cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Data set from chemical sensor array exposed to turbulent gas mixtures

A chemical detection platform composed of 8 chemo-resistive gas sensors was exposed to turbulent gas mixtures generated naturally in a wind tunnel. The acquired time series of the sensors are provided. The experimental setup was designed to test gas sensors in realistic environments. Traditionally, chemical detection systems based on chemo-resistive sensors include a gas chamber to control the sample air flow and minimize turbulence. Instead, we utilized a wind tunnel with two independent gas sources that generate two gas plumes. The plumes get naturally mixed along a turbulent flow and reproduce the gas concentration fluctuations observed in natural environments. Hence, the gas sensors can capture the spatio-temporal information contained in the gas plumes. The sensor array was exposed to binary mixtures of ethylene with either methane or carbon monoxide. Volatiles were released at four different rates to induce different concentration levels in the vicinity of the sensor array. Each configuration was repeated 6 times, for a total of 180 measurements. The data is related to “Chemical Discrimination in Turbulent Gas Mixtures with MOX Sensors Validated by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry”, by Fonollosa et al. [1]. The dataset can be accessed publicly at the UCI repository upon citation of [1]: http://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/datasets/Gas+senso+rarray+exposed+to+turbulent+gas+mixtures.
Simultaneous new product development: Reducing the new product failure rate

Abstract While several product development models have been reported in the literature, the rate of industrial new product failures continues at an unacceptable level. Some authors have proposed the integration of the marketing strategy development process prior to, during the “up-front” stages, and after the completion of the product development process. Still the failure rate remains high. The proposed Product Development Life Cycle model provides for the integration and simultaneous development of the product and the strategy development processes, and provides the industrial marketing manager with a systematic process for reducing the failure rate of new industrial products in the marketplace.
Effect of oxidation kinetics on the near threshold fatigue crack growth behavior of a nickel base superalloy

The influence of oxidation kinetics on the near threshold fatigue crack growth behavior of a nickel base precipitation hardened superalloy was studied in air from 427° to 649 °C. The tests were conducted at 100 Hz and at load ratios of 0.1 and 0.5. The threshold ΔK values were found to increase with temperature. This behavior is attributed to oxide deposits that form on the freshly created fracture surfaces which enhance crack closure. As determined from secondary ion mass spectrometry, the oxide thickness was uniform over the crack length and was of the order of the maximum crack tip opening displacement at threshold. Oxidation kinetics were important in thickening the oxide on the fracture surfaces at elevated temperatures, whereas at room temperature, the oxide deposits at near threshold fatigue crack growth rates and at low load ratios were thickened by an oxide fretting mechanism. The effect of fracture surface roughness-induced crack closure on the near threshold fatigue crack growth behavior is also discussed.
The Social Security Program and the Private Sector Alternative: Lessons from History.

As the Social Security program in the United States emerged from the crisis of the 1970s with a solid set of reforms intended to guarantee the program's financial solvency into the twenty-first century, a new attack on the system arose in the form of debates centering around the relationship of the Social Security fund to the federal deficit. Conservative economists used concerns about the national economy as fuel for their own arguments that Social Security has negatively affected the economy and that heavier reliance should be placed on private sector benefits. This paper uses historical evidence to analyze how adequately private sector benefits functioned in the past. Among the conclusions reached are that the private sector failed to provide adequate protection for older citizens, and that benefits were inequitably distributed on the basis of gender and social class. Any tendency toward heavier reliance on the private sector for provisions for old age security would only exacerbate existing inequalities.
Playing with race: A theoretical framework and approach for creative arts therapists

Abstract Our assumptions about race and the process of othering are crucial in the therapeutic relationship, with power, privilege, and personal and collective trauma impacting the encounter. In spite of this, race is seldom formally discussed in the creative arts therapies. This literature review suggests that the existing writing often problematically includes essentialist discourse, color-blind statements, unqualified suggestions that the arts transcend difference, or “how to” instructions for working with particular racialized groups. Drawing on critical race theory and performance studies, this article offers theory for understanding race as roles that are produced and performed, embodied and created in the encounter. By engaging with these roles, we may disrupt rigid notions of race, provide an ethical component of the therapeutic relationship, and work towards social change. Analysis of the “Developmental Transformations” (DvT) section of the Three Approaches to Drama Therapy ( New York University, 2005 ) video is included as illustration of the potential, complexity, and limitations of playing with race.
Recruiting, Reviewing, and Retaining High-Risk Older Adult Populations.

