cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Extracellular Acidosis on Neurons and Glia in vitro

Cerebral lactic acid, a product of ischemic anaerobic glycolysis, may directly contribute to ischemic brain damage in vivo. In this study we evaluated the effects of extracellular acid exposure on 7-day-old cultures of embryonic rat forebrain. Mixed neuronal and glial cultures were exposed to either lactic or hydrochloric acid to compare the toxicities of relatively permeable and impermeable acids. Neurons were relatively resistant to extra-cellular HCl acidosis, often surviving 10-min exposures to pH 3.8. In the same cultures, immunochemically defined astrocytes survived 10-min HCl exposures to a maximum acidity of pH 4.2. Similarly, axonal bundles defasciculated in HCl-titrated media below pH 4.4, although their constituent fibers often survived pH 3.8. Cell death occurred at higher pH in cultures subjected to lactic acidosis than in those exposed to HCl. Over half of forebrain neurons and glia subjected for 10 min to lactic acidification failed to survive exposure to pH 4.9. Longer 1-h lactic acid incubations resulted in cell death below pH 5.2. The potent cytotoxicity of lactic acid may be a direct result of the relatively rapid transfer of its neutral protonated form across cell membranes. This process would rapidly deplete intracellular buffer stores, resulting in unchecked cytosolic acidification. Neuronal and glial death from extracellular acidosis may therefore be a function of both the degree and the rapidity of intracellular acidification.
Spin-orbit perturbation in heavy alkali atoms

In a photoionization experiment involving polarized alkali atoms and circularly polarized photons we measured the strength of the spin-orbit perturbation in potassium, rubidium, and cesium. Our results are pertinent to the theory of photoionization and to the production of polarized electrons. Extrapolation of the results to photon energies below the ionization threshold provides access to the anomalous doublet line-strength ratio of discrete $P$ states.
Central adiposity, systemic inflammation, and the metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a constellation of metabolic derangements and underlying factors that significantly increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. MetS is a low-grade inflammatory condition, with systemic inflammation and inflammation of central abdominal fat as contributors. Systemic inflammation in MetS is thought to involve C-reactive protein and some proinflammatory cytokines; the nuclear factor-κB pathway also is believed to play a role. Inflammation of central adipose tissue leads to adipokine production, followed by secretion of adipokines into the general circulation to contribute to the overall inflammatory condition. The molecular mechanisms that contribute to this inflammation are still somewhat unclear, but several serine/threonine kinases are known to be involved. Dietary components may also contribute to central adiposity and the inflammation seen in MetS.
Evaluation of the diameter of the proximal descending thoracic aorta with age: implications for thoracic aortic stent grafting.

Background Long-term anatomical changes of the thoracic aorta which may affect long-term outcome of blunt aortic injuries treated with endovascular stent grafts are unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the natural history of thoracic aortic diameter with progressing age. Methods One thousand consecutive thoracic computed tomographic scans performed for nonthoracic aortic pathology on patients aged 15-99 (mean 59.4) were examined, and thoracic aortic diameter immediately adjacent to the left subclavian artery was measured. Factors possibly influencing diameter, including age by decade of life, race, gender, history of hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and tobacco use, were examined. Factors were compared using Student's t-test. Results The differences in mean diameters of the thoracic aorta by gender (male = 27.1 vs. female = 26.0, p = 0.87), race (Caucasian = 26.6 vs. non-Caucasian = 26.3, p = 0.10), presence of HTN (yes = 25.8 vs. no = 24.9, p = 0.36), COPD (yes = 26.3 vs. no = 25.4, p = 0.21), DM (yes = 26.1 vs. no = 25.3, p = 0.12), and tobacco use (yes = 26.3 vs. no = 25.0, p = 0.18) were not significant. However, differences in mean diameter increased significantly over time with age. Patients under 40 years old had mean aortic diameters of 22.92 mm compared to 27.09 mm (p Conclusion The diameter of the aortic isthmus increases substantially with age. These findings suggest that long-term surveillance is warranted for trauma patients with aortic stent grafts, to monitor the natural history and to assess for possible late complications.
History and causes of post-Laramide relief in the Rocky Mountain orogenic plateau

