cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application of a Maneuvering Propulsor Technology to Undersea Vehicles

Previous computational and experimental studies that have demonstrated a method to generate vehicle maneuvering forces from a propulsor alone have been applied to a generic undersea vehicle. An open, preswirl propulsor was configured with an upstream stator row and downstream rotor. During normal operation, the upstream stator blades are all situated at the same pitch angle and preswirl the flow into the propulsor while generating a roll moment to counter the torque produced by the rotor. By varying the pitch angles of the stator blade about the circumference, it is possible to generate a mean stator side force that can be used to maneuver the vehicle. The stator wake axial velocity and swirl that is ingested into the rotor produces a counter-force by the rotor. Optimal design of the rotor minimizes the unsteady force and redirects the rotor force vector in an orthogonal direction to minimize the counter force. The viscous, 3D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) commercial code FLUENT® was used to predict the stator forces, velocity fields, and rotor response. Radiated noise was computed for the rotor separately and the entire geometry utilizing the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings module available in FLUENT. Two separate geometries were studied—the first with a maximum stator blade row diameter contained within the body diameter and a second that was allowed to exceed the body diameter. Side force coefficients were computed for the two maneuvering propulsor configurations and compared with currently used control surface forces. Computations predicted that the maneuvering propulsor generated side forces equivalent to those produced by conventional control surfaces with side force coefficients on the order of 0.3. This translates to 50% larger forces than can be generated by conventional control surfaces on 21 in. unmanned undersea vehicles. Radiated noise calculations in air demonstrated that the total sound pressure levels produced by the maneuvering propulsor were on the order of 5 dB lower than the control fin test cases.
Lateral asymmetries for the identification of concrete and abstract Kanji.

Abstract A number of studies have reported cerebral asymmetries for the identification of dichoptically presented Kanji and Kana , such that Kanji are processed better in the right hemisphere and Kana are processed better in the left hemisphere. The present study focuses on the identification of Kanji nouns. We found a right hemisphere advantage for concrete Kanji nouns only; the right hemisphere did significantly worse than the left when presented abstract Kanji .
Selection of T cell receptor Vβ elements by HLA‐DR determinants predisposing to Rheumatoid Arthritis

OBJECTIVE Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is genetically linked to a sequence motif encoding for the middle portion of the alpha-helical loop, which is adjacent to the antigen-binding groove of the HLA-DR molecule. The disease-associated element might be involved in binding the antigen or in interacting with the T cell receptor (TCR). To investigate the contribution of the disease-associated element in T cell recognition events, we studied structural requirements in the interaction of T cell clones with HLA-DR determinants. METHODS T cell clones restricted to disease-associated HLA-DR determinants were established by allogeneic stimulation of HLA-DRB1*0401+ or *0401- responders with HLA-DRB1*0404/8+ stimulators. Allele specific primer sets were used to identify the V beta gene segment expressed by individual clones. Sequence analysis was applied to study the diversity of the TCR beta-chain junctional regions. RESULTS The repertoire of TCR V beta elements was strongly biased toward the usage of V beta 6. HLA-DRB1*0401+ and *0401- donors preferentially recruited V beta 6+ T cells to recognize the disease-associated HLA-DR determinant. Sequence data revealed that the V beta 6.6/7 and V beta 6.8/9 subtypes of the V beta 6 multigene family were overrepresented. The TCR beta chains were characterized by a high degree of junctional diversity, supporting the view that a multitude of peptide-DR complexes were recognized and that the preferential use of V beta 6 was dictated by the TCR beta chain-DR beta 1 chain contact. CONCLUSION T cells reactive with the disease-associated HLA-DR structure are nonrandomly selected. The HLA-DR component predisposing to RA might define molecular requirements that restrict the TCR-HLA interaction. Thus, the phenomenon of HLA association in RA might reflect a genetic control of T cell recognition, through the selection of the TCR repertoire.
Activation of Na+/H+ Exchanger NHE3 by Angiotensin II Is Mediated by Inositol 1,4,5-Triphosphate (IP3) Receptor-binding Protein Released with IP3 (IRBIT) and Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II

Angiotensin II (ANG II) stimulates renal tubular reabsorption of NaCl by targeting Na+/H+ exchanger NHE3. We have shown previously that inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor-binding protein released with inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IRBIT) plays a critical role in stimulation of NHE3 in response to elevated intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). In this study, we investigated the role of IRBIT in mediating NHE3 activation by ANG II. IRBIT is abundantly expressed in the proximal tubules where NHE3 is located. ANG II at physiological concentrations stimulates NHE3 transport activity in a model proximal tubule cell line. ANG II-induced activation of NHE3 was abrogated by knockdown of IRBIT, whereas overexpression of IRBIT enhanced the effect of ANG II on NHE3. ANG II transiently increased binding of IRBIT to NHE3 at 5 min but became dissociated by 45 min. In comparison, it took at least 15 min of ANG II treatment for an increase in NHE3 activity and NHE3 surface expression. The stimulation of NHE3 by ANG II was dependent on changes in [Ca2+]i and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases II. Inhibition of CaMKII completely blocked the ANG II-induced binding of IRBIT to NHE3 and the increase in NHE3 surface abundance. Several serine residues of IRBIT are thought to be important for IRBIT binding. Mutations of Ser-68, Ser-71, and Ser-74 of IRBIT decreased binding of IRBIT to NHE3 and its effect on NHE3 activity. In conclusion, our current findings demonstrate that IRBIT is critically involved in mediating activation of NHE3 by ANG II via a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases II-dependent pathway.
Identification of important residues in metal-chelate recognition by monoclonal antibodies.