The Institute on Aging and Social Work (IASW) provides social work faculty with advanced training in aging research with the goal of mentoring individuals to develop National Institutes of Health (NIH) research proposals. The program offers an excellent opportunity for top-level training with nationally recognized experts in research methodology related to aging, and it is designed to offer participating faculty advanced skills in research design, measurement, data analysis, and evaluation of interventions. This article highlights how lessons learned at the IASW regarding research focused on at-risk, vulnerable older adult populations were applied in recruiting and retaining older adult methadone clients into a National Institute on Drug Abuse study on treating late-life depression. The study was funded by a K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award, an NIH funding mechanism that provides individuals with a clinical doctoral degree with five years of protected time for training and...
The System of Free Enterprise and Its Caricature

THE system of free enterprise ("capitalism") seems to receive a good deal of lip service from business executives. And it has the tacit-if nevertheless uncomprehending-support of those farm owners and owners of other property who dread the thought of socialism or communism. But the kind of "free enterprise" system which many of the more vocal opponents of socialism and communism appear really to want is, at best, a miserable caricature of what a free enterprise system might be and ought to be. Each economic group is so intent on interferences with freedom, in its own group or class interest, that the end result can hardly be considered a free enterprise system at all. In various respects, it is already regimented much as socialism or communism would be although doubtless not to the same extent, and certainly it is not regimented advantageously to the poorest class with whose welfare advocates of communism-and socialism-feel they are especially concerned. But these general statements will probably mean little to most readers unless accompanied by some sort of bill of particulars.
Electron tunneling in proteins: role of the intervening medium

Analysis of electron-transfer (ET) kinetics data obtained from experiments on Ru-modified proteins (cytochrome c, azurin, myoglobin) reveals that distant donor-acceptor electronic couplings depend upon the secondary structure of the intervening polypeptide matrix. Rates of Fe2+→Ru3+ ET reactions in cytochrome c decay exponentially with tunneling-pathway length (decay constant 0.73 A–1); these rates also decay exponentially with Ru-Fe distance (decay constant 1.1 A–1). In azurin, a β-sheet protein, Cu+→Ru3+ rates exhibit an exponential Cu-Ru distance dependence with a decay constant of 1.1 A–1. Comparison of distant couplings in azurin and myoglobin suggests that hydrogen bonds are better mediators across β sheets than through α helices.
Metal Content of California Wines

Eight metal components of 300 commercial California wines were determined by atomic absorption or emission spectroscopy. The results were catagorized by wine type (white table, red table, etc.). The value determined for the Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Pb and Zn are in acceptable ranges. Comparisons are made to recently reported values from other countries.
Pediatric Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Based on experience with functional endoscopic sinus surgery in over 200 children, we suggest that technical considerations modify the approach in the pediatric patient. We present details of our s...
Designing Self Assembling Beta Helices

Amyloid fibers are unusually stable structures that self-assemble from soluble proteins. The fibers are typically composed of parallel β-sheets that run along the long fiber axis while the β-strands run perpendicular (cross-β) to the fiber axis. β-helices are a parallel β-sheet motif that have similar properties to amyloid fibers. In this work, we explore the utility of the β-helix as a building block to capture and test attributes of amyloid fibers relevant to the design of self-assembling nanostructures. We have isolated and characterized a five-rung portion of the triple-stranded, homotrimeric β-helix, GP5, of the bacteriophage T4. In order to construct a self-assembling β-helix, we have developed a small library based on amyloid sequence analysis and applied it to the five-rung helix. Specific changes targeting internal interactions of the helix have been made. The mutations in these positions have been selected to allow for greater control of self-assembly and hold the promise of breaking the homomeric assembly into a heteromeric construction. A split adenylate kinase selection assay has been developed to monitor self-assembly of these alternative structures.
Aging and Cognitive Neuroimaging: A Fertile Union

What mechanisms underlie declines in memory and other cognitive abilities as we age? Before functional neuroimaging, answers to this question relied primarily on behavioral measures despite aging’s...
The comprehension and verification of ambiguous sentences

When Ss are presented with an ambiguous sentence they tend to interpret it in only one way. If later events warrant, Ss can recover the other meaning, a process which takes time. These conclusions follow from the results of a study in which 40 undergraduate Ss verified whether or not pictures shown at the end of a sentence represented the meaning of the sentence. When ambiguous sentences were presented, the verification time (VT) was no slower than for unambiguous sentences if the picture represented the “expected” meaning (as determined on a pre-test) of the ambiguity. The VT to the picture representing the “unexpected” meaning of the ambiguity was longer than VT to corresponding control sentences.
Electrostatic adsorption of hematite nanoparticles on self-assembled monolayer surfaces

Deposition of nanoparticles (NPs) on different environmental surfaces has important implication on their fate and transport in aquatic systems. This study quantitatively and kinetically analyzed the adsorption of hematite (α-Fe2O3) NPs (HNPs) onto self-assembled monolayer modified surfaces using QCM, AFM, and SEM. Experiments were conducted to study the immobilization of two different sizes of HNPs onto gold substrate and surfaces modified with 1-mercapto-11-undecanoic acid and cysteine. It is shown that the extent and rate of HNPs adsorption onto substrate surfaces can be modulated electrostatically. Control over the surface coverage of the adsorbed HNPs has been demonstrated by pH variation. Size-dependent adsorption kinetics was observed, with the 79 nm HNPs adsorbed 2–3 times faster than the 116 nm HNPs.
The parietal cortex in sensemaking: the dissociation of multiple types of spatial information