The Rocky Mountain orogenic plateau has the highest mean elevation and topographic relief in the contiguous United States. The mean altitude exceeds 2 km above sea level and relief increases from 30 m in the river valleys of the Great Plains to more than 1.6 km deep in the canyons and basins of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau. Despite over a century of study, the timing and causes of elevation gain and incision in the region are unclear. Post-Laramide development of relief is thought to either result from tectonic activity or climatic change. Interpretation of which of these causes dominated is based upon reconstruction of datums developed from, and supported by, paleoelevation proxies and interpretations of landscape incision. Here we reconstruct a datum surface against which regional incision can be measured in order to evaluate late Cenozoic tectonic and climatic infl uences. The distribution, magnitude, and timing of post-Laramide basin fi lling and subsequent erosion are constrained by depositional remnants, topographic markers, and other indicators across the region. We suggest that post-Laramide basin fi lling resulted from slow subsidence during Oligocene to Miocene time. Incision into this basin fi ll surface began in late Miocene time and continues today. The pattern of incision is consistent with control by localized extensional tectonism superimposed upon regional domal surface uplift. Localized extension is associated with the projection of the Rio Grande Rift into the central Rockies, and the domal uplift generally coincides with the position of buoyant mantle anomalies interpreted at depth. If the magnitudes of incision directly refl ect magnitudes of surface elevation gain, they are less than can be resolved by existing paleoelevation proxy methods. In addition, the combination of post-Laramide subsidence followed by regional surface uplift reduces the net magnitude of surface elevation change since Laramide time.
Relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: review of the management of transplant-eligible patients

Relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is difficult to treat, with limited therapeutic options. Review of prognostic indices, DLBCL genetic classification, previous rituximab exposure, interval from previous therapy, chemosensitivity to salvage therapy and response on imaging is helpful when deciding upon appropriate candidates for further therapy. For appropriately selected patients, the primary strategy is to obtain remission with salvage therapy and proceed to autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). However, salvage therapy and transplant conditioning regimens are suboptimal, as are therapeutic options for patients who relapse following ASCT. Recent research highlights the ongoing difficulty in the treatment of relapsed/refractory DLBCL, and novel treatments are needed.
A transient-based approach for estimating the electrical parameters of a lithium-ion battery model

This paper describes a transient-based approach for estimating the impedance parameters of a lumped-element electrical circuit model for a lithium-ion battery. In this methodology, a small test signal is superimposed on top of the battery load to trigger its transient dynamics. The resulting terminal voltage and current are measured, and a non-linear least-squares routine is used to estimate the parameters of the battery model. Experimental results obtained at consistent temperatures demonstrate that the parameter values depend on state-of-charge. The approach requires minimal hardware and could be used to form the basis of a robust on-line monitoring system.
Ergot alkaloids block neurogenic extravasation in dura mater: Proposed action in vascular headaches

Although the ergot alkaloids (ergots) are useful drugs for the acute treatment of migraine headaches, their mechanism of action remains obscure. When administered to rats in clinically relevant doses, ergots blocked the development of neurogenic plasma extravasation in dura mater. Plasma extravasation was induced by depolarization of perivascular axons following capsaicin injection or unilateral electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve. The ergot action could not be accounted for by vasoconstriction alone because neurogenic plasma leakage was not blocked by angiotensin or phenylephrine. Furthermore, ergots did not block plasma extravasation induced by administering sensory neuropeptides that mediate enhanced permeability. We propose that the therapeutic effects of ergots in vascular headaches may result from peripheral blockade of small fiber (C or A-delta)-dependent neurogenic inflammation within the dura mater.
Intelligent Detection of Boring Tool Conditions

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) were used for on-line classification and measurement of tool wear for the boring of titanium parts. The input vectors consist of extracted features from cutting force data. A total of fourteen features were extracted by processing cutting force signals using virtual instrumentation. Feature selection was carried out using a Sequential Forward Search (SFS) algorithm to select the best combination of features. For the on-line classification, the outputs are boring tool conditions, which are either usable or worn out. For the on-line measurement, the outputs are estimated values of the tool wear. Using ANFIS, three features were selected for the on-line classification of boring tools. They are the average longitudinal force, average of the ratio between the tangential and radial forces, and kurtosis of the longitudinal force. Only one feature, kurtosis of the longitudinal force, was needed for the on-line measurement of tool wear using ANFIS. A 3×5 ANFIS can achieve a 100% success rate for the on-line classification of boring tool conditions. Using a 1×5 ANFIS, the average flank wear estimation error is below 5% for on-line measurement of tool wear.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
A Biomechanical Analysis of Shoulder Stabilization: Posteroinferior Glenohumeral Capsular Plication

Background: The use of posterior capsular plication to decrease capsular volume and address capsular laxity for treatment of posterior instability, multidirectional instability, or as an additional technique in the treatment of anterior instability is common. Multiple different suturing techniques have been described.Hypothesis: The simple stitch will have inferior biomechanical properties compared with either the horizontal mattress or figure-of-8 stitches for suture plication of the posteroinferior quadrant of the glenoid.Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.Methods: Twenty-one fresh-frozen shoulders with a mean age of 57.7 ± 12.3 years were randomized into capsulolabral plication of the posteroinferior quadrant using either simple stitch configuration, horizontal mattress configuration, or figure-of-8 configuration. Each shoulder was mounted onto a materials testing machine, preloaded to 5 N for 2 minutes, cycled from 5 to 25 N for 100 cycles (1 Hz), and then loaded to failure at 15 mm/min. Capsul...
Some Recent Studies on the Iranian Religions