The molecular characterization of antibodies directed against metal−chelate complexes will provide important insights into the design and development of radiotherapeutic and radioimaging reagents. In this study, two monoclonal antibodies directed against different metal−chelate complexes were expressed as recombinant Fab fragments. Covalent modification and site-directed mutagenesis were employed to ascertain those residues important in antigen recognition. Antibody 5B2 was raised to a Pb(II)-loaded isothiocyanatobenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)−protein conjugate. The native antibody bound to complexes of Pb(II)−p-aminobenzyl-DTPA with an affinity of 4.6 × 10-9 M. A monovalent Fab fragment prepared from the native protein and a bivalent recombinant fragment exhibited comparable affinities for the same Pb(II)−chelate complex, approximately 6-fold lower than that of the intact antibody. Covalent modification and molecular modeling predicted that Lys58 in the heavy chain contacted the Pb(II)...
Visual servoing for an autonomous rendezvous and capture system

Many autonomous space systems are under development to economically extend the lives of space systems, either by orbit modification or replenishment of consumables. This paper explains the theory behind and demonstrates experimentally the terminal control portion of an autonomous rendezvous and capture system. The system will grapple the launch bolt holes of common satellite interfaces in order to minimize the necessary client hardware. This is accomplished using a stereoscopic vision system using an edge detector and Hough transform to locate the target point. This project demonstrated the use of off-the-shelf hardware and open source algorithms to accomplish its objective.
Methamphetamine and its impact on the criminal justice system: a three-year examination of felony drug filings

Much of the knowledge available on the impact of methamphetamine on crime is limited to treatment populations, self-report surveys, methamphetamine laboratory seizures, and anecdotal statistics. In many ways methamphetamine has been viewed by the public as the next great drug scare, equal to or even more dangerous than the crack scare of the late 1980s. There is little hard data, however, on the extent of methamphetamine's impact on the criminal justice system in individual communities. This article examines three years of felony drug filings in Mesa County, Colorado, a community that has been hard hit by methamphetamine over a 15-year period. More than 1100 methamphetamine arrests were made in the three years of the study, but virtually none of those arrests were for methamphetamine laboratory seizures. The study reports on the results of a felony drug-tracking system in a District Attorney's office, and provides both a demographic profile of methamphetamine arrestees and comparison of methamphetamine ca...
Iran's nuclear power programme revisited

Abstract Iran's new government has not yet made a final decision about the fate of that country's once ambitious nuclear power programme. If the programme is kept alive, it will be limited to the completion of at most one or two of the reactors that were already well underway when the revolution broke out. The author traces the origins and growth of the Iranian nuclear power programme between 1974 and 1978, summarizes the principal economic, infrastructural, and political criticisms of the programme as originally planned, discusses the potential for greater use of natural gas as an alternative and, finally, recommends a long, detailed reassessment of Iran's energy options.
Morphological Image Processing With Application To Medical Imaging

This paper presents results from an investigation on morphological operators in the area of medical imaging. Two problems are considered; i) removal of salt and pepper noise from degraded chest images, and ii) edge detection of a chest image. The basis of the processing is centered around recent advances in operator theory employing mathematical morphology. Performance of morphological operators on medical images are presented and discussed. It is shown that morphological operators can significantly reduce spike noise, and offer greater flexibility than median filtering. Morphological based edge detection is also shown to outperform traditional gradient based techniques. The results illustrate the power of morphological operators for medical image processing in terms of noise reduction, reduced data storage and transmission requirements.
Drug Target Prediction and Repositioning Using an Integrated Network-Based Approach