According to the data-frame theory, sensemaking is a macrocognitive process in which people try to make sense of or explain their observations by processing a number of explanatory structures called frames until the observations and frames become congruent. During the sensemaking process, the parietal cortex has been implicated in various cognitive tasks for the functions related to spatial and temporal information processing, mathematical thinking, and spatial attention. In particular, the parietal cortex plays important roles by extracting multiple representations of magnitudes at the early stages of perceptual analysis. By a series of neural network simulations, we demonstrate that the dissociation of different types of spatial information can start early with a rather similar structure (i.e., sensitivity on a common metric), but accurate representations require specific goal-directed top-down controls due to the interference in selective attention. Our results suggest that the roles of the parietal cortex rely on the hierarchical organization of multiple spatial representations and their interactions. The dissociation and interference between different types of spatial information are essentially the result of the competition at different levels of abstraction.
Increased Risk of Mortality among Patients Cared for by Physicians with Short Length-of-Stay Tendencies

Background Since the introduction of the prospective payment system in 1983, U.S. hospitals have been financially incentivized to reduce inpatient length of stay, and average length of stay has shortened dramatically.
Solar furnace satellite for large diameter crystal growth in space

Investigators worldwide are preparing experiments to test the influence of low gravity found in space on the growth of many crystalline materials. However, power limitations prevent existing space crystal growth furnaces from being able to process samples any larger than about 2 cm, and in addition, the background microgravity levels found on the Space Shuttle are not low enough to significantly benefit samples much larger than 2 cm. This paper describes a novel concept of a free-flying platform utilizing well-established solar furnace technology to enable materials processing in space experiments on large-diameter crystals. The conceptual design of this Solar Furnace Satellite is described along with its operational scenario and the anticipated g levels.
An added variable goodness-of-fit test for the Cox proportional hazards model

While various goodness-of-fit tests have been developed to test the assumptions of the Cox proportional hazards model, this paper specifically examines the test proposed by Moreau, O'Quigley and Mesbah. We demonstrate that this test is algebraically identical to a test derived by adding group indicator variables to the model and testing the hypothesis that the coefficients of the group indicator variables are zero via the score test. Based on this result, the Moreau et al. test can be calculated using existing statistical software packages. However, considering that group indicator variables for time intervals need to be time-dependent, the test needs to be implemented with care. We provide an example. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
The Iron Stimulon and Fur Regulon of Geobacter sulfurreducens and Their Role in Energy Metabolism

Iron plays a critical role in the physiology of Geobacter species. It serves as both an essential component for proteins and cofactors and an electron acceptor during anaerobic respiration. Here, we investigated the iron stimulon and ferric uptake regulator (Fur) regulon of Geobacter sulfurreducens to examine the coordination between uptake of Fe(II) and the reduction of Fe(III) at the transcriptional level. Gene expression studies across a variety of different iron concentrations in both the wild type and a Δfur mutant strain were used to determine the iron stimulon. The stimulon consists of a broad range of gene products, ranging from iron-utilizing to central metabolism and iron reduction proteins. Integration of gene expression and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) data sets assisted in the identification of the Fur transcriptional regulatory network and Fur's role as a regulator of the iron stimulon. Additional physiological and transcriptional analyses of G. sulfurreducens grown with various Fe(II) concentrations revealed the depth of Fur's involvement in energy metabolism and the existence of redundancy within the iron-regulatory network represented by IdeR, an alternative iron transcriptional regulator. These characteristics enable G. sulfurreducens to thrive in environments with fluctuating iron concentrations by providing it with a robust mechanism to maintain tight and deliberate control over intracellular iron homeostasis.
The abney effect: Chromaticity coordinates of unique and other constant hues

We compared unique and other constant hue loci measured at a fixed retinal illuminance for the same observers. When expressed in Judd chromaticity coordinates, unique hue and constant hue data agreed. Unique blue loci were curved, and unique red and green loci were noncollinear. These data imply that unique hues are not a linear transformation of color matching functions. Linear models are only an approximation, even at a single luminance level.
Striation of the renal pelvis in children

The intravenous pyelograms of 74 female children (10 years and under), with urinary tract infection were examined without prior knowledge of the findings on micturating cystourethrography in order to determine the incidence and significance of striation of the renal pelvis. Two patients had complete left ureteral duplication and one patient had a congenitally absent right kidney; there were, therefore, a total of 149 renal pelves and ureters. Striations were found in 9 of 57 (15 per cent) renal pelves drained by refluxing ureters. All patients with renal pelvic striations had Hodson's grade II to III vesicoureteral reflux on the side of the striations. Renal pelvic striations were not detected in the 92 pelves drained by nonrefluxing ureters. One patient developed renal pelvic striation after resolution of temporary postoperative ureteral obstruction with marked hydroureteronephrosis. These findings indicate that there is a significant association between renal pelvic striations and urinary tract infection with grade II or III vesicoureteral reflux in children.
Measurements of hydrogen and helium isotopes in Galactic cosmic rays from 1978 through 1984