It is curious, and perhaps significant, that the two most important volumes on the Iranian religions which have appeared within the last decade should have been written by scholars who were not professed Iranists. Professor James Hope Moulton, the author of the Hibbert Lectures on Early Zoroastrianism (London, 1913), was a theologian and a hellenist; Professor Raffaele Pettazzoni, who has just given us his La Religione di Zarathustra (Bologna, 1920), is a student of comparative religion of the finest and sanest type. Pettazzoni seems not to have had the advantage of consulting Moulton's volume; but while from one point of view this may be regrettable, from another it has worked for good, since two scholars have reached independently results which, when combined, put the genesis of Iranism in an entirely new light and go far toward the solution of many perplexing problems, if, indeed, they may not have solved the riddle as a whole. Of Moulton's work I have expressed an opinion elsewhere, and subsequent reflection has only confirmed that judgement.
FLAVERS: a finite state verification technique for software systems

Software systems are increasing in size and complexity and, subsequently, are becoming ever more difficult to validate. Finite state verification (FSV) has been gaining credibility and attention as an alternative to testing and to formal verification approaches based on theorem proving. There has recently been a great deal of excitement about the potential for FSV approaches to prove properties about hardware descriptions but, for the most part, these approaches do not scale adequately to handle the complexity usually found in software. In this paper, we describe an FSV approach that creates a compact and conservative, but imprecise, model of the system being analyzed, and then assists the analyst in adding additional details as guided by previous analysis results. This paper describes this approach and a prototype implementation called FLAVERS, presents a detailed example, and then provides some experimental results demonstrating scalability.
Electrical and thermal analysis for design exchange formats in three dimensional integrated circuits

Three dimensional integrated circuits (3D ICs) built with through-silicon vias (TSVs) have smaller planar dimensions, shorter wire length, and better performance than 2D ICs. Many 3D stacks will combine digital and analog/RF circuitry, requiring a strong analog/mixed-signal capability. Because of the unique packaging requirements of stacked die, an IC/package co-design capability is required. Hence there must be some standards to facilitate smooth and effective design of 3D ICs. Thus the main purpose of an exchange format (EF) between dies is to permit sharing of information necessary for design by external parties without disclosing their intellectual property (IP). The requirements of the standards should be the minimum necessary to produce satisfactory answers. Producing such models is a customer support function, not a core engineering function, i.e. it is not generated by the chip design scheme. The role of the standards is to facilitate the transfer of information through a compact model, not necessarily to build one. This paper presents initial efforts in designing such standards or EF. Steady state electrical and thermal simulations are performed in this paper to demonstrate the necessary information that needs to be exchanged between the dies to ensure adequate co-design.
Effects of Growth Hormone Therapy on Circadian Osteocalcin Rhythms in Idiopathic Short Stature

ABSTRACT The effects of GH administration on the circadian osteocalcin (Oc) rhythm were determined in four prepubertal children with idiopathic short stature (height, <5th percentile; growth velocity, <50th percentile for age). Each child underwent 24-h sequential blood sampling on three occasions: immediately before the initiation of GH treatment, 6 months later, and at the end of 12 months of treatment. The growth rate increased more than 50% over baseline in three of the four children during at least one of the 6-month periods. Insulin-like growth factor-I levels increased during treatment in all of the children. Twenty-four-hour Oc levels increased on 7 of the 8 treatment days evaluated. When mean 24-h Oc patterns for each of the 3 study days were derived by averaging across individual subjects at each time point and then compared, we noted an upward shift in the entire pattern during treatment (t = 13.2 at P < 0.001 and t = 5.9 at P < 0.001 for 6 and 12 month comparisons vs. the pretreatment day, res...
The Case Against the Case Against Belief

Some of our most prominent philosophical thinkers maintain that scientific advances threaten to show that nothing answers to our common-sense framework of intentional states such as belief, desire, hope, fear, and the rest. Paul Churchland argues that the elimination of what he calls 'folk psychology' is 'richly possible' in light of the 'advancing tide of neuroscience' (Churchland, 1981, p. 90). Stephen Stich, although not as convinced as Churchland, also is pessimistic about the existence of intentional states. Stich asks whether our ordinary belief ascriptions may turn out not to be true and answers this way: 'this is indeed a serious possibility, since ordinary belief ascription makes a pair of empirical assumptions, both of which might turn out to be false... it is too early to say whether folk psychology has a future' (Stich, 1983, p. 242). For Daniel Dennett the conflict between 'our vision of ourselves as responsible, free, rational agents, and our vision of ourselves as complex parts of the physical world of science' (Dennett, 1978, p. x) is potentially so troublesome that he has embraced an explicitly instrumentalistic view of intentional states ('intentional systems theory') in order to preserve intentional ascriptions in the face of whatever science might tell us about ourselves. Worries about the viability of common-sense mental concepts have become a growing theme in recent philosophizing about the cognitive sciences. In his intriguing new book From Folk Psychology to Cognitive Science: The Case Against Belief (Stich, 1983) Stich uses several arguments regarding cognitive psychology to claim that the existence of the common-sense notion of belief is in jeopardy. My strategy in this paper is to grant Stich's claims about psychology and argue that one still need not renounce the existence of belief. I try to show that Stich has portrayed the realist view as more precarious than it really is and that Stich has overestimated the strength of his argument by ignoring certain distinctions important to realism.
Special Issues in Pediatric Kidney Transplantation