The discovery of novel drug targets is a significant challenge in drug development. Although the human genome comprises approximately 30,000 genes, proteins encoded by fewer than 400 are used as drug targets in the treatment of diseases. Therefore, novel drug targets are extremely valuable as the source for first in class drugs. On the other hand, many of the currently known drug targets are functionally pleiotropic and involved in multiple pathologies. Several of them are exploited for treating multiple diseases, which highlights the need for methods to reliably reposition drug targets to new indications. Network-based methods have been successfully applied to prioritize novel disease-associated genes. In recent years, several such algorithms have been developed, some focusing on local network properties only, and others taking the complete network topology into account. Common to all approaches is the understanding that novel disease-associated candidates are in close overall proximity to known disease genes. However, the relevance of these methods to the prediction of novel drug targets has not yet been assessed. Here, we present a network-based approach for the prediction of drug targets for a given disease. The method allows both repositioning drug targets known for other diseases to the given disease and the prediction of unexploited drug targets which are not used for treatment of any disease. Our approach takes as input a disease gene expression signature and a high-quality interaction network and outputs a prioritized list of drug targets. We demonstrate the high performance of our method and highlight the usefulness of the predictions in three case studies. We present novel drug targets for scleroderma and different types of cancer with their underlying biological processes. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of our method to identify non-suspected repositioning candidates using diabetes type 1 as an example.
REVERSAL OF REACTION BY MEANS OF STRYCHNINE IN PLANARIANS AND STARFISH.

Two cases have been described, that of the marine planarian Bdelloura and that of the starfish Asterias forbesii, in which strychnine reverses reciprocal inhibition. These facts indicate that the nervous systems of these invertebrates function in a manner similar to those of the earthworm and vertebrates. Moreover, it would seem that strychnine acts upon some chemical component of the neuron which is always present in synaptic structures but which also occurs in the simpler neurons of lower forms. The fact that strychnine is without this characteristic effect on such forms as medusa and sea anemone, indicates that the nervous systems of the starfish and planarian have chemical affinities with the vertebrates which the cœlenterates do not possess.
Immunosuppression in Specific-Pathogen-Free Broilers Administered Infectious Bursal Disease Virus Vaccines by In Ovo Route

SUMMARY. The effect of two infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) vaccines (IBDV-immune complex [Icx] and IBDV-2512), administered in ovo, on the cell-mediated immunity of specific-pathogen-free (SPF) broilers was examined. A decrease (P < 0.05) in the T-cell mitogenic response occurred in birds vaccinated with both vaccines on days 9 and 21 post in ovo vaccination (PIOV), but an increase (P < 0.05) occurred on day 15 PIOV. The T cells from birds given the IBDV-2512 were less responsive. There were no significant differences in proportions of lymphocytes expressing CT4+CT8− and CT8+CT4− except on day 21 PIOV, where an increase (P < 0.05) in IBDV-2512–vaccinated birds and a decrease (P < 0.05) in percentage of CT4+CT8− in IBDV-Icx–vaccinated birds was observed. There was an increase (P < 0.05) in percentage of CT8+CT4− T cells on day 21 PIOV in both vaccinated groups. A decrease (P < 0.05) in B-cell percentage was observed on day 21 PIOV in birds given both vaccines. Results indicated that although humoral...
An implementation of redundancy resolution and stability monitoring for a material handling vehicle

The ATLAS (All-Terrain Lifter Articulated System) vehicle is a prototype for the next-generation Army material handling vehicle. The vehicle features a redundant manipulator with five degrees of freedom in a plane and a forklift end-effector. The original control system only allowed single joint motion control via a set of joysticks in the cab. A new controller was developed to automatically coordinate all joints in the system and allow the operator to directly control the motions of the end-effector with constant orientation via a single joystick. In addition, a stability monitor was developed that prevents the operator from tipping over the vehicle when manipulating heavy loads of uncertain weight, or warns him of approaching stability limits when driving. Finally, a load-compensation function was developed that automatically tips back the fork tines when a heavy load is lifted. >
Primary Motor Cortex Neurons during Individuated Finger and Wrist Movements: Correlation of Spike Firing Rates with the Motion of Individual Digits versus Their Principal Components.

The joints of the hand provide 24 mechanical degrees of freedom. Yet 2 to 7 principal components (PCs) account for 80 to 95 % of the variance in hand joint motion during tasks that vary from grasping to finger spelling. Such findings have led to the hypothesis that the brain may simplify operation of the hand by preferentially controlling PCs. We tested this hypothesis using data recorded from the primary motor cortex (M1) during individuated finger and wrist movements. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the simultaneous position of the 5 digits and the wrist showed relatively consistent kinematic synergies across recording sessions in two monkeys. The first 3 PCs typically accounted for 85% of the variance. Cross-correlations then were calculated between the firing rate of single neurons and the simultaneous flexion/extension motion of each of the 5 digits and the wrist, as well as with each of their 6 PCs. For each neuron, we then compared the maximal absolute value of the cross-correlations (MAXC) achieved with the motion of any digit or the wrist to the MAXC achieved with motion along any PC axis. The MAXC with a digit and the MAXC with a PC were themselves highly correlated across neurons. A minority of neurons correlated more strongly with a principal component than with any digit. But for the populations of neurons sampled from each of two subjects, MAXCs with digits were slightly but significantly higher than those with PCs. We therefore reject the hypothesis that M1 neurons preferentially control PCs of hand motion. We cannot exclude the possibility that M1 neurons might control kinematic synergies identified using linear or non-linear methods other than PCA. We consider it more likely, however, that neurons in other centers of the motor system—such as the pontomedullary reticular formation and the spinal gray matter—drive synergies of movement and/or muscles, which M1 neurons act to fractionate in producing individuated finger and wrist movements.
An Ultrastructural and Radioautographic Study of Early Oogenesis in the Toad Xenopus Laevis