The propagation of light cosmic rays is examined using measurements of the relative abundances of the isotopes H-1, H-2 and He-3 and He-4 made with the ISEE 3 instrumentation. It is believed that cosmic ray particles experience spallation in traveling through the interstellar medium, thereby producing the isotopes examined in the present study. The isotopic ratios are therefore expected to yield data on outward migrating particles, which lose energy while moving toward extragalactic space, i.e., the 'leaky box approximation'. The energy ranges covered are 26-138 MeV/nucleon for H-1 and He-4, 24-89 MeV/nucleon for H-2 and 43-146 MeV/nucleon for He-3. Solar activity ranged from minimum to maximum over the observational period. Details of the experimental strategies, instrumentation features and calibration techniques employed with the particle detectors are provided. Histograms were geneated of the energies attributable to each particle track and mass ratios of the various isotopes were calculated over the measured energy ranges. Account was taken of errors introduced by solar modulation, and an escape path length of 5.6-7.8 g/sq cm was estimated for particle propagation through the Galaxy. The projected path length agrees with previous estimates based on data from heavier cosmic ray nuclei.
Fetal alcohol exposure alters proopiomelanocortin gene expression and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function via increasing MeCP2 expression in the hypothalamus

Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is a precursor gene of the neuropeptide β-endorphin in the hypothalamus and is known to regulate various physiological functions including stress response. Several recent reports showed that fetal alcohol exposure programs the hypothalamus to produce lower levels of POMC gene transcripts and to elevate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stressful stimuli. We investigated the role of methyl CpG binding protein (MeCP2) in the effects of prenatal ethanol on POMC gene expression and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were fed between GD 7 and 21 with a liquid diet containing 6.7% alcohol, pair-fed with isocaloric liquid diet, or fed ad libitum with rat chow, and their male offsprings were used at 60 days after birth in this study. Fetal alcohol exposure reduced the level of POMC mRNA, but increased the level of DNA methylation of this gene in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus where the POMC neuronal cell bodies are located. Fetal alcohol exposed rats showed a significant increase in MeCP2 protein levels in POMC cells, MeCP2 gene transcript levels as well as increased MeCP2 protein binding on the POMC promoter in the arcuate nucleus. Lentiviral delivery of MeCP2 shRNA into the third ventricle efficiently reduced MeCP2 expression and prevented the effect of prenatal ethanol on POMC gene expression in the arcuate nucleus. MeCP2-shRNA treatment also normalized the prenatal ethanol-induced increase in corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) gene expression in the hypothalamus and elevated plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone hormone responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. These results suggest that fetal alcohol programming of POMC gene may involve recruitment of MeCP2 on to the methylated promoter of the POMC gene to suppress POMC transcript levels and contribute to HPA axis dysregulation.
Regulation of Phototropic Signaling in Arabidopsis via Phosphorylation State Changes in the Phototropin 1-interacting Protein NPH3

Phototropism, or the directional growth (curvature) of various organs toward or away from incident light, represents a ubiquitous adaptive response within the plant kingdom. This response is initiated through the sensing of directional blue light (BL) by a small family of photoreceptors known as the phototropins. Of the two phototropins present in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, phot1 (phototropin 1) is the dominant receptor controlling phototropism. Absorption of BL by the sensory portion of phot1 leads, as in other plant phototropins, to activation of a C-terminal serine/threonine protein kinase domain, which is tightly coupled with phototropic responsiveness. Of the five phot1-interacting proteins identified to date, only one, NPH3 (non-phototropic hypocotyl 3), is essential for all phot1-dependent phototropic responses, yet little is known about how phot1 signals through NPH3. Here, we show that, in dark-grown seedlings, NPH3 exists as a phosphorylated protein and that BL stimulates its dephosphorylation. phot1 is necessary for this response and appears to regulate the activity of a type 1 protein phosphatase that catalyzes the reaction. The abrogation of both BL-dependent dephosphorylation of NPH3 and development of phototropic curvatures by protein phosphatase inhibitors further suggests that this post-translational modification represents a crucial event in phot1-dependent phototropism. Given that NPH3 may represent a core component of a CUL3-based ubiquitin-protein ligase (E3), we hypothesize that the phosphorylation state of NPH3 determines the functional status of such an E3 and that differential regulation of this E3 is required for normal phototropic responsiveness.
Current indications for and results of Greenfield filter placement