Pediatric and adult kidney transplantation differ in many ways, but one of the most significant differences is the impact of kidney disease and kidney transplantation on growth and development in pediatric patients. Multiple facets of transplantation may have an impact on growth and development, including the timing of transplantation, choice of immunosuppressive agents, and the presence of hypertension. In addition, graft function has a significant impact on linear growth, and so preservation of function becomes important not only for general health and quality of life but also for optimizing growth. Other concerns in pediatric kidney transplantation include a heightened risk for posttransplantation infectious complications, including lymphoproliferative disease. In addition, the impact of immunosuppressive drugs on adherence to therapy is important. Although adherence is a complex and multifactorial process, immunosuppressive drugs that cause physical side effects may contribute to drug nonadherence because children, and particularly adolescents, may be inclined to stop taking medications associated with physical changes that differentiate them from their peers. Studies that further delineate factors that affect growth and development, risk for infectious complications, and nonadherence will be important to maximize outcomes in pediatric kidney transplantation.
Hemodynamic effects of dopexamine hydrochloride infusions of 48 to 72 hours' duration for severe congestive heart failure.

Dopexamine hydrochloride, a new dopaminergic derivative with potent β 2 -agonist activity, was administered to 10 patients with severe congestive heart failure. Initially, the drug was infused at increasing dosage to achieve a maximal tolerated dose and then titrated to maintain acceptable clinical parameters over the next 48 to 72 hours. Cardiac index increased significantly during the initial titration and at peak effect. Tolerance over the duration of the study was noted in most patients, although further increases in cardiac index could usually be achieved by modest increases in the infusion rate. The peak hemodynamic effect was noted at an average infusion rate of 4.8 μ g/kg/min. Both stroke volume and stroke work indexes, increased during dopexamine hydrochloride infusion in association with decreases in mean arterial, right atrial, mean pulmonary artery and pulmonary capillary wedge pressures, systemic vascular resistance and pulmonary arteriolar resistance. Cardiac output increased by 60% during the infusion and this was out of proportion to the 12% increase in heart rate at peak effect. Most of the increase in cardiac index appeared to be due to the strong vasodilatory profile of the medication producing afterload reduction, with direct inotropic and chronotropic effects contributing to a lesser degree. Drug-related side effects occurred in 4 patients and were easily controlled by down-titration. Dopexamine hydrochloride is an effective and well-tolerated sympathomimetic agent that increases cardiac index while promoting vasodilatation.
The use of ceftaroline fosamil in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis and deep-seated MRSA infections: a retrospective case series of 10 patients

There are many limitations to the current antibiotics used for the treatment of severe methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Ceftaroline is a new fifth-generation cephalosporin approved for the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections caused by MRSA and community-acquired pneumonia. We propose that ceftaroline can also be used successfully in more severe MRSA infections, including endocarditis. We conducted a retrospective chart review in a university-affiliated Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in San Diego, California (USA) of ten inpatients treated with ceftaroline for severe MRSA infection, including five cases of probable endocarditis (including two endocardial pacemaker infections), one case of pyomyositis with possible endocarditis, two cases of pneumonia (including one case of empyema), two cases of septic arthritis (including one case of prosthetic joint infection), and two cases of osteomyelitis. Seven of the 10 patients achieved microbiological cure. Six of the 10 patients achieved clinical cure. Seven patients were discharged from the hospital. Three patients were placed on comfort care and expired in the hospital; one achieved microbiological cure before death, and two remained bacteremic at time of death. In most patients, ceftaroline was effective for treatment of MRSA bacteremia and other severe MRSA infections. Adverse effects seen included rash, eosinophilia, pruritus, and Clostridium difficile infection. Ceftaroline can be a safe and effective drug for treatment of severe MRSA infections, and further comparative studies are warranted.
The effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public