SUMMARY Early oogenesis in the toad Xenopus laevis has been investigated at the ultrastructural level, with particular reference to the formation of extrachromosomal DNA. Thymidine incorporation was localized by electron microscope radioautography. In oogonia, the nucleus is irregular in outline and may contain several nucleoli. Oocytes, from premeiotic interphase to late pachytene, are found in cell nests which are estimated to consist of about 16 cells each. Adjacent oocytes within a nest are connected by intercellular bridges and develop synchronously. Each premeiotic interphase-leptotene oocyte has a round nucleus which contains one or two centrally located, spherical nucleoli. Electron-microscope radioautography showed that all nuclei in a cell nest incorporate thymidine synchronously during premeiotic S-phase. In zygotene oocytes, axial cores and synaptonemal complexes are observed in the nucleus and abut against the inner nuclear membrane in the region nearest the centre of the cell nest. The nucleolus is still moreor-less round in outline, but is asymmetrically positioned in the nucleus. It lies near the nuclear envelope on the side of the nucleus furthest away from the attachment of the chromosome ends, that is, nearest the outside of the cell nest. Each nucleolus is surrounded by a fibrillar ' halo' of nucleolus-associated chromatin into which a low level of thymidine incorporation occurs during zygotene. This is thought to represent the start of the major period of amplification of the ribosomal DNA. Pachytene is characterized by the presence of synaptonemal complexes in the nucleus. The nucleolus becomes very irregular in outline. The fibrillar area around it, which represents the extrachromosomal DNA, increases in size and thymidine is incorporated over the whole of this region. In late pachytene, many small fibrogranular bodies, the multiple nucleoli, are formed in it. The members of a cell nest become separated from one another at this time and begin to develop asynchronously. In diplotene, synaptonemal complexes are no longer observed in the nucleus. The most prominent structures in the nucleus are now the multiple nucleoli, which increase greatly in number in early diplotene. A large increase in cytoplasmic volume occurs and the oocyte grows in size.
Dim light at night disrupts the short-day response in Siberian hamsters

Photoperiodic regulation of physiology, morphology, and behavior is crucial for many animals to survive seasonally variable conditions unfavorable for reproduction and survival. The photoperiodic response in mammals is mediated by nocturnal secretion of melatonin under the control of a circadian clock. However, artificial light at night caused by recent urbanization may disrupt the circadian clock, as well as the photoperiodic response by blunting melatonin secretion. Here we examined the effect of dim light at night (dLAN) (5 lux of light during the dark phase) on locomotor activity rhythms and short-day regulation of reproduction, body mass, pelage properties, and immune responses of male Siberian hamsters. Short-day animals reduced gonadal and body mass, decreased spermatid nuclei and sperm numbers, molted to a whiter pelage, and increased pelage density compared to long-day animals. However, animals that experienced short days with dLAN did not show these short-day responses. Moreover, short-day specific immune responses were altered in dLAN conditions. The nocturnal activity pattern was blunted in dLAN hamsters, consistent with the observation that dLAN changed expression of the circadian clock gene, Period1. In addition, we demonstrated that expression levels of genes implicated in the photoperiodic response, Mel-1a melatonin receptor, Eyes absent 3, thyroid stimulating hormone receptor, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone, were higher in dLAN animals than those in short-day animals. These results suggest that dLAN disturbs the circadian clock function and affects the molecular mechanisms of the photoperiodic response.
Reducing uninformed responses: The effects of product‐class familiarity and measuring brand knowledge on surveys

Consumers often give answers to survey questions about which they are uninformed. Although research has documented this phenomenon and examined the conditions under which it occurs, the current research project is the first to examine how survey researchers might reduce uninformed response bias through the use of additional questions added to surveys that measure knowledge of brands for which consumers might be uninformed. In the current study, adding brand knowledge questions pertaining to an unknown (fictitious) brand reduced the likelihood of respondents providing uninformed responses when later asked to evaluate that brand. However, the effects of asking for brand familiarity on uninformed response rates differed by consumers' level of product-class familiarity and the relative placement of the brand knowledge and brand attitude questions on the survey. Brand knowledge questions can suggest the existence of brands, placing them within a knowledge schema, thus leading to more uninformed responses from consumers low in product-class familiarity. These results, coupled with recent other research findings suggest that researchers must consider the effects of related knowledge on what have been previously considered completely uninformed responses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Financial Capability and Asset Development: Research, Education, Policy, and Practice, by Birkenmaier, J., Sherraden, M., and Curley, J. (Eds.)