Abstract Review of the indications for and results of Greenfield filter placement for protection against thromboembolism in 260 patients shows that the most common indication remains a contraindication to anticoagulation therapy (35%) or recurrent thromboembolism in spite of anticoagulation therapy (31%). Prophylaxis in the absence of embolism is a less common indication (18%), but increasingly favorable experience by others with the filter in place of anticoagulation therapy in the elderly may alter the approach to these patients. Although two patients with massive embolism who had undergone pulmonary embolectomy died postoperatively, no deaths occurred as a result of filter placement. Only one of the remaining 35 patients who died (14%) within 2 weeks of filter placement had suspected recurrent embolism. Follow-up studies in 99 patients extending to 100 months showed only two early and no late occlusions of the filter, for a long-term patency rate of 98%. The recurrent embolism rate of 5% is comparable to that of previously reported experience and appears to be independent of the use of long-term anticoagulation therapy. (J VASC SURG 1984;1:502-4.)
α-Methylene and glycidic acid analogs of IPPA as potential myocardial imaging agents

Abstract Using organozinc cross-coupling reactions, two radiolabeled analogs of 15-( p -iodophenyl) pentadecanoic acid (IPPA) have been designed and synthesized as potential scintigraphic imaging agents for the heart. Both 15-(4-iodophenyl)-tridecylglycidic acid and 15-(4-iodophenyl)-2-methylene pentadecanoic acid were synthesized and radioiodinated. In tissue biodistribution studies in rats, only the α-methylene derivative of IPPA displayed a consistently higher heart to blood ratio and a substantially lower degree of thyroid accumulation than did IPPA alone. With respect to a scintigraphic imaging efficacy, the α-methylene analog of IPPA and IPPA itself showed essentially equivalent cardiac imaging profiles in rabbits, with a slight extension in imaging time for the α-methylene analog of IPPA.
On the definition of ellipticity for systems of partial differential equations

One of the fundamental problems in the theory of partial differential equations is that of classifying equations and systems by type. A specific problem associated with the definition of ellipticity is that when a higherorder equation or system is reduced to a first order system, ellipticity may be destroyed. One approach to that problem was introduced by Douglis and Nirenberg [4], who gave a definition of ellipticity for systems which involved assigning weights to each of the equations and dependent variables and then defining the principal part of the system in terms of those weights. The advantage of the definition of ellipticity given in [4] is that ellipticity can be preserved while a higher-order equation or system is reduced to an equivalent first order system. The disadvantage is that the definition is not invariant under nonsingular changes of variables. An alternative approach suggested by Protter [S] is to reduce the original equation or system to an overdetermined first order system, and then define ellipticity in a natural and invariant way for such systems. In the present article, we show that any determined or overdetermined system with smooth coefficients which is elliptic in the sense of Douglis and Nirenberg can be reduced to an overdetermined first order system which is elliptic in the sense of Protter, and that any overdetermined first order system with smooth coefficients which is elliptic in the sense of Protter can be converted to a determined second order system which is elliptic in the sense of Douglis and Nirenberg, or under any reasonable definition of ellipticity. The conversion to a second order system allows the application of the regularity results of [3, 4, 6, 71; in fact, second order systems are treated in
Framework for fast and accurate performance simulation of multiprocessor systems

In this paper we develop a framework for fast and accurate multiprocessor system performance simulation. Our simulation model generator generates simulation modules with accurate time deltas for software processes based on the intermediate representations generated by a compiler. The simulation modules are simulated as concurrent tasks in multiprocessor system performance simulation environment in SystemC. We use aggregated waits to reduce overhead in the simulation kernel and triple the speed of the simulation. Our study shows that we can obtain overall system performance results with less than 6% error while simulating at 150times faster than using an Instruction Set Simulator. This opens up system design space explorations that were not possible before.
Genome Sequence of the Solvent-Producing Bacterium Clostridium carboxidivorans Strain P7T

Clostridium carboxidivorans strain P7T is a strictly anaerobic acetogenic bacterium that produces acetate, ethanol, butanol, and butyrate. The C. carboxidivorans genome contains all the genes for the carbonyl branch of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway for CO2 fixation, and it encodes enzymes for conversion of acetyl coenzyme A into butanol and butyrate.
Generic Architecture Description for Retargetable Compilation and Synthesis of Application-Specific Pipelined IPs

Constraints of embedded systems and the shrinking time-to-market have elevated the importance of designer productivity and design predictability more than ever. To improve productivity, in ASIP approaches the system is designed with software and executed on a customized processor. In ASIP design flow, the processor is described in an Architecture Description Language (ADL) and the toolset is generated from that ADL automatically. However, in these approaches design predictability is low because the designer has little or no control over the quality of the final implementation. In this paper, we present a new design approach where the target processor or Intellectual Property (IP) does not have any predefined instruction-set and its datapath component netlist is described in a Generic Netlist Representation (GNR). The GNR is used by the toolset to generate the controller of the IP and the RTL of the design. The GNR is an order of magnitude shorter than state-of-the-art ADLs with RTL generation capabilities and yet can capture any structural details that affect the implementation quality. We have also developed a web-based interface for our toolset, so that users can upload and evaluate new IPs described in GNR.
Target simulator to calibrate wideband radar in measuring the internal layers of the Greenland ice sheet