This study tests theoretical arguments about gender differences in scientific knowledge and environmental concern using 8 years of Gallup data on climate change knowledge and concern in the US general public. Contrary to expectations from scientific literacy research, women convey greater assessed scientific knowledge of climate change than do men. Consistent with much existing sociology of science research, women underestimate their climate change knowledge more than do men. Also, women express slightly greater concern about climate change than do men, and this gender divide is not accounted for by differences in key values and beliefs or in the social roles that men and women differentially perform in society. Modest yet enduring gender differences on climate change knowledge and concern within the US general public suggest several avenues for future research, which are explored in the conclusion.
Upstream Stimulatory Factor Represses the Induction of Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase-Iβ Expression by PGC-1

Transcriptional regulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1औ (CPT-1औ) is coordinated with contractile gene expression through cardiac-enriched transcription factors, GATA4 and SRF. Metabolic modulation of CPT-1औ promoter activity has been described with the stimulation of gene expression by oleate that is mediated through the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) pathway. The coactivator, peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator (PGC-1), enhances gene expression through interactions with nuclear hormone receptors and the myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) family. PGC-1 and MEF2A synergistically activateCPT-1औ promoter activity. This stimulation is enhanced by mutation of the E-box sequences that flank the MEF2A binding site. These elements bind the upstream stimulatory factors (USF1 and USF2), which activate transcription in CV-1 fibroblasts. However, overexpression of the USF proteins in myocytes depresses CPT-1औ activity and significantly reduces MEF2A and PGC-1 synergy. Co-immunoprecipitation studies demonstrate that PGC-1 and USF2 proteins can physically interact. Our studies demonstrate that PGC-1 stimulatesCPT-1औ gene expression through MEF2A. USF proteins have a novel role in repressing the expression of theCPT-1औ gene and modulating the induction by the coactivator, PGC−1.
A single-event-hardened CMOS operational amplifier design

Novel RHBD techniques are described that utilize charge sharing to mitigate single-event voltage transients in a folded cascode operational amplifier. These techniques are analyzed using a new layout aware single-event model with the Cadence Spectre circuit simulator. The techniques are applied in each of the three stages of an operational amplifier (op amp). The sensitive node active charge cancellation (SNACC) technique is applied to the bias circuit and extended to protect multiple sensitive nodes. This technique is shown to provide a 5X reduction in error energy measured at the amplifier output at the cost of increased sensitive area. The differential input stage and the high-gain single-ended cascode output stage of the amplifier are hardened using differential charge cancellation (DCC) layout techniques that promote charge sharing. These hardening techniques are shown to provide up to orders of magnitude reductions in single-event error energies as measured at the op amp output and reductions in sensitive area of more than 15% across all LETs simulated.
Learning representations for weakly supervised natural language processing tasks

Finding the right representations for words is critical for building accurate NLP systems when domain-specific labeled data for the task is scarce. This article investigates novel techniques for extracting features from n-gram models, Hidden Markov Models, and other statistical language models, including a novel Partial Lattice Markov Random Field model. Experiments on part-of-speech tagging and information extraction, among other tasks, indicate that features taken from statistical language models, in combination with more traditional features, outperform traditional representations alone, and that graphical model representations outperform n-gram models, especially on sparse and polysemous words.
Visuomotor Performance in KCNJ11-Related Neonatal Diabetes Is Impaired in Children With DEND-Associated Mutations and May Be Improved by Early Treatment With Sulfonylureas

OBJECTIVE To assess performance on an age-standardized neuromotor coordination task among sulfonylurea-treated KCNJ11 -related neonatal diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Nineteen children carrying KCNJ11 mutations associated with isolated diabetes (R201H; n = 8), diabetes with neurodevelopmental impairment (V59M or V59A [V59M/A]; n = 8), or diabetes not consistently associated with neurodevelopmental disability (Y330C, E322K, or R201C; n = 3) were studied using the age-standardized Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI). RESULTS Although R201H subjects tested in the normal range (median standard score = 107), children with V59M/A mutations had significantly lower than expected VMI standard scores (median = 49). The scores for all three groups were significantly different from each other ( P = 0.0017). The age of sulfonylurea initiation was inversely correlated with VMI scores in the V59M/A group ( P CONCLUSIONS Neurodevelopmental disability in KCNJ11 -related diabetes includes visuomotor problems that may be ameliorated by early sulfonylurea treatment. Comprehensive longitudinal assessment on larger samples will be imperative.
Comparative Activity of Nicotinic Acid and Nicotinamide as Growth Factors for Microörganisms.