There is a growing interest among academicians, practitioners, and policy makers in the concept of asset building. Many people associate this approach to poverty alleviation with a popular book wri...
Heat-Shock Proteins Associated with Base Excision Repair Enzymes in HeLa Cells

Two enzymes of base excision repair (BER), uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) and DNA polymerase beta (beta pol), from HeLa cells co-eluted from Superose 12 FPLC columns. The UDG was completely displaced from 150-180-kDa fractions to 30- 70-kDa fractions by brief treatment with 0.5 N NaCl, pH 3.0, as expected when protein-protein associations are disrupted, but beta pol was not displaced by this treatment. UDG was not essential to the presence of beta pol in the 150-180-kDa enzyme complex. beta pol and UDG apparently reside in separate but co-eluting structures. Immunoaffinity chromatography showed that the association of UDG and beta pol was accounted for by attachment in common to DNA and that the association was abolished by eliminating DNA. Evidence for base excision repairosomes containing UDG and beta pol in protein-protein assemblies was not found. However, UDG and human AP endonuclease (HAP1) were associated with HSP70 and HSP27, which are present in 150-180-kDa and 30-70-kDa proteins of cell sonicates. The association of HSPs with BER enzymes was confirmed by hydroxyl radical protein-protein footprinting and immunoaffinity tests. The association of HSPs and BER enzymes is a novel finding. HSP binding may account for the presence of BER enzymes in the two large size class fractions and HSPs may have functional roles in BER.
Environmental Health Control for the Rubber Industry, Part II

Abstract To present a review of the health problems and their control for the Rubber Industry requires the making of certain choices relative to the breadth of the discussion. It is well known that the Rubber Industry has many facets. These involve not only the conversion of the natural and synthetic polymers into usable articles, but the manufacture of chemicals, plastics, and numerous other materials. For this reason, this review is restricted to the manufacture of the commonly used synthetic polymers and to the operations incident to the conversion of these polymers and the natural polymer into marketable products. Why should there be a concern with respect to the health problems of the Rubber Industry? (1) It is well known that many different chemicals are used, not only in the manufacture of polymers but in the conversion process. The industry is a huge consumer of chemicals, and these run the gamut of highly hazardous to inocuous. Proper environmental controls must be applied in order to handle them...
The Approaches to Schizophrenia Communication (ASC) Tool

Adverse effects of antipsychotics are important determinants of patient attitudes towards medications, adherence to treatment, and quality of life. A discussion of adverse effects is therefore a crucial element of treatment and offers a unique opportunity for dialogue between the patient and the clinician. Unfortunately, clinicians in routine clinical practice have had very limited guidance regarding how best to initiate this discussion. In fact, despite the recognition of the importance of adverse effects, their systematic assessment has been, for the most part, confined to research settings, where the main focus has been on extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS). Furthermore, until recently, clinicians tended to discount patient subjective experiences with antipsychotic medications, focusing on the evaluation of objective severity. However, ignoring the subjective experience of patients results in inadequate communication between the patient and the clinician. The Approaches to Schizophrenia (Communication ASC) Steering Group, comprised of psychiatrists from the US, Canada and the UK, identified the need to develop a tool that could be used in routine clinical care settings to facilitate the communication between patients and clinicians regarding adverse effects. In order to be useful the instrument needed to be brief, clinically focused and easy to administer. As for the content, it needed to include the patients’ subjective experiences with antipsychotics and to assess a broad adverse effect profile (i.e. both EPS and non-EPS effects). To address these needs, the Steering Group designed two checklists: the ASC-Self-Report (ASC-SR) and the ASC-Clinic (ASC-C). The ASC-SR is a self-report checklist completed by the patient. It contains a list of common problems experienced by patients receiving antipsychotics. The ASC-C is a clinician-administered version that is designed to be completed by the clinician and the patient together during a regular clinic visit. The experience with the ASC-SR and ASC-C checklists across sites and countries has been encouraging. The vast majority of respondents in a pilot study of the ASC checklists found the ASC-SR user friendly and helpful in their communication with the healthcare team. Likewise, almost half of the healthcare professionals reported that the ASC-C assisted them in identifying previously unrecognized adverse effects. Additional experience in the UK and the US has provided further support for clinical use of the checklists.
Fluidic Adaptive Zoom Lens without Lens Motion

Two types of fluidic adaptive zoom lenses without lens motion were demonstrated. The zoom ratio of monolithic and hybrid fluidic zoom lenses with 20 mm lens diameter was 1.8 and 3.0, respectively.
Rebuttable Presumption is Key to Easy Intermediate Sanctions Compliance

In this article, Miller looks at the statute that imposes intermediate sanctions on top officials of some tax-exempt organizations who are highly compensated by their organizations. Miller then explains how to determine which officials the regs cover and suggests a way, using a "rebuttable presumption of reasonableness" checklist, to ensure that these officials and their organizations are in full compliance with the regs.
Relationship between esophageal muscle thickness and intraluminal pressure: an ultrasonographic study