We developed a hardware target simulator for measuring the system response and testing of an airborne wideband radar that operates over the frequency range 600-900 MHz to map the near-surface internal layers in glacial ice. It uses optical and microwave delay lines for evaluating and optimizing the performance of the wideband radar in the continental United States without expensive field trips to polar regions and can be used to test the radar without interfering with commercial wireless devices and television stations. The target simulator replicates the feed-through signal between the transmit and receive antenna, as well as reflections from the air-firn interface and the internal layers of the ice sheet, which are spaced about 50 cm apart. This is because the measured radar resolution is about 60 cm in free space and can map layers with about 50-cm resolution in firn. We simulated the internal layers by incorporating a feedback loop with a short delay line. The target simulator is being used for testing and evaluation of the radar in the laboratory and for in-flight testing of the radar.
Evaluation of Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen as an Imaging Reporter

Genetic reporters provide a noninvasive method to monitor and evaluate a population of cells. The ideal properties of a gene reporter-probe system include biocompatibility, lack of immunogenicity, low background expression or signal, and high sensitivity of detection. The prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is an attractive candidate for a genetic reporter as it is a human transmembrane protein with a selective expression pattern, and there are several PSMA imaging agents available for clinical and preclinical applications. We evaluated the use of PSMA as a genetic imaging reporter by comparison to 2 clinically established reporters, the mutant herpes simplex virus type I thymidine kinase and the human sodium-iodide symporter. Methods: Adenoviruses expressing each reporter were constructed and validated in vitro for expression and function. To compare PSMA with existing imaging reporters, a bilateral Matrigel suspension model was established with nude mice bearing cells equally infected with each reporter or control adenovirus. Dynamic PET was performed, and time–activity curves were generated for each reporter-probe pair. Results: A comparison of peak target-to-background ratios revealed that PSMA offered the highest ratio relative to the control Matrigel suspension as well as muscle. Further, as proof of concept, PSMA was applied as an imaging reporter to monitor adenoviral liver transduction with both nuclear and optical imaging probes. Conclusion: These preliminary studies support further development of PSMA as a noninvasive genetic reporter.
Solvent-Accessible Surfaces of Proteins and Nucleic Acids

A method is presented for analytically calculating a smooth, three-dimensional contour about a molecule. The molecular surface envelope may be drawn on either color raster computer displays or real-time vector computer graphics systems. Molecular areas and volumes may be computed analytically from this surface representation. Unlike most previous computer graphics representations of molecules, which imitate wire models or space-filling plastic spheres, this surface shows only the atoms that are accessible to solvent. This analytical method extends the earlier dot surface numerical algorithm, which has been applied in enzymology, rational drug design, immunology, and understanding DNA base sequence recognition.
Chinese American family food systems: impact of Western influences.

Abstract Objective To investigate the family food system in first-generation Chinese American families. Design Qualitative interviews using reciprocal determinism constructs to understand influences on food choices. Setting Weekend Chinese schools in Pennsylvania. Participants Twenty couples with at least 1 child aged 5 or older enrolled in a Chinese school in 1 of 3 sites in Pennsylvania. Phenomenon of Interest Factors influencing adoption of Western food. Analysis Thematic analysis with constant comparison of interview transcripts and descriptive statistics of demographic data. Families were divided into “modified” and “traditional” patterns based on degree of parental retention of the Chinese dinner pattern. Results Many Chinese American families consumed convenient American food at breakfast, whereas they ate mainly Chinese food for lunch and dinner. Most parents reported their children were picky eaters and learned to prefer Western food to traditional Chinese food in institutional settings. Conflicts arose with children's requests for Western food disliked by their parents. Parents were especially frustrated about their children's refusal to eat vegetables. Most struggled to control children's food choices with inconsistent rules and inequitable rule enforcement at dinner. The father's view of the importance of the Chinese dinner pattern had the most impact on its retention in the face of children's demands. Conclusions and Implications Chinese American parents established rules backed by parental power to maintain a Chinese meal pattern. They appear to need guidance to identify healthful Western food items that satisfy children's preferences while preserving their vegetable intake.
Additive, Epistatic, and Environmental Effects Through the Lens of Expression Variability QTL in a Twin Cohort