SummaryNicotinic acid and nicotinamide do not always produce equivalent growth-promoting effects upon microorganisms. A series of microorganisms is presented showing a ratio of activity of amide to acid varying from one-tenth to infinity. The last case is represented by certain organisms of the Pasteurella group whose growth and respiration is promoted by nicotinamide, but not by nicotinic acid. A further summary is presented of synthetic abilities of different microorganisms with respect to the entire enzyme-coenzyme complex.
Identification of Dynamic Vehicular Axle Loads: Demonstration by a Field Study:

A new identification methodology for dynamic axle loads using the superposition principle and influence surface concept was proposed in the companion paper, in which the effects of various factors such as bridge inertia force, measurement station, vehicle speed, traveling route, number of vehicles, road surface condition, and noise level were investigated through numerical simulations. In this study the proposed methodology is applied to identify the axle loads of a test truck traveling across an existing bridge. The axle load time-histories are obtained and compared to the static axle loads of the test truck. The results show that the identified dynamic axle loads are fluctuating around their static counterparts. The dynamic impact factor and load amplification factor for the axle loads under different vehicle speeds and road surface conditions are also studied. Being able to identify the real dynamic axle loads, the methodology can be applied to improve the current bridge-weigh-in-motion techniques that...
Five-dimensional Hamiltonian-Jacobi approach to relativistic quantum mechanics

Publisher Summary The introduction of the universal time opens a new avenue for describing the dynamics of elementary particles in a deterministic way. The resulting five dimensional approaches enable a better understanding of the physical situation on an atomic scale, such as the motion of the spin in an electromagnetic field. Moreover, the approach does not require an infinite sea of negative energy states, because the standard energy corresponds to the fourth component of the momentum four-vector whose components can have arbitrary signs. In classic three-dimensional mechanics, the position and the momentum variables are conjugate quantities, whereas the energy E is conjugate to the time t. In the frame of quantum mechanics, each pair of conjugate variables must satisfy the uncertainty relation. By including the electromagnetic field energy in the five-dimensional formalism, it should be possible to describe the annihilation and creation of particles as inelastic scattering, in which mass energy is transferred into radiation energy and vice versa. Such effects can only be described by the non-stationary solutions of the five-dimensional wave equation.
On-Board Chemical Propulsion Technology

On-board propulsion functions include orbit insertion, orbit maintenance, constellation maintenance, precision positioning, in-space maneuvering, de-orbiting, vehicle reaction control, planetary retro, and planetary descent/ascent. This paper discusses on-board chemical propulsion technology, including bipropellants, monopropellants, and micropropulsion. Bipropellant propulsion has focused on maximizing the performance of Earth storable propellants by using high-temperature, oxidation-resistant chamber materials. The performance of bipropellant systems can be increased further, by operating at elevated chamber pressures and/or using higher energy oxidizers. Both options present system level difficulties for spacecraft, however. Monopropellant research has focused on mixtures composed of an aqueous solution of hydroxl ammonium nitrate (HAN) and a fuel component. HAN-based monopropellants, unlike hydrazine, do not present a vapor hazard and do not require extraordinary procedures for storage, handling, and disposal. HAN-based monopropellants generically have higher densities and lower freezing points than the state-of-art hydrazine and can higher performance, depending on the formulation. High-performance HAN-based monopropellants, however, have aggressive, high-temperature combustion environments and require advances in catalyst materials or suitable non-catalytic ignition options. The objective of the micropropulsion technology area is to develop low-cost, high-utility propulsion systems for the range of miniature spacecraft and precision propulsion applications.
Adipose Cell Size and Regional Fat Deposition as Predictors of Metabolic Response to Overfeeding in Insulin-Resistant and Insulin-Sensitive Humans

Obesity is associated with insulin resistance, but significant variability exists between similarly obese individuals, pointing to qualitative characteristics of body fat as potential mediators. To test the hypothesis that obese, insulin-sensitive (IS) individuals possess adaptive adipose cell/tissue responses, we measured subcutaneous adipose cell size, insulin suppression of lipolysis, and regional fat responses to short-term overfeeding in BMI-matched overweight/obese individuals classified as IS or insulin resistant (IR). At baseline, IR subjects exhibited significantly greater visceral adipose tissue (VAT), intrahepatic lipid (IHL), plasma free fatty acids, adipose cell diameter, and percentage of small adipose cells. With weight gain (3.1 ± 1.4 kg), IR subjects demonstrated no significant change in adipose cell size, VAT, or insulin suppression of lipolysis and only 8% worsening of insulin-mediated glucose uptake (IMGU). Alternatively, IS subjects demonstrated significant adipose cell enlargement; decrease in the percentage of small adipose cells; increase in VAT, IHL, and lipolysis; 45% worsening of IMGU; and decreased expression of lipid metabolism genes. Smaller baseline adipose cell size and greater enlargement with weight gain predicted decline in IMGU, as did increase in IHL and VAT and decrease in insulin suppression of lipolysis. Weight gain in IS humans causes maladaptive changes in adipose cells, regional fat distribution, and insulin resistance. The correlation between development of insulin resistance and changes in adipose cell size, VAT, IHL, and insulin suppression of lipolysis highlight these factors as potential mediators between obesity and insulin resistance.
Abstract 5292: Tumor accumulation and biodistribution of a thermally responsive cell cycle inhibitory polypeptidein vivo