A number of studies show a close temporal relationship between the rate of change in muscle thickness as detected by high-frequency intraluminal ultrasonography (HFIUS) and intraluminal pressure measured by manometry. There is a marked variability in esophageal contraction amplitude from one swallow to another at a given level in the esophagus and along the length of the esophagus. Furthermore, peristaltic pressures are higher in the distal compared with the proximal esophagus. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the baseline and peak muscle thickness and the contraction amplitude during swallow-induced contractions along the length of the esophagus. Fifteen normal subjects were studied using simultaneous esophageal pressures and HFIUS or HFIUS alone. Recordings were made during baseline and standardized swallows in the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 cm above the LES. HFIUS images were digitized, and esophageal muscle thickness and peak contraction amplitudes were measured. In the resting state, muscle thickness is higher in the LES compared with the rest of the esophagus. Baseline muscle thickness is also significantly higher at 2 cm vs. 10 cm above the LES. In a given subject and among different subjects, there is a good relationship between peak muscle thickness and peak peristaltic pressures (r = 0.55) at all sites along the length of the esophagus. The positive correlation between pressure and muscle thickness implies that the mean circumferential wall stress is fairly uniform from one swallow to another, irrespective of the contraction amplitude.
Quantitative Assessment of Infarct Size and its Influence by Thrombolysis

Conventional nuclear cardiology employs gamma-emitting tracers such as technetium-99 (99mTc) or thallium-201 (20lT1). Such tracers are not physiological metabolites and accordingly behave somewhat differently from the physiological constituents being traced. Single-photon emitters decay by liberating energy in the form of photons characteristic of the parent radio-nuclide, much of which is absorbed (attenuated) before it reaches the detector. Because of the variability of attenuation it is difficult, if not impossible, to accurately define both the amount of radiation emitted and its location. Thus, even though the reconstructed images may be aesthetically satisfying, quantitative limitations preclude definitive correspondence between the reconstructed image and the actual distribution of tracer in the organ of interest in absolute terms.1
“Mean Distance” in Kepler's Third Law

(1977). “Mean Distance” in Kepler's Third Law. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 160-162.
Plasma cxc-chemokine ligand 10, 12 and 16 levels correlate significantly with patients' clinical characteristics in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension

Plasma CXC-Chemokine Ligand 10, 12 and 16 Levels correlate significantly with patients' clinical characteristics in Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Purpose: To compare the plasma levels of CXC-Chemokine Ligand 10 (CXCL10), CXC-Chemokine Ligand 12 (CXCL12), CXC-Chemokine Ligand 16 (CXCL16) and Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) in Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (IPAH) patients and healthy controls, and to investigate the correlation between these biomarkers and clinical characteristics in IPAH patients. Methods: Patients with IPAH conformed by right heart catheterization and age/sex matched volunteers were enrolled prospectively in this study. Venous blood samples were collected immediately after right heart catheterization. Data of World Health Organization Function Class, six minites walk distance (6MWD), echocardiography and hemodynamic parameters were collected. Plasma levels of the interest biomarkers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: We recruited 61 IPAH patients and 20 controls, plasma CXCL10, CXCL12, CXCL16 and GDF-15 concentrations were increased significantly in patients compared with controls (202.79±104.58 pg/ml vs 103.56±65.00 pg/ml, 2656.55±459.52 pg/ml vs 2323.02±400.87 pg/ml, 2.83±0.62 ng/ml vs 2.28±0.47 ng/ml, and 810.80±466.20 pg/ml vs 331.69±109.04 pg/ml). Levels of CXCL10 correlated significantly with Right End-Diastolic Ventricular Diameter (RVEDD), mean right atrial pressure (mRAP), right ventricular cardiac index (RVCI) and NT-proBNP. Concentration of CXCL12 correlated significantly with 6MWD, mRAP, RVCI and NT-proBNP, in addition, CXCL16 correlated significantly with 6MWD and N-Terminal Pro Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP). The ROC curves analyses demostrated that CXCL10 was the best for best distinguishing CI <2.0L min-1 m21 among the parameters, and GDF-15 had no significance in identifing CI <2.0L min-1 m-2. Conclusions: Plasma levels of CXCL10, CXCL12 and CXCL16 are increased in IPAH patients. Elavation of plasma CXCL10 and CXCL12 can indicate right ventricular dysfunction in patients with IPAH.
Integral Optimization Design for Intermediate Turbine Duct of Turbofan Engine

The short axial length,complex of inner flow and separation of boundary layer,make it hard to design the intermediate turbine duct of a high-bypass-ratio turbofan engine.To improve the aerodynamic performance,a numerical simulation was conducted by using three-dimensional numerical simulation on a certain type of diffuser.Later on,a genetic algorithm was adopted to optimize this original diffuser.It can be concluded from this optimization that the diffuser performance is highly sensitive to its geometry.Based on uniform mass flow,the static pressure coefficient has increased steeply,the total pressure loss coefficient has dropped,and even the stable operation range has been improved as well,which proved the effectiveness and feasibility of the optimization method.
Development of food tables and use with computers. Review of nutrient data bases.