The expression of a gene can vary across individuals in the general population, as well as between monozygotic twins. This variable expression is assumed to be due to the influence of both genetic and nongenetic factors. Yet little evidence supporting this assumption has been obtained from empirical data. In this study, we used expression data from a large twin cohort to investigate the influences of genetic and nongenetic factors on variable gene expression. We focused on a set of expression variability QTL (evQTL)--i.e., genetic loci associated with the variance, as opposed to the mean, of gene expression. We identified evQTL for 99, 56, and 79 genes in lymphoblastoid cell lines, skin, and fat, respectively. The differences in gene expression, measured by the relative mean difference (RMD), tended to be larger between pairs of dizygotic (DZ) twins than between pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins, showing that genetic background influenced the expression variability. Furthermore, a more profound RMD was observed between pairs of MZ twins whose genotypes were associated with greater expression variability than the RMD found between pairs of MZ twins whose genotypes were associated with smaller expression variability. This suggests that nongenetic (e.g., environmental) factors contribute to the variable expression. Lastly, we demonstrated that the formation of evQTL is likely due to partial linkages between eQTL SNPs that are additively associated with the mean of gene expression; in most cases, no epistatic effect is involved. Our findings have implications for understanding divergent sources of gene expression variability.
Baby Walker-related Injuries

A retrospective review of charts of patients with baby walker-related injuries presenting to a large urban emergency room over a 23-month period was undertaken. Ninety-seven percent of the children sustained injuries to their head or face. Sixty-eight percent of the injuries were the result of falling down steps. Twenty-two percent of the injuries required surgical or dental evaluation in addition to pediatric evaluation.
Distinct Regulation of Murine Lupus Susceptibility Genes by the IRF5/Blimp-1 Axis

Genome-wide association studies have identified lupus susceptibility genes such as IRF5 and PRDM1 (encoding for IFN regulatory factor 5 [IRF]5 and Blimp-1) in the human genome. Accordingly, the murine Irf5 and Prdm1 genes have been shown to play a role in lupus susceptibility. However, it remains unclear how IRF5 and Blimp-1 (a transcriptional target of IRF5) contribute to lupus susceptibility. Given that the murine lupus susceptibility locus Nba2 includes the IFN-regulated genes Ifi202 (encoding for the p202 protein), Aim2 (encoding for the Aim2 protein), and Fcgr2b (encoding for the FcγRIIB receptor), we investigated whether the IRF5/Blimp-1 axis could regulate the expression of these genes. We found that an Irf5 deficiency in mice decreased the expression of Blimp-1 and reduced the expression of the Ifi202. However, the deficiency increased the expression of Aim2 and Fcgr2b. Correspondingly, increased expression of IRF5 in cells increased levels of Blimp-1 and p202 protein. Moreover, Blimp-1 expression increased the expression of Ifi202, whereas it reduced the expression of Aim2. Interestingly, an Aim2 deficiency in female mice increased the expression of IRF5. Similarly, the Fcgr2b-deficient mice expressed increased levels of IRF5. Moreover, increased expression of IRF5 and Blimp-1 in lupus-prone C57BL/6.Nba2, New Zealand Black, and C57BL/6.Sle123 female mice (as compared with age-matched C57BL/6 female mice) was associated with increased levels of the p202 protein. Taken together, our observations demonstrate that the IRF5/Blimp-1 axis differentially regulates the expression of Nba2 lupus susceptibility genes, and they suggest an important role for the IRF5/Blimp-1/p202 axis in murine lupus susceptibility.
Performance Analysis of Multi-Fiber Synchronous Photonic Share-per-link Packet Switches

A performance model is presented for an optical packet switch architecture in which the wavelength converters are shared per output link and each output link consists of multiple fibers. Symmetry of the switch is exploited to derive the packet loss probability for the case where traffic is destined to different output ports with equal probability. The architecture performance is evaluated by means of an analytical model and confirmed by simulations under different switch parameter configurations. Wavelength converters are shown to improve the packet loss probability of the switch. The study shows that synchronous switches equipped with full conversion would have the least conversion utilization rate indicating that the use of a switch with less converter count, i.e., partial conversion, would offer better switch resources utilization and comparable packet loss performance
Advanced information retrieval Web services for digital libraries

Web service as a standardized XML-based protocol has been useful for inter-system communication and integration. However, Web services in the IR domain have not been widely used. In a previous paper [Fu, Y., & Mostafa, J. (2004). Toward information retrieval Web services for digital libraries. IEEE/ACM Joint Conference on Digital Libraries 2004. Tucson, Arizona], we discussed a system supporting several information retrieval (IR) functions. This system called LUCAS is a Web service for extracting, weighing, and ranking terms. In this paper, we are going to discuss a more advanced version of the system called Lucas II. This updated implementation includes functions of term generation, clustering, and document classification that can be applied to different knowledge domains.
Historical perspectives in occupational medicine. Changing attitudes and opinions regarding asbestos and cancer 1934–1965