Elastin-like Polypeptide (ELP) is a macromolecular carrier for various therapeutic peptides that has the ability to penetrate tumor vasculature which is mediated by a cell-penetrating peptide. ELP is a biopolymer consisting of pentapeptide repeats in the motif Val-Pro-Gly-Xaa-Gly where Xaa is any amino acid except proline. The polymer is soluble at normal physiological temperature but aggregates above 41° C. Peptides without carriers have very short half-lives, so ELP not only allows for longer circulation time, but its thermal properties allow the peptide to accumulate inside the tumor when heated. Bac7-ELP1-p21 is an ELP conjugate that uses Bac7 to penetrate the nucleus and p21 to inhibit the cell cycle at G1/S. This construct can be actively targeted to the tumor site using focused infrared light that heats the tumor to 41-42° C. In this study, tumor accumulation and biodistribution of fluorescently labeled Bac7-ELP1-p21 was monitored in a mouse subcutaneous xenograft model of S2013 pancreatic cancer by whole animal imaging using the IVIS® system. Luciferase transfected S2013 pancreatic cells were used to establish the tumor, allowing monitoring tumor growth by quantifying luciferase signal over a period of time. The animals were intravenously injected with Alexa750 labeled Bac7-ELP1-p21. Animals were imaged for fluorescence signal at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 24, 48, and 72h after treatment to monitor the level of protein with respect to time. This allowed for the detection and quantification of the protein level throughout the whole body. Tumor uptake of intravenously administered Bac7-ELP1-p21 was examined in both heated and unheated tumors. Using both luminescence and fluorescence data, protein levels inside the tumor were compared to the whole body. Bac7-ELP1-p21 accumulates 3-fold more inside the heated tumor than the unheated tumor, and it is still present inside the tumor 72h after treatment. Fusing a therapeutic peptide to macromolecular carriers results in its improved pharmacokinetics and accumulation of the peptide preferentially in the tumor tissue due to passive targeting. Furthermore, this passive targeting is further improved due to externally induced hyperthermia. This approach will allow us to use lower concentrations of drug systemically and therefore reduce side effects in normal tissues. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5292. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-5292
Intermediacy: Conceptualization of Irish Status in America

We have held that American liberal-intellectual attitudes toward the Soviet Union have been formed largely in terms of two major liberal basicvalue orientations-"freedom" and ethical universalism. Between 1917 and 1941, the USSR appeared to American liberals as a negation of the former and an affirmation of the latter in certain areas of society, or as "totalitarian dictatorship" and "egalitarian reform" respectively. The relative importance attached to each of these two opposing symbols seems to have varied closely with changes in the liberals' domestic situation, with changes in the international scene, and with changes in Soviet behavior as seen through American eyes. The emergence of the Soviet Union as a highly developed bureaucratic state with definite and rigid patterns of stratification, authority, functional differentiation of role and property relationships, has fundamentally altered the value of the Soviet symbol in relation to egalitarianism. At the same time the continuance in the Soviet Union of a tight dictatorship, continued close surveillance of the arts and education, has tended to maintain the negative value of the Soviet Union as a symbol fundamentally antithetical to the liberal value of "freedom." Barring revolutionary changes in the Soviet State, it may be held that these two aspects of the symbol of the USSR have assumed a relative permanency in relation to the liberal-intellectual movement. A continued liberal negative valence toward the Soviet symbol may, then, be safely forecast. Domestically, the position of the American liberal-intellectual movement is in a state of flux. It may be assumed that liberals will not abandon their adherence to the value of "freedom." In relation to the goal of an universalistic society, the liberal-intellectual movement is on the defensive almost everywhere. Liberals are deeply split among themselves as to how to proceed in that defense and how to recapture the initiative. Being forced on the defensive, the liberal-intellectual movement has at least momentarily ceased to concentrate on attempts to create a state more equally balanced between various interest-groups. Whether, as the domestic climate again begins to favor liberal-intellectual aims, there will be a return to a greater interest in, or sympathy with, the Soviet model, especially in the light of the changes in the relevant aspect of the Soviet symbol, must remain a matter of speculation.
Display Design Guide for Visual Media

Visual display systems have become so advanced with available options, it is difficult to decide which type of system is needed. Traditionally, the choice has been to select the system with the greatest level of functional and physical fidelity that can be procured. While most would assume that more realism results in better training and performance, research (Dwyer, 1972; Marsh, 1983; Richey, 1986) suggests otherwise. Realism in a display system may serve to be more distracting than helpful, depending upon the training objective. The initial intent of this project was to locate any and all information pertaining to visual display characteristics as they relate to human visual functions or to visual training requirements. A selected literature search was conducted to locate relevant information, data bases or taxonomies that relate the above information. No current taxonomy of this kind was located; therefore, the efforts of the project turned in the direction of formulating a taxonomic structure based on...
The Father Lemański Affair: Personal versus Institutional Sanctity in Contemporary Poland