With computerized food composition tables rapidly “coming on stream” this historical back grounding should promote better understanding of the content and use of these tools.
Eating disorders and sexual function

Women suffering from eating disorders, present considerable retardation and difficulties in their psychosexual development during adolescence. This leads to primary or secondary insufficiencies in their adult sexual life. The cause of these difficulties seems to be a series of biological, family and psychosocial factors. The majority of the research findings indicate that eating disorders have a negative impact on the patient's sexual function. The factors related to eating disorders symptomatology that influence sexuality are various and differ among each eating disorder diagnostic categories. Considering anorexia nervosa, it has been reported that women have negative attitudes to sexual issues and their body. Their sexual motivation increases when they engage in psychotherapy and their body weight is gradually restored. Starvation and its consequences on the human physiology and especially on the brain function seem to be the main factor that leads to reduced sexual desire and scarce sexual activity. Moreover, personality traits that are common in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa such as compulsivity and rigidity are also related with difficulties initiating and retaining romantic and sexual relationships. Usually patients suffering from anorexia nervosa report impaired sexual behavior and lack of interest to engage in a sexual relationship. Considering Bulimia Nervosa, impulsivity and difficulties in emotion regulation that are common features of the individuals that suffer from bulimia nervosa are also related to impulsive and sometimes self-harming sexual behaviors. Moreover women sufferers often report repulsion, anger and shame towards their body and weight, mainly due to the distorted perception that they are fat and ugly. It is interesting that a number of research findings indicate that although patients suffering from bulimia nervosa are more sexually active and have more sexual experiences than patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, both groups of patients report more often than general population a lack of satisfaction from their sexual experiences. Other factors that are common to eating disorders and sexual dysfunction are personality traits, negative body-image, adverse childhood experiences, negative family climate and especially early traumatic experiences such as sexual abuse. Furthermore, comorbidity of eating disorders with depression may have a negative impact on the patient's sexual function. The treatment and improvement of sexual behavior is quite problematic when the patient is also suffering from an eating disorder. Eating Disorder patients are often very reluctant to discuss their sexual life with the therapist and to engage in any kind of therapeutic intervention. Comorbidity with a number of other disorders makes psychotherapy even more difficult for those patients. Furthermore, a considerable percentage of Anorexia Nervosa patients do not have any kind of sexual activity, at least until nutrition and weight are restored.
MongoDB NoSQL Injection Analysis and Detection

A NoSQL, also called a "Non-Relational" or "Not only SQL," database system provides an approach to data management and database design for very large sets of distributed data and real-time web applications. A NoSQL database system is also a popular data storage for information retrieval because it supports better scalability, availability, and faster data access while comparing with traditional relational database management systems (RDBMS). What the RDBMS data needs is predictable as its data is stored in structured tables by defining the relationship between the different columns. In contrary the data in NoSQL databases does not need to be stored in a structured or fixed fashion. When performance and real-time access are more concerned than consistency, such as indexing and retrieving large numbers of records, NoSQL databases are more suitable than relational databases. With their obvious advantages in better performance, scalability, and flexibility, NoSQL databases have been adopted lately by many small businesses as they are moving their increasing business data into the clouds. However, the research on the security of a specific NoSQL database system or NoSQL database systems in general is very limited. Although there are many storage advantages in NoSQL databases, the need of quick and easy access to data has been seriously affected by the security issue of NoSQL databases. This paper examines the maturity of security measures for MongoDB, a typical NoSQL database system, with aspects in both attack and defense at the code level. The experimental testing on NoSQL injections is performed with JavaScript and PHP. After the demonstration on how a server-side JavaScript injection attack against a NoSQL database system reveals the customer's private data, two methods are discussed in preventing this type of security problems from happening. It is believed that our study will help database developers not only realizing that NoSQL database systems are not designed with security as a priority but also learning how to build a security layer to their organizations' NoSQL applications to avoid NoSQL injections.
Pseudotumor Cerebri After L-Thyroxine Therapy

Pseudotumor cerebri in an infant treated with L-thyroxine for transient neonatal hypothyroidism is reported from the Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
SNS-595, a Novel S-Phase Active Cytotoxic, Demonstrates Pharmacologic Properties Appropriate for the Treatment of Advanced Hematologic Malignancies.

