors in a comprehensive manner. The Pittsburgh Sleep Diary (PghSD) is an instrument with separate components to be completed at bedtime and waketime. Bedtime components relate to the events of the day preceding the sleep, waketime components to the sleep period just completed. Two-week PghSD data is presented from 234 different subjects, comprising 96 healthy young middle-aged controls, 37 older men, 44 older women, 29 young adult controls and 28 sleep disorders patients in order to demonstrate the usefulness, validity and reliability of various measures from the instrument. Comparisons are made with polysomnographic and actigraphic sleep measures, as well as personality and circadian type questionnaires. The instrument was shown to have sensitivity in detecting differences due to weekends, age, gender, personality and circadian type, and validity in agreeing with actigraphic estimates of sleep timing and quality. Over a 12-31 month delay, PghSD measures of both sleep timing and sleep quality showed correlations between 0.56 and 0.81 (n = 39, P < 0.001).
Law Enforcement Policies Directed Toward Illicit Drug Selling and Usage

(1981). Law Enforcement Policies Directed Toward Illicit Drug Selling and Usage. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs: Vol. 13, Drugs, Crime and Criminal Justice, pp. 227-234.
Thermal Stress Analysis for Differential Pressure Sensors

Pressure sensors should be capable of measuring pressure accurately and consistently without being disturbed by the temperature environment. With silicon’s better thermal material properties, silicon micormachined pressure sensors are mass-produced and widely used. However, a silicon pressure sensing element has to be packaged and protected. The thermal mismatching between the sensing element and packaging may generate stresses on the transducer of a sensing element and create thermal hysteresis and voltage shift during temperature cycling. The induced thermal stresses can easily deteriorate performance reliability. In this paper, finite element analyses and experimental tests were conducted to reduce the thermal stress and thermal hysteresis. With the glass substrate to isolate the stress from plastic housing, the thermal hysteresis can be significantly improved. The die placement and dispense pattern can be also optimized to further improve the thermal hysteresis.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Effects of anharmonic splitting upon collisionless multiple-photon laser excitation of SF6☆

Abstract Qualitative agreement of the dependence of molecular excitation upon laser frequency, between non-perturbative quantum-mechanical calculations and experimental measurements of the collisionless multiple-photon excitation of a few vibrational quanta in SF 6 by a CO 2 laser, results when anharmonic splitting of the vibrational energy levels is taken into account.
Comparative statics of assignment markets with general utilities

Abstract This note considers entry and exit problems of an agent in assignment markets without the quasi-linear utility assumption. We generalize Mo's (1988) strong dominance theorem to this class of environment. For example, if a seller enters the market and he is active in some equilibrium of the new market then there exists a non-empty subset of objects of which competitive prices are decreased whatever equilibria of old and new markets are selected.
Flow visualization and interpretation of visualization data for deflected thrust V/STOL nozzles

Flow visualization studies were made for four deflected thrust nozzle models at subsonic speeds. Based on topological rules and the assumption that observed streaks constitute continuous vector fields, available visualization pictures are interpreted and flow patterns on interior surfaces of the nozzles are synthesized. In particular, three dimensional flow structure and separations are discussed. From the synthesized patterns, the overall features of the flow field in a given nozzle can be approximately perceived. Previously announced in STAR as N84-14147
A Comparison of the Koppitz and Hutt Techniques of Bender-Gestalt Administration Correlated with WISC-R Performance Scores.

Forty students between 6-12 years of age were randomly selected from approximately 340 referrals to the school psychology services department of a Florida public school system. All subjects were administered the WISC-R and the Bender-Gestalt. The Bender-Gestalt was administered using two techniques: Koppitz routine instructions and the Hutt testing-the-limits method. The mean number of Koppitz errors was approximately two greater than the number obtained using the Hutt technique. The t test for related measures showed this difference to be statistially significant at the .001 level. In addition, four of the six Hutt correlations with WISC-R scores were slightly greater than the Koppitz correlations but none of them were significantly higher when a test for difference in correlations was computed.