Literature published in the years 1934–1965 was reviewed to determine attitudes and opinions of scientists as to whether asbestos is a cause of cancer. In Germany, the issue was decided in 1943 when the government decreed that lung cancer, when associated with asbestosis (of any degree), was an occupational disease. In the United States, however, there was no consensus on the issue until 1964. Opinions of scientists over a 22 year period are shown and the contributions of various cultural, social, economic and political factors to these opinions are discussed. A lack of experimental and epidemiological evidence played a major role in delaying a consensus. Other important factors included a rejection of science conducted outside of the U.S. during this period, particularly a rejection of German scientific thought during and after WWII, and a rejection of clinical evidence in favor of epidemiological investigations. Individual writers rarely changed their minds on the subject of asbestos as a cause of cancer.
A Phosphoprotein from the Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus with Protein-Serine/Threonine Kinase Activity

Sulfolobus solfataricus contains a membrane-associated protein kinase activity that displays a strong preference for threonine as the phospho-acceptor amino acid residue. When a partially purified detergent extract of the membrane fraction from the archaeon S. solfataricus that had been enriched for this activity was incubated with [gamma-(32)P]ATP, radiolabeled phosphate was incorporated into roughly a dozen polypeptides, several of which contained phosphothreonine. One of the phosphothreonine-containing proteins was identified by mass peptide profiling as the product of open reading frame [ORF] sso0469. Inspection of the DNA-derived amino acid sequence of the predicted protein product of ORF sso0469 revealed the presence of sequence characteristics faintly reminiscent of the "eukaryotic" protein kinase superfamily. ORF sso0469 therefore was cloned, and its polypeptide product was expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein formed insoluble aggregates that could be dispersed using urea or detergents. The solubilized polypeptide phosphorylated several exogenous proteins in vitro, including casein, myelin basic protein, and bovine serum albumin. Mutagenic alteration of amino acids predicted to be essential for catalytic activity abolished or severely reduced catalytic activity. Phosphorylation of exogenous substrates took place on serine and, occasionally, threonine. This new archaeal protein kinase displayed no catalytic activity when GTP was substituted for ATP as the phospho-donor substrate, while Mn(2+) was the preferred cofactor.
A Solid State Multinuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of the Sol-Gel Process using Polysilicate Precursors

A solid state multinuclear NMR study of the sol-gel process was performed using the molecular building blocks tetramethoxysilane, hexamethoxydisiloxane, octamethoxytrisiloxane and octamethoxyoctasilsesquioxane as precursor monomers. Water content, solvent content, and hydrolysis/condensation processes were monitored using 17 O, 13 C, and 29 Si FT, FTMAS and CPMAS NMR techniques.
Brain spectrin, calpain and long-term changes in synaptic efficacy.

Abstract This chapter discusses the possibility that proteolytic digestion of cytoskeletal proteins, in particular spectrin, is part of the mechanisms through which physiological activity elicits structural and chemical changes in brain synapses. Recent work from several laboratories has produced a description of the initial events that trigger the long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic responses that appears in hippocampus after brief episodes of high frequency electrical stimulation. A likely sequence is as follows: (1) suppression of IPSPs, (2) prolongation of EPSPs, (3) activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, (4) influx of calcium into target cells. After briefly describing the evidence for this triggering sequence, the review takes up the question of what types of calcium sensitive chemistries are available to synaptic region that could produce functional changes lasting for weeks (i.e., for LTP). It is argued that the partial degradation of spectrin by a calcium-activated protease (calpain) provides a mechanism of this type. Spectrin is a substrate for calpain and both it and a breakdown product comparable to that produced by calpain are found in postsynaptic densities. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that spectrin regulates the surface chemistry and morphology of cells and thus its partial degradation would be expected to produce pronounced and persistent modifications in synapses. To reinforce this point, the review discusses recent findings suggesting that calpain mediated proteolysis of spectrin and other cytoskeletal proteins produces substantial changes in the shape of blood-borne cells and the distribution of their surface receptors. This is followed by a summary of the evidence that morphological changes of a type expected from a calpain-spectrin interaction accompany LTP and that a specific biochemical correlate of LTP is reproduced in crude synaptic membrane fractions by stimulating calpain-induced breakdown of spectrin. The final section considers the possibility that excessive activation of this biochemical process is also responsible for some instances of neuropathology.
Design considerations for a stator side voltage regulated permanent magnet AC generator

The application of permanent magnet generators in variable-speed applications is made difficult by the lack of a direct field control and the variation of the stator voltage with shaft speed and also with load. This paper presents the use of reactive power injection into the stator as a means of regulating the stator voltage. Design-oriented analysis of the machine stator current and reactive power requirements for this mode of operation leads to the conclusion that high machine saliency enables excellent terminal voltage regulation over a specified speed and load range while minimizing stator current requirements. It is shown that the incorporation of saliency into the permanent magnet generator can significantly reduce the size of the reactive current source and the stator current that is required to regulate the stator voltage during operation over a broad range of speeds and loads. Experimental results are presented to confirm the basic principles of this approach.