Abstract Despite advances in the treatment of leukemia patients, response rates with intensive chemotherapy regimens remain less than 30% for relapsed or refractory acute leukemias and advanced chronic myelogenous leukemias. SNS-595, is a novel naphthyridine analog small molecule, a class of drugs not previously used in cancer treatment. SNS-595 acts specifically during the S-phase of the cell cycle to induce rapid apoptosis of cells that are actively synthesizing DNA, and a subsequent cell cycle arrest in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is developing SNS-595 for the treatment of both solid and hematologic malignancies. SNS-595 was previously evaluated in two models of hematologic cancer in nu/nu mice, causing a dose-dependent tumor growth inhibition (97% to 99%, n=6 mice per treatment group) in a LM-3 Jck (human acute lymphoma) hematologic xenograft. All 6 mice treated at 30 mg/kg had a major reduction in tumor volume, with 2 mice showing a complete response. SNS-595 also significantly inhibited tumor growth in mice bearing CCRF-CEM (human acute lymphoblastic leukemia) xenograft tumors. In phase I clinical trials in solid tumors the dose-limiting toxicity was neutropenia, and the incidence of gastrointestinal effects, nausea, and vomiting was low. No mucositis or peripheral neuropathies were observed. In the present study, CD1 mice (n=4 per treatment group) were administered either SNS-595 15 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg, by IV bolus on days 0 and 4, or the S-phase acting drug, cytarabine (Ara-C) 150 mg/kg, BID, by IP injection on days 0 and 4. SNS-595 was well tolerated, with no body weight loss observed through to day 16. Bone marrow isolated from the femurs showed a dose-dependent reduction in cellularity on day 6, 48hr after the second of the two SNS-595 administrations; at 15 and 20 mg/kg, cellularity was reduced to 15% (±2.9, n=4) and 7.5% (±1.4, n=4) respectively. SNS-595, 20 mg/kg, reduced absolute neutrophils to a nadir of 51 ±24 cells/μL blood (n=4) on day 8, from 1244 ±55 cells/μL at day 0 (n=4), but subsequently rebounded to normal levels by day 16. Total WBCs also reached a nadir on day 8, returning to normal by day 16. In the same timeframe cytarabine caused bone marrow ablation, with absolute neutrophil counts substantially reduced at day 8 and returning to normal by day 16. In conclusion SNS-595 has significant anti-tumor activity in hematologic xenografts, as well as significant ability to reversibly ablate murine bone marrow cells. These properties, combined with the good clinical safety profile observed in phase I patients, suggest that SNS-595 has the potential to demonstrate anti-tumor activity in patients with hematologic malignancies.
Explaining SCOTUS Repeaters

Why review the same case twice? That’s perhaps the most fundamental question posed by Jason Iuliano and Ya Sheng Lin’s study of what I call “Plenary Repeaters,” or cases that have resulted in multiple full merits rulings in the Supreme Court following certiorari. Drawing on Iuliano and Lin’s research, this response essay argues that a full explanation of Repeaters would recognize both that granting cert in one iteration of a case can increase the odds of a later grant in that case (interdependence) and that some legal issues are posed in only a small number of cases (infrequency). In addition, this essay collects evidence on recent “Summary Repeaters,” or cases that are Repeaters by virtue of summary rulings following certiorari, as well as on the expertise of attorneys who participate in Repeaters at the cert stage. Both Plenary and Summary Repeaters shed light on features of the Court’s constrained power to set its own agenda and so complicate depictions of the Court as a “reactive” institution. The factors that generate Repeaters thus offer avenues for additional research.
Lagrangian Mechanics and Carangiform Locomotion

Abstract We describe the interaction of a rigid body and its incompressible fluid environment with reduced Euler-Lagrange equations on the appropriate Cartesian product manifold. We propose a modification to the planar form of these equations to accomodate control inputs consistent with a model for carangiform swimming. Initial Lie algebraic analysis of the resulting control system suggests its usefulness in predicting efficacious gaits for piscimimetic robots.
Efficient SIMD and MIMD parallelization of hash-based aggregation by conflict mitigation

As the rate of data generation is growing exponentially each year, data aggregation has become one of the most common and expensive operations for data analysis. Previous efforts to accelerate data aggregation have been mainly focused on multi-core CPUs, improving single-core cache performance and/or reducing multi-core data synchronization overheads. In this paper, we aim at utilizing both SIMD and MIMD of a modern processor with a more recent (and wide lane) SIMD instruction set. We find that a straightforward method for vectorization of hash table often cannot deliver good performance, because wider SIMD vector increases data conflicts among the lanes (especially with skewed data). To address this problem, we design a variant of basic bucket hashing and a bucketized aggregation procedure that can utilize both SIMD and MIMD parallelism efficiently. Our approach first adds distinct offsets to input rows on different SIMD lanes, which reduces the possibility of different lanes accessing identical slot in the hash table. An efficient bucketized aggregation procedure is invoked to save space when the hash table is saturated, or to calculate the final results after all input rows have been inserted into the hash table. For parallelization across cores, we adopt separate hash tables and optimize with parallel reduction and a hybrid approach. We evaluate our methods with input datasets of different distributions. On a single core of Intel Xeon Phi, we obtain 1.6x to 2.9x speedup (over serial code) using our SIMD approach, and outperform a straightforward SIMD implementation by up to 7x. Over multiple cores, our approach has a near-linear scalability.