Under the People’s Republic of Poland, the Polish clergy often assumed the power to speak on behalf of ‘its’ laity. However, the Church’s foray into democratic politics in the 1990s opened up a profound moral and ideological divide between itself and many Poles who now reject the Church’s institutional pronouncements as immoral and nonrepresentative. This article compares two paradigms of resistance to oppressive institutions by people affiliated with the Church in light of this change. The first, under late Stalinism, reflected hierarchy-initiated efforts to combat state oppression. The second, in contemporary Poland, reflects efforts by a small town priest (Father Wojciech Lemanski) and his parishioners to resist oppression at the hands of Church institutions. I argue that the locus of the ‘enemy other’ has shifted, for many Poles, from the state to the Church. Most importantly, I show that sanctity continues to be experienced and sought after in contemporary Poland, but that its social profile has shifted from more institutional to more personal forms in light of increasing suspicion of the institutional Church.
Telemedicine and Future Innovations

Most trauma systems serve a heterogeneous population consisting of some combination of dense urban centers combined with vast, sparsely populated rural environments. To achieve the centralization of trauma care at large trauma centers, trauma systems require elaborate transport protocols each with their own unique patient, climate and geographical considerations. Telemedicine and telepresence offer opportunities for remote triage and perhaps even remote patient care potentially reducing costly transport of stable patients and leading to more efficient transport and treatment of more critically injured patients. These technologies and potential future applications are discussed in this chapter.
Diverse Power Iteration Embeddings: Theory and Practice

Manifold learning, especially spectral embedding, is known as one of the most effective learning approaches on high dimensional data, but for real-world applications it raises a serious computational burden in constructing spectral embeddings for large datasets. To overcome this computational complexity, we propose a novel efficient embedding construction, Diverse Power Iteration Embedding (DPIE). DPIE shows almost the same effectiveness of spectral embeddings and yet is three order of magnitude faster than spectral embeddings computed from eigen-decomposition. Our DPIE is unique in that 1) it finds linearly independent embeddings and thus shows diverse aspects of dataset; 2) the proposed regularized DPIE is effective if we need many embeddings; 3) we show how to efficiently orthogonalize DPIE if one needs; and 4) Diverse Power Iteration Value (DPIV) provides the importance of each DPIE like an eigen value. Such various aspects of DPIE and DPIV ensure that our algorithm is easy to apply to various applications, and we also show the effectiveness and efficiency of DPIE on clustering, anomaly detection, and feature selection as our case studies.
Progresses in Application of Low Pressure Plasma Spraying Technology in Functional Coatings

Low pressure plasma spraying( LPPS) is a plasma spraying process under vacuum or very low pressure,which prepares coatings with lower impurity content,higher density and higher bending strength compared to the coatings prepared by Air plasma spraying( APS). This paper reviewed the characteristics of APS such as high flame speed,high stability,high deposition efficiency and good controllability,introduced the many technological advantages of LPPS,including clean spraying environment,high speed and long flame flow,auto-preheat and electric cleaning. This paper also reviewed the application of LPPS in some functional coatings,such as thermal barrier coating,anti-cavitation erosion coating and plasma facing materials. Furthermore,this paper forecasted the development trend of LPPS,including enriching related theory,combining with other technologies,on-line process control and a much lower atmosphere pressure,and its further application in aviation,aerospace,electronic and many other fields.
Application of life-cycle cost analysis on HVAC system

Variable Refrigerant Volume Ground Source Heat Pump(VRV-GSHP hereinafter)is a new energy-saving technology,using ground source heat pump as a heat source,and direct evaporative multi-line units as indoor terminal devices.An office building of Tianjin is selected as representative building,and VRV-GSHP system is compared by with two other traditional air conditioning systems.According to the comparison between VRV-GSHP system and other systems in energy consumption,initial costs,operation costs and maintenance and repair costs,the economy of the VRVGSHP system is elicited.
Current Status of Safety Evaluation Method on Oil Depot

The safety evaluation methods in common use on oil depot are summarized in this paper, including safety check list method, accident type and analysis method, fuzzy synthetic evaluation method, accident tree method, fire and blast jeopardy index evaluation method of DOW Chemistry Company of America, six phases method of chemical plant safety evaluation of the Labor Ministry of Japan and MOND method of Britain. Especially, the modeling process of fuzzy synthetic evaluation method as well as the evaluation procedure and its function of fire and blast jeopardy index evaluation method are introduced in detail. The respective feature and application range of these several safety evaluation methods are analyzed either.